 This is The Humanist Report with Mike Figueredo The Humanist Report podcast is funded by viewers like you, through Patreon and PayPal To support the show visit patreon.com forward slash humanist report or become a member at humanistreport.com Now enjoy the show Welcome to The Humanist Report podcast. My name is Mike Figueredo and this is episode 269 Nice of the program Today is Friday December 4th and before we get started I want to take some time to thank all of the people who make this show possible all of our Patreon PayPal and YouTube members all Of which either signed up for the very first time to support us this week or increased the monthly pledge They were already giving us and that includes aria John K Jimmy Judy cook Kelly scrimstead Lahos Arvai Lisbeth Raphael Lyle Bardwell Sabina Curti Sarah Roar Solite 16 and Susan Hunter. So thank you so much to all of these kind individuals If you'd also like to support the show and join the independent progressive in your evolution You can do so by going to humanistreport.com slash support Patreon.com slash humanist report or by clicking join underneath any one of our YouTube videos so if Everyone is feeling what I'm feeling then we're all a little bit fatigued when it comes to politics and the election And I think we need a break. So this is gonna be a little bit of a lighter episode some shorter segments But nonetheless, you know, we're still gonna talk politics. So this week on the program Joe Biden has tapped near attendant to direct The OMB we'll talk about that and why it's a terrible decision Also, there is an active effort to destroy the prospect of diplomacy between the United States and Iran Bernie Sanders calls it out and we'll talk about his response and also a GPI will soon be out of a job We'll talk about what that means for net neutrality Bill Barr contradicts Trump's claim that voter fraud existed. So we'll talk about the fallout from that and Additionally, Obama is Obama in again and he's saying things that are just brazenly hypocritical and I have to call it out So we'll talk about that as well. So that's all that we've got on the agenda We'll cover some more segments as well But I want us to all just kind of like take a little bit of a breather and relax because we've been through a lot like this year has been exhausting and it's been exhausting, you know, mentally physically and and politically as well So I think that this is a good week for us to just kind of like Take a breather because you know, we don't have to worry about Trump's dealing the election too many states have certified There's not much that we can talk about with regard to Biden's administration aside from his cabinet appointees and we'll discuss that You know, let's let's take a little bit of time to recuperate, but with that being said, let's get right to it So it's already bad enough that Joe Biden is even considering and may still be considering Rom Emmanuel of all people for a spot in his administration For those of you who don't remember Rom Emmanuel as mayor of Chicago Literally covered up the murder of Laquan McDonald. It's a slap in the face to every single Black Lives Matter activists around the country it's a slap in the face to all of the Black voters who were crucial to Joe Biden's electoral success and apparently he is on a roll with Returning the favor for people who helped him get elected because now he is nominating someone who is a genuinely a shitty person and I am not saying this just because I'm bitter because this individual near a tendon has Me blocked on Twitter, but because this individual is not just the centrist This is a right-winger who is openly hawkish who is hateful of Individuals like Bernie Sanders who Joe Biden should theoretically be embracing if he wants to unify the country But what's really alarming to me is that near a tendon like Joe Biden has been a longtime advocate of cutting Social Security and Medicare Which is a very big red flag So as Walker Bragman of Jacobin reports president-elect Joe Biden will reportedly nominate a White House budget director Who has been one of the country's most prominent critics of US senator Bernie Sanders and who has previously backed Social Security cuts Biden who has repeatedly pushed for Social Security cuts throughout his career announced his election of Center for American Progress president near a tendon as his choice to run the powerful White House office of management and budget a Long-time aide to Hillary Clinton Tandon touted her think tanks 2010 proposal to reduce Social Security benefits in 2012 as Biden was pushing for such cuts in the Obama administration Tandon Social Security push follow the 2010 midterms during the deficit reduction Negotiations between the Obama administration and the new GOP Congress Republicans drew a hard line, but Obama sought a middle ground central to the administration's efforts Which were led by Biden was a plan called the chained CPI that would have slowed the rate at which Social Security benefits increase over time Which is a cut Sanders led the fight in the Senate Against the chained CPI while outside groups were divided over whether to line up behind the president Some like the progressive change campaign committee vocally opposed the cuts the center on budget and policy priorities a liberal think tank Found that the chain CPI would cut Social Security retirement benefits by about 2% on average The organization nevertheless said it would support the concept under certain conditions Tandon Center for American Progress at the time considered to be the largest liberal think tank in Washington Also supported the idea and was a significant voice in favor of the administration's plan Now you don't have to take my word for it or Walker Braggman's word for it You can hear it straight from the horse's mouth near a Tandon wanted to cut Social Security And I think that there's other you know They're progressive governors like O'Malley and Cuomo who've taken a much more balanced approach on budgets where they've looked at taxes as well as reforming programs and and cutting programs and so I think that's that's the approach the American people are supporting There's a viewer here wants you to take us deeper into entitlements by Twitter Ms. Tandon do you know what the president means when he says entitlements are on the table any specifics and anything you would endorse? Yeah, I mean so there are a range of entitlements That you know, I think when we're talking about entitlements, we're talking about Medicare so security Medicaid these are programs that That people receive support because of the status that they have so when after 65 You get funding from Social Security and Medicare and actually it's grown. It's going getting older for Social Security But and you know the president has 300 billion dollars in his budget in cuts in Medicare That comes on top of chain cuts in Medicare from the Affordable Care Act So he has put specific cuts in the budget already in Medicare And they had savings and Medicaid in the past I think the question really is if we're going to have a deal to address long-term deficit reduction We need to put both entitlements on the table as well as taxes It's unfair to ask only middle-class Americans to bear the burden of our deficits middle-class Americans actually didn't create the deficits So I think the challenge is that we should have entitlements on the savings and on the entitlements and The Center for American Progress has has put forward ideas and proposals to reform the beneficiary structure of Social Security Some of our progressive allies aren't so aren't as excited about that as we are But we've put those ideas on the table But we only we think that those are legitimate ideas that need to be put part of a proposal where everyone's at the table We don't let we don't just ask middle-class Americans to sacrifice We ask all Americans and especially, you know, I think it's not unreasonable to ask The wealthiest Americans to pay simply what they were paying in the Bush year now if you're new here and you're wondering why Someone who is a progressive like Joe Biden Would nominate someone who wants to cut Social Security when Joe Biden has repeatedly stated He doesn't want to do that. Well, let me refresh your memory This was an ad that Bernie Sanders ran during the Democratic Party primaries of 2020 We're gonna expand Now Bernie, it looks like we will in fact be cutting Social Security So, you know, Biden claimed that Bernie Sanders was a liar Liberal media MSNBC attacked Bernie Sanders claiming that he lied when Bernie Sanders literally used what Biden said against him But nonetheless someone who has long time advocated for cuts to Social Security Which has changed CPI which is a cut over time to Social Security to be putting someone like near a tandem in his administration This tells us what Joe Biden's intentions are. He wants to cut Social Security So in this election, we had the choice between a Democrat who wants to cut Social Security and a Republican who has Repeatedly vocalized his intent to cut Social Security after the election. Great Now, that's just one of many reasons why near attendant is a terrible choice Additionally, she is a warmonger She also hosted war criminal Benjamin and Yahoo at the Center for American Progress and then silenced Staffers who dared to speak out against him going there and in a leaked email to Fah Shakir She said this about Libya quote. We have a giant deficit They have a lot of oil which is basically the same exact thing that Donald Trump has been saying about other countries such as Iraq And after the Union of Think Progress, which was an outlet owned by the Center for American Progress Got into a dispute with them and threatened illegal action. Guess what happened next the entire outlet was shut down This is what we refer to folks as union busting or perhaps Union nuking because rather than trying to Negotiate with the Union of Think Progress under the leadership of near attendant cap Just shut it down entirely and in addition to terrible politics near attendant is just a shitty person So she literally outed a staffer at cap who came forward with charges of sexual harassment against another staff Her and she did this in front of everyone Shocking the staffers at the Center for American Progress and in a report for the New York Times Journalist Ken and Fogle details how she physically assaulted Fah Shakir and he was a journalist at the time he was an editor for Think Progress and She punched him because he dared to ask Hillary Clinton a question that she thought was a little bit too pushy And on top of that she's not only against Medicare for all a policy that would literally save thousands of lives every single year She has repeatedly lied about it saying that it doesn't have majority support and she said this long after it was overwhelmingly popular So she's a shitty person. She has terrible politics. She's basically a Republican But Biden is choosing her and with this nomination is a declaration of war against the left Because that's what this is someone who's openly antagonistic towards the left and is also functionally a Republican That tells us that Joe Biden is not open to appeasing progressives, which isn't necessarily too surprising But I hope that folks who had the blinders on for Joe Biden Acknowledge that he's not on your side. He's not your ally. He's your enemy and he is to be opposed now Part of the reason why I think that near attendant hates leftists so much is because she was basically Assured a spot in the White House had Hillary Clinton won back in 2016 She wanted that cushy job in the White House And I think that she blames Bernie and the left and for it She's been lashing out on Twitter like constantly and she's been purging her Twitter feed a lot since she was nominated But all she had to do was be patient because she's still getting that cushy job in the White House Now what's interesting is that you have Republicans who should take this as a victory speaking out against near attendant Meanwhile leftists or I should say so-called progressives in Congress who theoretically should be against Someone who was functionally a Republican being nominated to be the director of the OMB Basically praising this decision So the spokesperson for Republican senator John Cornyn said that there's no chance that she'll be confirmed meaning that he will be fighting This nomination but meanwhile Democrats who should theoretically know better like Barbara Lee are supporting this saying such a great choice to lead OMB near a tandem will bring the experience and humanity. That's hilarious urgently needed in this position. Congratulations Sherrod Brown tweeted out near attendant is smart experienced and qualified for the position of OMB director and Elizabeth Warren quote tweeted Sherrod Brown saying I agree to which I responded by saying snake emoji snake emoji snake emoji snake emoji snake emoji So in a surprising turn of events The left is now in a position to where we are rooting for the Republicans to win on this battle and we're rooting against Leftists or I shouldn't say leftists because I don't think Elizabeth Warren is a leftist But people who are like not as shitty as the other Democrats like Elizabeth Warren is Measurably more progressive than someone like Joe Manchin, of course the bars really low But people who in theory should be better who should oppose a Neocon who wants to jack the natural resources from other countries who's against policies like Medicare for all you would think that There'd be more outrage from Democrats who aren't as bad as other Democrats, but that's not the case So we're in this weird predicament where we have to form this unholy alliance with Republicans and hope that they are successful at obstructing the confirmation of near attendant and it's just It's it's a sad state of affairs and it's stupid because near attendant is basically a Republican She is Functionally a Republican. I've said that how many times now three times So Republicans are kind of dumb for not taking this as a win But I don't know what's more dumb them fighting someone who supports their deficit hawk agenda who is pro austerity who wants to cut Social Security like they do or So-called progressives like Barbara Lee and Elizabeth Warren who is supporting someone who? Has fought against everything that they supposedly stood for I mean Barbara Lee tweets out how much we need Medicare for all yet She's cheerleading on this shitty choice I mean what a joke what a weird world that we live in but nonetheless I don't care who makes this happen. She has to be defeated and if Republicans do that great So something really alarming and nefarious is going on And what we're seeing is this active effort to undermine diplomacy between Iran and the United States Which is now possible because Joe Biden wants to re-enter the JCPOA Otherwise known as the Iran nuclear agreement Which is a peace deal because in this agreement Iran agrees to not enrich uranium to a certain point and in return The United States will not do sanctions on them It's basically an agreement that stops the United States from going to war with Iran But Iran Hawks like Republicans and Israel They don't like this agreement and they lie about this agreement because they want regime change in Iran So what we've seen is Donald Trump behind the scenes do everything in his power to undermine a future Biden Administration from re-entering this agreement and we even learned that Trump was reportedly Talked out of bombing Iran recently But now we are learning that a top Iranian scientist was inexplicably assassinated on Friday and what we're seeing here should be alarming to everyone But not many politicians are paying attention Rokana has spoken up about this and Bernie Sanders has also sounded the alarm And I think that the alarm should be sounded because this is serious So as Jake Johnson of common dreams reports Senator Bernie Sanders warned over the weekend that the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakris a day widely believed to have been the work of Israel was carried out with the intention of undermining any prospect of Diplomacy between the United States and Iran just weeks before president-elect Joe Biden is set to take office The assassination of Mohsen Fakris a day was reckless provocative and illegal Sanders tweeted Saturday as a new administration takes power It was clearly intended to undermine us Iran diplomacy. We must not allow that to happen Diplomacy not murder is the best path forward Sanders tweet came days after Fakris a day was fatally wounded Friday in what was described as an ambush as the scientists Traveled by car near Tehran while specific details surrounding the assassination continue to emerge Iranian and US officials have both said Israel led by right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible It remains unclear what if any role the Trump administration played in the killing which took place less than a week after Netanyahu US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly discussed Iran during a secret meeting that Prompted fears of a coordinated attack the Vermont senator's view that the assassination of Fakris a day was aimed at Forstalling the possibility of diplomacy between the United States and Iran was echoed by other lawmakers Activists and analysts who pointed to Biden's vow to return the US to the Iran nuclear accord that President Donald Trump violated in 2018 Netanyahu has publicly urged Biden against reviving the 2015 agreement Trita Parzi executive president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Argued Friday that the assassination and other likely future attacks will likely harden Iran's position and complicate If not ultimately crippled the Biden team's attempts to revive diplomacy if Israel was behind the assassination of Fakris a day Which seems highly likely though not yet proven it demonstrates the degree to which Netanyahu feels emboldened to undermine Democratic US presidents with impunity and drag the United States into war road Parzi This will not change unless and until Washington decides to end its drive for military hegemony in the Middle East So there's a lot to unpack here with regard to this story But before we get to that I want to show you this story from the Hill Which explains how the Israeli military was reportedly instructed to prepare for a Trump strike on Iran Now I don't know if they were actually Literally instructed to prepare for a Trump strike on Iran It could be real since he was already considering it or it could be fake news for lack of a better word It could be just Israel posturing in order to scare Iran and go them into escalating in order to basically Give Trump a reason to strike if Iran believes this and acts out. I mean the situation here is just It's really depressing right because it seemed very unlikely that Iran would even be willing to come to the table But once Biden was declared the winner of the election Well, the president of Iran Hassan Rouhani who is more moderate basically called on Iran to re-enter the Iran nuclear agreement something that seemed Unlikely because I mean think of it from Iran's perspective take yourself out of you know this American centric perspective of foreign policy Like if someone withdrew on a deal that you signed with them that was really difficult to negotiate when you gave up quite a bit Wouldn't you not want to re-enter a negotiation with someone who is very obviously a bad-faith negotiator? But Iran proved that they're more reasonable than us at least in this instance and decided hey Let's get back into this agreement because I think that they know it's mutually beneficial It stops the United States from invading them and They also don't get the sanctions imposed on them But by basically doing all of this It's gonna be a tougher sell for Hassan Rouhani to even come to the table because there's going to be hardliners the Ayatollah and Individuals in Iran who aren't going to want to Re-engage with the United States. So all of this I don't know who's doing it It's an active effort to undermine diplomacy between the United States and Iran which is more likely with Biden as president and It's disgusting Well, I've got some good news for you Donald Trump is not going to be the only individual out of a job come January 21st Because this douchebag Ajit Pai current chairman of the FCC will also be out of a job Now what's interesting to me is that his term doesn't actually expire until June Nonetheless, he announced that he will be resigning a little bit early He'll be also stepping down come January 20th And as CNBC's Lauren Finer reports federal communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai will step down from his post on January 20th The day president-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated. He announced Monday The announcement means that the FCC could reach a democratic majority sooner than it would otherwise be able to Pi's term was slated to expire in June of 2021 Though Biden will be able to choose a Democrat to chair the Commission once in office Commissioners must be confirmed by the Senate Pai's decision to step down could have significant implications on net neutrality an issue that helped define his term as chairman in 2017 Pai voted with his fellow Republican commissioners to remove rules that prohibited internet providers from blocking or slowing traffic to Particular sites and offering higher speed lanes at higher prices Many major internet providers have not yet taken advantage of that rule change However, quote it has been an honorable lifetime to serve at the federal communications Commission Including as chairman of the FCC over the past four years Pai said in a statement I am grateful to President Trump for giving me the opportunity to lead the agency in 2017 to President Obama for appointing me as a commissioner in 2012 and to Senate majority leader McConnell and the Senate for twice Confirming me to be the first Asian American to chair the FCC has been a particular privilege as I often say only in America How inspiring the five-person commission can have no more than three commissioners from one party at any given time under the law The president can appoint a chair of the Commission from outside the agency or select one of the existing Commissioners such as Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenwurzel and Jeffrey Starks, okay, so I've got two main things that I want to say first of all If Joe Biden chooses Jessica Rosenwurzel as the new FCC chair That is really really good news for net neutrality proponents because she is a staunch ally to the fight for net neutrality Second of all who wants to take bets? How long until a GPI gets a cushy new job at Verizon or Comcast because he did exactly What they wanted him to do remember that this individual served as legal counsel to Verizon and then He led the FCC so after delivering the policy that they wanted of course They're gonna pay him back by giving him a job probably with a really hefty sign-on bonus I'd be surprised if I'm wrong, but trust me He's gonna be part of that industry either a lobbyist or something But I think that that's part of the reason why he's stepping down because he wants to go on to make more money He did everything that he couldn't accept, you know His effort to undermine net neutrality was partially obstructed by the courts who ruled against him and said that states who enact their own net neutrality laws Well, those states can have those laws on the books because remember his net neutrality repeal was so nefarious because within his repeal was a clause that blocked states from enacting their own net neutrality laws and now That is not standing so states like Washington, California, Oregon Who have net neutrality on the books and New York as well? I believe They make it a lot more difficult for states to do or for internet service providers to do what they want to because states Enacted their own net neutrality laws So why would you go out of your way to you know start creating these fast lanes for some states that are less populist Than other states. It's a little bit more of a hassle. I mean, maybe they'll do it. Maybe they're waiting on lawsuits, but What we know is that everything that he did can easily be undone With Jessica Rosenwurzel as chairwoman of the FCC or any Democrat that Biden appoints because again Net neutrality was part of the Obama legacy that I'm assuming Biden will want to maintain and he probably will take a hands-off approach to net neutrality but so long as he puts someone in place of a GPI in this position to Undo what he did. That's that's a victory. So this is great news. I cannot wait to see a GPI gone good riddance I know that you'll probably get a job at Verizon, but I don't even care so long as you're not in the FCC Dictating policies when you are a shill for the industry. That's that's good for me. Go have fun at Verizon I hope that you make a lot of money You certainly deserve it after everything that you did Undermining the will of people who did not want you to repeal that neutrality like you did it anyway in spite of mass protests so You certainly earned that bonus that Verizon or Comcast pays you so have fun. Have a nice life Fuck off asshole Look, I genuinely don't know how it's possible that Trump Still is able to with a straight face maintain this facade that not only the election was stolen from him that He's the rightful winner that he is going to become The president again, he's gonna be sworn in on January 20th And if you think that I'm joking even individuals close to Donald Trump are still maintaining this not that oh well He's gonna maybe run in 2024 know that he's going to be sworn in again on January 20th Take a look at this Fox News clip with Laura Trump Well, look, I still think that the president will get four more years in office I think it'll be the next four years because this thing is far from over Wow, you just had certifications today in Arizona in Georgia in Wisconsin. You heard Geraldo moments ago say, you know It's time to accept the outcome of this. What what are you seeing or hearing out there that that he is not? Well, those certifications are just procedural steps and the reality is electoral college does not vote and in their states until December 14th Congress doesn't actually certify anything until the beginning of January. So we've got plenty of time Delusional utterly delusional and if you're saying that at this point still you are either dumb or Disingenuous, but now it's getting even harder for this facade to be maintained for this grift to keep going Because the last loyal soldier Has surrendered that is will bar and I'll admit that having that large of an image of him like that close to me It makes me a little bit uncomfortable but nonetheless What shouldn't be significant actually is significant because he is now even saying There's no evidence of voter fraud. Sorry, but facts are facts So as Jessica Corbett of common dreams reports sparking immediate and widespread speculation that he will soon become just the latest Top official ousted for publicly countering President Donald Trump US Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday told the Associated Press that the Justice Department has not found any evidence of Voter fraud that would impact the result of the 2020 presidential election to date We have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election Barr said of the November 3rd contest in which President-elect Joe Biden's decisive victory Denied Trump a second term in the wake of his defeat The president and his campaign have made unfounded fraud claims and filed numerous lawsuits even as states have certified their results Barr who had boosted Trump's baseless attacks on the security of voting by mail ahead of the election and amid a Pandemic was set to attend a previously scheduled meeting at the White House later Tuesday The Attorney General told the AP that US attorneys and FBI agents have been investigating complaints Related to the election which saw a record setting early in absentee voting Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct There are not systematic allegations and those have been run down. They are being run down Barr said some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes They have been followed up on Giuliani and Jenna Ellis a Trump campaign senior legal advisor an attorney for the president issued a joint statement Tuesday responding to bars remarks doubling down on their fraud allegations and saying that with all due respect to the Attorney General There hasn't been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation Vowing to charge ahead with their mission of quote ensuring that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not Giuliani and Ellis added that again with the greatest respect to the Attorney General his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or Investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud. Wow. So they are still going along with this Fraud that there is fraud and it's just it's honestly almost impressive at this point that they're still saying this. Oh Well, I'm sorry with all due respect to the Attorney General You just don't have the knowledge that we have. All right. Well, why don't you enlighten us? Present us with the knowledge that we all lack that you have We're not privy to what you're privy to so why don't you show us the evidence? Oh wait, you can't do that You've had numerous attempts to do that and you have nothing because voter fraud is not an issue It did not tip the scales against Donald Trump voter fraud is statistically insignificant with the rate of 0.0025% That's not enough to tip an election and even if the fraud rate was higher Joe Biden won enough states to where he still is the rightful winner and for you to deny that at this point It shows how fucking stupid you are and I just I honestly feel bad Kind of for them but not really because it's like you can tell that they don't believe what they're saying Like when you listen to Jenna Ellis in any interview that she's been on she doesn't believe what she's saying There's no way like she has a bunch of tweets that I don't know if they're still up But she was clowning on Donald Trump saying how stupid he was and now she's very clearly acting for whatever reason because she wants to boost her career, but I mean there's there's no basis in reality like these folks are delusional and It's just it's shocking how they don't have Any dignity whatsoever like they don't even care how shameless they look You have these press conferences with Sydney Powell and Rudy Giuliani where he has black liquid seeping out of his brain And you have Sydney Powell claiming that Venezuela is you know in control of the Dominion voting systems and whatnot You have memes spreading misinformation going online that the tagline of Dominion is Changing the way people vote which is not their tagline. It just makes it seem nefarious You have Donald Trump sitting at this tiny desk lashing at it reporters saying don't ever talk to the president that way Like what are what are we watching here? It's like a parody of American politics. I mean It's just it's You know, you'd think that we'd be desensitized to all of this having lived through multiple years of a Trump presidency But like he continues To amaze me in the most embarrassing way imaginable I just I don't know How long they're going to continue this perhaps, you know on the 14th when it's official and the electoral college Confirms that Joe Biden is the winner. Maybe then I just It seems like they're not gonna stop regardless of how cornered they are like they're going to keep going with it And it's just it's honestly impressive in a weird way. I have to say because it's like, holy shit I mean Jesus Christ you are like It doesn't even matter you're still going with this I Don't there's not an appropriate analogy to compare this to it's just mind-blowing honestly So, yeah, Bill Barr is now He's he's gonna be hated in mega circles and I'm really curious to see how Trump will respond I'm interested in watching the fallout Look folks grab the popcorn because there's no way that Trump can actually steal the election at this point Too many states have certified it's over and he's out So we don't have to worry any longer But now we can watch and just be entertained by what is very clearly a fucking clown show that we are witnessing In an interview with Stefan Colbert's former president Barack Obama was asked if he had a message to older generations still in control within the Democratic Party and what he said stood out to me because he may have broken the hypocrisy meter and It's just for him of all people to say what he is going to say It's just ridiculous Now I can't play the video clip for you because this is a CVS clip and I don't want this to be copyright claimed So we'll just listen to the audio. It's really quick. It's just a minute long But listen to what Obama says one asked what his message is to older generations Get out of the way Okay, boomer We we I Will say that I am so optimistic about our kids and They're smarter than we were they're more sophisticated. They're kinder They're environmentally more conscious They they believed in stuff as I write in the preface that maybe we gave lip service to but didn't always want to live out Because it required some sacrifice or and and you see them living out their commitments in really powerful ways But we have to we have to be willing to give them The the chance to remake institutions and change old habits So I'm they make me optimistic. I just want to make sure that we don't screw things up so bad that by the time They're in charge that you know, it Becomes that much harder Mind blown Because Brock Obama literally intervened in the Democratic Party primary to stop the candidate that was overwhelmingly supported by young people Had he not picked up the phone and made calls to a Pete Witte judge Amy Klobuchar and told them to get behind Joe Biden We would have somebody who is a different president right now other than Joe Biden It would be Bernie Sanders and let me remind you that Joe Biden struggled to get support of young people during the primaries now You know, it seems like I'm crying over spilled milk But for a moment to say this and just not expect to be called out It's it's infuriating to me and he has plausible Deniability because you know, there's there's only reports that Confirmed that he talked to Pete Witte judge and we don't necessarily know what they said We can't confirm that he said hey Pete get out back Joe Biden But I mean come on. This is the way that the game is played all of a sudden There are reports popping up that Obama talked to Beto O'Rourke Pete Buttigieg Amy Klobuchar and then they're getting behind Joe Biden inexplicably. I mean, this isn't a coincidence. He wasn't being inconspicuous in very clearly Moving heaven and earth to clear, you know a path for Joe Biden Had it not been for Bloody Monday, Bernie Sanders very likely could have been the president-elect right now and you know people are gonna say oh well, you know You're just an upset Bernie bro. You're mad because you lost damn right. I'm a sore loser I am a sore loser because guess what when so much is on the line I mean, you cannot be a sore loser people's lives are at stake and Joe Biden is just not gonna cut it He's stacking his cabinet with warmongers and corporatists like near-attended. So I'm sorry But when we had a chance to actually elect someone who cared Obama is the individual who maybe a single-handedly stopped that from happening now Look, I blame Bernie Sanders for what happened as well because he should have anticipated shenanigans from the Democratic Party establishment including Barack Obama But still what Obama did was intervene to stop young people from getting the candidate that they supported But let's listen what Obama says here Young people are smarter than we were. They're more sophisticated. They're kinder. They're environmentally more conscious So, you know, it seems as if he really trusts us and trusts our judgment And he says that we believe in stuff that his generation gave lip service to but didn't always want to live out But you didn't trust us because you intervened to stop us to stop Bernie Sanders the candidate who young people overwhelmingly supported from winning He also says we have to give young people the chance to remake institutions and change old habits Again, we tried to do that with Bernie Sanders But you you stopped that you intervened to stop that to tell everyone to get behind Joe Biden Obama was able to accomplish with the GOP establishment wished they could have pulled off during the 2016 Republican Party primaries He also says that young people make him optimistic. I just want to make sure we don't screw things up so bad By the time they're in charge it becomes that much harder. Well too late, buddy You did just that you did just that and it's much worse like the thing about Barack Obama is that a lot of us like We found our political identity at the time when he was running for president And I you know, I became politically active around 2007 2008 because I grew up Seeing the Iraq war and how disastrous it was. So I thought Obama would be different I supported him over Hillary Clinton because of his anti-war position. He was against the Iraq war. Hillary Clinton was not But what did he do? He duped an entire generation of Millennials into supporting him and what happened He made all of us see that the Democratic Party establishment no matter what kind of rhetoric they use They don't give a damn about us. They're gonna say one thing and as soon as they get into power They're gonna do something entirely different. Obama went on to describe himself as basically a moderate Republican And we saw that in action. I mean did his health care plan reflect what we wanted in single pair? No, he literally adopted a right-wing health care plan to appease Republicans and they still didn't support that so he showed us that uh The Democratic Party is completely and utterly full of shit And he made an entire generation my generation cynical of politics and in a way I'm thankful that he allowed us to take off the blinders right and see the Democratic Party establishment for what it really is But for you after betraying all of us betraying an entire generation Turning people off to politics after getting them activated for you to say something like this Oh old people get out of the way. Why don't you take your own fucking advice Obama? Your legacy is garbage. How many families did you uh destroy in pakistan yemen and samalia? So nobody wants to hear from you right now. Why shouldn't say nobody? Uh someone who's a former obama kool-aid drinker doesn't want to hear from you right now And I think it's incumbent on millennials who were fucked over by obama To explain to people why this individual is not your friend I mean if you look at The response to obama within the democratic party like just the base They still love him and worship him and they hang on to every single word that he says But this individual is not your ally. He's your enemy and he is to be opposed He's the individual who should be getting out of the way for the future generation to come in But obama really is the final boss of liberalism because so long as he has legitimacy and influence in the democratic party primary We're not gonna get a president aoc. We're not gonna get a president neena turner because we now know that all it takes Is brock obama to make some phone calls and then everyone just rolls over and dies for whoever obama chooses to anoint How despicable is that I mean stand for something stand up to obama, but nobody wants to attack obama even aoc You know was doing apologia for obama in a cnn interview because it's like, you know, you just you can't say anything about the god obama The holy one otherwise, you know, you are delegitimized But i'm here to say Fuck that and fuck obama obama is a terrible human being who should share a jail cell with donald trump for committing crimes against Humanity and anyone who worships him is either ignorant or morally bankrupt And that's all i'll say we have to at every turn educate people about who brock obama is Take the blinders off and acknowledge this individual is a war criminal And he is going to do everything in his power to stop future generations from remaking institutions, but yet He says oh, let's let's let's a new generation take over Yeah, why don't you let that happen? Why didn't you let that happen and going forward? He's not going to let that happen because obama still is in control of the democratic party And so long as that is the case change is going to be incredibly difficult to achieve So former president brock obama is promoting his new book because apparently he's not rich enough So he has to publish a 20th book or something like that But as a result of this promotion that he's doing he is appearing on various news programs And he's weighing in on modern political issues and you know, a lot of people respect what he says Because he's a former president and basically he is a god to the democratic party's base But the more he speaks the more that he demonstrates how out of touch he is case in point This is what he said about defund the police as the hill reports obama says you lose people with snappy slogans like defund the police He then adds the key is deciding. Do you want to actually get something done? Or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with how very condescending of him? I uh, I can't take it obama is more smug and insufferable than ever And it's really really important for people with credibility to call him out and denounce what he's saying Because what he's saying is wrong. First of all republicans never think about what is or isn't popular They just support the policies that their base wants banning abortion banning same-sex marriage They don't care, but yet they still somehow managed to win elections How do they do that? It's only democrats who are worried about what is or isn't popular second of all if we're just basically going to Decide to support policies that are popular and not based our decision to support said policies on their efficacy Why aren't democrats supporting policies like medicare for all which they know works and they know is very popular Why aren't they supporting the green new deal? Why aren't they supporting legalizing recreational marijuana? Do you understand it's a double standard the things that you like Even though they're popular we're not going to support them But the things that aren't popular that you also support That's what we're going to criticize you for while we don't get on board with popular policies Either you care about the popularity of policies or you don't now I think that carlos mausel put it best when he said I remember all the polling suggesting that same-sex marriage Was an election loser and that queer people should opt for lesser protections if they wanted to win at the ballot box Grateful for every activist who says we don't care what's popular. We care what's right There will always always be scared pundits and political operatives asking activists to soften their language in order to win elections It's the job of activists to ignore those people completely and fight hard at every turn to yank the overton window towards justice And he adds everything in politics is too extreme until you fight for it. And that's exactly it I don't care about what's popular. I care about what's right and if americans Aren't on the side of a good policy that works That's morally right Then we have to make them get on our side make the case for it educate people Now I um recently Shared my dismay at the fact that nobody seems willing to Want to criticize obama like he says terrible things And unpopular things and incorrect things quite frankly and nobody Will take a shot at him and say you're wrong on this Why because he has legitimacy And i've said it once i'll say it again so long as obama has legitimacy It's going to be very difficult to make any progress because all it takes is obama saying We shouldn't do x or y And then the democratic party their base like good little soldiers will fall in line But you have to challenge people challenge these individuals who are standing in the way I mean obama himself said older politicians need to get out of the way and make way for young generations But he needs to take his own fucking advice But thankfully what we saw in response to obama saying that we shouldn't use Phrasing like to fund the police was a lot of pushback from progressive leftist lawmakers And this was honestly really encouraging to see because it's super important people who are popular need to speak up And actually challenge the incorrect things that obama says and boy do they do that So alexandria ocasio cortez tweeted out What if activists aren't pr firms for politicians and their demands are because police budgets are exploding Community resources are shrinking to bankroll it and people brought this up for ages But it wasn't until they said to fund that comfortable people Started paying attention to brutality the thing that critics of activists don't get is that they tried playing the polite language policy game And all it did was make them easier to ignore It wasn't until they made folks uncomfortable that there was traction to do anything even if it wasn't their full demands Cory bush then responded saying with all due respect, mr. President. Let's talk about losing people We lost michael brown jr. We lost brianna taylor. We're losing our loved ones to police violence It's not a slogan. It's a mandate for keeping our people alive Defund the police ilhan omar responded saying we lose people in the hands of police It's not a slogan but a policy demand and centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country Gets us progress and safety aina pressley responded saying the murders of generations of unarmed black folks by police have been horrific Lives are at stake daily So i'm out of patience with critiques of the language of activists Whatever a grieving family says is their truth and i'll never stop fighting for their justice and healing Richarda talib says rosa parks was vilified and attacked for her civil disobedience. She was targeted It's hard seeing the same people who uplift her courage attack the movement for black lives that want us to prioritize health Funding of schools and ending poverty rather than racist police systems and probably my favorite response to obama Is this one from jamal bowman who says damn mr. President Didn't you say trevon could have been my son in 2014 black lives matter was too much in 2016 Kaepernick was too much today discussing police budgets is too much The problem is america's comfort with black death not discomfort with slogans and to that i say Well done that deserves a slow clap That's phenomenal. I cannot tell you how encouraging it is to see Young popular lawmaker stand up to what obama is saying because when i saw obama say this my first instinct was oh god now all of a sudden Everyone's going to be attacking to fund the police the media and there's going to be no pushback And since the god obama said it then you know it is done everyone has to go along with what he says because we worship him But that's not what we're seeing thankfully we're seeing people call out obama and what jamal bowman speaks to here is so important If you're more uncomfortable with a slogan than you are With black americans dying at the hands of police. It's not the sloganeers who have the problem It's not the activists who created the slogan that have the problem You're the one with the problem You are the one who needs to reevaluate your priorities and for all of these progressive lawmakers to call out rock obama here This is so important obama has been a really prominent moderating force in the democratic party And he's also a movement killer. I mean, let's all remember that back in march All he had to do to end bernie sanders presidential campaign Was pick up the phone and make a couple of calls to beat but a judge named mclobber try and get them to drop out And of course they listened and they jumped right? obama says jump they say how high that's the way that they respond to brock obama So to see this it really almost feels like a paradigm shift And on top of that when the nba was going to end up striking doing something really meaningful It was obama that stopped that like he is a movement killer And i've described him as the final boss of liberalism and I still think the descriptor is apt because that's what he does Like he has so much credibility and legitimacy That he can basically say whatever he wants and anything that he says by definition is true because it came from his lips And that's unacceptable Brock obama is a fallible human being and in fact, he's a bad human being He's a war criminal who murdered countless civilians in pakistan, yemen and samalia So the fact that it's taken this long for anyone to criticize him even rapidly is a little bit depressing But I mean baby steps right the fact that so many progressives are speaking out against obama here That's important. It tells us that obama isn't infallible. He can Say something too extreme for people and they will criticize him. That's that's so important So this is a small step in the right direction, but um I'll take it I really give credit to the progressives who called him out because what he's saying is wrong and He needs to be called out I feel like i'm living in the twilight zone because more and more i'm seeing clips from the view That don't completely make me lose my mind like a couple of weeks ago They talked about the election and you know, they brought up abigail spanberger's criticism of the left And how she believes that to fund the police and medicare for all and you know The label of socialism led to democrats losing seats in the house And when I saw the view put out a segment where they talk about this You know, I kind of braced myself because I expected them to have a really really terrible take But surprisingly they were all reasonable the conversation that they had about this was substantive And furthermore it was correct. They talked about how you know, the incumbent democrats that support medicare for all actually one reelection And it's a very popular policy So when I saw them talk about something that obama said lately with regard to the fund the police And how democrats shouldn't say it once again I braced myself because I figured that that last segment was just an outlier But once again, we saw a pretty substantive discussion Uh, but not as much as the last one not as not as uh Good as the last one I should say because sonny haussen really was the voice of reason on this panel And she got pushed back sonny haussen actually called out brak obama and disagreed with him Which is something you almost never see in mainstream media And she got pushed back But I do want to respond to some of the points made by individuals who disagree with her because I think that there is A kernel of truth to what they're saying But it's just it's not applicable to defund the police And I think that sonny haussen basically explains perfectly why that's the case So take a look former president obama has been commenting on the current state of politics in recent interviews and he's warning progressive Democrats to be careful how they pitch their platforms take a look if you believe as as I do That we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it's not biased and treats everybody fairly I guess you can use a snappy slogan like defund the police But you know you've lost a big audience the minute you say it Which makes it a lot less likely that you're actually going to get the changes you want done All right, so Does he have a point here sonny? You know, I'm always low to um Criticize president obama because I'm such a fan, but I do think he's wrong here I mean when you think about defund the police, that's not a term that was crowdsourced or tested in focus groups You know, that's a term that was born Um a rallying cry that was born out of this over policing of black and brown communities Born out of the frustration of seeing black and brown men and women killed in the streets by police officers And defunding the police does not mean for the 100th time I've explained it does not mean Eliminating police departments. It doesn't mean stripping agencies for all of their money. It's reimagining Policing in this country to address systemic racism. We defund school programs all the time And they call it defunding school programs yet No one seems to have a problem with that But people all of a sudden have a problem with defunding the police that term And I don't think you should allow people to co-op the movement and and tell Protesters what language they should use. I think you know president obama was a community organizer And I really think that he uh, you know knows better I spoke to my good friend elicia garza. You you guys have met her and she co-founded the black lives matter movement She told me when they first came up with the black lives matter movement People told her that they should call it the all lives matter movement Now I think that that would have been a mistake. No, you know, uh, because that that also was born of protesters in the street But I think what he's trying to say is that people hold on hold on a second I think what he's saying is how people perceived that message and how it was carried through Is the problem. That's I think what he's saying be aware of how you're presenting yourself because people do Grab it and run. It's you know, and we saw it in Miami we saw it all over florida how people took that message didn't matter how many times you said That's not what it means People took that because the right kind of grabbed it and turned it into something else. Go ahead joy. I'm sorry Well, yeah, but I think that sonny came up with a better slogan re-imagine the police That's a good slogan. It's it's more accurate. The defund the police is not an accurate statement It has to be more like here's an accurate statement. Give me liberty or give me death There you go and I dated patrick henry. So I happen to know that's a good one But um the thing about it is it's like pro-choice also and pro-life those things don't work either It should be pro-woman They need to get a slogan that does not make people nuts and defund the police scared this country And that's why so many democrats. Well, that's what he's saying. So it's not working. That's what I disagree. That's what obama is saying disagree I know you do but i think you're wrong this time sonny. Oh, I thought I do when I came back I didn't know how much time we had do you want me to go? because I actually I do uh agree with president obama that When there's any confusion, I understand what sonny is saying that there's an anger There's a rage that you can hear that and agree with where you're going But not how you get there and I think what president obama said Resonated with me because I think that If there's any confusion, how do you speak across to more people? It's you know, um your friend Alicia Garza said it's all about math. It's getting more people not just your community to understand it And in order to do that you got to make sure you don't lose some of those people In the messaging as president obama said so I I really appreciated the quote But you also say I hate to do this to you other people but we have to go So usually when I am critical of the view sonny Hostin is the one that I agree with the most if I'm going to agree with any of them, which is pretty rare to be honest Um, but you know over the years she's been growing more and more out of touch And you know, I think it was last year that was basically the straw that broke the camel's back for me when they were all lying About medicare for all how popular it is It's advocacy and that really that that irritated me and I kind of held this grudge against them But what we saw here from sonny hostin I mean she said everything that I would have said in that predicament. You know, this isn't some sort of Uh, slogan that a politician came up with this manifested organically on the ground I mean, it's not like a ballish ice where aoc is the one who kind of spoke this into existence Defund the police came from the bottom up not the top down and that makes it very different Very different and she says, you know, we talk about reimagining policing in this country to address Uh systemic racism and we define school programs all the time like everything she's saying is reasonable And I think that jamal bowman put it best if you're more uncomfortable with the slogan Then black people getting murdered by the police at alarming rates Then I mean, you're the one with the issue and it's just a matter of educating people and changing their hearts and minds I mean, we shouldn't base our policy preferences on what is or isn't popular We should support policies that are good policies now joy bayhar and the other host disagreed with sonny hostin Joy bayhar said we should call it. You know, we imagine the police. It's not working And she then uses, you know pro choice and pro life As a reason why democrats often miss the mark when it comes to labeling and it should be called pro woman Now, I don't agree with what joy bayhar is saying with regard to defund the police because I think that defund the police It's very specific We take the funds that we are giving to police departments and we reallocate them into other social services So rather than, you know, just calling the police for everything mental health issues and whatnot We actually have a social worker come out to deal with mental health crises You know something that they're more trained to deal with than not police officers Like we can't just have this one size fits all approach to policing We have to reimagine policing in america and defund the police I think speaks to that and if it's not popular now, we make it popular We keep pushing to make sure that this is something that individuals Uh support, right? This is what happened with medicare for all It wasn't always as popular as it is now. We had to work on it and convince people and we won So you don't run away from something just because it's not popular But I do think that what joy bayhar is saying About marketing it is important Because democrats oftentimes are terrible at marketing and republicans They're pretty effective at marketing and I don't necessarily believe it's Because you know republicans are geniuses. I think it's because they're disciplined in their messaging, right? So they say something and initially you'll think wow, that's really stupid Nobody's going to believe this and then they say it's so much that it ends up sticking If democrats were this disciplined it wouldn't really matter what the policy is You just elevate one Issue use an anecdote and you run with it and you stick to it and that actually does work So when it comes to like pro life and pro choice I do think that there is some truth to what Joy bayhar is saying because when you call a republican who's anti-abortion pro life You're giving them far more credit than they ever would deserve because these individuals oftentimes who identify as pro life Support bombing other countries. They support wars. You know, they don't think that individuals should be guaranteed health care That's free at the point of service. So that's not pro life. So why are we calling them pro life? Why are we calling ourselves pro choice when they can easily Misconstru that and say well that means that you think that abortion is the pro choice And not that you know, we're in favor of more freedom for women Like these are things that democrats have to think more deeply about I think But it's not even about them like getting better at marketing I think that this is something that democrats and the left has to work on Discipline really is the key because you know, when republicans say something They're they're relentless. They have fox news say they have their politicians say it and repeat it Like it's the same thing with death panels and obama care Like all of a sudden people were worried about death panels because republicans Said that we should fear death panels and it sounded stupid at first and it was stupid But if you say something enough that raises the salience of that issue So, um, you know, there's There's a lot to be discussed. I think that this conversation Is important like I think that talking about the efficacy of slogans and marketing It does matter but when it comes to defund the police This is something that manifested on the ground as I stated earlier So, you know, you can't attack politicians for simply doing what they should be doing Adopting what activists are encouraging them to support You don't attack the politicians for adopting the slogan Of activists you attack the politicians who don't support this mass movement Perhaps the largest civil rights movement we've seen in america So, you know, I really give the sonny hawston credit here because everything that she said was astute So I think it is absolutely unacceptable that joe biden chose Near attendant to be the director of the omb that is a slap in the face to all of the progressive activists that helped him get elected Without them he would have lost the selection and that's how he repays them It's not shocking, but it's still infuriating. Uh, on top of that I think it's absolutely outrageous that he's even considering ron emmanuel to be transportation secretary Even if it doesn't happen again, the mere fact that he's considering someone that egregious who covered up the murder of laquan mcdonald Is completely disgusting and morally reprehensible So he's made some bad choices some other meh choices And choices that I think are inoffensive, but who he is considering to be hhs secretary Maybe the worst pick he's considered yet So as julia rock and andrew perez of the daily poster report road island governor jenna remando has presided over one of the deadliest COVID outbreaks in the country and new documents obtained by the daily poster detail how she helped nursing home lobbyists Shield healthcare companies from coronavirus related lawsuits Now remando a former wall street executive is reportedly considered for the nation's top healthcare policy job in the incoming biden administration politico reported last week that remando who made her name slashing state workers pensions Is one of the finalists to lead the u.s. Department of Health and Human Services Under president elect joe biden remando was also previously considered for treasury secretary according to the american prospect As governor remando has slammed proposals to expand medicare to cover everyone Amid the pandemic in august her administration approved health insurance companies steep premium increases That were criticized by the sace democratic attorney general as unnecessary and ill advised health insurers have been raking in record profits with fewer people seeking healthcare Because of the pandemic remando has also pushed for medicaid cuts that nursing home workers warned would result in unsafe staffing levels And in april she issued an executive order sought by healthcare industry lobbyists that shielded nursing homes from lawsuits when their business decisions Injure or kill people the order was later expanded to shield nursing homes hospitals and other healthcare providers While the biden transition team is reportedly considering remando for hhs secretary Residents and workers in road islands nursing homes have faced deadly consequences Documents obtained by the daily poster show that remando quickly responded to lobbyists demands for an executive order granting them legal immunity During the pandemic road island currently has one of the highest coronavirus death rates by population in the country According to data from the centers for disease control and prevention more than 70 percent of covid 19 deaths in the state Have been linked to long-term care facilities only two other states have seen similar nursing home death rates According to the kaiser family foundation. This is outrageous to me She shouldn't just be disqualified from being the hhs secretary Given this information. She should be run out of politics forever never be able to get a job in politics again Understand why this is so scandalous in her state More than 70 percent of covid 19 deaths are linked to long-term care facilities rather than cracking down on them Regulating them more. What does she do? She issues an executive order that gives them legal immunity during this pandemic That's not just a bad politician. That is someone who is morally bankrupt If these long-term care facilities aren't going to take adequate care of their residents They should be sued But she's saying no, even though they're linked To most of the covid cases in my state. We're going to give them legal immunity. I'm going to listen to lobbyists This is completely unacceptable and egregious like i'm almost speechless because this is so brazen so brazen So if biden chooses her this would be a disaster. This would be the individual In control of health care in the country. This is the top health care job in america It's just the fact that this is even someone who he's being considered Is unacceptable and i'll reserve judgment for if she is considered But i think that now is the time for people to sound the alarms Because people have to know this individual should be nowhere near this job Given what she just did this is corruption And it may not necessarily be a quid pro quo But it's still corruption nonetheless to respond and comply with the demands of lobbyists at a time where she should be Cracking down on these long-term care facilities, but instead she's protecting them She's not looking out for the people. She's looking out For special interests these, you know lobbyists and companies that likely contributed to her campaign It's just disgusting and i think that everyone needs to know about this I find it very irritating that even though individuals like ilhan omar and rishita talib Helped deliver michigan and minnesota to joe biden They're kind of discounted like the things that they say about policy They're brushed aside like we saw obama Call out this slogan of defund the police criticizing them basically inadvertently and indirectly But individuals like john casick who failed to deliver ohio to joe biden they're propped up As uh arbiters of truth in the democratic party and this republican supposedly is supposed to Tell the democratic party what they should and shouldn't be doing Meanwhile, he should be more concerned with the republican party. He was driven out of his own party by the far right So now what he wants to do since he's no longer welcome in his party is remake the democratic party in his own image But thankfully for john casick it already is basically in his own image You have more individuals like joe manchin and diane feinstein that are closer to him ideologically than you actually do Have leftist individuals, but nonetheless in an interview with cnn. They asked him, you know What he thought about the democratic party what they should be doing You know the the thing that they usually ask him as if we should be taking into account what he says Uh and of course he's going to say something that is incredibly wrong and insufferable. Take a look I do want to ask you about the future direction of the democratic party for a second because president obama Did it really had an interesting take on the future of the party in a new interview with peter hanby on snapchat? Let me play just a bit of it We stick so long with the same old folks and don't make room for New voices the fact that an aoc only got what three minutes or five minutes Good evening. Bienvenidos and thank you when you know She speaks to a broad section of young people who are interested in what she has to say even if they don't agree with everything She says new blood's always good New blood's always good. What do you think about that? Well, I think he was just he was asked a direct question And he didn't want to take a swipe at her but he also said something very interesting in that interview And that is using these slogans like defund the police or green new deal He says they're snappy slogans that only appeal to people that agree with them You're an indiana girl And you know imagine going over there in indiana and starting to try to promote a platform about defund the police Even congressman cliber and from south carolina, uh, the you know, the african-american leader who really saved Joe biden's bacon down in south carolina by biden win in the primary He said he thinks this kind of language around defunding the police Probably cost a congressional race in south carolina So on one hand, I think he's trying to say yeah, we need new ideas. We need new voices I happen to agree with that But he's also at the same time saying use these slogans like defund the police Or a green new green deal or which labels socialist and all that other stuff I think it absolutely hurt the democratic party and I said on on election day Well, whenever we were announced the winner here on cnn I said it was the hard left that I thought put the put the, uh, Joe biden's ability to become president in jeopardy because people these cultural issues Kate in our rural areas are towns where the factories are forgotten All across the country down in in miami day in south florida these issues of culture Really matter to voters and I think it's struggle inside the democratic party So what we're seeing here what he's speaking to really is a double standard that Politicians and the media they just they never acknowledge because the republican party they can support election losers Even though a majority of americans Support keeping abortion legal and same-sex marriages. It is in the republican party's platform to repeal same-sex marriage to make abortions illegal But yet nobody speaks to how much of a political loser that is for republicans Nobody speaks about how unpopular it is to deny the reality of anthropogenic climate change It's always what is a good policy That we talk about whether or not that's an election loser It's almost as if corporate media and these politicians Don't want to support policies because their donors and advertisers wouldn't like them getting behind something that actually is popular So, I mean if you're gonna care about what is or isn't popular, let's be consistent Why aren't we talking about how not supporting medicare for all is an election loser? As we saw in this last election any incumbent democrat who did not support medicare for all lost their race Whereas incumbent democrats that supported medicare for all won their races Why aren't we having this broad conversation in the media about how not supporting medicare for all is an election loser? Well, because your big pharma health industry advertisers wouldn't like that and the donors to democrats in the health industry wouldn't like that Conversation as well So we kind of narrow the scope of that conversation to cultural issues and issues that don't necessarily offend our donors and advertisers And that's why we see this double standard perpetuated and it's infuriating It is infuriating because if john casick was serious About what is popular or not popular you think he'd be focusing on his party Which has been taken over by the far right and literally drove him out, but instead he's more concerned about the democratic party Does that make sense to you? Go fix your own fucking party before you try to fix the democratic party Your input is not needed because we already have countless republicans in the democratic party Joe biden being one of them Now until the media starts talking about how making abortion illegal is a political loser Or taking away health care during a pandemic is a political loser I don't really have the patience to listen to them pontificate about what is or isn't a political loser I don't want to hear them talk about how to fund the police is unpopular because They're not being serious. They're not good faith actors here when they're having this conversation Now I have to talk about how obama They played a clip of an interview with him where he criticized older democrats for taking up too much time at the dnc convention and aoc was only given, you know a few minutes obama Do I have to remind you who you are? You're obama. You're the guy who made a phone call and ended the presidential campaign Of the candidate that was supported overwhelmingly by young people So for him to continuously say we we need to get out of the way get out of the way Older politicians need to make room at the table for these, you know new up-and-comers You keep saying that But you're not taking your own advice So i'm not going to make this about obama because I already made my video criticizing brock obama But here's the thing the democratic party They have institutional incentives to not want to change donors from special interests That is what's keeping them from supporting popular policies like medicare for all or legalizing recreational cannabis not some ideological differences So let's get that straight But the most important thing that I want to say about this as trivial as it sounds is that nobody should be taking anything That a union buster and republican is saying about the democratic party's politics like what he says about The democratic party Nobody should be taking it seriously. Had he delivered ohio to joe biden Maybe you could say all right well I mean he he helped deliver this victory to the democratic party Maybe we should listen to some of what he says and take it with a grain of salt You couldn't even deliver the state that you were the governor of to joe biden So why would we care about the advice that you're offering to democrats? So that's the most important thing I could say nobody cares what you think john kasek Go away. You're irrelevant politically It seems like whenever ben Shapiro is reminded that transgender people exist He has another meltdown So whenever there's some sort of news related to transgender issues or a transgender celebrity comes out He freaks out and he reiterates to everyone why he is a terrible person and doesn't want to respect who they are Now we'll talk about ben Shapiro, but let me just weigh in and give you my opinion Usually I don't care about celebrity related news, but I think that elliott page coming out is really important because Culture matters and there's like no representation for trans trans people So if you're like a young trans individual or non-binary individual you have nobody to look up to Nobody who you know you see reflected in media and that really does matter because we haven't had that cultural revolution when it comes to transgender issues and non-binary issues So whenever there is a celebrity that speaks up or comes out as trans I think that that really is significant culturally because that That gives trans youth who are statistically more likely to do self-harm Someone to look up to someone like them, you know and to see the positive response to elliott page coming out I think that that matters and it seems trivial If if you don't know, you know, uh, how important this is if you're not trans yourself But it really does matter. I promise you it does matter like seeing gay celebrities As a child that really that was important even if back then when I was young I didn't know that I was gay or identify as gay like, you know, I knew I was different But seeing that it helped me to grow and become the person who you know, I ultimately was which is a gay dude So elliott came out and ben Shapiro responded As we'd expect ben Shapiro to respond. He was offended at the fact that elliott page decided to come out Um, so we're gonna talk about what he said. Uh, but first of course, let's watch ellen page can identify however she wants I don't care Really, it makes no difference to me. She is an adult human. She can do whatever she wants. It is a free country However, it being a free country I am also free to point out that ellen page is was and shall remain a woman Because ellen page is in fact a woman Now I'm happy to call ellen page elliott if she wants to be called elliott because people change their names all the time And you can in fact change your name by declaration You cannot however change your sex by declaration or your gender by declaration. That is not how this works There is no other area of life in which people simply declare themselves to be a thing and everybody goes. Oh, okay Right an objectively verifiable thing right there You can declare your sexual orientation where you can declare a thing that you like You can declare that you are a fan of this particular band You can declare that you have a sexual attraction to x y or z right. That's also objective And all we have to go on is your behavior which is objective and your subjective self-assessment However, when you're declaring something as core as your sex, there is no objectifiable no objective measure whatsoever Whereby ellen page is a man none Right. She is a woman And yet we are immediately told by the media that to even address ellen page Or elliott page as a she is discriminatory It's very bad and very discriminatory and so you end up with complete inanities and insanities Okay, so ellen page declared That she is now a man Okay, but she also declared that she is a queer man Now this is confusing because if she were a queer man, this would mean that she is attracted to men Which would technically mean that she's a straight woman Right because if she is a an actual woman attracted to men this would make her a straight woman But we know she's not that because she was a lesbian Right, so she is married to a woman as far as i'm aware and that means that she is a lesbian But now she is a man And according to her this means that she is a white straight male So how's she queer? She's a white straight male So here is how wikipedia tries to sum this up. You ready for this? according to wikipedia in In january 2018 page publicly announced his marriage to dancer and choreographer emma partner So this means that ellen page is a gay man married to a woman according to wikipedia Which makes no sense at all Like in any way shape or form It's irritating to me because he's trying to prove to people that he's not an asshole that he wants to respect elliot But he goes out of his way to dead name elliot page and misgender elliot page throughout the entire video See if elliot wants to be called elliot, that's fine I'm just going to keep dead naming elliot and misgendering elliot on purpose And if you watched the interview that he did with uh, joe rogan when he was talking about laverne cox He had to go out of his way to misgender laverne cox and he accidentally At least accidentally to him used the correct pronouns, which are she transgender woman from uh, orange is the new black I never watched that show. I've never watched that show either, but she's on the cover of time magazine Oh, or he's on the cover of time magazine. Gotcha, bitch trans people exist That's the bottom line and you can either choose To acknowledge that fact and get over it and try to treat them with respect So that way they don't want to hurt themselves So society becomes more accepting to them Or you can continue to be an asshole and throw a temper tantrum whenever somebody else comes out as transgender Or transgender people or non-binary people make any sort of progress whatsoever But it's been Shapiro. He is a regressive and um, he he doesn't want to see Anyone who doesn't fit into the box that he has created Culturally to succeed. So that's why he throws these temper tantrums That's why he's triggered by the thought that trans people exist now He says you can in fact change your name by declaration You cannot however change your sex by declaration or your gender by declaration Um, actually you can and what he is refusing to acknowledge is the difference between sex and gender And this is what republicans do they pretend as if sex and gender are the same thing They might be related But they are not the same thing sex refers to what is in between your legs whereas gender is your expression, right? The expression of masculinity or femininity or none of the above you could be non-binary There are people who I know who don't fit into either of these two binary, you know gender systems So it's not as easy as he wants you to believe he's oversimplifying it and he's saying look All this comes down to is do you have a penis or a vagina if you have a vagina Then I have to refer to you Using a she her pronouns if you have a penis then you're a man I'm going to refer to you as uh, you know having He him pronouns, but it's not that simple because let's assume for a moment that Ben Shapiro had a vagina If that were the case then wouldn't it be weird using his Measures to like refer to Ben Shapiro as her because he's a father. He's a husband He is heterosexual he identifies as a male because I mean think about this in public You don't assess whether or not someone is man or woman Based on if they have a penis or vagina because you can't tell because human beings wear clothes if they are normal So, you know, we base our judgment on these issues on gender cues You know the way that someone looks or acts their clothes not their penis or their vagina Yes sex refers to biology gender does not refer to biology. It is an expression So he tries to like narrowly define what it means to be male or female When that's just that's not reasonable just simply saying well, you're a man or a woman depending on what you have between your legs That's not realistic. It's not realistic Life it's more complicated than that. It's not just about biology. That's not what gender refers to Hence why there's a difference between sex and gender which conservatives refuse to acknowledge They say well, you know, it's the same thing sex is a synonym for gender when in actuality it literally is not Facts don't care about your feelings. Sex is not the same thing as gender That's a fact. Um, now he he says that um, actually I should be misgendering Ben Shapiro since he was doing that to Elliot So, uh Ben Shapiro, she said that um, he doesn't she doesn't know see how difficult it is to misgender someone on purpose Uh, she doesn't know whether or not Elliot is straight or gay because Elliot is married to a woman But still identifies as queer and he bases this off of the wikipedia page. Look at the end of the day This is my response. Why do you care so much? Stop caring so much Like it's so weird to me that he focuses on this so much and spend so much time Trying to think about somebody else and what they identify as who they sleep with what they have between their legs If you're not transgender or gay or non-binary Get over it. Like that's that's the easiest thing that I can say To maybe ameliorate your you're suffering right now. Stop thinking about it But I suspect that the reason why individuals who are like openly homophobic or openly transphobic Like Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder is because there's some struggle going on with them And of course this this is just speculation But there was an article that recently dropped where a Hungarian politician who was anti-gay Was caught attending an orgy with 25 men And I think that that story is relevant because usually the loudest homophobes and transphobes Are usually in the closet, right? They're projecting their Denial onto the rest of the world, right? And so maybe it's the case that Ben Shapiro is transgender and he doesn't want to come out as transgender You know, so so he will completely tell himself. I can't be a woman. I can't be a woman I have a penis have a penis have a penis and like he has to say that over and over again And it's almost to the point where it's like, well, who are you trying to convince? Are you trying to convince us or yourself and the same is true for Steven Crowder where he Like was harping away at how bad it is to be gay and was harassing carlos maza for over a year And you've got to ask why do you care this much? It quite literally does not affect your life Again gay and trans people are going to exist like it or not Are you going to choose to let them live in peace and give them equal rights? Or are you going to go out of your way to dead name them and misgender them just to be an asshole? So you can smugly say well, I'm correct because I am I'm citing science Like what you're saying Is not just dickish. It's incorrect They use the science argument, but then they purposefully omit key details that sex And gender are not the same thing and then they talk about this way more than any normal person would Like i'm sure that transgender people haven't thought about trans issues as much as ben Shapiro has So that that begs the question like are you Suffering yourself. Do you need to come out as trans or gay ben? Like I just I don't understand it Like I as a gay dude have not thought about homosexuality as much as some of these conservatives have Right, so you have to wonder why do you care this much? And I'll leave it at that because I think that a lot of this is projection Like they're trying to convince themselves rather than their audiences That or they're just assholes, but regardless. It doesn't matter I'm really thankful that elliott came out because again, this is super important trans youth They don't have many role models, especially ones who are transitioning, right? They learn that someone is transgender usually but coming out as transgender or non-binary That's something that still isn't normalized in society. It's very uncommon. So to see this this is important Like of all the celebrity news This is the only thing that actually can have a meaningful impact on people's lives in a positive way Because trans youth need to see themselves reflected in people who are popular and famous and this is this is important So, you know ben Shapiro can shit on it all he wants, but I think that More people need to question why he thinks about this so much why every time there's transgender news He gets so mad like that's not normal to be that mad unless it affects you personally All right, folks So I want to talk about a clip from fox news that by now I'm sure you've either seen or at least heard about this features ludobs And he responds to news that attorney general william bar did not find evidence of widespread voter fraud What you are about to see here is legitimately one of the most unhinged segments that fox news Has ever put out good evening everybody president trump his legal team members of the republican party Making advances today in the battle for the white house There have been significant developments in six key battleground states all of which All of which bolster president trump's charge that there has been clear electoral fraud Fraud that nullified the will of the people in the november election The president's progress puts him at odds with the insidious rhinos radical dims corporate america big tech and the deep state who have tried to overthrow his president say for more than four years Today a member of his own cabinet appeared to join in with the radical dims and the deep state And the resistance attorney general william bar who has been absent for weeks and weeks telling the associated press That the us attorneys and fbi agents who have followed up on complaints of specific voter fraud across the country Have produced nothing to date. We have not seen fraud on a scale. He said They could have affected a different outcome in the election For the attorney general of the united states to make that statement He is either a liar or a fool or both He may be uh, perhaps compromised. He may be simply unprincipled or he may be personally distraught or ill But in no way can he honestly stand up before the american people and say that the fbi As with any integrity or intensity investigated voter fraud in this country and then say It did not amount to anything wow I Am at a loss for words even for fox news This is a bit much It's a bit much and i know that lou dobbs is and always has been one of the more reactionary and Stupid hosts over at fox news even though the bar is low like he's one of the stupidest I don't even believe that he believes what he's saying I I just don't I think that probably what's happening Although i'm not a hundred percent sure is that he's just trying to placate The trump supporters that watch his program That has to be the case because what he's saying is like quite literally the opposite of what's happening He's saying there have been significant developments in six key battleground states all of which bolster president trump's charge That there has been clear electoral fraud The opposite is happening There was never a case to begin with But even the claim that they made Is falling apart because of their own stupidity and even though they're just fabricating claims of fraud Even they can't keep their story straight They're doing press conferences where rudy juliani literally has black liquid secreting from his head This is a joke and anyone who buys into this is stupid I'm sorry, but you're stupid if you believe this So there's no way that even someone as dumb as lou dobs, and he's a dumb guy Believes this. I think he's trying to placate MAGA chuds and I say this because like even the most tepid criticism of the fraud case That leads to a revolt from MAGA chuds, right? We saw one tug across and he simply asked sydney powell for evidence And they turned on him laura ingram tried to let them down easily and say look We've tried this, you know, but I don't think it's going to work for donald trump I think that he's out and on january 20th like it or not Joe biden will be sworn in as the next president of the united states even just saying that Trying to you know tap dance around the truth try to let them down easily They still turn on them. So if you want to keep that audience You have to tell them exactly what they want to hear. They're not tuning into fox news So they can get this objective take on the news as it is They want to be told what they want to hear so lude obs acknowledges that and I think that what he's trying to do Is placate them Now there is a possibility a strong possibility that he just is as stupid as as it appears I mean occum's razor, right But I just it's hard even for lude obs. This is so stupid and so Bizarre that I find it difficult to believe that even he would believe this But ironically he says bill bar is either a liar or a fool or both Projection much because that's What we're seeing from you either you are a liar or a fool or both and I would say that regardless if bill bar is telling or if Lou dobs is telling the truth about what he feels with regard to bill bar He's still an idiot and a fool But to believe this to believe the opposite of what's happening where there's been significant developments That could change the result of the election and un nullify the result I mean, it's just It's too batshit insane even for lude obs either way. This is unhinged and dangerous And you know what we're starting to see is this whole voter election fraud thing that they're they're trying to perpetuate It is Hurting them, right? They're they're basically cutting off their noses despite their faces because it's leading to people wanting to boycott the election The runoffs in georgia right trump supporters specifically who feel as if well if my vote doesn't matter if democrats just nullified the election results Why even participate in this sham process? Let's just boycott it all together and say, you know, fuck you to the whole system So I don't know if that's actually going to be significant enough to actually change the results of the election where that many Trump voters boycott it who knows But what we're seeing here honestly like We're gonna look back at this moment. I truly believe this and It's going to be shocking like we're in the moment right now So like we're kind of just accustomed to this type of unhinged rhetoric on fox news But I truly believe that if we don't kill ourselves that being human beings We're gonna look back at this moment in history and think How much of the population? Was like actually delusional like we're living in george orwell's 1984 But what's sad is that the individuals who are the most deluded have co-opted 1984 And they're the ones who believes that they actually have the real truth It's just it's a weird era in american politics Perhaps one of the weirdest ones and theoretically we should be more informed than ever since we have phones and like unlimited information Uh our fingertips, but we're dumber than ever As a society and you see things like this where ludobs is just straight up Going on these unhinged rants saying quite literally the opposite of what's happening Unreal But entertaining entertaining nonetheless So it kind of feels as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to cover 19 Since we now do have multiple vaccines on the way Having said that though, even when we reach herd immunity and things get back to normal Or at least some semblance of normal I don't think many people have truly thought about the long-term aftermath of this pandemic But right now before we can even talk about herd herd immunity. It is ravaging this country We have a hundred thousand people in america in hospitals We saw nearly 3000 deaths in a single day All while the president does absolutely nothing to contain the virus He's still complaining about the election that took place last month as this business insider article points out And I mean when numbers get so big it's kind of like we we can't even imagine it, right? It's unfathomable quite literally. So think about this. We're reaching 300,000 deaths due to COVID-19 We may hit 300,000 before the end of the year at the rate we're going And on top of that to hit almost 3000 deaths in a single day. That's comparable to 9 11 So we're seeing the equivalent of a 9 11 take place And a lot of people don't even realize that it's happening right because we've become so accustomed to it But I mean even when we have the vaccines and we reach herd immunity the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 Are going to be there for quite some time not just in terms of health and the long-term side effects And you know lung damage from this virus, but economically speaking This is going to cause a lot of devastation But just in the short term when you look at how many people at home are affected cbs news reports Nearly 19 million americans could lose their homes when the moratorium on evictions Expires on december 31st But that's just what's happening here at home because globally the u.n Is actually warning that extreme poverty could surge by 2030 without immediate major economic intervention from governments Now as kenny stansell of common dreams reports a harrowing study released by the united nations early thursday reveals that the global coronavirus pandemic is setting the stage for a massive surge in the number of people pushed into poverty worldwide Over the next decade a phenomenon that only immediate interventions in the form of ambitious investments in public health Social safety net programs and a green transition can help avoid According to the findings of the new study by the united nations development program the severe long-term effects of the global pandemic Could push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty over the next decade on top of the current pandemic trajectory That would bring the total number of individuals living in extreme poverty to over 1 billion by 2030 This at a time of rampant and nearly unparalleled inequality as the fortunes of the world's richest individuals and families continue to soar While the undp makes clear the looming intensification of poverty is not a foregone conclusion Only with urgent action can such a scenario be avoided as this new poverty research highlights The COVID-19 pandemic is at a tipping point and the choices leaders take now Could take the world in very different directions said undp administrator akim steiner The analysis considers various recovery pathways and predicts how each one would affect the un sustainable development goals Under the baseline scenario based on current mortality rates and growth projections 44 million more people will likely be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030 Then what i've been expected before the COVID-19 pandemic altered the world's development trajectory and a high damage scenario In which the recovery is protracted meaning that 80 percent of economic productivity losses remain after 10 years 207 million additional people are projected to be living in poverty bringing the total number To 1 billion by the end of the decade now I'm not going to assume that the worst case scenario will in fact play out But even if you know, we get the the best case scenario, it's still It looks really grim and this is after the pandemic Once we get it under control worldwide. This is the devastation that it caused that will live on So it's just it's really really um It's sad to think about all this because on top of the pandemic we have A climate catastrophe looming and and like I don't want to be overly grim here Because there's only so much that we can focus on without getting too down But we have to think about these things and really start taking um Taking action governmentally speaking, but when you have you know worldwide capitalism dominant How do we even begin to put pressure on governments? Like if one government is success successfully pressured by its people Well, there's still other governments that have to take action to mitigate poverty We can't even get The united states government to offer us a second stimulus and what we're seeing so far at the time I record this video is another stimulus that doesn't even give people another payment like in the united states alone The way that we responded to this to this virus is comparable to what we'd expect from a failed state And I've said this before so it sounds kind of redundant But it really is shocking to see this we're the richest country in the world And we saw a one-time payment of $1,200 I just I don't know what to say how many businesses are going to go Bankrupt before the pandemic is under control So I don't want this to be a video that makes you know people overly depressed But we we have to grapple with these things you can only distract yourself For so long until reality catches up with you and just like Thinking about not just the long-term impact caused by this pandemic at home, but worldwide it really is overwhelming and As a species, you know human beings are going to have to come together Not just for this but climate change as well Because we have so many issues and if we're going to make it to the other end of all of these crises as a species We're going to have to come up with innovative solutions And part of that means we have a serious conversation about global capitalism and The way that it limits us from taking meaningful action. So This is all talk that's like way too ambitious I mean if we get even incremental steps to ameliorate this disaster that would be unexpected, but I mean These are things that we have to talk about and think about because um, even when the pandemic is gone It's impact is going to be here for quite some time Well, that's all that I've got for you today. Thank you so much for tuning in if you've made it this far in the program As usual, we're not going to close the show without thanking all of the people who make this episode And show possible our patreon paypal and youtube members. Thank you all so much. Well, that's it I don't have anything left to say. Um, it's a relatively slow Newsweek or I should say it's a comparatively slow newsweek like looking back just a few months ago Like when I couldn't keep up with all of the news now it's starting to slow down And I'm uh, I'm definitely thankful for that because I think that we're all feeling the election fatigue Myself in particular this week. Maybe I'm just like, um, feeling a little bit more lazy And I'm a bit more of a procrastinator after getting a longer weekend With Thanksgiving and whatnot, even though I did fuck all for Thanksgiving You know, I I still took that time off to just like watch movies and play video games And it was really really nice and now I don't want to I don't want to talk about politics It was nice to like cleanse my brain of the suffering that I inflict on myself by constantly thinking about politics but We're getting back to it like it or not and you know, we'll take a little bit of a lighter week this week So I'll see you all next week. Take care everyone. My name is Mike Figueroa This has been the humanist report. Have a nice weekend folks