S20.E15: Rod Stewart; Ian Bremmer; Jane Harman

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Legendary musician Sir Rod Stewart is Bill's interviewee this week. On the panel, he is joined by political scientist Ian Bremmer and former Representative for California Jane Harman.

Original air date 2022.05.13

[iMonrey]

Good Grief. Leave it to Bill to take such a conservative issue as abortion and use it to shit all over the Democrats, as if it's their fault somehow for being too woke or something. WTF. I notice he keeps bringing up the fact that people are accusing him of changing. Clearly that's bugging him and has been an ongoing thing. He thinks Democrats have turned crazy? It's the conservative majority on the Supreme Court that's about to overturn a constitutional right to an abortion. I don't know how he manages to twist that into a fault with Democrats, it just shows how obsessed he is with pressing that point. 

Gotta say, the panelists weren't much better. Ian Bremmer is usually a reasonable person but he's wrong to say Chuck Schumer could have gotten a "clean bill" 60 votes in the Senate. I don't know what fantasyland he's living in. At most he could have gotten maybe 52 or 53 votes and that's still not enough to overcome a filibuster. And Jane Harman is still living in another century, Bill was right about that at least. 

Final New Rule: rich California problems. Poor you. Hey, maybe crime isn't going up in those "Waffle House States" you keep making fun of. Ironic, Bill keeps talking about people living in bubbles and doesn't seem to see the one he's living in.

[ahpny]

At first I though the Rod Stewart interview was somewhat of a non sequitor and off-brand for a political show like this. But it was nevertheless quite enjoyable and entertaining. I'm sure Rob Steward has many more stories to tell and he seems both gracious and skilled telling them. But I suppose in support of what Bill has said before, not everything needs to be political, and we should be able to enjoy and celebrate at least some things together. This is one of those things.

[Starchild]

Eh, some of the comments they both made about women made me cringe a little. I figure Stewart won't change at this point, but Bill claims to have his finger on the pulse. 

[The Solution]

Actually, I think this was one of the best Real Times in quite some time. Bill is stating that he's looking for points that liberals don't hear anywhere else and making fun of those, which is true given how polarized our media (and society) have become. At least he's making the statement and saying that we need to hear it so we become more cynical. And his panel actually pushed back on him this week but maintained their graciousness and dignity. I greatly appreciated the statement that the police do need reform but we can't abolish them altogether. Also, safe legal and rare should still be the credo for abortion in a civilized society. And we should be cynical about government spending. I don't remember any covid mask whining this week either.

Now, being an anxiety sufferer and understanding that issue, if we could just get Bill to stop using that as a whipping boy. We're not just being trendy.

Perhaps I'm just old, whiny and anxious now, but at least I'm willing to consider that and I believe Bill is too.

 

[deirdra]

I thought Rod was going to keep Bill's 45 of Maggie May, though Bill did hand it to him like it was a gift.

[sistermagpie]

20 hours ago, The Solution said:

Actually, I think this was one of the best Real Times in quite some time. Bill is stating that he's looking for points that liberals don't hear anywhere else and making fun of those, which is true given how polarized our media (and society) have become. At least he's making the statement and saying that we need to hear it so we become more cynical. And his panel actually pushed back on him this week but maintained their graciousness and dignity. I greatly appreciated the statement that the police do need reform but we can't abolish them altogether. Also, safe legal and rare should still be the credo for abortion in a civilized society. 

Aren't those two positions things establishment Dems say all the time to liberals? 

[ichbin]

There were one or two over the top, obnoxious laughers in the audience who were super distracting for me and I imagine even more so for those speaking.  

21 hours ago, The Solution said:

Actually, I think this was one of the best Real Times in quite some time. Bill is stating that he's looking for points that liberals don't hear anywhere else and making fun of those, which is true given how polarized our media (and society) have become. At least he's making the statement and saying that we need to hear it so we become more cynical. And his panel actually pushed back on him this week but maintained their graciousness and dignity. I greatly appreciated the statement that the police do need reform but we can't abolish them altogether. Also, safe legal and rare should still be the credo for abortion in a civilized society. And we should be cynical about government spending. I don't remember any covid mask whining this week either.

I felt the same way.  

[DXD526]

I was shocked when Bill took the record back! He definitely handed it to Rod like it was a gift. 

[UnknownK]

I figured he wanted the record autographed.

[MsTree]

38 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

I figured he wanted the record autographed.

That's exactly what I thought, but Rod didn't offer, so Bill took it back. Can't say I blame him. 

[Hedgehog2022]

On 5/14/2022 at 1:51 PM, Starchild said:

Eh, some of the comments they both made about women made me cringe a little. I figure Stewart won't change at this point, but Bill claims to have his finger on the pulse. 

Didn't see the interview but Rod Stewart has had how many wives? And it would appear that he dumps these women as soon as they age out...or at least did do this until his current wife who he's been with for some time now. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Hedgehog2022

[Hedgehog2022]

On 5/14/2022 at 11:25 AM, iMonrey said:

Good Grief. Leave it to Bill to take such a conservative issue as abortion and use it to shit all over the Democrats, as if it's their fault somehow for being too woke or something. WTF. I notice he keeps bringing up the fact that people are accusing him of changing. Clearly that's bugging him and has been an ongoing thing. He thinks Democrats have turned crazy? It's the conservative majority on the Supreme Court that's about to overturn a constitutional right to an abortion. I don't know how he manages to twist that into a fault with Democrats, it just shows how obsessed he is with pressing that point. 

Gotta say, the panelists weren't much better. Ian Bremmer is usually a reasonable person but he's wrong to say Chuck Schumer could have gotten a "clean bill" 60 votes in the Senate. I don't know what fantasyland he's living in. At most he could have gotten maybe 52 or 53 votes and that's still not enough to overcome a filibuster. And Jane Harman is still living in another century, Bill was right about that at least. 

Final New Rule: rich California problems. Poor you. Hey, maybe crime isn't going up in those "Waffle House States" you keep making fun of. Ironic, Bill keeps talking about people living in bubbles and doesn't seem to see the one he's living in.

Could you expand on what Bill said about abortion? I did not watch the show...thanks.

[Jalyn]

On 5/14/2022 at 10:25 AM, iMonrey said:

Gotta say, the panelists weren't much better. Ian Bremmer is usually a reasonable person but he's wrong to say Chuck Schumer could have gotten a "clean bill" 60 votes in the Senate. I don't know what fantasyland he's living in. At most he could have gotten maybe 52 or 53 votes and that's still not enough to overcome a filibuster. And Jane Harman is still living in another century, Bill was right about that at least. 

The point is that the bill that was brought to the floor couldn't PASS. It didn't need to be filibustered because the majority voted against it. Had he brought a more moderate bill to the floor, they could at least claim that the minority was stopping a bill from being passed. They were saying that it was bad politics, not that a more moderate bill would have worked. Given the number of news sources (and sitting senators) that used the filibuster as the reason that a bill that 51 people voted against failed, they have a bit of a point. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

They were saying that it was bad politics, not that a more moderate bill would have worked. 

No, Bremmer specifically said Schumer could have gotten a clean bill passed. 

[Jalyn]

"The Senate had the ability to get Joe Manchin, to get a number of Republican senators if they had just put out legislation that said are you in favor of maintaining Roe vs Wade. And they didn't do that. I they didn't do it because the progressives wanted to be able to drive more of a spike on this issue."

(My transcript from the podcast, apologies if I missed something)

I guess you can take it either way, I assumed that he knew what he was talking about. 

There is a later point where Harman says maybe they will try it and get 60 vote and all he responds is "That'd be a big deal"

If they went back after they changed topics, I'll have missed it. Didn't listen to the whole thing again. (Especially as I'd slowed it from three times speed to actual time.)

[iMonrey]

Quote

Could you expand on what Bill said about abortion? I did not watch the show...thanks.

I honestly don't remember. He sat down with the panel, brought up the leaked Alito draft opinion, then launched into his usual tirade about the Democrats. It was a whiplash-inducing segue way.

Quote

"The Senate had the ability to get Joe Manchin, to get a number of Republican senators if they had just put out legislation that said are you in favor of maintaining Roe vs Wade. And they didn't do that. I they didn't do it because the progressives wanted to be able to drive more of a spike on this issue."

What's the difference? It doesn't matter if it gets 49 votes or 53 votes, it still won't pass a filibuster. And Manchin still isn't willing to kill the filibuster for this vote. Clearly Bremmer was in Bill's camp that Democrats blew it because they're too beholden to the fringe, progressive left. They might as well have Tucker Carlson on the panel if this is the kind of right wing narrative they're going to keep spewing. Democrats did not have the votes in the Senate to codify Roe v Wade into law, period. Implying they "could have" done something simply isn't true. I don't know how they can blame Democrats for this, it really says something their agenda.

[The Mighty Peanut]

On 5/14/2022 at 11:25 AM, iMonrey said:

Good Grief. Leave it to Bill to take such a conservative issue as abortion and use it to shit all over the Democrats, as if it's their fault somehow for being too woke or something. WTF. I notice he keeps bringing up the fact that people are accusing him of changing. Clearly that's bugging him and has been an ongoing thing. He thinks Democrats have turned crazy? It's the conservative majority on the Supreme Court that's about to overturn a constitutional right to an abortion. I don't know how he manages to twist that into a fault with Democrats, it just shows how obsessed he is with pressing that point. 

Gotta say, the panelists weren't much better. Ian Bremmer is usually a reasonable person but he's wrong to say Chuck Schumer could have gotten a "clean bill" 60 votes in the Senate. I don't know what fantasyland he's living in. At most he could have gotten maybe 52 or 53 votes and that's still not enough to overcome a filibuster. And Jane Harman is still living in another century, Bill was right about that at least. 

Final New Rule: rich California problems. Poor you. Hey, maybe crime isn't going up in those "Waffle House States" you keep making fun of. Ironic, Bill keeps talking about people living in bubbles and doesn't seem to see the one he's living in.

I'm sighing angrily in agreement. And cringing. Leave it to Bill--"I didn't change, the entire democratic party of the United States changed." Sometimes when everyone says the same thing independently of one another, there might be something to it. He did change. He sees everything, EVERYTHING, through a prism of perceived wokeness, and he associates the democrats with that so much that it's like he forgot Republicans even exist. If somebody trips he would say the liberals thought construction was a microaggression against streets. 

He has always been against the pharmaceutical companies so his vaccine paranoia doesn't surprise me. But what used to be an annoying joke about him losing the Berkeley gig has literally overtaken his worldview.

[ICantDoThatDave]

Bill's prior show was called Politically Incorrect. I'd say he's had the same view of wokeness well before that's what it was called.

[Hanahope]

Does anyone really think SCOTUS in its current make up would not strike down any Roe v Wade law passed by Congress and still leave it to the states?  And even if it did not, we’d still have problems with “regulations “ in many states as they had before Dobbs.  
 

Harmer was delusional about institutionalists on the court.  There is one. The federalist  5 are not.