CBS Saturday Morning’s has recently taken it upon itself to deliver gushing interviews of liberal heroes. First there was actress Jane Fonda, then there was Clinton strategist James Carville. This Saturday it was author Margaret Atwood’s turn, and co-host Michelle Miller was there to help her affirm the idea that the conservative-imposed dystopia she wrote about in The Handmaid’s Tale is no longer a work of fiction.
Miller, who also conducted the Carville interview and whose husband is the former Democratic mayor of New Orleans and current president of the National Urban League, declared in a voiceover that the book “struck a chord after the 2016 election and a promise to end abortion rights. Although written in the era of another Republican president, Ronald Reagan.”
The premise behind The Handmaid’s Tale is that America has fallen into dystopia, and women have become enslaved and solely exist to get pregnant and have children. It is quite ridiculous to pretend that describes America today, but Atwood claimed it does, “It seemed less of a possibility then certainly to some readers and some reviewers, who said, ‘Don't be silly, this would never happen in the United States.’ And now, they're saying, ‘This should not be an instruction manual.’”
Miller played along, “What is that for you to be witnessing?” and Atwood replied, “You know, I would rather have been wrong, given the choice.”
The duo then moved into how Atwood’s parents shaped her career, with her claiming their scientific background has led her to be “so picky about particulars.”
Except for the particular that life begins at conception. That one gets extrapolated into a wild allegation that a GOP or pro-life-governed America enslaves women. Still, Miller asked, “Is part of your, I don't know if it's drive or mission –“
Atwood finished Miller’s sentence with “compulsion,” which Miller agreed was appropriate. Atwood then continued, “Well, I think I'm interested in the difference between what people say and what they do. I knew a lot of people who had escaped from Europe for one reason or another, so I was very interested in human rights.”
Of all the reasons people fled fascism and communism, the “right” to kill babies was not among them.
Here is a transcript for the December 7 show:
CBS Saturday Morning
12/7/2024
9:04 PM ET
MICHELLE MILLER: It struck a chord after the 2016 election and a promise to end abortion rights. Although written in the era of another Republican president, Ronald Reagan.
ATWOOD: It seemed less of a possibility then certainly to some readers and some reviewers, who said, “Don't be silly, this would never happen in the United States.” And now, they're saying, “This should not be an instruction manual.”
MILLER: What is that for you to be witnessing?
ATWOOD: You know, I would rather have been wrong, given the choice.
MILLER: Atwood leans on the lessons of history.
These are different times we're living in.
ATWOOD: They're very different times, but all times have been different from what came before. What you do is surf the wave, do not despair, try to have a clear-eyed view of what is going on, a return to civilized speech is in order, and the ability to listen to what other people are saying and understand, perhaps, why they are saying it.
MILLER: A research skill she learned from her parents, both scientists, who raised her in the outdoors of Ontario.
ATWOOD: I therefore grew up more with the biologists than with any kind of writer. And that's why I'm so picky about particulars.
MILLER: That's why you're so specific about getting things right.
ATWOOD: That's a very nice way of putting it.
MILLER: Is part of your, I don't know if it's drive or mission –
ATWOOD: Compulsion.
MILLER: Compulsion?
ATWOOD: Well, I think I'm interested in the difference between what people say and what they do. I knew a lot of people who had escaped from Europe for one reason or another, so I was very interested in human rights.
MILLER: We spoke to Atwood twice, in New York before the U.S. Election, and in Toronto the day after.
So, what do you make of our latest news? She said she was certain of a different outcome.
ATWOOD: I'm going to get a lot of inbounds going, boohoo, boohoo, boohoo, and I'm going to say, this is not the end of the world.
