Product Description
Short, sharp, and oftentimes shocking, Keith Olbermann’s “Special Comments” have made his nightly MSNBC program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, must-see viewing–and the fastest-growing news show on cable TV. In these segments, Olbermann calls out the perpetrators of mismanagement, brutality, cronyism, and the appalling lack of accountability at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In so doing, Olbermann goes where most of the mainstream media fear to tread–and his rapidly expanding audience eagerly follows.
In Truth and Consequences, Olbermann collects the best of his Special Comments, presented here with additional observations and other new material. Whether taking to task the likes of Vice President Dick Cheney and (the thankfully former) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who compare critics of the Iraq War to Nazi appeasers, or giving his impassioned perspective on why torture is un-American and what it really means to support our troops, or grilling timid lawmakers who fail to rein in presidential overreach and abuses of executive power, Olbermann’s devastatingly blunt (and at times wickedly funny) commentary cuts to the core of the duplicity and cynicism of a government that has lost the ability to distinguish between leading our great nation and ruling it.
Naturally, Keith Olbermann’s candor and razor-sharp polemic have earned him many detractors and enemies. His antagonists in the media, such as Bill O’Reilly, have mocked him and accused him of rank intolerance. Yes, Keith Olbermann is intolerant–of hypocrisy, demagoguery, fear-mongering, and especially the equation of dissent with treason. In Truth and Consequences, he fights to reclaim for himself and all Americans the dignity of speaking one’s mind and acting on one’s conscience.
Praise for Keith Olbermann
“A truth-telling, Bush-bashing accidental liberal hero.”
–New York
“The most honest man in news . . . Olbermann clearly relishes his feuds and doesn’t seem to worry much about sparking new ones.”
–Rolling Stone
“Part Jon Stewart (the funny), Dennis Miller (the erudite and biting sub-references), [and] H. L. Mencken (the skewering of power and stupidity in equal doses) as well as crusading journalist . . . Olbermann has emerged as a kind of force of nature.”
–San Francisco Chronicle
“Intelligent, well-read, forceful and incisive.”
–Rocky Mountain News
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 HISTORY WILL LOOK KINDLY ON THIS MAN
He spoke what was unspoken for far to long. This country owes him a debt of gratitude, and I for one thank him for his courage.
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 K.O. Power ( enshutch )
First, I would like to point out that what you're getting in Truth and Consequences is basically the transcripts of Olbermann's Special Comments from his show, Countdown on MSNBC. The twenty-four Special Comments, from Sept. 2005 to Sept. 2007, constitute the bulk of the book. However, Olbermann opens each commentary with a brief introduction in which he provides some context and the impetus for creating the comment. For those of you who haven't had the privilege of experiencing a Keith Olbermann Special Comment, then this would be a 5 star rating. Nonetheless, as a Keith Olbermann fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought he articulated and bolstered his case very well, interjecting history and wit all while being critical.
The book is full of expertly placed jabs, if you will, which we've grown accustom to in the traditional K.O. style:
On the Bush attitude, "...depraved indifference to democracy..." (pg. 153)
In reference to the Bush Administration's total disregard of the evidence proving that there were no WMD in Irag or a al-Qaeda Iraq link, Keith channels George Orwell: "To enforce the lies of the present, it is necessary to erase the truths of the past." (pg. 39)
Referring to Bush and Cheney: "Which is the ventriloquist and which the dummy is irrelevant." (pg. 136)
Keith Olbermann truly has his fingers on the pulse of democratic America. He has provided a voice for many whose cries have either gone unheard or just blatantly ignored.
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A truly revealing and excellent book
Certainly, those persons who spend their days as apologists for the Bush Administration, with their heads firmly buried in the sand, will list out all the reasons why this book is owned by the democratic party, and they'll shriek out the usual evangelistic defenses of Dumbya. But truly, Olbermann is a thorough, well-researched and articulate journalist, and his book touches on so many of the key problems and disasters that a patently dishonest (and at times, illegal) executive branch has taken us down a horrible path, leading this country further into ruin with poor decision-making and downright deceit.
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 Nothing new
Nothing new.
Journalism with two faces.
Intelligent? Yes!
Necessary? No
Importance? So so.
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 Don't Bother ( stolenturtle )
Talk about a spin zone. I mistakenly bought this book thinking it would be a revelation in facts, evidence, and a political "calling out", if you will, about the unjust administration currently in office. Well, now I'm half way through this book and I've yet to see any of that. So far, all I've gotten is a name-calling, Republican bashing, logically stinted pack of emotionally charged opinions. I like Keith Olbermann. I always have; which is why I bought this book on the blind faith that I was going to get factual, credible, READ-able material. Outside of his use of unnecessary obfuscation, it reads at about the academic level of a third grade temper tantrum. Disappointing to say the least.
I've got about another day and a half of reading this version of "Politics for the Politically Challenged or: Why Anyone Who Doesn't Agree With Me is Stupid", then I'm off to read the next book on my bookshelf, "What Happened" by Scott McClellan.
I hope that won't be nearly as disappointing as this.
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