O'Reilly named "Worst Person" for attack on Dodd; Ingraham named "runner-up"

During the August 6 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Bill O'Reilly the "winner" of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for attacking Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd (CT) after he brought up O'Reilly's comment regarding an Al Qaeda attack on San Francisco, as Media Matters for America documented. Olbermann stated: "In an interview, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut reminded Orally that he had once talked about how this country should let Al Qaeda attack San Francisco. Bill did not deny it. He just demanded Dodd present a quote and a date. Senator Dodd who, having a life, does not keep handy a list of Bill O'Reilly's top 3,000 inhuman and inaccurate statements, could not produce either." Olbermann continued: "Bill-O barked, 'No, you're wrong, I did not say it here. You don't know what the hell I said, with all due respect.' Bill, Bill, Bill, it's you who've never known what the hell you said." Olbermann went on to quote from the November 10, 2005, comment that Dodd cited, in which O'Reilly reacted to San Francisco's passage of a ballot measure urging public high schools and colleges to prohibit on-campus military recruiting. O'Reilly said that if he were president, he would tell San Franciscans that "if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

As Media Matters has documented (here, here, here, here, and here), Olbermann frequently names O'Reilly during his "Worst Person" segment. Recently, Olbermann awarded O'Reilly the "bronze" during the August 3 edition of Countdown for "blast[ing] the conservative website Free Republic for permitting people to post comments there like '[Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] should be assassinated,' unquote." Olbermann further noted that "there have been posts threatening her life made on BillOReilly.com."

Additionally, in the August 6 "Worst Person" segment, Olbermann named syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham "runner-up" for falsely asserting that The New York Times editorialized against updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), as Media Matters also noted. Olbermann stated that Ingraham "just flat-out lied about The New York Times" and added: "She told Fox Noise [News] that a Times editorial about the FISA law had included that, quote, 'We should not update the surveillance law to meet current advances in technology. We are now in a blackout with some of this intelligence because of what The New York Times and what the Democrats have done.' " Olbermann then observed: "Except that's not what the Times editorial said. It said, in fact, the exact opposite. It insisted on updating the law to meet current advances in technology."

From the August 6 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Our runner-up, conservative water carrier Laura Ingraham, who just flat-out lied about The New York Times. She told Fox Noise that a Times editorial about the FISA law had included that, quote, "We should not update the surveillance law to meet current advances in technology. We are now in a blackout with some of this intelligence because of what The New York Times and what the Democrats have done."

Except that's not what the Times editorial said. It said, in fact, the exact opposite. It insisted on updating the law to meet current advances in technology. The Times wrote, quote, "Instead of asking Congress to address this anachronism, as it should, the White House sought to use it to destroy the 1978 spying law." This just in, conservatives don't know how to read. They merely skim.

And to that point tonight, our winner, Bill-O. In an interview, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut reminded Orally that he had once talked about how this country should let Al Qaeda attack San Francisco. Bill did not deny it. He just demanded Dodd present a quote and a date. Senator Dodd who, having a life, does not keep handy a list of Bill O'Reilly's top 3,000 inhuman and inaccurate statements, could not produce either.

Bill-O barked, "No, you're wrong, I did not say it here. You don't know what the hell I said, with all due respect." Bill, Bill, Bill, it's you who've never known what the hell you said. November 10th, 2005, The Orally Factor [The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly], after the city had passed a nonbinding resolution encouraging public schools from permitting on-campus military recruiting; saying, if he were president -- it's O'Reilly -- he'd tell San Franciscans, quote, "If Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, 'Look, every other place in America is off limits to you except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.' "

Bill-O, as ever, in his most towering rage when somebody quotes one of his own blockheaded remarks back to him, today's "Worst Person in the World."

—A.I.