In light of President Bush’s disgraceful presser today, Keith Olbermann decided to make a Special Comment on tonight’s Countdown and wow, did he make the most of it. Olbermann blasts the president for his cowardly and un-American behavior of pimping General Petraeus as a political hack and hiding behind him to deflect criticism.
To say that Keith took the president to the woodshed would be an understatement.
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Transcripts below the fold
So the President, behaving a little bit more than usual, like we’d all interrupted him while he was watching his favorite cartoons on the DVR, stepped before the press conference microphone and after side-stepping most of the substantive issues like the Israeli raid on Syria in condescending and infuriating fashion, produced a big-wow political finish that indicates, certainly, that if it wasn’t already — the annual Republican witch-hunting season is underway.
“I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. Military.
“And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad.
“And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like Move-On-Dot-Org — or **more** afraid of irritating them, than they are of irritating the United States military.”
“That was a sorry deal.”
First off, it’s “Democrat-ic” party, sir.
You keep pretending you’re not a politician, so stop using words your party made up. Show a little respect.
Secondly, you could say this seriously after the advertising/mugging of Senator Max Cleland? After the swift-boating of John Kerry?
But most importantly… making that the last question?
So that there was no chance at a follow-up?
So nobody could point out — as Chris Matthews so incisively did, a week ago tonight — that you were the one who inappropriately interjected General Petraeus into the political dialogue of this nation in the first place!
Deliberately, premeditatedly, and virtually without precedent, you shanghaied a military man as your personal spokesman — and now you’re complaining about the outcome, and then running away from the microphone?
Eleven months ago the President’s own party — the Republican National Committee — introduced this very different kind of advertisement, just nineteen days before the mid-term elections.
Bin Laden.
And Zawahiri’s rumored quote of six years ago about having bought “suitcase bombs.”
All set against a ticking clock, and finally a blinding explosion… and the dire announcement:
“These are the stakes - vote, November 7th.”
That one was ok, Mr. Bush?
Terrorizing your own people in hopes of getting them to vote for your own party has never brought as much as a public comment from you?
The Republican Hamstringing of Captain Max Cleeland and lying about Lieutenant John Kerry met with your approval?
But a shot at General Petraeus — about whom you conveniently ignore it is you who reduced him from four-star hero to a political hack — that merits this pissy juvenile blast at the Democrats on national television?
Your hypocrisy is so vast, sir, that if we could somehow use it to fill the ranks in Iraq you could realize your dream — and keep us fighting there until the year 3000.
The line between the military and the civilian government is not to be crossed.
When Douglas MacArthur attempted to make policy for the United States in Korea half a century ago, President Truman moved quickly to fire him, even though Truman knew it meant his own political suicide, and the deification of a General who history suggests had begun to lose his mind.
When George McClellan tried to make policy for the Union in the Civil War, President Lincoln finally fired his chief General, even though he knew McClellan could galvanize political opposition - as he did… when McClellan ran as Lincoln’s presidential opponent in 1864 and nearly defeated our greatest president.
Even when the conduit flowed the other way and Senator Joseph McCarthy tried to smear the Army because it wouldn’t defer the service of one of McCarthy’s staff aides, the entire civilian and Defense Department structures — after four years of fearful servitude — rose up against McCarthy and said “enough” and buried him.
The list is not endless — but it is instructive.
Air Force General LeMay — who broke with Kennedy over the Cuban Missile Crisis — and was retired.
Army General Edwin Anderson Walker — who started passing out John Birch Society leaflets to his soldiers.
Marine General Smedley Butler — who revealed to Congress the makings of a plot to remove FDR as President — and for merely being approached by the plotters, was phased out of the military hierarchy.
These careers were ended because the line between the military and the civilian is… not… to… be… crossed!
Mr. Bush, you had no right to order General Petraeus to become your front man.
And he obviously should have refused that order and resigned rather than ruin his military career.
The upshot is — and contrary it is, to the MoveOn advertisement — he betrayed himself more than he did us.
But there has been in his actions a sort of reflexive courage, some twisted vision of duty at a time of crisis. That the man doesn’t understand that serving officers cannot double as serving political ops, is not so much his fault as it is your good, exploitable, fortune.
But Mr. Bush, you have hidden behind the General’s skirts, and today you have hidden behind the skirts of ‘the planted last question’ at a news conference, to indicate once again that your presidency has been about the tilted playing field, about no rules for your party in terms of character assassination and changing the fabric of our nation, and no right for your opponents or critics to as much as respond.
That, sir, is not only un-American — it is dictatorial.
And in pimping General David Petraeus, sir, in violation of everything this country has been assiduously and vigilantly against for 220 years, you have tried to blur the gleaming radioactive demarcation between the military and the political, and to portray your party as the one associated with the military, and your opponents as the ones somehow antithetical to it.
You did it again today, sir, and you need to know how history will judge the line you just crossed.
It is a line — thankfully only the first of a series — that makes the military political, and the political, military.
It is a line which history shows is always the first one crossed when a democratic government in some other country has started down the long, slippery, suicidal slope towards a military junta.
Get back behind that line, Mr. Bush, before some of your supporters mistake your dangerous transgression, for a call to further politicize our military.
—
Good night, and good luck.
Filed Under: Countdown/Keith Olbermann, Democratic Party, Iraq, MSNBC, Military, Republican Party, Special Comment, Supporting our Troops
17 Trackbacks To “Countdown Special Comment: The President Of Hypocrisy“
Keith’s speech kicked the crap out of the pedantic chimp’s rant.
HE SHOOTS! HE SCORES!
Another great ‘Special Comment’ from Olbermann. I’m glad to see him losing his appendix didn’t make him lose his ‘Righteous Indignation’.
I thought it was his best SC so far, but man, let your sutures heal before you try that again
After Keith signed off, Dan Abrams delivered a comment that was almost as strong for our side as Keith’s. Any chance you could get a video of that, too?
I’m so glad he’s recovered enough to be on tonight. I’m with Spud…take care of yourself KO honey.
Carefull KO…those are new stitchs……don’t bust nothin …We need you back on the air..Telling the truth…..it’s just a shame the loons don’t get it.Kinda like that Ryan loon up there.
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. Talk about learning to be objective, how about Rushy, SlantHead Hannity or Bill-O. I hope [deleted - over the top]
Wow, that was pretty intense, kudos to Keith.
I saw this tonight and i too think it was one of his best. I was hoping he would also say a little more about the ad itself, but pointing out self serving hypocritical self righteousness was great.
Hot diggity damn… Now That was fun!
Of course KO ko’s the traitorous, chicken shit shrub, bush is too easy a target and we all know what he’s about. KO needs to start dressing down the spineless, bush appeasers in the senate and congress.
dan abrams actually got behind keith? wish I’d seen that!
[refers to deleted post]
It is no wonder that there is such a divide in this country when these posts are written such as the one above.
Ryan, I can virtually guarantee based upon your post that you are an indoctrinated, uneducated, ninconpoop that not only did not listen to what Olbermann actually said, but even if you did, you would not understand the significance of what he was speaking of. A little course on historical matters is what you should invest some of your time on and not waiting for someone to post a video here so that you can start a thread with a juvenile comment.
I wonder Ryan if you are a Christian like Coulter that wears a cross around their neck and wishes death on people whose opinions they dislike.
I guess Ryan had to go back to his cell……..But Hey Thundernutz….that sounds good to me…..or even spits in his coffee…
I really wish Olbermann would stop calling Bush “sir.”
Just call him Chimpy and everything will be ok.
Thundernutz @ 7:
Ok, sorry, I hope you see the light and come over to our side….Better?
shill @ 15:
You’ll never hear him call him Mr President…..
“Kinda like that Ryan loon up there.”
Who’s Ryan?
I love Keith’s SC’s…but the other side just sees him as a “Mr. Smarty pants liberal with all ‘em fancy werds an such. How dare he?”
I’m sorry, but what?
Politics and military are meant to be separate. Bush is making them one. What is so subjective about that?
He should have also mentioned that Smedley Butler was approached by people who wanted a fascist regime in the US and that one of those people was Prescott Bush.
Kles @ 19:
Bleh, this was meant to be a reply to the first poster. It didn’t show up right.
Thundernutz @ 16:
Golden showers?
Bush is a “seasoned pimp-meister”! Just look at all of the fall guys he’s already hidden behind. When he’s gone, his legacy will be, among other things, he was the biggest coward on the planet.
if only K.O.’ words would not fall on so many deaf ears. if only more “journalist” would be a critical and vocal. MSM has been talking about that damned ad and not the reality of the debate far too long.
A thousand thank-you’s to you KO. I only wish more of our MSM had the courage to point out what is transparently obvious with regard to Bush’s shameless behavior, not to mention the Senate. But what else is new when it comes to Bush? His hypocrisy and lack of decency truly has no bounds. I’ve been spitting mad about this all day long. I just got home, and was so happy to hear your commentary. Thank-you again. At least I can go to bed comforted by the fact that at least the people who watch your show “get it”. Frankly, I think MoveOn should kick it up a notch. I might even send them a donation.
Why hasn’t there been a post about the Jena Six? There was a rally today! Don’t tell me we’ve forgotten 6 young boys you have been sent to jail for a school yard fight!
Damn, I want to be KO when I finally grow up.
Seems as though the moderators got here. Well done. It’s pathetic that there are so many people out there that are clueless about history and the significance of some of what is being said and done in our name. They just blurt out parroted comments and the amount of violent vitriol amazes me.
Anyway, thanks a bunch for this post of Keith. No wonder he is making such great headway into O’Reillys numbers. Succinct and very appropriate. The kind of guy that O’Reilly and Hannity would be lost in a debate with because Keith has a plethora of knowledge he can illicit at any given moment.
come to think of it…I’ve never heard anyone say he’s been wrong…on the MSM….KO certainly does his homework and research….they can’t touch him..I don’t see any volunteers for a debate with him….from anywhere.
Long live Keith Olbermann!
Is it just me or does Keith’s background of multiple TV screens not look a little like the multicolored glass of some churches?
‘First off, it’s “Democrat-ic” party, sir.
You keep pretending you’re not a politician, so stop using words your party made up. Show a little respect.’
LMAO!!! I loved it. When I heard that, I knew it was going to be good one. K.O. is the only commentator who has the balls to scold the WarPig like the emotionally and mentally disturbed adolescent in a man’s body that Bush is.
Chris @ 26:
there was one yesterday..or the day before.
The scary thing is that the Bush admin is even more evil than Keith ever describes. The only thing that is more disgusting than the evil and corrupt Repugs is the spineless and equally corrupt Demugs. It is high time that you all realize that if Bush leaves office without any accountability, the next president (no matter which party) is going expand our fascist dictatorship.
Some of you Dems think that just getting a Dem elected president will heal the country, but YOU ARE SOOOO WRONG. That will just mean a continuation of the wars, and phoney ‘war on terror’, AND taxing the last penny out of all of us for a universal health swindle and fake global warming crap.
There is a company right now who has a product that will give you 50-100% better gas mileage. And they are coming out with another product that will double that. Anyone who really cared about getting off oil and cleaning up the environment should check it out at http://preignitioncc.com/sam/.
Hmmm - I think Keith doesn’t care too much for Mr. Bush.
What odds that Bushie’s henchmen will pressure the network to sack Keith - or better imprison him for treason???
PLEASE Democrats - BEGIN the BLOODY IMPEACHMENT ALREADY!!!!
I wanna live long enough to see Bushie rot in jail!!!!
Keith gives me some hope that someone is paying attention and giving us the truth.
Holy Mother of Gawd! That was the most tightly honed, take-no-prisoners, do-not-pass-go-do-not-collect-two-hundred-dollars-and-go-directly-to-jail Special Comment yet.
Now throttle back, Keith and get some rest.
Here’s a toast to the courageous people speaking truth to power. Keith Olbermann, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and in a different forum Ron Paul.
Why can’t we get anything resembling Keith’s obvious observation from the network pundits?
I saw Tim Russert on NBC comment on Shrub’s idiotic statement, and if he pretended that he actually believed that the Resident’s tolerably obvious acting job was actually sincere. Now, I know Tim wasn’t born yesterday. He saw the set up, he saw the disingenuous responce from Shrub, he knew it was all bullshit. But, Timmah did what all whores do. Timmah shook his fat ass in our face. Fuck you Tim Russert! You know better.
sam @ 33:
The problem with you repubs is that your boy the preznit has put the country in such a hole the Dems will have to raise taxes just to get the country in the black…..AGAIN……. …so when the time comes..you’ll have no one to thank but your boy….the worst Pres in history.