Friday, January 28, 2011

An Honest Brawler

Recently lefty blow-hard Keith Olbermann went off the air.



You might think that I, as a right of center fiscal and military conservative with strong libertarian social tendencies, would rejoice at the sudden departure of this loud mouth.

You couldn't be more wrong.

I have so much respect for someone like Olbermann, just as I do for Beck or Limbaugh or O'Reilly or Maddow or any number of mouthpieces who speak from their hearts and try to genuinely impart an honest point of view - though I frequently disagree with all of the them, and just as often turn them off because I can't take it anymore; these voices are passionate and righteous, even when they're full of shit.

I don't judge their hearts, I don't attribute any malice to their motivations beyond a deep love for their countries and a desire to make things better for everyone. I understand that often the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I don't think the righteous path can be found without genuine intellectual honesty, and from what I can tell most of these vitriolic voices are dogged about pursuing it.

Olbermann embodies the very best of the American political spirit; he is a straight shooter, who will look you in the eye and tell you how it is. No BS, just "This is A because of B, and if you don't see that D is C, then I can't help you."

That's what I want to hear from a political commentator, this is what I want! To be challenged, to be forced to think through my positions. The time and the place for strong political discourse is on talk radio, or for that matter on MSNBC or Fox News after regular news programming.

Contrary to what the intellectual elites would have us believe, that bloggers and talk radio people are idiots, I believe that we are truly in a golden age of information and ideas - where on any given morning I can get 30 different viewpoints on a controversial subject, each laced with nuanced differences. People may be entirely wrong, or even obnoxiously wrong about what they are saying - but I get to investigate further and ultimately decide for myself, based on literally as many sources as I choose to seek out.

This whole sanctimonious and erroneous view, that if you don't report news for a network or a major market paper - then your point of view is somehow less valid, is frankly un-American. There is so much information out there right now, that anyone who puts in even a minimal amount of time and effort to educate themselves can stand toe to toe with most "intellectuals", especially when it comes to the common sense concepts of individual liberty and freedom.

And that's why I welcome left wing loud mouths. The more the better!

So they get personal from time to time, so their hearts are inflamed and at times beyond the voice of reason. So what?

I like vitriol. I like rhetoric. I don't need another snobby soft voiced pansy on NPR, or even worse a smug network anchor who doesn't realize that the show he's on is a dinosaur that will soon sink into the tar.

Give me honesty - straightforward, unabashed bias; every single time. At least then I know what I"m listening to.

Don't give me "objectivity" that is nothing more than a condescending sham of left wing kool-aide.

Someone on facebook sent me a link of Anderson Cooper, and God as my witness, I just couldn't watch it. This guy really thinks he's coming from a neutral position, that he's really very different from Olbermann or Beck. He just reports "the facts" and he takes it very seriously.

The guy is a lightweight and even worse, he's devious.

This is what I can't stand. The duplicity of Katie Couric. The joke that is the New York Times.

I would much rather have an honest brawler. Someone who says what he means and means what he says.

Someone like Keith Olbermann.

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