Appearing on Jonathan Capehart's MSNBC show on Sunday, Rob "Meathead" Reiner said that our country's democracy is "hanging by a thread," at that if Biden AG Merrick Garland doesn't indict Donald Trump, it's "the end of democracy."
Capehart opened the conversation by citing Reiner's recent tweet, wherein he apocalyptically asserted: "Every day that goes by without Donald Trump being indicted for leading a deadly insurrection to overthrow the United States government takes us one day closer to ending our democracy."
Reiner said he was fine with Garland taking his time to build a "rock-solid" case, but that "he better at some point announce that there is an indictment against Donald Trump."
Reiner also claimed that if Trump is indicted, "there's going to be violence. There is no mistake about it."
In the course of his rant, Reiner unwittingly gave away what really frightens liberals like him. He said:
[T]he longest democracy in – in the world, and it's hanging by a thread! And if we lose it, we lose the ability to affect climate change, health care, education, economics. All of those things are taken off the table....So, the first thing we have to do is protect the democracy, then we can talk about all of the accomplishments, and the things we are trying to accomplish in the future."
In other words, liberals aren't particularly concerned about the loss of democracy and the freedoms that Americans enjoy under the Constitution.
What liberals are truly worried about is their possible loss of power! Their power to impose their vision, and to control virtually every aspect of the lives of Americans, from climate policy, to education, to the economy, and beyond.
Reiner also gave liberals what would be quite the campaign strategy by arguing, if you don't do what we say come November, you're a terrorist:
He’s controlling every aspect of what he would now call the Republican Party. I don't know what it is. And so, this is an autocratic movement. So, if you're voting for Republicans, you're not voting for Republicans. You're voting for autocracy. You're voting for the man who tried to overthrow the government. So, that is what is at stake here. It's much more than, you know, am I voting for a Republican or a Democrat and I believe that Democrats right now are asleep at the wheel. They don't understand the – the – the gravity of what's happening here.
It's liberals, then, who are the true autocrats, hungering for the power of the state, and little concerned with individual liberties.
Capehart enthusiastically agreed, ending the segment by echoing his assertion that Trump's alleged crimes are "out there in plain sight."
Reiner claiming it would be the "end of democracy" if Biden AG Merrick Garland doesn't indicate Donald Trump was sponsored in part by Plenity, St. Jude Hospital, IdealAgent, and NetCredit.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC's The Sunday Show
04/24/22
10:48 am ETJONATHAN CAPEHART: This week, Rob Reiner wrote, "Every day that goes by without Donald Trump being indicted for leading a deadly insurrection to overthrow the United States government takes us one day closer to ending our democracy." And joining me right to tell me the way he sees it, actor, director, and activist Rob Reiner. Rob, great to see you again. What prompted you to tweet that?
ROB REINER: Well, I mean, you just look at what's going on right now. I mean, you’ve got a man -- first of, all let's dispense with the idea of Republican a Democrat. Or conservative and liberal. We’re talking about democracy versus autocracy. We see it happening all over the world. That's one of the reasons Putin invaded Ukraine. I mean, he’s wanting to destroy a democracy.
(....)
10:50 a.m. Eastern
REINER: He’s controlling every aspect of what he would now call the Republican Party. I don't know what it is. And so, this is an autocratic movement. So, if you're voting for Republicans, you're not voting for Republicans. You're voting for autocracy. You're voting for the man who tried to overthrow the government. So, that is what is at stake here. It's much more than, you know, am I voting for a Republican or a Democrat and I believe that Democrats right now are asleep at the wheel. They don't understand the – the – the gravity of what's happening here.
(....)
10:51 a.m. Eastern
REINER: 246 years we're coming up on, the longest democracy in – in the world, and it's hanging by a thread! And if we lose it, we lose the ability to affect climate change, health care, education, economics. All of those things are taken off the table.
(....)
10:52 a.m. Eastern
CAPEHART: How concerned are you that Attorney General Merrick Garland, like, a lot of Democrats complain that he's not doing his job, or he's not moving fast enough. Do you share – in terms of investigating January 6th. Do you share those concerns?
REINER: Well, I don't share the concerns that he's not moving fast enough. I share the concerns that if he doesn't move, then we will not have a democracy.
(....)
10:53 a.m. Eastern
So, if you're going to indict, you have to make sure that your case is rock solid. Because you don't want to go down that road and then have it fall apart.
(....)
10:53 a.m. Eastern
REINER: However, if he doesn't move forward, then you have the end of democracy. Because the rule of law means nothing, and the most egregious crime against the United States of America goes unpunished. That means you have no democracy anymore.
So, my belief is that he is doing what he needs to do. But he better, at some point, and I don't know when that is, he better at some point announce that there is an indictment against Donald Trump. Because there is no bigger crime that's been committed, and it's all out there, we know it all. It's all out there in plain sight.
CAPEHART: It is. We know it all, it's out there in plain sight. And, as I said to Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, just because we know it all, and it's been out there in plain sight, doesn't mean that we should not be continually outraged by what happened, and what a lot of people fear could happen again.
