"Al Qaeda Causes The Night To Fall"

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann says the realistic threat of terrorism is being so overstated by the Bush administration — and in turn, by Fox News — that it’s downright funny.

“What happens when the culture of fear begins to inspire not terror or outrage, but laughter?” asked Olbermann. “Am I being too optimistic, or has giggling now passed paranoia in response to the president and these macabre parrots working at Fox?”

“The memo was reported not…five days ago, but six days ago — plus 1,560 more days ago,” said Olbermann. “The memo is from July 11, 2003. The Arizona Republic is a newspaper.

Congratulations, Fox. But it has not been carrying the story…the guy who reported it doesn’t even work there anymore.”

Later in the program, Olbermann made up his own terror rumor about Al Qaeda’s far-reaching powers:

“I heard Al Qaeda causes night to fall,” he warned.

Air America radio host Rachel Maddow, a guest during the segment, said reports like Fox’s helped to aid a White House that profited from fear.

“They have to come up with superhuman powers for Al Qaeda because they want to use Al Qaeda to justify a super-extreme agenda for the United States of America,” said Maddow of the Bush administration.

The following video is from MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, broadcast on October 24, 2007: