WEBVTT - The End of the Republic As We Know It 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.760 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to will Gate f Daily 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.000 with Meet your Girl, Danielle Moody, recording back live from 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.320 the Brooklyn Silarium. Folks, First of all, I want to 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.919 come back and say thank you so very much for 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.240 all of your birthday wishes, well wishes, um. It has 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.520 meant a lot to me. This has been a fantastic, 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:36.200 fantastic week off. As always, I say to every single 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:39.360 one of you that it's important to recharge, it's important 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.080 to rest. I found myself a bit feeling a bit 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:46.519 guilty um at the beginning of last week when I 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.720 was deciding to take off for my birthday, and then 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.560 recognizing why not. We all deserve rest, we deserve joy, 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.400 we deserve to tap out, um, and so I appreciate 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.920 each and every one of you for allowing me to 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:02.960 do so. I hope that you enjoyed the conversations that 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:05.440 we put in place while we were out. But now 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:07.560 we are back, and let me start off with this. 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:14.120 You know, I have not been following to the greatest 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.959 degree all of the details of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.800 And it is for a number of reasons. One because 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:27.520 I know how it's going to end. Armed angry white 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:31.839 men in America get away with everything. They get away 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.959 with lynching, they get away with physical abuse, they get 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.840 away with harm, they get away with intimidation and threatening. 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:42.480 You know, we never talk when we speak about the 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:45.039 KKK and we speak about Jim Crow, we never talk 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.560 about the domestic terrorist element of it. We never talk 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:53.000 about what it means to purposefully decide like Kyle Rittenhouse did, 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.720 to sling an AAR fifteen across his shoulder and intimidate 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.880 those that were going by peacefully. Wanting to add the 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:04.920 for you know, accountability for our police officers, that you 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.560 couldn't just murder someone in broad daylight and think that 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:10.600 you were going to get away with it. But alas 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:13.880 every single one of these cases show us one thing 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.800 and one thing only. The justice system was not built 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.240 for black and brown people. It was not built for 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.120 low income people. It was built for the Kyle Rittenhouses 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.560 of the world. It was built for the Dylan Roofs 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.519 of the world. It was built for people who were 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.200 going to get a pat on the back from police 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:35.440 officers and offering of water a It's okay, son. From 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.040 the beginning of this trial and as of this recording, 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.240 we don't know the verdict yet as of this recording, 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:45.400 the jury is still deliberating. But one thing that we 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.440 know to be true is that the gun charge was 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:52.960 thrown out right, So you know that Kyle Rittenhouse and 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.639 this case has already allowed for the fact that if 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.000 you live in the state, if you don't live in 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.320 a state that has gun permits, that you can do 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.400 whatever the hell you want. That what that judge just 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:08.520 did was allowed now for all of the copycats to 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.560 decide that they too are going to arm themselves, drive 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.600 across state lines and do the work of law enforcement, 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.920 that they too get to play cop, they get to 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:22.840 murder people with impunity and possibly get off, more likely 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:27.200 get off. So that's number one. Number two, the judge 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:32.720 was clearly so incredibly hostile towards the prosecution from the jump, 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:35.839 not even being able to refer to the people who 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.800 lost their lives into the one who did survive and 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.800 was able to testify who himself had a gun, but 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.760 then said that he's not that type of person, that 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.520 he wasn't going to use it, that there was another way. 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:53.000 And so even in that exchange right between the defense 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:58.320 attorneys and the third assailant, the third victim, excuse me, 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:04.160 the third victim whose life was not taken. You could 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:09.600 see America write a snapshot. You have those that are 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.960 gun carriers, that are gun owners who subscribe to the law, 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:16.880 who are not doing so because they are out trying 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.600 to play army or g I Joe, or who are 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.000 just a white supremacist on the hunt for their next victim. No, 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:28.479 there are in fact gun owners in this country who 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.839 want to abide by the rule of law but also 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.520 believe that they should have the ability to protect themselves. 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.320 They don't do so as a threat. You know, the 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.800 other day, I was home out east on Long Island 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.760 and visiting my family, and I'm noticing and this is 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.640 something that I never noticed before when I was growing up, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.880 so I believe that it is new. I see all 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.640 of these pickup trucks like these, you know, four by 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:55.679 four or I don't even know what you call those cars. 0:04:55.720 --> 0:05:00.599 But anyway, the pickup trucks with kicker is on the 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:06.640 back of them with AR fifteen rifles that say come 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.719 and take it. Right. The sticker in and of itself 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:15.200 is a threat, right, It's to signify that the person 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.320 driving the vehicle is armed. And ready to use it 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:23.400 and you come and take it. There is this toxic 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:31.119 masculinity that is intertwined with this rights, this battle over 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.800 gun rights in this country. You have those that are 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.960 on the radical right that believe that there should be 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.200 no background checks, no waiting period, no nothing. You can 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:45.359 get an AR fifteen faster than any woman in this country, 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.240 and especially now we'll be able to get an abortion right. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.040 You can take somebody's life right with an AR fifteen, 0:05:54.720 --> 0:06:00.920 no background check, no nothing. And they think that one 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.920 of those things is murder right and the other is 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:12.520 following the constitution. The hypocrisy, it is not lost on me, 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.520 and it shouldn't be lost on any of us. But 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.880 when I look at Kyle Rittenhouse, when I looked at 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:21.560 his bullshit testimony on the stand, and again I say 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.800 I was not following this with great eyes. And the 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:28.680 reason is, and I tweeted it yesterday because I actually 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.960 care about my mental health. And this is the difference 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:36.080 between Danielle from a couple of years ago and Danielle now. 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.240 And this is why I offer to all of you, 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.039 all of the time to take a break so that 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:46.320 you don't have a breakdown. I remember following George Zimmerman's trial, 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.080 because at that point, and this is back when in 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:55.800 twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, that I believed still right. This 0:06:55.920 --> 0:07:00.320 is only six seven years ago, but I believed still 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.960 at that moment in time, in our justice system, even 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.200 given all of the past cases that I had seen, 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.880 I believe that there was no way, there was no 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.880 way that this grown man was going to murder a 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:18.640 child who was armed with nothing more than an Arizona 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.320 iced tea and a bag of skittles. That there was 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.400 no way that our justice system was going to put 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:33.760 the dead child on trial. And it was after that case, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:39.800 and after the not guilty for George Zimmerman, that I 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:44.720 lost every single little strand of hope that I had 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:51.360 in this country. Because if you can justify the murdyr 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:56.320 not even by a police officer, but by a random white, 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.680 fucking vigilante on the street, if that can be just 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:03.640 a five, then there is no hope for the forgetting 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.440 rid of qualified immunity for police officers. There is no 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.080 hope in you you will have a once in a 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:15.960 millennium trial like Derek Chauvin right where it's just so 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:21.440 heinous that we must do something because millions of people 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.200 left their homes in the middle of a pandemic to 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:30.760 protest against what we all witnessed collectively a murder in 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.680 broad daylight at the hands of an unrelenting police officer. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.559 So something had to be done in that case. But 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:44.560 for the rest of them, right, I wonder sometimes what 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:48.520 would have happened if there had been video of George Zimmerman. 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:53.400 What if we weren't taking his word for it, just 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.199 the word of some random white guy who was a 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:58.599 want to be cop, who was a want to be 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.920 neighborhood watch person and wanted to feel big, bad and strong, 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:07.240 because it's this small, fragile white ego, right that what 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:11.360 would have happened? And frankly, you know, I don't even 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.120 want to say that we got lucky with George Floyd, 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.560 and I say that with all dripping with sarcasm, trust 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:24.200 and understand that that it was because of Darnella Frasier. 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:29.439 It was because of all of the witnesses and bystanders, 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:35.480 including young children, that Derek Chauvin is in jail. But 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:37.679 it had it been left to the police report, had 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:41.719 it been left to just hearsay without video evidence, where 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.120 do you think Derek Chauvin would be. He'd probably be 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:48.120 someplace with a promotion, because he had been consistently promoted 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:52.520 over the course of his time in the police department. 0:09:54.840 --> 0:10:00.559 So here we have now fast forward, not even a 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.880 decade removed from the murder of treyvon Martin, not even 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.559 you know, a little over a year plus a year 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:11.880 and a half since the murder of George Floyd. And 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:17.120 here we are. We got multiple cases. Right now. You 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:22.600 have the trial of those who murdered Ahmad Aubrey saying 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.800 that they were trying to make a citizen's arrest because 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.320 white people feel that if they don't like a black 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.800 person in their space, in their face, that they can 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.160 just kill them, that they can corner you, run us 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:42.240 down like fucking animals and do what they will. Because again, 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:49.880 without the public outrage and outcry, we would have taken 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.199 and by we, I mean America would have taken again 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:57.240 what the police officers wrote down. Even though those fucking 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:01.760 brothers were covered in blood, they were allowed to go 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:07.400 home that day because we believe whiteness above all else. 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:13.480 So no, I'm not spending my energy sitting in front 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:19.319 of the television taking consistent notes watching how our injustice 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:25.080 system ruins the lives of so many black and brown men, 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:30.760 women and children, and uplifts the lives of white murderers, 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:37.280 known murderers. Cutlon Rittenhouse was out drinking beers in a bar. 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:42.040 He wasn't even romanded to prison, seen as a threat 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:48.199 to society over the last year. No, he was at home, 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:53.000 he was hanging out, he was kicking at It is 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.480 amazing to me. And I know that I say this often, 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:01.080 the grace and the patience and the loving highness that 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:03.720 the black community shows this country, because I got to 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.440 tell you there are days when I do not have 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:11.040 that strength to muster, and on those days, I stay 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:15.280 the fuck home, Because I got to tell you that 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:26.320 when I think just about the last four years, when 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.599 I think about the fact that I believe America to 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:37.199 be a just volcano that is simmering right, bubbling up 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:43.680 these different bubble points, just waiting to erupt, they have 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:47.800 the audacity to call out the National Guard with Kyle Writtenhouse. 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.480 You wouldn't need the National Guard if we actually believed 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.840 in our justice system, and we don't even question that, right, 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.520 Why do you need to call the police? Oh? Because 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.800 it's black people that are so fucking violent, or an 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:07.480 entire white supremist injustice system that we know that we 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.560 cannot trust, and yet you don't see us popping off 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.800 on a day to day basis against this oppressive system 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:21.120 that literally tries to murder us each and every day, 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.240 whether it's a cop pulling somebody over on a highway, 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:30.200 a white vigilante deciding to run somebody down, the dismissiveness, 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:35.679 or the constant calling of police by the Karens. Even 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.400 if you are asleep in your own bed, like Brianna Taylor, 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.800 even if you are in your own home, you can 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.920 be gunned down. So there is no safe space. And 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:52.120 I want people to think about that about if you 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.920 are not black or brown or from a marginalized community, 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:00.320 think about what it means to be in your home, 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.600 to be in your skin, and know that there is 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:09.240 no safe space for you to exist in that At 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.440 any moment, someone who doesn't like the way that you look, 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.120 doesn't like how loud your music is, doesn't like the 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:20.480 way that you speak, doesn't want your presence, can take 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.200 you out and there will be no justice to follow. 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.320 That's what it's like to be black and Brown in America. 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:33.520 It's amazing that we can find joy. And that's why 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:37.080 I say what supremacy is not going to take my 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:41.720 focus and attention away from me? All day every day, 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.520 I do my work, I do my research and my analysis. 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:47.600 But do you know where my focus and my center 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.720 is in my friends, in my family and my loved ones. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:58.040 That's where I have moved to in these days. I 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:00.880 used to stay in the state aid of rage, and 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.960 what I realize is just how unhealthy and toxic it was, 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:11.160 because that's what they want. They want me fearful, they 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.680 want me small, they want me to believe that I 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:20.000 have no access and no rights. But even in the 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:23.800 midst of the most cruel and unjust system of slavery, 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:35.320 my ancestors were jumping brooms to commemorate their weddings. We're 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:42.280 creating loving families and bonds and rituals, even if by 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:47.160 day they're being lashed and beaten and raped. They refuse 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:51.160 to have the entirety of their humanity stripped from them. 0:15:54.160 --> 0:16:01.040 That is what I call generational strength. So these cases 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:06.400 will continue to happen, and once this case is done, 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:10.720 there will be several more. For every single headline that 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.040 we all collectively know understand that there are hundreds that 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:20.760 we will never and so do your best to put 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.200 your focus and your energy where it is needed. And 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.080 again that does not mean not to tap in, but 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:31.040 it means to understand and know when to tap out. 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:38.040 Because I'm choosing in these days not to fight fire 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:42.880 with fire, because I refuse to burn out. But I'm 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.360 going to fight their hate and their fire and their 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:51.440 vituol with my unrelenting joy, and I hope that you 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.880 all choose to do the same. Coming up next is 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:59.400 my conversation with our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel, 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.400 where we will talk about what else but the failings 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.760 of the Democratic Party and whether or not we've lost 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:12.800 the midterm elections before they've even started. Folks, you know 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.879 that when it is a Wednesday, I'm always so happy 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.240 to be joined by our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel, 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.920 who runs us through the gamut of COVID and democratic 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:26.080 messaging and why, why why we may be headed off 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:28.119 of a cliff, you know, the one that I'm trying 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:35.360 I constantly scream about on a regular basis, Jonathan. So Democrats, 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.240 we finally got an infrastructure bill passed I don't want 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.600 to breathe over that and think that it wasn't a 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.800 big deal. It was what seemed like months of negotiations 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.960 in order to get this bipartisan bill done. To me, 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.120 to be honest, I could give a damn about whether 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.720 it was bipartisan or not. I wanted it to be progressive. 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.760 I wanted it to be as big as the New Deal. 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.640 I wanted it to matter to the American people that 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.600 risk their lives in a pandemic to vote for Joe 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.879 Biden and Kamala Harris to get things done, to switch 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:10.879 over from the Trump nightmare into a better future. What 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.840 are your feelings about where we have landed right now 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:20.000 with this administration, given that both the president and the 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:25.160 vice president's numbers polling numbers not great. Democrats as a whole, 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.480 they're polling numbers not great, and as we get ready 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.880 to change the calendar year, we know that we are 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:35.960 revving up for midterm elections. Oh man, where am I 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:39.280 going to start here? I mean, we really have a 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.680 lot to talk about. I mean, so I'll just say 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.639 a couple things. First of all, I'm doing a focus 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.679 group project across the South right now, interviewing people about 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.040 the stimulus. Right, So this is not the infrastructure. And 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.720 as you know, I have strong opinions that they should 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:59.240 have passed the damn infrastructure three months ago, but the stimulus. 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:03.200 And the thing is, I've interviewed tons of people who 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.240 are conservative who are here and I'm doing most of 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.320 the interviews in Kentucky and Tennessee. And the kind of 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.600 standard interview is either I got money from the stimulus, 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.359 but that's what tanked the economy and so I'm against 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.320 the whole thing. Or I lost my job for four months. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.640 The stimulus got me through, but people are getting addicted 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:27.040 to federal money and I'm against the stimulus. In other words, 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.480 I've done like hundreds of interviews now where people are. 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.320 They actually hate the Democrats for the free money that 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:37.840 they gave them. And so I think that's important for 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.439 two reasons. Number one is, don't tell me that passing 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:45.560 an infrastructure bill now without messaging is going to make 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.159 any difference. It's not going to make any difference, I'm unfortunately. 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:50.320 And so when I see that the Democrats are going 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:54.840 to run on the infrastructure bill, I'm like, no, don't 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.119 do that without without without shaping the narrative, just because 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:01.160 just telling people you're giving them in this economy at 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.080 this moment is not a winning argument for a lot 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.359 of people. And number two is I realized there's a 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:10.760 lot of underlying ideologies. You know, it was pretty racist. 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.200 A lot of the stuff like people would say, oh, 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.880 you know, I'm getting back on my feet, but those 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.160 other people who are having twelve kids, they're getting addicted 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:21.800 to federal money. The language of addiction goes back to 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:23.880 like the welfare queen blah blah blah, that kind of thing. 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:26.960 But leaving that aside, which of course you can't, the 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.919 point is also the Democrats gave nobody an alternative narrative. 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.120 They didn't frame the narrative. They were just like, here's money, 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:35.560 because it's good, and don't you want money? So the 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.240 Republicans are great at like no matter what it is, 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.720 and usually it's like here's a bowl of like shit stew, 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:45.080 but right, But what they're doing is they're saying, here's 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.200 the narrative, you can understand it. Democrats are like, well, 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.280 of course, of course you want healthcare because we're all 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:53.240 human and you're going to figure that on your own. 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:56.000 So the issue is what I saw even with free 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.480 money from the government when people needed it, without shaping 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:03.600 the narrative of what that meant. It actually it didn't. 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:06.040 It didn't make a difference. It opened up for all 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:07.440 the other crap. And I feel like we're doing the 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.320 same thing with the infrastructure, which is yes, it gave 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:12.399 people something to run on. Now. Of course, as you know, 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:14.760 I think we should have passed the damn thing three 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:18.159 months ago so we could have shaped the narrative. But 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:20.479 now we passed it at a time where we're behind 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:23.160 the eight ball, and so I have strong opinions about 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.119 how we could be messaging in swing states, and let 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:28.040 me just say, it's not. It's not what we're doing now. 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:30.600 So I'm I mean, of course you're it's good to 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:32.159 be nervous. I'm glad like you and I have a 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:35.399 lot of company in the nervous category right now. But 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:38.040 people should be nervous because even at this moment where 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:40.680 we're doing something good, we're not shaping the narrative. And 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:43.280 I think that's that's a major mistake. Again, let me 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.760 ask you this so in these conversations, because I'm blown away, 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.800 first of all, that even when you give people shit 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:53.280 for free, that that the people that you are talking 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:57.840 to are aggravated by getting their money right, because this 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:00.920 is what it is when you got the bid stimulus, 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.920 that is your return tax dollars that you work for 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:07.240 getting it back, as opposed to it going to provide 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:10.680 tax breaks to the rich. So I'm confused about how 0:22:10.840 --> 0:22:16.480 many people were in economic downturns. Right. We saw lines 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:20.640 of people wrapped around food pantries for miles and miles 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:24.159 at a time. We saw millions of people lose their jobs. 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:28.560 So just clarify for me, you know, how is it 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:32.320 that these people I mean, like what I'm hearing, Jonathan, 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:35.239 I guess with the folks that you interview, you know, 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:39.280 across the rust belt around the country, in southern places, 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:42.560 is that they really just genuinely are willing to die 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:45.640 of whiteness, like it doesn't matter. Like is there anything 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:48.640 that you are hearing that would lend you to believe 0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:51.720 that there is a narrative that Democrats can offer that 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:53.960 isn't just going to have these people cut off their 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:57.720 nose despite their face. Because if I'm saying to you, 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:01.080 you need help, and here is the federal government to 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:04.280 help you, but you are more concerned with being a 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.280 racist and making sure that no one else provides help. 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:11.320 There's no narrative I'm offering you other than oh, the 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:14.320 only the only people getting the economic stimulus are white people, 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:16.639 because you guys are deserving and no one else is 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:19.200 going to get anything. And then they would come running 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:24.200 out and probably throw a parade for Biden. I mean, 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:27.160 our goal is to win elections, and to win elections, 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:29.960 you've got to convince the people in the middle and 0:23:30.200 --> 0:23:35.600 solidify your base right and so are if we just thought, oh, 0:23:35.640 --> 0:23:40.200 everybody's fixed in their racist ways, which they are, we 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:42.320 you know we were not going to So our goal 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:45.400 is to win elections, and so how do we address 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:49.679 our core base right and particularly right now, particularly voters 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:53.359 of color. You know, Democrats are at risk of selling 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:55.760 them out, to be honest, So how do you do that? 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:59.399 But also, and there are a lot it's not just 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:01.240 it's not just one race of people. There are a 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:03.320 lot of people who are in the middle, who are 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:07.600 worried about inflation, who are worried about the economy, all 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:09.920 this kind of stuff. So how do you solidify that? Well, 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:12.560 Number one, you have one coherent party narrative. You don't 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:14.639 have seventy the way the Democrats do, right now, that's 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:18.760 number one. But number two is you kind of anticipate, 0:24:19.440 --> 0:24:21.959 You kind of anticipate some of this stuff with themes 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:23.679 I mean I'm seeing this with I mean, we're going 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:26.600 to lose abortion now. It seems like a gun deal. 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:29.520 But if you ask people, does a woman have a 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:32.840 right to an abortion or if you ask people to 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:35.679 do a woman and her doctor have the right to 0:24:35.760 --> 0:24:41.280 make a decision within the privacy of the doctor's exam 0:24:41.359 --> 0:24:43.679 room that works best for the women the second question, 0:24:44.040 --> 0:24:46.000 eighty percent of the people will agree with the second question, 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:47.720 even if thirty percent of people will agree with the 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:50.520 first question. Right. In other words, the way you frame 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:54.080 this stuff really shapes that you have to understand. Oh yeah, 0:24:54.080 --> 0:24:56.720 half the country they care about autonomy and liberty and 0:24:56.800 --> 0:25:00.080 personal decision and so how you frame it matters. And 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:02.199 it's the same with free money, Believe it or not. 0:25:03.000 --> 0:25:06.959 Free money has a really complicated history, as does free healthcare. 0:25:07.000 --> 0:25:09.800 Well that's what I found in my research because it 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:13.880 ties into government networks and r all these kind of things. 0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:16.480 But the problem is, if you know that about your audience, 0:25:17.000 --> 0:25:20.280 you should actually work it to your advantage, right, so 0:25:20.320 --> 0:25:22.200 they'll vote for you and support you. That's the goal, 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:23.919 so you can do more shit you want to do. 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:27.040 And so part of the issue is I just saw 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:29.520 with the Affordable Care Act, if we said, oh, we're 0:25:29.520 --> 0:25:32.680 building a big community network because health is a human 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:34.800 right and all that, well, that shit works in New York. 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:37.040 It doesn't work here in the South. It really doesn't. 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:39.359