Olbermann awarded Dobson "Worst Person in the World" "first for saying the Foley scandal was a joke and again for lying about having said that"
On the October 13 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded the "gold position" in his daily "Worst Person in the World" segment to Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson, who claimed during the October 11 broadcast of his radio show that Olbermann, by mentioning a comment that Dobson made about the scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), demonstrated that he "can always be counted on to give the leftist slant on everything." During the radio broadcast, Dobson also baselessly claimed that Media Matters for America engaged in "sp[i]n" by quoting the on-air remark by Dobson that Olbermann cited, in which Dobson asserted that Foley's sexually explicit instant messages to an underage male House page "turned out to be what some people are now saying was a sort of a joke by the boy and some of the other pages." As Media Matters noted, Dobson and Focus on the Family vice president of public policy Tom Minnery criticized Olbermann for quoting Dobson's comments, but Dobson did not explain what the purported spin or "slant" was, nor did he accuse Media Matters or Olbermann of having misquoted him or quoted him out of context.
Olbermann began the segment by saying that he needed to make a "correction," but after airing Dobson's comments, Olbermann said: "So, as you can see, I was totally in error -- hey, wait a minute! That's exactly what I said he said! I guess no correction is necessary -- from us, that is." Olbermann added that Dobson received the "Worst Person in the World" award "first for saying the Foley scandal was a joke and again for lying about having said that."
From the October 13 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
[49:33-51:41]
OLBERMANN: But in our gold position tonight, a Countdown correction. It seems we named Dr. James Dobson of the right-wing influence group Focus on the Family, the "Worst Person in the World" last week for saying this whole Mark Foley sex scandal had turned out to be a joke being played on Foley by the pages. Here's how Dobson responded on his radio show.
[begin audio clip]
DOBSON: One of the most far-leftist reporters or talk show hosts or news people on cable television is a man named Keith Olbermann. He's another one who can always be counted on to give the leftist slant on everything. Let's hear his actual words about this issue that I just described.
OLBERMANN [audio clip]: James Dobson, founder of the religion group Focus on the Family, suggesting that, quote, "The whole thing turned out to be what some people are now saying was a sort of a joke by the boy and some of the other pages."
DOBSON: Well, there it is again, Tom, and it's all over the Internet, and I just want to set the record straight. What do you think they're trying to do with this?
[end audio clip]
OLBERMANN: Well, I'm not sure what I was trying to do with that. In fairness, let's play what James Dobson actually had said.
DOBSON [audio clip]: As it turns out, Mr. Foley has had illicit sex with no one that we know of, and the whole thing turned out to be what some people are now saying was a sort of a joke by the boy, and some of the other pages.
OLBERMANN: So, as you can see, I was totally in error -- hey, wait a minute! That's exactly what I said he said! I guess no correction is necessary -- from us, that is.
So, for first for saying the Foley scandal was a joke and again for lying about having said that, James -- now of course, he's getting his clock cleaned by the Bush administration while he thinks they're his friends, so maybe that's embarrassing enough -- nah!
James Dobson, today's "Worst Person in the World."
be safe to say on any given day James Dobson could win the 'Worst person the world' honors.
But can he stick to his special comments and stop with the juvenile "Worst Person in the World"
Olbermann has brought his irreverent ESPN-honed style to news programming. His Worst Person in the World is the comic relief that a newscast during these dark days need. Also his bit of satire gives some of the pompus gasbags who get way too much face-time a well-deserved send-up.
Just as Bill O'Reilly, Hannity, and the rest are not "news people", neither is Olbermann. People that mix opinion with their news are not true news people... they are pundits and commentators.
Okay, rant done. Out.
People who mix opinions into their news program, then porposely try to pass these opinions off as fact, are not news people.
Opinions have long been part of newspapers, and TV broadcasts (Eric Severeid on CBS), and there is certainly a place for that, as long as they are labeled as such. I don't think the Worst Person segment could ever be mistaken as being actual hard news. However, O'Reilly brands everything he does as being actual news.
On top of that, it could be argued that FOX "News" is opinion, based on their slanted coverage of the stories, and their absence of stories about bad Republics and good Democrats.
You are correct. It's the blatant lie that -- what we say here is true -- i.e. 'fair and balanced' ... that's the danger. That is something we see a great deal of ... not only on FOX (expected) but all of the other corporate owned and run 'news' outlets (CNN, MSNBC, etc).
This link is a tad dated... but, I'm sure the info hasn't changed an iota. We're just supposed to believe that what we see and hear is 'fair and balanced' ... it's a lie.
[link to la.indymedia.org]
>>"Just as Bill O'Reilly, Hannity, and the rest are not "news people", neither is Olbermann."<<
Olbermann does offer his opinions, but his is primarily a news show, as any casual viewing will prove. O'Reilly & Hannity's shows are mainly set-up confrontations in order to verbally beat-up people they don't agree with, or mutual admiration-type, back-patting interviews with agreeable right-wingers.
runs these just to keep the trolls busy complaining;"Where's the misinformation?"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Tha's a hardy laugh.
...is that 'hearty'?
on his own petard by showing that Dobson said exactly what Keith said that he did. He took a page from MMFA in using Dobson's own words against him. No embellishment needed.
(to use another of Dobson's often misused words)
No wonder the White House thought these guys were wackos and goofballs. They just may have gotten something right for a change!
...I make a point to tune in every night for it. It's hilarious.
I think it is a great segment. It's interesting that on many nights no one from the political world is even mentioned and yet the cons are still whining about it. Now that's funny.
Why was she on the list? You should have included that part in the video clip too. I'm guessing it was because she had an interview with John Mark Carr. I'm sure KO's take on the situation was hilarious.
I DVR Countdown and Daily Show every night. I read a newspaper everyday and catch news snippets on the web, and then eagerly await KO and Stewarts comments that night. KO makes no pretense about being fair and balanced. Yes, he is a pundit who lets Shuster and others be the journalists, and then KO puts on his smackdowns on whoever is stupid or hypocritical that day. He is a pundit, but so what? So is every talking head on the newschannels after 8:00 pm. Why can the left not have one pundit to respond to the dozen righty pundits on my tv?
I was getting AFA Action Alerts. In one of them they stated that if the Dems were to get elected they would legalize polygamy. I sent them an e-mail asking if they ever read the part of the Bible that speaks about telling lies. They took me off of their mailing list.
Haha.
Hey, don't they know the polygamous Mormon nuts all vote Rethuglican?
Mittwit the Mormon Gov. of Mass. is going to run for Prez as a thug.
As an example of his "family values" he tells how he beat his dachshund puppy with a belt when it wouldn't mind. The poor puppy defended itself the best it could, but the 200 pound man with a belt prevailed.
That was a mere example of how "men" in his mind are supposed to have dominion over wimmin, children and animals.