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Countdown Monday: Closing Argument

Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009 8:59 PM by Countdown
Filed Under:

Closing Argument:  He ranged from reminding the viewer of the angriest of Richard Nixon's news conferences... to recalling Hillary Clinton choking up with emotion at a diner in New Hampshire... to finally, ultimately, sounding like the buzzed guy at the bar running the gamut of emotions from regret, to buying a round for the place, to challenging everybody there to a fight. Our fifth story on the Countdown: at least there was this to say about the final news conference of George W. Bush, as President...Nobody threw a shoe at him this time.

Exit Interview:  47 minutes of defiance, deception and disappointment. Our fourth story on the Countdown, the 47th and final solo press conference of President George W. Bush.

ODDBALL: a flying moose, marriage at Taco Bell and a train collides with a truck.

A Torture Free Confession:  Possibly as early as one week from tomorrow, President Barack Obama will issue an executive order to close the U-S detention center at Guantanamo Bay. That news, still unconfirmed, from the Associated Press tonight... MSNBC and NBC News reporting that the shutdown itself... could take more than a year. Our third story tonight... at least two executive orders, the one on Gitmo, another on torture, reportedly expected in the first week of the Obama Administration, in the wake of the current President's startling admission about what did he know, and when did he know it.

Worsties...see below

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Brit Hume, Bill-O the Clown and  "Joe" Wurzelbacher.

All the Keith that's Fit to Print:   To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the only thing worse than not talking about one's self, is missing a chance to talk about one's self. Our utterly self-conscious number one story on the Countdown: The New York Times holding its annual "Arts and Leisure Weekend" in which luminaries like Sir Salman Rushdie, Glenn Close, Tavis Smiley, Lewis Black, Whoopi Goldberg, and Barbara Walters were interviewed, live, on stage. And there was apparently a cancellation in the slot for Saturday at 4 PM. And they televised it on C-SPAN or they're going to. Or something.

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Hi Keith - this message is for the MSNBC web administrators.
Have you dropped your bandwidth? It now takes more than half an hour for a five minute piece to be viewed on both Countdown and Maddow. If you've made a conscious decision to reduce bandwidth, it's not a great idea: only fanatics such as myself have the patience to wait that long to view your ideas and commentary.
So please. please fix your bandwidth - you'll surely be losing plenty of viewers because of it.

Thanks in advance for taking my concern on board,
Simon Johnston
New Zealand

Simon J, New Zealand (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 9:28 PM)

Keith, just want you to know BEFORE Bill`O or Rush says it, but military pilots, both pilots and those who steers a ship are on occasion referred to as drivers. Since at one time W was an aviator, and having a cowboy mind set, I'm sure he was just being W. Just wanted to let you try to acknowledge it BEFORE, Ann, Bill`O, Rush, etc... rants about it.

Rob Greer, Long Beach, CA. (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 9:29 PM)

OK-- so when might we find it on C-SPAN?  Or when did we miss it?  OR something...

Bill Princeton NJ (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 9:34 PM)

Could you please give us more information on where we can see the entire interview with the New York Times?  I  would love to see it.  Thanks!

Leesa Brown, Orlando Florida (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 9:42 PM)

Keith! Keith! Keith!
If anything calls out - screams out - for a Special Comment it's today's final press conf with this guy.
Please... PLEASE! A Special Comment on the Bush- league years!

John Clossick, Wakefield, RI (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 10:02 PM)

Keith I liked this one. It seems to be the final word that needs to be said about GWB. January 20, 2009; THIS DAY IS THE END OF AN ERROR.

Richard Vagner (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 10:25 PM)

Keith,
You should have had a freeze frame during Bush's press conference.  During all of his defiance, deception and dissapointment comments, when he leaned to his left you could see the truth on the wall behind him.  His head blocked part of the sign and the remaiunder clearly read THE WHITE WASHING.

Ken McLeod, Tallahassee Florida (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 10:27 PM)

Hie Kieth,
Can MSNBC PLEASE simulcast the inauguration day on the website?
I have to be at work on tuesday, and while I can get Canadian Cable and CNN, MSNBC is THE place for politics.
Thanks

Danny Mav, Toronto, Ontario (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 10:56 PM)

Hey Keith,

Thank you for what you said about "Joe the Plumber", you hit the nail-head right on the nose. What you said was absolutely right. I can't believe he would say somethihg like that when he's pretending to be a reporter. Why is this guy "famous"!?

Have a good one,
-Cary

Cary Skelton, Roanoke, Virginia. (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 10:57 PM)

Today was the first time that I ever heard any newscasters speak of the PNAC Report.  Please talk about it in depth.  You would be surprised how many people never heard of it.  Maybe then more people would understand the reasons Americans were and still are against the war in Iraq. In your talk, please indicate tell us how many of them were part of the Bush presidency.

Grace, Gainesville, Virginia (Sent Monday, January 12, 2009 11:32 PM)

Keith,  Enjoy your show very much.  On your broadcast on 01/12/'09 at 2200 you corrected bush when he said "drivers" in reference to the chopper pilots.  I think bush was trying to sound like a pilot himself.  In the military a pilot is refered to as a driver, i.e. "he was an F-106 driver".  But when he used it he sounded rather lame, like he always does.

SHelly,
LPN(ret), HM2(FMF)/USN, Sgt/USAR, ACM/olc

Richelle Kemnow, Junction City, OR (Sent Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:23 AM)

Hey guy's no comments about the new season of "24"? I can't understand how they get away with all the torture on that show! Dang FOX anyway.. Maybe we'll luck out and the ratings will be bad.

John Scully Denver Co. (Sent Tuesday, January 13, 2009 2:05 AM)

Hello Keith,

You made a claim that Adm. Mullen testified before congress that the torture of Khalid Sheik Mohammed was ineffecttive...I'm looking for information on that very subject....any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mike Henson, Derby, NY (Sent Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:07 PM)

Keith,

I was surprised that, after Richard Wolff summarized W’s press conference with a quote from Macbeth, you didn’t immediately add another quote from Macbeth: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!”  

Keep up the good work.

Barry Dickman

Barry Dickman, Ridgewood NJ (Sent Tuesday, January 13, 2009 2:34 PM)

Keith,

Torture may ba a terible thing. The fact of the matter is you can still ask them how bad it was!

We are all monday quarter backing because we do not see the intel that is presented on a daily bases. I think that the next president will have a few eye openers during his transistion into the spot light.

Thanks

Brian cincinnati OH (Sent Tuesday, January 13, 2009 10:51 PM)

Please enlighten a relative political neophite... Do all presidents do this kind of a sales job upon leaving office?  I can't recall, but perhaps I was just never offended enough to notice.

Gary Iglarsh, Jamaica Plain, MA (Sent Thursday, January 15, 2009 12:43 PM)



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