Michelle Malkin was on Dayside today with Michael Wolff of Vanity Fair as her “opponent”. I think Michelle won hands down. Here follows the transcript of the session.
Mike Jerrick: We are back with the CIA leak investigation, the Supreme Court confirmation process and the ongoing war in Iraq. Criticism from the left has reached a fever pitch. Michelle Malkin, the author of the new book Unhinged Exposing Liberals Gone Wild. Michael Wolff is here too. He’s a columnist for Vanity Fair magazine. He wrote a pretty good article, in fact it was a very good article, in this month’s issue, Inside the White House Meltdown. Before we get into this topic here, I was looking at the back of the book Michelle. It’s always great to have you on the program. But my goodness. Some reaction to this book. She “ought to be shot between those Viet Cong eyes!.” Number two there, “this is what happens when you send a yellow woman to do a white man’s job”. And they get worse and worse. She’s “dishonest”, she’s a “shill”, “race-baiter”, “war profiteer” and a “fascist”. Welcome to the program. What in the world? Now these reactions to your book came from where? Off the internet? Bloggers, etcetera?
Michelle Malkin: A lot of email readers and liberal websites. People who fashion themselves serious political commentators.
Mike Jerrick: Why did you put them on the book?
Michelle Malkin: I thought that these quotes speak for themselves. I mean I’m exposing the myth of liberal tolerance and civility and really turning a caricature on its head. Because it’s conservatives who are always portrayed as the ones who are angry and racist and sexist and hatefilled. And I think it’s time that the other side confront their own ugly portrait.
Mike Jerrick: So we’re talking about meltdowns and people becoming unhinged. {to Kiran} Kiran, what’s going on? Are a you all right?
Kiran Chetry: I’m feeling great. {laughter} {to Michelle}Actually, I think it’s terrible when you see just how personal the attacks got. And Michael, let me ask about this, because even, we just saw it yesterday, within the Senate, the one that’s supposed to be the refined arm of Congress. They were going at each other and even Senator Bill Frist was making some personal statements about fellow democrats. What is going on in Washington?
Michael Wolff: Well, I think there’s a lot going on in Washington. But also, I mean there’s an interesting point about this, these kinds of, those kinds of comments because anybody who is in a public role of any kind, left, right, it doesn’t matter who you are, the stuff that comes in through your email box is um…
Michelle Malkin: Vicious sometimes.
Michael Wolff: Is breathtaking. And I don’t think it has anything to do with left or right. It has to do with some people are crazy and some people are not crazy.
Michelle Malkin: Well, I beg to differ with that. And look at just the headlines today. Democrats, black democrats in Maryland, are saying that it’s okay to pelt a black republican, the Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele with Oreo cookies because he’s a traitor to his race. I haven’t heard a single mainstream democrat condemn that, and I would like to see that.
Michael Wolff: Yeah, but that’s, that, you’ve just, you’ve just equated two things which are not, are not, remotely, remotely similar. You’ve got, you’ve got anonymous people coming over the internet.
Michelle Malkin: Well they’re not anonymous actually. They all have some email address.
Michael Wolff: Well, ah, yeah, but they are merely using the, when you see an email address, everybody gets this. This has nothing to do with you. I mean I know, I think you…
Michelle Malkin: It’s not about me. I just gave you an example of Michael Steele. I mean the point {crosstalk}
Michael Wolff: You put it on the back of your book. It’s obviously, obviously you take it personally.
Michelle Malkin: I’m saying it’s a {crosstalk}
Michael Steele: Everybody has, every other writer, gets the same kind of mail.
Michelle Malkin: No. No. I think it’s very different.
Michael Wolff: I’ll match my mail…
Michelle Malkin: I think it’s very unique. I think that the criticism of minority conservatives and minority republicans is uniquely vicious and uniquely ad hominem. I think it’s something that mainstream democratic leadership has to confront.
Michael Wolff: Again, you’ve done the same thing. People on the internet…
Michelle Malkin: Do you think that Howard Dean should condemn those remarks or not?
Michael Wolff: {pause}The remarks against you?
Michelle Malkin: The silence is telling. I’m talking about Michael Steele. I’m talking about these kind of smears against minority conservatives and republicans. Calling them traitors, saying that they’re not really their ethnicity. Saying that they’re white on the inside. Can you just say that it’s despicable? Because it is.
Michael Wolff: Okay. So your point. Let me just. Your point is that…
Michelle Malkin: Okay you still haven’t answered…
Michael Wolff: People are coming on you because you are a minority who is a conservative.
Michelle Malkin: I’m saying that there is a liberal… Yes, I think there is a distinct liberal impulse to condemn conservatives who are minorities because they believe that they are traitors to their race. Regardless of the grounding and principles of what they believe.
Michael Wolff: Possibly, possibly and that sounds despicable, but if it’s something else
Michelle Malkin: Do you think it’s okay for black democrats to pelt a black republican with cookies?
Michael Wolff: No, no, no. But let’s, let’s look at the
Kiran Chetry: Michael, I think there’s someone in the audience who wants to answer that question.
Mike Jerrick: I don’t know, I’m kind of fascinated by this conversation. Would you real quickly. Ma’am, you wanted to say something.
Audience Member: I think she’s absolutely right. I think there’s, they just gotten unhinged.
Michael Wolff: If the logic is something else. If essentially they’re saying that, questioning the logic of minority conservatives saying, saying it’s like a gay conservative. You know, why would you be a gay conservative if the essential conservative philosophy is against you? Um, I mean I think you can reasonably say that about, about somebody who is, um, a black conservative. Why would you be a conservative if the whole thrust of the conservative message, or a substantial thrust is against you. Now, now maybe people say this in ways that they shouldn’t say it.
Audience {No}
Mike Jerrick: Ok I hear someone. Yes?
Audience Member: Well, I mean to say that conservatives are against blacks is actually
Michael Wolff: No, no, no, no. I, I..
Audience Member: That’s actually what you said.
Michael Wolff: You’re taking that out of context.
Michelle Malkin: That’s the logical conclusion of what you just suggested.
Michael Wolff: No, if. If you. If that is the logic, and certainly I’m not saying that conservatives are against blacks, but if you, if you do believe that in some… Let me go back to the gays which I think works more clearly, there are gay conservatives, but would you say, would you say that’s odd to be gay and a conservative at the same time?
Michelle Malkin: No. No, I do not think so. And actually I’m glad you brought that example up because do you think it’s okay for Bill Clinton, who commented earlier this year, that Arthur Finkelstein was self-loathing. This is a republican, gay, political strategist. And Bill Clinton says something like that, that he loathes himself?
Michael Wolff: Well, yeah, look. Let’s look at this. This, you’re doing two two things, you’re saying
Mike Jerrick: Michael, we’re going to have to look at it later, we have a hard break coming up. We appreciate it. It was a good discussion. No meltdown. Nobody became unhinged.
Kiran Chetry: Almost.
Mike Jerrick: Well maybe one person.
Kiran Chetry: Michelle Malkin and Michael Wolff, thank you very much.
It’s the liberals who keep telling everyone what the conservatives think and feel and it’s not how the conservatives really think and feel. I think Michael Wolff really showed that mindset today.
It’s never the conservatives “outing” an gay conservative, it’s the liberals doing so, hoping that the conservatives will “disown” that person. Conservatives aren’t concerned with someone’s race or sexual orientation.