American
Morning Transcript
It's
Friday, time for "Gimme a Minute." Our
panel from New York, Rachel Maddow, back this week again from Air America. How
you doing, Rachel?
RACHEL MADDOW, AIR AMERICA:
I'm great. Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: Terrific. Welcome back.
In D.C., Republican consultant, Tara Setmayer.
Welcome back. And good morning to you.
TARA SETMAYER, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Thank you.
HEMMER: And Andy Borowitz. This guy never leaves.
Borowitzreport.com.
Let's start with Rachel. John Bolton. There are
reports today that Colin Powell is weighing in on this. Some reports say
that, OK, he's saying Bolton is smart but
problematic. Does this change the equation in any way, Rachel?
MADDOW: The weird thing about the Bolton situation is that they're never
actually defending Bolton. It's all these
Republicans and administration officials coming out and saying no to this
guy, but they can't defend him, so they just attack the critics. These
incredible attack ads against Voinovich in Ohio. I'm expecting to see Powell loves
Osama billboards now that Colin Powell's coming out and speaking out.
HEMMER: Well, the reports say that Powell offers no recommendation. So I
guess he's kind of like Switzerland
in all this. Tara, is Bolton
a bully or is he just a demanding boss?
SETMAYER: Well, I mean, last time I checked, a docile temperament wasn't a
requirement in Washington
politics. I mean, Chuck Hagel supported John
McCain, who isn't exactly -- you know, has a volatile personality. But this
is a basic policy dispute. You're dealing with a recalcitrant Washington
bureaucracy. And Bolton is a good guy.
Powell admitted that. But there are personality conflicts and that shouldn't
disqualify him for this position.
HEMMER: Andy's his own boss. We know that. Right, Drew?
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Absolutely. It's getting very personal.
Powell's been saying that Bolton looks like
a bad guy on "Magnum P.I."
HEMMER: Stayed tuned for more next week.
Tom DeLay, here's the issue now. Some Republicans
say they're willing to investigate him if the Democrats go ahead and change
some of the rules. Tara, does this have a
chance?
SETMAYER: Well, you know, I think that this is an issue where the Ethics
Committee needs to convene, they need to get
themselves together. Democrats need to stop holding their breath and stomping
their feet and allow the investigation to go through. If DeLay
is guilty of something, let the investigative process work. But I think
they're scared because there are several other members, including Democrats,
that are coming out now in the media that show
they've done similar things. So I think they're concerned about that.
HEMMER: Rachel, would you give a little to get a little?
MADDOW: Listen, what the Republicans offered was to investigate DeLay in exchange for an offer to guarantee a party line
vote against any investigation of justice. So calling that a deal is like
calling me a supermodel. It's a stunt. It's a ridiculous.
HEMMER: It's all about the art of the deal, we thought. Here's Andy. What's
happening?
BOROWITZ: I say investigate this guy before he shreds all his receipts. Come
on.
HEMMER: Do it now! All right, Senate filibusters. Here's the next issue. The
president wants an up/down vote on his judicial nominees. How bad is it
getting in Washington, Rachel?
MADDOW: Well, the filibuster situation is meant to keep extremists off the
bench, right? No extreme nominees. And the Republicans want to get rid of it
because they think the world will end before the Democrats are ever back in
power. But I think there are some conservatives in the Senate looking into their
crystal ball and seeing a Democratic president, Democratic Senate and Ralph
Nader on the Supreme Court. This thing is ridiculous. It's never going to
fly.
HEMMER: What's wrong with an up/down vote, Rach?
MADDOW: What's wrong with an up/down vote? The filibuster's there for a
reason.
HEMMER: All right, Tara, tell me about it.
SETMAYER: I think that's ridiculous. Maybe Rachel should switch with Andy
with that. What's going on here is that the -- you know, what the Republicans
are trying to do is have an up/down vote on good, conservative judges. They
are far from extremists. And the Democrats recognize they're losing on this
issue, because they're being obstructionist. All we want is have -- end the
filibuster on judicial nominations only, not legislative nominations. So, you
know, they're overreacting and they know that they're losing on the issue.
HEMMER: Up or down, Andy?
BOROWITZ: If we get rid of filibusters, C-SPAN's
going to have to show reruns of old filibusters.
HEMMER: And you would hate that.
BOROWITZ: I don't want to live in a world like that.
HEMMER: Tara, what did we miss this past
week? Tell us, what's under the radar?
SETMAYER: This week marks the tenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing
and there are still several unanswered questions about whether Terry Nichols
an Tim McVeigh had accomplices, including possible ties to Middle Eastern
terrorist groups, with Terry Nichols' calls to the Philippines and things.
And the national security of America,
the people of America,
deserve a full investigation into the background.
HEMMER: And you still believe that, huh?
SETMAYER: Yes, I do.
HEMMER: Rachel?
MADDOW: That's the worst retroactive justification for the Iraq War I've ever
heard. My undercovered story is that Henry Hyde is
retiring and he is speaking out with some regret about the impeachment of
President Clinton. He now says that it was payback for Nixon, of all things.
Who knew?
HEMMER: He didn't say that. What he said was that he thinks some other
Republicans may have done it because of payback from 30 years ago.
MADDOW: He said I can't say no to that. I think that's pretty close.
HEMMER: All right. Andy, what's happening?
BOROWITZ: Well, Michael Jackson this week said that he thinks his trial is
going well, a statement which could come in handy if he decides to plead
insanity.
HEMMER: Still a possibility.
BOROWITZ: Still is.
HEMMER: Rachel, Tara, Andy, have a good weekend.
BOROWITZ: Peace out.
MADDOW: Thank you.
SETMAYER: Thank you.
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