Olbermann Watch - Bonus Saturday Edition

Can we count on Keith Olbermann's pinch-ranter, Rachel Maddow, to pick up on the now-updated/discarded ThinkProgress fantasy and describe McHenry's "two-bit security guard" as an American soldier?  Yes we can!

Check the video next to this summary from the Countdown site:

April 4: Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told a local Republican event Saturday about a recent incident when a U.S. soldier guarding a gym denied him entry to a gym. McHenry referred to the soldier as a “two-bit security guard” and failed to mention the gym was in the Green Zone in Baghdad.

Olbermann doesn't criticize his own network, so we doubt he will be criticizing his own show, "Countdown to Clowns".

Background on the foreign contractor mistaken by our friends on the left for a US soldier is here. OK, and here.  Here, too - what a pile-on.  There is a simple lesson here for journalists as well as Countdown performers - if you are getting your content from lefty blogs, mistrust but verify.

And speaking of working "In the Zone", where does this second bit of the Countdown summary - McHenry "failed to mention the gym was in the Green Zone in Baghdad" -  come from?  My guess is that it is  an independent MSNBC fantasy that is an extrapolation from Ms. Maddow's script, since at one point she leans forward and says, as if revealing an embarrassing secret, that the gym that was blown up was in the Green Zone.  Here is the ThinkProgress transcription of McHenry's speech:

We spent the night in the Green Zone, in the poolhouse of one of Saddam’s palaces. A little weird, I got to be honest with you. But I felt safe. And so in the morning, I got up early — not that I make this a great habit — but I went to the gym because I just couldn’t sleep and everything else. Well, sure enough, the guard wouldn’t let me in. Said I didn’t have the correct credentials.

OK, McHenry didn't specifically say that he got up early and remained in the Green Zone for his stroll to the gym, but my goodness - he goes on to describe a rocket attack into the Green Zone that blew up the gym, so I think we can give him a pass on this.

Ms. Maddow closes by noting the the American soldier had to stay behind and fight McHenry's war while McHenry got to go home, and wonders whether McHenry feels an apology coming on.  I sort of wonder the same thing.

Now, Countdown airs at 8 Eastern time.  I think it is fair to infer that no one at MSNBC contacted the congressman's office for a comment or even checked a few blogs as showtime approached.   So how is this apology supposed to work, Rachel - you never call the guy, are you waiting for him to make the first move?  So 20th century.  Oh, well, maybe you'll read this:

A North Carolina congressman has apologized for calling a contract employee in Baghdad a “two-bit security guard.”

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., used that term when talking about a visit to Iraq where he was denied access to a gymnasium. “It was a poor choice of words to describe a foreign contractor,” McHenry said in a statement.

That was printed prior to your show, BTW.

But let's try to close on an upbeat - Ms. Maddow did get McHenry's name right and she placed the incident in Baghdad.  Baby steps.

UPDATE:  Allah called it, and now calls the "apology":

Exit question quotation: “Congressman, you feel a little apology coming on?” Do you, Maddow?  Or is Olby going to have to eat crow this time like he did last time, by apologizing perfunctorily and then attacking his victim from 20 different angles just to make sure the wingnuts don’t think they won one?

I can spot a rhetorical question when I see one.

JUST PUT ON A HAPPY FACE:  If for some reason you feel obliged to defend Ms. Maddow, let a smile be your umbrella!  Here is Nicole Bell of the often useful, sometimes hilarious "Crooks and Liars", describing Ms. Maddow madcap reporting:

And finally, the tale of Rep. Patrick McHenry, who related a little tale during a GOP fundraiser in his native North Carolina about this “two bit security guard” that refused him entry to a gym because he lacked proper credentials for entering. 

Just so you know, the gym McHenry wanted to use? It was in the Green Zone, in Baghdad. The “two bit security guard” McHenry derided was an American soldier in harm’s way protecting visiting Americans, like Congressman McHenry. And because this soldier followed proper procedure and refused special treatment to a big shot like Congressman McHenry, his reward? Did he get to go home, like McHenry did? No, this “two bit security guard” stayed behind in Baghdad to fight McHenry’s war for him. Congressman, you feel a little apology coming on?

Carolina Politics (a GOP site) says that the security guard in question was a contractor, not a soldier.  However, despite the fatter paycheck, the material point is the same.

Hmm, the material point that this was not a US soldier?  That he had no expectation of "going home" as McHenry did, and that when he did, it would not be to the US?  That he was staying behind to "fight McHenry's war" as a well-paid volunteer (sorry, libs, "mercenary"), not because he had been ordered to?

Or was it the point that Ms. Maddow had willfully and woefully ignored such basic journalistic practice as calling her subject for a comment?  Or doing any follow-up research, which would have revealed that McHenry had an apology on the internet by late Friday afternoon?

Well, if the material point is that we ought to be polite to strangers, fine.

Comments

[clarice]

Must be grat fun to be a producer on one of the MSNBC news shows--very creative. Just call your lefty friends--or take their calls--and megaphone whatever carp they give you. Well, the ratings won't go up. The trick is to hang on to that tiny bit of the population which likes their news made up. (Must schedule big MSNBC viewer mud wrestle with the viewers of 60 Minutes).

[Tom Maguire]

Good point. They are in the same box as the NHL ownwers - eliminating the fights *might* expand the fan base, but it would cost them some of their current fans, so they do nothing.

[sashal]

is this the story of the same importance as the AG lies? Or torture memos?
I don't think that Olbermann should waste time on the fake controversy about McHenry words

[Jane]

Ahhhh the AG lies, and double ahhhhh the tortue memos. Olbermann has much bigger mendacities to push.

[Jane]

sheesh "torture" - now my r is missing.

[SteveMG]

is this the story of the same importance as the AG lies? Or torture memos?

Whenever Olbermann's mendacities and tendentious journalism are noted, the excuse by his apologists is always, "What about Bush's lies?! Cheney's a Nazi!!!"

Mr. Olbermann has regularly called the Bush Administration a fascist regime, has repeatedly called for Bush and Cheney's impeachment and removal from office and has called the Republican Party the greatest terrorist group in America.

For some folks, apparently it's never enough.

[MayBee]

is this the story of the same importance as the AG lies?

I also love the way his apologists use his ginned-up controversies to judge importance of other controversies.

[Jane]

I'm sure she will be willing to link to all those lies.

[Topsecretk9]

This one is a beauty though. I mean Think Progress has burned it's cult member 2ce big-time in like 2 weeks and Hamsher is creating transcripts to reflect her unhealthy obsessive hate of Joe Libermann to which a few bloggers got burned.

It's all pretty funny that they're resorting to "I know I am but what are you?"

[Topsecretk9]

Narciso said yesterday that Oblermann retracted something - I know he's had to a few times now, did he retract something big recently?

[GMax]

Think lefties are regretting that Townhouse memo getting out awhile back? Cuz now when it circulates a lie within Nanoseconds, it obvious how it happened. Its not a bug its a feature!

[Rick Ballard]

Tops,

Do you think it's reflexive reaction to the level of tarnish showing up on BHO? I'm trying to remember if something similiar happened when the reality of the results of the great Nedathon of '06 began sinking in. Aside from Lieberman in blackface.

If it's already 'Panic in Prog Park' in April, what's August gonna be like with "BHO down 26" in the headlines?

[SteveMG]

Apparently, Hillary gets her research staff from ex-MSNBC workers (another one).

Or is it the other way around?

'Though to be fair, all campaigns like to repeat stories like this all the time. Too good to check out.

I know, I know, being fair to Sen. Clinton? Like she'd reciprocate if this had been Obama or McCain?

[Mike G in Corvallis]

If it's already 'Panic in Prog Park' in April, what's August gonna be like with "BHO down 26" in the headlines?

If Obama doesn't do well, then the media will point out -- over and over again -- that this is absolute proof that America is irredeemably racist. After all, what other possible reason could there be to not vote for Obama?

[Cecelia]

Olbermann has no difficulty apologizing for mistakes.

Just ask Don Imus and David Shuster.

For THEIR mistakes, Olbermann issued apologies so portentous and dramatic that Imus and Shuster seemed to have no other recourse but to throw themselves into Kilauea.

When he bothers to acknowledge his own screw-ups he just jokingly names himself Worst Person In The World.

Now there is something he's right about...

[SteveMG]

Now there is something he's right about...

He's just a flat out poor journalist. Forget about ideology or politics; just look at his reporting substantively.

He writes very well and is quick witted and funny. But he relies on those skills at the expense of solid journalism. His reporting is, frankly, sloppy and lazy and poor.

He's a lousy interviewer who doesn't listen to the responses by his guests. He doesn't do any original reporting and he doesn't verify his sources or his stories.

That's lousy journalism. Full stop.

[Cecelia]

"He doesn't do any original reporting and he doesn't verify his sources or his stories."

Well, those activities would cut into Olbermann's All the President's Men fantasy time, wherein he plays both Woodward and Bernstein, as well as John Dean and Deep Throat...

[Danube of Thought]

He's getting far more attention than he deserves, here and elsewhere.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I don't think that Olbermann should waste time on the fake controversy about McHenry words.

Isn't it a little late to make that suggestion, Sasha?

[Danube of Thought]

The Danube flows far, far off course:

"Presidential candidate John Edwards is caught up in a love child scandal, a blockbuster ENQUIRER investigation has discovered.

"The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively that Rielle Hunter, a woman linked to Edwards in a cheating scandal earlier this year, is more than six months pregnant — and she's told a close confidante that Edwards is the father of her baby!

"The ENQUIRER's political bombshell comes just weeks after Edwards emphatically denied having an affair with Rielle, who formerly worked on his campaign and told another close pal that she was romantically involved with the married ex-senator.

"The ENQUIRER has now confirmed not only that Rielle is expecting, but that she's gone into hiding with the help of a former aide to Edwards. The visibly pregnant blonde has relocated from the New York area to Chapel Hill, N.C., where she is living in an upscale gated community near political operative Andrew Young, who's been extremely close to Edwards for years and was a key official in his presidential campaign."

[centralcal]

Gosh, Danube, that news is pretty old - I think she must have had the baby by now. Ya think they will do a DNA test to see who the daddy is? Someone opined that is one of the reasons why Edwards hasn't endorsed anyone. Nobody wants his endorsement, just in case.

[Tom Maguire]

Geez, Danube, lovely to have you stop by - any Super Bowl picks?

[Topsecretk9]

Posted by: Rick Ballard | April 05, 2008 at 01:54 PM

Rick

That's an interesting thought - I kinda thought it, but didn't put 2 and 2 together. They are definitely antsy and shooting from the hip alright.

[Jane]

Ouch TM!

[hit and run]

Besides, if you want the latest Edwards news (not his I won't be VP news), you have to go you know where.

[clarice]

IIRC Danube aka OT dared to take a few weeks off for a vacation as that hot news about Edwards popped. Kaus follows it the most closely because he obviously thinks there's something to it.

[RW]

Come on, Tom. It's a private contractor. No need to be accurate on a story about such folks. I mean...."screw them", right?

[MayBee]

IIRC Danube aka OT dared to take a few weeks off for a vacation as that hot news about Edwards popped. Kaus follows it the most closely because he obviously thinks there's something to it.

FWIW, my mother in law who is the Demmiest Dem in the whole Dem world believes its true. And I know she didn't get the story from any right-wing source, because she doesn't listen to any.

[daveinboca]

clarice is right about the tiny band of Odorboy's eyeballs mud-wrestling the faithful Gush Emunim of 60 Minutes.

The Disney Channel is more relevant and truthful than either shows. And who does Maddow's hair-and-makeup? Oops, forgot she's from Canada---love to see the swatches under those armpits!!!

[JJ]

The change that this show again marks, I think, is what has been happening for a long time in journalism and that it is the beginning of full-blown advocacy journalism.

I don't have the cites/sites but even the journalists themselves want to be "more directly in the picture" -- as if that's possible.

Advocacy journalism will blur the line between solid facts and bogus ones so the question naturally comes up, is it dangerous or dumb for journalists to go this way? To me, it's dumb. Totally.

Easy to pull down and great opportunity for bloggers to have a go.

The sad part obviously is that editorial comment, facts, and pure tabloid -- tabloid, like MSNBC has become -- get mashed up together and it becomes hard to put all the pieces of an account together. But c'est la vie.

[JJ]

BTW, go ballons!

[JJ]

Or, Go Balloons!

[olbycakes]

this shit is over my head; at least when just skimming over it. whats the deal, olby and or maddow were inaccurate with their propaganda?. a bigshot was barred from gym entrance? olby failed to correct his network? im lost.

[Danube of Thought]

Christ, did I blow this one or what?

I do recall when the story broke about Edwards's sweetie. But I never heard about the preggo part, and thought I was picking off a brand-new hot one from the Enquirer. Kaus made me do it!

Tough room, man...

[Philip]

This is great reading! This blog (http://mchenryrocks.blogspot.com/2008/04/sigmon-has-no-problem-lying-and.html) should be linking to you!

[Ken Hahn]

As a long term resident of Southern California, I can remember the high point of Olbermann's career. It was when he was a third rate sportscaster on a second rate local news broadcast. It's been all downhill from there.

[battery]

As a long term resident of Southern California, I can remember the high point of Olbermann's career. It was when he was a third rate sportscaster on a second rate local news broadcast. It's been all downhill from there.

[battery]

So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?

[sophy]

I will thank for my friends bringing me in this world. I am not regret to buy flyff penya .