Bernie’s Q&A: Flynn, Shutdown Protests, Gutfeld, Watters, and more! (5/8) — Premium Interactive ($4 members)

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Now, let’s get to your questions (and my answers):
Let me first say that several members of my extended family have served in the FBI. Have always had the utmost respect for the Bureau. But lately, I've been disgusted with it. I think Comey will go down as the most corrupt Director in it's history. This latest revelation that the Bureau did a total screw job on General Flynn makes my blood boil. All a part of the plan to get at Trump and sabotage his Presidency. I hope to god they get the karma they deserve. -- John M.
It depends on who writes the history regarding how Comey will be seen over time. A lot of folks on the left still treat him like an Eagle Scout. I want to hear from the people who wrote those memos. The Justice Department just yesterday dropped the case. Now let's see if DOJ pursues the matter of those FBI agents.
I don't believe in history American politicians have selectively decided what industries should thrive and which ones should be destroyed. Just wondering, do you believe the crowds protesting at state capitals would be larger if college professors and teachers, government workers, and retires, were no longer getting pay checks? Let's exclude the real necessary jobs in health care. And how do you feel about the Memes "We're all in this together" and "Unity"? I think you understand my drift. By the way, always appreciate and respect your opinion! Thanks for years of unbiased service. -- Tim H.
Thanks Tim. Much appreciated.
First, I wish the crowds at state capitals would disavow the idiots who show up with assault weapons and Nazi crap. That said ... You're onto something. Elites -- especially those who are still getting paid (even if they're no longer working) don't feel the pressure as "ordinary" Americans do. If they weren't getting paid, if they were worried about paying the rent, they might sympathize -- and take part -- in the demonstrations. As for the "Unity" stuff: The virus was supposed to bring us all together. It was to close the gap that separates us. I'm not buying it. Just tune into cable TV news on any night.
Hi, Bernie I know you have no love for Jesse Watters because in the past he has conducted frivolous interviews and, of course, he is very partisan. But I see him on The Five and he seems to be one of the top analysts of current events, far better--and more humorous--than many other Fox regulars. (I don't watch Watters World, so maybe I'm missing something that you see.) -- Yours faithfully, Bennett S.
Bennet, let me put this as delicately as I can. If Jesse Watters is one of the top analysts of current events, I'm Albert Freaking Einstein!!!
But let me try to respond to the heart of your question: If you think Watters makes sense it's because, as you suggest, he's better than the other jerks on the show. I'm in no way referring to Dana Perino, who is not a jerk and tries to be fair.
But a friend of mine had this observation about Watters: His "entire contribution to The Five is to fawn over Trump, and smugly point out hypocrisy on the left while refusing to acknowledge it on the right, including his own."
If Watters is better than Guttfeld or the woman at the end of the table, that's not saying much.
Mr. G, Piling on this week's Off The Cuff: I have long called these hypocritical so called feminists “Deminists” as they clearly and repeatedly always choose party first and fellow women second. The noisiest Deminists of all be they the politicians, news anchors, pundits and “beloved” celebrities Never rise up for woman right of center. Wouldn’t it be great then if the current Senate could configure a hearing on this Biden scandal somehow (maybe in search of disappearing Senate records and archives in Delaware?) and then get these Super-Deminist Hypocrite Senators back on a panel to explain their new positions? That could be some good theater. Can you see such a scenario? -- ScottyG
My short answer, Scotty, is NO. Here's my takeaway: When the double standard and the hypocrisy are so blatant, these liberal moralists have lost their right to preach to the rest of us. Or more to the point: They can continue to preach and be hypocritical, but we are under no obligation to take them seriously.
In regard to this week's Off The Cuff, a question: lets suppose, just for sh*ts & giggles, that Harvey Weinstein was the Dem's nominee and not Joe Biden. Do you think the #metoo movement would ignore the number of women who came forward to accuse him of sexual assault? As they have Biden's accuser? Off topic a bit, did you know Sylvia Chase when she was a reporter at CBS News? If so I'll share a story with you about how she hounded me to do an on camera interview many years ago. -- JM
Interesting question, JM. I don't think the #metoo movement would -- or could -- ignore the women who came forward to accuse him of assault. The reason I think that is because those women were Hollywood women, some very high profile Hollywood women. Too tough to ignore them as they pretty much have ignored Tara Reade. And yes, Sylvia Chase and I were at CBS News, for a few years anyway, at the same time. I stayed, she moved on to ABC.
Bernie: What do you make of the latest revelations about the FBI in the Michael Flynn case? Do you think they set out to entrap him and create a crime so that he would be removed as National Security Advisor, or are we conservatives "pouncing" (the Left's favorite verb for us) on some trivial investigative detail that regularly happens in the bloodless war of Washington politics? -- Steve R.
I don't think it's trivial at all, Steve. It looks bad but I want to hold off judgment until I hear from the people involved, the ones who wrote the memos. The GOP controlled Senate needs to subpoena them -- the sooner the better. As I mentioned earlier in this Q & A session: DOJ has dropped the Flynn case. I hope the department is investigating the agents who wrote the memos.
Slavery was of course wrong, evil, and a slap in the face of American ideals. Many modern liberals argue for reparations to descendants of African American slaves, so allow me to pose a wild scenario: the U.S. government agrees to compensate these descendants with huge one-time checks per family, with interest. In return for this compensation, all liberals must agree to abandon these things: affirmative action; protesting and filing legal complaints based on racism and discrimination; accusing people of racism simply for disagreeing with them or not voting for people like Barack Obama, Maxine Waters, etc.; groups like BLM and ANTIFA must renounce violence and disband OR agree to work constructively with the rest of society; and finally, all race hustlers such as Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson must permanently renounce and abandon all protests and community organizing to extort money from organizations that they find offensive.
I realize that I'm giving a "Twilight Zone" Bizarro World scenario here, but I would like your thoughts on the likelihood of liberals accepting the reparations under the conditions that I have just outlined and what life might be like in post reparations America. -- Slavery Reparations Regards From The Emperor
You're losing it, Emperor. Your conditions for reparations are as bad or worse than the idea of reparations themselves. Years ago, I read a column that came up with this: In exchange for a one-time reparations payment, recipients would no longer receive government subsidies such as welfare payments. That's a debatable response to reparations. Yours is just plain freaking nuts. And I say that will all due respect, Your Highness.
I was curious if you have any idea how many copies of your book "Bias" has sold worldwide. Thanks. -- Ben G.
I have no idea. The book was # 1 on the NYT bestseller list for 7 weeks -- and the paperback, as I recall, hit #1 also, a year later. So it's a lot. The book was published in several foreign countries including China. The entire book, of course, was in Chinese except for one word. Putz. A yiddish word meaning a part of the male anatomy but referring to a person as a dope. The Chinese must have been saying: What is this Putz thing.
Greg Gutfeld has been a huge disappointment in the Trump years. He was once one of Fox's most politically non-compliant people -- a conservative/libertarian who made fun of the partisan hacks on both sides, called out egregious behavior (including Trump's), and ridiculed conspiracy theorists. A rarity! A breath of fresh air on cable news! This was true right up until Trump won the election.
At that point, he must have seen the writing on the wall (career wise), because he quickly morphed into one of Trump's most outrageous sycophants. He abandoned many positions and standards (by his own admission) to serve and make excuses for the president. He's basically now a younger Lou Dobbs.
This week on Twitter, Trump congratulated loyal Gutfeld on the big ratings it has brought his Fox weekend show, describing Greg as "a one time Trump Hater who has come all the way home." All the way home? Talk about being emasculated as a presidential kiss-up! Your thoughts? -- Albert
My thoughts are exactly -- EXACTLY!!! -- the same as yours. Word for word. Gutfeld has become a pathetic bootlicking brown-noser. An embarrassment. You nailed it, Albert.
Bernie, you said last week (or maybe 2 weeks ago) that you do now think journalists are conspiring against Trump (to take him down), not just letting their naturally aligned biases get the better of them like in the old days. But what about the private list-serve for advocacy called “JournoList” in 2007? (Shutting it down in 2010 when it became public.) The coordination started long before November 2016, right? -- Letitia
Good point, Letitia. JournoList was a disgrace. And yes it pre-dates Trump's victory in 2016. But I think my point is generally true. That bias got noticeably worse -- covering far more ground that JournoList did -- on Election Day 2016. Bias didn't begin that day. But it changed. See my column that will be posted on Monday. It's my take on this very point.
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