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Olbermann tonight (video at Crooks & Liars):
Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space… and to this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.
Still, there is a last snapping flame from a final candle of respect and fairness: even his most virulent critics have never suggested he alone bears the full brunt of the blame for 9/11.Half the time, in fact, this President has been so gently treated, that he has seemed not even to be the man most responsible — for anything — in his own administration.
Yet what is happening this very night.
A mini-series, created, influenced — possibly financed by — the most radical and cold of domestic political Machiavellis, continues to be televised into our homes.
The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted; the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem like the only option.
How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death… after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections… how dare you or those around you… ever "spin" 9/11.
And the Clinton crew tell Greg Sargent the whole craptacular spectacle is "disgraceful."
Looks like churning wingnut bullshit for fun and profit is neither as fun nor as profitable as it used to be, eh?
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I love Olbermann. I wonder how long before GE fires him.
OLBERMANN!!! Definately taking his place as the Murrow of our times…
Olbermann! Jane! Christy!
I will forever be madly in love with Keith Olbermann. Stirring words if I’ve ever heard them.
Jane
KO
The man is on fire.
Can’t let that happen. Email support to
dabrams@msnbc.com
viewerservices@msnbc.com
KO’d Again
I mentioned earlier in the day how I woman arrived at the store where I work, all shook up because she had been “thinking about The Path to 911 all day”. She believed it was a re-enactment of true events and said “I had no idea they let Bin Laden get away, that it was Clinton”. I set her straight and told her to look on line, but criminy! She’s never struck me as a dummy, she was just plain duped!
I think when we look back at these incredibly horrendous times. A time when the Bush Admin, Karl “Miss Piggy” Rove, Darth Cheney, The WORSE Secretary of State ever, blatently lie on TV, in front of the world, politicize death and destruction, the ONLY voice of dissent and reason on the National stage will be that of Keith Olbermann. Tonight, he outdid himself, in serious and incredibly intelligent words, he spoke for US. All of us who are in pain everyday with what this friggin disgrace of an administration is doing to our country and to this planet. I am so moved by what Keith did tonight I have no words, he said it all. Thanks Jane for highlighting him tonight.
So when is a Democratic canidate going to ask “Aren’t Americans Strong. Aren’t real american’s resilient? We don’t need to hide. We can stand tall and bring to justice those to those who cause harm. So why, Mr. President do you keep trying to scare the American People? Do you really think we are that weak?
By the time he finished speaking I had tears in my eyes. We need to send more thank-you notes to all the people at MSNBC:
viewerservices@msnbc.com
letters@msnbc.com
countdown@msnbc.com
KOlbermann@msnbc.com
dabrams@MSNBC.com
I still had them in my “sent mail” folder from last time, so let’s get to it! He’s the only one speaking for us on (non-Comedy Channel) TV at the moment – if we lose him, I’ll have tears running down my face!
KO youtooooobed
Gee. Olbermann is something else. He just may be the legitimate heir to the Murrow mantle.
On the down side, who would have thought that a journalist speaking the plain, unvarnished truth would become a cause for celebration?
On the up side–Olbermann rocks!
A moment of silence is in order…followed by a standing ovation.
F@#$ing comcast. ATL standard cable doesn’t get MSNBC.
Plenty of snake handling church broadcasts, though.
Keith Olbermann is the only member of the network media who has been telling the truth since the 2004 “election”. Mr. Olbermann, Keep it Going!
Fox is pimping that Kerik dude.
Isn’t he the one that used the condo donated to the WTC rescue workers to bang chix?
T- @ 17
T- coming soon to you!
He was better than my most fervent hopes! Thank goodness his voice has not been stilled.
I wonder what Keith O. and Jon Stewart would have said 10 years ago (when Keith was an ESPN anchor and Stewart was doing whatever) if you told them that in a decade, they’d be virtually the last sane people on television.
Swopa @ 21
They would have told you to stop kidding around and pass the joint.
KEITH!
God bless Keith. I caught him on C & L. Brilliant and powerful. My breath was taken away. I am close to tears.
Question – aside – was Bush on all networks? And, did he pre-empt football, or was it half-time?
DrySherry,
Tks for the addies; consider it done.
To all at FDL home……KO just said THANK YOU for the back breaking work you’ve put in over the past two weeks!
I just read the comprehensive article in The Nation, The ABC 9/11 Docudrama’s Right-Wing Roots . It brings all the pieces together, for those who would like the research in one place.
It got me wondering whether there is more research to be done. I suppose I could do a Diary over at Kos, but instead I’ll just put a few links here in case someone wants to follow up on this.
It seems to me that we need to get to Iger at ABC (through the blogs, of course) some additional information on how ABC got taken on this. I suspect that an internal investigation may turn up a lot. He may as well do the investigation now, for he is going to have to do it as part of discovery in the lawsuits to be filed against ABC.
David Cunningham, the director, has long been associated with YWAM, which his father set up. The Nation has what may be one mistake, asserting that the son (David) founded YWAM. Not so sure about that.
But I used Google with these two search terms (both in quotes in my search):
“youth with a mission” “david cunningham”
After you plow past the web sites using these terms in the past week, you get to the better stuff, which I am not sure others have yet reported upon. For example:
In LTS New Zealand Report in a Christianist magazine website from 2000 we learn that YWAM was founded 40 years before that, that its New Zealand “Leadership Training School” (LTS) contributed $14,000 toward production of David Cunningham’s film “To End All Wars.”
What’s that film? Well, according to the magazine Christianity Today in 2002, it’s The R-Rated Film That We’re Not Supposed to Call Christian.
And just why would that be?
As for what that film is really up to, you can take a look at the review and other material from 2002 on the HollywoodJesus website..
OK, gotta run. Maybe others will take up the chase.
The Bush Doctrine has created a brand new democratic nation in the heart of the Middle East.
A region where the people are supporting the leaders of their choosing.
It is in the area formerly known as Al Anbar province in Iraq.
It is now known as:
Al-Qaedastan.
-GSD
Oh yeah, Amen Keith.
On a sad day, several good things come to mind;
1. Keith Olberman
2. The jesus-crackers seem to be eating themselves toward extinction (personal observation)
3.50 years from now, GWB(may he burn in hell) will be the most reviled American in history.
Monday Night Football is now on ESPN.
I am spotlighting this post to Fred Hiatt. The shameless opposite of K.O.
Another great one.
Iger and the mouse are among those who think net neutrality is a bad thing. I don’t trust these people to decide what priority web content should receive.
If Disney is opposing Net Neutrality, you know it isn’t because they trust cable companies.
Link
EPU’d
As Jane once posted and she’s right. You NEVER repeat your enemies propaganda. Bush does exactly that, idiot.
He’s elevated bin Laden to a super power when he should be the stone cold dead leader of a gang of 19 thugs with box cutters. Grrr….
I, too, just caught Ko on C%L. Spoken like a true patriot. I could almost hear the echo of Patrick Henry in the background.
Took a moment towatch the video of Matt Lauer with Chimpy and Matt di a pretty decent version of a full court press.
Why don’t we email these both clips to every single one of our Democratic Congressmen and women tomorrow and say, this is how it’s done, folks. This is what a mid-term victory is going to take.
WOW! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Mr. Olbermann, or should I say, Ubermann (imagine an umlaut on the ‘U’)!!!
KO, you are a prince among men.
By tomorrow there is going to be a huge blowback from the right wing. I think we can expect a Fred Hiatt editorial by Wednesday, if it’s too late for tomorrow. The WSJ editorial page will be calling MSNBC irresponsible, and the right wing talk shows will be calling for KO’s firing, and even hanging. Ed Gillespie and Mehlman will be all over the talk shows, and it will be a major story on Fox all day. How dare the liberal media insult the President of the United States, and call for his impeachment, on a major cable network just minutes before the President himself addresses the nation regarding a national tragedy?
This has never happened in tv history — though this kind of thing was probably common in the print media during the Civil War. Murrow took on a Senator. KO, and MSNBC, just took on the President of the United States.
We should be ready for the blowback. They can’t let this go, because if they do, it’s open season on Bush and the Republicans and their entire 2006 campaign strategy. This is much bigger than the ABC 9/11 saga alone, because what KO has done is condemn ABC’s movie’s sponsors and the President’s manipulation of 9/11, linking the two in the same breath. I am startled that MSNBC allowed this.
OT – TRex, rwcole and *ilson
From the last post…Lois Reitzes, Atlanta NPR DJ, started her “Second Cup” show the second Wednesday in November 2000 with the Rossini piece, The Thieving Magpie. It was brilliant.
Olbermann. What a clear-eyed brave man.
If you love Keith like I do, be sure to watch him everyday and encourage your friends and family do the same. GE will keep him on the air forever if he gets good ratings..it’s up to us.
scarecrow…the coprorate shirts ONLY give a crap about ratings. Wingnuttiaville will be hollarin from the balconies, but no one will be listenin. Remember OUR voice is LOUDER these days. Send out emails to all the suits at MSNBC and NBC praising Keith…..they will get the message. The ratings for him tonight must have been through the roof, all of the blogosphere was anticipating and emailing EVERYONE to watch Countdown tonight…that is all those suits want…RATINGS…let the wingnuts hollar, Iwe all love seeing them stew in their own putrid bile.
scarecrow@37 agree that the scum can’t ignore KO any longer. If GE shit-can him who will give him a platform?
It’s a reasonable question to ask–how long Olbermann will last at MSNBC. What happened to Donahue could happen to Olbermann. I saw this morning that Eric Alterman’s “Altercation” blog got bounced from the MSNBC web page (and, fortuitously, moved to Media Matters).
But, the old adage that “the press is only free for the guy that owns one” is doubly true for anything owned by GE. They’re not about to have anyone around that might upset their cozy relationship with this government.
After 5 years of byes, a team seems to be taking the field. Seems like its NBC: Brian Williams, KO, Lauer (worth watching if you haven’t seen it), Russert all over Bigtime.
These guys all get B-12 shots at the same time or what?
keith is way kewel
montag….part of Olbermans MO is that he tell ALL. If they fire him, he will use the media on themselves. He wouldn’t think twice about blasting MSNBC…they know it, so as long as the rating keep going up, they will leave him be…now Wingnuttiaville will be lit up tomm. Can’t wait to see them boiling in their own oil….LMAO
T- @ 19
Oh, more than that. From the New Yorker:
He’s prime Fox material, isn’t he?
I agree, windje.
NBC has seemed to be standing up a bit lately – moreso after Keith’s first “special commentary” regarding Rumsfeld.
The response from that must have been truly remarkable.
Could NBC be pondering an anti-Fox image? Especially in light of ABC’s sharp right turn?
One can only hope.
redshift…Joe Barfborough had the CRIMINAL on too. I shut it off.
Franco @ 41
I’ve watched his ratings like a hawk since last November. After his Rumsfeld rant it took a couple of days to impact the ratings (up!)! So I’m looking for Wednesday as for a noticible bump ; )
scarecrow @ 37
Freddie’s living in the past. Hiring himself some more neocon help, just when the rest of the country has FINALLY HAD ENOUGH!
Eat it, Fred.
And now, let’s pound these forkers into the pavement.
You know that Clash song?
Let’s use it! SPOTLIGHT
Olberman is clearly on a crusade of sorts. I hope this is not a take this job and shove it moment, right before he gets “Rathered”.
Just keep e-mailing support to MSNBC, and hope the ratings and positive feedback keep him on the air.
Keith is the new fitz (now that fitz fizzled).
.
alittlemusicalityplease @
34
I LIKE that idea! Let’s get our Dems speaking out!
I so admire KO. He really KO’d tonight!
Fitz!
EPUed from the previous thread:
al-Scooter @ 236
yowzer @ 53
Brave talk on this blog, Yowser, but someone had to say it.
I’m so glad you posted this. His words tonight really affected me.
Important people, people in power, usually do not like words like his.
But we do. They ask for the best in us. They challenge us.
Americans respond to that, big time.
Keith is terrific.. the only thin g worth watching on cable. Alison Stewart maybe has potential one day…
Countdown was about the only show in my Nielsen diary last month. I hope it helps.
I checked wiki on Kerik (and linked to it in a comment eaten by comcast broadband).
He has a rap sheet, ethics violations and his kids’ godfather is Rudy.
Sounds like a little wingnut rehab going on over there at pox.
But how will Act III look?
This from Max Blumenthal’s Nation piece:
Max, who’s your Daddy? This is great! (And I am prepared to believe it. We’ve seen far worse stupidity from corporate America.)
My question now is, Will ABC issue a corrective statement? I don’t think so unless one of the defamation plaintiffs slaps it with a lawsuit and spurs settlement talks. Let’s hope one does.
If Ray Richmond is right, Jane, and the quid pro quo for this fake-you-out-amentary was essentially Jeb’s work for Disneyworld, the stakes are a lot smaller for ABC than I thought coming into today.
The senator Murrow took on was a larger than life figure, not a garden variety chamber hanger.
I do believe it is ironic that the left wing has become the law and order segment of the US.
Feingold/Olbermann ‘08!
scarecrow @37
I’m not so sure we’ll see blowback tomorrow so much as bloviating blowhards who can’t handle clear-eyed, unadulterated truth.
Tonight Keith showed Dems exactly what it takes to win: Tell the truth. Take a stand. Make it stick. Don’t give in.
Such powerful commentary, so small an audience. MSNBC “talking heads” reach just a few hundred thousand people. In most cases, it’s the choirmaster preaching to the choir. Few right-wingers watch Keith. Hopefully, a few middle-of-the-roaders were tuned-in.
1*
Not too long. Altercation is history.
alittlemusicalityplease says:
I am using that with your permission and it rhymes, too!
??
Olberman makes me proud to be an American.
Almost.
I have just seen the movie, 9/11 Press for Truth. I think I am still in a state of shock, but I recommend the movie. Really, I am spinning and can’t compose my thoughts — I am so glad I made the effort to see it.
http://www.911pressfortruth.com/
CaliforniaDrySherry @ 12
Done. Thanks for the handy dandy email addresses! I heart Keith O and FDL!
MsAnnaNOLA @ 72
I just sent all them emails, too, praising Keith!
OK, firedogs, without giving in to our own giddyness or affection for Olbermann, stepping back as much as possibly can:
Does this special comment go into history alongside Murrow’s commentary about McCarthy?
I honestly believe it does. I got chills watching it live, and for the first time in years — decades? — I recognized that somebody on TV was telling the unvarnished truth, the uncomfortable truth for many, that maybe the veil of truthiness was starting finally to fall apart.
For the first time in adult memory (and I am 41), I felt hope.
God bless Keith Olbermann.
Olberman still isn’t getting any viewers. He’s been stuck at 400,000 forever. That’s half of CNN and a fourth of Hannity, O’Reilly, etc.
I don’t think he has any sway with people, because he makes too many mistakes.
Like when he claimed sarin gas would only give you a “sunburn”.
mary jane @
9
I am terribly afraid that if we don’t make significant headway in this election and all out win the next in ‘08 that America as we knew it will be gone forever. The repugnacan propaganda machine is going into overdrive. These next 6 weeks or so are going to be ugly.
I didn’t realize until tonight’s beginning credits that Thomas H. Kean was Co-Executive Producer on PT911. What a flagrant abuse of the nation’s trust vested in him as chairman of the 911 Commission. He entered into and profited from a commercial enterprise that exploited, politicized, and misrepresented his committee’s findings. When are we going to excoriate him publicly as he deserves, not merely for being a “consultant”, but for being a frigging executive producer of this travesty? He is getting a relative skate on his role. I am outraged and livid, and he should not be allowed to claim that he merely gave the filmmakers advice which they could choose to ignore. He IS the filmmaker.
T- @
19
He is also being investigated for taking improper gifts from reputed mob members when he was police commssioner. Lovely Guiliani’s administration.
Keith was outstanding.
.
TheRef @ 66
Every ccmment he makes gets posted on youtube and gets a hundred thousand views or more. It also gets linked on innumerable web sites like this one.
m’kay, yer probably right, Rocket @ 75.
gosh, darn, my hopes ruint again…
NOT!
Truth wins. You watch!
(see, *ilson, I can learn!)
JAMES MORGANTE
GUEST COLUMNIST
An Aug. 8 Seattle P-I editorial asked, “Where are the facts? Where is the evidence?” about government complicity in the 9/11 attacks.
The case for complicity begins with motive and benefit. In his 1997 book “The Grand Chessboard,” Zbigniew Brzezinski argues that the key to global dominance in the 21st century lies in control of Central Asian oil and gas reserves. Establishing a U.S. presence there would require the kind of military deployment that only “a direct external threat” could justify.
And in a 2000 paper titled “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” Project for a New American Century, whose founding members were Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, argued for vast increases in military spending to assure American global dominance. Such a process, PNAC said, would take time absent “a catastrophic and catalyzing event — like a new Pearl Harbor.” Military deployment into Central Asia followed 9/11, as well as their desired increases in military spending.
The symmetry between the 9/11 attacks and U.S. policy goals is but the backdrop to the case for government complicity. The picture becomes clearer through considering the following:
Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed, the head of the Pakistani intelligence service, was in Washington when the attacks occurred, conferring with government officials. The Indian press subsequently implicated him in wiring $100,000 to Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker. When the story broke, he was pressured into retirement at U.S. insistence. His link to the attacks was never pursued.
Two FBI agents approached attorney David Schippers with specific foreknowledge about the attacks. His repeated calls to Attorney General John Ashcroft were never returned. An article in New American on March 11, 2002, corroborated the agents’ story. They claimed that knowledge of the plot was widespread within the FBI for months before 9/11.
The air defense system breakdown on the day of Sept. 11 was unprecedented. Well-practiced protocols for dealing with suspected hijackings failed to function for an astonishing 90 minutes. The little-known existence of “coincidental” military war games has since been exposed, which undoubtedly caused confusion. And now, the chairman and vice-chairman of the 9/11 Commission claim (in a new book, “Without Precedent”) that the military was less than completely honest.
The collapse of steel-frame buildings — such as the World Trade Center Towers — due to fire is unprecedented. The collapse of Building 7, which was not hit by a plane, is especially inexplicable. Its collapse late in the afternoon of Sept. 11 exhibited 10 specific features of a controlled demolition, as did the collapse of the Twin Towers. More important, numerous eyewitnesses attest to hearing multiple explosions at the time. And, Steven Jones, a professor at Brigham Young University, discovered Thermate, an incendiary compound, in two molten steel samples taken from the site.
From the beginning, the Bush administration delayed and otherwise impeded the investigation, preferring to focus on the foreign invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq enabled by the attacks.
op99 @ 77
Actually he’s not the filmmaker. An executive producer is more like a facilitator who makes the filmmaking possible. But I agree that he misrepresented his role and should be admonished. It’s just one more example of how people in power think they can play both sides of the street without consequence.
A breakdown of Bush’s “911″ speech. Text is now available here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news…..911-3.html
Speech total: 2623 words
Beginning actually on 911: 382
Al Qaeda: 479
Iraq: 516
GWOT: 841
Pointless heartwarming anecdote: 268
Concluding remarks: 137
Bush spent a little less than 15% of his speech addressing the tragedy of 911. al-Qaeda, Iraq and GWOT which to him are one and the same accounted for some 70% of it. Kind of telling if you ask me.
If this is true, then by tomorrow, the following things will/should have occurred:
1. An emergency bill to reintroduce the draft will be put before Congress.
2. Every man and woman in the ready reserve will be called up.
3. US troops will be immediately shifted from other parts of the world, including Korea, Germany, Eastern Europe, Afghanistan, etc.
4. The bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans will be repealed.
5. The country will be mobilized.
6. There will be emergency meetings of the UN Security Council and NATO.
etc.
OR
The Administration will commission a set of new polling to see how public opinion is going after his speech.
Any bets on which of these will happen?
Tomorrow’s NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09…..ref=slogin
Did anyone receive a response, other than the auto-reply, from emails to American Airlines?
i’ve been watching keith for about a year now as he seemed to be the only news person around who hadn’t been nipping at the gop kool-aid. he’s really been putting it into gear in the last few months and with the recent “comment” pieces he has just flat out been kicking ass. i only hope that he inspires a few more of the sleeping fouth estate to wake from dream land and start telling it like it is.
TWO MORE HEROS on a day of remembering heros:
Stephen Colbert shamed journalists as he called out the President at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner with jokes. He did what the press should have done, made you think about how the Emperor had no clothes. And the contrast between his effective communication and the lack of effective communication by the press was dramatic. That’s why they didn’t laugh; they were stunned by someone who did their job better and with flair.
Tonight, Keith Olbermann, The Eloquent showed politicians what they should have been doing. That Rod Sterling and Twilight Zone can speak to a nation is testimony to Keith’s genius. Like Keith did tonight, men/women of good will in both parties should have been challenging the President’s penchant for questioning patriotism, for dividing the nation, for spreading fear and discord and for using 9/11 for political purposes. Well done, KO!
Rocket @ 75
Rocket at 75 — well, actually, Keith’s numbers have been going up — and he just surpassed Paula Zahn at CNN. MyDD has the scoop on his ratings increases. You might want to check your sources.
I still think the events of the past week point to an October surprise announcement that Osama bin Laden has either been captured or killed.
1) The Pakistan government has been under intense pressure from the Bush administation to track down and capture Osama bin Laden. The other day, Pakistani authorities reached an agreement with the Taliban tribal leaders in western Pakistan along the Afghanistan border, essentially agreeing to leave them alone, even though bin Laden is thought to be hiding out in this area. Why the sudden removal of U.S. pressure to find bin Laden? Was it because he’s been captured and is now in U.S. custody somewhere?
2) People have noticed in the past week that the Bush administration recently cannot seem to keep repeating Osama bin Laden’s name often enough, even though they had stopped mentioning his name in 2002. I guess so maybe people would forget that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld let bin Laden escape from Afghanistan (and Tora Bora) in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks? Why the sudden shift in strategy? Why the change from bin Laden’s name being unmentionable to where the Bush administration can’t stop from mentioning his name every chance they get? Could it be because they are getting ready for a major announcement that he’s either been captured or killed?
3) Bushco rolls out their “The Path to 9/11″ propaganda piece that slams President Bill Clinton in the first half of the miniseries, inventing scenes and putting words in people’s mouths, while letting off George W. Bush with a slap on the wrist in the latter half. Oh, and during the second half Bush delivers a speech in primetime, showing how decisive he’s been in protecting us from the right-wing religious terrorists in a way that Clinton didn’t. In other words, Clinton let Osama bin Laden escape to wreak the horror of 9/11 while Bush, if my conjecture is correct, will reveal in the next 45 days that he’s captured or killed bin Laden, thus making us safer from attacks.
4) Bush has ordered special forces units into eastern Afghanistan, “flooding” the area, to find and capture Osama bin Laden. But wait, I thought bin Laden was hiding out on the other side of the border in Pakistan? And unless bin Laden gets lost wandering from cave to cave, I really doubt he’d cross over into Afghanistan to be captured. Strange. Unless our special forces units are planning on going into Pakistan. Or maybe this is just a pretext for “finding” Osama bin Laden, even though he’s already in custody, as I believe.
5) Bush orders the closing of the secret CIA detention centers in Eastern Europe (and elsewhere) in which al Qaeda suspects were held and tortured in an attempt to a) stop further right-wing religious terrorist attacks and b) find out where Osama bin Laden has been hiding. Oh, wait, if bin Laden is in U.S. custody then at least one of the purposes of the al Qaeda suspects being tortured for information is no longer relevant.
6) A video was recently “leaked” showing Osama bin Laden fleeing Tora Bora and heading to Pakistan to hide. Almost like a home movie? Maybe something Osama bin Laden would have kept in his possession? Something found with him when he was captured and susequently turned over to U.S. authorities along with him?
Anyway, this is why I think the October surprise will be that Osama bin Laden has either been captured or is dead. And Bushco is doing their best to lay the groundwork for this revelation…one dot at a time.
Rocket,
I totally disagree. This Nation is starved for someone like Olbermann; someone who will stand up to these crooks in power. His editorial will spread like wildfire over the Internet, just wait and see.
Oh Jon takes it to the Path to 9/11…
jiminy cricket on a crutch! LOL
ReneND @
7
If Olbermann gets the ax, it won’t be Dan Abrams’s call; just like how Phil Donohue was canned, even though his was, at the time, the highest-rated show on MSNBC.
Someone wanted Phil gone, and Phil was gone. We have no control over these things.
I love Keith, but I’m truly surprised he has lasted this long; and I won’t be shocked in the slightest if they cancel his show.
i just finished watching the last segment of “The Path to 911″. It is followed by the disclaimer which they showed about every hour. The program segues into a “Special Edition Prime Time” with Charles Gibson called “911: Where We Stand” or some rot. Gibson intones: You’ve just seen the drama how we got to 911, now we take a special look at where we are today.” We also hear how Al Qaida is very much togetehr and to be feared. We can get attacked again any day! I stopped watching this cant right then. The shift from “entertainment” to “news” was seamless. Gibson says “we” are aware of how controversial this movie has become but never mentions why.
Part of the reason has to be a complete revision of the events of 911 from the perspective of the White House and Washington D.C. No “My Pet Goat” or “where’s Dick Chneney? in this version. In the movie, Dick Cheney (or his movie counterpart) is front and center in the situation room at the White House. In the last hour of the movie, we are shown the White House with Cheney in a situation room with Clarke and Condoliza Rice talking about a shoot down order. In the movie, Clarke gives the order but some othe guy says he can’t do it: Only the President can give such a command.
Now with the “real time” clocks showing 9:59 a.m. , they finally get the order from the President via telephone that the F-15’s can shoot down any aircraft.I guess this is the “time compression” they warned about, as if anybody would ever guess this was time compressed. I’m pretty sure I was just hearing about the attacks at 9:50 CDT.
Is this movie propaganda? I ask myself, why would anybody make a fictionalized “docudrama” about an event which has to have more real time actual footage of events than any moment in history other than maybe the landing on the moon. And then have it act as a lead up to a “news segment” in which the ruling party’s major points about fear and terrorism and another 911 attack are driven home with a sledge hammer.
There is only one answer and that this is propaganda. Maybe Disney/ABC never broke any law with this broadcast and maybe it won’t change the upcoming election or shift in this country’s way of thinking and acting like a bunch of frightened children. But it certainly stepped over the line and did itself and the country and great disservice by presenting it at this time and place.
But thanks for your concern, Rocket.
montag @
43
Then we’ll BOYCOTT GE!
It can be done, as Disney/ABC et al are about to experience.
the hawk @ 82
There was a guy (still is, but different name) who called himself “Rocket” on the DFA blog for America who single-handedly turned the blog into something closely resembling a cesspit.
Just sayin’.
what Op99 said
My 12 year-old son has been told to watch the news this year, and we are recording Olbermann. When I returned from getting his sister late from school tonight, he said, Mom you have to see this as he lined up the TIVO. This is the third of these powerful statements from Olbermann I have heard over the past week. Thank the spirits. A voice telling the truth, and embodying the passion we all feel and know. All of us together are making a difference, one day at a time. I think I am getting even more hopeful and sense that the tide really is turning.
GOD BLESS KEITH OLBERMANN, the only truthful news correspondent, except for of course, Jon Stewart!
Peace
Mack @ 100
What Mack said
New thread
I’m thinking Osama is already in custody but making the story exciting is taking a little bit extra time – needs some edits and rewrites… if shrub is smart he won’t use the same filmakers that produced the crapumentary…
Olberman almost makes me want to get cable
but then i have the internet
oh, and before i discovered the blogosphere, Newsweek (NBC) was the only CM source that even seemed to realize that there might be some other ways to look at things. More than NPR in 2004. Just sayin’
What we should all realize by now is that terrorists’ methods are only truly effective when they are bolstered by our own fear
as KO so aptly remembered the Twilight Zone episode.
9-11 was very effective for a 1 million dollar operation requiring less than 100 people’s involvement (likely closer to 30 or 40 actually operationally involved)
But, by invading Iraq and reducing our ‘influence’ in the Mideast as well as our effectivness against natural disasters (Katrina), our administration has applied a 20-100 fold multiplier of the damages in lives and dollars. While a handfull get wealthy in the process.
There is a special corner in Hell for people who abuse their leadership responsibilities.
The Oracle @91–
You may very wll be right about bin Ladin. It is odd that Bush has gone from “don’t really think much about him” in 2002 to 17 mentions per speech in the last few days. Not to mention the timing of the ABC mockumentary. I guess we’ll see.
Damn!
EPUed in a heartbeat
pluege @
79
I worry for him. Bob Altemeyer got the axe from MDNBC today.
Cheney,Rummy,Rice and Bush2 have all been
allowed to twist facts,context and storytell
repeatedly.
Russert needed to call Cheney out as a
liar–as in not telling the truth on Sunday.
That is what it comes down to. Sir, based
on facts and documented evidence you are
a liar to state it in the way you do.
Failure to be this blunt over the act of
telling lies serves the liars agenda. No
one elses.
PT9/11 tells lies. Not based on facts or
documented evidence. So call it out for what
it does.Telling lies.
On Sunday it would have been very useful
to see Cheney state he was not a liar and
for Russert to follow-up on that assertion
by showing that what Cheney was doing was
indeed just that, telling lies.
Russert failed. ABC failed. The MSM has
failed at this.
What hold does the GOP and its enablers
have on the MSM to hold off such a simple
and direct consequence?
Huffingtonpost notes that Washington Post
has hired ex Bush2 WH speech writer for its
OP-ED page. That papers pro-Israeli slant,
pro-GOP slant and pro-Bush2 WH just grows
and grows. Perhaps time to simply retitle
that rag—call it the Washington GOP Slant.
The tone and wording of that papers ME
coverage,DC coverage and the pandering to
GOP message soft sell undermining that papers
credibility.
Lets see the Washington Post mount a fully
conducted investigation and report of how
Israel is conducting itself in Gaza and the
West Bank. Telling that story without the
Israeli tilt and slant that infects so much
of that papers ME coverage.
Dont hold your breath. Likely will not be
happening ever. Propaganda organ that it is
on pro-Israeli views.
The Washington AIPAC Slant. Another title
to consider as well.
Whos needs credibility when you can get away
with propaganda newspapering?
The Washington Post does well on that premise.
Wow.
I’ve read (and occasionally written) some blistering stuff, but Keith knocked me out.
Knocked me the fuck out.
Brilliant. I can’t believe it was on television.
In most of our “books”, 9/11 is listed under the category of “Days That Will Live in Imfamy.” And we hope that there will be no new additions to that list.
But given the way Bush refers to 9/11 again and again and again, one has to wonder whether Bush’s book of politcs and war lists it under “Dates That Will Live in Infinity.”
HotFlash @ 111
Who’s Bob Altemeyer? That link was to Eric Alterman getting fired.
Here ya go:
(And if the truth hurts, don’t shoot the messenger)
CABLE NEWS RACE
THURS. SEPT 9, 2006
VIEWERS
FOXNEWS O’REILLY 1,895,000
FNC HANNITY/COLMES 1,382,000
MTV PIMP MY RIDE 1,315,000
FNC SHEP SMITH 1,283,000
FNC GRETA 1,246,000
FNC HUME 1,231,000
CNN KING 769,000
CNN COOPER 735,000
CNN DOBBS 689,000
CNN BLITZER 592,000
CNNHN NANCY GRACE 537,000
CNN ZAHN 503,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 426,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 426,000
CNNHN GLENN BECK 420,000
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 324,000
…and somebody left a bold tag open!!!
Keith, just check your car brakes every morning and have someone start your car for you. You may be making a lot of powerful enemies.
SusanD @ 99
Same thing with the Kerry blog. He was banned several times. Rocket just loved to bloviate and hijack blogs. He thinks very highly of himself.
Beware.
I am so worn out from this day. I must have typed a a few dozen comments before walking away from them. Olbermann must be reading FDL!
Matt Lauer! Where did he come from? That segment on Countdown with him in the oval awful was fantastic.
They saved this day from complete disgrace.
scarecrow – Excellent points, I hope KO manages to keep his job.
Hugh – Sweet tidy little summary. 15 percent indeed. Says it all!
Rocket: blast off.
Rocket @ 114
Since this thread is over and gasp, you’re a troll, I’ll humor you. You better check your trajectory Rocket, that object in front of you is planet Earth. Have a nice day ; )
Saturday, Sep 02
FNC Down 24 Percent Vs. Summer 2005
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/
Keith is becoming the sole voice of intelligence, reason, articulation and proper moral outrage in a media-world of mediocrity, infotainment and moral ambiguity.
Lordie mama, I just loved the fact that his words immediately proceeded Dumbya’s speech.
Outside of Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert who commit wonderfully adroit, sardonic arrow strikes, Keith is becoming the serious cannon fire alone at his perch, but no less focused on pursuit of the enemy.
Hey, I don’t appreciate that kind of crap. I’ve never posted anywhere else under this name and I’m not the person you are talking about.
Is this a legitimate discussion site, or an echo chamber?
My letter to Keith, which I forwarded to letter, Dan Abrahms, and viewer services:
“Tonight I am proud to be an American because you have eloquently given voice to how I and millions of other Americans feel. You are truly the Murrow of our day and I am so proud of you and your courage to speak truth to power. Thank you so much for saying what so many of us all feel but have no platform from which to speak. I wish your special comments were broadcast for all the nation to see. With tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my skin I can not articulate how grateful I am for the work that you do. You are a fine, honorable, and patriotic man.”
And if you want comprehensive TV ratings data, go to TV Newser .
It has each evening’s results, so you can analyze trends for yourself instead of reading someone else’s (possibly) flawed analysis.
rocket,
the viewership numbers reflect the very reality that the 50-and-up set still watch tv quite a lot. as i recall, o’reilly has lost huge shares below that demographic but it’s the baby boomers and older that still watch him in large numbers… and they are the largest demographic.
furthermore, they aren’t as switched on to the alternate news sources, like the toobz, of course. they grew up on tv, and as far as they’re concerned, it’s still a legitimate news source (and not a corporate-owned, ratings tussle that has long since given over to entertainment value over informing the public).
Prof @
26
Thanks, Prof!
Biggus Diggus @ 116
In my email to him, I suggested he avoid small aircraft.
op99 @
113
Oops, doh, sorry to confuse. I meant Eric being fired, but confused his name with Dr. Bob Altemeyer, the sociologist whose work John Dean used in Conservatives Without Conscience. They were both at the FDL Book Salon Sunday a week ago. (And there, I nearly typed Howard Dean, no-no-no). Kittycat is right, time for bed.
Rocket @
114
If ratings made a person right, we’d all be taking our cues from Ray Romano.
Citing viewership is just about the most asinine response imaginable.
I sent the transcript and links to video to my kindred spirits … and got this great comment back:
Said much better than I could! Thanks, Denise sweetie :-)
magster @
52
I don’t see how it could be that. Excerpts from his commentary were previewed on his blog all day.
Curious in Central Texas @ 71
Thanks for the linky… it lead me to this and wow what a compendium of info on lots of stuff not just 9/11.
Cool stuff for us firedogs to look at and all are double sourced and mainstream media? wow. Look at the main page…
http://cooperativeresearch.org…..estigation
Biggus Diggus #116
KO doesn’t drive – he has an illness which prevents him from doing so and this is why he prefers to live in New York.
The spin continues. Single-minded, more or less on-message, Bush gave his recruiting speech for the Forever War tonight and came out strongly against radical dictators with nuclear weapons (unless their name is Musharraf and they recently cut a deal with the Taliban which he approved): Hedgehog on hallucinogens. (With thanks to Billmon and apologies to Isaiah Berlin.)
“Bush…. came out strongly against radical dictators with nuclear weapons”
With a big exception for *himself*, presumably.
I tried to e-mail MSNBC/Abrams/Olbermam to say thanks for Keith’s statemant,but it wouldn’t send.Perhaps their system is olberloaded?
Mr. Murrow would be proud of his legacy. That one brought me to tears.
Although excellent, Keith could have also highlighted the contrast that a great President once said “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” whereas this president and the republican party activily and shamelessly promote fear in the American people for political gain.
mary jane @ 9
I fear that the program was effective with many. Large numbers of people never read anything except the headlines scrolling at the bottom on the screen, bad novels or the sports section. Twelve million screens watched that show in the USA (25,000,000 people maybe). Most of them were not committed neo-cons and I’ll bet that several million responded just as that lady did.
Disney must pay a steep price for this or there will be much more of it in the future and democracy in America will be even more vulnerable than it already is.
Keith has been a must see for me, for several years. He was the only one willing to suggest that the 2000, and 2004 elections were rigged. I still worry about this today. Now we have scholars and scientist who say it is not only possible but plausible. I urge all americans who value a true democracy to investigate election fraud in america under the Bush regime. I believe it happened across this country. Even in my republican state…where everyone expected it would go republican…I didn’t know a single person who would be voting for Bush and he still won my state with a huge majority. Plus one of our counties was included in one of the major reports for having more votes tallied on the republican side, than people. No news in my state, I had to read it from the Study out of Penn State by Freeman.
Please people educate yourselves about voter fraud. I don’t know why people believe that Bush wouldn’t have cheated?? It’s like people believe he wouldn’t go THAT far. Hello, he’s killing innocent men, women and babies in Iraq…for no purpose other than profit. He may have allowed the towers to go down. He may have orchestrated the energy crises in california before the 2000 elections. I do not know what he wouldn’t do. Do you?
the hawk @
82
I don’t put much stock in these speculations
The air war games are quite common in the Northeast, especially over upstate NY, Vermont, NH, and Maine. A-10s and F-15s often come check out the beaches in the summer and the ski areas in the winter. I have even experienced a sonic boom (not allowed) in upstate NY. There are several Air Guard bases in the area. The less than honesty is CYA manuvering.
The World Trade Towers clearly failed where the planes hit and burned. Controlled demolitions break the structural components with explosives. The support columns were visibly bending before they collapsed. Hot fires will produce all manner of detectable nitrate/nitrite explosive like compounds. As for building 7, about 25% of one side up to the tenth floor was scouped out by the debris from the falling towers. When its construction was analyzed, it was found out that much less damage would cause it to collapse
About the Bush administration? True.
Disney/ABC can slander the hell out of a former President and his Cabinet officers and nothing happens. Will GE/NBC continue to allow Keith Olbermann a free hand in pointing out the gross deficiencies of the current President? Only time will tell.
So what was the Bush record prior to 9/11?
First, he was given the Hart-Rudman Commission report on terrorism on January 21, 2001. Two of the priority items in that report were the creation of a Homeland Security department and to sharply beef up airport security. Bush did not act on one single recommendation of Hart-Rudman prior to 9/11. Not one. Even after 9/11 Bush fought tooth and nail over the creation of a Homeland Security department. When Bush finally agreed to that proposal it wrapped FEMA under that umbrella and the do nothing response to Katrina. Twofers like this is exactly what we don’t need.
If that were not enough, Bush received a PDB on August 6, 2001 that predicted “Bin Laden determined to strike inside US”. One of the methods highlighted for striking inside the US was highjackings. Bush went fishing without even passing on the highjacking warnings to the airlines or air terminals.
Richard Clarke, Bush’s top expert on terrorism tried in vain to meet with senior Administration officials with his recommendations. They, it seems, were too busy looking for ways to take out Saddam. It was all revealed by former Treasury Secretary O’Neill.
Even today, only about half of the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission have been enacted. Bush, in fact, supported the sale of port security to a Middle-Eastern company. It is as though if Bush actually did something he would lose 9/11 as a political issue to be exploited so fat chance of this being wrapped up any time soon.
Wahhh!
Maybe if you libturds kept Michael Moore straight in F 9/11, we might be able to find some common ground on the Path to 9/11.
But, alas, you are who you are, gander.
In other words, go fuck yourselves!
thank god for keith ohlbermann!! and of course firedoglake is the first thing i read daily. hope keith doesnt get the boot for his forthright special comments that must be said in these perilous times in america! if we say we want progressive voices on air, lets show support for keith b/c you know its a struggle for him at misnbc. again cheers keith