Olbermann Promo: "Who will steal the Political Thunder?"

Last night, a promo for Countdown's pre-Super Tuesday coverage ended with the phrase, "Who will steal the 'political thunder?". That's awesome. An unintentional shout-out to my blog. And by my favorite anchor, Keith Olbermann. Well, I'll be watching his show tonight, for sure.

Anyway, guess who my "ideal candidate" on the Indecision 2008's quiz is. Yep, John Edwards.
In addition, I have been asked to do an interview for the radio show, "The Lake Effect" on WUWM. The interview is in regards to this article, in which I was mentioned.

Today has been good to me.

-Mr. Joseph

Olbermann reads Tom Tomorrow on air!

Hilarious!

YouTube video...

LINK: Bill O'Reilly's Advice To Teens - Comic Strip

RELATED READING...

LINK: The comic: "Bill O'Reilly's very useful advice for young people, as channeled by vile left-wing smear merchant Tom Tomorrow."

LINK: C&L: Keith Olbermann Reads Tom Tomorrow

-Mr. Joseph

Imus Comeback?

From WTOPnews.com...

Don Imus has reached a settlement with CBS over his multimillion-dollar contract and is negotiating to resume his broadcasting career.

Imus and CBS Radio "have mutually agreed to settle claims that each had against the other regarding the Imus radio program on CBS," the network and Imus' attorney Martin Garbus said in a joint statement Tuesday.

The terms of the settlement will not be disclosed, according to the statement. CBS and Garbus confirmed only that the settlement had been reached.

The settlement pre-empts the dismissed radio personality's threatened $120 million breach-of-contract lawsuit.

Meantime, Imus is talking to WABC-AM and other stations about making a possible comeback, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details had not been announced, also said the deal with CBS calls for a "non-disparaging" agreement that forbids the parties from speaking negatively about each other.

The settlement and possible comeback come more than four months after Imus created an uproar over his racist and sexist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

More...

LINK: Imus Settles With CBS, May Make Comeback

Matt Drudge also chimed in this morning...

IMUS: $20 MILLION MAN

**EXCLUSIVE 10:19 AM ET ** Radio host Don Imus has agreed to settle his contract with CBS for $20 million, and a non disparaging clause, legal sources claim. The move opens the possibility Imus will soon return to the airwaves -- on WABC in New York! [Top radio executive strongly dismisses Imus will be offered WABC slot] Developing...

Link: The Drudge Report

And now the NewsMax poll is back up...

On a side note, Karl Rove resigned. Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart say goodbye in the perfect way...

Speaking of Jon Stewart, John Gibson is an absolute bitch. And Jon Stewart made Bill Kristol into one as well.

-Mr. Joseph

PS This is ridiculous...

Matt Drudge vs. Keith Olbermann

From Think Progress:

On his Sunday night radio program, Matt Drudge blasted Keith Olbermann as a “phony,” calling him “complete and utter camp.”

Drudge — the operator of the right-wing pseudo news site Drudge Report — was talking about the Venezuelan government’s shutdown of the country’s oldest private TV station when he veered the discussion into a hit piece on Olbermann. “When we start hearing that the National Guard is seizing television stations, alright then I’m on board,” Drudge said. “Then I’m on board, Olbermann. Until then, it’s all pancake, makeup, and Edward R. Murrow ‘good night and good luck’ and…complete and utter camp.”

“What’s being peddled over there at MSNBC” is “phony — phony lights, phony music, and everything there,” said Drudge, an Internet gossip who frolics in “the most salacious aspects of American politics."

In 1998, Matt Drudge ran a TV series on Fox. Olbermann said at the time that Drudge “has gone from being an idiot with a modem to an idiot with a modem and a television show on the most irresponsible network in America.”

Transcript:

DRUDGE: When we start hearing that the National Guard is seizing television stations, alright then I’m on board. Then I’m on board, Olbermann. Until then, it’s all pancake, makeup, and Edward R. Murrow good night and good luck and all… you know. Camp. Camp! That’s the right word to describe what’s being peddled over there at MSNBC. Complete and utter camp.

OLBERMANN (voice over): “Good night and good luck.”

DRUDGE: And some people are taking it seriously because they think it’s on TV so it has to be real. Please. And then they take off the hair, they take off the teeth, and they peel the face off — and then it’s you know, it’s all this phony — phony lights, phony music, and everything there.

LINK: Internet Gossip Monger Matt Drudge Blasts Olbermann As A ‘Phony’

I like Drudge, but I like Keith more. I wonder how he will respond...
-Mr. Joseph

UPDATE (6/2/07):
Crooks and Liars: Drudge: Olbermann is phony, camp

Even MORE on the Olbermann/Beck Feud

Media Matters documents the Olbermann "Worst Person" rip and Think Progress notes Glenn Beck's rant...

Olbermann:

On the March 16 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named CNN Headline News host and ABC News contributor Glenn Beck the winner of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for claiming on the March 15 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, as Media Matters for America documented, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) cannot be elected president because of her voice: "[S]he is like the stereotypical -- excuse the expression, but this is the way to -- she's the stereotypical bitch ... that stereotypical nagging." As Media Matters also noted, on the March 16 edition of his radio show, Beck denied calling Clinton "a bitch," claiming instead that "Hillary Clinton sounds like the biggest nag on the planet ... I never said that Hillary Clinton -- excuse the language -- I never said that Hillary Clinton was a bitch. I said she sounded like one."

Olbermann awarded Fox News host Sean Hannity "the bronze" because, as Media Matters also documented, "He repeated the tale that President Clinton fired a U.S. attorney because the attorney was investigating Whitewater." Olbermann observed: "In fact, that U.S. attorney, Charles Banks, a Republican, investigated Whitewater, decided in October 1992 that there was no there there, resisted pressure from the first President Bush's attorney general to prosecute anyway." Olbermann acknowledged that "this could have gone to the Wall Street Journal editorial board," which made a similar accusation in a March 14 editorial, as Media Matters also documented.

From the March 16 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: The bronze to Sean Hannity, although this could have gone to the Wall Street Journal editorial board or Republican strategist Joe Watkins, who repeated this lie today on the network, or a lot of other people. But Sean likes "Worst Person" honors, so, tag, you're it. He repeated the tale that President Clinton fired a U.S. attorney because the attorney was investigating Whitewater.

In fact, that U.S. attorney, Charles Banks, a Republican, investigated Whitewater, decided in October 1992 that there was no there there, resisted pressure from the first President Bush's attorney general to prosecute anyway.

[...]

But our winner tonight, Glenn Beck of CNN and ABC, explaining that Senator Clinton cannot be elected president because of her voice. Quoting, "[S]he is like the stereotypical -- excuse the expression, but this is the way to -- she's the stereotypical bitch ... that stereotypical nagging -- nah, nah, nah, nah, nah," unquote. Beck says he would say the same thing about [Secretary of State] Condi Rice. Yeah, except he didn't. Glenn Beck, today's "Worst Person in the World."

LINK: Olbermann named Beck "Worst Person" for calling Clinton "the stereotypical bitch"; Hannity took "bronze"

RELATED READING:

VIDEO: Worst Person: Glenn Beck

Beck:

Last month, CNN’s Glenn Beck attacked MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, calling him an “intolerant ideologue” whose ideas “smack of the same McCarthyism [Edward R.] Murrow fought so valiantly against.”

Yesterday on CNN’s Reliable Sources, Beck once again went after Olbermann: “I’m in the hot seat almost constantly because I’m doing an opinion show — but I am telling you I’m doing an opinion show. I am in the hot seat because I’m a conservative — but I’m telling you that I’m a conservative. It’s people like Keith Olbermann doing news shows, never will ever admit that he’s a liberal. He is a liberal and he’s also blending news and comment together. That is the great danger.”

Beck is wrong. From a 6/9/05 Houston Chronicle profile:

A lot of my personal worldview is unmistakably sympathetic to things in a liberal playbook, but honest to God, I have been called a reactionary by some on the far left, a liberal by some on the far right and I’m insulted by both terms. My point of view is about delivering information and context. It has nothing to do with a political point of view.

While Olbermann admits that personally, he is liberal, he maintains that he focuses on criticizing those in power, which included President Clinton in 1998. I try to be “fair and honest and as accurate and as informed as possible, and allow my viewer to be the same way,” Olbermann told CSPAN last year.

On the other hand, Beck’s comments are more than just “conservative.” They are also, at times, racist, anti-gay, and sexist.

Transcript:

KURTZ: All right. Well, let me read you some comments from MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. We’re going to play part of your on-air response and we’ll talk about it on the other side. Olbermann told “Rolling Stone” this month, he called you a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a very dangerously bigoted guy who’s selling himself as a pragmatic philosopher. I don’t think he sees his own bigotry. There’s something about him that suggests one night he will say something that costs him his career in television. And you addressed this question of making a career ending move on your show. Let’s watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: If I’m going to be shut down for that, well, it will likely be because of an intolerant ideologue like Keith Olbermann. The very idea smacks of the same McCarthyism Murrow fought so valiantly against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Now he wasn’t calling for you to be shut down. He said you might shut yourself down by saying something.

BECK: There’s a difference. There’s a difference here and I think this is what it is. We are in a very politically correct world and you can — if you’re honest about it, you can see that there is a different standard. I mean here I am. I’m in the hot seat almost constantly because I’m doing an opinion show but I am telling you I’m doing an opinion show. I am in the hot seat because I’m conservative, but I’m telling you that I’m a conservative. It’s people like Keith Olbermann doing news shows never will ever admit that he’s a liberal. He is a liberal and he’s also blending news and comment together. That is a great danger. But I would think that…

KURTZ: When he does his commentary, it says on the screen ’special comment.’

BECK: You’re only finding his commentary there in the special commentary? I mean come on.

LINK: Beck Falsely Claims Olbermann Will ‘Never Admit He’s A Liberal’

Developing...
-Mr. Joseph

Coulter gets "Worst Person" for "faggot" remark...

Media Matters:

As Media Matters for America documented, during her March 2 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Coulter said she "can't really talk about" Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate and former senator, because "you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot.' "

Additionally, Olbermann named syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh "Worst Person" runner-up for, as Media Matters noted, stating that, since ancestors of Rev. Al Sharpton were slaves and ancestors of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) were slaveowners, "could we not say that if Obama wins the Democratic nomination and then wins the presidency, he will own Al Sharpton?"

From the March 5 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Thank you, Amy. Couldn't resist this trio. I'm just sorry there could not be golds for all of them. The bronze to Newt Gingrich, visiting us briefly in this dimension to blame the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on a, quote, "failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane." Yeah, Newt, all that education sure helped the Bush administration shine after the hurricane.

The bronze [sic: runner-up], comedian Rush Limbaugh, pointing out that since ancestors of Al Sharpton were slaves and ancestors of Senator Barack Obama were slaveowners, quoting again, "could we not say that if Obama wins the Democratic nomination and then wins the presidency, he will own Al Sharpton?" No, actually, we couldn't say that. But we could say that any lingering doubt about this is at an end: Rush Limbaugh is a racist.

But the gold, of course, to Coultergeist. Calling John Edwards that name. I mean, Annie, just because you're more mannish-looking? Hell, you're more mannish looking than every man on the planet. Coultergeist, today's "Worst Person in the World"!

LINK: Olbermann gave Coulter "gold" in "Worst Person" segment for "faggot" comment; Limbaugh came in second

RELATED READING...

LINK: ‘Worst Person in the World’: Ann Coulter

Coultergeist, that is clever...
-Mr. Joseph

UPDATE (3/10/07): Sixth and seventh newspapers drop Coulter -- editor of NC paper calls her CPAC comments "the last straw"

UPDATE (3/19/07): UPDATE: Nine newspapers drop Coulter in the wake of CPAC remarks

List of Papers that dropped her column...

• The Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania)

• The Oakland Press (Michigan)

• The Mountain Press (Sevierville, Tennessee)

• The Sanford Herald (North Carolina)

• The Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, Illinois)

• The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana)

• American Press (Lake Charles, Louisiana)

• Herald & Review (Decatur, Illinois)

More on the Olbermann/Beck Feud

Dina, I've got some time and a camera. Why don't you stop by? ... No? OK.
-Glenn Beck

Olbermann gave CNN's Glenn Beck the Worst Person in the World award for this...

Media Matters...

As Media Matters for America documented (here, here, and here), during each of the first three episodes of his CNN Headline News program, Beck made suggestive comments to CNN Headline News anchor Erica Hill, who was then giving daily news updates during the show. Hill no longer appears on Beck's program.

VIDEO / LINK: Olbermann named Beck "Worst Person" for propositioning woman on show

YouTube Video...

LINK: KO'd: Glenn Beck Named Worst Person for Requesting Racy Pics

TRANSCRIPTS:

From the March 1 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: But our winner, Glenn Beck of CNN Headline News. Talking about the latest naked photo scandal at American Idol, he asked a female guest to let him take nude photos of her. No, wait a minute. Not even he would do that. Ask a woman on television to pose nude for him, even hypothetically? I'm sorry, I'd have to see that to believe it. I'm sorry, Glenn. I don't know how this got in this list, I mean.

We have it on tape? Seriously? Dina Sansing, from US Weekly? All right, play it.

[begin video clip]

BECK: I don't think you have to be famous. I think you just work in the average, you know, in the average environment in America now, somebody would get a picture of you, and then it would be posted all around, and you -- it'll happen in your office.

SANSING: Yeah, possibly.

BECK: You don't think so?

SANSING: Well, it depends. You know, it depends --

BECK: Dina, I've got some time and a camera. Why don't you stop by? No? OK.

[end video clip]

OLBERMANN: Bravo, sir. I mean, not even Bill-O would do his sexual harassing on camera. Glenn Beck of CNN Headline News, today's "Worst Person in the World."

RELATED READING...

LINK: The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 281 (Beck is #9)

LINK: Glenn Beck’s got a camera…

LINK: ‘Worst’: CNN's Glenn Beck gets salty with guest

No? Okay...
-Mr. Joseph

Olbermann vs. Beck

vs.
This is a feud just waiting to happen! Think Progress documented the opening round...

Olbermann (via RollingStone) on CNN's Glenn Beck:

A wolf in sheep’s clothing. The very dangerously bigoted guy who is selling himself as a pragmatic philosopher. I don’t think he sees his own bigotry. There’s something about him that suggests that, one night, he’ll say something that will cost him his career in television.

LINK: KEITH OLBERMANN: TRUTH-TELLER

Beck (via his own TV Show):

Hey, Keith, you’re not saving the world’s democracy; you’re killing it, my friend, by trying to limit the marketplace of ideas to only those that reflect your own.

LINK: Glenn Beck Claims Olbermann Is ‘Killing…The World’s Democracy,’ ‘Smacks Of…McCarthyism’

-Mr. Joseph

Global Warming Denier Michael Crichton Fictionalizes Critic as Child Rapist

TPMmuckraker, Think Progress, Keith Olberman, and the Democratic Underground documented this...

TPMmuckraker:

The battle between anti-global warming activists and their critics is frequently uncivil. Name calling, put downs, you name it, they fling them.

But this marks a new threshold, I think.

This March, Michael Crowley wrote a cover story (sub. req.) in The New Republic hitting blockbuster novelist Michael Crichton's very public denials that global warming was a proved phenomenon.

That was the last he'd heard from Crichton until he picked his latest novel, Next. Here's what he found:

Alex Burnet was in the middle of the most difficult trial of her career, a rape case involving the sexual assault of a two-year-old boy in Malibu. The defendant, thirty-year-old Mick Crowley, was a Washington-based political columnist who was visiting his sister-in-law when he experienced an overwhelming urge to have anal sex with her young son, still in diapers. Crowley was a wealthy, spoiled Yale graduate and heir to a pharmaceutical fortune. ...

It turned out Crowley's taste in love objects was well known in Washington, but [his lawyer]--as was his custom--tried the case vigorously in the press months before the trial, repeatedly characterizing Alex and the child's mother as "fantasizing feminist fundamentalists" who had made up the whole thing from "their sick, twisted imaginations." This, despite a well-documented hospital examination of the child. (Crowley's penis was small, but he had still caused significant tears to the toddler's rectum.)

Think Progress:

The real-life Michael Crowley is also a Washington journalist and also graduated from Yale.

The New York Times reports, “Mr. Crichton could not be reached yesterday for comment, and a publicist at his publisher, HarperCollins, did not return calls.” In an article posted today, Crowley says he is “strangely flattered” by the reference: “If someone offers substantive criticism of an author, and the author responds by hitting below the belt, as it were, then he’s conceding that the critic has won.”

TPMmuckraker:

In an article posted to the New Republic's Web site today, Crowley responded:

The next page contains fleeting references to Crowley as a "weasel" and a "dickhead," and, later, "that political reporter who likes little boys." But that's it--Crowley comes and goes without affecting the plot. He is not a character so much as a voodoo doll. Knowing that Crichton had used prior books to attack very real-seeming people, I was suspicious. Who was this Mick Crowley? A Google search turned up an Irish Workers Party politician in Knocknaheeny, Ireland. But Crowley's tireless advocacy for County Cork's disabled seemed to make him an unlikely target of Crichton's ire. And that's when it dawned on me: I happen to be a Washington political journalist. And, yes, I did attend Yale University. And, come to think of it, I had recently written a critical 3,700-word cover story about Crichton. In lieu of a letter to the editor, Crichton had fictionalized me as a child rapist. And, perhaps worse, falsely branded me a pharmaceutical-industry profiteer.

Democratic Underground:

Classy stuff!

Keith Olberman:

But our winner, author Michael Crichton. In his last novel, he dismissed global warming. So a political columnist for the “New Republic,” who went to Yale, named Michael Crowley, and ripped him for it. Now Crichton has a new book, in which he’s created a minor character who is a child rapist, and described as a political columnist who went to Yale, and who’s name Mick Crowley. Crichton’s publisher, Harper Collins, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The real Michael Crowley is understandably upset that Crichton gave his name to a child rapist, but look, Mr. Crowley, it could have been worst, Crichton could have used your name for a character based on himself. Author Michael “Vengeance is Mine” Crichton, Thursday’s Worst Person in the World.

LINK: Keith: 'Worst Person in the World’: Michael Crichton

LINK: TPM: Global Warming Denier Michael Crichton Fictionalizes Critic as Child Rapist

LINK: TP: Journalist Critical Of Climate Skeptic Michael Crichton Written Into Crichton Novel As Child Rapist

LINK: DU: The Top Ten Conservative Idiots, No. 272, (#7)

Good grief...
-Mr. Joseph

Feingold Cuts Through The ISG Hype on Countdown

From Crooks and Liars...

Keith Olbermann had Russ Feingold on to give his assessment of the now very famous Iraq Study Group report.

Feingold said what I have felt all day. This report does not give us a clear path in Iraq and leaves the future of the war up in the air. Even worse is the fact that we have lost 10 more soldiers today and the administration needs more time to figure out what to do. Iraq sure doesn't need more time to slip into anarchy - it gets worse by the day.

Silent Patriot: "The Senator drills home the point that the panel was composed primarily of politicians — not Mideast experts — and doesn't fully address the most important aspects of the overall War on Terror but instead views it through the "prism of Iraq" and "misses the point."

LINK: Feingold Cuts Through The ISG Hype on Countdown

-Mr. Joseph

Bush Sr. sheds some tears

I figured this was news... Crooks and Liars found it...

Former President George H.W. Bush broke down in tears as he cited his son, Gov. Jeb Bush, as an example of leadership.Bush was addressing lawmakers, his son's top administrators, and state workers gathered in the House chamber Monday for the last of the governor's leadership forums.

He said he was proud of how his son handled losing the 1994 governor's race to popular incumbent Democrat Lawton Chiles and vaguely referred to dirty tricks in the campaign….read on

VIDEO / LINK: Bush Sr. sheds some tears

Olberman did a long segment on this last night. Apparently Jeb was the intellect of the family and he was supposed be the Presidential Candidate...

-Mr. Joseph

Feingold Argues Emergence of Al Qaeda Leader Shows ‘Insanity’ Of Misplaced Priorities

From Think Progress...

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) argued that the broader al Qaeda network is gaining strength as a result of the Iraq war. Feingold cited Somalia, where an individual listed by the U.S. State Department as a suspected al Qaeda collaborator was yesterday named as the new leader of a militia that has seized control of Somalia’s capital...

Full transcript:

FEINGOLD: Our number one moral responsibility is to protect the American people — to focus on those who attacked us on 9/11, to not be distracted into a situation where even the administration did not have Iraq as one of the 45 countries that was connected with al Qaeda.

Our number one responsibility is to protect the American people from being killed by terrorists. Iraq has very little to do with that at this point. Iraq is obviously a place where they’re training people, but the idea of standing up and keeping a military involvement forever in Iraq will actually weaken the American people’s ability to go after terrorists who, frankly, look like they’re taking over Somalia right now.

You know, Tim, today it was announced that a guy named Hassan Dahir Aweys is now the head of the government that has taken over in Mogadishu in Somalia. He is on the State Department’s terrorist list. He is known as an al Qaeda operative, or somebody that is connected with al Qaeda. While we were asleep at the switch, while we were bogged down in Iraq, while we were all focused on Iraq as the be all and end all of our American foreign policy, we are losing the battle to al Qaeda because we’re not paying attention.

I asked [Coordinator for Counter Terrorism in the State Department] Ambassador Crumpton at a hearing the other day, how many people in our federal government are working full time on the problem in Somalia? He said one full time person. We’ve spent $2 million in Somalia in the last year while we’re spending $2 billion a week in Iraq. This is insanity if you think about what the priorities are of those who have attacked us and those who are likely to attack us in the future.

VIDEO / LINK: VIDEO: Feingold Argues Emergence of Al Qaeda Leader Shows ‘Insanity’ Of Misplaced Priorities

St. Paul Pioneer Press has more...

Feingold faults Bush on Somalia policy

Returning from a recent trip to Africa, Sen. Russ Feingold faulted the Bush administration for what he called a failure to develop a policy on Somalia, even as he praised U.S. efforts to combat AIDS on the continent.

Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who will lead the Senate Foreign Relations African Affairs subcommittee next year, visited Ethiopia and Kenya, two countries that neighbor Somalia, during a weeklong trip. An Islamic militia has taken over much of Somalia, including the capital, and the country's prime minister said this week his troops were bracing for war.

"The stakes are very high for us," Feingold said in a telephone interview.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., agreed the African nation needs more attention from the U.S.

Coleman said "that a major problem with U.S. policy on Somalia in recent history has been its absence."

"A failed state in this part of the world would be a security threat to our nation, and we need a robust strategy to ensure that this does not happen," Coleman said.

Feingold warned that the militants could have an impact not just in Somalia but in the entire region. The U.S. has said the Islamic movement has links to al-Qaida, which Islamic leaders deny.

"So this is just the kind of situation that we should be paying real attention to, instead of only obsessing about Iraq," Feingold said. "Our failure to have a policy in this area is a threat to the American people, and our government has a very serious responsibility to turn this around."

The State Department responded by referring to remarks made last week by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, who said the U.S. is working with all sides to prevent Somalia from becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

Feingold won passage in October of a defense bill amendment, co-sponsored by Coleman, requiring the U.S. government to coordinate a comprehensive strategy for Somalia and the region.

Feingold said Tuesday that U.S. policy should be to try to get negotiations going between the current secular government, known as the transitional federal government, and the Union of Islamic Courts, the umbrella group behind the militia, to create a coalition government in Somalia. The U.S. has supported such a dialogue, but Feingold argued it hasn't done enough to start one.

In Minnesota's Somali community, the largest in the United States, American policy is a huge concern, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the St. Paul-based Somali Justice Advocacy Center.

"Somalis feel that the administration hasn't done anything on the Somali issue," Jamal said. "The administration's main focus was the war on terror, and right in front of our eyes, Somalia is run over by Taliban-style extremists. The administration hasn't done squat."

Meanwhile, Feingold praised the impact that President Bush's AIDS initiative has had on the countries he visited. The initiative, announced in 2003, targets 15 countries that have about half of the world's 39 million people who are HIV-positive.

"It's hard to ever describe this issue as good news, but I am proud of the effect that the president's program is having," Feingold said. "We received profuse thanks for the very significant funding increases that are going into it.

"It appears that in both Ethiopia and Kenya, the government is fully behind the efforts and sees the American bilateral aid as being one of the most important things."

Feingold said that while more must be done, the progress has been striking. He said he visited a slum in Kenya in 2002, where he witnessed a "pitiful" program to help people with AIDS.

"There was absolutely no money whatsoever for treatment," he said. "Now there is significant funding — not enough — but at least significant funding to treat people who already have AIDS."

LINK: Feingold faults Bush on Somalia policy

Make a note, Russ will be on Countdown tonight with Keith Olberman to discuss what the Iraq Study Group had to say...

-Mr. Joseph

Olbermann Slams Savage with "Worst"

Media Matters covered Keith Olberman's smackdown of Michael Savage.

TRANSCRIPTS:

From the November 13 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: And I want to tell you something, and I'm going to say it to you loud and clear. The radical homosexual agenda will not stop until religion is outlawed in this country. Make no mistake about it. They're all not nice decorators. You better get it through your head before it's too late. They threaten your very survival. They went after the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is now caving into the homosexual mafia. They will not stop until they force their agenda down your throats. Gay marriage is just the tip of the iceberg. They want full and total subjugation of this society to their agenda. Now, if you want that and if you don't think it's a threat -- believe me, that is what's going to occur in this country.

Olberman responded with...

From the November 14 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Our runner-up tonight, Michael Weiner-Savage, back on the radio declaring, quote, "The radical homosexual agenda will not stop until religion is outlawed in this country," and "they want full and total subjugation of this society to their agenda." Hey, fella, you're just nuts, huh?

LINK: Olbermann named Savage "Worst Person" runner-up for declaring "[t]he radical homosexual agenda will not stop until religion is outlawed in this country"

Good shot, Keith!

Mr. Joseph

Humor Wrap-Up of the 2006 Elections

Credit to Crooks and Liars for these...

Bill Maher: "I don't want to say that George Bush is a lame duck, but today Dick Cheney shot him."

VIDEO / LINK: Bill Maher’s Post-Election Opening Monologue

Keith Olberman...

VIDEO / LINK: The 2006 Election… A Comedic Roundup

Mr. Joseph

Olberman "Looks Back" on Bush's first months

Crooks and Liars caught this bit from Countdown...

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Olbermann: The political debate still raging over Mr. Clinton’s remarks in a Fox News interview Sunday has overshadowed the debate Mr. Clinton suggested the nation ought to have… a discussion of what steps the Bush administration took to get Osama bin Laden or destroy al Qaeda before September 11th.

Yesterday, Mr. Bush declined to address Mr. Clinton’s remarks, saying we’ve already had the "look-back this" and "look-back that."

But if we are to look forward with any clarity, it is important to know the facts about where we have been, and how we got where we are.

Mr. Clinton is not in office.

Mr. Bush is.

His policies determine how the U.S. fights al Qaeda, so it is important that we understand how he has done so in the past.

Comparing the two presidents is valid, and necessary–to illuminate the capacities of the office.

Mr. Clinton said it plainly — he failed to get bin Laden.

Mr. Bush has acknowledged no failures.

VIDEO: Keith Olbermann takes a “look back” at Bush’s first months in office leading up to 9/11

LINK: Keith Olbermann takes a “look back” at Bush’s first months in office leading up to 9/11

At least MSNBC has ONE responsible journalist. That is more than FOX can say.
-Mr. Joseph

"Weekly" Column #2: "The O'Rivalry Factor"

"The O'Rivalry Factor" by Joseph Kay
Bill O'Reilly of FOX News's "The O'Reilly Factor" and Westwood One's "The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly" has always claimed to stick up for "the folks" and to do what (at least he thought) was right. He's a noteworthy journalist with plenty of years experience. However, he has quite a few people who don't take too kindly to him.

Al Franken said his name should be "O'Lie-lly". Keith Olberman constantly awards him the "Worst Person in the World" on his show, Countdown. Media Matters for America named him the "2004 Misinformer of the Year". Peter Hart wrote a book called "The Oh Really? Factor". Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer wrote a book called "Sweet Jesus, I HATE Bill O'Reilly" and operate the website SweetJesusIHateBillOreilly.com.

So why would so many left-leaning citizens have such a beef with the self proclaimed "centrist", O'Reilly?

They all have their reasons. Al Franken says that he is a "bully" and a "liar". David Brock, the President of Media Matters for America, accused O'Reilly for being a "coward". And Keith Olberman probably does not appreciate O'Reilly's significantly higher viewer ratings during the time slot they share. No matter what, I think it is time to analyze every feud here and try to make sense of it all. Does O'Reilly deserve this abuse? Or are the "liberal elites" out to get him?

To start, the feud with Al Franken began first. In 2003, Al Franken wrote his book, "Lies! And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right". In this book, he dedicated and entire chapter to Bill O'Reilly and included a very unflattering picture of O'Reilly on the cover. Franken ripped O'Reilly on points like O'Reilly was irresponsible in naming a Polk Award a Peabody, the fact that O'Reilly was, at one time, a registered Republican, the fact that O'Reilly had been misleading about where he grew up, amoung other things. He took O'Reilly to town and did a good job of it. O'Reilly, apparently, didn't appreciate it. On a BookTV Conference, both O'Reilly and Franken appeared to talk about their books. According to Franken, before the show, O'Reilly yelled at both Franken and Franken's editor regarding the unflattering photo of him on Franken's book cover. Franken claims that was the reason why the photo stayed. Franken then got up and gave his speech. When O'Reilly stood up to give his speech he started by accusing Franken for speaking for "35" minutes (Franken spoke for about 20) and started to play down Franken's accusations. Franken tried to interrupt, but O'Reilly refused to let him by saying, "Hey, shut up! You had your thirty-five minutes! SHUT UP!" Franken then stated that "this isn't your show, Bill". According to the transcripts, O'Reilly then spend a good amount of time bashing Franken and saying that he did not "attack" people. (He had, before, called Franken an "idiot".) Ever since that confrontation, O'Reilly refuses to talk about it and he refers to Franken as "Stuart Smalley" (A Franken SNL character). Even more surprising, he convinced FOX News to sue Al Franken for using their "Fair and Balanced" slogan. Needless to say, the lawsuit was thrown out of court.

Was O'Reilly justified in his actions? Or did he overreact? In my opinion, being in the public eye and being as outspoken as O'Reilly, there will be a lot of abuse directed at you and you have to be able to deal with it professionally. I do not believe this was the case. O'Reilly should have taken the abuse from Franken and he would of came out at least looking respectable.

The next feud was with MSNBC host of Countdown, Keith Olberman. O'Reilly and Olberman share a time slot and compete very blatanly. Olberman names O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World" and, in response O'Reilly put a petition up on his website to get Olberman off the air. Olberman made great fun of this and had his entire staff sign it. When O'Reilly's sexual harassment scandal broke, Olberman celebrated it by poking fun at O'Reilly and still does it today. Last March, O’Reilly dropped a caller from his live radio show, seemingly for mentioning Olbermann's name. O'Reilly accused the caller of being part of a larger group of individuals which had been calling O'Reilly with the sole purpose of mentioning Olbermann. The caller said "I like to listen to you during the day. I think Keith Olbermann..." when O'Reilly cut in, responding to "Mike" as follows:

"We have your own phone number and we're going to turn it over to Fox security and you'll be getting a little visit. [...] When you call us, ladies and gentlemen, just so you know, we do have your phone number, and if you say anything untoward, obscene or anything like that, FOX security then will contact your local authorities and you will be held accountable. Fair?"

Not so fair - Olberman pointed out that Westwood One broadcasts "The Radio Factor" (not FOX News) and it is illegal for O'Reilly to even do what he threatened. Olberman also has nicknamed O'Reilly, "The Giant Head". O'Reilly's only response to most of this is just something along the lines of "Nobody watches MSNBC". This is not true, FOX News' ratings are down 28% from this time last year while MSNBC's ratings are up 8%.

So who is right? Personally, I think O'Reilly's taking this too seriously. They are competitors and Olberman is making fun of it. However, this clearly demonstrates that O'Reilly doesn't like to compete. Unless he wins.

Media Matters for America is a website dedicated to disproving "conservative misinformation" in the news. O'Reilly has become one their favorite targets. They awarded him the "2004 Misinformer of the Year". Media Matters also points out...

"O'Reilly frequently denounces 'cowards' who refuse to face him on-air, saying, for example, 'If you attack someone publicly, as these men did to me, you have an obligation to face the person you are smearing. If you don't, you are a coward.' But O'Reilly has repeatedly attacked Media Matters while refusing Media Matters President and CEO David Brock's request to appear on The O'Reilly Factor."

That is a very good point. O'Reilly responds to them much like he responds to Franken. He name calls. He has called Media Matters "dishonest", a "far left smear website", "loony", "oppressive", "smear merchants", "paid assassins", "morons", "despicable weasels", and "a creepy, little, left wing outfit".

I analyzed the Media Matters site and I can't say O'Reilly is justified. Media Matters is very good about quoting everything in context and pointing out "conservative misinformation". Of all the feuds, Bill O'Reilly loses the most to these guys.

Media Matters is not the only site like this. Newshounds.us, Fauxnews.com, FauxNewsChannel.com, FAIR.org, and even Oreilly-sucks.com are all websites dedicated to the the FOX News Channel's conservative bias. They are all very good about documenting this. Robert Greenwald came out with a film called "OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism". O'Reilly was one of the targets in that film. I do not believe he has commented on it. Featured on that documentary was Jeremy Glick who was know for O'Reilly's most notorious interview. I'm not going to recite those transcripts again because we all know them (if not Google "Jeremy Glick").

Now, the most recent feud (as of now) is not so much of a feud as it is an attack. Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer wrote a book "Sweet Jesus, I HATE Bill O'Reilly" and operate a website of that domain. They have done pretty damn good about calling out O'Reilly's conservative bias and they are arguably the funniest of O'Reilly's rivals. Almost daily, they update their website to rip on O'Reilly. Although O'Reilly has not commented on them yet (as far as I know), this will be a very interesting feud to watch as time goes on.

So, in conclusion, the bottom line is that O'Reilly has many rivals and enemies -- that is fine, most media people do. However, I give little credit to O'Reilly for how he deals with these people. He claims to take a high road, but he calls them worse names then they him. If O'Reilly would meet with these people and try to settle things, he would gain much respect. But he won't, so he doesn't. And I guess that that truly is "The O'Rivalry Factor".

-Joseph Kay

Conservative Attacks on Al Gore's film

Media Matters does great by documenting all these attacks on Al Gore.

Sterling Burnett Attack I: Fox News Dayside
Sterling Burnett Attack II: Janet Parshall's America
Tucker Carlson Attacks Gore
Glenn Beck Attacks Al Gore
and
MSNBC's "Countdown" documents the "swift-boating" of Al Gore

I highly recommend seeing this film. I will see it as soon as I can and I will post a review ASAP. It looks to be very good.

-Mr. Joseph

O'Reilly Triple Crown

All from Media Matters...

O'Reilly blames "Mexican drug corruption" for his make-up artists mugging

From the May 17 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
O'REILLY: You know, this immigration thing is very interesting because it -- it points out a lot of things, bigger issues that y'all should be aware of. You know, Mexico doesn't care about us. Mexico doesn't care about the United States. And, you know, it -- it -- we have to be friends with them. I mean, we just can't be enemies with them. But we're dealing with a country that is -- you know -- is so corrupt and so out of control that we -- you know -- we have to deal with them on a certain level. But we certainly can't let their corruption infect us, and it has, particularly with the drug trafficking.
You know, when you have the volume of narcotics, millions of tons of narcotics coming across the southern border -- if I'm the president of the United States -- that alone makes me put the [U.S. National] Guard on the border and not 6,000 guards. I would have 30, 40 thousand down there, because the damage that narcotics do to the fabric of society -- my makeup artist for the TV side -- I don't need makeup for radio, but some people say --
LIS WIEHL: Yeah, it would help.
O'REILLY: Yeah, thank you -- was mugged the other day; punched in the face in Greenwich Village. Now, who does that? Drug addicts desperate for money. So, this poor woman is walking down the street trying to support her little son, some guy walks up to her, punches her in the face and takes her purse. Now, nine out of 10 of these guys are drug addicts.
So, she is a victim of the Mexican drug corruption. And -- and -- and all you have to do is multiply that by 10 million and you see how all of this corruption in Mexico has infected our society. Yet, you have these pinheads in Congress -- see, they're not gonna get mugged. President Bush isn't' gonna get mugged. All right.
AUDIO: http://mediamatters.org/items/200605180015

O'Reilly: "[U]nfair to [Hillary] Clinton"
...
From the May 15 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
CALLER 1: Okay, Bill, here's the situation. The White House offered to put some troops on the border is too little and too late. The solution, like the problem, has moved on. It's easy to put the troops on the border. It's also even easier to take them off the border. President Bush is not doing this for the right reasons or because he's had a change of heart about securing our border. He's doing it for political reasons and that --
O'REILLY: But, why do you care?
CALLER 1: Well, let me tell you --
O'REILLY: I mean, I don't care why he's doing it.
CALLER 1: Bill --
O'REILLY: I want him to do it so that we can get this problem under control.
[...]
CALLER 2: Bill --
O'REILLY: [caller] --
CALLER 2: I think you're talking out of both sides of -- I think you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. Let me explain. Thank you for letting me come on.
O'REILLY: Sure.
CALLER 2: Bill, on the one hand, you tell us that when we talk about Hillary Clinton, she's doing things that are disingenuous, that she's just changing her position to get votes and so forth. But now that we're talking about Bush -- and we know where he really stands on the border -- not with what he's doing tonight -- you're telling us this morning, don't -- it doesn't matter where or what -- where his heart is or what's all that about, what matters is what he's actually doing. And I think it's inconsistent.
O'REILLY: All right. Well, look, my position on Hillary Clinton is, I don't know where she stands on the issues. That's my position on her. Not that she's changing her stance. I don't know where she stands. Now, let me ask you a question, [caller]. Do you know what Hillary Clinton's solution to the border is?
CALLER 2: No, I don't.
O'REILLY: OK. Rest my case. So, what I'm trying to tell you is: I really don't care why President Bush does what he does or if Hillary Clinton ever gets a border solution. I don't care why, I just want to know what, because then I can vote for her or against her. Then, I can support the Bush policy or against the policy.
See this -- this is my whole thing. I don't have any emotion invested in President Bush. I'm not a Bush-hater. I think he's done some good things, and I think I've covered the man fairly in his five years in office. I think I've been very fair to him. Now, maybe, I've been a little unfair to Mrs. Clinton. Perhaps, I have been in the past. But I will submit to you, [caller], that you don't know, I don't know, and nobody listening knows where she stands on the border, how to win the war in Iraq, oil prices. We don't know. And that, to me, you can't -- you can't be giving somebody power if you don't know.
AUDIO: http://mediamatters.org/items/200605180009

Olbermann: "Bill O'Reilly, now and forever, today's 'Worst Person in the World' "
...
From the May 17 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
OLBERMANN: But the winner, oh, the psychological end is near. Bill O. explaining that The New York Times and, quote, "many far-left thinkers believe the white power structure that controls America is bad, so a drastic change is needed." Hold on. Bill, you're saying there's a white power structure that controls America and you're defending it? Does that opinion come with the sheet and the hood, or do you have to buy those separately?
Bill O'Reilly, now and forever, today's "Worst Person in the World."
VIDEO: http://mediamatters.org/items/200605180008

Strike 3 for Bill O.

-Mr. Joseph

Olberman's Worst Person is...

... not Bill O'Reilly, but Neil Boortz...
...for saying that Rep. Cynthia McKinney looks like a "ghetto slut".

Here's the story from Media Matters...

Summary: Commemorating the third anniversary of his MSNBC show, Keith Olbermann devoted a segment to his long-standing rivalry with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly; Olbermann aired a compilation of clips mocking O'Reilly. He also declared radio host Neal Boortz that evening's "Worst Person in the World" for saying that Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) "looks like a ghetto slut."

LINK: Olbermann marked third anniversary by devoting segment to "O'Rivalry"; declared Boortz "Worst Person" for saying McKinney "looks like a ghetto slut"

Olbermann's segment on O'Reilly is quite funny.
-Mr. Joseph

O'Reilly threatens caller after mention of the word "Olbermann"

Oh Really? Haha...

From Media Matters...

On the March 2 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor, host Bill O'Reilly threatened to turn over the personal information of a caller to "Fox security" because the caller mentioned MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. As Media Matters for America has noted, in recent weeks, Olbermann has repeatedly awarded O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World" designation during his show, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. O'Reilly has responded, on several occasions, by asserting that MSNBC "is a true ratings disaster." The caller began by telling O'Reilly, "I like to listen to you during the day." Continuing, the caller stated, "I think Keith Olbermann's show," at which point O'Reilly disconnected the call, proclaiming: "Mike is -- he's a gone guy. You know, we have his -- we have your phone numbers, by the way. So, if you're listening, Mike, we have your phone number, and we're going to turn it over to Fox security, and you'll be getting a little visit."

Co-host E.D. Hill -- who also co-hosts Fox News' Fox & Friends -- chimed in: "Maybe Mike is from the mothership." O'Reilly responded that the caller was "going to get into big trouble, because we're not going to play around." Warning his listeners, O'Reilly continued: "When you call us, ladies and gentleman, just so you know, we do have your phone number, and if you say anything untoward, obscene, or anything like that, Fox security will then contact your local authorities, and you will be held accountable. Fair?"

Apparently, O'Reilly decided that mentioning Olbermann's name was "untoward" or "obscene." After Hill agreed with O'Reilly's apparent policy of turning over a caller's personal information to the authorities as being "fair," O'Reilly warned again that callers making "untoward" and "obscene" statements "will be held accountable. Believe it."

On the February 23 edition of his Fox News television program, The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly announced the launch of a petition on his website, www.BillO'Reilly.com, calling for the reinstatement of Phil Donahue, who previously hosted a show on MSNBC in the same 8 p.m. ET time slot as Olbermann's show. During the February 24 edition of Countdown, in response to O'Reilly's campaign, Olbermann aired a number of video clips from past Countdown editions and commented on several of the claims in O'Reilly's petition.

The weblog Crooks & Liars noted that the caller apparently was blogger Mike Stark, who has suggested on his Calling All Wingnuts blog that he is engaged in a campaign to call in to The Radio Factor to irritate O'Reilly.

From the March 2 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: Orlando, Florida, Mike, go.

CALLER: Hey Bill, I appreciate you taking my call.

O'REILLY: Sure.

CALLER: I like to listen to you during the day, I think Keith Olbermann's show --

O'REILLY: There ya go, Mike is -- he's a gone guy. You know, we have his -- we have your phone numbers, by the way. So, if you're listening, Mike, we have your phone number, and we're going to turn it over to Fox security, and you'll be getting a little visit.

HILL: Maybe Mike is from the mothership.

O'REILLY: No, Maybe Mike is going to get into big trouble, because we're not going to play around. When you call us, ladies and gentleman, just so you know, we do have your phone number, and if you say anything untoward, obscene, or anything like that, Fox security then will contact your local authorities, and you will be held accountable. Fair?

HILL: That's fair.

O'REILLY: So, just -- all you guys who do this kind of a thing, you know, I know some shock jocks. Whatever. You will be held accountable. Believe it. We'll be right back.

LINK: O'Reilly threatened radio show caller with "a little visit" from "Fox security" for mentioning Olbermann's name on the air

Well, that was a bit odd. Not unlike O'Reilly, though. He is a bit touchy. When I first read the headline, I thought the caller was slamming O'Reilly with this feud, but all he really did was, in fact, MENTION Keith Olbermann (who is a perfectly legitimate journalist).

Well, that's it for now, stay tuned!
-Mr. Joseph

UPDATE (12/3/07):
So, it turns out the caller was Mike Stark, the same guy responsible for this...

LINK: Mike Stark visits Bill O'Reilly