Lawrence O'Donnell -by Keith Olbermann

[kpete]

Lawrence O'Donnell
by Keith Olbermann
Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 11:00:01 AM PST

Forgive the fairly minor focus here but I spot at least three diaries on his appearance on Countdown last night to discuss Obama, Reagan, and Edwards.

Those of you complaining about it are right.

His HuffPo piece was news to me.

Shouldn't have been, obviously, but it was.

I don't read every blog, nor everything written by my guests. I often don't know until an hour beforehand who will be a guest on a given show (if it matters to you, these scheduling nightmares tend to come in waves for some reason, and last night was a Nor'easter). Also, to announce, on-air, each guest's preferences, prejudices, shillings and shiv jobs, would reduce the rest of the show to "Good Evening. Call Me Ishmael. My Boat Sank. The End. Good Night." And Lawrence O'Donnell's insight is almost always perceptive, relevant, and enlightened.

But even with these caveats, the point about this appearance, especially in the wake of such a freshly-written piece, is well-taken and I'm very sorry.

It will be addressed tonight on the show.

Thanks.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/18/135219/103/392/438962

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Excellent.

O'Donnell was completely out of line last night. I'm glad Keith recognizes that.

[Kingshakabobo]

4. What happened?

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Basically, O'Donnell said that Reagan

was a very popular president, that his memory is revered, particularly in California, and that only the very far left wing of the Democratic party would agree with Edwards' comments yesterday about not mentioning Reagan as any kind of positive force in his own campaign. He said Edwards was irrelevant, and he also implied that the culinary workers in Nevada were too stupid or ill-informed to care anything about Reagan's union-busting activities anyway.

If he was trying to pump Obama, he did him no favors.

[Kingshakabobo]

10. Thanks for the reply!

[Ganja Ninja]

38. I saw the piece last night.

It is just exasperating sit and watch someone categorize everyone that doesn't consider Reagan a great president as "far left". More like we were the only ones that were paying attention and weren't sucked in by all the MSM brainwashing.

[BrklynLiberal]

56. He made feel like spitting at the TV!!!!! What an idiot he made of himself.

[Supersedeas]

51. nadda favor at all

[unc70]

44. HuffPost O'Donnell to Edwards: Drop out or be remembered as another racist

Southern white man blocked the black man. That was why many of us were shocked to see him on Countdown, particularly commenting on Edwards.

There have been a lot of things like this, many aimed at Edwards. Following the NV debate, CNN had Roland Martin and Glenn Beck as their pundits. I think that was when Beck went on the attack against Edwards that included calling him a "commie".

[Winterblues]

2. Reagan is adored by the very great majority of Americans

and only the far left in the Democratic Party would suggest as Edwards does that Reagan was a blight on America..:puke:

[trumad]

3. My bad..

self delete

[Blue_In_AK]

6. I think (hope) WinterBlues was describing what O'Donnell

was saying on Countdown last night, not his/her personal belief.

[Winterblues]

14. That is exactly what I was doing, sorry for the confusion

That is what this yahoo said about Reagan and Edwards...

[Redbear]

15. That is basically what O'Donnell said (nt)

[ProfessorPlum]

8. Who's "pla"? I think the barking icon indicates sarcasm

as would the designation of Edwards as "far left".

[madfloridian]

5. oops....I would say welcome to DU. But I won't.

[AlCzervik]

7. "the far left" um yeah, ok.

[niyad]

30. welcome to DU

[Ganja Ninja]

41. Next to GWB Reagan was the worst president of the last 70 years.

He set this country on the path that led us to where we are today. He was the seed of the conservative cancer that is killing this country today. The right wing media has built him into some kind of saviour that restored the country and brought down communism. Nothing could be farther from the truth. He was a dottering old man that slept through his presidency and did nothing to help Americans during the worst economy since the great depression. The fall of communism had nothing to do with him. It simply collapsed on it's own.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. Keith figured it out ---

good for him. He's doing the right thing in addressing this.

[EFerrari]

22. It's nice to have a media figure who has a working brain, isn't it?

lol

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

26. Yes, it IS refreshing!

I have come to expect a lot from Keith, and was truly shocked that he would let O'Donnell get away with what was clearly an asscovering on Obama's behalf. I wanted to reach through the screen, grab him by the lapels, and kick O'Donnell in the nuts. Those of us who lived through the 80s in San Francisco will never forget what "Saint" Ronnie did for us. :mad:

[EFerrari]

29. Precisely. Those of us who lived here and who have family

in Central America know how widespread his destructiveness was.

We all know about the death squads. I recently found out that the Contras kidnapped whole families and held them in Guatemala in order to force young men to bear arms with them. The list of Reagan's crimes is still being written. :grr:

[waiting for hope]

61. I was furious last night

when I saw O'Donnell - and my first thought was Keith did a Fox Noise. I glad he addressed it, but still, someone should have known about O'Donnell's frantic spewings.

[HardWorkingDem]

12. I'm confused...what is this all about?

Am I the only one missing what this is about? Did O'Donnell get on and wax poetic about the Reagan years or something?

[Yael]

17. Well lets see...

Edwards isn't "relevant" to any discussion of the primaries, Nevada caucus goers are too stupid to know anything about our last 20 years of history, the only people who don't worship at the altar of St. Ronnie are the "loony lefties".

Some other extraneous and sundry compliments along those lines.

This on the heels of his hit piece in the HuffPo called "I hate John Edwards" or some such balanced reporting.

There were quite a few threads going last night. He had people spitting nails.

[EFerrari]

31. Yes, in support of Obama although he didn't come out and say it.

Worse, he maligned John Edwards and called for him to drop out.

[AzDar]

32. He also wrote a vitriolic piece for HuffPo recently stating that JRE

is a 'southern white man', who should drop out of the race so that a 'black man' can be elected (paraphrasing, of course).
It was totally racist, if you ask me.
That's why I was shocked last night that K.O. had O'Donnell on as a guest during the Edwards/Obama/Reagan segment.
I'm guessing he wasn't aware of the HuffPo piece at the time.....

[Yael]

13. SWEET!!!

Way to stand up Keith.

:applause:

[EFerrari]

25. Keith wrote crib notes for Moby Dick.

I love it!

:rofl:

[flyarm]

16. prove this bastard wrong..donate today to the Edwards campaign..

go ahead prove O'Donnell wrong..stand up and be counted!! Prove the MSM wrong..tell them who is boss!!


donate today!!

https://www.johnedwards.com/action/contribute/mail




Where is John? If you're depending on the mainstream media to help you answer that question, then you might have to wait a long, long time.

The traditional media outlets have their blinders on, narrowly focusing on the two $100 million celebrity candidates -- and trying as hard as they can to keep John Edwards out of the picture.

Of course, we're not going to allow them to get away with ignoring the candidate who has led the field with the boldest agenda for change. You and I both know that John Edwards is the only candidate with the strength and courage to stand up to special interests while fighting for middle class families.

That's why I hope you'll take a few moments to check out a new video and Web feature that we launched yesterday that pokes large holes in the media's slanted coverage of this presidential race.

Click here to see the Web feature and video

Press and pundit perception aside, the race for the Democratic nomination is a three person race -- and John has said that he will carry his campaign all the way to the convention, the nomination and then to the White House.

And polls over the last several days confirm statistically dead-heat races in many key state primaries and caucuses over the next several weeks.

That's why your continuing support for John and our campaign is so important. Your contribution means we can take John's message of transformational change directly to the voters in these key states.

A donation from you means we can expand our phone banking outreach, purchase additional broadcast time for our message spots, invest further in direct mail pieces and expand our door-to-door canvassing efforts.

So please take a moment to look at our new Web feature and video -- and then take a moment to make a contribution to help us bypass the out-of-touch mainstream media and get John's message out directly.

Click here to see the Web feature and video

Thanks for all your support -- and for helping us spread the word about John Edwards, the candidate with the boldest agenda for change.

Sincerely,

--Jonathan Prince
Deputy Campaign Manager, John Edwards for President
January 18, 2008

P.S. And the answer to the question, "Where is John?" Crossing the country, coast-to-coast, talking to folks like you everywhere about ending politics-as-usual in Washington!

[Yael]

18. w00t!!!

:woohoo:

[lapfog_1]

23. John needs to win one of either Nevada or South Carolina

not a tie for first, not a second... he needs a win.

Personally, I'm pulling for him to win one. We need a 3 way race going to Super Tuesday.

However, should he not win one of those two, I think he should consider carefully dropping out.
It will be clear that he won't win the nomination, his only role will be that of spoiler.

Is that what Edwards supporters want?

[bonnieS]

59. delegates

Historically, the nominee was not known before the convention but was selected at the convention. Candidates who were not already crowned as nominee arrived with delegates they could trade for planks in the platform or jobs in the Adminstration and then the delegates, on the second "ballot" would go to whoever offered the best deals. The conventions used to be about more than eating, drinking, and getting corporate gifts.

It is very important to keep both Edwards and Kucinich in the race for three reasons: to have enough delegates at the convention to get some progressive planks or people promised; to keep the two other candidates from swinging back to the right--they are moving further to progressive stances only because they are being forced to, and to have the population hear progressive ideas at debates and in interviews even if the media keeps it down to a trickle.

They (the media and "partisans") are trying very hard to force them out so none of this will happen, and there will be less voices.

[SammyWinstonJack]

43. ...

:woohoo: :woohoo:

[SeattleGirl]

19. Good for Keith!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[flyarm]

20. hey O'Donnell ..here is my man!!!!!!!!!!

donate today..

fly

[EFerrari]

21. Booking does get like that. And, what a gracious gesture on Keith's part.

:)

[mzmolly]

24. It's clear that O'Donnell supports Obama, but he needs to come out and admit it.

:hi:

[Irishonly]

27. Keith is a jewel

I was disheartened yesterday when I saw Lawrence O'Donnell on last night's show and wondered what Keith was thinking. I am so happy he addressed the issue. I don't care for O'Donnell and haven't for a long time so I hope last night was the end of his appearances on Countdown.

[Lugnut]

28. Thanks for doing the right thing, Keith

O'Donnell was insulting.

[chimpymustgo]

36. I was so disgusted last night. O"Donnell was just AWFUL.

And the Huffpo piece he wrote slamming JRE (standing in the way of Obama - and History).

O'donnell should have his pundit license revoked.

[EFerrari]

40. Is it up on YouTube any where? I've been avoiding the cable

channels, even Keith's show, because the muck they're promoting between Clinton and Obama is just too disgusting WHILE they ignore Edwards and marginalize Dennis is just too disgusting to watch.

[Lugnut]

45. His Huff Po piece made my blood boil

It will be interesting to hear what Keith has to say about it all tonight.

[crispini]

33. Great. Now when will KO address his shameful lack of coverage of Lee Mercer Jr?

(ALL THREE)!!!

[Sparkly]

34. Oh! I was starting to wonder whether I was aligned with Edwards

or in his "camp" or whatever O'Donnell said.

[niyad]

35. thank you, keith!! I wanted to smack o'donnell, what incredibly stupid remarks.

my neighbors must think I'm nuts, the way I yell at the tv (used to throw things, but my accountant pointed out that that is a very expensive habit)

[McCamy Taylor]

37. Oh man! That is a relief! I thought he was showing his support by having him

on the show.

O'Donnell should have told KO before he agreed to be on the show what he had done over the weekend. O'Donnell must have known that the shit was gonna hit the fan and that it would end up splattering all over Keith.

[EFerrari]

39. There's something screwy about O'Donnell lately that reminds me

of the behavior of a practicing alcoholic. He can be charming, smart and right and alternately mean, small and wrong.

[Garbo 2004]

57. Interesting you mention that. A while back while watching him I wondered about that myself.

What surprised me is that the thought just popped into my head. A visceral response that I guess was triggered by something, but not his actual comments at the time. Weird.

(This was well before his more recent comments/behavior.)

[EFerrari]

58. Not to diss anyone dealing with alcoholism but I've known my share

of Spaniards.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

42. What a mensch.

As always.

:loveya:

[MzNov]

46. What a relief! Sometimes I wonder if we're losing Keith.

But he's uusally a day or two behind, and as he says, he can't read everything on the blogs-o-sphere... Thanks Keith for addressing it at all. O'Donnell didn't waste a minute until he got his slam in about Edwards' not being relevant.

[Pathwalker]

47. They must have cut that for the midnight replay, because I

did not hear it then. It was a very, very short interview at midnight, and that part wasn't on it.

[ClericJohnPreston]

49. I've watched KO from the beginning

and I was ready to throw my television out the window last night. I almost started thinking negatively about Keith, but, rationality prevailed ( as it does with all Edwards supporters ;) ).

I am really looking forward to two things:

1. What KO says tonight
2. Never having to worry about seeing O'Donnell anywhere on KO.

I just made my second donation today. Did you remember?

www.johnedwards.com

For all of us!

[Garbo 2004]

52. The segment was not cut on replay. I watch KO at 9 Pacific & saw it with O'Donnell's comments.n/t

[snagglepuss]

48. k & r

[bullwinkle428]

50. I KNEW that bastard O'Donnell would self-destruct at some point

after writing that pathetic, irrational screed attacking John Edwards last week! I just didn't think the self-immolation would take place so quickly!

I just hope KO puts him in his rightful place..."balls on a platter" is a phrase that's coming to mind right now!

[Generator]

53. Oh thanks I gotta watch tonight then

Keith is a good guy. I know this. I kinda know this like I know Edwards is a good guy. I just don't turn on them because I don't think they will turn on me. It's that simple. Not perfect, not always right, but basically decent in a time we need some good guys.

[sandyd921]

54. KO is one stand up guy!

I applaud him! :applause:

[BrklynLiberal]

55. Cool of him to be so responsive. I look forward to his show tonight.c

[Coexist]

60. wonderful.