Latest / Normally / Normally Podcast: Disney's Brand Recovery Journey

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Normally Podcast: Disney's Brand Recovery Journey · Normally

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey guys, and welcome back to normally the show with
0:08
Speaker 1: normalist takes for when the news gets weird.
0:10
Speaker 2: I'm Mary Katholic, I'm Carol Marcowitz. How are you, Mary Catherine?
0:14
Speaker 1: I am good. The kids are home. We have a
0:17
Speaker 1: snow day. But several of the p have reached that
0:20
Speaker 1: wonderful age where you can just send them to play
0:22
Speaker 1: in the snow for several hours.
0:24
Speaker 2: It's wonderful, it really is. Yeah, self sufficient kids, It's
0:28
Speaker 2: really what it's all about. That age where you no
0:31
Speaker 2: longer have to worry about them, Like I call it
0:33
Speaker 2: the eating pennies phase, where you don't have to worry
0:36
Speaker 2: about them finding a penny and eating it. Once that's over,
0:39
Speaker 2: things get really good.
0:40
Speaker 1: Although I will say classic tween move. One of them
0:43
Speaker 1: went out in a sweatshirt and crocs and I'm like, girl,
0:47
Speaker 1: there are six inches of snow on the ground.
0:51
Speaker 2: Listen. So at that point, you know it's their responsibility, right,
0:56
Speaker 2: what are you gonna do? So well, as we're recording,
1:00
Speaker 2: Tulsi has just been confirmed and RFK confirmation hearing is
1:05
Speaker 2: beginning right now. It looks like he's a goal. Though
1:08
Speaker 2: I have to say I am somewhat surprised. I thought
1:11
Speaker 2: those two were going to be quite a struggle and
1:14
Speaker 2: they really haven't been.
1:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting sort of the feel in the city
1:20
Speaker 1: and on the hill changed very drastically on Tulsi Gabbard
1:24
Speaker 1: very quickly. I think probably Vance's behind the scenes work
1:29
Speaker 1: helped with that, as did I think we mentioned that
1:33
Speaker 1: Kirsten Cinema got called in to do a couple calls
1:36
Speaker 1: on that front. She of course like sort of weird
1:39
Speaker 1: moderate figure who has the kind of person who's found
1:43
Speaker 1: a place in the Trump coalition frankly, and is represented
1:47
Speaker 1: by a Tulsi Gabbard. It's interesting that Cash Patel's sort
1:51
Speaker 1: of been quiet since his hearing and his confirmation hearing.
1:57
Speaker 1: His vote I believe out of the Committee is scheduled
2:00
Speaker 1: for later this week. But as these ups and downs happen,
2:04
Speaker 1: it is interesting that Cash Purtel seemed like the most
2:08
Speaker 1: likely of this trio. Yeah, and now we haven't heard
2:10
Speaker 1: anything about Cash Pattel for several days, even a week.
2:14
Speaker 2: There's really no rhyme or reason to any of this.
2:17
Speaker 2: I don't know what's going on. I like again putting
2:19
Speaker 2: Pete Hegseth back in the equation if you gave me
2:21
Speaker 2: those four people, I still would have said Telsea and
2:24
Speaker 2: RFK are going to be the hardest climb. I wouldn't
2:27
Speaker 2: have thought that Pete Hegseth of those four would be
2:30
Speaker 2: the most difficult. I don't know how that really happened,
2:34
Speaker 2: but yeah, he's to me the least controversial of the four.
2:38
Speaker 2: I thought he'd be smooth staling, and he was right
2:41
Speaker 2: up until you know the end and nail Bier so
2:44
Speaker 2: very curious that I don't know what people are thinking anymore.
2:48
Speaker 2: It's everything has shifted. The Trump you know, campaign has
2:53
Speaker 2: really been different. It brought in a lot of different people,
2:55
Speaker 2: and I think that the Senators are largely responding to that.
2:59
Speaker 1: Can we note that heg Seth in his first overseas trip,
3:03
Speaker 1: went to Stuttgart, Germany and worked out with the Green
3:07
Speaker 1: Berets there. Ye, many a meme was born.
3:11
Speaker 2: Can you imagine Lloyd Austin doing that?
3:14
Speaker 1: I could not. I just this is a kind of
3:18
Speaker 1: thing that people who haven't served, or who haven't been
3:22
Speaker 1: a like maybe a sports context like that, the physical
3:25
Speaker 1: sort of team building context might turn their noses up
3:29
Speaker 1: at This will matter to people, right, It matters that
3:33
Speaker 1: he's joining them. It will matter to people who are
3:36
Speaker 1: looking at joining He's one of the that it feels
3:39
Speaker 1: like this guy is not asking them to do things
3:42
Speaker 1: that he has not done or is willing to do
3:45
Speaker 1: right now, and that he's sort of standing shoulder to
3:48
Speaker 1: shoulder with them. I think I think that matters, and
3:50
Speaker 1: that the visuals are.
3:52
Speaker 2: Great, fantastic. Yeah again Lloyd Austin doing a chin up.
3:56
Speaker 2: I just can't picture it. And you know, I saw
4:00
Speaker 2: I just saw a headline on this, But already numbers
4:04
Speaker 2: are up. Enrollment numbers for the military are up under
4:07
Speaker 2: Pete Hegseth and that's impressive already.
4:10
Speaker 1: I think that's good news for all of us. I
4:12
Speaker 1: saw a new form. I think it was just an
4:15
Speaker 1: online ad, but an army recruiting ad. There was just
4:18
Speaker 1: a big guy lifting weights with like cool music behind him,
4:22
Speaker 1: and then he says stronger people are harder to kill.
4:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen that.
4:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, And it's like that's the message the Biden administration
4:29
Speaker 1: had gotten involved in this, like what is your calling, right?
4:32
Speaker 1: How do you truly know yourself? Serving in the military,
4:36
Speaker 1: And it's like sometimes you just need some like hard
4:38
Speaker 1: rock and dudes shot.
4:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't join the military to go find yourself. I
4:44
Speaker 2: don't think that's what that's all about.
4:47
Speaker 1: It indeed could happen a long way. You're gonna become
4:50
Speaker 1: a better person while you do this. But anyway, so
4:53
Speaker 1: that's going on. I did want to mention that our
4:56
Speaker 1: favorite cabinet pick m Chavez de Ramier. Yeah, she is
5:02
Speaker 1: now postponed because of the snow until February nineteenth, although
5:07
Speaker 1: as all things on the Hill, it could be that
5:10
Speaker 1: she's postponed for another reason because maybe we aren't there.
5:14
Speaker 1: We were not sure. It's all criminology at this point.
5:18
Speaker 1: But this is the Labor Secretary nominee who neither of
5:24
Speaker 1: us is a fan.
5:25
Speaker 2: I was going to clarify when MK says our favorite,
5:28
Speaker 2: she means our least favorite.
5:30
Speaker 1: I'm joking. I did want to note our friend Noah
5:33
Speaker 1: Rothman over at National Review points out that among those
5:37
Speaker 1: who endorsed her in twenty four are the American Federation
5:41
Speaker 1: of Government Employees, who will talk about later in the show,
5:44
Speaker 1: Eric actively suing the Trump administration over the things that's
5:46
Speaker 1: trying to do. He United Food and Commercial Workers, the
5:50
Speaker 1: International Union Painters and Allied Trades, International Brotherhood of Electric
5:54
Speaker 1: Workers and the Association of Flight Attendants, all of which
5:56
Speaker 1: have engaged in activism specifically against the Trump administration and
6:01
Speaker 1: its desires and its policies. But she is the Labor
6:07
Speaker 1: Secretary nominee, and what looks like just like a nod
6:10
Speaker 1: to the Teamsters guy for not endorsing he didn't endorse
6:14
Speaker 1: Trump enough, didn't endorse Biden.
6:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I don't like it. I hope the Republicans
6:21
Speaker 2: vote her down. I don't know though, because now with
6:24
Speaker 2: the way things have gone, I kind of think that
6:26
Speaker 2: they're and again, it's not wrong that they want to
6:29
Speaker 2: pass their own party's nominees. We talked about it last episode.
6:32
Speaker 2: It makes a lot of sense that they would want
6:34
Speaker 2: to coordinate with the Trump administration and they would want
6:37
Speaker 2: to do things to make it easier for the Trump
6:39
Speaker 2: administration to get.
6:40
Speaker 1: Their proposals through.
6:41
Speaker 2: It makes sense, right, But I just think she's so
6:45
Speaker 2: left and you know, you're going to have people like
6:47
Speaker 2: Elizabeth Warren voting yes on her, and Republican should really
6:50
Speaker 2: think about that. What does that mean that Elizabeth Warren
6:53
Speaker 2: is for this person? What does it mean for your values?
6:55
Speaker 2: What does it mean for your state's values? What do
6:57
Speaker 2: your voters want so.
7:00
Speaker 1: And the question also is does it make it easier
7:03
Speaker 1: if you have a capain member who is backed by
7:08
Speaker 1: all these groups who are actively working against you. And
7:10
Speaker 1: by the way, I think it is important to acknowledge
7:13
Speaker 1: that a part of the union vote moved to Trump. Right,
7:17
Speaker 1: there is a working class vote that's very important part
7:19
Speaker 1: of this coalition that you do not want to ignore. However,
7:22
Speaker 1: I don't think he earned those votes by being aligned
7:26
Speaker 1: with union heads and their preferred policies. Those That's not
7:32
Speaker 1: how he earned those votes, So I'm not sure this
7:34
Speaker 1: is the correct way to signal that you're into this coalition.
7:39
Speaker 2: I agree, and I think he would have gotten those
7:40
Speaker 2: votes even if the union head didn't sit out the
7:44
Speaker 2: endorsement process. I'm not sure that he wouldn't have picked
7:47
Speaker 2: up those votes anyway.
7:48
Speaker 1: So, if anything, the teams to move, which I thought
7:51
Speaker 1: was clever. He basically said I would like to speak
7:54
Speaker 1: at the DNC and the RNC. The RNC took him
7:57
Speaker 1: up on it, also clever. So this is mutually beneficial,
8:00
Speaker 1: but I think it's more of a just a recognition
8:03
Speaker 1: of where his rank and file is. Other unions are
8:06
Speaker 1: less likely to make that recognition and take that on
8:09
Speaker 1: as a fact on the ground. But it's probably good
8:12
Speaker 1: for his survival as head of the as head of
8:15
Speaker 1: the Union, That's right.
8:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens with this. If
8:21
Speaker 2: they listened normally, and they should, they will vote down
8:24
Speaker 2: this pick. I also I want to see how hard
8:27
Speaker 2: the Trump administration goes for her. Will they have dvance
8:31
Speaker 2: behind the scenes, you know, talking to House, you know,
8:35
Speaker 2: Senate members, and I don't know, I don't know that
8:37
Speaker 2: they will necessarily We'll see.
8:39
Speaker 3: Well.
8:39
Speaker 1: And Senator Mark Waynemullen, who has been I think sort
8:42
Speaker 1: of a good gauge of how hard the Trump team
8:44
Speaker 1: is rooting for various people. So he really went to
8:47
Speaker 1: the mats for Chelsea Gabbard for RFK as well as
8:51
Speaker 1: it's just been outspoken and Pete Hegseth. Of course, he
8:56
Speaker 1: has come out and said, look, I disagree with her
8:59
Speaker 1: on a bunch of things. I am very anti the
9:01
Speaker 1: pro Act, which is this California export that they want
9:04
Speaker 1: to make national, which is a terrible, terrible idea that
9:06
Speaker 1: would kill the gig economy. However, I think it's important
9:11
Speaker 1: that Trump has his picks, and I'm going to back her.
9:13
Speaker 2: That's the thing that's the delicate weight that they're going
9:18
Speaker 2: to have to figure out here whether backing Trump picks
9:22
Speaker 2: meaning means backing somebody who's this far to the left,
9:25
Speaker 2: and you know, we'll see.
9:26
Speaker 1: It, and who might stemy what you're actually trying to
9:30
Speaker 1: do right now, Yeah.
9:31
Speaker 2: That's exactly it. We'll be right back on normally. Some
9:38
Speaker 2: news out of Florida, which I'm very excited about. Disney
9:43
Speaker 2: has decided to make changes to their DEI policies. And
9:48
Speaker 2: let me tell you, nobody roots for Disney to turn
9:52
Speaker 2: itself around as much as a conservative parent living in
9:56
Speaker 2: Florida with three children who are like, please stake is
10:00
Speaker 2: back to Disney World, and I just like, nope, we
10:03
Speaker 2: will not. We will not take you back to Disney
10:05
Speaker 2: World until they shape up. And I love to see it.
10:08
Speaker 2: I love to see it.
10:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, it looks like at least promising right that they're
10:13
Speaker 1: sort of they're removing some of the diversity inclusion metrics
10:18
Speaker 1: and language in their you know, professional sort of handbook
10:23
Speaker 1: type of publications. Beginning this fiscal year, Disney will replace
10:27
Speaker 1: the diversity and Inclusion performance factor that it used to
10:29
Speaker 1: evaluate executive compensation with a new talent strategy. The new
10:33
Speaker 1: Talent Strategy factor includes concepts from its old diversity Inclusion factor,
10:38
Speaker 1: but is more focused on how values drive business success,
10:42
Speaker 1: and that I would suggest that business success should be
10:46
Speaker 1: pretty top of the heap. If you would like folks
10:49
Speaker 1: like our families to show up at your very expensive parks.
10:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's really and it's a win for Governor DeSantis.
10:58
Speaker 2: Obviously he had this like long term fight with them,
11:01
Speaker 2: which everybody thought he would lose. I think even Republicans
11:04
Speaker 2: were like, Oh, I don't know if you should do this.
11:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, taken on the mouse.
11:07
Speaker 2: The mouse is very very powerful, especially in Florida obviously,
11:10
Speaker 2: but everywhere. Really, Disney's a giant American company, and to
11:14
Speaker 2: have people have a negative impression of that company was it.
11:18
Speaker 2: It really did suck for everyone. We didn't want Disney
11:21
Speaker 2: to be this kind of company that we had to
11:24
Speaker 2: watch pre watch all the movies and not trust our
11:26
Speaker 2: kids to watch it because who knew what they were
11:28
Speaker 2: going to sneak in. And when Christopher Ruffo obviously had
11:31
Speaker 2: this big expose where he had internal Disney videos where
11:35
Speaker 2: they're discussing how they sneak messaging into their movies. You're like, whoa,
11:40
Speaker 2: I can't let my kids see this. So yeah, the
11:43
Speaker 2: focusing on business outcomes is great. I love to see it. Obviously,
11:48
Speaker 2: we're not rushing back to Disney World anytime too soon,
11:51
Speaker 2: because actually I already gave them the benefit of the
11:54
Speaker 2: doubt ones one time a few years ago they were like, no, no,
11:57
Speaker 2: we're done with this, and we went back to disney World,
12:00
Speaker 2: and I was like, Okay, we're gonna We're gonna do this.
12:02
Speaker 2: And then like three days after we got back from
12:04
Speaker 2: disney World, they released a really anti American cartoon and
12:08
Speaker 2: I was.
12:09
Speaker 1: Like, well, we're done with you forever.
12:10
Speaker 4: You know.
12:11
Speaker 1: I'm no, I'm under no illusions that this is like
12:14
Speaker 1: the fix. Yeah. I do think that they are smart
12:17
Speaker 1: enough to be responding to the customer base that they
12:22
Speaker 1: need to be responding to. It's taken way too long,
12:26
Speaker 1: and you're right once you've lost ground in such an
12:30
Speaker 1: incredible brand. I mean that that brand was flawless in
12:34
Speaker 1: early years. The idea that they abandoned that and trust
12:41
Speaker 1: is such a degree was insane. I mean a lot
12:44
Speaker 1: of people went insane in twenty twenty to twenty twenty five.
12:46
Speaker 1: But crazily insane for Disney, and when it communicated to
12:50
Speaker 1: me all these brands that I've become much less enthusiastic
12:54
Speaker 1: about over the years, what it communicated to me was, Okay, A,
12:57
Speaker 1: you have an agenda for my kids that's not mine.
13:00
Speaker 1: And I can't have this on autopilot, like I can't
13:03
Speaker 1: sit them down in front of a Disney film and
13:05
Speaker 1: feel like everything will be fine or we won't have
13:07
Speaker 1: to have some conversation. And two that you don't like
13:10
Speaker 1: or trust me, and I'm the one spending the money.
13:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it was like, who were they aiming that at?
13:17
Speaker 2: I just how many parents want their kids to have
13:20
Speaker 2: kind of these lessons and these morals imparted by these movies.
13:24
Speaker 2: I don't think there were that many.
13:26
Speaker 1: I think some of it is just like there's a
13:29
Speaker 1: current and they're going with it, and they didn't realize
13:32
Speaker 1: that the current had carried them so far off of
13:35
Speaker 1: what they should be doing. That doesn't absolve them of responsibility,
13:39
Speaker 1: because you have a company to run at all. But
13:42
Speaker 1: I do think some of it is just like everybody
13:43
Speaker 1: got carried away and they hired a bunch of people.
13:47
Speaker 1: They're like hr monsters who just decided to run the
13:50
Speaker 1: brand and like out of control. HR employees should not
13:54
Speaker 1: be writing scripts for children's cartoons, Like that's just not no,
13:57
Speaker 1: they shouldn't. That's not the vibe.
14:00
Speaker 2: Talked about it on a previous episode. But snow White
14:02
Speaker 2: is still coming up, and the snow.
14:05
Speaker 1: White we've been talking about it forever.
14:08
Speaker 2: It's like two years of like talking about the snow
14:10
Speaker 2: White actress and how kooky she is.
14:12
Speaker 1: The original snow White was hand drawn cell by seal
14:16
Speaker 1: and it took less time than this movie has taken.
14:19
Speaker 2: The son played me the snow White trailer on YouTube
14:22
Speaker 2: and he was like, nobody's watching this movie, but like,
14:26
Speaker 2: look at all the comments and all the comments, all
14:29
Speaker 2: the comments were mockery. It was just it's not a
14:32
Speaker 2: good scene for Disney. And I wonder what they're going
14:34
Speaker 2: to do with this movie. And I said to my son,
14:36
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I think this movie is gonna
14:37
Speaker 2: lose money. And he's like all Disney movies recently have
14:40
Speaker 2: been losing money because that's what they do now. They
14:43
Speaker 2: lose money because nobody wants to watch this you know,
14:46
Speaker 2: woke insanity or or the you know, even if you
14:50
Speaker 2: don't have the woke insanity. Nobody trusts you. That loss
14:53
Speaker 2: of trust for a company that had so much of
14:56
Speaker 2: our trust, that's really what the problem is and what
14:58
Speaker 2: they're going to have to reab.
15:00
Speaker 1: You're also asked to pay so much, Right, if you
15:03
Speaker 1: go to the parks, you're paying for a premium experience.
15:07
Speaker 1: You are paying prices that should get you a bunch
15:10
Speaker 1: of respect and consideration. And if you're not getting that,
15:13
Speaker 1: you don't want to pay those prices. I would add
15:15
Speaker 1: one of the other changes they're making, which I kind
15:17
Speaker 1: of enjoy is Disney is also Axios reported this. Disney
15:22
Speaker 1: is also updating disclaimers that run before certain titles on
15:24
Speaker 1: its streaming services that currently warn viewers of quote negative
15:29
Speaker 1: depictions and or mistreatment of people or cultures. In a
15:33
Speaker 1: forthcoming change, the tag will read they've softened it a
15:35
Speaker 1: little bit. Quote this program is presented as originally created
15:38
Speaker 1: and may it contain stereotypes or negative depictions and be
15:41
Speaker 1: included in the details section. So it sounds like that
15:44
Speaker 1: will be less in your face. We can all be
15:47
Speaker 1: aware that you know, Peter Pan isn't a current project.
15:51
Speaker 1: Thanks right, Thanks.
15:53
Speaker 2: Guys, Yeah, you know, when you're at Disney World. You
15:57
Speaker 2: could the last time I was there a few years
16:00
Speaker 2: ago now, but there's so many things there that you
16:03
Speaker 2: could see that the Wolkesters still haven't come for, but
16:06
Speaker 2: you know it's obviously coming. You know, the bathrooms are
16:10
Speaker 2: still male and female. There's a very pro America thread
16:14
Speaker 2: throughout the park, and so it's they didn't get to
16:19
Speaker 2: them completely. But the damage that they've done to this
16:21
Speaker 2: company and to this brand, I wonder how long, if
16:25
Speaker 2: ever it'll take to undo. The only part of the
16:28
Speaker 2: Disney operation that I've read is making money is the parks,
16:31
Speaker 2: because the parks are pretty fantastic. I mean, they're very
16:34
Speaker 2: well done. But the rest of the products Disney streaming
16:38
Speaker 2: is you know, a giant money loss. The movies aren't
16:42
Speaker 2: doing well.
16:43
Speaker 1: So we'll see some of the move because they saw
16:48
Speaker 1: this growing segment of Disney adults, who many of whom
16:51
Speaker 1: are actually progressive and probably happy with a lot of
16:55
Speaker 1: these changes, and they just put way too much money
16:59
Speaker 1: on that segment of the customer base. Was national in
17:03
Speaker 1: that way.
17:03
Speaker 2: Maybe, but you know, there could have been the conservative
17:07
Speaker 2: Disney adult who didn't go. Actually the biggest adult I
17:10
Speaker 2: know as a conservative woman, So I don't know. I
17:13
Speaker 2: have sort of a questionable thinking on this. I'm sure
17:16
Speaker 2: a lot of them are liberal, and she does defend
17:18
Speaker 2: Disney a lot because she loves Disney, and she loves
17:20
Speaker 2: Disney ran like, you know what I.
17:22
Speaker 1: Mean, I could be a Disney adult. When I've been
17:25
Speaker 1: back as an adult with my kids, I'm like, wait
17:28
Speaker 1: a second, I feel like this would be really fun
17:31
Speaker 1: when I didn't have anyone. So I do.
17:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like drinking through Epcot without my kids.
17:39
Speaker 1: I feel like I rose in France. You know I'm
17:42
Speaker 1: doing well, So I haven't. I haven't crossed that bridge.
17:45
Speaker 1: Don't anybody get me wrong. Yeah, however, you know he's
17:49
Speaker 1: a little you know, I understand the impulse.
17:52
Speaker 2: Basically, if Disney recovers and Mary Catherine's kids get older
17:55
Speaker 2: move out of the house, she's moving to Orlando and
17:59
Speaker 2: doing daily trip to.
18:00
Speaker 1: Disney World season pass. Baby, I'm gonna take I'll take
18:03
Speaker 1: one kid as plausible deniability. I know you're twenty one,
18:08
Speaker 1: it's fine, Spine, just let us go.
18:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll drink together at Epcott.
18:11
Speaker 4: Why not?
18:12
Speaker 1: I think you're you're more likely to see me at
18:14
Speaker 1: Dollywood for like the next five eight years. Until they
18:17
Speaker 1: earn that back.
18:18
Speaker 2: We're going to take a short break and come right
18:20
Speaker 2: back with normally for our last segment, back to Doge.
18:28
Speaker 2: Doge is doing it's good work, and Democrats are handling
18:32
Speaker 2: it really, really well.
18:35
Speaker 1: So the group that I mentioned earlier, the American Federation
18:39
Speaker 1: of Government Employees, in true government employee fashion, took a
18:44
Speaker 1: Tuesday in the middle of the day to go to
18:48
Speaker 1: Washington and protest their bosses who are us and the
18:53
Speaker 1: elected officials that we elected. And they have some thoughts
18:57
Speaker 1: about why we shouldn't be messing with it. So let's
19:00
Speaker 1: just play a little bit of this inspiring clip of
19:03
Speaker 1: the American Federation of Governor government Employees who want us
19:06
Speaker 1: to back them at every turn.
19:07
Speaker 4: Oh, which side are you on? Which side are you on?
19:14
Speaker 5: Me?
19:15
Speaker 4: Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
19:21
Speaker 4: We'll fight against Josh. We're a fight on mess, no way.
19:28
Speaker 5: Landscap within our walls.
19:31
Speaker 4: We'll fight from don to dusk. Which side are you on?
19:38
Speaker 4: Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
19:44
Speaker 4: Which side are you on?
19:47
Speaker 2: Trump's coming for our unions.
19:50
Speaker 4: He wants us off to fame, he wants us to
19:55
Speaker 4: bow to him, but we want him in jail. Oh,
20:00
Speaker 4: which shide are you on? Which shote?
20:04
Speaker 5: Are you all? Which shot?
20:07
Speaker 1: Are you.
20:10
Speaker 2: Not their side? I'm whatever they're protesting for against. I
20:13
Speaker 2: would be like, I'm not on your side.
20:15
Speaker 1: The other side. That's the answer, the other side. Can
20:19
Speaker 1: I also just say, there's got to be someone in
20:21
Speaker 1: that crowd who can sing?
20:23
Speaker 4: Right? What is that?
20:24
Speaker 2: I could sing that?
20:24
Speaker 1: Whoever that is on the mic, Put the singer on
20:28
Speaker 1: the mic. This is some real tired nineteen sixty eight nostalgia,
20:36
Speaker 1: except they're doing it at our expense during a work day, and.
20:41
Speaker 2: They're saying they want the president in jail because they
20:44
Speaker 2: don't like him and they don't like his policies, so
20:48
Speaker 2: arrest him. I mean, and this is the same party,
20:51
Speaker 2: this is the party that we're supposed to turn to
20:53
Speaker 2: for you know, normalcy. I just they've lost the plot completely.
20:58
Speaker 1: No, and I again said this before, but federal employees
21:02
Speaker 1: have lavish protections that normal workers do not have. When
21:06
Speaker 1: Americans realize what they have at their back, they will
21:11
Speaker 1: be frustrated by the number of protections, among which include
21:15
Speaker 1: like you know, taking the day off, protesting in the street,
21:18
Speaker 1: which is of course First Amendment protected. Even if you're
21:21
Speaker 1: a really bad singer. However, calling for your boss to
21:24
Speaker 1: be jailed in public on video, generally for a normal worker,
21:29
Speaker 1: would be a problem. Like that's suspension.
21:32
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, yeah, we should try that, you know, we
21:35
Speaker 2: should like go out and protest and be like Clay
21:38
Speaker 2: and Buck in jail.
21:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, just like I'm sure that would be fine.
21:42
Speaker 2: They'd like that.
21:43
Speaker 1: But this is the universe that they operate in, the
21:46
Speaker 1: universe of entitlement, the universe of you don't get to
21:49
Speaker 1: ask us questions. Dooge doesn't get to ask us questions.
21:53
Speaker 1: But Elon Musk went to the Oval office to explain that, indeed,
21:59
Speaker 1: we are going to continue asking questions. The Trump administration,
22:03
Speaker 1: by the way, has these temporary restraining orders against it,
22:06
Speaker 1: one of which prevents the Senate confirmed Treasury Secretary from
22:12
Speaker 1: looking at the records of Treasury payments. Now that idea
22:18
Speaker 1: seems on its face insane. Ye, there was a follow
22:21
Speaker 1: up ruling that said, Okay, the Secretary of the Treasury can,
22:25
Speaker 1: but no one else who's not Senate confirmed can look,
22:28
Speaker 1: which is not the way things are done in other administrations.
22:31
Speaker 1: But this is special. At any rate, They're doing all
22:35
Speaker 1: this work and Elon shows up in the Oval Office
22:39
Speaker 1: to explain it, and Trump is like, tell them what
22:41
Speaker 1: you doing, Elon, And Elon standing there with his kid
22:44
Speaker 1: on his shoulders, it love it, explaining quite calmly and clearly,
22:50
Speaker 1: look at all the insane stuff we've run into. We
22:53
Speaker 1: do not think this is a good investment for the
22:55
Speaker 1: American people, even beyond just like what the programs are doing,
22:59
Speaker 1: but the way we do business in the federal government
23:03
Speaker 1: is not helpful to the American people. And some of
23:07
Speaker 1: the anecdotes were wild, particularly this one about when he
23:13
Speaker 1: ran into the issue of how many people can retire
23:15
Speaker 1: per month and he asked a question. One of the
23:19
Speaker 1: things I enjoy about Elon Muskus is he's just like,
23:21
Speaker 1: but why right, let's get to the bottom of this,
23:25
Speaker 1: and on the issue of retirements in the federal government.
23:28
Speaker 1: This is what he found. This is not a joke.
23:30
Speaker 3: The most number of people that could retire possibly in
23:32
Speaker 3: a month is ten thousand.
23:34
Speaker 5: We're like, whoa, why is that?
23:37
Speaker 3: Well, because all the retirement paperwork is manual on paper,
23:42
Speaker 3: It's manually calculated and written down our piece of paper.
23:45
Speaker 3: Then it goes down to mine, like what do you
23:47
Speaker 3: mean of mine? Like, yeah, there's a limestone mine where
23:51
Speaker 3: we stole all the retirement paperwork.
23:55
Speaker 5: And you look at picture of a picture of this mine.
23:56
Speaker 5: We'll post some pictures afterwards.
23:59
Speaker 3: And this is this mine looks like something out of
24:00
Speaker 3: the fifties because it was started in nineteen fifty five.
24:04
Speaker 5: It looks like it's like a time warp.
24:07
Speaker 3: And then the speed, then the limiting factor is the
24:09
Speaker 3: speed at which the mine, the shaft elevator can move,
24:12
Speaker 3: determines how many people can retire from the federal from
24:16
Speaker 3: the federal government, and the elevator breaks down.
24:19
Speaker 5: And I said, sometimes, and then you can't. Nobody can.
24:21
Speaker 1: Nobody can retire.
24:23
Speaker 5: Doesn't that sound crazy? Yeah, there's like a thousand people
24:25
Speaker 5: that work on this.
24:27
Speaker 3: So I think if we take those people and say, like,
24:29
Speaker 3: you know what, instead of working in a mine shaft
24:31
Speaker 3: and carry manila and envelopes to you know, with boxes
24:36
Speaker 3: in a mineshaft.
24:37
Speaker 5: You could do practically anything else and you.
24:40
Speaker 3: Would add to the goods and services of the United
24:43
Speaker 3: States in a more useful way.
24:46
Speaker 2: This sounds completely made up. Who came up with this
24:49
Speaker 2: Kakamamy idea?
24:51
Speaker 1: It's not made up. It's called the Iron Mountain. It's
24:54
Speaker 1: a real thing.
24:55
Speaker 2: It was in the Washington Post a few years ago,
24:57
Speaker 2: and so like all these liberals are like it was
25:00
Speaker 2: in the Washington Post, like, oh, yeah, you knew about this,
25:02
Speaker 2: You knew about the minds that we have the retirement
25:05
Speaker 2: paperwork in. You read about it in the Washington Post.
25:08
Speaker 1: Like six years ago. And the thing is it's symbolic.
25:11
Speaker 1: It is not It's not that this would solve the
25:14
Speaker 1: problems with the government. It's that this is the whole
25:17
Speaker 1: federal government. Yeah, this is how they think it's okay
25:20
Speaker 1: to do business. And if you say, hey, maybe a
25:24
Speaker 1: limestone mind shaft is not the best way to maybe
25:27
Speaker 1: retirement records in the Year of Our Lord twenty twenty five,
25:31
Speaker 1: they will tell you just don't understand how the federal
25:35
Speaker 1: government works. Okay, okay, let me let me teach you
25:38
Speaker 1: a few things. And Elon is like, no, no, no, no,
25:41
Speaker 1: I'm doing the teaching right now because.
25:43
Speaker 2: It's crazy, and he says it He's just.
25:46
Speaker 1: Like people and go, that's crazy.
25:48
Speaker 2: Yeah. I just I think that there's going to be
25:52
Speaker 2: I know, we have normy listeners who are not on
25:55
Speaker 2: X all the time, and this might be the first
25:57
Speaker 2: time that they're hearing about this lime shaft. Guys, this
26:00
Speaker 2: is real, This is a real thing that our crazy
26:03
Speaker 2: government is doing. And I'm so glad that Elon is
26:07
Speaker 2: there figuring it out and changing things because this needs
26:10
Speaker 2: to be changed. And I have to say, there was
26:12
Speaker 2: an arc Insights pull out today and his ideas are
26:17
Speaker 2: very popular. Twenty eight percent of vote. Only twenty eight
26:20
Speaker 2: percent of voters believe the federal government has had their
26:23
Speaker 2: best interest in mind as it decides how to spend
26:26
Speaker 2: their taxpayer dollars. Like, yeah, I'm surprised the number is
26:29
Speaker 2: that high. Eighty two percent of voters believe waste, fraud
26:32
Speaker 2: and abuse is a serious problem inside the government. Eighty
26:35
Speaker 2: two percent. I mean, the fact that eighty two percent
26:37
Speaker 2: of Americans believe anything together is amazing and a big
26:41
Speaker 2: step forward. And sixty two percent of voters support DOJE
26:44
Speaker 2: efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. I mean, this
26:48
Speaker 2: is a popular thing that he's doing. You know, Michael Schellenberg,
26:53
Speaker 2: who is just this excellent follow on x he tweeted
26:57
Speaker 2: the Government Accountability Officer Office under Biden so important to note,
27:02
Speaker 2: not right now, but under the Biden administration estimated last
27:06
Speaker 2: year that we are losing two hundred and thirty three
27:09
Speaker 2: to five hundred and twenty one billion dollars per year
27:13
Speaker 2: to fraud. The fact that Elon is trying to recover
27:16
Speaker 2: this is massively popular and it should be well.
27:20
Speaker 1: And The New York Times framed this press conference in
27:23
Speaker 1: the Oval Office, by the way, by saying that Elon
27:26
Speaker 1: Musk alleges without proof fraud in the federal government. It's like, dude, A,
27:32
Speaker 1: we have proof. B I would invite you to do
27:36
Speaker 1: your accounting just like the federal government does. And so
27:41
Speaker 1: see how that goes for you. Yeah, good luck. See
27:43
Speaker 1: if you might be indicted for fraud if you tell
27:46
Speaker 1: the IRS that you lost two hundred and thirty six
27:49
Speaker 1: billion dollars and you don't know what happened to it.
27:53
Speaker 1: He pointed out in this press conference. Also, again, I
27:55
Speaker 1: think the megaphone is very important because people will see
27:59
Speaker 1: these off the wall appearances of Elon Musk saying, Hey,
28:04
Speaker 1: we're paying people's social security who are one hundred and
28:06
Speaker 1: fifty years old. Would you like to find them for
28:08
Speaker 1: me and explain why we're paying these people, because I
28:12
Speaker 1: don't think they exist. And if that's not proof enough
28:15
Speaker 1: for the New York Times. In addition to the GAO numbers.
28:19
Speaker 1: They don't care, is the thing. They just want the
28:21
Speaker 1: spickett to keep running.
28:22
Speaker 2: That's right, They really don't care. And it's just the
28:26
Speaker 2: insanity of the reaction. So Elon in that video is
28:31
Speaker 2: wearing a black Maga hat, and so there are all
28:34
Speaker 2: these calls to have them investigated because you're not supposed
28:37
Speaker 2: to wear political materials in the White House, and it's
28:40
Speaker 2: just like, come.
28:42
Speaker 1: On, guys, I know, I just I don't think it
28:45
Speaker 1: flies now. I think there's political risk in moving fast
28:49
Speaker 1: and breaking things, which is what people do in the
28:51
Speaker 1: tech sector. They fail fast. That's kind of the idea
28:54
Speaker 1: behind a lot of Elon's endeavors, and so you've got
28:58
Speaker 1: to be careful with what you might break along the way. However,
29:03
Speaker 1: so far, again, as we've discussed, this is under the
29:06
Speaker 1: United States Digital Service auspices. They have legal allowances. He
29:14
Speaker 1: is appointed as a special government and government employee, just
29:17
Speaker 1: as Anita Dunn was, who was all up in everything
29:20
Speaker 1: in the by the administration. It is not extraordinary in
29:24
Speaker 1: the ways they're telling you it's extraordinary. It might be
29:27
Speaker 1: extraordinarily more effective in the end, which might be the problem,
29:33
Speaker 1: but I don't have an issue with this going forward
29:37
Speaker 1: and him talking about it as he's doing it. He
29:39
Speaker 1: said at one point, look, I'm going to get some
29:41
Speaker 1: things wrong and they should be corrected. Now, a bunch
29:45
Speaker 1: of people cut that quote and said, I'm just going
29:47
Speaker 1: to get some things wrong, and like, I'm lying to
29:50
Speaker 1: you basically, But that's not what he said. I think
29:53
Speaker 1: he should be careful. However, he says, look like I'm
29:55
Speaker 1: going to make mistakes and I'm going to correct those mistakes.
29:58
Speaker 1: So I think that's like important context for all of this.
30:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, and his transparency is very very welcome after four
30:06
Speaker 2: years of opaqueness and who knows what and nobody knew
30:10
Speaker 2: who was in charge of what or who was doing what.
30:13
Speaker 2: Seeing Elon say this is what we're finding, here's a
30:16
Speaker 2: story for you. All of that is I'm loving it.
30:20
Speaker 2: I'm loving it. The Elon era in government, all about
30:23
Speaker 2: it all right?
30:25
Speaker 1: Well, And by the way, I should say, the Trump
30:26
Speaker 1: administration is just in the customary way appealing these decisions.
30:32
Speaker 1: Everyone's telling you there's a constitutional crisis, and yet he
30:35
Speaker 1: continues to go through the process with his lawyers to
30:39
Speaker 1: these I think in many cases activist judges saying, hey,
30:43
Speaker 1: maybe we actually do have the powers of the executive branch.
30:46
Speaker 2: Maybe the Treasury Secretary should be able to see documents
30:50
Speaker 2: in the Treasury.
30:50
Speaker 1: I don't know, call me crazy so crazy town yep.
30:54
Speaker 2: Well, thank you for joining us on normally Normally airs
30:56
Speaker 2: Tuesdays and Thursdays, and you can subscribe anywhere you get
31:00
Speaker 2: your podcasts. Get in touch with us at normallythepod at
31:03
Speaker 2: gmail dot com. Thanks for listening, and when things get weird,
31:06
Speaker 2: act normally