In the blog at Huffington Post, E. A. Hanks is disappointed in Mr. Olbermann:
It may well be that people nowadays are so desperate to hear anyone speak in complete sentences, that when someone with intelligence, wit, and the barest whiff of gravitas comes along, we have the self control of a sorority girl offered a plastic bead necklace.
…When someone gets on television who actually does have these qualities, it’s not enough to just let them coast along; they must meet their own standards. Keith Olbermann is not meeting his own standards.
I’m sorry Ms. Hanks, I believe what you mean is that he’s not meeting your standards.
You admitted to not knowing him from Adam prior to seeing his Special Comment on the anniversary of 9/11, so you’ve been aware of him for how long now? Three, four months? And you, like so many other liberals desperate for a media messiah, don’t like it that he’s not All-Murrow-All-The-Time?
Get over it.
He’s not trying to be Jon Stewart, he’s not “coasting,” and he’s sure as hell not trying to put on News Hour. He is, as you say, “honest, eager, and real.” He is also what he’s always been, an emulator of radio comedians and an “eleven year old snot nose know-it-all.” He’s not always right and he’s not always funny and sometimes even I want to slap him upside the head, but he is always true to himself and true to his show. Those are the standards that count.
I’m truly sorry that you’ve found Keith Olbermann to have feet of clay. Might I suggest that you forgo Countdown, disappointment that it is, and stick to the YouTube replays of the Special Comments. And if you’re still looking for a messiah, I understand Tom Cruise is available.
Great rebuttal Becky.
KO’s not perfect, but he is a lot better than pretty much everyone else out there in the news world.
By on Friday, January 26, 2007 7:57 am | Permalink
What IS it with these Huffingtonians? At least the women? I have found them thus far to be the absolute worst offenders in the Johnny-come-lately “I used to think Keith Olbermann was all that and a bag of liberal chips, and now I come to find out he likes being silly, and telling juvenile sex jokes, and talking about baseball, and all that stupid irrelevant GUY stuff. EWWWWW! He no longer deserves to be considered anyone’s savior!” sweepstakes.
Now I think I understand why Keith has had problems with women in his personal life. Apparently a lot of them have decided that unless a guy is Superman 24 hours a day, he’s not worth their time.
I’ve seen a blogger from New Orleans complain that KO is no longer worth paying attention to because he doesn’t spend time every night talking about how bad things still are in her city. And Huffingtonians complaining that he’s antifeminist just because he made a crack against Paris Hilton. Or various others who have obviously watched very little of Keith whining that they can’t watch his show all the way through because they can’t stand that Oddball nonsense or Tom Cruise stuff and they think the least he could do to help “the cause” is spend his whole hour on hard, painful news.
Sometimes I want to hit them upside the head and say “Hello! This is not some comic-book superhero we’re talking about. This is a fully dimensional man–and if he’s not Edward R. Murrow all the time, well GOOD FOR HIM! Do you really think Murrow was Murrow all the time? Jeez!”
And what really kills me is that if you ask me, Keith’s is still one of the most progressive–and feminist if you will–voices you will hear on the news, and especially on sports radio, where being a chauvinist boor is practically required for admission to the clubhouse. You’d think KO would get points for this–but from those whose main knowledge of him is from the Special Comments, naah. They are looking for a savior–and nothing but a 24-7 vigilant superhero will do. Sigh.
By on Friday, January 26, 2007 8:18 am | Permalink