Taking Olbermann to Task

Like most rational people, I avoid watching the twin beasts of bias in the media. Fox “News” is the right head of this beast and MSNBC is the left. But, I happened to catch a bit of Keith Olbermann‘s rant about Brown because of Jon Stewart‘s criticism of Olberman’s rampage.

Olbermann, seeing that Brown might win,  asserted that Brown is “irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea bagging, supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees.” When Brown won the election, Olbermann started to “apologize” but quickly made it clear that his apology was that he did not accuse Brown of being a sexist as well.

Olbermann presumably avoided being sued for slander by attempting to provide some evidence for his rather extreme assertions. However, if you review his “evidence” you will see that even if the alleged evidential claims are true, they clearly do not support the charges leveled against Brown. For example, Olbermann notes Brown’s failure to correct a member of the crowd who urged that something be put up Brown’s opponents butt and takes this as evidence that Brown advocates violence against women. That is, to say the least, an amazing leap of logic.

It is good to see the Daily Show taking a consistent approach. After all, if right wing pundits should be mocked for saying absurd things, the same should also apply to pundits on the left.

As I have said before, such unsupported and hateful attacks do nothing to benefit America and merely serve to exacerbate the political divide. While legitimate criticism is desirable and good, such hateful remarks are neither.

While the question of whether the folks in the media are generally left-biased or not is still a matter of debate, it is rather clear that Olbermann has such a bias, perhaps even a rage. And, as usually happens, his rage seems to have unbalanced him.

As a bi-partisan proposal, I suggest that both Glenn Beck and Olbermann be medicated and assigned to a course of psychological treatment. Perhaps locking them in a small room together would be a viable part of their therapy.