Olbermann: 'Absurd' Bush defender 'had to be stoned' David Edwards and Rachel Oswald

Published: Thursday March 12, 2009





Print This Email This Former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischers Wednesday attempts to spin the Bush presidency on Iraq and the economy were met with nothing but derision and disdain by MSNBCs Keith Olbermann who said Fleischer must have been stoned to make such statements.



Appearing on Hardball with Chris Matthews earlier in the day, Fleischer defended former President Bushs legacy, saying I think Barack Obama should say thank you every day that he inherited a world without Saddam Hussein in it.



He added that as a result of the Bush tax cuts, the country got 55 straight months of job creation.



Fleischer also attempted to propagate the now widely discredited neoconservative theory that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were allies and that Hussein had a hand in 9/11 by saying, After Sept. 11, how could we take a chance that Saddam might not strike again.



To all of these statements, Olbermann on his Wednesday night program Countdown responded with Fleischer had to be stoned and that recent attempts by Fleischer and other Bush aides to spin the presidency were patently absurd and almost insane.



We got this arrogant, condescending crap that Obama should basically be sending thank you notes to Bush every day for ridding the world of Saddam Hussein, Olbermann said, asking Newsweek editor and MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter, "Is the idea that the more ridiculous you make the spin, the larger the yield?



I dont think theres too much reality, Alter said of the Bush aides, adding These folks are all in the legacy business. A lot of the Bush veterans cant find jobs so they have plenty of time to go out and spin for their old boss.



Politico's Mike Allen has reported on new attempts by former Bush aides to spin the administration's record.



Fleischer told Allen that the Bush pundits are a loose confederation of people united in our belief in what President Bush did, and were freer now to talk about some things than we used to be  good and bad.



This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast Mar. 11, 2009.









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