Keith Olbermann NEVER Engages In Over-The-Top Hyperbolic Rhetoric

[lame54]

NEVER

[pacalo]

1. Like Bill Mahre said, Keith may be a mad (angry) man, but those with whom he was compared are madmen

And when Keith seems over the top, it's because he's usually pointing out something we should all be angry about.

Anything wrong with that?

[Raven]

2. Well, no, but that's what I love about him. Did he get suspended for

being over the top? :-)

[dennis4868]

4. No but

He got called out by Jon Stewart and compared with glen beck

[lame54]

6. he got called out...

but not compared to Glenn Beck

Jon does not think Keith is Glenn

[dennis4868]

21. when you put KO on a gigantic tv screen...

and show video footage of Beck and then KO and then say that this is the problem with politics today, it is comparing the crazy and hateful Beck to KO....

[Vickers]

3. Ummmm...okay?

:shrug:

[Motown_Johnny]

5. but his outrage is based on fact, Beck's is pure fantasy

and that is where the false equivalency lies

[lame54]

7. it would if...

he actually compared the two in that context

Jon does not think Keith is Glenn

but he does think he can over-dramatic

That's all he was saying there

[prairierose]

10. Sorry, the way Stewart framed it, was still a..

false equivalency. He still compared them as if they were equal and that is the problem we are talking about. There is no comparison between Keith O and glen beck. Keith users facts. Yes, he may get passionate about what he is saying(although somehow he manages to never cry) but he uses actual objective, verifiable facts. beck, on the other hand, uses crap and paints the walls with it and cries to convince his credulous viewers that he is telling the "truth".

[lame54]

15. still don't see it that way

[CatWoman]

23. that's quite obvious...........

[RZM]

8. 'Over the top' and 'hyperbolic'

Usually describe the forceful articulation of positions that one doesn't agree with. If you agree with KO, then he's not over the top because you probably think he can rarely go too far arguing something you believe in passionately.

Now I'd say this clip is definitely 'Over the Top' in just about every way possible :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UC2AyhYQk

[lame54]

9. you can tell the truth and be over-dramatic about it

[RZM]

16. Of course

But 'over-dramatic' to me sounds similar to 'over the top.' In any case, KO, like everyone else in this world, makes statements that reflect his personal opinion and aren't necessarily 'true' or 'not true,' but arguments that people can interpret for themselves and decide whether or not they agree. I don't watch Countdown regularly, but I do tune in from time to time. Especially during his 'Special Comments' (which I imagine is one problem the brass has with him) he'll use facts to back up an argument that is, in the end, his personal opinion. One thing that was left unsaid by Jon Stewart is of course that our media personalities sometimes act the way they do because that's the way a lot of people like to hear opinions they agree with. Strong statements of opinion often have more weight when articulated loudly and angrily -- not everyone likes it that way, but enough do to keep plenty of media figures in business. If MSNBC gave Countdown to Garrison Keillor and had him talk about the same stuff KO does, I don't think as many people would find it as interesting.

[lame54]

18. Then it's not the truth we want...

it's the show

[RZM]

20. I think it's both

People like the facts that he presents and also the opinions that he articulates based both on those same facts and on his own personal beliefs.

[walldude]

24. Bingo...

While Stewart may have gone about it a little clumsily he was right on the fucking money. The news here is a joke. The only reason Olbermann is loved here is he is on the left at the moment. I remember a time not long ago when the name Olbermann was written on the underside of the bus along with many others because he dared to say something bad about Obama.

This place is so fickle it's not even funny.

[socialist_n_TN]

22. It doesn't really matter whether he's "over dramatic" or not.......

What matters is that he's PASSIONATE about his politics. And yes, his PASSION is FACT based, unlike the Faux Noise bunch. THAT'S why the media capitalists went after KO first. His PASSION. Because in American politics in the 21st Century, PASSION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY. Our jaded electorate doesn't respond to fact, it responds to passion. Keith's PASSION (and consequent popularity) is what got him "indefinitely suspended". BTW, how IS that different from firing? In both cases you don't work and you don't get paid.

[Ian David]

11. Hyperbole is destroying America. n/t

[laughingliberal]

12. Unrec. nt

[lame54]

13. you're not the first

[laughingliberal]

17. Just happy to do my part in resisting the push for more 'mushy middle' messaging.

[pacalo]

19. A step ahead of you.

[madmax]

14. And let the wild rumpus - beeeegin! nt