Bernie’s Q&A: Cheney, Bezos, AOC, Lindell, and more! (2/5) — Premium Interactive ($4 members)
Bernie’s Q&A: Cheney, Bezos, AOC, Lindell, and more! (2/5) — Premium Interactive ($4 members)
Friends:
From time to time some of you have commented on my work on the HBO program Real Sports. I just quit the show after 22 years working there as a correspondent. There are more than a few reasons for my decision, but for now, let’s just say I lost interest in the work. I may have more to say in the future.
Now, let’s get to your questions (and my answers):
Have to say, it was an enjoyable week watching CNBC and Fox Business to see the financial talking heads screaming at each other. Robin Hood, Roaring Kitty, and a bunch of bloggers brought giants to their knees with their stimulus checks. As me and my buddies raced to get out of Blackberry and our trading sites were crashing we’re laughing the whole time. Yah gotta love this country. Just wondering how you viewed this week? I thought it was great. -- Tim H.
Let me put it this way Tim: I've mentioned this before. I interviewed George Carlin many years ago and we hit it off. Two guys who grew up blue collar who had no time for BS. At one point he told me, "Bernie, I root for chaos." Well, Tim, George must be smiling right about now.
Very simply, what is the cancel culture's end game - what do they ultimately want to accomplish and why? -- Randy
I think what the cancel culture would like to achieve is the elimination of any views they find unacceptable. There's history on this. The French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, Mao's Revolution, Pol Pot's Revolution. All of them thought they had a monopoly on The Truth. It never ends well, Randy. Sooner or later they run out of enemies and turn on themselves. It can't come soon enough.
The thought crossed my mind [last] week that we are experiencing political blitzkrieg given the flurry of substantive executive orders and other actions that have been issued and taken. Due to Trump fatigue from the past four years, millions likely do not know or care about all these actions. And given the interference being run by the media (with its focus on important things like political fashionistas) and the myriad of loud voices seeking to limit speech and thought, might we be getting close to game, set, and match? -- Michael F.
I understand you're concern, Michael ... but there's reason for hope. It's called the 2021 midterm elections. If Joe thinks he can do anything he wants by executive fiat, let's see how the voters feel about it in two years. The media, as you say, is running interference for him but sooner or later -- if it hasn't already happened -- he'll do something that crosses a bright line. And then the American people will say we've had enough. Cross your fingers, my friend.
A bit early for me to say unity is in the dustbin, but I am interested in your view of the political calculation for an impeachment trial. "Elite condescension" certainly, but I suspect there was another calculus. It seems to me the Democrats are trying to force the Republicans to hug Trump. Will that backfire? Or are the Democrats going to be successful at dividing the Republican party? -- John R.
I think you're take on Democrat motives is on the money. And Pelosi, I believe, is the evil genius behind it. Make Republican Senators go on the record -- guilty or not guilty. Whichever way they vote, they're likely to offend a segment of GOP voters. Nancy Pelosi is POLITICS incarnate.
Good Morning Bernie....Your consideration on Trump's culpability in the Jan/6 incident is interesting but, frankly, I'd argue a bit tepid. I'm a bit more with Liz Cheney in that Trump certainly was a provocateur, and being a public official/man SHOULD have known that his message was dangerous. Frankly, I think that Trump's remarks on the mall will eventually condemn him in history even if his legal liability (for the Senate trial) is tenuous. Dare we recall Mark Anthony's remarks (after Brutus) to the multitude following the assassination? It was fiction, I know.....but insightful even for today. You may wish to consider Frank Luntz's recent thoughts, posted on YouTube just a few days ago (Entitled: Trump's American Carnage: Frank Luntz). It is a very compelling, deep, involved, analysis of the questions around the issue of public commentary by public officials. It is worth your time. As always, be well -- Andrew M.
Andrew, my friend, I've been all over Trump's substantial rear end for quite some time. I think his speech was not only disgraceful but dangerous. My point about impeachment is different from my opinion on an impeachment trial. On impeachment itself, I have no quarrel on constitutional grounds. The trial, however, may be unconstitutional -- as I've said there are smart people on both sides of that issue. I've also said that since he's now a private citizen and out of office, maybe it's time to move on. There have been more than a few who disagree with me. I think Gerald Ford made the right decision when he pardoned Richard Nixon, who surely would have been impeached and almost certainly convicted had he not resigned. Ford paid a price for his decision, but a trial would have continued the dark days of Nixon's presidency. That's how I feel about putting Donald Trump on trial now. He's out. Good riddance. Let's move on. But, as I say, reasonable people have taken the other side. Regarding Mark Antony and Brutus: I knew them both. Nice guys but don't turn your back on either of them -- especially Brutus.
It seems that AOC is accusing Ted Cruz of almost getting her murdered. That’s a very serious charge. Ironically I don’t recall any Republican softball players making similar allegations about Bernie Sanders. Yet AOC does this rather cavalierly. I would think that any Republicans that would make such unfounded allegations would be censured at the very least. Why do you think she gets away with this and still gets support? -- “HELP! Those Evil Republicans are sending assassins to kill honorable noble Democrats in Congress” Regards From The Emperor
The reason she gets away with this, Your Exaltedness, is because she's a Democrat. That's it. If a GOP congresswoman said Chuck Schumer was trying to kill her it would be on page 1 of the New York Times under the headline: Another Unhinged Republican Makes Unfounded Accusation.
And make no mistake, the Democratic establishment is afraid of her. They know she has a following and can cause them trouble. Schumer knows she might mount a primary against him. I hope she does. Chaos can be fun -- to watch from a distance.
This week Jeff Bezos, his face on the Mt Rushmore of woke tech CEO's and who last year alone donated $10 million to social justice causes, decided to step down as Amazon chief. Bezos named Andy Jassy as his replacement. Jassy is incredibly qualified, but not by woke leftist standards. Because Andy Jassy, you see, is a middle aged white heterosexual male who grew up with access to wealth and privilege (Scarsdale NY, Harvard MBA). Is this the corporate equivalent of "Rules for thee, but not for me"? There's not a peep in the press about Jassy's intersectional disqualifications. -- Steve R.
If the woke crowd finds fault with this pick, then there will be a lot more than a peep from progressives in the media. But as long as no one is complaining, things I think will remain quiet. At some point, Steve, they may find a middle age white heterosexual from Scarsdale, no less ... simply too much to accept. I loathe the cancel culture's intolerance ... but sometimes their stupidity is just plain funny. You know they cancelled Abe Lincoln in San Francisco, right? Abe wasn't their kind of guy, I guess, so they took his name off of a public school. See what I mean by "funny"?
Bernie, I just wanted you to know how wonderful the [Jen Bricker] segment was and that stories like this are the ones we should get to read about or watch every day because they show us how much any of us can accomplish with the right attitude. -- Michael F.
Thanks very much, Michael. For those who don't know Jen, take a look at the segment. Born with no legs she has gone on to great things. When she was growing up her adopted parents said there's only one word we don't allow in this house. And the word is ... Can't. Remarkable young woman.
I'm glad that House Republicans voted 145-61 to keep Liz Cheney in her leadership position (which was a loss to Trump since he had been personally phoning GOP members of congress to try and get them to oust her). Still, it's hard to imagine we'd have gotten the same result if the vote wasn't secret. According to multiple reports and the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, somewhere between 60 and 80 GOP members believed he deserved impeachment, but feared the political retaliation and safety concerns that would have come with publicly voting to impeach. What this tells me is that while a large number of Republican leaders recognize Trump's role in the 1/6 attack, nearly all of them are too cowardly to say so on the record. Pathetic. -- Jen R.
Hey Jen ... I agree, and it tells me one more thing: Donald Trump will continue to divide the GOP even though he's out of office. And this will continue to cause the party problems. If you're a candidate and you're pro-Trump and won't even speak out against his obvious excesses, you may lose voters who saw him as toxic. If you stand up against him, as Liz Cheney did, there's a contingent that would never vote for you. I don't recall a political figure quite like him at least in the modern era.
Dominion Voting Systems has been on a suing spree in recent weeks, going after people in the right-wing media and Trump's legal team for loudly lying about their company's technology directing a massive number of Trump votes to Joe Biden. The result has been Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN doing massive clean-up work, including running fact-checking segments on the shows of people like Lou Dobbs, and Judge Pirro that debunk the false conspiracy claims those hosts had been making against Dominion for months. Even Rudy Giuliani, after being sued by Dominion for $1.3 billion, is now publicly conceding that Biden won the election. Considering how much damage had been done to Dominion's reputation, I'm actually enjoying watching them hammer these dishonest public figures. How about you? -- Ben G.
I could not agree more, Ben. They all thought they could say anything they want, tarnish the reputation of a company without regard for facts ... and all in service to their Lord and Savior Donald J. Trump. I'm enjoying it, too, my friend.
By cancelling the Keystone pipeline (and thus making the US dependent on foreign energy), can this be viewed as the actual reason for going to war against Iran? We've been hearing for decades that they're weeks away from having nuclear weapons, what makes the most recent reiteration of that claim more credible than before? -- Dr. Carl S.P.
There's no imminent reason to go to war with Iran. Certainly not because of the cancellation of Keystone. I think the decision to cancel the pipeline was nothing more than a nod to Biden's left wing, a signal that he's on board with things that are important to them. And he was willing to toss thousands of blue collar workers over the side to appease the left. In other words, I think it was a bad decision. That said ... we're currently the top crude oil producer in the world ... and we're now exporting more than we're importing. So, bad as the decision on Keystone is ... it's not making us dependent on foreign oil nor is it a catalyst for war.
Bernie, Have you ever owned a MyPillow pillow? If so, did sleeping on it transform you into a deranged conspiracy theorist, and compel you to write up plans for a military coup to be hand-delivered to the White House? -- John D.
Yes.
Thanks, everyone! You can send me questions for next week using the form below! You can also read previous Q&A sessions by clicking here.