Keith Olbermann Is No Man of His Word

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When it comes to bashing Sarah Palin and other conservative women, Keith Olbermann has proven to be something less than a man of his word. NewsBuster Brad Wilmouth has documented a big Bathtub Boy lie:

Since April 8 of this year, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann has called former Governor Sarah Palin an "idiot" 22 times on his Countdown show, usually by uttering the words, "That woman is an idiot." But in August 2004, the MSNBC host claimed to be too "naive and old-fashioned" to call a woman an "idiot," as he attacked conservative commentator Michelle Malkin for misquoting him as having called her an "idiot," when, in reality, he had charged that she had "made a fool out of herself" instead. In fact, Olbermann contended that if he had in reality called Malkin an "idiot," it would have been grounds for him to apologize:

We at Countdown were preparing an apology for my choice of language last night after the writer Michelle Malkin went on Rush Limbaugh's radio entertainment program and wrote in her Web blog that I had called her a, quote, "idiot." It was Ms. Malkin, who on Hardball last night, raised the accusation that John Kerry's Vietnam wounds may have been self-inflicted. It's naive and old-fashioned, but I feel you should reserve those terms like "idiot" exclusively for men. Political differences, fault or innocence are all secondary. There are codes. There's also a problem. I never called her an idiot.

But since April, the words, "That woman is an idiot," referring to Palin, have become a near regular part of the show, as the Countdown host has called the former governor an "idiot" during 20 episodes of his show between April 8 and July 8, including once when he used the label three times in one show as he also called her "idiot woman" and "that idiot."

Over the last couple of years, Olbermann has a history of making even more incendiary attacks on Malkin and Palin, once comparing Malkin to a "mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it," and once crudely joking with Rachel Maddow about the difference between Palin and a pitbull being that "you can train a pitbull to occasionally keep its mouth closed."

Last February, he slammed Sarah Palin, former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, and other ObamaCare critics, especially those who have used the term "death panels," calling such national health care opponents by the names "subhumans," "ghouls," and "fiends." He went on to "damn" to "hell" those who use the term "death panels." Olbermann: "It’s a life panel, and damn those who call it otherwise to hell!"

Say, isn't it the left that is always complaining about the "hate speech" and "incendiary rhetoric" it claims it hears from conservatives? Perhaps leftists should look a little closer to home to find some real examples of what it whines about. It need look no further than MSNBC and Olberman's "Countdown" "Meltdown" program.

Read Brad Wilmouth's excellent exposé unabridged at NewsBusters.com.

- JP