If You Didn't See It, You Need to Read This...

On Monday, Sept. 11, 2006, Keith Olbermann, host of Countdown on MSNBC, ended the show with a personal commentary, broadcasting from the World Trade Center. Videocaps of that commentary have since been posted all over the place, but I think it's safe to say that a lot of you didn't catch it anyway. This is a shame, because I saw the repeat last night, and Olbermann's words and emotion both were powerful indeed.

Olbermann never claimed to be an objective reporter- which is more than, for instance, Lou Dobbs or Bill O'Reilly can boast. Still, this was much more emotional, much more strongly opinionated than usual for him- and much more serious than his usual tongue-in-cheek commentary on the news and the stories his producers make him cover (coughTomCruisebabycough). This was a speech that deserves to be recorded for history, along with Walter Cronkite's commentary about Vietnam being unwinnable.

Here's a transcript, taken from "Bloggermann.". Read, unless you're just avoiding all things political and are content to let whoever run things...

( This speech was inspired, in no small part, by the so-called dramatization of the 9-11 Commission report, the second half of which aired the same night as this commentary on ABC. )

For more, check Countdown's page on the MSNBC website.

If You Didn't See It, You Need to Read This...

On Monday, Sept. 11, 2006, Keith Olbermann, host of Countdown on MSNBC, ended the show with a personal commentary, broadcasting from the World Trade Center. Videocaps of that commentary have since been posted all over the place, but I think it's safe to say that a lot of you didn't catch it anyway. This is a shame, because I saw the repeat last night, and Olbermann's words and emotion both were powerful indeed.

Olbermann never claimed to be an objective reporter- which is more than, for instance, Lou Dobbs or Bill O'Reilly can boast. Still, this was much more emotional, much more strongly opinionated than usual for him- and much more serious than his usual tongue-in-cheek commentary on the news and the stories his producers make him cover (coughTomCruisebabycough). This was a speech that deserves to be recorded for history, along with Walter Cronkite's commentary about Vietnam being unwinnable.

Here's a transcript, taken from "Bloggermann.". Read, unless you're just avoiding all things political and are content to let whoever run things...

( This speech was inspired, in no small part, by the so-called dramatization of the 9-11 Commission report, the second half of which aired the same night as this commentary on ABC. )

For more, check Countdown's page on the MSNBC website.