johnny dollar's archive: july-aug 2008

Keith Olbermann is notorious for filching stories from the blue blogs, particularly ones that attack the eeevil Bill O'Reilly. But now his sloppy, unprofessional practices have come back to bite him. He aired an out-and-out falsehood Wednesday as fact, ripping and reading from the most unreliable source in existence.

On Countdown June 23 Olbermann assailed O'Reilly over his segment on Rep. Robert Wexler. After some crack about altering the color of Wexler's lips (a confirming clue as will be seen), he then turned the indignation up to '11' and ridiculed Bill for not knowing that Florida doesn't have a state income tax:

OLBERMANN: The Frank Burns of News then speculated that Wexler was somehow trying to cheat Florida out of income tax. Fund had to inform him that Florida doesn't have an income tax. "No income tax? This is where my argument falls to the ground!"

Don't believe us? Here's the video:


Unfortunately this is completely false, and in fact the opposite of what actually happened. It was O'Reilly who brought up Florida's lack of an income tax:

O'REILLY: You say it's legal. You can do that, based upon how he set it up. Now, taxes. Doesn't he have to pay taxes in both states if he has dual residency there?
FUND: Members of Congress can choose to pay taxes either in the Washington area or in their home state.
O'REILLY: OK so they have the choice. So he would pay it in Florida because Florida doesn't have a state tax. And Maryland taxes like crazy.
FUND: And you have just identified one of the big reasons he has to have this phantom residence, because that enables him to pay no state income tax.

Don't believe us? Here's the video of the segment, the video Olbermann was careful not to show:


Obviously Olbermann's entire segment was built on a lie, constructed around a conversation that never happened. So how did he come up with his twisted, doctored version of what O'Reilly said? Where else, but from the masters of twisting words and doctoring quotes, the newshounds (another fine product of the Outfoxed syndicate). No other site that we could find reported this peculiar, and demonstrably false, version of the conversation:

While Bill O'Reilly elaborated on the dubious charge, a photo of Wexler with unusually red lips was shown on the screen.... BOR continued the probe speculating about the state taxes Wexler pays insinuating that he is trying to cheat in some way. Fund couldn't help him with that either informing him that Florida has no income tax anyway.

Aha! Olbermann's "news source": another lie from the newspoodles.

We have exposed literally hundreds of falsifications, doctored quotes, and lies from the newsmutts on this site. There is no more dishonest source for smears against Fox News. But Keith Olbermann is supposed to be a journalist. He's supposed to check sources and facts before he airs a story. That means something more than merely lifting something from an unreliable blue blog and airing it as if it were fact.

To say that the next Edward R Murrow's journalistic standards are subpar would be the understatement of the eon. Does Olbermann not care that he is just spewing lies? Was the story "too good to check?" Can you imagine a "journalist" taking the word of a discredited blogger, without even bothering to look at the video to see if it's true?

You don't have to imagine it. MSNBC brings it to you every night, on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.