Olbermann v. Milbank: The Back Story
By SusanUnPC on August 7, 2008 at 9:38 AM in 1st Amendment, Keith Olbermann, Obama's Media Censorship
Aha! I knew someone would get to the bottom of this shocker (”Keith Olbermann Declares Off With Dana Milbank’s Head”). At last! The sordid details!
Politico’s Michael Calderone has the scoop, via Memeorandum.com:
Milbank’s dissatisfaction with the show started before any controversy over the Obama piece or questions from Olbermann about misquoting the Democratic candidate, according to sources.
Isn’t that what most sentient beings had already figured out? That for all of Olbermann’s heavy-breathed sternness and breathless tirade published at the distinguished Daily Kos, it turns out that it was Milbank who was sick and tired of Olbermann’s and his crew’s stunts?
A source familiar with the situation told Politico that Milbank had been unhappy on the show for a couple of months and expressed this sentiment to friends. But it wasn’t until directly after an incident last month that Milbank made a move.
During the first week of July, Milbank spoke to
executiveproducer Katy Karp about why he had not been on the show for a couple of weeks. At that point, Milbank was told that there was an issue among staff with something positive he said the previous month about Charlie Black, a McCain senior adviser.
Oh. My. God. Milbank committed the ultimate sin! Well, the sin just below criticizing “The One.” He praised The Enemy’s Force! Oh, the hideousness of it all!
Here’s the exchange from June 23, where Olbermann talked to Milbank on-air about Black’s statement to Fortune magazine, that a terrorist attack would be a “big advantage” for the McCain campaign.
OLBERMANN: But where do we go in terms of this story from here? Does McCain have to, whether he likes it or not, fire Charlie Black or face having this bell along with other bells around his neck all summer and all fall?
MILBANK: Well, he’s going to wait and see. I imagine they are certainly going to hope that this becomes a 24-hour thing that blows over. Which it well could be, depending on what events happen in the coming days. But if it keeps being brought back to them, they’ll have to take some action here.
The irony here is that Charlie Black is a very soft-spoken, well-liked figure, and this does seem rather out of character for him to sound off in this way.
An MSNBC spokesperson confirmed there was a conversation where Black came, but the producer was only joking. The spokesperson said there was no connection between anything Dana said about Black and his not being booked on “Countdown.”
Milbank told Big Head DC yesterday that he "started contract talks with CNN on July 7" — therefore, things were underway several weeks before the July 30 column. (Indeed, Milbank reached out directly to Campbell Brown.) …
So, if you’re looking for Dana Milbank, look no further than CNN!
And I hope that Keith Olbermann followed the instructions from Obama’s campaign to the letter.
For more fun with this “hot” story, check out Larry Johnson’s “Obama Versus the Press.”
Did you guys read the latest CBS poll showing Bambi with a 6-point lead. CBS manipulated the poll breathlessly, but still could not save his sorry ass.
CBS milked the partisan breakdown to an absurd degree. Look at page 15, the raw data shows a partisan breakdown as follows:
906
Total Republicans 317 (35%)
Total Democrats 381 (42%)
Total Independents 336 (37%)
A 7% difference.
CBS then ‘weighted’ the sample, and gave us this:
851
Total Republicans 284 (33%)
Total Democrats 406 (48%)
Total Independents 344 (40%)
A 15% difference in partisan IDs.
I saw this posted on Pollster as well. The breakdown numbers that CBS gives are based on ALL respondents (1034), not just the 906 registered voter respondents, weighted down to 851 registered voter respondents. It turns out that their weighting for registered voters isn’t that bad (27% Republican, 39% Democrat and 28% unaffiliated).
Real problem is that registered Democrats are far less likely to vote in the general election than registered Republicans. That’s why you see the difference of 6 points here, but only 1 point at Rasmussen (who uses Likely Voters, instead of Registered Voters).
The details are important to unscrambling why there’s an apparent difference.
sorry, 33% unaffiliated - 28% is the percentage of likely voters who are unaffiliated based on Rasmussen estimates.
CBs’s poll reliability is pretty far down the list. ABC is considered at or near the top. CBS always seems to favor Dem’s so take it with a grain of salt. I find the tracking polls to be the most interesting because they are up-to-the-minute and most clearly indicate how the public is reacting to external events as they happen.
By the way, a new SurveyUSA Oregon poll showing Obama with just 3 points lead, Obama 48, McCain 45.
SurveyUSA is a good pollster, but I don’t trust this poll. It’s hard to imagine bambi with only 3-point lead in a latte drinking state. If that’s the case, the election will be a bloodbath for Democrats.
They aren’t “feeling” BHO in Massachusetts.
See, the prototype for his campaign was tried out here, and it gave us a (whiney) Democratic governor that promised hope and change and can’t get along with a fucking DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURE.
It’s no accident that HRC won the primary here. It’s also no accident that McCain is working hard here. He’s got an opening.
When BHO has to fight for a blue state like Massachusetts, he’s in trouble. And he WILL have to fight.
Thank you Clinton Fan. Not only did she win but she won by 15%. HRC did this while Bambi had Duvall, Caroline, Teddy, and Johnny stumping for him. I would assume that if Caroline Kennedy campaigned for Dick Chenny he’d win in Massachusetts but Bambi couldn’t come close. This defeat needs to be pointed out to all Obamabots. The people of Massachusetts have lived with hopey hope and changey change and rejected Obama’s national version of it. The citizens of Massachusetts know something the rest of the nation needs to know, reading speeches well will never replace experience and substance on the issues.
Massachusetts was Hillary country during the primary and a lot of people were angry at the bigwigs for ignoring that blowout vote. For the first time in his 24-year Senate career, Kerry is being challenged in the Democratic primary in September. His challenger is a newcomer named Ed O’Reilly (who looks just like Joe Kennedy, oddly enough). O’Reilly was able to grab 23% of the vote at the state convention in June. That made him eligible to be on the primary ballot. Now Kerry has to spend time and money this summer to protect his seat. There is also a general belief that he will be offered a high profile job in an Obama administration so he would be gone anyway. He is definitely in trouble with his constituents.
BHO will take Massachussetts.
It will not be a 61-63% win, such as
Clinton 96′(61.4%), Gore 2000(60.6%),
Kerry 04′(62.9%).
It looks like 54-55% and Obama will have to spend some time there too.
You’re right, it won’t be a 61%-63% unless we have new math.
Might be because of all the Deval Patrick negatives where he is not that loved…
This also spills over into New Hampshire, where the populous parts of the New Hamshire get their media from Boston. They love McCain and know all about Deval Patrick being a screw-up. Don’t let MSNBC tell you NH is blue or a toss-up; it will be RED come November.
Survey USA is owned by “news journalists”—they are good,supposedly, but who really owns them???
Okay, so Milbank was ousted for saying that a McCain aide was not totally imperfect, and much of the Obama horde insists on calling Obama perfect. Duality of thought, segregating people into pure good and pure evil. Personality cult. Gee, just what we need guiding our democracy.
What makes this so unreal is that Milbank has a history of trashing Democrats just like most of the of the so-called “liberal” media. Maybe this will wake him up. Kinda like Craig “the disappeared” Crawford after he was home with a hurt foot and watched a ton of cable news. He was astounded by the sexism he saw against Hillary and said so. He used to be on MSNBC all the time but I never see him now.
By my math it’s 27% R, 39% D and 33% I. O must be in more trouble then we think if they a rigging the polls this badly.
Is CBS/Westinghouse pushing Obama because “O” is owned by the Nuke industry and Westinghouse is the worlds largest producer of Nuke power plants? In todays political environment, no conspiracy seems to far fetched.
KO’s show, like most all of cable news, is about as real as professional wrestling. There’s a script to follow with stock characters and everybody better stick to their assigned parts. The winner’s and losers are determined before everything starts and the audience is cued in on who to cheer and who to boo and hiss at. Milbank went off script and KO, the Vince McMahon of cable news, tried to punish him.
Hmmm…..Professional Wrestling has better wardrobe….No ?
wrestling has a better class of people for sure…
There is something inherently more honest about professional wrestling.
Ouch.
Pelosi Book Flops, Obama Nation Hits #1 On NY Times Bestseller List
http://stuckon-stupid.com/2008/08/07/pelosi-book-flops-obama-nation-hits-1-on-ny-times-bestseller-list/
Serves her right for all she has done. What a disappointment for women! Women like Pelosi who become part of the ‘good old boys system’ do NOT represent women and their issues - aka, Hillary for President, and the congresswoman she refused to appoint to a position she was in line for when Pelosi first became speaker. It was reported they were ‘cat fighters’ - one of the down sides of many of our wayward sisters who often sabotage the hopes and dreams for equality for all people.
Pelosi disgusts me! How dare she tried to force Hillary to quit during the primaries! She is a big shame to all women!
The most powerful woman in the history of American politics is Hillary Clinton, not that disgusting Pelosi, the shame to all women!
how can pelsoi be powerful when the real power is hoyer. she is nothing but dressing. of course she is somewhat dillusional. that’s for sure!
KNOW YOUR POWER? Shouldn’t dear Nancy be reading it herself as we write? It’s obvious she has highly overestimated her own. Maybe she can send herself an autographed copy.
Did Donald Trump Ghost write that one?
That will teach ‘em to use the force….HA~!
A man’s GOT to KNOW his limitations.
OT….sort of but this does relate to the press. Susan have you seen that video over at Riverdaughter about the Photographer who interrupted an Obama Townhall in Ohio by requesting they start the townhall with the Pledge of Allegiance ?……WOW
I gonna go out on a limb here here, but I’ll bet BO just flat ass didn’t know the words. The photog should have said, “Oh no, Senator, please … you go ahead and recite the Pledge … please! It’s your show.”
“I … uh, uh … pledge … uh … “
i saw it and was impressed with this guy’s passion. he speaks for the typical voter who is going to reject obama.
There yaa go Working class artist, ya just had to point that out didn’t ya? Now I gotta click right over and check it out.
I want BO to say it loud and clear.
Why he did not do this to start with is wack. He had to be TOLD. Just like John Roberts TOLD.
NO flag, no air pressure? No prob Bob.
Here is KO committing the same deed that he complains FoxNews is doing for Bush.
Meltdown (saw it here…too funny)….
is forming the opinions of the journalists/talking heads to fit their version of reality.
I wonder what type of opinions is CNN paying for now?
Are they Milbank’s geniune opinions or the same type of force-fed-Obama-love intermingled with less rants from the host?
OT but I think I’m being traced. (Paranoia but even Paranoics have enemies, right?)
I had an odd call this AM on my landline asking for someone with a last, unusual name of my daughter-in-law who lives in another state. The first name given was totally unknown to me, but the man said that this was a contact number he had been given. I got his number but reverse look-up had no listing. I finally went to another site and found that number is a land line registered to someone in the Amherst, NY area, I could not get the man’s name without buying it for $19. Does someone here have that service already and could get the man’s name in case something weird happens at my home?
We do not know anyone in the Amherst area, nor does my d-i-l.
You might be able to call the Amherst local library and ask if they have a criss cross directory in which can look up info by the phone number.
I think normally it is arranged by address but tell her your story and why you are asking her to look it up.
If you are worried maybe it is worth the $19 if the directory doesn’t work.
oops…in which ‘they’ can
I might be able to find it. Just post the phone number here - with area code - and I’ll post what I come up with.
I had one of those calls, but didn’t have access to the number. In that case it was someone who was trying to find a person of my last relatively rare last name whom he had been stationed in Germany with. I thought it pretty phoney at the time, but didn’t question it. I’m a person who like Cindy doesn’t hesitate to call horseshit when horseshit is appropriate, so I probably should expect some feedback from the nuts.
i don’t mean to be personal here but another consideration might be a debt perhaps for some health issue. that is another possibility and can be easily dealt with by you.
IT is a shame Dana, seems to be another one of those too little too late, people. He went on KO for months after the sane people saw Countdown for what it was and he lost all credibility along with them. I guess more people know him now, if that was his goal, but he isn’t known for anything a real journelist would like. He is known as another very biased reporter, who lost all credibility. How pathetic is it since January, there has only been 2 times he dared not stick to the Clinton then McCain evil/ Obama the One rules at MSNBC
Someone posted this on the Confluence.
He’s back on MSNBC drunk from the koolaid.
It is difficult to imagine a person who drinks more koolaide that Uberjack…I watch him @ intervals just to see his dewy eyed SHOCK that we hate BO. MSNBC is chock full of tools, yet KO reigns supreme. It is alittle fun on a down night.
I HOPE that the CHANGE for the better is coming with MSM FINALLY taking the COLB issue to the candidate to find out how we got his SISTERS COLB…who was born in Indonesia.
Where is Obarfo’s COLB???
As a native Oregonian, I take friendly issue with the “latte drinking state” description by Hillaryfighter. Portland and Eugene do not make a state. It doesn’t surprise me that BHO is lagging behind expectations. The hard core lefties are deserting him for Nader and what’s-her-name. The working class millworkers and timber industry employees are Hillary supporters who dislike His Snottiness more every day. Many will not cast a Presidential ballot. East of the Cascades is solid McCain country (except among the Lycra set in Bend). If McCain would take the bold step of announcing he will not seek a second term, I think Oregon would be his.
yup, i’d like to see mccain say that also. i personally don’t think he would consider a second term. he is basically a realistic person as compared to obama.
[…] frequent guest on Keith Olbermann’s “news” program? Will he meet the same fate as Dana Milbank, who also dared to write an article that was critical of “The […]