Keith Olbermann "Campaign Comment" On Palin: Are You Smarter Than A Third-Grader? (VIDEO)

Tonight Keith Olbermann, alarmed that his "Special Comments" were occurring with such frequency that they were no longer special, offered a "Campaign Comment" about Sarah Palin's continued confusion over the role and powers of the Vice President. The comment was titled, "Are you smarter than a third-grader?"

[WATCH]

Comments

[hollybork]

Olbermann is the Edward R. Murrow of our time. He finds his eloquent voice in righteous indignation. His intellect and quick wit are so satisfying at a time of blind sloganeering and obsessive minutiae in the media.

The Republican Administration has trashed the constitution, finessed the power of congressional subpoena, and forged ahead with reckless abandon on a course of military misadventure that 80% of the public disapproves. The Adminstration has brought us deregulation and financial disaster.T­hey have bequeathed us a system of bloody international intrigue on a global scale to serve their constituencies of big oil, international business and finance.

We need to be continually reminded that restraint of power lies at the heart of our Constititution, even when our would-be-leaders discount the law and its accumulated wisdom, and attempt to defeat the grand architecture of our Constitution. We need to continue to protect the rights of the individual. It is essential that the rights of the people be secured by insisting upon our leaders obeying the constitutional limits of power. We still have a Bill of Rights, and 3 co-equal branches of government, though they hang by the finest thread. We still have a right to an independent judiciary, an independent congress.

Keith, you alone continue to sound this call. Continue your marvelous special comments! We need to be warned about the dangerous embrace of power mongers, be ever refreshed in our commitment to "government by the people."

[DebbieinPhx]

Niiice. Well put.

[Dynamohum]

I agree. You said it better and more eloquently than I could. Thanks.

[conservjeff]

You make so much sense so why do you want more government to fix these problems? You talk of individual rights but you ignore the individual rights of the unborn. You talk of republican hands in the financial crisis, what about the root cause, the liberal home ownership for all (Dodd, Franks, Clinton ect...) crowd. Limits of power does that include redistribution of capital in the US. Lets be socialists. That is the best answer for all these problems. More Goverment!!

[ncgrits]

Most people do care abortion. The problem is that it has become an issue that the republicans use every 4 years just to get voters. They know it will get the votes of the evangelical if they are against it. They have no plans to change anything about abortion. They are going to let the states do it individually. You can ban it in one state but the next state won't, so they go where it's legal. Roe- V- Wade was passed in January 1963 - 36 years ago. Since then the republicans have been in office for 24 of those years. Isn't it about time that we figured out that if they were going to overturn R-V-W they had ample opportunity in 24 years to get the conservative judges to do it? They got conservative judges and they still didn't. It makes a good draw for voters and they use the voters every single election cycle. I strongly disapprove of it as a form of birth control. It should be available for cases of life threatening conditions/rape victims. Birth control should be taught from early years up cutting down on abortions. They realized long ago that if it was banned in the US we would again have to deal with the back alley slaughter houses & neglected,unwanted & abused children for the states to take care of.

[ncgrits]

(continued) Like, Sen. Obama, I would not want to punish my daughter with a child created by rape(although this was taken out of context and twisted by ?). As far as socialism we have already utilized a form of it by passing the "bail out" which Bush is buying up stock in the banks and possibly buying up mortgages -gov. owned/controlled. It goes back further as far as the housing. Try back to Keating5, then Clinton & co.,then Graham/McCain. It's no wonder we are in this mess with all the de-regulation. Once you de-regulate anything it is going to cost more because greed kicks in. Look at telephone, cable, electrical -- all regulated at one time. My phone bill used to be the cheapest bill I had! We made a lot of CEO's extremely wealthy through de-regulation!
More government - more oversight might be the best answer!

[ThePublicRecord]

http://www.pubrecord.org/sarah-palin/413-alaska-rep-calls-for-probe-into-troopergate-witness-tampering.html

New Front in Palin's 'Troopergate' Mess

In a new front for Gov. Sarah Palin’s “Troopergate” troubles, a top Alaska Democratic lawmaker has called on the state’s attorney general to appoint an independent investigator to probe whether operatives in Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign broke Alaska’s criminal witness-tampering laws.

[trytha1]

Go ahead and let get get all mavericky in the Senate business..­. she obviously is oblivious to history:

Look at 1969: President Nixon had pledged to give his vice president a significant policy-making role and - for the first time - an office in the White House itself.
Spiro Agnew was determined to make the most of that role and to expand his legislative functions as well.
Since he lacked previous legislative experience, he had the Senate parliamentarian tutor him on the intricacies of Senate floor procedure. ((SOUND FAMILIAR???))
Soon he began to inject himself into the course of Senate proceedings, contrary to the well-worn practice that constrained his predecessors.

During the debate over the Anti-Balli­stic-Missi­le Treaty, Agnew approached Idaho Republican Senator Len Jordan and asked how he was going to vote. "You can't tell me how to vote!" said the shocked senator. "You can't twist my arm!"
At the next regular luncheon of Republican senators, Jordan accused Agnew of breaking the separation of powers by lobbying on the Senate floor, and announced the "Jordan Rule." Under his rule, if the vice president tried to lobby him on anything, the senator would automatically vote the other way.

Agnew concluded from this experience, "after trying for a while to get along with the Senate, I decided I would go down to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue and try playing the executive game."

Now... can we all invoke the "Jordan Rule" in this election??

[Rosey]

Sorry Keith, not quite as good as the actual show tape from " Are You Smarter than A Third Grader" circulating via YouTube wherein a seemingly very nice person could not answer Foxworthy on "Budapest is the capital of what country?" She wondered if France was a country, if Europe was a country, had never heard of Hungary but yet had heard of Turkey. Both she and Palin could compete on how knows georgraphy! How wonderful it is that Palin was chosen for she has only helped Obama if you think about it!

[trytha1]

I think you are absolutely right... With the GOP imploding over the last few years (and especially lately)... SP is the icing on the cake!!! IMHO... she has really helped bring out the crazy hatefuls and make the Dems and Obama just shine!!

[fearandloathing1]

Field Dressed: Inside Sarah Palin's Excellent Shopping Adventure:
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/10/field-dressed.html

[mdbeard41]

I hate to say it, but I do not think that these are "gaffs", I think that she is arrogant to come to the national spotlight with the BIG mess that she has in Alaska: troopergate, expense report ?, building contractor being paid with public funds, husband being a member of sucession group, attending a church with a pastor that lays hands on people and believes in witches, highest school drop out rate, school's system in the bottom 20% in the country, highest rape rate, highest reported  number of cases incest, extremely high teen substance abuse rate, and a pregnant teenage daughter and yes it does matter. I think the Govenor is confused to think that the initial shine on her debut what not give way to questions about compentency. I think that this is insight into how she sees her future role if  she has her way,we are all supposed to stay dazzled by the bright shiny object and we will just want to have coffee with her and chat at the kitchen table, while she tries to personally disembowels the constitution. Well no thanks Gov. that beer and pot roast we were all gonna have with GW aint working out so swell!!!!  I think she is a MEGALOMANIAC, and delusional to think that we would fall for the same thing twice.

[joy316]

mdbeard41 you hit the nail on the head! Listen carefully to this woman, she does not hesitate, she does not stammer, she believes that she will do exactly what she says she will do. Unless, of course, America wakes up and votes for Obama/Biden on Nov. 4.

[notb observer]

From the moment this half-baked Alaskan strumpet was paraded to the gleeful masses at the Republican hate-fest, along with her oversized entourage of certified trailer trash, I could not shake one image from my head, and that image is reinforced each time I see her make a public appearance­...

This backwoods redneck is the quintessential "Price Is Right" contestant. She was selected for the ticket after having bid the "closest to the actual retail price", and now she's won some kind of GOP Fantasy Vacation package of the continental USA, complete with haute-couture wardrobe and Secret Service accessories.

From the "shout-out" to the 5th graders "up there in Alaska" to her winky-wink affectations during the VP debate, she reflects perfectly the dim witted mindset that reality and game shows are legitimate aspirations to achieve success. Regardless of your intelligence, you can make it in America ! All you need is to win the lottery, or get on a game show.

Someone please give her "a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Fransisco treat", and boot her a$$ back to Alaska already !

[Paralogos]

The notion that, regardless of ability, one can achieve greatness in America is a key element of Republican propaganda. It's how they make the prospect of increasing taxes on the highest earning 5% of the population seem like a threat to the middle class. Sure, you'd be better off with Obama NOW...but once you've become inexplicably wealthy, you'll wish you had McCain.

[bemusedcanadian]

Nicely put.

[notb observer]

I guess it fits in quite nicely with their simple minded concept of "heaven" as another sort of fantasy prize package.

[just4shiggles]

I believe that this is a good example of just how little Palin knows about the job she has been chosen for. If she still doesn't know what the job entails, surely she couldn't possibly understand any of the stuff that she had to memorize in preparation for the debate with Biden. I seriously can't understand how she snowed over the voters in Alaska to get the position of Gov.!

[BluePride]

she's an image... a campaign. A mile wide and an inch deep.

The Ballad of Johnny McCain, 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDceTz3UAgI

[shelobo]

Video of Palin and Colorados Amendment 51 http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspxspx

[DebbieinPhx]

Ah yes, Keithie strikes again! And that would be a NAY vote for the ideals and culture of Anti-Intel­lectualism­.

[BluePride]

The Ballad of Johnny McCain, 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDceTz3UAgI

[Xavieer]

Sarah try HOOKED ON PHONICS!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

[GhostNyc]

Gov. Palin is identical to President Bush in that both speak with such conviction and utter stupidity, arrogance and such a condescending tone...

GO BACK TO ALASKA....­.where for the time being (until your corruption case concludes that is) you have a job.

[yhgtup]

The fact that she was talking to a third grader makes it even worse. She's giving the kid WRONG information!