George Conway's Moment of Truth
It's Enough with the Bullshit
Following Donald Trump’s conviction, conservative attorney George Conway was on a CNN panel discussing the verdict. During the conversation, Republican consultant and paid contributor Scott Jennings asserted, “There was no underlying crime,” then referred to a statement by boneless wonder Senator Susan Collins (R-Invertebrate)
Conway, who has been at the vanguard of the fight against Donald Trump for years now, had had enough. “Scott’s lying and that’s the problem with the Republican Party. It is continually addicted to lies.” With this, Jennings ruefully shook his head, implying Conway was the crazy one.
And here’s the difference, ladies and gentlemen, between a political hack (Jennings) regurgitating Mar-A-Lago bullshit and a veteran attorney (Conway): George knows what he’s talking about. He was able to cut through the doublespeak and get to the heart of the matter, that is, the law.
Now, a little back and forth between panelists is fun for the klieg-light mavens; it’s a rare occurrence. Everyone on air knows they’re going to get somewhere between 30 seconds and three minutes to make a point. They practice their zingers and best lines in the make-up chair.
What Conway did, though, was not just call out Jennings for lying, which he was, but put it to the network directly, asking why CNN is paying someone to truck in falsehoods on behalf of a man, a party, and a movement. What start’s in Trump’s brain, on 4Chan, or on Steve Bannon’s podcast ends up in the mainstream through useful idiots like Scott Jennings.
Kasie Hunt, in the anchor chair that day, pulled back on the reins once Conway called out her network. That’s her job. What she said to Conway, though, was telling: “Scott is our colleague and we’re going to treat him respectfully as such.”
Respect? Respect for what? For being a willing accomplice to the destruction of the Republican Party and perhaps the country so Scott can keep his TV gig? He’s not worthy of respect; he’s beneath contempt. He’s respectable only in that he’s able to sit upright after having his spine removed.
Like so many of my former friends and colleagues, Jennings knows better, and he does it anyway. For him, a middling-at-best political hack, his opportunity comes not from being ‘the man in the arena’ but from the press box. He’s not good enough to play, so he commentates.
Conway’s true crime was breaking the fourth wall of ‘political news.’ He told the truth, laid out the legal case against Trump, and demanded those he was on the air with abide by the same thing, that is, reality.
During his interview with The New Republic’s Greg Sargent, Conway noted that everyone has a part to play in this farce saying, “People are too polite.” Sargent notes, too, Conway’s lack of decorum was what upset everyone in CNN-Land from New York to Atlanta.
This is the irony, folks. The likes of Donald Trump, MAGA, and those around him have no desire to be polite nor display decorum. Those traits are signs of weakness. Yet establishment media demands that lies be met with smiles and a gentle admonition, and hard truths be shunted backstage.
Trump speaks of retribution, political violence, mass deportation, and a radical reordering of American society and we’re supposed to be polite? His supporters stomp their feet and threaten political opponents with prison and our crime is lack of decorum?
CNN and other legacy outlets have become clickbait with classic mastheads. They either miss the stakes of the battle before us with intention, or they, too, are willing to play the game and see how it shakes out.
Guys like Scott Jennings risk nothing to sit beneath the lights and toe the party line. He doesn’t like Donald Trump. Like his old boss, Mitch McConnell, he turns his nose up at the riffraff Trump has brought to the fore.
But he goes on air every day, secure in the knowledge that if Trump wins, he’ll have four more years of sweet TV money coming his way, and if Trump loses, he’ll be welcomed back into the arms of polite Washington society.
Scott wins either way.
For those like George Conway, however, the case is simpler, and far more impactful. George went on the air last week and called out lies when no one else would. For that, he’ll be blacklisted from CNN. The good news is that Conway’s voice and message will carry far beyond CNN’s little mid-day audience, and out to decent Americans who need to hear it.
We need more Conways out there, all day, every day, knowing the stakes, willing to speak truth to power, and refusing to accommodate those that would put our nation, our democracy, and our lives at risk for the low, low price of four or five TV hits a week.
News and Notes:
Listen to Conway’s full conversation with Greg Sargent here.
When George finished his glorious moment of TRUTH TELLING, I was finally able to take a real deep breath of fresh air. He is what everyone should recognize as a true patriot— one who loves America and stands for truth (not truth that’s “spun”) and the rule of (constitutional) law. Rock on, Mr. Conway! 👏👏👏
Trump's game has been the same for 40 years.
Appeal to weak people, easily seduced by power and money, willing...eager to debase themselves.
He found easy pickings in the GOP, whose principles were a millimeter deep, and a base who have no allegiance to the country.
The GOP "intelligentsia" (pundits, columnists, cable has-beens, SCOTUS justices, etc) tell themselves that Democrats are evil, hence any lie and any crime committed by their team is justified. Alliances with Orban and Putin are acceptable in this framework, and the further down the sewage pile they crawl, the greater the criminality they will excuse.
MAGA GOPers are all cleaned-up versions of Alex Jones and Steve Bannon. They'll fight to the end to drag everyone down to their level. Their greatest anger and gaslighting will be directed to never-MAGAs who refusr to disgrace themselves.