Attn Randi Rhodes re Keith Olbermann.

[Botany]

Randi,

I just heard you say that you think Keith Olbermann does not like you.
I do not know if that is true or not but it might be that you are rude,
talk over the top of guests (as you just did w/ John Dean), and you bring
your personal feelings about people on the air at times when it is not
appropriate.

old Arab saying ..... "You are the master of all words that you never speak
but all words that you say are the master of you."

:rant:

[AspenRose]

1. .

:popcorn: (If last week's Randi thread is any indication of the potential....)

[JuniperLea]

2. Randi has gotten so full of herself...

I used to be her #1 fan... seriously. This illustrates my point. There once was a time when Randi didn't give a flying rat's ass what anyone else thought of her. She was hell bent for truth, and that was all that mattered.

[helderheid]

7. couldn't agree more.

[MonkeyFunk]

18. Yep

I used to listen to her all the time, and defended her here many times. I loved her.

I can't stand to listen to her anymore.

[POAS]

24. One more vote for your sentiment!

[B Calm]

37. No doubt! She's on one hell of an ego trip!

[Twenty3]

42. Me too *sad sigh*

#1 fan here too. She was would get on my nerves sometimes, but I could cope with it. The taser kid incident turned me around big time, whoa. I miss listening to her, but I just don't trust her anymore, and I'm sorry for that.

[dflprincess]

43. The taser deal is what pushed me over the edge about her as well

though she'd been wearing thing for a while. I'm just tired of the ego and the screaming, and her tendency, at times, to exaggerate facts.

The other thing I'm tired of - and this is real petty - is when the show comes back from commercial and something like one of the "Republican Rehab" bits is running and she laughs over it. Those bits are often very entertaining and I don't need a laugh track with them.

[K8-EEE]

52. When the recruiter called and she started screaming at him

to the point where he had to WRITE her to get a word in edgewise....and he was calling to AGREE with her!!

[JuniperLea]

57. Oh my... glad I missed THAT! eom

[Twenty3]

67. That's it - her exaggeration

That's what killed it for me. I can cope with just about any personality, if I'm getting truth. But now that I have to wonder what other "facts" she's distorting - it's not worth it.

[TheUniverse]

3. Keith Olbermann is probably the kindest host in cable television.

Regardless of if he agrees with a guest, he will let them talk, not insult them, and not yell at them. More hosts need to be like him. Cable television has become a land of O'reilly clones. I never watched the Randi Rhoades show, but if she is as rude as you say she is, that might be the reason. From all the complaints I hear about her on DU, she sounds like a liberal Bill O'reilly.

[AspenRose]

4. Randi's on the radio

..with occasional forays on TV with people like Larry King, Lou Dobbs, etc.

[JuniperLea]

10. And when she is on those shows...

She blathers on about herself! Very, very self-absorbed! I get so angry. She would do better to use that time to further the cause!

[Hieronymus]

23. She is such a star fucker too ..

[Botany]

6. She is on radio and streams on the net.

but she is no Bill O'Rielly .... rude or not she almost always
has her ducks in a row as far as "the facts" are concerned.

[JuniperLea]

12. That I will give her

That's what got me to be a fan in the first place... the first time she said, "Don't believe me! Look it up yourself!!" I was hooked.

I think she needs to take a step back and look at what she is trying to accomplish. I had far more respect for her when it was all about the cause instead of all about Randi.

[Taverner]

11. I met KO back in journalism school - he's a stand up guy

Very friendly, very kind also he is a "jock's jock." Sports are his first love, and he got his start in sports reporting. All you need to do is start talking sports, and you've got him hooked in a conversation. I don't think I've met anyone who loves sports as much as he does.

I also got to meet Chris Matthews. I will go out on a limb and say that he's a stand up guy too. His problem is that he views politics as sports, and sports as politics. He doesn't really care about any aspect of politics other than "the race." But other than that, he's a wealth of stories and he WILL pick up the bar tab. Guaranteed. Even if the conversation ends in a shouting match. IN fact, I think he loves argument.

[roguevalley]

31. Keith likes Chris Matthews and Chris adores Keith. I love their

exchanges. Very sweet and friendly.

[Taverner]

32. I dare anyone to go drinking with Matthews and NOT like the guy

And he knows his shit.

[K8-EEE]

48. Not enough booze in the world to make me like Tweety!

and his phony "seduction/campaigning" techniques, blech.

[Kingshakabobo]

51. He's off the sauce now..... n/t

[Taverner]

54. Ahhh well that may have been coming

When he hosted us (SPJ Student Groups) he loved his scotch, and went through many o' brown drink.

[Red Zelda]

5. Is she jealous of Rachel Maddow????

[helderheid]

8. I do believe we have a winner!

[Beaverhausen]

9. That's a good bet. Rachel knows how to handle herself when she is on his show

Randi on talk shows...not so much.

[JuniperLea]

15. Randi takes the bait when on those shows...

And talks too much about herself, her own personal life. She would do better to use that time wisely.

[hisownpetard]

64. I love Rachel Maddow. She's extremely intelligent, well spoken and lovely, to boot. Would like

to see her get her own show (instead of, say, Dan Abrams. I know he's the boss, but
he should fire himself from his show. I can't STAND when he says, "My take..."
You don't have to announce your own opinions, Dan - just state them.)

But Rachel would be wonderful, and having Countdown as a lead-in would
help expose her to lots of viewers.

But that's just "my take..."

[Tatiana]

13. DING! DING! DING! n/t

[ronnykmarshall]

14. Not at all

She just doesn't want to go on Keith's show because the next day Stephanine Miller would be all "did he ask about me?", "did you give hime my phone number?", "does he think I'm cute?" .... it was be just horrible.

[LSK]

35. too true!!!

:rofl:

[Hieronymus]

25. Maddow is brilliant .. no camparison between the two.

[ellacott]

34. I didn't know Rachel had a PhD in political science

I saw that from one of her television appearances.

[malaise]

38. and a Rhodes scholar to boot

Rachel's in a league of her own.

[Hieronymus]

39. Yes, and she was a Rhodes Scholar.

[Donnachaidh]

33. ding ding ding!

I think we have a winner folks!

[Ganja Ninja]

62. I'm always impressed with Rachel Maddow.

Besides being intelligent and well spoken and conducting herself with dignity she's always well dressed and professional looking. Randi and Jean Garaflo could take a few tips from her. If you're going to go out and represent something you care about .... I'm just saying. That might have something to do with Keith's selection.

[Red Zelda]

68. I want this woman on the COVER

of Time, Newsweek, whatever. She is splendid in so many ways. Then, I will forgive the M$M for the fetid image of the beast Coultergeist on Time's cover. (with cheap shoes, btw)

[Patsy Stone]

16. Randi used to be a lot more charming

but now she just yells all the time. How does she know this? Did he send her an "I-don't-like-you-gram"?

[Botany]

26. Keith comes from the Bill Moyers school of journalism.

Let the guest/expert talk and only asks questions that help "draw out"
more information on the subject. When 2 people are talking nobody
can listen and it might be good theater but it is not good jounalism.

She put her 2 cents in when John Dean was talking more than a few
times.

Maybe she never has been told that she is somebody's Fav. Pink Roses
help too.

[RamboLiberal]

17. Randi needs to watch Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz

do guest shots. Rachel is great with KO. Ed as well does a great job on Tucker, Larry King, etc.

Randi also has a tendency to talk about the talking points we may be familiar with but are not in the mainstream and come out sometimes sounding like conspiracy theories.

Also don't have a meltdown after you appear. I remember last year she was all pro Lou Dobbs till she thought she got laughed at by the male guests and said she was crying after the show. I don't think she's been on Dobbs since. Toughen up. And don't start doing the talk over everyone else unless the other guests are doing it. And don't go on the next day dissing your appearance or whining you didn't get enough time - it happens.

IMHO what Randi does best is talking about stories and issues. She's not that good with interviews or with callers - except when she's arguing with a wingnut caller. Maybe she needs a strong manager/producer who would make her see her mistakes and correct them.

I've taken to listening to Schultz on the delay on KPOJ then listening to Randi if I'm still in the office after 6.

[ellacott]

27. I feel the same way

I still love Randi because of the facts she gives.

She said on her show that she hadn't been on TV lately because she yells all the time. She said she made a point to be quiet during her appearance with Abrams. She totally trashed him on her show afterwards. It used to bother me when she would trash Al Franken and saying she would never vote for him. Sometimes being a professional means keeping those things to yourself.

She would be a great guest on Bill Maher but he probably knows that she would talk over and yell at everyone who disagreed with her.

That could be why she hasn't been on Keith's show.

[RamboLiberal]

56. You're right about Maher - I think she'd be very good

on that format.

[monmouth]

19. I doubt Keith thinks of Randi at all.....n/t

[Hieronymus]

20. You got that right .. she has even said that Keith steals her material ..

Yea, right. She also said that Keith is not a nice person .. how in Hell would she know that?
I have finally quit listening to Randi.

[ellacott]

30. It's been reported that things weren't very pleasant when he was at ESPN

And people blamed him for the unpleasantness. Whether that is true or not Randi shouldn't keep saying that if she wants to go on his show.

[K8-EEE]

49. "Some people say...."

Who cares?? Who the hell is she to say whether or not he's a good person. WTF??? I think she's jealous of Rachel - her segments on Countdown are elegant, thoughtful and well reasoned and you actually LEARN something from them, not just ranting.

[Cleita]

21. I guess if she keeps saying on the air that no one likes

Keith in person, but she likes what he does, it may make him not like her.

[WildEyedLiberal]

22. Get thee to the greatest page

You're spot on about Randi. I can't stand her - I don't like bitter, ranty polemicists of any stripe.

[shain from kane]

28. I saw her on TV a few days ago, and she has to be embarrassed about her hairdo and make-up job. I

used to think she was pleasant enough to the eye, but what happened?
Halloween came early this year.

[Rick Myers]

29. I have a tape of Randi from 1990-ish, her first talk job at WIOD, Miami

I was a guest re: some local polticial issue, and after the third or forth time she walked all over my response, she asked a question. I responded with, 'If you'd let me answer a question you might understand what we're talking about...'

She's always been a big ego, going back to her afternoon gig at Ft. Lauderdale rocker WSHE! "She's only rock and roll!" That was the station tag line, and she took it to mean HER...

[Fredda Weinberg]

44. She *is* the goddess but never interrupted me

We've spoken several times on air and I know her producer. They're totally professional.

That's showbiz!

[Berry Cool]

36. I don't know whether Keith even knows or thinks of Randi, but I can say this much:

If someone kept accusing me and my producers of "stealing" all our story ideas from her, simply because sometimes my show featured the same news stories hers did shortly after hers did (but not any more than hers featured stories similar to ones my show did)...

...and then insisted on getting credit for having "given" my show all of its story ideas, despite the fact that these stories were based on news events commonly known to all and likely to be discussed on any liberal/progressive-leaning media program...

...then got angry because that "credit" was not given...

...then started talking about how "He won't have me on his show, and I don't know why..."

...and started talking about how she had heard that I was "not a nice person," and she had been told "Don't fall in love with him" for that reason, and that "Nobody who meets him likes him as a person"...

...well, I probably wouldn't like her very much. :shrug: Go figure.

One fallacy Keith constantly warns his viewers against is post hoc, ergo propter hoc, or "after this, therefore because of this." In other words, just because one event follows another doesn't mean the first event CAUSED the second event.

Randi assumes that each time her show features a story on a certain topic, and Keith's touches on the same topic that night or the next day or two days later, that this is because Keith and his producers are listening to her show and "stealing" her story ideas, and she wants proper credit for this. It never seems to occur to her that if a topic or issue is in the news, chances are a LOT of shows will touch on it in their own way. I.e., she doesn't necessarily originate every hot topic out there. Nor does it ever occur to her that it is possible for more than one person to arrive at the same idea or thought simultaaneously. She seems to think she's the only thinking person in the progressive media and if not for her, none of the rest would have any ideas or thoughts at all.

Chances are that if she has ever actually approached Keith and accused him of "stealing" his show's story ideas from her, he has regarded that as an arrogant display of post hoc, ergo propter hoc and told her to piss up a rope.

And because of that, she's now spreading the word about how, well, KO's got a great show and all, but as a human being, he's terrible--ask anyone who's ever met him!

Mind you, this is all just my theory. But I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that it's true.

Oh, and let me just say: John Dean and Jonathan Turley seem to have made a LOT more appearances on Randi's show since Keith started featuring them on his. But I won't fall for that post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. Not me!

[JuniperLea]

40. Well, that said...

Seems my take on her swollen ego is spot on... I've heard some rumblings such as those, and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see how those pieces fit the puzzle.

[frustrated_lefty]

45. I'm just wondering where the Randi brigade is.

Let the gods strike down any fool for not bowing at the arcane mysteries and truths hidden beneath Randi's demeanor. It's certainly not like she's a self-important, arrogant bitch, right?

[K8-EEE]

50. They're sick of her too!

Worst show on AAR....

[otohara]

61. Here's A Typical Interview on Randi's Show

I, I, I, me, me, me, mine, I, I, me, me, me, and "don't piss me off". She actually compared the Iraq war as lasting as long as HER marriage.

And she never let's us forget that she is the only person who watches C-span.

Because she has so few guests on her show (my guess, they know she makes their interviews all about her and avoid her like the plague) it's her callers that get the brunt of her anger and superior attitude. She's mean and downright nasty to those who profess to love her. What a rag!

[tbyg52]

41. I'm fairly tired of her as well,

but she's the only afternoon drive time liberal talker I can get, so.....

(I should go back to listening to music, I guess. ;) )

[PatSeg]

46. I agree with a lot of what she says, but not the way she says it

Thom Hartmann talks to conservatives all the time and he is always respectful and polite. I have a low threshold for rudeness.

[K8-EEE]

47. She's SO rude and full of herself!

I can't stand listening to her....and I agree with her on most things! She's Bill-O like with the on-air screaming at guests. She could take a page from K.O's book f or sure.

[Bentcorner]

53. I thought I was the only one that didn't care too much for her show.

She tends to get on my nerves. My wife refuses to even listen. Not only does Randi have an abrasive manner, she tends to get her facts wrong. For instance, I remember listening to her talk about Iran-Contra and when she referred to arms for hostages, she made reference to the American hostages that were held in Iran for 444 days. Not the hostages held by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[otohara]

55. There's A Reason Why So Few Guests

are on her show. I, I, I, me, me, me, I, mine, me, and her latest "don't piss me off"

[byronius]

58. Sorry. Couldn't disagree with all of you more.

Apparently this stuff sails right over my head. Her style of fact-finding is thrilling to me. Unique. I don't much care what personality it's wrapped in.

If I was looking for personality, I'd watch Couric.

[npincus]

59. I love Randi

..nobody is perfect.

[Froward69]

60. She seems to

be using o'reily/rush style of talk for our side. unbecoming if ya ask me.

[liberalla]

63. I can't help thinking he doesn't want to be discussed on a

personal level by Randi. Professionally is fine, but she gets gossipy telling stories about people. If she felt slighted in some way, we'll be hearing about it for a LONG time. She spends a LOT of time talking about 'famous' people she knows. On and on and on... It gets old and I can't listen. She admits to being star struck and in awe of certain celebrities. I think Keith may want to avoid having all aspects of her experience as a guest on his show being discussed for hours, days, weeks, etc. Especially if she's got a gripe.

I like Randi. I like Melissa Etheridge. I love Al and Tipper Gore, but how many times do we have to hear about being backstage with them at Live Earth? How many times do we have to hear about Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins New Year's Eve party?

[PollThis]

65. I think that cruise had a negative affect on her. She changed after that. IMO. nt

[BlueGirlRedState]

66. I love Randi

I listen to her on the drive home, and catch up on what I missed with her podcast as I'm driving to work the next morning. She's brash, she's funny, she talks, talks, talks. I love her and I learn from her. I'd never call her but I'd love to attend something to hear her talk live.

Sure, I like Rachel Maddow but I need a Randi fix every day!

I just listened to yesterday's podcast with John Dean and nobody can convince me there isn't a mutal admiration society there. He even said everywhere he goes, people tell him they are big Randi fans and hear him on her show.

So, amid all the Randi bashing here, I can unabashedly said, "Randi, I love you more."

[TornadoTN]

69. Agreed- its all Randi, all the time to her

Used to enjoy listening to her show, but then something happened and she changed. The insight that I was used to getting was turned into a drama fest and a self-serving talk show host in love with her own voice and opinions.

I finally tuned her off a year or so ago when she smacked down what seemed to be an older man that was obviously in agreement with her but was having a hard time formulating his answer. She mocked him openly and hung up on him. Never again.