From Countdown Dec. 16, 2009, Keith's Worst Persons segment.
OLBERMANN: First time for Countdown‘s number two story, tonight‘s worst persons in the world.
The bronze to Jay Walder, this month‘s chairman of New York City‘s MTA, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the city‘s managers of subways and buses and stuff. The authority today approved budget cuts, closing two subway lines, reducing trains, charging school kids more to take public transportation to school. This is a result of the shocking, total surprise budget shortfall that the MTA has had every 18 months or so for the last four decades. The latest, 400 million dollars they suddenly discovered last week they just didn‘t have.
I know this is a local thing, but this has been going on since I was a kid. It is the biggest running scam in this town since they caught Boss Tweed.
Our runner-up, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann—although we really must thank her for unintentionally lightening the mood tonight—compared a Code Red anti-health care reform rally to a moment in history I guess she thought she understood. “It‘s the charge of the light brigade.” You know, like the poem, half a league, half a league, half a league onward, all in the valley of death road the 600? A little over 600 British cavalry men charged the Russian lines at Balaclava in the Crimean War on October 25th, 1854. At least half of them were killed, injured or captured, largely because the 600 were attacking 20 Russian infantry battalions that had 5,240 men and 40 siege guns.
Supposedly, Lord Cardagan was ordered to make the charge by Lord Lucan, because Cardagan was his brother in law and Lucan had hated his guts for 30 years. So, Congresswoman, if you want to compare your nut bags to the charge of light brigade, have a nice ride.
But our winner, former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino. I‘ll admit it, when she was still on the job, I wondered, was she specifically selected because she had no clue? Had she been trained to not have a clue? Did she have one of those memory imprinting problems?
But after the president told CBS last night that he didn‘t wave the flag at West Point about Afghanistan because he thought, quote, “one of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war,” Ms. Perino followed up on Fixed News by saying, “I hope President Obama didn‘t mean it the way it came across, when he suggested that President Bush was too triumphant in his rhetoric when talking about war.”
Ms. Perino, over here, ma‘am. I‘d like to show you a photograph and ask you if you recognize when or where it‘s from. Hmm? No? No clue? Any idea who the guy was? Seriously? You‘re hoping President Obama didn‘t think President Bush was too triumphant in his rhetoric when talking about war? I mean, even Mr. Bush has now said mission accomplished was now a mistake.
Dana, is my head attached to my shoulders or did I leave it at home by accident, Perino, today‘s worst person in the world.
