On Wednesday’s Countdown show, as he plugged a segment on former Democratic-turned independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s retirement, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann referred to Lieberman as a "delusional liar," and suggested that he had experienced a "departure from reality" for describing himself as a "moderate Democrat" after endorsing John McCain over Barack Obama for President. At the top of the show, the MSNBC host teased: "The end of the line for Joe Lieberman, self-described ‘moderate Democrat.’ Don’t let the delusional liar door hit you in the delusional liar butt on the delusional liar way out."
In another plug, Olbermann accused the Connecticut Senator of "lying even on the way out the door." And, after a segment with Minnesota Democratic Representative Keith Ellison in which the two discussed the Congressman’s experiences with death threats and hostile messages to his office, Olbermann almost seemed to lament that Lieberman had not gotten more grief even as he contended that public figures should be "untouched," and ended up declaring "good riddance" to Lieberman. Olbermann:
And then there are those politicians who sail through their public lives untouched, which is fortunate, which is the way it should be, unless what they are untouched by is reality. Tonight, goodbye, Joe Lieberman, and good riddance.
Below is a transcript of the plugs that preceded the segment on Senator Lieberman from the Wednesday, January 19, Countdown show on MSNBC:
KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: The end of the line for Joe Lieberman, self-described "moderate Democrat." Don’t let the delusional liar door hit you in the delusional liar butt on the delusional liar way out.
SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN (I-CT): So maybe that means that JFK wouldn’t fit neatly into any of today’s partisan political boxes either.
OLBERMANN: Senator, I know of Jack Kennedy, and you’re no Jack Kennedy.
...
OLBERMANN, DURING COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 8:17 P.M.: Lying even on the way out the door. He was a moderate Democrat, and today he says JFK might be a Republican.
...
OLBERMANN: And then there are those politicians who sail through their public lives untouched, which is fortunate, which is the way it should be, unless what they are untouched by is reality. Tonight, goodbye, Joe Lieberman, and good riddance.
...
OLBERMANN, AFTER COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 8:30 P.M.: Joe Lieberman announces he will not run again, reveals he’s been living in a dream world of his own in which a Senator who endorsed the Republican presidential nominee is, quote, "a moderate Democrat."
...
OLBERMANN, BEFORE COMMERCIAL BREAK AT 8:33 P.M.: The departure of Senator Joe Lieberman following by a couple of years his departure from reality. Dave Weigel next.
