"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler
Following up on my previous description in an update, we see further evidence that the Egyptian situation has turned into a celebrity-journalist festival, with Christiane Amanpour doing riot duty in Cairo:
(Via Hot Air.) Notice the extent to which this story is about Amanpour: Christiane talking, Christiane walking, Christiane the expert on the scene, with the Cairo mob as supporting cast.
It’s show business, you see.
Cynical, much?
Don’t try this at home, kids. It takes a special kind of stupid:
“Leading off tonight: Unrest in Egypt. Proving the Iraq war wasn`t needed, these protests in Egypt, as well as in Yemen and Tunisia, are all aimed at dictators supported by the U.S. The demonstrations have not yet turned anti-American, but they could. These are the events the Bush administration hoped to encourage by lying about weapons of mass destruction and invading Iraq.”
Noel Sheppard tries to make sense of Matthews’ idiocy, but it’s a waste of time trying.
UPDATE: Adjoran in the comments: “If it weren’t for conservatives monitoring his show to catch his gaffes, he would have no audience at all.”
Meanwhile, Matthews says the Panama Canal is in Egypt, and Instpundit is almost moved to pity: “It is, of course, the kind of mistake anyone can make on the air. But it’s true — if Palin made it, it would be proof of stupidity.”
“During the run of the show, Olbermann delivered about 65 ‘Special Comments’ . . . Announced in advance, and written by Olbermann himself, each consisted of a bellowing, pseudo-intellectual rant peppered with historical references, quotes and dripping with excessive adverbs and moral vanity.
“The oft-parodied format . . . is most recognized for its generous use of the indignant salutation, ‘You, sir!’ which Olbermann used an impressive 173 times, according to transcripts, an average of almost three per essay. Olbermann usually used the words to address President Bush or Dick Cheney, in anger. The number of ‘sirs’ per comment is a pretty good gauge of the rage Olbermann felt toward a particular figure.”
— Mary Katharine Ham, The Daily Caller
Via Instapundit.
Among other things, Michael Scherer co-wrote the thoroughly dishonest Time magazine cover story claiming that Barack Obama admires Ronald Reagan.
In fact, Barack Obama despises Ronald Reagan and everything Reagan stood for, and so does Michael Scherer. You know who really admires Ronald Reagan? Sarah Palin. And so let’s look at what Michael Scherer thinks of Sarah Palin:
You get the drift: Michael Scherer wouldn’t vote for a Republican if you put a gun to his head — which is why he’s working for Time magazine, writing dishonest cover stories to help Democrats hijack Reagan’s centennial as an occasion to promote Obama.
UPDATE: “Sputnik Moment” for Sarah Palin: “I’m seeing up close how ‘Palin Derangement Syndrome’ can compel otherwise intelligent people to foam at the mouth and babble nonsense to prove they’re right and she’s wrong.” (Via Instapundit.)
Interviewing Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express, Matthews decides he wants to talk about Michelle Bachmann, and becomes angry when Russo won’t play along.
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Via Memeorandum.
Donald Douglas calls our attention to the latest cover of Newsweek, in which the gunman is wrapped in an American flag:
The cover story by Jonathan Alter is more than 2,000 words. And what one word does not appear in that article? Zeitgeist.
Remember when Newsweek used to do reporting?
UPDATE: Linked by Stephen Green at PJM’s Tatler blog. Thanks!
UPDATE II: Linked by Ed Driscoll. Thanks!
UPDATE III: Linked by the Lonely Conservative. Thanks!
UPDATE IV: Linked by the Rio Norte Line. Thanks!
UPDATED: “This is about the systematic dismantling of the progressive voice in this country,” and other demented moonbat reactions to the MSNBC-Olbermann divorce.
Contract negotiations evidently fell through:
Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC, announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he was leaving his show, “Countdown,” immediately.
The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days last November, came to an agreement with NBC’s corporate management late this week to settle his contract and step down.
In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation other than on occasion “all that surrounded the show – but never the show itself – was just too much for me.”
Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a show that had “gradually established its position as antiestablishment.”
In a statement, MSNBC said: “MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
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I expect Lawrence O’Donnell to get the 8 p.m. spot. Rachel Maddow’s good, but she doesn’t have a Y chromosome and MSNBC is run by greedy sexist pigs.
UPDATE: Background from Howard Kurtz:
A knowledgeable official said the move had nothing to do with Comcast taking control of NBC next week, although the cable giant was informed when it received final federal approval for the purchase that Olbermann would be leaving the cable channel. This official described the dramatic divorce—Olbermann was about halfway through a four-year, $30 million contract—as mutual.
Olbermann, who quit MSNBC once before — in 1998, ripping his bosses in the process—almost single-handedly revived the network by leading it on a leftward march and aggressively attacking the rival operation he called Fox Noise. But his relations with top NBC and MSNBC executives sharply deteriorated when he was suspended for making donations to Democratic candidates, and they began to talk about how the channel was now on solid enough footing to survive without him.
If Olbermann was too much for the suits at Comcast, they’re not going to want Little Miss Lesbian anchoring their 8 p.m. hour. Bet $20 it’s O’Donnell.
UPDATE II: The great thing about Olbermann was, he was so easy to parody, even a kid could do it.
UPDATE III: Professor Glenn Reynolds: “He was a useful idiot for a while. Now he’s no longer useful. Expect to see more of this kind of thing. . . . I was only on Olbermann’s show once, on election night 2004, when he was still more or less sane.” More or less.
UPDATE IV: As might be expected, several huge Memeorandum threads about this story. More from Donald Douglas at American Power, Left Coast Rebel, Jammie Wearing Fool, Ed Driscoll, Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, William Jacobson, Nice Deb, Pamela Geller, Hot Air, Yid With Lid and Michelle Malkin.
UPDATE V: Aaron Goldstein at The American Spectator:
Scarcely a fortnight ago, Keith Olbermann was calling for Sarah Palin’s dismissal from politics.
Now Olbermann has been dismissed from the airwaves.
This is what we call poetic justice.
UPDATE VI: Let me show you the kind of stuff that used to drive me nuts when I was a newspaper editor dealing with Associated Press copy. The AP’s David Bauder:
Keith Olbermann was MSNBC’s most popular personality and single-handedly led its transformation to an outspoken, left-leaning cable news network in prime time. Despite that, he often seemed to be walking on a tightrope with his job. Friday night, it snapped.
“Despite that”? Don’t you mean, perhaps, because of that? Bauder evidently doesn’t stop to think if maybe Olbermann and the anti-Republican agenda at MSNBC had stayed out past their curfew. Once Bush was out of office and Obama became president — elected with the help of gale-force media tailwinds — what was the point of being the anti-GOP network? Where did that make sense from a market-share perspective?
By moving left in 2006 — becoming the raging liberal doppeganger of Fox News — MSNBC pushed CNN into third place. But then what? Where was the audience-growth strategy? They couldn’t go farther left, and the steady diet of liberal indignation had reached its saturation point. Well, never mind the bias. Bauder reports what I’d expected as soon as I heard the news of Olbermann’s departure:
MSNBC announced that O’Donnell, who had frequently filled in for Olbermann before starting his own 10 p.m. show, will take over Olbermann’s time slot starting Monday. “The Ed Show,” with Ed Schultz, will move to 10 p.m. Cenk Uygur of the Web show “The Young Turks” will fill Schultz’s vacated 6 p.m. time slot.
If MSNBC won’t keep Olbermann, Schultz’s days as Cable TV’s Angriest White Man are likely numbered.