WEBVTT - Where We Go From Here 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.440 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to Okay f Daily with 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:19.279 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody. Recording from the Home Bunker, Folks, 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:24.120 this show was recorded before the polls closed for the 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:28.880 midterm elections, and so the conversation upcoming between Jonathan and 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:32.280 I is really one at the fifty thousand foot level 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.879 of what is at stake and what we do the 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.600 day after and the day after that. And here's what 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.320 I want to impart upon, folks. And I know I 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:45.000 say often on this show that you know, I hold 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.120 about a mustard seed of hope, and to be honest, 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.400 that's really not true. I've been kind of thinking about 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.240 my relationship to hope and my relationship to faith over 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.440 the last couple of months, but truly the last couple 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:02.760 of years. And the thing is, I do this work 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.600 on Woke af with my other show, Democracy Ish, writing 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.760 and spending time on social media platforms because I truly 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.800 believe in the promise of this country. I really do. 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.399 I believe that it can be better than what the 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:23.920 founding fathers have even framed. I believe that there is 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:29.200 a lot that is good here. And I remember, you know, 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:33.840 naively when I was younger I remember President Bill Clinton 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:36.560 saying that there is more that is right with America 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.600 than that is wrong, and there's nothing that can't be 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:44.880 fixed about America with what is right about America. I 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:49.080 remember Barack Obama when he became the talk of the 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.640 town at convention talking about the fact that there are 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:53.640 no red states and there are no blue states. They 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.320 are just the United States. The reason why I went 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:01.840 into politics was because I believe that all people in 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.800 this country should be treated with dignity and respect and 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:08.679 have the opportunity to access their version of the American 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:14.600 dream without oppression, without degradation or dehumanization. And so I've 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.040 made it my mission in order to wake people up 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.560 to their power. It isn't just about waking people up 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.040 and to live in a state of rage all the time, 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.760 but it is to understand that we are powerful. Your 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:31.600 vote is powerful, your voice is powerful, and if it wasn't, 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.760 then people wouldn't be working overtime to try and silence 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.720 you and to try and throw out the thing that 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:41.080 makes this country great, which is our ability to choose 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.400 our elected officials, the ability to live in a country 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.320 that is governed for and by the people. We have 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:51.520 lost sight of that we have become complacent. We have 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:55.840 allowed our elected officials to become complacent and to become 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.720 the fucking proxy of corporate America. And so what I 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:05.080 am saying is that regardless of where things stand right, 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.920 whether there's a red wave or a blue wave, the 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.160 reality is is that we need to wake the fuck 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:14.080 up before we all drowned, right before we all drown 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:20.720 in their ideas of what America should be. We are 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.440 the ones with the power, We are the ones with 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:25.960 the vision. We are the ones that know what is 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.000 best for ourselves, and for too long we put up 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.799 these representatives because we believe that they knew more than 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.040 we do. The fucking reality is is that if you 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:38.080 see the slate of Republican candidates, you know, good god 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.400 damn well, you know a hell of a lot more 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.520 than they do, and you care a hell of a 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:47.080 lot more than they do. So, folks, what I need 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.520 us to get to a place of, after we rest, 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.640 after we wipe away tears and wipe our brows right, 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.080 and stretch our sore backs and hands from dialing and 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.080 campaigning and canvassing and doing all the things, is that 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.640 I need for you to harken back to those that 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:13.080 fought for freedom and equality and justice that they would 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:18.640 never see. This is not about us anymore. And once 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:23.400 we remove our egos and our need for immediate gratification away, 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:30.359 then we see a bigger picture, right, We see what 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:37.679 is actually possible, because possibility doesn't come from a place 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.080 of scarcity. It comes from a place of abundance. It 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.440 comes from understanding that we can do the audacious things 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.360 if we decide to be audacious. And what fear does. 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:54.120 What fear does is shrink us into being afraid of 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:58.240 our own fucking shadows, our own neighbors across the street 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:02.320 or next door, or above us or below. That's what 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:06.599 Republicans want. They want us living in fear of ourselves 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.080 and everybody around us, and only they alone can come 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.680 in and save the day with their fucking law and order. 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:17.279 Their law and order and their values are bullshit, and 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:23.120 we know that. So at this time, dear friends, we 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.320 must hold steadfast to who the fuck we are and 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:29.840 how we want to show up, because regardless whether the 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:34.359 outcome is good, bad, or indifferent, there is still work 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.440 to be done. Because this union is not yet perfect, 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.839 and it is each generation's responsibility to perfect it to 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.400 the best of our ability and then pass on the baton. 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:48.320 And right now we're doing a shit fucking job because 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:55.520 we have polluted waters, we have crumbling schools, and we 0:05:55.640 --> 0:06:01.800 have a white supremacist national part that is working to 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:05.520 assume power. And here's the thing. We know that every 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.719 time that we make progress that there is whitelash. Every 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.840 single time that we move the needle further, that we 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.560 bend that are a little more, there is always backlash. 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.800 This ain't nothing new, but the question, and this came 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.200 from Ann who you will hear from later in the week, 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:29.120 The question is how long? How long will the white 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:35.880 lash be? Because following the Civil War we had reconstruction. 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.960 Reconstruction only lasted twelve years, and then following that reconstruction 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:45.920 we had Jim Crow for about a hundred. So it 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.640 isn't about what that backlash is going to be, because 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:53.520 that's going to be expected because these are the ancestors. 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.600 These are the fucking people whose ancestors were standing in 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.360 front of public schools because they didn't want integration. Right. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.760 These are the same people that held up bats and 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.360 were beaten queer people for daring to live their lives 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.760 out in the open. These are who these people have 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:16.200 always fucking been. They ain't dying off. They're like motherfucking gremlins. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:25.560 So what is being asked is for persistence, is for vigilance, 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.920 and is for hope and to have faith that the 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:35.160 work that we're putting in will have impact. If there's 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.560 nothing else to be taken from this time, win or lose, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.920 it is that we took our eye off the ball. 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:46.920 We just assumed that democracy was something that would just 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.120 continue because it had for over two hundred and some 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:56.480 odd years. But things don't just continue without hard work. 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:03.040 We don't always get to see the fruits of that labor, 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:08.120 but we plant the seeds anyway. Coming up next, my 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:14.720 conversation with our friend, our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel. Hey, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:18.440 I'm David. Plots of Slates Political Gabfest. As another election 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:22.200 season accelerates, it can be tricky to sort through all 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.119 the noise and the news. Each week on the gap Fest, 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.560 John Dickerson, Emily Bathlona and I decipher the headlines, break 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.840 down the races, and tell you what issues really matter. 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.560 We do not always agree, We definitely do not always agree, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.920 but we always deliver thoughtful debate and we always have 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:42.880 a good time. So subscribe to Slate's Political Gapfest, new 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:47.480 episodes every Thursday, folks. So you know that whenever we 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.440 have the opportunity to talk to our good, good friend, 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:55.680 doctor Jonathan Metzel, we are always pleased. Jonathan. At the 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.319 time of this recording, we don't know the official outcome 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:03.439 of uh the midterm elections, and frankly, even if we 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:05.920 were recording this a week from the election day, we 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.400 may not know. Um. But I want to start off 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:13.800 today with just kind of you know, taking your temperature. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:21.319 You have been on a media junket, mad dash, spreading 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.880 the good good word about the danger that we are in, 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.800 about what people need to be paying attention to. The 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.920 thing Jonathan that you know that I always appreciate about 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:36.040 you is that you try and weave in optimism, you 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.559 try and weave in hopefulness while also sounding the alarm. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.480 So I just you know, again, folks, as we're as 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.839 we're talking right now, the polls have not even closed yet, 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.560 but I want to get a sense of how you're feeling. 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.680 I'll share how I'm feeling, and then we'll talk about 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:58.320 you know, where we go from here, well, I think 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:00.480 if I had to say again, not knowing that outcome, 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.360 I heard a rumor that Trump got every single vote, 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:07.120 but I can't confirm it until we know for sure. 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:10.000 But I would say, if there's a if there's a 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.720 silver lining to all this, it does seem like there 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.840 are an awful lot of people voting, and it does 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.480 feel like people are paying attention. I mean, as you 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.240 and I've been talking about a lot of bad stuff's 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.000 been happening, people understandably are living their lives and just 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:30.400 trying to stay a float right now. But part of 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:33.160 the reason we're in this pickle right now is because 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:38.800 January sixth happened, and the Republicans doubled down on running 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:44.840 for every school board, every election, monitoring every single thing. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:50.480 And Democrats, god love them, Um, we're not We're not engaged. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.280 I mean, the Republicans really saw this as a power 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.959 grab moment, and we were doing other things. I mean, certainly, 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:02.320 you know, saving the economies and important, and stimulus money 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:04.839 is important, all those kind of things, but we were 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.840 not focusing in the place where the change was really happening. 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:09.760 And I think if we had to do it again, 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.440 you know, the minute all these people were storming school boards, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.720 we should have like stormed back with our own people 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:18.640 storming the school boards. And if they were running for 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.800 a crazy election post, we should have been running our 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.080 own person for that election post. So I just think 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.720 we gave up on the local government angle of this 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.640 too much. And I think that's really the issue. But 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.720 I'd say that the optimism is right now. There are 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.559 a lot of people who appear to be engaged and 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:40.480 paying attention, and hopefully that's something we can sustain, you know, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:45.599 going forward, you know there, I think that there is 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:50.560 actually a lot to take away from this moment. I 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:54.839 think one, Jonathan, is that we, oftentimes, and we, I'm 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:58.000 talking about the big we Democratic Party. We not you 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:02.400 and I, but we in the Democrat Party often, you know, 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:07.080 play this game from election to election, from candidate to candidate. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.480 And what I heard the other day, and I keep 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.400 saying this because I like to get folks's reaction, is that, 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:16.320 you know, former Senator Doug Jones from Alabama, and if 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.200 you remember, he was placed into the Senate in a 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:24.720 mid term election because of black women voters in Alabama, 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.560 not because of the investment that had been put in 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:34.319 by the DNC or the DSCC, the big establishment funders 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.360 in order to win his campaign. And he said this, 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:42.720 He said, the Democratic Party is too vested in candidates 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.320 and not a movement. They move from candidates to candidates 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.880 as opposed to here is who we are. Here are 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:55.200 our values as Democrats, right, and this is and this 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.440 is who regardless of the name that is on the ticket, 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.520 this is what they stand for. And I wanted to 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:05.160 get your reaction to that because I also thought, you know, 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:08.960 we as Democrats, we love to fall in love with 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.559 our candidates. We want to fall in love with them, 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:13.240 we want to have a beer or a glass of 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:15.520 wine with them, we want to hang out with them. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.839 And I don't necessarily think that we need to take 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:23.160 our democracy like we do dating frankly, right, this is 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:27.120 so I want to get your reactions to what he said. Well, 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:29.640 I think that it's not like we have to agree 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.200 on an issue. I mean, I certainly don't think that 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:36.559 the Republicans all agree on an issue. I think the 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:42.080 Republicans agree on the importance of power, and so it's 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.040 more like if somebody may or may not agree with 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.360 us about this one issue, but the idea of like, 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:50.280 I mean, Republicans understand what it means to take over 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.000 the judiciary. And I feel like with all this noise, 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.400 there have been two people on television who have been 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:01.440 warning about this for the past two years. Us we've 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:08.040 been saying this ship, you know, spoiler alert, Yeah, like, 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.480 where's already been. We've been saying this ship forever. And 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:17.200 so I just think that I think that it's it's 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:21.920 not even like everybody agrees on one issue. It's more like, oh, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.720 that person doesn't agree with me about filling the blank issue, 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.760 therefore I'm not gonna blah blah blah with them. And 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.400 it's more like the bigger goal is not this one issue. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:35.880 And so I just think that because the Democrats aren't 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:40.720 going to agree on energy policy, they're not going to 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.840 agree on Middle East policy. I think that if the 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.240 bigger goal is not just like we're all on board 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.280 with one agenda, that's not going to work with the Democrats. 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.880 But but the Republicans, the bigger goal is to control 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.760 the judiciary. It's not about any one particular issue. And 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.880 I don't think the Democrats see that. They see it 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:04.160 as a bunch to different interests that are whatever. So again, 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.560 like because I'm not optimistic that there could be one 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:12.000 slate that everybody who identifies as a Democrat would agree on. 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.880 I don't think that's there is no core value set, really, 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.160 but I do think if the goal is, like, Okay, look, 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.640 as you and I've been saying, the goal is to 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:28.440 have people in positions of power who are gonna you know, 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.360 blah blah blah. I mean, I just think of how 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.760 many Democratic candidates have been picked apart because of one 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:37.080 particular issue, and really it's more than Democrats don't ever 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.000 see the bigger picture, or they don't see it often enough. 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.120 So I want to push back a little bit because 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.000 I wrote a piece probably a couple of weeks ago 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.440 now for the Daily Beast, and the piece was on 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:57.720 patriotism and the fact that we seed patriotism, we've ceded freedom, liberty, 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:03.040 family values right all to the far right. And language matters, 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.960 particularly when you're trying to persuade people from one point 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.440 of view to the next. So when you say, you know, 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:11.960 there's not a slate of things that we can agree on, 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.520 and I agree with you to that point, But couldn't 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.720 the banner of freedom be that thing that we are 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:25.400 coalescing around because frankly, you know, from healthcare, to public 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.640 education to the formation or not forming a family is 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.560 based around the idea that you have freedom, you have 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:34.880 choice in this country. And so rather than use the 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.840 word of choice, we take the word freedom back from them. 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:44.160 And then whether you're going in front of a climate audience, 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.080 or you're going in front of a school board, or 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:49.520 you're going in front of you know, a medical board 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:53.880 or what have you, that what you're carrying with you, right, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.000 and what you're weaving in is this idea of freedom. 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.400 Is that not something that you think that we can 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:05.120 coalesce around because we've seeded that conversation and allowed these 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:09.520 red hat you know, rabbit racists to claim that, to 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.920 claim that mantle. I mean, I guess the question would 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.879 be do you feel like defending democracy was enough, was 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.520 concrete enough for people to mobilize around. But that's not 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.720 what I'm talking about. I don't because I'm when I 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.880 say freedom, I'm not just talking about democracy versus fascism. 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:30.399 I'm literally talking about your freedom to live the life 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:32.880 that you want to live, that your family wants to live. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.639 And I think that there are so many ways to 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:40.080 weave in whatever issue or interest area you want to 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:46.240 under this larger battern of Americans. We're about freedom, right, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.159 the freedom to live, the freedom to like, and you 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.000 can run down that list. But we don't talk in 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:56.080 that way. We don't speak to the electorate in that way. 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:58.520 And I wonder if you think, in all of the 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.399 ways in which you have talked to people, particularly those 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.679 in the in the middle and then these red states 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:10.159 and in these rusted areas, you know, patriotism and freedom 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.760 I think is something that would resonate with them. I mean, 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.879 I don't I don't know. I mean, I'll give you 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.479 a counterexample to that, which I think it is pretty interesting. 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.720 The minute New York election was on the I mean, 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.440 it seemed absurd that the New York governor election was 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:33.679 going to be about crime, because crime is way lower 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.160 in New York than it is here in Tennessee. And 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.480 New York actually, for all the crap, has actually been 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:45.119 doing pretty good. Subway ridership is as of last month's 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.760 back up to the pre pandemic levels. The more people 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:53.680 who come back, the more people there are around. So 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.639 this idea of like New York is a burning hellscape 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:01.719 with immigrants running around with mattresses and all this crazy stuff, 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.320 you know. But the thing is, there are all these 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.760 great things about New York, right, I mean New York, 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.960 as you and I have talked about could you run? 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.160 I mean, I just feel like New York. New York 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.360 didn't fight back and say, hey, here's what's great about 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.400 New York and here's what fighting for is the ability 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.800 to have like ten million people living in a dense 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.639 urban area and bike lanes that go everywhere, and you 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:28.719 can get a train anywhere at night, like just to 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:32.160 make that cool or something I understand like this, I mean, 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:34.840 I know Zeldon was trying to He wasn't. He didn't 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:36.720 give a crap about New York. He's trying to scare 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.760 people in the suburbs that like exactly who never who 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:42.719 don't live, who don't live, and don't have a daily 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.320 understanding of what it is like what the beauty that 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:49.239 you describe last week of being able to bike from 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:51.879 one borough to the next, and like where in the 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.760 country where you know, can you do that other than 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.520 in New York safely? And so you know, Obama framed 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.240 the election as hope, and that was a guiding principle. 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.040 I just felt like New York was caught so flat 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.440 footed that it even New York at a hard time articulating. 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:09.760 And it's not just some random bs like New York 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:16.639 actually has a relative degree of safety compared to other cities. 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:22.360 It has public transportation, it has I don't know, as 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:24.080 you know, I go to the airport every week. It 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.639 takes me nineteen minutes from Atlantic Terminal to JFK Airport 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:29.960 on a Long Island railroad. It costs seventy dollars and 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.520 seventy five cents. When I go to the airport here 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.240 in Nashville, it's fifty bucks and I'm stuck in traffic 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.800 for two hours. New York, I can take Long Island 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.560 railroad Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica for less than ten bucks, 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:46.320 and it always is nineteen minutes. So I just think, 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:49.880 you know, if you're flat footed all the time, you're 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:54.120 not kind of selling all the stuff. And so I 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.040 just I just think that I don't know, I guess 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.960 freedom is awfully abstract to me, but I do think 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:03.760 that here's what we're fighting for in New York, and 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:05.879 then these kind of examples and make it concrete and 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:09.320 not just New York, but across the country. I would 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.080 like to think that. I mean, I don't know what's 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:13.560 your sense, because for me, like these zelden Ads, by 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.120 the end, they were just embarrassing. Like you maybe yeah, 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:17.760 the whole time you were heart you heard it and 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:20.680 it was like, oh man, somebody trying to jack my shit. 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:25.640 Um like after thirty after thirty times of hearing, hey, 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:28.639 somebody's trying to jack your ship, and then you're like, um, 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:33.679 this is embarrassing, dude. And so but there was no counter, right, 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.480 there was no counter. So we're more like playing offense 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:41.360 on these things that Hey, there, I want to tell 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.000 you about another podcast I think you'll love The Brown 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:46.960 Girl's Guide to Politics, hosted by a Shanty Gohler the 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:50.399 President I've Emerged. BGG is the one stop shop for 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:52.560 women of color who want to hear and talk about 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.360 the world of politics. Join a Shanty this season as 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:57.919 she talks to incredible women of color who are changing 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.000 the face of politics and tackling some of the most 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:03.760 important issues facing the United States, from reproductive justice to 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:06.760 voting rights, to climate change and more. Tune in every 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:11.440 Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. I think that all 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:13.880 of the things that you lift up as opposed to 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:19.600 being in a reactionary posture, meaning that the Republicans and 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.320 a Zelden say the cities are filled with crimes and 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:27.400 undocumented people and disease and all of the whatever rhetoric 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:32.000 that they're using. Democrats normal responses, No, it's not. And 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:35.320 then to tell you all the ways in which they're 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:37.359 going to be tougher on crime, and they're going to 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:38.960 be this, that and the other thing. And what you're 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.520 saying is, why can't we just lift up what's good? 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:44.320 Why can't you just lift up the reason why New 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.600 York City is one of the beacons and most traveled 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:52.160 places in the world. Right that the place is you know, yeah, 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:54.840 the rent is too damn high here, but it's because 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:58.080 everyone wants to be here. And why is that because 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:01.520 of the offerings that it has. The other day I 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:05.159 was I had decided to take an evening walk. I 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:09.040 watched the sunset over the city, walk back home to 0:23:09.160 --> 0:23:12.679 my block. It's you know, it was before daylight saving, 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:16.120 so it's pretty dark outside. I can tell you that 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:21.960 I have never felt unsafe in my neighborhood. I have 0:23:22.119 --> 0:23:27.920 never felt unsafe when I'm traveling around the city, and 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:32.199 so his idea of this violence, and I mean, the 0:23:32.200 --> 0:23:35.639 thing that has bothered me is that there is a 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:38.080 lack of a plan for the homeless in New York 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:42.679 and that when people left the subways there people have 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:48.160 set up full, you know, homeless condominiums in the cars, right, 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:50.520 and so there was a lack of a plan to 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:55.520 deal and to help those people and to mitigate that issue. 0:23:56.760 --> 0:24:00.440 But again, that wasn't about crime. And so I think 0:24:00.440 --> 0:24:05.119 that the counter to these these these the antics that 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:09.480 Republicans like Zelden us is to be like, show me 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:12.920 the pictures of how you actually want to live, Hey, Tennessee, 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:15.440 wouldn't it be great if you didn't sit in traffic 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:18.760 for two hours to just get to you know, a 0:24:18.840 --> 0:24:22.200 mode of transportation. Wouldn't you like to be able to 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:25.960 bike to work, um and and and and and send 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:29.560 off your kids and and feel comfortable doing so. And 0:24:29.640 --> 0:24:33.640 instead of it being this reactionary about how tough you are, 0:24:34.119 --> 0:24:37.480 to show like, how great it would be if we 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:40.560 all had the access to these things. And I love 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:42.639 your framing of that, and I think that that is 0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:46.080 where democrats have missed the boat this time. Around. But 0:24:46.160 --> 0:24:50.440 to me, it doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:52.720 because I this is this is why people have been 0:24:52.720 --> 0:24:55.719 texting me all day Jonathan, and probably the same with 0:24:55.760 --> 0:24:57.680 you and asking you how are you feeling? How are 0:24:57.680 --> 0:25:00.239 you doing today? Selection day? How are you doing? How 0:25:00.240 --> 0:25:02.920 are you feeling? And I got to be honest, I 0:25:02.960 --> 0:25:05.760