i think in this instance, an apology was not warranted.

it takes a very twisted mind to think that keith olbermann was actually advocating physical violence against a presidential contender.

Seriously. When I heard that comment i didn't think, "oh keith wants someone to beat up hillary clinton."

I can only imagine why rachel sklar though that.

I'm glad they apologized for their lack of tact in regards to some of their comments about Senator Clinton and her family.

Now, if the rest of the MSM would apologize to Senator Obama for some of the things they've said about him and his family (O'Reilly and his "lynching" comment about Michelle Obama, the hit-job ABC debate, the 60-minutes "are you SURE he's not a Muslim" smear campaign, etc), that would be swell.

Hey Greg, have you been WATCHING MSNBC!??!

Every morning Joe S. slams Obama over and over. It's become the Pastor Wright network, with Chris Matthews referring to it as Obama's "Iraq."

Yeah, K.O. is no Hillary fan, but there is no way on God's green earth you can watch MSNBC objectively morning until night and think it's pro-Obama.

I'm so confused. This comment was untoward? Wow, I must be out of touch.

Anyone listening to him say this knew he meant that it would have to be someone stronger than her becuase of all the browbeating she has inflicted on the supers already and that super would have to be stronger enough to be the one to come out of the room.

The fact Rachel thought he meant literally beating her is pathetic.

I'm actually amazed he even apologized at yet another fake outrage from the Clinton's camp/supporters at all.

I think the naming convention is just following how the candidates refer to themselves as best represented by their yard signs.

I agree with:
- Olbermann not needing to apologize for this
- it is sort of funny that he of all people calls her out for not asking for a comment first
- Morning Joe is a flaming idiot / GOP hack who seems to be following right along with their script
- Chris Matthews isn't much better

And I'd add that Olbermann is one of the few journalists who consistently report the fact that this race is basically over and that Clinton's refusal to concede says something about how she and her husband do business / politics. His snark follows that line of reporting (in a sarcastic, funny way that is his style)

When will Hillary Clinton apologize to America? :(

In light of the violent pundit comments Jon Stewart noted in his 4/23 show (not yet online), including suggestions that candidates go at each other with baseball bats, THIS is apology-worthy?

For exploitations sake.....Im glad he apologized.
Nothing else to see in my opinion...:)

Ok, when will Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos apologize to the country for making it watch them throw their poo at Barack Obama, jump up and down and hoot for an hour?

When will every person who has slandered an 80 year old ex Marine minister of the United Church of Christ apologize?

I could go on -

For anyone to think that Olbermann literally advocated a physical assault is ludicrous, nonetheless, I'm glad that he apologized, now the gadflies can move on.
Meanwhile back on the ranch, Rush wants rioting in the streets of Denver and McCain, now that he desperately needs the votes, extends some compassion to the Big Easy.

"The larger context here, obviously, is the hostility that MSNBC has shown towards Hillary for months and months now."

Gee Greg - perhaps SOMEONE has to counter the obvious bias for HILLARY both here and at several other media outlets...

Dr. Hillary Strangelove Clinton threatened to "obliterate" seventy million human beings, men women and CHILDREN, even though their country does not have a single nuke, and the country that Hillary is standing up for has hundreds, and they are offended by a Mr. Olbermann's quip!.

Yes indeed; we should all be completely outraged by Mr. Olbermann's use of a Metaphor about the Person who threatened to "Obliterate seventy million Human Beings by launching a Nuclear Holocaust on them.

Shame on you Mr. Olbermann. Be kind to our version of George W. Bush in a Pantsuit!!!

the premise is an illusion --

MSNBC has bent over backwards to not only be fair to Hillary Clinton but to be out of reality --

Chris Matthews not 2 minutes ago said if Hillary wins Indiana - what is wrong with Barack and the race will have changed yada yada yada--

Since when is Indiana a given?
Hillary Clinton has the institutional support of the Dmeocratic State Party in Indiana

Chris Matthews swung over to the dark side during after Pennsylvania Primary - if his dream is to run for office (as he said on Colbert) and his MSNBC contract is up next year - Matthews wants the Ed Rendell organization behind him --

--
MSNBC also has the absurdly pre Hillary (in the primary at least) Joe Scarborugh and the absurd as a commentator Pat Buchanan --

The David Gregory Show is a daily Obama bashing --

The Only consistent people on MSNBA have been Keith and Dan Abrams (who really seems pretty fair minded)

Yes because Hillary is a victim.
Except that she is tenacious and strong, and has never lost a political battle in the past. It's, it's.....know what, its not worth it. Its happy hour!

For the record, Chris Matthews just now did an entire segment about how Barack Obama had to prove he could win the white vote, AGAIN. He mentioned that Obama hasn't won it since February 19, without ever once mentioning that Hillary has NEVER won the African American vote this cycle. This despite the fact that Tucker Carlson, of all people, reminded him in an earlier segment that Democrats would never win any election without the black vote. And how about Josh highlighting, earlier this week, Matthews' tendency to imply that black voters are not "regular people." Where the hell are the posts on this? Why does it only matter when people on MSNBC say mean things about Hillary?

And no, I don't think Greg or TPM is biased toward Hillary. But Matthews, and others, tendency to regard black voters as a monolithic group, that will brainlessly support whatever Democrat is thrown on the ticket in November, is pretty God damn offensive, and it ought to be highlighted.

Also, David Gregory finally brought this up. So bravo to him.

The Hillary campaign is really using every Republican trick in the book, aren't they? Every time I think they can't sink any lower, they do.

Good for Olbermann, though I don't think an apology was necessary. He is a gentleman and he actually acknowledges when he thinks he's done something wrong - what a concept! I watch him religiously and he is one of my islands of sanity (Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert, and sometimes Bill Maher, being the others). Keep speaking truth, Keith!

Lets face it there won't be a Democrat in the White House this time around because whoever wins the nomination those who lost won't vote for the other side. I say this because I know without a doubt if Hillary gets the nomination I'm not voting for her underhanded dirty tricks. I will vote the Green Party or McBush (leaning more toward McBush though) so that the "un-bitter" voters in PA just might have something to be bitter after another four years of Bush lies for war in Iraq and other failed policies or lack of policies for serious issues facing this country.

With four more years of Bushes' war at a multi-trillion dollar tab leaving no money for college, healthcare, infrastructure repair maybe PA voters will come to their senses and remember that Hillary is to blame for Bushes' war, also. PA voters must have forgotten the twisted tale of Clinton's campaign calling Canada and telling them to not take seriously any campaign talk about trade agreements between US and Canada because it's just "campaign talk". When a reporter got it mixed up and blamed this on the Obama camp Hillary & company stayed mum. Hillary was more than happy to let the innocent party take the blame what kind of character is that? Hillary did the same thing when asked if she thought that Obama was a Muslim she said, "I don't think he's Muslim". She knows that "implying with innuendo" is just as destructive as push polling which is another activity her campaign deals in.

Maybe PA voters will also remember how Hillary stood there reciting the "snipper fire" story, not once BUT FOUR TIMES, and they don't see her as squirrely and unhinged? I don't want her anywhere near my kid and I certainly DO NOT WANT her finger on the button!

If you wonder how far Hillary is willing to take this dirty little campaign she's started well, you heard her say it with that evil chackle of hers, " If you can't take the heat get out the kitchen" she meant "Hell's Kitchen". See ya there.

Maybe I am missing something, but when I heard the remark, it sounded like KO was saying that political arm-twisting should be used so that only "he" (Obama) emerged from the room. I did not take the remark as any indication of physical interaction whatsoever; I took the remark as KO's endorsement of BO. Has KO actually expressed his support for BO and, if that is the case, is that the role of MSNBC? It appears, at a minimum, that it was expression an anti-HRC sentiment which, of course, has been the pattern for MSNBC during the primary.

I guess so do I, and a good percentage of the nation has a girly man crush on him......Interesting, not something I envision a democrat saying as a negative, but what do I know..lol..

Greg
Shouldn't this post be updated to reflect that Olbermann apologized to Sklar, and not Hillary?

The other Obama hack is in trouble too :

"CNN sued for $1.3 billion
over Cafferty remarks"

Karma but they sound just like the wingnuts with their hate.

Come on.

No one has done more for Keith Olbermann than Barack Obama.

"The larger context here, obviously, is the hostility that MSNBC has shown towards Hillary for months and months now."

**** Clinton Talking Point Alert ****
**** Clinton Talking Point Alert ****
**** Clinton Talking Point Alert ****
**** Clinton Talking Point Alert ****
**** Clinton Talking Point Alert ****

"Recall that David Shuster apologized for his "pimp" comment about Chelsea and that Chris Matthews apologized for effectively saying that Hillary would be cleaning toilets in a Dunkin' Donuts if it weren't for Bill.""

These don't prove the previous statement, only that Clinton badgered the network into apologies using faux outrage.

My question: Would a president Clinton threaten and bully the free press for criticizing, even ridiculing her?

Kind of authoritarian, isn't it. Imagine if Bush had tried to get a reporter fired for aggressively criticizing him??? Oh wait, he did.

Kieth apologizes for something as innocuous as this while Rush calls for riots in Denver, Coulter compares Obama to Hitler, and the so called 'respectable' right-wing media pundits execute a coordinated 'Obama is McGovern' attack.

Just what in the world is going on?

My new mantra (say it with me if you are so inclined):

The main stream media hates America.

Warrior Lemming,

Re trade agreements between US and Canada and Hillary & company stayeding mum.

See March 7 Canadian Press article on the PMO's final word that ObamaTeam was the only one giving them a briefing.
http://tinyurl.com/39wvzq

And for the truth on what Hillary did say in that 60 minutes, ending with how she know what it was like to be smeared by rumors so she understood, see the MANY denials of his being Muslim (as far as any of us can know for another person what they really think, when someone asks us THREE times)

See March 11 Media Matters on this, at
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200803110002

In both these examples, there was no bad character nor innuendo on her part.

But I did watch on March 10, his accusations to his rallies that she did not "defend me" on 60 minutes. Read the whole transcript, the things Media Matters site points out, and then you'll notice he's the one who's misrepresenting it.

You sound sincere in your beliefs here and rightfully outraged, but the info given you was wrong.

There is a list going out on about 17 of his own, well, I'd rather call them misrepresentations of the truth, so we are dealing with two politicians here. Weigh them and then vote according to what you do find out.

Clinton is taunting your hero for another debate.

Too funny.

"Clinton is taunting your hero for another debate."

She's losing and has no choice - whats funny is a 20 year machine getting its ass handed to it by a guy who first emerged in 2004. lol

Keith may have saved us all with his Special Comments over the last year or so. This man spoke out to save this country when everyone else was afraid to say a word. We all love Keith and would defend him over Hillery Clinton any day.

I have a total crush on KO, and I like him even more knowing he's willing to apologize when he's said something that can be badly interpreted.

No, I don't think he meant anything awful by the comment, but a lot of people are very sensitive to things that imply violence toward women (and they're sensitive to it for very good reasons). It's good to be very clear at all times that violence is not an acceptable choice for dealing with it.

So, good for you, Keith!

I'm in no way gonna harsh on Olbermann for essentially just acknowledging that he made an ungentlemanly comment. It's not that any reasonable person would ever take it literally. It's that it was an ungentlemanly way to phrase his meaning. If the news overall was more like that, it would be better. You would have never heard Cronkite say something of this sort on-air (not to conflate Conkrite's role with that of a pundit, but you see where I'm going). So good on Olbermann for recognizing it and apologizing. Any person who has set for themselves a personal standard of conduct would do the same in a like situation.

But MSNBC being, overall, anti-Hillary? Nope. As I noted the other night during the PA coverage, Joe Scarborough was literally shooting Hillary-rainbows out of his ass.

If one reads the transcript rather than just listening to the snippet and reading Sklar's spin, I think it's clear what Olbermann meant. It's a metaphor. There's nothing in Olbermann's comments and there's certainly nothing comparable to many of Matthew's comments about her.

Fineman brought up the boxing match metaphor, and I didn't hear a huge pause that she did after Olbermann's comment.

I'm astounded that two columns (actually many more) were written about this, but as you say, Greg, it's good that he responded to her criticism.

My $0.02.

This flap shows an incredible double standard. If Olbermann said the same thing about a male opponent of Obama, no one would think anything of it. It's amazing how Clinton's supporters complain so much about gender bias, and then when the talk gets rough they resort to, "No fair being mean to the girl!"

If Olbermann had said someone needs to "read Clinton the riot act" would he have to apologize for that too, on the theory that it implied a threat of the actual use of mace, billy clubs, and rubber bullets?

I think that this is a direct threat to a presidential candidate or an encouragement to bodily harm. Where is the Secret Service on this. They should be paying Mr. Olbermann a visit.

What have we learned from all of this, boys and girls!

Apparently the Tigress of Tuzla who demolished a cluster of Bosnian Snipers all by herself, can be mortally wounded by a single comedic quip.

Sounds like Tigress Hillary is suffering from a very bad case of PTTLS(Post Tuzla Traumatic Liar Syndrome)

I find the responses to this thread lacking in decency a bit. This is not about politics at all.

It is a simple case of relativism. A metaphor can either appear innocent to some and truly offensive to others. Unless you have a prior life experience that exacerbates a certain set of connotations on metaphorical references, one cannot understand the implications.

Domestic violence, sexual assault, physical abuse are tragically part of many people's lives, overwhelmingly women and in that regard, we should all understand that a phrase such as "a woman being taken into a room by a man to not come back out" can have chilling connotations to many.

It is just a matter of being sensitive to the difficult physical, emotional and psychological experiences other people may have been subjected to. No misplaced grandstanding there. That's what the reaction to such stereotypically misogynistic language ought to be about.

Greg puts the words "Crack" and "Hillary" in the same header?

Will TPM apologize for this obvious gaffe?

Hillary plays the victim card and wins again!

Yet she continues to step up her "Beware Of The Scary Black Man" strategy and TPM just loves it...

I know that HRC is using the gender card whenever she can, yet she will wipe Iran off the map in the next sentence. She cannot have it both ways. I am tough, but I am a woman. She started this by turning to the dark side, so I think fair is fair. She can just deal with it, Obama is dealing with blind-sided racism each and every day.

Greg, you got it right in your first paragraph.

You should have quit while you were ahead.

Not to quibble with the great KO, but does he really call people for reaction before pillorying them as "The Worst Person In The World"?

Identities not identical, Greg. In other words, not the same thing.

Similarities not similar: they're not even similar.

They are quite different things.

And now Keith has apologized for suggesting that a burly super-del should manhandle Hillary into unconsciousness. Seems like the boys over at MSNBC have done a lot of apologizing to Hillary of late.

This is not what he suggested or what he apologised for. And referring to Keith as "one of the boys over at MSNBC" is merely another failure to differentiate.

I've defended you twice in the past few days and have been getting increasingly annoyed at some of your detractors, but I'm having =second thoughts this morning.

You are not a dolt. Quite the contrary. So why do you occasionally act like one?

Are you familiar with the consequences of insufficient sleep? If you're not, with a minimal amount of research you'll learn that even an hour or two of missed sleep has similar effects to drinking a glass or two of wine.

The only remedy for insufficient sleep is more sleep. Exercise won't handle it. Diet and supplements won't handle it. Coffee and other substances, legal or illegal, won't handle it. Nothing will handle it except sufficient sleep.

If you can't get enough sleep all in one go, do naps. Naps don't totally make up for lost sleep, but almost.

Now I would like to make a much broader observation. Here we all are, politicians, journalists, political junkies et al., ripping into each other on occasion for "misspeak," gaffes, mental lapses, etc., and attempting to read into them unseemly intentions, biases, prejudices, etc. -- when what most of this stuff is simply the consequence of uncontrolled or inadequately controlled thought due to lack of sleep.

Me, I wouldn't want to waste my time trying to discuss a point of disagreement with someone under the effects of alcohol. Nonetheless, I may find myself doing much the same thing simply because my interlocutor hasn't had enough sleep.

Greg. Look into my eyes. Your eyelids are getting heavy. You are beginning to get sleepy. Sleepy. I'm joking, but to make a point: sleep and hypnosis are similar. Having slept insufficiently is similar to being partially hypnotised.

Greg. Get more sleep!

It is astonishing to me that some people don't recognize that Keith Olbermann and MSNBC, and really by extension NBC, have made a marketing decision to go with boosting a particular candidate in weekday primetime slots. This follows FOX News yes, but I never liked FOX News for its bias either.

I don't condemn NBC. I personally find Olbermann to be unwatchable at this point but I understand that his stuff sells and that if I was a committed Obama supporter I might be more in tune with his shtick. I just think it's interesting that so many people seem to be praising Keith Olbermann and see no irony in Olbermann's attempt to cast himself as this generation's Edward R. Murrow.

I do recognize Olbrmann for his apology.

This is much ado about nothing. If she can't take the heat without the constant whine, get out of the kitchen.

Let me put this another way. Had the reverse happened -- and a remark like this was made in Obama's direction, how many of you would have said it was okay?

It was a stupid thing to say. At least Olbermann was man enough to admit it. For that, he deserves praise.

He is entitled to like who he wants and slant the news any way he wants -- much like Josh does here -- because the show is his baby. But he is not entitled to even come close to suggesting violence ... even as a joke.

Case closed.

The comment was just a link in a whole line of sexist remarks, some more subtle than others.

"The larger context here, obviously, is the hostility that MSNBC has shown towards Hillary for months and months now."

You forget that Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan part of MSNBC. Obama gets more than his fair share of hostility.

I always thought the MSM was there to report the news and be fair and balanced. These man on all the news show show their hatred for Hillary every single day and there are some women too like Andrea Mitchel.This is America and I see no reason that Hillary is hurting the democratic party the leaders of the party are the ones that are hurting it. If they are neck and neck why should she drop out this is not a third world country.There is no way that Obama can be president with every thing that has come out about him.

"Not to quibble with the great KO, but does he really call people for reaction before pillorying them as "The Worst Person In The World"?"

If you haven't noticed, he usually doesn't name that honor seriously, and when he does, I don't think a response is necessary.

**Man up, dude. You don't like the smart guy.

Here we go again. The husband who beats his wife always says she was asking for it. So, what you're saying is Hillary asked for it. Right?
Let's face it guys! You can't stand it that a woman is actually in the race and actually has a following. And those people, don't give a hoot about what you commentators say or about what Obama or the party thinks. In fact, if the Dems don't put her on the ticket we will all vote for her on an independent ticket. Let's see Obama win then or McCain--for that matter of fact. I am a Rep. I am voting for Hillary -and if not Hillary -then McCain. There is no way I am putting in a Quasi Commie or a Marxist--which is what Obama is.
Americans don't elect far left candidates. Name one. They all lost and so will Obama. His roots are too deep into things that are anti-American. That's just the way it is.

How about we all agree...no matter which candidate we support...that the media in general have morphed into a herd of bobblehead dolls that will repeat spoonfed spin as truth?

It's shameful. It's also extremely dangerous to a democracy.

An educated electorate and all that....