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The Wall Street Journal Needs A Hearing Test

October 16, 2009 2:49 am ET by Oliver Willis

Discussing Rush Limbaugh's failed bid to be part owner of the St. Louis Rams, the Wall Street Journal printed this laughable bit in an op-ed:

By contrast, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who fires off his own brand of high-velocity, left-wing political commentary but lacks Mr. Limbaugh's sense of humor, appears weekly as co-host of NBC's "Football Night in America." We haven't heard anyone on the right say Mr. Olbermann's nightly ad-hominem rants should disqualify him from hanging around the NFL. (empasis added)

This is, quite simply, not true.

Justin Quinn, of About.com's US Conservative Blog (January 4, 2009):

Olbermann is an arrogant pig and his presence on NBC's "Football Night in America" is a constant affront to conservatives everywhere who watch the NFL.

Human Events (Sep. 2, 2009):

Because such duplicitous and hysterical attacks are the norm for Olbermann, whose MSNBC show includes segments with classy titles like “WTF?” and “Worst Person in the World,” it’s hard to grasp why NBC Sports is keeping him on board for a third season as host of “Football Night in America.”

Media Research Center's Newsbusters.org (April 16, 2007):

Will the Post and other liberal media organizations decry Olbermann’s selection?

Conservative blogger Ace of Spades (Sept. 14, 2009):

Olbermann is not funny anymore and he is such a partisan scumbag that it is an insult to football fans to have him anywhere near the greatest sport there is. So let's get him booted off.

Next time, Wall Street Journal, listen harder.

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    • Author by bluestate69 (October 16, 2009 4:38 am ET)
      2  
      limbaugh crossed the line when he made an, at the least, borderline racist comment.
      it's not his politics, it's his views toward race."barack the magic negroe", and calling for segregated busses to name a few. why didn't the media make a bigger story of the segregated busses comment? that was a far more offensive statement. the NFL is majority african american. if he tried to buy a nascar team, there wouldn't be an issue.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by steeve (October 16, 2009 5:32 am ET)
      5  
      They're pretending Rush was booted because he's conservative? Apparently conservatives think racism is synonymous with conservatism.

      Being conservative doesn't disqualify you from the NFL. It just disqualifies you from making and promoting good policy.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by DellDolly (October 16, 2009 10:13 am ET)
        2  
        They think that we dis commentators here because we disagree with their opinions, when nothing of the sort happens. They think we want to censor the looney rightwing radio and TV talk show hosts, without understanding that they aren't entitled to unchallenged free speech.

        Why should we be surprised that they get this wrong too?

        I can't tell you the number of people who have said on our local talk radio shows that some liberals say things that these conservatives don't like, yet they are allowed to do stuff like buy NFL teams. But it's not equivalent. They just don't get it - won't get it, more likely.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by MickD (October 16, 2009 6:06 am ET)
      7  
      I think they need a humor test..."MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who fires off his own brand of high-velocity, left-wing political commentary but lacks Mr. Limbaugh's sense of humor..." Is this considered a fact from the WSJ editorial board? Are they educated on the finer points of comedy? Apparently not.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by John Paradox (October 16, 2009 6:58 am ET)
        2  
        They prefer the grosser points of comedy.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by Lord of Light (October 16, 2009 8:55 am ET)
        2  
        What else would you expect from people who argue, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, that cutting taxes on rich people helps everyone else?
        Report Abuse
      • Author by political_left-religious_right (October 17, 2009 1:43 pm ET)
        1  
        That struck me, too. Olbermann displays more humor in just his sign off voice of a "Worst Person in the World" segment than Limbaugh could muster in a year.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by rwmacdonald2091 (October 16, 2009 6:20 am ET)
      3  
      Truly amazing. The right wing crackpots think that EL-Rushbo got called out for being a conservative. If that was the standard, I would bet that most of the NFL owners would be called out.

      El-Rushbo got called out for being a raciest, pure and simple. Then again what would one expect from the Murdoch Journal?

      Report Abuse
    • Author by Max Credits (October 16, 2009 8:12 am ET)
      3  
      Does the Wall Street Journal equate making racist remarks with being conservative.? Seriously, do they?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Lord of Light (October 16, 2009 8:54 am ET)
      2  
      The WSJ editorial page is a joke -- and this is one among many reasons. "Ad-hominem rants"? Yeah, way to list examples. According to the right, anyone on the left who calls BS when they lie is mean-spirited and arrogant.

      I haven't heard Olbermann inject race into NFL discussions where it has no relevance. But Rush ... oh, nevermind, the right is tone deaf to that.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Be Responsible (October 16, 2009 9:42 am ET)
      1  
      Yes. Conservatives, after all, have been persecuted for 250 years. We don't know what their plight has been like! lol
      Report Abuse
    • Author by bruce1ace (October 16, 2009 9:47 am ET)
        3
      Olbermann is a partisan commentator which is his right and which he has chosen to do. To me he seems out of place doing sports.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by DellDolly (October 16, 2009 10:18 am ET)
        3  
        This is crazy talk. He was a sports commentator first. The first 20 years of his career were in sports journalism, for cripes sake. He won awards and was on ESPN's SportsCenter, the premier sports commentator show, until 1997. Why you would think that he can't do both stuns me. But then again, most righty's think that the world is black and white, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you can't imagine a world where someone could do political commentary and be a sports commentator too.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by professor frink (October 16, 2009 11:25 am ET)
             
          Yeah, I'm not sure how someone could miss Olbermann's lengthy career in sports journalism. Heck, he and Dan Patrick were the originators of the catch phrase "This is SportsCenter."

          Beyond that, he has a baseball related blog called Baseball Nerd, wrote the foreward to the book More Than Merkle, and is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by bruce1ace (October 17, 2009 9:28 am ET)
             
          I'm fully aware of his background but he moved away from sports because he found it boring and trivial. Sometimes you shouldn't go back.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by shaggles (October 16, 2009 3:23 pm ET)
         
      Olberman is in a similar position to the one Rush once had on ESPN. To my knowledge he has not brought an inflammatory rhetoric to his sports braodcasts as Limbaugh did. Nor does he engage in race baiting on Countdown as Limbaugh does on his radio show. I admit that Olberman is frequently over the top and even hypocritical but he does not compare to Limbaugh. He's probably most like his nemesis BillO.
      Report Abuse

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