Olbermann’s worst ‘Worst Persons in the World’

Whether Dick Scharff of Coronado aspires to military conquest is not known: His blog, “Trained Leaders: Because Not All Leaders are Born that Way,” suggests he has more modest ambitions.

“Our probable destiny is not to lead in some tragic, monumental calamity or great battle,” he writes in describing his and fellow drones in the corporate structure. “Our role is to be there each day, every day…and, with the help of our colleagues and co-workers, produce positive results!”

Nevertheless, Scharff was vaulted to national attention Friday as a wannabe American Pinochet by no less than MSNBC personality Keith Olbermann, who named both the retired Naval officer and the San Diego Union-Tribune as the day’s “Worst Persons in the World.” Scharff had penned an anti-Obama letter to the U-T that displeased Olbermann to the point of all but labeling it seditious.

“Veterans, active duty, retired military — alarm, alarm!” read Scharff’s missive. “President-elect Obama is proposing a National Security Force with allegiance (pay, benefits provided by the executive branch) to him. C’mon, some really bad guys have tried that in the past and we know where that went. Not while I draw a breath!”

The U-T’s editors ran the letter Thursday, and on Friday found themselves and Scharff squarely in Olbermann’s sights.

“Mr. Scharff, if you’re that paranoid over Obama seeking to expand the Peace Corps and the U.S.A. Freedom Corps, which was created by George W. Bush, then the oxygen is already not getting through, so threatening to hold your breath is not going to affect you nor the rest of us,” Olbermann remarked on his show, “Countdown.”

“But this incitement in there to some kind of military rebellion/violent overthrow kind of thing against the, you know, lawfully elected government of the United States — that’s kind of illegal, and the San Diego Union-Tribune should not have printed it and should be correcting the fact that they did.”

Now, certainly one can find a lot of fault in Scharff’s letter. Characterizing a call for national service as a step toward a national security force does come across as a bit paranoid, and could even be seen as a distraction from the kinds of threats to democracy we should be alarmed about — like, say, the very real rise of American armies-for-hire like Blackwater. Scharff also completely misses the fact that, as commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, presidents already have their own national security force.

But sedition?

I’ve read and re-read Scharff’s letter, and even looked for hidden clues by reading it backwards. But, for the life of me, I can’t anything in it suggesting rebellion or overthrow, violent or otherwise. Paranoia notwithstanding, Scharff at least showed enough respect for the office of the presidency by identifying Obama by his proper title — something Olbermann didn’t do in his comments.

In the end, all that “Countdown” accomplished was to elevate a twitchy, four-sentence letter buried amid seven other letters to national prominence. How much do you want to bet that Scharff’s blog, which as of Saturday had exactly two posts and a Christmas greeting on it, will now receive a few thousand visitors than it would have otherwise?

Olbermann should have skipped Friday’s “Worst Person in the World” segment and sent Scharff and the U-T gift baskets, instead.