thoughts @ 1:

From the most unexpected places come true heroes. We have one.

Well said!

Fantastic! Moyers and Olbermann are my 2 favorite jourmalists.

Maybe there IS hope for the truth!

I'll bet Moyers LOVES Olberman. Two greats from two different arenas! What could be better?

K.O. is the kats pajamas.

What we have witnessed is two men of sound mind in this interview who have ( like millions of us in the country ) seen and come to understand that the pathetic reign of King George, is exactly that. Sadly, with the help of other news outlets that we rely on to bring us the news, for whatever reasons, have been compliant in jumping on the war band wagon without exploring those fundemental questions as to whether or not our own government was telling the truth in the lead up to the attack on Iraq. to this very day, we could have literally saved the lives of nearly 4,000 men and women, prevented countles injuries that these brave men and women will suffer for the rest of their lives along with their families as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens all because they were caught in a mad mans mind about an imaginary enemy.
As Olberman said, we are at 50 "gates" and counting. A moron with an IQ of 10 could readily understand that he was being played for as a fool. Enough is enough, and those responsible for this travisty should be held on grounds of treason against the American people and hung on gallows erected on the White House lawn.

And to think (if I remember correctly) Countdown/Olberman was created to replace Donahue (at that time, as now, the only MSM program willing to challenge Bush Policy with any vigor--and therefore, needed to be eliminated). Although they surely did not envision a former sportscaster becoming a political/cultural juggernaught--As Olberman eludes to, his execs have grown to accept, even appreciate his vigor and the idea of actually practicing journalism. About 5 years ago my brother-in-law and I had an ongoing discussion in regards to whether there was a mass/profitable market for this kind of programming. Last I looked, Olberman is doing very well, whats his face with the dorky little bow-tie is about to be canceled. The Fox heavyweights/blowhards are unfortunately still crushing Olberman which doesn't much about us. Maybe when a majority of the racist rednecks see their sons sent to die for oil profits/control they will put 2 and 2 together and realize they are watching state propaganda. We destort you comply...

AquaVelvaMan @ 13:

Kudos, Keef. I hope you're making some bank in your job. That's the only way the other gutless pundits will follow you in taking risks to actually do their jobs and critique our government.

It seems to be opening up slowly in the corporate media. Dan Abrams (kinda sorta), Jack Cafferty, David Shuster... Let's support these folks when they tell the truth and let their employers know too (...it is a business after all...). That's one way to minimize the Glenn Beck dipshits of the world.

Yes, some others are sticking their necks out which is nice. Cafferty and Shuster are for real, Abrams is a corporate tool for sure, just sees the ship going down. I won't complain about his recent change of heart though :)

CafeenMan @ 17:

I like Olbermann. I really do and I like what he has to say. But a lot of times his anger seems really contrived to me. I give him the benefit of the doubt because I think he really was angry when he wrote his commentary but by the time he goes on air he's probably read it and edited it several times and so he comes off as rehearsed. But he's good and he's pretty much all we've got. I'd like to see some of our congress and senate do something besides, "well, it's really hard so let's just do what Bush wants and go on vacation again."

I' also like to see him get rid of the segment he does last, he has that guy Musso on to make snarky/snyde remarks and they are never up to the level of Keiths show.

GREAT interview.

Keep shining the light on the cockroaches Bill and Keith. Keep the heat on them and enlighten the masses.

An obvious marker to the threat that Keith poses to the right is Fox instructing Howie Long to make that Al Gore smear shortly after Keith had made his presence felt on NFL broadcasts . These guys hate K.O. with a passion . Keep it up, Bill and Keith .

Excellent interview! My two favorite journalists, and two heroes in my book.

AquaVelvaMan @ 13:

It seems to be opening up slowly in the corporate media. Dan Abrams (kinda sorta), Jack Cafferty, David Shuster... Let's support these folks when they tell the truth and let their employers know too (...it is a business after all...). That's one way to minimize the Glenn Beck dipshits of the world.

Isn't it astonishing that in America this list is so, so short. Keith is certainly leading the way... and on the GE owned channel!

I am grateful for anyone who can talk intelligently about anything. I don't always care for KO's fluffier pieces but I say let the man have his fun. He clearly knows when the joke is on him unlike some others who seem devoid of humor or a sense of irony. We just have to view the 12 days of Christmas posted here and the half hour show on Fox. That humor doesn't even make sense.

I am always grateful that Bill Moyers is still here to offer the wisdom of his age. I hope that Keith will fill that role in years to come.

Let's hope Mr. Olbermann's straight speaking doesn't land him in a celebrity FEMA camp.

I have alot of respect for both of these men.

Mr. Olbermann is correct. His commentary should only arise when it calls for. Like a whipping that is deserving for those who goes out of line. After all, aren't WE suppose to as PEOPLE and our duty as citizens to play our role in the oversight of our government? If not who else should?

Kudos to Mr. Olbermann for having to use his gifted and inherent power to articulate what WE the people are no longer so FREE to SAY (without the ramification that follows from those who police us) or the medium available for us to say it through.

I do wish that Mr. Olbermann would find it within himself the same SOUL and bravado to SAY something about the complicity of the SENATE and Congress for allowing the continuance of abating the laws of our nation that assure and enable the criminal activity of the Bush Administration to be a precedent available for the future administrations.

If EVER.....NOW is the time to bring up the heat for accountability and IMPEACH, indict those responsibles. For EACH passing days the Congress and Senate procrastinate; is a LOST opportunity to correct what is wrong AND the closer WE are to the possible PERILS ahead of us. Reversal and restoring our Constitution NOW; has become MORE important than ever in the history of our NATION do doing so is a risk to the future our Nation, children, world peace, and most importantly our responsibility to our Global survivals.

FYI - iTunes has the full audio every week of Billy Moyers' interviews for free.

KO's is already available for download.

Listener @ 18:

CafeenMan @ 17:

I like Olbermann. I really do and I like what he has to say. But a lot of times his anger seems really contrived to me. I give him the benefit of the doubt because I think he really was angry when he wrote his commentary but by the time he goes on air he's probably read it and edited it several times and so he comes off as rehearsed. But he's good and he's pretty much all we've got. I'd like to see some of our congress and senate do something besides, "well, it's really hard so let's just do what Bush wants and go on vacation again."

I' also like to see him get rid of the segment he does last, he has that guy Musso on to make snarky/snyde remarks and they are never up to the level of Keiths show.

Olbermanns style or show format is not what is important. Olbermann seemed to me to be an oasis of truth in the desert of the US "news" right-winged propagandists that have been forced upon us. I am thankful for Olbermann every day, because if not for him an even greater percentage of Americans would be ignorant of what has been done to this country under this administration. And, the more voters that know the truth, the better off the country will be.

And if enough Americans are educated on what has been done to this country, and if they listen to what each presidential candidate will do about it, maybe they will finally make an intelligent choice for the future of America.

Kucinich 08 - The right choice

That was great. Do go to PBS and watch the full 20 minutes; you won't be disappointed. I liked his little dig at Dana Perino and the Cuban Missile Crisis. And, yes Keith, I agree the USA is at a pivotal point in its history.

Can you do one every night? No, that is O'Reilly's bailiwick. Outrage on demand.

Erroll @ 21:

Olbermann has done what so many on both the right and left have done and that is to reference Churchill when he was Prime Minister of England during World War II. But Olbermann does not make mention that Churchill was quite adamant that Iraq remain oppressed under British domination after World War I. But at least Olbermann is speaking out against Iraq's current oppressor, the United States, who is carrying on the legacy of England with bloody abandon.

The British didn't just oppress Iraq, they created it. Before 1932, it was just one of numerous provinces of, variously, the Assyrian, Babylonian, Achaemanid, Alexandrine, Seleucid, Parthian, Sassanid, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abassid, Seljuks, Mamluks, Ottomans, and then, at last, in 1932, King Faisal created the lovely hybrid nation of Iraq.

Of course, England also took over the region of Palestine, and we all know how that turned out.

kudos to Keith and Bill

Are you guys fucking kidding me, Olberman is not a journalist!! He is barely an enternainer. Keith is as much a journalist as Jerry Springer. But Jerry is better

Gee. You can almost hear the choir preaching to itself.

This was not journalism, and KO is not a journalist. He's an entertainer, a Bill O' Reilly clone ranting from the Left.

Believers are comical. It's not Faith. It's fact.

As long as the Left and the Right have each other, they need never question their Belief. Even KO conceded that he had completely abandoned objectivity and engaged in the same kind of shrill rhetoric as the "other side." His defense was that "emergency rules applied."

This is the argument behind the Patriot Act, behind rendition, water boarding. Emergency rules apply. The ends justify the means. Bill Moyers has deteriorated into a tired caricature, to the point where he extols a cheap hack like KO as a heroic paragon of ethical journalism. Thank God for Charlie Rose.

Doug @ 50:

Believers are comical. It's not Faith. It's fact.

As long as the Left and the Right have each other, they need never question their Belief. Even KO conceded that he had completely abandoned objectivity and engaged in the same kind of shrill rhetoric as the "other side." His defense was that "emergency rules applied."

This is the argument behind the Patriot Act, behind rendition, water boarding. Emergency rules apply. The ends justify the means. Bill Moyers has deteriorated into a tired caricature, to the point where he extols a cheap hack like KO as a heroic paragon of ethical journalism. Thank God for Charlie Rose.

Doug, you fail to note that there is a current need to dispell with "objectivity"--constant lying coming from one side. To present "news" given this fact, it would be virtually impossible for citizens to discern the truth. It is the job of a journalist to sift through the BS presented by power structures and present us with reality. That in essence is what Keith does. You may disagree with his presentation, which is fine. I find his rants much too caustic and lengthy. I would keep them much shorter, 2 minutes tops, and ease up on the anger. The fact is though, NO ONE ELSE is doing this on MSM.

Your comment on extolling KO as pargagon of ethical journalism speaks much more to the state of MSM journalism (lack of) than it does Moyers.

Two Questions which I hope you will respond to Doug:
1. What do you think is the job of a journalist?
2. who would you consider a real, ethical journalist? (are there ANY on the Right? Who are they??? I have been looking, am I missing someone? seriously???)

To be fair, here are my tops, although Keith may not make my top 10 favorites, as an essayist, I think he can hold his own with this group.

1. Studs Terkel
2. John Pilger
3. Amy Goodman
4. Robert Fisk
5. Glenn Greenwald
6. Norman Solomon
7. Jonathan Schell
8. Christophper Hedges
9. Bill Moyers
10. Juan Cole

Notice, not one mainstreamer...!!!!

Now, imagine Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, or Glenn Greenwald hosting a daily 1 hour program on a network/newschannel

I admire his technique of waiting till he is really fired up about something before he creates a commentary. I am the same way on a much smaller scale. I do Video blog commentaries and I could never just churn them out weekly or whatever. The only way I can operate is when I get so frustrated and mad about a particular subject that my camera almost picks up itself and starts shooting me ranting. I think those might be the best kind of commentaries because they are coming from a very visceral, truth telling, place.

Doug @ 50:

Believers are comical. It's not Faith. It's fact.

As long as the Left and the Right have each other, they need never question their Belief. Even KO conceded that he had completely abandoned objectivity and engaged in the same kind of shrill rhetoric as the "other side." His defense was that "emergency rules applied."

This is the argument behind the Patriot Act, behind rendition, water boarding. Emergency rules apply. The ends justify the means. Bill Moyers has deteriorated into a tired caricature, to the point where he extols a cheap hack like KO as a heroic paragon of ethical journalism. Thank God for Charlie Rose.

This betrays that old false equivalency between 'the extremes of Right and Left.' Look to history to flay this silly trope: in World War Two, it was clear where the Right and Left stood. On the Right were the Axis powers, all governed by fascists. Fascism, in a nutshell, is feudal monarchy modernized to include corporations and mass media. Also on the Right were people like Lindbergh, the Duke of Windsor, and Prescott Bush (Dubya's grandfather), appeasers and accomodationists who would do business with Hitler and demanded we stay out of the war. On the Left were the New Deal liberals who ran America, and on the extreme left were the communists in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. Although Stalin was Hitler's ally in 1939, Hitler attacked the Soviets six months before Pearl Harbor.

So: in World War Two, New Deal Left = Good Guys, Extreme Communist Left = Temporarily Lesser Evil Than Hitler, Right = ALL Bad Guys.

And now?
Prescott Bush's grandson, like the Right of old, is a corrupt torturer and corporate monarchist who starts unprovoked wars and denounces Liberalism bitterly. He is the latest in a line of conservatives who despise Roosevelt and have dismantled every bit of the New Deal they could. The Right in America are supported by people like Rev. Moon, who swore to destroy America after his jail term for tax evasion, and who is connected to old Japanese fascists who think the wrong side won that war.

Absolute monarchy was discredited by the 20th Century, so it started calling itself Fascism. Defeated and again discredited, it changed its name to Conservatism. Again it is discredited. Unfortunately, it is not defeated.

KO is a hero. But is he ten years too late?