MSNBC’s Very Own Conspiracy Nut: Keith Olbermann & Fox’s fictional TV show ‘24’

By: Steve Yuhas

Keith Olbermann should have stuck to reporting on pee-wee football since he has become a buffoon on the cable news network that has so few viewers that it is forced to show five year old documentaries about prison riots when there is no breaking news.  Alas, MSNBC decided to put Olbermann on in primetime in order to help boost their credibility and to entertain people with his supposed “wit.” On Tuesday he proved himself instead to be a conspiracy nut that sees Fox television hits as threats to national security.

At first you almost feel sorry for Olbermann who actually discussed with a straight face whether or not the fictional mega-hit ‘24’ is a White House plot to scare people into voting for a President not up for re-election.

What is the logic put forward by this heretofore sports broadcaster? Simple, ‘24’ is on the Fox network and Vice President Cheney enjoys the drama that tens of millions of other Americans also watch; therefore, in the mind of Olbermann Fox is working hand in hand with the White House to scare the public. He even found someone equally as nutty as himself to buttress this obtuse opinion.

Robert Greenwald, the nut job who made a movie called “Outfoxed,” attempted to find White House and GOP fingerprints on a fictional drama. Of course he could not provide any, but it didn’t stop him or Olbermann from acting as if ‘24’ was produced by Goebbels and Karl Rove.

Olbermann introduced the segment by asking if ‘24’ was “propaganda?  Is it fear-mongering?  Or is it a program-length commercial for one political party?” No surprise that he found Greenwald a willing participant in his ridiculous idea concerning the politics of the fictional black president whose political party is unknown in a fictional White House during a fictional nuclear terrorist attack. Greenwald lives for conspiracy theories and you need only listen to him to realize it.

Every black helicopter fanatic begins at least one sentence during an interview with “I‘m not a conspiracy theorist. But…” and Greenwald was no exception when he said that because ‘24’ airs on Fox that it raises “all of our eyebrows.” Exactly whose eyebrows are raised besides those of a sports caster turned newsman and a guy whose claim to fame is that he won praise by CNN as the new Michael Moore?

Nobody’s!

Olbermann had no objection when another TV show claimed to portray a fictional Democratic White House that attempted to entertain by using episodes predicated on the actual Democratic Party platform.

The West Wing made no effort to feign balance in their politics and before they were cancelled they did everything from bombing aspirin factories to get fictional terrorists to worrying about an impeachment for a president that lied to the public. Talk about art imitating life.

Amazing how fiction imitating real life on the West Wing was perfectly okay to Olbermann, but true fiction and entertainment is damned on ‘24’ (someone tell MSNBC that we’ve had no nuclear terrorism…yet). The biggest objection to ‘24’ for Olbermann and Greenwald is that some Republicans in power seem to enjoy watching it.

After pointing out the audacity of Vice President Cheney and Rush Limbaugh publicly saying they enjoy the program Olbermann went further and decided to ask Greenwald about the clandestine services taking the scripts to and from the White House. Again no surprise – Greenwald obliged him.

“How well does the fictionalizing of seemingly actual terror events, like subway and bus bombings and templating (sic) them over the United States‘ landscape, work as a fear tactic?”

Greenwald answered, “The tragedy, as we know, has been how this administration has played on people‘s fears, and how Fox News and Fox in general has used it over and over and over again.”

NO! The tragedy is that Olbermann found it important to talk about whether or not a fictional program that just happens to be on Fox is actually a White House propaganda ploy. That is the sad thing – and MSNBC wonders why people are not watching.

Yes, it is Fox with the problem: ‘24’ is a successful show about fighting a real threat of terrorism on our shores. NBC’s claim to fame is Donald Trump and his daughter firing people and three shows about fictional crimes in New York City. This is little more than envy between Fox, which everyone thought should fail, and the real failures of NBC.

Greenwald added that ‘24’ is not just a fictional program, but a metaphor for an administration that can’t “tell the difference (about fact and fiction), given that every day we get a different reason about who we should be afraid of, why we should be afraid, and why we went to war.” How exactly a bomb in Los Angeles ties into the war in Iraq is beyond the realm of logic, but Olbermann lapped it up not even questioning when we get all these reasons – as a consumer of news I’m oblivious to the multiple levels of reasons put forward by Greenwald – and I can’t find the disconnect – not even on MSNBC.

Insiders say that Olbermann is planning to debate White House involvement in Fox’s other hit program American Idol. Some of the winners end up going on USO tours to entertain troops in real (not fictional) war zones. Using Olbermann/Greenwald logic there are Marine helicopters on standby waiting to ferry scripts to and from the White House and for the American Idol winner to arrive from an undisclosed location.

Where did Karl Rove find that chubby gal in the gold shirt in the American Idol commercial and does the White House have an interest in Prison Break because of Scooter Libby’s trial starting? Then there is the medical drama House – what did President Bush know and when did he know it about Dr. House’s addiction and was the Golden Globe for the Britain payback for the United Kingdom’s role in Iraq?

The nation owes a debt of gratitude to Keith Olbermann – the exposure of all of these conspiracies is exactly why MSNBC is number one – oh wait – sorry; he is the reason MSNBC is the largest low rating newscast on cable.  This kind of investigative reporting can put a former pee-wee football reporter on the map and that is exactly what is happening. Olbermann is a star – I hope he has a security clearance.

Olbermann is exposing the truth about the intricate balance of power and brainwashing that is taking place in tandem between Fox and the White House. Nothing could be more important than uncovering the stealthy way the entertainment industry is being manipulated by President Bush. Unless you saw the story that followed the ‘24’ debate which was about a supermodel throwing a cell phone at her maid – that is equally important to the public discourse.

What would the world do without Olbermann and MSNBC? Prison documentaries be damned – I want wall to wall Congressional hearings on President Bush’s contacts with Jack Bauer.

Steve Yuhas is a radio talk show host on NewsRadio 600 KOGO and may be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com or www.steveyuhas.com