Keith Olbermann Leaves MSNBC (A Few Great Moments Against Dominonism)
OldChaosoftheSun printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 09:04:21 AM EST
Today, I recoiled in fright as I read that Keith Olbermann had been terminated before his contract was finished.  The NY Post, ever acting their character, called him a "Gasbag" on his way out of the eyes, but not minds, of his many liberal fans.  It's important to remember in regards to the dominionist agenda, that Keith has been a persistent, intelligent, and critical voice against theocracy, though at times, perhaps, oblivious or silenced as to its true magnitude.  It is important for those of us who are familiar with the broader goals of the Kingdom Theology adherents to at least question what role this plays in pursuing dominance.
Keith left his mark on 21st century cable news in a way only overshadowed by the keen intellect and biting questions of the late Tim Russert.  Unafraid to speak vehemently against the forces of the Republican Party, Olbermann, with his verbose and stern comments, undoubtedly left wounds in Republican politicians and pundits whose rhetoric often falls to plebeian quality when compared to Olbermann's poetic, allusive, historical, professorial, and venomous candor.  In an era where what is termed "elitism" is shunned and scorned, and the "simple" is uplifted, perhaps it was Keith's intellectualism that spelled his downfall from the increasingly sensationalist and incoherent blather that passes for visual news media in this era.  

I am reminded all too ominously of the Spiritual Mappers' fantasized demon opponent, "The Prince of Greece."  This demon has been stated by the New Apostolic Reformation to control Europe and be the source of "rationalism and humanism."  With Keith's removal from television, and Russert's recent death, I cannot but help feel this "demon" has been cast out from television news.  Though certainly those of us who pursue the written word as sources for our news know that Keith is not the sole source of rational thought and humanistic viewpoints within the vast media complex, he was an important strategic outflow point for these ideologies is cable news.  And, Keith was everything we could want in an ideological figurehead: masculine, intelligent, humorous, and able to form complete sentences without stuttering.  He persona was the antithesis of the Conservatives' straw man for liberals: he was masculine, stern, commanding, and dominating.  In short (no pun intended), he was everything that Alan Colmes is not.

Regardless of the yet to be learned reasons for his split with MSNBC, it is important to note that Keith was one of the few pundits on television news with the courage to approach the tangled, dangerous, and apocalyptic webs of right wing theology, that role now solely falling to the interesting and intelligent, but less authoritative, Rachel Maddow.  Yes, fellow anti-dominionists, with Keith's loss, we have lost our alpha male.

In memory of Keith's ability to rightfully criticize the dangers of right wing theology, I have selected a few videos of Keith's best moments concerning Palin and the dominionist agenda:

1> Olbermann blasts Pat Robertson for stating Haiti made a pact with the devil to rebel against French Slave Masters.

2> Olbermann directly questions what Palin's belief about the rapture, apocalypse, Israel, and "Prophetic Foreign Policy."

3> Countdown on Palin's witch hunting friend, Pastor Muthee.

4> Special Comment on the assassination of Dr. George Tiller quoting Frank Schaeffer, repentant son of dominonist Francis Schaeffer.

5> Keith on Blackwater's theocratic agenda and motives.

6> Olbermann asking if Palin is a horsewoman of the apocalypse and trying to understand the Religious Right's "end of days" theology without having read Tim LaHaye (unfortunately).

7> Keith comparing Ted Haggard's church in Jesus Camp to Islamic Terrorist Indoctrination, perhaps an excessive analogy were it not for the fact that the leaders make the analogy themselves.

8> Finally, and a fitting tribute to this titan of the English Language, his own comment about the nature of "objective" news reporting in the current era.  And, with what may be one of the simplest comments uttered by this man, an underhanded, brilliant, and common sense remark that should resound through the Democracy and the foundation of all thought: "Once you got a false God, you're gonna get false priests;" a fitting final deduction for what now remains of television news media, and the hope that one voice of historical context might remain in the eyes and ears of the Nation's viewers of television news.

To Olbermann who once made our news cogent, linguistic, visceral, and historical, we must all wish him "good night and good luck."







Display:
I would like to READ his comments, not watch a video.  Are there any transcriptions available?

by ArchaeoBob on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 12:38:31 PM EST

On the evening of May 21, 2008, Olbermann featured a video provided by Talk2action's Bruce Wilson which included the audio of John Hagee's now infamous "Hitler as hunter" quote. The story immediately made national and international news. The next day presidential candidate John McCain rejected Hagee's endorsement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSkaNhAs_UI

by Rachel Tabachnick on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 04:07:53 PM EST

Though I don't recall seeing Hagee say this, I can't say I'm surprised.  I'm sure these strands of thought are more prevalent in the religious right than most people think.  When I was raised amongst dominionists, the undercurrent was that "The Holocaust was God's punishment upon the Jews for rejecting Jesus as Messiah."  It took me too many years to come to understand how dreadfully misleading these "pastors" are.

As for Hagee's comments, they remind me of a 2004 Defense Department report where they seem to virtually say that the word "terrorism" is now a brainwashing technique/thought-terminating cliche:

"The events of September 11, 2001 were a catalyst in creating a new way to think about national security. The Global War on Terrorism replaced the Cold War as a national security meta narrative. Governments, media, and publics use the terrorism frame for cognitive, evaluative, and communication purposes. For political leaders, it is a way to link disparate events; identify priorities, friends, enemies, victims, and blame; and shape simple coherent messages. For journalists and news consumers the terrorism frame conflates and appears to make sense of diverse national security stories - Al Qaeda, Jihadists, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Iran, Chechnya, Indonesia, Kashmir, the Philippines, Kenya, Spain.

Frames simplify and help to communicate complex events."

by OldChaosoftheSun on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 10:00:34 PM EST
Parent



>>Keith left his mark on 21st century cable news in a way only overshadowed by the keen intellect and biting questions of the late Tim Russert.<<

I agree that losing Olbermann is a loss of a reasoned and rational voice in the media. I'm not convinced that Tim Russert was all that great a champion for progressives.
Thank you for the links and the article. I will certainly miss Keith being on. Perhaps he should migrate to DemocracyNow?

by COinMS on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 09:02:21 AM EST

My view of Tim Russert was not that he was necessarily a champion of progressivism, but that he wasn't afraid to ask hard hitting questions and had the brains to back them up.

In a conversation with Reggie White, he wasn't afraid to bluntly ask a question about corporal punishment:

Russert: "You actually hit your children?"

White: "I whup my children, I mean, I don't hit my children out of anger. I don't beat them. The Bible said if you spare the rod, you hate your son. The thing is that we've allowed disorder amongst our children. And now children are in chaos right now because we've not given them that discipline."

It's possible I didn't have enough experience watching Russert and overstated him.  Seeing as he was Novak's source for the Plame info, I'm less than pleased, though he was a journalist and not the Vice President.  I still appreciate the in depth interview form of television news more than Keith's form.  I'm not sure Keith, as influential and interesting as he was, could survive without a teleprompter.

I see anything that speaks in depth and with knowledge as the enemy of dominionists, and Russert would have certainly fit this paradigm.  Other Journalists such as Moyers do this and Larry King, but King spent so much time with pop culture that I was less than impressed, and Moyers is on PBS which few watch.

Given my experience in Assemblies of God and the course and vitriolic anti-intellectualism exhibited in the theology in addition to the same anti-intellectualism of the mainstream media, those who cross that boundary present a good deal of a threat to establishing a theocracy based on dominance, it was this lens I was approaching my view of Russert.  One of the primary enemies of the New Apostolic Reformation being stated to be "The Prince of Greece" which is more literally "the Socratic method" of inquiry as this quote from their Apostle Markakis indicates:

"Democracy with its implied absence of author and the inherent need for debate and intrigue is the environment where the Hellenic mindset (i.e. the fruit of the Prince of Greece) thrives and uses to induce anarchy, division and the spirit of the Antichrist within the Church."

So, I should have phrased my approach to Russert better meaning the willingness to engage in meaningful commentary and discussion rather than to simple shout at one another on a split screen as Fox News tends to do.

I don't think Keith has the gentility to do Democracy Now, but I really hope he is able to continue expressing his views.  Maybe Hedges and him would make a really good "we're angry and smart and liberal" team?

by OldChaosoftheSun on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 09:38:21 AM EST
Parent


...You got me though, I'm a little bit of a conspiracy theorist when it comes to the chess board of mass media.  Two major pillars of GE's Cable News have been removed, Russert and now Olbermann.  I tend to never quite believe the official stories behind them.  To negotiate with 300,000,000 people for votes, you have to make sure they don't have too many lingering questions.  Both Russert and Olbermann had a nasty habit of embarrassing politicians with their respective methods.

by OldChaosoftheSun on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:18:57 AM EST
Parent
You're right, I see the comparison now. I agree that Russert did ask more 'hardball' questions than many other 'journalists', although it seems like nothing ever really is followed up on in any depth. I drew an erroneous equivalency between the two that was not warranted.
Olbermann was against the war, and that took courage to speak out.
MSNBC has done more on the dominionist issue and the military/religion link than any other network, I think.

by COinMS on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 05:22:15 PM EST
Parent



Hey OldChaos, where is your story called 'An Unfortunate Conclusion'? Can't seem to find it.

by COinMS on Fri Feb 18, 2011 at 09:41:36 AM EST


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