Keith Olbermann - Glenn Greenwald Feud Over FISA

[BeatleBoot]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/27/keith-olbermann-glenn-gre_n_109572.html

A war of words has broken out between two of the progressive blogosphere's most beloved figures: MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and blogger/author Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com.

In a post yesterday, Greenwald charged that Olbermann's "blind devotion to Barack Obama" had let him to excuse and defend Obama's support of the FISA 'compromise' legislation. Greenwald noted that Olbermann has previously condemned the idea of giving immunity to telecom companies that spied on Americans, calling it a "shameless, breathless, literally textbook example of Fascism" and comparing it to the actions of the Third Reich.

"But," Greenwald wrote, "ow that Barack Obama supports a law that does the same thing -- and now that Obama justifies that support by claiming that this bill is necessary to keep us Safe from the Terrorists -- everything has changed."

Last night, Olbermann invited Newsweek's Jonathan Alter onto his show to discuss Obama's support for the FISA and telecom amnesty bill (video of the segment is here). There wasn't a syllable uttered about "immunizing corporate criminals" or "textbook examples of Fascism" or the Third Reich. There wasn't a word of rational criticism of the bill either. Instead, the two media stars jointly hailed Obama's bravery and strength -- as evidenced by his "standing up to the left" in order to support this important centrist FISA compromise. <...>

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[Captain Hilts]

1. Greenwald's a liberal and Olbermann's a toadie. nt

[Shakespeare]

4. LOL. No, Greenwald's not a liberal.

He's a constitutional scholar and most likely a libertarian. I love reading his columns, but he's definitely NOT a liberal.

[GoldieAZ49]

2. KO, he knocks himself out - ratings

7PM - P2+ (25-54)
Fox Report w/ Shepard Smith – 1,372,000 viewers (290,000)
Lou Dobbs – 708,000 viewers (180,000)
Hardball – 707,000 viewers (280,000)
Kudlow & Company- 246,000 viewers (76,000)
Glenn Beck – 477,000 viewers (181,000)

8PM - P2+ (25-54)
The O’Reilly Factor- 3,193,000 viewers (694,000)
CNN Election Center– 561,000 viewers (151,000)
Countdown w/Olbermann – 1,183,000 viewers (452,000)
Fast Money- 180,000 viewers (67,000)
Nancy Grace – 579,000 viewers (171,000)

9 PM - P2+ (25-54)
Hannity & Colmes – 1,965,000 viewers (461,000)
Larry King – 1,036,000 viewers (158,000)
Verdict w/Dan Abrams – 656,000 viewers (218,000)
Deal or No Deal- 454,000 viewers (137,000)
Glenn Beck- 440,000 viewers (150,000)

Numbers in parentheses are viewing adults 25-54.

[ShortnFiery]

3. How 'bout a link?

I'm having a very difficult time understanding why any "free thinking" adult would enjoy the bat shit crazy rants of one each, Bill O'Reilly?

IMNSHO, Bill O has almost come completely unhinged. :crazy:

[thewiseguy]

5. Same reason why FlameBait threads on DU get way more responses

If I made a thread to smear Obama I would way too many responses and views. However, if I made a thread praising him, very few would respond.

[slipslidingaway]

6. John Dean Weighs In

http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/27/glenzilla-vs-olbermann-john-dean-weighs-in/

"There's quite a flame war going on between Glenn Greenwald and Keith Olbermann over Obama's support for the FISA bill...


...But I contacted John Dean, and I don't think he's saying what Olbermann thinks he's saying:


I said that when I read the bill, and talked to the folks at the ACLU who had been following it, that it was not clear. I raised it when appearing on Countdown with the hope that someone might figure it out. But that is the nature of this badly drafted bill that it is not clear what it does and does not do, and the drafters are not saying.

But even if the bill is unclear there is no question the Bush Administration is not going to do anything to the telecoms, so the question is whether a future DOJ could -- and here there is case law protecting the telecoms. But there may be language buried in the bill that protects them as well but it can only be found by reading the bill with a half dozen other laws which I have not yet done.

I made no declarative statements rather I only raised questions that jumped at me when reading the 114 page monster."

[BlueStater]

7. Olbermann deserves criticism over this

His Obama bias has clouded his judgment.