Olbermann once again pretty much right on

blue hell · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject:

Yeah well he is right of course but why so loud Confused

cbm · Joined: Oct 25, 2005 Posts: 381 Location: San Francisco

Inventor · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject:

I lasted two minutes and thirty four seconds before I said out lout to myself: "Oh, STFU!", and stopped the video (and I agree with him). How long could you endure it?

ian-s · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:11 pm Post subject:

bachus · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject:

Kurt Michaels · Joined: Jan 30, 2005 Posts: 60 Location: Chicago, IL USA

Keith Olberman is not only pretty much right on, but he's one brave man for taking that kind of a stand aganst arguably the most powerful man in the world. In some parts of the world, Olberman would already be dead. Finally there is an antidote to Fox News. I just hope Bush doesn't do something desperate between now and then like declare marshal law and call off the November elections....

KMCc:)

www.myspace.com/kurtmichaels1

cbm · Joined: Oct 25, 2005 Posts: 381 Location: San Francisco

Low Note · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:51 am Post subject:

I often wonder if olbermann channeling a newscaster from the 1950's helps or hurt his relevance to society at large.

I don't think it's a bad thing that he models himself/his commentary after murrow, but unless someone my age (23) is a bit of a nerd, I don't know if they'd get that connection. Following that train of thought, if they don't get that, is he compelling or annoying?

I wish more sportscasters would start yelling at republicans, though.

Kassen · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 4:18 am Post subject:

dewdrop_world · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:00 am Post subject:

OK, look folks, there is just one guy in American TV news who is willing to call out Bush for the idiot that he is - and you're whingeing about his style?

The situation is so bad, I don't think we have time for manners anymore.

I don't know about you, but he captures my rage toward this administration perfectly and I loved every second of it.

James

Kassen · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:30 am Post subject:

Well, I can't compare because I don't get US television, in fact my television doesn't even have a tuner at all so I don't get Dutch television either (it's a old video montage monitor) but yeah, because IMHO the style of people like Bush and him is the problem.

Without nuances the debate becomes polarised which leads to extreme solutions, like war, one issue parties and so on. This is simply not conductive to democracy. People like him, Moore and Bush may have different stances but to me they are all symptoms of the same issue.

I think that the way political subjects are dealt with in the US is a much larger problem then the actual outcome which rather predictably follows from it.

Also; I found this video painfully unwatchable... but then again I found the same about the "Jewel" video Jef (who lives in my house too) showed me last evening and he was into that so I suppose there's no accounting for taste. It's probably a cultural issue, if you grew up with this kind of thing you can likely appreciate in a different way, like with Arabic or Indian tunings and musical structures.

bachus · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:31 am Post subject:

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 6:17 am Post subject:

Yeah, I watched the whole thing, and I thought it was good. He has a great style, but he didn't really say anything new.
I mean anyone with an IQ over 50 knows all this stuff already don't they?

Kassen · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 6:37 am Post subject:

Yeah, I can see the rage bit but as Uncle points out; he's preaching to the choir and I don't think the "rage" will help convert anybody else. Shouting hardly makes people listen attentively.

Rage is a bad adviser, Nietzsche's monsters&abyss and all.

Maybe it's because I'm Dutch but I think good government is inherently about compromises and I think the US's "winner takes all" approach to politics encourages this style of "debate" which seems quite polarising to me. I think it's this exact phenomena of polarisation that resulted in having just two parties who's opinions seem to range from "lots of carpet-bombing" to "modest amounts of carpet-bombing".

I realise I may sound like a westerner who can't even sort between secular and religious Indian musical forms upon hearing them (I can't, sorry) but to me Olberman sounds like the exact thing that's wrong with US politics. To me it's a bit like teenagers rebelling against their parents being Christian by proclaiming themselves to be Satanists (no offence to LaVey's followers!); your still playing the same game while it's time to drop it and do the chores.

mosc · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 8:00 am Post subject:

Funny, I thought if anything Olbermann was being too polite by always calling Bush "sir". As for he being excited or loud; if this isn't something go get upset about, what is?

For the many non US members that have difficulty understanding this rhetorical tone, remember that the US educational system is probably relatively as bad as our medical system. Most US voters are pretty ignorant relative to what you guys are used to. For example, McCain recently said that there hasn't been a terrorist attack on US soil since 9-11 because of our war in Iraq. Most people here don't see this as a non sequitur.

Here in "the greatest country on the Earth" there is a saying: "Sometimes you have to hit him in the head with a two by four (a large piece of wood) to get a mule's attention."

Peake · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 9:27 am Post subject:

Hopefully, Olberman calling bush "sir" is simply mocking him, the way bush mocks all of us with his every word.

McCain has promised that the Iraq "war" (read: invasion) can be won by 2013.

Note that WW2 took six years and a good portion of the planet. Didn't we invade Iraq in 2003? Time's almost up. We defeated the Axis in the same amount of time. And didn't rake up record oil profits in so doing. Wait, wasn't Prescott Bush was out there selling to both sides...omen signs, in the shape of things to come...

blue hell · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 1:19 pm Post subject:

Inventor · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 1:25 pm Post subject:

2013? That sounded like science fiction when I read it! What ever happened to flying cars and space exploration? FFS, we should have space *entertainmant* and space *tourism* by now (or more of it). I read that most Americans think the NASA budget is comparable to the Defense budget, when in reality NASA is a spec on a gnat compared to Defense. No wonder we can't even visit Mars much less know much about our galactic neighborhood. Let's vote the bums out so the Democrats can clean up the war mess, heal the economy, and get on with the peaceful advancement of our technology and our lives as they always do. Dammit, I can feel my blood pressure rising, and I'm just sitting here. Vote the bums out!

cbm · Joined: Oct 25, 2005 Posts: 381 Location: San Francisco

Kassen · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 2:35 pm Post subject:

Kassen · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject:

bachus · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject:

bachus · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject:

Kassen · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:34 pm Post subject:

big ugly URL

Update; I just read on Slashdot (machine translated article above) that the Dutch state officially abandoned voting machines now because of a lack of guarantees that they aren't tapped. Interestingly, in this official article, not mention is made of there not being any guarantee that any vote is counted at all either and indeed no mention is made of the fact that this means there is no way to verify the current government -or the last- was democratically elected... or that it's the same government that controls the commission that oversees the vote. By my reasoning that means that there's no way at all to have any guarantee the next elections, by whatever way they might be held, will be democratic. In fact I find the idea that such a situation might result in a democracy rather far-fetched.

I'd say we are fucked.... Not just by this on it's own but by hardly any Dutch voters understanding the issue. I tried to talk about this with a employee of the (current) largest Dutch party, pleading that nobody could say The Netherlands were currently a "democracy" and that the current form of government was instead dependant on some software running on these machines that is off-limits to even the committee charged with overseeing the elections (and hence in some unknowable state). He claimed he didn't understand the issue, but then again if my meals were paid for by this system so might I....