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| Why I Stopped Watching 'Countdown' |
| Features - General Features |
 I used to work for a manager who was an absolute tool. He was a liar, a manipulator and an expert at office politics. He would set insanely aggressive targets, and then if you somehow managed to meet them, he would complain that you didn't "have the right attitude." I coped with the angst by trading jokes about him with my closest co-worker Steve (not his real name). We would make fun of his pep talks, laugh at his mistakes and count the days until he finally received his well-deserved office slapdown. I really enjoyed talking with Steve, but as our manager began to struggle, Steve had an unexpected reaction. Rather than enjoying the situation, it was if Steve smelled blood in the water. His attacks against our manager became shriller and less based in truth. He ultimately became so obsessed with every aspect of our manager's behavior and I found myself wanting to spend less time with him. There's a fine line between a cause and an obsession. At some point Steve had crossed that line, and I wasn't in the mood to join his annoying jihad. I was reminded of that experience last night while I was watching MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann." I'm an admirerer of Olbermann, I think he's a witty and talented guy. But in recent weeks his show has crossed some line that I can't quite define. But I do know that last night's episode is the last one I'll watch. And that really pains me more than I can say. I've enjoyed Olbermann's long-running "feud" with rival Bill O'Reilly. It was a masterful bit of promotion, and O'Reilly's personality is the perfect foil for Olbermann's snarky comments. O'Reilly famously doesn't have much of a sense of humor when it comes to attacks on himself or his show. So having some upstart take almost nightly shots at him encouraged O'Reilly to make increasingly pained and nonsensical comments in his own defense. But in recent months the ratings tilt between the two shows has shifted. O'Reilly's Fox News show is still very popular, but it's lost viewers to MSNBC and Olbermann. It's a situation which should delight the MSNBC star, but instead it seems to have only encouraged him to crank out a series of even harsher criticisms. He's also appears to lose a bit of perspective about the people he's covering. Every issue is a major one, and he sometimes stretches the facts to fit his point. Leading even longtime fans like myself to increasingly roll our eyes during some segments. The Monday, March 30th episode of "Countdown" is a perfect example of the problem. And while there wasn't anything horribly amiss with the episode, it was enough of a problem for me to decide that I have seen enough for now. Take, for instance, his snarky reporting of John McCain's comments on Sunday's "Meet The Press." McCain was asked by David Gregory if he "would like to see Sarah Palin become President?" McCain's answer was the expected one: "I would like to see her compete." Somehow Olbermann spun that as McCain having buyer's remorse about picking Palin to be his VP choice. He and guest Chris Kofinis seemed to believe that McCain's refusal to endorse her as choice for President was a slap down of Palin. Now I'm not a Palin fan, and certainly McCain's answer wasn't as artful as it could have been. But we're more than three years out from the 2012 Presidential election. We're at least a couple of years from anyone actually having to make an endorsement in the Presidential race. So why would any Republican do so now? It seems to me that McCain was just being careful. Even if he does support Palin (which seems doubtful), a couple of years is a long time. Endorsing her now could cause all sorts of problems for him if she has some sort of meltdown in the interim. McCain's answer on "Meet The Press" wasn't unexpected at all. And yet Olbermann highlighted the story earlier in his show. In fact, Rachel Maddow even mentioned the story when she teased the program during her show. But while the McCain story is just intellectually lazy, his number one story was just painful. He focused once again on rival Bill O'Reilly, this time tearing apart a recent O'Reilly interview with Broadcasting and Cable Magazine's Marissa Guthrie. And once again, he seems to equate every mistake as equal, every problem as worth using a sledgehammer to solve. O'Reilly certainly said some silly things, including his comments about an NBC conspiracy to smear him over his connection to the Alexa Branchini fund raiser. And yet Olbermann spends nearly as much time on throwaway comments by O'Reilly as he does with the important stuff. Olbermann becomes annoyed when O'Reilly claims that NBC head Jeff Zucker runs when he sees O'Reilly. That prompts Olbermann to make this comment: "No one boasts more physically intimidating others than does a coward. Twice in my life time I have encountered Bill O‘Reilly in person. Once at a charity dinner and once on a baseball field. On both occasions, as I arrived, he backed up to a position about 20, 25 feet away from me. If I moved slightly toward him, say 18 inches closer, he backed up 18 inches." Okay, so how is Olbermann's comments any different than O'Reilly's? And doesn't it seem a bit ironic to begin a complain with the sentence "No one boasts more physically intimidating others than does a coward," then proceeding to claim that you intimidate someone? Olbermann also calls O'Reilly a liar for claiming that he has never mentioned his name in his life. Olbermann then finds an instance when he used it on his show back in 2007 and in 1998. He also complains that O'Reilly mispronounced his name. A couple of thoughts here. O'Reilly has mentioned Olbermann in passing twice in ten years? Yeah, that makes O'Reilly wrong. But I'm not sure it reaches the "liar" threshold. It's not as if either mention was substantial and I can easily see how O'Reilly might have forgotten about it. At best, this is a misdemeanor crime. As for the mispronunciation of Olbermann's name......umm....he was making a joke? It's a tactic Olbermann frequently uses on his show. So that complaint just seems silly. I'll admit that Olbermann hasn't done anything that is wildly inappropriate or inaccurate. But the tone of "Countdown" has become increasingly shrill and unforgiving. I need a break from the cheap shots and the intellectual bullying. See you someday, "Countdown." I'm out of here. |
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 April 2009 03:01 ) |
