Appearing as a guest on Tuesday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank utilized the kind of violent imagery that would make liberals howl if uttered by anyone on the right as he suggested that President Barack Obama needs a "cattle prod" and a "baseball bat" in dealing with Republicans.
Referring to a quote from President Obama [1] that "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone," Milbank cracked: "You know, the President keeps talking about, you know, having his pen and having his phone, but I think to deal with these guys, he's, they're better off having a cattle prod and a baseball bat."
Milbank's comment came at the end of a discussion between him and host Al Sharpton about conservatives who had accused the President of acting like a "dictator."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, January 28, PoliticsNation on MSNBC:
AL SHARPTON: Now, you know, Dana, the right-wing talkers are stoking the hysteria on the President's promise to take action. Watch this.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK RADIO HOST, CLIP #1: Tonight's the "State of the Coup," and you'll see how things don't change.
LIMBAUGH CLIP #2: And you know what the theme of the "State of the Coup" is? Inequality.
MARK LEVIN, TALK RADIO HOST: This is the mind-set and the language that dictators have. You are witnessing a gradual yet quiet coup.
SHARPTON: Quiet coup. I mean, you're up there on Capitol Hill near the coup. What do you think, Dana?
MILBANK: Oh, well, the coup is well under way, you know, I hear, Reverend Al. Look, this has been something that has been used against him from the very beginning. It makes absolutely no sense in this case, because the whole idea of what the President's doing here is he's basically reduced his strategy.
He said, look, you guys aren't going to pass anything. So I'm going to do what I can in a limited way with executive's orders. They're by definition limited, and by definition, the next President can get rid of these executive orders. So they're temporary. Rather than accepting this as a gift, the Republicans are saying new evidence that he's some sort of a dictator.
You know, the President keeps talking about, you know, having his pen and having his phone, but I think to deal with these guys, he's, they're better off having a cattle prod and a baseball bat.