WEBVTT - How Did the Democrats Fall Short?

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<v Speaker 1>Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast

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<v Speaker 1>the balance and defend the discourse from these hip hop

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<v Speaker 1>weekly studios. Welcome back to Civic Cipher. I'mory host, Rams'

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<v Speaker 1>Ja he is.

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<v Speaker 2>Rams's Jah, I am q Ward And you are tuned

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<v Speaker 2>in to Civic Scipher.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes you are, and we're talking about the election. If

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<v Speaker 1>you are a longtime listener of the show, you know

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<v Speaker 1>that that was not what we expected, nor was it

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<v Speaker 1>happy in any way. You know, there are some some

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<v Speaker 1>bright moments that came out of the election, but there

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<v Speaker 1>are so few of them, and they're so sparse that

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<v Speaker 1>we're taking a moment to just kind of come to

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<v Speaker 1>terms with what has happened and really decide as much

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<v Speaker 1>as we can where we go from here. And so

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to spend the next part of the show

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<v Speaker 1>trying to sort that out with you. But before we

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<v Speaker 1>get there, it's time to become a better ally Baba

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<v Speaker 1>and Today's Baba sponsored by Friends of the Movement, you

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<v Speaker 1>can sign up for the free voter wallet from fotmglobal

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<v Speaker 1>dot com to support black businesses and allied businesses as

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<v Speaker 1>well as make an impact with your spending. Again, that's

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<v Speaker 1>Fotmglobal dot com, and today I want to remind you

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<v Speaker 1>about Stop Aapihete dot org. This is an initiative that

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<v Speaker 1>really looks out for the rights and the wellbeing of

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<v Speaker 1>our Asian American and Pacific Islander brothers and sisters. There

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<v Speaker 1>are unique challenges and needs of all communities, and this

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<v Speaker 1>is the foremost community that I've found that is really

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<v Speaker 1>seeking to protect our AAPI brothers and sisters against you know,

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<v Speaker 1>hate and again challenges that are specific to their community.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll share a bit. It is a US based coalition

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<v Speaker 1>dedicated to ending racism and discrimination against Asian Americans and

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<v Speaker 1>Pacific Islanders. They strive to advance the multi racial movement

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<v Speaker 1>for equality and justice by building power for communities, working

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<v Speaker 1>in solidarity with other communities of color, and advocating for

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<v Speaker 1>comprehensive solutions that tackle the root causes of race based hate.

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<v Speaker 1>Your support of AAPI Hate, Stop AAPI eight Sorry enables

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<v Speaker 1>them to track and respond to racism, xenophobia, and other

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<v Speaker 1>forms of discrimination facing Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

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<v Speaker 1>To learn more about your donation, visit their website at

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<v Speaker 1>Stop AAPI Hate dot org, slash donate and another note

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<v Speaker 1>here there are several ways you can contribute. Your donation

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<v Speaker 1>is one hundred tax deductible. The fiscal sponsor of stop

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<v Speaker 1>AAPI hate is Chinese for Affirmative Action. That's CAAA, and

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<v Speaker 1>that is a five oh one C three nonprofit organization.

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<v Speaker 1>And their tax id number and all their W nine

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<v Speaker 1>infos available at stopaapi height dot org. Okay, so how

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<v Speaker 1>did we get here? Well? I thought that once upon

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<v Speaker 1>a time that black men would be the deciding factor.

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<v Speaker 1>At another point in time, I thought, you know, third

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<v Speaker 1>party candidates would be a deciding factor. You know, I

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<v Speaker 1>read from the economists that it's Latino males that were

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<v Speaker 1>decisive in the most recent election and that Democrats could

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<v Speaker 1>no longer rely on that group faithfully to support Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>candidates and policies and initiatives. And you know, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>conversation to be had about any number of things. But

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<v Speaker 1>the truth is, I think the biggest, most visible element

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<v Speaker 1>that we've had to come to terms with is the

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<v Speaker 1>voter turnout. The reason this was top of mind is that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I went to the watch party, the campaign

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<v Speaker 1>watch party for Kamala Harris, and there was an individual

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<v Speaker 1>next to me wearing a shirt that says You're fired,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it was signed eighty one million voters. So

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<v Speaker 1>of course I saw this shirt before all of the

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<v Speaker 1>votes had been counted, and that number stood out to me.

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<v Speaker 1>Eighty one million. Wow, that's a lot of people. And

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<v Speaker 1>then I saw the number of voters that turned out

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<v Speaker 1>for Kamala Harris, and if I'm not mistaken, it was

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<v Speaker 1>you know, sixty six almost sixty seven million voters. So

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<v Speaker 1>considerably less voters turned out for Kamala Harris, and the

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<v Speaker 1>end to be fair, less voters turned out for Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump too, but I think he lost some in the neighborhood

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<v Speaker 1>of like three million votes from the twenty twenty election

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<v Speaker 1>to this one, and Kamala Harris lost something like, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen million. Somehow, it ended up being a very low

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<v Speaker 1>voter turnout for Democrats. And of course we see by

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<v Speaker 1>looking at twenty twenty numbers that Democrats do exist and

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<v Speaker 1>they do vote. Eighty one million of them voted to

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<v Speaker 1>get Trump out of there, and a lot of those

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<v Speaker 1>folks just didn't show up at the polls this time.

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<v Speaker 1>So if we want to look at Latino voters or

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<v Speaker 1>black men, or jerry mandering or third party candidates or

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<v Speaker 1>everything you know, all put together, it might not amount

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<v Speaker 1>to that many votes. There is something to be said

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<v Speaker 1>about what the Democrats have stood on, what the Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>have done under this current administration that has failed to

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<v Speaker 1>motivate people to come out to vote. The thing that

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<v Speaker 1>we've debated on this show, the thing that we've wrestled

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<v Speaker 1>with on this show again, longtime listeners will know, is Palestine.

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<v Speaker 1>There were a lot of people, probably more than I

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<v Speaker 1>would have expected, that simply, we're not going to vote

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<v Speaker 1>for an administration that is actively supporting a genocide. That's

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<v Speaker 1>the only thing that makes sense to me in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of while those people stayed home this time, and of

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<v Speaker 1>course I wish that, you know, all the people that

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<v Speaker 1>stayed home would have given Kamala Harris a chance. I

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<v Speaker 1>wish that all the people that you know could not

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<v Speaker 1>conceive of a woman being president would have given Kamala

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<v Speaker 1>Harris a chance. We already gave Donald Trump a chance.

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<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean, Let's just see, just because

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<v Speaker 1>it has worked, it doesn't mean it can't work better,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it doesn't mean that it's going to be worse.

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<v Speaker 1>Just because we've all only had men in the past,

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't mean that a woman might not do as good

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<v Speaker 1>or a better job. Just because Kamala Harris was actively

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<v Speaker 1>in an administration that was helping fund the gendocide on

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<v Speaker 1>the ground in Gaza doesn't mean that had she been

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<v Speaker 1>able to ascend, that she could not have played a

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<v Speaker 1>more decisive role in ending that genocide or helping Palestinians

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<v Speaker 1>rebuild or you know, find a path to self determination.

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<v Speaker 1>Hard to imagine Donald Trump prioritizing you know, Palestinian people

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<v Speaker 1>or really anybody that kind of not in his immediate

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<v Speaker 1>circle and is not putting money in his pocket. So,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I don't mean to point fingers because that's

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of the wrong approach right now. But it

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<v Speaker 1>is important to learn from this moment that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>there is a line, you know, as try as you

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<v Speaker 1>might to get everybody on the same page and get

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<v Speaker 1>out and vote, you know, there's eighty one million of them.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, maybe I hope it's just the the Palestine thing,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what I mean, because if it's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>people not willing to vote for a woman too, then

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<v Speaker 1>you know that that's half of the population, you know

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<v Speaker 1>what I mean. If it's just the Palestine thing, then

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<v Speaker 1>that's an easy lesson for an easier lesson for Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>to learn that they cannot ignore the split in the vote.

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<v Speaker 1>But if it's I'm really you know, it's hard to

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<v Speaker 1>come up with the words right now, I'm really disappointed.

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<v Speaker 1>And and the people that failed to show up, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the Republicans did what they did. You know that we

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<v Speaker 1>saw were disappointed in the people that did show up and.

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<v Speaker 2>Voted for him.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's what I was going to say.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not even going to try to pretend to two

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<v Speaker 2>things are the same.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, so let me just make this last statement, and

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<v Speaker 1>I want to hear what you're thinking. But again, the

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<v Speaker 1>first go round, Donald Trump had seventy four million, seventy

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<v Speaker 1>six million votes, and then he's pretty much all those

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<v Speaker 1>same people showed back up less about three million. So

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<v Speaker 1>he already had a built in base that we knew that.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, those people, as you mentioned earlier, they weren't

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<v Speaker 1>going to learn. He said that when he was campaigning

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty sixteen, he could walk out in Times Square

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<v Speaker 1>and shoot somebody and wouldn't lose a single vote. So

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<v Speaker 1>we kind of knew that he had a solid base

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<v Speaker 1>going into it. We just didn't. I just didn't realize

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<v Speaker 1>that Democrats had turned off so many people with what, again,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm hoping is just Palestine. They didn't turn they I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't realize they would turn off so many people with that.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm pretty certain that it's not just Palestine. Yeah, well,

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<v Speaker 2>I figured as much Stein as a convenient thing to say.

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<v Speaker 2>It puts you in this kind of ambiguously morally, as

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<v Speaker 2>far as your moral intellectual stance, it's ambiguous, almost intentionally.

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<v Speaker 2>If you use platonized Palestine as a shield, people won't

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<v Speaker 2>question the fact that you didn't participate, they won't question

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<v Speaker 2>your apathy. You won't be looked at as a bad person. Actually,

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<v Speaker 2>quite the contrary. You stood on some deep held principle

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<v Speaker 2>that you had, But you'd have to be intentionally misinformed,

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<v Speaker 2>intentionally dishonest, intentionally apathetic, and intentionally privileged to adopt that

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<v Speaker 2>as your single issue for not participating in this election.

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<v Speaker 2>Because every piece of information available to you, and I

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<v Speaker 2>mean the simplest way of searching information, shows that the

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<v Speaker 2>guy that won this thing is worse, is far worse.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not people keep doing this neck and neck thing.

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<v Speaker 2>All politicians are the same, and both parties are bad,

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<v Speaker 2>and they keep doing this very very intentionally false equivalent.

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<v Speaker 2>The percentage of Latino men that voted for him increased

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<v Speaker 2>in the face of him spewing anti Latino, anti immigrant

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<v Speaker 2>rhetoric every time he spoke to a microphone. And the

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<v Speaker 2>interesting thing that happens for men in the patriarchy, for

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<v Speaker 2>immigrants in this country, for white women in the patriarchy,

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<v Speaker 2>at once they see themselves accepted by it, they will protected.

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<v Speaker 2>The Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican and Latino men in general

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<v Speaker 2>who see themselves as a part of this American dream

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<v Speaker 2>that came from wherever they came from, and they were

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<v Speaker 2>accepted now for incentivized, if not obligated, to protect that

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<v Speaker 2>same American dream, the same American dream that craps on

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<v Speaker 2>their countrymen, but speaks of them as they are criminal bigenetics,

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<v Speaker 2>lesser biogenetics, murderers and rapist biogenetics, thieves and lazy genetically.

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<v Speaker 2>That means he's talking about you too. But oh no,

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<v Speaker 2>you did it the right way. You got the proper paperwork,

0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:21.880
<v Speaker 2>you went through the proper steps, and you're here the

0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.720
<v Speaker 2>right way. Everyone else is wrong, and everyone else hents

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<v Speaker 2>also beneath you. Not just beneath him. I'll ask you guys, forgiveness.

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<v Speaker 2>I do not have a redeeming thing to say today.

0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.000
<v Speaker 2>I don't have a positive thing to say today. I

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<v Speaker 2>don't have a hopeful thing to say today because I

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<v Speaker 2>don't believe or feel any of that. I don't feel hopeful.

0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.040
<v Speaker 2>I don't feel like there's redemption. I don't feel like

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<v Speaker 2>there's some lesson that's going to be learned and people

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<v Speaker 2>are going to get it the next time, if there's

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<v Speaker 2>a next time. I saw people saying they would vote

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<v Speaker 2>for him because he promised not to ban abortions. That's

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<v Speaker 2>a really uninformed reason to vote for Donald Trump, because

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<v Speaker 2>he's made very, very plainly his thoughts on abortion. I've

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<v Speaker 2>seen people vote for him because of the economy. This

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<v Speaker 2>is what I mean. You were just intentionally misinformed. Do

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<v Speaker 2>the smallest amount of research, and you be blown away

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<v Speaker 2>by the improvements of our economy under the current administration.

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<v Speaker 2>From record lows and unemployment, record lows and black unemployment,

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<v Speaker 2>decreasing of inflation, decreasings of prices across the board. Donald

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<v Speaker 2>Trump had us in record debt by the trillions with

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<v Speaker 2>a T Do you vote for him because of his economy.

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<v Speaker 2>All of this keeps us from saying the very very

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<v Speaker 2>obvious truth out loud. Wasn't Palestine, it wasn't the economy,

0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.800
<v Speaker 2>it wasn't reproductive freedoms. Clearly, a black woman was running

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<v Speaker 2>for president. We like to make things more complicated because

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<v Speaker 2>we'd like to think that we're much more advanced and

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<v Speaker 2>progressed society. We're not. There was another black person running,

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<v Speaker 2>and she was a woman. And there's a massive segment

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<v Speaker 2>of this society that will tell you to your face

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<v Speaker 2>they voted to protect whiteness if you would get them

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<v Speaker 2>to have a conversation with you where they wouldn't be

0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.000
<v Speaker 2>shamed by anyone, which also doesn't seem to be something

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<v Speaker 2>that matters anymore. Donald Trump's gonna stop all those immigrants

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<v Speaker 2>from coming in here. He's going to deport all the

0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:59.800
<v Speaker 2>immigrants that are here. He's going to make America great again.

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<v Speaker 2>Making America white again is what they mean. White people

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<v Speaker 2>to have all the power throughout all of history, all

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<v Speaker 2>of it. Forever. We will stomp on, step on, and

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<v Speaker 2>stagnate the progress of everyone else forever, to protect that

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<v Speaker 2>every story, or the overarching themes of every story throughout

0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.280
<v Speaker 2>the entirety of humankind has always from the Bible to

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<v Speaker 2>Game of Thrones, has always had in its reserve some

0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:48.560
<v Speaker 2>sort of redemption or redeeming except for the African seeds

0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:52.720
<v Speaker 2>that were planted on American soil. Black people in this

0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:56.920
<v Speaker 2>country have no redeeming. There is no redemption story, There

0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:01.960
<v Speaker 2>is no happy ending. And every time we get a

0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:04.760
<v Speaker 2>little bit of excitement, a little bit of joy, how

0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:08.160
<v Speaker 2>dare you be happy? How dare you be hopeful? How

0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:09.880
<v Speaker 2>dare you think it's going to work out for you?

0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:20.000
<v Speaker 2>Along comes a petulant, narcissist, white supremacist child of a

0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:26.280
<v Speaker 2>man who spits in our faces, tells us it's raining,

0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:35.760
<v Speaker 2>and then we buy Trump umbrellas for it. He has

0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:40.000
<v Speaker 2>woken up the most disgusting among us, and those who

0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.720
<v Speaker 2>I consider far less disgusting got in line with.

0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:47.640
<v Speaker 1>Them, and everybody that was supposed to save us stayed

0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.359
<v Speaker 1>home because it was a black woman.

0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.719
<v Speaker 2>Are you really going to stop being friends with people

0:18:56.200 --> 0:19:00.680
<v Speaker 2>over politics? I would never, But am I going to

0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.520
<v Speaker 2>stop being friends with who because they support and worship

0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:14.200
<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump? Absolutely one, without equivocation? Yes, because I don't

0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:15.760
<v Speaker 2>need people to think I'm smart, so I don't have

0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:17.600
<v Speaker 2>to pretend to be a contrarian and think of some

0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:19.560
<v Speaker 2>other thing about how flat the world is, and tell

0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.080
<v Speaker 2>you all the reasons why I think so. To what end?

0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:29.440
<v Speaker 2>How does that benefit me or anyone? All the scientists

0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:31.560
<v Speaker 2>and the history of the of the planet have all

0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.359
<v Speaker 2>worked against us to what end? To make us think what?

0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.040
<v Speaker 2>There's no facts no more, there's no experts anymore. And

0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:39.680
<v Speaker 2>somehow Donald Trump.

0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:42.960
<v Speaker 1>Is teaching us about windmills, is.

0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:45.480
<v Speaker 2>Teaching us about anything. He's the leader of the free

0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:55.159
<v Speaker 2>world now again, hope and belief in what bro like? Yeah, right, Well,

0:19:57.960 --> 0:19:58.280
<v Speaker 2>like I.

0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:05.560
<v Speaker 1>Said, you know, we are on a long road, and

0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:10.840
<v Speaker 1>the road just got longer. It got a lot longer.

0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:17.159
<v Speaker 1>And I'm not gonna pretend like that's not true, but

0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:23.160
<v Speaker 1>that's the road. You know. I've said it before. I

0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:26.639
<v Speaker 1>was not born a slave, So that means at some

0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.959
<v Speaker 1>point some folks had to get on the same page

0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:35.240
<v Speaker 1>black people and white people and make some progress. And

0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:41.960
<v Speaker 1>you know, I wasn't born in you know, and subjected

0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:48.200
<v Speaker 1>to the black codes or Jim Crow, you know. And

0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:51.679
<v Speaker 1>there was an evolution of what it meant to be

0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:53.879
<v Speaker 1>black in this country by the time I was born.

0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:56.800
<v Speaker 2>Reproject twenty twenty five and tell me how all that

0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.520
<v Speaker 2>hope you're expressing right now can still exist.

0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.320
<v Speaker 1>What I mean is that it's a long road and

0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:14.359
<v Speaker 1>there's momentum, sometimes forward, sometimes backward, and this feels like

0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:23.080
<v Speaker 1>a huge, gigantic, enormous step backwards. But that doesn't mean

0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:28.080
<v Speaker 1>that you know, the road is not still ahead of us.

0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:34.399
<v Speaker 1>So I'm going to walk and not be weary, am

0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:37.600
<v Speaker 1>I run, and not think it's the only setting I have.

0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:45.840
<v Speaker 1>As always, I'm inviting everyone to join me. This is

0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:50.600
<v Speaker 1>what we do. Man. You know, sometimes we we are

0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:57.320
<v Speaker 1>a little sad and sometimes we're big sad. And my

0:21:57.400 --> 0:21:59.880
<v Speaker 1>hope is that eventually somebody gets to be happy somewhere,

0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.360
<v Speaker 1>so we'll manifest that. We'll manifest that together. All right.

0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:07.720
<v Speaker 1>With that in mind, i'd like to thank you for

0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:11.320
<v Speaker 1>listening to this very heavy installment, probably the heaviest yet

0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.600
<v Speaker 1>of Civic Cipher. I've been your host, ramses Jah, I

0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:19.840
<v Speaker 1>am q Ward and do us a favor. Follow us

0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:22.720
<v Speaker 1>on all social media. We are at Civic Cipher on

0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:24.760
<v Speaker 1>all platforms. We got our work cut out for us,

0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.280
<v Speaker 1>and we need your support now more than ever. We're

0:22:27.320 --> 0:22:30.400
<v Speaker 1>going to keep doing what we have to do. And

0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:34.159
<v Speaker 1>uh again, your well wishes, your support, your whatever it

0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:38.359
<v Speaker 1>is you have, follows, likes, donations, comments, That goes a

0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:42.359
<v Speaker 1>long way. If you have any questions, anything to add,

0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:45.520
<v Speaker 1>like I said, you can hit us on Civic cipher

0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:47.560
<v Speaker 1>dot com and of course you can download this in

0:22:47.600 --> 0:22:52.959
<v Speaker 1>any previous episode. Yeah, we got our we got our

0:22:52.960 --> 0:22:57.760
<v Speaker 1>marching orders, so let's march together all right? Until next time, y'all.

0:22:57.760 --> 0:22:58.080
<v Speaker 2>Peace,