1 00:00:04,835 --> 00:00:22,835 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. Now 2 00:00:22,875 --> 00:00:26,875 Speaker 1: the Trump has started down the path to purges of 3 00:00:26,915 --> 00:00:31,235 Speaker 1: the military, to political prosecutions, and to show trials. Now 4 00:00:31,275 --> 00:00:35,075 Speaker 1: that his fascists have actually leaked plans to court martial 5 00:00:35,115 --> 00:00:39,435 Speaker 1: and even seek treason charges against army leadership and even 6 00:00:39,515 --> 00:00:45,675 Speaker 1: retired generals, President Biden has to proactively pardon all of them. 7 00:00:46,275 --> 00:00:48,595 Speaker 1: In point, in fact, President Biden must now assemble a 8 00:00:48,635 --> 00:00:52,715 Speaker 1: list of thousands of people to pardon. People in the military, 9 00:00:52,875 --> 00:00:56,715 Speaker 1: in the Democratic Party, in state and local governments, in elections, 10 00:00:56,795 --> 00:01:00,355 Speaker 1: supervision in the media, in the protest movements, in the 11 00:01:00,435 --> 00:01:04,395 Speaker 1: climate movement, people in any of the fields this psycho 12 00:01:04,435 --> 00:01:08,875 Speaker 1: path Trump thinks wronged him and against which he is 13 00:01:08,915 --> 00:01:13,555 Speaker 1: not only plotting retribution but is now actively planning it. 14 00:01:14,515 --> 00:01:20,035 Speaker 1: Thousands of pardons, tens of thousands of pardons. They should 15 00:01:20,035 --> 00:01:23,835 Speaker 1: be as easy and as available from the Biden administration 16 00:01:24,035 --> 00:01:27,835 Speaker 1: as vaccinations, and they should be as free of stigma 17 00:01:28,075 --> 00:01:30,995 Speaker 1: in exactly the same way the vaccinations are to those 18 00:01:30,995 --> 00:01:35,875 Speaker 1: who understand the mortal danger that the worm eaten side 19 00:01:35,955 --> 00:01:41,555 Speaker 1: show Bob F. Kennedy Junior represents to this country. It 20 00:01:41,675 --> 00:01:47,995 Speaker 1: is a moral imperative that Joe Biden literally prioritize this 21 00:01:48,195 --> 00:01:53,875 Speaker 1: list of pardons above everything else right now, everything else 22 00:01:53,955 --> 00:01:58,435 Speaker 1: except perhaps his own consideration of the larger question that 23 00:01:58,555 --> 00:02:02,835 Speaker 1: Trump's desire to purge anybody from the military who isn't 24 00:02:02,875 --> 00:02:07,155 Speaker 1: personally loyal to him, and desire to purge anybody from 25 00:02:07,195 --> 00:02:10,355 Speaker 1: government who isn't personally loyal to him, and Trump's intention 26 00:02:10,635 --> 00:02:14,435 Speaker 1: to starve any city or county or state that does 27 00:02:14,475 --> 00:02:19,035 Speaker 1: not become personally loyal to him. Joe Biden must ask 28 00:02:19,155 --> 00:02:23,795 Speaker 1: himself if it is morally defensible to turn this country 29 00:02:23,875 --> 00:02:28,275 Speaker 1: over to a madman not just talking about destroying this 30 00:02:28,435 --> 00:02:33,715 Speaker 1: country and killing its people by astonishingly varietous means, but 31 00:02:33,835 --> 00:02:38,475 Speaker 1: one who is already starting to make this happen. Joe 32 00:02:38,515 --> 00:02:41,755 Speaker 1: Biden must ask if there are other actions to take 33 00:02:42,435 --> 00:02:46,395 Speaker 1: rather than hand Trump the weapons with which to institute 34 00:02:46,715 --> 00:02:53,355 Speaker 1: dictatorship and mass death. That is for the President and 35 00:02:53,435 --> 00:02:59,595 Speaker 1: his conscience and his prayers and his God to decide 36 00:02:59,715 --> 00:03:02,555 Speaker 1: as for the immediate crisis before us. Right now, NBC 37 00:03:02,715 --> 00:03:06,315 Speaker 1: News is reporting quote the Trump transition team is compiling 38 00:03:06,355 --> 00:03:10,195 Speaker 1: a list of senior, current and former US military officers 39 00:03:10,315 --> 00:03:13,675 Speaker 1: who were directly involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and 40 00:03:13,835 --> 00:03:17,835 Speaker 1: exploring whether they could be court martialed for their involvement. 41 00:03:18,115 --> 00:03:20,555 Speaker 1: According to a US official and a person familiar with 42 00:03:20,595 --> 00:03:25,035 Speaker 1: the plan, officials working on the transition are considering creating 43 00:03:25,155 --> 00:03:30,075 Speaker 1: a commission to investigate the twenty twenty one withdrawal and 44 00:03:30,195 --> 00:03:33,195 Speaker 1: whether the military leaders could be eligible for charges as 45 00:03:33,235 --> 00:03:38,155 Speaker 1: serious as treason. They're taking it very seriously, the person 46 00:03:38,195 --> 00:03:42,915 Speaker 1: with knowledge of the plan said. Matt Flynn, a former 47 00:03:43,035 --> 00:03:47,835 Speaker 1: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counter Narcotics and Global Threats, 48 00:03:48,155 --> 00:03:51,635 Speaker 1: is helping lead the effort. The sources said. It is 49 00:03:51,675 --> 00:03:54,475 Speaker 1: being framed as a review of how the US first 50 00:03:54,595 --> 00:03:57,595 Speaker 1: got into the war in Afghanistan and how the US 51 00:03:57,675 --> 00:04:04,515 Speaker 1: ultimately withdrew. Quoting NBC News, the lawyer for this Flynn, this, 52 00:04:05,075 --> 00:04:09,755 Speaker 1: Flynn denies any involvement in this or in the Trump 53 00:04:09,795 --> 00:04:14,395 Speaker 1: transition team. The answer to how we got in, of course, 54 00:04:14,475 --> 00:04:18,035 Speaker 1: is that George W. Bush correctly sent troops to Afghanistan 55 00:04:18,115 --> 00:04:21,315 Speaker 1: after nine to eleven to destabilize Al Qaeda's base there, 56 00:04:21,755 --> 00:04:25,075 Speaker 1: and then he saw the chance to pretend that the 57 00:04:25,115 --> 00:04:29,115 Speaker 1: real culprit was Iraq, and the mission was thereafter doomed 58 00:04:29,235 --> 00:04:33,995 Speaker 1: to incompleteness. The answer to how we withdrew from Afghanistan, 59 00:04:33,995 --> 00:04:35,875 Speaker 1: of course, is that, in order to look like a 60 00:04:35,955 --> 00:04:39,155 Speaker 1: peacemaker and to win a few votes somewhere, Trump made 61 00:04:39,195 --> 00:04:44,235 Speaker 1: a nightmarishly bad deal with Taliban terrorists, having already invited 62 00:04:44,275 --> 00:04:47,675 Speaker 1: them to go to Camp David, and arranged for five 63 00:04:47,715 --> 00:04:51,195 Speaker 1: thousand of their worst scum to be released from captivity, 64 00:04:51,835 --> 00:04:55,635 Speaker 1: which left Afghanistan undefended in essence, and left Joe Biden 65 00:04:55,715 --> 00:04:58,475 Speaker 1: with no chance other than to get out as fast 66 00:04:58,675 --> 00:05:02,435 Speaker 1: as he could. If there should be anybody on trial 67 00:05:02,435 --> 00:05:06,555 Speaker 1: for Malfeasan's or misconduct or tree reason over the Afghanistan withdrawal, 68 00:05:06,635 --> 00:05:09,275 Speaker 1: it is Trump, And that, of course is part of 69 00:05:09,315 --> 00:05:12,435 Speaker 1: the point. In a dictatorship, there is not just one 70 00:05:12,515 --> 00:05:17,595 Speaker 1: man rule, but anybody but that one man blame. All 71 00:05:17,715 --> 00:05:22,555 Speaker 1: those who recognize the dictator's failures must be silenced, and 72 00:05:22,675 --> 00:05:25,875 Speaker 1: some of them must publicly take the fall for him, 73 00:05:26,075 --> 00:05:28,675 Speaker 1: no matter how many lies must be told to make 74 00:05:28,715 --> 00:05:32,315 Speaker 1: that happen. But even that is not the largest point. 75 00:05:32,715 --> 00:05:35,875 Speaker 1: The largest point is that these are the first notes 76 00:05:36,195 --> 00:05:40,875 Speaker 1: of the symphony of destruction that Trump intends to create. 77 00:05:41,075 --> 00:05:45,835 Speaker 1: A commission is to create a kind of permanent platform 78 00:05:46,435 --> 00:05:50,155 Speaker 1: for show trials. Show trials of the military first because 79 00:05:50,355 --> 00:05:56,115 Speaker 1: loyalty and conduct there are so easily assessed, then later 80 00:05:56,475 --> 00:06:03,555 Speaker 1: show trials for civilians in any field. The perpetual rooting 81 00:06:03,595 --> 00:06:07,275 Speaker 1: out of supposed loyalty and treason and not failure but 82 00:06:07,475 --> 00:06:11,315 Speaker 1: sabotage has been part and parcel of every dictatorship since 83 00:06:11,395 --> 00:06:15,355 Speaker 1: ancient Rome. It was the essence of the Soviet state. 84 00:06:15,915 --> 00:06:19,355 Speaker 1: It was the backbone of Hitler's Reich. It was previewed 85 00:06:19,395 --> 00:06:23,595 Speaker 1: for us in the endless hearings by Jamie Comer in 86 00:06:23,635 --> 00:06:27,235 Speaker 1: the House of Representatives in the last two years. But 87 00:06:27,395 --> 00:06:32,755 Speaker 1: still further, as NBC reports, to recall former military leaders 88 00:06:32,755 --> 00:06:36,435 Speaker 1: in order to court martial them is a step beyond 89 00:06:36,915 --> 00:06:40,795 Speaker 1: that is done to smear the entirety of the non 90 00:06:41,355 --> 00:06:45,075 Speaker 1: Trump history of this country, to make distinctions not just 91 00:06:45,155 --> 00:06:48,955 Speaker 1: between Republicans and Democrats, and Trumpets and never Trumpers, but 92 00:06:49,035 --> 00:06:53,715 Speaker 1: between Trump and every other political and governmental figure in 93 00:06:53,795 --> 00:06:58,155 Speaker 1: at least our recent history. If the NBC report is correct, 94 00:06:58,595 --> 00:07:01,795 Speaker 1: and the Afghanistan Star Chamber would address not just the 95 00:07:01,875 --> 00:07:04,955 Speaker 1: withdrawal but also the decision to go in all of 96 00:07:04,955 --> 00:07:09,555 Speaker 1: a sudden, Trump's scapegoat hunters will be going after George W. 97 00:07:09,675 --> 00:07:15,755 Speaker 1: Bush and the neo cons and Liz Cheney's father, and 98 00:07:15,795 --> 00:07:17,875 Speaker 1: doing so for what might have been the one thing 99 00:07:17,915 --> 00:07:24,675 Speaker 1: they actually got right. And even beyond that, there is 100 00:07:24,715 --> 00:07:26,795 Speaker 1: in this the opening salvo in the attempt to do 101 00:07:26,915 --> 00:07:29,635 Speaker 1: to the military what Trump has long since promised to 102 00:07:29,675 --> 00:07:33,355 Speaker 1: do to the federal government and to local police around 103 00:07:33,395 --> 00:07:39,675 Speaker 1: the country, to make them loyal to him and him alone. 104 00:07:39,875 --> 00:07:43,475 Speaker 1: I'll quote again from the NBC story. It's not clear 105 00:07:43,515 --> 00:07:47,235 Speaker 1: that Trump administration would pursue treason charges and instead could 106 00:07:47,235 --> 00:07:52,555 Speaker 1: focus on lesser charges that highlight the officer's involvement. They 107 00:07:52,635 --> 00:07:57,515 Speaker 1: want to set an example, said the person with knowledge 108 00:07:57,595 --> 00:08:03,155 Speaker 1: of the plant. They would in fact be setting multiple 109 00:08:03,275 --> 00:08:06,475 Speaker 1: kinds of examples, not just to military personnel who might 110 00:08:06,635 --> 00:08:10,555 Speaker 1: hesitate someday to commit the illegal acts and murders Trump will, 111 00:08:10,555 --> 00:08:14,475 Speaker 1: no doubt order through his minions, but also an example 112 00:08:14,515 --> 00:08:19,475 Speaker 1: of how to frighten and purge and make political hay 113 00:08:20,115 --> 00:08:22,915 Speaker 1: out of anybody in any public position and eventually in 114 00:08:22,955 --> 00:08:29,235 Speaker 1: any private position in this country. This Afghanistan story is 115 00:08:29,315 --> 00:08:34,955 Speaker 1: a blueprint for governmental terror in this country starting two 116 00:08:34,955 --> 00:08:41,355 Speaker 1: months from Wednesday. This is why Biden must act immediately 117 00:08:41,835 --> 00:08:46,795 Speaker 1: pardon anybody who will accept one blanket, blanket pardons for 118 00:08:46,915 --> 00:08:50,035 Speaker 1: all acts. I want so many pardons that they have 119 00:08:50,075 --> 00:08:52,635 Speaker 1: to open up the government printing office twenty four to seven. 120 00:08:52,755 --> 00:08:55,635 Speaker 1: I want them so commonplace that each of my dogs 121 00:08:55,715 --> 00:08:58,955 Speaker 1: gets one, and the onus is erased by the sheer 122 00:08:59,155 --> 00:09:02,755 Speaker 1: number of pardon recipients. And yes, the president needs to 123 00:09:02,795 --> 00:09:06,115 Speaker 1: pardon everybody in his own face family, and in Bill 124 00:09:06,155 --> 00:09:10,515 Speaker 1: Clinton's family, and Barack Obama's family, and Kamala Harris's family, 125 00:09:12,275 --> 00:09:18,475 Speaker 1: and god knows how many other loyal families. Incidentally, it 126 00:09:18,555 --> 00:09:23,195 Speaker 1: is not a coincidence that this obscure, greasy scumbag heg Seth, 127 00:09:23,995 --> 00:09:26,995 Speaker 1: whom Trump wants as Secretary of Defense, wrote a book 128 00:09:27,595 --> 00:09:34,635 Speaker 1: blaming Pentagon leadership for the heartrending Afghanistan withdrawal. Heg Seth is, 129 00:09:34,835 --> 00:09:38,555 Speaker 1: as I record, this still Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, 130 00:09:38,835 --> 00:09:41,395 Speaker 1: but it certainly looks like he is the first of 131 00:09:41,475 --> 00:09:45,475 Speaker 1: the team of trifles that Trump would throw under the bus. 132 00:09:46,435 --> 00:09:50,715 Speaker 1: The Washington Post reports that Hegseth, quoting them, paid a 133 00:09:50,755 --> 00:09:53,435 Speaker 1: woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of 134 00:09:53,435 --> 00:09:56,555 Speaker 1: a non disclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter 135 00:09:56,675 --> 00:09:59,715 Speaker 1: was consensual. According to a statement from his lawyer's Saturday 136 00:10:00,035 --> 00:10:03,435 Speaker 1: and other documents obtained by The Washington Post, heg Seth 137 00:10:03,515 --> 00:10:05,715 Speaker 1: agreed to pay an undisco closed amount to the woman 138 00:10:05,915 --> 00:10:08,515 Speaker 1: because he feared that revelation of the matter quote would 139 00:10:08,595 --> 00:10:11,875 Speaker 1: result in his immediate termination from Fox, where he worked 140 00:10:11,875 --> 00:10:15,275 Speaker 1: as a host, the statement said. The statement came after 141 00:10:15,315 --> 00:10:18,195 Speaker 1: a detailed memo was sent to the Trump transition team 142 00:10:18,835 --> 00:10:21,595 Speaker 1: this week by a woman who said she is a 143 00:10:21,595 --> 00:10:23,875 Speaker 1: friend of the accuser. The memo, a copy of which 144 00:10:23,955 --> 00:10:27,075 Speaker 1: was obtained by The Post, alleged he raped the then 145 00:10:27,195 --> 00:10:30,755 Speaker 1: thirty year old Conservative Group staffer in his room after 146 00:10:30,835 --> 00:10:35,875 Speaker 1: drinking at a hotel bar. Unquote. This all was said 147 00:10:35,915 --> 00:10:41,915 Speaker 1: to transpire in twenty seventeen. This Hegseth has been on 148 00:10:41,955 --> 00:10:45,195 Speaker 1: the ropes since Trump leaked his name, not the least 149 00:10:45,195 --> 00:10:50,235 Speaker 1: for this series of tattoos, generously described by Vice President 150 00:10:50,275 --> 00:10:53,795 Speaker 1: elect Vance as quote a Christian motto tattooed on his 151 00:10:53,915 --> 00:10:56,955 Speaker 1: arm less generously described as part of a series of 152 00:10:56,995 --> 00:11:00,075 Speaker 1: tats including symbols used by the Christian crusaders of the 153 00:11:00,075 --> 00:11:03,395 Speaker 1: Middle Ages and more recently and more dangerously by the 154 00:11:03,435 --> 00:11:09,035 Speaker 1: Proud Boys and the Three percenters. The tattoos on heg 155 00:11:09,075 --> 00:11:12,835 Speaker 1: Seth were so alarming he was flagged as an internal 156 00:11:12,955 --> 00:11:17,275 Speaker 1: risk by a fellow service member and left the service 157 00:11:17,355 --> 00:11:24,635 Speaker 1: as a result. Heg Seth and his fellow Cockroach Vance, 158 00:11:25,635 --> 00:11:28,795 Speaker 1: whose entire understanding of the works and words of Jesus 159 00:11:28,795 --> 00:11:31,235 Speaker 1: seems to be some garbled conclusion that you can get 160 00:11:31,355 --> 00:11:35,475 Speaker 1: very popular if you seem to have been martyred, exchanged 161 00:11:35,635 --> 00:11:39,275 Speaker 1: social media posts in which they dismissed the reporting of 162 00:11:39,315 --> 00:11:43,155 Speaker 1: that little white supremacist convert or kill everybody in the 163 00:11:43,155 --> 00:11:47,315 Speaker 1: Middle East issue as quote anti Christian bigotry in the 164 00:11:47,395 --> 00:11:52,195 Speaker 1: media unquote. Hegseth then added exactly the kind of agenda 165 00:11:52,235 --> 00:11:54,835 Speaker 1: setting statement you would expect from an incoming head of 166 00:11:54,875 --> 00:11:57,795 Speaker 1: the Pentagon quote they can target me. I don't give 167 00:11:57,835 --> 00:12:01,955 Speaker 1: a damn, but this type of targeting of Christians, Conservatives, patriots, 168 00:12:02,035 --> 00:12:06,235 Speaker 1: and everyday Americans will stop on day one at Djt's 169 00:12:06,395 --> 00:12:12,435 Speaker 1: DoD which you could dismiss as typical q Andon lunacy, 170 00:12:12,595 --> 00:12:14,515 Speaker 1: except for the fact that the man who wrote that 171 00:12:15,275 --> 00:12:18,875 Speaker 1: may actually yet wind up in control of the largest 172 00:12:18,875 --> 00:12:22,475 Speaker 1: military force in the world, along with a remit from 173 00:12:22,515 --> 00:12:26,195 Speaker 1: the man who appointed him to use that force. Against 174 00:12:26,195 --> 00:12:31,715 Speaker 1: the citizens of the United States, like maybe when the 175 00:12:31,755 --> 00:12:39,715 Speaker 1: public were to protest treason show trials and presumably treason 176 00:12:40,315 --> 00:12:46,275 Speaker 1: show executions of generals who were making the best out 177 00:12:46,275 --> 00:13:13,635 Speaker 1: of Trump's butchering of our exit from Afghanistan. Heg Seth 178 00:13:13,715 --> 00:13:18,235 Speaker 1: may meet his bus, a bus named Crusade. Not because 179 00:13:18,275 --> 00:13:20,995 Speaker 1: he's an unqualified lunatic who's inked up like a fanboy 180 00:13:20,995 --> 00:13:24,275 Speaker 1: of the Spanish Inquisition, but because it is human nature 181 00:13:24,315 --> 00:13:28,275 Speaker 1: to think, well, we didn't stop Gates, the least we 182 00:13:28,355 --> 00:13:31,435 Speaker 1: got rid of heg Seth. As if there weren't another 183 00:13:31,515 --> 00:13:33,835 Speaker 1: fifty heg seths lined up behind the original. I mean, 184 00:13:33,875 --> 00:13:35,875 Speaker 1: you could even give the new one the same tattoos 185 00:13:36,755 --> 00:13:40,995 Speaker 1: wouldn't take more than a few days. Quote Trump wants 186 00:13:41,115 --> 00:13:45,315 Speaker 1: Gates confirmed one hundred percent. A source told CNN he 187 00:13:45,475 --> 00:13:48,995 Speaker 1: is not going to back off. He's all in, reads 188 00:13:48,995 --> 00:13:52,195 Speaker 1: the money. Quote from a CNN report which has Jamie 189 00:13:52,235 --> 00:13:55,715 Speaker 1: Gangel's name and sources all over it, quoting again, he 190 00:13:55,875 --> 00:13:58,595 Speaker 1: views Gates as the most important member of the cabinet. 191 00:13:58,955 --> 00:14:01,835 Speaker 1: He considers the nomination of the former Florida congressman an 192 00:14:01,955 --> 00:14:05,795 Speaker 1: urgent priority for the incoming GOP mind. Already in the Senate, 193 00:14:08,075 --> 00:14:10,075 Speaker 1: it's the lady you or the tiger here. I think 194 00:14:10,315 --> 00:14:14,315 Speaker 1: you notice the word used there was confirmed. Trump wants 195 00:14:14,355 --> 00:14:20,995 Speaker 1: Gates confirmed one hundred percent. Trump has always been so slipshod, 196 00:14:21,675 --> 00:14:28,395 Speaker 1: so inherently confused by human language that confirmed by the 197 00:14:28,435 --> 00:14:32,955 Speaker 1: Senate and confirmed as a recess appointment could in fact 198 00:14:33,035 --> 00:14:36,315 Speaker 1: mean the same thing to him, depending on the hour 199 00:14:36,435 --> 00:14:39,075 Speaker 1: of the day and the day of the week. He 200 00:14:39,115 --> 00:14:41,515 Speaker 1: may or may not still care that there's a difference 201 00:14:41,595 --> 00:14:43,955 Speaker 1: between those things. But as I said last week, Gates 202 00:14:44,035 --> 00:14:49,675 Speaker 1: is Trump's personal kind of favorite immoral cockroach, and yet 203 00:14:49,675 --> 00:14:52,555 Speaker 1: he still means much more to him. Symbolically, he is 204 00:14:53,235 --> 00:14:59,475 Speaker 1: Caligula's apocryphal horse appointment. Trump wants Gates to use the 205 00:14:59,515 --> 00:15:02,595 Speaker 1: DOJ as a loaded gun against anybody Trump doesn't like. 206 00:15:02,755 --> 00:15:06,635 Speaker 1: He doesn't care gives him the gun. But Trump's ego 207 00:15:06,715 --> 00:15:10,075 Speaker 1: also demands that the Republican senators he views as his 208 00:15:10,235 --> 00:15:14,395 Speaker 1: slaves stand up and applaud what he's doing. In short, 209 00:15:14,435 --> 00:15:18,515 Speaker 1: Gates is and nobody has better embodied this. Gates is 210 00:15:18,595 --> 00:15:22,995 Speaker 1: the living embodiment of Trump saying I will defecate, you 211 00:15:23,235 --> 00:15:27,555 Speaker 1: will eat it. So there is your tiger right now. 212 00:15:28,115 --> 00:15:31,835 Speaker 1: It is clear from all reporting a majority of Republican 213 00:15:31,875 --> 00:15:37,715 Speaker 1: Senators would not vote to confirm Matt Gates if there's 214 00:15:37,755 --> 00:15:42,835 Speaker 1: a vote, if there's a hearing. Trump's utter insecurity can 215 00:15:42,875 --> 00:15:46,675 Speaker 1: only be assuaged by a hearing and a vote. Does 216 00:15:46,675 --> 00:15:48,955 Speaker 1: he continue to demand it? If he demands it, he 217 00:15:48,995 --> 00:15:52,995 Speaker 1: may kill his dictatorship before it even starts. If he 218 00:15:53,155 --> 00:15:58,915 Speaker 1: sublimates his desire and is satisfied the course of least 219 00:15:58,995 --> 00:16:03,195 Speaker 1: resistance for these more advanced insects in the Senate Republican 220 00:16:03,235 --> 00:16:07,595 Speaker 1: Caucus think still cockroaches, but in suits and ties. Their 221 00:16:07,875 --> 00:16:12,315 Speaker 1: course of least resistance is clear, letting the recess appointment happen, 222 00:16:13,235 --> 00:16:16,835 Speaker 1: and then just pretending, as they have pretended for eight years, 223 00:16:17,395 --> 00:16:22,195 Speaker 1: that Trump is not Hitler. I will echo what David French, 224 00:16:22,235 --> 00:16:24,435 Speaker 1: of all people wrote in The New York Times. America 225 00:16:24,475 --> 00:16:27,955 Speaker 1: has twice elected Trump, the outsider, the bull in the 226 00:16:28,075 --> 00:16:33,115 Speaker 1: china shop, the chaos agent, but he has stood for 227 00:16:33,235 --> 00:16:37,235 Speaker 1: office only once as the actual guy in charge, the 228 00:16:37,275 --> 00:16:42,595 Speaker 1: buck stops here guy, and America rejected him and humiliated him. 229 00:16:44,155 --> 00:16:46,195 Speaker 1: In the long term, this could be a good augur 230 00:16:47,115 --> 00:16:50,795 Speaker 1: The United States may simply get fed up with Trump 231 00:16:50,875 --> 00:16:56,595 Speaker 1: failing at everything, or it could hasten his full implementation 232 00:16:56,675 --> 00:16:59,835 Speaker 1: of dictatorship, in which he never makes that mistake again. 233 00:16:59,875 --> 00:17:02,715 Speaker 1: He never makes the mistake of letting America again have 234 00:17:02,875 --> 00:17:07,835 Speaker 1: anything to say about who runs America, in which case 235 00:17:07,875 --> 00:17:11,795 Speaker 1: I refer you back to my opening remark. Joe Biden 236 00:17:11,875 --> 00:17:25,755 Speaker 1: must immediately pardon everybody he can think of, just in 237 00:17:25,795 --> 00:17:28,555 Speaker 1: case this weekend was not worrisome enough those Trump will 238 00:17:28,555 --> 00:17:31,315 Speaker 1: not court martial, nor have Gates prosecute, nor have hag 239 00:17:31,395 --> 00:17:36,115 Speaker 1: Seth shoot. He will kill by accelerating the climate catastrophe. 240 00:17:36,155 --> 00:17:40,275 Speaker 1: His new energy secretary designate is not just a fossil 241 00:17:40,315 --> 00:17:46,195 Speaker 1: fuels prostitute. He's a fracking prostitute. Liberty energies Doug Wright. 242 00:17:47,195 --> 00:17:51,355 Speaker 1: Liberty from breathing, I believe is their motto. Doug writes, 243 00:17:51,395 --> 00:17:55,555 Speaker 1: tombstone someday will read there is no climate crisis and 244 00:17:55,635 --> 00:17:58,515 Speaker 1: we're not in the midst of an energy transition either, 245 00:17:59,195 --> 00:18:03,675 Speaker 1: which he said on tape. It will read that until 246 00:18:03,875 --> 00:18:07,755 Speaker 1: that tombstone is submerged under a new ocean or burned 247 00:18:07,835 --> 00:18:11,355 Speaker 1: to a cinder by a five hundred thousand acre wildfire. 248 00:18:13,155 --> 00:18:16,235 Speaker 1: There are two more new nightmares to recount. Trump wants 249 00:18:16,275 --> 00:18:20,995 Speaker 1: his personal attorney John Sower as Solicitor General. Sour is 250 00:18:20,995 --> 00:18:24,195 Speaker 1: the one who argued before the Supreme Court for presidential immunity. 251 00:18:25,555 --> 00:18:28,115 Speaker 1: You know, the lawyer who said that, yes, the president 252 00:18:28,155 --> 00:18:30,715 Speaker 1: would be immune from criminal prosecution even if he had 253 00:18:30,795 --> 00:18:37,435 Speaker 1: directed the military to assassinate a political rival just by coincidence. 254 00:18:37,475 --> 00:18:39,955 Speaker 1: A reminder here to President Biden at the Supreme Court 255 00:18:40,035 --> 00:18:46,715 Speaker 1: agreed with the Solicitor General designate about that bang bang. 256 00:18:48,595 --> 00:18:52,995 Speaker 1: And this final reminder from Elon Musk, one of Twitter's 257 00:18:53,075 --> 00:18:57,995 Speaker 1: Nazi tech bros, wrote, Trump received a clear mandate. He's 258 00:18:58,035 --> 00:19:00,755 Speaker 1: going to win by one and a half percent. Trump 259 00:19:00,755 --> 00:19:04,275 Speaker 1: received a clear mandate from the people to assemble an 260 00:19:04,835 --> 00:19:10,235 Speaker 1: extinction level event administration with respect to spending, bureaucracy, and 261 00:19:10,235 --> 00:19:13,755 Speaker 1: inefficiency in the federal government, which Musk retweeted to his 262 00:19:14,075 --> 00:19:18,595 Speaker 1: decreasingly populated ex echo chamber, and Musk added one word 263 00:19:18,755 --> 00:19:28,795 Speaker 1: quote true extinction level event administration. This makes me remind 264 00:19:28,835 --> 00:19:33,315 Speaker 1: you of two of my earlier assertions here today, One 265 00:19:33,555 --> 00:19:36,315 Speaker 1: that it is now a matter for Joe Biden and 266 00:19:36,355 --> 00:19:39,835 Speaker 1: his maker to decide if turning the government over to people, 267 00:19:40,155 --> 00:19:44,075 Speaker 1: now boasting that they are beginning the process of destroying 268 00:19:44,115 --> 00:19:47,675 Speaker 1: that government, and destroying all of this nation's freedoms, and 269 00:19:47,755 --> 00:19:50,715 Speaker 1: him Biden and eventually you and me, whether or not 270 00:19:50,795 --> 00:19:54,315 Speaker 1: that really is the lesser of any number of evils, 271 00:19:55,435 --> 00:19:58,355 Speaker 1: That's one reminder. The other one is a reminder of 272 00:19:58,395 --> 00:20:08,675 Speaker 1: this Keteman is a hell of a drug. Also of interest, 273 00:20:08,715 --> 00:20:10,595 Speaker 1: here in an all new edition of Countdown. I've been 274 00:20:10,595 --> 00:20:13,075 Speaker 1: waiting for the right moment. I don't know if it's now, 275 00:20:13,355 --> 00:20:16,395 Speaker 1: but if it isn't, it'll be soon. So let's go 276 00:20:17,275 --> 00:20:22,795 Speaker 1: how to proactively defend this country, this democracy, and yourself. 277 00:20:23,875 --> 00:20:27,795 Speaker 1: As Trump in night falls, as the big fat guy 278 00:20:28,355 --> 00:20:32,475 Speaker 1: blots out the sun, Have you got half an hour? 279 00:20:33,355 --> 00:20:36,275 Speaker 1: Because I have a half an hour's worth of instructions. 280 00:20:36,715 --> 00:20:45,835 Speaker 1: That's next. This is Countdown. Nearly eight years ago, I 281 00:20:45,955 --> 00:20:50,195 Speaker 1: was asked to give the keynote speech to the first 282 00:20:50,195 --> 00:20:53,995 Speaker 1: fundraiser for a new group called Democracy Matters, created by 283 00:20:54,035 --> 00:20:58,155 Speaker 1: the people who did Media Matters and other organizations that 284 00:20:58,275 --> 00:21:01,555 Speaker 1: ended in Matters, which had vowed to throw up every 285 00:21:01,915 --> 00:21:05,435 Speaker 1: barricade and every speed bump and every sliver of resistance 286 00:21:05,795 --> 00:21:11,195 Speaker 1: possible to the Trump craypocracy that would take power the 287 00:21:11,395 --> 00:21:15,395 Speaker 1: next day. I was preceded by the former governor of 288 00:21:15,395 --> 00:21:18,515 Speaker 1: a Midwestern state who actually thought that Trump had won 289 00:21:18,915 --> 00:21:23,715 Speaker 1: because we had all neglected the auto workers. This governor 290 00:21:23,755 --> 00:21:27,515 Speaker 1: really bought into the this is about economic anxiety and 291 00:21:27,635 --> 00:21:33,515 Speaker 1: economic anxiety alone. Also speaking before me a local Florida 292 00:21:33,555 --> 00:21:36,115 Speaker 1: mayor who somehow had concluded that the lesson of the 293 00:21:36,155 --> 00:21:39,955 Speaker 1: election of Trump was we needed more non politicians running 294 00:21:39,955 --> 00:21:43,795 Speaker 1: for office and doing retail politics, knocking on doors the 295 00:21:43,835 --> 00:21:47,035 Speaker 1: way he had got an elected mayor of a city 296 00:21:47,075 --> 00:21:49,555 Speaker 1: that had ten thousand people in it, and I thought, 297 00:21:49,555 --> 00:21:53,795 Speaker 1: my god, they have had no clue as to what happened, 298 00:21:54,115 --> 00:21:56,555 Speaker 1: and they, more importantly have no clue as to what 299 00:21:56,755 --> 00:22:00,395 Speaker 1: is going to happen. The man who asked me to 300 00:22:00,395 --> 00:22:03,035 Speaker 1: give this speech was David Brock, and he said, give 301 00:22:03,075 --> 00:22:06,955 Speaker 1: me one of your resistance videos, only in person. I 302 00:22:06,995 --> 00:22:10,755 Speaker 1: want Fire and Brimstone. And I said, well, happily I 303 00:22:10,795 --> 00:22:14,355 Speaker 1: happened to be the East Coast distributor of that. I 304 00:22:14,435 --> 00:22:17,315 Speaker 1: read the speech again a couple of months ago, and 305 00:22:17,395 --> 00:22:22,035 Speaker 1: I find so little of it wouldn't fit exactly today 306 00:22:22,155 --> 00:22:25,435 Speaker 1: except for the dates that I think, in offering it 307 00:22:25,475 --> 00:22:28,515 Speaker 1: to you again, the number of words I've had to 308 00:22:28,555 --> 00:22:33,435 Speaker 1: alter in this rereading is less than five. I haven't 309 00:22:33,435 --> 00:22:36,835 Speaker 1: even changed the dates. I have cut out the opening 310 00:22:36,835 --> 00:22:40,555 Speaker 1: reference to crickets, but it's true. This was given outside 311 00:22:41,075 --> 00:22:43,835 Speaker 1: in the garden of a Fort Lauderdale hotel at night, 312 00:22:44,355 --> 00:22:47,195 Speaker 1: and when you are at the podium outside in Florida 313 00:22:47,315 --> 00:22:50,835 Speaker 1: at night in January and you pause, you can literally 314 00:22:51,395 --> 00:22:57,115 Speaker 1: hear crickets. As I gave this speech, there was almost 315 00:22:57,155 --> 00:23:01,115 Speaker 1: no reaction. I later found out there was no reaction 316 00:23:01,235 --> 00:23:04,595 Speaker 1: because everybody there was trying to convince themselves that it 317 00:23:04,795 --> 00:23:08,195 Speaker 1: was about retail politics or ignoring the auto workers, and 318 00:23:08,315 --> 00:23:10,475 Speaker 1: this was the first person they had heard who actually 319 00:23:10,475 --> 00:23:13,395 Speaker 1: said to them, no, the building is on fire. It 320 00:23:13,515 --> 00:23:18,195 Speaker 1: is not a false alarm. So there were crickets throughout this, 321 00:23:18,755 --> 00:23:21,835 Speaker 1: but not after it. In any event, I stand by 322 00:23:21,875 --> 00:23:24,355 Speaker 1: every word of this speech. Only now I would suggest 323 00:23:24,595 --> 00:23:27,595 Speaker 1: that what I will reread to you is nothing more 324 00:23:27,795 --> 00:23:33,395 Speaker 1: than the starting point the keynote speech to Democracy Matters, 325 00:23:33,875 --> 00:23:42,115 Speaker 1: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January nineteenth, twenty seventeen. It's an honor 326 00:23:42,155 --> 00:23:44,555 Speaker 1: to be here. It's an honor to see my old 327 00:23:44,635 --> 00:23:47,915 Speaker 1: friends and to meet many new ones. And now that 328 00:23:47,955 --> 00:23:50,515 Speaker 1: my affable remarks are over, let me get down to 329 00:23:50,555 --> 00:23:54,235 Speaker 1: the raw meat. Let me begin with the worst case scenario, 330 00:23:54,435 --> 00:23:56,995 Speaker 1: or one of them. In any event, imagine it is 331 00:23:57,075 --> 00:24:02,115 Speaker 1: not now January nineteenth, twenty seventeen, but instead it's January nineteenth, 332 00:24:02,115 --> 00:24:07,315 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. You and I are here in these same circumstances, 333 00:24:07,435 --> 00:24:09,835 Speaker 1: right here, and I repeat to you then what I 334 00:24:09,875 --> 00:24:12,795 Speaker 1: am going to say to you now, and as I finish, 335 00:24:13,475 --> 00:24:17,955 Speaker 1: or earlier, or even as I begin, I am arrested, 336 00:24:19,115 --> 00:24:22,875 Speaker 1: or I am detained, or I am put on a 337 00:24:22,955 --> 00:24:26,795 Speaker 1: watch list somewhere, or I am audited, or I am 338 00:24:26,955 --> 00:24:31,075 Speaker 1: denounced by someone somewhere, or I am who knows what 339 00:24:31,195 --> 00:24:34,875 Speaker 1: happens to me one year, And that is just an estimate. 340 00:24:34,915 --> 00:24:37,595 Speaker 1: Your punishment may vary. It could be two years from now, 341 00:24:37,595 --> 00:24:39,195 Speaker 1: It could be two months from now, It could be 342 00:24:39,235 --> 00:24:44,235 Speaker 1: tomorrow afternoon after the inauguration. And of course, if and 343 00:24:44,275 --> 00:24:48,235 Speaker 1: when it happens, it will not be me alone for 344 00:24:48,355 --> 00:24:51,275 Speaker 1: the act of listening to me. You could also be 345 00:24:51,395 --> 00:24:56,875 Speaker 1: arrested or detained or who knows what I see some 346 00:24:57,155 --> 00:25:04,475 Speaker 1: concern on some faces political science fiction hyperbole a paranoid, 347 00:25:04,755 --> 00:25:09,035 Speaker 1: ustopian view of January nineteenth, twenty eighteen, A work of fiction. 348 00:25:10,915 --> 00:25:13,115 Speaker 1: If one year ago tonight we had been here on 349 00:25:13,195 --> 00:25:16,675 Speaker 1: January nineteen, twenty sixteen, And I had told you that 350 00:25:16,755 --> 00:25:29,115 Speaker 1: in one year's time, a deranged, infantile, imbecilic, paranoid, sexist, racist, militaristic, fascist, perverted, vulgar, stupid, 351 00:25:29,435 --> 00:25:33,995 Speaker 1: paper thin skinned man baby would not merely be nominated 352 00:25:33,995 --> 00:25:36,875 Speaker 1: for president by a major political party in this country, 353 00:25:37,035 --> 00:25:40,515 Speaker 1: but would swamp all his rivals, including the brother and 354 00:25:40,755 --> 00:25:45,195 Speaker 1: son of one former president. And if I then told 355 00:25:45,235 --> 00:25:48,395 Speaker 1: you that after unleashing all that is worst in America, 356 00:25:48,475 --> 00:25:52,195 Speaker 1: he would be able to conjure the perfect electoral storm 357 00:25:53,235 --> 00:25:57,755 Speaker 1: inside the electoral college, storm to defeat in the election 358 00:25:57,915 --> 00:26:02,235 Speaker 1: the wife of another president, a woman who would get 359 00:26:02,435 --> 00:26:05,995 Speaker 1: two million, nine hundred thousand more popular votes than he did. 360 00:26:07,075 --> 00:26:08,995 Speaker 1: And I told you further that in one year's time, 361 00:26:09,275 --> 00:26:11,395 Speaker 1: all we would be left asking here was not whether 362 00:26:11,475 --> 00:26:14,195 Speaker 1: or not the Russians had tampered with our sacred election, 363 00:26:14,395 --> 00:26:16,635 Speaker 1: but how much they had tampered with it. Would you 364 00:26:16,675 --> 00:26:20,755 Speaker 1: have called that political science fiction? Because I would have. 365 00:26:21,555 --> 00:26:23,915 Speaker 1: And I like to think I'm smarter than I have 366 00:26:24,035 --> 00:26:28,995 Speaker 1: turned out to have been on this, So it is important. 367 00:26:30,195 --> 00:26:33,275 Speaker 1: It's not happy, but it's important to remember that we 368 00:26:33,355 --> 00:26:36,315 Speaker 1: need to not assume the nightmare ends in some way. 369 00:26:36,635 --> 00:26:39,355 Speaker 1: When Donald John Trump puts his hand on the Bible 370 00:26:39,395 --> 00:26:42,475 Speaker 1: tomorrow and John Robert says, do you solemnly swear that 371 00:26:42,515 --> 00:26:45,995 Speaker 1: you will preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 372 00:26:46,075 --> 00:26:48,915 Speaker 1: United States, And, presuming the Bible does not leap from 373 00:26:48,955 --> 00:26:53,155 Speaker 1: his hand or spontaneously combust, Trump replies to this call 374 00:26:53,235 --> 00:26:58,435 Speaker 1: of our history and our democracy by answering, whatever, this 375 00:26:58,635 --> 00:27:03,635 Speaker 1: is not the last scene of the Manchurian candidate, nor 376 00:27:03,675 --> 00:27:07,355 Speaker 1: the last scene of seven days in May, nor the 377 00:27:07,475 --> 00:27:11,475 Speaker 1: last scene of it can't happen here. There are countless 378 00:27:11,515 --> 00:27:17,555 Speaker 1: possible nightmare scenarios ahead of all of us. We have 379 00:27:17,675 --> 00:27:20,075 Speaker 1: seen some of them before, the last time we let 380 00:27:20,075 --> 00:27:23,715 Speaker 1: the antiquated math of the Founders elect a Republican president 381 00:27:23,875 --> 00:27:28,035 Speaker 1: in defiance of the will of the people. We also 382 00:27:28,075 --> 00:27:32,035 Speaker 1: have seen a terrorist act and flames and collapses and 383 00:27:32,115 --> 00:27:36,115 Speaker 1: ashes and pyres, and the immediate exploitation of that act 384 00:27:36,155 --> 00:27:40,595 Speaker 1: by Republicans who demanded that what we should do was 385 00:27:40,635 --> 00:27:45,315 Speaker 1: what they called patriotic bipartisanship, which was in fact monopartisanship, 386 00:27:45,355 --> 00:27:47,355 Speaker 1: in which they were to make all the decisions, and 387 00:27:47,515 --> 00:27:50,755 Speaker 1: our role was to acquiesce to them, or to be 388 00:27:50,875 --> 00:27:55,235 Speaker 1: branded disloyal. We know what they will do if that 389 00:27:55,355 --> 00:27:58,595 Speaker 1: opportunity presents itself again. And we know from a year 390 00:27:58,595 --> 00:28:01,875 Speaker 1: of his lies and calumnies and gas lighting and or 391 00:28:01,955 --> 00:28:05,955 Speaker 1: well grade perversions of light into dark and fiction into fact, 392 00:28:06,195 --> 00:28:09,235 Speaker 1: that they are all now practiced and prepared and ready 393 00:28:09,275 --> 00:28:13,795 Speaker 1: to create an opportunity if none presents itself, a phony 394 00:28:13,875 --> 00:28:18,155 Speaker 1: threat that requires a curtailment of liberties, some plot he 395 00:28:18,355 --> 00:28:23,395 Speaker 1: and he alone could stop. And we must be prepared 396 00:28:23,675 --> 00:28:28,195 Speaker 1: to call such a stunt exactly what it is, and 397 00:28:28,235 --> 00:28:33,075 Speaker 1: to be patriots and to wrap ourselves in the flag 398 00:28:33,115 --> 00:28:35,835 Speaker 1: that we love and shout from the hills. Why what 399 00:28:35,955 --> 00:28:38,595 Speaker 1: has happened to this country two months from now, six 400 00:28:38,635 --> 00:28:41,755 Speaker 1: months from now, two years from now. Why that has 401 00:28:41,795 --> 00:28:48,315 Speaker 1: happened was because there is a Donald John Trump. And 402 00:28:48,355 --> 00:28:51,235 Speaker 1: we know that this time they have tilted the playing 403 00:28:51,235 --> 00:28:54,475 Speaker 1: field against us in advance in these areas. They have 404 00:28:54,595 --> 00:28:58,955 Speaker 1: spent eight years delegitimizing a president so that we might 405 00:28:59,035 --> 00:29:04,635 Speaker 1: look foolish delegitimizing an actual, illegitimate president. They have spent 406 00:29:04,795 --> 00:29:07,755 Speaker 1: the length of a campaign refusing to promise to recognize 407 00:29:07,795 --> 00:29:10,235 Speaker 1: a defeat on the premise that it could only have 408 00:29:10,235 --> 00:29:13,595 Speaker 1: been obtained by chicanery and dishonesty, so that we might 409 00:29:13,635 --> 00:29:16,715 Speaker 1: look foolish, refusing to honor a defeat that was actually 410 00:29:16,795 --> 00:29:22,435 Speaker 1: obtained by actual chicanery and dishonesty. They have month after 411 00:29:22,515 --> 00:29:25,715 Speaker 1: month insisting the election, the media, the opinion polls, now, 412 00:29:25,755 --> 00:29:29,155 Speaker 1: the polls about the transition, that these are rigged and fixed, 413 00:29:29,675 --> 00:29:32,555 Speaker 1: so that we might look foolish, insisting that an election, 414 00:29:32,875 --> 00:29:35,755 Speaker 1: the media, the opinion polls are actually rigged and fixed. 415 00:29:36,995 --> 00:29:40,355 Speaker 1: And we know that now we will and must play 416 00:29:40,395 --> 00:29:46,235 Speaker 1: by rules that sicken us, against which our souls cry out, 417 00:29:46,675 --> 00:29:52,235 Speaker 1: But we must our moral force, our moral high ground, 418 00:29:52,555 --> 00:29:56,515 Speaker 1: our patriotic self defense is simple. We did not seek 419 00:29:56,595 --> 00:30:00,715 Speaker 1: any of these rules. We did not seek this battle. 420 00:30:01,115 --> 00:30:04,915 Speaker 1: We did not seek this treachery. The rules and the 421 00:30:04,915 --> 00:30:09,195 Speaker 1: battle and the treachery are Trump's. We will fight him 422 00:30:09,235 --> 00:30:12,675 Speaker 1: on his terms, and we will defeat him, and we 423 00:30:12,755 --> 00:30:21,155 Speaker 1: will restore democracy, and we will defeat Trump's Russian masters. 424 00:30:23,475 --> 00:30:25,395 Speaker 1: Some of us have been warning since the beginning of 425 00:30:25,435 --> 00:30:28,755 Speaker 1: the presidential campaign that Trump's connection and the connection of 426 00:30:28,795 --> 00:30:31,555 Speaker 1: those around him to a dictator who has had the 427 00:30:31,595 --> 00:30:37,035 Speaker 1: foresight to replace expensive and very complicated human war with 428 00:30:37,155 --> 00:30:40,995 Speaker 1: the far more efficient cyber war invasioned by remote control. 429 00:30:41,195 --> 00:30:44,515 Speaker 1: We have noted that Trump's connection was not mere admiration 430 00:30:45,235 --> 00:30:48,795 Speaker 1: nor the perverted envy of a sick American monster gazing 431 00:30:48,915 --> 00:30:53,035 Speaker 1: at a sick Russian monster. And we were right. The 432 00:30:53,115 --> 00:30:57,075 Speaker 1: Russians did this. All we need to learn, and we 433 00:30:57,115 --> 00:30:59,395 Speaker 1: will learn it, is how much they did, how many 434 00:30:59,475 --> 00:31:02,435 Speaker 1: acts of war they directed against this country, how much 435 00:31:02,515 --> 00:31:05,595 Speaker 1: they had on Trump, how much they expecked him to deliver. 436 00:31:05,795 --> 00:31:09,315 Speaker 1: How many of the mainstream Republicans will remain loyal not 437 00:31:09,395 --> 00:31:12,315 Speaker 1: to the Constitution of the United States, but to Vladimir 438 00:31:12,435 --> 00:31:20,075 Speaker 1: God damned Putin. I wish to quote three men, and 439 00:31:20,195 --> 00:31:27,275 Speaker 1: only three men tonight, Sidney A. Chayefsky, John Lewis, and 440 00:31:27,395 --> 00:31:32,755 Speaker 1: first of these three Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill speaking after 441 00:31:32,795 --> 00:31:35,235 Speaker 1: what was in his time in his country, in his context, 442 00:31:35,595 --> 00:31:40,515 Speaker 1: his Trump election. We know it in history as Munich 443 00:31:41,875 --> 00:31:44,875 Speaker 1: and from the wilderness of his parliament, with a coalition 444 00:31:44,955 --> 00:31:49,995 Speaker 1: government cheering itself deafeningly for having averted war, with the 445 00:31:50,035 --> 00:31:54,035 Speaker 1: formal leadership of this nation shunning him and marginalizing him 446 00:31:54,035 --> 00:31:57,675 Speaker 1: and giggling at him, say nothing of his nation shunning 447 00:31:57,755 --> 00:32:00,595 Speaker 1: him and marginalizing him and giggling at him. When everybody 448 00:32:00,675 --> 00:32:04,675 Speaker 1: roared how well they had done, Churchill began in all 449 00:32:04,995 --> 00:32:11,875 Speaker 1: to whisper. The people should know that we have sustained 450 00:32:12,155 --> 00:32:17,595 Speaker 1: a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will 451 00:32:17,635 --> 00:32:21,835 Speaker 1: travel far with us along our road. They should know 452 00:32:22,195 --> 00:32:25,835 Speaker 1: that we have passed an awful milestone in our history. 453 00:32:27,115 --> 00:32:30,515 Speaker 1: And here I will briefly update Churchill's words. If I 454 00:32:30,555 --> 00:32:36,195 Speaker 1: could make that offense, when the whole equilibrium of the 455 00:32:36,195 --> 00:32:39,955 Speaker 1: free world has been deranged, and that the terrible words 456 00:32:39,995 --> 00:32:43,875 Speaker 1: have for the time being been pronounced against the American democracy, 457 00:32:44,155 --> 00:32:50,435 Speaker 1: thou Art weighed in the balance and found wanting. And 458 00:32:50,555 --> 00:32:56,355 Speaker 1: don't suppose Churchill said that this is the end. This 459 00:32:56,515 --> 00:33:00,795 Speaker 1: is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only 460 00:33:00,835 --> 00:33:06,035 Speaker 1: the first sip, the first fore taste of a bitter cup, 461 00:33:06,315 --> 00:33:09,595 Speaker 1: which we will be proffered to us year by year, 462 00:33:10,475 --> 00:33:15,435 Speaker 1: unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigor, 463 00:33:15,675 --> 00:33:20,435 Speaker 1: we arise again and take our stand for freedom as 464 00:33:20,595 --> 00:33:31,115 Speaker 1: in the olden time, Churchill, Tonight, in our country, which 465 00:33:31,115 --> 00:33:33,435 Speaker 1: we all love in words and in ways that we 466 00:33:33,475 --> 00:33:37,835 Speaker 1: cannot express, tonight is the end of the olden time. 467 00:33:38,675 --> 00:33:41,595 Speaker 1: In the comparison to what Churchill said in nineteen thirty eight, 468 00:33:41,795 --> 00:33:45,995 Speaker 1: Tonight is the night before disaster. Tonight is the night 469 00:33:46,195 --> 00:33:48,515 Speaker 1: that we will look back at with some longing and 470 00:33:48,555 --> 00:33:52,195 Speaker 1: some nostalgia. Tonight is the night to which the whole 471 00:33:52,235 --> 00:33:55,155 Speaker 1: of our beings, and all of our priorities, and all 472 00:33:55,235 --> 00:33:57,915 Speaker 1: of our efforts must now be focused on getting our 473 00:33:57,995 --> 00:34:03,275 Speaker 1: country back to democracy as we have known it. With 474 00:34:03,355 --> 00:34:07,635 Speaker 1: the rules by which we have played ends at noon. 475 00:34:09,195 --> 00:34:19,995 Speaker 1: The fight. Our fight begins one second later, and it begins, 476 00:34:20,235 --> 00:34:22,755 Speaker 1: as you will hear at this conference this weekend, on 477 00:34:22,835 --> 00:34:27,555 Speaker 1: a series of fronts. The fight can begin in the media. 478 00:34:27,875 --> 00:34:33,755 Speaker 1: You everybody here can confront anybody, reporter, anchor, spokesman, shill, 479 00:34:35,035 --> 00:34:37,475 Speaker 1: anybody who tries to publicly characterize all this as just 480 00:34:37,515 --> 00:34:40,195 Speaker 1: some sort of political swing, as if it was not 481 00:34:40,355 --> 00:34:43,555 Speaker 1: the seizure of power by the worst possible person to 482 00:34:43,635 --> 00:34:46,075 Speaker 1: be found to serve as president, as if that person 483 00:34:46,075 --> 00:34:49,635 Speaker 1: had not appointed the worst possible candidate to run each agency, 484 00:34:49,835 --> 00:34:52,355 Speaker 1: As if Betsy de Vos was just some sort of 485 00:34:52,395 --> 00:34:55,915 Speaker 1: an alternative to traditional education. Once she really is an 486 00:34:55,955 --> 00:34:59,875 Speaker 1: alternative to traditional education, in the same way stupidity is 487 00:34:59,875 --> 00:35:04,835 Speaker 1: an alternative to traditional education. This weekend we will will 488 00:35:04,875 --> 00:35:07,115 Speaker 1: show you ways to make this clear to the media, 489 00:35:07,395 --> 00:35:09,635 Speaker 1: and it will introduce you to people whose job it 490 00:35:09,675 --> 00:35:13,355 Speaker 1: will be to shine a constant daily light on every 491 00:35:13,395 --> 00:35:18,435 Speaker 1: broken promise, every shady nominee, every awful policy, and everything 492 00:35:18,595 --> 00:35:24,475 Speaker 1: you can do to help directly. The fight can also 493 00:35:24,555 --> 00:35:27,275 Speaker 1: begin in the courts. Trump will come as close to 494 00:35:27,395 --> 00:35:32,995 Speaker 1: privatizing the presidency as anybody in our history before sunset tomorrow, 495 00:35:33,795 --> 00:35:37,795 Speaker 1: and whether he believes it or not, much of what 496 00:35:37,915 --> 00:35:40,235 Speaker 1: he will try to do is actually illegal, and there 497 00:35:40,275 --> 00:35:43,195 Speaker 1: are still laws. And this weekend will show you ways 498 00:35:43,235 --> 00:35:47,115 Speaker 1: to pursue him and to have at the head of 499 00:35:47,315 --> 00:35:55,755 Speaker 1: this fight a cliche Justice with her shining sword. Or 500 00:35:55,795 --> 00:35:58,115 Speaker 1: you can look at all this more practically. Trump is 501 00:35:58,115 --> 00:36:01,115 Speaker 1: coming for your money. You might as well spend some 502 00:36:01,195 --> 00:36:03,915 Speaker 1: of it to prevent him from taking all of your money. 503 00:36:06,435 --> 00:36:08,715 Speaker 1: And this fight certainly begins with a state of mind. 504 00:36:09,555 --> 00:36:12,195 Speaker 1: More than nine years ago, I ran into John Kerry 505 00:36:12,235 --> 00:36:14,915 Speaker 1: in line to pick up World Series tickets at Fenway 506 00:36:14,955 --> 00:36:17,515 Speaker 1: Park in Boston, and as we came past each other 507 00:36:17,555 --> 00:36:20,315 Speaker 1: in the line, he congratulated me and he said thanks 508 00:36:20,315 --> 00:36:23,875 Speaker 1: to me, and I said, you're welcome for what By 509 00:36:23,875 --> 00:36:26,515 Speaker 1: the way, he said, it was you who decided to 510 00:36:26,555 --> 00:36:29,115 Speaker 1: run headfirst into the brick wall of the Bush administration. 511 00:36:29,395 --> 00:36:33,275 Speaker 1: You said, this terror color code system was uncomfortably in 512 00:36:33,435 --> 00:36:36,235 Speaker 1: sync with Bush's political needs. And then you said, I 513 00:36:36,275 --> 00:36:42,715 Speaker 1: think they may be doing this deliberately, and just enough 514 00:36:42,715 --> 00:36:44,315 Speaker 1: of that wall fell down and the rest of us 515 00:36:44,355 --> 00:36:46,795 Speaker 1: could storm through and start talking about it. And that's 516 00:36:46,795 --> 00:36:50,715 Speaker 1: what turned around the two thousand and six midterms. And 517 00:36:50,755 --> 00:36:55,715 Speaker 1: I said, ah, I doubt it, but okay, I'll defer 518 00:36:55,755 --> 00:36:59,515 Speaker 1: to you on it, Senator. So never think, no matter 519 00:36:59,555 --> 00:37:01,315 Speaker 1: what has happened in the last few months, that you 520 00:37:01,395 --> 00:37:05,515 Speaker 1: individually don't matter, or that an opportunity for you to 521 00:37:05,715 --> 00:37:10,475 Speaker 1: prevail over this will not arise, or that your state 522 00:37:10,555 --> 00:37:13,035 Speaker 1: of mind does not matter, or that even an act 523 00:37:13,075 --> 00:37:18,075 Speaker 1: of symbolism by you does not matter. And to that point, 524 00:37:18,155 --> 00:37:22,355 Speaker 1: John Lewis, I will contend that something he did on 525 00:37:22,475 --> 00:37:26,995 Speaker 1: January thirteenth, twenty seventeen was just as important, or nearly so, 526 00:37:27,795 --> 00:37:30,715 Speaker 1: and certainly just as dangerous and will in the end 527 00:37:30,795 --> 00:37:34,075 Speaker 1: prove just as saving and redemptive as was his agony 528 00:37:34,115 --> 00:37:39,755 Speaker 1: on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. As you know, Congressman Lewis 529 00:37:39,795 --> 00:37:42,595 Speaker 1: was asked if he planned to try to forge a 530 00:37:42,675 --> 00:37:47,235 Speaker 1: relationship with Trump, and he said, I believe in forgiveness. 531 00:37:47,875 --> 00:37:51,075 Speaker 1: I believe in trying to work with people. It's going 532 00:37:51,115 --> 00:37:54,755 Speaker 1: to be hard, it's going to be very difficult. I 533 00:37:54,835 --> 00:37:59,955 Speaker 1: don't see the president elect as a legitimate president. I 534 00:37:59,995 --> 00:38:03,515 Speaker 1: think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, 535 00:38:03,795 --> 00:38:06,795 Speaker 1: and they helped roy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I 536 00:38:06,875 --> 00:38:10,235 Speaker 1: don't plan to attend the inauguration. You cannot be at 537 00:38:10,235 --> 00:38:15,315 Speaker 1: home with something that you feel is wrong. The questioner 538 00:38:15,475 --> 00:38:19,995 Speaker 1: was stunned. That's going to send a big message, said 539 00:38:20,835 --> 00:38:25,475 Speaker 1: my ex friend Chuck Todd, a message to a lot 540 00:38:25,475 --> 00:38:27,635 Speaker 1: of people in this country that you don't believe he's 541 00:38:27,635 --> 00:38:32,035 Speaker 1: a legitimate president. And John Lewis, as always, would not 542 00:38:32,155 --> 00:38:36,755 Speaker 1: back down, would not equivocate, would not protect himself. I 543 00:38:36,795 --> 00:38:38,835 Speaker 1: think it was a conspiracy on the part of the 544 00:38:38,875 --> 00:38:42,555 Speaker 1: Russians and others to help him get elected. That's not right, 545 00:38:42,835 --> 00:38:47,915 Speaker 1: that's not fair, that's not the open democratic process. And 546 00:38:48,035 --> 00:38:53,595 Speaker 1: John Lewis in thirty seconds, moved legitimacy center stage. In 547 00:38:53,635 --> 00:38:56,155 Speaker 1: the week since, he said that more than sixty elected 548 00:38:56,195 --> 00:39:01,155 Speaker 1: Democrats followed him. It should have been all of them. 549 00:39:01,515 --> 00:39:03,875 Speaker 1: John Lewis leads us yet again, And there is the 550 00:39:03,995 --> 00:39:09,955 Speaker 1: organizing principle of resistance. It is simple, as hard as 551 00:39:09,955 --> 00:39:12,835 Speaker 1: it may be to believe and to put into proper 552 00:39:12,955 --> 00:39:15,715 Speaker 1: historical contexts. And just because none of us have seen 553 00:39:15,755 --> 00:39:19,235 Speaker 1: it before does not mean it cannot be true. It 554 00:39:19,355 --> 00:39:23,715 Speaker 1: is simple. This is not a legitimate president. This was 555 00:39:24,235 --> 00:39:29,995 Speaker 1: a conspiracy involving, to great or small degree, another country. 556 00:39:30,675 --> 00:39:34,875 Speaker 1: This is not the open democratic process. And John Lewis 557 00:39:34,915 --> 00:39:38,675 Speaker 1: said it perfectly. You cannot be at home with something 558 00:39:38,715 --> 00:39:46,475 Speaker 1: that you feel is wrong. Every day we bring up Russia. 559 00:39:46,955 --> 00:39:56,315 Speaker 1: Every day we shout Russia. Every day we scream Russia. 560 00:39:56,435 --> 00:40:00,115 Speaker 1: Never do we speak this man's name without invoking what 561 00:40:00,235 --> 00:40:05,155 Speaker 1: Churchill called the defeat without a war. Never do we 562 00:40:05,235 --> 00:40:08,475 Speaker 1: criticize or discuss or analyze his actions or those of 563 00:40:08,475 --> 00:40:11,235 Speaker 1: his White House filled with the crew of a pirate ship, 564 00:40:11,995 --> 00:40:14,795 Speaker 1: without reminding everyone that the Russians put him there, and 565 00:40:14,875 --> 00:40:17,235 Speaker 1: that the Republicans who enable him to stay there are 566 00:40:17,275 --> 00:40:21,235 Speaker 1: passively collaborating with a foreign enemy of the United States 567 00:40:21,275 --> 00:40:24,995 Speaker 1: of America. At the other end of the extreme in 568 00:40:25,075 --> 00:40:28,515 Speaker 1: terms of simplicity versus complexity, never ever do we refer 569 00:40:28,595 --> 00:40:35,715 Speaker 1: to Donald Trump as president he is Trump. Certainly that 570 00:40:35,875 --> 00:40:40,355 Speaker 1: is sufficient and accurate, and it is also easier for 571 00:40:40,515 --> 00:40:44,355 Speaker 1: when it is finally time for us to erase his 572 00:40:44,515 --> 00:40:53,035 Speaker 1: name from American history. For now, it is our task 573 00:40:53,155 --> 00:40:58,955 Speaker 1: to erase what is left of his legitimacy. I don't 574 00:40:58,955 --> 00:41:02,235 Speaker 1: see the president elect as a legitimate president. John Lewis said, 575 00:41:02,315 --> 00:41:04,875 Speaker 1: you cannot be at home with something you feel is wrong. 576 00:41:06,955 --> 00:41:10,835 Speaker 1: Wise words stand the test of time and the test 577 00:41:10,915 --> 00:41:15,635 Speaker 1: of struggle, And these words from John Lewis R. Wise, 578 00:41:19,235 --> 00:41:22,115 Speaker 1: this weekend will be devoted to many means, practical and 579 00:41:22,155 --> 00:41:25,355 Speaker 1: philosophical with which we can fight this nightmare on the 580 00:41:25,475 --> 00:41:29,235 Speaker 1: terms the Republicans and their coalition partners, the American fascists 581 00:41:29,435 --> 00:41:33,355 Speaker 1: and the neo Nazis have chosen, and to consider the 582 00:41:33,395 --> 00:41:36,915 Speaker 1: first of the Republican hammers, which which we can grab 583 00:41:36,955 --> 00:41:39,515 Speaker 1: from their hands, and which we can then use to 584 00:41:39,595 --> 00:41:42,915 Speaker 1: chase them to hell. This weekend will be devoted to 585 00:41:43,195 --> 00:41:47,075 Speaker 1: many means, practical and philosophical, with which we can resist Trump, 586 00:41:47,875 --> 00:41:55,475 Speaker 1: reproach Trump, and ultimately repeal and replace Trump. Already we 587 00:41:55,555 --> 00:41:58,475 Speaker 1: see the outlines of this. The boycott against the Bright 588 00:41:58,555 --> 00:42:04,555 Speaker 1: part advertisers was a spectacular success. It can be easily repeated, 589 00:42:04,875 --> 00:42:09,955 Speaker 1: and it's fun for the entire family. There are other 590 00:42:10,075 --> 00:42:13,475 Speaker 1: media inroads to make. As I mentioned, my GQ series 591 00:42:14,075 --> 00:42:19,435 Speaker 1: crossed one hundred million views a network. I don't know 592 00:42:19,475 --> 00:42:21,595 Speaker 1: if this is a pipe dream of mine that is 593 00:42:21,715 --> 00:42:24,835 Speaker 1: largely liberal in its orientation. That I could speak to 594 00:42:24,835 --> 00:42:26,675 Speaker 1: you from every night would be a nice thing to have, 595 00:42:26,755 --> 00:42:28,555 Speaker 1: But I don't know if we could ever see that. 596 00:42:29,155 --> 00:42:34,555 Speaker 1: But why does it sound so vaguely familiar? But practically again, 597 00:42:34,635 --> 00:42:38,955 Speaker 1: with or without networks, we now know that we are 598 00:42:39,035 --> 00:42:44,275 Speaker 1: under no obligation to be nice or cooperative or vs 599 00:42:45,115 --> 00:42:48,715 Speaker 1: or bipartisan. That we can fight just as dirty and 600 00:42:48,915 --> 00:42:51,435 Speaker 1: just as viciously, and we will beat them at their 601 00:42:51,435 --> 00:42:53,835 Speaker 1: own game, because, as I have observed many times in 602 00:42:53,875 --> 00:42:56,995 Speaker 1: my commentaries, democracy has survived not so much through the 603 00:42:57,035 --> 00:42:59,435 Speaker 1: efforts of those who would protect it as it has 604 00:42:59,475 --> 00:43:02,755 Speaker 1: survived because of the stupidity of those who would destroy it. 605 00:43:03,955 --> 00:43:08,275 Speaker 1: And this time side which would destroy it includes Rudy Giuliani. 606 00:43:10,555 --> 00:43:13,515 Speaker 1: We know the twenty eighteen midterms must be fought on 607 00:43:13,555 --> 00:43:19,195 Speaker 1: a wedge issue. You Congressman Roora Bacher, You Congressman Chafits, 608 00:43:19,555 --> 00:43:24,235 Speaker 1: You Congressman Ryan, do you believe in democracy, or do 609 00:43:24,315 --> 00:43:30,675 Speaker 1: you support Russia and General Lisimo Francisco Trump. You can 610 00:43:30,715 --> 00:43:34,075 Speaker 1: tone that down as the circumstances warrant district by district 611 00:43:34,075 --> 00:43:40,675 Speaker 1: as you please. We also know those midterms are of 612 00:43:40,715 --> 00:43:44,195 Speaker 1: an importance that cannot be overstated, because while the Republicans 613 00:43:44,195 --> 00:43:47,155 Speaker 1: may realize soon or late, maybe by this time tomorrow, 614 00:43:47,955 --> 00:43:51,035 Speaker 1: that they themselves might have to impeach Trump or use, 615 00:43:51,075 --> 00:43:54,115 Speaker 1: more likely the twenty fifth Amendment on him because he's crazy, 616 00:43:55,035 --> 00:43:58,115 Speaker 1: we must take no chances. We must have a democratic 617 00:43:58,155 --> 00:44:04,235 Speaker 1: Congress to impeach him two years from tonight. And we 618 00:44:04,315 --> 00:44:06,395 Speaker 1: know that in the interim we must adopt the fighting 619 00:44:06,435 --> 00:44:10,635 Speaker 1: style of Muhammad Ali. Yes they will hit us, Yes 620 00:44:10,795 --> 00:44:14,155 Speaker 1: it will hurt. Yes it has already begun to hurt. 621 00:44:14,515 --> 00:44:16,955 Speaker 1: But each time they come in to land a blow, 622 00:44:18,035 --> 00:44:25,995 Speaker 1: we hit them back. As Richard Pryor phrased it, voicing 623 00:44:26,075 --> 00:44:30,315 Speaker 1: Ali's inner dialogue during a fight, Boom, there you go. 624 00:44:31,435 --> 00:44:35,475 Speaker 1: You take that with you, And we know that, yes, 625 00:44:35,555 --> 00:44:38,275 Speaker 1: that means that Trump, the man baby, the stay puffed 626 00:44:38,355 --> 00:44:42,035 Speaker 1: marshmallow man whose psychosis can be inflamed by trolling him 627 00:44:42,195 --> 00:44:47,235 Speaker 1: on Twitter, must hear the words and phrases weak soft 628 00:44:47,955 --> 00:44:54,595 Speaker 1: lost the popular vote twice no mandate, Russia putin assange, disloyal, 629 00:44:54,795 --> 00:44:59,475 Speaker 1: treachery video tape. He must hear these words and phrases 630 00:44:59,475 --> 00:45:02,515 Speaker 1: every time he turns around, and we know that, yes, 631 00:45:02,595 --> 00:45:05,515 Speaker 1: that means we shall actually have to learn from what 632 00:45:05,635 --> 00:45:10,915 Speaker 1: we watched him and them due to Barack Obama. So 633 00:45:11,355 --> 00:45:16,075 Speaker 1: never again should Trump or this Russian operative guy of his, 634 00:45:16,475 --> 00:45:19,835 Speaker 1: Michael Flynn, or the native of the country of Exxon, 635 00:45:19,955 --> 00:45:23,555 Speaker 1: mister Tillerson, or Kelly Ann Khan Job or any of them. 636 00:45:23,675 --> 00:45:25,875 Speaker 1: Never again will they get to speak in public without 637 00:45:25,875 --> 00:45:30,275 Speaker 1: somebody rising and yelling, not necessarily rudely to interrupt them, 638 00:45:30,795 --> 00:45:33,595 Speaker 1: although you can do that if you want, but somebody 639 00:45:33,675 --> 00:45:36,835 Speaker 1: rising somewhere when they say these things and responding with 640 00:45:36,955 --> 00:45:40,995 Speaker 1: every fiber in their being before, during, or after they speak, 641 00:45:41,035 --> 00:45:47,235 Speaker 1: and responding by shouting, you lie. And yes, we know 642 00:45:47,435 --> 00:45:49,755 Speaker 1: that nothing has ever changed for the good in the 643 00:45:49,795 --> 00:45:52,555 Speaker 1: history of man without men and women rising up and saying, 644 00:45:52,675 --> 00:45:55,595 Speaker 1: whether they whisper it or yell it, but by starting 645 00:45:55,635 --> 00:46:05,835 Speaker 1: by saying this is wrong. However, behind all this, behind 646 00:46:05,875 --> 00:46:10,435 Speaker 1: every strategy, behind every plan made this weekend, behind everything 647 00:46:10,475 --> 00:46:13,075 Speaker 1: we can do and everything we must do to restore 648 00:46:13,155 --> 00:46:17,475 Speaker 1: our bloodied democracy. There must be one emotion with which 649 00:46:17,515 --> 00:46:22,195 Speaker 1: our side of the political pendulum is seldom associated. This 650 00:46:22,275 --> 00:46:25,795 Speaker 1: emotion must now, in some ways become our animating principle, 651 00:46:27,515 --> 00:46:31,915 Speaker 1: and about that animating principle, and penultimately, in my remarks, 652 00:46:32,035 --> 00:46:35,555 Speaker 1: having already quoted Churchill and Lewis, I want to now 653 00:46:35,635 --> 00:46:42,435 Speaker 1: quote again, with revisions formissible, I hope Sidney Chaiefsky. Who 654 00:46:42,435 --> 00:46:46,355 Speaker 1: the hell is Sidney Chaiefsky. You may know him by 655 00:46:46,355 --> 00:46:50,635 Speaker 1: his nickname Patty, or you may know the name of 656 00:46:50,675 --> 00:46:54,115 Speaker 1: a character he wrote for the movie Network A mister Beeal, 657 00:46:57,075 --> 00:47:00,035 Speaker 1: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody 658 00:47:00,075 --> 00:47:04,355 Speaker 1: knows things are bad. It's a coupe detas. Everybody's out 659 00:47:04,355 --> 00:47:07,595 Speaker 1: of home or scared of losing their freedom. Foreign governments 660 00:47:07,595 --> 00:47:10,435 Speaker 1: by influence at the White House. Businesses are terrified of 661 00:47:10,475 --> 00:47:13,955 Speaker 1: a Twitter account. Shopkeepers keep a clan hood under the counter. 662 00:47:14,275 --> 00:47:16,755 Speaker 1: White supremacists are running wild in the street, and there's 663 00:47:16,755 --> 00:47:18,915 Speaker 1: nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and 664 00:47:18,955 --> 00:47:21,715 Speaker 1: there's no end to it. We know Trump is unfit 665 00:47:21,795 --> 00:47:24,595 Speaker 1: to pass a sanity test, and his enablers are unfit 666 00:47:24,675 --> 00:47:27,315 Speaker 1: to lead. And we sit watching our TVs while some 667 00:47:27,435 --> 00:47:30,395 Speaker 1: local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen attacks 668 00:47:30,395 --> 00:47:33,755 Speaker 1: on Obamacare and sixty three racist bills, as if that's 669 00:47:33,795 --> 00:47:36,675 Speaker 1: the way it's supposed to be. We all know things 670 00:47:36,715 --> 00:47:39,395 Speaker 1: are bad. Worse than bad, they're crazy. It's like everything 671 00:47:39,435 --> 00:47:42,315 Speaker 1: everywhere has gone crazy. So we don't go out anymore. 672 00:47:42,515 --> 00:47:44,755 Speaker 1: We sit in the house and slowly the world we're 673 00:47:44,755 --> 00:47:47,595 Speaker 1: living in is getting smaller. And always say is please 674 00:47:48,075 --> 00:47:50,675 Speaker 1: at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let 675 00:47:50,715 --> 00:47:53,755 Speaker 1: me have my steady income and my sanctuary cities and 676 00:47:53,755 --> 00:47:56,555 Speaker 1: my warm Obama memories, and I won't say anything, Just 677 00:47:56,675 --> 00:47:59,795 Speaker 1: leave us alone. Well, I'm not going to leave you alone. 678 00:47:59,835 --> 00:48:03,955 Speaker 1: I want you to get mad. I want you to protest. 679 00:48:04,195 --> 00:48:06,595 Speaker 1: I want you to write. I want you to call 680 00:48:06,635 --> 00:48:10,075 Speaker 1: a Republican congressman, because we all know exactly what you 681 00:48:10,075 --> 00:48:13,035 Speaker 1: should say to him. I know what to do about 682 00:48:13,075 --> 00:48:15,675 Speaker 1: the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the 683 00:48:15,675 --> 00:48:18,595 Speaker 1: corporate graft in the street. And I know that first 684 00:48:18,635 --> 00:48:21,755 Speaker 1: you've got to get mad. You've got to say I'm 685 00:48:21,755 --> 00:48:32,875 Speaker 1: an American citizen, goddamn it, my democracy has value. So 686 00:48:32,915 --> 00:48:34,795 Speaker 1: the rest of it, the part about going to the 687 00:48:34,795 --> 00:48:37,075 Speaker 1: window opening, it's sticking your head out and yelling the 688 00:48:37,115 --> 00:48:41,315 Speaker 1: rest of it, you know, but to keep you motivated, 689 00:48:41,355 --> 00:48:43,355 Speaker 1: and to keep you mad, and to keep you unwilling 690 00:48:43,395 --> 00:48:46,835 Speaker 1: to take it anymore. As Howard Beale said, let me 691 00:48:46,875 --> 00:48:51,515 Speaker 1: close by noting one overarching fact that has occasionally gotten 692 00:48:51,555 --> 00:48:57,315 Speaker 1: lost since November eighth, twenty sixteen, And that is the 693 00:48:57,475 --> 00:49:00,835 Speaker 1: essence of everything, to my mind, Even with this nightmare 694 00:49:00,875 --> 00:49:03,995 Speaker 1: that comes at sunrise, even with the temporary end of 695 00:49:04,075 --> 00:49:06,915 Speaker 1: much of our democratic experience in this country, even with 696 00:49:06,995 --> 00:49:10,995 Speaker 1: a gold dollar sign spray painted on every American flag 697 00:49:11,715 --> 00:49:14,475 Speaker 1: and spit on the grave of every American patriot, even 698 00:49:14,515 --> 00:49:17,475 Speaker 1: with the confluence of Komi and the Russians and the 699 00:49:17,515 --> 00:49:20,595 Speaker 1: lies and the greatest grifter in the history of this country, 700 00:49:20,715 --> 00:49:24,435 Speaker 1: Even with the worst possible outcome that all of that 701 00:49:24,595 --> 00:49:28,395 Speaker 1: could produce, even with the greatest possible grief, no matter 702 00:49:28,435 --> 00:49:30,555 Speaker 1: what we have to face, no matter what we have 703 00:49:30,675 --> 00:49:33,155 Speaker 1: to do, no matter how long the trip back is 704 00:49:33,195 --> 00:49:37,075 Speaker 1: from tomorrow, remember and take strength from and remind all 705 00:49:37,155 --> 00:49:40,195 Speaker 1: those who forgets, and remind all those who deny, and 706 00:49:40,235 --> 00:49:46,635 Speaker 1: remind all those who lie. Remember one thing, we are 707 00:49:46,675 --> 00:49:56,115 Speaker 1: the majority. January nineteenth, twenty seventeen. After that, there was 708 00:49:57,275 --> 00:50:02,195 Speaker 1: silence seemed like it went on for quite a while. 709 00:50:02,835 --> 00:50:05,155 Speaker 1: Apparently not. I've heard a recording of this speech. It 710 00:50:05,195 --> 00:50:08,115 Speaker 1: was only two or three seconds. And then there was 711 00:50:08,155 --> 00:50:12,755 Speaker 1: an anguished roar, and then I must immodestly note there 712 00:50:12,755 --> 00:50:19,475 Speaker 1: was cheers and applause. Wasn't a big crowd. Standing ovation 713 00:50:19,635 --> 00:50:26,315 Speaker 1: is a generous term, but whatever it was, it helped. 714 00:50:27,395 --> 00:50:31,515 Speaker 1: We fought and fought, and we won the midterms, and 715 00:50:31,595 --> 00:50:35,035 Speaker 1: we won in twenty twenty, and we minimalized the damage 716 00:50:35,035 --> 00:50:38,715 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, and somewhere along the line we 717 00:50:38,795 --> 00:50:45,475 Speaker 1: assumed he would go away. So now today anyway, we 718 00:50:45,555 --> 00:50:51,155 Speaker 1: are exhausted. We have been defeated, although every day that 719 00:50:51,235 --> 00:50:55,955 Speaker 1: defeat gets a little smaller, doesn't it, statistically? And from 720 00:50:55,995 --> 00:51:01,395 Speaker 1: somewhere we must summon the energy of twenty eighteen and 721 00:51:01,475 --> 00:51:06,835 Speaker 1: twenty twenty and twenty twenty two. And when we defeat 722 00:51:06,875 --> 00:51:11,915 Speaker 1: them this time, we must not make a mistake. We 723 00:51:12,035 --> 00:51:19,075 Speaker 1: must destroy them because I'm not going to leave you alone. 724 00:51:20,195 --> 00:51:32,875 Speaker 1: I want you to get mad. So I haven't done 725 00:51:32,915 --> 00:51:35,075 Speaker 1: one of these since the election because there hasn't been 726 00:51:35,115 --> 00:51:38,715 Speaker 1: a lot to laugh about, so there's probably a need 727 00:51:38,755 --> 00:51:43,275 Speaker 1: to laugh about something. And thus we returned to the 728 00:51:43,355 --> 00:51:48,235 Speaker 1: old familiar topic things I promised not to tell. And 729 00:51:48,315 --> 00:51:52,435 Speaker 1: I was speaking a couple of days ago about the 730 00:51:52,475 --> 00:51:55,635 Speaker 1: coverage of the two thousand and eight presidential election. You 731 00:51:55,635 --> 00:51:59,275 Speaker 1: remember two thousand and eight, ancient history, back when there 732 00:51:59,315 --> 00:52:03,035 Speaker 1: was an American democracy, back when there was hopey, changey things, 733 00:52:03,595 --> 00:52:07,275 Speaker 1: as opposed to I hope you change into something other 734 00:52:07,355 --> 00:52:12,275 Speaker 1: than the president of the United States. I was talking 735 00:52:12,315 --> 00:52:14,995 Speaker 1: about two thousand and eight and was asked a series 736 00:52:14,995 --> 00:52:19,515 Speaker 1: of questions about our coverage at MSNBC, and the person 737 00:52:19,555 --> 00:52:24,835 Speaker 1: asking me questions had yet to mention the most significant 738 00:52:25,275 --> 00:52:29,395 Speaker 1: roadblock to getting things done, to getting that broadcast and 739 00:52:29,475 --> 00:52:32,955 Speaker 1: the other broadcasts that we did politically at MSNBC all 740 00:52:32,995 --> 00:52:38,395 Speaker 1: those years ago off the ground and then again safely 741 00:52:38,635 --> 00:52:41,995 Speaker 1: on the ground when it was all done. The assets 742 00:52:42,035 --> 00:52:46,275 Speaker 1: we had were extraordinary. Through most of the primary campaign 743 00:52:46,275 --> 00:52:47,955 Speaker 1: that year, and through all of two thousand and six 744 00:52:47,995 --> 00:52:50,955 Speaker 1: in the midterms, we'd had Tim Russert, who would come 745 00:52:50,995 --> 00:52:53,875 Speaker 1: on and after the network coverage was completely over, would 746 00:52:53,915 --> 00:52:56,035 Speaker 1: just sit there with us for another hour on the air. 747 00:52:56,595 --> 00:52:58,595 Speaker 1: What a pleasure that was. And then we'd go out 748 00:52:58,635 --> 00:53:01,995 Speaker 1: in the hallway and talk about baseball. The good part 749 00:53:02,035 --> 00:53:06,235 Speaker 1: of it, plus dozens of people and that then knew 750 00:53:06,635 --> 00:53:11,275 Speaker 1: and sincere Rachel Matdow, other people who really knew what 751 00:53:11,315 --> 00:53:13,715 Speaker 1: they were talking about and were trying to make a 752 00:53:13,835 --> 00:53:17,155 Speaker 1: point and make an inroad in what was then all 753 00:53:17,395 --> 00:53:24,035 Speaker 1: conservative corporate media, even at NBC. But the person had 754 00:53:24,035 --> 00:53:27,795 Speaker 1: not asked me one question about the major impediment, and 755 00:53:27,835 --> 00:53:31,395 Speaker 1: the major impediment was my co anchor for almost all 756 00:53:31,435 --> 00:53:37,675 Speaker 1: of this was Chris Efing Matthews. Over the years, I 757 00:53:37,715 --> 00:53:42,635 Speaker 1: have made allusions to Chris Matthews and just how rare 758 00:53:42,755 --> 00:53:45,995 Speaker 1: it was when he was actually in the same plane 759 00:53:46,315 --> 00:53:49,195 Speaker 1: of existence as the rest of us in the universe. 760 00:53:50,515 --> 00:53:52,915 Speaker 1: And I know Chris never heard me say any of 761 00:53:52,955 --> 00:53:57,995 Speaker 1: these things, because Chris never listened. If Chris listened, Chris 762 00:53:57,995 --> 00:53:59,875 Speaker 1: would probably still be on the air every night with 763 00:53:59,915 --> 00:54:03,355 Speaker 1: a nightly show on MSNBC. There's a Dorian Gray picture 764 00:54:03,355 --> 00:54:05,995 Speaker 1: of him somewhere because he hasn't changed in appearance since 765 00:54:06,035 --> 00:54:09,275 Speaker 1: the late nineteen nineties, even though he's now well you 766 00:54:09,315 --> 00:54:10,875 Speaker 1: know how old he is. He's two hundred and six. 767 00:54:11,835 --> 00:54:14,155 Speaker 1: The story I want to tell about Matthews, though, that 768 00:54:14,235 --> 00:54:18,595 Speaker 1: I think symbolizes and summarizes the entirety of my experience 769 00:54:18,635 --> 00:54:22,555 Speaker 1: with him, which began in two thousand and three. I 770 00:54:22,675 --> 00:54:25,475 Speaker 1: was on the set with him when he discussed the 771 00:54:25,515 --> 00:54:29,355 Speaker 1: fact that this was George Bush's day and mission accomplished 772 00:54:29,395 --> 00:54:31,955 Speaker 1: was not an exaggeration. And look at how well he 773 00:54:32,075 --> 00:54:35,155 Speaker 1: fits in that flight man's uniform, and he was talking 774 00:54:35,235 --> 00:54:39,795 Speaker 1: about how he looked good in the pants. That was 775 00:54:39,835 --> 00:54:41,795 Speaker 1: the beginning of it. And I said, don't you think 776 00:54:41,875 --> 00:54:46,595 Speaker 1: there's something about bringing up the whole flying experience and 777 00:54:46,675 --> 00:54:49,235 Speaker 1: the Texas Air National Guard and that whole question. You 778 00:54:49,395 --> 00:54:52,835 Speaker 1: think that's a bad idea or declaring mission accomplished while 779 00:54:52,995 --> 00:54:56,115 Speaker 1: American servicemen's lives are still at risk in Iraq and 780 00:54:56,155 --> 00:54:58,035 Speaker 1: will be no. No, this is his day, This is 781 00:54:58,075 --> 00:55:03,195 Speaker 1: his day. Chris can always point to being right about 782 00:55:03,195 --> 00:55:06,315 Speaker 1: any issue that ever came a cross his desk, because 783 00:55:06,395 --> 00:55:11,555 Speaker 1: he took every possible point of view on every possible issue. 784 00:55:11,635 --> 00:55:15,955 Speaker 1: He was anti Bush, pro Bush, anti Trump, pro Trump. 785 00:55:15,995 --> 00:55:19,875 Speaker 1: He was everything at all times. And the way you 786 00:55:19,955 --> 00:55:22,315 Speaker 1: do that is the way Trump does it. You just 787 00:55:22,395 --> 00:55:25,515 Speaker 1: don't remember what you said last time, You don't think 788 00:55:25,515 --> 00:55:27,475 Speaker 1: it's relevant, you don't think that anybody else is going 789 00:55:27,475 --> 00:55:30,395 Speaker 1: to remember it. There's a lot of similarity. There's a 790 00:55:30,395 --> 00:55:33,635 Speaker 1: lot of overlap in the ven diagrams of Chris Matthews 791 00:55:33,675 --> 00:55:37,395 Speaker 1: and Donald Trump. But I'm diverging. I promised you the 792 00:55:37,715 --> 00:55:41,475 Speaker 1: Chris Matthews story I could have before I sat down 793 00:55:41,475 --> 00:55:43,435 Speaker 1: in front of the microphone gone and looked this up 794 00:55:43,595 --> 00:55:47,115 Speaker 1: to get the exact date. I'm sure it was two 795 00:55:47,155 --> 00:55:50,635 Speaker 1: thousand and six or two thousand and seven, doesn't matter much. 796 00:55:50,715 --> 00:55:54,435 Speaker 1: It was cold, it was the winter. It was deep 797 00:55:54,435 --> 00:55:57,115 Speaker 1: in the winter, probably January or February. And I had 798 00:55:57,155 --> 00:56:01,795 Speaker 1: traveled to Washington on short notice because they wanted me 799 00:56:01,995 --> 00:56:06,395 Speaker 1: to co anchor with Matthews. The the memorial coverage of 800 00:56:06,475 --> 00:56:12,755 Speaker 1: the funerals, two of them a former president Gerald R. Ford. 801 00:56:13,795 --> 00:56:20,755 Speaker 1: Gerald Ford ultimately is down there with what Harrison and 802 00:56:20,795 --> 00:56:23,755 Speaker 1: a couple of other really short term presidents like Chester 803 00:56:23,835 --> 00:56:28,675 Speaker 1: Allen Arthur who just didn't make a huge impact except 804 00:56:28,715 --> 00:56:31,635 Speaker 1: for in his case one event the pardoning of Nixon. 805 00:56:31,835 --> 00:56:35,395 Speaker 1: Really didn't do much as president of the United States 806 00:56:35,395 --> 00:56:38,915 Speaker 1: and yet president of the United States state funeral. Plus 807 00:56:39,035 --> 00:56:41,675 Speaker 1: they were also going to give him a second funeral 808 00:56:41,955 --> 00:56:47,715 Speaker 1: the next day in Michigan, back in his home state 809 00:56:48,475 --> 00:56:51,035 Speaker 1: Grand Rapids, if I remember correctly. So we were there 810 00:56:51,155 --> 00:56:54,555 Speaker 1: for two days, me and Matthews all day doing the 811 00:56:54,595 --> 00:56:58,475 Speaker 1: state funeral one day, and then the next day the 812 00:56:58,515 --> 00:57:02,155 Speaker 1: funeral in Michigan. The state funeral was just a typical 813 00:57:02,195 --> 00:57:05,115 Speaker 1: day with Chris Matthews. I would say something and he 814 00:57:05,155 --> 00:57:07,555 Speaker 1: would then repeat it as if he had heard it 815 00:57:08,275 --> 00:57:10,995 Speaker 1: in his own head rather than coming out of my mouth. 816 00:57:11,515 --> 00:57:15,435 Speaker 1: Chris heard things that were said, he just never heard 817 00:57:15,515 --> 00:57:18,635 Speaker 1: who had said them. So he tended to repeat a 818 00:57:18,675 --> 00:57:21,555 Speaker 1: lot of the things I had just mentioned, and he 819 00:57:21,595 --> 00:57:24,155 Speaker 1: would jump in on interviews that he was not supposed 820 00:57:24,155 --> 00:57:25,395 Speaker 1: to be a part of, and all the rest of 821 00:57:25,435 --> 00:57:28,395 Speaker 1: the usual nonsense. He would read things on the teleprompter 822 00:57:28,675 --> 00:57:32,755 Speaker 1: that said Keith. He would read everything except the word Keith, 823 00:57:34,355 --> 00:57:36,995 Speaker 1: the usual stuff. So that was a good day. The 824 00:57:37,035 --> 00:57:39,355 Speaker 1: next day, when we moved to Michigan, that was not 825 00:57:39,515 --> 00:57:43,475 Speaker 1: quite as good a day. The Michigan part of the 826 00:57:43,515 --> 00:57:49,515 Speaker 1: two days of the burial, Gerald Ford was, well, I'll 827 00:57:49,515 --> 00:57:52,635 Speaker 1: make the joke now that I made off set then 828 00:57:52,675 --> 00:57:55,835 Speaker 1: and off air then, which was took two days to 829 00:57:55,875 --> 00:57:59,475 Speaker 1: bury him. What he wouldn't stop moving. The second day 830 00:57:59,635 --> 00:58:04,195 Speaker 1: was conducted out of a Protestant church in Grand Rapids. 831 00:58:04,195 --> 00:58:08,235 Speaker 1: If I remember correctly, that had an overhead window. And 832 00:58:08,275 --> 00:58:11,955 Speaker 1: I forget the technical terms. Although my dad was an architect, 833 00:58:11,995 --> 00:58:14,795 Speaker 1: I don't think he did a lot of churches. But 834 00:58:14,875 --> 00:58:21,115 Speaker 1: there was an overhead length of the church glass ceiling, 835 00:58:21,955 --> 00:58:31,155 Speaker 1: and it provided extraordinarily bright and mood altering light. And 836 00:58:31,275 --> 00:58:33,195 Speaker 1: on that day, in the middle of winter, at the 837 00:58:33,235 --> 00:58:35,555 Speaker 1: middle of the day, the light came in at such 838 00:58:35,595 --> 00:58:39,715 Speaker 1: an angle that it really did look kind of otherworldly, 839 00:58:39,755 --> 00:58:43,715 Speaker 1: if not heavenly. And so as all the leading Michigan 840 00:58:43,755 --> 00:58:47,035 Speaker 1: politicos and many of the national politicos who had traveled 841 00:58:47,035 --> 00:58:51,995 Speaker 1: to Michigan to attend both halves of the doubleheader of 842 00:58:52,035 --> 00:58:56,035 Speaker 1: the burial of Gerald Ford, as they filed in, and 843 00:58:56,115 --> 00:58:58,355 Speaker 1: to his credit, Chris Matthews knew every one of them 844 00:58:58,435 --> 00:59:01,315 Speaker 1: by sight, even if they were on the monitor in 845 00:59:01,355 --> 00:59:04,235 Speaker 1: front of us half an inch tall. He knew that 846 00:59:04,235 --> 00:59:07,115 Speaker 1: that was the dog catcher from Grand Rapids, Michigan from 847 00:59:07,195 --> 00:59:11,035 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight who convinced football star Gerald Ford to 848 00:59:11,075 --> 00:59:15,155 Speaker 1: go into politics and not football. He knew every one 849 00:59:15,195 --> 00:59:18,395 Speaker 1: of them. He knew the former mayor, He knew the 850 00:59:18,675 --> 00:59:23,755 Speaker 1: Attorney General of Michigan seventeen attorneys General Wigo. And that 851 00:59:23,915 --> 00:59:26,435 Speaker 1: was great. That was why when they once gave me 852 00:59:26,515 --> 00:59:29,275 Speaker 1: the opportunity in two thousand and eight, I think it 853 00:59:29,395 --> 00:59:34,755 Speaker 1: was to go solo and leave Matthews out. I said, no, See, 854 00:59:34,835 --> 00:59:37,995 Speaker 1: he's too valuable for stuff like that. You couldn't possibly 855 00:59:38,035 --> 00:59:41,435 Speaker 1: get a researcher to give me that information. It would 856 00:59:41,435 --> 00:59:44,515 Speaker 1: not be genuine and it would not be timely. Chris 857 00:59:44,555 --> 00:59:47,795 Speaker 1: Matthews knows off the top of his head who that is. 858 00:59:48,035 --> 00:59:50,755 Speaker 1: He has no idea why he's important. He has no 859 00:59:50,875 --> 00:59:54,275 Speaker 1: idea whether he has served democracy or undermined it. But 860 00:59:54,315 --> 00:59:56,715 Speaker 1: he knows who the hell that guy is. Why that's 861 00:59:56,715 --> 01:00:02,675 Speaker 1: Milton j. Erseg the twenty third still Solicitor General of 862 01:00:02,715 --> 01:00:11,755 Speaker 1: Michigan one hundred and six. So, now, when the former governor, 863 01:00:12,195 --> 01:00:15,675 Speaker 1: then the governor of Michigan came into this church at 864 01:00:15,755 --> 01:00:21,395 Speaker 1: high noon with light coming in above her, the great 865 01:00:21,835 --> 01:00:29,275 Speaker 1: former governor of Michigan came in, he knew exactly obviously 866 01:00:29,315 --> 01:00:32,435 Speaker 1: who she was. We all knew who she was. She 867 01:00:32,595 --> 01:00:37,715 Speaker 1: was Jennifer Granholm. Jennifer Granholm, whose public career began as 868 01:00:38,355 --> 01:00:41,875 Speaker 1: the woman contestant on an episode of the Dating Game. 869 01:00:43,515 --> 01:00:48,515 Speaker 1: Jennifer Granholm was then on the Dating Game in the seventies. 870 01:00:49,355 --> 01:00:52,475 Speaker 1: Was in two thousand and six seven at the funerals 871 01:00:52,475 --> 01:01:00,875 Speaker 1: of Gerald R. Ford. Is today a most attractive woman, fetching, handsome, beautiful, 872 01:01:01,035 --> 01:01:04,075 Speaker 1: whichever word you would like to use that is both 873 01:01:04,075 --> 01:01:08,915 Speaker 1: complimentary and yet not sexist. Well, on that day she 874 01:01:09,235 --> 01:01:13,355 Speaker 1: appeared in a very formal kind of mourning hat and 875 01:01:13,555 --> 01:01:17,995 Speaker 1: a black dress, and the light shining from above her 876 01:01:18,555 --> 01:01:22,395 Speaker 1: was perfect, and she hit a perfect hair day. All 877 01:01:22,475 --> 01:01:26,515 Speaker 1: the things that could combine to render one essential element 878 01:01:26,555 --> 01:01:35,435 Speaker 1: to this story. He wasn't wrong. Matthews was reeling off 879 01:01:35,435 --> 01:01:37,475 Speaker 1: the names of these other people. And there's the front 880 01:01:37,555 --> 01:01:42,875 Speaker 1: row in which the former deputy assistant dogcatcher of Kalamazoos. 881 01:01:42,915 --> 01:01:47,075 Speaker 1: And then he saw Jennifer Granholm walk in, and he said, 882 01:01:47,915 --> 01:01:51,355 Speaker 1: and now we see coming down the aisle the former governor, 883 01:01:51,915 --> 01:01:56,635 Speaker 1: the governor of a He started to pant on the air. 884 01:01:58,115 --> 01:02:07,475 Speaker 1: It's Governor Jennifer Granholme and she's perfectly attired. This went 885 01:02:07,755 --> 01:02:11,875 Speaker 1: instantaneously from the usual Chris Matthews high speed patter to 886 01:02:12,035 --> 01:02:18,755 Speaker 1: something akin to Robert F. Kennedy Junior on FaceTime. There's 887 01:02:18,795 --> 01:02:21,315 Speaker 1: no other way to describe it. If you were just 888 01:02:21,475 --> 01:02:24,435 Speaker 1: listening to Chris Matthews and everybody but me was just 889 01:02:24,555 --> 01:02:26,795 Speaker 1: listening to him. I was seated next to him in 890 01:02:26,835 --> 01:02:30,275 Speaker 1: a studio at NBC headquarters in Washington. I could see 891 01:02:30,275 --> 01:02:32,955 Speaker 1: the look on his face, the look of astonishment, him 892 01:02:32,955 --> 01:02:35,515 Speaker 1: putting his head down next to the monitor so he 893 01:02:35,595 --> 01:02:38,995 Speaker 1: could see her better. And as again I noted, she 894 01:02:39,315 --> 01:02:42,955 Speaker 1: was extremely fetching that day. In all of her great 895 01:02:43,075 --> 01:02:46,995 Speaker 1: days of fetch she was very fetched that day. This 896 01:02:47,195 --> 01:02:51,395 Speaker 1: is absolutely true. On the other hand, we are covering 897 01:02:52,035 --> 01:02:56,115 Speaker 1: the burial of the former President of the United States, 898 01:02:56,195 --> 01:03:00,395 Speaker 1: Gerald R. Ford, and Chris Matthews is panting about the 899 01:03:00,435 --> 01:03:06,075 Speaker 1: pulkratude of the governor of Michigan and stop, look at 900 01:03:06,115 --> 01:03:08,555 Speaker 1: the shape of the dress and how the light comes 901 01:03:08,595 --> 01:03:12,035 Speaker 1: in through the whatever the word was for it, of 902 01:03:12,115 --> 01:03:16,875 Speaker 1: the church. And she's this event is he began to 903 01:03:17,075 --> 01:03:20,075 Speaker 1: lose the ability to form sentences. And I don't mean 904 01:03:20,075 --> 01:03:23,075 Speaker 1: in the normal way that he would lose the ability 905 01:03:23,075 --> 01:03:27,435 Speaker 1: to form sentences. I mean he would get to that. 906 01:03:29,195 --> 01:03:32,155 Speaker 1: They were clearly telling him to stop doing this because 907 01:03:32,195 --> 01:03:35,995 Speaker 1: it was not just sexist and not just inappropriate. But 908 01:03:36,075 --> 01:03:40,035 Speaker 1: we were covering the burial of Gerald R. Ford, I 909 01:03:40,075 --> 01:03:43,955 Speaker 1: mean in the front row next to as we continued 910 01:03:43,995 --> 01:03:47,275 Speaker 1: the shot of Governor Granholm on a pool camera. I 911 01:03:47,355 --> 01:03:49,915 Speaker 1: must admit that nobody at NBC said, yeah, I got 912 01:03:49,955 --> 01:03:53,915 Speaker 1: me more of that hot governor. As the pool shot 913 01:03:54,035 --> 01:03:57,195 Speaker 1: gave us this of Governor Granholm, there was a coffin 914 01:03:57,275 --> 01:04:02,075 Speaker 1: out there with Gerald R. Ford inside, and he's talking 915 01:04:02,075 --> 01:04:05,475 Speaker 1: about Governor Granholm and how great she looks. I can't 916 01:04:05,515 --> 01:04:09,595 Speaker 1: imagine that anytime. She should just hope they took photographs 917 01:04:09,635 --> 01:04:12,635 Speaker 1: of her for her next campaign for whatever. It's like, 918 01:04:12,755 --> 01:04:15,475 Speaker 1: oh my good God. And they're clearly talking to him 919 01:04:15,475 --> 01:04:17,795 Speaker 1: from the control room telling him to stop, because every 920 01:04:17,795 --> 01:04:20,915 Speaker 1: once in a while he stops and speaks to them 921 01:04:21,075 --> 01:04:24,915 Speaker 1: like no, no, I won't. And finally the producer of this, 922 01:04:25,395 --> 01:04:29,035 Speaker 1: Court Harson, who was the producer of Hardball Matthew's show 923 01:04:29,075 --> 01:04:33,355 Speaker 1: on MSNBC, gets into my ear and says, for God's sake, 924 01:04:33,435 --> 01:04:35,475 Speaker 1: is there anything you can do? Can you stop him? 925 01:04:35,755 --> 01:04:37,475 Speaker 1: And I just looked at the camera and shook my 926 01:04:37,555 --> 01:04:39,795 Speaker 1: head and put my arms up in what would be 927 01:04:39,875 --> 01:04:43,115 Speaker 1: the hands up. Nothing I can do about it emoji. 928 01:04:44,235 --> 01:04:46,275 Speaker 1: I may have been the model for that emoji. This 929 01:04:46,395 --> 01:04:49,675 Speaker 1: is two thousand and six or seven, after all, And 930 01:04:50,715 --> 01:04:53,075 Speaker 1: they said, can you try can you write him a 931 01:04:53,115 --> 01:04:55,795 Speaker 1: note or something? So I took a piece of script 932 01:04:56,355 --> 01:05:00,755 Speaker 1: and I wrote on the back of it, Chris stopped 933 01:05:00,875 --> 01:05:06,475 Speaker 1: talking about Grand Holme that way, we are at a 934 01:05:06,635 --> 01:05:11,715 Speaker 1: presidential funeral, and I underlined we are at one two 935 01:05:11,755 --> 01:05:13,835 Speaker 1: three line at one two three lines a one to 936 01:05:13,955 --> 01:05:16,595 Speaker 1: three presidential one two three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 937 01:05:16,635 --> 01:05:21,155 Speaker 1: ten lines under that funeral circled and I slipped it 938 01:05:21,155 --> 01:05:23,995 Speaker 1: to him, and he kept talking about her, and he 939 01:05:24,035 --> 01:05:28,435 Speaker 1: looked at me, paused and nodded yes, like I was 940 01:05:28,555 --> 01:05:35,235 Speaker 1: asking him a question. About five minutes later, we threw 941 01:05:35,275 --> 01:05:38,715 Speaker 1: to a break, and I saw one of the executives 942 01:05:38,755 --> 01:05:42,435 Speaker 1: of MSNBC come out and tell Chris that he had 943 01:05:42,475 --> 01:05:46,635 Speaker 1: to go and prepare hardball for later that afternoon, and 944 01:05:46,675 --> 01:05:49,475 Speaker 1: that the rest of the thing would be anchored by me. 945 01:05:51,075 --> 01:05:53,835 Speaker 1: So every time and they did the pool camera go 946 01:05:53,995 --> 01:05:59,115 Speaker 1: back to reaction shots of Governor Granholm. I made sure 947 01:05:59,355 --> 01:06:01,475 Speaker 1: that that piece of paper that I had handed Chris 948 01:06:01,635 --> 01:06:04,315 Speaker 1: to which he thought was some sort of some sort 949 01:06:04,315 --> 01:06:08,035 Speaker 1: of question chestian like are we at a president at funeral, 950 01:06:08,995 --> 01:06:12,315 Speaker 1: not an admonition that he was making an absolute jack 951 01:06:12,395 --> 01:06:16,555 Speaker 1: wad out of himself. I kept that note in front 952 01:06:16,595 --> 01:06:18,675 Speaker 1: of me, just in case I veered back into this. 953 01:06:21,635 --> 01:06:24,315 Speaker 1: I later told this story to Governor Granholm, who was 954 01:06:24,355 --> 01:06:28,235 Speaker 1: briefly a colleague of mine. Although you wouldn't remember this 955 01:06:28,355 --> 01:06:30,595 Speaker 1: because the network no longer exists, and I don't know 956 01:06:30,635 --> 01:06:33,195 Speaker 1: by that point if ten thousand people were watching our 957 01:06:33,235 --> 01:06:35,155 Speaker 1: shows on it, but it was a colleague of mine 958 01:06:35,195 --> 01:06:38,155 Speaker 1: on current TV. Even as I was trying to explain 959 01:06:38,195 --> 01:06:41,275 Speaker 1: to her, don't take this job. They're never going to 960 01:06:41,315 --> 01:06:45,515 Speaker 1: pay you. They're already running out of money. Jennifer Granholme 961 01:06:46,795 --> 01:06:51,595 Speaker 1: laughed coquettishly and said, Oh, that's not the first time 962 01:06:51,635 --> 01:07:07,915 Speaker 1: that's ever happened. I've done all the damage I can 963 01:07:07,955 --> 01:07:12,075 Speaker 1: do here. Thank you for listening. Yes, yes it is, 964 01:07:12,355 --> 01:07:17,515 Speaker 1: he said, with his eyes like I didn't know. Thanks 965 01:07:17,515 --> 01:07:19,995 Speaker 1: for listening. Follow me on the podcast, promo videos on 966 01:07:20,075 --> 01:07:26,435 Speaker 1: Blue Sky YouTube, Facebook, Instagram threads for the moment, Twitter 967 01:07:26,715 --> 01:07:33,115 Speaker 1: x and Tickface. I got banned from TikTok, so I 968 01:07:33,155 --> 01:07:36,995 Speaker 1: went to Tickface. Brian Ray and John Phillip Shanel, the 969 01:07:37,075 --> 01:07:39,875 Speaker 1: musical directors have Countdown, arranged, produced and performed most of 970 01:07:39,875 --> 01:07:43,515 Speaker 1: our music. Mister Shanelle handled orchestration and keyboards. Mister Ray 971 01:07:43,555 --> 01:07:45,595 Speaker 1: was on the guitars, bass and drums, and it was 972 01:07:45,595 --> 01:07:49,875 Speaker 1: produced by Tko Brothers. Our satirical and pithy musical comments 973 01:07:50,195 --> 01:07:53,035 Speaker 1: are by the best baseball stadium organist ever, Nancy Faust. 974 01:07:53,435 --> 01:07:56,515 Speaker 1: The sports music is the Olderman theme for me ESPN two, 975 01:07:56,955 --> 01:08:00,875 Speaker 1: written by Mitch Warren Davis Curtesy BESPN Inc. Other music 976 01:08:00,995 --> 01:08:03,635 Speaker 1: was arranged and performed by the group No Horns Allowed. 977 01:08:04,795 --> 01:08:08,995 Speaker 1: Countdown for day just one, five and twenty five days 978 01:08:09,075 --> 01:08:12,515 Speaker 1: until the scheduled end of the term of lame duck 979 01:08:12,595 --> 01:08:18,755 Speaker 1: Dictator Trump. Probably the next scheduled countdown is Thursday, still 980 01:08:18,755 --> 01:08:22,395 Speaker 1: playing the scheduling by ear, especially since the heart surgery 981 01:08:22,435 --> 01:08:26,635 Speaker 1: for my rescue pop kit is Tuesday. And yes, I'll 982 01:08:26,675 --> 01:08:29,755 Speaker 1: post developments on social media and hopefully I will rejoin 983 01:08:29,795 --> 01:08:34,355 Speaker 1: you on this platform early Thursday morning. As always, Bolton says, 984 01:08:34,355 --> 01:08:37,115 Speaker 1: the news wars till the next one. I'm Keith Aldremman. 985 01:08:37,395 --> 01:09:01,435 Speaker 1: Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight, and good luck. Countdown with 986 01:09:01,555 --> 01:09:06,075 Speaker 1: Keith Oldremman is a production of iHeartRadio. More podcasts from 987 01:09:06,115 --> 01:09:10,755 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 988 01:09:10,835 --> 01:09:11,995 Speaker 1: get your podcasts.