Tuesday 11 November 2008

Olbermann on 'horrible' Prop 8 vote

Keith Olbermann's impassioned journalistic style is easily satirised, but I'm a fan and I loved the moment last Tuesday night when, his voice filled with emotion, Olbermann announced that MSNBC was ready to call the election for Barack Obama. 

Olbermann's latest 'Special Comment', directed at the supporters of Proposition 8, struck me as slightly lower-key than usual (perhaps he was stung by Ben Affleck's impersonation on Saturday Night Live) but it was still powerful and heartfelt, and I agreed with every word. Money quote:

This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their loves.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics. This is about the....human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't understand his appeal to anyone who thinks deeply about politics. He's a left-wing equivalent of Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, etc. But hey, if that's what floats your boat...

Martin said...

OK, he's not as good as Rachel Maddow (who DOES know what she's talking about, I think) but maybe those of us on the left need a left-wing equivalent of Limbaugh, Coulter, et al - don't we all need our prejudices confirmed from time to time? But as you say, perhaps it's a matter of taste...