Keith "M'Olby Dick", meet your Ahab

Summary: The following is an add-on to Indyslip's diary about the NY Post printing Keith Olbermann's address over a story about him and his taxes.

Basically, I want to give a little background on the website that started this mess, Olbermannwatch.

  I heard about Mr. Olbermann's alleged tax issue over the weekend, found out that Olbermannwatch was the source of the story's spread, and thought, "You know, this is starting to get a little too Fatal Attractionish."  I was all prepared to explain to my fellow Kossacks was that statement meant, but then thought, "Why bother?  It's just Olbermannwatch."
  Then I read this from Indyslip:

In retaliation for Keith naming Murdoch as "worst person in the world" on Friday's show, the Murdoch-controlled NY Post has actually published Keith's home address in a BS story about him owing a small amount of taxes (which MSNBC confirms was resolved months ago).  The post includes his home address in the story "according to public records."

  So I found myself inspired to revise, and publish, the intended diary.
 
  Olbermannwatch.  The premise of the website is a familiar, and admittedly acceptable one: a website dedicated to monitoring and fact-checking its chosen political opponents.  So far, no problem.  Media Matters is probably the most well-known website designed for this purpose.
  But Olbermannwatch doesn't target the vast portion of liberals in the media, as Media Matters does for conservatives.  They're a bit more specialized, like say the Fox News-watching website News Hounds.  Again, no problem here.
  Though, to be accurate, News Hounds isn't an entirely accurate comparison, any more than Media Matters is.  Because, as the title of the website tells you, Olbermannwatch is pretty much interested in one man...Keith Olbermann.  Basically, they're doing the same thing as, say, Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly.  To be honest, such focus on either website seems a tad excessive, but hey, nobody in the media is perfect, and media watchdogs are (at least in my opinion) necessary to stop anyone from thinking they're always right.

  Here's the problem, though...

  Media Matters doesn't tend to do its own research into Rush Limbaugh's taxes, unlike this:

New York State has issued a tax warrant against Keith Olbermann for failure to pay taxes on his humbly named personal corporation, Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc. Olbermann is listed in legal records as the President of Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc.  A call to the Albany County Clerk's Office in upstate New York confirmed that the warrant is still outstanding and that Olbermann has still failed to pay his back taxes.

  Newshounds doesn't tend to do profiles of Neil Cavuto's romantic interests, unlike this:

Katy Tur is an OlbyLoon. And not just any OlbyLoon but Keith Olbermann number one OlbyLoon and Media Slut. Keith loves to call women sluts and toss around the c-word so we're sure Keith won't mind if we do the same here with his little GirlToy. When she's not busy trading sexual favors to advance her career, she's busy trading on Keith's connections in the broadcast industry to advance the same.

  And Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly doesn't (at least from what I can see from their front page) tend to do biographical profiles of people who merely watch Mr. O'Reilly's show, unlike this piece on Dailykos' own Vyan:

Vyan is an OlbyLoon. Why? On his My Space page, Vyan likes to call himself a "radical centrist". He worked as an IT consultant in the dot-com bubble hoping to cash in and make millions. His dreams of riches dashed he now believes how you make money does not define you and, oh by the way, America is a fascist country.

  My point is that, even assuming that everything they said is true (occasionally, they do make a legitimate attack), this isn't dedication, ladies and gentlemen.  This is obsession.  In and of itself, none of these things would amount to any significant problems.  But when you have a "media watchdog" dedicated to watching just one person, and then the watchdog starts expanding its research (Sweet Jesus only links to the research of others) into items ridiculously unrelated to the offensive, political comments that started the watching, you have an obsession.
  In and of itself, this wouldn't be a problem.  But this website is being rewarded for its obsession.  Mark Levin links to it.  Laura Ingraham is using its arguments.  And now the Post is using its work.
  Olbermannwatch failed at destroying Mr. Olbermann with its Media Matters-like attempts at fact-checking.  So it started doing gossip columns on his romantic interests, taking unnecessarily hard looks into people who merely agree with him (rather than just disproving their arguments), and now are looking into his taxes.
  This is obsession, and it's only going to evolve.  Mr. Olbermann, prepare to have your life looked into like you were running for President.  Olbermannwatch will do the research, and from there it'll make its way to anyone who wants to use the material.  And problems like this NY Post situation will show up (most likely literally) at your doorstep with a frequency greater than before.  Naturally, if you've actually done something wrong, then that's your fault.  But if you're innocent ("the troops are cold-blooded killers"), the storm will come anyway.
  And then you'll be destroyed.  And everyone will love George Bush and the occupation of Iraq.  And the War on Terror will be winnable.  And nobody will criticize Fox News.  And the liberal media will cease to exist.

  Or whatever delusions these opponents of yours think will come to pass if only they can remove you.

  Final note: if you, for whatever reason, want to mention these people, make sure you don't use Mr. O'Reilly's terminology (smear merchant, hate site, etc.).  I kind of like "stalker site" myself.