Olbermann handed O'Reilly “Worst Person” designation for false claim that NY public-school teachers are instructed to ignore profanity

Written by Kurt Donaldson

Published

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann again named Bill O'Reilly the winner of Countdown's nightly “Worst Person in the World” award, this time for falsely claiming, as Media Matters for America noted, that public-school teachers in New York City “are instructed not to say a word” about students “going, 'F-you, you mother-F'er,' in school.”

On the May 5 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann again named Fox News' Bill O'Reilly the winner of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” award, this time for falsely claiming, as Media Matters for America noted, that public-school teachers in New York City “are instructed not to say a word” about students “going, 'F-you, you mother-F'er,' in school.” O'Reilly maintained that using such profanity is "[a]cceptable in the public school" because “they don't want to deal with it.” In fact, according to the New York City schools' discipline code, "[u]sing profane, obscene, vulgar, lewd or abusive language or gestures" is a “Level 2 infraction” that is considered “disorderly disruptive behavior” and is punishable by a range of disciplinary actions.

O'Reilly, who is a frequent recipient of Olbermann's “Worst Person in the World” award, most recently received the designation on May 1, for asserting that NBC News has inroads of a “far-left cabal” but Fox News is not “a right wing enterprise.”

From the May 5 edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: But first, time for Countdown's latest list of nominees for the Worst Person in the World. The bronze: David Morris, one of the directors of the British soccer team Queens Park Rangers, QPR. He's been accused of forcing one of his fellow directors to quit. No, I mean forcing -- hiring a bunch of thugs to take him into a room and threaten him with a gun until he wrote out a letter of resignation.

Today's runner-up: Prince Henrik, the father-in-law of Princess Mary of Denmark. Prince Henrik is honorary president of the Danish Dachshund Club, noted dog lover, and now we know why. He's told a Danish magazine that he loves eating dogs, that they taste like rabbit or veal. Now, Prince Henrik is a great Dane, after all.

But today's winner: Bill O. His latest sign of the apocalypse, the one going on in his own head: How New York City school teachers have been, quote, “instructed not to do anything even if a 6-year-old says, 'F-you, you mother F'er,' in school.” Quoting Bill there. Actually, New York City schools' discipline codes call language like that a Level 2 infraction, which requires at least a conference, maybe a suspension. Maybe the teachers have just been told to look the other way if a 6-year-old says “F-you, you mother F'er” to Bill. Bill O'Reilly, today's Worst Person in the World.