Saturday, February 14, 2009

Critiquing Olbermann

Orac and some others have noted a bothersome misstep from Keith Olbermann on Countdown this last week.

Now have have to disagree with Orac's opinion of Olbermann. He has been looking at him a lot like Limbaugh and now seems to have a lower opinion. Now it seems he sees Limbaugh as a fool and worth a laugh over an afternoon. I can't see it that way. Let's just say, "I hope he fails." Okay. Olbermann has been willing and eager to go after Bush and criticize, but, unlike Limbaugh, it isn't about trashing the country to just win a fight (over being more right than others). Rush is a mean fool who takes pleasure in building himself up on the misfortune of others. Ridicule of the poor, the ill, the unfortunate is par for the course. So to even trying to put him on par with Olbermann, even if you consider him all ego and bragger, is insulting and dubious. And knocking his sense of humor was cheap, though a matter of an individuals opinion.


But Olbermann has been drawn in to do anti-vacc dirty work. Last week he pointed to reports of how work of one of the main opponents of vaccination was in question, it looked to be fake. Big news. Then his people got a word that the one reporting on the story was suspect. He reported this as well. But the reality of this idea is not true. So Olbermann is in the wrong. Pushing forward a claim without merit.

Keith Olbermann: Played for a fool by the antivaccine movement
...

Too bad tonight Olbermann let himself be played like a fiddle by antivaccine propagandist David Kirby, the man who, with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was instrumental in launching the American version of the MMR scare, namely the thimerosal/mercury scare that roared into the states in 2004 and is now maintained by Jenny McCarthy--still aided and abetted by David Kirby. No, Kirby played Olbermann like Itzhak Perlman playing a goddamned Stradivarius. Indeed, Kirby played on Olbermann's hatred of Rupert Murdoch...


Brian Deer responds to Keith Olbermann


Olbermann needs to make amends admit to the mistake and call those who played him out for yet another of the denier's games.

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