Olbermann Fact Checks Limbaugh's Today Show Interview (VIDEO)

Last night Keith Olbermann waded into the media thicket that is Rush Limbaugh's interview with the Today Show when he decided, "as a public service," to "deconstruct and translate" Limbaugh's answers.

A sample of said deconstruction: when Limbaugh refuses to name a leader of the Republican party while still calling himself the annointer of GOP leaders, Olbermann translates this as:

in other words, like all demagogues he dreams secretly of being summoned like Cincinnatus by a desperate nation. That, or that was rare honesty and he can't think of a single Republican likely to get more than 400,000 votes in 2012.

Olbermann also concluded that boasting about "spawning" Glenn Beck was dubious at best: "Like congratulating yourself on spreading syphilis."

WATCH:

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Comments

[joejets19]

Just curious, I have a few questions from Olbermann?

Is it possible Rush actually doesn't have contempt toward Beck? And no Rush was not the first but I'm pretty sure he is the most successful. And Rush actually just said what Beck has been saying all along, Beck owes his success to Rush.

And when did Rush say he was worried about what people say about him? He raised a challenge to MSNBC to do something besides find ways to try to rip him a new one.

[lungfish]

Sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar....

[Davwbaird]

it looks like he sticks his cigars up his cruddy butt.

[timmmahhhh]

"...oh yeah well sometimes it's a big brown d**k!"
- George Carlin

[JerryAguy]

I try to look at both sides and it seems like the smears are coming from Mr. Olbermann, they play am radio at my work and I listen to it during the day since I'm there and I don't think I've ever heard the mean spirited talk coming from the am radio talkers as I hear at work, from Mr. Keith Olbermann I do hear a lot of anger. It does not help our President to come off in that way. It makes us seem like there is no class to talk that way, putting words in peoples mouths. Same with his worst people of the world, its just creepy.

[nonofyabusiness]

Who on AM do you actually listen to??? It' can't be Rush, O'Reily, Glenda or Michael Savage....

I could understand Michael Smerconish or maybe even Michael Medved or others I have not heard of

[simplystunned]

Clearly you are tuning them out. I find I can last no more than 5 minutes listening to any of them before I am offended by their comments.

[maya2012]

Quotes made by Rush Limbaugh:

"And now the liberals want to stop President Reagan from selling chemical warfare agents and military equipment to Saddam Hussein, and why? Because Saddam 'allegedly' gassed a few Kurds in his own
country. Mark my words. All of this talk of Saddam Hussein being a 'war criminal' or 'committing crimes against humanity' is the same old thing. LIBERAL HATE SPEECH! And speaking of poison gas . . . I
SAY WE ROUND UP ALL THE DRUG ADDICTS AND GAS THEM."
11/3/88

"Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons."

You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.

"And don't forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There's a racial component here, too. And now, the newspaper that I'm reading all this from is The New York Times, and they, of course, don't mention that." -on the 2006 Ohio Senate primary race involving then-Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is white

"Too many whites are getting away with drug use...Too many whites are getting away with drug sales...Th­e answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river, too." --in 1995

"I am addicted to prescription pain medication­." --in 2003

[Davwbaird]

I got sick to my stomach reading those quotes.

what have we come to?

[Connor Stetson]

People still watch KO? ...yawn.

[amistad]

Yes.

[maya2012]

People still listen to Rush? The man's full of hotair and his facial ticks, nose rubs, and that funny thing he does with his arms add to his repulsiveness - yuck!

[Jinxykb]

Apparently, so are you. How did you like the video above?

[Faithtoo]

I love Keith O. He is the only person on TV who is not afraid to speak the truth and call out the liars as he sees them.

I admire and respect KO.

[bcarb]

Keith is anything but a yawn. But of course you know that. That is exactly why you blogged it. He is hitting a nerve with the GOP.
Keep up the good work, Keith!!! Keep those r.i.g.h.t.­ies on their toes.

[Dark Sphere]

Fact Check, hardly, Olberman has does not have the truth or facts on his side.

[amistad]

huh?

[maya2012]

And you don't have a grasp of the English language on yours.

[Dark Sphere]

rac.ist

[iwant2no]

WHAT ??????

[Faithtoo]

What are you talking about? To which facts are you referring?

[monkeymuggs]

Dark Sphere, What you have written is so completely false, you've already given yourself away as someone who doesn't fact check.

[nonofyabusiness]

Conns have no need for facts because their sheep never need facts...

[EugeneMorgan]

Surely Chris Matthews will get a smack down by KO for suggesting that Rush be assas si nated.

[maya2012]

I say Rush should "smack down" Glenn Beck first for his poisoning threat against Nancy Pelosi, then we'll see.

[maya2012]

Keep fighting the good fight, Keith, many of us support your efforts to the cause and are right there behind you. Keith's excellent commentary on healthcare reform will re-air on Friday (tomorrow) and I urge all concerned citizens to view the program and then become proactive in seeing that all of our fellow citizens get the health care they deserve. I'm off to work; toodles!

[nonofyabusiness]

They are going to get their 5 health fairs!!!

[maya2012]

Right on!!!

[EugeneMorgan]

MSNBC needs to fact check itself. Remember the video of the man who brought a pi stol and a ri fle to an Obama rally in AZ? MSNBC edited the video to hide the fact that it was a black man standing with a group of Obama supporters.

[nonofyabusiness]

That dude was one of Orly's clients...­..

[vt1991]

So how does that change the issue that he brought a big rifle to the event? That act was stup1d whether it was by a b1ack, wh1te or whatever person standing anywhere in that neighborhood.

[EugeneMorgan]

Wake up!
It was blamed on the "conservative Mobs".
Why do you think MSNBC edited the video so heavily?

[maya2012]

You need to fact check yourself - all you righties keep bringing up the fact that the man was black (race card?), which really doesn't matter because he is a member of an extreme right-wing group that believes in exercising the right to bear arms; he is anti-government, anti-Obama and anti-health care reform. For the record, if you goole the MSNBC website for this story you'll find the man's picture revealing his race which has been there for quite some time, but why that matters is beyond me.

[maya2012]

Correction: "Google"

[EugeneMorgan]

It was MSNBC which removed all indications of the man's race. I'm sure they have since modified their archives.

[LolitaP]

Whoa! I watch MSNBC from 7:30am minus drive time to 9am and then through to Rachel Maddow - Los Angeles time. On those days, I always saw the "black" man with his weapons - there was no editing-out that visual fact. That's how inaccurate news gets around. Maybe we can ask MSNBC to pull that tape. Sheesh!

[Faithtoo]

They did not air out the fact that it was a black man. I saw the footage and he was not with Obama supporters. He was with that group of nuts.

[HenryGuo]

I’m a Chinese from Beijing. If I’m not for learning English, it is a waste of time listening to many debates.
[e-mail])

[Dbos]

Misleading headline.

[Dixieboy]

Fact Checking??? You're getting your fact checking information from a former talking head from ESPN???

Keep up the drama Progs...an­d watch your ownership of the House and Senate completely vanish in 2010.

[Blimpius]

This is what the left considers news. bwaaaaahahahaha

[maya2012]

Like Beck considers playing with toys, misspelling words and doing bad imitations of real journalists news - make a right-hand turn onto Foxboxville where you belong, crybabies!

[vt1991]

KO's show does not claim to be a news show. It is an opinion show with a lot more truth and news in it than you tea bagg3rs on the right get from the entire Faux news lineup.

[jsgaetano]

The the far right considers Fox to be news, even though they openly admit they are an entertainment station.

At least Keith is a journalist. Limpba\s is a pop music DJ.

[nonofyabusiness]

Ohhh, we can play that....A lot of people get their information from a former i.e. "Journalist" from tabloid tv Inside Edition ( #u-K it ,we'll do it Llive!!!)

[Dixieboy]

With 10 times the viewers of Maddow, Olberman and Cooper combined.

[maya2012]

Keep whistling Dixie, reb, and watch the rethugs continue their downward slide into insanityville.

[alumcreek]

If the GOP fails to gain control in 2010, what will you say? Who will you blame?

Will you admit you were wrong? I'd bet not.

Only a mongoloid twit would happily vote for any GOP candidate.

[Dixieboy]

Mongloid twit? When you can't win the argument, you go to name calling.

And I'm not a Repub.

[angrytaxpayer]

How is this fact checking? This is Olbermann giving an opinion on something Rush said.

[nonofyabusiness]

Right there are no facts to check, just wind.

[nonofyabusiness]

Plus a lot of people do not understand satire.... This never was intended as a serious piece but most n-connies can not tell the difference (Stephen Colbert is a good) example

[Josh Seipp]

They think everyone operates the same way they do.

[notb observer]

What a waste of air time... Rush Limbaugh is not newsworthy. He is a drain on our scarce resources and contributes nothing of value but large amounts of manure.
Yesterday the Senate Republicans voted against a bill drafted by the newly minted Sen Franken that would essentially protect our citizens from rape while working overseas by preventing the government from entering into contracts with corporations like Haliburton who refuse to prosecute any employees responsible for such actions. The message is pretty clear. The Republicans again are shamelessly siding with mega business interests to the detriment of the people.
Not long ago, Democrats were accused of proposing to teach sex-ed to kindergarten students and of wanting to create "death panels". Both of these attacks were unsubstantiated lies and distortions of reality, but they were repeated until they stuck in the public consciousness. Why is it that a much more real and morally hideous position like the one taken by Republican Senators receives no media coverage (except for the Daily Show) ?! If the MSM is in the "outrage business", it seems to me that this story would be a gold mine, yet it remains largely unreported.

[maya2012]

I'd high-five ya if I could on an outstanding post - fanned!

[EugeneMorgan]

Franken should get the law changed in regards to Haliburton if he feels that strongly about it. We don't need to take business away from an American company which employees a lot of Americans. Their main competitor is Schlumberger, a French company. This is story is more about Franken trying to do damage to an American company ha ted by the left. Jobs be da mned!

[nonofyabusiness]

Oh please, Schulemberger employs a lot of Americans.­....

Your one sided argument also fails because Haliburton is moving it's headquarters to...DUBAI

From the neo-con sight

http://www.drudge.com/archive/91797/haliburton-moving-dubai

[bastalready]

Interesting photo that is a lead into this thread, how phallic?