Guests:
Charlayne
Hunter-Gault
Tom
Brokaw
Richard
Stengel
Jesse
Jackson
Charles
Ogletree
Paul
Gigot
Katty
Kay
Harry
Smith
Maya Angelou
Gregory:
OMG Nelson Mandela died and
Obama
is flying to South Africa on
Air
Force One with George W. Bush
and
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Audience:
whoa
Gregory:
what's happening in South Africa?
Hunter-Gault:
it's raining here which
in
Africa is a sign of good fortune
Gregory:
rain ruins my hair
Hunter-Gault:
people are dancing in the street
Gregory:
Mandela was a poplar politician
– you
don't see that much these days
Brokaw:
Mandela was like JFK and
Ronald
Reagan in that people loved him
Gregory:
he said he was prepared
to
die for an equal society
Jesse
Jackson: he defeated apartheid
and
chose reconciliation
Gregory:
in prison he suppressed
his
emotions like Mr. Spock
Stengel:
before prison he was
tempestuous
and prison turned
him
into a mature elder statesman
Gregory:
so it was time well spent
Stengel:
indeed
Gregory:
in prison he was very stoic –
he
wouldn't even smile when reporters
visited
on 'No Hard Labor Day'
Ogletree:
he paid a great price
for
freedom – 27 years in prison
Gregory:
what was it like when
he
was finally released?
Jackson:
it was huge
[
clip ]
Brokaw:
what did you miss
while
you were in prison?
Mandela:
everything! I was in prison!
Brokaw:
the good thing is prison matured
Mandela
and he was no longer that scary
militant
we knew when he went in
Gregory:
good point
Brokaw:
other world leaders need
to
take a lesson from him
Gregory:
should send all our world leaders
to
prison for a couple of decades?
Brokaw:
it couldn't hurt
Jackson:
he used his suffering
in
prison to galvanize the world
to
create change in South Africa
Gregory:
surprisingly even after he
was
released from 27 years in
prison
things were not easy
Stengel:
South Africa was on the edge
of
a civil war and he was calm in a crisis
and
became the father of his nation
Gregory:
Charlayne – Mandela is beloved now
Hunter-Gault:
indeed that is true but
he
was relentlessly attacked by horrible racists
Gregory:
it was a terrible time
Hunter-Gault:
that was yesterday
Gregory:
President Obama said this
week
that his first political action was
to
protest apartheid and he was
inspired
by Nelson Mandela
Ogletree:
Mandela wasn't 'militant' or a 'terrorist'
– he
was a patriot like George Washington
Gregory:
or Tom Brady
Ogletree:
good one Fluffy
Gregory:
Mandela was great because
he
reassured whites and white people really like that
Jackson:
we were able to end apartheid
by
pressuring the U.S. Government
Brokaw:
it's true the U.S. labeled Mandela
a
terrorist but remember we needed
South
Africa during the Cold War
it
was our only ally in Africa
Gregory:
the only African state we got
along
with was run by vicious white supremacists?
Brokaw:
hey you take your friends
where
you can get them
Gregory: so true
Brokaw:
we need more good Africans like
Mandela
and not bad Africans like Mugabe
Stengel:
apartheid was only created in 1948
– Mandela
knew that South Africa could
not
survive without white businessmen so
he
set aside the bitterness which believe me he had
Jackson:
the Congressional black caucus
in
America ended apartheid
Gregory:
Mandela was like King and Gandhi
except
they were killed and he was not
Ogletree:
also Gandhi was a lawyer like Mandela
Stengel:
Mandela told me that unlike Gandhi
or
Martin Luther King for him non-violence
was
not a principle but a tactic
Jackson:
he told me was glad he was
arrested
before innocent people were killed
Gregory:
the real lesson from Nelson
Mandela
is that we need more
bipartisanship
and why can't Obama
can't
change the tone in Washington
Audience:
right
Gregory:
I was in college when Mandela
was
released and he was gracious and
kept
his heart open and that is good
Gregory:
in 1986 Ted Kennedy came
on
Meet The Press
Kennedy:
we need to free Nelson
Mandela
also and stop all the murders
Brokaw:
it's a reminder of how brutal
the
white regime was at the same time
freedom
was breaking out all over the world
Gregory:
right
Brokaw:
and then comes Mandela
and
saves the nation
Gregory:
Paul Gigot this week you
called
Mandela a failed Marxist
Gigot:
Reagan had to oppose Mandela!
He
was a dirty commie!
Gregory:
I see
Gigot:
but he gave all that up and
now
we love Mandela
Sharpton:
they weren't born Marxists!
The
U.S. denigrated Africans!
America
choose sides and we chose the wrong side!
Gregory:
uh huh
Sharpton:
if you are drowning and
someone
throws you a lifeline you take it!
Kay:
you have to understand that
Maggie
Thatcher was very worried Angola
would
go commie and once Angola goes
Manchester
and Birmingham are next
Gregory:
that makes sense
Kay:
also all we knew of Mandela was
that
he was a violent communist and
thankfully
when he was released
Mandela realized
Marxism was
so old-fashioned so all was forgiven
Gigot:
back then everyone agreed that
apartheid
was wrong and Ronald Reagan
named
a black guy Ambassador and
because
of that basically it was
Ronald
Reagan who freed Nelson Mandela
Sharpton:
oh come on! Let's not pretend
Reagan
was a supporter of Nelson Mandela!
He denounced Mandela!
Gigot: only out of love
Cheney:
the ANC was full of terrorists!
Brokaw:
sure Reagan hated Mandela
but
he was an anti-communist but
remember
Russia was probably going
to
invade the U.S. through Salvador
[ break ]
Smith:
how did Mandela choose grace?
Angelou:
he had courage which
is
the most important thing
Smith:
what do you remember
when
he was released
Angelou:
I saw him walk out of prison
and
he was smiling and I was so proud
Smith:
nice
Angelou:
he not only survived –
he
thrived and invited his prison
guards
to his inauguration
Smith:
oh snap
Angelou:
very cool
Smith:
what is the lesson
from
Mandela's life?
Angelou:
forgiveness!
Smith:
what did you think when you heard he died
Angelou:
I thought I should remember
his
generosity of spirit
Smith:
will he be remembered?
Angelou:
yes because without Mandela
South
Africa would have been swimming in blood
Smith:
wow
Angelou:
we should thank him for
what he did for all of us
[
break ]
Gregory:
Harry how about Mandela
Smith:
remember if you were black in
South
Africa in those days you could
be
murdered at any time
Gregory:
that's not good
Smith:
and yet he was magnanimous
Gregory:
a lesson for us all
[
break ]
Gregory:
Obama has nothing left for
the
next three years but Obamacare
Kay:
right – it's all he's got
Gregory:
Paul please bash Obamacare for me
Gigot:
young people are not signing up
for
Obamacare is big enough numbers
which
will definitely hurt Democrats
Gregory:
isn't Obamacare a failure?
Sharpton:
forget the glitches – millions of
people
with pre-existing conditions are
going
to get health care
Gregory:
unemployment is dropping
but
isn't Obama terrible?
Brokaw:
yes – numbers that make
Obama
look good can't be trusted
Gregory:
I thought so
Brokaw:
yes unemployment is dropping
but
we know that American kids are behind Vietnam
Gregory:
isn't Obama a failure because
Congress
won't raise the minimum wage?
Kay:
yes because the economy is fragile
Gregory:
and that's another
episode
of Meet The Press
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