— Keith Olbermann
By SJWNY, a Trail Mix Contributor
This speech was written and delivered by Olbermann for the 1998 Cornell Senior Convocation. I apologize to the gentleman for quoting it without his permission but it is an important work on why we are and what we can become if we apply ourselves to the good:
Come on out of this wonderful haven, this experimental lab of life you’ve been in, and guard your humanity and your Moral Force as if it were your wallet.
…… But I also know that the one thing you have that all of us “out here” do not … is that you are not yet jaded by this process. To some degree you must inevitably become so. But if you keep your Moral Force intact just sufficiently so that you can stand up once or twice in the rest of your life and say, “You know what? This is wrong for me and for people I know and for people I don’t know and I’m not going to do it,” you will have improved the world.
And I do not know what the meaning of life is.
The older I got, the more complicated my philosophical gymnastics got until my one sentence answer turned into a paragraph and then an hour later and then it began to shrink to “beats the hell out of me” and finally to this gesture:
Uh-uh-uh!
But I do know without fear of contradiction what the definition of life is and it is 12 words long: “Life is defined by how much you improve the lives of others.”
Good Luck.
May you do better than all of us have.
You take it from here.
The speech defines who Olbermann is, why he does what he does, why he is needed. Being a lightning rod is not easy nor should it be entered into lightly. The message only works & lasts if it has integrity & solid ground behind & beneath it.
While others in media treasure access and being seen at the right parties & shindigs, Mr. Olbermann treasures being on the Right Side of History. Whether or not he is your cup of tea is understood & respected. I get it. But he does serve an important place as protecting the flicker of hope & light that defines humanity while others in media work to protect their paychecks. He doesn’t need to do this for the fame; he needs to do this as a decent human being & good citizen. His voice is heard; he speaks for those of us whose voice is not. For that, I am forever grateful. Thank You, Sir.
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Olbermann can be seen regularly on his new GQ show:
sjwny, thanks for finding and posting ko’s speech and for the nice tribute to him. he must be doing some good with his latest endeavor from the looks of all the backlash in alt-world. sharks biting at the board when one surfs him on the web.
he reminds me of the old philosopher eddie Lawrence quote “bunky, never give up! never give up! never give up that ship!”
and keith, I hope you, bunky, never give up that sh*t… resistance wise.
patd,
Mr. Olbermann is doing good – in many ways we know of; in countless ways we will never know 😉 . He doesn’t publicize this but I will: his support of charities & good causes is amazing & he does this many times as “anonymous.” He is complicated, multifaceted, utterly fascinating & never dull. But most importantly he is a good egg.
btw, the twit recently dissed in a tweet (new word needed here, maybe “twissed”?) press sec josh earnest.
he needs to do something about his own spoke-lickspittles before throwing “twissts” at others. conway and spicer really rankle. negativity personified. hope we’re not saddled with them for four years… or even the next four weeks.
keep thinking ko and gq are fishing for a twit lawsuit. maddow says this is the way the twit will stifle bad news about him and his.
https://youtu.be/aoldF07cslU
Great quote from Olbermann.
Though I do think he can be a bit bombastic… I’m glad the left has someone willing to fight and stand up to those on the right…. especially now.
Thank you for posting this. Keith O. helped me through W, who seems downright Jeffersonian in comparison with the Orange Laird.
His “The Closer” and current “The Resistance” for GQ articulate the rage I cannot. His voice of defiance and scrutiny and often histrionics is out there, waiting to be joined by our political leaders. I’ve wondered how GQ fares with this, if Keith might even be hauled away. Sure, he has millions, but . . .
The softer side of Keith is not as well known. Anyone recall his Fridays with Thurber on Countdown? That had its genesis when he read Thurber to his hospitalized father, who suggested Keith incorporate the readings into his show. Any son who reads Thurber to his father is aces in my book. Any man who then reads Thurber to me on Friday evenings is triple aces. Sammy the dog fondly recalls “The Dog That Bit People” in particular. Naturally.
For me, KO’s messages have always rankled–not so much for their content, but for the stridency and volume of their delivery.
Forty-nine years ago I witnessed the most incredible, demeaning, most deserved ass-chewing of my career. It was by Maj Atkins and the recipient was TSgt Miller. Atkins never raised his voice. In fact, he spoke in such a low voice that Miller was forced to crook his neck so that he could hear. As the ten-minute chew proceeded, Miller’s face achieved a shade of grey that was one notch removed from terminal. Major Atkin’s voice never wavered or paused until he was through.
The military is formed around the concept that real leaders lead from the front, “Follow Me” is more than a slogan; it personifies the concept of trust and shared risk that is embodied in our military.
Atkins didn’t need to shout to make his point. Someone should ask what Miller did to deserve all this.
I’m a Keith O fan, but don’t get GQ tv (at least not that I know of), so I catch up with him here. I have a great deal of respect for him over his decision to get out of his drumpf owned building.
Loved the “Frankly, I’m running out of Trump spit” line.
Flatus, I agree KO’s delivery is often strident, particularly recently, but he’s a pundit and entertainer. Leadership is a funny thing – when a Major is disciplining a Tsgt, there is a power hierarchy that allows the Major to lead in whatever manner he sees fit. IMHO leaders lead best if they have the benefit of respect of the led. Major Atkins’ style is one that works for many, and works well for some – for others, that style doesn’t work well. I’ve seen KO be effective both in his bombastic style and in a much more measured manner. But he isn’t leading – he’s offering his 2 cents’ worth. Frankly, I find bombast appropriate when it comes to Trump. There are other quiet voices out there who offer their 2 cents’ worth, and maybe, through the combination of the different delivery styles, enough people will hear and get the message that the country has made a yuge mistake and 4 years from now will correct it.
What I see with Olberman is red meat for the left wing. I think the lefties have been eating enough red meat and need to find a way to break bread with the rest of the nation. Close to 50% of the American people voted for an extremely unqualified candidate. Olberman isn’t going to help us reach those folks or reach a consensus on where this nation goes from here. Yes it is important to stand on principle but you shouldn’t look like a shouting fool when you do it. Unfortunately, that is what the left in this country currently looks like. with that, imo, Olberman does nothing to help the left move forward but rather encourages the worst behavior out there.
Jack
KO’s readings from Thurber were a must see for me. We have seen that KO can get under the floater’s skin and get reactions.
My training instructor in the Air Force basic military training did not yell. He would march to the offending young airman and whisper in his ear. Most distressing, but preferable to having someone blast your eardrums with how worthless you are.
Pogo
GQ Olbermann videos are on online here: http://video.gq.com/series/the-closer-with-keith-olbermann
Jack, considering the head of the pugn party, I find the comments singling out Olberman and the left looking like a shouting fool to be ironic at a minimum. The breaking bread comes in the middle – those folks who aren’t shouting fools. These days I perceive the right’s idea of compromise being the left agreeing to their terms. That’s not my idea of learning to break bread with the rest of the nation (the 46% who voted for drumpf?). As for me – I break bread with a RW fool somewhat regularly – we don’t solve political problems and almost never agree on core issues, but we are friends and enjoy each other’s company. He spent 8 years griping about Obama bad after I spent 8 years griping about Bush stupid. We each have friends who are less ideologically inclined who I hope work out details, but I really don’t see much of that. Let’s just see how much leavening goes on with pugns running both houses of Congress and the Executive branch. Then we can talk.
Jamie, thanks.
Laugh of the day The Condom whining about Democrats not accepting Trump. The Condom needs to meet reality and have a long discussion with Congressional Republicans.
The Meth-faced monster whose milk bottle is totally gray she is Catholic I believe although one going straight to hell. In fact her milk bottle might be black.
She certainly has only made people’s lives worse.
AS for Melanoma – she is protecting her good name (sic) Following the Peter Theil method – keeping taking them to court – I don’t know if she was an escort but she certainly has taken a lot of really slutty pictures.
I guess the media for the most part never learned the lesson of
Martin Niemöller
KO, was OK a few years ago….but hes way too loud for me to even listen to………What i think that people like him….Carville and others that people like to watch…..is to show us a contrast of each and every subject that the ds want to talk about and back it up with facts and graphs…..example….the Rs like to talk about how when the ds are in office they spend and waste our tax dollars away…….Oberman and others should go on the air and compare the two……show us…the whole country the proof….on graphs, charts showing which one of the two parties are the big spenders….and stick with it…..until they get the message out……not completely, but ignore all other subjects until this hits home with the news media…..then move on to comparisons of another subject……one by one the ds should take each and every subject that they care for…….and shove it down our throats……until we can understand it…….using plain language …check for all information….bring it with them to cnn, fox, etc, etc……and show where the facts come from…..and preferably from a source that the rs use……..facts are facts…….find them and show that they come from republican sources….What do we get from both sides……just s bunch of garbage……..thats one of the biggest reasons that we have the garbage news channels like cnn, fox, and others……..want to change that…dont let them run your show…interview for the subject at matte…..not the got you questions…….ignore them and talk about the subject…..if all ds did this….instead of all the bs….they are forced to defend……….we would all be better off……no one listens to KO tying to KO the other side any more……but what he says is great…..i will listen when he is not yelling at me…….
Flatus……I agree with you……when ever some one yelled at me…i never even listened to them…….waited to they finished and walked away……but when some one …in a normal or quiet voice started to tell me that i did something wrong….or that they did not agree with what i did………i listened very carefully….and changed what that person did not like…..or after thinking about it….went back and explained why it would not not changed…….
I always tried to lead by example when I had my construction corp…..i would be the first one to do whatever needed to be done……then there would be no excuse for anyone else not tot do it…period!
Whenever (unless it was total neglect or something……) something went wrong…….i would take the blame for not training that person correctly….or not explaining my self correctly in order for things to be accomplished the correct way (but only after hearing what went wrong and all pertinent information)…….there was never the same mistake done twice and workers did take responsibility for their own work this way……….yelling doesn’t work too well…………unless you are going down the hills on a mountain bike or a doing a little tobaggoning down some really steep slopes…………YEEEEE HAaaaaaaaaaaa
Renee , Yeah, eggs are one of the bests……….how about banna peels….cut of the ends..cut the banana into slices…..boil for while……..and eat them……..and some pretty good banana tea to boot….add cinnamon…….basically i will try anything that can be eaten………how about this…..dont throw away that avocado pit…….break it…and grind the seed that is in it…..or grow another one…..if the fruit of what ever you like eating is good for you…..the skin or seed is also ….ten fold……Judy said ….thanks……tell Rck, Rick MC for me also………
There is so much misinformation out there…..once (i dont watch anymore) heard on that doctor show……that eating bananas were no good for you (1-2 per day)….that it had way too much potasim …..that we needed only about 450mgs per day……well ….i love me my bananas in any way…liquid or bread, ……so i went a hunting…..and there are more than cpl of extensive studies that show that we need about 1300 to 1,400 mgs per day……most Americans are potassium deficient………and the kick was that bananas rated at about 1,600th on a chart showing which food were potassium rich…it was a scientific study……..every single things that i eat….ive researched….cos i dont trust the corps to tell me what is good for me…..so break that avocado pit and grind it for the great omega fats and other healthy stuff in em…….or……just swallow it whole…..but have some one that know the Heimlich maneuver. standing by…hahaaaaaaa…..i hate when i laugh at my own…….. later….
SJ……..MGT, nice thoughts…….wish it were like that…..but i dont think that it ever will be……..we are not what we think we are, what we pretend to be….yes some humans are caring and take care of others….but mostly we are tribal, combative, greedy apes (like our IDs inside us all)….but we do have an example of Egalitarianism…….the African Bush Men……..some others around the world….but very little of it here in this side of the world…….some times when i hear “it takes a village” i know what is meant by that….but the truth is……it takes a village…..and if my village doesnt have it…..i will take yours…….evolution is a slow process and we are not that far away from where we started from as small bands…..that had to kill for survival……some of this is so evident to me…in every day life….but we cant let that stop us from doing the right thing……I feel the best when i share, teach, or do something for others……but i dont do so well when people try to do the same for me…….life is complicated no? later
Granny
Thanks for the post. I like Keith O – even when I don’t agree – I enjoy the sense of outrage and total disgust he shows.
I don’t believe a loud and vigorous discussion is ever out of line
Jack
Close to 50% of Americans…not really 50% of American voters which isn’t in the neighborhood of half of Americans.
I don’t see why Dems have to get along. We are playing by Trump rules – false flattery and every trick in the book are the rules now. Wait ’til Trump stiffs the first defense contractor I wonder what the cabal of Generals will say then
There is no reason to do anything but make trouble. We have seen the Trump cabinet, we know what the agenda is– If you think any thing but bad things are going to happen —
do you also believe in unicorns.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the December Solstice is the shortest day of the year.
Although winter is the season of dormancy, darkness and cold, the December Solstice marks the “turning of the Sun” and the days slowly get longer. Celebrations of the lighter days to come and nature’s continuing cycle have been common throughout cultures and history with feasts, festivals and holidays around the December Solstice.
Yule is also known as Alban Arthan and was one of the “Lesser Sabbats” of the Wiccan year in a time when ancient believers celebrated the rebirth of the Sun God and days with more light. This took place annually around the time of the December solstice and lasted for 12 days. The Lesser Sabbats fall on the solstices and equinoxes.
Other Customs of the Season: December Solstice Traditions
jack, kgc is right about calling you on the “close to 50% of Americans voted” for the twit. take a look at the above chart on the voter turn out which was less than 60% of the eligible voters. only 46% of that less than 60% voted to end America as we know it as pogo pointed out.
and about your ” I think the lefties have been eating enough red meat and need to find a way to break bread with the rest of the nation.” jack, if I recall correctly, weren’t you one of the gang here grousing about Obama not being tough enough… not being lbj, not standing up to the meanies? shouldn’t the dems have a variety of voices, display many points of view, play good cops AND bad cops where necessary?
Jamie, guess today we rightly can say “now is the winter of our discontent”
here’s Rachel again, not exactly ko but getting there. so jack & flatus, is she and her delivery more to your liking?
https://youtu.be/EnPMu9X_SfA
Rachel Maddow uncovers Vladimir Putins treacherous tratment of his political opponents and ties it to Rex W. Tillerson, President of Exxon Mobil and Trump’s pick for Secretary of State. Tillerson has a reputation for ignoring U.S. Foreign Policy specifically with regard to sanctions placed against Russia for their invasion of the Ukraine. Russia’s aggression halted the massive $500 billion oil exploration partnership which included Exxon Mobil. Putin invited “Big Oil” Executives to an Oil Expo to be held in St Petersburg. The US Government communicated to the US based executives that participating in the expo would be against the interests of the United States. Tillerson attended anyway and mocked the US during the proceedings
maybe ko should be more like bo’ (said sarcastically)?
o’reilly recently according tp wapo:
On last night’s edition of “The O’Reilly Factor,” the King of Cable News circled back to the issue as part of a “Talking Points Memo” addressing calls to fold the electoral college. It’s a newsworthy topic, considering that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2 percent yet took a beating on the tally that matters. “The Electoral College, which is written into the Constitution, is more than just a vestige of the founding era; it is a living symbol of America’s original sin,” editorialized the New York Times on Monday. “When slavery was the law of the land, a direct popular vote would have disadvantaged the Southern states, with their large disenfranchised populations. Counting those men and women as three-fifths of a white person, as the Constitution originally did, gave the slave states more electoral votes.”
Arguing against any attempt to KO the electoral college, O’Reilly found insidious racial motives in the calls to do so. “White men have largely abandoned the Democrats, and the left believes it’s because of racism that they want to punish minorities, keep them down,” said O’Reilly. “So that’s what’s really going on when you hear about the electoral college and how unfair it allegedly is. Summing up, the left wants power taken away from the white establishment.”
The spokesman for this white establishment also scoffed at the historical work of the cabal. “The left sees white privilege in America as an oppressive force that must be done away with,” he said. “Therefore white working class voters must be marginalized, and what better way to do that than center the voting power in the cities? Very few commentators will tell you that the heart of liberalism in America today is based on race. It permeates almost every issue — that white men have set up a system of oppression.”
That’s a historical fact, actually — not an argument. Contrary to O’Reilly’s fantasies about a modern and color-blind United States, evidence continues to mount that the system of oppression remains open for business.
Winter of our discontent is certainly represented by Richard III in today’s reincarnation aka Donald Trump.
Jamie….
and d. frump and Richard III are definitely both “dicks”…. 🙂
Is anyone else following the Tom Arnold story of him holding several tapes of the floater dissin’ Blacks and calling his son bad things? It is becoming quite interesting as the floater’s attorneys have sent the C&D letter. Arnold is ready for discovery. Doubtful the floater will go to court on this one. Discovery opens his life to a lot of flashlights shining around. But, I do hope the floater does pull the trigger and go to court.
must say Keith was one of the most quick-witted anchors I ever worked with. No matter how weird the metaphor I came up with, he would run with it and usually top it. Was so much fun playing that game with him.
Sooooo………What had Miller done or not done?
Olberman, Si……..republicans, No.
Craig, it was on “Countdown” that I first saw and took note of you. You had your wits about you and bore a great resemblance to a good friend. That, plus your charming Florida accent, sealed the deal.
I worked with a fellow at The Tampa Tribune and years ago, he’d briefly worked with KO at ESPN. He did not care for him one whit, but then they are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. That may have been a factor.
At any rate, I like my outrage tall, well-spoken, basso profundo and with a dollop of Thurber on the side. Thank you.
Well, I have to thank KO for leading me to the trail. Craig was sitting out on Herald Square or some such place, with KO & Dee Meyer, covering the R convention.
Although I was upset with KO taking down Hillary in 2008, in hindsight I have to thank him for that, as well.
Ko interviewing Stallone’s mom, and, the monkey-pox family were the funniest, unscripted moments I can remember.
Still, I prefer KO covering baseball. The history of baseball game on Fox was amazing.
BiD, one thing I remember about that Herald Square set was having lunch with him in the trailer when he got a big kick out of how much I was raving about those NYC half-and-half cookies. I had never seen them before, so he explained their cultural significance. We must have talked about those cookies for 20 min.
mrdoodlesdog, Countdown was such a tightly-run show. Sharp staff, all pros, and little turnover. Many followed him to his shows on other channels. Ha, when our Current TV days came to an end I teased Keith that I had worked with him through three of his firings. He said, “You missed a few.”
Ha! Just a few.
I remember you saying to look for McCain to say something weird at that convention. I don’t know if he did, but it surely wouldn’t seem weird after this year.
They try to make black & white cookies, cronuts, etc., down here. They should just give up & leave it to New York. The French macarons here are the size of quarters. It’s just wrong.
For those like me who said “Huh?” about Half Moon Cookies, here they are:
Upstate NY Iconic Half-moon Cookie Recipe
If Trump gets his channel set up, maybe KO can apply there just for kicks and giggles.
Jack, thanks. 🙂 Merry Christmas.
Oh, those are different.
Happy Holidays? WHAT THE HELL?!
IDK. Trump’s war on Christmas?
Never knew the Ruskies to be big on Christmas. Keith’s old nemesis Billo is going to have his hands full (or mouth open).
Keith’s outrage over at his new digs and platform, in particular the Russian election cyberwarring, got me to thinking. A dangerous development, that. No wonder Trump dislikes him.
The Joseph McCarthy era and Army-McCarthy Hearings. Joseph Welch’s “Have you no sense of decency?”
Imagine. A comment like that, bringing a demagogue down. Stripping him of his false patriotism and power. Exposing him as a fraud. What comment could bring Trump down for his followers? Who would utter it? Where would it be said? How would it gain traction and lethalness?
Yep. I have no answers. But maybe Keith has begun beating on that particular drum, summoning others to listen, and to action. It would be great if he also offered levity alongside the outrage and dissent, telling us stories of NYC cookies. I wish for another Countdown, but realize Keith has probably had enough long format, and run out of media companies. But someone, somewhere, is our next Joseph Welch, waiting in the wings. Maybe Keith will help find him or her. Please?
Enjoyed reading the Comments & opinions. However others may feel about the gentleman, Mr. Olbermann has been a positive influence in my life through his words & deeds. This is a good man with a big heart. Very lucky to have him fighting on our side.
I like Olberman. I’m also half deaf, prolly caused by a certain sgt. Either him or the helicopter engines. The last time I saw that sgt, he was still alive. No one had kicked him out the door and into the trees below at 100 mph.
Ohhhhh, so tempting.
But, I digress. KO is OK by me.
corey & bid, yeah looks like twit inc is also part of the anti-christmas cabal with their wishing folks happy holidays instead of merry you-know-whats. and of course with balls of gold. btw, why the fascination with gold? bet his fav fable was king midas, fav bible story golden calf, fav movie goldfinger…body powder gold bond?
SJ
Please understand that my lack of enthusiasm for KO was based on his style of presentation, not the substance of those presentations. That he has made a positive impact in your life is something special that makes life worthwhile for him and better for you. I would never try to diminish those good things.