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Feb. 10, 2020 - Dennis Prager Show
09:02
Dennis Interviews Karen McQuillan of American Greatness
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Well, my background is as a clinical social worker.
I served in the Peace Corps in West Africa.
What country?
In Senegal.
Okay.
And I was a liberal until 9-11 when I switched over and I started listening to conservative media, and I realized I agreed with 90% of what conservatives think.
And in the time since then, I have become a very...
Sincere conservative and I'm a huge supporter of President Trump.
Wow, what a story.
I'm glad I asked you that.
I should do that with every author I have on.
So I am curious, I always ask this of people who have seen the light as it were, how did your family react?
Within two weeks of 9-11, my parents, who are lifelong Democrats, my best friend, who actually worked in Democrat administrations, and my husband, independently, all dropped that party because we could see they were not adjusting to the new reality and the real world.
You are one lucky dudette.
Yes, I am.
Yes, you do it alone, usually.
Yes.
That's right.
I'm very lucky.
You have kids?
I don't.
Dennis, I just want to tell you how honored I am to be talking to you and what an admirer I am of yours, and especially your work with Prager University.
Thank you.
I'm very touched.
I had no idea, and it means a lot to me.
Obviously it does, because I gave you such a build-up, because you write such terrific stuff.
Thank you for that.
We can be a mutual...
That's correct.
Yes, and I appreciate it.
Listen, where do you live?
I live in Wyoming.
Again, you're lucky.
Yes.
It's just so beautiful there.
I know, I know.
It's not only God's country, it's God's people.
Yes, absolutely.
You know, I spoke at the University of Wyoming.
It's on the internet.
People should see it.
Socialism makes you selfish.
I would say there were 700 students who came to the talk.
And it was a very big deal.
And of course, there were protesters.
You will love this.
Do you know that some writer for a newspaper in Laramie, where the University of Wyoming is located, They always make themselves ludicrous.
They always have to go a step too far.
Make themselves ludicrous?
That's a perfect description of the left.
They do make themselves ludicrous.
Have you always lived in Wyoming?
No, I grew up in New York City.
So did I. And then people say, when did you move?
And I go, no, no, no.
When did I flee?
Yes, I say I'm an escapee.
Oh, there you are.
We are really kindred spirits.
That is so funny.
Wyoming.
Alan, have you been to Wyoming?
It's true, right?
I mean, yes.
All right, so you're...
I have to tell people...
This is a painful statement.
I said it, however, during his administration.
I thought that Barack Obama was the most destructive president of my lifetime.
Your column, just one column, gives the most important reasons.
And you didn't even touch on international affairs, like the appeasement of Iran.
But let's talk about what you wrote.
Let me give the first paragraph of Karen McQuillan's piece, which is up at DennisPrager.com, from American Greatness.
Those who are surprised by Bernie Sanders' power in the Democrat primaries of 2016 and 2020 have not been paying attention.
The self-styled Democratic Socialist from Vermont has inherited what President Obama sowed.
Sanders is riding a wave of well-funded and highly trained young Marxists weaponized by President Obama.
It is Obama's hard work that allowed Bernie to jump from fringe character to viable presidential candidate and then you give examples of his illegally funneling billions of dollars of federal fine bank fines to left-wing activist organizations I would say, Karen, that under 1% of Americans know what you wrote.
You're absolutely right, Dennis, and it drives me crazy because, you know, all the journalists like to repeat the same simple talking points.
So they say the Democrat Party has gone insane.
No, it hasn't gone insane.
It's gone hard left.
And then occasionally they say, how did this happen?
And then they just drop the question as if there's no answer.
But we do know the answer.
Because all of this information was published.
I mean, when Obama basically stole $3 billion of money that should have gone to the federal government from these bank fines after the meltdown in 2008, when he took office.
Kimberly Stratzel wrote about it.
Right.
You linked it, and I read her column, and I'm going to read it to my audience tomorrow.
Go ahead.
That's terrific.
So $3 billion pays.
He funneled it to acorn-type organizations across the country.
Just think of how much revolutionary social change that pays for.
That's salaries, that's...
Wait, forgive me.
I think the intermediate step needs to be made clear.
Banks were fined—tell me if I have this right—banks were fined vast sums of money, and part of their being able to continue to function was some of that money goes to the federal government, but some must go to nonprofit organizations.
Is that correct?
Exactly.
Well, the federal government is going to fine you half a million dollars, but you can contribute it to La Raza and we'll give you a credit.
You hear that, folks?
And it will come out ahead.
It was illegal.
Now, yeah, that's my next question.
No, it's entirely illegal.
Entirely illegal.
So, why was no one prosecuted?
That question answers itself, Dennis.
Obama got away with anything he wanted.
Right.
Right.
No, no, I knew the answer, but I wanted you to address it.
Can anybody be prosecuted now, or is it politically impossible?
I have no idea.
I mean, I think our focus now has to be to really understand who we're dealing with.
You know, we have the wrong image.
We think that the left...
All this craziness is from, like, a bunch of college kids tweeting or some unemployed guy in his mother's basement.
And it's not.
We're dealing with well-paid, six-figure salary people who are working from the time they wake up in the morning until the end of their workday, full-time, on pushing radical policies.
And it takes power to take over one of the two major parties in America.
How much money did Obama funnel from the government to left-wing activist groups?
Well, it was $3 billion from the bank fines.
Wait, wait, wait.
I want people to understand.
$3 billion to La Raza, to Black Lives Matter.
Who else?
I don't have the list of all the organizations, but you can find them on the web if you want to dig deep into this.
Well, ACORN? Yes.
Oh, ACORN-type organizations.
You didn't see it?
Not ACORN, yeah.
The other very interesting thing he did is Obama's DOJ was only allowed to hire lawyers from five radical law firms.
Oh, my God.
I didn't see that.
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