February 22, 2024 • 46 mins
SERIES 2 EPISODE 128: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: I think this fraudulent FBI 'whistleblower' who was arrested after confessing to making up the Hunter Biden story - Alexander Smirnov - the one who admitted the story was being spread by people connected to Russian intelligence?
I think he's flipping.
I think there is one thin reed of evidence supporting what I admit is a hunch. Maybe a second one.
More importantly, maybe, I think this man David Weiss who was - until Smirnov's story collapsed - the Special Counsel PROSECUTING Hunter Biden, has also flipped, and now intends to prosecute everybody who turned him into a Russian stooge, two steps removed. And I think he and Smirnov are going to take down at least the scum on the lower levels of the Russian Ring in this country (more likely the Russian operatives themselves, maybe James Comer, but just possibly running up the ladder to Jordan and Sean Hannity and, please God, Trump).
But we're going to need a new Special Prosecutor to round all of the big names up. And a Senate Judiciary investigation on how this sack of crap was turned into the prosecution of the president's son, and the attempted impeachment of the sitting president. In an election year. At the direction of Vladimir Putin.
We've been invaded again. And the Russians didn't need to shoot or bomb their way in here. Because all the Comers and Greenes and Jordans and Grassleys and Hannitys and Trumps just opened the doors for them. And may they burn in hell for doing so.
Because I think Smirnov is flipping.
B-Block (26:25) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Republicans select a California banker as their Wisconsin Senate candidate who's so non-Wisconsinian that in his introductory commercial he never SAYS which state he's running in. Jon Stewart is going to bothsides us into prison camps - and how DARE he attack Mary Trump. And how dare a Biden National Security Council spokesperson blame the betrayal of Ukraine on CONGRESS. It is the REPUBLICANS who did this. You are paid to say the truth - do your damn job.
C-Block (33:25) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I've played this before. I needed the laugh again. It's the most joyous soccer story of all time: the ESPN Soccer Breakdown Tape.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. I
think this phony FBI whistleblower Alexander Smirnoff is flipping the
(00:28):
key to the Hunter Biden fabricated smear, the key to
the entire Barisma fabricated story, the key to the entire
Joe Biden fabricated impeachment, The key, it now turns out,
to the blowing up of the Hunter Biden plea deal,
the key to the entire network of Republican politicians owned
(00:48):
and operated in this country by Vladimir Putin and Russian intelligence.
Trump included this guy, Smirnoff. I think he's flipping the
guy they arrested last week for lying to the FBI,
the guy they immediately announced had told him that he
had made up the story about the Bidens and the
bribes and the this and then that, And this was
(01:11):
days after the same prosecutors had been convinced he was
the key to the prosecution of Hunter Biden. The guy
who day before yesterday is then quoted as saying the
Hunter Biden information was being trafficked by people associated with
Russian intelligence. Smirnoff, Alexander Smirnoff, I think he's flipping. Now
(01:37):
I see one thin, frail read of evidence supporting my hunch.
And still I'm just reading between the lines here, and
I could be completely wrong. And even if I'm right,
Is he flipping against Trump? Is he flipping against James Comer?
Is he flipping against that scumbag Jim Jordan? Probably not.
(01:57):
If he's flipping against anybody, it would likeliest be flipping
against whoever he meant in that one sentence in that
bombshell FBI report. During his custodial interview on February fourteen,
Smirnoff admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved
in passing the story about Hunter Biden. Because if he's
(02:22):
not flipping, why did he admit that his case is
now being prosecuted by the same guy who they had
just made the special counsel in the Hunter Biden case
that just fell apart. Alexander Smirnoff is now being prosecuted
by David Weiss, and days ago, David Weiss still thought
(02:45):
Alexander Smirnoff was his star witness. Wah near my star witness.
Oh I scratch that. Now I'm sending you to prison.
And Smirnoff then confesses to David Weiss that the centerpiece
of the entire story, the entire Republican and Russian plot
against the Bidens, the smears against Hunter Biden were being
(03:09):
spread by Russian intel or people who were adjacent to
Russian intel. And Weiss puts that confession from Smirnoff in
Smirnoff's detention memo on the record right at the front
of the document. Smirnoff is already facing twenty years in
(03:29):
jail for the lie to the FBI, and now he's
confessing that the lie came from Russian intelligence. It may
have an international component. Why is he doing that. He's
adding to his confession, He's adding to his crime. He's
adding to his jail time. Unless he's confessing because he's flipped.
(03:53):
And look the other guy who has clearly already flipped
metaphorically anyway, is this man, David Weiss, the Hunter Biden counsel,
because his ass is in an even tighter sling than Smirnoff's.
(04:13):
Is he got fooled, used, played, manipulated, railroaded, bamboozled and
rolled by Smirnoff, by Smirnoff's officials associated with Russian intelligence,
by the Russians by the Republican politicians and Republican media
whores who are associated with Russian intelligence themselves, James Comer,
(04:36):
Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor, Green, Chuck Grassley, Sean Hannity and
of course the team of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
So David Weiss is trying to save himself. Now nothing
moves justice and truth forward to the glimmering light on
(04:59):
the horizon, like some guy who's afraid that otherwise he's
going to wind up in the big house. We can't
let David Weiss save himself. Of course, we need a
special prosecutor from the Department of Justice in on this tomorrow,
(05:20):
and we need a Senate investigation. Senate Judiciary would probably
be right. So go somebody wake up Chairman Durbin and
tell him we need the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena
the Hunter Biden special counsel, David Weiss and this guy
smearing off and Comer and Jordan and Grassley and Hannity
(05:44):
and Trump, because this isn't just false info, This isn't
just one guy lying to the FBI.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
This is the.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Russian Federal Assembly and Vladimir putin organizing the attempted impeachment
of the President of the United States in an election
year via the Republican Party. And we need a couple
of dozen of these Republicans to die in prison because
of this, because this is treason, not adjectival treason, not
(06:17):
figurative treason. Look up the statute and the point is,
and my hunch is based on the fact that clearly
I am not the first person to recognize all of this.
This idiot Smirnoff clearly realizes it. This sucker David Weiss
realizes it. And do not be fooled. Even some of
(06:39):
the Russian Republicans now realize it. Do not be fooled
by Jim Jordan yesterday shoving past reporters, still in shirt sleeves,
still searching for the only sport code he has ever owned,
that he lost five years ago and still can't find,
try to tough it out, and insisting the fact that
(07:00):
the man who was his entire case against Hunter Biden,
and thus his entire case against Joe Biden, that that
man was arrested for making it all up. And on
top of it, he just confessed to contact with Russian intelligence.
Jim Jordan, insisting, oh, if that changes nothing, don't be
fooled by Jim Jordan, the rape adjacent congressman from Ohio.
(07:23):
Jim Jordan realizes it, only he has no idea how
to fix it, but David Weiss does. David Weiss's career
now depends on fixing it. And the only way you
could fix this would be if you've flipped, or if
you've already flipped this guy Smirnoff. And that's why I
(07:47):
think what I think. That one admission tying all of
this to Russian intelligence says to me that mister Weiss
and mister Smirnoff have had a little come to Jesus
meeting and they have understood how badly they now need
each other. And mister Smirnoff is flipping. And there actually
(08:10):
turns out to be a whisper of evidence that I
might be right. The Huffington Post had a little story
yesterday about Jim Jordan sending an interview request letter to
a former State Department official named Amos Hochstein. Almos hostein
turns out to be a potential witness in the Jim
Jordan Whoreror House impeach stunt against Biden and in their
(08:35):
letter to mister Hoxtein, there was a paragraph that referred
to Alexander Smirnoff. The letter that was apparently sent to
mister Hostein yesterday, and then an hour later, what happens
to appear in mister Hostein's mailbox but a second interview
request letter from Jim Jordan. And guess what In this
second interview request letter, the paragraph about Alexander Smirnoff is gone.
(09:03):
Smirnoff Smirnoff who Hoffo got a statement from Jim Jordan's
office saying this was just a clerical error. A clerical error,
my ass, a clerical error that requires a special prosecutor.
Because there was one other new development yesterday in this
(09:26):
putrid mess, this invasion of our government by Russians, this
invasion of our country by Russians using proxies called Republicans.
Hunter Biden's lawyers said yesterday, we may think we know
what we are dealing with here, but in fact there
is much more. Remember the day that Hunter Biden went
into the courtroom to take the plea deal on taxes
(09:49):
and gun purchases and no trial, and then all of
a sudden, the judge blew it up. In their new
court filings, Hunter Biden's lawyers say it all blew up
because suddenly there were new allegations or more specific versions
of previous allegations against hunter Biden, allegations made by Alexander Smirnoff.
(10:16):
It was Alexander Smirnoff who convinced, presumably David Weiss, and
Smirnoff and David Weiss suit presumably convinced this Judge Mary
Allen Norika, and the plea deal blew up. And by
the way, you also do not want to be Judge
Mary Allen Norika right now. And you even more don't
want to be anybody who led Judge Norika into this
(10:37):
trap in which she blew up a plea deal with
allegations manufactured in the Kremlin. And if you think David
Weiss is motivated to get Smirnoff to flip and to
save all of their sorry asses, well this Judge Norika
is twice as motivated. And now just stretch the whole
(11:01):
picture out to its widest dimensions. This is Russia again,
and the Republicans again, and Trump again, and the right
wing media again, and the attempt to fix our elections
and the attempt to rip this nation apart from the inside,
(11:21):
and the attempt to run another coup against a duly
elected government of the United States of America, which if
it was done by a group of agents, spies, Russian nationals,
we would shoot and kill them. But it's not just
another coup attempt by Russia using not guns but Republicans.
(11:43):
It's also another part of the last coup attempt. And
if this one weasel liar Smirnoff can turn the Special Council,
the Republican investigating Hunter Biden into the Special Council suddenly
investigating Alexander Smirnoff and James Comer, what's the rest of
this story? What have we not found under the rock yet?
(12:05):
What else does Smirnoff link to? Does he link to
Trump's conversation with Zelensky and I just need you to
do me a favor though, Does he link to Russia's
efforts to infiltrate the Trump campaign or the Trump campaign's
effort to utilize Russian intel or both in twenty sixteen
or twenty twenty or both. What other cancers will track
(12:28):
directly back to Alexander Smirnoff's admission about officials associated with
Russian intelligence. Hell Josh Marshall from TPM has said this
for years, and he said it again yesterday, and God
damn it. Of course he is right. And I'll quote
him not just because he's right, but because he has
phrased it poetically quoting Josh. The fabled Hunter Biden laptop
(12:51):
was obviously the product of a Russian influence operation. The
story was absurd on its face. Somehow Hunter Biden decided
in a drugged up fugue that he needed to take
his laptop to a computer repair shop. He then forgot
about it. The legally blind owner of the repair shop
(13:15):
decided to crack it open and look at the files,
as one does, of course, and then somehow managed to
get the contents to Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon unquote.
So what else is under the Smirnoff rock Everything Rudy
(13:39):
Giuliani did, Attorney General Barr whitewashing Trump and the Muller
report that should have led to Trump's arrest for acting
on behalf of a foreign government and against the government
of the United States. How many officials associated with Russian
intelligence have been involved? Mister Smirnoff can you give us
their names and addresses? As soon as I read this,
(14:05):
Smirnoff admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved story.
Tuesday night, I posted that Comer had to resign from Congress,
and Chuck Grassley from the Senate and Hannity from TV.
I'm happy to say Congress and Eric Swalwell has picked
this up in a more formal setting being a member
of the House. And yesterday Swalwell posted that Comer must
resign because quote, for the last two years he has
(14:27):
done the work of Russia's intelligence services to falsely attack
President Biden. There must be accountability, correct, but accountability not
just in the form of the loss of a seat
in the House prosecution. James Comer needs to die in
prison and this needs a Senate investigation and as special prosecutor,
(14:49):
And once again, Jesus, please give me an excuse to
get Merrick Garland fired if he hesitates special Prosecutor in
the Comer Smirnoff scandal. Because j James Comer is in
effect a Russian agent, and yes, he needs to resign
(15:10):
from the House. And Jim Jordan is in effect a
Russian agent and he needs to resign from the House.
And Marjorie Taylor Green is in effect a Russian agent,
and she needs to resign from the House. And there's
a Texas Congressman named Pat Fallon who accused the Democrats
of denying that the Smirnoff FBI file even existed or
(15:31):
was legitimate, and the media of lying about it, and
he is in effect a Russian agent, and he needs
to resign from the House. And Chuck Grassley is in
effect a Russian agent, and he needs to resign from
the Senate. And Ted Cruz has spent a year spreading
these lies on his podcast, The Senator from podcast Land,
(15:55):
and he is in effect a Russian agent, and he
needs to resign from the Senate. And Sean Hannity is
in effect a Russian agent, and he needs to resign
from Fox. And Maria Bartiromo is in effect a Russian agent,
and she needs to resign from Fox. And David Weiss
is in effect a Russian agent, and he needs either
to resign from the DOJ or flip. And Donald Trump
(16:22):
is a Russian agent and he needs to withdraw from
the presidential race. If any of what Alexander Smirnoff has
told investigators is true any of it this time, then
Alexander Smirnov is admitting to being part of a cabal
of actual Russian agents who found willing victims or accomplices
(16:47):
or clients in the Comer Jordan Green, Grassly, Hannity Trump,
end of the GOP anti America cesspool. If any of
what Smirnoff has told investigators this time is true, these
people also need to be in jail, and I don't
particularly care how we put them there or what happens
to them when they get there, but first they need
(17:09):
to disappear from public view. And no, I am not
expecting these things to actually happen, at least not the resignations,
because to resign you must be capable either of shame
or fear. Comer is too stupid, Grassley is too superannuated.
(17:30):
Hannity and Bartiromo are too convinced that they are not
idiots but oracles and sober. And of course Trump is
a Russian agent, so why would he stop? This is
what he is here for. Anybody noticed by the way
that Laura Ingram asked him the other night about vice
presidential possibilities and named six of them he thought would
be good in one of them out of nowhere, someone
(17:54):
who had vanished from public life for months or for
a year or more, who was off all radar screens.
One of them suddenly back in the mix as Trump's
possible vice president is it is Tulsey effing Gabbert. Do
you get the feeling that his boss Putin maybe has
(18:15):
contacted Donald Trump recently, maybe made a couple of VP suggestions.
Because the reality is, and it is perfectly clear, the
Republican Party is not loyal to this country, and worse yet,
is not even worried anymore about being loyal to it.
(18:37):
It has been infiltrated, It has been subsumed by Russians
through compromat or payoffs, or simple Republican lust for power,
or a combination of all of them. And we are
living in the real life version of the John Lecarine
novel and TV series and movie Tinker Taylor's Soldier Spy,
(19:03):
where the guys who are actually getting manipulated by, and
hosed by and prostituted by the Russians. These guys are
so smug and vain and stupid and greedy that they
think they are manipulating the Russians, and worse, yet the
people who are supposed to be the watchdogs for moronic
(19:24):
disloyalty like this watchdogs, like the news media, they are
asleep at the switch. The New York Times put the
Smirnoff Russian intelligence confession yesterday on page sixteen. But again
(19:46):
the saving grace. There is nothing like a terrified man
who knows the truth and sees the prison cell door
this sleezebag. Smirnoff is in deep trouble in at least
two different countries, and the one in which he is
less likely to be pushed out a window by the
(20:07):
government is this one. So I think he's flipped. And
this other sleeves back, David Weiss, he is in even
deeper trouble in this country, and for all intents and purposes,
I think it's clear he has already flipped. The Republicans
have been trying to impeach the President of the United
(20:29):
States in an election year, with the help of Vladimir Putin.
May they all burn in hell, But thank God, right
now there are two terrified men who can put all
of them at least out of their treasonous business. And
(20:51):
if we're lucky, he can also put them Jordan and
Hannity and Comer and Trump and the others in jail.
Senate Judiciary Investigation today special counsel to day. Our nation's
life depends upon it.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Also of interest here went over to iHeart headquarters here yesterday.
We have selected the space. Two weeks from tonight, I
will be live on YouTube and maybe other platforms to
be determined with the Countdown with Keith Alderman podcast State
of the Union YouTube special. We have to come up
(21:39):
with a better name for this. It takes too long.
President Biden stops talking, I start talking and and okay,
taking your questions, some of your questions. So watch it Thursday,
March seventh. Be there, Aloha back here. Also of interest,
(22:03):
what is the point of recognizing that the Republicans are
further serving Vladimir Putin by betraying Ukraine? If a Biden
administration spokesperson blames not Republican treachery but quote Congressional inaction,
God damn it, It's not Congress. It's the Republicans that's next.
(22:24):
This is countdown. This is countdown with Keith Olberman. Stelle
(22:51):
Aheadamus on Countdown. This has been a long day, a
long week, a long year. We're being invaded by rush
by proxy again, so I need a break from that.
Maybe you do too, And to me, nothing in the
(23:13):
world says break like the following two words, soccer breakdown.
If you know what I'm talking about, I hope you
are already smiling in anticipation. If not, you are about
to join the soccer breakdown society. In things I promised
not to tell, welcome first. Yes, still more idiots talk
(23:36):
about the daily roundup of the miss Grants, Bonds, and
Dunning Kruger effects specimens who constitute today's worst person.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
In the world.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I believe I may be overperforming this episode of Countdown,
and not in a good way. Sorry, Lebron's worst Eric Huvede,
who has been preordained as the Republican Party establishment candidate
to try to take Tammy Baldwin's Senate seat in Wisconsin.
Mister Hubdy lives in California. He owns a bank. He
(24:11):
has a seven million dollar mansion in Laguna Beach. He
actually said that he understands the crisis of child trafficking
in Central America because he owns three homes in Central
America and he transferred his two million dollar home in
d c to his brother last August and he has
his first commercial out and in it he says he's
running for the Senate and things are terrible and this
(24:32):
and that, and he never says in what state he's running.
I'm guessing that's because when he filmed it, they had
not yet told him which state. That he has a
Wisconsin accent and a mustache. The runner up worser John Stuart, Yeah,
he ragged on me Monday Night, so what I ragged
(24:53):
on him the previous Monday Night. We've been ragging on
each other Monday Night since two thousand and three. The
problem is John Stewart returned to The Daily Show by
both sidesing Trump and Biden. In the position he is
in and with the people who watch him, John has
to be smarter than that, and I'm not sure he can.
(25:14):
When my old former friend Craig Kilbourne left The Daily
Show in nineteen ninety eight, one of his producers there
and he was the original host, explained they were really
lost because Craig Kilbourne had exactly what they wanted as
the host, the ability to read the jokes well and
look good without ever really understanding what the jokes meant
(25:34):
or what the implications of the jokes might be, but
she said she was hopeful. They thought John Stewart might
take over, and his ego was so huge that all
he ever thought about was the laughs. That's a dangerous
thing right now. Ha ha. Trump is funny, ha ha.
Biden is funny. But most importantly and unforgivably, John Stewart
(25:57):
trashed Mary Trump, and of all of us out here,
Mary Trump gets it more profoundly and personally and any
of the rest of us. I guess, as the saying goes,
democracy dies in discussion, John said, the audience laughed because
all John ever thinks about is the laughs. John Trump
(26:20):
doesn't want to have a discussion with you. Trump supporters
don't want to have a discussion with you. Trump supporters
don't want you to do anything but get in the cage.
If you continue to both sides this, we can talk
about it, you and me in the new media detention
center in North Platte, Nebraska. But the winner the worst.
(26:41):
Adrian Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council, Yes, Joe
Biden's National Security Council. As Russia besieged an eastern Ukrainian city,
Avdifka the Ukrainian military had to withdraw didn't have enough bullets, basically,
and Ms Watson, the spokesperson for the National Security Council,
Joe Biden's National Security Council, said quote, this is the
(27:05):
cost of congressional inaction. Congressional in action, Miss Watson, No,
not congressional in.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
A Republican in action.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It is critical that the House approve additional Ukraine funding
without delay. Watson, at it the House, Miss Watson, that
the House approve additional Ukraine funding. No, the Republicans in
the House betraying Ukraine and our interests in Ukraine. Miss Watson,
use your words. People in the United States who have
(27:40):
been told by fascists and propagandists and people who work
for Putin like Jim Jordan, They've been told Ukraine is
just a scam, that Ukraine means nothing to us, that
it is not an alternative to us fighting the Russians
in Poland or London. Those people told that may or
(28:01):
may not ever understand how tragically stupidly wrong they have become,
but they certainly will never understand it. If you blame
the House when the issue of Ukraine funding is entirely
the responsibility of the Republicans and this weasel speaker Mike Johnson,
and this Russian asset Donald Trump, Biden, NSC spokesperson Adrian Watson.
(28:27):
Get your head out of your ass or get out
of this government. We have a war to win in
Ukraine and a war to win in the United States.
You are paid to be truthful, not to whitewash Republican treachery.
You are today's worst person in the world. See the
(29:02):
number one story on the Countdown and my favorite time
to me and things I promised not to tell. You
may enjoy this one enough to keep a copy. Soccer Breakdown.
Gary Miller was one of the backbones of Sports Center.
I had worked with him at CNN. He was strong, confident,
very loud, forceful, He hated mascots, and he had no filter.
(29:28):
He and Dan Patrick were great friends in Atlanta, and
then Gary and Dan left for ESPN within months of
each other nineteen eighty nine nineteen ninety. This has been
said of me, and so I say it of Gary
with affection. He suffered no fools gladly, and though his
elbows were always up, he made sure that ninety nine
percent of the time when they bumped into somebody that
somebody had well deserved it. As near as I can
(29:52):
piece together, Gary was doing the eleven PM Sports Center
on Friday night, June twenty fourth, nineteen ninety four. Typically,
Dan and I did the eleven Sunday through Thursday. The
story of soccer's nineteen nine four World Cup. At least
in the first week, was a preponderance of player ejections
red cards handed them by the referee. In those days,
(30:12):
the eleven PM Sports Center included a feature two or
three minutes long on a story that had drummed up
a lot of interest during the first show planning meeting
around three point thirty PM. It was a feature called Breakdown.
It provided long form analysis in today's when we didn't
have a lot of that could be a coach getting fired,
could be the relative credentials of Baseball Hall of Fame candidates.
(30:34):
Could be one fantastic play in a game. Once we
did a deadpan, serious breakdown about injuries to mascots. A
producer or the anchor himself would write the script. They
would pre record the narration and then the producer would
edit it. This is pre digital. It was done tape
to tape. It could take hours to edit it, and
(30:55):
the key was to track it to record that narration,
which was done in a tiny wood paneled room wreaking
of mildew that looked and smelled exactly like every suburban
basement wreck room in America circa October nineteen sixty five.
That's where Gary Miller found himself on the night of Friday,
(31:15):
June twenty fourth, nineteen ninety four, reading a script about
soccer players from around the world, none of whose names
he had ever seen before, let alone tried to pronounce.
It was the Soccer Breakdown in all senses of the word.
The raw tape, the original version of his tracking session
(31:38):
for the script for Soccer Breakdown, is easily the most
beloved bootleg in ESPN's history. In fact, it is so
popular that there are several different cuts of this bootleg.
People have sat down with the original tape, which runs
nearly twenty minutes, and edited it down to only the
best or worst parts. Now I'm not going to say
(32:01):
I have a copy of the original. I'm simply going
to note the dam Patrick ran it on his radio
show in twenty seventeen and posted the whole segment to YouTube.
So yeah, that's where I got my copy of it. Uh,
that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm going
to annotate for you what happened, So let me present
(32:22):
this to you in three segments. It did not start
well for Gary and it got worse from there, although
mister Miller gave it its eternal title and life by going
sibilant on the s. For the word soccer, I'll note
only one thing, the acronym of International Soccer's outfit FIFA Gary.
(32:43):
It's pronounced FIFA.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Soccer breakdown in three two one, Fifho Soccer's governing Barty
three two one, Piphos Soccer's.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Three two one.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
The red card has become the calling card for this
year's tournament.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Seven ejections for the three.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Two one witness Romania's ian Bladu against the Swiss is
or through christ Ah.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
But that was the easy part. Now in the script
came the names of the World Cup stars who had
been given red card ejections in the first week of
the tournament. One was the seventeen year old star of
the Cameroon team, Rigobert's Song, often referred to by his
full name, Rigobert's Song maahanog Or as it was said
(33:36):
in the script Rigerbird Bahanog song.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Three two one Cameroons Rigoberg.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Vanumnog three two what Cameroons Rigelberg Byangung Zang Za Da
Da Bayangyang's song three two one Cameroon's Wriggelberg Banyang Zong.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Bayung Young song three two one three two one. By
the way, Rigobert's song is now the manager of the
Cameroon team. He's gone from being the youngest player in
the World Cup history to get a red card to
running his nation's team. I'll interject here that at the
start of this final major clip, Gary Miller says to
somebody who has currently entered that tracking room that smelled
(34:32):
of mildew, get out of here. Dan Patrick said that
was him. I think he's mistaken. It doesn't matter much,
but there was no reason for Dan to have been
there on a Friday night, especially if we were not
doing the show. And also there has never been a
microphone ever. But Dan has not spoken into anyway. We
have already met Rigobert Bhanog's song. Now meet my guy,
(34:57):
the Italian goalie John Luca Poaliucca two. Get out of
here two is guilty through it two.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
How long is this tape?
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Three two one on what Cameroon's Rigoberg Banyang song preventing
a breakaway from Brazil's babetto a bah God Almighty, I
hate socker. Cameroon's Rigoberg Banyanyong song. I'm gonna try that
one last lead time two one Cameroon's Rigglebirg banjung yong song,
(35:34):
I hate this chalcout Bolivia's Luis Cristaldo for both on
three to one. But the most notable red card of
the tournament came an Italian goaltender Jean Luca Paul Yuca,
Paul Yoka, Paul Yuka.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
From the Mother three two one.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
But the flurry of red cards thus far has Todd
coaches and players alike to control their play if they'd
like to control their fate in this tournament. Holy, that
is all.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
The pronunciation of Rigovert's song's name is one thing. I
was delighted by how furious Gary got at Gien Luca
Paluca of the Italian team and the expletive he used
to describe him, which you may have just heard in
the days that followed. In fact, the Italian goalie's name
became shorthand for me for that expletive in question. So
(36:26):
for the next three years on Sports Center, and after
that on Fox Sports News, and then on my ESPN
two show, and on Football Night in America, and then
when I returned to Sports Center in twenty eighteen, if
you heard me say John Luca Paluca while we were
showing a player making an error or arguing with an
umpire or official, I was actually implying that the player
(36:48):
had just said John Luca Paluca. There's another punchline to
this story. Of course, the idea to do this soccer
breakdown that so bedeviled Gary Miller, the story of red
cards in the first week of the nineteen ninety four
World Cup. The idea to do that came from Gary Miller,
(37:09):
never volunteer. I've never been convinced that Gary was really
happy about his immortality, certainly not in the way my
ESPN pal Steve Levy not so secretly glorious in the day.
He once tried to say that a New England Patriots
player had a bulging disc, but didn't quite get disc right.
(37:30):
But Gary Miller has been a good sport about this
through the end of his ESPN career in two thousand
and four and afterwards in his days at Channel two
and Channel nine in Los Angeles and most recently at
Channel two in Cincinnati. It isn't hard to understand why
this tape is so famous and the pleasure derived from
it so enduring. As John Cleese once said about the
real life hotel manager on whom he based his character
(37:52):
from Faulty Towers, he had this wonderful bad temper. But
there are two more things. One, this occurred exactly a
week to the day after the ojsim and car chase,
and people forget now just how disturbing that was in
an America, especially sports America like at ESPN, that with
(38:13):
the exception of a few of us who knew, nobody
knew how rotten a human being OJ Simpson was. So
even a week later, we all needed this laugh, and
Gary gave it to us and even larger. The essence
of soccer in every country in which it is played
is that it always allows and encourages and even demands
(38:35):
that its fans complain about it. And so while we
cherish soccer breakdown and three two one and Rigobert Mahananng's
song and bibbto and John Luca Paluka to me, it
is really about five words that anybody who hates the
game will say. But there are also five words that
(38:57):
any fan of the sport will certainly use at some
point in his life. Possibly it's some point today, And
they are the five words with which I will leave
you for now.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
A bah, God almighty, I hate soccer.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Since I first told you this story, I have, as
I mentioned, rediscovered an artifact that I thought was gone forever.
Right after the Soccer Breakdown saga unfolded, an ESPN colleague
made me a copy of the original raw tape of
Gary and we put it on a cassette and I
(39:36):
couldn't find it. There were things on it that were
somehow lost from all subsequent copies of Soccer Breakdown. So
this is not as high depth, but I think it's
even more high comedy.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Soccer Breakdown in three two one after a nineteen ninety
World Cup mark by physical play in low scores, fifhas
Soccer's three to one after a nineteen ninety World Cup
by three two one after a nineteen ninety World Cup
marked by physical play and low scores, peiphas Soccer's governing
(40:14):
body send out a decree for the nineteen ninety four
Cup to be better police the result, the red card
has become the calling card for this year's tournament. Seven
ejections for three two one. After a nineteen ninety World
Cup marked by physical play and low scores, Peiphus Soccer's
governing body sent out the decree for the nineteen ninety
(40:36):
four Cup to.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Be better police.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
The result, the red card has become the calling card
for this year's tournament. Seven ejections through the first twenty
three matches and a direct message that rough play will
not be tolerated and more teams will be playing a
man down if it continues. The goal more goals and
a more palatable sell to the American public. Three two
(40:59):
one the results just over two and a half goals
of contest, compared to two point two two per game
at the nineteen ninety Cup in Italy.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Why does the red card come out?
Speaker 3 (41:09):
A fight for rule book states a player shall be
sent off the field of play and shown the red
card if, in the opinion of the referee he won
is guilty of violent conduct witness Romania's Ian Bladu against
the Swiss is or through Christ three two one Why
does the red card come out? The Fight of rule
(41:30):
book states the players should be sent off the field
of play and shown the red card if, in the
opinion of the referee he won is guilty of violent
conduct witness Romania's ian Bladu against the Swiss.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Two is guilty of sirious foul play. Cameroons Rigolberg.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
Bonumnjog Bonanjong's song prevented a breakaway from the betto three
to what two is guilty of sirious foul play. Cameroons
Rigelberg Bayangung zang Za da bayan Young song three two
(42:09):
one two is guilty of serious foul play.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Cameroon's Riggleberg Banyangzong.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Bay on Young song three two one two get out
of here two is guilty through it two?
Speaker 2 (42:33):
How long is this tape? Two is guilty of serious
foul play.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
Cameroon's Riggleberg Banyang song provided a breakaway from Brazil's babbetto
a bah God Almighty, I Hate Sucker two is guilty
of serious foul play. Cameroon's Riggoberg Banyanyung song provided a
breakaway from Brazil's babetto a play both serious and faul
(42:59):
deserving of a red card.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
I'm better try that one last time too. One. Two
is guilty of sirious foul play.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Cameroon's Riggleberg Bunjung Yong song prevented a breakaway from Brazil's
babetto a play both sirious and foul and deserving of
a red card. Three uses foul or abusive language. Can't
show you that, and four is guilty of a second
cautionable I hate this. Three uses foul or abusive language,
(43:30):
and four is guilty of a second cautionable offense after
having received the caution. Chalk up Bolivia's Luis Cristaldo for
both on three to one. Chalk up Bolivia's Luis Cristaldo
for both on this case, as he receives a yellow
card and then uses on a foul or abusive language
to draw a second yellow and be ejected against South Korea.
(43:51):
A tone was set in the first match of the
tournament when Bolivia's Marco Antonio Etcheveri was ejected for this
illegal kick against the Germans. But the most notable red
card of the tournament came an Italian goaltender Jean Luca
paul U Ua the Mother three two one, but the
most notable red card of the tournament came whenn Italian
(44:11):
goal tunner John Luca Pauloca was ejected against Norway for
a handball outside the goal where the game was still
schooless three two one. But the most notable red card
of the tournament came an Italian goal tunder John Luca
paul Yuca was ejected against Norway for a handball outside
the goal area with the game still schooless. Down a man,
(44:32):
a team's first instinct is defense and injured Roberto Baggio,
who is now a liability, even if he is one
of the world's most talented offensive players.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
The gamble paid off.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Italy still alive in this year's World Cup, but the
flurry of red cards thus far has taught coaches and
players alike to control their play if they'd like to.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Three two one, Pree two one right two one Brickleberg
breon youngzn I've done all the damage I can do here.
Thank you for listening. Countdown. Musical directors Brian Ray and
John Phillip Schaneale have arranged, produced and performed most of
the music. Mister Ray was on guitars, bass, and drums.
Mister Shanelle handled orchestration and keyboards. It was produced by
(45:26):
Tko Brothers. Other music, including some of the Beethoven compositions,
arranged and performed by the group No Horns Allowed. The
sports music is the Olberman theme from ESPN two. It
was written by Mitch Warren Davis and it appears courtesy
of ESPN Incorporated. Our satirical and pithy musical comments are
by Nancy Fauss, the best baseball stadium organist ever. Our
(45:47):
announcer today was my friend Tony Kornheiser, and everything else,
as always, was pretty much my fault. So that's countdown
for this the two hundred and fifty eighth day until
the twenty twenty four US presidential election and the one
and forty first day since dementia Jay Trump's first attempt
coup against the democratically elected government of the United States.
(46:08):
Use the Fourteenth Amendment, the Insurrection Act, the justice system,
and the mental health system to stop him from doing
it again while we still can. The next scheduled countdown
is tomorrow. Do not forget our live YouTube special after
the State of the Union two weeks from tonight, March seventh.
Warm up your YouTube right now. Bulletins is the news
(46:31):
warrants till next time. I'm Keith Olraman. Good Morning, good afternoon,
good night, and good luck. Countdown with Keith Olreman is
(46:52):
a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. I
think this phony FBI whistleblower Alexander Smirnoff is flipping the
(00:28):
key to the Hunter Biden fabricated smear, the key to
the entire Barisma fabricated story, the key to the entire
Joe Biden fabricated impeachment, The key, it now turns out,
to the blowing up of the Hunter Biden plea deal,
the key to the entire network of Republican politicians owned
(00:48):
and operated in this country by Vladimir Putin and Russian intelligence.
Trump included this guy, Smirnoff. I think he's flipping the
guy they arrested last week for lying to the FBI,
the guy they immediately announced had told him that he
had made up the story about the Bidens and the
bribes and the this and then that, And this was
(01:11):
days after the same prosecutors had been convinced he was
the key to the prosecution of Hunter Biden. The guy
who day before yesterday is then quoted as saying the
Hunter Biden information was being trafficked by people associated with
Russian intelligence. Smirnoff, Alexander Smirnoff, I think he's flipping. Now
(01:37):
I see one thin, frail read of evidence supporting my hunch.
And still I'm just reading between the lines here, and
I could be completely wrong. And even if I'm right,
Is he flipping against Trump? Is he flipping against James Comer?
Is he flipping against that scumbag Jim Jordan? Probably not.
(01:57):
If he's flipping against anybody, it would likeliest be flipping
against whoever he meant in that one sentence in that
bombshell FBI report. During his custodial interview on February fourteen,
Smirnoff admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved
in passing the story about Hunter Biden. Because if he's
(02:22):
not flipping, why did he admit that his case is
now being prosecuted by the same guy who they had
just made the special counsel in the Hunter Biden case
that just fell apart. Alexander Smirnoff is now being prosecuted
by David Weiss, and days ago, David Weiss still thought
(02:45):
Alexander Smirnoff was his star witness. Wah near my star witness.
Oh I scratch that. Now I'm sending you to prison.
And Smirnoff then confesses to David Weiss that the centerpiece
of the entire story, the entire Republican and Russian plot
against the Bidens, the smears against Hunter Biden were being
(03:09):
spread by Russian intel or people who were adjacent to
Russian intel. And Weiss puts that confession from Smirnoff in
Smirnoff's detention memo on the record right at the front
of the document. Smirnoff is already facing twenty years in
(03:29):
jail for the lie to the FBI, and now he's
confessing that the lie came from Russian intelligence. It may
have an international component. Why is he doing that. He's
adding to his confession, He's adding to his crime. He's
adding to his jail time. Unless he's confessing because he's flipped.
(03:53):
And look the other guy who has clearly already flipped
metaphorically anyway, is this man, David Weiss, the Hunter Biden counsel,
because his ass is in an even tighter sling than Smirnoff's.
(04:13):
Is he got fooled, used, played, manipulated, railroaded, bamboozled and
rolled by Smirnoff, by Smirnoff's officials associated with Russian intelligence,
by the Russians by the Republican politicians and Republican media
whores who are associated with Russian intelligence themselves, James Comer,
(04:36):
Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor, Green, Chuck Grassley, Sean Hannity and
of course the team of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
So David Weiss is trying to save himself. Now nothing
moves justice and truth forward to the glimmering light on
(04:59):
the horizon, like some guy who's afraid that otherwise he's
going to wind up in the big house. We can't
let David Weiss save himself. Of course, we need a
special prosecutor from the Department of Justice in on this tomorrow,
(05:20):
and we need a Senate investigation. Senate Judiciary would probably
be right. So go somebody wake up Chairman Durbin and
tell him we need the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena
the Hunter Biden special counsel, David Weiss and this guy
smearing off and Comer and Jordan and Grassley and Hannity
(05:44):
and Trump, because this isn't just false info, This isn't
just one guy lying to the FBI.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
This is the.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Russian Federal Assembly and Vladimir putin organizing the attempted impeachment
of the President of the United States in an election
year via the Republican Party. And we need a couple
of dozen of these Republicans to die in prison because
of this, because this is treason, not adjectival treason, not
(06:17):
figurative treason. Look up the statute and the point is,
and my hunch is based on the fact that clearly
I am not the first person to recognize all of this.
This idiot Smirnoff clearly realizes it. This sucker David Weiss
realizes it. And do not be fooled. Even some of
(06:39):
the Russian Republicans now realize it. Do not be fooled
by Jim Jordan yesterday shoving past reporters, still in shirt sleeves,
still searching for the only sport code he has ever owned,
that he lost five years ago and still can't find,
try to tough it out, and insisting the fact that
(07:00):
the man who was his entire case against Hunter Biden,
and thus his entire case against Joe Biden, that that
man was arrested for making it all up. And on
top of it, he just confessed to contact with Russian intelligence.
Jim Jordan, insisting, oh, if that changes nothing, don't be
fooled by Jim Jordan, the rape adjacent congressman from Ohio.
(07:23):
Jim Jordan realizes it, only he has no idea how
to fix it, but David Weiss does. David Weiss's career
now depends on fixing it. And the only way you
could fix this would be if you've flipped, or if
you've already flipped this guy Smirnoff. And that's why I
(07:47):
think what I think. That one admission tying all of
this to Russian intelligence says to me that mister Weiss
and mister Smirnoff have had a little come to Jesus
meeting and they have understood how badly they now need
each other. And mister Smirnoff is flipping. And there actually
(08:10):
turns out to be a whisper of evidence that I
might be right. The Huffington Post had a little story
yesterday about Jim Jordan sending an interview request letter to
a former State Department official named Amos Hochstein. Almos hostein
turns out to be a potential witness in the Jim
Jordan Whoreror House impeach stunt against Biden and in their
(08:35):
letter to mister Hoxtein, there was a paragraph that referred
to Alexander Smirnoff. The letter that was apparently sent to
mister Hostein yesterday, and then an hour later, what happens
to appear in mister Hostein's mailbox but a second interview
request letter from Jim Jordan. And guess what In this
second interview request letter, the paragraph about Alexander Smirnoff is gone.
(09:03):
Smirnoff Smirnoff who Hoffo got a statement from Jim Jordan's
office saying this was just a clerical error. A clerical error,
my ass, a clerical error that requires a special prosecutor.
Because there was one other new development yesterday in this
(09:26):
putrid mess, this invasion of our government by Russians, this
invasion of our country by Russians using proxies called Republicans.
Hunter Biden's lawyers said yesterday, we may think we know
what we are dealing with here, but in fact there
is much more. Remember the day that Hunter Biden went
into the courtroom to take the plea deal on taxes
(09:49):
and gun purchases and no trial, and then all of
a sudden, the judge blew it up. In their new
court filings, Hunter Biden's lawyers say it all blew up
because suddenly there were new allegations or more specific versions
of previous allegations against hunter Biden, allegations made by Alexander Smirnoff.
(10:16):
It was Alexander Smirnoff who convinced, presumably David Weiss, and
Smirnoff and David Weiss suit presumably convinced this Judge Mary
Allen Norika, and the plea deal blew up. And by
the way, you also do not want to be Judge
Mary Allen Norika right now. And you even more don't
want to be anybody who led Judge Norika into this
(10:37):
trap in which she blew up a plea deal with
allegations manufactured in the Kremlin. And if you think David
Weiss is motivated to get Smirnoff to flip and to
save all of their sorry asses, well this Judge Norika
is twice as motivated. And now just stretch the whole
(11:01):
picture out to its widest dimensions. This is Russia again,
and the Republicans again, and Trump again, and the right
wing media again, and the attempt to fix our elections
and the attempt to rip this nation apart from the inside,
(11:21):
and the attempt to run another coup against a duly
elected government of the United States of America, which if
it was done by a group of agents, spies, Russian nationals,
we would shoot and kill them. But it's not just
another coup attempt by Russia using not guns but Republicans.
(11:43):
It's also another part of the last coup attempt. And
if this one weasel liar Smirnoff can turn the Special Council,
the Republican investigating Hunter Biden into the Special Council suddenly
investigating Alexander Smirnoff and James Comer, what's the rest of
this story? What have we not found under the rock yet?
(12:05):
What else does Smirnoff link to? Does he link to
Trump's conversation with Zelensky and I just need you to
do me a favor though, Does he link to Russia's
efforts to infiltrate the Trump campaign or the Trump campaign's
effort to utilize Russian intel or both in twenty sixteen
or twenty twenty or both. What other cancers will track
(12:28):
directly back to Alexander Smirnoff's admission about officials associated with
Russian intelligence. Hell Josh Marshall from TPM has said this
for years, and he said it again yesterday, and God
damn it. Of course he is right. And I'll quote
him not just because he's right, but because he has
phrased it poetically quoting Josh. The fabled Hunter Biden laptop
(12:51):
was obviously the product of a Russian influence operation. The
story was absurd on its face. Somehow Hunter Biden decided
in a drugged up fugue that he needed to take
his laptop to a computer repair shop. He then forgot
about it. The legally blind owner of the repair shop
(13:15):
decided to crack it open and look at the files,
as one does, of course, and then somehow managed to
get the contents to Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon unquote.
So what else is under the Smirnoff rock Everything Rudy
(13:39):
Giuliani did, Attorney General Barr whitewashing Trump and the Muller
report that should have led to Trump's arrest for acting
on behalf of a foreign government and against the government
of the United States. How many officials associated with Russian
intelligence have been involved? Mister Smirnoff can you give us
their names and addresses? As soon as I read this,
(14:05):
Smirnoff admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved story.
Tuesday night, I posted that Comer had to resign from Congress,
and Chuck Grassley from the Senate and Hannity from TV.
I'm happy to say Congress and Eric Swalwell has picked
this up in a more formal setting being a member
of the House. And yesterday Swalwell posted that Comer must
resign because quote, for the last two years he has
(14:27):
done the work of Russia's intelligence services to falsely attack
President Biden. There must be accountability, correct, but accountability not
just in the form of the loss of a seat
in the House prosecution. James Comer needs to die in
prison and this needs a Senate investigation and as special prosecutor,
(14:49):
And once again, Jesus, please give me an excuse to
get Merrick Garland fired if he hesitates special Prosecutor in
the Comer Smirnoff scandal. Because j James Comer is in
effect a Russian agent, and yes, he needs to resign
(15:10):
from the House. And Jim Jordan is in effect a
Russian agent and he needs to resign from the House.
And Marjorie Taylor Green is in effect a Russian agent,
and she needs to resign from the House. And there's
a Texas Congressman named Pat Fallon who accused the Democrats
of denying that the Smirnoff FBI file even existed or
(15:31):
was legitimate, and the media of lying about it, and
he is in effect a Russian agent, and he needs
to resign from the House. And Chuck Grassley is in
effect a Russian agent, and he needs to resign from
the Senate. And Ted Cruz has spent a year spreading
these lies on his podcast, The Senator from podcast Land,
(15:55):
and he is in effect a Russian agent, and he
needs to resign from the Senate. And Sean Hannity is
in effect a Russian agent, and he needs to resign
from Fox. And Maria Bartiromo is in effect a Russian agent,
and she needs to resign from Fox. And David Weiss
is in effect a Russian agent, and he needs either
to resign from the DOJ or flip. And Donald Trump
(16:22):
is a Russian agent and he needs to withdraw from
the presidential race. If any of what Alexander Smirnoff has
told investigators is true any of it this time, then
Alexander Smirnov is admitting to being part of a cabal
of actual Russian agents who found willing victims or accomplices
(16:47):
or clients in the Comer Jordan Green, Grassly, Hannity Trump,
end of the GOP anti America cesspool. If any of
what Smirnoff has told investigators this time is true, these
people also need to be in jail, and I don't
particularly care how we put them there or what happens
to them when they get there, but first they need
(17:09):
to disappear from public view. And no, I am not
expecting these things to actually happen, at least not the resignations,
because to resign you must be capable either of shame
or fear. Comer is too stupid, Grassley is too superannuated.
(17:30):
Hannity and Bartiromo are too convinced that they are not
idiots but oracles and sober. And of course Trump is
a Russian agent, so why would he stop? This is
what he is here for. Anybody noticed by the way
that Laura Ingram asked him the other night about vice
presidential possibilities and named six of them he thought would
be good in one of them out of nowhere, someone
(17:54):
who had vanished from public life for months or for
a year or more, who was off all radar screens.
One of them suddenly back in the mix as Trump's
possible vice president is it is Tulsey effing Gabbert. Do
you get the feeling that his boss Putin maybe has
(18:15):
contacted Donald Trump recently, maybe made a couple of VP suggestions.
Because the reality is, and it is perfectly clear, the
Republican Party is not loyal to this country, and worse yet,
is not even worried anymore about being loyal to it.
(18:37):
It has been infiltrated, It has been subsumed by Russians
through compromat or payoffs, or simple Republican lust for power,
or a combination of all of them. And we are
living in the real life version of the John Lecarine
novel and TV series and movie Tinker Taylor's Soldier Spy,
(19:03):
where the guys who are actually getting manipulated by, and
hosed by and prostituted by the Russians. These guys are
so smug and vain and stupid and greedy that they
think they are manipulating the Russians, and worse, yet the
people who are supposed to be the watchdogs for moronic
(19:24):
disloyalty like this watchdogs, like the news media, they are
asleep at the switch. The New York Times put the
Smirnoff Russian intelligence confession yesterday on page sixteen. But again
(19:46):
the saving grace. There is nothing like a terrified man
who knows the truth and sees the prison cell door
this sleezebag. Smirnoff is in deep trouble in at least
two different countries, and the one in which he is
less likely to be pushed out a window by the
(20:07):
government is this one. So I think he's flipped. And
this other sleeves back, David Weiss, he is in even
deeper trouble in this country, and for all intents and purposes,
I think it's clear he has already flipped. The Republicans
have been trying to impeach the President of the United
(20:29):
States in an election year, with the help of Vladimir Putin.
May they all burn in hell, But thank God, right
now there are two terrified men who can put all
of them at least out of their treasonous business. And
(20:51):
if we're lucky, he can also put them Jordan and
Hannity and Comer and Trump and the others in jail.
Senate Judiciary Investigation today special counsel to day. Our nation's
life depends upon it.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Also of interest here went over to iHeart headquarters here yesterday.
We have selected the space. Two weeks from tonight, I
will be live on YouTube and maybe other platforms to
be determined with the Countdown with Keith Alderman podcast State
of the Union YouTube special. We have to come up
(21:39):
with a better name for this. It takes too long.
President Biden stops talking, I start talking and and okay,
taking your questions, some of your questions. So watch it Thursday,
March seventh. Be there, Aloha back here. Also of interest,
(22:03):
what is the point of recognizing that the Republicans are
further serving Vladimir Putin by betraying Ukraine? If a Biden
administration spokesperson blames not Republican treachery but quote Congressional inaction,
God damn it, It's not Congress. It's the Republicans that's next.
(22:24):
This is countdown. This is countdown with Keith Olberman. Stelle
(22:51):
Aheadamus on Countdown. This has been a long day, a
long week, a long year. We're being invaded by rush
by proxy again, so I need a break from that.
Maybe you do too, And to me, nothing in the
(23:13):
world says break like the following two words, soccer breakdown.
If you know what I'm talking about, I hope you
are already smiling in anticipation. If not, you are about
to join the soccer breakdown society. In things I promised
not to tell, welcome first. Yes, still more idiots talk
(23:36):
about the daily roundup of the miss Grants, Bonds, and
Dunning Kruger effects specimens who constitute today's worst person.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
In the world.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I believe I may be overperforming this episode of Countdown,
and not in a good way. Sorry, Lebron's worst Eric Huvede,
who has been preordained as the Republican Party establishment candidate
to try to take Tammy Baldwin's Senate seat in Wisconsin.
Mister Hubdy lives in California. He owns a bank. He
(24:11):
has a seven million dollar mansion in Laguna Beach. He
actually said that he understands the crisis of child trafficking
in Central America because he owns three homes in Central
America and he transferred his two million dollar home in
d c to his brother last August and he has
his first commercial out and in it he says he's
running for the Senate and things are terrible and this
(24:32):
and that, and he never says in what state he's running.
I'm guessing that's because when he filmed it, they had
not yet told him which state. That he has a
Wisconsin accent and a mustache. The runner up worser John Stuart, Yeah,
he ragged on me Monday Night, so what I ragged
(24:53):
on him the previous Monday Night. We've been ragging on
each other Monday Night since two thousand and three. The
problem is John Stewart returned to The Daily Show by
both sidesing Trump and Biden. In the position he is
in and with the people who watch him, John has
to be smarter than that, and I'm not sure he can.
(25:14):
When my old former friend Craig Kilbourne left The Daily
Show in nineteen ninety eight, one of his producers there
and he was the original host, explained they were really
lost because Craig Kilbourne had exactly what they wanted as
the host, the ability to read the jokes well and
look good without ever really understanding what the jokes meant
(25:34):
or what the implications of the jokes might be, but
she said she was hopeful. They thought John Stewart might
take over, and his ego was so huge that all
he ever thought about was the laughs. That's a dangerous
thing right now. Ha ha. Trump is funny, ha ha.
Biden is funny. But most importantly and unforgivably, John Stewart
(25:57):
trashed Mary Trump, and of all of us out here,
Mary Trump gets it more profoundly and personally and any
of the rest of us. I guess, as the saying goes,
democracy dies in discussion, John said, the audience laughed because
all John ever thinks about is the laughs. John Trump
(26:20):
doesn't want to have a discussion with you. Trump supporters
don't want to have a discussion with you. Trump supporters
don't want you to do anything but get in the cage.
If you continue to both sides this, we can talk
about it, you and me in the new media detention
center in North Platte, Nebraska. But the winner the worst.
(26:41):
Adrian Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council, Yes, Joe
Biden's National Security Council. As Russia besieged an eastern Ukrainian city,
Avdifka the Ukrainian military had to withdraw didn't have enough bullets, basically,
and Ms Watson, the spokesperson for the National Security Council,
Joe Biden's National Security Council, said quote, this is the
(27:05):
cost of congressional inaction. Congressional in action, Miss Watson, No,
not congressional in.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
A Republican in action.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It is critical that the House approve additional Ukraine funding
without delay. Watson, at it the House, Miss Watson, that
the House approve additional Ukraine funding. No, the Republicans in
the House betraying Ukraine and our interests in Ukraine. Miss Watson,
use your words. People in the United States who have
(27:40):
been told by fascists and propagandists and people who work
for Putin like Jim Jordan, They've been told Ukraine is
just a scam, that Ukraine means nothing to us, that
it is not an alternative to us fighting the Russians
in Poland or London. Those people told that may or
(28:01):
may not ever understand how tragically stupidly wrong they have become,
but they certainly will never understand it. If you blame
the House when the issue of Ukraine funding is entirely
the responsibility of the Republicans and this weasel speaker Mike Johnson,
and this Russian asset Donald Trump, Biden, NSC spokesperson Adrian Watson.
(28:27):
Get your head out of your ass or get out
of this government. We have a war to win in
Ukraine and a war to win in the United States.
You are paid to be truthful, not to whitewash Republican treachery.
You are today's worst person in the world. See the
(29:02):
number one story on the Countdown and my favorite time
to me and things I promised not to tell. You
may enjoy this one enough to keep a copy. Soccer Breakdown.
Gary Miller was one of the backbones of Sports Center.
I had worked with him at CNN. He was strong, confident,
very loud, forceful, He hated mascots, and he had no filter.
(29:28):
He and Dan Patrick were great friends in Atlanta, and
then Gary and Dan left for ESPN within months of
each other nineteen eighty nine nineteen ninety. This has been
said of me, and so I say it of Gary
with affection. He suffered no fools gladly, and though his
elbows were always up, he made sure that ninety nine
percent of the time when they bumped into somebody that
somebody had well deserved it. As near as I can
(29:52):
piece together, Gary was doing the eleven PM Sports Center
on Friday night, June twenty fourth, nineteen ninety four. Typically,
Dan and I did the eleven Sunday through Thursday. The
story of soccer's nineteen nine four World Cup. At least
in the first week, was a preponderance of player ejections
red cards handed them by the referee. In those days,
(30:12):
the eleven PM Sports Center included a feature two or
three minutes long on a story that had drummed up
a lot of interest during the first show planning meeting
around three point thirty PM. It was a feature called Breakdown.
It provided long form analysis in today's when we didn't
have a lot of that could be a coach getting fired,
could be the relative credentials of Baseball Hall of Fame candidates.
(30:34):
Could be one fantastic play in a game. Once we
did a deadpan, serious breakdown about injuries to mascots. A
producer or the anchor himself would write the script. They
would pre record the narration and then the producer would
edit it. This is pre digital. It was done tape
to tape. It could take hours to edit it, and
(30:55):
the key was to track it to record that narration,
which was done in a tiny wood paneled room wreaking
of mildew that looked and smelled exactly like every suburban
basement wreck room in America circa October nineteen sixty five.
That's where Gary Miller found himself on the night of Friday,
(31:15):
June twenty fourth, nineteen ninety four, reading a script about
soccer players from around the world, none of whose names
he had ever seen before, let alone tried to pronounce.
It was the Soccer Breakdown in all senses of the word.
The raw tape, the original version of his tracking session
(31:38):
for the script for Soccer Breakdown, is easily the most
beloved bootleg in ESPN's history. In fact, it is so
popular that there are several different cuts of this bootleg.
People have sat down with the original tape, which runs
nearly twenty minutes, and edited it down to only the
best or worst parts. Now I'm not going to say
(32:01):
I have a copy of the original. I'm simply going
to note the dam Patrick ran it on his radio
show in twenty seventeen and posted the whole segment to YouTube.
So yeah, that's where I got my copy of it. Uh,
that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm going
to annotate for you what happened, So let me present
(32:22):
this to you in three segments. It did not start
well for Gary and it got worse from there, although
mister Miller gave it its eternal title and life by going
sibilant on the s. For the word soccer, I'll note
only one thing, the acronym of International Soccer's outfit FIFA Gary.
(32:43):
It's pronounced FIFA.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Soccer breakdown in three two one, Fifho Soccer's governing Barty
three two one, Piphos Soccer's.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Three two one.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
The red card has become the calling card for this
year's tournament.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Seven ejections for the three.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Two one witness Romania's ian Bladu against the Swiss is
or through christ Ah.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
But that was the easy part. Now in the script
came the names of the World Cup stars who had
been given red card ejections in the first week of
the tournament. One was the seventeen year old star of
the Cameroon team, Rigobert's Song, often referred to by his
full name, Rigobert's Song maahanog Or as it was said
(33:36):
in the script Rigerbird Bahanog song.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Three two one Cameroons Rigoberg.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Vanumnog three two what Cameroons Rigelberg Byangung Zang Za Da
Da Bayangyang's song three two one Cameroon's Wriggelberg Banyang Zong.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Bayung Young song three two one three two one. By
the way, Rigobert's song is now the manager of the
Cameroon team. He's gone from being the youngest player in
the World Cup history to get a red card to
running his nation's team. I'll interject here that at the
start of this final major clip, Gary Miller says to
somebody who has currently entered that tracking room that smelled
(34:32):
of mildew, get out of here. Dan Patrick said that
was him. I think he's mistaken. It doesn't matter much,
but there was no reason for Dan to have been
there on a Friday night, especially if we were not
doing the show. And also there has never been a
microphone ever. But Dan has not spoken into anyway. We
have already met Rigobert Bhanog's song. Now meet my guy,
(34:57):
the Italian goalie John Luca Poaliucca two. Get out of
here two is guilty through it two.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
How long is this tape?
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Three two one on what Cameroon's Rigoberg Banyang song preventing
a breakaway from Brazil's babetto a bah God Almighty, I
hate socker. Cameroon's Rigoberg Banyanyong song. I'm gonna try that
one last lead time two one Cameroon's Rigglebirg banjung yong song,
(35:34):
I hate this chalcout Bolivia's Luis Cristaldo for both on
three to one. But the most notable red card of
the tournament came an Italian goaltender Jean Luca Paul Yuca,
Paul Yoka, Paul Yuka.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
From the Mother three two one.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
But the flurry of red cards thus far has Todd
coaches and players alike to control their play if they'd
like to control their fate in this tournament. Holy, that
is all.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
The pronunciation of Rigovert's song's name is one thing. I
was delighted by how furious Gary got at Gien Luca
Paluca of the Italian team and the expletive he used
to describe him, which you may have just heard in
the days that followed. In fact, the Italian goalie's name
became shorthand for me for that expletive in question. So
(36:26):
for the next three years on Sports Center, and after
that on Fox Sports News, and then on my ESPN
two show, and on Football Night in America, and then
when I returned to Sports Center in twenty eighteen, if
you heard me say John Luca Paluca while we were
showing a player making an error or arguing with an
umpire or official, I was actually implying that the player
(36:48):
had just said John Luca Paluca. There's another punchline to
this story. Of course, the idea to do this soccer
breakdown that so bedeviled Gary Miller, the story of red
cards in the first week of the nineteen ninety four
World Cup. The idea to do that came from Gary Miller,
(37:09):
never volunteer. I've never been convinced that Gary was really
happy about his immortality, certainly not in the way my
ESPN pal Steve Levy not so secretly glorious in the day.
He once tried to say that a New England Patriots
player had a bulging disc, but didn't quite get disc right.
(37:30):
But Gary Miller has been a good sport about this
through the end of his ESPN career in two thousand
and four and afterwards in his days at Channel two
and Channel nine in Los Angeles and most recently at
Channel two in Cincinnati. It isn't hard to understand why
this tape is so famous and the pleasure derived from
it so enduring. As John Cleese once said about the
real life hotel manager on whom he based his character
(37:52):
from Faulty Towers, he had this wonderful bad temper. But
there are two more things. One, this occurred exactly a
week to the day after the ojsim and car chase,
and people forget now just how disturbing that was in
an America, especially sports America like at ESPN, that with
(38:13):
the exception of a few of us who knew, nobody
knew how rotten a human being OJ Simpson was. So
even a week later, we all needed this laugh, and
Gary gave it to us and even larger. The essence
of soccer in every country in which it is played
is that it always allows and encourages and even demands
(38:35):
that its fans complain about it. And so while we
cherish soccer breakdown and three two one and Rigobert Mahananng's
song and bibbto and John Luca Paluka to me, it
is really about five words that anybody who hates the
game will say. But there are also five words that
(38:57):
any fan of the sport will certainly use at some
point in his life. Possibly it's some point today, And
they are the five words with which I will leave
you for now.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
A bah, God almighty, I hate soccer.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Since I first told you this story, I have, as
I mentioned, rediscovered an artifact that I thought was gone forever.
Right after the Soccer Breakdown saga unfolded, an ESPN colleague
made me a copy of the original raw tape of
Gary and we put it on a cassette and I
(39:36):
couldn't find it. There were things on it that were
somehow lost from all subsequent copies of Soccer Breakdown. So
this is not as high depth, but I think it's
even more high comedy.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Soccer Breakdown in three two one after a nineteen ninety
World Cup mark by physical play in low scores, fifhas
Soccer's three to one after a nineteen ninety World Cup
by three two one after a nineteen ninety World Cup
marked by physical play and low scores, peiphas Soccer's governing
(40:14):
body send out a decree for the nineteen ninety four
Cup to be better police the result, the red card
has become the calling card for this year's tournament. Seven
ejections for three two one. After a nineteen ninety World
Cup marked by physical play and low scores, Peiphus Soccer's
governing body sent out the decree for the nineteen ninety
(40:36):
four Cup to.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Be better police.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
The result, the red card has become the calling card
for this year's tournament. Seven ejections through the first twenty
three matches and a direct message that rough play will
not be tolerated and more teams will be playing a
man down if it continues. The goal more goals and
a more palatable sell to the American public. Three two
(40:59):
one the results just over two and a half goals
of contest, compared to two point two two per game
at the nineteen ninety Cup in Italy.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Why does the red card come out?
Speaker 3 (41:09):
A fight for rule book states a player shall be
sent off the field of play and shown the red
card if, in the opinion of the referee he won
is guilty of violent conduct witness Romania's Ian Bladu against
the Swiss is or through Christ three two one Why
does the red card come out? The Fight of rule
(41:30):
book states the players should be sent off the field
of play and shown the red card if, in the
opinion of the referee he won is guilty of violent
conduct witness Romania's ian Bladu against the Swiss.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Two is guilty of sirious foul play. Cameroons Rigolberg.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
Bonumnjog Bonanjong's song prevented a breakaway from the betto three
to what two is guilty of sirious foul play. Cameroons
Rigelberg Bayangung zang Za da bayan Young song three two
(42:09):
one two is guilty of serious foul play.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Cameroon's Riggleberg Banyangzong.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Bay on Young song three two one two get out
of here two is guilty through it two?
Speaker 2 (42:33):
How long is this tape? Two is guilty of serious
foul play.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
Cameroon's Riggleberg Banyang song provided a breakaway from Brazil's babbetto
a bah God Almighty, I Hate Sucker two is guilty
of serious foul play. Cameroon's Riggoberg Banyanyung song provided a
breakaway from Brazil's babetto a play both serious and faul
(42:59):
deserving of a red card.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
I'm better try that one last time too. One. Two
is guilty of sirious foul play.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Cameroon's Riggleberg Bunjung Yong song prevented a breakaway from Brazil's
babetto a play both sirious and foul and deserving of
a red card. Three uses foul or abusive language. Can't
show you that, and four is guilty of a second
cautionable I hate this. Three uses foul or abusive language,
(43:30):
and four is guilty of a second cautionable offense after
having received the caution. Chalk up Bolivia's Luis Cristaldo for
both on three to one. Chalk up Bolivia's Luis Cristaldo
for both on this case, as he receives a yellow
card and then uses on a foul or abusive language
to draw a second yellow and be ejected against South Korea.
(43:51):
A tone was set in the first match of the
tournament when Bolivia's Marco Antonio Etcheveri was ejected for this
illegal kick against the Germans. But the most notable red
card of the tournament came an Italian goaltender Jean Luca
paul U Ua the Mother three two one, but the
most notable red card of the tournament came whenn Italian
(44:11):
goal tunner John Luca Pauloca was ejected against Norway for
a handball outside the goal where the game was still
schooless three two one. But the most notable red card
of the tournament came an Italian goal tunder John Luca
paul Yuca was ejected against Norway for a handball outside
the goal area with the game still schooless. Down a man,
(44:32):
a team's first instinct is defense and injured Roberto Baggio,
who is now a liability, even if he is one
of the world's most talented offensive players.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
The gamble paid off.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Italy still alive in this year's World Cup, but the
flurry of red cards thus far has taught coaches and
players alike to control their play if they'd like to.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Three two one, Pree two one right two one Brickleberg
breon youngzn I've done all the damage I can do here.
Thank you for listening. Countdown. Musical directors Brian Ray and
John Phillip Schaneale have arranged, produced and performed most of
the music. Mister Ray was on guitars, bass, and drums.
Mister Shanelle handled orchestration and keyboards. It was produced by
(45:26):
Tko Brothers. Other music, including some of the Beethoven compositions,
arranged and performed by the group No Horns Allowed. The
sports music is the Olberman theme from ESPN two. It
was written by Mitch Warren Davis and it appears courtesy
of ESPN Incorporated. Our satirical and pithy musical comments are
by Nancy Fauss, the best baseball stadium organist ever. Our
(45:47):
announcer today was my friend Tony Kornheiser, and everything else,
as always, was pretty much my fault. So that's countdown
for this the two hundred and fifty eighth day until
the twenty twenty four US presidential election and the one
and forty first day since dementia Jay Trump's first attempt
coup against the democratically elected government of the United States.
(46:08):
Use the Fourteenth Amendment, the Insurrection Act, the justice system,
and the mental health system to stop him from doing
it again while we still can. The next scheduled countdown
is tomorrow. Do not forget our live YouTube special after
the State of the Union two weeks from tonight, March seventh.
Warm up your YouTube right now. Bulletins is the news
(46:31):
warrants till next time. I'm Keith Olraman. Good Morning, good afternoon,
good night, and good luck. Countdown with Keith Olreman is
(46:52):
a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Keith Olbermann
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