Overtime – Episode #410 (Originally aired 11/11/16)

Charlie Sheen is an icon of decadence.

I lit the fuse and my life turns into everything it wasn't supposed to be.

He's going the distance.

He was the highest paid TV star of all time.

When it started to change, it was quick.

He kept saying, No, no, no, I'm in the hospital now, but next week I'll be ready for the show.

Now, Charlie's sober.

He's gonna tell you the truth.

How do I present this with any class?

I think we're past that, Charlie.

We're past that, yeah.

Somebody call action.

Yeah, aka Charlie Sheen, only on Netflix, September 10th.

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Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO Late Night Series, Real Time with Bill Moore.

Okay, here we are.

Eric Holder, will President Trump's administration face legal challenges if it tries to start waterboarding detainees again?

Yes.

It violates international law, and with the removal of the OLC opinions, the Office of Legal Counsel opinions that the prior administration put in place, people would be subject to prosecution if they tried to do that again.

Okay.

Tom, what kind of relationship will President Trump have with Silicon Valley?

With Silicon Valley.

I think the same relationship there, I have to say

that the Israelis have with the Becca Valley, I think.

In Lebanon.

All right.

Will the press be able to fairly cover Donald Trump once he assumes office?

I hope so.

They didn't fairly cover him for a long time during this

campaign.

They fucked up.

Because fairly fairly means actually assessing his statements and whether they're true or not, investigating his foundation, which they didn't start doing until the end.

No, no, no.

Investigating all the dealings as companies had with the...

They covered the emails more than anything.

All the issues combined.

That's why when I interviewed President Obama last week, and my first question was, you know, socialism.

We're still capitalists, but we got to get the money out of certain things, like health care, prisons.

And also, I said, news gathering, like it used to be, when they didn't care about ratings at the news division.

But in the end, this is

a lost leader.

It doesn't have a government run.

I'm not saying government run.

I'm just saying that just let it be a lost leader like it used to be.

I was looking at some of Pew Number's exit polling, and you know, only less than 50% of Trump supporters even think a free press is necessary in democracy.

Right.

It's sad.

Especially young people.

Right.

Because they haven't been taught civics.

Like, let's be prepared.

And also, if you're thinking about giving money places, I would say give money Mother Jones magazine.

I would say give money ACLU.

I would say give money to the committee to protect journalists.

Because actually, I mean, I think

I don't think we can trust the gatekeepers in Washington to do a fair job of covering him.

Are they going to cover the fact that his kids are going to be running all of his properties?

No, this is a huge issue.

It's big.

This is like

a recipe for corruption and a conflict of interest.

Yeah, who cares if they run his properties?

I care that they run the country.

Well, there will be no lines.

He can run the country in the interests of his companies.

And that's the

dangerous thing.

Our fate is in the hands of Ivanka.

Let's be honest.

I think it's in the hands of Mike Pence, honestly.

And that could be dangerous.

It's even scarier than

Mike Pence.

Because

he told John Kasich that he wanted his VP to be responsible for two rucks of policy, domestic and foreign.

And they asked him, him, well, apparently Kasich said, well, what's Trump going to do?

Make America American.

That's what he's going to do.

There's a real,

I'm sure.

Yeah, but that's going to be what he does as president, is just keeping

it.

I never thought, though, Bill, I'd live long enough to see an American election that was shaped by the KGB and the FBI.

I am.

And the KKK.

Yes, that they both were really, really wanting Donald Trump to be elected.

Well, to be fair, I mean, some in the FBI, I think, were that way too.

Yes, a faction.

That's right.

But you know, when factions in the military

and the security services want one candidate over the other, this is what the French call a coup d'état.

You know, I hate that.

The FBI, they were investigating and wiretapping Martin Luther King, so I think we all have to be aware that the FBI is not always on the side of justice.

That's right.

80% white men, too.

John.

Do you think that celebrity culture contributed to Trump's election?

He's a celebrity, so

I mean, I think the fact that he's famous and that people kind of associate him with wealth and success certainly helped him.

And, you know,

I think that allowed him to get through a bunch of things that normal politicians wouldn't have been able to get through, I think.

Which is so ironic because the liberals have almost all the celebrities.

Yeah.

If a celebrity

is a good question.

I asked for a scholar early in the campaign to gauge

celebrity apprentice, apprentice watchers versus non-apprentice watchers among Republicans.

And his numbers were being driven by these people who watched The Apprentice, who thought he was the Uber businessman, the super capable guy.

There was something hypnotized.

That was really the core of it.

There was something hypnotized.

We were watching a guy talking about his states and his hotels and his university.

And it was just like, and he would do this

crazy shit.

It was, yes.

And he's a con man.

You couldn't take your eyes off his head.

As a friend of mine always says, insanity photographs.

And it's all a con because they weren't even his steaks.

He literally, they went to the grocery store and labeled his steaks Trump, labeled those steaks Trump, and they were just from the grocery store.

Actually, as I recall, they didn't even take the labels off.

Yeah, they left them on there.

He's like, these are my Trump steaks.

Yes.

He just slapped his name on them.

You're used to candidates saying the steaks are great, but not like this.

Eric Holder, the ACLU received record donations after Trump's election.

Will they be able to effectively challenge his administration if they try to curtail civil rights?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I think you can expect some epic court battles, and that's why I think it's really important to do exactly those kinds of things.

Support the ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,

all the traditional organizations that have been really effective in stopping government overreach.

And we can expect a whole bunch of government overreach with this guy as president.

And throw a few dollars to every green organization you can.

And

subscribe to your papers,

subscribe to magazines,

support investing in the middle of the year.

We have got to vote in the midterms.

If we do not vote in the midterms, we won't be in the middle of the middle.

But it's more than voting in the midterms.

We've got to vote at the state and local levels.

So that's where we've got to go.

Absolutely.

And we've got this redistricting thing that the President and I are going to be doing so that we can affect redistricting income 2020.

But the only way that works is if we get out there and vote at state and local levels.

We've got to change the state legislature.

You know the Justice Department and all the branches in the whole country better than anybody.

If he does overreach,

please tell me there are still enough sane people to provide checks and balances if he would, for example, go after comedians.

Just

singers who oppose them in the elections.

I can't guarantee you that.

But there are career people within the Justice Department who stay there

regardless of who the political appointees are, and they will

keep a vigil on.

My only comfort in all of this is for the first time in a while the fact that GOP is in control of all of the the branches they own means they're accountable

because they own because because

they've been the sabotage party for the last six years the only thing they've been doing is saying no to everything Obama proposed trying to make sure America didn't succeed under his watch and now they have to make America succeed

never underestimate their ability to scapegoat

and also to just lie

they will just take credit for everything.

I mean, the infrastructure thing.

Obama begged Congress.

I remember him standing under a bridge saying,

if you fix this bridge, you can give this guy a job.

It's a no-brainer, a win-win.

And it was a bad idea because it came from the black guy.

Now it's a great idea.

But at least they'll do it, and that will employ some people, and it'll help people.

And I don't mind if they win that battle.

It's just fucking balling that when Republicans spend money, it's okay.

When Democrats do, it's our grandkids.

You know, yes, you're saddling our grandkids with debt.

Of course, of course.

I gotta take a break.

Thank you very much.

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