Olbermann handed Limbaugh "Worst Person" award for claiming the "obesity crisis could be the fault of government, liberal government ... [and] [f]ood stamps"

On the August 30 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh first place in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for declaring, as Media Matters for America documented, that "the obesity crisis could be the fault of government, liberal government. Food stamps, all those." In response to Limbaugh's remarks, which he made on the August 29 edition of his radio program, Olbermann jested: "Food stamps, Rush? They give you food stamps?"

Olbermann has often featured Limbaugh during his "Worst Person" segment. As Media Matters noted, Limbaugh took second place on the August 24 edition of the show for his invocation of ethnic stereotypes in speculating on which "tribe" on the new season of CBS' reality TV program Survivor, in which the teams will reportedly be divided by ethnicity, will outperform the others.

From the August 30 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: But first, time for Countdown's latest list of other nominees for today's "Worst Person in the World."

The bronze, shared tonight by a 27-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman nicknamed "Bonnie and Clyde" by the police in Milan in Italy. They would park on a busy street and make out in the car. Any time they sensed a female passer-by watching them, he would suddenly leap from the embrace and then rob the other woman at knife point. Well, that sure takes the fun out of public voyeurism.

The silver, your friendly neighborhood Big Tobacco company. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, an antismoking effort that rose between 1998 and 2004, as it rose, so did the amount of nicotine in cigarettes, 10 percent on average, including in light cigarettes. Just think what these tobacco scientists could accomplish if they hadn't sold their souls.

But our winner, comedian Rush Limbaugh. Noting that adult obesity is on the rise in 31 different states, he has found the cause. Quoting him, "The obesity crisis could be the fault of government, liberal government, food stamps." Food stamps, Rush? They give you food stamps? Rush Limbaugh, today's "Worst Person in the World."

—B.F.