Trump's ravings about "rigged elections" did not start in 2020, or 2016 - Olbermann chronicles that shit all the way back to 2012.
Showing posts with label olbermann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olbermann. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 06, 2023
Tuesday, December 05, 2023
Today's Keith
SERIES 2 EPISODE 84:
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Here's an idea. What if - instead of waiting for Trump to manipulate our system and get elected again and use The Insurrection Act against AMERICA, we just used it against him - today?
It's not like he's not guilty of... you know... INSURRECTION.
B-Block (28:03) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS:
It's not like he's not guilty of... you know... INSURRECTION.
B-Block (28:03) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS:
Deadline nears on Ukraine $: How could the GOP be anti-gun? Witness tampering in the Georgia Trump case (with singing). The online Mehdi Hasan petition exceeds 15,000. Trump calls Jimmy Carter "The First Lady" and never even notices.
(33:13) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
COP28 actually put a UAE Oil Sultan in charge and they're all shocked he denied fossil fuels are killing the planet. Trump Diapers now on sale. And Christian Ziegler is not only in huge legal trouble, but the other woman was only really interested in his Missus.
C-Block (38:36) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
C-Block (38:36) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
I guess because I'm suggesting using The Insurrection Act to SAVE America rather than leaving it for Trump to use to DESTROY America, I want to tell the saga of "A Christmas Story" and how Little Ralphie finally figured out how to defeat the bully, Scut Farkas (by invoking the insurrection act!)
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Today's Keith
We're finally starting to get it.
SERIES 2 EPISODE 73: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Trump IS our Hitler. I posited this as early as 2016 and stated it in this series in September, 2022. But some bridge was crossed over the weekend, something happened that was so bad that even The Washington Post sat up and took notice. And now, suddenly, the forces of Groupthink and Conventional Wisdom and The Run On The Bank and The Fear Of Coming In Last On The New Big Beat have all aligned - and for once, for good.
Trump is Hitler. Not Hitler 1940, not Hitler 1938. But Hitler 1933? The last moment at which he could have been stopped before he unleashed the cataclysms of European destruction and the holocaust.
That's where we are with Trump. And a bevy of his quotes FINALLY broke through: calling his enemies vermin and promising to root them out and echoing Hitler's "ein Volk" speech, while at the same time his evil psychotic henchmen let one too many detail leak about plans to vet every significant military leader so he could count on the army, and his plan to build concentration camps for migrants (and oh by the way anybody who would defend them) and his attempts to get Mo Brooks to demand a new election and his reinstallation as president LAST YEAR and some kind of an overthrow of the Biden regime - all came out simultaneously.
To say nothing of the video proffers that got Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell their Georgia plea deals, full of previously sourced stories that will now have witness testimony about seizing voting machines and "the boss is not going to leave" and suddenly a million light bulbs have gone off around the media: TRUMP REALLY MEANS TO TAKE POWER AND NEVER GIVE IT UP.
It just might, just might not be too late. But we have to advance it, and the way you and I can do so directly is to use the words. Suspend Godwin's law and the Survivors' Law (there is only one Hitler - it's Hitler) by making sure there really IS only one Hitler. We must call Trump Hitler. We must call them Nazis. We must get President Biden to call them Nazis.
We must make people realize that stopping Trump is essential to saving freedom and democracy in this nation. Because it is. And the first group - the media - just began to wake up to it.
B-BLOCK (37:09) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
Trump is Hitler. Not Hitler 1940, not Hitler 1938. But Hitler 1933? The last moment at which he could have been stopped before he unleashed the cataclysms of European destruction and the holocaust.
That's where we are with Trump. And a bevy of his quotes FINALLY broke through: calling his enemies vermin and promising to root them out and echoing Hitler's "ein Volk" speech, while at the same time his evil psychotic henchmen let one too many detail leak about plans to vet every significant military leader so he could count on the army, and his plan to build concentration camps for migrants (and oh by the way anybody who would defend them) and his attempts to get Mo Brooks to demand a new election and his reinstallation as president LAST YEAR and some kind of an overthrow of the Biden regime - all came out simultaneously.
To say nothing of the video proffers that got Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell their Georgia plea deals, full of previously sourced stories that will now have witness testimony about seizing voting machines and "the boss is not going to leave" and suddenly a million light bulbs have gone off around the media: TRUMP REALLY MEANS TO TAKE POWER AND NEVER GIVE IT UP.
It just might, just might not be too late. But we have to advance it, and the way you and I can do so directly is to use the words. Suspend Godwin's law and the Survivors' Law (there is only one Hitler - it's Hitler) by making sure there really IS only one Hitler. We must call Trump Hitler. We must call them Nazis. We must get President Biden to call them Nazis.
We must make people realize that stopping Trump is essential to saving freedom and democracy in this nation. Because it is. And the first group - the media - just began to wake up to it.
B-BLOCK (37:09) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
Fox News fired a guy for reporting the truth about January 6; A Texas Trumpist is trying to get elected to congress by reenacting the Martin Luther King assassination; And the Supreme Court just instituted a Code of Ethics that a) isn't a code, and doesn't have anything to do with ethics. (43:03) IT IS NOW TWO YEARS since the death of my hospice pup Mishu and there is actually news about him. Even in death, he may have made it so that other dogs afflicted with the terrible heart malformation that claimed him, may survive.
C-BLOCK (1:02:10) THE STORY OF MISHU, Part 2
C-BLOCK (1:02:10) THE STORY OF MISHU, Part 2
Wednesday, November 08, 2023
Today's Keith
Why vote for Biden?
Because he beat Trump - what else ya need?
BIDEN'S GOOD POLL NUMBERS - 11.8.23
SEASON 2 EPISODE 70
A-Block
SEASON 2 EPISODE 70
A-Block
(1:44) ELECTION SCOREBOARD:
Democrats and democracy kick MAGA’s ass: another Trump off-year disaster as Republicans not only don't flip the Virginia Senate, they've lost the Virginia House! Deep discounts on "PRESIDENT YOUNGKIN 2024" Red Vests! In Ohio, it's a landslide as Issue 1 wins by 57-43 and puts Abortion Rights INTO the Ohio Constitution. And Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear goes from winning by 4000 votes four years ago, to winning by five points last night. Plus there are expansions of Democratic control in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It's another state-level disaster for Trump's GOP and what's the response of the CNN political director who whored himself out to get Trump live from that disastrous Kaitlan Collins Town Hall? David Chalian says "It's not the Democratic BRAND that's in trouble here, it's Joe Biden that's in trouble here." Actually that's not true either - and CNN should fire this idiot Chalian ASAP because it's CNN that's in trouble here.
(9:43) SPECIAL COMMENT:
(9:43) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Trump managed to combine stochastic terrorism and his Dementia J. Trump/Elmer J. Fudd split personality in one post, insisting someone “must stop” people who don’t realize he’s worth billions more even than he claims. America’s leading Parking Lot Legal Scholar Alina Habba insists they’ll be filing for a mistrial because they didn’t let Trump talk enough in court (oh, they let him talk enough in court). The good news is, Judge Chutkan shut them down on the latest delaying tactic. They wanted three more months for pre-trial motions; she told them she’ll give them two weeks and they’ll like it. And as more details emerge of Trump’s plan for a military dictatorship, Jeff Clark, the mediocre little man who might be the Attorney General who oversees the transition of the DOJ into the Ministry of Vengeance will finally have to face having his law license suspended.
While most reporting stays focused on Sunday’s New York Times Biden poll crater, there’s a new CNN poll that’s a little better. And everybody ignores the work of a private, right-leaning pollster called Cygnal with eye-opening good news for President Biden. Not only has his net approval/disapproval improved a whopping five points in ONE MONTH but the issue seen as sinking Biden – inflation – is beginning to shrink its dominance. A year ago 42% said inflation was the key topic. Two months ago it was still 37%. Now it’s down to 31%. The less it is decisive, the more it points to Biden’s reelection.
Still, Politico reports that after three months the Biden campaign has the results of its almost exclusively positive, issue-focused, non-Trump advertising: It’s failed. Completely. The campaign is being urged to re-focus on Trump but remains reluctant, still convinced that Trump will be torn down enough by his Republican challengers (if it doesn’t happen at tonight’s debate, it won’t). And more over, the question has to be raised: if you ARE selling Joe Biden’s Greatest Accomplishments, isn’t the first thing on that list, the fact that HE beat Trump? Wasn’t the most vivid, youthful, meaningful moment of his presidency his Defense-Of-Democracy speech in Philadelphia last year? Isn’t the greatest image of Biden, “Dark Brandon?”
Joe? You beat him. You’re the only one who has. We need you to do it again. And we need you to TELL US THAT. Not only WHY he and the evil he personifies and spreads MUST be defeated, but, bluntly, that you did it before and you will do it again: that you are the man to… beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
B-BLOCK
While most reporting stays focused on Sunday’s New York Times Biden poll crater, there’s a new CNN poll that’s a little better. And everybody ignores the work of a private, right-leaning pollster called Cygnal with eye-opening good news for President Biden. Not only has his net approval/disapproval improved a whopping five points in ONE MONTH but the issue seen as sinking Biden – inflation – is beginning to shrink its dominance. A year ago 42% said inflation was the key topic. Two months ago it was still 37%. Now it’s down to 31%. The less it is decisive, the more it points to Biden’s reelection.
Still, Politico reports that after three months the Biden campaign has the results of its almost exclusively positive, issue-focused, non-Trump advertising: It’s failed. Completely. The campaign is being urged to re-focus on Trump but remains reluctant, still convinced that Trump will be torn down enough by his Republican challengers (if it doesn’t happen at tonight’s debate, it won’t). And more over, the question has to be raised: if you ARE selling Joe Biden’s Greatest Accomplishments, isn’t the first thing on that list, the fact that HE beat Trump? Wasn’t the most vivid, youthful, meaningful moment of his presidency his Defense-Of-Democracy speech in Philadelphia last year? Isn’t the greatest image of Biden, “Dark Brandon?”
Joe? You beat him. You’re the only one who has. We need you to do it again. And we need you to TELL US THAT. Not only WHY he and the evil he personifies and spreads MUST be defeated, but, bluntly, that you did it before and you will do it again: that you are the man to… beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
B-BLOCK
(30:49) IN SPORTS:
Now begins the blowback. Wisconsin says goodbye and good riddance to no-longer-beloved-son Craig Counsell. The President of Mexico knows who the next manager of the Padres should be. And that drying up of the nourishing milk of ever-increasing TV fees for baseball? It just spread to basketball and hockey, where right now 26 teams are making $0 for telecasts during the 2024-25 season.
(35:57) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
The Washington Post followed up on its Trump Dictatorship piece with more good analysis and a Bothsidesist headline that would’ve looked stupid even above a travel story. There’s yet ANOTHER scandal for new 5th String Speaker Mike Johnson. And yesterday he was excoriating Rep. Tlaib for hate and prejudice. A month ago he was promising to turn Gaza into a parking lot. It isn’t which side you’re on – it’s that violence and destruction are fine as long as you’re MAGA.
C-BLOCK
Now begins the blowback. Wisconsin says goodbye and good riddance to no-longer-beloved-son Craig Counsell. The President of Mexico knows who the next manager of the Padres should be. And that drying up of the nourishing milk of ever-increasing TV fees for baseball? It just spread to basketball and hockey, where right now 26 teams are making $0 for telecasts during the 2024-25 season.
(35:57) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
The Washington Post followed up on its Trump Dictatorship piece with more good analysis and a Bothsidesist headline that would’ve looked stupid even above a travel story. There’s yet ANOTHER scandal for new 5th String Speaker Mike Johnson. And yesterday he was excoriating Rep. Tlaib for hate and prejudice. A month ago he was promising to turn Gaza into a parking lot. It isn’t which side you’re on – it’s that violence and destruction are fine as long as you’re MAGA.
C-BLOCK
(41:24) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
The New York City Marathon ended Sunday night. I swear, there are people walking the streets of my Fun City, still wearing their gold medals indicating they ran the damn thing. It flashes me back to the days when the Marathon had to beg for me to do a preview for CNN, and to the nightmares I still have of anchoring the Los Angeles Marathon…
The New York City Marathon ended Sunday night. I swear, there are people walking the streets of my Fun City, still wearing their gold medals indicating they ran the damn thing. It flashes me back to the days when the Marathon had to beg for me to do a preview for CNN, and to the nightmares I still have of anchoring the Los Angeles Marathon…
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Today's Keith
Olbermann makes a bold prediction - Jim Jordan will crash and burn.
SERIES 2 EPISODE 57: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
SCHMUCK JIM JORDAN, DESTROYED BY HIS SCHMUCK PARTY - 10.19.23
SERIES 2 EPISODE 57: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Who could have guessed this? Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen are only in favor of threats when the threats are NOT made against themselves!
Imagine being SUCH a schmuck that all the other people in the schmuck PARTY not only hate you and are trying to defeat you, but they have coordinated their hatred so that the votes against you keep GROWING and you get MORE humiliated each time you step out there. Imagine that’s YOU. That would make YOU…Jim Jordan!
Hi, Schmuck!
Now it's 22 Republicans vote against him, and at least SEVEN claim Jordan is responsible for doxxing and intimidation and in at least one case, death threats. So they are reportedly co-ordinating their no votes. So he gets LESS support on each vote. And he still plans on conducting a third vote.
I’ll explain who the fictional Senator Fred Van Ackerman was, which movie he was in, and why Jim Jordan is one plot twist away from becoming him and getting Van Ackerman's choice: resign, or stay around as a mute lame duck. Because it turns out the Republicans hate Jordan even more than WE DO.
I’ll also explain how the Gaza Hospital scam didn’t even last 24 hours. Because if it starts with “THEY BOMBED THE HOSPITAL” but it proves they actually “BOMBED THE PARKING LOT," all the other claims become exponentially LESS believable. And that leads us to genius of Joe Biden for going to Israel and throwing this country’s weight behind the truth. And how that dovetails into the story of what the newspapermen were writing 40 years ago today, about the president who was too old to run again and might not run and was facing an unbeatable opponent. And that president wound up winning the electoral college by 525 votes to 13.
B-Block (23:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
Imagine being SUCH a schmuck that all the other people in the schmuck PARTY not only hate you and are trying to defeat you, but they have coordinated their hatred so that the votes against you keep GROWING and you get MORE humiliated each time you step out there. Imagine that’s YOU. That would make YOU…Jim Jordan!
Hi, Schmuck!
Now it's 22 Republicans vote against him, and at least SEVEN claim Jordan is responsible for doxxing and intimidation and in at least one case, death threats. So they are reportedly co-ordinating their no votes. So he gets LESS support on each vote. And he still plans on conducting a third vote.
I’ll explain who the fictional Senator Fred Van Ackerman was, which movie he was in, and why Jim Jordan is one plot twist away from becoming him and getting Van Ackerman's choice: resign, or stay around as a mute lame duck. Because it turns out the Republicans hate Jordan even more than WE DO.
I’ll also explain how the Gaza Hospital scam didn’t even last 24 hours. Because if it starts with “THEY BOMBED THE HOSPITAL” but it proves they actually “BOMBED THE PARKING LOT," all the other claims become exponentially LESS believable. And that leads us to genius of Joe Biden for going to Israel and throwing this country’s weight behind the truth. And how that dovetails into the story of what the newspapermen were writing 40 years ago today, about the president who was too old to run again and might not run and was facing an unbeatable opponent. And that president wound up winning the electoral college by 525 votes to 13.
B-Block (23:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
GOP Congressman Mike Collins pretends GOP isn't imploding by saying Hakeem Jeffries lost too. And Marjorie Taylor Barney Rubble Greene makes that rare double appearance in the list: winning for attacking "insurrectionists" at the Capitol whose text messages were about hot dog stands.
C-Block (29:25) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
C-Block (29:25) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
It wasn't THAT traumatic. It was just the most venerable disc jockey in New York radio coming into the newsroom and screaming that he would get me - the 21-year old back-up sportscaster - fired that day, and then an hour later, the same disc jockey coming back into the newsroom and screaming that he would get me a multi-year contract to become a regular on his show.
Thursday, October 12, 2023
Today's Keith
It's not Iran (not yet anyway). It's Russia. Hamas leaders have met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at least twice, that we know of, in Moscow, in the last couple of years - which is about how long it would have to take to plan, and train for, the kind of breaching operation Hamas pulled off.
It's the Russians, stupid.
To hurt Ukraine is to help Russia. To help Russia is to help Hamas. And to help Hamas is to hurt Israel.
SERIES 2 EPISODE 53: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Well, could YOU choose between Rep. Beelzebub or Rep. Lucifer? Jordan and Scalise both eminently define different kind of evils of the Republican Party. But the knives are out and they're steak knives: Jordan's allies are trying to sink Scalise by revealing his campaign has spent half a million dollars at DC's Capital Grille since 2011 (unfortunately that amounts to a nightly purchase of just two Filet Mignons, a side of spinach for the table, and no tip).
While Trump's lawyers file their latest delay against Jack Smith by claiming there are "missing documents" from he January 6th Committee, and his Colorado lawyers explain Trump isn't subject to the 14th Amendment because the president doesn't have to "support" the Constitution, Trump goes off the deep end on Israel. He claims that Israel was attacked because of the 2020 election "rigging," keeps repeating "Barack Hussein Obama," and attacks Prime Minister Netanyahu claiming Israel was neither smart nor tough. The cheese whiz is slipping off the cracker - again.
B-Block (20:00)THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
While Trump's lawyers file their latest delay against Jack Smith by claiming there are "missing documents" from he January 6th Committee, and his Colorado lawyers explain Trump isn't subject to the 14th Amendment because the president doesn't have to "support" the Constitution, Trump goes off the deep end on Israel. He claims that Israel was attacked because of the 2020 election "rigging," keeps repeating "Barack Hussein Obama," and attacks Prime Minister Netanyahu claiming Israel was neither smart nor tough. The cheese whiz is slipping off the cracker - again.
B-Block (20:00)THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
The internet is not kind to Tommy Tuberville: never joke about POTUS falling down if there's video of YOU falling down. Clouds begin to gather around Gary Bettman after he caves to the homophobes and Russians. And there's a shooting war between Israel and Hamas so what's exactly the right thing for a Charlie Kirk Turning Point USA "ambassador" to do? Compare "zionism to communism."
C-Block (29:43) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
C-Block (29:43) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL:
I missed the anniversary, but to be fair - so did ESPN. 30 years ago on the 1st of this month we debuted ESPN2. Nobody noticed this month. EVERYBODY noticed then. We were voted the 7th worst thing in sports for 1993!
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Today's Keith
Josh (Running Man) Hawley and Marge The Impaler Greene are on the wrong fucking side - again - as always.
A-Block (1:44)
SPECIAL COMMENT: It is nearly impossible to be shocked by anything bubbling up in Jack Smith's prosecutions of Donald Trump, and yet Smith has pulled it off. He has promised the court that during the trial of the United States vs. Trump for the stolen documents and secrets: "Why it occurred, what Trump knew, and what Trump intended in retaining them – all issues that the Government will prove at trial, primarily with unclassified evidence."
It's a stunning guarantee, buried deep in Smith's filing, answering why Trump should to get his wish to delay the trial until after the election. And he tantalizes us: because nothing else in the motion even REFERS to it, let alone explains it.
But it does dovetail with the latest grim details from Israel - and the awful echoes from Washington.Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, has now demanded that American aide to Ukraine be CUT OFF and sent instead to Israel, as if there were a reason for such a false either/or choice, and apparently unaware that people can see that his own performance and that of the rest of the Republican anti-Ukraine caucus is not in support of Israel but actually in support of Hamas and Iran. Twice in the last year the Kremlin invited Hamas to send delegations to Moscow and the terrorist group’s leadership met with Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in September 2022 and this past March. There is considerable analysis being done in Europe that the Russians encouraged – even bribed – Hamas, to undertake the full-scale attack that began from the Gaza Strip on Saturday and continues even at this hour. The Russians, this analysis reasons, wanted this because they are Iran’s leading ally and because a Middle East conflict of almost any size would amount to a second front, in which Western resources being dedicated to fighting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, might be re-directed TO Israel. In other words, Josh Hawley is doing exactly what the Russians want: degrading western support for Ukraine on the false excuse that the money must go instead to defend Israel. THAT would just give Russia a freer hand in Ukraine, and more money and materiel, to send to Hamas, to DEFEAT Israel, as Iran wants.
It MUST not be forgotten, especially not at this hour, that on May 10th, 2017, in the Oval Office, Trump disclosed classified intelligence – classified intelligence obtained by the Israelis – about an ISIS plot the Israelis unraveled in a town in Syria. Trump gave the information, directly, to Putin’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The same man who twice met with the Hamas delegations in Moscow.
PLUS: not only confirmation that Egypt warned Israel about an attack from Gaza, but a reason to suspect that somebody in the Netanyahu government has thrown the defense services under the bus to protect the troubled Prime Minister.
B-Block (26:12)
IN SPORTS: Steve Garvey? Running for Senator? The baseball hero whose political career died in 1988 when he became "The Father Of Our Country"? His old team underscores baseball's playoff crisis. Hockey dives further into homophobia. And one of that game's best ambassadors has to quit to attend to his own health. (39:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Has-been Aaron Rodgers says nasty things about Taylor Swift's boyfriend who they still pay to make commercials, there's a 1/6 defendant worried about "chest-feeding" and the Murdoch empire inadvertently reveals that if the Democrats were to switch candidates, there's one alternate choice with all the name recognition in the world.
C-Block (45:00)
THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The words were spoken by the best Communications professor I ever had, 44 or 45 years ago. And every week since - and literally yesterday - it's been ignored. "Whatever you do: DON'T SAY THIS."
Less US and NATO support for Ukraine means more Russian and Iranian support for Hamas.
SERIES 2 EPISODE 52: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
SMITH PROMISES TO PROVE WHY TRUMP STOLE DOCUMENTS - 10.11.23
SPECIAL COMMENT: It is nearly impossible to be shocked by anything bubbling up in Jack Smith's prosecutions of Donald Trump, and yet Smith has pulled it off. He has promised the court that during the trial of the United States vs. Trump for the stolen documents and secrets: "Why it occurred, what Trump knew, and what Trump intended in retaining them – all issues that the Government will prove at trial, primarily with unclassified evidence."
It's a stunning guarantee, buried deep in Smith's filing, answering why Trump should to get his wish to delay the trial until after the election. And he tantalizes us: because nothing else in the motion even REFERS to it, let alone explains it.
But it does dovetail with the latest grim details from Israel - and the awful echoes from Washington.Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, has now demanded that American aide to Ukraine be CUT OFF and sent instead to Israel, as if there were a reason for such a false either/or choice, and apparently unaware that people can see that his own performance and that of the rest of the Republican anti-Ukraine caucus is not in support of Israel but actually in support of Hamas and Iran. Twice in the last year the Kremlin invited Hamas to send delegations to Moscow and the terrorist group’s leadership met with Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in September 2022 and this past March. There is considerable analysis being done in Europe that the Russians encouraged – even bribed – Hamas, to undertake the full-scale attack that began from the Gaza Strip on Saturday and continues even at this hour. The Russians, this analysis reasons, wanted this because they are Iran’s leading ally and because a Middle East conflict of almost any size would amount to a second front, in which Western resources being dedicated to fighting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, might be re-directed TO Israel. In other words, Josh Hawley is doing exactly what the Russians want: degrading western support for Ukraine on the false excuse that the money must go instead to defend Israel. THAT would just give Russia a freer hand in Ukraine, and more money and materiel, to send to Hamas, to DEFEAT Israel, as Iran wants.
It MUST not be forgotten, especially not at this hour, that on May 10th, 2017, in the Oval Office, Trump disclosed classified intelligence – classified intelligence obtained by the Israelis – about an ISIS plot the Israelis unraveled in a town in Syria. Trump gave the information, directly, to Putin’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The same man who twice met with the Hamas delegations in Moscow.
PLUS: not only confirmation that Egypt warned Israel about an attack from Gaza, but a reason to suspect that somebody in the Netanyahu government has thrown the defense services under the bus to protect the troubled Prime Minister.
B-Block (26:12)
IN SPORTS: Steve Garvey? Running for Senator? The baseball hero whose political career died in 1988 when he became "The Father Of Our Country"? His old team underscores baseball's playoff crisis. Hockey dives further into homophobia. And one of that game's best ambassadors has to quit to attend to his own health. (39:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Has-been Aaron Rodgers says nasty things about Taylor Swift's boyfriend who they still pay to make commercials, there's a 1/6 defendant worried about "chest-feeding" and the Murdoch empire inadvertently reveals that if the Democrats were to switch candidates, there's one alternate choice with all the name recognition in the world.
C-Block (45:00)
THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The words were spoken by the best Communications professor I ever had, 44 or 45 years ago. And every week since - and literally yesterday - it's been ignored. "Whatever you do: DON'T SAY THIS."
Friday, September 29, 2023
Secrets
SEASON 2 EPISODE 45: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
9 of the secret documents Trump stole - and had stashed in the shitter at Mar-A-Lardass - are considered so super secret that they can't be kept in any SCIF outside DC.
Why isn't that prick in prison right fucking now?
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
"Join the ultimate strike against the globalist class," Trump shouted at his crowd in Michigan. And of course that is a double dogwhistle because to antisemites like Trump, "Globalist" means Jews, but also has a CLEAN meaning: dealing with the interconnections of the modern world, internationally. And he got away with “strike” there because he was nominally addressing the labor action by the United Auto Workers. Of course if you think he was telling his cult of thugs to take labor action against those dealing with the interconnections of the modern world, congratulations on awakening from your nine-year coma. Trump began to covertly attack Jewish people as soon as his presidential campaign began, he threatened globalists at the United Nations, this is nothing new.
But the use of the term “ultimate strike” should set off any remaining alarm bells that have not been ringing continuously all this time. This is not a complicated calculation: if Trump determined that he could get elected by beginning a full-fledged attack on Jewish people, Jewish influence, he’d do it. When we speak of him as having the soul of a mass murderer, that’s what we mean. People do not have any actual VALUE to him. Re-enact the holocaust in whole or in part? To get re-elected? To stay out of jail? Of course he’d do that. And to any group you could name. If he became convinced that he could regain the White House by rounding up and killing all the… left-handed people, he’d do it.
There is also more to the attack on the news media for "country-threatening treason." The former editor of The Washington Post confirms are worst fears. When Trump and Kushner demanded they meet to discuss how they could 'make it up' to Trump for reporting on Russia, the executives went as summoned, and negotiated. There is the danger in how the media has treated Trump and will treat him: it's all a negotiation for him, and it's all a negotiation for them.
Speaking of which, Melania has reportedly re-done her pre-nup. Which Tee Box did she get in the new deal? And as House Republicans prepare to sack Kevin McCarthy and replace him with Tom Emmer, who best represented their hilarious 'Impeachment Inquiry' launch? Jonathan Turkey saying he didn't see any evidence worthy of an impeachment? Or Congressman Chuck Edwards, who couldn't pronounce any of the names or words in the sentence they gave him to read - particularly: "Oligarch."
B-Block (25:22) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
But the use of the term “ultimate strike” should set off any remaining alarm bells that have not been ringing continuously all this time. This is not a complicated calculation: if Trump determined that he could get elected by beginning a full-fledged attack on Jewish people, Jewish influence, he’d do it. When we speak of him as having the soul of a mass murderer, that’s what we mean. People do not have any actual VALUE to him. Re-enact the holocaust in whole or in part? To get re-elected? To stay out of jail? Of course he’d do that. And to any group you could name. If he became convinced that he could regain the White House by rounding up and killing all the… left-handed people, he’d do it.
There is also more to the attack on the news media for "country-threatening treason." The former editor of The Washington Post confirms are worst fears. When Trump and Kushner demanded they meet to discuss how they could 'make it up' to Trump for reporting on Russia, the executives went as summoned, and negotiated. There is the danger in how the media has treated Trump and will treat him: it's all a negotiation for him, and it's all a negotiation for them.
Speaking of which, Melania has reportedly re-done her pre-nup. Which Tee Box did she get in the new deal? And as House Republicans prepare to sack Kevin McCarthy and replace him with Tom Emmer, who best represented their hilarious 'Impeachment Inquiry' launch? Jonathan Turkey saying he didn't see any evidence worthy of an impeachment? Or Congressman Chuck Edwards, who couldn't pronounce any of the names or words in the sentence they gave him to read - particularly: "Oligarch."
B-Block (25:22) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD:
Stew Peters and guest demand execution of Taylor Swift and Travis Kielce for vaccine advocacy. Hey, Matt Gaetz? Why the long face? And Curt Schilling - Scumbag - reveals a former teammate is fighting cancer even though the former teammate wanted to keep it private. (30:42) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL, PART 1: Saturday is Stevie Day. You've heard this story before? Well here's your chance to hear it again. A boy and his first dog (ok, the boy was 53).
C-Block (46:17) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL, PART 2:
C-Block (46:17) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL, PART 2:
Stevie makes her cameo.
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Nutty
... as a squirrel turd.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 42: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
"In times gone by, the punishment would've been death."
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Now we get the just-before-midnight answer to the Gag Order request, as insane as anything else since Friday, written not for legal purposes but to please Trump. Quote: “the proposed Gag Order is nothing more than an obvious attempt by the Biden Administration to unlawfully silence its most prominent political opponent, who has now taken a commanding lead in the polls. Keenly aware that it is losing that race for 2024, the prosecution seeks to unconstitutionally silence Trump’s (but not President Biden’s) political speech on pain of contempt)." Trump’s ambulance chasers slipstream behind his threats against NBC, referring to “President Biden and his surrogates (including those in the corporate media.” They dance along the lines of absurdity. There has been no intimidation of witnesses because quote “no witness has suggested that he or she will not testify because of anything president Trump has said.”
It is impossible to believe their rhetoric will have any impact on Judge Chutkan. It doesn’t have to. It was written so Trump could get excited by it. Jack Smith has until Saturday to answer.
And the late response was only the last of a string of insane moments by Trump or on his behalf. Yesterday - ten days after Hunter Biden was indicted for buying a gun when he was legally ineligible to do so… Trump in South Carolina bought a gun or tried to, when he was legally ineligible to do so.
And all THAT followed worse. Under 18 US Code 4241 a prosecutor can request that the judge order that the defendant must undergo a psychiatric or psychological examination to determine if he’s competent to stand trial and unable to aid in his own defense and when it is proved that he isn’t, the judge can order him institutionalized and Jack Smith should make the request and Judge Chutkan should grant it because in the 72 hours before his lawyers were supposed to submit an argument against issuing a gag order on him as they did with exceptional lameness just before the clock struck midnight eastern last night after he’d threatened the court and tried to poison the jury pool, Trump demanded that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff be executed, insisted NBC News was guilty of something he made up called “Country Threatening Treason” because it had published a poll about him that he didn’t like, promised that as president he would make it and other news organizations “pay a big price,” and argued that the homes of all Democratic Senators be raided just cause, and bought a gun or tried to, and conflated the Bush Brothers and I don’t mean Billy.
B-Block (22:45) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS (28:08):
It is impossible to believe their rhetoric will have any impact on Judge Chutkan. It doesn’t have to. It was written so Trump could get excited by it. Jack Smith has until Saturday to answer.
And the late response was only the last of a string of insane moments by Trump or on his behalf. Yesterday - ten days after Hunter Biden was indicted for buying a gun when he was legally ineligible to do so… Trump in South Carolina bought a gun or tried to, when he was legally ineligible to do so.
And all THAT followed worse. Under 18 US Code 4241 a prosecutor can request that the judge order that the defendant must undergo a psychiatric or psychological examination to determine if he’s competent to stand trial and unable to aid in his own defense and when it is proved that he isn’t, the judge can order him institutionalized and Jack Smith should make the request and Judge Chutkan should grant it because in the 72 hours before his lawyers were supposed to submit an argument against issuing a gag order on him as they did with exceptional lameness just before the clock struck midnight eastern last night after he’d threatened the court and tried to poison the jury pool, Trump demanded that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff be executed, insisted NBC News was guilty of something he made up called “Country Threatening Treason” because it had published a poll about him that he didn’t like, promised that as president he would make it and other news organizations “pay a big price,” and argued that the homes of all Democratic Senators be raided just cause, and bought a gun or tried to, and conflated the Bush Brothers and I don’t mean Billy.
B-Block (22:45) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS (28:08):
The gold bars are funny but isn't the issue with Senator Menendez the, you know, spying? Fox News was kind enough to just disprove the Hunter Biden/Joe Biden/Burisma phony story. And after she gets 35,000 people to register to vote in one day, a GOP propaganda site attacks... Taylor Swift? AND her fans? THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD (28:08): Congresswoman Sage Steele? The district they want her to run in wraps around but excludes the ESPN campus. Last year the Congressman won a Family Award. This year his missus says he's abandoned his family. And Kathleen Parker, who infamously wrote it'd be ok even if Trump won, tops herself: insisting Trump is "well-dressed."
C-Block (33:25) THE FINAL WORDS ON DAVID BROOKS AND HIS $78 WHISKEYBURGER TWEET. Obviously, whose words would be better to use, than Brooks' own?
C-Block (33:25) THE FINAL WORDS ON DAVID BROOKS AND HIS $78 WHISKEYBURGER TWEET. Obviously, whose words would be better to use, than Brooks' own?
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Today's Keith
A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT:
Judge Aileen Cannon! You have unsuspected depth! Trump’s novice judicial appointee has shocked Trump World by issuing a gag order not only limiting what he can say and when he can say it during his prosecution and trial for stealing top secret documents, but also limiting when he and his lawyers can see the war plans and other classified information he stole. Cannon’s ruling is almost everything Smith asked for. Any evidence marked classified? Trump can’t discuss it publicly. The evidence marked classified that Trump has lied about and said he DE-classified? Trump can’t discuss THAT publicly. The evidence marked classified that has become public knowledge without being officially de-classified? Trump can’t discuss THAT publicly. If he wants to listen to any of the classified audio it has to be on a hardline headset on a computer that has no internet or network connection! And she also has ruled co-defendant Walt Nauta cannot have access to any of the material, so that's one less chance of a pro-Trump leak. It's stunning.
Also, the Illegal Impeachment Inquiry Trump is stage-managing from behind the scenes is going shockingly badly. It's morphed into the GOP-In-Crisis; in fact, into the GOP in Open Revolt. McCarthy accused Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida of conspiring with Democrat Eric Swalwell of California to get Swalwell placed back on the Intelligence Committee. McCarthy even posits that THAT is a front for something else, saying of Gaetz quote “this is really about an ethics complaint.” Gaetz came back last night and said “This is an abject lie from a sad and pathetic man who lies to hold on to power,” and Congressman you’ll have to be more SPECIFIC than that and USE McCarthy’s name in that statement because otherwise it could be about anybody in your party.
Also: the McCarthy FBI whistleblower about Hunter Biden? A DIFFERENT FBI whistleblower has implied that the other one is lying. And Hunter Biden just sued a former Trump aide for illegally accessing the laptop.
And then there's the other media shoe dropping. A month ago Kristen Welker was one of a dozen reporters who took a meal with three Trump goons. Today, Welker will pre-destroy her career as host of "Meet The Press" to get a sit-down with Trump. The Executive Producer of her show - who didn't make the cut to join the Countdown staff 20 years ago - actually says of this garish soulless nonjournalistic stunt “We are in the business of covering politics. It’s not our job to pick and choose the leaders. The American people get to do that. And so our job is to make sure that the American people understand who the people in power are, what they stand for, and what they plan to do.”
It's not our job to STOP the arsonists, it's just our job to give equal coverage to the firefighters AND the arsonists.
B-Block (26:54) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS:
Also, the Illegal Impeachment Inquiry Trump is stage-managing from behind the scenes is going shockingly badly. It's morphed into the GOP-In-Crisis; in fact, into the GOP in Open Revolt. McCarthy accused Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida of conspiring with Democrat Eric Swalwell of California to get Swalwell placed back on the Intelligence Committee. McCarthy even posits that THAT is a front for something else, saying of Gaetz quote “this is really about an ethics complaint.” Gaetz came back last night and said “This is an abject lie from a sad and pathetic man who lies to hold on to power,” and Congressman you’ll have to be more SPECIFIC than that and USE McCarthy’s name in that statement because otherwise it could be about anybody in your party.
Also: the McCarthy FBI whistleblower about Hunter Biden? A DIFFERENT FBI whistleblower has implied that the other one is lying. And Hunter Biden just sued a former Trump aide for illegally accessing the laptop.
And then there's the other media shoe dropping. A month ago Kristen Welker was one of a dozen reporters who took a meal with three Trump goons. Today, Welker will pre-destroy her career as host of "Meet The Press" to get a sit-down with Trump. The Executive Producer of her show - who didn't make the cut to join the Countdown staff 20 years ago - actually says of this garish soulless nonjournalistic stunt “We are in the business of covering politics. It’s not our job to pick and choose the leaders. The American people get to do that. And so our job is to make sure that the American people understand who the people in power are, what they stand for, and what they plan to do.”
It's not our job to STOP the arsonists, it's just our job to give equal coverage to the firefighters AND the arsonists.
B-Block (26:54) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS:
Mitt Romney's going to retire at the end of his Senate term. I wonder if anyone will notice. My GOD they're treating this like Daniel Webster leaving the Senate in 1850. In fact, Mitt Romney is one of the dumbest, least perceptive people ever in public service - a man so dim that it wasn't until after January 6th that he realized smart colleagues like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley might not actually think Trump had won but were just LYING FOR PERSONAL GAIN AT AMERICA'S COST. And for me, nothing will erase from my memory the day I awoke to find that Mitt had tweeted about me, complained about me, and as Tommy Vietor replied "It’s long past time to break ground on a Both Sides museum in Washington, DC. This comparison of the President of the United States to Keith Olbermann MUST be preserved for future generations." But it what Mitt was complaining ABOUT that will always resonate: that I had despoiled American politics by calling Trump a terrorist.
Three months later Mitt was a virtual hostage inside the Capitol, pinned there by... Trump's terrorists.
C-Block (38:43) GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
Three months later Mitt was a virtual hostage inside the Capitol, pinned there by... Trump's terrorists.
C-Block (38:43) GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
Monday, September 11, 2023
Thursday, September 07, 2023
Today's Keith
Smith is keeping it as simple as possible - because the rubes are stupid and can't handle anything more complex than the Kid's Menu at Denny's.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Today's Keith
In the last segment of the podcast today, I heard some of the best introspection ever. Olbermann may not be the only journalist who does this, but he's the only one I can remember ever doing it honestly and in public like this.
Friday, August 11, 2023
Uh Oh
The Federalist Society wants Trump not to be on the ballot - because they believe him to be ineligible.
"It is unquestionably fair to say that Trump engaged in the Jan6 insurrection through both his action and his inaction."
Section 3, 14th Amendment
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Thursday, August 03, 2023
Friday, July 21, 2023
Today's Beau
Trump can rant and rave, and stomp and stumble around the jungle. And don't think some of those robotic meatbags won't come runnin' when he says go.
Fuck 'em. Let 'em bring it. There's more than enough honorable people here, waiting for the chance to kick his ass and his little minion gang's ass too.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Friday, June 30, 2023
Today's Keith
When "conservatives" bitch about Biden's sketchy dealings with China, remember this:
Trump showed a secret document to people who directly represent Chinese companies - some of which are companies partly owned by the Chinese government.
In keeping with Trump's constant blurring of the line between WWE-style Reality TV and actual real world reality, we have him shit-talking the Chinese at every opportunity, doing it with a wink and a nod - it makes for good TV and that's all that matters because the rubes practically live for the chance to line up and empty their pockets for him.
Remember the name Susie Wiles.
"... she's got Trump by the balls - she can name her price for her loyalty, and Trump can't say no." (that's from the NY Post, so yeah - large grains of salt).
No matter how bad we think it is, with Trump it's always worse. Always.
Monday, June 26, 2023
Today's Keith
People who are prob'ly likely hopefully totally fucked:
- Jenna Ellis
- Rudy Giuliani
- Jeff Clark
- Sidney Powell
- Michael Roman
And also too:
Pro-RFK Jr. Super PAC Has Deep Ties to Marjorie Taylor Greene, George Santos
The Super PAC is just one example of the nominally Democratic candidate running a campaign that's awash in support from backers of Donald Trump
LAST MONTH, SUPPORTERS of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid created a Super PAC titled Heal the Divide. On its website, the group — whose name is borrowed from Kennedy’s own campaign slogan — advises voters that “Only Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. can unite the Nation to start healing America,” and allows visitors to donate both in dollars and cryptocurrency.
There’s nothing abnormal about a candidate getting a Super PAC, even a candidate making a long-shot bid like Kennedy’s. What is abnormal, however, is that Kennedy is running as a Democrat in the Democratic primary, while the creators of the Super PAC have a deeply pro-Donald Trump bent — including ties to arch-MAGA officials such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, George Santos, and Herschel Walker.
Federal Election Commission filings list Jason D. Boles of RTA Strategy as its treasurer and use RTA’s website and mailing address. In 2022, Greene’s campaign and leadership PAC, Save America Stop Socialism, paid the firm more than $372,000 for work on her 2022 congressional race, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.
The Georgia-based RTA, founded by political consultant Rick Thompson, also worked for Walker in his failed 2022 Senate race in Georgia. Thompson served as custodian for Walker’s campaign committee and Boles worked as treasurer of the committee, earning the firm roughly $50,000, according to campaign-finance records. More recently, Boles and Thompson have signed on as treasurer and designated agent, respectively, for the embattled Santos after the indicted congressman struggled to find personnel to handle his campaign finances.
Reached by phone, Thompson declined to comment on the Kennedy Super PAC. “We have a strict policy at our firm that we don’t discuss our clients,” he tells Rolling Stone. And the Heal the Divide site does not advertise its Republican backing. But a mistake on the group’s website gives away its origins: The site’s terms of service appear to have been copied and pasted from MAGA PAC, a Trump Super PAC, and incorrectly refers to the Heal the Divide site as MAGApac.com.
It’s not just one MAGAfied Super PAC, however, that’s backing Kennedy’s run against President Biden in the Democratic primary. His bid is awash in support from Donald Trump’s allies in MAGA World, conservative media, and some of the Republican-donor elite. Broadly, they’re hoping Kennedy will make Biden look weak in the primary, hurting his chances against Trump — or whichever candidate emerges from the GOP primary.
MAGA influencers and longtime Trump associates such as Roger Stone have praised Kennedy’s candidacy as a way to “soften Joe Biden up.” Former top Trump political adviser and campaign strategist Steve Bannon also reportedly spent “months” encouraging Kennedy to run in order to energize anti-vaxxers who make up much of Trump’s base, according to CBS News.
Kennedy’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the candidate has denied that he’s effectively aimed at torpedoing Biden. He has at times criticized Trump, while also praising the former president on things like his draw among middle-class voters. And he has consistently attacked Biden on foreign policy and other subjects. “Our internal poll numbers are showing me stronger against both Republican candidates than President Biden,” Kennedy claimed to Fox News host Harris Faulkner early this month. “Democrats are going to want somebody who can beat Governor DeSantis and who can beat President Trump.”
But whether he wants pro-Trump support or not — he’s certainly getting it.
At Fox News, three staffers and a producer tell Rolling Stone that some higher-ups have privately discussed how much they value not just interviewing Kennedy on the network, but featuring segment after segment about his candidacy and his unexpected poll numbers in the 2024 Democratic field. “Management loves RFK [Jr.] coverage because it makes Biden look weak. You can expect a lot of it,” the Fox producer says.
Before Tucker Carlson was fired by Fox in April, the network’s then-top host would promote Kennedy and argue that the candidate somehow wasn’t an extremist. “So, at this point, the question isn’t who in public life is corrupt? Too many to count. The question is, who is telling the truth? There are not many of those. One of them is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Carlson said on Fox earlier this year.
In the time since, other hosts have praised or interviewed Kennedy, though some not quite as sympathetically as Carlson once did. Still, Kennedy has continued to enjoy a wellspring of backing from influential right-wing media outlets, including among the top tier at Fox.
Pete Hegseth, another Fox News host who, like Carlson, has privately advised Donald Trump on policy over the years, defended Kennedy in an April segment, saying: “The establishment will do whatever it takes to keep Biden in the White House. You know that. He’s very useful to them.… The deep state gets deeper every day. They work quietly while Joe does other things. They’re already trying to kneecap Joe’s primary opponents. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — he’s surging in the polls.… Now that he’s a threat, [the mainstream media is] going for his throat.”
Meanwhile, Trump and some of his senior aides have delighted in Kennedy’s presence in the 2024 race, viewing him as a useful anti-Biden agent of chaos, according to three sources on and close to the Trump campaign. The ex-president and 2024 GOP front-runner briefly praised Kennedy during this month’s interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, while getting his name wrong, calling Kennedy “very nice” and a “very, very fine person” who Trump knows “very well.”
Members of Trump’s team are also pushing the message that Kennedy’s candidacy is a sign of Biden’s weakness. “The fact is, President Biden is a very weak incumbent. He’s just fortunate more opponents have not entered the primary. Ironically, the last time America had a failed Democratic incumbent president, Ted Kennedy ran against Jimmy Carter. Now, Robert Kennedy Jr. is running against Joe Biden,” says John McLaughlin, one of Trump’s top pollsters. “RFK Jr. is on a mission, and Joe Biden is weak and vulnerable. His poll numbers are extremely soft.”
Wealthy right-wing donors and activist groups have also pitched in to support and amplify the long-shot presidential campaign.
David Sacks, the South African-born venture capitalist who has donated to Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign and hosted his campaign launch on Twitter, recently held a fundraiser for Kennedy last week. He was joined by fellow venture-capital investor Chamath Palihapitiya. The event included “Democrats, Republicans, and Independents,” according to Palihapitiya.
The far-right anti-gay group Moms for Liberty has also scheduled Kennedy to speak at its annual summit in Philadelphia next week. In advertising the summit, the group leads with a quote from conservative 2016 presidential-primary candidate Ben Carson: “A lot of individuals in the room have decided to get up and do something about what they believe because that is what is going to save us as a nation.”
Kennedy’s claim that he’s running to defeat Trump contrasts with his stance when the 45th president was first heading to the White House. During the Obama-Trump presidential transition in January 2017, Kennedy visited the then-president-elect at Trump Tower in Manhattan — for a job interview.
According to a former senior Trump transition official, Kennedy “wanted to have some kind of role in vaccine research and the questions he raised about the safety of the vaccines,” and had been following some of what Trump had been saying about vaccines, including regarding the widely debunked theories about links to autism. Just after Kennedy left this meeting, Trump said to staff, “Oh, he’s gonna help us with vaccines,” according to the former official. (Kennedy in 2005 popularized some of his anti-vaccine rhetoric in a since-debunked article in Rolling Stone. He has recently attacked the publication, falsely claiming editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman somehow played a hand in the story’s retraction in 2011 and subsequent removal from its website. Shachtman began his tenure in 2021.)
Kennedy’s senior role on so-called “vaccine safety” never happened in Trump’s four years in office. Several of Trump’s closest advisers during the transition and early administration urged him never to appoint Kennedy to that kind of position, arguing that Kennedy had too much baggage and would be too much of a public-relations nightmare for the young presidency, former White House aides say. “It took longer to talk him out of it than it should have,” says a former senior administration official, who recalls trying to talk Trump out of officially appointing Kennedy in the Oval Office. But ultimately, Trump got talked out of it. In the years since, Kennedy has publicly trashed Trump for helping to launch the “tyranny” of Covid-19 vaccination.
The 2024 campaign is far from the first time that Kennedy has rubbed elbows with MAGA donors. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kennedy’s political ecosystem often tilted to the fringes of the left, capitalizing on liberal skepticism of large pharmaceutical companies. But as Trump pushed Covid-19 myths and attacked public-health experts in 2020, the far-right swelled the ranks of anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists and offered Kennedy a new audience.
In particular, Kennedy has courted Ty and Charlene Bollinger, two pro-Trump political activists who held a rally outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 to promote Trump’s lies about a stolen election. The couple, labeled as members of the “Disinformation Dozen” for their prominence in posting vaccine myths on social media, have featured Kenendy in an interview on their United Medical Freedom Super PAC, and as a speaker at their Truth About Cancer Live anti-vaccine conference alongside Eric Trump.
David and Leila Centner, two big-dollar donors who forked over $1 million for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and attended the former president’s Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally on the mall, also briefly served on the board of Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense nonprofit.
But for all of the support and hype from the right wing, Kennedy polls at 14 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics polling aggregator, 50 points behind Biden’s 64 percent average.
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