Countdown with Keith Olbermann

EPISODE 63: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:46) I cannot be certain which scumbag I hate more today: Joe Scarborough or Samuel Alito. It's amazing that a shameless venomous opportunist, whose behavior for 30 years implies a damaged psyche, has the nerve to attack and not celebrate the recovery from stroke of an honest politician (5:30) Scarborough is the political whore who tried to mainstream Trump on MSNBC yet never once asked him "Why do you say things that make no sense?" or "Have you had an aneurysm or concussion?" or "Have you used drugs that can interfere with or damage your cognitive ability?" (7:27) His attack on Fetterman is worse than it seems because for every American recovering from injury or illness, it is a slap in their face from a creature not worthy of any position of influence in this business or this society (10:30) And "Justice" Samuel Alito, who has now failed mathematics, history, and ethics, may still be worse after his self-martyring speech to a fascist group (15:20) Perhaps Alito can resign and be replaced by an attorney who once defended the murderer of an abortion doctor. The attorney was named Joe Scarborough. B-Block (18:15) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Kodah, in New York (19:00) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Surprisingly good news for Dems in early voting numbers and the generic Congressional Ballot; the implication Kash Patel is willing to testify against Trump; Kanye crashes Skechers and gets shown out by security; Musk tries to float a joke only to see it sink; Another Herschel Walker abortion story (23:00) IN SPORTS: Boone stays, the new NYC Marathon chief may have togo, and they're not booing, they're chanting "Potvin Socks" (26:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: NewsNation TV and Louis DeJoy compete with National Review Online publishing the rants of a Pennsylvania Republican who wants genocide against Democrats for the honors. C-Block (30:33) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Back 43 years ago today, they actually banned Willie Mays for promoting gambling (rather than give him a big paycheck). At age 20 I had to interview him, and the bizarre way he answered his phone still resonates me - as does the bizarre way he was drafted by the army right after his big league debut and how that might have cost him the all-time Home Run Record.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 62: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Voters would rather have cheap gas than the right to vote. Herschel Walker, lying abortion-funder and out-of-wedlock absentee father is the Man of God, not a pastor at Martin Luther King's church. The Congressional Progressive Caucus undermines the Democrats on Ukraine two weeks to the election. We know things ARE getting worse - but WHY are they getting worse? (2:40) Four answers: 1) 40+ years of Rush Limbaugh and imitators (4:00) 2) Individual moral turpitude, and blackmail (5:15) 3) The incompetence of the news media and the shortage of qualified reporters and analysts (9:15) 4) The ubiquity of platforms for anyone and everyone to become a political commentator and a political combatant when 30 years ago if you weren't in "the media" your choices were calling in to a talk show or writing a letter to the editor. B-Block (16:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Blaze in New York (17:50) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Debate-a-palooza. Never give them a viral moment, like Oz on abortion or Oz on the debate being just a "television show" or Zeldin and Dixon appearing soft on crime; Saudis reneged on an oil deal; we must make Prince Mohammed bin Bonesaw pay. (23:35) IN SPORTS: Retired Serena Williams says "I am not retired." For the first time since 1950 - 1950! - there will be NO African-American players in the World Series. (27:40) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Marco Rubio rushing to the aid of an injured...Charlottesville white nationalist buddy to Proud Boys? Doug Mastriano extolling the virtues of moving to Russia? They compete with the would-be Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools who wants to impose 'Christian Patriotic Education Training' on the state's public teachers. C-Block (32:39) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's 42 years ago this month when, as the Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan presidential election loomed, control of the 1,000-station radio network owned by the world's second largest news organization was left for eight hours entirely in the hands of a 21-year old sportscaster pressed into service because of a flu wave: ME. And that's when our chief Washington correspondent phoned in from the campaign trail, thoroughly blitzed and thoroughly articulate!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 61: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Am I really seeing this WaPo headline? "ANTISEMITES RALLY AROUND KANYE WEST" (3:20) As Adidas (finally) and his agents, documentarians, and others drop him (3:35) LAPD ties the 405 Freeway sign to antisemitic leaflets in Westwood (4:36) And something worse looms in Colorado: a Republican member of the State Board of Education has gotten the word "Nazis" replaced by "National Socialist German Workers Party" and demanded America acknowledge "this party was and is a socialist party." (7:05) The next stage has begun: assume a MAGA will come up to you shortly and say "Hitler was a Democrat. The holocaust is your fault. Antisemitism is your fault. Kanye West is your fault." Let's walk through his history: appointed as Chancellor by Conservatives, arrested Communists, sent Union Leaders to concentration camps, dissolved the Social Democratic Party, had Goebbels say "National Socialism opposes liberalism...liberalism broke under the blows." (14:00) On a much much much lighter note: you'll never believe who's advertising for a Concept-to-Consumer Manager? Yep: Adidas and Kanye. B-Block (17:09) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jerry in Houston (18:08) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: DeSantis freezes when Crist asks him ONE debate question; Senate/Governor polling improves for Dems; Proud Boys embarrass Pen State; Coerce or Caress Walt Nauta and Kash Patel as Document investigators press hard for testimony (22:02) IN SPORTS: Yankees embarrassed themselves but Yankee fans did themselves proud saying helloooooo to Ted Cruz; my fellow giant-head Bruce Bochy gets a new gig; and you'll never believe who predicted, NINE YEARS AGO, that the next Phillies World Series appearance would be in 2022! (25:16) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Soccer's World Cup vies with Right Wing Troll Jacob Wohl and Justice Sam Alito - who gets pounded from beyond the grave by Ted Kennedy - for the honors. C-Block (30:04) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I paid $2000 plus a game ticket for it, but I promised never to run exclusive video of a near-brawl between Yankees' ace Roger Clemens and a Yankees fan in the middle of the 1999 World Series. What happens when you have facts, but not truth? You side with truth - and your bosses start looking for a reason to fire you. It's quite a saga.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 60: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: Did Trump steal the classified documents not for selling or espionage or kleptomania but as Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free cards? (4:06) New Washington Post reporting informs us that besides the document describing another country's nuclear capabilities, Trump took one about Iranian missiles, another about intelligence efforts against China, and materials that would expose U.S. intelligence methods or agents, or expose this country to retaliation. These are conceivably capital crimes and maybe he thought having the documents - or copies - was his insurance (6:11) Trump fixated again on leaks over the weekend (7:04) And proposed getting leakers to confess by threatening them with rape in prison (8:19) The fascination with the leak, not the crime, extends to Trump's prostitutes like Jonathan Turley who invoke the "No Electoral Interference" unwritten law, which died six years ago this Friday at the hands of James Comey (10:12) The FBI and DOJ should be worried about Trump's plans to send goon squads to voting stations, starting in Philly, and contesting every close election (11:00) The good news is: the 1/6 Committee decision to subpoena Trump gave Nancy Pelosi the chance to make ANOTHER great joke at his expense (and gave me a chance to make an even better one!) B-BLOCK (15:31) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Eamon in New York. (16:30) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Tucker Carlson threatens a Congressman on behalf of his failson Buckley Carlson (is his nickname Buckles?), Antisemites above the 405, Kanye insists Adidas can't drop him - so we'll have to boycott other athletes associated with Adidas, Jenna Ellis joins the surge in antisemitism, why is Centcom still helping Saudi Arabia, and Boris Johnson goes away (24:55) IN SPORTS: Yankees swept, Padres send themselves home early, oooh boy the World Series is...a reunion of the 1980 NLCS? (27:16) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Canadian Freedom Convey's impact on kids with cancer, competing with professional self-owner Matt Walsh-Blog and El Douche' himself for the honors. C-BLOCK (30:13) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Ever watched a movie and there was a scene that seemed taken directly from your own life? It happened to me with "A Christmas Story." When Little Ralphie loses his mind and nearly kills the bully? I did that. But I had a reunion with the bully a scant 43 years later!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 59: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister, is more than just an eternal punchline who had to resign on her 45th day in office. She IS Kevin McCarthy. And Kevin Stitt. And Kari Lake. And Jim Banks. And Trump. And every idiotic Republican economist. (3:05) She truly believed Conservative Populist Mumbo-Jumbo could defeat reality. The fight between Mathematics and Liz Truss was not a pretty sight. Math brought addition and subtraction, and Truss brought a series of memorized sound bites. (5:34) And her bid to cut taxes for the rich, add billions to the debt, spend billions on energy, and make no spending cuts and not crash the economy was the dream of Trump economists Larry Kudlow (just 29 days ago!) and Steven Moore (just 26 days ago!) (6:30) This week Kevin McCarthy proposed to do internationally what Truss did domestically: wreck the world economy in a bid to cut Social Security and give the money to the rich. When the blowback started, McCarthy tried to walk it back only to see Jim Banks double down yesterday. (10:00) The ultimate lesson of Liz Truss is that the Conservatives believe their own bullcrap. That's why she's also Kevin Tritt, the Oklahoma Governor who laughed and told the crowd to laugh when his debate opponent spit facts on how much more violent crime there is in Oklahoma than in New York. And once again we ask: WHERE ARE THE COMMERCIALS SCREAMING "THEY ARE ALL LIZ TRUSS"? B-Block (16:21) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Ceres, in California. (17:16) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Kash Patel testifies to DC Trump Documents Grand Jury, Loeffler to Atlanta Trump Election Tampering Grand Jury. (19:28) IN SPORTS: Astros win again, baseball reveals unannounced experiment: video review of ball and strike calls? Why? And the plight of the Vancouver Canucks. (23:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Anti-immigrant Adam Laxalt gets a big surprise about his own Grandma, and competes against DeSantis's doctor and his guest hit on a QAnon show, and Lara Logan's blood libel proving too crazy even for NewsMax. C-Block (28:46) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His epic short story - so topical 85 years after he wrote it - of when the biggest popular hero in America turns out to be the biggest jerk in America: "The Greatest Man In The World."  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 58: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) The vague and underwhelming Bloomberg report about how prosecutors "believe there is sufficient evidence to charge Trump" was surprisingly specific about one thing: the timeline is developing in such a way that a Trump indictment for Obstruction of Justice and other crimes would not happen before the week of January 2 (or, as a longshot, the week of December 26) 3:44 Bloomberg also gives away its source: the FBI agents in "the team that's part of the classified records probe." (5:00) There is an unclear claim that DOJ would not indict ONLY on Obstruction. Does that mean they DO intend to file other charges, or that if they don't file others, they won't file ANYTHING? (6:50) DOJ may also be trying to time any announcement to fit appropriately with Trump's other legal vulnerabilities, like the Eastman Coup Georgia lying-in-a-sworn-statement case that just grew in seriousness yesterday (7:26) But probably not the E. Jean Carroll rape lawsuits for which Trump was deposed yesterday (8:00) Finally I take a wild guess at the EXACT date of any Trump indictment - at least the most appropriate date for it. B-Block (12:37) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Griffin, in California (13:36) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The voice of the Ohio voter is heard loud and clear: "F You, Fascist!" So why aren't Dem bigwigs funding Tim Ryan? And push comes to shove in the slowly-expiring British cabinet. No: Literally. Pushing and shoving in parliament. (17:31) IN SPORTS: You may think pitching decides baseball's post-seasons, but those with more homers won both games yesterday - and 101 of the last 120. And a Christmas Album allows me to confirm the ancient story of Philadelphia fans booing Santa Claus, plus New York fans throwing snowballs at Tiny Tim's tulips (21:11) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Sean Hannity tells us way too much of how his dad used to beat him with a belt. He and Jim Jordan compete with Kimberly Guilfoyle actually making a joke about Nancy Pelosi and plastic surgery. Can we start a GoFundMe to get Kim a mirror? C-Block (27:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: With Netflix's profits in the news, the story of the day I met with them to propose not just a streaming political show, but how they could own ALL of the TV News field in the post-cable future and all they could think about was...the necessity of putting on Italian subtitles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 57: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: "It is THE commercial: 'You're damn right gas prices are rising again,' Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi or Barack Obama or somebody says as THE commercial begins. 'Because the bone-cutting Saudis and the genocidal Russians and their Republican prostitutes here are raising your gas prices, deliberately.' THE commercial then runs through the rest of the Republican platform for the midterms." (4:27) But even as Kevin McCarthy goes on the record threatening another Debt Ceiling Crisis as a lever to cut Social Security and Medicare, THE commercial doesn't exist. (6:32) There could be a dozen versions of THE commercial - the one where the FBI perp-walks the child pornographer only to have Marjorie Trailer Park Greene swoop in and defund the Bureau and free the suspect. Or the one with Trump, on tape, handing Woodward the Kim Jong Un letters and saying "Oh, those are so top secret. Don't say I gave them to you!" (8:11) But with 20 days left until the midterms we are still hung up on safe arguments and with being better than the fascists. We have 20 days! Where is the urgency? Where is THE COMMERCIAL? B-Block (15:11) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Hitchcock, in Georgia. (16:02) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Marco Rubio's argument against Drop Boxes: They could blow up! And speaking of blowing up, there's John Durham (18:10) IN SPORTS: Amazon buys an NFL game for Black Friday, and did the Jerry Jones-Bob Kraft swearfest have a...happy ending? (20:22) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Tudor Dixon vows to stop "Critical Race Training" in Michigan, and competes with an Idaho lobbyist who compares drag shows to blackface, and the Fox News dingbat who says nobody who hasn't had a child can talk about abortion, for the honors. C-Block (24:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's 38 years since I left Channel 5 in Boston, and had to say farewell to the man who gave me one of the best pieces of advice I ever received. As a hundred fans appeared out of nowhere to cheer him, I asked anchorman Chet Curtis "how do you get USED to this?" His priceless advice: "DON'T."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 56: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: The old sports phrase is "No Pain, No Gain." The political corollary is: "No Pain, No Gain - But No Brain, No Pain." This is proved by Herschel Walker's latest lie about the abortion he paid for (3:00) To say nothing of similar amazingly stupid deceit from Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Donald Trump, Kanye West, and Elon Musk (5:53) And yet the World Championship may be held by the new U.K. government. Only on Day 41 and already a lame duck, Prime Minister Liz Truss doesn't show up to face the House of Commons and when someone jokes she's hiding under a desk, Truss's stand-in answers seriously "I can assure the house she is not under a desk." It's the longest sustained laughter I've ever heard a group of politicians express at another's expense, and it proves another theory that has been festering in me for decades (9:30) Namely: There are no adults. B-Block (13:21) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jeezy, in Los Angeles (14:15) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: In the Senate debates, Utah's Mike Lee is caught seditioning and Ohio's J.D. Vance is caught lying, denying he ever claimed Alex Jones was a more credible source of information than Maddow (17:13) IN SPORTS: Baseball's jinxed post-season continues: they wait two-and-a-half hours to rain out the Yankees and Guardians when it never really rained. Plus the format is a disaster: the National League World Series team will have either the 10th or 11th worst record in the sport. And more taxpayers get scammed for a new stadium, this time in Nashville. I'll repeat the simple explanation proving all the 'benefits' of new sports facilities are non-existent folderol. (22:20) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Liz Truss's Health Secretary vies with Trump's balls and Oz drinking his own urine (yeah, they "made" you) for the honors. C-Block (26:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It was 48 years ago this month that I was at Boston University, aged 15, destined for an internship with the Boston Celtics, and to my shock I was offered a full merit scholarship - a free ride. And then a stringy-haired disc jockey at the college radio station said the set-up was all wrong and I would be making a mistake if I went there. Impossibly, that gaunt, snarky kid of 20 was named Howard Stern.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 55: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Donald Trump is an antisemite. "No president has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S...U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel. Before it's too late." (3:34) Translating Trump's manifold antisemitism, including the 'real loyalty' trope, his history of calling Israel "your country" to American Jewish groups, the 'You know some people would mistreat you Jews but I didn't so why haven't you rewarded me' threat, and especially (6:09) invoking the Evangelicals, for whom the Jews are a prop in their "End Times" fantasy of the return of Jesus followed by all Jews converting - or being slaughtered (10:30) Given Trump's history of Hitler worship this is especially virulent stuff. He praised Hitler's generals and economics and kept a book of his speeches in his bedroom (12:40) Yet when he endorsed candidate for NY Governor Lee Zeldin almost simultaneously with this antisemitism, Zeldin didn't refuse. B-Block (15:32) MORE ON TRUMP AND OTHER ANTISEMITES: (15:32) That House Judiciary GOP tweet ("Kanye. Elon. Trump.") aged well! (16:02) Kanye West goes on his THIRD antisemitic tirade in the last two weeks on the podcast "Drink Champs" (18:25) and we review the one that launched it all: the hateful cliches and bigotry West launched in his interview with Tucker Carlson, but Fox refused to air or acknowledge. C-Block (23:00) "OUR WONDERFUL EVANGELICALS": The hidden dagger in the Trump post is the dogwhistle to the Evangelical and other Fundamentalist movements and their belief that this is the hour for them to take over the country and exclude all minorities (and the majority) from governance (23:50) Ron DeSantis and the "Full Armor of God" movement and (35:25) "The New Apostolic Reformation" and their "Watchman" catechism that "We the Church are God's governing body on earth."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 54: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: It is the greatest sound bite of the last seven years. It is what at least half this country has been thinking. It is so cathartic to hear, to be life-affirming. Nancy Pelosi, on 1/6, hoping Trump shows up to The Capitol: "I'm gonna punch him out and I'm gonna go to jail and I'm gonna be happy!" It's the inscription for the base of a statue, it's a national motto, it's a Kate Bush song! (3:50) And knowing we would hesitate to say it has been the fascists' license to threaten and commit violence (5:15) If you're worried we're invoking political violence: this nation is already there. (6:45) We have wasted the 21 months since 1/6 playing nice - this is the only modern country where a violent coup was fended off and the surviving government had to ask nicely to prosecute the insurrectionists. (8:42) And given that November 6th is the 10th anniversary of the FIRST time Trump called for "Revolution" it's time to wrap it, and him, up. Frog-march him over to Nancy Pelosi. B-Block (13:28) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Smokey, in New York (14:23) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Government investigating Musk over off-again/on-again Twitter buy; the nightmare close to ESPN; the sentencing in Florida (16:16) IN SPORTS: A really unhappy family milestone for the Dolan Family of Owners if Cleveland's Guardians don't win the World Series; and Dan Patrick and I make our first dual appearance in three years - on Kenny Mayne's podcast (21:14) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD (21:14) Billo is Back! And trying to fend off Penn State University and NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde and his recent run of disasters, for the honors. C-Block (26:36) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His immaculate comical short story of murderous intent overcome by the need to keep a marriage going so husband and wife can keep bickering: "Mr. Preble Gets Rid Of His Wife."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.