If you missed the it (the commentary, not the comedy - thought the comedy was good), here are a few highlights. He begins the history lesson by quoting a error filled historical analogy by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (PhD in Political Science):
His analysis starts on one end:If Congress were now to revise the Iraq authorization, she said, out loud, with an adult present: "… it would be like saying that after Adolf Hitler was overthrown, we needed to change, then, the resolution that allowed the United States to do that, so that we could deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."
And goes through to the other. He pointed out that the US declared war on Germany after the Nazis "piled on" after the Pearl Harbor attacks. Read about it here. Olbermann points out the obvious differences between her time at Foggy Bottom and the State Department just before WWII:Invoking the German dictator who subjugated Europe; who tried to exterminate the Jews; who sought to overtake the world is not just in the poorest of taste, but in its hyperbole, it insults not merely the victims of the Third Reich, but those in this country who fought it and defeated it.
Saddam Hussein was not Adolf Hitler. And George W. Bush is not Franklin D. Roosevelt — nor Dwight D. Eisenhower. He isn't even George H.W. Bush, who fought in that war.
There are a few loose ends. After pointing out the current secretary's previous errors, he continues on the "going back to Congress" error:Your predecessors, Dr. Rice, didn't spend a year making up phony evidence and mistaking German balloon-inflating trucks for mobile germ warfare labs. They didn't pretend the world was ending because a tin-pot tyrant couldn't hand over the chemical weapons it turned out he'd destroyed a decade earlier. The Germans walked up to the front door of our State Department and said, "We're at war." It was in all the papers. And when that war ended, more than three horrible years later, our troops and the Russians were in Berlin. And we stayed, as an occupying force, well into the 1950s. As an occupying force, Madam Secretary!
...that it would be as ridiculous in the secretary's eyes as saying that after Hitler was defeated, we needed to go back to Congress to "deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."And thus endeth the lesson.
Oh, good grief, Secretary Rice, that's exactly what we did do! We went back to Congress to deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after Hitler was overthrown! It was called the Marshall Plan.
Marshall!
Gen. George Catlett Marshall!
Secretary of state!
The job you have now!
Though Professor Olbermann (obviously) couldn't resist adding a few things - a coda, if you will, to his lesson sonata. It was hinted at earlier in the piece when he pointed out that the real appeasers in the US before WWII were from the GOP. Turns out that that it was the same party that resisted the Marshall Plan after the war.
Doesn't anyone in the Bush Administration have a brain? Or have they just stopped trying to lie intelligently?
39 comments:
i saw this last night. boggles the mind and make us look like fools to the world that remembers how it really was.
go keith!
History will show that America's worst President appointed America's worst Secretary of Defense (Rumsfeld) and America's worst Secretary of State (Rice). These appointments were ratified by America's worst Congress.
You've got to admit, the Republicans are quite consistent.
yes, consistently wrong.
most times i fear, because they know it's just big lies!
Keith is the fool....in the eyes of the 100's of 1000's slaughtered under Saddam,he was at least as bad as Hitler. There is a certain naivete with Olbermann and this site's view of the struggle against islamic fascism.yesterday in pakistan a woman was murdered by some islamic madman who was offended by her showing face in public.Bombers are now using chlorine gas in their car bombs that are targetting other Muslims in Iraq.Why are they slaughtering co-religionists? Because the root problems in Iraq right now is thuggery and gangsterism.Just at this moment (1236PM)a report came over CNN where a car bomb killed 18 boys playing soccer near Ramadi. Open your eyes folks before what is happening in London begins to happen in the US.
I don't see Right Wingers rising in irate rage when some Fundy nut murders a gay guy by dragging him behind a pickup truck or when a couple of hundred blacks get lynched in Alabama.
When Muslim fundamentalists do it in Iraq, unleashed by an American invasion, it's fascism. But when Christian fundamentalists do it in the USA, it's just boys being boys.
we went into iraq to find WMDS, not there, get hussain, he's gone...
we need to get back to the job in afganistan. the one that made sense.
the one that we had every right to do.
worry about the killings that go on every day in this country by our own home grown thugs and killers and fanatics.
they are here now.
I just hope you readers realize how very one-sided Keith Olbermann's commentaries are. Hopefully it will motivate you to get both sides of the story.
Though, i'm sure Keith has good intentions - it seems that his commentaries are skewed by his politics (or political affiliation for that matter).
we are the ones that removed the one (admitted godawful)person that kept all of the various sects and political parties from avenging age old hatreds.
just exactly what many experts in middle east affairs predicted when bush insisted in his "pre- emptive"
war.
yes, k.o. has his point of view but in the case of sec. rice and these latest comments he is spot on!
all you have to do is go back and look at the hisory books.
Admittedly, Olberman's arguments are one-sided. He is completely biased in favor of facts and history.
Shameful, really. He should be more like, say, Bill O'Reilly, whose attitude is, "Screw the facts. I have god, GWB, and Duke Cunningham on my side."
And we all know that reality has a well known liberal bias.
Still unsure what you libs see in this goof Olbermann. Failed as a sportscaster and talk-show host until he went totally liberal apeshit.
Even then, he musters a whole 600K worth of people in a population of 300 million.
Hey, Shitrock, I musta missed the lynchings you talked about in the paper. Unless, of course you referring to the Democrat-controlled South during Jim Crowe.
And people of all shades and political stripes were shocked at the James Bird killing (the guy dragged to death whom you refer). Justice was served, and the killers were executed.
Better go back to your feces 'n fellatio rants; they made more sense.
He should be more like, say, Bill O'Reilly, whose attitude is, "Screw the facts. I have god, GWB, and Duke Cunningham on my side."
I believe Colbert has already cornered the market on "truthiness."
Hey, Shitrock, I musta missed the lynchings you talked about in the paper. Unless, of course you referring to the Democrat-controlled South during Jim Crowe.
Although your missing something would come as no great shock, x, that is exactly what I'm talking about. Those rednecks, bigotted zealots every one, down in Biloxi, Tuscaloosa, and Macon, are now rock-rib Republicans, just like you.
Huh.
Using an occurence from 40+ years ago to justify your argument about the current struggle is pretty sophomoric.
You used to be the only lib on this blog that attempted a good argument.
Now there are none.
x, there never really were "any" right wing types that "made" a good argument and rarely any that attempted one.
lots of name calling and snarkery from them tho.
Using an occurence from 40+ years ago to justify your argument about the current struggle is pretty sophomoric.
Is this the same XRanger who still has a crush on Ronald Reagan, out of office for twenty years and out of his mind for thirty?
I'll be happy to continue to destroy your argument if you ever make one.
Huh.
That's the most cogent statement you've made today.
"Hey, Shitrock, I musta missed the lynchings you talked about in the paper. Unless, of course you referring to the Democrat-controlled South during Jim Crowe."
this is an easy thing for you to check.
want to know why the south is republican?
because the democrats that were in washinton decided that enough was enough as to segregation and it's attendant evils. go back, see who switched parties then.southern dems to southern republicans because racism was a 2 party thing for the most part til the majority of democrats saw the light or were pushed into it.
i'm not sure how old any of you are but i grew up with all that crap.
and racism was alive and well here in the north as well. people just weren't as open and as loud about it.
i'm not sure which was or is worse.
it is still wrong. open or hidden it's wrong.
Comparing Saddam, who was a standard, brutal, and immoral dictator to Hitler insults the gravity of Hitler's actions. Somewhere around 100 million people died in World War II. They should rest in peace, and not be used as political pawns by the desperate neoconservative movement.
Iraq could use a Marshall plan. But Bush will never do it because that'd mean admitting he was wrong.
Condi Rice should be bent over and given a good paddling
I can help w/that spanking. But only if she's wearing the stiletto n' shoulderpad outfit she wore in Germany a few years back.
Yes, yes, I think that'd do nicely.
Also, do we get to take turns?
i luv the way shit..something and miss sherry can justify slaughtering innocent young boys playing soccer and blame it on Bush..shithead gets all tangental and goes on some lynching party. Nothing relevant to my post. Diversions...delusions... juvenile in its depth..
Smitty, welcome to the 2PJ insult fest! As soon as we figure out exactly which variety of whacko right-wing Kool-Aid you drink, we'll be happy to completely dismantle your very last shred of faith in the ridiculous excuse for an administration that's temporarily in power.
But right now, we're having too much fun getting XRanger to extol the virtues of voting against his own best interests, defend the indefensible, and make excuses for draft dodgers. So you'll have to wait your turn. (I know, that's a challenge for Republicans, but it can't be helped in your case.)
Meanwhile, keep up the good work on that great blog you have out there and continue to expand that extensive vocabulary of yours. Someday, you may achieve the lofty status of respect currently held by one of the esteemed intellectuals who call themselves "Democrats-Lie."
nothing justifies those boys being slaughtered and i did not do that so you please try to stick to what i did say.
if hussain was still in power there, those boys would probably(and i mean probably unless they or theit family ran afowl of sadamn in some way)
the civil war there (and that's what it is) is what led to those deaths and thousands of others because the old hatreds are free to become deeds and not just hate taught from generation to generation.
i am not screaming for the downfall of this president. this is our system of government and it works tho it has it's flaws and we should alway be watchful.
i am saying that big, big mistakes were made(we can argue the reasons for them later)
we need to decide what to do about them AND get back to the real war on terror which would be afgahnistan.
so, read what i wrote before and answer my comments honestly or don't answer at all.
you just make yourself and your arguments look foolish.
people can go back and read what was actually written by me you do understand that don't you?
thank you.
Sherry, you are being unreasonable. You expect these folks to respond to what you actually wrote? That's not the Republican way. They tell YOU what you meant, then you respond to that. To require them to deal with your actual statements or, say, comment on actual facts is not in the game plan; it's not Karl's way.
no, it isn't karl's way, but it used to be the american way(for the most part)
what the rabid win at all costs far right (and far left) don't want to understand is that they have been manipulated into believing that having their party "win" by any means, is a good thing. that "winning" is the main thing, not how it was won, that lies and dirty deals and worse are ok because the ends justify the means and that it's just like the superbowl.
it isn't.
people live or die depending on the outcome of elections. they also live better or worse depending on it as well.
don't some realize that we are being pitted one against the other by people whose goal is to keep their jobs or advance in them or to get a foothold in the elite world of politics. to gain power and to make money for themselves and their circle of friends.
it isn't a game. at least it shouldn't be.
clever quips and parroting "talking points" without even checking to see if they are lies or not does no one any good.
the right is far more guilty of that over the past few years than the left.
schmuckshit..not rightwing anything...a Joe Liebermann Dem..avid supporter of Bill Peduto.Simply because I disagree with your take on foreign policy doesn't make me a Republican or a rightwinger.When in doubt insult... as for your Sherry,i'm sure you're a better poet than you are a poster..
i know i'm a little more compassionate than you. as for my posting skills, anytime dave or maria want me to stop i will.
i must really irk you.
and liebermann is no democrat.
As I said, Smitty, you'll have to wait your turn, as foreign as that may be to you right wingers. Sorry. We'll get back to you.
Don't fret. Use the time to settle your affairs.
Couldn't respond yesterday - out making obscene profits.
"But right now, we're having too much fun getting XRanger to extol the virtues of voting against his own best interests, defend the indefensible, and make excuses for draft dodgers."
What the hell does that mean? How do I vote agianst my best interests and defend draft dodgers?
I swear, I have NEVER defended Bill Clinton (draft dodger).
X, I'm sorry, my mistake. I should have specified right-wing and neo-con draft dodgers. You know: Bush, Cheney, Limbaugh...
If the words "draft dodger" offend you, I apologize again. I will call them chickenhawks if you prefer.
I dunno, the fact that Bush was a fighter pilot means he learned it somewhere. I'm guessing the Air Force.
Since the days of Slick Willy I figure the draft-dodging shenanigans of the Viet Nam era were put aside.
Oh, I guess just for Democrats. I keep forgetting that.
X, you caught me in another mistake -- I must be having an off day. Bush didn't just dodge the draft by having his Daddy push him ahead of hundreds of others to get into the Texas Air National Guard ("the Air Force," that's funny!), he then deserted from it. Thanks for reminding me!
Cheney, of course, had "other priorities." He had to make what you call "obscene profits" over here so he would have to do it over there.
And actually, it would seem that you have not put Vietnam era draft dodging aside. You brought up Bubba, didn't you? Your Swiftboat buddies have a little trouble letting go of that Vietnam era stuff, too. Of course, they aren't real, shall we say, stringent about what they use for facts. Oh, but then...never mind.
Tired cliches - draft dodging, desertion - all unfounded and untrue. That's why you libs can't get by this idiocy and talk coherently about the current state of international affairs.
You are really reading in some hidden meaning to my post about Slick Willy. I was using him as the example that I assumed we had moved past the college deferrment draft dodging imbroglio and the baby boomers.
The Swift boaters, of course, had nothing to do with Willy, but Kerry and their perceived lack of character.
All's fair in love, war and politics.
I admire your style of argument -- there must be a Wingnut Academy where they teach the techniques because you all use it. It's very effective, too. Attack using character assasination, true or not; defend by complaining about character assasination when it applies to your boys.
You also confuse the issues effectively and skillfully, mixing and matching statements in a very misleading way.
As for talking coherently, here are a couple of gems from your Beloved Leader:
The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice.
Free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction.
We had a chance to visit with Teresa Nelson who's a parent, and a mom or a dad.
I know something about being a government. And you've got a good one.
There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide.
I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here.
Many more here and on a page-a-day calendar near you.
You humble me with your praise. No wingnut academy though - I thought it up be my lonesome.
That W is a smooth talker.
Nothing wrong with a little incoherence in language or policy, is there?, as long as it can be employed in the service of killing a couple of thousand American kids and stealing a $10 or 20 billion for Cheney and his fellow Halliburtonians.
Now, there you go again...
Yep, and I can keep going. There's just no end to the corruption, incompetence, and powerlust in the GWB administration.
Post a Comment