In a "Special Comment" regarding the release
by the Obama Administration of "the remainder of this nightmare
of Bush Administration torture memos," MSNBC's Keith Olbermann
offered the current Commander in Chief some praise for going "half-way,"
then blasted him for issuing a statement which said that "nothing
will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the
past."
"This President has gone where few before him, dared,"
Olbermann said Thursday night. "The dirty laundry — illegal,
un-American, self-defeating, self-destroying — is out for all
to see."
Olbermann continued,
"Mr. Obama deserves our praise
and our thanks for that. And yet he has gone but half-way. And, in
this case, in far too many respects, half the distance is worse than
standing still. Today, Mr. President, in acknowledging these science-fiction-like
documents, you said that:
"This is a time for reflection, not retribution. I respect the
strong views and emotions that these issues evoke."
"We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history.
"But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing
will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the
past.
Mr. President, you are wrong. What you describe would be not "spent
energy" but catharsis.
Not "blame laid," but
responsibility ascribed."
The following video is from Thursday's broadcast of Keith Olbermann's
MSNBC Countdown show.
