EPISODE 71: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:45) On the Friday before an election crucial to democracy, MSNBC fired its most outspoken host because Fox News complained about her. Where is the protest by Lawrence O'Donnell? By Chris Hayes? By Alex Wagner? Where is the threat to walk out, to boycott, to stand on principle, by Rachel Maddow? (3:10) NBC had to retract a fabricated Today Show story that reignited the fascists' homophobic conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi. The correspondent was not fired. The Today Show executive was not fired. The head of news was not fired. Tiffany Cross? She was fired. (7:33) Cross joked about "castrating Florida," rightly savaged Alyssa Farah, Megyn Kelly, and Clarence Thomas - and her ratings were growing. But when Tucker Carlson devoted a segment to actually suggesting she was fomenting a Rwanda-style genocide of white Americans, NBC and MSNBC went crazy. (10:10) Joy Reid said something, more personal than professional (10:30) O'Donnell said nothing; then again when he filled in for me while my father was dying in 2010 he tried to replace me as Countdown host and then stole a group of producers from me for his new show (11:36) Chris Hayes, silent now, once stood up and refused to substitute for me when I had been improperly suspended (13:30) And Maddow, who in 2009 stood up and told the president of NBC News and all the executives and talent at MSNBC that if anybody interfered with the content of her show, she would walk out because "I cannot have the audience wondering what else I have not told them" (18:41) But now Maddow is making $30 million a year and the courage to walk out when it could cost you that much, is lacking. Rachel? Will you pretend the firing of Tiffany Cross is not your problem? Or will you stand up for what is right? You know - like you used to.
B-Block (23:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Ace in New York desperately needs a foster or adopter, anywhere from Virginia to Maine (24:30) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: DeSantis shocked head of The Leopards Eating People's Faces Party ate his face; Musk "likes" meme with quote from American neo-nazi pedophile, and that was the BEST thing he did to Twitter over the weekend (30:19) IN SPORTS: Astros get a World Series Parade; Phillies set World Series futility records; Boston Bruins destroy reputation by signing, then dumping, bully (32:45) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Mark Levin admits his side consists of "White Supremacists" and competes with Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz padding a 50-page report to 1,050 pages, and former journalist Jason Whitlock going misogynistic, homophobic AND racist all in the same sentence.
C-Block (37:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: In memory of Vinny Vassallo, or as a few SportsCenter viewers will remember him: Vinny The Stat Man.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.