WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.150 --> 00:00:11.029 So, people are backing away from the mic. They're backing 2 00:00:11.109 --> 00:00:19.079 away from 2020. They're backing away from their progressive politics. 3 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.579 It's so weird to me. On the one hand, you've 4 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:26.460 got these democratic socialists who are winning, right? And then 5 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:32.750 you have the corporate wing of the democratic party, the 6 00:00:32.789 --> 00:00:37.289 James Carvels and such who say, oh, well, we have to, 7 00:00:37.630 --> 00:00:42.149 we have to pivot back to Joe Biden politics, something 8 00:00:42.429 --> 00:00:47.119 unthreatening and moderate so that we can win. Although I 9 00:00:47.140 --> 00:00:50.039 don't know where the proof is that that causes you 10 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:50.460 to win. 11 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:50.719 Yeah. 12 00:00:50.759 --> 00:01:01.359 You But it's confusing to me because at the same 13 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:04.879 time that you see people, what I call progressive posers, 14 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:08.879 folks pretending to be democratic socialists when their voting record 15 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:17.370 doesn't show that, the sort of Timu Mamdani phenomena, everybody 16 00:01:17.409 --> 00:01:20.230 wants to be the mayor of New York, but nobody's 17 00:01:20.269 --> 00:01:23.370 willing to take the real positions of the mayor of 18 00:01:23.430 --> 00:01:26.980 New York. At the same time, you have In Florida, 19 00:01:27.180 --> 00:01:30.959 which would seem the most unlikely of places to elect 20 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:34.500 an Angie Nixon, or at least get her through in 21 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:40.340 the primary, a black woman who is a democratic socialist, 22 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:44.719 at the same time, you have this backing away from 23 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:52.689 the issues. And I'm thinking of our governor, Gavin Newsom, 24 00:01:53.129 --> 00:02:00.890 who of course, are broadcasting from California, from the Crenshaw District, California, 25 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:08.439 South LA, Leimert Park. Our governor, who was touted as 26 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:12.560 a progressive and actually had taken some progressive positions and 27 00:02:12.620 --> 00:02:19.099 supported some very positive kinds of legislations earlier in his career, 28 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:22.740 now is pivoted. And reparations is the perfect example, right? 29 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:29.199 He He signed the legislation to bring Dr. Shirley Weber's 30 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:34.500 bill to fruition, creating the first task force on reparations 31 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:40.360 for black people, black Americans in the nation, and bringing 32 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:44.449 it across the finish line with a powerful 1,200-page report. 33 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:48.409 Then we see the governor vetoing everything and sort of 34 00:02:48.569 --> 00:02:54.550 backing away from those positions in support of reparations. and 35 00:02:55.409 --> 00:03:02.050 tempering his image, we could say. And presidential ambitions seem 36 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:12.300 to be the reason, I would say, for that. The U.S. Congresswoman, 37 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:19.900 Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who came, burst onto the scene, overturning a 38 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:26.400 moderate Democrat, an incumbent, a longtime incumbent there in New York, 39 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:32.759 with the label of democratic socialist and an ally of 40 00:03:32.819 --> 00:03:36.650 Bernie Sanders. In fact, they did that tour together last year. 41 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:46.810 Now she's saying that woke was crazy. Now she's backing 42 00:03:46.870 --> 00:03:53.780 away from the progressive or radical progressive politics that that 43 00:03:53.919 --> 00:04:03.569 she came into office on. What is that? And I, 44 00:04:03.710 --> 00:04:09.879 you know, I think it's problematic. I know she's thinking 45 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.080 of running for president. I get that. And I'm a 46 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:16.339 fan of AOC. Don't get me wrong. I think she's 47 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:25.569 done a great job as a like her politics, not everything, 48 00:04:25.689 --> 00:04:30.790 but a lot of her political positions and policies. But 49 00:04:31.069 --> 00:04:37.389 the fact that she's now saying backing away from woke, 50 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:44.420 that means, number one, either your principles are shaky, they 51 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:48.500 were never really solid in the first place, or you're 52 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:54.990 an opportunist. Number two, it means that the conservatives, the 53 00:04:55.149 --> 00:05:00.610 anti-justice wing of the American body politic, has done such 54 00:05:00.649 --> 00:05:04.920 a good job in demonizing woke that you feel you 55 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:10.639 have to distance yourself from woke. What does that mean? Really, 56 00:05:10.699 --> 00:05:14.370 it means pronouns. What does that mean? It means calling 57 00:05:14.410 --> 00:05:17.930 people what they want to be called. If you want 58 00:05:17.949 --> 00:05:20.189 to be called Carl, I call you Carl. If you 59 00:05:20.209 --> 00:05:25.379 want to be called Jenny, I call you Jenny. That's 60 00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:29.439 basic respect. Now they want to call it wokeness. Treating 61 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:33.519 other people with respect is now wokeness. If you're a he, 62 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:35.060 I call you a he. If you're a she, I 63 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:37.670 call you a she. Who decides that? You, not me. 64 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:45.529 Is that crazy? No, that's just respect. Um, In a 65 00:05:45.589 --> 00:05:52.629 recent interview, the congresswoman said, walked back her support of 66 00:05:52.689 --> 00:05:57.220 the idea of defunding the police. Well, again, this is 67 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:00.660 a victory for the right and their ability to take 68 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:05.220 things and twist them. Defund the police means taking money 69 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.079 out of police budgets and putting it into other things 70 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:14.810 that can keep us safe. Mental health, anti-homelessness programs, Public 71 00:06:14.889 --> 00:06:23.040 safety measures like lighting, like community councils, like intervention and 72 00:06:23.100 --> 00:06:30.000 prevention efforts. But now she's walking it back. And she says, 73 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:36.850 her explanation is that because during 2020 and COVID, we 74 00:06:37.089 --> 00:06:40.069 were willing to entertain a lot more things in the 75 00:06:40.110 --> 00:06:43.350 public space. That we were more open to a range 76 00:06:43.389 --> 00:06:51.910 of policies. But that those policies are no longer acceptable. 77 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:59.170 Why not? Why not? So she's getting a pat on 78 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:09.660 the back from conservative political strategists like James Carville. like 79 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:13.139 this guy Brent Buchanan, who's quoted in the LA Times, 80 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:18.490 calling her a good politician. And James Carville, who says 81 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:22.569 she can simply say, I'm grown. And people understand that. 82 00:07:23.009 --> 00:07:26.949 As if being a democratic socialist or being a progressive 83 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:31.949 or putting forth ideas that some consider radical, like health 84 00:07:32.009 --> 00:07:36.189 care for all, is immature or a sign that someone 85 00:07:36.269 --> 00:07:44.259 is not fully developed politically. or chronologically, which is just 86 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:49.959 not the case. They're simply different philosophical approaches to solving 87 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:54.000 the same problems. But what you're telling me is that 88 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:58.939 Bernie Sanders hasn't quite grown up yet? Is that your argument? 89 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:06.620 That Angela Davis just needs a few more years to mature, 90 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:13.360 and then she'll stop being an abolitionist? I have to 91 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:18.220 disagree with that. And I don't think, I think we 92 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:24.319 lean into such moderate apologist pablum at the peril of 93 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.250 our party. That is not the path to victory. It's 94 00:08:28.310 --> 00:08:34.750 the path to being another middle-of-the-road, nothing-burger of a politician. 95 00:08:34.769 --> 00:08:34.809 809-20-1580. 96 00:08:36.490 --> 00:08:42.639 Agree, disagree, or you got another conversation. I'd love to 97 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:49.870 hear from you. 809-20-1580. I'm Dominique DiPrima for KBLA Talk 1580. Absolutely. 98 00:08:49.990 --> 00:08:54.549 I do appreciate you on that. I say this and 99 00:08:54.590 --> 00:08:57.629 I've been saying it for years, even before these democratic 100 00:08:57.669 --> 00:09:02.740 socialists started doing better at the polling that we, the 101 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:06.340 people of We, the people, are where the energy is 102 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:10.539 in this party. We, the progressives, we, the black women, we, 103 00:09:10.620 --> 00:09:16.090 the Latino people, we, the progressive people, the young people 104 00:09:16.210 --> 00:09:21.590 in the party. Why are we listening? I know, James Carville, legendary, blah, blah, blah. 105 00:09:21.870 --> 00:09:24.720 Why are we listening to all these folks that we've 106 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:27.679 already tried their way? If you always do what you've 107 00:09:27.700 --> 00:09:32.460 always done, then you always get what you've always got. Yeah, okay, 108 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:38.620 thank you. Thank you for Bill Clinton, LOL, and welfare 109 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:42.240 reform that made more people poor. Thank you for Joe Biden. 110 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:48.529 Thank you for Barack Obama. I mean, I voted for 111 00:09:48.570 --> 00:09:53.350 Biden and Obama, but my point is, would I rather 112 00:09:53.409 --> 00:09:57.309 have had a more progressive option? Yes. And now we 113 00:09:57.350 --> 00:10:00.230 have that possibility, and I'm so tired of it. of 114 00:10:00.309 --> 00:10:07.200 hearing these Dems cry about how they can't win in 115 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.740 a general election. And then mainstream media piling on with 116 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:14.960 that same dumb narrative. Prove it. Let's prove they can't 117 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:18.720 win in a general election. Let's let Bernie go through 118 00:10:18.740 --> 00:10:23.539 the convention. and get the nomination that he deserved. Let's 119 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:29.490 stop kneecapping our own progressives or convincing our progressives like 120 00:10:29.590 --> 00:10:33.649 AOC that they need to kneecap or nerf themselves into 121 00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:41.100 these sort of, you know, declawed versions of themselves. And 122 00:10:41.149 --> 00:10:44.320 I also think that leads to disillusionment on the part 123 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:49.059 of our base, right? Because our base, like I'm a politician, 124 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:54.070 the base, because When you come into office on these lofty, 125 00:10:54.149 --> 00:10:59.549 progressive ideas, and then you pivot to being a middle-of-the-road 126 00:10:59.669 --> 00:11:03.970 corporate dem, and that happens over and over again, we 127 00:11:04.029 --> 00:11:07.610 start to think that we lose faith, we lose hope, 128 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:14.669 we lose the impetus to even move. And to be fair, 129 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:18.470 people that think that Barack Obama pivoted are wrong. He 130 00:11:18.509 --> 00:11:21.450 was always a moderate. He ran as a moderate. And 131 00:11:21.769 --> 00:11:24.429 we knew what we were getting. We, you know, would 132 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:27.129 I take them over the resident every single day of 133 00:11:27.149 --> 00:11:29.710 the week? But what I'm saying is right now we 134 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:32.789 have the opportunity for real progressive change and we need 135 00:11:32.830 --> 00:11:39.129 to push the envelope, not back down. All right, let's 136 00:11:39.169 --> 00:11:43.100 go to Alegria calling us from Los Angeles. Good morning. 137 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:48.779 Good morning, Dominique. Thank you so much for taking my call. 138 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:50.759 Absolutely. What's on your mind? 139 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:56.470 Honestly, I am mostly just calling to thank you because 140 00:11:56.529 --> 00:11:59.149 I appreciate you in this space so much. It's so 141 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:05.269 great to have reason and brilliant thinking on these topics. 142 00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:08.820 And it's so refreshing and it's so appreciated. I didn't 143 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:12.039 realize how close we were in our Bernie, in our 144 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:16.220 Bernie love and dedication back in the day. I was 145 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:21.750 definitely a diehard Bernie Sanders, 2016, 2020, like, We should 146 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:24.909 have pushed that omelet long ago, and it's like you 147 00:12:24.929 --> 00:12:28.879 just want to shake people. And, you know, it's like 148 00:12:28.980 --> 00:12:31.500 the Democratic Party, which I've been a Democrat in forever, 149 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:36.159 really it seems like primarily and intentionally, like they'll do 150 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:40.090 whatever they can to lose. They're like intentional losers because 151 00:12:40.110 --> 00:12:43.250 they won't listen to the actual people, the progressive people 152 00:12:43.289 --> 00:12:46.029 of their party and beyond who are saying we want 153 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:50.509 something different and we expect something different. And it's difficult 154 00:12:50.629 --> 00:12:52.789 and it's sad. So I just appreciate your voice here. 155 00:12:53.429 --> 00:12:56.269 I mean, and the thing about it is, so what 156 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:59.279 your takeaway is from Angie Nixon winning or your takeaway 157 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:03.759 is from Mamdani winning is that we all need to be, no, 158 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:08.159 we should all be, you know, East Indian or we 159 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:12.710 should all, you know, have locks. It's not, oh, look. 160 00:13:13.330 --> 00:13:17.139 Medicare for all is really popular. People need health care. Oh, wow, 161 00:13:17.179 --> 00:13:20.480 a public option for grocery stores is super popular because 162 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:26.019 people can't afford stuff. Like, instead of looking at the policies, 163 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:32.490 they want to keep the person and declaw them, take 164 00:13:32.570 --> 00:13:35.669 away what people responded to in the first place. We 165 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:39.659 don't love AOC because she's got great lipstick and she's 166 00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:44.129 an attractive Latina. We like her because of her policy positions. 167 00:13:44.529 --> 00:13:49.379 And that is what I'm objecting to about the party here. 168 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:57.220 Yes, agreed, agreed. The focus is always off. We are 169 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:01.539 saying we don't want our money to bomb children in Palestine. 170 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:06.159 We want health care. We want a humane society, and 171 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:09.019 we deserve that our money and taxes and politicians fight 172 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:11.889 for it. and they're unable to hear the things they 173 00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:17.029 are so dedicated to their corporate donors and status quo that, 174 00:14:17.549 --> 00:14:19.809 you know, they might as well not have ears. 175 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:24.669 Yeah, I mean, it's well said, but then to your 176 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:28.950 point about Democrats being dedicated to losing, the ones that 177 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:31.169 are winning are the ones that are bucking the party. 178 00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:34.360 They are the Mamdani's. They are the Angie Nixon's. And 179 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:37.309 that's why I'm saying how can you, You want to 180 00:14:37.370 --> 00:14:40.600 co-opt that, but once you co-opt it, it doesn't win anymore. 181 00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:43.059 Yeah. 182 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.620 All right, Alegria. I absolutely appreciate the call. She called 183 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:54.340 me at 800-920-1580. I invite you to do the same. 184 00:14:54.360 --> 00:15:01.809 We've got Fred from L.A. on the phone. Good morning, Fred. Fred, 185 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.370 you with me? Microphone check. 186 00:15:04.389 --> 00:15:04.490 Okay. 187 00:15:06.649 --> 00:15:09.730 Okay, I guess we have lost Fred, or perhaps he'll 188 00:15:09.750 --> 00:15:16.450 call me back. He called at 809-20-1580, 809-20-1580. It seems 189 00:15:16.590 --> 00:15:21.279 more dire to me because we do have our midterm elections, 190 00:15:21.740 --> 00:15:29.519 and the U.S. Extreme Court has now backed up the 191 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:33.340 resident in limiting mail-in voting. That may seem like a 192 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:35.919 little thing or not a thing to you, But it 193 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:39.570 is a big deal. This is part of a larger 194 00:15:39.669 --> 00:15:45.409 plan by the Trump administration to limit voting. And it's 195 00:15:45.590 --> 00:15:48.830 not voting for everyone that they want to limit. It's 196 00:15:48.909 --> 00:15:53.649 limit voting for you. You, the progressive. You, the woman. You, 197 00:15:53.809 --> 00:15:58.710 the black person. You, the Latino that's not, you know, 198 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:06.320 Team FAFO. It's trying to limit progressive voters. It's trying 199 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:09.970 to limit democratic voters. It's trying to limit low income voters. 200 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:13.509 And that is because they want to win. And if 201 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:16.490 you look at, this is the thing that really blew 202 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:20.389 my mind. When I started looking at the way that 203 00:16:20.649 --> 00:16:25.470 Republicans are outnumbered all over the country in terms of 204 00:16:25.529 --> 00:16:29.889 the number of humans that vote and how they've been 205 00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:34.750 able to maintain control of these state houses, the White House, 206 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:38.860 the extreme court and the Congress, even though they don't 207 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:43.429 have the numbers, is really the story of the problems 208 00:16:43.450 --> 00:16:46.710 with our democracy, right? It's the manipulation of the maps 209 00:16:46.769 --> 00:16:51.090 through gerrymandering. It's the pimping of the electoral college. It's 210 00:16:51.129 --> 00:16:54.309 the fact that DC and Puerto Rico do not have 211 00:16:54.370 --> 00:16:57.889 statehood when in fact they should. Or if Puerto Rico 212 00:16:57.909 --> 00:17:02.169 wants to be independent, be independent, but have a truly 213 00:17:02.250 --> 00:17:08.049 representative democracy It's term limits on our Supreme Court. These 214 00:17:08.109 --> 00:17:11.630 are the things that have allowed a group of people 215 00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:15.859 that do not represent the majority of Americans or the 216 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:22.480 majority of American voters to continue to control so much 217 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:29.130 of the politics of this country. It's a masterclass in 218 00:17:29.269 --> 00:17:33.329 undermining democracy. Let's go to Fred. We got him now. 219 00:17:33.430 --> 00:17:34.569 Fred from L.A., you're on. 220 00:17:35.930 --> 00:17:36.869 Okay. Can you hear me now? 221 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:37.329 I do. 222 00:17:38.769 --> 00:17:41.450 Okay. Now, I want to respond to Adam from the 223 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.859 last hour. He's looking for something racist under every rock 224 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:48.779 on the poles that are knocked down on the storm 225 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.440 back east. I was a district driver by choice from 226 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:57.259 1979 to 86 of Palms Overhead. And you only can 227 00:17:57.299 --> 00:18:00.019 set one pole. It takes six hours to set a pole. 228 00:18:00.809 --> 00:18:03.630 Let me give you, I'm fast. If I came in 229 00:18:03.670 --> 00:18:06.819 this morning and some drunk knocked over a pole last 230 00:18:06.890 --> 00:18:09.559 night and looked like a toothpick snap, I would put 231 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.599 the hardware on the truck, a five-ton stake, go to 232 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:16.700 the pole. The lineman would change everything out, set a 233 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:19.250 new pole, change everything out, put the old stuff back 234 00:18:19.329 --> 00:18:22.210 on me. It takes six hours. And then maybe in 235 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:25.359 this emergency situation, they might be able to get to 236 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:27.859 a second poll and do that. But that's a total 237 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.799 of a 12, 14 hour day. It takes six hours 238 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:32.099 to set a poll, Dominique. 239 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:34.660 Okay, Fred, I'm going to suggest that you go back 240 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:38.160 and listen to that hour again, because Adam is very 241 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:42.339 much a by the book journalist and he actually was 242 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:46.029 only stating facts. He didn't say anything. Any conjecture about 243 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:49.970 race would have been coming from me. What Adam stated 244 00:18:50.009 --> 00:18:55.470 were facts that, that, In black areas, it does take 245 00:18:55.549 --> 00:19:00.170 longer to get the power back on. That black areas 246 00:19:00.329 --> 00:19:03.819 are more likely to have power outages. Those are not opinions. 247 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:08.119 Those were actually facts. And so if you don't like them, 248 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:12.799 you know, that's your prerogative. But they're not coming from 249 00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:18.640 Adam Mahoney's opinion. Those are actually supported by data and 250 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.329 you can go to capital B news.org and actually read 251 00:19:22.349 --> 00:19:24.789 the article or go back. All of my podcasts are 252 00:19:24.829 --> 00:19:29.170 available for free wherever you get your podcasts. They're also, 253 00:19:29.309 --> 00:19:32.359 they live on YouTube so you can see them any, 254 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.420 anytime you want. I don't think he was looking for race. 255 00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:40.819 He was just telling us the facts as, as they 256 00:19:40.859 --> 00:19:46.009 are reported. And so, yeah, We're fact-based. That's how we 257 00:19:46.029 --> 00:19:48.470 do it, Fred. Appreciate the call. We've got news, traffic, 258 00:19:48.490 --> 00:19:52.160 and sports. Speaking of facts, then. only right here. And man, 259 00:19:52.579 --> 00:19:56.660 as I said, the news cycle is spinning wildly. So 260 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:04.349 I think all of these conversations are important because With 261 00:20:04.589 --> 00:20:11.250 the resident of the White House now moving to restrict 262 00:20:11.309 --> 00:20:14.230 mail-in voting, and the Supreme Court is backing him on 263 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:17.279 that so far, even though there's another case that still 264 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.799 has to move through that may impact it. But basically, 265 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:22.640 they're already signaling they might as well just crown the 266 00:20:22.660 --> 00:20:26.480 guy king. But in any case, if we are not 267 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:34.920 motivated to vote because we're all disillusioned by the these 268 00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:43.049 sort of, you know, moderate, middle-of-the-road, defanged, not-about-nothing Democrats, then 269 00:20:43.849 --> 00:20:47.089 we will continue to lose, even with the president, the 270 00:20:47.150 --> 00:20:51.390 residents' approval ratings in the toilet. As those of you 271 00:20:51.450 --> 00:20:55.289 who listen to me closely know, I clearly pivoted because 272 00:20:55.450 --> 00:20:59.650 our guest for today did not arrive. And so I 273 00:20:59.690 --> 00:21:04.359 have one of my homies who is joining me In 274 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:07.259 the clutch here, he's an award-winning journalist, a host, a 275 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.819 multidisciplinary artist, and a Harvard-trained scholar in faith, justice, and 276 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:15.440 public life. He's been in the New York Times, NPR, 277 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.700 CNN variety, and of course, first things first, Jared Hill. 278 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.240 Good morning. Good morning. 279 00:21:21.289 --> 00:21:23.309 Can I just say that I am honored to be 280 00:21:23.410 --> 00:21:25.589 one of the people that you would call in a pinch. 281 00:21:25.609 --> 00:21:28.069 So I'm just grateful to be here. So thank you 282 00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:29.170 for having me. Oh, yeah. 283 00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:32.049 Well, I'm honored to have you in the phone to 284 00:21:32.089 --> 00:21:34.890 call in a pinch. Okay, so there's a lot of 285 00:21:34.950 --> 00:21:38.380 things going on. And I was talking about, you know, 286 00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:41.579 this whole everyone sort of backing away from woke and 287 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:49.240 AOC renouncing defund the police and, you know, and at 288 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.119 the same time, you've got these democratic socialists energizing the 289 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:58.809 party and people winning and bucking the democratic establishment very successfully. 290 00:21:59.589 --> 00:22:01.650 And we were talking off the air, at least via text, 291 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:07.960 about the alleged meeting, collaboration, whatever it is, between Hakeem 292 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:13.420 Jeffries and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. I'm not quite 293 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:18.109 sure what his title is beyond that. Special envoy of BS. 294 00:22:19.269 --> 00:22:23.150 And again, you know, with Hakeem Jeffries, you have someone 295 00:22:23.170 --> 00:22:27.690 who who's never been a progressive. He's always been a moderate. 296 00:22:27.710 --> 00:22:30.470 He studied at the feet of Nancy Pelosi. But I 297 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:36.049 think it's becoming more pronounced now because of the loud 298 00:22:36.150 --> 00:22:37.890 conversation about Gaza. 299 00:22:37.910 --> 00:22:43.650 So I'm very torn when it comes to the talking 300 00:22:43.670 --> 00:22:46.569 Jeffries moment and meeting with Jared Kushner. I think of 301 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:50.369 myself as pretty left. And I come from like a 302 00:22:50.430 --> 00:22:53.670 conflict resolution background. You mentioned that I went to Harvard 303 00:22:53.690 --> 00:22:58.049 Divinity School. My degree is a master's of religion and 304 00:22:58.089 --> 00:22:59.660 public life. And we look at the ways in which 305 00:23:00.299 --> 00:23:02.519 a religion kind of operates as a power structure and 306 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:04.220 the ways that we can approach that from our different, 307 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:09.000 if you will. And it's been interesting to me because 308 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.380 a lot of that work has been rooted in peace 309 00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:15.430 building and conflict resolution research. And so the ways in 310 00:23:15.490 --> 00:23:18.920 which we are ever going to resolve these conflicts is 311 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:20.940 going to have to deal with some kind of engagement. 312 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:24.420 And also, I don't like the idea of Jared Kushner 313 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.160 sitting down with Joaquin Jeffries for anything. 314 00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:27.099 Right. 315 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:29.799 And so I'm wrestling with both of those things at 316 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:33.079 the same time, because the things that we want, the 317 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:34.759 things that we want to achieve, the things that we're 318 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:39.039 aiming towards, they're going to require some kind of engagement, right? 319 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:41.900 And one of the books that we focused on in 320 00:23:42.059 --> 00:23:46.190 my program was The Moral Imagination, written by John Lederach. 321 00:23:46.230 --> 00:23:49.009 And within it, he talks about how peace is not 322 00:23:49.069 --> 00:23:51.769 something that happens when you put guns down. Like, peace 323 00:23:51.829 --> 00:23:56.750 also requires, like, building. and engagement and working together and 324 00:23:56.809 --> 00:24:00.009 having conversations about what each other need, et cetera. And 325 00:24:00.049 --> 00:24:02.859 so when I see this moment, and I hear you, right? 326 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:05.960 When I see this moment and these kinds of moments 327 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:07.980 where two people are having a meeting that you wouldn't 328 00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:10.519 ordinarily want to see have a meeting, I also have 329 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:16.230 to consider what Hakeem Jeffries' job is and what things 330 00:24:16.269 --> 00:24:18.430 are presented to him to say yes or no to 331 00:24:18.809 --> 00:24:21.549 and the opportunities that can come from those yeses or nos. 332 00:24:22.009 --> 00:24:25.109 And so I don't like how this looks or feels. 333 00:24:25.210 --> 00:24:26.839 And I don't even know that I trust that it 334 00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:30.059 was really useful. And I have to say, like, if 335 00:24:30.099 --> 00:24:31.700 I want to believe in this guy to be able 336 00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:34.059 to do his job, even if he's not as, as, 337 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:36.099 as far left as I would like him to be, 338 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:38.220 but I'm, he's the one that I, that I have 339 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:41.130 to work with or support. I have to kind of 340 00:24:42.289 --> 00:24:43.869 want to give him a little bit of the benefit 341 00:24:43.910 --> 00:24:45.410 of the doubt here. Yeah. 342 00:24:45.569 --> 00:24:49.809 Well, I mean the, um, Talk show host Risi Colbert 343 00:24:49.829 --> 00:24:53.170 made an interesting point, I think, yesterday on Instagram. She 344 00:24:53.210 --> 00:24:56.130 was saying, why are we spending so much time criticizing 345 00:24:56.170 --> 00:25:00.210 Hakeem Jeffries when we have to beat Republicans in the midterms? 346 00:25:00.619 --> 00:25:04.240 We're so busy criticizing, and I'm guilty of this, not 347 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:08.000 that I focus so much on Hakeem Jeffries, but I'm 348 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:14.900 so tired of these corporate, moderate, Democratic, mainstream establishment types 349 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:17.930 telling us that we need to be electable. that I 350 00:25:17.990 --> 00:25:22.099 probably spend more time critiquing them than I do critiquing 351 00:25:22.390 --> 00:25:26.259 the folks we got to beat in November. So I 352 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:28.880 may be guilty as charged. And she was pointing out 353 00:25:28.900 --> 00:25:32.920 that there are thousands of posts about people criticizing Hakeem 354 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:38.809 Jeffries and very few posts criticizing Republicans that we'll be 355 00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:43.390 running against in November. What are your thoughts on that, Jarrett? 356 00:25:44.109 --> 00:25:45.000 Well, I.. 357 00:25:45.730 --> 00:25:46.059 We.. 358 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:50.059 I've been a journalist for 25 years as of next month. 359 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:54.619 And so our job, thank you. I always say I 360 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:57.000 counted 11th and 12th grade on the newspaper because those 361 00:25:57.019 --> 00:25:57.559 years counted. 362 00:25:58.539 --> 00:26:03.019 I was wondering that, but okay, I'll count those. 363 00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:04.359 I thought you were doing math in your head. 364 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:05.660 Yeah, yeah. 365 00:26:06.099 --> 00:26:09.759 But I say that because the role of this job 366 00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:14.119 is to check power, right? Is to raise the flag 367 00:26:14.180 --> 00:26:16.670 and say, hey, this is not right. Or, hey, this 368 00:26:16.750 --> 00:26:18.799 is something that's going on. And so I think there 369 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:22.160 is an importance in the critique. that you bring to 370 00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:25.759 this moment or to these kinds of situations, that is 371 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:28.420 the job that you have, right? As a journalist, as 372 00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:31.630 a progressive, as a liberal, as a leftist, as a 373 00:26:31.670 --> 00:26:33.869 person with a voice, with a platform, as a person 374 00:26:33.930 --> 00:26:36.769 who is out here doing this every day, right? That 375 00:26:36.829 --> 00:26:39.329 is the job. And it's somebody else's job sometimes to 376 00:26:39.349 --> 00:26:42.470 be the person who comes in and brings all of 377 00:26:42.509 --> 00:26:44.849 these different pieces together to be able to make them useful. 378 00:26:45.309 --> 00:26:46.670 And so I don't think it's wrong for you to 379 00:26:46.710 --> 00:26:50.029 be checking... King Jeffries in this kind of moment or 380 00:26:50.190 --> 00:26:53.339 any of the other Democrats, because as people further to 381 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:55.460 the left, it is our job to continue to pull 382 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:58.460 this coalition left, right? And so like when we had 383 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:02.420 this conversation about the mayor's race or even with the 384 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:05.400 governor's races, right? Ideally, we get two Democrats in each 385 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:08.869 of these roles so that we can pull whoever to 386 00:27:08.890 --> 00:27:11.250 the left, that moderate person to the left. And that 387 00:27:11.269 --> 00:27:15.470 was the conversation we had going into the midterms here. 388 00:27:15.509 --> 00:27:18.160 And so I think it's important I think we just 389 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:20.250 have to figure out, like, what are the things that 390 00:27:20.309 --> 00:27:22.349 we want and how do we get them? Because I 391 00:27:22.390 --> 00:27:24.650 think that when we look at the Republicans, we see 392 00:27:24.690 --> 00:27:28.589 people who are purely after power. They only want power. 393 00:27:29.049 --> 00:27:30.859 And whatever it's going to take to get that power, 394 00:27:30.900 --> 00:27:34.039 they will do. They will change the rules at a 395 00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:38.460 moment's notice. The laws and rules are subject to change 396 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:39.099 without notice. 397 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:40.319 Right. Yeah. 398 00:27:40.420 --> 00:27:43.220 And so, but we are here talking about people. We 399 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:45.440 want to, we want a lot of things more than 400 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:47.769 power and that is more difficult to achieve. And so 401 00:27:47.809 --> 00:27:49.289