WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 111922 The Political Climate After the Midterms (Part 2) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:06.080 And now my mic back you're like that. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:12.000 Strike headquarters behind him to be. 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:15.520 But if you're just tuning into Civic Cypher, I'm your 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.439 host Ramseys, Jacky is Ramses. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.320 Joh I am q Ward and you are listening to 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:23.880 once again Civic Cypher's stick around. 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:25.639 Still got a lot more show in store for you. 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:31.160 We're going to talk about the political client in this country. 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:35.760 Very very interesting topic. Yes, but we've had. 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.840 An interesting mid term election. 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.239 That's that's one way to put it. 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:47.199 Some interesting characters that came to the forefront. And you know, 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:53.040 some of these characters one a lot didn't, thank God, 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.880 but a lot stood the chance, stood a really good chance, 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:58.480 and a lot of places it was very close. 0:00:59.120 --> 0:00:59.760 You know that there was. 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:05.200 People that we're voting to remove slavery from their laws 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:07.320 steel and then there were people voting to keep it. 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:09.920 So we're going to talk about that and stick around 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.360 because we're also going to talk about how gangster Tupac was. 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.920 But first we're going to discuss how to become a 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:21.520 better ally Baba. This is sponsored by Major Threads. Checkout 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:27.319 quality men's wear and sportswear at Major Threads dot com. 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:28.120 BABA. 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.520 So today's Baba better allies, We're going to shout out 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:36.880 everyone who didn't give into fear mongering, who voted for 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.760 integrity and class. Arbeit for me to say whether or 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:45.160 not you voted long party lines, because the more I 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.120 do this show, the more I realize that there are 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:51.640 people who have conservative values and conservative beliefs that I 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:55.000 absolutely don't agree with or not in alignment with my 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.600 spirit whatsoever. But they're decent folks, and they can identify 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:01.600 decent qualities and other human beings. 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:02.800 For everybody that. 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:09.200 Adheres to a shared reality, for everybody that cast a 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:13.520 vote saying like, hey, you know what, that's something different. 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.239 You know, I like this, but y'all are taking away 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:22.079 too far. It's important to shout out those people, recognizing 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:26.320 their role and their responsibility. 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.400 To say, hey, look I'm cool, but I'm y'all doing 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:30.280 too much right. 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.360 The results of the midterms show that Trump is, while 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:40.200 not a dead ideology, doesn't have the strength that once 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.799 did to us around here. That lets a little air 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:48.160 out of the balls. That was a monster is a monster. 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.320 I don't want to act like it's gone. It's definitely not. Yeah, 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.520 but you know, to just feel like okay, listen. We 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:56.120 you know, especially. 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:56.240 Where we live. 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.680 We live in a very red state that has recently 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.840 been blue. So what they say, thank the Lord for 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:03.840 Jesus or however they say that man all day and 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.920 tomorrow to everyone who stood in line and followed up 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.960 to make sure they vote counted and contributed to quelling 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.560 that red wave. Everyone was expected. You are an example 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:13.560 of bahblah, and we want. 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:14.040 To say thank you. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.480 And I think that that is the a great segue 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:26.839 into talking about our current political climate. So let's start. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.399 Let's start where we need to start. Q. Yes, sir, 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:33.799 give us your thoughts. Get us started on this. 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.800 Well first and foremost, I voted. I think that's important 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.920 to say out loud. We had a conversation, bless you. 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.800 We had a conversation recently with Charlemagne. Charlemagne and God 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:50.160 shout out and he says something that was so profound. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.400 Yeah that I think a lot of us think, but haven't. 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:59.120 I'd never heard it articulated so precise and perfect. You know, 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:04.320 we've been dealing with one political party that just fails 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:06.960 to show up for us. Right. They make us, they 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.480 make a lot of promises to us. We go out 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.840 and vote based on those promises. There is no obligation 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.760 for them to keep them because this game is rigged 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:18.640 in a way where you either have to support this 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:22.320 person or this one or you don't participate. And because 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.479 our and i'm speaking for Ramses, because I'll take that 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:30.440 latitude here, our ancestors put too much on the line 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.320 for us to have this right, for us to not 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:37.679 exercise it. But Charlotte May made me, for the first 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.800 time have a lot more empathy for those people who 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.840 have just checked out, because it's like, listen, man, you 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:50.560 are doing nothing for us. However, you are trying to 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:56.320 take us back pre the Civil War. And man, those 0:04:56.360 --> 0:05:01.159 are hard choices, except they shouldn't be right. It's the 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:09.360 status quo which sucks versus going back to pre Civil war. Right, right, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:14.320 So even when said that way, the choice still seems obvious. 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:17.360 Neither of them are great. But when you talk about 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:19.520 the lesser of two evils, one of them is way lesser, 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.120 way lesser. I wish you're right, but you know what 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.839 we're trying to say. So, yeah, that has been the 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:31.640 reality presented to us. However, I remember when I was 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:36.360 a kid, Ramses, my mother did not vote for Ronald Reagan, 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:43.720 but several people that she worked with did, and the 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:47.800 day after the election was over, those same people came 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.680 to work and asked her, how's Quentin. Now, my name 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:54.920 is Quinton, but most people just say Quentin because pronouncing that, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.520 oh requires a little bit more effort than people want 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.000 to put in. But you know, how's Quentin. How's the family? Hey, 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.480 you want to go have lunch? Like there were common 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.200 things that all Americans seemed to have in common, and 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.920 the differences in who you voted for was very very 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.040 nuanced and based on specific differences like how this person 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.760 is going to approach taxes, how this person is going 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.800 to approach education, you know. And it was very very 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:24.680 little differences in political ideology that made people vote for 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.120 one person versus the other. In addition to, like you 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.920 said before, people just voting along party lines. Hey, I'm 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.600 a Democrat, so that's what I'm going to vote all Democrats. 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.800 I remember, I'm a Republican. I'm going to vote all Republican. 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:41.280 But our differences were very, very minuscule. There was so 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.279 much stuff in the middle that we agreed on on 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.359 what would be good outcomes for all of us that 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:51.119 even if we voted for a different person. We weren't 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.760 at odds afterward, because voting for your candidate did not 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:58.719 mean an awful life for me and people that looked 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:00.360 like me, or me and people that I care about. 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:04.520 We've gotten to that point now where you supporting that 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:09.880 candidate means you're either complicit in supporting awful outcomes for 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:15.200 me at worst, or at best you're okay with awful 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.160 outcomes what you want. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.440 So it's like either way, like man, you voted for them, 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.040 and then the other side thinks, oh, well, you guys 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:28.520 are just brainwashed and stupid for supporting your candidate. At 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.640 least my candidate doesn't want to see you enslaved, you 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.320 know what I mean. So it's gone down to the 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:39.200 point where our differences have caused such a wide divide 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.680 that there is no common ground anymore. By supporting this 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:50.680 party and that candidate, you are opposed to me personally, 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:54.360 real consequences, And that's how it feels. So you talked 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:58.559 about the fear mongering. There are candidates in our state 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.880 and RAMS and I are broadcasting from Arizona that didn't 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:07.720 even run a campaign. Their materials just simply said, hey, 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:11.160 Trump likes me, and you guys can't see me with 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:15.520 this really cheesy smile, smile and two thumbs up. But 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.520 like that was the whole thing, right they they've bought 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.840 and they brought so much into that because they saw 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.160 it work. I mean, that's the simple truth, is that 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:27.520 they saw at work. Trump supports me. That's all you 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:32.560 need to know. Vote for me, and thousands, hundreds of 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.640 thousands of people, millions some of those people won went 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.480 out and voted for people just based on that. So 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:45.719 this this extreme Trump maga Republican Party, which seemed like 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.080 an entirely different party than you know, the people who 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.240 I used to do charity events with at the Republican 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:58.040 National Convention. When I learned again we used the word nuanced. 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.000 There was a lot of color, a lot of context 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.320 that I learned doing, you know, raising money for the 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:06.720 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation with members of the Republican National Convention 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.480 when I was twenty five years old living in Maryland. 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.400 I met some amazing people, genuine people who voted different 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.520 than me, but didn't have very different ideas than me. 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.280 They didn't have their they didn't have extremely different ideology 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.400 than me and really really wanted the same outcomes for me, 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.680 for my children and for them and their families. It 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:32.480 was really just about the color green, which for a 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:35.920 long time really was the difference. Rich people who wanted 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.040 to protect more of their money voted along Republican lines 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:44.600 because Republicans have for a long time put things in 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:46.839 place to favor those with a little bit more coin 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:48.719 and poor. 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.480 People who thought they were going to get rich or 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:56.000 felt like it somehow benefited them or fell in line 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.240 with their Christian values or ideas. 0:09:57.920 --> 0:09:59.720 Or no, there's more that, right, because I don't even 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.520 know that they ever convinced them that financially was in 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:06.440 their best interest, but they found some way angle to 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.120 tie them into it. Or again the US US versus 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.319 them tactic that has been used for centuries. Right, that 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.080 there's a group that as opposed to all of us. 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:17.800 So to just keep that group at bay, you should 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.520 support us, you know, trickle down economics and all these 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:23.960 different reasons. Why if you keep us who have it 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:29.000 all in place, we'll make sure you have some too. Cool. Right, So, 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:33.000 our current political climate is scary, and you know, I 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.320 am typically not a very hopeful person in regard to 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.280 the direction of our country with regards to race relations 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:48.200 and politics, specifically because of our former administration. However, I 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:54.040 even felt some hope with these midterm outcomes because that 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:58.120 red wave didn't feel like propaganda, It didn't even feel 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:00.520 like fear minder. They felt like, this is it's about 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.760 to happen. Yeah, and the fact that it didn't go 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:07.600 down the way that it was predicted, I was able 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:09.680 to breathe a sigh of relief a little bit. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:11.480 I want to I want to take a moment and 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.680 shout out doctor Camilla Westenberg, who she was on the 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.120 show for a couple of weeks before our last airing. 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:23.800 She she came on behalf of the NAACP to encourage 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:27.840 folks to vote. But I know that, you know, once 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.679 we found out about for those who were watching, you know, 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.839 the political shows around the country, Once she found out 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:40.760 that Katie Hobbs defeated Carrie Lake in Arizona, she sent 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.080 me that same sort of reaction that you just had, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.480 that kind of exhale, that sigh of relief. 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.480 Yeah, it wasn't really like a celebration. It's just like, 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:50.600 at least it didn't get worse. 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.520 Yes, Yeah, at least it wasn't that well, I want 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:55.120 to talk about that for a second, please. 0:11:55.400 --> 0:12:02.840 So you make an interesting. 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:07.840 Point Republicans and Democrats. You know, when we were talking 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:11.320 to Charlemagne, you're right, he brought up an excellent point, Sam, 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.200 it's hard to convince people to go vote. We on 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.079 civic cipher, and I'm sure Charlemagne is as well, glad 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.400 that you all went out and voted. Please do it again, 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.600 because we've let our voices be heard. We fought back 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.800 against that red wave and it was kind of a 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:29.320 maybe a drop or two, that's probably all it was. 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.160 But there was something that he said as Q mentioned 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.320 that how can I convince people to go and vote 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:42.880 when the political process doesn't impact their lives in any 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:43.520 meaningful way. 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.480 They people need money right now, and if it does 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.480 impact them in a meaningful way, it's in a negative. 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:53.800 Way, right right, And so to convince them that they 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.319 should be involved with you know, go out and vote blue, 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:00.400 and you know, especially black and brown for we're looking 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.760 around like, well, these guys never do anything for us. 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:04.360 They always say they're going to do something. They don't 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.800 have any strength. The Republicans as gangsters and the Democrats 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.560 is just sought and keep electing these people and they 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:11.840 don't do anything. And when he said it. 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:13.120 It's like, yo, man, you're right. 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.680 Man, I know that you're right, and we're frustrated with 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:18.400 that too, because we're like, Yo, why don't you just 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:19.920 abortion what? 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.440 Just put more judges in there? Man? Why you can't 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.680 do that? Like be a boss? Were you scared? You 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.400 know what I mean? These frustrations are frustrations that we share. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.319 But you know, I like your point that you made 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:35.880 Q when you were saying that either we stay here. 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.880 By voting Democrats, I'm talking. 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:43.000 I'm speaking in broad terms, you know, for marginalized and 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.600 minority communities historically the way these communities tend to vote. 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.600 So forgive me if this doesn't reflect your reality. But 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.319 for the most part, we're just kind of dealing with 0:13:54.360 --> 0:14:00.840 big numbers here. So your options are to vote for 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:05.760 more of the same because the Blue team isn't actively 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.679 trying to change things, they're just kind of who knows, 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.120 or you can vote for the Red team, which is 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:16.680 taking those backwards, or you can just not engage. Right, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.480 And a quote came to mind. I'm not sure if 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.280 it was Eldred's Kleaverer or if it was Bobby Seal. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.480 But I remember watching a movie. It was like a 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.040 documentary called The Black Power Mixtape. I have it on 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.040 my laptop, so I watch it when I rou'm on 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:34.600 road trips or whatever and I can't get a signal. 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:41.600 But he describes the United States as a morally bankrupt 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:48.560 country and develops this idea that Democrats and Republicans are 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:53.680 really just it's it's bad and worse and there is 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:59.200 no good that you know, black people can expect voting 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:03.720 for this candidate or that candidate often enough, and that's 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:09.000 a sad reality. But you know, unlike you, I remain 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:14.520 hopeful because I see, especially after these past midterms, more 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:18.520 women entering into the political arena. I see more Black people. 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.120 I see more young people entering into the political arena. 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:28.720 I see over the past fifteen years twenty years of 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.560 my life, since I've been able to vote, and since 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:36.640 I've been able to engage in the political process and 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:42.040 hope for certain outcomes, I've seen a black president get elected. 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.040 I've seen, you know. And one of the things that 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:50.720 I maintain on this show is that progress is slow 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:55.320 for black people, super slow, super slow. But it doesn't mean. 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.640 A stumption, slow motion and like the Ocean Man. It's 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.680 like you're on the HS pressed play and rewind at 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.680 the same time. Talk to me. So there's VCR that 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:07.640 had four heads once upon a time. It's the type 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.640 of VCR that you could record and you could record 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.960 off a TV or record from another cassette in the 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.840 same VCR. Okay, okay, if you if you just pressed 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.040 rewind while it was playing, it was still try to 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:25.200 go forward, just really slow. You should stop and then 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.040 then rewind. Okay, But if you just pressed rewind while 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.320 it was playing, the computer in the VCR wouldn't know 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.280 to stop playing. So it was trying to be trying 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:36.680 to go forward and trying to do both as possible. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.920 That's a great analogy. I like that. Well yeah, but. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:44.720 You know, think about this. We are a people that 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:52.000 you know, our journey toward freedom started. You think of 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:57.000 the underground railroad, how long ago this was, you know, 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:01.640 think of you know, Frederick Douglas and the life that 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:06.840 he lived and the work that he did. I think 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:11.879 that we are his wildest dream. 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.280 You got to think about that. You know, this is 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:17.879 this little one hour long show that is aired and 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:21.320 we're super grateful aired on these stations around the country. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:25.000 Isn't you know this isn't a huge, you know, footprint 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:27.479 we're taking up in people's lives and in this space, 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:31.560 but it's not zero. And you know, for a person 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.320 like Frederick Douglass to look all the way into the 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.480 future and see me in UQ, sitting in this space 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:39.920 with these microphones talking to these people, I'm sure he 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.960 would count that as progress. Doctor King. You know, Malcolm, 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:45.600 you know they would look and say like, okay, there's 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:46.760 we have a black president. 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.920 That's crazy. I mean, you and I have had this conversation. 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:50.360 I'm not sure if we had it on the mic, 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.920 but we had it multiple times in person. I spent 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.399 the night at the polls to vote for Barack Obama. 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.800 I was first. I was the first person because when 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:04.000 my mother turned eighteen, when my mother was old enough 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:08.399 to vote, it wasn't legal. So we don't have to 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.200 like because when we think about our civil rights activists, 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:15.760 I think people's minds go back hundreds of years, like 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.520 if not for an assassination, then a reasonably healthy life lived, 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.479 doctor King would still be with us. You know, we 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.800 lost Rosa Parks as adults, so I don't want it 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:31.040 to feel so removed. My mother, Reverend is Stella Secrets, 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.200 you know, born Estella Eserie Scott Macon, Georgia, nineteen forty five. 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.480 When she turned eighteen. In nineteen sixty three, black women 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:44.080 in the United States could not vote. So process that 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.959 the lady who thinks that Rams and I are the 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.439 most magnificent men on the planet. This is according to 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.879 her Facebook. We love you, We love you, mama. But 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.439 imagine that, bro, my mom turned of age to vote. 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.080 It was illegal, So there's no version of me not 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:03.199 voting like I do. I can't reconcile that. However, like 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.000 I said, that conversation with Charlottmagne made me for the 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.960 first time pump my brakes on people who have kind 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.800 of given up on a system that incentivized politicians to 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.080 really do what's right for them, not even their constituents, 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.360 not even their city or the people that voted for them, 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.040 for themselves. And the system in DC is kind of 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:25.320 set up in a cyclical manner for them to benefit 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:29.440 or profit no matter which way the laws and outcomes 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:31.920 go for us common people. You know what's funny about 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:32.560 that is. 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:39.320 Dave Chappelle went on Saturday Night Live recently, and he 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:43.159 was talking about that very thing. He was talking about 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:50.200 people in Middle America's response to the previous administration's leader, 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:57.320 and he said something effectually. What he said was, this 0:19:57.400 --> 0:19:59.960 guy came out, Oh yes, stood in front of air 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:05.040 Found and said, Hey, all of y'all that think we're 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:07.359 doing X, Y and Z in there, that's what we're 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.800 doing in there, and then turned around and went right 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.400 back in there and kept doing it, and then he won. 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:20.680 And I can't I haven't been able to rather connect 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.399 how that worked, but I can see it working. 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:26.000 I just don't know. How can I give you a 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.400 really strange analogy? Help me out? People ask why the 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:36.280 person who's being cheated with doesn't feel awful, and it's 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:40.879 typically because they're not the one being lied to. What's 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:45.120 happening is morally wrong. There's moral bankruptcy there. Okay, that 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:47.640 man or that woman is married and you're their other. 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.960 But you feel like at least they're telling me the truth. Okay, 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.040 I'll go with that. So, like he said, the man 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:56.640 came out and said, look, man, I know y'all think 0:20:56.640 --> 0:21:00.159 we up to some crazy stuff in there. We are 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:02.680 see you on the next episode, they don't rent back 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:06.159 in there, and people were like, you know what, he's honest. 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.200 At least he's telling us the truth. Yeah, even if 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:11.600 he's awful, he's honest. 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:14.760 And that's why no one he never had to show 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.320 his income tax returns. He's like, yo, me not paying 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.399 taxes makes me smart? Yes, and everybody else, and that 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:24.520 you guys set up. I'm using those rules to my advantage. Sorry, 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:27.040 you guys are the suckers. 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:29.800 Vote for me. If you don't want to be a sucker, 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:37.000 you should vote for me. Sucker, but brilliant. They didn't 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:38.560 leave ignorant. I don't, is that? 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:41.800 Listen, man, far be it from me to say that 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:46.359 these You know, I've said this before in a different 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:50.760 arena and about different people. But evil people are often 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:54.600 times brilliant. Good people can be brilliant too, But evil, 0:21:54.920 --> 0:22:00.600 Make no mistake. You know, people don't often associated intelligence 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.679 with a figure like a Hitler, you know, because you 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:09.440 associate evil and evil is such a big adjective that 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:12.600 it kind of blocks you from seeing all the other things. 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.399 But someone with charisma, maybe someone who's good looking. At 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:17.920 IM saying that dude was good looking, I'm just saying 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:19.640 like in general, these are the sorts of people. 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:22.119 That figured out a way to have millions of people 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:28.199 buy into a very corrupt, very evil ideology. Sure, sure, 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:30.320 sure and fully bought into it. Yeah, man, the whole 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:36.040 country man. And that's a stain on Germany in perpetuity. 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:38.280 You know, no one's going to forget that in Germany 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:43.240 is going to spend the rest of their existence having 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:45.840 to own that. Fortunately they I believe they do a 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:51.160 good job. A lot of people there are sorry, yeah, 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:55.760 are owning it, are trying to repair. Yeah, unlike some 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:59.959 other places. Man, you need to say that again. Anyway. 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:04.880 You know, these midterms, man, as I mentioned, you know. 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.800 We're as divided as ever, but we know the wise, 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:11.800 it's good that we talk about them, and it's good 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:14.119 that we try to hold space to kind of move 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:16.800 a little bit closer together. And I'm glad that we had, 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:20.920 you know, people like John Fetterman defeating Doctor Oz and 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:26.280 Carrie Lake losing to Katie Hobbs, because in my opinion, 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:29.760 you know, a Carry Lake type of figures, like like, 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:32.240 I know Carry Lake. You know, I work in media, 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:34.959 so it's not too far removed from my circle at all. 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:39.159 Carrie Lake type more dangerous than others. Right, very charismatic, 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:43.400 very attractive, very well spoken, brought into an awful ideology, 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:46.800 but for reasons that were very very obvious. But then 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:49.280 you got to follow through on that awful ideology, and 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:53.800 someone like her championing that would have been really, really 0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:57.440 scary for Arizona well, and not only that she would 0:23:57.440 --> 0:24:00.560 have been, it would have been a lot fightning rod 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:02.959 for everybody else and this place would have been back 0:24:03.000 --> 0:24:04.119 on the map for the wrong reason. 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:07.280 So we're grateful again to everyone who voted. We're grateful 0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:11.119 for the outcomes. Let's try to heal now. Don't forget 0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:12.920 what it feels like to lose, and if you can 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:15.399