Out of Bounds

The New York Post's Page Six, which has had its share of controversies in the past (requiring new editors if I recall correctly), certainly stepped in it once again with quite a few bloggers on the Left. This time over the way it covered an incident involving Keith Olbermann.

“MSNBC loudmouth Keith Olbermann flipped out when he opened his home mail yesterday. The acerbic host of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” was terrified when he opened a suspicious-looking letter with a California postmark and a batch of white powder poured out. A note inside warned Olbermann, who’s a frequent critic of President Bush’s policies, that it was payback for some of his on-air shtick. The caustic commentator panicked and frantically called 911 at about 12:30 a.m., sources told The Post’s Philip Messing. An NYPD HazMat unit rushed to Olbermann’s pad on Central Park South, but preliminary tests indicated the substance was harmless soap powder. However, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Olbermann, who insisted on a checkup. He asked to be taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where doctors looked him over and sent him home. Whether they gave him a lollipop on the way out isn’t known. Olbermann had no comment.”

I'm no fan of Olbermann, but according to the Page Six story, someone sent him a package containing a white powder. That would scare the bejebus out of most anyone, and Keith reacted as most of us would. He also didn't want to take any chances, which is again a normal reaction.

You might recall that in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks, there were a series of unexplained anthrax attacks where members of the media, which happened to include the New York Post (via Ed Morrissey), members of Congress, and several other individuals were infected with anthrax. The perpetrators were never found.

Perhaps you might think that Olbermann overreacted. I don't. I'd want to be absolutely sure that whatever in the package was benign. And then the Post's writeup of the incident does not reflect well on the paper, especially knowing that Post reporters were targeted by the 2001 anthrax attacks. Indeed, it screams for yet another shakeup of the editorial staff for Page Six.

The Post should have used better judgment in publishing the headline on this story. After all, they were among those journalists who were targeted by the original anthrax attacks. Sensationalizing this incident further served no purpose whatsoever.

The part I find completely and utterly distasteful is the fact that someone thinks that sending threatening letters, laced with white powder, is an appropriate action.

It isn't. Whoever sent the letter should be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. Period.

That said, there is room for criticism of the leftie bloggers who are now indignant over how Olbermann was treated by the Post. Where were these bloggers when Olbermann lashed out at fellow journalist Chris Wallace, calling him a monkey. Don't see them castigating Olbermann over that.

Now, Macranger wonders whether this incident actually happened. That's quite a contention, and he doesn't provide a link. Can or will we get verification that this went down as described in the original Page Six story?

The Moderate Voice has a roundup of the reaction to this story. It's a good read.

Technorati: olbermann, keith olbermann, msnbc.