Sunday, June 21, 2015

Meet The Press – June 21, 2015


Guests:
Ron Allen
Alana Simmons
Daniel Simmons, Jr.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Mike Huckabee
Eugene Robinson - Washington Post
Helene Cooper - New York Times
David Brooks - New York Times
Jerry Seib - Wall Street Journal


Todd: Racism! Gun violence!
Huckabee! Dynasty candidates!!

Todd: omg Charleston is the worst
racist attack since the Civil Rights era

Todd: this is like the bombing
that killed four young girls

Todd: but the healing has already
begun which is awesome

Todd: good morning Ron Allen –
it's looks like a happy sunny
morning in Charleston

Allen: not at all Chuck – it's a sad day
and we're remembering the lives lost
to murder and terror also those
brave slave insurrections

Todd: dwelling on the past

Allen: also we're recalling when
a white cop in Charleston murdered
a black man in 2015

Todd: Charleston is an amazingly
wonderful place

Todd: Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. 
is one of the victims who served people 
at Emmanuel AME and who also served
in the Vietnam war

Todd: my condolences for you loss

Alana Simmons: thank you

Todd: you said hate won't win
which is just wonderful

Alana Simmons: Although this man 
killed my grandfather we immediately 
forgave the murderer because love 
is more powerful than hate

Todd: tell me about your dad

Daniel Simmons: he was an
inspirational leader and loved 
his family and community and god

Todd: would he tell us all to
forgive and move on if he hadn't
been murdered in a domestic terror attack?

Daniel Simmons: I want to thank the community

Simmons: he loved Charleston

Todd: A lot of people want to
use this incident for political purposes
isn't it better to forgive and move
on and reconcile

Simmons: we just want to focus on
our families and healing and not on
politics after our family member was
just murdered in cold blood

Todd: what about faith and forgiveness?

Simmons Jr: it's love

Simmons: we love each other

Todd: you an example to us all that
we should never politicize terror
attacks and forgive terrorists

Simmons: we just want to celebrate
the lives lost and heal together and
have people come together regardless
of race or gender or religion or orientation

Todd: well if that kind of bipartisan
togetherness happens then maybe 
it was worth it

[ break ]

Todd: welcome Representative Clyburn

Clyburn: thank you Chuck

Todd: many of the victims
were friends of yours

Clyburn: yes Senaor Pinckney
was the salt of the earth – we
had a close personal relationship

Todd: wow

Clyburn: I knew many of the
victims in a very personal way

Todd: you lived through the
civil rights era – did you ever think
something like this could happen?

Clyburn: oh absolutely – I've been warning
about white racist terrorists for a long time

Todd: I see

Clyburn: by the way that's not
a confederate flag – it's a terrorist flag

Todd: strong words

Clyburn: we created a climate
that allowed this murder to happen!

Todd: do you regret putting this flag up?

Clyburn: that's bullshit Todd
the racists crackers defied the
compromise and flew this flag!

Todd: oh okay

Clyburn: the legislature doesn't
have to wait – they can take this
flag down anytime they want!

Todd: thanks for coming Congressman

Clyburn: yeah you too

[ break ]

Todd: Gene you're from South Carolina

Robinson: my great great grandfather
had a blacksmith shop around the
corner from the Emmanuel AME chuch

Todd: ooh a small businessman
I bet he hated big government

Robinson: do you know when that
racist battle flag was first flown over
the South Carolina state house?

Todd: Ooh I know this one! 1961!

Robinson: look at the big brain on Todd!

Todd: not 1861 - 1961

Robinson: it was a motherfucking  
middle finger directed at the 
fucking federal government!

Todd: I don't think you can say 
'middle finger' on tv

Robinson: it was a symbol of racist 
resistance to desegregation – period

Todd: you go Gene

Robinson: they didn't care about
their stupid ancestors until their
precious white children had to
compete with black people in school

Todd: the confederate flag is
boring – the stars and bars was
Robert E. Lee's battle flag

Robinson: damn crackers

Todd: David Brooks you're an
expert on morality or something

Brooks: I don't want to talk about
the murders – I want to talk about 
how wonderful black people are 
for forgiving white terrorists

Todd: no doubt

Brooks: they are true examples to us all

Todd: so true – unlike Donald
Trump who is a jackass

Brooks: by which I mean black
people should forgive their white
murderers - not that white people 
should forgive ISIS for killing brown people

Todd: I hear you Brooksie

Brooks: also this black forgiveness
reminds me that both sides in Washington
bicker too much and we should get along
like we all do at a Georgetown cocktail party

Todd: you are so wise

Brooks: these magic negroes will
truly bring redemption to us all

Todd: why do white people love
the loser rebel battle flag so much?

Seib: do we want to talk about
the flag or talk about how wonderful
the black people in Charleston are
for forgiving white people?

Todd: do white people need
to look at white culture?

Cooper: probably – but for for
me that flag is a symbol of hatred

Brooks: you'll pry that ham and mayonnaise
sandwich from my cold dead hands

Todd: David you're Jewish

Brooks: noooooo!!!

Obama: every country has crazy people
but only we are awash in guns!

Todd: Our producer made a video with
killers in Sing Sing so let's watch 
and please be like Stephen Colbert 
and don't see color because
all the criminals are black

Inmate: guns made me feel strong
like I was invincible

Inmate: when I was 17 my friend say
you should should carry a gun and
it became my security blanket

Inmate: we had an argument at
a movie theater so I pulled out
my gun and I shot a little boy

Inmate: it happens so fast – I killed a child!

[ break ]

Todd: what is it with these
young men shooting and killing people?

Brooks: young men feel weak
and guns make you feel strong

Todd: it made him secure
it was like a binkie but with
a hair trigger than can kill

Brooks: with a gun they can
feel powerful which men need –
also they're black and have no 
jobs or educations

Todd: but laws can't affect the culture

Robinson: no but if we took guns
out of their hands they wouldn't
have any guns now would they?

Todd: I suppose that's true

Robinson: I would also point out that all
the people in your video were black and
you and David Brooks make gun violence
sound like a black problem but the escaped 
murderers in upstate New York and the 
mass killer in Charleston are all white

Todd: good point but I'm not racist
I was talking about gun culture

Robinson: sure ok

Cooper: if white people won't do
anything about guns when little
white elementary school children
are murdered they certainly won't
when some black folk are killed in Charleston

Seib: no but we might have some
rewarding cocktail party conversations
before doing nothing

Todd: GOP Presidential candidates
went all-in with evangelical  
Christians this week

Todd: but then the Pope said capitalism
is turning the earth into filth

Bush: religion should stay out of politics!

[ break ]

Todd: welcome Mike Huckabee

Huckabee: nice to see you Chuck

Todd: in 2008 you were asked
about the confederate flag and
so of course made anal rape jokes

Huckabee: Did you know that South
Carolina has a black U.S. Senator
and an Indian-American Governor?

Todd: I did actually

Huckabee: also they have good
black people who don't riot

Todd: but should the state
government endorse racism?

Huckabee: we need to keep America
safe from terrorists! The brown ones!

Todd: would you display a racist 
terrorist flag?

Huckabee: it depends on the level
of government – the federal government 
should be anti-gay and states can hate blacks 
and cities and towns should despise the Irish

Todd: if you were President how
would you heal racism?

Huckabee: I would defend Christianity
from the war on Christianity and forgive
racists like those wonderful black families did

Todd: that sounds like a plan

Huckabee: Christianity is not some
cartoonish bunch of carnival barkers
exploiting prejudice while demanding suckers
give them money to buy private jets

Todd: oh no?

Huckabee: no we're also black
people fighting for civil rights

Todd: that sounds like you

Huckabee: When I was a young pastor
we took in one token black person
and we got death threats

Todd: sounds like a wonderful 
bunch of people

Huckabee: you're missing the point! 
I'm an anti-racist hero!

Todd: if you say so

Huckabee: that pastor is so
wonderful for forgiving terrorists

Todd: you said God tells us be
good stewards of the earth

Huckabee: the earth belongs to the Lord
but the oil belongs to Exxon

Todd: I think I get it

Huckabee: I would say to the Pope 
the best thing we can do for the poor 
and destitute is to lower the price of 
gasoline by drilling in our national 
parks to honor Jesus

Todd: okay but under Obama the
price of gas has gone down a lot

Huckabee: cheap air conditioning for
sweltering southern grandmas
is the great moral issue of our time!

Todd: okay – but is man-made 
climate change is real?

Huckabee: I was taught global cooling
was real which proves scientists are dumb

Todd: all right

Huckabee: also the Pope said abortion
is wrong which proves leftists are bad

Todd: so would act on climate change or not?

Huckabee: we need to drill more and
more to take on our enemies like Russia
and and Iran Saudi Arabia as God intended

Todd: what if we let candidates choose
how much time they want to spend on
any give topic during out so-called debates?

Todd: as viewers know I am obsessed
with calling Bush and Clinton equal
dynasties since Both Sides Do It
and the People Hate Dynasties

Todd: but holy cow we took a
poll and I was all wrong about everything

Todd: it turns out people are most
concerned about excess influence by
rich people and corporations – 
that was big surprise!

Todd: in fact 96% didn't care about
family names at all-America
the convention wisdom was wrong!!

Todd: also 75% of Republicans say
they can tolerate Jeb which is great 
news for him

Todd: but 66% say they can't 
stand Donald Trump

Todd: the leaders now are Bush and Rubio
and Huckabee and Walker

[ break ]

Todd: well my producers tell me
we're getting called out on twitter
for making it seem like black people
only use guns – and that today might
be the wrong time for that

Todd: I understand some people
only see things through black
and white – but I don't see color

Robinson: of course not

Todd: people tell me I'm white and
I believe them because I have a
network talk show even though there's
an orange hamster on my face

Robinson: we should talk about race
more so maybe you could avoid dumbass
videos like the one you just showed

Todd: since 9/11 50 Americans were
killed by terrorists and 400,000 were
killed by gun violence

Brooks: also many white people are
poor and have values that fail to live
up to my expectations

Todd: Obama went to guns first
and avoided calling out racism

Seib: he can't talk about race
because he's black and therefore divisive

Todd: I asked White House staffers why
Obama only talked about guns and they
said because proposing banning guns
is less divisive than Obama's skin color
which is kind of amazing

Cooper: when Obama said something
sensible like arresting a black Harvard
Professor on his own doorstep was
stupid he got this huge backlash

Todd: white people don't get pulled
over due to the color of their skin

Robinson: we also could talk 
about mass incarceration and 
disparate drug sentences

Todd: we could if only
we had some venue to do so

Robinson: also by the way President
Obama actually talked about
race after the Charleston terror attack

Todd: that's true

Robinson: and Hillary
Clinton was very tough

Todd: yes she was –
also happy Father's day

Todd: and that's another
episode of Meet The Press