On the May 31 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News host John Gibson the winner of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” award for his comments regarding the alleged murders of civilians by U.S. Marines in the Iraqi town of Haditha. As Media Matters for America has noted, during his “My Word” segment on May 30 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, Gibson sought to downplay the significance of recent allegations that U.S. Marines carried out killings of innocent civilians in Haditha, stating that while “I'm against massacres of civilians ... [i]f Iraqis know their own history, they know massacres have been committed in Iraq by warring parties for millennia piled on millennia.” Gibson then added: “This is the part of the world that was in on the massacre game early, played it often, and the last character to be up to his eyeballs in massacres was the very guy we went in to regime change [sic], Saddam [Hussein] himself.” After quoting Gibson, Olbermann stated: “Well, that's all right, then. What's one more massacre, huh?”
Gibson recently received third place in Countdown's “Worst Person in the World” awards on May 12, after Gibson urged his viewers to make more babies, while noting, “Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic.”
From the May 31 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
OLBERMANN: But first, time for Coundown's latest list of nominees for “Worst Person in the World.”
Number three, Ad van den Berg, one of the founders of Holland's Charity, Freedom and Diversity political party. Nice name for a party, except their only political aim is to lower the age of consent from 16 to 12. They're pedophiles. Conveniently, in a recent poll in Holland, 82 percent of respondents said the government should do something to outlaw the party, let alone pedophilia.
Number two, Vernon Robinson, far-right Republican now seeking the congressional seat from 13th District of North Carolina, and setting a lovely tone for this year's campaign by running a radio ad already in which he says of his opponent, quote, “If he had his way, America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals.” Gay bashing, immigrant bashing, Hispanic bashing. You left out Terri Schiavo, pal.
But our winner, John Gibson of Fox News, claiming the lead in the race for the biggest rationalization of Haditha. Quoting John, “If Iraqis know their own history, they know massacres have been committed in Iraq by warring parties from millennia piled on millennia. This is the part of the world that was in on the massacre game early,” unquote. Well, that's all right, then. What's one more massacre, huh? John Gibson, today's “Worst Person in the World.”
