Lovett or Leave It - Double Double, Brett's in Trouble

Episode Date: September 22, 2018

Rod Rosenstein reportedly raised invoking the 25th amendment. Republicans plow ahead with Brett Kavanaugh's nomination despite sexual assault allegations even as Kavanaugh's allies offer bizarre theories to exonerate their pal. We look back at the Anita Hill hearings and elections decided by just a handful of votes. Plus rants on spiders, Bert and Ernie, women's sleeves, and Ted Cruz's shitty campaign tactics. VERY special thanks to the all-star, tournament-of-champion guests Emily Heller, Ira Madison III, and Erin Ryan for joining us in studio for a last-minute, first-ever studio recording of Lovett or Leave It. WHAT A WEEK.

Okay. Okay. Welcome to a very special episode of Love It or Leave It. We are recording this at the worldwide Crooked headquarters. I am joined by Emily Heller. Hi. Ira Madison. Hello. The third. And Erin Gloria Ryan. Hello. All-star return guests to help us do a very first in-studio recording of Love It or Leave It.

I was told this was the tournament of champions. We have gathered all the interns and Crooked Media employees with no Friday night plans who are here to help give the feel of an audience in our studio. We are doing a very special Friday night recording because I had to cancel last night on the improv because I really tried to rally, but Travis poisoned me. And I don't know what his game is. I don't know what he's after. But I was...

This infighting on the left is getting out of control. He is a bad intern. He tried to puke and rally, but puke won. It did. It did win. And I was very sorry to cancel. I've never canceled a love relief before. In fact, I did a show in Austin and I shouldn't have because I ended up in the hospital. So I'm very sorry I canceled that show. But we're having a great experiment today.

So far, it's happening. Just a reminder, if you haven't pledged to vote on November 6th, be a voter. Unfuck America at VoteSaveAmerica.com. That's all I have to say about that. That is our only housekeeping. All right, guys, let's get into it. What a week. Okay, this is awful. The New York Times on Friday reported that Rod Rosenstein talked privately about secretly recording Donald Trump and that he told Andrew McCabe, quote, that he might be able to persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions and John F. Kelly, then the Secretary of Homeland Security and now the White House Chief of Staff, to mount an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment. This was a very heavily reported story,

but also a deeply strange story. And it's unclear how much of what is in the Times report describes what took place and how much of this is part of a coordinated campaign to get Rod Rosenstein out of their way so they can get on with the pressing business of obstructing justice and strip mining national parks. So right before we started recording, Donald Trump issued his first comment, and he said that they are still having to get rid of the lingering stench in the Justice Department. stench in the Justice Department, very clearly part of a campaign to undermine the investigations into Donald Trump and his associates. Erin, what did you make of the story? I think the more nervous Donald Trump gets, the more I'm convinced that they're close to something

big. Like it's sort of the feeling of, you know, when you're a teenager and you sneak out of the house and if you've actually been fucking up and you come home and your parents are like, hey, where were you? Why are you five minutes late? And you're like, I wasn't fucking up like that. It's I don't think Donald Trump is much more emotionally developed than I mean to say he's as emotionally developed as a teenager is a little bit of a stretch. I think that he's somebody who his tell is that the more panicked he gets, the more close to the truth we are, which I think we're getting closer to the truth. And I think it's a question of whether or not he's going to cut off our access to the truth before we get it, or if the truth is going to get out first.

Ira, one of the things that was funny about this story is this is all second or third hand. It's obviously, you know, the times wouldn't run it if they didn't feel like they had it. But the question is whether Rod Rosenstein was describing using the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire as a joke or not. And the debate now is whether or not he was being sarcastic. I actually find it very hard to believe that he said it seriously. It sounds much more like a joke. Like, what are we going to do? Wear a wire? What do you think? I mean, if Omarosa said it, I would believe that she was definitely wearing a wire.

I don't know. Maybe it was a joke. Do people just joke about that in the White House all the time now? Let's wear a wire around Trump because then we can take him down. Maybe it's going to be where it's like, I'm kidding, but do you like my idea? Yes. Like when your boyfriend is like, wouldn't it be funny do you like my idea? Yes, like when your boyfriend is like, wouldn't it be funny if we had a threesome? But the other

thing I was going to say, you are laughing too hard at that. The other thing I was going to say is that, you know, when I read the story and they were like, oh, it was a joke, I think that this administration has demonstrated a sarcasm crisis from jump. And actually, Donald Trump was a subject of a comedy roast in, I think,

2015 that was legendary and how bad it was because Donald Trump, when he got like the jokes that were going to be made at his expense and like comedians who are working on writing those jokes said that when they were returned back to them, Donald Trump had like crossed out most of the punch lines. So I don't think the president is a man who understands comedy or humor. I mean, it's that he, first of all, doesn't understand how to be funny, what jokes are. But also he surrounds himself with deeply unfunny people like Mike Huckabee is the least funny man who's ever been an American. I don't know. I think some of those jokes are very good. Oh, come on.

Melania is up there doing Jane Curtin jokes from 1970. She is the funniest person in the White House. Melania is like an Andy Kaufman conceptual comedian doing a very long bit. Yeah. No, she is. Is it her? Is it not her?

It could be Andy. It could be Andy. Is it her? Is it Tony Clifton wearing a wig? We don't know. People saw Melania and Tony Clifton there at the same time, but maybe that was part of it. Maybe they were part of it. Anyway, I don't know what to make of this story.

It's Friday night when we're recording this. By Sunday, Rudd Rosenstein may be fired, but maybe not. That was what broke today. But, of course, the big story going on this week has been the ongoing controversy around Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and the accusation that he committed an attempted sexual assault when he was in high school. a.k.a. Ronan the Barbarian, involved a drunk 17-year-old Brett Kavanaugh, the nominee for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, holding down Dr. Ford and covering her mouth when she tried to scream. At times during the ordeal, Dr. Ford said she feared for her life. The only other alleged witness to the event, Mark Judge, wrote a book about his drunken youth with a character named Bart O. Kavanaugh and even opined in 2016,

quote, when my high school buddies and I got together and exchanged memories of that time, we found ourselves genuinely shocked at the stuff we got away with. Reluctantly, Republicans were forced to call another hearing next week, asking both Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford to testify. Fearing a smear campaign and an ambush, Dr. Ford rightly demanded an FBI investigation into her allegation so other witnesses could be called to defend her and friends of Brett Kavanaugh would be forced to speak on the record. There was a bipartisan request for an FBI investigation during the Anita Hill controversy. And so it's actually incredible, but it seems like Republicans are not interested in doing as good a job as they did for Anita Hill. That's the standard, and that's the standard they are not meeting. On Thursday morning, just as it seemed like Republicans were celebrating getting away with not interviewing Dr. Ford, she rescinded her demand and agreed to testify next week as long as they could ensure a

fair hearing and her safety. And an under-the-radar story in this whole thing is just how many old-fashioned Republicans who claim to hate Trump's brash sexism are frothing at the mouth to get behind Kavanaugh. The National Review has basically become like a war room defending Brett Kavanaugh. There was a piece calling for Dianne Feinstein to be censured. There was a piece calling for a vote without further hearings. and this was the headline in evaluating credibility the signs point in Brett Kavanaugh's favor did they use a magic 8 ball for that? god

that's a magic 8 ball prediction the signs point in your favor the signs point in your favor is also like a what is it a Hunger Games thing too? it's an Ace of Base song it's the original version translate it so here's Games thing, too? It's an Asa Bass song. Yeah. It's the original version. Translate it.

So here's the thing about Brett Kavanaugh. Like, he's obviously a longtime party hack. And he's obviously somebody who the machinery behind the party is confident will enact the corporatist, anti-human, anti-woman, anti-immigrant agenda that Republicans have had for decades. But the thing that's interesting to me is, like, why this guy? an anti-woman, anti-immigrant agenda that Republicans have had for decades. But the thing that's interesting to me is, like, why this guy? This guy is mashed potatoes in a suit with an 80s teen sex comedy high school principal haircut. And he has no charisma.

He, like, gets sweaty whenever he, like, has a microphone near him. He's not somebody that in any way inspires any kind of confidence. Like what about this man is so great that the Republican Party is like, you know what? I'm willing to put my chips like I'm willing to bet on this. This person who's alleged to have like attempted to rape somebody when they were in high school. Like aren't there any judges that have conservative principles that have not tried to rape somebody? Well, that's the thing. There are multiple, there are multiple people on the list from which Donald Trump was selecting judges. And what's strange to me is how much Donald Trump doesn't give a shit about Brett Kavanaugh. He would fire Brett Kavanaugh out of a cannon into the sun. He doesn't care. He just wants a win. He doesn't

want it to look bad. He doesn't want to seem like a loser. He doesn't seem like he lost something. That's all he seems to care about. The fact that they have rallied so hard behind Brett Kavanaugh, even though they could remove their support, leave him out to dry. He would remove his name. He'd remain a federal fucking judge. He's not going into prison. He's not on trial. He's still a federal judge.

Worst case scenario, he gets a book deal. Right. And they could. If I did it. Part two. And they could point to him. If I did it. Part two. If I tried to do it. If I tried to do it.

But for whatever reason, they've so committed to this guy, part, I guess, because they don't believe they have the time to confirm somebody if they have to put somebody else up before the midterms. I don't really fully understand it. Merrick Garland. It's closing time. The sun is coming up. That's how they feel.

They're like, this is our guy now. Which is wild because as many scams as they've pulled, I feel like they could do a lightning round confirmation for anybody they pull out of it. Yeah. Even Neil Gorsuch, who is a human Great Dane, was somehow like, okay, well, this guy doesn't seem like he tried to rape someone in high school. Nobody came out of the woodwork. The thing that was crazy, the thing that's like super crazy about this is that Donald Trump and by extension, the Republican Party, because that is what the Republican Party is now is Donald Trump, has aligned itself over and over again with so many people who are alleged to have committed sexual offenses, like sexual creeps.

It's almost enough to make an entire verse of we didn't start the fire, but just about sex creeps that the GOP has supported. And I think it would go a little something. Emily, do it, because I did not write one. I can't do it. The other thing, too, is that they keep coming back to this argument. These are allegations from 35 years ago and ever since he's been an exemplary man of integrity and grace and character. Actually, no, no, he hasn't been. He's lied every time he's testified under oath.

He was a partisan hack. He was one of the most aggressive people pursuing Bill Clinton during the impeachment scandal, during the Monica Lewinsky. God, I hate when I refer to it, the Monica Lewinsky, during the Bill Clinton perjury scandal. There you go. Yeah. But but he was the one who was the most aggressive about wanting to ask Bill Clinton inappropriate questions. He seems to have the least scruples around what they did to Monica Lewinsky. He goes on to be a partisan hack inside the Bush administration, working with the Judiciary Committee to take stolen materials to help confirm their judges. He then is nominated for the federal

courts where he looks right at the Judiciary Committee and lies to their fucking faces about it. He is dissembled again and again about what happened with this guy. What's his name? Kaczynski could cause Kuzuska, the fucking creep that he worked for. Also, speaking of him and Bush, Bush came out and was like supporting Kavanaugh as well. And it's like, I knew that fucker would come around and prove that he is still the same person he's always been. So everyone else has been treating him like the old man from Up because he was giving Michelle Obama candy and like he paints things like he's still an asshole. Right. I mean, and that's funny about like the I mean, going back to last week, the letter from the 65 women who are like, well, he didn't even rape us a little bit. That's crazy to me. Second thing is that everybody, you know, on the right is like, oh, you know, it was youthful,

youthful indiscretion. Boys will be boys. Boys will be boys. Those are the same people that when it's men of color doing anything, stealing something from a convenience store or in any way inflicting any sort of, having a physical altercation with anybody else, they believe that they should be locked up forever. Central Park Five. Dude, yes, exactly. So, like, when it's Brett Kavanaugh doing it, it's totally fine. They get space to totally, you to totally grow back into society.

When it's a young man of color, throw them in jail. Stick your dick in anything in Mayberry, but when it's in Harlem, no thanks. Well, no, it's not even stick your dick in anything. It's like jaywalk in Harlem and be in jail forever. And it's just garbage. You go to Georgetown Prep. Your parents know the right people. You run in the right circles.

You get a second chance. You get to rebound. You get leniency. You get somebody who squashes your record. You get socially passed. You get to go to the good college. You get the chance to be a kid. A third chance, a fourth chance.

You get a million chances. But everybody else, anybody else, you play for keeps. He got community chess on Monopoly. Right. Well, I also think if you're a white guy and you have a rich dad, like the richer your dad is, the longer you get to be called a boy. Yeah. Donald Trump Jr. He's a boy.

He's just a boy. He's a 40-year-old man. He's a 40-year-old boy. We're not even requiring any of these guys to wear propeller beanies, which I feel like is the least they could do for us. Donald Trump Jr. is the one I hate the most. Like, I won't name any names, but where Aaron and I previously used to work when Donald Trump Jr. was getting divorced, I made a joke about it. And someone on the politics team had the nerve to send me an email and be like he has a wife and kids i'm like not for long you see the shit that he retweets but you want to be

nice to donald trump jr that's why we're in this predicament there's also um there's also something about these conservative supposedly serious people that the second one of their own is in this position of being doubted, being treated like an ordinary person whose word is not taken at face value, they really lose their fucking shit. It seems inconceivable to them that one of their own might very well be lying to them. They can't process it. They're too smart for that. I know Brett Kavanaugh. I know how Brett Kavanaugh is. I know the kind of man he is. I believe Brett Kavanaugh. Why? You've never been lied to by someone in your social circle before? People like you don't lie. Republicans, social conservatives don't lie. Because they're all liars. And they're afraid that if Brett Kavanaugh goes down, then they could go down, too. this on Thursday, Ed Whelan, who runs a think tank called the Ethics and Public Policy Center. That's how you know it's good.

EPPC. The EPPC. Or PP. For sure. EPCA. EPPC. Ed Whelan of EPCA. He was called in Politico a

sober-minded straight shooter. Interesting. He lost his fucking mind. He used maps and floor plans and speculation to accuse by name a different person in Brett Kavanaugh's high school of the alleged assault. It took him a full day to retract it and apologize. And by the way, conservative media and conservatives were building up Ed wheelan's grand theory for days being like y'all look pretty stupid when ed wheelan gets a handle on the facts and then shelby woo of twitter ed wheelan and then he lays out this thing and everyone's like you use fucking zillow you think you're gonna prove the innocence of brett kavanaugh with a floor plan and fucking Zillow, you fucking lunatics.

But that's not even the extent of his theory. The theory was that someone else who looks like Brett Kavanaugh was really the person who attempted to rape Ford. It was the twins. And I'm like, I've always thought that this administration was a ridiculous soap opera. And I'm like, I've always thought that this administration was a ridiculous soap opera. But when we are really saying that someone legitimately has a evil twin that was the real attempted rapist and she can't tell them apart, I'm like, is this all my children? Is this like Janet from another planet?

It's passions. It's passions from the 90s. Yeah. It's passions from the 90s. Zombie. It's Passions from the 90s. Zombie Omarosa is going to appear and send us to hell in a closet. There is a doll of Ed Whalen that lives in the FBI. The other thing is the Whalen tweet storm kind of betrayed the fact that he knew the name of somebody that wasn't public. Right. So that's the other piece of this.

It was such a fucking miscalculation. So first of all, there were days of this theory being floated. So clearly Ed Whelan, who's not just some rando, he is a deeply connected person, very much involved in the confirmation process. He refers to the home of somebody who is not yet publicly named and still as of this moment is not publicly named. Not only that, the Washington Post reported right before we recorded that on Sunday, Ford noticed that even before her name became public, Whelan appeared to be seeking information about her. That morning, Ford alerted an associate via

email that Whelan had looked at her LinkedIn page, according to the email, which was reviewed by the Post. LinkedIn allows some subscribers to see who views their pages. Ford sent the email about 90 minutes after the post shared her name with a White House spokesman and hours before her identity was revealed in a story posted on the White House. So this is, they're going to come up with some fucking lie about this. Oh my God. But basically, the White House got the name, they fed it to Ed Whelan,

and then he was at his red string in his lair putting it together. He's like, we start with LinkedIn, the most important social network where everyone is constantly updating with all of the most vital info. Meanwhile, CBS is going to greenlight a series where detectives solve rape cases using LinkedIn. Yeah, yeah. LinkedIn Miami. LinkedIn Miami. Anyway, basically now this guy Ed Whelan has put this theory out there.

It's totally blown up in their faces. But the one thing it has led to, it has led to an important question, which is how much did Brett Kavanaugh and the people of Brown, Brett Kavanaugh know about the fact that this guy who they know who's very much involved in the process was going to float this theory? And they're, of course, denying it. But again, Brett Kavanaugh is not some guy with a lot of credibility here. He lied about his relationship to the nomination process of Judge Pryor. He lied about being aware of the spying scandal and what was happening with the Senate Judiciary Committee when they were leaking information to the Bush White House. The idea that he has some unblemished record leading up to this, you just can't trust him. If you're going with the idea that there's this other person who probably did it, that means you're like, OK, yes, Ford was actually assaulted. Someone tried to rape her, which means that at some point they started thinking, oh, this

actually happened to her. She's not lying. We need an alternate theory. Yeah. Yeah. I think that there's like a calculation among Republicans that they're like, oh, we can't alienate the women. Because if we're publicly,

there's never been a female Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Never. And there's not a female Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee now. It's a bunch of white guys. And those are the people who Kavanaugh is going to have to testify or has testified in front of. And those are the people are going to vote him to the full Senate. The thing is that I think that

they think that this is like shorthand to getting women to like them. But the truth of the matter is that Kavanaugh has also lied about his stance on Roe v. Wade, which is like the most hostile possible stance to have as a judge. If you're anti Roe v. Wade and you're lying about it in order to convince people who are more moderate to confirm you, that's so insidious. I got to say, if this is their plan to not alienate women, it is working. I'm on board, baby. Emily is wearing a Kavanaugh pin. Women for Kavanaugh.

She got here on that bus. Yes, yes. She was one of the five women on that 100 double-decker seat. I'm not in the picture because I was driving. And that's the news. If you or someone you know has suffered sexual assault or rape, there is help. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE. Or talk to somebody online by visiting rainn.org.

When we come back, OK Stop. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Now it's time for a game called OK Stop. We'll roll a clip and the panel can say OK Stop at any point to comment. The New York Times is the great hope of American journalism. They have it home to some of the best writers in American history and Bret Stephens.

But one New York Times opinion writer, Mary Weiss, loves to say incredibly awful shit. I believe that she's completely sincere in what she believes happened and maybe it did happen exactly as she said 36 years ago although we all know memories capricious but the idea that it's not okay stop you know what the least cute thing you can do as a girl is say things so the boys like you and i feel feel like Barry Weiss's entire career has been like, so the boys like me. Every single issue that has come up that has pitted any woman's word against the male dominant status quo, Barry Weiss has come down on the side of like, I think it's guys. I think it's guys.

I think they're right. I think it's good. And like her doubting the account of Dr. Ford is so on like brand for Barry Weiss that it's almost boring to me. It's capricious. First of all, it's pronounced ceviche. She's always using these words she doesn't know. She works for the Times. She said that's exactly what it is. And, you know, what's very, very different about this case, as opposed to a lot of the other Me Too stories,

it's like the famous New York Times ad that I think is so excellent. This is not a paid ad for me. Okay, stop. Gotta get that promo. Okay, also, just to add to that, Barry Weiss has never in history come down on the side of the person who has been accusing somebody of sexual assault. She's always like, well, this is different from the other Me Too cases. It's like, Barry, in every other Me Too case, you came down on the side of doubting the person that was bringing the charges. Like, how is this different?

Is this different in that you feel a little more bad or less bad about your stance? It doesn't make any sense to me. It's he said, she said, he said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said. Okay, stop. By the seashore. By the seashore. You can start it again. In all of these instances is that there's been a sustained pattern.

And that was around Bill Cosby. By all accounts. And by the way, Harvey, we can go through them. The ones that have stuck, there's been a sustained pattern. And that was around Bill Cosby. By all accounts. And by the way, Harvey, we can go through them. The ones that have stuck, there's been a pattern. By all accounts other than this instance, Brett Kavanaugh is a reputable... This one can't be true because Brett Kavanaugh wasn't like raping everybody on sorority row. I always hate when people are like, of course, the Weinstein thing stuck, you know, because like there were a whole bunch of people who said yes.

You know, it's like some people commit murder once. Yeah, it's still murder. And when you get away with it, you're like, OK, cool. I'm not going to do that again. OJ Simpson, one bad night. Yeah, but what about all the... That's her argument. But what about all the people he didn't murder? But that's another thing that I think when it comes to her mindset,

which is extremely not original. It's a sort of like a mild version of like the alt-right. They use like the most extreme examples of something to prove that lesser versions of that are not serious. It's like if you were walking down the street and somebody beat you up and you went to the cops and they were like, well, you know, Ted Bundy killed like 30 people. So you kind of only just got beat up. It's like, yeah, but what happened is still bad.

And also there are 14 women at least who have accused Donald Trump and that doesn't seem to factor in. I think it's a higher number than that. Yeah, I'm sure it is. And also he said, she said. He said, no. Mark Judge, witness, says, I don't recall. She says, yes, it happened.

She said it in 2012 that it happened. She said it at the time that it happened. She's told people about it. She's playing a long game. Love it. A very long game. He said, she said, therapist's notes said. Husband said.

Witness refuses to deny. By the seashore. What happened is Ford was just walking through D.C., overheard Kavanaugh saying, you know what, I'm going to be on the Supreme Court in six years. And she was like, you know what, I'm going to be on the Supreme Court in six years. And she was like, you know what? I got you. Yeah. That's what Barry is insinuating. That's what Barry is saying.

As being a prince of a man, frankly, other than this. Okay, stop. A prince, you mean like inbred and like shouldn't have power? Also, Harry just got married this year. Like, we've seen a real prince. Also, Harry just got married this year. Like, we've seen a real prince. dissembled for years around the various partisan games he played in politics when he was at the White House, when he was a judge, when he was under oath. We reject your implication or we just out of a kind of cognitive bias, out of the bubble we live in, we don't even see it.

Like you say he lied. We don't even address it. We reject it. We don't let it into our opinion of him as a man. So we have this pristine notion of Brett Kavanaugh, which you are very sincere objections, your intellectually honest objections to that characterization don't pierce. And then you use that unpierced idea to defend him from a credible rape allegation. This is a story you're telling yourselves. You're telling yourselves a story about Prince of a Man. How deep does the snake's tail go into its mouth before it becomes its own poop? Exactly.

No, that's exactly something. That is a question. That's 100%. We're all picturing it. Don't poop. Exactly. No, that's exactly something. That is a question. That's 100%. We're all picturing it. Don't tread on me. And how dare you be the one to raise the Ouroboros on my show? I believe her. I believe what she's saying. I'm just saying in the end of the day

it is one. Okay, stop. Okay, stop. No, no, no, no, no. If you believe her and you believe what she's saying, then Brett Kavanaugh is not a fucking prince. He's somebody who has an offense in his history that is a disqualifying thing. Anybody who is at 17 capable

of holding a girl down and sexually assaulting her is not worthy of being appointed to the Supreme Court. I think what she's saying is that she believes that Ford believes that this happened. And we do know that memory is fallible. That's why you need to investigate it. And I think that's the thing is she's saying, why investigate it? It's like, no, this is a reason to slow this the fuck down and look as deep into it as we possibly can.

Before we nominate him for a fucking lifetime appointment cultural like the ethical question here let's say he did this exactly as she said should the fact that a 17 year old presumably very drunk kid okay stop yes yes it absolutely should i know plenty of men like the reason that i think that i'm perpetually disappointed in men is that I was raised by a good man, and my brother is a good man, and I was surrounded by good men as a child. So when I encounter shitty men, I'm like, okay, come on. I know you don't have to do this. I'm used to men being trashed because my father abandoned me. But moving on, I think that this is –

No, let's dig into this. I feel like there's more work to do. I think that this is insane to me because it's exactly what we were talking about before. You know, a black teenager, a immigrant, anyone else does something while under the influence. It's like they're a monster. And they're an example of why nobody else who belongs to their demographic should be given any opportunities ever. But this white boy was drunk, tried to assault someone. It's okay.

He wouldn't do it again while he was drinking. Does he still drink? Yeah. Give him a wine spritzer and will he hold you down next to your ottoman? Also, the excuse for the crime is that he was also committing another crime of drinking illegally. He was drinking under air. This idea of forgiveness, it is amazing what it takes for certain conservatives to discover Christian charity and the idea that people can change and grow. And it turns out that what it takes is being someone that looks like them and runs in their circles and sounds like them, has their beliefs.

And it doesn't take that person apologizing. Right. I mean, it can give them a tax break. He is denying it. It seems as though he's never made any kind of amends. He's not even admitting anything ever even took place. We are in the middle of something really big. And what we have learned is not that we have been not forgiving men enough.

We've learned that we built an apartheid state where women had to endure incredible misery and live with secrets because it wasn't even till 10 years after Kavanaugh may have committed this that Time magazine even named something called date rape, right? To even begin to name the horrible experience that women had to bear. And 36 years later, the only person deserving of forgiveness, the only person deserving of charity, of a right to live and grow and have their own and survive their choices

and their experiences, Brett fucking Kavanaugh. He's the only one. No one's saying that Dr. Ford deserves remuneration or a chance to live a life without the pain she had. No one's saying that so many women

who have lived with so many secrets for so long, no one's saying to them, we're sorry. No. Brett Kavanaugh deserves our largesse. Brett Kavanaugh. Fuck that. Yeah, I mean, and that's something that we talked about it on Hysteria this week.

That's something that women carry with them everywhere. Every single woman I know has like a bunch of stories that are like, this fucked up thing happened to me. And they kind of keep it to themselves that they share it with a small group of friends. And it affects you. It affects you. What happened to Dr. Ford obviously affected her.

Her friends say it affected her. She says it affected her. Kavanaugh was able to just have this kind of flight of fancy, carry on with his life, and now everyone is expected to just let him do it. Qualifying. That's the question at the end of the day. We're not talking about should he be disqualified to be a dog catcher. Is this half of still talking? to just like let him do it. Qualifying. That's like the question at the end of the day.

We're not talking about should he be disqualified to be a dog catcher. Okay, stop. Is this half of Still Talkin'? How long does this clip? I mean, it was at the end. We're talking about to be aware. I'm a Supreme Court Justice.

Yes. Like those are two different things. So maybe they should choose Amy Coney Barrett, which is what I know a lot of my friends are right about. Okay, stop. We definitely shouldn't choose Amy Coney Barrett. She's terrible I know about her. Okay, stop. We definitely shouldn't choose Amy Coney Barrett. She's terrible, but at least she didn't rape anybody or try to rape anybody. Man, we're in this fight over Kavanaugh, and the best case scenario is they remove Kavanaugh

and just put some other fucking heinous person. Is that their plan? Is their plan to be like, here's a really terrible option, and they present us with someone else? Yeah, it's like a realtor. Yes, okay, yeah, that guy. That's fine. That's why their behavior is so fucking surprising, because if they hold a court on this guy and

nominate some other heinous person that you'll let breeze through. Well, here's the thing. The longer they hang on, the longer they hang on. If his nomination gets derailed, that opens up the very real possibility that Democrats could take back the Senate if everybody goes out and votes. And that opens up the possibility that Donald Trump's nomination to the Supreme Court could be stalled for a very long time. Could be Merrick Garland times two.

Do not jinx it. Jesus is planned. I'm just saying, everybody needs to fucking vote if you're listening. Please vote. Please vote. Oh, my God. Vote or die.

Vote or die. Vote and die. I don't care. Just get the vote in. Vote and or die. All right. When we come back, we're going to play a game about Anita Hill. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Very special in-studio recording of Love It or Leave It.

I'm here with Erin Ryan. Yeah. Ira Madison. Hey. Say hi. That's not my name. The third. Hey. And Emily Heller. What the? And the frog from that commercial.

Who speaks for her. It's like, this is a topical podcast, right? Yeah, it was Dilly Dilly before Dilly Dilly existed. What? Huh? Yeah, you know, never mind. For the last week,

the media has been obsessing over the possibility of a joint hearing on Monday between Brett Kavanaugh and his childhood classmate Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and it seems like everyone is comparing this

to the disgusting spectacle that was the Anita Hill hearings. But we realize that a lot of people, especially the violently young employees of Crooked Media, didn't know the full details of what happened.

So we thought we'd give everyone a primer on the Anita Hill story in a game we are calling History Repeats Itself, especially when it has to do with powerful men and their insatiable need to sexually demean everyone around them. Ding. Would someone out there like to play the game? Let's make Megan play. Hi, Megan. Where are you from?

Los Angeles. Thanks for being here, Megan. Thank you. Are you familiar with Anita Hill? Yes. You're doing great. Question number one. Clarence Thomas hired Anita Hill to work for him at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1981.

During that time, how did Clarence Thomas conduct himself with Hill professionally? Is it A? Clarence Thomas often sent Anita engaging and humorous memes, but they were never too risque because he always remembered it was a professional Slack conversation. Singe, don't burn, he said, of his memes. Or is it B? He asked her out many times during the years they worked together and used work situations to discuss sex. He would call her into his office to discuss reports on education, but would show her videos of group sex or rape scenes. He would comment on her physical appearance and what she was wearing in terms of whether it made her more or less sexually attractive.

Or was it C? Um, hello? Read the name? The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission? There's no way he was a shitty boss. It would be far too ironic and honestly not believable. What's next? Almost every person who impeached Bill Clinton was also lying about their sex lives? I'm gonna say B. Can you do it with a little bit more energy? Some gusto! I'm going to say sadly B.

Great. Oh good. She's doing it like a guest. Alright, question number two. During the Nedia Hill hearings, who made up the Senate Judiciary Committee? Is it A? It was the first ever all-female Senate committee called the W Judiciary Committee. It looked a lot like the male Judiciary Committee, but the hearings were rarely televised and some committee members had to take second jobs because of low pay.

Or as it be. The committee was a ragtag gang of misfits who were brought together for one last job. There was the ringleader, the munitions expert, the muscle, the hacker, and a slew of other colorful characters. In the end, they overcame their differences and even came to see themselves as a kind of family before they got down to business and installed a sexual predator on the bench of the highest court in the land. Or as it say. Fourteen white men and after the committee vote to recommend Thomas failed in a tie, 7-7, Joe Biden, who chaired the committee, allowed Thomas' nomination to go to the floor without a recommendation.

Unfortunately, I'm going to say C. You got it, Megan. Just a withering stare from Megan. That's horrible. He sounds kind of right, too. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe there was no muscle.

Question number three. Who was the muscle, Orrin Hatch? Question number three. In the 90s, journalists and pundits were unrelenting with their criticism of Anita Hill. Journalist David Brock was one of the worst. He published in-depth attacks on Anita Hill for American Spectator magazine and even wrote a book called The Real Anita Hill, which was praised by the Washington Post as a serious work of investigative journalism

and the New York Times as carefully reasoned and powerful in its logic. What has David Brock said about his work since? Is it A? Brock now describes the book as a, quote, character assassination and has since disavowed its premise. He says he lied specifically to protect Clarence Thomas and said he did everything he could to, quote, ruin Anita Hill's credibility using, quote, virtually every derogatory and often contradictory allegation I had collected on Hill.

Or is it B? He says the book is good, but not great. If he could do it all over again, he'd love to include a chapter that blames Anita Hill for Gamergate. Or was it C? Brock admits to slandering Anita Hill, but in his defense, he said he did it to benefit himself. What do you think, Megan? A. You got it, Megan.

And finally, question number four. On Tuesday, Anita Hill wrote a New York Times op-ed titled, How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right. How did she describe her own experience in 1991? Is it A? Anita Hill wrote, if I could give it zero stars, I would. Or is it B? In 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee had an opportunity

to demonstrate its appreciation for both the seriousness of sexual harassment claims and the need for public confidence in the character of a nominee to the Supreme Court. It failed on both counts. Today, the public expects better than what we got in 1991, when our representatives performed in ways that gave employers permission to mishandle workplace harassment complaints throughout the following decades. That the Senate Judiciary Committee still lacks a protocol for vetting sexual harassment and assault claims that surfaced during a confirmation hearing suggests that the committee has learned little from the Thomas hearing, much less from the more recent Me Too movement.

Or is it C? In a characteristic display of poise and wry understatement, Hill wrote that it fucking sucked shit. I'm going to say B. Megan, you've won the game. You've gotten that one right. You got all of them right. Thank you, Megan, for playing.

We come back. We're going to play a game about close elections. So many games. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. If you're one of the many young people who thinks your vote doesn't matter, or you happen to buy drugs from one of the many young people who thinks your vote doesn't matter, or you happen to buy drugs from one of the many young people who thinks their vote doesn't matter, we want to change your mind. So we thought as we are in the final homestretch, the last few weeks before the election, we wanted to highlight how much one vote can matter in a game we're calling Close Elections of the Absurd Kind.

Would anyone out there like to play the game? I pick Roman. You can't be surprised. Hi, what's your name? My name's Roman. And where are you from, Roman? I'm from New Jersey. Cool.

Do you know about democracy? Democracy, yes. Question number one. In 2017, a Virginia statehouse race was certified a tie after a recount and a review from a three-judge panel Do you know about democracy? Democracy, yes. Question number one. In 2017, a Virginia statehouse race was certified a tie after a recount and a review from a three-judge panel appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court. The winner of the seat would tip the balance of the House of Delegates from either Republican or Democrat. How did the state decide who won? Is it A? The names of each candidate were placed inside a film canister, and the winner would be drawn at random.

Republican incumbent David Yancey won the draw and the seat, giving Republicans control of the House 51 to 49, and which they have used to draw racist district lines and undermine their Democratic governor at all costs. Or as it be. The Republicans got the seat Monday, Wednesday, Friday. The Democrats got Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. And they alternated Sundays, except for two weeks every summer where each party got to take the whole district on vacation. The meeting point was a Chuck E. Cheese, which seemed like a good idea because we loved Chuck E. Cheese, but then, in time, it became associated with the dull, achy feeling of never having all your family at once.

The candidates were sent home, and the seat was to be granted to the first person who could pull the state sword from this big rock behind the marshals in Richmond. After many tried and failed, a child miraculously succeeded on his first try. And that boy grew up to be Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. What do you think, Roman? I think A. It is. It's A. A tied election. One vote would have tipped the balance of the entire legislature.

That is nuts. Question two. Roman, buckle up because this one is not multiple choice. New Hampshire Republican State Senator Harold French has recently voted against protections for the trans community, voted against protections for animals from pet shops, and was rated 93% by the NRA. When he was elected in 2016, without going over, how many votes did he win by?

One? No. It was 17. Just 17. 17. I feel like they're in a way to build up the anxiety there. What should I have done differently, you think? I think we should have started with the one where it was one vote.

And then went to the one where it was seven. Yeah, we should have started with the one where it was one vote. And then went to the one where it was seven. Yeah, we should have ended on the one with one vote. We should have started and ended at one vote. Or we should re-record it with him guessing like 200. We could have been like, is it A, less than 15, B, 15, or C, more than 15. Should have been multiple choice. Yeah, why don't you just guess. Hey, Roman.

Guess 300. Roman, guess 237, please. 237. Wrong. It was 17. What a bad guess. Young enough for Drake to text. The worst.

Question number three. In 2000, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by a little over 500 votes in the state of Florida, which decided the outcome of the presidential election. In that same election, more than 100,000 people in Florida voted for third-party candidates. After becoming president by just 500 votes, what did George W. Bush accomplish? Is it A? He started a war with Iraq under false pretenses, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, many of whom were civilians. The war further destabilized the Middle East, creating conditions that helped lead to the

formation of ISIS. Is it B? During Hurricane Katrina, Bush was slow to act on reports that the levees in New Orleans were failing, and he waited more than a day after the hurricane made landfall to return from vacation. Over 1,000 people died in the aftermath of Katrina, and countless others were displaced. Or was it C? Bush officials leaked classified information to journalist Robert Novak, who then outed Valerie Plame as a covert CIA officer.

This was done to retaliate against Plame's husband, who criticized Bush's justification for the war in Iraq in a Times op-ed. No charges were filed for the leak, but Scooter Luby was convicted for lying to investigators. Bush commuted his sentence. Or was it D? Bush enacted tax cuts that eradicated the record surplus from the Clinton years and erased the federal deficit to a new record, all to

benefit the rich. The tax cuts resulted in higher fees and co-pays for veterans and people on Medicaid, and by simultaneously requiring a cut to loan programs and a greater financial burden on state governments, the tax cuts helped exacerbate the student debt crisis, all without delivering the job creation benefits Bush promised. Or was it E? George W. Bush and his allies in the RNC led the successful 2004 effort to enshrine anti-gay marriage amendments in state constitutions across the country and turn out evangelical voters in the presidential race.

Or was it F? The Bush administration gave us ice. Or was it G? George W. Bush created the conditions that led to books like Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? What do you think, Roman? Is it all of the above? It is all of the above.

You redeemed yourself. Everybody give it up for Roman from New Jersey. Roman, Roman. Fuck that old man from Up. Yeah. He was bad. He was bad and he should be remembered as being bad from Up. Yeah. He was bad. He was bad and he should be remembered as being bad. Yeah.

Yeah, he's got this sort of like Trump glow, but like, it'll pass. He'll go back. We'll remember. George W. Bush knocked an iced coffee out of my hand and punched me in the face once. When we come back, the rant wheel. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It,

and there's more on the way. And we're back! Now for the rant wheel. You know how it works. We spin the wheel wherever it lands. That's the topic we talk about. This week on the rant wheel, we have whatever we want, because there's actually no rant wheel, because we're in the studio.

But each of our guests has brought a topic they wanted to rant about. I hope they remember what it is, because I don't even have it written on my card. So let's spin the wheel. It has landed on whatever Emily Heller suggested. Woo! All right, so I think it's in Greece, but there are these spiders who are going to have this big sex party,

and they made this big web that's like 1,000 feet long, and it's covering the entire beach. And I'm for it i think it's great it has that story has a lot of nouns in it that i like spider sex party web thousand grease beach grease beach i hate the beach and i'm glad that spiders ruined it for other people and i'm glad that they did it in such a Halloween-y kind of way and I also just think, first of all, this is how we all fuck, so I don't know why

people are freaking out about it so hard and also I don't judge anyone for what they do. Everything about this story is great except for the pictures. Don't look at the pictures because they're very scary.

Who knew spiders had circuit parties in Greece too? Yeah, who knew? Let's spin it again. It has landed on what Ira suggested. Mine is about

Bert and Ernie. Sesame Street came out with a statement against a writer who had created them saying that they weren't gay they were just friends who wanted to teach people about friendship and then they walked it back again and then they walked it back they put out another statement to try and fix how people reacted to that first statement and i just think it's dumb i think it's dumb for them to even comment on it i think it was dumb for everyone on the internet to talk about how burton ernie being gay meant everything for gay representation and you know like hanging everything about gay rights on these felt fucking puppets. I just found the whole thing silly.

It's very silly. It was very silly of them to put out that statement. They did not need to. They could have just said nothing. Also, to be a puppet is to have a human hand in your butt forever. So I don't know what sexuality that is, but it's not mine. It's everybody's. They are also clearly gay.

It's everybody. They're clearly gay. Do you know how many times Ernie says faggot every episode? And he's allowed to. I will say this. I do agree that it is all quite silly, and, of course, they're puppets. However, it really does bother me that Kermit and Miss Piggy have been having their I'm more foo for so many fucking years

they are clearly straight puppets they have a sexual orientation Miss Piggy is a ravenous lady who's got V-hots for Kermit she's practically playing as Piggy pussy pops all over Sesame Street

like she is constantly jumping on every man in sight. We don't have time for it this episode, but I have a whole theory about Muppet astrology. I know you do. I know you do, and we do not have time. Which one's a Leo? We'll talk about it offline. It's actually deeply

chilling, and it is quite good. But I just, look, as Aaron and I have discussed previously, I am a Miss Piggy in the scene with Joan Rivers getting the makeup on. That's who I am. That's what I am deep inside. I analyzed it in a van on the way to a show in Boston. It was exactly what I am.

However, so Miss Piggy has a sexual orientation. Kermit has a sexual orientation. They're just, puppets are either straight or they're nothing. And I feel like that sucks. That's all. It does bother me. I think Kermit's asexual and he's been bullied into a relationship by Miss Piggy. I think Kermit is a guy who thinks he's really nice but actually isn't nice.

That's Kermit. That is Kermit. I think Elmo is killing all those celebrities who visit him. Let's spin it again. It has landed on whatever Erin suggested. I suggested sleeves. Sleeves?

Sleeves. Welcome to L.A. You might notice I'm not wearing sleeves. I'm not talking about the concept of sleeves. I'm talking specifically about sleeves

in women's fashion. This is something I first clocked a few years ago. I was like, wow, sleeves are getting a little crazy. Because is something I first clocked a few years ago. I was like, wow, sleeves are getting a little crazy. Because every time I would go to a store, I noticed that there was like, oh, we're putting a ruffle on the wrist. Or yeah, now it's a little big. When I first noticed it, I was like, okay, this is a trend that nobody's going to buy into.

And then what's going to happen is that people who make clothes are going to be like, oh, no one's buying it. We abandon it. What has happened is that designers have doubled down. If you try to buy a women's top right now, it looks like you're fucking Anne Shirley and you're puffed sleeves and it's the green gables and there is no there's no regular clothing to be bought. And I actually did some research into this. And the last time sleeves got enormous and crazy was like during the Andrew Jackson administration because there was a ton of like weird global upheaval anyway are you forgetting the 80s what are you no no I mean like that was that was like the 80s were sort of a rehash of that this is like a sort of like and also the 80s were crazy too man like

Ronald Reagan was crazy this is crazy so. So anyway, sleep. Aaron Manuel Miranda over here. We didn't start the fire. Tell us more about Andrew Jackson. Oh my god. Oh my god, I'm gonna rap about it and you're gonna hate yourself so much for asking. You're gonna be like, I made Aaron rap about it. No, sleeves can go fuck, sleeves can fuck

themselves. I'm not gonna buy a shirt unless it has normal ass sleeves. Or no sleeves. The end. Let's spin it again. It has landed on the topic I want to rant about. Shut up. And that topic is Ted Cruz sending out mailers to people that look like summonses to fool old people into donating money to his campaign. And it sucks. There was a report that came out that said we're approaching the point at which half of all calls are fake, like half of all phone calls people are getting on their cell phones are scams.

And it is so despicable. Like Ted Cruz is running the smallest and most despicable little campaign against Beto O'Rourke. Beto is running a campaign about health care, about immigration, about really big issues, and he's doing it in a generally positive way. Ted Cruz is running the shiftiest, scummiest piece of shit campaign. And I know that I'm biased, obviously. But seriously, go look at Ted Cruz's Twitter and go look at Beto O'Rourke's Twitter. Beto O'Rourke's Twitter is about what's happening to the country and the policies for this country and the big challenges we face.

It is a campaign to meet Ted Cruz head-to-head about what actually a campaign should be about. Here's what I stand for, what do you stand for. Ted Cruz is going around saying Beto O'Rourke's going to— he's surrounded by celebrities, he wants to ban barbecue, Colin Kaepernick, Nancy Pelosi. He cannot run an honest campaign against Beto O'Rourke. He cannot even run an honest mailer to raise money against Beto O'Rourke because Beto O'Rourke is actually appealing to people.

Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz can't appeal to people. We should have saw the mailer coming. I mean, didn't he used to taunt the police with mail when he was killing victims in San Francisco in the 70s? That is his M.O. Anonymous mailers. He's keeping the post office alive. Yeah.

He is. Unbelievable. He's always leaving clues. And also, secondary rant. I want to rant, I really want to raveave about a dress and a purse held by one Emily Heller. Hell yeah. At the Emmys.

It was so fucking good. That's me. Emily carried a purse with her to the Emmys that said on it, Getty Images. It didn't just say Getty Images. It was the Getty Images. It didn't just say Getty Images. It was the Getty Images logo. It was the Getty Images logo so that whenever she was in a picture that said Getty Images on it,

it also said Getty Images on her purse. She was a living logo for Getty Images. And it was one of those things where you see it and you think, I can't believe that no one has ever done that before. That's so cool. Yeah, thank you so much. It was brilliant. I gotta say, so I ordered the purse about a month ago. Uh, and then I had to somehow

not post on the internet that I was going to do that for a month. And I swear to God, uh, I don't know how I did it. I really impressed myself. I can't believe I pulled it off. You, that picture, the picture of you with this great smile on your face that just says, look at my dumb fucking purse. It is so good. It made me so happy. It's like an original...

I can't believe no one... It is so rare now that somebody does something that... Stupid? To be fair, I think Katherine Heigl did it three years ago but no one knew who she was and didn't take a photo yeah i mean truly the move was i was like they're not gonna take my picture otherwise i'm nominated and they're not gonna take my picture i need to do something i got there at the very beginning when the red carpet opened. I got there three hours

before the ceremony and then I just had to sit inside the theater for two and a half hours. That is the move. It was me and George R.R. Martin just sitting in the empty theater waiting for the show. I hope you brought snacks. I hope you brought snacks. The snacks you

needed. I did bring snacks. I brought way more snacks than we even ate. And then I just had to carry around a bunch of snacks that misshaped my bag. Anyway. Well, anyway, I loved it. Thank you so much. I couldn't have been happier with how it went. I just I want to thank the Academy.

All right. Let's end on a high note. Vote Save America. We've got new shit. After almost two years of Donald Trump threatening everything we care about and the Republican Party doing absolutely nothing to stop him, November 6th is the day we finally have the chance to take some power back. But research shows that the majority of young people still aren't sure

whether they're actually going to vote. It's either because, one, they don't know how or where to vote, or two, they don't know what's on their ballot and don't want to vote the wrong way, or three, they don't think their vote matters. That's why we launched VoteSaveAmerica.com, our step-by-step guide to getting your ass to the polls. And this week we added some new shit. Thank you. ballot available in plain English so you can see and understand what you're voting on before you get to the voting booth. You can also find events where you can volunteer so it's like everything you need. So shut up and pledge to vote already. Be a voter.

Save America. I want to thank Aaron Ryan, Ira Madison III, not the second, not the first, the third, not the fourth. I'm the fourth now. And Emily Heller for being in this first of many in studio.

Love it or leave it. This was a blast. Have a great weekend, everybody. Good night. I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it It's great to be on your side