Memorable rants...

Keith. Olbermann. There are sooo many rants from that man that it's difficult to know where to begin. His rants, known as "Special Comments", were typically a thing of beauty for numerous reasons.

One of those reasons was they were impassioned. Keith didn't use the Special Comment format haphazardly nor frequently. It was something he'd created when there was something on his mind, and typically at the forefront of American or world current events, that was so important or maybe even just irritating him so much that he felt he should devote 10-15 minutes on that topic alone.
One of his most memorable Special Comments was one to which he devoted his entire news hour which was in regard to the then-proposed healthcare bill. This was near the end of the debate, of course, so the hour was needed, he felt, because there was still so much misinformation about what the bill would and would not do if it became the law of the land. The most moving part of it was when the absurd topic of "government death panels" arose. In the months leading up to that moment, Keith had been frequently absent from his show due to his father being gravely ill and in the hospital. Just weeks before the hour-long Special Comment on healthcare reform, his father died, which had an obvious effect on Olbermann (which is no surprise, of course). But he used that personal experience to explain the ridiculousness of the outright lie about "death panels", which were really nothing more than a provision in the bill which would require insurance providers to pay for doctor-patient consults regarding end-of-life care for themselves and/or their family. This was a meeting that Keith had had with his father's doctors while he was in the hospital and he broke down when explaining how those meetings made the last days of his father's life, for Keith, that much easier as he knew exactly what his father's wishes were regarding when to take him of life support and so on; it was one less burden to carry.

His rants were not only entertaining simply for the passion with which they were delivered, but also because he wasn't just spewing his opinion without factual evidence to back it up. I'm big on that. Of course, his opinion would sometimes move toward the boundary of true and false, but not often and when it did he would typically correct himself and apologize during the next show.
Keith would cite whatever sources he could to reaffirm his opinions, including newspaper articles, various polling group surveys, direct quotes from those who may be in his crosshairs, etc. If he was taking the time to deliver one of his Special Comments, then he took the time to make sure he wasn't just rambling unfounded, maniacal gibberish (like a certain, crazy, Faux News host whose name rhymes with Blenn Geck).
In fact, it was a Special Comment that initially hooked me on Countdown, though I can no longer remember the title of the Comment, nor the exact date. I only remember that he was dispelling whatever crazy myth about then-Senator Obama that the McCain campaign SHOULD have already dispelled itself.


So yeah, in lazy conclusion: I miss Keith Olbermann.