Right now we can use all the help we can get and I'm happy to have theirs.

Right now we need all hands on deck if we want to save our Democracy.

These would be allies had better know their place, and it is not publicly telling Democrats or liberals what they should be doing. If our side wants to consult with them in private on how best to target conservative thinking voters, I think that could be useful, but we don't need their public pronouncements on policy or messaging advice.

If they really want to be allies in taking trump and trumpism down, then they need to publicly cop to their failures and the failures of the conservative ideology that birthed trump. They should be attacking him and his ilk, not giving us advice on how to fix the mess that they, once again, left for liberals to clean up.

In 2016-2020 ... would happen, cause he wrote that book.

What a schmuck he was, for taking the writing gig. Should've been obvious what would transpire later on.

And Stern totally should've foreseen it all too.

How their foresight decades into the future was not 20/20 ... is pretty unforgivable.

Complaints about the Repugs ... okay. They were actively promoting Repug bullshit, I understand complaining about any Repug.

But I'm still glad for their help now.

Talking about how the GOP continues to enable Trump's crimes.

They are utterly silent about that. So therefore, their criticisms mean nothing.

Still glad to have their help now. Take what I can get, basically.

Schmidt, Wallace, etc. talk often about the cowardice of GOP officials. Nicolle Wallace does it daily on her show as a matter of fact.

for a LONG time now. He tries to stay pretty neutral politically (because it's not supposed to be a political show), but he's been VERY vocally against the far right, Christian/Evangelical Right, the anti-science/anti-vaccine brigade, and Republican officials in general since Dubya. He's been hitting Trump daily due to his lack of a COVID-19 response and praising how great Cuomo has been during all of this.

So, I acknowledge everything you say.

I dislike him for his misogyny, but that's another topic entirely.

And hold others up to their high level. These petty rants get so much love but the facts and realities of life you point out not so much. I also welcome the help and comments of people like Schmidt and Wallace.

He actually tried to talk Trump out of running.

Stupidly go along with any dumb questions they asked him. He never thought he was seriously going to run. He voted for Hillary and asked her to interview in 2016. I wish her people would have done so. When he finally interviewed her recently few months back it was great.

They piss and moan now, but I never hear anything about owning up to their failures.

Nicole still waxes poetic about GW Bush, who was the lead-in for Trump.

Fuck them all.

They can complain about Trump all they want, but it does nothing.

And, more significantly, they NEVER talk about reform of the GOP.
.

that foisted that undeserving monster upon us back in 1980.

NBC built this.

after Trump is gone they can be dealt with then. Right now they are useful, kind of like the alliance with the Russians during WWII helped defeat Hitler. It's Realpolitik, which often creates strange bedfellows.

Trump HAD the book deal because he was already famous. If Tony hadn’t written the book, someone else would have. Add to which, at the time, Trump was just a celebrity and none of his political musings had come out.

And I'm sure it's even less pretty than thought possible...

I won't be fawning over that group. I don't trust them. I believe that they'd go back to supporting their Party and start going after Dems as soon as T is out of office. Right now it appears to me that they're finding work where they've found a niche.

It should be all about the race bating, homophobic, gun toting, environment killing, public health opposing, education destroying, Christianity perverting, poverty promoting, child starving Republican Party that they and their buddies, including Joe Scarborough, created. 85% of Republicans support Trump. Yet all we hear is Trump. It is as if the Republican Party is this pristine bastion of conservative righteousness perverted by Donald Trump. Trump is a Republicans and the Republicans are Trump. Full stop.

She specifically asked him about running for President.

Stern has voted for Democrats since at least Clinton. Interviewing people has nothing to do with it. Stern could never have seriously imagined Trump would become president and he such a trainwreck.

We shouldn't refuse the help that is offered. It doesn't mean that there has to be an agreement regarding political aims or that they'll be allies forever. I'd surely take the votes and efforts of anti-Trump Republicans who recognize the damage done by Trump over self-described progressives who do nothing but smear Biden and who are only interested in spreading lies to persuade others not to vote for him.

Close to 90000 officially dead in the US because of the current pandemic, in parts due to the lack of a proper early response and many more in the future because of this corrupt Administration. So I'd just ignore false pride and instead take the help of those who honestly want to end Trump's reign.

He had nobody stopping him. That's the biggest problem. He has been able to get away with so much wrong doing his whole life. Trump was famous long before the book. Certainly more people got to know him nationally on the Apprentice, but he was a monster long before.

He created the illusion of Trump as competent, intelligent, successful businessman that so many suckers bought into, and repeated this myth weekly into millions of American homes for years.

Without the Apprentice, Trump wouldn’t have been able to prop up his failing businesses, his name would be less well known and valuable as an asset, and he wouldn’t be president today.

Trump's books and occasional appearances on TV shows like Oprah in the '80s and '90s didn't exactly sell his brand to as wide and audience as The Apprentice.

I don't think we should be naive and think that any of these people are our friends or have had a "road to Damascus moment" and are suddenly progressives, but we have limited time and energy to get Trump out of office and we should be spending it discrediting Trump enablers not people who are willing to add to that fight, regardless of what their reasons or history are.

Trump and the Republicans who support him (like Mitch McConnell) are an existential threat to democracy right not. Not Bill Kristol and Steve Schmidt.

Eyes on the prize, folks. That's the only way we beat Trump.

who is the creator of The Apprentice. He pretty much "rehabbed" Donald Trump and made him a star.

Mark Burnett made Trump look like a competent and successful businessman and essentially was an infomercial for Trump, and helped Trump to claim some competence in leading.

They had agent orange on a lot and gave him free rein. They were full of grins and obsequiousness at that party at Merde-lago (the one in which the turd said that Mika's face was bleeding).

who gave Trump hours and hours of free coverage back in 2015 and 2016 instead of flat out saying "This guy is not competent to run a lemonade stand, let alone a country".

There is a ton of inaccurate rantings on here that aren't worth taking on because this is just another petty, puritanical tirade that serves as ego gratification. Saying "fuck you" to these people when we need all the allies we can get while our democracy is under threat is counter-productive and worse, which I won't say but is obvious. BTW that other "inspirational" thread was just as wrong.

I actually agree with you, but look at some of the outrage here heaped upon OBVIOUS & consistent allies.
Puking on our allies is a thing we do.
Well, not all of us!

But Wallace didn't even vote in 2008 due to Palin. Each one is different. Yes, we puke on our regular allies too and I have too during the primary, but for me this is an historic time when all of that needs to stop. That includes the bashing of Bernie bros, or Obama/drumpf voters. If people like Sarandon won't vote Democratic in 2020 yeah then fuck anyone like that. But anyone who will vote for Biden, despite their past record, won't catch flack from me.

“First they came for...” can also be “First I locked the door against...” If my house is on fire I’ll take help without looking into anyone’s motives. I’ll just keep an eye on them once it’s put out.

Silly to blame every person who ever interviewed him on a tv or radio show over the last 45 years for his presidency. The Stern made Trump famous nonsense is particularly laughable.

For a long time.

Otherwise Dont forget Letterman.

When our real estate was being bought up by the Japanese - you couldnt open up a newspaper without reading about trump and his issues. XFL Jersey Generals (& Doug Flutie)? Also attention getters back in the day.
The Clintons? bloomberg? Cuomo? Trump towers? Trump Casino? Etc etc etc.