SEASON 2 EPISODE 7: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: If she won't revoke his pre-trial release, Judge Upadhyaya must at least bring Donald Trump into court and issue a gag order against him on social media and in public and warn him that if he threatens the judges again, or the prosecutors again, or witnesses again, or the court again, or the department of justice again, or the president again - or as he has done in the three days after she warned him to do none of those things, threaten ALL of them - she will incarcerate him. Nothing else will make the point to him, and whatever the results are, that's fine. Scott Adams hinting at civil war and sharpening 50,000 sketch pencils is fine. These blood-lusting fascists forget who owns all the tanks at the moment. Also: of COURSE Trump has hired another idiot as a lawyer. His defense for the January 6th indictments is that he was idiotically following the idiot advice of an idiot lawyer in John Eastman. Naturally he's going to bring in a new guy who said something so stupid yesterday he invoked Jeffrey Tambor in "Arrested Development" saying he might have committed some light treason.

B-Block (20:48) IN SPORTS: USA-hating conservatives exult in Soccer team's loss in World Cup because...they are lost souls. For the first time all year the words "Tim Anderson" and "Hit" are used in the same sentence. And Robin Ventura is now the happiest man in sports. And the Mets are going to run the table, aren't they? O-57, right? (28:44) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: New York Times continues to think it can gain conservative readers by pandering; Vivek Ramaswamy was for Juneteenth before he was against it, and you'll never believe who didn't show up for the House Committee's interview with Hunter Biden's old biz partner.

C-Block (35:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: ESPN Radio will now by run by non-ESPN people, which flashes me back to the day we launched it in 1992 and THAT flashes me back to WHY I happened to meet the wonderful actress Elizabeth Montgomery. 

SEASON 2 EPISODE 7: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: If she won't revoke his pre-trial release, Judge Upadhyaya must at least bring Donald Trump into court and issue a gag order against him on social media and in public and warn him that if he threatens the judges again, or the prosecutors again, or witnesses again, or the court again, or the department of justice again, or the president again - or as he has done in the three days after she warned him to do none of those things, threaten ALL of them - she will incarcerate him. Nothing else will make the point to him, and whatever the results are, that's fine. Scott Adams hinting at civil war and sharpening 50,000 sketch pencils is fine. These blood-lusting fascists forget who owns all the tanks at the moment. Also: of COURSE Trump has hired another idiot as a lawyer. His defense for the January 6th indictments is that he was idiotically following the idiot advice of an idiot lawyer in John Eastman. Naturally he's going to bring in a new guy who said something so stupid yesterday he invoked Jeffrey Tambor in "Arrested Development" saying he might have committed some light treason.
B-Block (20:48) IN SPORTS: USA-hating conservatives exult in Soccer team's loss in World Cup because...they are lost souls. For the first time all year the words "Tim Anderson" and "Hit" are used in the same sentence. And Robin Ventura is now the happiest man in sports. And the Mets are going to run the table, aren't they? O-57, right? (28:44) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: New York Times continues to think it can gain conservative readers by pandering; Vivek Ramaswamy was for Juneteenth before he was against it, and you'll never believe who didn't show up for the House Committee's interview with Hunter Biden's old biz partner.
C-Block (35:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: ESPN Radio will now by run by non-ESPN people, which flashes me back to the day we launched it in 1992 and THAT flashes me back to WHY I happened to meet the wonderful actress Elizabeth Montgomery.

“Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” the landmark news and commentary program that reordered the world of cable news, returns as a daily podcast. Olbermann’s daily news-driven mix will include his trademark “Special Comment” political analysis, the tongue-in-cheek “Worst Persons In The World” segment, and his timeless readings from the works of the immortal James Thurber. The man who turned SportsCenter into a cultural phenomenon will broaden the content to include a daily sports segment, a daily call for help for a suffering dog, and a remarkable series of anecdotes covering a career that stretched from covering the 1980 Olympic Miracle on Ice a month after his 21st birthday, to anchoring the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and the 2009 Super Bowl pre-game show in a span of just twelve days, to rejoining ESPN as a “rookie” baseball play-by-play man at the age of 59.

“Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” the landmark news and commentary program that reordered the world of cable news, returns as a daily podcast. Olbermann’s daily news-driven mix will include his trademark “Special Comment” political analysis, the tongue-in-cheek “Worst Persons In The World” segment, and his timeless readings from the works of the immortal James Thurber. The man who turned SportsCenter into a cultural phenomenon will broaden the content to include a daily sports segment, a daily call for help for a suffering dog, and a remarkable series of anecdotes covering a career that stretched from covering the 1980 Olympic Miracle on Ice a month after his 21st birthday, to anchoring the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and the 2009 Super Bowl pre-game show in a span of just twelve days, to rejoining ESPN as a “rookie” baseball play-by-play man at the age of 59.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann

LOCK HIM UP (OR AT LEAST: BRING HIM IN) - 8.7.23

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/86552718-fb33-42d6-9bc9-b057003a4ab2/transcript

SERIES 2 EPISODE 185: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Do not be fooled by the dismissive attitude of the media of the impact on Trump voting support of the jury's finding of Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, and not NOT-Guilty.

If, as the most circumspect pre-verdict polling suggests, 2% of his voters would peel away, that (based on 2020) is 1,500,000 voters and at least 5 electoral votes, and (based on 2016) would have been enough to throw Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to Clinton. 

It reminds us that we should stop looking for the game-ender for Trump and rely instead on the incrementals, because they - and the justice that invoke them - will defeat him.

Also, can the Trump cultists explain to me: are these 34 verdicts election interference that will stop Trump from winning, or are they a political gift that just gave him the election? Because you keep saying BOTH.

PLUS: If you missed it, John Roberts just told Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse to go F themselves. He's king for life and he won't even talk to them about the Alito Scandal, or the OTHER Alito Scandal, or the Roberts scandal. Fine. Subpoena him. And if he ignores that, arrest him. This country is changing and those who act will decide whether it changes for the good or the bad, and we are the good guys.

B-Block (32:40) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Clay Travis goes entirely racist on The View's Sonny Hostin (and even on the WNBA's Caitlin Clark). Minnesota GOP Senate likelihood Royce White (who played eight minutes and 55 seconds in the NBA and don't you forget it) is in trouble again. And the book sale numbers are in for Kristi Noem's Puppy Murder Diary book and I don't want to say they're not moving but the fall off from Week 1 to Week 3 is 9275%

C-Block (41:25) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: Only one story to tell on this day after: Thurber prophesying the life of Trump in something he wrote... in 1931!

SERIES 2 EPISODE 185: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Do not be fooled by the dismissive attitude of the media of the impact on Trump voting support of the jury's finding of Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, and not NOT-Guilty.
If, as the most circumspect pre-verdict polling suggests, 2% of his voters would peel away, that (based on 2020) is 1,500,000 voters and at least 5 electoral votes, and (based on 2016) would have been enough to throw Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to Clinton. 
It reminds us that we should stop looking for the game-ender for Trump and rely instead on the incrementals, because they - and the justice that invoke them - will defeat him.
Also, can the Trump cultists explain to me: are these 34 verdicts election interference that will stop Trump from winning, or are they a political gift that just gave him the election? Because you keep saying BOTH.
PLUS: If you missed it, John Roberts just told Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse to go F themselves. He's king for life and he won't even talk to them about the Alito Scandal, or the OTHER Alito Scandal, or the Roberts scandal. Fine. Subpoena him. And if he ignores that, arrest him. This country is changing and those who act will decide whether it changes for the good or the bad, and we are the good guys.
B-Block (32:40) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Clay Travis goes entirely racist on The View's Sonny Hostin (and even on the WNBA's Caitlin Clark). Minnesota GOP Senate likelihood Royce White (who played eight minutes and 55 seconds in the NBA and don't you forget it) is in trouble again. And the book sale numbers are in for Kristi Noem's Puppy Murder Diary book and I don't want to say they're not moving but the fall off from Week 1 to Week 3 is 9275%
C-Block (41:25) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: Only one story to tell on this day after: Thurber prophesying the life of Trump in something he wrote... in 1931!

IF THE VERDICTS COST TRUMP 2%, HE JUST LOST - 5.31.24

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8640c3be-452d-41e9-a134-b1810028a7c8/transcript

SERIES 2 EPISODE 184: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: I’m convinced Sam Alito is lying about who put the flags up. And I’m convinced I can prove it. And I’m convinced the proof is contained not in the Upside Down American Flag and not The Appeal To Heaven Flag; the proof is contained in the THIRD flag. “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. She was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home,” he wrote to 50 members of the House who have asked him to recuse from Trump and election cases before the Supreme Court, and refusing to do so. In the case of the Virginia distress flag, “She has flown other patriotic flags… college flags, flags supporting sports teams…” etc.

Sports...teams?

Like that flag "she" flew celebrating the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies? The second most star-crossed team in the history of that baseball franchise? SHE flew that flag? Sam Alito wanted to grow up to be Commissioner of Baseball. He went to a Phillies fantasy camp. He had baseball cards made of himself in a Phillies uniform. He jokingly refused to answer the question 'ever worn your Phillies uni under your judicial robes?' He's the crazy Phillies fan, but SHE put the flag over their house?

Nonsense.

PLUS: The jury gets the Trump Trial and within hours they're asking to hear the judge's legal instructions again, and David Pecker's testimony about the birth of Catch-and-Kill. Not a thing about Michael Cohen or lies or perjury or "The GLOAT." The jury is signaling that it is circling a conviction or conviction.

And then we have to ask: what is the Biden Campaign's plan to exploit a conviction or convictions? Do they immediately start calling him "Convicted Felon Donald Trump"? If not, why not? Does "Convicted Felon And Republican Nominee Donald Trump" work better? They are prepared to burn this into voters' retinas, right?

Riiiiiight?

B-Block (27:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The key to re-electing Biden could be giving more money to right wing nut job Pat Sajak. There is a woman named Brenda Ramer who claims her ray has had an immaculate conception. And the latest Bothsidesist Pap from A.G. Sulzberger? Put an op-ed in The New York Times defending Trump - in the middle of a trial centering around him banging a porn star - written by the editor of a Catholic Church Magazine. Must be a different Catholic Church than they used to have when I was a kid.

C-Block (39:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Since we're talking Sajak and comedy-based late night talk shows (he had a failed one on CBS 35 years ago) and we're talking about crazy editors, let me tell you the saga of onetime CNN president Walter Isaacson. In 2001 he had both parts of an idea that would become a hit for MSNBC two years later, sitting in his office: the desire to do a CNN news hour with some humor in it, and me. He somehow did not put these two parts together.

SERIES 2 EPISODE 184: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: I’m convinced Sam Alito is lying about who put the flags up. And I’m convinced I can prove it. And I’m convinced the proof is contained not in the Upside Down American Flag and not The Appeal To Heaven Flag; the proof is contained in the THIRD flag. “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. She was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home,” he wrote to 50 members of the House who have asked him to recuse from Trump and election cases before the Supreme Court, and refusing to do so. In the case of the Virginia distress flag, “She has flown other patriotic flags… college flags, flags supporting sports teams…” etc.
Sports...teams?
Like that flag "she" flew celebrating the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies? The second most star-crossed team in the history of that baseball franchise? SHE flew that flag? Sam Alito wanted to grow up to be Commissioner of Baseball. He went to a Phillies fantasy camp. He had baseball cards made of himself in a Phillies uniform. He jokingly refused to answer the question 'ever worn your Phillies uni under your judicial robes?' He's the crazy Phillies fan, but SHE put the flag over their house?
Nonsense.
PLUS: The jury gets the Trump Trial and within hours they're asking to hear the judge's legal instructions again, and David Pecker's testimony about the birth of Catch-and-Kill. Not a thing about Michael Cohen or lies or perjury or "The GLOAT." The jury is signaling that it is circling a conviction or conviction.
And then we have to ask: what is the Biden Campaign's plan to exploit a conviction or convictions? Do they immediately start calling him "Convicted Felon Donald Trump"? If not, why not? Does "Convicted Felon And Republican Nominee Donald Trump" work better? They are prepared to burn this into voters' retinas, right?
Riiiiiight?
B-Block (27:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The key to re-electing Biden could be giving more money to right wing nut job Pat Sajak. There is a woman named Brenda Ramer who claims her ray has had an immaculate conception. And the latest Bothsidesist Pap from A.G. Sulzberger? Put an op-ed in The New York Times defending Trump - in the middle of a trial centering around him banging a porn star - written by the editor of a Catholic Church Magazine. Must be a different Catholic Church than they used to have when I was a kid.
C-Block (39:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Since we're talking Sajak and comedy-based late night talk shows (he had a failed one on CBS 35 years ago) and we're talking about crazy editors, let me tell you the saga of onetime CNN president Walter Isaacson. In 2001 he had both parts of an idea that would become a hit for MSNBC two years later, sitting in his office: the desire to do a CNN news hour with some humor in it, and me. He somehow did not put these two parts together.

HOW WE KNOW ALITO IS LYING; AND WHAT'S BIDEN'S PLAN TO USE TRUMP'S CONVICTION? - 5.30.24

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a3f8dfe2-60fe-4b7e-bcaf-b17f018447c3/transcript

SERIES 2 EPISODE 183: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: It is becoming increasingly obvious that Trump and the authoritarians seeking to overthrow democracy in the United States and install him as dictator for life and then enact the equivalent of ethnic cleansing… have made the choice to let everybody KNOW… that they are seeking to overthrow the democracy in the United States and install him as dictator and then enact the equivalent of ethnic cleansing.

You may recall him summoning most of the fossil fuel industry of this country to Mar-a-Lago in April and essentially demanding they put one billion dollars into his campaign so he can eliminate virtually all the restrictions on their businesses as they try to destroy the planet faster. Now The Washington Post reports that early THIS month he summoned most of the big money donors to the Republicans and other fascists to the Pierre Hotel here in New York and was essentially demanding they increase THEIR donations by a factor of 25 or 50 so he can eliminate virtually all TAXES on their businesses and incomes…

A businessman, he told them, had offered a donation of a million dollars to his campaign, in exchange for lunch. The Post’s sources quote Trump as replying “I’m not having lunch. You’ve got to make it 25 million.” Then there was the donor who normally gave two to three million. “He told the donor that he wanted a 25 million dollar or 50 million dollar contribution or he would not be, quote ‘very happy’. It’s blackmail. Give me the money I want – 25 times as much as you planned – or else.

It's kinda Robert DeNiro, in "The Untouchables," playing Al Capone, carrying around a baseball bat. Which is funny because who showed up at the trial yesterday but DeNiro and suddenly the Trumpists are enraged that anybody would dare bring people TO the courthouse!

If this unvarnished, unrestrained, undeniable corruption were not obvious enough that Trump just doesn’t GIVE a shit any more – you’re not going to shame him, you’re not going to restrain him, you’re not going to prosecute him – he’s decided it’s us or him… there’s the SECOND part. Trump posted a video – another one of these fig leaf deniable videos: HE didn’t MAKE the video, he just POSSSSSSTED this video. And so the threats in the video, nominally directed at Joe Scarborough, that Trump will "get rid of all you offing liberals; you liberals are gone" aren't Trump's threats. 

Except, of course they are. Because Trump has called his opponents vermin and vowed to get rid of them. And expel all the immigrants. And put them in concentration camps. And use the army. And use the cops. And if you can do that, you can point at Joe Scarborough and say "YOU are now defined as an immigrant. Get in the camp."

And that... is ethnic cleansing.

B-Block (30:49) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Renfield-ification of Lindsey Graham is complete. Speaker Mike Johnson is stalling on the installation of a Capitol plaque honoring the police from January 6th. And Pastor Shane Vaughn has news for you: Jesus was a millionaire.

C-Block (41:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Since yesterday was the saga of the 45th anniversary of my college graduation, today must be the saga of the class I nearly failed because the professor was mad because the quarterback of his favorite football team fumbled away a victory in the final minute. 

SERIES 2 EPISODE 183: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: It is becoming increasingly obvious that Trump and the authoritarians seeking to overthrow democracy in the United States and install him as dictator for life and then enact the equivalent of ethnic cleansing… have made the choice to let everybody KNOW… that they are seeking to overthrow the democracy in the United States and install him as dictator and then enact the equivalent of ethnic cleansing.
You may recall him summoning most of the fossil fuel industry of this country to Mar-a-Lago in April and essentially demanding they put one billion dollars into his campaign so he can eliminate virtually all the restrictions on their businesses as they try to destroy the planet faster. Now The Washington Post reports that early THIS month he summoned most of the big money donors to the Republicans and other fascists to the Pierre Hotel here in New York and was essentially demanding they increase THEIR donations by a factor of 25 or 50 so he can eliminate virtually all TAXES on their businesses and incomes…
A businessman, he told them, had offered a donation of a million dollars to his campaign, in exchange for lunch. The Post’s sources quote Trump as replying “I’m not having lunch. You’ve got to make it 25 million.” Then there was the donor who normally gave two to three million. “He told the donor that he wanted a 25 million dollar or 50 million dollar contribution or he would not be, quote ‘very happy’. It’s blackmail. Give me the money I want – 25 times as much as you planned – or else.
It's kinda Robert DeNiro, in "The Untouchables," playing Al Capone, carrying around a baseball bat. Which is funny because who showed up at the trial yesterday but DeNiro and suddenly the Trumpists are enraged that anybody would dare bring people TO the courthouse!
If this unvarnished, unrestrained, undeniable corruption were not obvious enough that Trump just doesn’t GIVE a shit any more – you’re not going to shame him, you’re not going to restrain him, you’re not going to prosecute him – he’s decided it’s us or him… there’s the SECOND part. Trump posted a video – another one of these fig leaf deniable videos: HE didn’t MAKE the video, he just POSSSSSSTED this video. And so the threats in the video, nominally directed at Joe Scarborough, that Trump will "get rid of all you offing liberals; you liberals are gone" aren't Trump's threats. 
Except, of course they are. Because Trump has called his opponents vermin and vowed to get rid of them. And expel all the immigrants. And put them in concentration camps. And use the army. And use the cops. And if you can do that, you can point at Joe Scarborough and say "YOU are now defined as an immigrant. Get in the camp."
And that... is ethnic cleansing.
B-Block (30:49) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Renfield-ification of Lindsey Graham is complete. Speaker Mike Johnson is stalling on the installation of a Capitol plaque honoring the police from January 6th. And Pastor Shane Vaughn has news for you: Jesus was a millionaire.
C-Block (41:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Since yesterday was the saga of the 45th anniversary of my college graduation, today must be the saga of the class I nearly failed because the professor was mad because the quarterback of his favorite football team fumbled away a victory in the final minute.

TRUMP MOVING TOWARDS A FORM OF ETHNIC CLEANSING - 5.29.24

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/293c9195-1699-488b-931f-b17f000d90a3/transcript

LOCK HIM UP (OR AT LEAST: BRING HIM IN) - 8.7.23

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