WEBVTT - The Need for Americans to Fight Back | A Conversation with Miles Taylor

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<v Speaker 1>Miles and Maria. I'm thrilled for you all to be

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<v Speaker 1>here today and just start talking about the group if

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<v Speaker 1>you will. That you have you have started up.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, Steve, I'll say at the outside, I appreciate it,

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<v Speaker 2>my friend, And you know this better than almost anyone.

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<v Speaker 2>Folks like us. I mean, we don't need to be

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<v Speaker 2>out here doing this, you know. And that was a

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<v Speaker 2>consideration I had after being targeted by the president. You

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<v Speaker 2>know I've done. I've been out there for seven years

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<v Speaker 2>railing against this guy and trying to warn people about

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<v Speaker 2>a second administration, and to quote Jerry Maguire, it's a

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<v Speaker 2>pride swallowing siege every single day. And there's a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of people in my life, a lot of people in

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<v Speaker 2>my family who would like us to just lay low

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<v Speaker 2>and go back to normal life. And that would be

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<v Speaker 2>very nice. And for a little while we got to

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<v Speaker 2>do that. But after this guy took office, and when

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<v Speaker 2>I saw, including personally, the way that he was trying

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<v Speaker 2>to criminalize criticism in this country, it felt like there

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't really an option to go retreat. I mean, you

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<v Speaker 2>have two choices when someone like this comes to power,

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<v Speaker 2>whether it's a foreign land or your own country, and

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<v Speaker 2>that is either submission or defiance.

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<v Speaker 1>That's it.

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<v Speaker 2>There's no middle ground because if you're just staying quiet,

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<v Speaker 2>you've already chosen submission. Okay, there's not a middle ground

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<v Speaker 2>you get to be in. It is black and white,

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<v Speaker 2>submission or defiance. And this year, as people kept asking

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<v Speaker 2>me the question what can I do? I got a

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<v Speaker 2>little pissed off that despite all the organizations out there,

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<v Speaker 2>great organizations doing great work, there wasn't like an easy

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<v Speaker 2>one word answer to tell folks about, like, hey, go

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<v Speaker 2>here and you can find a lot of different efforts

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<v Speaker 2>that you can go help out and support. And so

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<v Speaker 2>a couple of weeks ago, I pitched to a few friends,

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<v Speaker 2>why don't we just let's go get a domain name.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's recommend the groups that we love that exist and

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<v Speaker 2>are doing great work out to the world and try

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<v Speaker 2>to help drive people towards amazing efforts. And that resulted

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<v Speaker 2>in the lawn Show Defiance dot org and is doing

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<v Speaker 2>great work is the group that we're runs and us.

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<v Speaker 2>They do a whole host of amazing things, from the

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<v Speaker 2>grasstops to the grassroots. I mean, they got people like

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<v Speaker 2>Michael Douglass and Jennifer Lawrence and all these incredible people

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<v Speaker 2>helping get the word out, but they also have helped

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<v Speaker 2>mobilize Americans to go put pressure on their elected representatives

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<v Speaker 2>who have a spinal cord and to not just roll

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<v Speaker 2>over for belly rubs from Donald Trump. And I admire

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<v Speaker 2>what they're doing. So at launch, one of the organizations

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<v Speaker 2>that we're directing our members of Defence dot org too

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<v Speaker 2>is represent US and we're really proud to team with them.

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<v Speaker 1>Maria, how do you see this moment? Why are you

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<v Speaker 1>involved in this?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, look, my background is in international human rights work.

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<v Speaker 3>I grew up abroad in Peru during a time of

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<v Speaker 3>autocracy and corruption and with the war and all sorts

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<v Speaker 3>of things, and when I moved to the US, I

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<v Speaker 3>believed and I saw that we had a thriving democratic culture.

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<v Speaker 3>This was in nineteen ninety seven. We've come a long

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<v Speaker 3>way from that, and now the problems that I have

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<v Speaker 3>spent much of my career working on internationally are very

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<v Speaker 3>much present here. And so the main issue I see

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<v Speaker 3>is a government that is slowly in some ways eroding

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<v Speaker 3>democratic norms so that eventually all the powers concentrated in

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<v Speaker 3>the president, and it's in the process of enriching itself

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<v Speaker 3>and its cronies. So the way things are going to

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<v Speaker 3>work in future and are starting to work now, are

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<v Speaker 3>all going to be about fear, you know, rewards for

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<v Speaker 3>the people who join the administration, and punishment for those

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<v Speaker 3>who stand up and dissent. Fortunately, we still have courts

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<v Speaker 3>that are independent at the lower levels. You know, you

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<v Speaker 3>still have a lot of Americans who believe in civil

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<v Speaker 3>liberties and civil rights who will go out and exercise

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<v Speaker 3>those those rights and freedoms. But the pressure is to

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<v Speaker 3>destroy that and to make the system answer only to

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<v Speaker 3>the people who are in power, right, and so that

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<v Speaker 3>is why it's critically important that we call that back.

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<v Speaker 3>We not let that power be concentrated. And that means

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<v Speaker 3>going out and protesting, It means pushing back in the courts,

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<v Speaker 3>and for represent us, it means also trying to get

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<v Speaker 3>Congress to take its power back and do its job.

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<v Speaker 3>So we've launched the Congressional Courage Campaign, which is one

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<v Speaker 3>of the things that Divines dot Org is supporting, right,

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<v Speaker 3>and that is all about mobilizing Americans across the country

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<v Speaker 3>to hold their representatives to account. We're going to be

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<v Speaker 3>prioritizing some swing districts where we really think we need

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<v Speaker 3>to gain traction. But across the board, we need members

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<v Speaker 3>of Congress to uphold the constitution and do so strongly, firmly.

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<v Speaker 3>We need them to hold the executive branch to account.

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<v Speaker 3>That is their job they need to do. You exert

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<v Speaker 3>oversight of the different agencies, of the corruption that's going on,

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<v Speaker 3>of what DOJ is doing. And they need to reform

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<v Speaker 3>the system because our political system has been dysfunctional for

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<v Speaker 3>a very long time. A lot of people have lost

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<v Speaker 3>trust and faith in democracy because democracy has not really

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<v Speaker 3>been working the way it's supposed to. We have too

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<v Speaker 3>much influence of money and politics, you know, we have

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<v Speaker 3>too many problems like jerrymandering that have made the system

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<v Speaker 3>less accountable to the people. And that goes back to

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<v Speaker 3>the work we've done throughout our existence as an organization.

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<v Speaker 3>We need a government that's truly accountable to the people.

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<v Speaker 3>Let's seize this moment of crisis and actually build something

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<v Speaker 3>that is better, not just return to the status quo.

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<v Speaker 1>As of January. When you see Maria, a masked agent

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<v Speaker 1>deploying tear gas attacking a community. Having grown up in

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<v Speaker 1>an autocratic society in Peru, during difficult days. What is

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<v Speaker 1>that like for you?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, it is so appalling that we would have

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<v Speaker 3>any agents in this country who are operating wearing masks.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, this is supposed to be a country that

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<v Speaker 3>has the rule of law, that has accountability. Like we

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<v Speaker 3>had judges without a face when I was growing up

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<v Speaker 3>in Peru, so judges that you couldn't see who they

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<v Speaker 3>were and they were convicting people. And I understand stood

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<v Speaker 3>there were some security issues there at the time. It

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<v Speaker 3>was a it was a very politically violent period, but

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<v Speaker 3>even that was deeply problematic. You need to know who

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<v Speaker 3>is in government, who is making these decisions that are

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<v Speaker 3>life or death or you know, very serious for people.

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<v Speaker 3>And the fact that this is happening without a second thought, right,

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<v Speaker 3>they just said, Okay, they're gonna wear masks. They claimed

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<v Speaker 3>randomly that there are security issues. I'm sorry, but the

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<v Speaker 3>security issues are coming now from the government itself.

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<v Speaker 1>Right.

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<v Speaker 3>Law enforcement is supposed to be protecting us. Instead they're

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<v Speaker 3>turning into an unaccountable force that is in many cases

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<v Speaker 3>it seems hurting people, targeting even US citizens just because

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<v Speaker 3>of the language they speak. And now with a Supreme

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<v Speaker 3>Court approval for some of that. It's it's it's really

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<v Speaker 3>an abdication of everything that the United States has historically

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<v Speaker 3>stood for in terms of basic freedoms, basic rights, rule

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<v Speaker 3>of law, do process. Uh, you know, a system that

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<v Speaker 3>works for the people and is accountable to it.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm Steve Schmidt. This is the warning. I invite you

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<v Speaker 4>to join this community where I promise to be honest,

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<v Speaker 4>blunt and direct about what is happening in this country.

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<v Speaker 4>America is in crisis. Follow and subscribe to this channel

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<v Speaker 4>and on substack. Thank you.