Left-wing conspiracy theorist/MSNBC host Keith Olbermann caused a stir around the office yesterday by telling the Hartford Courant that his conservative critics are a persecution squad: “There is a whole army of bloggers, radio hosts and TV people who have decided that any deviation from their political view is to be persecuted — and the ‘Olbermann Watch’ and [Brent] Bozell jokers [of Media Research Center and Parents Television Council] are foremost among them. We made just as much sport of Kerry as Bush during the campaign, but neutrality is not what they want. They want conformity and a deliberate, institutionalized, pro-Republican slant. Guess what? They’re never going to get it.”

Actually, we had more laughs over the “made just as much sport of Kerry” line than the “right-wingers persecute the deviants” line. (Olbermannwatch.com has their own piquant response.) Olbermann’s most noteworthy stretch last year was his extended tinfoil-hat trip over the possibility that John Kerry really took Ohio. (For a taste of his regular take on Evil Dubya or the right-wing Swift Vet conspiracy, see our “Kooky Keith Award” nominees here.

The other funny line of denial was this: “I did 228 consecutive shows on MSNBC in ‘98 on the Clinton-Lewinsky story, and not a one of them was pro-Clinton.” But our files are bursting with Olbermann rants against the Lewinsky investigation. Just try on August 18, 1998 for size: “Facially, it finally dawned on me that the person Ken Starr has reminded me of facially all this time was Heinrich Himmler, including the glasses. If he now pursues the President of the United States, who, however flawed his apology was, came out and invoked God, family, his daughter, a political conspiracy and everything but the kitchen sink, would not there be some sort of comparison to a persecutor as opposed to a prosecutor for Mr. Starr?” Wow, Keith really likes that “right-wing persecutor” line.