What would you call what Olbermann did, and which Greenwald remarked upon. Not everyone in Stalin’s time was a member of the Cult of Personality. But surely the cult existed.

Touche.

But I’ve mainly been reading the progressive blogs (from over here in Australia), since I’m on their side. And they came down just as hard on Olbermann.

If you can diagnose a C.o.P. just on the grounds that a leader has some zealots, you’ll proceed to cut up the left into the Cult of Hillary Clinton, the Cult of John Edwards, the Cult of Martyred Kerry, and a mass of cynics who think all Democrat leaders are hopelessly compromised with the tangle of political and corporate interests.

It’s rubbish. The first reason why it is, is that there is no silencing any of these people by threats, real or implied. Criticism abounds, and there are no enforcers. The second reason is that the current left-wing discourse is anything but monolithic.

C.o.P is a bum rap. Please do not use it.