Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Keith Olbermann Can Be Kind of a Douche Sometimes

There is an ad campaign on New York buses encouraging atheists to come out of the closet. I suppose it is ironic, a little, that the donor who paid for the ads has chosen to remain anonymous, but I think calling him one of the worst people in the world is beyond harsh.

Greta Christina has already succinctly argued why a person might want to maintain his or her anonymity in such a situation:

Coming out as an atheist can have serious real-world consequences. Parents get denied custody of their children for being atheists. People get harassed and vandalized by their neighbors for being atheists. Teachers get suspended for being atheists. Teenagers get harassed and suspended from school for being atheists. Politicians whip up anti-atheist fear to try to get elected. (And that's just in the US. I'm not even talking about parts of the world where atheism is a crime, punishable by imprisonment or death.)

I like Keith Olbermann, probably for the same reason that conservatives love Limbaugh or O'Reilly. The man knows how to rile up the base. And perhaps I am being hypocritical; would I have noticed - or worse, agreed - if he were discussing another group? I don't know. It's possible.

The Olbermann segment is below:

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1 comment:

Dan Telfer said...

Yeah, Keith has gotten a little unhinged the last couple of months. I used to think I agreed with almost everything he said on paper, and that it was his presentation that was frustrating (holy shit that smarmy grin gives me a stomachache). But lately I'm becoming more of a Maddow person.

5:03 PM

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