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Donald Drumpf Theatre: A Hostile Government Takeover on a Road to Fascism · Donald Drumpf Theatre radio show

• 0:08
  It's time again for Donald Drunk Theater No one knows what is
• 0:17
  up or down Jack or
• 0:18
  white Legal or impeachable Everything is made believe in Donald
• 0:22
  Drunk Theater So
• 0:24
  let's pull the curtain back We are controlling transmission If
• 0:28
  we wish to make it
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: louder
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: We will bring up the body.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: We can change the focus to a soft blur.
• 0:33
  You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance,
• 0:36
  of things and ideas.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: You've just crossed over into...
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: I hear it's fake news, but maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's fake news, okay?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, would I do that?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:04
  The president of the United States has the authority to do what
• 1:07
  the president has
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: the authority to do.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: You will.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've declared myself as king.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I learned a lot from Richard Nixon.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I could cause panic much better than even you.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: I could do much, I would make you look like a minor league player.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: So, Professor, would you say it's time for everyone to panic?
• 1:28
  yes i would get welcome to the resistance i promise you for the
• 1:31
  remainder of the
• 1:32
  next four years i will only speak to you in this tone of voice
• 1:35
  what do you say to
• 1:36
  your critics who are saying that you're being white on the
• 1:39
  fascist message i
• 1:40
  understand the desire but like i'm very big on and i know it's
• 1:44
  annoying but
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: specificity and nuance and i think if you cry fascism at
• 1:53
  every administrative overreach even the ones that are
• 1:56
  constitutionally okay you
• 1:59
  will find yourself out of fascism bullets when the time really
• 2:03
  comes to remind
• 2:05
  people of because you will i think what the media has done over
• 2:11
  the last 10 years
• 2:11
  is cry wolf to the point where they numbed everybody it was an
• 2:16
  anesthetic and it
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: got to where what was the thing they litigated throughout this campaign
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: He's a fascist.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: He's a terrible person.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Democracy is on the ballot.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: Guess what lost?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: If you told us democracy is on the ballot,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: well,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: democracy got its ass kicked by a majority vote.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm very cautious about when to know,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: like,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: yeah,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: hopefully I won't do it the night after Kristallnacht.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: of a Nigerian print scale
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: This ain't about left and right.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: You better stop messing around.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: This ain't about left and right.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: You don't worry about up and down.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: This ain't about left and right.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: You better stop messing around.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: This ain't about left and right.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: You don't worry about up and down.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you say you wait a minute, do we have to stop this?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: We had one, but you didn't want that lady.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Hostile government.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: Hostile government.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: Incredibly,
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: it has been a month since Trump's inauguration,
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: but it already feels like an eternity.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: In just the past four weeks,
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_03: he's pardoned or commuted the sentences of January 6th rioters,
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: withdrew the US from both the Paris Accords and the WHO,
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: announced plans to take over Gaza,
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: issued an executive order trying to undo birthright citizenship,
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: blamed the fatal DC plane crash on DEI,
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico,
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: of America,
• 5:42
  responded to fires in LA County by releasing billions of
• 5:45
  gallons of water to
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: California's Central Valley,
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: 150 miles away,
• 5:49
  replaced a four-star general with a host of Fox and Friends and
• 5:52
  Secretary of Defense,
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: and announced 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico,
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: a move prompting Canadians to do this.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: O'er the land of the free?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent.
• 6:17
  I think the only thing more quintessentially Canadian than
• 6:20
  booing the US national
• 6:21
  anthem at a hockey game is the fact they waited politely for
• 6:25
  the right time to do it.
• 6:27
  Part of Trump's rationale for his tariff threat was that Canada
• 6:30
  wasn't doing enough
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US,
• 6:33
  even though the total amount intercepted at the Canadian border
• 6:36
  last year was just
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: 43 pounds,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: or roughly 0.2% of all US border fentanyl seizures.
• 6:42
  Trump quickly paused those tariffs after claiming that he'd won
• 6:45
  concessions from Canada.
• 6:46
  But when a Republican congressman tried to repeat that talking
• 6:49
  point on CNN,
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: he ran into a slight problem.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: He called this off.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: saying that he had won concessions from both of them,
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: but is there a tangible concession in your view?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: He won the concessions.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: But what's new?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well,
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: it's a commitment from Trudeau that wasn't there to help with fentanyl,
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: to help with the black market,
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: and to secure the border.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: He announced that plan, though, six weeks ago, back in December.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: Well, at least he's reiterated it and formalized it.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Caitlyn.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: What aren't you getting about this?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: Trump got Canada to agree to what they'd already agreed to,
• 7:22
  and it didn't cost us anything except for any goodwill between
• 7:25
  our countries whatsoever.
• 7:26
  He pissed off an entire country of the most
• 7:28
  difficult-to-piss-off people in the world.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: In exchange, we got them to resend an email.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: It's called leadership, Caitlyn.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: One of the most striking,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_03: if unsurprising,
• 7:44
  things over the last month has been the extent to which Trump
• 7:46
  seems to have
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: prioritized active cruelty.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: He's issued multiple EOs aimed at trans and gender non-conforming people,
• 7:52
  including one declaring the federal government would only
• 7:54
  recognize two sexes,
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: male and female,
• 7:57
  and another banning federal funding or support for youth
• 8:00
  gender-affirming care.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_03: And then there were his multiple attacks on government diversity,
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: equity and inclusion programs,
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: which were...
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: Pretty extreme.
• 8:07
  The four-page memo obtained by CBS News instructs federal
• 8:11
  agency heads to cancel
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: any DEI-related trainings and close all DEI offices.
• 8:18
  The memo went out just one day after President Trump signed an
• 8:23
  executive order
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: giving agencies 60 days to terminate all DEI positions.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Our country is going to be based on merit again.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Can you believe it?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, I actually can't.
• 8:37
  And that is frankly a wild thing to say in front of a portrait
• 8:41
  of your dad who you
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: inherited a real estate empire from.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: And the assault on DEI has been sweeping and sometimes very petty.
• 8:50
  An employee at one government agency told reporters
• 8:53
  unidentified outside staffers
• 8:55
  arrived to sweep the office of anything they felt was related
• 8:57
  to diversity,
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: equity and inclusion,
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: which included a plaque confiscated from a supervisor's desk,
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: which read,
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: be kind to everyone.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: Then there were the ice rates,
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: with Trump's border czar,
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: Tom Homan,
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: taking Dr.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: Phil,
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: for some reason,
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: on a ride-along around Chicago,
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: and perhaps the single worst version of carpool karaoke ever made.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: It has all been total mayhem, and to some extent, that may be by design.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_03: Because it's worth remembering,
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: during Trump's first term,
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Steve Bannon openly laid out what their thinking was back then.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: So what we've got to do is just hit, hit, hit, and keep it.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's momentum, momentum, momentum.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: The opposition party is the media.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: And the media can only,
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: because they're dumb and they're lazy,
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: they can only focus on one thing at a time.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: I said, all we have to do is flood the zone.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: Every day, we hit them with three things.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: They'll bite on one, and we'll get all of our stuff done.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Bang, bang, bang.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: These guys will never be able to recover.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: But we've got to start with muzzle velocity.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it's got to start, and it's got to hammer.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: What does it work?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: Muzzle velocity.
• 10:00
  That is a pretty accurate description of what we're all
• 10:03
  witnessing right now.
• 10:04
  The Trump administration's attempt to dismantle the federal
• 10:07
  government from within.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: You might remember last year,
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: we talked about Project 2025,
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: the playbook for Trump's second term.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: In that story,
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: we mentioned one of its main architects,
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: Russell Vogt,
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: was hell-bent on decimating the civil service.
• 10:20
  Here he is in 2023,
• 10:21
  laying out exactly what he hoped to do once Trump returned to power.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: When they wake up in the morning,
• 10:31
  we want them to not want to go to work because they are
• 10:35
  increasingly viewed as the villains.
• 10:38
  We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can't do
• 10:43
  all of the rules
• 10:44
  against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth
• 10:48
  financially to do so.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: We want to put them in trauma.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_03: You know,
• 10:52
  when I pictured the evil masterminds who would be taking down
• 10:55
  the American
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: government from within,
• 10:57
  I pictured comic book villains standing over the city as
• 11:00
  lightning struck,
• 11:00
  not Russ from Budgets in history's worst polo shirt clicking
• 11:05
  through his slide deck
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: and saying he wants to give bureaucrats clinical depression.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: Newsflash, Russ.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: They already have it.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: That man is now Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget,
• 11:16
  and has begun carrying out his plans for a systemic purge of
• 11:19
  government workers.
• 11:20
  But he's had a lot of assistance in that,
• 11:22
  from the fact that Trump's also brought in Elon Musk.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Musk's self-invented Department of Government Efficiency,
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: or DOGE,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: has been trying to eliminate federal workers,
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: and sometimes in alarmingly blunt ways.
• 11:33
  One of the administration's early moves was to send out an
• 11:35
  email offering many a
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: deferred resignation,
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: where they could quit their jobs and get paid through September,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: or stay...
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: and risk being laid off, which is already bizarre.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_03: And setting aside whether it's even a real or legal offer,
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: take this money now or risk being eliminated,
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: isn't how you run the federal government.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's how you run beast games.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: But for some workers, it's gone well beyond just getting an email.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: There have been mass firings,
• 12:00
  and Musk has hired a team of young aides to assist in
• 12:04
  downsizing the government,
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_03: some of whom have physically stationed themselves in government offices.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: As this federal worker explains...
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_03: My colleagues are getting 15-minute one-on-one check-ins with 19,
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: 20,
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: and 21-year-old college graduates asking to justify their existence.
• 12:22
  One of Musk's top lieutenants and his wife and young child have
• 12:26
  checked up on the
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: sixth floor of our agency and are living there.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it is madness.
• 12:34
  Imagine being a federal worker and having to listen to a guy
• 12:37
  who wasn't alive for 9-11,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_03: Shrek 1,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_03: or Shrek 2.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Say to you, you're being downsized.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_03: Please leave this office, which is now my bedroom.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: Also, can you please buy me a beer?
• 12:49
  And all of this is bad enough before you get to the fact that
• 12:52
  Musk's team includes
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_03: members with,
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: shall we say,
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: checkered employment histories.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: Another doge worker,
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_03: Edward Corstein,
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: who called himself big balls on social media,
• 13:03
  was fired from an internship with a data security firm called
• 13:06
  Path Network in 2022.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: accused of leaking information to a competitor.
• 13:11
  A spokesperson telling CNN his contract was terminated after
• 13:15
  the conclusion of an
• 13:15
  internal investigation into the leaking of proprietary company
• 13:19
  information that
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: coincided with his tenure.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_03: What a fun time to be alive this is.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so glad our country is based on merit again.
• 13:28
  Otherwise,
• 13:28
  candidates like Big Balls the Fired Intern might have been overlooked.
• 13:34
  And it gets worse because it's been reported that Big Balls at
• 13:37
  one point started a
• 13:38
  website allowing users to redirect to content on the site by
• 13:42
  creating shitposting URLs,
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: including names like childporn.store and kkkiscool.club.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: And I never thought I'd say this, but I expected better of Big Balls.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: or as he's now known,
• 13:54
  senior advisor at the State Department and Department of
• 13:57
  Homeland Security.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: And the thing is,
• 14:00
  some of Musk's team have had an extraordinary amount of access
• 14:03
  to sensitive data.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: Another Doge staffer,
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: a 25-year-old named Marco Elez,
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: was given access to Treasury Department payment data.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: Basically, the checkbook
• 14:12
  for the entire federal government,
• 14:13
  which was worrying even before it emerged.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: But within the past year, he tweeted things like normalize Indian hate.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: You couldn't pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I just want a eugenic immigration policy.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_03: Is that too much to ask?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: And those are some bad tweets.
• 14:29
  And there have been claims and counterclaims of whether Elaz
• 14:32
  had read only access
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: or the ability to actually change data.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: But either way,
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_03: it is alarming he had access in any form,
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: especially given what's inside that database.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: I file my taxes electronically.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Does that put me inside this database, the Bureau?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: It sure does.
• 14:48
  And your bank account information,
• 14:49
  that's how you get your refund electronically.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_03: Not just who I am, where I live.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: How much you made, how much your refund is.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: All of that is in there.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 14:58
  The most private sensitive data about American citizens all
• 15:03
  sits in the Bureau of
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: Fiscal Service and the Treasury Payments ecosystem.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: That is definitely not information.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: I want in the hands of Elon's gang.
• 15:11
  It's frankly no wonder an internal email from the Treasury
• 15:13
  Department's threat
• 15:14
  assessment unit said allowing Elon's team access was the single
• 15:18
  greatest insider
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: And when pressed on the obvious risks here,
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: Kristi Noem,
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: Trump's director of Homeland Security,
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_03: had a weirdly blasé answer.
• 15:29
  I remember a time when Republicans were very careful about and
• 15:33
  worried about the government.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: particularly unelected people, having access to personal data.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: You are the government.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes,
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: that's what I'm saying,
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: is that the American people now are saying that we have had our personal
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: information shared and out there in the public.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: But now Elon Musk has access to it.
• 15:53
  Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us
• 15:55
  identify where we can find savings.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: His information that he has is looking at programs,
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: not focusing on personal data and information.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: Not focusing on it, but he has access to it.
• 16:06
  You know,
• 16:07
  we'll be continuing to talk to him about what all he has access to.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: Respectfully?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: What the fuck are you talking about?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: We can't trust the government, but you are the government.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: Says who?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: Says you.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I'm saying.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: What about data?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: Don't know her.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: What about Elon?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, chef.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: What about Elon having access to personal data?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: We'll continue talking to him about it.
• 16:28
  Are we absolutely sure that Kristi Gnome shot her dog or did
• 16:32
  she just talk to it
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_03: and his head exploded?
• 16:36
  And look,
• 16:37
  we are still in the early days of Doge's incursion into agencies.
• 16:40
  They've reportedly just begun to mess around in the Department
• 16:43
  of Education and the EPA.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: This all feels incredibly fast and head-spinningly corrupt.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: It is genuinely hard to summarize.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're in the middle of a hostile government takeover.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: I want to talk about it, but I'll be late for work.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're saying, wait a minute, who we have to stop this?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: We have one, but you didn't want the lady.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: in office now that we're a part of a Nigerian print stamp.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Surprise, surprise, it ended up being a white man.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I just want to know what the hell do I do?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Probably drink.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely excellent.
• 17:25
  Put this man and his pink fabletic sweatshirt in every NBA
• 17:29
  arena in a 500 mile
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: radius because this should be the new national anthem.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_03: No Canadian in their right mind would be able to boo that.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: In the early days of the Trump presidency,
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: when a reporter asked Dick Durbin,
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: who'd be leading the charge against Trump,
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: he replied,
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: I can't answer that.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: Give us a little time.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_03: This is brand new.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: But the thing is, it is definitionally not new.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: The presidency is not new.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: This man is not new.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: All of this was possible to prepare for.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: We've literally known there was going to be a 2024 election since 1789.
• 17:58
  But maybe the clip that sums up Democratic leadership the best
• 18:03
  right now is this.
• 18:05
  Representative Hakeem Jeffries citing New York Yankees
• 18:08
  outfielder Aaron Judge in
• 18:10
  arguing it's better to pick and choose their fights and focus
• 18:14
  on a clear message.
• 18:15
  One of the reasons that he's a great hitter is that he does not
• 18:18
  swing at every pitch.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: He waits for the right one.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then he swings.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: We're not going to swing at every pitch.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to swing at the ones that matter.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: for the American people.
• 18:35
  OK,
• 18:35
  first and least importantly,
• 18:37
  are you sure you want that to be your example?
• 18:40
  A guy who hit 184 in the postseason as his team lost the World
• 18:43
  Series in five games
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_03: because he played bad defense?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: Is that really the analogy that you want to use here?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: Don't be mad at us.
• 18:50
  We're just like a baseball player on the most hated team in
• 18:52
  America who absolutely
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: shit the bed in the most high-stakes situation imaginable.
• 18:57
  But much more importantly,
• 18:58
  we're gonna swing at the ones that matter for the American people.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: Who is that, exactly?
• 19:04
  Is it trans people getting denied healthcare and bullied out of
• 19:06
  public existence?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: Is it immigrant families being terrorized by ICE,
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: or thousands of civil servants being harassed out of their jobs?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: Please,
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: just let us know who you think is worth swinging for,
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: because it looks to me like you are striking out looking right now.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: And look,
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: if you have a representative who's dragging their feet,
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: I do think calling to yell at them has some value,
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: at the very least.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_03: It shows them that their inaction isn't going unnoticed,
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_03: and if Democrats continue not to react,
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: we should be primarying the shit out of them,
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: and grant work for doing that actually needs to be laid pretty soon.
• 19:39
  But so far,
• 19:41
  the best backstops for all this have been outside of the
• 19:44
  legislative branch.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_03: In some cases,
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_03: Democratic state AGs have banded together to file lawsuits,
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: and courts have stopped or slowed some of Trump's most damaging moves,
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: with even judges appointed by Trump pushing back.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: Just this week,
• 19:58
  the DOJ announced plans to drop their case against New York
• 20:00
  Mayor Eric Adams,
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_03: saying if charges were dismissed,
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: he'd be better able to help with immigration enforcement.
• 20:06
  They denied it was a quid pro quo,
• 20:08
  despite it doing a pretty good impression of one.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: But multiple federal prosecutors flat out refused to go along with it.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: Several even quit in protest,
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: with one writing a letter saying,
• 20:19
  I expect you will eventually find someone who will be enough of
• 20:21
  a fool or enough of
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_03: a coward to file your motion,
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: but it was never going to be me.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: Please consider this my resignation.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that's not the only moment of courage that we have seen.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: A doctor here in New York told his patients,
• 20:35
  I'm willing to go to jail to continue to provide your
• 20:37
  gender-affirming care.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: And in many cities,
• 20:40
  groups like these fighting for immigrants have coordinated
• 20:44
  responses to ice race.
• 20:54
  Remember Trump's borders are Tom Homan taking Dr.
• 20:57
  Phil and a bunch of cameras out on raids?
• 20:59
  In Chicago,
• 21:00
  which he said would be ground zero for their mass deportation plans.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Those raids were less successful than he wanted them to.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: And he was pretty open about why.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh...
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Sanctuary cities are making it very difficult to arrest the criminals.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, Chicago, very well-educated.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: They've been educated how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I've seen many pamphlets from many NGOs.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Here's how you escape ICE from arresting you.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_03: Here's what you need to do.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_03: They call it know your rights.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: I call it how to escape arrest.
• 21:32
  There's a warrant for your arrest,
• 21:34
  and they tell you how to hide from ICE.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: Don't open your door.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: Don't answer questions.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: And that is good advice.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: Also,
• 21:41
  if you're relying on people not knowing their rights in order
• 21:45
  to do your job,
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: it seems like you might be part of the problem here.
• 21:48
  And all else aside,
• 21:50
  I fully get why people are not letting you in particular into
• 21:53
  their home.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: You're a thumb-headed weirder with terrible vibes.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: You look and sound like J.K.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_03: Simmons choking on a marble, and I am rooting for the marble.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: Look.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: The next four years are going to feel incredibly shit.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_03: The potential for pain is devastating,
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: as is the sheer amount of it that's already been doled out.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_03: We see wealthy,
• 22:14
  powerful men use the levels of government for their personal
• 22:16
  advantage as well as
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: their personal grievances.
• 22:19
  And we're being governed by people who think good public policy
• 22:23
  consists of cut off
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: funding to anyone who isn't me,
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: make it illegal to mention people who are different from me,
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: and fuck it,
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: let's steal Canada while we're at it.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Meanwhile,
• 22:32
  many of those that we've elected to fight back seem to be
• 22:35
  resting on their heels
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_03: waiting for their pitch.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: This is all bonkers, terrifying, and darkly absurd.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: It is worse than we thought, and we thought about it a lot.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_03: To put it mildly, things aren't looking great right now.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: But defeat is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• 22:51
  As much as we roll our eyes at some of the resistance in
• 22:55
  Trump's first term,
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_03: some of which was very annoying,
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_03: but some of that energy did make a real difference.
• 23:01
  Remember those early protests at the airports over Trump's
• 23:04
  proposed travel ban?
• 23:05
  A former prosecutor recently wrote about how seeing those
• 23:08
  protests helped others
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: like him who were fighting within the DOJ to rescind or limit the order,
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: saying...
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: that we were,
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: in fact,
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: working in the public interest,
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: and advocacy on the outside made advocacy on the inside possible.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: So for all those federal workers going through it right now,
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_03: support and solidarity really matter.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_03: The point is,
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_03: now is absolutely not the time to be looking away and saying,
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: this is what you fuckers voted for and turning your backs,
• 23:38
  especially when there are many good people doing important work
• 23:41
  out there who you
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_03: can both join and support.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: What's ahead of us is going to be exhausting.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: And to get through this,
• 23:49
  we're going to have to find a balance between acknowledging the
• 23:52
  hell of what is
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_03: going on and finding the joy that can sustain us.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: Fascism.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: fascism fascism
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: Fascism.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: Fascism.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: But it's alright
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: Fascism.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: We're on a road to fascism.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're on a road to nowhere.