Latest / The Bluegrass Blues Podcast / The Bluegrass Blues Podcast: Episode 9

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The Bluegrass Blues Podcast: Episode 9 · The Bluegrass Blues Podcast

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This is episode 9 of the Bluegrass Blues podcast.
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I'm Jesse. And I'm Amy. Well, Amy, I want to
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talk about something weird I saw this week, and
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it just blew my mind. I was in a Cracker Barrel,
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you know, that restaurant chain that you see
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along the highway where it's just supposed to
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be home cooking and a return to nostalgia. And
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as I was walking through the area where you shop
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for the little goodies that they sell, I noticed
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that their surveillance camera was on. And as
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people walked through the area, the camera would
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not only focus on their faces, but it would put
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little boxes around each face, which was something
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I used to see on the Person of Interest TV series
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that showed that we were under surveillance and
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that they could just... grab that box blow it
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up and identify the person walking through the
1:02
area and that's that's a cracker barrel that's
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like You know, it's almost like we're in a surveillance
1:08
state now. Have you seen anything like that?
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I have, and in fact, there's been news about
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these flock cameras that are being purchased
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by Louisville Metro Police Department. We'd already
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had over 140 of those in place, and then they
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were adding another 140, and then they're accessing
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nearly 100 of these privately owned flock cameras.
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And the LMPD even has a program called FUSUS,
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F -U -S -U -S, which is integrating private security
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cameras into law enforcement monitoring. So this
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initiative, you guys, is actually going to allow
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police access to all of our cameras installed
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in homes, businesses, and other private properties.
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Your porch camera, your neighbor's porch camera.
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To Jesse's point, we've always been a surveillance
2:03
state, but it's really increasing under this
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authoritarian regime. Right. Peter Thiel is now
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doing what Elon Musk was doing, and they're getting
2:13
access to all our information. And if they have
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access to our information, then they want to
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know who the people are that they're having access
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to. So if you have this face recognition software,
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then it's just easy to track you down. It's kind
2:28
of weird because it seems like that used to be
2:31
an issue that Republicans were against. I remember,
2:36
and it wasn't that long ago, I'm sure everybody
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remembers how there was this really crazed reaction
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to the coronavirus vaccine when people were saying,
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I don't want to get the shot because they're
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going to put trackers in our bodies with these
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shots, which is... Total insanity and, you know,
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just the idea of being under surveillance. You
3:01
don't need to get a shot to be under surveillance.
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You just carry a phone. Your phone can track
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you anywhere, and people are using those kind
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of things. Also, you see these things where people
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are attaching these trackers to their families,
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like husbands or abusers are using these tracking
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devices that they just put in someone's car or
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in someone's purse that they don't notice. and
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you're easily followed. But now it's becoming
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this major government effort, and the danger
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of this is an authoritarian government is going
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to do more than a government that's not authoritarian,
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even though the surveillance is always going
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to exist, and it's going to expand because the
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technology is getting easier to use. So, you
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know, this is really troubling. And we're seeing,
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too, that, you know, for example, in California,
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they've got laws against this kind of surveillance
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even even license place plate surveillance and
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what we're seeing apparently is the use of this
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um there are fourth amendment issues you know
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the ACLU has filed lawsuits about the use of
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these particular cameras these flock cameras
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but I just want people to know what's happening.
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And it was kind of, it was so creepy to me. And
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I was thinking about this movie. Jesse, you and
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I have seen this movie called "The Lives of Others."
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It was made in 2006 by Florian Henkel. And it's
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about the monitoring of East Berlin residents
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by agents of the Stasi, the East Germany's secret
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police. And another thing I was thinking about
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was the real practical ramifications. There are
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a lot of us who've talked about ... well i would
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i would take my gay friends and hide them in
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my house and i would take my immigrant neighbors
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and hide them in my house but do you see where
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this is going i mean again i feel like I'm back
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in Germany in the '30s and '40s and you know we're
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going to be hiding people and but now we have
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all this technology not just neighbors that are
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looking out to you know to inform on us, but
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now all of that kind of surveillance is going
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to be in our own homes. Yeah, when you made that
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reference to trying to hide people, I just started
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thinking of the opening of the movie Inglourious
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Basterds, where you had the Nazi come into this
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farmhouse and essentially threaten this farmer
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by saying, if you don't tell me where the people
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you're hiding are. I'm going to kill your family.
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And, you know, that's just the extreme of an
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authoritarian government. But the fact that we're
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constantly under surveillance, everything we
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own is, you know, like I said, your cell phone,
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you're under surveillance. You have an Apple
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Watch, you're under surveillance. Yeah, Alexa
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is listening to you. Yeah, Alexa, right. I've
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disengaged my Alexa because since Jeff Bezos
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has sold out to the government, Alexa records
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what you're saying even if you don't use the
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magic word. So those are things that just show
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that we have to be careful about what we're doing,
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especially at this time. Hopefully it gets better,
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but it also depends on who we have in office
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and the people that we're electing. Are the people
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we're electing going to serve our interests,
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or are they going to serve the interests of the
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billionaire class or the hard-right authoritarian
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class? And speaking of people who we're electing,
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it's really important that we understand in Kentucky
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who some of these people are that are so-called
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Republican. you know, officials in Kentucky.
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You know, Joe Gerth wrote a good opinion piece
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today in the Courier Journal. It's August 14th.
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And it's called Taunting Transgender Children
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Doesn't Make Jamie Comer a Man. And basically,
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it's galling and it's hideous. But Jamie Comer
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made a comment about boys not being able to play.
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Girls Sports at Fancy Farm a couple weeks ago
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to thunderous applause. Thunderous applause.
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What do you think about that, Jesse? First of
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all, what's Fancy Farm? Fancy Farm is this big
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gathering of politicians in Kentucky where essentially
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it's where people who are looking for higher
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office go to rile up the base or get their names
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out there in front of people. The thing about
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Comer is I always think of Foghorn Leghorn, the
8:01
cartoon character, who's just really boisterous
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and ineffective. And the fact that he's picking
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on children just shows what a bully he is. And
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I will also extend this to Andy Barr, who's running
8:15
for Senate. If you look at his campaign statement,
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he has a whole section on transgender athletes,
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which is not a... It's not that many people.
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If you're going to pick on a group, he's picking
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on the smallest group he knows he can overwhelm
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because once you get rid of that group, then
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they're going to pick on another group. And it's
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just going to escalate to the point where any
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person who disagrees with anything they say is
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going to be eventually tracked down. But I think
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it's cowardice. And it's also extremely stupid
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because I don't know if people have been watching
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sports recently, but we have the Little League
9:01
World Series going on now. And there are girls
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pitching in the Little League World Series against
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boys. And it's not an issue. It's also seen as
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something that's really interesting and really
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fun to look at. Are they going to go after girls
9:17
in the league sports next because that's the
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next small group that they can pick on? Right.
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And I want to piggyback off this. You know, this
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controversy was manufactured by Republicans to
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take the place of abortion to help them win elections.
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And they pushed it only after Mississippi's draconian
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abortion ban had begun winding its way to the
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U .S. Supreme Court that. Senator Mitch McConnell
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had rigged, right? So anti-abortion zealotry
9:50
was losing its oomph. What can we lift up? What's,
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you know, small group... Who can we pick on now?
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It's like, who can we bully? Exactly. Who can
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we bully? And, you know, this... I don't know
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if you all know this but there are studies that
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say that 82 % of transgender people have considered
10:09
suicide and 40 % have actually tried it. Trans
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kids are most at risk. So these are the people
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being put at risk by the know -nothings in the
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GOP who are pushing the issue. It's cruel. These
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are bullies. And this is what we have to, you
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know, Comer may run for governor. Is this who
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you want to succeed, Andy Beshear? Right. Is
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this the best that the state of Kentucky has
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to offer? And, yes, we can complain about the
10:43
candidates, but I think we also have to complain
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about the voters. The voters are allowing this
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to happen. And the result of this is that they're
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putting people in office who are, you know, they're
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going to pick on people that they know they can
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beat. But in the meantime, they're also going
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to take everything that you have in terms of
11:02
finances and give it to rich people. You know,
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the big bullshit bill that they just passed is
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going to take away health care rights and it's
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going to take away. No, it's taking away. A lot
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of stuff that people need, food stamps, health
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care, education. So you can send money to Elon
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Musk so he can get another $100 billion. But
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Jamie Comer and Andy Barr and the Republican
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Party, and I'll say a lot of Democrats, are in
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the pockets of the billionaires. So their interest
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- aren't aligned with the interest of the people.
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And I was just looking it up. We are in a poor
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state, and the minimum wage in Kentucky is $7
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.25 an hour. That's nothing. That's nothing.
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And if you work 40 hours, $7 .25 an hour, you
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can't afford food. Not alone mentioning rent
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or, you know, just there's no such thing. Health
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insurance. Health insurance. There's no such
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thing as luxury here. And we keep electing these
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people who are just going to keep taking away
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from poor people to make rich people even richer.
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And let's make no mistake about this. I'm sure
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Andy Barr is rich. I'm sure that Comer is rich.
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And it's... It's just more things to worry about.
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I want to lift up. I just shared with Jesse a
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really promising young Democrat in Iowa's campaign,
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and he's got a great video. Do you remember what
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his name is? Josh. I'll tell you in a second.
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So what I would love to see in Kentucky is this
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kind of energy that this young man is putting
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forward and the messaging that he's putting forward.
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And we will put this on our website for you all
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to see. What's his name? Josh Turek. Josh Turek,
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T -U -R -E -K. Yeah, he's a former Paralympian.
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He campaigns in a wheelchair. He won a very red
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district, and now he's running for Senate. against,
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I guess, Joni Ernst. The woman who in a town
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hall said, well, when someone asked about health
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care, she said, well, we're all going to die
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anyway. And then she doubled down on it later,
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like walking through a cemetery being smug and
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saying, well, people didn't know they were going
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to die. I'm sorry about that. You've got to see
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this video. Come to our website, thebluegrassbluespodcast
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.com and take a look at it. He had spina bifida.
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born with spina bifida so he's used a wheelchair
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and he benefited from his dad's VA health care
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right and other public benefits so that he could
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get good health care became an amazing Paralympian
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He won his first race by six votes, only six
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votes. This is why it's so important to vote
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everybody, so important. And then he won again.
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And he has the reddest district that any Democrat
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holds in Iowa. And he says that Iowans love an
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underdog, which of course he is, but. This is
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the kind of grit and determination and going
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out and meeting people at their homes and meeting
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people at their businesses and meeting people
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at the bar or wherever it is that we need. And
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we need positive messaging, like health care
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saved my life would be a good message, right?
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Yeah, it saved a lot of lives, especially in
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this state. And I want to lift up another opinion
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piece that I found. This is in the Northern Kentucky
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Tribune. and it's August 14th and this is by
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Karen Saylor and she basically tells her story
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about it's called i i can't just get over how
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Medicaid has kept me in the fight against cancer
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and during the pandemic she got covid that resulted
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in a rare autoimmune disease and because her
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immune system was depressed it raised her cancer
15:13
risk by 30 % and unfortunately she got breast
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cancer so basically her cost her total cost for
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her treatment program would be $180 000 every
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month if she didn't have medicaid and she asked
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that's a month we have to emphasize it's not
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a year that's a month a month $180 000 a month
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and she has what working family can afford that
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i mean what family except the billionaires could
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afford that really right so her husband drives
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a forklift right so she gets some encourage uh
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insurance cover coverage as a spouse great but
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she'd be dead without Medicaid. And basically
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she ends. her op-ed by basically saying, President
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Trump and Senator McConnell, since you two do
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not understand the extent of what you've just
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done by passing the big bullshit bill, I offer
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my story as an example. Once your Medicaid cuts
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come into effect, Americans will die every single
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day because you made it impossible for them to
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afford crucial and life -saving medical care.
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Let's let that sink in. There's one thing I disagree
16:30
with on that, and she's saying that they aren't
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aware of the extent of what they're doing. They
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know fully well what they're doing. They're just
16:40
bad people. And, you know, you're talking about
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health care. I don't know if you saw the Nebraska
16:45
congressman. He was Mike Flood. He was in a town
16:48
hall meeting, and people were asking him about
16:51
health care and why can't we have Medicare for
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all. First of all, he said that no one deserves
16:58
free health care. And then he said, when someone
17:01
asked, well, why don't we do Medicare for all?
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He said, we can't afford it. But he's one of
17:06
the congressmen who voted for the big bullshit
17:09
bill, but took away billions of dollars, probably
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could amount to trillions of dollars over time.
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And again, that money is not going to poor people.
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It's not going to improve schools. It's not going
17:23
to improve quality of life. It's going to billionaires.
17:27
And Mike Flood's another rich person who's going
17:31
to benefit from that. And Mike Flood's town hall
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kind of shows why Republicans in this state aren't
17:40
doing town hall meetings. They're cowards, as
17:45
we just showed with Comer bullying transgender
17:49
children. They are afraid to face their crowds.
17:53
They just follow along with whatever Trump tells
17:57
them to do, and they are taking the food out
18:04
of the mouths of children. They are the worst
18:07
kind of people you can imagine, which gets me
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to the point of, Why do people keep voting for
18:14
them? What is it about voters in this state and
18:17
voters in red districts that keep voting for
18:20
people who have none of their interests in mind?
18:25
Just recently I was looking at the industries
18:29
that Kentucky relies on and the bourbon industry
18:33
is getting killed because of tariffs and because
18:36
of policies by Republicans like Comer and Barr
18:41
and Flood and Joni Ernst and Donald Trump. People
18:46
aren't buying bourbon. It's the major export,
18:50
one of the major exports from Kentucky. And it's
18:55
the fault of the Republicans. But we keep electing
18:58
Republicans in this state. And now there's this
19:01
move to like gerrymander other states and other
19:05
areas to not like... better represent people,
19:09
but to get more Republicans in office so they
19:12
can take more away from us. And, you know, they
19:16
just, more for them, less for us. That's their
19:19
whole philosophy now. And if they're not going
19:22
to do it, they're not going to come out and say
19:24
it. They're going to do things like say, we're
19:27
going to go after transgender children, or we're
19:30
going to go after Immigrants who are working
19:34
the fields and actually putting food on our table
19:39
that makes cost less. And pay taxes. Who pay
19:43
taxes and who don't collect any government benefits
19:46
because they're not citizens of the country.
19:50
But this is the Republican Party today. I think
19:54
there's a real opportunity, Jesse, for the Democratic.
19:57
I don't know if it's the party. I don't know
20:00
how I feel about the party. for exciting candidates
20:05
like Josh in Iowa to start popping up and going
20:09
around the Commonwealth of Kentucky and just
20:12
being themselves and talking to their neighbors
20:15
about these very issues. I think that's what
20:18
it's going to take. And it's also happening in
20:20
New York with Mamdani. He's running for the mayor
20:24
of New York City, and he's getting all this.
20:28
criticism from, well, because he's Muslim and
20:33
he's an immigrant. And, you know, I know you've
20:38
seen that Donald Trump has sent the National
20:40
Guard into Washington, D .C. Which is terrifying.
20:44
Which is terrifying, and he didn't send the National
20:47
Guard in when the Capitol was attacked. So we
20:51
know where his priorities are. He doesn't give
20:53
a damn about the preservation of this country.
20:56
He just wants to attack brown people. And, you
21:00
know, Washington, D .C. is a black city. And
21:03
remember, these flock cameras, the surveillance,
21:06
it's going to be overdone. marginalized communities.
21:10
Especially when you have Peter Thiel, who's a
21:12
tech guy, Elon Musk, who's a tech guy. Or Aryan
21:17
Nazis. Well, they're South Africans who were
21:20
raised in apartheid era South Africa. So you
21:24
know that deep in their hearts, they believe
21:26
that brown people are inferior. And they come
21:29
to this country, these illegal immigrants, if
21:32
you're going to talk about illegal immigrants,
21:34
they come to the country. and I'll put Rupert
21:37
Murdoch in that list of people because Rupert
21:39
Murdoch is an Australian, and they shit on everything
21:44
that this country stands for. They make millions
21:47
of dollars on it, billions of dollars on it,
21:50
by, I have to say, by taking advantage of gullible
21:55
people who are going to send their money to them,
21:59
who are going to support what they say, who treat
22:01
them like they're gods because that's what they
22:04
want to be treated as. And they've done more
22:08
damage to this country than any minority group
22:11
that, you know, Trump or whatever the right -wing
22:14
Republicans will say. And to my Republican friends,
22:17
you know, when we talk about fiscal conservatism,
22:20
right, we talk about limited government. That's
22:23
Rand Paul's thing about limited government. What
22:26
we are seeing right now is absolutely the opposite
22:29
of everything you've ever stood for. This is
22:32
the most expensive administration in history
22:36
of the country. Talk about government overreach.
22:40
Look what's happening in Washington, D .C. right
22:42
now. And look at the bullshit that they're putting
22:44
up in Washington, D .C. Trump is going to, like,
22:48
build an extension to the White House that's
22:51
bigger than the White House. That's what he wants
22:52
to do. What's the price tag? $200 million for
22:55
his ballroom? Right. Which represents the Gilded
22:58
Age, those kinds of, the Astor Ballroom, or,
23:01
you know. Well, if you look at Trump's properties,
23:05
it's just, you know, this pornographic. expanse
23:09
of gold. Who's going to put gold trim in the
23:13
White House? Well, Donald Trump has. The People's
23:17
House, by the way. Well, it's his house now,
23:20
but don't be surprised if he puts Trump in big
23:23
letters on top of the White House because he
23:25
puts his name on everything. And never vacates
23:27
it. Right. I want to shift gears a little bit
23:31
to Andy Beshear's interview in Vogue magazine.
23:36
There was a thought -provoking opinion piece
23:38
by Charlie Tsai, CY, in the Courier -Journal
23:42
on August 13th. When asked about the U .S. relationship
23:47
with Israel and the war in Gaza, Beshear stated,
23:51
I believe when someone is an ally when you disagree
23:56
you don't do it publicly or through the media
23:59
so you know he's getting some flack for this
24:03
and you know from a moral standpoint why is it
24:07
so hard to condemn genocide and state clearly
24:10
the need for an end to this horrific war yeah
24:15
it makes no sense at all and well it makes sense
24:18
like in terms of money yeah in terms of political
24:21
clout political clout But morally, and he's a
24:24
good Christian. Which brings me to the question
24:28
of why is religion such a failure these days?
24:34
You know, you have the good Christians who are,
24:37
you know, supposedly, well, the Christian followers
24:41
of Donald Trump, who supposedly believe in the
24:45
teachings of Jesus, but, you know. They don't
24:48
want to let anyone in, as Jesus said. They don't
24:52
want to show any compassion, as Jesus said. And
24:56
they're the antithesis of what their alleged
25:02
religion is supposed to be. I think if Jesus,
25:06
who would have been a brown man, tried to come
25:08
in this country, he wouldn't be. welcomed in
25:11
the country. Well, I actually saw a video where
25:14
someone went to a Trump rally and said, you know,
25:18
would you allow Jesus into the country if he
25:21
were to come today? The person pointed out that
25:27
Jesus is from the Middle East and that he's of
25:30
color. And the person that he was asking said,
25:34
well, if he went through all the proper channels
25:36
and did the proper paperwork, well, yeah. And
25:39
it's like, wait a minute. So if Jesus Christ
25:42
came to America today, Trump supporters would
25:46
not let him in. So that tells you all you need
25:49
to know about their religion and their beliefs.
25:51
And there's just been this... Total failure in
25:55
terms of religion, in terms of, you know, like
25:58
protecting the meek or, you know, well. The most
26:03
vulnerable. The most vulnerable. Or, you know,
26:05
loving thy neighbor. That just doesn't exist
26:08
anymore. No. And related to this, you know, I'm
26:12
Jewish, and Honey Goldman, a friend of mine,
26:15
wrote an op -ed. that was published in the Lexington
26:18
Herald -Leader on August 12th, and she's talking
26:22
about how anti -Semitism is being pulled out,
26:26
unfocused on, and that hate speech. being used
26:32
to attack our universities proclaiming that they
26:36
encourage violent protests and allow for employment
26:38
of professors who are terrorists but it seems
26:41
that no other ethnic religious or racial group
26:44
needs such protection from hate speech and violence
26:48
as the Jewish people do and you know my feeling
26:51
is is anti-semitism increasing It is. It is
26:56
increasing. But, you know, so is racism. So is
26:58
xenophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, and homophobia.
27:02
We've been talking about that. And frankly, Netanyahu's
27:07
war machine is making Jews across the globe much
27:10
less safe. Much less safe. If you saw Mandy Patinkin,
27:16
the actor, did this really intense takedown of
27:21
Netanyahu and how much he's... destroying Israel
27:25
itself. And Netanyahu, I believe, that he's doing
27:31
this because he's a criminal, he's under indictment,
27:35
he could go to jail. Does that sound familiar?
27:37
Yeah. Our guy's convicted. 34 times? Yeah. But
27:43
it's this idea that if you create a situation
27:46
where people feel that they're under threat or
27:50
in danger, you're not going to be kicked out
27:53
of office because, you know, it's the rally behind
27:56
the flag kind of idea, which is, you know, now
28:00
you got things like Netanyahu doing what he's
28:04
doing in Gaza. You got Donald Trump saying that
28:08
Washington, D .C. is a total hellscape when,
28:12
in fact, he did nothing when his supporters...
28:15
attacked the Capitol, shat in the Capitol building,
28:18
destroyed the place. But they were white. Yes,
28:21
I know. And they beat up police officers. And
28:24
not only that, he didn't call in the National
28:27
Guard when that happened, but when one of his,
28:31
the incel who was working for Elon Musk, the
28:34
guy called Big Balls, when he got mugged, it's
28:38
a national disaster and you have to bring in
28:40
the troops to quell the... the craziness in Washington,
28:44
D .C. And I have a place in D .C. D .C. is, it's
28:49
a lot safer than it used to be. I remember it
28:51
back in the 70s. And yes, I was afraid to go
28:54
there. But I now have a place in D .C. that I
28:57
use as a getaway every now and then. And it's,
29:01
I never felt in danger in D .C. But, you know,
29:06
Trump has made it like, oh, we're defending they're
29:12
defending the Capitol from teenagers, okay? And
29:15
it's the nation's capital. I mean, I think this
29:17
sends a real signal to the rest of the world
29:19
what's happening to our nation's capital right
29:22
now. Yeah, but it's the first step because, you
29:24
know, he's already said that he's looking at
29:26
other Democratic cities. Notice how he doesn't
29:28
say Republican cities. Right, and he started
29:30
in L .A., of course. Right, L .A., he's done
29:33
L .A., he's done D .C. New York will be there.
29:35
If Mamdani wins New York, he's going to do it
29:38
in New York. He's not going to go into, like,
29:41
Republican states that have more crime and more
29:44
murders than these Democratic cities. So, you
29:48
know, it's all about race with Donald Trump.
29:50
And if any of his followers don't see that, then
29:54
I have to say they're racist, too. They just
29:56
have decided that whatever Trump is doing in
29:59
terms of attacking people of color or attacking
30:03
marginalized groups like children. who are trans
30:08
children who are... Already bullied enough. They're
30:12
bullied within their own communities, and now
30:14
you've got the President of the United States
30:16
and people running for Congress bullying them
30:20
as well. That's very Christian, by the way. Right,
30:23
very Christian, and it's an easy target, which
30:25
makes it even more repulsive, because they're
30:29
not going to take on the... Well, let's say he's
30:32
not going to take on Putin. And Putin's conducting
30:35
genocide in Ukraine. He's not going to take on
30:42
Netanyahu. He's going to bring Netanyahu into
30:47
the country. And he's meeting Putin in our country.
30:50
Yeah, he's meeting him in Alaska, giving validation
30:53
to Putin, which is something Putin wants. He
30:56
wants to be. in the United States so we can show
30:59
the international community that, look, America's
31:01
bringing me in, so if I have America on my side,
31:05
what do I have to worry about you? And, you know,
31:07
I would like to think, or I actually do think,
31:10
that Putin has something on Trump because of
31:13
the whole alleged shower scene way back when.
31:18
That's part of what Trump calls the Russia, Russia,
31:22
Russia hoax. But, you know, I don't think there's
31:25
a hoax there. Trump did try to get Russia to
31:29
interfere in our elections, and they did, and
31:33
that's why he beat Hillary Clinton. So, you know,
31:39
he... It's like the Manchurian Candidate. I don't
31:42
know if you ever saw that movie, but it's this
31:45
plant by communist forces to take this right
31:51
-wing fanatic and put him into the highest office
31:54
possible. Well, the Manchurian Candidate has
31:57
happened, and we have him now, and it's Donald
32:01
Trump. So what are we going to do? Well, we have
32:04
to, again, if you want to stop this, you have
32:08
to vote for people. who are going to actually
32:11
challenge these actions. And, you know, the next
32:16
congressional election is 2026. Right. And speaking
32:20
of what to do, because I always want to be very
32:23
concrete about examples of what we can do so
32:25
that, you know, the purpose of this regime is
32:29
to overwhelm us and to make us feel so depressed.
32:34
and anxious that we can't do anything, but we
32:37
certainly can do things. I want to start by just
32:41
lifting up a local treasure, a good friend of
32:44
mine, Roberta Hirschberg, and she's worked at
32:47
the World Affair Council for years, and there's
32:51
a scholarship in her husband's name that helps
32:54
international folks come here. What does the
32:56
World Affair Council do? They basically, they
32:59
foster cultural exchange. and to understand global
33:04
citizenship and they bring a lot of international
33:07
people to Louisville and across the state. And
33:11
I've been invited to like dinners where I've
33:13
met Muslims from Iraq who I'm now like close
33:17
friends with on Facebook now because we met and
33:22
they're beautiful and we're people and we broke
33:25
bread together. That's what they do. They introduce
33:28
people to global citizens and what happens is
33:32
they break down these barriers that we're...
33:35
these racist xenophobic barriers that we're witnessing
33:38
in our country today but she's getting an honor
33:42
it's it's the inaugural global champions award
33:45
and that's going to be august 29th at the galt
33:50
house and if you'd like to go to that please
33:54
or just support them they're great tagline reads
33:58
connect globally, inspire locally, which I really
34:02
love. And they are at worldkentucky .org. So
34:06
I wanted to lift them up because they do beautiful
34:08
work. But I want to also just bring up the question
34:13
that I'm asking, and I have some groups of friends
34:16
that get together and sort of... process this
34:21
in different ways, but one of the things I'm
34:24
really focused on is what is our sphere of influence,
34:29
right? Where is our power? Each of us has power
34:33
and we're not all cookie cutter people. So are
34:37
we more comfortable writing postcards or using
34:40
our five calls app or sending money to strong
34:43
democratic causes or organizations like the ACLU
34:48
or Planned Parenthood or there's a great environmental
34:52
nonprofit which not enough people know about
34:55
which is called the Kentucky Resources Council.
34:58
And that nonprofit combines policy and advocacy
35:02
to protect Kentucky's natural resources and to
35:05
ensure environmental justice for Kentucky's most
35:09
vulnerable people and communities. This is power,
35:13
right? Money is power. Our money is power. Our
35:16
time is power. And if we are a little more introverted,
35:20
there are many, many ways for us to show up and
35:23
fight this regime. Are we comfortable going door
35:27
to door and talking to our neighbors? Not everybody
35:29
is. But if we are, it's really fun and it works
35:34
really well because it's like what I said about
35:37
the World Affairs Council. When we show up at
35:41
a door and we ask our neighbors what issues concern
35:44
them and we listen to them. And we don't shove
35:48
things down their throat, but we listen. And
35:51
then maybe we talk about as LSURGE, which is
35:54
Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice. They're
35:57
doing trainings. It's an organization for white
36:02
people working for justice. And they have this
36:05
We Are All Neighbors yard sign that we're now
36:09
seeing pop up all over Louisville. And it's part
36:12
of an initiative called Neighbors Keep Neighbors
36:15
Safe. Sounds good, right? So one of the things
36:19
you can do is go to the L Surge Facebook page
36:23
and see about their trainings. You can canvas
36:26
or what I'm doing, I'm the president of my neighborhood
36:30
association and I'm buying up these yard signs
36:33
at about $10 a piece and I'm getting my neighbors
36:36
to buy a yard sign so that we can show Louisville.
36:40
that we are a welcoming, compassionate city and
36:44
that our neighborhood is all in. So that's an
36:47
initiative. They say we are all neighbors. And
36:53
so, for example, there is an organization in
36:57
my neighborhood that serves the Latinx community
36:59
and does beautiful work. the clientele knows
37:03
about these yard signs and word is spreading
37:07
amongst the community that when you see this
37:10
yard sign this is a welcoming family this is
37:13
a safe family this would be a family you could
37:16
turn to if you can't get home when your children
37:19
get off the school bus you know etc., so we are
37:23
all neighbors and this is done by l surge right
37:26
there are other Facebook groups that have events
37:29
constantly and Some of these are 50501KY. 50501
37:37
Kentucky. 5050 Kentucky. So 50 states, 50 events
37:45
on the same day, typically, in every state. So
37:49
check them out. Also, Indivisible Kentucky is
37:53
on Facebook. And there's another good group called
37:56
Democrats. Actually, this one is in Louisville.
38:00
Louisville Democrats Volunteers has a Facebook
38:02
page. And I know Facebook is only for older people
38:07
or usually used by older people. So I think we
38:10
should be looking. Please look at Instagram and
38:13
TikTok and see if these places pop up. And if
38:16
they don't, go ahead and reach out to us and
38:18
I will reach out to those organizations. But
38:22
a couple of actions that are happening right
38:24
here in Louisville that I want you to know about.
38:27
There is a postcard writing session by the Louisville
38:30
Democrat Volunteer Group, and that is Wednesday,
38:34
August 20th. at 7 p .m., and that's at Noble
38:38
Funk Brewing Company. It used to be at Kroger's.
38:42
Unfortunately, Kroger's left, is leaving our
38:45
lower -income food insecure communities. But
38:49
it's at Noble Funk Brewing Company. It's a fun
38:51
place. You do not have to drink to go. It's 924
38:56
South 2nd Street in Louisville. That's Wednesday,
38:59
August 20th at 7. And they also have a community
39:04
service project that is super easy. And again,
39:08
if we don't really want to be around crowds of
39:11
people, they are collecting full -size toothpaste
39:15
for the Center for Women and Families. The Center
39:17
for Women and Families serves survivors of domestic
39:20
violence, gives them shelter, and connects them
39:24
to resources so they can rebuild their life.
39:30
The Center for Women and Families is at 927 South
39:33
2nd Street in Louisville. And you can show up
39:37
with your toothpaste right there. And then if
39:40
you do love the feeling of a good protest, there
39:44
is an upcoming protest called a Fight for Medicaid
39:47
and Medicare Rally, which we've been discussing.
39:50
That's Saturday, August 23rd at 9 a .m. at Injustice
39:56
Square Park. That is Jefferson Square Park. 301
40:00
South 6th Street. Did you say Injustice Square
40:04
Park? Yeah, this is what it's called since the
40:06
Breonna Taylor murder. Oh, okay. And we, you
40:11
know, people have been basically protesting LNPD
40:14
and all the surveillance and these murders of
40:17
black people and the out -of -control situation
40:20
that we're facing by the police, which I think
40:22
you have something to talk about in the West
40:25
End. Well, the West End... is always being under
40:29
undervalued uh in this city and there you know
40:34
there's this recent shooting going on there which
40:38
just made me think we see what uh the government
40:42
is doing in Washington DC we've seen what the
40:45
government is doing in California and Los Angeles
40:48
in particular when when does it happen here and
40:53
what why why would we not be worried about it
40:56
happening here because Yes, there are dangers
40:59
everywhere, but the dangers only apply more to
41:04
our current government when it involves minority
41:07
groups. Like if you're white and you're a Trump
41:11
supporter, you can go in the Capitol and do all
41:14
kinds of horrible things. Or a church in Charleston.
41:17
Or you can be walking around with some automatic
41:23
weapon at your disposal. freely brandishing your
41:28
weaponry. It's like what they're doing with ICE,
41:32
the secret police, which is what they are. It's
41:36
like a Gestapo. And they're going around with
41:40
masks on. It's just picking people off the streets.
41:44
And we should be more appalled by that than we
41:48
are. Our Democratic representatives should be...
41:52
out in the streets yelling that this is wrong.
41:55
And they're not doing that, which really is troublesome.
41:59
And we are such a welcoming, compassionate city.
42:02
And some years we were like the fourth largest
42:05
city to receive refugees because we have good
42:09
quality jobs and affordable housing. And Bowling
42:12
Green, the state, has really benefited from immigrants
42:15
and refugees. But we've seen that the mayor,
42:18
Greenberg, has made this not a sanctuary city
42:23
anymore. So, you know, he's fallen in line, like
42:27
I would compare it to the Vichy government during
42:32
World War II, where, you know, you're... Suppose
42:35
you say you're defending your area, you're protecting
42:38
your people, when in essence you're just succumbing
42:41
to the will of the authoritarians, which is what
42:46
he's doing, which is what any school that pays
42:49
off Trump is doing. It's what CBS has done with
42:54
Paramount. South Park is fun. South Park is really,
42:59
you know, it's the only place I've seen that's
43:01
actually going after him. I've said this, I think,
43:05
in our last podcast. It's really frustrating
43:07
that the voices of reason are comedians. You
43:12
look at Colbert, who's being taken off the air.
43:17
You look at Jimmy Kimmel, who's under attack
43:19
all the time. You look at South Park. These are
43:22
the only people saying, this is wrong. Jon Stewart.
43:25
Yeah, Jon Stewart. They're all going through
43:28
this, but we are... But our institutions that
43:34
are supposed to defend us, like our major news
43:37
organizations, they've decided to just acquiesce.
43:41
They're just laying low. In my opinion, I think
43:49
a lot of these reporters are not reporting on
43:52
what they know now because they have book deals
43:55
coming down the road and they want to save it
43:57
for their book. after the government, or after
44:00
the country collapses. That's what Bernstein,
44:04
yeah, Woodward, no, it was what Woodward did
44:09
with his books. But it just, it's really frustrating.
44:16
And just the thought that the media isn't performing
44:21
how it should be performing. Again, I've said
44:24
this before, but every time I look at the homepage
44:30
of any news organization, there are all these
44:33
stories on it that I think are just irrelevant,
44:36
given the situation we're in now. It's like the
44:40
Courier -Journal's doing this thing is, what
44:42
are the four best cities in America? That was
44:45
their, I think it was in Today's, listing the
44:49
four best cities in America, which is... totally
44:52
irrelevant these days because things are really
44:56
horrible, but they're deciding that nothing's
44:58
going on, that it's just... Actually, the first
45:01
thing I have on the online thing, maybe the second
45:04
thing is, and the winner is, the 2025 Kentucky
45:07
State Fair Your Favorite Cake. Yeah, this is
45:10
the lead story in the Courier -Journal. And,
45:14
oh, I guess I have to just diverge a little here,
45:18
but Sally Bingham died. recently and Sally Bingham
45:23
was a very rich woman and she was part of the
45:29
Bingham family and the Bingham family owned the
45:31
Courier Journal. And when the Bingham family owned
45:34
it it was considered one of the best newspapers
45:37
in America and in the whole country and but Sally
45:42
wanted her cut and she just wasn't getting the
45:46
influence that she thought she deserved which
45:48
she didn't. And she offered to sell her stake,
45:52
which led to Barry Bingham Sr. deciding to sell
45:56
the whole company to Gannett. And now, when I
46:02
was with Gannett, I was at the Courier -Journal
46:04
when it happened. And there were hundreds of
46:07
reporters there, you know, hundreds of journalists
46:09
doing work for two newspapers covering the entire
46:13
state. Just a really respected paper in America.
46:19
And after the Bingham sold, it's now today down
46:24
to about 42 journalists. And what annoyed me
46:30
was I was looking at the obituary for Sally in
46:33
the Courier -Journal. There was no mention at
46:35
all of what she did to essentially destroy what
46:39
was a great news organization. Maybe there was
46:43
some other reference, but I looked at the obituary
46:45
and just nothing. She didn't even live in Louisville
46:50
anymore. She moved out to New Mexico, I think.
46:53
And I remember reading a quote from her when
46:58
the paper was sold, and she said, it was good
47:01
for Louisville, it was good for Kentucky, and
47:04
it was good for the family. And she got one of
47:07
the three right, because it was good for the
47:09
family. When Gannett bought the Courier -Journal,
47:12
they paid $350 million. which was an outrageous
47:15
sum for a regional newspaper at that time. And
47:18
just to show how much it's changed in terms of
47:23
the journalism profession, when Jeff Bezos bought
47:28
the Washington Post, a couple of decades later,
47:31
he paid $250 million for it, which means that
47:36
the value of news in America was... on a rapid
47:41
decline by the time Bezos took over the Washington
47:43
Post. And now that he's got it and he's brought
47:47
in former Rupert Murdoch people from the Wall
47:50
Street Journal, another one of my former news
47:54
organizations, it's become Wall Street Journal
47:57
Lite. So I've been through three news organizations
47:59
that have been bought. I was at the Courier Journal
48:02
and Gannett bought it. I was at the Wall Street
48:05
Journal when Rupert bought it, and I was at the
48:08
Washington Post when Bezos bought it. So maybe
48:12
I'm just bad luck for newspapers, for respected
48:14
newspapers. It's all about you, Jesse. Yeah,
48:16
everything's about me. But it's just really just
48:21
a reminder that there are things that newspapers
48:24
used to do or news organizations used to do to
48:28
protect America, to point out the wrongs that
48:32
were going on. And now everybody's in hiding,
48:35
and they're leaving it to clowns. And I mean
48:39
that in the favorable light, to funny people,
48:43
to show us what's really going on in the country
48:47
these days. And I've been watching these reaction
48:50
videos to the South Park episodes, and what I'm
48:56
finding is that the people who are reacting are
48:57
young people. they are learning things that they
49:01
didn't know because there was the whole last
49:04
South Park episode was was it Chrissy Noem the
49:10
former governor of South Dakota who shot her
49:16
dog in the face and you know she wrote it's in
49:21
her book and she not only shot her dog I think
49:24
she shot two dogs and a horse which people don't
49:28
remember but in the these reaction videos all
49:32
these young people are looking saying why are
49:35
they showing her shooting a dog and it's like
49:37
that's what she bragged about and you know she
49:41
was sort of called pulled over the wracked over
49:45
the coals about it originally but she became
49:48
the director of homeland security and she's like
49:51
rounding up people rounding up brown people And
49:56
South Park captured that attitude very well.
50:00
And people are learning from the comedians. They're
50:03
not learning from our major news organizations,
50:06
which is a condemnation of our major news organizations
50:09
because, as you pointed out, the lead story in
50:12
the Courier -Journal today is about cake. Right.
50:14
I mean, that's very Marie Antoinette, let them
50:17
eat cake. Right. But that's just a failure of,
50:23
you know, we've had. I have a failure of journalism.
50:26
I have a failure of religion. I have a failure
50:29
of the legislative branch, executive branch,
50:32
and judicial branch. And it's time for people
50:36
to wake up and take the country back from the
50:41
bad people. Right. And I want to interject something.
50:44
I was too young to know what was happening at
50:47
the newspaper. But I do want to say that I, Sally,
50:54
afterwards started the Kentucky Foundation for
50:58
Women and was very philanthropic, especially
51:01
to women. And I benefited by going to her house
51:06
called the Hopscotch House. And the Hopscotch
51:09
House was run to offer women retreat. um there
51:14
were artists there were therapists teachers all
51:18
kinds of people got to go to hopscotch house
51:20
and the Kentucky Foundation for Women provides
51:23
scholarships for women artists and things like
51:26
that so um you know i have compassion for a lot
51:31
of people and i just want to make note of Sally's
51:36
philanthropy and her compassion for the community.
51:41
And I'm not going to discuss how that went down
51:45
with the Binghams when I was a child because
51:47
I don't really have enough information. One other
51:50
thing I want to share is about white privilege.
51:54
And I want us to wake up. I want us white people
51:57
to really wake up and get out of our comfort
52:01
zone. So, Jesse and I walk a couple times a week,
52:08
say, and we live in the same neighborhood, and
52:10
we walk over to the University of Louisville,
52:12
and we walk several miles together. And Jesse
52:17
had a problem where he had dehydration and was
52:20
hospitalized. We talked about that. So, I bought
52:22
him a water bottle, and I bought him... this
52:25
holster for the water bottle. It was a black
52:29
holster. He could just put it over his shoulder
52:32
so that he had water and he wouldn't get dehydrated.
52:35
Well, Jesse sees the holster that I bought him,
52:38
and I'm a white woman, right? And he said, Amy,
52:41
I will be a target of the police if I wear this
52:44
holster. They'll think I'm wearing a gun. And
52:47
guess what? That's why privilege y 'all I mean
52:51
I was so ignorant about What I had purchased
52:55
him and what I thought was going to be helpful
52:57
And we just we need to be showing up and we need
53:01
to have friends Who maybe have different skin
53:04
color so we can learn from each other right?
53:08
And, of course, I don't want my dear friend to
53:11
get shot by the police at any time. Your dear
53:14
friend doesn't want to be shot by the police
53:15
either. And I'm wearing the holster because I'm
53:18
less of a target. Plus, you can wear a holster
53:23
and get away with it. I can. I think we should
53:26
wrap up. Okay. Well, that was another good conversation.
53:31
We will apply links to this on the website. And
53:38
Josh's video. I want you to be inspired by that.
53:40
Josh's video will be there. The Nebraska Congressman's
53:44
video will be there. We'll have links to the
53:46
things you referred to. Good. And we hope to
53:51
be back in a couple of weeks for our 10th episode
53:55
to just discuss more of what's going on in the
53:59
city. And state. And world. Yes, and nation.
54:03
And nation. So thanks, everybody, for listening,
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and we'll be back. See ya. Our closing music
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is by John Chamberlain.