On this morning's edition of CNN's American Morning, hosted by Carol Costello, "Contributor" Dana Loesch took to the airwaves to misinform the viewers, and provide free advertising for Minnesota Congressman Michele Bachmann (R) and Texas Governor Rick Perry , who is regarded as Bush 2.0.Loesch was countered by Leslie Sanchez, who is a Republican analyst.From the 08.15.2011 edition of CNN's American Morning:Transcript:
The candidate who won the straw poll on Saturday and the candidate who stole some of her thunder collided in Iowa over the weekend. It was Michele Bachmann versus the newcomer to the race, Texas Governor Rick Perry. The GOP race is getting hot as President Obama hits the road with a counterattack.
Joining me to talk about it are Republican analysts Leslie Sanchez and cofounder of the St. Louis Tea Party, Dana Loesch. Welcome to you both.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, FOUNDER AND CEO, IMPACTO GROUP LLC: Thank you, Carol.
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: OK, so Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are both tea party darlings. What's the difference between the two, Dana?
LOESCH: Well, one of the big differences to me is I think Michele Bachmann has really been on the forefront of a lot of the grassroots movement over the past couple of years. And her campaign is a little bit more different than someone who normally just comes from the House of Representatives in that she has this national appeal because of the grassroots movement.
That being said, I think there's a huge difference because statistically nobody comes from the House of Representatives. I think we've had one president in the past 100 years that came from the House of Representatives. Our best bets are typically from the gubernatorial pool. So I think that makes a huge difference and I think that's something that grassroots voters will be paying special attention to.
COSTELLO: Leslie, there was something interesting on "Politico" this morning. Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry were in the same room in Iowa. They did not engage. The difference was Rick Perry was mingling with the crowd. He was putting his arms around people. He was saying "y'all" a lot. He was very charming. Michele Bachmann sort of stayed on her bus until she had to take the stage. She was surrounded by security and really didn't let voters get close to her. What do you make of that?
SANCHEZ: I think it's campaign style. I wouldn't make too much out of it. They're both uniquely passionate in the sense that they have good, strong -- as she said, grassroots appeal.
Rick Perry, though, he is a retail politics candidate. One thing a lot of people may not know about him, he likes to burn through the shoe leather. He likes people and to engage and handshake and call them y'all. He -- it is not uncommon for him to sit on a barstool and talk to folks, you know, regularly about issues because he's very engaged in issues.
I had a chance to talk to both Bachmann's pollster and Perry's pollster extensively and they both talk about the positive attributes in terms of campaigning. Again, Rick Perry. somebody just getting started but a very strong campaigner. His team likes that. He's very direct on message. He's had a core team that's been with him some since 1998.
They're both going to be doing a lot to engage the base of this party.
COSTELLO: Of course, they both have conservative values.
And, Dana, I want to ask you about this. Michele Bachmann took some flack from reporters this Sunday about her previous statements on gay people. In the past, she said that people who are gay are in personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement. She also said that she would reinstitute the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
I want you to listen to this -- the exchange she had with NBC's David Gregory on "Meet the Press".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BACHMANN: When it comes to marriage and family, my opinion is that marriage is between a man and a woman. And I think that's -- that's been my view. And I think that's --
DAVID GREGORY, NBC HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": So a gay couple with kids would not be considered a family to you?
BACHMANN: You know, all of these kind of questions really aren't about what people are concerned about right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: But, still, the majority of the country was for overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and many more people are for civil unions. If Republican primary voters are going to vote for the candidate who has the best chance of winning against President Obama, will they vote for Michele Bachmann?
LOESCH: Well, I don't think anyone -- and this is not an insult to any community -- is paying attention to a social issue like that at this moment considering that we're on a very bad trajectory economically. And I know that GOProud, the group of gay conservatives that are very active within the Republican Party aren't really even looking at this right now either because everyone is sort of looking to see what these candidates -- what these candidates are going to do when it comes to jobs.
We're looking to see what they're going to do when it comes to possibly some foreign policy, but it's all about the economy again. This election cycle, as it should be. We have 9.1, 9.2 percent unemployment. We're not in a really good place right now. And I think we have to make sure that we're even economically sustainable before we can start talking about issues like that, which I think are honestly downstream from the problems that we're dealing with right now.
COSTELLO: So, Leslie, on the subject of jobs, of course, Rick Perry is said to have a pretty good record when it comes to creating jobs in Texas. Mitt Romney is sort of running on, yes, I did a pretty good job in Massachusetts. So what's the difference between those two?
SANCHEZ: Well, in terms of the record, they're both governors, they both have proven records in the area, they both looked at the jobs issue and the health care issue.
With respect to Governor Perry, he's certainly somebody who looked at something a little bit different in 2010. He laid out a framework to say let's build and invest in infrastructure. If we do that with lower regulation, you're going to see increased revenues generated by the new generation of jobs. We can put that money into education and other areas that the state dramatically needs, especially because of the failure at the federal level. I think you saw the same kind of experience leading very much the way with Governor Romney. Both of them have different challenges in that sense. I think, ultimately, they're going to be appealing to a lot on the economic issues.
I was in Ames. That, again, is going to be the top priority, who can get the economy moving. The president has that kind of economic albatross (ph) around his neck and what voters are ideally looking for, what I heard in Ames, is somebody with credibility to prove they can get those jobs created and businesses to kind of relief that.
COSTELLO: So just quickly, because Warren Buffett has an op-ed in "The New York Times" and he said, you know, I talked to my really wealthy friends and we're ready to make a sacrifice, we want our taxes raised.
And since all of the Republican Primary candidates are totally against raising taxes, wouldn't that eventually work against them? Since the majority of Americans think taxes should be raised on wealthy Americans.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you this much, too, what I heard a lot on the ground, you know, especially with some of these AARP voters is that they believe that 50 -- the 50 percent that are not paying taxes, that corporations, certain corporations, are the bad apples in the group and they are not paying taxes, and I had other business leaders who said, you know, we pay 31 percent taxes, we want to show that we're part and contributing to this economy.
I think there's a little bit of that class warfare debate that is really real. People feel that some are taking advantage of the system, gaming the system, so to speak. They want it fair all the way around, but what they don't want is to stifle the ability to grow private sector jobs. That they feel would burden --
COSTELLO: So there's no wiggle room, in other words, from any of these candidates. You don't -- you don't envision maybe Mitt Romney or Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann saying, maybe -- maybe we should raise a little revenue by making GE --
SANCHEZ: Not in this lifetime, no.
CHO: Not in this lifetime.
COSTELLO: Leslie Sanchez, Dana Loesch, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
And this woman claims to support the "grassroots." Wrong! She's all hat, no cattle, just like her heroes Bush and Cheney.Later this morning, on CNN Newsroom with Kyra Phillips in the 9AM CDT hour, Loesch trashed Mitt Romney and praised Bachmann and Perry. She accused the "left of hijacking the gay movement," which is false.Transcript:
PHILLIPS: All right. Coming up any second now, we're monitoring something and we've got it on our radar. At any moment, we are expecting to hear live from presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This is actually taped from earlier this morning.
As you know, he's the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. He's expected to take questions from reporters for the first time since Texas governor Rick Perry entered the race over the weekend. So as soon as he starts speaking, we will take it live.
All right. "Political Buzz," your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, CNN contributor and independent John Avlon and CNN contributor and talk radio host Dana Loesch.
Hi, all. First question here --
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hey, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: -- over the weekend -- good to see you three -- Michele Bachmann, as you know, who won the Ames straw poll. Rick Perry stole many of the headlines, though.
So, what's your take, who did this weekend actually belong to? Bachmann or Perry? Dana? DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Gosh, it's kind of a hard call. I think ultimately it belonged to Bachmann. I think that she had a good turnout, she had a good performance at the debates and obviously, she won the straw poll. So I think ultimately, it belongs to her.
However, she's still sharing a lot of that spotlight with Rick Perry, who I thought his timing and the way he rolled it out in order to get attention was pretty slick. So, they're sort sharing it right now, but she's in the lead.
PHILLIPS: Maria?
CARDONA: I'm going to agree with Dana on this, Kyra. I think you cannot take it away from Bachmann, especially given where she started out at the very beginning, no one gave her a prayer to ever make it to the top tier. And the Republican elite had a lot to say about how unserious she was. And I think that she has really shown them her ability to organize, to fundraise, to really give a speech that riles up the base.
I think frankly, her rise has a lot more to do with the weakness of the rest Republican field, but having said that, you can't take away from the fact that she did win the straw poll. This will give her a big bounce. Definitely -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
CARDONA: -- won't say whether she will win, but it gives her a big bounce.
PHILLIPS: John.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Always beware when the Democrat is pumping up a candidate, especially if it's someone on the far right.
Look, Bachmann had a great day. But ultimately, Perry has the game changer, which is his entry into the race fundamentally changes what this field likes like. Therefore, in terms of the big picture, I think you have to give it to Perry.
PHILLIPS: All right, guys. Well, since we're talking about Michele Bachmann, she was being pushed on the specifics of her stance on homosexuality. In particular, I'm talking about "Meet the Press" over the weekend. Let's take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GREGORY, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": Would you appoint a gay, and openly gay person to your administration, to your cabinet or name them as a judge?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My criteria would be the same for -- which would be where do you stand on the Constitution, are you competent, and do you share my views? That's my criteria. GREGORY: But those views are pretty clear. So you would -- as far as the judge, you talked about that. An openly gay person is acceptable as a matter of your administration - as a member of your administration?
BACHMANN: I have my criteria for what my appointments would be based on, and it's whether you uphold the Constitution, if you're competent --
GREGORY: So it would not be a factor?
BACHMANN: I am not out asking any other question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: OK, guys, here is my question to you. Why not just give a yes-or-no answer? Maria.
CARDONA: Because we know in her heart of hearts that she would never do it. And this is where I think she would get into trouble if she does end up being the GOP nominee. There's no way she'll be able to get through the general election with those kinds of views.
We all know very well how she feels about gay and lesbian rights. And when you want to give more than 10 percent - more than 10 percent of Americans less rights than the rest, I think that is not a mainstream view. Especially when the majority of Americans now believe that gays and lesbians should have the exact same rights as other Americans, where it comes to marriage, when it comes to family and everything else.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
PHILLIPS: Dana.
LOESCH: Were we listening to the same answer? because I heard her answer, and yes. What, gay people can't stand for the constitution? gay people can't be for fiscal responsibility?
I'm so tired of the left try to hijack the gay movement and present them as, oh, no, conservativism is patented only to Christian conservatives. That's such hooey. It's just ridiculous.
I thought her answer was quite clear. Yes, if they stand for Constitution and they're for fiscal responsibility, what's the big deal?
PHILLIPS: Guys, stay with me -
CARDONA: She didn't say yes or no. That's the problem.
PHILLIPS: Guys, we have to get to Mitt Romney speaking live. Let's go ahead and listen in. We'll come back.
PHILLIPS: All right, "Political Buzz" panel. I know you stayed with me because we had to break out of our segment to go to Mitt Romeny there. So, let's roll with this, okay? You just heard Mitt Romney there in Litchfield, New Hampshire. The first question thrown out to him, guys, was about Rick Perry entering the race.
So what do you think? I mean, it was the first question thrown out there. You heard his response. Is he nervous? Should he be nervous about Rick Perry jumping in? Maria?
CARDONA: yes, absolutely he should be nervous here, Kyra. Because clearly, Rick Perry just jumped into the race and he's already in a lot of the polls. Number two, at 15 percent with Romney at 17 percent. Romney absolutely should be nervous, but he should also be nervous about his own record. It's so laughable that he talks about job creation. When he was governor of Massachusetts, forty-seventh. Massachusetts ranked 47th in the state - or in the country -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
CARDONA: -- among job creation. Laughable.
PHILLIPS: Dana?
LOESCH: I'm a little scared right because I'm agreeing with Maria on this. Romney's done, as far as I'm concerned. Perry is more conservative than Romney. Romney, the big small business guy who with his heath care mandate was taxing businesses over $200-something per employee if they had more than 11 employees.
That's not good for business. And he has a lot to answer to with his record.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
LOESCH: He just didn't cut it.
PHILLIPS: John?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, Mitt Romney sidestepped the direct criticism, but you heard something that's going to be a major theme of the campaign, which is that he's saying Rick Perry is essentially a career politician. And he's going to be trying to say, look, I've got business experience and private-sector experience.
But of course he should be concerned. Rick Perry's entry in this race immediately makes this at least a two or three-person race. I think it's going to very quickly whittle down to Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Those are going to be the top two.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
PHILLIPS: Guys, thank you so much. And thanks for rolling with me. I appreciate it.
Breitbart/Loesch Axis of Evil Ringleader and Big Hackulism editor-in-chief Dana Loesch was on CNN this morning to talk about Osama Bin Laden. And, as usual, she went to her bread and butter: talk all over the other guests and lie to the American people.
Transcript from the 05.06.2011 edition of CNN Newsroom (9AM CDT Hour):
COSTELLO: Oh, but it's time for political buzz, a lightning fast conversation hitting the hot political topics of the day. Each of our brilliant political observers get 20 seconds to answer three probing questions.
Dana Loesch is a Tea Party supporter and conservative. Cornell Belcher was a Democratic pollster for the 2008 Obama campaign. And, once again, comedian Pete Dominick will lend his own unique perspective.
So, welcome to you all.
And the first question: have Democrats overcome the wimp factor?
Dana?
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: One decision, which I applaud -- I applaud the decision of the president to send in a human ops team instead of bombing the compound at Abbottabad. But I think the way you can follow this up and show that Democrats have really made a really good turn is to stop the investigation into the CIA members who are interrogating detained terrorists. At the same time, while you're celebrating the victory of the death of bin Laden, which was achieved by those interrogations.
COSTELLO: Cornell?
CORNELL BELCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I'm going to first reject and then I'm going to ridicule the very premise of this. I mean, if we're defining being tough as going half-cocked into war that we can't afford and can't pay for, costing thousands of lives and putting our country in debt -- no, we're not very tough. If wimpy means, you know, a measured, thoughtful response when our national security calls for it, well, then yes, we're pretty wimpy on that. We're Peewee Herman if that's the way we're defining it.
COSTELLO: Pete?
PETE DOMINICK, COMEDIAN: Yes. I think how we define the toughness is how we well we kill people or how our president orders our military. Well, then, if we're going with that premise, President Obama just, what, a few weeks into his presidency ordered the same SEAL team to snipers, to kill the Somalian pirates, 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and then bin Laden. If that's how you measure tough, I think he wins.
COSTELLO: OK. Second question: Michael Moore says the shooting of bin Laden was an execution and we should call it that. Do you agree?
Cornell?
BELCHER: You know, who cares what Michael Moore thinks on this? Look, Bin Laden, he's a guy. He's a terrorist who killed thousands of Americans. He's killed people all over the world, not only Americans but Muslims as well.
You can call it whatever you want to call it. He needed getting and we got him.
COSTELLO: Dana?
LOESCH: Whose side is Michael Moore on, anyway? Is he upset that he wasn't able to exploit this for another mockumentary and then go back and make millions of dollars off of it? I'm trying to figure out whose side Michael Moore is on. I think this is triumph of good over evil. He needs to stop with the (INAUDIBLE). COSTELLO: Pete?
LOESCH: He has to. It's done.
DOMINICK: Well, I mean, I kind of agree with Michael Moore. I mean, I think obviously it was an execution.
We found out yesterday there was only guy with a weapon. It's disrespectful to Navy SEALs. They could have taken him down with a crossbow. It's a 54-year-old frail man. They could have choked bin Laden with his own beard.
I mean, it really -- we -- definitely, we executed this guy, for sure.
COSTELLO: Got it.
DOMINICK: Whatever they're supposed to do.
COSTELLO: Third question, the week is ending. We've had a few days to digest all of this. So, what does Osama bin Laden's death really mean?
Dana?
LOESCH: Well, I think we saw images all over the television. I think it's fantastic that everyone was able to unite and realize that this was the ultimate triumph of good over evil. We took out a figurehead of a terrorist organization and I think it sends a loud message that it may take a few years, but we'll track you down and we'll find you in whatever rat hole or overpriced concrete compound in which you live.
COSTELLO: Cornell?
BELCHER: This -- I hope it means this. I hope it means that Osama bin Laden and his sort of evil ways become a footnote in history. If you look at the "Arab Spring" that's taking hold all over the Middle East right now, you know, bombs and guns and killing is not the way forward for bringing about change. I think we've seen that in Egypt. That's what I hope this means, is that this is an end to this way of thinking because it's not the way forward.
COSTELLO: Pete?
DOMINICK: It means different things for different people. One thing for young Americans who were coming of age who feel like their innocence was lost. It means something different for military families, victims' families, of course. But I hope -- I hope it means a pivot point for this president to get out of Afghanistan. And I really believe that that is a possibility right now, and I hope that's what it means.
COSTELLO: Dana, Cornell, Pete -- thanks, as always. And we'll be back again Monday. We enjoyed it.
Osama bin Laden's death might have dealt a blow to al Qaeda. But overcoming our foreign oil addiction could finish them off. We'll take a closer look at that, coming up.
I also give credit to Bush for standing by the interrogation practices which delivered the clue that the CIA and military used to track bin Laden to his million-dollar compound.
But for the left and its media to ignore the reason why the action is impossible is petty and demonstrates more allegiance to party than country. The biggest obstacle to killing bin Laden was the left themselves. Had we gone their way instead of staying the course, bin Laden would likely still be alive.
Hey Dana, even if the left stopped waterboarding, Osama Bin Laden would've been dead sooner or later.
Image: Media Matters For America
She also supported Bush's inhumane decision to support waterboarding: From the 05.02.2011 edition of KFTK's The Dana Show:
These same Right-Wing fools (including her) think that Bush 43 should get at least a significant portion of the credit. I think that Bush the 2x Election Thief does NOT deserve ANY credit in killing OBL.
Color of Change, the group founded by admitted Marxist and 9/11 truther Van Jones, is chest-thumping all over Twitter essentially saying that they, not Dylan Ratigan, run “The Dylan Ratigan Show.” Color of Change seeks to suppress conservative commentary across the board, period. They’re not interested in social justice issues as they market themselves to be, otherwise they would have been the first out of the gate with the Pigford story. They would have been the first to condemn the exploitation of black farmers for monetary and other gain by government officials and members of the Democratic party. Instead, they’ve taken the hard line against those farmers and against dissent of any form.
If this group has succeeded in overtaking a cable news network and fatalistically snuff out any non-progressive voice on a debunked race-baiting charge, it’s troubling for free speech and diverse thought, indeed.
John Stossel -- who believes that private businesses should have the right to engage in racial discrimination -- devoted another segment of his Fox Business show to attacking the Pigford lawsuit that provided recompense to black farmers who were victims of systemic discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Stossel set the segment up as a debate between Al Pires, a lawyer who represented the black farmers, and serialliar Andrew Breitbart, who has attacked Pigford as part of his eight-month smear campaign against former USDA official Shirley Sherrod, who first came to prominence after Breitbart posted a deceptively-edited video of a speech she gave that falsely portrayed her as a racist.
Stossel and Breitbart didn't make any new claims about Pigford. Rather, they rehashed the same tired distortions that we've previouslydebunked -- that the case is a "scam" and the claimants don't deserve their money.
But the segment was notable for Stossel's refusal to acknowledge that there was real, systematic discrimination against black people by the USDA. Recall that back when Stossel argued that "private businesses ought to get to discriminate" on the basis of race and called for the repeal of part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he at least acknowledged that the government should not discriminate.
This morning, on the 9AM CDT hour of CNN Newsroom, Dana Loesch, St. Louis's queen oflies, was defending the Birther Movement and Donald Trump. James Carville, the Democratic counterpart to Loesch, thinks that "Trump may be very entertaining, but he's a liar." She was a flip-flopper on this issue, in the past denouncing them as "nutburgers," but recently, she has done a 180... by being a Birther. Dana also blamed the Democrats for starting the Birther nonsense by saying that "Phillip Berg was the originator of the Birther movement." False, it was ultra-righties like Alan Keyes,Lou Dobbs (who thankfully is no longer on CNN, and is now at FBN, aka RNCTV2), Jerome Corsi,Pamela Geller, and Orly Taitz (who was booted off of MSNBC's The Last Word last night) that originally perpetuated the movement, NOT Dems.
After the surprise decision to release his official birth certificate, President Obama stepped up to the podium to explain. He poked fun at the years-long birther controversy, and then he started poking fun at the press for how it covered the issues. At some points, he even got a little angry. But his mood was lighter later at a fundraiser in New York City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My name is Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I was born in Hawaii.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: The 50th state of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: President Obama's decision to finally release that piece of paper surprised critics and allies alike. On both sides, reaction was swift. Joining us now, CNN political contributors Dana Loesch and James Carville. Welcome to you both.
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Both of you, Dana, James -- I interviewed the chairman of the Republican party a short time ago. and he talked about the birther issue and how he felt that its time to move on. I just want you to listen to a bit of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: The primary voters will decide in Iowa, in New Hampshire, in South Carolina and the rest of the country as to who they want to represent them on the Republican ticket. It's not my job to play police officer with the candidates. It's up to the voters to play police officer --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So Dana, what I was asking Mr. Priebus, and that's why he answered in the way he did -- I asked him why he didn't call on Donald Trump to stop talking about the birther issue and move on if he really wants, like every politician, to move on from this issue. Should he do that?
LOESCH: I don't know that Preibus could actually stop Trump from talking about whatever Trump wants to talk about. I mean, it's Donald Trump. And in the press conference that he gave immediately following the president's press conference, was in my estimation, his victory lap. So, I don't think you could have the RNC chairman call Donald Trump and say can you maybe not talk about this anymore? Can we move on to something else? I don't think it would be successful.
COSTELLO: James, what do you think?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, not this guy, but think of the speaker of the House who actually knows better saying, well, as far as I know, he was born in America. Then asked him, would you tout all these birther bills by these idiot congressmen doing this stuff, and he said, well, that's not my job to tell congressmen -- Well, dude (ph), that's exactly your job, Mr. Speaker, is to whip your caucus in line. That's why you have a leader and whip.
They're all like that trying to fool around with this idiot. And this is the most idiotic issue I've seen in American politics. And it was just a crock of nonsense. I don't think the president should have done what he did yesterday. Just let these people go make fools of themselves.
COSTELLO: I get you. We're going to talk about that in just a minute. But Dana, I want to go back to you. I mean, will we move on from this issue? Will everybody shut up about it?
LOESCH: You know, yesterday whether the long-form birth certificate was released, we suddenly saw the high unemployment solved, the high gas prices solved and the quagmire in Libya was immediately resolved as well. Except not. So, hopefully!
COSTELLO: Hopefully. And James, why do you think he shouldn't have produced his original birth certificate?
CARVILLE: Why should he? There's no doubt in any sane person's mind that that's what Hawaii requires that. They released that and people could see it. And no one -- it's nonsense. Let these people make fools of themselves. I think it's good for the country to see how many idiots there are out there. We need to get -
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: It's a good way to conduct a idiot census in America to see who all the birthers are. It was a good thing. and working politically for him because all of the Republicans that knew anything were trying to run away from this thing, and they couldn't get rid of it.
I find Trump to be very entertaining. I'm kind of for him. I was for Palin, but she didn't want to talk enough. And then Newt stopped talking, and then Bachmann doesn't talk enough. I want more Trump. We ought to have him on TV every day.
COSTELLO: Well, Dana, it is an interesting question. Because some say all this talk about birther and now producing -- President Obama should produce his college records that this kind of talk is hurting the Republican brand. Is it?
LOESCH: Well, I have to say, too, Carol, that I think the biggest loser in all of this was Philip Berg. Now, he was the Democrat and aide to Hillary Clinton that started it. He's the grandfather of the birther movement. So, I don't know so much it's a strictly Republican brand because it began --
COSTELLO: But frankly, nobody remembers that. Nobody remembers that. All we think about now is Donald Trump and the Republican party.
LOESCH: There's a lot of people doing a lot of hard work making sure people don't remember that. I will say that when you -- some of the stuff I've seen that has been proposed -- I think the birther bill in Arizona where they added you have it to have your baptismal certificate and everything. I've been baptized. I don't have a baptismal certificate. I wouldn't be able to produce one if one was called on me. So, sometimes I think it goes a little bit too far.
Now, I think what this does is it highlights there's a double standard between how investigated Bush was and previous presidents have been and how people didn't go after the president with his records. I think if anything, I think it shows the double standard.
COSETLLO: James, do you agree with that? I know we did --
CARVILLE: Aww, no. By the way, you know, if a Jew runs - if a Jewish person runs in Arizona, do you have to produce a baptismal certificate? I mean, all this stuff - again, it is a very good way for us to take a census of all of the idiots in the United States and let them surface. I think it should have gone on. And by the way, it was Hillary's campaign that found the announcements in the Hawaii paper, so that pretty would debunk all of that foolishness.
Again, Trump -- he's the Republican frontrunner, and he's perfect for them. He's overweight, he's self-indulgent, and he's a simpleton. And he embodies the principles of the modern Republican party --
COSTELLO: OK, Dana, a short last word to that. A short last word.
LOESCH: You can be a simpleton and be as successful in business as Trump has been and be able to fall down and pick yourself as many times as Trump has. I mean, you can disagree with him all you want. I disagree with him on the birth certificate issue, but I won't call him an idiot.
COSTELLO: I got to wrap it up --
CARVILLE: He's also been bankrupt four times. He's just like the Republicans. LOESCH: Not personally. Only his businesses.
COSTELLO: We'll have to continue this offline, as they say. James Carville, Dana Loesch, thank you so for the conversation this morning.
Why does CNN CONTINUE to allow misinformed loons like Loesch, who makes Phyllis Schlafly (a well-known polemicist and kook) look like a sane lady in comparison and is a GIANT embarrassment to St. Louis, On Twitter, Matchbox 20 frontman and solo singer Rob Thomas said: "dear dana loesch, please stop. you are hurting america. this is not a game."
Guess who was back on CNN yesterday morning? If you've guessed the Antichrist of St. Louis, Dana Loesch, you're right. She was her doing her usual interrupt the others and spew out blatant falsehoods unchecked routine.
COSTELLO: It is time for "Political Buzz." A lightning-fast conversation hitting the hot political topics of the day. Each of our brilliant political observers get 20 seconds to answer three probing questions. Dana Loesch is a Tea Party supporter and conservative. Cornell Belcher leans left, and comedian Pete Dominick is back to lend his own unique perspective.
Welcome! ok. On to the first question. The United States has handed over the reins to NATO in Libya. Senator McCain says it's time the U.S. retakes control. Does America need to flex its muscle in Tripoli? Dana?
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, NATO is the United States. So, essentially what we have done here, Carol, is just transfer control from one hand to the other. And I don't really think -- I've never thought that she would have been involved in Libya because Libya and what is happening there is a civil interest and that has no immediate threat to the sovereignty or safety of the United States.
COSTELLO: Cornell?
CORNELL BELCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm going to -- I'm going to agree here. I think it's interesting. We already have two wars that we haven't paid for, and the interesting thing is Afghanistan has become as unpopular as Iraq. So, now we want to double down on that and get involved in Libya? I don't think so. I don't think the American public has the stomach for it.
COSTELLO: Pete?
PETE DOMINICK, COMEDIAN: Well I think Cornell and Dana are both pretty right on. What is our record of success in our recent military intervention? I'm talking about the last 50 years. With all due respect to Senator McCain and his service to our country and in the Senate, how many times does he have to be wrong on foreign policy before we go to other people? Going to Senator McCain on foreign policy is like going to Alan Greenspan on economics. You've been wrong a lot -
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DOMINICK: We could listen to others.
COSTELLO: Thanks to all. Second question. Another Wikileaks dump. This time on Guantanamo. Do they strengthen the administration's decision to keep it open? Cornell?
BELCHER: Well, it's a real gray area here. I mean, the truth of the matter is when you look at what's happening, there's some dangerous people there. I think what bothers a lot of Americans, and not just, you know, those progressive Americans, but a lot of red- blooded Americans, is this idea that there's no due process. Can we keep this open and still ensure due process?
The other big thing about this is Wikileaks are endangering Americans with this continual leaking. This sort of stuff should not be out in the open, what they're leaking.
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COSTELLO: Dana?
LOESCH: Well, this is so weird this morning. I agree but kind of disagree with Cornell in that I think it does become a gray area. But at the same time, there's terrorists, they're suspected of terrorist activity if not outright caught in the act. So, there is no due process because they're not American citizens.
That being said, if you look at the number of detainees who, when they were released, like we had one, Ali Al Sayed, who was released to -
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LOESCH: -- Saudi Arabia and re-education camp, he joined al Qaeda.
COSTELLO: Right. Went on to do some bad stuff. Pete?
DOMINICK: I couldn't disagree more with both these guys, my friends here. The level of criminality at this camp, we now know, is even worse than even its harshest critics were predicting. This is terrible. What Wikileaks is really exposing what the government is doing. These are government documents. I would beg all of our viewers to go read "The New York Times" or "The Guardian's" article so you can find what your taxpayer money is supporting in Guantanamo Bay -
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DOMINICK: -- which all the --
COSTELLO: OK, third question. A group of Christian leaders lobbying Congress by asking lawmakers what would Jesus cut? You know, as far as the budget goes, what would Jesus cut? Effective or crass? Dana?
LOESCH: Oh, I think it's incredibly crass. And I have to question these religious leaders. I've always said that big government is the moral failing of man. Because when you have good government that takes away the desire for voluntary charity, you are changing something about humanity. You're changing their desire to do it themselves. And as Christian leaders, they should be encouraging people to get involved and volunteer in charity instead of adhere to the government reappropriation of it. COSTELLO: Cornell?
BELCHER: I don't even know who Dana is anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
BELCHER: I agree. Although -- I'll go the middle role. I know it's not effective because the bottom line is these leaders are going to do what they think is right. And obviously, oftentimes, the politician who is wearing his religiosity on the sleeve is often the one who is enforcing the draconian cuts -
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COSTELLO: Oh, out of time. I'm sorry! Pete?
DOMINICK: Well, listen, nearly every member of Congress claims to be a Christian. If you think a budget for your home or for the government is considered a moral document, I don't think Jesus would have made the cuts that Congress is making. And it's a check on your conscience.
I think it's sad when an agnostic comedian is ten times more Christian than so many people in Congress act like they are. That's me, by the way.
COSTELLO: "Political Buzz." Fun as always. Dana, Cornell, Pete, thank you so much. We'll see you again on Friday.
of her thunder collided in Iowa over the weekend. It was Michele Bachmann versus the newcomer to the race, Texas Governor Rick Perry. The GOP race is getting hot as President Obama hits the road with a counterattack.
