Olbermann Follow-Up: Keith Curses at His Viewers

On Wednesday, NewsBusters reported how MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann sent an e-mail message to a viewer in which he debased colleague Rita Cosby as well as his boss at the time. Lloyd Grove of the New York Daily News (hat tip to NB reader John in CA) reported Thursday that Olbermann has been responding to his likely voluminous hate mail with…hate mail:

“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.”

You can’t make this stuff up.

(Update: For those that are interested, the following link directs you to a website that has some of the actual e-mail messages in question. Be forewarned that these are much more vulgar and offensive than what has been presented here.)

After Grove forwarded the e-mail messages to an MSNBC executive, Olbermann wrote the following (fair warning to  not have food or drink in your mouth as you read this): "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?"

Oh, this is soooooo delicious coming from a man that does nothing but spew hatred for people that he doesn’t agree with night after night after night!

Here are some examples of Olbermann’s vicious e-mail responses that Grove shared with his readers:

·   "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?"

Grove comically and fittingly answered Olbermann's last question: “Apparently, they are. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly draws six times the viewership of his 8 p.m. weekday rival.”

I’m verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.

UPDATE: Regardless of the comical nature of this event, doesn't it raise an interesting and seemingly obvious question: where is the liberal outrage concerning Olbermann's behavior?

After all, if Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity had debased a female colleague in a similar fashion as Olbermann, liberal groups lead by NOW would be demanding his resignation or termination. In addition, if this was followed by revelations of either host responding to viewer correspondence with such vitriolic and vulgar language, there would be immediate pressure on Fox News to cut off his head.

But a liberal host can get away with this? Is this just another in an increasing list of examples of the left's moral relativism?