Countdown with Keith Olbermann

COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 21

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): As Vance attacks him, it's finally true: Trump is now radioactive - even inside the GOP. Jayvee's "J'Accuse" post about the midterms and Iran was actually 613 words of euphemisms for "blame the midterms on Trump." He's trying to set himself up for '28. Even Ron DeSantis came back from the political grave to declare an "extinction level event" for everybody in his party except him. The MAGA circular firing squad opens fire, and I am reminded of The Maltese Falcon, with Trump as Brigid O'Shaughnessy: "Don't be silly - YOU'RE taking the fall."

Meanwhile on the human side of the equation: us humans may need a new Speaker and Majority Leader because Jeffries and Schumer are already saying 'affordability not accountability' when YOU CAN WALK AND CHEW GUM AT THE SAME TIME. Trump corruption CAUSED the affordability crisis and rooting out and prosecuting the corruption can address the reality that stealing billions and insider trading by Trump and his crime family cost ordinary Americans their money. People have to go to jail.

There's also a post-celebration drumbeat about Democrats now being in position to neuter The Electoral College from below, via state legislatures, but I think believing you can do it without a constitutional amendment is wishful thinking, as long as there is still a Trump-filled Supreme Court. Plus a heartfelt message hoping for an intervention for Haley Stevens.

B-Block: THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL (37:00) All the politics reminded me of the first convention I ever went to - Democrats, here in New York, 1980. And that reminded me of trying to explain to today's New Yorkers what a different place Fun City was just 46 years ago - like the day I saw a dead guy riding the E train with me, then worked a whole day for CNN, got back on the subway, and there it was: it was the same train, the same car, and the same dead guy.

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BULLETIN: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 20

Blue Wave? Insufficient.

Blue Tsunami? Not good enough.

To paraphrase "Arrested Development": Trump just blue himself.

Where do we START? Senator El-SAYED? Senator TALARICO? Governor ACTON? Governor HINOJOSA? EX-Senator Susan Collins LEARNING HER LESSON? Senator ANDREWS? Governor BOTTOMS? Senator HAMILTON? Senator FLANAGAN? Governor CROWLEY? Governor HAALAND? Congresswoman Ilhan Omar winning 76 to 16? Male Model but not Senator Jon Husted? And it looks like Derrick Van Orden out in Wisconsin, Virginia Foxx in a virtual tie, probably headed for a recount in North Carolina and Lauren Boebert going down in Colorado?

Looks like 255 or 256 Democrats in the House, and 54, 55, or 56 Democrats in the Senate.

It’s so big that Trump doesn’t even seem likely to try to do anything.

It’s so big that Trump told the New York Times just before 11 PM Eastern, he was quote “absolutely willing to accept those results. We’ll – you know – look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.” Trump blamed the landslide on the fact he wasn’t on the ballot. 

And could it be enough to make Trump a lame duck within his own party? Will Republicans looking towards 2028 - in the House, the Senate, or for the Republican nomination - need to distance themselves from his now undeniable, quantifiable, baggage.

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 19

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): What Fresh Hell will the world look like after the midterms?

Certainties: it will look like a Wednesday, and Haley Stevens' time as an American will be over. She betrayed her state, party, constituents, and now the Republicans will betray her. All for the sake of her fiancé, Uncle Fester.

Probabilities: a Democratic House. By double digits. And Trump bombing Iran as early as Wednesday, possibly using nukes, to help Netanyahu, and to try to force a regime change that will not happen. 

Possibilities: a Democratic Senate (but remember it could be a Republican Senate, possibly by more than it is now). If the former, the most immediate outcome will be Trump forcing Alito and Thomas off the Supreme Court even if it means nuking them. He would have two months before the Senate would deny him any nominee. There is also an easy-to-see scenario in which the process by which Trump resigns because a Democratic Supreme Court would invalidate both Presidential "Immunity" and his own self-pardon. It might not happen until the morning of January 20, 2029, but he'll have to do it.

Also: somehow even with the Haley Stevens heel turn Michele Tafoya is still the worst human being involved in the Senate races. Attacking Lisa Guerrero over her miscarriage? Sometimes you can read a book by its cover (especially if Michele's pages are blank). The CBS News/60 Minutes disaster worsens, and Anthropic thinks AI has a soul - and can make bioweapons.

B-Block 37:00 (PATRICK STEWART): I got to meet the late legend, and that fact gives me the chance to not only recount the pleasure of the encounter, but how we talked mostly about...Cable News. I got to tell him that a show you probably don't know him for called "Blunt Talk" - about an impeccable cable news/political anchor who off the air was a basket case, was perfect, and on the money, and reminded me of...everybody I ever worked with, including one of them we called "Lawrence Of Egomania." How he loved THAT.

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 18

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): "...the actual evidence we have seen...indicates that Trump abused, assaulted, and even raped numerous women alongside, and in coordination with, the most infamous sex trafficker in history."

The House Judiciary Democrats call for a Special Counsel to investigate Trump-Epstein. The appalling new details in their Staff Report on Trump-Epstein, and the equally appalling reasons the media won't let you see it: The New York Times doesn't mention it but at last look it has SIX pieces up about Obama and The Cheesecake Factory trivia.

The evidence, they write, "shows that Trump lied about kicking Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club and strongly suggests that Epstein introduced Trump to his wife Melania."

But tell me more about phony umbrage from a phony populist with phony hair who then boasts that his own supporters can't afford to eat at his clown college Temu Diner. 

TRUMP SEEMS POISED TO NOT PULL OUT ALL THE MID-TERM STOPS: since HE is not at personal risk, he'll push frivolous suits (California? Minnesota? Where that idiot ex-colleague of mine Michele Tafoya is down by FOURTEEN) and perhaps seize ballots but not try another January 6. Once again, his candidates are the Democrats' greatest assets: after his ad starring Amy Acton's psychotic birth mother, Ramaswamy now trails by four and is dragging the GOP Senator down with him, and El-Sayed has pulled up by six in Michigan.

MEDIA: Bill Maher boasts about how much he and Trump like each other, while Trump is composing a 1300-word screed making him somehow smaller even than he is in real life, and just what you asked for: Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza joining forces to bring you the latest in politics (if it's 1998).

B-Block (36:00) Things I Promised Not To Tell: What happens when you have the football draft scoop of all scoops? That the possible first draft pick has already signed in Canada? And as you confront him, the camera man forgets to hit "record"?

C-Block (1:00:00) Good Night and Good Luck!

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 17

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): Deeply delusional, convinced his approval is "really" at 60% but The New York Times stole it from him, believing he can stave off a Democratic house and a senate with enough Dems and terrified Republicans to convict and remove him, Trump launches his Weaponized Department of Justice and personal justice slut Todd Blanche against Alaska Senate ballot because he doesn't know what the word "incumbent" on the ballot means. Trump threatens voters there - and election officials in California if they don't corrupt the voter rolls for him.

BUT THERE ARE THOSE HEROES UNDERCUTTING TRUMP namely: the Republican candidates. Ramaswamy's subhuman Amy Acton ad blows up on him; Ohio businesses reportedly canceling events on him because they can't afford the blowback after being seen hosting him, and Cook Politics changes the Governor's race from Toss-Up to Lean Democrat. There are equivalent disasters in Michigan, Iowa, Texas. 

TRUMP HIMSELF is always the Democrats' best campaign tool: Trump claims to gullible columnist Byron York that his approval rate is "really 60%" and admitting he "doesn't give a damn" if you know he's overjoyed that oil companies are making "a freaking fortune" off your suffering. Oh and by the way the Netanyahu says the Iran war escalates to regime change Wednesday, and others confirm it may last another year.

B-Block (33:00) SPORTSBALLCENTER TONIGHT: I'd like to apologize for the World Series; the NBA can't apologize enough for Knicks' owner Jim Dolan; and there is nobody more unconsciously funny in American politics than America's 85th Place Sweetheart, ex-swimmer Riley Gaines. She's done it again - twice.

C-Block (42:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The day I didn't have coffee with Uma Thurman.

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 16

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): Trump's doctors are not asking him to tell the difference between a snake and a giraffe because he CAN tell the difference between a snake and a giraffe! They're asking him because in private he must be showing continual signs that HE CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SNAKE AND A GIRAFFE!

We've lost the truth behind Trump's boast about his "perfect scores" on "IQ tests" and all those doctors who stick by him even if you in the crowd are dying. This is not like taking his BP every day. The tests have to be to confirm he's not nuts - not TODAY anyway.

Since it's a given the countless psych doctors Trump boasts about are there because metaphorically speaking Trump isn't, can't some of them put him away? Institutionalize him? Or failing that, couldn't one of them go public? On behalf of mankind? Risk everything (and by the way, sure you'd stop being a Trump doctor. Instead you'd become Psychology Jesus and an instant World Hero forever and make billions from a grateful planet).

ALSO: De-Trumpification accelerates, especially after Whorenvoy Steve Witkoff praises Putin to his face as a "humanitarian."  And Vivek Ramaswamy evidently thinks George Washington is in hell, because he's talking about what he'll have to say to George when he meets him in "the afterlife."

B-Block (THE BIG FINISH) (24:00) The latest G. Elliott Morris polling indicates a 10-point Democratic lead for the average house seat and a Senate range that goes as high as 56 Democratic seats. The fallout to the idiotic tweet by soon-to-be-ex-CBS-News-Legal-Correspondent Jan Crawford has opened a can of worms there, and inside was a worm named Bari Weiss. And can you imagine a dinner in which Kid Rock is the intellectual star? You can if the other three guys were Bill Maher, Stephen A. Smith, and Trump.

C-Block (THE GENIUS OF JAMES THURBER) His classic centerpiece to his book "My Life And Hard Times" - "The Night The Bed Fell."

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 15

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT) Trump has proved it again and Trump has proved it anew.

He is owned by Russia.

Only, this time, even rabid Conservatives are realizing it's true.

The National Review is out with a new article insisting "Congress Must Investigate Trump's Aid and Comfort to Putin." That, again, is our Constitution's terminology for treason. And a rabid right winger, Dan McLaughlin, who still somehow thinks Trump's previous conspiracies with Putin were simply rhetorical, now says "this time The Wolf comes as a Wolf."

The tipping point was Trump's gutting of the sanctions against oil and diesel sales by Russia. And the right is also reacting to Trump's attempt to get the nearly $300 billion in Russian assets in Europe, either to keep himself or return to Putin.

There is no telling what's next after Trump dug still further yesterday by not merely endorsing Netanyahu (who cares) but trying to blackmail Israel. "If Israel has the wrong leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so." He's threatening to lessen or pull U.S. support for Israel. Remember Trump, in the classic mindlessness of the antisemite that he is, believes American Jews are more or equally loyal to Israel. If so, did he not just destroy Republican chances with them? Should they not rise up and neuter him and his movement?

B-BLOCK (25:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD. So many nominees I'm handing out six medals! Stephen Miller makes an orientation joke about Talarico while Trump is checking out men's backsides. A guy fired by Fox thinks Nixon was innocent. Elon Musk turns out to be the sole owner and proprietor of Ken Paxton. Stephen A. Smith solves the world's problems by saying don't worry, he has "pressed" Trump on several issues over dinner. CBS must fire legal correspondent Jan Crawford after she thanks a bigoted right-winger who tried to troll Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan over the weekend, and congratulates him on getting him to "self-own." Who in the hell is she to be taking a political advocacy position? Even at CBS? And JD Vance gets called the b-word by a liberal and the floodgates have opened because guess what? He is.

C-BLOCK (37:00) SPORTSBALLCENTER. My modest proposal: The Baseball World Series will feature two of three cities who have combined to play 227 seasons in which there's been a World Series or equivalent. To show for it they have three World Series wins, and the 1895 Temple Cup. This is not going to be a big TV draw. So why not take back what baseball once had in the glory days of 40,000,000 viewers per game? Grab a sports-exclusive window. Play games during weekdays. I mean, how could it hurt?

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 14

Bulletin - Trump confirms press secretary Katie Zacharia (in Monday, out before close of business Friday) is out as Press Secretary.

"I told her I think you are better off being happy. I'm not sure you can ever be happy in this job." Trump said she may stay in the administration in "a more pleasant form" and a White House source says she is "transitioning out" of the role she occupied for about 100 hours. 

Though she clearly lied about whether she was a lawyer, an attorney, or the perfectly respectable position she tried to hide - that she had a law degree but never was admitted to the bar - that was not the cause here. Lying is a plus in this administration.

She was fired because the revelations surprised Trump and at his stage of mental deterioration he can't handle any more surprises.

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 13

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): The President is insane.

I know you know this – we all know this.

But – days after a disturbed man climbed into a tiger enclosure in England and was mauled to death, Trump posted a video of another man in a lion enclosure. He captioned it “Don’t ever mess with nature.” Almost immediately afterwards he posted ANOTHER video of a series of similar incidents, at least half a dozen lions killing people. One tiger. No caption this time. Just grisly, horrifying, death. Five hours later, as if to mock the disturbed man who died in the tiger enclosure – he posted an AII video of himself tackling a tiger, then playing with it – as if to prove HE wouldn’t meet the same end as the disturbed man in England did.

I first wrote and commented on Trump's genuine mental instability a decade ago in "Could Trump Pass A Sanity Test?" for Vanity Fair. He's not getting better. He's posting snuff films. The President is insane. And every once in awhile it is absolutely necessary to underscore this truth – to ourselves, for the record, for the future – if there is one.

And it shows up in his daily decisions, like appointing a Press Secretary who won't take questions and can't read aloud (although why are kind of looking at this backwards. She's humiliating him - why is this a BAD THING?). Throttling internet and warning systems for Ukraine because he told them they'd agreed to an "energy cease fire" - only they hadn't. 

There's also a series of smaller stories including how we should almost feel bad for Kim Guilfoyle, but not for Megyn Kelly. And how we definitely should try to figure out where in the cabinet a Democratic County Council candidate in Indiana best fits in, because she is out of Effs and I'd take her as Senate Leader instead of Schumer.

B-1 (35:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I've never told this story before, it's 40 years ago, but way back then a respected producer in Hollywood believed I was the perfect host for a show he was developing called... YOUR FACE OR MINE. I'm afraid you're going to have to listen to find out why the heck he thought this was a winning title.

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COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN - SEASON 5 EPISODE 12

A-Block (SPECIAL COMMENT): 31% of those who voted for Trump just 707 days ago now DISAPPROVE of his presidency.

His approval rating among those who voted for him was 95% on January 20, 2025. It is now just 67%.

There is no other word for this: it is a collapse within his base. Even if they do not go to the polls to punish him, and even if a large percentage of those in the new Pew/USA Today poll saying they do not approve actually blame somebody else for his failure, it portends a midterm calamity for MAGA and the GOP so large that it could trigger the avalanche in which the Democrats not only get both houses, but are left with enough terrified Republican Senators up for re-election in '28 that they'll abandon Trump in January '27.

This overlooked outcome overshadowed a busy week of lying and traitoring and repeating himself. Trump's newest treason? He is buying oil from Putin that he himself sanctioned only 25 days ago. His latest repeated lie? He announced an "energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia" yesterday (American media had already forgotten he already announced an "energy ceasefire" just one month ago). And oh by the way he's also trying to start a race war in Minnesota and New York and America.

And it turns out he literally can't find America on a map - or a globe.

B-Block (SPORTSBALLCENTER TONIGHT): You think the spectacle of Mike Tyson - whose life Donald Trump ruined nearly 40 years ago - was shocking to YOU? Through marriage and adoption Mike is my cousin. Also Bob Costas has additional details on the Don Larsen Perfect Game Batters' Eye controversy, and the baseball "final four" belies the owners' argument for a salary cap, and the White Sox choke requires the invocation again of one of the greatest things the great writer Jean Shepherd ever wrote: The White Sox and the Military Suicide Mission.

C-Block (THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL): We all have something we are eternally ashamed of. For some of us, we knew before it happened that it would be eternally shameful. I'm in that group: I once worked for Rupert Murdoch. What can I tell you? It helped set me up for life financially AND it got me out of the nightmare of covering the Republicans hunting Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. The whole gory story, in detail.

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