ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ATTACK LAUNCHED FROM THE RIGHT AGAINST
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN OVER HIS CALL TO BLOCK GINA HASPEL TO BE
THE NEXT HEAD OF THE CIA OVER HER HISTORY OF TORTURE.
THE
RIGHT IS NOT A FAN OF HIM FOR NOT BEING A FAN OF THAT,
ALTHOUGH HE HIMSELF HAS BEEN TORTURED SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND
WHERE HE IS COMING FROM.
THIS TIME THE ATTACK COMES FROM
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE, IT HAPPENED AT A COMMUNICATIONS
MEETING WITH SEVERAL DOZEN PEOPLE PRESENT, AND WHAT IS THE
FIRST NAME, KELLY SADLER --
JUST A GENERAL BIT OF ADVICE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE, IF YOU HAVE
A MEETING AND THERE ARE TWO DOZEN PEOPLE THERE, DON'T SAY
ANYTHING YOU DON'T WANT IN THE WASHINGTON POST THE NEXT DAY
BECAUSE THERE IS NO CHANCE IT
WON'T GET LEAKED --
IT WAS DESCRIBED AS UNCOMFORTABLE AFTERWARD.
THAT'S
GOOD NEWS, I WAS WORRIED EVERYONE WOULD HAVE LAUGHED
UPROARIOUSLY.
BY THE WAY, IT'S CONFIRMED, SHE THEN CALLED AND APOLOGIZED
TO MEGHAN MCCAIN.
EVEN THOUGH OTHERS ATTEMPTED FOR A WHILE TO PRETEND IT HADN'T
HAPPENED OR IT WAS JUST AN ALLEGATION.
INITIALLY SHE HADN'T
RESPONDED TO OUR REQUEST FOR COMMENT, THE WHITE HOUSE PUT OUT
A GENERAL STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR JOHN MCCAIN THAT I THOUGHT
IT WAS INTERESTING NOBODY SIGNED, IT WAS JUST THE WHITE
HOUSE, PERHAPS THEY WERE WONDERING WHERE DONALD TRUMP
WOULD COME OUT ON THIS THING AND DIDN'T WANT TO BE ON THE
WRONG SIDE OF IT.
CAN YOU BE A PRO-LIFE CONSERVATIVE IF YOU JOKE ABOUT
SOMEONE DYING OF CANCER?
WHAT ARE THE POSITIONS THAT PEOPLE IN THE TRUMP WHITE
HOUSE ACTUALLY HOLD?
WHO KNOWS?
MORE MONEY.
MORE MONEY FOR US IN PARTICULAR AND NO ONE ELSE.
THAT
IS DEFINITELY A POSITION HELD BY THE WHITE HOUSE AND THAT'S ABOUT
IT.
SHE APPARENTLY WORKED FOR THE WASHINGTON TIMES BEFORE, ONE
OF THESE RIGHT-WINGERS, ZEALOTS, ETC., SO NOT VERY SURPRISING.
HER JOB IS TO FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, AS THEY
FRAME IT, AGAIN NOT SURPRISING THAT YOU WOULD FIND A VICIOUS
PERSON TO HOLD THAT JOB.
BUT I HAVE A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TAKE
ON THIS.
ON THE ONE HAND, THEY ARE JUST SO TERRIBLE TO MCCAIN
OVER AND OVER AGAIN, THESE RIGHT-WINGERS.
I THOUGHT WE WERE
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL YESTERDAY WITH FOX NEWS SAYING
HE WAS A SONGBIRD JOHN AND GAVE AWAY OUR SECRETS TO THE NORTH
VIETNAMESE WHEN HE WAS TORTURED.
WHICH HE DIDN'T, TO CLARIFY.
YES, IT'S A LIE.
BUT AS I HAVE SAID, THERE IS NO BOTTOM TO THAT
BARREL.
SO KELLY SADLER SAYS, FOX, HOLD MY BEER.
ON THE OTHER
HAND THEY DO FAR WORSE, IT WAS A STUPID JOKE IN THE MIDST OF
THIS, IT SHOWS HOW CALLOUS THEY ARE, BUT I FEEL LIKE IT'S NOT
ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.
AND IT GOES TOWARD ONE
OF MY PET PEEVES ABOUT MEDIA COVERAGE WHICH IS THAT THEY ARE
SO OBSESSED WITH CIVILITY, AND PART OF WHY THEY CAN'T STAND
TRUMP, BUT TO THE DETRIMENT OF SUBSTANCE.
SO THE FACT THAT GINA
HASPEL ORDERED THE TORTURE OF PEOPLE AND THEN DESTROYED THAT
EVIDENCE TO ME IS A BILLION TIMES MORE IMPORTANT THAN A
STUPID AND THOUGHTLESS AND CALLOUS JOKE THAT SOME STAFF ARE
MADE ABOUT JOHN MCCAIN, BUT THE PRESS IS LIKE, JOHN MCCAIN IS
BELOVED, THIS JOKE IS AN ACCEPTABLE.
AND TO BE FAIR THEY TALK ABOUT THE TORTURE.
A LOT.
BUT STUFF LIKE THIS GETS A LOT OF ATTENTION AND THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE TAPES IS NEVER TALKED ABOUT, THAT IS THE
MOST BRAZEN THING SHE DID.
THE COVERAGE I'VE SEEN ABOUT HASPEL HAS BEEN GOOD, THEY HAVE
TALKED ABOUT THE TAPES, I WANT TO GIVE THEM CREDIT, THE NEW
YORK TIMES GOT DETAILED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED UNDER HER WATCH.
WITH THAT SAID, I THINK THIS STORY IS IMPORTANT, I THINK IT
GOES FARTHER THAN WAGGING OUR FINGER AT PEOPLE AND TELLING
THEM TO BE CIVIL.
I MEAN, THE DISCOURSE YOU SEE IN THE WHITE
HOUSE HAS ALREADY SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, AND THE
FISH DOES ROT FROM THE HEAD DOWN.
WE ARE INCREDIBLY VICIOUS
LITTLE ANIMALS AND, YOU KNOW, TRUMP HAS OPENED THE FLOODGATES
TO THE POINT WHERE PEOPLE THINK IT'S OKAY TO OPENLY JOKE ABOUT
SOMEONE WHO IS DYING OF CANCER.
SO I THINK WE HAVE TO TAKE A
STEP BACK AS A COUNTRY AND REALLY HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT
WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS THE KIND OF CONVERSATION WE WANT TO BE
HAVING, OR THIS IS THE WAY WE WANT TO TREAT EACH OTHER OVER
APOLITICAL THIS AGREEMENT.
AND REALLY, YOU ARE THAT LOYAL TO
TRUMP THAT YOU WILL TURN AROUND AND SAY THESE VICIOUS THINGS
ABOUT A MAN WHO NOT ONLY SERVED IN THE MILITARY, WENT TO
VIETNAM, BUT WAS A PRISONER OF WAR FOR YEARS AND STILL DIDN'T
CAVE UNDER THAT KIND OF PRESSURE?
AND BY THE WAY, YOU
ARE DOING THAT TO BE LOYAL TO WHO?
A DRAFT DODGER WHO WAS BORN
WITH A SILVER SPOON IN HIS MOUTH?
IT'S PATHETIC AND DISGUSTING BUT WE HAVE BECOME -- IT HAS
BECOME SO NORMALIZED AND IT'S FRUSTRATING THAT THIS IS WHAT WE
LOOK AT, WHEN THERE IS A BULLY MAKING THESE HORRIBLE JOKES THAT
HIS ADMINISTRATION DOES THIS, PEOPLE WHO WORK UNDER HIM ARE
ENCOURAGED TO ACT LIKE THIS, AND IT'S FRUSTRATING.
AND THERE'S A
FLIPSIDE TO IT WHERE ANYTIME ANYONE MAKES EVEN THE SLIGHTEST
JOKE, MICHELLE WOLF AT THE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER, THE
OUTRAGE FROM THE RIGHT ABOUT HOW DARE SHE CALL SARAH HUCKABEE
SANDERS A LIAR -- SHE'S A LIAR.
THAT'S FINE, IT'S ALMOST NOT A
JOKE.
BUT WHEN IT COMES TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS, I DON'T
KNOW, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS KIND OF BULLYING AND NOT BE ABLE
TO FIGHT BACK?
IT'S FRUSTRATING.
THERE WILL BE SOME ON THE RIGHT WHO EITHER WILL NOT
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO THINGS, THE
REACTION TO THIS OR TO MICHELLE WOLF, OR AT THE VERY LEAST WILL
PRETEND NOT TO UNDERSTAND IT ON TV BECAUSE THAT IS THEIR JOB.
SO
I WILL EXPLAIN IT TO THEM, IT'S NOT THE JOKE THAT'S THE PROBLEM,
WE ARE ANALYZING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE JOKE.
IF MICHELLE WOLF
ACHES AND JOKE ABOUT SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS BURNING FACTS
AND CREATING A PERFECT SMOKY EYE, THE FOUNDATION IS THE PRESS
SECRETARY IS A LIAR AND WE NEED TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THAT.
SO THE
FOUNDATION OF THE JOKE IS STRONG.
WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION
OF THE JOKE HERE?
IT'S THAT HE IS AGAINST TORTURE SHALL SCREW
HIM, AND HE WILL SOON BE GONE.
IT'S NOT THE JOKE THAT'S THE PROBLEM, IT'S THAT THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY IS SO WILLING TO TURN ON ONE OF THE
REPUBLICANS THAT THEY ALMOST MADE PRESIDENT A FEW YEARS
AGO BECAUSE HE DOESN'T LIKE TRUMP AND HE DOESN'T LIKE
TORTURE, AND THOSE TWO THINGS, OR EITHER OF THEM, IS
ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU IRRELEVANT IN THE REPUBLIC AND PARTY.
YEP.
IN A SENSE TRUMP HAS TORTURED THE NATIONAL
CONVERSATION.
IT HAS GOTTEN UGLIER, THAT'S WHY EVEN ME
TODAY, I THINK, OH, THEY ARE LAUGHING ABOUT HOW JOHN MCCAIN
IS GOING TO DIE.
I FIND THAT TO BE KIND OF A PERFECTLY NORMAL
STORY COMING OUT OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, AND IN THE OLD
DAYS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OUTRAGEOUS AND UNTHINKABLE.
BUT
THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD DOWN, HE'S THE GUY THAT DURING
THE CAMPAIGN SAID I PREFER PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T CAPTURED.
AND
TO ANA'S POINT, AND FROM YESTERDAY WHEN WE COVERED THE
FOX NEWS STORY ABOUT MCCAIN, TORTURE DOESN'T WORK.
WHEN JOHN
MCCAIN WAS TORTURED HE GAVE UP THE NAMES OF THE OTHER MEMBERS
OF HIS SQUADRON, HE NAMED THE GREEN BAY PACKERS OFFENSE OF
LINE.
IT LEADS TO FALSE INFORMATION.
BUT AS LONG AS IT
MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD BECAUSE YOU ARE BEING VICIOUS AND YOU ARE
TAKING OUT YOUR FRUSTRATIONS, AS GINA HASPEL DID, SHE AUTHORIZED
THE WATERBOARDING OF ABU ZUBAYDAH 83 TIMES, IF IT WORKED
WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO IT 83 TIMES?
THEY ARE VICIOUS, SO THEM CELEBRATING THIS INTERNALLY
IS NOT SURPRISING.