September 26, 2006
Former ESPN “Journalist” Pontificates
10:31 of left-wing propaganda based on one inaccuracy after another and this passes for journalism on MSNBC. It would be humorous if it wasn’t so sad and people were actually influenced by and agreed with Keith Olbermann. Little Green Footballs has linked to the video of “Olbermann's Latest Crazy Rant” and of course the transcript is available as well.
I channeled surfed a bit last night catching the opening of Olbermann’s ‘Countdown’, which is usually about all I can stomach of his show. So it certainly isn’t surprising to see this come out of his very special comment. After I switched him off I came to Glenn Beck who was running through his “what I know and what I don’t know” segment. He said (paraphrasing), “What I know is that we should ignore the D or the R behind someone’s name this November and vote not for a party, but for an American. We should find out what we can about the candidates running and vote whether or not they will help America or not.”
On the surface of this statement I would completely agree and if only our political process took place in a vacuum this would be a grand idea. Being an idealist myself I can certainly sympathize with his sentiments as in every election, all things being equal, we should vote for the candidate that most reflects our views and would do the greatest good for our country. The only problem with that is currently our political climate is so polarized and the directions that each party wants to go are so divergent.
If Olbermann represents and buddies up to the King of Democrats like Clinton and shows his blatant disregard for even the smallest of facts to which set him off on this mistaken rant, then there is a pretty clear choice and division between the two parties. Some say that Fox is just as blatant for its right wing propaganda, but how does that explain the opening of the Grapevine last night where Fox reported that the very same “monkey posing as a newscaster” (Olbermann’s words) interviewed Secretary Rumsfeld challenging him with a very similar question of the government’s failures to adequately deal with Osama bin Laden?
So yes I would encourage all voters to be educated on the issues before our country and the stances of those running for political office this November. But don’t be fooled into thinking that all ideas are equally meritorious of our attention and don’t ignore the overall trend of a political party. Olbermann calls President Bush a coward and then asks in his conclusion if he is a true American; a possible conclusion if the facts were correct and merited equal attention to the mound of evidence to the contrary. Unfortunately for MSNBC, the Clinton’s and the DNC – a litany of complaints does not make for a policy nor does it move the country in a direction of peace.
True American? True Cowardice? The arbiter of truth will decide and history will reflect His decision.
Posted by price at September 26, 2006 11:45 AM | TrackBackI don't watch MSNBC and briefly tried to follow your links, but then I realized I don't care about Olbermann; he's just a journalist (that's what I gather from your blog at least--and I'm hoping his show is at least an editorial of sorts like O'Reilly's), and I don't think he's a voter's best representative of the Democratic party--just as the moronic morning anchors on Fox news don't represent the Republican party.
While it does seem like there is a division between the two primary parties, I don't think some journalist's television program is a good barometer for the true choices or division between the parties. Nor do I think one clip of Fox can refute the claims that its has a distinct right wing bent. I'm not sure any of the networks are really striving for unbiased reporting (although I admittedly do not watch as many of these shows as you do). I'm guessing that a lot of these "journalists" (on CNN, Fox News, etc.) are trying to increase ratings by being less than professional--interrupting guests, being extremist in their comments, etc.
As for what I do agree with in your post: it's not as much of a voting for the person anymore (and ignoring their political affiliation). And that's too bad. I'm not sure if I've changed or if the political climate has just changed, but I think about a lot more than just the quality of the person running (particularly in elections for president, senator, house rep.). Do you think that it's destined to stay this way?
You make a good point that the media is not necessarily a very good barometer of what a national party believes. Whether they lean one way or another it is difficult not to editorialize to some degree when presenting the news. The problem is that the foundation of what Olbermann had to say doesn’t come from editorialized news, but from leaders in the Democratic party (Nancy Pelosi – House minority leader, Harry Reid – Senate minority leader, Howard Dean – DNC Chairman, John Kerry – 2004 Democratic Presidential Nominee & current Senator, Al Gore – former Vice President, Hillary Clinton – former First Lady & current Senator & Bill Clinton – former President). That’s not the media skewing reporting that is the words of the party leadership.
I honestly don’t know what the future holds for our political climate. My hope is that things will change and our country will be able to come together in a clearer consensus then we currently seem to have. There are advocates for change and since our politicians are representatives of our country there is hope for the future. A government by the people and for the people will reflect the desires of the people. Let us hope those desires are built on the rock of humility, love and respect for one another.
Posted by: Jeff Price at September 27, 2006 03:32 PM