CLAY: Ah, I remember the days when late-night television was filled with laughs, whether you were Republican, whether you were a Democrat. They made fun of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Not so much Barack Obama but certainly a lot of Trump. Used to be they tried to make fun of both political parties, satirize their absurdity. But then they turned into a cheerleading squad. And now it’s like really uncomfortable propaganda would be the way to describe particularly the Stephen Colbert show, which is just…

I really legitimately question the intelligence of anybody who chooses to spend their evening watching this show, but here is Stephen Colbert. Remember when they had the dancing vaccine people, Buck? It was uncomfortable government propaganda masquerading as an evening show. And now they’re in this ridiculous spot where Colbert tries to have takes on the current existing political climate. But when you only take shots at one side of the equation as a comedian, you’re no longer a real comedian. You’re basically a government court jester propagandist. And that’s what Stephen Colbert is. Listen to this clip.

COLBERT: If we can’t get rid of the filibuster, what about — and just hear me out here and try to listen objectively — what if we just get rid of the Senate?

CROWD: (smattering of applause and laughter)

COLBERT: And I’m 100% serious here. It is the most anti-democratic institution next to the judiciary because the judiciary’s only the way it is because the Senate is the way it is. No one would drop a single tear. You’ve already got tenure. You can go back to your old job. You’ll be fine.

CROWD: (smattering of laughter)

COLBERT: I don’t understand what possible positive purpose the United States Senate provides right now.

BUCK: I think he’s being more honest than he intends to, Clay, in that I believe he does not know why the Senate exists. He is an ignoramus. He doesn’t understand why the framers set up our system of government the way that they do. And, in fact, this is widespread all across the so-called liberal intelligentsia, whether in media or even in politics.

In fact, if you Google something like, “What does the Senate do?” or “Should the Senate exist?” you’ll see think piece after think piece from Vox and HuffPo and Politico about leftists essentially saying, “Well, why do we even have a Senate? It’s a relic, and we shouldn’t have this thing!” They also said that about the Constitution when it gets in the way, by the way.

CLAY: (chuckling)

BUCK: It’s just so funny to see that they really do have the political temperament of spoiled children because what will happen is whether it’s the filibuster or the existence of the Senate itself, when Republicans are in a majority, all of a sudden protecting minority rights and opinion — and I mean that in a political sense — is essential. It is the very bulwark of our democracy, Clay.

And then the moment that Democrats think that they have a majority in the Senate and they’re not getting what they want, all that they want, it’s, this is anti-democratic, let’s tear the whole thing down. They’re really just in favor of mob rule. That’s what they would like to have. The rabble-rousers on the streets who can get enough people angry enough on one issue to dramatically change the polity that we all live in, that’s the preferred state that Democrats would like to go for. And that’s why they’ll throw it out. You know, under Trump, Clay, it was all, “They’re destroying our sacred institutions.” And now they’re like, “Yeah, those institutions not so sacred when they don’t give us what we want.”

CLAY: That’s what immediately jumps out to me is we heard from the Stephen Colberts of the world that Trump was a dictator and if he didn’t get what he wanted, he would do away with the institutions that were not allowing him to do as he wished. And then Stephen Colbert comes out and he says, “I’m not joking,” that he legitimately wants to get rid of the Senate, not because they are somehow a threat to democracy but because they aren’t doing what he wants them to do at this exact moment in time, which is exactly what a dictator thinks and says.

So you have all these people — and I thought covid was the perfect example of this because we heard, “Oh, Donald Trump is a dictator! He’s an authoritarian! He will lead us into totalitarianism,” and then covid happened, which was the greatest excuse in most of our lives for someone to take as much power as they possibly could, and what did Trump do? He deferred to mayors and governors as opposed to taking all the power — and then what has Joe Biden done?

(laughing) He came into office, and he immediately tried to pass a series of executive actions — whether it’s OSHA with the covid vaccine mandate, whether it’s the CDC with the eviction moratorium — that the Supreme Court had to slap him down and say, “You aren’t a dictator. You can’t do this.” The Democrats were the ones who were quick to brace totalitarianism when given the opportunity as president.

BUCK: Yeah. It’s no surprise that commies, Marxists, and socialists become authoritarians. That’s what always happens. Right? Because there’s always more inequality to fight against that requires more power in the hands of the people who see that inequality. So this is always their political tendency. But I do think there’s also the obvious tendency — and thankfully, because of the internet we can all go back and see this. This isn’t theoretical.

You can watch the videos of Chuck Schumer giving impassioned speeches in defense of the filibuster. You can watch — in years when the Republicans had a majority — the very same Democrats, including Kamala Harris, who are now giving teary-eyed, “Oh, my gosh democracy is under assault because we can’t get what we want through the Senate!” It’s a 50-50 Senate! For heaven’s sakes, it is a razor-edge majority!

Flashback: In 2003, @SenSchumer quoted George Washington and praised the filibuster as helping the Senate be a “cooling saucer”:

“Yes, we are blocking judges by filibuster. That’s part of the hallowed process here of the Founding Fathers saying the Senate is the cooling saucer” pic.twitter.com/w1Gxf7eZvH

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 12, 2022

Think about how obtuse their view is here, Clay. They think that they should be in a position to dramatically transform aspects of not just American governance but American life with a 50-50 Senate? They think that’s a mandate? We are one Senate seat away from Republicans being in the majority, and they’re complaining about how the institutions aren’t giving them what they want? They are crybabies, and you can see it in the fact they do cry about a lot of things.

CLAY: I’ll say this, Buck. I know we were disappointed in the way that the Senate elections went in Georgia because that’s two that I believe the Republicans — I think you would agree with me — should win most of the time.

BUCK: At least one.

CLAY: At least one of them. But I wonder politically if the long-range impact is — ’cause Joe Biden has a majority in the Senate, he can’t run on, “Hey, the reason I was unable to get anything done was because of the Republicans in the Senate.” He can still argue it, but I think most people understand they have a majority. As a result, I think it’s weakened him in a massive way.