Tim Miller, Former GOP Operative, on Why His Cohorts Caved To Trump

In his book, Why We Did It, Miller tells why they did it.

[@thomasayresol]

Al doesn't pull any punches and Tim doesn't shy away from answering the tough questions. My respect for both men just went up a solid notch. Quality in podcasting. More of this, please.

[@desireeespinosa3954]

I have family/ life long family friends who listened to Rush L in the 90’s on…. They are good people, but it’s kinda like a boiling frog. They literally have no clue that they have been lied too for several decades

[@m.turpel4818]

My father listened to Rush L and same thing. He had no idea he was lied to. I don't understand it.

[@conspiracynutsgfy661]

My family is pure racist...trumpdiggity comes along and they start acting like themselves

[@ToddDouglasFox]

In later years, Rush said it was a show. They purported it as truth to make it a show that would succeed and that of course it was not truthful. Many of these people admit they are lying and yet their followers don’t hear the truth telling part. They only believe them when they lie. It’s about culling those who want to believe the lies not about brain washing. So our focus must be on why many Americans want to believe the sorts of lies that the sellers of lies reflect and enlarge for them. That matter goes to the deep psychological and spiritual twisted emptiness so many who sign up experience. One hint is that the thought process is that if they can control the lives of others, they could maybe, sort of be okay, but not really. It’s about an immaturity that blankets the whole of life. This is true of those selling, those buying, and those instigating, it’s carte blanche. I would challenge Tim to explore what really drew him to support people with so much emptiness they don’t care, anything goes, and they might as well be mafia. Oh wait, hmmm. And I don’t just mean the emptiness of Trump. Sure is comfortable to be the bully supported by bullies who are not philosophical but are actually actors. Yes there’s a spectrum but does that matter, really? Outing the spectrum is great but doesn’t go deep enough. Oh yes and I’m also gay. LOL, and? Go deeper within your soul. I can feel Tim still struggling. So the good news is that there’s still hope.

[@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS]

@@ToddDouglasFox Haven’t listened fully to the show, but I haven’t found anything Tim has said in the past to be a satisfactory explanation for the behavior. No doubt some of it is entrenched immaturity, but some of it must be the work of people with antisocial personality disorder, the new socially acceptable phrase for psychopathy. You’re more hopeful than I am. I don’t know how people like Tim can harm the LGBTQ community the way they do.

[@ToddDouglasFox]

@@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS it’s not hope that I have (I do not slam the door shut for eternity, it’s a pub thing) and I agree he is not doing his gay buddies, lovers, besties any favors. I listened to the entire thing and didn’t find redemption going on. It’s another spin. If Al were to be frank, lol, he’d admit it. But you know what? No knock on Al, I do love him, but straight, white males really don’t get how abhorrent a gay white male is by making excuses for why they decided to pursue fame/fortune/power whatever in the worst possible anti-gay, anti everything but themselves political party (in our present day pub party). I would not have listened all the way through but I was multitasking. Al had him on the water issue. If we don’t understand that the lack of clean water is the most pressing threat to humans, yes I said MOST, than we are in for a rude awakening.

[@clarafedde8674]

A great one as always. Love everyone of them. As always please run again. We need you in office to change things for the better.

[@pollykent2100]

TBH, this one made me angry. As a midwesterner, I'll just try to be nice. I'm glad this young man found a way out of the dark place he was in when things blew up for him. And it was good of you, Al, to give him an interview so he could sell his book. The ends cannot justify the means.

[@duhbigcat1848]

A self reflective honest Republican is such a rare thing.

[@jwn741]

A self reflective honest PERSON is such a rare thing. -fixed

[@duhbigcat1848]

@@jwn741 ....and it is even rarer to find in Republicans. They have sold their souls to DJT and to Earthly power.

[@ToddDouglasFox]

@@jwn741 a self reflective, honest republican is not a republican. Fixed.

[@mauliebella]

Republicans and trumplicans are 2 totally different breeds.

[@ToddDouglasFox]

@@mauliebella in essence they are not, in personality, yes.

[@davidbright6790]

Tim Miller, I highly doubt you'll ever see this but I have so much respect for you for your evolution as a human. Seriously! Your honesty, your self-reflection, your cognisance of where you were and where you want to be as a human is majestic. To do what you did is huge. Respect!

[@UnDaoDu]

Its like telling a guy who ran a camp and then regretting it, he has come around. When one sells his soul to the devil he gets no reprieves.

[@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS]

Tim is a snake who wants to feel better about his snake like ways.

[@margarethoerl461]

Nicely put the

[@hapennysparrow]

I have a couple of bones to pick. While I admire Tim's ability to see beyond d his own self interest, he still half justified some of his wrong associations. I did this because I needed a job, or I was in a bad place, still amounts to compromised conscience. The whole ideology of he Republican Party is and has been to enable the rich to obtain ever more wealth, damn the consequences, the integration of Religious institutions into the party, just enabled them to insure the preaching of the Party platforms week after week in pulpits across the land. Tim blames the problem as being from the bottom up. That is laughable. The little folks, the invisible faces, the working poor, have been manipulated by the unholy union of the Republican Party and American Evangelists for the sake of power and control. The masses of struggling working families have been gaslighted and propagandized, by playing on their fears and insecurities, giving them scapegoats to funnel their anger into voting against their own best interests. They are merely pawns in the political/ religious game of chess to maintain the status quo. Keep the money pouring into the hands of the few overlords, convince the victims that anything else is "Marxist " and unpatriotic, and you know, UnAnerican. It's all a giant con game. Tim criticized the Dems for actually caring about governance for the common good, of being too idealistic. As if that were a bad thing. Tim, you still have a bit of homework to do. The end never justifies the means. Especially when the end is about Power and Control.

[@jannichi6431]

@@hapennysparrow well said, I'll read YOUR book. ChristoFascism since Tea Party 2000. Texas can't ever be forgiven, politically.

[@marie-laure.]

This inertia is typical of Soviet upbringing, you keep a low profile, never question orders and find excuses to explain you did your job and that's all there is to it. Obviously, it also happened somewhere else Seriously, being less evil is still being evil.

[@ToddDouglasFox]

Agree, you can find my response elsewhere on the commentary but I’ll post here too as you might like at least parts of it. Here goes:  In later years, Rush said it was a show. They purported it as truth to make it a show that would succeed and that of course it was not truthful. Many of these people admit they are lying and yet their followers don’t hear the truth telling part. They only believe them when they lie. It’s about culling those who want to believe the lies not about brain washing. So our focus must be on why many Americans want to believe the sorts of lies that the sellers of lies reflect and enlarge for them. That matter goes to the deep psychological and spiritual twisted emptiness so many who sign up experience. One hint is that the thought process is that if they can control the lives of others, they could maybe, sort of be okay, but not really. It’s about an immaturity that blankets the whole of life. This is true of those selling, those buying, and those instigating, it’s carte blanche. I would challenge Tim to explore what really drew him to support people with so much emptiness they don’t care, anything goes, and they might as well be mafia. Oh wait, hmmm. And I don’t just mean the emptiness of Trump. Sure is comfortable to be the bully supported by bullies who are not philosophical but are actually actors. Yes there’s a spectrum but does that matter, really? Outing the spectrum is great but doesn’t go deep enough. Oh yes and I’m also gay. LOL, and? Go deeper within your soul Tim. I can feel Tim still struggling. So the good news is that there’s still hope.

[@monaferrell9403]

Reagan's economic policies fostered the culture of greed, which led to outsourcing, which destroyed the middle class. The genius of the Republican party was making the new members of the lower class blame immigrants for the destruction of their way of life. The grievances were justified, but "they" did not "steal" the jobs. The Republican party sold the middle class out by making the service/retail sector dominate the job market. These jobs are overwhelmingly poverty-level jobs, and no one can live the American dream while living in poverty. And all of you that insist that the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" theory is the way out of poverty are not facing the realities of modern America. So, grievances justified, reaction not.

[@annjuurinen6553]

Well said Mona. This of course is world wide international finance. The casino and its Asset Managers that gamble with the efforts of everyone in the world. Keep writing. You have much to say.

[@elizabethingram9784]

Love you Al, keeping it real and en pointe. You’re the smartest guy in the room. ❤️💫

[@markbantz9699]

Tim is a very intelligent guy even if he was a Republican.

[@elizabethingram9784]

These are the reasons MANY people use for staying in bad positions… It’s cash vs empathy. The idea of inertia resonates for me in terms of academia and the way students (and others) are being treated by the academic establishment in such a negative, off-handed manner. How does one justify doing harm to others just to keep a job? Narcissism, corruption, nihilism.

[@thomasayresol]

Like you said, cash vs empathy. They want that beach house/mansion/yacht etc. To add to what you said, there is a specific type of corruption that happens in proximity to power. People get "high" on it, they feel like an insider and enjoy being close to power. Others pay more attention to them because of their proximity to the powerful.

[@Boomers4Zoomers]

💯

[@katherinecompton6591]

Yes, I did enjoy it, Al. Thank you and Tim, for a lovely almost hour.

[@Tam5115]

I liked this, but I do find it confusing. I have to wonder why he ever thought he belonged as a Republican. I couldn't have lived with myself

[@carolinemaybe]

He explains in his book. He admits that for them, it was about winning the game. Tim is open about his dark arts.

[@Tam5115]

@@carolinemaybe I wasn't trying to say he was a bad person, I was saying it was confusing to me that he was ever there in the first place. Was he raised being told he was a Republican? How or why did he end up working FOR Republicans?

[@AntifascistAllDay]

I can think of some people who did exactly what Tim did. They similarly made excuses for the harm they caused, they were called Nazis. I'm blown away that Tim admits the harms done while giggling.

[@Labor_Jones]

*"If you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows."* _"horse-and-sparrow theory - 1890"_ *CONVERTED 1980* _"trickle-down economics"_

[@13699111]

Thank you for posting this great podcast Al Franken.

[@KlingbergWingMkII]

As I listen, Tim is a clear example of the ego, thirst for power and money, and focus on career over everything else that make certain Repubs as nasty as they are - lack of any moral compass (and the hole that leaves filled with a weird type of hate). They will do anything to get what they want, others be damned. Thanks, Al for having him on, we all learn a lot if willing to listen. Unfortunately, the fact that Tim is being honest, doesn't seem to make it clear he has made any real changes and had a moral compass installed. I hope that happens for him over time. However, he may need to experience real personal loss before he develops any real empathy.

[@smokejumper7045]

I worked the railroad we were all UNION people democrat . Republican labor relation boards are not good for the worker they are always pro company. Anyway, we had like all work places coffee breaks, well a friend Kurt started spouting all kinds of divisive crap at our breaks, Finally I hit him up what the hell are you watching for news? He said its all there Glenn Beck lays it all out you can check it. Glenn had sucked him into becoming an avid FOX viewer. It put him at odds with all of us. You could see a brainwash change in him..the crap thats on TV can and is dangerous. Not that any is totally safe. But beware radical shift. In ideas about stuff and intolerance. Just as who are we? Union working stiff trying to make a decent wage or aka Glenn were Communist, socialist sympathizers. Oh well hell, lets all hang our heads, clap for joy when the company hired a scab shop full of mexican immigrant and payed them half the wage, and let them slap crap together. The company constantly trying to cut wages to the bone. Healthcare used to be a benefit now you pay 400 a mth. And on and on. In the mean ti e the company makes record breaking profits and CEO makes 10 million a year. The systems nuts. Its like good for the Boss right! But the working stiff is an evil minion. How dare he want a 7 % raise. And the phobias, well look who rides the political ideology of the democrat, and they fear monger gays and women's issues . The republican isnt he so pure, rich man, company, anti abortion to draw the evangelical and wede great people, yet they have the white supremacist elements. When you big picture it, the republican party idealism stinks.

[@pattykelly6621]

This is why Fox talking heads are now trying to make an issue of 'quiet quitting'. Saying that today's generation is lazy and doesn't want to work. They're afraid of losing power and sway over the working minions. They want the good old days of the worker who kept one, maybe two, job for their entire working life. Kept their head down, did whatever they were told - even at the risk of their health - and then retired at 65 and hopefully died before 5 years of retirement benefits were paid.

[@bryanrhodes369]

Absolutely

[@robinpettit7827]

I read the book and I am appalled that anyone can still vote Republican. It wasn't just the DC political class. Keep in mind many out in the hinterlands participated willingly.

[@USMCCGAGNG]

Republicans don’t read.

[@paulinem.procopy3297]

Al your podcasts are the top...never a miss to me....

[@wilmaroles4375]

Still do not like this guy. His views are still wrong in my opinion. The book is a revision attempt.

[@hereigoagain5050]

Another Great One! I often listen to Bulwark even though Al is my go-to podcast. Strange times!

[@G8GT364CI]

I hadn't planned on it as I'm way behind of my reading but I just bought it after watching this, this was a great interview, thanks, Al and Tim.

[@DESOUSAB]

Al: Great one, for a change...

[@mljones655]

I would have voted for John McCain in 2000, but when he picked Palin in 2008, I lost respect! Palin was Trump with lipstick.

[@oltedders]

Nope, Trump is Palin with Bronzer.

[@richiejohnson]

@@oltedders 🙂🙃🙂🙃

[@anamariaguadayol2335]

I loved this book. It was on the money. It was a good and plausible explanation. I also recommend it 😘

[@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS]

Wouldn’t give a penny of my money to the likes of him.

[@MD-wk3gj]

@@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS I 100% agree. All these once evil acting people who write a book to try and cleanse their soul deserve nothing.

[@anamariaguadayol2335]

@@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS Bless your heart -- the book can only be read by people who understand SAT level words and who have GRE reading comprehension levels. 😘

[@lhoward9593]

@@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS So redemption isn't possible in your opinion?

[@carolinemaybe]

I agree. The only way we will get through this is to work with allies.

[@jonvelde5730]

Not being familiar with this guy, I feel like we didnt get quite enough back-story to understand where he's coming from. It SOUNDS to me like this guy is congratulating himself for only helping Hitler succeed for a brief period of time (a year or two), and after that only helping some mini-Hitlers. Something about his cheerfulness is fairly grating, bearing this in mind.

[@nancymarzano9798]

Great conversation 👍 love Tim's sense of humor in making Al laugh! Al has the greatest laugh!!

[@pattykelly6621]

I have great respect for the Republicans who pushed back against MAGA. Not those who chose tp walk the line, kept their head down and then just didn't seek re-election. I mean those who have stepped up for our democracy. NEVER had I anticipated agreeing with Liz Cheney. Her values and mine are lightyears apart. But her willingness to draw a line in the sand, step up and follow her oath to support and defend the Constitution. This should have nothing to do with their jobs. It's about where you stand as a human being. I've shot myself in the foot many times for far less important things than the future of our country. It's not easy. But how do you live with yourself if you dont?

[@mjinba07]

Yes. I think we have to remind ourselves that it's not a zero-sum game... that respecting the act of standing up for democracy and nonviolent discourse does NOT mean agreeing with every other position she (or any politician) takes. Seriously, it's time to recognize the wheels of the crazy train and get off it.

[@oneirishpoet]

Well I have a little respect for some of them that realized the error of their ways, but also lots of them like Tim Miller spent years feeding at the Republican right wing trough of greed and hate, and they didn't lose a night sleep over it. So kudos to Tim for finally seen the light but he's no freaking hero

[@derkaturka]

Well written statement. I couldn't agree more!!!!

[@redmed10]

I admire liz chaney for her stance against the big lie but it scary to think there are people worse than her comprising 99% of the republican party who no longer believe in democracy. Believing in democracy only when you win is not believing in democracy.

[@burnt-reynolds]

Cheney should not be admired. She is still a fascist. She just prefers to do it legislatively.

[@movingtargetschannel]

Great interview, Al! Love Tim Miller, so frank, intelligent and articulate. He seems to be able to out- of- body himself to get a precise view of what is happening around him.

[@DETROIT1948]

In Al We Trust!

[@redmed10]

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Inertia amongst the majority of the republican party is the word yhat stood out for me in this interview.

[@lucibjlb]

I think I've heard all the Tim Miller interviews. This is by far, the best. Very good!

[@Shari466]

Al please run for president PLEASE 💙 Thank you Tim for your honesty. You know how rare that is in this past 7 years.

[@RalphDratman]

Al is good at many things. But being the administrator of a vast worldwide military empire is so very unlikely to be one of them.

[@jayhalley2642]

He’ll be back in the senate in 2024

[@richiejohnson]

@@RalphDratman The captain decides where the ship goes. He doesn't turn the rudder or maintain the engine.

[@marie-laure.]

Frankly, I'm a bit astonished that this argument that someone else is evil is good enough these days. It literally admits that's it's about evil, the one you can still tolerate. Literally the boiling frog

[@sabatino1977]

As long as there is so much religosity in this country that argument will always survive. The good/evil dichotomy is entirely born from the religious impulse, and more specifically the new forms of christianity that have overtaken the republican party. In the end it's just easy for them to do it. You aren't like me, you aren't a believer in my god, therefore you are pure evil and I never need to debate you or listen to your point of view. Sadly, more and more people on the left are doing the same. I can't believe that in my own lifetime I witnessed the schism of the United States into two camps that no longer talk to each other or attempt to reason with each other.

[@carolinemaybe]

Have you read Tim’s book?

[@leftinmichigan5363]

All being said, Tim Miller did and worked for terrible people, time will tell if he's changed.

[@r.p.mcmurphy6623]

You can't tell he's changed??? 🙄🙄

[@RockPowerUSA]

I don't know what I'm going to do now since this third in a row great show happened. It was so funny, honest, warming that in all practicality it was climactic. Who is the poor soul next week that "gets" to face the 4th in a row good/great show pressure challenge? Could we be on to something? In all seriousness it's a great show all the time for me, and this was particularly fun today; maybe there's a Duo team out there to be exploited...mutually hopefully. 🤔

[@bbirda1287]

A modern case study of the Banality of Evil. History sucks, if only we would learn from it. "I was just an accountant, I counted the bodies." "I was just a train conductor, I loaded the trains." (Applies to the Border Patrol and Child Separation policy, too) For me, the most chilling part of the Shoah is that the gas was chosen because it was so much cheaper than asphyxiating them with carbon monoxide from vehicle exhaust, pennies rather than dollars per person. Watch the new Ken Burns documentary. Yeah, Rule 34, it applies.

[@hapennysparrow]

I agree. " I was just following orders," is a cop out. The Ken Burnes documentary was accurately told, and brilliantly executed. The parallels to the current mindset of the Republican Party, and its its stance during the 1930's-1940's needs to be noted and expanded upon. One cannot help but wonder if Mr. Miller just put his finger to the wind, and change course because he understood the consequences of being on the wrong side of history.

[@rhondah1587]

If you really want to understand the republican party, go listen to political historian Heather Cox Richardson's YT History of the Republican Party. It's a 12 part series that goes from its beginnings up to today. Thoroughly interesting and extremely informative. You will truly understand how we got here today from a factual historical point of view.

[@rhondah1587]

@Jay Bee Democrats follow the laws. Obama never deported anyone who had any valid legal claim to stay in the country. Republicans do that. They don't respect our laws and are xenophobic.

[@davidkirk6572]

Two words......"Talk Radio". That's where all this manufactured grievance came from.

[@aj-yi6os]

Thanks Al, love Tim.

[@caroletomlinson5480]

Love these Sunday talks 🧐

[@MichaelMomany]

An enlightening interview and possibly a doorway to finally opening a discussion as to who we really are. There is a fine line between propaganda and public relations. What we term public relations today is really just propaganda in disguise. Every time you hear the word public relations as referred to an individual's position change it in your mind to propaganda and see how you then feel about this individual. Capitalist greed has overtaken the consciousness of good men. it cannot be substituted for true happiness. As stated by Socrates: Unjust people - people defined by their greed - try to have more and outdo everyone, while just people only try to outdo unjust people.

[@horrido666]

I am not intersect in what former Republicans have to say. They fucked up before and didn't know it. Why would I look to them for leadership or insight? I've been voting since 1980, and I managed to get it right. Tim should go back to school and study engineering or something, because he's horrible at politics. He helped make the mess we are in right now. Why would he know how to fix it? He only knows gaslighting, so I will stay away from his flapping jaws. Not a good show, Al.

[@prant8998]

Now, Tim Miller, get’s religion? The guy is really smart, clearly, it’s just amazing he went along so long.

[@tamugray2650]

The party of Lincoln...and Strom Thurmond. 😊Thank-you Senator

[@VictoriousGardenosaurus]

"My book offers no hope" Lmao

[@Thekennel177]

We live in a country where Ted Cruz is a senator. How fucked up is that?

[@chrisschultz1580]

Locals pronoune the name of the town as Wilks-Berry.

[@susancorliss8045]

Thank you for bringing on Tim Miller. His book is terrific and eye opening.

[@marie-laure.]

As an outsider, I can concur, dt does not bear much attraction factor. That he would have an appeal even to his opponents indicates to me that he is normal in many respects. That normality is probably also why impeaching him was such an uphill battle with such a low ball scope in delivery. There was and is more empathy with him than there is with the masses, they are after all only here to win the polling match... Again, les evil is still evil. Don't get me wrong it's not about both sides (although at this point the question is not void) or not voting but it is about breaking this cycle, this every other year hamster wheel, it's not real at this point.

[@Queenie-the-genie]

I have loved your podcasts from the very beginning. Day one. 💛

[@UnDaoDu]

Bragging Ms Lindsey drank Chardonnay with him speaks volumes…

[@mauliebella]

The ppl who don’t know miss Lindsey is homosexual are the same ppl who didn’t think Liberace was homosexual. 🤷‍♀️

[@Krpfan]

Excellent conversation!

[@jamesanthony5257]

Why did Al have to resign from the SENATE over a pic, while inappropriate, he did not even touch the woman, but the GOP have no issue with Mr. H. walker?

[@GB-ez6ge]

Al suffered from over-wokeness, and he voluntarily resigned

[@meh.7539]

I appreciate Tim's willingness to be so open and honest, but this doesn't make up for what he did in my eyes.

[@etiennemt.fevrier]

What a great show! And not “for a change“. As you stated, you’re in a dangerous series of excellent shows, so somethings got to give. I’m not gay, but I love Tim like a husband! 😁 I’ve been listening to him for a long time on the Bulwark, and even as a progressive, I really like his commentary and storytelling. Keep up the good work, sir!

[@mljones655]

I've tried learning to talk to Repubs by listening to The Bulwark, where Tim Miller is a contributor. Tim is ok.

[@yvonneplant9434]

He lied about his sexuality to get ahead.

[@lindawoodruff2772]

Tim is a huge go to for me. I believe he speaks to truth as much as possible. I feel Iike I can trust what he says then apply my own judgement.

[@NomadicLiving]

Miller needs to do some more research on the Federalists; Why He did is a pretty shallow dive in the kiddie pool.

[@roc7880]

funny thing is that Dubya would have threw Jeb under the bus had he had to. Jeb lost the race in that moment he looked like a dangerous fool.

[@cestwhat1317]

I think Tim’s perspective should be welcomed by the DNC. The Dems can learn from their critics to temper the short of monk styled purism. Al took some pod shots at Tim and they have both felt the sting of rationalizing past behaviors. You both have hearty egos, both rationalize and, again, we all do to varying degrees.

[@sealand000]

"Why We Did It" - to sell a book. Duh!

[@realamerican6101]

I just wish the talk just has the best of it and shorter. But love you Al. And Al tell Tim Miller he is old because he is not 13 no more.

[@philippapay4352]

Good podcast. Folks should read the book because it's honest, informative, and very funny. We are a mess as a species! LOL.

[@laurencress2013]

Awesome pod cast

[@odzychris7996]

Al Franken, terribly great show! 🤣

[@bobjohnson904]

I adore you, Al, and appreciate your "deliberative" recent past but I'm not ready to forgive Tim. Evil is as evil does. Long Live Paul Wellstone! (Well, in spirit.)

[@mikemccarthy1638]

RIP, Paul… The second day the music died…

[@gaeylkanter4178]

Awesome. And Oh The curse of overcoming three or more good shows in a row . You’ll get over it . I have faith in you .

[@postoak2755]

Al, your's is the first hard hitting interview with Miller that didn't fawn all over him as though he were an unfortunate political player who accidentally found himself in the pits of hell. This guy needs to spend a few days with a stream fisheries assassment crew before he again makes pronouncements on the insignificant impact of pollutants in the upper reaches of a watershed. He is still mouthing words that were given to him. He even referred to food as "nutrients?" You should have grilled him on that Al, but you did better than anyone else. For a change. 😉

[@TuesdayNightFever]

Great guest Al! Really good show….for a change

[@vanessawhitneypro]

20:06 - 21:01 AMEN, AL! I find that troubling, too. As Miller called it, "Careerists." Ick. Party and/or Money Over Country. Shameful & Dangerous.

[@dalaidolly5017]

At 20 min, I purchased the book on Audible because THIS shit is so hard for me to reconcile. I have come to despise Agent Orange's facilitators -- voters included -- which makes me feel like a terrible person. I'm hoping if I listen to the entire rationalization, I might be more forgiving....but don't hold your breath.

[@terenzo50]

You say "caved", I say "bent over and spread".

[@jannichi6431]

Just an opinion, Al Franken is always GREAT 👍

[@crazycatmama2098]

Why did you dismantle RVAT? It would have been helpful in the midterms to hear from real people who don’t buy the bs Republicans are spewing.

[@JonathanLoganPDX]

Excellent.

[@johnwelch6490]

Recently saw Tim confront Ted Cruz.

[@HISBestLifeCoach]

So! Ted is still a senator with less morals and ethics as a snake in the grass that just swallowed a rat whole!

[@ravipeiris4388]

Good discussion

[@Pyrolonn]

When gay marriage polled at below 50% politicians were wary of fully endorsing the issue. To some extent politicians are followers (as pointed out Trump the biggest follower of them all). I like the point about some favored Trump because he would appear to be the most liberal of the 2016 candidates. My girlfriend voted for Trump for that reason, and of course he turned out to be the catalyst for the most right wing Supreme court and the crap they will usher in.

[@varioussundry]

"What if I'm the straight man?"- lol rejoinder by Tim.

[@hazellove2144]

♥️🤗 Al, you are such fibber. I love your show..The Axe❗That's gonna be a good one. 💙 Let Tim know most Dems are forgiving folks. We believe in redemption sorta.🤗 Get off the bus Gus & set yourself free. The country needs THIS conversation.

[@yournamehere5444]

Al Franken: Making Podcasts Great Again! 😉

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

22:48 There are at least three completely different axises at play in politics. One is left/right (socialism/capitalism). Another is egalitarian-liberal/authoritarian-totalitarian (liberty/oppression). And another is progressive/conservative/regressive (progress/status quo/reversion). Here is another way of putting it.. 1) Wealth distribution: left/right (socialism/capitalism). 2) Power structures: liberal-egalitarian/authoritarian-totalitarian (freedom/oppression). 3) Social ideals: progressive/conservative/regressive (progress/status quo/ reversion). To further clarify the third category, progressives want progress (not afraid of their own species evolution), conservatives want to keep things as they are (most democrats are conservative now) and regressives want to drag society backwards (most republicans are now regressives; _make America great _*_again)._*

[@THATBOISHAD]

I just had this conversation this morning. I totally agree 🤯 You read my mind or vice versa

[@markbantz9699]

Tim’s book was really good! Read it!!

[@johnwelch6490]

Revoke Jeff Session's Eagle Scout Award

[@bogallerito1709]

Damage done Tim.

[@redmed10]

So many books these days saying what everybody knows anyway.

[@allisonandrews4719]

Sorry Al, Tim is no Dahlia. Talk about setting the bar low to justify a “great.” Random American workers up and down the economic and political spectrum push back on bad jobs and bosses every day. Talk about failing upward. From a most ordinary ethics to star authorship and an Al Franken podcast. I mean the courage to be satisfied with the idea of a mere $250,000 a year.

[@charlesashurst1816]

One always hopes Republicans will have a crisis of conscience and get introspective and maybe even contrite. Let’s have more of this. Much more.

[@jerroldmcley4347]

Because he's America first and not corruption first ?

[@michaelcloud4909]

Quite simply there's only one sentence I want to hear from this guy: I support Progressives. If he doesn't say, and act in accordance with that... he's a self serving, very good talking, arrogant con-man, hoping he can get his validation and power -- like all republicans, like all politicians. He's already *demonstrated* that he has no right to tell anyone anything, but hey, this is America, he's already "somebody", so he'll never be bothered by reality again. He'll *always* get to babble about his "opinion", never be challenged on his results, and *always* innocent, no matter what happens. Yay! Dear Tim, call me, I'll make all the guilt go away... lol

[@carolinemaybe]

The Dems (and I’m one) could do with some of these dark artists from the other side.

[@myshow667]

As a lifelong Democrat I was seriously considering voting for Jon huntsman, but that's where Republicans completely went off the road

[@voidwraithprime8521]

As for the Koch vs. Rush debate: it's both.

[@myfaveisdabestestyaaas7673]

Tim Miller is a hottie

[@mikemccarthy1638]

Al & Tim - The conservative lay-folks’ view of navigable waters is (usually) unknowingly simplistic when two elements overlooked by that view are included in the big picture - - US Const., Art. I, grants plenary authority to Congress to regulate interstate & foreign commerce, w/ no distinction made between the two, and specifies certain infrastructure obligations, solely the purview of Congress that can reasonably be viewed as necessarily expanding to meet the intensity & complexity of accelerating economic growth (as would be required to faithfully adhere to ‘original intent’, inasmuch as the commerce clause is an affirmative obligation assigned to Congress). This view is in harmony w/ related functions assigned to Congress - Eg, Congress is directed to develop & maintain the key nation-building infrastructure that lets all of us be in touch w/ each other & other nations by funding (under extant state-of-the-art technology) the needed infrastructure (post offices & post roads). A fair interpretation of projects falling within the scope, on to the present, would necessarily include telegraph, telephone, airmail, wireless-radio/TV, email/internet. - A profound failure to understand watersheds, water tables, aquifers, or hydrology in general, which have been well-understood science for a century or so, esp as applied to water-use policies, well safety, septic tank systems, perk-testing for new construction, sewer systems, and on to the other end of the spectrum, in the designation & cleanup of superfund sites. The simplest example I can give involves watersheds for navigable waters. Google: Chesapeake Bay watershed. It’s huge, extending far beyond the shores of the bay itself to encompass all the land that captures any rain in its water table (or as direct surface flow in streams & rivers) that eventually ends up in the bay itself. Surface waters in the watershed, whether seasonal or year-round, that are not visually touching other surface waters are often integral to the whole watershed as a body by their gravity flow into to the common water table. This is a complex, three-dimensional system, mostly hidden from view, appears to a layperson as a much-simpler, two-dimensional disconnected topography. In these circumstances, a regulation based on the false two-dimensional depiction will fail to prevent polluted waters migrating thru the watershed from reaching navigable waters and causing harm to any & all of those waters uses, not just the stereotypical ‘transport in commerce’ use, eg, swimming, boating, recreation, fishing & fish farming, harvesting lobsters & crabs, etc. In many seemingly small cases at the edges will require environmental review - partly due to the carelessness or willfulness of individual polluters who know no one is looking over their shoulder (what do I do with this last two gallons of Roundup…) - and partly due to statistical patterns, they’re many more small cases, outward from centralized large cases, that exempting all the small cases leaves a large hole in environmental protection.

[@gpan62]

Al, perhaps you could adopt the remark of a former president of the international Olympic committee who during the closing ceremony would say, something like "this was the greatest Olympic games ever". You'd only be throwing your previous podcasts under the front wheels of the bus. You know, for a change.

[@lisareed5669]

Just can't. They did it for money and power.

[@yournamehere6719]

Mr. Franken, you really need to put your name more prominently on the KZbin pop-up image. I saw this one on the KZbin scroll, but I kept saying, well it looks interesting, but I don’t need to go down the hole with a conservative Author. But then I happen to see your name in very small letters in the lower corner, And I was like, well if Al is going to walk us down that rabbit hole, I’m all Lynn! Also, thanks for discussing Wisconsin election, I am a born and raised Waukesha County fifth generation, but really couldn’t live there anymore and with the Republican inundation

[@enerjohnsavior3227]

I wish there were more. I hope the outtakes were not mostly arguments!

[@eviloverlordsean]

I loved the discussion; I had real problems with Tim's backwards-facing flashlight on Republican politics and positions. Dude, you were there in the moment... and now all of a sudden the scales have fallen from your eyes?