Given the recent behavior of your network regarding inappropriate remarks, I don’t expect that this latest stupid comment will get you much more than a slap on the hand. But I think we all have to examine it in order to understand what it is you actually meant. So, let’s review the tape, shall we?
Ok, so I interpret your statement to mean that you would like a superdelegate to take Hillary Clinton into a room and somehow intimidate her, you don’t specify how, to drop out of the race and that at the end of this process, only one of them, preferably the superdelegate, would emerge.
I find his scenario to be unrealistic. It is much more likely that the superdelegate would find himself won over by Senator Clinton’s intelligence, professionalism and energy. But the question that remains unasked is why would she not be able to come out of that room on her own in *your* scenario? I think the implication is clear here. What is implied is that the superdelegate would work her over physically until she yielded. The result of the beating would leave her incapacitated to exit the room of her own volition. And you are probably going to claim that you were making a reference to some movie on organized crime or corrupt police or something like that, where the subject of the implied brutality is a character that no one likes and who probably deserves what’s coming to them.
Indeed, you may feel like Hillary Clinton is a character that no one likes and who deserves what is coming to her. I assure you that you are incorrect. Many of us like and admire her. But what you said ignores some pretty harsh realities. You may have been on the delivery end of those realities and have one perspective while many of us have been on the receiving end and have quite a different understanding.
It is never a joking matter when a man takes a woman into a room to physically assault her in an attempt to get her to comply to some demand. Those of us who have actually been through the process find your thoughtless remark incredibly damaging to the years of progress we have made in preventing domestic violence, rape, sexual harrassment and other gender related offenses.
But nevermind. You are just a commentator, someone who millions of people listen to and possibly use as an excuse to give into their baser instincts. What you aren’t is a leader. Barack Obama is a leader or is aspiring to be one. And now is the time for him to step up to the plate and both reject and denounce your offensive and socially unacceptable comment. It is time he defend the rights of his wife and daughters and his future female constituents to live and work in peace and safety without fear of intimidation or harrassment. It is time for Obama to condemn this comment and request that you be reprimanded and be forced to apologize to Senator Clinton and the women of this country. It is time for Obama to say that he will not tolerate violence or discrimination in his administration.
We would expect no less from a president.
One more thing: I appreciate the fact that you are willing to take action against MSNBC. But that is not where our leverage is. MSNBC is in business to make a profit. Keith, Tweety and Shuster wouldn’t get away with this crap if it didn’t result in higher profits from increased viewing from their male audience. So, the more you direct your ire against MSNBC, the more likely they are to continue to act out because it gets the MAXIM set all stirred up.
No, you want to direct your attention to Dean and especially Obama because they are doing nothing while a respected member of their party is being trashed. Either they consider us equal partners or they don’t. It is now time to find out where Obama stands on the issue. He either leads and sticks up for her or he’s nothing but an opportunistic politician who is comfortable treating his potential female constituents like suckers.
Which is it? Why don’t we ask him?
Here’s the contact info for Obama:
To reach the Campaign Headquarters by phone, please call: (866) 675-2008
You can contact us by mail at:
Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680
Here is the contact info for the DNC:
Mailing Address:
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Main Phone Number:
202-863-8000
Filed under: Gender Equity, Hillary Clinton, Media, Presidential Election 2008 | Tagged: Keith Olbermann, superdelegate in a room |
The Confluence 
Thanks, for highlighting it. I was really disturbed by that statement. Conjured up some horrible images for me. I still can’t believe he said that without knowing what it implies.
Has sexisim reached such a level that now one can talk freely about violence to women without any fear of retribution. Incidentally KO also talked about retribution wrt Hillary’s win.
OMG. I can’t believe he said that. These people have taken leave of their senses in their blind hatred of Hillary. Thanks for calling attention to this. I never watch MSNBC anymore, and this is just a reminder of why I will never watch them again.
I would hold out hope for Obama. Men have wives, daughters, sisters all the time and still don’t care about “women’s issues” or understand how their actions contribute to violence. Obama himself used a very hegemonic, misogynistic set of gestures the other day. If he had been thinking of his wife or daughters, he might have said, “I would not want anyone showing them that sort of disrespect.” But if he thought it, it didn’t stop him. I won’t watch MSNBC because of this very thing.
I’ll be surprised if anything is done about this. If Keith is suspended, you know many people will say that we overreacted. But can you imagine Charlie Gibson or George S. saying that about Obama? Obamabots including Keith Olbermann would compare it to lynching and someone would be fired. This is sexism pure and simple and it reminds me of a lot of stories and cases I’ve read about domestic violence, rape, and general violence against women. Women are often not taken seriously by the authorities, their attackers get away with the crime, and women are told that they’ve overreacted to any signs of abuse until they are dead. That’s what I see in this campaign. Many will say that we are overreacting (many men have told me that about certain things Obama has said about Hillary like her claws and moodswings) but we know we feel something by these words. Either disturbed or offended or disgusted but the feeling is there and those feelings for the most part are being ignored. This is why Obama will have problems courting older women if he is the nominee.
anybody have emails or phone numbers to protest? I heard the same comment and also thought to myself, what exactly does he mean? I found it rather disturbing.
He said WHAT?!!!
That is ENOUGH!!!
First they spewed months of hate, Rovian tactics, and sexism to smear her.
When this didn’t work and her support stayed broad and strong, they angrily stepped up desperate efforts to bully us into submission.
Now an NBC commentator urges violence against the first major female candidate for President to force her, and us, out of a legitimate race.
I am TIRED of the male-dominated media and blogs (and their cowed, female enablers) trying to BULLY, INTIMIDATE and FRIGHTEN us.
I’ve had ENOUGH!!! I will write letters all the rest of this week. I will hit the campaign road, I WILL NOT LET THEM SILENCE ME.
*Sigh*
That is mild compared to what I typically hear from male supporters of Obama–in person. Rape, for one, is casually used as an “ideal” way to “take care of” Sen. Clinton. These men proclaim themselves to be “progressive” and supposedly hate her for her “warmongering” (a false charge in itself) but their fondness for a hate/war crime is undeniably evil. And common.
As a young man myself I’m not remotely surprised. Women underestimate the level of visceral anti-female hate amongst most men. And with the media and blogger boyz openly inciting and celebrating anti-female hate, it has only emboldened them.
I don’t care if I offend any Obama supporters: I have no idea how any woman in her right mind supports his candidacy. Even without his exploitation of misogynistic (and homophobic) bigotry, the man is an empty suit whose core belief–the only one he’ll go to the mat for–is himself.
I was offended. Here’s something weird though: I actually thought the comment about “retribution” was somehow more upsetting, even though I took his “two go into the room and only one comes out” as meaning – well, offed. But, of course his supporters will find some meaning that isn’t horrible, and they will say it means that. But the word “retribution” disturbed me because it says Clinton has committed crimes, needs to be punished – to me, it sounds like strong language. “Retribution” is where you’ve done something evil. Just using the word is an accusation.
Weird and odd – what does she stand accused of? Ironic: being the cause of the campaign’s negativity. Even more ironic: he keeps repeating the words “mean and vacuous”.
Riverdaughter, wasn’t Obama talking about “elbows” in a way that made everyone nod? I wouldn’t expect him to notice the aggression in KO’s statement.
These things happen against Hillary and (I guess) we’re just supposed to understand that it’s a joke (how?) Ezra Klein left an actual death threat against her (someone threatening a bullet to her brain) in his comments. Left it even after I emailed him and pointed it out in the comments. It’s probably still there. ‘Cause it was just that funny, I guess. I haven’t been back.
As for KO, he’s a pig on just about every level and a liar. He was on Letterman last night explaining how utterly impossible it is for Hillary to win. Letterman, who’s had both Clinton’s on numerous times just let him ramble. And the audience never made a peep.
I think MoDo’s article gave them the liberty to speak out so dreadfully against Hillary. MoDo verbally manhandled Hillary in her article and one could feel the vehemence in her last sentences when she declared she wanted Hillary to just Go.
This must have encouraged sexist people like KO to repeat the same in their manly and macho way.
I feel so helpless today.
Kbird: It is time for Obama to show his quality. If he doesn’t hold Keith accountable and both reject and denounce this statement, then he is complicit to an attitude of gender inequity because it is politically expedient. He will have shown himself to be no leader and I for one will feel no compunction to vote for him. I was conflicted before. I didn’t know what I was going to do. But I assure you that if Obama doesn’t come down on the right side of this and do it sincerely (and we will know), I will feel absolutely no guilt about leaving the presidential selection button alone in November.
He has to step up and get control of this or he’s no leader.
KB: Don’t you just hate that “Clinton can’t win!” lie? God, does anyone know if Clinton undermined that myth during her morning news show rounds yesterday? I stopped watching the TV “news” back in late January, right around NH.
Olbermann knows he’s flat-out lying, obsessing that somehow leading in pledged delegates are the end all and be all which just isn’t true. Especially since they’re somewhat arbitrary (i.e. not expression of the popular will).
I wish someone would ask him, “If Clinton can’t win, why are you so paranoid about her?”
Alanis: You are not helpless. Your vote makes you powerful. Tell Obama and Dean you intend to withhold it if Obama doesn’t reject and denounce the statement.
I think people often make the excuse that it isn’t sexism but it’s just Hillary as if she’s the one exception who shouldn’t be counted as a woman. It makes no sense really but they don’t realize that no one would say that about someone who belongs to a minority group. If a liberal said something racist about Condi Rice it is still racist. It doesn’t matter whether we like her or blame it on the fact that she is separate from black people because she is a conservative. I am so sick of this. Hillary is a woman and most women in this country support her. When someone insults her in a sexist way, by extension it is an insult to all women but the women who support her in particular who seem to be the only ones who sees the sexism in this election. Davidson, I agree with you. When I go to some “feminists” sites like Feministing.com which is run by young women my age, I become absolutely outraged. One of their contributors there actually wrote a big “F*CK YOU” to Geraldine Ferraro. It is obvious most of the young women on there support Obama but their passion for Obama has for the most part blinded them to the daily sexism coming from both MSNBC as well as Obama and his surrogates. They report on the “racism” in the Clinton campaign which the Obama campaign invented more than the sexism which is much more prevelant in this election. Aargh.
Hi: I found three interesting things in the Today show this morning.
1) My wife and I laughed at the way they had characterized the constituencies of each Dem candidate, Obama: younger, diverse and upscale. Clinton: older, women and working class. Who wants to be an older working class stiff when you can be a young diverse upscale one? heh, heh, heh,
I am not sure where NBC draws the line between “diverse” and not diverse. The same with working class. Wife and I are relatively well educated, are in our early forties, survive on a mediocre salary and live in a bi-cultural/ethnic household. I thought our family was quite diverse… jeeehsh, leave it to NBC, I guess we just will go eat some worms.
2) I thought it was interesting that Andrea Mitchell did not look like Morticia today…. she even gave us her plastic smile. Also Meredith (sp?) took Chuck-something (not sure about his name) to task when he was trying to dismiss Hillary’s voters and and her popular vote math. Meredith told him we should not discount anyone out. Chuck who normally thinks he is so cool, looked taken aback for a second.
Anne (sp?) also seems to be giving the Obamas a “hard” time, good for her….
….ummmhhhh, something is going on?
3) Finally 10 M in 24 hours, not bad!. Why won’t Hillary just die? NBC thinks/beliveds she should/will after NC (or is it PA, TX, OH, SuperTuesday, Iowa… I just cannot remember all of the many announced deaths of Hillary). Are they going to use electrodes in body parts when the super-duper-delegates go into the room with Hillary to explain to her why she should quit?
OK, this is it from this “older working class woMAN”. tonight I will “wish upon a star” so tomorrow I will be reborn younger, diverse and upscale…. thank you NBC for showing me the way…..
Word!
Thank you for saying it so clearly Riverdaughter. The fear and hatred of women, particularly strong women like Hillary, coming to light now is just horrible.
UpstateNY, I thought Clinton had the most diverse supporters: working class whites, Latinos, Asians, women, Catholics, Jews, Italians…and Obama has the wealthiest liberals, AAs, and young people. Can you think of any other group he gets? I can’t.
Maybe add hypocritical extremists, crooked fund-raisers and terroist-has-beens?
We have to stop watching MSNBC AND NBC Nightly news with Brian Williams. If Brian loses viewers, they start to panic. Also, give up on the TODAY show. Hold them all responsible until they clean up their act.
What did Obamamann say about retribution? Does anyone know where I can hear what he said?
Alanis– you are not helpless. If we stick together, none of us is helpless. Look at what Riverdaughter has accomplished here in such a short time. She led the way and we found her blog. There are other women doing the same thing.
Hillary is strong as steel. And we are behind her. Women around this country are refusing to be told to shut up and wait our turn. I have faith in Hillary. The reason these women-hating men are getting so angry is because they are afraid. They are afraid of US. We are strong and we will win.
It is time for another MSNBC e-mail deluge just like the one demanding Tweety apologize for his ugly statements. Who does Keith Olbermann think he is by making demands of the superdelegates or insisting that Hillary get out? He is a commentator on a cable channel not a member of the DNC. The country is heading into an economic crisis what with gas reaching over 4.00 a gallon already in some places and the oil companies are reaping obscene profits and he is playing “fixer” in the delegate count? He is not even hiding his hatred and sexism any longer. It ‘s hanging out there for all to see! Do voters no longer count? Anyone objectively looking at the votes will note how close the numbers reflect the will of the people. Half and half indicates conflict. Women need to make themselves loudly heard as the choice of words do mean something. KO and his ilk are inflaming the dialogue and they need to know that it will not be tolerated.
@DV: Right. Feministing is a site my sister used to read, but she dropped it from her favorites list and regularly screams at the screen when reading the comments at another site, Feministe. Both are aimed at young women, but she, only 29 herself, believes that these women have totally internalized misogynistic bigotry (e.g., pop culture, pornification, etc.) and are lashing out at Clinton, hilariously believing that by not voting for her they’re proving themselves to be “true” feminists (assumption: only reason why a woman would vote for Clinton is gender since she has no other legitimate qualities or qualifications). I sadly agree. I’m Gloria Steinem compared to most young women I know.*
Oh, and with regards to Clinton’s voters: she also gets gays and lesbians. Seriously, her coalition is extraordinary. She’s the most progressive candidate left and yet conservative Democrats flock to her. Amazing.
*I blame our mother. She went to Wellesley!
I just want to add: when I wrote “these women” it was about young women in general.
I’ll stop hogging the thread now. Must get back to work.
Yes, I heard it, while I was busy doing other things, with Keith yammering on in the background. But, at that moment I stopped, and I actually looked at the screen to see if he showed any signs of snark.
No. Indeed, Keith’s expression showed he was serious–indignant in both tone and gesture–as if he knew he was crossing a line, but wanted to cross so bad that he could not stop himself.
He did cross the line. My initial response was surprise, shock and disgust; I remarked Olbermann should JUST GO AND VOLUNTEER FOR OBAMA, and skip the pretense of his current “day job.”
But, having worked with victims of Domestic Violence, I can say that yes, this is part and parcel of the violence syndrome, which is a cycle:
The first part of that cycle of violence is the language of violence–the demeaning, the deriding, the dismissing and the implicit threats.
Keith Olbermann should absolutely be forced to apologize for this remark, and I am writing to MSNBC to demand an apology. I hope others will join me:
viewerservices@msnbc
Pat: I appreciate the fact that you are willing to take action against MSNBC. But that is not where our leverage is. MSNBC is in business to make a profit. Keith Tweety and Shuster wouldn’t get away with this crap if it didn’t result in higher profits from increased viewing from their male audience. So, the more you direct your ire against MSNBC, the more likely they are to continue to act out because it gets the MAXIM set all stirred up.
No, you want to direct your attention to Dean and especially Obama because they are doing nothing while a respected member of their party is being trashed. Either they consider us equal partners or they don’t. It is now time to find out where Obama stands on the issue. He either leads and sticks up for her or he’s nothing but an opportunistic politician who is comfortable treating his potential female constituents like suckers.
Which is it? Why don’t we ask him?
UpstateNY said…
[quote] 1) My wife and I laughed at the way they had characterized the constituencies of each Dem candidate, Obama: younger, diverse and upscale. Clinton: older, women and working class. Who wants to be an older working class stiff when you can be a young diverse upscale one? heh, heh, heh, [/quote]
This is Axelrod’s meme being spread. This is direct from the Advertising Industry Iof which I’m a survivor/refugee). Obama is all marketing, all the time. Axelrod is his “Brand Manager”.
Riverdaughter: Provide me the links and I will bombard. Several of my friends are onboard with this as well. Let’s roll! We are not sure where to go online.
Hi– Sorry that it is off topic, but, any Interest Posting this short youtube clip?
GeekLove08
rd: I’m on it! Thanks.
The problem with complaining to NBC is that they will tap KO on the wrist. He will walk it back with a disbelief that he did anything wrong, but certainly didn’t mean for us stupid old women to be offended… with lips pursed into the typical kitty-butt expression and then the very next words out of his mouth will be just as bad but slightly more coded – maybe scratch his cheek with one finger?
I’m sick of MSNBC except Morning Joe these days and unless they are interviewing Hillary, I avoid them.
I did a double take when I heard the retribution thing too. When did we become the stalinist party that purges those whose ideology isn’t “pure” enough? Kos seems to be promoting the same meme with his “she’s not a real democrat” bs.
I take back my Stalin analogy. More like the Chinese cultural revolution. You know, all the kids ratting out their parents for not being “real” communists.
Even though I don’t for one second believe KO’s remarks were intended to imply “physical” persuasion, it is VERY CLEAR to me that the man (and his ‘band of brothers’ at MSNBC) hold Senator Clinton in such low regard — driven and fueled by such enmity — they approach their commentary of her with such carelessness, reckless abandon and lack of integrity.
I hope he doesn’t apologize. What would be the point? Guarantee ya, if the subject were BO or any FEMALE in his family Keith would exercise his commentary, and overall thought process, a lot more conscientiously. Alas, this is Hillary Clinton we’re talking about. I’ve forgotten that we’ve banned her from the human race, so, you know, with her: ALL BETS ARE OFF!
Barack was quick to moan and whine in calling on John McCain to not only denounce those recent 527 ads, but to ‘make ’em stop’ (whaaa!). We’ll see what he has to say about this one. As if I’m holding my breath.
Despicable, the lot of ’em!
I think the KO guy uses so many bad metaphors that he is no more than a sports comedian masquerading as a commentator in my opinion. He certaimnly would get a lousy grade in English for his twisted sentences and clumsy use of metaphors I have heard him ramble before.
Did he mean they would meet in a room and she would concede that she is going to drop out or they were going to en masse endorse Obama soon as superdelegates?
What exactly he meant I don’t know but that is what I thought he meant. Despite his stupidity, I certainly did not get my panties in a knot over it .
Perhaps if he said “that” I’d be upset. LOL
He’s obvioulsy is pro Obama but the comment itself found me personally unoffended.
even I stopped reading Feministing. I was actually shocked when I read one of the articles there in which they were feeling bad about Obama having had to give the speech on race while Hillary never has to justify her gender support. The issue of Wright was the reason Obama had to give the speech not because of any racial conflict per se.
And if Hillary had given any speech on gender everybody would have pounced on her as whining. Nobody (except maybe few of us) would have said it was historical yada yada.
edwardian: I’m having a hard time interpreting Keith’s remarks as meaning anything BUT physical intimidation. One of them walks out of the room. What is the other one doing? Does she stay in the room because she’s ashamed to come out? Is she knitting? What exactly goes on in the room that makes her stay there? I don’t think he meant that someone should do it literally. But that’s not a meaningless metaphor.
RD, I definitely see your viewpoint. But what I’m finding more “meaningless” is the man himself – K.O.
LeeAnn: I think you didn’t hear it right the first time. Listen to it again. He is saying a superdelegate should take her into a room and only one, a *he* should walk out of it. There’s no ambiguity there. I’m not getting my panties in a twist. There is a clear implication that some kind of coercion should be used to get Clinton to comply. It was a really lousy metaphor and I don’t think we should let anyone off the hook for it. Does Barack Obama concur and approve of this kind of dangerous language or not? I’m not worried about Clinton’s safety. She’s got plenty of Secret Service at her disposal. But what about the rest of us? Keith is pandering to macho man’s baser instincts. That’s not OK with me. Is it OK with Obama?
What’s interesting when you listen to the clip is the way KO emphasizes the word “he.” “Only HE comes out.”
edwardian: KO *is* meaningless. He’s not the one who is benefitting from the resurrection of all of the cave man attitudes. It is not socially acceptable for men to behave that way towards women but Obama is reaping the benefit of men who secretly desire to be at the top of the food chain when Keith, Tweety and Shuster shoot their mouths off like this. It’s like all of the southerners who voted for Republicans because they appealed to secret racist attitudes. So, does Barack think this kind of talk is OK, especially if it leads to increased violence against women in the future because suddenly, no one is going to be held accountable for it anymore? He has to take a stand.
plural: Yeah, he leaves no doubt about what he means. It was deliberate.
Please! I *LIVE* to witness President-Elect Hillary Clinton sworn into office. Just to see the commentary on MSNBC THAT day will be priceless! 🙂
riverdaughter,
The troubling thing to me is that they insist that Hillary has to quit instead of that Barack should just win. I grew up following politics and the way I learned about it–beginning with the 1960 race, is that politics is a tough business and you fight until one person wins and another loses. It’s not a system where someone gets ahead in “pledged delegates” at some point and the other candidate nicely steps aside. Delegates can be switched.
Anything can happen in politics. It’s not beanbag, as the old saying goes. If Obama is too much of a namby pamby to fight this out and accept the decision of all the voters, then he simply doesn’t deserve the nomination. And from what I can see, Obama is a very weak candidate who just doesn’t have what it takes–and that’s aside from the fact that he simply isn’t qualified for the job.
riverdaughter, you wrote:
“It is not socially acceptable for men to behave that way towards women but Obama is reaping the benefit of men who secretly desire to be at the top of the food chain when Keith, Tweety and Shuster shoot their mouths off like this. It’s like all of the southerners who voted for Republicans because they appealed to secret racist attitudes.”
Yes, you are exactly right. And it’s the same thing that happens with rape. Most men won’t actually commit the crime, but when they make excuses for rapists–like “she was asking for it,” “what was she doing in that neighborhood dressed like that,” and so on, they are enabling rape and other violence against women.
Anything can happen in politics. It’s not beanbag, as the old saying goes. If Obama is too much of a namby pamby to fight this out and accept the decision of all the voters, then he simply doesn’t deserve the nomination. And from what I can see, Obama is a very weak candidate who just doesn’t have what it takes–and that’s aside from the fact that he simply isn’t qualified for the job.
Hear, hear BB! Succinctly put.
Riverdaughter, I agree that complaining to MSNBC would be a huge waste of time. Clearly KO wants to be Tony Snow (TV hack who scores juicy White House job) when he grows up.
Like everything else in this primary season, anything less than fawning adulation for Obama has to get traction through the Internet. I, for one, will be emailing and posting a link to this blog to every site I read. I will also do the same to right wing media sites and other MSM sites. I think the only chance of this getting any coverage (as well as results from MSNBC or NBC) is to have a major media entity run with it.
I hope other conflucians will do the same. I’m kinda low-tech but this could become what they call a “blogswarm”???
you mean leahy , Dean or Gore, is going to kill her?
I’m confused. Is the the coercion implication (which is where I was thinking) or gender (which did not seem his point but I guess others can)?
I guess its straining at seeing the real problem with this entertainment news guy on this one other than his overt Obama support. He seems less gender biased than the rest of em in my opinion but I confess that’s a comparison to tweety and Buchannan who troll the same channel.
I mean I heard Pat B say something like …”she had that voice I’m sure every husband has heard…”
Tweey fearing backlash warned Pat B that he was getting into a bad area. LOL At least he learns a little. LOL
But on this one …is it gender? “He” is going to emerge? I guess I just heard the point and missed the “he.”
Would it have been better if he said she? Wouldn’t we have thought it was Clinton emerging or assumed Pelosi? Seemed a simple non confusing pronoun to me.
Or would it have been better if he said only the superdelegate would emerge it the metaphor was Pelsoi so we were not confused..
Assuming he was metphorically talking obout Dean or Gore it would be he. I suppose it could be Pelosi though not metahporically since he said he.
Unlike Tweety, KO will be fine IF Clinton wins the nomination. He’s the most DEM advocate media out there. But Obvioulsy hes an Obama man. AT least if Clinton is the nominee KO will abandon “he man woman hating” for his utter disdain for the GOP.
just my opinion
Yes, use a noun instead of the emphasized pronoun.
At any rate, it’s notable that KO assumes the “super super super delegate” would have to be male.
What is a “super super super delegate” anyway? And why would that person have more power over Hillary than, say, a “super super delegate”? She’s Hillary — 15 million people have voted for her.
But I still think the Richard Mellon Scaife example is operative: whoever it is would come out with her and endorse her.
[…] Keith [Olbermann], what are we talking about here exactly? (by riverdaughter at The Confluence) Given the recent behavior of your network regarding inappropriate remarks, I don’t expect that this latest stupid comment will get you much more than a slap on the hand. But I think we all have to examine it in order to understand what it is you actually meant… I interpret your statement to mean that you would like a superdelegate to take Hillary Clinton into a room and somehow intimidate her, you don’t specify how, to drop out of the race and that at the end of this process, only one of them, preferably the superdelegate, would emerge. I find [t]his scenario to be unrealistic. It is much more likely that the superdelegate would find himself won over by Senator Clinton’s intelligence, professionalism and energy. But the question that remains unasked is why would she not be able to come out of that room on her own in *your* scenario? […]
[…] LINK TO THE FULL STORY HERE: OLBERMANN WANTS HILLARY BEAT UP […]
This is such a shocking statement by KO I wish I hadn’t heard it.
I stopped watching Countdown and when I hear him say stuff like this about Hillary it has the appropriate effect . This fellow seems to have lost it completely. Finemann? Always disliked him immensely.
ITA w. riverdaughter. Don’t bother writing to NBC or Countdown etc. I used to complain about tweety et al during the biased 2004 campaign coverage but I learned my lesson as well.
I am not sure if writing to the Obama campaign is helpful. I wouldn’t do it myself. But the DNC? Definitely.
I dont watch the creep so i dont know if this is just noraml speech for him, BUT
that was violent speech.
I dint think I could be suprised by the depths of the msnbc trough.
I’ve stopped watching CNN & MSNBC, and that’s the best thing we can do. Turn them off. These networks are driven by ratings, and if the rating go down, ad revenue goes down. Those revenues are the bottom line to the management of these outfits.
Lucinda – I just read advice from a woman who said that going into the recession women should turn off the tv and concerntrate on working hard and well (if you have an employer) and covering themselves. TV will only mess with your head and keep you from doing what you need to do.
I CANNOT believe my ears. Keith, you are more than a slimeball, you are REPULSIVE! How dare you suggest that it’s appropriate to physically or in any other way attack a another human being, let alone the first female candidate for president. You have truly degraded YOURSELF.
Big Tent Democrat over at Talk Left believes David Shuster should be fired. Finally, an Obama supporter who makes sense:
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/4/24/202946/735
You should see Ang’s newest post.
http://anglachelg.blogspot.com/2008/04/olberman-calls-for-clintons-murder.html
He doesn’t have to say the words, just describe obliquely the outcome he desires.
These last few weeks have filled me with fear for Hillary’s safety.
[…] Olberman is certainly ridiculous. But check this out: […]
My first thought was he couldn’t have meant it. Then I remembered something a friend said to me recently about being tired of that excuse and not believing these guys could possibly be so “innocent”. This was either a Freudian slip, which betrays his unconscious misogyny, or this is just what he thinks and wants and doesn’t mind saying it without noticing the clearly violent suggestion. AAAAAAaaaaaagghhhhhh!!!!!
Back in 2006, KO received an envelope of white powder and freaked out about it on his show. He made a big stink about the NY Post’s ridiculing the threat and interfering with a federal investigation.
He’s another of those wimpish bullies who can dish it out, but can’t take it.
If anyone does not find that his words say he wants Hillary Clinton murdered, then just watch his body language in the clip.
I wonder what would have happened if the current situation were reversed with Obama behind in the count, and Olbermann had deployed the metaphor that Obama, an African-American, be taken into the room and not come out. Actually, I don’t wonder at all. It would have been a shitstorm. And rightly so. But in this campaign sexist remarks, even some of the most blatant, are soft-pedaled or ignored.
Anyone remember the phrase “banana Republic” election way back when Bush was not elected? Anyone recall how no facts were presented nor questions asked by our media while the present administration ravished our constitution, DOJ, and every social department created?
What would make this banana republic/no rules media change? It isn’t just the males spewing sexism, misinformation – it is all of them. Why do they do it? Money and “power”. My only question is, why watch them? It has been sickening to me since I started watching them back in 1999 – I had never had the time to before that. I felt violated back then – I can’t begin to tell how I feel now. We have no professional jounalist – only people trying to make money without any thought of honor or integrity.
KO is an opportunistic sportscaster who is basically a bully and a jerk. Why watch him or any of the others? KO is a good example of what no one needs because he is blantant. Can anyone here remember when it would be unthinkable for a Presidential candidate to have a rapid “spiritual guide” (20 years) denouncing this country, humping a podium while castigating a two term Democatic president who caused this country to enjoy 8 years of relative prosperity and peace, let alone TRY to spin his hateful words into something 80% of the rest of the country made him say and was really true? Jeesh,
I write, call and email. It does not seem to help except to vent – which I do need. But, in the mean time, the people who are honorable, who are capable, are being vilifiled. And a fly weight sportscaster is demanding that a qualified Dem candidate be taken to the wood shed? Bleh, it’s all so insane.
I want to thank Riverdaughter for this site and so many great posters. We can actually say what is on our minds and reason it out. I also want to thank her for her hands on participation in the PA primary, Really made a difference to me to hear what was happening on the ground.
The media is all hype and no substance. I no longer wish to have the worst government money can buy brought to you by the worst media wanting more money. How do we explain this to our children?
Jeralyn who I like a lot and have respected on TV for years mentioned Riverdaughter in her own “Olbermann” thread and linked to a quote from her:
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/4/25/132751/725
thanks goodness for sites like talkleft and Confluence 🙂
This post and comments remind me of the Kelly Tilghman/Tiger Woods dustup a few months back.
Nobody seriously believed she REALLY meant he should be lynched, and jocks tried to explain it away by saying this is just locker room talk.
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9536492
Click.
Here’s the email I sent to letters@msnbc.com
Dear Editor,
One of Keith Olbermann’s recent discussions with Howard Fineman included a statement about the need for a superdelegate to “take [Clinton] into a room and only he comes out.”
Unfortunately the statement was a bit ambiguous. I am not sure whether Keith meant that Hillary should be murdered by this male superdelegate or just beaten badly enough for temporary or permanent paralysis.
Would you please ask Mr. Olbermann to disambiguate the point he was making via tonight’s show, so I can fully understand the intention of his desire for violence against the Senator from New York and legitimate candidate for President of the United States.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
A concerned Clinton supporter and once loyal fan of the dubious Mr. Olbermann.
Written before I realized the room comment
was appalling:
—- Original Message —–
From: jeannekhan1@earthlink.net
To: letters@msnbc.com
Cc: countdown; Joe@MSNBC.com; abrams; verdict; crose; hardball
Sent: 4/24/2008 9:27:57 AM
Subject: a letter to Keith from two long time viewers
Dear Keith,
Your performance yesterday suggested imminent apoplexy from anger
that Hillary survives the concerted onslaught of every fellow in the GE
network plus Rachel. Your annoyance is palpable, Keith. We who
have hung on your every word for years barely recognize the incoherent
entity you are becoming. Get a grip, man! Hillary’s laugh pre-Scaife
query had us all laughing while you looked like Dana Perino handling
the Bay of Pigs question. You decided her laugh was a tic and we
viewers knew you barely had a clue about how wry the response given
the years of flagellation by those who would destroy her. That she dare
follow through and earn their grudging respect appalled you. But it
happens, Keith. Keeping enemies closer than friends is an old saw you
surely recognize? Your odd chortling about electability suggests you
may be well served by conferring with Mathews who would explain it.
Even Mathews is no dummy and has noticed his nightly barrage is not
as productive as many planned whose mission is to denigrate her ad
nauseam. Many of us prefer Obama become a minister or replace
Tony Robbins with his rouse-crowd notes gleaned from Gov. Patrick
of Massachusetts, my home state, where he is failing at governing,
despite being a clever speaker. We who are not believers and will
not miss Bush/Cheney see Hillary as competent and connected to
those who value ability without regard to gender. Many people see
her tenacity as the embodiment of the audacity of hope, the actualization
of the will to survive and to be useful as a public servant on many levels.
My beloved spouse who is appalled by Obama’s comments about Hillary
is more shocked by yours and that of your cohorts within the GE family.
I explained the Exelon contract with GE to him, to help him see that all
your jobs and GE’s profits depend on securing those taxpayer-funded
contracts for nuclear reactors which Obama agreed to with Exelon’s
seed money long before the December 11, 2007 agreement with GE.
I told David that Hillary said no to such waste and that put her on the
list to be wiped out while Obama will be raised to a messiah via media.
This venture precedes the declining GE profits and Obama’s winning
will correct that condition. Nudding personal; it’s only business, but to
see Howard Fineman, Dick Wolfe, to name a few beyond the Newsweek
and The Washington Post’s clique committed to Obama is embarrassing
to viewers who know what you all are up against as we sympathize with
you. But your take on Hillary is being blinded by a kind of rage that is
unbecoming because it clouds your usually sharp judgement about who
is competent despite her being a woman. You need to take a breather,
Keith and notice how automatic your behaviors have become of late.
While Mathews is finally wising up and catching up to savvy Joe, you
seem to be going further afield and growing more confused and hateful.
Hillary is not your enemy, nor are the statements you hear incorrectly
because you are blinded by a bias fueled by Gene, Jonathan et al. She
is doing the best she can with what she has and many of us want her
to preside and win more consensus for saving our beloved country from
the certain ruin it faces in the near future. We do not need a minister to
lead us to a promised land. We need a street savvy broad with a keen
sense of humor who understands how to navigate through the next storms.
Please Keith, read more, think harder and stop listening to corporate orders.
Notice Hillary is the one we have been waiting for, the able and willing leader.
Jeanne and David who almost bought Howard’s book until we heard him
yesterday and then again on The Colbert Report–he drank the Obama-aid?
Yo: Seriously, I think you’re right about that.
This election has been ROUGH for her and she’s handled it.
She could handle one little superdelegate.
For everyone who supports Hillary, may I simply share with you a letter I wrote to her two years ago — all of which holds true today and perhaps will shine some light on your increasingly blind backing of this woman (and yes, I am a woman of “a certain age”):
May 10, 2006
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Clinton:
As a lifelong Democrat who worked on both of your husband’s campaigns, I am perplexed and dismayed by your continuing moves to the right, most particularly your new cozy relationship with, of all people, Rupert Murdoch.
Do you really believe that you are going to win over Republican voters? Why don’t you try to win over the middle-of-the-roaders who lean more liberally but don’t usually vote? Furthermore, can you possibly be so overconfident as to think that the Democratic base will simply go along with these moves?
While you may state publicly that you are not a presidential candidate for 2008, everyone is aware of your intentions. If you continue to listen to your consultants who are pulling you to the right, you are sure to lose yet another presidency for us. Isn’t it time you take a stand and quit trying to straddle the fence?
Let me state here that if you should win the Democratic nomination in 2008, I for one will vote for a third-party candidate for the first time in my life. How very sad for you, and how very sad for our party.
Disappointed,
Keith comes out of sports. You use tons of sayings in sports that would be sexist. “You throw like a girl!” etc.
But he didn’t use any sexist language and if he had been talking about Obama not coming out of a room,
he would be called racist. No way to explain except that its politics.
The thing is: He never said she should be beaten, or anything like it. Those with “logical conclusions” are the ones creating a story.
Let’s hold them accountable for creating the story of which Keith had no part.
There is no lower action than refusing to acknowledge defeat. When Sen Hillary won in Pennsyvania, Keith did not have the gumption to accept it ( it was less than 10 % etc). He has no class. Of course he would think that beating Hillary is funny, cute. This is the same character that has no character (check out websites about his social life).
The metaphor in this case doesn’t come from sports, let’s be real. I watch enough Sportscenter myself to know better than that. If you want to talk sports metaphors go back to the fall with Obama mentioning alleged unwillingness to “kneecap” the frontrunner and not being afraid to throw elbows. OK, I get it.
In what sport exactly does someone take their opponent into a room and only one comes out? I mean, besides maybe cutting a WWE promo?
Wow! You can’t seriously believe that KO really wants or believes that anyone should beat, physically, Senator Clinton? Right?
You’d have to be delusional to believe that he’s advocating physically hurting Senator Clinton. This sounds like an O’Reilly/Hannity hissy fit about what someone said and and misconstruing it into what you think they said. Now, I know what you perceive is your reality, but we are sentient beings aren’t we? We have the ability to reevaluate what we perceive and check it with what is most likely, i.e. only lunatics call for the physical/emotional pummeling of another human being. So take your anger and take a deep breath and remember there are huge problems out there, wouldn’t you be better served taking all that outrage and calling for action where it might really count. Oh, and by the way last I heard the Democratic nomination system is determined by delegate count, whoever that might be. Grow up and deal with it!
Olberman has become as bad as Oreily. Imagine if someone on Fox news said the same thing about Obama? The election coverage is out of control. And Olberman calls Fox unbalanced? I expected it from Fox, but Olberman and Matthews are ethically bankrupt as so called “news people.” I used to be a fan, but I cannot even stand to watch those guys anymore.
followup: A Presidential candidate is protected by the Secret Service. Maybe they need to take Olberman to task for that statement.
Tammy,
What do you think Olbermann meant? A man takes a woman into a room and only he comes out. What happened in there? What’s to interpret? She can’t leave the room. Why?
If you are talking about the votes in Michigan, that was a certified election. Now, I totally get that the Democratic party is very ambivalent about allowing voters to vote this year. And some people prefer the candidate who didn’t have enough respect for them to let his name even appear on the ballot in MI. He took what I think is an unprecedented step for a major candidate of removing his name from the primary ballot of a major state.
Obama wasn’t on the ballot in MI. Hillary wasn’t actually the only candidate on that ballot. And there was the option for voting uncommitted.
But, I’ll tell you what amazes me about Obama supporters. You are unwavering in your resentment that Hillary was on the ballot in MI. I was an Edwards supporter and I thought it was a HUGE mistake that he took his name off the ballot.
HIS mistake. OBAMA’s mistake.
If voters couldn’t vote for them in Michigan, it’s because the candidates themselves took their names off the ballot. And THEY didn’t give their supporters a chance to vote.
Hillary’s supporters voted for her in a certified election. Stew all you want but those votes count. Even if they don’t result in a single delegate.
Obama might have control of the delegate selection process (which is debatable) but voters are voting for Hillary.
The rest of your post is pure troll and I’m not going to bother discussing it.
No way KO will be disciplined. He’s the bread and butter for the leftist network.
They love his incredibly dishonest takes (his latest being Rush Limbaugh’s ‘call for riots’, when what Limbaugh was responding to was the Boulder radical left group ‘Recreate 68!’) and drawing a distinction between their call for civil unrest and his very peaceful gathering in Ft Collins in the 90s.
And how funny is it that KO is now whining that the Huffington writer who admonished his sexist call for violence against HRC didn’t ‘call for a comment’????
LOLOLOL – KO smears without asking for comment from his targets every damn night. Pot, meet kettle.
What quality does Obama have? Anytime you have a US senator give another US Senator the bird in public..its no wonder his supporters are the way they are…They imitate him!
He should be arrested!
I’m so sorry, Tammy. But I’m with Katiebird on this one and the site rules are that you get to make only one rude, obnoxious comment. You’ve met your quota. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow, what a refreshing website! I’m seriously upset over KO’s comments and just wrote to MSNBC and told them I was canceling my MSN account, bypassing all NBC channels by reprogramming my television to skip them, and would be watching KO’s show one more time to take down the names of the sponsors. The sponsors are where it’s at. Get a list of the sponsors and deluge them with letters telling them as long as they continue supporting such horrible misogynistic behavior from everyone at MSNBC you’re boycotting their products. I also told them that I was a former fan of KO but he had crossed the line with his comment and he was out-of-control and out-of-bounds as they all are at MSNBC. I was just hearing on the radio the other day that news channels and cable channels are struggling because of the internet age and that’s where everyone is getting their news these days. In that same letter I told them that if they find themselves struggling now just keep on alienating a huge portion of the population and they would see how much more they would be struggling. Don’t know if it will make much difference but at least I’ve tried.
Also a very good pro-Hillary website is http://www.savagepolitics.com Not connected in any way, shape or form to Michael Savage the right-wing radio personality. Extremely well-written anti-Obama articles and if your click on __ comments (number of comments) it will take you to a very lively discussion of the article towards the bottom of the page. We Hillary supporters are having a live chat at http://www.savagepolitics.com at 8 p.m. EST tomorrow night (Sunday, April 27th). Notice that it is 8:00 p.m. EST. I love the site. Please come visit us tomorrow night and join in our chat.
yheitman: You wouldn’t happen to be a girl scout troop leader, would you?