When you fail, we all look bad... (Michael Moore bombs on Countdown With Keith Olbermann)

I like Michael Moore. I like his movies, I love some of them (Roger And Me, Bowling For Columbine, the first half of Sicko). I like his books and his lectures. My issues with Fahrenheit 911 and the hoopla that followed were not so much with the film, but the fact that so many liberals or uninformed wanna-be Bush bashers took it as the definitive and only educational tool for liberal ideology. Michael Moore is not and has never claimed to be the end-all of liberal discourse, but a major voice in the crowd, one who has earned his fame because he was there long before it was cool. He's not flawless, even when he's right. But when it comes to liberal ideology, he's usually right.

But wow, I don't think I've ever seen him look or sound worse than he did on Friday night's Countdown With Keith Olbermann. You could tell that Keith was taken aback, especially by his first rant about the new storm, Gustov, somehow proving that there was a God (as if the likely to be catastrophic storm was overall a good thing because it undermines the GOP during the week of its convention). Aside from his opening rant, he was completely ill at ease, seeming half-dressed and appearing distracted, completely unprepared, and caught off guard by every relatively obvious question. I'm loathe to even put this up here, but in all fairness, I wouldn't hesitate if someone on the Right botched a TV appearance this badly. So, here you go, probably Moore's worst TV appearance ever... Mr. Moore, you can do better.

Scott Mendelson