1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:22,315 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. No 2 00:00:22,315 --> 00:00:26,915 Speaker 1: One's pushing me out. I'm not leaving. The president yesterday 3 00:00:26,915 --> 00:00:29,675 Speaker 1: on a conference call with his campaign staff and notably 4 00:00:29,755 --> 00:00:34,115 Speaker 1: also with Vice President Harris. Let me say this as 5 00:00:34,155 --> 00:00:36,235 Speaker 1: clearly and simply as I can. I'm running. I'm the 6 00:00:36,235 --> 00:00:39,235 Speaker 1: Democratic Party's nominee. No one is pushing me out. I'm 7 00:00:39,235 --> 00:00:42,475 Speaker 1: not leaving. I'm in this race to the end. The 8 00:00:42,515 --> 00:00:45,555 Speaker 1: President's fundraising email last night, I had a bad night. 9 00:00:45,915 --> 00:00:49,155 Speaker 1: I screwed up. The president to a radio interviewer last night, 10 00:00:49,675 --> 00:00:52,275 Speaker 1: all of us said, we pledged our support to him, 11 00:00:52,675 --> 00:00:55,755 Speaker 1: said Kathy Hokel. After twenty governors met with mister Biden 12 00:00:55,835 --> 00:00:58,715 Speaker 1: last night. Is he fit for office? Somebody asked him 13 00:00:58,715 --> 00:01:02,715 Speaker 1: Wallas on the way out. Yes, we would stand with him. 14 00:01:02,835 --> 00:01:05,995 Speaker 1: Wes Moore says he told the President Joe Biden's had 15 00:01:06,035 --> 00:01:08,835 Speaker 1: our back. Now it is our turn to have his, 16 00:01:09,555 --> 00:01:13,955 Speaker 1: said Gavin Newsom. And I understand what the governor said 17 00:01:13,955 --> 00:01:16,995 Speaker 1: and why, And I understand why the President said what 18 00:01:17,035 --> 00:01:19,915 Speaker 1: he said, and I understand why the email reads as 19 00:01:19,955 --> 00:01:22,995 Speaker 1: it does, and I understand he may fully or nearly 20 00:01:23,035 --> 00:01:26,675 Speaker 1: fully believe all of that. And I do not understand 21 00:01:27,195 --> 00:01:32,635 Speaker 1: what they are doing at the White House. I don't 22 00:01:32,755 --> 00:01:36,755 Speaker 1: understand it. The New York Times led a succession of 23 00:01:36,835 --> 00:01:40,715 Speaker 1: reports yesterday. The gist of all of them was President 24 00:01:40,755 --> 00:01:43,435 Speaker 1: Biden had told an ally quoting The Times, that he 25 00:01:43,555 --> 00:01:47,915 Speaker 1: is weighing whether to continue in the race, Although, perhaps crucially, 26 00:01:47,955 --> 00:01:50,715 Speaker 1: after the White House issued a flat denial, the Times 27 00:01:50,795 --> 00:01:53,635 Speaker 1: altered the hook in that story and the story itself, 28 00:01:53,915 --> 00:01:56,995 Speaker 1: to focus on the idea that, instead, quote, he may 29 00:01:57,035 --> 00:02:00,395 Speaker 1: not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot 30 00:02:00,435 --> 00:02:03,595 Speaker 1: convince voters that he is up to the job, which 31 00:02:03,635 --> 00:02:06,715 Speaker 1: sounds like what you do for you wigh whether or 32 00:02:06,795 --> 00:02:10,035 Speaker 1: not to continue in the race, all of which I understand. 33 00:02:10,995 --> 00:02:15,755 Speaker 1: I do not understand the litmus test the President and 34 00:02:15,835 --> 00:02:19,795 Speaker 1: his advisors have apparently convinced themselves will be the magic 35 00:02:19,835 --> 00:02:24,315 Speaker 1: wand I'll quote the Times again. Mister Biden's allies said 36 00:02:24,355 --> 00:02:27,715 Speaker 1: that the President had privately acknowledged that his next few 37 00:02:27,715 --> 00:02:32,115 Speaker 1: appearances heading into the duly fourth holiday weekend must go well, 38 00:02:33,035 --> 00:02:38,955 Speaker 1: particularly an interview scheduled for Friday with George Stephanopoulos of 39 00:02:38,995 --> 00:02:44,755 Speaker 1: ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The 40 00:02:44,795 --> 00:02:49,355 Speaker 1: interview with George is not live, it is taped. The 41 00:02:49,395 --> 00:02:53,235 Speaker 1: campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin seem to be the 42 00:02:53,275 --> 00:02:56,195 Speaker 1: standard ones, presumably going to follow all the other campaign 43 00:02:56,275 --> 00:03:00,435 Speaker 1: stops with teleprompters. If someone is telling the president the 44 00:03:00,555 --> 00:03:07,315 Speaker 1: doing well in totally controlled, utterly contented hothouse environments is 45 00:03:07,355 --> 00:03:10,675 Speaker 1: going to quell in the slightest the impact that continues 46 00:03:10,715 --> 00:03:13,835 Speaker 1: to resonate from a week ago in Atlanta. They are crazy. 47 00:03:14,875 --> 00:03:18,435 Speaker 1: And if the President thinks doing what amounts to canned 48 00:03:18,515 --> 00:03:23,995 Speaker 1: events will quaill the impact, he is doomed. And between them. 49 00:03:24,395 --> 00:03:27,835 Speaker 1: If he gets through a pre recorded sit down interview 50 00:03:28,195 --> 00:03:31,275 Speaker 1: that gets cut up into parts for the various ABC 51 00:03:31,355 --> 00:03:34,275 Speaker 1: News shows, which is what ABC says it is doing 52 00:03:34,315 --> 00:03:38,675 Speaker 1: with mister Biden, and he gets through two speeches and 53 00:03:38,715 --> 00:03:42,515 Speaker 1: there are not questions from reporters or at minimum questions 54 00:03:42,555 --> 00:03:46,995 Speaker 1: from the crowd, and he and the campaign boast about 55 00:03:46,995 --> 00:03:49,835 Speaker 1: all these events as some kind of triumph, then the 56 00:03:49,875 --> 00:03:54,235 Speaker 1: outcome will be this President Biden will have forced himself 57 00:03:54,315 --> 00:03:57,515 Speaker 1: off the ticket, not because of the debate, but because 58 00:03:57,955 --> 00:04:02,835 Speaker 1: of the week after the debate. The way to steer 59 00:04:03,035 --> 00:04:06,115 Speaker 1: out of the skid, the way to find the magic 60 00:04:06,275 --> 00:04:10,115 Speaker 1: wand the way to salvage his candidacy, as The Times 61 00:04:10,155 --> 00:04:13,515 Speaker 1: put it, save his reelection bid, as CNN put it, 62 00:04:13,715 --> 00:04:16,915 Speaker 1: stay in the race, as ABC put it, was and 63 00:04:16,995 --> 00:04:24,195 Speaker 1: perhaps still is to hold a news conference, and I 64 00:04:24,275 --> 00:04:27,755 Speaker 1: mean call a news conference for twenty minutes for now. 65 00:04:29,235 --> 00:04:31,755 Speaker 1: I'll be there in twenty minutes. You get there if 66 00:04:31,755 --> 00:04:36,035 Speaker 1: you can not a news conference next week at the 67 00:04:36,115 --> 00:04:41,035 Speaker 1: NATO summit in DC, but now, and take whatever they 68 00:04:41,075 --> 00:04:45,595 Speaker 1: got for you. And then to do a town hall somewhere, 69 00:04:45,715 --> 00:04:48,395 Speaker 1: or as Jim Clyburn says, a series of town halls, 70 00:04:49,555 --> 00:04:53,315 Speaker 1: and if you want some comparatively comfortable exercise in the 71 00:04:53,315 --> 00:04:56,755 Speaker 1: middle of that, that's Stephanopoulos interview has got to be live, 72 00:04:58,835 --> 00:05:00,675 Speaker 1: and it would be best to do these things on 73 00:05:00,795 --> 00:05:07,595 Speaker 1: consecutive days. I do not understand what they are doing 74 00:05:08,115 --> 00:05:12,995 Speaker 1: at the White House. And let me say for the 75 00:05:13,035 --> 00:05:18,595 Speaker 1: one thousandth time, I love Joe Biden. When it hit 76 00:05:18,675 --> 00:05:23,275 Speaker 1: me Tuesday afternoon, that between the Pelosi remarks about the test, 77 00:05:23,355 --> 00:05:27,315 Speaker 1: about the legitimacy of the questions, and the harrowing leaked 78 00:05:27,435 --> 00:05:32,635 Speaker 1: Swing state internals, the God Helped Me vibe had just changed, 79 00:05:32,955 --> 00:05:36,075 Speaker 1: and the tipping point had been reached. When I realized 80 00:05:36,075 --> 00:05:40,355 Speaker 1: that my heart broke. I want Joe Biden to find 81 00:05:40,355 --> 00:05:42,915 Speaker 1: the magic wand I want him to be the nominee. 82 00:05:42,915 --> 00:05:45,475 Speaker 1: I want him to get up at his second inauguration 83 00:05:45,755 --> 00:05:49,355 Speaker 1: and give all of us the finger and become the 84 00:05:49,355 --> 00:05:53,235 Speaker 1: first American president to highlight his swearing in by swearing 85 00:05:53,275 --> 00:05:58,795 Speaker 1: at everybody. And he can swear at me personally. And 86 00:05:58,835 --> 00:06:01,835 Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to happen, because I don't 87 00:06:02,355 --> 00:06:05,435 Speaker 1: understand what the hell they are doing at the White House. 88 00:06:06,915 --> 00:06:10,715 Speaker 1: In response to a request for comment, White House spokesman 89 00:06:10,795 --> 00:06:14,715 Speaker 1: Andrew Bates said that quote it is false to suggest 90 00:06:14,995 --> 00:06:20,435 Speaker 1: there is any openness to ending the campaign. End quote 91 00:06:20,715 --> 00:06:24,555 Speaker 1: that to CNN, and it's finesse, just enough to give 92 00:06:24,595 --> 00:06:27,595 Speaker 1: a little wiggle room, because if the president retires from 93 00:06:27,595 --> 00:06:30,235 Speaker 1: the ticket, I am sure the word openness will not 94 00:06:30,675 --> 00:06:38,395 Speaker 1: have applied to the process. The polls are awful the 95 00:06:38,395 --> 00:06:41,075 Speaker 1: New York Times poll. They were asked, do you agree 96 00:06:41,115 --> 00:06:43,515 Speaker 1: with this statement quote Joe Biden is just too old 97 00:06:43,715 --> 00:06:47,515 Speaker 1: to be an effective president? Eighty four percent of registered 98 00:06:47,595 --> 00:06:49,915 Speaker 1: voters under the age of forty five said they agreed 99 00:06:49,955 --> 00:06:55,875 Speaker 1: with that statement. Eighty three percent of Hispanic voters, sixty 100 00:06:55,915 --> 00:07:01,635 Speaker 1: four percent of voters sixty five and over in the 101 00:07:01,675 --> 00:07:04,915 Speaker 1: horse race. Three other new polls, and the time and 102 00:07:04,955 --> 00:07:08,275 Speaker 1: the previous six taken since the debate have shown an 103 00:07:08,315 --> 00:07:11,595 Speaker 1: average shift away from Biden of about one and a 104 00:07:11,595 --> 00:07:17,355 Speaker 1: half points in a week. But the polls are not 105 00:07:18,075 --> 00:07:23,595 Speaker 1: fatal because almost none of that Democratic loss went to Trump, 106 00:07:24,355 --> 00:07:29,555 Speaker 1: Despite his opponent having as calamitous a one night event 107 00:07:29,955 --> 00:07:34,435 Speaker 1: as any presidential campaign has had since Bob Dole fell 108 00:07:34,435 --> 00:07:38,875 Speaker 1: off the stage into the crowd at a campaign rally 109 00:07:38,915 --> 00:07:42,555 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety six, Trump has still only picked up 110 00:07:43,315 --> 00:07:49,675 Speaker 1: three tenths of one point since the debate, So the 111 00:07:49,715 --> 00:07:54,715 Speaker 1: Democrats could regain that. They could regain the whole point 112 00:07:54,715 --> 00:07:58,675 Speaker 1: and a half if Joe Biden proves the debate was 113 00:07:58,835 --> 00:08:02,715 Speaker 1: an anomaly. And it's not as if proving that is impossible. 114 00:08:03,675 --> 00:08:07,755 Speaker 1: If it is impossible for him, another Democrat could regain that. 115 00:08:11,435 --> 00:08:13,035 Speaker 1: On that subject, I have to say, I think we 116 00:08:13,035 --> 00:08:15,555 Speaker 1: can rule out the idea that if he leaves the ticket, 117 00:08:15,595 --> 00:08:18,995 Speaker 1: he should also leave the White House. Though I watched 118 00:08:19,035 --> 00:08:23,315 Speaker 1: the confirmation hearings for Nelson Rockefeller that went on through 119 00:08:23,515 --> 00:08:26,875 Speaker 1: half of my senior year in high school, I had 120 00:08:26,995 --> 00:08:29,995 Speaker 1: bluntly forgotten and I apologize to you. And new vice 121 00:08:29,995 --> 00:08:33,155 Speaker 1: president has to be approved separately by the Senate and 122 00:08:33,195 --> 00:08:37,315 Speaker 1: the House. And why would I think the House Republican 123 00:08:37,355 --> 00:08:42,315 Speaker 1: majority might stonewall any vice presidential nominee sent in by 124 00:08:42,315 --> 00:08:46,235 Speaker 1: a new president Kamala Harris, just because if the post 125 00:08:46,315 --> 00:08:50,595 Speaker 1: were to remain open, this weasel speaker Mike Johnson would 126 00:08:50,595 --> 00:08:56,835 Speaker 1: then be first in line for the presidency. Anyway, I 127 00:08:56,875 --> 00:08:59,515 Speaker 1: have two other things to mention on this fourth of 128 00:08:59,595 --> 00:09:03,075 Speaker 1: July that are either relevant or true. The first is 129 00:09:03,115 --> 00:09:06,555 Speaker 1: the incident at the White House press room. My friend 130 00:09:06,675 --> 00:09:11,275 Speaker 1: Kelly O'Donnell Tim Rosser used to call us well. She 131 00:09:11,355 --> 00:09:14,275 Speaker 1: used to call her KO, and he used to call 132 00:09:14,475 --> 00:09:18,155 Speaker 1: me KO number two. Kelly o'donald, now president of the 133 00:09:18,155 --> 00:09:22,675 Speaker 1: Correspondence Association and still with NBC News, was asking for 134 00:09:22,795 --> 00:09:26,275 Speaker 1: the President to himself come to the press room and 135 00:09:26,435 --> 00:09:30,715 Speaker 1: tell reporters himself that he was still running, rather than 136 00:09:30,715 --> 00:09:34,115 Speaker 1: have the press secretary do it. She was saying this 137 00:09:34,235 --> 00:09:36,635 Speaker 1: and doing it very politely and professionally, when she was 138 00:09:36,675 --> 00:09:38,915 Speaker 1: interrupted by somebody neither polite nor professional. 139 00:09:39,235 --> 00:09:42,555 Speaker 2: She's absolutely running. Yeah, Well he's saying that, and I'm 140 00:09:43,075 --> 00:09:46,755 Speaker 2: I'm sharing with you his view and we would invite 141 00:09:46,795 --> 00:09:49,275 Speaker 2: the president to come here and tell noted directly noted 142 00:09:49,755 --> 00:09:56,395 Speaker 2: kill one, as you heard on your colleague, the president 143 00:09:56,435 --> 00:09:59,195 Speaker 2: of the WHA. That's an appropriate thank you, Kelly. 144 00:09:59,555 --> 00:10:01,915 Speaker 1: A note about that idiot who said if he's a 145 00:10:01,995 --> 00:10:06,915 Speaker 1: link that was identified as James Rosen. He used to 146 00:10:06,955 --> 00:10:09,355 Speaker 1: be a big deal at Fox and then there was 147 00:10:09,395 --> 00:10:12,195 Speaker 1: a sexual harassment saga and they fired him and he's 148 00:10:12,235 --> 00:10:16,075 Speaker 1: at Newsmax now. And not to diminish the harassment, but 149 00:10:16,275 --> 00:10:19,875 Speaker 1: this may even be more telling about how disconnected from 150 00:10:19,915 --> 00:10:23,435 Speaker 1: reality this idiot is. I put him on the Worst 151 00:10:23,555 --> 00:10:27,595 Speaker 1: Person's list years ago, something idiotic he said at Fox, 152 00:10:27,955 --> 00:10:31,875 Speaker 1: and as I recall, we had two really good nominees 153 00:10:31,915 --> 00:10:33,515 Speaker 1: on the list and we needed a third one, and 154 00:10:33,555 --> 00:10:35,475 Speaker 1: I kind of stretched to put him in there, because 155 00:10:35,515 --> 00:10:39,395 Speaker 1: who the hell is James Rosen? I swear to God. 156 00:10:40,355 --> 00:10:42,995 Speaker 1: A couple of days later, I get at my office 157 00:10:43,035 --> 00:10:49,275 Speaker 1: an angry, multi page letter from James Rosen explaining what 158 00:10:49,555 --> 00:10:53,115 Speaker 1: a brilliant reporter he is and how many awards he 159 00:10:53,155 --> 00:10:56,555 Speaker 1: has won and how dare I and Fox has better 160 00:10:56,675 --> 00:11:01,595 Speaker 1: ratings than I do? And attached to this multi page, virulent, 161 00:11:01,875 --> 00:11:13,955 Speaker 1: venomous letter is his resume Lastly, back to the current 162 00:11:14,035 --> 00:11:19,035 Speaker 1: issue and a disease I have discussed here before called 163 00:11:19,155 --> 00:11:25,555 Speaker 1: anosagnosia as the legend. David Dunning of the Dunning Krueger 164 00:11:25,635 --> 00:11:31,875 Speaker 1: syndrome wrote once, an anosagnosic patient who is paralyzed simply 165 00:11:31,955 --> 00:11:35,635 Speaker 1: does not know that he is paralyzed. If you put 166 00:11:35,635 --> 00:11:37,955 Speaker 1: a pencil in front of them and ask them to 167 00:11:37,955 --> 00:11:40,755 Speaker 1: pick up the pencil in front of their left hand, 168 00:11:41,235 --> 00:11:44,955 Speaker 1: they won't do it. And you ask them why, and 169 00:11:44,995 --> 00:11:48,955 Speaker 1: they'll say, well, I'm tired or I don't need a pencil. 170 00:11:52,035 --> 00:11:55,195 Speaker 1: I don't think David Dunning made that pencil reference randomly. 171 00:11:56,315 --> 00:11:59,155 Speaker 1: It mainlines back to the president who in his lifetime 172 00:11:59,195 --> 00:12:03,875 Speaker 1: was actually credited with saving the pencil industry in this country, 173 00:12:04,075 --> 00:12:09,435 Speaker 1: President Woodrow Wilson. Now, the experts, more than a century later, 174 00:12:09,515 --> 00:12:13,555 Speaker 1: are still studying the stroke that Woodrow Wilson suffered while 175 00:12:13,675 --> 00:12:16,555 Speaker 1: on his cross country tour to try to sell the 176 00:12:16,595 --> 00:12:20,035 Speaker 1: League of Nations to America over the heads of a 177 00:12:20,075 --> 00:12:24,835 Speaker 1: disapproving Senate. The deduction has been widespread in the ensuing 178 00:12:24,875 --> 00:12:27,955 Speaker 1: decades that whether or not he had the disease earlier, 179 00:12:27,995 --> 00:12:32,915 Speaker 1: because evidently he had had strokes earlier. After the stroke 180 00:12:32,955 --> 00:12:38,435 Speaker 1: in nineteen nineteen, Woodrow Wilson showed all the signs of anosagnosia. 181 00:12:39,795 --> 00:12:44,195 Speaker 1: In the nineteen seventies, the neuropsychiatrist Edwin Weinstein was granted 182 00:12:44,275 --> 00:12:47,635 Speaker 1: access to the Woodrow Wilson papers, and he wrote, after 183 00:12:47,675 --> 00:12:52,115 Speaker 1: reviewing them carefully quote following his stroke, the outstanding feature 184 00:12:52,155 --> 00:12:56,475 Speaker 1: of the president's behavior was his denial of his incapacity. 185 00:12:57,235 --> 00:13:02,875 Speaker 1: Denial of illness or anosagnosia literally lack of knowledge of 186 00:13:02,915 --> 00:13:06,795 Speaker 1: disease is a Umman sequel of the type of brain 187 00:13:06,915 --> 00:13:12,195 Speaker 1: injury received by Wilson. In this condition, the patient denies 188 00:13:12,675 --> 00:13:16,995 Speaker 1: or appears unaware of such deficits as paralysis or blindness. 189 00:13:18,035 --> 00:13:23,155 Speaker 1: To casual observers, anosegnosiac patients may appear quite normal and 190 00:13:23,315 --> 00:13:26,715 Speaker 1: even bright and witty when not on the subject of 191 00:13:26,755 --> 00:13:29,635 Speaker 1: their disability. They are quite rational, and tests of their 192 00:13:29,675 --> 00:13:37,275 Speaker 1: intelligence may show no deficit unquote, Unfortunately, when you turn 193 00:13:37,475 --> 00:13:40,795 Speaker 1: to the subject of his disability, President Wilson was anything 194 00:13:40,835 --> 00:13:43,675 Speaker 1: but rational. His secretary of State was a man named 195 00:13:43,755 --> 00:13:48,395 Speaker 1: Robert Lansing, and Lancing dutifully summoned the entire cabinet to 196 00:13:48,475 --> 00:13:52,115 Speaker 1: a meeting to discuss the illness of Woodrow Wilson. After 197 00:13:52,155 --> 00:13:58,155 Speaker 1: the stroke, President Wilson or his wife promptly forced the 198 00:13:58,235 --> 00:14:03,555 Speaker 1: resignation of Secretary of State Lancing. Doctors who challenged Woodrow 199 00:14:03,595 --> 00:14:08,635 Speaker 1: Wilson about his were dismissed. People who knew him before 200 00:14:08,635 --> 00:14:11,835 Speaker 1: his stroke and knew there was a problem and knew 201 00:14:11,875 --> 00:14:14,395 Speaker 1: there was a difference were eased out or denied access. 202 00:14:14,675 --> 00:14:18,195 Speaker 1: Woodrow Wilson insisted until his death that while yes, he'd 203 00:14:18,235 --> 00:14:22,355 Speaker 1: had a stroke, it affected only his walking, and it 204 00:14:22,395 --> 00:14:30,355 Speaker 1: affected his walking only a little bit. It's terrifying disease. 205 00:14:32,795 --> 00:14:37,235 Speaker 1: One of the supposed allies, and it looks like there 206 00:14:37,235 --> 00:14:41,235 Speaker 1: were two of them, and they became sources between them 207 00:14:41,235 --> 00:14:45,355 Speaker 1: for the Times and ABC and CNN stories on Joe Biden. 208 00:14:46,635 --> 00:14:49,675 Speaker 1: One of the supposed allies insisted the President was not 209 00:14:49,915 --> 00:14:53,635 Speaker 1: oblivious to his situation. So I am not saying that 210 00:14:53,755 --> 00:14:57,635 Speaker 1: anosagnosia is part of this equation. Also, you do not 211 00:14:57,795 --> 00:15:02,395 Speaker 1: have to have anosagnosia or anything else impairing your judgment 212 00:15:02,715 --> 00:15:06,955 Speaker 1: to be unrealistic or to underplay your own health troubles 213 00:15:07,955 --> 00:15:12,515 Speaker 1: or your own age troubles. I turned sixty five this year, 214 00:15:12,795 --> 00:15:14,555 Speaker 1: and the last thing I want to deal with is 215 00:15:14,595 --> 00:15:18,395 Speaker 1: the reality that I'm sixty five. I will see myself 216 00:15:18,435 --> 00:15:20,555 Speaker 1: in the mirror and go, that can't be right. I'm 217 00:15:20,595 --> 00:15:27,155 Speaker 1: twenty two. But as you consider what is happening, as 218 00:15:27,195 --> 00:15:32,115 Speaker 1: this unfolds to whatever conclusion it unfolds, two, keep this 219 00:15:32,995 --> 00:15:36,915 Speaker 1: or something else like it in the back of your mind. 220 00:15:37,795 --> 00:15:44,315 Speaker 1: It may also be in play. Denial is a colloquial term. 221 00:15:45,475 --> 00:15:51,475 Speaker 1: Annosugnosia is a medical term. Reality as usual probably lies 222 00:15:51,555 --> 00:16:01,635 Speaker 1: somewhere in between. Me as a rapidly aging sixty five 223 00:16:01,675 --> 00:16:06,795 Speaker 1: year old, I just wanted a day off. Well, maybe 224 00:16:06,795 --> 00:16:13,355 Speaker 1: next year in the Trump re education camp. In the interim, hey, 225 00:16:13,435 --> 00:16:17,035 Speaker 1: did you know it's July fourth? I have wanted to 226 00:16:17,075 --> 00:16:19,795 Speaker 1: tell the story on a July fourth for a lot 227 00:16:19,835 --> 00:16:23,195 Speaker 1: of July fourths. Now. The story is about how the 228 00:16:23,275 --> 00:16:28,715 Speaker 1: media in real time mistreated someone famous associated with the 229 00:16:28,755 --> 00:16:32,755 Speaker 1: holiday in a way that is now literally unbelievable to 230 00:16:32,835 --> 00:16:37,195 Speaker 1: people who still respect the person in question. How newspaper 231 00:16:37,275 --> 00:16:42,075 Speaker 1: columnists in nineteen thirty nine and nineteen forty insisted that 232 00:16:42,155 --> 00:16:45,675 Speaker 1: the great and tragic Lou Garrick, the baseball player, was 233 00:16:45,995 --> 00:16:53,635 Speaker 1: a faking his illness and b had infected all of 234 00:16:53,675 --> 00:17:11,995 Speaker 1: his teammates with it. That's next. This discountdown now to 235 00:17:12,195 --> 00:17:17,115 Speaker 1: July fourth, and some unexpected lessons, It's still topical. This 236 00:17:17,275 --> 00:17:19,235 Speaker 1: is about what happens when you make the mistake of 237 00:17:19,275 --> 00:17:22,235 Speaker 1: thinking that the media is not self serving, when you 238 00:17:22,315 --> 00:17:24,835 Speaker 1: wrongly believe that it does not look for the negative, 239 00:17:25,195 --> 00:17:27,595 Speaker 1: when you foolishly expect it to own up to its 240 00:17:27,595 --> 00:17:31,555 Speaker 1: own disasters rather than try to bury them, and particularly 241 00:17:31,675 --> 00:17:35,075 Speaker 1: relevant to this last week with President Biden and the media, 242 00:17:35,355 --> 00:17:39,795 Speaker 1: whatever the outcome, whatever the truth here, there is a subtext. 243 00:17:40,475 --> 00:17:43,515 Speaker 1: If Joe Biden retires from the ticket because he's old, 244 00:17:43,755 --> 00:17:46,995 Speaker 1: or he has an illness, or for whatever reason, that 245 00:17:47,115 --> 00:17:51,635 Speaker 1: would validate what the writers wrote, especially the writers in 246 00:17:51,675 --> 00:17:55,075 Speaker 1: the New York Times and the seemi underbelly to dogged 247 00:17:55,155 --> 00:18:00,515 Speaker 1: reporting is reporters like nothing better than to first catch 248 00:18:00,635 --> 00:18:04,435 Speaker 1: crap for their story and then have their story proved 249 00:18:04,755 --> 00:18:09,915 Speaker 1: true after all, even if it weren't true when they 250 00:18:09,955 --> 00:18:17,315 Speaker 1: wrote it. So sometimes they write really really bad stories, 251 00:18:17,915 --> 00:18:24,235 Speaker 1: unbelievable stories, stories that should be chiseled into their gravestones. 252 00:18:26,235 --> 00:18:30,235 Speaker 1: This is not per se about Joe Biden, nor about politics, 253 00:18:30,275 --> 00:18:33,755 Speaker 1: nor about twenty twenty four for that matter. It may, however, 254 00:18:34,795 --> 00:18:38,995 Speaker 1: be a metaphor for all of the above. The further 255 00:18:39,115 --> 00:18:42,955 Speaker 1: we have gotten from Tuesday, July fourth, nineteen thirty nine, 256 00:18:43,435 --> 00:18:46,995 Speaker 1: the further it has been evident that this was probably 257 00:18:47,035 --> 00:18:51,835 Speaker 1: the most poignant day in the history of American sports, 258 00:18:51,875 --> 00:18:54,595 Speaker 1: and one of the most poignant days in the history 259 00:18:54,595 --> 00:18:58,835 Speaker 1: of America. That day was when sixty one, eight hundred 260 00:18:58,835 --> 00:19:01,995 Speaker 1: and eight people crowded into Yankee Stadium in New York 261 00:19:02,475 --> 00:19:06,115 Speaker 1: to hear lou Gerrigg say goodbye. He had been stricken 262 00:19:06,195 --> 00:19:09,875 Speaker 1: by als, and as much as everybody tried to pretend 263 00:19:09,955 --> 00:19:12,555 Speaker 1: it was not a death sentence, or at least not 264 00:19:12,875 --> 00:19:15,995 Speaker 1: likely to be a death sentence, it is in retrospect 265 00:19:16,155 --> 00:19:21,275 Speaker 1: clear that nearly all the fans knew. It was in 266 00:19:21,275 --> 00:19:24,995 Speaker 1: fact so clear at the time that the Yankees and 267 00:19:25,115 --> 00:19:28,435 Speaker 1: even officials of the city of New York were insistent 268 00:19:28,955 --> 00:19:32,315 Speaker 1: that during the ceremonies between games of that day's doubleheader, 269 00:19:32,755 --> 00:19:39,235 Speaker 1: that lou Geig should not make a speech. They literally 270 00:19:39,315 --> 00:19:43,115 Speaker 1: believed that the amount of grief in the ballpark among 271 00:19:43,115 --> 00:19:48,075 Speaker 1: the fans and the employees and the players would somehow 272 00:19:48,155 --> 00:19:52,555 Speaker 1: be too much for at minimum, the mental health of 273 00:19:52,635 --> 00:19:57,635 Speaker 1: everybody there. They did not know how that much sadness 274 00:19:58,235 --> 00:20:03,515 Speaker 1: could be handled in public. Of course, lou Gereg spoke anyway. 275 00:20:04,675 --> 00:20:06,395 Speaker 1: All he did was give one of the bravest and 276 00:20:06,435 --> 00:20:09,555 Speaker 1: most moving speeches in human history, one that is repeated 277 00:20:10,035 --> 00:20:15,155 Speaker 1: word for word in ballparks and elsewhere every year on 278 00:20:15,275 --> 00:20:20,275 Speaker 1: its anniversary, July fourth. So we view that July fourth, 279 00:20:20,395 --> 00:20:23,795 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine as a day of grief and sorrow 280 00:20:23,875 --> 00:20:27,395 Speaker 1: and love and of that rarest of emotions, of our 281 00:20:27,755 --> 00:20:32,515 Speaker 1: shared awareness of the implacability of death, and that our 282 00:20:32,595 --> 00:20:37,195 Speaker 1: victory is over death must be temporary and symbolic. We 283 00:20:37,395 --> 00:20:41,995 Speaker 1: see through hindsight lou Garrig Day Yankee Stadium, the Bronx, 284 00:20:42,075 --> 00:20:45,715 Speaker 1: New York, Tuesday, July fourth, nineteen thirty nine, as a 285 00:20:45,915 --> 00:20:52,155 Speaker 1: unanimous gathering bathed in sympathy and empathy, representing the sympathy 286 00:20:52,275 --> 00:20:57,355 Speaker 1: and empathy of a nation. And we do that because 287 00:20:57,435 --> 00:21:01,875 Speaker 1: the baseball world and the media have spent the intervening 288 00:21:01,955 --> 00:21:06,275 Speaker 1: decades burying the work of those in its ranks in 289 00:21:06,355 --> 00:21:10,235 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine who approached lou Garegg's illness as either 290 00:21:11,035 --> 00:21:18,275 Speaker 1: prepare yourself as either a fraud or a conspiracy. I 291 00:21:18,315 --> 00:21:21,715 Speaker 1: am going to read you in full two articles about 292 00:21:21,755 --> 00:21:26,195 Speaker 1: lou Gereg that must be tied for the all time 293 00:21:26,435 --> 00:21:30,875 Speaker 1: worst pieces written in American media history, and on the 294 00:21:30,915 --> 00:21:34,715 Speaker 1: list of the worst things ever written for publication in 295 00:21:34,795 --> 00:21:39,235 Speaker 1: the English language. The second article is actually not from 296 00:21:39,475 --> 00:21:42,915 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine. It's from August nineteen forty, and in it, 297 00:21:43,275 --> 00:21:46,435 Speaker 1: the sports editor of the New York Daily News all 298 00:21:46,515 --> 00:21:49,795 Speaker 1: but accuses lou Gereg of being what we would now 299 00:21:49,915 --> 00:21:54,675 Speaker 1: call a super spreader and speculates that Gereg has infected 300 00:21:54,835 --> 00:22:00,435 Speaker 1: all the other Yankee players with his disease. The first 301 00:22:00,515 --> 00:22:04,315 Speaker 1: article actually ran in hundreds of American newspapers on the 302 00:22:04,395 --> 00:22:08,195 Speaker 1: night of Monday, July third, nineteen thirty nine, but mostly 303 00:22:08,275 --> 00:22:10,755 Speaker 1: the morning of July fourth. It was in a column 304 00:22:10,755 --> 00:22:15,435 Speaker 1: distributed by United Press, the precursors to United Press International, 305 00:22:15,635 --> 00:22:19,315 Speaker 1: where I made my full time professional debut forty years later, 306 00:22:19,435 --> 00:22:23,835 Speaker 1: almost to the day, in July of nineteen seventy nine. 307 00:22:23,955 --> 00:22:26,315 Speaker 1: When I worked there, I had never heard about this article. 308 00:22:27,395 --> 00:22:30,595 Speaker 1: Throughout the bulk of my career, I had never heard 309 00:22:30,595 --> 00:22:33,555 Speaker 1: about this article. I did not know of this article 310 00:22:33,675 --> 00:22:38,635 Speaker 1: until the microfilm files of newspapers migrated onto the Internet 311 00:22:38,675 --> 00:22:41,715 Speaker 1: in the late nineties, and to this day, I have 312 00:22:41,875 --> 00:22:46,795 Speaker 1: never found any indication that the writer ever apologized or 313 00:22:46,955 --> 00:22:52,595 Speaker 1: ever admitted his stupidity and coarseness and insensitivity and awfully 314 00:22:52,635 --> 00:22:59,195 Speaker 1: timed glibness. The writer's name was Jack Cuddy Jack Cutty 315 00:22:59,315 --> 00:23:03,035 Speaker 1: c Uddy. He began as a news reporter for the 316 00:23:03,075 --> 00:23:06,795 Speaker 1: Milwaukee Journal. After World War One, he worked for newspapers 317 00:23:06,795 --> 00:23:09,955 Speaker 1: in Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, and then joined United Press 318 00:23:09,955 --> 00:23:12,715 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty six. He was a news reporter. He 319 00:23:12,715 --> 00:23:16,235 Speaker 1: helped cover Lindbergh's solo flight over the Atlantic in nineteen 320 00:23:16,275 --> 00:23:19,755 Speaker 1: twenty seven, and then in nineteen thirty two they made 321 00:23:19,795 --> 00:23:23,235 Speaker 1: him their primary boxing reporter, and they also assigned him 322 00:23:23,595 --> 00:23:26,875 Speaker 1: to write columns about all sports that would sent out 323 00:23:26,915 --> 00:23:31,275 Speaker 1: on the up wire to all of the newspapers that subscribed. 324 00:23:31,915 --> 00:23:36,595 Speaker 1: We don't know how many of them ran this. Their 325 00:23:36,635 --> 00:23:41,235 Speaker 1: sports editors probably found out just how many of their 326 00:23:41,275 --> 00:23:44,875 Speaker 1: readers actually read it, because by the time Jack Cutty 327 00:23:44,915 --> 00:23:47,955 Speaker 1: wrote this, he had been a national sports reporter for 328 00:23:48,115 --> 00:23:52,595 Speaker 1: seven years and a journalist a hard news reporter for 329 00:23:52,715 --> 00:23:58,875 Speaker 1: about fifteen before that. This still is what untold readers 330 00:23:59,195 --> 00:24:03,155 Speaker 1: of papers that carried the work of United Press read. 331 00:24:03,755 --> 00:24:09,555 Speaker 1: Just hours four lou Geig gave his luckiest man on 332 00:24:09,675 --> 00:24:16,475 Speaker 1: the face of the Earth speech in this corner Jack 333 00:24:16,555 --> 00:24:23,035 Speaker 1: Cutty Rights on the retirement of lou Gereg by Jack Cutdy, 334 00:24:24,115 --> 00:24:27,875 Speaker 1: New York. There's only one thing I see wrong about 335 00:24:27,875 --> 00:24:30,675 Speaker 1: the celebration of the fourth of July, and that's the 336 00:24:30,795 --> 00:24:34,795 Speaker 1: national shedding of tears about a husky named lou Gereg, 337 00:24:35,075 --> 00:24:38,875 Speaker 1: which will be climaxed with a low Garreg Appreciation Day 338 00:24:39,315 --> 00:24:43,315 Speaker 1: during the doubleheader between the Yanks and Washington at Yankee Stadium. 339 00:24:44,315 --> 00:24:47,355 Speaker 1: The play rights for this gareg business at the stadium 340 00:24:47,515 --> 00:24:52,115 Speaker 1: are making the affair so touching. I understand that even 341 00:24:52,155 --> 00:24:55,155 Speaker 1: the little boys and gals of our vast land will 342 00:24:55,155 --> 00:24:58,755 Speaker 1: be unable to set off firecrackers and things because of 343 00:24:58,795 --> 00:25:02,635 Speaker 1: the tears that trickle down upon their matches and punks. 344 00:25:04,035 --> 00:25:07,835 Speaker 1: The whole businesiness seems goofy and uncalled for. To me, 345 00:25:08,515 --> 00:25:10,795 Speaker 1: I see no reason for pulling a pall over a 346 00:25:10,875 --> 00:25:16,115 Speaker 1: holiday when everyone should be having lots of fun and peanuts, popcorn, 347 00:25:16,235 --> 00:25:20,475 Speaker 1: cracker Jackson hot dogs. Particularly, I see no reason for 348 00:25:20,515 --> 00:25:24,315 Speaker 1: pulling this Yankee publicity stunt about Gerreg, who was the 349 00:25:24,435 --> 00:25:26,475 Speaker 1: last man in the world who would go for it. 350 00:25:26,635 --> 00:25:30,195 Speaker 1: Unless the Yankee brass Hats and New York baseball riders 351 00:25:30,475 --> 00:25:35,675 Speaker 1: snaffled him and forced him into it. Gerrek knows, and 352 00:25:35,755 --> 00:25:38,555 Speaker 1: so should everyone else connected with baseball, that the thirty 353 00:25:38,595 --> 00:25:40,795 Speaker 1: six year old first Basement of the Yanks was through 354 00:25:40,875 --> 00:25:43,595 Speaker 1: with top flight play just as soon as he showed 355 00:25:43,635 --> 00:25:46,315 Speaker 1: up at the Yanks training camp at Saint Pete. But 356 00:25:46,515 --> 00:25:49,235 Speaker 1: because lou was the iron Horse, the man who had 357 00:25:49,235 --> 00:25:52,035 Speaker 1: written into the records that all time mark of two 358 00:25:52,595 --> 00:25:56,075 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty consecutive championship games, his fade out 359 00:25:56,115 --> 00:26:00,235 Speaker 1: had to be different from that of the ordinary player. Accordingly, 360 00:26:00,635 --> 00:26:03,675 Speaker 1: Greg was sent to a nationally known center of health 361 00:26:03,715 --> 00:26:09,155 Speaker 1: investigation to see what was wrong with him. I'll guarantee 362 00:26:09,555 --> 00:26:12,475 Speaker 1: that if ninety percent of the men, women, and children 363 00:26:12,515 --> 00:26:15,475 Speaker 1: in America were sent to that particular spot, we would 364 00:26:15,595 --> 00:26:18,915 Speaker 1: learn that each and all had something wrong with them, 365 00:26:19,035 --> 00:26:23,795 Speaker 1: even if it were only halatosis, athletes, foot warts, or 366 00:26:24,155 --> 00:26:31,195 Speaker 1: bo I've forgotten exactly what they said was wrong with Greg. Oh, yes, 367 00:26:31,515 --> 00:26:35,595 Speaker 1: I do recall that the first hospital report indicated infantile 368 00:26:35,715 --> 00:26:41,195 Speaker 1: paralysis of a very vague breed, But later the experts 369 00:26:41,235 --> 00:26:45,275 Speaker 1: explained it wasn't infantile paralysis at all, it was something else. 370 00:26:45,995 --> 00:26:48,995 Speaker 1: The ailment had one of those high falutin names that 371 00:26:49,075 --> 00:26:54,915 Speaker 1: only people with plenty of dough or prestige can have. Personally, 372 00:26:55,315 --> 00:26:58,395 Speaker 1: I don't care what Garrek has got, but I'd like 373 00:26:58,475 --> 00:27:02,875 Speaker 1: to exchange my body for his during the next forty 374 00:27:02,995 --> 00:27:05,955 Speaker 1: or fifty years, let us say, And I'm pretty sure 375 00:27:06,035 --> 00:27:08,995 Speaker 1: i'd do all right. Regardless of the expert's argument over 376 00:27:09,035 --> 00:27:13,155 Speaker 1: the Latin or Greek declensions of what lariping Loo may 377 00:27:13,635 --> 00:27:17,355 Speaker 1: or may not have, it seems to me that Greg 378 00:27:17,515 --> 00:27:20,555 Speaker 1: was merely getting too old to play hell for leather baseball, 379 00:27:20,875 --> 00:27:24,075 Speaker 1: and that the scientists of ailments or advertising gave him 380 00:27:24,115 --> 00:27:27,915 Speaker 1: a graceful exit. But what really brings water to my 381 00:27:28,075 --> 00:27:30,995 Speaker 1: eyes on this particular fourth of July is the plight 382 00:27:31,475 --> 00:27:35,195 Speaker 1: of Monty Stratton, a lad who was right in his prime, 383 00:27:35,275 --> 00:27:38,515 Speaker 1: only twenty five years old, a lad who never had 384 00:27:38,555 --> 00:27:41,955 Speaker 1: the chance to amass the fortune that must be Garrick's 385 00:27:42,915 --> 00:27:47,235 Speaker 1: gerreg too old for Championship Baseball will be out there 386 00:27:47,235 --> 00:27:50,915 Speaker 1: tomorrow with his mysterious ailment, able to get about as 387 00:27:50,995 --> 00:27:54,795 Speaker 1: actively as any one of his piano leg build should 388 00:27:54,835 --> 00:27:58,555 Speaker 1: at thirty six. But poor Monty Stratton is hobbling about 389 00:27:58,555 --> 00:28:02,075 Speaker 1: the coaches box of the Chicago White Sox with an 390 00:28:02,275 --> 00:28:06,835 Speaker 1: artificial leg clinking about where his own right leg should be. 391 00:28:08,315 --> 00:28:11,195 Speaker 1: There is no question about what happened to Stratton. He 392 00:28:11,395 --> 00:28:15,715 Speaker 1: shot himself in the leg accidentally while hunting down Texas 393 00:28:15,715 --> 00:28:18,755 Speaker 1: Way last November, and the right leg had to be 394 00:28:18,875 --> 00:28:22,635 Speaker 1: amputated at the knee. At the time this accident happened, 395 00:28:22,675 --> 00:28:24,875 Speaker 1: Stratton stood out as one of the best right handed 396 00:28:24,915 --> 00:28:28,315 Speaker 1: flingers in the American League. They gave him a Stratton 397 00:28:28,395 --> 00:28:31,355 Speaker 1: Day in Chicago this season and he got about twenty 398 00:28:31,435 --> 00:28:34,115 Speaker 1: grand out of it, about the same as his salary 399 00:28:34,155 --> 00:28:39,235 Speaker 1: for a year. Gerrig has been named non playing captain 400 00:28:39,315 --> 00:28:42,675 Speaker 1: for the All Star Interleague Game at Yankee Stadium a 401 00:28:42,715 --> 00:28:46,115 Speaker 1: week from Tuesday, along with tomorrow's Garreg Day. But it 402 00:28:46,195 --> 00:28:50,115 Speaker 1: seems to me that poor Monty Stratton could have been 403 00:28:50,155 --> 00:28:53,795 Speaker 1: appointed batting practice pitcher at least for the All Star Game. 404 00:28:54,635 --> 00:28:57,715 Speaker 1: And if we've got to shed tears tomorrow for some 405 00:28:58,035 --> 00:29:04,355 Speaker 1: afflicted ballplayer, let's give them off for poor Monty instead 406 00:29:04,355 --> 00:29:14,755 Speaker 1: of for lucky lou Jack Cutty everybody. Twenty three months later, 407 00:29:15,275 --> 00:29:19,995 Speaker 1: lou Gereg was dead. Monty Stratton the innocent bystander in 408 00:29:20,035 --> 00:29:22,955 Speaker 1: this hindenburg of a sports column who had been on 409 00:29:22,995 --> 00:29:26,875 Speaker 1: a possible Hall of Fame trajectory, actually made a comeback 410 00:29:27,395 --> 00:29:30,595 Speaker 1: on one leg, and seven years later in the low 411 00:29:30,635 --> 00:29:33,355 Speaker 1: minor leagues, he won eighteen games pitching for the Sherman 412 00:29:33,475 --> 00:29:37,475 Speaker 1: Twins of the East Texas League. He pitched sporadically thereafter 413 00:29:37,555 --> 00:29:40,715 Speaker 1: until the age of forty one. By then a film 414 00:29:40,795 --> 00:29:43,715 Speaker 1: version based on his life had been made. It starred 415 00:29:43,795 --> 00:29:48,995 Speaker 1: Jimmy Stewart. Monty Stratton died in nineteen eighty two, seven 416 00:29:49,075 --> 00:29:51,915 Speaker 1: years and one week after the writer, Jack Cutty died. 417 00:29:52,835 --> 00:29:56,315 Speaker 1: Jack Cutty had himself died thirty four years after Lou 418 00:29:56,355 --> 00:29:59,915 Speaker 1: Garrig died, and thirty six years after he had offered 419 00:29:59,915 --> 00:30:03,475 Speaker 1: to trade bodies with Lou gereg Not only did mister 420 00:30:03,515 --> 00:30:06,955 Speaker 1: Cutty never apparently correct the Garret article, but United Press 421 00:30:06,955 --> 00:30:09,315 Speaker 1: apparently did not punish him in any way for having 422 00:30:09,315 --> 00:30:12,875 Speaker 1: written it. He continued to cover boxing for UP and 423 00:30:13,115 --> 00:30:17,035 Speaker 1: UPI for another twenty five years, and his obituary appeared 424 00:30:17,035 --> 00:30:21,115 Speaker 1: in The New York Times. It did not mention his 425 00:30:21,235 --> 00:30:26,435 Speaker 1: column about Lou Garrick, but a man named Jimmy Powers 426 00:30:26,475 --> 00:30:28,915 Speaker 1: died in February of nineteen ninety five. He too got 427 00:30:28,915 --> 00:30:31,035 Speaker 1: an oh bit in The Times, and it too did 428 00:30:31,035 --> 00:30:35,875 Speaker 1: not mention his lou garret article, which is, believe it 429 00:30:35,995 --> 00:30:41,475 Speaker 1: or not, probably much worse than Jack Cutties. Jimmy Powers 430 00:30:41,595 --> 00:30:45,355 Speaker 1: article appeared on Sunday, August eighteenth, nineteen forty. It covered 431 00:30:45,435 --> 00:30:47,875 Speaker 1: much of two pages in the New York Daily News. 432 00:30:48,275 --> 00:30:51,795 Speaker 1: Powers was sports editor there from nineteen thirty six until 433 00:30:51,795 --> 00:30:55,955 Speaker 1: his retirement in nineteen fifty nine. He would eventually grudgingly, 434 00:30:56,275 --> 00:31:01,395 Speaker 1: sparingly apologize for this uneducated drek that he wrote. But 435 00:31:01,515 --> 00:31:04,275 Speaker 1: I worked with people at the start of my career 436 00:31:04,435 --> 00:31:07,075 Speaker 1: who had worked with him. It was only about twenty 437 00:31:07,195 --> 00:31:10,555 Speaker 1: years between us. They said. It was clear that he 438 00:31:10,715 --> 00:31:14,835 Speaker 1: continued to believe that it was likely that he was right, 439 00:31:15,315 --> 00:31:20,235 Speaker 1: and that Greg had somehow infected his Yankee teammates with 440 00:31:20,395 --> 00:31:25,595 Speaker 1: some kind of milder version of ALS that cost them 441 00:31:25,715 --> 00:31:31,555 Speaker 1: the nineteen forty American League pennant No, I am not 442 00:31:31,715 --> 00:31:36,875 Speaker 1: kidding The New York Daily News, August eighteenth, nineteen forty. 443 00:31:37,555 --> 00:31:45,315 Speaker 1: The headline read, has Polio hit the Yankees? The Yankees, who, 444 00:31:45,355 --> 00:31:47,235 Speaker 1: for the past four years have been one of the 445 00:31:47,235 --> 00:31:52,115 Speaker 1: greatest baseball machines in history and almost universally selected to 446 00:31:52,115 --> 00:31:58,315 Speaker 1: win the Pennet again have collapsed. Why has the mysterious 447 00:31:58,515 --> 00:32:04,435 Speaker 1: polio germ which felled lou Geig also struck his former teammates, 448 00:32:04,835 --> 00:32:08,555 Speaker 1: turning a once great team into a floundering non contender. 449 00:32:09,635 --> 00:32:15,755 Speaker 1: According to overwhelming opinion of the medical profession, poliomylitis, similar 450 00:32:15,795 --> 00:32:22,075 Speaker 1: to infantile paralysis, is communicable. The Yanks were exposed to 451 00:32:22,115 --> 00:32:26,395 Speaker 1: it at its most acute stage. They played ball with 452 00:32:26,475 --> 00:32:29,995 Speaker 1: the afflicted Garrig, dressed and undressed in the locker room 453 00:32:30,075 --> 00:32:34,675 Speaker 1: with him, traveled, played cards and ate with him. Isn't 454 00:32:34,715 --> 00:32:41,835 Speaker 1: it possible some of them also became infected. It's hard 455 00:32:41,875 --> 00:32:47,635 Speaker 1: to believe mere coincidence can explain away the wholesale failure 456 00:32:47,675 --> 00:32:51,595 Speaker 1: of the individuals. In Gerreg's case, one of the most 457 00:32:51,595 --> 00:32:57,275 Speaker 1: prominent symptoms was loss of muscular power. The same symptom 458 00:32:57,395 --> 00:33:00,155 Speaker 1: can be found in many of the Yanks today. So far, 459 00:33:00,995 --> 00:33:04,675 Speaker 1: no one has been able to advance a satisfactory reas 460 00:33:05,235 --> 00:33:12,595 Speaker 1: it not without precedent. The possibility of wholesale team infection 461 00:33:12,715 --> 00:33:16,915 Speaker 1: is not entirely without precedent. Last fall, the Loyola University 462 00:33:16,915 --> 00:33:21,395 Speaker 1: football team was faced with the same menace from infantile paralysis, 463 00:33:21,555 --> 00:33:25,675 Speaker 1: A greatly similar disease communicated in the same manner. A 464 00:33:25,715 --> 00:33:28,955 Speaker 1: player collapsed in the dressing room was rushed to a hospital, 465 00:33:29,035 --> 00:33:32,355 Speaker 1: where it was determined he had developed paralysis. The entire 466 00:33:32,435 --> 00:33:36,835 Speaker 1: squad was quarantined and examined. Two other players were discovered 467 00:33:36,875 --> 00:33:41,235 Speaker 1: bearing the germ, caught from their unfortunate teammate. Luckily, the 468 00:33:41,315 --> 00:33:45,675 Speaker 1: infection was detected at the earliest stage. Injections killed the 469 00:33:45,715 --> 00:33:51,715 Speaker 1: germ and brought complete recovery. In the Textbook of Nervous 470 00:33:51,715 --> 00:33:55,675 Speaker 1: Disorders by Robert Bing, professor of neurology at the University 471 00:33:55,675 --> 00:34:00,355 Speaker 1: of Basel in Switzerland, are found the following pertinent facts. One, 472 00:34:00,955 --> 00:34:03,955 Speaker 1: the disease appears in a majority of cases between the 473 00:34:03,995 --> 00:34:08,635 Speaker 1: ages of thirty and fifty five. Most of the players 474 00:34:08,675 --> 00:34:11,515 Speaker 1: with the Yanks are in their thirties, with the exception 475 00:34:11,595 --> 00:34:16,115 Speaker 1: of Gordon, the others are close to them. Two. Among 476 00:34:16,275 --> 00:34:20,235 Speaker 1: causes found for the disease are over exposure to cold 477 00:34:20,355 --> 00:34:28,035 Speaker 1: and exhausting disease or capital letters over exertion. Ballplayers certainly 478 00:34:28,115 --> 00:34:31,195 Speaker 1: are called upon for more than normal exertion, as were 479 00:34:31,195 --> 00:34:34,115 Speaker 1: the Yanks at a time when they were exposed to 480 00:34:34,155 --> 00:34:39,355 Speaker 1: the germ. Three, Regarding the effect on the legs, where 481 00:34:39,395 --> 00:34:42,795 Speaker 1: it probably would be most noticeable in ballplayers for a 482 00:34:42,835 --> 00:34:46,435 Speaker 1: comparatively long period of time, the lower extremities remain normal, 483 00:34:46,475 --> 00:34:51,955 Speaker 1: except for marked exaggeration of their reflexes. Atrophy of the 484 00:34:52,035 --> 00:34:55,195 Speaker 1: leg muscles may not occur until the late stages of 485 00:34:55,235 --> 00:34:59,995 Speaker 1: the disease. Thus a player might be able to run 486 00:35:00,435 --> 00:35:03,315 Speaker 1: and move as well as ever while the germ was 487 00:35:03,395 --> 00:35:08,515 Speaker 1: sapping his strength less noticeable parts such as hands, arms, 488 00:35:08,555 --> 00:35:15,155 Speaker 1: and shoulders. Club players worried. Club officials and players have 489 00:35:15,275 --> 00:35:18,755 Speaker 1: been worried that such a general infection existed. They took 490 00:35:18,795 --> 00:35:24,555 Speaker 1: special precautionary measures to prevent it. Individual drinking cups were provided. 491 00:35:25,075 --> 00:35:28,115 Speaker 1: Each player took care to use only his own towel. 492 00:35:28,995 --> 00:35:37,275 Speaker 1: Special provisions were made for laundering uniforms and underclothing among 493 00:35:37,315 --> 00:35:40,435 Speaker 1: the players. Bill Dickey last winter made a special trip 494 00:35:40,475 --> 00:35:43,715 Speaker 1: to the Mayo Brothers Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for a 495 00:35:43,795 --> 00:35:49,195 Speaker 1: thorough physical checkup. This coming winter Atlee, Donald rad Ralph 496 00:35:49,355 --> 00:35:54,755 Speaker 1: and several others are considering similar checkups. The fear of 497 00:35:54,795 --> 00:35:57,515 Speaker 1: the disease had a psychological effect. It preyed on the 498 00:35:57,555 --> 00:36:01,475 Speaker 1: minds of the athletes. Exaggerated minor aches, pains, and ailments, 499 00:36:01,475 --> 00:36:05,475 Speaker 1: which ordinarily they would have ignored. Practically, the entire club 500 00:36:05,515 --> 00:36:09,075 Speaker 1: had noticed Gareg's symptoms, became aware of and worried about 501 00:36:09,115 --> 00:36:13,195 Speaker 1: nervous and muscular reactions they had never been conscious of previously. 502 00:36:14,595 --> 00:36:18,595 Speaker 1: Club officials believe they have finally defeated this psychological sword 503 00:36:18,635 --> 00:36:22,755 Speaker 1: of damocles. These nervous and muscular reactions could always be 504 00:36:22,795 --> 00:36:26,595 Speaker 1: traced to an injury, a slight bump or bruise. This 505 00:36:26,955 --> 00:36:31,515 Speaker 1: apparently was the savior for in Greg's case, no injury 506 00:36:31,515 --> 00:36:36,755 Speaker 1: could be traced down to explain his early symptoms. However, 507 00:36:37,675 --> 00:36:41,835 Speaker 1: the shadow of doubt must still linger, for in the 508 00:36:41,875 --> 00:36:46,835 Speaker 1: same volume by Professor Byng is this quote, I have 509 00:36:46,955 --> 00:36:51,435 Speaker 1: described a case of traumatic median neuritis which later developed 510 00:36:51,835 --> 00:36:58,835 Speaker 1: into a typical lateral ammiothrophic sclerosis. The note the latter 511 00:36:59,115 --> 00:37:02,875 Speaker 1: is the medical term for Garrig's ailment, and indicates that 512 00:37:02,955 --> 00:37:07,035 Speaker 1: the particular form of paralysis which afflicted Gerrig might develop 513 00:37:07,115 --> 00:37:17,755 Speaker 1: from neritis Alderman note no, not quite. Doctor Robert F. Walsh, 514 00:37:18,115 --> 00:37:22,515 Speaker 1: Yank physician and surgeon, and Earl V. Painter, Yank trainer, 515 00:37:23,635 --> 00:37:27,275 Speaker 1: each nationally famous in his profession, are the men closest 516 00:37:27,275 --> 00:37:30,435 Speaker 1: to the physical well being of the players. They answer 517 00:37:30,515 --> 00:37:33,675 Speaker 1: emphatically that no such condition exists on the club. Here 518 00:37:33,755 --> 00:37:36,755 Speaker 1: is doctor Walsh's opinion. Quote. Though at first there was 519 00:37:36,795 --> 00:37:40,555 Speaker 1: a very definite possibility of the entire team becoming afflicted, 520 00:37:40,915 --> 00:37:44,555 Speaker 1: there is now no indication of it. Had the disease stricken, 521 00:37:44,795 --> 00:37:47,635 Speaker 1: there would have been a noticeable change in the physical 522 00:37:47,675 --> 00:37:50,635 Speaker 1: appearance of those to whom the disease had been communicated. 523 00:37:50,875 --> 00:37:53,555 Speaker 1: There would not be the slightest doubt remaining that the 524 00:37:53,595 --> 00:38:00,595 Speaker 1: stricken individual or individuals were infected. Unquote. Medics support Walsh. 525 00:38:01,555 --> 00:38:04,795 Speaker 1: Doctor Walsh's statement is supported by the current medical belief 526 00:38:04,995 --> 00:38:07,755 Speaker 1: that the infection will reveal itself within six weeks of 527 00:38:07,755 --> 00:38:12,755 Speaker 1: the time of contact. However, with the medical profession admitting 528 00:38:12,795 --> 00:38:15,875 Speaker 1: a meager knowledge of the disease, there is the possibility 529 00:38:15,915 --> 00:38:20,155 Speaker 1: a lingering means of infection exists, that the disease may 530 00:38:20,315 --> 00:38:23,715 Speaker 1: be communicated in a different form, and that it may 531 00:38:23,755 --> 00:38:27,955 Speaker 1: be chronic as well as acute, as in Garrig's case. Thus, 532 00:38:28,235 --> 00:38:32,475 Speaker 1: the possibility that the Yanks are so infected still exists. 533 00:38:33,635 --> 00:38:38,035 Speaker 1: Doc Painter, in an equally definite denial, takes a different slant. 534 00:38:38,555 --> 00:38:41,835 Speaker 1: He says quote In view of the circumstances, I can 535 00:38:41,955 --> 00:38:45,915 Speaker 1: understand how one might be led to a plausible hypothesis 536 00:38:46,155 --> 00:38:49,715 Speaker 1: that the team has been stricken with this disease. However, 537 00:38:49,755 --> 00:38:52,675 Speaker 1: I have absolutely no belief in it. There is no 538 00:38:52,915 --> 00:38:57,275 Speaker 1: similarity between the symptoms of these individual cases and Garrigs 539 00:38:58,235 --> 00:39:01,915 Speaker 1: Lou suffered from deterioration of the nervous system. The trouble 540 00:39:01,915 --> 00:39:05,635 Speaker 1: with these other boys is something entirely different. To point 541 00:39:05,635 --> 00:39:09,275 Speaker 1: out one example, Ralph suffers from a blood rather than 542 00:39:09,275 --> 00:39:15,995 Speaker 1: a nervous disorder. Are Yanks infected? Nevertheless, there is another 543 00:39:16,115 --> 00:39:21,395 Speaker 1: point to be remembered. Gerg slipped perceptibly as a ballplayer 544 00:39:21,675 --> 00:39:26,115 Speaker 1: about mid season in nineteen thirty eight. Almost a year later, 545 00:39:26,355 --> 00:39:29,275 Speaker 1: when he reported for spring training, there was still no 546 00:39:29,435 --> 00:39:32,555 Speaker 1: suspicion he was afflicted by this disease. In fact, not 547 00:39:32,675 --> 00:39:35,955 Speaker 1: until June, when he visited the Mayo clinic was his 548 00:39:36,075 --> 00:39:42,195 Speaker 1: ailment definitely determined. All of which apparently leaves a complete 549 00:39:42,195 --> 00:39:45,795 Speaker 1: and final answer still to be made. Something has happened 550 00:39:45,835 --> 00:39:49,235 Speaker 1: to the Yanks If Greg passed through a stage in 551 00:39:49,235 --> 00:39:53,675 Speaker 1: which the cause of his ineffectiveness was undetermined, isn't it possible? 552 00:39:54,435 --> 00:40:00,075 Speaker 1: Such is also the case with many of the Yanks today. 553 00:40:02,435 --> 00:40:09,715 Speaker 1: Jimmy Powers article nineteen forty, accompanying that, by the way, 554 00:40:10,275 --> 00:40:14,635 Speaker 1: which I have spared you, was a sidebar, a two 555 00:40:14,755 --> 00:40:19,395 Speaker 1: or three line analysis of the underperformances of ten specific 556 00:40:19,475 --> 00:40:25,555 Speaker 1: Yankee players, ending in bold faced print with this final 557 00:40:25,595 --> 00:40:32,315 Speaker 1: word from Jimmy Powers. Can coincidence explain these simultaneous ailments? 558 00:40:32,795 --> 00:40:40,675 Speaker 1: Couldn't the polio germ be the common cause? No, it couldn't, 559 00:40:40,715 --> 00:40:49,075 Speaker 1: you idiot, that morning that that was published, lou Gegg 560 00:40:49,195 --> 00:40:52,595 Speaker 1: who did not have polio, who did not have the 561 00:40:52,675 --> 00:40:59,595 Speaker 1: other disease described by doctor Bing. Lou Gereg had amiotropic 562 00:40:59,675 --> 00:41:03,835 Speaker 1: lateral sclerosis, and he had two hundred and eighty nine 563 00:41:03,915 --> 00:41:08,915 Speaker 1: more days to live. Jimmy Powers was not suspended by 564 00:41:08,955 --> 00:41:11,195 Speaker 1: the New York Daily News, not demoted, not fired, not 565 00:41:11,275 --> 00:41:14,475 Speaker 1: branded with a scarlet letter a for asshole or anything else. 566 00:41:14,955 --> 00:41:17,595 Speaker 1: In fact, he became one of the first sports writers 567 00:41:17,635 --> 00:41:21,195 Speaker 1: to move into television as a commentator on NBC's Friday 568 00:41:21,235 --> 00:41:27,395 Speaker 1: Night Fights in the fifties. I did not read you 569 00:41:27,515 --> 00:41:30,395 Speaker 1: these to spoil your July fourth, nor any other of 570 00:41:30,435 --> 00:41:35,955 Speaker 1: your days, nor to darken the commemorations and remembrances of 571 00:41:36,035 --> 00:41:40,075 Speaker 1: lou Garrick. I read them just to provide a little 572 00:41:40,075 --> 00:41:43,475 Speaker 1: perspective on media and opinion and the strongest, most unstoppable 573 00:41:43,475 --> 00:41:46,675 Speaker 1: force in the world, a journalist who thinks he's right 574 00:41:47,075 --> 00:41:51,155 Speaker 1: even though everybody else around him begs him to realize 575 00:41:51,915 --> 00:41:56,515 Speaker 1: that he's wrong. Occasionally, that motivation gives us things like 576 00:41:56,555 --> 00:41:59,995 Speaker 1: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and Watergate reporting. Occasionally it 577 00:42:00,035 --> 00:42:03,795 Speaker 1: gives us Bob Woodward sitting on tapes of Trump admitting 578 00:42:03,835 --> 00:42:06,835 Speaker 1: as it began that COVID would be airborne and a disaster, 579 00:42:07,035 --> 00:42:09,235 Speaker 1: sitting on those tapes until Woodward could get himself a 580 00:42:09,235 --> 00:42:14,755 Speaker 1: book deal. And occasionally it gives us Jack Cutty implying 581 00:42:15,715 --> 00:42:20,635 Speaker 1: lou Gegg has a cold, and Jimmy Powers insisting lou 582 00:42:20,715 --> 00:42:25,395 Speaker 1: Gegg had irresponsibly infected his teammates with the disease he 583 00:42:25,435 --> 00:42:29,755 Speaker 1: didn't have, but Powers thought he did because part of 584 00:42:29,795 --> 00:42:34,435 Speaker 1: the original diagnosis included a reference to another disease with 585 00:42:34,555 --> 00:42:52,515 Speaker 1: the word polio in it. I've done all the damage 586 00:42:52,555 --> 00:42:55,195 Speaker 1: I can do here, but not as much as Jack 587 00:42:55,275 --> 00:43:01,595 Speaker 1: Cutty and Jimmy Powers. And how many Jack Cutties and 588 00:43:01,675 --> 00:43:05,195 Speaker 1: Jimmy Powers do we read every day? On power? Politics? 589 00:43:05,355 --> 00:43:09,635 Speaker 1: In this country and enjoy July fourth. I've done all 590 00:43:09,675 --> 00:43:12,115 Speaker 1: the damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. Countdown. 591 00:43:12,195 --> 00:43:15,155 Speaker 1: Musical directors Brian Ray and John Phillip Schaneil arranged, produced, 592 00:43:15,195 --> 00:43:18,555 Speaker 1: and performed most of our music. Mister Ray was on guitars, 593 00:43:18,555 --> 00:43:20,995 Speaker 1: bass and drums, and mister Shaneil handled the orchestration and 594 00:43:21,035 --> 00:43:24,435 Speaker 1: the keyboards, and it was produced by Tko Brothers. Other music, 595 00:43:24,475 --> 00:43:27,915 Speaker 1: including some of the Beethoven compositions, were arranged and performed 596 00:43:27,915 --> 00:43:30,755 Speaker 1: by the group No Horns Allowed. The sports music is 597 00:43:30,795 --> 00:43:33,995 Speaker 1: the Olberman theme from ESPN two, written by Mitch Warren 598 00:43:34,075 --> 00:43:38,195 Speaker 1: Davis Curtisy vespn inc our satirical and pithy musical comments 599 00:43:38,235 --> 00:43:41,355 Speaker 1: are band Nancy Faust, the best baseball stadium organist ever. 600 00:43:42,355 --> 00:43:44,595 Speaker 1: That's countdown for this the one hundred and twenty fifth 601 00:43:44,635 --> 00:43:48,395 Speaker 1: day until the twenty twenty four presidential election. The two 602 00:43:48,435 --> 00:43:52,275 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy seventh day since convicted fellon Donald J. 603 00:43:52,475 --> 00:43:56,155 Speaker 1: Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of 604 00:43:56,155 --> 00:44:01,195 Speaker 1: the United States. Use the July eleventh sentencing hearing, use 605 00:44:01,275 --> 00:44:05,275 Speaker 1: the mental health system, use all of it to stop 606 00:44:05,355 --> 00:44:11,675 Speaker 1: him from doing it again. While we still can. The 607 00:44:11,715 --> 00:44:15,435 Speaker 1: next scheduled countdown is Tuesday bulletins as the news warrants 608 00:44:15,915 --> 00:44:19,035 Speaker 1: until the next one. I'm Keith Olderman. Happy July fourth, 609 00:44:19,235 --> 00:44:45,275 Speaker 1: good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown 610 00:44:45,315 --> 00:44:49,075 Speaker 1: with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 611 00:44:49,155 --> 00:44:54,075 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 612 00:44:54,155 --> 00:44:55,955 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.