Calling them “Cheney’s Assassination Ring,” in 2009 Keith Olbermann reported on the activities of the Joint Special Operations Command, the same folks that killed Osama Bin Laden this week. Evidently what was deplorable and criminal in Olbermann’s eyes when directed by the Bush and Clinton White Houses has heroic when ordered by Obama because yesterday Mr. Olbermann described the “assassination ring” as “those heroic individuals.”
In his 2009 report, Olbermann reported on accusations made by writer Seymour Hersh who alleged:
“It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on,” Hersh stated. “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us.”
Hmmm, sound familiar? Going into countries (Pakistan – check), not talking to the ambassador (check), finding people on the list (check), executing them (check) and then leaving (check). Olbermann characterized the “assassination ring” allegations as a “bombshell” and that they showed the character of the Bush administration (as bad). In Mr. Olbermann’s eyes, those same activities make Obama a hero.
Wait, Keith’s still around? And he’s a hypocrite? And irrelevant? Sorry, I know they’re all rhetorical.
Obama is Olbermann’s hero? Oh really?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40557029/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/
Well I guess that thrill is running up his (and Chris Matthews’) leg again as he is singing the One’s praises. You know, like he’s solely responsible for bin Laden’s death. Because the previous administration had nothing to do with it. Right.
I will do something this time I likely won’t do again – give Obama credit. He had the guts to approve a risky operation so he could get definitive proof of bin Laden’s death (as opposed to bombing him into oblivion which would have been as effective, but left too many doubters – I know there will always be doubters). However, a single good idea does not atone for 2+ years of horrible foreign policy. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, until he screws up again.
Geoff,
Did you even bother to watch the KO tape before you jumped on your keyboard to report the latest wingnuttery ?
Because if you had, you might have heard him say that this special assassination ring reported ONLY to the Vice-President, “WITHOUT TALKING TO THE CIA”, Sy Hersh also alleged that the DOD was left in the dark.
Did you see the photos of the SITUATION ROOM?
The CIA, the DOD, the State Department were ALL IN THE LOOP.
Free tip;
When you’re getting your facts and opinions from people who can barely walk upright, it isn’t surprising when you end up looking like a monkey’s ass.
Your ad hominym attacks are tiring – you evidently feel that vitriol and logic are the same thing. I watched the tape and accurately reported. Thanks for providing your usual response.
If you thought that the point of his prior attacks on this unit, the same unit in both cases, was the difference in the chain of command I feel sorry for you.
Really Geoff?
Are you trying to pretend that it was “secret” that we were hunting Bin Laden?
Who did you think we were sending after Bin Laden, the Geek Squad?
Did we or did we not have a bounty of 25 million dollars on his head, Dead or Alive?
Didn’t candidate Obama say that this is exactly what he was going to do?
Yes, Obama did use the “same” elite Navy Seals, but he used them in coordination with the CIA, DOD and the State Department and they all knew who we were going after, that’s a HUGE difference between what Sy Hersh was alleging and what took place on Sunday.
Sorry, but you did not report “accurately” what was on the tape, what you did do was what you always do, just regurgitate without fact checking whatever the crap du’jour is that you find on the right wing blogosphere.
Hard to respond to illogic and wrong facts. The chain of command (i.e. Cheney/Obama/Joint Chiefs) is completely irrelevant unless it is claimed someone (I guess you would argue Chenney) was acting without authorization. No one has made that accusation, not even the screwball Hersh who never published his “findings” (a fact that did not stop Olbermann from reporting the uncorroborated story), has supplied any facts to support that the Unit reported “only to Cheney” (which again is irrelevant) and that Cheney had no authority to run the unit (which might be relevant but is untrue).
Your habit is to change the subject when you are losing. The post is about Olbermann calling a behavior evil (assassination) in one context and heroic in another.
And YOUR habit is to conflate and simplify two totally different situations and call them perfectly equivalent.
Running repeated, secret hit squads with no involvement by the institutions that Anonster mentioned (which, by the way, is the same lack of working and sharing of information among agencies that GOT US DOWN THE ROAD TO 9/11 IN THE FIRST PLACE) is quite different than a single, targeted assignment to go after Osama Freakin’ bin Laden. I know it’s difficult to wrap your mind around those distinctions, because scoring partisan points is more important to you than having a serious debate, but please do try.
speaking of monkees ass i see the commi annoster popped up on here what willis said is true tip turn off mslsd ,
Let me see if I have this right…you’re saying that Geoff is right, and Anonster is wrong, yet you have nothing factual or substantive to offer in support of that.
Oh OK, I’m convinced. LOL.
“monkey’s ass” = Keith Olbermann
.
“I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, until he screws up again.”
I will wait until I hear that Hillary didn’t bee-atch him into pulling the trigger before I give BHO the credit.
STOOPID STOOPID KEETH OBERMAN MONKEE BUTT *drool*
LOL, yes it’s hard to keep up with such witty repartee.
Ah, the false superiority of the spreader of venom under the guise of intellectualism.
Yes, yes…Anonster is the dumb one here, and Great One and Junior are the geniuses.
That’s not false superiority…that’s ACTUAL superiority.
Thanks for confirming my point about liberal snobbery.
Yeah right, in order to not be snobs we have to pretend that the Grate One’s comments are worth taking as seriously as yours or anonster’s. Talk about meritless political correctness.
No, thank YOU for defending mediocrity while condemning actual intelligence. Thank God for people like you. Why traffic in facts and reality when we can wallow in mediocrity?
Keith is awesome! Cheney was a scum bag war criminal! Teabaggers are the real terrorists!
Our very own left-wing Grate One? Or a clever, clever fraud?
We can add Nancy Pelosi to the list of Democrat hypocrites:
Pelosi on September 7, 2006:
[E]ven if [Osama bin Laden] is caught tomorrow, it is five years too late. He has done more damage the longer he has been out there. But, in fact, the damage that he has done . . . is done. And even to capture him now I don’t think makes us any safer.
Pelosi yesterday:
The death of Osama bin Laden marks the most significant development in our fight against al-Qaida. . . . I salute President Obama, his national security team, Director Panetta, our men and women in the intelligence community and military, and other nations who supported this effort for their leadership in achieving this major accomplishment. . . . [T]he death of Osama bin Laden is historic. . . .
I love it!
White people fighting with one another debating the merits of which TV blowhard is more intelligent.
All of this incessant posturing and pointless pontificating makes Stanislav Fiala look sane.
Hey smart guy. Do you agree that the Vice President’s office should be running unaccountable assassination squads answerable only to him, killing god knows what foreigners who haven’t necessarily ever been found guilty of anything? If you don’t (which I’m guessing you wouldn’t) then you agree with the blowhard Olbermann.
You’re an American too, you should have an opinion on this. Or are you just gonna stand aside and feel superior because you’ve got indigenous blood?
I “should” have an opinion on this? You may want to consider re-phrasing your question. Try “what is your opinion on this issue?” I would expect that line of questioning from the OC District Attorney’s office or the Northwood Night Stalker and his pathetic apologists from the FibOC and Red County.
Government assassination squads have been around for years and are nothing more than hired guns for crony capitalist or government interests. In short, they are there to keep the American Empire in tact. If you really want to go back in US history, the first known government assassination squad was the US Calvary. Their role in the “Trail of Tears” showed us what lengths the American Empire is willing to go to hold onto their power. As we expanded our empire, the CIA and FBI were created to keep the populace in check.
If Olbermann was really concerned about government assassination squads, then why hasn’t he called for a reopening of the investigation of the events at Wounded Knee in 1975 where Federal agents engaged in a shootout with Leonard Peltier? Or demand a reopening of the investigation of the plane crash that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone and his wife Shelia? Better yet, why not go all the way and abolish the CIA? (an tax savings idea I would wholeheartedly endorse) While I do agree with his assessment of Cheney’s actions as deplorable, I don’t care for his theatrics and his show of overtly partisan feigned disdain. And he’s be awfully silent since Obama has come to power. Where is his feigned disdain now on this assassination? No, we’d rather to stoop to the level of the Bushbots, drink copious amounts of hard liquor, wave our American flags and say “Nyah, nyah, nyah…MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!”
Olbermann is paid to infotain like Glenn Beck, Hannity, Maddow and the like. Besides, why are the only people who have called out the presence of assassination squads are Glenn Greenwald and Judge Andrew Napolitano? Greenwald and Judge Nap are more my cup of tea. They are more consistent and deeper than Olbermann.
Me feeling superior? Sounds like someone is feeling inadequate when they are called out on being a blind cheerleader for their political parties but chooses to stick around the fort holding onto false hope that minds may change. Hate to break it to you, but the true conscience of the Democratic Party that I knew died in Eveleth, MN on October 25th, 2002 at the hands of a bipartisan government assassination squad. (Yes, Paul was a close and dear friend of mine and a true advocate for Natives who fought for our cause of self determination.) Call me cynical if you must but I don’t feel the incessant need to waste my energies holding onto illusory hopes while being paid lip service by people whose only lot in life is telling people how big their cock is. Which is the greatest strength of both major political parties and the current makeup of the Libertarian Party. This is why I made the decision to change my registration to “Decline to State” a long time ago and focus my energies away from party politics.
Maybe the best thing that could happen to this country is a revolution or letting it break up like the Roman and British Empires before it. This country has gotten way too big for its own good. As much as we want to avoid letting it happen, the best thing we could do is let nature take its course and let the renewal process happen.
As far as me being an American, I may be one by birth, but the actions of Bush and Obama Adminstrations over the last 10 years doesn’t make me want to belt out Lee Greenwood tunes any time soon. I agree with Bushala. The oneupsmanship on patriotism is comical and disturbing at the same time.
There has never been any evidence that there was ANY “assassination squads” (the accusation actually said “squad” not “squads”) running around only answerable to the VP, that was an unsupported accusation by one fringe lefty (Hersh). There was not even any accusation that these “assassination squads” were running around under anyone’s unauthorized direction – you are just making that part up wholecloth. Second, I think that it is funny that you hail them as heros when directed by Obama and insist on calling them “assassination squads” under Bush. Just saying.
We would have called anyone who got Bin Laden a hero, even if Louie Gohmert sent them!
While I do agree with your last sentence, I think it’s rather short sighted to state that we have not had assassination squads roaming around for the purposes of protecting US interests and eliminating persons who may interfere with their agenda. They may have not been “secret squads” under the auspices of the VP but they have taken on many forms throughout the history of our country.
The US Calvary during the “Trail of Tears”
The National Guard at Matewan and Kent State
The US Marines during the Spanish American War (read about Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler)
The CIA in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Afghanistan
The FBI at Ruby Ridge and Wounded Knee
Blackwater in Iraq
The Pinkerton Agency
While I have no love for bin Laden, it seems to be a consistent pattern among Democrats and Republicans that we finance these despots and terrorists only to turn them into the evil bogeyman of the week to justify our overbearing military presence overseas and our inflated military budgets. I don’t hear Olbermann calling for the Obama Administration to make efforts to repeal the Patriot Act. Greenwald, yes. Olbermann, no. It’s a sad cycle that seems to be repeated over and over throughout our history. Maybe the problem isn’t these people we label as terrorists. Maybe the problem is that we are acting like the people we claim to abhor.
Scary, I’m beginning to agree more and more with Gabriel San Roman.
FYI, the white people reference was made for the sole purpose of getting a rise out of someone. I didn’t think Vern would be the first to react. Someone’s got to take the mantle for Duane Roberts.
“All of this incessant posturing and pointless pontificating makes Stanislav Fiala look sane.” – Good point GF – but that does not negate the fact that Olbermann is a douchebag.
PS: I have indigenous blood as well. You know those French Canadiens were very friendly with the “savages.”
I actually agree with you on Olbermann.
And yes, the French Canadians were a lot more friendly than the US Calvary.
And all I was saying is that even if most of us here happen to be WHITE, some of us are talking about deeper more important things that which TV pundits we like, believe it or not.
Kill your TV…really!
Vern- and you haven’t gone gonzo ballistic over Glen Beck in the past ?? please …….
Beck had a marching band celebrating the death of bin Laden on his recent show. I figure this much. If you are going to gloat, you might as well go all the way and make a huge spectacle of it. I’ll give Beck this, even though I don’t watch his show and see eye to eye with his political views. He knows how to push the envelope and generate reactions.
Vern- and you haven’t gone gonzo ballistic over Glen Beck in the past ?? please …….
Oh yeah? I dare you to find that. Glenn? I’ve always considered him a figure of fun and ridicule, and I was sorry to see that he’s leaving FOX.
oh yes im sure people like vern and anoster would give bush credit for anything .. they are both the keith overbite of this site .
I should wrap this up by asking why whatever rightwinger put together the image at the top couldn’t find any one of thousands of shots of Keith trembling with righteous fury. What they used is one of thousands of shots of Keith clowning around – just makes us miss his great sense of humor even more!
Right. And then they call him “America’s Favorite…” seeming to ascribe great influence and reach to him on one hand, then in other contexts they boast about Fox’ or Limbaugh’s ratings and pronounce Keith irrelevant. Ya can’t have it both ways!
Wow, do you really not understand satire anon? I believe the “America’s Favorite” reference was to KO’s vitriolic attack on Michelle Malkin and had nothing to do with Geoff’s feelings about other seething balls of hate.
No, no I don’t understand satire at all. Please edumacate me.
As for vitriolic attacks on Michelle Malkin, I would say that vitriol begets vitriol. But then of course you’re free to ignore HER vitriol. We call that transference.
Michelle Malkin would be perfect for satire. She pretty much writes her own comedy all of the time. Like the kneeslapper about how interning Japanese American citizens was the right thing to do.
Someone call Larry Flynt quick. We need a character that parodies Malkin in “Who’s Naylin Paylin, Part III” Then again, that characterization might do more to arouse her than annoy her.
Sorry, Keith started as my local news sprtscaster and I have never been able to take him seriously since.
They can’t all be the wonderful, the compelling, the side-splittingly funny Fred Roggin.
Fred Roggin and Keith Olbermann as sportscasters…..****YAWN**** Give me Vic “The Brick” Jacobs and Petros Papadakis anyday!
Why did I know you were a Vic guy Fawkes? I totally agree with you on Petros, though.