WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.520 This is not necessarily going to be a segment about abortion, 2 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:05.919 but I think it's going to be a segment about 3 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:12.759 one Republican politicians never really have any never really having 4 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:24.879 had any principles. Two, the malleability of people's political beliefs, 5 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:30.640 particularly I guess of elected Republicans beliefs. I have a 6 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:35.640 little pet theory. My pet theory is that there are 7 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:42.159 almost no Republican politicians who are actually pro life. 8 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:44.039 I think Trump. 9 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.520 I think there are conservatives or pro lifers who hit 10 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.399 Trump with that accusation that he's not sincerely pro life, 11 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.520 and I agree, I don't think he is, But I 12 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:54.920 also don't think he's very. 13 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.520 I don't think he's unique in that regard. 14 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:06.719 I think other Republican politicians are equally not pro life. 15 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.280 They're just less tied to convention than Trump is. And Trump, 16 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:12.640 I think when he sees an issue that's not doing well, 17 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:16.200 he abandons ship on it right away. Other Republicans are 18 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:20.519 not so nimble. But I think all of them, or 19 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:26.280 at least most of them, don't really care. And in fact, 20 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:31.319 I would venture to guess a lot more Republicans than 21 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:35.359 we care to think of don't really care about most 22 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:41.200 issues that you care about. What they ultimately seem to 23 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.840 care about is getting elected, getting re elected. 24 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:44.200 And having a job. 25 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.040 And for most of us, at the end of the day, 26 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:53.560 having a job, having some kind of standing, having a 27 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:59.719 source of income will lead us to do a lot 28 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.799 of stuff to really go the extra mile. I guess 29 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:09.039 it shouldn't surprise us that Republican politicians, to stay relevant, 30 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:12.400 to stay in their jobs, to keep winning elections, to 31 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:18.560 keep making money, just keep being relevant and respected, would 32 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.919 do some real gymnastics when it comes to what they believe. 33 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:25.680 You and I, who are not necessarily as involved in politics. 34 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.199 I mean, I'm only involved. 35 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:29.520 In politics, and so far as i have this fun 36 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:32.919 hobby where I do a radio show every day, you 37 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:38.120 and I, who are not directly involved in politics, we 38 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:45.319 can literally afford to have consistent, durable beliefs that don't 39 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.520 really change day in and day out, or year in 40 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.560 and year out, or decade in and decade out. Have 41 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:55.439 I changed some beliefs over time? Yeah, I think I've 42 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:59.639 evolved over time, but it was not in response to 43 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:03.759 sudden spur of the moment things that were obviously to 44 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:06.360 my economic benefit. Nor do I think I've betrayed my 45 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:12.199 fundamental principles of what I believe. Well, we now come 46 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:20.719 to Liz Cheney. Liz Cheney, former congresswoman from Wyoming, obviously 47 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:25.120 the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who's largely regarded 48 00:03:25.159 --> 00:03:28.439 as one of the most influential Vice presidents in American history, 49 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:35.919 and sort of the scion of his kind of brand 50 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:40.840 of Republicanism, very aggressive when it comes to foreign policy, 51 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:45.680 in America's posture in global affairs. She was also I 52 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:51.479 think of all the Republicans the most horrified by January sixth, 53 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:56.520 but to such an extent that it has sort of shifted. 54 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:03.159 It has shown these these cracks in the facade that 55 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:07.520 she presented to the country during her years as a 56 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:11.759 member of the House. For years, she tried to present 57 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.439 just as a normal Republican member of the House. She 58 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:17.639 was pro life, she voted for all kinds of abortion restrictions, 59 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:30.040 fairly reliable, consistent pro life vote, and all of a sudden, 60 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:35.360 after Trump comes around, she starts shifting. Not as much 61 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:38.240 as a lot of like kind of There were some 62 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:44.879 like conservative commentators like Bill Crystal, Jennifer Ruben, the calumnist 63 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:48.120 from the Washington Post, who all of a sudden, completely flipped, 64 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.000 like on a dime, all of their beliefs, on all 65 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:56.720 of their positions, just to purely become Biden cheerleaders. Chaney 66 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:02.439 wasn't quite at that level, but after January sixth, there 67 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:07.000 was obviously a real change, and she is now endorsing 68 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.319 and on the stump for Kamala Harris to such an 69 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.560 extent that this pro life member of the House, this 70 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:16.600 person who campaigned as a pro lifer, voted like a 71 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:19.279 pro lifer for years and years and years, is now 72 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:23.399 saying this. Here's a story from Yahoo News. Pro life 73 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:28.519 Liz Cheney even sides with Kamala Harris on abortion. One 74 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:32.040 of Kamala Harris's top Republican surrogates, pro life former Representative 75 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.680 Liz Cheney, has jumped on board with the Democratic presidential 76 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.920 candidate's plan to expand abortion rights. I think there are 77 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:40.439 many of us around the country who have been pro life, 78 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:42.279 but who have watched what's going on in our states 79 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:45.240 since the Dobbs decision and have watched state legislators put 80 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.439 in place laws that are resulting in women not getting 81 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:50.480 the care they need, Cheney said during a moderated conversation 82 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.879 with Harris in Malvern, Pennsylvania on Monday. This is completely bogus. 83 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.519 If by the carry they need you mean abortion, then 84 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:04.000 that's us. None of these state laws prevent people from 85 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.959 getting treatment after a miscarriage or anything of the sort. 86 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.680 Harrods had just finished saying that even people who were 87 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.800 supportive of overturning Rov. Wade did not anticipate the harm 88 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:19.000 that would follow, which we just assumed to be. Cheney, 89 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.120 a longtime conservative, wanted to chime in. This is not 90 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.199 an issue that we're seeing breakdown across party lines, the 91 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:27.079 one time House Republican Conference chair said, adding that in 92 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.560 places like Texas, where top law enforcement officials were threatening 93 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.920 to sue to gain access to women's health records, the 94 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:35.240 situation is quote not sustainable for US as a country, 95 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:41.480 and it has to change. Here's Cheney's tweet about it. 96 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.600 She says, I've always been strongly pro life. Today's oh, 97 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:48.879 well that from twenty twenty two she was happy that 98 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:50.319 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. 99 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:57.079 Wade, But now all of a sudden she's like flipped. 100 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.439 She's like, oh, I'm pro life, but not to actually 101 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:03.920 enact laws to limit abortion, which is the whole point 102 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.720 of the pro life movement as a political thing is 103 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:11.800 to have our politics, to have our law respect the 104 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:17.240 dignity of children growing in the womb by affording them 105 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:20.000 protection from violence. That's the whole point of this as 106 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.480 a movement. Now I could go on and on about 107 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:25.360 the abortion related aspect of this, but I just want 108 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:33.199 to focus on this complete one pint eighty by Liz Cheney, 109 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:37.360 and I focus on it with regard to Liz Cheney 110 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:44.800 because it makes me think of local elections. So many 111 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:49.720 people who run for office as a Republican. For so 112 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:53.639 many of them, the abortion issue is. 113 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:56.079 Maybe the twentieth most. 114 00:07:55.959 --> 00:08:00.439 Important thing, if it makes the list of things that 115 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:07.399 they care about. I'll venture to say that most elected 116 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:12.480 Republicans don't even think about it at all. There are 117 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:15.079 probably a few things that they care about, but for 118 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.079 the most part, these are people who want some kind 119 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.319 of prominence in public life. They care about certain kinds 120 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:24.720 of political issues, and so they run for office and 121 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:26.959 they have friends who back them. Maybe they're prominent in 122 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:28.800 some way. They have powerful friends who back them, and 123 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.639 that's how they become elected officials. They're very few elected 124 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.600 officials who actually care about core like social conservative issues. 125 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:39.840 I think someone like Jim Patterson probably cares about those 126 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:43.720 things in a really sincere fashion, having talked with him 127 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.919 about it, having known about for Jim. Jim's talked about 128 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:49.879 this in public, very very often. How his three children 129 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:56.600 are all adopted, and so the abortion issue and the 130 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:01.000 fact that his children were able to be adopted in 131 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:07.120 the first place, that's something that really directly touches him 132 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.799 and something he genuinely cares about. But other than rare 133 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:19.799 political animals like Jim Patterson, other than him and the 134 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:24.360 few people like him, I think most Republicans are much 135 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.519 more flexible, willing to be much more flexible about an 136 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.799 issue like abortion. When they proclaim themselves I'm pro life, 137 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:35.360 I firmly believe. I just don't know how firm they are. 138 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.120 Liz Cheney voted for nationwide abortion restrictions time and time 139 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:46.159 and time again during her time in the House. And 140 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:49.759 now she's saying that a state voting for statewide abortion 141 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:51.679 restrictions is a bad thing. 142 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:57.480 What is she talking about? And she's far from the only. 143 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:04.279 One, and this is far from the only issue. All 144 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:06.679 of a sudden, Mike Johnson, who everyone kind of thought 145 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:09.000 was a Ukraine skeptic becomes a Speaker of the House 146 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:09.559 and he's. 147 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:10.960 Like, we gotta fund Ukraine. 148 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:18.279 It's the most important thing, which garnered the response, Wait, 149 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.039 weren't there a bunch of people in the House who 150 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:23.279 were mad over Kevin McCarthy about Ukraine? 151 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:31.360 What are we doing here when people's livelihoods. 152 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:36.399 Are on the line, when they're pos when their stature 153 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:40.440 as a member of the House of Representatives, a member 154 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:43.600 of the state Assembly, a city councilman, the states, all 155 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.799 these jobs that have these titles that people care about 156 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:54.240 and want to retain, the proximity to power that they entail, 157 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:00.840 the stature that they afford these people, these are hugely 158 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:08.279 ambitious people who will do anything. Or let me correct myself, 159 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:14.440 these are hugely ambitious people who have gone to extraordinary 160 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:18.600 lengths to get the positions that they have. I don't 161 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:24.399 know to how many of them are above changing what 162 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.200 they fundamentally purport to believe in order to retain some 163 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:30.320 kind of standing. 164 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:33.600 The amount of. 165 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.399 Work you have to do to get elected as a 166 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:40.120 member of the House of Representatives, the amount of doors 167 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:43.240 you gotta knock, knock on babies, you gotta get kiss 168 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:48.879 rubber chicken dinners. You gotta attend hands, you gotta shake deals, 169 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:56.039 you gotta cut financial backers, you gotta schmooze. It's a 170 00:11:56.200 --> 00:12:00.159 ton of work. It's a hugely that's a ton of 171 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:03.080 work on top of whatever your normal job may have been. 172 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.279 And then you finally actually get the gig and you're 173 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.480 in a constant state of rerunning for re election every 174 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:15.799 two years. I mean, you think of someone like David Valadeo, 175 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:17.840 who's in a swing district. I mean, it's got to 176 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:26.480 be exhausting. And so that's why I think when we 177 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:27.080 look out. 178 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:29.120 At this landscape. 179 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.519 Of Republicans and we wonder, why do these Republicans go 180 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:36.840 to Washington and not be as conservative as we think 181 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.960 they are at home? I think that's been the constant 182 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.720 gripe of conservative voters throughout the country. Maybe some of 183 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:47.039 that is bad expectations on our part, maybe some of 184 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:50.519 that is being unrealistic, but I think it's job preservation 185 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.360 on the part of these guys. They really like having 186 00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:57.399 this job of being an elected official. They like the 187 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.799 prestige atifors, they like the pay, they like the perks, 188 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.919 they like the everyone calling them a congressman. They like 189 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.879 everyone calling them counselor they like whatever their position is, 190 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.840 it gives them prominence and stature. Liz Cheney had all 191 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:17.879 that taken away from her because she did take one 192 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:24.120 position that was in fact unpopular, one position that did 193 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.919 in fact cost her stuff, which was she really thought 194 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:34.799 Trump was terrible at January sixth, But now that she's 195 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:39.759 sort of out in the cold, and now was her 196 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:41.960 position on January sixth? Was that something that was easy 197 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:43.879 for her to do or not easy for her to do? 198 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.200 On the one hand, not easy because it clearly cost 199 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.799 her her congressional seat. On the other hand, she got 200 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.559 tons of praise heaped on her by The Washington Post, 201 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:56.759 the New York Times, every major media outlet, heralded as 202 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.759 this great hero of American politics. And now she's campaigning 203 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.000 right alongside the Vice President of the United States, a 204 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:08.639 possible future president. Harris has said something about giving a 205 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:15.519 cabinet position to a Republican doesn't strike me as crazy 206 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:18.159 to think that Liz Cheney could be that Republican who 207 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.679 gets that cabinet position. What deal was hatched between Harris 208 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:25.080 and Cheney for Cheney to be this like top surrogate, 209 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:33.519 who's you know, barnstorming the country right alongside Kamala. Was 210 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.000 some deal hatched? I don't know, And what were the 211 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:39.679 terms of that deal? Well, you can ride alongside me 212 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:42.120 and maybe I'll give you a cabinet post, but you 213 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:43.279 got to support everything I do. 214 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:50.759 Ay, I captain. Whatever you say, those are my principles. 215 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:54.159 And if you don't like them, I have others the 216 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.440 famous scroucho Marx line. 217 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:01.799 But I do think this is what is underlying a 218 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:06.240 lot of this is I want money. I want my 219 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:07.320 position of power. 220 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:13.679 I want prominence in American public life, and to do that, 221 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:18.279 I'm willing to change what I believe. I think this 222 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:21.200 is true of Republican politicians. I think it's true of 223 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:28.440 Democrat politicians who Democrat politicians are willing to absolutely jump 224 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:30.840 the absolute opposite way and say that, you know, we've 225 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.960 always been at war with Eurasia. I mean, they're just 226 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.919 a snap of a finger. Kamala Harris has gone from 227 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.080 oh I oppose fracking, Oh, of course I support frakting. 228 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:41.000 What are you talking about? 229 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:41.879 Oh? 230 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.039 What? Just the stuff I said as a senator and 231 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.720 candidate for president in twenty nineteen. No, no, no, no, no, 232 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:51.519 those are just youthful indiscretions. No, No, I've evolved over 233 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.000 the years. I recognize that I have to win Pennsylvania. 234 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:58.039 So therefore fracking is I mean that fracking is okay. 235 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.360 Illegal immigration is a crime. I never did I say 236 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:06.200 illegal immigration wasn't a crime of Oh, I'm tough on immigration, 237 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:14.720 Kamil of the cop. If someone's willing to do all 238 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:22.799 the conniving, manipulating handshakes, deal backroom deals, et cetera, the 239 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:24.720 Kamala Harris obviously had to do over the course of 240 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.960 her life and some of the other things she had 241 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:30.000 to do where I'm not going to go into it, 242 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:36.039 Willie Brown, this is a family program. Then obviously these people, 243 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:40.679 these elected officials in your life who disappoint you, they're 244 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:42.600 willing to change what they believe. 245 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:44.600 If it means holding onto power. 246 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:46.039 When we return. 247 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:49.960 How all this relates to the idea of term limits 248 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.159 and why I think term limits don't actually do anything 249 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:57.399 useful next on the John Girardi Show. So this has 250 00:16:57.399 --> 00:16:59.320 been a pet peeve of mine relating to this theme 251 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:04.799 of why do politicians change their minds so readily? And 252 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:11.480 my contention is that they are motivated by a lot 253 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:19.240 of financial but also self preservations slash how to phrase it, 254 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:23.640 retaining their standing as prominent and significant people. They are 255 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:27.559 motivated by all of these things. They want to be significant, 256 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.519 they want to be admired, they want to be appreciated. 257 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:34.839 And this results in Republican politicians Allah Liz Cheney stumping 258 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:37.039 for Kamala and all of a sudden pitching overboard Oliver 259 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:42.240 pro Life believes, et cetera. It results in basically this 260 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.799 highly motivated reasoning to all of a sudden, do these 261 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:47.880 mental gymnastics to say, oh, I actually don't believe in 262 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:49.000 all these things I used to believe in. 263 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.200 And I think it's in. 264 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:55.559 Part because these people have very few things deep in 265 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:57.880 their core as far as things they believe in that 266 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:02.279 they're actually willing to sacrifice when it becomes financially difficult. 267 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:06.519 And I think a lot of this has to do 268 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:12.279 with you know, people want jobs. They want their job, 269 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.839 They want some kind of job that gives them prominence 270 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:20.279 in society, and they'll do a lot of things to 271 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:24.759 retain it, especially those jobs, these powerful jobs, jobs that 272 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:31.279 are touch power in some way allow you to shape policy. 273 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.960 And you can see this sort of in the life 274 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.759 cycle of these people, you know, they go from being 275 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:44.079 a congressman to some other kind of cushy landing spot. 276 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:48.119 And this is why I sort of think term limits 277 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:56.160 don't actually help allow me to explain the California legislature 278 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:01.359 has term limits. We have term limits in California. A 279 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.000 lot of people don't know that the California legislature has 280 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.960 term limits. We adopted it about decade two decades ago. 281 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.319 The term limit rules within California is twelve years. You're 282 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.640 allowed to serve in the state legislature for twelve years. 283 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:21.119 You can divide that time however you want, between the 284 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:23.240 State Assembly and the State Senate, so you can serve 285 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.680 four years in the State Senate and eight years in 286 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.440 the State Assembly and you're done. That's your twelve years. 287 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:29.079 Or you can do. 288 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:32.400 Twelve exclusively in the state Senate, or twelve years exclusively 289 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:35.160 in the State Assembly, or eight and four, you know, 290 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.880 six and six, however you want to do it, but 291 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:46.200 you're term limited out after twelve years. This has resulted 292 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:51.920 in politicians who are just as bad as the pre 293 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:57.559 term limits politicians. It has resulted in no discernible improvements 294 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:00.640 whatsoever in California state government. In fact, I would argue 295 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:05.640 it's created a bunch of new, worse, more perverse incentives 296 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:11.960 for legislator's behavior. Why well, because here's the life cycle 297 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.599 of a California legislator. Now you get the job, and 298 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.079 for a lot of these people, it's like the best 299 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:22.039 job they've ever had. All Right, some of these people 300 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:24.720 that it's not like they have this great resume of, 301 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:28.480 you know, being titans of industry. Necessarily they get this job, 302 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:30.640 they serve for twelve years, and then what do they do. 303 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:33.960 They become a lobbyist because they know the ins and 304 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.799 outs of Sacramento. They've made so many great connections, and 305 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:42.920 Sacramento is this perfect. I mean, obviously, California is the 306 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.839 largest state, so of all states in the Union where 307 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.000 lobbyists can make their Hey, Sacramento would make sense just 308 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:52.599 in that sense. But it's not just because California is 309 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:57.680 the biggest state. California is an enormous state with a 310 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:02.440 relatively very small number of state legislators. We only have 311 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:04.519 one hundred and twenty state legislators, eighty in the Assembly, 312 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:09.440 forty in the state Senate. It's a small number of 313 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.839 people to have a huge impact on policy. California has 314 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:16.839 this trend setting tendency, especially for all the Blue states. 315 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:24.480 They copy stuff California does so, and the California State legislature, 316 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:27.279 on top of that, has a year round session. Most 317 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:30.720 state legislators only meet for like a month or two 318 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:35.160 months every year. I think Virginia meets for like forty 319 00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:39.119 days more or less. Some state legislators only have a 320 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:46.319 one month session every other year. It's a part time 321 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:53.240 job in most states, but in California they're there all 322 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:55.720 year round. So you can be a lobbyist all year round. 323 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:59.640 You can lobby in Sacramento all year round and make 324 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:03.160 rate money, more money than you make as a legislator. 325 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.799 And being a legislator really ably prepares you to be 326 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:12.279 a lobbyist. So you've got legislators highly motivated to do 327 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:15.279 stuff appealing to the industries that they could lobby for, 328 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:18.279 that they could work for. Oh you're you know, a 329 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:21.640 member of and then the chair of you know, the 330 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:25.200 the Agriculture Committee or the higher the you know, the 331 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:28.119 Energy Committee. Oh why don't you do something helps out 332 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.799 PG and E and then oh me, hey, after you're 333 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:32.960 done with your twelve years in the Assembly, all of 334 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:34.920 a sudden, hey you want to be a lobbyist for 335 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:39.400 PG and E. That's what we call regulatory capture, where 336 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:43.400 your regulation of an industry is tempered by the fact 337 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:48.799 that you would like to work for that industry. So 338 00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:52.640 term limits have done nothing to solve any of our problems. 339 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:56.400 Politicians are just as willing to bend their beliefs and 340 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:01.559 shift their beliefs for the sake of their own self preservation, gratification, 341 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.880 and their own financial interest, just as much as they 342 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:07.240 were before term. 343 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:08.680 Limits existed in California. 344 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:11.400 So for anyone who says term limits are a silver 345 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.200 bullet for anything in American politics, get your head examined. 346 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:18.440 They don't actually do anything that useful. They just create 347 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.519 new perverse incentives rather than getting rid of them. When 348 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:27.400 we return, my little field trip to Notre Dame and 349 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:31.480 my discussion with a state election lawyer next on the 350 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:36.400 John Girardi Show. This past weekend, I went on a 351 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:38.680 little trip. I went on a trip to the University 352 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:42.200 of Notre Dame and I attended a really awesome conference 353 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:48.039 that was thrown by Americans United for Life AUL, which 354 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.160 is this great organization that does a lot of work analyzing. 355 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.200 Abortion related legislation. 356 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:57.759 Both at the federal level and at the state's level, 357 00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:59.480 and it was a really great conference talking about sort 358 00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:00.880 of legal fundamental. 359 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:01.680 Principles of what we're doing. 360 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:06.640 Great discussion with pro life leaders from all over the 361 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:12.039 country about what kinds of stuff they were doing, and golly, 362 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:15.359 it's given me enough fodder for about two years worth 363 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:16.759 of Right to Life radio shows. 364 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:18.240 I'm actually going. 365 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.640 To be talking with a doctor I met from that conference, 366 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:25.119 doctor Donna Harrison, from the American Academy of Pro Life 367 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:27.839 OPG y NS, on Saturday on Right to Life Radio, 368 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:29.599 So you'll have to give that a listen at nine o'clock. 369 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:37.240 I want to talk though about election stuff and my suspicions, 370 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:46.160 my suspicions about shenanigans. One of the people I met 371 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:49.039 at this conference one of the attendees, and I felt 372 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:50.440 like it was one of these events where like every 373 00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:56.000 single attendee had really interesting background of life experience, professional experience, 374 00:24:56.039 --> 00:25:00.880 could have talked about something interesting. I won't give up 375 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:03.599 too much about I don't want to put her on 376 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:06.319 blast too much, so I'll just say that she's a 377 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:11.279 lawyer from a swing state and one of the things 378 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:16.799 she's been doing is working with her local county elections board, 379 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.160 and it's a very large county in a swing state, 380 00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:29.519 and the county's local elections. I think it's like an 381 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.200 elections board that she's on. I'm not sure exactly how 382 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:34.920 her state runs things as far as the direct management 383 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:38.880 of this stuff at the local level, but she is 384 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:44.200 basically the voice of reason to try to advocate for 385 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:50.279 fair procedures with regards to elections in this county in 386 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:56.839 this swing state, and the kinds of little things that 387 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:02.880 she points out that Democrats try to do just in 388 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:09.839 her one county in her one swing state. And I'm 389 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:12.119 trying to think, I believe every single one of the 390 00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:17.319 main swing states like Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, 391 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:23.160 all have Democrat governors and so there's sort of oversight. 392 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:27.119 By Democrats in all these states, which. 393 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:30.160 By the way, that should make you a little worried 394 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:34.039 the fact that the governors in all of the swing 395 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:37.319 states that Trump kind of needs to win all of 396 00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:41.000 them are Democrats. I guess Georgia is Georgia has a 397 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:42.440 Republican governor, but that's it. 398 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:44.400 Anyway. 399 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:51.440 But yeah, Pennsylvan, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, 400 00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:57.880 all of them have Democrat governors. Now, she was just 401 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:01.559