WEBVTT - WokeAF Daily 4.13.20 - Leadership Matters 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:20.520 Good morning, peeps, and happy Monday. It is Easter Monday 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.200 for those of you that celebrated the Easter holiday over 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:30.400 the weekend April thirteenth. And I am Danielle Moody, your 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:36.159 flight attendant, therapist and usher through the Apocalypse. Just kidding. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.760 It's okay, f daily, folks, and a lot transpired over 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:43.640 the weekend that I'm going to bring to you. How 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:47.760 are you all hanging in there? That's essentially the question 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:52.239 that I have because it's been rough. I think that 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:54.920 last week was probably one of the roughest weeks that 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:59.800 we have had, not just because of the COVID numbers 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:09.720 that reached really crushing numbers, the most deaths. The United 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:14.480 States has taken over the spot that we would have 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.200 never wanted to be in the number one spot for 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:23.560 coronavirus cases for coronavirus deaths in the United States. New 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:28.520 York leading the way unfortunately in that space. But here's 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:30.880 what I will say about New York in this moment. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:35.520 And I can't, you know, provide a enough praise for 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.560 what Governor Cuomo has been doing, because while New York 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:42.880 maybe the epicenter, I actually feel safer here than I 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:49.280 would anywhere in the country. Why Because leadership matters, and 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.640 it matters for me and I think for all New 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.760 Yorkers right now and people that are living in the 0:01:54.760 --> 0:02:03.200 Tristate area to have a leader that is dedicated to truth, transparency, 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:06.880 giving us the tough love that we need, but providing 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.120 us with empathy, doing all of the things that are 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:14.200 necessary in this moment of great tragedy, of fear and anxiety, 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:18.000 which is holding us together. Over the weekend, you know, 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.680 as I celebrated the Easter holiday, which is a tough one. 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:26.440 It's it's tough, and I think that many people will 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.320 share my sentiment when I say that spending a holiday 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:35.560 in isolation, away from your family, your friends, your church, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:41.760 your loved ones, whatever type of traditions and gatherings that 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.520 you would have normally over this weekend, for my Jewish 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.240 friends with Passover, for those that are getting ready to celeidate, 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.000 to celebrate Ramadan that is coming up, like this is 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.280 really trying. And you know, I'm not going to make 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.239 light of it, and I'm not going to try and 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.360 you know, have a speed bump over it, because I 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.720 think that it's important that we feel the loss and 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.519 the pain because that's how you begin to heal, that's 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:14.040 how you move on, that's how you can feel your 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.480 way through this. And I think that that's one of 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.440 the most important lessons right now that we can take 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.839 on each and every day, is the feeling of this. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.239 You know, my friend Sata said to me over the 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.880 weekend that maybe, you know, she's like, we just need 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.920 to give the earth a break. She needs to heal. 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.480 Mother Nature needs to heal from all of the damage 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:38.200 that's been caused. And maybe when we are able to 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:47.040 rejoin our lives society link arms, whether virtually or figuratively, 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.640 again with one another, will do so with a deep 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.120 sense of gratitude because we will understand collectively what it 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.240 means to have loss. And I think that the difference 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.120 with this and let's say, other wars and tragedies that 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.840 have happened around the world and in this country, is 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:11.480 that it's always focused on one community, one country, one place. 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.200 And the thing about the coronavirus is that it shows 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.839 us just how connected we all are. We're all connected 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:27.920 in the pain of consistent ambulance sirens and announcements of 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:33.919 death and obituaries and sadness and grief. You know whether 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.679 or not you know somebody at this particular moment that 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:43.040 is connected to the coronavirus, Whether or not you know 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:50.120 somebody that has passed away or is in hospital, doesn't 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:55.440 really matter, because we've all lost something, right, our connectivity, 0:04:55.560 --> 0:05:00.400 our purpose. In many ways, myself, I'm driven every day 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.080 by my purpose to do good, to be better, to 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:06.200 try and offer information, to try and offer hope, to 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.720 remind everyone that listens to WOKAF and the other shows 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.440 that you do have power, right, that you do have 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:16.600 collective power, and you do have a voice and in 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.800 these days. And that's why I started off by saying 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.960 that last week was a particularly hard week, because I 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:28.680 think that in many ways, the shock begins to subside 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:33.679 and the reality of the situation that we're in becomes 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:39.880 ever present and we're ever rooted in this moment. And 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:45.839 I think that that is what is so jarring, Because 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.359 the first week you can say, well, this sucks and 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:50.120 this is terrible, and you have a lot of shock 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.440 around it. The second week you can say, Okay, well, 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.160 you know, maybe it won't last that long and let 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.559 me try and make the best of it. The third week, 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.480 and now heading into the fourth week, For many people, 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:05.880 it's like, how long is this going to go on? 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:08.880 And is it this in fact the new normal? Will 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.520 we return to society? And what doctor Fauci and many 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:17.200 others are saying is that will we rejoin society at 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:21.279 some point? Yes? Will it look like pre COVID No? 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:28.359 And so that also creates another layer of grief and 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:32.960 frustration because we didn't even have the time to really 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:37.440 say goodbye to our former lives and our former selves. 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:43.200 And that's jarring because we want to believe. And you know, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.400 it's funny because I'm watching all of these commercials, commercials 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.599 that tell us that, you know, we'll go to concerts again, 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:52.760 and we'll go to restaurants again, and we'll hug people again, 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:57.200 and and I'm looking at them and I'm watching it, 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:03.919 and I'm saying, will we We don't know. We tell 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.280 each other that because I think that the reality is 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.800 too much to take, it's too much to swallow, it's 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.840 too much of a hard pill to get down when 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:20.200 you try and figure out what re emerging if I 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.320 use the biblical term of resurrecting from this, you know, 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:31.400 coronavirus lockdown that we've been in, What does it look like. 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:37.920 And I think that that's hard to figure out, and 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.000 we're all trying the best that we can. And I 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.640 just want to offer to people that last week was 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:48.760 really tough for me emotionally. It's a tough. This past 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:53.960 weekend was incredibly tough. Easter is a holiday for me. 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.600 I'm not a religious person, but it's a holiday for 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.760 me that I had begun a tradition with my loved 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:05.600 ones and friends of gathering together and it kind of 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:10.160 being our holiday and our time to see everyone's kids 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.800 and just like enjoy each other and we do some 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.880 day drinking, and we play some games, and we take 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:19.760 pictures and we laugh for hours and hours and hours 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:27.520 and and it's hard to understand the deep sense of 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:32.000 loss and change and transition that we are all experiencing. 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.400 And you know, I took to social media, as everyone 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.480 is doing on a day and day out, and looked 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:42.360 at old pictures and liking everybody's old pictures or current 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:44.800 pictures of how they're trying to make the best of 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:51.240 it with online church and online synagogue and zoom celebrations, 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.080 you know, and all of it. Because I think that 0:08:55.320 --> 0:09:00.200 what this has shown me, more so than any thing 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.199 else is just how much we yearn to be connected, 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:12.920 how much we yearn to love and share and be 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.880 in community with one another. And I think that a 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:20.200 lot of our despair and sadness and frustration comes from 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:24.200 that lack of connection and the lack of vulnerability to 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:30.320 admit that you want that connection. So I just I 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:33.360 offer that as a way to say that I am 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.480 here with all of you, love all of you, and 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:45.760 am sending you virtual hugs as we move on this 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:52.680 Monday and head into our fourth week, our fourth week 0:09:52.760 --> 0:10:02.600 of lockdown. So where are things politically? Who the fuck knows? 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.760 You know? There was a piece in the Washington Post 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:15.280 over the weekend entitled Sidelined by coronavirus pandemic, Congress seed 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:22.720 stage and authority to Trump? What else is do? This 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.560 is how it begins. Weeks into a pandemic that has 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:29.480 upended American life, Congress is struggling to adapt to the 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:34.600 country's new socially distanced reality, hampering an entire branch of 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.920 the federal government during a crisis of epic global scale, 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:42.120 and tilting the balance of power in Washington towards Trump. 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:47.599 With lawmakers dispersed across the country and with rules frequently 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:51.640 out of step with modern telecommunications. The House and the 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.400 Senate are only starting to come to terms with how 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:58.079 to conduct many of their most essential functions amid and 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:04.960 extended national emergency. I just quote, I just think it's 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.360 time for Congress to think differently about how we operate, 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:14.120 said Rob Portman, Republican from Ohio. Most of my constituents 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.000 right now are working at least somewhat remotely. Some are 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:20.840 entirely teleworking, others are partly teleworking. So it's not as 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.320 though this isn't being done. Congress is one of the 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.959 few entities that has not been able to figure this out. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:32.600 Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Moscow 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.720 Mitch have made clear in recent weeks that remote voting 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:40.359 is not feasible in the near term, citing concerns of security, practicality, 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:44.640 and even constitutionality. But the disruption on Capitol Hill only 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.400 begins with casting votes. And I have to say this, 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:57.480 You know, it's twenty twenty. It's twenty twenty, and the 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:03.760 fact that our institutions and agencies have yet to evolve 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:16.200 innovate technologically is incredibly struggled. Like troubling. The fact that 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:20.960 our infrastructure is not set up to handle this type 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:26.960 of disaster just shows exactly how vulnerable the United States is. 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.760 I mean, just think about this for a second. Any 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:36.120 terrorist you know who decided that, you know what, we're 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:41.920 going to move beyond planes into buildings like what happened 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:46.120 on nine to eleven. We're gonna evolve past planes into 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:50.000 navy vessels as what happened in Paul Harbor, and literal 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.160 boots on the ground. Instead, we're gonna focus on cyber 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:59.839 attacks and viral attacks. We're not prepared for any of it, 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:09.040 any of it. It's been nineteen years since nine to eleven, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:15.640 right since one of the biggest terrorist attacks and significant 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:19.760 loss of life before the coronavirus in a single fucking day, 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.840 and we've done really nothing to think ahead of the 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:30.720 game about what happens if there was a global hacking, 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:37.080 if there was you know, any type of intervention. I mean, fuck, 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:40.880 it's been four years since the twenty sixteen election, when 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.080 we knew that the Russians hacked and tried to destroy 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.760 our democracy. They have been successful in some ways, but 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.800 in others. You would think that we would have put 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:58.040 together the plans and the security measures to ensure that 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.559 in the event of some type of major cyber attack, 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:05.440 that our government could still fucking function. And so here 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.480 we are, in the midst of a global pandemic, and 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:13.600 our House Speaker and Senate Majority leader are like, I 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:17.040 really don't know what to do here because voting is impossible, 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:23.080 So I guess we just won't fucking do it. What, folks, 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.920 we are only like two hundred plus days out from 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.960 the next election and Congress doesn't even know how to 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:35.680 vote amongst itself, let alone figure out how two hundred 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.440 and thirty million of us are going to be able 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:42.000 to vote? Like, what the fuck? This does not make 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.880 me feel calm. This does not make me feel like 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:47.680 government knows what the fuck it's doing. It makes me 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.960 feel like they are just as blind and just as 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.880 dumb and just as caught off guard as the rest 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.280 of us. What the fuck do we pay them for? 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.720 You know? One of the things about representation right is 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:04.240 that you look for people you vote in, people that 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.920 you believe have your best interests at heart and are 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.640 going to do their job to represent your best interests 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.920 right to the best of their ability. And what I'm 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:19.320 beginning to really wrap my mind and arms and legs 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.520 around is that they don't know much more than you do. 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:31.560 They are not thinking ahead. They are literally taking everything 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.960 step by step in one day at a time. And frankly, 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.960 in twenty twenty, that's not how our government should be functioning. 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:44.320 You know. You take this pandemic for instance. Trump likes 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:46.880 us to believe and wants to convince America and the 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.360 world that he and his entire administration were completely caught 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:54.320 off guard. No one could have predicted this. Oh really, 0:15:55.040 --> 0:16:00.400 then I wonder why the Obama administration put together a 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:06.080 all day meeting with the Trump administration's counterparts to the 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:12.280 outgoing Obama administration to practice this very situation. If no 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.800 one could predict it, then how could they have practiced? 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:23.680 Also if no one could have predicted it? Right? Like, 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:33.720 what this isn't how we have shown up to deal 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:45.160 with this global pandemic. It's not an accident, right. I 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:49.600 believe that ignorance sometimes is purposeful. And I keep trying 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:51.840 to ask myself and I haven't come up with the 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:58.240 answer yet as to what exactly this administration would get 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.520 out of bumbling the fuck out of their response to 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:08.040 this pandemic. It's like who is getting rich, who is 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:14.879 getting more power? I don't know. I don't know. I 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.720 do know that many of Trump's cronies have gone into 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:22.560 the ppe manufacturing business, but you know, for a fee m. 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.040 I do know that, I do know that the federal 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:33.000 government has given a considerable amount of money to one 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:39.800 of Trump's cronies, Peter Navarro, and the manufacturing of the 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.200 twenty nine million pills the hydros is what I'll call them, 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:47.879 because I can't pronounce the name the malaria pills. I 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:53.440 do know that. I just feel like if we were 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.360 to follow the money, and I can't say it enough 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:59.679 because I'm not a you know, forensic accountant, but I 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.880 feel like if anyone is out there that is listening 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:08.240 who knows how to do this, please please, please, please 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:13.159 follow the fucking money. It's always about money with Trump, 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:14.919 and I feel like if we follow it and we 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.560 go back further enough, we'll get the answers that we're 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:22.680 looking for. But in the meantime, Congress isn't doing shit. 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:28.560 They're trying to pass yet another stimulus package in the 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:33.119 midst of this one that we've been told last week 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:35.439 that for those of you who will receive the twelve 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.919 hundred one time twelve hundred dollars payment. You could be 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:44.520 waiting for as long as three months. So how is 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:49.000 that one time twelve hundred dollar payment going to help you, 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.600 your family, your small business if you're not getting it 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:57.199 until I don't know, June or July. I have to 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:02.120 tell you that I am. Every day I become more 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.119 and more worried. Not that we won't come out of this, 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:09.119 because you know, all things end. It's just a matter 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:12.719 of how right, Like you know, there are cycles, there 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.440 are stages, and we're being told, well, the Spanish flu 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.800 lasted actually for two years. Can I spend two years 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.600 in isolation? Probably not. I will probably lose my fucking mind. 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:28.600 I don't care how much Netflix, how much Wi Fi, 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:33.439 how many fucking walks I'm allowed to take two years 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:42.119 doing this. No. No, I've always wondered if I was 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.440 like built for prison. You know, like my dad, he's 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.879 obsessed with those prison shows. He watches them all the 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:52.320 time on on MSNBC, on TNT, wherever the fuck they 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:56.960 play those. And you know, I only ever watch I 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:58.919 can only ever stomach like ten minutes of them, and 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:00.560 I look at them and I always say to myself, like, 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.120 I really need to be above the law, because like 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.880 I can't. I wouldn't make it through prison. I don't 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:08.760 even think I would last a night. I think I 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.960 would lose it. And that's how I feel now when 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:15.320 they're talking about, well, the Spanish flu lasted for two years, 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:19.760 and I'm like, yes, true. I would also like to 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.440 believe that we did not have the technology one hundred 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.320 years ago that we do now. We did not have 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:30.840 the amount of scientists and researchers and different prototypes of 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:35.119 vaccinations that we could be trying different combinations of you know, 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:36.879 I'd like to think that a lot of things have 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:40.840 changed in the past hundred years. Maybe I'm wrong, Maybe 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:44.200 I'm wrong, because the best defense that we have against 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.600 this is to stay the fuck home, right. It's not 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.159 like anybody is like out in the street spraying the 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.240 air to try and get rid of coronavirus, because what 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:55.879 the fuck would you be spraying. But I do have 0:20:55.920 --> 0:21:00.400 to say that the continued lack of coordinated response from 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:07.919 this administration from Congress in general is deeply troubling, and 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:12.360 I believe that if anybody else had been in charge, 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:19.000 whether it was Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, we wouldn't be 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:25.080 at half a million cases in the United States. I 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:27.760 don't think that we would have the most deaths in 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:33.960 the world either. There's a meme going around that shows 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:40.520 the countries that are led by women, right and their 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:46.560 response and how their countries are doing. And apparently, you know, Denmark, 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:52.040 New Zealand, Germany and several others that are led by 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:55.080 women have all flattened the curve for the entire country, 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:58.120 not just you know, a particular area like we're doing 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:04.600 right now in New York. Why is that right? And 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:08.159 I wonder is it because women recognize, like know what 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:12.160 they don't know and are not ruled by their ego 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:17.400 in the same way that male leaders are. I wonder, honestly, 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.640 I'm not even joking. Is it the fact that men 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:25.399 are completely ruled by their egos and so asking for 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:30.680 help or seeking out advice outside of yourself, especially when 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:39.560 you are a narcissist, egomaniac, petty small toddler of a man. 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:43.560 That Trump is admitting that you don't know something is 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:46.800 completely outside of your nature. But I believe that in 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:49.800 order to balance things out right, in order for us 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.640 to get back on track, you have to be able 0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:55.960 to admit what you don't know and ask for help. 0:22:56.800 --> 0:22:59.879 And I think that men in general have problems with that, 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:03.760 and I think that men that suffer from narcissistic disorder 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:11.000 like Trump do. It is impossible, So I, you know, 0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:13.919 I keep having these fantasies and wondering what would happen 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:18.640 if we had a woman in charge right now? Where 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:21.280 would the country be? And frankly, I think that we 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:24.679 would be a lot more unified. We'd have we'd be 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:28.239 on the same page and possibly the same team, the 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:31.399 American team. And you know that this would be a 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:33.760 way to unite us in some cases, the way that 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:38.240 rooting for the Olympics usually does. Right, it's not your 0:23:38.320 --> 0:23:41.560 team or my team, it's our team against the world. 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:45.520 And I feel like any other administration would have been 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:48.959 able to gather us up as a country and make 0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:51.560 us feel like we can make it through this together. 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:55.000 But instead, what Trump has done is what he always does, 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:59.320 which is this level of divisiveness that has governors fighting 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:03.960 against one another in order to keep their own residence 0:24:04.000 --> 0:24:07.720 safe as opposed to the entire federal government fighting to 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:11.639 keep us all safe. And well, that's where we are. 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:15.719 The Undivided States of America. We made the joke, you know, 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:19.000 three and a half years ago when Trump was inaugurated, 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:22.840 when we said we were no longer the United States 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:25.320 of America. You know, I'm not too old to remember 0:24:25.359 --> 0:24:29.639 when Barack Obama burst onto this political scene and was 0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:32.720 talking about we're not read states and blue states, but 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:37.360 we are the United States of America. In these moments 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:41.479 of great grief and strife and mourning and pain, you 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:46.359 need those messages. And I know I didn't truly understand 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:51.320 that until now. What it means to feel like someone's 0:24:51.359 --> 0:24:53.800 hand is on your shoulder or rubbing your back or 0:24:54.000 --> 0:24:59.200 making you feel like you can get through right now 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:03.000 is really about the triumph of the human spirit. When 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:06.239 you feel like you've been beaten to shit day in 0:25:06.320 --> 0:25:09.280 and day out, doing the same things over and over again, 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:12.440 going to the market, and fearing right that you may 0:25:12.520 --> 0:25:16.200 rub up against somebody by accident or touch something by accident, 0:25:16.359 --> 0:25:19.800 and you know, forget that you're not supposed to touch 0:25:19.840 --> 0:25:22.120 your face or sneeze and what does that sneeze mean? 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:25.760 And all of these things, and you don't realize how 0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:32.000 important it is to have somebody providing some level of solace. 0:25:33.000 --> 0:25:37.200 You know, I can remember after the horrific shooting in 0:25:37.320 --> 0:25:47.480 Newtown when I thought this was going to be it. 0:25:48.840 --> 0:26:00.000 There's no way in life we shrug off the murder, bloody, 0:26:00.920 --> 0:26:09.360 horrific murder of first graders and their teachers. There's no 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:14.200 way we just pick up and go on like that's normal. 0:26:15.280 --> 0:26:20.639 And when President Obama made his way to Newtown for 0:26:20.880 --> 0:26:31.240 their multi faith service that was aired, and the President 0:26:31.280 --> 0:26:37.720 breaks down, you know, in tears, because how the fuck 0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:43.919 did we get here when that is okay? How do 0:26:43.960 --> 0:26:51.199 you get there? How do you look grieving parents in 0:26:51.280 --> 0:26:53.960 the face and tell them that, well, there's nothing we 0:26:54.000 --> 0:26:56.400 can do because you know, some people have their First 0:26:56.440 --> 0:26:59.520 Amendment rights, and you know, we're not willing to budge. 0:26:59.720 --> 0:27:03.119 We're not willing to ensure that all Americans are safe, 0:27:03.200 --> 0:27:13.480 just those gun toting ones. When Barack Obama sang amazing Grace, 0:27:18.000 --> 0:27:31.240 it's those collective moments of grieving where we remember our humanness. 0:27:33.480 --> 0:27:43.359 And when you have an administration that is so evil 0:27:43.760 --> 0:27:52.280 and so heartless, on top of battling with the anxiety 0:27:52.320 --> 0:27:59.080 of the moment and the grief, there's just this deep 0:27:59.320 --> 0:28:07.080 sense of what it means to be alone. Do you 0:28:07.119 --> 0:28:11.400 know what I'm saying? When you feel like you're on 0:28:11.480 --> 0:28:16.840 your own right, like nobody has your back, That's how 0:28:16.880 --> 0:28:22.120 I feel right now. And I'm looking and I'm really 0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:31.399 like desperately searching for moments of connectivity of community. I 0:28:32.680 --> 0:28:37.080 love when my friends are posting that are still in 0:28:37.119 --> 0:28:41.480 Manhattan every day at seven o'clock, the applause for the 0:28:41.560 --> 0:28:46.400 healthcare workers and the all of the essential workers. Right 0:28:47.320 --> 0:28:52.320 because it was last week that we learned about grocery 0:28:52.360 --> 0:28:57.640 store clerk Leilani, young black girl twenty eight years old 0:29:00.000 --> 0:29:03.600 diagnosed with cerebral palsy that was working at Giant food 0:29:03.680 --> 0:29:15.959 stores without protective gear, but wouldn't stop working because she 0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:18.560 wanted to help the elderly get the things that they 0:29:18.640 --> 0:29:23.120 needed as they would come into the grocery store. She 0:29:23.200 --> 0:29:27.720 felt like her life had purpose and meaning and to 0:29:27.800 --> 0:29:35.959 watch her mother on MSNBC last week cry and grieve 0:29:36.120 --> 0:29:40.200 the loss of her twenty eight year old daughter and 0:29:40.240 --> 0:29:45.719 then receiving her paycheck for that week that was twenty 0:29:45.720 --> 0:29:48.600 dollars and sixty four cents, an amount of money that 0:29:48.640 --> 0:29:55.240 I will never forget. How much is a life worth? 0:29:58.280 --> 0:30:01.960 How much was her life worth? Twenty dollars in sixty 0:30:01.960 --> 0:30:10.120 four cents, Giant Foods did not provide her with latex gloves, 0:30:10.160 --> 0:30:15.760 hand sanitizer, a mask, anything. And while cheering our first 0:30:15.800 --> 0:30:22.640 responders as we should, because they're dealing with extraordinary, extraordinary 0:30:23.480 --> 0:30:28.320 stress to try and live up to their oath to 0:30:28.360 --> 0:30:31.240 do no harm and to help as many people and 0:30:31.320 --> 0:30:33.920 save as many people as possible, so are our grocery 0:30:33.920 --> 0:30:42.880 store clerks, So are our truckers, so are nursing home attendants. 0:30:47.480 --> 0:30:50.800 And they're getting up every single day and they're doing 0:30:50.840 --> 0:30:57.600 their jobs, and they're doing so without the safety gear, 0:30:57.800 --> 0:31:04.440 clothingpes that they need. And what we are learning each 0:31:04.440 --> 0:31:09.240 and every day is that the numbers of those people 0:31:09.280 --> 0:31:11.479 who do those jobs that are on the front lines 0:31:12.640 --> 0:31:17.120 are largely black and Latin X right, people of color, 0:31:19.400 --> 0:31:27.200