WEBVTT - Why America Needs Your Voice NOW | A Conversation with Beto O'Rourke 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:05.199 I am thrilled this evening live from El Paso, Texas 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:12.000 Congressman Beto O'Rourke, great American patriot and important voice. I 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:16.000 think as people join us, you still hold the record 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:20.639 for the most votes ever for a Democrat in the 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:21.880 state of Texas. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.240 I think that might be right. Certainly it was true 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:28.400 in twenty eighteen. The other distinction that I love from 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.360 the campaign and all the people who worked on it 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.800 was it was the first Democrat to win the five 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.880 major metro areas and surrounding counties in Texas since LBJ 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.440 did it in sixty four. So there was a real 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:47.680 resurgence in that campaign in not just Democratic party power, 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.960 but in people who had checked out of politics for 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.200 whatever reason, didn't feel like the institutions or the system 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.920 or the parties were working for them, who came out, 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:01.400 took a chance and got involved. And though we didn't 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.640 beat Ted Cruz, and I'm forever sorry for that, I 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:09.560 do think good things have continued to roll from that 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.200 campaign in twenty eighteen, not necessarily for me, but just 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.600 for Texas and what is possible politically. And we may 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.520 get into that in the conversation, but yeah, that was 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:19.440 a great campaign. 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:27.200 JB. Pritsker, the governor of Illinois, gave a very important speech, 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:33.240 I would argue the most effective response we have seen 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:38.119 thus far from any elected Democrat anywhere in the country. 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:43.520 He did it from the Illinois State Legislature in Springfield, 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:49.360 Illinois that he talked about. The things that he talked 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:56.320 about I think were of important and obvious consequence. But 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:01.880 there is a line in Governor Pritzker's speech where he says, 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:08.720 I am not rising because of my ambitions, but rather 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.119 because of my obligations. And what I want to say 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:18.280 to everybody as people are getting on and we're now 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:23.120 north of one thousand people with us and continuing to climb, 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.760 so we get ready to start the conversation, is that 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:32.840 you just heard better A. Rourke say that, Hey, I 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:37.040 lost that race to Ted Cruz and I'm sorry for that. 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:42.080 And let me just say there's no apology needed. What 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:46.079 you have for me is the deepest respect and admiration. 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.600 And what I want everybody on this call to understand 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.160 is the courage it takes to put your name on 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:59.160 that ballot and to stand in that arena, particularly in 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:04.320 a state where your opponent gets to run downhill with 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:08.520 no backpack, and you have to run uphill with a 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.120 heavy backpack. They get to do it on a nice 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:16.280 paved track. You have to do it on a dirt, 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:22.240 rocky mountain laiden path. And so when we talk about 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.519 the concept of being in the arena, the man and 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:30.520 now women obviously face marred by blood and sweat and tears, 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:35.200 but never with those timid souls. That's what we're talking about. 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:42.560 And so I think that everybody certainly on this when 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:48.720 we consider the state of the country right now. We're 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.280 all going to be called to play a role to 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:55.040 be citizens in the months ahead. And so what I 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.000 want to ask you first up is how do you 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:02.200 assess the situation? Is what is happening here as we 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.000 enter month two in the United States? How do you 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:12.680 process what you see with your eyes? Do you see 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:16.640 disconnects between what you see with your eyes and what 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:22.360 is now being reported to you on mainstream channels. And 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.599 let me just start there and just assess the situation 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:34.440 and your reaction to it, and also your emotional reaction 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.880 to it with regard to any sense of danger. 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:43.160 So over to you, since you invoked tr I want 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.479 to lay something else out that he said, he talked 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.440 about doing what you can with what you have where 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.680 you are. And it's one of my most favorite sentiments 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:58.279 ever uttered by an American leader and servant, because it 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.360 it reflects the power of people. It's not just the 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.640 person in the position of the presidency, though he may 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.880 claim to be a dictator or promise to be one, 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.200 as he did before the election, or act like a tyrant, 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:17.000 or act and behave so obsequiously with other tyrants like 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.920 Vladimir Putin. It's the people in a democracy that is 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:26.120 comprised of people from around the world who found a 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:30.240 home here in this country and contributed to and established 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:36.080 the greatness of America, the single most important country on 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.360 the face of the planet in the history of the world. 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:42.760 A force for good, a force for freedom. Imperfect as 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:47.080 all things under the sun are, but the best thing going, 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.599 if you ask me, and the best thing going because 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.560 it is the government of, by and for the people, 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.000 So Steve, the way I respond to this question is 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.640 to encourage all of us to think about what each 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.280 of us can do right now that there's real power 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.479 in each of us individually and even more so collectively. 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:11.400 Let me give you an example. We are maybe a 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.680 gas at the Republican members of Congress, so they're in 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:20.719 the majority and the Senate, who are essentially absolutely abnegating 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.560 their responsibility as a coequal branch of government. It could 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:29.080 be a you know, congressionally chartered agency like us AID. 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.360 I think it was created by Congress in nineteen ninety eight, 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.599 maybe originally through an executive order by Jfk in his administration, 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:39.680 But this belongs to Congress. You know. Musk and co 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:43.520 President dismantled that. And you don't hear a peep from them. 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:48.919 The president illegally impounding congressionally authorized and appropriated funds. You 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.080 don't hear anything from them. Members of Congress who said 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:56.880 the right thing three years ago when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.520 about the tens of thousands of innocent civilians and soldiers 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.359 for that matter, who have been killed, the billions of 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.440 dollars of damage, the threat that it poses not just 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.560 to Ukraine, but a free and democratic Europe and by 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.760 extension to the United States of America itself treaty bound 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:17.320 to defend our NATO partners, who are only a country's 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:21.200 throw away from Ukraine, from the invading armies of Russia. 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:23.800 They're saying nothing right now, as Trump tries to in 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:28.000 real time rewrite history to call Zelenski the dictator, to 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:32.840 blame Ukraine for starting the war, and then Democrats who 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:37.400 seem in disarray and confused and not coherent and not 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.600 compelling and not offering a clear strategic directive for all 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.960 of us to follow and to take. If it were 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:46.760 just up to them, I'd say, Okay, let's admit defeat. 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.400 But I just want to remind everybody it is up 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.080 to each and every single one of us. And there's 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.680 a way I think we can move these members of 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:58.360 Congress in that coequal brunch branch, a way that we 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.320 can give the lie to the idea that Trump is 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:05.840 all powerful, that Musk, with all his wealth and influence 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.160 and access, is bigger than any one of us can 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.120 possibly defeat, and that is by calling those members of 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:17.960 Congress to account. You've seen these viral clips of the 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.000 members of Congress who hold these town hall meetings thinking 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.280 it's going to be an easy ride as they explain 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.920 the triumph of the Musk Trump presidency, only to have 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.240 their constituents get in their face. Veterans who served honorably 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.520 in Afghanistan and Iraq came back with PTSD, were hired 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:38.760 by the VA and so called provisional positions summarily fired 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.280 by Doge and Elon Musk, who show up and say, 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.079 what the fuck? I've served this country, put my life 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.440 on the line for you, then served again by trying 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:50.240 to take care of these veterans. You, mister member of Congress, 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.600 serve me and are accountable to all of us. What 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.200 are you going to do about it? Those Republican members 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.160 of Congress before those town halls, the only thing they 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.880 felt like they had to fear was Donald Trump. When 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:02.880 they show up to those town halls, they remember who 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:05.160 put them in power in the first place, the people 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.720 they serve, and the accountability that comes with it. They 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.680 fear those constituents because they care about their re election. 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.079 By that same token, I want Democrats to show up 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.839 in front of their constituents, and though they're afraid to 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.440 in some cases because they say, look, I don't have 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.200 all the answers, I'm in the minority. What do you 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.520 expect me to do? I think, armed with the stories 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.360 and the emotional connection that they make with their constituents 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:33.600 face to face, eyeball to eyeball in that room or 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:36.240 auditorium that they gather in. I think that's going to 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.199 buck them up. Give them the steel spine that they 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.280 need right now, and reinforce the idea that they should 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.280 not give an inch to Donald Trump. Do not let them, 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.360 Do not let them use democratic votes in the House 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.840 of Representatives to pass bad budget deals. Do not let 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.719 them use Senate democratic votes to confirm nominees who are 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:01.400 absolutely incompetent and capable, and in some case traitorous to 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.360 the interests of the United States of America, to our 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:08.400 constitution and our democracy. So if you are so inclined 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:10.280 and you're watching us right now, the number at the 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.520 switchboard is two two two, two four, three, one six one. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.280 I saw a tweet Steve from Lisa Murkowski, the Republican 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:22.040 senator from Alaska, who said that in the second week 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.559 of the Trump administration, the switchboard was seeing all time 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:30.400 high numbers come of calls coming through. I think we 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:33.319 can melt that thing down if we keep up the pressure. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.480 And I've been a member of Congress, I serve for 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.320 three terms. You wonder whether your calls make a difference, 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:42.120 I will tell you from experience they do. We pay attention, 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.600 it gets our focus, and it changes our behavior. So 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.880 we have power, Steve, and I do feel like folks 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.560 who are frustrated and wondering where the leadership was going 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.640 to come from are now finding that is within themselves 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.160 and the power that they have in this democracy. 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.880 Terrific. Thank you very much again. That number two O 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:07.480 two two two four, three one two six. I think 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.440 three one two one will also get you to the 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:15.319 Capitol switchboard and ask for your member of Congress or 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:19.720 any member of Congress. Remember and the immortal words of 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:24.360 cool hand Luke Paul Newman. Uh, what we're having here, 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:31.640 mister Musk, is a failure to communicate. These people that 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.360 are being treated like insects don't work for Elon Musk, 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.960 they work for us. And I find it outrageous and 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.920 I and I find it offensive. And so let's talk 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.360 about something you just said that I think is of 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:50.920 the utmost importance, and it's this reality in our society 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.320 that we are a bottom up society, not a top 0:11:55.400 --> 0:12:01.520 down society. There is no cockpit of United States in 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:07.120 which Donald Trump sits with Elon and a couple of 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:15.559 young men pushing buttons. This is a giant, decentralized country 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:21.679 with one hundred thousand elected governments. They all have lawyers. 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:27.320 Trump has the power in that he has the initiative, 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:32.480 but his poll numbers are cratering. And this will be 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.440 the month of the cratering, and next month will be 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:41.080 one of rising. As we move into the spring, I 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:46.319 anticipate that we will see scores of tens of thousands 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:50.679 of people on the streets, if not more. The right 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:55.280 to dissent, the right to protest, is of the utmost 0:12:55.320 --> 0:13:02.160 important to appreciate, your constitutional rights not come from Donald Trump. 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.760 They come from the American Constitution, which asserts they come 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:12.040 from a higher power. Let me say before I ask 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:16.840 you this next question. Going back to Teddy Roosevelt, it 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:23.160 could be argued that the twentieth century begins with a 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:27.480 horse and carriage ride on the occasion of the assassination 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:33.160 of William McKinley in Buffalo, New York, and the very 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:39.000 young Vice President forty one years old, is riding through 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:45.559 the night at full speed dangerously by horse and carriage. 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.880 The first member of the US Secret Service in history 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.360 to be killed in the line of duty is killed 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:57.600 on this midnight ride, and Teddy Roosevelt takes the oath 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:02.440 of office Teddy Roosevelt because the first president to fly 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:07.080 in an airplane, his son, Teddy Roosevelt Junior, will be 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.800 the only general to land in the first wave on 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.960 d Day. He will be the oldest man in the 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.440 first wave, the only father to have a son who 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:21.480 lands in the first wave, a recipient of the Medal 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:30.680 of Honor. So, this American century that lifts out of 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:36.080 the ashes of the Second World War, civilization and these 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:42.960 ideals of human dignity and freedom to the forefront and 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:51.480 unleashes the greatest period of upward mobility and prosperity for 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:57.880 billions of people around the globe, lifts them into freedom, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:06.720 not utopia, but progress. And it has been decided by 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.920 Donald Trump that it is to be smashed. I have 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.520 just got back from Berlin. I was a guest of 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:20.880 the CDU during the final rallies for Chancellor Mertz. The 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:29.640 grief of German parliamentarians, of German leadership for what Donald 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:37.480 Trump has done. The obliteration of our ideals and our 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:42.600 ideas from an American president is shocking. But America's ideals 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:48.120 don't belong to Trump. They belong to us. And we 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.760 have spread them around the world. And so what I 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:56.640 want to ask you, in this moment, when an American 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:02.080 president looks the American people in the eye and tells 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:10.400 them it is the Russians who are the victims, what 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.400 do we say to the American people who know that 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:18.760 that's a lie? How do we arm them to talk 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.520 to their neighbors and friends, Because it's no different than 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:32.040 saying that Poland invaded Germany on September first, nineteen thirty nine. 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.920 Yeah, listen, this is why I read you, this is 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.800 why I watch you, This is why I think you're 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:41.360 such a great leader. Especially at this moment. You can 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:45.200 bring in the long view and set the historical precedent 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.720 for us and remind us what it is we are 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:51.120 made of. We are the people who threw off tyranny 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.760 to create this great experiment. We are the people who 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.760 ended the institution of slavery at the sacrifice of hundreds 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.120 of thousands of young men from every part of the 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.840 United States. We are the people who, in June of 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:08.920 forty four, landed on those beaches, Democrats, Republicans alike, every 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:10.880 single one of them, knowing that not every single one 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:12.960 of them would come back, and yet they were willing 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:16.760 to die to defeat fascism abroad to save democracy at home. 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.080 We are the people who had great cost and sacrifice, 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:24.320 including the lives of far too many, made civil rights 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.880 and voting rights possible, creating the first multi racial democracy 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:31.880 in American history. That is who we are. We are 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:37.560 not Donald Trump. We are not this incredibly corrupt and 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:44.560 cynical administration that seeks to turn its back completely on 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:48.600 this history of struggle and sacrifice and service that has 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.760 made us the greatest nation of all time. And certainly 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.600 to your point, we cannot be that country that turns 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.760 us back on the people of Ukraine, that turns us 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.359 back on the people of Europe, and frankly that turns 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.840 its back on the people of the United States of America. 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:08.440 Because you've been really eloquent on this point, and I 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:12.280 think everyone needs to hear it. We're not supporting Ukraine 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.440 because we care about the people of Ukraine. I mean 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.000 we do, and I personally do. And they are my 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:22.439 heroes for what they have done, including defying every single 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.280 prediction and the longest odds that they were up against 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.600 on the day that that invasion started almost three years ago. 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:30.720 To the day. I mean for that alone, I want 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:35.040 to have their backs, but we are supporting Ukraine so 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.679 that we don't have to have our allies in NATO 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:41.719 fight the front lines in Poland, or in the Baltics 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.199 or deeper into Western Europe. We're supporting Ukraine so that 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.080 our sons and daughters are not fighting in those wars abroad, 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.879 or fighting on those wars on our shores when that 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:56.000 war comes home to us. Another analogy that you bring 0:18:56.040 --> 0:19:00.480 to mind for me is Munich in nineteen three eight. 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:06.160 The parallels were absolutely chilling to me. That you have 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.800 a leader, the pre eminent leader of a Western democracy, 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.959 suing for peace with a tyrant who is trying to 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.600 annex part of a neighboring country by force if necessary, 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.760 and you concede everything to that tyrant without allowing In 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.520 nineteen thirty eight it was Czechoslovakia, without allowing the party 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.320 affected to even come to the table. Trump is worse 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.600 than Nevil chamber I'd like to think Nevill Chamberlain actually 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.240 thought he was going to achieve peace. Trump is so 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:39.879 goddamn cynical. He knows that is not the case, but 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.920 he does it nonetheless. Sacrificing everything that you've just mentioned, 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.760 everything that I just went through, all that history of 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:50.560 American sacrifice, struggle, and service, and everything that will come 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:56.360 forward that will be precipitated by this cowardly, cynical abnegation 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.240 of everything that this country stands for. So look, if 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.720 you're at home wondering, because you may have read the 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:08.119 propaganda from Trump, that you know, we're spending five hundred billion, 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:10.040 which is not the amount of folks, but that's what 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.080 Trump has said we've spent in Ukraine, that we're getting 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:17.040 a lie to an ex comedian con man who's shaken 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.120 down the United States of America, and we have nothing 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:24.200 to gain for it. The number is much lower. It 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:26.600 is a pittance. It is a fraction of the price 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:29.040 we would pay if we had to support our NATO 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:32.479 allies on the front lines of a war with Russia's Putin. 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:38.679 It is infintesimally small against the sacrifice of American soldiers 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.040 and service members who would have to fight in a 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:44.720 hot war against the Russian Federation if we were to 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:48.200 have to, as we are pretty bound to do, come 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.360 to the aid of our allies, who will most certainly 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.280 be attacked if Putin is allowed to roll over Ukraine. 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:57.639 So this is the bargain of the century, on top 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.160 of the moral imperative to do the right thing as 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:04.919 the world's leading light and the best last hope for 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:08.119 mankind in Lincoln's words, So I mean, you say it 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:09.080 far better than I can. 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:10.600 You always not at all. 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.160 That's what we have to remember at this time. It's 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:17.600 what makes us so goddamn proud to be Americans. Let's 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:20.600 not lose it on this petty want to be tyrant 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.000 who's trying to make a deal with the real tyrant 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:23.600 in Russia. 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:27.480 Right now, I want to take this now into the 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:32.480 direction of tactical and what democratic leaders should do. We 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:37.840 have now almost three thousand people with us. We have 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.400 a lot of people that are frustrated with the Democratic 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.199 Party's response and by the Democratic Party's response. Let's be 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:50.040 specific about that, meaning the response of congressional leaders. And 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:54.360 so let's talk about a tough decision where we're blending 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:59.600 in history tonight. The beginning of World War Two, Winston 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:04.600 Church had a very very difficult decision to make when 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:11.800 the Nazis conquered France, and the decision was now that 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:16.720 the Nazis occupied France and that there was a vshi 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:21.359 French government that controlled the second largest navy in the world. 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:26.400 What should be done about it? Now, Winston Churchill had 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:29.879 an audience of one in mind, which was the American president. 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:34.440 But what he did is not something that's talked much 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.960 about in the open between friends and partners and allies. 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:43.399 But Winston Churchill sank the French fleet, and he killed 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:47.760 thousands of French soldiers. And the reason he did that, 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:53.800 more than any other reason, was to say, we'll do 0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:59.840 anything to win. So in this moment, there's a question 0:22:59.880 --> 0:23:03.920 for Democrats, and I'm gonna lay out hypothetical analogy of 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.840 all three thousand of us were crashed together on a 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:14.240 proverbial airplane in the Alaskan wilderness, and we walked out 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:22.680 of that airplane all alive. We would be upset and 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:28.359 disoriented and pissed off and scared, but we'd have to 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:32.159 do something. And the very first thing we'd have to 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:39.840 do is light a fire. Now, for Democrats, right now, 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:46.080 it seems to me strategically there's an overwhelming national security imperative. 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:52.639 I mean talking about defending government of buying for the people, 0:23:53.320 --> 0:24:04.160 and that imperative is one Elon Musk stops immediately whatever 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:13.120 it is that he is doing. Two he discloses everything 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:19.000 that he has done immediately and without delay to the 0:24:19.119 --> 0:24:31.840 United States Congress. And number three that everything regarding empowerment 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:39.480 of federal monies returns to regular order immediately. When that happens, 0:24:41.520 --> 0:24:46.840 we'll be happy to discuss anything you'd like to talk about. 0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:51.200 With regard to votes, you may need to fund the government. 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:56.800 So this is everybody, three thousand people. Now, this is 0:24:56.920 --> 0:25:00.000 very important to understand, and this is hard to get 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:04.960 your head around. Donald Trump needs the government funded to 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:10.159 kill it. The leverage the Democrats have is to allow 0:25:10.200 --> 0:25:14.359 it to be shut down to keep it from being killed, 0:25:15.680 --> 0:25:21.160 preserving it in a coma. But that means the stalemate 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:27.560 of a government shutdown will impact people and they will suffer. 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:32.840 But that suffering has been imposed on them not by 0:25:32.880 --> 0:25:39.800 the people who are imposing on Donald Trump a red line, 0:25:39.160 --> 0:25:44.920 but by the man who knows no red line. So 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:50.320 we already have passed the line of no return. With 0:25:50.440 --> 0:25:54.320 regard to are we going to suffer and endure calls 0:25:54.359 --> 0:26:00.679 from this? We are. The question is how do you 0:26:00.800 --> 0:26:05.040 make it stop? How do you make it stop? And 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:08.560 I see no other way and no other immediate point 0:26:08.560 --> 0:26:12.000 of leverage before a Democratic House victory than right now 0:26:13.520 --> 0:26:17.520 is to make Donald Trump stop. And this guy who 0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:19.440 wrote the Art of the Deal, and the only thing 0:26:19.480 --> 0:26:21.919 you ever need to know about him is what's in 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:25.359 that book says forty years ago is preferred method of 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:29.000 communication and a negotiation is to walk into a room, 0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:31.159 put a finger in your chest, and tell you to 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:34.800 go fuck yourself. So this isn't a secret. He's been 0:26:34.840 --> 0:26:37.919 doing it for fifty years. And I just am I 0:26:38.080 --> 0:26:42.879 right about this? Am I wrong about this? What is 0:26:42.920 --> 0:26:47.359 the leverage place for Democrats who are not powerless in 0:26:47.400 --> 0:26:51.520 this situation. Senators have the ability to block nominations and 0:26:51.560 --> 0:26:58.320 put holds on them. Democrats have the ability to strangle 0:26:59.080 --> 0:27:01.760 the money. How do you see this? 0:27:03.000 --> 0:27:07.400 I think you're totally correct, and almost under any other scenario, 0:27:07.520 --> 0:27:11.760 I probably disagree with you, but I think you're right 0:27:11.840 --> 0:27:16.119 because this is and perhaps this word gets used too often, 0:27:16.800 --> 0:27:19.480 but this is existential. This is, as you say, Steve, 0:27:19.560 --> 0:27:23.200 and I could not agree more strongly. This is about 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:26.560 the life and death of this great Republic, of the 0:27:26.560 --> 0:27:30.159 American democracy, of our constitution, of rule by law of 0:27:31.920 --> 0:27:34.960 you know, it's not about the power that men have. 0:27:35.080 --> 0:27:37.320 It's about the power of our laws, all of us 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:41.480 being treated equally under them. We're really about to lose. 0:27:41.960 --> 0:27:44.520 To invoke the same line from Lincoln again, the last 0:27:44.560 --> 0:27:47.480 best hope of Earth. That was really the last existential 0:27:47.560 --> 0:27:51.960 crisis for American democracy. Can government, you know, of men? 0:27:51.800 --> 0:27:54.280 Can it? Can it survive on this planet? Because I mean, 0:27:54.359 --> 0:27:57.800 let's remember, in the whole of human history, this is 0:27:57.840 --> 0:28:00.919 a really rare fucking thing. You know, for the for 0:28:00.960 --> 0:28:04.280 the most part, in almost every civilization, at every time, 0:28:04.840 --> 0:28:07.320 it is tyrants, it is kings and queens, it is 0:28:07.359 --> 0:28:11.520