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Olbermann Comments on Hillary Causing Stir | 197 comments (197 topical)

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Hyperbole and sexism. (5.00 / 5) (#1)
by madamab on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:31:27 PM EST
Olbermann is a blowhard. His comments were crass and sexist, but I'm sure he did not mean to imply a death threat.

Me, either (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by AnninCA on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:36:54 PM EST
He's just getting nailed for being colorful.  Sort of like they do to Bill Clinton.

The reality is that real people "get" Bill and they "get" Keith, too.

NBD.

[ Parent ]

Yep, I get him. (5.00 / 1) (#34)
by Maria Garcia on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:46:55 PM EST
....now.

[ Parent ]
hyperbole, not sexism (none / 0) (#69)
by jerry on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:01:51 PM EST
In reading only the words, it's just hardball politics.

We shouldn't get caught up in the phony umbrage war (as Michael Kinsley put in on yesterday's Diane Rehm show)

And we should ignore shakespearessister who thrives on the phony umbrage wars.

[ Parent ]

well, only HE comes out. (5.00 / 1) (#93)
by Salo on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:12:47 PM EST
choice words.

Rather than SHE comes out.

sheesh deconstruct that.

[ Parent ]

Really whether it is a woman or man (5.00 / 1) (#124)
by inclusiveheart on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:48:01 PM EST
that was taken in and didn't come out, it is irresponsible imagery when we have a non-violent democratic system to decide which candidate gets to win.

BushCult takes people into rooms from which they don't emerge.

I'd like to think that Democrats do not also subscribe to that kind of threatening and bullying even if it is only meant to be metaphorical.

I'm getting tired of this never-ending primary season too, but a Burr-Hamilton duel is NOT the answer for godsakes.  People are getting really wacked out

Let the voters do their thing.

Let the supers read the voters' tea leaves and let's stick to our non-violent process of selecting leadership.

[ Parent ]

Burr-Hamilton, huh? (5.00 / 1) (#136)
by Molly Pitcher on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:01:37 PM EST
Well, Hillary says she had some lessons.

[ Parent ]
Yes (none / 0) (#97)
by squeaky on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:16:33 PM EST
The He is Obama. just like 'him' often refers to Jesus.

[ Parent ]
"Just the words"? (4.83 / 6) (#95)
by eleanora on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:14:39 PM EST
Words matter. A prominent media figure calling for a male superdelegate to take a female candidate into a room and "only he comes out" is encouraging and normalizing the idea that violence against a woman by a man is an acceptable political tactic.

Violence against women is a serious problem in this country and around the world.  My anger at this comment is not phony.

[ Parent ]

I agree (5.00 / 1) (#127)
by angie on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:50:14 PM EST
if KO had not been displaying such blatant hatred and sexism toward Hillary all this time (remember the comparison to David Duke, for crying out loud?) I might have been able to give him the benefit of the doubt that he did not realize how inappropriate his comment was, but at this point I simply can believe the absolute worst of him.  

[ Parent ]
I'm a man (5.00 / 2) (#169)
by txpolitico67 on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 03:44:48 PM EST
and that infuriates me to no end.  ANY violence to ANY other human, especially male on female violence, is uncivilized and unacceptable.  For KO to even suggest this makes me sick to the core of my being.

Man we are devolving at light speed with guys like this having a tv show.  

[ Parent ]

I agree (4.83 / 6) (#102)
by Just another person on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:18:30 PM EST
Maybe I over-reacted. But when I heard that, I physically cringed. It provided the image of a big man taking his girlfriend in the back to teach her a lesson for being a smartass.

KO probably didn't even think of it that way. It was more likely a hyperbole for him. But really, when you're speaking as a public figure, you need to be careful of your language and the images it brings up. Like racism - a lot of the times we don't mean to be racist, but the words come out and they trigger negative reactions. We decry such words. Why  don't we do that when the language is such that it makes a woman feel demeaned or threatened?

[ Parent ]

Check out his facial expression as he says it (5.00 / 1) (#172)
by andrys on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 04:18:17 PM EST
That shows it was not a benign thought.  It's a wish and just fantasy, but from a 'news' man it was incredibly ugly, but that's what he's become.  Fineman's wanting to take her out as fast as possible (expressed on a few shows) was just as distressing.  The woman is virtually tied with Obama when one counts the humans who went to vote for her -- there's a delegate count and a popular vote count and both are worth considering and balancing.

  But this display by them was sick and there's no way around that.  They wouldn't have done that if this close race happened between two men.  I think they feel a woman should not think she's entitled to a position "over" us all.

[ Parent ]

i agree (4.33 / 3) (#107)
by proudliberaldem on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:24:10 PM EST
i cringed too. i'm willing to believe that keith didn't think through the implications of what he was saying. but that's the problem.

[ Parent ]
Keith Would Definitely Think Through The (none / 0) (#155)
by MO Blue on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:48:26 PM EST
implications of calling Obama boy in any context now wouldn't he.

[ Parent ]
Fineman took it in his stride. (none / 0) (#109)
by Salo on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:27:35 PM EST
Howard: "why didn't I think of that apt scenario, Keith my man, that's how she should have been disposed of originally!  Go into her cell and place a revolver on the side table and tell her to take one for the team to preserve her honour."

Keith: "haw haw haw."

Howard: "just like Rohm."

Keith: "Like the emperors indeed."

howard: "No, like Ernst Rohm on the night of the long knives."

Keith: "who?"

[ Parent ]

Fineman said the same thing on Charlie Rose (5.00 / 1) (#143)
by Josey on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:18:48 PM EST
It was very disgusting!!


[ Parent ]
I'd have loved to see what (none / 0) (#104)
by Salo on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:22:07 PM EST
Finemans expression was as he said

"YES, exactly."

I'd have looked on slackjawed, flicked my eyes left and made a grimacing expression.

[ Parent ]

That comment was disgusting. (5.00 / 3) (#17)
by ghost2 on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:37:54 PM EST
It really induces vomit in me.  MSNBC couldn't sink any lower.  

Keith, you are vile and a piece of s--t.  


[ Parent ]

The desire to murder Hillary (5.00 / 3) (#157)
by Foxx on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:54:17 PM EST
is expressed quite frequently.

The other day I was in the check out line at an upscale grocery store. Two very large white men were talking very loudly about how they wanted to put her 6 feet under, lay her out.

When I objected to the murderous comments, one patted me on the shoulder (I'm a slight older white woman) and said he just wanted to put her somewhere for 6 months where he didn't have to listen to her. I said "Well maybe we can find a place to put you for 6 months so you don't have to listen to her." He muttered and walked away, but what if we had been in a less public place?  

[ Parent ]

Hey! I like that (none / 0) (#200)
by splashy on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 04:46:47 AM EST
Just like the guys that can't handle seeing a little skin on women should be the ones that have to go somewhere else, not the women.

[ Parent ]
KO Overcompensating (5.00 / 5) (#27)
by felizarte on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:42:15 PM EST
for the fact that he could not figuratively do it to Clinton when she was on his show.  So now he wants someone else to do it.  Hasn't he been listening to Hillary talk about her childhood?  How she used to come home crying because someone did something to her?  And her mother told her to "hit back" and she never cried since.  She played with a lot of boys and they took her into their group because she was not a sissy?

Her lessons in being tough intellectually, psychologically and emotionally began in her childhood which obviously stayed with her.  What makes KO think that a Keith Olberman can rattle or cause her to misspeak?  She knew whom she was talking to.  This is the quality that voters see in her and all those media personalities trying to gang up on her only help to make this quality shine even more.

[ Parent ]

Olberman should pray (5.00 / 2) (#38)
by felizarte on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:48:34 PM EST
that none of his listeners make the mistake of attempting this literally.  All hell will break lose in that event.

[ Parent ]
Reminds me, (5.00 / 1) (#132)
by Molly Pitcher on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:57:49 PM EST
sorta, of this:  "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"  Heaven forbid some nut decides to act.  It is a tad like yelling 'fire' in the movie theatre, given current attempts to inflame prejudices.

[ Parent ]
That would be Henry II speaking of (4.50 / 2) (#135)
by Mark Woods on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:01:15 PM EST
Thomas a Beckett, who became a Saint after he was murdered by a stupid knight seeking to please the grouchy king.

Words do lead to violence, that's why hate crimes forbid 'hate speech', isn't it?

KO is a women-hating schmuck, that's all.  What a loser.

[ Parent ]

What Supreme Court Justice said.... (5.00 / 1) (#148)
by kc on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:32:22 PM EST
'your freedom of speech ends where my nose begins'
--or words to that effect.

I think that KO is right at the nose tip.

[ Parent ]

He does have his issues with women (none / 0) (#139)
by Cream City on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:10:38 PM EST
off camera, too, says one.

[ Parent ]
I'm sure (5.00 / 7) (#73)
by Nadai on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 01:03:06 PM EST
he doesn't mean it literally.  But his words rely on the cultural backdrop where uppity women  are literally hurt or killed for not knuckling under, or even for not knuckling under fast enough.  The metaphor only works because sometimes the threat is real.  He's trading off that real threat to make his faux threat comprehensible, which is despicable.

[ Parent ]
Maybe not, but.. (5.00 / 1) (#145)
by kc on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 02:22:40 PM EST
it would be nice if the Secret Service scared the crap out of him.

[ Parent ]
I agree - this is being exaggerated (5.00 / 1) (#199)
by lastamendment on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 07:16:57 PM EST
This is being blown way out of proportion. Olbermann's comment was off-color but by no means was it an incitement to murder. For that, you should refer to Rush Limbaugh's calls for riots in Denver.

Politics is strewn with references to fighting and metaphors of physical violence - as metaphors, not as wishes or dreams like Limbaugh's.

Here's one example:
Hillary Clinton Pummels Obama Again on "Bitter" Comment

Specifically, that page has this line: "Speaking in Scranton, Clinton again unloads on Obama and calls for an explanation."

That's one instance of a reference to Clinton physically beating Obama, and one of her "unloading" (a gun?) on him.

There are bigger fish to fry with our nation than Olbermann's gaffe, as far as I am concerned.

Olbermann's comment was of a completely different order from Limbaugh's - it was stupid but not literally a call for murder.  

[ Parent ]

Olbermann Comments on Hillary Causing Stir | 197 comments (197 topical)

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