EPISODE 183: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: "My main cancer," the dying writer told the TV interviewer in 1994, "I call it Rupert." The prophetic words of the auteur of 'The Singing Detective' and 'Pennies from Heaven,' Dennis Potter, were said 29 years ago at this time of the year. He ruminated that he was living out the cliched plot of every writer: you're given three months to live - who do you kill? "That man Murdoch is the one who, if I had the time...I would shoot the bugger if I could." 1994.

Meanwhile your tax dollars in action: Murdoch and Fox may be able to deduct the entirety of the $787,500,000 payment to Dominion as an ordinary cost of business. It will translate to us as taxpayers underwriting $213,000,000. We pay part of Rupert's price to lie.

And he's right back at it: a spokesman insists about the upcoming Smartmatic case that there's nothing more newsworthy than the claims of fraud by "the President of the United States and his lawyers." And if Rupert settles that case on similar terms to Dominion, you and I will pay another $364,000,000 for Rupert.

B-Block (15:43) IN SPORTS: The original Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955. They flirted with moves to Louisville, Milwaukee and Seattle before moving to Oakland in 1968. THEN they flirted almost annually with a move to Denver. And the first Las Vegas rumor floated in 1996. And now they appear set on a move to Nevada in 2027. This presents a couple of problems. One is: the threat to the water supply of Vegas. The second is: who's going to see a lame duck baseball team? One of them drew so poorly they stopped playing home games. Plus the Max Scherzer suspension, and the dumping of World Series hero Madison Bumgarner. (21:34) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Mike Lindell said he'd give $5,000,000 to anybody who proved his evidence of Chinese election interference was nonsense. An arbitration board just ruled: somebody proved it. Dick Durbin went ahead with his meaningless "invitation" to Chief Justice Roberts to a meaningless SCOTUS hearing because Dianne Feinstein isn't there to vote for a subpoena. And Elon Musk blows up Twitter and SpaceX on the same day.

C-Block (28:40) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Back to Rupert Murdoch. I always hated him (though not as much as Dennis Potter). But I hated him FAR more after he fired me, for following his rules and the instructions of his lackeys on how to handle a sports story involving him.