It was a good week for liberals, which means according to MSNBC logic it was a good week for democracy itself. On Friday’s installment of The 11th Hour guest host Alicia Menendez rejoiced over Raphael Warnock’s win, Donald Trump’s woes, and the passage of the same-sex marriage bill. Beschloss also got in a tortured analogy when condemning critics of the Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout trade.
After Menendez asked “What’s your biggest takeaway,” Beschloss declared, “I think this was a really good week for our democracy. I have been enjoying almost every minute.”
Beschloss began, “with Reverend Warnock, you know, this is, he has been elected to a six-year term in Georgia. Martin Luther King's church pastor in Atlanta. Well, 1960, Martin Luther King was locked up in a Georgia prison that was so dangerous that Coretta Scott King thought there was a danger that he would be killed in prison. Look how far things have come.”
We can only claim racial progress in America only if Democrats win? That doesn’t sound like democracy. Neither does hyping the demise of the other major party, as Beschloss also did, “This is a week in which Donald Trump has continued to implode.”
As Republicans prepare for the 2024 primary, Beschloss this implosion may lead to the extinction of the GOP:
Look at history. When parties do not adapt to party opinion, they die. That happened to the Federalists in 1816. War of 1812, they were branded the pro-British party. Happened to the Whigs, they did not adapt to changing views on slavery. And if the Republicans continue to beat this horse of Donald Trump, and stick to him, which they may have to because of presidential primaries, the Republicans themselves may die too.”
Menendez then brought up the Griner-Bout swap and asked about “all those Republicans are immediately pivoting back to culture wars” as if they were necessarily distinct from those concerned about whether the deal incentives further hostage taking.
The man who wrote a book about presidents and war responded by offering up a truly terrible analogy, “For most of American history, and something like this take, 1962 when the Soviet-convicted spy, Rudolf Abel, was traded to-- back to the Russians in exchange for Francis Garry Powers, the American U-2 pilot, people rejoiced.”
That was a spy-for-spy trade, not a terrorist-for-basketball player trade. Still, Beschloss lamented, “everything has to be politicized. And what we have heard during the last number of hours has been, in some cases, homophobic. In some cases, racist, certainly anti-woke, so called. That's different from most of American history.”
Shifting gears one more time, Menendez brought up the same-sex marriage bill and asked, “Can you help us understand how significant this piece of legislation is?”
Beschloss claimed that, “it comes under the heading of democracy is working” and “this is what the Founders intended. Which was, if the Supreme Court overreaches which it might because the Supreme Court was one-third appointed by Donald Trump, 6-to-3 conservative majority, Congress then comes in and passes the Respect for Marriage Act to make sure that that kind of power is checked.”
For Beschloss, checks and balances are only good when it is Democrats doing the checking and balancing.
This segment was sponsored by Chase.
Here is a transcript for the December 9 show:
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
12/9/2022
11:46 PM ET
ALICIA MENENDEZ: You saw that, that looked like a month, a year’s worth of news—
MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: I did.
MENENDEZ: -- crammed into one week. What’s your biggest takeaway?
BESCHLOSS: Alicia, I think this was a really good week for our democracy. I have been enjoying almost every minute. And I hope that all of our friends watching feel the same way.
You know, begin with Reverend Warnock, you know, this is, he has been elected to a six-year term in Georgia. Martin Luther King's church pastor in Atlanta. Well, 1960, Martin Luther King was locked up in a Georgia prison that was so dangerous that Coretta Scott King thought there was a danger that he would be killed in prison.
Look how far things have come. This is a week in which Donald Trump has continued to implode. You know, let's think about what might have happened this week had the Republicans won in those battleground states. Those election denying candidates, they might have-- losers might have said we really won. We should be installed. There should be violence in the streets. Almost none of that happened.
You know, the fact that we are living in a peaceful country that really, this last month, has resembled the way things used to be in this country in terms of democracy, I think we have to pause and enjoy. And, the other thing is, when you are thinking about Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Look at history. When parties do not adapt to party opinion, they die.
That happened to the Federalists in 1816. War of 1812, they were branded the pro-British party. Happened to the Whigs, they did not adapt to changing views on slavery. And if the Republicans continue to beat this horse of Donald Trump, and stick to him, which they may have to because of presidential primaries, the Republicans themselves may die too.
MENENDEZ: The release of Britney Griner, which is of course one of the big stories this week. A joyful moment? Also, when I say divisive and when I say divisive, I don't mean the people who are arguing substantively about what this means for the future of U.S. hostages, but rather all those Republicans are immediately pivoting back to culture wars, right? Talking about Brittney Griner taking a knee, making that the focus of this conversation. What does the reaction tell us about where we find ourselves now?
BESCHLOSS: You know, it didn't even take three minutes to do, Alicia, before people were saying, she should not have been the prisoner let out. I loved your segment about Paul Whelan. Of course he should be out. But that was not a choice for the United States. For most of American history, and something like this take, 1962 when the Soviet-convicted spy, Rudolf Abel, was traded to-- back to the Russians in exchange for Francis Garry Powers, the American U-2 pilot, people rejoiced.
Compare that to now, everything has to be politicized. And what we have heard during the last number of hours has been, in some cases, homophobic. In some cases, racist, certainly anti-woke, so called. That's different from most of American history. I'm hoping the cycle will turn so that everything in our lives will not be politicized this way.
MENENDEZ: I mean, this week, because you, listen, we've talked about Georgia. We’ve talked about some of this stuff, yes Trump, we’ve talked about Brittney Griner, we haven't even gotten to the Respect for Marriage Act. I mean, that is headed to the president’s desk. Can you help us understand how significant this piece of legislation is?
BESCHLOSS: I think it comes under the heading of democracy is working. You know, remember when Clarence Thomas had those words in the Dobbs decision, suggesting that the Court's decision on same-sex marriage, equality, and 2015 might be revisited?
Well, thank Clarence Thomas for whatever momentum that created for the Respect for Marriage Act which protects same-sex marriage, protects religious liberty, and also protects marriage for people from different races just like Clarence Thomas has.
That might not have happened that way and this is what the Founders intended. Which was, if the Supreme Court overreaches which it might because the Supreme Court was one-third appointed by Donald Trump, 6-to-3 conservative majority, Congress then comes in and passes the Respect for Marriage Act to make sure that that kind of power is checked.
Look how far we've come, 1996, Bill Clinton opposed same-sex marriage, felt he had to do it in a Republican year for political reasons. 2004, George W. Bush said that marriage between a man and a woman’s a fundamental institution of the human race. That helped him to get re-elected in 2004, but was very brutal to many people in our society. Look how far we have come in just what? 18 years? It should've been much faster. But, if you think that democracy is sometimes slow. But in the end, we will probably do the right thing and bend towards justice. I think you and we should have enjoyed this past week.
