Olbermann gives O'Reilly a beatdown

Fine. For the second time in a week, I'll link to a funny clip just because it's suddenly getting tons of attention on the blogosphere.

This time it's MSNBC's Keith Olbermann responding to a yawn-inducing bit of machismo from El Blotcho himself, Bill O'Reilly. And I have to say it's pretty good. And now that I think about it, Olbermann deserves some serious props for doing this (although it's still a shame that this is considered 'gutsy' on cable news). I've plugged Olbermann before, but now is a good time to again ask for support of his show and its advertisers.

In fact, Olbermann is adopting an idea that's been one of my pet theories for some time now-- the bombastic posturing of the far right needs to be met not with serious debate, but with ridicule and disdain. Being all serious and grown-up in the face of the risible "War on Christmas" just lends credence to an argument that's pure bullshit to begin with. What Democrats need right now is comedy writers-- people who can yank the rug out from under these blowhards by pointing out the hollowness of their arguments in one withering putdown. And as we all know, no amount of reactionary money can produce a right-wing comedian who's actually funny. Their best effort has been Ann "I think we should poison a Supreme Court Justice" Coulter. She's not exactly Buster Keaton. Hell, she's not even Sinbad.

Anyway, watch the clip. I was remiss in not posting it earlier. And your homework for the evening is to write a brief essay on comedy as a progressive political tool.