Keith Olbermann, the revved-up "talent" on MSNBC, is a helluva lot of fun. I've noted previously my admiration for his "Special Comments" on the program "Countdown." Self-indulgent though they are (typically, about ten minutes of his fulminations), they're enormously entertaining. What could be more fun than listening to him rip into Rumsfeld, Cheney & Bush, Hillary & Geraldine Ferraro? [See him talk here about the "poison cloud" of Ferraro's racism.] Who wouldn't want to have his platform for telling the President to "shut the hell up" (after Bush claimed to have given up golf in a show of support for the troops)? See that one here.
Enormously entertaining though he is, Olbermann can be unsettling. To some, his rants are analogous to (though ideologically opposite from) the rancid mouthings of Bill O'Reilly at Fox, and thus are merely another contribution to the debasement of the news media.
This week's New Yorker has a superb profile of Olbermann by Peter Boyer. It's a thoughtful look at how Olbermann sees himself and how others (especially at NBC) see him. It includes great tidbits. For instance: Olbermann was challenged by an MSNBC senior vice-president over the tone of his planned jeremiad against Bush's golf remark (which Olbermann called the "final blow to our nation's solar plexus").
Phil Griffin [the senior VP] raised the matter of tone. Why did Olbermann need to end his commentary by telling the President of the United States to "shut the hell up"?
"Because I can't say, 'Shut the fuck up,' that's why, frankly," Olbermann responded. The line stayed in.
Olbermann is an artist. Listening to his commentaries is like listening to the tension and passion build in Ravel's "Bolero." You wait for the crescendo. And it's satisfying, when it comes.
Comments