things about Olbermann we may have missed!

[Ó Cathasaigh]

Principles Keith can swear by


Keith Olbermann's angry E-mail responses to critical viewers included broadsides against Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter. Olbermann apologized for his messages.

Keith Olbermann's vacation isn't going so well.
He was forced to apologize yesterday after more of his E-mails found their way to my inbox and exposed the host of MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" as insulting and frequently obscene in an acrimonious exchange with two viewers who taunted him.

Olbermann's antagonists, who asked not to be named, repeatedly claimed in their June 8 E-mails that dead Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Olbermann's "hero," prompting the television star to advise: "Hey, save the oxygen for somebody whose brain can use it. Kill yourself."

After I forwarded that and other E-mails to an MSNBC exec, Olbermann wrote: "I apologize to anyone who might take offense at my part of this correspondence. It goes without saying that I should not have replied to these abusive and hateful E-mails, but I wonder how many of us could receive literally hundreds of them questioning our patriotism, religion and ethnic origin, without succumbing to the natural wish to confront such hate?"

Here are some examples of Olbermann "confronting hate":


"Given how far you are from knowing your a- from your elbow about my industry, you couldn't be stupider, wronger, or dumber ..."

"Go - your mother."

"You 'Americans' still watching that evil f- O'Reilly?"
Apparently, they are. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly draws six times the viewership of his 8 p.m. weekday rival.

MSNBC declined to comment yesterday, but Olbermann is scheduled to return to work on Monday.

Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
MSNBC



Dear Mr. Olbermann,

We are deeply dismayed by your ongoing use of the Nazi "Sieg Heil" salute, both on your program and in public appearances -- including the recent Television Critics Association press tour -- while holding up a mask of Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly.

While we understand that your aim is to entertain your audience by taking pot shots at Mr. O'Reilly, your repeated use of the Nazi salute has resulted in many complaints from our constituents, including Holocaust survivors and their families who find the use of this gesture offensive and repugnant in any context.

The Nazi salute is more than just a remnant of history, but serves as a calling card for modern-day neo-Nazis and white supremacists. We believe that the use of gestures and imagery associated with the Nazis – even in jest – only serves to trivialize the Holocaust and denigrate the memory of the six million Jews and others who died as a result of Hitler's Final Solution.

As a respected and well-known media personality, your actions have consequences and can set a standard for others to emulate. We are especially concerned that young people viewing your program might take their cues from your free use of the "Sieg Heil" salute.

In light of these concerns, we hope that you will reconsider your use of the Nazi salute in the future.



Sincerely,


The Anti-Defamation League

a bit aged, but I'd not heard of it, and I figured some of you wouldn't have either.


EDIT: and just for giggles

Kieth Olbermann aparently sucks in bed
Breaking all the commonly held stereotypes of news commentators as sexual dynamos, a woman who had a tryst with Keith Olbermann described her romantic experience with the MSNBC commentator as less than gratifying. From The New York Post:

A 30-something office worker of Caribbean descent, KarmaBites1 said she struck up an e-mail friendship with Olbermann, whom she admired, and agreed to fly to New York to meet him last May. She says he came to her hotel room and opened a bottle of Merlot which he "spilled all over." Then, when "sexual activity began [in] less than an hour," Olbermann had difficulty. "I pretended he knew what he was doing," the embittered blogger writes. "I adored the guy. I didn't want him to think he was a dud in bed," so she faked experiencing ecstasy.
And now, I'm realizing that I can't even imagine how people had messy break-ups before the invention of the revenge blog. I guess they had to go out and whisper the tales of their exes' inadequacies into the ear of the town crier. How quaint.
Written by Lisa Timmons