On the April 24 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded Bill O'Reilly third place in his nightly “Worst Person in the World” segment. O'Reilly was honored for his statement, first documented by Media Matters for America, that “I have to go on what my military analysts, people paid by Fox News, say to me. I can't base my opinion on anything else.” O'Reilly added that he could trust only Fox military analysts because "[t]he newspapers ... all have an agenda" and “only give you a snapshot of the war”; he also described as “ridiculous” a caller's efforts to base his view of the war on “reading the Internet and the newspapers.”

As Media Matters noted, the same analysts in whom O'Reilly expressed unwavering trust -- whether for analysis of the current situation in Iraq or a military strike against Iran -- made numerous assertions and predictions in the lead-up to the Iraq war that were baseless and, in many cases, later proved false.

From the April 24 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: But first, time for Countdown's latest three nominees for “Worst Person in the World.” The bronze goes to -- Bill-O, you're just not trying anymore, are you? He says now that about Iraq and the generals' criticism of Don Rumsfeld, quote, “I have to go on what my military analysts, people paid by Fox News, say to me. I can't base my opinion on anything else.”

Like the guy, [retired] Colonel [David] Hunt, who mocked the idea that there weren't enough armored vehicles in Iraq, or [retired Lieutenant Colonel] Oliver North, who said Saddam Hussein would be killed within three days of any invasion by his own people? Or [retired Lieutenant] Colonel [Robert] Maginnis, who said that the reality is we're not going to see thousands of American deaths? Those guys? Those geniuses?