Calling the President a "liar" who was "slinging crap" and using "a form of terrorism against his own people" to gain support, Olbermann accused President Bush of fascism: "If you believe in the seamless mutuality of government and big business, come out and say it! There is a dictionary definition, one word that describes that toxic blend. You're a fascist! Get them to print you a T-shirt with fascist on it! What else is this but fascism?"

     Olbermann also had blunt words for Congressional Republicans who staged a walkout, as the Countdown host called them "crash dummies" who should "keep walking out of the country." Olbermann: "And your minions like John Boehner, your Republican congressional crash dummies who just happened to decide to walk out of Congress when a podium-full of microphones await them, they should just keep walking, out of Congress and, if possible, out of the country."

     [This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted late Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     As Olbermann began his February 14 "Special Comment," he quoted the President's contention that "if the bill was good enough" to be passed last summer, "why not pass the bill again?" and then invoked the past legality of slavery and, referring to Executive Order 9066, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II:

Now, as promised, a "Special Comment." A part of what I will say was said here first on January 31. Unfortunately it is both sadder and truer now than it was then. "Who's to blame?" Mr. Bush also said this afternoon, "Look, these folks in Congress passed a good bill late last summer. The problem is, they let the bill expire. My attitude is: If the bill was good enough then, why not pass the bill again?" You know, like the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Or Executive Order 9066. Or The Alien and Sedition Acts. Or slavery.

     The MSNBC host soon accused the Bush administration of spying on Americans "under this flimsy guise" of seeking out terrorists:

It is bad enough, sir, that you were demanding an ex post facto law which could still clear the AT&Ts and the Verizons from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive and blatant collaboration with your illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who might be stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass e-mail.

     Olbermann accused President Bush of fascism as he attacked the President's State of the Union reference to protecting telecom companies "believed" to have aided the administration:

But when you demanded it again during the State of the Union address, you wouldn't even confirm that they'd actually done anything for which they deserved to be cleared. "The Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America."

Believed? Don't you know? Don't you even have the guts Dick Cheney showed in admitting they did collaborate with you? Does this endless presidency of loopholes and even fine print extend here, too? If you believe in the seamless mutuality of government and big business, come out and say it! There is a dictionary definition, one word that describes that toxic blend. You're a fascist! Get them to print you a T-shirt with fascist on it!

     Olbermann added, "What else is this but fascism?" before recounting the appearance of an AT&T employee on his show who talked about his role in such surveillance, comparing it to "Big Brother" The MSNBC host went on to label Bush a "liar." Olbermann: "And if there's one thing we know about Big Brother, Mr. Bush, it's that he -- well, you -- are a liar."

     Citing Bush's contention that passage of the bill was important in protecting Americans against terrorism, the Countdown host soon continued: "This is crap. And you sling it with an audacity and a speed unrivaled even by the greatest political felons of our history."

     Olbermann soon labeled congressional Republicans who staged a walkout as "crash dummies" who "should just keep walking ... out of the country." Olbermann: "And your minions like John Boehner, your Republican congressional crash dummies who just happened to decide to walk out of Congress when a podium-full of microphones await them, they should just keep walking, out of Congress and, if possible, out of the country."

     The MSNBC host soon continued: "The lot of you are the symbolic descendants of the despotic middle managers of some banana republic to whom 'freedom' is an ironic brand name, a word you reach for when you want to get away with its opposite."

     Olbermann concluded his rant by accusing the President of a "form of terrorism against his own people," and contended that people like him will not "fear" speaking out against the President:

As recently ago as 2006, we spoke words like these with trepidation. The idea that even the most cynical and untrustworthy of the politicians in our history, George W. Bush, would use the literal form of terrorism against his own people was dangerous territory. It seemed to tempt fate, to heighten fear. We will not fear any longer. We will not fear the international terrorists, and we will thwart them. We will not fear the recognition of the manipulation of our yearning for safety. We will call it what it is: terrorism. We will not fear identifying the vulgar hypocrites in our government. We will name them. And we will not fear George W. Bush. Nor will we fear because George W. Bush wants us to fear.

     For the complete transcript of Olbermann's "Special Comment" from the February 14 Countdown show on MSNBC, check Brad's NewsBusters posting: newsbusters.org