Truth and Consequences

November 19, 2007
In just two years, MSNBC host Olbermann (The Worst Person in the World
) has become one of the most recognized critics of the George W. Bush administration. This book explains how and why Olbermann's televised “special comments” began, then reprints them from September 2005 through July 2007, with postcomment explanations. Before becoming a Bush administration critic, Olbermann had achieved fame as a sports commentator on the ESPN cable network. The genesis of commentator Olbermann as political celebrity makes it difficult to determine if he ought to be considered a fact-based journalist, but however Olbermann should be labeled journalistically, the commentary collected here demonstrates that he is a first-rate writer unafraid of expressing criticisms of most Republican decision makers and, on occasion, Democrats. Understanding from the start that Bush defenders would label the special comments unpatriotic, Olbermann decided to wear this label as a badge of honor and makes a persuasive argument that he is the upholder of traditional American values, while Bush and his colleagues are the transgressors. Olbermann's editorials are bound to stimulate and incite arguments as election season ratchets up.

November 15, 2007
The wise, humorous, cut-to-the-chase host of the popular MSNBC evening news and commentary show Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an abiding critic of pretty much everythingPresident Bush says and does. Muchof Olbermanns criticism of the current administrations policies is delivered in his Special Comments segment of that show. Twenty-three of these segments are transcribed here, each with a contextual explanation of its specific genesis in terms of what Bush and his cohorts did to stir Olbermanns ireon that particular occasion. The way Hurricane Katrina was (mis)handled afforded Olbermann the opportunity for his first Special Comments (which aired in 2005), and the most recent one collected here(airing in 2007) concerns a Defense Department leak that had the apparent intention ofcasting abad light on Senator Hillary Clinton. He shows himself to be an articulate, relentless critic, with apassion he abounds in butwhich neverclouds his clear eye. Of course, viewers who cant abide him, his show, or his politics are not going to read his book. In that way, hes preaching to the converted.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)