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The Fifth Column

Fables of the DeFlynnestration: The New Fifth Column

Podcast talks IC drama, media idiocy about uninviting Kellyanne Conway, and Thomas L. Friedman's awfulness

Matt Welch | 2.16.2017 10:36 AM

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Large image on homepages | Kmele Foster
(Kmele Foster)
c/sp ||| The Fifth Column
The Fifth Column

On the previous episode of The Fifth Column, your weekly three-headed podcast helmed by Kmele Foster, Michael C. Moynihan made the brave prediction that Mike Flynn was a goner. So proud was Kmele that Hollywood finally got something right that he gave him his very own certificate of merit (pictured).

This week's version drills into more of the Flynn fallout—the deep state anxieties, surveillance/leaking hypocrisy, and this absolutely hysterical column from Simpleton Thomas L. "Suck. On. This." Friedman. We also talk about the stupid media preening and self-delusion about banning Kellyanne Conway from cable news shows, the fecklessness of Republicans on Capitol Hill, and the comparative arguments for covering Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Richard Spencer. Listen to the whole beeswax here:

For more sedition, consult iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, wethefifth.com, @wethefifth, and Facebook.

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NEXT: A.M. Links: Puzder Withdraws as Labor Secretary Nominee, More Arrests in Death of Kim Jon Un's Half-Brother

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

The Fifth ColumnDonald TrumpMedia CriticismCentral Intelligence AgencyRussia
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  1. Crusty Juggler - #2   8 years ago

    the comparative arguments for covering Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Richard Spencer.

    YOU BETTER LIST THE REASONS WHY YOU THINK EACH OF THEM IS NOT SO GOOD OR ELSE I AM GOING TO COMPLAIN AND I LIKE TO COMPLAIN A LOT!!!!

  2. Rich   8 years ago

    Ladies and gentlemen, we were attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, we were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, and we were attacked on Nov. 8, 2016.

    As you say, Matt -- "absolutely hysterical".

    the biggest national security question staring us in the face today: What is going on between Donald Trump and the Russians?

    *** scratches head ***

    Negotiations about what to do about the compromised Hillary shit?

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      Shopping around for his next wife, probably.

    2. Crusty Juggler - #2   8 years ago

      I've read a few pieces from journalists who have sources inside the intelligence community (stop calling it the "IC" everyone ever) who are worried about things like: the Kremlin now having direct access to all United States intelligence data, that it's like the Kremlin has a seat on the National Security Council, etc. Someone even wrote that the intelligence community is deliberately not sharing information with Trump because they fear his administration will share it with the Russians, or that he will Tweet his way into a mess because of the information.

      1. Rich   8 years ago

        stop calling it the "IC" everyone ever

        Indeed.

      2. DJF   8 years ago

        What the "intelligence community" is really afraid of is Trump figuring out that 99% of what they do is no better then school girl gossip.

        Trump needs to have a full audit of "intelligence community" to find out where the billions in secret money is actually paying for.

        1. Crusty Juggler - #2   8 years ago

          If the evidence the Russians have infiltrated the United States government is real, then leak that!

          Trump needs to have a full audit of "intelligence community" to find out where the billions in secret money is actually paying for.

          I agree, but I don't think the Trump people have the organizational skills and backbone. They seem pretty incompetent and disorganized.

    3. Get To Da Chippah   8 years ago

      Holy shit. Comparing the 2016 election results to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Can the left get any more ludicrous?

      1. Rich   8 years ago

        *Oh", yes. Just hang in there a little longer.

        1. DJF   8 years ago

          Its already the holocaust

          Trump's Election Triggers Old Nightmares for Holocaust Survivors in America

          http://www.haaretz.com/world-n.....m-1.753676

          1. Zeb   8 years ago

            Where the hell does that shit even come from? What reason is there to believe that Trump is even the least bit antisemitic?

      2. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

        Peak Derp is a myth.

  3. Rich   8 years ago

    Putin ... attacked our country's most important institution

    The New York Times?!

    1. DJF   8 years ago

      Starbucks?

    2. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      The Clintons?

    3. straffinrun   8 years ago

      The DeVry Institute?

    4. Bacon-Magic <3 Hayek   8 years ago

      McDonald's?

  4. juris imprudent   8 years ago

    Ol' Tom seems to forget about someone (not Trump) saying to Putin - I'll have more flexibility after the election.

  5. The Late P Brooks   8 years ago

    According to a NYT headline on my phone, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff will be meeting with his Roosky counterpart in Azerbaijan.

    To negotiate the terms of our surrender, presumably.

  6. The Late P Brooks   8 years ago

    this absolutely hysterical column from Simpleton Thomas L. "Suck. On. This." Friedman.

    It's a nuthouse, with typewriters.

  7. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Trump spelled 'entirely' wrong.

  8. Not a True MJG   8 years ago

    So Hollywood is a ginger girl, and Kmele is black? If you say so...

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      You got it backwards.

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