July 7, 2023 • 38 mins
EPISODE 241: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: The judge in the Taylor Taranto case bought prosecutors – and former President Obama – and the COUNTRY – a little more time by NOT ruling yesterday on whether or not Taranto can be held without bail until trial. He ordered prosecution and defense to return to court NEXT WEDNESDAY to continue arguments. That MIGHT be enough time for the Justice Department to actually get its act together and stop sleep-walking while the rest of us face this NIGHTMARE. At the courthouse yesterday, assistant U-S Attorney Allison Ethen confirmed the government INTENDED to seek additional charges against Taranto. What charges? No answer. When? No answer.
The Trump Stochastic terrorist who hunted Barack Obama was so untethered from reality that he was kicked out of a group that holds nightly prayer vigils outside the jail in Washington for January 6th Insurrectionist Defendants. Because the robot is dangerous enough. It is WUSA-TV Channel 9 in Washington reporting that just a week ago the leaders of this January 6thvigil group asked Taranto to leave.THEY disassociated themselves from him because -- as the wife of convicted Three Percenter Guy Reffitt told the reporter, Taranto quote “did an interview saying he believed Ashli Babbitt was not really dead.”
Concurrently, CREW finds that 174 of those defendants specifically said they were quote “answering Donald Trump’s calls when they traveled to Washington and joined the violent attack on the Capitol…” In Court filings, in transcripts, in news items, these 174 people, again quoting the CREW report, “considered Trump their leader and believed they were FOLLOWING his lead by joining the insurrection” and nearly all of those made some reference to his December 19th “It’ll be wild” tweet ABOUT January 6th. Of the 174, NINETY FOUR specifically cited Trump’s remarks IN his January 6th speech “as the reason they went to the Capitol.” CREW notes ominously that these totals do NOT include those at the speech who were part of the attack on the Capitol but not yet arrested. Hours after the CREW report, CNN joins the chorus of reporting that the office of the Special Prosecutor is zeroing in on the chaotic White House meeting earlier in Trump’s day – the tweet was on the 19th, the meeting on the 18th.
That’s how far gone Taylor Taranto is. The wife of the militia leader whom prosecutors proved in court quote “lit the match” of the insurrection – who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison -- SHE didn’t want to associate with him.
Also Walt Nauta pleads not guilty as new details of the security video are released and they explain why the DOJ thought Trump had pulled the old switcheroo. And Walt finally got a Florida lawyer named Sasha Dadan and this was once posted on Facebook: “Got a ticket? Don’t pay it! Call attorney Sasha Dadan Bonna. Free consultations, affordable prices.”
B-Block (18:29) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Prigozhin is here? Prigozhin isn't here? Marjorie Traitor Greene ISN'T here. Musk is suing Zuck for suing all the guys Musk fired? Pence ends his campaign before it's even begun? (22:51) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Actor Jim Caviezel says there's no free speech while he goes on a media tour promoting his new film (and reveals on the last Jesus picture he was hit by lightning AND was hit by a 150-pound cross which would make me re-think the plot). What? Trump Junior's story about getting "cancelled" by Australia isn't true? And speaking of which: it was a touching story. The mayor of New York still carried in his wallet a photo of his fellow cop who fell in the line of duty in 1987. And then they found that the photo had been printed off the internet and stained with coffee to make it look holder help us help us we keep electing loonies here send help send help
C-Block (29:30) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: The New York pound crisis continues. They're ready to kill Yu-Gi-Oh just a week after he arrived. (31:00) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: a story I've never read you here before.You've met the person Thurber writes of: she is not convinced that MacBeth is the murderer and is angry Shakespeare violated the Agatha Christie rules. It's "The Macbeth Murder Mystery."
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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. The
trump stochastic terrorist who hunted Barack Obama was so untethered
(00:26):
from reality that he was kicked out of a group
that holds nightly prayer vigils outside the jail in Washington
for the January sixth insurrectionist defendants. The good news is
the judge in the Tailor Taranto case bought prosecutors and
former President Obama and the country a little more time
(00:49):
by not ruling yesterday on whether or not Toronto can
be held without bail until trial. The judge ordered prosecution
and defense to return to court next Wednesday to continue arguments.
That might be enough time for the Justice Department to
actually get its act together and stop sleep walking while
the rest of us face this nightmare. At the courthouse yesterday,
(01:10):
the Assistant US Attorney Allison Ethan confirmed the government intended
to seek additional charges against Toronto. What charges, no answer?
When no answer? What Tailored Toronto did a week ago
Thursday should be enough to underscore what a threat he
is and what a threat Donald Trump is by proxy,
(01:30):
by remote control, by surrogate. After Trump docks the Obama
family home, and Toronto reposted that doxing Toronto live streamed
himself near the house, explaining he was looking for quote
entrance points and a quote good angle on a shot unquote.
One would hope that he had met a video shot.
(01:52):
His van filled with two hundred rounds of ammunition, an
SNWMNP shield firearm and a SESSCA nine millimeter CZ Scorpion
E three firearm. They suggest. Otherwise, that is the same
band that the day before Toronto said, and yet another
live stream he was going to blow up outside the
National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, at which
(02:14):
is located a nuclear reactor used for government research. The
infuriating reality that the Department of Justice cannot arrest Trump
for this just the latest example of madness and terrorism
coming out of his mouth and then being enacted by
an unbalanced fascist, I mean a different unbalanced fascist, somebody
(02:37):
other than Trump is to some degree counterbalanced by the
reality that DOJ can do something about Toronto and the
robot can be held accountable, if not the mad scientist
who built it, because the robot is dangerous enough it is.
WUSATV Channel nine in Washington reporting that just a week ago,
(02:58):
the leaders of this January sixth vigil group asked Toronto
to leave. They disassociated themselves from him because, as the
wife of convicted three percenter Guy Refitt told the reporter,
Toronto quote did an interview saying he believed Ashley Babbitt
was not really dead. That is how far gone Taylor.
(03:20):
Toronto is the wife of a militia leader whom prosecutors
proved in court quote lit. The match of the insurrection,
who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
She did not want to be associated with that guy.
There are two problems, though, with putting Toronto away and
keeping him there. The first is obvious to Trump. Toronto
(03:43):
is fungible, replaceable, irrelevant, meaningless enough to not really exist
in Trump's mind. But the second problem takes us back
to infuriating realities. Taranto's lawyer, an assistant federal public defender,
says she believes the additional charges the government may file
against him would be local firearms charge arges. She says
(04:06):
they would be insufficient to allow the judge Zia Ferruki
to detain him without bail until trial. The premise of
Trump as terrorist, as the perpetrator of a well planned
series of stochastic terrorists' incitements is not just academic, but
terrifyingly practical. And if you are sick to death of
(04:28):
that word stochastic, I apologize, but it is the correct word,
and its importance was again underscored just yesterday when Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington CREWE issued an analysis
of the defenses of literally everyone charged for participation in
the January sixth coup attempt. At last check, that number
(04:49):
had exceeded one thousand and thirty individuals, and CREWE found
that one hundred and seventy four of that more than
one thousand and thirty, specifically said they were quote answering
Donald Trump's calls when they traveled to Washington and joined
the violent attack on the capitol. In court filings, in transcripts,
(05:13):
in news items. These one hundred and seventy four people,
again quoting the Crew report, considered Trump their leader and
believed they were following his lead by joining the insurrection,
and nearly all of those made some reference to his
December nineteenth It'll be Wild tweet about what would happen
on January sixth. Of those one hundred and seventy four defendants.
(05:37):
Ninety four specifically cited Trump's remarks in his January sixth
speech quote as the reason they went to the Capitol.
Crew notes ominously that these totals do not include those
at the speech who were part of the attack on
the Capitol but not arrested or not yet arrested, a group,
of course, which includes Donald Trump. What Trump did last
(06:00):
Thursday was to incite an assassination attempt against a former
resident of the United States, and it is again infuriating
to realize that to find him legally responsible, even in
the slightest manner, police would have had to let Taylor
Taranto begin to do whatever it was that he planned
to do at the Obama home. But the cause and
(06:24):
effect relationship of Trump's words and violent attacks or threats
or attempted attacks has already been proven too many times. Materially,
it began when Trump attacked Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail,
and President Obama and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and
Corey Booker, Eric Holder and George Soros and Maxine Waters
and Robert De Niro and CNN and a man named
(06:47):
Ceesar Seyak sent all of them and six others pipe bombs.
And after Sayesar Seyak cut a plea deal and the
FBI got into his computer, they found another list of
potential second wave targets, and it was thorough enough that
the FBI called and told me I was on it.
Trump attacked Black Lives Matter. Kyle Rittenhouse shot to Black
(07:09):
Lives Matter protesters, and the Missouri couple the mccloskey's, pointed
guns at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. Trump attacked
Michigan Governor Whitmer. Fascist plotters tried to kidnap Governor Whitmer,
and now Trump dox's Obama, and a heavily armed veteran
trained by this nation to kill in Iraq goes to
(07:30):
that address to seek a good angle on a shot.
As much as the stochastic terrorism of Donald Trump is
practical and not theoretical, there is little practical that would
happen by repeating the fundamental truth in this equation, But
repeat it we must anyway. Donald Trump is evil. Donald
(07:51):
Trump is a threat to the safety and continuity and
freedom of this nation and every one of us in it.
And we must say this again and again until such
time as the laws that supposedly exist to protect us
from the evil in which preachers like Trump traffic, deny
him his ability to send his seeds of hate and
violence into the atmosphere and hope, in fact, and know
(08:15):
that they will grow in the fertile, poisoned soil of
terrorists at arms distance. Like Taylor Tarento, timing is everything
in life, or maybe more specifically, juxtaposition is everything in life.
Crew finds one hundred and seventy four January sixth defendants,
(08:38):
invoking Trump's December nineteenth tweet about how wild January sixth
would be and his other comments as his call that
they were answering. Hours after the Crew report, CNN joins
the chorus of reporting that the Office of the Special
Prosecutor is zeroing in on the chaotic White House meeting
(08:58):
earlier in that day. In the life of Trump, the
tweet was early on the morning of the nineteenth. This
meeting was on the eighteenth. The timeline is inarguable, but
I have not often heard these connections made. Trump was
pitched an idea to have the military seize voting machines.
(09:19):
The madness of Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell and the others,
and the rank opportunism of Rudy Giuliani were on full
display in the White House, and when the meeting on
the eighteenth did not end in an agreement to invoke
at least one aspect of martial law than to invoke
the end of two hundred and forty four years of
American democracy, Trump thwarted like a three year old child
(09:41):
in diapers. Turned to his next idea to overthrow the
government and stay in power, mob violence summoned by social media.
CNN reported last night that Giuliani talked to Smith staffers
for two consecutive days last month, and much of it
was about the December eighteenth White House meeting. Quoting the report,
(10:03):
prosecutors have specifically inquired about three outside Trump advisors who
participated in the meeting, former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, one
time national security advisor Michael Flynn, and former Overstock CEO
Patrick Byrne. Unquote, somehow Mike Lindell evaded detection. CNN concludes
(10:25):
all this means quote, Smith's team appears to be nearing
charging decisions in the investigation into efforts to overturn the
election results. CNN does not say this, I will. We
should be prepared for the indictment of not just Trump here,
but also Flynn and Powell and Burn and probably others.
And if Giuliani and Mark Meadows and hell if Lindell
(10:48):
are not among them, we can conclude they will appear
in the case after all, as witnesses for the prosecution.
So far it is only little stupid Walt Naude who
there's the infamy of indictment alongside Trump. And I almost
feel sorry for Walt. He finally pleaded yesterday not guilty.
(11:13):
This came just hours after more of the FBI request
for the June twenty twenty two warrant to search Marrilago
became unredacted, and the unredacted request describes security video from
May twenty fourth, and according to the Wall Street Journal,
the video shows naw toa quote moving dozens of boxes
in the days before Justice Department investigators visited the property
(11:34):
to retrieve records. And then on May twenty sixth, two
days later, the FBI interviewed Walt Naude and that's when
he allegedly denied knowing much about the movement of boxes
nor their location, and that's why investigators began to suspect
Trump had pulled the old switcheroo. Not good news for Walt.
(12:00):
He's not guilty plea means Walt finally did find a
Florida attorney willing to take his case. She is Sasha
de Don and doing a quick goog on her resume,
I am even closer to feelings sorry for Walt. She
was described in news accounts as quote a thirty four
year old Republican all purpose criminal defense attorney, and incredibly
(12:22):
that seems to be a generous description. She is listed
throughout the internet as a divorce and criminal defense attorney,
a personal injury attorney, good at juvenile law, DUI and DWI.
And this was once posted on Facebook quote got a ticket,
don't pay it? Call attorney Sasha to doan bana. Free consultations,
(12:46):
affordable prices. Good luck out there, Walt. Oh. By the way,
the Florida GOP says that if would be presidential nominees
want to be on the ballot for the Florida primary
March nineteenth, they will have to sign a notarized pledge
(13:09):
not just to support the eventual Republican nominee, but to
indorse that nominee and to not run as a third
party candidate. Same language, as the National GOP pledge to
endorse or you don't get into the Republican debates notarized,
you have to go down to the mailboxes, etc. And
get a notary to witness you signing it and everything,
(13:32):
and you have to submit it by November twenty two.
Looking at you, mister de Santis, Looking at you, mister
Tarump prediction. I don't know what DeSantis has planned unless
he's just going to turn all this over to that erzatz.
Jackie Kennedy wanna be wife of his. But I know
exactly what Trump will do for both the Florida and
(13:54):
the National GOP pledges. He will make those pledges, he
will fundraise off of making those pledges, and if he
does not get the nomination, he will simply deny he
made those pledges, or he will sue to prevent the
pledges enforcement, or he will send people to kill whoever
has his pledges. Also of interest in this all new
(14:22):
edition of Countdown, how crazy does Taylor Taranto have to
be to get kicked out of the January sixth Defendants
Jail Side, vigil Marching and Chowder Society? How about exactly
as reprehensible as Marjorie Taylor Green has to have been
to have gotten kicked out of the house quote freedom,
unquote caucus. And if you're wondering, that is just a
(14:43):
brand name. And what do you do if you are
the mayor of New York City and you say that
in your wallet you still carry a picture of your friend,
your fellow former cop fallen in the line of duty
three long decades ago, and you show a newspaper the
photo and it is clear that the photo was just
(15:09):
printed off the internet and stained with coffee to make
it look older. What do you say? Then? You say,
that's next? This discountdown. This is countdown with Keith Overman.
(15:37):
Post Scripts to the news, some headlines, some updates, some snark,
some predictions. Dateline, Riga Latvia. The Wagner Group chief and
semi insurrectionist, Evgeny Pregosian is not in Belarus. He was
in Russia yesterday, so says the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko,
who was supposed to be providing progotion with safe harbor
(15:58):
in Belarus. A businessman in Saint Petersburg whose name was
withheld because his home has windows confirmed Progosian was in
the old Leningrad and maybe Moscow as well, yesterday to
reclaim his money and his weapons, and that there was
no truth rumors that Pregosion had gone to live on
a farm upstate, a collective farm upstate. Dayline Washington also
(16:23):
put out to pasture Marjorie Trader Barney Rubbell, White Supremacy.
Karen Green, Maryland Republican Andy Harris tells Politico she has
indeed been kicked out of the ironically named House Freedom
Caucus because she voted for the debt deal, supported the
Republican Speaker of the House, and criticized members of that caucus.
And yes, that's right. This is the first time in
(16:45):
her adult life that Marjorie Taylor Green clearly is not
the craziest one in the room. I'm q Nancy Faust Dateline.
(17:13):
The metaverse Threads has launched. As you know, it's pretty
much Twitter with a different typeface, not that different. Elon
Musk and Twitter had threatened to sue Mark Zuckerberg, and
ordinarily you'd think they might have a good case, except
for the premise of the threatened suit that Zuckerberg hired
ex Twitter employees to create a quote copycat. Two problems
(17:34):
with that Threads responds that nobody on its engineering team
is a former Twitter employee, and it was after all
Elon Musk who fired those hundreds of Twitter employees. He
now wants to sue for going to work elsewhere. What
are we living in Russia? Dateline Iowa? What are we
living in Iowa? It is being spun as Mike Pence
(17:56):
was just saying that the top ten percent of wealtholders
in this country are already doing this. But Pence actually
said this on video at a for Congress and Randy
Feinstra And it's a campaign ad waiting to happen. I
don't really buy into the rich need to pay their
fair share. Oops. Just say oops and get out. Even
(18:18):
for a Republican this could be a campaign ender. Of course,
to end the Pence campaign would have had to have
begun dateline Fox quote news unquote headquarters one two one
one avenue of the America's Fun City. Not only is
the lead story on that network the cocaine found at
the White House and the assumption that it has something
to do with Hunter Biden, but Steve Doocey compared the
(18:41):
investigation into this to the investigation of the Supreme Court leak. Wait, Steve,
you're really saying that it belongs to sam Alito. Deucy
also said something really weird, even for Fox. He introduced
his co host by saying, quote, we are so lucky
today to have on the curvy couch Kaylee mcinnaney, who
(19:03):
worked in the West Wing for a good portion of
American history, and so you can help us figure out
what's going on. Wait, she's worked in the West Wing
for a good portion of American history. The country turned
two hundred and forty seven years old on Tuesday. It
was in all the papers. Kaylee mcananney was Press Secretary
for exactly nine months and thirteen days. Still Ahead Fridays
(19:39):
with Thurber. It's one of my favorites. But I've never
read it here before. But since this is an all
new addition of Countdown, let me fix that. Meet the
woman who is not buying the plot of Macbeth because
Shakespeare did not adhere to the rules of Hercule poirout
the Macbeth murder mystery, coming up first time for the
daily round up of the miss Grant's morons Undunning Kruger
(19:59):
effect specimens who constitute today's uist pistons in ZiU. It's
worst Hercule Prolero, I ever heard the bronze. The actor
Jim cavisl, the star of the very bizarre The Passion
of the Christ, who is out there promoting its sequel,
Passion of the Christ Jesus to electric boogloo, don't f
(20:21):
with the Jesus. I might have the title wrong anyway.
Cavisel is promoting the sequel by giving an interview a
day to right wing sites explaining we don't have a
First Amendment. There's no such thing as free speech anymore.
But amid that crap, he has also revealed that during
the filming of the Passion of the Christ, not only
(20:43):
was he Jim Cavisl struck by lightning quote on the
last shot of the movie unquote, but he was also
injured earlier in filming when a one hundred and fifty
pound cross hit him in the head. I am the
last one to make fun of anybody with a past
head injury, But good grief. If you are filming a
really religious movie about Christ and God drops across on
(21:07):
you and then hits you with lightning during the last
shot of the movie, are you not taking some time
off to seriously reevaluate whether or not making the movie
has pissed God off or something. I got hit by lightning.
The runner up Trump Junior. No, this is not about
(21:27):
the cocaine found at the White House. This is about
his claim that the Labor government of Australia had banned
him from a speaking tour in that country because he's
Trump Junior and they ain't, so he canceled the tour.
On Wednesday, Junior Trump lied. Australia's Home Minister, Claire O'Neill
said in a series of Facebook and Twitter posts that quote,
Donald Trump Junior has been given a visa to come
(21:49):
to Australia. He didn't get canceled. He's just a big
baby who wasn't very popular. Unquote. The minister says Trump
killed the tour because ticket sales had been weak. Geez,
She writes, Donald Trump Junior is a bit of a
sore loser, sore just his nose, minister, but our winner,
Mayor Eric Adams of New York. We have discussed the
(22:12):
Mayor's lying and his messianic complex and his bewilderingly stupid
comments like quote, there is no way God created me
for this moment. If he did not believe this was
my moment. Don't think too hard about what that means.
The mayor, though, has now topped himself. Early last year,
after two city cops were killed in the line of duty,
(22:33):
Adams himself, a former NYPD captain, said the losses reminded
him of the line of duty death thirty five years
ago of his friend, Officer Robert Vennable. Mayor Adams told
a news conference, I still think about Robert. I keep
a picture of Robert in my wallet. You've guessed where
this is going, right, The New York Times promptly. New
(22:54):
York timesed this and thought, oh, what a story to
tug on the heartstrings of all of those secret Gotham
softies here in fun town. It asked me, May Adams
to pose for a photo holding his weather beaten photo
of his late friend, Officer Venable, and Mayor Adams did
exactly that. And it turns out that the photo was
(23:16):
a couple of days old, The Times reported yesterday quote
it had been created by employees in the Mayor's office
in the days after mister Adams claimed to have been
carrying it in his wallet. The employees were instructed to
create a photo of Officer Venable. According to a person
familiar with the request, a picture of the officer was
found on Google. It was printed in black and white
(23:39):
and made to look worn as if the mayor had
been carrying it for some time, including by splashing some
coffee on it, said the person, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity for fear of retribution unquote. The best
an Adam's spokesman could do is basically say, well, he
did carry a photo of Officer Venable in his wallet
(24:01):
for decades. It just wasn't that photo that they printed
off the internet after googling the late cop and spilling
coffee on it. Spilling coffee on it, And how dare
you mock a dead cop? Mayor Eric Adams of New York,
send help, Please send us help, send help. Every time
(24:25):
we turn around, we've elected a mayor who's crazier than
the last one. We haven't had a reliable mayor in
this town. Sence fair Ella LaGuardia in nineteen forty five.
They spilled coffee on it to make it look older.
Today's worst person in the world, just a head on countdown?
(24:49):
Who is the murderer in Macbeth? There's some doubt there
is in an all New Fridays with Thurber and the
Macbeth Murder Mystery next first time to feature another dog
in need. You can help. Every dog has its day.
The crisis continues at the New York Pound and Yu
gi Oh may be the latest victim on a long
(25:10):
list of those to be killed tomorrow because they don't
have enough space. He's a forty six pound ten pity.
He does not like everybody at first, but he warms
to people as he gets used to them. He arrived
as an emaciated strait just last week and they're already
ready to kill him. Yu gi Oh should be a
family's only dog. He's about five six years old and
(25:31):
he can be adopted by almost anybody from Virginia to Maine.
Or our pledges can help a rescue pull him out
in time. Look for Yu gi Oh on my Twitter feeds,
and your retweets can really help even if you can't pledge,
but your pledges help even more. Yu gi Oh thanks you,
and I thank you as well. Fridays with Thurber and
(26:10):
the Works of the Master and one I have not
read to you here before but is one of my
favorites because it is, well, you'll hear Fridays with Thurber
and the Macbeth Murder Mystery by James Thurber. It was
a stupid mistake to make, said the American woman. I
had met at my hotel in the English Lake Country.
(26:33):
But it was on the counter with the other Penguin books,
the little sixpenny ones, you know, with the paper covers,
and I suppose, of course, it was a detective story.
All the others were detective stories. I'd read all the others,
so I bought this one without really looking at it carefully.
You can imagine how mad I was when I found
it was Shakespeare. I murmured something sympathetically. I don't see
(26:58):
why the Penguin Books people had to get out Shakespeare's
plays in the same size and everything as the detective stories.
When on my companion, I think they have different colored jackets,
I said, Well, I didn't notice that, she said. Anyway.
I got real comfy in bed that night and all
ready to read a good mystery story, and here I
had The Tragedy of Macbeth, a book for high school
(27:22):
students like ivan Hoe or Lorna Doone, I said, exactly,
said the American lady. And I was just crazy for
a good Agatha Christie or something. Ercuo Poirot is my
favorite detective. Is he the Rabbity one, I asked, Oh, no,
said my crime fiction expert. He's the Belgian one you're
(27:45):
thinking of, mister Pinkerton, the one that helps Inspector Bull.
He's good too. Over her second cup of tea, my
companion began to tell me the plot of a detective
story that had fooled her completely. It seems it was
the old family doctor all the time. But I cut
in on her. Tell me, I said, did you read Macbeth?
(28:11):
I had to read it. She said, there wasn't a
scrap of anything else to read in the whole room.
Did you like it, I asked, no, I did not,
She said decisively in the first place, I don't think
for a moment that Macbeth did it. I looked at
her blankly. Did what I asked? I don't think for
(28:36):
a moment that he killed the king? She said, I
don't think the Macbeth woman was mixed up in it either.
You suspect them the most, of course, but those are
the ones that are never guilty, or shouldn't be anyway.
I'm afraid, I began that. I but don't you see,
said the American lady. It would spoil everything if you
could figure out right away who did it. Shakespeare was
(28:58):
too smart for that. I've read that people never have
figured out Hamlet, so it isn't likely Shakespeare would have
been made Macbeth as simple as it seems. I thought
this over while I filled my pipe. Who do you suspect?
I asked suddenly, Macduff, she said promptly. Good God, I
(29:23):
whispered softly. Oh McDuff did it all right, said the
murder specialist. Erkuo Paro would have gotten him easily. How
did you figure it out? I demanded, Well, she said
I didn't right away. First I suspected Banquo, and then
of course he was the second person killed. That was
good right in there that part. The person you suspect
(29:45):
of the first murder should always be the second victim.
Is that so, I murmured, Oh, yes, said my informant.
They have to keep surprising you well. After the second murder,
I didn't know who the killer was for a while.
Uh how about Malcolm and Donald Bain the king sons?
(30:05):
I asked, as I remember it, They fled right after
the first murder. That looks suspicious. Too suspicious, said the
American lady, much too suspicious. When they flee, they're never guilty.
You can count on that, I believe. I said, I'll
have a brandy, and I summoned the waiter. My companion
(30:28):
leaned toward me, her eyes bright, her teacup quivering. Do
you know who discovered Duncan's body? She demanded. I said,
I was sorry, but I had forgotten McDuff discovers it,
she said, slipping into the historical present. Then he comes
running downstairs and shouts, confusion has broke open the Lord's
(30:50):
anointed temple, and sacrilegious murder has made his masterpiece, and
on and on like that. The good lady tapped me
on the knee. All that stuff was rehearsed. She said,
you wouldn't say a lot of stuff like that offhand,
would you, if you'd found a body. She fixed me
with a glittering eye. I began, you're right, She said,
(31:12):
you wouldn't unless you had practiced it in advance. My god,
there's a body in here is what an innocent man
would say. She sat back with a confident glare. I
thought for a while, But what do you make of
the third murderer? I asked, You know, the third murderer
(31:33):
has puzzled Macbeth's scholars for three hundred years. That's because
they never thought of McDuff, said the American lady. It
was McDuff. I'm certain you couldn't have one of the
victims murdered by two ordinary thugs. The murderer always has
to be somebody important. But what about the banquet scene,
I asked after a moment, how do you account for
(31:55):
Macbeth's guilty actions there when Banquo's ghosts came in and
sat in his chair. The lady leaned forward and tapped
me on the knee. Again. There wasn't any ghost, she said.
A big strong man like that doesn't go around seeing ghosts,
especially in a brightly lighted banquet hall with dozens of
people around. Macbeth was shielding somebody. Who was he shielding,
(32:22):
I asked, missus Macbeth. Of course, she said, he thought
she did it, and he was going to take the
rap himself. The husband always does that when the wife
is suspected. But what I demanded about the sleepwalking scene,
then the same thing, only the other way around, said
my companion. That time she was shielding him. She wasn't
(32:46):
asleep at all. Do you remember where it says enter
lady Macbeth with a taper? Yes, I said, Well, people
who walk in their sleep never carry lights, said my
fellow traveler. They have a second sight. Did you ever
hear of a sleepwalker carrying a light? No, I said,
I never did. Well, then she wasn't asleep. She was
(33:09):
acting guilty to shield Macbeth. I think, I said, I'll
have another brandy, and I called the waiter. When he
brought it, I drank it rapidly and rose to go.
I believe I said that you have got hold of something.
Would you lend me that? Macbeth? I'd like to look
(33:30):
it over tonight. I don't feel somehow as if I've
ever really read it. I'll get it for you, she said,
But you'll find that I'm right. I read the play
over carefully that night, and the next morning, after breakfast,
I sought out the American woman. She was on the
putting green, and I came up behind her silently and
(33:50):
took her arm. She gave an exclamation. Could I see
you alone? I asked, in a low voice, She nodded
cautiously and followed me to a secluded spot. You've found
out something, she breathed. I've found out, I said, triumphantly,
the name of the murderer. You mean it wasn't McDuff,
(34:12):
She said. McDuff is as innocent of those murders, I said,
as Macbeth and the Macbeth woman. I opened the copy
of the play which I had with me, and turned
to act to seem to hear, I said, you will
see where Lady Macbeth says, I laid their daggers ready.
(34:34):
He could not miss them. Had he not resembled my
father as he slept, I had done it. Do you see, no,
said the American woman bluntly. I don't. But it's simple,
I exclaimed. I wonder I didn't see it years ago.
The reason Duncan resembled Lady Macbeth's father as he slept
(34:57):
is that it actually was her father. Good God, breathe
my companion softly. Lady Macbeth's father killed the king, I said, and,
hearing someone coming, thrust the body under the bed and
crawled into the bed himself. But said the lady, you
(35:18):
can't have a murderer who only appears in the story once.
You can't have that. I know that, I said, and
I turned to Act two, Scene four. It says, here
enter Ross with an old man. Now that old man
is never identified, and it is my contention that he
was old mister Macbeth, whose ambition it was to make
(35:40):
his daughter queen. There you'll have your motive. But even then,
cried the American lady, he's still a minor character. Not,
I said, gleefully, when you realize that he was also
one of the weird sisters in disguise. You mean one
of those three witches. Precisely, I said, listen to this
(36:01):
speech of the old man's. On Tuesday last Falkan towering
in her pride of place was by a mousing owl,
hawked at and killed. Who does that sound like? It
sounds like the way the three witches talk, said my
companion reluctantly. Precisely, I said, again, Well, said the American woman.
(36:24):
Maybe you're right, but I'm sure I am, I said.
And do you know what I'm going to do now? No,
she said, what buy a copy of Hamlet? I said,
and solve that. My companion's eyes brightened. Then she said,
you don't think Hamlet did it? I am, I said,
(36:48):
absolutely positive he did not. But who? She demanded, who
do you suspect? I looked at her cryptically, everybody, I said,
and disappeared into a small grove of trees as silently
as I had come. The Macbeth Murder Mystery by James Thurber.
(37:28):
I've done all the damage I can do here. Thank
you for listening. Good luck reading Macbeth ever again. Here
are the credits. Most of the music was arranged, produced
and performed by Brian Ray and John Phillips Shanelle. They
are the Countdown musical directors. Guitars, bass and drums by
Brian Ray, All orchestration and keyboards by John Phillip Shanel,
produced by Tko Brothers Mother Beethoven. Selections have been arranged
(37:50):
and performed by No Horns Allowed. The sports music is
the Ulderman theme from ESPN two and it was written
by Mitch Warren Davis Curtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments
by Nancy Fauss the best baseball stadium organist ever, but
Thurber was by jamesper Our announcer today was my friend
John Deane, and everything else was pretty much my fault.
Don't forget. Countdown is now also available on YouTube. Subscribe
(38:14):
to it there as well, give yourself multiple options. So
that's countdown for this, the nine hundred and thirteenth day
since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected
government of the United States. Arrest him again while we
still can. The next scheduled countdown is Monday bulletins as
the news warrants till then, I'm Keith Ouldraman, good morning,
good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown with Keith
(38:48):
Oldreman is 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. The
trump stochastic terrorist who hunted Barack Obama was so untethered
(00:26):
from reality that he was kicked out of a group
that holds nightly prayer vigils outside the jail in Washington
for the January sixth insurrectionist defendants. The good news is
the judge in the Tailor Taranto case bought prosecutors and
former President Obama and the country a little more time
(00:49):
by not ruling yesterday on whether or not Toronto can
be held without bail until trial. The judge ordered prosecution
and defense to return to court next Wednesday to continue arguments.
That might be enough time for the Justice Department to
actually get its act together and stop sleep walking while
the rest of us face this nightmare. At the courthouse yesterday,
(01:10):
the Assistant US Attorney Allison Ethan confirmed the government intended
to seek additional charges against Toronto. What charges, no answer?
When no answer? What Tailored Toronto did a week ago
Thursday should be enough to underscore what a threat he
is and what a threat Donald Trump is by proxy,
(01:30):
by remote control, by surrogate. After Trump docks the Obama
family home, and Toronto reposted that doxing Toronto live streamed
himself near the house, explaining he was looking for quote
entrance points and a quote good angle on a shot unquote.
One would hope that he had met a video shot.
(01:52):
His van filled with two hundred rounds of ammunition, an
SNWMNP shield firearm and a SESSCA nine millimeter CZ Scorpion
E three firearm. They suggest. Otherwise, that is the same
band that the day before Toronto said, and yet another
live stream he was going to blow up outside the
National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, at which
(02:14):
is located a nuclear reactor used for government research. The
infuriating reality that the Department of Justice cannot arrest Trump
for this just the latest example of madness and terrorism
coming out of his mouth and then being enacted by
an unbalanced fascist, I mean a different unbalanced fascist, somebody
(02:37):
other than Trump is to some degree counterbalanced by the
reality that DOJ can do something about Toronto and the
robot can be held accountable, if not the mad scientist
who built it, because the robot is dangerous enough it is.
WUSATV Channel nine in Washington reporting that just a week ago,
(02:58):
the leaders of this January sixth vigil group asked Toronto
to leave. They disassociated themselves from him because, as the
wife of convicted three percenter Guy Refitt told the reporter,
Toronto quote did an interview saying he believed Ashley Babbitt
was not really dead. That is how far gone Taylor.
(03:20):
Toronto is the wife of a militia leader whom prosecutors
proved in court quote lit. The match of the insurrection,
who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
She did not want to be associated with that guy.
There are two problems, though, with putting Toronto away and
keeping him there. The first is obvious to Trump. Toronto
(03:43):
is fungible, replaceable, irrelevant, meaningless enough to not really exist
in Trump's mind. But the second problem takes us back
to infuriating realities. Taranto's lawyer, an assistant federal public defender,
says she believes the additional charges the government may file
against him would be local firearms charge arges. She says
(04:06):
they would be insufficient to allow the judge Zia Ferruki
to detain him without bail until trial. The premise of
Trump as terrorist, as the perpetrator of a well planned
series of stochastic terrorists' incitements is not just academic, but
terrifyingly practical. And if you are sick to death of
(04:28):
that word stochastic, I apologize, but it is the correct word,
and its importance was again underscored just yesterday when Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington CREWE issued an analysis
of the defenses of literally everyone charged for participation in
the January sixth coup attempt. At last check, that number
(04:49):
had exceeded one thousand and thirty individuals, and CREWE found
that one hundred and seventy four of that more than
one thousand and thirty, specifically said they were quote answering
Donald Trump's calls when they traveled to Washington and joined
the violent attack on the capitol. In court filings, in transcripts,
(05:13):
in news items. These one hundred and seventy four people,
again quoting the Crew report, considered Trump their leader and
believed they were following his lead by joining the insurrection,
and nearly all of those made some reference to his
December nineteenth It'll be Wild tweet about what would happen
on January sixth. Of those one hundred and seventy four defendants.
(05:37):
Ninety four specifically cited Trump's remarks in his January sixth
speech quote as the reason they went to the Capitol.
Crew notes ominously that these totals do not include those
at the speech who were part of the attack on
the Capitol but not arrested or not yet arrested, a group,
of course, which includes Donald Trump. What Trump did last
(06:00):
Thursday was to incite an assassination attempt against a former
resident of the United States, and it is again infuriating
to realize that to find him legally responsible, even in
the slightest manner, police would have had to let Taylor
Taranto begin to do whatever it was that he planned
to do at the Obama home. But the cause and
(06:24):
effect relationship of Trump's words and violent attacks or threats
or attempted attacks has already been proven too many times. Materially,
it began when Trump attacked Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail,
and President Obama and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and
Corey Booker, Eric Holder and George Soros and Maxine Waters
and Robert De Niro and CNN and a man named
(06:47):
Ceesar Seyak sent all of them and six others pipe bombs.
And after Sayesar Seyak cut a plea deal and the
FBI got into his computer, they found another list of
potential second wave targets, and it was thorough enough that
the FBI called and told me I was on it.
Trump attacked Black Lives Matter. Kyle Rittenhouse shot to Black
(07:09):
Lives Matter protesters, and the Missouri couple the mccloskey's, pointed
guns at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. Trump attacked
Michigan Governor Whitmer. Fascist plotters tried to kidnap Governor Whitmer,
and now Trump dox's Obama, and a heavily armed veteran
trained by this nation to kill in Iraq goes to
(07:30):
that address to seek a good angle on a shot.
As much as the stochastic terrorism of Donald Trump is
practical and not theoretical, there is little practical that would
happen by repeating the fundamental truth in this equation, But
repeat it we must anyway. Donald Trump is evil. Donald
(07:51):
Trump is a threat to the safety and continuity and
freedom of this nation and every one of us in it.
And we must say this again and again until such
time as the laws that supposedly exist to protect us
from the evil in which preachers like Trump traffic, deny
him his ability to send his seeds of hate and
violence into the atmosphere and hope, in fact, and know
(08:15):
that they will grow in the fertile, poisoned soil of
terrorists at arms distance. Like Taylor Tarento, timing is everything
in life, or maybe more specifically, juxtaposition is everything in life.
Crew finds one hundred and seventy four January sixth defendants,
(08:38):
invoking Trump's December nineteenth tweet about how wild January sixth
would be and his other comments as his call that
they were answering. Hours after the Crew report, CNN joins
the chorus of reporting that the Office of the Special
Prosecutor is zeroing in on the chaotic White House meeting
(08:58):
earlier in that day. In the life of Trump, the
tweet was early on the morning of the nineteenth. This
meeting was on the eighteenth. The timeline is inarguable, but
I have not often heard these connections made. Trump was
pitched an idea to have the military seize voting machines.
(09:19):
The madness of Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell and the others,
and the rank opportunism of Rudy Giuliani were on full
display in the White House, and when the meeting on
the eighteenth did not end in an agreement to invoke
at least one aspect of martial law than to invoke
the end of two hundred and forty four years of
American democracy, Trump thwarted like a three year old child
(09:41):
in diapers. Turned to his next idea to overthrow the
government and stay in power, mob violence summoned by social media.
CNN reported last night that Giuliani talked to Smith staffers
for two consecutive days last month, and much of it
was about the December eighteenth White House meeting. Quoting the report,
(10:03):
prosecutors have specifically inquired about three outside Trump advisors who
participated in the meeting, former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, one
time national security advisor Michael Flynn, and former Overstock CEO
Patrick Byrne. Unquote, somehow Mike Lindell evaded detection. CNN concludes
(10:25):
all this means quote, Smith's team appears to be nearing
charging decisions in the investigation into efforts to overturn the
election results. CNN does not say this, I will. We
should be prepared for the indictment of not just Trump here,
but also Flynn and Powell and Burn and probably others.
And if Giuliani and Mark Meadows and hell if Lindell
(10:48):
are not among them, we can conclude they will appear
in the case after all, as witnesses for the prosecution.
So far it is only little stupid Walt Naude who
there's the infamy of indictment alongside Trump. And I almost
feel sorry for Walt. He finally pleaded yesterday not guilty.
(11:13):
This came just hours after more of the FBI request
for the June twenty twenty two warrant to search Marrilago
became unredacted, and the unredacted request describes security video from
May twenty fourth, and according to the Wall Street Journal,
the video shows naw toa quote moving dozens of boxes
in the days before Justice Department investigators visited the property
(11:34):
to retrieve records. And then on May twenty sixth, two
days later, the FBI interviewed Walt Naude and that's when
he allegedly denied knowing much about the movement of boxes
nor their location, and that's why investigators began to suspect
Trump had pulled the old switcheroo. Not good news for Walt.
(12:00):
He's not guilty plea means Walt finally did find a
Florida attorney willing to take his case. She is Sasha
de Don and doing a quick goog on her resume,
I am even closer to feelings sorry for Walt. She
was described in news accounts as quote a thirty four
year old Republican all purpose criminal defense attorney, and incredibly
(12:22):
that seems to be a generous description. She is listed
throughout the internet as a divorce and criminal defense attorney,
a personal injury attorney, good at juvenile law, DUI and DWI.
And this was once posted on Facebook quote got a ticket,
don't pay it? Call attorney Sasha to doan bana. Free consultations,
(12:46):
affordable prices. Good luck out there, Walt. Oh. By the way,
the Florida GOP says that if would be presidential nominees
want to be on the ballot for the Florida primary
March nineteenth, they will have to sign a notarized pledge
(13:09):
not just to support the eventual Republican nominee, but to
indorse that nominee and to not run as a third
party candidate. Same language, as the National GOP pledge to
endorse or you don't get into the Republican debates notarized,
you have to go down to the mailboxes, etc. And
get a notary to witness you signing it and everything,
(13:32):
and you have to submit it by November twenty two.
Looking at you, mister de Santis, Looking at you, mister
Tarump prediction. I don't know what DeSantis has planned unless
he's just going to turn all this over to that erzatz.
Jackie Kennedy wanna be wife of his. But I know
exactly what Trump will do for both the Florida and
(13:54):
the National GOP pledges. He will make those pledges, he
will fundraise off of making those pledges, and if he
does not get the nomination, he will simply deny he
made those pledges, or he will sue to prevent the
pledges enforcement, or he will send people to kill whoever
has his pledges. Also of interest in this all new
(14:22):
edition of Countdown, how crazy does Taylor Taranto have to
be to get kicked out of the January sixth Defendants
Jail Side, vigil Marching and Chowder Society? How about exactly
as reprehensible as Marjorie Taylor Green has to have been
to have gotten kicked out of the house quote freedom,
unquote caucus. And if you're wondering, that is just a
(14:43):
brand name. And what do you do if you are
the mayor of New York City and you say that
in your wallet you still carry a picture of your friend,
your fellow former cop fallen in the line of duty
three long decades ago, and you show a newspaper the
photo and it is clear that the photo was just
(15:09):
printed off the internet and stained with coffee to make
it look older. What do you say? Then? You say,
that's next? This discountdown. This is countdown with Keith Overman.
(15:37):
Post Scripts to the news, some headlines, some updates, some snark,
some predictions. Dateline, Riga Latvia. The Wagner Group chief and
semi insurrectionist, Evgeny Pregosian is not in Belarus. He was
in Russia yesterday, so says the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko,
who was supposed to be providing progotion with safe harbor
(15:58):
in Belarus. A businessman in Saint Petersburg whose name was
withheld because his home has windows confirmed Progosian was in
the old Leningrad and maybe Moscow as well, yesterday to
reclaim his money and his weapons, and that there was
no truth rumors that Pregosion had gone to live on
a farm upstate, a collective farm upstate. Dayline Washington also
(16:23):
put out to pasture Marjorie Trader Barney Rubbell, White Supremacy.
Karen Green, Maryland Republican Andy Harris tells Politico she has
indeed been kicked out of the ironically named House Freedom
Caucus because she voted for the debt deal, supported the
Republican Speaker of the House, and criticized members of that caucus.
And yes, that's right. This is the first time in
(16:45):
her adult life that Marjorie Taylor Green clearly is not
the craziest one in the room. I'm q Nancy Faust Dateline.
(17:13):
The metaverse Threads has launched. As you know, it's pretty
much Twitter with a different typeface, not that different. Elon
Musk and Twitter had threatened to sue Mark Zuckerberg, and
ordinarily you'd think they might have a good case, except
for the premise of the threatened suit that Zuckerberg hired
ex Twitter employees to create a quote copycat. Two problems
(17:34):
with that Threads responds that nobody on its engineering team
is a former Twitter employee, and it was after all
Elon Musk who fired those hundreds of Twitter employees. He
now wants to sue for going to work elsewhere. What
are we living in Russia? Dateline Iowa? What are we
living in Iowa? It is being spun as Mike Pence
(17:56):
was just saying that the top ten percent of wealtholders
in this country are already doing this. But Pence actually
said this on video at a for Congress and Randy
Feinstra And it's a campaign ad waiting to happen. I
don't really buy into the rich need to pay their
fair share. Oops. Just say oops and get out. Even
(18:18):
for a Republican this could be a campaign ender. Of course,
to end the Pence campaign would have had to have
begun dateline Fox quote news unquote headquarters one two one
one avenue of the America's Fun City. Not only is
the lead story on that network the cocaine found at
the White House and the assumption that it has something
to do with Hunter Biden, but Steve Doocey compared the
(18:41):
investigation into this to the investigation of the Supreme Court leak. Wait, Steve,
you're really saying that it belongs to sam Alito. Deucy
also said something really weird, even for Fox. He introduced
his co host by saying, quote, we are so lucky
today to have on the curvy couch Kaylee mcinnaney, who
(19:03):
worked in the West Wing for a good portion of
American history, and so you can help us figure out
what's going on. Wait, she's worked in the West Wing
for a good portion of American history. The country turned
two hundred and forty seven years old on Tuesday. It
was in all the papers. Kaylee mcananney was Press Secretary
for exactly nine months and thirteen days. Still Ahead Fridays
(19:39):
with Thurber. It's one of my favorites. But I've never
read it here before. But since this is an all
new addition of Countdown, let me fix that. Meet the
woman who is not buying the plot of Macbeth because
Shakespeare did not adhere to the rules of Hercule poirout
the Macbeth murder mystery, coming up first time for the
daily round up of the miss Grant's morons Undunning Kruger
(19:59):
effect specimens who constitute today's uist pistons in ZiU. It's
worst Hercule Prolero, I ever heard the bronze. The actor
Jim cavisl, the star of the very bizarre The Passion
of the Christ, who is out there promoting its sequel,
Passion of the Christ Jesus to electric boogloo, don't f
(20:21):
with the Jesus. I might have the title wrong anyway.
Cavisel is promoting the sequel by giving an interview a
day to right wing sites explaining we don't have a
First Amendment. There's no such thing as free speech anymore.
But amid that crap, he has also revealed that during
the filming of the Passion of the Christ, not only
(20:43):
was he Jim Cavisl struck by lightning quote on the
last shot of the movie unquote, but he was also
injured earlier in filming when a one hundred and fifty
pound cross hit him in the head. I am the
last one to make fun of anybody with a past
head injury, But good grief. If you are filming a
really religious movie about Christ and God drops across on
(21:07):
you and then hits you with lightning during the last
shot of the movie, are you not taking some time
off to seriously reevaluate whether or not making the movie
has pissed God off or something. I got hit by lightning.
The runner up Trump Junior. No, this is not about
(21:27):
the cocaine found at the White House. This is about
his claim that the Labor government of Australia had banned
him from a speaking tour in that country because he's
Trump Junior and they ain't, so he canceled the tour.
On Wednesday, Junior Trump lied. Australia's Home Minister, Claire O'Neill
said in a series of Facebook and Twitter posts that quote,
Donald Trump Junior has been given a visa to come
(21:49):
to Australia. He didn't get canceled. He's just a big
baby who wasn't very popular. Unquote. The minister says Trump
killed the tour because ticket sales had been weak. Geez,
She writes, Donald Trump Junior is a bit of a
sore loser, sore just his nose, minister, but our winner,
Mayor Eric Adams of New York. We have discussed the
(22:12):
Mayor's lying and his messianic complex and his bewilderingly stupid
comments like quote, there is no way God created me
for this moment. If he did not believe this was
my moment. Don't think too hard about what that means.
The mayor, though, has now topped himself. Early last year,
after two city cops were killed in the line of duty,
(22:33):
Adams himself, a former NYPD captain, said the losses reminded
him of the line of duty death thirty five years
ago of his friend, Officer Robert Vennable. Mayor Adams told
a news conference, I still think about Robert. I keep
a picture of Robert in my wallet. You've guessed where
this is going, right, The New York Times promptly. New
(22:54):
York timesed this and thought, oh, what a story to
tug on the heartstrings of all of those secret Gotham
softies here in fun town. It asked me, May Adams
to pose for a photo holding his weather beaten photo
of his late friend, Officer Venable, and Mayor Adams did
exactly that. And it turns out that the photo was
(23:16):
a couple of days old, The Times reported yesterday quote
it had been created by employees in the Mayor's office
in the days after mister Adams claimed to have been
carrying it in his wallet. The employees were instructed to
create a photo of Officer Venable. According to a person
familiar with the request, a picture of the officer was
found on Google. It was printed in black and white
(23:39):
and made to look worn as if the mayor had
been carrying it for some time, including by splashing some
coffee on it, said the person, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity for fear of retribution unquote. The best
an Adam's spokesman could do is basically say, well, he
did carry a photo of Officer Venable in his wallet
(24:01):
for decades. It just wasn't that photo that they printed
off the internet after googling the late cop and spilling
coffee on it. Spilling coffee on it, And how dare
you mock a dead cop? Mayor Eric Adams of New York,
send help, Please send us help, send help. Every time
(24:25):
we turn around, we've elected a mayor who's crazier than
the last one. We haven't had a reliable mayor in
this town. Sence fair Ella LaGuardia in nineteen forty five.
They spilled coffee on it to make it look older.
Today's worst person in the world, just a head on countdown?
(24:49):
Who is the murderer in Macbeth? There's some doubt there
is in an all New Fridays with Thurber and the
Macbeth Murder Mystery next first time to feature another dog
in need. You can help. Every dog has its day.
The crisis continues at the New York Pound and Yu
gi Oh may be the latest victim on a long
(25:10):
list of those to be killed tomorrow because they don't
have enough space. He's a forty six pound ten pity.
He does not like everybody at first, but he warms
to people as he gets used to them. He arrived
as an emaciated strait just last week and they're already
ready to kill him. Yu gi Oh should be a
family's only dog. He's about five six years old and
(25:31):
he can be adopted by almost anybody from Virginia to Maine.
Or our pledges can help a rescue pull him out
in time. Look for Yu gi Oh on my Twitter feeds,
and your retweets can really help even if you can't pledge,
but your pledges help even more. Yu gi Oh thanks you,
and I thank you as well. Fridays with Thurber and
(26:10):
the Works of the Master and one I have not
read to you here before but is one of my
favorites because it is, well, you'll hear Fridays with Thurber
and the Macbeth Murder Mystery by James Thurber. It was
a stupid mistake to make, said the American woman. I
had met at my hotel in the English Lake Country.
(26:33):
But it was on the counter with the other Penguin books,
the little sixpenny ones, you know, with the paper covers,
and I suppose, of course, it was a detective story.
All the others were detective stories. I'd read all the others,
so I bought this one without really looking at it carefully.
You can imagine how mad I was when I found
it was Shakespeare. I murmured something sympathetically. I don't see
(26:58):
why the Penguin Books people had to get out Shakespeare's
plays in the same size and everything as the detective stories.
When on my companion, I think they have different colored jackets,
I said, Well, I didn't notice that, she said. Anyway.
I got real comfy in bed that night and all
ready to read a good mystery story, and here I
had The Tragedy of Macbeth, a book for high school
(27:22):
students like ivan Hoe or Lorna Doone, I said, exactly,
said the American lady. And I was just crazy for
a good Agatha Christie or something. Ercuo Poirot is my
favorite detective. Is he the Rabbity one, I asked, Oh, no,
said my crime fiction expert. He's the Belgian one you're
(27:45):
thinking of, mister Pinkerton, the one that helps Inspector Bull.
He's good too. Over her second cup of tea, my
companion began to tell me the plot of a detective
story that had fooled her completely. It seems it was
the old family doctor all the time. But I cut
in on her. Tell me, I said, did you read Macbeth?
(28:11):
I had to read it. She said, there wasn't a
scrap of anything else to read in the whole room.
Did you like it, I asked, no, I did not,
She said decisively in the first place, I don't think
for a moment that Macbeth did it. I looked at
her blankly. Did what I asked? I don't think for
(28:36):
a moment that he killed the king? She said, I
don't think the Macbeth woman was mixed up in it either.
You suspect them the most, of course, but those are
the ones that are never guilty, or shouldn't be anyway.
I'm afraid, I began that. I but don't you see,
said the American lady. It would spoil everything if you
could figure out right away who did it. Shakespeare was
(28:58):
too smart for that. I've read that people never have
figured out Hamlet, so it isn't likely Shakespeare would have
been made Macbeth as simple as it seems. I thought
this over while I filled my pipe. Who do you suspect?
I asked suddenly, Macduff, she said promptly. Good God, I
(29:23):
whispered softly. Oh McDuff did it all right, said the
murder specialist. Erkuo Paro would have gotten him easily. How
did you figure it out? I demanded, Well, she said
I didn't right away. First I suspected Banquo, and then
of course he was the second person killed. That was
good right in there that part. The person you suspect
(29:45):
of the first murder should always be the second victim.
Is that so, I murmured, Oh, yes, said my informant.
They have to keep surprising you well. After the second murder,
I didn't know who the killer was for a while.
Uh how about Malcolm and Donald Bain the king sons?
(30:05):
I asked, as I remember it, They fled right after
the first murder. That looks suspicious. Too suspicious, said the
American lady, much too suspicious. When they flee, they're never guilty.
You can count on that, I believe. I said, I'll
have a brandy, and I summoned the waiter. My companion
(30:28):
leaned toward me, her eyes bright, her teacup quivering. Do
you know who discovered Duncan's body? She demanded. I said,
I was sorry, but I had forgotten McDuff discovers it,
she said, slipping into the historical present. Then he comes
running downstairs and shouts, confusion has broke open the Lord's
(30:50):
anointed temple, and sacrilegious murder has made his masterpiece, and
on and on like that. The good lady tapped me
on the knee. All that stuff was rehearsed. She said,
you wouldn't say a lot of stuff like that offhand,
would you, if you'd found a body. She fixed me
with a glittering eye. I began, you're right, She said,
(31:12):
you wouldn't unless you had practiced it in advance. My god,
there's a body in here is what an innocent man
would say. She sat back with a confident glare. I
thought for a while, But what do you make of
the third murderer? I asked, You know, the third murderer
(31:33):
has puzzled Macbeth's scholars for three hundred years. That's because
they never thought of McDuff, said the American lady. It
was McDuff. I'm certain you couldn't have one of the
victims murdered by two ordinary thugs. The murderer always has
to be somebody important. But what about the banquet scene,
I asked after a moment, how do you account for
(31:55):
Macbeth's guilty actions there when Banquo's ghosts came in and
sat in his chair. The lady leaned forward and tapped
me on the knee. Again. There wasn't any ghost, she said.
A big strong man like that doesn't go around seeing ghosts,
especially in a brightly lighted banquet hall with dozens of
people around. Macbeth was shielding somebody. Who was he shielding,
(32:22):
I asked, missus Macbeth. Of course, she said, he thought
she did it, and he was going to take the
rap himself. The husband always does that when the wife
is suspected. But what I demanded about the sleepwalking scene,
then the same thing, only the other way around, said
my companion. That time she was shielding him. She wasn't
(32:46):
asleep at all. Do you remember where it says enter
lady Macbeth with a taper? Yes, I said, Well, people
who walk in their sleep never carry lights, said my
fellow traveler. They have a second sight. Did you ever
hear of a sleepwalker carrying a light? No, I said,
I never did. Well, then she wasn't asleep. She was
(33:09):
acting guilty to shield Macbeth. I think, I said, I'll
have another brandy, and I called the waiter. When he
brought it, I drank it rapidly and rose to go.
I believe I said that you have got hold of something.
Would you lend me that? Macbeth? I'd like to look
(33:30):
it over tonight. I don't feel somehow as if I've
ever really read it. I'll get it for you, she said,
But you'll find that I'm right. I read the play
over carefully that night, and the next morning, after breakfast,
I sought out the American woman. She was on the
putting green, and I came up behind her silently and
(33:50):
took her arm. She gave an exclamation. Could I see
you alone? I asked, in a low voice, She nodded
cautiously and followed me to a secluded spot. You've found
out something, she breathed. I've found out, I said, triumphantly,
the name of the murderer. You mean it wasn't McDuff,
(34:12):
She said. McDuff is as innocent of those murders, I said,
as Macbeth and the Macbeth woman. I opened the copy
of the play which I had with me, and turned
to act to seem to hear, I said, you will
see where Lady Macbeth says, I laid their daggers ready.
(34:34):
He could not miss them. Had he not resembled my
father as he slept, I had done it. Do you see, no,
said the American woman bluntly. I don't. But it's simple,
I exclaimed. I wonder I didn't see it years ago.
The reason Duncan resembled Lady Macbeth's father as he slept
(34:57):
is that it actually was her father. Good God, breathe
my companion softly. Lady Macbeth's father killed the king, I said, and,
hearing someone coming, thrust the body under the bed and
crawled into the bed himself. But said the lady, you
(35:18):
can't have a murderer who only appears in the story once.
You can't have that. I know that, I said, and
I turned to Act two, Scene four. It says, here
enter Ross with an old man. Now that old man
is never identified, and it is my contention that he
was old mister Macbeth, whose ambition it was to make
(35:40):
his daughter queen. There you'll have your motive. But even then,
cried the American lady, he's still a minor character. Not,
I said, gleefully, when you realize that he was also
one of the weird sisters in disguise. You mean one
of those three witches. Precisely, I said, listen to this
(36:01):
speech of the old man's. On Tuesday last Falkan towering
in her pride of place was by a mousing owl,
hawked at and killed. Who does that sound like? It
sounds like the way the three witches talk, said my
companion reluctantly. Precisely, I said, again, Well, said the American woman.
(36:24):
Maybe you're right, but I'm sure I am, I said.
And do you know what I'm going to do now? No,
she said, what buy a copy of Hamlet? I said,
and solve that. My companion's eyes brightened. Then she said,
you don't think Hamlet did it? I am, I said,
(36:48):
absolutely positive he did not. But who? She demanded, who
do you suspect? I looked at her cryptically, everybody, I said,
and disappeared into a small grove of trees as silently
as I had come. The Macbeth Murder Mystery by James Thurber.
(37:28):
I've done all the damage I can do here. Thank
you for listening. Good luck reading Macbeth ever again. Here
are the credits. Most of the music was arranged, produced
and performed by Brian Ray and John Phillips Shanelle. They
are the Countdown musical directors. Guitars, bass and drums by
Brian Ray, All orchestration and keyboards by John Phillip Shanel,
produced by Tko Brothers Mother Beethoven. Selections have been arranged
(37:50):
and performed by No Horns Allowed. The sports music is
the Ulderman theme from ESPN two and it was written
by Mitch Warren Davis Curtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments
by Nancy Fauss the best baseball stadium organist ever, but
Thurber was by jamesper Our announcer today was my friend
John Deane, and everything else was pretty much my fault.
Don't forget. Countdown is now also available on YouTube. Subscribe
(38:14):
to it there as well, give yourself multiple options. So
that's countdown for this, the nine hundred and thirteenth day
since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected
government of the United States. Arrest him again while we
still can. The next scheduled countdown is Monday bulletins as
the news warrants till then, I'm Keith Ouldraman, good morning,
good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown with Keith
(38:48):
Oldreman is 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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