Olbermann handed Simmons "Worst Person" award; Limbaugh and DeWine also honored
On the October 20 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named frequent Fox News guest and former CIA agent Wayne Simmons the recipient of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" award for asserting, as Media Matters for America documented, that "the football stadium bomb hoax was, quote, 'the perfect example of how vital the president's domestic eavesdropping program and the passage of the Military Commissions Act are.' " Olbermann replied: "Of course they're vital, Wayne. They enable government to spread false rumors about plots that aren't by non-terrorists that anybody over the age of 7 1/2 should have been able to see were crap."
Additionally, Olbermann named nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh "Worst Person" runner-up for declaring, as Media Matters noted, that the recent surge in insurgent violence in Iraq indicates that "terrorists around the world, particularly those in Iraq, are voting Democrat today." He awarded Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) the "bronze" because "DeWine and the Republicans will not pull" a campaign advertisement that accuses DeWine's opponent, Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), of failing to pay unemployment taxes for the last 13 years, even though "the state of Ohio has now issued a statement saying that is not true." As Media Matters noted, a front-page Columbus Dispatch article that mentioned the ad did not note that the state said the accusation against Brown was false (though a separate "ad-watch" article on page 15 did).
From the October 20 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
OLBERMANN: Finally, so, a string quartet pulls into a drive-through at McDonald's, and -- that's ahead but, first, time for Countdown's latest list of nominees for "Worst Person in the World." For the first time, I feel impelled to say that there is a chance that tonight's gasbags might actually be nuts. Please stand well back from your TV as I read this to you.
The bronze: Senator -- Republican Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio. Republican National Committee TV ads for him there claim his Democratic opponent, Sherrod Brown, has not paid his unemployment taxes for 13 years, but the state of Ohio has now issued a statement saying that is not true, that Mr. Brown paid the unemployment tax bill years ago. But DeWine and the Republicans will not pull the commercial. So, you guys would be liars?
Runner-up: Comedian Rush Limbaugh told his radio sheep that the increase in violence in Iraq shows, quote, "terrorists around the world, particularly these [sic] in Iraq, are voting Democrat today." Well, yeah, except for that internal Al Qaeda memo that says it's in their best interest to keep us in Iraq as long as possible, so Al Qaeda would be voting Republican -- right, Rush?
But the winner: former CIA agent Wayne Simmons on Fox News, saying the football stadium bomb hoax was, quote, "the perfect example of how vital the president's domestic eavesdropping program and the passage of the Military Commissions Act are." Of course they're vital, Wayne. They enable the government to spread false rumors about plots that aren't by non-terrorists that anybody over the age of 7 1/2 should have been able to see were crap, so they can try to scare people into voting Republican.
But thanks for admitting that, Wayne. Former CIA agent Wayne Simmons: today's "Worst Person in the World."
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KO smokes another shrub shill. That's about as rare as bor making the Worst Person list.
I think I would have put the Republican senator in first place.
I saw some news coverage of the DeWine campaign... didn't realize he was such such a sniveling weenie. The little runt struts around like Napoleon and actually thinks he's important. Go Keith
"They enable government to spread false rumors about plots that aren't by non-terrorists that anybody over the age of 7 1/2 should have been able to see were crap."
Keith really must be living a sheltered life. Especially one where he calls someone the worst person in the world for making a benign observation. What exactly is the problem with the government alerting the stadiums, and telling them that the threats were likely illegitimate. Who would have been the worst person in the world if this would have turned out to be a real plot? Or even carried out?
The government knew it was some schmuck posting from his basement. But instead of telling people that, they wanted to create more fear. There is an election coming up. Con campaigns run on money and fear. It's their fuel.
Not to mention that eavesdropping didn't catch this guy. After all, we've been assured that only people talking with Al Qaeda overseas are tapped. The guy's assertion was 100% not pertinent to the case at hand.
Yes, yes, no way that they could have been alerting the NFL about the possible threat, out of caution. Never.
And we shouldn't forget that they made it very clear they believed that it was not a legitimate threat. It was when the MSM got wind of this, that it situation got blown out of proportion.
They know the media will get wind of it. They know that the more fearful people are, the better they will do at the polls. Simple, cold, effective logic on their part. Give them their props. They may not be able to run a country, but they know how to run a campaign.
"Yes, yes, no way that they could have been alerting the NFL about the possible threat, out of caution. Never."
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You're absolutely right. The first notice to the NFL should have been about the threat to the stadium that doesn't even exist.
Let's just call this thinking what it really is, Republican Cowardice.
Osama, Saddam, Mommar, and anybody else for that matter could level every skyscraper in our nation before we should surrender our civil liberties like our right to privacy, our protection against illegal search and seizure, habeas corpes, among a few.
The RNC and this President saw the events of 9-11-2001 as an opportunity to seize power, and spy on opponents, and until we have real oversight into these crimes we must assume from the past behavior of this Republican leadership that they utilized the NSA spy mechanism to get elected in '04.
Until we have a real investigation into their governance we are not a democracy.
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
You might want to be careful, the NSA is logging your keystrokes, browsing history, and diggin up dirt on you as you type! Oh wait, that's actually Google.
And you people accuse us of "fear-mongering". What a joke.
Revelations about the Bush Administrations activities, freely admit by said people, have brought the craziest conspiracy theories into realm of documented fact.