Olbermann's Anti-Bush Debate Coverage, Republicans 'Belligerent' Toward Iran

During Thursday's Republican presidential debate, which was dominated by questions that sounded like they were made up by liberal bloggers, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, known for his many anti-conservative and anti-Bush rants, got to anchor the cable network's debate coverage. While the MSNBC anchor was relatively more subdued than usual, his anti-Bush bias still shined through as he interviewed several of the Republican candidates and asked them questions displaying his interest in whether the candidates were critical of President Bush. Olbermann also suggested that the Republican candidates appeared "very belligerent and very willing to turn to military solutions, at least keep them on the table on the subject of Iran." (Transcript follows)

Thursday's debate occurred just over a week after Olbermann's "Special Comment" attack on Rudy Giuliani in which he accused the former mayor of "doing bin Laden's work for him" because Giuliani had argued that a Republican President would protect America more effectively than a Democratic President because a Democrat would "play defense" in the war on terrorism. After the debate, Olbermann expressed wonder as to why Giuliani early on made debate comments about Bill Clinton that sounded like an "olive branch" before the former mayor later repeated his charge that a Democrat would have America "playing defense." Olbermann: "Was there a, did Mr. Giuliani correct course today? Did somebody send him a note under his door that said, 'Don't go out there and be nice to the Democrats under any circumstances?'" The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson suggested that the mayor's soft comments on Bill Clinton were inspired by Giuliani's own marital problems.

Below is a list of some of Olbermann's more notable comments and questions to the candidates:

To Senator Sam Brownback, about 9:40 p.m.: "Did you criticize President Bush's handling of our allies in relation to Iraq without mentioning the President, or were you being more critical of the execution of the war by others?"
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To former Governor Mike Huckabee: "Was there, in your opinion, as there was at this desk, veiled criticism of the President's execution of the war in Iraq? You specifically referred to whether or not the generals on the ground had been listened to."
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To Representative Tom Tancredo: "This subject of Iran came up rather prominently. Were you surprised at the depth of emotion about this on the stage with you among the other candidates tonight?"
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To Representative Duncan Hunter, about 9:50 p.m.: "I'm wondering again about this point of the, several of the candidates, yourself included, criticizing, to some degree, the execution of the war in Iraq, if not the President by name. Were you doing so when you discussed the need to, in your terms, further stand up the Iraqi Army?"
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To Hunter: "Congressman Hunter, there is a, Howard Fineman suggested this, and I would concur with his analysis, that one of the headlines that might be taken from this debate, if not necessarily just nationally, certainly internationally, would be that your party, and the members of your party, even after what has not been certainly, minimally defined this way, an easy series of events in Iraq, was being very belligerent and very willing to turn to military solutions, at least keep them on the table on the subject of Iran. Do you think that was also one of today's headlines?"
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To Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, about 10:30 p.m.: "Do you think also there is a, this is the point, I keep saying I'm going to ask about this, and I'm finally going to ask about it. Early on in this, we heard something that seemed to be an olive branch from Rudy Giuliani to the Democrats which, of course, is the last thing you would think conservatives and Republicans tuning in to watch this, certainly at this stage of this campaign, want to hear. He mentioned that neither party has a monopoly on virtue or vice, and later on came back when Chris raised the question about Hillary and Bill Clinton, he said that, of course, Bill Clinton being in the White House again would mean Hillary was elected President and that would mean we're back on defense on terrorism, again saying that President Bush, complimenting President Bush about being on offense on September 20, 2001, onwards. Was there a, did Mr. Giuliani correct course today? Did somebody send him a note under his door that said, 'Don't go out there and be nice to the Democrats under any circumstances?'"

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: "You know, I actually took the 'virtue and vice' reference as an attempt at inoculation, not an olive branch. I took it as a way of saying, 'Well, gee, you know, many of us have been married three times, and have these messy, these messy private lives. And also, many of us, you know, dress up like women and get photographed doing it, so that's the way I took that, not so much as a peace offering."