Not me though (there are lots of men who share my name), but still, as Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters writes, “Keith Olbermann must be starving for attention since his surprise exit from MSNBC.”
Click over to Newsbusters to see Olbermann’s tweet regarding the letter from a brilliantly-named Vietnam vet, which the former MSNBC anchor dubs, “the dumbest letter to the editor of the century.” As Noel writes:
The object of Olbermann’s disaffection was one Ed Driscoll who was quite pleased by the former “Countdown” host’s departure from MSNBC:
I participated in more than 10 combat missions in Vietnam, so I know a mission is not a war. Someone should have told that to Olbermann, as he demonstrated his ignorance by equating the two for years on his show.
He would end by saying it has been so many days since President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished’’ in Iraq. Bush never said that. Olbermann was referring to a sign on an aircraft carrier that said “Mission Accomplished.’’ The president declared an end to major combat operations, and therefore the aircraft carrier was headed home.
In Bush’s speech, he said that much work has yet to be done. The sign was for the brave people who had completed their mission.
Is this really the dumbest letter to the editor of the century, or is Olbermann’s kingsize ego so starved for attention that he doesn’t feel the slightest inclination to show respect for a veteran voicing his opinion in a forum specifically designed for such a thing?
Hey, remember when the left claimed those who served had “absolute moral authority” with advice whom “chickenhawks” who didn’t serve were required to heed? And that dissent was patriotic?
Words, just words, to coin a phrase.
Update: In other news from the corner of Ed and Olbermann, “A network spy said Ed Schultz welled up with happy tears when he learned Olbermann was booted.”
Well, can’t fault him there.
This is something I’ve been trying to explain to people for some time. It was the Carrier’s Mission that was accomplished when that sign went up.
No one in the Army, Marines, or Air Force (or any other ship in the Navy for that matter) thought Bush was saying War is Over.
But the Lame Stream Media cannot let any facts get in the way of a good bashing of Republicans. And people who are ignorant of the internal termanology of the military will believe what the reporters tell them so they believed the Lie the Bush Lied.
And now, it is useless to try to explain the truth because the meme is so engrained in the minds of people that it just doesn’t matter to them anymore.
Considering the Full Court Press these people have on Sarah Palin I’m amazed that her Negatives aren’t 95% and not just 51%. I’m also amazed that it took 4 years to wear down public support for Bush. Maybe one day the truth will triumph, but by the time it does the people who have suffered from this onslaught will be unable to benefit from the Hindsight View of the public who were too lazy to inquire as to the competence of those informing them.
When Obummerman DOES single you out – wear it like a badge of honor!
Olbermann again does not have his facts correct. I had a very similar letter published the Hartford Courant around Veterans Day.
So Keith needs to do some research before he declares the Globe letter the dumbest. But, then again, Keith was never one for facts and research!
Dumb is not stupid and missions are not wars.
Ed Driscoll
Keith Olbermann, formally of MSNBC, called my letter to the editor in the Boston Globe January 31, 2011, the dumbest letter to the editor of the century, … From what I have read he did not argue my point or the facts he just called my letter dumb.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/01/30/olbermann-bashes-vietnam-vets-letter-editor-about-him
For years Mr. Olbermann mocked President Bush because of a sign saying Mission Accomplished, which was in the background when the President declared major combat operations over in Iraq. This sign was on a moving air craft carrier carrying brave service people home, mission accomplished.
To equate one mission in a war with the totality of a war shows a complete ignorance of military tactics and frankly of 9th grade History. But, Mr. Olbermann is not ignorant; he is just plain mean.
If Mr. Olbermann wants to follow in the tradition of Dan Rather who is still looking for an old typewriter that prints like a modern printer, he may, but he should leave our brave veterans out of his distortions. He should not deny them the credit they have earned and make them collateral damage in his attack on President Bush. They deserved that sign. They deserve our love and respect.
Mr. Olbermann does not know the joy of surviving a foreign combat mission, coming home, kissing the dirt of The Unites States of America, and embracing loving family members. That experience should not be demeaned by one looking to make a political point.
I warn him as I paraphrase the Marine Corps Hymn, (If Mr. Olbermann ever looks on Heaven’s scene he will find the gates are guarded by Unites States Marines).
May God overrule the Marines at the gate and may Mr. Olbermann not end up where he has told others to go.
Semper Fi
Edmund R. Driscoll Jr.
West Hartford
edphoneguy@comcast.net
USMC Vietnam 1967-1968