While most Americans were enjoying their Memorial Day weekend by spending time with family and paying tribute to our brave men and women who gave their lives for our country, MSNBC decided to continue vile and vitriolic rants against its political enemies in the Republican Party.
On Monday night, MSNBC’s 11th Hour anchor Brian Williams led the segment by playing a clip of President Biden’s Memorial Day speech in which he claimed “democracy itself is in peril.” The left-wing host then brought on a panel which consisted of New York Times Correspondent Peter Baker, Texas Tribune Washington Bureau Chief Abby Livingston, and Neal Katyal, Obama’s former acting Solicitor General.
Baker started off the insanity by making the preposterous claim that American democracy is under attack in much the same way as other third world countries around the world. “I spent four years living in Moscow, where I was a correspondent for the Washington Post,” he recalled. Baker warned that the U.S. was no better than such authoritarian regimes: “I traveled and reported from the Middle East, I traveled from countries all around the world, and we've seen, I think, in recent times, stories here I would have only imagined we would have covered as foreign correspondents.”
That comment is laughable on its face. Especially coming from a putative reporter who claims he’s been to the Middle East, which throughout its history has seen no shortages of fraudulent elections, including not allowing women to vote.
Later in the segment, Williams wailed that the federal government should be able to cancel state election laws at will: "What power does the federal government have? What power does the Department of Justice have when states, when Republicans in legislatures are working so hard, and in some cases, passing laws signed by the governor to restrict voting?"
Not to be out done by Peter Baker, Neal Katyal decided to go even lower into the leftist sewer by claiming the Republican Party is an “anti-democracy party.” Katyal even decided to re-write history with this eyebrow-raising quote: “And when the Democratic Party was named and originated, I don't think anyone thought that to be controversial, to be like, in favor of democracy. Who would be against that? But now we know, you have to view this Texas vote in light of so much else that the Republican Party has been doing, like a concerted effort in Georgia and other states to roll back voting, a slavish devotion to a filibuster that bears no relationship to the filibuster our founders knew that's totally empowering of a small minority.”
It's truly startling that Katyal's knowledge of history is so poor that he would ignore the Democratic Party's dismal legacy of supporting slavery, armed insurrection, and Jim Crow-era racism.
MSNBC can’t even give the political attacks a day off. Even on a solemn occasion like Memorial Day, the far-left cable channel can’t help itself.
This appalling display of left-wing media bias was brought to you by Verizon and Applebee’s. Contact them at the Conservatives Fight Back page here
Read the transcript below by clicking "expand:"
The 11th Hour
5/31/2021
11:05 PM
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Peter, I would like to begin with you, given the life you have led in this country and overseas, given all the stories you have chronicled as a journalist, how bracing, how striking was it to hear an American president declare our democracy in peril on this Memorial Day 2021?
PETER BAKER [NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT]: Well, I think what we have learned in recent times, is that the democracy we all thought was pretty well cemented is in fact fragile. The institutions, the norms, the standards, the traditions that we believed were rock solid in the United States have their vulnerabilities, just as we have seen in other countries around the world. I spent four years living in Moscow, where I was a correspondent for the Washington Post, I traveled and reported from the Middle East, I traveled from countries all around the world, and we've seen, I think, in recent times, stories here I would have only imagined we would have covered as foreign correspondents, and I think that’s why you’re right today had a certain poignancy because the people who fought and died to protect this country, whose memories we honor today, did so with the idea that they were, you know, defending a robust and healthy democratic system, one I think we do need to continue to protect and guard, whether it be on the battlefields or in our society today. That’s why I think, one thing we all focus on today no matter what party we’re in, whether in journalism or in government or politics, we give thanks for those who have stood up for us and we think about the role we ourselves have to play, making this a more perfect nation, as they say.
WILLIAMS: Abby, to Peter’s last point, that somehow brings this story to you because it brings the story to Texas, and the prong of this, that Republicans in that state are busy and trying to achieve. Tell us how long Democrats can stave this off, how long can the impact from a walk-out last and what power the governor and Republicans have regarding a special session.
ABBY LIVINGSTON [WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, TEXAS TRIBUNE]: Well a special session is called by the governor, otherwise he, Texas actually has an incredibly weak executive. But the how long is really not the specific question. It's when. So the governor, there will be a special session in the fall almost no matter what to count for redistricting and the census delay of that. But the Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is urging him to call one in June. So it's a matter of when did they pick it up again? In June or the fall? And it's very unlikely Democrats will in the end be able to override this. In some ways this bill could get worse for them and so it's very much up in the air but I think it did inject some enthusiasm into the state party and to national Democrats to have a cause specific on this voting rights issue to jump on to.
WILLIAMS: I want to return to this topic with you in a moment after we hear from Neal, and Neal we asked 30 different versions of this question to you and the former feds who we rely on during times like this. What power does the federal government have? What power does the Department of Justice have when states, when Republicans in legislatures are working so hard, and in some cases, passing laws signed by the governor to restrict voting?
NEAL KATYAL [FMR. ACTING SOLICITOR GENERAL UNDER OBAMA]: So before getting to that Brian. I think there is a bigger point here, there is a forest and this forest I think unites a lot of what we're talking about tonight, not just Texas, and this state but the January 6th commission, Biden's remarks you just averted to, and the name of it is the Republican Party has become an anti-democracy party. And when the Democratic Party was named and originated, I don't think anyone thought that to be controversial, to be like, in favor of democracy. Who would be against that? But now we know, you have to view this Texas vote in light of so much else that the Republican Party has been doing, like a concerted effort in Georgia and other states to roll back voting, a slavish devotion to a filibuster that bears no relationship to the filibuster our founders knew that's totally empowering of a small minority. You’ve got a party who’s scared, you know, heaven forbid to have people vote in Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. You've got a party who’s hellbent on getting their nominees to the Supreme Court to strike down legislation that they don't like, that's been passed by a majority of people. This is an anti-majority party in the end, and it's a collapsed party. It's a party that lost its moral ground. Ah, you know, It's like the USSR in the Cold War. Yes, they’ve bluster and strength and insults but they don't have any purpose anymore. And to answer your question, because of the Supreme Court decision in 2013, the federal government is fairly limited in the powers it has. I argued the case in 2009 that saved that part of the Voting Rights Act, but it was reversed in 2013 by a five to four vote. And so right now, pending in Congress is the John Lewis Voting Rights Act which would restore that act. So when Texas tries to pass a bill like this, it would require pre-clearance in Washington, D.C. by a court or by the Justice Department. That’s the way stuff operated since 1965 but now it isn't because of that new Supreme Court decision. So we need that law passed. Without it I do fear we will have more and more antics like this from a party that is bent on these antics.
