Host Erik Fleming interviews attorney and author Steven Eichenblatt about his memoir Pretend They Are Dead, tracing his discovery of his biological father's journals, the impact of abandonment, and how those experiences inspired three decades of advocacy for children as a guardian ad litem.
The episode closes with a brief commentary on character and courage in public life, touching on current political moments and the importance of standing up for what protects families and children.
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome. I'm Erik Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time.
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00:01:11 --> 00:01:16 The following program is hosted by the NBG Podcast Network.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 Thank you. Thank you.
00:01:53 --> 00:01:54 Thank you.
00:01:56 --> 00:02:02 Hello, and welcome to another moment with Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:09 And so today, this is going to be a really, really short one compared to my
00:02:09 --> 00:02:15 last few episodes because the Jackson State University had their homecoming week.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:23 So I attended those festivities and always glad to go back to my alma mater.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:28 So I only have one guest, and I think you're going to like him.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:36 He's written a book about an experience he had growing up and how that led to
00:02:36 --> 00:02:42 a career that he has been doing for some three decades.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:52 And more particularly, the work that he is doing, the specific work that he is doing in his career.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:58 So I hope you enjoy that interview.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:04 And I know you're going to enjoy the brevity of the podcast.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:10 I do have a little commentary at the end, but it's going to be real quick because, you know,
00:03:11 --> 00:03:18 it was more about me reuniting with some friends and seeing the campus,
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 see what changes had been made, all that stuff.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 So, yeah.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 So, again, make sure that you support the podcast.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:34 You can go to patreon.com slash a moment with ErikRFleming, or you can go to momenterik.com,
00:03:34 --> 00:03:40 the actual website, and do the same thing and do some bonus stuff. All right.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:45 So please, please, please do that. Really appreciate whatever support you can
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 give. The subscription is only a dollar.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 If you want to give a one-time donation, you can do that too.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:55 So just go ahead and check out those platforms.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:59 All right, so, as I stated, we're not going to keep you long.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:04 So, let's kick this off with a moment of news with Grace G.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:18 Thanks, Erik. Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement after two years of conflict in Gaza.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:22 President Trump escalated his actions towards Chicago with a U.S.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 Border Patrol raid that targeted gang members, the shooting of an alleged armed U.S.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 Citizen, arresting several protesters at an ICE detention facility,
00:04:30 --> 00:04:34 and freezing $2.1 billion in Chicago transit funding.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:39 A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump from sending any National
00:04:39 --> 00:04:43 Guard troops to Portland, while a lawsuit against the deployment proceeds.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:48 A Florida man was arrested and charged with intentionally starting the devastating
00:04:48 --> 00:04:52 Palisades fire in Los Angeles on January 1st. The U.S.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:57 Supreme Court temporarily upheld the Trump administration's revocation of temporary
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 protected status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:06 The Supreme Court also refused to hear Missouri's attempt to reinstate a state
00:05:06 --> 00:05:11 law that aimed to prevent the enforcement of several federal gun laws and Ghislaine
00:05:11 --> 00:05:15 Maxwell's appeal to overturn her conviction for aiding financier Jeffrey Epstein
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 in the sexual abuse of teenage girls.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:23 A coalition for unions, employers, and religious groups filed the first lawsuit
00:05:23 --> 00:05:29 to block the Trump administration's newly imposed $100 fee on H-1B visas
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 for highly skilled foreign workers.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:36 FBI Director Kash Patel announced the agency had cut ties with the Southern
00:05:36 --> 00:05:41 Poverty Law Center, accusing the organization of becoming a partisan smear machine.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:46 The family of Andrew Smyrna, an unarmed African-American father killed by a
00:05:46 --> 00:05:52 Georgia state trooper during a 2020 traffic stop, reached a $5.5 million settlement.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:57 And the city of Atlanta has launched an Atlanta Reparations Study Commission
00:05:57 --> 00:06:02 to explore unconventional non-financial forms of reparations for descendants
00:06:02 --> 00:06:08 of those historically displaced and set back by events like the construction of I-85.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 I am Grace G. And this has been a Moment of News.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:24 All right. Thank you, Grace, for that moment of news. And now it is time for
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 my guest, Steven Eichenblatt.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:32 Steven Eichenblatt is a graduate of Florida State University and the University
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 of Florida College of Law.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:39 A practicing attorney and father of five, he has spent over 30 years advocating
00:06:39 --> 00:06:45 for children as a pro bono guardian ad litem and representing families of first
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 responders killed on 9-11.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:53 As a founding partner of Page and Eichenblatt, he has received multiple awards
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 for legal excellence and community work supporting children.
00:06:56 --> 00:07:01 He lives with his wife in Orlando, Florida, and he is the author of the memoir,
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 Pretend They Are Dead, A Father's Search for Truth.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:09 And so we're going to talk about that book and we're going to talk about just
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 the experience of being a guardian ad litem.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:17 And so, ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have
00:07:17 --> 00:07:21 as a guest on this podcast, Steven Eichenblatt.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 All right, Steven Eichenblatt. How you doing, man? You doing good?
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 I'm good this morning. Absolutely.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:42 Doing well. Well, I'm glad to have you. and I'm going to pick your brain a little
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 bit and we're going to talk about a book that you wrote.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:49 But before we do all that, I do a couple of icebreakers.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:54 So the first icebreaker is I want you to respond to a quote.
00:07:54 --> 00:08:01 It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:02 What does that quote mean to you?
00:08:03 --> 00:08:08 Well, I could go on quite a bit about that quote, known what the subject of
00:08:08 --> 00:08:13 my book is, but it means a lot, actually. So it's like the heart is love.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 You said the heart is love or the heart is love? Heart is love.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:25 Yeah, yeah. And we're going to dive into the book because I know that the gist
00:08:25 --> 00:08:30 of the book is about your relationships and, I guess,
00:08:31 --> 00:08:35 struggle with your biological father and even your stepfather.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:42 So I need you. The next icebreaker is a game we call 20 questions.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:46 So I need you to give me a number between one and 20.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:52 18. All right. That mean I have to answer 18 questions? No, no,
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 no. You get one question.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:59 What is one thing we might all agree is important, no matter our differences?
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Integrity. Living life with integrity. Okay.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:09 All right. Well, I would agree with that. I hope that, you know,
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 in this climate, we can get back to it.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:17 But, yeah, I think the majority of the people in America stand on that statement.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:21 I hope so. I hope so. I've been worried about it.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 You know, I've got five kids myself, including one I adopted.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:28 And I look at the leaders of the country right now and putting politics aside,
00:09:28 --> 00:09:33 you want people with character that tell the truth, that don't call other people names.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:37 I mean, what kind of role model, what kind of examples are we setting for my
00:09:37 --> 00:09:38 kids, for everybody else?
00:09:39 --> 00:09:44 I mean, you know, Eric, I could, I'm a Democrat, but I will vote both sides.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 And this isn't a political discussion, but when the Attorney General of the
00:09:48 --> 00:09:52 United States is attacking anybody who asks a question personally,
00:09:52 --> 00:09:57 it's out of bounds. And I don't consider that leading with integrity or character.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 You know, I can disagree with you on lots of things and we won't fight.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:06 We'll respect each other. We'll have an intelligent, intelligent discussion about it.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 It's funny you bring that up because I remember when I was in the legislature.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:17 And we had a hearing, me and a gentleman from Clarksdale, Mississippi,
00:10:17 --> 00:10:21 introduced bills to try to abolish the death penalty in Mississippi.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:26 So by virtue, I guess, of our personalities or whatever, we were able to force
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 the committee to actually have a hearing on the bill.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:33 And the assistant attorney general for the state of Mississippi,
00:10:34 --> 00:10:38 we were all, we were still Democrats primarily then.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:45 And as far as elected officials, and so he was a Democrat, but he was testifying
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 as to why, because he was in charge of the death penalty cases.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 So he was testifying why we still needed it.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:56 And he made, in his comments, he said that the legislation was stupid.
00:10:57 --> 00:11:01 And I asked to be recognized, and I lit into him.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:06 You know, and I told him, I said, look, nobody on this panel was elected because
00:11:06 --> 00:11:10 we were stupid. We were elected because we wanted to make changes and da-da-da
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 and this, that, and the other.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 And so I gave him a ride for about five minutes.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:20 And I just sat there and thought about what you were saying about Attorney General
00:11:20 --> 00:11:24 Bundy and how she was dealing with, especially the Democratic senators.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:30 There's a couple of Republicans she jumped into too, but I just said, there's no way.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:34 There's no way. I mean, that meeting, that thing would have been shut down.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:38 Because the minute she said something to me, I probably would have responded
00:11:38 --> 00:11:42 the minute that she did it to somebody else. It would have been like,
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 you know, we're going to have to change that or something.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:48 We can ask her to leave because this is not going to happen.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 Not on national TV. That's not going to happen.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 So, yeah, I feel you on that.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 We got to get back to some kind of.
00:11:56 --> 00:12:01 That's right. And recognizing, you know, during, I know during COVID I'd have
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 these, I'd have these, you know, I'd have these debates with friends of mine
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 who may have been on the other side or still on the other side.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:11 And they would be attacking the judges, like the federal judges and saying,
00:12:11 --> 00:12:15 well, this judge would do that. And as a lawyer who has practiced in federal
00:12:15 --> 00:12:20 court and who's done a lot of litigation, those judges are, most of them are brilliant.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 Forget about their politics. To get to that level, you know,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 whether you're a Supreme Court justice or a federal court judge,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 all those people are really qualified.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:35 Most of them put politics aside at the upper levels. I'm not talking about your local county judge.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:41 And, you know, it's frustrating because we have a leader who attacks the justice system.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:46 And my son is a lawyer, and he went to the University of Florida,
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 and he was on MootCourt, which for the people who are listening,
00:12:50 --> 00:12:54 it's an organization where you argue against other schools. It's sort of like debate.
00:12:55 --> 00:13:00 And Justice Clarence Thomas came to the school to speak to the class,
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 which is a big honor, no matter what you think of politically.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 And my son got to meet him and spend time with him, and he loved him.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:12 He's like, Dad, he is so charismatic. He's so different than what you see,
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 like, you know, as far as personality and, and,
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 you know, these are smart people that the, the judges and, and,
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 and the people at that level, but they, yeah, it's frustrating.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 Yeah. Yeah. All right. So let's talk about your book.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:32 And I want to start with you telling the audience about the title of the book
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 and how you got to that title.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:40 The title of my book is called Pretend They Are Dead, and Pretend They Are Dead,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 A Father's Search for the Truth.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:49 The title came from my biological father gave me up for adoption when I was
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 about seven or eight years old.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:56 He disappeared out of my life. He was a veterinarian, lives in the same town.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:03 And over the years, I never saw him. There was one incident where I saw him.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:07 And eventually, I reconnected with him when I was in college.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 He had a major drug problem.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:14 And he wound up passing away in a drug-related issue. Let's put it that way.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:19 Anyway, I write about all that. I found out at his funeral, I went to his funeral,
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 that he had been a writer himself.
00:14:20 --> 00:14:26 Not just a veterinarian, but a writer. and he had written, kept a journal and
00:14:26 --> 00:14:30 wrote letters virtually every day of his life between 1960 and 1990.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 Political stuff, anything you can think of, he wrote about and he wrote a lot
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 about what happened with his kids and his family.
00:14:39 --> 00:14:44 And I got all that. And then several years later, my cousin,
00:14:45 --> 00:14:49 who is the one who gave me the boxes of his writing, sent me a story.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 And the story was called Hello Yellow, and it was about the last night that
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 my biological father spent with me.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:59 And in that story, which was published in a national magazine,
00:15:00 --> 00:15:06 he explains that the reason he left us and the reason he wouldn't see us,
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 even though he lived right down the street virtually,
00:15:08 --> 00:15:12 was because the psychiatrist told him to pretend they are dead.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:19 And that's exactly what happened. And so it felt like that was a really compelling title.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:24 It was horrible advice to pretend your kids are, because of course he couldn't pretend we were dead.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:29 You could sell through all of his 30 years of journaling. It killed him.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:34 You know, it really, it did. But that's where the title comes from.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:43 Yeah. So you mentioned that he was out of your life when you were about eight years old.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 But you had a chance encounter.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:52 I don't know. It wasn't really an encounter, but it was an experience where
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 you saw him, I think about eight years later.
00:15:56 --> 00:16:00 And I know you want people to read the book and all that, but kind of,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 kind of, cause you kind of hit us with it at the beginning. So kind of talk
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 about that, that, that encounter.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:10 Yeah. And I, and I don't mind talking about it. This is my members on the shelves.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 It's a, I hope people buy it. I hope they listen and they like me.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:18 And, and, but you know, there's no, you know, there's lots of stuff in there
00:16:18 --> 00:16:23 that I can't talk about because I don't have time, but this is such a crazy shit story that.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:30 When I was 16, I was working at a tennis club, and I was the only person there at the club.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:34 It was July 4th, 1975, so a lot of your listeners probably weren't alive.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 I was alive, and I was there, and I was working. I was the maintenance guy at
00:16:37 --> 00:16:42 the club, and I hear this stream, tires screeching.
00:16:42 --> 00:16:46 Car hits a telephone pole about 50 feet from where I am.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:51 Now, I'd never seen anything like that. I've never been in a serious car accident.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:55 I'd never seen a car accident. I'd never seen somebody bloodied and all that,
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 but my heart's thumping. I run to the front of the car.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 There's a guy that went through the windshield.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:06 I run back to the pay phone, dialed zero because back then there wasn't 911.
00:17:06 --> 00:17:11 And the police come and all the ambulances come. And this guy,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:16 his face is basically split in two, blood all over, was unconscious when I saw him.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 They bring him in. They bring him, went back up by the car.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:25 They had him leaning against the side of the car as the ambulance was coming. I mean, it was 1975.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:32 Got a bunch of gawkers and onlookers. And I had left my Schwinn Varsity 10-speed,
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 which I was very proud of, my bicycle.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 That was my transportation. I didn't have my own car. I left it by a tree.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:42 And I started walking to the tree, and I felt this presence on me.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 I felt somebody looking at me.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:50 You get that feeling of somebody looking at you, even though you're not looking
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 at them, like their energy.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:55 And I turned, and I could see this man had regained consciousness,
00:17:55 --> 00:18:00 and he literally, his eye was split in two, and his good eye was looking at me.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:05 And this feeling came over me. And at that time, the police officer pulled out
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 his wallet and said, does anybody know this man?
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 And I didn't say anything. I got on my bike. I rode away.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:17 And I didn't tell anybody for 40 years that that man was my biological father.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:25 Wow. Wow. How crazy was that? That, you know, just a circumstance.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:33 What did you take from that? Did you have a sense of...
00:18:34 --> 00:18:40 When you look at it in hindsight, did you think that that was like a moment where he was trying to.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:45 Inadvertently trying to connect and, and, and, you know, or reaching out for
00:18:45 --> 00:18:49 help or I, you know, I just, what, what was your thoughts?
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 And then why did you feel that you had to keep that bottled up for all those years?
00:18:54 --> 00:19:00 Um, you know, well, I look like learning two years later, I learned that he,
00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 he, he, you know, He had actually heard that I worked at the club,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 so he was probably due to a drive-by.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 Whether he would have actually stopped to talk to me, probably not,
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 because it turned out that he'd stalked me for a number of years,
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 didn't have the courage to actually talk to me.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:24 And in that situation, he'd had a few drinks and taken some Valium or whatever.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:28 He was not coherent when he hit the telephone pole, which maybe that saved him.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:33 But you know what's interesting, Eric? And, you know, cause I went through a
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 lot of stuff as a kid and lots of people go through lots of things and,
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 you know, you're just, these are the cars you're dealt.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:42 This is the house you live in. You know, you have no idea what your neighbor,
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 what's going on in your neighbor's house.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:48 I had seven brothers and sisters, you know, their lives were totally different
00:19:48 --> 00:19:54 than mine, but I, I had been so traumatized prior to that by living in the house
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 and some of the things that happened that I really didn't feel,
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 I felt very little. I mean, it was like, okay, that happened.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:04 And the reality is I didn't go cry in the corner.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:10 I didn't even think about that. I didn't go tell my mother or my adopted father or anybody else.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:14 It's just, this is another day. I mean, it sounds crazy, but it's like,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:18 you know, you just, I mean, it's like when you just put that stuff down, push it down.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:23 And I was going to my buddy's house because we were probably going to smoke
00:20:23 --> 00:20:29 some dope or get in trouble with teenagers in New Jersey. did at 17 years old, 16 years old.
00:20:29 --> 00:20:33 And I just, I just pushed it aside.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:39 Yeah. So that experience, how did that,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:45 impact you one, well, let's, let's break it down three different ways.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:53 You're a lawyer by profession and, and you're a guardian ad litem as well.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 And you're also a father.
00:20:56 --> 00:21:03 So how did the, how did the events that, that shaped your life from the time
00:21:03 --> 00:21:08 you was eight years old impact those three different aspects of your life?
00:21:09 --> 00:21:15 Well, I can tell you, as a person, I'm a trial lawyer, I'm a competitive person,
00:21:16 --> 00:21:21 and I'm a fighter, not physically, but I mean just for what's right.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:25 And that's why being on guardian ad litem, like helping children,
00:21:25 --> 00:21:29 I mean, people are not aware, they don't realize, or maybe they do,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:33 and they don't care how many kids out there, underprivileged,
00:21:33 --> 00:21:38 have no services, have no adults leading them, are just stuck either on the
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 street or in the system with no mentorship.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:44 And so going through and living in the house that I went through,
00:21:44 --> 00:21:48 and I went through this horrible, I was in the middle of this horrible divorce custody battle.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:53 And my mother shows up with another man who's not a nice person.
00:21:53 --> 00:21:59 And I get thrown in a house, the seven kids, and we all get adopted, you know, together.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:06 And back then in the 70s, you know, it was probably pretty common for fathers to hit their kids.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 And, you know, that wasn't a big deal back then. It wasn't.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:16 And I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I did not want that to happen to anybody else.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:22 And I felt by my experience growing up like that and then seeing some other
00:22:22 --> 00:22:26 things in the world and doing a lot of reading about helping underprivileged people,
00:22:26 --> 00:22:34 I really dove into helping kids and families that needed it.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 I think the experience of.
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 Of learning how to fight back from having a childhood like that,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 you know, you have a choice, right?
00:22:43 --> 00:22:47 You can, and I have siblings that you can just be a victim and walk around and complain.
00:22:48 --> 00:22:54 I got dealt a bad hand and, you know, and my father abandoned me and this person was beating me.
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 And so I'm just going to walk around with my head down. But,
00:22:57 --> 00:23:01 you know, I chose to use that as energy or fuel to, to fight back,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 you know, for other people.
00:23:03 --> 00:23:07 Yeah. So what, and what about fatherhood? Cause you, you, you,
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 You're a father of five children?
00:23:09 --> 00:23:13 Yes, right, right. And the last one, adopted. Yeah, I mean, well,
00:23:13 --> 00:23:19 I think that it made me too easy as a parent, probably.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:24 Like, you know, I just, I spent every, listen, I had two fathers and neither
00:23:24 --> 00:23:28 of them totally, they probably said 10 minutes in their entire lives with me alone.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:32 I wanted to make sure I was at all my kids' games, that they knew I was there for them.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35 You know i was i was probably much too easy on
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38 as far as them taking advantage of me and in some
00:23:38 --> 00:23:41 ways and you know i was i didn't have a great
00:23:41 --> 00:23:47 role model as as parents i had pretty bad role models and so it was certainly
00:23:47 --> 00:23:52 it was certainly you know it certainly affected how i how i parented but i think
00:23:52 --> 00:23:59 i can say that i was probably too easy and in some ways and enabled them in some ways.
00:23:59 --> 00:24:05 And then in other ways, I was shut down emotionally and maybe not as loving as I could have been.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:13 So those, those two things, I wound up in divorce twice and I wound up adopting my, my third wife.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:18 I adopted her son and he is a fantastic, is a fantastic kid.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 And, and I had more love in my heart.
00:24:20 --> 00:24:25 You know, I, I learned, I learned how to be more of a hugger, you know.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:29 Yeah. Well, I understand that journey.
00:24:30 --> 00:24:41 I had one biological child and I inherited, let's see, five boys in three marriages.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:51 And so it was a little different as far as my dynamics compared to you. But I get it.
00:24:52 --> 00:25:00 And it was like, you know, the older I got, the more attached I got with the children.
00:25:00 --> 00:25:04 You know, a couple of them didn't respond, you know, because they were older, per se.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:12 But, you know, yeah, all of us are very critical about how we are as fathers.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:17 And I talk to my child a lot. He's actually back.
00:25:17 --> 00:25:25 I grew up in Chicago. And so they're actually back in Chicago and, you know, and, you know,
00:25:26 --> 00:25:32 had some real kind of conversations and, you know, they always try to say,
00:25:32 --> 00:25:36 well, you were, you were good, you know, don't, don't beat yourself up.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:39 And you didn't have this or you couldn't do that. Don't worry about all that.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 So, you know, all of them seem to be doing okay.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:49 So that's all I can say you know as a dad I get that,
00:25:50 --> 00:25:54 So let's get into some issues, because I wanted to take advantage of the fact
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 that you are a guardian ad litem.
00:25:56 --> 00:26:02 And one of the committees I served on in the legislature was juvenile justice.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:07 And so, you know, that was those issues.
00:26:07 --> 00:26:14 We were caught up a lot in the state facilities that we were dealing with these young people.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:19 And but we had to deal with guardian ad litem issues as well.
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 So I just want to ask you some questions.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:27 As a guardian ad litem, do you think there is enough clarity in the laws and
00:26:27 --> 00:26:32 procedures concerning the role or scope of authority of a guardian ad litem?
00:26:34 --> 00:26:40 You know, probably not. I know that in Orange County, Orlando,
00:26:40 --> 00:26:46 Florida, where I am, I volunteer as a pro bono attorney doing that as a guardian ad litem.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:51 And they have started structuring it a lot, you know, a lot more as far as what
00:26:51 --> 00:26:56 the rules are and what guardian items can do and how much power we have or don't have.
00:26:56 --> 00:27:01 But they're mainly trying to get lawyers to actually do it, to,
00:27:02 --> 00:27:09 you know, perform the role because otherwise DCF, which is Division of Children and Family Services,
00:27:09 --> 00:27:14 they have to find somebody to, you know, to fill that spot.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 And, you know, Orange County Legal Aid does a good job in trying to get the
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 guardian ad litemps, trying to train them.
00:27:19 --> 00:27:23 So when I started out, because I've been doing it so long, there was very little structure.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:28 You know, you just, you're helping that kid and, you know, that's your job.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:33 But it's definitely in Florida, it's gotten more structured and we got more
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 responsible, more responsibility.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:43 And the guardian in Florida you're put on the hot seat by the judge when it
00:27:43 --> 00:27:50 comes to helping the judge at the court in average to make a decision about where the kid should go.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:55 Yeah. So I guess before we get too deep in the weeds on this,
00:27:56 --> 00:28:00 define exactly what a guardian ad litem is for the audience. Sure.
00:28:00 --> 00:28:05 A guardian ad litem is basically an independent person, generally a lawyer,
00:28:05 --> 00:28:08 who's appointed to serve the best interests of the child.
00:28:08 --> 00:28:14 So if, for example, there's a sexual abuse case and the state is trying to take
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 the kids away from the parents,
00:28:16 --> 00:28:21 the court will appoint a guardian ad litem to be involved in helping make the
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 decision on what's the best thing for the child.
00:28:24 --> 00:28:32 So my role as a GAL, I can't say GAL, is solely to push all that aside and try to help the kid.
00:28:33 --> 00:28:38 So that's, and in some states, in some counties, you do not have to be a lawyer.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:40 You can be a psychologist.
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 You have different levels here.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:46 But, you know, it's, so that's what our role is.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:51 And it's really, it's a really important piece. Yeah, it was like the young
00:28:51 --> 00:28:55 lady that that succeeded me in the legislature.
00:28:55 --> 00:29:00 She she was a family attorney and she was a guardian ad litem.
00:29:01 --> 00:29:07 And, you know, a lot of stuff that she did legislatively was trying to fix that
00:29:07 --> 00:29:09 in the state of Mississippi.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:15 It's hard to learn. I mean, you can definitely, like last year,
00:29:15 --> 00:29:20 a couple years ago, I had two boys from the same mom.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:24 The mom was 13 and had already had like five children.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:29 I mean, it's very, very, you know, it's very sad. And she was on the street.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:34 And she was on the street. And, you know, one of the kids was born with a lot
00:29:34 --> 00:29:38 of intellectual issues because she had been on coke and all that.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 And there's so many stories like that out there.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:44 And then you have to look at where do those kids, where those kids go and who
00:29:44 --> 00:29:49 helps them and how do they get direction and, and, and who's going to do that
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 for them. And it takes work.
00:29:52 --> 00:29:57 Yeah. So you, you had mentioned in your state that they, they have training.
00:29:57 --> 00:30:04 What specific training should a GAL have that is not required now, in your opinion?
00:30:05 --> 00:30:15 Sure. I think a GIL should have some background in dealing with domestic abuse, domestic situations,
00:30:16 --> 00:30:21 understand a little bit about family law and not being lawyers,
00:30:22 --> 00:30:27 but understanding some of the issues related to custody, custody battles.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:32 Maybe, you know, learn a little bit about, depending on the age of the child,
00:30:33 --> 00:30:37 some of the psychological or, you know, mental health issues that go along with it.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:41 I think that's, it's certainly a case-by-case thing.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:46 I think that they should, you know, it takes a lot of time. So my wife is a
00:30:46 --> 00:30:49 volunteer guardian ad litem in Seminole County, which is next county over.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:53 And then she spent like a month going out with some of the public defenders
00:30:54 --> 00:30:58 or some of the lawyers for the DCF, you know, going on calls to see what they do.
00:30:59 --> 00:31:03 I mean, those caseworkers, I'm sure you see in Mississippi, they are,
00:31:03 --> 00:31:06 that is the toughest job in the world. That is the toughest job in the world.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:15 Yeah, it is. Should a guardian ad litem's report be admissible evidence in court,
00:31:15 --> 00:31:23 or is it better that a GAL testifies and submits themselves to cross-examination? Definitely testifies.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:29 I think it's, well, first of all, like in the law, the traditional sense,
00:31:29 --> 00:31:34 anything the GAL says, if you can't cross-examine them, could be considered hearsay.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:40 A lot of the things that we gather to make our decisions are based on other information out there.
00:31:40 --> 00:31:45 So it's really important for both sides to be able to, because there's a certain
00:31:45 --> 00:31:49 standard that you have to meet when you're testifying if the kids are going
00:31:49 --> 00:31:51 to be taken away from the parents.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:58 And when you testify, it's important that the parents' attorneys get the opportunity
00:31:58 --> 00:32:03 to ask me why I made the decision that I made and to cross-examine and question it.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:08 But that's a great, that's really an excellent, really is an excellent question.
00:32:08 --> 00:32:12 And I've been cross-examined a few times where, you know, this is a really tough thing.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:18 Sometimes it's really clear where a child should be placed, but sometimes it's not.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:23 Or maybe there's allegations out there of abuse, but no one's ever proved it.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:26 And, you know, do you want, my father left me, man. You know,
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28 I don't like taking kids away from their family.
00:32:28 --> 00:32:36 That's really rough. And those are hard, hard cases and really, really is. Yeah.
00:32:37 --> 00:32:39 You know, I think people...
00:32:39 --> 00:32:44 I don't, I don't, you know, I just, when, when I started doing research and
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46 trying to, you know, ask that question,
00:32:46 --> 00:32:52 you know, I'm kind of like you, I think it makes sense to actually have the
00:32:52 --> 00:32:57 guardian ad litem present and be able to answer questions and,
00:32:57 --> 00:33:04 and scrutiny and maybe clear up some things that you might've seen or observed, excuse me.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:09 And, you know, in a cross-examination, those things could be clarified, right?
00:33:10 --> 00:33:16 And so I don't understand what would be the motivation to just say,
00:33:17 --> 00:33:22 well, okay, this is my report and, you know, and it's admitted.
00:33:23 --> 00:33:28 What would be the motivation to just do it that way as opposed to going under the scrutiny?
00:33:29 --> 00:33:32 Yeah, I think, well, some people are just lazy.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:40 And that's the easy way to do it. You know, some of the cases are so straightforward.
00:33:41 --> 00:33:45 There's not much to really to say, but there's... Listen, I was appointed,
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 Erik, this is interesting.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:51 About five years ago, I got a call from Orange County Legal Aid.
00:33:51 --> 00:33:55 And listen, I've been doing this probably longer than anybody in Central Florida,
00:33:55 --> 00:34:00 not because I'm a god, but because I'm old, because I've been practicing law for 30 years, right?
00:34:00 --> 00:34:04 So they wanted... And he said, we need somebody experienced because there's
00:34:04 --> 00:34:11 a woman, female lawyer, and she wants to adopt these kids, and she is really
00:34:11 --> 00:34:13 difficult, really difficult.
00:34:14 --> 00:34:17 And then she must have said, when they asked me, like four times,
00:34:17 --> 00:34:21 be prepared. She wants somebody experienced, so we're asking you to do it.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:27 And this, and so the, what was, and she was, she was really difficult.
00:34:27 --> 00:34:31 But once you realize that I knew what I was doing and I wasn't going to necessarily
00:34:31 --> 00:34:36 put up with some of what she was complaining about, she had this woman,
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 I mean, really incredible.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39 And she was a really incredible lawyer, but...
00:34:40 --> 00:34:44 She had adopted two—she had been a GAL for two teenage girls,
00:34:45 --> 00:34:51 guardian ad litem herself. She was unmarried, and she adopted those two girls, which was incredible.
00:34:51 --> 00:34:58 But they're teenagers, two teenage girls, and that's not easy.
00:34:58 --> 00:35:04 And one of the girls got pregnant, and she's 16.
00:35:04 --> 00:35:10 And so you have a 16-year-old girl who's having a baby, And now this attorney
00:35:10 --> 00:35:14 who had adopted these two wants to adopt the child,
00:35:14 --> 00:35:19 wants to adopt the child that her daughter, adopted daughter, was going to have.
00:35:19 --> 00:35:26 It turned out, when I started looking into things, that the teenage girl who
00:35:26 --> 00:35:29 was pregnant was running like an escort service out of there.
00:35:29 --> 00:35:33 They lived in this beautiful neighborhood, like beautiful neighborhood.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:35 And this teenage girl, you know,
00:35:36 --> 00:35:39 she didn't grow up there, but she'd been adopted when she was a teenager,
00:35:40 --> 00:35:43 was basically when her mom was going to practice law, you know,
00:35:43 --> 00:35:49 she was making money doing whatever it was she was doing, and the mom didn't know.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:55 And so I had to try to explain, you know, to them what was, you know, what was going on.
00:35:55 --> 00:35:59 And I wasn't, but we actually did get through the adoption. She adopted the
00:35:59 --> 00:36:03 little girl and, but, you know, crazy scenarios. And there's some really,
00:36:03 --> 00:36:09 there's some saints out there, people who take on really hard situations. Yeah.
00:36:10 --> 00:36:13 So how did, well, I don't want to dwell too much on that, but,
00:36:14 --> 00:36:18 but so how does that work? Is like, if she adopted a mom and then she adopts
00:36:18 --> 00:36:21 the daughter legally, that makes them sisters.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:25 How does that, how does that? Yeah. Yeah. Well, she's, she would be like the
00:36:25 --> 00:36:29 grand, basically she's the grandmother. She has a grandmother. Okay. Okay. I got you.
00:36:29 --> 00:36:35 Yeah. And it's, you know, that girl, I think the girl, the teenage girl who
00:36:35 --> 00:36:39 had the child, I think she wound up disappearing, you know.
00:36:39 --> 00:36:45 So, you know, because they come from, think about it, a teenage girl where they,
00:36:45 --> 00:36:48 you know, who knows what they come from.
00:36:48 --> 00:36:52 And, you know, it's really hard when you adopt somebody in that age.
00:36:54 --> 00:37:04 I had a family that adopted a black, little black child and a white child at the same time.
00:37:04 --> 00:37:06 And these guys, and I was a guardian
00:37:06 --> 00:37:10 of life for them. And these guys are brothers, man. It is the most.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:17 And when I adopted my son, they came to the adoption hearing because I had been there in GAL.
00:37:18 --> 00:37:23 And it's nice because there's some sort of colorblindness there between the boys.
00:37:23 --> 00:37:27 I mean, they are brothers, man, just like you are made with your brothers or whatever it is.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:31 And you get great stories and great things like that, too.
00:37:32 --> 00:37:35 Yeah, yeah. All right, final question.
00:37:36 --> 00:37:41 Should GALs be held to the same standard as a judge or an attorney?
00:37:42 --> 00:37:48 Wow, that's great. That is a great and that's a tricky question because there
00:37:48 --> 00:37:51 are times when I say to myself, man, I'm volunteering.
00:37:51 --> 00:37:54 The judge shouldn't be giving me such a hard time. But yeah,
00:37:54 --> 00:37:57 I think they have to be held to a standard.
00:37:57 --> 00:38:01 Maybe if they're a lawyer, if they are a jail and a lawyer, they absolutely
00:38:01 --> 00:38:06 should be held to the same standard. You know, if it's a volunteer who's not
00:38:06 --> 00:38:09 a lawyer, you know, maybe they get a little bit of grace, but,
00:38:09 --> 00:38:11 you know, you have to keep those rules in place.
00:38:12 --> 00:38:15 I mean, you really—and judges, most of them, it's situational.
00:38:15 --> 00:38:18 The good judges are—there's a practical reality.
00:38:18 --> 00:38:21 I know you were a police officer at some point in your life,
00:38:21 --> 00:38:26 and, you know, there are times not everything is that clear, you know, not—.
00:38:27 --> 00:38:29 Person has to be arrested. Maybe they just need to be talked to.
00:38:29 --> 00:38:32 You know, maybe you're a deputy who would give people a chance,
00:38:32 --> 00:38:36 but another deputy in the same situation might, you know, never bend the rules.
00:38:37 --> 00:38:41 And so, so I think it's my, I guess the answer to the question is that they
00:38:41 --> 00:38:45 definitely need to be held to a standard, very similar to maybe that of a lawyer,
00:38:45 --> 00:38:46 but it's, it's situational.
00:38:47 --> 00:38:50 Yeah. I, I'm glad you brought that up because that's one thing,
00:38:50 --> 00:38:54 I think people need to understand about law enforcement, you know,
00:38:54 --> 00:38:58 despite the crazy ones that are out there and all that and what we're seeing
00:38:58 --> 00:39:05 on TV now, most officers are unlicensed social workers.
00:39:05 --> 00:39:10 And, you know, their job is to diffuse the situation if possible.
00:39:11 --> 00:39:14 If you don't have to make an arrest, don't.
00:39:15 --> 00:39:20 If you've got to bring somebody in, then doing it the most professional and
00:39:20 --> 00:39:25 the calmest way possible, the scenarios that we see on TV.
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28 Yeah. That's, that's not really happening all the time.
00:39:28 --> 00:39:33 That's just, even in, even in the biggest cities, it's, it's,
00:39:33 --> 00:39:36 that's not, if anything in the, in, you know,
00:39:37 --> 00:39:41 there was a show called Southern justice and I loved it because,
00:39:41 --> 00:39:44 you know, it's rural sheriffs and all that.
00:39:44 --> 00:39:47 And, you know, it's like, he's trying to solve a crime
00:39:47 --> 00:39:51 and he pretty much knows who's done what he knows what trailer
00:39:51 --> 00:39:54 what house they live in and all them by
00:39:54 --> 00:39:56 the first day they you know i know you
00:39:56 --> 00:39:59 had something to do with this this atv being stolen or
00:39:59 --> 00:40:02 something like that you know i'm saying he's out i have to put you in
00:40:02 --> 00:40:05 the car come on you want me to put handcuffs on you or not and you're gonna
00:40:05 --> 00:40:10 be a problem but i mean you know but it's but it's it's that kind of relationship
00:40:10 --> 00:40:15 you know i'm saying and and and i I think that's important for people to know
00:40:15 --> 00:40:20 that most of the times when police officers are doing their work.
00:40:21 --> 00:40:24 It's, you know, we're just trying to defuse the situation.
00:40:25 --> 00:40:30 So look, how can people get your book? How can people reach out to you,
00:40:30 --> 00:40:32 Stephen, and, you know, go from there?
00:40:33 --> 00:40:36 Sure. Yeah, my book is called Pretend They're Dead.
00:40:36 --> 00:40:41 And, Erik, maybe you can put a link, you know, at some point whenever you post this.
00:40:42 --> 00:40:49 But you can reach me also, www.pageandeichenblatt. that's my law firm,
00:40:49 --> 00:40:54 or Steve Eichenblatt, E-I-C-H-E-N-B-L-A-T-T, and you'll find me.
00:40:54 --> 00:40:58 And listen, if anybody's listening and they have questions or concerns,
00:40:58 --> 00:41:00 I would love everybody to buy my book.
00:41:00 --> 00:41:05 That would be fantastic. But if you just have questions about what being a GAL
00:41:05 --> 00:41:09 is, or what's going on in family court, or how do you not make your kids collateral
00:41:09 --> 00:41:13 damage, or any of those things, you know, you can, I don't, I mean,
00:41:13 --> 00:41:15 I'll talk to anybody and try to help him out.
00:41:15 --> 00:41:20 Or contact Erik, and Erik will call me, and we'll try to figure something out for you.
00:41:20 --> 00:41:24 So, you know, that's really, it's an underserved community out there when it
00:41:24 --> 00:41:27 comes to some of these kids, and, you know, we'd like to help.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:33 Well, Steve Eichenblatt, I am really glad that we had the time to talk about this.
00:41:34 --> 00:41:38 I hope that your book continues to do well. It's a very, very compelling story,
00:41:38 --> 00:41:42 and it's something that, you know, a lot of people can relate to,
00:41:42 --> 00:41:45 whether they openly admit it or not.
00:41:46 --> 00:41:50 And, you know, but even, even if you didn't go through the drama,
00:41:51 --> 00:41:55 the concept and the, and the desire for a father's love is universal.
00:41:55 --> 00:42:01 And so I think you did a great job with that. And I, and again, I wish you much success.
00:42:01 --> 00:42:05 And the rule is, is that now that you've accepted an invitation,
00:42:05 --> 00:42:08 you've been on the show, you have an open invitation to come back.
00:42:08 --> 00:42:11 So you You don't even have to wait for me to ask you if there's something going
00:42:11 --> 00:42:15 on. It's like, yeah, I need a platform. Erik, can you help me out?
00:42:16 --> 00:42:20 We'll make that happen. So, Steve, thank you so much for coming on, man. I appreciate it.
00:42:20 --> 00:42:24 Yeah, you're welcome. If a time comes up and you need to bounce something by
00:42:24 --> 00:42:26 a lawyer, you know, just give me a buzz.
00:42:26 --> 00:42:30 Give me a call. I've got my cell phone number and we'll talk. Thank you so much, Eric.
00:42:31 --> 00:42:35 Have a great weekend, too. Have a great weekend. Well, thank you. Thank you so much.
00:42:35 --> 00:42:39 All right, guys, and we're going to catch you all on the other side. .
00:42:51 --> 00:42:57 So I want to thank Steve Eichenblatt for coming on the podcast,
00:42:57 --> 00:43:03 and I greatly appreciated him taking the time to do that,
00:43:03 --> 00:43:11 and just him having the distinction of being the only guest that I have.
00:43:11 --> 00:43:16 So I greatly appreciate that. Please go get his book, Pretend They Are Dead.
00:43:17 --> 00:43:23 It's very, very powerful. and he's very, very transparent in that book.
00:43:23 --> 00:43:31 And you can tell by the interview what kind of solid dude he is.
00:43:31 --> 00:43:32 I mean, nobody's perfect.
00:43:33 --> 00:43:40 And I don't know him well enough to basically say that he's whatever flaws he's got.
00:43:40 --> 00:43:43 But as far as I'm concerned, he's a stand-up dude.
00:43:43 --> 00:43:52 And based on his experiences, You know, he has done the most with what he had to overcome.
00:43:53 --> 00:43:59 And, you know, so I greatly appreciate Steven and I admire him.
00:43:59 --> 00:44:04 And I hope that his book takes off, continues to take off or something,
00:44:05 --> 00:44:12 and that he continues to keep doing good work and helping children in the state of Florida.
00:44:13 --> 00:44:17 All right. So now I got that out of the way. Let me say something really,
00:44:17 --> 00:44:21 really quick. You know, so last week we talked about character.
00:44:22 --> 00:44:28 So, you know, now we want to talk about courage, even if it's an illusion.
00:44:28 --> 00:44:32 I think we need to address courage.
00:44:32 --> 00:44:41 So Marjorie Taylor Greene has taken a courageous stand in going against the
00:44:41 --> 00:44:48 president and leadership of the House Republicans to side with the Democrats
00:44:48 --> 00:44:50 on the issue of the shutdown.
00:44:51 --> 00:44:55 Now, I know she's not in favor of shutting down the government.
00:44:55 --> 00:44:59 She has made that apparently clear.
00:44:59 --> 00:45:05 But in this particular case, she understands what's at stake.
00:45:06 --> 00:45:13 So, and it's catching a lot of people by surprise, but the reality is that at
00:45:13 --> 00:45:17 some point in time, people's humanity has to kick in.
00:45:17 --> 00:45:23 And in her case, it was about the health care of her children, right?
00:45:23 --> 00:45:28 When she realized that her children who are still under her health insurance.
00:45:29 --> 00:45:32 Right, that their costs were going to go up, right?
00:45:33 --> 00:45:41 And I think one of her children is still under her plan, from what I understand, and if not both of them.
00:45:41 --> 00:45:46 But either way it goes, she realized that it's going to cost more to take care
00:45:46 --> 00:45:48 of them, make sure that everything is okay.
00:45:49 --> 00:45:56 And we have insurance because this is just in case. It's not we're expecting to get sick.
00:45:57 --> 00:46:01 It's inevitable that something will happen to us, but we want to have the peace
00:46:01 --> 00:46:05 of mind, right? That's what the insurance is for, and we want to be able to
00:46:05 --> 00:46:06 afford that peace of mind.
00:46:07 --> 00:46:14 And so her, even though she's a member of Congress, she wants to have that peace of mind.
00:46:14 --> 00:46:19 She wants her children to have that peace of mind, right, for their kids or
00:46:19 --> 00:46:21 if they have kids. I don't know.
00:46:22 --> 00:46:27 I have no idea what's going on. I know she was alarmed when she realized that
00:46:27 --> 00:46:32 the subsidies were going to end and also that she's in a state where,
00:46:32 --> 00:46:41 in the wisdom of the state, they decided not to do the Medicaid expansions, right?
00:46:41 --> 00:46:47 See, all these red states that support Donald Trump, y'all broke. Y'all broke people.
00:46:48 --> 00:46:51 And the reason why you're broke is because the citizens are broke.
00:46:52 --> 00:46:57 Yeah, you got low cost of living compared to other states, but you don't pay
00:46:57 --> 00:46:59 anybody anything, right?
00:46:59 --> 00:47:04 And then, even then, you're losing jobs.
00:47:04 --> 00:47:08 Even then, the recessions and all this stuff, the tariffs, all that still hits you.
00:47:09 --> 00:47:14 And it hits you harder because you don't have as much disposable income as other folks.
00:47:15 --> 00:47:22 Anyway, so in these places where they have higher rates of poverty as well,
00:47:22 --> 00:47:29 they play politics instead of pragmatics and didn't expand Medicaid when they
00:47:29 --> 00:47:34 had the chance when the Affordable Care Act was passed because they didn't want
00:47:34 --> 00:47:36 to give credit to a black man being president.
00:47:37 --> 00:47:40 You can debate it all you want to. That's what it is.
00:47:40 --> 00:47:43 Because there's no logical reason why some of the poorest states,
00:47:44 --> 00:47:48 hello, Mississippi, some of the poorest states didn't expand Medicaid,
00:47:49 --> 00:47:51 right? When you had the chance.
00:47:51 --> 00:47:55 Mississippi is the biggest, you know, largest match of any state,
00:47:55 --> 00:48:01 and they could have got more money to make sure at the very least in a state
00:48:01 --> 00:48:05 with the highest rate of child poverty in the United States,
00:48:06 --> 00:48:09 at least those kids could have gotten taken care of health wise.
00:48:10 --> 00:48:15 They want to play politics. So anyway, fast forward to now. Argentine Green
00:48:15 --> 00:48:17 is in one of these states. She represents Georgia.
00:48:18 --> 00:48:21 She's one of the U.S. representatives from Georgia.
00:48:21 --> 00:48:26 And so she did the math and basically came out and said, yeah,
00:48:26 --> 00:48:27 I think the Democrats are right on this.
00:48:28 --> 00:48:31 I think we need to do something about these subsidies.
00:48:32 --> 00:48:38 And the quicker we knock that out, the quicker we can end the government shutdown and keep it moving.
00:48:38 --> 00:48:43 If that's all they're asking for, I'm with that, right?
00:48:44 --> 00:48:49 So, you know, the cynical people in politics are saying, well,
00:48:49 --> 00:48:52 you know, she's looking at poll numbers and all that stuff. But that's never
00:48:52 --> 00:48:53 really affected her before.
00:48:54 --> 00:48:59 She's taken positions that have not been popular with the masses of people.
00:48:59 --> 00:49:03 Now, in her district, she keeps getting reelected. So, obviously,
00:49:03 --> 00:49:09 she's connecting with them, despite my criticism, despite anybody else's criticism, right?
00:49:10 --> 00:49:13 But in this case, I don't think she's looking at it.
00:49:13 --> 00:49:16 So, if she's not looking at poll numbers, and she's definitely not looking at
00:49:16 --> 00:49:18 poll numbers now, in my opinion.
00:49:19 --> 00:49:26 I think she's looking at bills. And although she makes a good salary being a
00:49:26 --> 00:49:31 member of Congress, still money, right? But just because you make more money
00:49:31 --> 00:49:34 doesn't mean you want to spend more money.
00:49:34 --> 00:49:36 Right? Just saying.
00:49:37 --> 00:49:43 You have more of a range to work with, but you're still trying to get the best deal.
00:49:44 --> 00:49:46 She's been late nonetheless.
00:49:47 --> 00:49:51 So I actually, all the criticism that I've done with her,
00:49:52 --> 00:49:57 you know, with this particular stand and then the stand she's taken with trying
00:49:57 --> 00:50:05 to help the victims or the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein in his sex trafficking ring,
00:50:06 --> 00:50:09 I have to commend her for that, and it's only fair.
00:50:10 --> 00:50:16 If I was in her position, I would be voting the same way on those same issues.
00:50:16 --> 00:50:18 So I commend her for that.
00:50:19 --> 00:50:27 Now, we got ways to go, and we're not going to be 100% amenable going forward, but fair is fair.
00:50:28 --> 00:50:35 As much as I criticize her, as much as I've, you know, just been frustrated
00:50:35 --> 00:50:40 with her, I have to give her credit for taking the right stand on this.
00:50:40 --> 00:50:45 Now, the flip side, the lack of courage example is the leader of the House,
00:50:45 --> 00:50:47 the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
00:50:48 --> 00:50:51 So, you know, some people are saying, well, he's overwhelmed and all that kind
00:50:51 --> 00:50:53 of stuff, and he never was really a leader.
00:50:55 --> 00:50:59 He's not overwhelmed. He's underwhelming. He's not even trying.
00:51:00 --> 00:51:02 He's not even asserting himself.
00:51:04 --> 00:51:10 Speaker of the House is the second in succession to the president of the United States.
00:51:11 --> 00:51:14 So if something happens to the president, something happens to the vice president,
00:51:15 --> 00:51:18 Speaker of the House is next in line.
00:51:19 --> 00:51:22 And I'm looking at if something happened to President Trump,
00:51:23 --> 00:51:25 and then the next in line is J.D.
00:51:25 --> 00:51:29 Vance, Vice President Vance, and then the next in line is Speaker Johnson,
00:51:30 --> 00:51:38 As much as I despise the character and the tenor and the unprofessionalism and
00:51:38 --> 00:51:42 the lack of respect for the Constitution that President Trump has,
00:51:42 --> 00:51:44 I am praying for his health.
00:51:44 --> 00:51:52 You best believe I do not want that man to die any moment in this term.
00:51:53 --> 00:51:57 If he gets impeached, well, that is what it is. But dying? No,
00:51:58 --> 00:52:00 sir. I do not want to see the line of succession work.
00:52:01 --> 00:52:07 And I don't want to be in a situation where something happens to the president and the vice president.
00:52:07 --> 00:52:12 Because then Mike Johnson would become the president of the United States.
00:52:12 --> 00:52:19 A man who acts like he can't even tie his shoes. And as Donald Trump says, you can do that.
00:52:20 --> 00:52:24 Be the president. Somebody that doesn't even have the courage to just swear
00:52:24 --> 00:52:28 somebody in and let the chips forward in May, right?
00:52:28 --> 00:52:31 And I'm not going to butcher that because I'm limited on time.
00:52:31 --> 00:52:34 I'm not going to butcher the young lady's name from Arizona,
00:52:34 --> 00:52:38 but most of y'all who follow the news know what I'm talking about.
00:52:38 --> 00:52:40 The young lady's been elected now.
00:52:40 --> 00:52:45 It's been two weeks and she still hasn't been sworn in yet, right?
00:52:46 --> 00:52:50 Her senators came to her defense and showed up. Mike Johnson,
00:52:50 --> 00:52:53 they were actually having a press conference in front of his office,
00:52:53 --> 00:52:56 and then Johnson showed up, so they confronted him right there.
00:52:57 --> 00:53:02 Like, basically, you have nothing else to do at this point.
00:53:03 --> 00:53:07 And it's like, well, we got to do this. We got to be in session.
00:53:07 --> 00:53:10 It's like, you say, man, this is what's going to happen.
00:53:11 --> 00:53:15 See, because I wouldn't have had the press conference. This is just me now,
00:53:15 --> 00:53:19 strategist. I wouldn't have had the press conference unless she was physically there.
00:53:20 --> 00:53:25 Just on the off chance that that situation happened, where Mike Johnson was
00:53:25 --> 00:53:29 standing right there, and it's like I would have called her and said,
00:53:29 --> 00:53:32 hey, you can swear in right now in front of all these people.
00:53:33 --> 00:53:39 I got a Bible. You can swear in right this minute and keep it moving.
00:53:39 --> 00:53:44 You know, if you worried about her being the deciding vote to make sure that
00:53:44 --> 00:53:45 the Epstein files is released?
00:53:46 --> 00:53:51 Well, the House is not in session, so you can't do that then.
00:53:52 --> 00:53:54 You have to wait till you come back in session.
00:53:55 --> 00:53:58 And I know you want to go back in session. You have no choice because you're
00:53:58 --> 00:54:02 the Speaker of the House. You eventually have to come back in.
00:54:02 --> 00:54:09 But to disrespect the people of Arizona, because you're too cowardly to deal
00:54:09 --> 00:54:14 with the chips as they may fall, because you don't want to get the president angry.
00:54:16 --> 00:54:20 That's the most, I mean, the cowardly lion will look at you and say,
00:54:20 --> 00:54:22 what is your problem, dude?
00:54:23 --> 00:54:29 What's going on with you? Because the Speaker of the House and the Vice President,
00:54:29 --> 00:54:33 they run the Congress on paper.
00:54:34 --> 00:54:39 They're the heads of each branch of the Congress.
00:54:41 --> 00:54:47 So they're supposed to be autonomous of the president. Doesn't matter what party the president is.
00:54:48 --> 00:54:54 Yeah, if you're of the same party, you want to try to get the stuff that y'all
00:54:54 --> 00:54:56 mutually agree with, that y'all are random.
00:54:56 --> 00:54:59 There's going to be some times where you're not going to agree.
00:55:00 --> 00:55:03 And you're going to have to hash that out. Doesn't matter if the president is
00:55:03 --> 00:55:05 of your party or not of your party.
00:55:06 --> 00:55:10 That's the beauty of the legislative body. Like, when I served in the legislature,
00:55:10 --> 00:55:15 I had the privilege of serving under two Republicans and one Democrat during my time.
00:55:16 --> 00:55:19 And I fought with all of them at some point.
00:55:21 --> 00:55:27 I mean, it was the Democratic governor that we had to override his veto.
00:55:27 --> 00:55:33 And we were a majority Democratic legislature. We were like the last one in the South.
00:55:33 --> 00:55:40 So, you know, I just can't deal with somebody who has a position of power.
00:55:42 --> 00:55:50 You can't deal with somebody that's in a position of power like that and they have no courage, no.
00:55:51 --> 00:55:58 So I want to end with this. Speaker Johnson, you might need to look at your
00:55:58 --> 00:56:02 fellow colleague, the lady from Georgia.
00:56:02 --> 00:56:09 And I understand that it is politically okay for you to look the president in
00:56:09 --> 00:56:11 the eye and say, not this time.
00:56:12 --> 00:56:15 You on your own. I'm not toting the water for you.
00:56:15 --> 00:56:21 Because if we don't get a handle, if we don't get Congress to get their spine
00:56:21 --> 00:56:24 back, if we don't get Congress to be autonomous,
00:56:24 --> 00:56:31 then we're one step closer to that dreaded reality that the majority of us do not want.
00:56:32 --> 00:56:35 We do not want to slip from being a democracy into an autocracy.
00:56:36 --> 00:56:38 But Congress has to do their part.
00:56:39 --> 00:56:43 And, you know, Dune may or may not come around. He's had moments.
00:56:44 --> 00:56:49 But Mike Johnson has not shown me any ounce of courage whatsoever.
00:56:50 --> 00:56:59 And at some point in time, if you want to be the Moses that God supposedly envisioned
00:56:59 --> 00:57:04 you with, told you in a dream that you were it, you were a modern-day Moses?
00:57:04 --> 00:57:10 Moses had no equivocation about leading. Moses had no equivocation about courage.
00:57:12 --> 00:57:17 Moses looked at no other authority but God, even his own brother,
00:57:17 --> 00:57:19 who tried to say, hey, you can't do that.
00:57:20 --> 00:57:22 We're going to have to have a discussion.
00:57:24 --> 00:57:30 If you're going to be Moses, you're going to have to lead. and cowards can't lead.
00:57:31 --> 00:57:36 Bottom line. All right, guys. Thank you all for listening. Until next time.