OLBERMANN: Nevertheless, in terms of public understanding of what happened, and what he has said, and what he has done, the semantics as we obviously saw during the last administration, hugely important, given its handling of detainees who were soon to be involved in violence that was, you know, based on religious and political grounds, and which, we were told, were attempts to circumscribe American freedoms.

If Scott Roeder had an Islamic name and was promising to attack more Americans or knew of attacks planned against more Americans, wouldn‘t people at one end of the political spectrum now be saying, in that sort of hyperbolic example, we should use enhanced interrogation techniques to find out what he has planned or what he knows about?

O‘DONNELL: Well, I don‘t think this is really an issue about torture. This individual has been charged. He‘s not being interrogated by the police. But what is important is that the law enforcement community is taking this very, very seriously.

By calling-pushing, even-for the water boarding of his rival talk-show host Sean Hannity (who, in a moment of exceptional foolishness volunteered to be water boarded in order to demonstrate that it's "not that bad"), Olbermann gave away the moral high ground on this issue, undermined his otherwise unassailable argument against torture, and trivialized the very thing he wants us all to take so seriously. I would go so far as to say he's "normalized" it, if the ability of Olbermann supporters to twist themselves into logical and moral knots in defense of his campaign is any indication.

... I would simply ask Mr. Olbermann to ponder this question: You have been compared- justly in my view- to Edward R. Murrow. Can you honestly imagine that Mr. Murrow would have condoned - much less engaged in - a campaign like the one you've run against Mr. Hannity? Murrow went up against the vilest of the vile, Senator Joe McCarthy, and never once did he reduce his tactics to those of his opponent. He found a way to reveal the logical weaknesses in McCarthy's views and the pathetic and desperate political motives behind it without sacrificing his own integrity. He simply gave McCarthy the rope with which to hang himself.

Trust me, Mr. Olbermann, that is all you need to do. The American people - your audience - want our public figures to help us access the better angels of our natures, not to continue exploiting what mystics call "the lower vibrating emotions"- anger, fear, judgment, envy, and in this case - a voyeuristic sadism wrapped in crude humor. You have apparently called off your campaign against Hannity, but it would be helpful to explain why (beyond noting that Hannity is a coward), and acknowledge that perhaps you were a little too human. That's what Murrow would have done, and it's what the Keith Olbermann I've come to respect would do as well. [my emphasis]