WEBVTT - COVID Isn't A Moral Failing 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.600 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to Okay EPP Daily with 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.919 me your girl, Danielle Moody, recording from my quarantine bunker 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:22.239 where I still have COVID. Folks. I'm going to start 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:26.239 out today with saying that this is my first full 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:32.599 fledged recording since contracting COVID, and so bear with me. 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:36.040 We will get through this together. I want to start 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:40.000 off today with telling you a little bit about, you know, 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:45.960 my initial experience with contracting COVID. As I mentioned yesterday, 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:52.199 you know, there is still this lingering feeling of being 0:00:52.320 --> 0:01:00.120 a failure that I have because you know, when you 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.440 do a show where you're trying to inform people on 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.840 how to stay safe, how to stay sane, how to 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:12.440 stay involved and connected, I feel a responsibility to not 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:17.800 only tell you about what my opinions on what to 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.560 do in order to live a full, complete, you know, life, 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.520 and also to be a full and complete participant in 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:30.720 our democracy. And I feel a responsibility to model that behavior. 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:35.960 And so I toiled really hard for a while with 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:39.080 how I was going to bring the news to all 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:40.680 of you, how I was going to break the news 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.000 to all of you that I had contracted COVID after 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:50.080 two years of telling, you know, sharing doctor Jonathan Metzel's insights, 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:55.040 sharing you know, insights from other guests, bringing on doctor Fauci, 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.800 bring on other doctors to talk about how to keep 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.800 ourselves safe and sane during this time, and then to 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.320 turn around and be like, oh, by the way, I 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:08.839 got the thing that I was trying to protect all 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.600 of you from getting, And look, I get it. I 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:16.040 know that it is highly transmissible. I know that pretty 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.800 much at the stage that we are in going into 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.240 year three, headed into year three in a couple of 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:25.680 months with this virus, that it's a feat that I 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.680 haven't contracted it before now, and that you know, it 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:33.480 isn't a moral failing. It is the reality that when 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:39.600 we had the opportunity to end COVID, because of our politics, 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:45.600 because of this divide in our country, we didn't write. 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:49.720 You had some people that believed in science and doctors 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.920 and vaccines, and then others that were calling in bomb 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:58.400 threats to hospitals and threatening nurses and epidemiologists. We're living 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:02.679 and twisted and distorted times. And so I say all 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.079 that because I wanted to give some insight into how 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.440 I've been feeling while I've been isolating for the last 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:15.040 ten days. And you know, when you are alone, and 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:19.040 like I said yesterday, I appreciate technology, thank God, because 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.919 I don't know what I would have done without it. 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.160 But when you are alone, you're alone with your thoughts, 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:26.800 and you think about a lot of things and what 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.440 you could have done differently and what you will do differently. 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.400 And the fact of the matter is that COVID is 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:37.000 not a moral failing. If you contract it, it is 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:41.320 now essentially going to be like how we contract the 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.960 flu and the chicken pox, and God forbid anything else 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.080 outside of that that pops up in this world these days. 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:53.640 But what I will continue to say is, you know, 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.760 to be mindful. I didn't just throw up my hands 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.400 and say, well, it's everywhere, so now I don't care. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.880 It was. You know, I was out an outdoor family event, 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.840 and you know, me and another good friend of mine 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.760 were the only two people who ended up walking away 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.560 with like actual symptoms. That doesn't mean that other folks 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.000 didn't contracted. It just means that maybe they don't know 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:22.359 because they were asymptomatic. Thankfully, my symptoms have been mild, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:27.320 but I do get tired when I am talking a lot. 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:32.440 I do find myself getting winded, and you know, I've 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.600 had a cough and congestion like everybody else has had, 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.880 but thankfully no fever, Thankfully no brain fog, and you know, 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:45.440 thankful for science and doctors and vaccines. That's all I 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.280 kept thinking about. You know, I was like on I 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.800 think it was the second day that I was in isolation. 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.160 I was laying on my couch behind me, and I 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:58.680 was just you know, I had been in my feelings 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:03.000 and one of my best friends was just like, Danielle, 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.960 I need you to concentrate and like, find some gratitude, 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.479 find some things that you were grateful for. This is 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.239 not like the end all be all, like you're acting 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:16.240 as if, like, you know, the world is crashing in 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:18.760 on you. I mean it is right when we're talking 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.560 about like the world, but you know, my world. She 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.080 was being specific to pull me out of my bullshit 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.920 and my nonsense, and so I did. I was laying 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:30.760 there and I started to think about what are the 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.640 things that I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for fucking vaccines. 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:39.480 You know, this virus that is now swimming inside of 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.680 me and will I guess, you know, as doctor Jonathan 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.000 Metel has said, We'll live inside of us for God 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:49.800 knows how long isn't killing me. I'm not in a hospital, 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.640 I'm not on a ventilator, and the only thing that 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:59.039 separates me from you know what is it now the 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:04.039 million plus people that have lost their lives to COVID 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.720 is the shots that I got in my arm and 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:12.760 the booster. Right, I was thinking back to my God, 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.839 thank God that I got this in twenty twenty two 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:18.680 and not in twenty twenty when we were all rolling 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:23.040 the dice, when we were washing cardboard, right, because we 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.640 didn't know how long this virus that we had never 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:31.080 heard of existed on surfaces where you know, we were 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:34.800 quarantine inside our homes that afraid that each sniffle or 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.839 cough was going to mean the end of our lives. 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:43.640 How far we have come into plus years of living 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:48.200 with this pandemic, and the thank God for those that 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:52.080 toiled away and had been working on mRNA, you know, 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:57.799 vaccines before this virus struck, because they knew the potential 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.200 of what would be coming. You know, That's the faith 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.480 that I have in science and in doctors and analysts 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:10.840 and researchers. Right, health practitioners that have been, you know, 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:16.680 toiling away in what has become a thankless and in 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:21.000 some cases dangerous, fucking profession to try and keep the 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.840 rest of us safe. And I think, you know, my God, 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:28.920 that I wasn't crossing my fingers and toes and praying 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:33.720 that like that I wasn't going to die. You know, 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.880 I explained to all of you back in twenty twenty 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:43.120 that I did lose my step grandmother, who you know, 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:51.040 was a vibrant, seventy something year old woman who contracted 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:56.800 COVID and within three weeks she had left us within 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:03.400 you know, a few days of having developed symptoms, had 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:07.200 a fever that wouldn't quit, that was over a hundred degrees, 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:14.760 and rushed to the hospital, tried valiantly to stay off 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:19.480 of a ventilator because as a former health worker herself, 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:23.680 she knew where that was going to lead. And then 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:29.760 in a few weeks was gone. She didn't get the 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:34.400 opportunity to get the shots in her arm. She didn't 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:42.360 get the opportunity to you know, be a beneficiary of 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:49.400 science and knowledge and research. And so, you know, as 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.920 I laid on the couch and I was thinking about that, 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.440 and thankfully that my friend had told me, you know, 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:59.200 to stop feeling sorry for myself. That I started to, 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:04.440 you know, gain perspective. And so I just say to 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.200 all of you, sometimes we are just so in our 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.560 own ships, so in our own stuff, that it is 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.520 really difficult to kind of climb out of it. And 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:18.920 that's why it is important to have community, family, friends, 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.720 people who care about us, who can see us spiraling 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:26.439 and struggling and say, hey, I need you to take 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:28.920 a breath. I need you to take a minute. I 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.400 need you to focus on the good things that are 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:32.960 in front of you right now. I need you to 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.040 realize that like, yes, you may physically be alone in 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:38.840 your apartment, but you can be on FaceTime in a 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.160 blink of an eye with any number of people who 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.240 will be happy to sit on the phone with you, 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.640 so that you are not feeling alone and feeling down. 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:53.120 And I say that, you know, because we talk a 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:58.400 lot on woke f about mental health and emotional health 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:03.160 and wellness. And you know, as the statistics which I 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:07.559 mentioned yesterday too are coming out that are talking about, 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.600 you know, the well being of our children in this 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:16.239 country not being so fucking great. Right that we've talked about, 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:22.400 you know, the ambient stress that is just running consistently 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.480 in our heads. We've talked about languishing, that feeling that 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.560 isn't quite depression but isn't real happiness and is somewhere 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:35.760 in between. We've talked about the fact that people are 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:43.080 being heavily medicated for their their feelings of despair. You know, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:48.480 yesterday was scrolling through Instagram and I came across this 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:53.040 story of this, you know, young rapper, young black man 0:10:53.360 --> 0:11:00.840 and his girlfriend who at I think she maybe thirty two, 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:09.320 just recently committed suicide. She was an influencer on social media, 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:15.000 and he shared with the world on his Instagram page 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:22.120 her message, her last message to him. And I got 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:23.600 to tell you that when I got to the end 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:28.400 of it, I was in tears because the pain that 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:34.720 this young woman was feeling, the loneliness, the grief, the 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.600 feeling that she just did not belong in this world 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:42.319 and no longer wanted to pretend. She said, so many 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:48.440 people are suffering alone, and I just want us all 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:54.520 to be mindful that having gratitude or quote unquote being 0:11:54.640 --> 0:12:01.200 happy isn't something that just happens right. It isn't happiness 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:06.199 doesn't fall in our laps. It's something that nowadays, in particular, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:11.400 we just really need to be intentional about our happiness, 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:18.520 be mindful of our mental and emotional well being, and 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:22.959 if we're finding ourselves in moments of spiraling and despair, 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:28.840 to reach out and if you have no one around 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.880 you to reach out to, to reach out to. Hotlines. 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:36.320 Organizations are set up out there so that we don't 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:40.360 feel alone, that there is a voice on the other 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.520 end of our phone. And so it was just something 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:47.720 that I have been thinking about and wanting to share 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.760 that I understand when people were talking about the real 0:12:52.920 --> 0:13:01.920 loneliness that quarantine and COVID were kind of producing during 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:06.040 this time where when I was in you know, in 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.280 the shutdown, I wasn't alone. I was with my family. 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.160 And I tell you that if I had been alone 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.240 in this apartment, I probably would have gone mad. Because 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.440 it's only been ten days that I have been in here, 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.960 and you know, and I'm still able to put on 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.600 a mask and go for a walk, and you know, 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:34.760 and have this time where I am physically still around 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:40.079 people while remaining safe and distanced from them. So I 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.720 just say to folks, the times are really hard, they 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:50.760 show no signs of getting any better, and so please, 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:56.080 you know, reach out to people and if you have 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:03.040 no you know, community, go to hotlines, go to organizations, 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.720 and recognize that there are people that are there and 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:10.800 trained to to help you. So that's my offering and 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:15.520 my reflection on COVID. Hey, I'm David. Plots of Slights. 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:20.400 Political Gabfest. As another election season accelerates, it can be 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.120 tricky to sort through all the noise and the news. 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.480 Each week on The Gapfest, John Dickerson, Emily Bathlon and 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.320 I decipher the headlines, break down the races, and tell 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:33.440 you what issues really matter. We do not always agree. 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.000 We definitely do not always agree, but we always deliver 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.720 thoughtful debate and we always have a good time. So 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:44.600 subscribe to Slate's Political Gapfest, new episodes every Thursday. Get 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.120 up behind the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.000 Show on Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from the 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.800 Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.480 Junior goes deeper with the notable guests and experts from 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.360 the Emmy Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.240 tackle current topics from gent location to gun laws. And 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.840 take a closer look at how and why these topics matter. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.200 Listen to Beyond the Scenes from the Daily Show with 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.560 Trevor Noah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:16.160 you get your podcast, new episodes every Tuesday, switching gears. 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.160 With all this time that I've had on my hands, 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.520 I have finally gotten back into writing, and I wrote 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.680 a piece recently that I want to share with all 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:32.040 of you because we are god damn sixty some odd 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.400 days away from midterm elections, and I got to tell 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.600 you that the news that has been coming out with 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:43.040 regard to the changes that have been happening at CNN, 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:50.560 news reports coming out about the owner of Politico who 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:55.480 was calling colleagues over to pray for Donald Trump on 0:15:55.560 --> 0:16:01.960 election night, CNN has decided to throw out their seasoned 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:07.000 journalists and bring on a bunch of Trumpers because they 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:11.680 want to be fucking quote unquote neutral. And what that 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.480 signals to me, as I'm certain to all of you, 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.400 is that the media hasn't learned a fucking thing. They 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.680 haven't learned Dick from twenty sixteen. They haven't learned a 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.040 fucking thing from twenty twenty, and they are going to 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:30.240 all but fucking solidify the end of our democracy with 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:35.480 their degreed, their fucking greed, the desire for ratings and 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:40.640 more money and ads right at the expense of telling 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:46.080 the American people the truth. So I wrote a piece 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.480 that is up at Medium right now. I've shared it 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:54.120 on both my Instagram and on Twitter, and it is 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:58.320 entitled the Fourth Estate is Crumbling. If not for the 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:05.000 Press Center, Joe McCarthy's desire to purge UnAmericans would have succeeded. 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:11.320 Nixon's treachery wouldn't have been revealed. So I want to 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.960 share this piece with all of you today and in 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:18.760 hopes that you will head over to medium dot com, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.920 find it, and share it with at least one other person, 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.919 because it is important for us that the more woke 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.600 and conscious that we become, that we bring other people 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.800 along with us and make sure that they are aware 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.959 that there are forces at play that are trying to 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.639 make certain that you don't wake up, that you get 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:48.679 as much misinformation as possible, and without a strong, free, 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:55.239 independent press, our democracy is fucked. So here I go. 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.280 Over the last six years, American politics has undergo gone 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.080 a transformation unlike anything we have seen in the modern era. 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.800 To put this into context, consider that for over two 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.440 hundred and forty years, America has been able to sustain 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:16.320 its political designation as the world's foremost democracy. Through a 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:20.520 civil war, two World Wars, the Cold War, and too 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:24.280 many lesser wars in between, this nation has been able 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:29.399 to maintain the illusion of democracy, a beacon, a dream 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:34.320 of freedom worth risking life and limb to attain. At 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.439 the age of five years old, Americans begin to pledge 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.840 allegiance to the flag, to salute the red, white, and blue, 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.920 and recite our obedience and with it our solemn vow 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:52.359 to uphold principles of being one nation under God, indivisible 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:58.040 with liberty and justice for all. That is, of course, 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:03.360 until January sixth, twenty twenty one, when we saw that 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.960 very same flag, the one that we had seen planted 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.040 on the moon and on fields of battle, used as 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.560 a weapon to break into the Capitol building as an 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:20.159 attempt to overthrow the very government and country citizens swore 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:24.840 to protect. As the capital was engulfed in a plume 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.240 of smoke, being defaced by a group of white domestic 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.960 terrorists that were weaponized by their commander in chief. The 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:36.320 eyes of countless journalists dispatched to cover one of America's 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:41.360 darkest days since the Civil War revealed the absolute horror 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:46.880 millions of Americans felt that day. We knew, as we 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:51.760 were watching this siege unfold, that history was indeed in 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:55.840 the making. It would be the responsibility of the Fourth 0:19:56.000 --> 0:20:00.800 Estate to place into words the utter mayhem and disgrace 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:06.320 that besieged our capital. Since the beginning of this nation, 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:11.119 a free and unencumbered press has been essential to holding 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:16.640 elected officials accountable for their actions and keeping the citizenury informed. 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:22.240 A free press is the essential marker and distinction that 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:29.679 separates the world's democracies from dictatorships and authoritarian regimes. And yet, 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:34.040 over the course of the last six years, not only 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.920 have we watched our nation grapple with a global health 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:41.720 pandemic whose catastrophic grip could have been avoided, and a 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:45.719 racial uprising, but we have also witnessed one of the 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:50.399 country's major political parties profess their allegiance not to the 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:57.480 flag or the nation, but instead a man. If America 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:01.760 were any other country, the free press would be unrelenting 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:06.680 in its coverage of a nation on the brink, particularly 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.840 when for the first time in its history. The International 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:15.679 Ideas Global State of Democracy Report labeled the United States, 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:19.880 and this was back in twenty twenty one, a backsliding democracy. 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.120 Many knew the direction that this country would head towards 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.680 when the Republican Party anointed Donald J. Trump as its leader, 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.960 a man known all too well for his greed, his racism, 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:37.680 and his lies. However, what makes good TV turns out 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:45.680 doesn't translate to making good government or a secure democracy. Quote. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.560 While journalism plays various roles in society, perhaps its most 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:54.280 important is how it serves as a bridge of information 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:58.000 from the government to the common citizen, wrote Nathan to 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:03.320 Sando in the ut Daily Beacon. This bridge, however, is 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:08.399 now under assault. Donald J. Trump became president in large 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:12.200 part because of the willful ignorance of the free press 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:16.520 to the danger he presented to the republic. While media 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:21.159 outlets clamored for clicks the advent of showcasing quote, both 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:25.680 sides became their hallmark for providing a microphone and ink 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:30.440 to one of the most egregious political figures this country 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:36.080 has ever seen. While the forefathers of this nation had 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:39.760 keen insight into the hearts of men, they didn't care 0:22:39.800 --> 0:22:42.720 too much for the thoughts of women. Nothing could have 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:46.200 prepared them for this, except the assumption that a free 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:49.199 press would bring to the people what it had since 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:55.240 the beginning of time, the truth. Sadly, there is nothing 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.640 truly free about a press that has fallen to privatization 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.359 and capitalism. Why let the truth get in the way 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:08.199 of a good clique. We bore witness as the revolving 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:12.000 door at the Trump White House as it dumped its 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:18.399 many pervators on the doorsteps of once reputable outlets, all 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:23.840 in their faue quest for the appearance of neutrality while 0:23:23.880 --> 0:23:27.359 giving voice and credence to the rhetoric that is held 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:33.720 bent on destroying everything the forefathers imagined, including and most importantly, 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:39.560 a free and informative press. If not for the press, 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:45.640 Senator Joe McCarthy's desire to purge on Americans would have succeeded, 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:52.840 Nixon's treachery wouldn't have been revealed, and so on. Yet, 0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:57.040 now we find ourselves at a crossroads, as media outlets 0:23:57.040 --> 0:23:59.840 are being purchased like pieces on a monopoly board by 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:04.280 white ring extremists who are using the veil of neutrality 0:24:04.359 --> 0:24:08.280 to place bad actors in positions of power, providing them 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:12.000 with the platform to lie to tens of millions. The 0:24:12.080 --> 0:24:15.720 ability to suss out the truth is becoming almost impossible 0:24:16.119 --> 0:24:20.560 for the average citizen. The time for neutrality has long 0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:25.439 since passed. It should have ended the day that Donald J. 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:30.280 Trump bragged about sexual assault and referred to Mexicans as rapist. 0:24:31.240 --> 0:24:34.760 Now Here we are with a former twice impeached ex 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:40.480 president with classified nuclear documents scattered on his Morilogal office floor, 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:44.920 eyeing a potential run for the presidency in twenty twenty four, 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:51.240 with the press ready to launch America into authoritarianism. If 0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:55.320 the Fourth Estate doesn't wake up soon his inauguration in 0:24:55.480 --> 0:25:01.840 January twenty twenty five, maybe the last story they write. Quote. 0:25:02.840 --> 0:25:08.040 Journalism can never be silent. That is its greatest virtue 0:25:08.119 --> 0:25:12.720 and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately 0:25:13.520 --> 0:25:17.239 while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph, and 0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:22.640 the signs of horror are still in the air. Henry Grunwald, 0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:29.520 former editor in chief of Time magazine folks I felt 0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:36.479 compelled to write about the Fourth Estate because I am 0:25:36.520 --> 0:25:41.040 a part of it. No, I am not a quote 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:45.359 unquote trained journalist. I did not go to school for journalism. 0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:51.480 I went to school for politics and for education. But 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:58.360 as a host of two podcasts, a writer, a television commentator, 0:25:59.119 --> 0:26:03.520 I find it not only my responsibility, but my duty 0:26:04.640 --> 0:26:10.840 to tell the American people the truth. Anytime that I 0:26:10.880 --> 0:26:15.840 am asked to go on TV, I don't think about 0:26:16.720 --> 0:26:20.439 who will follow me, what clicks will I get, or worse, 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:23.360 what hate mail and potential death threats could I get. 0:26:24.920 --> 0:26:27.280 I think about the person that is standing in their 0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:31.240 kitchen multitasking, probably with a laptop on the kitchen table, 0:26:31.560 --> 0:26:36.280 while they're making dinner, tending to pets and children or plants, 0:26:38.640 --> 0:26:41.240 going about their day to day, trying to keep their 0:26:41.280 --> 0:26:44.280 head above water, And I think about what I can 0:26:44.480 --> 0:26:50.639 say that will stop them dead in their tracks and 0:26:50.800 --> 0:26:55.199 have them imagine the freedoms that they have enjoyed up 0:26:55.280 --> 0:27:02.480 until this moment disappear. I want to stop them dead 0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:08.480 in their tracks and recite the many reasons why rage 0:27:08.800 --> 0:27:13.280 should be flowing through their veins just as easy as 0:27:13.359 --> 0:27:19.000 blood is. Because their country, the one that we were 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:25.080 taught to swear allegiance to, is under attack. No, there 0:27:25.119 --> 0:27:30.960 aren't a currently tanks rolling down our streets or bombs 0:27:31.000 --> 0:27:37.480 bursting in the air. Yet, but there are people working 0:27:37.600 --> 0:27:48.679 behind the scenes, tirelessly, unrelenting to destroy everything that we 0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:54.639 have come to understand and want to perfect about this union. 0:27:56.840 --> 0:28:04.440 And if the papers, the blogs, the websites, the social 0:28:04.480 --> 0:28:13.760 media platforms are all commingling to keep the wool over 0:28:13.840 --> 0:28:17.320 our eyes, then it is the responsibility of those of 0:28:17.440 --> 0:28:20.760 us that are living with our eyes wide open to 0:28:20.800 --> 0:28:27.040 tell people the truth over and over and over again 0:28:27.280 --> 0:28:34.600 until they wake the fuck up. Our story does not 0:28:34.760 --> 0:28:40.760 have to end here, much like in relationships that go 0:28:40.920 --> 0:28:48.640 through rough times or marriages that have rough patches, With 0:28:48.840 --> 0:28:59.800 the right help, right with the commitment, it can be thick. 0:29:03.520 --> 0:29:06.920 And so the question that I have for our media 0:29:07.160 --> 0:29:11.400 is do they have a commitment to the destruction of 0:29:11.480 --> 0:29:17.120 our democracy? And if they don't, then recognize that neutrality 0:29:17.480 --> 0:29:26.360 is dead. That neutrality is nothing more than making the 0:29:26.480 --> 0:29:30.120 conscious decision to look the other way so that you 0:29:30.280 --> 0:29:39.080 do not offend those that seek to destroy others. We 0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:45.280 have control, dear friends, because without our eyeballs, without our dollars, 0:29:46.120 --> 0:29:50.240 they cease to exist. So if we want our voices 0:29:50.360 --> 0:30:03.960 to be heard, raise them loud and often. That is 0:30:04.000 --> 0:30:07.600 it for me today, Dear friends on Woke f as 0:30:07.720 --> 0:30:12.240 always Power to the people and to all the people. Power, 0:30:12.720 --> 0:30:21.400 get woke and stay woke as fun. Get a behind 0:30:21.440 --> 0:30:23.960 the scenes look at Comedy Central's The Daily Show on 0:30:24.240 --> 0:30:27.000 Beyond the Scenes, an original podcast from The Daily Show 0:30:27.000 --> 0:30:29.800 with Trevor Noah. Every week, host Roy Wood Junior goes 0:30:29.840 --> 0:30:32.240 deeper with the notable guests and experts from the Emmy 0:30:32.280 --> 0:30:35.440 Award winning series. Together, they use comedy to tackle current 0:30:35.440 --> 0:30:38.320 topics from gentrification to gun laws and take a closer 0:30:38.320 --> 0:30:40.760 look at how and why these topics matter. Listen to 0:30:40.920 --> 0:30:43.280 Beyond the Scenes from the Daily Show with Trevor Noah 0:30:43.320 --> 0:30:46.320 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get 0:30:46.360 --> 0:30:50.720 your podcast. New episodes every Tuesday.