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‘Worst’: Mr. Tumble’s finger fumble

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Dec. 9: Keith Olbermann names ABC News producer David Wright Worst Person in the World for presenting a segment of The Daily Show with JOn Stewart out of context to make Stewart appear to be a climate change denier when in fact he said the opposite.

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COMMENTARY
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor
Countdown
updated 10:37 a.m. ET March 21, 2007

Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'

Every night at 8 p.m. on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann awards his daily pick for "Worst Person in the World." Some contenders are lucky — or unlucky —enough to be nominated more than once.

The bronze goes to John Gibson of Fox Noise, complaining that on his network, Neal Gabler had the temerity to criticize the honesty of Fox Noise. He said Gabler should quit, and added "I hate to see a guy prostituting himself."

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Had the mirrors taken out, Gibby?

Our runner-up tonight: German animal rights activist Frank Albrecht. He complained that the Berlin City Zoo chose to hand-feed a polar bear cub, that had been abandoned by its mother.

The zoo intervened to save "Knut" -- all 19 pounds of him. Handlers even gave him his own Teddy Bear.

Mr. Albrecht says this is a "gross violation of animal protection laws," since Knut will never be able to easily interact with others of his species, so, quoting him, he says "The zoo must kill the bear."

Thinking here that maybe it's Mr. Albrecht who can't easily interact with others of his species?

But our winner is Mr. Tumble, a BBC kids' show host who greets his young viewers using sign language.

He's using this gesture, in Makaton language for the hearing-impaired, where it's the word "happy" in the phrase "I'm happy to see you."

Unfortunately, in British sign language, for those without hearing  k that 'rubbing symbol' doesn't mean "happy" -- it means a popular Anglo-Saxon swear word that's a synonym for the physical act of love.

So Mr. Tumble is telling the kids that he's happy to something else them.

Chris Hansen! Paging Chris Hansen!

Mister Tumble! Tuesday's Worst Person In The World.

© 2009 MSNBC Interactive. Reprints

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