I’m not sure what I can add to this:
(Whoops! Is this post too “right-wing”?)
Update: Keith gets pwned by reality twice in one day. That’s gotta hurt!
Update: And a third. March 26, 2009 — a date which will live in infamy.
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Olbermann stopped being relevant when he quit doing sports for KNX in LA.
The fact that he isn’t on here every other day says loads about the level that people care about him.
He sucks, he lies, he deceives, and he would have won my bracket. Then he could have had a steel cage match with Billy O and then they could compare Penis sizes…err, I mean ratings for a few hundred more shows.
Keith Olbermann is such an overblown arsehead that there’s really no point in parodying him–he’s beaten you to it just by bellowing himself out of bed every morning. When Howard “YEAAARRRRGGGHHH” Dean looks like the soul of rational thought next to you, it’s a sure sign that you’ve zoomed right past “Nuts” and are now boldly exploring Whackjob County without a map or provisions.
“FASCIST!”
I am confused, where is the hypocrisy here??
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Feeling maybe I need to clarify that the above comment is from my sarcasm drawer
I can never see the videos when I’m at work. I should know how to fix that shouldn’t I. Oh well it’s Keith Olberwhatevr. I can guarantee he’s being an ass and I don’t even have to see the video.
Beige, there may not be a point in parody-ing Olberman, but occasionally it is downright funny. I still watch the episode of SNL when Ben Affleck did his KO impression. Pity they took it off of Youtube.
It’s a sad day when Howard Dean sounds more rational than ol’ Keithy.
I know this is totally missing the point, but just what in the hell were they talking about? Who has called Obama a fascist? That’s literally the exact opposite end of the political spectrum that he’s usually compared to. I’ve heard socialist, communist, even Maoist – but never fascist.
Maybe someone was referring to that ‘civilian defense force’ he’s been kicking around since the election. If that is the case, then the comparison is actually pretty apt. I mean, you can’t have the words ‘police state’ without fascist being attached to it somehow.
Scott dear, when has the far left ever fully understood the words they throw around?
And it stands to reason that no one on the right is as smart as the left, therefore we couldn’t possibly think up anything creative to call The Obamystical One.
C’mon, say it with me: FACIST! Facist, facist, faaacccist!
It’s so much fun to yell, we don’t really need to know if it’s applicable or not.
Oh Goodlordalmighty. I just misspelled the damn word three times, didn’t I?
Can you tell I studied medical illustration? Geeze. Hitler wears the s, muscles don’t.
It sounds like Olbermann and Dean didn’t quite get their cues worked out right. I mean Olbermann kept setting it up for him and Dean must’ve forgotten his “you shouldn’t call the President fascist unless he is a fascist, like Bush for example” line that was in the shooting script.
The two of them probably had a long talk about that post show with the producers and such. That won’t happen again I can assure you.
And for those of you wanting to see the Ben Affleck as Olbermann: http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/countdown-with-keith-olbermann/805561/
Scott F.
Although I don’t know if anybody called Obama a fascist, I just thought I should point out that fascism isn’t necessarily on the opposite end of the political spectrum as socialism, communism, Maoism, and so forth. Currently, there isn’t any clear definition of fascism besides that it’s an authoritarian dictatorship that emphasizes a strong sense of nationalism, but nothing more too it. As such, it’s been placed far to the left, far to the right, in the middle, and completely off the political spectrum by various political analysts who, although often defined fascism, were never able to offer a definition satisfactory enough for the political community as a whole. Part of the problem also comes from how unclear ‘left’ and ‘right’ are actually defined. I’ve often noted that since communism and socialism and pretty much all other dictatorships were leftist and democracies and republics were to the right, the amount of government control was a bit of an indicator with anarchy being the purest example of the right. Instead, I’ve seen anarchy on both sides as well. And going back to the original uses, left wing referred to those opposed to the monarchy in the French revolution while right wingers supported it. Since then, everything got hazy. Back to fascism though, I think George Orwell described the word best: “The word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley’s broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else… almost any English person would accept ‘bully’ as a synonym for ‘Fascist’. – George Orwell, What is Fascism?. 1944″ (grabbed from wikipedia).
I guess that my final point is that fascism isn’t necessarily far away from communism and socialism on the political spectrum. Even more than that though, it makes some of Olbermann’s statements even better when he says “…lay it out, define your terms…” I mean, I suppose I could define any poorly defined word such as fascism as whatever the heck I want, but that doesn’t mean my definition will provide any sort of case when calling somebody fascist. Keith Olbermann is a fascist. There, I said it. So is his dog and anybody else who disagrees with me politically (and their pets too, even the fish)
Hmmm is right. Many theorists describe the political spectrum not as a line, but as a circle. So far left/far right almost meet at a point.
And I wouldn’t put it past KO to be misusing a vocabulary word. He may not even know what a fascist is, besides a mean name you call some politician you don’t like.
*scratches head* Did someone slip something in Dean’s drink?!
Keith Olbermann is about the biggest partisan idiot on television and that is saying a lot. Honestly, he’s just so… ugh. Can you imagine someone on Fox ranting like that and telling Obama to just shut up?? I think it’s my bedtime.
Erh, I meant can you imagine the *reaction* to someone ranting like that on Fox… oops. I mean, Rush says repeatedly and very clearly he hopes Obama’s *policies* fail and look what he’s putting up with. But I forgot — Bush is Satan and Obama is the messiah.
I thought Affleck’s impression was pretty bad. This guy nails it, though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4llHNTMZjE
May be they are calling Obama a fascist because of his Special Olympics “joke”. If that’s the case, the word “Nazi” would be more fitting here. The Nazis (in Germany) sought to rid their society of mentally and physically disabled people (as well as homosexuals, Jewish people, Gypsies) in order to create a stonger nation. I think it’s called social darwinism (misspelled?). So may be that’s what they are referring to. Just a thought.
Back in the day, my political science professors defined fascism as “attempting to unite a country’s population behind hatred of a common enemy”. While I tend to think that definition actually fits demagoguery better, I can see how it drapes nicely over fascism too, in terms of how fascism tends to be practiced.
Usually, however, it’s just a word hurled by leftists because they need a comeback when they’re called leftists or Communists.
It’s kind of sad when Howard “YEEEEAAAA!!!” Dean is the rational one.
I think part of what your poly sci professor is missing, Beige, is the autocracy component to fascism. That’s typically what the left seizes onto when they use the term against Bush and his post 9/11 security measures.
In point of fact though, Mussolini (the usual textbook case for fascism) used his consolidated power base to heavily regulate Italian transportation, banking, business, and industry. Bush was very midline Republican in that he really never contemplated control of market forces, that is until Black September hit.
And while I hate to agree with Olbie & the Dean (doesn’t that sound like a great sitcom?), after Geithner’s little book report yesterday suggesting increased federal supervision over non TARP related businesses, fascism sorta comes to mind.
Geeze Louise, go back to bed and hide under the covers people. First I voted for Gore and Edwards this week, then I agreed with the bombastic brothers, Keith and Howie. Armegeddon is here folks!
I’m constantly bemused not just by so-called ‘news people” who find it necessary to interpret the news instead of reporting on it, but also by those who actually watch these narcissists and nod their heads in agreement with them. This 1:53 second clip is the most I’ve ever watched of Mr. Olbermann, and I only watched it to the end in the hope that I might gleam a modicum of enlightenment from it. Unfortunately, I’ll never get that (almost) two minutes back.