Olbermann named NPR's Rudin “Worst Person” for comparing Clinton to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction

Written by Andrew Ironside

Published

On Countdown, Keith Olbermann named Ken Rudin the “winner” of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” segment for asserting: "[F]irst of all, let's be honest here, [Sen.] Hillary Clinton is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. She's going to keep coming back, and they're not going to stop her." Olbermann commented: "[A]fter comparing Senator Clinton to the insane, murderous, kidnapping, stalking, knife-wielding, suicidal, bunny-boiling character of Alex Forrest, who has to be drowned and shot to be finally stopped in Fatal Attraction, even the harshest critic of Senator Clinton is probably beginning to think, you know, that might be a little harsh. Maybe an apology is in order."

During the April 28 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named National Public Radio political editor Ken Rudin the “winner” of his nightly “Worst Person in the World” segment for asserting, as Media Matters for America documented, "[F]irst of all, let's be honest here, [Sen.] Hillary Clinton is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. She's going to keep coming back, and they're not going to stop her." Olbermann observed: “On CNN yesterday, he broke a new bar. 'First of all,' he said, thus forgetting rule one, any time your statement begins with 'first of all,' stop immediately. It's a bad idea whatever it is. 'First of all, let's be honest here,' he said. 'Hillary Clinton is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. She's going to keep coming back, and they're not going to stop her,' unquote.” Olbermann continued: "[A]fter comparing Senator Clinton to the insane, murderous, kidnapping, stalking, knife-wielding, suicidal, bunny-boiling character of Alex Forrest, who has to be drowned and shot to be finally stopped in Fatal Attraction, even the harshest critic of Senator Clinton is probably beginning to think, you know, that might be a little harsh. Maybe an apology is in order." He concluded: “Instead, a full minute later, Mr. Rudin wrapped up his guest appearance by adding, quote, 'She'll say, look I'm in it until the end. And I expect her to be in it until the end, as Glenn Close was.' OK, I'm not seeing any contrition here.”

Additionally, Olbermann awarded Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, the “silver” for writing that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “show[ed] she's more of a shallow politician than a devout Christian” when she called the Dalai Lama “His Holiness,” without mentioning that President Bush has done the same, as Media Matters also noted. Olbermann stated: “Graham apparently was unaware that when the pope was in Washington two weeks ago, another politician addressed him as 'Holy Father,' and when the Dalai Lama was there last autumn, the same politician addressed him as 'Your Holiness' and referred to him three times as 'His Holiness.' That other politician who Graham might observe matches Pelosi's, quote, 'promiscuous definitions of holiness' and shows he too is 'more of a shallow politician than a devout Christian'? That guy would be President Bush.”

From the April 28 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Our silver winner tonight, Tim Graham, part of the little Brent Bozell witch's kitchen known as the Media Research Center and NewsBusters. Graham, identified as the director of media analysis, blogged about how House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to both Pope Benedict and the Dalai Lama as “His Holiness.” “At best,” writes Graham, “Pelosi's promiscuous definitions of holiness just show she's more of a shallow politician than a devout Christian.”

Graham apparently was unaware that when the pope was in Washington two weeks ago, another politician addressed him as “Holy Father,” and when the Dalai Lama was there last autumn, the same politician addressed him as “Your Holiness” and referred to him three times as “His Holiness.” That other politician who Graham might observe matches Pelosi's, quote, “promiscuous definitions of holiness” and shows he too is “more of a shallow politician than a devout Christian”? That guy would be President Bush.

The nice thing about being on the opposite side of the war with the Media Research-NewsBusters crowd is they're really stupid.

But our winner, NPR political reporter Ken Rudin. On CNN yesterday, he broke a new bar. “First of all,” he said, thus forgetting rule one, any time your statement begins with “first of all,” stop immediately. It's a bad idea whatever it is. “First of all, let's be honest here,” he said. “Hillary Clinton is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. She's going to keep coming back, and they're not going to stop her,” unquote.

Greeted by a disbelieving, “What, Ken?” He added, “Well, we'll figure that out, there's a lot of ways to imagine that.”

Look, you can choose a bad analogy. You can really screw it up. You can even say something innocent and clichéd and it comes out sounding utterly inappropriate. Trust me, I did the latter. But after comparing Senator Clinton to the insane, murderous, kidnapping, stalking, knife-wielding, suicidal, bunny-boiling character of Alex Forrest, who has to be drowned and shot to be finally stopped in Fatal Attraction, even the harshest critic of Senator Clinton is probably beginning to think, you know, that might be a little harsh. Maybe an apology is in order.

Instead, a full minute later, Mr. Rudin wrapped up his guest appearance by adding, quote, “She'll say, look I'm in it until the end. And I expect her to be in it until the end, as Glenn Close was.” OK, I'm not seeing any contrition here. Ken Rudin of NPR, at the movies, so to speak, today's “Worst Person in the World.”