I just came from C&L. I saw something so rare: Real Courage.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

I don't have a TV. A condition that is an artifact of my last 6 years living in The Bush Economic Miracle. So, I must rely on places like Crooks & Liars for these moments of remarkable correspondence that you all get to see every night. Luckily, John Amato had an itchy trigger finger on the Tivo tonight and got the clip up in moments.

These days, TV is The Endless Banality. Nothing illustrates that more than the story that was on the lips of all last night, regarding Kyra Phillips and an open mike in the bathroom. As if that somehow matters to anyone. Sadly, that is what amounts to news these days.

All too often, these days, TV is an exercise in watching others naval gaze. It reports about itself, as if the sub-currents of the TV business matters to us in our lives. They make television shows about television shows. Special reports about reporters reporting. It's not incestuous, it's the broadcasting version of auto-fellatio.

That's why this all-too-short commentary by Olbermann is all the more remarkable. It is bog-standard remarkable because his was the kind of commentary that could once be found on TV, from the likes of Murrow, Trout, Cronkite, Huntley, Brinkley and Rather. The kind of commentary that once drew the nation to the TV for the 6 o'clock news. The kind of TV that led to the folding tray on legs and the TV dinner. People simply did not miss the news, for it unflinchingly addressed the issues of the day.

But what was even more remarkable is the courage. As has been shown all too many times, of late, there are real consequences for reporting the truth and calling it news. Hence, TV has, instead of standing up to this sort of bullying, chosen to turn itself into The Weekly World News, Excited Electrons Division. If someone films someone eating a baby's brain, they will run with it. But real news, real reportage, real commentary, beyond the polemicists? They simply run away and turn on the truth-tellers at the drop of a displeased phonecall, email or fax.

For some of you who are younger than me, Keith Olbermann, tonight, hearkened back to a time when reporting giants walked the earth. Men and women who knew that ultimately, by reporting the truth, they would draw strength from said truth and they would ultimately prevail. Because the truth, unlike lies, is steadfast and immutable.

So, for a few moments, tonight, Keith Olbermann was The Strongest Man on Earth.

I hope that you truly appreciate what you saw. There are many reasons why you should and not just because of the content of his commentary.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I watch TV all the time

and I have no idea who Kyra Phillips is or why it matters that the bathroom had a mike in it.

[Sydnie]

2. You never cease to amaze and delight me with your posts

Thank you, once again, for saying what needed to be said with such eloquence and grace.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. Gee...

Thanks. Sincerely. </me kinda blinks a lot and looks around.>

[QuestionAll...]

25. I second that, Tandalayo -

You are a talented communicator - it's a pleasure reading your words.

:)

[blm]

18. T_S has always been a comprehensive contributor while exuding grace.

Talent, brains AND heart.

[Jacobin]

3. Big K&R

KO is one of the very very very few remaining. He only gets away with it in our Brave New World because its in a semi-comedy format

[Mind_your_head]

5. Once upon a time, not so long ago....there was something called

The Fairness Doctrine. (Please look it up if you don't know what it was)

Now it's gone....and look how our world has devolved. :cry:

(Incidentally, this is my 1,000th post. Thank you to ALL of you DU'ers who have taught so much to so many.....you're THE BEST!!!)

[PinkyisBlue]

7. Congratulations!!

I, too, have learned so much from DU. Where do I get my news of the day? Not from tv or newspapers, right from DU. I can't wait to see what's going on here.

1,000 posts, way to go!

[Mind_your_head]

9. Thank you......and a belated, but very warm, welcome to DU to you.

:-)

[Gregorian]

6. You spoke my mind.

I watched Olbermann, and after the dust settled in my head, I realized that what I had seen was average. Wild by today's standards, but as you said, just like we saw every night on the news when we were in a time gone by. I wanted to be thrilled, but to me it just seemed normal. But then I haven't poluted my senses with television in the last twenty years.

Well, that was not really what I wanted to say. What you said was absolutely perfectly stated. Thank you. That's all. We can work and hope that the Fairness Doctrine is reinstated, and we spend money on education and health care, instead of cluster bombs. Then, in time, we may begin to return to a time when we valued sophistication and truth.


I can't even do it. But I'm trying.

[Lars39]

8. I normally don't watch anything on tv except movies.

I made an exception tonight. It was all that you said. I'm old enough to remember real news, too.
Did you see this thread?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2018747&mesg_id=2018747

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. Rocky Anderson?

didn't he used to be in The 13th Floor Elevators? ;-)

[OneBlueSky]

10. harkens back to the days of Woodward and Bernstein . . .

who were two of the very few journalists who were telling the truth (albeit in print rather than on tv) . . .

of course, they had a supportive editor and a publisher who could be convinced . . .

Olberman has MSNBC -- that's Microsoft and General Electric, the nation's largest defense contractor . . .

beware . . .

[bear425]

11. Beautifully said. Thank you. n/t

[mark414]

12. you are absolutely right

i just watched it and don't know what to say that you didn't already express. i'm too young to know those giants of news - my only knowledge or memory of them comes from movies or TV documentaries or what my older peers can tell me, but i can say with some conviction that every single one of those men would've been proud of keith olbermann tonight.

what he addressed is something that goes beyond partisan politics, beyond ideology and platform. what he said goes to the very core of what this country is all about - it was not left wing, it was not right wing, it was the truth, pure and unadulterated for all to see. anyone who may criticize or disagree can only do so when they throw things like principle and integrity by the wayside and look at the world through partisan colored blinders.

completely ignoring the policies of this administration and focusing only on their rhetoric, their political speech, one can say without exaggeration that they are hurting this country in a way that will be tremendously difficult to recover from.

may god have mercy on their souls and save us from this threat to our way of life.

[K8-EEE]

13. The Big "O!" HE'S ALL THAT....AND THEN SOME!

He is all the good things -- reason, intellegence, humor!! :loveya:

Thanks Mr. Olberman!

[ContraBass Black]

15. What did he stand to lose?

His job? He might have just doubled his fan base. Guaranteed money for the network. If he's targeted by an O'Rielly style "boycott," it won't do anything but increase his visibility.

His reputation? He's regarded as edgy and upstart. Speaking truth to power upholds that.

His audience? Those who hate him will continue to do so. Those who love him will love him more. Those who didn't care about him will continue to watch whatever channel their TV's are tuned to when his show is on.

His license? Stupid and incompetent though this government is, shutting down Olberman for this would be too obviously foolish even for them.


I'm not as impressed with his personal risk as others seem to be. What he said needed to be said, but many of us say it every day. I approve, but I see no shattered Earth.

[Berry Cool]

16. You obviously have no idea how many enemies the man has

who would like nothing better than to see him off the air...and who sit around every day plotting how to trick him into doing something that will make it absolutely necessary for MSNBC to fire him in order to save its own face.

You might not believe it, but it's true.

[ContraBass Black]

17. Again, those who hate him will continue to hate him.

That won't make them any more powerful. Has he done something foolish, violated the law, or embarrassed the network?






What else do I obviously have no idea about?

[leftchick]

19. KO is the Bravest man on television today

he knows he will suffer a huge backlash from the RW sound machine and perhaps even from his own producers. He did not care because he knew he had to be the one, the only one, to TELL THE TRUTH!!!

:)

[babylonsister]

20. Thank you, Tandalayo_Scheisskopf. You are correct;

those were the days, and you and Keith reminded me of them.

[lonestarnot]

21. Best fucking TV I've EVER SEEN!

[malaise]

22. Great post n/t

[texpatriot2004]

23. I don't have the words to describe how wonderful KO was...

great post.

[Javaman]

24. KO is brilliant...

What I find interesting is that it takes an ex-sports news caster to tell the truth, instead of the bubble heads that are actually hired to be news reporters. Much like how we only get real news from a Comedy show: the Daily Report.

I threw my tv out a while ago and it was the best thing I have ever done. I only get my news now from the internet.

Recently I was in a situation where I was subjected to the endless drivel that passes as new reporting and noticed the one thing that, to me, makes it impossible, even if real news was being reported, for an average person to follow what actually is going on in the reporting. that is: if you look back at the old footage from days of yore, you will notice that the reporting was done by one person, sitting at a desk with nothing else going on on the screen acting as a distraction. One look at todays news cast and it looks like a ad billboard for anyone of a dozen companies, a running stock market ticker a long the bottom, baseball scores on the sides, what's coming up on this weeks stupid ass reality show, etc. All the while a bubble-head with a degree in acting reads the news while smirking their way through their daily closeup, never really taking anything they read seriously or for that matter suddenly becoming a commentator about what ever flavor of the week pops into their vacant head.

This is not news, this is not reporting, it's not even a form of entertainment, frankly, I don't know what the hell it is, but it's not anything that we need to watch within an inch of our lives. Network cable news is nothing but filler for ads and promos. The news is completely secondary. And as a result, not much effort is actually put into what ever stories they spew out at us.

This in a nutshell is why as a nation, the mouth breathers take the news with such a cavalier attitude because the people that report it, also do as well.

We as a nation, that is "supposedly" at war are asked to due nothing to help except to buy more, shop more and consume more. We were told to stay in our place and don't be concerned because being concerned leads to uncomfortable questions for the admin, but as long as the nation sits in front of the numbing machines and take all that is said as gospel the people in power have nothing to worry about.

Basically, we are told to sit down, shut up and keep watching the propaganda.

And this is why KO is brilliant, because, unlike the rest of the rabble that represents the 4th estate, he actually reports the news. but then again is he brilliant? or just doing his job? In this day in age, someone who actually has an ounce of integrity is looked upon as a god. Sadly, years ago, there were many of these gods and men like Murrow and the like rose to immortal status, because, rather than just reporting the news, they gave a damn about what was happening to our nation.

Ko is a god, and given the current news reporting landscape, he's soon to become immortal.

When the gods reported in. Now that's a hell of a name for a book.

[DemInDistress]

26. ahh..I'm disappointed. I thought C&L had rare A&Visual of Kyra

Phillips taking a dump while streaming live . Even better a series of farts. LOL

Keith Obermann yesterday, Rocky Anderson today.. Think the BFEE heard them?