Olbermann on Anger, Obama, Partisanship

A pre-suspension talk with the MSNBC host
By Emily Rauhala,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2010 5:42 AM CST
Olbermann on Anger, Obama, Partisanship
Olbermann thinks Obama could use some anger.   (AP Photo/MSNBC)

Just before he was suspended without pay for making political donations, MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann talked to the New York Times, mostly about, um, anger. Here are some of the best bits from his interview with Deborah Soloman:

  • On Anger: Olbermann says he once counseled Joe Biden on how to turn anger into "righteous inspiration." "He said, 'I just come across like I’m angry and out of control, and you seem to focus it and make it look useful and expressive,'" Olbermann recalls.
  • On Partisanship: MSNBC is not the lefty equivalent of Fox News, he claims. "When I yell there is a reason for it. There is a political and factual discernment behind it. I am not doing it gratuitously."


  • On Obama: Does the president need more vitriol? Yes, he says. "This is a freaking war out there," Olbermann counsels, though "I’m not saying that President Obama should throw off the dignity of the office and start going in and head-butting opponents."
Click here to read the interview and here for more on Keith Olbermann.
(More Keith Olbermann stories.)

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