WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:03.240 We understand. 2 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.839 The thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol, 3 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:10.000 an idea. 4 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.519 The population of atheists this country is going through the. 5 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:19.039 Rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I 6 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.559 tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not 7 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:24.600 because I put my hand on a book and made 8 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:28.839 a wish and working together for a more rational world. 9 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:32.039 Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. 10 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.719 Truth Fusian wisdom will come to you that way. 11 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:43.520 Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the 12 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:52.759 Thinking Atheist Podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. 13 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.320 As we talk about the end of twenty twenty five, 14 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:03.320 approaching twenty twenty six, big question marks in the air 15 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.719 about just about everything, and I wanted to bring on 16 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:11.239 a friend and a constitutional attorney to speak about the 17 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.959 state of the state. Andrew Seidel, Good to see you man. 18 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:16.920 Always a pleasure, my friend. 19 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.040 We have to talk first about the answering of one 20 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:24.159 of the deep and probing questions that society has for 21 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.519 some reason been wrestling with. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? 22 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:32.519 You had an opinion, you wrote a piece, we collaborated 23 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.040 on a video, but you're going to have to defend 24 00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:36.959 your thesis. Man die Hard. 25 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:41.359 Absolutely a Christmas movie. I don't think there's any real 26 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:47.040 solid argument against the position, and I've heard them all before. Actually, 27 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:49.719 I posted the video even on my LinkedIn page, which 28 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:52.879 I never do because you know, it's my super professional page. 29 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.799 But one of my college buddies re shared it and 30 00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:59.760 he was like, oh my god, I remember having arguments 31 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:02.640 with you, you about this in our dorm room freshman year, 32 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:07.359 which you know is twenty five years ago. And I 33 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:11.360 mean to me, it is not just a Christmas movie. 34 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.439 It is the best Christmas movie. It's a holiday tradition 35 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:16.919 in my household. I watch it every year. It is 36 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.919 not Christmas until Hans Grouper falls off Knakatomi Tower. 37 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.759 It's just not Have you seen that Advent calend? I 38 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:27.479 think it's an advent calendar that is made with Nakatomi Plaza. 39 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.560 There's like a building and then there's Hans Gruber at 40 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:33.280 the top and just notch him down? 41 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:38.560 Do you mean that set? 42 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.280 I just looked up and there it is. This is 43 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:45.360 a kind of serendipitous convergence. Now when you got that, 44 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:47.800 was it a kit? Did you have to paint it 45 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:48.800 and do everything yourself. 46 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:53.000 No, no, no, this was a gift that that one 47 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:56.439 of my supporters sent Rich. A big thank you to 48 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:59.560 Rich for this, you know again, because people know how 49 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:01.719 serious I am about this. You know, I've been given 50 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.639 over the years T shirts. You can see one of 51 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:05.240 the T shirts that I got in the video that 52 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:08.520 was my mom actually got me that T shirt five 53 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:10.560 six years ago. I mean, this has been a thing 54 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.240 for me for a long time. I'm more than half convinced. 55 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:17.120 I actually started this entire debate, but I've never formally 56 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.199 weighed in on it in the video format, and I 57 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.039 wanted to do it. And I gotta say like, huge 58 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:24.319 thank you to you because I just called you to 59 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.479 pick your brain. And then you're like, yes, I want 60 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:28.439 to be a part of this. 61 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:31.520 Well, I get myself in trouble. You know. 62 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.479 I'll hear an idea and I'm my inbox like yours 63 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.400 is this big? But I'm like, you know, that'd be 64 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:39.719 kind of fun. And Natalie knows that I have a 65 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.520 hard time doing it halfway, so I'll sit here and 66 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:44.479 be like, you know what, it'd be great, And that's 67 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:46.879 another hour to put that graphic together. 68 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:48.080 And then you know, you know what be fun. 69 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:51.199 What if we did an explosion where Andrew's name, you know, 70 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:53.719 goes into pieces and what if the blu ray morphs 71 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:55.639 into Santa Claus at the end. And every time I 72 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.120 get an idea, I end up, you know, chewing up 73 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.400 the entire weekend, and my wife just comes up going, 74 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:03.759 you know, did you get paid for this? And I'm like, eh, 75 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:07.840 and the payment is relative, like it can be a 76 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:09.800 payment here in my heart. 77 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:14.000 I'll include it something for Natalie in your care package 78 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:14.960 an apology. 79 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.360 Just sent an apology lettery. 80 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:18.800 This is the thing that I love about it though, 81 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:21.600 because first of all, the end part that you just mentioned. 82 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.000 I can't tell you how much I love that. I mean, 83 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.720 I did tell you like to me, I laughed so 84 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:28.360 loud when I saw it. But this is the thing, 85 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:31.160 right like, this is Andrew in his basement here with 86 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:36.800 my shitty camera, you know, my halfassing recording stuff, and 87 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:38.279 then I give it to you, and then you turn 88 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:41.120 it into something that is close to a masterpieces. Diehard 89 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:45.240 itself is and you know it. People should go watch it. 90 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:47.759 I think it's bubble gum for the brain. It's one 91 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.639 of the reasons that I, dude, I got an invitation. 92 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.439 I did a ghost hunt. They'd like to call it 93 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:56.759 a paranormal investigation. But I was invited earlier in twenty 94 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:59.959 twenty five to go and spend almost the whole freak 95 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.879 a night in a mansion with my cameras. And I 96 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:04.920 was there with a ghost hunting team and I was 97 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.560 just tagging along, and do we see supernatural stuff? 98 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:08.800 No? 99 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.959 I mean, honestly, the scariest thing was the humidity, right, 100 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:14.439 But it was kind of fun. And I just got 101 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:19.319 an invite to go and tour a supposedly haunted submarine. 102 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.040 It's called the Batfish and it's of course it's above 103 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.399 ground now and it's on display and there's a museum 104 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:27.800 attached to it. And of course a submarine in Oklahoma 105 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.240 for me is an oxymoron. But okay, fine, So I've 106 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:34.000 been invited to go and take my cameras. Do I 107 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:34.800 have the time? 108 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:35.040 No? 109 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:36.279 Am I going to get paid? 110 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:36.439 No? 111 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:39.759 But it's kind of bubblegum for the brain in this 112 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.120 crazy world. We need our distractions, do we not? 113 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:45.279 So, I mean, you know, it's it's kind of like 114 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.720 the idea of heaven, right, Like heaven sounds terrible to 115 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:51.000 me anyway, because if everything is great all the time, 116 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.480 then nothing's great. You have you have to have ups 117 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.000 and downs. You have to have variety. For there to 118 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.560 be good, there has to be bad, right, and most 119 00:05:58.560 --> 00:05:59.920 of the things are going to be middle of the road, 120 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:02.360 like like shit and serious. Right now, we're going to 121 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.879 get into it like things are scary, they are hard, 122 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.240 they are difficult, and you know, I actually I started 123 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:11.199 scripting this video a while back. It was going to 124 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:13.160 be an op ed. Still probably is going to be 125 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.360 an op ed, but I was going to publish it 126 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.680 last year, and I thought, you know what, nobody wants 127 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:22.279 to hear it after Trump has won an election again, 128 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:27.160 So nobody's gonna hear my cheeky ranch on Christmas movies. 129 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:28.560 So we're going to do it. You know, We'm going 130 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:30.360 to hit snooze on the project, and we did it 131 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.800 this year instead. But it is important to have those 132 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.839 kind of things. And I also I'm curious what is 133 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:39.600 haunting the submarine? Like? Is it like fish like like 134 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.319 is it like aquatic haunters or is it like sailors 135 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:43.759 who died sub narrators? 136 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:45.839 You know what the problem is this is I have 137 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.560 all of this prep on serious issues and bringing a 138 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.800 constitutional attorney on we're talking about die Hard and haunted fish, 139 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:53.839 haunted submarines. 140 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:55.160 But okay, let's go there. 141 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.240 I first of all, I go online. Apparently there are 142 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:03.759 some stories nobody died on the sub but somehow, you know, 143 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:07.560 people are They will attach lore to almost anything. But 144 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.879 just between you and me and the thousands of thousands 145 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.120 of people who are watching and listening. When I watched 146 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:20.680 the paranormal team pull out the tools to find ghosts knowing, 147 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.519 I mean, we've spent years debunking what they do not do. 148 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:27.519 Oh look the EMF meter, that's bullshit. Oh look it's 149 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:31.720 the spirit box that's bullshit. And it might be divining rods. 150 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:35.399 Those are bullshit. I mean, it's more of a social 151 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:39.879 experiment for me watching patterned seekers and the desire to believe. 152 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:43.879 So do I have an ulterior motive, not overtly, but 153 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.199 I will be watching the humans probably more than I 154 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.680 will be watching the dark hallways, the dark corridors of 155 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:55.800 the sub Okay, you mentioned Trump getting elected for the 156 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.800 second time. Did you call that? I was talking to 157 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.519 Matt Dela Hunty and He's like, Andrew has been right 158 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.560 about so many things, And I was like, Okay, Noster Damas, 159 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:06.560 did you call that? 160 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.879 I mean, I tried not to be. I tried not 161 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.759 to be publicly down on what I thought the election 162 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.439 result was going to be. And I really thought there 163 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:22.360 was a chance that he would lose. But the I mean, 164 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.839 the polling and the numbers looked terrible, especially while Biden 165 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:31.759 was still in the race. They did not look good. 166 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:33.840 And you know, I actually I remember being I was 167 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:39.679 in Spokane, Washington at a conference on Christian Nationalism, their 168 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:42.679 regional conference with Sam maguire from an American Atheists, and 169 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.320 she and I were talking, and you know, I kind 170 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.840 of like hinted like you know I am, I am worried, 171 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.840 you know, and she's like, oh, no, He's definitely gonna win, 172 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:53.639 like we don't have a chance, and she was. She 173 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.960 was convinced. So she called it even more than I did. 174 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:00.360 But I didn't I publicly, I did not. I kept 175 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:02.960 my fears and worries to myself, and I did everything 176 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.519 I could to help that not happen, to prevent that 177 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:11.879 from becoming a reality. And you know, I live here 178 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:16.000 in Wisconsin where you know it getting out there and 179 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:19.639 knocking doors and can have a big impact. I participated 180 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:22.320 in the Humanists for Harris fundraiser, which I was really 181 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.600 proud to have done. We raised a good bit of 182 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.799 money for her. It was sort of like the you know, 183 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.000 there was all those zoom fundraisers that kind of happened 184 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:33.679 right afterwards, and this was one of those. It It 185 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.039 was disappointing, but not surprising. 186 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:40.919 Talk to me about, you know, with a split country, 187 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.600 do you feel like the wheels have been wobbling and 188 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:46.039 they may come off? A lot of people are saying, hey, 189 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.039 twenty twenty six, you know, we're definitely going to see 190 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.919 the implode. It's going to be self immolation. 191 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.000 It depends on what folks mean by that, right, I 192 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.759 mean I do think what I think what we are 193 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:04.799 seeing right now is the Republican Party realizing that Trump 194 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:09.639 is a lame duck, and there has been a He 195 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.519 has talked a lot about running again, even though he 196 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:15.600 is constitutionally prohibited from doing that. I did a whole 197 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:19.200 podcast on One Nation Indivisible about can Trump run for 198 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:22.000 a third term? What would that look like? And one 199 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:23.720 of the things I say is, look, we should expect 200 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:26.879 him to try this. Since then, he has tamped down 201 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.440 the rhetoric There's even been one instance of him saying, look, 202 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:31.440 I'm not going to do that, But every time he 203 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:33.840 does that, he ramps it back up again. And I 204 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:39.039 think what we're seeing right now with kind of Marjorie 205 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:43.440 Taylor Green, for instance, pushing back. We saw the head 206 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.799 of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Republican say, look, 207 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:51.000 we're going to investigate what looks like war crimes, you know, 208 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.600 the bombing of the or the dropping a missile on 209 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:56.919 the survivors of this boat that we also dropped the 210 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:01.039 missile on. And so you do see some Republicans kind 211 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.679 of peeling off and splitting with Trump. And I think 212 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:08.320 that's what people are talking about when they're talking about 213 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:12.440 the wheels coming off. Trump's had an iron grip, right, 214 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:14.679 I mean, just like a complete iron grip on the 215 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:19.159 Republican Party, and anybody that stood against him was given 216 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:23.159 a nickname, you know, run down on all the social media, 217 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:27.639 and Trump turned the mob against that person. And that's 218 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:30.519 still happening, right. That happened to Marjorie Taylor Green. She 219 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:34.200 has been one of the worst people in all of 220 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:38.000 American public life for you know, five ten years and 221 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.480 a foil for the left, but never did she need 222 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:46.559 protection or any kind of security until she crossed Trump 223 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:51.159 and MAGA and he turned the Maga mob against her. 224 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.000 And now all of a sudden she needs, you know, 225 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:55.559 personal security, and she's getting all these death threats, which 226 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:57.879 you know, gets to kind of the political violence in 227 00:11:57.919 --> 00:11:59.919 stochastic terrorism of Donald Trump. 228 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:04.759 Damn you, Marjorie tagular Green forever making me agree with you? Right? 229 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:08.799 And she comes forward about the Epstein files and Trump's 230 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:12.279 treatment of her and his critics, and I just thought, 231 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.080 what universe do I agree on anything? And there were 232 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.840 some people who immediately began to jump on her bandwagon. 233 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:22.559 She's seen the light, She's on our team, and I'm like, no, no, no, 234 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:24.919 Now she is not the hero we need. 235 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:27.399 Right, yeah, I mean I will take her for the 236 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:31.240 purposes of driving a wedge into any MAGA coalition. But like, 237 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:37.360 she's still a Christian nationalist, she's still very bigoted, and 238 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:41.399 there's still many many problems with the things she has 239 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:44.679 said and done that she's not backed away from, you know, 240 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.159 for instance, appearing at Nick Quentes and you know, his 241 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.960 conference that he held on stage next to him, and never 242 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:58.000 never divorcing herself from that evil twit but you know, 243 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:03.799 the idea that the the wheels are coming off, right, 244 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.559 I think there's also we're gonna come up on a 245 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.039 point in the future where Trump is going to try 246 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.799 to reassert that iron grip even more, and he's gonna 247 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:12.360 he's gonna try to say, look, I am not a 248 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:15.039 lame duck, and I will still any of you try 249 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:17.480 to disagree with me. You know, it's gonna there's gonna 250 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.559 be a backlash, a Trumpian backlash. In other words, I 251 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:23.279 expect to see that in the future. And I mean 252 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:26.159 the scary thing and the thing that I worry about is, 253 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:30.320 you know, our institutions are barely barely holding on I mean, 254 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.960 and to some extent maybe not. And we have seen 255 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:40.600 in Trump one point, oh that many of the checks 256 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:44.559 and balances and and checks on power that we're written 257 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:48.039 into our institutions do not work. 258 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:49.399 You know. 259 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:53.320 I think probably the best example of this is is impeachment. Right. 260 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:56.360 Trump was impeached twice but still retained power. 261 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:56.639 Right. 262 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.120 This is a man who, on January sixth, insight a 263 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:05.000 violent mob to attack the beating heart of American democracy 264 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.200 and try to stop the peaceful transfer of power, and 265 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:14.000 was then reelected. I mean that is not somebody who 266 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:18.120 should ever be allowed near public office or given an 267 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:20.320 ounce of government power ever. 268 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:23.960 Again, And when you talk, if I may, about checks 269 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:28.679 and balances, you've got the either their sickophants, their corrupt, 270 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:32.440 or they're just invertebrates. In the Congress under Mike Johnson, right, 271 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:34.799 So the Republicans have the majority and they are just 272 00:14:34.919 --> 00:14:38.320 almost completely in lockstep. And then you've got the neutering 273 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.039 of the judiciary, I mean the Supreme Court. You call 274 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:44.840 it a hostile takeover. Those people are like a, oh, well, 275 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:48.039 the majority of the Supreme Court, right, I mean we 276 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:52.080 expect them now to rule in his favor on almost anything, 277 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:52.519 don't we. 278 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.639 Yes, I mean absolutely right. I mean, like, I don't 279 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.440 think it's crazy to suggest that you could draw a 280 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.919 direct between the Supreme Court saying Donald Trump is immune 281 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:07.039 for pretty much anything he does while president and these 282 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.879 war crimes that are being committed on people who are 283 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.440 on boats in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, right, Like, 284 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:18.919 one of the hypotheticals in the case involving you know, 285 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:22.679 is Trump liable for illegal acts that he commits was 286 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:25.480 what if he tells Seal Team six to go out 287 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.960 and kill one of his political enemies, and the answer 288 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.519 to that hypothetical was like, yeah, you can't. He can't 289 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:34.600 be held liable. I mean, that's what we're seeing effectively happening. 290 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:37.200 A version of that is happening out in the real 291 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:41.600 world now. I mean, the Supreme Court is absolutely no 292 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.399 kind of check on Donald Trump, and at every chance 293 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:48.639 that it seems to have to be a check it folds. 294 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.879 Congress certainly is not. The idea of impeachment is not. 295 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.960 So that those are the things that worry me. And 296 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:58.000 really what it comes down to is those first three 297 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:01.960 words in the Constitution, We the people, We're going to 298 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.600 have to be the check on this authoritarian. 299 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:09.440 How does that happen if the courts are compromised and 300 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:13.320 the Congress is compromised. I worry about violence. Maybe I 301 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.000 need to come back to this potential civil war question 302 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.320 in just a second, because I want to stick to 303 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.480 sort of this potential turning of the tide with this 304 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:28.440 recent Tennessee special election between mad Van Epps and Democratic 305 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:32.639 challenger Afton Bane and the Republican one fifty four to 306 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.600 forty five percent. But in the state of Tennessee, the 307 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:37.759 fact that it was even that close it came down 308 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:42.240 to a single digit percentage, is in the eyes of 309 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:45.200 many an indicator that wait a minute, you know, there 310 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.879 may be a I hate to say blue wave because 311 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:52.240 it's such a cliche. Do you see that election as significant? 312 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:53.720 Are the numbers significant? 313 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.000 I mean, I think the most significant thing coming out 314 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.639 of at that election was the shift in the elector 315 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:04.039 You know, if you look at the breakdown of the 316 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.880 various counties that make up part of that district that 317 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:10.480 we're voting, you know, I believe, and I haven't looked 318 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:13.480 in the last twenty four hours, and by the time 319 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.880 people will be hearing this, it'll be it'll be longer. 320 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:23.319 But the smallest shift blue was an eight point shift. 321 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.359 Maybe it was a seven point shift, and many of 322 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:30.240 those were double digit shifts in the blue direction. So 323 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.920 it suggests a significant change in the electorates preferences. And 324 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:43.000 I generally in any midterm election, it is a backlash 325 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.559 against the party that's in power, So we would expect 326 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:50.160 to see this mid terms go the Democrats way. Anyway, 327 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:54.519 it's a question of kind of how much. And I 328 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:58.480 think those numbers in that you know, Trump twenty plus 329 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:04.000 way plus district suggests that it could be a significant shift. 330 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.920 It's a it's a hard election for the Democrats. It 331 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.000 always is when it comes to, for instance, the Senate, 332 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:16.119 because that body is both their miney. But that's a. 333 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:22.000 Streamers were outlets off. 334 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:23.640 Of the river. We could be here all day. 335 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.480 Let's talk about the Ten Commandments. This is in your wheelhouse. 336 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:30.240 You've written about it, including in book form at least once. 337 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:34.720 Texas this year has become the third state to mandate 338 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:38.319 that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms. 339 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:42.079 I find this amazing because statistically, Americans across the board 340 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:44.640 can't even name five of the Ten Commandments right, and 341 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:48.319 they certainly don't keep them. But it's really about marking territory, 342 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:49.920 isn't it. They want to hang that stuff as a 343 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.519 Christian nationalist exercise. But you've got Texas, you got Arkansas, 344 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:57.640 you got Louisiana, and then lawsuits start flying, and this 345 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.400 has happened with all three of those states. Do you 346 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:05.960 think that Greg Abbott and Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Jeff 347 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.319 Landry do you think that they are hoping that the 348 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.880 Ten Commandments case is going to go to a friendly 349 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:12.680 Supreme Court. 350 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.960 I do think that was part of the initial push 351 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:19.519 to do these laws anyway, and even if it was 352 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:23.160 not necessarily like I don't think Sarah Huckabee Sanders is 353 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:29.039 necessarily the most strategic legal thinker out there for the 354 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:32.720 Christian nationalist movement. But the people pushing these bills and 355 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.440 the Christian nationalists legal groups behind them, I do think, 356 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:39.160 are hoping that eventually they can get this case to 357 00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:42.799 the Supreme Court and get the judges that have been 358 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:45.640 part of that hostile takeover the justices on the Court 359 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.359 to agree that, yeah, politicians can impose their personal religion 360 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.160 on other people's children in the public school system. I 361 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:55.839 think that's a decision that they are hoping to get. 362 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.039 Very proud to be working at Americans United for Separation 363 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.359 of Church and Stay, which just filed along with our allies, 364 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.240 a class action lawsuit against the school public school districts 365 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:09.119 in Texas to ensure that that kind of thing does 366 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:13.359 not happen, that those Ten Commandments displays don't go up, 367 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:15.359 you know. I Mean, one of the things that I 368 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:21.240 find so irritating about this law that these different states 369 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:26.160 have passed that mandate they rewrote the Bible, right like 370 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:29.680 they're saying that this Bible and the Ten Commandments were 371 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:35.359 so influential to the founding that we have to educate 372 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.680 kids about what it says. And it's a holy book 373 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.720 to all of us, so we need to educate and 374 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:41.359 we need to impose them, and they have to. But 375 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.880 then the politicians rewrote what those Ten Commandments say in 376 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:49.039 these laws. You can't find those commandments that are going 377 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.960 to be in the classrooms in any given Bible because 378 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:55.880 they were rewritten. They removed things like punishing innocent children 379 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:58.119 to the third and fourth generation for the crimes of 380 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:02.559 their parents, which appear in the Commandments right. They removed 381 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:07.200 the implicit recognition of slavery, which appears twice in the 382 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.200 Ten Commandments. They took out a lot of the immoral 383 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:15.039 and objectionable things. In other words, they rewrote that moral 384 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:18.559 command using modern morality, because we don't get our morality 385 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.160 from the Ten Commandments. They kind of undercut their entire 386 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.039 argument for putting them up in the first place. And 387 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.680 one other just really irritating note, like you know me 388 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:30.839 and when it comes to us history and the disinformation 389 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:34.640 the Christian nationalists love to push, like they justified the 390 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.599 Louisiana law with a James Madison quote that is fake. 391 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:41.920 It's just it's not a real quote. James Madison didn't 392 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:43.839 say it. We know he didn't say it, but it's 393 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:45.880 in the law as though this is something he said. 394 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:51.519 And it just there's so much wrong with this, and 395 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.559 really the most important thing is that it violates the 396 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:58.440 religious freedom of every single student kid in a Texas 397 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:01.920 public school and their families. But there's a lot of 398 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:04.839 other little things too that bother me. In particularly well. 399 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:08.759 Our former superintendent of Public Instruction, who is gone, by 400 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:14.319 the way, you know, Ryan Walters, was disliked when he resigned. 401 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.720