WEBVTT - Mark Hemingway - How The Left Coast Got Antifa-ed 0:00:11.657 --> 0:00:14.937 You're listening to The Buck Sexton Show podcast, make sure 0:00:14.937 --> 0:00:17.977 you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or 0:00:17.977 --> 0:00:21.337 wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody, welcome to the 0:00:21.457 --> 0:00:24.857 Buck Sexton Show. On this episode, Mark Hemingway is with 0:00:24.977 --> 0:00:29.097 us of Real Clear Investigations. He's also an editor at 0:00:29.177 --> 0:00:34.177 The Federalist and the husband of the formidable Molly Hemingway, 0:00:34.457 --> 0:00:38.297 who is fantastic author and writer in her own right. 0:00:38.897 --> 0:00:42.577 Mister Mark, how are you doing, sir? How is America? 0:00:43.977 --> 0:00:46.777 You know America is hanging on? But yeah, I'm doing 0:00:46.817 --> 0:00:49.937 all right. You know one thing that I know you 0:00:49.977 --> 0:00:53.417 get very focused in on is all the school stuff. 0:00:53.457 --> 0:00:56.457 You've been on the board of a classical school for 0:00:56.577 --> 0:01:00.017 nearly eighteen years. Want to I want you to tell 0:01:00.017 --> 0:01:01.657 me about that, But then I also want to ask 0:01:01.697 --> 0:01:04.897 about you may have seen, you know, Biden is saying 0:01:04.897 --> 0:01:10.377 that it's cruel now to prevent gender transition surgery for kids. 0:01:10.657 --> 0:01:15.057 That's it's cruel to stop kids from getting surgery that 0:01:15.177 --> 0:01:18.017 is going to almost certainly ruin their lives. But anyway, 0:01:18.017 --> 0:01:19.937 well we'll get to that first. Telling me what is it? 0:01:20.017 --> 0:01:22.177 What is this classical school You've been on the board 0:01:22.217 --> 0:01:26.057 of for almost twenty years. Yeah, my church has had 0:01:26.097 --> 0:01:28.537 a school in some form or another for you know, 0:01:28.577 --> 0:01:30.737 nearly one hundred years, like a lot of Lutheran churches. 0:01:32.337 --> 0:01:35.977 But you know, like I think a religious education in 0:01:36.017 --> 0:01:38.457 this country kind of suffered an identity crisis in the 0:01:38.617 --> 0:01:40.657 you know, in the sort of the late twentieth century, 0:01:41.017 --> 0:01:42.857 and you know, our school have gotten very small. We 0:01:42.857 --> 0:01:44.937 were reciting what to do with it, and you know, 0:01:45.737 --> 0:01:47.937 you know, the school population have gotten so low, like 0:01:47.977 --> 0:01:50.617 do we close the school or something. So what we did, 0:01:50.697 --> 0:01:53.617 and this was you know, gosh, eighteen twenty years ago. Now, 0:01:53.737 --> 0:01:56.417 we basically doubled down on the religious emphasis of the 0:01:56.417 --> 0:01:59.177 school and we made it a classical school. Now twenty 0:01:59.257 --> 0:02:01.137 years ago. It's kind of funny because you know, talking 0:02:01.137 --> 0:02:03.857 about classical education like like these days, you know, I 0:02:03.937 --> 0:02:06.217 talked to well educated parents and they know exactly what 0:02:06.297 --> 0:02:09.457 classical educationism and ask me questions like are you teaching 0:02:09.497 --> 0:02:11.657 Saxon or sing a poor math? And they have like 0:02:12.297 --> 0:02:15.297 very opinionated ideas about private schooling because they've had to 0:02:15.377 --> 0:02:17.617 because of the collapse of public education. But at the 0:02:17.617 --> 0:02:19.377 time we did this, we didn't really know what we 0:02:19.377 --> 0:02:22.097 were doing, and we were taking a gamble, and obviously 0:02:22.137 --> 0:02:25.097 with you know, during the pandemic was sort of the culminations. 0:02:25.137 --> 0:02:27.897 I mean, you know, we have a very well regarded 0:02:27.977 --> 0:02:32.057 classical religious school in a Washington, DC suburb, and during 0:02:32.057 --> 0:02:34.297 the pandemic, when all the schools in the Northern Virginia 0:02:34.337 --> 0:02:36.297 were closed, we had to take the application off the 0:02:36.337 --> 0:02:39.817 website at our school, which is crazy. And now like 0:02:39.857 --> 0:02:41.977 getting into private schools in DC in recent years has 0:02:42.017 --> 0:02:44.777 been absolute blood sport, which is just you know, amazing 0:02:44.817 --> 0:02:47.777 to me because you look at how many people in 0:02:47.817 --> 0:02:50.097 the DC area are in somewhere or another, you know, 0:02:50.177 --> 0:02:55.457 responsible for destroying public education, you know, via the Democratic 0:02:55.497 --> 0:02:58.737 Party or teachers unions or whatever it is, and you 0:02:58.737 --> 0:03:00.817 know they're living in an area where you know, nobody 0:03:00.857 --> 0:03:03.377 with any money feels good about sending their kids a 0:03:03.377 --> 0:03:07.057 public school. So, you know, education reformancy has got to 0:03:07.097 --> 0:03:10.377 be a much higher priority than it's been. You know, 0:03:10.577 --> 0:03:17.377 I think that one one constant reality of the public 0:03:17.377 --> 0:03:20.137 school system. And I know there are people always they 0:03:20.177 --> 0:03:22.177 always played this game like we can't speak about this 0:03:22.617 --> 0:03:24.977 with any nuance or or you know, it's always oh, 0:03:25.057 --> 0:03:26.697 but you know I went to a great public school 0:03:26.737 --> 0:03:29.017 or they're great public schools, hear me, Okay, but there 0:03:29.017 --> 0:03:30.657 are also a lot of terrible public schools and they 0:03:30.697 --> 0:03:33.817 never get better. And the fact that the DC public 0:03:33.817 --> 0:03:35.657 if you're right next to Washington, DC, you live right 0:03:35.657 --> 0:03:37.977 outside of DC, I know where you guys are, and 0:03:37.977 --> 0:03:39.697 I know that city pretty well, having lived there a 0:03:39.777 --> 0:03:43.897 couple of times. They've spent don't they spend something like 0:03:43.977 --> 0:03:47.097 in the twenty thousand dollars range per student. It's like 0:03:47.137 --> 0:03:49.937 the highest in the country. And the public school system 0:03:49.977 --> 0:03:53.377 there is is horrible. I remember there was a Washington 0:03:53.377 --> 0:03:55.377 Post story. This is about a decade ago, and so 0:03:55.577 --> 0:03:58.377 I'm sure the figures are certainly much higher now, but Washington, 0:03:58.497 --> 0:04:02.377 DC was spending about thirty thousand dollars per kid. Wow, 0:04:02.377 --> 0:04:04.857 and Washington the Washington DC school district is by several 0:04:04.897 --> 0:04:08.417 objective metrics, the worst school district in the in the country. 0:04:08.497 --> 0:04:10.937 I mean, it's like constantly can eating with school districts, 0:04:10.937 --> 0:04:12.537 and in certain parts of New Jersey for like the 0:04:12.537 --> 0:04:15.457 absolute wrisk performance in terms of dropout rates and stuff 0:04:15.457 --> 0:04:17.497 like that. You know, it's it's also a situation where 0:04:17.737 --> 0:04:19.457 there've been a number of high profile cases in the 0:04:19.497 --> 0:04:22.097 last twenty years of like teachers union corruption, like actual 0:04:22.097 --> 0:04:25.017 embezzlement like millions of dollars and things like that from 0:04:26.257 --> 0:04:29.137 the unions and schools in DC. So, I mean, it's 0:04:29.177 --> 0:04:32.417 just just bad at every level. But what's also interesting though, 0:04:32.457 --> 0:04:35.537 in this area in particular, is that just outside of DC, 0:04:35.737 --> 0:04:38.777 in northern Virginia, you know, in Loudon County, in Fairfax County, 0:04:39.177 --> 0:04:42.257 you had, by some measures, some of the best public 0:04:42.297 --> 0:04:45.057 high schools in the nation. Fairfax County in particular. You know, 0:04:45.057 --> 0:04:47.417 it was always upheld as a model. And what happened. 0:04:48.537 --> 0:04:50.737 A bunch of woke people got elected to the school 0:04:50.737 --> 0:04:52.777 board and like within a span of a few years, 0:04:53.017 --> 0:04:55.257 it's become a national news story what's happened with Loudon 0:04:55.297 --> 0:04:58.257 County schools with the trans bathroom stuff. And then in 0:04:58.297 --> 0:05:02.377 Fairfax County they had this famous magnet school for science 0:05:02.377 --> 0:05:05.817 and Technology, that Thomas Jefferson High School. It's when you know, 0:05:05.857 --> 0:05:07.377 it was an Ivy League feeder school and it was 0:05:07.377 --> 0:05:10.417 a public high school, and the day school board has 0:05:10.417 --> 0:05:13.297 basically tried to destroy merit based admission to it. You 0:05:13.337 --> 0:05:16.337 had to test into it, right, But what happened was 0:05:16.457 --> 0:05:18.377 is because there were a ton of Asian immigrants in 0:05:18.497 --> 0:05:21.537 me in the Northern Virginia, you know, and again these 0:05:21.577 --> 0:05:25.257 are historically discriminated against immigrants. We're taking up all the 0:05:25.337 --> 0:05:28.137 spots in the STEM schools. So all of a sudden 0:05:28.177 --> 0:05:30.297 they had to do away with the merit based admission 0:05:30.337 --> 0:05:32.017 to the school. And that this has been a big fight. 0:05:32.537 --> 0:05:34.737 Um as that school gets, you know, fallow starts to 0:05:34.777 --> 0:05:37.937 fall apart. Um. There's a recent scandal where they didn't 0:05:37.937 --> 0:05:41.217 inform several students because of what looks like because they 0:05:41.217 --> 0:05:43.577 were you know, white or Asian, that they had won 0:05:43.697 --> 0:05:47.017 national merit scholarships. You know, I mean like they're just 0:05:47.217 --> 0:05:49.577 they're just waging war on people. And it's it's it's 0:05:49.577 --> 0:05:52.337 absolutely sounding to me to watch this just implode and 0:05:52.817 --> 0:05:55.537 everyone's sort of standing around, powerless, you know, to do 0:05:55.537 --> 0:05:57.377 anything about it. And I've been screaming for in the 0:05:57.417 --> 0:06:00.257 twenty plus years Republicans need to make an education reform 0:06:00.297 --> 0:06:04.897 a much bigger political priority. How do they do that? Well, 0:06:04.937 --> 0:06:07.457 for one thing, they need to start talking about it. Um. 0:06:07.737 --> 0:06:10.457 You know, obviously there's you know, a war are on 0:06:10.657 --> 0:06:14.337 meritocracy in this country, you know, right now in advance 0:06:14.417 --> 0:06:17.737 for an advance of what looks like there's a potential 0:06:17.777 --> 0:06:19.657 to the Spreme Court to basically, you know, take away 0:06:19.737 --> 0:06:23.697 affirmative action in this country. Ivy League schools even have 0:06:23.777 --> 0:06:25.897 announced they're no longer going to be using SAT scores. 0:06:26.377 --> 0:06:30.057 You know, and I'm sorry, but SAT scores and standardized tasks. Look, 0:06:30.097 --> 0:06:32.577 we all have issues with them. You know, maybe we 0:06:32.617 --> 0:06:34.937 didn't enjoy them, but the fact of the matters is 0:06:35.057 --> 0:06:37.817 SAT scores, for instance, we're a great equalizer. I mean, 0:06:37.817 --> 0:06:39.657 it was a you know, if you were an Asian 0:06:39.657 --> 0:06:42.417 immigrant who spends you know, I don't know, twenty hours 0:06:42.417 --> 0:06:44.177 a week or whatever outside of school, working in your 0:06:44.217 --> 0:06:47.177 family restaurant, you don't have time to burnish your resume 0:06:47.337 --> 0:06:49.897 doing all these fancy extracurriculous that look good on an 0:06:49.897 --> 0:06:52.577 Ivyleague school application. But if you go in and you know, 0:06:52.617 --> 0:06:55.097 you pull a fourteen fifty on the SAT, then you've 0:06:55.097 --> 0:06:57.177 got a shot at getting in an Ivyleague school. Well, 0:06:57.417 --> 0:06:59.497 they do away with the SAT all of a sudden, 0:06:59.497 --> 0:07:01.737 What's all that's going to do is empower you know, 0:07:01.777 --> 0:07:03.977 the kids who have the money and time and resources 0:07:04.177 --> 0:07:06.577 go out and burnish their resume with you know, charity 0:07:06.617 --> 0:07:09.377 work and you know, higher education consultants and all that 0:07:09.417 --> 0:07:12.377 other nonsense you know, involving in schools these days. So 0:07:12.377 --> 0:07:14.337 that's like one issue right there. You just talk about, like, 0:07:14.377 --> 0:07:16.537 you know, why are we doing away with merit based 0:07:16.537 --> 0:07:19.577 admission to you know, like STEM school, Stem high schools, 0:07:19.577 --> 0:07:22.017 now and colleges. You know, just go out there and 0:07:22.057 --> 0:07:25.177 talk about that. I wonder as well. You know, you're 0:07:25.217 --> 0:07:26.697 so you're on the board of this school having for 0:07:26.697 --> 0:07:29.777 a long time of your school attached to your Lutheran church. 0:07:30.857 --> 0:07:32.897 Are there parents who show up at any of the meetings? Now? 0:07:32.937 --> 0:07:35.137 I know it's it's a pre selected group in so 0:07:35.217 --> 0:07:37.097 far as these are people that are choosing to go 0:07:37.137 --> 0:07:41.297 to this school and it's you know, Christian affiliated, But 0:07:41.457 --> 0:07:43.377 is anyone showing up and saying, hey, you know, I 0:07:43.417 --> 0:07:47.537 really think we need to expand gender ideology for the 0:07:47.617 --> 0:07:50.017 kids starting around the third grade? I mean, do you 0:07:50.057 --> 0:07:52.737 come up against that? Uh? I always I find it 0:07:52.777 --> 0:07:55.977 remarkable trying to figure out where does this begin? Because 0:07:55.977 --> 0:07:57.697 we know what happens in a lot of different schools 0:07:57.697 --> 0:08:01.497 across the country where they start the very sexualized books 0:08:01.537 --> 0:08:05.497 for young kids and the LGBTQ plus indoctrination stuff at 0:08:05.537 --> 0:08:07.457 a very young age. Obviously in Florida that calls to 0:08:07.537 --> 0:08:10.497 Hughes fight a huge fight. Do you know, had you 0:08:10.497 --> 0:08:14.017 come across any parents who feel like there's not enough 0:08:14.297 --> 0:08:17.417 of the left wing stuff going on for the kids, 0:08:17.457 --> 0:08:18.697 do you know what I mean? I mean that they're 0:08:18.737 --> 0:08:23.057 not being LGBTQ plus friendly enough or something. There's stuff 0:08:23.057 --> 0:08:25.737 like that, but it's very much confined to the margins. 0:08:26.497 --> 0:08:29.257 One reason why religious schools are good for this sort 0:08:29.297 --> 0:08:30.857 of thing, and if I were, you know, a parent, 0:08:30.897 --> 0:08:32.777 I'd be out there looking for religious that cares about 0:08:32.817 --> 0:08:35.137 these issues. I'd be looking at religious schools is because 0:08:35.537 --> 0:08:38.817 most religious schools are actually controlled by the church. In 0:08:38.897 --> 0:08:40.657 order to be on the board of the school or whatever, 0:08:40.697 --> 0:08:42.657 you also be a member of the church. And then 0:08:42.777 --> 0:08:45.897 you know that board ensures that nothing that the school 0:08:45.937 --> 0:08:48.017 does is going to go against the doctrine of the church. 0:08:48.057 --> 0:08:50.737 And if the church that's running the school is you know, 0:08:50.777 --> 0:08:55.777 a solid, you know church with traditionally Christian, biblically centered beliefs, 0:08:55.817 --> 0:08:57.617 you're not going to encounter any of that stuff. Because 0:08:57.617 --> 0:09:01.737 the moment the parents, the parents sort of raise these issues, 0:09:02.217 --> 0:09:04.297 then you know they can be you know, pretty much 0:09:04.337 --> 0:09:07.177 dismissed because you know, it's it's they don't have any 0:09:07.177 --> 0:09:09.177 sort of direct input in it. It's a private school. 0:09:09.217 --> 0:09:10.537 You can need to choose this in your kids there 0:09:10.537 --> 0:09:13.137 are choose not to. And then the other thing that's 0:09:13.137 --> 0:09:15.777 happened simply is like I said, you know, it's become 0:09:15.857 --> 0:09:19.097 basically what supposed pandemic become blood sport in a lot 0:09:19.177 --> 0:09:20.937 of you know, fluent areas to get your kids into 0:09:20.977 --> 0:09:24.697 a private school, and the demand to get into private 0:09:24.697 --> 0:09:27.697 schools is really really high, so that for once, you know, 0:09:28.057 --> 0:09:30.777 if you if you have a private school where there 0:09:30.817 --> 0:09:33.097 isn't a lot of pressure to get kids into the school, 0:09:33.137 --> 0:09:35.217 and in fact, as is the case in a lot 0:09:35.257 --> 0:09:37.417 of private schools, you know they're turning people away because 0:09:37.457 --> 0:09:40.577 they're waiting less in every grade. Then parents aren't in 0:09:40.617 --> 0:09:43.697 in a position whatever too, So I should say, parents 0:09:43.777 --> 0:09:46.537 who have ideas contrary to with the school wants in 0:09:46.617 --> 0:09:48.657 terms of values, you know, are not in position to 0:09:48.657 --> 0:09:51.737 tell schools what to do, which is very different obviously 0:09:51.777 --> 0:09:54.177 than public schools, where you know you have all these 0:09:54.457 --> 0:09:58.097 you know, massive political factors going in to things, and 0:09:58.577 --> 0:10:01.337 it really sort of upsets things. Do you think that 0:10:01.377 --> 0:10:04.097 they because you're you're a Virginia resident. You mentioned Loudon 0:10:04.137 --> 0:10:06.777 County as well. That was clearly a big part of 0:10:07.577 --> 0:10:12.817 Governor Younkin's victory, right, the frustration with the schools because 0:10:12.857 --> 0:10:17.177 of COVID, but also the you know, trans student attacking 0:10:17.177 --> 0:10:20.257 the other student in the bathroom and the policies around 0:10:20.297 --> 0:10:23.337 a lot of this. Does that frustration continue and do 0:10:23.377 --> 0:10:26.297 you think that that'll play a role in how Virginia 0:10:26.337 --> 0:10:30.817 goes just politically in general in twenty twenty four. I 0:10:31.137 --> 0:10:35.177 think it, honestly, you know, continues because it very much 0:10:35.177 --> 0:10:39.497 affects the Northern Virginia area where there are a lot 0:10:39.497 --> 0:10:43.697 of affluent people and in a huge population hub that 0:10:43.777 --> 0:10:46.057 determines a lot of the voting in the state essentially, 0:10:46.337 --> 0:10:48.937 And so what happened in Virginia, it's really interesting and 0:10:48.977 --> 0:10:50.857 instructive and why I think that Republicans need to go 0:10:50.857 --> 0:10:52.897 out there and talk about this a lot more because 0:10:52.937 --> 0:10:55.137 you know, it really worked for young Ken. Basically, you 0:10:55.177 --> 0:10:57.737 have a situation where, yes, most of the residents in 0:10:57.737 --> 0:11:01.777 Northern Virginia are you overwhelming Democrats, and they vote overwhelming Democrat. 0:11:02.137 --> 0:11:04.937 But having said that, they're not like urban progressives. They're 0:11:04.977 --> 0:11:08.057 you know, like they tend to be much more moderate Democrats, 0:11:08.097 --> 0:11:10.617 unlike say, the voters that live in DC are big cities, 0:11:11.097 --> 0:11:14.337 and these are people that you know, care about certain 0:11:14.377 --> 0:11:17.457 things a great deal, you know. And with the pandemic, 0:11:17.537 --> 0:11:21.017 basically two things happen. One is that DC completely fell 0:11:21.057 --> 0:11:23.417 apart as a city like a lot of other urban centers. 0:11:23.657 --> 0:11:25.457 It just it had been falling apart for a while, 0:11:25.457 --> 0:11:27.777 but it got really really bad. Now, like the homeless problem, 0:11:27.777 --> 0:11:29.577 all these other things are exploding in DC in ways 0:11:29.617 --> 0:11:33.377 that wasn't before. And so young kid is running, you know, 0:11:33.417 --> 0:11:35.537 post pandemic, and the people in northern Virginia are looking 0:11:35.577 --> 0:11:38.457 over the bridge and they're seeing all this crime that 0:11:38.497 --> 0:11:41.017 they're worried about, you know, coming over into their neighborhoods. 0:11:41.657 --> 0:11:43.977 And then the other thing was Virginia had one of 0:11:43.977 --> 0:11:46.657 the worst pandemic responses of any state in the nation. 0:11:46.657 --> 0:11:49.297 I mean, it basically just completely shut down schools for 0:11:49.337 --> 0:11:52.657 eighteen months, you know, deferred to the teachers' unions on everything. 0:11:53.057 --> 0:11:55.097 You know, these are high achieving parents with jobs, and 0:11:55.137 --> 0:11:57.257 they were frustrated beyond belief with you know, having to 0:11:57.257 --> 0:11:59.337 take care of their kids and you know, having all 0:11:59.337 --> 0:12:02.697 the problems that come with doing school from home and 0:12:03.017 --> 0:12:05.137 seeing what their kids woke curriculum was like for the 0:12:05.177 --> 0:12:07.417 first time, and all these other things. And you know, 0:12:07.497 --> 0:12:09.977 I'm sorry, you know, with a lot of Democrats are 0:12:10.097 --> 0:12:12.937 on the country, especially the affluent ones. If you do 0:12:13.017 --> 0:12:15.417 two things, you know, if you threaten their property values 0:12:15.457 --> 0:12:18.737 at crime and you you know, ruin their kids ability 0:12:18.777 --> 0:12:21.137 to get into a top flight college because you're messing 0:12:21.137 --> 0:12:23.777 with their education, well then God have mercy on your 0:12:23.777 --> 0:12:26.657 political soul. I mean, it's just such a losing message 0:12:26.657 --> 0:12:29.057 for Democrats across the board, you know, those two things, 0:12:29.337 --> 0:12:31.817 and that's how young can one basically, I think messaging 0:12:31.897 --> 0:12:34.857 very effectively on both of those issues. But education in 0:12:34.897 --> 0:12:37.657 particular was just huge because you had all those international 0:12:37.697 --> 0:12:41.537 scandals and Karen McCulloch just took for granted that the 0:12:42.217 --> 0:12:45.177 national press in Washington, DC was going to run interference 0:12:45.217 --> 0:12:48.337 for him, and it didn't work out that way because 0:12:48.377 --> 0:12:51.497 you know, Yunka was relentless about hammering the education issue 0:12:51.617 --> 0:12:54.297 and it resonated with enough Northern Virginia voters to peel 0:12:54.337 --> 0:12:57.857 them off. It was very effective strategy, as we saw. 0:12:58.057 --> 0:13:00.217 I want to ask you speaking about how cities are doing. 0:13:01.017 --> 0:13:04.737 You are a native Portlander? Is that correct? Well, my 0:13:04.777 --> 0:13:11.177 mom I'm a native, or well my mother is. My 0:13:11.257 --> 0:13:13.297 mother grew up in Portland. I lived in Portland for 0:13:13.297 --> 0:13:15.977 a time. 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Obviously great coffee, 0:14:59.457 --> 0:15:02.017 like so much going for it. It wasn't very expensive 0:15:02.017 --> 0:15:04.457 then either. It was starting to get more expensive to city. 0:15:05.177 --> 0:15:07.617 But I remember also talking to people who were there, 0:15:07.697 --> 0:15:09.057 and I was like, when I'm in a place for 0:15:09.057 --> 0:15:11.057 the first time it's been They said, yeah, you know, 0:15:11.097 --> 0:15:13.777 the downtown and we got a lot of a lot 0:15:13.817 --> 0:15:17.257 of vagrants. That it was. It was just beginning to happen, right, 0:15:17.497 --> 0:15:21.057 and you could kind of see that the the Democrat 0:15:21.217 --> 0:15:25.537 left was becoming more assertive in its craziness, you know. 0:15:25.577 --> 0:15:28.497 And I think this really happened to Austin in the 0:15:28.577 --> 0:15:31.057 last you know, five to seven years. You know, these 0:15:31.097 --> 0:15:33.697 cities go through, all these people moved there, they realize 0:15:33.697 --> 0:15:36.137 how great it is. But then also the Democrat reality 0:15:36.217 --> 0:15:39.857 starts to creep in more and more. What happened to Portland, man, 0:15:39.937 --> 0:15:43.377 I mean it is it is hemorrhaging people. It had 0:15:43.497 --> 0:15:46.297 I think in twenty twenty one a thousand shootings, which 0:15:46.417 --> 0:15:49.937 some some crazy number, which for a city of that size, 0:15:50.057 --> 0:15:52.017 just means that there are areas where there are shootings 0:15:52.057 --> 0:15:54.817 going on all the time. What happened? What happened to 0:15:55.377 --> 0:15:59.777 and why isn't Why aren't Oregonians up in arms? Yeah, 0:15:59.817 --> 0:16:01.497 this is a good question. I mean the answer is 0:16:01.537 --> 0:16:04.777 Oregonians are up in arms, which is to say, um, 0:16:05.177 --> 0:16:08.217 business owners in Portland and almost everyone outside of the 0:16:10.177 --> 0:16:12.977 city are, you know, incredibly frustrated by what's going on? 0:16:13.017 --> 0:16:15.097 And I'll sort of get to why that, why that 0:16:15.177 --> 0:16:16.777 is in the moment in a moment, but basically what 0:16:16.817 --> 0:16:19.977 happened is one of my favorite Portland anecdotes is is that, 0:16:20.017 --> 0:16:22.057 you know, starting in the late nineteen nineties, Portland became 0:16:22.057 --> 0:16:25.937 known as a very trendy city. And as evidence of that, 0:16:26.017 --> 0:16:29.097 I like the site that they didn't they didn't mark. 0:16:29.137 --> 0:16:31.737 They did this elaborate market research. I remember reading about 0:16:31.737 --> 0:16:33.897 this New York Times. They were trying to pinpoint what 0:16:33.977 --> 0:16:37.177 started the Paps Blue Ribbon revival in the nineteen nineties, 0:16:37.377 --> 0:16:39.457 like why all of a sudden hipsters started drinking Paps 0:16:39.457 --> 0:16:42.097 Blue Ribbon. And they found out that, for whatever reason, 0:16:42.097 --> 0:16:44.817 it started as an organic trend in Portland, Oregon, Like 0:16:45.057 --> 0:16:48.017 you know, like Portland was like hipster central, like that's 0:16:48.017 --> 0:16:50.857 where people, you know, they had a great music scene, 0:16:50.977 --> 0:16:53.777 it had, you know, this burgeoning restaurant scene that you 0:16:53.817 --> 0:16:55.697 mentioned that was like really sort of flowering and started 0:16:55.697 --> 0:16:58.777 in late nineteen nineties, and it became trendier and trendier 0:16:58.817 --> 0:17:00.137 until right around the time when you were there in 0:17:00.137 --> 0:17:02.737 twenty and ten, that was the height of Portlandy of fame, 0:17:02.857 --> 0:17:05.857 remember the TV show about that or whatever. The sort 0:17:05.857 --> 0:17:08.537 of like made fun made sort of gentle fun of 0:17:08.777 --> 0:17:10.817 right about it. They didn't want to eat the chicken 0:17:11.497 --> 0:17:13.937 in like the chicken kebab or whatever until they knew 0:17:14.057 --> 0:17:17.337 the chicken's name and what the chickens hopes and dreams 0:17:17.377 --> 0:17:20.417 were and all I remember that from Portlandia. Yeah, right. 0:17:20.577 --> 0:17:23.937 Funny thing about that sketch was that Portlandia was like 0:17:24.657 --> 0:17:27.577 it was the reality of Portland at that was so 0:17:27.697 --> 0:17:31.137 much actually crazier than the sort of sketch show. There 0:17:31.217 --> 0:17:34.257 was like an actual there was a local culinary competition 0:17:34.337 --> 0:17:36.657 right around the time I want to say, a year 0:17:36.737 --> 0:17:38.617 or two before the show aired with that sketch, and 0:17:38.737 --> 0:17:42.537 you just described about meeting the heritage Breed chickens where 0:17:42.657 --> 0:17:45.777 there was a local culinary competition where two chefs got 0:17:45.777 --> 0:17:48.057 into a fight and one of them had a fractured 0:17:48.097 --> 0:17:51.977 tibias result with mug shots because one of them wasn't 0:17:52.057 --> 0:17:55.617 using locally sourced pork at some culinary competition. I mean, 0:17:56.097 --> 0:17:59.737 that's how crazy Portland was in terms of all that stuff. 0:18:00.537 --> 0:18:02.497 But it was right around that time that like, because 0:18:02.537 --> 0:18:04.657 it became trending the nineties, people started moving there and 0:18:04.697 --> 0:18:07.817 moving there. And the situation with Oregon is it's like 0:18:07.857 --> 0:18:09.457 a lot of Western stay it's kind of this way, 0:18:09.497 --> 0:18:12.217 but Oregan is kind of an extreme example where Oregon 0:18:12.337 --> 0:18:15.017 has about four million people and it's it's a large state, 0:18:15.057 --> 0:18:16.737 you know, it's like the size of Germany and has 0:18:16.777 --> 0:18:19.937 four million people. But of the four million people, of 0:18:20.137 --> 0:18:22.977 just over about half those the population lives in like 0:18:23.017 --> 0:18:25.697 two or three counties that make Portland metro area. So 0:18:25.737 --> 0:18:29.257 what happens is is that once there's this even greater 0:18:29.337 --> 0:18:32.937 influx of population into Portland, then all of a sudden, 0:18:32.977 --> 0:18:34.857 whatever is going on in that city, no matter how 0:18:34.857 --> 0:18:38.657 crazy it is, it's going to like basically ruin the 0:18:38.697 --> 0:18:41.937 politics the entire state. And in this case, basically it 0:18:42.057 --> 0:18:45.577 was a whole bunch of Californians and you know, people 0:18:45.617 --> 0:18:48.257 from around the country that lived in urban environments that 0:18:48.257 --> 0:18:50.497 had gotten too expensive or you know whatever, they were 0:18:50.537 --> 0:18:52.577 just sick of dealing with, you know, the traffic and 0:18:52.657 --> 0:18:55.977 smog in La or whatever it was, all moved to 0:18:56.017 --> 0:18:58.617 Portland and they brought with them their progressive politics, thinking 0:18:58.817 --> 0:19:01.057 that while I can just have my progressive politics somewhere 0:19:01.057 --> 0:19:04.257 where it's cheaper and easier to live, and then almost 0:19:04.257 --> 0:19:06.617 immediately started voting for all these you know, sort of 0:19:06.697 --> 0:19:10.417 radical ideas and progressive policies that you know, they basically 0:19:10.417 --> 0:19:14.457 completely ruined the city. Why is it the heartland of antifa? 0:19:14.497 --> 0:19:16.257 Like how did that have because that's even a level 0:19:16.297 --> 0:19:18.457 beyond you know, people say, oh, you know, they'll call 0:19:18.497 --> 0:19:21.177 them hippies. I'm like, these are not hippies. There's these 0:19:21.177 --> 0:19:24.137 are people. There's a lot of white dudes with face 0:19:24.177 --> 0:19:28.977 and neck tattoos, putting black balaclavas over their heads, acting 0:19:29.017 --> 0:19:32.137 like they're fighting fascism by throwing rocks at cops and 0:19:32.257 --> 0:19:37.977 immigration you know, enforcement officers and like bad stuff going on. Yeah, 0:19:38.017 --> 0:19:43.017 that's actually a really interesting question. Um um, So, I 0:19:43.057 --> 0:19:45.377 don't you know how familiar with the history of this 0:19:45.457 --> 0:19:47.857 sort of stuff. You probably are more so than most people, 0:19:48.217 --> 0:19:51.137 But you know, there's this issue of anarchism, which was 0:19:51.177 --> 0:19:53.737