Keith Olbermann harshly criticized and at times mocked what he called the conservative media's "smearing" of Occupy Wall Street on his Tuesday show.
Olbermann responded to statements made by those he described as "right-wing pontificators" like Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh. He took particular issue with the general use of the term "antisemitism," a label he believed was imposed on the Occupy Wall Street protesters by members of the conservative media.
"The right-wing seems to have woken up to some of the power of Occupy Wall Street," Olbermann said. He quoted Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin's latest article in which she criticized the media for ignoring what she called Occupy Wall Street's "antisemitic elements."
"Possibly because there aren't any," Olbermann curtly responded.
Moving right along, Olbermann turned to Rush Limbaugh for his thoughts on the "coded" nature of "the 99 percent's" antisemitism. "Wall Street and bankers have been antisemitic code for Jews," Limbaugh said. Limbaugh also said that "the one percent" is "also roughly the amount of Jews in the population," to which Olbermann responded, "Limbaugh was assured there would be no math."
Olbermann described Limbaugh and then Karl Rove's response to Occupy Wall Street's alleged antisemitism as "the first time [they've] ever claimed to be defending a minority." Rove penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and called the protesters "anarchists," "antisemites," "socialists," and "LaRouchies." Olbermann also criticized the The Wall Street Journal for a study they published that stated nearly a third of Occupy Wall Street protesters would "support violence to advance their agenda." The poll was conducted by Fox News Political Analyst Douglas Schoen, who Olbermann described as "the greatest sell-out of the century."