Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been accused by two women of sexual misconduct and their claims are flimsy to say the least (particularly since the people the accusers claim were witnesses say he either wasn’t there or the parties didn’t happen). But for Lyin’ Dan Rather, the facts don’t matter, which explained why he pompously declared the Republican Party dead if they confirmed him.
During a Monday appearance on CNN Tonight, the disgraced journalist joined host Don Lemon and analyst Carl Bernstein for some old-fashioned GOP bashing. After Lemon introduced him as an “iconic” journalist, Rather slammed Republicans as cowards for not standing up to Trump in regards to the Russia investigation.
After suggesting President Trump was holding onto Kavanaugh to preserve himself from criminal charges in the Russia probe, Rather declared that Republican Party was going to go the way of the dinosaurs if they confirmed the highly-qualified nominee:
You know, in these theories of evolution, we talk about what happened to the dinosaurs. They were yesterday's animal, and they got to be extinct. If the Republican Party isn't careful, that's what's going to happen to them because they may be able to push through the Kavanaugh -- railroad through the Kavanaugh nomination with what’s known on the hill as the old boys, the older white men who have the power. But this can't last because America’s changing.
Of course! The tired out party of “old white men” line. That fit right into Bernstein’s incessant “cold civil war” hysteria. “[R]ight now we see the two great battles of the cold civil war, the Antietam and Gettysburg, as it were, coming together in these two events, the Mueller investigation and the Kavanaugh nomination,” he asserted. Given the context and the battles, it’s clear who he believed the Confederates were in this piece of Resistance fan fiction
Completely neglecting to mention that the FBI had declined to investigate the first set of claims against Kavanaugh, Bernstein decried how the truth-adverse Republicans refused to call on the FBI to probe the allegations:
And there is a very convenient and effective means to try and get at the truth, and that is legitimate investigation involving the FBI in the case of Judge Kavanaugh, which the Republicans on the Hill refuse to allow, which the President is also refusing to endorse.
“[W]hat has happened to the Republican Party? I try to understand and figure it out every day, and I just don't get it. I don't know what happened to them,” an exhausted-sounding Lemon lamented to Bernstein.
According to Bernstein, Trump had “captured” the Republican Party and was overtly implementing all the racist policies they’ve wanted for decades. “And Trump embodies a lot of things that those who call themselves Republicans want to see happen in this country, and he's taken issues of race, of immigration, anger at the elites,” he asserted.
Bernstein then suggested that Trump had pushed America’s “cold civil war” to the brink of becoming a hot one. Sounding like a loyal member of the liberal “resistance,” Bernstein proclaimed that Trump was not the President of a united country. “But the result is he is President of his base. He is not President of the people of this country in any united way,” he spat.
After they were through with their Republican bashing, Rather ended the segment with a reminder for viewers that Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day. And with an affirmative pound on the table, Lemon ended the segment. I guess they never waste an opportunity for new recruits.
The transcript below, click "expand" to read:
CNN Tonight
September 24, 2018
10:39:51 p.m. Eastern(…)
DON LEMON: Two major stories. Huge consequences. Both coming to a head on Thursday. So let's discuss now with two iconic journalists. Dan Rather, the host of the Big Interview on access TV, and Carl Bernstein, CNN political analyst. Good to see both of you. Thank you for coming on this evening. So, Dan, Republican Senator Susan Collins tweeted this today: “I am very concerned by reports that Deputy A.G. Rosenstein will either be fired or forced to resign.” So it seems like Republicans are very concerned about a variety of things. Why aren't they acting on that concern, though?
DAN RATHER: Well, it's a little lack of courage, but I think we're ahead of ourselves. I will say, Don, Oscar Wilde once wrote that the truth is rarely pure and never simple. And so it is with so much in this case, the Kavanaugh case, and what's happening with the Rosenstein situation.
(…)
LEMON: Very well stated, Mr. Rather. I told you, iconic journalist. Carl, I'm going to bring you in and let you respond. You say that the Republican Party has shown no interest in learning the truth regarding Kavanaugh allegations or the Russia investigation for that matter. Go on. Explain.
CARL BERNSTEIN: Well, I think that's right. I think Dan has it exactly right, but let's go to part two of that equation. And that is that the President of the United States has shown repeatedly that he has no interest whatsoever in the truth emerging from either the Mueller investigation or the appointment of Judge Kavanaugh and whether or not these events occurred that have been alleged. And there is a very convenient and effective means to try and get at the truth, and that is legitimate investigation involving the FBI in the case of Judge Kavanaugh, which the Republicans on the Hill refuse to allow, which the President is also refusing to endorse.
(…)
That's what all of this is about. There's a cold civil war. You and I have talked about this a good bit going on, and right now we see the two great battles of the cold civil war, the Antietam and Gettysburg as it were coming together in these two events, the Mueller investigation and the Kavanaugh nomination.
(…)
RATHER: You know, in these theories of evolution, we talk about what happened to the dinosaurs. They were yesterday's animal, and they got to be extinct. If the Republican Party isn't careful, that's what's going to happen to them because they may be able to push through the Kavanaugh -- railroad through the Kavanaugh nomination with what’s known on the hill as the old boys, the older white men who have the power. But this can't last because America’s changing.
For example, when Clarence Thomas got approved, when the Anita Hill case in the early 1990s, one of the things going for Thomas is so many people of African-American heritage were pulling for Thomas. They're not pulling for Kavanaugh.
LEMON: You want to talk about that, Carl, because my question too, Carl, is what has happened to the Republican Party? I try to understand and figure it out every day, and I just don't get it. I don't know what happened to them.
BERNSTEIN: Well, I think the Republican Party right now has been captured by Donald Trump. It's moved rightward for the last 20, 25 years. And Trump embodies a lot of things that those who call themselves Republicans want to see happen in this country, and he's taken issues of race, of immigration, anger at the elites. He's been very smart about the way he's done it -- the President, and the way he campaigned. He won the presidency by following his own instincts.
But the result is he is President of his base. He is not President of the people of this country in any united way. And what we're seeing right now is an attempt to win the midterm elections through his base as a means of staying in power. It's not at all clear he's going to succeed. But what's also clear is the demographics of the country are changing, and that base is not reflective of the larger America. And that base is actually a smaller and smaller part of the larger America.
But in the interim, Donald Trump has raised the temperature of this cold civil war to the point of ignition, and he's done it by obliterating a regard for truth, for competence, what we see in the Bob Woodward, what we see indeed in what Rod Rosenstein is supposed to have said about needing the 25th amendment.
(…)
LEMON: Thank you, Carl. Thank you, Dan. I appreciate it.
RATHER: Don't forget tomorrow is voter registration -- National Voter Registration Day.
LEMON: [Pounds fist on table] Thank you, sir.
