The Day I Interviewed American Sniper Chris Kyle
And the weasel Steve Bannon...
By TSHA ~ in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. - https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/kyle-christopher-scott, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99454880
It was June 28, 2011, and Chris Kyle and Steve Bannon were in Pella, Iowa for the world debut of the former Trump advisor Bannon’s widely panned hagiographic movie about Sarah Palin, The Undefeated. I had hoped to get an interview with Palin about her rumored presidential run in 2012 and wanted to find out why the movie claimed she was “undefeated” when she and John McCain had lost the 2008 presidential race to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I also knew that she had lost a race for Lt. Governor in Alaska previously, and had to resign from her position of Governor of Alaska because of ethics violations.
It didn’t sound like she was undefeated to me, but now we know that the name of the Bannon’s movie foreshadowed Trump’s denial of his election loss in 2020. Bannon’s lie and deny strategy is still employed today in the MAGA-verse.
They think much of the American public is easily manipulated, and have proven it.
After hanging out for a couple of hours, I doubted that I was going to get an interview with Palin. Dozens of members of the local and national media were there, and the crowd grew to several hundred before Palin was to arrive.
But I had to get an interview of some sort, preferably something interesting. So I walked up to two guys who were clearly part of Palin’s advance security team and asked them if I could do an interview. One of them said something like, “well, you can try…” and we were off. Turns out it was Kyle and Mark Spicer, a former British Army sniper who had founded the training company Craft International with Kyle.
Here is part of the Wikipedia entry about Kyle.
Christopher Scott Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He had 160 confirmed kills and was awarded a Silver Star, three Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor, 2x Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with "V" device, as well as numerous other unit and personal awards.
Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009, and published his bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, in 2012. An eponymous film adaptation of Kyle's book, directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Bradley Cooper as Kyle, was released two years later. In 2013, Kyle was murdered by Eddie Ray Routh at the Rough Creek Lodge shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas. Routh, a former Marine, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Here is what Google Books says about Spicer:
Mark Spicer is a foremost sniper instructor who has trained snipers of many of the world's military and paramilitary forces, including the US Marine Corps and Britain's SAS. He was the expert witness during the 'Washington Beltway Sniper' trials, and also writes and broadcasts on the art of sniping in war and antiterrorist environments.
His books are on Amazon.
At the time, I had no idea who these guys were, or what they had done. In the interview I just did what I always do, try to figure out who people are and how things work. I think you will find it interesting how they determined who is a potential threat or not, and the rationalization as to how they determined I wasn’t one.
Here is the interview:
Why am I writing about this interview now? Because I saw this display at the Knoxville Public Library the other day, and it came to mind.
It was hot that day, and I learned that some of the media and people associated with the movie were at the Pella Opera House in air conditioning. I went in, surveyed the room, and noticed two guys in suits were sitting with their backs to the wall. Since media are rarely in suits, unless they are important big media guys I might recognize, I figured they were with the movie.
One of the guys was tall and blond-ish. The other was Steve Bannon, producer of the movie at the time, now former Trump advisor, felon, anarchist, and insurrectionist. Did I say traitor? I should have.
I asked them if they wanted to do an interview, and they agreed. Unfortunately, I can’t find the interview. During the interview, blondie wanted to talk, but Bannon curled his lip at him in a near snarl, and the guy quit talking. Bannon never looked me in the eye, and blathered on about how Palin was going to be president, and that she was “undefeated,” and that his movie was brilliant. It has a one-star review on Rotten Tomatoes, and one reviewer says:
A movie about an idiot, written by idiots, produced by idiots, and directed by idiots. No doubt, only idiots will see it...
I don’t remember much more about the interview, but Bannon looked and acted like a weasel—his eyes darting back and forth across the room, his knee bouncing up and down. He looked like a guilty man held in a lock-up who knew his crimes were much more significant than law enforcement could possibly know.
The room was cool, but Bannon was sweating like he was in a sauna. He was seated spread-eagled with his forearms resting on his thighs, and sweat dripped from his face, dropping between his knees, puddling on the floor. The only other person I have ever interviewed who sweated as much as Bannon is Senator Lindsey Graham, who is a human acquifer.
I didn’t get to Palin before the movie started, so I drove home. The next day a friend on the Pella Police force told me that I should have come back when the movie was over, and I would likely have gotten an “interesting” interview. Turns out Palin and her entourage hung out at the hotel bar well past closing time, and that they were in a “talking mood.”
If only I had known.
A couple more things. First, my friend and Pella School Board member Joan Corbin has written an important piece on the need for more funding for our public schools, and how private school vouchers in part have helped lead the Pella School system to make budget cuts. Here is her piece in the Iowa Capital Dispatch:
It took courage for Joan to write this piece in her mostly conservative community. Her leadership is needed, and should serve as a call for more school board members to speak to the issue of inadequate funding of our public schools, and the giveaway of tax dollars to private schools with no accountability that is hurting our public schools. If you want to know the rationale as to why legislative Republicans are undermining our. public schools, I have written about it here.
Also, if you want to know more about how and why Republican leaders, including Donald Trump, are prepared to end our democracy, read this.
On a lighter note, to our paid subscribers SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, December 7: paid subscribers are invited to a holiday party at the Witmer House, 2900 Grand in Des Moines, at the former governor’s mansion. Let us know if you would like to attend:
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Bob thanks again for bringing to our attention the State Budget surplus. There is no other way to describe our State Government degradation of the Iowa Public School System. The money is there but there isn't any love for little people.
Fortunately I wasn’t influenced by Bannon. I totally agree with Corbin’s unfortunate assessment of school funding.