Sunday, January 23, 2011

So Long and Thanks for all the Yelling

"Wingnuts" author, John Avlon; takes a look at Olbermann's departure (hopefully to soon be followed by Glenn Beck. I can dream, can't I?):

Olbermann was the highest profile opinion anchor of the left and he used his pulpit at times in a mirror image of the professional polarizers on the right. When he attacked Democrats, it was for being too centrist, never for being too radical—echoing the RINO-hunting arguments from the right. One of his last attacks was against retiring Senator Joe Lieberman, who received a resounding “good riddance” despite actions such as shepherding the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell through the Senate. Olbermann also often let his moral outrage drag him into immoral invective, the mirror image of Wingnut gutterball politics from the right, as when he called Scott Brown “a racist, homophobic, promoter of violence against women” on air the night before the special election in Massachusetts. He called Michelle Malkin “a mashed up bag of meat with lipstick on it." I had the odd badge of honor of being named one of the “worst persons in the world,” and got a repeat when the postpartisan group No Labels was named one of the worst in the world late last year. These are just blips on his list of pitchfork and torch greatest hits, which he would have gone red in the face condemning if they came from conservative opinion anchors and were directed at the liberal activist class.

Certainly, I would not argue that Olbermann is as bad as Beck. Mostly because I find some small common ground with him. However, that's sort of like saying that "Cancer isn't as bad as the Black Plague". Both Olbermann and Beck are sorely guilty of pushing partisan bile into politics for their own self-aggrandizement. They're symptomatic of a political philosophy that seems to boil down to "Attack". 

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