WEBVTT - What Tim Walz Did With Power

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<v Speaker 1>Alone Media Welcome back to It could Happen Here?

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<v Speaker 2>A podcast about Tim Walls, And in this episode, Garrison

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<v Speaker 2>and I are going balls to the Walls. Are you

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<v Speaker 2>happy with that? Garrison?

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<v Speaker 3>What's skivitying your Biden?

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<v Speaker 2>What does that even mean?

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<v Speaker 3>All right, let's get going some fucking.

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<v Speaker 2>Ging z bullshit Garrison, because I won't take part in it.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I'm excited to hear about how Walls is either

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<v Speaker 3>great or terrible or probably a mix of both.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he's I mean, he's a politician and a pretty

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<v Speaker 2>successful one, so it's definitely got to be a mix

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<v Speaker 2>of both. For jd Vance, I figured the most relevant

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<v Speaker 2>thing to do is to talk about, like what does

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<v Speaker 2>he actually believe and where does he come from in

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<v Speaker 2>the right, because people had gotten pieces of that, but

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like unless you put it all together, it's

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<v Speaker 2>not as useful. So I hope we did that with Walls.

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<v Speaker 2>He's not a guy where if there's anything sinister for

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<v Speaker 2>you to know, So I think the useful thing is

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<v Speaker 2>kind of going through his whole political biography and just

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<v Speaker 2>kind of talking about like what is this guy done

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<v Speaker 2>in his public life? Right? That's kind of what I

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<v Speaker 2>wanted to do here. So that people actually know, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>whether or not you are making your mind up about

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<v Speaker 2>whether or not to vote. You're voting for harm reduction,

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<v Speaker 2>you're anti electoral. Here's this guy who may or may

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<v Speaker 2>not wind up being the vice president, and here's what

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<v Speaker 2>he's actually done in the past when he's had any

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<v Speaker 2>kind of power. It's worth noting that kind of at

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<v Speaker 2>this point here Walls is maybe the most popular politician

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<v Speaker 2>at his level in the country. This has happened very suddenly,

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<v Speaker 2>but he's got something like can a plus sixteen net

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<v Speaker 2>favorability among moderates, which is insane.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's a lot.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's it's wild.

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<v Speaker 3>As someone who's looked at a lot of the favorability

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<v Speaker 3>ratings the past six months, Yeah, that is astonishingly high,

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<v Speaker 3>especially got pared to where we were like two months

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<v Speaker 3>ago with Skibbity Biden, which was.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, very low, quite dire. He's incredibly popular with the

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<v Speaker 2>normies because basically every everyone in the country has positive

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<v Speaker 2>memories of a guy like Tim Walls, like whether it

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<v Speaker 2>was like your favorite social studies teacher or your dad.

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<v Speaker 2>There is like a kind of rotund, balding, very mechanically

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<v Speaker 2>capable man, probably somewhere in your life that you have

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<v Speaker 2>fond memories of and walls dredges those up.

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<v Speaker 3>We are of a very Freudian country.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, for an idea of how like rapidly people have

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<v Speaker 2>gone from not really knowing who this guy is to

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<v Speaker 2>loving him. On August eighth, a Ugov survey should him

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<v Speaker 2>with a net favorability rating of plus eleven, which was

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<v Speaker 2>up from plus one, and a survey conducted in late

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<v Speaker 2>July in the same timeframe, jad Vance has seen his

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<v Speaker 2>approval ratings steadily drop.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, isn't he like at like negative points?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh? Yes, yes, yes, by any stretch of the imagination,

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<v Speaker 2>at negative points. And if you're just kind of looking

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<v Speaker 2>at Tim's life, which we're not really getting into because

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<v Speaker 2>we have limited time here and it's not the most

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<v Speaker 2>important thing I thought we could be talking about. But

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<v Speaker 2>he has a long history of doing decent things in

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<v Speaker 2>his personal life kind of most notably in the early nineties,

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<v Speaker 2>like ninety three to ninety four, he sponsored the Gay

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<v Speaker 2>and Lesbian Alliance at his high school. And his reasoning

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<v Speaker 2>was that, you know, he was a soldier in the

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<v Speaker 2>National Guard and the football coach at that point, and

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<v Speaker 2>he decided you know him sponsoring the club in particular

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<v Speaker 2>would have the biggest impact, and I honestly I think

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<v Speaker 2>that's the kind of thing that might have saved lives. Yep,

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<v Speaker 2>good thing to have done. Anyway, this isn't an episode

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<v Speaker 2>about his life and background. We're not going to litigate.

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<v Speaker 2>We're not going to always any time litigating the attacks

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<v Speaker 2>on his military career, which seemed to confusingly say that

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<v Speaker 2>after extending his time in the Guard by four years

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<v Speaker 2>to participate in Operation during Freedom, he owed his soldiers

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<v Speaker 2>staying on even longer to fight in Iraq. I could

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<v Speaker 2>make the point that no grunt in any US war

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<v Speaker 2>ever found themselves in the shit and said, boy, I

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<v Speaker 2>wish the commands Sergeant major was here. But given that

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<v Speaker 2>JD Vance was played onto stage at the RNC to

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<v Speaker 2>a song with the refrain we got to get out

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<v Speaker 2>of Iraq and take our country back, I just don't

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<v Speaker 2>think these attacks are worth acknowledging it. All right, the

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<v Speaker 2>right has already acknowledged that was a stupid war to

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<v Speaker 2>fight in walls decided not to fight in it. Good

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<v Speaker 2>for him now when it comes to the current war

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<v Speaker 2>that is on everyone's minds or one of the wars

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<v Speaker 2>that's on everyone's minds. Walls is fine on Ukraine, but

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<v Speaker 2>when it comes to the war that he's not fine

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<v Speaker 2>on the genocide in Gaza. Walls is in no way

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<v Speaker 2>that I can find really better than Kamala Harris. But

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<v Speaker 2>he did take a stand against the Iraq war back

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<v Speaker 2>when that mattered, which is I guess a little bit

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<v Speaker 2>of a point, but again doesn't really matter today and

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<v Speaker 2>in any case, we're far afield from the subject, which

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<v Speaker 2>is what has Tim done in politics. So Tim's political career,

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<v Speaker 2>he came late in life to that. He was a

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<v Speaker 2>social studies teacher. For a couple of decades he was

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<v Speaker 2>a coach. He lived in Nebraska, then moved to Minnesota,

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<v Speaker 2>and in two thousand and six, after retiring from the

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<v Speaker 2>guard he was elected to Minnesota's first congressional district. Now

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<v Speaker 2>this was a tough campaign. His opponent in this race

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<v Speaker 2>was a six term Republican incumbent, Gil Gutneckt.

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<v Speaker 3>Wait wait wait wait, good Neckt.

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<v Speaker 2>Good Neckt. I'm guessing his family were knights, and it

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<v Speaker 2>was used to be like good Knight or something like that,

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<v Speaker 2>like gut k n Eca. But I don't know enough

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<v Speaker 2>about ancient German to tell you if that's really where

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<v Speaker 2>his last name came from. Yeah, yeah, But Walls came

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<v Speaker 2>in that he kind of goes against this guy who

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<v Speaker 2>had promised not to run for another term and then decided, actually,

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<v Speaker 2>I don't want to give up power. Not a thing

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<v Speaker 2>that's ever happened again. And Walls kind of came in

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<v Speaker 2>both when this guy had violated his promise to not

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<v Speaker 2>run again and near the peak of disillusionment and exhaustion

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<v Speaker 2>with neo cons Right, this is kind of the twilight

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<v Speaker 2>of the Bush years. Even conservative Americans are pretty fucking

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<v Speaker 2>tired of the Republican Party right this second, and Walls

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<v Speaker 2>exhibited a notable ability to connect with rural Americans who

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<v Speaker 2>mostly voted red. He did so with basically no funding

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<v Speaker 2>or larger national operation behind him. From a write up

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<v Speaker 2>in the New York Times, he had no money, no nothing,

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<v Speaker 2>said Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota, who that cycle worked

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<v Speaker 2>on House Democrats recruitment team under their campaign chief Rama Manual.

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<v Speaker 2>He had a grassroots campaign that he had put together

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<v Speaker 2>that I just knew was going to be Dynahite. So

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<v Speaker 2>I went back and I told Rom Emmanuel this guy's

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<v Speaker 2>going to win. He's great, and rom looked at me

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<v Speaker 2>like I was crazy. Walls was a dark horse candidate

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<v Speaker 2>and would claim around that time that his whole inspiration

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<v Speaker 2>for getting into politics was when he tried to take

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<v Speaker 2>two students to a rally for President George Bush and

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<v Speaker 2>they were kicked out because one student had a John

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<v Speaker 2>Kerry button. Now I found a blog by the Republican

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<v Speaker 2>staffer who kicked them out where he admits he made

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<v Speaker 2>a dumb call. He was kind of trying to be

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<v Speaker 2>a dick. He had seen Walls out protesting against Bush

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<v Speaker 2>like the day before, and he knew he was going

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<v Speaker 2>to kick them out of the rally, but he made

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<v Speaker 2>them stand in line for a long time before he

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<v Speaker 2>kicked them out, and he was like, I shouldn't have

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<v Speaker 2>done that. But his angle was that Walls wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>get denied and kicked out so that he could make

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<v Speaker 2>a big deal about it and use it as a

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<v Speaker 2>line on the campaign trail. That's probably what happened.

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<v Speaker 3>Regardless, This is a very funny little domino leading to

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<v Speaker 3>big domino.

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<v Speaker 2>Everyone likes Walls who tends to meet him. Joe Biden,

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<v Speaker 2>for the last year or two has seems been trying

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<v Speaker 2>to get him to do Morbons with Walls just because

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<v Speaker 2>he put Biden in a good mood. I think that's

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<v Speaker 2>a big reason why Kamala picked him. He just seems

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<v Speaker 2>to be a very likable guy. But he's very okay

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<v Speaker 2>with lying to get what he needs. I mean, he's

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<v Speaker 2>a politician.

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<v Speaker 3>He's a politician.

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<v Speaker 2>Another good example of this would be his duy. Right

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<v Speaker 2>when he was thirty one, he got a duy, and

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<v Speaker 2>he is at times claimed basically that's why I decided

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<v Speaker 2>to like, I stopped drinking, I changed my life, I moved,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I got my shit together. But his campaign

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<v Speaker 2>manager made a statement recently, Oh, he wasn't drunk. He

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<v Speaker 2>just couldn't hear the cop. I don't know who to trust,

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<v Speaker 2>politician or cop in this case, but the CoP's attitude

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<v Speaker 2>is like, well, I would be fine if he had

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<v Speaker 2>just like fixed his shit up. But he definitely was drunk.

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<v Speaker 2>And I don't have any trouble believing that a man

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<v Speaker 2>in rural Nebraska, a football coach in rural Nebraska, drove

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<v Speaker 2>drunk once.

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<v Speaker 3>Right, No, that is not the most surprising thing in

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<v Speaker 3>the world.

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<v Speaker 2>So I think he's a guy who's certainly he's not

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<v Speaker 2>naive political actor, right, He's not one of these guys

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<v Speaker 2>who's so so good and pure that he's not willing

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<v Speaker 2>to like fudge in order to make shit work for him.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's probably what he did at this Bush event

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<v Speaker 2>right now. That said, it would be hard to overstate

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<v Speaker 2>what a difficult task he picked for himself and trying

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<v Speaker 2>to unseat Gutneck. At the time that Walls ran, Minnesota's

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<v Speaker 2>first district had been held by one other Democrat in

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<v Speaker 2>the last hundred years, so he was the second Democrat

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<v Speaker 2>in a century to win in that district, and as

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<v Speaker 2>soon as he left, by the way, a Republican took

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<v Speaker 2>back over. During his six terms in Congress, he was

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<v Speaker 2>one of the more interesting legislators in the country. Walls

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<v Speaker 2>was a risk taker, supporting liberal votes on major issues

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<v Speaker 2>even when he was politically vulnerable. He opposed Republican legislation

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<v Speaker 2>to make doctors vulnerable to criminal penalties for performing abortions.

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<v Speaker 2>He supported a climate cap and trade bill on greenhouse

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<v Speaker 2>gas emissions that failed, and this really pissed some folks off.

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<v Speaker 2>He supported the Affordable Care Act, and kind of one

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<v Speaker 2>of the more notable things about him is there's stories

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<v Speaker 2>of when he was running for reelection, he would do

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<v Speaker 2>town halls in southern Minnesota and he would get attacked

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<v Speaker 2>by these red voters who had supported him early on

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<v Speaker 2>for backing the Affordable Care Act, and rather than like

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<v Speaker 2>backing off, he would lean into it and argue with

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<v Speaker 2>them and try to convince them. And you know, his

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<v Speaker 2>numbers with conservative rural Republicans got worse and worse every

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<v Speaker 2>cycle basically, so you could argue how good he was,

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<v Speaker 2>but it is worth something to me that he didn't

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<v Speaker 2>back off, he didn't do the well this might, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>fuck up my chances of re election. Like he's never

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<v Speaker 2>really been that kind of guy. There's things that he

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<v Speaker 2>believes and he will just kind of like jam his

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<v Speaker 2>flag into the mud over them. That said, Tim was

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<v Speaker 2>a pragmatist. He voted for a resolution calling for the

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<v Speaker 2>withdrawal of US forces from Iraq within ninety days, but

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<v Speaker 2>when that failed, he voted in favor of continuing funding

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<v Speaker 2>for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tim also received

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<v Speaker 2>an a from the NRA during much of his time

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<v Speaker 2>in office, voting against gun control based on what seemed

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<v Speaker 2>to be a natural inclination to firearms and hunting. Walls

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<v Speaker 2>may have been the best shot in the Minnesota National

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<v Speaker 2>Guard during the time when he was there. He's apparently

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<v Speaker 2>a very good shot. He is an avid and skilled

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<v Speaker 2>turkey hunter, and if you talk to people who want

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<v Speaker 2>game in the US, turkey is one of the more

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<v Speaker 2>difficult game to hunt. He developed a reputation as a

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<v Speaker 2>guy who wouldn't apologize for voting with Liberals, but who

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<v Speaker 2>would go across the aisle when it mattered. During his

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<v Speaker 2>time on the Veterans Affairs Committee, which he ultimately chaired,

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<v Speaker 2>he voted with Republicans to make it easier for the

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<v Speaker 2>VIE to fire employees, even with union opposition, and he

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<v Speaker 2>also pushed through changes to improve GI Bill college access

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<v Speaker 2>for veterans post nine to eleven. One of the things

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<v Speaker 2>I find interesting about his record is that in twenty eighteen,

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<v Speaker 2>he voted against most of his party opposing an overhaul

0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.720
<v Speaker 2>of the VA healthcare system. He agreed everyone agrees that

0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.280
<v Speaker 2>the system needed to be overhauled, but he argued the

0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.520
<v Speaker 2>proposal in place would force the VIA to cannibalize itself,

0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.960
<v Speaker 2>basically starving the organization to try and fix it, and

0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.320
<v Speaker 2>his attitude was, well, it needs to get fixed. I'm

0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:48.280
<v Speaker 2>not going to vote for a change that might be

0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:52.040
<v Speaker 2>worse than what we currently have. While chairing this committee,

0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.480
<v Speaker 2>Walls made strong connections to Nancy Pelosi, who like basically

0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.240
<v Speaker 2>everyone really came to like Walls, and she's going to

0:10:58.240 --> 0:10:59.720
<v Speaker 2>be one of the people who's one of the strongest

0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:03.720
<v Speaker 2>voice is for picking him as VP. And we will

0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.240
<v Speaker 2>be back to talk about more of that. But first, Garrison,

0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:08.199
<v Speaker 2>you know who else loves Nancy Pelosi?

0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:12.000
<v Speaker 3>Probably these products and services. If they come from San Francisco.

0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.760
<v Speaker 2>They're based in the Bay Area. She will break their

0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:27.959
<v Speaker 2>kneecaps if they don't like her enough. Ah, and we're back.

0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:32.440
<v Speaker 2>So one of the big shifts for Tim during his

0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.600
<v Speaker 2>time in Congress was away from the NRA. This started

0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.840
<v Speaker 2>after in twenty seventeen, after the Las Vegas mass shooting,

0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:41.320
<v Speaker 2>and then after the Parkland mass shooting, and then in

0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.040
<v Speaker 2>February of twenty eighteen, he writes an op ed supporting

0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.120
<v Speaker 2>what he calls common sense gun reform and donates the

0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.600
<v Speaker 2>NRA contributions to his campaign that cycle to some sort

0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:54.200
<v Speaker 2>of I think gun control cause. Walls's common sense gun

0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:57.040
<v Speaker 2>regulations include an assault weapons ban, and he's currently in

0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.720
<v Speaker 2>line with the Democratic Party on that, if you were curious.

0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.000
<v Speaker 2>That same year, twenty eighteen, he launched his campaign for

0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.120
<v Speaker 2>governor of Minnesota. By this point, Walls had bled much

0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:08.960
<v Speaker 2>of his ability to win rural red votes. It is

0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.440
<v Speaker 2>accurate to say he was only really good at this

0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.599
<v Speaker 2>during his early years in Congress. His margins grew a

0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:17.400
<v Speaker 2>lot narrower over time, and once he hit the governor's office,

0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.080
<v Speaker 2>his support was largely in the cities. Now it's one

0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.160
<v Speaker 2>of those things where I think there's been debate, like

0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.080
<v Speaker 2>some people have arguable he's not maybe not the best

0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:26.880
<v Speaker 2>VP pick because he actually isn't all that good at

0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.560
<v Speaker 2>getting these red rural votes. But I just don't see

0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.400
<v Speaker 2>that as where the elections coming down to. Walls has

0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:39.120
<v Speaker 2>great favorables with like suburban white people and particularly suburban

0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.240
<v Speaker 2>like moderates, and that is like one of the most

0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.000
<v Speaker 2>important demographics to win. So I don't believe the fact

0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.920
<v Speaker 2>that he's he's kind of bled his support with rural

0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.760
<v Speaker 2>conservatives is really necessarily a mark against him in an

0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.160
<v Speaker 2>electoral sense. One thing I do appreciate about Walls is

0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.240
<v Speaker 2>how direct he is to people. I dislike. He decides

0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.040
<v Speaker 2>in twenty eighteen to run for governor, and during that run,

0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.080
<v Speaker 2>he has a meeting with a bunch of business leaders

0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.520
<v Speaker 2>at a luxury hotel. The president of a machining company

0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:10.600
<v Speaker 2>asks if Walls felt corporate taxes hurt workers, and Walls replied,

0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.120
<v Speaker 2>we're not taxing people, We're taxing corporations. And I want

0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.760
<v Speaker 2>to quote from a CNBC write up for Jeff Baker,

0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:18.520
<v Speaker 2>it was a bit of an O shit moment. That's

0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:20.679
<v Speaker 2>not what I wanted to hear, said Baker, president of

0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.400
<v Speaker 2>McFarland truck Lines. There's a lot of stories like that.

0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.520
<v Speaker 2>He's been very willing to tax the wealthy and to

0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.400
<v Speaker 2>tax corporations to pay for things like children's lunches. This

0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:34.960
<v Speaker 2>is a consistent Walls move and it's something that he

0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.800
<v Speaker 2>absolutely is unapologetic about, and I think that's fine. Minnesota

0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.240
<v Speaker 2>currently taxes corporate income at nine point eight percent, the

0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.920
<v Speaker 2>highest rate in the nation. Walls did not back down

0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.040
<v Speaker 2>on this during his time in office. In fact, that

0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.160
<v Speaker 2>CNBC report found that quote Walls's policy battles have a

0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:52.360
<v Speaker 2>common theme. Walls supported either higher taxes on the rich

0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:56.000
<v Speaker 2>or businesses, and corporate leaders fought back. One of their

0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.640
<v Speaker 2>fights was over a one percent ser tax on passive

0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:02.160
<v Speaker 2>investment income over a million dollars. Another was a tax

0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.800
<v Speaker 2>on the wealthy Walls signed into law that limits standard

0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.640
<v Speaker 2>and itemized deductions for households with gross incomes over two

0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:11.199
<v Speaker 2>hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Due to Republican control of

0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:15.080
<v Speaker 2>the legislature, Walls's first term was not hugely eventful up

0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.720
<v Speaker 2>until the COVID nineteen pandemic. This is because Republicans retained

0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.200
<v Speaker 2>control of the state legislature and were able to stop

0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.840
<v Speaker 2>much of his plan perform. We did get to see

0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.640
<v Speaker 2>more of the politician Tim Walls during COVID when he

0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:31.120
<v Speaker 2>stood up against Republican resistance or common sense pandemic safety regulations.

0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:32.760
<v Speaker 2>He earned a lot of hate from the right for

0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.120
<v Speaker 2>some of the more extreme COVID restrictions in the country,

0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:38.080
<v Speaker 2>which were put in place in Minnesota. In particular, Walls

0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.560
<v Speaker 2>threatened citizens with up to ninety days in jail during

0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.240
<v Speaker 2>the shelter in place period and threatened twenty five thousand

0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.360
<v Speaker 2>dollars fines for meeting in public. Minnesota instituted a COVID

0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.920
<v Speaker 2>hotline where people could inform on their neighbors if they

0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.200
<v Speaker 2>saw rules being broken. And I get why the right

0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.280
<v Speaker 2>is uncomfortable with this. I'm not fully comfortable with this

0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.600
<v Speaker 2>kind of stuff either, But given what was going on

0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.240
<v Speaker 2>at the time, I'm not going to slam the man

0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.600
<v Speaker 2>for trying to save lives in a very uncertain and

0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:07.520
<v Speaker 2>desperate situation. You know, it beats the nothing that a

0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.080
<v Speaker 2>lot of state governors did, so I guess that's kind

0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.800
<v Speaker 2>of where I stand on that shit. Not long after

0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:16.760
<v Speaker 2>the pandemic lockdown started, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.440
<v Speaker 2>Walls mobilized the National Guard after three days of riots,

0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.360
<v Speaker 2>earning praise from President Trump on June first, who said

0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.320
<v Speaker 2>what they did in Minneapolis was incredible. They went in

0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.120
<v Speaker 2>and dominated, and it happened quickly. And this is you know,

0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.640
<v Speaker 2>the National Guard do a lot of very violent shit

0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.040
<v Speaker 2>coming into crackdown on these protests. I know a lot

0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.160
<v Speaker 2>of people who were the ones cracked down upon. It's

0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:41.120
<v Speaker 2>one of those things where, yeah, he's a governor, you know,

0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.000
<v Speaker 2>I think pretty much any governor in this situation would

0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.280
<v Speaker 2>have sent in the National Guard in that sort of situation.

0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.600
<v Speaker 3>Especially after the burning of the Third Precinct.

0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.480
<v Speaker 2>Especially after the prison got burnt, which doesn't excuse it.

0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.960
<v Speaker 2>It's just like, well, yeah, he's not He's not an anarchist,

0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:59.000
<v Speaker 2>right like, he's not your communist like revolutionary hero. He

0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.400
<v Speaker 2>is the governor of Minniso. So I'm just really not

0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:05.400
<v Speaker 2>surprised that this happened. It's, you know, a pretty normal

0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:10.200
<v Speaker 2>thing for a guy in his position to have done. Yeah. Now,

0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.880
<v Speaker 2>like every other dim in creation. During the height of

0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.480
<v Speaker 2>the uprising, Walls voice support for a wide host of

0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.960
<v Speaker 2>police accountability reforms. He even voiced some degree of support

0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.000
<v Speaker 2>for Indian qualified immunity, but this did not last long,

0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.520
<v Speaker 2>and as the backlash against police reforms swelled up after

0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.440
<v Speaker 2>the election, Walls joined many ims and pulling back and

0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.960
<v Speaker 2>even quashing moves for greater police accountability. When he ran

0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.840
<v Speaker 2>for reelection, he did so as a tough on crime,

0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:38.920
<v Speaker 2>law enforcement friendly democrat. Right many such cases. Now, he

0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:44.000
<v Speaker 2>did push through some accountability measures. He used fifteen million

0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:47.920
<v Speaker 2>in COVID funds to pay for grants for community violence prevention.

0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.640
<v Speaker 2>He pushed through some requirements to increase data sharing from

0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.680
<v Speaker 2>the Police Licensing Board. He pushed through a demand for

0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.000
<v Speaker 2>state law enforcement to share footage of police killings with

0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:01.440
<v Speaker 2>the family of the victim within five days. These are,

0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:05.040
<v Speaker 2>I think we can all say, minor accountability moves, very

0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.360
<v Speaker 2>very minor, very minor, he said. Of these moves, they

0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.960
<v Speaker 2>build trust in police, they build trust in the systems,

0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.400
<v Speaker 2>They build trust among communities, and they provide the community

0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.520
<v Speaker 2>with some basic closure and understanding for families. Nothing builds

0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.840
<v Speaker 2>trust like a video of your cousin getting shot in

0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:19.280
<v Speaker 2>the back.

0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.840
<v Speaker 3>Yeah. If the biggest accountability thing is that you get

0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.000
<v Speaker 3>first look at the murder video.

0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:29.280
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, Okay, I like, yes, I do think

0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.439
<v Speaker 2>you probably have to legislate that, because otherwise police just

0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:34.399
<v Speaker 2>won't give it up at all. But like, yeah, I

0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:36.040
<v Speaker 2>wouldn't hang my hat on that.

0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.080
<v Speaker 3>It is ignoring the main issue at play, Yeah, which

0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.399
<v Speaker 3>is the fact that we have murder right videos. It's like,

0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:44.360
<v Speaker 3>come on now.

0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:48.160
<v Speaker 2>There were some bigger reforms, including limitations on no knock warrants,

0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.919
<v Speaker 2>although again not like a ban or anything, but it

0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.040
<v Speaker 2>lacked a lot of the stuff that activists in the

0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.280
<v Speaker 2>state had pushed forward, including limits on police stops of motorists,

0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:58.840
<v Speaker 2>and Walls had agreed that there needs to be more

0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.359
<v Speaker 2>movement in this direction, particularly after the murder of Philando Castile.

0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.000
<v Speaker 2>It also left out and asked for end to the

0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:09.040
<v Speaker 2>statute of limitations for wrongful death cases against officers. Walls

0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:12.119
<v Speaker 2>had personally voiced support for a ban on officers with

0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:16.440
<v Speaker 2>white supremacist gang affiliations, but this was also left out. Ultimately,

0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:19.639
<v Speaker 2>State Rep. John Thompson said to Walls at the time,

0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.200
<v Speaker 2>you have the power to do something, and all I've

0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.399
<v Speaker 2>been getting from your office is lip service. And I

0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.240
<v Speaker 2>mean that we don't need a news conference from you, governor.

0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:31.159
<v Speaker 2>We need a leader. So you're not gonna get a

0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.040
<v Speaker 2>lot of police reform under Tim Walls. That's just a

0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.320
<v Speaker 2>pretty consistent reality of the guy that said he can

0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:39.960
<v Speaker 2>be forced to do some things if you scare him enough.

0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.120
<v Speaker 2>So you know, keep that in mind. I guess first,

0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:45.280
<v Speaker 2>keep in mind these ads, and then we'll talk about

0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:54.160
<v Speaker 2>the environment and stuff, which is a happier story for Walls.

0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:01.119
<v Speaker 2>We're back. So Walls ran for re election under the

0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:05.199
<v Speaker 2>slogan one Minnesota, and he managed another solid victory. Up

0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:07.240
<v Speaker 2>to this point, you would say he'd been a pretty

0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.640
<v Speaker 2>standard dim governor in a swing state. But something happened

0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.320
<v Speaker 2>in the twenty twenty two midterms that changed the course

0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.600
<v Speaker 2>of Walls's career in maybe the nation, the Democrats won

0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.240
<v Speaker 2>a slim majority in the state legislature. As David Schultz,

0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:24.040
<v Speaker 2>a political science professor at Hamlin University, told CNN, Walls's

0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.359
<v Speaker 2>message immediately jerked away from one Minnesota to damn the

0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:32.119
<v Speaker 2>torpedoes and fuck the Republicans quote. That agenda included codified

0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.520
<v Speaker 2>protections for abortion access, restored voting rights for felons who've

0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:39.080
<v Speaker 2>completed their sentences, driver's licenses for people regardless of their

0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.720
<v Speaker 2>legal status, a state child tax credit, free public college

0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.639
<v Speaker 2>for families making less than eighty thousand annually, protections for

0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:49.280
<v Speaker 2>gender affirming care, a paid family and medical leave program.

0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.080
<v Speaker 2>Walls signed legislation to move the state towards achieving one

0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.840
<v Speaker 2>hundred percent clean energy by twenty forty and to establish

0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.280
<v Speaker 2>a universal free school meal program that provides breakfast and lunch.

0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.879
<v Speaker 2>And that is a real solid spate of shit for

0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:03.879
<v Speaker 2>a governor to get done. And all of this is

0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.680
<v Speaker 2>about in a year, right, Like most of the shit

0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:08.920
<v Speaker 2>that Walls has gotten done as governor has been very

0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.400
<v Speaker 2>recently because the Dims had just taken back control, right,

0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:16.320
<v Speaker 2>and it's very narrow control. Amy Koch, a Republican and

0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.879
<v Speaker 2>former Minnesota Senate majority leader, said Walls definitely had not

0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:23.360
<v Speaker 2>governed like a moderate, and, unlike other governors with trifecta control,

0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:27.399
<v Speaker 2>had not emphasized in making deals with Republicans. Everything that

0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:29.520
<v Speaker 2>went forward was signed. She said, I'm not sure what

0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:31.239
<v Speaker 2>that says about him, but it definitely puts a dent

0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:33.679
<v Speaker 2>in his argument that he's just this moderate Democrat from

0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:36.680
<v Speaker 2>the Midwest. And this is why progressives, many of them,

0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.240
<v Speaker 2>are excited about Walls, is that when he actually had

0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.320
<v Speaker 2>the opportunity, he was willing to say, fuck the Republicans,

0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.159
<v Speaker 2>let's get some shit done. I don't care that we

0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:49.040
<v Speaker 2>only have one vote right now. Walls has stated that,

0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.360
<v Speaker 2>in his opinion, political capital exists to be spent improving

0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:55.240
<v Speaker 2>people's lives, and this is an area where you can

0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.280
<v Speaker 2>say that he's put his money where his mouth is, right.

0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.600
<v Speaker 2>This is how he actually governed now, it's worth noting. Obviously,

0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:04.719
<v Speaker 2>he also promised to burn political capital on major police reform,

0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:06.560
<v Speaker 2>and he gave that up. So you know, the fact

0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:08.680
<v Speaker 2>that he says he's going to do something like any politician,

0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:10.080
<v Speaker 2>not a guarantee it's going to happen.

0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:12.199
<v Speaker 3>Well, and some of one of the more kind of

0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:15.040
<v Speaker 3>upsetting things but not surprising things is now that Kamala

0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:17.800
<v Speaker 3>has basically secured the nomination, she has ruled back many

0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:19.760
<v Speaker 3>of the progressive policies that she ran on in twenty

0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:22.280
<v Speaker 3>twenty when those seemed to be more popular. Right, you know,

0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:25.639
<v Speaker 3>that's not necessarily Walls, that is that that's Kambala. But

0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:27.919
<v Speaker 3>but they're running on the same ticket. And again, like,

0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:30.359
<v Speaker 3>it's not surprising that she's not advocating for medica for

0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:33.359
<v Speaker 3>all now that she is the actual nominee, right, but

0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.560
<v Speaker 3>it still is, you know, disappointing for people who are like, hey,

0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:38.680
<v Speaker 3>her actual policies four years ago were actually relatively progressive,

0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:41.080
<v Speaker 3>and now they are slightly more kind of in line

0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.000
<v Speaker 3>with like the mainstream Democratic Party views on you know,

0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:46.040
<v Speaker 3>most of these issues.

0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:48.399
<v Speaker 2>Right. And again one of the reasons, maybe for a

0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.480
<v Speaker 2>little bit of hope, is that Walls has not really

0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:55.080
<v Speaker 2>been that guy during his time with the executive power, right,

0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:57.200
<v Speaker 2>and kind of the area where he's been best maybe

0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:00.440
<v Speaker 2>actually is climate change. Right, This is the thing Dim

0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:03.600
<v Speaker 2>seemed to like to compromise on the most. And Tim's

0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:05.919
<v Speaker 2>history here is interesting to me, particularly because he's got.

0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:09.240
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't have a perfect record, but it's genuinely pretty positive.

0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.320
<v Speaker 2>His major achievement was a policy passed in twenty twenty

0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:15.080
<v Speaker 2>three that required Minnesota to have a carbon free electric

0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:17.200
<v Speaker 2>grid by twenty forty. Now this is the kind of

0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.640
<v Speaker 2>legislation that could just be virtue signaling, but Walls didn't

0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:22.720
<v Speaker 2>just say yep, we'll get it done by twenty forty

0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.359
<v Speaker 2>when I won't be the fucking governor anymore. He backed

0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:28.360
<v Speaker 2>it up by approving a historic amount of state spending

0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:32.640
<v Speaker 2>on energy. The legislation included rebates on climate friendly technology

0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:35.439
<v Speaker 2>like air source heat pumps and electric vehicles, as well

0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.000
<v Speaker 2>as spending to improve home insulation and one hundred million

0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:42.399
<v Speaker 2>dollars for city extreme weather preparedness. Walls also signed a

0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:44.800
<v Speaker 2>bill to cut red tape for wind in solar farms

0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:47.880
<v Speaker 2>and transmission lines, and the speed up permitting for infrastructure

0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:50.000
<v Speaker 2>needed to replace colon gas plants. So it was not

0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:52.960
<v Speaker 2>just a yeah, we'll definitely do this. It was a well,

0:22:52.960 --> 0:22:54.800
<v Speaker 2>there's certain things that need to happen for this to

0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:57.440
<v Speaker 2>be possible, and I am going to work to make

0:22:57.480 --> 0:22:59.119
<v Speaker 2>it easier to do those things. I'm going to make

0:22:59.160 --> 0:23:02.080
<v Speaker 2>sure that we're passing legislation that makes it easier to

0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:04.960
<v Speaker 2>do those things, and that that shows me someone who

0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:07.280
<v Speaker 2>sees this as important as not just a thing that's

0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:09.560
<v Speaker 2>virtue signaling, but as we need to figure out what

0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:13.679
<v Speaker 2>the actual concrete steps are to make this doable, and

0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:15.359
<v Speaker 2>that's something that gives me a little bit of hope.

0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:18.280
<v Speaker 2>The more questionable side of his environmental history is the

0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:22.120
<v Speaker 2>Inbridge Line three pipeline, which he and state regulators approved

0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:25.560
<v Speaker 2>in twenty twenty. This angered a lot of local environmental

0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:28.720
<v Speaker 2>groups and several indigenous tribes in the area. The pipeline

0:23:28.760 --> 0:23:31.280
<v Speaker 2>was argued to be necessary because the old one was

0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.520
<v Speaker 2>corroding and a spill risk, and of course, when the

0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:38.200
<v Speaker 2>new pipeline was constructed, workers punctured multiple aquifers. This seems

0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:40.520
<v Speaker 2>to have been a case of Walls being the politician

0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:43.680
<v Speaker 2>that he is. Trade unions supported the project because jobs,

0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:46.040
<v Speaker 2>and it's also worth noting this is twenty twenty, so

0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:48.520
<v Speaker 2>the dims do not have a majority in the legislature,

0:23:48.520 --> 0:23:50.800
<v Speaker 2>and there's just a lot less of a stick available

0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:52.520
<v Speaker 2>to Walls at this point. So you know, maybe he

0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:56.040
<v Speaker 2>would have ruled differently, or maybe he would have acted differently,

0:23:56.240 --> 0:23:58.680
<v Speaker 2>you know, have been in a more friendly situation.

0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:02.320
<v Speaker 3>Yeah. I reported on this back in twenty twenty one. Yeah,

0:24:02.359 --> 0:24:05.359
<v Speaker 3>we did a two part series on Stop Line three

0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:10.080
<v Speaker 3>where I traveled to the pipeline. Yeah, like it's not surprising,

0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:13.639
<v Speaker 3>especially with pressure from trade unions to approve this pipeline.

0:24:14.040 --> 0:24:16.479
<v Speaker 3>From what I've seen, he did not have much to

0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:20.800
<v Speaker 3>do with the police crackdown on protesters. I've seen that alleged,

0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:23.120
<v Speaker 3>and I'm not finding much to back that up. There's

0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:25.840
<v Speaker 3>a lot of like county sheriffs and other task forces

0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:29.320
<v Speaker 3>working directly with the pipeline company, Like you know, Walls

0:24:29.359 --> 0:24:32.480
<v Speaker 3>never used National Guard against these people. I don't see

0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:36.120
<v Speaker 3>much from him being personally involved in suppressing these protests

0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:38.800
<v Speaker 3>beyond the fact that he's the governor, Like he's the

0:24:38.800 --> 0:24:41.120
<v Speaker 3>top guy in charge. He could shut that all down

0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:43.680
<v Speaker 3>if but he also doesn't need to be like actively

0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:47.560
<v Speaker 3>involved for that to happen, right. Police will do it themselves, right,

0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:50.600
<v Speaker 3>And that seems to be mostly what took place.

0:24:50.720 --> 0:24:52.119
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that seems fair to say.

0:24:52.240 --> 0:24:55.120
<v Speaker 3>And most of the extreme charges that Stop Line three

0:24:55.160 --> 0:24:58.120
<v Speaker 3>protesters were getting, like a felony theft for locking down

0:24:58.480 --> 0:25:02.919
<v Speaker 3>onto construction equipment mostly have since all been dismissed in

0:25:02.960 --> 0:25:05.320
<v Speaker 3>the courts or at least taken down to a lower

0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:06.679
<v Speaker 3>and more appropriate charge.

0:25:06.880 --> 0:25:09.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So again, like with everything about this guy, he's

0:25:09.640 --> 0:25:12.560
<v Speaker 2>not perfect. He's not without some fucked up things in

0:25:12.600 --> 0:25:16.240
<v Speaker 2>his background. He's a politician, but on ballots a better

0:25:16.359 --> 0:25:20.840
<v Speaker 2>history on environmental stuff than most governors in the country.

0:25:21.119 --> 0:25:24.359
<v Speaker 2>I should also note here under Walls, Minnesota passed the

0:25:24.440 --> 0:25:27.960
<v Speaker 2>nation's most comprehensive ban on PFAS chemicals, a category of

0:25:27.960 --> 0:25:30.560
<v Speaker 2>industrial compounds that do not break down and run off

0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:32.800
<v Speaker 2>and have been associated with a bunch of cancers and

0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:35.440
<v Speaker 2>other health risks. It is a ban that rolls out

0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:38.840
<v Speaker 2>over an eight year timeframe, so you know, maybe it's

0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:41.840
<v Speaker 2>not like who knows how well it will actually get executed,

0:25:41.880 --> 0:25:44.600
<v Speaker 2>but literally no other state has passed a ban this strong.

0:25:44.640 --> 0:25:48.040
<v Speaker 2>So I'm putting it in the ups for Walls category. Now,

0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:51.119
<v Speaker 2>that is kind of what I had to say. I

0:25:51.160 --> 0:25:54.000
<v Speaker 2>didn't want to end talking a little bit more about Palestine,

0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:56.919
<v Speaker 2>because again, Walls has a very mixed record here at best.

0:25:57.640 --> 0:25:59.919
<v Speaker 2>While he was in the House, he received APAX in

0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:02.920
<v Speaker 2>endorsement and spoke at the group's twenty ten conference, where

0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:06.240
<v Speaker 2>he said this Israel is our truest and closest ally

0:26:06.280 --> 0:26:08.480
<v Speaker 2>in the region, with a commitment to values of personal

0:26:08.480 --> 0:26:12.560
<v Speaker 2>freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood. You know,

0:26:12.720 --> 0:26:15.560
<v Speaker 2>I might quibble with me most of that. Well, except

0:26:15.560 --> 0:26:17.920
<v Speaker 2>for with our closest ally in the region. That's kind

0:26:17.920 --> 0:26:21.520
<v Speaker 2>of hard to argue with. After October seventh, he ordered

0:26:21.600 --> 0:26:24.960
<v Speaker 2>state flags flown at half staff and condemned the Hamas attacks.

0:26:25.359 --> 0:26:28.160
<v Speaker 2>In early March, he began endorsing calls for a permanent

0:26:28.200 --> 0:26:31.040
<v Speaker 2>working ceasefire, a few days after Harris called for a

0:26:31.080 --> 0:26:36.040
<v Speaker 2>six week ceasefire. He's made statements about how the uncommitted

0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:39.920
<v Speaker 2>protesters should be listened to, same thing about college protesters.

0:26:39.920 --> 0:26:44.119
<v Speaker 2>But he's not backing an embargo, right, He's not you know,

0:26:44.359 --> 0:26:48.160
<v Speaker 2>pushing any kind of like stick to actually force Netnahu's

0:26:48.160 --> 0:26:50.560
<v Speaker 2>hand in any way. You would not say he's the

0:26:50.600 --> 0:26:55.639
<v Speaker 2>worst democrat on Gaza, but he's not, you know, particularly

0:26:55.680 --> 0:26:56.359
<v Speaker 2>good either.

0:26:56.560 --> 0:26:58.879
<v Speaker 3>He didn't lie about volunteering with the IDEA.

0:26:58.760 --> 0:27:01.800
<v Speaker 2>He did not lie about volunteering with the IDF as

0:27:01.800 --> 0:27:04.560
<v Speaker 2>a teenager. That's that's one thing we can say.

0:27:04.880 --> 0:27:07.560
<v Speaker 3>But unfortunately the bar is quite low these days.

0:27:07.640 --> 0:27:11.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so you know that's Tim Walls, a political biography.

0:27:11.920 --> 0:27:14.080
<v Speaker 2>I hope you now can walk away being like, Okay,

0:27:14.200 --> 0:27:16.280
<v Speaker 2>that's that's more or less who Tim Walls is.

0:27:16.760 --> 0:27:18.800
<v Speaker 3>I do. I do feel it's important to end with

0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:22.040
<v Speaker 3>one more kind of anecdote about Tim Walls that I

0:27:22.160 --> 0:27:26.280
<v Speaker 3>learned this morning, Okay, is that on I believe his

0:27:26.359 --> 0:27:29.000
<v Speaker 3>first date with his with his soon to be wife,

0:27:29.200 --> 0:27:32.520
<v Speaker 3>when he was teaching geography, he took her to see

0:27:32.520 --> 0:27:37.800
<v Speaker 3>the movie Falling Down, the nineteen ninety three Michael Douglas masterpiece,

0:27:37.920 --> 0:27:42.439
<v Speaker 3>incredibly based, which I feel like every single politician should

0:27:42.440 --> 0:27:43.480
<v Speaker 3>be forced to watch.

0:27:44.320 --> 0:27:47.439
<v Speaker 2>I would make it a mandatory part of graduation. You know,

0:27:47.600 --> 0:27:49.800
<v Speaker 2>that was that was an important movie for me.

0:27:51.080 --> 0:27:53.760
<v Speaker 3>It is a pretty funny first date movie. It's not

0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:55.560
<v Speaker 3>the worst, you know, It's not like it's not like

0:27:55.560 --> 0:27:58.560
<v Speaker 3>American Psychoach, which is also a great movie, but you

0:27:58.560 --> 0:28:00.920
<v Speaker 3>know it is. It is a curee his first pick.

0:28:01.160 --> 0:28:03.280
<v Speaker 3>But I think it is important that whoever is sitting

0:28:03.320 --> 0:28:06.720
<v Speaker 3>in the White House is familiar with Falling Down. Yeahs,

0:28:06.920 --> 0:28:09.880
<v Speaker 3>as it kind of displays American male violence.

0:28:10.080 --> 0:28:13.359
<v Speaker 2>It predicted a kind of guy who was just starting

0:28:13.400 --> 0:28:16.760
<v Speaker 2>to like yeah, creep, up into public consciousness when the

0:28:16.760 --> 0:28:19.200
<v Speaker 2>movie came out, and who now commits a mass shooting

0:28:19.240 --> 0:28:20.159
<v Speaker 2>every four weeks.

0:28:20.480 --> 0:28:24.000
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah, so I think that is a very funny anecdote.

0:28:24.240 --> 0:28:27.320
<v Speaker 2>Watch Falling Down, folks. It's a great date movie, you know,

0:28:27.440 --> 0:28:30.560
<v Speaker 2>maybe double Parrot with Event Horizon and really really gets

0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:35.000
<v Speaker 2>an act in Christ. All right, Garrey, that's the end

0:28:35.000 --> 0:28:36.640
<v Speaker 2>of the episode. How are you feeling pretty good?

0:28:36.640 --> 0:28:39.400
<v Speaker 3>Pretty good? Honestly, well, you know, not great. You know,

0:28:39.640 --> 0:28:42.959
<v Speaker 3>actually the whole situation politically in the country is kind

0:28:42.960 --> 0:28:43.520
<v Speaker 3>of a nightmare.

0:28:43.640 --> 0:28:45.160
<v Speaker 2>It's fine, it's fine.

0:28:45.240 --> 0:28:47.600
<v Speaker 3>Somehow, I feel slightly better than I did two months ago.

0:28:47.920 --> 0:28:49.680
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna tell you, this is the best it's been

0:28:49.720 --> 0:28:52.520
<v Speaker 2>in a while, and maybe maybe the best in all

0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:53.560
<v Speaker 2>ever be again.

0:28:53.920 --> 0:28:56.480
<v Speaker 3>Which also just points to how low the bar is

0:28:56.520 --> 0:28:56.960
<v Speaker 3>at the moment.

0:28:57.000 --> 0:29:02.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Look, best case scenario, Matt Walsh

0:29:02.440 --> 0:29:06.960
<v Speaker 2>is mad. It is a little further than mad. We'll see,

0:29:06.960 --> 0:29:09.280
<v Speaker 2>we'll see if we can get like a welfare check

0:29:09.320 --> 0:29:12.120
<v Speaker 2>over at his house. Anyway, that's the end of the episode.

0:29:12.360 --> 0:29:13.920
<v Speaker 2>Good night and good luck.

0:29:14.120 --> 0:29:15.800
<v Speaker 3>Carl Walls.

0:29:19.640 --> 0:29:22.160
<v Speaker 1>It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media.

0:29:22.240 --> 0:29:24.920
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0:29:24.920 --> 0:29:27.160
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