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Speaker 1: Welcome to Worst Year Ever, a production of I Heart

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Speaker 1: Radio Together Everything. So don't don't this is the worst

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Speaker 1: year ever a podcast we all get paid to do,

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Speaker 1: and yet don't don't. Don't introduce with any kind of

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Speaker 1: gravity or respect for our professional competence, a bit which

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Speaker 1: will eventually run dry, but which hasn't yet. Ye, gravity,

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Speaker 1: there those our THX opening. We really like to make

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Speaker 1: it unappealing to be listening if you're if you're new

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Speaker 1: to us, Yeah, for the love of God, stay away out. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: what are you doing? Find another podcast listen to? And

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Speaker 1: that's how we all get fired. Yeah. Well, so speaking

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Speaker 1: of telling people not to listen at the very beginning,

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Speaker 1: that's how. That's how it's not a bad gas. That's

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Speaker 1: how you started a podcast. It's like how classically in

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Speaker 1: his first breakout hit, Terminator, James Cameron opened the movie

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Speaker 1: by insulting the audience forty seven straight minutes. Um would

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Speaker 1: sin him is great hits? You know he's an innovator.

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Speaker 1: You know he's an innovator, and our producer, um while

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Speaker 1: executive producer James Right, Well, that's why we're recording billion

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Speaker 1: dollars to produce. Yeah, we're in the piss right now.

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Speaker 1: This whole thing is recorded in the depth of the

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Speaker 1: Mariannas Trench, and we're all we're all breathing that fluid

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Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, he's working on building our new podcast

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Speaker 1: studio at the bottom of the Titanic. Very grateful, We're

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Speaker 1: very grateful. Thank you. Um, we should talk about the

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Speaker 1: horrific violence in Columbia. We should great pivot, thank you.

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Speaker 1: You know what's not at the bottom of the Mariannas

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Speaker 1: Trench of public awareness of the war crimes, of the

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Speaker 1: Colombian state crimes. But you know, that's where they like

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Speaker 1: them to be. That is where they'd like them to be. Yes, Cody,

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Speaker 1: thank you for tying that all together. We're gonna do

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Speaker 1: our best to make that not true today. Well, yeah, so,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. We should probably start by chatting a

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Speaker 1: little bit about Plan Colombia because I think that ties

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Speaker 1: in to everything we're going to talk about. And we

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Speaker 1: we've talked chatted about this a bit before when we

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Speaker 1: talked about one of the episodes he did about Joe Biden,

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Speaker 1: because Joe Biden famously took credit for Plan in Colombia. Um,

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Speaker 1: it's not all on him, but he was of course

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Speaker 1: a big, big like backer of the idea and and

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Speaker 1: the the the gist of it is starting in the

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Speaker 1: year two thousand UM, the US government started sending just

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Speaker 1: a fuckload of money in military aid and weapons and

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Speaker 1: in straight cash to the Colombian governments in order to

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Speaker 1: eradicate the cocaine trade UM. The goal of Plan Colombia,

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Speaker 1: the like stated goal was to cut coca production by

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Speaker 1: fifty UM. Columbia has at cut it with what that's

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Speaker 1: that's that's a good that's a good segue cody, because

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Speaker 1: since Plan Colombia started in there have only been two

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Speaker 1: years where Columbia was not the number one cocaine producer

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Speaker 1: on the planet. UH. And in those two years it

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Speaker 1: wasn't because Colombian production really dropped. It was because Peru

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Speaker 1: got a lot better at make and coke UM and

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Speaker 1: Colombia is still the number one cocaine producer. Plan Colombia

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Speaker 1: has achieved roughly nothing in terms of that. It only

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Speaker 1: started two thousand has when Planned Columbia started UM. And

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Speaker 1: so we've poured ten billion dollars into the Colombian military

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Speaker 1: and the police UM and the intelligence apparatus. We've sent

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Speaker 1: in special forces, we've trained a lot of their guys

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Speaker 1: with our guys. Um, and nothing has been accomplished in

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Speaker 1: terms of the eradication of Colombian cocaine. Um. As you

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Speaker 1: will know if you have been to a nightclub before,

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Speaker 1: you know the plague hit. Um. I assume there's still

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Speaker 1: places to buy cocaine today. But if you're not buying

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Speaker 1: cocaine in a bathroom, what are you what are you

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Speaker 1: even doing with cocaine? You're doing nothing. Yeah, you're not

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Speaker 1: using cocaine, right, No, you're not. Cocaine is meant to

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Speaker 1: be consumed in a bathroom stall off of the screen

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Speaker 1: of your friends phone, exactly, randomly, unexpected. You weren't really

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Speaker 1: going to that night. It's here, okay, well it's a

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Speaker 1: little bit and then you go from there. Yeah, exactly. Um.

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Speaker 1: That has not gotten harder to do as the result

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Speaker 1: of Plan what has gotten the pandemic has worked better

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Speaker 1: than Plan Columbia. Yes, yes, it absolutely has. Um. What

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Speaker 1: Plan Colombia has done is allowed the Colombian government to

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Speaker 1: brutally crack down on left wing opposition, both in terms

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Speaker 1: of the f A r C, which is a I

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Speaker 1: don't know, you can call them like a leftist insurgent organization,

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Speaker 1: but also in terms of like local villages and towns

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Speaker 1: that are just more sympathetic to uh, different left wing

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Speaker 1: groups than they are to the government. Um. There have

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Speaker 1: been numerous massacres of civilians by the government, as well

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Speaker 1: as massacres of left wing politicians. UM. Just a shipload

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Speaker 1: of violence because primarily, like and how the US government

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Speaker 1: has kind of justified continuing to fund the Colombian governments.

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Speaker 1: We've continued to say, you know, this is still we're

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Speaker 1: only giving the money to eradicate drugs. But because different

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Speaker 1: left wing groups fund themselves through the sales of cocaine,

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Speaker 1: it's counts as fighting cocaine if they're just murdering leftists

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Speaker 1: in the mountains, um, which I don't I think is

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Speaker 1: rad um, but the US government, I guess does. And

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Speaker 1: what we're seeing we're gonna talk you know about this

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Speaker 1: all today. But there's a shipload of horrific violence in

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Speaker 1: Columbia by the police, and we you know, have a

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Speaker 1: heavily militarized police force using weapons they got from US. UM.

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Speaker 1: You know, helicopters that the U s and Columbia have

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Speaker 1: been firing on protesters all that ship. UM. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: want to, uh, I want to read a quote from

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Speaker 1: an article in The Guardian about Plan Colombia UM that

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Speaker 1: I think kind of gives a decent, you know, overview

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Speaker 1: some what we've been talking about. Quote. Initially, Planned Columbia

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Speaker 1: was described as a counter narcotics and military strengthening strategy,

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Speaker 1: and the focus was on massive drug drug crops, spraying,

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Speaker 1: building up military capacity and offering some incentives to coca

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Speaker 1: growers to switch to legal crops under his Prestrana, the

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Speaker 1: Colombian president under whom Planned Colombia began, says the strategy.

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Speaker 1: It was a turning point in the countries decade decades

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Speaker 1: old war. Before the Plan, security forces were on the

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Speaker 1: defensive and on the verge of military defeat by guerrillas,

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Speaker 1: he told The Guardian in an email response to questions.

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Speaker 1: Afraid of getting bogged down in the Vietnam style quagmire,

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Speaker 1: Congress initially restricted the use of donated helicopters and other

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Speaker 1: hardware strictly to fighting drug production and trafficking. A battalion

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Speaker 1: of three thousand men trained by US Special Forces could

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Speaker 1: not be used to combat the guerrillas or paramilitaries unless

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Speaker 1: their targets were clearly protected drug labs or coca fields.

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Speaker 1: That ended after the nine eleven attacks in New York

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Speaker 1: and Washington, when the US became openly engaged in fighting

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Speaker 1: narco terrorism in Colombia. That is where Planned Columbia did

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Speaker 1: succeed in helping the Colombian government take control in some

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Speaker 1: areas for the first time of its territory, fighting back

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Speaker 1: guerrillas to mountain and jungle redoubts and driving them to

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Speaker 1: begin peace negotiations with the government in two thousand twelve.

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Speaker 1: So that's what's actually happened with Plan Colombia. It's it's

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Speaker 1: been kind of under the auspices of fighting drugs, it's

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Speaker 1: really been to allow the right wing government of Columbia

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Speaker 1: to beat the leftist gorillas into, you know, negotiating a piece.

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Speaker 1: You can have whatever opinion on that you want. But

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Speaker 1: a lot of what we're going to talk about today,

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Speaker 1: the horrific violence being done to civilians who are protesting UM,

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Speaker 1: is the end result of a military that has been

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Speaker 1: trained only in a police force that's been trained only

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Speaker 1: to do that, that's been trained by the United States

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Speaker 1: to use deadly force to stop political enemies of the government.

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Speaker 1: But that's the only time the US has done that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: this is a that's what everyone calls Colombia, the one

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Speaker 1: time the US interfered in the nation's politics to stop

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Speaker 1: left wing social movement. At least we're not making the

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Speaker 1: same mistake over and over again. At least we're not

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Speaker 1: doing that. If every if the world knows one thing

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Speaker 1: about Americans, it's that we only make each mistake once.

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Speaker 1: And you said, yeah, yeah, you said you can have

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Speaker 1: any opinion you want about that, and I think it's fine. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the standard opinion. Yeah, classic, classic American opinion. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: and Biden is you know, Biden is a big part

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Speaker 1: of Plan Colombia because he was a major backer of it.

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Speaker 1: He's also like kind of everyone is like, this is

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Speaker 1: not something there has been meaningful disagreement between Republicans and

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Speaker 1: Democrats on. They both have kept pissing money into the

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Speaker 1: Colombian military state for the same purpose. Um, totally good

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Speaker 1: to dunk on Biden for this, But like, again, they're

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Speaker 1: all complicit because this is something that's not controversial within

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Speaker 1: the U S electorate. American citizens don't really give a

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Speaker 1: shit about this as a block, and so it doesn't

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Speaker 1: matter what they do right, And Buden's always been very

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Speaker 1: like vocal about these kinds of things. Yes, absolutely, he

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Speaker 1: was always like, you know, the the bipartisan law and

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Speaker 1: ordered guy. Yeah, so he of course would be very

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Speaker 1: very supportive of this kind of thing. And this is

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Speaker 1: you know, you you can talk about We'll be talking

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Speaker 1: about Israel soon. But like there are there are members

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Speaker 1: of the Israeli government that are very good at talking

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Speaker 1: to American citizens and politicians and in the way that

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Speaker 1: makes them sympathetic, which is to talk about terrorism, which

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Speaker 1: is the thing that Americans kind of blindly will throw

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Speaker 1: money at. Drugs are I think Americans will kind of

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Speaker 1: blindly throw money at, which is why it's framed this

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Speaker 1: way as we were stopping the production of deadly drugs. No,

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Speaker 1: you're I mean, that's a little bit of what you're doing,

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Speaker 1: but it's not stopping the drug trade. You're actually just

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Speaker 1: bombing and executing people who disagree with this government, um

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Speaker 1: in the mountains. And of course there's tie ins too.

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Speaker 1: A lot of these different left wing groups are seen

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Speaker 1: as being bad for US businesses that are by ston

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Speaker 1: in Colombian This is the thing that's happened elsewhere in

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Speaker 1: Central America so I don't want to like reduce all

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Speaker 1: of that. But um, you know that's the broad strokes

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Speaker 1: of kind of what's what we've been doing in Colombia

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Speaker 1: for years? And obviously we started sucking around there and

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Speaker 1: funding the right wing in Colombia and sending over military

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Speaker 1: advisors way before the year two thousand. The School of

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Speaker 1: the Americas is heavily tight. And this right we've been

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Speaker 1: doing the ship since like the seventies at least. Um,

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Speaker 1: but Plan Colombia I think officially kicked off in two thousands. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's some yeah, shades of all the things that we do. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but things are fine now. Um, yeah, things are great

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Speaker 1: in Colombia. And that's the end of the episode. Go

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Speaker 1: visit Bogata, the place where nothing is violent. I don't

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Speaker 1: know what to say right now. We should talk about,

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Speaker 1: like what what's actually happening there? Now, you should talk

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Speaker 1: about what's that? I mean, I just get so angry

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Speaker 1: whenever I I I learned about our impact, learn more, remember,

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Speaker 1: reminded all the things about our the things that we

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Speaker 1: do around the world. And uh, and I know we

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Speaker 1: joked about it, but we have done this a lot

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Speaker 1: and and and it just feels like screaming into the

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Speaker 1: void sometime. But here we are, we are going to

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Speaker 1: talk about it. Yeah, it's one of those things where UM.

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Speaker 1: One of the traps we get stuck into is UM. Domestically,

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Speaker 1: there's a pretty significant difference between the Republicans and the Democrats,

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Speaker 1: And I disagree with people who say that there's not

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Speaker 1: like you can see it. Just a recent example would

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Speaker 1: be UM Biden trying to stick with the Trump refugee

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Speaker 1: caps and getting shamed and increasing it to sixty. You know,

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Speaker 1: that's that's that's not meaningless. There's a number of examples

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Speaker 1: like that. You don't have the Democratic Party making all

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Speaker 1: these like anti trans bills exactly exactly. There are significant

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Speaker 1: differences between the two parties domestically, internationally, not as much

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Speaker 1: as there should be. You know, you can make a

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Speaker 1: claim about like, for example, UM civilian deaths as a

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Speaker 1: result of US drone strikes and air strikes leapt massively

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Speaker 1: when Trump took off. As for a number of different

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Speaker 1: policy reasons. Among them, he UM stopped the military from

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Speaker 1: deeded to report civilian casualties as a result of our

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Speaker 1: air strikes. We don't know if they've gone down like

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Speaker 1: it's we don't Biden hasn't been in office enough, like

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Speaker 1: maybe after a year or so we'll be able to

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Speaker 1: to tell if there's if that difference, like if things

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Speaker 1: drop back down hard to say. There's also the complicating

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Speaker 1: factor of of isis being more active when Trump took office.

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Speaker 1: But generally speaking domestically, there's a big difference between the

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Speaker 1: two parties. Internationally they both do a lot of the

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Speaker 1: same ship, a lot of the exact same ship, and

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Speaker 1: mostly just rubber stamp the same things like Columbia. I

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Speaker 1: just this is simplistic, but as we talked about a

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Speaker 1: moment ago, you know, a lack of awareness of what's

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Speaker 1: happening internationally just in general people are American attention span

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Speaker 1: being so short and not conditioned to looking externally at

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Speaker 1: at other places UM and really thinking about critically about

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Speaker 1: our our actions and the influence worldwide, means that there's

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Speaker 1: not public pressure. We can pressure Biden, sistick Lee, but

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Speaker 1: most people UM aren't tuned in enough to and so

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it's just also highlights.

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Speaker 1: They're all fucking politicians. And you know, if if there

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Speaker 1: was a big liberal uprise, a movement of people saying no,

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Speaker 1: this is important, This is stuff that we have to

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Speaker 1: be talking about and caring about. Maybe we would see

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Speaker 1: more pressure on politicians. I don't know, maybe, but yeah,

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Speaker 1: it is it would take a lot. You know, we

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Speaker 1: in America. Um, it's a bipartisan effort like America, Like,

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Speaker 1: regardless of party, it is America first. Like that's that

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Speaker 1: is what it is. It's just Trump is a more

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Speaker 1: grotesque and obvious version of it, heightened for sure. Um. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: like saying America first. But yeah, right right, But like

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Speaker 1: the mindset is still there, and a lot of the

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Speaker 1: difference is in sort of like the delicate touch or

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Speaker 1: the you know, the sort of aesthetic like we're trying

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Speaker 1: to paint a nicer face on it. Um, But when

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Speaker 1: you really get down to it, it's very very similar. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: But um, okay, so Cody, you want to get us

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Speaker 1: started on why ship started? In taxes? Uh? We love taxes,

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Speaker 1: don't we, folks. Yeah, there are a lot of regressive taxes.

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Speaker 1: Are regressive taxes imposed? Um? That cause what we what

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Speaker 1: we call for quite a lot actually is a basically

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Speaker 1: a general strike. Um. In response to, uh, was it

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Speaker 1: lowering the threshold at which salaries at tax affecting anyone

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Speaker 1: with a monthly income of six dollars or more. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so it's only going after the rich. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

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Speaker 1: Uh what a fucking figure that is. I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: you've seen some of the same ship done by Macron

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Speaker 1: and France. Obviously, you know there's differences, but like the

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Speaker 1: basic idea of we're hitting it's this thing that happens

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Speaker 1: all over in the neoliberal world. Um, things have gotten difficult,

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Speaker 1: it's time to tax the working class. Yeah yeah, And

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Speaker 1: the working class in Colombia was like that, ain't it dude?

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Speaker 1: What was not income income threshold? Again? What was that

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Speaker 1: monthly income of six or more? Oh my god, I

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Speaker 1: don't think I let that hit me hard enough that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's you know, the financial situation is different there,

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Speaker 1: but not that different, not that different, not a lot

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Speaker 1: of money. Almost half half the populations of the country

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Speaker 1: that yes, is so impoverished. You're you're trying to make

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Speaker 1: it worse. You're trying to exacerbate that poverty. You're just

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Speaker 1: trying not to funk with the people who fund the government.

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Speaker 1: And the people who fund the government aren't the people

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Speaker 1: who are protesting it By and large. Um. And by

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Speaker 1: fund the government, I mean like bribe the politics asians

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Speaker 1: not politicians, to not pay more in taxes. Yeah. Um. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: There would also be a VAT tax, which is like

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Speaker 1: a value added tax. We don't call it that in

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Speaker 1: the United States, but it's at tax on like normal

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Speaker 1: goods that people need to survive, and thus as AT

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Speaker 1: tax that will primarily impact people without very much money

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Speaker 1: who struggle to survive. Yeah, who struggle to survive. And

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Speaker 1: it's kind of you see this pitched a lot by

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Speaker 1: libertarians in the US that like, we shouldn't have income tax,

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Speaker 1: we should just have like a national sales tax. It's like, well,

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Speaker 1: because and they're like, well, that's fairer. Everybody just has

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Speaker 1: to pay, you know, the same sales tax stuff they buy.

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Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, but that's not as fair for people

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Speaker 1: who were poor because they can't avoid the sales tax,

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Speaker 1: Whereas we say with an income tax, if you're getting

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Speaker 1: below a certain income, you don't have to Yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: the same. That would be the sales tax would have

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Speaker 1: to be much higher. Yes, it does that the people

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Speaker 1: that make less won't be able to afford the things. Okay, yes, yes,

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Speaker 1: even less all right, anyway, it seems bad. Um. And

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Speaker 1: uh it also you know, as we've talked about, I

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Speaker 1: don't know if you've heard, there is a pandemic going on,

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Speaker 1: um so, unemployment on the rise, a lot of problems,

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Speaker 1: and this sort of uh this did it um rallies

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Speaker 1: started to get organized, um and uh the President tried

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Speaker 1: to withdraw it, but that was too late. Well because

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Speaker 1: in the interim, you know, people are protesting, and of

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Speaker 1: course you're seeing even more of this police violence, which

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Speaker 1: isn't solely happening during this it's a problem anyway, but

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Speaker 1: you know, it's about so much more than just the

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Speaker 1: income tax thing. At the moment, right well, you get

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Speaker 1: you get people participting in a general strike, and you

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Speaker 1: get people in the streets, and then you see all

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Speaker 1: the you know, the state violence and the state's response

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Speaker 1: to it. Um. It's hard to put that cat back

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Speaker 1: in the bag once people's eyes get more and more

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Speaker 1: opened on what the sty will do to them, but

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Speaker 1: also on the power of everybody coming together for a cause. UM. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I think it depends. You know, we had our

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Speaker 1: version of this last year UM in a lot of places,

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Speaker 1: and I think one of the reasons. You know, there's

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Speaker 1: a number of reasons that died down. Um. Some of

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Speaker 1: them were the fact that that Trump was you know,

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Speaker 1: pretty soundly had his ass kicked politically, but a big

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Speaker 1: part of it was people. The state violence was really

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Speaker 1: horrific um. And after a while, people had enough and

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Speaker 1: they had lives that were broadly comfortable, um to return

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Speaker 1: to most of them. Um. And this is not necessarily

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Speaker 1: the case for a place with as many people in

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Speaker 1: poverty as Colombia and as desperate a situations Columbia. One

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Speaker 1: of the things that's been happening there is because you know,

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Speaker 1: they added like two point eight million new people in

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Speaker 1: poverty as a result of the of the coronavirus. And

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Speaker 1: one of the things that, yeah, extreme poverty, and and

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Speaker 1: one of the things that kind of went viral there

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Speaker 1: was families who did not have enough food to eat,

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Speaker 1: who were starving, tying like red strips of fabric around

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Speaker 1: their doors. And that is the kind of thing that

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Speaker 1: can make that can give I don't know what you

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Speaker 1: want to call it a protest movement, an insurrection more legs. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's it's life and death for everybody.

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Speaker 1: Whereas yes, our protest movements are also about life and death.

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Speaker 1: But but yeah, sort of circumstances. Right, you can put

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Speaker 1: your BLM sign in the yard and dust yourself off, right,

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Speaker 1: I mean, just take a moment to say I am

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Speaker 1: blown away and impressed and inspired by these general protests

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Speaker 1: movements rising up in the face of extreme danger. You

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Speaker 1: know when we talk talked about this a few weeks ago,

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Speaker 1: about me and mar you know as well. Uh, but

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Speaker 1: I hate the circumstances bringing that to about of course,

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Speaker 1: to about to about Yeah, nice work, Katie really nailed

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Speaker 1: with there. Um, well it's too about time for an

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Speaker 1: ad brick. There we go. Now we're going to pivot

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Speaker 1: too and add about whatever feet guys, Now, we can't

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Speaker 1: ask for my little fumble to be cut. What we

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Speaker 1: can't We can't cut. You can't edit audio anyway, and

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Speaker 1: you wouldn't want to edit perfection, So no, never anyway,

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Speaker 1: Go go listen to ads together everything. Oh god, you

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Speaker 1: know what's great just being back with all you people

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Speaker 1: talking about state violence. Oh, I see, I see what

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Speaker 1: we're doing. What's violent? My state of well all of them?

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Speaker 1: Really where did we where did we kick off here? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Kicking it off with where we left off. The protests

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Speaker 1: did not subside despite the tax being um rescinded. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: because it's about more than just the taxes. Right when

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Speaker 1: those kids started hopping fares and then you know, getting

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Speaker 1: the ship kicked out of them, like that's the fair

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Speaker 1: increase in the subway is kind of like what sparked things,

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Speaker 1: But like that wasn't what it was about, you know.

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Speaker 1: Um yeah, It's just like how last year's uprisings, the

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Speaker 1: spark was George Floyd's murder. It wasn't just about that,

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Speaker 1: you know, it never is. It's just eventually there's always

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Speaker 1: something that is too much, and this tax was too much.

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Speaker 1: In the government did what governments always do, and they

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Speaker 1: tried to uh stop the uprising by pushing you know,

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Speaker 1: canceling the one thing that they assumed was the root

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Speaker 1: of the problem. Yeah, they said whoopsie, yeah, because they thought, yeah,

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Speaker 1: well okay, okay, but before they did the whoopsie, they

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Speaker 1: murdered a bunch of people. Well yeah, so that's an

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Speaker 1: important context. I mean, but who among us hasn't murdered

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Speaker 1: a bunch of people raising my hands. Okay, so everybody's

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Speaker 1: everybody's big league in me all right, take that murderer. Yeah, Sophie,

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Speaker 1: how many how many people have you murdered? I don't

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Speaker 1: know a lot. Okay, So we're see both sides, both sides,

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Speaker 1: violence on both sides of this podcast. Um, alright, So

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Speaker 1: back to Columbia. Um. Yeah, so, uh, as we talked about, like,

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Speaker 1: unemployment has basically doubled in Columbia since the the pandemic began,

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Speaker 1: their GDP dropped seven dropped about seven percent, while poverty

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Speaker 1: rose to nearly half of the country. Fort Um, there's

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Speaker 1: a new variant of the virus in the country, which

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Speaker 1: is um, further fucking up things for everybody. Um. So

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Speaker 1: it's just like especially hitting you know, impoverished communities, which

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Speaker 1: is now half the country. Yeah and yeah, so it's

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Speaker 1: one of those things I think as a result of

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Speaker 1: the severity of the economic situation, there's a good chance

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Speaker 1: we're dealing with, um, a situation where the protests, the

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Speaker 1: uprising what we want to call it, is less likely

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Speaker 1: to die down because people don't have a life to

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Speaker 1: go back to. It's kind of more eggs estential, Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, we whereas when when folks number one have uh,

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Speaker 1: less of a reason, like more of reason to be

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Speaker 1: afraid of incarceration or something. Um. But also just when

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Speaker 1: you know, when protesting is or you know, when participating

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Speaker 1: in the uprising is something that takes them away from

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Speaker 1: the comforts of their life. Well, if they don't have

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Speaker 1: those comforts because their their life fell apart before ship started. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and and and you know, the risk of death is

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Speaker 1: worth it in order to try to you know, that's

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Speaker 1: a really important perspective to keep in mind that when

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Speaker 1: your life is so bad and your conditions are so

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Speaker 1: bad that risking death is the only option that's as

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Speaker 1: desperate situation. Yeah. And I think it's because a lot

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Speaker 1: of people would say, continuing the status quo is death.

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Speaker 1: The government was offering death by you know, trying to

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Speaker 1: take more money from us. We're already starving. Um, it's

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Speaker 1: death versus death. And at least we'll go out fighting,

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Speaker 1: you know, if we go out or maybe we'll win.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully they win. But I think that's kind of how

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Speaker 1: a lot of people see it. Um. And Yeah, in

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Speaker 1: the since things started as like and things kicked off

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Speaker 1: in about May seven, at least thirty seven protesters have

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Speaker 1: been killed. We're probably looking at an actual number that's

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Speaker 1: much higher than that, Like you're talking to people, are

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Speaker 1: there's something somewhere around a hundred people have just gone

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Speaker 1: missing and that number is probably higher, Tom, because again,

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Speaker 1: this is a government that was trained by the US,

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Speaker 1: including special forces and like our fucking spook networks to

425
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 1: disappear people, right, Like that's that's part of the fucking

426
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,639
Speaker 1: job that they were taught how to do. UM. So

427
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,879
Speaker 1: we don't actually know the death count, and we may

428
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,159
Speaker 1: never know the true death count. Thousands of people have

429
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 1: been injured, UM. And most of the munitions being used

430
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,479
Speaker 1: are rubber rounds, foam rounds, tear gas, flash bangs UM.

431
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,280
Speaker 1: But real live rounds have also been used to number

432
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 1: of times. They've been cases of hooded military and police

433
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: officers firing semi automatic rifles into crowds that included mothers

434
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: and children. UM. From the Guardian quote. A few things

435
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 1: scenes have been quite so hellish as those in Slow

436
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: Raises mountainside home, where police have used live rounds, flown

437
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: black hawks just above houses and fired tear gasper knights

438
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 1: on end. They fumigate us like we're insects. Ray has said,

439
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 1: I've seen people with COVID on ventilators who can't breathe,

440
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 1: and they seem in less pain than the kids drowning

441
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: in those gases. And again, not only is the tear

442
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 1: gas manufactured by defense technologies, but those black hawks came

443
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 1: courtesy of our tax dollars to part of that tin

444
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,320
Speaker 1: billion an aid that went to the plumbing military. There

445
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 1: you go again, we love exporting weapons of Yeah. Anyway,

446
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:49,920
Speaker 1: and this is the kind of stuff, like you said, like,

447
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,199
Speaker 1: this is the kind of stuff that's been happening. Um,

448
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,399
Speaker 1: it's just it's the most blatant now because of what

449
00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 1: they're responding to. I just have a question, and that

450
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:08,680
Speaker 1: is what is the US response currently to the protests? Um, well,

451
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 1: not much, not at all. That's basically because I saw

452
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: like we would, um stop sending aid or whatever if

453
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,359
Speaker 1: they don't rescind the the you know, the new law.

454
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 1: I don't know, um, but there, Yeah, that's what I mean.

455
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,080
Speaker 1: As I haven't seen much in terms of what our

456
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,119
Speaker 1: response is to what's happening. Yeah, I mean I have.

457
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:40,399
Speaker 1: I have seen nothing. Yeah, from at least from the administration. Um.

458
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:45,360
Speaker 1: We've had some US lawmakers, including Alexandria Acasio Cortez condemned

459
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:49,399
Speaker 1: the club me of government's human rights abuses. Um, so

460
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,720
Speaker 1: that that has happened. Um, but I have I'm not

461
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:58,200
Speaker 1: I have not seen any Um, I've not seen any

462
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 1: real all I'm calling it right now. Maybe what I

463
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 1: was just referring to was a nightmares dream because that's

464
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:11,639
Speaker 1: how I've been sleeping. Um anyway, Okay, that's cool. A

465
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: c is the only one. Well, there's been other members

466
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,320
Speaker 1: of the government, but nothing has actually been done. Right.

467
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: It's like it's like nice for elected leaders to speak

468
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,400
Speaker 1: out against the Colonbian government, but it would be nicer

469
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 1: to stop giving him guns. Yeah yeah, um yeah, um,

470
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 1: but a statement literally literally the bare minimum would be

471
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 1: uh something, uh yeah. Seven protests have been killed since

472
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: four days ago. Yeah and again that's probably so yeah,

473
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 1: like that's just the number that we yeah, um, and

474
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 1: it's yeah, there's there's I haven't seen any any information

475
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 1: about any actions that's been taken. Um. Here's a quote

476
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 1: from the end of an article in the Hill. Um. Still,

477
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 1: the Biden administration is give the benefit of the doubt

478
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 1: to Duque, who is the current president, encouraging the government

479
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,720
Speaker 1: to cool down tempers through dialogue with protest leaders. Colombian

480
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,280
Speaker 1: people need to have this conversation. It's not an appropriate

481
00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 1: time for the US to comment when we haven't gotten

482
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,320
Speaker 1: all the details, said a Biden's spokesman. All right there,

483
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 1: it is definitely, definitely not what I imagined. The response was,

484
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 1: it's wild because they commented really fast on the most

485
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 1: recent um escalation of violence by the Israeli government. And

486
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 1: I don't know if they had all the details there either,

487
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: but they they sure came out. I want to say,

488
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 1: I don't know that they ever have all the details

489
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,400
Speaker 1: before they make stances. But anyway, UM, Now that said,

490
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: we should talk about kind of how how this all

491
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: has affected politics within Colombia itself. UM. One thing that's

492
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 1: worth noting is kind of prior to the pandemic and everything,

493
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 1: you know, Yeah, prior to the pandemic, UM, and really

494
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: like prior to um Trump coming into office. Actually, UM,

495
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: in the like early aughts and mid auts, the Colombian

496
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 1: people had a very high level of approval for their police,

497
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 1: more than seventy percent of the country in the early

498
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: two thousands. By that number was just UM and this

499
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,480
Speaker 1: process of kind of people dropped, the people's trust of

500
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 1: the police dropping rapidly, really kicked off in two thousands sixteen,

501
00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 1: after a series of human rights abuses and corruption allegations

502
00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: forced the Colombian police force's top commander to resign and

503
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: more than fourteen hundred police officers were dismissed. Um. So

504
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,719
Speaker 1: there were a bunch of scandals kind of leading up

505
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 1: to the present violence that led to a massive drop

506
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 1: in people's um trust in the police. There were political

507
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 1: demonstrations and riots in twenty nineteen twenty about police brutality.

508
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: Hundreds of protesters were taken unlawfully and detained. Many of

509
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 1: them were sexually assaulted or beaten. Thirteen people were killed. Uh.

510
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 1: The abuses were so horrific that the Colombian Supreme Court

511
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 1: mandated government restructure use of force guidelines. So this is

512
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,400
Speaker 1: all kind of playing into what's happening now. Dang really

513
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,920
Speaker 1: sounds like planned Colombia turned things askew here. Yeah, I mean,

514
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 1: tracking it's true you're talking this. All of this stuff

515
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,200
Speaker 1: starts happening in the early odds, you know, Yeah, I mean,

516
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty wild because like that's all horrible. But

517
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,200
Speaker 1: also the fact that after police horribly cracking down on

518
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 1: protests against police, the Colombian Supreme Court spoke out against

519
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,240
Speaker 1: the police is so optimistic compared to how things would

520
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 1: go with our Supreme Court, Like it's it's both things

521
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 1: at once, where it's like it would be nice if

522
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court would say something about what the cops

523
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 1: were doing here. Um, but yeah, wild stuff. So yeah,

524
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: and again the president, Duke Ivan Duque, Um, I think

525
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:57,160
Speaker 1: I'm probably pronouncing that wrong, but I don't like it. Um.

526
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 1: He met with Colombian protests leaders on Monday, so like

527
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 1: literally the day before we recorded this podcast, um, to

528
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 1: try and curb the violence of the anti government protests.

529
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,840
Speaker 1: Protest leaders said the government had shown no empathy for

530
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 1: their demands. The government emphasized basically like we're not going

531
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 1: to decide anything this meeting. We're just trying to explore

532
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 1: our options, feelers out. We're putting some feelers out while

533
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,200
Speaker 1: we shoot you. Feelers in one handguns in the other.

534
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 1: Or you're putting on a show, yeah, putting this show

535
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: that you are listening with the met in a room.

536
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:43,400
Speaker 1: And I am I am always deeply Um. I don't

537
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 1: know what's the word skeptical when I hear the term

538
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,640
Speaker 1: protest leaders, because boy howdy, has that one gone some

539
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,320
Speaker 1: bad places? In the past. Um, it's a good sign.

540
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 1: I think that they they didn't you know, kind of

541
00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 1: seen anything to the government at the city, and that

542
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,040
Speaker 1: they kind of continue to say, we don't think the

543
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,560
Speaker 1: government gives a shit about us. There was a line

544
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: in um A Reuter's article on our dock here that

545
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,360
Speaker 1: I think is interesting quote attendees agreed on the need

546
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,680
Speaker 1: to reject violence. That high piece Commissioner Miguel Sabalos, who

547
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 1: also repeated the government call for road blockades around the

548
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:19,600
Speaker 1: country to be lifted. The government has proposed a further

549
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 1: meeting with the strike committee. So it is concerning to

550
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 1: me these these protests leaders agreed on the need to

551
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:32,440
Speaker 1: reject violence when it's like not them doing most of it. Yeah. Maybe,

552
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:33,840
Speaker 1: and maybe the way they said it is like we

553
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,480
Speaker 1: agree the government needs to reject violence. I wasn't in

554
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 1: these maybes, just that the blockades are a part of

555
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,240
Speaker 1: the general strike. Yeah, it's one of the only options

556
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,960
Speaker 1: you have when your enemies have helicopters and machine guns,

557
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,960
Speaker 1: as you can try to block trade and transit in

558
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,120
Speaker 1: order to damage the economy. Because as we saw here

559
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 1: last year, all the government ever really cares about is

560
00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,360
Speaker 1: the economy. So you hurt the economy when you're being

561
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:01,400
Speaker 1: hurt by you get a meeting, then you get yeah,

562
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,120
Speaker 1: so violent. I went skyface there for a second. I

563
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 1: couldn't stop it. It's fine, it's fine. Well, it's simple.

564
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,880
Speaker 1: If they want, um, the blockades to be list lifted,

565
00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:18,160
Speaker 1: they should do more than just listen and agree or

566
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:24,480
Speaker 1: whatever they spun this exploratory meeting anyway. Um yeah, we'll

567
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:27,439
Speaker 1: see how how the second meeting goes. I'm sure they'll

568
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:31,960
Speaker 1: get a lot more consideration. Great meeting, guys. Let's circle

569
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:36,439
Speaker 1: back in six months. You know, let's say, let's say

570
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 1: and twenty more protester deaths. You know that's a better,

571
00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 1: that's a better, that's a better measure of time. We'll

572
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: circle back see if you're still gonna blockade. Um um yeah,

573
00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,320
Speaker 1: I mean this is a lot of you know, you

574
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 1: wait them out right, They're like, oh, we'll do another meeting. Well,

575
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,880
Speaker 1: you know, we're considering the conversation, song and conversation. It's

576
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,319
Speaker 1: good to have a conversation, um, and hope fully from

577
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:07,480
Speaker 1: their perspective, the protests die down. Yeah. You know who

578
00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: else likes to have conversations? Cody? Ah, you I not.

579
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:20,239
Speaker 1: I hate talking. I hate people, no, no, but I love,

580
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:26,360
Speaker 1: uh the conversations my wallet has with the products and

581
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:31,320
Speaker 1: services that support our podcast. Exchanging words, exchange money is

582
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 1: so much more eloquent than words, Cody. You know, I

583
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,560
Speaker 1: don't even when I go on a date now, um,

584
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,160
Speaker 1: I don't even talk. I just start reading out debit

585
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:43,919
Speaker 1: card numbers, not even mine. Um, other people's money talks

586
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:45,279
Speaker 1: just as well. You know, I think you can have

587
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 1: a great conversation just with stolen debit card numbers. That's

588
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,959
Speaker 1: all you really need. Deal some debit cards and debit

589
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 1: cards with these sponsors exactly, with your stolen debit cards

590
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:12,080
Speaker 1: together the back and just just loving, loving life, stealing

591
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:17,240
Speaker 1: debit cards, cards, flipping through all our all our twenties,

592
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 1: all our hundreds, signed by Steve nuchin nus. Yeah, that's

593
00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:27,759
Speaker 1: the that's the hundred and seven dollar bill. Yeah yeah,

594
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 1: um so yeah, there's one kind of I don't know

595
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,000
Speaker 1: a number. Obviously, with any sort of uprising like this

596
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 1: is as horrible as the violences, there are some positive signs. Um.

597
00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:40,279
Speaker 1: One of them just is that people are kind of

598
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 1: being welded together in an effective force. They're starting to

599
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:47,600
Speaker 1: see the government and the military police apparatus as a

600
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 1: common enemy, um, rather than dividing amongst themselves and letting

601
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,319
Speaker 1: it kind of rule. And that's broadly positive. And there's

602
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 1: some signs that, like maybe what we're seeing in Columbia

603
00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,440
Speaker 1: right now is a growing and a more effective populist

604
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:04,960
Speaker 1: movement on the left, which again was heavily battered as

605
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 1: a result of of you know, the Colombian military's anti

606
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:12,279
Speaker 1: drug operations. So we may be seeing something new, um

607
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,440
Speaker 1: being formed kind of in its place. Um. And I'm

608
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:18,479
Speaker 1: gonna quote here from the New York Times. President du Quay,

609
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,480
Speaker 1: a conservative, has lost significant popularity since the beginning of

610
00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,400
Speaker 1: the pandemic. Colombia will hold presidential elections in two For

611
00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:29,080
Speaker 1: decades the country has elected conservative leaders, but Gustavo Petro,

612
00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 1: a left wing former mayor of Bogata and former member

613
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,760
Speaker 1: of a demobilized leftist guerrilla group, now leads in the polls.

614
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,879
Speaker 1: Mr Duque, limited by law to one term, cannot run

615
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 1: for re election. The government's response to recent protests could

616
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 1: be a significant factor in next year's vote. So that's

617
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:47,840
Speaker 1: would be that is a real positive. And like I

618
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:54,239
Speaker 1: said earlier, I I am inspired as the wrong word

619
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:58,120
Speaker 1: because it sounds like just so trite, But it is

620
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:04,840
Speaker 1: incredible to see people doing this under the awful circumstances.

621
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,280
Speaker 1: But this is most likely the way that things actually

622
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 1: get done in in in our world. Um, I'm hopeful.

623
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful that you know, I don't know how this resolves,

624
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,960
Speaker 1: but like you said, long term, that this means that

625
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,320
Speaker 1: there's some sort of a shift in power that comes,

626
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:27,399
Speaker 1: you know, especially after the elections. Yeah, people realizing one

627
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:32,920
Speaker 1: term too? Yeah, only one? Interesting? Um, yeah that actually

628
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,960
Speaker 1: again a couple of things here. I wouldn't mind stealing um,

629
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:40,800
Speaker 1: one term presidents presidents. I mean, yeah, it's not like

630
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,000
Speaker 1: the presidents are good, none of them are ever good.

631
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 1: But we're gonna have to have limits, seems if you're

632
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:48,440
Speaker 1: going to have them, maybe limit them to one term.

633
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 1: And then once we have them limited to one term,

634
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 1: maybe cut it back to half a term, maybe eventually

635
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:55,680
Speaker 1: reduce it to zero terms. So we still elect presidents,

636
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:57,920
Speaker 1: but it's a felony for them to serve, and we

637
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:02,040
Speaker 1: just threw them in prison, but exact because the election

638
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,440
Speaker 1: is conspiracy to commit a felony. I think we actually

639
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,160
Speaker 1: have hit upon a great way to improve the political situation,

640
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 1: and this just just imprison everybody trying to run for office.

641
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:18,400
Speaker 1: I mean it's like, well, we know who you are.

642
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:22,520
Speaker 1: Now you want to be a politician, alright, No no, no, no,

643
00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:26,960
Speaker 1: no no, that's some hard time running for Congress. Put

644
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:33,239
Speaker 1: some real scumbags behind bars today registered his campaign website.

645
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:40,239
Speaker 1: We got him, we got him. Uh, good stuff. But

646
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,880
Speaker 1: so I guess it is. Yeah, that is that is

647
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,400
Speaker 1: a potentially positive thing, UM, to see people sort of

648
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:50,840
Speaker 1: wake up to certain aspects UM, and to have a

649
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:54,640
Speaker 1: sort of groundswell of support, not even like support for something,

650
00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 1: but in opposition of this. UM. If that's where it starts,

651
00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:03,520
Speaker 1: that's where it starts. Yeah. I'm just trying to like, UM,

652
00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,040
Speaker 1: just trying to be optimistic about where this might lead. UM.

653
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:13,520
Speaker 1: On a less optimistic note, UM, but also still important

654
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:18,359
Speaker 1: note UM. At Belling Cat my colleague Giancarlo Fiarella, who

655
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: he and I travel up and down the Eastern Seaboard

656
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: teaching classes and open source journalism. He also teaches a

657
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,440
Speaker 1: bunch of free classes in Latin America to a journalists

658
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,640
Speaker 1: in a number of different countries who wouldn't be able

659
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:31,960
Speaker 1: to pay for the training. He's in Venezuela nation man.

660
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,399
Speaker 1: He sounds very cool. He's fucking rad. Uh. He has

661
00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:38,720
Speaker 1: put together a Belling Cat well, not just an article

662
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:40,800
Speaker 1: but like a platform like and and and currently the

663
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,240
Speaker 1: map is all in Spanish, but it's a map tracking

664
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 1: police violence in Colombia. UM. And this actually started last

665
00:40:48,239 --> 00:40:51,040
Speaker 1: year in October. It's part of a partnership between Belling

666
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,120
Speaker 1: Cat and Sarah Sententa UH. Sarah Senta which is a

667
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:58,040
Speaker 1: Columbian news organizations that call news organization that covers social issues.

668
00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:01,440
Speaker 1: It's based in the University of the Andy's Graduate School

669
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 1: Journalism Graduate School UM. And the map is I'm not

670
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 1: gonna try to say it in Spanish because they don't

671
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:11,840
Speaker 1: embarrass everyone else. But it's cartography of police violence, is

672
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,840
Speaker 1: what it's called. And this is kind of based on

673
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:18,600
Speaker 1: reporting that they started doing last fall UM with this UH,

674
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:23,359
Speaker 1: this new organization Sarah Setenta UM where bell and Cat

675
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:25,800
Speaker 1: would provide kind of advice on how to go about

676
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 1: open source research for articles they were publishing. UM and

677
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:30,279
Speaker 1: there were a number of them. One of them was

678
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 1: who was the Hooded Figure in Galan, which was about

679
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,719
Speaker 1: a guy wearing a hood who opened fire on protesters

680
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:39,040
Speaker 1: in bogatas Galaw neighborhood on the night of September n

681
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:43,040
Speaker 1: The man was dressed in civilian clothing, wearing a hoodie

682
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:44,920
Speaker 1: and appeared to be working with a group of uniformed

683
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:48,000
Speaker 1: police officers. One thing that's been happening in Columbia recently

684
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:52,440
Speaker 1: is large numbers of civilian vigilantes with rifles, right wing

685
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:58,000
Speaker 1: vigilantes with rifles attacking protesters, poticially disappearing protesters. Again, stuff

686
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,840
Speaker 1: that is happening around the world. It's just shades of

687
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,480
Speaker 1: I mean we are familiar with, yes, a shade of

688
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:07,200
Speaker 1: that here. Yeah. Um. Another article they worked on together

689
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,920
Speaker 1: was ninety four Shots in Verbinal. It shows the moment

690
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,400
Speaker 1: that police officers opened fire in a group of demonstrators

691
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:16,120
Speaker 1: near a police station in Bogata's Verbinal neighborhood. Three protesters

692
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,920
Speaker 1: were killed that night. Um. And so they've done a

693
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:21,360
Speaker 1: bunch of really good work and are continuing to do

694
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,720
Speaker 1: work updating this map with other incidents of police violence.

695
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,759
Speaker 1: It's only available in Spanish currently. I think there they'll

696
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,320
Speaker 1: be working on that at some point. But um, you know,

697
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:33,919
Speaker 1: of you could do the translate online. I just did

698
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:36,759
Speaker 1: figure it out. Yeah. Well, it's like you click on

699
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 1: a link and it will ask if you want to

700
00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:41,200
Speaker 1: translate to English. Yeah, but if you just go to

701
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:43,600
Speaker 1: Bell and Cat dot com. That's currently the main article

702
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:47,040
Speaker 1: up on the site. A new platform maps Columbia's escalating

703
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:54,080
Speaker 1: police violence. So check it out. That's really helpful. Depressing,

704
00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:02,840
Speaker 1: but helpful. Yeah, it's good ship. Um, I don't know, uh, anyone,

705
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:04,920
Speaker 1: anyone got any fun news to lead us out of

706
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 1: oh Man Belenda Gates divorcing Bill. Yeah, that is pretty

707
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 1: rare because because because of his deep and long and

708
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:21,560
Speaker 1: creepy friendship with UM, a friendship that started after he

709
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:28,279
Speaker 1: was already a convicted sex offender. UM wild, many many

710
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:32,960
Speaker 1: flights on the Lolita Express to talk about philanthropy. I

711
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:37,480
Speaker 1: think it's noble, Katie to adopt a rescue animal. Is

712
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:40,640
Speaker 1: it really any different to adopt a rescue animal than

713
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 1: to befriend a convicted sex offender? I would say it is, okay,

714
00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:54,480
Speaker 1: that's probably yeah ah ah, but you know, I might

715
00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:58,719
Speaker 1: try with your gotcha. It's just wild when you look

716
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:02,640
Speaker 1: at you know, Bill Gates. We've talked about Bill Gates

717
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:05,719
Speaker 1: on our various programs and shows. I'll have to do

718
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:07,960
Speaker 1: a BTV about him at something I think he should

719
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,920
Speaker 1: and just the you know, Oh, but he's a philanthropist,

720
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:18,920
Speaker 1: you know. But no, but he's a billion billion, hundreds

721
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:21,040
Speaker 1: of billions of dollars with whatever his net worth is.

722
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:24,840
Speaker 1: It's a goddamn tax right off his philanthropy, you know,

723
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:29,520
Speaker 1: and using that as a justification for having met with

724
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:35,439
Speaker 1: Epstein and you know, whatever various shady explanations he's given.

725
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 1: He's not a good dude. But I have a hard

726
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:41,200
Speaker 1: time also believing that Melinda Gates is very good either. No,

727
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:44,279
Speaker 1: I mean I don't. I don't care about either of them,

728
00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,480
Speaker 1: and none of us should, because whatever happens, they'll both

729
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:51,240
Speaker 1: be fine, Like they will both no matter how what happens,

730
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:54,960
Speaker 1: they'll both remain impossibly rich and powerful. So who gives

731
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,239
Speaker 1: a shit about either of them? Tax the tax, the

732
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,480
Speaker 1: motherfucker's take their money. Maybe, also, like stopped putting them

733
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:08,600
Speaker 1: in charge of things like they're they don't there, what

734
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 1: stop it? You don't need to be in charge of

735
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:17,960
Speaker 1: like solving global health. No, Also, every new stop sending

736
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:21,200
Speaker 1: us notifications about every step of their divorce. We don't

737
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:25,440
Speaker 1: fucking care, Thank you for telling us. Since it's been announced.

738
00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:27,440
Speaker 1: I want to say, every day I get some kind

739
00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:30,200
Speaker 1: of news alert from some kind of thing about their divorce.

740
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:35,080
Speaker 1: Don't care. I don't care unless it's more details about

741
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:41,160
Speaker 1: Bill's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Jet um. I don't know.

742
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:47,880
Speaker 1: I hate all of this, uh, but I would. I

743
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,719
Speaker 1: have been thinking if, if you know, the cult that

744
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:54,279
Speaker 1: I'm building ever does overthrow the federal government and put

745
00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:58,279
Speaker 1: me in power, absolute power, unchecked power. I think a

746
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,600
Speaker 1: good penalty to Bill Gates we be to take all

747
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:02,440
Speaker 1: of his money and work in one of those like

748
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,839
Speaker 1: little bitty computer repair kiosks. And I can't decide if

749
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:08,200
Speaker 1: it would be funnier for him to fix windows laptops

750
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:10,000
Speaker 1: that are broken, or to make him one of those

751
00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:12,640
Speaker 1: guys who has to fix the screens on iPhones. I

752
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,239
Speaker 1: was gonna say, maybe the screen iPhone or like just

753
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:19,600
Speaker 1: like phones in general. Yeah, um, because no one's gonna

754
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:22,880
Speaker 1: bring in with the windows. I mean, they have a

755
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:27,279
Speaker 1: pretty but I'm waiting for the gin too. BlackBerry um, yeah,

756
00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:35,320
Speaker 1: BlackBerry of old, stumbling with their blackberries roo juice on

757
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:39,160
Speaker 1: the keyboard. I'll try to use this to pivot to

758
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:42,600
Speaker 1: something slightly positive. I don't know. I mentioned this to

759
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:44,920
Speaker 1: you guys before we started recording. A lot of our

760
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:48,040
Speaker 1: listeners know that I'm in Arizona dealing with some family stuff, um,

761
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:52,439
Speaker 1: and I tried to avoid talking politics with people here.

762
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:55,720
Speaker 1: You know, I'm trying to interact and clay my aunt's

763
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 1: friends and get to know them in there are lovely,

764
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:01,239
Speaker 1: wonderful people, a lot of them who definitely have a

765
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:04,880
Speaker 1: different perspective than me. There was one suggestion of not

766
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 1: knowing where the virus came from, and Bill Gates's name

767
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:11,440
Speaker 1: was brought up, and I said, yeah, well, I I

768
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:14,600
Speaker 1: don't know about that, but I do agree Bill Gates

769
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:17,279
Speaker 1: sucks and talk about vaccines if he wants to be

770
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:20,440
Speaker 1: a philanthropist, you know, what do we do when advocating

771
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:22,480
Speaker 1: for not releasing the vaccine patent? You know? And I

772
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:26,640
Speaker 1: pivoted around to that and brought that further around to saying,

773
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:32,720
Speaker 1: how do you feel about taxing billionaires? Oh? Yeah, taxi taxi.

774
00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:37,640
Speaker 1: We can mind coming round. There's a lot less division

775
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:41,960
Speaker 1: on that specific issue than particularly billionaires want us to think,

776
00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:44,640
Speaker 1: and some other issues, not all of the issues that

777
00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 1: we care about. But I do think that there are

778
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,720
Speaker 1: ways that we can take the thread of someone else's

779
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:52,879
Speaker 1: perspective and say, well, I don't agree with this part

780
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:56,160
Speaker 1: of it, but here's where we can agree. Um. And

781
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:58,320
Speaker 1: I don't know that that's productive all the time and

782
00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:00,719
Speaker 1: all of our relationships. This is case by case, but

783
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:03,560
Speaker 1: it's interesting for me as an exercise right now. No,

784
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,880
Speaker 1: I think it's important to find important areas where you

785
00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:11,279
Speaker 1: can reach compromise without compromising on things that I can't

786
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 1: be compromised on. And I think a thing that is

787
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:16,200
Speaker 1: a positive compromise is what do we what do we

788
00:48:16,239 --> 00:48:19,120
Speaker 1: make billionaires less rich and use that money to build

789
00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:23,000
Speaker 1: better roads and maybe provide healthcare to people. It's a

790
00:48:23,120 --> 00:48:26,000
Speaker 1: lot of folks, even who consider themselves more conservative, can

791
00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:28,480
Speaker 1: get on board with at least aspects of that. And

792
00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:31,960
Speaker 1: every dollar we chisel out of those motherfucker's hands, um

793
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:36,000
Speaker 1: is a win, um, unless it goes to sending more

794
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:38,840
Speaker 1: military equipment to the Colombian government, which is which is

795
00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:44,960
Speaker 1: the second aspect of of improving material conditions. Yet, you know,

796
00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:48,080
Speaker 1: I don't expect everybody to agree with people from across

797
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:50,600
Speaker 1: you know, the other side of the political spectrum. I

798
00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:54,279
Speaker 1: you know, I don't think you can give passes on

799
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:56,320
Speaker 1: a lot of things and a lot of conversations. But

800
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:01,240
Speaker 1: I do think that there are common ground owned misconceptions

801
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 1: that have festered and grown a lot over the last

802
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 1: four years during the pandemic all of it. That if if,

803
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:13,279
Speaker 1: if you can approach the conversation by finding because at

804
00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:15,320
Speaker 1: the end of the day, most people are, you know,

805
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:17,520
Speaker 1: wanting to be able to work and pay for their

806
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:21,480
Speaker 1: family and uh, and you can agree with that, you

807
00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:24,719
Speaker 1: can agree with basic yeah, they're yeah, they're basic inroads

808
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:27,120
Speaker 1: and to sort of plant scenes like that and sort

809
00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:31,880
Speaker 1: of help, yeah, bringge the divide in those kinds of ways, um,

810
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:35,040
Speaker 1: and push back on maybe some of the other things.

811
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:38,440
Speaker 1: I'll share one other thing that I told you guys before,

812
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:42,000
Speaker 1: just because I uh enjoyed this part of the conversation.

813
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:45,960
Speaker 1: You know, the fact that restaurants and other places of

814
00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:48,400
Speaker 1: work are having a hard time getting people to come

815
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:52,200
Speaker 1: back in because you know, uh, the federal relief has

816
00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:55,440
Speaker 1: been an unemployment has been more than what they make

817
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,960
Speaker 1: at their jobs. And I just said, I understand, I

818
00:49:58,040 --> 00:50:01,520
Speaker 1: know it's frustrating. I it is frustrating, and I feel

819
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:03,640
Speaker 1: for businesses that are trying to get back and they

820
00:50:03,719 --> 00:50:08,480
Speaker 1: can't find workers. But doesn't it suck that people can

821
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:10,720
Speaker 1: work full time and not be able to pay their bills.

822
00:50:11,320 --> 00:50:14,080
Speaker 1: Like I feel like the real problem is that we can't.

823
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:16,719
Speaker 1: That has to be addressed is that we need to

824
00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:19,880
Speaker 1: pay people a living wage. And that was a universally

825
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:24,160
Speaker 1: agreed upon point and so that's just another I don't know.

826
00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:28,960
Speaker 1: I've i've i've I've left these conversations feeling really good,

827
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:31,799
Speaker 1: you know, And that's the positive thing that I want

828
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 1: to share, the things people agree on, but like it's

829
00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:38,279
Speaker 1: sort of clouded by the culture war bullshit that dominated

830
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,040
Speaker 1: so much of you know, and they talk about like

831
00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:47,520
Speaker 1: not trusting the media because it's all everything's owned by corporations,

832
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,920
Speaker 1: and then get that I know, and then I say

833
00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:51,960
Speaker 1: it's true on the right, and they're like, you're right,

834
00:50:52,040 --> 00:50:54,840
Speaker 1: it is, you know. It's the I think part of

835
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:58,279
Speaker 1: what you're hitting on is the difference between someone says

836
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:01,640
Speaker 1: something and there is an aspect of it you disagree with.

837
00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:03,640
Speaker 1: For example, the aspect of that I would disagree with

838
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:07,880
Speaker 1: is that, like it's negative that, um, these businesses that

839
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:10,200
Speaker 1: aren't treating workers right can't find work. That that's but

840
00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:13,759
Speaker 1: but in the interests of that conversation, why would I

841
00:51:14,280 --> 00:51:16,919
Speaker 1: focus on arguing with someone about that, but I could

842
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:19,759
Speaker 1: be like, can we agree the problem is that they're

843
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,319
Speaker 1: not getting paid enough, and that workers should be able

844
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:24,440
Speaker 1: to make a living if they're working full time, and

845
00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:28,160
Speaker 1: we should change the way that part of our society works. Okay,

846
00:51:28,719 --> 00:51:30,640
Speaker 1: maybe I don't need to argue about this other fact

847
00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:32,520
Speaker 1: because it's more important to get you on board with

848
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:35,799
Speaker 1: increasing living standards for working people. And if we can

849
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:38,279
Speaker 1: get on board with that, I'll argue with you about

850
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:42,160
Speaker 1: the other ship later, you know, exactly, yeah, exactly, and

851
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:45,600
Speaker 1: and and it's not to say that there aren't going

852
00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:48,200
Speaker 1: to be frustrating conversations, but I'm I am finding that

853
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:52,880
Speaker 1: kind of yeah approach helpful because then these are everybody

854
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:55,480
Speaker 1: I've met is wonderful. If any of you guys happen

855
00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:57,840
Speaker 1: to be listening, now, I think you're great and I

856
00:51:57,920 --> 00:52:01,200
Speaker 1: really appreciate you, you know, because then they were like,

857
00:52:01,239 --> 00:52:04,120
Speaker 1: i'll check out your shows. You know, I got nervous.

858
00:52:04,320 --> 00:52:07,000
Speaker 1: I'm always nervous when family checks out the show. I

859
00:52:07,120 --> 00:52:09,920
Speaker 1: was like, great, great, great, cool. I'm from California. Just

860
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:13,719
Speaker 1: so you know, like if we're unclear, but you know,

861
00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:18,800
Speaker 1: it's it's I really feel positive about someone. Yeah, I

862
00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:23,640
Speaker 1: had had a conversation with, uh, somebody recently that led

863
00:52:23,719 --> 00:52:27,080
Speaker 1: that down that path of like check out the show,

864
00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:31,359
Speaker 1: I guess, and during that was there was a lot

865
00:52:31,440 --> 00:52:33,400
Speaker 1: of a lot of differing opinions and so on, and

866
00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:37,080
Speaker 1: like he slipped in this thing about Stephen Crowder and

867
00:52:37,239 --> 00:52:40,959
Speaker 1: like like his whole thing. I was like, okay, yeah,

868
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:44,680
Speaker 1: something I just don't go into right now. But then

869
00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:47,440
Speaker 1: but then I uh, when I saw that person again later,

870
00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:50,600
Speaker 1: uh like a week later, they were like, I saw

871
00:52:50,719 --> 00:52:54,480
Speaker 1: your show. Yeah, Biden sucks, right, And I was like, yeah, right,

872
00:52:54,719 --> 00:52:56,920
Speaker 1: it's fine. Well, and then there's that it's lucky that

873
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:04,520
Speaker 1: the most recent episode we can start there. Why well,

874
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:07,200
Speaker 1: and that was another part of it, like not just

875
00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:10,480
Speaker 1: flat out not trusting politicians, And I get that, just

876
00:53:10,560 --> 00:53:13,719
Speaker 1: flat out not on either side. Yeah, and I can

877
00:53:13,800 --> 00:53:15,880
Speaker 1: agree with this that this is a problem. Get the

878
00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:18,839
Speaker 1: money out of politics. Yeah, I think kind of where

879
00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:21,040
Speaker 1: you have to go from there is Okay, we agree

880
00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:23,760
Speaker 1: politicians are corrupt and they suck and they do across

881
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:26,759
Speaker 1: the board. Right now. Your thing is I want to

882
00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:29,480
Speaker 1: find someone who's not a politician to elect, you know,

883
00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:31,000
Speaker 1: which is kind of the idea with Trump. He's not

884
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:34,680
Speaker 1: a politician, so it will be a better politician and instead, like, okay,

885
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:37,520
Speaker 1: let's take that starting point and get to perhaps we

886
00:53:37,600 --> 00:53:42,360
Speaker 1: don't need politicians. Perhaps they none of them are helping

887
00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:46,279
Speaker 1: our society. Perhaps they're completely unnecessary and only serve to

888
00:53:46,360 --> 00:53:50,600
Speaker 1: stoke divisions and make things worse for everybody. Um, which

889
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:53,040
Speaker 1: you can get a lot of people on board with

890
00:53:53,239 --> 00:53:54,920
Speaker 1: and when you get them on board with that, a

891
00:53:55,000 --> 00:54:02,920
Speaker 1: lot of possibilities for fun thinking open up. Yeah, um, yep, anyway,

892
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:10,480
Speaker 1: you're going to be good the conclusion, Oh, good as hell, Cody,

893
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:15,279
Speaker 1: good as hell. Anyway, if you're in Columbia, UM, you know,

894
00:54:16,120 --> 00:54:18,719
Speaker 1: use water and not milk to wash your eyes out

895
00:54:18,719 --> 00:54:20,400
Speaker 1: with tear. I'm sure you guys fucking know that. I

896
00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:23,359
Speaker 1: keep getting that stuff from American protesters, you know, milk

897
00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:26,719
Speaker 1: in your eyes for that. But I'm sure y'all have

898
00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:29,400
Speaker 1: been tear guests more than enough at this point. I

899
00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:31,880
Speaker 1: don't know whatever it's. It's useless for me to say anything,

900
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:35,000
Speaker 1: but but good luck and keep fighting, you know, And

901
00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:37,439
Speaker 1: we're what we're covering it, we're talking about it. Yeah,

902
00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:40,279
Speaker 1: we'll we'll keep we'll keep looking at this. UM. If

903
00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:42,960
Speaker 1: I hadn't had my passport stolen recently, you know I

904
00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:46,160
Speaker 1: would be I'd be down there. But oh, you know what,

905
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:47,680
Speaker 1: I do want to note a friend of mine is

906
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:50,320
Speaker 1: down there who's a much better person to cover this

907
00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:54,879
Speaker 1: than I am. His name is Sergio almost Um. He's

908
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:57,440
Speaker 1: been in Colombia for the last couple of days reporting

909
00:54:57,480 --> 00:54:59,320
Speaker 1: and doing a lot of like he's been live tweeting

910
00:54:59,360 --> 00:55:01,480
Speaker 1: a lot of his report. You can find him at

911
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:06,279
Speaker 1: mr m R O L M O s UM And yeah,

912
00:55:06,360 --> 00:55:09,920
Speaker 1: he's he's fucking great. Uh, he's a wonderful journalist. And

913
00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:13,359
Speaker 1: again you know, um, he's doing a much better job

914
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:15,400
Speaker 1: than I would ever have been able to do with

915
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:19,120
Speaker 1: the same story. So check him out, support him whatever

916
00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:21,839
Speaker 1: way you can. Good luck out there, Sergio, and good

917
00:55:21,920 --> 00:55:25,799
Speaker 1: luck everybody plug yet from the bottom of the sea.

918
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:37,520
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Everything everything so great. I tried.

919
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:42,120
Speaker 1: Worst Year Ever is a production of I Heart Radio.

920
00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:44,600
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I

921
00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:47,640
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

922
00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:48,560
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.