1 00:00:04,755 --> 00:00:08,995 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:23,035 --> 00:00:26,235 Speaker 1: I want to talk about the goal of Chief Justice 3 00:00:26,315 --> 00:00:29,875 Speaker 1: John Roberts and the scumbaggery of Sam Alito and why 4 00:00:29,915 --> 00:00:32,915 Speaker 1: they should both resign, and I will, but let me begin, 5 00:00:33,075 --> 00:00:38,355 Speaker 1: please with the late Barbara Walters. And since she died 6 00:00:38,435 --> 00:00:41,035 Speaker 1: Friday night, there has been one story after another about 7 00:00:41,515 --> 00:00:45,155 Speaker 1: Barbara Walters the groundbreaker, and Barbara Walters the feminist, and 8 00:00:45,235 --> 00:00:48,675 Speaker 1: Barbara Walters the interviewer, and Barbara Walters the role model. 9 00:00:48,715 --> 00:00:53,155 Speaker 1: And I am not seeing enough about Barbara Walters with 10 00:00:53,235 --> 00:00:59,515 Speaker 1: the proverbial large soul. Years ago, somebody disparaged her work. 11 00:00:59,595 --> 00:01:02,595 Speaker 1: I can't remember now if it was some comment made 12 00:01:02,835 --> 00:01:05,475 Speaker 1: on one of my MSNBC show or just one I 13 00:01:05,555 --> 00:01:09,675 Speaker 1: heard somewhere else scowled at and chose to attack. Either way, 14 00:01:09,955 --> 00:01:12,995 Speaker 1: I called the comment out, I ran through the reasons 15 00:01:13,035 --> 00:01:15,355 Speaker 1: I thought she should be above such criticism, and the 16 00:01:15,395 --> 00:01:17,835 Speaker 1: whole thing was over in about thirty or forty five 17 00:01:17,915 --> 00:01:22,315 Speaker 1: seconds tops. Early the next week, in the small stack 18 00:01:22,395 --> 00:01:26,355 Speaker 1: of mail appearing on my desk at MSNBC World Headquarters 19 00:01:26,395 --> 00:01:30,035 Speaker 1: in Secaucus, New Jersey, was a note in a very 20 00:01:30,075 --> 00:01:32,795 Speaker 1: expensive envelope with a very expensive New York City return 21 00:01:32,795 --> 00:01:36,195 Speaker 1: address on it, probably Central Park West. I opened it, 22 00:01:36,275 --> 00:01:38,875 Speaker 1: and to top the very expensive stationary, I saw one 23 00:01:38,955 --> 00:01:44,875 Speaker 1: name embost Barbara Walters Keith. She wrote, what a lovely 24 00:01:44,995 --> 00:01:47,555 Speaker 1: and caring gesture. I'm not as tough as I pretend 25 00:01:47,595 --> 00:01:49,835 Speaker 1: to be, and the support means the world to me. 26 00:01:49,955 --> 00:01:52,515 Speaker 1: I cannot thank you enough. Keep going the show gets 27 00:01:52,555 --> 00:01:57,315 Speaker 1: better nightly with deep admiration Barbara. Barbara Walters and I 28 00:01:57,355 --> 00:02:02,195 Speaker 1: had never met. Then years after that Tim Russer died. 29 00:02:03,035 --> 00:02:05,195 Speaker 1: I anchored the coverage that awful night, and if I 30 00:02:05,195 --> 00:02:08,475 Speaker 1: remember correctly, we got Barbara on the phone and she 31 00:02:08,675 --> 00:02:11,395 Speaker 1: was poetic about Tim, as so many of us were. 32 00:02:11,395 --> 00:02:14,515 Speaker 1: That night and the next week I traveled to Washington 33 00:02:14,555 --> 00:02:18,195 Speaker 1: to anchor the MSNBC coverage of the memorial service. It 34 00:02:18,275 --> 00:02:22,075 Speaker 1: was poignant yet fun, yet respectful, and there had to 35 00:02:22,115 --> 00:02:24,595 Speaker 1: have been a thousand reporters and politicians there, and the 36 00:02:24,635 --> 00:02:27,675 Speaker 1: moment it ended, it turned into your standard Washington social event, 37 00:02:28,115 --> 00:02:31,475 Speaker 1: which I would not wish on my worst enemy. So 38 00:02:31,515 --> 00:02:33,755 Speaker 1: sad about Tim. Did you hear what happened at the post? 39 00:02:34,955 --> 00:02:37,635 Speaker 1: I made a quick pass of the room and shook 40 00:02:37,635 --> 00:02:39,635 Speaker 1: a few hands and said a load to a few 41 00:02:39,675 --> 00:02:43,355 Speaker 1: friends and had the admittedly cool experience of being introduced 42 00:02:43,395 --> 00:02:47,875 Speaker 1: to Woodward by Bernstein. And then I was blowing out 43 00:02:47,915 --> 00:02:51,835 Speaker 1: towards the elevator when I heard a familiar voice behind me, Keith. 44 00:02:52,715 --> 00:02:56,475 Speaker 1: Two things. First off, thanks again for the support. I 45 00:02:56,555 --> 00:03:00,555 Speaker 1: drew a blank. Barbara Walters reminded me of the support details. 46 00:03:01,435 --> 00:03:04,355 Speaker 1: We are talking something that might have occurred ten years earlier. 47 00:03:04,355 --> 00:03:06,755 Speaker 1: Certain it was at least three or four years earlier, 48 00:03:06,915 --> 00:03:08,715 Speaker 1: and as I said, it took no more than forty 49 00:03:08,715 --> 00:03:13,355 Speaker 1: five seconds, she still wanted to bring it up. Secondly, 50 00:03:13,555 --> 00:03:15,835 Speaker 1: she asked, what did you think of the New Yorker. 51 00:03:16,835 --> 00:03:19,115 Speaker 1: I had been profiled in the issue that was I 52 00:03:19,155 --> 00:03:22,195 Speaker 1: think still on the stands when Tim Russer died, or 53 00:03:22,235 --> 00:03:24,515 Speaker 1: it had been on the stands a few weeks earlier. 54 00:03:24,715 --> 00:03:28,075 Speaker 1: The piece was not entirely complimentary. It was not bad, 55 00:03:28,475 --> 00:03:31,155 Speaker 1: but it had been written by the worst kind of journalists, 56 00:03:31,155 --> 00:03:34,715 Speaker 1: somebody who pretends to be your fan or supporter or 57 00:03:34,715 --> 00:03:37,555 Speaker 1: a friend of a friend. His name was Peter Boyer, 58 00:03:37,955 --> 00:03:40,035 Speaker 1: and I knew him only from a very good book 59 00:03:40,035 --> 00:03:43,035 Speaker 1: he had written about CBS News, and not that he 60 00:03:43,115 --> 00:03:47,035 Speaker 1: was a condescending conservative that I did not know. Among 61 00:03:47,155 --> 00:03:49,635 Speaker 1: other things, he had printed in The New Yorker details 62 00:03:49,635 --> 00:03:53,235 Speaker 1: about my seizure disorder and the medication I used for it, 63 00:03:53,475 --> 00:03:56,115 Speaker 1: things that I had told him off the record, to 64 00:03:56,155 --> 00:03:58,515 Speaker 1: give him a little context for a criticism. He said 65 00:03:58,515 --> 00:04:01,435 Speaker 1: he wanted to answer on my behalf. It was pretty despicable. 66 00:04:01,995 --> 00:04:05,435 Speaker 1: Turned out it was something he did a lot of anyway. 67 00:04:05,715 --> 00:04:08,355 Speaker 1: I told Barbara I was not completely happy with the article. 68 00:04:08,515 --> 00:04:11,795 Speaker 1: Nor was I, she said sharply. In fact, I called boyer, 69 00:04:11,955 --> 00:04:14,635 Speaker 1: I yelled at him. On the other hand, let me 70 00:04:14,635 --> 00:04:16,435 Speaker 1: remind you of something. They put your name on the 71 00:04:16,475 --> 00:04:20,115 Speaker 1: cover the cover of the New Yorker magazine, and at 72 00:04:20,195 --> 00:04:23,235 Speaker 1: least the copies I saw. They also stabled that paper 73 00:04:23,355 --> 00:04:26,075 Speaker 1: band to the cover, and that had your name and 74 00:04:26,115 --> 00:04:28,595 Speaker 1: the story on it, and even bigger letters cover of 75 00:04:28,635 --> 00:04:32,355 Speaker 1: the New Yorker. You cannot buy that kind of publicity. Keith, 76 00:04:32,435 --> 00:04:36,715 Speaker 1: Take the win, I laughed, Plus I did a little research. 77 00:04:37,075 --> 00:04:40,195 Speaker 1: Barbara Walters went on, You're the first person from TV 78 00:04:40,355 --> 00:04:43,395 Speaker 1: news mentioned on the cover of the New Yorker in 79 00:04:43,595 --> 00:04:48,475 Speaker 1: fifteen years. Trust me, nothing is a total victory in 80 00:04:48,555 --> 00:04:53,595 Speaker 1: this business. Take the win. She reached up and gave 81 00:04:53,635 --> 00:04:55,435 Speaker 1: me a kiss on the cheek and a professional hug, 82 00:04:55,435 --> 00:04:57,595 Speaker 1: and she shoot me away. If you're on the air tonight, 83 00:04:57,635 --> 00:05:02,155 Speaker 1: get going. It's almost five o'clock. I've told that story 84 00:05:02,195 --> 00:05:04,155 Speaker 1: a lot since it happened in two thousand eight, and 85 00:05:04,195 --> 00:05:07,155 Speaker 1: about four of the time. What I have heard then is, 86 00:05:07,595 --> 00:05:09,355 Speaker 1: you know, when the Times did a story about me, 87 00:05:09,435 --> 00:05:12,635 Speaker 1: Barbara called and said, or when Murdoch ran that hit 88 00:05:12,635 --> 00:05:15,235 Speaker 1: piece on me, Barbara wrote me and said she'd call 89 00:05:15,315 --> 00:05:19,915 Speaker 1: up the editor and screamed at him. That line she 90 00:05:19,995 --> 00:05:22,155 Speaker 1: wrote in that note to me all those years ago, 91 00:05:22,595 --> 00:05:24,675 Speaker 1: I'm not as tough as I pretend to be, and 92 00:05:24,715 --> 00:05:28,155 Speaker 1: the support means the world to me was as much 93 00:05:28,235 --> 00:05:30,915 Speaker 1: the story of Barbara Walters, I think as the breakthroughs 94 00:05:30,915 --> 00:05:33,675 Speaker 1: and the great get interviews and the glass ceiling is broken. 95 00:05:34,235 --> 00:05:38,995 Speaker 1: She had a protective and proactive empathy and in understood 96 00:05:39,035 --> 00:05:42,275 Speaker 1: and endorse the reality that none of us is as 97 00:05:42,275 --> 00:05:44,955 Speaker 1: tough as we pretend to be, and the support means 98 00:05:44,955 --> 00:05:48,875 Speaker 1: the world to us too. I am old enough to 99 00:05:48,915 --> 00:05:52,355 Speaker 1: have seen Barbara Walters on the Today Show on a 100 00:05:52,395 --> 00:05:56,595 Speaker 1: black and white TV, and to have recognized, even as 101 00:05:56,595 --> 00:06:00,555 Speaker 1: a kid, her gradual evolution from the token who got 102 00:06:00,595 --> 00:06:03,875 Speaker 1: to do the quote women's stories to the full fledged 103 00:06:03,875 --> 00:06:06,715 Speaker 1: co anchor with heavy weight news men like Hugh Downs 104 00:06:06,995 --> 00:06:10,875 Speaker 1: and Jim Hart's and Frank McGee. And I was sixteen 105 00:06:10,955 --> 00:06:14,915 Speaker 1: when the metaphorical earthquake hit TV news and run Arowag 106 00:06:15,035 --> 00:06:18,875 Speaker 1: hired her away from NBC to co anchor the ABC 107 00:06:18,995 --> 00:06:23,675 Speaker 1: Evening News run. Arowage, the inventor of ABC Sports and 108 00:06:23,715 --> 00:06:28,355 Speaker 1: the protector of Howard Cosell, had just subsumed the news 109 00:06:28,395 --> 00:06:32,635 Speaker 1: division of ABC as its chief too, and bluntly, in retrospect, 110 00:06:32,715 --> 00:06:36,315 Speaker 1: it is amazing he survived the series of mistakes he 111 00:06:36,475 --> 00:06:42,675 Speaker 1: made in hiring Barbara Walters. Make myself clear here. Hiring 112 00:06:42,715 --> 00:06:45,755 Speaker 1: Barbara Walters was not the mistake. How our ledge did 113 00:06:45,755 --> 00:06:50,395 Speaker 1: it and what he subjected her too was his mistake. Ultimately, 114 00:06:50,435 --> 00:06:52,675 Speaker 1: it worked out for her, for him and for ABC, 115 00:06:52,915 --> 00:06:55,155 Speaker 1: but that had nothing to do with him or ABC. 116 00:06:55,755 --> 00:06:58,475 Speaker 1: He hired Barbara Walters to do a job that required 117 00:06:58,515 --> 00:07:02,235 Speaker 1: the presence and skills of an anchor. Can you fill 118 00:07:02,355 --> 00:07:07,435 Speaker 1: the television screen by yourself? Can you read aloud and 119 00:07:07,795 --> 00:07:13,115 Speaker 1: on camera without looking tentative or lost or board. CBS 120 00:07:13,235 --> 00:07:15,715 Speaker 1: later did this with Katie Kuric, and it didn't work. 121 00:07:16,155 --> 00:07:20,315 Speaker 1: In sports terms, you're hiring a slugging first baseman, and 122 00:07:20,355 --> 00:07:23,395 Speaker 1: you just assume they will instantly become a star pitcher. 123 00:07:24,435 --> 00:07:28,315 Speaker 1: Barbara Walters was not an anchor. She was an interviewer, 124 00:07:28,995 --> 00:07:31,595 Speaker 1: and few were better at it, and she could appear 125 00:07:31,675 --> 00:07:34,675 Speaker 1: on camera for a few moments and stare down the audience. 126 00:07:34,955 --> 00:07:38,075 Speaker 1: But she was not an anchor. She told us all 127 00:07:38,155 --> 00:07:41,995 Speaker 1: that later. Not only did Rowage not plan for her 128 00:07:42,075 --> 00:07:45,595 Speaker 1: to do interviews as the primary job, but he stuck 129 00:07:45,595 --> 00:07:48,395 Speaker 1: her on a newscast that went through anchors the way 130 00:07:48,595 --> 00:07:53,995 Speaker 1: spinal Tap went through Drummers, ABC's most successful anchor in 131 00:07:54,075 --> 00:07:57,235 Speaker 1: its history to that point, hosted at the same time 132 00:07:57,275 --> 00:08:00,955 Speaker 1: as it hosted the ABC News, he hosted a game 133 00:08:00,995 --> 00:08:05,635 Speaker 1: show on CBS. His name was John day Lee. When 134 00:08:05,635 --> 00:08:08,635 Speaker 1: he quit in nineteen sixty, ABC then went through nine 135 00:08:08,755 --> 00:08:12,595 Speaker 1: anchors in five years. Then they hired a twenty six 136 00:08:12,635 --> 00:08:15,675 Speaker 1: year old guy from Canada named Peter Jennings, who came 137 00:08:15,715 --> 00:08:19,395 Speaker 1: across like a very sophisticated eleven year old spelling bee champion. 138 00:08:20,635 --> 00:08:23,595 Speaker 1: They sent him on a ten year tour of foreign capitals, 139 00:08:23,595 --> 00:08:25,395 Speaker 1: and a year after that they went with a veteran 140 00:08:25,435 --> 00:08:28,595 Speaker 1: newsman named Bob Young, and one day Bob Young was 141 00:08:28,675 --> 00:08:30,835 Speaker 1: pruning trees at his home and he fell from the 142 00:08:30,875 --> 00:08:33,795 Speaker 1: ladder and he was never again quite certain where he was. 143 00:08:35,715 --> 00:08:38,555 Speaker 1: By nineteen seventy six, the ABC anchor was the surly 144 00:08:38,675 --> 00:08:42,755 Speaker 1: Harry Reasoner, and without asking him first, Arledge anointed Reasoner 145 00:08:42,795 --> 00:08:46,195 Speaker 1: and Walters as co anchors, and Arlogs just assumed they 146 00:08:46,195 --> 00:08:49,955 Speaker 1: would be a happy TV couple. Reasoner did not want 147 00:08:50,035 --> 00:08:52,875 Speaker 1: a co anchor. He certainly did not want a woman 148 00:08:52,875 --> 00:08:55,635 Speaker 1: co anchor, and he particularly did not want a woman 149 00:08:55,675 --> 00:09:00,035 Speaker 1: co anchor named Barbara Walters. He literally would not say 150 00:09:00,075 --> 00:09:03,115 Speaker 1: her name nor look at her on the air. And 151 00:09:03,195 --> 00:09:07,875 Speaker 1: that was the nice assist he was to her all day. 152 00:09:08,395 --> 00:09:10,635 Speaker 1: As if it could get worse. To entice her away 153 00:09:10,635 --> 00:09:14,235 Speaker 1: from NBC, rude Ledge offered to double Barbara's salary to 154 00:09:14,355 --> 00:09:16,515 Speaker 1: a million dollars a year, and he made sure to 155 00:09:16,595 --> 00:09:21,595 Speaker 1: leak this fact to every newspaper in America. So what well? 156 00:09:21,635 --> 00:09:24,795 Speaker 1: The publicity was invaluable to our Ledge and to ABC, 157 00:09:25,075 --> 00:09:29,995 Speaker 1: and unfortunately, relative to Barbara, it was one negative. Walter 158 00:09:30,155 --> 00:09:32,795 Speaker 1: Cronkite did not make a million a year. He wasn't 159 00:09:32,835 --> 00:09:36,515 Speaker 1: making a millionaire when he retired five years later. Harry 160 00:09:36,555 --> 00:09:40,355 Speaker 1: Reasoner made two hundred thousand dollars a year. Johnny Carson, 161 00:09:40,555 --> 00:09:44,595 Speaker 1: who did four ninety minutes shows a week, was getting 162 00:09:44,635 --> 00:09:49,035 Speaker 1: two million a year from NBC. So our ledge had 163 00:09:49,115 --> 00:09:51,475 Speaker 1: made Barbara into an anchor for which she would be 164 00:09:51,555 --> 00:09:55,075 Speaker 1: widely criticized, forced her to co anchor with a misogynist 165 00:09:55,115 --> 00:09:58,475 Speaker 1: who widely criticized her on air and off, on the 166 00:09:58,555 --> 00:10:01,555 Speaker 1: record and off, and in case there was anybody left 167 00:10:01,595 --> 00:10:04,275 Speaker 1: likely to be on her side, he gave her a 168 00:10:04,315 --> 00:10:08,315 Speaker 1: record breaking salary when a million dollars was a million dollars. 169 00:10:09,915 --> 00:10:13,395 Speaker 1: Surprisingly enough, the ABC Evening News with Harry Reasoner and 170 00:10:13,435 --> 00:10:17,475 Speaker 1: Barbara Walters it didn't work out. Who would I guess that? 171 00:10:19,075 --> 00:10:22,555 Speaker 1: And for a time she was the punching bag of 172 00:10:22,635 --> 00:10:27,435 Speaker 1: television news, in fact, the punching bag of comedy, the 173 00:10:27,635 --> 00:10:32,035 Speaker 1: Baba Wawa Gilda Radner character so warmly remembered from Saturday 174 00:10:32,115 --> 00:10:34,835 Speaker 1: Night Live when it was funny. They kept bringing it 175 00:10:34,915 --> 00:10:37,075 Speaker 1: up after she died last week. Do you think they 176 00:10:37,115 --> 00:10:40,875 Speaker 1: did that character because they liked her? They did that 177 00:10:40,995 --> 00:10:46,275 Speaker 1: because Barbara Walters was the easiest target in television. And 178 00:10:46,395 --> 00:10:51,635 Speaker 1: yet from that point, from a punch line, she became 179 00:10:51,715 --> 00:10:56,275 Speaker 1: the Barbara Walters. So correctly eulogized these last three days. 180 00:10:56,315 --> 00:11:00,635 Speaker 1: She did that despite, as she wrote, me, I'm not 181 00:11:00,715 --> 00:11:02,715 Speaker 1: as tough as I pretend to be, and the support 182 00:11:02,755 --> 00:11:06,875 Speaker 1: means the world to me. The reason for Walter's newscast 183 00:11:06,995 --> 00:11:09,555 Speaker 1: ended quickly, and forced to do something else with her 184 00:11:09,835 --> 00:11:13,235 Speaker 1: and the three more years of her no cut, five year, 185 00:11:13,355 --> 00:11:16,715 Speaker 1: five million dollar contract run Arledge agreed to her idea. 186 00:11:17,155 --> 00:11:21,955 Speaker 1: The interview beat, big name breaking news interviews Sadat and Bacon, 187 00:11:22,395 --> 00:11:26,275 Speaker 1: big name celebrity interviews, Katherine Hepburn, big name hybrid interviews, 188 00:11:26,315 --> 00:11:31,355 Speaker 1: Monica Lewinsky, the rest of her story. You know, most 189 00:11:31,355 --> 00:11:34,275 Speaker 1: people in broadcasting who I have known, who have experienced 190 00:11:34,395 --> 00:11:38,275 Speaker 1: the kind of Titanic meets Iceberg moment that Barbara Walters did, 191 00:11:38,675 --> 00:11:41,875 Speaker 1: or in her case, the Titanic meets Iceberg two years 192 00:11:42,395 --> 00:11:46,595 Speaker 1: not moment, they don't respond well to that. They carry 193 00:11:46,595 --> 00:11:49,515 Speaker 1: a certain understandable bitterness. In fact, no matter how much 194 00:11:49,555 --> 00:11:54,355 Speaker 1: success they subsequently achieve, the Iceberg is never far from 195 00:11:54,395 --> 00:11:58,995 Speaker 1: their minds. So while we mourn her as a role 196 00:11:59,075 --> 00:12:02,635 Speaker 1: model and sealing shatterer, I will remember her always as 197 00:12:02,675 --> 00:12:05,675 Speaker 1: the person who, after getting freak a seed for years, 198 00:12:06,395 --> 00:12:10,875 Speaker 1: made sure that no compliment went unthanked, and who when 199 00:12:10,915 --> 00:12:13,675 Speaker 1: she sensed somebody who was not as tough as they 200 00:12:13,675 --> 00:12:17,755 Speaker 1: pretended to be needed a little help, did her best 201 00:12:17,795 --> 00:12:23,235 Speaker 1: to provide that help, to support, to reassure you trust me. 202 00:12:23,875 --> 00:12:28,275 Speaker 1: Nothing is a total victory in this business. Take the 203 00:12:28,315 --> 00:12:34,835 Speaker 1: win your memory, Barbara Walters, as they say, is a 204 00:12:34,875 --> 00:12:51,475 Speaker 1: blessing still ahead in a year when the Supreme Court, 205 00:12:51,675 --> 00:12:54,635 Speaker 1: his Supreme Court, lost its remaining legitimacy and began to 206 00:12:54,675 --> 00:12:58,315 Speaker 1: make Roger B. Tawny and the dread Scott Supreme Court 207 00:12:58,435 --> 00:13:01,875 Speaker 1: look good. By contrast, what is the new year's message 208 00:13:01,875 --> 00:13:05,595 Speaker 1: from Chief Justice John Roberts. He and Alito and the 209 00:13:05,635 --> 00:13:09,595 Speaker 1: other religious zealots are operating without fear or favor. It's 210 00:13:09,635 --> 00:13:12,995 Speaker 1: you people out there who are wrong because you're making 211 00:13:12,995 --> 00:13:17,915 Speaker 1: the justices feel unsafe by criticizing their corruption. That's next, 212 00:13:17,995 --> 00:13:35,155 Speaker 1: This is countdown. The Supreme Court struck down Roe v. 213 00:13:35,355 --> 00:13:38,435 Speaker 1: Wade last year after at least four justices lied under 214 00:13:38,435 --> 00:13:40,475 Speaker 1: oath to the Senate that it was settled law and 215 00:13:40,515 --> 00:13:42,875 Speaker 1: they would not vote to strike down Roe v. Wade. 216 00:13:43,595 --> 00:13:47,515 Speaker 1: Somebody connected to Justice Samuel Alito, we believe, leaked a 217 00:13:47,635 --> 00:13:50,435 Speaker 1: draft memorandum about that decision in order to keep the 218 00:13:50,475 --> 00:13:53,675 Speaker 1: newer religious zealots on the Court in line and not 219 00:13:53,875 --> 00:13:57,675 Speaker 1: let them compromise on the ruling. Alito has gone abroad 220 00:13:57,795 --> 00:14:00,555 Speaker 1: and publicly mocked the majority in this country as if 221 00:14:00,595 --> 00:14:04,675 Speaker 1: he owned us and the court. The Supreme Republican Religious 222 00:14:04,835 --> 00:14:07,475 Speaker 1: Court is ready to rule now on a series of 223 00:14:07,475 --> 00:14:10,435 Speaker 1: new cases that could further advance fascism in this nation. 224 00:14:11,035 --> 00:14:14,515 Speaker 1: And we learned this year that the ex cult member 225 00:14:14,595 --> 00:14:18,115 Speaker 1: wife of Justice Clarence Thomas not only texted with various 226 00:14:18,155 --> 00:14:21,275 Speaker 1: lunatics on the extreme fringes of the fringe right about 227 00:14:21,315 --> 00:14:24,555 Speaker 1: overturning the government, but sent the chief of staff to 228 00:14:24,555 --> 00:14:28,275 Speaker 1: the then president a virtual cut and pace job from 229 00:14:28,275 --> 00:14:31,275 Speaker 1: the craziest of the q and on psychos about how 230 00:14:31,355 --> 00:14:35,235 Speaker 1: quote the Biden crime family would be quote living in 231 00:14:35,355 --> 00:14:39,275 Speaker 1: barges off git Mo to face military tribunals for sedition. 232 00:14:39,795 --> 00:14:48,715 Speaker 1: But she now regrets her tone. Screw her. But Chief 233 00:14:48,755 --> 00:14:54,475 Speaker 1: Justice John Roberts knows the real victims here himself, the Thomas's, 234 00:14:54,475 --> 00:14:59,555 Speaker 1: Alito and the others. John Roberts has issued his annual 235 00:14:59,635 --> 00:15:03,315 Speaker 1: report on the state of the Federal Judiciary, and he 236 00:15:03,395 --> 00:15:06,075 Speaker 1: has ignored all of the US and instead devoted that 237 00:15:06,115 --> 00:15:11,755 Speaker 1: report entirely to something else. Quote. The law requires every 238 00:15:11,835 --> 00:15:14,635 Speaker 1: judge to swear an oath to perform his or her 239 00:15:14,835 --> 00:15:18,955 Speaker 1: work without fear or favor. But we must support judges 240 00:15:18,995 --> 00:15:23,995 Speaker 1: by ensuring their safety. A judicial system cannot and should 241 00:15:23,995 --> 00:15:29,355 Speaker 1: not live in fear. Chief Justice Roberts needs to resign. 242 00:15:30,235 --> 00:15:33,675 Speaker 1: Whatever fear he and the rest of the Supreme Court 243 00:15:33,755 --> 00:15:37,235 Speaker 1: may pretend to feel is nothing compared to the fear 244 00:15:37,275 --> 00:15:40,915 Speaker 1: of the citizens of this country, who are the justices employers. 245 00:15:41,195 --> 00:15:44,155 Speaker 1: That the Court has completely lost touch with reality and 246 00:15:44,275 --> 00:15:47,555 Speaker 1: is now merely and entirely a weaponized offshoot of the 247 00:15:47,555 --> 00:15:51,155 Speaker 1: Federalist Society, part of the far right power structure, which 248 00:15:51,155 --> 00:15:55,195 Speaker 1: has finally accelerated it's decades long goal of eliminating nearly 249 00:15:55,235 --> 00:15:57,555 Speaker 1: all of the freedoms of the United States of America. 250 00:15:58,555 --> 00:16:00,635 Speaker 1: This is not the first time I have called on 251 00:16:00,755 --> 00:16:03,555 Speaker 1: John Roberts to resign, and guess what, I doubt it 252 00:16:03,595 --> 00:16:08,395 Speaker 1: will be the last. Last September, at the tenth Circuit 253 00:16:08,435 --> 00:16:11,835 Speaker 1: Bench and Bar Conference in Colorado, Roberts first made us 254 00:16:11,875 --> 00:16:16,555 Speaker 1: realize that he is, in fact the living, breathing embodiment 255 00:16:16,675 --> 00:16:21,075 Speaker 1: of the This is fine dog in the burning room, 256 00:16:21,115 --> 00:16:26,315 Speaker 1: only He's Chief Justice. This is fine, and the room 257 00:16:26,515 --> 00:16:31,435 Speaker 1: is our nation imperiled by his Supreme Court. Simply because 258 00:16:31,635 --> 00:16:34,115 Speaker 1: people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for 259 00:16:34,235 --> 00:16:37,355 Speaker 1: questioning the legitimacy of the court. John Roberts is talking 260 00:16:37,355 --> 00:16:40,475 Speaker 1: about the blowback to the Supreme Court for having overturned 261 00:16:40,555 --> 00:16:44,075 Speaker 1: Roe v. Wade, and he is so wrong it is 262 00:16:44,115 --> 00:16:48,675 Speaker 1: nearly impossible for him to continue as Chief Justice. Firstly, 263 00:16:49,155 --> 00:16:52,155 Speaker 1: that is not the only basis for questioning legitimacy of 264 00:16:52,155 --> 00:16:54,995 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court right at the moment, John, I'll get 265 00:16:55,035 --> 00:16:58,195 Speaker 1: to that in a moment, but just as a statement, quote, 266 00:16:58,195 --> 00:17:01,115 Speaker 1: because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis 267 00:17:01,155 --> 00:17:04,155 Speaker 1: for questioning the legitimacy of the court. That is not 268 00:17:04,235 --> 00:17:09,235 Speaker 1: only nonsense, it is historically proven nonsense. There have only 269 00:17:09,275 --> 00:17:12,515 Speaker 1: been seventeen Chief Justices of the United States. You would 270 00:17:12,555 --> 00:17:16,235 Speaker 1: think one of them Roberts would know about his predecessors, 271 00:17:16,275 --> 00:17:19,435 Speaker 1: like one of them, Roger B. Tawney, who oversaw a 272 00:17:19,515 --> 00:17:23,315 Speaker 1: Supreme Court so disconnected from reality, whose opinions were so 273 00:17:23,435 --> 00:17:27,515 Speaker 1: disagreed with that they were literally ignored, and the Supreme 274 00:17:27,555 --> 00:17:31,035 Speaker 1: Court itself was irrelevant in American life for nearly a decade. 275 00:17:31,715 --> 00:17:35,755 Speaker 1: The primary decision that nearly destroyed the Tawny Supreme Court 276 00:17:35,795 --> 00:17:39,595 Speaker 1: and nearly destroyed the Supreme Court forever was dread Scott, 277 00:17:39,915 --> 00:17:43,395 Speaker 1: which forced a freeman back into slavery, as the Roberts 278 00:17:43,395 --> 00:17:46,395 Speaker 1: Court ruling on Dobbs will force American women to give 279 00:17:46,475 --> 00:17:50,795 Speaker 1: birth against their will to become breeding slaves. But there's 280 00:17:50,835 --> 00:17:54,395 Speaker 1: actually an even bigger issue than that. A title wave 281 00:17:54,835 --> 00:17:58,315 Speaker 1: is going to wash away the Roberts Supreme Court change 282 00:17:58,315 --> 00:18:01,355 Speaker 1: its size and composition at the minimum, and it will 283 00:18:01,395 --> 00:18:03,835 Speaker 1: put John Roberts next to Roger B. Tawney on the 284 00:18:03,875 --> 00:18:07,395 Speaker 1: shortlist of the most infamous Chief Justices of all time. 285 00:18:08,195 --> 00:18:12,035 Speaker 1: And he thinks it's about their verdict, not the political 286 00:18:12,115 --> 00:18:16,715 Speaker 1: corruption and subversion of the Constitution that has delegitimized his court. 287 00:18:17,355 --> 00:18:20,275 Speaker 1: Listen to more of John Roberts from this Colorado conference 288 00:18:20,275 --> 00:18:24,395 Speaker 1: over the week of the court doesn't retain its legitimate 289 00:18:24,435 --> 00:18:28,035 Speaker 1: function of interpreting the Constitution. Um, I'm not sure who 290 00:18:28,035 --> 00:18:31,995 Speaker 1: would take up that mantle. You don't want the political 291 00:18:31,995 --> 00:18:35,555 Speaker 1: branches telling you what the law is. You don't want 292 00:18:35,595 --> 00:18:39,955 Speaker 1: the political branches telling you what the law is, John Roberts, 293 00:18:39,995 --> 00:18:43,795 Speaker 1: could you be any more naive? One Supreme Court Justice 294 00:18:43,835 --> 00:18:47,595 Speaker 1: Clarence Thomas is the husband of a January six insurrectionist, 295 00:18:48,155 --> 00:18:52,675 Speaker 1: a pure example of the political branches, specifically one political 296 00:18:52,795 --> 00:18:57,115 Speaker 1: party telling you what the law is. Another Supreme Court Justice, 297 00:18:57,195 --> 00:19:00,915 Speaker 1: Neil Gorsch, has his seat solely because the political branches, 298 00:19:01,395 --> 00:19:05,155 Speaker 1: specifically one politician, the then Senate majority leader, aid up 299 00:19:05,195 --> 00:19:08,515 Speaker 1: a rule permitting him to deny even adhering to the 300 00:19:08,555 --> 00:19:12,035 Speaker 1: Supreme Court nominee of the president from the other political party. 301 00:19:12,515 --> 00:19:17,035 Speaker 1: Another Supreme Court Justice, a glorified paralegal named Amy Coney Barrett, 302 00:19:17,315 --> 00:19:20,795 Speaker 1: has her seat solely because, after promising to apply that 303 00:19:20,915 --> 00:19:25,435 Speaker 1: made up rule in all future identical circumstances, the political branches, 304 00:19:25,675 --> 00:19:29,555 Speaker 1: specifically the leading politicians of the then Senate majority lied 305 00:19:30,315 --> 00:19:33,435 Speaker 1: and did not apply that made up rule. All three 306 00:19:33,475 --> 00:19:37,355 Speaker 1: of those justices and probably a fourth lied under oath 307 00:19:37,435 --> 00:19:41,435 Speaker 1: to the Senate during their confirmation hearings. In writing the 308 00:19:41,475 --> 00:19:46,075 Speaker 1: opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. Yet another Justice, Samuel Alito, 309 00:19:46,595 --> 00:19:49,875 Speaker 1: not only cited as legal president the hallucinations of a 310 00:19:49,955 --> 00:19:54,115 Speaker 1: seventeenth century British judge who used to hang witches, but 311 00:19:54,155 --> 00:19:57,995 Speaker 1: he then gave a purely political speech in another country 312 00:19:58,355 --> 00:20:02,875 Speaker 1: mocking those in his country, our country, who disagreed with 313 00:20:02,915 --> 00:20:07,435 Speaker 1: the witch Hanger and with him and with his personal religion. 314 00:20:08,755 --> 00:20:12,835 Speaker 1: Chief Justice Roberts, you don't want the political branches telling 315 00:20:12,835 --> 00:20:16,435 Speaker 1: you what the law is. You preside over a political 316 00:20:16,595 --> 00:20:21,795 Speaker 1: whorehouse under your stewardship, Roberts, the Supreme Court has less 317 00:20:21,875 --> 00:20:25,875 Speaker 1: legal authenticity than the Shariah courts of Iran. You have 318 00:20:25,955 --> 00:20:28,715 Speaker 1: taken two hundred and thirty three years of American Supreme 319 00:20:28,755 --> 00:20:32,995 Speaker 1: Court history, which survived even Roger B. Tawney and dread Scott, 320 00:20:33,555 --> 00:20:37,355 Speaker 1: and destroyed its legitimacy. All of you are wrong on 321 00:20:37,395 --> 00:20:40,555 Speaker 1: the facts, wrong on the precedents, wrong on your understanding 322 00:20:40,675 --> 00:20:45,875 Speaker 1: of how to conduct yourselves simply as citizens of this country. 323 00:20:46,555 --> 00:20:49,595 Speaker 1: Simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a 324 00:20:49,635 --> 00:20:52,675 Speaker 1: basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court. We do 325 00:20:52,755 --> 00:20:55,835 Speaker 1: not question the legitimacy of your court, Mr Roberts, just 326 00:20:55,915 --> 00:20:58,195 Speaker 1: because of a decision that the Senate will sooner or 327 00:20:58,355 --> 00:21:02,715 Speaker 1: later erase. We question the legitimacy of your court, Mr Roberts, 328 00:21:02,955 --> 00:21:21,315 Speaker 1: because you and your court are illegitimate. What's truly amazing 329 00:21:21,315 --> 00:21:25,075 Speaker 1: about John Roberts is he's the fourth least insane member 330 00:21:25,115 --> 00:21:28,915 Speaker 1: of the Court. I mean Clarence Thomas is the eighth 331 00:21:29,035 --> 00:21:32,395 Speaker 1: least insane member of the Court, the champion, the man 332 00:21:32,435 --> 00:21:35,115 Speaker 1: who is not only intent on ending representative government in 333 00:21:35,155 --> 00:21:37,555 Speaker 1: this nation, but it's not even bothering to pretend he 334 00:21:37,715 --> 00:21:41,315 Speaker 1: is not. We will hear him mock us. Next, this 335 00:21:41,435 --> 00:21:55,995 Speaker 1: is countdown to continue on the subject of the Supreme Court. 336 00:21:56,155 --> 00:21:59,875 Speaker 1: As three begins, you would have thought John Roberts might 337 00:21:59,915 --> 00:22:05,235 Speaker 1: have mentioned in his annual report his purported investigation into 338 00:22:05,275 --> 00:22:09,715 Speaker 1: the Roe v. Wade draft leak, unless perhaps that investigation 339 00:22:09,835 --> 00:22:13,035 Speaker 1: is proving it was indeed an Alito clerk or other 340 00:22:13,115 --> 00:22:16,955 Speaker 1: ally who done it, or that the report might have 341 00:22:16,995 --> 00:22:19,475 Speaker 1: included some kind of response to the New York Times 342 00:22:19,515 --> 00:22:22,515 Speaker 1: story and the subsequent inquiry from the House and Senate 343 00:22:22,555 --> 00:22:25,475 Speaker 1: Judiciary committees that Mr Aldo has had a little trouble 344 00:22:25,555 --> 00:22:29,995 Speaker 1: keeping his fascist mouth shut. The Times rather clearly laid 345 00:22:30,035 --> 00:22:32,915 Speaker 1: out the evidence that Alito discussed the outcome of the 346 00:22:34,195 --> 00:22:38,595 Speaker 1: hobby lobby contraception case with one of the evangelicals pushing 347 00:22:38,595 --> 00:22:43,635 Speaker 1: this theocratic horsecrap before the Court issued its opinion. Quoting 348 00:22:43,875 --> 00:22:47,675 Speaker 1: the evangelical pushing the theocratic horse crap, pretty much sold 349 00:22:47,715 --> 00:22:53,995 Speaker 1: me on the time story. No crickets, well, crickets from Roberts, 350 00:22:54,355 --> 00:22:57,755 Speaker 1: crickets from anybody else interested in the American representative government 351 00:22:57,795 --> 00:23:01,475 Speaker 1: as we know it now, not crickets from the terrorist 352 00:23:01,555 --> 00:23:05,835 Speaker 1: organization that unleashed this court on an unsuspected and unprepared America, 353 00:23:06,195 --> 00:23:09,635 Speaker 1: and particularly this worm Alito. When he spoke to the 354 00:23:09,635 --> 00:23:12,795 Speaker 1: Federalist Society in November, they knew what he had done, 355 00:23:13,155 --> 00:23:15,995 Speaker 1: who he had done it for, and to which cause 356 00:23:16,075 --> 00:23:34,435 Speaker 1: he is a hero. Justice Samuel Alito is a prejudiced, dishonest, lazy, 357 00:23:34,435 --> 00:23:39,475 Speaker 1: proselytizing fraud with a Messiah complex and an agenda to 358 00:23:39,555 --> 00:23:42,795 Speaker 1: serve not the law, not the democracy, not the nation, 359 00:23:43,155 --> 00:23:47,115 Speaker 1: but to serve his own religious beliefs. He is intent 360 00:23:47,275 --> 00:23:51,835 Speaker 1: on turning the Supreme Court into the Republican Supreme Religious Court, 361 00:23:52,355 --> 00:23:55,515 Speaker 1: and intent on turning this nation into a theocracy. And 362 00:23:55,595 --> 00:24:00,035 Speaker 1: he has gotten quite a headstart on both. And yet somehow, 363 00:24:00,395 --> 00:24:04,355 Speaker 1: this week, on the eve of the investiture of Justice Jackson, 364 00:24:04,755 --> 00:24:09,875 Speaker 1: he has reached a personal new high inlow. It goes 365 00:24:09,955 --> 00:24:13,515 Speaker 1: without saying that everyone is free to express disagreement with 366 00:24:13,555 --> 00:24:17,235 Speaker 1: our decisions and to criticize our reasoning as they see 367 00:24:17,235 --> 00:24:21,315 Speaker 1: fit Alito said in response to a stark but mild 368 00:24:21,395 --> 00:24:26,275 Speaker 1: reality check from Justice Elena Kagan. But saying or implying 369 00:24:26,675 --> 00:24:31,715 Speaker 1: that the Court is becoming an illegitimate institution, or questioning 370 00:24:31,835 --> 00:24:39,875 Speaker 1: our integrity crosses an important line, Mr Alito. You have 371 00:24:40,115 --> 00:24:45,395 Speaker 1: no integrity left to be questioned. Mr Alito, Your institution 372 00:24:46,035 --> 00:24:50,555 Speaker 1: consists of at least four justices who perjured themselves under 373 00:24:50,635 --> 00:24:54,235 Speaker 1: oath to the Senate in their confirmation hearings. One of 374 00:24:54,275 --> 00:24:57,395 Speaker 1: your justice is Mr. Alito, is married to a woman 375 00:24:57,715 --> 00:25:01,875 Speaker 1: who needed to testify yesterday to the House committee investigating 376 00:25:01,915 --> 00:25:05,515 Speaker 1: the attempt to overthrow the government of the United States 377 00:25:05,555 --> 00:25:09,235 Speaker 1: by coup, and she had to reassure that committee that 378 00:25:09,275 --> 00:25:12,915 Speaker 1: she never discussed any of her involvement with her husband 379 00:25:12,955 --> 00:25:18,955 Speaker 1: the Justice. These justices, Mr Alito, are illegitimate, and they 380 00:25:18,995 --> 00:25:23,515 Speaker 1: alone would make the Court illegitimate. Mr Alito, at least 381 00:25:23,515 --> 00:25:27,555 Speaker 1: one of your justices sits with you only because of 382 00:25:27,595 --> 00:25:30,875 Speaker 1: the destruction of the Senate of the United States by 383 00:25:30,915 --> 00:25:36,155 Speaker 1: its lead Republican member. The line, Sir, was crossed when 384 00:25:36,275 --> 00:25:40,915 Speaker 1: Merrick Garland was pocket vetoed. Ever since that moment, your 385 00:25:40,955 --> 00:25:43,395 Speaker 1: institution has been nothing more than a tool of the 386 00:25:43,435 --> 00:25:46,915 Speaker 1: Republican Party, designed to use the trappings of the law 387 00:25:47,155 --> 00:25:51,475 Speaker 1: to legitimize the illegitimate, and to assert integrity when there 388 00:25:51,555 --> 00:25:58,035 Speaker 1: is nothing but corruption. Mr Alito, you are a political prostitute. 389 00:25:59,395 --> 00:26:04,315 Speaker 1: And Justice Clarence Thomas is a political prostitute. Justice Neil 390 00:26:04,395 --> 00:26:08,915 Speaker 1: Gore Sitch is a political prostitute. Justice Brett Kavanaugh is 391 00:26:08,955 --> 00:26:14,275 Speaker 1: a political prostitute. Justice Amy Coney Barrett is a political prostitute. 392 00:26:14,555 --> 00:26:21,355 Speaker 1: Chief Justice John Roberts is a political prostitute. Whatever you 393 00:26:21,515 --> 00:26:25,795 Speaker 1: once aspired to, Mr Alito, whatever you believed you had 394 00:26:25,875 --> 00:26:28,755 Speaker 1: become when you were given your seat, whatever dignity or 395 00:26:28,795 --> 00:26:32,195 Speaker 1: respect you thought you were now owed, you have long 396 00:26:32,275 --> 00:26:37,075 Speaker 1: since forfeited, and forfeited beyond the most remote possibility of reclamation. 397 00:26:37,995 --> 00:26:42,235 Speaker 1: You and that room full of partisan hacks have destroyed 398 00:26:42,315 --> 00:26:45,115 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court of the United States, And had you 399 00:26:45,195 --> 00:26:49,715 Speaker 1: either intelligence or dignity, you would resign and devote the 400 00:26:49,755 --> 00:26:53,075 Speaker 1: rest of your life to seeking forgiveness for the damage 401 00:26:53,115 --> 00:26:55,875 Speaker 1: you have personally inflicted up on this nation in the 402 00:26:55,955 --> 00:27:00,395 Speaker 1: name of a corrupt and morally bankrupt political party, and 403 00:27:00,475 --> 00:27:04,115 Speaker 1: in the name of religion, not just your religion, but 404 00:27:04,275 --> 00:27:08,595 Speaker 1: all religions, which, whatever else it is or is not. 405 00:27:08,955 --> 00:27:13,915 Speaker 1: Is just a belief, just a hope, just a wish, 406 00:27:14,195 --> 00:27:21,235 Speaker 1: perhaps more reliable than a horoscope, but perhaps not. Two 407 00:27:21,475 --> 00:27:26,915 Speaker 1: years ago, sixty seven percent of this country said it 408 00:27:26,995 --> 00:27:30,075 Speaker 1: had a great deal or fair amount of trust in 409 00:27:30,115 --> 00:27:34,235 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. Last year that number was still fifty 410 00:27:34,275 --> 00:27:38,475 Speaker 1: four percent. As of a Gallop poll released yesterday, it 411 00:27:38,595 --> 00:27:42,835 Speaker 1: is now forty seven percent. The Court's job approval in 412 00:27:42,915 --> 00:27:49,595 Speaker 1: twenty was percent it is now. The political majority has 413 00:27:49,595 --> 00:27:53,395 Speaker 1: not changed on the Court since. Indeed it has not 414 00:27:53,555 --> 00:27:58,955 Speaker 1: changed since the citizens of this country have not politicized 415 00:27:59,035 --> 00:28:01,955 Speaker 1: their view of you and the Court, Mr Aldo. It 416 00:28:02,115 --> 00:28:05,475 Speaker 1: is you and the frauds with whom you sit who 417 00:28:05,515 --> 00:28:09,755 Speaker 1: have politicized the Court beyond this nation's ability to withstand 418 00:28:09,795 --> 00:28:13,075 Speaker 1: it anymore. And it is you and the frauds with 419 00:28:13,115 --> 00:28:16,835 Speaker 1: whom you sit who have now substituted the Bible for 420 00:28:16,915 --> 00:28:22,675 Speaker 1: the law book. Saying or implying that the Court is 421 00:28:22,755 --> 00:28:29,235 Speaker 1: becoming an illegitimate institution, or questioning our integrity crosses an 422 00:28:29,275 --> 00:28:35,635 Speaker 1: important line. No one has said this, Mr Alito, but 423 00:28:35,795 --> 00:28:39,875 Speaker 1: you and the charlatan's in robes around you have accomplished this. 424 00:28:40,315 --> 00:28:43,875 Speaker 1: You are the assassins of your own institution, and you 425 00:28:43,915 --> 00:28:47,195 Speaker 1: are the murderers of your own integrity, and you are 426 00:28:47,235 --> 00:28:51,555 Speaker 1: the erasers of the most important line between legal impartiality 427 00:28:51,755 --> 00:28:58,875 Speaker 1: and political fuggery. The very worst moments, said Justice Cagan, 428 00:28:58,955 --> 00:29:02,235 Speaker 1: of the Court's history, have been times when judges have 429 00:29:02,595 --> 00:29:07,195 Speaker 1: even essentially reflected one parties or one ideology set of 430 00:29:07,275 --> 00:29:10,715 Speaker 1: views in their legal decisions. The thing that builds up 431 00:29:10,795 --> 00:29:15,075 Speaker 1: reservoirs of public confidence is the court acting like a 432 00:29:15,235 --> 00:29:20,275 Speaker 1: court and not acting like an extension of the political process. 433 00:29:20,395 --> 00:29:24,515 Speaker 1: If over time the court loses all connection with the 434 00:29:24,555 --> 00:29:28,395 Speaker 1: public and with public sentiment, that is a dangerous thing 435 00:29:28,475 --> 00:29:35,435 Speaker 1: for democracy. To that judicious, polite, almost milk toast recitation 436 00:29:35,475 --> 00:29:39,235 Speaker 1: of facts from Justice Kagan, You, Mr Alito, decided you 437 00:29:39,315 --> 00:29:42,875 Speaker 1: needed to try to metaphorically martyr yourself and to threaten 438 00:29:42,995 --> 00:29:45,995 Speaker 1: this country for having had the nerve to recognize your 439 00:29:46,075 --> 00:29:50,795 Speaker 1: illegitimacy and the audacity to question what had been your integrity. 440 00:29:54,155 --> 00:29:57,835 Speaker 1: The Alito Court, and make no mistake, it is his court, 441 00:29:57,915 --> 00:30:02,075 Speaker 1: John Roberts is sinking into utter irrelevance. The Alito Court 442 00:30:02,275 --> 00:30:05,395 Speaker 1: is to hear cases starting next month that could roll 443 00:30:05,475 --> 00:30:10,635 Speaker 1: back affirmative action in the admissions offices at Harvard and 444 00:30:10,635 --> 00:30:14,035 Speaker 1: the University of North Carolina, and thus at every American 445 00:30:14,035 --> 00:30:18,435 Speaker 1: college and university. The Court may circumscribe the Voting Rights 446 00:30:18,475 --> 00:30:23,355 Speaker 1: Act as it pertains to draw in congressional districts and 447 00:30:23,475 --> 00:30:27,355 Speaker 1: African American voters. It may rule to permit rogue state 448 00:30:27,475 --> 00:30:33,435 Speaker 1: legislatures to eliminate election results at will. It may repeal 449 00:30:33,595 --> 00:30:38,475 Speaker 1: laws that protect lgbt Q customers from discrimination by businesses. 450 00:30:39,875 --> 00:30:44,435 Speaker 1: Do we expect the Alito Court will examine legal precedents 451 00:30:45,395 --> 00:30:51,915 Speaker 1: or the opinions of televangelists. You probably already know of 452 00:30:51,955 --> 00:30:55,155 Speaker 1: Alito's speech in Rome in July at the Notre Dame 453 00:30:55,235 --> 00:30:59,555 Speaker 1: Religious Freedom Summit, which, as with most religious conferences, is 454 00:30:59,595 --> 00:31:02,995 Speaker 1: misnamed and was actually the Notre Dame Religious You have 455 00:31:03,155 --> 00:31:07,475 Speaker 1: no freedom but to obey us summit. You probably heard 456 00:31:07,555 --> 00:31:10,235 Speaker 1: him mock the world leaders who were appalled by the 457 00:31:10,275 --> 00:31:14,355 Speaker 1: courts dishonest overturning of Roe v. Wade, with its reliance 458 00:31:14,395 --> 00:31:17,035 Speaker 1: on the legal wisdom of a judge who used to 459 00:31:17,155 --> 00:31:21,475 Speaker 1: oversee the hanging of witches. You may have heard him 460 00:31:21,595 --> 00:31:27,155 Speaker 1: bash secular values and the quote new Moral Code, but 461 00:31:27,275 --> 00:31:31,835 Speaker 1: you probably did not hear him tell this meaningless anecdote 462 00:31:32,595 --> 00:31:34,995 Speaker 1: which he told with the gravity of someone who has 463 00:31:35,115 --> 00:31:40,635 Speaker 1: just watched the burning of an original copy of the Constitution. 464 00:31:41,435 --> 00:31:44,755 Speaker 1: I'm reminded of an experience I had a number of 465 00:31:44,835 --> 00:31:51,315 Speaker 1: years ago in a museum in um in Berlin. One 466 00:31:51,355 --> 00:31:57,275 Speaker 1: of the exhibits was a rustic wooden cross. A young uh, 467 00:31:57,435 --> 00:32:00,355 Speaker 1: an effluent woman, a well dressed woman, and a young 468 00:32:00,395 --> 00:32:05,035 Speaker 1: boy were looking at this exhibit, and the young boy 469 00:32:05,195 --> 00:32:08,915 Speaker 1: he turned to the woman, presumably his mother, and said, 470 00:32:09,435 --> 00:32:13,275 Speaker 1: who is that man? That memory has stuck in my 471 00:32:13,395 --> 00:32:17,475 Speaker 1: mind as a harbinger of what may lie ahead for 472 00:32:17,595 --> 00:32:22,075 Speaker 1: our culture. Samuel Alito believes it is his job. It 473 00:32:22,195 --> 00:32:24,795 Speaker 1: is the job of an American judge. It is the 474 00:32:24,915 --> 00:32:27,675 Speaker 1: job of the Supreme Court. It is the job of 475 00:32:27,715 --> 00:32:32,235 Speaker 1: the United States of America government to force its citizens 476 00:32:32,275 --> 00:32:36,195 Speaker 1: to be able to identify a man on a cross 477 00:32:36,275 --> 00:32:40,315 Speaker 1: who may or may not have ever existed, To force 478 00:32:40,435 --> 00:32:44,275 Speaker 1: them to honor the businesses that have built themselves into 479 00:32:44,355 --> 00:32:49,675 Speaker 1: world influencing powers by attributing quotes to this potentially fictional character, 480 00:32:50,035 --> 00:32:53,755 Speaker 1: and to defer to the interpretations of what this man, 481 00:32:53,875 --> 00:32:57,755 Speaker 1: who may or may not have ever lived, had to 482 00:32:57,835 --> 00:33:00,555 Speaker 1: say about what the laws of the United States of 483 00:33:00,555 --> 00:33:03,755 Speaker 1: America should be and who the President of the United 484 00:33:03,795 --> 00:33:08,155 Speaker 1: States of America should be. Mr Alito, that rustic wouldn't 485 00:33:08,195 --> 00:33:10,915 Speaker 1: cross I have a suggestion where you can put it. 486 00:33:13,355 --> 00:33:16,315 Speaker 1: There is one last vital point about what Samuel Alito 487 00:33:16,435 --> 00:33:20,755 Speaker 1: said and the danger it represents and the necessity for 488 00:33:20,835 --> 00:33:26,875 Speaker 1: action that it causes. When Alito says, questioning the court's 489 00:33:26,995 --> 00:33:34,795 Speaker 1: integrity quote crosses an important line? What line does he mean? 490 00:33:36,355 --> 00:33:40,675 Speaker 1: What also does he believe should be done after whatever 491 00:33:40,715 --> 00:33:46,155 Speaker 1: that line is is crossed? I believe the answer is 492 00:33:46,275 --> 00:33:51,355 Speaker 1: far more ominous than is currently being recognized. On June 493 00:33:51,475 --> 00:33:56,435 Speaker 1: this year, I tweeted, forgive the self quote it has 494 00:33:56,475 --> 00:34:00,315 Speaker 1: become necessary to dissolve the Supreme Court of the United States. 495 00:34:00,675 --> 00:34:03,355 Speaker 1: The first step is for a state the court has 496 00:34:03,395 --> 00:34:07,515 Speaker 1: now forced guns of onon to ignore this ruling. Great 497 00:34:07,955 --> 00:34:11,075 Speaker 1: your court, Why and how do you think you can 498 00:34:11,195 --> 00:34:18,595 Speaker 1: enforce your rulings? Hashtag ignore the Court? It's a tweet. 499 00:34:20,235 --> 00:34:24,035 Speaker 1: Three days later, on June, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida 500 00:34:24,115 --> 00:34:28,835 Speaker 1: retweeted my remarks and added quote, it is a federal 501 00:34:28,955 --> 00:34:34,355 Speaker 1: offense to incite rebellion or insurrection against the authority of 502 00:34:34,395 --> 00:34:41,075 Speaker 1: the United States or the laws there of what Rubio 503 00:34:41,235 --> 00:34:44,875 Speaker 1: all but said there. What Alito has opaquely danced around 504 00:34:44,915 --> 00:34:48,675 Speaker 1: when asserting the questioning the Court's integrity crosses an important 505 00:34:48,755 --> 00:34:53,875 Speaker 1: line is that they intend not just to suppress criticism 506 00:34:53,915 --> 00:34:58,475 Speaker 1: of a corrupt, prostituted Supreme Court, but to criminalize it. 507 00:34:59,835 --> 00:35:04,555 Speaker 1: If Marco Rubio can look at a tweet calling for 508 00:35:04,795 --> 00:35:07,515 Speaker 1: states to ignore court rulings, which is one of the 509 00:35:07,555 --> 00:35:10,955 Speaker 1: court values of his Republican party, if he can do 510 00:35:10,995 --> 00:35:15,635 Speaker 1: that and apply that I am guilty of inciting rebellion 511 00:35:15,835 --> 00:35:21,355 Speaker 1: and insurrection by tweeting, then, unfortunately, we have to take 512 00:35:21,355 --> 00:35:25,155 Speaker 1: Aldo's reference to saying or implying that the Court is 513 00:35:25,195 --> 00:35:30,555 Speaker 1: becoming an illegitimate institution, or questioning our integrity crosses an 514 00:35:30,595 --> 00:35:38,275 Speaker 1: important line. Not as a defensive holier than Thou spasm, 515 00:35:38,275 --> 00:35:50,835 Speaker 1: but as a threat to every one of us. I've 516 00:35:50,875 --> 00:35:52,635 Speaker 1: done all the damage I can do here. Thank you 517 00:35:52,675 --> 00:35:55,315 Speaker 1: for listening. If you're not following or subscribing to the podcast, 518 00:35:55,355 --> 00:35:57,995 Speaker 1: please do so. You do not have to use your 519 00:35:57,995 --> 00:36:01,395 Speaker 1: own name, I am told. Here are our credits. Most 520 00:36:01,395 --> 00:36:04,275 Speaker 1: of the music, including our theme from Beethoven's Ninth, was arranged, 521 00:36:04,315 --> 00:36:06,915 Speaker 1: produced and performed by Brian Ray and John Philip Chanelle. 522 00:36:07,195 --> 00:36:10,715 Speaker 1: They are the Countdown musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards 523 00:36:10,715 --> 00:36:14,315 Speaker 1: by John Philip Chanelle, guitars, bass and drums by Brian Ray, 524 00:36:14,715 --> 00:36:17,795 Speaker 1: produced by T k O Brothers. Another Beethoven selections have 525 00:36:17,875 --> 00:36:21,035 Speaker 1: been arranged and performed by No Horns Allowed. The sports 526 00:36:21,075 --> 00:36:23,755 Speaker 1: music is the Old Woman theme from ESPN two. It 527 00:36:23,835 --> 00:36:27,075 Speaker 1: was written by Mitch Warren Davis. It appears courtesy of ESPN, Inc. 528 00:36:27,515 --> 00:36:30,995 Speaker 1: Musical comments from Nancy Fausts, the best baseball stadium organist ever. 529 00:36:31,715 --> 00:36:34,755 Speaker 1: Everything else is pretty much my fault. So let's countdown 530 00:36:34,755 --> 00:36:38,315 Speaker 1: for this the seven seven day since Donald Trump's first 531 00:36:38,355 --> 00:36:41,595 Speaker 1: attempted coup against the democratically elected government of the United States. 532 00:36:41,955 --> 00:36:45,595 Speaker 1: Arrest him now while we still can. A new edition 533 00:36:45,635 --> 00:36:48,555 Speaker 1: tomorrow as we resume the regular five day a week schedule. 534 00:36:48,635 --> 00:36:51,995 Speaker 1: Until then, I'm Keith Olberman. Good morning, good afternoon, good night, 535 00:36:52,555 --> 00:37:09,955 Speaker 1: and good luck. Countdown with Keith Alderman is a production 536 00:37:10,115 --> 00:37:13,715 Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 537 00:37:13,915 --> 00:37:17,435 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 538 00:37:17,515 --> 00:37:18,875 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.