(Open Thread) Snark Attack Presents Sean Hannity and Mike Lee

12 October Carp Tail (second version) Photo by Howard J.

This interview was on Hannity’s show, June 9, 2022. So, while the J6 hearing was happening, this is what Faux News thought would be terrific counter-programming.

Allow me to begin by saying after listening to these two for 5 minutes and 19 seconds I want to stabby-stabby something. So, if we’re going to put people on trial for inciting violence, this segment should be Exhibit A, because they drove me to it!

Since there are two of them in this clip, I’m gonna bold Hannity and italicize Lee, okay? Feel free to listen to the video if you dare, but I don’t advise it if you value your sanity.

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Joining us now, the author of “Saving Nine,” that’s Utah Senator Mike Lee, uh, Senator, uh, you’re one of the few people that I know that really cares about our Constitution, I give you a lot of credit. Uh, we did reveal, it was revealed during these hearings that Jamie Raskin has an, another motive in all of this. He wants to get rid of that outdated relic called the US Constitution, uh, that calls for, uh, electors to end up picking the President. Uh, that’s interesting to me, because that would mean that Liz Cheney’s father never would’ve been elected Vice President.

Me: Um, wut? Is Jamie Raskin going to take this change to the electoral college back in time, using his Time Machine? I don’t see how changing the law now would impact what happened in the past. But then, I don’t have a show on Fox “News,” either.

Also, the idea to get rid of the electoral college isn’t a new one; it certainly didn’t originate with Jamie Raskin. And, for the record, part of the J6 committee’s task is to recommend changes to our laws that could prevent a repeat of what Trump attempted. So, doing away with the EC is one item under discussion, along with many, many others. But rather than tell you all that, Faux News just pretends this is all hair-on-fire stuff.

SEAN HANNITY: The electoral college he wants to, uh–

MIKE LEE: That’s right, he wants to eliminate the electoral college, which is about as fundamental to our system of government as it comes.

Me: This interview is taking place at 9:38 PM ET, you know, while the J6 committee hearing is going on. I kinda think the insurrection was a pretty big deal in its intention to topple our government. But maybe that’s just me?

MIKE LEE: There’s no way around this, look, uh, the US Constitution has fostered the development of the greatest civilization the world has ever known. For reasons that escape, astound, and dismay me, the modern democratic party wants to throw it under the bus. They want to throw it under the bus–

Me: Yeah, we get it. They want to throw it under the bus… eye roll

MIKE LEE: –with statements like that, that he’s making. They want to throw it under the bus–

Me: Holy crap! Why did I ever think this guy was eloquent?

MIKE LEE: –by intimidating, denigrating, and demeaning the Supreme Court of the United States–

Me: Um, wut? How the hell did we get from talking about Jamie Raskin’s idea to scrap the electoral college to the Supreme Court, through three tosses under the bus?

I can’t even begin to tell you how confused I am right now. But I guess when you’re trying to shill a crappy book you wrote about the Supreme Court, then every answer to every question has to somehow circle back to that topic?

MIKE LEE (INSURRECTIONIST SENATOR FROM UTAH, WHO’S SHAMELESSLY SHILLING HIS NEW BOOK): –by packing the court, so they can turn it into a political football.

Me: Again I ask, what the hell does this have to do with the electoral college and why it might or might not be a bad thing to scrap it?

Also, like the republicans aren’t above turning nominations into political footballs. Or anything else, for that matter. Please.

MIKE LEE: And, Sean, the thing is without the Supreme Court being an independent arbiter of what the law is, there is no Constitution.

Me: Okay, so, I realize we’re in broken record territory, but what the heck does this have to do with Hannity’s question about the electoral college?

MIKE LEE (INSURRECTIONIST SENATOR FROM UTAH WHO’S STILL SHILLING HIS BOOK): They want to pack it so they can destroy the court, and in so doing, destroy the Constitution.

Me: Because we’ve never added justices to the court in the history of our country. That number nine was set in stone in the– checks Constitution Oops. Never mind…

So maybe Mike’s being just a wee bit of a drama queen about this sacred number nine?

MIKE LEE (DRAMA QUEEN SENATOR FROM UTAH. ALSO, AN INSURRECTIONIST SHILLING A BOOK): That’s why I wrote “Saving Nine.”

Me: How did I know he was gonna get around to mentioning his book? How? How?

I’m laughing so hard right now… I just snorted.

MIKE LEE (PLEASE BUY MY BOOK!!!): “Saving Nine” tells the story of the last time this happened, and the fact that we’re still paying the price for it.

Me: Congratulations, Mike, for getting that plug into your answer. Oh, wait. What was the question again? You know, the one you didn’t answer?

Eh, who cares, right? You’re just here to try to sell your book.

SEAN HANNITY: W–, when you look at, uh, for example, just abolishing the electoral college–

Me: Good luck trying to get him back on track, Sean. But God bless you for trying…

SEAN HANNITY: –or packing the courts–

Me: You bastard! You’re going to pretend that he didn’t just blow off your first question.

SEAN HANNITY: –or statehood for DC or getting rid of the filibuster–all these items the democrats have bought (sic) up, brought up, um, and your book really does highlight the importance of the Supreme Court. Uh, when they do this, the democrats have always wanted to do things that they can never get done at the ballot box.

Me: Oh, this should be rich. This coming from a member of the party which is — as we speak — busily trying to disenfranchise any voters they don’t like. Because running on ideas is hard.

SEAN HANNITY: So it can never get done, uh, in Congress, legislatively, they want the courts to do their job for them and legislate from the bench.

Me: Quick question: How is it that the Supreme Court overturning Roe is NOT legislating from the bench? Because abortion was legal, and overnight, in some states, it won’t be. But, yeah, only democrats want to legislate from the bench, guys… eye roll

SEAN HANNITY: Uh, that’s not particularly good for our country, is it?

Me: It seems like aiding, abetting, encouraging, and then excusing insurrectionists isn’t good for our country, either, Sean, yet here we are…

MIKE LEE (IF YOU WON’T BUY MY BOOK, WILL YOU AT LEAST GIVE ME A DONATION?): No, it’s terrible for our country, and it doesn’t work out well for anyone. Uh, sometimes for them, uh, it works out for the short term, but in the long term, it hurts everyone, including and especially them. But look if they attempt this again, if they try to pack the Supreme Court again, unlike 1937 — I tell the story in “Saving Nine” — uh, uh, of how Franklin D. Roosevelt, who’s sort of a hero, a role model, an idol, if you will, to Joe Biden.

Me: Um, wut?

Sorry, I’m saying that a lot, but I just don’t even understand this guy. It’s not even funny right now, just painful.

MIKE LEE (I USED TO BE SMART, UNTIL I BOWED AT THE ALTAR OF TRUMP): He tried to do this back in 1937.

Me: Joe Biden, or FDR? Because if Joe Biden tried to do this in 1937…

MIKE LEE: It failed, in part, because there were a lot of democrats who were willing to stand up to the democratic president at the time. We don’t have that today.

Me: Clearly you haven’t met Senators Manchin and Sinema…

MIKE LEE: Nor, nor do we have the buffer, uh, uh, that we had back in 1937. But as I explain in nineteen, i–, i–, in “Saving Nine”–

Me: I really should’a guessed how many times he would mention the title of his book in this five minute segment. So far, we’re up to four, and slightly over halfway through. I’m gonna say a total of eight times. Let’s see if I’m right…

MIKE LEE (UTAH SENATOR TRYING TO PLUG HIS BOOK AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE): –back in 1937 — even though it failed legislatively — it coerced the Supreme Court to switch its view of a particular provision of the Constitution. And that reading, reading that reinterpretation was a de facto amendment of the Constitution that has caused the federal government to become too big, too expensive, and too far-reaching.

Me: It would be super-helpful to know what “it” refers to in all this mess of word salad. Maybe Steve or someone else can help us out with what Lee’s even jabbering about.

Tiff came to the rescue for part of this, but we’re both stymied as to how this caused the court to “switch its view of a particular provision of the Consitution…”

So look up “Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937.” (AKA the “court-packing plan.”)

If Lee’s book is as poorly written as his comments in this segment, I’m just gonna skip it. Who am I kidding? I’m gonna skip it, regardless.

MIKE LEE: We’re paying for it ever since then. So, uh, look, all these efforts to denigrate the Constitution and our system. Uh, you can draw consistent thread between the statements of Jamie Raskin–

Me: Oh, look! He finally got to the effing point. Thank you!

MIKE LEE (SENATOR OF UTAH WHO FINALLY GOT TO HIS POINT): –the efforts to protest outside Supreme Court justice’s homes, efforts to assassinate Supreme Court justices, and the refusal of the President of the United States to condemn going to Supreme Court justice’s homes, to protest in front of them, to harass them, to try to get them to change their ruling in a case.

Me: So, basically, this is the less-coherent re-run of the Jesse Watters segment we covered yesterday. And it’s nice to see a new name added to the pantheon of evil democrats out to incite people to violence, Jamie Raskin. His crime? Suggesting we do away with the Electoral College. Burn the heretic! Burn him, I say!

And don’t ask too many questions how wanting to do away with the EC directly led to attempts to assassinate justices at their homes.

MIKE LEE (THE LESS COHERENT JESSE WATTERS): That is wrong, and it’s, it’s counter to everything we believe in about the constitutional government.

Me: Well, it’s hard to know what republicans believe in regarding constitutional government these days. I mean, Mike Lee was helping Trump steal the election by working on the state legislatures and secretaries of state. I’d say that’s a far worse crime than peacefully protesting outside the homes of Supreme Court justices or saying, “Hey, let’s get rid of the Electoral College.” But nobody pays me to be a shit-stirrer on cable TV, so what do I know?

SEAN HANNITY (YES, I’M STILL HERE): You know, it’s amazing to me that the White House gave their tacit approval, and actually encouraged — in the case of Jen Psaki — the doxxing of these Supreme Court justices’ homes.

Me: Holy eff. Seriously? She didn’t dox anyone. She didn’t encourage them to dox anyone. Do you even know what doxxing is, Sean?

What she was encouraging was for people to protest peacefully and remain peaceful. We covered all this yesterday. Jeeze.

And, yes, at this point I’m just annoyed with both of them, and still have about a minute-and-a-half to transcribe.

SEAN HANNITY: Uh, you know the tape of Schumer–

Me: You mean the one from March of 2020? The one you used because there’s literally no one calling for violence today, so you have to gin up outrage from a 2.5 year old speech? Yeah, we know the one…

SEAN HANNITY (DISINGENUOUS PARTISAN HACK): (apparently sort-of quoting Schumer) “Now you better listen to me, Gorsuch. You better listen to me, Kavanaugh. Uh, you won’t know what hit you.” Uh, that sounded like a threat to me.

Me: Here’s the actual quote:

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price,” Schumer, who was then minority leader, said at the time. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Schumer Telling Brett Kavanaugh He’ll Pay the Price for Roe Resurfaces, June 8, 2022

A guy says something heated 2.5 years ago, apologizes for it the next damned day, and these yahoos are still talking about it, holding it up as some kind of example of the violence caused by the violent rhetoric of the left. One senator’s words, from the past.

Meanwhile, how often do we hear actual threats from representatives and senators of the GOP, as well as their leader, ex-POTUS Donald Trump?

Seriously, fuck you and the little donkey you rode in on, Hannity.

SEAN HANNITY: Um, if I made a threat to a Supreme Court justice wi– I’d be committing a crime?

MIKE LEE: Yes, yes you would.

Me: Telling someone to “watch it; you won’t know what hit you” isn’t a threat. FFS. And it sure isn’t incitement of any kind. No, I’m not an attorney, not even a fake attorney on the internet. But that’s not a crime.

MIKE LEE: And you would especially be committing a crime if you were going to the Supreme Court justice’s homes, to protest in front of them, and, if you’re the President of the United States, who actively encourages people to do that.

Me: I am so gucking enraged right now. (That’s my cute, new, intentional misspelling for the “f” word. We all think it’s adorable. Well, Tiff and I do, anyway.) I’m honestly having a hard time calming myself because this segment is all kinds of wrong and misleading bull crap.

Schumer didn’t go to the homes of any of the justices. He didn’t tell anyone else to do that, either. And last time I checked, Schumer isn’t the President. The right literally makes shit up and tries to turn it into a crime.

MIKE LEE (SENATOR FROM UTAH AND GUCKING A-HOLE): And, through your Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, i–, i–, if you said, “Yes, I support this,” you’d be actively encouraging that.

Me: These gucking a-holes are trying to make a case to impeach Biden and everyone in his administration, just you wait and see. And this is their case: They’ve taken a woman’s impromptu comment that was stated poorly and tried to turn it into “encouraging” (inciting, according to Jesse) violence, and they’re using a 2.5-year-old clip of another impromptu remark. This is literally all the proof they have; but — by God — they’re going to make this case stick, come hell or high water!

But these same a-holes couldn’t find anything impeachable in Trump’s conduct through his four years in office. Not once, ever. It’s not like Trump told people to come to DC on the 6th, it would be “wild” and told them to “fight like hell.” None of that rose to the level of impeachable, as determined by the guys who, you know, were also involved with Trump’s plot to overthrow the government.

sigh Sorry. I’m just so pissed right now…

deep breath

MIKE LEE: We know he encourages it–

Me: Sunovabich. Seriously. I’m sorry, but you cannot hold Biden responsible for a misstatement Jen Psaki made. You cannot leap to the conclusion that Biden encourages any of this. And you cannot hold Biden responsible for something Schumer said.

I gucking hate these people.

MIKE LEE: We know, therefore, that he is trying to pack the court.

Me: Um… because it had to come back around to his book, somehow. eye roll

MIKE LEE: We’ve got to stop him now, and that’s why I encourage people to–

Me: Buy my book? Is he about to say that?

MIKE LEE: –read “Saving Nine”–

Me: Told ya. I want y’all to know that I literally write my commentary as I’m transcribing these segments. So I don’t know what’s going to be said until they say it. This final plug was just funny as hell and so predicatble.

MIKE LEE (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY, BUY MY BOOK! I WANNA GO TO CANCUN!): –it’ll give them the tools necessary to confront this–

(cross talk)

MIKE LEE: –as many people as possible to read it, so that they’re ready to respond. We need the help of all Americans on this issue.

Me: You won’t get any help from me, a-hole. I won’t buy your book, nor will I assist in whatever you do in the future. Bite me, jerkface.

SEAN HANNITY: Alright, the book is called “Saving Nine”–

Me: What’s it called again? I didn’t catch that title the (goes back to count) seven times it was mentioned during the segment. (Twice by Hannity, only five by Lee. Drat, I didn’t guess right.)

SEAN HANNITY: –uh, it couldn’t be a more timely book, Senator Mike Lee, thank you for being with us.

Me: At least that hell on earth is over…

Now, some final thoughts. You need to remember this; it’s important. They’re going to gin up outrage and then articles of impeachment from this stuff, if they have their way. The same people who could find no fault in Trump’s perfect phone call to Zelenskyy and no reason to impeach him for inciting a mob to overthrow the seat of government will try to squeeze whatever mileage they can out of a bunch of trivial comments. Jesse Watters said in so many words there was a conspiracy to foment violence between Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, Jen Psaki, and “Ruth Sent Us,” which led to the “wannabe assassin.” And now Hannity and Mike Lee have added Jamie Raskin to the list.

Fox “News” has now spent two consecutive days peddling this horse shit (Is horse shit better or worse than bull shit, and if so, how?) while they refuse to cover the presentation of evidence of Trump’s plot to illegally maintain power. (Because that, you see, is a partisan witch hunt. Not like what we’re doing here, which is totally not partisan, nor a witch hunt.)

They don’t deserve a seat in the White House press room, because they’re not journalists. All they are is shit-stirrers. They also shouldn’t be allowed to refer to their network as “News.” Call it what it is: Propaganda. Or Opinion. Or Rightwing Fearmongers, but don’t call it “news.” See, I’m not censoring them; just saying they should honestly label what it is they’re selling.

Thing two: the right is pants-crapping scared of Jamie Raskin. They want to end him politically, like tomorrow. So, keep that in mind over the coming days.

Okay, stay snarky, my Blender peeps!

The noir film tomorrow is “The Guilty,” which you can catch tonight around midnight Eastern, or at ten tomorrow morning. So let’s talk movies tomorrow!

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