Video: Halloween Special Ask Me Anything

Watch the video of our weekly livestreamed conversation.

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Kevin Williamson hosts a special Halloween edition of Dispatch Live including an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with David M. Drucker, Mary Trimble and Alex Demas, who joined The Dispatch as a fact checker just in time to sift through the media’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Steve also joins, after getting away from trick-or-treat duties.

How to subscribe to The Dispatch Live Podcast:

Audio recordings of Dispatch Live will be available shortly after the show concludes on an unlisted podcast shared only with members of The Dispatch. 

Unlisted podcasts are not searchable online or available on public directories. We are currently able to provide this feature for Dispatch members on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and Google Podcasts as well as The Dispatch website.   

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  1. Ronald Rutherford

    Is there a reason I have not gotten an update on The Dispatch Live since 10/31/23?

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  2. Michel95

    Perhaps The Dispatch can cough up some money so Kevin Williamson can visit the Great Salt Lake?

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  3. Russell J

    I think Kevin's description of Johnson as an opportunist is more likely than the alarmist descriptions that he is some sort of stealth radical. I also agree that this isn't necessarily great news. Since he was elected recently, we don't have the historical record to point out the weather vane tendency that is more obvious for McCarthy, Stefanik, Lindsey Graham or dozens of others. Politicians are mostly weather vanes.

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  4. Francislyo

    Tonight, the Dispatch Live hosts were asked, “Mike Johnson as Speaker. Seems like a coup-coordinator with a pleasant-er demeaner is the WORST of all possible developments. …” Kevin replied only that he takes “a pretty dim view” of Johnson. David spoke at length, saying we don’t know enough yet, and cautioning that Johnson’s statements on Ukraine and Russia, although they could sound relieving, are generally not the approach one would take to obtain aid for allies quickly when there is already broad support. But there wasn’t agreement with the questioner that electing Johnson was concerning.

    Huh?? The missed opportunity to swap MAGA rule for a moderate Republican Speaker seemed to be a nothing burger. So different from my reaction after the tantalizing possibility of overthrowing MAGA rule, then hope utterly dashed when Republicans unanimously elected as Speaker the lead guy in the plan to *disenfranchise all voters of 4 states so as to overturn the election*! They caved when only 5 moderate Republicans were needed (could have been from Biden-won districts) with Democrats clearly ready to deal.

    In contrast, here's Liz Cheney’s reaction:
    “To what extent can you trust this group of Republicans to defend the Constitution if they’re unwilling to even acknowledge the rulings of the courts, as well as the constitutional process that unfolded and the complete lack of evidence, as well as all of the testimony that we put on in our hearings in the January 6 Committee?”

    Not saying “The way back will come but once”, but this is opportunity was as good as it gets.

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    1. Michel95

      The path to a moderate Republican speaker (at least in terms of results) was for some Democrats to vote present on the motion to vacate McCarthy. They then could have named their price for continuing to provide said votes--no "negotiation" or "deals" needed. But outside of that, with the CR, McCarthy had already telegraphed that there was going to be an omnibus based on the debt-limit agreement with Biden and that there was going to be Ukraine aid paired with border spending.

      Democrats weren't obligated to provide any such votes, but they lose any claim of being the "adults in the room" when they do anything possible to elevate the MAGA wing of the GOP.

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      1. Francislyo

        Actually, no – they’d been there done that. Democrats couldn’t keep McCarthy in power and “name their price”. McCarthy backed away from his debt-ceiling deal with Biden and Democrats. His CBS interview the day after Democrats bailed him out for the 2nd time proved that he would continue to publicly distain and blame them for every wrong committed by his own party, never throwing them a bone no matter how many times they bailed him out of his party’s craziness. He excoriated the *Democrats* over Jan 6th AND blamed *them* for the shutdown crisis. He indicated that he would hold Ukraine funding hostage to MAGA whims. Why it would Not have been wise for Democrats to bail out McCarthy again was discussed by Jonah and others at TD. I would sum it up as My Kevin caves to Trump and MAGA, no one else.

        Using his party leadership and clout as Speaker to reform the crazy MAGA reputation that existed before his patronage, McCarthy punished/demonized those who opposed Trump and commissioned Tucker Carlson to rewrite Jan 6th history. He elevated and normalized the most malignant MAGA crazies who claimed that wildfires were caused by Jewish space lasers. He influenced the transformation of many ordinary Republicans into MAGA true believers who spout hate-filled demonization of Democrats as evil global elites who sacrifice children and drink their blood.

        When the opportunity to ditch McCarthy presented itself, Democrats did the right thing to join in. With all the damage McCarthy continued to do to the nation and the Republican party, why would you want Democrats to save him again?

        As David French pointed out, it became so much more possible for moderates to do the right thing in this Speakership vote than it had been with other off-ramps, like the impeachment vote after Jan 6th. This was the best off-ramp to MAGA rule to present itself in a long time.

        Don't you want to the MAGA boot to be off our throats? If you do, then realize that it was doable, but the problem wasn't that the Democrats couldn’t function as the "adults in the room". The problem is that they can’t single-handedly toss out Republican-installed MAGA: 5 Republican adults were also needed. But there were none.

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