VirusHead

I didn’t know until this morning that Keith Olbermann had received a letter in the mail, a letter that contained white powder – at his home, complete with a note that said it was in response to his commentary against the president. Olbermann did exactly what he should have done by calling NYPD for HazMat and going to the hospital. That’s standard procedure for a possible biohazard. Sending threatening letters is a federal crime, and adding the white powder – real anthrax or not – is an act of terrorism since it clearly evokes the previous attacks.

But Murdock’s New York Post portrays Olbermann as a baby, a weenie.

Keith Olbermann flipped out when he opened his home mail yesterday. The acerbic host of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” was terrified when he opened a suspicious-looking letter with a California postmark and a batch of white powder poured out. A note inside warned Olbermann, who’s a frequent critic of President Bush’s policies, that it was payback for some of his on-air shtick. The caustic commentator panicked and frantically called 911 at about 12:30 a.m., sources told The Post’s Philip Messing. An NYPD HazMat unit rushed to Olbermann’s pad on Central Park South, but preliminary tests indicated the substance was harmless soap powder. However, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Olbermann, who insisted on a checkup. He asked to be taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where doctors looked him over and sent him home. Whether they gave him a lollipop on the way out isn’t known. Olbermann had no comment.

Olbermann later pointed out that it took 14 hours for the substance to be cleared. After 10 hours at the hospital, he wasn’t given a lollipop, but a prescription for Cipro.

The people who don’t like Olberman’s kind of analysis seem to think it’s all pretty funny. Death threats, yeah that’s hilarious. What do you think the reaction might have been if the recipient of a letter of white powder was a prominent right-winger?

The Post itself received a real anthrax letter that infected 3 employees in 2001. You’d think they’d take a threat like that seriously. Wonder who the “sources” were?

Hazmat specialist Jamie Holly is troubled by another aspect of the story.

The FBI asked that the media keep this story quiet and they abided by that, with the exception of the NY Post. The fact that the NY Post may have interfered with a federal investigation is not the most disturbing part. Even worse is the tone in which they reported it. The headline alone, “POWDER PUFF SPOOKS KEITH” could very well have caused more damage then the actual reporting. Not only did that headline alert the person who sent the letter that it did reach Keith, but it also makes it sound like the tactic was very effective. This now gives the person fuel to do more of these letters just for the “shock” value.

The Moderate Voice has a good collection of blogger opinion on the whole mess.