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Keith Olbermann v. Sean Hannity on Waterboarding | 04/24/2009 7:55 am

Olbermann to Pony Up Big Money for Every Second Hannity is Waterboarded (Video)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
MSNBC

MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann will pay big if FOX News’s Sean Hannity will agree to be waterboarded for charity.

Olbermann said Thursday he would pay $1,000 to charity for every second Hannity is waterboarded, The Huffington Post points out. The two hosts have vastly different views on just how torturous the practice is, and Olbermann blasted Hannity for trying to make light of the subject. 

"They’re not taking this seriously and they are talking out of their backsides. What a breakthrough it would be if, by having reality literally forced upon him, a buffoon like Hannity were to realize the deadly seriousness of this," Olbermann said. "The searing truth: that the moment of torture automatically makes the presumed bad-guy recipient the victim, and makes the torturer into the evildoer."

Hannity on Wednesday somewhat offhandedly agreed to be waterboarded so long as the money could go to charities that support American troops’ families. Olbermann’s offer: "For every second you last, a thousand dollars — live or on tape, provided other networks’ cameras are there. A thousand dollars a second, Sean, because this is no game … Oh, and I’ll double it when you admit you feared for your life, when you admit the horrible truth — waterboarding, the symbol of the last administration, is torture."

Watch Olbermann’s challenge below:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

98 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Mary Quite-Contrary
Only 1k per second? I guess times really are hard over at MSNBC. But Keith keep mentioning Hannity over and over…maybe you snatch a dozen or so of his viewers and triple your own ratings. A fascinating story out yesterday of protests, by MSNBC parent company GE’s stockholders at the wonton, left leaning screed of the little, feeble cable channel. The financial natives, apparently are getting restless at the tiresome antics of Olberman et al. Look for Chris Matthews to develop another tingle (or maybe a rash) in response to Hannity as well.
By Mary Quite-Contrary on 04/24/2009 8:16 am
C Hardy
I hope the bet is taken and he can last long enough that a million dollars has to be paid to our Military Familes. 
By C Hardy on 04/24/2009 8:38 am
Rudi G.

There is zero chance a pampered, elitist chickenhawk like Sean Hannity will allow himself to be tortured. Christopher Hitchens, another pro-Iraq occupation Bush apologist, underwent waterboarding. Here’s a link to the video. And here’s an excerpt from his account, titled, "Believe Me, It’s Tortured":

Here is the most chilling way I can find of stating the matter. Until recently, “waterboarding” was something that Americans did to other Americans. It was inflicted, and endured, by those members of the Special Forces who underwent the advanced form of training known as sere (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape). In these harsh exercises, brave men and women were introduced to the sorts of barbarism that they might expect to meet at the hands of a lawless foe who disregarded the Geneva Conventions. But it was something that Americans were being trained to resist, not to inflict….

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure. The “board” is the instrument, not the method. You are not being boarded. You are being watered. This was very rapidly brought home to me when, on top of the hood, which still admitted a few flashes of random and worrying strobe light to my vision, three layers of enveloping towel were added. In this pregnant darkness, head downward, I waited for a while until I abruptly felt a slow cascade of water going up my nose. Determined to resist if only for the honor of my navy ancestors who had so often been in peril on the sea, I held my breath for a while and then had to exhale and—as you might expect—inhale in turn. The inhalation brought the damp cloths tight against my nostrils, as if a huge, wet paw had been suddenly and annihilatingly clamped over my face. Unable to determine whether I was breathing in or out, and flooded more with sheer panic than with mere water, I triggered the pre-arranged signal and felt the unbelievable relief of being pulled upright and having the soaking and stifling layers pulled off me. I find I don’t want to tell you how little time I lasted.

Hitchens lasted 10 seconds.

By Rudi G. on 04/24/2009 9:03 am
Heidi W
Thanks for the link Rudi, Just watching it and knowing it was an experiment was scary.  I can’t even imagine what it would be like if it was done by people you knew didn’t really care if you lived or died.  It’s sad in this day and age that things like this are done to human beings by other human beings.  I would tell them anything thing wanted to hear, even make stuff up to make it stop as I imagine anyone else would do,  no matter how strong they thought they were.  I don’t think torture is a strong enough word for it, there probably isn’t a strong enough word for it,  it is sick.
By Heidi W on 04/24/2009 9:40 am
C Hardy
Rudi…all I said is that it would be nice if he could last that long…Not sure why you posted back to me with what you said…I dont care what someone else did.  I care if this man will do it and raise money for our Military families.
By C Hardy on 04/24/2009 9:42 am
Rudi G.
As noted, the chance he’ll subject himself to torture is practically nil.
By Rudi G. on 04/24/2009 10:18 am
C Hardy
For our Military Families sake I hope he does!
By C Hardy on 04/24/2009 10:30 am
Amanda C
for everyone’s sake i hope he does. then he can admit that it is torture and brutal and is illegal for a reason.
By Amanda C on 04/24/2009 1:31 pm
C Hardy
so you would rather see him do it for that reason then to raise money for our Military families??? 
By C Hardy on 04/24/2009 2:08 pm
Amanda C

i don’t see how that has anything to do with the truth about how it is a torturous practice.

By Amanda C on 04/24/2009 2:33 pm
M J
Yes, Lemon Tea, the only reason for him to follow through with it would be so he could admit how brutal water-boarding is. Even those who have conditioned themselves to live through the torture have a very hard time with it, so imagine how someone who gets straight up out of his broadcaster’s chair and tries to do it would fare? I think less than 10 seconds if that much. Hannity shouldn’t have said he’d do it. And yet, if he said he’d do it, I guess he should be a person of his word or learn to keep his mouth shut about something he knows nothing about. I’m tired of pissin’ contests.
By M J on 04/26/2009 1:14 pm
Mary Utrup

NOBODY in their right mind is FOR torture! It is completely regretable that you cannot, in most cases, get the protective information you need through sweetness and light. I don’t think there is one American that would like to see another 9/11 because we failed to take whatever measure it took to prevent another attack. Who of us EVER thought we would see somethinlg lilke that in our life time. In some cases there is nothing left to do. Hatred and lies about this country are deeply developed in people who have no clue about exactly WHO we are.

By Mary Utrup on 04/29/2009 10:41 am
S G
I agree Rudi. The charity will end up with a grand if lucky and he doesn’t back out:)
By S G on 04/24/2009 11:23 am
Rudi G.

When O’Reilly spoke to the rape victims group, Alexa Foundation, despite the fact he’d said on air that rape and murder victim Jennifer Moore’s attire had invited her attack, Olbermann donated $25,000 to Alexa.

No one at Fox, including O’Reilly, donated a penny, and it’s unclear whether O’Reilly demanded a fee for his engagement. True to form, O’Reilly did not have the tea bags to mention Olbermann’s donation on the air.

By Rudi G. on 04/24/2009 12:12 pm
Rudi G.
Forgot to add that it’s likely Olbermann will make the donation even if Hannity chickens out.
By Rudi G. on 04/24/2009 12:12 pm