SEASON 2 EPISODE 60: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Five months ago today this podcast was titled “Did Mark Meadows Flip?” Now, ABC reports and Bloomberg and The Guardian report – Mark Meadows has flipped. How much he said and how willingly he said it is unclear, but there’s no doubt that he testified under oath and with immunity to Jack Smith’s Grand Jury and would do the same in the Election Subversion Trial of Donald Trump.

What Meadows told prosecutors and grand jurors is damning. He never found any evidence of election corruption. He repeatedly told Trump that. He felt Trump was being “dishonest” when he claimed victory on election night. When the Supreme Court ruled against Trump on December 11, 2020, Trump told Meadows “something to the effect of ‘then that’s the end’ or ‘so that’s it.’ Yet a week later came Trump’s “Will be Wild” tweet, 22 days later came the phone call to Georgia, 26 days later came the insurrection. And what Meadows testified underscores that at each of these traitorous moments, Trump knew he was lying – the essence of Smith’s case.

There’s a run on the Plea Deal bank because Jenna Ellis became the third ex-Trump lawyer to flip in Georgia. She tearfully said if she’d known then what she knows now blah blah blah. Most of her testimony will sink Rudy Giuliani and as unlikely as this sounds, the next most logical candidate to flip is Giuliani himself. He’s out of money and Trump has abandoned him.

MEANWHILE BACK AT TRUMP PLANTATION: House Republicans selected their third choice for Speaker, Tom Emmer. Trump vetoed him. The slaves threw Emmer overboard in just over four hours. Last night they selected their fourth choice, insurrectionist Mike Johnson, while Kevin McCarthy maneuvered behind the scenes to get back. Somewhere there must be six GOP members ready to retire rather than keep this lousy job, and who want revenge. They could dictate a name to the Democrats and between them get him elected and Trump could do NOTHING about it. Instead, pressed by a reporter about Johnson's role in the attempt to install Trump as dictator, the treason caucus shouted the questioner down.

B-Block (19:23) IN SPORTS: Oh boy, just the dramatic World Series match-up we all wanted: the 4th best team in the American League (the Texas Rangers) versus the 6th best team in the National League (the Arizona Diamondbacks, who finished exactly three games over .500). This madness will be reflected in the ratings. Good news: NHL reversed its pride stick tape ban after a player used it anyway and dared Appeasement Commissioner Gary Bettman to do anything about it. (24:39) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The New York Post writer who thought she was bashing liberals over Sidney Powell but actually proved Jack Smith’s case; Kyrsten Sinema’s delusions of grandeur; and Ted Cruz – senator from Texas – does not know the name of the Texas team that is going to the World Series. Even though it’s FROM Texas and NAMED Texas.

C-Block (30:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: A special request. Remember my hospice puppy Mishu? I’m now trying to help a Maltese girl, abandoned by a puppy mill and then hit by a car, with a broken leg and a broken pelvis, and named… MISHA. This one’s personal. The link is here: https://www.givinggrid.com/Hit-And-Run-Misha-Needs-Surgery/?ublast=407378 (32:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The “co-speaker” story reminded me of the “co-presidency” idea Gerald Ford pitched to Ronald Reagan in 1980. It fell through, but hours later the most talented newscaster I ever worked with, zonked out of his head, went on the air and read old copy that indicated it was a done deal. It helped to get him fired. He was a brilliant and tragic figure. Please meet Will Spens.