Say It Ain't So, Keith O

I read with great sadness about NBC's decision to have Keith Olbermann back off of his criticism of Bill O'Reilly. I'm trying to convince myself the New York Times' piece was satire but I did that with Judy Miller's Iraq reporting and that taught me I don't understand satire. Who is there left to keep FOX and O'Reilly accountable? Like a gifted musician pulling melodies out of the air for new songs, O'Reilly has long had a brilliant and unmatched facility for making up the nonsense he wants to be true. He assigns evil motives and anti-American sentiments to people with whom he disagrees and then he waits for the tally light to illuminate on his camera and steps boldly into his pathological world of political incongruity.

The problem is that the people who watch Bill O generally aren't smart enough to know that he confabulates and those who can tell the difference are loathe to listen to the boy. Into this breach have stepped Mr. Olbermann and MSNBC. They watch, they record, and Olbermann reports so that the rest of us don't have to factor the Factor into our lives. If it were just Olbermann doing a straight-forward nightly rundown of erroneous information from O'Reilly, few of us would watch the Countdown cut downs of O'Reilly . However, Olbermann and his producers and writers have a healthy amount of wit and wield sarcasm like a mighty swift sword and there is little more enjoyable of an evening than to watch as they eviscerate the great bloviator on FOX.

The NYT indicates that management of NBC and FOX decided there was a need for some civility between the two networks. I'm compelled to ask: why now? O'Reilly has treated Olbermann as "he who's name must not be spoken" while Olbermann has used "Bill O the Clown" to leaven the grimness of the day's news. If O'Reilly can't serve a purpose of informing people with accurate information then at least his broadcast ought to entertain, if even only as a subject of ridicule on another network. It is also entertaining that the network brass are calling for a higher standard of behavior while they both seek to produce more and more titillating reality shows to suck in viewers and ignore any cultural standards of decorum. How can Battle of the Bods be acceptable programming and Olbermann kicking around O'Reilly is somehow offensive and harmful?

I'm slightly reassured that Olbermann has said he is not "party to any deal" but there has been a noticeable slippage in the O'Reilly bashing on Countdown. This can't be good for America, MSNBC, Olbermann, or the future of our national political discourse. If people are allowed to listen to O'Reilly and think he knows what he's talking about then the terrorists have won. Or something like that. Who calls this guy out if it's not Olbermann? Hell, I think there is an entire show MSNBC can do every night that is about nothing more than offering corrections and clarifications on O'Reilly's sputum. Come on, Keith, get back to your guns. Just as in war, the first casualty on FOX is the truth and the first line of defense against damage caused by distortion and lying has to be someone who knows the difference between reality and the pathological fantasy that is mustering Bill O's army. That's you, Olbermann. It's your job. You are imminently qualified to fire at will.

And don't be afraid to make Glenn Beck collateral damage.

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Comments

[RGKahn]

I guess Keith never got that memo. KO is my #1 tv show.

[peterg76]

There was never a bilateral "uncivility" - Olbermann was just doing, you know, journalism.

[mongoose63124]

oblerman n spits out much much more bs and venom than oreilly, if W. is murdered, is blo od then on KO's hands?

KO needs to use oreilly's name for ratings, bill doesnt, and around and around we go...

Bill reports facts, and is much more of a moderate conservative than a republican. If you watched his show you would see that he holds both parties to task on a nightly basis.

[TLV]

I might agree with you, but the facts absolutely belie your statement. Olbermann confuses some people because he is completely irreverent at times and dead serious other times. But when he is serious, he is brilliant.

On the other hand, have watched O'Reilly often too, and he never fails to disgust me because his shows are supposedly factual but are generally based on fabrications. He acts like an angry buffoon. In fact, years before the on-air battles began, I tried to get Fox completely removed from our cable lineup but it was only possible to block it on our sets. I did not want our boys to witness O'Reilly's behavior.

[VirginiaJeff]

Olbermann's rants are based on facts. O'Reilly's are based on hate.

[realpolitic]

Well, after Olbermann's show last night we can gratefully say "It ain't so!"

[pfc1369]

Kieth has returned on air, and has demonstrated, indeed, IT AIN"T SO.

[sviolette]

Don't worry James apparently KO didn't buy into the deal. Says he wasn't even asked to. Go KO.

[coolfl33]

Yea, I'm sure Bill is shaking in his boots.

[coolfl33]

If its Bill's fault that Dr. Tiller the baby killer was murdered then Keith better hope nothing ever happens to President Bush because believe you me Mr. Keith will be just as responsible as he is making Bill out to be.

ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE TELL KEITH TO COVER HIS OWN MATERIAL AND QUIT COPYING OFF OF BILL. Only Bill can do Bill.


URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL OF YOU IDIOTS - THERE IS A NEW GADGET OUT, IT IS CALLED A REMOTE CONTROL. WITH THIS NEW GADGET IF YOU ARE WATCHING TELEVISION AND A PROGRAM COMES ON THAT YOU DON'T LIKE GUESS WHAT, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUSH THE LITTLE BUTTONS AND POOF YOUR CHANNEL IS CHANGED AND YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO WATCH A PROGRAM YOU DON'T LIKE. YOU CAN ALSO USE THIS NEW GADGET TO PROGRAM WHICH CHANNELS YOU WANT TO WATCH AND WHAT I DID WAS BLOCK THE CHANNEL THAT MSNBC COMES ON AND GUESS WHAT I DON'T EVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ACCIDENTALLY TUNING INTO THE IDIOTS OF MSNBC.

TRY IT, IF YOU DON'T LIKE FOX THEN BLOCK IT DUDE.

[Gidster]

The remote control does not remove slander or lies from the airwaves, and simply turning them off does not eliminate them either.

Bill must be held accountable for falsehoods he presents as facts, just as he is to be lauded for reporting the truth.

The difference between Tiller on Billo's show, and Bush on Olbermann's was vast! Billo, over 5 years cast Tiller as a monster, a murderer of the innocent, who was above the law, and "Someone should stop him"......­..

Olbermann cast Bush as an incompetent politician/turned war criminal that should be impeached and or jailed.... or at least "Resign"..­.....Very different in tone......­.

[pinkyboo]

There also is such a thing as CAPS LOCK and you can unlock your caps! Try it!

[coolfl33]

MSNBC is making a big mistake because without the FOX Network, MSNBC has nothing.

NOTHING!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!

[TLV]

Wrong. I have watched MSNBC since way back and absolutely no need for Fox. None.

My father-in-law, however, does have need for it. He dumped all of his GM stock years ago and bought all Murdock Empire Holdings stock. Now that GM has cut all of his retirement benefits, he is the only family member with a need for Fox.

[coolfl33]

Well Mr. James, Keith O doesn't have that many viewers so I there won't be to many disappointed people out there. How many viewers does Keith O have every night? I'm sure the 9 viewers he still has will continue to support him and rub his belly and pat him on the head and tell him he's so great.

I just hope he doesn't get too depressed because at his age i don't think Obamacare will cover his hospital stay or provide the medications he might need. Do you know if he has an end-of-life plan?

I would also like to know when Keith O is going to come up with his own material. All he does and rant and rave about what Bill, Sean, Rush and the others that are enjoying great ratings (unlike Keith and Rachel, have you seen the numbers lately?) have to say. He just comments about their comments. Come on Keith, give us some of your own material. Quit recycling what Rush, Bill and the (others that are kicking your ass in the ratings department) are saying. We don't need a play by play of what they have said that day. We listen and watch them so we already know.

[AnthonyVolpe]

A lot more people watch his show than read your blog entries.

[Gidster]

True to that!

Hey cool....KO has the #1 commentary show in demo group 18-34 and 34-54, Billo's audience tends to be the 54-75 crowd.....

And FOX counts all of those ignored screens in bars, hotels, airports, and train stations as viewership­.....

They can't even be honest about that......

[stevi]

Well, judging from the comments here, there are far more than 9 viewers for Keith and I'm one of them and I'm not rubbing his belly,or patting him on the head but I do support him.

Regarding Keith's material. Since I don't watch O'Reilly any more, ever, I don't know what he is saying, but I do know that he does not tell the truth. O'Reilly makes things up, things that do not stand up to scrutiny, or "fact check" for that matter. Keith relays true things, facts, accurate quotes and his truth can be verified.

So There!

[Zanti]

Keith is this week's Best Person in the World. Go, Keith!!!

[LoudMouthBitch]

Keith was SPOT ON tonight - And his Special Comment had my husband and I cheering. We'll keep watching Keith and Rachel every night.

[stew66]

Olbermann tonight proved conclusively the newspaper that spread all those lies about "weapons of mass destruction" should not be trusted. The story was bull****! Shame on all the media figures who took the NY Times story at face value.

[Gidster]

Look what happened when Joe Wilson tried to point out that the facts did not add up!

[Onepebbleinthelandslide]

Keith O just said it ain't so . . . and a fine job he did.

[AprilPA]

The truce is over. KeithO is calling BillO Billo the Clown again.