WEBVTT - Democrats Cannot Concede Moral Values 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.480 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to woo k F Daily 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.079 with Meet your Girl Danielle Moody. Pre recording from the 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:23.280 Home Bunker. Folks, you know, it's not often, honestly that 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:29.440 I get to interview a politician that makes me feel 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:34.120 good right, that is doing the right things, saying the 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:38.720 right things, and just engaging with constituents in a way 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:44.360 that should be modeled. I'm excited to welcome on to 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.680 the show for the first time Commissioner Devonte Lewis from 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:54.600 the third District in Louisiana, a black queer man that 0:00:54.800 --> 0:01:00.400 won his seat by eighteen percentage points in Louisiana. DeVante 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.080 is not the first, you know, black queer politician that 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:07.039 we've had on the show from the South, which is 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.880 just an exciting, exciting to witness right and exciting to 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:17.240 have folks on because I think, much like we have 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:23.480 with patriotism, with faith, with family, that we have ceded 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:28.560 way too much fucking ground to the Maga supremacist Party, 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:34.280 that we have allowed them to be the ones that 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:40.080 control the narrative around family, that control the narrative around patriotism, 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:45.280 that control the narrative around religion. To assume that everybody 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:48.360 then that is on the left is devoid of all 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:54.280 of these values that in fact we actually hold in 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:58.440 the truest and fullest sense of the word. Right, I 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.360 can think about nothing more patriotic than marching and fighting 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.760 for a more just society. Right. I can think about 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:10.280 no better display of family than fighting for marriage equality 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:14.920 and the protection of trans youth right from oppressive policies 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.680 and figures. You know, I can think about nothing greater 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:25.480 than to see religious figures from all major religions and 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:31.040 not by standing in their convictions about their scripture and 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:35.359 it being about helping the most marginalized among us. Right. 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:41.079 And so this conversation with Devonte Lewis was just really 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:45.880 heartwarming in a way that is needed, because it isn't 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.440 as if we don't know what to say, but it's 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:53.000 as if democrats when it comes during election time just 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:57.000 forget how to talk to real people. And Davante gives 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:02.000 us some really just good examples in his own campaigning 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.880 and conversations with his constituents. That conversation, dear friends, is 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:13.200 coming up next, folks. I am so happy to welcome 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:18.000 to OOKF Daily for the very first time, Commissioner Devonte 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:22.560 Lewis out of District three UH in Louisiana, the first 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:28.560 out LGBTQ candidate ever elected at the state level in Louisiana. 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:34.440 I love this quote that we have of you, which 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:38.680 reads quote my faith helps Dick. Let me say start 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:43.480 that again. My faith helps dictate my politics. My politics 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.040 isn't my faith, and too many on the right turn 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:51.520 their politics into their faith. I want to jump right 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:57.640 in with that. DeVante, provide us with, like an explanation 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.600 of what you mean by that, like I under like, 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.960 I think that I get it, But explain what you 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:10.640 mean in comparison to your opponents and the opposition that 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.400 often weaponizes their faith. 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.200 Absolutely, I mean when I think about this, I'm a 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.240 Southern Baptist. I grew up a boy of the South 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:23.039 deep Louisiana, was in church from literally the day I 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.760 was born. And for me, when I say that, what 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.560 I mean is I am guided by my faith. My 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.599 faith that tells me to care about the poor, to 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:38.039 love one another, to help the immigrant, to do justice 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.720 to each other. And so that shapes the political views 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.600 that I hold of. Why I'm a strong believer in 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.000 equality for every single person, in equity, Why I fight 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.400 so hard for policies that uplift people out of poverty, 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.320 but to oftentimes feel what people have done, they've made 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.880 a political decision that they are anti gay, they are 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.680 anti abortion, they are anti the immigrant, and then use 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.840 this faith as their justification for it. And so what 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:10.160 I say that that is my faith is dictating what 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.880 political stances I have. My politics is not dictating my faith. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.320 Where I am now saying, because I believe X, Y, 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.960 and Z, I'm going to distort my religion and my 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.880 faith to now uphold my belief. So you are no 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.120 longer questioning my politics, you have to now question my faith. 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.560 And I think it's a tactic that the right has 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:35.680 used oh too well, where they have wrapped their politics 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:41.000 as faith based decisions to stop you from challenging them, 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:43.320 because at that point then you're challenging their religion. 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:48.200 Absolutely absolutely, and I think the way that you have 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:53.240 framed it and also defined it is absolutely right. You know, 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:58.320 I often say that we on the left have conceded 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:02.039 way too much ground to the right. And what do 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:07.719 I mean by that? We have allowed the right to 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:13.120 to take over and assume patriotism right to use it 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.600 again as they do faith to say that if you 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:21.280 are progressive, then you aren't. You aren't a patriot or 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.360 a person of faith, right, And we have allowed them 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.520 to assume that role. And I think, but you expressly 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.520 stating so that you are a person of faith, that 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:35.599 you are a black LGBTQ person. To be able to 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.279 say that, I think is so powerful. Can you talk 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:45.680 to us about what it was like to campaign in Louisiana. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:49.440 You know, I live in New York on the the coast, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.760 and I know that folks on the coast have a 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:58.600 different idea and imagination about red states and what it 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.640 means to be queer in the places. So give us 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:05.040 a little bit of background about you deciding to run 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:10.880 and running and being queer, but not making it the 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:12.680 center of your campaign. 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.760 Yeah, I mean, I think the South is a very 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.320 interesting place, and I think the South sometimes does get 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:24.120 a bad rap because the loudest vocal people from the 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:29.240 South are sometimes Matt Hillary Clinton would say, the big deplorables. 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.600 But the South is a very place of to geniality 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.760 when it comes to niceness, right, And we can get 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.320 into that later. But when I decided to run, I mean, 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.080 it was very clear that other people may make this 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.760 an issue, but what I wanted to do. I mean, 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.760 I'm my position. I'm a utility regulator, and as I 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:49.920 told people in the campaign trail, there was no way 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.760 for me to make a gay utility rate and a 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:57.800 straight utility rate. It doesn't exist, right. Everybody wants the 0:07:57.800 --> 0:07:59.440 same thing. We all want our lights to come on 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.560 when we flip that switch, and we all want to 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.400 pay the cheapest amount of possible when that bill comes in. 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.600 And so what I tried to do, and what I 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.920 wanted to showcase to people is that I can run 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.640 on the things that connect us, the things that make 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:21.440 us a collective body, without having to focus or get 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:25.320 into the differences. And oftentimes they think what happens is 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:27.360 people want us to run on that identity. And I 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.360 wanted to show people that you can be authentically yourself 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:33.560 and then still not have to fit into the mold 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.640 of the characatures that people have created about what it 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.160 means to be a black candidate, what it means to 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.800 be a progressive candidate, what it means to be a 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.920 young candidate, and what it means to be a queer candidate. 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.079 I mean, I had four kind of real no nos 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:52.599 in southern politics, that I was running on someone thirty, 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.320 someone who is openly progressive, someone who is black in 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.640 a state that is very hostile to racial progress, and 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.280 Toni is queer. So it was a lot of taboos. 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.200 But what I wanted to showcase is that I was 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.640 going to not shy away from any of the identities 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.600 that I hold, but showcase how I can use those 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:17.080 identities as a way to commonly connect with people about 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:21.359 the issues that we cared about, which was protecting Louisiana 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.640 and and and making our utility system stronger and better. 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.320 And we showcased that it didn't come up as an 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.720 issue in the campaign, and it really people didn't try 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.840 to make it a focal point because there was so 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:38.680 much of the uniting message around it. And I'm and 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:40.480 I'm proud of that. I mean, I have people that 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:41.840 have walked up to me and said, you know what, 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.120 this is the first time that my parents and I 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.800 voting for the same person, and we did it enthusiastically 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.440 that there was no there was there was no heartburn 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:55.600 between the conservative parent and the liberal child around who 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:57.680 they were voting in my race, and even with the 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:02.000 complexities of my identities that some say showcase that that 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.400 being you, but also talking about what people really care 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.080 about actually matters more, and we need to stop listening 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.480 to the few people that think they know everything in 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:17.640 politics to decide what people actually care about. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:23.280 I love that, and I appreciate the way that you 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:28.280 have navigated because you know, I think that at one time, 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:34.240 sure it matters to lift up possibility models to young 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:38.960 people who are like, oh my goodness, you're black, you're queer, 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.160 you're running for office. I can do that too. I 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:46.280 also do think though, that there is a necessity to 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.480 be have that be what it is, but then also 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.240 do exactly what you did, which is, let me tell 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.080 you what I can do for you. Where do you 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:01.000 think DeVante that like, what do you think from what 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:06.640 you have learned and experienced running for commissioner that democrats 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:10.480 on a whole, regardless of what level they are running for, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:14.360 what position that they're running for, could use from what 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:15.120 you've learned. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.000 I think the first thing you got to do is 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.240 you got to meet people where they are. And one 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.480 of the challenges that I think democrats and progressives have 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.680 and as one and who's very intellectual, we get very 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:32.360 caught up in the intellectual argumentation behind why we believe 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.840 what we believe, and it is not to say that 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.319 people are not there. And one of the things that 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:41.560 I always tell people is we got to remind ourselves 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.760 that people living are also experts. They may not have 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.679 the terminology that we have, they may not be able 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.280 to cite the data points that we can cite, but 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.320 they are experts in what they are experiencing from either 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.800 policy action or policy in action. And so what I 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:02.440 really want, like put blank, I never truly said the 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:06.360 words climate change and talked about CO two admissions in 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.120 such an academic way because I knew the people that 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.240 I was talking to would not get it. But I 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:13.559 didn't shy away from the issue. What I told them 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:16.480 is about how they feel that policy of climate change. 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.760 I went to my voters and said, hey, you know, 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:21.080 every hurricane now is stronger than it has ever been, 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.800 the summers are hotter than they were before, the winters 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.760 are colder than they were before, and your utility bill 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.480 is getting higher. And this is because we haven't done 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:33.440 these policy actions. That's the exact same thing of me 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:35.760 saying because we haven't acted on climate change, we haven't 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.199 done it, but I spoke to people in a way 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.240 that matched where they were, and I think one of 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.120 the challenges that we have to do better is talk 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.959 to people in a way of where they are. But 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.439 then secondly, we have to stop making the false dichotomy 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.800 choice of whether or not we'd be bold or we 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:57.000 be incrementalism. And what I mean by that is I 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.760 can sell a vision to people that is bold and 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:05.440 that showcases promise, that recognizes that there are going to 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:10.440 be incremental steps without making the incremental steps my bold vision. 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.360 And that's where I think we fail because we fight 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.360 in this battle about well, I don't want to overpromise 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.680 because I can't deliver it. It's like no, I told people, 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.360 let's I want to make Louisiana Clton. I want to 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:26.760 ensure that our security and our financial security, and our 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.600 economic security and our environmental security is protected. But it's 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.160 going to take a process to get there, and I 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.720 want you along the journey with me. So while I 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.480 sold the vision, I didn't lie to say that, Hey, 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.920 I'm not going to flip a switch tomorrow and all 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.720 of a sudden there's going to be nothing but renewable 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.440 energy in Louisiana. And I think these are the lessons 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.440 that showcase that it speaks to people, because at that point, 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.840 I'm no longer talking about how upholster or a consultant 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:55.920 told me. I was talking to the people that I 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.680 desperately wanted to be part of the process. And we 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.880 saw that. We saw that internal we saw people for 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.679 a public service Commission race that most people if you 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.120 would have asked people in Louisiana what this was maybe 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.719 a year ago, they couldn't even tell you. And I'm 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:13.600 talking people who are deeply involved in politics. Now they're 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.680 aware because what we did is we spoke about why 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:20.760 this position mattered to them, what actions could take we 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:24.160 could take, and how inaction would also harm them, so 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.880 they had a reason to come out and vote. 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:32.520 And I think that that attitude, that perspective is exactly 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:38.440 what is missing from our national politics right now, which 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:42.560 is that I believe that Democrats get incredibly hung up 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:46.560 on the wrong type of messaging, the wrong type of 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.920 statistics and facts, instead of talking to the people and 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.880 meeting them where they are. Because what everyone can absolutely 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.200 agree on is as you were talking about it, and 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:02.200 I'm like, yep, my electricity bill went up, right, because 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.680 over the summer it was hotter in New York than 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:07.240 it has ever been, so I had to run the 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.560 air conditioner longer. It is, you know, colder than it 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:13.800 usually is at this time, so having to run the 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:17.720 heat Like, people get that right because it's something that 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:20.800 they deal with on a monthly basis when they're doing 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.560 their bills. Right, So how can we help this lowering 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:29.360 your bills without having to talk about climate change which 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.280 has become a third rail. But we know that that 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.280 is what the effects are of why we're in this place. 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:38.760 But it doesn't have to be the front of the conversation. 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.600 The front of the conversation can be about solutions. 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.000 You're absolutely right, really quickly. What I say, I think 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:46.520 one of the things that we get caught up on, 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:48.240 and I told this to someoney the other day, is 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:50.560 we get caught up on the cause of a problem, 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.960 not the effect of the problem. And sometimes if we 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.480 only talk about how the problem is affecting people and 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:00.760 what our solution means to their effect, it matters. Like 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.040 I don't need to try to go change somebody in 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.360 my district for them to believe climate change is real. 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.400 But if I if the effects of climate change, I 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.200 demonstrate to them that that's why your bill is higher, 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.760 and these policy actions that I will take will lower 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.880 what you care about, then we all win. And I 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.360 think that's that's something we got to stop doing, is 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.440 we really want everyone to agree with the cause rather 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.480 than recognizing what's the effect of the policy action or 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:26.920 in action. 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:32.880 Absolutely, you know, I want to change us switch gears 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:39.600 a bit to discuss a fellow Louisian, Uhisian Mike Johnson. 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:46.240 Oh yeah, the news Speaker of the House who no 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.880 one really knew anything about, Mike Johnson, and then it 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:54.440 was all of a sudden he became, you know, a 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:58.440 point of conversation and contention after the fact, after he 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.600 was voted in. Tell us about the Mike Johnson, you know, 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:04.520 and the people of Louisiana. 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.480 No. Yes, So Mike Johnson has been around and has 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.439 been trying to climb the political ladder for years. I 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:16.240 first met him when he became a freshman legislator won 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.160 a special election in early twenty you would have been 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:25.879 twenty fourteen, yeah, or twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, and he 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.000 came into the state legislature thinking he was the hot 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.439 Hot Hot Man. He tried to pass one of the 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:36.000 most draconian bills I've ever seen at the Louisiana Legislature, 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:41.280 the Marriage and Conscious Act, which was directly targeting LGBTQ 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.199 people right away. And it was so bad that a 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:49.240 Republican led committee in the state of Louisiana did not 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.040 even let the bill get out of committee. That's how 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.040 bad this bill was. I want people to remember this. 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.280 When he filed this legislation, the Republicans can Bobby Jinda 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.720 was the governor of Louisiana, and the Republicans held the 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.760 legislature and wouldn't let his bill get out of the 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:10.680 committee because it was that bad. And to what I've 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.959 known about Mike Johnson and why I think it's been 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.840 a hardship is Mike Johnson has done what I think 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:20.720 a lot of Christian fundamentalists on the right do, is 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:25.120 they weaponize niceness. And this is what I mean. Mike 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.360 Johnson is somebody if you talk to his former colleagues, 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.480 for me, he is someone who is going to always 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.159 greet you, He's going to talk to you, he's going 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:36.359 to engage with you. And what I mean by weaponizing 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.160 niceness is it's a tactic that too often the right 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.760 uses to their advantage. Where then when they are passing 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.560 or trying to advocate for some of the most egregious 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:51.119 policy positions, it is hard to villainize them, because we 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.760 oftentimes want to villainize people, right, We want everyone either 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:59.240 become or bad. And it is hard for someone to 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:03.280 think someone's bad when they're nice and and and that's 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:04.959 what I mean when I say he has done that 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:09.040 significantly well where all of these policies. Let to be 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.840 very clear, he is to the right of Jim Jordan, 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:14.440 to the right of Jim Jordan. 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:17.080 On a line I don't even know what to what 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.439 the right of Jim Jordan could possibly and like is 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.000 it a circle? Like it's wild. 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.080 I mean, like if Jim Jordan wrote the four to 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:31.440 the Book of Scott McKay, who is a radical blogger 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:35.439 here in Louisiana, that that it that is conspiracy theory 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.760 and very homophobic, we would eat Jim Jordan alive. But 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.639 the reason Mike Johnson didn't get that reaction from his 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:47.440 caucus is because, unlike Jim Jordan's he's nice. And that's 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:49.879 what I mean when I said he has weaponized niceness 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:55.040 to veil to to kind of cover his very horrible policies. 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:58.640 Is because now it is hard to villainize Mike Johnson 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:00.440 because he's the man that's going to bring you cookies. 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.679 He's the man that's gonna smile and ask you how 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.360 your children are doing at the same time while he's 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.520 trying to pass some of the most harmful laws, whereas 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.399 Jim Jordan is just an a one asshole that you 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.879 you don't want to talk to. And that's why I 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:19.879 think he's so dangerous is because I tell people stop 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:26.640 looking at niceness to equate good. Look at what people 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.920 are doing. And I said, and that's the challenge I 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.719 think oftentimes I've called it the heaven or Hell theory, 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:36.119 where we want everybody to either be good or bad, 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.040 and we use niceness as an objective of whether people 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:40.840 are good and bad. Like I've been in politics a 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.680 long time, some of the nicest people pass some of 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:46.480 the most draconian laws possible, and some of the people 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.560 I never want to talk to are doing actually good 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:53.200 social justice work. And so we can't let that confuse us. 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:55.640 And that's the danger of Mike Johnson that I want 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.080 people to know is you're never gonna hear anyone say 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:01.679 he's a mean person. But look at what he's tried 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:04.800 to do and the lass he's tried to pass are 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:08.840 the positions he's held over the last ten years. And 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.200 then told me whether or not he deserves to be 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:12.080 a Speaker of the House. 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.439 Do you think you know, given the state of the 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:17.960 Republican Party, in the state of the House, and all 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:22.200 that you've said about Johnson, now that he lasts longer 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:26.160 than the prior speaker, Kevin McCarthy. 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:27.880 I think he does. I think that's why you see 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:32.040 the Freedom Caucus not revolting as much, even when he 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:34.640 makes some of the same decisions that Kevin McCarthy did, 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:38.600 is because Kevin McCarthy wasn't as unlinkable, was the likable. 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:41.560 That's why my guess he's defending him because it's like 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:46.040 it's you. It's hard to demonize Mike Johnson because he's 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:48.240 the he's the man with the smile. But as I 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.840 told people, the only difference between him and Jim Jordan, 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:53.600 for me and Louisiana was he wore a sports coat 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:55.479 and he put a smile on his face. That's right. 0:21:56.040 --> 0:22:04.960 Yeah, One hundred DeVante last question for you. You know, 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:09.480 as we head into twenty twenty four, and you know, 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:12.600 we know what the headlines are, we know, you know 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:16.200 for all intentsive purposes, what the matchup is going to be. 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:20.640 You know your state is one of the states that 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:24.560 has a lot of challenges, right, that is just you know, 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:26.879 we count on to be one hundred percent read one 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:30.080 hundred percent of the time. What do you want people 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:37.119 to know about your state and why Democrats shouldn't just 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:44.440 again just seed ground, just seed the South to Republicans 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:45.719 in this coming election. 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:50.560 But moving forward absolutely, I mean I think doctor William 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:53.879 Revn Barber said it the best. The South is not 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:57.800 red states. Where are press states? Where states with the 0:22:57.840 --> 0:23:01.520 history of racial segregation. I remind people, I'm thirty two 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:05.080 years old, my mother's fifty fifty three. My mom was 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:10.280 already in school before Louisiana fully desegregated their schools, right, 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:12.560 And so when you think about even just my kind 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:18.240 of short amount of history, there are still a lot 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:21.040 of work to be done. And the reason is we 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:24.960 have more people in the South who are not voting 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.880 than are voting. And that's a problem. Right, So it's 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:33.560 not that we are just this ruby red state. It's 0:23:33.600 --> 0:23:37.200 that the only people engage because they are the least oppressed, 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.679 are Republicans who are now making up such a small 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.280 percentage of the vote. I mean, like, look at our 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:49.040 goodnatorial election we just had. Jeff Landry becomes the governor 0:23:49.080 --> 0:23:53.840 of Louisiana, right, brond de Santis two point zero. Everyone say, look, 0:23:54.080 --> 0:23:56.880 leave Louisiana. But I want to remind people Jeff. 0:23:56.760 --> 0:24:01.520 Landry to win the governor's mansion got less votes then 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:05.720 the Democrat four years ago to win the governor's mansion. 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:09.040 So it wasn't the fact that there is this wave 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:12.000 of people. It was that the pie of voters is 0:24:12.040 --> 0:24:14.879 getting smaller and smaller. And what I wanted people to 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:18.560 know is that the South is ripe for opportunity. But 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:22.640 we have people who need to believe right. And these 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:26.800 are people who are who have worked two jobs to 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:29.040 just put food on the table. But then who walks 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:31.800 out of their house and are breathing pollution from all 0:24:31.800 --> 0:24:34.280 the industry that have polluted black and brown neighborhoods in 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:38.960 the South. It's a place where economic opportunity seems far fetched. 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:41.360 And so what we have to do is not give 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:43.920