Bannon, a key Trump ally, wants investigations, trials, and incarceration for people like Andrew Weissmann and Rachel Maddow, whom he believes are part of a conspiracy against Trump. This shows Bannon's willingness to use legal threats and intimidation to silence critics.
Olbermann believes that firing Scarborough and Brzezinski would help MSNBC regain its audience and credibility. He suggests that their collapse in ratings and their overly friendly approach to Trump have damaged the network's reputation.
The audience is exhausted after the high-stress election coverage and the immediate post-election news cycle. However, Olbermann believes they will return, even stronger, once the network stays the course and continues its progressive and fact-based reporting.
Doug Ford is responding to Trump's threats of a 25% tariff on Canadian goods by threatening to stop exporting electricity to the U.S., which directly services 1.5 million Americans in states like Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin. This is a form of retribution and highlights the potential economic consequences of Trump's trade policies.
Olbermann argues that MSNBC should not try to appeal to a different audience by shifting its political stance to the right. He believes this would alienate their current progressive audience and result in a loss of ratings and influence. Instead, he suggests staying the course and focusing on strong, principled journalism.
Mastriano is considered a 'Worst Person in the World' because he posted a photo of a TIE fighter model from Star Wars, claiming it was a downed drone, and used it to promote conspiracy theories. His inability to distinguish between a movie prop and an actual drone highlights his lack of judgment and credibility.
Despite Ted Turner's erratic behavior, Olbermann believes Turner was a visionary because he took risks and created CNN, which became a billion-dollar enterprise. Turner's schemes, like proposing a 24-team NFL league during a strike, show his creativity and willingness to challenge the status quo.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 80: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump’s chief thug wants to put Rachel Maddow in prison. Steve Bannon: “I need investigations, trials and then incarceration… Andrew Weissmann on MSNBC and Rachel Maddow and all of them."
Oh and just so we are clear on this: YOU are next. Or close to it. Trump is this close to suing YOU for writing mean tweets about him. Or for not voting for him. Or, if your name is Anne Selzer, for putting out a Des Moines Register election poll that didn’t favor him. Emboldened by such pathetic self-prostituting excuses for American leadership as Jeff Bezos, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Joe Scarborough -- and Bob Iger and all the snatch-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory cowards at Disney and ABC News -- Trump has now lost any remaining sense that anybody is even going to try to stop him. It is hard to point at a crazy man and say he’s now lost it, but… he’s now lost it.
You are next. Well, you’re probably behind me, and we’re both behind Maddow, and she’s behind Anne Selzer, but you know what I mean.
So Bannon wants to lock up Maddow and others at MSNBC and their co-workers Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski scuttled to Mar-a-Lago to save their own worthless asses. Ten days ago the entertainment news site Variety asked me to write a piece for their year-in-review on what MSNBC should do now. The TL;dr was: double down because all the other progressive and neutral news organizations have fled in fear and left you the same kind of opportunity for monopoly that we had there in 2005. The audience will be back with you directly. Stay the course. Of course you have to fire Mr. and Mrs. Scarborough or you let them turn you into MSN-*Vichy. *I'll give you a longer version of what I did for the magazine.
B-Block (32:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Trump's Tariffs Plan. It apparently never dawned on him it would draw retribution. Ontario's premier threatens to cut off the Canadian electricity that directly services 1.5 million Americans. A Democratic pollster says the campaign should've been food costs not democracy and never once gets near the actual answer: both. And the most recent GOP candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania can't tell the difference between a "downed drone" and a "toy movie prop headed for the next Comicon."
C-Block (41:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: At 86, Ted Turner is in-and-out. At 43, when I worked for him, none of us would have bet on him still being in, at all. He was a crazy man and a danger to himself, and thank goodness he steered out of the skid. But the crazy version left me countless stories, like the time he nearly fired me over the cameraman's choice of hats, and I nearly responded by socking him.
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