Olbermann has a program on television. That means he's good looking, smart and rich, right? No.
Volokh: A quick search of the history of the SEC rules and regs indicates that the President was given the power to name the Chairman from the group of confirmed Commissioners in a set of regulations adopted during the Truman Administration.
As to the first point, my guess is that the error is probably Olbermann's in misunderstanding what the network legal correspondent was saying. As for the second, it seems quite plausible that the legal correspondent was simply unaware of how a Chairman of an independent agency is appointed. But then again, that's a good reason to be a little more humble and a bit less sarcastic in challenging someone else's knowledge. Regardless, both of these errors are pretty inexcusable, it seems to me.
Olbermann is actually a pit bull. Without the teeth or smarts of a pit bull. Lipstick in private.
ABC, not wanting to be left out of any McCain pile-on, got into the action early:
Bainbridge: ABC News David Wright got the most erroneous meme of the day started when, in reporting John McCain’s criticism of SEC Chairman Chris Cox, Wright claimed that “while the president nominates and the Senate confirms the SEC chair, a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission cannot be removed by the president.” I’ve explained why this is wrong in an earlier post, but Wright’s claim is being widely --- and uncritically repeated—all over the web.
ABC, as usual, should change the name of its news division to 'The gang that couldn't shoot straight.'
