GoldbergBlog

Christopher Walken: National Treasure

CNN: Nobody Leaves More Things There

Special Comment: Health Care

“It’s a matter of life and death.”

I always post Olbermann’s special comments because whether or not I agree with his point, I think impassioned calls that actually employ a vocabulary and have the heft of speeches rather than angry rants are worth watching especially when compared to the screeching of pundits on other programs.  I guarantee you that someone who says that Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann are just two sides of the same coin has never sat down and watched a full broadcast of “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Countdown” and then seriously compared the two.

This broadcast-length Special Comment on the state of health care and how important it is that we reform it now will be a sermon to the choir but that doesn’t make it any less of an eloquent or heartfelt sermon.  What makes this more than just 43 minutes of agreeing with Olbermann is that he realizes he can’t change the minds of the scared opponents of health care reform who have been brainwashed by conservative talking points nor can he force weak-willed Democrats to provide a serious opposition and actually stand up for what’s right.  He asks one thing: to go to this website and donate to the National Association of Free Clinics.  Whether your agree with Olbermann or not, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t donate to make a tangible difference that can’t be destroyed by an army of lobbyists or a cadre of politicians.

The Indecider

SNL, whose political blade seems dull when compared to the The Daily Show, absolutely shredded Obama in their opening sketch.  I wouldn’t say it was “funny” but it’s something the mainstream media couldn’t do because that would be “biased”.  It’s really unfair to make Rachel Maddow the only person on cable news willing to point out Obama’s shortcomings since he’s clearly come up short on so many issues. 

I understand the complications in closing Gitmo but gays in the military?  Torture prosecutions?  For a man who claimed during the campaign that the president has to do more than one thing at a time, he rarely seems to be doing even one thing, or at least something that actually makes an important difference in people’s lives. When it comes to actually presiding over the country in a practical way, he’s either tossed it aside, or worse, he’s tossed it into the black hole that is the United States Congress. Right now, Obama is basically our cool, black friend in the White House like the British have their adorable grandmother in Buckingham Palace. Remember that big, rousing speech Obama gave on September 9th about health care reform?  Well, it’s been almost a month since then and what’s changed?  How did he follow up his brilliant oratory?  The same way he’s followed up everything else he’s turned his attention to.

There’s deliberate, there’s pragmatic, and then there’s indecisive and SNL knew exactly which one when it made its most brutal stab: “It took me four months just to pick out a dog.”

Democrats: Always Thinking Three Failures Ahead

I Don’t Know Why Tom DeLay Was Anti-Gay Rights

Special Comment: Making America Safe For Those Who Completed the 7th Grade

Norm MacDonald on Late Night with Conan O’Brien

I’ll be the first to admit that Norm MacDonald’s comedy isn’t for everyone.  If you told me you hated “Dirty Work”, I would understand.  I would also feel bad for you because I would have an awesome cult comedy and you’d have nothing.  Nothing.

If you can make it through Norm’s interview on Late Night from last week, which is the purest form of his comedy, and it makes you laugh, then you and I shall share an eternal bond.  Check out the clip below:

The Quotable West Wing

This should be a book.  But in the meantime…

“Okay, well, golf’s not a sport.  It’s fine, don’t get me wrong, but let’s not you and I confuse it with things that men do.” — President Josiah Bartlett, The Drop-In

Special Comment: Palin’s “Death Panel”

I know I went on a little about Olbermann’s previous Special Comment about health-care, but in his latest he goes after Sarah Palin for her out-right lie about “Death Panels”, and it’s one of her biggest yet in an impressive career filled with lies that feel more compulsive than defensive (although she’s certainly got plenty of those too).  Yes, going after Sarah Palin is like shooting fish in a barrel but that doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining.