What do you get when you take the comedy out of a late night show and turn it into a conspiracy-prone nut version of The McLaughlin Group? Late Night with Seth Meyers apparently.
According to Meyers, former President Barack Obama made one crucial mistake during his presidency that led to the rise of Donald Trump: not prosecuting former Bush Administration officials. Against the backdrop of Trump's second impeachment, the former comedian turned Democratic hack alleged early Tuesday morning that allowing Bush officials off for their supposed wrongdoing led Trump to believe he could get away with similar wrongdoing.
Is this really what anyone would come to at the end of the day before bed? It's certainly not funny. Meyers began his diatribe by comparing Obama to President Biden and Trump to Bush:
Twelve years ago, Barack Obama was set to take office in a very similar situation to the one Joe Biden is facing today. A deeply unpopular Republican president who first entered office despite losing the popular vote had just overseen a series of unprecedented calamities that caused misery and suffering for millions of people every time Democrats win the presidency, it's like a long-lost uncle left them a mansion in their will, then they open the front door and find out he was a hoarder who made his own cheese "Oh, dear god, what am I supposed to do with this it smells like the inside of a mummy.”
He referred to the Bush era as "rife with corruption and abuses of power including torture, warrantless wiretapping, CIA black sites, and the destruction of evidence." While, he praised Obama for "shepherding through historic achievements like health care and financial reform," he also condemned him for making "one early decision before he even became president that has had consequences to this day."
Meyers then played a clip from January 11, 2009, where ABC's George Stephanopoulos read a question from change.gov urging Obama to appoint Patrick Fitzgerald of Plamegate fame, "to independently the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?” Obama gave a politician-like answer where he refused to answer the question.
Meyers used Obama's non-answer and refusal to prosecute Bush officials to lament:
Looking forward, not backwards; didn't work. The people responsible for the catastrophes of the Bush era stuck around because they never faced any consequences: Karl Rove, Ari Fleischer, and John Yoo are regular guests on Fox. John Bolton worked for Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh are on the Supreme Court, and a bunch of other Bush acolytes started the Lincoln Project to rehab their reputations.
Meyers then proved that even a broken clock is right two times a day by mocking the Lincoln Project for thinking that by they could become a serious political movement by simply putting Lincoln's name on their organization. He then, however, returned to his original point, "Anyway, the point is, if we don't hold accountable the people responsible for eroding our democracy, they'll just remain a part of public life and commit the same crimes again if given the chance that was true in the Bush era, and it's true now of the Trump administration."
This segment was sponsored by McDonald's. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
Here is a transcript for the February 9 show:
NBC
Late Night with Seth Meyers
12:41 AM
SETH MEYERS: Twelve years ago, Barack Obama was set to take office in a very similar situation to the one Joe Biden is facing today. A deeply unpopular Republican president who first entered office despite losing the popular vote had just overseen a series of unprecedented calamities that caused misery and suffering for millions of people every time Democrats win the presidency, it's like a long-lost uncle left them a mansion in their will, then they open the front door and find out he was a hoarder who made his own cheese "Oh, dear god, what am I supposed to do with this it smells like the inside of a mummy.” And on top of all that, the Bush-era was also rife with corruption and abuses of power including torture, warrantless wiretapping, CIA black sites, and the destruction of evidence. And while Obama set to work rolling back some of the damage done by the Bush Administration, while also shepherding through historic achievements like health care and financial reform, he made one early decision before he even became president that has had consequences to this day.
BEGIN CLIP:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: “Will you appoint a special prosecutor, (ideally Patrick Fitzgerald), to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?”
BARACK OBAMA: We're still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions, and so forth and obviously we're going to be looking at past practices. And I don't believe that anybody is above the law on the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward, as opposed to looking backwards.END CLIP
MEYERS: First of all, just a side note here, remember what it was like to have a president who at least looked young when they first took office? I mean, sure, Obama aged like any president, but at least when he started, he looked like a guest star on Dawson's Creek. "What kind of name is Barack?" "What kind of name is Pacey?” Meanwhile, when Trump started, he looked like he'd been found face down in Dawson's Creek. Second, and more importantly, I appreciate Obama's optimism, but "Looking forward, not backwards" didn't work. The people responsible for the catastrophes of the Bush era stuck around because they never faced any consequences Karl Rove, Ari Fleischer, and John Yoo are regular guests on Fox. John Bolton worked for Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh are on the Supreme Court, and a bunch of other Bush acolytes started the Lincoln Project to rehab their reputations. I mean, anyone can just name something after Lincoln to make it sound good, regardless of what it actually is. RadioShack would still be there if they had just called it Lincoln's house of Loose Wires and Foreign Batteries. Like, if I told you I was a founder at the Lincoln Institute for Analytical Thinking, you'd think I was smart, right and if I sent you an email to donate that said something vague like, "Help us restore American norms and values," you'd probably toss in a few bucks, right? Well, what if you scrolled down all the way into the fine print and discovered that 100% of the money raised by my Lincoln Institute specifically went to helping "Late Night pay music royalties for the use of K-Fed's 2006 single Popozao?" And, by the way, it's not working. At this point, all we can afford is one "Popo." Isn't that right, K-fed? ♪ Popo ♪ that genius I do shout I'm just singing "Popozao.” Anyway, the point is, if we don't hold accountable the people responsible for eroding our democracy, they'll just remain a part of public life and commit the same crimes again if given the chance that was true in the Bush era, and it's true now of the Trump administration, as we enter his second impeachment trial that's a point congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made during a powerful live stream last week.
