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Olbermann ComparesBush Supporters to Lincoln's Opponents
Media Research Center
September 8, 2005
On Wednesday night'sCountdown, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, one night after he scathingly attackedPresident Bush's handling of hurricane relief, made what seemed to be a bizarrecomparison between those who approve of Bush's handling of disaster relief andthose who voted against Lincoln's re-election in 1864.
Olbermann relayedhis belief that the current political climate was a "re-creation" ofthe "mindset of the national politics of the year 1864," when 45percent of American voters voted for Democratic candidate George McClellan,"whose campaign platform consisted entirely of promising to immediatelyend the war, let the South secede, and let slavery continue there."Considering the recent criticisms made by some that President Bush wasinsensitive to hurricane victims trapped in New Orleans because most wereblack, Olbermann's choice of McClellan, a man who ran on a pro-slaveryplatform, suspiciously looks like an accusation that Bush's supporterssimilarly are insensitive to the black population, or, at least, are supportinga man who is just as obviously undeserving of support as was McClellan.
Olbermann then went on to recite Gallup poll results that shed light on whomthe public blames for disaster relief problems, but excluded the finding thatonly 13 percent of those polled believe Bush was "most responsible for theproblems in New Orleans after the hurricane." He instead distorted theresults by combining those who blame Bush -- 13 percent -- and those who blamefederal agencies -- 18 percent -- to say that 31 percent blame "the Presidentor federal agencies."
[This item was written by MRC news analyst Brad Wilmouth who posted itovernight on the MRC's NewsBusters.org blog.]
The September 7 CyberAlert recounted: Olbermann's arrogant hypocrisy. OnTuesday's Countdown, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann misidentified Tom DeLay as theHouse "Minority" Leader, an error for which he soon conceded that"I'd like to give you a good explanation for it, but there wasn't one. Ijust kicked it." But the night before, Olbermann had launched afive-minute diatribe which pegged great meaning to Secretary of HomelandSecurity Michael Chertoff's miscue that "Louisiana is a city that islargely underwater." Olbermann thundered: "Well, there's your problemright there. If ever a slip of the tongue defined a government's response to acrisis." Olbermann soon provided ridicule: "Anybody seen the VicePresident lately, the man whose message this time last year was 'I will protectyou, the other guy might let you die'? I don't know which 'we' Mr. Bush meant.For many of this country's citizens, the mantra has been, as we were taught insocial studies it should always be, whether or not I voted for this President,he is still my President. I suspect anybody who had to give him that benefit ofthe doubt stopped doing so last week." Olbermann also suggested Bushlooked "like a 21st century Marie Antoinette."
Olbermann's September 7 recitation: "It would seemingly be impossible tore-create the mindset of the national politics of the year 1864. But considerthe fact that in the middle of the Civil War, just after the capture ofAtlanta, with victory, as it proved, no more than five months away, with onlypeople in the Northern states eligible to cast a ballot, with all that, 45percent of all voters still voted against the Republican, Abraham Lincoln, andfor the Democrat, George McClellan. McClellan, whose campaign platformconsisted entirely of promising to immediately end the war, let the Southsecede, and let slavery continue there, 45 percent, 1.8 million out of 4million voters said yes to that.
"Our third story in the Countdown: Well, maybe it isn't impossible tore-create the mindset of the national politics of the year 1864. The latestGallup poll results are in. Only 10 percent of Democrats give the President apositive rating for his response to the hurricane, and only 10 percent ofRepublicans give the President a negative rating for his response to thehurricane. Taken as a whole, 10 percent of the country thinks Mr. Bush didgreat, 25 percent good, 21 percent neither good nor bad, 18 percent bad, 24percent terrible. Cut out the middle, that's 35 percent good or great and 42percent bad or terrible. In that black-and-white fashion, he gets about thesame blame as everybody else. How'd the federal agencies do? 35 percent good orgreat, 42 percent bad or terrible, exactly the same as the President. How aboutstate and local officials? 37 percent good or great, 35 percent bad orterrible. Who's most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after thehurricane? 'No one to blame' was the clear winner with 38 percent. 'ThePresident or federal agencies' 31 percent, 'state or local officials' 25percent.
"And one old number, though, for contrast, how the President was perceivedshortly after the great crisis of 9/11. Gallup poll closing Friday September22, 2001, 90 percent approved of how he was doing his job, six percentdisapproved. Continuing the theme of bipartisanship, 'bi' as in goodbye.Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader of the Senate, BillFrist, meeting the media this afternoon to announce a joint House-Senatebipartisan investigation into the preparation and response to Katrina, but,when reached for comment, the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid saidthe Republicans have not contacted the Democrats at all about anyinvestigation. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, the thought may havealready crossed your mind: Is this disconnect between the two sides reallypolitical or have the members of each party simply begun to inhabit separateand mutually exclusive physical planes of existence? You know, like separate universes?"