Latest / Before You Speak / Before You Speak | Episode 49 | Live Streaming Executions, Good idea? Probably Not...
Transcript
- Elwyn: is there a time when people need to be punched in the mouth? Sure. Like it's never a bad time to punch a Nazi in the face. How you can't how you carry out a death sentence, if you're in a society or country that chooses to believe in death sentences, how you carry that out really says a lot about you. Derek Peterson: What's up y'all? Welcome back to the Before You Speak podcast. I am your host, Derek Peterson. and today I'm processing the fire hose of my newsfeed with this guy up here. But before he intros himself, we got some new people listening to the pod all of sudden. So if you are new to listening to us, welcome. And please like and subscribe. We have to start saying that, or people will never like and subscribe. But we have really enjoyed doing this for the last year and plan on continuing to do it. So like and subscribe, follow along, for all of our political hot takes. And then now Elwyn: Yeah. Derek Peterson: pass that off to you, Owen. Elwyn: Cool. Hey, I am Elwyn and Firehose of my newsfeed is filled with inflation, apparently, based on the numbers that came out this this week and the least surprising thing on earth that energy prices continue to go up and all our prices keep going up. but you know, relating to what you just said, I love and I'm just I I love the idea that there are people out there that have given their time to listen to us. you know, I think it's it's really great. And I hope that my takes and and our opinions together are helpful. and that you enjoy listening to this and that you do share it. I know for me I really like doing this. you know, the the more people listen the better. But it it's fun and it helps me a lot. And I hope that you know, when I listen to these back, a lot of times I find myself chuckling along. You know, I hope that you guys get Informed and also find some laughs and enjoy the pr the process and share it along. Derek Peterson: Yeah, you know, when we started this, we started this for the exact reason of why like why we're still doing it. We're processing literally what's going on around us because what we noticed is that it's really hard to find a people that have similar values, and b people that are really interested in actually kind of like trying to understand the topic as a whole and what's going on without just straight shitting on it. So it's actually trying to find a little bit of balance, even though You know, like you you lean really progressive. I probably would describe myself more as a moderate, but even in that, like we we still want to find the truth of it all, right? Like we're still looking to deliver our our takes based off of like, man, like filter them through the value systems that we've created and the historical data that we've looked up. We we do, I know both of us pay a lot of attention. to what's going on in our news feeds prior to shooting these podcasts and doing a little bit of research to make sure that we're on point and hopefully not just saying some dumb shit all the time. But yeah, I've really enjoyed doing it. So if you're new to this, thank you. And hopefully you stick around because I got some some blazing hot takes today. And by that I mean Elwyn: Hey man, last last week I I defended Donald Trump calling for the nuclear annihilation of two major American cities, so Derek Peterson: Well done, sir. Well done. Elwyn: Thank you. Derek Peterson: I mean, I still think it was a terrible take, but you know, I've I've had my fair share. just like I can't wait to pull out the popcorn for this Pete Hegseth firing squad live stream. I'm all about this, bro. Here, let me so the defense secretary Pete. Pete Hegzeth announced plans to publicly live stream the December 3rd firing squad execution of Nadal Hassan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at Fort Hood in 2009. The Pentagon confirmed the live stream plan, although President Trump has since indicated that the final decision is still being considered. Basically, he's like, Yeah, do we really want to repeat? you know what happened in Rome and every other like major civilization that's fallen. Are we headed back that direction or not? You know, like that's Elwyn: you think he's actually thinking about that? Derek Peterson: no. Elwyn: Okay. Derek Peterson: I mean, I kind of wish he was thinking about that, but no, I don't actually think he's thinking about that. So and I apologize, my apparently my light is broken. One Elwyn: Right. Derek Peterson: of them. that's staying off today. You guys are gonna have to see me in normal lighting. for those on YouTube. And if you're listening on Spotify or Apple, continue on. Elwyn: Yeah, and the the Hegseth thing is y it's not a death penalty debate, right? This isn't a this isn't a debate about whether or not this guy deserves the death penalty or the death penalty is humane or not. We can talk about Krista Pike, the woman in Tennessee, if we want to have that debate. This really is just like how far have we sunk as a society? And it's it's not at all surprising that the Heggseths of the world don't see this as like sinking as a society. They see it as just r returning to some era of eye for an eye, of accountability and justice. And yeah, you do this, we're gonna shoot you and we're gonna let everybody watch, just like we did in the village square, you know, in the 17, in the 16 and 1700s, without sort of acknowledging that we have advanced beyond that as a as a people, as a society, as humans. We've s understand now that Death can be done without just the indignity and public shaming of it all. you know, Trump he's only hemming and hawing because he sees the writing on the wall with this. He sees that this is probably incredibly unpopular. I did read that a bill, one senator, I think it was Republican senator, said, like, yeah, if they put a bill on the floor to stop this, it would it would scream through in about four seconds. Nobody wants Derek Peterson: Interesting. Elwyn: no Republicans want this. They see it for exactly what it is. And, you know, what will it be? It'll be a a guy, an extremist, who is in a wheelchair, right? So it's not, you know, that's not gonna be a great look no matter who who it is, where you're pumping bullets into a guy in a wheelchair who's gonna have now an internet audience to scream some extremist bullshit. And the rest of the world, the extremists around the rest of the world are gonna. See this as an opportunity to err. They're their hero, you know, who's being martyred for their cause at the hands of the Americans. Th there there's nothing about this that is a sane or good idea. And it's not even a tiny bit surprising that Heggseth would s would try to do this, and just the joy and the the the faux masculine gusto with which he announced it. It's just it's sick. Derek Peterson: Yeah. There's dude, there's so much here. The first being is that, okay, so the reason we my understanding of one of the big reasons why we stopped doing public executions in the first place and why most people have stopped doing public exe ex executions across the world is because you're essentially platforming extremists. They're getting the opportunity to like get their message out and then I'm furthermore look like a martyr in the process. Very rarely, even if the person the murder is justified, the They they deserve what the is coming to them. The actual visualization and realization of it happening in public is never as like as satisfactory, I think, as people might think it will like will be. Furthermore, that person's message now becomes across stronger, at least to to some people, people that might even be on the fence about believing in their cause or whatever the reason is why they did it. So there's that. So basically you're you're platforming that. The other part of this is the same shit we've been talking about forever. And one of the reasons we started the podcast is that we believe that we, meaning me, I believe that this is an attempt to turn America into an authoritarian regime. And the show of force, which we've discussed on numerous t occasions about how ICE is operating in the US right now. This is just the next lay layer of that, is basically like, yeah. it's a show that the US military will use a firing squad against you. And once that video is out, then the threat of doing it to somebody else or a political rival or some some anybody else is is now on the table. And that is gonna be terrifying to a lot of people, and that's the shit that needs to get stopped. and my hope is is that yeah, the GOP wakes up and the people that claim to actually believe. What like if you are a Christian and you're at all rooting for any of this, like go fuck yourself because like none of this should fall in line with anything that you like believe in at all. Elwyn: I got a message from someone on Instagram yesterday who sent me a reel about this, and that was his comment was like, as a Christian, this this just offends me deeply on on a core level. But beyond beyond that the sort of authoritarian state piece of this, there is a glorification of violence that is that has always been associated since twenty fifteen and and Trump's first campaign. When he would stand there and be like, God, knock the shit out of them, you know, like I'll pay the legal bills. There's just this glorification of the idea that violence is the good, right, and just way to comport yourself. And, you know, look, is there a time when people need to be punched in the mouth? Sure. Like it's never a bad time to punch a Nazi in the face. but y How you can't how you carry out a death sentence, if you're in a society or country that chooses to believe in death sentences, how you carry that out really says a lot about you. I mean, we see it in like Hollywood shit all the time, where you know, Ned Stark in the first episode, he's like, No, I have to do the execution. I have ordered it. It is my solemn duty to carry it out where he understands, you know, this is not a small thing. This is taking a life, and you can say the life deserves to be taken. But how you do these things says a lot about you and it it's part and parcel with the overall glorification of violence. I know you saw the photo, which means that you probably saw the video of the woman at the Trump rally a couple of days ago. You know, this woman was wearing a release the Epstein Files at the at a Trump rally and she got the shit kicked out of her. Right? This a guy like the the photo that I that you commented on is just unbelievable. Because it's a bunch Derek Peterson: Yeah. Elwyn: of dudes in red hats screaming, just all men, all men standing around her, and one guy in a Jesus safes hat. Don't come on. Derek Peterson: Just Elwyn: you know, they're all, all these men, white men in these red hats, these red MAGA Trump hats, all just screaming at her. The anger on their faces is unbelievable. And she's sitting there looking right at the camera with two middle fingers up. And you know, that's a still photo, but right after that, some guy just started unloading her, punching her in the face. Like and Trump is cheering that on. And I refuse to believe that enough people in this country believe that that is a a sane society, that that is actually who we are. I acknowledge that there are millions who do it believe that that's who we are, but we can't let that we can't let that be. It We are we have to be better than that. Derek Peterson: No, no, the what they should be pissed about is the fact that we're allowing billionaires to, you know, rape children and get away with it. which is and then watching the biggest grifter in the history of grifters fleece everybody and somehow convince the people around him that this that well and to be honest, Trump if there's one thing Trump has done, he's delivered on his promise to billionaires. He's made them more money and covered up All of their bullshit, all of the crimes they've committed and everything else that's going on, he's effectively covered up and pardoned all of them. So if there has ever been a president that is doing his actual job, what he is paid to do, it's this one. The problem is that his job is to essentially just make sure that all of the people that are committing crimes around him don't end up in jail and don't lose their their money. And It's fucking terrible. and infuriating to watch. And there could not be more of a like that photo was just I to be honest, I almost want to have it framed in my house for like it. It's Elwyn: Unbelievable picture. Derek Peterson: that picture is fantastic. It might it's like one of the it that photo I hope lives on for a very long time. So Elwyn: You could never stage that photo as well as that I that photographer should get a Pulitzer for that fucking it's Derek Peterson: Yeah, it's Elwyn: an un it's just an incredible picture. Derek Peterson: I wish I had downloaded it, I would have showed it on the pod, but I didn't. So well, let's move on from there. jump into some lighter news, which is actually lighter news. The GOP spreads debunked mental health story about Elwyn: yeah. Derek Peterson: James Tallerico, which so Texas Republicans and conservative influences started circulating claims that Democratic Senate candidate James Tallerico Had been admitted to a psychiatric facility despite his campaign saying he was recovering at home from the flu. And the guy's also a type one diabetic. So when you get other sicknesses as a type one diabetic, you act you genuinely have to take additional time off. and then the facility reportedly had denied that he'd ever been a patient there. And apparently the these guys just kept calling and trying to coax a Get something out of them. And apparently the woman, like at trying to get them off the call, said something that they held on to and then allowed the they cut off, they spliced the conversation for a second, that got out. And then once as soon as somebody heard the full conversation, they're like, this is complete bullshit. And then finally, James Tallerico releases ring cam footage of him at his house while he was being sick to prove it wrong. And then to the icing on the cake in all of this was Fox News then reporting their disgruntledness with James Tallerico for sitting on his ring camp footage for a week while this story ran. And it's like, dude, this is just the it is gaslighting. This is at to the core of gaslighting. I'm like, man, I every time I deal hear stories like this, I get triggered and like. I'm like, am I back in my first marriage again? Like this is terrible. Elwyn: Yeah, it it's the incompetent buffoonery, like to me is what sticks out here where they're just desperate to create some some narrative. It gets blown up right away. And rather than you know, it it rather than just be like, d I'm not gonna say anything else about this. I'm just gonna move on to the next thing that I can make up and and this'll go away. Right? Had had they just stopped once the the the facility in Ohio was like, no, he wasn't here. Had they just been like, Cool, not gonna talk about this anymore, everybody would have forgotten in twenty four hours. It wasn't until all that happened that I even heard about it. Right? Like and then Yeah. So it's like it Derek Peterson: Correct. Yeah, 'cause this was deep into the MAGA sphere. Like it this was not getting Elwyn: Yeah, this was right. This was deep in. Derek Peterson: unlocked unlocked until until it was the until it was fully debunked and then it was like the yeah, this was the dumbest thing to ever come out and then it hit national the national stage. Elwyn: Yeah, what once it was debunked, I don't even think that it was the debunking that made it national news. It was the continued insistence that it happened after the debunking. It's like it's the Streisand effect, right? Where the the more you talk about something that you want to bury, the that you or that you wish nobody knew about, the more people are gonna know about it. but in the meantime, by the way, Ken Paxton was overseas at a party with two fucking people on the DOJ watch list for financing, I think terrorism. You know, so cool. Right? We know where Talarico Derek Peterson: Yeah. No, they were Elwyn: was, we also know where Paxton was. You know, he was getting a whole bunch of money from some pretty bad dudes. Derek Peterson: Yeah, so it's Samir Suhail. He was a Chicago-based physician and healthcare entrepreneur, and apparently he they his company had stolen embezzled millions and millions of dollars from the hospital that they were working in, which is what what he was but also that guy had all was already so when that video was taken in 2024. That that guy had already fled the country. So that he was a that he was a felon. Like that guy was wanted for crimes in the US. and then that guy also donated, I think, a hundred and ninety thousand to Elwyn: thousand. Derek Peterson: to Ken Paxton's campaign. So but this just goes back to like, okay, let's just overview this, like zoom out for a second. Republicans. You can't find shit on James Talarico because he's a decent human being. And your solution is to just keep throwing shit at the fan to see if anything sticks. In what world does this like can we just find better candidates? Like, there were at one point in life Republican candidates that were worthy of being in the Senate and in Congress and and also in the White House. This is the fix is actually far simpler than than what you're making it out to be. And the fix is actually just find a fucking decent human being to run for your party. Somebody that d is not as corrupt as Ken Paxton is and has done breaking basically broken every law you can imagine. Elwyn: I mean, Ken Paxton, he's a uniquely terrible candidate. And we see that in in Cornyn campaigning. I guess it it's not completely accurate to say that campaign Cornyn is campaigning against him, but he's doing everything except campaigning against him. You know, but it and it's beyond Texas. You're right. Like Democrats, for the first time in a long time, have a decent roster of good candidates, of candidates who like You El Sayed, I don't agree with him on a on a main issue, right? But he is a good candidate. Mamdani is a good candidate. Talerico is a good candidate. Josh Turek in in Iowa is a good candidate. These are all really good candidates. You know, but you have Paxton in Texas. You have Roger Marshall in in Kansas. This guy's just a complete piece of shit, right? Like the Derek Peterson: Dude. Elwyn: stories about him billing thousands of dollars in late fees for patients for like a seventy dollar or s or a couple hundred dollar office visit. You know, these people are the worst of the worst, and that's who they're putting up. Derek Peterson: Who's the the ki the dude in yeah, the guy in Colorac Colorado, Victor Marks. The Elwyn: my god, yeah. Derek Peterson: d d that dude it might be one of the worst of all of And that's hard to Elwyn: The guy in Texas, the the the one who who calls kids cum trophies. You know, like these the in in Georgia, you know, John Ossoff is who's all another really good candidate. He's demolishing Mike Rogers on the debate stage by saying you're running the Third Reich out of your office, you know, because Mike Rogers has a whole bunch of family members who are like basically neo-Nazis and post about it all the time. You know, so It's a unique moment for Democrats to to do really well in this election. And I think that probably their ineptitude over the last eight eight years or so is what's given rise to these candidates. but I think you're exactly right. Like like Republicans, I mean, what are they supposed to do if they with Paxton? Right? They can't not try to win Texas. They have the the the idea of a Republican losing Texas. But he won the primary. Derek Peterson: Dude, the dude never should have been on the ballot. It like i okay he won the primary probably Elwyn: He won the primary. You know, democracy in action. Derek Peterson: fair fair point. Well, this actually bleeds a little bit into our next story because I think it's w it they're directly tied. Elon Musk reportedly pours 366 million into the year midterms. And this is after him saying he was gonna cut spending after his last endeavor because of how ugly things got in politics. So or after his political run with Doge in the White House. But Elon Musk has reportedly spent approximately 366 million supporting Republican candidates and political organizations during the 2026 election cycle. His contributions include major funding for Republican Alliance, super PACs, raising that were raising, you know. questions and can't about billionaire campaign finance and political influence. But like, dude In this climate, we all know that the amount of money that you are spending to support a political candidate is doing one of two things for you. Either A, it's an investment that is going to 10x or more its return, like the return is gonna be 10x or more, or b, it's a tax write-off. And there is there is no world where the amount of money that the GOP is spending on these candidates to get them elected, and the pack money that is flowing in, this is fundamentally the problem in our country right now. This should be screaming to everybody. The just this amount of money alone is telling you that they have no interest in supporting what's best for the people. Every single person that it's accepting this money from Elon is going to turn around and give Elon A pass so he doesn't end up in prison or b government contracts so he makes more money and continues to have these outrageous you know multipliers for his businesses. Dude, Tesla and SpaceX are two companies that have no business trading on the stock market at the at what they're trading at, according to just about every analyst you'll ever speak to. And they do it solely based on the fact that A, Elon Musk talks about shit that people don't understand, meaning like space travel and building data centers. And then B gets a bunch of government contracts as a result of it. So th this is essentially what and he knows what he's doing. He's buying this money will the three hundred and sixty six million is if Republicans get elected, I can almost guarantee you Produces billions and billions more for Elwyn: Yeah, we're at $2 billion spent in this election cycle, which is 50% more than the last, I think midterm, to be fair. I I don't think that it's the 2024 presidential election. Two billion dollars in like mega donor and super PAC spending. And super PACs are mostly, you know, a few hundred donors or a few dozen donors even will get together and form a super PAC. And there's almost no spending by the national parties anymore because it's all they don't have to they can now collaborate pretty openly with super PACs. The candidates are the the idea that there's some separation between a candidate and a super PAC I think is widely agreed to be a complete legal fiction. But yeah, they that I don't even think it's B. It's pure A. They are buying shit. They are buying policies. They're buying legislation they're buying regulations or lack thereof. Right, Elon Musk spent 260 something million dollars in 2024. What did he get? He got to be in charge of Doge, he got to run crazy like a horse in a hospital, through our private records, through government agencies. He got to defang any agency that was investigating him and make sure that there were no no more investigations going into any of his companies. That investment probably paid off tenfold at least. So, of course it's worth it. And the biggest donors going on right now. I think of the top twenty, like sixteen of them are Republicans. And they're the Mark Andreessens of the world, right? They're the they're the Elon Musks of the world. What do they want? They want data centers. They want AI, right? They want the shit that the population of this country is saying loud and clear that they do not want. It is as it's almost as plain a battle as you could ever find, where the policies that these donors are all supporting are exactly the ones. that the people who actually live in this country don't want any part of. and if it's ever gonna Derek Peterson: Yeah. Two you're Elwyn: break, it's gonna break now. It has to, because how how much Derek Peterson: Has to. Elwyn: more obvious could it be? Derek Peterson: Yeah. Yeah, it's any candidate that's accepting money from Republican super PACs is basically, and if you're voting for it, what you're voting for is that you're about to give over the rights to these people, these billionaires, to build data centers, take our water, take our infrastructure, and take our power, and then charge us for it. So like they are they and they know exactly what they're doing. That none of this is like even at this is a Google search aways. So if you have a Republican friend, send them a link to get them outside their algorithm for a split second so they see something that's slightly different. Because this is what's crazy is like people like people's algorithms are so tuned to not seeing this if you're in the the magosphere or like that world. You have A lot of them have no idea how much of this money is flowing in on the Republican side because Fox News is never gonna report this. Newsmax is never gonna report this. And then all the Republican influencers are bought off by these billionaires as well. So they they're all of their talking points, they're becoming the cable television or the the what's that Sinclair that bought all the Elwyn: yeah. Yep. Derek Peterson: yeah, that like MAGA influences are now basically like a Sin Sinclair style, you know, news organization where Hey, somebody from the top is gonna feed you your talking points for the day. You're gonna get on your platform, scream about it for a minute, and then move on. And it's just, dude, if they, if anybody you are voting for is accepting money from these companies or these packs, you're about to get screwed. So just know it. Elwyn: Yeah, that's right. And and in the AI space, the beauty of it is that the Andreessans and the Sam Altmans, they're extremely open about saying out loud multiple times, no, we think humanity should make sacrifices. We think that you should use you should suffer from having less clean water so that we can have AI data centers. You know, it's like I don't I don't care what AI is supposed to promise. D it's not more important than clean water for human beings. What the fuck are we even talking about? How and and they say it with a straight face. And these are the people that are buying this that are seeking to buy this election. You know, there was a a clip I saw of an activist, a community activist, and this woman was great. She was very, very well spoken at a local municipal board meeting. She was saying, you know how the people in this town feel. You know. How we all feel about data centers. We've been very clear about it. There should be no doubt in your mind how the people you represent feel about this issue, right? And that's it's exactly right. It's exactly right. The people who these who are representatives represent, you know, I'm I'm gonna my district is probably gonna go to Chris Gober, who is absolutely an Elon Musk acolyte, right? Because Elon Musk is pouring money into CD 10 in Texas, which is where I am. Because he wants to build data centers in Giddings and in Bastrop. He has a lot of property. this guy, Chris Gober, is not going to represent the people of the 10th Congressional District of Texas. He's going to represent the interests of Elon Musk. And it doesn't matter if you paper it over with this is actually good for you, silly people, because then it's just like, no, fuck you. You don't know what's good for me. You know, like I decide what's good for me. You decide what's good for you and we can come to different conclusions. You might want an AI data center. I might not want one. Right? But the whole point is that we decide that shit. Not the the not the billionaire who has billions in interest tied to this issue. Derek Peterson: Yeah. Dude, the data center thing is so clear cut. Dude, anybody that lives near or around a data center will tell you how awful it is, which is why everybody is pushing back against this. So, and the problem is that rather than actually figuring out another way and figuring out a proper way to build out data centers, like actually owning the infrastructure, having to build out the power source for them, having to like find be more innovative. Instead, they're just buying our politicians and then taking our public water and our energy and driving up the cost. And everybody's like, wait, what? How is this happening? But there could not be a clearer example of us getting hosed by our politicians than data centers. And if if the if Republicans keep control, I I have a feeling, I mean, the it this this could end up poorly for everybody when all said and done. Elwyn: Did you hear the the data center in Virginia? Did you hear about the data center in Virginia that it went down, power went down for 24 hours, so it had to run on diesel generators. And the fumes from the diesel generators were so bad that everybody living, you know, within like a two block radius had to evacuate their homes for twenty four hours. You know, it's like there's there's two levels to the data center. There's the do we need this debate? Which is like, okay, let's have this debate. Then there's the are these safe for humans to live near? Derek Peterson: Yeah. Elwyn: that's a that's a very that's that should not be a debate. That should be a you have to prove that they're safe before it's built, right? It can't it cannot possibly be that we live in a world where if you live near a data center, you have to leave if they if they have to run on diesel generators. But that is the world that they seek. Because they don't give a shit about an individual person. They say they care about humanity, but you cannot care about humanity if you don't care about humans. Derek Peterson: Yeah. That is a thousand percent cor correct. And Republicans, you know when you see those maps of like population and like Republicans will post it and be like, Look, how is how are Democrats winning elections when you know like the majority of the country is is you're like Elwyn: Yeah yeah. The the land doesn't vote maps. Derek Peterson: yes you're like the land doesn't vote, bro. I was like, Well they Also remember how the land doesn't vote. That's exactly where they want to plop down all of your their data centers. So for all the all of you that are complaining about living in the middle of the country and the people on the exterior of the country that live on the coasts controlling shit, you know, like this is this is the issue that falls in your back on your back porch. You know, like this is the thing that like, yeah, they they have made it clear that they will you know. That you're not building a data center in Los Angeles or New York, like in like anywhere near w a major Elwyn: You c you can't get the land. Derek Peterson: you can't get the land. You can't you can't do anything at scale that you would need to do. So they they have to go to these rural areas. They have to take so all of these farmers, ranchers, people that you know, good old boys, like, you know, this is really their battle more than almost everybody else. And the I the irony of it all is that the left is the ones that are coming to the table and being like, no, we do we don't even want to allow this for you. Like we we care about this enough to keep you to to not allow you to fuck yourself. So like come on. But well anything else you want to hit on that? Elwyn: Yeah, I think anybody who posts one of those maps, the Landozan vote maps, should be required to drive from here to El Paso, from Austin to El Paso. And and then just be like, Derek Peterson: Yes. It's good enough. Elwyn: I get it. There's four people in the last hour. And they yes, they all vote red, but there's four of them. Derek Peterson: Yes, correct. There's there there's four of them. That is a thousand percent. Yeah, like you half the time like the gas stations aren't even manned. You're like, yeah, there's nobody here. They just they're like, Yeah, we're not Elwyn: I've had to I've had to get gas at one of those because I was gonna run out of gas in a pretty pretty bad place to run out of gas. Not great. Derek Peterson: Yes. Not great. Well, all right. Well, let's jump into the Kimberly Guilfoy situation. So the Kimberly Guild Foy Elwyn: More corruption. Derek Peterson: more corruption. It's all all the way around, which again, like this is just the it's just repeatedly the same thing. Like i if anything we have seen how shitty Republican values This administration has just shined a light on all of it. It's like literally corruption, hate, and murder. So, like, that's what it's boiling down to. Ice get people that we don't that don't look like us out of the country, steal everybody's money, and then you know, plaster everything in gold around us and make our lives more luxurious. Let's buy more islands and more yachts and everything else. But Kimberly Gilfoyle reportedly resigned as the US Embrass reportedly resigned. I'm sure that's actually how that went down. 'cause in her signal text she Elwyn: Yes. Derek Peterson: was literally like, You're gonna get me fired, bro. But Elwyn: There's no question that she she had a a coming of age moment and said, I've been nakedly corrupt. I no I'm no longer suited for this office. That's absolutely the way it went down. Derek Peterson: Correct. Yeah. So she she reportedly resigns as the US ambassador to Greece following the allegations that she sought financial assistance from a political donor while offering access to people within the Trump administration. So this story is also hilarious because like the Daily Show ran the bit on it. The guy that It was paying her is absolutely exactly who you would think is trying to gain access to. He reminds me of the My Pillow Guy or whatever that was. Like, Elwyn: Mike Lindell. Derek Peterson: yeah, just same, same energy across the board. And one of the stipulations was that he wanted to get his demo to Kid Rock. And as somebody As somebody that previously worked in the music industry. this was just so fantastic because I've heard so many of these demos over the course of my life where somebody was trying to get an in and they genuinely thought that what they did was like their music was was awesome. and they just have no gauge for reading like the overall scope of like artistry around music and that genre. this was literally the worst. Like the song is so bad. You could Elwyn: you listened to it? Derek Peterson: dude, it is absolutely awful. Like Kid Rock, there's a re kid rock would a never and if he did respond to it, it'd be hilarious. But dude, you have AI apps that can produce something like 10,000 times f superior to this in like 30 seconds. So like the whole thing is just ridiculous. But yeah, I mean Kimberly Gilfoy basically being like, yo. You need to pay off my credit card and then we'll get your demo to Kid Rock. I'm like, what world art this is so great, bro. Elwyn: I feel like th there's like I have special appreciation and and it is like appreciation. I deeply appreciate someone who can fuck up corruption in the Trump administration, fuck up their own corruption so badly that they get bounced from the ambassadorship of Greece, which is an ambassadorship that nobody gives a shit about ever. Right? Derek Peterson: Yes. Elwyn: That they can fuck it up so badly that they're like, Yeah, you can't be there anymore. This was really bad, you know. Either that Derek Peterson: Mm-hmm. Elwyn: or like she she pissed off Trump Jr.'s new new wife, or she didn't, you know, pay homage to the Trump family, moving a little bit of of that money like a mob boss, you know, you gotta you gotta pay the pay the VIG a little bit. but no, just the idea that the that these Folks sit around texting each other like, yeah, why don't you send me a hundred grand to my Amex? That way it'll just show up as an Amex expense. And the guy is responding like, Hey, I'm not stupid. I've already paid 200,000. I need to see results. Like you and I texting about Arch Manning throwing a pick in the fourth quarter again. You know, Derek Peterson: Yeah. Elwyn: it it's that easy, it's that obvious. And she still fucked it up. You know, it's like, yeah, I I I actually like deeply appreciate that. Derek Peterson: Yes. Elwyn: Thank you, Kimberly Gilfoyle, for providing some levity. Derek Peterson: Well, and this is like, you know, last week we talked a little bit about the the Trump sons, Don and Eric getting a six billion dollar contract for one of their companies from the Pentagon. and it this is like the hundred thousand dollars for like an ambassador to Greece is like such small potatoes compared to like everything else that's going on as far as the corruption in this administration and everything beyond it. But It's just a glaring example about of how awful and to be honest, like even overtly like dude, had if she had she just not responded to those texts to validate the fact that they were Elwyn: Yeah. Derek Peterson: that they were what was going on was going on, like that's probably enough to like keep this at bay and not have it come out. But because she had responded to the texts, once the guy took them to a journalist or Whoever ended up breaking the story, they're like, she literally was like validating the story by saying, Hey, stop texting me. I'm gonna lose my job. Stop leaving a paper trail for this. It's just like, my God. this is like, it's like me catching one of my kids stealing like sugar out of the pantry and being like, Hey, did you just take that? And they're like, No. Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's still in their mouth, and they're Elwyn: They just late ate the last powdered donut and there's sugar all over their face. Yeah. Derek Peterson: I didn't cheat, I didn't eat that. Elwyn: Yeah. She she got a call from somebody like, Hey, did you do this? No. No. Well here's a text. shit. It's Derek Peterson: ready for i'm ready for this to be over man i'm ready for us to be i i'm ready for like actual policy to start like working and i will say this the one the beautiful thing that's starting to happen outside of like so like obviously we're seeing a lot of the debates happen across the country and like the debates are kind of ugly when they get into the culture wars like bullshit but like when you actually like Get some of these moments where some of the Democratic candidates are actually talking about policy and trying to redirect to the issues that matter and stay out of this. It is so refreshing. So, like, I mean, my hope is is that hopefully this is the bottom. Hopefully, this is as as bad as it's gonna get before we start to turn this ship around. Because if it gets much worse, it's I think it's gonna get a lot worse. So Elwyn: Well, we have to, you know, elections are st are three weeks away, right? If assuming for a moment that the polls are accurate and the Democrats take fifty-two or fifty-three seats in the Senate and they have, let's say, a 20-seat majority in Congress. If anti-corruption measures are not placed on the president's desk with incredible speed, then they're just completely fucking up. The like the the people I believe the people in this country want those measures to be passed. And the Democrats have to do it. They have an opportunity here, but it's not a gift, right? It's it there are strings attached to this opportunity. and they have to see that. And I think some of them do, but you know, Sherrod Brown, who's running in in Ohio, before I came on, I saw this and I was like, I gotta work this in. So I'm working this in. They asked him if he would support impeaching Trump, and this motherfucker said no. You know, it's like, no, no, wrong answer. Yes, you have to support impeaching Trump. Yes, you have to pass the s the Stock Act and prevent trading of stocks by public officials, and yes, you have to restore anti-corruption investigations and mechanisms and laws. You must do all of that, even though it prevents you from becoming rich. because of the corruption that's enabled. Right? You we we have Derek Peterson: That's what we need. Elwyn: to have public servants monitor public servants. And if Derek Peterson: It's that. Elwyn: the Go ahead. Derek Peterson: No, I was gonna say it's that is you're you're a thousand percent correct. And pay these motherfuckers more money. Look, all of Elwyn: Pay him more money. Derek Peterson: dude, all of you vote to give yourself a raise to c offset the corruption. We just need the fucking corruption over. So, like we dude, we as Americans will f I I can almost guarantee you we will proudly support an increase in pay to all senators, congresspeople, and every public official if that means that we actually take. corruption seriously because this is a bipartisan issue. There's a few things that if you just put them, you just said, hey, like, which ironically enough, I think the Epstein files would be also a bipartisan partisan issue. There's a number of things that if you just put them in front of people and take took all of the the who is and out of the politics, like who's in power and currently and all of that stuff. And you were just like, look, there's a Potential pedophile ring of bil billionaires, you know, trafficking young girls, like almost everybody across the country, no matter what you vote for, is gonna be like, we want that exposed. okay, good. man, we are we're we're gonna end corruption in the government and stop allowing money to flow through our our you know, our Congress and our senators so that they can vote in line with their constituents and the places that they vote. everybody across the board is probably like yeah, yeah, w we totally want that. and I Elwyn: I'll say I'll say this though, like I agree with you that they should have a raise. I completely agree. But I don't think that that would swing with the American public. You know, I I think if I even if it were in the most favorable light possible, I think if you know if it were like, okay, here's a bill that's gonna overturn Citizens United, it's gonna outlaw super PACs, it's gonna cap donations, it's gonna treat corporations like what they are for donation purposes, not corporations are people, none of this bullshit. We're gonna Let's go crazy. We're gonna have an eight-week or a 12-week election cycle. It's gonna be it put the best anti-corruption money out of politics bill in front of us. And I don't think that people trust politicians enough to give them a raise. So I I think you're right. I think they should have a raise, and I think that that would go a long way to help it, but I don't think that that would work right now. but at the very least, what the Democrats need to be doing in this case is. Making that have screaming that debate, showing right, who is opposed to it. If they take office, right, if because if they win, there's no question that there's a large number of people who are begrudgingly voting for the Democrats. Cause they don't really see another option, but they're sick and tired of this bullshit. You know, or they're just sick and tired of paying seven dollars a gallon for diesel, you know, four Derek Peterson: Yeah. Elwyn: dollars a gallon Texas for gas. So they're like, Well, I guess I gotta vote for the Democrats. You know, if If they see the Democrats screaming loudly, we need to stop corruption in government. And now that we have the power, this is what we're going to focus on right away. And they see the other side fighting to stop that. If they see Trump vetoing a bill like that, it buys years of trust that the Democrats can run on. And they have to see that. And I I don't trust they'll see it, but like the point is that it has to change. But right away, the Democrats have to there has to be one party seen as willing to make the change, as willing to fight for the change. Derek Peterson: Yeah, we've talked about this at length. There has to be Democrats, if you get power and you are unwilling to wield that power for the good of the American people, y'all can go fuck yourself too. Because I'm dumb with you. Like this is like if Democrats win the House and the Senate back and there is not serious push for change, and all of this ends up being like, you know, talking points and a reason to get elected and then the same run of the mill bullshit where we're dealing with the same level of corruption just in a much more polite tone because it's Democrats who don't hate trans people. Like, yeah, like I'm still out. Like, yeah, you may not hate trans people, but you're still pickpocketing my wallet and I'm I'm done with you. Elwyn: Yeah, if you're Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumer, I feel like you have to recognize there is probably no district in the country where anti-corruption is a losing issue. You know, there might be districts in the country, who the fuck knows where they want data centers and running against AI is actually a loser for that candidate for that seat. That you know, there there might there are absolutely, you know, different seats and different districts around the country where what works in Suburban New York does not work in rural Iowa, right? No question about it. But I just don't think for one second that there is any House seat that they that the Democrats could have where standing firmly against corruption and standing firmly on cleaning up money in politics is not just a complete winner across the country, right? So you have to stand for it. You can't get lost into like internacene politics about like, well, this is bad in the Midwest and this is bad in the Southeast. It's fucking good everywhere. So if you win, go do it. Derek Peterson: Yeah. you are correct there. Well, last topic for today, and then we'll get to you telling somebody, you know, what we tell every week. you c Ukraine, this was interesting, and this could be potentially a shorter topic here because you you know Ukraine stroke strikes Russian data centers immediately after the those strikes. the data centers that they had sh had hit with bombs and blew up and with there was a video of all the fire like steaming up. But the bots on X and Threads particularly started to significantly see a decrease. Like people are posting things that they normally post and the Discord in the comments section and everywhere else is just a thousand percent better. and then Elon Musk goes on to say You know, Ukraine has gone too far and striking these data centers, which, you know, that in and of itself is just a terrible statement because, you know, you weren't saying things like that when the US struck an all-girls school in Iran. It's just if if this thing benefits that benefits you in some way, shape, or form gets hit, now it's a step too far. And apparently it has because this I just reading a report today that Starlink is restri restrictions are starting to raise questions about private control in warfare because ukrainian f officials are now reporting that yeah like SpaceX's Starlink is having service disruptions for all the Ukrainians right now and their drone operations. and Elon Musk they're they're claiming that this isn't happening, but I mean come on. We just talked about the level of corruption and bullshit that they're they've been feeding us and all of the awful shit they're doing. And so you can thread this needle pretty easily. Like this is like putting a needle through a fucking giant hoop at the moment. Elwyn: I I cannot envision any way, shape, or form where I was affected by that those data centers blowing up except for the bots going down. So, you know, when Elon Musk is like, this is really terrible for humanity and blah, blah, blah. It's like, no, bro, it means nothing. We blew a bunch of them up and and we all kept moving around and doing what we did and there was no change and you know, people didn't die because their cancer medication stopped being administered according to the AI algorithm that was administering it. That it just didn't happen. All that happened was the stupid bot noise in our lives went away and our and and our social media got a little cleaner for a couple days. And that's bad to Elon Musk. Like again, goes back to what we were talking about before, right? They are uninterested in the things that make our lives better. Now the Starlink thing is another really like I've talked about this before And I think this is an underappreciated issue in this day and age, which is how much power does one individual have over world events? Right? And Derek Peterson: Mm-hmm. Elwyn: to me, the the whole Starlink thing, you know, it translates into meta with with Zuckerberg and AI with a few people, but it is just unsustainable for Freedom and democracy and equality and fairness in any way, shape, or form when one person can throttle the internet and disrupt a war. Like I'm I'm sure Elon Musk has a dog in the hunt. Great. Good for him. Like I'm glad he's rich enough to have a dog in that hunt. But that doesn't mean that he that any single person, him or anyone else, should ever have that amount of power. Right? I don't that's why I don't want government contracts to go to Starlink to Route out broadband internet across the United States. Because what's to stop, you know, that from happening from Trump awarding these contracts to Elon Musk and Starlink goes up around the country and all of a sudden, great, all these schools in in Turlingua and all these other places have better broadband internet, but then a Democrat comes into the Oval Office and tells Elon Musk to go pound sand and reinitiates the Consumer Protection Protection Financial Bureau and the NTSB and they start investigating Elon Musk and he says, Well, fuck you, I'm shutting off the internet. For the American people. Right? Derek Peterson: Mm-hmm. Elwyn: Like we it it's just unsustainable when one person has so much power over basic utilities. And the internet, internet access is and should be treated now as a basic public utility, just like phone lines and and power. Derek Peterson: Yeah, a thousand percent agreed. I the this dude I don't know how this ends any other way than either this dude ends up running the world or this ends dude ends up being charged with like a myriad of different crimes at some point for just gaslighting all of us and probably doing some really terrible shit at some point. Because There's one common thread between all these billionaires and all these tech giants, and it's just their lack of any kind of humanity. Like none of them value human life the way that most of us do. in that, you know, I personally believe that we're all uniquely made and special and have value and purpose for being on this earth. at least I hope so. the clearly they just have a completely different ideal about how humans Th what their value is and on this earth and planet and what their purpose is. Yeah. Elwyn: Subordinate. I mean to to they've said as much, right? Like I'm not I'm not being weird or or extremist. They believe that human beings are subordinate to the technology that they're working on. Clean water, human health, human spending is all subordinate to the tech that they're working on. And no, I I I don't think that I'm a you know staking some crazy claim or dying on some weirdo hill to say that I don't agree that my life or your life or Human life is subordinate to the tech interests of Sam Alderman, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel. Derek Peterson: I would agree. so can we tell them all to shut the fuck up today? Is that what we're doing? Elwyn: Need something more specific. I almost went Sam Altman last week, but this week I'm going, I don't this is our second time? Is that Sophie Cunningham should shut the fuck up? Okay. Player for the Indiana Derek Peterson: that didn't. Elwyn: fever who went to some like she went to Nebraska for college. Derek Peterson: I think this is our second I think I think this is our second Sophie Cummy Cunningham. Shut the f shut the fuck up. Well I'm Elwyn: It might be. But it's gonna be like half Sophie Cunningham and half some media commentators. So Sophie Derek Peterson: Okay. Elwyn: Cunningham was being like recognized at a at a University of Nebraska thing, because I think that's where she went, and she was wearing a hat that said, not sis, just a woman. Sis C I S, I had to look this up a couple of years ago. Is cisgendered means that you're normally gendered. It's frankly That word should shut the fuck up too, in my mind. Like it's it's an example of us changing the language in a way that makes that that clouds the actual demand or or cause for human rights where people are like, now I gotta be caused I have to be called a cis man. Like, come on, we're going too far with this. But why couldn't she just, you know, be honored? Right? And if you say, Elwyn, she has a right to speak, I agree with you. She does have a right to speak. So if I'm not willing to tell Sophie Cunningham to shut the fuck up, I'm gonna tell all the people who are like the shut the fuck up and dribble crowd to shut the fuck up, right? Because it's completely clear that it's not the idea of an athlete shouldn't have a political voice, it's that the athlete should share your political voice, right? It's not Ed Macklemore should shut the fuck up because you have Ted Nugent on Fox News all the time. Right? LeBron James doesn't doesn't need to shut the fuck up and dribble when Sophie Cunningham can go on and shit on trans people. So one or the other. should shut the fuck up. Sophie Cunningham should just generally shut the fuck up because I guess I really like it when she beats the hell out of other players in defense of Caitlin Clark. I think that's funny. you know, and her finger pointing thing was kind of hilarious until it turned all stupid. Derek Peterson: Yeah. Yeah. Elwyn: but the the more serious one is like just shut the fuck up with this it's just like this meaningless hypocrisy, but that that people live on, that these organizations thrive on. The ability to just be openly hypocritical when you're telling someone you don't like to shut up because you say they're out of their lane. But when someone who occupies that same lane starts speaking, you're you platform them and you have them all over your shows. Our our discourse needs to be better than that. So everybody involved should shut the fuck up. And by the way, you know the WNBA, I don't know, like Caitlin Clark does a pretty good job of shutting the fuck up. You know? Derek Peterson: she's great at it. Sh yeah. Elwyn: Like I think it's her one not her one, she's a great player, but I think it's an underappreciated skill she has, given the lightning rod she is within that league, that she just kinda shuts the fuck up. Like it works, folks. Derek Peterson: It does. She they tried to bait her into like getting into a political conversation and like taking a stance all like so many times. And she's just been like, nah, I'm good. I'm gonna just play basketball. I'm like Elwyn: Yeah. And she's selling a lot of shoes as a result. Derek Peterson: And she yeah, and to be honest, like there's a point in time like I have to give a little grace because well, and by a little I mean a lot. because I'm a six foot three Swedish guy. And because culture wars don't really impact me that much, I have nothing to be angry about, you know, and I don't strongly identify with anything, meaning, like, you know, I know you're Jewish, so you have a strong heritage, and so you're Being Jewish matters to you. And so when something feels like it attacks anything that's Jewish, it feels personal. So you take a stand for that thing. And for a transgender person or a gay person or a black person, somebody that's rooted in or their identity is rooted in something about them self-self-specific. I totally understand how other people can can feel about these things, but there is a level of culture war that we have to sideline. When we're talking about giant issues all the time. And like I've watched you struggle with it. Like I've watched you try to find the balance of like, how much do I, how much do I give this and how much do I not? And like all those, which is not a struggle that I personally have to deal with. But this is actually what brought me to the to the left more than anything else. Like when I lived in Los Angeles, I was probably more conservative in my views. And I historically had kind of viewed Politics is like, hey, we shouldn't be dealing with culture war shit in politics. So like leave all that out. Let's focus on policies that about people and war and investment and infrastructure and all that kind of stuff. then I ate my words after I ended up having a bunch of gay friends in LA and I was like, this matters. Like your life is really impacted by policy and who's in control and can you get married and what are the benefits of being married? And Do you get to enjoy those or not? And like some of this stuff matters and it matters in different ways. And I think it's just important that we polarize it when it needs to be polarized and we simmer it down when it doesn't. And people just have a history of taking shit way beyond where it needs to be and trying to force people to just abide by like a new set of rules or live in your values. And it's like, no, we don't need to live there. But we can also recognize that you're there and support you in in the process while not feeling like we need to go to the same lengths. Like if you feel like you need pronouns, great. I don't, I'm not going to make it my life's purpose that everybody calls you a pronoun. Elwyn: Yeah. And the like and that's the thing also with the Sophie Cunningham. It's like if I'm telling her to shut the fuck up because she's wearing a Trump hat, that's kind of on me. If I do that and someone calls me out like, no, bro, she's just a Trump fan. That's a political statement. That's a it's a it's an overarching political statement. You know, not cis, just a woman, that's an attack, right? That's that's shooting right at the heart. Of a hot button issue that very much affects people's lives. It's not, it's not a I'm a Republican or vote Trump and or you know Trump third term or any of this shit or MAGA. It it's much more targeted than that. It's targeted to hurt. Even if it's not targeted to hurt by now, you should know that it does hurt and just be better on it. You know, Riley Gaines, same thing. Like, just get the fuck out of here with this. Like It's this fringe culture war issue that only hurts, doesn't help, you know, and it it's just bullshit. It's just bullshit. And that's that's why she should shut the fuck up with it. Like believe what you want to believe, Sophie Cunningham. Vote for who you want to vote for. Go on Fox News and and talk about, you know, politics if you want, right? But then don't shit on lefty guys for doing the same thing because it's allowed and we're doing it. I don't know. The whole thing is a spider web of hypocrisy. Derek Peterson: It is. And the irony of it all is is that the majority of the people that they're pandering to by holding these views are the same people that would degrade them and probably hate them in a moment's notice. So it's like the irony of all of this is not lost on me because I'm like, yeah, it's it's dumb as shit, but whatever. well, that's that's where we're we're ending. Where we what we're talking about. Elwyn: Yep. Don't forget, Clarence Thomas is a piece of shit. Greg Abbott hates you and Susan Collins is concerned. Derek Peterson: That is true. And I didn't even get to ask my question about what we're talking about next week. So Elwyn: I interrupted you. Derek Peterson: that's all right. They'll we'll make them wait and find out next time. So see y'all next week. Elwyn: Later, everybody.