Worst. Segment. Ever!
Keith Olbermann (whom I adore) blew it completely tonight. His #2 segment on Countdown (MSNBC) was about the Southern Poverty Law Center ([http://www.splcenter.org SPLC]) report on the increase in skinheads/white supremecists/neo-nazis being accepted into the US armed forces.
Given how much I like an Olbermann slap-down, I was soooo looking forward to this segment.
Total. Snooze.
More below...
I couldn't believe it--I'm still shaking my head.
1. No quotes from the SPLC report (and Keith is great at doing quotes).
2. No representative from the SPLC or any other advocate for the report.
3. The only talking head was a retired Army Colonel whose main point was something like "back in my day, we had a lot of nincompoops" (and while that was a paraphrase, he most definitely DID use the word 'nincompoops').
4. No reference whatsoever to the documentation contained in the report, including the instances where Base Commanders have been given evidence of white supremicist and neo-nazi involvement by active duty personnel.
5. No mention of the Navy SEAL who posted his own photograph taken at a neo-nazi rally (remember--they're trained in demolitions--that's EXPLOSIVES!).
6. The Colonel dismissed Timothy McVeigh's military service as "not relevant" because he didn't learn how to make that kind of bomb in the military, nevermind that the relevant point was that he met his co-conspirators while he was serving.
7. No reference to the cover letter from SPLC to Secretary Rumsfeld.
I'm absolutely stunned. This was the worst case of "he said/she said" I've ever seen on Olbermann. I don't really know what we need to do as a next step. Maybe other Kossians with more experience and political savvy can offer some suggestions. I'm sure support for the SPLC would be good.
Beyond this, I hope that other institutional stakeholders will weigh in. I haven't had a chance to check the websites for NAACP, Anti-Defamation League, or Human Rights Campaign, but I hope they are engaged.
This report needs to get wide exposure. Olbermann asked the question, "is the Army training the terrorists of tomorrow?" and then basically let this retired bird colonel shoot it down.
Allons y--to the barricades!