MSNBC’s KEITH OLBERMANN PREACHES HATE SPEECH AND LIBERAL MEDIA ARE SILENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 2, 2006

CONTACT: TIM SCHEIDERER OR COLLEEN O’BOYLE AT 703.683.5004

Alexandria, VA–On MSNBC’s Countdown Wednesday, host Keith Olbermann, in a derisive 12-minute rant, claimed that President Bush was responsible for inspiring “domestic terrorism” against his critics and further suggested that Bush’s supporters are like the pro-slavery congressman who used a cane to attack anti-slavery Senator Charles Sumner in the 19th century. Yet the liberal media, who constantly remind the American public about alleged hate speech on the political right, are not talking about Mr. Olbermann’s remarks.

Mr. Olbermann, addressing President Bush, said: “You instructed no one to mail the fake Anthrax [received by Olbermann], nor undermine the FBI’s case, nor call for the execution of the editors of the New York Times, nor threaten to assassinate Stephanie Miller, nor beat up a man yelling at Senator George Allen, nor have the First Lady knife Michael J. Fox, nor tell John McCain to lie about John Kerry. No, you did not, sir. And the genius of the thing is the same as in King Henry's rhetorical question about Archbishop Thomas Becket: ‘Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?’ All you have to do, sir, is hand out enough new canes.”

In response to Mr. Olbermann’s hateful comments and the hypocritical silence of the liberal media, MRC President Brent Bozell issued the following statement:

“Mr. Olbermann’s comments are beyond partisan. They are radically extreme and hateful. If any conservative even came close to the tenor and bitterness of Mr. Olbermann’s rhetoric, the liberal media would assail them as hate-mongers who are dividing the country. And if he worked for a network, he’d be fired immediately – or look at Michael Savage who, incidentally, was fired from MSNBC. But when a leftist like Mr. Olbermann spews his venom, the liberal media say … nothing.

“This is despicable. Mr. Olbermann is using his national program to hatefully savage the President with personal smears in order to help Democrats win in next week’s election. This is why the top liberal media are silent. A brown-shirted left-winger spews hate from an NBC-owned podium: That’s the face of liberal media today.”

To schedule an interview with MRC President Bozell or an MRC spokesperson, please contact Tim Scheiderer (x. 126) or Colleen O’Boyle (x. 122) at 703.683.5004.