C'mon, Grow a Pair, Will Ya?

Tonight Olbermann conducted a lengthy interview with Obama on Countdown. Presented in two pieces, here and here, the senator looks great, sounds relaxed, and appears to feel comfortable talking to a sympathetic interviewer in Olbermann. But, damn, does he sound about as forceful as a thick mist!

Olbermann asks him point blank if he thinks it's better to say that the Republicans are lying, and Obama's answer just dances around "lying" and never just comes out and says it. "Past the boundaries of spin" was my favorite euphemistic phrase. WTF?

Olbermann also asks if it's time to be angry. Again, Obama doesn't answer the question. He's staying way too composed. And, in the mainstream media, composed means weak and unable to be sufficiently assertive.

What I really wanted to hear him say is, "Actually, Keith, we passed angry a long time ago. I believe now the better descriptions are 'fed up,' or 'sick and tired.' As a candidate, I don't really have the freedom to blow a gasket here, in front of millions of American people (besides, I think my opponent has demonstrated that particular display of emotion fairly well, and mostly not in a good way), but I completely understand that we're on edge right now. We're all feeling a lot of anxiety. When I speak about this with Michelle or my friends and advisers, or when I hear the latest McCain ad spinning out more and more lies, I feel that anxiety like a knot in my stomach. We're fed up that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have trashed our beautiful country. Fed up with the faltering economy they engineered, fed up with how they've trashed the environment, fed up with their evisceration of the Constitution, fed up with how they radicalized the Supreme Court, FULLY fed up with the botched war in Iraq, and sickened by their impotent response to Hurricane Katrina. There just isn't a clearer picture of how awful a mess the Republicans are leaving behind. And now, John McCain and his inexperienced running mate just want to keep their twisted, opiated masquerade ball going another four years. I said, 'Enough,' and I meant it. We're sick and tired of this madness, and the Republicans are all out of political capital. John McCain is wrong for America, and come November 4, the election results will show just that."

Judge for yourself: