Olbermann named O'Reilly “Worst Person in the World” for comparing Franken and “some of the people on the Internet and cable TV” to “assassins”

Written by Julie Millican

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MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Bill O'Reilly “Worst Person in the World” for comparing liberal radio host and author Al Franken -- as well as people on the “Internet” and “cable television” -- to “assassins,” as Media Matters previously noted.

During the May 15 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Bill O'Reilly “Worst Person in the World” for comparing liberal radio host and author Al Franken -- as well as “assassins” on the “Internet” and “cable television” -- to a New York City radio disc jockey who threatened “to do an R. Kelly” on the 4-year-old daughter of a rival station's announcer, as Media Matters for America noted. O'Reilly's comments occurred on the May 10 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, R. Kelly is an R&B singer who was “indicted on 21 counts of child pornography stemming from a videotape that allegedly shows him having sex with an underage girl,” according to CNN.com.

On his radio show, O'Reilly also claimed that “News Corporation made a mistake in actually trying to sue" Franken over the title of his book, Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton, 2003), because the effort actually “helped his [Franken's] book sales.” In 2003, Fox News, owned by News Corp., sued Franken and Penguin Group over the use of the words “fair and balanced” in the book's title; Fox News owns a trademark on the term. In its filing, Fox News reportedly “described Franken as a 'C-level political commentator' who 'appears to be shrill and unstable.'” Fox News eventually dropped the lawsuit after a judge ruled against blocking Franken's use of the term “fair and balanced.” The judge stated: “There are hard cases and there are easy cases. This is an easy case, for in my view the case is wholly without merit, both factually and legally. Accordingly, the motion for a preliminary injunction is denied.”

From the May 15 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Back to immigration. Are there solutions here? Maybe, maybe not. But there is a unique perspective from commentator and comedian Carlos Mencia; he's next. But first, even amid the press and urgency of the speech, there is still time for Countdown's latest list of nominees for Worst Person in the World.

The bronze to the police in Orlando, who appear to have overreacted just a tad to a senior prank at Edgewater High School there. After the officers sent to monitor the traditional event called for backup, the department sent a heavily armed patrol with helicopters and arrested and handcuffed five of the 30 or so seniors who were armed with shaving cream, toilet paper, and Hershey's syrup. But the kids were brandishing the toilet paper.

The silver: From the “I know where you were coming from, but ...” file, Michael Maxwell, a teacher in St. Joseph, Missouri, he gave his seniors a creative writing essay: “Who would you kill and how would you do it?” He's apologized.

But the winner: Oh, Bill O. Not only did he compare Al Franken and some of the people on the Internet and cable TV -- guess who he meant -- to, quote, “assassins.” But worse, he's rewritten history, quoting, “When he attacked me a couple of years ago,” Bill O said, “News Corporation made a mistake in actually trying to sue the guy.” Uh, Bill, who made the mistake in suing, the one mistake big enough that the judge literally laughed out loud in the courtroom? Bill O'Reilly, today's Worst Person in the World.