Pitchforks and Torches: The Worst of the Worst, from Beck, Bill, and Bush to Palin and Other Posturing Republicans »

Keith Olbermann has won three Edward R. Murrow Awards for Writing, the first for his coverage of 9/11, the second for its anniversary commemorations a year later, and the third in 2010 for his tribute to his mother, "A Baseball Fan Named Marie." Now the host of MSNBC's Countdown, he was previously the coanchor of ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997 and helped launch ESPN2 and the ESPN Radio Network. He has hosted prime-time news programs, moderated a Democratic presidential debate, anchored two World Series and one Super Bowl, and won a CableACE and eleven Golden Mikes, while his shows have won four Sports Emmys. He has written for dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, and Sports Illustrated. He is the author of The Worst Person in the World: And 202 Strong Contenders, Truth and Consequences, and other books.

Ever since MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann debuted in 2003, Olbermann has made it clear that he is not one to shy away from a controversy or back down from a fight. In fact, he has gone out of his way to become a thorn in the side of pundits, politicians, and apologists, exposing their venality, manipulation, and flat-out lies for what they are. From the national disaster that was the Bush administration to agents of the Fox News propaganda machine to the tin foil–hat crowd that calls itself the Tea Party—all have felt the sting of Olbermann's bitter indictments, biting satire, and blistering mockery.

In Pitchforks and Torches, Olbermann presents a powerful selection of his most potent barrages from the days immediately following the 2008 election through the first year of the Obama administration. He is alternately passionate, furious, and humorously nonplussed as he responds to the right wing's increasingly disloyal and nutty opposition to virtually all of the president's programs and the emergence of congressional Republicans as the "Party of No."

Whether sticking it to such usual suspects as Bill O'Reilly, Boss Limbaugh, and Glenn "Lonesome Rhodes" Beck as "The Worst Person in the World"; tracking W's calamitous legacy in the "Worst of Bush"; or getting down to the nitty-gritty of major issues in his influential "Special Comments" and "Quick Comments," Olbermann articulates and energizes progressive positions on the great issues of our time as no one else can. Discover what Keith Olbermann has to say about:

• President Bush's use and defense of the torture of terrorism suspects
• The birther movement
• Sarah Palin's death-panel fantasies
• Republican attempts to rename the Democratic Party
• Michael Steele's bizarre stewardship of the Republican Party
• The Blue Dog Democrats who scuttled real health care reform
• And much more

Complete with cogent critiques of President Obama's health care strategy as well as his decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan, Pitchforks and Torches is welcome reading for Countdown lovers, Olbermann fans, and anyone who enjoys a good dose of reality with their politics.