WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 110620 ft. Ramses Ja & Q Ward 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.560 Yet that's right, y'all. Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:05.680 I'm your host, rams Is Jack to call me q Ward, 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:11.039 and today we're going to have to talk about the 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:17.520 elephant and the donkey in the room, both of them. 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.360 Unless you've been living under a rock, you recognize that 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:28.200 we are in a state of uneasiness because of our 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:37.760 nation's uncertain future. But you know, on this show, what 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:42.839 we want to do is provide some context and do 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.920 our best to explain or discuss or work our way 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:51.000 through the things that we know, not to necessarily speculate 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:55.680 on things that we don't know. And so for today's episode, 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:58.760 obviously it's a special episode. Every single you know news 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.040 show is doing special episodes based on the election. But 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:05.080 what we're going to do is discuss some of the 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:12.160 things that stood out to us, to me, especially about 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:18.080 what has happened this past week. And so we'll start 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:23.160 at the top trump Ism, you know, the Donald Trump 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:28.720 fanatics and his fan base. So I want to start 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.959 this off by saying, I recognize that there are some 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.319 people who are Democrats and there are some people who 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:43.160 are Republicans, and if the Republican Party just happens to 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:47.720 be the only political party that you can identify with 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.960 or at least most closely aligns with your belief system. 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:57.800 That is not bad, that's not a sin, that's not 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.400 a crime. You know, some people they have to certive 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.920 conservative values and that that party speaks to those values, 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:15.680 and that's okay. But Donald Trump has obviously and very 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:21.080 publicly gone against many of the ideals of that party, 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:27.880 many of the ideals of democracy. I would even take 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:33.280 it as far as to say humanity. And what we're 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:39.920 left with in this moment is his fanatics, the groups 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.639 of people that he's galvanized to vote for him who 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.000 are passionate about him. Now that's not to say that 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:52.119 all people who voted for Donald Trump are Donald Trump fanatics. 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:56.640 They're not. They don't get an excuse, you know, they 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:01.840 certainly don't get a prepass from from I think from 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.880 you know, people like me, a black man who just 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.840 is a little bit more sensible and just is of 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:14.040 the persuasion that we have to share this country, this city, 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.960 the state, this planet with each other. You know, those 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.040 people don't get off the hook. But I do recognize 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.800 that if that if you tend to vote down ticket, 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.600 you know, and you're a diehard Republican that Donald Trump 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:29.200 is the only option that you may have had. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.640 You're so kind. I have to set it up. I 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.440 have to set it up. You're so kind, man, I 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:35.800 gotta do. 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.119 Let me set it up. So, but there are some 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:44.119 people who are very much on the Trump train, if 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:47.320 you will. Those are the people that you know, they 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.800 wear the Maga hats and they you know, they're proud 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.000 of the person they voted for. There's a lot of 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.960 Republican people who they just don't believe in democratic values. 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.440 They don't want whatever they've been taught to be afraid of. 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.800 Not to not to place blame, because we're all taught 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:09.160 fears in different ways, but you know that's what they learned, 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.800 you know, growing up, and and you know that's the 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:16.040 reality of the situation. But there are some folks h 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.400 and everyone has to admit, there are some folks who 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.280 are fanatics. It's almost like a cult, you know. 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:25.000 It's not almost like anything. He has a he has 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:29.360 a a very pronounced zealot base. 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:43.080 Absolutely. So we've seen what has happened with this Trump train, 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:49.320 this trump uh trump Ism many times over the past 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:54.440 four years. His fanatics are willing to do whatever he says. 0:04:54.800 --> 0:05:00.640 They they found their guy. Typically they're white males, sometimes 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:07.440 they're Karens, and they feel like they've gotten their country 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.560 back and they've gotten back there. But everything that they 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:15.280 thought they lost under the Obama administration, they have discovered 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:21.040 a new sense of pride and a renewed sense of selfishness. 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:23.600 I would imagine, you know, if I'm if I'm being 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:31.040 kind about it, and a sense of ownership in this country, 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.280 you know, and and and that their belief system is 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:41.760 the only belief system that is valid, right Ah, But 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:46.720 I think that you know, this what we've seen in 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.440 the past few days of people, you know, standing outside 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:57.280 of ballot offices with guns, you know, people echoing his 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:01.680 his sentiments about how the election processes rigged, the same 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:08.159 election process that elected him and l and largely with 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.600 even without even a moticum of proof, they just will 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.599 get out there, you know, one or two conspiracy theories 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:18.440 is all they need to do to all they need 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.960 to grab their gun and go out. And you know, 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:27.279 it's it's really the definition of fasci fascism, fascian fascistism 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.880 is that how you say that whatever it is, uh, 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:33.440 you know, That's that's what it is. When you take 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.400 a gun and you go and try to, you know, 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:37.880 keep track of what's going on. 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:38.440 Uh. 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.880 When we have bipartisan committees that are you know, monitoring 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:45.880 the votes and so forth and so on, then you 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:50.919 have these fans, these fanatics rather and my worry is 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.120 that on the other side of this, we're going to 0:06:54.160 --> 0:07:00.800 have to deal with these people. Now the most the 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:07.000 scariest thing about this is, you know, not just dealing 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.440 with these people, right. I wanted to take a moment 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:14.320 to identify that this group of people exists. But now 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.960 you know, you said I was being kind earlier. I 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:23.080 also want to talk about the other approximately seventy million 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:29.560 people that voted for Donald Trump. My understanding is that 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:35.200 Joe Biden is the candidate who has received the most 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:41.440 presidential votes in the history of this country, but the 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.280 second most voted for a candidate in this country is 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.720 Donald Trump. And he's had four years to show everyone 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.800 exactly who he is, exactly what he stands for, exactly 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:54.200 what he stands against. He's insulted everybody under the sun, 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:59.120 including people who have been sick. I'm not talking about Muslims. 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.720 I'm talking I'm not talking about Mexican I'm talking about people. 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:06.240 You know, the virus didn't discriminate against anyone, and his 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:12.320 cavalier attitude toward you know, the deaths of so many people, 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.040 and the same attitude reflected in his cabinet and in 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.840 his family and so forth, has not kept any of 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:25.120 these people from casting a vote for him. And my 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:31.320 worry is that we're going to have to come to 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:36.440 terms with the fact that there was no blue wave 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.400 as we expected it. You know, it came down to 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.320 the come down, and that's very sad. For a while, 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.040 I was very sad about that because I expected humans 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.040 to human and I don't mean that to sound negative. 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.840 I meant it to sound positive, like it's in our core, 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:53.840 the core of who we are, to be social creatures, 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:56.280 to understand that we need each other and to you know, 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:59.040 see the best in each other. And the fact that 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:06.199 he has, you know, used fear and intimidation and wielded 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.960 that successfully to get people to look beyond their own 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:14.200 capacity to love and find love and find commonality with 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.200 other folks and succumb to fear and cast a vote 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:22.160 for him. Almost seventy million people's worth is very scary. 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.520 Because we still have to share whole country with these people, 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.080 whether or not they're waving Trump flags or blue shirts 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.840 matter flags on the back of their trucks. Q. Have 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:39.480 you had any thoughts about these things yourself? 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.080 Yes, And that's why it's very, very difficult for me 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:51.400 to feel any sense of accomplishment or relief. Okay, even 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:53.760 as you know the polls, which the people who make 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:57.000 these polls should be fired, Like this is second election 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.600 in a row where the poles have made it, have 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:04.000 made it seem like one candidate would win this thing 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:10.280 rather easily, and it's been in you know, contentious to 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.679 the very last vote for now the second election in 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:15.960 a row. So he makes you wonder who these people 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:17.920 are talking to, you know, where are they collecting this 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:22.080 data and how is it so inaccurate? But even so, 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:30.720 even with a Joe Biden win, the second highest vote 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.760 tally for any presidential candidate in history belongs to Donald 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.480 Trump four years after he's been the president. 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:42.880 Already got impeached, got impeached, scandal after scandal, everybody's in 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:43.880 jail at work for him. 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.880 This I've never in my lifetime, and especially in my 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:54.559 adult life as a voter walked into the ballot box 0:10:54.600 --> 0:11:01.960 with a with a good versus evil mentality. It's always 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:06.200 been Democrat versus Republican, and I've always been able to 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:14.640 peacefully disagree with my countrymen who had conservative Republican principles. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.120 And in most cases it was either very very Christian 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:23.560 or very very rich, and they could explain to you 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:25.320 in a way that would make perfect sense to you, 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.320 even if you didn't agree with it, and even if 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:29.959 you didn't feel the same way. When you finished hearing 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.440 them speak and articulate their position, you could say, okay, 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:38.000 understand that, and go to work and sit next to 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:39.720 that person the next day, and go to lunch with 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:43.040 that person, go to family gatherings and company picnics and 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.120 all that stuff with that person. Because they weren't voting 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:51.880 in direct conflict with your personal livelihood. They just shared 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:58.479 different political views than you, and that was always okay. 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:05.520 There was a wave one hundred million early voters largely 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:10.280 in favor of Joe Biden, tons of mail in ballots 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:15.679 largely in favor of Joe Biden, but the fact that 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:20.840 nearly seventy million people cast a vote in favor of 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:28.439 Donald Trump is excessively disheartening, and for what it's worth, 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.680 because people that I know and people that I like 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:35.960 and care about are a part of that zealot base 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.080 of his. I know because they keep messaging me, trying 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.960 to educate me on all the wonderful things about their president. 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:50.320 The Republican Party, as we've always known it has now 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:55.920 ceased to exist absolutely because his constituents, his colleagues, the 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:01.240 Republican patriots that he serves with, have not stood in 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:07.720 his way at a single turn, have not stood opposite 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:12.880 of him on a single issue. So it is no 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:21.160 longer the Republican Party. It's Trump the Trump Party. And 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:27.440 unless when he unless he loses this election and his 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:34.800 whole family and their whole collective goes to prison, someone 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:39.000 from his family, someone from his circle, will represent that 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.880 party from now on. So please know that in four years, 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.520 someone either last named Trump or that serves with him 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.360 or works with him, is going to be running on 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.439 the Trump ticket, not the Republican ticket, but on the 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:58.400 Trump ticket again. And that if one hundred and sixty 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.960 million people voted, one hundred and fifty million people voted, 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:05.000 if close to half of them voted for him, let's 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:07.600 believe that half the country feels the way that he does. 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:10.320 And that's the part that's very scary. 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:14.160 Bro, Like, it's hard to even with a win, feel 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:15.400 good when that's the truth. 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:17.600 Yeah, let me say this. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:18.520 Please go ahead. 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:25.080 So in Arizona, where we live, we made news for 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:33.800 the state going blue, which felt good. You know, wasn't 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:37.520 something that we were necessarily expecting or counting on. Certainly 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:43.640 when I was watching the polls, I didn't believe anything 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:48.720 until the last second, you know, But when I found 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.880 that that Arizona had gone blue, I thought to myself, like, wow, 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:59.120 you know what, maybe at least here in this you know, 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:04.040 the state that's close to California, that's in between you know, 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:13.360 New Mexico and California, you know, there's some compassion, some decency, 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:20.080 some humanity, and some moral standards that are being upheld 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:25.320 by the people out here for that office. And I'm 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:29.440 not kidding myself. I do recognize that Arizona is a 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:35.200 red state. Next election, fully expect Arizona to keep voting Republican. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:40.840 But at least where we lived, there was a rebuke. 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.840 The majority of folks, you know, stood up and said, no, 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:49.320 we don't want to do this. Anymore. But the fact 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.640 that it came down to I think somewhere around eighty 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:59.080 thousand ballots one way or the other, when there's I'm 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:02.480 not sure exactly how many voters there are, registered voters 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:06.000 there are, but it's a very small number of millions 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.960 for relative to population, suggests that there's a lot of 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:12.280 people out here who look past all of the things 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:17.040 that you mentioned and still cast a ballot for that 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:24.200 man who has made life very difficult and traumatic for 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:27.120 people who are not rich, or maybe people who are 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.800 not Christian, and you know, and a lot of folks 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.640 really feel like this is a Christian country. But this 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:39.640 country was founded by folks who escaped religious persecution. But 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:42.640 they wrote it into the laws. And if you believe 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.320 in this this country and this democracy, then you'll recognize 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:50.800 that there is no state religion. You know, you're free 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.800 to practice. There's freedom of religion in the Constitution. And 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:58.360 so these two things, it's very difficult for me to 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.480 reconcile it. And then knowing that I have to get 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.200 out and take a walk. And I know which neighbors 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:04.280 put those Trump signs in. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.679 Their yards, not just in their yards, look at the 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.320 six foot flags they put in the back of their trucks. 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.679 Too, you know. But there's a distinction there. There's some 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.359 people who are like, look, I'm a Republican, as I 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.679 said earlier, and then there's some people who are like, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:18.840 I'm a Trumper, you know, and the Trumpers are the 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.040 ones with the flags. In my opinion, by and large, 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.199 Republicans are people that support you know, they got you know, 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.760 the Senate person they want, and the congressmen or women 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.240 that they want, and then they have the president that 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.639 they want who reflects their belief system. And I've done 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.359 my best to try to get to a point where 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:45.280 I can understand that if the world stayed the way 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:49.000 that it is right now, it wouldn't affect them negatively 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.240 and they would be fine. And they just don't care. 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.280 Not that they're actively trying to harm me with their 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.280 vote or you know, disenfranchise me with their vote, but 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:03.040 that it's not on their radar. And that's again a 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:06.280 kind way of putting it, extremely kind, but that's you know, 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:07.760 you have to get to that point in order to 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.359 have this sort of a conversation with a platform like this. 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.040 Now, you guys see why Rams is going to heaven. 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.440 That type of grace. Well, that's very and that type 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.960 of understanding is what the good Book would have us do. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:22.800 And that's the way that the good Book would have 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.960 us think. I wish I could say I agree with you, brother. 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.240 Well, you know, sometimes you have to be diplomatic, and 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:33.479 of course this is one of those times, because no 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:36.520 matter what, I still have to live with not just 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.159 the million and a half or so people in the 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:42.879 state where I live, but also those seventy million people 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.680 that I share this less than seventy million, but approximately 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.800 seventy million people that I share the country with. And 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:54.679 if I carry the anger and the fear and the 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.960 you know, or any anything that's this basic, any basic 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.199 emotion with me moving for it, I can remember, I 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.960 can certainly insulate myself from further. 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.240 And please know, I don't want you to be aggressive 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.840 or angry or afraid. I do want you to be aware, though, 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:11.560 I don't want you to extend so much grace that 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:12.560 you're not paying attention. 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:14.639 Yeah. Yeah, and that's it. That's a fair that's what 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:16.439 I'm saying. Yeah, that's a fair thing to float. But 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.320 you know, I think that you know this this actual show. 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:26.680 Civic Cipher was founded It was created by me stepping 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:34.600 away from an old radio station and creating a new 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.840 platform because the old radio station did not want to 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:42.920 give a voice to black and brown folks that were 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:47.880 on the streets protesting the murder of George Floyd. And 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:50.040 when I stepped away, I wrote an open letter. A 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:52.080 lot of folks know about this, but I wrote an 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:56.840 open letter resignation, and built into that letter was forgiveness 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.360 because I recognized that some people they just can't see 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.000 the forest from the trees. Some people they are extremely 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.639 afraid of what could go wrong, and they don't focus 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.239 on what can go right. This is the problem that 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:13.000 socialism has. You know, people don't think, Okay, we have 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.119 the best minds in the world, in this country. We 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.199 can engineer our way through all these problems. Socialism at 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.399 its core, the essence of what it is, the thrust, 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:24.359 the spirit of it makes perfect sense, you know what 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:26.960 I mean. The mechanics are things that we have to 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.159 work our way through. Capitalism isn't perfect. Socialism may not 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.640 be perfect too, but we can certainly work the angles. 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:36.240 And if the philosophy behind the system is sound, then 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.439 I think that it's worth an investment of our engineering 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:41.600 talents to work our way through the problems. The same holds 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.280 true with, you know, kind of dealing with folks who 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:47.840 cast a ballot in the other direction, cast a ballot 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:52.000 for a man who really did not value anybody that 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.800 didn't look like him or have his amount of money, 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:00.320 but certainly lied his way through four years to just 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:02.439 that he did, you know, all the things that he 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:05.239 made people afraid of, he didn't even do anything like 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:07.040 I think he has eight miles of that wall and 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:10.600 he's been president for four years, you understand, And there's 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:13.479 two thousand plus miles that he had to build, and 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:15.400 Mexico was supposed to pay for that, and I think 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:17.360 he paid for those eight miles or we did or something. 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:19.760 I know he Yeah, he didn't pay for anything. 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:21.960 You knew that before you said it wasn't a go 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:26.439 for me, a gofund me at any event. It's this 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:28.800 energy that I feel is very important to kind of 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:32.480 keep at the center of a conversation or at the 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:35.240 center of my being when dealing with these folks. And 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:37.800 I admit that that is a very difficult thing to do, 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:44.600 because never before has an election felt so personally disrespectful 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:47.760 to me To my family, to my family's future, to 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:54.080 my children, to my friends, white, black, Hispanic, Native, Asian, 0:21:55.040 --> 0:22:01.399 pick a country, Muslim, Buddhist. It never for It's like 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:04.440 America and everybody else can die. And that's what the 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:07.200 vote is because that's who the guy is. And there's 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:08.400 no there's nothing there. 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.760 That's the thing that he did that's so brilliant, however, 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.760 is that it's not even America. It's not even go America, 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:18.840 and forget everybody else, it's go him. 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:19.680 Yeah. 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:22.159 And it's not just people that look like him that 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:25.440 have his that are in his tax bracket, no, very person. 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:28.159 It's far more personal than that, him and his friends. 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.960 And then that's it, his family, his friends, and him. 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:35.720 If it benefits them, sure, if it just so happens 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.400 to benefit you. Please know that you were just collateral. Yeah, 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.479 you were just adjacent to right. He put out a 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:45.080 he put out a building of his that's on fire, 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:47.280 and you lived there. He was not saving your life. 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:51.159 He was protecting his investment. So please don't think that 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.600 there's anything that he's doing with anyone's interest in mind, 0:22:54.640 --> 0:22:59.040 beside his self or besides his own. He's not in 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:01.800 it for you. And I mean that to everyone who 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:03.520 can hear this. No matter what you look like, no 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:05.639 matter how much money you make, He's not in it 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:07.680 for you. He's in it for him. 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:14.280 So let me suggest this, Okay, that brings me the thought. 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:21.320 I think it was like ninety of Republicans cast a 0:23:21.359 --> 0:23:25.919 ballot for Donald Trump in twenty sixteen. Then he had 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:37.240 his presidency, complete with impeachment and thousands of lies, hundreds 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:41.679 of thousands of deaths, scandal after scandal for years, and 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:44.680 everyone saw it. It was in full view of everyone. And 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:48.800 then ninety three percent of Republicans voted for him, And 0:23:49.720 --> 0:23:53.399 there was an increase in black mail voters voting for 0:23:53.480 --> 0:23:57.720 Donald Trump, and there was an increase in Hispanic voters 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:03.520 for Donald Trump. And I want to make sure that 0:24:03.520 --> 0:24:06.399 that's said here because I don't think it's fair just 0:24:06.480 --> 0:24:11.080 to put this on one group of people. And granted, those folks, 0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:15.679 those black male voters and those Hispanic voters, certainly weren't 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:18.200 the majority of folks voting for him, and they obviously 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:21.199 didn't make that big of a difference, you know, in 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:25.520 his campaign. But the fact that there was an increase 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:32.200 suggests to me that there's some deep seated psychological issues. 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:37.879 It's called brainwashing. Yeah, there you go right upwards of upwards, 0:24:38.000 --> 0:24:42.720 right ninety and I think higher than ninety percent of 0:24:42.800 --> 0:24:47.199 black women voted against him. I think over ninety percent. 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:55.800 A couple of things that are glaring is that any 0:24:55.840 --> 0:25:00.000 minority can support him when he's so outwardly and openly 0:25:00.160 --> 0:25:04.920 on camera in front of everyone, speaks down on every ethnicity, 0:25:05.880 --> 0:25:12.359 on every migrant group, all immigrants, all, the fact that 0:25:12.400 --> 0:25:17.320 he tries to align himself with Christians and evangelicals, this comedy, 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:20.320 when we've seen the way that he actually thinks, the 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:22.879 way that he speaks when he doesn't think anybody's paying attention, 0:25:23.640 --> 0:25:26.600 you know, grab him by the you know what. That 0:25:27.040 --> 0:25:30.239 came out while he was trying to be elected, and 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:35.080 he was still elected. So we're not wondering how this 0:25:35.200 --> 0:25:42.560 country feels and thinks, right, You often hear people wondering 0:25:42.560 --> 0:25:52.159 out loud, how specifically Hispanic and more specifically Mexican people 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:58.760 can vote for this man when his entire campaign the 0:25:58.840 --> 0:26:02.080 first time around was based on building a wall to 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:09.040 make sure Mexicans could not come into this country. The ideology, 0:26:09.640 --> 0:26:11.399 the brainwashing. 0:26:13.240 --> 0:26:15.080 And a lot of folks they I think they think 0:26:15.119 --> 0:26:17.840 that they are like him. 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:21.000 Oh no, no, no, there's no, Yes, that's absolutely it. 0:26:21.080 --> 0:26:22.320 They think that they're white. 0:26:22.440 --> 0:26:25.280 You ever seen you ever seen a nerdy kid turn 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:29.200 cool and then start treating other nerdy kids like crap? 0:26:29.680 --> 0:26:30.080 It's that. 0:26:30.400 --> 0:26:32.560 Yeah, that's not me. 0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:34.880 I'm not I'm not that he's talking to them. 0:26:35.119 --> 0:26:35.320 Yeah. 0:26:35.600 --> 0:26:37.960 Oh yeah, all you did was take your glasses off. 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:41.520 My dude, you're still you. You still you come down. 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:42.919 That's how it looks. 0:26:43.280 --> 0:26:45.600 And all your cool new friends still look at you 0:26:45.680 --> 0:26:48.480 the same way. Right, you benefit them in some way 0:26:48.520 --> 0:26:52.040 now because there's a Yeah, there's a reason you're you're 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:56.280 you're that they let you into the club. But yes, 0:26:56.680 --> 0:27:01.359 you know, millions of people who come from these whole countries, 0:27:01.440 --> 0:27:04.159 as he calls them, into this country, and who have 0:27:04.240 --> 0:27:06.480