Fascism, But Stupid

28:25Every gay person I know that's under the age of 30 in Oklahoma is moving because they've been bullied by their parents. They've been bullied by their churches. Now they're being bullied by their governments, their schools. It's institutionalized. And it's just really harming people. The cruelty of Republican super majorities has got to be exposed. And I think we need some like good Christian people to come out and do it because nobody's going to think I have any credibility regarding it. An atheist. I mean, I was I was raised Catholic in a suburb of Boston and we weren't an especially religious family.

28:58We go to church. You know, I did, you know, CCD. I was confirmed. We went to mass on like, you know, Christmas and Easter, that kind of family. And then when I went to Holy Cross, Holy Cross is Jesuit. And the Jesuits are like the real lefty Catholics, like social justice, liberation theology. These are like the South American sort of like lefty movements. This is where the Jesuits come from. Pope Francis was Jesuit. And my political sort of awakening, like my parents were Democrats. I was like a Democrat growing up, but I didn't really know why. But my political awakening was because of the Jesuits at Holy Cross who believed that you go out into the community and you do good works.

29:39and that Jesus was, you know, someone who was always caring about the least of these and the stranger and feeding the hungry. And if someone needed something, you know, you never turn them away. And when you think about like whether you're religious or not, the core of every major religion has some version of the golden rule. Right. It is in, you got the New Testament, it's in Islam, it's Buddhism, like Judaism. You can go through all the major religions, and it is somewhere there, which tells you that it's almost independent of any specific religion. And then it can also be humanist, like people who are atheists, people who are agnostic can still believe that.

30:21And I do think that having some kind of organizing moral principle, whether you are part of organized religion, whether you're not, whether you're just spiritual, whether you're not, is really important. And I think what you're talking about with Democrats is like we're very good at talking about policy. We're good at talking about politics. But like we don't talk as much about morality and values. And we like to say that, and I think rightly so, that Republicans are hypocritical about it. And they are. But that leaves open the question, well, then what do you believe? How do you think people should be treated?

30:55Right. And I think that's an important part of it. I think it's really, really important. And I think it's it's it's good to know here because we've noticed like I remember we went we were in New York. No, we were in Oklahoma City and we interviewed Kathy Hochul via Zoom for our podcast. We thought we were hot shit for doing it. You were baby podcasters. The governor of New York is on. And then like a week later, we came up here. We were talking to some people. They're like, well, who have you had on lately? And we're like, I wait on Governor Kathy Hochul. And these New Yorkers are like, oh, she sucks.

31:26And I looked at Pops and I go, what a fucking luxury. Right. What a luxury to be a liberal in a blue state and be irritated with your Democratic governor. And I think there is a disconnect in the people in the Democratic Party that do the focus groups and that do the polling. And they don't understand the the components of America that are disconnected from large cities. And Oklahoma City is a city of a million people. And demographically, it broke down exactly the way the nation did. Oklahoma City is perfectly purple. And I think it went like 49 Trump, 48 Kamala. So it's like a microcosm of the electorate at large.

32:06So I have a ton of progressive friends in Oklahoma. I have some, you know, Bible thumper friends that are, you know, kind of arm's length. But I understand how somebody can be so rational about so many things, like a physician. You can talk to them and they're rational, rational, rational, rational. And then like evolution comes up and be like, well, no, I totally believe in creation. You're like, how are you a physician? Like, how is it possible that evolution is the bedrock of biology and you graduated from medical school? And it's like something snaps in them and the indoctrination in these mega churches and And that kind of nouveau Christianity culture has been so rapid and it has grown in tandem with the Republican movement.

32:53And it has metastasized into this MAGA culture. And I think a lot of these people fall prey to the cult so easily because Donald Trump is exactly like a megachurch pastor. He's, you know, slapping his secretary on the ass. He's a grifter. He's putting on a show. He has the hair. Yeah. It just reminds me he reminds me so much. And so I can see why they feel so comfortable with that abuser, because the abuser that they've had previously in their life are the are their pastors. Well, it's also people. I think it's like a fundamental human longing to belong, to be part of a community, to be part of something.

33:31And so when it's people, when it's your neighbors, your family that you've been around, you want to be part of that. And you it's I think it's hard if you're raised that way to then be like, oh, everything that I have known and grown up with and been taught is completely wrong and bad. That seems it's much easier to say, no, no, the people who are telling me that they're the bad ones. They're crazy. So I do think it's like really it's difficult. I mean, like we we can say like, oh, you're not rational. They think we're not rational. Right. So then your story. OK, so while I. I raised super evangelical.

34:09And so I was approaching a family member who would tell you that they believe every single bit of the Bible history word for word. They believe Jesus helped the sick, fed the poor, did all the things. Then I said, then how do you feel about it was around the alligator alcatraz where everybody's wearing merch and snakes and alligators. And I said, so what do you think Jesus would do about, you know, people just being sent to these places where they can be eaten by alligators? Oh, I think he'd be all for it. It was so shocking. Show me where. That was just like, show me where in the New Testament.

34:50There's a Republican movement now in tandem with this where now it is the anti-empathy movement. Right. Have you seen this? Because they know that Jesus is a problem. Elon Musk has been. I first heard him say that. that empathy was really dangerous, but it really is toxic empathy. Toxic empathy. Yeah. They're very mad at this pope. They didn't like the last pope. This pope is now they don't like this pope either. And that's what I'm hoping it filters. The Jesus thing is a problem. It's a radical, compassionate empath. And when you hear for me, like when I hear Bernie Sanders speak, the atheist Jew, he sounds more I mean, he's cranky as I'll get out.

35:25But what he's messaging is seems more Christ like than all of the Christians that I grew up around in Oklahoma City because their lack of empathy towards poor people. And that is something they have messaged to demonize the poor. And it is a part of their core values. And it's interesting because I feel like old Republicans, the previous iteration of the Republican Party, it would be, you know what? It's awful that there are poor people and we should have charity. We should give compassion, conservatism. and also like of course we want to help everyone you can't help everyone all the time let's prioritize it right like yeah sometimes like that but like life so it's a little like yes this is a bad thing and we want to help but we just we can't get around to it kind of thing right um and we don't want to pay more taxes right and we don't trust government to to fix it right so fine i disagree with all that but it's like an argument now it is they are undeserving right and they are undeserving because it is something in their culture if they're an immigrant yeah or it is you know, it is learned behavior and it is whatever excuses they come up with to try to convince themselves that what they are doing, the neglect and the cruelty is warranted because these people aren't.

36:42Jesus is a problem for them. Yep. And so is the declaration. Right. Right. Like the whole like we believe all everyone's created equal. We don't endowed with inalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Like, this is a problem for J.D. Vance and for the guy from Missouri, the senator there, Schmidt, Eric Schmidt. He gave a big speech on this for Stephen Miller. And I think that is a I mean, there's a bright spot there for Democrats, which is like, if the other party sees the Declaration of Independence and Jesus as an obstacle to their political agenda, maybe, maybe we have a case to make.

37:23Maybe. I don't know. Someone's going to make it, though. Yes. On top of the fact that these people are so unmarketable. I mean, just because I think what we're seeing now with Trump is the curtains are closing. He's a lame duck. The dementia is objectively true. He's definitely sleepy. He's very tired. Sleepy Donald. Sleepy Don. Yeah. And so, I mean, biology is going to catch up to him or 2028 is going to catch up to him. There's several concerns I have with that. Number one, I think they've committed so many crimes. So many crimes that they are going to do something really dramatic and radical to prevent midterms and or 2028.

38:01Because look at what they did in on January 6th. Yeah. And I just don't believe anything coming out of this administration. Nothing. I don't think you can. I don't think any document that comes out. I think every single document that comes out, you should question the veracity in them. For sure. So that's a problem. But as he is, as the cult starts to fall apart, you see all of these fissures forming and you see. The Heritage Foundation and Tucker Carlson making room for a larger tent with Nick Fuentes. And Katie Miller, I'm sure you saw, she mentioned me on CNN. She's really mad at me. But Abby Phillips asked her the question about, should Tucker Carlson be platforming Nick Fuentes?

38:42And if I would have been on that night, I would have said, my problem is I'm shocked that you're shocked, Abby. Of course, Tucker Carlson is platforming Nick Fuentes. Donald Trump dined with Nick Fuentes. that everybody is welcome. The only problem with Nick Fuentes for for the hard right Zionists in that party that have for somehow they think they're going to get safety in the right wing, the Zionist, is that he hates all the same people they hate. So like, great, great, great, great, great. But then he also hates the Jews. So that's their problem with Nick Fuentes. And so Tucker has a major problem with Israel as well.

39:20So to me, that's like a match made in heaven, because then he's on Piers Morgan calling gay people the F slur. Right. I mean, these people, it's not shocking to me that they are entertaining Nick Fuentes' base. And I'm shocked that the mainstream media is shocked at that. They and it's it's a political necessity for them to to keep the coalition together. Manhattan Institute just did a poll. I just saw them tweet out results today of just like the Republican coalition. And they basically classify like, you know, 60, 65 percent of the coalition as sort of Republicans who voted for Trump, but also voted for Republicans back as far as like 2012.

40:00And then they have around 30 percent are like the new entrance to the party. And those that 30 percent happens to be much more anti-Semitic, openly racist. And crucially, that segment of the party is also not certain that they will vote for Republican in 26 or 28 because what they want is they're attached to Trump and they're attached to the Trumpy part of the party. But they are not attached to the Republican Party and they want someone like a Stephen Miller or even worse, a Nick Fuentes. Right. And so if you are someone like J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio or any of them, you're looking at the numbers in your coalition and thinking whether I believe it or not, like, how am I going to win without at least being open to these people in the party?

40:50And that's why it's so very dangerous. We know J.D. Vance will whore himself. I mean, he's changed his name three fucking times as an adult. Religions three times. Pro-immigrant, anti-immigrant. Trump's America's Hitler's. Now he's his vice president. He doesn't give a fuck. J.D. Vance is a prostitute. He is. He is a total prostitute. I've had this conversation with a friend recently, which is like, does J.D. Vance really believe this? Is this version of J.D. Vance where he has landed or does he do it? He's a total prostitute. But I think I at least hold open the possibility that he has been radicalized.

41:27And that is not to like just take away his agency like it's still bad either way. But I think that when I think it's hard to wake up every morning and say like, oh, I believe these evil, terrible things today and I'm excited to go do them. Like, I think that J.D. Vance over the last several years has made a number of justifications to himself for what he believes and is intellectual enough that he has now looked for the intellectual justification for all this stuff, which is why, you know, some of these people are just it's just like gut instinct, racism, anti-Semitism. J.D. Vance is like seeking out the Curtis Yarvins, the Peter Thiels, like the scholarship around why democracy is unfortunate and why we should have post-liberal societies because liberalism is bad, small L liberalism.

42:12And I think he has somehow intellectualized himself that actually this is the right way to go. I think we talk about this all the time. I think not only J.D. Vance and he's probably because he's he's smart and he has probably intellectualized it. But everybody in Trump's orbit from somebody who sits right next to him, you know, whether it's Howard Nettlick or any of those people to people that we know personally in our personal lives. When you voted for him once, something maybe kind of broke a little bit. You heard the grunt by the pussy tape, blah, blah, blah. You voted for him the second time.

42:46I think these people broke a little bit more. And then the third time, I think it has created this mass brokenness of the electorate from people right in the oval all the way down to your neighbor next door. And each time you capitulate to this moral depravity and the cruelty that is always on display, it has really broken so many parts of our culture. Now, the Republican Party had primed the soil and set the psychological soil for a lot of people to fall prey to that. But there is just something about the triple Trumping. I think that when you triple down on that, it has broken from J.D. Vance all the way down to, you know, your crazy uncle.

43:26I always remember this anecdote from, I think, Sarah Longwell in one of her focus groups heard this. But it was a person who hadn't voted for Trump and was thinking of voting for Trump in 24. And the moderator asked, what's the deal? He's like, well, I can't stand him. I think he says horrible things. But you know what? If I vote for him, I'll just turn off the TV. I won't pay attention. And I'll just sit back and enjoy the Trump economy for four years. Right. So there is a little like, because I don't think the actual base of people who are believers and who like this has grown over the last three elections.

44:11I think it's probably even shrunk some. I think that's right. And I think that's something whoever the heir apparent is has to deal with that Trump got people to the polls like Obama got people to the polls. He got first time voters in rural America that never showed up to vote. And he had the reverse Obama effect. Obama had people show up that had never voted before. And Trump had the same thing on the opposite end of the spectrum. So that's something. But I agree that I think the cult's probably smaller. But there is something outside of the cult that we have to talk about. And it's the country club Republican.

44:43And these are the people that, you know, when we lived in Oklahoma that we hung out with. These are white, upper middle class, upper class people that know better. And in certain social circles, like if they were up here for the weekend and we all went to dinner and there were some other personalities, they would never admit they would say they were moderates. And they would say that, you know, oh, we voted for a gay politician before and we voted for black politicians before. We're very moderate, you know, but these people and I was a high end interior designer, still am and have been for a long time.

45:18I'd go out to drinks with some of my clients sometimes. And then the foxification came out after a couple of drinks. They don't believe in climate change. They thought Obama was a Muslim. And they think Trump is, I don't, you know, I don't agree with the way he says it, but he says exactly how I feel. And it comes out. So there is like active Trumpism that is the cult, but there is a passive Trumpism in white circles that exists in America that country club Republicans adhere to, but they're smart enough in certain social circles, they don't admit it because they know how depraved it is. And that, to me, is even more insidious than the cultists.

45:56For sure. And I encounter these people, and I think because a lot of them, you know, it's through social circles, you know, family, friends, family, family, and they'll know what I do. And so they'll say, oh, you worked for Obama. He gave some good speeches. He spoke well. And when they start that way, I'm like, oh, this is, I'm talking to the wrong person. And I don't, you know, I get into it with people because it's like, you're going to yell at someone and have a debate. But you can always tell. It is that like. You can always tell. I'm going to be very polite, nice and everything. But like, you know, these liberals, they're the devil.

46:35Another thing you said you've had it with is tech oligarchs who told us that social media would usher in a global utopia and now calling anyone who wants to regulate AI the Antichrist. And that is my absolute favorite thing about Peter Thiel, that he's a billionaire, but as a side hustle, he gives lectures on Antichrist. Yeah, literally people, people who are just thinking that maybe we should take a look at this humanity transforming technology, of artificial intelligence and perhaps put some rules in place, some regulations. He thinks that they are the, he said they're the legionnaires of the Antichrist.

47:17He also said the Pope was the Antichrist the other day. Yeah, he's very, but these fucking tech guys, like we just went through this where they made all these big promises. They have left all kinds of damage in their wake. Oh, yeah. And whether it's like mental health problems with young people, loneliness epidemic, like political violence, all of it. Russian trolls. All of it. Propagandizing. Yeah. And now AI is an even more powerful technology. And they are just telling us. First of all, it's like, you know, a handful of people, the richest people in the world, they are now all friends of Donald Trump hanging out at the White House.

47:57When they had the Saudis for a state dinner, they were all taking pictures, Elon Musk and Sam Maltman, all the rest of them. They're all having a great time. They're getting anything that they want. And they're even saying now, at least in the last time around, they were like, oh, it's going to be great. It's going to be. Elon Musk is like, yeah, at some point, humans won't need to do jobs. There'll be nothing for humans to do. Bill Gates said, oh, I think that eventually you won't need humans. Even the guy that is the CEO of Anthropic, one of the AI companies, was like, estimate maybe half of entry-level jobs will go away.

48:36So that's the job front. They're building these data centers, which are making electricity costs go up. They're also just like building them all. I mean, Sam Altman was like, yeah, I think at some point the data centers will cover the globe. So that's happening. They also believe that potentially, you know, AI could develop a bioweapon or some kind of weapon of mass destruction. So there's the whole kill us all scenario. And they know all the people that are developing this technology know all this, talk about all this. And yet they are full speed ahead. They don't want anyone to stop them. They've got a president who doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about with AI.

49:15He calls it like the AI, you know. He has no idea. No idea what he's talking about. But they can do whatever they want. Yeah. And they're going to get rich from it. And the rest of the country, the rest of the world, if there's some kind of weapon to mass destruction or hell's on leash, or even if it's a better scenario where it's just, you know, half the planet unemployed, they're going to be fine. They'll build their bunkers. But, like, what are the rest of us going to do? Think about it. Like, J.D. Vance, still, the immigrants are taking your job. Stephen Miller, you know, we're going to deport a bunch of people so you don't have to wait in line in the ER.

49:51It was never immigrants taking jobs. It's always going to be the oligarchs and their robots. That was the plan all along. And these guys are such prostitutes. They kicked off Donald Trump, rightfully so, from all of their platforms. And I was on Kara Swisher's podcast a week ago or so, and she said, you know, these guys, if Kamala would have won, they would have been they, them, and had pronouns. They just follow whatever. There's no principle. And that's what I think is so upsetting. And we can talk about, this kind of goes back to what the Democrats attacking Republicans. We can talk about the oligarchs and how unlikable Peter Thiel is, how absolutely deranged and demented Elon Musk is, jizzing all over all these petri dishes, having all these kids that he's not raising, partnering with the family values, doing Sig Hiles, all this shit.

50:44But we and that's fun to do because I love to talk, but it's also the system. And we have to address the system of unregulated capitalism. I think Democrats need to address Republicans in the very good job labeling regulations as harmful to people's pocketbook. And we have to get rid of that label and start calling them consumer protections and explain how these corporations like the Sackler family and the opioid epidemic. My husband's in recovery from that. Pumpson's in recovery from that. My nephew's in recovery from that. It just raped and pillaged so many lives. So many fabulous people got addicted to drugs because they went to the doctor and they had pain and they end up dead or with these horrible addictions.

51:33And then the economic spinoff from that, the Democrats need to do a better job addressing that because that has gone unaddressed for a very long time. You can have a conversation with any of these country club Republicans. I'm talking about, well, you know, the Democrats and all those regulations, you know, just help get just prevent our bottom line. I can't hire people. And it's just ubiquitous in the country club Republican crowd. And I think we need to do a better job messaging how important consumer protections are. And I think with this AI stuff, Kara Swisher was telling me about these kids that have like committed suicide because they have relationships with the with the AI chatbot.

52:08And that's and that's the terrifying. That's the worst case scenario for kids. And but like the better case scenario is that their AI chatbot is their friend. Yeah. Which means that they're not meeting other friends. Connecting. And the other. And what's worse about the AI chatbots versus social media even is they are obsequious. They flatter you. They tell you everything you want. They take away the friction in life. so it's all pleasure no pain um and all you get as a kid is like someone's telling you you're great they're giving you all the information you need they're telling they're giving you everything you think you need but everything except real human connection and so it's like once again a technology like social media was was sold as this is going to connect people and bring people closer together but what it gave us was the illusion of connection right and it didn't actually and now we have a bunch of people who feel disconnected, divided and lonelier.

53:09And I do think that this is an issue. Yes, Democrats should talk about it. And this is an issue where you can win over some folks who are more conservative, because I think that these big I think that like there is an opening for someone in 28. And I think that we'll see Republican candidates do this to someone will like someone out of the blue, like a Marjorie Taylor Greene type, you know, run against the AI companies and the tech overlords because there are privacy concerns. There are loneliness concerns. There are like sort of spiritual emptiness concerns. We feel it. Yes. Red people, blue people, moderate people, apolitical people.

53:49You feel if you've spent too much time on Instagram or on TikTok, you feel it. You feel it like a hangover, you know, like, oh, God, this isn't good. Yep. And you have to talk about a country where we actually have community again, where we're actually making connections, being together, like forging friendships and relationships that are more than like sitting on our phone all day. Marjorie Taylor Greene ends up outflanking the Democratic Party on this fucking issue because she's already on Israel and she's a total anti-Semite. And it fucking pisses me off because she's outflanking and she's messaging very well, very simple things because she's hanging out with Steve Bannon, who is a maniacal evil genius when it comes to political strategy.

54:38Yeah. And he gets this. And this eat the rich thing, this sentiment that is now consuming both left wing politics, moderate politics and right wing politics. We all feel like Trump's like affordability is a scam. Nobody knows what groceries are. Yeah. So he's next clip. He's like, and I'm building an arch and I'm building the ballroom. I'm getting the big version of the arch. Yeah. And so I think that his, the juxtaposition of his overt capitalism and the gold, and it's so like 1980s, you know, cocaine high. Yeah. High time. Mixed with like Palace of Versailles shit. Like, bad place. It's really cheap.

55:17Okay. All right. John, we have to play our game. Okay. Had it or hit it. Oh, great. All right. And I also, I want to, I have a fuck, marry, kill for you at the end of this episode. Okay, good. I love fuck, marry, kills. Okay. Oh, my God. Had it or hit it. I would hit it. Had it. Had it. I hit it every day, sometimes twice a day. Had it or hit it, Gretchen Whitmer. I have to say there was a Politico story today. I'm going to say had it. Okay. Because, and I like her personally. I think she's been a great, fantastic governor of Michigan. As a potential 28 candidate, I'm going to say had it. Because there's this Politico story today about how she's Trump's favorite potential 2028 contender and we all know the story of when she went to the oval office yeah and she has the yeah right she has the folder up so apparently there's an interesting detail in the story where she comes back to the white house for another visit and some white house staffer showed her a newspaper with the picture of her with the folder and she signed she signed it for trump as a as a present and that white house staff two white house officials also said yes she's the only one who has never said anything negative to Trump, to his face, to the boss, to his face.

56:30And it's like, look, I get that you as a governor, you want to make sure that the people of your state are not hurt by the federal government when you have like an authoritarian regime trying to like threaten states. Right. So I get that. Mamdani goes to the White House and, you know, he didn't sit there and like scream at Donald Trump. He also didn't suck up to him. It's a tough balance. So I get that the balance is difficult. But I think that Whitmer, and I think there's some other 28 contenders like this too, are sort of the ones who are like using this time to just lay low and not ruffle any feathers and not really criticize Trump that much.

57:11And just assume that once the primary gets going in 27, then they'll start talking and they're not fighting now. I just, I don't have a lot of patience for that. Because I think like you've got to be out there and you've got to be not just fighting Trump because I think that's important, but also looking beyond Trump and talking about like a vision for the country. Also, the vision that J.D. Vance and Stephen Miller, the rest of them want to continue after Trump and talk about the choice and be out there. And I just think that now if she decides not to run for president. Great. Sorry. Fine. You're a great governor.

57:45But like the 28 contender, if you're thinking of running in 2028, you should be out there now. I agree. 100%. I totally agree. You've got Pritzker, Gavin Newsom. They're out there. Randy Beshear just out there a little bit. Andy. Andy. I always get into our studio in Oklahoma City. And I was like, it's Andy. It's Andy. Don't call him Randy. And I called him Randy. She was like, so great to see you, Randy. I was calling him Steve for a while because I forgot that his dad was governor. Yes. And I was like, oh, yeah, Andy Beshear. Didn't he do the Medicaid expansion when we were in the White House for Obama?

58:14And they're like, no, that was his dad. I was like, oh, wow. Bashir's everywhere. This ad is brought to you by Veve Healthcare, the makers of Apritude, Cabotegravir. You never skip your SPF and you carry hand sanitizer like an accessory. But what are you doing for HIV prevention? One way to help protect yourself from HIV is Apritude, a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of getting HIV in adults and adolescents weighing at least 77 pounds. You must be HIV negative to receive APRITUDE and get tested before each injection. If you think you are exposed to HIV or have flu-like symptoms, tell your doctor right away.

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1:01:50So upgrade your luggage. It looks better, lasts longer, and travel smarter. For a limited time, Noble is having the biggest sale they've ever done. Head to Nobletravel.com for up to 58 % off your entire order. That's Noble, N-O-B-L travel.com for up to 58 % off. After your purchase, they will ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you. Okay. Had it or hit it, Miss Rachel? Hit it for sure. I love Miss Rachel. I think she's an angel. I think she's one of the kindest people we have in public life um i got really angry this week because the fucking anti-semitism website which is like i hate that it's even named that because it's not about anti-semitism it's just like a right-wing slop um started attacking they had like the contenders for anti-semite of the year and they have like tucker carlson and then miss rachel right next to tucker carlson and they didn't even have nick fuentes on and they say oh that's because they're like well he's like a i I guess he's like a Hall of Famer, so they don't have to put him on every year.

1:03:01But I was like, Miss Rachel, all she has done is stand up and preach love and dignity and safety for all children everywhere, regardless of race, religion, nationality, wherever you may be. She is just a kind person who is trying to teach our kids to be kind human beings. And now you're calling her an anti-Semite. Un-fucking-believable. She's great. I love Miss Rachel. I love her. And I think this is something that the Democrats are going to have to address, too, because the base has evolved so much on this. Like, I'm going to tell you a couple of years ago, I didn't really quite know what a Zionist was.

1:03:35When you live in a red state, you're very focused on the erosion of civil liberties with the red state government. And so you don't really your mind doesn't wander to foreign policy very much. And I remember we went to the DNC, pumps in me. We're so excited. It's a big deal. Right. And so we would go every day diligently and who are we going to interview? And we had the best time. It was very surreal to do it. We'd walk through the protesters that were protesting and then we'd walk back out. And I remember thinking, God, they should really be, you know, why are they doing this? And I see I was slightly kind of irritated by it, but everybody was polite, peacefully protesting.

1:04:14And since then, you know, you see the imagery coming out of Gaza and you see what Benjamin Netanyahu's government has done. And you cannot look away. And you because we've all studied World War Two. And you know, what were the people doing? Why didn't anybody help? Why didn't anybody say anything? And you have those moments where you realize, oh, this is that moment. And I just I think it's interesting. I read in the news before we came here that Hillary Clinton was issues on some someplace today. Yes. Speaking about this issue, saying that the problem is TikTok. talk. And then you have, I think, a fellow co-worker of yours during the Obama administration talking about how difficult it is to address the issue through a wall of dead children.

1:04:59And there's just such a moral disconnect. And at the same time, this weaponization of anti-Semitism, like in me even saying this right now, some people are going to hear it and say, oh, Jennifer is an anti-Semite. Nothing could be further from the truth with that, because I connect all human rights together, you know, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, etc. And so I just think there's a lot of weaponization of that going on right now. And I'm very terrified that a grifter like Marjorie Taylor Greene or Tucker Carlson is going to use a very simple tribal like message. We have to quit sending them money because they get free health care and they have free college.

1:05:41that's going to really hit hard yeah in america that kind of messaging hits really hard it's attached on their end with a lot of real anti-semitism is the core of that because i'd be like marjorie okay now do trans kids all right now do you know gay marriage she wouldn't be able to do it i mean the other day she was just tweeting about like arresting fauci i mean she's still every bit as crazy um so i'm just i'm really worried about the democrats not leading with this and not having moral clarity on this. This goes back to what I was saying about needing a moral core to our progressivism, liberalism, whatever you want to call it these days, which is like, it's a simple question.

1:06:21Do you believe that the life of an Israeli child is worth, is as valuable as the life of a Palestinian child, is as valuable as the life of a Ukrainian child, as a Russian child, as a Sudanese child, right? Like there are this horrible slaughter going on all over the world. There are powerful people oppressing less powerful people. There are people who want to set up instead of democratic governments, authoritarian regimes where they oppress people and and and harm them. And the question is, what do you believe? Because if you believe in the dignity of every human being and every child, then that would lead you to say that October 7th was like sickening beyond belief.

1:07:08And like I remember when that happened and, you know, I'm a father now and it's like the worst, worst things you can ever do to someone. And it made me sick. As when I saw what happened in Gaza in the subsequent two years made me sick. As I do when I see images from Ukraine as we're all, you know, we talk about Trump's talking about Putin and like, hey, let's bring him into the fold and we can all do economic deals together. And, you know, J.D. Vance, Helen Zielinski, like you should thank us more. And it's like there's like missing 10 ,000 Ukrainian children. Like, yeah, it's like how where are your values and are they universal?

1:07:45And can you apply your principles and values no matter what the situation is, as opposed to just where it feels right? And and and then you have a different value set somewhere else when it's another conflict. So I completely agree with that. Do you think Democrats are going Democratic politicians that take APAC money are going to face an uphill battle? Do you think they're in touch with how much the base has moved on this and how much more educated the base is on this now? I don't think a lot of them are. I don't think a lot of them understand it, but they should they should get it. And it's also it's like, look, foreign aid is always tough.

1:08:17It's always been a tough. You pull foreign aid for decades. And no one everyone thinks we give more foreign aid than we actually do. They don't love it. But foreign aid to a country like Israel that is very rich, very powerful, has a great military, like a very strong military. And led by a war criminal. And has an authoritarian regime. So it's like at some point you look around the world and you're like, OK, what maybe if we're going to give foreign aid and we're going to tell the American people, hey, we want to give some of your tax dollars to foreign aid. perhaps it should be to defend our allies and we've done that with israel in the past and to help people who are like starving and sick and in war-torn countries throughout the world but like does the israeli military really need u.s dollars at this point maybe they did maybe they did a couple decades ago do we want to give it to benjamin netanyahu when he gave AIPAC gave over$200 million to Trump.

1:09:20They wanted him to win. They did not prefer Kamala. And then they also control our opposition, Hakeem and Chuckles. You know, they will not have moral clarity on this issue. They would not. I went to the Zoran Mamdani victory party in New York. It was so cool, John. I mean, it's right after I made it. I saw you and Hassan. I saw the picture. It looked great there. It looked so much fun. I had the best time, right? And I'm standing there and I thought, what a miss. What a miss that Hakeem and Chuckles are not there hand in hand, riding the coathouse of this affordability message of universal human rights.

1:09:54And it's because of their support for Israel, who doesn't want Democrats to win. Israel does not want Democrats to win. Now, Bibi Netanyahu punked us when Obama was in the White House so many times, goes to Congress to speak to our Congress without an invite from Barack Obama. That's before he got really bad. Right. Bibi Netanyahu, like they don't – he's never cared about – like he cares about himself. Yeah. He's literally in it for himself. Like he's just trying to stay out of jail. And to do that, he's kept this war and these atrocities going. Yeah. And a lot of people say that he funded Hamas, you know, up to October 7th.

1:10:34So it gets even dicier and dicier and it fucking pisses me off that there are members of the Democratic Party that should be clear eyed and have moral clarity on this. And they think that that we're stupid. Well, they'll say like, well, you're you're ignoring the fact that there really is anti-Semitism out there. It's like, no, I'm not like, of course, there's anti-Semitism. It's hateful, virulent anti-Semitism. And like, yes, it has come from some people who have protested. Right. But like that does not mean just because that exists doesn't mean that there aren't also atrocities that have happened over the last several years.

1:11:08And knock, knock, knock. The majority of the anti-Semites are under the MAGA tent. You think evangelicals, they have an apocalyptic apocalyptic nightmare dream for all of the Jews. Get to Israel so Jesus can come send you to hell. I mean, the most anti-Semitic people I've ever met in my life are evangelical Christians. All of the tropes, all of the things. But also Donald Trump has from, you know, 2016 from Charlottesville all the way to now. And then, you know, at January 6th, a man had on a shirt that said, what is it? Camp Auschwitz. And you see the Nazi flags at January 6th. and it's the real heart of all of that are the people that the hard right zionists have gone to seek safety with those people and i'm like oh good luck i've been i've been around these types of people my whole life good luck with that because they will fuck you so fast it'll make your head spin i mean right after they get their coalition okay i just thought felt like we need to talk about that okay this is a great one had it or hit it trump's cabinet meetings

1:12:17i want to say hit it only because it is such great content it is it's great content it's it slaps every time totally it just really and then you get that they're all they're all you know uh glazing them the whole time yeah and they just it's just like tuning in to hear how ridiculous it gets now i would not want to be sitting there for all four hours of you know his castro like meetings there but um it is it is something to behold and it's fun too like what like today watching marco rubio like try to talk to him while he's falling asleep yeah that that was satisfying to me he's like and you see the like the stroke residue i'm not a doctor but i do think he's had a stroke that's my professional opinion i've never been to mess doesn't give a fuck and he's like just asleep well he was up all night with 7 000 and if i if i close my eyes what are they gonna do to me okay uh had it or hit it the war on christmas oh had it it's ridiculous it's ridiculous what what war on christmas who's who wins every year every year christmas wins i am an atheist and i have two christmas trees i have stockings i love to go do christmas things I take joy in listening to Christmas carols and wrapping presents as my mother would say my atheist mother well you know darling it was really a pagan holiday before it was the Christian holiday and so we've always kind of culturally you know people can be culturally Jewish my family's kind of culturally Christian but I think it's hilarious and I love to tell like my Christian friends in Oklahoma like yeah you know we get to say Merry Christmas again so that's so weird I've been saying Merry Christmas forever and I'm a total atheist.

1:14:01I'll always Merry Christmas. And then like, sometimes I'll say happy holidays just in like, that's not a, that doesn't, it's not, not put out by saying happy holidays to someone. It's such bullshit. You know what I call it? It's just buzzword politics. Fox news is just all buzzword politics, fascism, communism, feminism, socialism. And they just throw out these scary words that we're on Christmas or Judeo Christian and values i just want to go shut the fuck up i mean those that that oh my god most people don't want to hear it most people don't aren't into their culture worship crazy about these women on fox news oh we get into it all day they are talking about women needing to marry and stay at home with their children and these bitches are sitting up there working full time as they're sending that message and i don't know if the average fox viewer is so goddamn them they don't realize hold up sis you're working so what why are you special it's just i i don't i don't i guess there's so much cognitive dissonance in that world yeah i haven't heard the the the women should stay home stuff from the the fox hosts recently i feel like that's like a you gotta get into the deep right-wing podcast sean duffy's wife oh oh she's been on there lately and she was talking about just know that when you hear now just know when you hear the word feminism that just means It's communism.

1:15:23We need to get back to our Christian roots. You know, Fox is now going to be introducing more Christian messaging in their news channel because that's what Fox viewers need. That is what they need. More Christianity. That is what they need. They're trying to get rid of that radical empathy from Jesus. Okay. Empathy. Dangerous. All right. Last one. Had it or hit it, the United States of America. Oh, absolutely hit it. Love the United States of America. And like I was saying earlier, like I, I believe that the Democrat who's going to win in 2028 is going to be someone who reclaims patriotism defined as what this country was founded on, the principles that it was founded on, a revolutionary idea that had never been tried, which is we're going to organize a country around an idea that everyone is created equal.

1:16:15and we're a bunch of slave owners and landowners who are not going to allow women to vote for many years. But now that we've put the idea out there, successive generations are going to fight and say, well, that's what it says. And so we're going to make the country a little better and we're going to make the country a little more inclusive and make the country a little more, a little richer for everyone involved. And that's what America is. And what is courageous and patriotic is to be self-critical of the country. And to be confident that you don't have to fluff the country all the time and say, America's perfect and everything's wonderful and you can't criticize it.

1:16:49No, like real patriotism is saying, I love this country. I want to make it better. And what we have set up here in this democratic government is that we can come together, work together and make this place a little bit better for ourselves and for our children. And then hopefully they can take up the mantle and they can do the same thing. And that's real patriotism. And the bullshit that they are spouting is is just like airbrushed patriotism and uh where you know the the president united states right now and his party are just sitting there like grabbing whatever they can um for themselves all the power they can all the money they can that's not patriotic that's not america that's not all men are created equal that's bullshit that's that's what we've had that's what we had in this world before america came to be where you had kings and you had dictators and you had people oppressing other people.

1:17:36That's that's all of human history. America was the idea that tried to change all of that. Maybe we don't need to have a system where you just have a few powerful people oppressing everyone else. Maybe we can have a system where everyone gets a say and everyone can succeed and that you don't in that you don't have to tell people like for my group to do well, your group has to do bad. Maybe we can all do well. I bet for it. Okay. I love that. I agree. We have to keep hitting America, Although, listener, I know sometimes we all feel like we've had it, and then we have to fight for it and hit it.

1:18:09And I'm going to do something really diabolical right now. I've been thinking about it all day. We're going to end it on this. Okay, pups. Fuck, marry, kill. Can I say what you're going to say? John gave one or Tommy. Okay, I knew that was it. I knew that was it. The three crooked media guys. I knew it was. Okay, first of all, obviously, love it. I have to marry. He's so funny. Okay. He's so much fun. I'm asexual, he's gay, that's perfect match. Okay, so that's that. Kind of awkward with Jon Favreau sitting like that. Yeah, I know, but here's the thing. I know, but you gotta - I think he'd be more fun than Tommy.

1:18:46I do. You're killing Tommy. You think he'd be better in the sack than Tommy? I do, because Tommy's pretty straight laced, I feel like. I told you it was diabolical. Tommy definitely gives off a straight laced five. He's probably not. But sometimes those are the - Those are the ones that are - Yes, sometimes those are the five ones. Maybe, Jon, you're the bad one. I would love you to marry Lovett and then just get back to me in like two years. He's so much fun, though. He is a lot of fun. Is that not the greatest fucker deal? I knew that's what you were going to say. I knew. Three crickets. When we moved to L.A.

1:19:16in 2014, Lovett lived directly across the street from my now wife and I. And so he was basically living with us for two years. And it was hilarious and a lot. Yeah. A lot. That is Lovett. He's hilarious and wonderful and a lot. And he lives in L.A. and I don't. See, that's perfect. See, there you go. It was perfect. Perfect marriage. Did he get married recently? Not yet. Not yet. Engaged. 2026. Oh, exciting. It's coming. Yeah. Ari's wonderful. Yeah. Okay, I'll just tell you, when we had Lovett on, it was the day that the survivor came out that he got cut on. Literally the funniest thing that's ever happened.

1:19:53Finding out that Lovett was... I love it. All right, listener. Thank you for tuning in. John, we hope we... collab with you absolutely many more times this is so fun to say on a personal note you've really kept the cruelty that the trump administration is doing to immigrants and i see it in my feed all the time and your compassion and uh humanizing those people it's just so important and i just as a person to person i appreciate that content keeps me up at night i hope it hope it does something all right listener we'll see you next tuesday thank you

1:20:35listen up patriots gaytriots and natriots we have a new podcast that has dropped it's called ihip news it's monday through friday every day 15 to 20 minute hot takes on the political landscape of the united states of america always served with a side of petty grievances We are on all the available platforms, Apple, Spotify, Google, whatever you get your podcast and YouTube. Please go rate, subscribe and review so that we will chart upwards with America's greatest legal mind. Pumps, what does an eagle say? Caw-caw! A little bit more enthusiasm. Caw-caw! That's it. That's the patriotism that this country needs right there.

1:21:28Thank you.