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Diogenes Club | E14 - Courage For Democracy · Diogenes Club

• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Good afternoon, everyone.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome as we start coming on in.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Nick Paro.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: This is Sick of this Shit Publications.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm joined by my good friend, Walter Rine.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: And today for our Diogenes Club, we have a special guest.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: We're
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: We're hopefully going to have a second special guest join us.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: But we've at least got our first special guest today is Chris Bennett,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: US Congressional Candidate,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: California Three.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: We're excited to have you today.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: So Chris, first off, Walter, good afternoon.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's good to see you, my friend.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Great to see you.
• 1:13
  And then Chris,
• 1:15
  do you mind introducing yourself before we get into anything
• 1:17
  today?
• 1:18
  Absolutely so thanks for having me i'm Chris Bennett i'm a
• 1:22
  disabled army veteran
• 1:23
  former officer i have a leadership background computer science
• 1:26
  data analytics cyber
• 1:27
  security and a master of business administration from uc
• 1:30
  berkeley and i was
• 1:32
  inspired by my parents to go to the united states military
• 1:34
  academy at west point
• 1:36
  and by bernie sanders to be a change maker with a better vision
• 1:39
  of the future
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm part of a growing movement of people fighting for people,
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: not billionaires,
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: an economy where our basic needs are met,
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: including Medicare for All,
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: the codification of reproductive and human rights,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: and an end to needless violence.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: In short,
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: our campaign is really about organizing for social,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: economic,
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: and environmental justice.
• 1:58
  I'm proud to say that our campaign is the only one in our race
• 2:01
  that's actually
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: trying to build real grassroots people power.
• 2:04
  We have hundreds of organizers and volunteers across the
• 2:07
  district who all understand that
• 2:09
  hope is not just a slogan it's the feeling that we can have
• 2:12
  what we want and need
• 2:13
  if we actually put in the work to make that hope a reality so
• 2:16
  i'm excited to be
• 2:17
  here i'm running for commerce in california's third district
• 2:20
  which following prop
• 2:21
  50 looks like an elephant it covers parts of sacramento uh
• 2:25
  county eastern suburbs
• 2:26
  of sacramento goes north and all the way east to the border of
• 2:29
  nevada with the lake
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: tahoe region inside perfect
• 2:32
  Let me just say this is the second time I've talked to Chris
• 2:34
  and I always just like
• 2:35
  to start these thank you for being your walk in the walk you're
• 2:38
  coming and talking
• 2:39
  to real people and I just I really really appreciate that I
• 2:41
  want to emphasize it
• 2:42
  every single time because for too long our government our
• 2:45
  representatives have been
• 2:46
  distant from us and it's just so important to me it warms my
• 2:48
  heart that you take
• 2:49
  the time to talk to us we're regular people we're dads you know
• 2:52
  we're just working
• 2:53
  class and this is what we need can you give us your web page
• 2:56
  real quick right at
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: the beginning so that people can find it or listening to the audio
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's bennettforca.com.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's b-e-n-n-e-t-t-f-o-r-c-a.com.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll make sure,
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: because I just pulled up your web page,
• 3:12
  I'm going to add it as a QR code here for everyone so everyone
• 3:21
  can go see it.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to replace our current QR code here on the screen.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: So next to my head, right here, above my finger,
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: Go to the QR code Bennett4CA and check out what he's doing.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Check out his policy platforms.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: If you have the ability to donate and you like what he says today,
• 3:39
  try and donate to his campaign and support him because it's an
• 3:43
  us effort to win
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: democracy.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's a community sport and it's really good to have you.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm also an army veteran.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: I am a former senior DevOps engineer and worked on pipelines
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: background deployment systems.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: So you and I probably could have a really geeky talk at some point.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Did you spend some time at Fort Gordon, I assume?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: No, I did not.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, I was on the Intel side.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Before me then?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: No, I was actually at JBLM.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's where I spent most of my childhood, actually.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: My parents were both air defense artillery officers.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's fantastic.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great area.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's really expensive now.
• 4:28
  oh yeah everything is a lot of people out so let's talk about
• 4:32
  that a little bit the
• 4:33
  everything is everything is more expensive now than it was
• 4:37
  let's say two months ago
• 4:39
  I'll estimate 68 days roughly everything was way less expensive
• 4:46
  I filled up gas
• 4:47
  yesterday and and I live in Northwest Arkansas and so my area
• 4:53
  tends to claim to be
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: cheaper than than others
• 4:57
  and it was $70 to fill up my tank of gas and two months ago it
• 5:02
  was closer to 50 and
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: I thought that was expensive.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: You live in a much more expensive part of the nation than I do.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: How is that affecting you and those in your district and what will you do
• 5:18
  to fix these types of issues so that we're not relying on the
• 5:22
  whims of a wannabe
• 5:24
  dictator to price our oil and then have markets just fluctuate
• 5:31
  the way they are.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: What will you do to prevent this type of action when you get to Congress?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So how will I solve the economy and endless unjust forever wars?
• 5:42
  I have a business school degree from UC Berkeley and I actually
• 5:44
  understand
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: economics and I can tell you that instability is a huge
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: cause of inflation,
• 6:06
  along with price gouging from companies that are trying to take
• 6:08
  advantage of the
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: fact that things are scarce and people are worried.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we know that that's one aspect of things.
• 6:13
  But obviously the 900 pound elephant in the room is the fact
• 6:18
  that we just started
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: an illegal,
• 6:20
  unjust forever war against a country that literally has the
• 6:23
  ability to cut off a
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: fifth of the global oil supply.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people don't understand that,
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 6:29
  even though we love to talk about renewable energy and fighting
• 6:33
  climate change,
• 6:35
  Oil and Gas like fossil fuels are basically the core inputs to
• 6:39
  every single good
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: and service that exists in the economy.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: we have done very little to move away from fossil fuels,
• 6:46
  especially because fossil fuel companies have been putting
• 6:49
  literally decades of
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: propaganda out there to undermine belief in it.
• 6:56
  yeah so that that means fundamentally that by restricting a
• 6:59
  fifth of the global oil
• 7:01
  and gas supply and even a lot of the fertilizer supply we're on
• 7:04
  route to having
• 7:04
  just massively inflated prices across the economy and there's
• 7:08
  the potential for
• 7:09
  global famine actually which is the more horrifying part of
• 7:13
  what's happening and
• 7:14
  that's to say nothing about the gulf war syndrome that we're
• 7:16
  almost certainly going
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: to be giving
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: to people that live in Iran,
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: which we saw,
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: obviously,
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: during the Gulf War,
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: the fact that we're blowing up oil fields,
• 7:24
  all those toxic fumes and chemicals are now polluting the air
• 7:27
  and dropping down
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: onto people's homes and their families.
• 7:30
  So that's,
• 7:31
  you know,
• 7:31
  the macro overarching problem that we're seeing right now.
• 7:35
  And that was caused by the fact that Congress has divested all
• 7:38
  of their powers to the president.
• 7:40
  over the last 200 years where we literally fought a
• 7:43
  revolutionary war to not have
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: to pay taxes to a king where we felt like we didn't have representation.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And now we're literally trying to basically recreate a king.
• 7:51
  And we've seen this as something that both parties have
• 7:53
  colluded with where they
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: voted not to overturn the War Powers Act.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So that is one big problem.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for people in my district, it is getting very expensive.
• 8:03
  California has a different rate of inflation than most of the
• 8:05
  rest of the country.
• 8:07
  We do get paid a lot more,
• 8:08
  but we have to pay a lot more at the same time.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now there's a lot of propaganda,
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: especially from like where my family is from in Texas,
• 8:13
  like California is a lawless hellscape and everything there is
• 8:16
  evil and no one
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: wants to live there.
• 8:18
  And it's not really true because like one in eight Americans
• 8:21
  live in California.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's like one of the most American places you could possibly be.
• 8:25
  But where I live in the North Sacramento area,
• 8:28
  it's more than five bucks a gallon for gas.
• 8:30
  And for the more rural areas of my district,
• 8:32
  it's like 650 a gallon for gas in some places.
• 8:35
  So people who drive like these giant gas guzzling pickup trucks
• 8:39
  are spending like
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: more than 200 bucks to not even fill up their whole tank,
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: which is obviously putting a huge strain on people.
• 8:46
  And I will say that a lot of the MAGA paraphernalia has
• 8:50
  mysteriously vanished,
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: increasingly over the last several months.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people are like,
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: hey,
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: this is actually affecting our bottom line and we can't afford things.
• 8:58
  So for me in Congress,
• 8:59
  big thing is that I oppose unjust endless forever wars.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: I support the Constitution.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I support accountability.
• 9:06
  You know,
• 9:07
  I'm part of a grassroots coalition of more than 150 candidates
• 9:10
  across the country.
• 9:11
  We call ourselves courage candidates for citizens impeachment
• 9:14
  who have all agreed
• 9:15
  to sign articles of impeachment on day one in office because
• 9:17
  that's the bare
• 9:18
  minimum to maintain any semblance of democracy and
• 9:21
  accountability in our country.
• 9:23
  and the President is literally pissing on the Constitution
• 9:25
  every single day with
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: all the stuff that he's doing.
• 9:28
  But I'm not going to lie to anyone and say that the President
• 9:30
  is the cause of all
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: these problems.
• 9:32
  You know,
• 9:32
  we got here because of policy supported by both political
• 9:35
  parties for decades.
• 9:36
  And we fundamentally need to change our system and make it so
• 9:39
  that this kind of
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: thing can't happen again.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that means, you know, actually amending the Constitution to
• 9:46
  take away powers from the presidency because even the powers
• 9:49
  that are in the
• 9:50
  constitution are too much for one person to have it means
• 9:53
  overturning ridiculous
• 9:54
  and disastrous supreme court precedents that have been
• 9:57
  bastardized by this activist
• 9:59
  supreme court filled with conservative judges who believe in
• 10:03
  this fan fiction
• 10:04
  ideology of what the founding fathers would have wanted from
• 10:07
  200 years ago as if
• 10:08
  They didn't actually want to be,
• 10:09
  you know,
• 10:10
  the Constitution to be a living,
• 10:11
  breathing document.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of stuff we can do.
• 10:13
  But I think first and foremost is we got to stop allowing our
• 10:16
  resources to be
• 10:17
  extracted by the military defense industry and by the fossil
• 10:21
  fuel companies and by,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 10:23
  these billionaires who in many cases are also human trafficking
• 10:26
  pedophiles who are
• 10:27
  literally destroying the economy and dumping all of the costs
• 10:31
  onto Americans and
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: people in the global south.
• 10:34
  I think this is Walter I love seeing your hands go up I think
• 10:37
  this is a great
• 10:38
  opportunity for us to bring on our second guest another
• 10:43
  candidate with us is Alex
• 10:46
  Rickling am I saying it is my saying your last name right yes
• 10:50
  you are can you hear
• 10:51
  me well yes we can Alex welcome you are also part of this
• 10:56
  coalition of candidates
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: who are on day one ready to impeach
• 11:03
  can you talk can you introduce yourself and I don't know if you
• 11:07
  and Chris have met
• 11:08
  or spoken before but I know you're part of the same network and
• 11:11
  we want to make
• 11:11
  sure that even if you haven't spoken before now you have
• 11:15
  welcome we're trying to
• 11:16
  introduce and build this coalition I don't think we've sort of
• 11:20
  personally spoke but
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: we've been on some group chats and some calls
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm Alex Rclean.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: I am running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: I am a dad, a local volunteer, and a former history teacher.
• 11:36
  And I am running because Democrats in Washington are not
• 11:39
  showing any signs of using
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: history as our guide for how to handle this moment.
• 11:45
  The fundamental reality is that everything about this situation
• 11:50
  that we are in is
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: incredibly precedented.
• 11:53
  we are in no way the first country to go through anything about
• 11:57
  what we are going
• 11:58
  through right now and we need to be looking at what has worked
• 12:02
  and what hasn't in
• 12:04
  how we approach this moment how we get ourselves out of it and
• 12:07
  how we make sure
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: that when democrats are back in power we are preparing ourselves for
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: to never get back in a situation like this again.
• 12:19
  And I see no signs from the establishment Democratic Party that
• 12:25
  they are doing any
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: of that,
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: that they are centering any of that.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I am taking on the longest serving Democrat in Congress,
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: who I freely admit is one of the better Democrats in Congress,
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: but that's a low bar.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: And
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I am taking him on because I think that we,
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: even the best,
• 12:48
  are not doing good enough right now and are not paying enough
• 12:51
  attention to history
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: in how they approach this moment and how they prepare for what's next.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I am a member of Citizens Impeachment.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: One of their courage candidates, I should say.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Courage for Democracy.
• 13:07
  And one of the things that we have to do is impeach and remove
• 13:12
  the president
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: and it's not just about impeaching and removing the president.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's about accountability.
• 13:17
  It's about establishing that there are consequences when you
• 13:23
  use your government
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: position to violate the law,
• 13:27
  because that's not been the case for the last decades of
• 13:32
  American politics in an
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: American life.
• 13:34
  And part of why the moment that we are in is so bad is because
• 13:38
  everyone currently in government
• 13:41
  knows that the only consequence that they can face is if they
• 13:45
  cross Trump instead
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: of legal consequences for their criminal actions.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, this is so perfect.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I just want to add,
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: we got an economist and a history teacher,
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 13:58
  and it's just like people that are actually qualified to have
• 14:00
  opinions on things.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: And what really makes me upset is that,
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: the entire media,
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: and I want to get back to the messaging,
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: because Chris,
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: you mentioned,
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: and I know you're a little bit shorter for time,
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: so we'll turn it to you.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: Nick Paro
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_03: Nick Paro
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: Chris, what are your thoughts there?
• 15:11
  about reforming our media ever since the bill clinton signed
• 15:14
  the telecommunications
• 15:16
  act of 1996 they cleared the way for media to basically turn
• 15:20
  into monopolies
• 15:21
  completely consolidated across the board and that has been to
• 15:24
  the detriment of
• 15:25
  literally everyone we are in this media ecosystem where if you
• 15:30
  actually watch like
• 15:31
  cnn fox news cbs doesn't really matter which one you are
• 15:36
  literally it's like you're
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: watching a reality tv show
• 15:39
  Like our entire political system has been turned into the worst
• 15:41
  kind of reality TV
• 15:42
  show imaginable and people who still watch them they literally
• 15:46
  don't even know
• 15:47
  what's actually happening on the ground or in reality and
• 15:50
  that's been one of the
• 15:51
  biggest goals of giant corporations and monopolies and the
• 15:55
  people that bankroll and
• 15:57
  profit from them they wanted to basically create these
• 16:00
  individualized information
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: ecosystems for people to live in where
• 16:04
  They Don't Know Anything That's Happening They're Only Being
• 16:06
  Fed Information
• 16:07
  Directly From An Approved Source And Like Nowadays It's Like
• 16:10
  Basically State
• 16:11
  Propaganda And The Consequences That When We Meet People Out
• 16:15
  And About A lot Of
• 16:16
  Cases Like They Have Some Pretty Wacky Beliefs About What's
• 16:19
  Going On With Zero
• 16:20
  Evidence To Back It Up Besides Outrage Media And Marketing That
• 16:24
  Is Really Just
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Poisoning The Discourse For Most People
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: So for us,
• 16:28
  like I truly believe that one of the one of the worst things
• 16:30
  the Democrats have
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: done in the past was basically call Republicans names,
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: like when Hillary Clinton called them a basket full of deplorables.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think that combined with,
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 16:39
  a decade and a half of propaganda against her really tanked her
• 16:42
  chances of winning
• 16:42
  the presidency and gave us the rise of authoritarian fascism in
• 16:46
  this country for
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: the first time.
• 16:47
  And I'm even still hearing Democrats today where we're calling
• 16:50
  it like a team sport.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a team sport, right?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is people's lives.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is our future as a species, as a society, as a government.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: So what we really need to focus on is going back to the basics, right?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Focus on the policy,
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: talk to people out and about,
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: meet them,
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: understand what reality they're living in,
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: and then focus on the common ground.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: without getting caught up in these culture war BS issues,
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: because that is really what they're designed to do,
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 17:14
  Keep us mad at each other so we don't get mad at the people who
• 17:17
  are actually responsible.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: But while we do that, we can't sell out our values.
• 17:22
  That is the other thing that the Democrats have done in a lot
• 17:23
  of ways where we gave
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: up on immigration messaging and decided to lean into racist narratives.
• 17:28
  And now a lot like an overwhelming majority of the public has
• 17:31
  these terrible,
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: outdated and incorrect views of immigrants.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like immigrants are overwhelmingly positive for the economy.
• 17:38
  They Pay Taxes They Get No Benefits In Return They Do Jobs That
• 17:41
  Americans Don't
• 17:42
  Want To Do And They All Also Overwhelmingly Less Likely To
• 17:45
  Commit Crimes Every Time
• 17:47
  The Ultra Wealthy Destroy Our Economy The First People They
• 17:51
  Blame Are Immigrants
• 17:52
  And Now Trans People And Other Marginalized Communities So We
• 17:55
  Really Need To
• 17:56
  Actually Counter Message Like That Is The Role Of The
• 17:58
  Opposition Party But Going
• 18:00
  Beyond That We Also Just Need To Bring Back Independent Media
• 18:03
  Like PBS And Make
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Sure That Outlets Like
• 18:05
  you all and what we're seeing on like Substack and other places
• 18:08
  like Democracy Now
• 18:09
  are able to thrive and that means that we have to really lead
• 18:12
  into our grassroots
• 18:13
  organizing capacity and just build up the alternative power
• 18:17
  structure that's going
• 18:18
  to be required for us to actually defeat authoritarian fascist
• 18:21
  oligarchy and
• 18:22
  consolidate corporate media so building on that incredible
• 18:27
  answer is you both are
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: running two different campaigns one is Chris you're running for
• 18:35
  the House of Representatives and Alex you're running for Senate
• 18:40
  both of which in
• 18:41
  the primary are probably more focused on your party itself the
• 18:47
  actual named party
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: however we're in a period of country over party
• 18:55
  in my eyes is this is not an election of democrat first
• 18:58
  republican this is an
• 18:59
  election of do you believe in america as a democracy or do you
• 19:04
  believe we need to
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: be a fascist authoritarian state and what are you guys both doing um
• 19:13
  to reach across what would be considered the traditional
• 19:17
  political aisle to make a
• 19:19
  new political aisle because this is a coalition that we're
• 19:23
  building and it has to
• 19:25
  be from the people and not from the money or the who are who
• 19:30
  the Democrats label as
• 19:32
  the people it has to be from all of us and so how are you both
• 19:36
  going out and
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: engaging
• 19:38
  either voters who are registered democrat and who didn't vote
• 19:44
  in the last election
• 19:45
  cycles say since trump got first elected how are you engaging
• 19:50
  them to get them
• 19:52
  reactivated so that you have a larger voting base for the
• 19:57
  primary and a coalition
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: behind you ready for the general sure
• 20:05
  so you know for me the the reality is that the majority of my
• 20:15
  volunteers are
• 20:17
  independents not registered democrats um because and i think
• 20:23
  that's in part because
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: i'm my message my my core concept
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: is about the fact that the federal government is broken.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I am politically on the left.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: I would enter as one of the most left members of Congress.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to get into specifics, but I would be one of them.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: But the whole message of my campaign is that
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Right now,
• 21:04
  the differences between me and Senator Markey and
• 21:07
  Representative Moulton or between
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: the three of us and,
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Joe Manchin,
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: John Fetterman,
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: pick your centrist.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Even Lisa Murkowski,
• 21:20
  the differences between us don't really matter right now
• 21:26
  because none of us can
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: accomplish our goals.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: And we have to address the systems that are blocking
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: all of our policy ideas first.
• 21:36
  And then once we've done that,
• 21:37
  then let's go back and let's have those policy debates.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: I want to have those policy debates.
• 21:43
  And if I lose them in the court of public opinion,
• 21:46
  then don't send me back.
• 21:49
  But I think that that is sort of a very core element of how I'm
• 21:57
  addressing this campaign.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: And
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Centrists,
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: some Republicans,
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: non-MAGA Republicans,
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: more moderate Democrats,
• 22:10
  all of them can agree with the idea that the federal government
• 22:14
  isn't working
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: properly and it's not achieving progress on our goals,
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: even when Democrats have power.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that there has been some resonance on that point.
• 22:27
  and so that's been really core to my message and I think that
• 22:30
  that has helped with
• 22:33
  uh bringing in appeal and and and speaks and that's spoken to
• 22:37
  the fact by most of
• 22:40
  my core volunteers are not registered Democrats or at least
• 22:43
  weren't when they
• 22:44
  joined the campaign perfect perfect I don't know about you
• 22:48
  Chris because yeah
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: before we sorry Walter before hey guys Eric hey Eric um
• 22:54
  Chris I know you've got a couple more minutes with us so I want
• 22:57
  to give you the
• 22:57
  floor for this answer to to pass it over and then we'll bring
• 23:01
  we'll bring Eric more
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: into the conversation gentlemen this is Dr Eric Lulove he is a wound care
• 23:06
  specialist he is an expert he's an amazing person and does a
• 23:13
  lot of really good
• 23:13
  writing around health care policy and what's going on with the
• 23:17
  technocracy and how
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: they're taking over the health care system and so
• 23:23
  Chris I'll hand it back over to you about the crossing the
• 23:27
  traditional aisle and
• 23:28
  forging a new path forward so I mean I maybe my analysis is a
• 23:33
  little bit different
• 23:34
  but I personally think that the aisle doesn't really exist you
• 23:37
  know we in a lot of
• 23:38
  ways have uniparty when it comes to corporate interests ever
• 23:42
  since Bill Clinton
• 23:43
  took the Democrats into being the second party of business in
• 23:45
  the 90s we've been on
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: on this rapid slide towards fascism because,
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Nazi Germany taught us that as long as people are still making money,
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: the corporations have no problem working with fascists.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so the end result has been that in a lot of cases,
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: the Democrats in Congress,
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: the corporate ones,
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: take money from the exact same people that are funding the Republicans.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why even though,
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Trump bombed Iran last year without congressional approval,
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: look,
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: for example,
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: my opponent voted not to impeach him,
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: right?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: and it's because he's taking APAC money.
• 24:16
  So one of the biggest things that we've been seeing in my in my
• 24:19
  region is that the
• 24:21
  fastest growing party of registration in the Sacramento and the
• 24:25
  greater Northern
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: California area is independent.
• 24:29
  like no party preference because Democrats have failed to meet
• 24:32
  this moment and
• 24:33
  because we are so entrenched with private health insurance
• 24:36
  companies and the
• 24:37
  military industrial complex in so many ways people are like I
• 24:40
  don't want to call
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: myself a Democrat like it is so uncool it is so like
• 24:45
  It's just against the things that most of us agree at a
• 24:48
  baseline that we should
• 24:49
  respect human rights and human dignity and that people are more
• 24:51
  important than,
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 24:53
  some private equity billionaire being able to make some more
• 24:55
  money off of us.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the way that we've been building coalition is by really just
• 25:00
  Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro
• 25:03
  Nick Paro Nick Paro
• 25:04
  Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro
• 25:07
  Nick Paro Nick Paro
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: and Lebanon because most of us realize that,
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: hey,
• 25:22
  $1.5 trillion being spent on the military is not doing anything
• 25:26
  to help Americans.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not even going to the troops.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: When I was a captain in the army,
• 25:31
  I had soldiers literally living on food stamps in black mold
• 25:35
  infested barracks.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: and then we have these contractors that are charging $1,000 for a screw.
• 25:40
  We can't fix our own equipment because we got to call some
• 25:42
  asshole and pick up
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: truck to come and do it for us who happens to work for a private defense
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: contractor.
• 25:47
  So like really,
• 25:48
  it's really about the fundamental allocation of resources,
• 25:50
  which what economists
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick Paro Nick
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: But if we don't have any kind of semblance of hope,
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: then no one's going to want to get excited or get involved.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really also about threading that needle between being like,
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: yes,
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: these are real problems that we're facing.
• 26:23
  But at the same time,
• 26:24
  we can't lose sight of the fact that we're all human beings.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: We all want what's best for the future.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to focus on our common ground together.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: So in terms of compromise,
• 26:34
  I don't believe in compromising with someone who's operating
• 26:36
  from a place of bad
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: faith.
• 26:38
  But if we agree on the outcome,
• 26:39
  then we can compromise maybe when it comes to how to get there.
• 26:43
  but if you are working together with a fascist then you are a
• 26:45
  fascist collaborator
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: and that's not really going to work for me because I can say the biggest
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: anti-fascist organization in United States history was the U.S.
• 26:54
  military and I was a veteran so no thank you I agree thank you
• 26:58
  Chris that's so
• 27:00
  fantastic Eric I want you to get a point to say hi before you
• 27:03
  you jump off with us
• 27:04
  hi guys I'm so sorry I popped in 25 minutes late I'm in Bremen
• 27:08
  Germany I'm
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: finishing my meeting out here I was lecturing this afternoon
• 27:12
  and this morning and last night and i'm just like bone flat jet
• 27:17
  lag exhausted so
• 27:18
  what you're so what you're hearing and i don't know if you guys
• 27:20
  can hear the church
• 27:21
  bells in the background here but it's 7 p.m here so it's it's
• 27:24
  just the old church
• 27:25
  here is it's gorgeous and um you know but it's it's still
• 27:29
  germany and they they
• 27:30
  hate trump and they um they have no love lost for this
• 27:33
  administration here
• 27:35
  and I'm at the European Wound Management Meeting so these are
• 27:38
  pretty much everybody
• 27:39
  from most of the people here are from Germany so I've at least
• 27:41
  secondhand smoked at
• 27:42
  least six packs the last three days and and it's I feel like
• 27:47
  really unhealthy and I
• 27:48
  have to go back inside because I have my curry I have my
• 27:51
  currywurst just got
• 27:52
  delivered at the table so I you know and then so it's I guys I
• 27:57
  just want you to
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: understand it's we don't they you know they've done this already here
• 28:04
  80 years ago okay they've been through this whole neo fascist
• 28:08
  shit 80 years ago and
• 28:10
  it didn't work then with their eugenics which is what we
• 28:12
  created and sent over here
• 28:13
  they borrowed it from us and it's happening again and it's
• 28:16
  buried in the HHS and if
• 28:19
  we don't all wake up and realize that we are just about as
• 28:22
  fucked as the German
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: people were in 1933
• 28:27
  yeah because it was still the military industrial complex with
• 28:30
  the techno with the
• 28:31
  with the plutocrats back then and nothing's changed it's the
• 28:34
  same playbook these
• 28:35
  are we're not dealing with the smartest people on the planet
• 28:37
  we're just dealing
• 28:38
  with the most evil people on the planet and the only way we
• 28:41
  defeat evil is to be
• 28:42
  better than them and it's to vote so it's too big to rig yes
• 28:46
  and flip the switch
• 28:48
  and make them accountable just like they did in Nuremberg in
• 28:50
  the 40s you know and
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: we need to end the shit today and after being in Germany here
• 28:56
  and seeing how the european people really are tired of it i
• 28:59
  mean they are stressed
• 29:00
  out because of jet fuel prices get gases literally when you
• 29:04
  convert it to liters to
• 29:05
  two gallons it's four it's about 3.8 liters per gallon okay
• 29:10
  they're paying almost
• 29:11
  eight dollars a gallon here gosh okay there's already talk
• 29:15
  about Lufthansa
• 29:16
  canceling all those short hop flights that are under one hour
• 29:20
  to save on because of
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: the shortage
• 29:23
  Chris has to go I know we have to let Chris go I'm gonna get
• 29:25
  going guys but guys it
• 29:26
  was nice to meet you we'll do another show where I can catch up
• 29:28
  with everybody and
• 29:29
  we can have this healthcare conversation yes it's great to see
• 29:32
  you guys and I'm
• 29:33
  plus six hours so it's you know and it's and I gotta tell you
• 29:37
  it is bone fucking
• 29:38
  cold here I am so can't wait to get back to I can't get wait I
• 29:41
  can't wait to get
• 29:42
  back to South Florida it's so fucking cold here I am not used
• 29:45
  to this weather it
• 29:46
  was raining all week it was like cold and raining which is like
• 29:48
  the worst but
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: anyway you guys take care thanks so much Nick Walter arriveder
• 29:56
  so Chris we're gonna we'll let you go here because I know
• 29:59
  you've got another
• 30:01
  interview you've got to get to right now yeah it is been really
• 30:05
  good to to have you
• 30:06
  on with us thank you so much for joining us today we really I
• 30:10
  really appreciate it
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: and I look forward to talking with you again yes thank you for having me
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: and thanks for being a courage candidate Alex.
• 30:20
  You do have some freaking courage,
• 30:22
  especially once you're trying to represent people.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we need more leaders in Congress.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 30:28
  I think you have to play a good balance between advocating for
• 30:32
  what is popular and
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: popularizing things.
• 30:34
  but you know to me leadership it's about showing up it's about
• 30:37
  listening it's about
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: doing the work alongside the people you're supposed to represent and most
• 30:41
  importantly it's about making sure that everyone has a shared
• 30:44
  vision of the future
• 30:44
  that they can explain in their own words to know what it that
• 30:47
  we're fighting for
• 30:48
  and so i'm excited to work for you in dc although i'm not
• 30:51
  excited to have to fly in
• 30:53
  our current air traffic control nightmare hellscape uh
• 30:58
  literally i went to the army
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: navy game in 2024 right before the trump election
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: and a month later, an airplane crashed into a helicopter.
• 31:05
  So that's the only thing that I'm really not looking forward to
• 31:08
  after waiting.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, no.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, thanks so much for having me and I'll be all around.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Chris, so much for being here with us.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Can I hop in and speak on some of the things that Eric just said?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, Eric talked about sort of how Germany, you know,
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: came back from this.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And part of how they did that was accountability.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: Part of how they did this was by aggressively saying,
• 31:43
  what just happened was bad and and and a series of immediate
• 31:51
  aggressive reforms and
• 31:53
  one of the things that we need to be doing here in
• 31:57
  massachusetts and around the
• 31:58
  country you need to be asking your local candidates about this
• 32:02
  is what you know a
• 32:04
  knock on wood i feel optimistic hopefully that we have power
• 32:08
  back in 2029 what are
• 32:11
  you candidate going to be doing to make sure that we are
• 32:14
  prioritizing a quick raft
• 32:18
  of reforms to to prevent something like this from happening
• 32:23
  again because that is
• 32:24
  that that raft of reforms is going to be fundamentally
• 32:28
  important to making sure
• 32:30
  that we are able to move on and I have very specific ideas as
• 32:34
  to what I think those
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: need to be and which ones we have to prioritize
• 32:38
  but you know it's been said that i'm not necessarily right
• 32:41
  about 100% of everything
• 32:43
  it's okay if people have other ideas about which we need to
• 32:47
  prioritize but we have
• 32:48
  to do something we can't jump in as much as housing is a crisis
• 32:54
  as much as
• 32:55
  healthcare costs are a crisis if we try to skip the work of
• 32:59
  fixing our democracy
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: then we are setting ourselves up for much bigger problems long term.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: And to something that Chris was saying,
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: if if if we are if we don't fix our democracy long term,
• 33:14
  then the corporate interests are going to break whatever health
• 33:17
  care reforms we
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: pass,
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: whatever housing reforms we pass.
• 33:20
  We are not going to be able to make enough progress and we are
• 33:23
  setting ourselves up
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: for problems.
• 33:26
  And the other thing that he said,
• 33:27
  you know,
• 33:28
  too big to rig was the phrase he used.
• 33:31
  Victor Orban just lost you know just lost in Hungary he had
• 33:36
  rigged election after
• 33:38
  election yes what finally happened recently is he lost by too
• 33:44
  much to rig yes yes
• 33:47
  and so so again that he was what Eric was exactly right we need
• 33:53
  to run up the score
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: we need to win by a lot um you know
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is not a time for symbolic third party voting.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I hate that we live in a two party system.
• 34:08
  Part of the reforms that I want to institute are reforms that
• 34:12
  will make third party
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: candidacies more viable in the future.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's not where we are right now.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:20
  And right now,
• 34:22
  we need to make sure that that the not Republican Party,
• 34:26
  which
• 34:27
  the way the media and money works is is is there's only one
• 34:31
  party that is that um
• 34:33
  wins by enough of a margin that they can't deny it they can't
• 34:38
  rig it that that it
• 34:40
  is undeniable that we have been swept into power and and so i
• 34:44
  wanted to jump off of
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: those two points that eric just made
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: That's fantastic.
• 34:48
  And I just love that we're actually having conversations about
• 34:51
  the fact that our
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_03: Republican Party,
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: they do things like the SAVE Act,
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_03: they gerrymander,
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: they try to dismantle the mail-in ballots.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_03: All of that is cheating.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_03: And it makes me very
• 35:02
  I'm very angry that our Democratic Party refuses to just call
• 35:05
  them out for cheating
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_03: and they call them out for their lawlessness.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: And exactly as you said,
• 35:09
  it's like we shrink away from accountability when they're
• 35:12
  clearly violating the
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: law.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_03: And because the Democrats shrink away from those statements,
• 35:17
  the Republicans are able to present themselves as the party of
• 35:20
  law and order
• 35:20
  because they say that and nobody laughs at them or points out
• 35:24
  all these things that
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_03: they do wrong.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, going forward,
• 35:28
  I mean what are your thoughts on that on election integrity and
• 35:30
  I mean yeah the
• 35:31
  importance of us being out there but also just making it easier
• 35:34
  because I know the
• 35:35
  Democrats they like to manipulate their primaries they make it
• 35:39
  hard for people to
• 35:39
  get on ballots and this is stuff we have to fix too we need to
• 35:42
  be listening to the
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: people party yeah look that's a big one yeah go ahead sir it is
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: It is so eye-opening and frustrating to be experiencing how difficult the
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Democratic Party makes it for challengers.
• 36:10
  And I don't get it nearly as bad as some of the other
• 36:17
  candidates around the country.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think I mentioned this when we spoke last time,
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Walter,
• 36:26
  the example of what's happening in North Carolina and what
• 36:28
  they're doing to a
• 36:30
  Democratic candidate who won her primary and the way in which
• 36:35
  the Democratic Party
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: is is even shoving her to the side is just so.
• 36:43
  so gross um and you know i have experienced the institutional
• 36:50
  roadblocks that are
• 36:52
  deliberately set up to make candidacies like mine harder and
• 36:56
  especially earlier on
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: in my campaign i experienced some sort of soft pressure
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: trying to get me to not do this.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: As the campaign has continued, they've laid off on that a bit.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: But it is bad and gross, and the Democratic Party shouldn't do that.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: It is an example of the Democratic Party not living up to their values.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it is part of why candidates like this
• 37:33
  are like us are so important because I do think that we do have
• 37:38
  literally hundreds
• 37:39
  of candidates at this point around the country who want to be a
• 37:45
  part of that change
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: um you know uh Chris was just here um you know there are several other in
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: California with um
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: Nick Carduna, Hunter Miranda, a whole bunch of others.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: Ortega, I believe is another one.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: There are several in New York.
• 38:08
  There are several in Connecticut who have a horrible time
• 38:12
  getting on the ballot in Connecticut.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: But and those those obstacles
• 38:21
  that is something that I think we're going to have to try to
• 38:24
  work to address.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, one problem at a time, I guess.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: It is something that we should address.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: It is an example of Democrats not living up to our values.
• 38:41
  It is something that voters are right to be frustrated with the
• 38:45
  Democratic Party about.
• 38:48
  It's not something that we'll be able to switch fix between now
• 38:52
  and the primary,
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: but it is something that we should we should be trying to do.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:57
  So building on that,
• 39:00
  there was a great comment from one of our friends in the chat.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: Now around America has always been the way we are.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: in a lot of ways.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: I was taught growing up that America always teetered on the edge of
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: authoritarianism and democracy.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we were that razor's edge of staying balanced between the two.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: And that's bad.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_02: We shouldn't be on a razor's edge of fascism and authoritarianism.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we have historically treated minority groups in this nation horribly.
• 39:32
  Black people were considered three-fifths of a person we have
• 39:35
  enslaved folks we
• 39:37
  have put people in concentration camps we have done our own
• 39:41
  genocide of the native
• 39:42
  population as we expanded across the nation itself how do you
• 39:50
  and this is where I
• 39:51
  build on this question in terms of voting and encouraging folks
• 39:55
  to become part of
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: this system is
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_02: We have also stopped increase and I know you're a Senate candidate.
• 40:02
  So this is what you would be voting to approve this type of law
• 40:06
  and not making this.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_02: We have a proportional,
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: we have the Proportionment Act of 1929,
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think it is,
• 40:15
  where we set the number of Congress of the House of
• 40:18
  Representatives to 335 members,
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_02: and it has not changed since 1929,
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: nearly 100 years ago at this point.
• 40:29
  we have been at the same number of representatives for nearly
• 40:32
  100 years and my
• 40:33
  thought is that is allowed gerrymandering that was one of the
• 40:36
  first big death
• 40:38
  knells to our current system where gerrymandering became worse
• 40:43
  because we never
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: continued the size please push back
• 40:46
  I want to jump in so you're getting at uncapping the house
• 40:50
  which is I think a good
• 40:52
  idea and it is something that you're more likely to get senate
• 40:56
  support on than
• 40:57
  house support because it doesn't decrease our power it
• 41:01
  decreases the house's an
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: individual in the house's power there are a lot of
• 41:06
  primary candidates,
• 41:07
  challengers who are saying they are willing to do it.
• 41:10
  You're going to have a much harder time getting already seated
• 41:12
  people to do it.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: So another good reason to support primary candidates.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: There are again,
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's at hundreds,
• 41:23
  but there are dozens of primary challengers around the country
• 41:25
  who are supporting
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: this.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: I do have to jump in,
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: though,
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: on the gerrymandering point,
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: because this is something that people actually get wrong.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: There are very good reasons to uncap the house.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: Gerrymandering is actually a reason not to do it.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you uncap the house you make gerrymandering easier not harder.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 41:50
  If you have smaller districts,
• 41:54
  then you have more opportunities to gerrymand.
• 41:59
  You have more opportunities for people with really advanced
• 42:05
  maps and advanced
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: statistical analysis.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: And especially as AI gets more capable,
• 42:11
  you're going to have some good AI systems built specifically
• 42:16
  for this purpose.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so
• 42:20
  Uncapping the house without protections banning partisan
• 42:27
  gerrymandering actually
• 42:29
  will increase the risk of partisan gerrymandering and will
• 42:34
  increase the risk of
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: racist gerrymandering.
• 42:39
  It is still a good idea to uncap the house,
• 42:43
  but we have to be aware of the fact that
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 42:47
  There are a couple of things like this where there are some
• 42:50
  popular ideas out
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: there,
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: but we have to do them well.
• 42:54
  We have to think about the whole system and how we are solving
• 42:58
  this problem and
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: making sure that we aren't creating new problems in the process.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uncapping the house is good because it increases direct representation.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_01: And if you uncap the house,
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: and pair it with a couple of other reforms.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: My personal favorite slate is to uncap the house,
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: pair it with multi member districts and single transferable vote,
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_01: sometimes called proportional rank choice voting.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you pair those together,
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: then so you end up with something like,
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: one district that would have four or five members representing it.
• 43:43
  that system actually makes gerrymandering almost impossible and
• 43:50
  guarantees more
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: representation for
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: Women for minorities,
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: for racial minorities,
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: for LGBTQ plus communities,
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: for all kinds of communities.
• 44:08
  You end up with much more fair representation in a multi-member
• 44:13
  district single
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: transferable vote system.
• 44:16
  And that is something that is only possible if it's paired with
• 44:19
  uncapping the house.
• 44:21
  So there are multiple things you can do with uncapping the
• 44:23
  house that are a good idea.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: But if you don't go to multi-member districts,
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: and all you do is uncap the House,
• 44:32
  then you have to pair it with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act
• 44:37
  and the Freedom to
• 44:38
  Vote Act or the even stronger for the People Act that came
• 44:41
  before that to ban
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: nonpart,
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: ban partisan gerrymandering or else you make part,
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: you make gerrymandering much,
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: much worse and much,
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: much more problematic.
• 44:56
  a similar situation is sort of um term limits is a very popular
• 45:00
  thing and there are
• 45:00
  good reasons to support term limits but if you institute term
• 45:06
  limits you have to
• 45:07
  also close the lobbying loophole which is again a good idea on
• 45:12
  its own it would be
• 45:14
  a great it is a it is something that we should do anyways we
• 45:17
  should already be
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: stopping
• 45:20
  Former Senators and former Congress people from leaving the
• 45:23
  Senate and instantly
• 45:24
  starting a 10-figure lobbying job at a corporate company that
• 45:28
  they just spent years
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: passing bills to help.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's something we should do anyways.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: But if we're going to institute term limits,
• 45:34
  then that becomes even more important because otherwise you
• 45:37
  have people who are
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: serving,
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_01: they get elected at 42,
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: they know they're only there for 12 years or whatever,
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_01: and they're spending their entire governing career
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: saying, what am I going to do when I'm 56?
• 45:53
  You have to make sure to be closing that revolving door
• 45:56
  loophole and closing those incentives.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: There are a lot of things where we have to be thinking about the systems.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: There are good ideas out there, but we have to do them well.
• 46:03
  Yes I love this and this is so important because so many times
• 46:06
  we propose things
• 46:07
  people say that'll never work like anything we propose
• 46:10
  nefarious forces are going
• 46:12
  to try to turn it against us and so I just love how Alex you're
• 46:15
  saying yes we do
• 46:17
  need to do that and this is how we have to do it in order to
• 46:19
  make it work I think
• 46:20
  that's great I also want to get back to what I wrote an article
• 46:24
  this morning and
• 46:25
  I've come to the conclusion that a lot of our problems in our
• 46:28
  society is just that
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_03: we have this idea of denying personhood
• 46:33
  Just As A Concept And We Need Protections In The Constitution
• 46:37
  Is Written By Slave
• 46:37
  Owners And It Wasn't Fundamental To The Constitution That Say
• 46:40
  Everybody Deserves To
• 46:41
  Be Acknowledged As A Person And I Think It Starts All Children
• 46:46
  Because We Have So
• 46:46
  Many People Who View Their Children As A As Their Property And
• 46:50
  Not As A Person And
• 46:52
  I Think We Need This Psychological Shift And We Get Back To The
• 46:54
  Three-Fifths Voting
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_03: Where They Were
• 46:57
  Deplorably Calling Black People Three-Fourths Of A Person and
• 47:01
  so we've just seen
• 47:01
  this throughout our history and I think just more of an
• 47:04
  emphasis is just like a
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_03: across the aisle type thing is just
• 47:08
  I was listening to a podcast like recognizing the personhood of
• 47:11
  the humanity of all
• 47:12
  people instead of saying illegals we have to say people and we
• 47:15
  just have to make
• 47:16
  that more of a point of emphasis because I feel that there's
• 47:19
  groups because we deny
• 47:20
  children their personhood I think there's people who are
• 47:23
  terrified throughout their
• 47:24
  whole lives feeling that their personhood will be revoked and
• 47:27
  that's why they go
• 47:28
  after these other groups that they think are vulnerable so what
• 47:31
  are your thoughts
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_03: there Alex?
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that is
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_01: The crux of Trump's argument.
• 47:41
  The whole crux of and authoritarians through time is vote for
• 47:54
  me and I will ensure
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: that there is an underclass below you.
• 48:00
  that vote for me and I will make sure that no matter how bad
• 48:05
  your life is,
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: there's always a brown person who's worse off.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's despicable.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_01: But that that's that is the historical.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_01: The historic authoritarian play that is the MAGA argument on it.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: It is a play to
• 48:28
  emotion not rationality but it is effective um it it has worked
• 48:38
  time and time again
• 48:39
  through history and the only thing we can do is is appeal to to
• 48:48
  the goodness in
• 48:49
  others and and say that's wrong and persuade a movement of
• 48:53
  people to agree and i
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_01: think what people do but we have to motivate them
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: not only to agree that that's wrong,
• 49:02
  but also to believe that we are capable of solving that problem
• 49:05
  and that we will
• 49:05
  stand by our words and fight for them and everyone else and
• 49:12
  fight for making things
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_01: better.
• 49:15
  And I think that that's been one of the Democratic Party's
• 49:17
  biggest failures is not
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_01: presenting a convincing case that we will be the party that
• 49:28
  adequately defends everyone regardless of how they're pulling
• 49:33
  so what are your with
• 49:35
  the power of the senate because being a senator comes with some
• 49:39
  really great powers
• 49:39
  to it one of those is to impact the judiciary and the selection
• 49:45
  of judges and the
• 49:46
  appointment of judges and the appointment of folks like
• 49:49
  diplomats civil so just
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_02: civil servants in the executive and officers in the executive branch
• 49:58
  How would you use your seat in Senate and your positions but
• 50:03
  also the coalition
• 50:04
  that you're helping build now and becoming a part of with the
• 50:07
  courage candidates
• 50:09
  and the citizens impeachment movement how would you use that to
• 50:14
  influence your
• 50:15
  decision making process when it comes to selecting judges or
• 50:21
  members of the
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_02: executive who are willing to
• 50:26
  push pro constitutional values and pro people values rather
• 50:33
  than the current system
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_02: we have because the judiciary
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_02: takes laws away.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we have figured out is at least these,
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_02: at least SCOTUS who,
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: in my opinion,
• 50:43
  need to be impeached and removed for their crimes that they
• 50:47
  have committed against
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_02: the United States and the Constitution is one,
• 50:51
  would you be willing to sign on for impeachment for more than
• 50:54
  just the current
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_02: POTUS to include the entire administration and members of
• 51:00
  SCOTUS Congress others would you would you be willing to expand
• 51:05
  on that and then
• 51:06
  how would you use your powers to ensure that new members of the
• 51:12
  judiciary are not
• 51:14
  anti-constitutional when they come in to become members of the
• 51:18
  judiciary yeah so so
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: yes we um you know at a minimum I think that uh
• 51:28
  you know trump hegseth rubio have all more than demonstrated um
• 51:36
  themselves
• 51:36
  impeachable and should be impeached um thomas clarence thomas
• 51:41
  and justice alito
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think have very easy impeachment cases against them.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, impeachment articles were filed against them back in 2023.
• 51:53
  I believe AOC was the lead sponsor and I believe there were 28
• 51:57
  members of the House,
• 51:58
  maybe 32.
• 51:59
  I think it was an even number right around there who who were
• 52:04
  co-sponsors of that.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: It sort of died because there was no not not enough people got behind it.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that you could easily
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_01: Get on that.
• 52:17
  I think you could also make a coherent argument for impeaching
• 52:21
  some of the others
• 52:22
  based on some of the claims that they made during their
• 52:29
  confirmation hearings being
• 52:32
  Dishonest um lying to congress is a crime um those those those
• 52:38
  cases would be
• 52:39
  slightly more difficult but if if there is a case it's
• 52:42
  something I think that is
• 52:44
  worth looking into and if there's a case there it is something
• 52:46
  that I would it
• 52:47
  would be um certainly would consider um you know I'm I'm a
• 52:51
  stickler for if you like
• 52:54
  the rules you should yes these consequences for them I don't
• 52:58
  know maybe that's
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_01: crazy um
• 53:02
  I like the excitement Alex don't apologize that's perfect thank
• 53:07
  you no I was
• 53:08
  apologizing for saying crazy I wasn't apologizing for the okay
• 53:11
  okay good I I in
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_01: terms of powers over appointments I
• 53:29
  the Senate has a lot of power over appointments and over the
• 53:31
  legislative schedule
• 53:33
  and those powers shouldn't be abused but Donald Trump is not
• 53:41
  nominating qualified
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: people and if a judge comes before the Judiciary Committee
• 53:52
  and cannot say who won the 2020 election and cannot say that
• 53:58
  Donald Trump is
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_01: ineligible for a third term,
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_01: then they are de facto unqualified.
• 54:05
  And it is therefore the responsibility of a senator to use
• 54:12
  their powers to halt
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: those nominees,
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_01: to to halt,
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_01: sorry,
• 54:23
  It is the responsibility of a senator to halt the nominee of
• 54:31
  the head of the
• 54:35
  Worldwide Wrestling Association who oversaw and looked the
• 54:41
  other way while sexual
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_01: abuse was running rampant in her company
• 54:46
  yeah to prevent her from overseeing an administration that she
• 54:51
  has fully intends to
• 54:53
  dismantle unconstitutionally and illegally that's not abusing
• 54:58
  the power of a
• 54:59
  senator that is prop that is the reason you have those powers
• 55:03
  and so yes the senate
• 55:04
  should be using the tools available to them to prevent them and
• 55:08
  if Donald Trump
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: wants to at some point
• 55:10
  change course and start just appointing qualified nominees that
• 55:14
  I disagree with.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_01: OK, I'll vote against them like a normal.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_01: But he hasn't been doing that.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_01: And until he starts doing that,
• 55:23
  we should be using more of the tools available to us to to get
• 55:27
  in the way,
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_01: to stall them,
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_01: to delay them,
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_01: to prevent them from reaching the Senate floor,
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_01: etc.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_01: And there are so many of those tools available.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I list them on my website.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_01: Alex are clean.
• 55:40
  and I list the powers of available to a United States Senator
• 55:50
  and how many powers
• 55:52
  an individual has or a group of five or a group of six has or a
• 55:56
  group of 30 things
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_01: you don't need 51 votes in the Senate to do that they're kind of doing.
• 56:05
  I love that thank you for that answer exercise because that's
• 56:09
  that's something that
• 56:09
  Democrats are afraid to do is exercise the power that they have
• 56:14
  to it's appropriate
• 56:15
  that we gave them yeah we gave them to do for exactly these
• 56:19
  reasons yeah and so
• 56:22
  Alex we've got about three three ish minutes left in our hour I
• 56:26
  want to give you
• 56:27
  the last couple minutes here to just speak uh for yourself um
• 56:32
  and I'll put you full
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_02: screen I wish I'd
• 56:35
  We Could Have The Opportunity For Chris To Also Be Able To Do
• 56:37
  This But We'll Have
• 56:38
  Him Back Again But I'll Get You Full Screen Here And Let You
• 56:43
  Platform Yourself And
• 56:44
  Your Campaign And Then We'll Close Out The Show And Say Goodbye
• 56:47
  For The Afternoon
• 56:48
  First Off Again Thank You So Much For Joining Us This Has Been
• 56:52
  Such A Wonderful
• 56:53
  Conversation And Thank You For Pushing Back So That We Can Have
• 56:57
  A Real Conversation
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: On Solutions On Why We Can't Just Go Halfway
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't push back to say, no, we can't do this.
• 57:06
  You pushed back and said,
• 57:07
  no,
• 57:08
  we can't do this without doing the next step,
• 57:11
  too.
• 57:12
  And Democrats and politicians have been missing that key
• 57:16
  component that gets people
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_02: excited,
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_02: that says,
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_02: yes,
• 57:20
  they're going to actually do it because they know what the fuck
• 57:22
  they're talking
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_02: about.
• 57:24
  And so,
• 57:24
  Alex,
• 57:25
  thank you so much for just coming up here and talking and being
• 57:30
  yourself with us.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_02: So for the last couple of minutes,
• 57:34
  promote yourself and your campaign and all the great things
• 57:38
  that you're doing and
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_02: are going to do when you become a senator for Massachusetts.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for the opportunity.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the opportunity.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me on.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'll start by sort of plugging Chris for a sec because Chris had to go.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_01: Chris Bennett for California 03.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_01: He's a good dude.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_01: He's a good candidate.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Alex McLean.
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  SPEAKER_01: I am running for US Senate in Massachusetts.
• 58:02
  I am running because Democrats are not showing signs of having
• 58:06
  learned from history
• 58:07
  or using history as their guide for how we approach this moment
• 58:11
  and how we get
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_01: ourselves out of it.
• 58:13
  We need to do way more to use the powers available to us to be
• 58:18
  pushing back now.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then when we are back in power,
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_01: if we don't start with structural reform,
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_01: if we don't start with expanding the court
• 58:27
  and Major Court Overhaul if we don't start with getting money
• 58:30
  out of politics we
• 58:31
  don't start with protecting voting rights and making elections
• 58:35
  more representative
• 58:36
  with ranked choice voting then we are going to find ourselves
• 58:42
  back in a situation
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_01: like this and accountability accountability for people who did wrong
• 58:48
  We are going to find ourselves back in a situation like this or
• 58:51
  worse in the near
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_01: future,
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_01: and we are not going to be able to accomplish any of our other goals.
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  We're not going to be able to accomplish environmental
• 59:00
  regulation or AI regulation or,
• 59:02
  you know,
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_01: Medicare for All or a Trans Bill of Rights.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_01: If we don't start with the structures that are blocking progress,
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_01: we have to talk about the reality of how we solve problems.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm running because I want to address that.
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  I want to fix problems and fix the systems that are preventing
• 59:20
  us from solving problems.
• 59:22
  If you liked any of that and liked any of what I had to say,
• 59:27
  help out the campaign.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many ways you can help.
• 59:30
  The easiest way you can help right now is honestly just to
• 59:32
  spread the word.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_01: Polling data in this race, there is limited polling data.
• 59:37
  It shows that very few people have heard about me,
• 59:39
  but the ones that have,
• 59:41
  like me.
• 59:43
  Half of the people who have heard of me are planning on voting
• 59:45
  for me in this
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_01: election,
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_01: but not a lot of people have heard of me yet.
• 59:49
  12% of people have heard of me,
• 59:51
  6% of people are planning on voting for me.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's way better hit rate than Senator Markey or Representative Mullen.
• 1:00:01
  So text some friends,
• 1:00:03
  tell some family members just that I exist,
• 1:00:06
  send them to my website.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_01: Most people seem to be liking what they hear.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_01: Massachusetts has a weird process for getting on the ballot.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_01: We have a Democratic Convention on May 30th.
• 1:00:20
  I need 15% of the vote at that Democratic Convention in order
• 1:00:24
  to stay on the ballot.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: If you are a delegate,
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you will support me.
• 1:00:30
  If you know a delegate,
• 1:00:31
  I hope you will talk to them and try and get them to support
• 1:00:34
  me.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to help that weekend,
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_01: May 29th and 30th,
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: just holding signs in Worcester,
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: Massachusetts,
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: that's also helpful too.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you want to help call delegates in the month leading up to that,
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_01: all of those are things you can do to help the campaign.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't want to support me,
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_01: I encourage you to support other primary challengers across the country.
• 1:00:56
  I think that primary challengers are going to be how we get the
• 1:01:00
  Democratic Party to
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_01: change and to improve and to make a more fair system going forward.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you guys for having me on.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for the opportunity to talk.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciated being here.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_01: I hope I didn't ramble too much at the end there.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_02: No, that was wonderful.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Alex.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_02: I really, really appreciate it.
• 1:01:19
  SPEAKER_02: Walter, any last words before we go?
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much, Alex.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_03: This is the second time we've talked.
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_03: I really like you.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_03: Your integrity shines through.
• 1:01:26
  I like that you just know about things and I get to actually
• 1:01:28
  learn something,
• 1:01:29
  which never happens with the guys that are sitting in office at
• 1:01:31
  this point.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I just think I want everybody to understand the people
• 1:01:36
  Deserve A Choice right the people deserve a choice and those of
• 1:01:40
  you out there you
• 1:01:41
  can go to platforms where people are talking to these you know
• 1:01:44
  new kind of
• 1:01:45
  candidates want to actually represent us want to have knowledge
• 1:01:48
  want to treat us
• 1:01:49
  respectfully just by showing up and who don't just talk the
• 1:01:52
  talk the walk the walk
• 1:01:53
  they come to these platforms and we are working together we
• 1:01:56
  appreciate each other's
• 1:01:57
  feedback so make sure you support Nick and I and Alex and we
• 1:02:01
  elevate these
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_03: platforms because
• 1:02:04
  The way the system is set up now,
• 1:02:06
  they've deprived you of choice in so many ways.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_03: They've done it sneakily.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_03: You haven't even recognized the choice has been taken from you.
• 1:02:13
  But we go into places where all they ever talk to is with the
• 1:02:15
  extreme right people.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_03: All we get is hate content.
• 1:02:19
  International Discussions but it's us making deliberate choices
• 1:02:22
  helping each other
• 1:02:23
  out telling each other about us and and it doesn't end here
• 1:02:27
  this primary whatever
• 1:02:28
  happens in this primary Alex will go on to the next election
• 1:02:32
  you know and we'll
• 1:02:32
  just we are not going to stop and Nick and I are not going to
• 1:02:35
  stop either bringing
• 1:02:36
  on primary candidates giving people the opportunity because
• 1:02:39
  these people have a
• 1:02:40
  right to be on the ballot because the districts should choose
• 1:02:42
  not DC and that's
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_03: what we're working for so we appreciate everybody's support
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Walter.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_02: And Alex,
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_02: we will make sure that this episode goes out soon,
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_02: hopefully by before the end of the day.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_02: I have friends in Massachusetts.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_02: I know folks out there.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you in the audience know anyone in Massachusetts,
• 1:03:02
  Make sure to send them this interview today and introduce them
• 1:03:05
  to Alex and get him
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_02: on their radar.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get Alex to like 20% at minimum.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_02: Let's make it so that Alex is on the ballot without any question,
• 1:03:18
  SPEAKER_02: where they can't question trying to push him off or make it so that,
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_02: oh,
• 1:03:23
  we just want to bend our rules a little bit and be less
• 1:03:26
  pro-democracy for a moment.
• 1:03:28
  let's make sure that people get to choose and so thanks
• 1:03:32
  everyone Alex thank you so
• 1:03:33
  much for being here with us today this was such a wonderful
• 1:03:36
  discussion Chris
• 1:03:39
  and thank you for being on with us earlier Eric I'm glad you
• 1:03:42
  got to jump on with us
• 1:03:43
  for a couple minutes everyone go have a great rest of your
• 1:03:46
  afternoon I'm Nick Paro
• 1:03:48
  this is Sick of this Shit Publications with my friend Walter
• 1:03:51
  Ryan and our guest
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_02: Alex Raclean as well as Chris Bennett and our friend Dr.
• 1:03:56
  Eric this was the Diogenes Club and we're done being sick of
• 1:04:00
  this shit here and now
• 1:04:01
  we're doing this shit so have a great day everyone thank you so
• 1:04:04
  much thanks Alex
• 1:04:05
  SPEAKER_02: talk again