Olbermann awards Coulter third place in "Worst Person in the World" contest for her "Revenge of the Queers" column

Summary: MSNBC host Keith Olbermann gave right-wing pundit Ann Coulter third place in his daily "Worst Person in the World" awards for her column describing The New York Times' coverage of the arrest of President Bush's former domestic policy adviser, Claude A. Allen, as the "revenge of the queers."

On the March 21 broadcast of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann gave right-wing pundit Ann Coulter third place in his daily "Worst Person in the World" awards for her column describing The New York Times' coverage of the arrest of President Bush's former domestic policy adviser, Claude A. Allen, as the "revenge of the queers." In bestowing Coulter the third-place prize, Olbermann stated: "Pirate Annie is back ... criticizing all the attention paid to" Allen's arrest as "quote, 'Revenge of the Queers,' unquote." Continuing, Olbermann asked, "How would you like to try to be her lawyer at a sanity hearing?"

As Media Matters for America has previously noted, Allen was recently arrested and charged with theft for allegedly bilking Hecht's and Target stores though a refund fraud scheme. In her March 15 nationally syndicated column titled "Revenge of the Queers," Coulter described The New York Times' coverage of Allen's arrest, as the "revenge of the queers," a reference to a comment Allen made in 1984 describing Senate Democratic hopeful James B. Hunt Jr.'s links to "queers." Coulter criticized the Times for -- she claimed -- devoting nearly the same amount of coverage to Allen's March 9 arrest as was devoted to Allen's entire tenure in the Bush administration.

From the March 21 broadcast of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: The last big question tonight, now that there will not be a Debra LaFave prison term, will there be a Debra LaFave news show? That's ahead, but first, time for Countdown's list of the day's three nominees for "Worst Person in the World."

The bronze: Pirate Annie is back. She has titled her column criticizing all the attention paid to the arrest of former Bush domestic policy adviser Claude Allen, quote, "Revenge of the Queers," unquote. How would you like to try to be her lawyer at a sanity hearing?

—J.M.