Latest / The Bluegrass Blues Podcast / The Bluegrass Blues Podcast: Episode 10

Transcript

The Bluegrass Blues Podcast: Episode 10 · The Bluegrass Blues Podcast

0:00
This is the Bluegrass Blues Podcast. I'm Amy
0:03
and I'm Jesse. Well, today's going to be interesting
0:14
because we have some construction work going
0:17
on in the house. We're getting a new bathroom
0:19
put in, so you might hear some hammering downstairs
0:23
because they're putting up drywall on the second
0:26
floor as well as the first floor. And what else
0:31
is going on? Well, we have airplanes going overhead
0:34
because we are still on the flight path. And
0:36
you might hear in the background cicadas because
0:40
we're in that 17 -year cycle. And this is the
0:43
Brood 14, which is now, it seems to be all over
0:48
the place. It's almost like hearing a spaceship
0:52
land with the noise they're making. You know,
0:56
this is the kind of stuff we expect to hear like
0:59
we're out in the country and here we are in the
1:01
city. So that's really weird looking. But one
1:06
thing that's happened recently is we bought a
1:09
property out in the country. It's in Nelson County
1:13
and it's adjacent to the Bernheim Forest. So
1:16
I was out there last week or the week before
1:21
just looking around and one of the first things
1:23
I noticed was poisonous snakes. There are tons
1:28
of poisonous snakes out there. And Amy, you work
1:31
at Bernheimer. You do some guiding things there.
1:35
Can you tell me what dangerous animals I should
1:37
be watching out for? There are just two venomous
1:40
snakes in Kentucky, and you happen to have quite
1:44
a few copperheads on your property, as I understand.
1:48
Yeah, there were at least 14 we've found so far.
1:52
Wow, that is a lot. You know, many of us that
1:56
have worked at Bernheim for years and those of
1:59
us who are naturalists have never seen venomous
2:02
snakes in all the time that we've been out in
2:06
Bernheim. They're also the other venomous snake
2:08
is a rattlesnake. But mostly what we try to do
2:12
at Bernheim is educate the public so that they're
2:16
not afraid of the regular snakes that are not
2:19
venomous and are not harmful and are beneficial
2:22
to the environment. And so there are many of
2:25
those. And when we have kids and they're walking
2:28
out in the creek and stuff, we get really excited
2:31
if we see a snake and we show them the snake.
2:35
And then they are sensitized to it and then they're
2:38
not going to harm the snake. And that's the same
2:40
thing with bugs. By the way, a little pitch for
2:43
Bernheim, Bug Fest is coming up on September
2:47
20th. And this is an event you do not want to
2:51
miss. I mean, if you love bugs, if you're afraid
2:55
of bugs, if you are bug neutral, there's a bug
2:58
parade. There's this guy who has a podcast and
3:03
a website called All Bugs Go to Kevin because
3:07
his name is Kevin. Pretty clever. He lives in
3:11
Evansville. He's coming down for that. You've
3:12
got to come to Bugfest. I think it's September
3:14
20th from 11 to 3. And you can say hi to me because
3:18
I will be out there just getting my geek on with
3:21
as many bugs as I can find. And there are a lot
3:24
of things going on in Bernheim. I was told that
3:26
there was like some musical event recently. Yeah,
3:29
it was so fun. It was called Connect. And it
3:33
goes from like 6 .34 p .m. to 11 .34 p .m., and
3:39
it was a couple weeks ago. And basically what
3:42
happens is they have artists set up installation.
3:47
They have entertainment, so there are bands that
3:51
are set up on their stages. And you can come,
3:54
you can have an adult beverage, you can have
3:56
a non -alcoholic beverage, you can have food.
4:00
And you can listen to great music and see really
4:02
cool art. And they, I mean, some of my favorite
4:05
things were they had a laser show that they basically
4:08
emitted onto a tree canopy. And it was pretty
4:12
trippy. I have a feeling if some of us were,
4:16
you know, partaking in some fun things that watching
4:19
that laser show was probably pretty fun. But
4:22
one of my favorite things is the Astronomy Society
4:26
sets up their telescopes. And so we saw all kinds
4:30
of really cool stars. And then at about 1130,
4:34
Saturn was rising. And I got to tell you, I'm
4:38
62. One of the coolest things I have ever seen
4:41
through a telescope is Saturn with its ring.
4:44
Yeah, it's just extraordinary, and it also reminds
4:47
you that you are a speck of a speck of a speck
4:50
of a speck of stardust on this very small planet.
4:54
And that's one of the things I'm going to find
4:56
interesting about having property out in the
5:00
forest, because there's no light pollution there,
5:04
and it's just stars and stars forever. You're
5:08
going to see meteor showers. You're going to
5:10
see the Milky Way. I remember when I was in England,
5:13
we lived at a property that was just really far
5:18
from London, maybe an hour and a half away from
5:21
London, out in the country. And at night, we
5:23
could go outside and we could actually see satellites
5:27
go across the sky, which was just amazing. You
5:30
can see those at Bernheim. We saw them the last
5:32
time I was there. You'll see them at your place.
5:35
Yeah, I know, if the snakes don't scare me into
5:38
the house again. And you were talking about just
5:42
the musical thing going on there, and just one
5:45
thing that quickly came to my mind is that Teddy
5:49
Abrams, who's the musical director of the Louisville
5:52
Orchestra, has just signed a contract to stay
5:55
in Louisville for another three years, which
5:58
is... really a big deal because he's well known
6:01
throughout the country. I think he's a Grammy
6:03
Award winner, or the orchestra has won Grammy
6:05
Awards. And what surprises me, or I don't know
6:09
if it's surprising to me, but there was an opening
6:13
that's just opened up at the San Francisco Symphony.
6:17
And one of the things I was thinking was that,
6:20
oh, well, that's something that they'll offer
6:22
Teddy. But, you know, he didn't. Either he hasn't
6:26
been approached for it or he has been approached
6:28
for it and isn't taking it, but it's really interesting
6:31
that he's decided to stay in Louisville, and
6:34
you have a better angle on why that is. Well,
6:37
I think Teddy is a tour de force here, and he
6:41
also has so much creative freedom. He has taken
6:46
the orchestra all throughout the city, to schools,
6:49
all throughout the state. He wrote an orchestral
6:52
piece to be played underneath Mammoth Cave in
6:58
the Great Hall of Mammoth Cave with Yo -Yo Ma.
7:01
I was standing like four feet away from Yo -Yo
7:05
Ma during this performance in Mammoth Cave. Another
7:08
epic event that I will never forget. Teddy has
7:11
so much creative license here, and honestly,
7:14
if he goes to a larger market i think the board
7:17
of directors i think i think things will box
7:20
him you know the structure will box him in in
7:23
a way that he is just free here right there's
7:27
so much more creative freedom for him here plus
7:30
to be honest the cost of living is not as it's
7:34
not very much here compared to somewhere like
7:37
San Francisco where you have to be millionaire
7:39
to buy a house because the cheapest houses are
7:43
a million dollars so it's good for Louisville
7:46
it's also something that we hope the public takes
7:51
advantage of because there are a lot of offerings
7:55
that Louisville has to has in terms of the arts
7:58
but there are also things that we have to worry
8:01
about here because there's another event coming
8:04
up next week on the I forget, we're on the...
8:09
On the Belvedere? Yeah. So this weekend is World
8:11
Fest. It's Labor Day weekend. So August 29th
8:17
is September 1st, and it's the 23rd annual World
8:21
Fest. it's it attracts more than 150 000 people
8:25
over the four -day liberty weekend really popular
8:28
and it basically celebrates and showcases all
8:32
of the diverse international cultures and communities
8:34
that make up Louisville and i'll tell you what
8:38
i what i'm really concerned about is is this
8:41
this year just going to be a festival for white
8:44
people you know to show up at because This would
8:48
be a prime target for ICE, you know, having all
8:51
these brown people from around the world. They're
8:56
citizens of the United States, legal immigrants,
9:00
et cetera, legal refugees. And ICE could just
9:03
come and cause so much chaos. You have all these
9:06
families with children. Just imagine. And I just
9:10
have a feeling that our very rich, diverse community
9:14
is going to stay inside for safety. And the other
9:18
thing to this is that our mayor has proven that
9:21
he's not going to defend. the immigrants in this
9:24
city because he's pretty much acquiesced to what
9:26
the Trump administration wants to do in terms
9:29
of just letting ICE have free reign here. Now,
9:34
I'm sure he would say that's not the case, but
9:36
the fact that they've actually done it so that
9:44
ICE won't come into the city or Louisville won't
9:47
be placed on this list of sanctuary cities anymore
9:51
because the mayor has decided that we're not
9:55
going to be a sanctuary. We're going to just
9:57
acquiesce to the Trump administration. I really
10:01
understand your point about why would anyone
10:04
of any color go to these events in Louisville
10:09
when the mayor has shown that he's not going
10:11
to defend people. And this, you know, it says
10:14
that 150 international vendors are going to present
10:18
their arts, merchandise, food, and beverages.
10:20
And then it says a parade of cultures is going
10:23
to take place with nearly a thousand participants
10:26
celebrating all the diverse cultures in Louisville.
10:29
I don't know. Is this really going to happen
10:32
or what? I don't know. These are some of the
10:38
concerns we have because these are important
10:42
things to do because it does show the diversity
10:44
of the community and how much everyone has to
10:48
offer to Louisville being really the place to
10:52
be in Kentucky in terms of... freedom of thought,
10:56
learning about different cultures, having better
11:01
choices to deal with than what's being offered
11:05
in other parts of the state. But again, we have
11:08
this situation where the Democratic leadership
11:10
doesn't stand up for anything. And you can just
11:14
compare that to what happened in Illinois this
11:16
week, where the governor... And the mayor of
11:19
Chicago and all the political leaders in Illinois
11:23
got together. They were all Democrats. And they
11:26
stood up to the Trump administration's plan to
11:29
bring soldiers into Chicago. They're talking
11:32
about bringing the National Guard into Chicago,
11:35
which they've already done in Washington, D .C.
11:39
They've already done this in Los Angeles. This
11:42
is just another step toward an authoritarian
11:44
rule. You know, Democrats here don't do that.
11:50
And that really is annoying. Like last week,
11:53
one of the Republican representatives was talking
11:58
about redistricting in Kentucky. And that's another
12:03
thing that's been going around recently where
12:05
Texas has decided to redistrict in order to add
12:10
five more Republican seats to Congress. And California
12:14
is countering that. by redistricting as well
12:18
so they'll bring more democratic seats and Andy
12:22
Beshear to his credit had said that that's a
12:26
good thing that you know redistricting is wrong
12:29
if you're going to do it just to give your side
12:33
an advantage but that's what Texas is doing and
12:36
so California's saying okay well if you're going
12:38
to do that we're going to do it and when Beshear
12:41
said that He supported those efforts in California.
12:45
Some Republican here said, well, maybe we'll
12:48
redistrict the seats in Kentucky. They have every
12:53
congressional seat in Kentucky, with the exception
12:56
of the one in Louisville. There's five altogether,
13:00
and four are red. Yeah, and that's Morgan McGarvey.
13:03
And what really bothered me about this is that
13:07
when the Republicans said that, I saw nothing.
13:11
covered about what McGarvey was saying in terms
13:14
of that because if i were the uh the democratic
13:17
representative here and someone said that they
13:20
were going to redistrict to get me out of my
13:22
seat I would just go nuclear you know and I
13:27
would say horrible things about them um i would
13:30
be out in the state going through all the districts
13:33
where Republicans aren't holding town hall meetings
13:36
and as a Democrat i would be there saying Here,
13:40
I'm here talking to you. You're not my constituents,
13:43
but I'm listening to you, whereas your representative
13:47
won't even show his face because either he's
13:52
afraid of you or he doesn't care. And I say he
13:55
because there are only men who are representatives
13:58
in this state right now. But McGarvey hasn't
14:03
done anything, And this is a problem that we've
14:05
talked about in other podcasts, about the lack
14:09
of resolve by Democrats to deal with what's going
14:14
on in the country. There are a few Democrats
14:18
who are going around the country, like Bernie
14:21
Sanders. He's not a Democrat, but he is affiliated
14:25
with the Democratic Party. Ocasio-Cortez, and
14:30
Tammy Baldwin, who's the legislator from Illinois.
14:37
She's a senator who lost her legs while serving
14:42
in the military. She's going to Missouri to talk
14:45
to red districts there about, you know, the things
14:49
that the Republicans are doing to hurt their
14:52
constituents. And she's from Wisconsin. Wisconsin,
14:55
I'm sorry. It's just really annoying that the
15:00
Democrats here aren't doing these kinds of things
15:02
and getting out to the people, but what they're
15:05
doing is just essentially ceding their influence
15:11
to the Republican Party, which has ceded its
15:14
influence to Donald Trump. And I was talking
15:18
to someone at lunch about this very issue, and
15:21
she thinks that... People are now just very,
15:26
very afraid. This is what happens with the rise
15:29
of authoritarianism, right? And so people are
15:32
afraid they're going to lose their jobs because
15:34
now, you know, they're paid a lot, right? And
15:36
I don't want to lose my job. Or they're afraid
15:39
that their family is going to be targeted. Or
15:41
they're afraid, as you know, like at the Federal
15:44
Reserve Bank, what's going on with Ms. Cook,
15:47
you know, and he wants to fire a Federal Reserve
15:50
Board governor. And she's suing him. But, you
15:53
know, there aren't a lot of people that are standing
15:55
up to Donald Trump because they're really acting
15:58
in fear. You know, and I have compassion for
16:03
people who want to be safe. But our democracy
16:06
is fraying. I mean, it's imploding, really. Every
16:11
single day something horrible is happening to
16:13
it. And we need leadership on the Democratic
16:15
side. I don't see it. We're now in an authoritarian
16:19
state, which... Well, the reality is that for
16:25
certain members of the population in America,
16:28
it's always been an authoritarian state. Now
16:32
it's like getting public notice because white
16:37
people are affected by it more than they were
16:40
in the past. You go back in history, there's
16:45
Jim Crow, there was slavery, there were acts
16:47
that were designed to take away responsibility
16:51
or rights from people from Latin America. There
16:56
were laws passed against the Asian community.
17:01
So authoritarianism has always been here, but
17:05
now it's... more blatant than it's ever been
17:08
because in the past you had the feeling that
17:11
at least the courts would stop this. But we're
17:15
now in this situation where the courts are not
17:18
doing anything or the courts have been so stacked
17:24
with Republican, by Republican legislators that
17:27
anything that we thought was safe in the past
17:31
is now up for grabs. Just this whole thing with
17:36
We talked about the targeting of trans children
17:42
in the past. That's something that is this idea
17:48
that you're going after the weakest or the people
17:54
who are most vulnerable for your authoritarian
17:57
efforts. And once they get rid of the trans people,
18:02
as they want to do, then... they'll go for gay
18:06
marriage. I saw that they're now talking about
18:10
reversing interracial marriage, which, you know,
18:15
this is... Last year, two years ago, we would
18:18
say, oh, this is impossible, that's never going
18:20
to happen. But three years ago, we were saying
18:22
that Roe v. White would never be overturned.
18:24
And this movement toward this authoritarian effort
18:31
doesn't seem to be... It doesn't seem to be raising
18:36
the concern that it should be raising. And I
18:40
want to just diverge here or go off into a tangent
18:43
here, but I don't watch TV news. I just avoid
18:47
it because I don't think they do a very good
18:50
job. But I was in the doctor's office this week,
18:54
and they have television going on in the background.
18:58
And one of the things that happened was... The
19:02
person who covers the White House for CBS News
19:05
was on the air talking about Taylor Swift's engagement
19:09
to Kelsey and Travis Kelsey. And I was thinking,
19:16
wait a minute, you're the White House correspondent
19:18
and you're excited about this pop star and football
19:23
player getting married? But, you know, it was
19:27
the worst part was she did it on a Tuesday. And
19:31
they were still talking about it like happily
19:34
on a Wednesday. So there's like this disconnect
19:39
in American media about what's really going on
19:43
now. I know it's about ratings and I know it's
19:49
about getting people on watching your broadcast,
19:54
but you don't have the White House correspondent
19:57
talking about Taylor Swift. That's just not right.
20:01
And the other thing was, if you listen to daytime
20:04
television, there's a lot of daytime talk shows
20:08
where it's annoying listening to the platitudes
20:13
and all this feel -good effort that they're trying
20:18
to do when there's nothing to feel good about.
20:21
And you had said something that the courts aren't
20:24
doing anything. I would argue that there are
20:27
judges that are fighting the good fight. We have
20:31
an executive branch now that has basically carte
20:36
blanche to do whatever they want to do, including
20:39
putting these Stalin -esque banners of Trump
20:42
everywhere, right? I mean, come on, he could
20:45
be Hitler, he could be Saddam Hussein, Stalin.
20:48
He just... you know of course project 2025 is
20:52
he's the figurehead then you have the legislative
20:54
branch which we would argue isn't doing anything
20:58
on either side of the aisle now so we've been
21:01
really hoping that the judicial branch would
21:04
step up and as you said Mitch McConnell our own
21:07
senior senator was a major force of blocking
21:13
federal judgeships when Obama was president.
21:16
He stole a Supreme Court seat. Exactly. But I
21:21
do want to say that there are judges fighting
21:25
the good fight. It just does seem like all three
21:28
branches of government are collapsing. Well,
21:30
I agree with you on the judges. There are judges
21:33
who are trying to stop this craziness, but it
21:37
goes to the Supreme Court, and there are only...
21:41
three justices left who are going to defend us.
21:44
It's Kagan, Jackson, and Sotomayor. But the rest
21:52
are, you know, it's a six to three court on all
21:55
these things. And there are no moderates on the
22:00
court anymore from what I can tell. They're either
22:03
very far right. And I'm not going to say the
22:06
liberals are far left, because they're not. But
22:10
there's just this imbalance, which people in
22:14
general don't seem to understand. And that's
22:18
another thing I'm seeing as I watch people talk
22:21
about what's going on in the country, where people
22:25
just don't know what's going on. South Park has
22:31
been doing these really weird... attacks on the
22:34
Trump administration. And I watch people talking
22:37
about these episodes and they have no idea that,
22:41
like, Kristi Noem actually shot a dog in the
22:43
face. Right. Or that Donald Trump is just...
22:47
A convicted felon. Yeah. 34 times while he's
22:50
trying to... Yeah, put other people, accuse other
22:54
people of being, of doing illegal things when
22:58
he has been convicted of doing illegal things.
23:01
How do you spell hypocrite? D -O -N -A -L -D
23:04
-T -R -U -M -P, that's how you spell it. But,
23:07
you know, it's things that we have to keep an
23:13
eye on, but it's also, we have to hold. not only
23:17
Republicans accountable, but we have to hold
23:19
Democrats accountable for what they're doing
23:22
because I don't know what Chuck Schumer is doing.
23:25
I have no faith in what he does anymore. You
23:28
know, Hakeem Jeffries, I had great hopes for
23:31
him, but I don't see him doing that much. And
23:35
our congressman is really doing nothing. I think
23:39
he's like a non-entity. And, you know, if...
23:44
Let's say the Republicans did redistrict and
23:47
redistricted him out. Would anyone notice? That's
23:51
what really bothers me about him more than anything,
23:54
is that I really feel that if you go out into
23:58
the city and you ask, who's your congressman?
24:01
People are not going to, they'll have no idea,
24:04
but they can tell you who the congresswoman from
24:07
the Bronx is, and they can tell you who the Texas,
24:11
the black Texas Democrat is who's giving Marjorie
24:14
Taylor Green a hard time. Well, my experience,
24:17
though, is if you're, if you live in the, and
24:20
this is a generalization, but if you live in
24:22
the Highlands, if you live in Crescent Hill,
24:25
maybe Old Louisville, you know who Morgan McGarvey
24:28
is. And you've seen him and you like him because
24:31
he shows up at your stuff. And my feeling is
24:35
he does the bare minimum. And we need him. We
24:40
need him out there. We need him out there. Just
24:42
yelling. He's the only one in the whole state.
24:45
He should be out there. Well, he and Beshear,
24:50
Andy Beshear. That's the only other Democrat in
24:53
the state. I know there's a lieutenant governor,
24:55
but I don't know who that is. Coleman. She's
24:58
probably going to, she's running for governor.
25:00
Right. But people don't know who she is. Right.
25:02
No one knows. And she'll, it's possible she'll
25:05
be running against James Comey because there's
25:08
some speculation. Comer. Comer, right. Comey
25:11
was the FBI director. Right. But Comer, who's
25:14
definitely a MAGA Trump bootlicker. he could
25:20
be running for governor and he could win. So
25:23
I have a lot of people that I talk to about all
25:27
this stuff, right? And one of the things, actually,
25:32
I was with a friend. She's an African -American
25:35
woman, a bit older than I. We both went to Wesleyan
25:38
together and we had lunch today. Her daughter
25:41
is a dean at a... state school, not in this state,
25:47
but in another state. And she was told last week
25:52
that she was losing her job. DEI came up and
25:57
they're moving her over to another school. And
26:00
so far, she has her salary through the end of
26:03
the year. So I am talking to so many people.
26:07
And she also has a daughter who works at FEMA.
26:10
And, you know, there's just so much uncertainty.
26:15
around us. So one of the things my friend said
26:17
was, am I doing enough? And she said, you know,
26:21
we always asked as young people, like, what will
26:25
we have done in Germany during World War II?
26:27
What will we have done? And she says to me, this
26:30
is now. This is now. We are here. What are we
26:35
doing? And so I showed her the Five Calls app.
26:39
She didn't know about that app. And so she's
26:41
got the app. And then I talked to her about some
26:43
other ways to plug in. And she's really talented.
26:47
And we came up with some other ways for her to
26:49
use her special skills and strengths. But one
26:52
of the things that is really helping me find
26:55
some serenity now, because I just think that
26:57
all this stuff overwhelms us. All of this stuff
27:01
is meant to deplete us and distract us so that
27:05
we... you know, hide in our homes and do nothing,
27:08
especially white people. And so what I'm doing
27:12
now is I've gone back to yoga and it is. it is
27:17
really changing my life because i get really
27:21
present and i'm focused on my breath and for
27:23
an hour or an hour and 15 minutes i'm breathing
27:27
i'm stretching i'm in mountain pose or warrior
27:32
pose and i'm strong and i'm getting stronger
27:35
and it just it's really helping me the rest of
27:39
the day when I'm out there being of service and
27:42
community. So that's one thing that I'm finding
27:45
is really helping me right now, and I think exercise
27:48
is really critical. Did you participate in the
27:51
yoga in Central Park this year? I didn't go,
27:54
ever. It was on my calendar, and I was usually
27:58
at Bernheim those mornings. Yeah, because it
28:00
was Saturday mornings. from June until now, where
28:05
people just get together on the stage that the
28:08
Kentucky Shakespeare has its plays on. And I
28:13
walked by a couple of times, and there are just
28:15
dozens of people just doing yoga in the park.
28:18
Which is awesome. It's accessible. It's free.
28:21
It's right in the middle of a community, a very
28:24
diverse community. Props to them. The other thing
28:29
I wanted to mention, I've already mentioned nature.
28:31
But I just find being outside, my heart rate
28:36
goes down. I breathe more deeply. I'm much more
28:40
aware of being small in the natural world. And
28:43
I'm reminded of the natural world. And then I
28:45
can do things like buy my swamp milkweed so I
28:48
can attract monarch butterflies. And that's a
28:52
part. that we can all play too. But I also wanted
28:57
to mention that I'm in a recovery group, a 12
29:00
-step program, and you're not supposed to talk
29:03
about outside issues when you're working the
29:06
steps in your program. And there are several
29:08
of us who don't have family members that necessarily
29:12
agree with us, and we don't have safe... places
29:14
to talk so we are getting together monthly and
29:18
there's a grief book in our program that we're
29:21
using and instead of the particular addiction
29:24
that has affected our lives or other family members
29:28
lives we are using this dysfunctional government
29:33
as that addict and we are coming together with
29:38
ways to be strong and powerful and use our sphere
29:43
of influence um during this time and it that
29:46
has been really helpful and and these women don't
29:49
have any other safe place to go typically to
29:51
just express their concern or their fear or their
29:55
rage um with other people so i i highly encourage
30:00
everybody to find your people now right yeah
30:03
we're um i i actually are i'm doing walks every
30:09
day like i've been doing from five to eight miles
30:13
a day just walking around the city and you know
30:16
i'm just seeing a lot of interesting things like
30:19
i usually walk from my place in Old Louisville
30:22
through the UofL campus i walk past all of the
30:25
athletic fields so you know we'll i'll see students
30:31
student athletes just in training for whatever
30:35
event because I passed the lacrosse field and
30:38
I saw the women's team out there the other day
30:40
and I passed the soccer field and I see the men's
30:43
and women's teams doing practice there during
30:46
the summer I walked by the baseball field and
30:49
saw the baseball team doing things and you know
30:54
it's just it's good to see just there's a lot
30:58
of stuff going on on campus which is also free
31:01
like they're free sports um you do have to pay
31:05
for some of the sports but for the most part
31:06
you can go and watch student athletes do their
31:10
their thing i've also been walking a lot around
31:15
the downtown area and you know those are like
31:19
more substantive walks because I'm seeing things
31:23
I didn't know were here. For example, I didn't
31:27
know that there's like a whole kind of music
31:28
row on Main Street at night. There's a lot of
31:33
bars and just places where musicians will perform.
31:40
I've walked by the Louisville Ballet building
31:42
on Main Street and there are things that they're
31:45
advertising that I want to go see like there's
31:48
supposed to be a ballet of Dracula in mid -October
31:52
which looks really interesting and I walked by
31:56
the baseball field just yesterday just to see
31:59
what what's there and it's you know it's a cincinnati
32:02
uh reds farm team is the Louisville Bats so you
32:07
know there's there are things to do downtown
32:09
plus there are tons of restaurants um that you
32:13
know i just never get to because i don't think
32:16
in terms of going downtown when i'm going out
32:18
to eat i'm usually going along Bardstown Road
32:21
or something But they're just really high -end
32:24
restaurants there. 21C near the Muhammad Ali
32:29
Museum. Mayan Cafe is my favorite restaurant
32:33
in town. And I just got to give them props because...
32:37
They show up for our nonprofit community. I'm
32:40
on the board of Feed Louisville, and they feed
32:42
us at our board meetings. They're feeding us
32:45
at our board retreat. They are of service to
32:48
so many good causes. That's another way to use
32:52
your power is to find out the local businesses
32:55
that are supporting our cause and throw the money.
32:59
Down there right now on Main Street, there's
33:02
infrastructure work, and some of the businesses
33:05
are being impacted by it. you know, road work
33:08
and things like that. So know thy businesses
33:11
and spend thy money wisely. I mean, that's a
33:14
form of protest right there. Right, and while
33:17
we're talking about helping out the restaurants
33:19
here, let's note that Churchill Downs is doing
33:22
everything it can to destroy the restaurant scene
33:24
downtown because they've signed these deals,
33:28
especially around Derby time, that pretty much
33:31
force... everybody to stay at the Downs for whatever
33:36
events are going on. And the things they're doing
33:40
are actually hurting the restaurants in Louisville.
33:43
I was, well, we were at this, the Japanese place.
33:47
Nami? Oh, not the Japanese place. Yeah, it was
33:51
near, not far from Cherokee Park. But we, maybe
33:57
you weren't there. Well, I think you were there,
33:59
but we were at, we... We were told by the owner
34:03
that they have to close on the Derby because
34:07
they close off the road in there. Oh, no, that
34:11
wasn't Cherokee Park. That was the place on Woodlawn
34:16
Avenue in the South End. And that's a really
34:19
cool place to support. It's sort of like Logan
34:22
Street Market in the South End. And he said they
34:25
basically have to close up because you can't
34:27
get there. They close the exits off the expressway.
34:30
You can't even access their restaurants. Right.
34:33
And the other thing was that there are a lot
34:34
of restaurants that have sent letters, just written
34:38
letters to the editor saying that what Churchill
34:41
Downs is doing is killing the restaurant industry
34:46
here because they're, especially during Derby
34:49
Week, because they're sort of confining people
34:52
to the Downs. Right. Which... you know is what
34:55
they're going to do because Churchill Downs is
34:57
a corporation and its loyalty is not to the community
35:02
that built it up it's to its shareholders which
35:05
we we're hearing a lot about you know this being
35:08
responsible for shareholders but not really caring
35:11
about the community because Churchill Downs really
35:14
doesn't sponsor anything in town um maybe it
35:19
does but I haven't I get the feeling that they
35:21
don't do anything out of the ordinary to
35:25
let people know that Louisville is a place to
35:29
be. They only are interested in, you know, getting
35:32
all the rich people to come to the Derby for
35:35
Derby Week and containing everybody at the Downs.
35:39
Like, what was it? Now they've got Derby going
35:43
on, so Thursdays are closed off. They made this
35:47
deal with NBC that will show the Oaks on Friday
35:51
night. which is like one of the big days for
35:55
restaurants in town like Derby weekend a Friday
35:59
night is a big thing but they've moved the hours
36:03
of the running of the Oaks to a later time so
36:06
people aren't going to go out to eat afterwards
36:09
they'll just eat at the downs You know, to your
36:11
point, I was looking up the Churchill Downs Foundation
36:14
and I really haven't known any nonprofit that
36:18
has gotten money. And, you know, the house always
36:20
wins, Jesse. So what I was thinking about was
36:23
like going to Bellagio in Las Vegas. And, of
36:26
course, they want you to eat at the Bellagio
36:29
and spend all your money and stay at the Bellagio
36:31
so that they've got a captive audience, right?
36:33
So you spend all your money. So I was looking
36:35
at the Churchill Downs Foundation and, you know,
36:38
obviously the house. always wins so they're making
36:41
a lot of money and they boast that they gave
36:45
over five million dollars in charitable grants
36:48
and in kind donations every year to over 800
36:52
organizations I mean if you do the math that's
36:55
like $20 an organization right now five million
36:57
dollars is not dropping It's not much at all,
37:01
considering the money that they're getting from
37:04
the TV rights to the Derby, and just from the...
37:07
And all the people going. And the ticket prices
37:10
are just astronomical now, because I think I've
37:14
said this before, I went to the Derby years ago,
37:17
and I think the last one I went to was when American
37:20
Pharoah won the race. And the thing was, I could
37:25
afford tickets, like we could get a box, and...
37:29
yes the tickets were steep but they were within
37:33
range like it's like okay this is going to be
37:35
luxury for the year but now a couple years later
37:39
i went to get tickets because i had some family
37:40
members who wanted to come into town and the
37:43
ticket prices had at least tripled yeah and there's
37:46
just no way to afford that unless you're very
37:49
rich which is what Churchill Downs is appealing
37:51
to and you know, what happens to the average
37:55
consumer or the person who just wants to take
37:59
part in what is culturally, something that's
38:03
culturally relevant in town. Right. You know,
38:06
speaking of Churchill Downs, my son and I, well,
38:09
we went to Vietnam Kitchen for lunch. He's just
38:11
back from college and his summer camp job. Worst
38:15
Vietnam Kitchen? Vietnam Kitchen is on the south
38:17
end. And then we went to the Kroger near Churchill
38:21
Downs. I think you all go to that Kroger. And
38:24
I asked my son, I'm like, so I have two young
38:28
adults in my house right now. One's about to
38:30
move out. I said, how much do you think our groceries
38:32
are going to cost this week? And he guessed $175.
38:37
And I guessed $250. and it was $253. And this
38:44
didn't even include things like pet food or like
38:47
the big staple things that might cost a lot of
38:50
money. This was food for three people for the
38:55
week. So, you know, I oftentimes think that we're
38:59
like frogs in boiling water, and it just gets
39:03
hotter and hotter, and we look away from the
39:07
tragedies, and we just keep... I don't know,
39:10
like swimming in boiling water until what? We
39:13
boil. We boil. We die. We die. That's what happens.
39:18
Speaking of good things, though, can I transition
39:21
into some fun stuff coming up? Sure. We need
39:24
some fun here. All right. So workers over billionaires.
39:28
I'm looking at a very creative graphic with a
39:32
megaphone with workers over billionaires in Lexington
39:35
on Labor Day, Monday, September 1st. from 5 to
39:40
8 p .m. Show up at Courthouse Plaza, which is
39:44
120 North Limestone. North Limestone, is that
39:49
like a street or something? Yeah, North Limestone
39:51
is in Lexington, Kentucky, Courthouse Plaza,
39:54
Labor Day, 5 to 8 p .m. And show up for that.
39:58
That'll be a great... protest i don't see an
40:02
equivalent protest in Louisville, which surprises
40:05
me but you know a lot of these are mostly you
40:08
know volunteer run this is another thing like
40:10
oh my god where where is the leadership you know
40:14
um now apparently morgan speaking of morgan mcgarvey
40:19
if you want to if you want to show up and like
40:22
really you know ask him what's going on he is
40:26
showing up for a town hall saturday this saturday
40:30
august 30th from 11 a .m to 12 p .m all of one
40:34
hour and you cannot find the location until you
40:38
RSVP. So there are access barriers here and the
40:42
time duration is pretty small. But Saturday,
40:46
August 30th, 11 to 12, he's having a town hall.
40:50
And if you go to the Louisville Democratic Party's
40:54
website or their Facebook page, you can register
40:57
to find out where. the town hall is just why
41:00
would he do that i don't understand why you just
41:03
don't say here everybody this is where i'm going
41:05
to be because we live in a fascist country now
41:08
and everybody's afraid i don't know it seems
41:13
legal to have a town hall oh yeah yeah and um
41:17
if you're going to represent your constituents
41:20
you should let your constituents know where you're
41:23
going to be but maybe I have no good reason for
41:29
that kind of action. It makes no sense. And those
41:35
are the biggies that I have. You know, one of
41:38
the things that struck me, and I always forget
41:42
this, but I didn't realize we're coming into
41:45
a holiday weekend. I've been working for, like,
41:49
my whole career I've been working, and I've worked
41:53
on holiday weekends. And it just never strikes
41:56
me that, oh, there's another one coming up. But
41:59
this is Labor Day. And, you know, this is a time
42:03
to celebrate the worker. We have to do, you know,
42:07
the fact that you talked about the situation
42:10
with, did we talk about the unions, the unionization
42:15
effort? Yeah. Yeah, well, just, you know, we're
42:18
talking about how the unions are. have weakened
42:23
over the years. I think 9 .9 % of all workers
42:28
are unionized now. It's really bad, but unions
42:33
are responsible for things like the five -day
42:36
work week and for things like a fair wage for
42:39
work. But I don't know why people have been brainwashed
42:45
into thinking that unions are bad, other than...
42:49
because unions were at one point representing
42:52
everybody no matter what race. And there was
42:56
this, I think one of the arguments against unions
42:59
in the past from the white person perspective
43:03
was that, oh, they're going to give black people
43:05
jobs and take away your jobs. But the unions
43:09
have been really important just in terms of making
43:14
sure people are getting a fair wage. And we've
43:16
learned over the years that billionaire class
43:20
is not for a fair wage it's for just getting
43:23
all the money like if you're in a company where
43:27
your chief executive or the owner of the company
43:29
is a billionaire what that means is that you're
43:33
not getting any money for your work it's all
43:35
going to the billionaire who can easily easily
43:39
like But what about trickle -down economics,
43:42
Jesse? Yes, from the Reagan administration, and
43:45
that proved to be a waste of time and a waste
43:48
of effort. But it's like people have been conned
43:51
into believing that there's a certain altruism
43:56
in the billionaire class, which never existed
44:00
and never is going to exist. And I've said this
44:05
many times. If Elon Musk gave away 99 % of his
44:09
wealth, he'd still have $3 billion. And that's
44:14
just, can you imagine what could be done with
44:16
the $297 billion that he's hoarding? He's a hoarder.
44:23
Well, while he's doing that, and while he's profiting
44:26
off of the slashing of poor people's programs
44:32
like... nutrition, health care, USAID, all these
44:38
families now across the world are going to die
44:40
of malaria and all kinds of preventable illnesses.
44:44
And all these families in America are going to
44:47
die because of the lack of health care, the lack
44:50
of money for food. Just these things that should
44:55
be, you know, there's this idea that, or idea
45:00
on the right that you shouldn't have. free health
45:04
care for people which is just a ridiculous argument
45:08
that health care should be free um but there
45:11
is there is the profit motive behind it all and
45:15
you know people don't well people of the super
45:21
rich class don't believe in giving anything to
45:24
anyone they just want it all for themselves like
45:28
you you listen to congressmen there was a guy
45:31
i guess in I forget which state, might have been
45:34
some Midwestern state, who had a town hall meeting
45:38
and he gave this example of, do you think that
45:42
a 23 -year -old who's not working should have
45:44
free health care? And my mind immediately went,
45:48
yeah, everyone should have free health care.
45:50
But he's saying that they're like leeches on
45:54
society and they don't deserve to get health
45:58
care if you're not working. But we should note
46:01
that his wife had cancer and he got free health
46:04
care for being a legislator. Right. Let me tell
46:07
you about an experience I just had today. So
46:10
I go to CVS to pick up a couple of prescriptions
46:13
and the pharmacist asked me if I want to get
46:16
a flu shot. And I said, yes. And then she said,
46:19
would you like to get a COVID vaccine too? And
46:22
I said, yes. Could you look up when my last booster
46:25
was? Which she did. And it was last September.
46:29
And then she goes in the system and I can't get
46:34
the, I cannot get the existing COVID booster
46:38
because I've been approved for the new COVID
46:42
vaccine, which they don't have, which I'm denied
46:46
for because I'm not 65 years old. And then she
46:50
tried to fight because I have Crohn's disease
46:52
that I have this underlying condition that would
46:54
make. But in other words, I could not get the
46:58
COVID booster today. And that is right on top
47:02
of the news about RFK's fight at the CDC. And
47:07
all I'm hearing now on the news is we're not
47:12
going to get the COVID vaccine unless you're
47:14
over 65. And even that might be difficult to
47:16
get. It was crazy. It was crazy sauce. It is
47:21
crazy. And while you have a crazy person in charge
47:24
of the health department who's a former heroin
47:27
addict, just go through the list of all the bad
47:31
things that the Trump administration is doing.
47:34
And people, again, it's amazing to me that people
47:39
don't pay attention. And again, I'll go back
47:43
to this, but... It's something you have to blame
47:45
the media for. This is just a failure on the
47:49
part of all of the major news organizations to
47:53
point out that we are in a very dangerous time
47:59
right now. But as I said earlier, we're in a
48:03
dangerous time, but the CBS White House correspondent
48:06
is talking about Taylor Swift. Right. And by
48:09
the way, you asked me if we had talked about
48:11
the unionizing. I don't think we did. So Blue
48:15
Oval SK, which is this major electric vehicle
48:21
battery maker in Glendale, Kentucky, which is
48:25
just south of... E -town, Elizabethtown, they
48:29
have over a thousand workers and they're having
48:31
a lot of safety complaints about their workplace
48:35
and they just held a vote to unionize and 526
48:41
folks voted in favor of organizing while 515
48:45
opposed so 11 more voted to unionize now the
48:49
company is holding up the vote because they claim
48:52
that 41 ballots are being challenged um because
48:56
they they think they might have been fraudulent
48:59
so um And this is a nearly $6 billion joint venture
49:05
between Ford and its South Korean partner. Now,
49:09
you know what else is interesting to me is I
49:11
thought all this EV stuff was going to go away.
49:14
I mean, isn't it being tanked? That's because
49:16
the Trump administration has been trying to push
49:18
for cars that aren't electric. But I think in
49:22
this instance, it's probably something Musk wants.
49:26
I see. Well, I won't even say it's something
49:31
Musk wants. I say it's something that Trump has
49:34
probably been bribed to take because if you are
49:38
going to do anything with this administration,
49:42
if you pay tribute. to the Don, which is like
49:46
a very mafia kind of thing. But if you pay tribute
49:49
to him, then he will immediately change his tune
49:52
on whatever it is. And I'll refer back to South
49:56
Park. Yeah, I was just thinking about South Park
49:58
and bringing their gifts. As if he's the king.
50:01
Right, yeah, or as if he's a mafia Don. They're
50:03
the peasants, yeah. And these rich people like
50:07
Tim Cook at Apple is giving him this thing. which
50:10
he really did do. He really did give him this
50:12
gold -plated thing. And that's the other thing.
50:15
These people are giving him gold -plated things
50:17
because they know that's what he likes. 90 ,000
50:20
-square -foot addition in the White House, and
50:22
it's all going to be like Versailles. Yeah, it's
50:25
just really trashy. This is where your taxpayer
50:28
dollars are going, friends. Right. You either
50:31
can have a big ballroom in Washington, or you
50:33
can have your hospital closed. These are the
50:36
things that... we're trying to, that people should
50:40
be aware of, and this is what bothers me again
50:42
about the media, is that they're not harping
50:46
on these things that really determine what's
50:50
life and death these days. I agree. And, you
50:54
know, we talked about this maybe a couple weeks
50:57
ago, where the Courier -Journal Its lead story
51:04
on a day where there were other things going
51:06
on, but its lead story on its homepage was about
51:09
cakes at the fair, the Kentucky Fair. And we
51:13
went to the state fair. It was amazing. But regardless,
51:18
given all the things that are happening in the
51:20
country these days, If your top story of the
51:24
day is about the winning cake at the state fair
51:27
and you're supposed to be the primary news source
51:30
in the state of Kentucky, that shows that there's
51:34
a huge failure in terms of what the media is
51:37
offering. Let them eat cake, Jesse. Yes, it's
51:40
very Marie Antoinette. We talk about Versailles.
51:42
We talk about let them eat cake. It's just this,
51:46
again, this disconnect where I see people. talking
51:52
about certain things and they don't realize what
51:54
what actually is going on or they don't know
51:57
or when they hear something that the Trump administration
52:00
is doing they don't believe it because they're
52:04
not hearing it from anywhere else they're either
52:06
getting their news from Joe Rogan or from Alex
52:10
Jones or from some other right -wing crazy or
52:14
just from Fox News which Lies to people all the
52:18
time because you know, they've lost like this
52:21
almost billion dollar lawsuit on the whole voting
52:25
machine scandal but Yeah, on Fox News today,
52:30
left erupts after Catholic school tragedy, and
52:34
then it has F with three blanks, like fuck off,
52:38
with thoughts and prayers. So that's what they're
52:42
saying. They're attacking the left for saying
52:45
that enough with thoughts and prayers. Thoughts
52:48
and prayers and not attacking the person who's
52:49
the shooter. Right. Right, and not doing anything
52:52
about this gun violence. Again, we're like frogs
52:54
in the boiling water. Our children are being
52:56
gunned down at school. And they have been being
53:00
gunned down for decades now. Sandy Hook? Sandy
53:03
Hook, yeah. Those kids would be graduating from
53:07
high school or even going to college by now.
53:10
You know, A -list actor diagnosed with infection
53:14
skips major film festival appearances. Front
53:18
page. Big League move. Former Yankee star joins
53:23
political race to defend Trump's America First
53:26
agenda. Right? Yeah. U .S. Open champ slapped
53:30
with hefty fine after court meltdown and crowd
53:33
clash. And then, of course, the Cracker Barrel
53:36
nonsense. Yes, what's going on? I am not... You
53:41
know, I don't think people were thinking about
53:42
Cracker Barrel at all because no one thinks about
53:45
Cracker Barrel in general. But when they changed
53:48
its logo, all of a sudden it became this argument
53:51
against wokeness. And, you know, as I said in
53:54
our last podcast, the Cracker Barrel, whatever
53:59
the symbol is, whatever the logo is, is irrelevant.
54:02
What should interest you about Cracker Barrel
54:04
is that they have surveillance cameras that are
54:07
actually identifying you by putting boxes over
54:10
your face. And if you look at the TV screen in
54:14
the Cracker Barrel for the surveillance camera,
54:16
it's like this video identification system that
54:21
essentially spies on people. And I was talking
54:26
to someone else about this last week, and they're
54:29
also doing it in Walmart. So there's all this
54:32
surveillance going on. They're taking your photo,
54:35
and people are more concerned about whether Grandpa
54:40
is still in the Cracker Barrel logo than about
54:44
being just like... the victim of a surveillance
54:48
state. Well, get this. The shares of Cracker
54:51
Barrel Old Country Store rose more than 8 % on
54:54
Wednesday after the restaurant said it would
54:56
discard its new logo amid widespread backlash.
55:01
And these backlashes are created by places like
55:04
Fox News that are just looking for something
55:07
to divert attention from the fact that we have
55:10
a president who's corrupt, who's a rapist. You
55:16
know, there's no other way to describe it. He's
55:19
corrupt. He's a dangerous person. He should be
55:22
the person who goes from door to door saying,
55:26
I'm a sex offender. But that's not going to happen.
55:30
And in the meantime, he's firing people for alleged
55:35
criminal activity. So we've just lost all kinds
55:40
of rationality. these days we do we have and
55:45
i i want to mention one other thing and then
55:47
maybe we should end but i've got colleagues um
55:51
who are really concerned about the genocide in
55:54
gaza and 12 of 12 of us met with morgan mcgarvey
55:58
to basically support the the ban against bombs
56:02
to israel legislation and you know We don't understand
56:08
why you wouldn't take a stance if it weren't
56:11
for money, if it weren't about the money. I mean,
56:13
how can you possibly support the genocide of
56:18
people, of kids, all these amputee kids, etc.?
56:22
It just shows you how far astray we have gone.
56:27
What do you think he's going to do? Nothing.
56:30
He's not going to vote against it? No. We asked
56:33
him to co -sponsor it. I don't think he's going
56:36
to support it. Then it would be interesting to
56:38
see if he's getting money from AIPAC. I'm sure
56:40
he is. And then the amount of money he's getting.
56:43
But, again, these aren't things you're going
56:46
to find in our media today. When I was at the
56:51
Wall Street Journal, one of the things I learned
56:53
was, if you want to know the reason people do
56:57
certain things, Look at where the money is going.
57:00
Always. Follow the money. Just follow the money,
57:02
and it'll explain a lot of what happens. So with
57:06
Trump, you know, it's only about money. Like,
57:09
he will say whatever he can to get more money.
57:14
He doesn't care about anything other than lining
57:18
his pockets. And this is probably the most...
57:20
This has to be the most corrupt administration
57:22
ever in American history. Right. But, again,
57:27
we're... the corruption that imagine the corruption
57:32
that the Republicans were saying about Democratic
57:34
presidents and compare that to the corruption
57:38
that Republicans are committing these days and
57:41
it's there's no comparison there well and what's
57:44
wild is that it's all happening with all kinds
57:47
of access to 24 -hour news like You're wearing
57:51
a watch that tells you everything. It's going
57:54
to be embedded behind your retina or something
57:57
in a few years. It's going to be part of our
57:59
biology. It's not that we can't access information.
58:03
It's that we are not getting good information.
58:05
So that's the fourth estate that's failing us.
58:09
Yeah. Oh, no, it's definitely failing. And one
58:12
of the things I can just point out in the fourth
58:16
estate is that back when I was... in the old
58:20
days when I was a journalist, there were... If
58:24
you looked at the major news organizations, there
58:26
was a lot more diversity at the top ranks. At
58:30
one point, the New York Times had a woman as
58:32
the managing editor. There was a black person
58:37
who was executive editor there. At the Washington
58:43
Post, there were women high up in the ranks.
58:50
Yeah, at the Washington Post, the woman was...
58:51
You had a woman publisher. Right. At Dow Jones,
58:55
there was a woman publisher. And now, if you
58:58
look at the hierarchy of American news, it's
59:01
all white guys. Right. Well, and then you look
59:05
at all the other things, too. Look at all the
59:07
government agencies. Right. Every black person
59:11
and brown person is being removed. I just don't
59:13
understand why we are not just taking to the
59:16
streets every single day. Well, I guess because
59:19
we're trying to feed our kids, right? Right.
59:21
And stay out of the clutches of ICE. Well, there
59:24
was, just before, just closing out, there was
59:28
an article in Common Dreams. recently that compares
59:33
the United States to 1933 Germany. And a lot
59:38
of things that were happening then are happening
59:40
now, like the sort of the neutering of the free
59:45
press, the lawsuits that are being filed against
59:51
reporters for covering corruption, you know,
59:56
the ownership of media by oligarchs. And the
1:00:02
euphemisms that are being used to describe things,
1:00:05
to describe putting people in concentration camps,
1:00:08
like we're calling it, like in Germany they called
1:00:12
it resettlement or labor deployment or evacuation,
1:00:16
when it was just like loading people into train
1:00:20
cars and putting them in killing camps. We've
1:00:24
talked about Alligator Alcatraz, which I still
1:00:28
think should be called Alligator Auschwitz. But,
1:00:33
you know, it's like this whole idea that now
1:00:36
we're putting troops in the streets in blue cities.
1:00:39
In our nation's capital. In our nation's capital.
1:00:43
The Illinois Democrats are fighting against it.
1:00:50
They're threatening New York if it elects the
1:00:53
Muslim as mayor. They've already gone into Los
1:00:56
Angeles. And the thing about the National Guard
1:01:00
is that red states are sending their troops into
1:01:03
these blue cities, which is just... Back when
1:01:07
Obama was president, and I think we'll close
1:01:10
on this, when Obama was president, there was
1:01:12
this thing where they believed that he was trying
1:01:17
to... There was a military maneuver in Texas,
1:01:22
and the Republicans were saying that this is
1:01:26
Obama's effort in order to put troops in Texas
1:01:29
streets to oppress us. And people like Ted Cruz
1:01:33
were yelling and screaming about it. And it was
1:01:35
all bullshit. It was just like regular military
1:01:37
maneuvers. The president is putting troops in
1:01:42
American cities, and you don't hear a peep from
1:01:44
Republicans at all. And you don't really see
1:01:47
a lot of coverage on the mainstream media the
1:01:49
way that we should. Right. Well, that's because
1:01:52
our CBS political correspondent is covering Taylor
1:01:55
Swift. Right. One last thing about that. I was
1:01:59
listening to NPR the other day, and a gentleman
1:02:03
that... that grew up when Putin basically started
1:02:06
his autocratic rule. And he just wrote a book
1:02:09
about the rise of authoritarianism in our country.
1:02:13
He basically said that it took Putin 10 years
1:02:16
to consolidate power for his authoritarian regime.
1:02:20
It has taken Trump and Co. seven months to do
1:02:25
what was done in 10 years. So this is rapidly
1:02:30
happening. And they have all this technology
1:02:34
and all this data. I just got another piece of
1:02:39
information from a financial institution that
1:02:41
was breached. And they're offering some kind
1:02:44
of thing that I can go to to try to protect myself
1:02:47
going forward. But folks, this shit is real.
1:02:52
And I'm just so glad to know Jesse. He's so smart.
1:02:59
And get to do this podcast for all of you every
1:03:02
two weeks. Yeah. Yeah. I hope you're enjoying.
1:03:05
Right, yeah. Happy 10th podcast. That's right.
1:03:08
This is our 10th. This is very exciting. They
1:03:10
said it couldn't be done. It couldn't be done.
1:03:13
But here we are. Yeah, here we are. See you for
1:03:15
the 11th. Okay. So long, everybody. Bye. Our
1:03:21
closing music is by John Chamberlain.