THE DISASTA IN ALASKA - 8.18.25

Aug 18, 2025

A sharp critique of political incompetence unfolds, focusing on a former president's disastrous meeting in Alaska and the absurdity of modern diplomacy. The irony of historical and contemporary leadership is explored, drawing unsettling parallels between past and present. The conversation takes a humorous turn, addressing the complexity of rent issues in New York while celebrating Black innovation. The highlight also includes an exciting preview of upcoming basketball championships, showcasing competitive spirit and notable athletes.

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INSIGHT

Alaska Meeting Is A Strategic Humiliation

Keith Olbermann argues Trump's Alaska meeting with Putin was a humiliating defeat for the U.S. without any tangible gains for American interests.
He frames Trump as both malicious and incompetent, amplifying the strategic danger to Ukraine and Europe.

ANECDOTE

Itinerary Left In Hotel Printer

Olbermann recounts the delegation leaving eight pages of itinerary and phone numbers in the hotel business center at the Captain Cook in Anchorage.
He uses this blunder to illustrate the administration's chaotic incompetence and careless handling of sensitive details.

INSIGHT

Billy Mitchell Room Irony

Olbermann draws a historical parallel by noting the Billy Mitchell Room's irony, invoking Mitchell's warning about aerial threats like Pearl Harbor.
He warns that platforming adversaries teaches them how to exploit U.S. weaknesses.

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SEASON 4 EPISODE 5: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN

A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: THE DISASTA IN ALASKA

The Disasta in Alaska - starring the cheeseburger-eating surrender monkey.

We have, to quote Churchill, suffered a defeat, without a war. Because we forget we don’t MERELY have an evil, deranged president, we have an evil, deranged president who is also a moron. Now, Trump - Putin’s butt boy, his errand carrier - will deliver Putin’s message to Zelensky in Washington. He will be accompanied by EU President von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Rutte, Presidents Macron of France and Stubb of Finland, Prime Ministers Starmer of the U-K and Meloni of Italy, and Chancellor Merz of Germany. Trump will be accompanied by a large selection of mirrors.

I suspect Trump will parrot what he remembers of Putin's message (whatever Trump's staff didn't leave on the printer of the business center at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage) and tell Zelensky that the way to achieve an end to the war in Ukraine is: to lose. The best thing Zelensky and the Europeans could say in response would be to state that they are withdrawing their recognition of the government of the United States of America because it is just too effing stupid.

From the Disasta in Alaska to the Occupied territory of Washington, D.C. And don’t forget what Trump today DOUBLING the number of National Guard in DC with new recruits from Ohio, West Virginia, and South Carolina (all of them, far more violent than DC) means: It means he’s read his cratering polls number and declared war on the United States of America.

Also: we rejoin the Trumpstein Cover-up Scandal, already in progress.

B-Block (30:02) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: International Fop Piers Morgan FINALLY does a journalism - posts a meme of Trump on his way to meet Putin and Trump is wearing kneepads - and then DELETES the first journalism of his life? Pam Bondi proudly admits The Deep State has defeated her fascist DOJ with nothing more than a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Sub. And the battle of the most overrated people in their field: neither CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin nor House Democratic mis-Leader Hakeem Jeffries repeat Andrew Cuomo's canard that Democratic NYC mayor nominee Zohran Mamdani lives in a rent-CONTROLLED apartment when he, like HALF of all NYC renters (myself included) lives in a rent-STABILIZED apartment. Sorkin repeats this FOUR times, Jeffries doesn't correct him, and Jeffries who is theoretically a congressman from New York STILL refuses to endorse his own party's nominee, chosen by its MEMBERS, for mayor OF New York. Sorkin should be fired and Jeffries should resign.

C-Block (43:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Somebody wrote last week that Aaron Sorkin's HBO "Newsroom" version of some of what happened to Countdown on MSNBC was the worst fictionalization of journalism in the English language. I think that's an exaggeration. It wasn't nearly that good.

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