Late in her Friday show on MSNBC, climate alarmist Andrea Mitchell claimed it was ironic that Joe Manchin has not gotten onboard with his party's climate initiatives, considering the state needs them more most other states and it is a national security crisis.
The first bit of climate alarmism came after a segment where correspondent Cal Perry noted that, not surprisingly, Manchin's stance is more popular in West Virginia than it is on Andrea Mitchell Reports. But, Mitchell didn't care, arguing that the state's entire economy needs to be up-ended, "The irony of it is, of course, that West Virginia is a state that needs remediation on climate and on many effects of fossil fuels, more than any other states in the nation."
She then welcomed Colorado Senator Michael Bennet on to discuss the party's agenda. As part of the discussion, Mitchell focused on the "voting rights" bill that died in the Senate on Wednesday and how the Senate is unfair, "If you look at the 41 senators who voted to block even debate on voting rights, they represent something like 24% of the population of this country. Because, again, of the way this country has evolved."
It is unclear where Mitchell got her numbers as the vote died 51-49 with Chuck Schumer switching his vote for procedural reasons. Even those who embrace this talking point put the number at 43.4%. For Mitchell, Democrats losing in small is unfair, "And you've got California having two senators and Wyoming and Montana having two senators. So what about gun control or police reform? Would, how far would you go to change the filibuster or carve it out for issues?"
Of course, there is no practical difference between several carve outs and elimination. As for Bennet, he naturally agreed, arguing Mitch McConnell only care about judges and tax cuts for the wealthy.
Instead of asking whether that assumption will inevitably backfire, Mitchell returned to climate alarmism:
there's a new report from the risk intelligence, a new analysis, an assessment that is warning the White House that climate change is posing a major national security threat. But a key pillar of the president's program, the clean energy program, is going to be dropped because of opposition from Senator Manchin... So, how do you feel about this?
Bennet replied with a list of things from wildfire smoke to landslides that are allegedly the fault of climate change and "I've had these conversations with Joe Manchin. We, several times, a number of times, and we just have to keep pushing here...and the world cannot act without the leadership of the United States of America. And that's why we got to get it sorted out here."
Mitchell concluded the interview by thanking Bennet "for your wisdom on all of this," even if such wisdom was hard to come by.
This segment was sponsored by CarShield. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
Here is a transcript for the October 22 show. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
Andrea Mitchell Reports
12:44 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Indeed. And the irony of it is, of course, that West Virginia is a state that needs remediation on climate and on many effects of fossil fuels, more than any other states in the nation. Thank you so much, good to see you, Cal.
…12:47
MITCHELL: As Senator Kaine was pointing out the other night, that if you look at the 41 senators who voted to block even debate on voting rights, they represent something like 24% of the population of this country. Because, again, of the way this country has evolved.
MICHAEL BENNET: Right.
MITCHELL: And you've got California having two senators and Wyoming and Montana having two senators. So what about gun control or police reform? Would, how far would you go to change the filibuster or carve it out for issues?
BENNET: Well, I think we should change it -- I think we should change it so we make the Senate work. So, we give the minority the kind of opportunity to participate as I said, so 51 senators get to makes a decision no matter what the issue is. I mean, right now, the problem with the Senate is nothing gets done and then the American people can't hold anybody accountable for the fact that nothing has gotten done because the rules are so convoluted. That works very well for Mitch McConnell who really isn't trying to accomplish much except put right-wing judges on the courts and cut the taxes for the wealthiest people every now and now when he can. He's not really trying to pass infrastructure earlier, trying to pass climate change legislature or trying to deal with voting rights or guns. Whatever it is, I don't think we should do it – I, I, I accept that we, you know, if the only place we can get to caucus is we should do it just for voting rights, I certainly would be there to change it for voting rights but I think we should do it more broadly. Because we've got to have a functioning democracy here. And the filibuster as you're pointing out doesn't create a functioning democracy, because it compounds the problems of having a Senate that's so focused on some of the smallest, some of the smallest populations in the country. We can do better than that. We can honor their need and their constitutional right to participate in the process, while still being able to make decisions at the end of the day.
MITCHELL: I want to also ask you about climate, because there's a new report from the risk intelligence, a new analysis, an assessment that is warning the White House that climate change is posing a major national security threat. But a key pillar of the president's program, the clean energy program, is going to be dropped because of opposition from Senator Manchin. You come from a state that has the most glorious environment, where, you know, I as a child loved to ride horses and went to school and, you know, there can be nothing more beautiful than the Colorado Rockies as far as I'm concerned. So, how do you feel about this?
BENNET: Well, first of all, let me say to you, come back to Colorado, we'll take you…
MITCHELL: Thank you.
BENNET: … anytime for as long as you want to be there. But let me tell you how I feel about it. We spent the entire summer, in many parts of the state not being able to see the mountains. Imagine that, Andrea. People live in our state and come to Colorado, move to Colorado so they can see the mountains, but because of the smoke from California, we weren't able to see it. The Colorado River is at a vanishingly small flow at this point and as a result of that, Arizona is going to have to cut back on its water this year. We had mud slides that closed I-70 day after day after day. You know, seriously diminishing the economy on the western slope of Colorado. So these issues are here today as a result of climate change. They are affecting our economy in Colorado today. They're affecting our culture today. I've had these conversations with Joe Manchin. We, several times, a number of times, and we just have to keep pushing here. I mean -- and then on top of everything else, you and I were talking about the not surprising analysis from DOD and our intelligence community that climate change is a national security threat. It's a global security threat. When we see people going hungry because of climate change, when we see seaways changing because of climate change, when see people, refugee crises being provoked because of climate change, the world has to act, and the world cannot act without the leadership of the United
States of America. And that's why we got to get it sorted out here.
MITCHELL: Wow. Thank you so much for your wisdom on all of this. It's really appreciated.
