September 19, 2022 • 46 mins
TRUMP IS AMERICA'S HITLER
A BLOCK: (1:50) SPECIAL COMMENT: After the Saturday Trump rally in Ohio, and the modified Sieg Heil, and the QAnon Music, and the rewritten history, and the Sunday Mastriano rally in Pennsylvania, and the modified Sieg Heil there, and the QAnon Music there, and the rewritten history there, it is time to use the real words. Trump has stopped pretending, and embraced QAnon, Christofascism, and Violent Revolution. He is America's Hitler, and he must be stopped while we still have any capacity to do so.
B BLOCK: (23:53) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Henrietta (25:21) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Fiona blacks out Puerto Rico; Tomi Lahren evacuates?; Henry Silva passes; How about "Emancipation: It Slaps"? (27:54) IN SPORTS: Tom Brady's bad day and Trey Lance's worse day; What does "American League" record mean any more?; The passing of Mrs. Gil Hodges (30:2) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: DeSantis spits on Nazareth, Pat Sajak, and Alysin "Is It Really Kidnapping" Camerota of CNN compete for honors.
C BLOCK: (35:20) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The anniversary of the day in 1908 when my great grandfather Antony Zelenskyy turned down $1000 in stock in the company that would become no I just can't write it
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio.
(00:29):
We must face the reality that Trump is America's Hitler.
We must use the real words. Now. There are no
more dog whistles as of now, as of this weekend passed,
as of this morning, they have begun to salute him
as others saluted Hitler. They have begun to play the
(00:50):
music and chant the slogans of Q and on. They
have begun to we've in the sing song melodies of
the televangelists and the Christo Fascists. They have stopped pretending,
So too, must we stop pretending America's Hitler is here.
(01:11):
We have to face the reality that if Trump had
not already chosen that path, Saturday night in Youngstown, Ohio,
he dropped the pretense and made it unmistakably clear. First
he saw the worst in the Republican Party and unleashed
its darkness and made the Republican Party his slaves. Then
he saw the worst in the Cristo Fascist movement and
(01:33):
unleashed its darkness and made the Cristo Fascist movement his slaves.
And now he has seen the worst in the Quean
On cult and unleashed its darkness and made the qann
cult his slaves. For the first time, Saturday, Trump interwove
the music of q and On into his apocalyptic speech fraud,
(01:56):
And we have a president who is cognitively impaired and
in no condition to lead our country, which may end
up in World War three. We are a nation that
no longer has a free press, and has no fair
press any longer. Fake news is all you get. And
(02:19):
they are truly the enemy of the people. We are
a nation where free speech is no longer allowed. And
before that, music not from q and On, but nearly
identical to it, was over. Nearly the entirety of that
crowd was standing in front of Trump, each with one
arm in the air with a forefinger extended. Heads bowed
(02:44):
not just a seeg hile to Trump, but an enduring one,
lasting for a minute after excruciating minute, as they swayed
slowly to his words of hate and revenge and persecution,
and his calls to violence and blood lust and revolution.
No longer just the most extreme and stomach turn an
(03:05):
anti American and fascistic political movement in our nation's history,
but now the result of the full horrible combination of
personal madness, religious fanaticism, vengeance, fantasies, and delusional cultism rolled
into one man. It's a cult. It's a radicalized cult
(03:28):
preparing to wage war against this country. Not political war,
not symbolic war, not cultural war, not virtual war, war itself,
with blood, with murder, with scapegoats, with death camps, with
presidents for life, and what would be for this country
(03:49):
at the end, at best, a struggle in the future
to somehow regain democracy in the future, to somehow regain freedom,
to somehow regain diversity. While a dictatorship tightened its grip
and went from declaring its opponents enemy of the people
to declaring the elected president of the United States and
(04:09):
his government enemies of the people, and to trying to
get rid of all of them and all of us.
But the thugs and tyrants attacking our movement, and there's
never been a movement even close in the history of
the United States. Have no idea of the sleeping giant
that they have awoken. Trump did not cross a line
(04:41):
Saturday night in Youngstown, Ohio. He erased one. It is
not the ultimate line. It is the penultimate one. There
are still ways to prevent him, and ways to forestall
the horror and the destruction of all we call America.
But Saturday night he climaxed a week of stochastic terror threats,
in a week of movement towards the full embrace of
(05:01):
the Q and on madness, Saturday night he made it
unavoidable and inescapable. It is Christo fascism or America. It
is Q and On or America. It is Trump or America.
And our fight, our last chance, starts with this. We
(05:25):
have to face the reality that Trump is America's Hitler
and is now openly emulating Hitler and his most venomous
call to dictatorship. One people, one nation, one fewer. We
are one movement, one people, one family, and one glorious
(05:45):
American nation. Once the comparison between Trump and Hitler could
be misinterpreted as hyperbole and alarmism and political science fiction,
it was Godwin's law wearing orange makeup. The first to
invoke Hitler automatically loses the debate. And while some of
us who actually knew Trump said, as it starts, had
seven long years ago that in him there were all
(06:07):
the elements of mass murder and of dictatorship, so many
others thought the guardrails that have saved us since Aaron
Burr made it so that no man, no matter how insane,
no matter how power mad, no matter how devoid of
the slightest concern for anyone but himself, anything but himself,
could ever erase democracy in America. We who saw horror
(06:30):
hoped those who saw aberration were right, and we were wrong.
But we were not wrong, and we are not wrong.
We must use the real words. We have to face
the reality that Trump is America's Hitler. This statement is
(06:51):
no longer alarmism. It is no longer theoretical, It is
no longer political science fiction. It is after Saturday night
in Ohio, with his wild, orgiastic call to violence, with
the continuing beckoning for others to fight, to take back,
to terrorize, with the arms raised in mindless salute, and
the entirety of existence reduced to a song that makes
(07:14):
no sense, sung by cultists who make no sense, to
a messianic later who makes no sense. It is now
undeniable fact. Our Hitler is here now. The comparison always
repels many who would otherwise recognize and agree to its
component parts. It is easily rejected because the Hitler and
(07:37):
our collective human mind. Is the Hitler already forcing society
into uniforms and regimentation, and the Hitler already bombing England,
and the Hitler already gassing Jews. But Trump has so
far acted by neglect, by proxy, by invoking and inspiring
evil in others, while being able to deny his own
total responsibility for that. Trump is not Hitler, not yet.
(08:03):
But he is Hitler nineteen thirty or nineteen thirty two.
He is Hitler at that stage when the most powerful,
most vicious right wing mainstream politician in Germany, Franz von Poppin,
could insist he and his colleagues could make Hitler chancellor
and then bury him. Quote within two months, we'll have
pushed Hitler into the corner. That was on January ninety three.
(08:27):
Twenty eight days after that the German parliament building, the Reichstag,
was burned to the ground, and twenty four days after
that the parliament voted to give Hitler the right to
make his own laws and to end the elections in Germany,
and the sun would not rise again until nine. We
have to face the reality that Trump is America's Hitler,
that Hitler the Hitler on the verge of all night forever.
(08:55):
Adolf Hitler first emerged in German politics in the nineteen twenties,
already deranged, already irrational, already a threat to his country's democracy.
And then he was thwarted in his bid for total power,
denied by the rule of law. From superseding the rule
of law, and to his instability and in humanity were
(09:15):
added cultism and vengeance, and the utter disregard of anything
except his own wanton desires, and a kind of rapture
of rage that would no longer be satisfied with total power,
but now demanded that power be gained by the destruction
of others. The day he seized control, he did not
begin to imprison and then murder millions of Jews and opponents,
(09:37):
and intellectuals and minorities. The day he seized control, he
did not start World War two. The day he seized control,
he did not unleash the forces that would kill eighty
five million people in a world war. But the day
he seized control, he quickly made sure that the rules
and laws and powers of the Institution of the state
lost their usefulness in stopping him. We have to face
(10:02):
the reality that Trump is America's Hitler, and there is
no reason to be squeamish about that comparison. On the
subject of Donald Trump. Hitler was at first invoked by
Hitler was first made relevant by Trump. It is not
six weeks since his former chief of staff, General Kelly,
(10:22):
demanded to know why quote you effing generals, Why can't
you be like the German generals in World War Two?
And when Kelly challenged him with the fact that it
was German generals who tried to kill Hitler, Trump insisted, no, no, no,
they were totally loyal to him. It is four years
since Trump had a commemoration of the dead of World
(10:42):
War One, who said to Kelly, quote, well, Hitler did
a lot of good things and talked about Hitler's economy.
And it is thirty two years thirty two years this
month since Marie Brenner wrote in Vanity Fair magazine Ivanna
Trump told her lawyer that from time to time her
husband reads a book of Hitler's collected speeches, which he
(11:05):
keeps in a cabinet by his bed. And this reporter
Brenner asks Trump if his cousin John gave him that book,
and Trump says, quote, actually, it was my friend Marty
Davis from Paramount, who gave me a copy of mine
comp And then it's Marty Davis who says he didn't
give Trump that Hitler book. He gave Trump Hitler's my
new Order, Hitler's book of his favorite speeches. And Trump
(11:28):
comes back to the topic and tells Marie Brenner, if
I had these speeches, and I am not saying that
I do, I would never read them. There was another
quote in that article from thirty two years ago this month,
attributed to one of Trump's attorneys. Donald the lawyer said
is a believer in the big lie theory. If you
(11:50):
say something again and again, people will believe you use
the real words. What we saw Saturday, a night in Youngstown, Ohio,
was the last shreds of the Trump mask being torn away,
and the last barrier between Trump and q and On
(12:12):
being torn away, and the last distinction between Trump and
another Hitler being torn away, and the last hesitation to
make their plans clear being torn away, and also the
start of something within literally hours. At another rally yesterday
for the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano,
(12:34):
a crystal fascist called Lance Wall now had only to ask,
and the crowd there in Pennsylvania raised all of their
arms and grunted along with this poisonous mixture of religious insanity, fascism,
war fantasies, and Q and on. And we'll do that
if I've been in the right hand of the air
(12:54):
on the count three. If you're willing to do this,
can you say what they said at Gettysburg when you
see us lined up as see down the end of
the victory. Indeed, Pennsylvania will be like the Little round
(13:15):
time and America will have a new birth of We
have to face the reality that Trump is America's hitler,
and we have to face another reality, the one expressed
by the author of the political insider book This Town,
(13:35):
Mark Liebovich. Mr. Leebovich quoted a former Republican congressman who
has seen this coming and who warned, quote, look, we
have no plan for this except sitting around hoping he dies.
We must accept the fact that the day in the
near future is now visible when even the most drastic
steps against Trump will not stop him. We have to
(13:58):
look at the country around us today, right now, September
twenty two, and we have to admit that as in
Germany and nine seen thirty three. Our rules and our laws,
and our powers of our institutions of our state are
beginning to lose their usefulness in stopping Trump and the
Christo fascists, and the q and Ons and the Republicans.
(14:24):
The judiciary has already compromised and losing its usefulness in
stopping Trump. A judge he appointed has overruled the laws
of this country protecting us against espionage and nuclear kleptomania
and said no, he was the victim. Another judge will
now act as special Master and delay any prosecution of
Trump for his crimes until December. At least six judges
(14:48):
Trump appointed will hear the appeal of the Special Master case.
Three Supreme Court judges Trump appointed would hear the appeal
after that. The elections are already compromised and losing their
usefulness in stopping Trump. In six weeks, we will hold
elect and we will permit at least some people to
assume office that control the elections. People who have sworn
(15:11):
loyalty not to this country but to Trump. People who
are committed not to fair elections that they might win
and they might lose, but to elections that are legitimate
only if Trump wins and can be ignored or overturned
or redone if Trump loses. People who might as well
have been in that crowd in Ohio Saturday night and
in that crowd in Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon, their eyes closed
in the presence of their God Trump, their fore fingers
(15:34):
raised in mindless salute to their God Trump, their poisoned
minds dedicated to vengeance on behalf of their God Trump.
The legislative branch is already compromised and losing its usefulness
in stopping Trump. If the Republicans take the House, they
will not just stop the January six Commission, they will
(15:55):
pervert it and use it to prove that Trump was
the victim, and the Proud Boys were victims, and the
oath keepers were victims. And the committee should impeach the
Attorney General and Biden and free every seditionist scum involved
in every component of every attempted coup. The Republican Party
has already compromised and is losing its usefulness in stopping Trump.
(16:17):
It has been subsumed by Trump. If Trump has now
empraised q and On, and q and On is a cult,
then Trump has become a cult, and his Republican Party
is a cult. The Republican Party has cut its connection
to democracy or public service or any policy other than power,
and some political figures still believe the Republican Party will
act to stop Trump, when in point of fact, Trump
(16:39):
brings them power, and they asked no other questions, just
like the German Conservatives of nineteen thirty three asked no
other questions until Hitler started sending some of them to
the camps. The only Republicans who make the slightest motions
against Trump do so by trying to out trump him,
like De Santis and the Human Traffic, or even more ominously,
(17:02):
ending half of his speeches by telling his audience to
put on the armor of God, or Mastriano and his
proxy Wall now yesterday, mixing Q and On and religion
and the Civil War into one horrible recipe for theocracy.
What is left to us, who want peace and who
want democracy, and who want elections, and who want an
(17:23):
America in which no one is killed or sent to
a camp because they non violently oppose any politician. Our
last plan, our only plan for this, except sitting around
hoping he dies, is the executive branch, and as it
fell to Joe Biden to defeat Trump in an election
(17:44):
to save American democracy. It falls again to him to
use the means at his disposal to defeat Trump as
he waits to take the penultimate step to destroy American
democracy and to propel this country into chaos and horror
and nightmare. Trump is the p R. Beale, clear and
(18:05):
present danger to the safety of this nation and every
one of her citizens. He must be treated as we
would treat any other terrorists loose in our midst. Biden's
Attorney general spent Saturday at Ellis Island fighting back tears
and pleading we are all in this together, we are
all Americans. Instead of realizing the people he is pleading
(18:25):
with want to kill him and you and me. And
instead of pleading, he should be prosecuting, even if it
means ignoring the Florida Court, or ignoring the Appeals Court,
or ignoring the Supreme Court. And if this still does
not end the terror, Joe Biden must act against the
terrorist Trump threatens this nation and everyone in it today,
(18:48):
right now, the next January six is being organized while
we watch and we respond with memes. And if Biden acts,
and if what follows are the riots in the streets
promised by Lindsey Graham or the quote big Trouble from
the Sleeping Giants summoned Saturday night by Trump. Biden must
(19:08):
respond with the full power of the United States of
America and face the rioters in the streets, and face
the sleeping Giant, and face the Trump Q and on
Christo fascist cultists. And in defense of everything this country
has ever meant and everything it is supposed to mean,
to crush them, we must use the real words. We
(19:34):
must face the reality that Trump is America's hitler. Still ahead,
uncountdown the anniversary of the day my great grandfather turned
(19:55):
down stock in the company that would become General Motors
and gave the owner the idea for the name. It
is humorous relief, and God knows we need it, Aaron
Judge Homers one away from the record or two? Or
is it? And worse persons? Who's that standing next to
Marjorie Trailer park Green in that photo? Why it's America's sweetheart,
(20:16):
pat say Jack. And that board is spelling out F
A S blank I S T. That's next, Bannah. This
is countdown. This is countdown with Keith Olberman still ahead
(20:51):
on Countdown. Puerto Rico hit again by a hurricane of
impossible dimensions. Pat say Jack self identifies as a pal
of Marjorie Taylor Green and the woman who devoted her
life to getting her late husband elected to Baseball's Hall
of Fame has died after fifty years of struggling to
make it happen. First, in each edition of Countdown, we
(21:11):
feature a dog in need whom you can help. Every
dog has its day if she knows you already. Henrietta
is a perfect sweetheart. She'll take treats gently and calmly,
your respond to your commands. She needs time, though, to
adjust to strangers, which makes sense since they found her
roaming a Brooklyn apartment building. She hates the pound, is
terrified there, but she loves people and dogs alike. She's
(21:32):
at the New York Pound marked for death, and as
a seventy two pound brindle mixed breeds, she will not
make it out alive unless we can help put together
enough pledges to defray a rescue groups costs in pulling
her out of the pound. Look for my tweet about
Henrietta on my account for Dogs in Trouble. Tom Jumbo
Grumbo and pledge something for Henriette if you can, or
just retweet her please and thank you very much. Coming
(22:06):
up on countdown. Sure, if you'll lure forty eight immigrants
onto a flight with false promises of jobs and then
fly them somewhere other than where you told them you
were going, it's bad. But if they were treated well
when they got their CNN asks, how could you call
it kidnapping? Worst persons? Coming up first postscripts to the news,
Some headlines, some thoughts, some snark. Stateline San Juan, Puerto Rico,
(22:32):
once again part of this country is decimated by natural
disasters accelerated by climate change, and yet it gets overlooked.
Puerto Rico is still trying to come back from Hurricane
Maria in two thousand seventeen and the negligence of the
Trump administration afterwards, Remember him tossing the victims rolls of
paper towels. Puerto Rico lost all power last night as
Hurricane Fiona hit the island. Date donned London or they're
(22:55):
finally having the funeral service and the burial of Queen
Elizabeth the second. Sorry they rushed it like that should
have taken a little longer. Dateline. Twitter too weird tweets
about the right wing troll Tommy Laren. The Independent tweeted,
Tommy Laren evacuated as protesters pound doors evacuated. It must
have been messy and outkicked. The Coverage tweeted police had
(23:18):
to escort Tommy Laren. Out escort Tommy Laren, who knew
state line? Woodland Hills, California. Henry Silva has died. The
veteran character actor and all around heavy was in the
original Oceans eleven with Frank Sinatra in nineteen sixty and
stood out in the extraordinary political science fiction classic The
Manchurian Candidate, including a karate fight with Frank Sinatra that
(23:41):
takes up more than two minutes of the film. You've
never seen The Manchurian Candidate. This is a good reason
for you to go see it right now, shut the
podcast off and watch it. Henry Silva was nine and
Hollywood New York Times reporting that Apple is in a
quandary over what to do with its one million dollar
Will Smith film Emancipation because anybody guess anybody remember why
(24:05):
anybody care? Because Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the
Oscars last March only the entertainment industry could be so
self absorbed as to think people won't go or will
go because of that incident or remember anything in last
March or earlier. On the other hand, Apple is clearly
(24:25):
missing the perfect marketing campaign for this movie. Now go
see Emancipation. It slaps. This is Sports Center. Wait, check
(24:50):
that not anymore. This is Countdown with Keith Alberman. It slaps.
That's what the kids say, right, It slaps in sports.
Maybe Tom Brady and his if Gazelle Bunchen and the
Tampa Bay Bucks should each be living in separate homes.
Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucks beat New Orleans twenty
(25:12):
ten yesterday, but Brady through eighteen completed passes and sixteen incompletes,
and after one of the ladder Brady yelled at the
New Orleans quarterback Marshawn Lattimore. Next thing you know, there's
a bench clearing brawl while Brady basically exits stage left,
and then he would not answer media questions about the
brew haha afterwards. Brew ha ha ha ha. He was
supposed to be such a big deal in San Francisco.
(25:34):
They've done a documentary series on him called The Choice
now forty quarterback and one third overall choice, Trey Lance
has broken his right ankle. Turns out the choice they
met was the one the Niners made not to trade
his presumed backup, Jimmy Garoppolo. They also made a choice
not to give Garoppolo forty Niners playbook in training camp,
(25:54):
thinking he could tell his next team what was in it.
His next team turns out to be his old team.
Garoppolo tossed a touchdown and with him at the helm,
San Francisco beat Seattle seven. The Las Vegas Aces beat
Connecticut seventy one to take the w n b A
crown in five games. I'm sorry, w n b A.
Aaron Judge homer twice fifty nine for the season, which
(26:16):
means he's certainly within two of tying the all time
American League record. Except how is it the American League
record if nine of Aaron judges fifty nine homers this
year have been against National League teams in interleague play?
And if you're saying that doesn't matter, the league's play
each other all the time and they're not really that
different than how can there be a National league record
(26:40):
or an American League record anymore? Isn't there just one record?
Fifty years ago, the great manager of the New York
Mets and legendary first basement of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gil Hodges,
died of a heart attack at the age of forty seven,
just as the nineteen seventy two baseball season was beginning.
For half a century, his widow, Joan, had continued to
live in her Brooklyn home, spearheading an increasingly desperate bid
(27:02):
to get her late husband the place he does irved
in Baseball's Hall of Fame. Fifteen times, the voting writers
bypassed gil Hodges twice, as many times various veterans committees
did the same. Finally, last winter, he was elected to
the Hall of Fame, and on July Mrs gil Hodges
watched her daughter except the honor fifty years overdue. Saturday night,
(27:24):
Joan Hodges died ten days short of her ninety six birthday.
Still ahead, ever, wondered who came up with that name
(27:45):
General Motors spoiler alert, It was my great grandfather. Gruesome details. Next, first,
the daily roundup of the misgrants, morons and Dunning Krueger
effects specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the World
le Bronze. Pat Say Jack is a lazy guy. Once
(28:05):
thirty years ago, when I was a guest on his
late night talk show on CBS, the one that got canceled.
I arrived an hour before taping time and asked if
I could stop in and say hello to Pat, and
they said no, he's not here yet, and I said what.
Suddenly the vice president of late night for CBS was
there and he said, Hey, have you ever thought of
hosting one of these shows? Because our host ain't here yet,
(28:26):
and we'd tap in an hour later. Pat would claim
in public that he got me started on Network TV
on that show and regretted it ever since. And I
had to tell him, Pat, that was I was on CNN.
That's all preface to something really lazy from Pat. He's
pretty good about hiding his trump is um, but he
(28:47):
just gave away the store. Posted on social media a
photo of a on camera stooge from the propaganda outlet
right side broadcasting beaming on the left of the picture,
Marjorie Trailer Park green beaming on the right of the picture,
and beaming in the middle, Pat Say Jack, Pat, I'd
like to buy a dictatorship. The runners up kidnappers and
(29:09):
human traffickers rhn De Santis and Greg Abbott as they're
in humanity and criminality continues to resonate. There is this
detail that was lost as it all happens, which well,
maybe it's just me, but I think it kind of
underscores the you know, falsehood of Rhonda Santis is alleged
Christianity and the fact that he wouldn't know Jesus if
(29:30):
Jesus came up and bid him in his ill fitting suit.
One of the kidnapping kidnapped immigrants rather is named Nazareth,
our Dennis Nazareth. M hmm Nazareth? Why does that? Why
does that name sound so familiar? M? But our winner
(29:51):
In the latest example from the transformation of CNN into
a fascist propaganda outlet under the chairman and chief executive
officer of CNN Worldwide, who when we were at MSNBC
together I thought used to eat paste, Chris licked Rhonda
Santis is a election opponent. Charlie Christ referred to the
DeSantis kidnapping of forty eight immigrants and sending them to
Massachusetts as kidnapping, and CNN anchor Alison Camerata, formerly a
(30:15):
Fox News replied to him, quote, Yes, they were lured
on false pretenses, that's true, but when they got to
Martha's vineyard they were certainly treated very humanely. Is that
really kidnapping? Yes, yes, it is really kidnapping. Seriously, Allison.
(30:36):
Other than that, how did you enjoy the play Mrs
Lincoln Camerata Today's worst person none the world to the
(30:57):
top of the countdown on the number one story in
my favorite topic, me and what is some much needed
comic relief today? I think though my late father would
never have agreed with that statement, not at all. My
great grandfather told this story something like every day until
he died. It was legendary in the family. There is
(31:18):
considerable circumstantial evidence that it is all true, and the
last possible date that it could have happened was a
hundred and fourteen years ago, last Friday, September sixteen eight.
Anthony Zelinsky was born in Crackoff in Poland in eighteen
sixty eight. My sister just found some evidence that he
(31:38):
changed the way his name was spelled, that it was
originally Zelenski with two wise or two eyes at the end,
just like the Ukrainian president. We're kind of pleased with
her discovery. Antony, or as my father nicknamed him, the
Great Financier, was a natural musician. He could sing, play
any instrument, He could compose music and lyrics. He could
teach you how to play. He could build or repair
(32:01):
anything from a kazoo to a grand piano, and that
from his late teens is how he made his money.
He traveled all around Europe from maybe eighteen eighty six onwards,
staying at rich people's houses for several days, teaching the
girls had to sing and the boys how to play
whatever was lying around the house, fixing the family harpsichord,
(32:21):
cobbling together the odd flute. One day, we're guessing around
eighteen eighty nine eighteen ninety, he traveled to the home
of well off merchants in Odessa, then part of Russia,
the chef Chenkos. He taught the boys how to sing
and the girls how to play the organ, and then
he uh fell in love with the youngest daughter, Matrona.
(32:41):
The chef Schenkos were not happy when they discovered them
in love and chased my great grandfather and their daughter
out of the house, out of the city and out
of the country. Antony went home to Poland, married his
child bride, returned to crack Off, where all of his
family then chased them out of that house, out of
that city, and out of that country. Get lost with
(33:03):
you and you Russia horror, he would later tell the
nephew for whom my father was named Teddy. Anthony and
Matrona had to think fast. It's eighteen eighty nine, eighteen
ninety wears a hard working guy thrown out of Russia
and Poland, gonna go. They arrived in New York City
within weeks. As I said, he was a natural musician.
He picked up English quickly, and supposedly within a month
(33:25):
or two, he was leaving his wife, my great grandmother,
in an apartment in the Bronx and getting on trains
for distant cities as far west as Chicago, going to
the rich people's homes and getting a hundred dollars to
teach the music, rite music, repair musical instruments, and then
get right back on the train to New York. Though
he earned a very good income doing this, especially for
(33:46):
an immigrant, Anthony and Matrona lived frugally, often without hot
water in their home. Because my great grandfather was now driven,
driven to avenge himself Teddy, He would tell his nephew,
who told my dad, I say every dollar I can
save I and west in the safest in Westman in
the world the Polish national bonds. For one day, I
(34:08):
shall return to Krakoff. I shall buy the biggest house
on top of the biggest hill and stand outside all
day waiving my money at my relatives who made me
and your aunt leave, and saying to them, f you,
this is my goal. And on and on. This went
for a decade and more, until he went to Flint, Michigan,
to do his usual routine to stay at the house
(34:30):
of a prosperous American, write a family song, repair the
broken tuba, to teach the kids to play the guitar,
and generally delight the family, in this case, the family
of a businessman who he remembered as Mr Billy. Came
the end of my great grandfather's stay with Mr Billy
in Michigan and his family in Michigan, and Mr Billy
(34:52):
was so taken with Anthony's Lynsky that he took him
personally to the train station in Flint and went with
him onto the platform to wait for the train. Mr Zelinsky,
he said, we have been delighted to have you here
that I would be honored if you would accept. Instead
of the five hundred dollars I owe you, please take
one thousand dollars in stock certificates from my business, my
(35:13):
way of saying thanks and hoping you can return and
visit us again. My great grandfather said he was almost
moved to tears by the gesture. But Mr Billy, he explained,
I lived very inexpensively, and I in West all my
money in the world's safest in Westment the Polish National bonds.
Mr Billy congratulated Antony on his prudence, but said, I
(35:35):
believe I am at the cusp of the next great
business in this country. I would again offer you this stock.
I think you will make so much money that you
could buy all the Polish National bonds. My great grandfather,
standing there on the train station in Flint, Michigan, fought
for a moment. I know, Mr Billy, you mentioned you
own a manufactory in town. What is this you manufactor?
(35:58):
Mr Billy said, we are in the automobile business. Mr Lynsky,
my great grandfather lit up. I s the streets of
New York are filled with automobiles. This is the coming thing.
But I will still take the cash and in west
in the world's safest investment, the Polish National Bonds. The
train was late. There was an awkward silence now between them,
(36:19):
which my great grandfather finally broke. Do I know the
name of your company? Mr Billy? Mr Billy replied, well,
that's the topic of the moment, Mr Zelensky, and I
must say, having gotten to know you a little bit,
I'm not at all surprised you brought this subject up. Currently,
my company is called Buick Motor Cars. My great grandfather said,
(36:40):
h yes, Buke, I've heard of Buke. You're changing the name.
Not exactly, said Mr Billy. I believe the automotive business
is going to grow exponentially. But we have one large
company in the field Forward, and we have dozens of
smaller ones like Buick. And I'm about to buy up
several of my competitors and form one big company, bigger
than Ford, and we will dominate automobiles for decades to come.
(37:04):
I yes, said my great grandfather. And what will you
call this behemoth? Mr Billy laughed again. You cut to
the heart of the matter, Mr Zelinski. We are debating
that right now, we need a name that expresses our
national stature. My great grandfather shook his head at the
obviousness of this. The problem is an easy one. No,
you use National National motor Cars. Mr Billy laughed again,
(37:29):
your insight is extraordinary. That was our first thought as well.
But would you believe there is a company in Indiana,
of all places, they make electric automobiles which will never work,
and they're called National Motor Vehicles. We need another name.
American has also taken, Continental has taken. Damn it, Mr Zelinsky,
we can't think of a good name that isn't already taken.
(37:51):
My great grandfather, who had just turned down the stock
in a thousand dollars worth of the stock in this company,
thought for a second. You wish to express the national,
the American, the broadly available or available National, Continental nationals.
What is the word in English? The general the general
(38:13):
availability of your vehiculars? Well, Mr Billy, why not that?
Why not general? General automobiles, general automotive, general motor car.
Maybe uh, general motors. Now it was time for Mr
Billy to become pensive. Finally he spoke general motors. M hmmm,
(38:39):
does have a certain ring to it, Mr Zelinski, Oh
look here's your train. Ah. Mr Billy was, of course
Billy Durant, and he owned Durant Dort, and then he
owned Buick, and then he consolidated thirteen auto manufacturers and
ten parts and accessory companies together into as it was called.
(39:00):
On the day Billy and his partners opened the s
grow account Wednesday, September six eight, General Motors Holding Company,
My great grandfather, having gotten another five dollars to invest
in the world's safest investment instead of a thousand dollars
in stock, and not General Motors in nineteen o eight,
but the company that would become General Motors, and having
(39:23):
given its chairman the name General Motors for free, waved goodbye,
got on the train, returned to New York. He died
fifteen years later. And to his credit, we know of
the detail of this story because the person who told
it to everyone with a laugh, with a warning to
his relatives that none of them had the genes of
(39:43):
a businessman either, was my great grandfather himself. Needless to say,
this good self deprecating humor makes him my favorite of
all my ancestors, and I hope wherever he went when
he died in his humor went with him because there
were several postscripts to this story that lend it authenticity
(40:06):
and induce further rage in his descendants. My father was
very much alive in nineteen forty. He was an eleven
year old boy with his uncle Teddy Antony's nephew, living
with my dad and grandparents and my uncle's and the Bronx.
My dad, who did not meet his grandfather antony'sz Lynsky,
said there was a knock on the apartment door one
(40:27):
day and he opened it to the site, as he
put it, of the two best suits of clothing I
had ever seen. The men wearing them asked for my
dad's uncle. He got him, and them men began to
speak Polish to Uncle Teddy. Gentlemen, we are here in America.
You will please speak English in front of my family.
(40:47):
Mr Zelinsky. One of them said, we know that your
uncle left you his investments in Polish national bonds. He
was obviously a great patriot. We represent the Polish government
in exile when we run the Nazis out of our
homeland and freedom is again hours. I know your uncle
would have and you would want the free Wtish national state,
to not be burdened financially, to be unburdened, in fact,
(41:10):
to the greatest possible degree, Mr Zelenski, your uncle was
the fourth largest private investor in Polish national bonds in
North America. In fact, he was just behind the National
Bank of Mexico. Will you retire his bonds for a
nominal fee as a great Polish patriot. My dad was
(41:30):
never sure how nominal the fee was, but he was
convinced his uncle got less than five hundred dollars for
what was at least a hundred thousand dollars in bonds
during the year nineteen fifty or later. My dad did
not spend his life wondering about his grandfather's magnificent moment
of investment stupidity, but it would occasionally wake him in
the middle of the night, and on his nightly commutes
(41:52):
from Manhattan to our little home in the suburbs, he
came to know the other regulars on the train, just
like Don Draper did on Madmen same train, in fact,
and one of the regulars on the train turned out
to be a stock historian. Eventually Dad told him the
story of Antony's Lynsky and Billy Durant and General Motors,
(42:12):
and the stock historian invited him to stop by the
office at lunch one day. Sit down, Ted, and I
mean sit down, Ted. The historian showed his math. This
was what a thousand dollars in Buick in nineteen o
eight turned into when Billy Durant created General Motors in
nineteen o eight. And here's where it's split. And see,
(42:32):
and here's where it split again, and here's where it
quartered after they forced Durant out and then he bought
Chevrolet and he came back in and took over General
Motors again. And it's split. And my father said, he
started to sweat. Just tell me already, Ted, the thousand
dollars your great grandfather turned down in General Motors in
nineteen o eight would now be worth approximately sixty million dollars.
(42:58):
My father said. He struggled to not pass out his
friend from the train, then said, plus the value of
the name. I can't get that exactly, the stock historian said,
but it's got to be another couple million, five ten maybe,
especially if he had taken stock in exchange for the name.
There's one more twist to the knife. Well, so far,
(43:20):
there's still plenty of time for more. When the Unions
ran the Soviets out of Poland and let Valessa became
President of the Free Poland In he gave a speech
establishing the new government. He spoke naturally in Polish, until
that is, it was time to address one topic. The
president read that part of the speech in English. My
(43:42):
government will recognize and honor the following years of the
Polish national bonds. My father called me in Los Angeles
that night. He had spoken to his stock historian friend
again and gotten a new rough estimate. My great grandfather
had turned down sixty maybe seventy million dollars in general
motors stock to keep, say, hundred thousand dollars in Poleish
(44:04):
bonds do in the year nine fifty, and let Valessa
had just said, we'll pay on those bonds that we're
doing nineteen fifty and so if great grandfather's nephew Teddy
had just sat on them, those bonds would have been
worth five or six million dollars. Keith, my father said, quietly,
(44:26):
let me remind you again with the great financier. My
grandfather told everyone, told all of us, none of us,
none of us have the genes of a businessman. Easy come,
(44:55):
easy go. I've done all the damage I can do here.
Help me out. Give this thing a good review or rating,
or subscribe or email it to somebody I don't know.
Whatever the through these days. The Countdown theme is from
Beethoven's ninth was arranged, produced and performed by Countdown musical
directors Brian Ray and John Philip Chanelle. All orchestration and
keyboards by John Philip Chanelle. Guitars, bass and drums by
(45:17):
Brian Ray, produced by T k O Brothers. The other
Beethoven selections have been arranged and performed by No Horns allowed.
Our sports music the Olberman ESPN two theme written by
Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments by
Nancy Faust, the best baseball stadium organist ever and our
announcer today. It was my friend Stevie Van's aunt. Let's
(45:40):
countdown for this the six twenty second day since Donald
Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of
the United States. As if you should have had any
doubts before, have no doubts now. Arrest him now while
we still can a new episode tomorrow. I'm Keith Alderman,
Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown
(46:13):
with Keith Alderman is a production of I heart Radio.
For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i
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Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio.
(00:29):
We must face the reality that Trump is America's Hitler.
We must use the real words. Now. There are no
more dog whistles as of now, as of this weekend passed,
as of this morning, they have begun to salute him
as others saluted Hitler. They have begun to play the
(00:50):
music and chant the slogans of Q and on. They
have begun to we've in the sing song melodies of
the televangelists and the Christo Fascists. They have stopped pretending,
So too, must we stop pretending America's Hitler is here.
(01:11):
We have to face the reality that if Trump had
not already chosen that path, Saturday night in Youngstown, Ohio,
he dropped the pretense and made it unmistakably clear. First
he saw the worst in the Republican Party and unleashed
its darkness and made the Republican Party his slaves. Then
he saw the worst in the Cristo Fascist movement and
(01:33):
unleashed its darkness and made the Cristo Fascist movement his slaves.
And now he has seen the worst in the Quean
On cult and unleashed its darkness and made the qann
cult his slaves. For the first time, Saturday, Trump interwove
the music of q and On into his apocalyptic speech fraud,
(01:56):
And we have a president who is cognitively impaired and
in no condition to lead our country, which may end
up in World War three. We are a nation that
no longer has a free press, and has no fair
press any longer. Fake news is all you get. And
(02:19):
they are truly the enemy of the people. We are
a nation where free speech is no longer allowed. And
before that, music not from q and On, but nearly
identical to it, was over. Nearly the entirety of that
crowd was standing in front of Trump, each with one
arm in the air with a forefinger extended. Heads bowed
(02:44):
not just a seeg hile to Trump, but an enduring one,
lasting for a minute after excruciating minute, as they swayed
slowly to his words of hate and revenge and persecution,
and his calls to violence and blood lust and revolution.
No longer just the most extreme and stomach turn an
(03:05):
anti American and fascistic political movement in our nation's history,
but now the result of the full horrible combination of
personal madness, religious fanaticism, vengeance, fantasies, and delusional cultism rolled
into one man. It's a cult. It's a radicalized cult
(03:28):
preparing to wage war against this country. Not political war,
not symbolic war, not cultural war, not virtual war, war itself,
with blood, with murder, with scapegoats, with death camps, with
presidents for life, and what would be for this country
(03:49):
at the end, at best, a struggle in the future
to somehow regain democracy in the future, to somehow regain freedom,
to somehow regain diversity. While a dictatorship tightened its grip
and went from declaring its opponents enemy of the people
to declaring the elected president of the United States and
(04:09):
his government enemies of the people, and to trying to
get rid of all of them and all of us.
But the thugs and tyrants attacking our movement, and there's
never been a movement even close in the history of
the United States. Have no idea of the sleeping giant
that they have awoken. Trump did not cross a line
(04:41):
Saturday night in Youngstown, Ohio. He erased one. It is
not the ultimate line. It is the penultimate one. There
are still ways to prevent him, and ways to forestall
the horror and the destruction of all we call America.
But Saturday night he climaxed a week of stochastic terror threats,
in a week of movement towards the full embrace of
(05:01):
the Q and on madness, Saturday night he made it
unavoidable and inescapable. It is Christo fascism or America. It
is Q and On or America. It is Trump or America.
And our fight, our last chance, starts with this. We
(05:25):
have to face the reality that Trump is America's Hitler
and is now openly emulating Hitler and his most venomous
call to dictatorship. One people, one nation, one fewer. We
are one movement, one people, one family, and one glorious
(05:45):
American nation. Once the comparison between Trump and Hitler could
be misinterpreted as hyperbole and alarmism and political science fiction,
it was Godwin's law wearing orange makeup. The first to
invoke Hitler automatically loses the debate. And while some of
us who actually knew Trump said, as it starts, had
seven long years ago that in him there were all
(06:07):
the elements of mass murder and of dictatorship, so many
others thought the guardrails that have saved us since Aaron
Burr made it so that no man, no matter how insane,
no matter how power mad, no matter how devoid of
the slightest concern for anyone but himself, anything but himself,
could ever erase democracy in America. We who saw horror
(06:30):
hoped those who saw aberration were right, and we were wrong.
But we were not wrong, and we are not wrong.
We must use the real words. We have to face
the reality that Trump is America's Hitler. This statement is
(06:51):
no longer alarmism. It is no longer theoretical, It is
no longer political science fiction. It is after Saturday night
in Ohio, with his wild, orgiastic call to violence, with
the continuing beckoning for others to fight, to take back,
to terrorize, with the arms raised in mindless salute, and
the entirety of existence reduced to a song that makes
(07:14):
no sense, sung by cultists who make no sense, to
a messianic later who makes no sense. It is now
undeniable fact. Our Hitler is here now. The comparison always
repels many who would otherwise recognize and agree to its
component parts. It is easily rejected because the Hitler and
(07:37):
our collective human mind. Is the Hitler already forcing society
into uniforms and regimentation, and the Hitler already bombing England,
and the Hitler already gassing Jews. But Trump has so
far acted by neglect, by proxy, by invoking and inspiring
evil in others, while being able to deny his own
total responsibility for that. Trump is not Hitler, not yet.
(08:03):
But he is Hitler nineteen thirty or nineteen thirty two.
He is Hitler at that stage when the most powerful,
most vicious right wing mainstream politician in Germany, Franz von Poppin,
could insist he and his colleagues could make Hitler chancellor
and then bury him. Quote within two months, we'll have
pushed Hitler into the corner. That was on January ninety three.
(08:27):
Twenty eight days after that the German parliament building, the Reichstag,
was burned to the ground, and twenty four days after
that the parliament voted to give Hitler the right to
make his own laws and to end the elections in Germany,
and the sun would not rise again until nine. We
have to face the reality that Trump is America's Hitler,
that Hitler the Hitler on the verge of all night forever.
(08:55):
Adolf Hitler first emerged in German politics in the nineteen twenties,
already deranged, already irrational, already a threat to his country's democracy.
And then he was thwarted in his bid for total power,
denied by the rule of law. From superseding the rule
of law, and to his instability and in humanity were
(09:15):
added cultism and vengeance, and the utter disregard of anything
except his own wanton desires, and a kind of rapture
of rage that would no longer be satisfied with total power,
but now demanded that power be gained by the destruction
of others. The day he seized control, he did not
begin to imprison and then murder millions of Jews and opponents,
(09:37):
and intellectuals and minorities. The day he seized control, he
did not start World War two. The day he seized control,
he did not unleash the forces that would kill eighty
five million people in a world war. But the day
he seized control, he quickly made sure that the rules
and laws and powers of the Institution of the state
lost their usefulness in stopping him. We have to face
(10:02):
the reality that Trump is America's Hitler, and there is
no reason to be squeamish about that comparison. On the
subject of Donald Trump. Hitler was at first invoked by
Hitler was first made relevant by Trump. It is not
six weeks since his former chief of staff, General Kelly,
(10:22):
demanded to know why quote you effing generals, Why can't
you be like the German generals in World War Two?
And when Kelly challenged him with the fact that it
was German generals who tried to kill Hitler, Trump insisted, no, no, no,
they were totally loyal to him. It is four years
since Trump had a commemoration of the dead of World
(10:42):
War One, who said to Kelly, quote, well, Hitler did
a lot of good things and talked about Hitler's economy.
And it is thirty two years thirty two years this
month since Marie Brenner wrote in Vanity Fair magazine Ivanna
Trump told her lawyer that from time to time her
husband reads a book of Hitler's collected speeches, which he
(11:05):
keeps in a cabinet by his bed. And this reporter
Brenner asks Trump if his cousin John gave him that book,
and Trump says, quote, actually, it was my friend Marty
Davis from Paramount, who gave me a copy of mine
comp And then it's Marty Davis who says he didn't
give Trump that Hitler book. He gave Trump Hitler's my
new Order, Hitler's book of his favorite speeches. And Trump
(11:28):
comes back to the topic and tells Marie Brenner, if
I had these speeches, and I am not saying that
I do, I would never read them. There was another
quote in that article from thirty two years ago this month,
attributed to one of Trump's attorneys. Donald the lawyer said
is a believer in the big lie theory. If you
(11:50):
say something again and again, people will believe you use
the real words. What we saw Saturday, a night in Youngstown, Ohio,
was the last shreds of the Trump mask being torn away,
and the last barrier between Trump and q and On
(12:12):
being torn away, and the last distinction between Trump and
another Hitler being torn away, and the last hesitation to
make their plans clear being torn away, and also the
start of something within literally hours. At another rally yesterday
for the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano,
(12:34):
a crystal fascist called Lance Wall now had only to ask,
and the crowd there in Pennsylvania raised all of their
arms and grunted along with this poisonous mixture of religious insanity, fascism,
war fantasies, and Q and on. And we'll do that
if I've been in the right hand of the air
(12:54):
on the count three. If you're willing to do this,
can you say what they said at Gettysburg when you
see us lined up as see down the end of
the victory. Indeed, Pennsylvania will be like the Little round
(13:15):
time and America will have a new birth of We
have to face the reality that Trump is America's hitler,
and we have to face another reality, the one expressed
by the author of the political insider book This Town,
(13:35):
Mark Liebovich. Mr. Leebovich quoted a former Republican congressman who
has seen this coming and who warned, quote, look, we
have no plan for this except sitting around hoping he dies.
We must accept the fact that the day in the
near future is now visible when even the most drastic
steps against Trump will not stop him. We have to
(13:58):
look at the country around us today, right now, September
twenty two, and we have to admit that as in
Germany and nine seen thirty three. Our rules and our laws,
and our powers of our institutions of our state are
beginning to lose their usefulness in stopping Trump and the
Christo fascists, and the q and Ons and the Republicans.
(14:24):
The judiciary has already compromised and losing its usefulness in
stopping Trump. A judge he appointed has overruled the laws
of this country protecting us against espionage and nuclear kleptomania
and said no, he was the victim. Another judge will
now act as special Master and delay any prosecution of
Trump for his crimes until December. At least six judges
(14:48):
Trump appointed will hear the appeal of the Special Master case.
Three Supreme Court judges Trump appointed would hear the appeal
after that. The elections are already compromised and losing their
usefulness in stopping Trump. In six weeks, we will hold
elect and we will permit at least some people to
assume office that control the elections. People who have sworn
(15:11):
loyalty not to this country but to Trump. People who
are committed not to fair elections that they might win
and they might lose, but to elections that are legitimate
only if Trump wins and can be ignored or overturned
or redone if Trump loses. People who might as well
have been in that crowd in Ohio Saturday night and
in that crowd in Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon, their eyes closed
in the presence of their God Trump, their fore fingers
(15:34):
raised in mindless salute to their God Trump, their poisoned
minds dedicated to vengeance on behalf of their God Trump.
The legislative branch is already compromised and losing its usefulness
in stopping Trump. If the Republicans take the House, they
will not just stop the January six Commission, they will
(15:55):
pervert it and use it to prove that Trump was
the victim, and the Proud Boys were victims, and the
oath keepers were victims. And the committee should impeach the
Attorney General and Biden and free every seditionist scum involved
in every component of every attempted coup. The Republican Party
has already compromised and is losing its usefulness in stopping Trump.
(16:17):
It has been subsumed by Trump. If Trump has now
empraised q and On, and q and On is a cult,
then Trump has become a cult, and his Republican Party
is a cult. The Republican Party has cut its connection
to democracy or public service or any policy other than power,
and some political figures still believe the Republican Party will
act to stop Trump, when in point of fact, Trump
(16:39):
brings them power, and they asked no other questions, just
like the German Conservatives of nineteen thirty three asked no
other questions until Hitler started sending some of them to
the camps. The only Republicans who make the slightest motions
against Trump do so by trying to out trump him,
like De Santis and the Human Traffic, or even more ominously,
(17:02):
ending half of his speeches by telling his audience to
put on the armor of God, or Mastriano and his
proxy Wall now yesterday, mixing Q and On and religion
and the Civil War into one horrible recipe for theocracy.
What is left to us, who want peace and who
want democracy, and who want elections, and who want an
(17:23):
America in which no one is killed or sent to
a camp because they non violently oppose any politician. Our
last plan, our only plan for this, except sitting around
hoping he dies, is the executive branch, and as it
fell to Joe Biden to defeat Trump in an election
(17:44):
to save American democracy. It falls again to him to
use the means at his disposal to defeat Trump as
he waits to take the penultimate step to destroy American
democracy and to propel this country into chaos and horror
and nightmare. Trump is the p R. Beale, clear and
(18:05):
present danger to the safety of this nation and every
one of her citizens. He must be treated as we
would treat any other terrorists loose in our midst. Biden's
Attorney general spent Saturday at Ellis Island fighting back tears
and pleading we are all in this together, we are
all Americans. Instead of realizing the people he is pleading
(18:25):
with want to kill him and you and me. And
instead of pleading, he should be prosecuting, even if it
means ignoring the Florida Court, or ignoring the Appeals Court,
or ignoring the Supreme Court. And if this still does
not end the terror, Joe Biden must act against the
terrorist Trump threatens this nation and everyone in it today,
(18:48):
right now, the next January six is being organized while
we watch and we respond with memes. And if Biden acts,
and if what follows are the riots in the streets
promised by Lindsey Graham or the quote big Trouble from
the Sleeping Giants summoned Saturday night by Trump. Biden must
(19:08):
respond with the full power of the United States of
America and face the rioters in the streets, and face
the sleeping Giant, and face the Trump Q and on
Christo fascist cultists. And in defense of everything this country
has ever meant and everything it is supposed to mean,
to crush them, we must use the real words. We
(19:34):
must face the reality that Trump is America's hitler. Still ahead,
uncountdown the anniversary of the day my great grandfather turned
(19:55):
down stock in the company that would become General Motors
and gave the owner the idea for the name. It
is humorous relief, and God knows we need it, Aaron
Judge Homers one away from the record or two? Or
is it? And worse persons? Who's that standing next to
Marjorie Trailer park Green in that photo? Why it's America's sweetheart,
(20:16):
pat say Jack. And that board is spelling out F
A S blank I S T. That's next, Bannah. This
is countdown. This is countdown with Keith Olberman still ahead
(20:51):
on Countdown. Puerto Rico hit again by a hurricane of
impossible dimensions. Pat say Jack self identifies as a pal
of Marjorie Taylor Green and the woman who devoted her
life to getting her late husband elected to Baseball's Hall
of Fame has died after fifty years of struggling to
make it happen. First, in each edition of Countdown, we
(21:11):
feature a dog in need whom you can help. Every
dog has its day if she knows you already. Henrietta
is a perfect sweetheart. She'll take treats gently and calmly,
your respond to your commands. She needs time, though, to
adjust to strangers, which makes sense since they found her
roaming a Brooklyn apartment building. She hates the pound, is
terrified there, but she loves people and dogs alike. She's
(21:32):
at the New York Pound marked for death, and as
a seventy two pound brindle mixed breeds, she will not
make it out alive unless we can help put together
enough pledges to defray a rescue groups costs in pulling
her out of the pound. Look for my tweet about
Henrietta on my account for Dogs in Trouble. Tom Jumbo
Grumbo and pledge something for Henriette if you can, or
just retweet her please and thank you very much. Coming
(22:06):
up on countdown. Sure, if you'll lure forty eight immigrants
onto a flight with false promises of jobs and then
fly them somewhere other than where you told them you
were going, it's bad. But if they were treated well
when they got their CNN asks, how could you call
it kidnapping? Worst persons? Coming up first postscripts to the news,
Some headlines, some thoughts, some snark. Stateline San Juan, Puerto Rico,
(22:32):
once again part of this country is decimated by natural
disasters accelerated by climate change, and yet it gets overlooked.
Puerto Rico is still trying to come back from Hurricane
Maria in two thousand seventeen and the negligence of the
Trump administration afterwards, Remember him tossing the victims rolls of
paper towels. Puerto Rico lost all power last night as
Hurricane Fiona hit the island. Date donned London or they're
(22:55):
finally having the funeral service and the burial of Queen
Elizabeth the second. Sorry they rushed it like that should
have taken a little longer. Dateline. Twitter too weird tweets
about the right wing troll Tommy Laren. The Independent tweeted,
Tommy Laren evacuated as protesters pound doors evacuated. It must
have been messy and outkicked. The Coverage tweeted police had
(23:18):
to escort Tommy Laren. Out escort Tommy Laren, who knew
state line? Woodland Hills, California. Henry Silva has died. The
veteran character actor and all around heavy was in the
original Oceans eleven with Frank Sinatra in nineteen sixty and
stood out in the extraordinary political science fiction classic The
Manchurian Candidate, including a karate fight with Frank Sinatra that
(23:41):
takes up more than two minutes of the film. You've
never seen The Manchurian Candidate. This is a good reason
for you to go see it right now, shut the
podcast off and watch it. Henry Silva was nine and
Hollywood New York Times reporting that Apple is in a
quandary over what to do with its one million dollar
Will Smith film Emancipation because anybody guess anybody remember why
(24:05):
anybody care? Because Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the
Oscars last March only the entertainment industry could be so
self absorbed as to think people won't go or will
go because of that incident or remember anything in last
March or earlier. On the other hand, Apple is clearly
(24:25):
missing the perfect marketing campaign for this movie. Now go
see Emancipation. It slaps. This is Sports Center. Wait, check
(24:50):
that not anymore. This is Countdown with Keith Alberman. It slaps.
That's what the kids say, right, It slaps in sports.
Maybe Tom Brady and his if Gazelle Bunchen and the
Tampa Bay Bucks should each be living in separate homes.
Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucks beat New Orleans twenty
(25:12):
ten yesterday, but Brady through eighteen completed passes and sixteen incompletes,
and after one of the ladder Brady yelled at the
New Orleans quarterback Marshawn Lattimore. Next thing you know, there's
a bench clearing brawl while Brady basically exits stage left,
and then he would not answer media questions about the
brew haha afterwards. Brew ha ha ha ha. He was
supposed to be such a big deal in San Francisco.
(25:34):
They've done a documentary series on him called The Choice
now forty quarterback and one third overall choice, Trey Lance
has broken his right ankle. Turns out the choice they
met was the one the Niners made not to trade
his presumed backup, Jimmy Garoppolo. They also made a choice
not to give Garoppolo forty Niners playbook in training camp,
(25:54):
thinking he could tell his next team what was in it.
His next team turns out to be his old team.
Garoppolo tossed a touchdown and with him at the helm,
San Francisco beat Seattle seven. The Las Vegas Aces beat
Connecticut seventy one to take the w n b A
crown in five games. I'm sorry, w n b A.
Aaron Judge homer twice fifty nine for the season, which
(26:16):
means he's certainly within two of tying the all time
American League record. Except how is it the American League
record if nine of Aaron judges fifty nine homers this
year have been against National League teams in interleague play?
And if you're saying that doesn't matter, the league's play
each other all the time and they're not really that
different than how can there be a National league record
(26:40):
or an American League record anymore? Isn't there just one record?
Fifty years ago, the great manager of the New York
Mets and legendary first basement of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gil Hodges,
died of a heart attack at the age of forty seven,
just as the nineteen seventy two baseball season was beginning.
For half a century, his widow, Joan, had continued to
live in her Brooklyn home, spearheading an increasingly desperate bid
(27:02):
to get her late husband the place he does irved
in Baseball's Hall of Fame. Fifteen times, the voting writers
bypassed gil Hodges twice, as many times various veterans committees
did the same. Finally, last winter, he was elected to
the Hall of Fame, and on July Mrs gil Hodges
watched her daughter except the honor fifty years overdue. Saturday night,
(27:24):
Joan Hodges died ten days short of her ninety six birthday.
Still ahead, ever, wondered who came up with that name
(27:45):
General Motors spoiler alert, It was my great grandfather. Gruesome details. Next, first,
the daily roundup of the misgrants, morons and Dunning Krueger
effects specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the World
le Bronze. Pat Say Jack is a lazy guy. Once
(28:05):
thirty years ago, when I was a guest on his
late night talk show on CBS, the one that got canceled.
I arrived an hour before taping time and asked if
I could stop in and say hello to Pat, and
they said no, he's not here yet, and I said what.
Suddenly the vice president of late night for CBS was
there and he said, Hey, have you ever thought of
hosting one of these shows? Because our host ain't here yet,
(28:26):
and we'd tap in an hour later. Pat would claim
in public that he got me started on Network TV
on that show and regretted it ever since. And I
had to tell him, Pat, that was I was on CNN.
That's all preface to something really lazy from Pat. He's
pretty good about hiding his trump is um, but he
(28:47):
just gave away the store. Posted on social media a
photo of a on camera stooge from the propaganda outlet
right side broadcasting beaming on the left of the picture,
Marjorie Trailer Park green beaming on the right of the picture,
and beaming in the middle, Pat Say Jack, Pat, I'd
like to buy a dictatorship. The runners up kidnappers and
(29:09):
human traffickers rhn De Santis and Greg Abbott as they're
in humanity and criminality continues to resonate. There is this
detail that was lost as it all happens, which well,
maybe it's just me, but I think it kind of
underscores the you know, falsehood of Rhonda Santis is alleged
Christianity and the fact that he wouldn't know Jesus if
(29:30):
Jesus came up and bid him in his ill fitting suit.
One of the kidnapping kidnapped immigrants rather is named Nazareth,
our Dennis Nazareth. M hmm Nazareth? Why does that? Why
does that name sound so familiar? M? But our winner
(29:51):
In the latest example from the transformation of CNN into
a fascist propaganda outlet under the chairman and chief executive
officer of CNN Worldwide, who when we were at MSNBC
together I thought used to eat paste, Chris licked Rhonda
Santis is a election opponent. Charlie Christ referred to the
DeSantis kidnapping of forty eight immigrants and sending them to
Massachusetts as kidnapping, and CNN anchor Alison Camerata, formerly a
(30:15):
Fox News replied to him, quote, Yes, they were lured
on false pretenses, that's true, but when they got to
Martha's vineyard they were certainly treated very humanely. Is that
really kidnapping? Yes, yes, it is really kidnapping. Seriously, Allison.
(30:36):
Other than that, how did you enjoy the play Mrs
Lincoln Camerata Today's worst person none the world to the
(30:57):
top of the countdown on the number one story in
my favorite topic, me and what is some much needed
comic relief today? I think though my late father would
never have agreed with that statement, not at all. My
great grandfather told this story something like every day until
he died. It was legendary in the family. There is
(31:18):
considerable circumstantial evidence that it is all true, and the
last possible date that it could have happened was a
hundred and fourteen years ago, last Friday, September sixteen eight.
Anthony Zelinsky was born in Crackoff in Poland in eighteen
sixty eight. My sister just found some evidence that he
(31:38):
changed the way his name was spelled, that it was
originally Zelenski with two wise or two eyes at the end,
just like the Ukrainian president. We're kind of pleased with
her discovery. Antony, or as my father nicknamed him, the
Great Financier, was a natural musician. He could sing, play
any instrument, He could compose music and lyrics. He could
teach you how to play. He could build or repair
(32:01):
anything from a kazoo to a grand piano, and that
from his late teens is how he made his money.
He traveled all around Europe from maybe eighteen eighty six onwards,
staying at rich people's houses for several days, teaching the
girls had to sing and the boys how to play
whatever was lying around the house, fixing the family harpsichord,
(32:21):
cobbling together the odd flute. One day, we're guessing around
eighteen eighty nine eighteen ninety, he traveled to the home
of well off merchants in Odessa, then part of Russia,
the chef Chenkos. He taught the boys how to sing
and the girls how to play the organ, and then
he uh fell in love with the youngest daughter, Matrona.
(32:41):
The chef Schenkos were not happy when they discovered them
in love and chased my great grandfather and their daughter
out of the house, out of the city and out
of the country. Antony went home to Poland, married his
child bride, returned to crack Off, where all of his
family then chased them out of that house, out of
that city, and out of that country. Get lost with
(33:03):
you and you Russia horror, he would later tell the
nephew for whom my father was named Teddy. Anthony and
Matrona had to think fast. It's eighteen eighty nine, eighteen
ninety wears a hard working guy thrown out of Russia
and Poland, gonna go. They arrived in New York City
within weeks. As I said, he was a natural musician.
He picked up English quickly, and supposedly within a month
(33:25):
or two, he was leaving his wife, my great grandmother,
in an apartment in the Bronx and getting on trains
for distant cities as far west as Chicago, going to
the rich people's homes and getting a hundred dollars to
teach the music, rite music, repair musical instruments, and then
get right back on the train to New York. Though
he earned a very good income doing this, especially for
(33:46):
an immigrant, Anthony and Matrona lived frugally, often without hot
water in their home. Because my great grandfather was now driven,
driven to avenge himself Teddy, He would tell his nephew,
who told my dad, I say every dollar I can
save I and west in the safest in Westman in
the world the Polish national bonds. For one day, I
(34:08):
shall return to Krakoff. I shall buy the biggest house
on top of the biggest hill and stand outside all
day waiving my money at my relatives who made me
and your aunt leave, and saying to them, f you,
this is my goal. And on and on. This went
for a decade and more, until he went to Flint, Michigan,
to do his usual routine to stay at the house
(34:30):
of a prosperous American, write a family song, repair the
broken tuba, to teach the kids to play the guitar,
and generally delight the family, in this case, the family
of a businessman who he remembered as Mr Billy. Came
the end of my great grandfather's stay with Mr Billy
in Michigan and his family in Michigan, and Mr Billy
(34:52):
was so taken with Anthony's Lynsky that he took him
personally to the train station in Flint and went with
him onto the platform to wait for the train. Mr Zelinsky,
he said, we have been delighted to have you here
that I would be honored if you would accept. Instead
of the five hundred dollars I owe you, please take
one thousand dollars in stock certificates from my business, my
(35:13):
way of saying thanks and hoping you can return and
visit us again. My great grandfather said he was almost
moved to tears by the gesture. But Mr Billy, he explained,
I lived very inexpensively, and I in West all my
money in the world's safest in Westment the Polish National bonds.
Mr Billy congratulated Antony on his prudence, but said, I
(35:35):
believe I am at the cusp of the next great
business in this country. I would again offer you this stock.
I think you will make so much money that you
could buy all the Polish National bonds. My great grandfather,
standing there on the train station in Flint, Michigan, fought
for a moment. I know, Mr Billy, you mentioned you
own a manufactory in town. What is this you manufactor?
(35:58):
Mr Billy said, we are in the automobile business. Mr Lynsky,
my great grandfather lit up. I s the streets of
New York are filled with automobiles. This is the coming thing.
But I will still take the cash and in west
in the world's safest investment, the Polish National Bonds. The
train was late. There was an awkward silence now between them,
(36:19):
which my great grandfather finally broke. Do I know the
name of your company? Mr Billy? Mr Billy replied, well,
that's the topic of the moment, Mr Zelensky, and I
must say, having gotten to know you a little bit,
I'm not at all surprised you brought this subject up. Currently,
my company is called Buick Motor Cars. My great grandfather said,
(36:40):
h yes, Buke, I've heard of Buke. You're changing the name.
Not exactly, said Mr Billy. I believe the automotive business
is going to grow exponentially. But we have one large
company in the field Forward, and we have dozens of
smaller ones like Buick. And I'm about to buy up
several of my competitors and form one big company, bigger
than Ford, and we will dominate automobiles for decades to come.
(37:04):
I yes, said my great grandfather. And what will you
call this behemoth? Mr Billy laughed again. You cut to
the heart of the matter, Mr Zelinski. We are debating
that right now, we need a name that expresses our
national stature. My great grandfather shook his head at the
obviousness of this. The problem is an easy one. No,
you use National National motor Cars. Mr Billy laughed again,
(37:29):
your insight is extraordinary. That was our first thought as well.
But would you believe there is a company in Indiana,
of all places, they make electric automobiles which will never work,
and they're called National Motor Vehicles. We need another name.
American has also taken, Continental has taken. Damn it, Mr Zelinsky,
we can't think of a good name that isn't already taken.
(37:51):
My great grandfather, who had just turned down the stock
in a thousand dollars worth of the stock in this company,
thought for a second. You wish to express the national,
the American, the broadly available or available National, Continental nationals.
What is the word in English? The general the general
(38:13):
availability of your vehiculars? Well, Mr Billy, why not that?
Why not general? General automobiles, general automotive, general motor car.
Maybe uh, general motors. Now it was time for Mr
Billy to become pensive. Finally he spoke general motors. M hmmm,
(38:39):
does have a certain ring to it, Mr Zelinski, Oh
look here's your train. Ah. Mr Billy was, of course
Billy Durant, and he owned Durant Dort, and then he
owned Buick, and then he consolidated thirteen auto manufacturers and
ten parts and accessory companies together into as it was called.
(39:00):
On the day Billy and his partners opened the s
grow account Wednesday, September six eight, General Motors Holding Company,
My great grandfather, having gotten another five dollars to invest
in the world's safest investment instead of a thousand dollars
in stock, and not General Motors in nineteen o eight,
but the company that would become General Motors, and having
(39:23):
given its chairman the name General Motors for free, waved goodbye,
got on the train, returned to New York. He died
fifteen years later. And to his credit, we know of
the detail of this story because the person who told
it to everyone with a laugh, with a warning to
his relatives that none of them had the genes of
(39:43):
a businessman either, was my great grandfather himself. Needless to say,
this good self deprecating humor makes him my favorite of
all my ancestors, and I hope wherever he went when
he died in his humor went with him because there
were several postscripts to this story that lend it authenticity
(40:06):
and induce further rage in his descendants. My father was
very much alive in nineteen forty. He was an eleven
year old boy with his uncle Teddy Antony's nephew, living
with my dad and grandparents and my uncle's and the Bronx.
My dad, who did not meet his grandfather antony'sz Lynsky,
said there was a knock on the apartment door one
(40:27):
day and he opened it to the site, as he
put it, of the two best suits of clothing I
had ever seen. The men wearing them asked for my
dad's uncle. He got him, and them men began to
speak Polish to Uncle Teddy. Gentlemen, we are here in America.
You will please speak English in front of my family.
(40:47):
Mr Zelinsky. One of them said, we know that your
uncle left you his investments in Polish national bonds. He
was obviously a great patriot. We represent the Polish government
in exile when we run the Nazis out of our
homeland and freedom is again hours. I know your uncle
would have and you would want the free Wtish national state,
to not be burdened financially, to be unburdened, in fact,
(41:10):
to the greatest possible degree, Mr Zelenski, your uncle was
the fourth largest private investor in Polish national bonds in
North America. In fact, he was just behind the National
Bank of Mexico. Will you retire his bonds for a
nominal fee as a great Polish patriot. My dad was
(41:30):
never sure how nominal the fee was, but he was
convinced his uncle got less than five hundred dollars for
what was at least a hundred thousand dollars in bonds
during the year nineteen fifty or later. My dad did
not spend his life wondering about his grandfather's magnificent moment
of investment stupidity, but it would occasionally wake him in
the middle of the night, and on his nightly commutes
(41:52):
from Manhattan to our little home in the suburbs, he
came to know the other regulars on the train, just
like Don Draper did on Madmen same train, in fact,
and one of the regulars on the train turned out
to be a stock historian. Eventually Dad told him the
story of Antony's Lynsky and Billy Durant and General Motors,
(42:12):
and the stock historian invited him to stop by the
office at lunch one day. Sit down, Ted, and I
mean sit down, Ted. The historian showed his math. This
was what a thousand dollars in Buick in nineteen o
eight turned into when Billy Durant created General Motors in
nineteen o eight. And here's where it's split. And see,
(42:32):
and here's where it split again, and here's where it
quartered after they forced Durant out and then he bought
Chevrolet and he came back in and took over General
Motors again. And it's split. And my father said, he
started to sweat. Just tell me already, Ted, the thousand
dollars your great grandfather turned down in General Motors in
nineteen o eight would now be worth approximately sixty million dollars.
(42:58):
My father said. He struggled to not pass out his
friend from the train, then said, plus the value of
the name. I can't get that exactly, the stock historian said,
but it's got to be another couple million, five ten maybe,
especially if he had taken stock in exchange for the name.
There's one more twist to the knife. Well, so far,
(43:20):
there's still plenty of time for more. When the Unions
ran the Soviets out of Poland and let Valessa became
President of the Free Poland In he gave a speech
establishing the new government. He spoke naturally in Polish, until
that is, it was time to address one topic. The
president read that part of the speech in English. My
(43:42):
government will recognize and honor the following years of the
Polish national bonds. My father called me in Los Angeles
that night. He had spoken to his stock historian friend
again and gotten a new rough estimate. My great grandfather
had turned down sixty maybe seventy million dollars in general
motors stock to keep, say, hundred thousand dollars in Poleish
(44:04):
bonds do in the year nine fifty, and let Valessa
had just said, we'll pay on those bonds that we're
doing nineteen fifty and so if great grandfather's nephew Teddy
had just sat on them, those bonds would have been
worth five or six million dollars. Keith, my father said, quietly,
(44:26):
let me remind you again with the great financier. My
grandfather told everyone, told all of us, none of us,
none of us have the genes of a businessman. Easy come,
(44:55):
easy go. I've done all the damage I can do here.
Help me out. Give this thing a good review or rating,
or subscribe or email it to somebody I don't know.
Whatever the through these days. The Countdown theme is from
Beethoven's ninth was arranged, produced and performed by Countdown musical
directors Brian Ray and John Philip Chanelle. All orchestration and
keyboards by John Philip Chanelle. Guitars, bass and drums by
(45:17):
Brian Ray, produced by T k O Brothers. The other
Beethoven selections have been arranged and performed by No Horns allowed.
Our sports music the Olberman ESPN two theme written by
Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments by
Nancy Faust, the best baseball stadium organist ever and our
announcer today. It was my friend Stevie Van's aunt. Let's
(45:40):
countdown for this the six twenty second day since Donald
Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of
the United States. As if you should have had any
doubts before, have no doubts now. Arrest him now while
we still can a new episode tomorrow. I'm Keith Alderman,
Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown
(46:13):
with Keith Alderman is a production of I heart Radio.
For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Keith Olbermann
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