1 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 2 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: me your girl, Danielle Moody, recording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 3 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: I'm very excited to welcome back to woke F Daily 4 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: our friend doctor Abduel el Sayed, author of Medicare for All, 5 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: hosts of the podcast America Dissected, and a public health 6 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: advocate that we've had on the show throughout the course 7 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: of the pandemic. I bring doctor el Sayed back to 8 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 1: the show because we haven't completed or risen above. Despite 9 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 1: what the Biden administration says COVID nineteen, we are still 10 00:00:54,760 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: experiencing four hundred deaths a day, which amount to three 11 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: thousand people dying a week from COVID nineteen. We haven't 12 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: eradicated monkeypox. We haven't really understood what long COVID really 13 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: is because we only have two and a half years 14 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: of research because that's how long COVID has been around. 15 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: We don't know the longer term implications of what happens 16 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: to folks trying to get disability because they're no longer 17 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: able to work. Because there are some people who have 18 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 1: had COVID that are struggling immensely. But we just don't 19 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: talk about it. So how does President Biden saying and 20 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: announcing that the pandemic is over affect people's ability to 21 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: one have empathy, but also for public health advocates to 22 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: try and alert the public to the fact that while 23 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: we're not experiencing a surge with COVID now as we 24 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,559 Speaker 1: have in the past two years, what doctor l Sayed 25 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: will say is that if you look at the UK, 26 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: which has been our canary in the coal mine every 27 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: time we're about to hit a surge, he says, COVID 28 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: nineteen numbers are up fifteen percent in the UK right now. 29 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: And climate we know by virtue of how climate change 30 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: is aggressively impacting now our day to day lives and 31 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: we're seeing, you know, these once in a century storms 32 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: every fucking year. He'll talk to us about the correlation 33 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: between these public health crises and the fact that we 34 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: will see another global health pandemic in our lifetime and 35 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: how it ties into climate change. Folks. You know, I 36 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: know that it is exhausting and at times we just 37 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: want to put one of these crises, at least one 38 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: of them, if not all of them, behind us. But 39 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: the thing is is that we're not learning. We're not 40 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: learning from anything because and we, as a president of 41 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: the United States announces mission accomplished and the mission is 42 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: far from being fucking over. That means we've stopped learning 43 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: and we've stopped educating, and that, if nothing else that 44 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:22,239 Speaker 1: we've learned, spells fucking danger. So what do we do? 45 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: How do we move forward? How do we regain our 46 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: trust and faith and institutions that were rocked by COVID nineteen. 47 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: So this conversation coming up next with our friend doctor 48 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: Abdul Lsed will lay bare, you know, frankly, folks, where 49 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: we are right now with the virus, where we are headed, 50 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: and how critical the upcoming midterm elections are to understanding 51 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: how we build a robust health infrastructure that is prepared 52 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: to meet these impending crises. The Damage Report with John 53 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: Idarola is one of the most popular shows on the 54 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: TYT Network that serves as your daily breakdown of the 55 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: genuine threats and challenges facing our country and world. These days, 56 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: we're confronted with an overwhelming sea of shocking, confounding, and 57 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: devastating news stories. The Damage Report is your life raft, 58 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: helping you navigate the day's news and understand the damage 59 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: caused by the corrupt establishment, politicians, corporations, and everything in between. 60 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: Join The Damage Report's notorious fan club, the Dragon Squad, 61 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: where you become part of the fantastic community of progressives. 62 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: Create a fun dragon nickname that fits your personality, collaborate 63 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: and participate in fun activities like voting for the Garbage 64 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: Person of the Week, and much more. Listen to The 65 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: Damage Report on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. 66 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: If you like what you here, be sure to subscribe 67 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: so you never miss an episode. Friends, I am very 68 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: happy to welcome back to WOK. It's been way too long. 69 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: Doctor Abduel el Sayid, who you know, is the host 70 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: of America Dissected. He is the author of Medicare for 71 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: All and Healing Politics, and a public health doctor that 72 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: makes his rounds on cable news and in other spaces 73 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: to educate us on what is happening in this country 74 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: and around the world as it pertains to public health. 75 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: Welcome back. I want to start with the obvious, which 76 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: is a couple of weeks ago. President Biden was on 77 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: sixty Minutes and he's walking around the Detroit Auto Show. 78 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: No one is in a mask. It's the first time 79 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: that the auto show is taking place in three years, 80 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: and he says, the pandemic is over. Your reaction, a 81 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: good doctor, your reaction to that, you know, the hard 82 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: part is that you think about all of the folks 83 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: who are yet in hospitals, who are yet dying four 84 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: hundred a day about and all the folks who are 85 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: so scarred by long COVID, and you have to ask 86 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: whether or not it's prudent to call this over. But 87 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: then the bigger question is this The thing about a 88 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: pandemic is that you can't really call it over from 89 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 1: where you sit, kind of like a hurricane. You don't 90 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: really see the edges of the storm. And it could 91 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: be that the lull in the storm is the end 92 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:46,479 Speaker 1: of the storm, or it could be that it's the 93 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: eye of the storm. And while we've been lucky not 94 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 1: to have a fall surge as we've had for every 95 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: year of COVID so far, yet that's not to say 96 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: that it's not coming. In fact, you look at in 97 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: the UK, which has been sort of a harbinger of 98 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: things to come in the US, their cases are up 99 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: fifteen percent over the past two weeks, which suggests that 100 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: this still could be coming. The other aspect of this 101 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: is that you know, we think we are we have 102 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: reached pretty close to the most efficient variant of omicron. 103 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: When I say efficient meaning the most immunovasive combination between 104 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: immune evasive and transmissible. And yet it's plausible that while 105 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: we're expecting the virus to zig i e. We are 106 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: vaccinating people against the BA five subvariant, that it could zact, 107 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: that there could be a whole new line or play 108 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: of variants that arise. We don't know what this virus 109 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: has in store, and so it's just it's a little 110 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: bit frustrating to watch a president triumphantly declare that we 111 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: have one mission accomplished when we actually don't really know 112 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: that that's the case. And the last thing I'll say 113 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: is this is that the reason this matters, and it's 114 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: not just a matter of what we say, is that 115 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,559 Speaker 1: the administration, while the President has declared the pandemic over, 116 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: the administration has been making an ask of Congress to 117 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: fund all of the COVID diagnostics and the treatments and 118 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: vaccines that we need should there be another another another search. 119 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: And so this just undercuts that in a pretty profound way. 120 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: So it's not just semantics here. It's not just you know, 121 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: throwing a lot of assault in the wounds for people 122 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: with a long COVID. It's actually undercutting the administration's own 123 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: effort to be able to deal with the next search 124 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: such that we can get to a point. But the 125 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: pandemic really is over. But the hard part is you 126 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:39,959 Speaker 1: can't really declare it from inside and where we are. 127 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: And and I worry that when people listen to the 128 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: President they'll take what he's saying over seriously as congret 129 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: Congress people of the Republican Party have and say, well, 130 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: if the pandemic's over, why would we be funding this right? 131 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: You know, the people who listen to WIKA f know 132 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: that after were two years of dodging the virus. Myself, 133 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: I caught it Labor Day weekend while I was outside 134 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: at an outside family event. It wasn't even like an 135 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: outside concert. It was like an outside family barbecue. And 136 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: I caught COVID and thankfully, you know, I had very 137 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: mild symptoms. Thankfully I did not require the anti viral treatment. 138 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: I just kind of wrote it out in my apartment. 139 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: It was more frustrating and annoying. But the entire time 140 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: I was thanking doctors, I was thanking science. I was 141 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: thanking researchers for the ability to be able to ride 142 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: out this thing that was inside of my body, that 143 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: is still inside of my body, that has killed millions 144 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: of people. And so, you know, one of the things 145 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: that I want to ask you about is the fact 146 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: that we still don't really know about the long term 147 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: implications of long COVID and and you know, and it's 148 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: something that isn't being spoken about because there are people who, 149 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: like myself, have you know, COVID finally caught up with them. 150 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: I have friends and colleagues that have had brain fog. 151 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: I did not have brain fog. They are continuing past 152 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: having tested negative these symptoms casually coming back. And so 153 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: how do you think that we should be speaking about 154 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: and public health experts like your self should be speaking 155 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: about long term COVID and what we think, you know, 156 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:42,239 Speaker 1: possibly worst case scenario, what the implications are for our workforce, 157 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: right for disability moving forward. Yeah, you raise a really 158 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: important point. First, I want to say, I'm sorry to 159 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 1: hear that you had the disease, and I'm also grateful 160 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: that it wasn't so serious, but you join literally millions 161 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 1: and millions and millions of Americans who've had COVID. I 162 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: was infected back in April, as was my whole family, 163 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:08,079 Speaker 1: and the consequences of that for you and me has 164 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: meant that we got a bit sick for a couple 165 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: of days and then we got over it. But we 166 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: don't actually know what the long long term consequences of 167 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: this virus are. What we do understand is that for 168 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: people who are who are infected, some proportion upwards of 169 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: ten to twenty percent will develop a set of chronic 170 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: symptoms that we call long COVID. But we don't really 171 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 1: understand the path of physiology of it, why it's happening, 172 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: or how to treat it, or what the long long 173 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: term consequences might be. Because let's remember, right what we 174 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: call shingles. Before it's shingles, it's chicken pox. And what 175 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: tends to happen is right that that virus we now understand, 176 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: goes dormant in a piece of your spinal cord, only 177 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 1: to come out when your immune system is weak and 178 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,359 Speaker 1: follow its pathway down your neuron to a very picular 179 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: part of your skin in effect caused another clinical infection phase, 180 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: and we don't know what is dormant in our bodies. 181 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:11,959 Speaker 1: We don't know what the long term consequences will be, 182 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: So what we really have to be planning around both 183 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: for people with what I'll call acute long COVID, which 184 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: is kind of a weird way of thinking about it, 185 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: but you know, the long COVID that comes immediately after 186 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: an infection versus the potential for a we'll call it 187 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: longer COVID that comes after a phase of dormancy. We 188 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,079 Speaker 1: had a plan for that in terms of the very 189 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 1: structures of our society. And let's be clear, we live 190 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:38,679 Speaker 1: in America right now, we're nine percent of the people 191 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:43,319 Speaker 1: don't have health insurance at all. Another fifteen to twenty 192 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: percent could be liable to lose their health insurance because 193 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: it's it's it's rickety, because it's underfunded by conservatives through medicaid, 194 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,320 Speaker 1: or live in states where Medicaid was never expanded in 195 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: the first place. And then for everyone else, unless you're 196 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: on Medicare, which Republicans never stop trying to attack to 197 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: justify Medicare advantage a privatized version, you are liable to 198 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: lose your health insurance if you lose a job, or 199 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: if you turn twenty six, or if you get married, 200 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: or if you get divorced, or if they decide to 201 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: randomly jack up the price on you or your business 202 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: such that you can't afford it even if you are eligible, 203 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: and so we do not have a firm healthcare system 204 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: in our country. Guaranteeing that for people is mission critical, 205 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: particularly now considering the fact that tens of millions of 206 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: people will have long COVID in tens of millions more 207 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: are liable potentially to have a longer COVID should that happen. 208 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: And the problem is, we just don't know. Nobody's ever 209 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: had COVID in their bodies longer than two and a a 210 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: half years, simply because it didn't exist before two and 211 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: a half years. And so we've got the plan around 212 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: the potentiality, and we already know that there are enough 213 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: people who have chronic symptoms that can be very debilitating 214 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,079 Speaker 1: and depleting, and those people deserve and need our society 215 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: to step up and make sure that they have the 216 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: care they need and that they and their families are 217 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: taken care of if they can't work. You know, you 218 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: would think that one of the examples of a strong, 219 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: you know, democratic society would be how it takes care 220 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: of the least among it, right, like, how how people 221 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: are cared for and the sturdiness of our systems, whether 222 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: it be public health, public schools, and so on and 223 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: so forth. And what we have seen is over the 224 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: last couple of years, the cracks, the purposeful in a 225 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: lot of ways, cracks in our systems have been exacerbated 226 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: and have been pushed, you know, past their breaking point. 227 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: Part of that crack also is people's trust in public health, 228 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: in the CDC, in the WHO and so you know, 229 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: here I want to ask you is how does one 230 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: both restore faith in these agencies that were tested I 231 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: think to some extent and you know, beyond repair over 232 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: the last three years, in the fact that decisions were 233 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: made and continue to be made about COVID that are 234 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: really about capitalism, that are really about getting people to 235 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: work back to work as quickly as possible, because you know, 236 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: I would tell you that after five days of sitting 237 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: on the couch behind me, I would have never been 238 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: able to go back to anybody's office, right Like I 239 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: was exhausted and I had again the COVID symptoms that 240 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: I had were mild, So I can't imagine people the 241 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: CDC coming out and saying, well, just slap on a 242 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: mask and going to work with a mask. So I'm 243 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: wondering what you think about the position that the public 244 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: public health is an industry is in and the faith 245 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: and trust that people have in in these systems. Now, 246 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: you know, I'll tell you, long before COVID, we have 247 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: had a ruthless approach to thinking about the exchange of 248 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: labor for money in America, and we tell people that 249 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: they ought to get all access to all of these services, 250 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: including their very healthcare, by working, and then when they 251 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 1: cannot work, we take these things away. And all that 252 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: does is demonstrate the moral bankruptcy inherent in forcing people 253 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: into a set of institution that under pay and under deliver, 254 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: and for which they're told to rely on the very 255 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: basic means of a dignified life, like being able to 256 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: get healthcare when you get sick. So how does it 257 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: happen that you know, when you get sick, you can't work, 258 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: and then you lose your healthcare to be able to 259 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: treat you to get sick so you can work. I mean, 260 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: the thing doesn't make sense on its own terms. The 261 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: other part of it, though, is that these institutions generally, 262 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: they need to fundamentally be rebuilt in and rethought. I think, 263 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: you know, we've had a set of public health institutions that, 264 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:06,959 Speaker 1: you know, the people who work inside of them are 265 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: great people who care a lot about the people in 266 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 1: our country and the people that they serve. But they've 267 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: been underserved by institutions that have been robbed of the 268 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: funding that they need to be able to do the 269 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: work that they do. And so they've been shells of 270 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: themselves for a very long time, and they just haven't 271 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: been tested. And I'll be honest with you, COVID was 272 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: a gnarly public health problem. You're talking about a virus 273 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: that's airborne that we didn't understand, that was very different 274 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: than the most similar virus to it. We didn't have treatments, 275 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: we didn't have vaccine. But monkeypox is not monkeypox is 276 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: the one oh one of public health. This is a 277 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: virus that we had well characterized for decades, We had 278 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: available vaccines, we knew how it spread. It has an 279 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: extremely long latency period, an incubation period, so you can 280 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 1: vaccinate somebody within ten days of an exposure and reliably 281 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 1: prevent them from ever having symptoms at all. And we 282 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: still just couldn't do it. And so what I think 283 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: has happened is that, you know, the massive hurricane, if 284 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: you will, of COVID came and destroyed our very rickety 285 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: public health institutions, and then we never really rebuilt them, 286 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 1: and that brings us I think back to the statement 287 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: by the President, which I found really frustrating. It wasn't 288 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: the pandemic is over, but we learned a lot of lessons, 289 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: and we need to rebuild our public health agencies so 290 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: nothing like this ever happens again, and we need to 291 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 1: make sure that we're protecting and taking care of people 292 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 1: who still may die of the virus. And we need 293 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: to make sure that we're invested in a far more 294 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: stable disability system so that people with along COVID are 295 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 1: not hurt by this. It was the pandemic's over, Let's 296 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: move on. And when you say we're going to move on, 297 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: what that basically does forecloses on all of the reconstruction, 298 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: the rebuilding that needs to happen, because well, if you 299 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,479 Speaker 1: rob both, you know, the Republicans moved on the day 300 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: before COVID started. Let's be clear, and then if Democrats 301 00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: are moving on, like, where's the political will to make 302 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: sure that we're never here again? And that has to 303 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: continue to be part of the conversation. And so long 304 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: as we don't allow it to be part of the conversation, 305 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 1: we're not going to do it. And the next time 306 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: a very serious virus hits us, it could be more devastating. 307 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: And the thing I want folks to understand is, yes, 308 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: this was a quote unquote once in a century pandemic 309 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: in an era where we have once in a century 310 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: hurricanes every single time. So you know that we're gonna 311 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 1: have another. Like the idea that we're not going to 312 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: have another virus anytime soon is I think wishful thinking. 313 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: And so let's make sure that our house is in 314 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: order before the next one hits. Hey, I'm David plots 315 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: a slice political gab Fest. As another election season accelerates, 316 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: it can be tricky to sort through all the noise 317 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: and the news. Each week on the gap Fest, John Dickerson, 318 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: Emily Bathlon and I decipher the headlines, break down the races, 319 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: and tell you what issues really matter. We do not 320 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: always agree. We definitely do not always agree, but we 321 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: always deliver thoughtful debate and we always have a good time. 322 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: So subscrib drive to slates Political Gapfest new episodes every Thursday. 323 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: You know, you make such a good, solid comparison to 324 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 1: these hurricanes, to these once in a lifetime fires, to 325 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: these once in a lifetime tornado seasons, because they're not right. 326 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: They're becoming ever more frequent. And you know, one of 327 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: the things that I do want to ask you, and 328 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: maybe you don't know, but you can hypothesize for us, 329 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: is you know, the correlation between the possibility of new 330 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: viruses and climate change, right, and the fact that you 331 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,880 Speaker 1: have the waters that are warming, the fact that we 332 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: have deforestation, the fact that you know, we're talking about 333 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: glaciers that are melting, that are letting out This is 334 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,360 Speaker 1: no joke by nat GEO. I saw the other day 335 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: letting out bacteria in the air that hasn't been airborne 336 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: in a billion years. We have no idea what its 337 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: compatibility is with our current atmosphere. So what are your 338 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: thoughts about the correlation between public health and climate change? Yeah, 339 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: so there's no one way to attribute anyone virus, but 340 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: there's a clear mechanism that is linking climate change to 341 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: the emergence of more and more rare or novel pathogens. 342 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 1: You know the fact that we had a covid pandemic 343 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: and then monkey pocks sort of emerged, and then we 344 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: have a Nui bowla outbreak all the same moment. I 345 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: think we really ought to sort of cock our eyes 346 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: at that and take a real hard look, And the 347 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: mechanism is pretty clear. These kinds of viruses jump into 348 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 1: humans when the animals that carry them in which they 349 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: are reservoirs or for which they are reservoirs, tend to 350 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: add mix with humanity more commonly. So as we DeForest 351 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: more and more of our forests, the wildlife that was 352 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: in the forests is coming closer to human habitats because 353 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:09,400 Speaker 1: they're losing their homes literally, And when that admixture happens, right, 354 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 1: the risk that a virus or a bacterium that had 355 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: been resident and what we say endemic in animals that 356 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 1: are you know, causing like a common cold for them, 357 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: can jump into humanity where we are completely immune naive, 358 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 1: meaning our immune systems have never seen these viruses and 359 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: then start to spread like wildfire and cause serious illness. 360 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,199 Speaker 1: I mean, that's what we think happened with COVID. You know, 361 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,239 Speaker 1: monkeypoxes is actually it's not even a monkey disease. It's 362 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: a rodent disease that that was first discovered in monkeys 363 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: when it jumped into monkeys. But the more we start 364 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: destroying animal habitats, the more likely it is that these 365 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: animals are going to try and find new habitats amongst us, 366 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: and the more likely it is that the pathogens that 367 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: they're carrying are going to jump into us. And so 368 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,199 Speaker 1: there is a clear connection there and that should be 369 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: really worrisome for everyone. You know, With a few minutes 370 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: that I have left with you, I do want to 371 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: address where we are with monkey pox, and then I 372 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: want to wrap up by looking at the midterms and 373 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 1: getting your thoughts on how public health is going to 374 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: be playing into the outcome of the midterm elections, or 375 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 1: should be if you don't think that it is. But 376 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: you know, monkeypox comes onto the scene and everyone who 377 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: was alive or remembers learning about the AIDS epidemic and 378 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: crisis had a series of horrible flashbacks because once again 379 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: the United States did a bang up job in making 380 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:43,400 Speaker 1: it seem as if this disease was going to stay 381 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: within the LGBTQ community, particularly men who sleep with men 382 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: and by virtue of doing so, even if that is 383 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: where it began, right, we know we should know that 384 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,919 Speaker 1: nothing stays where it is now. Right. COVID began in China, 385 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: it didn't stay there, Right, So what was the point 386 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: do you think I've duel in the fact of the 387 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 1: media public health officials sounding the alarm not dissimilarly to 388 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: the way that they did HIV AIDS, which then made 389 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: it dismissable. If you're like, well, I don't check that box, 390 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: so this ain't about me. Yeah, you're raising a really 391 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: important point. And the degree to which we have a 392 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: really terrible history in public health and medicine dismissing diseases 393 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,199 Speaker 1: that are either more commonly found or emerge among the 394 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: LGBTQ community is shame. On the one hand, the institutions 395 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: in question had to do a far better job than 396 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: they did, and their logic would have been, we need 397 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: to alert people about what they can do themselves. But 398 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 1: when part of that is to provide a vaccine, and 399 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,119 Speaker 1: part of what you're asking them to do is to 400 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: get vaccinated. When you don't have enough vaccine because you 401 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: delayed getting the vaccine manufacturing facility authorized and you allowed 402 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: your strategic stockpile to go bad, well that's on you, right, 403 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 1: And I will say that, you know, we went from 404 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: having a daily high of about five hundred cases new 405 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: cases a day to about two hundred new cases a 406 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 1: day now. The doubling time, meaning the number of the 407 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,639 Speaker 1: amount of time it takes for the number of cases 408 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,880 Speaker 1: to double, went from eight days to twenty five days. 409 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: So when you reduce the doubling times, that's a good thing. 410 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: That's on the back of members of the community doing 411 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: what they needed to do to protect themselves, and the 412 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: public health institutions that should have been on it from 413 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: the jump doing the bare minimum to facilitate that. And 414 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: so you know, it is deeply, deeply frustrating. And then 415 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: the other part of this is that as we think 416 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,880 Speaker 1: about raising alarm and trying to empower people with information 417 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: that they can use, there has to be a rejoinder 418 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: to that conversation, kind of like what we talked about 419 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 1: when you declared the pandemic over, which is this is 420 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: a disease that is most common or more likely to 421 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: affect a particular profile. And also it is a disease 422 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: that can jump quickly, and all of us have to 423 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: do what we can to make sure that the communities 424 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: that are affected have the resources that they need to 425 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: be protected. And that's on all of us. But you 426 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: know when you just say the first part, meaning this 427 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: is most common among men who affects with men, without 428 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: saying the second part that this is a disease that 429 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 1: can affect anybody, there's no reason why pathologically this cannot 430 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: jump and will not jump, then what happens is you 431 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: create an implicit opportunity to dismiss this given the marginalization 432 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: of the LGBTQ community in America, And so I really 433 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: appreciate you raising that point, and no, it's it is. 434 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: It's it's sad that in twenty twenty two we are 435 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: seeing the same echoes of HIV, and it just says 436 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: that a lot of the implicit marginalization, the structural marginalization 437 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: that exists is way bigger and exists in a subterranean 438 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: way that we have to root out and that that 439 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,160 Speaker 1: we solve a lot more work to do. So last 440 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:33,119 Speaker 1: question for you, my friend, is around mid terms, we 441 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: are making the long Slow Death march as I will say, 442 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: um to to to the midterms, and and I want 443 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: to get your thoughts on how you think one that 444 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: public health is playing a part in getting people to 445 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,400 Speaker 1: the polls, is it top of mind? And two, um, 446 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: how you would be messaging public health as we are 447 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: making this march to mid terms? How it can be 448 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: done better. I worry that Democrats are not pressing their 449 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 1: advantage right now that they see or Republicans see the 450 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,639 Speaker 1: pandemic as something they can hang on Democrats despite the 451 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: fact that it was under a Republican president that this 452 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: pandemic emerged, that the early days where we could have 453 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: contained it, we failed, and that the failure to think 454 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: about supply chains in general allowed the pandemic to turn 455 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: into the economic situation that we're in right now. And 456 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,719 Speaker 1: I think Democrats, we don't do ourselves any favors by 457 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: running away from it, declaring the pandemic over and pretending 458 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: that it's behind us. What we need to do is 459 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: we need to make sure that we're telling the story 460 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: of what happened that under a Republican president, under which 461 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: our government was treated as a political hobby horse for 462 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: that president. That president ignored the fundamentals of public health. 463 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 1: He told people to inject bleach, He failed to to 464 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: protect people from the pandemic itself. Ultimately more than a 465 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: million Americans died, and he also failed to protect our economy. 466 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: Since taking office, Joe Biden has had to clean up 467 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: that mess, whether it was making sure that we got 468 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: shots in arms or making sure that we secured supply chains, 469 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: everything from the Long Beach ports to bringing so much 470 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 1: of the supply chains that we have relied on back 471 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: home in the forms of everything from chips to um 472 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: you know, to basic masks. And that is what Democrats 473 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: have had to do because of the failure of Republicans 474 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: on this issue, and all that we've done, don't forget, 475 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: was to save yet more lives that would have died 476 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: had that that failed leadership continued. Um And so I 477 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: think we have to make sure that we tell that 478 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: story and we own that story. I think it's lazy 479 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: for us to sort of try and pivot off the 480 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: pandemic as if it was over, because that could come 481 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: back to bite us and ass I mean, if we 482 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: have you can imagine if we have another similar kind 483 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: of surge to Omicron and then next month what that 484 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: could mean in the midterms. So we have to be 485 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: telling the story that is true, which is Republicans failed us. 486 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: We are still living in the in the consequences of that, 487 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: and and Democrats have done everything we can to solve it. 488 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: Would I would love to see more. Absolutely, Don't get 489 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: me wrong. I would have loved to see more. And 490 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: yet you know, as you and I both know, democracy 491 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,959 Speaker 1: is at an existential survival point, and you know, I 492 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: worry a lot given where Republicans are going with this. 493 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: What I'm reading in the team leaves is you know, 494 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: if you still have Donald Trump campaigning for you state 495 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaker 1: wide in places like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio. What you've 496 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: basically said is I don't actually care if I went 497 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,720 Speaker 1: an election right, because I don't believe democracy matters all 498 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 1: that much. All I'm going to do is rile up 499 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: my base so that when we inevitably lose, we can 500 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 1: point at the whole apparatus and say this doesn't actually this, 501 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: This system doesn't actually work because it's been giving too 502 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: many rights to people who don't look like you, dear Bass, 503 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: and therefore we ought to deconstruct this thing. That's where 504 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: I think they're headed, and that's really really dangerous a 505 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: point I'm terrified and I remain terrified bringing the alarm 506 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: on a day to day basis, Doctor Abduel. I'll say 507 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: thank you so much for making the time to join 508 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,959 Speaker 1: us on woka f Don't be a stranger, don't let 509 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: too much time pass before you come back and join 510 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: us again. We appreciate you. Yeah, thanks for having me. 511 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: I appreciate you you're constantly talking up on these issues 512 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: and look forward to join you next time too. That 513 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: is it for me today, dear friends on woke f 514 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: as always power to the people and to all the people. Power, 515 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: get woke and stay woke as fuck.