First Olbermann goes after Rumsfeld, now he nails Fredo

[JR]

"Have you no decency, sir?"

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

For those who haven't seen the smackdown of Rummy ...

 

[JR]

Cheney's next. :)

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

"Have you no decency, sir?"

Yes, JR, have you no decency?

 

[sportschick]

Cheney's next. :)

Followed by Condi, I hope.

 

[slappy4428]

Fredo compared the Media to Al-Queda?

Powerful stuff by Olbermann.. he must be a traitor...

 

[JR]

I hope Olbermann's tax returns are squeaky clean.

 

[slappy4428]

I hope Olbermann's tax returns are squeaky clean.

Kinda of the functional equivalent of Kent State paying for Notre Dame's sins

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

I realize Olbermann is the hero of the left-wing wackos who inhabit this site, but he's basically just the left-wing version of O'Reilly. A couple of self-righteous, self-aggrandizing blowhards.

Of course, the right-wing blowhard has about six times the viewers of the left-wing blowhard.

 

[Columbo]

I realize Olbermann is the hero of the left-wing wackos who inhabit this site, but he's basically just the left-wing version of O'Reilly. A couple of self-righteous, self-aggrandizing blowhards.

Of course, the right-wing blowhard has about six times the viewers of the left-wing blowhard.

A clear inverse relationship to the brain usage of the hosts.

 

[pallister]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

 

[SockPuppet]

Lyman, imitate your namesake and disappear.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

Lyman, imitate your namesake and disappear.

Hey, another liberal who doesn't tolerate dissent! An oxymoron ... or maybe just a moron ...

At least you didn't tell me to go get shot in the head, so kudos for that.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Find me any moment =at which Olbermann was as truthless as O'Reilly was in claiming his show won a Peabody award. Then, we'll talk.
Find me the millions that Olbermann's sexual-harassment has caught MSNBC and we can have a long chat.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

Here is what Bush said:

These violent extremists know that to realize this vision, they must first drive out the main obstacle that stands in their way -- the United States of America. According to al Qaeda, their strategy to defeat America has two parts: First, they're waging a campaign of terror across the world. They're targeting our forces abroad, hoping that the American people will grow tired of casualties and give up the fight. And they're targeting America's financial centers and economic infrastructure at home, hoping to terrorize us and cause our economy to collapse.

Bin Laden calls this his "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan." And he cited the attacks of 9/11 as evidence that such a plan can succeed. With the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden says, "al Qaeda spent $500,000 on the event, while America… lost -- according to the lowest estimate -- $500 billion… Meaning that every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars” of America. Bin Laden concludes from this experience that "America is definitely a great power, with… unbelievable military strength and a vibrant economy, but all of these have been built on a very weak and hollow foundation." He went on to say, "Therefore, it is very easy to target the flimsy base and concentrate on their weak points, and even if we're able to target one-tenth of these weak points, we will be able [to] crush and destroy them."

Secondly, along with this campaign of terror, the enemy has a propaganda strategy. Osama bin Laden laid out this strategy in a letter to the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, that coalition forces uncovered in Afghanistan in 2002. In it, bin Laden says that al Qaeda intends to "[launch]," in his words, "a media campaign… to create a wedge between the American people and their government." This media campaign, bin Laden says, will send the American people a number of messages, including "that their government [will] bring them more losses, in finances and casualties." And he goes on to say that "they are being sacrificed… to serve… the big investors, especially the Jews." Bin Laden says that by delivering these messages, al Qaeda "aims at creating pressure from the American people on the American government to stop their campaign against Afghanistan."

Bin Laden and his allies are absolutely convinced they can succeed in forcing America to retreat and causing our economic collapse. They believe our nation is weak and decadent, and lacking in patience and resolve. And they're wrong. (Applause.) Osama bin Laden has written that the "defeat of... American forces in Beirut" in 1983 is proof America does not have the stomach to stay in the fight. He's declared that "in Somalia… the United States [pulled] out, trailing disappointment, defeat, and failure behind it." And last year, the terrorist Zawahiri declared that Americans "know better than others that there is no hope in victory. The Vietnam specter is closing every outlet."

These terrorists hope to drive America and our coalition out of Afghanistan, so they can restore the safe haven they lost when coalition forces drove them out five years ago. But they've made clear that the most important front in their struggle against America is Iraq -- the nation bin Laden has declared the "capital of the Caliphate." Hear the words of bin Laden: "I now address… the whole… Islamic nation: Listen and understand… The most… serious issue today for the whole world is this Third World War… [that] is raging in [Iraq]." He calls it "a war of destiny between infidelity and Islam." He says, "The whole world is watching this war," and that it will end in "victory and glory or misery and humiliation." For al Qaeda, Iraq is not a distraction from their war on America -- it is the central battlefield where the outcome of this struggle will be decided.

I think Olbermann, who has had some good points against the administration, is grasping at straws here. In the excerpt, given in full context, simply discusses AQ's strategy for removing America as a factor in their global chessboard. In the statement, he only sets out OBL's aims and beliefs -- that OBL can bring our "weak and decadent" nation to its knees and that a propaganda campaign is part of that goal. Bush never holds the media complicit in OBL's plan and never returns to the topic. (See http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905-4.html for the full transcript).

The first half of Olbermann's takedown of Rummy was very well done. The second half, where he went from comparing the Bush Admin. to Chamberlain to comparing them to the Nazis, was way off the deep end. This one is just taking an inference and making a mountain out of flatland.

 

[zeke12]

Throw all of O'Reilly's bull**** out the window, and Olbermann is still 10X the writer he is.

(and, for the record, I'm not allowing that false equivalency to stand -- I disagree -- I'm just choosing to make another point)

So what does that say about the right-wing viewers of Fox News, Lyman?

 

[pallister]

This is totally different from every other political thread on this board. Very unique arguments being made here.

 

[zeke12]

pallister --

Just don't click on it. Poof! it disappears from your conciousness like so much fluff.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

Throw all of O'Reilly's bull**** out the window, and Olbermann is still 10X the writer he is.

(and, for the record, I'm not allowing that false equivalency to stand -- I disagree -- I'm just choosing to make another point)

So what does that say about the right-wing viewers of Fox News, Lyman?

It's not "false equivalency," Zeke. They're two sides of the same coin.

But because Keith is your guy, you can't see that. He is no better than Mr. O, now matter what Fenian_Blowhard pontificates (and boy, does he love to do that).

 

[SockPuppet]

Lyman:
Since we're into name calling, seems to me it's the right-wing neo-cons who are the ones who won't tolerate dissent or questions. All the administration wants is blind faith so that their obvious lies won't be discovered.