THE GREATEST PRESIDENT SINCE FDR IS DEAD - 12.30.24

surprise to you? President Carter would say, the Braves letting Freddie Freeman go to the Dodgers should have been a surprise to you. He might have argued that the story of constitutional scholars arguing that even at this late hour, Congress has all the enabling legislation it needs to disqualify Trump from taking power, that the Supreme Court roadblock had been overcome without the Supreme Court noticing that that was the lead story. I'm going to overrule him. I will

get to that story in a moment. I do not honestly know if Jimmy Carter would have argued about my other point. I don't know he would have argued that he was not the greatest president since FDR. Jimmy Carter was an extraordinary mixture, possibly a unique mixture of intelligence, self confidence, uncertainty, honesty, and realism. I suspect he might have said, whoever the greatest president since FDR was? He got re elected, and here I will again overrule him.

The essence of the election of President Carter as an outsider, the governor of Georgia, who once went, as the famous story goes on the show What's My Line, where contestants used to guess what somebody did for a living, and as he was running for president, none of the contestants knew who he was, underscored the fact that the American political system still worked after what Richard Nixon did to

it in the nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies. In fact, the entirety of the Carter presidency, sometimes successful, sometimes desperately unsuccessful, but always professional, even in dealing with crises in his own family and his own cabinet. Professional, operative, open wherever possible, restored the premise of American government, whatever the outcome, was

the transformation of the presidency, which was a joke. On January first, nineteen seventy six, a joke along with the idea of believing that the government might actually do something good rather than something to you. That was a joke held universally in spite of party. Not a menace, not a conspiracy, not a maga, lunatic, paranoid, sons of bitches kind of stupidity, but genuine We're done with this attitude. Maybe we should make a new country attitude, not violent,

not retributory. Just after Nixon and Ford, I've had enough of this whole government thing. The man who changed that Wasjimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter was a president from the first day to the last day, and in ways he has yet to be given credit for restored the concept of American government. And then the guy after him pissed it all away. But look what he did in the Middle

East midway through his only term. The Camp David Accords essentially peace in the Middle East, or at least a stopping of the escalation of the disasters of the Middle East that have been going on uninterrupted for forty years, well four thousand and forty years. Peace in the Middle East until the terrorists in both of the principal countries undid it, killed their own leaders, assassinated their own directors

and presidents. Because of course, too much peace is bad for the terrorism business, and thus too much peace is bad for the military business. On the second day of Jimmy Carter's administration, he pardoned the Vietnam draft evaders. Spiritually, the next time Trump says something about Jimmy Carter, somebody should smack Trump in the mouth. Pardoned those who did not and would not fight in Vietnam, would not subject themselves to the draft. He was a hardliner President Carter

against Russia while also reducing nuclear weapons. He gave the Panama Canal back. This is in the news recently because of course we did steal the canal from Panama. In fact, we fomented a revolution within Panama to create the entire country and the canal zone. And my source for this is President Theodore Roosevelt, who did it and said I stole it fair and square. At least reportedly he said

that others certainly did. In his cabinet, Carter fought back against an economy the GOP had sabotaged throughout the nineteen sixties and seventies for the sake of big business. He fought back against the energy crisis, and we may never know to what degree since the Republicans got involved in the thing that resulted from the energy crisis, the Iran

hostage drama, they got involved in that illicitly. We'll never know to what degree the Republicans were involved in the raising first of gas prices and then the gas shortage of nineteen seventy eight. In nineteen seventy nine, Carter was the first to address toxic waste dump sites and the poisoning of the land the love Canal idea. He actually

drained the swamp. One of the reasons he did not get all the support that he needed to run a competitive race against Ronald Reagan in nineteen eighty was because he'd pissed off all the Congressmen and the senators. He would not play Democratic Party politics. He would not take their phone calls, he would not give them the appointments that they wanted. He would not support their boondoggles and their pork barrel options. He actually did with this idiot

Trump has been talking about. He actually tried to turn the government back into a government. He bailed out Chrysler, he bailed out Chrysler and in turn probably bailed out the entirety of the American auto industry in the seventies, and if it had collapsed in the nineteen seventies, the nineteen eighties would have seen another depression. He created the Department of Education, and boy oh boy, though what he should have done was given the Department of Education weapons

nuclear weapons. Because the lack of education in this country, which was already becoming a parent by the time the Department of Education was instituted Byjimmy Carter to just set some sort of minimum standards, that decline has now turned into a world in which half of Americans are mortally stupid, and of course, under dire circumstances in which part of this country, part of the political structure of this country,

was operating against him. He dealt honorably with the Iran hostage crisis, and it did him in And did that make him the greatest president since FDR? I think it did, because let's look exactly at the histories in capsule of the ones since FDR Truman well meaning, and he did well under the circumstances. I guess. On the other hand, he did not stand up to Joe McCarthy, and when the tough got going, or the going got tough, he got out of town and back to independence Missouri. He

also failed internationally. Yes, we probably should have been involved in some way in Korea. The way he handled it met with disaster, he pleased no one. Eisenhower twice lied about his health and his near fatal heart attacks. Should not have been able to run for presidential reelection in nineteen fifty six, spent months not in charge of the government,

and he introduced Richard Nixon to US. JFK didn't stop the Bay of Pigs, set the tone for the Cuban missile crisis, introduced in many respects the TV presidency that we have now. It was fine for him. He was a smart man who understood that it could not be just a TV presidency. But do you think the current guy understands that, I mean, the guy who's supposed to take office in two weeks, do you think he understands that. I don't think he understands which is left and which

is right. But I digress. JFK didn't stop the Bay of Pigs, set the tone for the Cuban missile crisis. Was late on civil rights and under different circumstances. Perhaps a second term, his personal life could have been the background for a new international blackmail attempt every hour. Maybe it didn't bother people at the time that he appointed

his own brother as Attorney general. Maybe the institutionalization of that family as a political force and the beginning of regal families in this country wasn't apparent to be the disaster that it has become. But let me know what you think of the idea of your brother as attorney general if and when in the next four years Trump announces that one of his relatives is going to be his successor, and then we'll talk about the Kennedys. And of course it was the youngest of the Kennedys who

undermined Jimmy Carter Lyndon Johnson. The idea of the great society and the integration, as we called it in the sixties would have made him the best of the presidents since FDR. Except for the small matter of Vietnam, which destroyed his presidency and nearly this country and overwhelmed everything good that he did. Johnson is the most tragic president since FDR Nixon. All he tried to do was make everything that the president did illegal into something that was

okay among them. All he tried to do is choose the nominee of the other party who would run against him, and in many respects he succeeded to turn it into a two party system in which one of the parties was the subsidiary of the other party. Don't tell Trump Ford pardon Nixon. You will never ever ever convince me, and I am now yes, vouching for a conspiracy theory, you will never convince me that there was not some sort of tacit agreement beforehand between Ford and Nixon that

if Nixon resigned, Ford would pardon him. But the whole idea that this country was spared something because Nixon did not go on trial. There wasn't going to be a trial. He wasn't going to go to jail. But we might have gotten something out of that that would have told future presidents, don't break the goddamned laws. Instead, Gerald Ford, never elected to the vice presidency and certainly never elected to the presidency, decided for all time that all future

presidents should get this message. Do whatever you can get away with. Then we have the Jimmy Carter presidency. As I outlined, it before. Reagan, terrible actor, political opportunist, a one time liberal leader of the Union in Hollywood, whose minions, at best, this is the best interpret his minions treasonously betrayed this country and caused our hostages to be held longer in Iran, just so that they could use that as a political hammer to beat Jimmy Carter into the

ground during the nineteen eighty election. Those hostages might have been out sooner but for Ronald Reagan. May he be burning in hell. I might add as well, Ronald Reagan was mentally unfit for that office no later than nineteen eighty five, and if he had not been shot in nineteen eighty one, he would not have been reelected. As we have seen that play out again. Bush one was a condescending joke. Clinton. His presidency was fine in terms of most of the things that can go right or

go wrong. His personal choices, including the idea that somehow the first Lady should be considered, based largely on that as a candidate for the US Senate in let's see what state shall we pick, or that the first Lady should become president, those turned into furtherances of the disasters previously outlined by the Kennedy presidency. We should not have legacy presidents Bush two, if his father was a joke. Bush two was a lazy joke who had no interest

in America and who mainstreamed torture and the breaking of laws. Obama, I don't think he achieved what he could have achieved. I think the healthcare system is marvelous. I think they will eventually find ways to roll most of it back. So I think Obama's legacy will become he did not prosecute Bush or at least say no, you broke the law. Your people broke the law, and we are going to

do something about it. Another president who defended the rights of presidents Biden, my friend, never once saw Trump needing to be defeated, not just defeated with principles and uprightness and results and a good place to live, but defeated in that way and then come over here, mister Trump and your supporters and kick them all on the groin. He never saw it. I don't know that he sees it now. Whoever defeats this, if we do defeat it,

will have done both of those things. Be an upright citizen leading an upright presidency or an upright opposition and also beat the hell out of these people. Jimmy Carter was the best president since FDR, and that he did not get reelected was the beginning of the end. When I realized sometime late in the nineteen eighty campaign that he was going to go down to a big defeat, it was clear what America wanted was a spokesmodel, not

a leader. I mean, honest to goodness, we had never before elected somebody solely on the idea that they were acting like a president. There was no choice there. Out of touch, not mentally fit, wasn't mentally fit when he was mentally fit. A man who advocated cruelty and was a big fan of the nineteenth century. He thought eighteen

ninety four was a good year. Only unlike Trump, Reagan was virtually there in eighteen ninety four, and he might have thought he was in eighteen ninety four a fake smile instead of principles, a guy who pretended to be perfect as opposed to somebody who acknowledged he was flawed. The nineteen eighty election was the beginning of the end of our democracy. Even Clinton and Obama won on charisma, we re elected him because he was shot work for Trump.

Jimmy Carter's problem, and he admitted to this in many public interviews and also in private. He did not suffer fools gladly. He never hid that he was the smartest in the room. And he suffered from something that people who are like that often suffer from. He could not understand why it was not clear to everybody that this idea, whether it was his idea or somebody else's, was the

best one. It was obviously the best one. Well, people don't necessarily perceive things as quickly as Jimmy Carter did. Jimmy Carter was a nuclear engineer and a small businessman and the governor of Georgia. He had more smarts in that head than the three presidents before him and the three presidents after him combined. And his one fatal tragic flaw was he could not hide that. He could not just smile with those giant teeth of his and nod

and then say something unfortunate off camera. Now he stood behind everything he did and everything he said, and America, which claims to believe in standing behind everything you say in everything you do, punished him for it. Now, it is interesting that the remaining reasonable people of the other party would agree with this. There is no doubt that Jimmy Carter had the best post presidency of any president

in the nation's history. Now, the competition for this is kind of minimal because very few presidents live for forty three years nearly after their presidency's end. At least many of the early ones did not. His post presidency, including advocacy for international representative government, a willingness to travel to places I wouldn't even spell correctly, to go and try to make sure the elections were fair, and his willingness to get out a hammer and build somebody a home

underscored who this man was. He was the greatest president since mtr and we did not re elect him because America, and if you have not noticed this since November fifth, is largely made up of stupid people, the Reagan Bush Trump people. Now why I got the privilege of calling him a friend in two thousand and eight at the Denver Democratic National Convention, the one that nominated Obama. That made that official. I was co anchoring with Chris Matthews

on MSNBC. Yes, I know it was. I haven't been able to even say the s correctly since then have I. I was co anchoring with Chris Matthews on MSNBC and Chris Matthews when it was announced Jimmy Carter was going to come over to our location near the train station. Because of course, MSNBC's idea of covering the Democratic National Convention was that its co anchor should never actually be inside the convention. There was just a room with people

in it who wanted to watch that. So we were set up by the train station out under a tent I digress. When it was announced that Jimmy Carter would be coming over to be interviewed by Chris Matthews and I one afternoon during the convention, I was like, oh my god, I'm going to meet a former president, the first one of my adult life. Goodness. Matthews then began to tell stories about Jimmy Carter's good friend, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter, my good friend I used to work for.

I used to advise me. In a minute, it sounded like when we used to have reel to reel tape and it would begin to run out at the end, and the thing would speed up in somebody's voice would just kind of start a faster pastor president. That was Chris Matthews when he got over excited as opposed to

the normal level of just slightly over excited. Well, his good friend Chris matthews good friend Jimmy Carter came over and basically ignored Chris Matthews and said to me off camera, but with Matthew standing next to me, that he watched Countdown every night. Now, my opinion about his presidency was formed before he said that, but it wasn't hurt by the fact that he said this. The thought of such a thing, and I did not tell him that Ted

Kennedy also watched Countdown every night. I didn't want to bring that up, but the thought of such a thing was still one of the pinnacles. In fact, where do I go from here moments of my career? It's a president of the United States. There, I know he didn't get reelected. He watches my newscast. But then he went on, he said, we watch it. My wife and I watch it with the kids. In fact, several of them usually come over every night at eight o'clock so we can

all watch it together. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I am getting pranked, if there's the cameras that are around us are in fact rolling, and President Carter has for some reason decided to play a trick on me to see what my reaction is. If I will faint, or if my head will swell to such proportions that it will burst. If the President goes on to say, we can't all be together. We tend to watch it and talk to each other on the phone during the commercials.

That's how much we enjoy your newscast. I have disagreed with many of your conclusions, but never your process. By this point I had lost the ability to speak. That he had a little further surprise for me. When it nears eight o'clock and the phone rings, I know that it's one of my kids or one of my grandkids, explaining that they're a little delayed somewhere. So let's hold off. They'll be home in nine or ten minutes, so let's just pause. I believe it was still a t bow

at that point, or a DVR. Let's just pause that until we can all watch it simultaneously. Jimmy Carter was not just a fan of Countdown. He was a super fan. And then he said, and the final note to this and the reason that he has been in my heart since that moment. I had always been fond of him and his presidency and what he stood for, and the fact that he might have been our last ultimately principled

man in the office. After this, with me gasping for breath inside at least trying to put up a brave face and saying thank you more than I have anytime in my life, President Carter then asked, saying that his wife regretted that she could not be with him for this interview. She had a speaking engagement during the convention orhether otherwise she would have been there to meet me. She said, Keith, do you mind if if we take

a picture so I can show her? And of course, at that moment, Chris Matthews rose and moved into the shot, and President Carter, with a big smile on his face, said, we'll get a shot another time. This is for Rosalind. This just Keith me, Jimmy Carter the best president since FDR. And if you disagree with me on that point, I think you may agree with me that he probably also was the funniest president since FDR. Also, of interest, here,

thank you, Chris, will get you next time. Also of interest here in a world that just got at least one percent worse, even though the man who died had not been president for sixteen thousand and fifty days. I was not kidding about that earlier reference. The plea bi legal scholars who have written even now that there is a means to at least protest the return of an insurrectionist to an office once held by Jimmy Carter might as well just have put a pile of human feces

on the chair. Even now, these legal experts, constitutional scholars, in fact, former clerks at the Supreme Court, insists there is a means to at least protest the return of Trump to power, that Democrats need to just do what's right for once and damn the consequences, at least say no,

even if yes is going to win. They say that when the Supreme Court made up a requirement last year earlier this year for a legislation to disqualify a presidential candidate or president who is connected to a rebellion, the Supreme Court missed something. Alito actually slept on the job. It did not realize that that required legislation is already in place and that if they could do it, they could legally and peacefully deny Trump the presidency. That's next.

This is countdown. President Carter would have looked at the headlines as Trump continues to threaten wars of aggression to annex Greenland or Mexico or Canada, or maybe it's somewhere else like Mars. I haven't checked in the last hour, headlines like Musk threatening Maga and Maga turning on Ramaswami. While Biden reportedly thinks he would have beaten Trump, President Carter would have pointed to this story as the most

important one. Two legal scholars and former Supreme Court clerks insist that a week from today, Democrats in the House must refuse to certify Trump's election because the specific legislation to disqualify him for insurrection, the legislation the Supreme Court made up and demanded in this year's fourteenth Amendment case. That legislation already exists. By the way, a week from today is January sixth. I will say what I said

previously on this topic. There are not enough words. There is not enough time left in eternity for me to completely cover how much this is not going to happen. But on the Washington focused news site The Hill, the former editor in chief of the Columbia Law Review and Justice Potter Stuart Clerk Evan Davis, and the former editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal and Justice Potter

Stuart Clerk. David Shulty insists that no matter what the Supreme Court says, and no matter what the consequences might be, Trump has already been disqualified from federal office under the fourteenth Amendment and Article two of the Constitution gives the House the sole authority to confirm a presidential election outcome

or not. And I will add that while I can't tell you how much this is not going to happen, it would be nice to see Democrats do something, something, anything at all, just to peacefully protest what a failed and useless shit show the government at its supposed protections against dictatorships and authoritarians and foreign influence on our government has become, and what a hapless and flaccid vessel the Democratic Party has become in the wake of Trump's treacherous

conspiracies to transform and subvert what was our clunky but largely functional form of representative government in you know, the good old days of your like you know, twenty thirteen and fourteen, to transform it from that time into a

subsidiary of Trump or Musk enterprises. You know America X in their Peace for the Hill, Davis and Schilty do not put it this way, but goddamn it, Democrats, your response to this is as telling and cringing a confirmation of one party rule as would be any threat from Steve Bannon or any goose honk from Maria Bartiromo. And until this hour your response to this has been the

shrug emoji quote. No person shall hold any office civil or military under the United States or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath 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. Congress may, by a vote of two thirds

of each House, remove such disability. And what about the Supreme Court's interference in the constitution Last March in the Colorado case Anderson, you may recall Colorado had thrown Trump off the ballot there because the fourteenth Amendment says you can't be president if you've engaged in or give an aid or comfort to an insurrection or rebellion engaged, not that you've been convicted or imprisoned for doing so. Engaged.

It's automatic that the Constitution specifically provides a legal requirement not to prove guilt of insurrection and disqualification, but to disprove it. Namely, that the Congress may waive the insurrection disqualification of anybody, even Trump, by a two thirds vote. Tells you what the founders had in mind, and the authors of the amendment. You are guilty until proven innocent.

But Sam Alito's all you can eat fascist buffet conveniently made up a requirement that reverses what the Constitution says. Alito's quote court unquote insists that there must be specific legislation to keep Trump or anybody else off the ballot or out of office. And Messrs Davis and Sheilton say, all right, fine, guess what. That doesn't happen to be the case, but let's pretend that is the case. There has to be a specific piece of legislation to keep

Trump out of office. And they say there already is, to quote them, specific legislation designed for this situation already exists. The Electoral count Act, was first enacted in eighteen eighty seven and later amended and restated in twenty twenty two. That statute provides a detailed mechanism for resolving disputes as

to the validity of electoral College votes. The Act specifies two grounds for objection to an electoral vote, if the electors from a state were not lawfully certified, or if the vote of one or more electors was not regularly given. A vote for a candidate disqualified by the Constitution is plainly in accordance with the normal use of the words

not regularly given. Disqualification for engaging an insurrection is no different from disqualification based on other constitutional requirements, such as age citizenship from birth and fourteen years residency in the United States. To make an objection under the Count Act requires a petition signed by twenty percent of the members of each House. If the objection is sustained by majority vote in each house, the vote is not counted, and the number of votes required to be elected is reduced

by the number of disqualified votes. In other words, the legislation that is required is the Count Act. It's the Electoral Count Act of twenty twenty two, once again not going to happen. The only people in this country who actually believe Trump and MAGA and the Republicans got a mandate two months ago and must be obeyed are the craziest of his supporters, and maybe Trump himself, and of

course Joe Scarborough and most PTSD adduled Democratic politicians. Trump is guilty of insurrection and cannot be president did not work as a campaign slogan this year, so the Democrats are now afraid to say it, let alone act on it. Let alone act on it by taking a risk, Let alone taking a risk for something that ultimately will be

purely symbolic. Oh no, Now, I'm not standing up for the constitution or the truth or reality or the future restoration of democracy in this country because in our next election somebody will run against me by throwing my objection back in my face and calling me a sore loser. Oh no, sorry, that was Ted lu the congressman who called those who claim Trump is disqualified from office because

of the twenty twenty one insurrection quote sore losers. Democratic congressman, sore losers wouldn't want to be sore about the electoral process being overthrown by someone whose first plan is to make it easier for him to then sue you for claiming the electoral process was overthrown. Wouldn't want to stand

for something, even in a losing cause. Wouldn't want to put up a protest to protect your preferred form of government when the other guys, with not even one one millionth of the constitutional validity behind them, decided they needed to protect their preferred form of government and fabricated out of whole cloth the African prince spam email equivalent of a legal theory of nullifying an election, and to enforce it, they sent a mob to try to kill or take

hostage anybody who got in their way while they were at the effing capital four years ago. Next Monday, you know, the day the Republicans stuck to the peaceful transfer of power and we're not sore losers. The Davis Shilty article was, for what it is worth, the most popular piece at the Hill website. Normally that kind of fact is irrelevant to the public discourse, but since the essence of the piece is, maybe you could do what's right rather than just what you think you can get away with without

getting your hands dirty. Maybe you could be just a little aggressive rather than maintaining the new democratic mantra of they go low, we go high. You'll see the electorate will give us a golf clap and then reward us with landslide victories forever. This distribution of the article suggests that the other way, the way in which Trump's entire

existence what can I get away with? Does not produce a Trump resistance predicated on don't say anything about it, trump is getting away with it does not permit a judicial response predicated on how can we disfigure the law on the Constitution so Trump can get away with it? Does not permit a media environment predicated on let's look at our latest polling showing how well Trump is getting away with it. That there is an alternate to this.

There is something akin to Henry la Boucher's comment about the imperious holier than thou nineteenth century British Prime minister William Gladstone, that well, la Boucher did not object to Gladstone's habit of hiding a fifth ace up his sleeve.

Laba Cher did object to Gladstone's repeated insistence that the fifth ace had been put up his sleeve by Almighty God, that there is a philosophy that we could adopt that says, no matter the consequences, somebody somewhere, at some point has to say, I don't care if you got away with it, you still stole it, that that philosophy shall not perish

from the earth. I will confess that, despite my clenched fists, and despite my taking a page from the late President Carter's attitude towards such things, I also like the completely opposite approach to the certification next week of King Dumbass.

The first, namely let them fight. The Democrats, as you know, disappeared just after midnight on November sixth, And the group that has done more damage to Maga and Trump than even revivified punch throwing Democrats could even dream of is Maga and Trump and Musk and Ramaswami, the Schwam as

we call him. If somehow you missed this, Musk told the nativist, racist, anti immigrant Magabase to quote take a big step back and quote f yourself in the face, which, to be honest, I always thought was a Robert F. Kennedy junior quote, take a big step back and f yourself in the face. Somebody's Ketaman arrived on time. This, I think is the ten thousandth time I have said this. The democracy abides, not so much because of the exertions of those of us who want to preserve it as

the utter stupidity of those who would destroy it. Now, I am not going to try to recap every part of the Maga Civil War, except to mention the two newest developments, which, like the old developments, each reminds me of exactly the same comedy bit Dave Chappelle as Clayton Bigsby, the sightless KKK member who had never learned he was black. That's Maga, that's everybody in Maga. That's Trump, that's Musk,

that's Ramaswami, that's all of them. The new developments. After spending forty four billion dollars to turn Twitter into an asset for Putin and China and Trump and a haven for Nazis and a place he himself can write f yourself in the face in caps, Musk yesterday pleaded, please post a bit more positive, beautiful or informative content on this platform. That's stupid, even for him. What could be

even more stupid than that? Ramaswami yesterday posted and affirmative Action, America is the land of meritocracy, let me do it Ramaswami's voice, and affirmative Action America's land for meritocracy. True. If by meritocracy mister Hairdoo means not merely selling the snake oil but running up the stock price of the snake oil company to make countless millions before it all collapses,

that's a meritocracy. Also, even after this weekend, it is not clear to that genuinely stupid man that the vast majority of his fascist supporters believed that he vivet Ramaswami is where he is because and only because of affirmative action.

For a while, I was trying to figure out which was true here, Whether Musk and Ramaswami were not aware that when the maggots said they wanted all foreigners out, they meant all of them, except maybe Musk and Ramaswami, but certainly the kinds of foreigners that Musk and Ramaswami wanted to hire and bring here on H one B employment visas. I've been trying to figure out whether it was that or that the MAGA rank and file on scum and vermin did not realize that when Trump promised

to round up and expel all migrants. He meant all migrants except the ones that he and Musk and Ramaswami want to hire and bring into this country. The answer, of course, is why can't it be both? Because it is both, because they are all Clayton Bigsby. Conveniently, Trump has ratcheted up a notch here by revealing he appears to have been involved in aiding illegal immigration, that is,

immigration that violates immigration law. He told the New York Post, quote, I have many H one B visas on my properties. Not only did Trump repudiate H one B visas during the twenty sixteen campaign, but the H one B visa is exclusively for specialty occupations and foreign applicants who have expertise that cannot be found, or at least cannot be found easily among Americans who are already here. Think nuclear engineers,

not grounds keepers. Tending to the first hole where Ivana is buried at Trump's Gulf Rama in Bedminster, New Jersey. H one bees Less, Carl Speckler, more Werner Van Prau, unclear who will fire whom here, though Bannon has called Musk a toddler and my god it's happened to Bannon

is finally right about something. But Musk and Trump now cannot coexist because Musk seems to think Trump will let him decide things like this, and Musk's behavior is getting even more deranged than Trump's, and Trump has got to

realize this. Musk has now, in addition to all this telling people to f themselves in the face while then asking for a more beautiful content, He has now written an editorial supporting those German AfD neo nazis an actual newspaper editorial, and the first rule of Trump Neo Nazi club is say whatever you want, just remember never write it down. Never write it down, Elmo. Meanwhile, Ramaswami, of course,

sees the opportunity to become other Musk. This raises the delightful prospect of what happens to Musk and his influence when he and Trump split or at least distance themselves from one another. I mean, maybe Musk does wind up as Speaker of the House. God knows. Mike Johnson is now one vote away from being thrown off the bridge of death. African or European swallow my Mike Johnson impression. Back to seizing the Panama Canal and moving it to

Greenland or whatever the latest non forever war. Trump is ginning up. Hard to believe the media could get more complicit in the coming fascism. But yeah, you know, that's one area in which they all appear to be hiring. New York Times. Trump showed that his America First philosophy has an expansionist dimension by calling for or asserting US control over the Panama Canal and Greenland. An expansionist dimension, that's what it is like, you know, Hitler's expansionist dimension. CNN.

Trump is teasing US expansion into Panama, Greenland, and Canada. By Steve Contorno, Trump appears to be entertaining an American territorial expansion that, if he's serious, would rival the Louisiana purchase or the deal that netded Alaska from Russia. Yes, that's exactly what it's like. It's like the Louisiana purchase where we sent the French money for Louisiana and the French. Okay, it's like the purchase of Alaska from Russia, not like

Hitler marching into the Rhineland. It's it's expansion, like we're adding two teams to our league. What it is is it's more media ass kissing. That's what it is, coming from shock of shocks, the fatally compromised CNN and it's new chairman, Scott Jennings. I made that up. Scott Jennings is not the chairman of CNN. But you believed it, didn't you. And while we are on the subject of kissing Trump's ass I'd like to just say to hell

with Alvin Bragg. Yes that Alvin Bragg. I repeat, I am completely opposed to the targeted assassinations of any buddy, especially in my neighborhood. It's murder and it should be prosecuted as such, and Alvin Bragg should resign. Today Alvin Bragg has added a charge of first degree murder in furtherance of terrorism. Trump's insurrectionists attacked the capital of the United effing States of America, and none of them has

been charged with anything resembling terrorism. And again, not to defend, nor encourage, nor excuse Luigi Mangione's presumed shooting of Brian Thompson around the corner from my house. But guess when it isn't terrorism. Remember when I said I really hope they didn't do any polling on this murder because part of me was afraid of what it would show. Turns out should have been all of me that was afraid Nork and Orc. The posters at the University of Chicago

asked who bears responsibility for the assassination. Eight out of ten Americans said the assassin allegedly that is mister Mangione. Eight out of ten said he bears a great deal or some responsibility. Can't sneak anything past the American public eight out of ten. Seven out of ten, however, said denials of coverage and excessive profits mean the healthcare industry bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson. Seven out of ten is not terrorism.

It's a vast majority. And if you are Alvin Braggan, you have decided this is the place to test out the what about the corporations? Won't anybody think about the corporations terrorism bonus clause law? You are knowingly or otherwise doing it as a sop to Trump and his minions,

because this is Trump logic. Try to hang or shoot or beat to death politicians and their husbands who disagree with Trump, not terrorism, shoot corporate executives so detached from morality that seven out of ten Americans think that to some degree they had it coming. That's terrorism if you're Trump, or if you're trying to save your own ass and you are Alvin Pragg. I will note that District Attorney Bragg and Judge Van Mere Shawn also both stealthily slow

walk the sentencing of Trump before the election. I don't know if it would have made a difference in the election or not, but I think it is pretty clear now that they both were confident it would make a difference in how much vengeance Trump would seek against them. So to hell with them both. Speaking of which worst persons is next? Spoiler alert, it's Jank Yuger. Does this countdown with Keith Olberman Aberman? Believe it or not, There's still more new idiots to talk about before we close

this one out. The daily roundup of the miss Grants, Morons, and Dunning Krueger effects specimens who constitute today's other worst persons in the world, The Brons worse Two unidentified men from Washington State. What did you do for Christmas? How did you spend Christmas Eve? These guys went out looking for sasquatch. They're not living anymore. Actually they died in Washington State. They were from Oregon. A fifty nine year old and a thirty seven year old unidentified as we

recorded this, appeared to have died from exposure. According to the Scamania County Sheriff's Office at a Facebook post from the Associated Press story, the weather and the men's lack of preparedness led the office to draw that conclusion. It said they went out looking for sasquatch in a heavily wooded area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Coincidentally, talking about best presidents and funniest presidents, that would be Gifford Pinchow was the head of the first Department of Interior

under Teddy Roosevelt. So this is one hundred and fifty miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. A family member reported the missing at around one am on Chris Day, after they failed to return from their Christmas Eve outing. They said they were looking for sasquatch. Apparently they went out into the woods on Christmas Eve wearing overcoats. I'm inferring that from the story. I don't know that it was overcoats.

It might have been sweaters. Sixty volunteer search and rescue personnel helped in the three day search, canine teams, drone teams, ground teams, infrared technology to search from the air. Because we let people like this out in public, Let's go find sasquatch. Now you're dead. Is Sasquatch there? And we have all the pious Oh what a tragedy. It's they went looking for sasquatch. The runner up, mary Anne Williamson.

I don't know her attitude about Sasquatch, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised she is running for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee because this is not enough of a hell for us. What fresh hell is this? It's one in which Mary Anne Williamson wants to be the chair of the Democratic National Committee. MAGA is a distinctly twenty first century political movement, and it will not be defeated by a twentieth century toolkit. Data analysis, fundraising, field

organizing and beefed up technology. While all are important, will not be enough to prepare the way for the Democratic victory in twenty twenty four and beyond. That's why I have decided to run for DNC chair this year. Writes Mary Anne Williamson. So what else is there going to be besides data analysis, fundraising, field organizing, beefed up technology. What do you got, Marianne, Crystals, vibes. We've tried crystals and vibes, but you got you got Sasquatch, your Democratic

nominee in twenty twenty eight. Sasquatch. We found him. As we're continuing to build the memorial for those two men who died just after Christmas in twenty twenty four, when they went out looking, they found him. Because of those men, that idiot Olderman, remember him, He made fun of them. Now we've made seven hundred foot tall monuments to them in the forests in Washington State. I have mentioned this before. Somebody tried to set me up on a date at

Mary Anne Williamson's request. With Mary Ann Williamson, I have described to you in my personal life and the many, many bad choices I have made, that was one of the good choices. Pew pew pew. Those are all the bullets that I avoided in that one. And speaking of which in a different context, no dating involved here, but bullets ducked are winner Jank Huger, who did some sort of panel discussion with Charlie Kirk because sure, let's negotiate

with them. Joe Scarborough would not have sat down with Charlie Kirk. Jank. I have to admit I underestimated the tribalism on our side. These people are fascists. It's not tribalism to oppose fascists. We spilled the blood of what five hundred thousand Americans in the Second World War fighting fascists. That's not tribalism. It was self defense. I thought once people realized that I am defending left wing positions in front of right wing crowds, they would understand that's not

selling out, that's the opposite. But no, most seem to think just the mere act of talking to the other side is an unbearable heresy. This is because it's an unbearable heresy. The only thing you get from them in talking to them is the possibility that one of them might say something stupid that you can then put on your show, which they will then clip and alter in such way to make you look stupid. We should never talk because that's appeasement, etc. Yes, it's appeasement. It's exactly

the same thing. Jank. The fact that people can't see how crazy that sounds shows you how thick the bubbles are. The bubbles are in your bloodstream. Jank see a physician. On and on and on this rationalization for Jank Huger, who has taken every political position available for the last twenty years loudly and with absolute certainty and bashed everybody who disagreed with him, is now telling us that the key to this is to exchange ideas with Charlie Kirk.

Let me explain briefly Jank Huger. At MSNBC, I think we had him on once and I listened to him and realized that what he was talking about and what had actually happened were not the same things. I said, we don't put him on again. Somebody at MSNBC, I believe it was Phil Griffin hired him as a guest host or invited him in as a contributor, and I remember himing around my office waiting for me to come out so he could meet me. And I was literally in that position of having to leave to go to

the bathroom. And I held it in later at Current TV, where I tried to hire first Rachel Maddow. Well, okay, It was an idea, as I said to her, look at least, said to her through her agent, who had been my agent. At least you'll get more money out of it from NBC. Little did I know, And when that didn't work out, I had an idea for a show at nine o'clock, an extension of Countdown with Chris Hayes and Gene Robinson. Those are the people I wanted to hire. The guy that Al Gore's business partner, Joel

Hyatt hired was Jank Huger. When Jank Huger was hired, I gathered my staff together and I said, I think I think they spent all the money on me this. If you guys want to start looking for work, I will not hold it against you. I will write you all letters of reference. I think I said to them in Whenever. That was July of twenty eleven. I think we have eight to twelve months, but I'm not sure they got rid of me. I believe eight months from

that point. And if there's any further information about Jank Yuger, you need to know a lot of people are paying attention to Jink right now. He's having a moment and then a reposting of that. I have to admit I underestimated the tribalism on our side. A lot of people are paying attention to Jank right now. He's having a moment, signed former Congressman Matt Gates, showing an interest in something other than a seventeen year old girl for the first

time in months. Jank, when Matt Gates is on your side, you're on your way out. He's not having a moment. What he's having is an episode. Uger two days other worst person than the world. I've done all the damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. Shank Huger, Holy crap. Brian Ray and John Phillip Chanel, the musical directors of Countdown Arranged, produced and performed most of our music.

I never ascertained by the way, whether or not Current TV paid Jank Huger or it was the other way around. Brian and John Phillip Chanel Arrange produced and performed most of our music. Mister Chaneil on orchestration and keyboards, mister Ray on guitars, bass and drums. It was produced by Tko Brothers. Our satirical and pithy musical comments are by

the best baseball stadium organist ever Nancy Faust. The sports music is the Olderman theme from ESPN two, written by Mitch Warren Davis courtesy ESPN, Inc. Other music arranged and performed by the group No Horns Allowed. My announcer today was my friend Larry David doing his impression of the late announcer a Yankee Stadium, Bob Shepard. Everything else was as ever, my fault. That's countdown for today, Just eighty three days until the scheduled end of the lane duck

presidency of Trump. Probably the next scheduled countdown will be next Monday, because it's New Year's As always, bulletins is the news warrants till next time. I'm Keith Ouldraman. Good morning, good afternoon, good night, good luck, and Happy New Year. Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.