Lovett or Leave It - The House Always Wynns

Episode Date: January 27, 2018

Trump puts an immigration proposal on the table. GOP finance chair Steve Wynn is accused of misconduct. And Sean Hannity struggles to serve master. Live from the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Jon is joined by Ijeoma Oluo, Lindy West, and Akilah Hughes to break down the week’s news and reference Frasier because people from Seattle love Frasier.

What is up? Oh my, okay. Oh. Thank you. Seattle. Great to be here. You love me. You seem smart.

It is great to be here at the Moore Theater for our late show, the second show. I learned earlier today that Harry Houdini performed here. You know, that's a lesson, you know? You can be the best at what you do 100 years later, nobody gives a shit. Frasier. Are you booing Frasier. Are you booing Frasier? Millennials don't like Frasier. That's that's tough. That's tough to hear. Look, it's time to face facts. There's a show that captured the essence of a city called Seattle in all of its facets, and it's called Frasier. It was...

Every person I meet on the street here is either a Daphne type, a Niles type, a Bulldog Briscoe type, and no people of color, sadly. Don't boo me, boo Frasier. No, I'm not, I see you. I'm saying Frasier didn't see you.

You see? So very cool, though, that I could just pick up a garbage bike off the street, ride it here and then throw it in the garbage. Really a cool thing about getting around Seattle. There's a group of bikes that are in charge of you now. You all work for the bikes. Your job is to distribute them and then leave them be until they're ready to move on their own.

I biked one right into the lake. I'm not the first. I'm not the first. Weird thing with those bikes. Before we get to the show, for everybody listening at home, Love It or Leave It is on tour in Seattle. We're going to be going to a lot of places with Pod Save America, Love It or Leave It. We're going to be in Miami on April 6th.

And I want to move some tickets in Miami. I don't know what it's going to take to get those people to show up. Okay. Let me bring out our panel. I am so excited about these Seattle shows. I was so excited about our guest. She's a writer, comedian, a YouTuber, and she's a

crooked contributor. Please welcome the incredibly funny Akil Hughes. Hello, everybody. She's a New York Times opinion writer and author of the book Shrill. Please welcome Lindy West, Seattle's own. Hi, Lindy. Hi. Hi.

And she's editor-at-large at the establishment and author of the new book So You Want to Talk About Race. Please welcome Ijeoma Oluo. Hi, Ijeoma. Hello. We are very excited. Second show, the late show, the loose show. Thank you guys for being here. All right, we got show, the loose show. Thank you guys for being here. All right, we've got a lot to get through. Let's get comfortable.

Let's get into it. What a week. I want to start with immigration. This week, Trump announced his proposed immigration plan. It does provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and people who were eligible for DACA but didn't apply. So that's 1.8 million Dreamers. These are people who came to this country as children. For most, the United States is the only country they've ever known.

They are currently at risk of being deported to places many don't remember ever having been there. They have no family there. They have no life there. America is their home. They are Americans in every way, but lacking documents. But here's the bargain, the devil's bargain he's offered. In exchange for legalization for the Dreamers, he is proposing massive funding for border security and a border wall and interior enforcement against illegal immigration, as well as a crackdown on illegal immigration, as well as legal immigration, massive reductions in legal immigration. The response was swift from the far right. We had a lot of people saying, oh, this is amnesty, which felt a little bit like pantomime, right? They don't want to act like they're pleased.

And then you had people like Tom Cotton going out of their way to praise it, calling it generous, calling it humane, as if to say not only would he support it, it's too nice. And then on top of that, we have obviously the so-called moderates all the way to the left saying, this is a deal we can't accept. Not only is it a ransom to fund

your dumb fucking wall, this is also fundamentally changing the immigration system because you know that we care about the humanity of these people that we're trying to protect. Ijeoma, I'll start with you. Is this a ransom worth paying? What do you think? Do we have to come to the table and compromise? We have till March. What do you think? I think for once we could try not doing that. Like we could, every time. It's like all that we keep seeming to debate is how quickly we fold in these things. Have we tried not doing that?

I would love that. Like maybe, but could we just try it? See what happens. I think love that. Could we just try it? See what happens. I think you're being very unfair to the shutdown orchestrated by the Senate Democrats,

which did last the better part of almost 70 hours. That, you know, look, you could watch every Frasier in that length of time. You could have been, you could have started Frasier and thought, I wonder what's going to happen

with that gay fellow and Daphne. And then made it all its way to the end and find, oh, they're married and it's boring now. You know? So that's a long time. Spoilers! He just got to Seattle and he was like, that was my whole plan

for the weekend! Damn it! I guess I'll just watch Spin City. So, Lindy, we have, I think, basically kind of two debates going on. One is the kind of Trump and Schumer dance around the wall, and whether, you know, Schumer says, we won't back the wall, and Trump says, well, no wall, no DACA.

Then there's this kind of, that seems to be a sideshow to this larger conversation about legal immigration. We've been talking about reforming the immigration system for the better part of two decades. What about a smaller proposal? It seems like we might be heading towards a moment where Democrats might have to decide, do they accept a deal that does fund the border wall, that doesn't do some of these larger reforms, and maybe doesn't legalize as many young people, but that we do have to say, okay, will we give Trump this win on border security alone in order to protect the dreamers who are right now threatened with deportation? I mean, what do you make of that?

Man, do I have to figure it out? I mean, I think, okay, here's how I feel. One, dreamers are human beings who are fucking terrified, who are Americans, who live here and have lives, and we need to take care of them. That's my first feeling. And I don't... So it's not as easy as just like you know we should have some sort of hard line like response to trump and i and do uh you know everyone's always like we

should we should do to trump what the republicans did to obama and it's like yeah except they're fucking horrible like treasonous monsters. Well, it's sort of like, it's a little bit like, you know, when they threaten to shoot the hostage, we're like, my God, the hostage. We have to save the hostage. Everyone, protest till they come to understand why the hostage deserves to be saved. We have to save the hostage.

And we take a hostage, and then they just shoot the hostage. And we're like, oh, this was one of those where the bad guy shoots the hostage we took. Fuck. Right. It's an Indiana Jones in the last crusade situation. We took Elsa hostage. We think we got a chip. We think we got we got the balls in our court. All of a sudden Elsa's like, we told you not to trust anybody. You know, totally. And my other totally. Totally. Exactly that. Exactly. Exactly what I was going to get. And my other feeling is, like, is the wall real?

Like, what is it, if we say, like, sure, sure, build your wall, does that matter? Like, what's the downside of letting him, like, go play with his blocks? You know? Who does it hurt? That's true. There's already lots of wall and there's also places with things like rivers, right? Which he could call a moat if he so chooses.

And we've already agreed to fund border security to a great extent we've done that many many times that's always been the kind of carrot and stick with the republicans we'll give you border security and you show some fucking humanity to people who came here to build a better life you know that's the bargain uh and i think if what we're coming down to is all right right, we'll call it a wall too. We hate it. I mean, if we gave him a wall, it might be funny to see what he comes up with. Because it would be like the Trump stake of walls.

Or the Trump University of walls. Like, it's not going to be a real functional wall. Right, right. I mean, we may have a more insecure border when it's all done with, when you think about it. By the way, can you imagine, like, early 2016 you listening to this conversation? Like, if you played me this tape in, like, December 2015, where I'm like, yeah, let's build the wall!

Like, that's so crazy! I would keel over dead. No, yeah, let's build the wall. Like, that's so crazy. I would keel over dead. No, no, no. We should all just be open about the parts of us we had to kill to be on this stage. Just little chunks of us we've left behind on the road to saying, let them have it. Let them have the wall.

Save the kids. Build the wall. I don't care. I don't care. I'll build it. Is it a summer thing? I'll go down there. Can I volunteer? I don't know. Is it like CrossFit? I don't know. It seems like functional movements are very in right now. It's a bit, you know, okay,

I'll put a brick up there. I'll do ten bricks. Then I take a break. Monday is leg brick day. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Still thinking about my ingenious idea that I don't want Trump to find out about, about getting liberals to build a wall because they think

it's a new trend. Shit. Like the part south of Austin is finished first, know uh so part of the reason i think we have to just grapple with this is because democrats are playing with a really shitty hand we have a minority in the senate a minority they can hold things up we have vulnerable senate democrats many of whom already capitulated even on the first funding vote and you know we saw people like joe manchin threatened to literally quit the senate to take their ball and go home rather than participate

in the shutdown do you think democrats are ready for the next fight i just don't think that democrats like ever think that there's going to be a fight like they're always like i mean they weren't reasonable last time but like why don't we just talk to the lion? I went into the cage, it ate my arm. That's fair. Lions can be like that. But maybe this time it'll be different, and it's never different. Every time it's still a lion. I don't think the Democrats are prepared.

I do think that people who are progressive and or feel like they're all there are like, we're going to vote this time. We're definitely going to change everything in November. But I do think that every fight until then is going to be everybody just deep sighing, like, maybe we're the hostages. Any closing thoughts on immigration? Yeah, people should do it. Any closing thoughts on immigration?

Yeah, people should do it. I'll only say that even though the shutdown did not last long enough to get the polls that showed that Democrats were winning the argument over the shutdown, which was disheartening,

I do hope that there is some fight left in the understanding that this is the, in the hope that people realize that this really is gonna be the last chance. The March deadline is coming. It was artificial, it was created by Donald Trump, but with everything that's gone on, he won't budge. We've got one chance to save these kids,

and I guess we just have to be prepared for the fact that it is gonna be a shitty fucking compromise, and I wonder how shitty guess we just have to be prepared for the fact that it is gonna be a shitty fucking compromise And I wonder how shitty it's gonna have to be before we walk away, and I don't know I think it's hard Let's move on To a story that broke today The Wall Street Journal reported a number of allegations of sexual assault misconduct and harassment against Steve Wynn the the casino magnate, that he was taking advantage of women who worked for his casinos, people that were masseuses

and other kind of working people inside of his company. He obviously denied it. He also happens to be the finance chair of the Republican National Committee, which means this scandal comes on the heels of the effort to sort of tie Harvey Weinstein to the Democrats and to force Democrats to return the money, which they all did. No one from the Trump White House has responded. The RNC, led by Ronna Romney McDaniel, who dropped the Romney when Trump asked her to. And honestly, she dropped a little bit more when she threw that name out. She said during the wine scene story, if you stand for the respect of women, you shouldn't take money from somebody who treated women with the absolute highest level of disrespect. Can I say something?

I think we should take those people's money. Like, can I have, can I, can they, they should have to give us all their money. I mean, I understand the principled stance. I just feel like, how about the punishment is that they give us all the money. Yeah. It's just a thought. Ijeoma, do you think we can get the money?

I mean, I don't think it's a punishment to give them back their money. Oh, they're not going to give it back. I think ideally maybe you would give it to some third party. To you, to Ijeoma. Monterey is trippy. Someone has to do it.

I will accept the money. A true patriot. Yeah, exactly. For America. You're just, you know, I just think it would be wrong to accept this money. What were we talking about? If they take the money and they give it to like a charity,

then isn't, didn't the charity accept the dirty sex money? Where does it end? When does charity accept the dirty sex money? Where does it end? When does it stop being dirty sex money? There's only one solution is that Ijeoma and I will form a...

We, we, we, you know, we fall on the sword of sexual harassment. That sounds horrifying.

You take that money. Not that. Not that. We... Harvey, if you're listening, That sounds horrifying. You take that money. Not that. Not that. We. Harvey, if you're listening, you can find my agent's contact info on my website. Exactly. Just send him a check. Send Gary a check.

I think, yeah. Use the cash app. Somebody shouts. Contact info. You know what? This took a weird fucking turn. A, I just don't think this is Harvey's cup of tea, I hope,

given the four weeks in a row we fucking destroyed him. And then B, moving on. So I thought this, someone at the Wall Street Journal, I think as parts of kind of, you know, pointing to the sort of the magnitude of their story noted that this is one of the first times it's been a leader of a Fortune 500 company. It's been a big scandal outside of Hollywood,

the media, celebrity politics. And even as we've had this big reckoning, the locus of attention has been on celebrities and people in positions of power and fame and and and wealth who have been victims as well I thought it was smart that in the launching of Time's Up they said we're gonna use this fund to protect people that don't have a voice and there's been great reporting about what how its housekeepers at hotels go through what people who aren't in the spotlight go through but I think this is one of the first scandals that is sort of rocketed to the attention of what people working at't in the spotlight go through. But I think this is one of the first scandals that has sort of rocketed to the attention

of what people working at hotels must go through every day. I mean, is this a gap that's starting to close? Ijeoma, what do you think? I mean, I love the fact that, like, seven dudes lost their job, and we're calling it a reckoning. It's coming down. Yeah, slowly the smallest little, like, ice pick. Yeah, the smallest little ice pick.

But we're getting there. Yeah, it's one of the biggest problems to face half of our population for hundreds of years. But you know what? Seven dudes lost their job and they got slandered on Twitter. Calm down, okay? You guys are getting crazy. Like this would make a really horrible historical biopic like 100 years from now. It would be like the time they were all insulted on Twitter, changed the world.

This isn't a reckoning yet. I want it to be one. But that's going to take fundamental changes. We're going to have to get past the point of just talking about individuals and what they're doing and talking about what as the society we have been doing to encourage this behavior to get to this point where it has to be so egregious that you have dudes with 25 years of literally sexually assaulting women over and over again in public when you're like too far sir too far a reckoning a reckoning is going to hurt a lot more than this.

It's going to hurt a lot more than finding out that you can't watch House of Cards anymore. A reckoning is where you're going to find out that people that you love and respect have also been participating in this and you probably have as well. You hold yourself accountable, you hold your institutions accountable, your workplaces accountable and you make fundamental changes accountable, your workplaces accountable, and you make fundamental changes to how we think about women, how we think about bodily autonomy,

and how we value the work of marginalized populations to say that no, you know what, we will not hold onto one dude because we think he's more valuable than the 20 women that he's forced out of the office. Hell yeah. I'm sorry. I'm like,

do you have space on this podcast for just like a yes man? I'm like, she said it. Akilah's just gonna do like hype for E.G. Omer

for the rest of the show. Say it. Exactly. Say that once more. So what is that conversation, what does it look like when we start moving beyond the abuse of individuals, Say it. Exactly. Say that once more. So what is that conversation? What does it look like when we start moving beyond the abuse of individuals, the sexual harassment of individuals into the culture?

What are the hard stuff that you think we need to start talking about? I mean, so this Aziz Ansari conversation is a good example. Some of the stuff that happened in that story is very familiar to a lot of young people. You know, when I was in my 20s, you know, and single and like drinking and running around, it was totally normal, at least in my circles. It was totally normal for dudes to just, like, sort of follow you around and bother you for hours, if not years, until you finally relented. And, like, that was, and then that counted, you know? Like, well, yeah, you know, eventually she was like, okay then that counts and that's like then they

they're on base you know what I mean they're like not they're off the hot lava and then and so what it looks like it's starting to go back through your rolodex your every page of your sexual history and starting to think about um did I use this person for my own gratification? Did I prioritize my own insecurities, my own self-esteem, and my own pleasure over that person's humanity in really, really subtle ways, ways that don't touch the legal system, but that have really, really big, especially cumulative impacts on not just, you know, other people's emotional stability, but on the political power of marginalized people. I mean, like, the way that we treat each other in intimate settings and, you know, and within friendships and in social settings, it teaches people their value and what they're capable of. And, you know, it teaches,

you know, your kids watch it and they see how it teaches them how to treat each other and how much to demand for themselves, what they deserve. And so, like, you know, it's starting to think critically and be willing to admit that we are all complicit in a really, really toxic, really, you know, there's a lot beneath the surface that we all have to start, I mean, scraping out the rot and taking some responsibility for. You know, maybe you didn't do anything. Maybe you didn't, you know, grab someone's pussy, but maybe your friend did, and you were like,

and that's all you did. You know what I mean? That guy did that. Yeah, I know. You know, there's a lot of people who didn't do anything, and they also didn't do anything about the people who did do anything, and they also didn't do anything about the people who did do anything.

So, that was kind of a downer. No, look, it's 2018, you know, it's the decade of down, it's a downer time. Also, I'd like to say that for several years I've been encouraging

Ijeoma to run for office, and I'd like to say that for several years, I've been encouraging Ijeoma to run for office. And I just like... I just like to take this opportunity to peer pressure her once again in front of 1,200 people. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you think there are only 1,200 people here. Because it's more. Yeah, Ijeoma should run that's obvious uh well and to that point i think one of the i think what's interesting is i feel like there's this public conversation

and it's really important but then there's also a private conversation people kind of check amongst themselves is this okay is this okay to think is should i stop thinking this is this this is what i'm feeling right now. Am I wrong? Am I learning? Am I growing? Am I figuring this out? Am I crazy to think that I should be allowed to say this? Or am I actually crazy to think that I should be allowed to say this because actually it's heinous, but I think it's not because I live in a broken culture. That I think is part of this change. And I've seen some conservatives say, oh, that's the problem, right? That people aren't feeling free to speak. But I think part of it is that this is hard, right?

People are struggling with how to understand this change. I think guys are too. I just, there's been a really successful messaging campaign to teach, to train people for, you know, decades now that it's not cool to like stand up to your friends and it's not cool to be a wet blanket and it's not cool to, like, stand up to your friends. And it's not cool to be a wet blanket. And it's not cool to say, like, hey, please don't talk about my vagina at the office or whatever.

Then, you know, there's this pressure to be fun and cool and chill and, like, happy with whatever. And what we need is especially men to take some of that burden on and be the person who's like, all right, that was not cool. You know what I mean? Because there's a lot of repercussions for that, for being the person, for being the squeaky wheel,

being the person who said something. And I'm sick of fucking doing it because everyone just yells at you all the time. That's rude. I think, too, we have to start looking at this as an opportunity as well. This is the thing that has been driving me completely bonkers is that we finally have a chance where

people are feeling somewhat, a little bit safer to talk about what's been happening. And we have a lot of people who say they care about these things. A lot of dudes who say they care about these things and they are, quote unquote, shocked and appalled. At the same time, they are coming out so fatalistic to the, well, there's only so much we can hope for. Why? Why? I wake up every day and I have a message from a dude who tells me I just need to understand that dudes are dudes and they're going to do this. And I'm like, but aren't you a dude? Like,

aren't you the person who wakes up in the morning and decides what you're going to do with your day? And so now we have an opportunity right now while it's all coming out in the open to say that you know what, manhood is going to be different. Like I am raising two boys and every day... Run for office? Please. Malcolm and Marcus represent. Because I do love them and because I do believe in them and I do believe they have the potential

to be amazing, wonderful human beings beings I am not gonna be you know it's so funny to talk about how like I supposedly hate men and how feminists hate men I don't think anyone hates men more than someone who says that a man can't help but grab the ass of every woman he comes across I think yeah I was thinking that it's a it feels like we're like, we were in this really dark room and then like, because these women started speaking out and generated this conversation, like one rock went through a glass window and some light came in and now we're all sitting and being like, what's it going to be like when we actually get all the light in and we're starting

to realize just how different it's going to be. And I think that really scares people because I think it does go to the, because the next conversation is about masculinity. And the one after that is about all the ways it manifests when sex is not anywhere near it. And I think that's the fascinating and hard thing too, that it's like, oh, women women are really gonna be equal at the end of this fuck you know that's oh shit that I think is what and we made a lot of really shitty deals like because a lot of us grew up thinking this is the best you can hope for like maybe you'll marry the dude that only grabs your ass a little.

Like he'll be the gentleman and you'll marry him and you'll buy a house. But we've bought in, right? A lot of us have thought the best I can hope for is maybe to align myself with this somewhat shitty dude, maybe with a somewhat shitty institution. So not only do we have these awful people who have been getting away with a lot of abuses, but we have a lot of otherwise really good people who have tied their fortunes to a lot of awful people who've been getting away with a lot of abuses, but we have a lot of otherwise really good people who have tied their fortunes to a lot of awful people. And so right now we have a reckoning not only for what these people have done, but for the deals we made, for how little we valued women as a whole, that we said, okay, this guy is

only somewhat bad, we'll go with him, instead of demanding more and better. That's never going to go away, so we might as well do it now instead of making more deals, but it's going to hurt. Yeah. We could talk about that endlessly, but I want to move on because we've got a lot to get through. When we come back, a segment we call The Russia Stuff. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. hey don't go anywhere there's more of love it or leave it coming up i don't know if all some of you probably know this but some of you probably don't joma and i are uh sisters i am i am married to her brother so this is something that uh i harass her about at every christ, Thanksgiving, birthday, Easter.

Do we do Easter? No, we don't. I would if we did. You know what's funny? So many people talk about going home for Thanksgiving and like, oh, I got my uncle, he's a Trump guy. And oh, I got my uncle, he thinks all this Me Too stuff is going too far. Man, that guy better not walk into your Thanksgiving.

Holy shit. That's a murderer's row. Now for a segment we call the Russia stuff. Here's the deal. Every day there is a fresh piece of documented proof that the president is a criminal. And yet, somehow, that is considered a distraction. What a world.

But ultimately, we can't control Robert Mueller. We can't control the pace of an FBI investigation. We have no power over, you know, witnesses and the like. Because we're dealing with health care and we're worried about immigration. We're fighting for the House and we're witnesses and the like. Because we're dealing with health care and we're worried about immigration and we're fighting for the House and we're fighting for the Senate. But these stories are important, you know.

This story about Trump and his lawyer, which we'll get to, which was basically Trump tries to commit crime. Lawyer says, hey, please don't. And Trump's like, for a maybe. And this breaks, and it's obviously incredibly huge news. It would be a defining scandal in any other era. And all of a sudden people are on Twitter saying, ignore it, it's a distraction.

Hey, hey, give me a second. I'm not going to run out of tweets, people. Just saying. So we want to talk about all that's gone on, but we don't want to focus on it, so we're going to spend two minutes on the Russia stuff, and I'm going to run through the latest developments of a week of absolutely insane news. Let's start the clock. In 2007, Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,

said he was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. To refresh your memory, the day after Comey confirmed the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign, Nunes got a mysterious phone call, met with a secret source on White House grounds, then personally briefed the president what he discovered, which is not his fucking job. Afterwards, he held a press conference and announced that members of the Trump transition team had been surveilled during the final months of the Obama administration and did so without consulting other members of the Intelligence Committee. So basically, he didn't recuse himself at all. Cut to present day.

Every conservative on the internet is demanding that Nunes release a four-page memo he wrote about, quote, how the federal government abuses its secret surveillance powers. Supposedly, this partisan memo alleges that there's a conspiracy against Trump campaign, even though Trump won and the FBI fucked Hillary. So what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Anyway, Democrats asked to see the source material for this incredible revelatory memo, and Nunes said no. Nunes said no. He said no. Very cool. Anyway, because the memo was trying to undermine the investigation, Adam Schiff and the Democrats authored a second memo to try to set the record straight on the first memo.

I'm authoring a third memo about how America won World War II, built the highways, marched for equal rights, launched the computer age, invented the internet, defeated the Soviet Union, and then went completely batshit fucking insane. Nunes still hasn't given the memo to the FBI, but you know who did get their hands on it?

Alex fucking Jones. Very cool that there are people on the Republican House side leaking to that fucking monster. On top of that, Jeff Sessions was questioned for hours by Bob Mueller. Reports say it was about obstruction in Trump's conduct in office. The Washington Post reported that after he fired James Comey, he had a meeting with the acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe, and asked him who he voted for in the election. Trump said he doesn't remember doing it, but if he did, like, what's the big deal? Trump said he would testify under oath about the Russian investigation, and his lawyer said, no.

And finally, even though we're out of time, Trump tried to fire Mueller, and then his lawyer, McGahn, had to threaten to quit to stop him from doing that, which is bananas. And that was months ago before indictments. So we have absolutely no idea just how crazy it's gotten in the months since the Russia stuff. When we come back, OK Stop. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back.

Now for a segment we call OK Stop. Yeah. Okay, stop. Yeah. As we just discussed, the New York Times and others have since confirmed that Donald Trump ordered special counsel Robert Mueller to be fired when White House counsel Don McGahn threatened to quit Trump back down.

Everyone agrees that this is a huge, huge story. Everyone with the exception of Sean Hannity. everyone with the exception of Sean Hannity. So we have a lovely clip of Sean, and here's how it works. We're going to watch the clip, and when a moment piques our interest, we're going to say, okay, stop, and we're going to talk about it. And that's all there is to it. Let's roll the clip.

Now tonight, for example, they're trying to change the story. At this hour, the New York Times is trying to distract you. They have a story that Trump wanted Mueller fired sometime later. OK, stop. I just struggle with... He's talking about the New York Times releasing this, you know, and he's like, they're trying to distract you while you do a news story on the distraction. Like, do you even hear yourself talking?

It's like if you were like, I mean, I can't even come up with a good metaphor anymore. Like, this shit is just so out of control at this point. Like, they're trying to distract you with this thing that I'm going to distract you with. Well, also, he's talking to, you know, about a million septuagenarian racists distributed sort of equally among golf communities in the Southwest and South of the United States of America and exurbs elsewhere. you know, distract them. Also, I love the fact that we have people on the far left

who are also saying, ignore this, it's a distraction. And then we also have Fox News. But I wonder if we were to ask them what the actual distraction is, if they would agree. Like, if they would come to the same, what exactly? I don't know. If I were to ask Sean Hannity, what distraction, if it would come to the same, what exactly? I don't know. If I were to ask Sean Hannity, what distraction, if it would be the same?

I assume it's a distraction from the Trump economy and Hillary's emails. I think that's where his head's at. Can I say that I appreciate how on-brand Fox News stays, even in their crawl where it says,

so-called dreamers. I mean mean i know that they're saying like yeah this is a not a technical term but you could just be like docker recipients you don't have to like do the sarcastic i don't know it's just it's like uh it's like when you go to someone's house and every single thing in their house is thoughtful. They have a Kleenex holder that's clearly from anthropology and shaped like a... This is an aesthetic. Fox News has an aesthetic. It's always salty. You know what it is?

Salt, salt, salt. Yeah, right. It's, they're exquisitely careful and precise about infusing their aesthetic with racism. Even like, who were protected from deportation? I mean, like, yeah, technically, but it's like, no, who are Americans and live here and are from here you know like it's not to like get into a who came here as reading babies some of them came here as literal babies

yeah citizenship for american babies like these babies have had it too good for too long. Throw the babies in the deportation truck. Get them out of here. Get rid of these criminal babies. These dreaming babies. These babies. These dreamers come here at three years old

with the audacity to go to school. Grow up. Have ambitions. Succeed in them. Join the military. Come back. Become nurses and doctors and teachers.

Have children of their own. Pay taxes. Join the PTA. Bake to raise money to buy uniforms for the softball team so called can I ask one more question about this moment

is Fox News just on mountain time I assume this is just whoever it's always about I think it'll switch I assume this is just whoever... It's always about... I think it'll switch, but I don't know for sure. I don't think they respect coastal elite. Right, exactly. That's their standard.

If you're an American, you watch Letterman at 10.30 p.m. Yeah. America's time. America's time. June, and our sources, and I've checked in with many of them, they're not confirming that tonight. Okay, stop.

Sean checked in with his sources. They were Alex Jones, a picture of Ronald Reagan an AK-47 painted with an American flag himself in the mirror the ashes of Roger Ailes The attorney dismissed the story and says, no, no comment. Okay, stop.

I just want to point out that he says, my sources can't confirm it. And listen to this. They asked Trump's lawyers and they straight up did not say anything. Didn't say a thing. I know. They got the hell away from that camera. Because you know Trump's lawyers. When they see a lie, they won't call it that.

They're always afraid to attack the fake news, New York Times. If they think something isn't true, they're too cool to say so. I mean, nothing says this is a lie like no comments. Yeah. It's quite a strong defense Trump lot Trump denies things that he said on camera and how many times has the New York Times and others gotten it wrong all right so we have sources tonight just confirming to Ed Henry that yeah, maybe Donald Trump. Okay, okay, stop

You I just don't believe that like on so many principles that you can just zoom out from your face Show a graphic and then be like I just lied to your fucking face That's wild. I mean while it literally says most trusted at the bottom Is it I mean, while it literally says most trusted at the bottom of the screen. Yeah. Is it? Is it? The special counsel for conflict. Does he not have the right to raise those questions?

You know, we'll deal with this tomorrow night. Okay, stop. I love that. I love. I checked my sources. Shit didn't happen. One, two, three. I checked my sources, who cares? Who gives a shit?

Who cares? Guys, you're being crazy. This is stupid. I have all kinds of reasons to tell you why. I'll figure it out tomorrow. Come on back tomorrow, I'll know what to say then. Why talk about it now? We're being crazy.

Right? Also, why doesn't he get rid of his sources there on the air? Like, my sources are clearly bad. Whoever I talked to before this made me look stupid. But no, he's like, they're still my sources. I'm like, okay. Most trusted my dick. What sources did he get?

What sources did he get? I also love the thought of like, he magically got a new source in 30 seconds. Someone called in like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Somebody stop Hannity from making a huge mistake. These guys are making me look terrible. I mean, what did he think was going to happen? Like, because clearly he knew, okay,

he has to know that everything, that Trump did everything. So was he just gambling that they were going to deny it? I really find, you know. I sincerely want to know. I'm not making fun of him even. I know. I think it's a fascinating question. Both Hannity and Trump have made a bet,

and the bet is, as long as there is enough time between two completely contradictory utterances that your short-term memory couldn't hold it in place, it's okay. Maybe he has, like has some sort of disorder where he can't understand sort of tonal cues. So he asked all of his sources,

and they were being sarcastic. And they were like, oh no, he totally didn't do that. It's totally a lie. If you know Trump, he'd never overreact and get himself into even more obstruction trouble. And he's like, oh good, thanks for calling. He's like, thank God. Excuse me, I have to go tell my audience that I definitely respect.

Maybe he checked with them via text. It doesn't come through. The sarcasm. Here's the thing. Sean also didn't have time to cover this tonight because he wanted to explain why it wasn't a big deal, but there was a bigger story he needed to cover, so let's finish the clip. For the day to bring you, by the way, this footage comes to us from Arizona where you see that red SUV, high-speed police chase.

Oh, so he's like, Trump didn't do it. Oh, shit. Trump did do it, but holy shit, a car chase. And then he just ran the Trump didn't do it. Oh, shit. Trump did do it, but holy shit, a car chase. And then he just ran the fuck out of the room. Yeah, like the footage is him. He's literally, that's Dave's just Pelskit, where he like knocks over the water in the courtroom and just runs. Like that is what he did in the show.

He's like, anyway, here's a car chase. He's got like a poor intern who he's like, get in the car, Chet. Get in the car. Chet. Get in the car. Start driving. Drive outside. The jig is up, Chet. Get in the car. Buckle your seatbelt.

Put on this helmet and crash. I mean, also, Fox News viewers are not fact checking. They could literally use any car chase footage. They could just have a car chase. It could have been from a million years ago. Like a button. It's OJ. It's literally the OJ car chase. It could have been from a million years ago. Like a button. It's OJ. It's literally the OJ car chase.

Mindy, I did not think of that. Diabolical. This thing happened in 1997. That was a Pontiac Aztec. Yeah. Time out. Who is even taking the video of Tempe? Are you kidding me?

That's the place that you're going to look? Somebody's got a real helicopter foot? Come on. This is a bad lie. I don't think this is on the level. And that's okay. Stop. When we come back, a new game.

Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Now for a game we call Stranger Than the Stranger. We're excited to be here in Seattle. Seattle is home to The Stranger. The Stranger is one of the great alt-weeklies at a time in which alt-weeklies are folding. It also has some weird-ass fucking headlines.

So we thought we'd talk about it. Would anyone out there like to play the game Stranger Than the Stranger? Hi, what's your name? Matt. Matt! You were very excited about this game. They were. Travis, bring it back. It's okay. Hi, Matt. Hi.

Are you from Seattle? No, I'm from California. They got the boo right. I know, I know, I know. Do you live in Seattle? I do. How long have you lived here? Since 2016.

What do you guys think? Here's the thing. I want to talk to somebody who's from Seattle, but I also believe Seattle's a place that welcomes people and that you can be from Seattle if you came here in 2016. It's a tough issue. Listen, I welcome you. Thank you.

As a third generation Seattleite. No, you know, I bristle at the, there's a stereotype that people in Seattle are cold. It's called the Seattle freeze. And I think that it's false. I'm very nice. That boo was fake. Seattle. This is Fox News.

I heard it. Welcoming. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Seattle. Are your hearts big enough for Matt? Come on. They said no! Matt. Yeah.

I'm excited for you to play the game. Thank you, thank you. Here's the deal. I'm going to be reading you headlines from The Stranger. Some of them are true. Some of them I made up. Okay. And it will be your job to prove you belong in this town.

Shit. By knowing which is a real weird stranger headline and which is a fake weird stranger headline. Okay? Yep. All right. And it's a lightning round, so we're gonna move fast, okay? Okay.

And all you have to do is say fake or real, okay? Okay. Headline number one. A Friday night with weed lube, a dominatrix, and a bunch of horny plants. Real. Correct. The big secret I've been keeping from my skater bro friends. Fake.

Real. One and one. Someone's got to say it the space needle encourages opioid addiction fake correct whores of the animal kingdom real real correct whelp eating that Arby's venison steak sandwich was a mistake. Fake. Real. What? Fighting fascism on a budget. Real. Correct.

What your astrological sign can tell you about your tiny Swedish house. Real. Fake. Damn it. Pack your bags, man. The racist history behind shaking hands. Fake.

Fake. I spent five years believing the Truman Show was secretly about me. Real? Fake. Ah. Last chance. Okay. You need to eat this fucking donut.

Oh, real. As they say about the people of Seattle, you're as cruel as you are intellectually honest. And therefore, you can recognize that Matt has won the game. And a parachute gift card. Guys, give it up for Matt. When we come back, a dramatic reading. Don't go anywhere.

This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back! Now for a dramatic reading. There's a Republican in Missouri running for Senate. His name is Cortland Sykes, which is which sounds like the name

of a Confederate general. Constituents have asked him a simple question, do you favor women's rights? Which is, you know, what we in the biz call a gimme, you know? A softball, you know? That's the Sarah Palin, what magazines do you read, of sociological questions. Get that answer down to one word, you know?

So anyway, Cortland Beauregard Sykes decided to put an end to this question by releasing a statement on his campaign Facebook page to set the record straight. So this wasn't an off-the-cuff remark. This wasn't a gaffe. He sat down and he said, I'm going to tell the people what they need to know about Cortland Sykes. And so our panel shall help us

with a dramatic reading of the statement this gentleman released. You guys take it away. Well, Chanel, my fiancé, has given me orders to favor them, so I'd better. But Chanel knows that my obedience comes with a small price that she loves to pay anyway. I want to come home to a home-cooked dinner at 6 every night, One that she fixes

and one that I expect one day to have daughters learn to fix after they become traditional homemakers and family wives. Family wives. As to the other non-family wives.

Think Norman Rockwell here family wives as to the other non-family wives. Think Norman Rockwell here and Gloria Steinem. Be damned. I don't buy into radical feminism's crazed definition of modern womanhood and never

did. Like we thought maybe before. You used to be a radical feminist and you changed. They don't own that definition and never did. I don't know what that means. They made it up to suit their own nasty snake-filled heads. Now you hiss. Modern women can be anything they want, including traditional women, as millions are and millions more are fast becoming. Millennial women voters despised Hillary and cost her the election,

and they weren't Russians. I wonder why they weren't Russians. I wonder why they despise her. One reason is they look at her personal life's wreckage and didn't want to become like her. Just that was

that part. It all got me. That part was a real gut punch in a way of being disgusting. Sorry to interrupt. I'm just trying to figure out how to do my dramatic reading part, because I imagine at this part, he has his own dick in his mouth.

And... And I just don't know what that sounds like, so just bear with me. Oh, all right. like, so just bear with me. And I don't buy the nonstop feminization campaign against manhood. Men and women are different, and gender-bending word games by a goofy nest of drugstore academics aren't going to change anything except the fantasy life of those confused people in ivory towers. That's a lot of words.

He's got a lot of shit to say. He's got shit to say. He's got some stuff on his mind. He had time today. I don't know if it was, you know, on a clock. I thought he's the one that wants to keep the women in the towers. You know, the metaphors are all messed up. It's all fucked up.

Did you even proofread this? Are his daughters too busy to proofread his work? I want daughters, just daughters in general, I want daughters to have their own intelligence, their own dignity, their own workspace, and their own degrees, like women's studies degrees I'm assuming. Is that not what he's talking about? Home ec, oh okay. That makes sense.

I want them to build home-based enterprises and live in homes. This is the worst cult ever. He doesn't think he thinks he's like, I'm for equality. I think you should just make jewelry and sell it to our friends. Shared with good husbands,

and I don't want them to grow up into career obsessed banshees. Was anybody obsessed with their career? I mean, okay. Good for you, that sounds dope. Every day you just wake up, you're like, I love it! I'm obsessed! And you just scream because you're a banshee.

That's right. That's right. I love being a doctor. Ah! Has he ever met any women? I don't know. Has he ever met any women? I don't know. Who forego home life and children and the happiness of family to become nail biting,

manifold. Okay, first off, have you seen my nails? They're fucking beautiful. I take that personally. As a career obsessed banshee. Maniphobic, hell-bent, feminist she-devils who shriek from the tops of a thousand tall buildings. I don't know how many tall buildings I've been on, but I would like to know the exact number.

Is it thousands, you think? I mean, can that be... This is incredible. I would love to do this. Can this be a job? Can I just stay on top of tall buildings and yell at people? Yeah, like, have you heard about my career? I'm up here.

I'm up here. Yes, me! Me! And that is a dramatic reading. Thank you, guys. That was elucidating. And we're back. Now for a segment we call The Rant Wheel. Here's how it works.

We spin the wheel. Wherever it lands, we rant about the topic. We got a lot to get off our chests. This week on The Wheel, we have James Comey subtweets, the snub of the film The Florida Project, Erykah Badu complimenting Hitler, man that's a word jumble you know you like put those words together you're surprised, YSL makeup colors, hmm Zavia on the floor, the doomsday clock, George W. Bush, and Seattle's sidewalk bike rentals.

On which we have already touched. Spin the wheel. Oh, a loud spin today. Yeah, pretty strong spin. And now it's landed on James Comey sub-tweets. Okay. Okay. You know, here's the thing about James Comey. For a guy that never gets it wrong,

he's really not succeeding on Twitter. What fucking value is it to have James Comey tweeting just absolutely smug, self-righteous quotes about justice over a picture of a river while Donald Trump rips the country apart? You know what, James Comey? If your unassailable value system caused one of the greatest calamities in American history, did you take one fucking second to look in the mirror and think maybe you got the whole thing wrong? We found out after the election

that there were two investigations going on. And in your certitude, you told us about one. So you know what I'm not interested in? I'm not interested in your thoughts on Reinhold fucking Niebuhr. All right? You're too tall to be pulling this shit. What a waste. The height you have and how you spend it, James Comey. Unbelievable.

Can you not self-reflect when you're that high up off the ground? Down here, it's all I do. All I do is question my own judgment and wallow in insecurity. That's what it's like here at 5'7", you know? That's what goes on down here. What the fuck happens up there? Just another great day in James Comey's 6'7 paradise.

They don't get Fox News above here. All right, let's spin it again. It has landed on YSL makeup colors. I see that too. Yeah, that's totally what I see and I'm glad it, because I want to talk about this shit. So I am a black woman. I don't know if that translates over the radio or a podcast or whatever this is. I'm a black woman. It's a hit podcast, Ijeoma. Okay.

I'm sorry. It's a blockbuster podcast. I'm a black woman. I wear a lot of makeup. I love makeup. I have a Sephora Rouge membership. Hey, squad, me too. Which means I spent an embarrassing amount of money.

We spend a lot of money at Sephora. Yeah, we do. And a lot of black women do. But you wouldn't know that if you were to try to shop for something like foundation. So this is why I'm pissed. All right, first off, it's always hard to find foundation. And I say this as someone who can still probably find some foundation. I am a light-skinned black woman. But I'm still struggling.

Like I am at the, like, Almay is like, no. But other bands are like, sure. But other brands are like sure. Are you real? Yeah. But we spend more than any other demographic in this country on cosmetics. So YSL in their great wisdom, there's been a lot of pressure lately because Rihanna came in with Fenty Beauty and was like, hey, guess what? Y'all can have foundation.

I'm going to come out of the box with colors for everyone. I'm going to act like people of color exist in this country. And so now in order to be a little more multicultural, people have started showing swatches, which is where you swatch colors on skin so you can see what it looks like. Usually it's a photo of a white lady with stripes on her arm. And then if you're not a white lady, you're like, I don't know.

I don't know how you know I don't know that'll work so in order to be more diverse people companies have started doing more diverse swatching but YSL forgot a step because they did the diverse swatches so they got a really dark skinned woman to hold her arm out while they painted five porcelain white shades on her arm. Like, they're literally advertising, we have nothing for this poor model. Yeah, exactly. Like, this is just her being like, let me fit in.

That's a shame. That's a chain of command problem. Yeah. Like, meet one person of color that's not the model the day of the shoot. I know. I can't imagine. I mean, they're just calling themselves out. That's all they're doing. They're like, don't spend your money here.

Don't make foundation for this woman. And I am tired of it because we have the money to spend and I'm tired of people trying to come in at the end and be like, oh yeah, here's our, you know, that was their big diversity effort. Like, find us a black model. And I'm sure she was like, look, I'm just going to cash this check. Yeah. They hired me for my arm. Yeah.

Not my mind. Exactly. So I'm just going to take this money. I'm going to get the hell out of here. And let that, nobody's going to know my body was attached to this arm. So I'll be fine. You know? I hope she goes on tour.

She's like, I'm the arm. I am the arm. Yeah, that was me. The arm that made y'all realize that YSL doesn't make products for you? My arm. I sat there like, these fools are going to know one day. That's fascinating.

All right, let's spin it one more time. Wherever it lands, I'm just going to pick. It has landed on George W. Bush. All I want to say is, I keep seeing these polls that show this great recovery of the reputation of George W. Bush and his rising approval rating among liberals. And here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give everybody a fucking moment.

I'm going to say, all right, this is Trump gravity, a Trump black hole fucking everything up. But that shit better fall back down after Trump is gone. Because just because we elected, you know, the worst person, the human embodiment of every American flaw for half a century in physical form, the narcissism and greed and stupidity and ignorance and self-assuredness and bellicosity and racism and misogyny and sense that there's no consequences for your behavior all captured in one giant sack of fucking terrible fucking person.

I'm not going to let, we're not going to go back and revise up the last worst president we'd ever fucking seen. And Chris Hayes pointed this out, and luckily for us there is a reminder of just how deceptive and unctuous and vile the Bush administration was. The Tritter feed of Ari Fleischer. And so if you ever feel a pang of, well, George W. Bush paints now, and I haven't thought about the Iraq war for a hot second, go look at Ari Fleischer's Twitter feed and remember that there were people lying and gutting regulations and going after women's rights and fucking up gay rights long before Donald Trump and Mike Pence came along. George W. Bush.

Trump and Mike Pence came along. George W. Bush. Yeah, I was just watching, for some reason, a super cut of George W. Bush bloopers on YouTube, which felt special. I felt 21 again. It was really, there was something like... Nostalgic. Yeah.

Wow. But it's also, and I don't mean that in a rehabilitative way, but, you know, it was just like, oh, those then. But, you know, if you listen to his fucking shit that he was saying, you know, George W. Bush being like, yeah, it's hard. I know it's hard to put food on your family or whatever. I don't give a fuck about poor people like Like, that's the, clearly the immediate, you know, antecedent of Trump. You know, like the idea

that there was some, that the Republican Party like used to be awesome and normal and then Trump came along and is a new animal is not true. George W. Bush didn't give a fuck

about your family or your food. And didn't give a fuck about your family or your food. And it's also a reminder there's a lot of people that would be very satisfied with Donald Trump who had manners. You know? There are a lot of people who are a little too comfortable with Trump who keeps his who returns to a habit

of saying the outside things on the outside and the inside things on the inside. You know? And I would say that the actual returns to a habit of saying the outside things on the outside and the inside things on the inside, you know? And I would say that the actual fact of hundreds of thousands of dead people in an illegal war should always be counted worse than the potential of an awful dude who so far is just saying awful things and trying and bumbling his way there but we don't actually have a body count behind it and it says a lot about our priorities that we would rank the potential to harm well-to-do Americans above the actual stacked dead bodies of an entire region of the world and the actual destabilization

of the world. And absolutely, but also that the wreckage George W. Bush left behind internationally, the chaos and death he caused, not to mention the strip mining of our economy, the handing over of wealth back to the wealthy even as inequality soared, all of it, all our economy, the handing over of wealth back to the wealthy, even as inequality soared, all of it, all of it, the slow eroding of our place in the world, our pouring a trillion dollars of wealth into war, all of it sowed the seeds for a country mistrustful and capricious and brittle enough to allow someone like Donald Trump to become president. And we have to leave it there.

I want to thank our incredible panel. Give it up for Akilah Hughes, Linda West, E.G. Omo'olu'o. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Seattle. Have a great night. Straight Shooter Loving, Oliven, it's Loving, Oliven Respecting all my stars Loving, Oliven, it's Loving, Oliven Straight Shooter