Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelists Clint Brewer and Roger Simon in studio to discuss Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s news spine, optics of his election, and who leaked Biden classified docs to CBS.
Leahy: We have a special treat! Early today, Roger Simon, also our all-star panelist, my former boss at PJTV, mystery writer, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, and the very popular columnist at The Epoch Times has joined us in this segment. Good morning, Roger.
Simon: It must be Groundhog Day or something.
Leahy: (Chuckles) And Clint Brewer is here as well. Roger, I got a little text message from you here about how and why Kevin McCarthy’s spine is stronger today than it was a couple of weeks ago.
Brewer: He disagreed with us so badly that we had to bring him in early.
Simon: Fight, fight. This is not to denigrate McCarthy because he did do what he did and props to him. This is to say that the 20 that have been maligned as having caused a bad image or bad optics, I hate that word, for the Republican Party.
Actually did the Republican Party a favor in the long run, and they pushed McCarthy to be what he is now, and I think it really works. The second thing I want to say about that is that I interviewed for The Epoch Times, Congressman Tim Burchett.
Leahy: He’s hilarious. He’s a funny guy.
Simon: Very funny guy. And in my book, because being funny is important, makes him more than the more intelligent one in Congress. And he told me in the interview that he was sort of a fellow traveler of the 20, I would say. He said it was the first time he saw a real democracy in Congress since he had been there.
What we’re used to is kind of the polite, bureau American style. And what we saw there were people really fighting over issues, and that is to be encouraging. And it is our job in the press not to fall for what the mainstream media does. And that is, you can say, oh, the optics are bad. Look at that. The Republicans are falling because they’re actually practicing democracy. No, let’s go the other way.
Leahy: I think it’s all a good point, and I think whether or not his spine has been stiffened by that opposition.
Brewer: I agree with you; there’s a democratic process in however many votes there were 15,12, I can’t remember.
Leahy: Fifteen ballots.
Brewer: Yes. You are right. That is part of the process. I guess where I would push back a little bit is tactically; it was not great for the Republicans.
Simon: That’s because guys like us were saying that.
Brewer: I know rank-and-file Republicans who thought that way.
Simon: Suppose you were to take the stand on the air or in writing or wherever you’re doing this. I know you are a retired journalist.
Leahy: Recovering journalist.
Simon: Good phrase. (Leahy chuckles) We’re the ones who sort of form that opinion.
Brewer: I knew plenty of rank-and-file Republicans who had that opinion. I know plenty of people out there on the street who think that way.
Simon: What’s been going on, maybe the story is the opposite. It’s been a system that Pelosi exploited.
Leahy: Good point.
Brewer: Let’s also point out that the 20 all got concessions. There was a measure of it was transactional in a way.
Leahy: If I can just add to this. I do think, though, Roger, I would disagree on one element of what you’re talking about. And is at the time, just as Clint was talking to the rank and file Republicans who said, oh, we look terrible. I could tell you just anecdotally from talking to a variety of Independents around the country during that one-week period, the general reaction towards the Republicans was negative in the sense that, oh, you can’t get your act together.
Simon: Indeed, it probably was. But it was media formed.
Leahy: I don’t think so. To a great degree, I don’t think so. But it doesn’t matter. You know why? Because it’s like come and gone. Because we got this huge gift the very next Monday and we got the gift. It really wasn’t from the Biden mail administration. It was somebody who leaked to CBS News about the classified documents.
Brewer: I tell you what, that is the most fascinating part of all this to me. We all know the genesis of the Trump documents. We know there was this standoff between his former administration and the National Archives. That’s all very well documented. What I want to know is what was the genesis? What was the jumping-off point?
Leahy: Who leaked the news to CBS News of all people?
Brewer: What was their motivation?
Simon: Who ordered it as we say. And the Cui bono in this, I think, leads to people connected to Barack Obama, maybe. Who else?
Brewer: Kamala Harris. (Chuckles) Just like pick somebody, right?
Simon: She needs a little help.
Brewer: Disgruntled former employee. I mean, it could have been a lot of people.
Leahy: This is all speculation. I think the option would be somebody linked to Barack Obama. That’s a very strong case. Somebody linked to Kamala Harris. That’s another case. Or it’s possible, Roger, that a Diogenes exists in the FBI or the National Archives or the Department of Guys.
Brewer: We’re using Latin and other languages now. We are on the radio.
Simon: Diogenes of Synopi.
Leahy: That’s right. The guy who was looking for an honest man and couldn’t find one.
Simon: Yes, but that was 2,500 years ago, and he still hasn’t seen him.
Leahy: He’s still looking. (Laughter)
Brewer: Look, that’s the question, though. Nobody’s trying to figure out how the whole thing got started.
Simon: It must be people trying to, I would hope.
Brewer: I don’t see any reporting on it. Do you?
Simon: If you’re trying to find out how it started, they are doing it very quietly behind the scenes.
Leahy: Right. The CBS reporters who broke it, whose names I don’t even know right now.
Simon: Was it Catherine Herridge?
Leahy: I don’t know. We’ll have to see. She’s a good reporter.
Brewer: My point is the more interesting part of the story to me is how did it get started? Not breaking out the source. But what was the source’s motivation? There’s somebody in power.
Leahy:Â And I think the Biden administration wanted to keep this quiet. So somebody is working against him.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
