Countdown with Keith Olbermann

EPISODE 192: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: "A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him," Tucker Carlson texted to his producer on January 6, 2021. "It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It's not how white men fight."  THAT is the thing Fox found, at the last moment, just as its trial with Dominion was about to begin, that it could not afford to let out publicly; not, at least, while Tucker Carlson was still its employee. I raised the likelihood that there was something just like this, something even worse than everything that had already come out. Got that one right. That's not only why Murdoch settled - it's a major reason that Murdoch fired Carlson. It also suggests Fox is the source of the text (Exhibit 276 to be precise) because it serves a purpose for Murdoch now. It dirties up his EX-employee on his way out and makes him a huge risk for anybody else to hire. Unfortunately it also segues into CNN's disastrous decision to double-down on its live Town Hall next week with Trump. Not only was its moderator, Kaitlan Collins, still working FOR Tucker Carlson at The Daily Caller seven years ago, but a cache of her articles there shows grotesque indifference to human suffering to say nothing of Islamophobia. Her "ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE HIPSTERS: THESE GUANTANAMO DETAINEES DID IT FIRST" not only says Khalid Sheik Mohammed "took the challenge a record 183 times" but mocks the 'challenge' itself - which was to raise money for ALS Research and Treatment. She also mocked Syrian refugees in another article, and authored a pair of homophobic tweets in college. Yet it is Kaitlan Collins that CNN's political director thinks can stand up to Trump lying in real time. She can "prod, ask questions, follow up, and try to get as revealing answers as possible." It is this David Chalian quoted in a Vanity Fair piece explaining "we obviously can't control what Trump says - that's up to him" and how Trump's sedition and crimes "does not make our approach any different" to him. CNN is standing on a precipice. If it does not cancel the Town Hall, fire Licht and Chalian, and fire or demote Collins, both its remaining journalistic credibility and any possible re-sale value it still has, will be erased. Because its last line of defense against Trump was getting a pay check as recently as seven years ago from Tucker "It's not how white men fight" Carlson to mock ALS, torture, and refugees. B-Block (18:30) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: When Kevin McCarthy goes to the White House Tuesday to dictate terms on the debt ceiling, Biden may have a surprise for him: defaulting on US debt may be literally unconstitutional. And Chuck Schumer supposedly talked to Dianne Feinstein on Monday, except he didn't actually TELL anybody that. Politico merely read it of a photograph of the talking points he was carrying in his hand! (22:28) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: A woman who slammed her car into BLM protestors gets a deal for FIVE HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE. Texas wants its Republican Secretary of State to be able to overturn Democratic election victories in Houston just...cuz. And Disney's unexpected witness against Ron DeSantis... Ron DeSantis! C-Block (28:41) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Joe, not only hit by a car, but needing two surgeries and a Rescue desperate to pay for them (30:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I was reminded on a dog walk why one of the best pieces of advice I ever got came from a man I worked with for only five months: the late Boston star newscaster Chet Curtis. Hear the harrowing tale of the day he walked into "his" restaurant ready to be recognized only to find nobody there knew who the hell he was. I ain't modest much, but when I am, it's because of Chet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 191: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Chris Licht's transformation of CNN into Trump's journalistic whorehouse is now complete. He and other CNN executives have NEGOTIATED the terms by which Trump will PERMIT them to cover him. Licht gives Trump a free live hour+ of a "Town Hall" next week in New Hampshire. The ONLY questions will be from those voting in the GOP Primary and CNN will exercise no editorial control. It's a program-length advertisement for a seditious madman.And it's worse than that. The Guardian reports that Trump has been told his reward for deigning to go on CNN is that later, CNN may put on more Trump Campaign Surrogates. The journalistic prostitution extends to NBC News. In March Trump abused, threatened, and expelled an NBC reporter, then threw his two phones recording their conversation. NBC reported none of this. Why not? Is it coincidence that Politico reports that NBC is among the other networks are "negotiating" for sit-downs with Trump - NBC included. This is everything American media agreed it could not do again for the insurrectionist scumbag Trump. And no one at CNN or NBC has uttered a word of protest, and thus everyone at CNN and NBC shares the shame - and the disqualification from journalism. B-Block ((17:25) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Marjorie Taylor Greene's support is not exactly based in her district. The number of campaign contributions from her district? Six. (21:49) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Greg Abbott not only insults the dead but lies about them.  C-Block (27:50) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Cannella in Tennessee (28:49) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I like to joke that when we were at MSNBC together, we all used to think Chris Licht used to eat paste. Here's the back story of how Licht spent his days there nominally as Joe Scarborough's producer but actually tasked by Scarborough with trying to destroy liberal shows and suppress liberal voices there - just as he's doing now at CNN.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 190: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: This. Is. Not. A. Game. The Democrats MUST have the decisive vote in The Senate Judiciary Committee so AT LEAST we can subpoena the central figures in the Supreme(ly Corrupt) Court scandals. There are now so many of them I've lost track. And Dianne Feinstein isn't there to cast that vote. A whistleblower tells us John Roberts's wife has been soliciting money from top law firms seeking to have cases heard by SCOTUS. Her role is headhunter/matchmaker for lawyers, and maybe it really is only that. But it sure as hell looks like a cross between Influence Peddling and Protection Money. There's new evidence of multiple exposures by Brett Kavanaugh at Yale and the primary alibi just dissolved over the weekend. Roy Wood Jr was half right: Clarence Thomas AND Neil Gorsuch are NFT's. And from beyond the grave Antonio Scalia is still corrupting the high court with "Scalia Law" - basically a club to get Conservative judges more money. The tragedy here is: of all people, Sam Alito has inadvertently revealed how SCARED the justices are of exposure right now. It's the moment to strike. But we can't, because Durbin and Schumer don't have the guts to risk asking Feinstein to quit. Well then to hell with all of them: Move to EXPEL HER. B-Block (20:38) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Reading the tea leaves in Jack Smith's Special Counsel investigation, they will use Mike Pence's BOOK to prove Trump knew fully he lost, and the $250,000,000 he raised afterwards to attack the election result was in fact massively large wire fraud. (24:11) IN SPORTS: Why did generic background NYC video on a playoff telecast yesterday include... The Twin Towers? And the passing of Mike Shannon, once seen leaping in hopes of catching a Mickey Mantle home run that was only 120 feet over his head. (27:21) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: HOW much has Twitter hate speech gone up under Elon Musk? Unironically, this Texas fascist wants to ban "Handmaid's Tale." And the OTHER Texas fascist mocks the execution-style murder of five people, and - as usual - disgraces himself. C-Block (32:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jacuzzi Bubbles, on death row in NYC (33:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: 39 years ago yesterday I began as a rookie TV sportscaster in Boston. Two weeks later, the Boston Red Sox brought up a rookie pitcher. And 16 years later that pitcher - Roger Clemens - picked up part of Mike Piazza's broken World Series bat and THREW IT AT ME (or at least that's what it looked like from where I was sitting in the Yankee dugout). The saga of the Clemens-Piazza bat, now approaching its 23rd year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 189: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: No, I also don't have any idea WHAT Mike Pence told Jack Smith's Grand Jury yesterday but boy do I hope he incriminated everybody. On the other hand, I have a pretty good idea that barring the unforeseen, the terms of Tucker Carlson's contract with Fox will be such that the vague, poorly-lit, dog-whistle-filled twitter video from Wednesday night may be the last we see of him for awhile, and it may mark the beginning of his firing slipping out of our (often thankfully) breakneck news cycle. As a warning: the remainder of this episode is the reprise of five separate Carlson commentaries from the last five months, tracing his ascent to madness and his fall from employment. If you don't want to hear stuff you've already heard, you can cut out at about the nine minute mark and I won't take it personally :-) (9:20) November 22: When Tucker Carlson tried to get Trans people and drag performers and allies shot (20:51) February 21: The McCarthy-January 6th video deal is made and it is time to de-platform Tucker Carlson - and de-platform Fox "News." B-Block (39:42) March 13: The Carlson gaslighting of the January 6th Capitol video was so clearly an attempt to foment obstruction of justice and rebellion that Carlson could've been indicted and arrested (58:12) But on March 14 it became clear - as Carlson re-ran several clips for the third time and obviously had nothing of interest to show anybody - that he not only wouldn't be arrested, but with THAT video, as they say, he COULDN'T get arrested. C-Block (1:13:10) April 24: SCHADENFREUDE. The firing of Carlson as it happened, including me singing "Ode To Joy" with the original German lyrics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 188: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: All the details are leaked to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Rupert Murdoch did TOO fire Tucker Carlson personally, just weeks after meeting with him. Murdoch was furious at Carlson calling President Zelensky a "Ukrainian Pimp" and even joined a Fox editorial meeting to complain, and furious that Carlson had called a NewsCorp exec (presumably communications mogul Irena Briganti) a C-U-Later. Worse still, the C-word insult appeared in the Dominion lawsuit discovery product. Fox attorneys managed to get it redacted, told Carlson. But he replied he didn't WANT it redacted: he wanted everybody to know he'd said it. And the Fox Board and some executives didn't know until the day before the Dominion trial was to begin - another reason Fox settled. Bottom lines: Fox is clearly revealing everything it has in its Carlson closet in hopes of making him eternally unemployable. Oh, and about 25 days ago Murdoch had dinner at his home in Bel-Air with his fiancee and his top Fox anchor and before the month was over HE HAD FIRED THEM BOTH. B-Block (19:33) IN SPORTS: Two weeks ago he tied the record for the longest hitting streak for any player 20 or younger. Today's he's in the minors. And it's the anniversary of Harry Chili, the guy who was traded for "A Player To Be Named Later" and then the "Player To Be Named Later." Except it never happened; it's just an urban legend (24:33) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Ronna McDaniel lies about Trump and debates; Ron Johnson may actually have a head made of cheese: he suggests Wisconsin will be a safer place to live after catastrophic climate change; and the Vanity Blue Checkmark guy on twitter trying to incite genocide against Trans people and allies. C-Block (30:01) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: 90 years ago this month the most humble superstar I ever met, was born. Why I still miss my friend Elizabeth Montgomery and the extraordinary and hilarious advice she gave me within minutes of the day we met.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 187: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: The Corruption is coming down so heavy I feel like I need to wear a HAT. Now we have to indict a SECOND Supreme Court Justice. Nine days after he got onto the Court, Neil Gorsuch sold his part of a Colorado house for at least $250,000 to the head of a mega-law firm that has since been involved in 22 CASES before Gorsuch's court. Gorsuch has voted for their side in 7 of 10 cases. And of course:THE DISCLOSURE FORM FOR THE SALE? GORSUCH LEFT THE BOX FOR THE NAME OF THE BUYER, BLANK. The Senate Judiciary Committee can't subpoena Gorsuch or the buyer or Clarence Thomas or anybody because Dianne Feinstein is still MIA and can't provide the clinching vote. And John Roberts has finally replied to Chairman Dick Durbin's "invitation" to testify, and he said no way. He might as well have said "GOOD LUCK... DICK." Meanwhile Ted Cruz confesses, on tape, to the Dueling Electoral Slates/Grand Commission/Let's Party Like It's 1876 Coup that he and other Senators and Congressmen started to run on January 6th before they were interrupted by the OTHER coup. And remember, as the trial begin, when Trump defends himself in the E. Jean Carroll rape case by saying "she's not my type" what he's really saying is "she's not my type TO RAPE." B-BLOCK (19:44) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Biden is too old? He'll be 81 on Election Day and Trump will be 78. And he failed to do...what? And your younger choice who can keep the Serial Killer out of the White House is... who? And why Fox didn't collapse at 8 PM after firing Carlson, why he hasn't said anything, and why he seemingly turned from the moderate he appeared to be on CNN and MSNBC into the monster on Fox (Frankly: the success of Maddow, Scarborough and I broke him). THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD (28:13) Saluting Alito at Harvard; the far right host now hoping to ban books, trans, and "weird sex" did his own sex film just a decade ago; and the woman over whom NBC's Jeff Shell destroyed his career reportedly was also hooking up with the now 80-year old billionaire owner of Hockey's Seattle Kraken. Hey, Babe, wanna ride on my Zamboni? C-BLOCK (34:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Titus, on death row in New York (35:50) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: My appendix burst and not only did I not know it for two days, but I kept working - AND beat CNN in the ratings (today, my burst appendix by itself could beat CNN in the ratings).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 186: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-BLOCK (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Let's all congratulate - and thank - Sidney Powell for getting Tucker Carlson fired. Because of the many final straws in this sad man's case, the MOST final was when it turned out he repeatedly called Powell the C-word. And it all may be on tape. The real reason Lachlan Murdoch and Suzanne Scott went to Rupert Murdoch over the weekend and Rupert fired Carlson was that producer Abby Grossberg has - per her lawyer - nearly 90 recordings documenting her allegations of a toxic, abusive, misogynistic, sexist workplace in Tucker Carlson's office. I have stitched together all the reporting on the biggest firing since Bill O'Reilly - including my own - and it boils down to this. Yes, Fox was furious at all the insults against management revealed (and redacted) in the Dominion files. But Grossberg's suit was the real menace. They would not go for a repetition of the O'Reilly or Roger Ailes sexual abuse scandals. And now Carlson may walk away with $20 or $30 million a year - but only if he DOES NOT WORK at any video or news outlet that could be considered a rival to Fox. Plus: How Don Lemon messed up the chance to get to say farewell on the air, and why he might wind up on MSNBC. Among other reasons, NBC has a lot more money today: they won't pay my lying ex-friend, fired CEO Jeff Shell, a dime. He was fired for cause, and it sure looks like he tried to push his ex-flame Hadley Gamble into re-starting their affair, either by professional carrot or stick. B-BLOCK (20:42) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Fani Willis basically announces she will indict - or WON'T indict - Trump and company in July or August. She warns law enforcement to make appropriate preparations. The FAA shuts down SpaceX after Elon Musk nearly destroys two Texas towns. And The Wall Street Journal finds an instance where Harlan Crow did TOO have actual business in front of the Justice he bought, Clarence Thomas. (25:42) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Anti-vaxxer, Pharma conspiracy theorist Aaron Rodgers will now be paid by the heir to the Johnson & Johnson Pharma fortune. Marsha Blackburn wants to sell you a pizza-cutter. And somehow Fox's resident idiot Brian Kilmeade thought he should celebrate the Carlson firing. C-BLOCK (30:15) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: If I'm bringing up Aaron Rodgers going to the New York Jets, I have to flash back to the day a New York GIANTS quarterback nearly kept me from graduating from college on time!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 185: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Rupert Murdoch PERSONALLY fired Tucker Carlson over ex-Carlson producer Abby Grossberg's lawsuit for harassment, abuse, sexism, and misogyny. Murdoch also felt crossed by Carlson in many of the texts and emails produced by discovery in the Dominion lawsuit, but the firing was NOT a part of the settlement. There were also questions about impending lawsuits against Fox and Carlson by Smartmatic and Ray Epps. But this was about how women were called the c-word in Carlson's office and how producers held a vote on which candidate for Governor of Michigan was more "f-able" and more might have come out if the Dominion case had gone to trial. There is a line, even at Fox (ask Bill O'Reilly or Roger Ailes). And Carlson found it and crossed it. And take it from somebody who was himself fired personally by Murdoch. Tucker was FIRED PERSONALLY BY MURDOCH. Don Lemon was also fired for misogyny, though it appears CNN actually gave him some time in hopes that his crass comments about Nikki Haley and when women were or weren't in their prime might fade in the background they didn't. Still, this is a time to rejoice and wallow neck high in our schadenfreude! Let's SING SING SING! NOTE. THE B AND C BLOCKS ARE REPEATED FROM THIS MORNING'S EDITION OF COUNTDOWN (EPISODE 184) B-Block (23:31) WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: A nice racism tie between basketball's Phil Jackson and NC Lt. Governor Mark Robinson (who wants his fellow African-Americans to PAY reparations), Senator Hawley and his tiny manhood, and of course Elon Musk, who over the subject of checkmarks just Blue himself. BREAKING NEWS: NBC fires my lying ex-friend Jeff Shell as CEO - for lying. Deadline.Com reports he had an affair with a CNBC Correspondent, Hadley Gamble - the woman Russian state TV once accused of trying to distract Vladimir Putin with her "sex appeal" - and compared her to Sharon Stone CROSSING HER LEGS IN BASIC INSTINCT. I'm so full of Schadenfreude I actually sing "The Ode To Joy" in the original German. C-Block (38:30) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Tobias in California. (39:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: If the Shell news isn't fun enough, CNN and Chris Licht make his biggest mistake yet. There are nine laws of cable TV news and the new Gayle King/Charles Barkley show will violate ALL NINE OF THEM.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 184: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Fani Willis has a batch of texts from the Georgia Voting Machine Access scandal so powerful she could indict at least two Trump minions now - probably Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell right now - and maybe Trump himself because he knew about the plan as Giuliani pitched it a month earlier in the Oval Office as Trump listened. The good news/bad news is that nothing is touching Trump's popularity among Republican primary voters: 46% back him outright; 66% have him as their first or second choice. How could that be good news? DeSantis is NOT a successor. There is no successor. This could all die with him. The only cloud on the horizon? Dianne Feinstein. Not only can't Dick Durbin subpoena Clarence Thomas or John Roberts but when he was to humiliate himself by inviting Roberts to a hearing, Roberts doesn't even reply to his letter - he has a flunky do it for him. All this because Feinstein isn't there and rumored to be REALLY not there. The solution is simple: write up her resignation, forge her signature, and if she's lucid, she can protest and stop it. This isn't a game. For much of the Senate day Democrats do not have a majority because they're treating her like a beloved teacher fading out from a prep school somewhere. This. Is. Metaphorical. War. B-Block (19:47) WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: A nice racism tie between basketball's Phil Jackson and NC Lt. Governor Mark Robinson (who wants his fellow African-Americans to PAY reparations), Senator Hawley and his tiny manhood, and of course Elon Musk, who over the subject of checkmarks just Blue himself. (25:10) BREAKING NEWS: NBC fires my lying ex-friend Jeff Shell as CEO - for lying. Deadline.Com reports he had an affair with a CNBC Correspondent, Hadley Gamble - the woman Russian state TV once accused of trying to distract Vladimir Putin with her "sex appeal" - and compared her to Sharon Stone CROSSING HER LEGS IN BASIC INSTINCT. I'm so full of Schadenfreude I actually sing "The Ode To Joy" in the original German. C-Block (34:30) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Tobias in California. (35:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: If the Shell news isn't fun enough, CNN and Chris Licht make his biggest mistake yet. There are nine laws of cable TV news and the new Gayle King/Charles Barkley show will violate ALL NINE OF THEM.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 183: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANNA-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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.