1
00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:06,960
Speaker 1: Good morning. On this day in seventeen seventy six, a

2
00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:12,320
Speaker 1: week after the Continental Congress has agreed or has voted

3
00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:17,480
Speaker 1: for separation from our cousins the monarchy, to live as

4
00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,440
Speaker 1: free men, not under the divine right of a king,

5
00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:29,160
Speaker 1: but with God given natural rights that are not bestowed

6
00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,440
Speaker 1: by a government or a king, but by God to

7
00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:40,200
Speaker 1: us directly. Talk about populism. What a notion. Two days later,

8
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:47,800
Speaker 1: the completion and signing of the Declaration of Independence, the

9
00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: printer I think his name was Man rushed to his

10
00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,360
Speaker 1: print shop came back with two hundred printed versions to

11
00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,880
Speaker 1: big deal in seventeen seventy six of what are known

12
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:06,360
Speaker 1: as the Broadsides. So July fourth, the document is issued

13
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,280
Speaker 1: and goes forth. It's not in real time, it's not

14
00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,240
Speaker 1: posted to a website, so you've got some delays. But

15
00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,040
Speaker 1: a war is brewing. And it was on this day,

16
00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:22,319
Speaker 1: July ninth of seventeen seventy six, that George Washington ordered

17
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:28,200
Speaker 1: that that document, the Declaration of Independence, the words that declare,

18
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,840
Speaker 1: we are no longer under the rule of a king.

19
00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,920
Speaker 1: We are free men, independent men. Whatever we may call

20
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,119
Speaker 1: this nation, whatever rights we may bestowed to each other,

21
00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,600
Speaker 1: we are no longer subjects of a king. It's a

22
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,760
Speaker 1: very powerful statement. You thought it was rough when your

23
00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,920
Speaker 1: kids went off to school or the military. Imagine the king,

24
00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,760
Speaker 1: the impertinence of these colonists. Who do they think they are?

25
00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:06,200
Speaker 1: I rule by divine right, or so he thought. So

26
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,960
Speaker 1: he has sent his troops, the mightiest in the land.

27
00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:15,400
Speaker 1: And on this day, July ninth, Washington would order that

28
00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,360
Speaker 1: the Declaration of Independence, those beautiful words, would be read

29
00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,480
Speaker 1: out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, where

30
00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,520
Speaker 1: they were stationed, while thousands of British troops on Staten

31
00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:34,320
Speaker 1: Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island. You know,

32
00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:40,800
Speaker 1: I'm a sucker for movies about an employee who blows

33
00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,280
Speaker 1: the whistle on a big company, whether it's Sharon Watkins

34
00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:51,480
Speaker 1: at Run or Silkwood or the informant about Archer Daniels Midland.

35
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:53,880
Speaker 1: You know, kind of a take this job and shove

36
00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,079
Speaker 1: it sword of sort of thing, because the individual is

37
00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,679
Speaker 1: always subjugated to the whole. The group the more powerful.

38
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:06,600
Speaker 1: But there's just something about that guy who says, I

39
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,640
Speaker 1: don't care, I have nothing else, I have nothing to lose.

40
00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,160
Speaker 1: I'm going after this thing. And that's exactly what was happening,

41
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,480
Speaker 1: and so there is the mightiest military in the world

42
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:28,799
Speaker 1: Mustard to take you down. They've got better equipment, better training,

43
00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,480
Speaker 1: better numbers, all of it, and yet the bravery. Sometimes

44
00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:38,160
Speaker 1: I think when I see people whining, that perhaps we

45
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,080
Speaker 1: could stand to know a little more of our rich history,

46
00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:48,200
Speaker 1: our birthright, our lineage, our heritage, our legacy, because it's amazing,

47
00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:54,320
Speaker 1: it's truly amazing. The kabuki theater of the TSA making

48
00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:59,640
Speaker 1: you take off your shoes at airport security checkports points,

49
00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:04,560
Speaker 1: which came about because of one idiot who tried to

50
00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,760
Speaker 1: create a bomb in his shoe and light it off.

51
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,560
Speaker 1: Do you remember his name? Say it out loud if

52
00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,280
Speaker 1: you know it well. After that, we had to take

53
00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,560
Speaker 1: off our shoes, and you think about the changes how

54
00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:21,200
Speaker 1: people adapt. People stopped buying shoes that had laces on

55
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,320
Speaker 1: them so you could take them off easily. People would

56
00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:29,039
Speaker 1: take off women would wear open toed shoes where they

57
00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,120
Speaker 1: wouldn't before, and then they end up having Kroger feet

58
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,040
Speaker 1: because you take off your shoes and you gotta walk

59
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,560
Speaker 1: through that dirty floor. It was awful, it was horrible,

60
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,279
Speaker 1: And finally here we are now twenty four years later

61
00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,680
Speaker 1: and they finally admit, you can take off your mask

62
00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:49,080
Speaker 1: if you want to. You can stop getting nineteen booster shots.

63
00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,480
Speaker 1: Oh and by the way, because we're feeling gracious, you

64
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,640
Speaker 1: can stop taking off your shoes when you go through

65
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 1: the airport.

66
00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,720
Speaker 2: NBC News it's a major security shift a teas checkpoints

67
00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,360
Speaker 2: nationwide effect of immediately all passengers can keep their shoes on,

68
00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,920
Speaker 2: no need to screen them separately. Homeland Security Secretary Christy

69
00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,919
Speaker 2: Nomes says ninety four percent of passengers now have real IDs,

70
00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:19,440
Speaker 2: improving identity confirmation and TSA procedures and checkpoints have improved.

71
00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:24,880
Speaker 1: We've added new scanners, new technologies, more tso officers in

72
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:25,720
Speaker 1: some areas.

73
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,560
Speaker 2: The TSA began screening shoes for explosives in two thousand

74
00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,640
Speaker 2: and six after shoe bomber Richard Reid attempted to blow

75
00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,200
Speaker 2: up a flight from Paris to Miami in two thousand

76
00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,159
Speaker 2: and one. While pre check passengers have been able to

77
00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,280
Speaker 2: leave their shoes on, removing shoes has been a top

78
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:43,560
Speaker 2: complaint among all passengers.

79
00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,440
Speaker 1: For women, it's like you, I don't want to touch

80
00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:45,880
Speaker 1: the floor.

81
00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,839
Speaker 2: In December, we saw how detecting explosives is still a

82
00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:55,839
Speaker 2: top priority at the TSA range in Huntsville. This is

83
00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:57,919
Speaker 2: what's left, the piece of a shoe and the handle

84
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,560
Speaker 2: from a suitcase. The bottom line, this would have been catastrophic,

85
00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,599
Speaker 2: and the TSA and the FBI continue to focus on

86
00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:10,400
Speaker 2: mitigating the threat of potentially catastrophic explosives. Security experts believe

87
00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,600
Speaker 2: the terror threat remains real even as new technology provides

88
00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,160
Speaker 2: better detection and shoes stay on. Secretary Nome says TSA

89
00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,960
Speaker 2: pre check will still be valuable for passengers who don't

90
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,320
Speaker 2: want to remove their laptops, and she says passenger safety

91
00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:26,640
Speaker 2: will not be compromised.

92
00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:30,640
Speaker 1: You ever think about how much time we spend because

93
00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,800
Speaker 1: of a few Why do you have to even lock

94
00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,120
Speaker 1: your door? You own the property. Why do you have

95
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 1: to lock the door on your vehicle? Why do you

96
00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:39,000
Speaker 1: have to have alarms? This is what you have to

97
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,720
Speaker 1: have a gun? And why do you have to have

98
00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:43,719
Speaker 1: so many passwords? Why do you have to waste so

99
00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,240
Speaker 1: much time trying to remember how to get into things?

100
00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:51,919
Speaker 1: You get locked out of things. What if we just seriously, thoroughly, sternly,

101
00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,320
Speaker 1: viciously punished people who cause the problem, and then the

102
00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,480
Speaker 1: rest of us don't have to pay for it. My god,

103
00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:05,760
Speaker 1: I think Jucys super shit to meet them. Michael Barry,

104
00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,200
Speaker 1: my friend's father is eighty nine years old. He just

105
00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,720
Speaker 1: got out of sixteen days in the hospital. Been in

106
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,520
Speaker 1: and out of the hospital over the last couple of years.

107
00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:24,120
Speaker 1: Saw a YouTube video on exercises he thought he could do.

108
00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,200
Speaker 1: So he got down on the floor in the kitchen

109
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:35,119
Speaker 1: in his underwear to do his exercises because he thought,

110
00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,480
Speaker 1: I'm going to take my health into my own hands.

111
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,360
Speaker 1: I got to get stronger, I got to get better.

112
00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,800
Speaker 1: Eighty nine years old, just coming out of the hospital.

113
00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,200
Speaker 1: My friend's mother called him and said, your dad is

114
00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,120
Speaker 1: on the floor and can't get up, so my friend

115
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,520
Speaker 1: has to go over. He can't get off floor, so

116
00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,640
Speaker 1: he wants to know Petrow's name and number. So Petrick

117
00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:02,200
Speaker 1: gets on the phone with him and I think today

118
00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,280
Speaker 1: is his first session. And Petrick is so excited because

119
00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,200
Speaker 1: it's like a great before and after picture. Eighty nine

120
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 1: years old, can't get off the floor, just came out

121
00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,000
Speaker 1: of the hospital. He loves this stuff. I love the

122
00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,560
Speaker 1: idea of somebody eighty nine years old deciding they're going

123
00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,960
Speaker 1: to make a drastic change and get stronger. This doesn't

124
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,960
Speaker 1: mean get stronger, like, go look in the mirror at

125
00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,280
Speaker 1: your muscles, you want to look like Lou Farigno kind

126
00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,240
Speaker 1: of thing. It means get stronger for life and feel

127
00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,520
Speaker 1: better and just be able to walk to the bathroom

128
00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,280
Speaker 1: without a walker. Jim, if I were to ask you

129
00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:41,880
Speaker 1: so when I was growing up, if you were to say,

130
00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,600
Speaker 1: somebody's really handsome, you'd say, or he's not. You know,

131
00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,920
Speaker 1: he's handsome, but I mean he's not Robert Redford, right,

132
00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:54,120
Speaker 1: who would that be for you? Robert Redford? Who else?

133
00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,680
Speaker 1: Brad Pitt, that's a little younger. And then there was

134
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,720
Speaker 1: Rock Hudson, but nobody said that anymore because he is homo.

135
00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 1: Yeah for a little bit older than me, Like my

136
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,040
Speaker 1: mom would have said Rock Hudson. But who would it

137
00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,760
Speaker 1: be for muscled up? Because lou Faigno was one of ours,

138
00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,800
Speaker 1: or maybe we'd call him an incredible hulp Schwartzenegger, Yeah,

139
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,400
Speaker 1: that was later. I've never liked Schwarzenegger. I've never trusted him.

140
00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,959
Speaker 1: I've never liked him, and his comments after he left

141
00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,640
Speaker 1: being governor proved that I was right in that. Well,

142
00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:39,400
Speaker 1: we have political intrigue in the Harris County. County judge race,

143
00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,280
Speaker 1: let me set the table. You've got Lena had all

144
00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:49,720
Speaker 1: go up for reelection again. So Lena is elected eight

145
00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:56,720
Speaker 1: years ago out of nowhere against ed Emmett. Ed Emmett

146
00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,240
Speaker 1: was not a very partisan guy. He would He was

147
00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,479
Speaker 1: more of a guy who just took care of business.

148
00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:09,600
Speaker 1: And he was by and large really liked because he

149
00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:14,720
Speaker 1: ran a good ship. He cared about policy, and that's

150
00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,640
Speaker 1: rare for a politician. He can be a little arrogant,

151
00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:19,719
Speaker 1: and I know him well, he wouldn't be surprised to

152
00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:24,800
Speaker 1: hear me say that. And I felt that the dome

153
00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:27,679
Speaker 1: project was the stupidest thing ever, and I said it,

154
00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:33,679
Speaker 1: that's what I do. But everyone believed he was a

155
00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,040
Speaker 1: good county judge. He wasn't trying to run. It wasn't

156
00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:38,640
Speaker 1: a stepping stone, He wasn't trying to run for a

157
00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,520
Speaker 1: higher office. It was just a job he did and

158
00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,559
Speaker 1: I think tried to do to the best of his ability.

159
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,360
Speaker 1: Nobody believed he was taking kickbacks, nobody believed he was

160
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,559
Speaker 1: playing favorites. He was trying to run the county in

161
00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:57,000
Speaker 1: an efficient, effective manner, and that was basically true. And

162
00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:00,760
Speaker 1: nobody ever worried about what was going on at County

163
00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,880
Speaker 1: Commissioner's court because things were done well and then and

164
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:13,880
Speaker 1: then it was a year when the Democrats sweep the

165
00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:23,880
Speaker 1: blue wave, highly effective digital targeting of voters, things like

166
00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:31,080
Speaker 1: going into a rock ribbed red precinct and finding out

167
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,480
Speaker 1: of one hundred and seventeen voters there the three Democrats

168
00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,079
Speaker 1: and targeting those three to get them to vote. Well,

169
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,240
Speaker 1: you're not going to win that precinct, might not even

170
00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,320
Speaker 1: win that state rep district or even that state Senate district.

171
00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,040
Speaker 1: But for a county wide seat, going to find votes

172
00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,240
Speaker 1: like that and then mobilizing your base, getting folks out

173
00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,520
Speaker 1: to vote, and let's be honest, some cheating. It's a recipe.

174
00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:03,080
Speaker 1: So the election is over and and Lena the child

175
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:08,520
Speaker 1: monster has won. Nobody can believe what's happened. Rodney has

176
00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,200
Speaker 1: orchestrated this thing. Behind the scenes. They had an old

177
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,280
Speaker 1: white guy who had announced to run or filed to run,

178
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,720
Speaker 1: and they talked him into pulling out. And I've heard

179
00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:21,840
Speaker 1: some rumors about how that deal happened, but it was

180
00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,719
Speaker 1: all about the cause. So he was offered, shall we

181
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,920
Speaker 1: say something, to get out of the race and support her.

182
00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,200
Speaker 1: But Democrats didn't know who she was. She just had

183
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:32,960
Speaker 1: a D beside her name, and that was the last

184
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:37,200
Speaker 1: race where you could That was the last race where

185
00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,200
Speaker 1: you could get straight party voting. So nobody voted for

186
00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,200
Speaker 1: Lena had doggers. They voted D. So she wins, and

187
00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:48,000
Speaker 1: then she has a reelection against Alex Meeler, and of

188
00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:52,720
Speaker 1: course you remember that race, Republicans came together. Meeler was

189
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:59,280
Speaker 1: a great crossover candidate. She was a military veteran of

190
00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,959
Speaker 1: some reput She was a bomb technician. She had a

191
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,520
Speaker 1: law degree from Harvard, she had an NBA from Harvard,

192
00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,600
Speaker 1: she had business experience. She's tough, she's a mother. Everybody

193
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:15,160
Speaker 1: knows Lena's a weirdo like Kamala Harris, these women who've

194
00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:21,160
Speaker 1: never had children, and they're emotionally unstable. You don't want

195
00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,800
Speaker 1: an episode of Sex and the City playing out in

196
00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,000
Speaker 1: the county Commissioner's court. And that's exactly what's turned out

197
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:36,280
Speaker 1: to be the case. She's emotionally immature. So Mieler runs

198
00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:41,360
Speaker 1: a very good race and everything goes right. But to

199
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,800
Speaker 1: his credit, Rodney engineered. Remember he brought in an election

200
00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,480
Speaker 1: administrator and then another one too in the same year,

201
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,280
Speaker 1: and they cheated that race. Well, now Lena has a

202
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,560
Speaker 1: challenge within the Democrat Party, three of them. This is

203
00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:58,880
Speaker 1: going to be interesting. I'll tell you why that matters.

204
00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:05,480
Speaker 1: Duck King of doing it suggested for general audiences. Before

205
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,160
Speaker 1: we get in the Republican primary, we start with the

206
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,760
Speaker 1: Democrat primary, which is going to be far more interesting,

207
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:17,839
Speaker 1: at least at this point, and far more heated. So

208
00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 1: the presumption has been that Lena's not going to run

209
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:29,400
Speaker 1: for re election. She spent a lot of time in

210
00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:35,640
Speaker 1: the nuthouse over the last term and a half. Her

211
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,800
Speaker 1: staff was all under indictment. They were caught with their

212
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,000
Speaker 1: hands in the cookie jar. That's not the least of

213
00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,320
Speaker 1: what they've done. They just got caught and there was

214
00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:52,920
Speaker 1: a district attorney, Kim Ogg, who prosecuted it. And Rodney

215
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:57,680
Speaker 1: made sure, you're not going to prosecute me or her again.

216
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,600
Speaker 1: So he threw everything he had at replacing her with

217
00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:06,160
Speaker 1: somebody he could control, Shawn Tier. Remember that a grand

218
00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:10,720
Speaker 1: jury was convened to review Rodney's African art in the

219
00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:15,480
Speaker 1: County warehouse scandal. That I was told the Feds were

220
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,400
Speaker 1: going to prosecute. What favors were pulled to keep him

221
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:25,080
Speaker 1: out of that. I still don't know. I've heard rumors,

222
00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:30,560
Speaker 1: but I don't have confirmation. So you got Lena, and

223
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:35,640
Speaker 1: she has no money left in her account. She is

224
00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:44,200
Speaker 1: clearly growing more unstable by the day. She's cussed at

225
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,760
Speaker 1: her fellow commissioners. It's very bad. And folks I know

226
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,280
Speaker 1: that work down there, tell me that she is on

227
00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,640
Speaker 1: the verge of tears or in tears all day every

228
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,720
Speaker 1: day when she's there, which is not very much. This

229
00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,160
Speaker 1: is all too much for her. She doesn't want to

230
00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:03,960
Speaker 1: walk away from it because she'll never get it back.

231
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,320
Speaker 1: And she likes the idea of herself as this mythical

232
00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:17,520
Speaker 1: young Latina immigrant who came here and lived the American dream,

233
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:23,880
Speaker 1: and little girls are looking up at me, and I

234
00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:29,200
Speaker 1: am successful and nobody can take it away from me.

235
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:37,080
Speaker 1: I earned it. So you got Lena. Lena has name ID,

236
00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,840
Speaker 1: which as a candidate running for election, that matters. I

237
00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,520
Speaker 1: have not seen any polling in a Democrat primary, So

238
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,880
Speaker 1: take away your hatred or dislike or distrust or disdain

239
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,520
Speaker 1: for her, because you won't be voting in the Democrat primary.

240
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,640
Speaker 1: So you're only going to be talking about people who

241
00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,240
Speaker 1: are fruits and nuts. You're talking about Democrat primary here.

242
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 1: We haven't had a good spirited contest Democrat primary in

243
00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,879
Speaker 1: Harris County in a while. Well we're about to. And

244
00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,960
Speaker 1: that's going to be bad for statewide races because we're

245
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,639
Speaker 1: going to have a contested race for Sheila Jackson Lee's seat,

246
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,360
Speaker 1: and we're going to have a contested race for county judge.

247
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,920
Speaker 1: And that's going to mean that a lot of Democrats

248
00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,439
Speaker 1: are going to get fired up about voting. Now, do

249
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,640
Speaker 1: they vote in November? I don't know. Do they come

250
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,520
Speaker 1: back in November because they have a candidate that inspires

251
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,600
Speaker 1: them more than Lena Hidalgo, I don't know, but there

252
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,800
Speaker 1: is the risk that they do. So you're going to

253
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,080
Speaker 1: have next year Democrats in the Harris County region very

254
00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:57,520
Speaker 1: fired up over this race. At least, I think Republicans

255
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,040
Speaker 1: are going to be looking at a spirited attorney general

256
00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:05,159
Speaker 1: race where you've got Joan Huffman, state Senator from this area.

257
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,080
Speaker 1: You've got May's Middleton state senator from this area. He's

258
00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:10,359
Speaker 1: got a lot of money he's going to put into it.

259
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,800
Speaker 1: Johan Huffman's going to have the Texans for Lawsuit Reform.

260
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:14,119
Speaker 1: She's going to have a lot of money, so's can

261
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,000
Speaker 1: have two well funded race candidates. You've got Aaron Wrights,

262
00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:20,959
Speaker 1: who worked for Paxton and now works in the DOJ,

263
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:26,560
Speaker 1: just started up there. The rumor is he will have

264
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,680
Speaker 1: Ken Paxton's endorsement and that he will have Trump's endorsement.

265
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,760
Speaker 1: That's the rumor. It's probably coming from his camp. I

266
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,120
Speaker 1: don't know if that's true. If it is, then that's

267
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,320
Speaker 1: going to be a really, really interesting primary. We're gonna

268
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,720
Speaker 1: have some interesting primaries coming up. You've got a candidate

269
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:51,240
Speaker 1: who has not announced who is going to be running

270
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,040
Speaker 1: against Dan Crenshaw, who's going to be able to raise

271
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,800
Speaker 1: money and who has a lot of grassroots support. He'll

272
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:04,920
Speaker 1: be our guests in less than a week. But a

273
00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:10,440
Speaker 1: hard run race against Crenshaw in a primary is going

274
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,240
Speaker 1: to be hard for Crenshaw to fend off. There is

275
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:24,119
Speaker 1: another presumably well funded Republican candidate with some Second Baptist support,

276
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,680
Speaker 1: some players at Second Baptists, some power folks, and some

277
00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,040
Speaker 1: campaign insiders, who is also expected to run in that

278
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,200
Speaker 1: congressional race. So I think you can expect the Crenshaw

279
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:40,359
Speaker 1: seat to be a very very spirited Republican primary race

280
00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,679
Speaker 1: for his congressional seat. There are a few others that

281
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:45,760
Speaker 1: will be out there we'll talk about. But let's go

282
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,480
Speaker 1: back to the County Judge race. You got Lena Hidalgo

283
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:54,040
Speaker 1: who says that she hasn't decided if she's running or not.

284
00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:01,080
Speaker 1: When you waiver like this, you're never running because the

285
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,439
Speaker 1: people there's only so much money out there, and the

286
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,800
Speaker 1: smart money knows after years or they've seen you come

287
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,119
Speaker 1: and go, they know that if you're wavering, then some

288
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:12,960
Speaker 1: days you're in and some days you're out. You don't

289
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 1: have the heart for it, you're not gonna win. And

290
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 1: so what's going to happen is you but you can't.

291
00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:22,720
Speaker 1: You're not mature enough politically, you're not seasoned enough to

292
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:29,280
Speaker 1: walk out with class and dignity. You're waiting around, jealous

293
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,720
Speaker 1: that the money folks are going to other people, The

294
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,160
Speaker 1: endorsements are going to other people, the operatives are going

295
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,160
Speaker 1: to other people. And so what's not clear in all

296
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:46,479
Speaker 1: of this is Rodney playing his hand. Now, where I

297
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,119
Speaker 1: suspect Rodney would be is Erica Lee Carter, who is

298
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:54,600
Speaker 1: Sheila Jackson, Lee's daughter, who had a mixed announcement of

299
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:59,439
Speaker 1: if Lena doesn't run, I'll run in the announce in

300
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,320
Speaker 1: the in the in the text of a tweet, but

301
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:08,480
Speaker 1: in the official announcement below. I'm running, So maybe they can't,

302
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 1: but they might not be the smartest group. Then you've

303
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 1: got a city council and Letitia Plumber, and then you've

304
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,360
Speaker 1: got the former mayor of Houston and these porker we'll

305
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,160
Speaker 1: kind of go through what that race looks like coming up. Yeah,

306
00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,960
Speaker 1: I do enjoy your show. If Lena is not the

307
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 1: county judge anymore, she would have to pay for her

308
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,919
Speaker 1: own trips to France and nobody would be there to

309
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:32,520
Speaker 1: receive her.

310
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,639
Speaker 3: Hello, La commdaont Might I interest you in our extensive

311
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:49,760
Speaker 3: wine least perhaps Merleaux Chardon, perhaps pad wine with our

312
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,200
Speaker 3: Caviado virgin.

313
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 1: I am feeling very overwhelmed right now, so I'm going

314
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,119
Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom, and when I come back,

315
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,320
Speaker 1: I hope that you guys will respect my mental balance.

316
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: Oh jive, is this American now?

317
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 4: Boone the Explorer?

318
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,840
Speaker 1: I heard that and it does not make me go.

319
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:21,840
Speaker 4: Well, yes, we can tell by the flush.

320
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: So enough about Lena. If Rodney wanted her to be

321
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:38,200
Speaker 1: the county judge, Erica Lee, Sheila Jackson, Lee's donner and well,

322
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,520
Speaker 1: Erica Lee wouldn't be in the race, and probably not

323
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 1: Letitia Plumber either. He would as the saying goes clear

324
00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:51,040
Speaker 1: the deck. Now, he couldn't clear the deck from a

325
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:56,560
Speaker 1: nice porker. An these has our own power base and

326
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 1: her own ambitions. Let me go back when an ease

327
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:09,359
Speaker 1: Porker started running for city council. She was a She

328
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:14,560
Speaker 1: was in the finance department of Mossbacher Energy, Bob Mossbacker

329
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 1: being a legendary fundraiser in Republican circles, Secretary of Commerce

330
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 1: for George H. W. Bush. He was there for George H. W. Bush,

331
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,520
Speaker 1: the father forty one for many, many years. One of

332
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: George Bush had a coterie of guys behind him that

333
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:50,400
Speaker 1: were as strong, impressive, successful, tough, smart as anybody I've

334
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: ever seen in politics. He collected them from the early

335
00:23:55,359 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: sixties and he maintained close ties with them. You know,

336
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,320
Speaker 1: you had the Heugh Litt Keys on the business side,

337
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 1: but you had guys like James A. Baker the Third

338
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 1: as fine a presidential advisor conciliary as there has ever

339
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: been in American history. He was but one Bob Mossbacker another.

340
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,560
Speaker 1: So this was kind of a blue blood Republican operation

341
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 1: and a niece was able to survive there. And I

342
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:37,280
Speaker 1: don't know that anybody knew her politics. They may not

343
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,359
Speaker 1: have known she was gay. They may not have cared.

344
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,399
Speaker 1: I don't know that they would have. They're not a

345
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 1: big social conservatives. But she's very smart. A niece sat

346
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,919
Speaker 1: next to me on city council. I guess technically I

347
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,440
Speaker 1: sat next to her because she preceded me. She ran

348
00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:03,479
Speaker 1: for office as an at large citywide city councilman and lost,

349
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 1: and then she came back and won, and she managed

350
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: She managed to do something it's very hard to do.

351
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 1: She made being gay to be a motivating force for

352
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:20,920
Speaker 1: a lot of Houston gays. Hey, this will be our

353
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 1: first openly gay elected official. Because Sylvester was still in

354
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 1: the closet. This is going to be this is a

355
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,879
Speaker 1: big deal. We've got a candidate who's going to represent us.

356
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,760
Speaker 1: It's going to be we're gonna be able to say

357
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:47,840
Speaker 1: here's a qualified person. And yet, outside of that that

358
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,359
Speaker 1: sort of targeted campaign toward inner city gays, she was

359
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,639
Speaker 1: just a person who was about the dollars and cents

360
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 1: and the budgets. And I will tell you, serving with

361
00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 1: her own city council. That was true. She was not

362
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:07,240
Speaker 1: a tax and spin nut. We agreed on most things

363
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 1: that they should be common sense, that we shouldn't have waste,

364
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 1: we shouldn't play games, there shouldn't be corruption. I'm the

365
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,200
Speaker 1: first one to tell you that on city council during

366
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:24,320
Speaker 1: my two years, that was my experience. Then she cycles

367
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 1: off because she turned limited off and she becomes the

368
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: controller city controller, and the city controller would be kind

369
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,439
Speaker 1: of like for the president. There's a fed chairman. You

370
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 1: could see it sort of like that. It's the auditor,

371
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 1: it's the controller. It's the person who blesses the finances,

372
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,480
Speaker 1: goes out to the bonds. The way it has emerged

373
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 1: and become I don't know that this was originally fashioned

374
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 1: in this manner, but it's a healthy thing is that

375
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: the controller is there to question the mayor. And we've

376
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 1: had some terse relations between mayors and controllers over the years,

377
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:15,240
Speaker 1: George Grinneas being George Grenneas and Bob Lanier being probably

378
00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 1: the most rancorous and Lanier absolutely broke Grinneas and Grienneas

379
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: can be a pompous little weasel, or so I'm told.

380
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,440
Speaker 1: I only know him socially. But I don't think greeneas

381
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,720
Speaker 1: was doing anything wrong. I think Greenneas was doing what

382
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 1: he thought was his job. And Bob Lanier was much

383
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,200
Speaker 1: like Donald Trump. He did not want to be questioned.

384
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:44,160
Speaker 1: He didn't believe you had the heft to question him.

385
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,200
Speaker 1: So anyway, you got Anie Parker. She serves out her

386
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 1: two four year terms because by this time they've changed

387
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 1: the term limit process and she's been biding her time

388
00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 1: as part of the lgbt Q Victory Fund. She is

389
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 1: the strongest challenger to Lena. But you've got Sheila Jackson,

390
00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,199
Speaker 1: Lee's daughter, which you have to believe Rodney is behind.

391
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:12,160
Speaker 1: And now you've got this city councilman, Letitia Plumber, who

392
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,680
Speaker 1: has a very similar background to Kamala Harris. Interestingly enough,

393
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:21,640
Speaker 1: her family is Yamani, Indian and black, and she has

394
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,639
Speaker 1: to look kind of the Kamala Harris at one point

395
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,040
Speaker 1: was a real commerce she was. She was, she had

396
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 1: a big future. She was. I don't see Letitia Plumber

397
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 1: getting any any momentum, but