“So what else is new?”, you ask?  Well, apparently this time he was busy demonstrating that he was more pig-ignorant of American history than, say, Sharron Angle (Via AoSHQ).

“Just for the record do you how many elections Abraham Lincoln lost in his lifetime?” [Keith “Moo” Olbermann] asked, leering into the camera. With drama benefitting Gloria Swanson as the fading star in Sunset Boulevard, Olbermann holds up a solitary finger. Then goes on to say: “The Illinois state assembly in 1832. He prevailed in four elections for state assembly, one for Congress, two for president…. seven of eight he won.”

Yes, I know. The average reader of this weblog is a Republican and/or conservative, so it’s safe to assume that they know darn well that the Lincoln/Douglas debates were part of Lincoln’s unsuccessful run for the Senate in 1858. Jeffrey Lord of the American Spectator goes on to list some of the other elections that Lincoln lost (and that people might not know about): including a 1854 bid for Senate; a 1842 bid for Congress; and an 1856 bid for the Republican GOP Vice Presidential nomination (which I wouldn’t personally score, although I would the two Senate bids).  All in all, though: Lincoln/Douglas.  This was one of the seminal events leading up to the American Civil War.

You’re not allowed to ignore it just because your current Hate Object is a woman, Keith Olbermann.

Moe Lane

PS: I suggest that Olbermann’s apologists take the position that pre-17th Amendment Senate elections don’t count, despite the fact that the candidates involved in them certainly campaigned as if they did.  Or that this is functionally equivalent to arguing that Presidents are actually not elected because the final decision lies with the Electoral College.  Or that it’s rather sad to feel the need to spend one’s days defending Keith Olbermann’s driving need to prove to himself that, no, really, he’s a Smart Guy.