Meet The Press - April 3, 2011

Guests:
Richard Dubin (D-IL)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Marc Morial - National Urban League
Doris Goodwin
E.J. Dionne
Mike Murphy
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Gregory: Dick what’s up with Afghanistan

Durbin: Afghanistan is a costly nightmare and
we must get the hell out of there

Gregory: it has gone on a bit long

Durbin: it’s crazy

Gregory: you want to leave by July

Durbin: well why the hell not

Gregory: will there be government shutdown?

Durbin: Poor Boehner - he’s trapped between the weirdos and the corrupt in his party

Gregory: Democrats will be mad at you if you
don’t fund Planned Parenthood

Durbin: things like that proves the GOP doesn’t
care about the debt - it’s about ideology

Gregory: so would you vote for that?

Durbin: I’m not going to vote for cutting
Planned Parenthod or an EPA shutdown

Gregory: Chuck Schumer said Boehner is in
a box and that tea party is extreme

Durbin: well they are

Gregory: are you going to win the message battle?

Durbin: these cuts would put America in Jeopardy

Audience: I’ll take Failed Government for $1,000

Gregory: forget the substance - let’s talk about politics and framing the debate

Durbin: Sorry I know you hate substance

Gregory: Jobs are being created but Obama
must be a bad President isn’t he?

Durbin: hey tell it to the House Republicans Fluffy

Gregory: how about a voucher program
for Medicare?

Durbin: everything must be on the table - including raising taxes on the rich and Pentagon cuts

Gregory: oh shit

Gregory: Obama wants to apply steady gentle pressure on Qadaffi

Durbin: sounds good to me - Obama got support from the Arab League, the U.N., and the Egyptian
Bronx Zoo cobra

Gregory: Obama declared “mission accomplished”!

Durbin: oh Fluffy you are hilariously deranged by Obama aren’t you

Gregory: Fred Hiatt wants Obama to kill Qadaffi

Durbin: we’ve taken his money, his land and his
iTunes collection

Gregory: would you like to be head of the DNC?

Durbin: good god

[ break ]

Gregory: Congressman you were in the FBI
which makes you the bad-ass of the House

Rogers: the CIA is in Libya to gather facts and if it comes up to kick a little ass

Gregory: you don’t want to give the rebels weapons

Rogers: I support the no-fly zone but we don’t know who the rebels are - they could be liberals!

Gregory: are they all al-qaeda?

Rogers: not necessarily - there are 140 tribes

Gregory: good lord - I’d better update my bracket

Gregory: what about using Arab special forces?

Rogers: you don’t know what special forces
are do you?

Gregory: no

Rogers: the rebels are getting more organized - they’re all on LinkedIn and Foursquare

Gregory: the Wall Street Journal wants us to
kill Qadaffi!

Rogers: that’s very nice

Gregory: how do we get him out?

Rogers: use carrot and stick - offer defectors a choice of a million dollars or a war crimes trial

Gregory: interesting dilemma

Rogers: Obama is using a smart strategy actually

Gregory: I reject that possibility

Rogers: I can tell

Gregory: the Côte d'Ivoire shows Obama is
not a good President

Rogers: silly man

Gregory: Obama admitted that it is not in our interest

Rogers: now you’re just lying

Gregory: so why intervene in Libya?

Rogers: Qadaffi has weapons of mass destruction which could threaten discos around the world

Gregory: should Americans burn Korans or not

Rogers: I would say not

Gregory: that’s a bold statement

Gregory: Fred Hiatt is worried Iran will take over the middle east because Obama is a wimp

Rogers: Iran has no right to meddle in other countries in the middle east

Gregory: of course

Rogers: liberty is on the march

Gregory: who should be the next head of the FBI?

Rogers: someone who understands the new FBI culture - crackin terror skulls!

[ break ]

Gregory: Mike take me behind the political curtain

Murphy: this budget debate is a sideshow - it’s
about 2012

Gregory: Obama is lazy!

Dionne: Democrats have compromised by cutting
a mere $33 billion

Goodwin: people don’t want a shutdown and will blame the side that seems more extreme

Gregory: My hero Paul Ryan will finally deal with entitlements

Morial: fuck him and fuck you too

Murphy: Democrats are demagogues but they will run on raising taxes which could actually work

Gregory: Obama promised to cut imports of oil -
tell me he was lying

Yergin: he wasn’t

Gregory: awww

Gregory: I love oil Dan - can we drill more?

Yergin: yes in North Dakota

Gregory: I meant in an actual state

Yergin: well then California

Gregory: Dan why is oil so expensive?

Yergin: because Yemen has a 1,000 mile border with Saudi Arabia

Goodwin: Americans today are selfish, short-sighted and fucking nuts

Gregory: do we need Hitler to wake us up?

Dionne: we’re already in 3 wars!

Gregory: true

Murphy: Liberals have faith in the power of the sun - it’s a destructive nuclear fireball in the sky!

Gregory: we have an Obama Doctrine!

Obama: Leadership is not being a lone cowboy -
true leadership creates opportunities for others step forward and take some responsibility for collective problems

Gregory: why does Obama hate America as an indispensable nation?

Goodwin: he says we can lead by starting a process and create broad coalitions

Gregory: but the Cote D’Ivoire!!

Morial: Obama actually brilliantly created a large coalition and all Fluffy can do is whine about it

Gregory: Did Obama subvert the Powell Doctrine?

Yergin: I noticed Obama even got France on board

Gregory: yes but unlike Iraq Libya has oil

Murphy: I love gun boat diplomacy

Dionne: Obama is anti-doctrine

Gregory: he is inscrutable

Gregory: ivory coast!

Dionne: just because you can’t save lives everywhere doesn’t mean you should not
act to save lives somewhere

Gregory: unemployment is high

Morial: the worst thing we could do is cut spending which is why Paul Ryan is doing it

Gregory: is Obama winning Ronald Regan’s ‘Morning in America’ argument?

Murphy: Perception matters most

Gregory: It’s all there is

Gregory: Reince Preibus says if you look beyond the numbers Obama is a Kenyan who won’t cut the debt and deficit

Goodwin: I don’t see that as winning argument

Gregory: non-whites are growing!

Murphy: It’s a problem for Republicans who have a wee perception problem with minorities, immigrants, women and sane people

Dionne: who will be the Republican’s Dukakis?

Morial: actually there are many smart Republicans - they’re all waiting to run in 2016

Goodwin: I’m a hopeless dreamer -
I root for progressives and the Red Sox

Gregory: and that’s Meet the Press
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