Photo-illustration: Jed Egan; Photos: iStockphoto (water), Getty (remaining)

When Sean Hannity made an off-the-cuff remark to Charles Grodin that he would be willing to get waterboarded for charity — because that's just how harmless it is — he probably didn't count on Keith Olbermann taking him so seriously. But Olbermann soon offered to donate $1,000 to the families of soldiers for every second that Hannity can withstand the procedure. As a basis for comparison, Christopher Hitchens held out for about sixteen seconds when he volunteered to get waterboarded in the name of journalism last year, which would be a nice chunk of change. But after a few days of silence on Hannity's end, Olbermann is ratcheting up the rhetoric in a way that might actually garner a reaction: He's calling Hannity yella. "I don't think he has the courage to even respond to this, let alone do it," Olbermann told the AP. Oooohhhhh. We'll have to see if Hannity does respond on his show today, but we won't be holding our breath. Ah, nothing like a good waterboard joke.

Olbermann presses Hannity on his waterboard offer [AP via Google]