 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 295 of the program Today is Friday June 18th and before we get started I want to take some time as we usually do to thank all the folks who make the show possible all of our newest supporters on either Patreon, PayPal, YouTube or Twitch and that includes Becca Link, Colter Smith, Jessica Vatt, Mountain Scotsman, Scott Collier and Tom Chavez So thank you so much to all these kind individuals If you would also like to support the show and join the independent progressive media revolution You can do so by going to humanistreport.com slash support Patreon.com forward slash Humanist Report or by clicking join underneath any one of our YouTube videos So this week we've got quite the interesting episode not really any consistent themes a little bit of this a little bit of that But nonetheless, I hope you enjoy what we have in store this week Mitch McConnell is already plotting to steal another Supreme Court seed if he can Marco Rubio proposes an absurd student-dead-relief plan Marjorie Green makes her first public apology after getting a history lesson in how bad the Holocaust is Apparently a grown woman didn't know about this already Reality when it gets released from prison Israel breaks their ceasefire Ted Cruz virtue signals and progressives put their foot down once and for all and Stand up to Joe Biden when it comes to infrastructure. That's what we've got on the agenda for today's program I hope you enjoy what we have in store. Let's get right to it So after months of this back and forth between the Biden administration and Republicans and conservative Democrats When it comes to infrastructure, they've made effectively no progress all of these negotiations have amounted to nothing So I think that it's obvious by now most Democrats are beginning to see that the conclusion is Stop doing this political theater. That is bipartisanship Republicans aren't actually good faith actors. They're not serious about infrastructure They don't want to work with you. They just want to obstruct everything But in the spirit of good faith negotiations That aren't actually that good for people in the planet a top biden administration official Hinted at them possibly watering down their already meager infrastructure package To appease Republicans and one of the main things on the on the cutting block Are the most important elements of the infrastructure proposal Addressing climate change investing in clean green renewable technology. No, this is not a green new deal This is not even a green new deal light. But is it a step forward in the right direction? Yes, it is and one of the best things about this Biden's administration signaled. We're willing to get rid of that So this is bad, but thankfully progressives collectively coalesced around a single unified message If you do this You're not going to have our support and to see them all come together and unequivocally denounce the prospect of gutting Climate change from infrastructure is really really encouraging to see So for more on this we go to common dreams where jake johnson explains Progressive members of congress on wednesday signaled They would be willing to withhold their votes from any infrastructure package that skimps on climate action After one of president joe biden's top advisors suggested that key green energy proposals could be excluded from an Infrastructure package that goes light on climate and clean energy should not count on every democratic vote Senator martin hind rick a green new deal supporter tweeted in response to national climate advisor Gina mccarthy suggested on tuesday that climate policies proposed in biden's original american jobs plan Such as a clean electricity standard could be left on the cutting room four as the president seeks a compromise deal With the bipartisan group of senators Representative alexandria ocasio-cortez the lead house sponsor of the green new deal resolution echoed hind rick declaring Mitch mccunnell and the coke brothers are not worth setting the planet on fire for President joe biden and senate democrats should take a step back and ask themselves if playing patty cake with g.o.p Senators is really worth the dismantling of people's voting rights setting the planet on fire Allowing massive corporations and the wealthy to not pay their fair share of taxes etc Senators ocasio-cortez who has backed progressive calls for 10 trillion dollars in infrastructure spending and climate spending over the next decade So now this is exactly what progressives need to be doing Credit where it's due i've been critical of them in the past for not being unified for not standing up to republicans and conservative democrats But right now they're finally doing exactly what i had hoped they'd start to do Throw their weight around make some demands and this is only the most reasonable demand ever We have what less than 10 years now according to the ipcc to stop catastrophic levels of climate change and What's being proposed here in this infrastructure plan? This isn't even sufficient To even say that it's the bare minimum is a bit of a stretch But if you're going to tackle infrastructure without addressing climate change Without investing in clean and green Renewable technology somewhat it's just What's the point? It's useless. So thankfully progressives are standing firm and they're saying No climate no deal and perhaps more importantly members of the senate who basically are doing everything they can seemingly to appease Individuals like joe manchin kiss and cinema even they Have seemingly had enough so ed marquis and jeff murkley my senator They both held a joint press conference and they echoed the sentiments expressed by ocasio-cortez and hind rick and what they said here like the way that they went after the g.o.p. and called on biden to not Continue this game of bipartisanship, which is just nothing more than political theater at this point Like everything that they said in short It was perfect. Take a look no climate no deal We need to move forward with 50 democratic votes Now that the republicans have shown us they are not serious about Creating clean energy jobs jump-starting a clean energy revolution are adding the standards and investments We need to attack this crisis We cannot let republican calls for bipartisanship deny the american people the climate action that they have been Demanding last fall americans in every corner of this country voted for climate action And right now they are holding these iou's the g.o.p. Or the gas and oil party would love nothing better than for these voters to be disillusioned by gridlock and inaction But we know better and we're going to do better because climate action is both good policy and it is good politics President biden's american rescue plan was immensely popular with americans of both parties And with independence and we got it done along party lines because the republicans refused to get serious about the challenges facing us The same principles of victory From earlier this year must guide us in this new endeavor Climate action has bipartisan support outside of congress 76 percent of americans believe that climate change is either a critical Or important threat including 74 percent of independence and 58 percent of republicans fiercer storms more drought Greater fires We're talking about an impact on the foundations of rural america and that is on our forests on our fishing and on our farming So this is not partisan. This is not urban rural This is all of america responding to a grave threat a threat that is a planetary threat And it needs to be america acting because we have the problem here in america But america acting because we need america's leadership in the world The air Is a planetary commons We have to work in partnership with the world and if we don't set the example and we don't drive the conversation No one else will So here we are at this critical question. Will we take bold action on climate infrastructure? Will we invest hugely in renewable energy into the grid? Will we upgrade that grid? Will we invest extensively in energy efficiency? And will we convert the end uses that are bit dependent upon fossil fuels? Into a system based on that renewable electricity That's from buses To cars to the heating systems of buildings to electric pickups and tractors Which are being prepared to create that economy across this country? That investment in these areas will have a profound impact On our renewable energy economy here in the united states and create millions of good paying jobs So this is about saving the planet, but it's also about a profound impact on working america again, this is not partisan and so therefore When we talk about infrastructure when the ship sails on infrastructure Energy investments cannot be left on the docks If there is no climate, there is no deal So watching this Was really nice to see this is what i have been wanting democratic party Officials to do For years now. It's what i've been advocating for on this program Actually fight back against the g.o.p. Don't allow them To frame the narrative and set the agenda Actually make the case and finally that's what they did and what ed marquis and jeff murkley are saying as well as Progressive lawmakers in the house is we're no longer going to kowtow to the demands of joe manchin It's not going to be about will he support the bill? It's going to be about whether or not we'll support this bill and give up our votes And we won't if you don't include proposals addressing climate change And that's really important. That's really really important because to support an infrastructure bill that doesn't contain Anything addressing the climate crisis It's just unreasonable. It's absurd and the so-called moderate senators Such as mit romney are saying well look if joe biden wants to address climate change He could do that in a separate bill No Why see you all can block that as well when we're talking about addressing climate change One of the key things is to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels And that requires changes to our infrastructure The way that we heat our homes the way we uh, we do a lot of things in this country So to even suggest that an infrastructure bill shouldn't have any elements Addressing climate change is absurd on its face and thankfully this is what Ed murky ed marquis and jeff murkley are saying I almost called him ed murkley. Their names are very similar Having said that though, I want to get to some of the key things here that are really important that they said so, um I like them trying to rebrand the party. The gopia is the gas and oil party This is good branding because always we hear right wingers all in unison say the same thing Oh, well, it's you know, this democratic party. They're communists. They're socialists. They're extreme They throw out all of these buzzwords that they don't even understand half the time or most of the time I should say and democrats they never push back. They always say, oh, no, we're not socialists. We're not this They're always playing defense, but they need to go on offense This is something that i've been advocating for for quite some time and by saying that the gas and oil party that is Brilliant because as ed marquis rightfully pointed out This is a bipartisan issue. It might not have bipartisan support to address climate change in congress But americans by and large Overwhelmingly want something to be done about climate change. He said climate action has bipartisan support outside of congress 76 percent of americans believe that climate change is either a critical or important threat Including 74 of independence and 58 of republicans. This is what i've been saying for years when i say make the case When you have public opinion on your side There is no reason to back down because the current political climate isn't conducive to you being successful on a particular issue And this is what i've been saying about medicare for all. I don't care that there's not enough votes to pass medicare for all When you look at public opinion polls, there is no division The american people a majority of them support medicare for all and it's because we all have experience Dealing with the private insurance industry. We have health insurance And then uh, you know, we expect to have our doctor visit covered and then we get a bill It's just we all hate our private insurance companies So what democrats need to do the ones who actually aren't beholden to their corporate donors and who actually care Uh, the progressives is they have to make the case They have to make the case and say we are the ones fighting for the american people We're the ones arguing for bipartisan legislation supported by democrats and republicans not in congress but across the country And jeff merckley chimes in saying fiercer storms more drought greater fires We're talking about an impact on the foundations of rural america And that's really important because republicans try to frame themselves as the party who's looking out for farmers and whatnot But climate change is an issue that affects everyone not necessarily equally but it affects rural america urban america It's not about rural urban So everything that i'm seeing here in short like you can sum up this entire video by saying Great job more of this. I want to see democrats fight I want to see them attack republicans and not just respond to their attacks go on the offensive Because if you're on the right side of an issue, you have nothing to be afraid of you should boldly Make your case and fight for what's right and this right here is encouraging to see more of this, please Less cowering in fear to republicans less standing down when corporate democrats speak up and more of this This is good. Please continue to do this Please be unified as a bloc in congress both the house and the senate and keep fighting republicans and your own party Because if you want to be victorious, this is what you have to do You have to make your case because you can't win if you don't even make your case. This is great. Good job I pledge allegiance To the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands One nation under god Indivisible with liberty and justice for all I know what to say to make people cheer if they're really dumb and conservative So i'm gonna feed into that that folks is what we call virtue signaling And senator ted Cruz thought that it would prove how serious he is as a person To post that himself to his twitter page And the worst part about this cringe fest is that he thought that he was being edgy By posting that he said this didn't used to be controversial He's so edgy. Are you triggered? Yes, you watching this. Are you triggered? I bet you're so mad right now Watching him pledge allegiance to the flag. I bet you hate america and watching that it just makes you so upset I mean it's just He's trying to make bootlicking seem like counterculture But what he's doing here? It's not cool. It's it's lame. It's Coldish and you look like a stupid person ted Cruz And to think that what you're doing is like edgy that makes it Exponentially more cringe than it already is and look at least when donald trump came into contact with the flag He hugged the flag. You were like super cold and distant So like judging by the way that you and trump interacted with the flag I have to deduce that trump is more patriotic than you because you didn't even hug the flag Four out of ten you tried no, but like in all seriousness I don't know what it was about flag day, but more so than ever republicans Try to prove how weird they are on flag day A newsmax had an even more bizarre segment than what ted Cruz posted to twitter And they went around interviewing people on flag day And coincided with trump's birthday. So they basically got people to say happy birthday to donald trump I don't even understand how a news organization can justify posting this without being embarrassed Nonetheless, they did june 14 flag day The day when the united states adopted the red white and blue as our official national flag and Coincidentally, it's former president donald trump's 75th birthday our james kluge went out to get birthday greetings james What's going on everyone james kluge here today is president donald trump's birthday? And we're gonna ask people in huntington beach if they have a message from today is donald trump's birthday Do you have a message from a happy happy happy birthday? And I hope I see him back. Do you have a message from? Yeah, I wish him a great birthday. I hope he's doing well. I hope with all the this public hate going on It's not getting to him and uh, he's out there killing it on the golf course happy birthday trump And I hope he comes back in 2024. Yeah, happy birthday. Mr. Trump and go out and shoot the low 70s today Happy birthday. Happy birthday. We love the guy. He's awesome. Yep, hawaii loves him. He hugs the flag That's what I love about him. Today's donald trump's birthday. Do you guys have a message from? Love you donald trump. Oh my gosh our favorite news show It's donald trump's birthday today. Do you have a message from happy birthday? Happy birthday. We miss you Oh my gosh, happy birthday donald. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. I hope you're doing well I'm not gonna wish you a happy birthday because I think you're a jerk and I think you should be in jail for all the laws that you broke what laws specifically Of course, you would ask me that For the details for the details. I don't I'm sorry. I don't have any details Sorry makes sense if you could get him one gift. What would you get him? Come back. So if we could get him one gift, what would it be? A new voting machine A new voting machine. I can't afford to buy him anything But maybe we could print out a photo of him hugging the flag raja. You could sign it. Oh, he'll sign the gift to me Yeah, I'll take that. Uh, maybe like a filet of fish from mcdonald's, you know, I know he likes mcdonald's And the big mac I know he likes that too keeps him in that perfect, um health, you know a good mickey d's delivery Oh, yeah, exactly for show. Maybe a new haircut. That's iconic though It is it is probably another golf club because I think he needs a new one What do you get for somebody who has everything a twitter account? You know what I think I would get him a bible. He may already have one But what better gift can you get someone than the word of god? Congratulations, you've proven successfully how sycophantic you are to donald trump. I hope he sees this bro I hope he sees how loyal you are. This is embarrassing and look as someone who is Uh very outspokenly in favor of uh or was outspokenly in favor of bernie sanders in 2016 and 2020 Like if I posted something like that I would be embarrassed with myself because you look foolish like it crosses From you know supporting a politician to just like worshiping a politician, but What I want to say is that that lady i'm so disappointed in the lady who said oh Well, I'm not gonna wish him a happy birthday. Like you couldn't even name one thing. Uh this lady I'm not gonna wish you a happy birthday because I think you're a jerk and I think you should be in jail for all the laws that you broke what law specifically Of course, you would ask me that For the details for the details. I don't I'm sorry. I don't have any details Really, you couldn't even name one thing. He was in violation of the emoluments clause for the entirety of his presidency He violated international laws committed war crimes the things that he did in office He should be in the haig for the rest of his life. He possibly committed Uh tax fraud and you can't even come up with one thing. Come on. God liberals. You've got to do better But the reason why i'm showing this to you is because I want you to see here This is what the right wingers in america are focusing on While they're you know posting videos of themselves saying pledge of allegiance to the flag while they're worshiping donald trump While they're focused on you know the issues that really matter like mr Potato head and cat in the hat getting canceled by their owners and uh blues clues doing pride parade stuff What we're doing on the left is actually serious things We're having real conversations about medical debt and medicare for all in our broken for-profit health care system We're talking about the student debt crisis We're talking about anthropogenic climate change and what we need to do about it in order to stop Catastrophic levels of climate change from wiping out our entire species. We're talking about actually ending us imperialism Stopping our forever wars. Stop the commodification of our democracy before it erodes democracy even further That's the things that we routinely talk about on the left like find any left-wing YouTuber or twitch streamer and go through their catalog And you'll see like some junk food content like us dunking on david rubin for saying something stupid But by and large most of our content is focused on substance But republicans they never focus on substance. They're always fixated on some culture war issue And there's a very specific reason for that. It's deliberate. It's because they don't have any solutions to the problems in this country like It's evident that there's a bevy of issues that need fixing in this country I don't care where you fall on the political spectrum. You can be a leftist. You can be a centrist You can be a right-winger. You acknowledge that there are issues in this country that need to be addressed, right? I may disagree with the solutions you propose, but nonetheless you acknowledge that there are issues Why is it that republicans never talk about the core issues? Why don't they talk about the serious things? It's because they're not serious people They're not serious people. You have republican lawmakers pushing Q and on conspiracy theories claiming that the election was stolen Fear mongering about critical race theory as if this is the biggest threat Freaking out about acceptance of lgbtq plus people Blocking the equality act from getting passed because they claim that this will lead to discrimination against religious people They're not serious while most society has moved on and the overwhelming majority of americans For example have accepted marriage equality and gay rights. They're still trying to bring us backwards It's because these are all distractions right wingers don't actually Care about anything There is no coherent right wing ideology other than to uphold the status quo What members of congress who are republicans want and a lot of democrats do to an extent to be fair Most democrats corporate democrats. They just want to make sure that their corporate donors Get what they want deregulation and tax cuts and the way that they get voters To support them even if they know that economically they're going to be fucked up or by this party Is they focus on dumb fucking issues like this because unfortunately it kind of works even if A republican just a normal republican might agree with you and i that medicare for all is something that we need They might rank that lower on the issues that they care more about So they might think well, you know what? I've heard a lot about transgender issues And it seems as if transgender people are predators because that's what newsmax and fox news told me So I should probably vote republican even if they're not going to do anything about the health crisis in america Because at least they're going to take care of this, you know, this predator issue that we have It's always something to be afraid about And look i'm not saying that scare tactics aren't a political tool that's effective and useful There are things that we need to be worried about but we should be worried about the real issues climate change People dying every single year Because they don't have health care, but these right wingers. What are they doing? Virtuous signaling about the flag members of congress holding rallies saying We're not going to wear masks. This is like the holocaust They're not serious people Well, it's happening again israel has confirmed that they have bombed gaza Breaking their ceasefire yet again Now this is a developing story as I record this the details are still scarce Having said that though, here's what I know at the time that i'm filming this as ad plus reports breaking israel confirmed It launched airstrikes on occupied gaza The attack comes weeks after israeli airstrikes in may killed over 250 palestinians and hours after israel allowed a far-right nationalist march in occupied east jerusalem Now a lot of folks who don't necessarily follow israeli politics too closely might be thinking wait I thought that benjamin then yahoo who was like the main problem is out So they have a new prime minister. So things in theory should get better, right? Well, actually no the new prime minister At best is as bad as benjamin then yahoo, but at worst Is more extreme than benjamin then yahoo a far-right extremist ethno-nationalist war criminal Yeah, there's actually a bar lower than that So as ariel gold of common dreams explains after 12 years israel finally inaugurated a new prime minister While being held by many as the opportunity for a fresh start naftali benet is at best a continuation of netting yahoo's policies And at worst an ideologue whose positions are to the right of netting yahoo's In 2013 as middle east peace talks were set to resume after a five-year freeze Bennett reportedly proclaimed to israeli national security advisor. Yaakov amit drawer I've killed lots of arabs in my life and there's no problem with that In 2014 Bennett who had previously been the director of yasha settlements counsel contradicted netting yahoo By asserting that all jewish israelis living in the west bank Even those living in outposts that violate israeli law Should remain under israeli sovereignty and called for more settlement construction This is the time to act he said we must continue building in all corners of the land of israel with determination and without being confused We are building and we will not stop in 2016 as israel's minister of education Bennett called on israeli jews to give our lives to annex the west bank While this might seem relatively innocuous. It was not Bennett's remarks invoked cahanism a jewish supremacist ideology Based on the views of rabbi mere cahan that calls for violence and terrorism to be used to secure israel as an ethno Nationalist state in 1994 israeli settler and cahan follower barush goldstein massacred palestinians in the west bank ibrahimi mosque in 1988 The kach party was banned from running for the israeli khanesid in 2004 the u.s. State department labeled kach a terrorist organization Sunday june 13th 2021 right before he was inaugurated to replace dan yahu as the prime minister of israel Bennett doubled down on his anti-palestinian views proclaiming that his government would strengthen settlements across the whole Of the land of israel. So if you thought that things were going to get better Unfortunately, that's not the case again at best. This is a continuation of the status quo But things could deteriorate further with this extremist and really the only check on his power Is he has to hold together this really broad coalition of parties? Otherwise, he's not going to remain in power. So he does kind of have that check on him But this individual is an extremist. He's not just an ethno nationalist But he is deeply theocratic and he really revealed how theocratic he is in a 2017 interview with medi hasan that medi shared The other day and this is honestly It's astounding that this person is now the prime minister You're not carving out your own country. You're withdrawing from occupied territories Which everyone in the world including israel's own supreme court regards as occupied territory. That's the problem You can't carve out stuff. It's not your own Madi, I guess what you need to do is go back and change the bible You need to change the narrative of the bible because it's all there and i assume is israel a theocracy all muslims Christians and jews I assume Hold on the supreme court of your country Let me just put the court of the supreme court here and then you respond You're finding the judaea and samaria areas are held by the state of israel in belligerent occupation That is the view of the supreme court of your country. Are you saying the bible trumps your supreme court? Is israel now a theocracy? Let me finish Billions of muslims and christians believe in the bible. I assume including yourself. I don't know If you want to uh say that our land does not belong to us I I suggest you go change the bible first come back and then show me a new bible That says that the land of israel doesn't belong to jew Well, I mean this book with talking snakes and other mythical creatures, you know three-headed beasts It says that israel belongs to us. So sorry palestinians Looks like you all have to leave your homes and uh go away It's just it's shocking like extremist after extremist keeps getting elected. It's not just a trend in israel I mean we see bolson narrow in brazil trump in the united states modi in india. There are extremists All around the world who are emerging But you know for a situation that's as volatile as this as sensitive as this you need someone who isn't as much of A provocateur. I mean, I don't know what the right word is to use Nen yahoo should be in prison for the rest of his life And this is the individual who critiqued net yahoo because he wasn't extreme enough The situation is just bad and we're seeing that things aren't changing already the ceasefire is broken So, you know, um, there's gonna be more to come on this story. I'm sure hopefully this isn't going to be a prolonged bombing campaign But all I know is that the situation is tragic and Just more will continue Unless the u.s. Government stops defending the stops being complicit in these crimes against humanity If you regain the majority in 2022 for the republicans and there's a very good chance of that happening I'll come back to the individuals in a second With the rule that you applied in 2016 to the scalia vacancy apply in 2024 to any vacancy that occurred then Well, I think in the middle of a presidential election If you have a senate of the opposite party of the president, you have to go back to the 1880s to find the last time A vacancy was filled. No, I think it's highly unlikely In fact, no, I don't think Either party if it controlled If it were different from the president would confirm a supreme court nominee in the middle of an election That what was different in 2020 was we were of the same party as the president That was said at minority leader obviously mitch mcconnell Stating what should be already apparent to people if you've been paying attention If republicans retake control of the senate in 2022 and there's a supreme court vacancy that emerges in 2024 Obviously, he's not going to fill that seat with someone joe biden nominates He's gonna hold that seat open until a republican assumes power once again And then he's going to fill the seat. It doesn't matter what the optics are He doesn't care about how hypocritical it makes him look all he cares about is power And he's effective at gaining power and even though he's disgusting and he's a liar I wish that democrats would emulate his strategy at least a little bit if they want to be somewhat effective But basically what what he's telling everyone is that it really doesn't matter what the Circumstances are what the political context is at that given moment If a democrat is in the white house and i'm in control of the senate They're not going to get a seat. I'll just make up an excuse based on whatever is convenient and um That's that this is what mitch mcconnell has been doing and what he will continue to do so long as he is the Leader of the republican party, but that was 2024. What about 2023 the same thing still applies And I think that uh mark joseph stern of slade put it best republicans will never confirm another democrat appointed supreme court judge And this is obvious like this is obvious to anyone who's been paying attention And anyone who doesn't see this and assume this is the case Is naive now when asked about the possibility of a vacancy being filled in 2023 if republicans control the senate Mitch mcconnell said well, we'd have to wait and see what happens in other words No Again, he doesn't care what the year is if it's an election year or a non-election year his goal Is to pack the supreme court with right wingers and he's already stolen two seats from democratic administrations And do you think he's gonna stop now all of a sudden because there's been a lot of backlash? He doesn't care It's mitch mcconnell So even though I think this is all obvious and the question didn't even need to be asked in order for us to learn What the answer would be What I do think is important about this story is that it's renewed calls for the supreme court to be expanded even if It seems like a long shot So as jake johnson of common dreams explains progressive calls to add seats to the us supreme court gained fresh urgency monday After republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell suggested He would block president joe biden from filling a potential high court vacancy If republicans arrest back control of the upper chamber in next year's midterms Mitch mcconnell is already foreshadowing that he'll steal a third supreme court seat If he gets the chance tweeted senator edmar quay referring to the kentucky republican's obstruction of garland As well as the gop's successful confirmation of just this amy koney barrett just eight days out from the 2020 presidential election He's done it before and he'll do it again marquis added We need to expand the supreme court marquis is the lead senate sponsor of the judiciary act of 2021 By camera legislation that aims to counter right wing dominance of the supreme court by adding four seats to the body Bringing the total to 13 But biden has thus far declined to back calls to expand the supreme court Opting instead to form a 36 member commission task with studying reform ideas including the addition of seats So put simply biden doesn't support expanding the court What he's trying to do is placate the folks who are advocating for the court to be expanded And when inevitably he doesn't do that he can at least say well, look I put some effort into it. We had this commission and um, yeah, he's giving himself plausible deniability But this commission is not going to lead to the court being expanded It's just not and uh as demand justice puts it We don't have time to wait for a commission of academics to publish a pro con list Expand the court now and that's exactly it Democrats don't really seem to grasp the implications of this far-right court being in control. They have a 6 3 majority currently So we're Possibly looking at the prospect of affirmative action being ruled unconstitutional Uh roe v. Wade being overturned This court is going to dismantle what is left of our democracy and the only way To stop right-wing court packing is to expand the size of the court There's nothing in the constitution that says it should only be nine justices But I know by now I'm preaching to the choir most people who watch this already know the importance of expanding the court The bad news is that Even though calls have been renewed to expand the supreme court, it's not going to amount to joe biden expanding the supreme court He's just he's not going to do it He's weak. He won't even stand up the people in his own party, let alone Republicans So, you know, what's going to happen is the republican dominance of our judiciary and an entire judicial system You know, not just the supreme court, but the hundreds of justices at the federal level that trump appointed They're going to dismantle any progressive reforms that actually do get through And we will continue to circle the drain as a country democracy will continue to be eroded And republican mega donors will get exactly what they want It's depressing and I don't mean to be too doomer, but if we don't take drastic action and expand the court This is what's going to happen And also we should abolish the senate as well while we're at it because abolishing the senate Will break the stronghold that right-wing states have on our entire democracy But I mean, that's a different story for a different day What matters right now for purposes of this story is expanding the supreme court Because mitch McConnell just signaled to democrats that he's going to continue to pack the courts with right-wingers And if democrats don't stand up and actually fight this by expanding the supreme court then um What's been happening will continue to happen the country will continue to be destroyed By these psychopaths who don't care about anything. They don't care about civil rights civil liberties They don't care about anything but appeasing their right-wing donors Well, the student loan debt crisis isn't going to go away anytime soon But thankfully for all of us one brave republican senator came up with a new ambitious plan dare I say too ambitious To alleviate the student loan debt of possibly dozens of people Temporarily, but nonetheless dozens of people. Wow. So, uh, here's what that is the guardian reports Marco rubio wants to pause student debt But only to terrorism survivors Florida senator introduced a bill to provide a one-year pause for victims to get back on their feet Now his office didn't bother to clarify how this legislation will define a terror attack But nonetheless, I mean this is incredibly generous And I don't want to say that he's a hero just yet for proposing this But it's kind of heroic if you think about this and the only question is Who's going to help more people? Marco rubio with this plan or Kamala Harris with her plan Now for those of you who don't remember what she proposed when she was running for president This was her plan to alleviate student debt She wanted to establish a student loan debt forgiveness program for Pell Grant recipients who start a business that operates for three years in disadvantaged communities Folks, I mean all of these innovative new ideas that are being proposed. They could possibly help dozens of people Not even a hundred, but I mean we're talking dozens of people This is this is incredible. It's inspiring Now, of course, I'm being facetious because these plans are dog shit, but it reminds me of Nathan for you and somebody shared this on twitter and I wish I could credit them But I don't remember who said it but basically they compared this to a skit that Nathan for you did Where he was selling $1 TVs But the catch was that you had to wear a tuxedo Crawl through a tiny door and go past a hungry alligator in order to get the tv I mean does that not sound kind of like these student loan programs? We keep seeing get proposed where the eligibility for debt relief Is so small that the amount of people who this is going to impact I mean, obviously it's not going to make a dent in the overall student debt crisis But nonetheless these folks propose these laughable almost insultingly bad student debt relief programs And I guess they want to be commended for it. It's just It's laughable It's just laughable. Now the responses to Marco Rubio's plan. They were great This person says congratulations to Marco Rubio for literally doing the least that he could possibly do to address the student loan crisis This meme I think was perfect me drowning in student loan debt one year deferral of federal student loans if I survive a terror attack Yep, and I'm still drowning Folks, this is the state of american politics. We will put your student loans on pause for one year If every day you put on clown makeup and wear a clown wig And you make at least 10 farts a day and you record them and submit proof that you farted 10 times And all on top of that you deliver ice cream to five people of your choice once per week. This is stupid This is clown shit But since we're talking about student loans I think that there's a really important reminder published in Teen Vogue by Braxton Brewington And he says biden could cancel student loan debt right now by signing an executive order and we're not talking about him canceling $10,000 or pausing it for a year. We're talking about wiping it out entirely for 100 of student loan holders He goes on to explain when the department of education was first given the power to issue student loans It was also granted the power to compromise wave or release any right to collect on them An authority known as compromise and settlement Essentially, the biden administration can suspend the collection of student debt altogether and poof Tens of millions of americans would be student loan debt free It'd be like waving a magic wand except the wand isn't magic It's a legitimate legal authority vested in the department of education by congress So far biden has offered nothing but stall tactics requesting in april that education secretary miguel cardona Draw up a memo about his legal authority to cancel student debt via executive order a power senate majority leader chuck schumer senator elizabeth warren and other high profile lawmakers have already concluded exists Let's be clear this authority has existed for some time Former president trump used his authority three times to suspend payments and student loan interest during the pandemic Our evidence that biden's request for a memo detailing his legal authority on power that's already been used is unnecessary And because student debt is racially regressive black borrowers A 100 percent more in student debt than white borrowers four years after graduating Canceling this that would drastically narrow a widening racial wealth gap closing the black white wealth gap for student loan borrowers By more than 25 percentage points almost two-thirds of student debt is held by women Who often struggle to pay back loans after being systematically underpaid in the workforce Raw scale cancellation would largely benefit our veterans Farmers teachers public defenders and countless other professionals that often need to have costly degrees Yet lack adequate pay and on top of that perhaps the most obvious thing Is that think of how many young people will be excited by this democrats? They're gonna have a turnout problem come 2022 But is there a better way to excite the youth than by canceling their student debt? People would think oh wow well if democrats did this for me if joe biden specifically did this for me Perhaps they could do more If they retain control of both chambers of congress of congress, but i mean It doesn't seem like this is likely what biden proposed at least like what he ran on when he was still a candidate Was canceling $10,000 maximum of student debt only if If it goes through congress and the fact that biden requested a memo from the education secretary About whether or not he has the legal authority to cancel student debt I mean as the article points out, this is nothing more than stalled tactics So what needs to happen is not these laughable clown Proposals just cancel student debt. First of all the u.s. Government holds most of the student debt It's not like they even have to like buy this out from private holders I mean that's going to be the case for some of it, but this will be very easy for them to just delete it all Unshackle an entire generation from this burden that the previous generation did not deal with So um, you know, it's still possible, but i'm not going to hold my breath Meanwhile until there's actually a real solution. We're going to get Dumb proposals like the one from marco rubio Where if you survive a terror attack You get your debt at least paused for a year. I mean How kind how merciful of these u.s senators they definitely care about average people Folks, I just have to say that our little marjorie green is growing up so fast She's finally becoming a big girl politician And she issued her very first public apology. This is really heartwarming to see So initially what happened was she said that mask mandates are like the holocaust She then doubled down tripled down and then denied having said what was said on television And now after some weeks of soul searching being introspective, she's coming out with an apology and she's saying What I said was actually wrong now the way that she says it was a little bit sus nonetheless She did apologize. Take a look Important for me to always be transparent and and honest And I just want to tell you all I'm I'm really really lucky uh, I was blessed with I am blessed with amazing parents And my dad just passed away in april But I will say he taught me some great things and one of the best lessons that my father always taught me Was when you make a mistake you should own it And I have made a mistake and it's really bothered me for a couple of weeks now And so I definitely want to own it this afternoon. I visited the holocaust museum the holocaust is There's nothing comparable to it. It's it's It happened and you know over six million Jewish people were murdered more than that. There were not just jewish people black people christians all kinds of children people that that the nazis didn't believe were good enough or perfect enough and the horrors of the holocaust are something that Some people don't even believe happened and some people deny but there is no comparison to the holocaust And there are words that I have said remarks that I've made that I know are offensive and for that I want to apologize And I am I am just fine and very glad to be able to come out here and do that because I believe it's important I believe that if we're going to leave we need to be able to leave in a way Where if we've messed up it's very important for us to say we're sorry Okay Now one thing that's incorrect is she says i'm just a normal person No, I get that what she's trying to say is look we all make mistakes and i'm no different But you're not a normal person like you're dumber than the average person So that's just one thing that needed to be corrected The question is okay if you're apologizing for this what you should apologize for Are you going to apologize for comparing democrats to nazis because she also did that as well So she was asked this question after your visit to the holocaust museum today earlier during recess You compared democrats to the national socialist workers party Is that something you still stand by after you reflected on everything that the nazi party did This was literally her answer to that. You know socialism is extremely dangerous And so is communism and anytime a government moves into policies where there's more control and there's freedoms taken away Yes, that's a danger for everyone And and I think that's something that we should all be wary of Anytime that you have things like sense censorship with social media You know anytime where we have things being taught where one race is being told it's racist like critical race theory Those are problems These are things that we're seeing and policies coming out of the democrat party that I think are dangerous for everyone And and that's why I'm against them and and I'll I'll never stop saying I'm very much Very much on track and I'll never stop saying we have to save america and stop socialism There's no veteran that signed up to serve in the military And there's nobody that fought for our country because they wanted america to be a socialist country They all did it because they wanted america to be a free country So in other words since she didn't directly address that head on Um She does stand by her comment comparing the democratic party to nazis Even if she thinks that mask mandates aren't like the holocaust and that reporter says so you still stand by the analogy She responded by saying that's the important thing to remember. Thank you guys so much. We got the head out to vote so She's just like They're asking a question and she just gives whatever answer she wants to even if it's unrelated to the question Uh, but what's interesting about that? Non-answer is that she finally gave us a little bit of insight into what Her definition of socialism is not that like we all get to choose our own definitions, but what she believes socialism is and her definition of socialism is social media censorship And critical race theory This is what marjorie green a lawmaker a grown woman thinks socialism is First of all something That is unilaterally carried out by private companies Love them or hate them agree with it or disagree with it by definition isn't socialistic Censorship by facebook like twitter banning trump that isn't socialism It's really not that complicated It means workers own the means of production and you could factor in, you know public ownership Of a lot more entities more, you know intervention within the economy Sure, I think that that's all perfectly Relatable to socialism, but at the end of the day It means workers own the means of production. It doesn't mean Censorship from facebook and twitter you fucking moron and if she's going to consider Ship as like one of the defining characteristics of socialism state governments across the country are cracking down On the right of us citizens to engage in bts. Are you going to condemn that socialism marjorie green? Are you going to condemn the laws republicans are passing around the country like in florida Where they are making it easier to legally run over protesters? That obviously is an attempt to stifle freedom of speech. Are you going to condemn that socialism marjorie green? So I mean like it doesn't matter how much she tries She still gets everything she says wrong like she takes Two steps forward and 18 steps backwards This person should not be in congress This person is not very bright and that's an understatement. So I mean regardless take it or leave it She apologized for a one aspect of her offensive comment, but then She let us know again in a million different ways how stupid she is and it's just like if i'm a republican I'm running far away from this individual. I don't want her to represent me, but um this This is what the party loves. I mean, this is the future of the republican party I wouldn't be surprised if marjorie green in the coming years was a prominent contender in a presidential race so it's just This is what the republican party is they've embraced their stupidity And it's not surprising considering this party has pandered to people just like marjorie green for decades now I mean, they shouldn't be too surprised that the crazies have taken over their party if she really wants to do better She should try to just like not say anything because she's gonna open her mouth and idiotic things are inevitably going to come out So just like stop saying things stop stop putting yourself out there And maybe maybe come back think harder before you make statements And you might be a little bit less of an embarrassment to yourself, but she's not going to take my advice I'm just a crazy socialist. So whatever So I've got a quick video for you just to share some unexpected good news whistleblower reality winner will in fact be leaving prison finally She's leaving a little bit early and she's not necessarily free yet, but she's being transferred from prison To a halfway house. So for more details, we've got a julia connolly of common dreams who explains Press freedom advocates were among those celebrating the release of former national security agency contractor reality winner on monday After her attorney announced winner had been transferred from federal prison to a halfway house Alison grinter allen winners lawyer said the legal team is continuing to pursue a full pardon from president joe biden Winner's release was not part of a commutation But it was the result of time earned from exemplary behavior while incarcerated According to grinter allen who added that san antonio's residential reentry management field office May allow winner to serve the rest of her time in home confinement The residential reentry center is in charge right now and will manage her transition But we are definitely still seeking commutation and pardon the attorney said in a tweeted statement The fight continues and i'll still be taking meetings in washington to press forward the case for commutation and pardon But the family will be stepping back to concentrate on reality and her health and healing winner Who worked at fort gordon in georgia as a contract with pluribus international was arrested in 2017 after federal law enforcement agents Determined she had given a secret document about russian hackers Targeting the us election system to reporters at the intercept She was charged under the espionage act and took a plea deal which included a five-year prison sentence Which she is scheduled to finish serving on november 23rd of 2021 the freedom of the press foundation said winners release from federal prison was long overdue Yeah, and i totally agree with that sentiment there I don't have much to add I just wanted to quickly share the good news with you But i just want to state because you can never really overstate this We have to protect whistleblowers not just individuals like reality winner But also edward snowden chelsea manning and thankfully chelsea manning was pardoned by obama But she basically went back to jail because she wouldn't rat on julien assange And even though julien assange isn't technically a whistleblower per se He's a publisher of a lot of leaks and individuals may not like what he publishes particularly liberals And it might not necessarily be politically expedient to you know advocate for these folks right now I mean when I asked my senator a question about julien assange at a town hall I heard like audible gasp because his name was like To bring it up was as if you know, I mentioned Voldemort at hogwarts. It's it's ridiculous We have to make sure that we are protecting whistleblowers because the information that they release that they believe The american people should know about oftentimes Is to our benefit even if the united states government wants to withhold that information from us And there's a piece in jack bin that explains how daniel elsberg what he did what he released as a whistleblower He basically is responsible in part for ending the vietnam war So it's really important that we look out for whistleblowers and we never stop advocating for them So that's all i'll say what reality winner did here in releasing this information. It was important It wasn't necessarily with regard to what the u.s government did But it's what they didn't want us to know she revealed information That says there was an attempt by the russian government to hack into voting systems They were not successful But she believed that this information Was important and she wanted to put that out there for her to be penalized for this In my opinion. It's it's absurd. So i'll leave that there. This is fantastic news We have to continue to look out for and advocate for whistleblowers And we can never stop the pressure. We have to make sure that these folks are protected from prosecution and Yeah, that's it. That's that's all that, you know, you can really say about this. This is really good news It's encouraging to see and of course one of those good news I feel inclined to share it This is one of those instances where we get a bit of good news Even though she should have never served time in the first place, but i'll take it So a couple of weeks ago in the program we looked at a poll from the Democratic party primary taking place in ohio for a special election And it showed that nina turner had a massive lead over everyone else Her closest opponent shantel brown was like 35 points behind her now Of course, it's not a foregone conclusion But obviously nina turner is doing really well So of course, you know what that means the democratic party establishment is going to try to stop her as i predicted And they're bringing out the big guns and by big guns I mean their special weapon Hillary clinton So hillary clinton came out of hiding to endorse nina turner's Opponent in a pathetic attempt to sink nina turner's campaign tweeting I'm proud to endorse shantel brown for congress in ohio's special election shantel made history as the first black woman to chair her county democratic party And she'll work to help her state and our country recover from covid join me in supporting her Now let me remind you that the last time hillary clinton came out of hiding to try to stop progressive from winning Was when elliot engel was caught on hot mic at a black lives matter rally saying I wouldn't be here if I wasn't facing a primary challenge I'm paraphrasing but that was what he said. It was this pr nightmare and it looked as if he kind of Sunk his own campaign So hillary clinton comes out of hiding to endorse him after he says that What happened jamal bowman won and if anything her endorsement of jamal bowman's opponent helped jamal bowman because what happened Everyone rallied behind jamal bowman sent him money and this is no different We all need to make sure that we show hillary clinton that we don't care about her input and uh We're going to use her endorsement of shantel brown nina turner's opponent to further help nina turner by donating to nina turner If you've already donated to nina turner, you could purchase merch You can do whatever make a phone calls for nina turner But show hillary clinton that she's irrelevant in modern democratic party politics And we don't care what she has to say and honestly if i'm shantel brown I would not be happy right now that hillary clinton endorsed me because in the past This has kind of been the kiss of death once hillary clinton comes out to endorse you It shows that you're desperate and she's not very popular Even within the democratic party. This is the individual who is in part responsible For donald trump and multiple supreme court seats going to the republican party for decades So i mean she doesn't have much goodwill left But what little she has she continues to squander by coming out of hiding to only endorse The opponents to progressives when progressives specifically are doing well It's honestly embarrassing like if i were hillary clinton I wouldn't want this to be my legacy like i wouldn't want to be seen As this figure in the party that tries to stop grass roots momentum But here we are and honestly like i forgot that hillary clinton existed before she came out to endorse shantel brown And it was really nice But it's funny because it reminded me how The left just doesn't take hillary clinton seriously So i want to share some of the responses christo avalice writes if anyone was unsure about their vote This should 100 put them in the nina turner camp and that's exactly right scott desneuers writes Thank you for real this time hillary omg it is so awesome for this blazing endorsement for the working people to get behind nina turner Basically, i mean her endorsement of nina turner's opponent is an endorsement Of nina turner for normal people A kiss of death totally agree. It's a d plus 64 district lol Benjamin dixon writes we good david ol says lol Nathan and mesa donated to nina turner doing his part. Thank you for that Donna martin says still petty as fuck. I see Gato fumador says thanks hill dog I mean this is just it goes on and on It's hilarious to me. You're a sad pathetic person to want to do this Um, you know for her to come out of the woodwork It's just to endorse the opponent of a progressive is embarrassing Andrea says thank you queen for sinking her candidacy. I mean the responses here are hilarious and it goes on and on So, I mean there you have it hillary clinton might have single-handed lee Sealed the fate of nina turner's opponent It's just any time There's somebody who was an ally to bernie sanders or has the same politics as bernie sanders because she's still bitter She's coming out to endorse them and I don't know that hillary clinton like did this on her own accord I'm sure that the ohio democratic party establishment called on her and requested her support But if you are a politician in 2021 you should stay as far away from hillary clinton as possible because how many campaigns Has she sank at this point like you think that they know by now That hillary clinton is a toxic figure that you don't want to be associated with but nevertheless Here we are and I welcome hillary clinton's support of nina turner's opponent. Go donate to nina turner So after joe manchin announced that he was in opposition to the for the people act You had a lot of progressives finally speak up and condemn him You had aoc on cnn called out his coke brother connection You had jamal bowman say that he's the new mitch mcconnell and now this week democratic party leadership They're telling progressives hold back a little bit. We don't want you being too mean to joe manchin This is very irritating to me. So political reporter sarah ferris reports schumer and pelosi have been urging democrats Not to go after manchin and company when it comes to voting rights Schumer told outside groups not to bully manchin ahead of s1 vote And pelosi told steering members not to criticize individual senators. So right off the bat. This irritates me because If you don't name and shame these people, I don't know what else is going to work I'm not saying that like being very abrasive and argumentative is going to pay off But I know that being polite trying to hold hands and sing kumbaya with folks like kirsten cinema and joe manchin That hasn't paid off. So this right here. They're basically saying We should coddle joe manchin because we don't want you to be too mean We don't want to scare him away and this is just really frustrating to me So for more on this we go to the scoop from sarah ferris And it reads liberals have been unleashing their rowing frustration at senator joe manchin Over his opposition to their party's signature voting rights package ahead of an expected senate vote next week But for now at least top democrats are urging their members to hold their fire as manchin remains a holdout on s1 Senate majority leader chuck schumer is telling outside groups not to try to bully manchin But to instead focus on the historical and factual arguments related to the legislation According to sources familiar with his remarks Oh, i'm sure that's going to resonate when his donors are telling him otherwise in a private meeting monday night speaker Nancy Pelosi also advised lawmakers not to vilify individual senators on the issue according to several people who attended While she did not single out manchin by name multiple democrats said they believed she was referring to manchin The only senate democrat to publicly denounce his opposition to s1 The call to back off comes amid fierce criticism of manchin from progressive groups and fellow democrats in congress They're also upset with the west virginian for defending the filibuster and insisting on a bipartisan infrastructure bill Representative jamal bowman recently called the west virginia senator the new mitch mcconnell earlier this week Representative alexandria akatsu cortez said she doesn't buy manchin's calls for bipartisanship on voting matters And speculated that his opposition is more likely tied to his wariness of democrat's effort to rein in dark money Manchin remains unmoved by all of this his resistance to the elections bill came into focus again tuesday He skipped a senate democratic lunch where a group of texas lawmakers urged passage of s1 And warned of the gop's efforts to restrict voting access manchin staff did meet with the group Though a source familiar said the texas group did not request a meeting with the senator until the day of their visit Now also reportedly joe manchin is peeved not their words, but mine That progressives and people around the country think that they know what's better for west virginia than he knows What's better for west virginia? except That assumes that joe manchin just is making this decision Individually after doing research after reading the bill, but that's not what's happening He's literally opposing the bill because the coke brothers and their network They're lobbying him to do just that So that's why I find this extremely naive and and quite frankly stupid if democrats actually want to get this passed Like democratic party leadership. Nancy Pelosi chuck schumer because you're not going to win him over By talking to him more politely and cuddling him and trying to butter him up The reason he's opposed to this in the first place Is because he's corrupt and the only way I think that you can actually get him to break is if you call out the specific root cause That's driving his unwillingness to support something that he supported back in 2019 and that is this link With the coke network the lobbying that they're doing he's literally reciting their talking points they're running this effort to uh basically get politicians to reject the partisanship in dc and what does he say says reasoning for opposing the for the people act Oh, it's too partisan. No republicans supported, right? But they didn't support it back in 2019 that didn't stop you from co-sponsoring it back then So, I mean the specific issue here Is the corruption that is why he's unwilling to support it So I don't think that being nice Is going to get him to change his mind when money talks So I think that this weakness right here Aside from the corruption of Nancy Pelosi herself and Chuck schumer himself That's part of the reason why democrats are so ineffectual when it comes to governance because republicans no matter what it doesn't matter what the political context is How feasible a policy is whether or not it will or won't get passed They just scream at the top of their lungs belligerently so and they forcefully Advocate for what they want regardless of how unpopular it may be And democrats they're so afraid They're walking on egg shells around these conservatives and their party and as a result They're unwillingness to take a stand It's going to lead to them losing everything. I mean if they don't pass the for the people act This is going to lead to democrats losing. I mean in republican controlled states across the country They are cracking down on voting rights Specifically, they're undoing the things that drove higher voter turnout in 2020 And if democrats think that they're going to be able to win future elections easily If these laws don't get overturned if they don't pass the for the people act They're horribly mistaken and the for the people act is not a panacea Like it's not going to be the end. I'll be all that saves american democracy But is it a step in the right direction and will that at least undo all of the damage caused Around the country driven by the stop the steal hysteria to crack down on voting rights. Yes So, I mean if their strategy here of calling Joe Manchin works Okay, great, but this strategy of being weak and spineless has never paid off for democrats And I don't think that's going to happen now. So it's really frustrating that they're trying to basically forcefully get Democrats who are fighting for people finally to shut up to censor themselves When they condemn Ilhan Omar, they go after progressives all the time. It's just it's really hypocritical. It's unfair And it's frustrating. I hope that democrats like Jamal Bowman AOC They don't take advice of leadership And they just do what I think is actually going to work Or at least what hasn't really been tried naming and shaming because that's why Joe Manchin is against the for the people act It's because he's corrupt not because he's taking some principled stance based on research and evidence. He's corrupt Simply put He's bot He's being lobbied and it's working That's it. Don't pretend as if he's this like honest good faith actor How would it be if the united states were viewed by the rest of the world? As interfering with the elections directly of other countries And everybody knew it. I kind of feel like somebody should tell Joe Biden about the united states' history of supporting regime change imperialist wars I mean, obviously his comment there. It lacked self-awareness to a humiliating extent Having said that they're like putting that aside for a moment I do have to give Joe Biden credit where it's due because he is supporting something that I did not expect him to ever support Given his hawkish and militaristic history He supports the repeal of a law that basically has been used to legally justify our never-ending wars And this is not something I anticipated So as Andrea Germanos of common dreams explains Just ahead of senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announcing a vote on repealing the iraq war authorization later this year The white house this week declared its support for legislation to end the 2002 measure A development welcomed by democratic lawmakers and progressive groups that have demanded an end to endless wars at issue Is representative barber lee's hr 256 which would repeal the authorization for use of military force against a rock resolution of 2002 That passed in the wake of the september 11 attacks the repeal measure whose supporters now include even right wing groups like americans for prosperity Has 134 bipartisan cosponsors the house is set to vote on the bill thursday in a statement of administrative policy released monday Announcing support for hr 256 the biden administration said the united states has no ongoing military activities that rely solely On the 2002 a umf as a domestic legal basis and repeal of the 2002 a umf Would likely have minimal impact on current military operations The statement also declares president joe biden's commitment to working with congress on repealing and replacing other existing Authorizations of military force lee called it great news that biden has on board with my legislation to repeal the 2002 a umf which congress will vote on this week. This is a long overdue step toward ending our forever war. She tweeted I have to say credit where it's due he gets All the credit in the world for this if he signs this into law honestly in the event this were to pass congress I don't know if it's going to pass the senate. I assume it's going to pass the house But if it got through congress and it arrived on joe biden's desk The question of whether or not he'd signed that to me was up in the air I don't know if he would veto it. So when congress actually For the first time ever enacted the war powers act to stop us complicity with saudi's genocide in yemen trump vetoed that bill And since all presidents tend to you know Continue our forever wars I kind of expected joe biden to this do the same thing and be against this because I wouldn't expect him To want to rein in his legal authority to unilaterally wage war without the consent of congress You know, uh, he why would he make it any more difficult for himself to do that given his history of hawkishness But he proved me wrong And that's a damn good thing. I am happy to be proven wrong here in this regard now It remains to be seen How precisely this is going to impact us imperialism It's not going to end us imperialism Right But one thing that worries me is the line from biden's administration Where he says that we don't necessarily need this to legally justify our current military activities So I mean, I don't I don't necessarily know if this will change anything. Will this Not give Him the legal justification to do drone wars. I don't necessarily know like the extent to which biden is waging drone drone wars That's yet to be seen. We have to wait on reports for that We know that obama ramped it up and then ramped them down and then trump took over and ramp them up higher than ever before So I don't know if they're using that to justify drone wars I don't know The extent to which this is going to change our occupation of the middle east like right away Like a lot of questions kind of remain unanswered because if he says that We're not really using this currently. What is that? What does that mean? Right in particular? What does this mean in practice? What is it going to amount to? But having said that though the fact that he's on board and he's not going to veto this and he supports it That is really really great It is a huge step forward in ending forever wars in the united states So i'm i'm very pleased to see this and it's pleasantly surprising to see him support this even if overall You know, he's still a little bit tone deaf when it comes to the history of us imperialism But this is a step in the right direction finally after A very long time almost two decades All right, so i'm going to preface this segment by saying I think that to compare individuals like marjorie green to any member of the squad is Stupid it's a false equivalence obviously because marjorie green is A deeply deeply unserious conspiracy theorist who has no policy solutions Whereas the squad the reason why they're controversial unlike marjorie green is because they're proposing policies That are bold that the donors of a lot of democrats and republicans Don't want past so that's why These folks are different But they still get compared because they're basically seen by the mainstream media as the far left and the far right Of both parties and that may technically be true from the standpoint of like the u.s. Overton window But still I don't necessarily think that marjorie green is that different from the republican party collectively Having said that though, I do want to look at this poll from morning consult because they examined controversial remarks from Marjorie green and ilhan ohmar I don't think that what she said was controversial obviously i'm biased and in the camp of ilhan ohmar But still this poll even if I don't like the comparison It was really interesting because it highlights how tribalistic The republican party's base is so the title basically sums it all up Voters are slightly more likely to see anti-semitism in ilhan ohmar's latest comments if they know She made them so here's the quick summary by ilai yokeley the share of g.o.p voters who see anti-semitism and representative ilhan ohmar's remarks Comparing u.s israeli afghani actions to those taken by hamas and the taliban Increases 11 percentage points when the mini apollus democrats name is attached 11 percentage points that folks is statistically significant now democratic voters were slightly less responsive than republicans To the lawmakers name and party affiliation when it came to controversial tweets from ohmar and representative marjorie taylor green 49 of democrats hold unfavorable views of green compared with 57 of republicans who view ohmar Unfavorably, so let's just step back disregard that last portion and we'll tackle that later But democrats according to this poll the sample size is just under 2000 They are more likely to form their opinion based on The substance not based on who said it This is really fascinating So here's the breakdown Voters were asked whether the following tweets were anti-semitic or not anti-semitic With half of respondents seeing the names and party of the lawmakers who said them and the other half seeing only the statement So here's the statement from ilhan ohmar. We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the u.s. Hamas israel afghanistan and the taliban I don't know how this can be seen as anti-semitic But it turns out um most people who don't know that ilhan ohmar said this tend to agree So the voters who did not know who said this 41 percent said it was not anti-semitic. That's a plurality 27 percent said they don't know and only 31 percent said that they think that that statement was anti-semitic now with identification 35 percent Of voters if they knew that ilhan ohmar said it said that it was anti-semitic Now it's still the case that most voters that is a plurality Said that it was not anti-semitic even though they knew it came from ilhan ohmar But still that is uh very interesting now when you base it on party affiliation So when it comes to democrats without identification 31 percent said that that comment was anti-semitic and 42 percent said it was not anti-semitic But with identification Democrats were less likely to say that it was anti-semitic So, you know, you see a little bit of a change when they realize it's from someone like ilhan ohmar Who's a good faith actor who democrats obviously are going to more likely approve of but now here's where it gets really interesting to me So when you look at republicans without identification 40 percent say that it's not anti-semitic 36 percent say that it is anti-semitic. So most republicans of plurality think that it's not anti-semitic However, when you would tell people that it's ilhan ohmar 47 percent now say that it is indeed Anti-semitic in other words when you tell republicans that ilhan ohmar someone that they don't like Made this comment then they think okay. Yeah, that's definitely bad. Okay. Now. Let's look at marjorie green So she made this comment vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the nazis forced jewish people to wear a gold star Obviously anti-semitic now all voters without identification. They thought that this was anti-semitic a majority thought it was anti-semitic Without identification with identification. They were less likely to say that it was anti-semitic. So that's kind of interesting When you look at democrats without identification 64 percent thought it was anti-semitic And more people thought that it was anti-semitic when they found out it was from marjorie green So that's a pretty big jump, but let's look at republicans So without identification a majority of republicans saw marjorie green's comments as anti-semitic But with identification less people thought that it was anti-semitic So let's pause for a moment because that's a lot of information. Um, basically the takeaway Simply put is that republicans Are more tribalistic democrats are still tribalistic But republicans are much more tribalistic according to the results of this poll So they will have an opinion of something but that opinion will change based on who said it And this is really fascinating to me because what I want like the goal Is to have people form opinions based on evidence statistics data but What you see here is that republicans are going to change their opinion on something Based on who said it like the political identity Really influences people's opinions of a particular statement and this really reminds me of an old segment I think it was on the jimmy kimmel show where they asked people like they went around and they said Listen, what do you prefer more the affordable care act or obama care? And a lot of people were just like, yeah, I like the affordable care acts and they were asking why Well, it's more equitable, you know, obama, you know, he made obama care. That's bad Now obviously the affordable care acts and obama care This is the same thing but people didn't know it but because obama was associated with obama care more explicitly People were less likely to want to support it because they hear obama bad So they just like have this visceral response to obama care. So that's what this reminds me of You know, it's like republicans initially they say Well, that doesn't seem anti-semitic But then, you know, uh, if they know that ilhan omar said it, they're more likely to say, yeah, that's definitely anti-semitic It's truly fascinating. Now one last thing I want to look at here So republicans more likely to dislike omar than democrats are to dislike green So overall electorate holds similar views of both members. Now, this is a little bit depressing to me So all voters their opinion of ilhan omar Is mostly negative. It's net unfavorable Whereas when it comes to marjorie green She has a slightly lower favorability But not as high as an unfavorability as ilhan omar So ilhan omar definitely triggers this like negative reaction in a lot of american voters And I think that a lot of this has to do with her being the only member of congress Who wears a hijab? I think it's islamophobia But on top of that, I do think it's also perceived extremism that is shoved down the throats of americans by mainstream media But independence so they tend to Like marjorie green more Than ilhan omar according to this poll and I won't lie that Kills my soul. It kind of makes me lose faith in humanity Um, but it just goes to show you how brainwashed people are again ilhan omar and Marjorie green to even like speak it that speak about them In the same sentence. It's it's absurd because there's no comparison. These individuals are incredibly dissimilar One is a serious lawmaker another is a clown But having said that though perception is a reality And when you are brainwashed when you hear constantly how extreme these individuals are Even if you don't necessarily watch fox news if you're not high off the fox news kool aid I mean still you're going to hear about the extremism of ilhan omar and so You know, you might not hear it directly, but you might hear it second hand You know, someone who does watch fox news might say, oh, I don't like the squad. They're they're super extreme So, I mean that that stuff works. So, um Yeah, very interesting to say the least And here's why because we live in an abundant society We live in a place where you could have literally weed delivered to your front door. It's like what and somehow Oh, that's liberty. No, that's actually slavery That was turning point USA founder charlie kirk comparing weed delivery services To slavery If you did a double take You weren't alone because even for charlie kirk like that's that's a bit extreme, right? I mean, I know that he's Out there. He has some really cringe beliefs. He was a big stop the steel guy, but even for him. That's That's a bit crazy So I actually had to check to make sure that he wasn't taken out of context or he wasn't being facetious But no, he actually said that with a straight face Because he meant it although He did realize how silly he sounded So as salon writer Zachary Petrizzo explains turning point USA founder charlie kirk Who is currently fighting off an FAC complain over his group's refusal to disclose its donors made the remarks on friday While speaking at tp usa's annual young women's leadership summit in dallas texas We live in a place where you can have literally weed delivered to your front door It's like what and somehow. Oh, that's liberty kirk said according to video of the speech posted online The pro trump pundit then added no, that's actually slavery. So stupid upon the completion of his initial rift Kirk began to backtrack on his statement. That's actually uh, okay That's actually a form of slavery for media matters watching kirk stated That's a form. It's a form of being It's a form of being subservient to something that actually Controls you that's not you being free a tp usa spokesperson didn't immediately return a salon request for comment on kirk's remarks Even though he did a little bit of backtracking and damage control. It's still deeply deeply stupid Having weed delivered to your doorstep. Not only is that extremely based That is quite literally Liberty to ban that would not be like the promotion of freedom That's like backwards mental gymnastic logic that you're using to like justify banning something because you don't like it Oh, well, it controls you it controls your mind. So like I don't like it ban it. I mean you could literally apply that logic to everything Pornography, which he probably wants to ban as well. Uh, you know, not just weed but alcohol it's obviously A fact that you are more free if you are able to engage in things Like smoking pot watching pornography That's up to you as an individual and to take that away means you are against liberty But in his weird mind. No, no, no, see it's bad. I don't like it So if we take that away from people we're actually giving them more freedom because they're not controlled by the substance smart I mean, it doesn't matter like whatever they say They're always going to frame it in a certain way no matter how clownish it appears So they literally will be against legalizing recreational pot use for adults And then they'll frame that as I don't know we're in favor of liberty because it controls you Dude, fuck off. That's not how liberty works dummy. That's not the way that liberty works The standard is if somebody is an adult and they know the dangers of something which I mean weed is not Dangerous but something like alcohol for example in cigarettes if they know the dangers They should be allowed to do that consenting adults should be allowed to do what they want between one another so long As they're not hurting anyone else not hurting society But these folks who claims to be about freedom and liberty like the opposite is actually true And it's not just the issue of legalization of recreational pot. It's also abortion Well, we support freedom and liberty, but we also want to ban abortion We literally want to tell women what they can can't do with their own body like imagine if It was a crime to jerk off because all of those dead babies that you just skied it into a sock That's like genocide like imagine if they applied that logic to themselves It'd be stupid and twisted, right? They also want to make sure that trans people can't use the bathroom of their choice They can't play in school sports if they're young they want to make sure that gay people can't be married I mean, I don't know what his stance on LGBTQ plus marriages, but I'd imagine that he was a little culture warrior So, you know, it frustrates me that they really want to have it both ways They really want you to think that they support freedom and liberty while they fight to take away civil rights civil liberties I don't know if he supports the patriot act and whatnot. Um, I can't think of a better liberty than actually living But I bet he supports wars It's just it's so frustrating like this is Orwellian this is George Orwell's America like this is what he wrote about it was about war being peace Freedom is slavery and ironically they cite George Orwell to argue that it's actually leftists who are Orwellian. It's just Everything is upside down and it's because of folks like him who literally are arguing that it's slavery It's not free to get weed delivered to your door You're a clown Charlie Kirk and nobody should take you seriously but millions of people who do take you seriously um, I hope that Someday they come to their senses because that logic right there That's dumb. That's not smart So I want to pick up where we left off last week We were having this conversation about corporate rainbow washing of lgbtq plus pride And I discussed how irritating it was to me that all of these large multi billion dollar corporations are changing their logos to Rainbows in order to celebrate pride as they literally donate to anti lgbtq plus politicians Like it's it's absolutely infuriating It's hypocritical and I hate it, right? But there is honestly a difference between some companies and others like mcdonald's for example when they change Their logo to a rainbow flag That's offensive to me, but it's less offensive than companies like bowing Changing their logos to you know, the rainbow flag or atheon because you're literally manufacturing bombs that we're murdering Children with in the middle east of north africa. So like sit this one out when we're talking about civil rights just Stay silent because we don't want your support. We reject your support Again, don't speak for every single lgbtq plus person But I think that obviously a murderous company Like I don't want your endorsement. I reject your endorsement I think that most people would agree with that sentiment But like that in my opinion racy on bowing human rights abusers are the ones that are the most egregious Who really should shut the fuck up about pride and we have a new uh contender in the uh realm of rainbow washing That spoke up and this one was just It was beyond the veil for me. So ice. Yes that ice that Torments immigrants tweeted out during pride month. We recognize our lgbtq plus employees Reflect on the trials that their community has endured and rejoice with them in the triumphs of those who have bravely fought and continue to fight for full equality Okay, so the first thing you're gonna notice is uh that ratio. Oof. That's a big ratio But ice is uh is tweeting this out the american gestapo is tweeting this out I mean, I don't even know where to begin But thankfully I didn't have to formulate a response because I mean my my reaction was just to feel Disgusted at this but the left they absolutely did not hesitate They pounced and they dragged ice for this because if anyone is gonna talk about human rights and pride The last should be ice. This person says simply get fucked you pieces of shit totally agree Uh this shoe and they point to an article from rolling stone That reads a trans woman died in ice custody then ice deleted video footage of her Yeah, matt just shares this meme which Is great. Um, I hope all those employees find new jobs and your org gets abolished Everyone including the social media person working for y'all should be ashamed This person says you're gonna release all those lgbtq plus migrants and refugees. You got caged up and trying to deport If not, shut the fuck up get fucked losers. This person shared a maple cocaine tweet Conservatives let's round up muslims and put them in camps liberals hire more women guards And this is basically like what we're seeing here like the rainbow washing of one of the most egregious Organizations in american government. Uh, shut the fuck up fuck off our expectation for you were low But holy fuck and it goes on and on basically like every single reply Was dragging them and it was so satisfying to see As a member of the lgbtq plus community Ice is a despicable morally reprehensible Organization that has done so much damage to human beings Tormented is still tormenting communities and To even have a twitter account like to tweet anything I mean you think that they'd want to hide their faces, but they have really the audacity During pride to use the rainbow logo to pretend as if they're allies and they support human rights You don't support human rights. You are fascists Anyone who works at this organization should be ashamed of themselves And this organization should not exist I don't think much else has to be said. Um ice I mean when when they're tweeting about pride Um, the rainbow washing has gone too far. Please do not ever say anything About pride human rights civil rights civil liberties even if you a Are fascistic and you abuse human rights and torment communities or b Manufacture things that we use To kill people Well folks that is everything. Thank you all so much for tuning in if you've made it this far As usual, we're not going to leave before we thank all of the folks who make the show possible All of our supporters across multiple platforms patreon paypal youtube twitch Like there's too many now i'm forgetting them, but thank you all so much. I truly appreciate it That's all if you want more human to support you can see me on thursdays at 7 p.m pst on twitch And um, yeah dystopian times is coming next week. Is that already? Yeah, that's next week. Wow I should probably like get to work on that so I'll see you all later. Take care everyone. My name is mike ferretto. This has been the humanists report. Bye