KEITH OLBERMANN: First, before we get to "Worst Persons," I think I have to thank a few people for the extraordinary response to Friday's edition of this segment. Those people would be -- Canada. Well, specifically The Toronto Globe And Mail, The Toronto Star, Torontoist, Toronto Life, The National Post, CTV, The Montreal Gazette, The Winnipeg Free Press, iPolitics.ca, Yahoo!News Canada, and a lot of blogs.
All this, because I named Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford Friday's "Worst Person in the World," after his series of panicky -- and reportedly f-bomb-laden -- calls to 911 when an actress portraying a satirical news reporter staked him out in the driveway of his own home.
The positive attention this got was only slightly more than if I had discovered Canada. I don't know if this owes to Mayor Ford's unpopularity, or the traditional courteousness of the Canadian people, who were just sending a kind of collective "Thank you" note via media.
So, you're very welcome. And thanks, especially, to all of you in Canada who liked my slight Canadian accent. I went to school with a lot of hockey players and they were all real guys too. Or "O.C." as some of you say. Okay, Blue Jays!
Thus, here are Countdown's top three nominees for tonight's "Worst Persons in the World."
The bronze -- to Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto! I know a good thing when I see it! Supporters of the Mayor are apparently now claiming that the tape of his three calls to 911 over the ambush interview by "Marg Delahunty" would vindicate him, that -- while Mayor McPanic did unleash the f-bombs -- he didn't call anybody "bitches," and he was calling largely because his daughter was scared and screaming and you can hear that on the tape.
Which raises a simple question -- as Mayor of the city, presumably having some influence over Toronto's neatly-uniformed police department, why doesn't he order the tape of the call released?
The runner-up? Another mayor -- Chris Myers of Medford, New Jersey. Hello again, Mayor Myers. Show the photo, thank you. This is not the first time we've seen this photo.
A so-called "rent boy" in California says the mayor paid him five hundred dollars, but reneged on promises of a car and a recording studio in exchange for sex, a year ago this month. Mayor Myers has given a series of increasingly bizarre quasi-denials that the photo was him, wasn't him or that the anonymous rent boy was -- or wasn't -- his rent boy.
"I can't comment on something I don't know. This person hasn't come forward. Unfortunately, this is a story on rumors and allegations. These claims are ridiculous. I believe I've been wronged by stories pinned on anonymous reports."
I didn't do it! As God as my -- I'm sorry I lapsed into Belushi. Myers says he will not resign. May not be his choice. Medford Township Council has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, ostensibly to talk about the Mayor's pet project. No, no, no -- this is a business development. The meeting is expected to devolve into a conversation about rent boys.
But our winners? The law firm of Steven J. Baum of Buffalo, New York. You may have already seen these photos, they were sent by an appalled employee of Steven J. Baum of Buffalo, New York, to a columnist at The New York Times. They're from the company's 2010 Halloween Party.
Steven J. Baum, of Buffalo, New York, is the state's largest foreclosure mill. It represents banks and mortgage servicers in their efforts to foreclose on homeowners and throw them out. It has been accused of trickery to try to evict people with steady incomes who were up-to-date on their mortgages.
So, naturally, for Halloween, Steven J. Baum encouraged its employees -- all of whom would presumably live in terror of becoming the next victims of their scumbag bosses -- to dress up for Halloween as homeless people, carrying bottles of booze, wearing signs that mock the excuse of those who've been illegally evicted: "I was never served."
One of the pictures shows a coffin that depicts a lawyer who had filed a class action suit against the Steven J. Baum company. Another shows part of the Steven J. Baum Company offices decorated to make them look like a row of foreclosed homes.
So, this is what they dress up for as Halloween? We're gonna play that game are we? It's a long game, Steven J. Baum, 220 Northpointe Pkwy, Suite G, Amherst, New York. Or, if you're on Long Island, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 412, Westbury, New York.
It's a long game, Steven J. Baum, and there are many costumes to be worn. Being a foreclosure-mill law firm is bad enough. Adding visual abuse of your victims on Halloween -- poor choice.
The law firm of Steven J. Baum, scumbags -- today's "Worst Persons in the World."
