- Keith Olbermann reminisces about what was his career, albeit it on MSNBC, while at MSNBC’s old offices.

- Irony defined: progressives angry at Dana Loesch’s illustration of their hyper-dramatic Marines reaction say worse to her online. Definitive reading from SooperMexican:

Not only should that give pause to any rational thinker who is not blinded by their hatred of Conservatives, but it is substantiated by the advocacy of just such acts against Dana Loesch from those supporters of the filthy liberal view. I’d like to provide some evidence of this, by documenting just some of the tweets Dana received in the course of this controversy. Of course, all of this is perfectly fine, since the situational ethics of the left allows for any violent act to be wished on Conservatives and, at the same time, hypocritically demands conservative “civility“.

- Loesch and Bill Maher make front page of the Daily Mail. This presents the question: why aren’t Huffington Post (to where Maher contributes), Media Matters, Think Progress, Politico, and Mediaite going after Maher? Why no petitioning to HBO? Is Maher getting a pass because he’s a man? Is Loesch targeted more because she’s a woman? Why are these entities not going after Mark Levin or Michael Savage?

- THIS:

Today, the NY times is setting up the next media fiction to save the destroyer in the White House. Get this: the NY Times is advancing the idea that the Marines are responsible for the failure of Obama’s “peace” negotiations with these soulless savages. As if.

Think about the timing of the tinkle news drop. You. are. being. so. played, America.

- Irony defined:

The Daily Show
The Association of Opinion Journalists (the new name of the National Conference of Editorial Writers) has a project to restore civility to public discourse. Froma Harrop, the group’s president, explains how the project squares with her own comparison of the tea party to al-Qaida in a syndicated column. (To give credit where it’s due, The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto pointed out the issue before “The Daily Show.”)

“A lot of them don’t get irony or humor.”

“How the f*ck could I get through to both of her?!”

- The Wall Street Journal puts down its crumpet, looks down its monocle at you, and discusses the horrors of the unwashed masses leaving fingerprints all over journalism. (Don’t tell it that Twitter has been breaking the big stories first. Like bin Laden.)

- “Those who do dare to speak up are promptly attacked for it. Big Journalism’s Dana Loesch describes the backlash she’s received for a few statements she made on her radio program yesterday to the effect that the reaction to the incident has been overblown.”

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- Pat Buchanan’s future at MSNBC is “murky.”

- The NYT apparently cares more for correcting My Little Pony names than dedication to scandals like Fast and Furious. You think I’m making it up?

- Keith Olbermann reluctantly returns to Current to provide New Hampshire coverage on Tuesday. That no one, probably not even Al Gore, will watch:

“I am pleased that I’ll be running the election coverage on Current, following this Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary,” said Olbermann in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday. “However, I don’t think those participating in the New Hampshire primary will share my satisfaction.”

Or care. You forgot to say “or care.”

- He’s baaaack: George Stephanopoulos returns to ABC Sunday mornings.

- Melissa Harris Perry on MSNBC: Talking about how the poor don’t pay as much in taxes is Racist©®.

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Keith Olbermann is making waves. Again.

The former MSNBC host has pulled out the big guns, bringing in Hollywood (and gaming) superlawyer Patricia Glaser “to ‘determine his rights’ in his five-year contract,” after his public spat with Current TV bosses, a source tells The Wrap.

Meanwhile, executives at Current TV said that relations – especially those with Current CEO Joel Hyatt – were at a breaking point after deteriorating over the past several months.

“I hope Keith is part of our future, but it’s up to Keith,” an executive with Current who declined to be identified told TheWrap. “Keith set us in the right direction and we’re on that path now … and as I’ve learned over the years, everybody is replaceable.”

Olbermann was conspicuously absent from special election coverage of the Iowa Caucuses at Current TV, where the notably cantankerous host has held the title of Chief News Officer since his abrupt departure from MSNBC last summer. After his “Countdown” program, which was migrated from MSNBC to Current TV, was pre-empted Tuesday night by the GOP primary coverage, sans Olbermann, details of a breaking point began unfolding to the public.

It initially appeared that the programming change came as a surprise to Olbermann. On Tuesday, he tweeted what implied the return of Countdown following its holiday hiatus, only to later tweet a correction, directing his 360,000+ followers to defer questions to his bosses.

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- Keith Olbermann cannot keep his ego in check, clashes with Current:

The latest developments: Olbermann’s lawyer, Hollywood power attorney Patty Glaser (who repped Conan O’Brien during his battle with NBC) is negotiating with Current TV, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Exactly what those negotiations entail is a mystery for now.

The New York Times reports that the issue at hand is one of control. When Olbermann joined Current, he was given equity in the channel, as well as the title of chief news officer. Since then Current added a president in David Bohrman, and Joel Hyatt took over as CEO. In addition, Olbermann’s “Countdown” has suffered from technical snafus, issues beyond the control of him or his staff.

Hollywood Reporter has more, a statement from Olbermann:

“I was not given a legitimate opportunity to host under acceptable conditions,” Olbermann said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “They know it and we know it. Telling half the story is wrong.”

- Meghan McCain is a tease.

- Chevy Volt named one of the Worst Products of the Year by Yahoo Finance.

- Univision wages war on Latino conservatives:

A giant TV network has effectively admitted to blackmailing Florida’s GOP Sen. Marco Rubio over his immigration stance. It’s Exhibit A of the kind of sludge being hurled at Latino leaders who won’t toe the open-borders line.

Bigfoot Spanish-language television network Univision unwittingly revealed it’s got a mafia-style hit-equivalent out there waiting for any conservative leader of Hispanic descent who won’t tout their open-borders line on immigration.

So much for reporting the news. Univision’s top honchos behind this are all about politics — and are running their news organization like a cult mafia leader wielding power based on groupthink and fear.

Last October, the Miami Herald broke news that Univision executive Isaac Lee threatened to make public a story about the arrest of Rubio’s brother-in-law 24 years ago — that is, unless, in an offer he couldn’t refuse, Rubio agreed to go on Univision’s Jorge Ramos show, presumably to be savaged by the TV host, known as a loud advocate of open borders.

- Hacktivist group Anonymous targets contributors to Germany’s neo-Nazi paper, those who purchase neo-Nazi literature, shut down 15 websites. Laws protecting individual freedom from government don’t exist to protect easy thoughts with which all agree, but thoughts with which all do not agree. People have the right to their own thoughts, regardless how insanely far left their ideas are; targeting people for thought or purchasing written works is a form of thought police. When people have the freedom to wear their crazy on the outside, society gets to see it for the ugliness that it is and public rejection is an organic deterrent and form of societal control. Removing that freedom and forcing such thoughts underground creates a resentment towards the entity oppressing it and removes the deterrence of organic public embarrassment while at the same time infringing upon free speech and thought. You then have evil neo-Nazi believers and evil practitioners of censorship, nothing accomplished, both entities just as disgusting as the other.

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Earlier today, Keith Olbermann of Current TV tweeted that his “Countdown” program would not air tonight. No reason was given, and Olbermann himself seemed to have been taken by surprise, referring all questions to senior Current TV management:

Mediaite noted Olbermann’s tweet, and speculated that he might have run into more conflict of the sort that saw him leave MSNBC last year.

Later, however, Olbermann tweeted again to indicate that Countdown would air in its normal slot the following night “by popular demand”:

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The NYT reports that Keith Olbermann’s ego may cost him yet another job and his absences behind the anchor desk during the biggest political nights of the season aren’t going unnoticed.

In the television industry, Mr. Olbermann is well known for fights with his bosses; stories abound about his refusal to speak to managers and executives. At Current, this behavior has continued, according to four people with knowledge of the situation, one of whom described Mr. Olbermann as “disgruntled” …

… On Jan. 3, the channel is planning to have three hours of live prime time coverage of the caucus without Mr. Olbermann.

Just the other day Keith Olbermann fell over himself to defend Bill Maher’s controversial Tebow Tweet, which seems odd that the nave-gazing Ted Baxter of MSNBC would defend anyone but himself. Considering, though, that he’s on a fledgling network that no one watches and no one else wants him, he needs to keep his road to HBO — and to eyeballs — open.

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On July 26th, 2011, Adbusters posted a page on its website that asked the following question:  “Is America Ripe for a Tahrir Moment?”  Only days later, Al Gore appeared on CurrentTV’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann program to discuss what everyday, ordinary, non-astroturf Americans who happen to be angry can do to get involved.

Surprise!  Guess what Al just so happened to suggest?

Here’s the transcript:

KEITH OLBERMANN:

“Obviously the first suggestion relevant to this would be to exercise every vote that one has available to one in the next sets of elections. What else besides that do you recommend to those of us who are angry, and who have been angry throughout this whole process?”

AL GORE:

“Well, I enjoyed your special comment last night, Keith, and I want to focus on one particular suggestion you had about using the wonderful tools that are newly available for the reinvigoration of democracy.  Now, they’ve been around for a while and more and more people have been  getting involved.”

“We need to have an American spring. You know, the Arab Spring — the nonviolent part of it isn’t finished yet — but we need to have an American Spring, a kind of an American Tahrir Square. Non-violent change, where people from the grassroots get involved again.”

“Not in the Tea Party style. There are people who are genuinely upset in the Tea Party, I understand that, but that movement was funded with seed money from right-wing billionaires, the Koch brothers, and promoted on Fox News and turned into a stalking horse for this right-wing agenda that a lot of people have been trying to push on this country for a long time. What’s sacrosanct for them is to have absolutely no tax increases on the wealthiest Americans — they are at a low level now — and to try to shrink down government so they can get it out of the way of powerful corporations and special interests, so that they can have free rein. And the Supreme Court has, of course, has now declared that they’re persons and make these secret contributions.”
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Last night Keith Olbermann went off of Media Matters’s talking points and named me as his Worst Person in the World on my birthday. It would have meant something had more people actually watched it and it aired on something more prestigious than a D-list network. It is the gift equivalent of last-minute gas station carnations with an equal effort at thought.

The problem in allowing a SEIU and Soros-funded website (which is routinely embarrassed in this space) to do your prep: you inevitably end up looking just as obtuse.

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NewsBusters catches a liberal think tank accidentally destroying the liberal meme that millionaires don’t pay their fair share.

A non-partisan pollling firm discovered Fox News is viewed as the best news network by a plurality of Americans. Don’t tell Erick Boehlert, he might cry.

Palin Derangement Syndrome: Get the real scoop on Joe McGinniss’ latest misfire in his attempts to smear Sarah Palin.

The media is attacking Perry for his attacking Obama over his Israel policy. Scott Whitlock sets the record straight.

Lately, there’s been plenty of reason to mock Obama. Just not if you’re Ben Smith of Politico. He doesn’t get it, somehow.

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While speaking at the Washington Area Community Center’s Lessons for Leaders (Washington, IL) on August 6, Coach Mike Ditka lambasted the mainstream media (MSM) and heaped praise on Gov. Sarah Palin. Said Ditka:

“I understand Sarah Palin spoke here last year. I admire her. She’s a great lady, mother and wife, and that’s more important than the [bull****] the media spreads about her.”

Ditka has offered up a strong defense of Palin before. For instance, in 2010, during an interview on Fox and Friends, he said “Sarah Palin is one of the greatest people I’ve ever met.”

When he stumped for Palin/McCain in 2008, Ditka said Palin “epitomizes all the good qualities of this country.” He also called on audience members to put party affiliation and anything else that divided them aside long enough “put Country First” for a change. (Ditka lead by example by unashamedly admitting he was a Republican and a conservative, and most importantly, he said, “I am an American.”)

Of course, I don’t recall hearing Chris Matthews, Matt Lauer, or anyone in the MSM mention Ditka’s kind words for the Governor in 2010 (nor do I remember them making fun of him for being a Republican). And since that was back in the days when Keith Olbermann still had a show, you’d at least think Ditka would have made the “Worst Person in the World” list.

But alas, just silence.

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Just when you thought the NBC News cable outlet (MSNBC) had gone too far, they somehow find a way to out do themselves in propaganda hysteria aimed at their favorite Bogey man: The Tea Party. Martin Bashir (the reporter who anchors the mid-day “news” portion of the MSNBC programming schedule) presented an entire segment yesterday featuring a psychologist who explained that the Tea Party movement consists of “delusional addicts” who could very well turn “violent” in the near future.

You’ll recall that Keith Olbermann led the charge at the Peacock Network by giving voice to angry spinster Janeane Garofalo and her well reasoned “Tea Party Is Racist/Limbic Brain” theory.  The rest of their line-up wasn’t far behind with Matthews, Maddow and Schultz presenting the “violent rhetoric” stories, the “Racial Slurs at John Lewis” legend, or the “Tea Partiers are Terrorist/Hostage Takers” story lines.  They’ve thrown all these slanders against the wall to see what would stick and through it all, the politicians and the voters who continue to argue for smaller government, lower taxes and less federal regulation keep their heads down, persevere and ultimately prevail.
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When CNN hired Elliot Spitzer many complained hiring the disgraced former governor was a new low in cable news. Allow me to submit to you that with the hiring of “Reverend” Al Sharpton to be their 6pm host, MSNBC has smashed through CNN’s record and established a record for finding a new host in the sewer of society that may never be topped. While CNN and others have hired people disgraced by political or sexual scandals, in hiring Sharpton MSNBC has contracted with a “Reverend” who bears false witness and a racial arsonist who is responsible for the deaths of at least eight innocent people.

Let’s look at the Sharpton track record. Sharpton is the man who, in 1987, helped to make the Tawana Brawley false rape charge big news and to this day refuses to admit that it was proved a hoax.

A grand jury noted many problems with Brawley’s story. Among these were that the rape kit results did not indicate sexual assault. Also, despite her claim of having been held captive for days, Brawley was not suffering from exposure, was well-nourished, and appeared to have brushed her teeth recently. Despite her clothing being charred, there were no burns on her body. Although a shoe she was wearing was cut through, Brawley had no injuries to her foot. The racial epithets written on her were upside down, which led to suspicion that Brawley had written the words. Testimony from her schoolmates indicated she had attended a local party during the time of her supposed abduction. One witness claimed to have observed Brawley’s climbing into the garbage bag which she claimed to be her prison.

The worst part of that incident was when Sharpton falsely named Steven Pagones, an Assistant District Attorney in Dutchess County, as one of the rapists, and a racist, among other accusations. Sharpton and Brawley’s lawyers asserted “on 33 separate occasions” that Steven Pagones “had kidnapped, abused and raped” Brawley. He also accused district attorney William Grady of trying to cover up Pagones’ involvement in the crime, and he demanded Governor Cuomo immediately arrest the two “suspects.” Sharpton refused to provide evidence, saying only that they would reveal the facts when the time was right. There was no evidence, and Pagones was soon cleared.

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“I was like, WHOA!”

Former TV host Cenk Ugyur claims he was canned from MSNBC because Washington types now run MSNBC’s newsroom. Apparently, his “aggressive body language and overall demeanor” made it difficult to book guests. If by “overall demeanor” they mean “inability to host a show” then OK. But “Aggressive body language?” What, was he waving a knife into the camera?

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Keith Olbermann lost his mind on Allen West yesterday evening on his program and doubled-down this afternoon on Twitter. The irony is that the insults he cast upon Rep. Allen West were, according to his own measurement of offensiveness, more outrageous than anything ever uttered or written by the Congressman.

To recap: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz demonstrated her inability to comprehend economics 101 the floor of the House yesterday with this:

“The gentleman from Florida, who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries. Unbelievable from a member from southern Florida.”

She didn’t deliver her speech until Congressman West was absent and then directed it at him.

Rep. Allen West responded:

From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz

Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!

I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.

You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!

Steadfast and Loyal

Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)

Olbermann’s response:

“Just resign Congressman, you’re making a jackass out of yourself, again.”

He followed up with this series of Twitter outbursts.

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Here it is folks. Many of you are asking yourselves as to what happened with Keith Olbermann throughout his off-air months. Thankfully, I managed to get some up-close and personal footage of the legend himself for this online documentary. He was surprisingly gracious.  If you’re expecting a layered individual with more complexities than originally expected … look elsewhere.

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“That is a huge digital camera taped to a green Mardi Gras necklace.”

“Yes, you do smell ham burning.”

Er, what?

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SCENE: Two of the most amusing people in politics sit on a poorly lit set for a fledgling d-list network founded by the man who claims to have invented the Internet (who also has four kids but wants everyone else to keep their knees kissing). They talk about how the tea party is racist — and in the next breath shrug off the political leanings of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as being nothing more than views of a black man too stupid to see that he’s being used by his white masters.

“Explain that one to me now, you have an African American gentlemen married to a white woman who is in cahoots with a group that has a lot of racists in it. Is that Stockholm Syndrome on his part or what’s going on?”

Olbermann says:

“You can be 100% white and not be racist … you don’t have to be integrated.”

Because he went from an all-white network to an all-white show, he was quick to slip his backside from that sling.

Garofalo:

“If it was a white Democrat, you couldn’t get so many Tea Party people so upset whatever it is they’re upset about – showing up armed to town hall meetings,” she said. “By the way, if a black person showed up armed at a town hall meeting where a white politician was speaking, it would be on lockdown martial law and we’d never hear the end of it.”

No, it was the media who went into lockdown mode when an armed, law-abiding conservative black American showed up to a rally exercising his Second Amendment rights — in fact they went beyond lockdown and tried to erase his existence by omitting his race.

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From Accuracy in Media’s Betsi Fores:

Keith Olbermann, America’s favorite ex-commentator, recently appeared on late night with Jimmy Fallon, criticizing the media, particularly the political media, for their response and coverage of the Anthony Weiner scandal.  In the segment, he spouted a myriad of inaccuracies, claiming:

“Democrats don’t support their own in these situations, Republicans love being on the right side of a scandal like this, because it doesn’t happen that often,”

And later continues with:

“John Boehner …all sorts of rumors about him too.”

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I have always wondered who made Howard Kurtz the arbiter of Reliable Sources, but in Weinergate, we are reminded that Kurtz’s ability to discern them is very much in question.  For that matter, so is CNN’s.  It has never been a secret that the supposedly even-handed journalism maven is in reality almost too liberal to function, but if he can’t get his head screwed on straight, he might have to fork over the name of his show to someone else altogether.  Hopefully Kurtz will have the decency to straighten out some of his Weinergate missteps soon and reconsider who really are “reliable sources.”

Kurtz’s history of judging Reliable Sources is staggeringly one sided and ideological.  For one thing, I have frequently seen him go out of his way to profess his respect for the reliability of Keith Olbermann, of all people, not to mention the rest of the guttersnipes at MSNBC:

Now, I don’t put Keith Olbermann in the same category as Beck at all. His MSNBC show, agree with it, disagree with it, was a very well-researched program.

Sure it was, Howard.  Also have a look at how incensed he got when Hugh Hewitt insulted Olbermann on Reliable Sources.  Kurtz and his publication The Daily Beast also seem to regard the Daily Kos, where Olbermann once blogged, as a very legitimate publication.  The most recent example comes during Weinergate.  The Daily Beast didn’t respond when I inquired who writes the captions for their “Cheat Sheet,” but have a look at this caption.  This is The Daily Beast’s own writing, not a quote from the linked story:

Not even a hint of suspicion about the reliability of the post by an anonymous blogger “stef” at a radically partisan website with absolutely no editorial oversight.  The Daily Beast simply reported it as fact. Not long after this story was posted, Kurtz gave it his blessing on twitter, boasting how his “wait[ing] for the facts” had just been validated:

The bottom line is that Kurtz actually believes “the facts” come from anonymous, unaccountable bloggers at one of the murkiest breeding grounds for partisan trolls there is.  Once “stef” weighed in, Kurtz could finally comment on Weinergate without even bothering to check.  “The facts” had arrived. (more…)