In Keith Olbermann's now-Rec-Listed diary, he posed this question:
Yet, all of this does raise an issue. Just because Fox and Beck have done this, do I want to? Do I want to, even for a moment, be Glenn Beck? I mean, I am risking at least three things he doesn't have: the respect of my peers, self-respect, and a conscience.
With all due respect, Mr. Olbermann, to most of the country, you already are the Glenn Beck of the left. Is this fair? Obviously not. But it remains true.
I'd venture to say only a few million people in the country understand the difference between left and right when it comes to opinion cable news programs, and those few million are the ones who watch Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show. But in a country of 300+ million people, that isn't all that many. The tens of millions that tune in for Beck, O'Reilly, and Hannity can't think critically enough to consider anything that doesn't conform to their brain-damaged view of the world.
And the rest of America? They don't care. You're a blabbing fool; Sean Hannity is a blabbing fool. You are all contentious, vitriolic, and boring. You don't show enough cleavage or eat enough worms to be embraced by the average American.
But that's just fine. Countdown is a niche show with about one million viewers a night. Just like Glenn Beck has a niche show. You both provide information and entertainment for your respective audiences and get paid handsomely to do so.
So do you want to become Glenn Beck? It doesn't really matter that much, because that are only a few million people who would even notice. And the fact is that most of them wouldn't even follow you if you tried to form a cult of personality like the Dittoheads or the Beckmen, so I don't know why you even wrote this diary unless you just wanted to read some comforting words like "we can never stoop to their level if we want to win!" Because you've already shown you won't stoop that low when you called out the grassroots movement trying to take down Glenn Beck with the rumor that he raped and killed a young girl. So yeah, you probably are just looking for some nice backslaps from your niche audience.
So keep doing what you're doing, Keith. Your few million fans will appreciate it. The rest of the America will still think you're the Glenn Beck of the left. And life will go on.