Olbermann to Bush: "Beyond shameful"

Ever since Keith Olbermann discovered the "Special Comment" button under his desk at MSNBC, he's been on fire.

Tonight he took the president to task, and rightly so, for squandering the opportunities he had in the wake of the 9/11/01 bombings, and for neglecting the repair work to be done--to Manhattan, to the nation, and to our standing in the world.

Here's an excerpt:

[A]nyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft", or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here — is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante — and at worst, an idiot — whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However. Of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast — of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds… none of us could have predicted… this.
Five years later this space… is still empty.
Five years later there is no Memorial to the dead.
Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards and criminals.
Five years later this country’s wound is still open.
Five years… later this country’s mass grave is still unmarked.
Five years later… this is still… just a background for a photo-op.
It is beyond shameful.

And at this point, he's just getting started. Connoisseurs will especially appreciate the well-chosen Serling quote, even if the tee-up to it is a little awkward.

Via those fine folks at Crooks and Liars, you can watch the whole thing or read the transcript here.

And that's going to be the final word on 9/11-a-palooza around here. Tomorrow we can all get back to trying to straighten things out, instead of listening to made-up stories about how we got here.