Given his penchant for comparing Republicans to Hitler, using such phrases as "slinging crap," and stating that the Bush presidency "has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush," you would think that Keith Olbermann, the buffoonish left-wing sportscaster-cum-newsreader would refrain from giving lectures on political civility or the limits of comedy. Not so, however.
On last night's edition of his program, the Obama-supporting anchor was horrified that Jon Stewart, the man he apes, dared to make a joke about the Illinois Democrat's unusual middle and last names. The hypocrisy is thick enough to cut with a knife and serve—assuming you could stand the stench.
Olbermann began the segment comparing Stewart to Ann Coulter (horrors!):
OLBERMANN: If Ann Coulter makes a reference to Barack Obama's middle name and then throws in an allusion to Hitler, most of America cringes appropriately. Jon Stewart does it at the Oscars, it's funny?
Our number one story on the "Countdown," moments at which even the most pro-labor people might have regretted the settlement of the writers' strike. Not just at the Kodak Theatre, but also on "Saturday Night Live," backed from forced hiatus, with the premise of a CNN debate in which the moderator admits the entire media is in the tank for Obama.
The political correctness is pretty gagging here as well. Apparently it's better to have no political comedy at all then to have comedy that ridicule's the media's transparent pro-Obama bias? Who knew?
After that odd bit, the producers excerpted this clip from "Saturday Night Live:"
"BARACK OBAMA": They're tired of being told, you journalists have to stay neutral. You can't openly take sides in a political campaign. And they're saying, yes, we can. Yes, we can take sides. Yes, we can.
Female fake anchor: Wow. Wow. (Fans herself)
Male fake anchor: Bull's eye. Nothing but net.
Female fake anchor: Well, there's obviously no way anyone on earth could possibly follow that.
"HILLARY CLINTON": Well, actually--
Female fake anchor: So this continues tonight's debate.
Of course, the clip is spot on. The media are indeed quite biased against Hillary Clinton, although the left-leaning "SNL" crowd isn't likely to mention that Republican politicians have endured that kind of treatment for far longer.
Now for the Stewart bashing:
OLBERMANN: And then there was stronger meat at the Oscars:
JON STEWART (From Acadamey Awards): You have to give Barack Obama credit. He has overcome a great deal -- not just he's an African-American, Barack Hussein Obama is his name. His middle name is the last name of Iraq's former tyrant. His last name rhymes with Osama. That's not easy to overcome. I think we all remember the ill-fated 1944 presidential campaign of Gadolf Titler (ph).
Joining me now, the star of what is now the Academy Award- winning best animated feature, "Ratatouille," Patton Oswalt. [...]
So obviously you were there. Was the "Titler" joke funny? Was it fair game? And if it was, given that, you know, Ann Coultergeist really believes she is a comedienne, can't she come back with, you know, a Hitter/Saddam Hussein/Barack Obama joke now?
"Stronger meat?" If that's Olbermann's idea of controversial comedy, he needs to get his head examined. The Obama/Osama joke is at best mildly amusing and certainly no less "fair game" than the tired Bush/Shrub line that left-wing columnist Molly Ivins wore out like an old rug. The petty, hypocritical "Coultergeist" comment was a nice touch as well.
The real point Olbermann is trying to make here is that liberals don't deserve to be made fun of, even in the kidglove manner that Stewart did in the excerpted segment. And for god's sake, don't make fun of the media. That's just wrong.
In truth, Olbermann's remarks are just a few notches above the rantings that far-left YouTube users love to post on our NewsBusted comedy episode comments. To them, political humor is only supposed to further "truth," which in their narrow minds equals conventional liberalism.
I heard a great example of this at a party recently while talking to FNC "Redeye" host Greg Gutfeld who told me about a routine a comedian friend has that starts out with him saying "I don't know about you but George Bush is the worst president we've ever had."
Inevitably, the incapable-of-restraint BDSers in the crowd start applauding loudly. But then:
"Which is why it's so strange that George W. Bush is the greatest president we've ever had."
You can hear a pin drop after that and then the laughter starts when everyone else realizes how ridiculous the applauders are.
Keith Olbermann would probably walk out of the room at that point to protect his precious ears.
Update 13:44. Allah has pretty much the same reaction, comparing the Olbermann/Stewart moment to a bad guy vs bad guy WWF matchup.
Audio of above excerpt available here (679 kB | 1:27).
