Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 14

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: 3:47 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2004
Guest: Darrell Birt, Tom Squitieri, Jim VandeHei

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Keith apparently has a new hobby horse to ride - Rummy being questioned by Spc. Thomas Wilson, a scout with a Tennessee National Guard unit, about problems up-armoring vehicles going into Iraq. Check me on this but Keith has run the video at least once per show since the day of the event. KO then hits a four-bagger with a story about a Marine Reservist, Darrell Birt of the 656th Transportation Company who was court martialed for stealing transport trucks: Brit is from Ohio so KO gets a VoteFraud angle, he is in the reserves so KO gets a "not enough troops in Iraq" angle, the charges relate to vehicles in Iraq so KO gets the up-armor angle, and the reservist is claiming he was unfairly treated so KO gets a "military bad" angle. Keith, who made clear he had no knowledge of the case brought on Gen. Barry McCaffrey who was also not familiar with case to discuss the case. Next up was taking shots at Tenet, Bremer, and Franks for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom because they were not perfect and implying they no longer agreed with the President - they had "parted company" with Bush. KO's next guest USA TODAY's DoD reporter, Tom Squitieri claimed that the trio are being bought off with these medals to induce them to go easy with Bush in their memoirs. Except that Franks already published his memoirs, An American Solider, and endorsed Bush during the recent campaign. Oh well, how could Squitieri or Olbermann being expected to know that.

There can never been enough Bush-bashing on Countdown so Keith happily served up long-time foes of Don Rumsfeld, Senators McCain and Hegel, once again taking shots at the Defense Secretary as if this were some new phenomenom.

And when you run out of Bush-bashing there is always Fox-bashing which Keith employed to report that Zell Miller signed a deal to work for Fox News Channel as an analyst.

VoteFraud was barely mentioned, only to say that Ohio SecState Ken Blackwell did respond to Conyers 36 Questions, not to be confused with Hitchcock's 39 Steps, and to imply that the Washington governors race may have been stolen but might be recovered.

Some Dogs That Didn't Bark on Countdown include, Ohio Electors formally voting for George Bush, Cliff Arnebeck still not having filed his lawsuit, and John Kerry losing one electoral vote in Minnesota. Just imagine the howling from Keith if this one vote had made the Ohio electoral votes irrelevent.