Olbermann awarded Coulter, Limbaugh, and O'Reilly "Worst Person" honors

Summary: Keith Olbermann awarded Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter second and third place, respectively, in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment, honoring O'Reilly with first place for his shifting positions on the existence of the so-called "attack on Easter," which Media Matters also documented in an April 17 item.

On the April 14 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh and right-wing pundit Ann Coulter second and third place, respectively, in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment, while Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was honored with the top prize.

Coulter was honored for her comments from the April 13 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, in which she made a suggestion -- echoing a Saturday Night Live skit -- for how to curb illegal immigration: "I'd build a wall. In fact, I'd hire illegal immigrants to build the wall and throw out the illegals who are here." Limbaugh earned the second-place spot for his April 12 defense of conservative blogger Ben Domenech, who resigned from his short-lived stint as the author of washingtonpost.com's Red America weblog after widespread allegations of plagiarism surfaced. Despite the fact that Domenech admitted he had used other writers' work "inappropriately and without attribution," Limbaugh accused The Washington Post of "concoct[ing] some phony excuse that the guy that they had hired was a plagiarist."

Olbermann awarded O'Reilly the top prize for his shifting positions on the existence of the so-called "attack on Easter," which Media Matters also documented in an April 17 item.

From the April 14 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: That's next. But first, I've got Countdown's list of today's three nominees for Worst Person in the World. And it's a hat trick tonight. The bronze: Ann Coulter, explaining that the immigration situation could be resolved thusly. Quoting, "I'd build a wall. In fact, I'd hire illegal immigrants to build the wall and throw out the illegals who are here." You did read [the Edgar Allan Poe short story] The Cask of Amontillado, didn't you, Ann?

The runner up: comedian Rush Limbaugh. After Ben Domenech resigned from The Washington Post's new conservative Red America blog, admitting plagiarism as he did so, Limbaugh explained the Post had simply buckled to the left and, quote, "concocted some phony excuse that the guy that they had hired was a plagiarist." I wish Rush would plagiarize a good idea from somebody.

But the winner: Bill O. After a newspaper editorial chastising talk show hosts for railing against an attack on Easter, last night O'Reilly dismissed the piece as a "nutty diatribe" and reassured everybody, quote, "There is no attack on Easter." Tuesday, he had talked about how Christmas and Easter have been attacked by secular interests. His website says one of tonight's segments is titled, quote, "Easter Under Siege." Have I got this right? Tuesday, there is; Thursday, there isn't; Friday, there is. Maybe, there are multiple Bill O'Reillys. Run for your lives! Bill O'Reilly, today's worst person in the world.

Actually, judging from what we found on the Internets, those stories about attacks on Easter, they're entirely backwards.

—S.S.M.