Keith Olbermann is a popular news personality with many liberals. Lefties like him because he is not afraid to speak truth to the vast power of FOX News, intrepidly exposing the inherent right-wing bias of his cable news competition. He also drew high marks for his courageous calumny against George Bush. Why was that so courageous? According to Olbermann and his like-minded fans, the Bush years saw a "chilling effect" in the area of political speech. Even more remarkable, he does all this patriotic caterwauling in between delivering his signature objective reporting in a style self-consciously reminiscent of his hero, Edward R. Murrow.

Unfortunately, Katie Couric has already won this year's Walter Cronkite award for excellence in journalism for "her extraordinary, persistent and detailed multi-part interviews with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, which judges called a defining moment in the 2008 presidential campaign.”

Maybe next year Keith Olberman can get some much-deserved kudos for this report on "teabagging" (view here courtesy of RCP Video).

FYI: just in case you don't know (and I am somewhat embarrassed and somewhat contented that I did not), "teabagging" is a word that describes a somewhat unorthodox sexual act.

SERIOUS QUESTION: should grownups really spend eleven minutes of prime cable-TV time snickering through this bawdy witlessness?

One more disappointment: shame on Howard Fineman for taking part in this abomination.