Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wika F Daily with
Speaker 1: Meet your Girl Danielle Moody recording from the Long Island Bunker. Folks,
Speaker 1: as we close out this Pride Month on woka F,
Speaker 1: I want to share some of my thoughts and reflections
Speaker 1: on our theme that we started the month with, which
Speaker 1: is that Pride is a riot right. Pride started out
Speaker 1: as a activation point when you know, Marsha P. Johnson,
Speaker 1: black trans woman, and others had had enough of being
Speaker 1: bullied by police, of being beaten, of being oppressed, of
Speaker 1: having their just basic human dignity stripped away because they
Speaker 1: had the audacity to be out and queer in a
Speaker 1: world that refuses to see them. And what is unfortunate
Speaker 1: is that, for the first time in my life, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure for the first time in your lives, we
Speaker 1: are living at a time when it isn't about progression anymore.
Speaker 1: It isn't about expansion of rights that were denied marginalized
Speaker 1: people because at the writing of this constitution you had
Speaker 1: the white men that were in power who owned other people,
Speaker 1: telling us what the laws should look like in a
Speaker 1: democratic land. I mean, let that just sink in. And
Speaker 1: now you have a radicalized, corrupt Supreme Court who is
Speaker 1: deciding that there is no precedent and they are going
Speaker 1: to be the originalist. So essentially, I don't know what
Speaker 1: the Clarence Thomas is doing on the Supreme Court, because
Speaker 1: you know, if they want to be that original then
Speaker 1: maybe I don't know. Slavery should come back, right, and
Speaker 1: so he should have no voice and have no place.
Speaker 1: I think about how hard the LGBTQ community has fought
Speaker 1: over the last several decades, and the part, the small
Speaker 1: part that I have played in the fight for marriage equality,
Speaker 1: in the fight for dignity, respect and humanity as a
Speaker 1: voice of the community. And I think that for a while, right,
Speaker 1: and I've said this before on this show, that during
Speaker 1: the Obama years, we all got comfortable because we had
Speaker 1: felt that there had been decades of fighting, decades of blood,
Speaker 1: decades of loss. I mean, if you would think about
Speaker 1: the first pandemic to hit this country was the AIDS epidemic,
Speaker 1: and because of who it was killing initially, the Reagan
Speaker 1: administration didn't give a fuck, right, they wouldn't even utter
Speaker 1: the word AIDS. So let it wipe out the queer
Speaker 1: community that we think is an abomination anyway. That tells
Speaker 1: you who these people are, that regardless of their sexual
Speaker 1: orientation or gender identity, they were human beings that were
Speaker 1: dying literally in the streets, and the President of the
Speaker 1: United States could have given a shit right. During the
Speaker 1: Obama years fast forward, we thought that we had arrived,
Speaker 1: that we had gotten to this place where equity and
Speaker 1: justice was going, was it within our reach, and that
Speaker 1: we were seeing it. We were celebrating, And then we
Speaker 1: got complacent because we believe that once things were codified
Speaker 1: into law, which they are not, but once the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court had made this decision to respect the rights of
Speaker 1: human beings, that we would never be living at a
Speaker 1: time when that same body would be the body to
Speaker 1: take away constitutional rights that are earned. So I sit
Speaker 1: here today on the last day of Pride, and I'm
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, we have to riot, we have to
Speaker 1: get out into the streets. We have to recognize that
Speaker 1: the powers that the supposed founding fathers of this nation
Speaker 1: granted the people was that the will of the people
Speaker 1: were going to move the representatives of this country and
Speaker 1: not the other fucking way around. And the thing is
Speaker 1: is that I think that our representatives have gotten way
Speaker 1: too fucking comfortable right that, I've gotten a series of
Speaker 1: emails and text messages from the Biden administration, from Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, miss me with your bullshit. I don't
Speaker 1: want you all in power anymore, and I don't want
Speaker 1: to give you power anymore. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: I'm reclaiming my motherfucking time and my mother fucking energy,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to put that into state and local
Speaker 1: work right into doing the best that I can to
Speaker 1: protect my little community, my hub, my space, because you
Speaker 1: all don't do dick with the power that is given
Speaker 1: to you. And so unless the people decide that we
Speaker 1: have had enough of feckless fucking leadership, until the people
Speaker 1: decide that we have had enough of people giving us
Speaker 1: lip service and then doing nothing with the power that
Speaker 1: we have given them, you know, I want to tell
Speaker 1: you this. Kamala Harris went on and did an interview
Speaker 1: with Dana Bash on CNN following the Roe v. Wade decision,
Speaker 1: and Dana Bash asked a very basic fucking question, what
Speaker 1: do you say to Democrats who voted to get you
Speaker 1: in office, who voted for a democratic House, who voted
Speaker 1: for the democratic control of the Senate and are saying,
Speaker 1: do something, do something now. Vice President Harris's response to
Speaker 1: that very clear question was do what now? You're the
Speaker 1: vice president of the United States. The last time I checked,
Speaker 1: this wasn't just a figurehead position, right that the president
Speaker 1: and the vice president of these United States have the
Speaker 1: power to get things done, but need the actual will
Speaker 1: to do so. The democratic establishment is sitting around, and
Speaker 1: even Republicans, as my colleague on the other show that
Speaker 1: I do democracy Ish said, even Republicans are saying in
Speaker 1: quiet like, I can't believe Democrats aren't pushing back more
Speaker 1: as to what is happening right now? Yeah, so are
Speaker 1: the rest of us sending a fundraising fucking email about
Speaker 1: Roe v. Wade instead of putting it together an action plan,
Speaker 1: instead of putting abortion clinics on, like stay fucking lines
Speaker 1: right so that people don't have to figure out how
Speaker 1: they're going to travel cross state lines, get plane tickets,
Speaker 1: and do all of these things. Figuring out the strategic, creative,
Speaker 1: innovative ways to fucking protect the very people that voted
Speaker 1: for you, instead of throwing up your hands and saying,
Speaker 1: do what now, then get the fuck out of the way,
Speaker 1: Because I am coming this close to starting to actively
Speaker 1: call for Democrats who actually give a shit, like Alexandrio
Speaker 1: Cassio Cortez and Cory Bush and the others, to fucking
Speaker 1: mobilize the Third Party, because I am so tired of
Speaker 1: being told what Democrats can't do and what they're unwilling
Speaker 1: to do because those that are in leadership are wealthy,
Speaker 1: and they are white, and they are protected, and they
Speaker 1: think that the rest of us, oh, you'll get another
Speaker 1: shot at some point. But what is how opening in
Speaker 1: this country? Now? What we the rest of us are
Speaker 1: going to have to live with for the next thirty
Speaker 1: forty fifty years, they'll be long dead and gone, so
Speaker 1: they could really care less. So without the actions of
Speaker 1: people recognizing that it is time for us to hit
Speaker 1: these streets, It's time for a national fucking work boycott.
Speaker 1: It's time for us to shut this ship down and
Speaker 1: to remind these elected officials who exactly they work for.
Speaker 1: And I'm saying, you know, I don't advocate for violence
Speaker 1: at all. I don't advocate for violence, but I want
Speaker 1: to be very clear that the right does that they
Speaker 1: are advocating for violence. That each and every measure that
Speaker 1: you are seeing coming out of this Supreme Court. Each
Speaker 1: and everything that you're seeing coming out of the mouths
Speaker 1: of Republican candidates is a flare. Is a signal to
Speaker 1: what they are willing to do and how far they
Speaker 1: are willing to go in order to control this country
Speaker 1: and everyone and everything in it. So if we're not
Speaker 1: ready and willing, right, everyone needs to start thinking about
Speaker 1: what they're going to be willing to sacrifice and stand
Speaker 1: up for in order to fight for our freedom, because
Speaker 1: it's going to be us on the front lines, not
Speaker 1: these elected officials that are sitting up in their fucking
Speaker 1: ivory towers, praying and wagging their fingers at their opponents
Speaker 1: that literally seventeen months ago tried to fucking kill them.
Speaker 1: If that wasn't a wake up call, I don't know
Speaker 1: what the hell is, but I know the rest of
Speaker 1: us are not hitting snooze anymore. Coming up next, my
Speaker 1: conversation with Representative Liz Bennett, who will be who just
Speaker 1: won her state Senate primary and if she wins come November,
Speaker 1: will be the first out LGBTQ member of the Iowa
Speaker 1: State Senate. We get into a conversation about how important
Speaker 1: states are right now and what she sees as she
Speaker 1: is campaigning on the ground in Iowa about the sense
Speaker 1: of urgency that people have. That conversation is coming up next.
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Speaker 1: slates political gabfest. As another election season accelerates, it can
Speaker 1: be tricky to sort through all the noise and the news.
Speaker 1: Each week on the gap Fest, John Dickerson, Emily Bathlon
Speaker 1: and I decipher the headlines, break down the races, and
Speaker 1: tell you what issues really matter. We do not always agree,
Speaker 1: We definitely do not always agree, but we always deliver
Speaker 1: thoughtful debate and we always have a good time. So
Speaker 1: subscribe to Slate's Political Gapfest, new episodes every Thursday, Folks.
Speaker 1: I'm very happy to welcome to woke f Daily for
Speaker 1: the first time, Representative Liz Bennett, who is running for
Speaker 1: State Senate in Iowa and is the will be let's
Speaker 1: speak good things into the universe, will be the first
Speaker 1: out LGBTQ woman to be in the state Senate if
Speaker 1: you win your the general election. Has been a representative
Speaker 1: in the House of the Iowa House since twenty fourteen
Speaker 1: when you were first elected, Representative Bennett, tell me the
Speaker 1: significance of that historic win for you and also for
Speaker 1: the state of Iowa. Absolutely. You know, Daniel, only think
Speaker 1: representation matters, and I don't think I realized that as
Speaker 1: much until after I got elected. You know, when you
Speaker 1: are a queer woman and you're running for office, you
Speaker 1: can often be reduced to certain aspects of your identity.
Speaker 1: So I felt like when I was running, I had
Speaker 1: to extra extra lean on other things, you know, other
Speaker 1: aspects of my identity. You know, of course I inhabit
Speaker 1: the space of a queer woman in Iowa. But really
Speaker 1: I was running. I was running on more economic issues.
Speaker 1: I was running on raising the minimum wage, I was
Speaker 1: running on climate change, I was running on early childhood education,
Speaker 1: et cetera. But I felt like I had to be
Speaker 1: extra conscious of, you know, kind of quote unquote not
Speaker 1: making an issue of the queer thing. We'll just say,
Speaker 1: you know, So the first year that I was there,
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean I was out and everything, but
Speaker 1: I just really hardly talked about it. That started to
Speaker 1: change for me when school counselors who were bringing field
Speaker 1: trips to the capitol would reach out and say, hey,
Speaker 1: I heard that you are a member of the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 1: I have some students who I think would really benefit
Speaker 1: from speaking with you. And so just as that started
Speaker 1: to happen over time and I started to speak as events,
Speaker 1: I started to see how important it really was, you know,
Speaker 1: to be out and proud in that role, especially in
Speaker 1: the state of Iowa. You know, was it initially the
Speaker 1: desire not to make it front and center. Was it
Speaker 1: because of fear right that you know, the folks, the
Speaker 1: hetero folks in Iowa would say, oh my god, we
Speaker 1: can't possibly have this out queer woman, you know, representing us.
Speaker 1: Or did you just not see it as necessary? Because
Speaker 1: there there are there are different reasons why, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: candidates make the decisions that they do. So I just
Speaker 1: want to understand what your initial thought was and then
Speaker 1: the and then the shift. Yeah. Absolutely so, No, it
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily a fear on issue at all. I'm very lucky.
Speaker 1: Um I got my start in politics, really, um my
Speaker 1: real start, you know, as a Stonewall Stonewall Democrat, Um,
Speaker 1: I worked to protect marriage of quality in the state
Speaker 1: of Iowa. So really the network that I had built
Speaker 1: was built around that training, mobilizing, voter identification, old fundraising
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. So it wasn't that you know,
Speaker 1: I was afraid or anything, because I you know, I
Speaker 1: was a small place. You know, everybody knew. But it
Speaker 1: was more of the feeling that, um, you know that
Speaker 1: aspect of a person's identity, it can just really become
Speaker 1: front and center in a person's mind. And unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 1: there's certain issues for which a person would not be told,
Speaker 1: m oh, well that's less important or people don't really
Speaker 1: care about that, you know, but I think issues pertaining
Speaker 1: to marginalize people are still given that treatment. So I
Speaker 1: felt like I really had to prove and remind people, Hey,
Speaker 1: I am a female trainer for a technology company here
Speaker 1: in Iowa. You know, I'm working with people. Some of
Speaker 1: these folks this is going to be their first family
Speaker 1: sustaining job. You know, I've competed in this environment. I'm
Speaker 1: taking the perspective of a young professional to the state legislature.
Speaker 1: I'm taking the perspective of somebody who chose to stay
Speaker 1: in Iowa after graduation, who knows what it's like to
Speaker 1: you know, have to work extra shifts to pay your phone,
Speaker 1: both things like that. You know, I really had to
Speaker 1: remind people that I'm a fully fledged person with a
Speaker 1: lot of different experiences that connect to the struggles that
Speaker 1: we're all facing. You know, what we are learning right
Speaker 1: with these horrific decisions that have been brought down by
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court and kind of, in my humble opinion,
Speaker 1: currently a very ineffectual administration is that the power really
Speaker 1: is in the States. So can you talk to us
Speaker 1: about the importance right of of people like yourself being
Speaker 1: in the state legislature and the impact UM that is
Speaker 1: necessary to fight back against what we are seeing at
Speaker 1: the UM at the federal at the federal level. Absolutely, Daniel,
Speaker 1: I'm incredibly passionate about this, and I'm so glad that
Speaker 1: you that you asked about it because you know, I
Speaker 1: think even before I ran for office, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: I think with my experience here working on marriage equality
Speaker 1: in Iowa, you know, something that kind of shocked everybody nationwide. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, even when New York states UM legalize marriage
Speaker 1: between same same sex people. UM, it was one of
Speaker 1: those like underhanded, you know, kind of shade comments where
Speaker 1: they said, come on, even Iowa has this, but what
Speaker 1: that right? Right? I was like, yeah, okay, whatever, you
Speaker 1: don't know, you don't know anything about us, but whatever, right,
Speaker 1: you know. But that's just a small illustration of of
Speaker 1: you know, especially for folks who are living in really
Speaker 1: difficult states and difficult political situations. UM, the progressive activism
Speaker 1: there really makes a difference. You know, polsters are looking
Speaker 1: at what people believe in some of these states. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, in a state like Iowa, you know, we
Speaker 1: still are currently first in the nation with the Caucuses. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, so what happens here, you know, for me,
Speaker 1: really is a way to influence what happens in the
Speaker 1: rest of the nation. Um. You know now that we
Speaker 1: don't have a right to privacy, apparently now that your
Speaker 1: trash can has more of an expectation of privacy than
Speaker 1: your uterus. Damn, it's right. It's mind blowing. It's it's
Speaker 1: just mind blowing. It's one of these things. You know,
Speaker 1: maybe you feel like this sometimes, Daniel. We know these things,
Speaker 1: you know, we know these things, but I think it's
Speaker 1: a coping mechanism. It's almost like it's still unbelievable or
Speaker 1: it's still shocking. And I really think that's because it
Speaker 1: really is so much to internalize that, like literally, a
Speaker 1: trash can, a trash can, a corpse has has more rights. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, So when we're talking about getting thrown back
Speaker 1: to the States, Um, you know, people have to know
Speaker 1: that what has happened at the federal level is the
Speaker 1: result of a concerted effort unfortunately by people. We know,
Speaker 1: people we say at the gas station, yep, our neighbors,
Speaker 1: our friends, our family members, and so what that means
Speaker 1: is that we have to get active in our communities. Um.
Speaker 1: That's gonna look like grassroots organizing in my opinion. UM,
Speaker 1: it's gonna look like looking really looking at the numbers
Speaker 1: and statewide organizations, looking at realistically what state legislative seats
Speaker 1: could be could be turned or kept with additional capacity
Speaker 1: and funds. It's gonna look like you know, for forty
Speaker 1: nine years, the right has been looking at building their
Speaker 1: bench and not allowing people to get away with saying
Speaker 1: things like, oh well, on the city council level, I
Speaker 1: would never have to make a decision on that, or
Speaker 1: this is a nonpartisan office. Um. You know, we hear
Speaker 1: that all the time. But we know that these local
Speaker 1: races are a springboard, you know, to state in national politics.
Speaker 1: And we also know that locally elected officials m you know,
Speaker 1: who are on more directly answerable to citizens, can actually
Speaker 1: make decisions. I mean, locally electeds can make zoning decisions. Um, yep,
Speaker 1: you know they can. They can make curriculum decisions, yep.
Speaker 1: Um you know county attorneys um, you know, and even
Speaker 1: attorneys general of states can make decisions on what is
Speaker 1: prosecuted um in your state. Um, you know we I
Speaker 1: think we've talked about this a lot um, but you know,
Speaker 1: your mayor and your city council, UM, they can hire
Speaker 1: and fire the people who work for the police department. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, so your county attorney, your your local elected officials,
Speaker 1: your police, you know on up to your state legislative officials.
Speaker 1: We really can make a difference in those races. One
Speaker 1: of the questions that I am listening to people ask
Speaker 1: these days is about the sustaining the anger right, sustaining
Speaker 1: the rage, sustaining the fury that we have right now,
Speaker 1: recognizing that a body of people who are not elected
Speaker 1: by the people have the ability to strip away our
Speaker 1: rights as they see fit, and they have made no
Speaker 1: small qualms that the Supreme Court is about to roll
Speaker 1: back a series of protections that have been won over
Speaker 1: the last fifty, you know, two one hundred years. So
Speaker 1: my question for you is, what do you believe is
Speaker 1: going to activate the Democrats and the independence in your state?
Speaker 1: What do you think is going to sustain them to November?
Speaker 1: Right to recognize what they have to do in order
Speaker 1: for there to be continued progress. Here's the deal. I've
Speaker 1: always told people that that I would be honest with
Speaker 1: them and not bullshit them. Danielle, I am honestly working
Speaker 1: that out. I am trying to figure it out right
Speaker 1: now because my biggest worry is that, you know, again,
Speaker 1: maybe it's kind of a trauma response. Um, I'm still
Speaker 1: hearing people say, oh, that would never happen here. I
Speaker 1: don't get it. I don't get how. I don't get
Speaker 1: how people can still say that after last week. I
Speaker 1: just don't get it. I think another another thing that
Speaker 1: I need to go away because we have to be
Speaker 1: real with ourselves right now. We have to be real
Speaker 1: with ourselves. We have to be real with our friends
Speaker 1: or family members, etc. Um. You know, a big motivator
Speaker 1: for me in my life is really thinking about like
Speaker 1: when you look back on your life, you know, and
Speaker 1: and look back at the conflicts of your time, what
Speaker 1: will you have done? You know? And for me you know?
Speaker 1: And this this is as a you know, a young
Speaker 1: activist all the way up until now. Am I going
Speaker 1: to feel okay with it? Um? If I shrugged my
Speaker 1: shoulders or made an excuse us, etc. And I mean
Speaker 1: that is something that I have said to people in
Speaker 1: the past when I'm asking them to get involved and
Speaker 1: to do grassroots work. And as people have told me, like, well,
Speaker 1: you're using guilt, you're using fear. No, I'm talking to
Speaker 1: you about reality, and no one is doing you a
Speaker 1: favor by not telling you the reality and allowing you
Speaker 1: to make a choice. You know. So I I am
Speaker 1: honestly still trying to wrap my head around what if
Speaker 1: actually going to be because you know, some people in
Speaker 1: political science research have opined, you know, or whatever, written
Speaker 1: that there seems to be a fundamental personality difference or
Speaker 1: kind of a difference in what we value and prioritize.
Speaker 1: I'm depending on where we fall at in the political spectrum, yep,
Speaker 1: you know. So somehow or another, we have to somehow
Speaker 1: figure out how to take who we are as people
Speaker 1: who are left of center and make it sustainable. UM.
Speaker 1: I do think that, um, you know, for both the
Speaker 1: state and the national party. Um. This kind of what
Speaker 1: I see in my role is this kind of every
Speaker 1: two year cycle of like okay, okay, everybody, this time,
Speaker 1: this time, we're going to flip one of the chambers.
Speaker 1: That's that's what we're gonna be doing. Um. I think
Speaker 1: that we're we need to reorient ourselves. The time has
Speaker 1: passed for us to rewarient ourselves yep, and really sit
Speaker 1: and say, we are going to have to have some
Speaker 1: intestinal fortitude. Um. We need to define the long term
Speaker 1: mission and we need to be able to know what
Speaker 1: the pieces along the way are. Um, this is what
Speaker 1: the anti choice movement did. You know, they've known that
Speaker 1: They've just been chipping away, chipping away, putting things into
Speaker 1: place over the long term. But I think a lot
Speaker 1: of times for people who are left of center, um,
Speaker 1: you know, we kind of need that that immediate feel
Speaker 1: good or that immediate victory. Otherwise we are really proud
Speaker 1: to being like, oh, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: if I do anything. Um, I have news for you, m.
Speaker 1: Voter suppression laws all across the nation are not being
Speaker 1: pushed because it doesn't matter if we vote. Like, don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong, I'm not one of the people who's
Speaker 1: just shouting, oh, we'll just you know, just vote, it'll
Speaker 1: fix everything. No, we have a lot harder, you know,
Speaker 1: road to hell than that. Yep, yep. But I I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna be straight up. Anybody saying that it doesn't matter,
Speaker 1: I think for some people that's a very privileged perspective. Um,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a trauma response for some people, and for
Speaker 1: other people it's a lazy perspective. You know. One of
Speaker 1: the questions that I want to ask you too is
Speaker 1: that you know your state is very white, right and
Speaker 1: as a as a black queer woman, Um, when I
Speaker 1: am in bipoc circles, there is a sense there has
Speaker 1: always been a sense of urgency because our rights have
Speaker 1: always been up for grabs and decisions are compromises are
Speaker 1: always made on the backs of black and brown people
Speaker 1: and queer people. And so you know, when you are
Speaker 1: going door to door, when you are in you know,
Speaker 1: your town halls, as you are, as you are campaigning,
Speaker 1: what is the sentiment on the ground with people in
Speaker 1: Iowa who are largely white, right, um? And again who
Speaker 1: are are not the target of the of the of
Speaker 1: the radical rights. So is there a sense of urgency?
Speaker 1: And if and if so, what is that urgency around
Speaker 1: you know? That's that's a good question. Um. I think
Speaker 1: it depends on who you talk to. UM. I do
Speaker 1: think that what I have seen in Iowa, um, particularly
Speaker 1: since twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, is I have seen other
Speaker 1: white people actually have the moment where they say, oh shit, Okay,
Speaker 1: you know what this is what people of color have
Speaker 1: been telling us. You know, we didn't see it, we
Speaker 1: didn't understand it, whatever, whatever the reason is, right now
Speaker 1: we see it. Now we see it, you know. And
Speaker 1: so over the past several years, you know, that has
Speaker 1: been a message that I have been using, is like, look,
Speaker 1: people have been telling us, people have been telling us
Speaker 1: whatever it is within us. We did not hear them,
Speaker 1: We did not listen, we did not fully believe them.
Speaker 1: But here it is, um, you know. So we talked
Speaker 1: about that at our rally, you know, on Friday, I
Speaker 1: probably lost a couple of people. Whatever. But I think
Speaker 1: that if we do not like, we are going to
Speaker 1: have to wrestle with and accept that that this issue
Speaker 1: is tied with control over people of color, It's it's
Speaker 1: tied with control over indigenous people. It's it's tied to control. UM.
Speaker 1: So I think some people are doing the work and
Speaker 1: challenging themselves in that way. I think there's still a
Speaker 1: lot of work to be done here, though, honestly, you know,
Speaker 1: what are you what are your I guess what are
Speaker 1: your feelings about this upcoming midterms? Right just across the board,
Speaker 1: not just in your state. For your election, but um,
Speaker 1: nationally for for Democrats. UM. Where we go after here,
Speaker 1: like what what do you what do you first see
Speaker 1: to be the priority for you and you or state
Speaker 1: and the priority nationally for Democrats at moving forward? Right
Speaker 1: to be utirely honest, I'm still figuring that out. Um.
Speaker 1: AOC had a really good Twitter thread on that. Um
Speaker 1: you know, maybe you've seen it. I do think that
Speaker 1: one thing um among both state and national Democratic voters, UM,
Speaker 1: is to refuse to accept, um learning the lesson here,
Speaker 1: but I'm refused to accept like whoa, we don't think
Speaker 1: this is really going to happen. Um, oh this is settled, etc.
Speaker 1: Regardless of the issue. Um. Democrats, when you have power,
Speaker 1: you need to use it. UM, don't don't take Well,
Speaker 1: that would never happen. Um. You know, state legislatures, State
Speaker 1: legislatures have had trifectas like democratic trifectors in the past.
Speaker 1: Um you know. And there's no nobody started a constitutional
Speaker 1: amendment in Iowa. UM, you know, clarifying that abortion is
Speaker 1: a protected right. Um. You know, Democrats in Iowa did
Speaker 1: not pass that legislation. Um, you know. And we're looking
Speaker 1: at what is going on nationally too, UM. I think.
Speaker 1: I think what we are going to have to understand
Speaker 1: is that Republicans know what to do with power, yep.
Speaker 1: And they don't They don't ever seem confused. No, they
Speaker 1: know what to do with power, and they don't get
Speaker 1: lost and this that or the other thing. You know,
Speaker 1: just this hand ringing and humming and hawing and everything
Speaker 1: like that. We are talking about people's lives, you know,
Speaker 1: like whether whether it's children being thrown in cages at
Speaker 1: the border. Um, you know, whether it's Indigenous women being murdered,
Speaker 1: you know, all the people. You know, whether whether it's
Speaker 1: trans women whatever. U. Republicans know what to do with power. UM.
Speaker 1: I think that Democrats are going to have to revocus
Speaker 1: and say we are going to put the blinders on um.
Speaker 1: If and when we get power, we are doing this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, UM. Representative Bennett. I you know, thank you
Speaker 1: for taking the time to join woke FU and you
Speaker 1: know we will put all of the positive energy. Folks,
Speaker 1: if you live in Iowa and you are and you
Speaker 1: are listening, this is an important election that will be
Speaker 1: happening UM in November, and we we wish you well,
Speaker 1: UM and hope to see you on the other side. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for your work, Danielle. It's been
Speaker 1: a pleasure of being here. Thank you. It's no secret
Speaker 1: that the news is horsepill hard to swallow. Thankfully, there's
Speaker 1: The Bituation Room podcast hosted by comedian and commentator Francesca
Speaker 1: free Oranini for a lighter take on the heavy stuff.
Speaker 1: Each week, The Bituation Room brings you progressive comedians, experts,
Speaker 1: and activists to break down the issues in a way
Speaker 1: that won't just leave you crying under a weighted blanket.
Speaker 1: Get the Bituation Room on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and
Speaker 1: streaming on YouTube and Twitch. That is it for me today, Friends,
Speaker 1: on this woke a f as always. Power to the
Speaker 1: people and to all the people. Power, get woke and
Speaker 1: stay woke as fuck.