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00:00Hey everybody, welcome to Hanging Left, episode 16. Here we are. My name is Matt Connerton, and of course, with
00:08me, my partner in crime in this venture, Todd Ayer. Hello, Todd.
00:11Hey, how are you?
00:12Good, good. How are things? How's it hanging?
00:15Left, very left.
00:17Do you have a window open? I'm hearing the wind.
00:19I do. Why is it too? There we go.
00:20Yeah. Oh, perfect. Thank you. Thank you. All of a sudden, it sounded windy. It is a nice day. It's
00:25a beautiful day out. We finally have some actual spring weather.
00:29Hopefully, it lasts more than a couple of days, but it probably won't. And next thing you know, it'll be
00:3230 degrees again. It's been a very cold April here in New England. It's been very, very strange. And my
00:41allergy has been terrible. I don't know. Do you have allergies? Do you suffer from that at all?
00:44Yeah, yeah. So you know the pain. The Magnolias are blooming. Everything is blooming. But it is great to speak
00:52with you today. The date, of course, April 26, I think, 2026, on this Sunday afternoon.
00:59And while something pretty noteworthy happened last night, I guess, I guess another assassination attempt on our president, which, of
01:10course, the right president, your president, I mean, you know, the president, a president, that, of course, the right is
01:18already milking for all it's worth, talking about how, well, this is yet another example of how violent the left
01:25is.
01:25And they should only say nice and pleasant things about the president so that this doesn't ever happen. But we're
01:31under siege and all that.
01:33And you had posted something on social media that I thought was very eloquent, you know, talking about, you know,
01:38where the level of rhetoric in this country, who is actually responsible for it.
01:44And it certainly is not the left. No. And by any objective measure, in my opinion.
01:49But but you know, I mean, it's right. Exactly. I mean, and even now, I think you could argue that
01:55even many members of like the center left have like really sort of stepped up and started to like, you
02:03know, join join in the fight.
02:05I guess it depends on who, of course. But yeah, I mean, I think, look, listen, I mean, again, this
02:11is like Charlie Kirk 2.0, you know what I mean?
02:13Like, I mean, in a sense that like this man spends his entire life doing nothing but, um, hold on
02:22a second.
02:24I don't know. Anyway, um, spends their entire life, um, doing nothing but, you know, just like stirring, uh, the
02:36pot, as they say, um, you know, uh, all they consistently do.
02:41It's, it's all about violence and, and persecution and polarization and, you know, uh, needless wars.
02:49And I mean, there's literally nothing nonviolent this person does. And listen, if you look at the history of any
02:54of these dictators, wannabe dictators, fascists, whatever it is, they usually have several attempts on their life.
03:00So there's a few stories I think here. Number one, you know, play the benefit of the doubt. Okay. So
03:06this happened. Well, are we shocked? No.
03:09I mean, because like, this guy is like, you know, the whole administration was like Charlie Kirk on steroids. Like
03:14they don't only speak violence, but they do violence.
03:18So people that are desperate, people that have nothing else to, uh, you know, and, and they feel like they're
03:24pushed up against a corner.
03:27Um, you know, that's, that's what they know, you know, and if, if they really believe their life is in,
03:32in jeopardy or, or whatever, it's no wonder.
03:36Plus he's also given a permission slip to violence. So, you know, I mean, if, if a leader is like,
03:43you know, let's say he is a leader, which I don't believe he is, but even if he is like
03:47people tend to follow their leaders, well, guess what, Mr. Trump, they're doing it right now.
03:51They're following you. They're following your behaviors. They're, uh, behaving the same way you guys behave.
03:57You know, you have masked agents on the street. They attack you at your speaking events. Like, you know, this
04:02is tit for tat, my friend, this is the environment you created.
04:06So, you know, you're not going to get any thoughts and prayers from me. Um, you know, and, you know,
04:14is it something I'm going to necessarily go out and do? Absolutely not.
04:16But it's, it's, I don't have a right to tell other people, you know, how they're going to process this
04:23stuff. And, and it's certainly to me is suspect when all of a sudden, you know, if this is so
04:28horrible, why are you now talking yet again at your press conference on your stupid ballroom?
04:33Like, right. And then the third piece is, why does this always conveniently happen whenever he's trying to skirt some
04:40sort of issue or some sort of, um, you know, problem?
04:45I mean, you know, they're losing right now. And so they're losing. So what, well, how do you handle loss?
04:49You create chaos. So like, I just find it. And I also find it very interesting unless maybe they were
04:54hired by him because he only hires the best people, how they, how they keep missing the most incompetent assassins
05:01I've ever met. And why are they all after Trump? Why is it only incompetent assassins that go after Trump?
05:06Well, just to kind of, to build on what you were saying, um, you know, about violence and violent rhetoric.
05:11I, my, uh, standard position is I, I, I will not be lectured by the party, by members of the
05:18party of January 6th.
05:19Right. You know, I will not be lectured by people who think it's perfectly acceptable. If you lose an election
05:25and you're sad about it, uh, that it's okay to go and attempt to violently seize the Capitol.
05:32Right. I will not be lectured by those people about, about, about violence though. So they can, uh, STF you
05:39with that. Right. That's my, that's my position. Um, and, and I think, I think, uh, most of us on,
05:44uh, on our side, on the rational side of things would agree with that. Um, I mean, but what do
05:50you think? Do you think this was, uh, you know, I almost, I don't want to, I feel like conspiracy
05:55theories are such a.
05:57Yeah. I don't like to feed into conspiracy theories, but I just find it so like to me. And, you
06:03know, I think maybe there's some truth to the fact that like, okay, so if you get a hotel room,
06:07you're not maybe vetted as well as you should have been vetted. But then, then again, then that's in itself
06:12a problem because listen, you know, just, just last night I was at a speaking engagement with Hillary, um, Clinton.
06:20And let me tell you, we could get a lot less closer to her than people seem to be able
06:24to get close to Trump.
06:25And this man is supposed to be like, you know, allegedly the sitting president. So like, right. You know, and
06:32I can't even get near a retired, uh, presidential person, you know, like, I mean, you know, if they don't
06:39want me to, you know, who are these? So maybe, who knows, maybe it's an inside job. Like, I don't
06:46want to start this, but like, I don't know. It wouldn't shock me. Maybe there are people inside secret service
06:50that don't really care anymore and don't really like him. And maybe they allowed it to happen. Who knows? I
06:54don't know.
06:54But the point is, is that, um, you know, the, my other really concern is that I don't want, and
07:02this is where I'm agitated with the legacy media. Um, you know, fine. I get it. It's your job to
07:08say that this, this shouldn't happen and no political violence and so on and so forth.
07:14But also like, why don't you have enough guts to call out the environment that created this? Why don't you
07:19have enough guts? Like why, you know, do you feel that obligated to like, give him your thoughts and prayers?
07:25Like stuff, your thoughts and prayers. I don't care if you're like legacy media, like get some guts.
07:32Um, yeah, I, I, I agree with all of that. Um, I don't know. Uh, what do we, what do
07:40we really know much about the guy? I mean, I know there's a picture of him on the ground shirtless
07:45and, um, oh, you know, the other thing too, is that they missed him. Yeah. Like, like, I mean, and
07:52also like, I mean, it's just also ridiculous. He got pretty far with a shotgun, a pistol and three knives.
07:59Yeah.
08:00Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I couldn't even get into the, the, I couldn't get past the snack bar into like
08:06the, even the, like beginning of the conference area last night with Hillary Clinton until I went through, my bag
08:13was searched and I went through metal detectors and I had dogs sniffing me indirectly to make sure I had
08:18no bombs on me. And I had to drop off my laptop hours beforehand so it could be vetted.
08:24Oh, that's interesting. Really? Yeah. So like, I mean, I don't know what happened, but that's what I was told.
08:29So like all electronics except for handheld had to be vetted. So like, you know, and that was for Hillary.
08:37Yeah. Well, so maybe the answer is he just has lousy security. I don't know.
08:42Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, did you see Steven Miller? Uh, you know, holding his, his pregnant wife, his pregnant wife
08:50in the picture? It looks like he's using her as a human shield. Well, that's what he probably was. And
08:55his, his, his, his unborn child there. I didn't, I did not realize that they had, that they were spawning
09:00and that he was going to have a, how did all these get invited to like, that's ridiculous too. Like,
09:05like usually it's the president, not every fool in the, you know, that is very interesting, isn't it?
09:11That, that, that so much of the cabinet was there. Um, there's also this weird, bad idea. Yeah. They don't
09:19usually do that. There's also this weird clip of, did you see this of Caroline Levitt talking about, uh, before,
09:25before all this happened, talking about, uh, talking to somebody, somebody from Fox or somewhere talking about how great Trump
09:30speech was going to be and how funny it was going to be in this and that. And, and she
09:34said, you know, there might be some shots fired, you know, sort of implying that, uh, you know, and she
09:39actually used that term,
09:41shots fired, you know, implying that, uh, I, I guess we were supposed to take that as a viewer as,
09:45oh, you know, Trump might take a few shots at people in his, in his speech, but, uh, it turned
09:50out to be literally what happened. Uh, that's, um, you know, it just makes you wonder, like, did, like, again,
09:59not to be a conspiracy theorist, because I do think that's sort of a, a coin of the realm of
10:03the right wing, but it, you know, something like that does make me wonder, did she say that?
10:08Like, why did she, was there something subconsciously that caused her to choose that phrase? I think you're giving her
10:15too much credit. Maybe. I don't know if I follow that. Cause I don't feel like she connects the dots
10:20that easily. Um, or that she's that clever to come up with like, you know, uh, a witty metaphor. So
10:25no, no, no, no, but I mean, not intentionally, but, but just unintentionally letting something slip, you know, you know,
10:31what's good. Look, if you know what's going on in KKK Levitt's, uh,
10:35you know, brain, then you're, you're a better, uh, expert on that than I am. My friend, I have no
10:41clue. Like that woman is nuts. Why do you call her that? By the way? I know you, you explained
10:45this to me once before, but I can't remember the reason why you call her KKK Levitt. Cause the KKK,
10:50like she's racist. And she's, I didn't know if there was some, like if she had a specific tie to
10:54the, well, it's Caroline Levitt. So like, but with a K, so like you go KKK Levitt. So you just
11:00have the two K. Oh, I see. I gotcha. I gotcha. Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah.
11:06Yeah. So anyway, I mean, and now they have succeeded yet again. And I do, this is where I blame
11:10the legacy media. Like now this is what we're covering. You know, we're not talking about Iran. We're not talking
11:15about the 24 million that his son was handed over by the Pentagon for a, uh, you know, arms deal,
11:21which he has zero experience in, you know, I, I, he doesn't even have the technology supposedly. So like what
11:28this contract is for, I don't know. I'm sure it's just spending money and pocket change in Dubai, you know,
11:33like this is all just ridiculous.
11:34Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, again, I just, whenever these things happen, it always makes me take a pause because
11:41my concern is that like, you know, um, you know, are we betting on the right horse? Like, or, or
11:50are we going to get fooled again? Like, are we going to like throw in someone like supposedly it's going
11:55to be this fighter and then they turn around and they just like give all these people pardons. I, I
11:59just, you know, it's my biggest fear.
12:03Um, you mean in terms of the next election or what do you mean?
12:07Yeah. I mean, if we don't get in there and actually do what we're, what they're all saying, which is
12:12accountability, accountability, accountability, prosecution, prosecution, prosecution. If we don't do that, the American public, I must, and people like myself,
12:20which are opinion leaders will drive this to the American public. I will no longer support them.
12:23I will not, I will become like one of these people that I'll become anti-government at that point. Like,
12:31honestly, because, because they'll, they don't deserve our respects anymore at that point.
12:36It's easy to see. I mean, I kind of went through my libertarian phase. Um, I'm no, not libertarian. I'll
12:43become socialist.
12:44No, but when you say anti-government though, what, what, what I, what I mean, I'm going to like not
12:48trust any of them. I'm going to go back to, I mean, anti-establishment. I'm going to be like, well,
12:52I get, I get that.
12:53None of them holds, you know, no, I get that government, like no government, but just like, yeah, no, I
12:59get that. I just, but what I was going to say is that maybe I should say I'll be a
13:03proponent of doing a full house cleaning.
13:06Well, yes, no, that makes sense. No, but what I was going to say is this is though an example
13:10of the, the, the way you're thinking about this. This is how some people, um, because I know a lot
13:15of these people, I know a lot of free staters and stuff.
13:17This is how, this is how some people end up being libertarians because they get to a point where they
13:22say, all these people are corrupt. All these people are out for themselves. They all fail us. So I just
13:29don't want any of it.
13:30So while that is not practical, which is why, again, for me, it was a phase. Right. Um, uh, because
13:37I recognize that that's not practical, uh, in the grand scheme of things, it's just not how life works and
13:43it's not how you run a country.
13:44Uh, but I, but I do, I am sympathetic to how some people get to that point, because I think
13:50in my own mind, at one point I got to that point where I just said, well, what is the
13:53point?
13:54They're all bad.
13:54So me, I'll just go back to my own little bubble and like really laser focus on specific topics and
14:01issues and worry about supporting.
14:04I mean, now the good news is because of everything that I've done, you know, in the last, what, since
14:09the Harris campaign, my tribe has certainly expanded and it's not, it's not just LGBTQ people.
14:14And our allies, like it's, it's much bigger, but I will definitely get to the point where like, if people
14:21that I'm supposedly negotiating with and compromising with, you know, choose to use that as just like, sort of like
14:28a way to get in power and then turn around and don't do anything we ask.
14:32Right.
14:32And make any compromises on the other end.
14:34Cause that's not a compromise.
14:35If you, if you just like.
14:39Oh, he froze up.
14:42Todd has frozen my friends.
14:44I don't know if he can hear me or not.
14:47I'm going to message him and just tell him you froze up.
14:54Yeah, we have, uh, I will, uh, I will edit this on the, uh, Oh, here we go.
15:01I think he's back.
15:02Add to stream.
15:03Yeah.
15:04They're already censoring me.
15:05No, I'm joking.
15:06Hey Todd.
15:07No, but no, what I'm saying is like, it's just a matter of, um, you know, the whole fool me
15:13once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.
15:16Like, I'm just not going to like, I don't know.
15:19Politics just won't be my lane anymore.
15:21I'll just go back into like just pure activism and like use every politician as sort of like a game
15:27of chess and a pawn and what I want and not really worry about what they want unless it gives
15:31me what I want and not really worry about like a big picture.
15:35Like, is this what's best for the nation kind of thing?
15:37Because to me, like I've stepped up and I've put things on hold and I've done things that are, you
15:44know, uh, not selfish and are dealing.
15:48And in some cases helping people that like, I don't know, and I'll never know.
15:51And, you know, and I understand the value of that, but like at some point I'm sick of like fighting
15:57everybody's fights for them, but then having them not step up and join.
16:02Like, you know, I think a lot of, uh, I mean, I'll take this and just run with it.
16:07I'll just be like a, you know, I'll be a celebrity, uh, political person and just, you know, make money
16:12off it.
16:12Screw it.
16:13I think a lot of Democrats feel that way though, about the democratic party, just about the establishment.
16:18That's why people hate, you know, people like Chuck Schumer, for example.
16:21Um, because, uh, you know, there's a sense that, well, none of these people are really there for us.
16:28Um, you know, the, the establishment is not there for us.
16:30And that's, that's true of both parties, obviously.
16:33Uh, but, um, but I think it's, it's maybe not quite as true with the Democrats, but almost.
16:40Yeah.
16:40I mean, I think that we can go.
16:42So I think it's okay to have like realistic conversations and be like, look, if I help you, you get
16:48this.
16:49And if you help me, I get this kind of thing.
16:50So I'm okay with like an open dialogue that like, acknowledges this quid pro quo that's
16:57out there and we just are honest about it.
17:00That's okay.
17:01Like, I don't, you know, my goal really is to sort of get to certain, you know, uh, results.
17:08I don't really care about the path getting there.
17:10I guess that's sort of where I'm at at this point, but like, you know, I'm not, I'm not
17:15naive to think that like, we're all going to do this based on like this, like idyllic, you
17:21know, unity.
17:23Yeah.
17:24Now, how are you feeling at this point about 26?
17:26Because it's looking from my perspective, it's looking better and better every day for us.
17:33I mean, it's looking excellent, but again, it's like, I've heard so many people that I,
17:37you know, people who I respect people that I've, um, you know, all different from all
17:42different sort of ranges in the democratic party, you know, and, and we'll see, I think
17:47it's a, we'll see because like, yeah, first off there's almost two litmus tests here.
17:52It's like a, he's handing us the election.
17:55So if we fail this time, we fail, not him.
17:58Like, how do you fail this time?
18:00Right.
18:01Secondly, um, you know, let's be positive.
18:05Let's say we win.
18:06Then what?
18:06Like, I want to see us really do something because we're just going to be the dog chasing
18:11our tail constantly.
18:13If we keep on doing the same old song and dance, I think it's going to be a different
18:18song and dance though.
18:20I hope so.
18:20In that, well, because it, it has to be, I think, because it does, it does, but that
18:26doesn't mean it will be.
18:27This administration has done some unprecedented things in terms of, uh, I agree with that,
18:31but I, I, I still, I want to believe that there's some self-righteousness and there's
18:38some justice warrior in these people.
18:39And that's really part of it.
18:41I'm not so naive as to realize, I understand when you're at their level, you're going to
18:45have some personal gains and, you know, there's a part of you that's in it for you.
18:51I mean, part of it, I'm in it for me in the sense that like, obviously I'm, I don't have
18:55a problem capitalizing on doing good.
18:57Right.
18:57I don't have a problem with that.
18:58Right.
18:59Um, I want to do that too.
19:00I'm doing it right now.
19:01You know, like if this show explodes because I do good things, then great.
19:05I'll take, right.
19:06And I won't be ashamed of it.
19:08Right.
19:08Of course.
19:09But there should be some authenticity too.
19:11And there should be like the acknowledgement that we're not an Island and that like, we have
19:18to, I mean, you can even make the argument that like, when we lift other people up, we
19:21lift ourselves up.
19:22If that's what you need to do, I don't need to do that.
19:24But if that's what people need to do, then great, but we still have to get there.
19:29Right.
19:30Right.
19:31Um, something that's been interesting to me is that the way that Iran has really kind
19:36of, um, made people, uh, made a lot of, a lot of media people on the right begin to
19:42question their support for Trump.
19:43Tucker Carlson probably being one of the, one of the best examples as far as he's really
19:48been out there and kind of just apologizing for, for, but the thing is though, well, he
19:53is, he is.
19:54And, and he sees where things are going, obviously.
19:57But the other thing that frustrates me, that annoys me about these people, because on one
20:02hand, okay, if you are now, if you are a former Trump supporter, and I think we've talked
20:07about this before, if you're a former Trump supporter and you want to, and you finally,
20:12finally, somehow, I don't know why it takes anybody as long to figure it out as they do.
20:16But if you actually genuinely, not because you're a grifter, but you genuinely have finally
20:22figured out that this guy's a con man and you want to come over and join us.
20:25Great.
20:26And I welcome them with open arms and I don't want to be a, I don't want to be a
20:29gatekeeper.
20:29There's a lot of gatekeepers.
20:30No, no, no, no.
20:31I don't either.
20:32I don't either.
20:32Right.
20:32But the thing that frustrates me about a lot of these people, about most of these people
20:35with very few exceptions is if you listen to the way they talk about Trump, they're
20:40very careful still, even if they have completely turned against him over Iran and Epstein from
20:47a policy standpoint, they still have that Trump devotion syndrome where they still make excuses
20:53for him because even Tucker Carlson now that he's like saying, you know, I'm sorry, I never
20:59should have, I misled you into supporting this guy and I'm sorry about it.
21:03Even he still says things like he's being misled, like the president's being misled.
21:08Trump has the wrong people around him telling him the wrong things.
21:12He's still, even now he won't actually blame Trump himself.
21:18I mean, these people were, were, were specifically selected for their incompetence.
21:23I mean, can you imagine this job interview?
21:25Like I was joking yesterday and we were like kind of doing this silly little thing, you
21:29know, cause we had a lot of time to kill and, um, we were doing this thing and I'm like,
21:33this is what a Trump job interview looks like.
21:36Okay.
21:37So, you know, you're, you want to be the head of public health.
21:41What do you know about public health?
21:42Well, nothing.
21:43Okay, great.
21:44Okay.
21:45That's a, that's a good point now.
21:49Yeah.
21:51Um, and what is your, what is your main goal?
21:54Is your goal a to make really make America great again, or is your goal to increase your
21:59personal net worth and your position in power?
22:02Well, really I'd like to leverage it to make my life better and my friend's lives better.
22:08And I also want to make it in rig it.
22:10So other people can't excellent.
22:13You're in, you get the job.
22:15That's how he interviews.
22:17Yeah.
22:17Yeah.
22:17Well, the thing is too, and I, I remember, uh, worrying about this going into, you know,
22:24with the advent of the second administration is obviously a lot of the people from the
22:28first administration who I think on balance in a broad sense, you could make an argument
22:34that the first administration in the macro was more competent just in terms of who was
22:40there than the current administration.
22:42So, but because, uh, a lot of those people either ended up in jail or they turned against
22:47Trump or this or that.
22:48So now he had, you know, slim pickings.
22:51I mean, he's lucky to have gotten someone as mainstream as Marco Rubio for his position.
22:57Yeah, but he's polluted him.
22:58Yeah.
22:58Yeah, exactly.
23:00But, um, although I'm, I'm not sure Marco Rubio's, I mean, he, he may yet be a nominee
23:05in the future for, for the Republicans, but for the presidency, but, um, well, that doesn't
23:10mean it's a good idea.
23:12No, no, not at all.
23:15But, um, but you know, really, I mean, cash Patel, I think, you know, he may be on the
23:21verge of getting fired.
23:22They've got this drunk dude that like, you know, I guess allegedly now like does public
23:27urination and spends government money.
23:30I mean, they all are like, yeah, they, they sound just like baby doc Duvalier of Haiti
23:36and like the, you know, or like the, um, and that's another thing too, another point, not
23:41to go all the way back to that again, but like, that's the other thing too, like in history,
23:46like when you are already dictator or you're any of those types of people, then that's kind
23:51of par for the course to have like several attempts on your life.
23:54Like that's not, so this really is a news.
23:57Like if you look at any of these people and actually attracts and it, and it proves my
24:01point that the guy really is a dictator because like any of the horrible people are constantly
24:06having attempts at their lives.
24:09Yeah, that's true.
24:10Like Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, you know, all these people.
24:14Kim Jong-un is a notoriously paranoid.
24:17He thinks he's going to be killed at any moment.
24:19So is Putin.
24:21Yep.
24:21They have food tasters and all of that just to, just to make sure, just to make sure nobody
24:26gets to them.
24:28But yeah, Iran seems to have really, but Iran is really turned off.
24:32I mean, you know, people don't like paying, you know, wow.
24:34Who knew, right?
24:35People don't like paying $4 a gallon for gas.
24:37Well, it's their fault.
24:39They put this ass hat in.
24:41Yeah.
24:42And, and look, they never should have.
24:48So, you know, I mean, and I've said this about Trump before.
24:51A lot of times he's the guy who lights the building on fire and then pats himself on
24:54the back for calling the fire department.
24:58You know, this, this was all avoidable with Iran.
25:01You know, they tore up the Iran nuclear agreement because Trump's policy going into the first
25:07term could be summed up as Obama bad.
25:09We must undo everything he did.
25:12Well, now it's Biden bad still.
25:13I don't know.
25:13Has he got enough?
25:14I don't know.
25:15Yeah.
25:16Yeah.
25:16It's just, yeah.
25:17Whoever, you know, because nothing has ever, nothing is ever Trump's fault.
25:21So, so it's all, you know, so, so they had to tear up the nuclear deal, which was not
25:26perfect, but you know, that's no, a deal usually isn't usually both sides get something out
25:31of it.
25:31Right.
25:31So they, it's called a compromise.
25:33Right.
25:34So they tear up the deal.
25:35Trump says, we're going to have a better deal.
25:36They never even pursued a better deal.
25:38And now we have this mess.
25:40And now we have to put all the gas.
25:42So Hillary said, and I mean, that poor woman, she really was like, I'm sorry.
25:47I am going to always be, I'll go to my gravest team, Hillary.
25:49I don't care.
25:50And I love her.
25:52Yeah.
25:52But like, you know, the thing is, like she said, look, she said, how come every single
25:59person who ever sat down and whoever sat down, I was sorry, just reading the notes, whoever
26:10sat down and like was briefed in the situation room on like what it would look like if we went
26:17the war with Iran and like all of this and like, who has even the slightest, like, you
26:23know, iota of, of information about, um, diplomacy in the Middle East, the very first thing she
26:32said they talk about and they practice for is what happens if we go after Iran and they
26:39take the Strait of Hormuz.
26:40Right.
26:42She said, this is like, this is like Middle Eastern negotiations.
26:46One-on-one.
26:46She's like, Trump is the only person.
26:48And I put that on my Facebook too.
26:49She's like, he is the only person that's ever been in the position as president.
26:54Only person that's ever had, you know, this kind of security clearance or anything.
27:00Um, you know, she implied like, you know, if you're an entry level staffer at the state
27:07department, you would know this.
27:08I mean, you know, it's just like common sense.
27:12Right.
27:13I did see something about, uh, they, they tried to tell him, uh, but what, yeah, but
27:18her point is, why did I have to even tell him like, right.
27:21So freaking obvious he should know, but he, but he's got, I mean, you know, he's got
27:25Dunning-Kruger syndrome, you know, although turned up to 11 and always had, you know, because
27:30he would talk that way.
27:31I remember during the, uh, during the first debates, uh, for the nomination in, in, uh,
27:362016, he would talk about, you know, I know he would talk about ISIS.
27:40Like he would say, I know more about ISIS than the generals do.
27:43You know, he would just say this stuff with the confidence of someone who somehow had managed
27:46to delude himself into really genuinely believing that.
27:49Right.
27:49Uh, you know, so he just thinks he knows, I think, I, I think he's, I think he's probably
27:54a guy who thinks that his gut instinct is always correct.
27:58Well, remember how he said, like he, the, the only, uh, determination of whether he, you
28:05know, stops the Iranian war and other things is, um, his own, his own brain.
28:11Yeah.
28:11No, his own sense of morality is what he said.
28:13Oh, that's right.
28:14At which point everybody said, well, then we're really screwed because he has no morality.
28:17Right.
28:18Yeah.
28:19Which is different than what, uh, remember what George W.
28:22Bush used to say, you know, I, I, when, when somebody asked him, um, was this, this must
28:29have been when we went into Iraq.
28:32Um, somebody asked him, you know, have you consulted with your father at all about, about Iraq?
28:38Because obviously, uh, you know, uh, Bush senior did a desert storm and a W replied, no, I
28:45listen.
28:45Uh, I consult with a higher father, you know, so, but Trump doesn't talk to God.
28:50He doesn't need, uh, well, also, you know, God is, has, you know, not on their side at
28:57the moment.
28:57I mean, I don't, it's not my thing either, but like, I mean, uh, as, as it's been said,
29:03the people that it is their thing are not in agreement with him.
29:05Um, I mean, the Pope very much is like, bye.
29:09Oh, I'm glad you brought this up because I see a lot of people talking about the Pope
29:14on social media.
29:15And I think that there's, I like all the people that like used to support the Pope, but now
29:21that he's like not supporting Trump, they don't like the Pope.
29:25Now the Pope is bad.
29:26It's like you went from saying you're like this diehard Catholic to now suddenly the Pope
29:30is wrong.
29:31That's not exact.
29:32See, from my perspective though, that's not really what's happened here because people
29:35have very short memories.
29:38And when it comes to certain things and what people have seemed to have forgotten about
29:43on both sides, everybody seems to have forgotten about this, that, uh, the previous Pope, Pope
29:48Francis, when he became Pope, all of a sudden, not just mainstream Christians, but Catholics,
29:55Catholics who are supposed to, you know, and I was raised Catholic.
29:58So I know, you know, we were supposed to believe that the Pope is infallible.
30:03Although some say the infallibility doctrine is misunderstood and so forth.
30:07It doesn't literally mean that his judgment is always perfect, et cetera, but not to get
30:10into that.
30:10I'm not a religious person, but I find theology interesting, even though I think it's all
30:14sure.
30:14I mean, like there's a lot of things that are interesting that aren't, you know, right,
30:17right.
30:17I'm not a fascist, but the study of it's interesting, right?
30:20Star Trek is interesting to me, but I know there's no Spock.
30:24Um, but, uh, but, but, but I find, I do find Catholic theology interesting, but, um,
30:30um, it's like a culture and it's got a ritualistic to it.
30:34I mean, ritualism is always interesting, but when Pope Francis became Pope, he started saying
30:40things that immediately turned a lot, including my dad, you know, my dad was a devout Catholic.
30:45Oh, but he didn't like Pope Francis because when Pope Francis became Pope, he started saying
30:50things like, you know, yeah, maybe we should actually care about making sure that poor people
30:56aren't starving to death.
30:57Maybe we should actually care about immigrants and, uh, you know, and, and, you know, the
31:02Bible says, welcome the stranger, you know, maybe we should, you know, so the Pope started
31:08saying things, basically saying, Hey, you know, all that stuff Jesus talked about, ah, maybe
31:14we should actually follow some of that.
31:16He was supposed to do, right.
31:19He was the first Pope in a long time to actually say this stuff and immediately, and people forget
31:24about this immediately again, not just mainstream, not just mainstream conservative Christians,
31:30but Catholics.
31:31Cause I saw this playing out on social media.
31:33All of a sudden, all these Catholics are going, Whoa, what is this new Pope talking about?
31:38He's a socialist Pope, you know, because he had the temerity to actually suggest that maybe
31:45human beings should actually, you know, give a shit about each other.
31:48Oh, we can't have that.
31:49Cause you know, conservative Christians, that's the one thing they do not want to hear about.
31:54I always say, you know, and, and Christianity in a broader sense is fascinating to me because
31:59it's, you have this entire religion that seems to be constructed around this idea or have morphed
32:04into this idea that you're supposed to love Jesus and accept him as your Lord and savior,
32:08but also keep him at arm's length and try to have nothing to do with anything the guy ever
32:13said or cared about.
32:15And, and I saw that playing out with Pope Francis.
32:17Pope Francis started saying things like, yeah, we should actually, you know, care about people
32:21and, and Christians everywhere went wild, like, Whoa, what is wrong with this guy?
32:27So what Pope Leo, the reaction to Pope Leo actually predates Pope Leo.
32:32Cause it started with Pope Francis.
32:34People started turning against the Vatican.
32:36The minute Pope Francis actually suggested that maybe being a good Christian should not involve
32:42treating people like shit and nobody wants to hear that apparently.
32:45So it's, it's really just a continuation of that because I'm, I'm, I'm noticing how surprised
32:50people are at the reaction of Pope Leo.
32:53It's like, no, no, no.
32:54I saw this all coming.
32:55Well, there's a whole faction though of the, of the Catholic church.
32:58I mean, and I would say that like Vance is probably part of that umbrella, if you will, or that
33:05tributary into this side of it.
33:06But like, it's kind of this crossover hybrid with the evangelical Protestant Christians.
33:14And because that's all about pomp and circumstance too.
33:17That's a big dog and pony show.
33:18So, and so, um, and those guys are about as godless as, as, as God can be.
33:24I mean, you know, I've never, you know, talk about it.
33:26They're a bunch of grifters and they're also, they're the, they're the Christian mafia.
33:30The prosperity gospel people.
33:32Yeah.
33:32Who are, who are so overtly anti-Christ with their, with their materialism and all of it.
33:40Pro embezzlement and pro like, uh, uh, you know, uh, extortion, you know, these guys
33:45are like, they're, they're, well, it's understandable why MAGA likes them because they're the same,
33:50you know.
33:51Oh, Paula White and all those people.
33:52Right.
33:53Uh, what's his face?
33:55Uh, Joel, Joel Olsteen.
33:57What a loser.
33:58He's a little different though.
34:00Cause he's, I don't like him.
34:01No, no, I don't like him either.
34:02I think he's a grifter, but he's just, he's only different in the sense that he's almost
34:07like of all of them.
34:08He's the most secular.
34:11He's almost more like a motivational speaker who kind of mentions God here and there.
34:16So he can keep that tax exempt.
34:18Oh, he does.
34:19Yeah.
34:19What?
34:20Did the other ones not?
34:20I thought they all did.
34:21I thought these like mega churches in Texas.
34:24Yeah.
34:25But Olsteen, Olsteen is a little less heavy on the God stuff than the rest of them.
34:29Oh, you mean Olsteen's a little less heavy?
34:31Yeah.
34:31He, he doesn't.
34:33Like, like Olsteen almost.
34:35Thank God I've never heard the other ones.
34:37Yeah.
34:38I mean, they're all, they're all bags of shit.
34:40Uh, but, but I don't believe any of those people actually believe in God either.
34:44No, I, well, if they, I mean, they might, I don't think they do because if they did a
34:48different type of God, like if they believe in, they might believe in the, you know, the,
34:52the man is like the ruler, like they're very, they're very like trad wife, like, like, you
34:59know, like, um, uh, what was the, oh my God, why did I space that?
35:04Um, the show, what was the damn show?
35:07Oh, I know what you're talking about and I can't remember the name either.
35:10And why did I, I just totally spaced that.
35:11Oh, handmaid's tale.
35:12They're very handmaid's tale.
35:14Yeah.
35:14Yeah.
35:14So that is a type of Christianity.
35:16I mean, yeah.
35:17Well, I'm, I'm talking specifically though about the Olsteen's and the Paula whites.
35:21The people, I think that's what they are.
35:23Like basically they're like what the religion would be like if handmaid's tale was actually
35:29came to fruition.
35:30They're what they are.
35:31Like, that's kind of what they are.
35:32Well, my, see, my theory is they don't, well, that they're depending on their followers to
35:37believe that, but I don't think, I don't think they believe that.
35:40I think they're actually secretly atheists because if they believed in God on any, any
35:45version of God on any level, they would be legitimately terrified of going to hell for
35:52what they do.
35:53Well, no, not if they think they're preordained.
35:56I mean, that's the thing.
35:57A lot of these people think that they themselves are like the chosen ones.
36:02That's what I'm saying.
36:02So I think that's a possibility.
36:04Yeah, it's possible.
36:05I think some of them are atheists.
36:06And if you think you're a chosen one, I mean, really, that's not new.
36:10Like Roman emperors and all these people, the kings and queens, like they thought they
36:14were the chosen people.
36:15So Donald Trump.
36:17Yeah, Donald Trump.
36:18So like, I mean, I guess I don't know what his deal is, but like, well, I don't think
36:22he believes in God, but Republicans, right.
36:24And Republicans generally seem to believe that he was chosen by God.
36:28Well, there's things all over even pretty mainstream media about last night that we were like,
36:33you know, yet again, you know, he's been protected by the Holy Ghost or whatever the hell it
36:39was.
36:40And, you know, because he's here to save us.
36:42And oh, my God, like, please don't save us then.
36:46If you're here to save us, let us die.
36:49Yeah, if we need him to save us, we're not worth saving.
36:52I mean, I'm done.
36:52No, I just would rather death over that.
36:57I'll take my chances.
36:58Right.
37:01Yeah.
37:02It's so sad.
37:03I just, and that's what's, and I'm, you know, the only thing is I, I guess I have to like,
37:10I have to take like sort of an assessment and an inventory and kind of say to myself,
37:15like, who are the changeables and who aren't the changeables?
37:18And ironically, I've kind of switched my tone a little bit.
37:21I think that the ones we can probably grab are like, I think some of these sheep, we can
37:27actually probably grab.
37:28I mean, I think the problem is we're going to have to admit that we're not going to unsheep
37:32them.
37:32We're just going to turn them into more leftist sheep.
37:35Right.
37:36But I mean, but not even in a bad way.
37:38I think we can still do it with morality.
37:40Like, so if we go into these places and we just help them and we treat them almost like,
37:46you know, they just don't know any better, which I know sounds elitist, but I'm sorry.
37:51The behavior would appear that there's something going on here.
37:53Right.
37:53Right.
37:54They don't know any better.
37:55Yeah.
37:56Right.
37:56Because they haven't had a chance to.
37:58So I think we have to fix their problems first and then worry about expanding their brains
38:04and expanding their morality and stuff, because then they'll have like, hopefully the goal
38:09should be once we've sort of like met that, you know, I always go back to Maslow once we've
38:15met rung number one, you know, you know, self-preservation existence kind of thing.
38:21Then like, hopefully you hope they, a good portion of them will have an epiphany and be
38:26like, wow, now I actually, now that I don't have to worry about the basics, I now have
38:31time to sit and think about what it really means to be human.
38:34And I can now think about what it means to like, think of somebody else and in their case,
38:38love thy neighbor, you know, and think about other things and maybe, or pay it forward
38:43or support good karma, whatever word you want to use.
38:46Right.
38:47And so I think, ironically, we're going to have more success with the mob because the
38:55leaders have things to gain from it.
38:57Yeah.
38:58And even the tertiary leaders, even if you're like Billy Bob and the big, you know, tow truck
39:03empire and you're the only empire in that one town, it actually benefits you to keep
39:09these people in this feudalistic landlord type, like culture, because that's how you're
39:15gaining so much power.
39:16You're not gaining it really on your own merits and you're not really gaining it on your
39:20talent.
39:20You're gaining it because you like took maybe a little bit more risk than the other guy
39:24and it paid off and you got one windfall and you just built upon that.
39:29And then you made sure to have bullies in place to keep any competitors down.
39:33And so those people were not going to win over because they do benefit, you know, the
39:39brown shirts, the true brown shirts, the true thugs, the true bullies benefit from a
39:43Trump because some of them get a little bit more of the pie.
39:47Right.
39:47I mean, if you're willing to beat your neighbor to a bloody pulp, then they might give you a
39:52better house.
39:53You know what I mean?
39:53And like, that's how the system works.
39:55So we need to get the people that they're scaring into submission because I feel like they
40:02can be unscared.
40:04Okay.
40:04It's not, it's not a term, but I'm sorry.
40:08Yeah.
40:08You got to speak more, Matt.
40:10Oh yes.
40:11So, uh, no, I, I, I agree with you.
40:15I think that, um, I mean, what are your thoughts on that?
40:18I think, I think part of the challenge is, you know, when you, when you try to talk to
40:22these people about, you know, helping them like helping, for example, we have a housing
40:27crisis, just use that as an example in this country.
40:30Um, if you talk to these people about trying to help them with that, because obviously
40:33that affects everybody, regardless of how you vote, that affects everybody.
40:36Like they, they've been so programmed to believe that government makes everything worse.
40:41So their reflexive reaction is, well, I don't want socialism.
40:48Socialism is going to make everything worse.
40:49And, and, and they, they hear any kind of a solution that involves the government, they
40:54automatically assign that to be in socialism.
40:58Well, what if we don't, what if we're more careful with our messaging?
41:01Like, what if we just go in and do the thing and don't necessarily give it a, give it a
41:07title
41:09and just try to be humanists, you know, like that's one thing.
41:14Um, I know in Sarah's campaign, that's one thing we kind of talk about and toss around as
41:17we say, maybe don't call ourselves progressives, call ourselves humanists.
41:22Right.
41:23What do you think of that?
41:26Although the word humanist might turn some people off because if you, uh, because, well,
41:30because people who are, are believers and, you know, their imaginary friend in the clouds,
41:36they don't like the word humanist because humanist implies that, that you're humanist
41:42implies atheist, I think to some people, even though that's not literally what it means.
41:46But I think that's what religious people, when they hear a word like humanist, I think
41:49that's what they think.
41:50And they're like, no, no, no, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm here for God.
41:53I'm not here for me, even though they are here for them and they know, and they behave
41:57in a selfish way.
41:59But so it's tricky.
42:02Are there, I mean, so I guess I, I have a, to me, it seems like there should be sort
42:08of like this idea.
42:10Cause I thought, and I might be wrong, but I thought it's really any species that's,
42:16that can think the main goal is like a level of self-preservation.
42:20So can't most, especially mammals, but other animals can do this too, you know, and humans
42:26being a mammal and being a species.
42:28Can't they come to like connect the dots and say like, when I do this behavior, like
42:33this makes my life better.
42:35And this group or this sort of like impact over here is negative and making my life worse.
42:42Yeah.
42:42And can I like shift it?
42:45They would hope, you would hope so.
42:47You would hope so.
42:49I think the challenges though, you know, people have had generations of, of programming, you
42:54know, right.
42:54You know, that government is bad, everything's immigrants and trans people are responsible
43:00for every challenge in my life.
43:02You know?
43:02Yeah.
43:03I don't know.
43:03I mean, I feel like that's not what I see to be honest.
43:06Yeah.
43:06And it's not what I've seen in the studies.
43:09Um, I learned a lot from the Harris campaign and I really felt like if you meet people where
43:15they're at a good portion of the, like, I'm not talking about people that are literally
43:19brainwashed.
43:20I do think there's a point where they're literally brainwashed and maybe they're even,
43:24you know, saveable, but it's going to take time.
43:26It's not, that is not an easy fix.
43:28Right.
43:29Cause there's something else going on there.
43:31Um, you know, life condition and almost like a PTSD type environment that put them
43:36there.
43:37Sure.
43:37Sure.
43:38But people that are just sort of like either don't want to be bothered with all of the
43:44minutiae and, or they don't feel like they have the ability to be bothered because
43:49they're too worried about the day to day.
43:54I feel like they can probably at the very minimum, if they're anyone, I would say of
43:57like average intelligence or better could at least stop and make that pivot.
44:03You would hope so.
44:04You would hope so.
44:05The, the other, the other big challenges, I think that most, most people, I'm not selling
44:09this to you, Matt.
44:11No, no, I'm just, I'm just telling you my, I mean, I'm not trying to be negative or cynical.
44:16I just, I'm not trying to be, I guess I am by default.
44:19Um, but I think that, that the other, the other problem is that we live in a country
44:27filled with low information voters and I'm not just, you know, for anyone who thinks
44:31I'm being elitist or whatever, I'm not just talking about Republicans.
44:34I'm talking about everybody.
44:35Oh no, absolutely.
44:36Yeah.
44:36Because, yeah, because most people are too busy, um, or they're too, too distracted or,
44:43or they feel too disenfranchised.
44:45You know, some people, I mean, I've met people and I'm sure you have too, who at one time
44:50were very politically active and passionate and they get to a point in their lives where
44:55they get discouraged and they just kind of say, you know what, I'm just shoveling shit
44:59against the tide.
45:01And, uh, you know, I can't make anything better with my vote.
45:04So I'm just like, I don't, I know people who have said that almost exact thing to me.
45:07Well, I used to vote, but now I don't even vote because it just doesn't matter.
45:12You know, I think, so a lot of people just stop paying attention and the people who do
45:16pay attention, you know, people like to, um, we are addicted in this country to confirmation
45:21bias.
45:22So, and, and again, this applies to everybody, not just, not just Republicans for anyone who
45:26feels I'm picking on them, but, you know, people tend to like to, uh, listen to and watch
45:32and read news sources that appeal to their preexisting biases.
45:37Um, that's why Democrats watch MS now and Republicans watch Fox.
45:42Right.
45:43So just to use, I mean, that's, um, you know, I'm being a bit reductive, but just to make
45:47my point, I think that that's a big problem too.
45:49And I don't know how to overcome that.
45:52Well, I think that if the sort of, I guess, I mean, I don't know, and this is going to
45:57be
45:57my, probably my biased, but to me, I don't really see MS.
46:00Like, I don't know what the equivalent would be, but like, I don't see MS now as the equivalent
46:04of Fox, even though the Republicans see it as the equivalent of Fox.
46:07I think they're still trying to do like hard, hard news and hard journalism.
46:12Yeah.
46:12Um, I agree.
46:13There's some op-ed there for sure.
46:15But, um, I mean, you also have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not want to criticize what's
46:21going on right now in many respects, if you are in a position to be able to do so.
46:27Right.
46:28Right.
46:28Um, I, I, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll premise it with that, but on the flip side, I would
46:34say, what if we, you know, another experiment would be like, what if like the bulwark became
46:39the next Fox news?
46:40So like something more along the lines of that, or even like Huffington post, you can't really
46:45say it's like left leaning.
46:47It's really not.
46:47It's like kind of, I would say, I mean, I guess they, people might say it, but, um, I don't
46:53know.
46:53I mean, I guess bring to the table, the more center right Republicans and let them create
46:59something like I'm open.
47:00I'm not a center left Republican.
47:02I'm a center right Republican or a slightly socially like left, but conservative, otherwise
47:09Republican.
47:09So it's probably not my place to come up with this, this tool, but, but there, I, you
47:17know, I really, I guess at the end of the day, believe that almost because it's what makes
47:22sense practically, that that's still the vast majority of Republicans.
47:26And therefore, um, there's gotta be some that want to like, want change.
47:31I mean, there is, I mean, look at, sure.
47:34Look at Kinzinger, but I mean, Kinzinger is a really exceptional example.
47:38I mean, he's really, you know, very impressive.
47:42Oh, I agree.
47:43Yeah.
47:43But there's gotta be people that like work for him or follow him that aren't necessarily
47:48like on us as, you know, laser focused as he is, but still share a lot of those same,
47:53like he's gotta have his followers.
47:55So why don't those people come up with a solution?
48:00You know what, what part of the, part of the issue, I think too happens.
48:04And, you know, sometimes we, we kind of eat, eat our own, I guess, if you look at, if you
48:09look at the online left-wing media sphere, when you, or, or, well, no, actually, or if
48:15you look at cable news as well, when you start to bring in people who are center, right, if
48:19you're, if you're a left leaning or, or, or a media property that appeals to left-leaning
48:24people, when you start bringing in, cause I've seen this happen a lot, when you start
48:28bringing in maybe some center-right people, there's this, this revolt that happens like,
48:35oh, what are they trying to be Fox news now?
48:37Which isn't fair.
48:38Yeah.
48:39That's not good either.
48:40So, yeah.
48:40So I think that, um, and this is another thing we talk about, like, you know, and this is,
48:46I can, I mean, ironically, and it probably will shock many people.
48:49And as our listeners, you know, that know me expand, they'll probably say, oh, wow,
48:54this is, but they will know this.
48:56If you think about it, my goal is not what people think.
48:58I am actually a bridge builder.
49:00I'm just a very firebrand version of a bridge builder.
49:03Right.
49:04So like, I really put everything on blast and I expose all of our weaknesses and all of
49:09the cracks in the foundation on both left and right and say like, look, guys, if we
49:14don't fill this in, the whole damn bridge is going to fall down on both sides.
49:19Um, and I'm very privileged and very lucky to be able to talk to like very leftist people
49:24and very establishment Democrats and even some center to center, you know, right ish Republicans,
49:31like, you know, your old school Republicans.
49:33I, I, I, I admit that that's a privilege.
49:36Yeah.
49:37Um, but I do think that's also, as they say, with privilege comes responsibility.
49:42Well, then it's my responsibility, you know, to sometimes and try to be authentic.
49:47And I think more of us need to do this, like, you know, make it be as public about, you
49:53know,
49:54when people on the opposite end of things fail, we need to also be as public, but like at
50:00levels, you know, so like not everyone that fails is the Schumer, right?
50:05Like on our, on our end, some of them just maybe drop the ball sometimes.
50:10Right.
50:11And that's okay.
50:11And I think those are the kinds of conversations.
50:13And I guess maybe it doesn't sell as many stories cause it's not as exciting.
50:17Right.
50:18But that's the reality.
50:19Yeah.
50:20Like most people are somewhere in the gray area, myself included.
50:23I don't always get it right.
50:24I, my notion on Palestine initially was not as, you know, I, I remember until, yeah, I
50:34didn't know as much as I should have known.
50:36And like, I changed it and I learned.
50:39Yeah.
50:39Yeah.
50:40Yeah.
50:41I remember getting some text messages from you that I know what you're talking about.
50:45Yeah.
50:47Um, no, I think that's, uh, I think it's true.
50:50And my notion on socialism, to be quite honest, was not as open-minded about, and that's way
50:54more open-minded now.
50:56So, yeah, you know, people can change.
50:58Well, you know, my rap about that, I think I I'm sure I've, I'm sure I've said it on this
51:02show.
51:03It's like, uh, I, I get, I get frustrated with the whole, you know, socialism versus, uh,
51:08capitalism, uh, argument to begin with the way it's constantly framed as you have to pick
51:12one or the other.
51:13And it's the right that does this.
51:14I don't think we do this, but, but people do this on the right.
51:16Well, you can either have socialism or you can have capitalism.
51:19You can't have both.
51:19And it's like, no, you literally can, because we literally do.
51:22We have both.
51:23We've always had both.
51:24We always will have both.
51:26They, they intermingle quite well, it turns out.
51:28And they kind of depend on each other, at least in the American economic system.
51:32So, uh, now we can argue about, you know, do we want more or less, uh, socialism?
51:36Do we want more or less capitalism and so forth?
51:38We can have those arguments and we should have those arguments, but, but, but I get, I get
51:42so frustrated, you know, I'll see these videos online, you know, these people trying
51:46to do their dumb little man on the street interviews.
51:48What do you think?
51:49Should we have capitalism or socialism?
51:51You know, and they get every, you know, and of course they only show the ones that where
51:53they say, Oh, obviously we need capitalism and socialism is terrible.
51:56It's like, no, uh, we have both.
51:59And that's what we've always had.
52:01And that's what we always will.
52:03That's not a wrap about that.
52:04Well, which itself is, is, is, is socialistic.
52:06Is it not?
52:08Well, yeah.
52:09Or communist.
52:10I don't, I don't know.
52:11Maybe I don't know which one is.
52:12That, well, if you're talking about the Catholic church, yeah.
52:15According to, uh, according to a lot of disgruntled Catholics, when Pope Francis got in there
52:19and started talking about wanting to actually feed people and things like that.
52:23Yeah.
52:24But I'm saying, isn't it, isn't the word commune comes from communal, comes from church,
52:28right?
52:29Or am I wrong?
52:30No, I, I, I believe you're correct.
52:32And actually some people now I don't say this, but some people I've heard Lawrence O'Donnell
52:36say this, for example, um, say that, uh, Christ was the original socialist.
52:41Yeah.
52:41I have heard that.
52:42Yeah.
52:43Yeah.
52:44Which, uh, I think an argument can be made for that.
52:46Oh my God.
52:48But at the end of the day, is it, it's all semantics.
52:49It's all words.
52:50Like I think what really matters is the actions.
52:53Yes.
52:54Yeah.
52:55A hundred percent.
52:56A hundred percent.
52:57So anyway.
52:57Um, did you, so did you, you know, uh, before we run out of time, did you want to say
53:01anything
53:02about, uh, about the campaign?
53:04Yeah.
53:04I mean, I think that like kind of what we were talking about sort of segues right into
53:08things.
53:09I mean, I think that, you know, I think Hillary said it really good yesterday.
53:12She was saying, oh, you know, there's two buzzwords and we can't trade off one for the
53:19other.
53:19And that's accountability and affordability.
53:22And that's really in her mind.
53:25And I think in a lot of people's minds that have studied this and practice this at verbatim,
53:30that's the lane we have to get into.
53:32And it's a great lane to go because it doesn't like dismiss the economic challenges in this
53:39country and the economic needs and the people that don't have enough.
53:44But it also doesn't dismiss those of us that we're saying quite loudly.
53:48And I don't want to say I told you so, and it's not that I told you so, but all
53:52you have
53:52to do is look at the examples.
53:54Democracy is in danger.
53:56And so I think that we can say like two things at the same time can be true.
54:02You know, democracy can be in danger and we could still have a horrible affordability
54:06issue.
54:07Right.
54:07Right.
54:08Yeah, absolutely.
54:09Absolutely.
54:10You know, yeah.
54:12So the event last was that last night you said?
54:14Yeah.
54:15So last night was the big it was the Shaheen McInerney dinner.
54:18OK, I'm probably saying the second name wrong.
54:20I think I am.
54:22Shaheen, I got right.
54:23I know it's Shaheen.
54:24Well, yeah, I don't know.
54:27McCurdle.
54:27I don't know.
54:28McEllenney.
54:29Something like that.
54:30Oh, I'm not sure.
54:31I got to look it up now.
54:32Whoever established there.
54:33Yeah.
54:34But anyway, yeah, it's very interesting.
54:37I think we're seeing people.
54:39But the tone has definitely changed.
54:40And so this is what I think is the beauty about McIntyre.
54:45McIntyre.
54:45OK, that's much better than like, you know, what I was saying.
54:48Yeah.
54:49Easier to say, too.
54:51But yeah, I think that what.
54:54I think if anything else, what people on the left, they shouldn't feel discouraged because
55:00whether they realize that or not, they're taking people that at one point were more establishment
55:06and more status quo and more.
55:08Or the vast majority of those people are now.
55:11Sarah's laughing at me.
55:12Are now like moving.
55:15More towards like, you know, I want to call it left, right, whatever, but they're moving.
55:19They're more open to change.
55:20They're more open to progress.
55:22They're more open to taking self-assessments and going, huh, is this working?
55:26Not really.
55:27So what should we do here?
55:29Right.
55:29Instead of just the status quo.
55:31Right.
55:31And I think that that's kind of our job as whatever we want to call ourselves, leftist,
55:37progressive, socialist, whatever.
55:38So even though maybe like it won't become the like universal way of thinking and we have
55:43to, I think, be honest with ourselves that if you're going to be a thought provoker, you're
55:49provoking because you're different and you're changing.
55:51So you're not going to get a national movement.
55:53You're always going to be the one to shake things up.
55:56But as Sarah says to me, she says, Todd, it's okay that you're a fire brand, but I'm
56:01going to keep you as a controlled burn, you know?
56:04And I think that's true.
56:05There's some truth to that.
56:07Yeah.
56:07Yeah, absolutely.
56:08Absolutely.
56:09Did you want to plug the campaign website or anything or.
56:12Yeah.
56:12I mean, just go to Sarah C six Oh three.com.
56:15Look at all the things she's been doing.
56:18Sarah has really been out there in the trenches, you know, working with her.
56:23Her connections on the Republican party, even people that are more right than Kinsinger,
56:29who I wouldn't even really call right anymore.
56:31Not anymore.
56:31No, no.
56:32I mean, but he's, he's just a real, a realist I'd call him.
56:36But anyway, but some of the people that are on the right and, and trying to get them to
56:40at least sit down and look at like, look, this is why MAGA is not even going to work.
56:45It's not even going to work for you.
56:46And this is why it's dangerous.
56:47It's why it's dangerous for the country.
56:49It's dangerous for your agendas, dangerous for your party, you know, when just trying
56:54to get these people to have open dialogue, um, you know, so she's already doing the work
57:00and I think that's pretty impressive.
57:02Absolutely.
57:02Absolutely.
57:03Sarah Trudzinski.
57:05Uh, very good.
57:06Very good.
57:06Well, uh, so we are, uh, yeah, we got a, we got a, uh, you have a place to be,
57:11don't
57:11you?
57:11I do.
57:12I do.
57:12Uh, where can people find you online, Todd?
57:15All my Facebook page, they can find me on Facebook.
57:18They can find me on here.
57:21Um, you know, I would say I need to get better with Substack.
57:26Um, me too.
57:28I need to, you know, things to come, things to come.
57:30I actually sat down and we'll, this will be something to talk about, but I met with a
57:34guy yesterday who is sort of trying to become the answer to the, uh, an online version basically
57:41of the dying local and regional newspapers.
57:45Oh, interesting.
57:46So he's, he's himself as a, is a photo journalist.
57:50Okay.
57:51But he's interested in getting people like you and I involved.
57:53And I said, we'd definitely be interested.
57:55So more to come on that.
57:56I think it's an interesting project.
57:58Yeah.
57:58Yeah.
57:59I'm very curious to know.
58:00Really tell some stories that need to be told.
58:03Outstanding.
58:03Outstanding.
58:04All right.
58:05Well, good, good.
58:05And, uh, if you want to follow me, know more about me, mattconnerton.com is, uh, the hub.
58:11And of course, uh, please like, and subscribe to the podcast, or I should say like, and subscribe
58:15if you're on YouTube or subscribe on your podcast platform of choice.
58:19And I guess that's it.
58:21Episode 16 in the books.
58:22All right.
58:22Oh, wow.
58:2316, right?
58:2416.
58:25Sweet 16.
58:26Yeah.
58:26Yeah.
58:27All right, Todd.
58:28Thank you so much.
58:29Take care.
58:29Bye.
58:30Bye.
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