SERIES 2 EPISODE 56: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump may have a new problem in his civil fraud trial in New York. As the folks at Meidas Touch sleuthed, he has re-posted a piece by the loathsome Laura Loomer that appears to give an address for New York State Attorney General Letitia James. This isn't specifically covered under the gag order imposed against Trump by Judge Arthur Engoron, but it underscores the point that it should be.

And it further underscores that both Judge Engoron and Judge Tanya Chutkan should try to expand their gag orders to include any such threats or stochastic invasions of the lives of the primary figures in ALL the legal cases against Trump. His only skill is finding where the line is, and how it moves. The judiciary needs to be proactive against him, not meek. And unfortunately Judge Chutkan's written version of HER gag order is devoid of any reference to which sanctions she'll impose when Trump finally violates it.

There is, naturally, a connection to the lies and the world of delusion of Trump and his supporters, and the nightmare at the Gaza City hospital yesterday. Technology will probably - sooner or later - tell us whether Israel or Hamas did this, and then lied about it and successfully blamed the other. It may even tell us about the small chance the location of the carnage might have been inadvertent. But what this horror really tells us is where the Trump Lies lead and end, and how we must fight them because the imaginary world requires absolute fealty and ultimately the willingness to kill rather than admit you are wrong.

You know it's been a bad day when Jim Jordan's wipeout in the Speaker voice, and what Elise Stefanik said about him that she THOUGHT would help, turns out to be the humorous relief.

B-Block (22:12) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Who could have seen this coming? Britain's Conservatives expel member accused of sexual harassment and exposure. His name is Peter Bone. The Washington Post does a Jim Jordan profile without mentioning January 6th or the subpoena he skipped. And a professor at my alma mater says something so inhuman and stupid about the Middle East that supporters of BOTH Israel and Hamas should be offended - and he should be fired.

C-Block (27:20) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It was the first item I checked on my bucket list. I was 10. The day I saw my first World Series game turns out to probably have been the day baseball's dominant role in American culture peaked. Plus: it was Vietnam Moratorium Day.