If Keith Olbermann was objective, he would criticize Obama every now and then.

[Catherine Vincent]

But he doesn't. He's moved on from bashing O'Reilly and Bush, deservingly so, to bashing Senator Hillary Clinton and totally fawning over Barack Obama. And no, Keith is not dead to me, I still like Keith, I just don't watch his show as often as I used to.

[MadBadger]

1. Kinda like how you claim to be neutral?

Or have you officially shifted?

[Catherine Vincent]

3. I am neutral. My time is spent mostly defending Senator Clinton

I will vote for the nominee. I like Barack, I just like Clinton better. Is that a crime?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. lol

[H2O Man]

12. No.

It is not a crime. It is something that you share with many other intelligent people of good will.

[Catherine Vincent]

22. Thank you, Patrick.

You're an Obama supporter that others should look up to. :hi:

[Political Heretic]

27. Absolutely not. :)

[cbayer]

60. You haven't gotten the message?

You are either 100% for Obama or you are not welcome here. I share your position and have found that ANY support of Clinton is met with hostility. It is, apparently, a crime in DU gd:p.

[roguevalley]

56. This isn't a contest. Criticize them when they deserve it. Anything else

is stupid. Complaining about a lack of Obama criticism to 'balance' out Hillary criticism is ridiculous. this isn't junior high.

[truedelphi]

58. the only thing that Obama has done wrong lately is to bowl

A gutter ball.

And pollsters are saying that act endeared him to all of us who also suck at bowling.

[rocktivity]

83. DING DING DING! Roguevalley, you're our grand prize winner!

Criticize them when they deserve it...Obama criticism to 'balance out' Hillary criticism is ridiculous. This isn't junior high.

As Keith himself put it, journalistic objectivity is not beating everyone with the same yardstick--it's MEASURING everyone with the same yardstick, and beating on the people who DON'T measure up!

:headbang:
rocknation

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. There's no good reason to bash Obama.

The guy's clean.

KO did bash Obama over his Reagan statements, although I think KO took them out of context.

:shrug:

[Life Long Dem]

4. It's a war that is being fought.

A war on the middle class and Hillary is the enemy. What side are you on?

[Catherine Vincent]

7. Is that you Lou Dobbs?

[Life Long Dem]

8. Dobbs is a phoney. Dobbs: "John Edwards who?"

[Life Long Dem]

9. But no thanks for not answering the question.

[knight_of_the_star]

11. Fail

False dichotomy with no evidence to back it up.

[Life Long Dem]

25. Do you agree or disagree with a war on the middle class?

If so, answer the second question. Do you agree with Hillary being an enemy to the middle class?

If not, is there evidence I can produce to have you change your mind? If yes, and you still say it is a False dichotomy. Then would you tell me what your third alternative is or you can just tell me what the third alternative is right now.

If I do receive no answers from you I will take that as a passing grade from you.

[knight_of_the_star]

36. Fail

Your logic is flawed, you would lead us to believe that assuming B is correct (it is) thus B must be correct even though you cannot prove there is a connection between A and B. So again, you FAIL

[Life Long Dem]

43. And your logic is failed in determining there is no evidence.

[knight_of_the_star]

52. You have offered no conclusive proof

That HRC is the enemy of the Middle Class and Obama is not. It is on YOU to prove your assertion, not me.

[Life Long Dem]

48. Hillary.

Hillary is connected with a union buster, therefore she is an enemy of the war on the middle class.

[Life Long Dem]

62. A+ Passed!!

Hillary is connected with a union buster, therefore she is part of the war on the middle class.

[Ronnie]

70. Do you realize that you're

babbling?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. Oh brother.

Even if he doesn't see a need to criticize him, he should anyway just to seem more "fair". :eyes:

Good grief, you are reminding me of those people who complain how we're not hearing enough of the "good news" in Iraq, or about how there need to be more global warming skeptics to balance out the massive scientific consensus. False equivalence.

[redqueen]

32. Yup.

[chascarrillo]

10. When the Clinton standard for objectivity is FOX News... yeah, I can see your problem.

But in any case - no, Olbermann's not objective. He editorializes all over the place - how could he be! And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. And there's absolutely nothing wrong for not liking that style of television news, or simply not liking Countdown because of the views that he promotes.

However, I think you seriously need to sit back and reassess your position when the Clinton campaign and her supporters starting bashing
EVERY
SINGLE
left-leaning news network/program/show/newspaper... while at the time praising FOX News, Rupert Murdoch, Richard Mellon Scaife, et al.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. He's not objective; he's a commentator, not a news reporter.

He has an opinion, which some people obviously won't agree with. He hasn't been objective in his remarks about the Bush administration, either; he's been unabashedly on the Dem side. But we don't object with those opinions because we agree with them. It's OK for him to express his non-objective opinion. Others (Dan Abrams, for example), favor Clinton. That's OK, too.

[Medusa]

64. WRONG!

He bills himself as a "journalist". His program is characterized as being a "newscast" by MSNBC. If he were just a commentator, this sort of slanted newscast would be okay, but because he is passing himself off as a news anchor, it's not. This has been my problem with him from Day 1. Once upon a time he DID run a fair and impartial NEWScast but those days are long gone. I guess it didn't pay in ratings so he decided he'd be the liberal version of Fox. That was fine and dandy when he stuck to taking jabs at Bush but now that he's effectively slapping around one of our candidates? Not so cool.

I lost all respect for him a long time ago and I'm an Obama supporter. I do feel for you Hillary Supporters who thought well of him at one time. Unless it impacts his ratings though, don't expect him to change his tune. It's all about him and his ratings, not this party or this race. Anyone who claims anything else is drinking the KOol-aid.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

86. Actually,

I'm an Obama supporter. But I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker. I think KO is entitled to call 'em like he sees 'em. You are entitled to disagree with him, and with me, but please don't insult me.

[azmouse]

14. Olbermann, you little devil !

I like that pic of him.

I hope you'll return to his show for good info when the nomination process is over.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DangerDave921]

17. But

O'Reilly has folks on his show who disagree with him. KO seens to just have folks on who mainly agree with him.

I'd like to see KO tear apart some from across the aisle.

[durrrty libby]

21. That's true. KO is about KO. Service him or you are out.

He is actually worse than O'Reilly in that sense

Worse person in theee world...Clown

[redqueen]

33. You must not watch Olbermann often.

His guests do disagree with him. Routinely. He just doesn't start yelling at them for it... so maybe that's why you don't notice when it happens.

[DangerDave921]

53. I've watched plenty

And he usually seems to have left-leaning guests on. I didn't mean to imply he never has guests who disagree with him. I mean he rarely if ever (that I've seen) has guests who are clearly right-wing.

Whereas O'Reilly has made the decision to have polar opposites as guests on his show. And say what you will about Fox news, but the talking heads shows have plenty of opposing viewpoints. So I do give them credit for that, even though O'Reilly and Hannity are rude.

[redqueen]

54. Rude isn't the point. They shout them down, and even cut mikes off.

That's not featuring an opposing view... that's a set up.

You go right on ahead and give them all the credit you think they deserve. I'll do the same - I think they don't deserve any at all.

[DangerDave921]

63. well . . .

why do all these dems keep going on O'Reilly if they're getting set up, having their mikes cut, and being shouted down? Doesn't seem to make sense.

O'Reilly has regular Dem guests on there with whom he has pretty rational discussions -- Kirsten Powers for one. O'Reilly is a blowhard but I do watch his show.

[redqueen]

65. Why the hell do they do half the crap they do?

We've been torturing prisoners for years now... and they're just now maybe starting to think about maybe possibly doing something to maybe like... slow it down or something.

:crazy:

[DangerDave921]

67. LOL

Good point!

I think for some, politics is all a game and it really doesn't matter which party you belong to. It's just a means of getting power and fame and money. That's why they all get along so famously, and vote for each other's earmarks, and can apparently have civil discussions with people who vehemently disagree with them. And yes, why they don't want to disturb the status quo by having impeachment hearings or anything else substantive.

Let's whine about a 50 cent raise in the minimum wage. How ballsy!

[redqueen]

68. Yup!

Most of them are like the preachers who are only in it to milk the faithful.

There are those that are sincere... and then there's the majority. :P

[here_is_to_hope]

57. How did you get off my list? I must have been drunk! n/t

[Shakespeare]

16. You must not have watched the week to 10 days after TX/OH.

He was VERY hard on the Obama campaign, and their stumbles following the TX/OH primaries. Contrary to the current kneejerkism of one camp around here, Olbermann is NOT biased.

[ellacott]

26. Very true

In the beginning he was very critical of Obama. It was even to the point that he was rude to him when he was on the show. Olbermann used to have Craig Crawford on they would both say critical things about Obama.

I can't be hard on Keith considering the courage he shows regarding the Bush administration.

[Ronnie]

74. I'll take your word for it.

We stopped watching the third time he showed a cat falling out of a tree, followed by the laughter of him and his crew. Very disturbing. Not a nice man.

[redqueen]

34. It's sad seeing how effective these kinds of filters are.

[knixphan]

18. KO is telling it like it is.

And for the record, some people are in fact cleaner than others.

It can be argued that Madame C has served KO's material on a silver platter. If she was cleaner, he'd be lighter on her.

I'll say again, if Kucinich were in Hillary's place right now, we would be listening to a milder coverage, and the candidates would most probably have already combined for the 'dream ticket'.

[RememberWellstone]

19. He has no compass

Except what "he" likes and what "he" calls right and wrong. Objectiveness is the farthest thing on his mind. He is a part of the Elect Obama committee as anyone of the Oompas on this board.

[frogmarch]

20. I adore KO, but I think he jumped the shark

a few times in his criticism of Hillary. I'm neutral with regards to which of our two candidates I like best, so I'm not overly sensitive to what's said about them.

[uponit7771]

23. Mark Penn, McSame promotion, Bosnia? ...Hillary doesn't deserve the critisism?

[Political Heretic]

31. I think the clinton campaign has jumped the shark.

But that's just me.

[rodeodance]

24. KO gushes over Obama alike Tweey does now. What a pair!!

[AtomicKitten]

28. That's right, shoot the messenger.

:eyes:

[shaniqua6392]

37. KO used to be our messenger.

He used to focus on Bush and bringing important issues to light. Now he just bashes Clinton's every move and every word. He obviously thinks Obama can do no wrong. I stopped watching him a few months ago. If I want to see Dem bashing I would watch Fixed News Channel. Keith Olbermann is no friend to the Democratic Party. He just goes whichever way the wind is blowing. For the record....I am neither a Clinton supporter nor an Obama supporter. I don't like either of them. I will vote for the Democratic nominee.

[AtomicKitten]

39. Hillary IS the news with the way she is running her kamikaze campaign.

Keith Olbermann tells the unvarnished truth, something perhaps you are unwilling to face, but it is the truth nonetheless.

[shaniqua6392]

44. I am just saying that he could surely find other things

to talk about in addition to Clinton. It is incredibly boring. I could really give a crap about her at all and I certainly don't want to watch a show that is completely focused on one subject. He is not a saint that always tells the truth. He wants ratings. Before the primary, he got the ratings by bashing Bush. Now he is getting the ratings by bashing Clinton. Maybe he could give McCain bashing a try.

[AtomicKitten]

46. He talks about all kinds of other things including McSame.

Perhaps you miss it if you switch the channel when he gets your knickers in a twist over what you perceive to be being mean to Hillary.

[shaniqua6392]

47. You just don't seem to get it.

I really don't care about Clinton. You are one of those Obama supporters that just can not seem to believe that anyone who is critical of Obama or one of his surrogates is not defending Clinton. Let me spell it out for you clearly. I AM NOT DEFENDING CLINTON. MY KNICKERS ARE NOT IN A TWIST. I DON'T CARE WHO IS BEING MEAN TO HILLARY. I think both of our candidates suck actually. I can't believe this is the best we could come up with. What a joke. The day I stopped watching Keith Olbermann, he had FOUR out of FIVE of his nightly stories that were all relating to Clinton. How friggin boring and unoriginal. Maybe he does a little better now if you say so. I may tune into KO after the primaries or if he does a special comment about something other than Hillary. O.K. I am done arguing with you now. Thanks for the debate though.

[AtomicKitten]

51. Oh, I get it. You consider reporting the unvarnished truth to be a manifestation of bias.

I would argue the opposite, that the coddling of Hillary because she demands it is detrimental to the process. SNL kissed her butt for three weeks straight, but even they finally had enough of that.

I wish people here could understand that free speech is nothing to fear but rather to be celebrated. We are not such fragile beings that we can't handle the truth. I think some people need to pull up their socks because the nonstop dissemination of news to smooth ruffled feathers is detrimental to all of us.

[PoliticalAmazon]

76. Why should KO give Hillary a free pass? That's what Fox does to Bush Jr. n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

41. The messenger?

Olbermann is the same exact formula as O'Relly & Hannity. Some news/mostly editorial.
If it is his opinion, then he is not a messenger. Duh!

[goletian]

29. olbermann pokes fun, thats what his whole show is about

kinda hard to make fun of obama -- he doesnt provide much material. that guilt by association crap only works with the far right morons, and hillary apologists.

[knixphan]

38. exactly. he doesnt provide much material.

[Political Heretic]

30. I am not objective. I think KO's criticism is fair and I'm glad someone is doing it.

Yes, I am very aware that more time is spent on Clinton than Obama. I think part of that is because Clinton has been the one on the attack, and in the last weeks she has been the one making her own news cycles with her mistakes. But its only part. Clearly, KO has a point of view which is that Clinton should be out of the race by now. He's said that before, its not like he's trying to hide it. He said the night of the wisconsin primary, "For God sakes Democrats, PICK A NOMINEE."

It's unclear whether KO loves Obama or if KO believes this process should be over. If roles were reversed, its possible that KO would be hammering Obama and not Clinton - I don't know. No one knows. But his show is a news and entertainment magazine formatted show - its not the nightly news. He's a pundit, with an opinion - he's not pretending not to have one.

So yeah, I totally understand some people not listening to him as much. I do because I agree with him... nothing wrong with it being as simple as that. :)

[JimGinPA]

42. Excellent Post

:thumbsup:

[knixphan]

50. simple as that.

[merh]

35. If hillary didn't give folks so much to comment on or complain about

they wouldn't be accused of being "so hard on her" - so what do you want Keith to complain about Obama, what has he missed?

[TTUBatfan2008]

40. Fawning?

That's an exaggeration. He pretty much ignores Obama but constantly criticizes Clinton. It's more anti-Clinton than pro-Obama from what I've seen.

[TheWraith]

45. And if you had been watching more closely, you would know that he DOES.

Just off the top of my head, after the Samantha Power flap he asked whether the Obama campaign doesn't benefit from this statement being out there even if they have to sacrifice an advisor. His guests told him no.

The fact that all objective reality is on one side of this equation doesn't change just because you're on the other side. It's like the Bush people complaining about media coverage of the war--just because they're on one side and reality is on the other does NOT change what the truth of the matter is. And Keith is an accomplished truth-teller.

[tokenlib]

49. Watch Morning Joe if you want fair--Joe is in love with Hillary!!

Mika has rolled over and let him go off the edge. I can't even watch any more. At least Olbermann offers a balance to that crap..

[Bensthename]

73. He is in love with the thought of Hillary running against McCain.

[Lilith Velkor]

55. That pic is so cute, I gave this rec #5.

:rofl:

[cooolandrew]

59. As long as you realise he isn't against you. If for the primary he is wrong fine but after let's ...

support him as he supports us.

[Nederland]

61. Keith Olbermann has never been objective

He is a partisan plain and simple. Of course, most people here at DU loved him while that partisanship was directed at criticizing President Bush. Now that his inherent lack of objectivity in reporting the news has turned on a Democrat--Hillary Clinton--all of a sudden people cry foul. Anyone who thinks he's changed hasn't been paying attention. He has never been objective and always picked an ideological side when doing his show.

[VotesForWomen]

66. he's a macho manly man, and hip, cool, and edgy, so naturally he's pushing O. nt

[Blue-Jay]

69. Damn those awful men!

[Hieronymus]

71. Maybe, to be fair, Keith should just make up shit to blame on Obama.

[Bensthename]

72. He would if Obama had any weaknesses. There are none.

[Catherine Vincent]

77. And you're sure about that?

Everyone has weaknesses.

[PoliticalAmazon]

75. Hillary provides plenty to criticize her about. Obama does not....

...Indeed, it wouldn't be fair to criticize Obama unless the issue was as earth-shaking as Hillary's constant catastrophes are.

[dsharp88]

78. KO criticized Obama tonight - 4/8/08

KO pointed out a flub during questioning when Obama said Iraq when he meant Iran, and also criticized him for a lackluster performance with Gen Petraeus saying Hillary did a better job.

Sounds pretty objective to me.

[pettypace]

79. The whole point of Countdown is to pump up the Dems

Hillary is the odd man out against the chosen Dem of the moment in Obama.

You should watch Hannity show - he's always excoriating Barack.

[Catherine Vincent]

80. I'm not looking for someone to bash Democrats.

But thanks anyway.

[FrenchieCat]

81. Did I mention how much I love Keith Olbermann? Cause if I haven't,

let me say........I love Keith Olbermann!


I mentioned I loved Keith, didn't I?

[Splinter Cell]

82. Right

Keith goes after anybody who's spreading BS, and the fact of the matter is, Billary is doing that more then Obama.

This guy has never been anything but objective, one of the few in the media that is. Just because he calls somebody out on their bullshit doesn't mean he's for or against their campaign.

[BobTheSubgenius]

84. Can anyone say that Molly Ivins (for example) wasn't a journalist?

And a DAMNED FINE one at that. Was she objective? Did she have a personal POV that bled over into her columns?

[Gore1FL]

85. Tonight he did

concerning a slipup of Iran and Iraq.

I guess that means he is objective?