Olbermann as Uberman

There's plenty in this week's New Yorker. In addition to Jon Lee Anderson's "Fidel's Heir" about Chavez, there is an admiring piece on Keith Olbermann and how he has transformed the news. As the teaser, something we are supposed to find laudable, is "Mr. Bush: Shut the hell up!" Apparently, Peter J. Boyer who wrote the piece sees nothing wrong with the tenor of this statement and instead dwells on the wonders he has performed for third place MSNBC. I wonder how those who absolutely adore Olberman would feel if the statement were "Mr. Obama: Shut the hell up!" But then, we'd never hear that, would we?

As to the Chavez piece, despite Anderson's Che bio, I made a noble effort to read it, but as I came across something like-when I was on the plane with Chavez the other day- you can guess what I did. You're on your own there.

Finally, as a former Staten Islander, I'm always on the lookout for island stories. Why in the world, the New Yorker would find a story about a guy hanging out at Duffy's who's already been defeated for the Libertarian line worthy of ink, I don't know. Well, maybe, seems Dad is running on the Republican line for Fosella's old seat.

Here's a link to the table of contents