1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:21,115 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. You 2 00:00:21,235 --> 00:00:24,195 Speaker 1: and I have three hundred and five days until the election. 3 00:00:24,355 --> 00:00:27,155 Speaker 1: And the good news is, if the Supreme Court rules 4 00:00:27,195 --> 00:00:31,195 Speaker 1: Trump is immune from prosecution for anything he did while president, 5 00:00:31,555 --> 00:00:34,795 Speaker 1: or if the Supreme Court rules the Fourteenth Amendment does 6 00:00:34,835 --> 00:00:37,515 Speaker 1: not disqualify him from the ballot, or if the Supreme 7 00:00:37,555 --> 00:00:42,275 Speaker 1: Court rules both, Joe Biden can then declare himself president 8 00:00:42,355 --> 00:00:45,915 Speaker 1: for life. He can then arrest the Supreme Court. He 9 00:00:45,955 --> 00:00:49,595 Speaker 1: can then detain Trump without charges or trial. And the 10 00:00:49,635 --> 00:00:54,235 Speaker 1: Supreme Court has just ruled there's not a goddamned thing 11 00:00:54,555 --> 00:01:01,155 Speaker 1: anybody can do about it, including them. Well, thank god 12 00:01:01,195 --> 00:01:06,235 Speaker 1: that's settled. Happy New Year. Just to be I am 13 00:01:06,235 --> 00:01:09,995 Speaker 1: not advocating for all of that, although the Supreme Court 14 00:01:10,115 --> 00:01:12,355 Speaker 1: is rapidly moving towards that point at which the so 15 00:01:12,395 --> 00:01:15,835 Speaker 1: called father of the Constitution, James Madison would remind us 16 00:01:15,875 --> 00:01:17,995 Speaker 1: it was not supposed to have the final authority on 17 00:01:18,075 --> 00:01:21,515 Speaker 1: state matters like you know, election laws. And of course 18 00:01:21,595 --> 00:01:26,035 Speaker 1: Trump again perpetrated an act of stochastic terrorism, this time 19 00:01:26,075 --> 00:01:29,675 Speaker 1: against Maine Secretary of State Shenne Bellows, and bluntly, there 20 00:01:29,715 --> 00:01:31,915 Speaker 1: is no longer any good reason not to treat him 21 00:01:31,955 --> 00:01:35,355 Speaker 1: the way we have treated terrorists or suspected terrorists in 22 00:01:35,395 --> 00:01:41,075 Speaker 1: this country since nine to eleven. But I am mystified 23 00:01:41,675 --> 00:01:46,315 Speaker 1: by Angus King, who was a legislative assistant to a 24 00:01:46,355 --> 00:01:49,875 Speaker 1: Democratic Senator from Maine, and who himself is now a 25 00:01:49,955 --> 00:01:53,115 Speaker 1: Democratic Senator from Maine, who has granted himself the privilege 26 00:01:53,115 --> 00:01:56,075 Speaker 1: of calling himself an independent and thus not having to 27 00:01:56,115 --> 00:01:58,955 Speaker 1: carry any of the responsibilities of being a member of 28 00:01:58,995 --> 00:02:02,795 Speaker 1: the party, like compromising when you have to or not 29 00:02:03,035 --> 00:02:06,435 Speaker 1: compromising when you shouldn't, and who has also granted himself 30 00:02:06,475 --> 00:02:11,675 Speaker 1: the privilege of accepting campaign funds raised by Democrats from 31 00:02:11,755 --> 00:02:18,995 Speaker 1: Democrats anyway under the established constitutional process. The Senate was 32 00:02:19,035 --> 00:02:22,795 Speaker 1: called upon to determine this precise question in Trump's impeachment 33 00:02:22,835 --> 00:02:27,035 Speaker 1: trial in January twenty twenty one, writes Senator King, from 34 00:02:27,115 --> 00:02:31,115 Speaker 1: up there atop his high horse. While I voted with 35 00:02:31,195 --> 00:02:34,955 Speaker 1: a bipartisan majority to convict, the required two thirds of 36 00:02:34,995 --> 00:02:38,755 Speaker 1: the Senate did not do so absent to final judicial 37 00:02:38,835 --> 00:02:42,795 Speaker 1: determination of a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's disqualification clause. 38 00:02:43,155 --> 00:02:46,115 Speaker 1: I believe the decision as to whether or not Trump 39 00:02:46,115 --> 00:02:49,515 Speaker 1: should again be considered for the presidency should rest with 40 00:02:49,675 --> 00:02:53,835 Speaker 1: the people, as expressed in free and fair elections. This 41 00:02:54,555 --> 00:03:00,595 Speaker 1: is the ultimate check within our constitutional system unquote, and 42 00:03:00,675 --> 00:03:07,195 Speaker 1: so angus King preserves for himself some Republican votes while 43 00:03:07,315 --> 00:03:11,155 Speaker 1: wrapping himself in the Constitution, which Trump will very happily 44 00:03:11,355 --> 00:03:17,155 Speaker 1: light a blaze while King is still wearing it. Genius, 45 00:03:17,635 --> 00:03:25,795 Speaker 1: Senator King, absolute genius. Also historically and constitutionally inaccurate to 46 00:03:25,875 --> 00:03:28,995 Speaker 1: the point of imbecility. And I might add to the 47 00:03:29,035 --> 00:03:34,875 Speaker 1: point of you're a goddamned liar. The Constitution does not 48 00:03:35,195 --> 00:03:40,395 Speaker 1: require a judicial determination or a congressional or Senate determination 49 00:03:40,755 --> 00:03:44,715 Speaker 1: that a former officeholder has engaged in insurrection. This is 50 00:03:44,835 --> 00:03:49,355 Speaker 1: not a matter of interpretation for the courts or for you, independent, 51 00:03:49,475 --> 00:03:54,595 Speaker 1: Senator King. It's what the fourteenth Amendment says, as opposed 52 00:03:54,595 --> 00:03:57,035 Speaker 1: to what a fragment of your voters want you to 53 00:03:57,235 --> 00:04:01,955 Speaker 1: tell them. It says. What it says is your Senate 54 00:04:02,435 --> 00:04:07,475 Speaker 1: and the House have a right to remove the disqualification 55 00:04:07,595 --> 00:04:13,355 Speaker 1: of Trump by a two thirds vote. The disqualification exists. 56 00:04:13,955 --> 00:04:20,315 Speaker 1: It exists right now. He is disqualified. If you want 57 00:04:20,355 --> 00:04:24,555 Speaker 1: to vote it is to undisqualify him. It only stops 58 00:04:24,635 --> 00:04:29,995 Speaker 1: being a disqualification if you override it by seventy five 59 00:04:30,075 --> 00:04:33,875 Speaker 1: to twenty five. Thank you. That's what it says. That 60 00:04:34,275 --> 00:04:38,275 Speaker 1: is the ultimate check within our constitutional system. We call 61 00:04:38,315 --> 00:04:46,795 Speaker 1: it the Constitution. Alexander Stevens, the vice President of the Confederacy, 62 00:04:47,315 --> 00:04:50,675 Speaker 1: a traitor, was not kept out of the Senate seat 63 00:04:50,715 --> 00:04:53,395 Speaker 1: to which he was elected because there was some kind 64 00:04:53,435 --> 00:04:57,635 Speaker 1: of Senate vote. He was kept out because he was 65 00:04:57,715 --> 00:05:02,675 Speaker 1: involved in an insurrection. And everybody knew it, including the 66 00:05:02,715 --> 00:05:06,915 Speaker 1: people who did the insurrection, and they all said, hey, 67 00:05:07,595 --> 00:05:10,235 Speaker 1: we better get this down on paper, because someday it's 68 00:05:10,275 --> 00:05:13,315 Speaker 1: not going to be so obvious that Stevens was nearly 69 00:05:13,355 --> 00:05:17,155 Speaker 1: as guilty of this as was President Jefferson Davis. So 70 00:05:17,235 --> 00:05:21,355 Speaker 1: let's put a fourteenth Amendment in the Constitution to clarify it. 71 00:05:21,915 --> 00:05:25,195 Speaker 1: I mean, maybe someday they'll make a movie about making 72 00:05:25,235 --> 00:05:28,395 Speaker 1: the fourteenth Amendment of Oh, I'll bet they actually make 73 00:05:28,435 --> 00:05:31,555 Speaker 1: one about the thirteenth Amendment because it has more Abraham 74 00:05:31,595 --> 00:05:39,555 Speaker 1: Lincoln in it. Whatever movies will be. Alexander Stevens and 75 00:05:39,675 --> 00:05:43,315 Speaker 1: Jefferson Davis never fired a shot at a Northern soldier, 76 00:05:43,715 --> 00:05:48,395 Speaker 1: and Robert E. Lee never led the insurrection, and none 77 00:05:48,435 --> 00:05:52,395 Speaker 1: of the others were ever convicted in a courtroom or 78 00:05:52,435 --> 00:05:57,115 Speaker 1: by the Senate or the House, except the Lincoln assassination conspirators, 79 00:05:57,155 --> 00:05:59,995 Speaker 1: and as we know, half of them were hanged, and 80 00:06:00,035 --> 00:06:03,195 Speaker 1: one of the prosecutors who helped hang them helped write 81 00:06:03,235 --> 00:06:08,875 Speaker 1: the Fourteenth Amendment. Stevens never took his Senate seat because 82 00:06:08,915 --> 00:06:13,195 Speaker 1: he was an insurrectionist senator King in exactly the same 83 00:06:13,235 --> 00:06:17,235 Speaker 1: way Trump is. Only Trump is more of an insurrectionist 84 00:06:17,475 --> 00:06:20,675 Speaker 1: because he was on the inside trying to prevent the 85 00:06:20,715 --> 00:06:24,715 Speaker 1: seating of the authorized elected government of the United States 86 00:06:24,835 --> 00:06:30,995 Speaker 1: elected to replace his Asss the Confederacy and the war ended, 87 00:06:31,635 --> 00:06:35,995 Speaker 1: and they took Alexander Stevens and the other Confederate Trader 88 00:06:36,075 --> 00:06:40,475 Speaker 1: leaders and locked them up in Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, 89 00:06:40,675 --> 00:06:43,355 Speaker 1: and they let them sit there for several months until 90 00:06:43,395 --> 00:06:48,075 Speaker 1: President Andrew Johnson pardoned Stevens, and then Stevens took his 91 00:06:48,155 --> 00:06:54,835 Speaker 1: seat in the House of Representatives under the established constitutional process. 92 00:06:55,355 --> 00:06:59,755 Speaker 1: This is the ultimate check within our constitutional system. My god, 93 00:06:59,955 --> 00:07:03,475 Speaker 1: King Trump would ring your neck with a copy of 94 00:07:03,515 --> 00:07:06,875 Speaker 1: the Constitution. But sure, go ahead, just so long as 95 00:07:06,915 --> 00:07:10,795 Speaker 1: your conscience is clear that you thought the Constitution is 96 00:07:10,835 --> 00:07:16,275 Speaker 1: not enough, and you have decided on your own that 97 00:07:16,315 --> 00:07:20,795 Speaker 1: we needed higher barriers before we as a nation could 98 00:07:20,835 --> 00:07:25,715 Speaker 1: defend ourselves against a psychotic dictator in waiting who wants 99 00:07:25,755 --> 00:07:29,355 Speaker 1: to turn the government into a personal revenge factory. And oh, 100 00:07:29,395 --> 00:07:30,955 Speaker 1: by the way, the only thing he's ever going to 101 00:07:30,995 --> 00:07:33,955 Speaker 1: remember about you, Angus King, is that you voted to 102 00:07:33,995 --> 00:07:39,275 Speaker 1: impeach him. I hope you can hear me up there, 103 00:07:39,475 --> 00:07:48,355 Speaker 1: Senator floating on that cloud above it all. Another quote. 104 00:07:48,675 --> 00:07:51,475 Speaker 1: I voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in 105 00:07:51,515 --> 00:07:55,035 Speaker 1: the January sixth insurrection. I do not believe he should 106 00:07:55,035 --> 00:08:00,435 Speaker 1: be re elected as president of the United States. However, however, 107 00:08:01,435 --> 00:08:05,035 Speaker 1: Angus King is shouting down towards us again. Oh no, 108 00:08:05,355 --> 00:08:12,435 Speaker 1: it's Congressman Jared Golden quote democrat unquote from the main second. However, 109 00:08:12,875 --> 00:08:17,835 Speaker 1: we are a nation of laws. Therefore, until he has 110 00:08:17,955 --> 00:08:21,515 Speaker 1: actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should 111 00:08:21,555 --> 00:08:27,235 Speaker 1: be allowed on the ballot. Read that on a fortune cookie, 112 00:08:27,315 --> 00:08:31,035 Speaker 1: did you, Congressman Golden? Because it's not in the Constitution, 113 00:08:32,475 --> 00:08:35,115 Speaker 1: I am making two financial offers. I will contribute to 114 00:08:35,155 --> 00:08:38,355 Speaker 1: anybody who starts to go fund me to buy Congressman 115 00:08:38,395 --> 00:08:41,235 Speaker 1: Golden a copy of the Constitution which somebody has written, 116 00:08:41,395 --> 00:08:45,035 Speaker 1: we are a nation of laws, dummy. Here are the laws. 117 00:08:45,395 --> 00:08:48,195 Speaker 1: The one in section three of the fourteenth Amendment doesn't 118 00:08:48,195 --> 00:08:51,155 Speaker 1: say an effing thing about found guilty of the crime. 119 00:08:51,275 --> 00:08:58,475 Speaker 1: It's as engaged in you grandstanding, Weasley, jackass. My second 120 00:08:58,475 --> 00:09:02,635 Speaker 1: contribution is to whoever primaries Jared Golden for the second 121 00:09:02,715 --> 00:09:08,835 Speaker 1: In Maine, the Congressman and Senator King cannot comprehend, or 122 00:09:08,875 --> 00:09:12,075 Speaker 1: have chosen not to comprehend in order to preserve their 123 00:09:12,515 --> 00:09:17,955 Speaker 1: stoic New England Calvinists. We are better than partisan politics, 124 00:09:18,235 --> 00:09:22,275 Speaker 1: clown makeup that will earn them a couple of dozen 125 00:09:22,355 --> 00:09:28,715 Speaker 1: Republican votes each. They have chosen not to comprehend reality, 126 00:09:29,555 --> 00:09:33,115 Speaker 1: and the reality is that their statements have reverberated inside 127 00:09:33,155 --> 00:09:36,995 Speaker 1: the Trump and MAGA and fascist and Republican echo chambers 128 00:09:37,035 --> 00:09:40,675 Speaker 1: as quote proof unquote that the efforts to do what 129 00:09:40,755 --> 00:09:45,475 Speaker 1: the Constitution says must be done not may not optional, 130 00:09:45,795 --> 00:09:50,035 Speaker 1: not if you feel like it must. Golden and King's 131 00:09:50,035 --> 00:09:52,715 Speaker 1: statements are being used to prove to the Trump cult 132 00:09:52,955 --> 00:09:57,915 Speaker 1: that all efforts to enforce the freaking Constitution are actually 133 00:09:57,995 --> 00:10:01,795 Speaker 1: just political partisanship and fear of Trump and cheating and 134 00:10:01,915 --> 00:10:07,275 Speaker 1: election interference by the Democrats. And Angus King and Jared 135 00:10:07,315 --> 00:10:12,275 Speaker 1: Golden can go to hell. They are the twenty twenty 136 00:10:12,275 --> 00:10:19,315 Speaker 1: four equivalents of Tokyo Rose. They are modern day Alexander Stevens's. 137 00:10:20,635 --> 00:10:24,595 Speaker 1: They are not just betraying a party, They are betraying 138 00:10:24,715 --> 00:10:28,915 Speaker 1: the Constitution. They are lying about the Constitution because they 139 00:10:28,915 --> 00:10:33,475 Speaker 1: think it'll help them at the next election, if there 140 00:10:33,555 --> 00:10:39,915 Speaker 1: is one. If we lose this democracy three hundred and 141 00:10:39,995 --> 00:10:44,195 Speaker 1: five days from now, it will be Trump's fault. But 142 00:10:44,355 --> 00:10:49,395 Speaker 1: guess what, Angus King and Jared Golden will have helped. 143 00:10:50,195 --> 00:10:54,035 Speaker 1: And to quote the Robert Duval line from the movie Network, 144 00:10:54,275 --> 00:10:58,915 Speaker 1: so will the holy goddamned New York Times. It's as 145 00:10:58,955 --> 00:11:05,315 Speaker 1: if every time anyone, a politician, commentator, an actual journalism professor, ethicist, 146 00:11:05,675 --> 00:11:09,315 Speaker 1: every time anyone points out that The Times has lost 147 00:11:09,675 --> 00:11:13,395 Speaker 1: any connection to reality, any understanding that the things they 148 00:11:13,435 --> 00:11:19,915 Speaker 1: are reporting on actually matter, actually have consequences, actually will 149 00:11:19,915 --> 00:11:22,835 Speaker 1: affect them, to actually may affect them. First, that these 150 00:11:22,875 --> 00:11:26,155 Speaker 1: are not academic exercises in who can write and edit 151 00:11:26,355 --> 00:11:30,515 Speaker 1: the best written stories. Every time that happens, somebody at 152 00:11:30,555 --> 00:11:34,195 Speaker 1: the time says, oh, they're complaining about our what aboutism again, 153 00:11:34,435 --> 00:11:36,955 Speaker 1: Let's make sure Harvey, we do an even worse what 154 00:11:37,035 --> 00:11:42,715 Speaker 1: aboutism tomorrow? Quoting The New York Times, The Holy Goddamn 155 00:11:42,795 --> 00:11:48,835 Speaker 1: New York Times quote J. Michael Lutdig, a retired conservative 156 00:11:48,875 --> 00:11:53,595 Speaker 1: Federal Appeals Court judge, hailed Colorado's and Maine's decisions as 157 00:11:54,195 --> 00:11:59,715 Speaker 1: unassailable interpretations of the Constitution. Officials in Maine and Colorado 158 00:11:59,755 --> 00:12:02,475 Speaker 1: who disqualified mister Trump from the ballot have written that 159 00:12:02,515 --> 00:12:05,835 Speaker 1: their decisions stemmed from following the language of the Constitution. 160 00:12:07,195 --> 00:12:11,155 Speaker 1: But on a recent sunny Friday afternoon in the Echo 161 00:12:11,315 --> 00:12:16,435 Speaker 1: Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Dina Drewis thirty seven, a copywriter, 162 00:12:16,915 --> 00:12:21,035 Speaker 1: and Aaron Baggiley, forty three, a contractor, both of whom 163 00:12:21,075 --> 00:12:26,195 Speaker 1: have consistently voted for Democrats, expressed a queasy ambivalence over 164 00:12:26,355 --> 00:12:31,635 Speaker 1: such an extraordinary step. I'm really just conflicted, mister Baggley said. 165 00:12:31,635 --> 00:12:34,675 Speaker 1: It's hard to imagine he didn't fully engage in insurrection. 166 00:12:34,995 --> 00:12:38,595 Speaker 1: Everything points to it. But the other half of the 167 00:12:38,635 --> 00:12:41,115 Speaker 1: country is in a position where they feel like it 168 00:12:41,155 --> 00:12:46,875 Speaker 1: should be up to the electorate. Unquote, Well, thanks, Holy 169 00:12:46,995 --> 00:12:51,315 Speaker 1: Goddamn New York Times, thanks for making sure you have 170 00:12:51,395 --> 00:12:56,875 Speaker 1: a conservative constitutional scholar who has defined what is left 171 00:12:57,235 --> 00:13:03,075 Speaker 1: of nonpartisanship in our coughing up blood nation. You have 172 00:13:03,195 --> 00:13:07,115 Speaker 1: included Judge Luddig and your article, and you have the 173 00:13:07,195 --> 00:13:13,355 Speaker 1: constitutional insights as well of Dina Drewis, who literally wrote 174 00:13:13,395 --> 00:13:18,555 Speaker 1: copy for Duncan Donuts commercials, and Aaron Baggley, who, oh, 175 00:13:18,675 --> 00:13:21,395 Speaker 1: by the way you left out, was interviewed by Fox 176 00:13:21,475 --> 00:13:24,155 Speaker 1: News Los Angeles a month ago after a break in 177 00:13:24,235 --> 00:13:26,795 Speaker 1: at his place, and therefore he said he was angry 178 00:13:26,875 --> 00:13:32,395 Speaker 1: at Joe Biden. What are you doing, Holy goddamn New 179 00:13:32,475 --> 00:13:38,515 Speaker 1: York Times, Judge Luttig. But on the other hand, Dina 180 00:13:38,675 --> 00:13:43,435 Speaker 1: who writes Duncan Donuts commercials, and Aaron who's mad at 181 00:13:43,555 --> 00:13:51,915 Speaker 1: Joe Biden, close your newspaper, close the holy goddamn New 182 00:13:51,995 --> 00:13:56,435 Speaker 1: York Times, get everybody out, and then implode the building. 183 00:13:57,035 --> 00:13:59,875 Speaker 1: You have sat too long here for any good you 184 00:13:59,955 --> 00:14:03,475 Speaker 1: have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have 185 00:14:03,675 --> 00:14:10,235 Speaker 1: done with you. In the name of God. Go oh 186 00:14:10,235 --> 00:14:13,275 Speaker 1: when that goes for the holy God damn Washington Post too. 187 00:14:14,155 --> 00:14:16,315 Speaker 1: You know who. They offered one of those two hundred 188 00:14:16,355 --> 00:14:20,275 Speaker 1: and fifty buyouts too, because Jeff Bezos, like all billionaires, 189 00:14:20,955 --> 00:14:25,235 Speaker 1: had one good business decision years ago. That made him 190 00:14:25,315 --> 00:14:28,555 Speaker 1: so wealthy that he could never live long enough to 191 00:14:28,635 --> 00:14:31,675 Speaker 1: make enough bad business decisions to put a real dent 192 00:14:31,755 --> 00:14:34,995 Speaker 1: in his billions. You know who. They offered a buyout 193 00:14:35,035 --> 00:14:41,755 Speaker 1: to Greg Sergeant. The Post has bought out Greg Sergeant, 194 00:14:42,235 --> 00:14:45,555 Speaker 1: who has not only been on the efforts to prevent 195 00:14:45,715 --> 00:14:49,235 Speaker 1: dictatorship beat, but has pretty much had it to himself 196 00:14:49,275 --> 00:14:53,475 Speaker 1: for thirteen years. While the Posts Kathleen Parker assured us 197 00:14:53,515 --> 00:14:56,035 Speaker 1: Trump wouldn't do anything he said he would do, and 198 00:14:56,395 --> 00:15:00,195 Speaker 1: the Posts immortal Bob Woodwards sat on the Trump COVID 199 00:15:00,235 --> 00:15:04,715 Speaker 1: tapes for a year, and the Post Josh Dawesy he 200 00:15:05,035 --> 00:15:09,195 Speaker 1: goes to dinner with Jason Miller the night before the 201 00:15:09,235 --> 00:15:18,635 Speaker 1: first Republican debate. They're all still there, Greg Sergeant him 202 00:15:19,275 --> 00:15:27,715 Speaker 1: The Post buys out. Quote. For the first time in 203 00:15:27,755 --> 00:15:30,435 Speaker 1: our nation's history, a grand jury has charged a former 204 00:15:30,475 --> 00:15:33,755 Speaker 1: president with committing crimes while in office to overturn an 205 00:15:33,795 --> 00:15:37,675 Speaker 1: election that he lost. In response, the defendant claims that 206 00:15:37,715 --> 00:15:41,675 Speaker 1: to protect the institution of the presidency, he must be 207 00:15:41,795 --> 00:15:46,595 Speaker 1: cloaked with absolute immunity from criminal prosecution unless the House 208 00:15:46,715 --> 00:15:49,915 Speaker 1: impeached and the Senate convicted him for the same conduct. 209 00:15:50,635 --> 00:15:56,355 Speaker 1: He is wrong separation of powers principles, constitutional text, history, 210 00:15:56,395 --> 00:15:59,795 Speaker 1: and precedent all make clear that a former president may 211 00:15:59,835 --> 00:16:04,555 Speaker 1: be prosecuted for criminal acts he committed while in office, including, 212 00:16:04,715 --> 00:16:08,875 Speaker 1: most critically hear illegal acts to remain in power despite 213 00:16:08,955 --> 00:16:13,355 Speaker 1: losing an election. The presidency plays a vital role in 214 00:16:13,435 --> 00:16:18,755 Speaker 1: our constitutional system, but so does the principle of accountability 215 00:16:18,835 --> 00:16:23,595 Speaker 1: for criminal acts, particularly those that strike at the heart 216 00:16:23,755 --> 00:16:29,155 Speaker 1: of the democratic process. Rather than vindicating our constitutional framework, 217 00:16:29,395 --> 00:16:34,955 Speaker 1: the defendant's sweeping immunity claim threatens to license presidents to 218 00:16:35,115 --> 00:16:39,475 Speaker 1: commit crimes to remain in office. The founders did not 219 00:16:39,595 --> 00:16:45,675 Speaker 1: intend and would never have countenanced such a result. Unquote 220 00:16:47,475 --> 00:16:52,315 Speaker 1: from Jack Smith's answer to the Trump presidential immunity bullshit 221 00:16:52,435 --> 00:16:56,395 Speaker 1: filing for the hearing before the DC Appeals Court a 222 00:16:56,435 --> 00:17:00,235 Speaker 1: week from today, in which Jack Smith and his team 223 00:17:00,355 --> 00:17:04,795 Speaker 1: state that the immunity claim and Trump himself threatened democracy. 224 00:17:05,555 --> 00:17:10,995 Speaker 1: Fact check true. And now to answer, mister Smith is 225 00:17:11,035 --> 00:17:14,475 Speaker 1: Diana Druis, who may have written ben afflex commercial for 226 00:17:14,675 --> 00:17:22,275 Speaker 1: Duncan Freakin' Donuts. We don't have a political reporter or 227 00:17:22,355 --> 00:17:24,675 Speaker 1: columnist in this country who writes as well as the 228 00:17:24,675 --> 00:17:27,755 Speaker 1: members of Jack Smith's team do let alone as honestly 229 00:17:27,795 --> 00:17:30,475 Speaker 1: as they do. I will note here, though, that there 230 00:17:30,595 --> 00:17:33,475 Speaker 1: is some reporting that did not get widespread play that 231 00:17:33,555 --> 00:17:36,555 Speaker 1: suggests that the Special Council has more up his sleeve 232 00:17:36,675 --> 00:17:43,035 Speaker 1: than we know. Robert Costa sometimes gets it right, sometimes 233 00:17:43,075 --> 00:17:46,275 Speaker 1: not so much, went on his network CBS and said 234 00:17:46,275 --> 00:17:50,235 Speaker 1: that based on their reporting, Smith quote has phone records, 235 00:17:50,515 --> 00:17:53,835 Speaker 1: he has memos and diary entries from key witnesses like 236 00:17:53,915 --> 00:17:57,835 Speaker 1: former Vice President Mike Pence, key eyewitness testimony from people 237 00:17:57,835 --> 00:18:01,955 Speaker 1: who are inside the Oval office from Trump. But Costa 238 00:18:01,995 --> 00:18:05,635 Speaker 1: added that Smith has a magic wand quote which is 239 00:18:05,755 --> 00:18:11,435 Speaker 1: subpoena power to really go deep with witnesses. They've gone deep. 240 00:18:11,875 --> 00:18:14,715 Speaker 1: And I've talked to people who participated in this investigation 241 00:18:14,795 --> 00:18:18,355 Speaker 1: as lawyers, sometimes even as witnesses, and it's evident to me, 242 00:18:18,435 --> 00:18:21,675 Speaker 1: based on my conversations with sources, that Jack Smith has 243 00:18:21,715 --> 00:18:30,195 Speaker 1: a sprawling case against Trump unquote sprawling case. To answer 244 00:18:30,235 --> 00:18:32,995 Speaker 1: that reporting, here's a man once insulted by President Biden, 245 00:18:32,995 --> 00:18:41,475 Speaker 1: a mister Donald T. Rump of Florida just remember dementia. 246 00:18:41,555 --> 00:18:44,515 Speaker 1: J Trump has now accused Liz Cheney of deleting January 247 00:18:44,555 --> 00:18:48,715 Speaker 1: sixth evidence that never existed. He is now online boasting 248 00:18:48,715 --> 00:18:52,035 Speaker 1: that even the Russians quote know unquote that the twenty 249 00:18:52,075 --> 00:18:56,315 Speaker 1: twenty election was stolen, and how would they know that? Donnie. 250 00:18:56,515 --> 00:19:01,875 Speaker 1: And he has moved from confirming in nineteen ninety that 251 00:19:01,915 --> 00:19:04,955 Speaker 1: the movie mogul Martin Davis gave him a book of 252 00:19:04,955 --> 00:19:08,955 Speaker 1: Trump's speeches, to denying that when he talked about migrants 253 00:19:09,035 --> 00:19:12,795 Speaker 1: poisoning the nation's blood just like Hitler did, denying that 254 00:19:12,835 --> 00:19:17,115 Speaker 1: he had ever read mind komp to moving on to insisting, quote, 255 00:19:17,155 --> 00:19:20,435 Speaker 1: I know nothing about Hitler. I'm not a student of Hitler. 256 00:19:20,475 --> 00:19:23,235 Speaker 1: I never read his works. They said that he said 257 00:19:23,275 --> 00:19:28,235 Speaker 1: something about blood. Ah, but thank god dementia. Jay Trump 258 00:19:28,275 --> 00:19:31,795 Speaker 1: can never stop at the point where he really really 259 00:19:31,875 --> 00:19:35,075 Speaker 1: might get away with it. Quote and he didn't say 260 00:19:35,075 --> 00:19:37,075 Speaker 1: it the way I said it either. It's a very 261 00:19:37,075 --> 00:19:39,915 Speaker 1: different kind of statement. So he knows nothing about Hitler 262 00:19:39,955 --> 00:19:42,435 Speaker 1: except that he said the same thing, but Hitler said 263 00:19:42,475 --> 00:19:47,475 Speaker 1: it differently. And of course here here Trump is right. 264 00:19:48,515 --> 00:19:53,755 Speaker 1: Hitler did say it differently. He said it in German. 265 00:19:58,235 --> 00:20:02,915 Speaker 1: One other note about this. If you have asked how 266 00:20:03,555 --> 00:20:09,115 Speaker 1: the magas sleep at night, day after day of the 267 00:20:09,155 --> 00:20:12,195 Speaker 1: stuff we talk about here and much more beyond that, 268 00:20:12,355 --> 00:20:15,675 Speaker 1: the answer is right in front of us. The answer 269 00:20:15,915 --> 00:20:21,475 Speaker 1: is they do not know either how wrong nor how 270 00:20:21,675 --> 00:20:25,715 Speaker 1: hated they are. And you can judge this by those 271 00:20:25,795 --> 00:20:30,915 Speaker 1: rare occasions when their cocoons are pierced, and we just 272 00:20:31,035 --> 00:20:33,315 Speaker 1: had one of those, and we should not let it 273 00:20:33,355 --> 00:20:38,675 Speaker 1: pass without recognizing its implications. It was, during, of all things, 274 00:20:40,315 --> 00:20:46,315 Speaker 1: Dick Clark's New Year's Rock and Eve Sunday Night on ABC, 275 00:20:48,115 --> 00:20:51,635 Speaker 1: Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day change the lyrics of 276 00:20:51,675 --> 00:20:55,275 Speaker 1: American Idiot from I'm not part of a redneck agenda 277 00:20:55,435 --> 00:21:00,675 Speaker 1: to I'm not part of the Maga agenda. Change them again, 278 00:21:01,875 --> 00:21:07,395 Speaker 1: and to hundreds of thousands, perhaps of Trump cultists. This 279 00:21:08,315 --> 00:21:13,435 Speaker 1: is the first time they have realized that they are 280 00:21:13,475 --> 00:21:17,875 Speaker 1: not well liked, or that the song American Idiot is 281 00:21:18,555 --> 00:21:26,795 Speaker 1: about them and about Trump. They don't get news, they 282 00:21:26,795 --> 00:21:31,275 Speaker 1: don't talk to people who who get news. They are 283 00:21:31,395 --> 00:21:36,675 Speaker 1: in a sealed off cult as tightly form fitting as 284 00:21:36,715 --> 00:21:41,995 Speaker 1: the government of North Korea. They don't even know that 285 00:21:42,155 --> 00:21:47,155 Speaker 1: Green Day has been slamming them for years. The band 286 00:21:47,795 --> 00:21:52,035 Speaker 1: has swapped in this very mild political commentary for at 287 00:21:52,155 --> 00:21:55,675 Speaker 1: least four years, ever since they did it first at 288 00:21:55,715 --> 00:21:59,115 Speaker 1: the iHeart Music Festival in Vegas in September twenty nineteen. 289 00:21:59,435 --> 00:22:03,275 Speaker 1: A proud moment for us here, I'll say, but honestly, 290 00:22:03,395 --> 00:22:08,835 Speaker 1: the reaction to New Year's Eve underscores this reality. They 291 00:22:09,715 --> 00:22:16,995 Speaker 1: don't know, they never have to encounter reality. They think 292 00:22:17,635 --> 00:22:22,715 Speaker 1: they represent ninety five percent of the country. The reason 293 00:22:22,795 --> 00:22:25,915 Speaker 1: they keep going back to this fantasy that Joe Biden 294 00:22:25,955 --> 00:22:28,635 Speaker 1: could not have gotten eighty one million votes is they 295 00:22:28,635 --> 00:22:35,795 Speaker 1: are protected from knowing those people, or how many of 296 00:22:35,835 --> 00:22:39,995 Speaker 1: them there are. They are protected from hearing anything positive 297 00:22:40,035 --> 00:22:44,275 Speaker 1: about Biden. They are protected from hearing any evidence that 298 00:22:44,315 --> 00:22:49,115 Speaker 1: Trump is the villain that he is. The terrifying reality 299 00:22:49,275 --> 00:22:54,595 Speaker 1: is never mind convincing the trumpsts. You can't even reach 300 00:22:54,795 --> 00:23:17,755 Speaker 1: these American idiots, American idiots. Oh oh oh, Nancy can't 301 00:23:17,795 --> 00:23:23,915 Speaker 1: even reach the American idiots. I'm not a part of 302 00:23:23,915 --> 00:23:30,955 Speaker 1: the mega agenda. Eight years of hearing only Trump ropaganda 303 00:23:33,995 --> 00:23:41,115 Speaker 1: and what do you mean, Dack Clark is dead? Thank you, 304 00:23:41,195 --> 00:23:49,195 Speaker 1: Nancy Fast. You know where this all ends, right, This 305 00:23:49,355 --> 00:23:51,835 Speaker 1: ends with a podcast where there are no more commentaries. 306 00:23:52,595 --> 00:23:56,835 Speaker 1: They're just me doing nineteen second long political parodies of 307 00:23:56,955 --> 00:24:02,075 Speaker 1: songs until Tom Larrr, who is now ninety five years old, 308 00:24:03,555 --> 00:24:08,155 Speaker 1: comes over and eats me senseless with the rolled up sheet. 309 00:24:08,235 --> 00:24:13,555 Speaker 1: Music from the Werner von Brown song. Also of interest 310 00:24:13,595 --> 00:24:16,195 Speaker 1: here in this all new edition of Countdown, a Pennsylvania 311 00:24:16,235 --> 00:24:19,555 Speaker 1: woman charged with liquoring up a couple dozen underaged high 312 00:24:19,595 --> 00:24:23,155 Speaker 1: schoolers at her own daughter's seventeenth birthday party and punching 313 00:24:23,675 --> 00:24:27,675 Speaker 1: one of the drunken boys in the face. Is she 314 00:24:28,475 --> 00:24:36,715 Speaker 1: a drag queen, B, A transgendered school swimmer, C, A 315 00:24:36,955 --> 00:24:42,075 Speaker 1: librarian or D the founder of the Keeping Kids in 316 00:24:42,195 --> 00:24:47,915 Speaker 1: School Pack and former Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor. The 317 00:24:47,995 --> 00:24:56,155 Speaker 1: correct danswer is next. This his Countdown. This is Countdown 318 00:24:56,515 --> 00:25:08,675 Speaker 1: with Keith Overn host scripts to the news, some headlines, 319 00:25:08,715 --> 00:25:16,635 Speaker 1: some updates, some snark, some predictions. Dateline, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Here 320 00:25:16,675 --> 00:25:19,915 Speaker 1: we go again. Another self proclaimed defender of the kids 321 00:25:20,035 --> 00:25:24,835 Speaker 1: and parental rights advocate has been arrested not just for 322 00:25:24,915 --> 00:25:28,555 Speaker 1: hosting an underage drinking party at her home for her 323 00:25:28,595 --> 00:25:31,995 Speaker 1: seventeen year old daughter, but livening things up a little 324 00:25:31,995 --> 00:25:36,275 Speaker 1: bit by socking a sixteen year old boy in the eye. 325 00:25:36,995 --> 00:25:41,795 Speaker 1: Clarice Schillinger of the pack Keeping Kids in School and 326 00:25:41,915 --> 00:25:46,035 Speaker 1: former Republican candidate for Lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania claims the 327 00:25:46,155 --> 00:25:50,315 Speaker 1: charges have been dropped. The Bucks County District attorney says, 328 00:25:50,395 --> 00:25:53,715 Speaker 1: uh oh, no, they haven't. There's also cell phone video 329 00:25:53,795 --> 00:25:56,195 Speaker 1: of this and reports that this was not the first 330 00:25:56,315 --> 00:26:00,395 Speaker 1: underage drinking party over at Clarice's place, and that her 331 00:26:00,475 --> 00:26:03,835 Speaker 1: ex boyfriend also hit one of the kids, and her 332 00:26:03,875 --> 00:26:06,515 Speaker 1: mother hit one of the kids too. Allegedly, of course, 333 00:26:07,355 --> 00:26:12,275 Speaker 1: not a drag queen, not a transgendered person, Clarice's parental 334 00:26:12,355 --> 00:26:17,755 Speaker 1: rights advocate. Allegedly. I'll explain this briefly as it was 335 00:26:17,835 --> 00:26:21,675 Speaker 1: explained to me by a psychological pro Some people who 336 00:26:21,675 --> 00:26:24,795 Speaker 1: are doing things they believe are wrong, or are doing 337 00:26:24,835 --> 00:26:29,035 Speaker 1: things that just are wrong, and can't stop themselves, you know, 338 00:26:29,595 --> 00:26:33,915 Speaker 1: getting teenagers liquored up, or they might think being gay 339 00:26:34,235 --> 00:26:37,955 Speaker 1: or wearing dresses or whatever. Instead of coming to terms 340 00:26:37,955 --> 00:26:41,675 Speaker 1: with their own individuality, or in the cases of the 341 00:26:41,795 --> 00:26:45,635 Speaker 1: actual illegal stuff and the immoral stuff like getting teenagers 342 00:26:45,675 --> 00:26:50,555 Speaker 1: liquered up, instead of trying actually to overcome inappropriate behavior 343 00:26:50,995 --> 00:26:54,075 Speaker 1: like getting teenagers liquered up and then punching them in 344 00:26:54,115 --> 00:26:57,515 Speaker 1: the face, they decide to view the whole thing as 345 00:26:57,555 --> 00:27:01,275 Speaker 1: if it was some kind of scoreboard Let's use this 346 00:27:01,355 --> 00:27:04,315 Speaker 1: as a nice neutral example. Let's say this woman and 347 00:27:04,435 --> 00:27:08,915 Speaker 1: her boyfriend were both named Keith, and they were convinced 348 00:27:08,915 --> 00:27:13,715 Speaker 1: that being named Keith was evil and wrong and a 349 00:27:13,955 --> 00:27:18,595 Speaker 1: sin and against the Bible and a moral failing. Yet 350 00:27:18,875 --> 00:27:23,595 Speaker 1: there they are both named Keith, and that puts in 351 00:27:23,675 --> 00:27:28,955 Speaker 1: their minds, say, forty points on this scoreboard against them 352 00:27:29,075 --> 00:27:33,795 Speaker 1: for being Keith's on the anti Keith scoreboard, they're down 353 00:27:33,835 --> 00:27:36,035 Speaker 1: by forty points. So how do they live with this? 354 00:27:36,635 --> 00:27:40,355 Speaker 1: How do they rationalize it? They try to make naming 355 00:27:40,555 --> 00:27:45,435 Speaker 1: any other kid Keith illegal. They prosecute all the Keiths 356 00:27:45,475 --> 00:27:49,475 Speaker 1: they can find. They've blamed Keith's for moral decline. They 357 00:27:49,555 --> 00:27:54,715 Speaker 1: try to get Trump to deport Keith's. In their minds, well, yes, 358 00:27:54,755 --> 00:27:58,395 Speaker 1: there are forty points against them for being Keith's. But 359 00:27:58,635 --> 00:28:04,555 Speaker 1: doing all that, being virulently mindlessly anti Keith, that puts 360 00:28:04,955 --> 00:28:08,835 Speaker 1: a thousand points on their scoreboard in their favor saw 361 00:28:08,835 --> 00:28:12,075 Speaker 1: one thousand to forty. Whah, They can't really have endangered 362 00:28:12,115 --> 00:28:15,275 Speaker 1: kids by being named Keith. That was only forty points 363 00:28:15,275 --> 00:28:19,515 Speaker 1: on their scoreboard. Their anti Keith behavior, that's a thousand 364 00:28:19,555 --> 00:28:23,155 Speaker 1: points worth. See, it's all better now. They can't be 365 00:28:23,355 --> 00:28:27,355 Speaker 1: Keith's They're a net nine hundred and sixty anti Keith. 366 00:28:28,715 --> 00:28:33,195 Speaker 1: You see, Oh, you probably don't see, because you're probably 367 00:28:33,235 --> 00:28:39,595 Speaker 1: relatively normal. They do. It is the complicated rationalization that 368 00:28:39,755 --> 00:28:49,355 Speaker 1: keeps them from going insane, well, completely insane, Dateline Houston. 369 00:28:49,515 --> 00:28:53,955 Speaker 1: Some fascists are born dumb, some achieve dumbness, and some 370 00:28:53,995 --> 00:28:57,755 Speaker 1: have dumbness thrust upon them. And then there's conservative yaker 371 00:28:57,875 --> 00:29:01,155 Speaker 1: Jesse Kelly, who is so dumb that all three of 372 00:29:01,195 --> 00:29:04,715 Speaker 1: those options must be true. People love to say it 373 00:29:04,795 --> 00:29:09,275 Speaker 1: sounds sophisticated and brag about European art and architecture. Kelly 374 00:29:09,315 --> 00:29:13,595 Speaker 1: writs on social media, I've seen Americas and I've seen 375 00:29:13,635 --> 00:29:18,315 Speaker 1: what they've got. Theirs can't touch ours. And below this, 376 00:29:19,195 --> 00:29:23,235 Speaker 1: mister Kelly put a photo of the Statue of Liberty, 377 00:29:23,875 --> 00:29:27,635 Speaker 1: which was designed by a French German from Alsace and 378 00:29:27,755 --> 00:29:31,915 Speaker 1: constructed by the French, including Gustave Eifel, and given to 379 00:29:31,995 --> 00:29:35,075 Speaker 1: us as a gift by France. But remember, as Homer 380 00:29:35,115 --> 00:29:39,955 Speaker 1: Simpson says, our beatles are better than England's rolling stones 381 00:29:42,875 --> 00:29:45,955 Speaker 1: and Dateline Washington, I am very sorry to report to 382 00:29:45,995 --> 00:29:48,635 Speaker 1: you the death last week of Tom Fody, who was 383 00:29:48,715 --> 00:29:52,075 Speaker 1: already a mainstay of UPI Audio the day I broke 384 00:29:52,115 --> 00:29:55,875 Speaker 1: into broadcasting on that network in nineteen seventy nine. He 385 00:29:55,995 --> 00:29:59,355 Speaker 1: was austerely supportive of my work then, and he was 386 00:29:59,395 --> 00:30:02,995 Speaker 1: a mainstay of CBS Radio News until literally two weeks ago, 387 00:30:03,115 --> 00:30:07,275 Speaker 1: and still austere supportive of my work on this podcast 388 00:30:07,675 --> 00:30:11,515 Speaker 1: on a daily basis almost Tom Fody was born in 389 00:30:11,595 --> 00:30:15,995 Speaker 1: two News. Trapped literally in the Hungarian Uprising of nineteen 390 00:30:16,075 --> 00:30:18,915 Speaker 1: fifty six, a ten year old boy stuck in a 391 00:30:18,915 --> 00:30:22,595 Speaker 1: shelter with his family finally got out to discover Soviet 392 00:30:22,675 --> 00:30:26,315 Speaker 1: tanks had destroyed his home. They escaped to Austria and 393 00:30:26,355 --> 00:30:29,075 Speaker 1: then just at this time of the year, to New Jersey. 394 00:30:29,555 --> 00:30:31,795 Speaker 1: He got into radio at City College of New York 395 00:30:31,835 --> 00:30:34,795 Speaker 1: and then went to Washington for UPI, eventually running the 396 00:30:34,835 --> 00:30:38,875 Speaker 1: bureau there, then moving to NBC Radio and WTOP Radio 397 00:30:38,915 --> 00:30:42,075 Speaker 1: in DC, and ultimately to the CBS Radio network a 398 00:30:42,155 --> 00:30:45,795 Speaker 1: quarter of a century ago. Tom worked whenever they asked 399 00:30:45,875 --> 00:30:48,395 Speaker 1: him to. He covered everything. He did, the big stories 400 00:30:48,595 --> 00:30:52,635 Speaker 1: and the small ones, and you could basically never surprise him. 401 00:30:53,235 --> 00:30:56,035 Speaker 1: Assign him to Bush v. Gore, and he knew the 402 00:30:56,035 --> 00:30:59,555 Speaker 1: constitutional and electoral precedents. Ask him to anchor a six 403 00:30:59,635 --> 00:31:02,115 Speaker 1: hour shift until ten pm one night, and then come 404 00:31:02,155 --> 00:31:04,635 Speaker 1: back for another one starting at three am. And he 405 00:31:04,675 --> 00:31:07,755 Speaker 1: he was there just enough time for a nap, and 406 00:31:07,875 --> 00:31:11,555 Speaker 1: his work was seamless and flawless, and all of us 407 00:31:11,555 --> 00:31:14,995 Speaker 1: who knew him forever, we all thought his work was eternal. 408 00:31:15,595 --> 00:31:17,955 Speaker 1: We still don't know what happened when Tom Fody died 409 00:31:17,955 --> 00:31:20,635 Speaker 1: a week ago. The plain truth is, if I were 410 00:31:20,675 --> 00:31:23,395 Speaker 1: to have said that we don't know what happened about 411 00:31:23,395 --> 00:31:27,275 Speaker 1: somebody else in broadcasting, I would be expecting an email 412 00:31:27,635 --> 00:31:30,475 Speaker 1: to pop into my inbox by midday with the full 413 00:31:30,515 --> 00:31:35,675 Speaker 1: story and the full background from Tom Fody. He was 414 00:31:35,795 --> 00:32:00,635 Speaker 1: seventy seven years old, still to come on this all 415 00:32:00,675 --> 00:32:03,115 Speaker 1: new edition of Countdown. I don't know why I thought 416 00:32:03,115 --> 00:32:06,115 Speaker 1: of this, but we are now in the twenty fifth 417 00:32:06,155 --> 00:32:09,595 Speaker 1: anniversary year of the night before Game one of the 418 00:32:09,595 --> 00:32:13,475 Speaker 1: World Series, and the Atlanta hotel we were staying in 419 00:32:13,915 --> 00:32:17,715 Speaker 1: put me in a room next to a team of 420 00:32:17,995 --> 00:32:22,195 Speaker 1: singers competing in a choir competition whose coach had decided 421 00:32:22,395 --> 00:32:27,235 Speaker 1: to have them practice in that room all night. How 422 00:32:27,275 --> 00:32:29,195 Speaker 1: the hotel tried to make it up to me is 423 00:32:29,235 --> 00:32:33,595 Speaker 1: worth listening to. It involves a baby grand piano in 424 00:32:33,675 --> 00:32:35,955 Speaker 1: Things I Promised not to tell first time for the 425 00:32:36,035 --> 00:32:38,835 Speaker 1: daily roundup of the misgrants, morons and Dunning Kruger effects 426 00:32:38,835 --> 00:32:44,915 Speaker 1: specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the world the 427 00:32:44,955 --> 00:32:50,555 Speaker 1: Bronze wors Fox. Fox did a year end those we 428 00:32:50,715 --> 00:32:54,595 Speaker 1: lost in twenty twenty three bit on its quote news 429 00:32:54,915 --> 00:32:59,875 Speaker 1: Unquote feed included among those memorialized by Fox. Baseball Hall 430 00:32:59,915 --> 00:33:03,355 Speaker 1: of Famer Frank Thomas, the big hurt of the Chicago 431 00:33:03,475 --> 00:33:06,395 Speaker 1: White Sox of him hitting one of his five hundred 432 00:33:06,395 --> 00:33:10,115 Speaker 1: and twenty one career homers his years. Born nineteen sixty 433 00:33:10,115 --> 00:33:13,195 Speaker 1: eight died twenty twenty three, the solemn tone of the 434 00:33:13,235 --> 00:33:17,275 Speaker 1: newsreader who had no idea who he was, or who 435 00:33:17,395 --> 00:33:20,875 Speaker 1: she was or where she was as she read this. 436 00:33:21,115 --> 00:33:25,835 Speaker 1: There was one small detail that baseball player named Frank Thomas. 437 00:33:25,915 --> 00:33:31,915 Speaker 1: Frank Edward Thomas did not die last year. Frank Joseph Thomas, 438 00:33:32,155 --> 00:33:35,355 Speaker 1: three time All Star member of the original nineteen sixty 439 00:33:35,355 --> 00:33:37,035 Speaker 1: two New York Mets. He did die at the age 440 00:33:37,075 --> 00:33:41,115 Speaker 1: of ninety three different person. There can be two people 441 00:33:41,435 --> 00:33:45,675 Speaker 1: named Frank Thomas, both of whom played baseball. News to Fox. 442 00:33:47,315 --> 00:33:51,555 Speaker 1: Frank Thomas still living and himself a former analyst on 443 00:33:51,675 --> 00:33:56,235 Speaker 1: Fox's baseball coverage, said he was really upset by Fox's 444 00:33:56,435 --> 00:34:00,795 Speaker 1: slovenliness and attempt to bury him. On the other hand, 445 00:34:00,915 --> 00:34:03,355 Speaker 1: Frank could look at it this way. Between his time 446 00:34:03,435 --> 00:34:07,995 Speaker 1: on its baseball show and his premature memorial, he has 447 00:34:08,035 --> 00:34:13,355 Speaker 1: now twice cheated death at the hands of Fox runner 448 00:34:13,435 --> 00:34:16,835 Speaker 1: up worser. Aaron Rodgers, who used to be a football quarterback, 449 00:34:17,315 --> 00:34:20,235 Speaker 1: injured in the first ten seconds of his career with 450 00:34:20,275 --> 00:34:24,155 Speaker 1: the New York Jets, the famous liar and hallucinogenic t 451 00:34:24,555 --> 00:34:27,635 Speaker 1: user who deceived the league and the fans about whether 452 00:34:27,715 --> 00:34:30,715 Speaker 1: or not he was vaccinated during COVID. He went on 453 00:34:30,995 --> 00:34:33,875 Speaker 1: ESPN to complain about those who criticized the New York 454 00:34:33,955 --> 00:34:36,275 Speaker 1: Jets decision to put him on the active roster in 455 00:34:36,315 --> 00:34:38,315 Speaker 1: the waning weeks of the regular season even though he 456 00:34:38,315 --> 00:34:42,635 Speaker 1: still can't play. That cost another player his job and 457 00:34:42,755 --> 00:34:47,155 Speaker 1: his salary. Rogers did not name any this time. Previously 458 00:34:47,195 --> 00:34:50,155 Speaker 1: he included me, but he said, quote, before they talk, 459 00:34:50,475 --> 00:34:52,635 Speaker 1: let's go back to twenty twenty one. Let's make people 460 00:34:52,715 --> 00:34:56,475 Speaker 1: say their vax status to start. That'll frame all these 461 00:34:56,555 --> 00:34:59,755 Speaker 1: comments in the right window before they say something. Let's 462 00:34:59,755 --> 00:35:02,435 Speaker 1: have them say Hey, I'm so and so double vaxed 463 00:35:02,475 --> 00:35:06,715 Speaker 1: with Pfizer and triple boosted, and my opinion is well, 464 00:35:06,795 --> 00:35:09,715 Speaker 1: so far, Aaron Rodgers was merely being his usual paranoid, 465 00:35:10,075 --> 00:35:16,635 Speaker 1: self absorbed, afraid of needles, self destructive, moronic self. Then 466 00:35:17,435 --> 00:35:20,515 Speaker 1: it went bad for him. Quote At least then you'd 467 00:35:20,515 --> 00:35:23,115 Speaker 1: know and everybody would know. At that point they have 468 00:35:23,315 --> 00:35:27,915 Speaker 1: their puppet masters who are puppeteering them to say this 469 00:35:28,035 --> 00:35:34,195 Speaker 1: certain thing. Unquote, puppet masters as in the anti semitic 470 00:35:34,275 --> 00:35:39,195 Speaker 1: trope of the same name. Flatly, were Aaron Rodgers right, 471 00:35:39,435 --> 00:35:42,555 Speaker 1: and of course he's not, he would be banned from 472 00:35:42,555 --> 00:35:46,635 Speaker 1: football for life by you know, the puppet masters. But 473 00:35:46,755 --> 00:35:51,515 Speaker 1: since he's wrong and nuts and using an anti Semitic trope, 474 00:35:51,555 --> 00:35:54,715 Speaker 1: he should be banned from football for life because he 475 00:35:54,795 --> 00:36:00,755 Speaker 1: thinks there are puppet masters, but the winner the worst, 476 00:36:01,155 --> 00:36:06,155 Speaker 1: Michael Flynn Junior, the son of the disgraced, disloyal and 477 00:36:06,275 --> 00:36:10,035 Speaker 1: tiny ex general. By the way, before we drop Aaron 478 00:36:10,115 --> 00:36:12,835 Speaker 1: Rodgers completely, do you remember he used to be a 479 00:36:13,235 --> 00:36:18,075 Speaker 1: TV pitchman, a spokesman for an insurance company. He could 480 00:36:18,155 --> 00:36:25,235 Speaker 1: not get an ad selling I don't know hydrodoxy chloroquin 481 00:36:25,675 --> 00:36:31,195 Speaker 1: tablets right now, the winner Michael Flynn Junior. Flynn the 482 00:36:31,275 --> 00:36:33,795 Speaker 1: elder was slammed by a woman on Twitter x who 483 00:36:33,875 --> 00:36:37,475 Speaker 1: referred to him as Mike Flynn, and Flynn the Younger 484 00:36:37,515 --> 00:36:40,875 Speaker 1: responded in a tweet that he closed replies except for 485 00:36:40,915 --> 00:36:44,155 Speaker 1: his friends because Flynn Junior is also a coward. Flynn 486 00:36:44,195 --> 00:36:48,995 Speaker 1: Junior wrote, quote it's General Flynn, bitch, get it right, unquote, 487 00:36:49,195 --> 00:36:50,995 Speaker 1: leading to the hashtag and I'm proud to say I 488 00:36:51,035 --> 00:36:56,755 Speaker 1: helped with this the hashtag quote General Flynn bitch. Nice work, Sonny. 489 00:36:57,995 --> 00:37:01,075 Speaker 1: Dad's very proud of you, Michael. Thanks to me, they 490 00:37:01,155 --> 00:37:07,075 Speaker 1: call my dad General Flynn bitch in junior two days 491 00:37:07,675 --> 00:37:25,275 Speaker 1: worst person and the world to the number one story 492 00:37:25,275 --> 00:37:27,395 Speaker 1: on the Countdown and my favorite topic, me and things 493 00:37:27,435 --> 00:37:29,435 Speaker 1: I promised not to tell. And I do not exactly 494 00:37:29,555 --> 00:37:33,715 Speaker 1: remember what caused me to think of this story, except 495 00:37:33,755 --> 00:37:38,515 Speaker 1: for the fact that it has lurked always just beneath 496 00:37:38,595 --> 00:37:42,315 Speaker 1: the front of my mind since it first happened. In 497 00:37:42,355 --> 00:37:46,075 Speaker 1: October nineteen ninety nine, I was finishing my first year 498 00:37:46,115 --> 00:37:50,995 Speaker 1: as the principal anchor and senior corresponded for Fox Sports News, 499 00:37:51,515 --> 00:37:55,035 Speaker 1: Fox's first attempt to challenge ESPN. I was the host 500 00:37:55,035 --> 00:37:56,795 Speaker 1: of the game of the week on the Fox Broadcast 501 00:37:56,835 --> 00:38:00,555 Speaker 1: Network Baseball, and things had gone pretty well. The guy 502 00:38:00,595 --> 00:38:03,275 Speaker 1: who hired me recognized it would be five years before 503 00:38:03,315 --> 00:38:06,275 Speaker 1: we had enough credibility to me and aby say we 504 00:38:06,275 --> 00:38:10,275 Speaker 1: were getting forty percent of ESPN's audience. He had quit 505 00:38:11,115 --> 00:38:13,715 Speaker 1: and moved back to England, and he had been replaced 506 00:38:13,755 --> 00:38:15,955 Speaker 1: by another guy who said he would raise the ratings 507 00:38:15,995 --> 00:38:20,395 Speaker 1: in five weeks or everybody would get fired. My direct 508 00:38:20,435 --> 00:38:24,635 Speaker 1: boss had hired a clown named Chris Myers to be 509 00:38:24,755 --> 00:38:27,595 Speaker 1: the top anchor for Fox Sports News and spent something 510 00:38:27,595 --> 00:38:30,875 Speaker 1: like two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to lure him 511 00:38:30,915 --> 00:38:34,475 Speaker 1: away from ESPN, not knowing that ESPN was actually trying 512 00:38:34,475 --> 00:38:37,875 Speaker 1: to get Myers to leave without having to fire him. 513 00:38:38,435 --> 00:38:41,595 Speaker 1: None of my direct boss's bosses had told my direct 514 00:38:41,635 --> 00:38:44,875 Speaker 1: boss that they were hiring me for three million dollars 515 00:38:44,915 --> 00:38:47,395 Speaker 1: to be the top anchor for Fox Sports News. Myers 516 00:38:47,555 --> 00:38:51,355 Speaker 1: was bitterly resentful about this, I mean more so than usual, 517 00:38:52,035 --> 00:38:55,315 Speaker 1: and his boss, who had chained himself to Myers, was 518 00:38:55,355 --> 00:39:00,395 Speaker 1: even more bitterly resentful. Myers began to demand anything they 519 00:39:00,435 --> 00:39:03,435 Speaker 1: gave me. They built me a small wardrobe cabinet, so 520 00:39:03,475 --> 00:39:05,875 Speaker 1: when I moved to Lai, I could keep some clothes 521 00:39:06,115 --> 00:39:08,435 Speaker 1: and some valuables in my office until I got my 522 00:39:08,475 --> 00:39:10,435 Speaker 1: own home. Well, the next thing I knew they had 523 00:39:10,435 --> 00:39:13,355 Speaker 1: built one for Myers. I poked my head in his 524 00:39:13,435 --> 00:39:16,035 Speaker 1: office one day when he was not there. It was 525 00:39:16,075 --> 00:39:18,995 Speaker 1: an exact duplicate of mine. The only thing he had 526 00:39:19,035 --> 00:39:26,155 Speaker 1: in his wardrobe cabinet was one lone bent hangar. Myers 527 00:39:26,195 --> 00:39:30,315 Speaker 1: co anchored with Steve Lyons, who was proudly doing homophobic 528 00:39:30,435 --> 00:39:34,115 Speaker 1: jokes on our air Lions worked the Baseball Show with 529 00:39:34,155 --> 00:39:36,715 Speaker 1: me every Saturday on Big Fox. And I always thought 530 00:39:36,755 --> 00:39:38,635 Speaker 1: I was the biggest complainer in the world until I 531 00:39:38,675 --> 00:39:41,675 Speaker 1: met Lyons, and like the second morning he left the 532 00:39:41,675 --> 00:39:44,435 Speaker 1: makeup room and the hairstylist said she was preparing to 533 00:39:44,555 --> 00:39:47,315 Speaker 1: kill him, but before she did and the police came, 534 00:39:47,515 --> 00:39:51,875 Speaker 1: she wanted to thank me for never complaining. Despite all this, 535 00:39:52,515 --> 00:39:55,995 Speaker 1: we were somehow getting enormous amounts of publicity. Every time 536 00:39:56,115 --> 00:39:59,355 Speaker 1: anybody wrote an article about ESPN or a sports center 537 00:39:59,475 --> 00:40:03,835 Speaker 1: or Dan Patrick, they devoted at least a third, sometimes 538 00:40:03,915 --> 00:40:07,675 Speaker 1: a half of the article to me and Fox Sports 539 00:40:07,715 --> 00:40:12,155 Speaker 1: News and my former partnership with Dan and our publicity 540 00:40:12,195 --> 00:40:16,115 Speaker 1: department did nothing with any of this free publicity, millions 541 00:40:16,115 --> 00:40:19,515 Speaker 1: of dollars worth of free publicity, no commercials boasting about 542 00:40:19,555 --> 00:40:24,315 Speaker 1: all the good press, no advertising about all the good press. Nothing. Plus, 543 00:40:25,075 --> 00:40:27,355 Speaker 1: just to round it out, I had a stalker who 544 00:40:27,395 --> 00:40:29,595 Speaker 1: advised me that she was not surprised I had not 545 00:40:29,675 --> 00:40:32,435 Speaker 1: responded to her in her five years of phone calls 546 00:40:32,435 --> 00:40:36,355 Speaker 1: and letters. I just needed time and anyway. She knew 547 00:40:36,355 --> 00:40:40,075 Speaker 1: I was talking to her during the show in code 548 00:40:40,595 --> 00:40:43,315 Speaker 1: and she would be coming out to La to marry 549 00:40:43,355 --> 00:40:46,515 Speaker 1: me or kill me. She had not decided which, and 550 00:40:46,555 --> 00:40:49,195 Speaker 1: all I could think was, she's going to kill me, 551 00:40:50,035 --> 00:40:52,435 Speaker 1: and the makeup artist is going to kill Lions, and 552 00:40:52,515 --> 00:40:55,315 Speaker 1: you know what that means. That means Myers will wind 553 00:40:55,395 --> 00:41:00,515 Speaker 1: up getting to do the Baseball Show by himself. So 554 00:41:00,635 --> 00:41:04,595 Speaker 1: things are going great. Nineteen ninety nine was the last 555 00:41:04,675 --> 00:41:08,395 Speaker 1: best World Series that Fox did not televise, but we 556 00:41:08,435 --> 00:41:10,835 Speaker 1: sent a full crew anyway to cover it wall to 557 00:41:10,915 --> 00:41:14,715 Speaker 1: all for our fledgling cable network and Fox Sports News, 558 00:41:14,715 --> 00:41:17,395 Speaker 1: and I was the anchor. I don't think they sent 559 00:41:17,515 --> 00:41:21,235 Speaker 1: Lions or Myers. And with me there were two of 560 00:41:21,235 --> 00:41:24,355 Speaker 1: our cable only analysts, the former Red Sox and Rangers 561 00:41:24,355 --> 00:41:28,195 Speaker 1: manager Kevin Kennedy and the former Dodgers second baseman Steve Sachs. 562 00:41:28,635 --> 00:41:31,515 Speaker 1: I liked them both. We worked well together. They had 563 00:41:31,595 --> 00:41:35,355 Speaker 1: utterly different styles. After our live shots from the field 564 00:41:35,355 --> 00:41:37,715 Speaker 1: at Turner Field in Atlanta, following Game one of that 565 00:41:37,755 --> 00:41:40,795 Speaker 1: World series, our producer Eric Weinberger gathered us in the 566 00:41:40,795 --> 00:41:43,995 Speaker 1: Fox Luxury suite down the first baseline and he asked 567 00:41:44,075 --> 00:41:47,595 Speaker 1: us what our needs were to improve what had been 568 00:41:47,715 --> 00:41:50,355 Speaker 1: kind of a sloppy Game one effort. And I said, well, 569 00:41:50,715 --> 00:41:53,635 Speaker 1: the monitor off which I have to narrate, the highlights 570 00:41:53,715 --> 00:41:57,275 Speaker 1: that needs to be adjusted, and mind you, we're going 571 00:41:57,315 --> 00:41:59,675 Speaker 1: on there two minutes after the game. I have not 572 00:41:59,835 --> 00:42:03,355 Speaker 1: seen the highlights, nor could I, nor do I know 573 00:42:03,435 --> 00:42:06,515 Speaker 1: which highlights have been chose. I am ad libbing on 574 00:42:06,635 --> 00:42:09,875 Speaker 1: top of ad libbing, and the only monitor, which is 575 00:42:09,875 --> 00:42:12,155 Speaker 1: black and white and about four inches in diameter, this 576 00:42:12,235 --> 00:42:15,755 Speaker 1: had been placed on the dirt next to the braves dugout. 577 00:42:16,195 --> 00:42:18,715 Speaker 1: I had literally had to drop to my hands and 578 00:42:18,795 --> 00:42:22,155 Speaker 1: knees the second the highlight started to play. To have 579 00:42:22,315 --> 00:42:26,155 Speaker 1: any chance at all, I said, just put the monitor 580 00:42:26,195 --> 00:42:31,155 Speaker 1: on a stool or a chair, or the wall, or 581 00:42:31,155 --> 00:42:35,435 Speaker 1: have somebody hold it up near my face, Weinberger said, okay. 582 00:42:35,635 --> 00:42:39,555 Speaker 1: Kevin Kennedy said that the Fox Scopes the pre produced 583 00:42:39,675 --> 00:42:43,995 Speaker 1: in depth analyzes of pitch sequences or defensive positionings, the 584 00:42:44,035 --> 00:42:47,715 Speaker 1: inside baseball of inside Baseball. He kind of needed to 585 00:42:47,995 --> 00:42:51,675 Speaker 1: see at least some of them before going on the 586 00:42:51,675 --> 00:42:54,075 Speaker 1: air with them, maybe during the commercial breaks, or he 587 00:42:54,115 --> 00:42:56,915 Speaker 1: would have no idea what to tell the audience, as 588 00:42:56,995 --> 00:43:00,835 Speaker 1: was evidenced after Game one. Weinberger said, okay, absolutely, and 589 00:43:00,835 --> 00:43:02,995 Speaker 1: then he said to Sax and what do you need, Steve? 590 00:43:03,275 --> 00:43:07,195 Speaker 1: And Sax said utterly, sincerely and with as much concern 591 00:43:07,275 --> 00:43:09,475 Speaker 1: as I had had for the Monitor and Kennedy had 592 00:43:09,475 --> 00:43:12,115 Speaker 1: had for the Fox Scopes. Sach said, you got any 593 00:43:12,115 --> 00:43:19,035 Speaker 1: more of these cookies? These are great. What I had 594 00:43:19,155 --> 00:43:24,355 Speaker 1: not told Weinberger was something he already knew. I had 595 00:43:24,395 --> 00:43:27,755 Speaker 1: to get more sleep. Fox had put us in a 596 00:43:27,795 --> 00:43:32,275 Speaker 1: hotel in suburban Buckhead, Georgia, the Swiss Hotel, which I 597 00:43:32,275 --> 00:43:36,115 Speaker 1: guess has been a Weston for twenty years. Nice enough place, 598 00:43:36,155 --> 00:43:37,835 Speaker 1: big rooms, and the one they put me in the 599 00:43:37,875 --> 00:43:41,235 Speaker 1: first night was next to a party or a meeting 600 00:43:41,275 --> 00:43:44,995 Speaker 1: of some kind. I mean there were it sounded like 601 00:43:45,355 --> 00:43:49,395 Speaker 1: twenty or thirty people in there. Ordinary sized room same 602 00:43:49,395 --> 00:43:53,875 Speaker 1: as mine. I called the desk. Sorry, no other rooms available. 603 00:43:54,275 --> 00:43:56,355 Speaker 1: They would call my neighbors and make sure they would 604 00:43:56,395 --> 00:44:01,435 Speaker 1: quiet down before bedtime, and they did. And then at 605 00:44:01,475 --> 00:44:04,075 Speaker 1: two am I discovered what kind of party or meeting 606 00:44:04,075 --> 00:44:06,715 Speaker 1: it was and why twenty people were in the room 607 00:44:07,035 --> 00:44:09,795 Speaker 1: in an ordinary size room. In what started as a 608 00:44:09,915 --> 00:44:14,075 Speaker 1: dream and then turned into literally unbelievable reality, I heard 609 00:44:14,155 --> 00:44:17,195 Speaker 1: a loud Southern voice say, if we are going to 610 00:44:17,235 --> 00:44:19,395 Speaker 1: win this competition, we're going to have to be the 611 00:44:19,435 --> 00:44:24,355 Speaker 1: best chorus that ever left North Carolina. And they began 612 00:44:24,515 --> 00:44:29,595 Speaker 1: to sing gospel mostly, which is fine, except not at 613 00:44:29,595 --> 00:44:34,315 Speaker 1: two am. Make that now three am, the night before 614 00:44:34,515 --> 00:44:36,955 Speaker 1: Game one of the World Series, which I have to 615 00:44:36,955 --> 00:44:41,475 Speaker 1: cover on live TV. Oh, and they'd get thirty or 616 00:44:41,475 --> 00:44:44,235 Speaker 1: forty seconds into one of the hymns and the director, 617 00:44:44,275 --> 00:44:46,995 Speaker 1: who had a voice like like the PA system at 618 00:44:47,035 --> 00:44:51,715 Speaker 1: Turner Field, only way clearer, would stop them and yell 619 00:44:51,755 --> 00:44:54,635 Speaker 1: at them and make them start from the beginning. They 620 00:44:54,635 --> 00:44:57,555 Speaker 1: were competing in the morning, and he had decided they 621 00:44:57,555 --> 00:45:00,235 Speaker 1: were going to spend the night, the whole night that 622 00:45:00,435 --> 00:45:06,795 Speaker 1: night practicing. I called the desk and I made a 623 00:45:06,795 --> 00:45:10,555 Speaker 1: few sharp edged remarks about being on national television, and 624 00:45:10,635 --> 00:45:15,275 Speaker 1: how many opportunities I would have to bankrupt the Buckhead 625 00:45:15,395 --> 00:45:19,475 Speaker 1: Swiss Hotel, and the Swiss Hotel chained generally, And suddenly 626 00:45:19,515 --> 00:45:23,075 Speaker 1: they found me another room to move to, and I 627 00:45:23,115 --> 00:45:26,915 Speaker 1: gathered my stuff and trudged a few floors and scattered 628 00:45:26,915 --> 00:45:29,435 Speaker 1: my stuff in the new room, and I fell onto 629 00:45:29,475 --> 00:45:31,395 Speaker 1: the bed and I went right to sleep, and I 630 00:45:31,475 --> 00:45:36,275 Speaker 1: got a solid two or three minutes. And that's when 631 00:45:36,355 --> 00:45:40,995 Speaker 1: the bathroom phone began to ring, not the main phone 632 00:45:41,115 --> 00:45:44,595 Speaker 1: in the room, just the one in the bathroom. And 633 00:45:44,635 --> 00:45:48,635 Speaker 1: I picked it up and there was a dial tone 634 00:45:48,715 --> 00:45:53,035 Speaker 1: and it kept ringing, one hundred rings, two hundred rings. 635 00:45:53,915 --> 00:45:57,875 Speaker 1: I disconnected the phone line from the wall. It kept ringing. 636 00:45:59,155 --> 00:46:00,635 Speaker 1: I thought, I have to be on one of two 637 00:46:00,715 --> 00:46:06,515 Speaker 1: TV shows. Either I'm on Candid Camera or The Twilight Zone. 638 00:46:06,635 --> 00:46:09,195 Speaker 1: The phone is alive. I've disconnected it from the wall 639 00:46:09,235 --> 00:46:13,315 Speaker 1: and it's still ringing. It is now five am. I 640 00:46:13,395 --> 00:46:16,075 Speaker 1: still have a chance to get a full night's sleep, 641 00:46:16,235 --> 00:46:19,195 Speaker 1: in full day's sleep before the game, but the rest 642 00:46:19,235 --> 00:46:22,555 Speaker 1: of the day will be erased. I called the desk, 643 00:46:23,635 --> 00:46:25,635 Speaker 1: my god, we still have one of those phones in 644 00:46:25,635 --> 00:46:27,955 Speaker 1: one of the rooms. I thought we'd removed all them. 645 00:46:27,995 --> 00:46:32,595 Speaker 1: I'll send the electrician. He got there surprisingly fast. He 646 00:46:32,635 --> 00:46:35,115 Speaker 1: did not bother with any niceties, and he simply did 647 00:46:35,155 --> 00:46:37,355 Speaker 1: what I would have done. He yanked the whole thing 648 00:46:37,435 --> 00:46:40,635 Speaker 1: out of the wall and took it with him. I 649 00:46:40,795 --> 00:46:43,035 Speaker 1: closed the door behind him, and I could hear it. 650 00:46:43,115 --> 00:46:45,835 Speaker 1: As he moved back down the hall towards the elevator. 651 00:46:45,875 --> 00:46:49,755 Speaker 1: The phone was still ringing. It was a possessed phone. 652 00:46:51,555 --> 00:46:54,235 Speaker 1: As the sun began to rise and I crawled back 653 00:46:54,275 --> 00:46:57,315 Speaker 1: into bed, I remembered something. Vital I called my new 654 00:46:57,395 --> 00:46:59,875 Speaker 1: friend at the front desk again and I pleaded with him. 655 00:47:00,195 --> 00:47:03,515 Speaker 1: Upon my arrival the night before, which seemed like three 656 00:47:03,595 --> 00:47:07,675 Speaker 1: or four decades earlier, I had sent over a suit 657 00:47:07,915 --> 00:47:11,635 Speaker 1: to be pressed. Please, could you make sure they do 658 00:47:11,795 --> 00:47:17,115 Speaker 1: not deliver it until I call. I have to sleep guaranteed, sir, 659 00:47:17,195 --> 00:47:20,155 Speaker 1: you get some sleep now. The knock came at eight 660 00:47:20,235 --> 00:47:27,395 Speaker 1: thirty am, Ballet service. I shout go away. A moment 661 00:47:27,515 --> 00:47:31,675 Speaker 1: later the phone rings Ballet service. Minutes after that, the 662 00:47:31,675 --> 00:47:34,235 Speaker 1: phone rings again. Hi, this is the ballet manager. We 663 00:47:34,235 --> 00:47:37,395 Speaker 1: want to make sure did you get your suit? I 664 00:47:37,395 --> 00:47:43,355 Speaker 1: emitted a string of popular Anglo Saxon expletives. I had 665 00:47:43,395 --> 00:47:46,555 Speaker 1: now been violently awakened so many times by so many 666 00:47:46,635 --> 00:47:50,435 Speaker 1: different means that my vision had blurred. I called the desk. 667 00:47:50,635 --> 00:47:53,955 Speaker 1: I asked for the fax number of the general manager's office, and, 668 00:47:54,035 --> 00:47:57,035 Speaker 1: in those days before the universality of email, I wrote 669 00:47:57,035 --> 00:48:01,555 Speaker 1: the general manager a crisp and enraged letter, summarizing to 670 00:48:01,635 --> 00:48:05,795 Speaker 1: her my night in her hell with elevator, and explaining 671 00:48:05,795 --> 00:48:08,675 Speaker 1: I would be checking out and going anywhere a cab 672 00:48:08,755 --> 00:48:12,795 Speaker 1: could take me, a Motel six, a YMCA, a safe 673 00:48:12,835 --> 00:48:17,315 Speaker 1: looking bus stop. When I finally woke to my own 674 00:48:17,435 --> 00:48:20,715 Speaker 1: alarm around two in the afternoon, I found a note 675 00:48:20,915 --> 00:48:25,275 Speaker 1: slipped under my door. It was as apologetic as anything 676 00:48:25,315 --> 00:48:28,635 Speaker 1: I have ever read, and it had this sentence in it. 677 00:48:28,755 --> 00:48:31,115 Speaker 1: I know we cannot undo the harm we have done 678 00:48:31,155 --> 00:48:33,635 Speaker 1: to you, but I would offer you this by way 679 00:48:33,635 --> 00:48:38,795 Speaker 1: of apology. At eight pm this evening, the Presidential Suite 680 00:48:38,955 --> 00:48:44,835 Speaker 1: will become available. Please try it just tonight with our compliments. 681 00:48:45,355 --> 00:48:48,595 Speaker 1: We will pack and move your belongings in your absence, 682 00:48:48,835 --> 00:48:52,035 Speaker 1: and my assistant will stay tonight until you return from 683 00:48:52,035 --> 00:48:58,115 Speaker 1: the game and will personally escort you to the suite. Okay, well, 684 00:48:58,115 --> 00:49:01,155 Speaker 1: I had to give that a shot, didn't I The 685 00:49:01,195 --> 00:49:05,195 Speaker 1: presidential suite at the Swiss Hotel and Buckhead, Georgia was 686 00:49:05,235 --> 00:49:10,035 Speaker 1: not what I expected. The front doors, there were two 687 00:49:10,075 --> 00:49:15,635 Speaker 1: of them, opened onto a dining table which seated twenty eight. 688 00:49:16,835 --> 00:49:20,795 Speaker 1: A few feet away from this twenty eight seater, well 689 00:49:20,955 --> 00:49:24,195 Speaker 1: twenty or thirty or forty feet was the baby grand 690 00:49:24,275 --> 00:49:28,195 Speaker 1: piano in the next room. To the left, just a 691 00:49:28,235 --> 00:49:32,275 Speaker 1: few minutes walk away was the kitchen and the conference room, 692 00:49:32,635 --> 00:49:37,955 Speaker 1: which had the big table. Each of the bedrooms had 693 00:49:37,995 --> 00:49:43,035 Speaker 1: a fireplace, so did the living room. There were four bedrooms. 694 00:49:43,435 --> 00:49:47,435 Speaker 1: There was a sauna. There was a hot tub. There 695 00:49:47,515 --> 00:49:50,715 Speaker 1: was a second hot tub out on the balcony. There 696 00:49:50,795 --> 00:49:53,995 Speaker 1: was a walk in closet larger than the first room 697 00:49:54,035 --> 00:49:57,075 Speaker 1: they had given me. There was a door in the 698 00:49:57,115 --> 00:50:00,035 Speaker 1: back of the walk in closet that led to a 699 00:50:00,235 --> 00:50:06,675 Speaker 1: second walk in closet. I thought immediately of two things. 700 00:50:07,515 --> 00:50:10,355 Speaker 1: I called all the women I had dated in the 701 00:50:10,395 --> 00:50:14,075 Speaker 1: preceding year to see if any of them wanted to 702 00:50:14,155 --> 00:50:16,755 Speaker 1: fly to Atlanta at my expense, even if it was 703 00:50:16,835 --> 00:50:21,035 Speaker 1: just to see the presidential suite. I called women I 704 00:50:21,075 --> 00:50:24,195 Speaker 1: had known from when I occasionally worked in Atlanta sixteen 705 00:50:24,275 --> 00:50:28,395 Speaker 1: years earlier. I then thought we all right, practically here 706 00:50:28,755 --> 00:50:31,515 Speaker 1: we can hold the pre production meeting for Game two 707 00:50:31,515 --> 00:50:34,915 Speaker 1: of the World Series in well, either in the living 708 00:50:34,995 --> 00:50:40,195 Speaker 1: room with the twenty eight seat dining table or in 709 00:50:40,275 --> 00:50:44,435 Speaker 1: the conference room with the thirty six seat table. Hell, 710 00:50:44,515 --> 00:50:46,675 Speaker 1: we could hold Game two of the World Series in 711 00:50:46,715 --> 00:50:50,715 Speaker 1: this suite. My only concern with that, in a suite 712 00:50:50,755 --> 00:50:53,035 Speaker 1: so big it should have had its own ZIP code, 713 00:50:53,315 --> 00:50:55,555 Speaker 1: was that there was an excellent chance Steve Sachs would 714 00:50:55,595 --> 00:50:58,595 Speaker 1: get lost in it and we would never find him. 715 00:51:00,075 --> 00:51:02,275 Speaker 1: And then I thought, no, they'll probably charge me extra 716 00:51:02,355 --> 00:51:08,595 Speaker 1: for such a wonderful bonus. The Buckhead Georgia Swiss Hotel 717 00:51:08,675 --> 00:51:10,995 Speaker 1: and its general manager, whose name is lost in the 718 00:51:11,035 --> 00:51:13,635 Speaker 1: folds of history, had cemented a place in my travel 719 00:51:13,635 --> 00:51:16,195 Speaker 1: Hall of fame, and we were discussing that during the 720 00:51:16,235 --> 00:51:19,755 Speaker 1: pre production with our Fox Sports News crew at noon 721 00:51:19,915 --> 00:51:23,235 Speaker 1: on Sunday before Game two, munching on the six plates 722 00:51:23,235 --> 00:51:26,395 Speaker 1: of free food they had sent up. When the doorbell rang, 723 00:51:27,275 --> 00:51:31,635 Speaker 1: I say doorbell. It sounded like the bells at Notre 724 00:51:31,755 --> 00:51:37,315 Speaker 1: Dame in Paris. There, to my surprise, outside the double 725 00:51:37,355 --> 00:51:42,635 Speaker 1: doors were three hotel staffers with luggage carts. For a 726 00:51:42,675 --> 00:51:46,155 Speaker 1: moment I thought they had come to give us free 727 00:51:46,275 --> 00:51:51,515 Speaker 1: rides to the lobby. I expressed my surprise at their presence, well, 728 00:51:51,795 --> 00:51:54,435 Speaker 1: said the staffer, who turned out to be the other 729 00:51:54,555 --> 00:51:57,635 Speaker 1: assistant to the hotel's general manager. You're checking out today, 730 00:51:58,555 --> 00:52:01,555 Speaker 1: I smiled, No, no, no, Tomorrow. Game two is tonight. 731 00:52:01,635 --> 00:52:05,595 Speaker 1: We're checking out tomorrow, tomorrow morning. Only the bell station 732 00:52:05,755 --> 00:52:11,915 Speaker 1: manager looked sad, even remorseful. Oh, for God's sakes, we 733 00:52:11,995 --> 00:52:15,355 Speaker 1: got that wrong too. I'm afraid we need the presidential 734 00:52:15,395 --> 00:52:18,835 Speaker 1: suite for an actual president tonight. I can move you 735 00:52:18,875 --> 00:52:25,355 Speaker 1: to the Governor's suite, he said, Hopefully. They packed my 736 00:52:25,475 --> 00:52:28,275 Speaker 1: stuff as I instructed the Fox staff to eat all 737 00:52:28,315 --> 00:52:31,235 Speaker 1: of the food on the platters and to stuff anything 738 00:52:31,275 --> 00:52:34,955 Speaker 1: they could not eat into their pockets. I tried to 739 00:52:34,955 --> 00:52:37,715 Speaker 1: sneak in a quick sauna, but the staff said there 740 00:52:37,715 --> 00:52:41,555 Speaker 1: was a certain element of hurry up involved. Finally, we 741 00:52:41,595 --> 00:52:44,515 Speaker 1: all paraded down the hall to the Governor's suite, and 742 00:52:44,555 --> 00:52:47,355 Speaker 1: Weinberger and I were speculating that this would only have 743 00:52:47,435 --> 00:52:50,995 Speaker 1: one conference table and only one hot tub, and it 744 00:52:51,035 --> 00:52:54,035 Speaker 1: would all be indoors and there would be no balcony, 745 00:52:54,035 --> 00:52:57,555 Speaker 1: and we'd all be like Cinderella. When the clock struck 746 00:52:57,595 --> 00:52:59,595 Speaker 1: midnight and we get there, and the assistant to the 747 00:52:59,595 --> 00:53:02,795 Speaker 1: General Manager opens the door to the Governor's suite with 748 00:53:02,875 --> 00:53:06,195 Speaker 1: great ceremony, and there, five feet in from the vestibule, 749 00:53:06,395 --> 00:53:09,635 Speaker 1: perfectly placed on the ratty and bright blue nineteen eighty 750 00:53:09,675 --> 00:53:12,755 Speaker 1: one nylon rug that might once have been the artificial 751 00:53:12,795 --> 00:53:17,395 Speaker 1: turf at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, was the biggest carpet 752 00:53:17,635 --> 00:53:22,235 Speaker 1: stain I have ever seen in my life, easily ten 753 00:53:22,315 --> 00:53:28,155 Speaker 1: feet in diameter, causable only by the spilling of nuclear 754 00:53:28,195 --> 00:53:34,915 Speaker 1: waste or by a murder. So I said to the 755 00:53:35,075 --> 00:53:39,235 Speaker 1: chagrined assistant to the General Manager, who was putting down 756 00:53:39,915 --> 00:53:43,155 Speaker 1: a fresh towel to cover the stain, and to whom 757 00:53:43,195 --> 00:53:48,235 Speaker 1: it was apparently news that his Governor's suite featured a 758 00:53:48,355 --> 00:53:52,675 Speaker 1: stain the size of the chalk outline of where the 759 00:53:52,795 --> 00:54:00,035 Speaker 1: body had fallen. So I asked him, when does the 760 00:54:00,155 --> 00:54:16,515 Speaker 1: chorus arrive for practice. I've done all the damage I 761 00:54:16,555 --> 00:54:20,755 Speaker 1: can do here. Thank you for listening to Saunas countdown. 762 00:54:20,835 --> 00:54:24,355 Speaker 1: Musical directors Brian Ray and John Phillip Schanelle arranged, produced, 763 00:54:24,355 --> 00:54:27,675 Speaker 1: and performed most of the music. Mister Schaneale handled orchestration 764 00:54:27,715 --> 00:54:30,475 Speaker 1: and keyboards. Mister Ray was on guitars, bass, and drums, 765 00:54:30,675 --> 00:54:33,835 Speaker 1: and it was produced by Tko Brothers. Other music, including 766 00:54:33,835 --> 00:54:37,035 Speaker 1: some of the Beethoven compositions, arranged unperformed by the group 767 00:54:37,075 --> 00:54:40,955 Speaker 1: No Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olderman theme 768 00:54:40,955 --> 00:54:43,755 Speaker 1: from ESPN two, written by Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of 769 00:54:43,915 --> 00:54:47,835 Speaker 1: ESPN Inc. Our satirical and pithy musical comments were by 770 00:54:47,955 --> 00:54:51,955 Speaker 1: Nancy Faust, the best baseball stadium organist ever. Our announcer 771 00:54:52,035 --> 00:54:54,195 Speaker 1: today was my friend John Dean, and everything else was 772 00:54:54,235 --> 00:54:57,595 Speaker 1: pretty much my fault. That's countdown for this, the one 773 00:54:57,635 --> 00:55:01,195 Speaker 1: thousand and ninety second day since dementia Jay Trump's first 774 00:55:01,235 --> 00:55:04,475 Speaker 1: attempted coup against the democratically elected government of the United 775 00:55:04,515 --> 00:55:09,035 Speaker 1: STIs that's right three years ago Saturday. Use the fourteenth Amendment, 776 00:55:09,595 --> 00:55:13,515 Speaker 1: use the Insurrection Act, use the prosecutions to convict him. 777 00:55:14,035 --> 00:55:19,115 Speaker 1: Use everything we got while we still can. The next 778 00:55:19,155 --> 00:55:22,275 Speaker 1: schedule countdown is tomorrow. Until then, I'm Keith Olberman, good morning, 779 00:55:22,595 --> 00:55:41,035 Speaker 1: good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Can't even reach 780 00:55:41,115 --> 00:55:48,075 Speaker 1: the American idiots. I'm not a part of the mega agenda. 781 00:55:51,235 --> 00:55:57,115 Speaker 1: Eight years of hearing only Trump romaganda and what do 782 00:55:57,155 --> 00:56:05,915 Speaker 1: you mean? Day Clark is dead down with Keith Olderman 783 00:56:06,115 --> 00:56:10,595 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 784 00:56:10,755 --> 00:56:14,755 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get 785 00:56:14,795 --> 00:56:15,715 Speaker 1: your podcasts.