List of Keith Olbermann's special comments

Keith Olbermann occasionally delivers "special comments," commentaries usually several minutes long, on his MSNBC news show, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann". The first commentary specifically designated as a special comment was delivered on August 30, 2006. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15000494/ Feeling morally, intellectually confused?: Keith Olbermann comments on Donald Rumsfeld's remarks] ]

Olbermann originates and writes his special comments himself, which he has described as a two-day process that begins with " [getting] pissed off" and involves a number of rewrites and rehearsals before the show airs. [ [http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/11/05/fdl-book-salon-welcomes-keith-olbermann-2/#comment-364195 FDL Book Salon Welcomes Keith Olbermann] ]

The special comments usually take the form of criticism of the Bush administration or other conservatives, such as Newt Gingrich [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15976642/ Free speech and the delusion of grandeur: Keith Olbermann responds to Newt Gingrich’s comments about free speech] ] or Tom DeLay, [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17804328/ Special comment: DeLay’s DeLusions] ] though one special comment was highly critical of Democrats for what Olbermann characterized as capitulating to the Bush administration over the Iraq War. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18831132/ The entire government has failed us on Iraq] ] His criticism of Hillary Clinton's response to the comments of Geraldine Ferraro about Barack Obama and the comments aftermath was the first time a special comment has been "directed exclusively at a Democrat." [ [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/12/keith-olbermann-to-do-sp_n_91110.html Keith Olbermann To Do "Special Comment" About Hillary Clinton Tonight — First Time Targeting A Democrat] ]

Olbermann's special comments have generated much attention and controversy, especially on the Internet. They have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, and, the day after the first special comment, Olbermann's name became the #4 search term on Technorati and the Amazon.com ranking of his book "Worst Person in the World" jumped from #98 to #19. [ [http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/olbermanns_book_soars_on_amazoncom_43090.asp Olbermann's book soars on Amazon.com] ] On at least two instances, excerpts from special comments have been entered into the Congressional Record, including a speech by West Virginia Representative Nick Rahall on the House floor. [ [http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2007/1/14/msnbc-host-now-playing-in-congress.html MSNBC host now playing in Congress] ]

A book compiling Olbermann's Special Comments, "Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration's War on American Values", was released on December 26, 2007, containing all the Special Comments that aired on or before September 4, 2007, including the one on Hurricane Katrina. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22263664/page/3/ Truth and consequences - Hurricane Katrina] , Keith Olbermann, MSNBC.com, December 17, 2007 (Retrieved on September 11, 2008)]

Special comments

The links in this table are to transcripts or videos of the special comments. The special comment titles are taken from the MSNBC website; they are not mentioned on air.

Other information

Before Olbermann started designating his commentaries "special comments," he delivered a commentary on what he characterized as the Bush administration's incompetence in handling the Hurricane Katrina relief effort on September 5, 2005 [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9231761/ 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for September 5 - Countdown with Keith Olbermann - MSNBC.com ] ] . The commentary was widely shared on the Internet and prompted "Rolling Stone" to name Olbermann a "truth teller" in its 2005 Men of the Year issue. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/8957321/keith_olbermann/ KEITH OLBERMANN : Rolling Stone ] ]

On December 18, 2006, MSNBC first aired a show dedicated entirely to Olbermann's special comments. The show, which aired during Countdown's normal time slot during Countdown's holiday hiatus featured four Special Comments: "This hole in the ground", "Feeling morally, intellectually confused?", "A special comment about lying", and "Where are the checks, balances?" Olbermann revealed during this show that his first special comment, "Feeling morally, intellectually confused?" was written on the back of a travel itinerary while waiting for a flight in Los Angeles. Or|date=August 2008

On August 31, 2007, Olbermann spoofed himself and the special comments with a guest appearance on "The Soup". In it, he and host Joel McHale berated Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan for their misbehavior, going so far as to put up a photo of Anna Nicole Smith as an example of what could happen to them if they don't change their ways. Or|date=August 2008

Olbermann similarly parodied the concept (and his own delivery) during the Keeping Tabs segment of the December 7 2007 edition of "Countdown" with a "Special Come On." It was directed at FOX Network executives about the possibility of an "Arrested Development" movie, and extolled the virtues of the show both in terms of quality and marketability. [cite web
url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22221245/
title='Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 7 (transcript)
date=December 7 2007
accessdate=2008-04-05]

References