Left wing MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used his hour long diatribe against the right, known as Countdown With Keith Olbermann, to attack Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma yesterday.  Olbermann used his segment “World’s Worst” to attack Inhofe for implying that Carol Browner, Obama’s next Energy and Climate advisor, was a member of a group, the Center for American Progress (CAP), that supports the Fairness Doctrine.  Inhofe was on Fox and attacked CAP for supporting regulations that would “stop talk radio and talk TV from being conservative.”

There’s another organization that a lot of people don’t realize — it’s called the Center for American Progress. This report that came out — this is the group that’s trying for the Fairness Doctrine. Trying to, I think, dramatically upend the First Amendment. She, Carol Browner, was a member of that group.

Other than the fact that Olbermann cut and pasted his talking points directly from a post on the Think Progress website run by CAP, it is remarkable how lazy Olbermann was when he attacked Inhofe on this point.

Olbermann claims that CAP “opposes reinstating the fairness doctrine.”

So Senator, thanks for pointing out that Carol Browner belongs to a group that specifically opposes reinstating the fairness doctrine you’re so scared of. Senator James ‘maybe next time I’ll remember to read the damn thing first’ Inhofe.

Problem with Olbermann’s analysis is that CAP does not oppose reinstatement of the fairness doctrine. They argue in their paper The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio the following:

Thus, the public obligations inherent in the Fairness Doctrine are still in existence and operative, at least on paper. More important, the Fairness Doctrine was never, by itself, an effective tool to ensure the fair discussion of important issues. The Fairness Doctrine was most effective as part of a regulatory structure that limited license terms to three years, subjected broadcasters to license challenges through comparative hearings, required notice to the local community that licenses were going to expire, and empowered the local community through a process of interviewing a variety of local leaders.

So one could argue that Inhofe made an error of omission by not saying that CAP supports the Fairness Doctrine on steroids and that Olbermann was flat out wrong in saying that CAP opposes reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

Keith “maybe you should have read the damn Report and done some research before launching into a tirade against Inhofe” Olbermann.  Maybe you should proof read your Center for American Progress approved talking points before you say something stupid Keith.

Keith Olbermann — you are the Worst Person on the Left.