As part of the left’s bashing of Rudy Giuliani for stating his belief that President Obama doesn’t love America, MSNBC’s The Last Word convened a panel on Thursday night to berate Giuliani and portray him as being a key leader in the Republican Party that’s caused “the partisan divide that we have” in the country.
One panelist, liberal radio show host Stephanie Miller, went as far as to compare what the former New York City Mayor told a gathering of Republican donors to using derogatory language toward African-Americans, gays, and women: “[W]henever someone starts a sentence with, this is going to be horrible, it's like when someone says I'm not a racist, but n-word for a black person. I'm not a homophobe, but f-word for gay person, I’m not a sexist, but c-word for a woman. That's what this is.”
Miller then followed up those comparisons by fawning over Obama for being “a walking endorsement for what the United States of America is” whenever he speaks with the criticism from Giuliani representing “just another example of the unprecedented disrespect that this President has gotten.”
As a reminder, this sermon about civility is coming from the person who determined that the GOP “are suicide bombers” “trying to blow your children up” and fantasized about Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Geraldo River being beaten with baseball bats.
The other portions of the panel discussion were equally absurd. Host Lawrence O’Donnell got weak in the knees (again) when discussing President Obama and his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention as being “as loving a speech about this country as I've ever heard.”
Also on the panel was illegal immigrant and activist reporter Jose Antonio Vargas, who promoted the belief that “[t]here is nothing wrong with criticizing America and analyzing why we are where we are, given the racism and the sexism and the homophobia and anti-Islam that's going on.”
With that being said, Vargas used his supposed rightful judgement to lament about “the partisan divide that we have” and how what Giuliani said “speaks to why people are so turned off by this politics.”
Speaking later, Now host Alex Wagner wandered into fallacy territory by extracting Giuliani’s comments why “Republican Party and Rudy Giuliani have no policy prescriptions to offer the country.” After a swipe at Jeb Bush, Wagner returned to the GOP and conservatives at large:
There is no discussion about anything, domestic or international, coming from the right side of the aisle and so there is a regression, complete and unabashed, as Giuliani presents, back to the year 2007 to talk about hateful, divisive politics having to do with a church Barack Obama went to ten years ago, which may or may not informed have some part of his world view, that may I add, is quite different at this moment than when it was even when he was a Senator.
The relevant portions of the segment that aired on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on February 20 are transcribed below.
MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
February 19, 2015
10:04 p.m. Eastern
ALEX WAGNER: I don't know which speeches Rudy Giuliani has been listening to, but the speech in question that's garnered all this criticism, the President made yesterday and he began it with a 15-minute instruction about how exceptional America was. I mean, This is a President who has credited his own presidency with – to American exceptionalism, who says at the preface and conclusion of almost every speech I have heard him give, which is a lot of speeches, that this country is exceptional in its union, in its ability to overcome challenges and was saying that about the threat posed by ISIS, that we overcome these challenges in front of us and our union is more perfect at the end of it. I mean, think this is really Rudy Giuliani searching for a way to undermine Barack Obama's credibility.
(....)
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Stephanie Miller, he – the President – I don't recall the President saying that America was the leader of the Crusades. I missed that part.
STEPHANIE MILLER: Right. Right. You know, Lawrence, whenever someone starts a sentence with, this is going to be horrible, it's like when someone says I'm not a racist, but n-word for a black person. I'm not a homophobe but f-word for gay person, I’m not a sexist, but c-word for a woman. That's what this is. He absolutely is saying the President doesn't love America and Alex pointed out, the President’s speech we remember, he said only in America could my story be possible. In every speech Barack Obama is a walking endorsement for what the United States of America is and this is just another example of the unprecedented disrespect that this President has gotten.
O’DONNELL: Let's just remind ourselves with a little snatch of that very first speech where the country saw Barack Obama for the first time, which was, as loving a speech about this country as I've ever heard. Let's listen to this.
(....)
O’DONNELL: Jose, I cannot think of a Republican or Democratic political speech that reached that height.
JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS: I just have to say because I've been watching and reading what Mayor Giuliani, who used to be the mayor of one of the most diverse cities in America, I just can't believe it came out of his mouth and I have to say too I can't stop thinking about James Baldwin who said I love America more than any other country in the world and exactly for that reason I reserve the right to criticize her perpetually. There is nothing wrong with criticizing America and analyzing why we are where we are, given the racism and the sexism and the homophobia and anti-Islam that's going on in this country. There’s nothing wrong with criticizing America as long so long as we’re awake on what's happening and really – I – what Mayor Giuliani has done is incredibly pernicious and I think it speaks to – the partisan divide that we have, and I think it also speaks to why people are so turned off by this politics, you know.
(....)
SAM STEIN: The 2012 campaign, at least when it came to the foreign policy debate, was spent with Mitt Romney reminding the American public that he wouldn't apologize on the world stage like the President did and I think, you know, Jose hits it on the head, which is the playbook, and it has been for many decades, is to simplify this election into black and white, when, in fact, a lot of these issues are matters of gray. So you can't have a lengthy conversation about, you know, racism or the nuances of foreign policy or the histories of religion, because they can be put through this prism by people like Giuliani and used as a political cudgel.
(....)
WAGNER: Rudy Giuliani got into a Delorian and traveled back to the year 2007. It is unbelievable that amid all of this, we're talking about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. It's because the Republican Party and Rudy Giuliani have no policy prescriptions to offer the country because unemployment is where it is. There's a complicated foreign policy equation ahead of any candidate, and there are no answers. Jeb Bush's answer to ISIS – that threat was, I'm going to take them out. That’s not foreign policy. There is no discussion about anything, domestic or international, coming from the right side of the aisle and so there is a regression, complete and unabashed, as Giuliani presents, back to the year 2007 to talk about hateful, divisive politics having to do with a church Barack Obama went to ten years ago, which may or may not informed have some part of his world view, that may I add, is quite different at this moment than when it was even when he was a Senator. It is outrageous that this is Rudy Giuliani’s line of questioning.
