Olbermann calls Bush a liar, threat worse than terrorists

by **sunny** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:45 am

<a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/18/countdown-special-comment-death-of-habeas-corpus-your-words-are-lies-sir/#more-11142">www.crooksandliars.com/20...more-11142</a> Olbermann: And lastly, as promised, a Special Comment tonight on the signing of the Military Commissions Act and the loss of Habeas Corpus. We have lived as if in a trance. We have lived… as people in fear. And now — our rights and our freedoms in peril — we slowly awake to learn that we have been afraid… of the wrong thing. Therefore, tonight, have we truly become, the inheritors of our American legacy. For, on this first full day that the Military Commissions Act is in force, we now face what our ancestors faced, at other times of exaggerated crisis and melodramatic fear-mongering: And lastly, as promised, a Special Comment tonight on the signing of the Military Commissions Act and the loss of Habeas Corpus. We have lived as if in a trance. We have lived… as people in fear. And now — our rights and our freedoms in peril — we slowly awake to learn that we have been afraid… of the wrong thing. Therefore, tonight, have we truly become, the inheritors of our American legacy. For, on this first full day that the Military Commissions Act is in force, we now face what our ancestors faced, at other times of exaggerated crisis and melodramatic fear-mongering: A government more dangerous to our liberty, than is the enemy it claims to protect us from. We have been here before — and we have been here before led here — by men better and wiser and nobler than George W. Bush. We have been here when President John Adams insisted that the Alien and Sedition Acts were necessary to save American lives — only to watch him use those Acts to jail newspaper editors. American newspaper editors, in American jails, for things they wrote, about America. We have been here, when President Woodrow Wilson insisted that the Espionage Act was necessary to save American lives — only to watch him use that Act to prosecute 2,000 Americans, especially those he disparaged as "Hyphenated Americans," most of whom were guilty only of advocating peace in a time of war. American public speakers, in American jails, for things they said, about America. And we have been here when President Franklin D. Roosevelt insisted that Executive Order 9-0-6-6 was necessary to save American lives — only to watch him use that Order to imprison and pauperize 110-thousand Americans… While his man-in-charge… General DeWitt, told Congress: "It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen — he is still a Japanese." American citizens, in American camps, for something they neither wrote nor said nor did — but for the choices they or their ancestors had made, about coming to America. Each of these actions was undertaken for the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons. And each, was a betrayal of that for which the President who advocated them, claimed to be fighting. Adams and his party were swept from office, and the Alien and Sedition Acts erased. Many of the very people Wilson silenced, survived him, and… …one of them even ran to succeed him, and got 900-thousand votes… though his Presidential campaign was conducted entirely… from his jail cell. And Roosevelt's internment of the Japanese was not merely the worst blight on his record, but it would necessitate a formal apology from the government of the United States, to the citizens of the United States, whose lives it ruined. The most vital… the most urgent… the most inescapable of reasons. In times of fright, we have been, only human. We have let Roosevelt's "fear of fear itself" overtake us. We have listened to the little voice inside that has said "the wolf is at the door; this will be temporary; this will be precise; this too shall pass." We have accepted, that the only way to stop the terrorists, is to let the government become just a little bit like the terrorists. Just the way we once accepted that the only way to stop the Soviets, was to let the government become just a little bit like the Soviets. Or substitute… the Japanese. Or the Germans. Or the Socialists. Or the Anarchists. Or the Immigrants. Or the British. Or the Aliens. The most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons. And, always, always… wrong. "With the distance of history, the questions will be narrowed and few: Did this generation of Americans take the threat seriously, and did we do what it takes to defeat that threat?" Wise words. And ironic ones, Mr. Bush. Your own, of course, yesterday, in signing the Military Commissions Act. You spoke so much more than you know, Sir. Sadly — of course — the distance of history will recognize that the threat this generation of Americans needed to take seriously… was you. We have a long and painful history of ignoring the prophecy attributed to Benjamin Franklin that "those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." But even within this history, we have not before codified, the poisoning of Habeas Corpus, that wellspring of protection from which all essential liberties flow. You, sir, have now befouled that spring. You, sir, have now given us chaos and called it order. You, sir, have now imposed subjugation and called it freedom. For the most vital… the most urgent… the most inescapable of reasons. And — again, Mr. Bush — all of them, wrong. We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has said it is unacceptable to compare anything this country has ever done, to anything the terrorists have ever done. We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has insisted again that "the United States does not torture. It's against our laws and it's against our values" and who has said it with a straight face while the pictures from Abu Ghraib Prison and the stories of Waterboarding figuratively fade in and out, around him. We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens "Unlawful Enemy Combatants" and ship them somewhere — anywhere — but may now, if he so decides, declare you an "Unlawful Enemy Combatant" and ship you somewhere - anywhere. And if you think this, hyperbole or hysteria… ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was President, or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was President, or the Japanese at Manzanar when Franklin Roosevelt was President. And if you somehow think Habeas Corpus has not been suspended for American citizens but only for everybody else, ask yourself this: If you are pulled off the street tomorrow, and they call you an alien or an undocumented immigrant or an "unlawful enemy combatant" — exactly how are you going to convince them to give you a court hearing to prove you are not? Do you think this Attorney General is going to help you? This President now has his blank check. He lied to get it. He lied as he received it. Is there any reason to even hope, he has not lied about how he intends to use it, nor who he intends to use it against? "These military commissions will provide a fair trial," you told us yesterday, Mr. Bush. "In which the accused are presumed innocent, have access to an attorney, and can hear all the evidence against them." 'Presumed innocent,' Mr. Bush? The very piece of paper you signed as you said that, allows for the detainees to be abused up to the point just before they sustain "serious mental and physical trauma" in the hope of getting them to incriminate themselves, and may no longer even invoke The Geneva Conventions in their own defense. 'Access to an attorney,' Mr. Bush? Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift said on this program, Sir, and to the Supreme Court, that he was only granted access to his detainee defendant, on the promise that the detainee would plead guilty. 'Hearing all the evidence,' Mr. Bush? The Military Commissions act specifically permits the introduction of classified evidence not made available to the defense. Your words are lies, Sir. They are lies, that imperil us all. "One of the terrorists believed to have planned the 9/11 attacks," …you told us yesterday… "said he hoped the attacks would be the beginning of the end of America." That terrorist, sir, could only hope. Not his actions, nor the actions of a ceaseless line of terrorists (real or imagined), could measure up to what you have wrought. Habeas Corpus? Gone. The Geneva Conventions? Optional. The Moral Force we shined outwards to the world as an eternal beacon, and inwards at ourselves as an eternal protection? Snuffed out. These things you have done, Mr. Bush… they would be "the beginning of the end of America." And did it even occur to you once sir — somewhere in amidst those eight separate, gruesome, intentional, terroristic invocations of the horrors of 9/11 — that with only a little further shift in this world we now know — just a touch more repudiation of all of that for which our patriots died — Did it ever occur to you once, that in just 27 months and two days from now when you leave office, some irresponsible future President and a "competent tribunal" of lackeys would be entitled, by the actions of your own hand, to declare the status of "Unlawful Enemy Combatant" for… and convene a Military Commission to try… not John Walker Lindh, but George Walker Bush? For the most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons. And doubtless, sir, all of them — as always — wrong. Joe Scarborough is next. Good night, and good luck.

by **Gouda** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:10 am

Keith, Keith, see Dreams End's comments at the Ground being prepared for Iraq pullout thread. The real unfortunate irony will be when Olbermann blithely endorses the forward wisdom of the Baker III group and the Princeton Project people. Now that's what I call kicking the shit off your shoes (Bush) and marching into the cesspool (Carlyle Octopus).

by **Gouda** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:18 am

I know, I know...he deserves some credit for being the ONLY MSM bot to speak out. Little does he know - heh, heh - he is being quite allowed to do so. Should he begin to speak out against the system spawning, underwriting and animating Bush, bye bye Keith.

by **dbeach** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:24 pm

Order out of Caos.. KO is allowed his rant ..or is he part of the problem like EVERY other MM celeb

by **yesferatu** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:15 pm

<<My main problem with Olbermann is his tone. All the "You, sir" and "wroughts" just seems like trying too hard to be serious and important. Everyone of these clips seems like someone trying desperately to make some list of important American speeches from 2035. It's not that he's wrong, although he is on a few specific points, but rather that it doesn't feel like genuine outrage, it feels like self promotion. He's latched on to a topic and a mode that will make him very popular with certain people, and he comes out every night with the same routine, hoping to get another one of his clips put on YouTube. He's like a contemporary Father Coughlin, and even if he's right, it's still distasteful. posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:20 AM PST on October 19 >>

by **FourthBase** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:02 pm

Will you people just STFU and laud the speech?

by **NavnDansk** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:49 am

"election" within a few weeks of Keith's doing so - Dick Ebersole (Susan St. James' husband) was in a small plane crash, injured and one of his sons with him died. Keith, on the air,after the plane "accident" spoke in measured, serious terms of of Ebersole being his mentor, that he was fired from sports casting due to fights with the bosses and would not have been able to continue as a broadcaster if Ebersole had not been a true friend and reinstated him. Does this scenario sound familiar? <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Wikipedia - Ebersol has been married to actress Susan Saint James (McMillan and Wife, Kate & Allie) since 1981; the couple met when Saint James was guest-hosting SNL that same year. The couple has three children -- Charles, Willie, and Teddy (deceased). Saint James also has two children from a previous marriage. Ebersol was briefly married to former Wheel of Fortune hostess Susan Stafford in the 1970s. 2004 plane crash On November 28, 2004, Ebersol was seriously injured in a charter plane crash in Montrose County, Colorado. The pilot of the Bombardier Challenger CL-601 and a flight attendant were killed. The body of Ebersol's 14-year-old son, Edward "Teddy" Ebersol, was found under the wreckage the following day. The aircraft was departing from Montrose Regional Airport (near the Telluride Ski Area) for South Bend, Indiana, where Charles Ebersol, Dick Ebersol's son who also survived the crash, was a senior at Notre Dame. Dick Ebersol suffered broken ribs, a broken sternum and had fluid in his lungs. Charles Ebersol suffered a broken hand and two breaks in his back. The co-pilot of the aircraft, Eric Wicksell, was in critical condition at a burn unit in Denver. Teddy Ebersol field has recently opened in Boston in memorandium of his son. NTSB investigators said that the plane had not been de-iced prior to takeoff and that they were investigating other potential factors in the crash. Original eyewitness accounts said that the plane never even got off the ground: running off the runway, skidding across a road and crashing through a fence and into a field where it burst into flames. However, Ebersol himself said that the jet struggled at 20 feet in the air before falling back to the runway and breaking apart. Ebersol and his surviving family appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on February 2, 2006, to discuss the crash.<hr></blockquote> I think Keith knows what he is up against and how they might try to use him and doubt if he or anyone really knows how to effectively fight and end this evil but he is courageously doing what he can with the gifts he has been given. Especially after the small plane crash with one of Keith's close friends, I have enormous respect for his courage and his voice. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=navndansk>NavnDansk</A> at: 10/19/06 11:03 pm

by **Forgetting2** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:21 am

At this moment I believe his speeches are from the heart, whatever purpose they may end up serving.

by **yesferatu** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:33 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Will you people just STFU and laud the speech? <hr></blockquote> OK. I think if it made a Bush follower sit dumbfounded while Olberman gave his commentary, and made them wonder if they are the morons that they are, then it was good. Not that they will come around, since they will saturate themselves with an extra helping of right wing radio the next day and soothe their lizard cortexes with fear/hate and go on without ever thinking about the commentary ever again, yet if it gave them a half moment of "wtf is happening?" then it is a scrap of a glimmer which I can call good. Completely swallowed up and lost as a "defining moment" where a shift of sentiment occurs, it has already been drained down the "outrage hole". Like the memory hole, we now have an outrage hole. Perhaps Olberman unwittingly serves the cabal in that purpose. Like a monotonous neon light flashing, people quickly stop looking at it, when there is so much more to look at.

by **HMKGrey** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:40 am

I'm with fourthbase. We should STFU and take the good stuff when we can. I'm thinking of a great Buddhist story... basically: A guy is trapped in a huge flood after refusing to be saved by various boats etc because he thinks his God will save him. Anyway, he drowns and winds up in front of God who says "Whaddya mean I abandoned you? I sent two boats, a canoe and a fucking helicopter!" We're so close to screwed it ain't funny and so I'll take the help as it comes, thanks.

by **Joe Hillshoist** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:56 am

HMK That is also a Catholic Story. It was told to me when I was too young to remember my age. I do agree tho. Sometimes we are so fucked up, we question everything cos everywhere we look there is evil, not good. Its like a form of mind control. "This supports our POV, and is in the MSM, so it must be sus and set up to screw us later".

by **Gouda** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:40 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Will you people just STFU and laud the speech?<hr></blockquote> Said Bill O'Reilly in liberal drag. *wink emoticon* What Olbermann says does not support my POV. For one, Bush is merely the terrorist in the front - the others in the background, which Olbermann will give a big fat pass to, as you will see, are also terrorists - more powerful ones. We remove a few hit men but keep the racket in place. He may be speaking of "Bush" as a metaphor for the Presidency, an office whose power and honor has been corrupted and usurped, (if it ever had that power or honor.) He may mean that if we hold a president accountable, and if we restore the (originally) intended honor of the presidency, then it would make it harder for the puppet masters to manipulate presidents in the future. OK. But I don't quite think that is what he has in mind. I think he is stuck on the level of partisan personality politics and the bias of the sanctity of white American "freedom." To me, it does not matter if Olbermann's POV is MSM or not because regardless of the messenger or medium, the message is the same, the same tune is also coming from non-MSM sources: anti-Bush generals, ghost troops, cia agents, xenophobic libertarians, the far right. They are all saying the same thing and it is missing the point. Bush is a front. We know enough here to at least know that. He is accountable however, and urgently needs to be arrested and prosecuted, no doubt...but then what? People, what comes after Bush? Sweet relief? I don't think so. You will see Olbermann jumping with glee at anything James Baker's group and the centrist democrats put out to "fix" Bush's mess. Then, if Olbermann takes bloody 4 more years to work up his outrage to wonder why the centrists and democrats have done NOTHING to reverse, prosecute and make amends for the crimes of the Bush administration, then you know our man is misguided at best. MY POV is nothing less than complete prosecution and reversal...and much more. The "liberals" ain't going to do that. I hope they do, but, um. My POV is: no more Carlyle group. MY POV is no more corporate control of ANYTHING, including Olbermann's microphone. That has to be factored in. I would have lauded this speech 4 years ago when it was needed, when it was already clear what was happening, before abstract brown people had their rights taken away and then were tortured and/or massacred. Or even 2 years ago when the Bush/Cheney criminal dossier was stacked as high as Hitler's...you see? The best I can say about that is: "better late than never." Oh, but now we feel the heat coming down on us, the privileged classes, the pampered dissenters, WASP Americans; now things are urgent. The Patriot Acts were bad, but at least it was only being used to round up anonymous arabs or muslims. Now that we are in the crosshairs, well now it is time we need Keith Olbermann to speak up for us. And Keith gets worked up, with us, about Our Bill of Rights. There was no impassioned defense from any MSM these last 5 years for the rights of poor, brown sovereign nations or peoples (non-Americans: "everybody else") raped of life and liberty by the Bush administration and their global partners. We get all worked up only when Bush is closing in our own freedom. I say it again, no one is free until we are all free. That said, everyone has a learning curve. In this sense, I can laud Olbermann's speech if I give him the benefit of the doubt that he will continue to develop this particular outrage and not give any of these bastards a pass in the days to come. I hope he is seeing things more clearly today than he might have been earlier, as many of us are. So ultimately, I guess I will have to hold my judgement until we see how he responds to the so-called antidotes to Bush. But, then again, why do we need Keith Olbermann to speak for us while we sit behind our computer and tv screens? If we have to rely on the learning curve caprices of official mouthpieces to do our work for us, game over before it began. Good night, good luck. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 10/20/06 5:46 am

by **FourthBase** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:24 am

If one of us ever had 5 minutes to speak on national TV, it's doubtful we'd come up with anything much better than Olbermann's "overwrought" speeches. I would have been proud to write that, actually. Yeah, there are a few things I'd have changed. He addresses Bush personally, as if Bush isn't a figure/coke-head with dozens of actually important hands up his ass. But I bet Olbermann realizes that (come on, he must) and he's just technically "playing by the rules" of public engagement while doing his Murrow shtick (the more Murrow-ish imitators, the better, even if Murrow didn't do much, people who think he did and try to imitate him can only do good things) all the while striking a stealth low blow to the nuts. And a lot of what he says is just simply true and ghastly and needs to be fucking said and no one else is saying it right now on TV. Olbermann, as far as authenticity and positive implications for us, kicks the living shit out of, say, Jon Stewart.

by **sunny** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:39 am

If Olbermann gets fired, either in the latest round of cuts at NBC or at a later date, will folks then believe he is authentic? Sad that people have to get fired or killed to prove their bona fides. Let's remember, he was not only the only one talking about election fraud during 04, but he also highlighted the fake terror threats during that time. NO ONE else did that, and it woke up a lot of people to this tactic. You cannot blame KO for not looking at the puppet masters-yet-he lives in a world dominated by CW, a world in which conspiracy theorizing can get you fired, and worse. People at that level are encouraged, every day and in every way, to not go there. It is simply amazing to me that not only does he go where he is going now, which is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of msm, but he is doing it prominently, loudly. He is doing it now becuase he has a certain security, in that he has become more popular and making money for the network, that he didn't have earlier. Which also means he has a lot to lose, which also makes him very brave.

by **Gouda** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:41 am

Man, if i ever had to appear on national tv for 5 minutes, I'd have to wear diapers and use one of Bush's hidden ear prompters. I'd be a bumbling mess. Maybe better we stick to our talents and strengths. Yeah, Stewart. Anyone see him graciously host James Baker III recently? Big old respectful pass. I'm not liking this at all. I think Colbert's withering speech to Bush's face at the White House Annual Correspondent’s Dinner is more like it.

Olbermann calls Bush a liar, threat worse than terrorists

Olbermann calls Bush a liar, threat worse than terrorists

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Keith was the only one reporting on election fraud in 2004

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