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The absolute worst and most disgraceful

American TV and media brings out the worst in commentators - and sadly, the followers they attract.

As a non-American it is hard to believe that anyone would give these broadcasters air-time let alone listen to or view them. But, in the land of the free......and the First Amendment, just about anything goes.

AlterNet has collected the absolute worst from these insidious people:

"Our journalists and staff put together a list of the top 5 most egregious statements the kingpin personalities of corporate media have uttered this year. Here's why they top our morally depraved list:

Bill O'Reilly absurdly attacks progressive blogs saying that Daily Kos and other progressive websites are as hateful as the Nazis and the KKK.

Michael Savage (the third most popular talk show host in America) says on his radio show, "When I see a woman walking around in a burqa, I see a Nazi ... a hateful Nazi who would like to cut your throat and kill your children. She's doing it to spit in your face. She's saying, 'You white moron, you. I'm going to kill you if I can.'"

Rush Limbaugh (the most popular talk show host in America) launches a tirade against immigrants, arguing that "You don't have the right to protest when you come here. You're allowed no demonstrations, you cannot wave a foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies, or you get sent home. You're a foreigner. You shut your mouth or you get out, and if you come here illegally, you go straight to jail and we're going to hunt you down 'til we find you."

Bill Bennett is hired by CNN despite his assertion that "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."

CNN's Lou Dobbs drastically inflates the number of new leprosy cases in America from 398 to 7,000 in order to sabotage immigration reform."

Bear in mind that these people all have huge followings and are, certainly in some circles, regarded with great respect. Incidentally, for those who despise these sort of so-called commentators, AlterNet is running the following:

"We've made our list. (And checked it twice ... as if we had to.) And it's clear who tops our "they are really bad" list this holiday season -- the evil right-wing corporate media.

They've seized every opportunity to manipulate, enflame, and lie about the most important issues and decisions facing our country. So this year, let's send them boxes and boxes of coal to show them just how harmful they've been.

For every gift of $50 or more to AlterNet, we'll send your choice of Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, or Lou Dobbs a lump of coal in your name. You know you want to do it. Send them a lump of coal today. We want them to get a lot."

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