Olbermann On Why He Told Bush To “Shut The Hell Up”
He said it was because they wouldn’t let him tell the President to “Shut the fuck up.”
Olbermann’s original script identified the “cold-blooded killers” as everyone at the Pentagon and in the Bush Cabinet; when a colleague noted that that would include such relative moderates as Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Olbermann modified the line. Phil Griffin, the senior vice-president in charge of MSNBC (“Phil thinks he’s my boss,” Olbermann says), raised the matter of tone. Why did Olbermann need to end his commentary by telling the President of the United States to “shut the hell up”?
“Because I can’t say, ‘Shut the fuck up,’ that’s why, frankly,” Olbermann responded. The line stayed in.
Classy guy. Note to MSNBC: Sound, objective political analysis typically doesn’t usually include spittle-flecked tirades that stop just short of profanity.
And just think, this is who Tim Russert went out broadcasting with on election nights.
The article compares Olbermann to Edward R. Murrow. As far as I’m concerned, Olbermann wouldn’t have been fit to run Murrow’s teleprompter. Or Russert’s, for that matter.
