Olbermann Legacy, The Next Generation

We all know Keith Olbermann obsesses about baseball. Countdown carries his name but much more important, provides financial wherewithal for those choice season seats in Yankee Stadiums, both old and new. Countdown allows him to rave at politicos and pundits gone wrong, but we sense he much rather holler at the doings of the Boys in Pinstripes.

You cannot take the sportscaster out of the sports fan. Thus, Keith not only makes calls for NBC football coverage during NFL season, but he now adds a regular baseball blog to his journalistic endeavours.

According to PR Newswire:

 

Major League Baseball, announced today that it has hired award-winning anchor, sportscaster and journalist Keith Olbermann as an at-large columnist. Olbermann’s columns, currently available three times per week at keitholbermann.mlblogs.com, will provide fans with his “Baseball Nerd” perspective of the game across various platforms. He also is the first national journalist hired as part of MLBAM’s digital newspaper initiative, currently scheduled for a May launch.

At his request, Olbermann’s full salary for his work as an at-large columnist will be split equally among three charitable organizations. They will be: the Baseball Assistance Team, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and the Jayden Braden/Ariana Marzano College Fund, established in support of the late John Marzano’s grandchildren. Marzano, a former Major Leaguer and MLB.com host, died just over one year ago in a home accident in Philadelphia.

“I’ve long respected MLB.com’s editorial independence and I’ll be delighted to test it,” said Olbermann. “Seriously, it’s an honor to be able to write about all the obscure things I love inside the game I love, and to help some worthy causes in the process, and to honor an old friend. Not to mention that it will be my politics-free oasis. Unless another cat jumps up at another Governor.”

Olbermann’s love of the game runs in his family. His late mother Marie Olbermann received MLB fame when she was conked on the noggin by a wild pitch. Keith related the story during his emotional tribute to his mom:

 

…on June 17th, 2000, when the sudden, and growing, inability of the ill-fortuned second baseman Chuck Knoblauch to make any kind of throw, easy or hard, to first base, culminated in him picking up a squib off the bat of Greg Norton of the White Sox and throwing it not back towards first, but, instead, off the roof of the Yankees’ dugout where it picked up a little reverse english and smacked my mother right in the bridge of her glasses.

Chuck was in the middle of losing his beloved father at that time and though I thought I “got” what that meant to him, I didn’t really understand it until today as I wrote this, and struggled to find the right keys, let alone the right words.

In any event, for three days in 2000, Mom was on one or both of the covers, of The New York Post and The New York Daily News and Newsday. She was somewhere in every newspaper in America.

With her passing a few weeks ago, the Olbermann family baseball fame flame extinguished — except for KO’s preeminent baseball card collection and a Chuck Knoblauch ball that may or may not have been bequeathed to him. 

Except a few nights ago, in a new Yankee stadium (the one George built) when the Olbermann baseball strike “out” family legend meet the next generation thanks to a helicoptering bat and KO’s 10-year-old nephew. As KO relates in his blog:

 

Hats off to Ben Erdel. As part of his big night at Yankee Stadium last night, Brett Gardner let one of his Louisville Sluggers fly into the stands. Mr. Erdel and a much younger gentleman both had their hands on the rare souvenir – although only the younger gentleman had just managed to avoid getting hit with the helicoptering bat. Mr. Erdel took the bat, took a few steps, and then thought better of it, and generously did the right thing.

The younger gentleman now has a singular thrill from his first Yankee homestand, exceeding his previous one – being my nephew.

Here is Nephew, Jacob Smith, far left, and his bat, which was not stolen by either Katy Tur or Maegen Carberry.

Keith invited the lucky and talented Jacob on Countdown yesterday to show off the bat and ask, as he did his mother about the Knoblauch ball, if he could acquire it for his personal collection. And young Smith, echoed the wise and numbing words of his Grammie, “You can bid on it on eBay like everybody else.”

Shout out to Ben Erdel (pictured below) for letting Jacob keep the bat.

However, whether a photo opp on Countdown really seems commensurate with that Louisville Slugger may depend on Erdel’s political and cable news predilections.

Good Night, Marie

We members of the OlberBlogging Community send our thoughts and prayers to Keith and his family on the loss of his mother. 

No one could give a better tribute than Keith did on Monday night. If you would like to listen, please visit the Countdown site here.

We hope Keith doesn’t mind if we reprint his tribute from the Countdown transcript. We’ve also included some of the pictures Keith aired during the segment:

 

And finally, how does one tell this story?  My mother passed away Saturday night.  Our number one story on the COUNTDOWN, Marie Katherine (ph) Charbonier Olbermann, 1929-2009.  This remembrance is not going to be a medical story, although lord knows mom was the foremost authority on her own health.  Nor is it going to consist of me telling you that she was the proverbial saint, although I can hear her saying, go ahead.  I‘m not going to disagree with you.  Who is going to disagree with you?

It is not going to be a full biography.  Suffice to say, she was a gifted preschool teacher and a legendary authority on opera.  Somewhere, she is going to be genuinely disappointed that I did not get Placido Domingo to sing at the memorial service.  I thought instead it would be best to focus on something for which she became and remained pretty famous, literally until the day she died. 

My mother was one of the best-known baseball fans in this country.  She attended games of the New York Yankees from 1934 to 2004, and she watched or listened to every one she didn‘t go to up until last month.  My guess is she went to at least 1,500 of them, most of them in that seat right there, where the Fox cameras captured her late in the season of 2000. 

As recently as the 13th of last month, Jerry Manual, the manager of the New York Mets, came over to me on a field in Lakeland, Florida before an exhibition game and asked me how she was.  He was the fifth or sixth active baseball figure to have done so this year alone.  They have averaged at least one or two a month for nearly a decade now.  Saturday afternoon, not six hours before mom died, a New York Yankees executive made reference to that which had made mom famous in the ballparks, and trust me, mom loved being famous in the ballparks.  Even if it had to have been attained this way on June 17th, 2000. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  And these are the problems that have become well documented over the last few days.  Throwing it into the stands and ironically enough, the ball hit Keith Olbermann‘s mother right between the eyes.  She was all right.  The glasses were broken. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OLBERMANN:  Four days after her birthday, mom had found herself in the middle of one of the great melt downs in sports history, a sudden and growing inability of the ill-fortuned second baseman Chuck Knoblauch of the Yankees to make any kind of throw, easy or hard, to first base.  Chuck was in the middle of losing his beloved father at that time.  Though I thought I got what that meant to him then, I didn‘t really understand it at all until this afternoon as I wrote this, and I struggled to find the right keys, let alone the right words. 

For three days in 2000, mom was on one or both of the covers of the “New York Post” and the “New York Daily News” and “New York News Day.”  She was somewhere in every newspaper in America.  And all this happened while I was the host of the baseball game of the week for Fox.  Needless to say, I managed to get an interview with her for the pregame show the following Saturday, an exclusive interview.  Although don‘t think I didn‘t have to work for it. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

 

(Note: The only person who could make KO shut up on the air!)

 

OLBERMANN:  Joining us now for her first interview since the Knoblauch incident, my mom.  Are you OK? 

MARIE OLBERMANN, MOTHER OF KEITH OLBERMANN:  I‘m pretty good.  A little bruised, but OK. 

OLBERMANN:  Mom, you‘ve been going to games since—so long that you met Babe Ruth when you were a toddler.  Have you ever been near a foul ball or thrown ball before? 

M. OLBERMANN:  Not that close.  No, not really.  No. 

OLBERMANN:  And this was close enough? 

M. OLBERMANN:  Too close. 

OLBERMANN:  A lot of the pitchers are saying this year that the hitters are doing better because the ball is harder than it has been in the past.  Would you agree that it‘s harder than it has been in the past? 

M. OLBERMANN:  It‘s the hardest one I‘ve ever been hit with. 

OLBERMANN:  You went back to Yankee Stadium the next day.  Why? 

M. OLBERMANN:  To see the game. 

OLBERMANN:  Do you have any worry about Chuck, either as a Yankee fan or for your own safety? 

M. OLBERMANN:  Not really.  I sympathize with him. 

OLBERMANN:  Why do you sympathize with him? 

M. OLBERMANN:  Because I‘m a little awkward at times too. 

OLBERMANN:  But you‘re not playing second base with the Yankees, are you? 

M. OLBERMANN:  Not yet. 

OLBERMANN:  Have you been surprised by all the newspaper attention? 

M. OLBERMANN:  A little bit, but I want to know why they keep mentioning you. 

OLBERMANN:  Uh, OK.  What matters most, obviously, mom, is that you‘re all right.  But I‘ve got to ask you, in closing, it‘s no secret that I collect memorabilia.  Like I‘m telling you something you don‘t know.  You had to clean most of it up.  But can have the ball? 

M. OLBERMANN:  You can bid on it when I auction it off, just like everyone else. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Four million.  Thank you, sir. 

OLBERMANN:  My mother, everybody. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OLBERMANN:  My great thanks to my old boss, David Hill, at Fox Sports, for his kindness in letting us run that tonight. 

Anyway, for the rest of the year, any time Fox broadcast a game from Yankee Stadium, mom got on TV again.  We even talked about her during the World Series broadcast that fall, during which began this ritual that continues to this day, players, players who were at the game, players who only heard about the game, players asked me about my mom. 

Since the day it happened, I‘ve been told Chuck Knoblauch has been mortified by it.  Chuck, give yourself a break.  You made her famous.  She loved it.  She could not have been happier if they let her pinch-hit for you. 

A full circle that is.  It was mother who was the fan in our family.  My dad likes the game enough, but the Yankees traded his favorite player away, and he‘s still mad at them.  This happened late in 1948.  So it was mom who introduced me to the game.  In my teenage years, when we went nearly every day, it was she who trundled me and my sister to the ballpark.  It was on her TV that I came to love the sport and by her side that I began to understand it.  And sitting next to her that I began to understand that I was not going to be any damn good playing it, and if I wanted in, maybe I‘d better try talking about it. 

Thus was born a career, the results of which you see now.  At least half of the ham comes from her.  She was an aspiring ballerina.  And when I keep talking and talking and talking, for good or for ill, that‘s pretty much all her.  What I don‘t have pictures of are the thousands of hours she spent driving me to and from school so I could work on the newspaper or announce the hockey game. 

In retrospect, it‘s obvious she was, to adapt a phrase, a media mom.  It was the proverbial sudden illness in the best of senses.  She had no apparent symptoms until two weeks ago.  She was not severely afflicted until ten days ago.  The treatment lessened her pain, and she never awakened, thus never had to hear, nor did any of us have to say, you have terminal cancer. 

I‘m not going to end with harangue about how you need to go see your doctor, because not feeling so bad does not mean you are not sick, though you should keep that in mind.  But knowing those of you who watch this show and others I‘ve done, I‘m always overwhelmed by your support and how personally you take all this.  If you are so inclined, instead of flowers or card or whatever, make a donation to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation or St. Jude‘s hospital.  They do such important work there too.

Marie Olbermann is survived by her husband, my dad, my sister Jen and her husband and their two kids, Jacob and Eve, mom‘s grandchildren.  By her cousins Robert and Bill Shlombom (ph) and their families, by just about everybody in baseball, and by me.  Good night, mom, and good luck.

 

 

Susan G. Koman Breast Foundation

St. Jude’s Hospital

We wished we had known her!

Saligia

broadcast: Friday, March 20, 2009 in LA

by  Samantha 

 

Which of these Countdown highlights

will you be OlberBlogging about this weekend?

#5: Sloth

Even with President Obama publicly backing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on theTonight Show, there is still some doubt resonating throughout Washington concerning his ability to handle the enormity of this economic crisis.  And, the negative response isn’t just coming from the GOP.  

Obama’s former economic advisor Paul Krugman states that the administration has “created the impression that it’s owned by the wheeler-dealers” and an unnamed senior Democratic strategist described Mr. Geithner’s position as “not sustainable” because “he knew and approved [the AIG] bonuses that the White House now thoroughly condemns.”  Also, Chris “The Fix” Cillizza points out that though Democratic leaders are standing behind Geithner, only 21 of the 58 sitting Democratic Senators were willing to openly support and state that they have complete confidence in him.  

 

The Fix-A Smilin' Dad Dude

Keith asked The Fix if Geithner will be given his pink slip soon, and Chris said that that response would send a horrible message to the American people, especially since the administration continues to say that the people who the President nominated and appointed are the best and the brightest.  Richard Wolff believes that the administration was blind-sided by the bonus scandal, and that the Federal Reserve should have warned them sooner.  

 

How could Mr. Geithner and other leaders in Washington allow issues such as the unnecessary bonuses to slip into the bail out plan?  And I don’t believe the administration when they say that they just heard about the possibility that AIG executives could be awarded these bonuses when Countdown has been reporting on retention bonuses for months.  I understand that the administration is doing the best they can in a bad situation, but the American people need them to work both quickly and efficiently if we are ever going to get out of this crisis.  

 

#4: Gluttony

Alaska governor Sarah Palin reported this week that she is refusing nearly 1/3 of the funds that are suppose to go to her state; money that would support programs like child care development, school lunches, immunizations and those assisting children with special needs.  Her reasoning is that she doesn’t want to take any money for programs that may continue after the state’s allocated stimulus money is spent.  This decision has brought harsh criticism from opponents, such as Anchorage’s mayor Matt Claman who said that “her rationale is like turning down a gift card because it expires in two years.”  

Keith, who received a discouraging response from Rep. Clyburn last week, asked The Nation’s Chris Hayes if these actions could be grounds for an impeachment (get your finger puppets ready!), but Chris wasn’t sure.  He did note that the handful of Republican governors who have rejected stimulus funds are the GOP’s most popular representatives, and who may run for president in 2012.  

I don’t care about her future political plans. What bothers me is that she is more concerned about gaining favor with the national party’s conservative base, and not for the welfare of those most vulnerable in her state.  While she is having her cake and eating too, children are going without.    

 

#3: Wrath

Republicans are getting gangster.  And, with all these threats coming from Washington, like Rep. La Tourette talking about putting things in people’s sphincters and Sen. Grassley suggesting that banking executives should commit suicide, it is causing Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to wonder if he’s losing his edge.  This coming from a guy whose main character will have random, 10 minute long epic battles with a 6 foot tall chicken, mano a ala style.  

Sen. Grassley continued his verbal barrage with comments about CEO’s and teats [OlberBlogging Editor’s Note: He really said “tits.”], allowing Mr. MacFarlane to joke with Keith about how Mr. O’Reilly would never have the guts to speak that way on Fox News.  

#2: Best Worsts

Nearly 14,000 Tweeters, who think they are following our host, are really communicating with some jerk allegedly from Fox News.  Twitter refuses to do anything about it.      

#1: Envy

Keith and “the Queen of Cable”, Rachel Maddow sat down to celebrate being Number One on Sideshow Bernie Goldberg’s list of the top liberal smear merchants and discussed how MSNBC rose to be the greatest.  There was some confusion over the labeling of management as “hookers” and how the network could be so influential but also insignificant all at the same time.  Even after all of Bill-O jealous name calling, Keith appeared to be more concerned about Bill-O’s well being than wanting to start fights, saying how he would like to “pop his balloon and free him from his insanity”.  And in the end, it was concluded that folks like O’Reilly loathe folks like Keith, Janeane, Markos and Rachel because they hate being held accountable for what they say and do.  

To everyone on the list from everyone at OlberBlogging, keep up the good work!  

Best Oddball:

Due to pure vanity, a Florida crocodile will never admit he’s had a little work done.   

Best Bests:

After being confronted by detectives over the disappearance of $73,000 from the Arlington Free Methodist Church, a Washington woman blames her bad deeds on Satan.  

Best Quote:

“All this love in the room and everything… I’m horny!”

~ Joe the Plumber 

Best Fashion Statement:

Chris Hayes (who didn’t break the “wearing navy and black” rule today) sporting a pink shirt with a black and white checkered tie

MaET = 2141

Stuff Happens

broadcast Monday March 16, 2009 from LA

by O’lberblogger

 

Which of these Countdown highlights will you be talking about until the next broadcast?

#5: Cry Freedom

Over the weekend, I caught the tail end of the 1987 Richard Attenborough movie Cry Freedom starring Kevin Kline as a liberal South African newspaper editor Don Woods with Denzel Washington as anti-apartheid martyr Steve Biko. Based on the true story of Woods who risked his and his family’s life to get Biko’s story out to the world, the film ends with a slide that states the South African government imprisoned anti-apartheid activitists without trial many of whom died from such ridiculous claims as “self-strangulation,” countless “suicides” and repeated “falling down stairs” accidents. That crawl read eerily like the list of fatalities of “enemy combatants” held without trial in US-controlled prisons at Gitmo and Afghanistan.

That’s what makes the CNN interview with former VP Dick Cheney even more unseemingly, in my opinion. The Bushies continue to not to spin but to sanitize the truth of their Administration criminal abuses. Unfortunately, as both KO and Richard Wolffe commiserated, CNN dropped the softball questions. As Keith opined,

Where were the follow-up questions here?  Where was a question even couched in the most disbelieving of manners about that hint that Sy Hersh dropped last week about his investigation of American assassination squads that supposedly reported directly to Cheney?  I mean, just a question about that, even if it is the craziest thing in the world, give him a chance to say it?

Richard suggested that the Cheney “death stare” tends to scare off interviewers.

On the other hand, Arianna Huffington in her  HuffPo blog asked “What would Jon Stewart do” given such a circumstance. Would he be oblivious to the Cheney spooky stare?

 

Jon Stewart’s Jim Cramer interview was a pivotal moment — not just for Stewart, Cramer, and CNBC but also for journalism. It was a bracing reminder of what great research and a journalist more committed to getting to the truth than to landing the big get — and keeping the big get happy, and ensuring future big gets — can accomplish.

Stewart kept popping into my head as I watched John King interview Dick Cheney on Sunday. Each time King let Cheney get away with spouting gross inaccuracies and revisionist history, I kept thinking how different things would have been had Stewart been asking the questions. Stewart without the comedy and without the outrage — just armed with the facts and the willingness to ask tough questions.

And, that, my dear friends, is why KO’s continued silence on the Cramer-Stewart interview still saddens me. Keith, please do not call out John King for his lack of guts when you don’t support those TV commentators who show them. Jon Stewart would have and could have done a better job against Cheney than the journalism pro, and that’s what continues to upset me, a former journalist, about this entire affair.   

Okay off this soapbox onto another.

#4: Section 8

 

The wrong finger, KO

Keith continues to call this segment, “Today we call it a bailout; tomorrow we’ll call it why daddy went to jail.”  Everyone rails against the $165 million in “retention” bonuses AIG executives earn for not retaining their company’s financial stability.  But, folks, everyone is missing the fine print.

Remember back in September 2008, the Bush Administration unveiled its economic bailout bill. That bill included at the time a controversial “Section 8″ clause that stated,

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Now we know what then-Treasury Secretary Paulson meant by that. 

Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich admits scratching his head over the AIG bonus deal and the Obama response ”You have in the financial industry this tradition of getting paid for doing deals, regardless of whether the deals are done with any value at all.  And here, a ludicrous upon ludicrous, outrage upon outrage.”

Secretary Reich — maybe that’s why it is called “Section 8″ you know, the “crazy clause” that Maxwell Klinger (and  now financial executives?) always sought?

Reich noted if AIG and its financial relatives are “too big to fail” maybe they are not too big for anti-trust actions. Sounds like something Sherman Potter would advocate.

#3: Bush in Exile

Former President Bush plans to give his first post-presidential speech in Canada today but may wish he still held his “get out of jail free” purple diplomatic passport. Gail Davidson with Lawyers Against the War wants to Canadian government to carry out its law that bars anyone suspected of torture from the country. If a torture suspect does cross the border, Canadian officials can open an investigation into such allegations wherever they occurred. While the Canadian government turned down such a request four years ago because as a visiting president, Bush had diplomatic immunity, he’s just average citizen now, which makes him vulnerable. If Canada or other countries with similar laws do not enforce them, what message does that send to torture victims?  I guess you should ask folks in Dafur that questions, although genocide no long seems to count as torture?

#2: Best Worsts

The New York Post plans to start another ongoing investigation of the Olbermann-baseball card conflict of interest scandal, except for the fact that KO received no payment for his voluntary consultation services which he’s done since 1975 (when he was a teenager, folks!).

#1: Pinkos

Countdown begins a week spotlighting the Bill-O the Clown/Sideshow Bernie Five Top Left Wing Smear Merchants.

This night, subversive Janeane Garofalo lifts the curtain on some of the dealing of the “Left Wing Merchants” cabal: we meet alternate Wednesday inside the eye in the pyramid on the dollar bill.  We rent the space from the Knight‘s Templar, contingent upon how clean we are after the meetings. 

Garofalo brings up the sad truth. Unfortunately, the conservative right wing needs to have an enemy. If not the Democrats, then people different from them, scary people — blacks, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, gays, Hispanics, intellectuals, college-educated. 

If words alone do not stop these “evildoers,” the fearmongers hide in sheets, secretly leave nooses or light crosses to intimidate. If they have power, they segregate those enemies into places called Gitmo, or Auschwitz or Soweto. To protect themselves further, they take away the rights of the enemies to keep the status quo safe. To prevent future attacks, they most get information any way possible for preemptive actions. And  they must silence journalists through propaganda, incrimination, monetary threats or banning. 

This weekend, get the movie Cry Freedom and remember that it was banned from viewing in South Africa until 1991!

Tomorrow’s Left Wing Merchant profile, that radical Bill Moyers of PBS infamy.

Best Oddball:

Gibbs Gotcha

Best Bests:

The late John H. Bull, chief engineer of WVBR FM at Cornell. Every campus radio station had a John Bull. 

I worked at two campus radio stations and both had their “John Bulls.” At the first we had Rocky who always wore a stocking cap and smelled of sulfur. At the other station Jim, a blind electronics genius with a first “phone” (broadcast talk) who not only fixed intricate technical contraptions by feel and intuition, but hosted his own radio shows, picking albums, running the board while no listener had a clue he was considered “disabled.” Unfortunately, our station offered no long-term employment and despite his gifts, Jim became one of the millions of people of disability who were not able to use theirs in the business world due to stigma and discrimination.

Best Quote:

On Cheney:

clearly a preemptive strike from a man who loved preemptive war.  

~~ Richard Wolffe

Best Fashion Statement:

Pinko Tie

MaET=2137

 

Choosy Beggars

 

broadcast: Friday, March 13, 2009

by  Samantha

Which of these Countdown highlights

will you be OlberBlogging about this weekend?

 

#5: Such As..

Teachers had a rough week.  First, President Obama goes against one of his biggest supporters, the teachers union, by suggesting a possible merit pay system in over 150 school districts across the country.  Then, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford says that he wants to cut out stimulus money going to his state’s educational system, and put it towards paying down the state’s debt — an effort that would cost 7,500 teachers their jobs and prevent construction and repair for dilapidated schools.  Doesn’t this Governor remember Miss Teen South Carolina’s geography response, or read Coultergeist’s diploma rant which implied that University of South Carolina students were dumb?  The system needs help.  

During Keith’s interview with Rep. James Clyburn, who created a clause that would allow the state legislatures to bypass the Governor’s plans, he asked the Democratic House Whip what events inspired him to write such a provision and could Gov. Sanford’s actions lead to an impeachment.  (Ah, Keith… always up for a trial.  Get your finger puppets ready!)  Rep. Clyburn explained that it was President-elect Obama who warned him of possible trouble from Gov. Sanford and Texas’s Gov. Perry after a meeting in Philadelphia.  A few months later, those predictions rang true.  As for any impeachments, Rep. Clyburn says that he and his governing counterparts are focusing on what’s important, the people and families who are hurting in their state.  

#4 Michael, Michael, Michael 

With the release of his GQ interview, where he was quoted expressing pro-choice and gay rights sentiments, Michael Steele now has to answer to a bunch of guys with the word “Former” in front of their names.  Even after his numerous public apologies for his “inclusion” flubs, some in the GOP are still critical of his leadership and which direction he is taking the party.  

Chris “The Fix” Cillizza explains for many in the GOP, change is difficult and uncomfortable.  After major defeats over the past two elections, which include the loss of the majority in Congress and the White House, Steele will have to decide whether he wants to try to appeal to the broader constituency or stay ultra-conservative to appease the base. 

It’s kind of like that episode of The Brady Bunch, where Marcia breaks a date with sweet, likable Charley so she can go out with snobby, big man on campus, Doug Simpson, who totally ends things the moment she no longer fits his “hotness” standards.  Man, Michael … just watch out for footballs.        

 

#3 Refried History

With its blueprints drawn up at the beginning of his second term, Dubya’s Freedom Institute gears up to open its doors later this year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  The focus of the institute is apparently to train officials from a range of fields such as developing democracies, AIDS relief, women’s rights. However, with the U.S. still fighting wars in two new “democracies,” an Afghani women’s rights activist sent to jail for 20 years, and Dubya’s open contempt for condoms use to combat the AIDS epidemic, Keith feels maybe they should stick with something easier, like cooking.  (Keith, maybe you could donate your recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin pie?  Yum!)  

Many at SMU also have their doubts. After a faculty resolution to stop its development failed by just one vote, members and students are left to wonder how the institute will affect SMU’s academic integrity.  One historian reported to James Traub of The New York Times Magazine that “the Bush circle has done so much damage to every institution they’ve touched, it would be naïve not to worry about the damage they could do to SMU.” A student asked the school’s newspaper if the student population really wanted “SMU to benefit financially from a legacy of massive violence, destruction and death.”  Many at the university fear that Karl Rove will take charge, with Condi Rice being a more amicable candidate, but I agree with James Moore’s suggestion of Alberto Gonzales, if only just to keep him away from Major League Baseball.  The Yankees are looking for a third baseman.

#2: Best Worsts (of the Day)

Glenn Beck who believes that political correctness leads to killing sprees.   

#1 Best Worsts (of the Week)

Tonight, Keith debuted a new segment, well sort of, called “The Worst Person in the World of the Week.” The title needs a little work, but the premise seems okay. Keith, remember with TV spinoffs, people prefer it stay true to the original’s message.  We want a Frasier here, not That 80’s Show.  

As with WPITW, the rules are simple, you just have to say something really stupid.  With nominees like Victoria Jackson who has lost all her motivation (and marbles) because of President Obama’s tax plan and Fox News viewers who are “getting honest” about stem cell research by making references to Hitler and monkeys, stupid ain’t hard to find.  

This week’s winner and recipient of the title “Worst Person of the Week” goes to none other than Mr. O’Reilly, the award’s bread and butter, for his comments about the Bush administration beating Al Qaeda and winning the war on terror.  Yes, the war in Afghanistan is still being fought.  And yes, President Obama will send 17,000 troops into the region.  And yes, the leader who was responsible for the September 11^th attacks is still at large.  But, Bill says there’s been a victory, so if you don’t see it his way, then you’re just a pinhead.    

Best Oddball:

After all the bad press involving their American brethren, monkeys in Thailand are helping to improve primate relations worldwide by promoting positive causes, such as dental hygiene.    

Best STILL Bushed:

An investigator from the Government Accountability Office was able to obtain one birth certificate, two I.D.’s and four American passports using fake identification, a dead man’s social security number and a 5 year olds personal information.  The AP reports that the State Department under the Bush administration knew about these errors in the system for years.    

Best Quote:

“Everything is bigger in Texas.”

~ Keith discussing President Bush’s giant temple of B.S.

 

Best Fashion Statement:

Keith’s mint green tie with a crisp white shirt and muted brown coat.  

Honorable Mention:

The Fix’s 5 o’clock shadow.  A possible homage to Chuck Todd?      

Chris

 

 

Chuck

 OlberBlogging Editor’s Note:

We can thank Chris’s 5 o’clock shadow to little Charlie “The Fix Jr.” Chillizza, who keeps Daddy up all night.

Olberblogger thinks that the scrubby look rcalls more Bobby Jindal than Chucky Todd

 

Bobby

 

MaET = 2134

Htrae

 

broadcast: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 from Tampa

by Olberblogger

 

Which of these Countdown highlights

will you be OlberBlogging about today?

 

 

#5: I Thought I Saw A Puddy Cat

The GOP berates Obama for not adhering to their presidential candidate’s campaign promise when he signed the $410B Omnibus Spending Bill. Seems John McCain vowed, “As president, I‘m going to veto every single spending bill that comes across my desk” containing earmarks. Well, we understand the confusion as the GOP seems to be a figment of its own imagination lately.

Of the 35 senators voting against the package necessary to keep the government running today, 28 (of whom 25 were Republicans) included a total 307 earmarks in the legislation — which means in the GOP Bizzaro World, they voted against their own requests?

Richard Wolffe explained the science fiction:”… it‘s called Sod‘s law—you get blamed for everything that happens whether you are responsible or not. “ 

Ah, so from now on everything is Obama’s fault when it’s not Bill Clinton’s!

The GOP fantasy world played out earlier on Hardball where former Dubya press secretary Ari Fleischer not only glibbed (yes, I just invented a “truthiness” word) “… Barack Obama should be thankful that he‘s inherited a world without Saddam Hussein in it.  …after September 11th, having been being hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam Hussein might not strike attack again?”  Fleischer also imagined that the Bush Administration turned around the surplus budget Clinton left thus avoiding a possible recession. 

Jonathan Alter assured Keith that the Earth continued to spin correctly on its axis as Fleischer’s delusions only amounted to unemployed Bushies attempts to sanitize the Dubya’s legacy. They need jobs, and Dubya’s library desperately needs funds after the 55 weeks of straight job creation under Bush’s watch.

Alter let slip that respected investigative journalist Sy Hersh is writing a book about secret Cheney’s private assassination squads. Henry Whittington pre-ordered that book on Amazon.

And Tweety, you did a heckuva job. No, you really did!

 

#4: Spay and Neuter

 

The Htrae references continued with KO, “In some parallel dimension, President McCain and Speaker Tom DeLay are having a big ‘ole laugh about RNC Chairman Rove‘s brilliant win of those filibuster-proof majorities.”

Seems the GOP Brutus machine is after newly appointed RNC chairman Michael Steele for offering too much hip and not enough hop. GO-peepers scurry behind the scenes to take over and even ex-candidate McCain may “suspend” his senate duties to take up the party mantle as soon as he can count to 10.

Democratic analyst Chris Kofinis talks about how Sod’s Law affects Mike Steele. His suggested that the Repubs get “an ideological vasectomy” to stop reproduction of the likes of Rush, McCain, DeLay, the other Newts in the party.

 

#3: Factor Science Fiction

Stewie comes to the rescue again as BillO the Clown and Sideshow Bernie continue their wisecracks. Since OlberBlogging discussed this earlier, we won’t elaborate. However, we urge you to revel in KO’s impersonation of the boobs.

 

#2: Best Worsts

Weather and religion just as government and religion do not mix. I’ve run into several “religious meteorologists” who discount global warming with the same science facts as creationism and, because of their stature, people believe them.

Since Texas remains one of the states that allows bestiality (but not gay marriage), Olberblogger understands Florida State Senator Larcinia Bullard ignorance on “animal husbandry.” While she may realize that humans are indeed members of the great ape family, she isn’t too sure that our species do not mate.

However, I disagree that Bullard should be the Worst Person in the World choice. No, as demonstrated by lightweight Beck, weathermen Delagado and legislator Bullard — the Worst Persons In the World are those who have destroyed science education in this nation!

 

#1: Family Planning

Louisiana Senator David Vitter tried to hop into a plane a bit too late, remembered what happened to Senate colleague Larry Craig with airport security, and decided to find alternate transportation.

And GOP Convention love birds Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston broke up, leaving Sarah Palin’s daughter one of those unwed moms the GOPers love to hate.

Comedian Christian Finnegan offered a unique take on both items. He suggested that Vitter, of DC madam fame, was in a hurry home to attend a town hall meeting about cute Shar-pei puppies (everyone say “aaah!”).

And he said Bristol and Levi must thank the Democrats (hear that Ari Fleischer!) that McCain-Palin did not get elected considering the extra attention the breakup would have caused then!

Best Oddball:

Someone actually prefers the name “Rupert” to “Keith.”

 

Best STILL Bushed:

Gitmo Gotcha

 

Best Quote:

Since the day I began to criticize him, Bill-O‘s ultimate response, his fallback, has been to pull down his zipper and show everybody how much bigger his ratings are than mine.

~~ Keith Olbermann

Best Fashion Statement:

As cute as a Shar-pei puppy:

 

MaET = 2132 

Bombing Sweden

broadcast: Monday, March 9, 2009 from Tampa

by Olberblogger

 

Which of these Countdown highlights from Monday

will you be OlberBlogging about

whenever the Olberblogger decides to post them?

 

#5: Just Say D’oh

Imagine you’re the paper boy. You don’t pay attention and throw the morning Republican-Democrat into a front window. When the screaming homeowner emerges in his bathrobe, you blame the newspaper publisher for the negligence. If it weren’t for the newspaper in the first place, you wouldn’t have had anything to throw that could possibly cause any damage.

Somehow that’s how I see the Republicans in their attacks on the Obama Administration for the worsening economy. They’re the paper boy and Obama publishes the newspaper. Not only is this convoluted “kill the messenger thinking” it overlooks the true culprit in this damage — the paper and ink manufacturers. If everyone had a Kindle, no windows ever would be broken.

The Republicans (with help of the Demos who must have been drinking on the job) busted our economy beginning in the Reagan years. Back then, the game was not eyeball-to-eyeball with the Soviets but military pocketbook-to-pocketbook hoping the other guy would spend his last nickel first. Gorby lost. The Demos did a bit of sopping up, but the Bushies came and bought the Iraqi war on taxpayers’ credit cards. Reaganomics also promoted financial de-regulation and commercial outsourcing of government services.

Now the Republican Congress wants its pals, the bankers, to fail (Just as Rush Limbaugh wishes the same for the Obama Administration). Both Senator John McCain and Senator Richard Shelby. As McCain said “I don‘t think they‘ve made the tough decisions.  Some of these banks have to fail.” John, that’s not what you said when you left Letterman in the lurch when you “suspended” your campaign to prevent just such a scenario. Nor was that the case when you did your damnedest to make sure that your pal Charles Keating’s savings and loan didn’t fail in the 1980s.

And the GOP rails against Obama’s “socialism” but exactly to what socialism do they protest too much? The part that suggests that wealth and power are concentrated in a small segment of society — those making way more than $250,000 a year? Or that the economy should be regulated so that the powerful few cannot take advantage of the lowly majority? Or how about that the state should lead economic planning — such as a Federal budget with earmarks for the powerful few? Or that part about all individuals should be equal in society and fairly compensated for their efforts?  And whose “socialism” is the “evil” one:  Obama’s, Great Britain’s, the Israeli kibbutz? How about those government make-work projects that help keep key manufacturers alive — and I’m not talking GM or Citicorp — the Iraqi War or the space program?

The ever feisty Richard Wolffe pegged it well, 

You know, it‘s just—it‘s so amazing that people throw the word around and they have, obviously, no idea what it actually ever meant.  You just got to be grateful that this Congress isn‘t dealing with the Soviet Union because, otherwise, they would have threatened Sweden with nuclear annihilation.

 

#5: Addendum: Breaking The System of Rules

mini “special comment” summarized the current economic situation elegantly. I wish that his summary included some graphics to make it easier to understand as economics always threw me academically.

So, if our economic predicament is not President Obama‘s fault, whose then is it?  The answer is not just President Bush.  The question is not at all academic because, unless Americans see what happened, the same people who broke the system then will succeed in keeping it broken now for their own gain.  The key here that financial firms and their executives are not synonymous, that executives got rich by risking their companies, not so much by breaking the system of rules but rather by breaking the system of rules, systematically rewriting them over decades, hoping to muddy the waters about culpability now, to prevent the return of those rules later.

I’ll attempt to outline KO’s summary. Please read the transcript for the complete overview:

 1.)Wall Street executives paid enormous sums — more than $5 billion during the last 10 years — to get Washington off its back. This included banks, security firms, private equity, hedge funds, insurance and real estate. They also put former politicos on their payrolls and often had their former officials in important government jobs or areas of influence.

2.) In 1998, Citibank merged with insurance giant Travelers, although technically that was illegal. Citibank got an exception and a year later Congress killed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, established to control financial institution speculation and other mismanagement that led to the Great Depression. The Capitalistic Congressional GOP believed that financial institutions mergers created a system “too big to fail” made such reforms unnecessary.

3.) Loosening regulations allowed the financials to create new money-making and risky investment such as derivatives. New regulations pushed by Wall Street allowed the banks to keep those investments “off the books” which meant they did not need to have enough money on hand to cover potential losses.

4.) When Democrats took control of the White House and Congress, the Clinton Administration expressed concern about the lack of derivative oversight, but Bill’s own Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, an ex-Goldman Sachs executive nixed any regulation

5.) In 2000, Texas GOP Senator Phil Gramm (a McCain campaign economic advisor) pushed legislation that freed the derivative markets from almost all regulation. President George W. Bush later ended a 20-year-old rule requiring banks to have cash on hand to cover investment losses. Now, thanks to Goldman Sachs Chairman Henry Paulson, later Bush’s Treasury Secretary and bailout guru, banks alone decided how much CYA cash to keep in the vault.

6.) Free from regulation, Wall Street turned anything into off-the-book derivatives including mortgages. Consumers with lousy credit or no credit were pushed into mortgages they could not afford (predatory lending) which were turned into derivatives which could be sold to another investor. Because Wall Street executives had nothing to risk and billions of bonuses to earn, greed fueled the housing bubble.

7.) In 2001, Enron a giant hedge fund and derivative company among other things went bankrupt. President George W. Bush denied ever knowing “Kenny Boy” Lay although the Enron chief spearheaded his Daddy’s 1992 GOP National Convention in Houston. (NOTE: KO didn’t mention the Enron connection  which was the first burp in this derivative bubble).

8.) Despite the impending financial crisis Enron foreshadowed, the Federal Reserve under Bush took only three actions against the sub-prime predatory lenders. And Dubya’s Administration pushed legislation to stop states from enforcing their own consumer protection laws — that from the non-socialist GOP promoters of “state’s rights.”

9.) The Wall Street’s prostitution with Washington doesn’t end with the Bushies. The Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has a former Goldman Sachs lobbyist in a key position and Gary Gensler, another G-S veteran who opposed derivative reform, is Obama’s choice to head the very agency that would oversee them.

To Be Continued…

Folks, the issue isn’t capitalism, socialism, communism, democracy, cubism or pantheism — the issue is the world’s economy risks major depression and someone must administer the proper treatment or we’ll end up killing ourselves (literally and figuratively).

#4: Stemming the celling out of science

Obama reverses the Bush policy that banned federal funding for expanded stem cell research. Now instead of being destroyed, this “potential” human life will serve the purpose of helping to save real human life. 

As Obama said during the signing ceremony:

Promoting science isn‘t just about providing resources, it‘s also about protecting free and open inquiry.  It is about letting scientists like those who are here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it is inconvenient, especially when it‘s inconvenient.

Speaking of inconvenience, if the GOP leadership and their pro-life religious right base would read their Bibles, they would discover that in the Old Testament a fetus is not considered a “person” until it breathes air. Otherwise, the fetus is considered an extension of the mother’s body. Thus, embryos would not be “life” in the Biblical sense. Of course, these same pro-life radicals enjoy ham at Easter and venerate Ronald Reagan regardless of Nancy’s beliefs on stem cell research.

#3: Newt vs Rush

All I can say is, let them duke it out. So much better for the rest of us.

 

Newt

Rush

 

#2: Best Worsts:

Michael Wolf, whose book looks inside the Murdoch empire, suddenly gets the Page Six maliciousness treatment with attacks on his private life. Welcome to the Club!

#1: Take Me To Kent Brockman

First came Ben Affleck, then Craig Ferguson, now The Simpsons parody Keith Olbermann. Before you let the imitation go to your head, KO, remember The Simpsons took on Fox News before you first “counted.”

 

Best OddBall

If you live where I do when the wind blows from a certain direction, that smell comes from Texas City.

Best Bests:

The show biz idiom “break a leg” gains new gravitas

Best STILL Bushed:

I cannot say it better than Keith does,

Such signing statements were used sparingly for 200 years.  Bush the great exception.  Mr. president, the separation of powers is pretty clear here.  If you are good with it, sign it.  If you think it harmful or unconstitutional, veto the whole thing.  If you don‘t plant on forcing part of it, get a new plan. 

Best Fashion Statement:

Keith, loved the suit jacket and the shirt. Ditch the tie and get better lighting when traveling.

 

 

 

 

MaET = 2130

Countdown Discussion

Discuss tonight’s Countdown among yourselves.

Don’t forget to answer the

Inquiring OlberBlogging Poll #1 below:

Inquiring Olberblogging #1 w/Poll

Rumor has it that MSNBC may be seeking a new program to follow The Rachel Maddow Show, replacing the first Countdown replay.

The MSNBC prime time run down may look something like this:

(All times Eastern and Pacific):

Hardball:  7 p.m./4 p.m.

Countdown 8 p.m./5 p.m.

Rachel  9 p.m./6 p.m.

New Show 10 p.m.

Other ???

Several potential hosts for that 10  p.m. slot have been attempting to draw in followers. They include Air America’s Sam Seder, Huffington Post blogger David Sirota among others.

OlberBlogging has proposed others to fill that time slot:

Dan Patrick with a live sports call-in program

Luke Russert & co-host to discuss topics of concern to young folks

A pundits show with semi-conservative but humorous Chris Buckley and a more liberal co-host.

An hour of international news and issues

A program hosted by an African-American or Hispanic commentator

No changes at all.  That way, Countdown will air at 10 p.m. ET/7 pm PT so more people can catch the broadcast.

So here’s a poll for discussion.

Diving Turkeys

Broadcast Date:  Friday, February 27, 2009

by Samantha

 

Which of these Countdown highlights

will you be OlberBlogging about this weekend?

 

Eggs and Oaths:  Both are easily broken 

With the details of President Obama’s withdrawal strategy released this week, the pundits are voicing their doubts on his ability to realistically keep his campaign promises regarding Iraq.  Democratic leaders object to the troop size that will still be in the region by August of next year; a date, Richard Wolffe points out, that will leave those leaders in a tough situation if the American electorate feels that the withdrawal is being handled poorly.  

Thomas E. Rick of the Washington Post, who believes American forces will be fighting in Iraq years down the line, explains his cynicism with history.  President Bush’s original plans for the war were optimistic, resulting in 30,000 troops still fighting in 2003.  Six years and six plans later, the new President calculates up to 50,000, a number that will work only if more responsibility is taken on by our Iraqi allies and no new discourse erupts in the county.  As a scholar of the 16th President, maybe President Obama could take heed of Mr. Lincoln’s advice, “We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot.”    

Blame Hip Hop

CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) — or as I like to call it Conservative Politicians Are Crazy – has hit Washington D.C. this weekend, and the stars are out… well, not really stars, more like white dwarf stars; you know the remnants that is left over after real stars die and obliterate everything around them, and all that’s left are these minute clump of carbon, just floating aimlessly in space, waiting to eventually burn out?   

Here are a few representatives that are just waiting to start their own little Type la supernova:  

Michael Steele:    

During Mr. Steele’s justification for the past eight years and how they were not true conservative values, just a long list of oopses, I was reminded of one of my favorite children’s books, Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton.  It’s a story of a turkey that just can’t dress himself properly, and after many tries, when it seems like he has finally succeeded, the reader finds out that instead of jumping into a swimming pool in his swim trunks like all the other animals, the turkey jumps in fully clothed, yet again oblivious to his surroundings and the right course of action.  

And, choosing the right course of action seems to be the Republican Party’s problem, as Matt Cooper and Eugene Robinson explain.  With their failed socialism line, continued release of racist cartoons and a ridiculous aim at young voters who listen to “urban, suburban hip hop”, most on the Right wish to set their priorities straight, hoping to return to their cherished Reagan principles.

Rush Limbaugh:   

Rush has a new member in his fan club, disgraced Texas congressman and former Republican Majority Leader, Tom DeLay.  DeLay was videotaped spouting some Limbaugh lingo about hoping Obama fails and our nation falls into a real Great Depression, but I’m not sure if I buy his act.  When asked about Rush, DeLay had the same response of  someone who is in a cult. They are forced to talk about their leader as there’s a good chance he may be watching.  

It was like “Cult?  What cult?  I’m not in a cult.  No, I’m a Republican, a member of a grand old party, which I love.  The 22 hour work days have really kept me busy, and the steady diet of gruel has helped me shed those final, pesky pounds.  Oh, and the Leader, he’s not a cult figure, he just has really awesome managerial skills.”  Maybe for his obedience, Rush will let DeLay present him his “Defender of the Constitution” award?  Fingers crossed!    

Michele Bachmann:   

If her awkward shout out to Michael Steele (ya be da man, dude!) wasn’t bad enough, her understanding of the reason why the 13 colonies went to war with England may also support Tucker Carlson’s complaint about the conservative media and facts.  Hey, new slogan:  “The far-right wing of the Republican Party has never been a committee that has been concerned about facts.”  

Joe the Plumber:  

With a big book deal under his belt (and a whopping five sold), Joe the Plumber has hinted at a hopeful run for Congress in a couple of years.  But, Joe explains that he won’t become one of those “hands across the aisle” kind of congressmen, especially when it comes to all the “imaginary” negative talk about American troops. All his threats of “slapping some member” (wait, isn’t that how Sen. Craig lost his seat) and eventually taking someone out like in the good ol’ days sounds very weird. Gene Robinson agrees to the premise that Joe has a delusional view of American history, and would be happy to educate him, but is sure it would just go over his head.        

 

Best Worsts

“Pay to pee” on Ryanair, and it has nothing to do with Blago.  

Best Oddball:

JoJo the Boa Constrictor, world’s deadliest bike lock.

 

Best “New” Countdown Pundit:

Matt Cooper, who really gets around

 

Best Cephalopod:

Flo the Octopus’ great escape was washed out.  

Best STILL Bushed:

Companies who produced faulty fasteners for pipes on Navy ships, manufactured bad body armor, and sold products to the North Koreans still have contracts with the United States government.        

Best Cringe Inducing Quote:

“Michael Steele, you be da man!”

~ Michelle Bachmann 

Best Fashion Statement:

Paul F. Tompkins’s light blue tie and pink striped shirt.   

OlberBlogging Editor’s Note #1 :

Not only did Keith and Paul sport matching striped shirts, KO seems to have been short-shirted this week.  Doesn’t his Friday (Feb. 27) shirt look a great deal like the shirt he wore a couple days before on Wednesday?  Either the NBC closet has multiple purple striped shirts (and a variety of purple ties with and without polka dots), the dry cleaners has a fast turnaround or our KO is double-dipping on his shirts!! I do that often, so what the heck!

 

Shirt Fri 02/27/09

 

Shirt Wed. 02/25/09

OlberBlogging Editor’s Note #2:

Thanks, Samantha for the wonderful post. Plus, a big shout-out  Leesa (aka Diogenes 2008) for saving me so much time and headaches by helping with the screen shots!

OlberBlogging Editor’s Note #3:

Remember, no OlberBlogging about Countdown the week of March 2 because Olberblogger’s in-laws are in town!

 We’ll resume OlberBlogging with the Monday, March 9 broadcast.

However, check back throughout next week of special Inquiring OlberBlogging questions for your discussion pleasure.

 

Now back to house cleaning!!

 

MaET = 2120