Keith Olberman desperately wants to be Edward R. Murrow. I wish he would drop it. He's a hack of the very worst kind.

Seriously, this bullshit about the golf comment is ridiculous. W. never claimed that him not playing golf was some "great sacrifice." I remember being in the theatre watching "Farenheit 9/11" and everyone making a big deal about him playing golf after an interview about the war. Now he claims to have given up golf and it's an insult.

On policy, the guy is an idiot, and the war is a crime. But this perpetual demonization of every little fucking thing the man does is a little much.

damn it! I just spent several minutes typing out a long reply, which was somehow eaten by the site. I do not have the energy to retype it- but, the upshot was: I disagree on all but one of your points.

okay, I'll try this again

That W. never called his golf hiatus a ?great sacrifice? is entirely irrelevant. The simple sad fact is that he tried to present his temporary retirement from a pointless game as some sort of meaningful gesture in relation to the criminal war that he and his cronies orchestrated. More offensive than the golf comments, however, were his exaltations that electing Democrats will get us blowed up but good by them terrorists, and his mealy mouthed blame shifting in regard to the war. It seems that president bush now wants the world to believe that he was somehow fooled into dragging this nation into that particular quagmire. This president and his corrupt, slime coated cohorts orchestrated the deaths of 4,000 American soldiers and untold numbers of Iraqi civilians as a means to ensure and maintain their own hegemony. It is disgusting. It is bankrupt. It is sad.

As to Olberman being a hack murrow wannabe: I think he certainly wants to be Murrrow, but I see no crime in that. I do not think that it is fair to call him a hack. I read his anger and indignation as real, genuine, and appropriate.

On the point of demonizing every thing that W does: I have not seen this. Some of us on the left (like me) actually agree with him (to an extent) on immigration issues. This is not the only issue on which I think W may be close to the right position. ? That doesn?t really matter all that much though. His party is on it?s way out.

The question about golf was phrased asking if it was related to the war. Obviously, it is. The question wasn't, "Hey, Mr. President. You don't play golf no more, what gives?" And Bush's answer wasn't, "'Cause I want to show my support for our troops!"

I'm not disagreeing with you or Olberman on the war. Neither are the majority of Americans. Which, to me, makes this "special comment" about as relevant as shouting, "The Earth is the third planet from the Sun" because 3 people say it isn't.

Olberman's anger and indignation certainly exist, but the vitriol with which these prepared rants are delivered is completely over the top and false. K.O. isn't taking on the establishment. He's yelling what MSNBC's demographic wants to hear.

I could be wrong on this (but I doubt that I am): the question was an obvious set up. You know when Leno asks Bruce Willis about the funny thing that happened to him on his flight to Paris, it?s planned. Willis? publicist (or someone) gives Leno?s people a list of topics, which then become the questions. Politico isn?t Newsnight. No one there is going to ambush W. It?s friendly territory for him. That particular question sounded to me like it was out of a can. If I?m correct (which I?m almost certain that I am), then my point about W.?s answer (and what it was meant to imply) still stands.

why are my apostrophes turning into question marks?

My guess is you are copying and pasting and the character mapping for the fonts is different.

oh. Bingo. Thanks.

Nathan...question for you. Do you mean Republicans are on their way out of this election, or are you suggesting the party as a whole is going to fall apart? Your phrasing seems to suggest the latter (at least to me).

the republican party is very likely to sufer crushing defeats at all levels this year. beyond that, I think that the neocons (bush Rove types) are about to lose control of the GOP and be replaced by old school cons