On Sunday's AM Joy on MSNBC, it was another case of liberals speaking of former Bill Clinton's sex scandals as if consensual adulterous sex with Monica Lewinsky were the worst thing he was accused of as the panel discussed recent scandals from Roy Moore and Al Franken to Donald Trump.
And for her part, pretend conservative Jennifer Rubin actually hit Democrats from the left as she complained that "Democrats keep harping on Bill Clinton," presumably referring to a recent willingness of some liberals to throw Bill Clinton under the bus to give an appearance of consistency in going after current politicians like Republicans Roy Moore and Donald Trump.
At about 10:06 a.m. ET, addressing Jonathan Capehart who substituted hosted for the first few minutes, Rubin griped:
And I must say, you know, in this comparison, I don't understand for the life of me, Jon, why the Democrats keep harping on Bill Clinton, who has been out of office for 20 years. There is someone in the Oval Office right now who needs to account, who is very comparable in many ways to Roy Moore, and I think that's the comparison we need to be making.
A few minutes later, MSNBC host Joy Reid brought up the issue of Republicans having a sexual misconduct double standard without acknowledging the similar double standards of her fellow Democrats. She also ignored the sexual assault accusations against Clinton -- some of which covered his time in office -- as she onlly referred to the Lewinsky scandal.
Referring to liberal panel member Jason Johnson of The Root, Reid commented:
I just concur with what Jason said, is that "I want this office -- we want this power -- and so we have to excuse something that goes -- I'm sorry -- far beyond and beneath what you're talking about with Bill Clinton and a consensual affair with Monica Lewinsky which was horrible in the sense of that it was a dynamic of power that was completely asymmetrical, right?"
But it is not child molestation, okay, and you're talking about the situation with Al Franken for which he has repented and apologized which the President of the United States has not done with more than 15 accusers accusing him of that behavior of worse. So you have for Republicans literally an ethic that now says, "As long as we get power, we literally don't care who conveys that power to us."
The MSNBC host did not mention that Media Equalizer co-founder Melanie Morgan recently made accusations that Franken behaved aggressively toward her after an appearance on ABC's Politically Incorrect, which suggests Franken has behavioral problems toward women beyond just one incident.
Moments later, Reid claimed that Bill Clinton was already held accountable as the group further discussed the issue of double standard:
ANUSHAY HOSSEIN, FORBES CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Republicans and Dems are equally capable of being misogynistic and abusing women, but we're talking about now. Bill Clinton is not in the office now. John F. Kennedy is not in the office right now. We have to talk about the present -- and that's Trump and Moore.
REID: And let's remember that Bill Clinton was held to account --
HOSSAIN: Yes.
REID: -- $70 million was spent holding Bill Clinton to account for that affair with Monica Lewinsky, and there was a forensic examination of his life that went along with that Whitewater to Lewinsky investigations.
RUBIN: And he was impeached!
REID: And he was impeached. Right, if you want parity, then, should not Donald Trump be subjected to a forensic -- if Republicans want to be consistent, and they want to use Bill Clinton as a standard --
HOSSAIN: If we investigate one, let's investigate the other.
REID: Then let's investigate.
Forbes contributing writer Anushay Hossain took a further shot at Republicans as she soon added:
It's not even a debate or a question anymore. They are the party of white supremacists -- they have already made that clear -- of sexual assaulters. The question today is: Is it child molesters as well?
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Sunday, November 19, AM Joy on MSNBC:
10:06 a.m. ET
JENNIFER RUBIN, WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: And I must say, you know, in this comparison, I don't understand for the life of me, Jon, why the Democrats keep harping on Bill Clinton, who has been out of office for 20 years. There is someone in the Oval Office right now who needs to account, who is very comparable in many ways to Roy Moore, and I think that's the comparison we need to be making.
(...)
JOY REID: The situational ethics here -- and that used to be something that Republicans were opposed to -- right -- the idea that "the death of outrage" that Bill Bennett talked about around Bill Clinton, but, you know, I think I just concur with what Jason said, is that "I want this office -- we want this power -- and so we have to excuse something that goes -- I'm sorry -- far beyond and beneath what you're talking about with Bill Clinton and a consensual affair with Monica Lewinsky which was horrible in the sense of that it was a dynamic of power that was completely asymmetrical, right?"
But it is not child molestation, okay, and you're talking about the situation with Al Franken for which he has repented and apologized which the President of the United States has not done with more than 15 accusers accusing him of that behavior of worse. So you have for Republicans literally an ethic that now says, "As long as we get power, we literally don't care who conveys that power to us."
(...)
ANUSHAY HOSSEIN, FORBES CONTRIBUTING WRITER: And I'm worried that we're going to be distracted because the most important thing to remember in all of this is that sexual harassment and sexual assault are not partisan issues. Breaking news: Republicans and Dems are equally capable of being misogynistic and abusing women, but we're talking about now. Bill Clinton is not in the office now. John F. Kennedy is not in the office right now. We have to talk about the present -- and that's Trump and Moore.
REID: And let's remember that Bill Clinton was held to account --
HOSSAIN: Yes.
REID: -- $70 million was spent holding Bill Clinton to account for that affair with Monica Lewinsky, and there was a forensic examination of his life that went along with that Whitewater to Lewinsky investigations.
RUBIN: And he was impeached!
REID: And he was impeached. Right, if you want parity, then, should not Donald Trump be subjected to a forensic -- if Republicans want to be consistent, and they want to use Bill Clinton as a standard --
HOSSAIN: If we investigate one, let's investigate the other.
REID: Then let's investigate.
(...)
RUBIN: Governor Ivy said, "I'm for what the Republican party stands for." Are they standing for child molesters? Are they standing for simply hatred of the mainstream media? Are they standing for hatred of the Democrats? And the answer is: I think so. They've been reduced to this tribal survival for survival's sake -- that if it helps the party, they're for it. If you become a burden on the party and the tribe, you're out. We vote you out the island, and the only thing that matters is putting Republicans in those chairs.
HOSSAIN: It's not even a debate or a question anymore. They are the party of white supremacists -- they have already made that clear -- of sexual assaulters. The question today is: Is it child molesters as well?
