Greenwald Challenges Obama and Olbermann

Jeremy Sapienza, June 27, 2008

Email This | Print This | Share This | Comment

Yesterday, Glenn Greenwald took Keith Olbermann to task for his kneejerk devotion to Barack Obama, manifested shamefully in his 180 on the capitulation of Congress to Bush on telecom immunity and the FISA law. Today, after Olbermann replied, indirectly, on another blog, Greenwald rebutted every point, and then some. He’s relentless. Enjoy!

Email This | Print This | Share This | Send a letter to the editor | Letters

Comments to “Greenwald Challenges Obama and Olbermann”

Will Blalock
June 27th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

I love watching the Left eat its own.

R. Nelson
June 28th, 2008 at 1:30 am

Glenn Greenwald is no libertarian or man of the right, but his writing is indispensable reading. Long may he puncture the hypocrisies, tyranny, and buffooneries of the McNeocains and the Obamacons.

Fan of Raimondo and Garris
June 28th, 2008 at 1:52 am

I side with Greenwald on this one.

Kevin R
June 28th, 2008 at 3:34 am

Shocking! To think that people on the left are allowed to disagree with each other.

david monaghan
June 28th, 2008 at 4:54 am

fighting nature against nurture is no easy, we are how we are made with or without propaganda
this does not mean change can not be achieved it just takes persistance

John Lowell
June 28th, 2008 at 6:54 am

Greenwald is more than just a little slow getting to objections of the kind he raises here. I can remember quite distinctly at the time of the Democratic congressional election victories in 2006 posting cautions at his blog about what one ought expect from the Democrats and having him characterize my comments as “cheap” and “destructive”. Greenwald is one hell of a self-promoter, but not much of a prognosticator, I’m afraid. If all you require is analysis in arears of events, you’ll manage with Greenwald. We’ve got predictive analysis of a very high order here at antiwar.com with Raimondo, Roberts, and others. Do we really need to hear from Greenwald? I can’t think of a reason.

RabbleRouser
June 28th, 2008 at 7:56 am

I’ve seen Greenwald on Democracy Now and have always been impressed. I don’t know if one can call Greenwald “left” — from what I’ve read of his and heard him say, it seems to me that he is devoted to the Bill of Rights, or at least the Fourth Amendment.

In any case, I think that we should throw out the terms “left” and “right” and all in-between nomenclature, because right now we Americans are fighting for our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. We need to unite on the issues that matter and FISA is one, the coming attack on Iran is another, and the most crucial.

Greenwald’s done a tremendous service to us all by advertising the PAC set-up to defeat congressional reps (like that snake Steney Hoyer) who voted for the FISA “compromise” and for that I’m very grateful.

Pere
June 28th, 2008 at 8:46 am

.
.
.
ladies… relax!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoGw0oCMap8

reggie
June 28th, 2008 at 10:19 am

@ Will: I’d hardly describe Greenwald or Olbermann as men of the Left. Nowhere outside of the US ideological system could they possibly be described as such.

anti-neocon
June 28th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

I wholeheartedly agree agree with every point made by RabbleRouser above, and do appreciate Jeremy Sapienza letting us know about this much appreciated stand by Glenn Greenwald on Obama and on Olberman.

justaguy
June 28th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

Seconded. The left vs right faux argument is of minimal consequence in these times. We should all be fighting fascism. It is here now.

justaguy
June 28th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

True. The “left” in the US could be counted on one hand.

R. Nelson
June 28th, 2008 at 11:41 pm

On the contrary. Greenwald shows he won’t stand by a mistake, a bit of a novelty these days. No doubt he hoped for the best but allows facts to guide his views. Even Raimondo held high hope for Obama at one point.

Will Blalock
June 29th, 2008 at 7:26 am

Point taken. “Left” has little or no meaning.
I like Greenwald. He takes Dems to task but
he appears to be a party devotee and it is
the party system that is ruining this country.
I do enjoy watching Republicans eat Republicans
and Democrats eat Democrats. Joy of joys.

John Lowell
June 29th, 2008 at 7:50 am

“He takes Dems to task but
he appears to be a party devotee and it is
the party system that is ruining this country.”

If Greenwald takes the Democrats to task at all, its only after everyone else has been taking them to task for months, even years. And he is most certainly a system type. When anyone in their right mind could see that massive and fundamental changes in the nature of American democracy have taken place over the last several years, particularly in respect of presidential power and sufficient enough when taken together with the stranglehold exerted by various lobbies fairly to describe our system as a dictatorship, Greenwald declines the cup. Such people are “fevered” in Greenwald’s view. One wonders, then, if we are to consider Paul Craig Roberts as “fevered”. I don’t.

Bob
June 29th, 2008 at 9:32 am

Greenwald is correct. Proof of that is the number of times you see him on the MSM talking head shows. The lib/cons/dem/repub scam (LCRDS) can’t handle people that tell the truth. The establishment, through the MSM (including the “left” NPR), has to keep the LCRDS going. Let’s face it, voting is highly overrated. If it mattered they’d outlaw it. ‘06 was about ending the war. The polls all say the people want out of Iraq. By that logic alone Kucinich should have been an odds-on favorite in the d primary. But the MSM made him a punch line to a bad joke. Same with Mike Gravel. He had a track record in the senate, and explained how the d leadership was lying about their inability to end the war. Instead of “indepth” interviews by the MSM “stars”, he, too, became a joke served up by the MSM. Ron Paul was the only one that could explain what was going on economically, domestically, and in foreign policy, and he was treated as a crackpot by the MSM. Olbermann knows he can be a MSM “left star” only so far — what he is doing gives the appearance, but there in no substance there. This FISA issue proves it. I, too, thought that maybe Obama wouldn’t be too bad. But the AIPAC speech showed that the fix is ALWAYS in. And when it isn’t, there’s always the “accident” option.

Nazim
June 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm

I love Glenn Greenwald and Justin R. Two of my most principled voices of reason. Greenwald mind you was a Constitutional Lawyer so I think he’d know a bit about the 4th and 1st amendments.

I thoroughly appreciated his Olbermann piece, because we as Americans SHOULD NEVER PUT ANY POL above our Constitution. It is the Constitution they serve, and as an American Muslim, when Obama sold us down the river in a gross attempt to appear not-Muslim, I knew all his rhetoric about anti-Iraq war vote, “change,” and now Iran is all farce.

Long live Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich…tow of the most courageous lawmakers on Capitol Hill today.

Tim R.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:50 pm

Olberman can have whatever opinion he wants. HOWEVER, it is a disgrace for NBC news to pass him off as some kind of objective journalist. He sits there on election nights, with real journalists like Brian Williams and the late Tim Russert, and runs his mouth off as though he is some kind of neutral party. It is a joke and a disgrace for NBC. It would be the same thing if Fox News had Bill O’Reilly covering news as some kind of journalist. Olberman has been totally in love with Obama from the beginning. He took every chance he could to bash Hillary Clinton while at the same time brown-nosing all over Obama. And that’s his right. But let’s drop the charade Keith. You are a commentator. Not a journalist. Stay away and let real journalists do their work.

Orville H. Larson
June 29th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

Nazim, my hearty compliments to you. You’re clearly a man who understands freedom.

You dislike Obama because he doesn’t want to campaign among, or be seen with, Muslims. You’re right. Obama’s a coward. (Obama didn’t waste any time, though, in selling his soul to the Israel Lobby, did he?) Obama’s commitment to the “rule of law” is as thin as quicksand–he favors the FISA travesty.

Justin Raimondo, Glenn Greenwald, Paul Craig Roberts, Ron Paul, James Bovard, Kucinich are good men. They stand for the Constitution.

John Lowell
June 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am

Well, he roughed me up pretty well publically about the doubts that I’d expressed about prospects for anything new with the Democratic Congress after the 2006 elections, R. Nelson. As a matter of fact I called him on it once after the evidence was in and there was no admission of error at that time either, simply a kind of in-your-face petulance. My experience with Greenwald would hardly indicate a lack of willingness to stand by a mistake. Rather, I get the picture of a convinced system type wishing to give the appearance of an almost rabbinic expertise – not unlike that of Tom Friedman of the NYT, as a matter of fact – and that melded with a poorly disguised personal ambition. Want to wager that its Obama that Greenwald endorses this Fall? You won’t find Raimondo doing that, believe me. These are not two peas in a pod.

Dekzsty Drive
June 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

What is unmentioned in all this? Obama was just going into the infighting with the Clinton Black money mob: note: Wanta was paid (finally) the other day, in exchange for The Gulf “Heritage” funds taking over U.S. commercial properties to prevent Citigroup bankruptcy. Al-CIAda, which WAS the aledgedly “junior Asiatic branch” is now the DOMINATE “partner”! The gigantic LOAN SHARK “order” that the U.S. “economy” has become, can only be dismantled by having FUNCTIONAL partners. Since Obama was heading into PENTAGON briefings – which “Intelligence” would be a main feature; this was a NECESSARY tactical move (think about it). Now that power is actually changing hands (Obama may ALREADY be the real “president”), the primary field day of CRITIQUE and EXPOSURE is giving way to daily INTERCINE BATTLES which involve EVERY “POWER” on the planet. The Legalist lawyers (like Greenwald) are part of that, but FAR, FAR, from the whole show. Look at Pakistan, for example.

Lear K
July 1st, 2008 at 6:51 pm

“…with real journalists like Brian Williams and the late Tim Russert…”!

Real journalists that is the big joke.

Highlights

Breaking News