LION "NEWS AT NOON," MAY 31, 2019. 1200pm.
DONNA DALEY (DD): Welcome viewers to LION News at Noon Roundtable, and do we have news for everyone! Our regular panel of pundits and players is here and they’re aching at the bit… at the top of the news is a historic vote for Speaker of the House of Representatives, what everyone thought would be a major policy approval for the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, and a new speaker elected with all 197 Republican votes, and thirty Democratic votes.
Our panel is Olla Outback, LION contributor; Pepper Mint, host of her own two pm show on politics and financial markets on this network; Eisenhower, co-host of the Midnight Train talk show here on LION; and Able Arms, who anchors this program with me Monday through Friday… Ladies: what the heck happened? Olla?
OLLA OUTBACK (OO): Wow, Donna, where do we start? My sources tell me that this has been in the works for two months! And it all came down to a negotiation between Congresswoman, now Speaker, Torres, Kevin McCarthy, and even Senate Majority Leader McConnell.
EISENHOWER (E): Let’s not jump there yet. Let’s ask first, why did this happen? It happened because Nancy Pelosi is no longer up for the job, can’t control the fringe progressives, and had been obsessed with bringing down Trump in any way possible.
PEPPER MINT (PM): Obsessed to distraction. I believe that this was only talk until Mueller made his 9 minute speech with no questions a few days ago, and that Pelosi told many members privately that she would not block impeachment proceedings.
ABLE ARMS (AA): I spoke for one minute with a good friend of Speaker-to-be Torres about ten minutes ago. Former congresswoman Mia Love is a good friend if not complete political ally of Torres. If I can interpret her opinion, which I accept and agree with, House democrats do not want to get anything done, any compromises at all, that would create a win for the president. The House will literally do nothing at all except send bills to a Senate that will not vote on them, and that will not be supported for one second by Trump. In essence, the people’s business does not get done, at all, because of Trump hatred.
DD: Wait a minute, doesn’t Mia Love have a problem with Trump?
AA: Yes, she does, but I believe Mia Love was reflecting not a personal like or animus toward the president, but an opinion on a desire by the vast majority of congressional members that their work must continue on what Torres calls the three “existential” issues: national security, national fiscal policy, and national health.
E: I can speak to that, as I have followed Honoria Torres’ championing of causes for a couple years.
PM: This is only her third term!
E: Right, Pepper; let me finish. Torres sees a clear distinction between voters’ ideals and their personal interests. Sometimes they are in synch, but often they are at odds with each other.
OO: Of course, but politicians don’t survive if they don’t put voters’ interests at stake, first.
E: Right. Let’s use an analogy. Everyone is against school shootings, obviously. No one thinks these incidents are anything less than awful. But confiscating all the guns and throwing them into the bottom of the ocean is not a real solution. A gun-free society may be a laudable goal in some circles, with which I do not agree, but the personal interest is that each person should be able to protect themselves and their property
OO: It’s in the Constitution…
E: Of course, but the Constitution limits government, not people.
AA: Perhaps we need a better analogy.
PM: We don’t need one. We have a new reality here. Use a metaphor…The chief legislative body of our nation was just hit by a 10 on the Richter scale.
DD: Let me modify that. The earthquake was Trump’s election. This is a resultant tsunami, a product of that earthquake. And we, as journalists and pundits, could have seen this coming.
E: But we didn’t, and that is part of the story.
OO: My original point exactly. How on earth was this kept secret? All the Republicans were in the know? I find that almost impossible to believe.
PM: Consider this: we know that Torres is a "work-til-she-drops" type. But because of her outspoken views on being pro-life she was treated as an outcast by Democrats and the media. I believe that the Republicans approached her, first, asking her to switch parties.
E: Which is logical, certainly. She is also pro-gun.
PM: But there only three or four closeted pro-life Democrats. After Torres challenged the speaker’s judgment back in February, I think, she was taken off all committee work.
OO: Let’s say she was approached by Republicans. Why the speakership?
AA: Because the institution of the legislature is in trouble. Because Democrats in the middle of the road or Trump districts see the writing on the wall… the graffiti of Progressives.
DD: I think this comes down to this administration and how effectively it can govern, and its prospects for re-election.
We have to cut to commercial, but join us afterward as we await the new speaker’s opening remarks scheduled for 2pm. We will carry it live.