A couple of days ago I linked to an article by Glenn Greenwald from Salon republished among other places in CommonDreams in which Greenwald excoriated Keith Olbermann for going light on Barack Obama for his vote in favor of the "compromise" FISA Bill passed out of the House by Steny Hoyer and his band of DLC flakes.
I agreed with Greenwald that Olbermann's first and always duty is to the truth, even if it pinches the candidate that he so obviously favors. To so obviously favor one candidate over another, to my mind, establishes a special pleading which must be neutralized even if it requires one to bend over backwards to realize neutrality. Having said this, I do not believe in the notion that there are two (or more) truthful sides to every story. "Fair and balanced" should mean that the truth is reported and the falsehoods uncovered.
Apparently, Greenwald's and other comments at Daily Kos got under the skin of Keith Olbermann. This is the good news! He listens. The bad news is that he is stubbornly clinging to the story as it was interpreted to him by John Dean, the frequent "insider" view of the siege-mentality WhiteHouse (based on his experience with President Nixon). Briefly, the story is that the FISA Bill only immunizes the telecoms against civil actions, not criminal ones ... and this is the big hole in the Bill that gave Obama courage to vote for it ... and Olbermann courage to misrepresent (in my view) Obama's vote as a necessary measure on the way to getting elected.
To be sure, Obama is of very little use to us coming in 2nd in November, and yes, he does have to mind the anti-terrorism store. But, Obama and Olbermann stretch our credulity when they say that civil prosecution of the telecoms is unimportant and that perhaps if Obama is elected they will prosecute them under criminal charges. We are off into hypotheticals here. The ugly fact is that Obama saw a way to skinny through a putative loophole and took it. Olbermann saw the loophole and took it too. It was Olbermann's job to present the facts and let us draw our own conclusions. He did not do that. He drew the conclusions and then backed into the story.
This is not the level of incompetence displayed by Bill O, Hannity, and the rest, but it is disconcerting. I hope Keith understands his role better after this incident.
JB
http://americanliberalism.org
James R. Brett, Ph.D. taught Russian History in several universities before becoming an academic administrator in curriculum and faculty research administration. His academic interests have been in the history of science and the history of ideas, particularly Marxism and classical liberalism, but also psychology and consciousness studies. He is a frequent contributor to liberal and progressive blogs and is the founder and publisher of The American Liberalism Project.
And as Greenwald points out, though the FISA bill does not immunize the telecoms from criminal liability, Bush will likely pardon them from criminal prosecution. Bush cannot pardon them from civil litigation, however.
So, the facts are that Congress (and Obama) would first pardon the telecoms from civil trials; then Bush will complete the immunity by pardoning the telecoms from criminal liabilities.
Please ponder this: is this ruse just for political reasons or to protect the most powerful members of the House and Senate from having the truth of their own criminality, as co-conspirators in violations of the 4th Amendment, discovered in civil and criminal trials?
Is Barack Obama compromising his own integrity to protect Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, Jane Harmon and, perhaps, even Hillary Clinton?
by
Robert Arend (2 articles, 10 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 96 comments)
on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 8:17:08 PM
You have hit upon the ugly details that Keith Olbermann ... our Liberal (meaning RULE OF LAW) hero ... did not. One can fly off on tangents about this, speculating what might or probably will happen. Your point that Bush could (and probably will, if the Scooter Libby case is any guide) pardon the telecoms in advance, sure does moot the Obama, Dean, Olbermann loophole. It turns into a noose where their three necks are. Thanks for the good additions to this.
JB
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James Brett (80 articles, 95 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 82 comments)
on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 8:27:21 PM
It is easy to be angry with Barack Obama for his vote on FISA. We will see more movement toward the center as the campaign matures. Just remember what he said when he was talking to the Liberals and Progressives who will be in his government. His comments and votes designed to allay the irrational fears of the centrists are not cast in concrete and do not represent how he intends to govern.
JB
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James Brett (80 articles, 95 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 82 comments)
on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 6:21:30 PM
It is easy to be angry with Barack Obama for his vote on FISA. We will see more movement toward the center as the campaign matures. Just remember what he said when he was talking to the Liberals and Progressives who will be in his government. His comments and votes designed to allay the irrational fears of the centrists are not cast in concrete and do not represent how he intends to govern.
JB
by
James Brett (80 articles, 95 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 82 comments)
on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 6:21:33 PM
