A Special Comment of My Own to Keith Olbermann

No doubt, following his Friday Special Comment Completely Unhinged Pundit for Obama performance of the year, (transcript), Keith Olbermann spent the entire long weekend sprawled out on his fainting couch while minions dabbed his forehead with a cold cloth and fed him seedless grapes while fanning the man down from the hysterical fever he wound himself into in reaction to Hillary Clinton's mention of the timing of RFK's assassination last week.

Keith Olbermann, the man who signs off his shows with Edward R Murrow's signature line, "goodnight and good luck", is no Edward R Murrow.

I can't ever imagine that Murrow, who used his journalistic power to rail against Joe McCarthy's communist witch hunt, would ever have said to Hillary Clinton at the mere mention of the word "assassination", "You cannot say this!" as you chose to, Mr Olbermann. Murrow did not stand for censorship. He stood for truth. What an insult that the Obamakin Bloviator-in-chief, Keith Olbermann, would pretend to be the reincarnation of a journalist like Murrow who fought for freedom of speech and thought.

And it's quite obvious that though Olbermann yelled his way through his laundry list of things that Clinton has supposedly been "forgiven" for, he has not forgiven her for any of them. Not with that tone. Not with that rage. Not with that ego. And not with that continual level of vitriol towards her as he twists her words to make her even more of an enemy to the people than George W Bush - as if that's even possible.

While he tried to couch his bombastic outrage against the mention of the dreaded "a" word by saying that it might invoke who knows what against all of the presidential candidates, we all know better. This was not about concern for the safety of McCain or Clinton, this was solely about Obama - the man to whom the Kennedys "passed the torch" and who has repeatedly been compared to the Kennedy brothers - cast as the new Democratic saviour who can do no wrong.

Your entire viewing public is not that naive, Mr Olbermann.

You saw an opportunity for a self-gratifying ego and ratings boost. Why else would you publish a preview of your comment on Daily Kos Obama before you went on the air? You know who's paying your bills now - all of the hyperbolic Obama supporters who are willing to drool over the mention of your name since you've become their MSM pied piper. All of those hysterical Obama supporters who went on throughout the weekend about how "Hillary wants Obama dead" and/or that her reference to the Kennedy assassination was a coded "dog whistle" with the hopes that "someone" would kill him so she could win the nomination.

Those are the sentiments you're helping to fuel.

It's insanity and you know it. And, if you don't, Obama certainly does:

"I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Sen. Clinton and I have been campaigning," he told the Puerto Rico radio station Isla, "sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make. And I think that is what happened here.

"Sen. Clinton says that she did not intend any offense by it," he added, "and I would take her at her word on that."

You see, Mr Olbermann, that's the difference between the type of mass delusions you choose to peddle and reality. Then again, General Electric doesn't collect the massive ad money from Senator Obama that your wild rantings need to bring in to sustain your show, does it? Obama can afford to tell the truth. It seems you can't afford to actually be rational when it comes to Clinton anymore since it's so fashionable and profitable to grossly exaggerate practically anything she says for your benefit and for the benefit of your corporate overlords.

You see, Mr Olbermann, that's yet another reason why your bloviations so insult the memory of Murrow. While he implored the corporate television owners to do what he felt was their duty to inform instead of focusing on the almighty advertizing dollar as their main motivator, you continually brag about your ratings and too often, during this Democratic race, have only offered half-truths that favour your chosen candidate, Barack Obama, because you know that preaching to the angry anti-Clinton mob is what keeps many of your viewers tuned in.

Murrow must be rolling over in his grave.

You're effective when you rant against the war crimes of the Bush administration; when you expose their crimes and endless human and civil rights violations; when you actually stand on rational principles of justice and fairness that they have so abused. But to use the same amount of outrage you employ about those human tragedies and the death of democracy - assassinated bit by bit by the likes of George Bush and Dick Cheney - against a candidate you simply don't like and do not support is the worst kind of political theatre and sensationalism.

I certainly won't tell you what you cannot say, Mr Olbermann. I feel no need to censor you. But it seems that you would do yourself, your viewers, and your corporation a favour if you took a deep breath once in a while to actually process those feelings of outrage that you have before you turn them into yet another Special Comment that embarrasses all involved - including the memory of your idol, Mr Edward R Murrow.

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.

- Edward R. Murrow