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July 23, 2006
What Desperate People Do When They're Irrelevant

Keith Olbermann keeps solidifying his position as most overblown twerp on television. At a critic's breakfast yesterday, Olbermann fired off a Nazi salute while impersonating the man who trounces him in the ratings:

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann used a Saturday morning breakfast session at the Television Critics Association press tour to fire yet another shot at Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, holding up an O’Reilly mask while raising his right arm in a Nazi salute to mock his on-air rival.

“It’s just so much fun,” said the host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann when questioned about why he pursues his on-air rivalry with O’Reilly.

I have never been an O'Reilly fan from the early days of "Inside Edition" to his current rise to the top at Fox. In my opinion, his show often displays all of the characteristics of how television makes politics unpleasant. It doesn't get as bad as the old "Crossfire" show before Jon Stewart's on-air ridicule rightly killed it, but the crosstalk and personal venom at times gets too tiresome. I almost never watch it unless someone I know will be appearing.

However, O'Reilly at least has talent and intelligence, even if I don't care for his style. Olbermann has been insufferable since his days at KNBC in Los Angeles as a sportscaster. His pretentious pontificating and snarky delivery appealed to the same crowd that loves Jim Rome (before Jim Everett knocked Rome on his ass for calling him "Chrissy"), and apparently share the same intellect- and taste-free approach to television. Olbermann's schtick was bad enough at ESPN, but since his transformation into a political reporter, viewers have finally discovered that his ego far outweighs his intellect -- and have left MS-NBC in droves.

This latest stunt demonstrates once more why ESPN improved by subtraction when he left in an apparent huff. Olbermann may think that calling people Nazis makes him hip and relevant, but all it proves is that (a) Olbermann has no clue about real Nazis, (b) Olbermann doesn't give a damn about anybody but himself, and (c) Olbermann can't compete fairly with O'Reilly and has to resort to tasteless stunts like this to get attention.

He's an aging frat-boy with a failing GPA, and it's getting worse all the time. (via Polipundit)

UPDATE: More at Olbermann Watch. Be sure to read through the comments, too.

One correction: O'Reilly's show was "Inside Edition", not "A Current Affair", which was its main competition. However, Olbermann was a sportscaster on KNBC, not KTLA.

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at July 23, 2006 8:01 PM

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