Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Shutdown ends, Democrats’ identity crisis, Pelosi update, MLB pitchers indicted & Nico Harrison fired | Ep. 45

Transcript

Shutdown ends, Democrats’ identity crisis, Pelosi update, MLB pitchers indicted & Nico Harrison fired | Ep. 45 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

0:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones.
0:04
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm Mike Atama Sella.
0:05
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is Culture Brief, a Denison Foreign Podcast where we are navigating the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, technology, and so much more.
0:14
[SPEAKER_01]: And we're doing it all from a Christian perspective in Micah, Nico Harrison.
0:19
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a new era for the Mavericks.
0:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He's gone.
0:22
[SPEAKER_01]: This is something that we've talked about a lot.
0:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a new era for the Mavericks.
0:25
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a new era for the government.
0:27
[SPEAKER_01]: It's re-reopening.
0:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we're going to dive into it all.
0:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, what do you think about this week's news stories?
0:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we'll touch on Nico Harrison at the end, the worst GM and NBA history who executed the worst trade and NBA history, truly it's going to go down, is that type of situation?
0:42
[SPEAKER_00]: This was the only type of ending that was ever going to happen, but ultimately it doesn't bring our superstar back, it doesn't bring the Dallas Mavericks, any closer to having Luca Donchitch on their team.
0:53
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about the shutdown ending and everything coming from that we're also going to talk about Mom Donnie.
0:58
[SPEAKER_00]: He's the socialist guy that want to New York.
1:00
[SPEAKER_00]: What does that mean?
1:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And just the dims newfound momentum, but also how they can't seem to get out of their own way, too.
1:06
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to give you enough data a few more things, but let's jump into the brief.
1:09
[SPEAKER_00]: The brief.
1:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, we're opening back up, Micah.
1:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Finally, it seems that way.
1:17
[SPEAKER_01]: As of right now, we're recording a Wednesday morning.
1:19
[SPEAKER_01]: The government is still shut down.
1:20
[SPEAKER_01]: It is day 43 of the shutdown, which is just insane to me that we made it 43 days.
1:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're recording on Wednesday, November 12th.
1:29
[SPEAKER_01]: correct vote is expected this after the day release the government could be back open right tomorrow hopefully by Thursday morning the government is open again so congress is voting always afternoon it then has to go to president trump's desk for signature to reopen the government essentially to fund the government that's the bill and by Thursday morning we are hopefully reopened
1:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Now the effects of like the air travel and all that that is not just going to end overnight that's going to take some time to dial back to get air traffic controllers all back in the towers and air travel getting back to normal, but I think that was a big piece of the kind of pressure that put a lot of
2:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Democrats on notice they were like we need to get this government back open because people are really starting to feel this both in their paychecks You know government employed people as well as people on snap benefits are feeling it in their paychecks putting food on the table as well as So many people are trying to travel and fly in there hitting five six hour delays Organ in their flights canceled.
2:24
[SPEAKER_01]: We are on this, you know trajectory of
2:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I think 6% of all flights were being canceled across the country, required by the FAA essentially and we're supposed to get to 10% by Friday if the government was not going to reopen anyways.
2:37
[SPEAKER_01]: It's been a mess and so yeah, of course senators are feeling the pressure they're getting calls from the constituents and their districts and they're saying hey.
2:44
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we need the government reopen for travel purposes, but a lot of these senators have a lot of federal government employees in their own districts that are calling to say, hey, we we need a paycheck.
2:54
[SPEAKER_01]: We can't even come to work because we're having to do door to ask driving on these days when we're calling in sick to just be able to make some pay checks.
3:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, right, are you are you happy that this government is finally like coming together in reopening.
3:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
3:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, but we're uh, this is a, a funding bill through the end of January, so I really don't want to be back in this situation again.
3:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I think both aisles both sides of the aisle need to come together for the betterment of the American people.
3:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And I, we hit you and I have been.
3:25
[SPEAKER_00]: pretty, pretty direct on how we feel about this shutdown.
3:30
[SPEAKER_00]: It is just people jabbing back and forth, political theater.
3:33
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get into it more fully at the expense of Americans.
3:38
[SPEAKER_00]: No, thank you.
3:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not interested in that.
3:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Run the government.
3:41
[SPEAKER_00]: That's your job.
3:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I fully agree with you.
3:43
[SPEAKER_01]: You are correct.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It only this bill only opens the government through January 30th.
3:48
[SPEAKER_01]: The idea being it's temporary.
3:49
[SPEAKER_01]: It at least gets funding to federal employees.
3:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it gets funding to snap benefits.
3:53
[SPEAKER_01]: It also funds snap benefits through September.
3:56
[SPEAKER_01]: So that will not be part of the next shutdown deadline of January 30th.
4:00
[SPEAKER_01]: That is going to be funded.
4:01
[SPEAKER_01]: So that kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off.
4:03
[SPEAKER_01]: uh... the deal that was made between republicans and the eight democrats who join republicans to get this past uh... which was required because they needed sixty votes and so there were fifty two republicans are voting and they needed eight democrats basically side with them and say let's get this past the sixty vote threshold of the filibuster
4:20
[SPEAKER_01]: They got eight Democrats to join them by agreeing to that January 30th deadline restoring funding for agencies that had lapsed at the start of the shutdown on October 1st, funding more military construction veterans affairs, agriculture costs, all through September and then requiring federal employees who were laid off during the shutdown.
4:37
[SPEAKER_01]: people who would literally told their no longer employed to be given their jobs back and get payback for those affected workers.
4:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no more mass layoffs until January 30th.
4:47
[SPEAKER_01]: So basically any government employees are safe until January 30th in terms of mass layoffs.
4:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, like I said, it's not benefits.
4:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, food stamps will funded through next fiscal year, which is a big deal.
5:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And it exchange.
5:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Senate Republicans offered to hold a vote on extending the expiring healthcare subsidy tax credits, which was the entire reason the Democrats refused to vote to open the government, right?
5:14
[SPEAKER_01]: They wanted Obamacare tax credits subsidies to be extended, because they're saying in 2026, those premiums on the 22 million Americans who use Obamacare are going to potentially double.
5:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, if they do not offer these subsidies, those premiums are just going to really hamper on so many American to use Obamacare for their health care insurance, right?
5:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the Democrats were saying, we're not going to open the government until we get a vote on this, and we agree that they're going to be extended.
5:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the Republicans have been the whole time saying, well, we're not going to talk about this until the government's open.
5:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And essentially, the Republicans kind of won out here, and
5:46
[SPEAKER_01]: got the Democrats to say, well, we'll just agree to doing a vote on this in December, as opposed to adding it into the bill.
5:52
[SPEAKER_01]: So what about polling?
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: No, right?
5:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I've seen so many different polls about this, like Politico recently has been sharing over and over and over again.
6:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just curious, like as to what you're saying that if you want to talk about
6:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Who won the the court of public opinion on this like political axios other places like that are saying the Democrats clearly did But then I was I saw this clip on CNN from like a week ago Saying that the Democrats were coming out worse from this so I
6:22
[SPEAKER_00]: What have you seen?
6:23
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think?
6:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it all of course all depends on who you're watching and what you are being affected by personally, but you are right.
6:30
[SPEAKER_01]: There have been polls.
6:30
[SPEAKER_01]: So one poll that political ran show that 50% 52% of Americans blame either the Republicans or Donald Trump himself for the shutdown and only 34% of them blame the Democrats.
6:41
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, you might be right.
6:44
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people are saying that because the Republicans are really the ones in power, they control the house, the Senate and the executive
6:52
[SPEAKER_01]: others are saying, well, the Democrats are the ones who keep refusing to vote to open right over it.
6:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And they, they weren't going to do it.
7:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And then it took these eight Democrats, essentially, what, you know, some are claiming they cave right.
7:05
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like there was consensus.
7:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we're going to jump into this more.
7:08
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, these Democrats had to break rank.
7:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And they have been taking fallack for it.
7:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So break rank.
7:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
7:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, let's let's talk about that because so many other Democrats have been like this is so bad.
7:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Why would you guys break rank and agree to the do this with Republicans?
7:24
[SPEAKER_01]: We did not get what we said out to do, which was essentially putting it in the bill that there would be Obamacare tax subsidies.
7:32
[SPEAKER_01]: All they got was a promise like, hey, yeah, we'll vote on this in December.
7:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And then that vote, who knows what's going to happen with that?
7:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, so they are, you know, there's a bunch of Democrats that are pretty prominent coming out against not just the eight who voted against them, but also Chuck Schumer.
7:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Now Chuck Schumer is the highest ranking Democrat official in Congress.
7:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And he helped negotiate this deal, but he did not actually vote for it.
7:54
[SPEAKER_01]: He did not join those
7:59
[SPEAKER_01]: but he didn't kind of like push back hard.
8:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And so a lot of Democrats are saying he just totally came into the leader.
8:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Senator Bernie Sanders, that's a name we all know, said this was a very, very bad vote that raises health care premiums for over 20 million Americans.
8:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Senator Elizabeth Warren said the party lost the fight over health care Senator Chris Murphy said that there was no way to defend the yes vote.
8:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And then some of the Democrats who are not in Congress, but that are considering a run for president in 2028, some of the names we recognize.
8:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Gavin Newsom, California governor.
8:28
[SPEAKER_01]: All he did on the night, he just tweeted the word pathetic, and that was it.
8:37
[SPEAKER_00]: He is Trump now, I mean pathetic, that's the word you used to, like, and that's all you said.
8:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that is just, yeah, he's just like the Democratic Trump at this point.
8:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It feels like it's kind of his communication strategy, the team that he brought in, they're trying to do that.
8:52
[SPEAKER_01]: They're very comfortable.
8:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's worked for Trump, so they're going to give it a shot.
8:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I get it.
8:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they're going to try it.
8:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, and then, uh, Illinois Governor JB Prisker said that this is not a deal.
9:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an empty promise.
9:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Representative Rokana tweeted, Senator Schumer is no longer effective in should be replaced.
9:09
[SPEAKER_01]: If you can't lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?
9:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
9:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So those eight Democrats are getting tons of heat still today.
9:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we're a few days out from that deal being made.
9:20
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so many other still getting heat and they're having to make the rounds on news channels and all that kind of to defend their decision to join the Republicans to vote for this.
9:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, Dick Durbin of Illinois, he's one of the high-ranking senators as well.
9:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Second highest ranking after Schumer said he couldn't accept a strategy which wages political battle at the expense of my neighbors paycheck or the food for his children.
9:45
[SPEAKER_01]: are not up for reelection in 2026 either all going to be reelected in future terms down the road 2028 or retiring like Dick Derby I believe is retiring.
9:57
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's not really worried about getting voted out.
10:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's kind of it.
10:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just interesting little nugget there.
10:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And let's go did note that
10:04
[SPEAKER_01]: They said clearly the Democrats did not achieve their primary goal.
10:06
[SPEAKER_01]: They are divided and angry.
10:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And the momentum of last Tuesday's election victories are now a distant memory.
10:12
[SPEAKER_01]: But in the long painful history of government shutdowns, the party seeking concessions has actually never achieved its goals.
10:19
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're basically just saying, these government shutdowns do not work as good leverage.
10:24
[SPEAKER_01]: It generally, you're not going to get what you want when you're the party that's keeping the government shut down.
10:29
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, but the Democrats, I wouldn't say they failed entirely, Micah, right?
10:34
[SPEAKER_01]: They did manage to, you know, energize voters last week.
10:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And they're going to hit on this in a minute, in New York City, Virginia, New Jersey, where the Democrats did when these elections last Tuesday, just last Tuesday.
10:45
[SPEAKER_01]: They were on a high, right?
10:47
[SPEAKER_01]: They managed to leverage the shutdown to get people to vote for them.
10:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So that was one thing that they got out of this.
10:52
[SPEAKER_01]: They also, like I said, the polling shows that they are not fully to blame according to most American people.
10:59
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people are blaming the Republican Party.
11:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And then most importantly, they did put the Obamacare subsidies kind of at the forefront of the conversation.
11:04
[SPEAKER_01]: They brought a lot of attention to it, right?
11:06
[SPEAKER_01]: So there's a lot to take in there and to think about.
11:10
[SPEAKER_01]: They're kind of putting the pressure on the Republicans now with his vote in December on those health care subsidies because the Republicans are either going to have to like cave in themselves and making a deal with the Democrats on the subsidies or they're going to have to very publicly vote down Obamacare subsidies and raise the premiums on 22 million Americans.
11:29
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was reading Mike Allen with Axios and and I should have quoted this, but this is your section, so don't put it in there, but it's something like over 50% of McaVoters pulled are four extending these ACA credits like there are a lot of McaVoters.
11:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Republican voters who they themselves are have family that are affected by this.
11:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this doesn't seem like a winnable issue long term for the Republicans to just say, no, we're absolutely not going to do it.
11:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So I mean, we'll just see what happens from it.
12:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I know there is going to be a bit more sensitivity from the Republican side.
12:05
[SPEAKER_00]: We're doing kind of a deeper dive into the Democratic side, but I mean, obviously Republicans have to start focusing on
12:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And now all of the other things that they're being focused on right now if they want to have some success in 2026 and so this is absolutely a part of that, but then also, you know, we have to understand that with an issue like this, it does affect the whole lot of people and I think that you're like about to dive into this right if it so now what, but this affects so many people and the government shut down was continuing to affect more and more in a negative way and I also was reading that.
12:40
[SPEAKER_00]: There was mum, there was kind of mumbles that, you know, the eight that did vote and kind of change their vote because they were like two Democrats who were consistently voting for the spending bills.
12:51
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think like six more broke to make it 60 or something like that.
12:54
[SPEAKER_00]: But there was
12:55
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, behind closed doors, a lot of the Democratic senators are happy that this is happening.
13:00
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just happy that they're not the ones that had to switch their vote and take the heat.
13:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Almost feels a little coordinated.
13:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, like, I want you to pick the only ones that are not up for reelection in 2020.
13:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like you're sending them out as the sacrificial lambs because they're not running again.
13:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
13:18
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not facing voters next year, which is a big deal.
13:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, and honestly, yeah, if you're going to send out eight people to do it, send them out right there.
13:25
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not up for reelection.
13:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Just feels coordinated, but I mean, I have no idea.
13:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Just kind of.
13:29
[SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to know.
13:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure we'll get the like deep dive and like the background story in a book.
13:33
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I can't wait.
13:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, that'll be great.
13:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And we'll have all that said this and all the the behind the scenes stuff.
13:39
[SPEAKER_01]: That'll be fun.
13:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.
13:40
[SPEAKER_01]: So now what well obviously hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going to be returning to work.
13:45
[SPEAKER_01]: They should be getting paychecks.
13:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully a staff that get their paychecks.
13:49
[SPEAKER_01]: This I think a lot of this shut down to Michael the pressure was on because of the timing.
13:53
[SPEAKER_01]: No Vimber December going into the holidays with not just travel, but people trying to buy
13:58
[SPEAKER_01]: their Thanksgiving meals, presents for their families, like all that stuff, it just adds to the bubble of pressure, right?
14:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Also, speaking of air travel, hopefully it's back to normal in a week or so, it's going to take some time.
14:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So, continue to check your flights if you are traveling, or especially for Thanksgiving, check your flights.
14:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, this is a big one.
14:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Most people do not realize this.
14:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Back in September, a lady named Adalita, Greovala, G1, a special election in Arizona to be elected
14:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, that was seven weeks ago, and she still has not been sworn it.
14:28
[SPEAKER_01]: She's supposed to be sworn in today once the government reopens, and it's a big deal because she has said she will be the final signature needed to force a house vote on releasing the Epstein files from the Justice Department.
14:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's actually a good thing, but they, you know,
14:43
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a few Republicans that have joined Democrats in doing and signing this petition essentially to force this vote and she has Consistently said I will do it too if I can just get sworn in she's being sworn in she's gonna sign it and we should expect to see a vote in early December to release all of those files And then we're also going to see a vote potentially coming to banned congress members from being able to trade stocks I don't know if they're going to call it the Pelosi actor not but I know that's something that they are considering she may quite a bit in her career didn't she
15:12
[SPEAKER_01]: But she did, and we'll talk about her here in just a minute too, anyways.
15:16
[SPEAKER_01]: That was one of the suggested names, and then of course we're going to see just what happens with this crucial vote in December on affordable, on the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
15:24
[SPEAKER_01]: That's going to be a big deal.
15:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Micah, there's a lot there, there's a lot that's going to happen over the next week or so, but I just want to say like this whole saga, man, it's just been frustrating for Americans, right?
15:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you're not an American, you listen to this, you're in Canada, you're in the UK, you're wherever.
15:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Just know, we're all frustrated by this and we know your governments do similar things to and even that the American government shutting down affects global trade affects so much right so there's a lot of impacts here it's just frustrating because it's it's reminded that you know when we place our hope and people that we elect it's just going to fail right yeah that's what happens when we place our hope and trust and people that are not
16:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Christ, and that's going to be everybody on the side of Christ.
16:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We have to place our faith in him, not in political parties, not in politicians themselves, not in companies or technology or AI or religious organizations.
16:14
[SPEAKER_01]: They're going to always leave you short.
16:16
[SPEAKER_01]: There are great people and great organizations doing amazing things, but they are not.
16:20
[SPEAKER_01]: ever going to be perfect, and I wish I didn't expect that.
16:23
[SPEAKER_01]: There's only one source of truth and hope, right?
16:26
[SPEAKER_01]: It's our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
16:28
[SPEAKER_01]: He lived that sinless life that was not beholden to the fallen nature of man.
16:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And he was, and is above the bad characteristics that lead our decisions, such as selfishness, or greed, or lust, or a specific example I'm going to give, hunger, which might sound weird to you, but when you look at the story of Jesus in the desert for
16:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Fasting.
16:50
[SPEAKER_01]: No food.
16:51
[SPEAKER_01]: No water.
16:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Hunger could have driven a lot of decisions.
16:55
[SPEAKER_01]: The way it does for us.
16:56
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you get a little angry.
16:57
[SPEAKER_01]: You might make an impulsive decision.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: The hand regret later.
17:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
17:00
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?
17:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, in there.
17:03
[SPEAKER_01]: But she just was not beholden to that.
17:04
[SPEAKER_01]: No, instead in Matthew four, we read that she just answered to the devil when the devil was trying to tell him to turn stones into bread.
17:10
[SPEAKER_01]: He says, it is written.
17:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
17:17
[SPEAKER_01]: and go down a little bit and in verse 10 she just said to him away from me Satan for his written worship the Lord your God and serve him only.
17:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Michael I just hope this week we can be reminded that we should only place our hope in every word that comes from the mouth of God and worship and serve him and not worship or serve any person on this earth because they're going to leave us you know short they're going to
17:45
[SPEAKER_01]: But Jesus will not.
17:46
[SPEAKER_01]: And so as you look at this government shut down, as you look at your company, as you look at your just situation in life, your church, whatever it is, just remember we're all fallen humans.
17:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Trust in God, not in any person or anything other than the Lord.
18:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen, brother.
18:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Couldn't have said it better myself.
18:02
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
18:06
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to kind of continue this conversation, but I'm going to focus on Zoron Mom Donny, the 34-year-old, Democratic Socialist, newly elected mayor of New York City, right?
18:16
[SPEAKER_00]: What many consider the greatest city in the world, he is now the mayor, he's elected mayor.
18:22
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're also going to talk about the Democrats and their new found momentum, but also kind of touch on just their identity crisis that they can't seem to kind of find their way out of so much opportunity for momentum for them, but not a cleaner leader and not a clear ideology to rally around, right?
18:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's talk about that.
18:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's no question the Democrats have found new energy.
18:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Zaron Mondani, his win in New York, wasn't just a local story, I mean, this was like the most international story from an actual city mayoral race.
18:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I can recall a 34 year old democratic socialist unseeding the establishment, talking about things like affordability, housing, putting power back into the working class or the things that he focused on across the map, Democrats saw higher turnout last week, especially among young voters, first time voters, it's a rare kind of momentum,
19:13
[SPEAKER_00]: that the Democrats just haven't seen in a while.
19:16
[SPEAKER_00]: But the big question isn't just how they're winning right now.
19:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It's why they're doing it and whether the energy will lead to actual results for them.
19:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's just going to depend on if they can actually get some momentum that they can put into action.
19:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Because while Mount Donnie's rise captures a party on the move, well, you know, Washington is still kind of stuck right and this shut down and many other things can kind of point
19:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But both parties seem more interested right now, and this is kind of the bigger point that I want to make.
19:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we're talking about the Democrats, but I'm going to say the same thing for a lot of Republicans.
19:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Both parties seem more interested in messaging than they do actual governing.
19:53
[SPEAKER_00]: They seem more interested in gaining political points, trying to curry favor as opposed to actually serving the good in the will of the American people.
20:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's very frustrating.
20:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think a lot of people feel the way that we do.
20:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, okay.
20:06
[SPEAKER_00]: So Democrats had a big week last week.
20:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We know that.
20:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We're trying to break down why that is and what that looks like in the future.
20:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But also, Connor, I think it's worth discussing for a minute before I just kind of dive into different things that just because the socialist and Middle East is called what it is.
20:20
[SPEAKER_00]: He's he's he's a socialist candidate can win in New York City.
20:25
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't necessarily mean it'll work for the rest of the country.
20:28
[SPEAKER_00]: What are your thoughts on that Connor?
20:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I do not think it works for the rest of the country.
20:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I actually think last week's elections kind of showed that Yeah, Mom Donnie wins in New York, and that's just a different type of place.
20:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so different than anywhere else in America The closest thing I could think is maybe like Los Angeles.
20:44
[SPEAKER_01]: See you out there.
20:45
[SPEAKER_01]: So it may be Seattle, but like a very large city that's so diverse that you could kind of almost prop up anybody with the right message and right communication skills.
20:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
20:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And you could you could take them to a win.
20:56
[SPEAKER_01]: If you look at the other elections last week in New Jersey and Virginia, those are more suburban oriented and definitely more moderate candidates, right?
21:03
[SPEAKER_01]: So in those states, you probably want to get a socialist to win.
21:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't think you don't come out of this with a clear answer.
21:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you?
21:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
21:12
[SPEAKER_01]: What the problem is like, do we run out of socialists in 2028 or do we run a moderate?
21:17
[SPEAKER_01]: If I'm the Democrats, man, I don't know.
21:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, they're in a tough position to be honest.
21:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Technically, the midterms are going to show that.
21:23
[SPEAKER_00]: But the thing is, is like, if they're going to kind of split their interests here, like, say what you want about maga, the Republican Party is basically just turned into maga.
21:31
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's like this, there's this unification in the message, okay?
21:36
[SPEAKER_00]: somewhat.
21:37
[SPEAKER_00]: But then the Democrats, it's like, if they want to have success in the midterms, is it going to work to keep kind of, you're, it's basically two different parties within the same party.
21:47
[SPEAKER_01]: It's, it's essentially what happened 10 years ago with their Republicans, like you're saying, the Republicans had to make the decision do we go full maga, or do we go straight line conservative, the old way, the George Bush style Mitt Romney style conservative,
21:59
[SPEAKER_01]: and the maga way obviously one out at least in this era right the democrats are now kind of in a similar situation which direction do we want to take this party yeah they've got to they've got to make a decision so the problem that they've got right now is there's no real direct leader of the party it's kind of a lot of people calling out there's not a baraco bama waiting in the wings right now somebody could rise up and they could find a good leader but they need somebody to really step up and lead them through this time yeah so that's
22:24
[SPEAKER_00]: It's interesting that you bring that point up because it almost feels weird to talk about the Democrats in this way.
22:29
[SPEAKER_00]: We've kind of get used to it because it kind of had like a bad, I mean, really your midway through Biden's term to now, so it's been a bad few years for them.
22:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But for the most part, it's the Republicans that are typically infighting that are not unified on their message and it hurts Republicans.
22:44
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's almost weird when you think about kind of historically or at least since we've been alive, you know,
22:49
[SPEAKER_00]: that we're talking about Democrats in this way, but you know, here's what's happening.
22:53
[SPEAKER_00]: And I kind of want to point out, I'm going to call this kind of like the broken system.
22:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's what's happening.
22:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The federal government's been shut down for weeks, like we talked about it's about to open back up hundreds of thousands of workers are photo furloughed basically basic services of slow to a crawl neither side wanted to blink right Democrats say they're standing firm for health care funding for family protections Republicans say they're holding a line on physical discipline.
23:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Both sides claim principle, but the longer this has gone, the more it just feels like, you know, like I said, just kind of feels like performance.
23:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It feels very performative.
23:22
[SPEAKER_00]: This isn't a new problem.
23:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Shutdowns have become leverage, not last resorts.
23:27
[SPEAKER_00]: The playbook is predictable.
23:28
[SPEAKER_00]: You waited out.
23:29
[SPEAKER_00]: You blame the other side.
23:30
[SPEAKER_00]: You test the polls.
23:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Then you claim victory for fighting the good fight.
23:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever that looks like.
23:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile,
23:36
[SPEAKER_00]: real people federal employees families waiting on benefits small businesses with frozen contracts are the ones paying the price while everybody is in leadership is waiting it out and polling and trying to win right so that's the heart of it both parties are stuck in a system that rewards spectacle over substance some kind of coming up with these words that are kind of like dichotomies because that's what I feel like this is you're elected for one reason but you're doing
24:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So right now we're seeing more spectacle over substance from both sides of the aisle.
24:07
[SPEAKER_00]: The fight isn't about serving the people who elected them.
24:10
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about scoring an expletical win and that's a big part of the problem and what I'm trying to draw attention to.
24:15
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's talk about the Democrats moment and they're they're dilemma that they're in right now.
24:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So the irony of all of this kind of like we've talked about is Democrats do have momentum.
24:24
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that they have serious momentum.
24:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Mom Donnie's message resonated because it felt grounded, it focused on people's actual lives, it focused on things like affordability.
24:33
[SPEAKER_00]: But inside the party, there is so much tension between those who want to build on that, and those who fall back on the old Democratic talking points, what you would call me be like the old Beltway script.
24:45
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where this momentum could either grow or collapse because progressives are arguing that bold ideas are finally connecting with maybe moderates or undecided voters, whatever it might be disillusioned voters who kind of feel left out.
24:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But moderates warned that leaning too far left is going to alienate the middle and it's not going to win in the suburb.
25:05
[SPEAKER_00]: So both are partly right, I think, but neither is talking much about governing itself and actually executing these ideas.
25:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So the Democrats are in an identity crisis right now, like we've talked about.
25:18
[SPEAKER_00]: So underneath all the optimism lies,
25:22
[SPEAKER_00]: what I would call an uncomfortable truth that Democrats just don't know what they want to be.
25:27
[SPEAKER_00]: They just cannot get an agreement on what they want to be.
25:30
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a growing divide between the energized progressive wing, who are led by people like Mom Donnie, who just burst out onto the scene, right?
25:38
[SPEAKER_00]: AOC, members of the Justice Democrat movement and the moderate establishment that still dominates national leadership
25:47
[SPEAKER_00]: They kind of want maybe like a European style social democracy, it's kind of what they're asking for, with expanded welfare programs, taxes on the wealthy, strong labor unions and protections, the other side that's more like centrist in the Democratic Party, once a coalition built on pragmatism and economic restraint.
26:08
[SPEAKER_00]: But the fight isn't just ideological, it's personal too because progressives accuse moderates of selling out voters for corporate donors and political safety and moderates are countering that the far left is out of touch with those suburban voters who actually do swing all of these elections, right?
26:27
[SPEAKER_00]: That tug of war leaves the party sounding more divided than united on nearly every single issue.
26:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So like it's not like the Democrats can come out and say,
26:36
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the way that we feel about something, of course, there's some issues like that.
26:39
[SPEAKER_00]: But for the most part, you're just hearing different wings of the party speaking on something and whether if they realize it or not, it's coming off very disjointed.
26:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you've noticed that too.
26:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, definitely.
26:49
[SPEAKER_01]: In the suburban things real, I mean, last year, the transgender, you know, men and women sports thing was a massive suburban driver that drove people to the right, honestly, because the left was like, then went so far left on that issue, that it drove a lot of people to be like, that's actually just too far for me.
27:05
[SPEAKER_01]: I cannot vote for that.
27:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
27:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So you're exactly right.
27:08
[SPEAKER_01]: You've got to, you've got to pick your battles here, like, how far left do you go about how far center do you go?
27:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
27:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, because it's like one of those things where, you know, how do you counter what people would call Trump's extremism, like how do you counter that?
27:21
[SPEAKER_00]: With something extreme, completely on the other side, or something with that's, you know, more in the middle that's more pragmatic.
27:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I would argue to think that's more in the middle and in pragmatic is what's going to went out, but at the same time.
27:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump keeps winning and you would say he's quite extreme, right?
27:37
[SPEAKER_00]: People want change because even even a year and even a year into Trump's term, almost a year, you know, we're not seeing affordability change much for people yet, right?
27:51
[SPEAKER_00]: So people are growing increasingly impatient for change.
27:56
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem is it takes time to implement things and that's no matter who's an office.
28:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's also why midterms generally go against whatever the previous income was or whoever is and whoever is an office they generally go this wing the other way Yeah, next year's midterms are likely going to go democrat unless something drastic Right changes and the affordability gets better or whatnot.
28:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, the your idea of like the identity crisis is
28:18
[SPEAKER_01]: It's making me think of like a teenager, you know, you're like 15.
28:21
[SPEAKER_01]: You're just trying to figure out who you are.
28:22
[SPEAKER_01]: What you like.
28:23
[SPEAKER_01]: What you want to do with your life.
28:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Do I want to go to college?
28:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Do I not?
28:26
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, like they're they're trying to to identify those things.
28:30
[SPEAKER_01]: But imagine you have to bring together a whole party of hundreds of Congressional members to
28:36
[SPEAKER_01]: hundreds and tons of people out in local districts, governors, state senators and all that in mayors and you're having to bring it all together and then you get a few of these people that just kind of rise up and especially when somebody rises up out of nowhere like Mom Donnie a name that nobody knew until the month of July when he shocked the world and won that primary.
28:52
[SPEAKER_01]: and you're like, well, is that the way?
28:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And it might just look a little bit like, you know, if you're a teenager, like, that looks fun right now.
28:59
[SPEAKER_01]: But then, is it going to work?
29:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think with Mom Donnie, we're going to see over the next few years.
29:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Can he actually fulfill all the promises he made to do from the bus ride soon?
29:08
[SPEAKER_00]: No, he can't.
29:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We are, we are bipartisan, but I think, you know, I believe we can kind of come out and wholeheartedly say we don't think socialism is the answer.
29:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So no, I don't think that's going to work.
29:19
[SPEAKER_00]: And something else I don't want to do is that in order for Mom Donny to accomplish what he wants to accomplish, the governor has to sign off on a lot of these ideas that he has.
29:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Fat chance on some of this stuff.
29:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So like you know, we have to understand that dynamic too.
29:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so don't think I don't think he's going to be able.
29:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's going to let the people down if he cannot fulfill those promises and then the whole conversation goes way about socialism.
29:43
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you somehow pulls it off, then it's going to be a different conversation next year.
29:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
29:49
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's talk about first, second, kind of the leadership piece of the Democratic Party.
29:54
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we're talking about ideological splits.
29:57
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about kind of leadership splits.
29:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, obviously President Biden's influence has waned.
30:02
[SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty much gone.
30:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Vice President Harris who ran hasn't united anybody and no clear air is emerge governors like Gavin Newsome Gretchen Whitmer, J.B. Pritzker or eyeing 2028 to run, but so are younger progressives who want to rewrite that platform entirely people are talking about AOC maybe running for president, right?
30:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So the party has energy to grow, but no single figure has been able to harness it yet.
30:28
[SPEAKER_00]: So in short, Democrats have momentum, but not unity
30:32
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a difficult place to be, and I'm not sitting here saying it's easy, but if they want to win, they got to figure it out.
30:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's at stake?
30:42
[SPEAKER_00]: If the last month has shown us anything, it's that the American political system is not merely divided.
30:49
[SPEAKER_00]: It's, it's distracted.
30:51
[SPEAKER_00]: It's disillusioned.
30:52
[SPEAKER_00]: power has become the prize.
30:55
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's, you know, it's kind of been that way like instead of platform.
31:00
[SPEAKER_00]: So like people are seeking power and influence as opposed to propping up and giving a foundation to their platform or their party's goals as a whole, especially like kind of on the democratic size.
31:10
[SPEAKER_00]: What I've noticed.
31:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So when Congress shuts down, the government, you know, it just, it shuts down and then there's just a big messaging war.
31:17
[SPEAKER_00]: It tells voters one thing loud and clear that winning matters more than, I don't know, whatever is going on with those that are struggling, winning matters the most.
31:26
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not a democratic problem.
31:27
[SPEAKER_00]: That's on a Republican problem.
31:29
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of an American problem right now.
31:31
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, uh, this happens all around the world, but it's, it's a sin problem.
31:35
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an American problem right now.
31:37
[SPEAKER_00]: So while mom donnie's victory and the left's new energy matter, they won't mean much.
31:41
[SPEAKER_00]: If the system itself just kind of keeps spinning in place, if this just keeps happening on the status quo, if hey, promising big things, not being able to pull it off, voters didn't elect these politicians to,
31:51
[SPEAKER_00]: to just stage conflict and to argue in public, right, and to post stuff on social media, they elected them to govern and to make changes.
32:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, Mom Donny was was governed because he said, you know, he was elected because people want free childcare and people want their rent to stop growing up and going up and they want groceries to be cheaper.
32:13
[SPEAKER_00]: And those ideas on its face, like I'm not, I'm not going to judge people for wanting those things.
32:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Things are expensive, and especially in New York City, I can't even imagine how expensive things are, right?
32:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm going to tell you that.
32:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right, sounds nice.
32:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So like until that changes, every win in New York or in Washington just kind of feels hollow.
32:30
[SPEAKER_00]: So let me give a spiritual application from this.
32:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of hitting me.
32:34
[SPEAKER_00]: So this week, Dr. Denison wrote a daily article about shut downs and parties that are more focused on winning than serving it feels like and I can't help think about what Dr. Denison wrote.
32:46
[SPEAKER_00]: He reminded us that much of what we chase is fleeting, positions, recognition, control, but our real task is to serve and steward what truly matters.
32:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, what truly matters?
32:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything we have belongs to God.
33:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Our influence, our voice, our time, our platform, our possessions, our relationships, it all belongs to God.
33:08
[SPEAKER_00]: And what's interesting is whether if you
33:12
[SPEAKER_00]: doesn't change if it's true or not, you are created in the image of God and you have been given uniquely everything that you have, whether if you want to acknowledge it or not.
33:22
[SPEAKER_00]: So you might as well just go and acknowledge it's going to make your life a little bit easier.
33:27
[SPEAKER_00]: But our real task here is to focus on leadership in God's economy is about service.
33:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about humility.
33:35
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about sacrifice.
33:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about seeking the good of others.
33:40
[SPEAKER_00]: even when it doesn't benefit us.
33:41
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about putting others before yourself.
33:43
[SPEAKER_00]: That's real biblical leadership.
33:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
33:46
[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus said this.
33:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to give us two things that Jesus said.
33:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And mark nine 35.
33:50
[SPEAKER_00]: If anyone would be first, he must be last of all in servant of all.
33:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, Matthew 23 11 through 12.
33:58
[SPEAKER_00]: The greatest among you shall be your servant.
34:01
[SPEAKER_00]: whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
34:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Those words flip the logic upside down of what we're seeing.
34:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Greatness isn't found in status, success, or power.
34:15
[SPEAKER_00]: It's actually found in the service of others, right?
34:18
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why we kind of belong to what you could call an upside-down kingdom.
34:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Just what the world would define as power.
34:25
[SPEAKER_00]: We as Christ followers are called to define it as something totally different.
34:29
[SPEAKER_00]: the people who humble themselves who use their influence to lift others up are the ones that God actually calls great.
34:36
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's the challenge.
34:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask yourself today.
34:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Connor and I are going to ask ourselves the same questions.
34:41
[SPEAKER_00]: What are you fighting for?
34:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Who are you really serving?
34:44
[SPEAKER_00]: The goal isn't to win the argument.
34:46
[SPEAKER_00]: It's to serve the people you've been given in your life to lead and to love, because when we lead with humility and stew it our influence with integrity, we don't just fix broken systems like what we've been talking about.
34:58
[SPEAKER_00]: We actually reflect the eternal kingdom of God.
35:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, that's so good.
35:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think about some of the leaders I know in my life, like a church or even universities or companies, man, the best leaders are just typically so humble.
35:13
[SPEAKER_01]: They have a way of of carrying themselves.
35:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like, they're not that concerned about power or control.
35:20
[SPEAKER_01]: they have giftings that allow them to really correct maintain some of that uh but they're humble in the in their heart which is just so huge and so yeah i think both political parties could take a page from that note uh no doubt me because good call out micah okay that's a lot of politics uh there's just and it's kind of that the forefront of this conversation because it's just right where our culture is at right now everything's thinking about everything that's happening with the government uh with shutdowns and elections this is culture brief
35:45
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're gonna yeah, so give you a brief on culture and to be completely honest It feels like nothing's happening in pop culture right now.
35:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean there's always stuff happening But nothing huge even sports, you know middle of the season.
35:56
[SPEAKER_01]: It's nothing crazy besides Nico anyways Micah, I know last week you had a an all-time miss speak and you wanted to address that real fast Do you want to do you want to address that real quick?
36:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So last week, you know, we were talking about Argentine, Argentine beef, Argentinian, you know, and I kind of just got a little stuck in the Argentinian type of thing and I said Argentinia, I do know it's Argentina.
36:27
[SPEAKER_00]: for all my haters out there.
36:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I do know that.
36:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And apologies for the miss speak and thank you for those that pointed it out to me.
36:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it.
36:35
[SPEAKER_00]: We're getting better.
36:36
[SPEAKER_00]: We're getting better.
36:37
[SPEAKER_00]: I heard it here.
36:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we were recording I heard it.
36:39
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, oh, I need to correct that or like just like say, hey, I think you meant to say Argentina and I missed it too.
36:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know,
36:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It's part of that.
36:45
[SPEAKER_01]: This part of your fault if we really think about it.
36:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's right.
36:48
[SPEAKER_01]: That's exactly what it is.
36:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
36:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, you sound like a politician blaming the other person.
36:52
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm just flipping it, man.
36:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Just flipping it.
36:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
36:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's check in on a few things that have also happened this week.
36:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Speaking of politics, speaking of Democrat leadership.
37:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, probably the most powerful person in DC that is not the president.
37:06
[SPEAKER_01]: She announced she's not running for reelection.
37:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, this is a few years out.
37:09
[SPEAKER_01]: That means she'll still be in Congress until January of 27.
37:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Should she make it that long?
37:14
[SPEAKER_01]: She's age 85.
37:15
[SPEAKER_01]: So she's one of those octogenarian.
37:17
[SPEAKER_01]: politicians that has felt the pressure to step out of the way, especially after she was kind of the one who coordinated Joe Biden dropping out of the race last year.
37:25
[SPEAKER_01]: She definitely was the one pulling all the strings behind the scenes, even though she was not in the same speaker of the house power position.
37:31
[SPEAKER_01]: But you know, she's been in Congress for almost 40 years.
37:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Will be 40 by the time.
37:36
[SPEAKER_01]: She's out of Congress in 2027.
37:38
[SPEAKER_01]: She was speaker of the house from 2007 to 2011.
37:40
[SPEAKER_01]: And then again from 2019 to 2023.
37:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So eight total years.
37:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike is, she, one of the most powerful representatives, if not politicians ever in American history, she's got to be right.
37:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably.
37:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, yeah, massive influence that she, I mean, she has staying power for sure, but she's kind of peep, she's the type of people that we come to mind when we talk about term limits and in the need for them.
38:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And stock trading and no more stock.
38:08
[SPEAKER_01]: She's one of the people that gets called out the most for that That's been one of the controversial aspects of her and some of the things that she supported She ripped up the paper behind Donald Trump after his state of the union speech and his first term that was interesting She did she got Obama care passed obviously with Barack Obama working with him to get that past suit So that's one of her big achievements anyways kind of an interesting person very powerful person and she's Mountain and she'll be aged.
38:31
[SPEAKER_01]: I guess 87 by then so that's quite a story career
38:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Michael, we've had some sport stories.
38:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, just a few.
38:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So MLB pictures, we talked about this with sports gambling before, but MLB pictures, a manual class A and Luis O'Tee, Ortiz with the Cleveland Guardians, have been indicted.
38:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Prosecutors say the players were paid thousands of dollars to throw intentional balls or off-speed pitches at agreed upon times, helping betters,
39:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Verifying, this is the verified amount it could be more, helping better as when more than $400,000 across games.
39:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Both face charges of wire fraud?
39:12
[SPEAKER_00]: bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy, offenses that could lead to decades in prison.
39:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, this is just a black eye on incorporating gambling.
39:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So deeply into sports.
39:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I just, I cannot believe that this is the end, that there's more that we don't know for sure, but also the more integrated these betting companies and the more widespread sports betting
39:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just human nature.
39:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It's temptation.
39:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Like people are going to fall into this.
39:45
[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to falter and they're going to make mistakes.
39:47
[SPEAKER_00]: It is human nature.
39:49
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is, that's a pretty crazy story, especially when you talk about what they're being accused of and what they're being indicted by, like literally the throwing, their throwing pitches at specific times, tipping off better.
40:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that affects the outcomes of games and it removes the purity from the game does.
40:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, and they're doing this, they were going to pay like four or five thousand, maybe sometimes $7,000 per pitch based off of the winnings if they could get these groups of people, these winnings, they were going to get to pay that amount.
40:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, you're going to face decades of prison, you're going to ruin your entire career and your reputation.
40:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, all your millions of dollars on your contract for $5,000.
40:26
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a disease though, right?
40:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we talked about this with guys like Chancy Billups and, you know, that literally
40:34
[SPEAKER_00]: a Hall of Fame player, plenty of money, it's an addiction, right?
40:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's never enough, so it's, you know, it's just, it's one of those things that people are going to fall into.
40:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it a time of being, is it the MLB instituting a new rule or something like that?
40:47
[SPEAKER_01]: They work for the sports books to like change what they're going to do now for people to do.
40:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, they tighten restrictions on pitch level betting to protect the integrity of the game.
40:55
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, for example, like,
40:57
[SPEAKER_00]: They're making some adjustments to what people can bet on like can they actually bet on the type of pitch because you can bet on literally anything Right, so people were betting on what kind of pitch are they gonna pitch on their next pitch?
41:09
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and then there's a pitch clock too.
41:11
[SPEAKER_00]: That's 20 seconds So you're placing those bets like real quick before the pitch is actually even thrown right.
41:16
[SPEAKER_00]: It's I'm saying so we also had two significant NFL deaths We lost Martian Neeland in Paul
41:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So two significant losses.
41:26
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, first of all, Connor and I are Dallas Cowboys fans, Martian Nielin, a 24 year old was in a high-speed police chase, struggled with mental health, seemingly in his adult life and ended up committing suicide, I mean, which is just from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
41:41
[SPEAKER_00]: He was being chased by the police and then they found him later.
41:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He literally, uh, what two days before, no, the day before he had scored his first NFL touchdown.
41:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and there was, you know, this is so tragic.
41:53
[SPEAKER_00]: So tragic, such a young guy, the way that people spoke about him, always smiling, um, just can't ever assume that the person that you're speaking to is doing okay, even if they come off that way, as believers be gracious.
42:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask deep questions, truly care about the people in your life, because you just really never know what somebody's going through and losing March on Neil and I has just been, it's just been tough.
42:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Unlike the DFW area, the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL, just a 24 year old with his whole life in front of him and it is life.
42:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Sat and seemingly off of the highest high you could have right like I mean literally a touchdown on one person I felt touched on I mean as a defensive player that doesn't happen very much No, that's a biggie.
42:40
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't on a ball in the end zone off of a pump block and then two days later this and so everybody was just kind of shocked It's like
42:46
[SPEAKER_01]: How can you go from the high, but also it could be a reminder that man, the highest highest highest that we think are true in life, like what we think will make us happiest if we can just achieve that one thing, if it's a touchdown, if it's a paycheck, whatever, if we can just achieve that one thing, is that going to satisfy us, is that what we want?
43:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, it will never do that.
43:04
[SPEAKER_01]: The only satisfaction that you have is in Jesus and so if you are in this situation, man, Jesus turned it Jesus, that is the only place you can find true hope and peace.
43:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, and we don't discount or discredit getting any kind of help.
43:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Countslings and whoa, medication is important.
43:22
[SPEAKER_00]: God leverages all of these things to bring about healing in people's lives.
43:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you need help, let's not, let's not discount those things too.
43:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so also former NFL commissioner.
43:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul Taglubu passed away at age 84.
43:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Did heart failure complications.
43:37
[SPEAKER_00]: He had Parkinson's.
43:38
[SPEAKER_00]: But he led the league.
43:40
[SPEAKER_00]: He was the commissioner of the NFL from 1989 to 2006.
43:42
[SPEAKER_00]: So was the commissioner for a long time overseeing expansion.
43:47
[SPEAKER_00]: TV deals efforts to grow the game globally.
43:49
[SPEAKER_00]: All kinds of things.
43:50
[SPEAKER_00]: He's remembered as a steady unifying leader who helped modernize the NFL into the powerhouse of it.
43:55
[SPEAKER_00]: It is today.
43:56
[SPEAKER_00]: He was pivotal for that.
43:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And people were saying a lot of really nice things about him.
43:59
[SPEAKER_00]: It just made me think, you know, because he passed away 84 and I'm not saying
44:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, that that's not sad or whatever obviously losing an 84 year old as opposed to a 24 year old, but I mean, some of the things that people were saying about him, I was like, man, like that's a beautiful legacy.
44:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Like people were very using very kind words, not just about what he accomplished, but like how we treated people from executives to the custodians, like, you know, I was reading about that, and that's that's the type of legacy that I would want to leave behind.
44:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
44:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, if you watch that documentary, the Jerry Joe's documentary on Netflix is some part of it.
44:31
[SPEAKER_01]: He was all throughout that because Jim and Jerry buddy had all the time because Jerry's like, right, you know, but yeah, what a legacy man.
44:38
[SPEAKER_01]: So both in the NFL, but also in life.
44:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So we touched on this last sports update, Nico Harrison, who's the GM of the Dallas Mavericks.
44:45
[SPEAKER_00]: He builds up this team that makes it to the NBA championship with Luca Donchitch at the helm.
44:52
[SPEAKER_00]: We lose to the Boston Celtic Cessay we because I'm a Dallas Maverick fan and then Nico says, you know what this ain't working for me.
44:59
[SPEAKER_00]: No more.
44:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't like Luca for X, Y and Z.
45:01
[SPEAKER_00]: So he trades Luca Donchets to the Los Angeles Lakers for a really good player, but a good player that cannot seem to stay healthy.
45:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, in an old player, it true.
45:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, and we've we've dove into this.
45:14
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really is going to go down as the worst trade in NBA history.
45:18
[SPEAKER_00]: So there was just no other way that he was going to.
45:22
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, maybe.
45:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I would just have to look at it for sure.
45:24
[SPEAKER_00]: The NBA.
45:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what does, what does can I have to see?
45:26
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, you know, everybody's, everybody is, you know, happy that Nico got fired and I, and I understand that me too.
45:34
[SPEAKER_00]: is as crazy as the sounds it's not going to bring Luca back.
45:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of like every revenge movie that you ever watch like if you want to watch like John Wick or something.
45:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, these Russians like in the movie Kill John Wick's dog and then John Wick goes on this killing rampage.
45:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, there's this moment the movie later on.
45:53
[SPEAKER_00]: His dog still, you know, not with him anymore.
45:55
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't change the fact that the bad thing happens.
45:59
[SPEAKER_00]: So yes, Nico's gone, but so is Luca.
46:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's just weird.
46:05
[SPEAKER_01]: It's also weird.
46:07
[SPEAKER_01]: The whole like sports fire.
46:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Same thing with coaches like when somebody gets fired and the celebration of somebody getting fired It's kind of a weird thing.
46:12
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, you know, an normal job you'd be sad for somebody getting fired unless they have done something absolutely terrible And then you can say that they go here like like the worst sports trade in history Yeah, like that might be a fireball offense considering your job is to build a championship team and you literally traded that team away
46:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's just weird.
46:30
[SPEAKER_01]: It really took over the entire sports world, not just Dallas.
46:33
[SPEAKER_01]: This is something that normally would be kind of really relegated to the city, but dude I got I got breaking news alerts from like CNN and Fox news and AP and everybody on my phone like it was like national news everybody's just waiting for this moment
46:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, guys, thank y'all for listening to Culture Brief this week.
46:48
[SPEAKER_01]: This is a Dinnison Foreign Podcast as a reminder, and remember, you can now watch us on YouTube.
46:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Go to the Dinnison Form YouTube channel and find us there.
46:55
[SPEAKER_01]: You can watch the entire episode there, check out our fun little thumbnails that we put together, and you can also watch on Spotify, or just continue to listen to us wherever you listen.
47:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We're so grateful that you guys take the time and hang out with us and walk through culture with us.
47:08
[SPEAKER_01]: All articles, videos, anything else that we mentioned on this episode, we will link in the show description and you can find it there and we will see y'all next Thursday.
47:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Bye!