Welcome to an enlightening episode of A Moment with Erik Fleming, where host Erik Fleming delves into the intricate dynamics of politics, economy, and culture. This episode, aptly titled "The Great American Games," features engaging discussions with three distinguished guests who represent the intersection of money, politics, and sports.
In the first segment, Erik converses with the insightful Wajahat Ali, a renowned political commentator and Daily Beast columnist. They explore the enduring challenges of racism and greed in America, the complexities of Trump's legacy, and the prospects for reformation in the political landscape. Ali shares his journey and perspectives that offer a unique lens on America's current and future trajectory.
In the second segment, Erik welcomes back Rick Roberts, a seasoned economist and former Federal Reserve executive. Rick provides a comprehensive analysis of the current economic climate, addressing concerns about tariffs, interest rates, and the impact of political decisions on economic stability. His insights into the economic challenges faced by today's youth and the evolving job market are particularly enlightening.
Finally, Erik engages with Dave Heller, a top Democratic media consultant and minor league baseball owner, who shares his thoughts on political strategy, the importance of authenticity in campaigns, and the parallels between politics and baseball. Heller's experiences in both arenas offer fascinating insights into leadership and public engagement.
Don't miss this episode packed with wisdom, foresight, and a call for true leadership and reform in America. It's a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand the intricate balance of power, policy, and the people's will in shaping a better future.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome. I'm Erik Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast.
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00:01:11 --> 00:01:16 The following program is hosted by the NBG Podcast Network.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:55 Music.
00:01:56 --> 00:02:02 Hello, and welcome to another moment with Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:10 And so today, you are going to be treated to three gentlemen as guests on the podcast.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:16 And I entitled this podcast, The Great American Games.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:23 And the reason why I did is because these three gentlemen represent the three
00:02:23 --> 00:02:27 American games, money, politics, and baseball.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:34 Yes, I know we're a football culture now, but I'm as old school as you can get
00:02:34 --> 00:02:42 when it comes to sports, and I just think baseball is the greatest game ever invented, and I love it.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:48 And so one of my guests, who is a very, very astute political consultant,
00:02:48 --> 00:02:53 also happens to be an owner of a baseball team, minor league team.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:57 So as a matter of fact, several, to be honest.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:04 And so that's why I entitled it The Great American Games, because the guests
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 encompass all three of those.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:13 Things, but particularly money and politics, are definitely American games too.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:21 And one of the smartest and wittiest podcasters, intellectuals,
00:03:21 --> 00:03:27 political commentators will be one of the guests and one of the coolest economists.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:31 Frequent guests on this program will also be making an appearance.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:37 So I'm greatly honored that those three gentlemen took the time out,
00:03:37 --> 00:03:41 and I hope that you enjoy the conversations as well.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 We're still on a mission to get 20 subscribers.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:52 You can go to patreon.com slash amomentwithErikFleming in order to make that happen.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 It's only a dollar a month.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:01 And, you know, we just, you know, really, really need that support,
00:04:01 --> 00:04:02 need that encouragement.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 I'm going to keep pressing on like I've been doing since 2019.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:14 But, you know, the opportunity is there to guarantee that this podcast,
00:04:14 --> 00:04:21 if you so desire, will stay on for as long as it needs to. And especially in these times.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:26 So this is going to be a long show because I've got three guests and we had
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 pretty good conversations.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:37 And then I've got to release something at the end. So just bear with us, enjoy the show.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:43 And as always, we kick it off with a moment of news with Grace G.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:49 Music.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:55 Thanks, Erik. Texas House Democrats fled the state to block a Republican-led
00:04:55 --> 00:05:00 Trump-backed redistricting plan that could eliminate five Democratic congressional seats.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:05 A U.S. Army sergeant shot and wounded five fellow soldiers at Fort Stewart Army
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 Airfield in Georgia before being subdued and arrested.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:13 U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to launch a
00:05:13 --> 00:05:17 grand jury investigation into allegations that members of the Obama administration
00:05:17 --> 00:05:22 created false intelligence regarding Russia's interference in the 2016 elections.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:26 The U.S. Supreme Court will assess in October a key part of the Voting Rights
00:05:26 --> 00:05:30 Act to determine whether it is constitutional for states to create additional
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 districts with majority-minority populations to remedy racial discrimination.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:40 The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down in September after losing its federal funding.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:46 President Trump fired a top Labor Department official after a weak jobs report,
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 accusing her without evidence of manipulating the data.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:54 Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to a lower-security prison in Texas after
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 meeting with U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
00:05:58 --> 00:06:02 Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler is resigning early, which could allow
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 President Trump to appoint her replacement.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:09 A federal appeals court has lifted a lower court's ruling, allowing the Trump
00:06:09 --> 00:06:13 administration to strip hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their ability
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 to engage in union bargaining.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:20 A federal judge has rejected a bid by 16 Democratic-led states to restore hundreds
00:06:20 --> 00:06:24 of millions of dollars in grants that the Trump administration canceled for
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 diversity programs in STEM fields.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:31 The National Museum of American History plans to reinstate references to President
00:06:31 --> 00:06:36 Trump in its impeachment exhibit after they were temporarily removed due to
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 aesthetic considerations.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 And U.S.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 Representative Nancy Mace has
00:06:41 --> 00:06:46 announced her candidacy for the 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial race.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 I am Grace G., and this has been a Moment of News.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:56 Music.
00:06:57 --> 00:07:04 All right. Thank you, Grace, for that moment of news. And now it is time for my guest, Wajahat Ali.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:09 Wajahat Ali is a Daily Beast columnist, public speaker, recovering attorney,
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 and tired dad of three cute kids.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:17 He is the author of the book, Go Back to Where You Came From and other helpful
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 recommendations on becoming American.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 He believes in sharing stories that are by us, for everyone.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:28 Universal narratives told through a culturally specific lens to entertain,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 educate, and bridge the global divides.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 He also enjoys writing about himself in the third person.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:38 He frequently appears on television and podcasts for his brilliant,
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 incisive, and witty political commentary.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:44 Born in the Bay Area, California to Pakistani immigrant parents.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 Ali went to school wearing husky pants and knowing only three words of English.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 He graduated from UC Berkeley with an English major and became a licensed attorney.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:58 He knows what it feels like to be the token minority in the classroom and the
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 darkest person in a boardroom.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:05 Like Spider-Man, he's often had the power and responsibility of being the cultural
00:08:05 --> 00:08:10 ambassador of an entire group of people, those who are often marginalized,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 silenced, and reduced to stereotypes.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:18 His essays, interviews, and reporting have appeared in the New York Times,
00:08:18 --> 00:08:24 The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and New York Review of Books.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:30 Ali has spoken at many organizations from Google to Walmart to Princeton University
00:08:30 --> 00:08:36 to United Nations and to the Shandy, Shadney,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 excuse me, Indian Pakistani restaurant in Newark, California,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 and his living room in front of his three kids.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:47 His newest venture is being editor of the Left Hook on Substack,
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 and he is the co-host of Democracy-ish with Danielle Moody.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:55 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 on this podcast, Wajahat Ali.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:08 Music.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:13 All right. Wajahat Ali. How you doing, brother? You doing good?
00:09:14 --> 00:09:18 I'm doing well, sir. Finally, we get to talk. Thank you so much for reaching out.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:23 Well, I am. I'm honored you accepted it because I've been a fan of you and Danielle's
00:09:23 --> 00:09:27 for a long time, at least going on three years for sure.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:31 Danielle's the superstar. So I'm just her. I'm like, she's a Batman. I'm Robin.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:38 Well, I'd say more like Nightwing, but you know, You're more of the Dick Grayson type.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:42 Your nerd bona fides have come out, sir, and I actually understood that reference. Well done.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:47 Yes, sir. Well, that's the other thing. There's a lot of things we have in common,
00:09:47 --> 00:09:51 and we'll kind of gloss over that during the interview.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 But what I normally like to do is kind of kick it off with a couple of icebreakers.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 So the first icebreaker I do is a quote.
00:09:59 --> 00:10:03 So this is the quote I want you to respond to. Like many great works of theater,
00:10:04 --> 00:10:09 I believe America is simultaneously a riotous comedy and a heartbreaking tragedy.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:15 Our hamartia, our fatal flaw, is racism. It haunts us every day.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:20 Thankfully, our last act is unwritten. What does that quote mean to you?
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 I think I wrote that, actually.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:27 And I wrote that in my book. And what that means to me is my complicated relationship
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 with the United States of America, the country that I was born in.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:35 With me both loving a country that doesn't necessarily love the rest of us back,
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 and also acknowledging the good and the bad in this country.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:42 And the bad, if you will, the twin sins of this country, I would say,
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 is in addition to racism and white supremacy, it's also been greed.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:50 And I believe that we have never been able to reach our apex,
00:10:50 --> 00:10:54 our highest potential as a country due to these two enduring sins that,
00:10:54 --> 00:10:58 A, we refuse to acknowledge and, B, we refuse to confront.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:05 And if people don't believe me, I give you 2025 where, you know, it's self-immolation.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:09 You know, the worst person possible, the most ill-equipped, unqualified individual
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 who failed the first time got reelected.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:16 Not by a majority, not by more than 50%. He's never broken 50%,
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 but by enough, 49% of plurality.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:23 And he has re-entered the White House on an explicit agenda of cruelty and let's
00:11:23 --> 00:11:29 just be honest, white supremacy and racism and greed were just yesterday as
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 of this recording, I mean, I just saw the video earlier today,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 you know, I kept hearing about it, but then I just saw the video,
00:11:34 --> 00:11:38 do you see the video of Tim Cook of Apple literally bribing this mother effer
00:11:38 --> 00:11:44 with a 24-carat gold in the Oval Office, he's like, here's gold please exempt
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 Apple from tariffs, and Donald Trump's like Okay.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 I mean, it's the type of stuff that,
00:11:50 --> 00:11:54 We read about in the Old Testament and New Testament and the Quran.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:59 It's like straight up like fables, archetypes, the modern day pharaoh.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 I call Donald Trump the modern day pharaoh. There are many similarities.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:08 So it is the, you know, what Donald Trump is, he manifests in physical form,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:13 Eric, that hamartia, that fatal flaw of America.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:19 And it's up to the rest of us to make sure that he's not the wrecking ball that destroys us. Yeah.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:25 All right. And so the next icebreaker is called 20 questions.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:31 Okay, let's do it. So I need you to give me a number between one and 20. How do you feel?
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 Do you want double digits, single digits? You tell me.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:42 Go with double digits. 11. All right. Where do you go to check a fact that you see, hear, read?
00:12:43 --> 00:12:47 Oh, that's very good. I try to go to the original source.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 So if there's a hyperlink I try to
00:12:49 --> 00:12:53 go to the original source and if there's no hyperlink then I do
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 go on google I google it and then
00:12:55 --> 00:13:00 I want to see at least one other source citing it if it's a quote it's always
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04 good to go for to the horse's mouth you want to hear the audio and the video
00:13:04 --> 00:13:08 so you either want to see it or or hear it and then if it's an exclusive reporting
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 then you have to cite that it's exclusive reporting like you know ProPublica
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 exclusive reporting New York Times exclusive reporting.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 Then you cite to the original link.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:21 I try my best to do that to separate fact from fiction. And especially because,
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 you know, I have this sub stack and people rely upon me with my interviews.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 That's what I try to do. Yeah. All right.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:33 So how did a left-handed only child of Pakistani immigrants from the Bay Area
00:13:33 --> 00:13:38 become a lawyer and then evolve into one of the foremost and funniest public
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 intellectuals in America?
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 So I don't know if I'm the one of the foremost or funniest, but that's very kind of you.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 But you know it's i still haven't figured out what i want to be
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 when i grow up i'm 44 years old but when
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 i was young growing up in the bay area i just i always
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 wanted to tell stories i enjoyed telling stories i enjoyed communicating
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 my my stories my people stories to my friends
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 i was oftentimes the token meaning i
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 was like the sole representative of all brown people are all muslims
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 and uh i became the conduit that one dude that a lot of people grew up with
00:14:09 --> 00:14:13 in elementary school in high school said oh yeah yeah we know a muslim we know
00:14:13 --> 00:14:17 a pakistani and so you know i remember in high school i was writing for the
00:14:17 --> 00:14:22 school newspaper and i was doing improv comedy with the improv comedy troupe and then in college.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:28 I was undeclared, and I was writing a lot, and I was also doing,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:32 we started a sketch comedy troupe where we wrote and directed and produced our own shows.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:38 And then, you know, my teacher, Ishmael Reed, told me to switch from short story
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 writing to write a play. This was after 9-11.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:45 And you and I are old enough to remember this country lost its mind after 9-11.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 And so Ishmael Reed, who is a juggernaut in American literature of black men,
00:14:49 --> 00:14:55 said, as a black man, I can tell you that your people are going to get hazed for the next 10 years.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:59 And the way we, and he was talking about black folks, have fought back is through
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 art, culture, and storytelling.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:04 That's how they haven't erased us. And, you know, I've never read an American
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 kitchen drama, but from the perspective of like a Muslims or Pakistanis, right?
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 Like, like death of a salesman or fences or a long day's journey in a night.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:16 And so he said, you know, don't write short stories. I think your talent,
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 I think you're better suited for plays because you have a great ear for dialogue.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:23 So write me 20 pages of a play of a fictional American Muslim family,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:28 and then you can pass the class. And so that became the basis of my first play,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 which I then produced and published.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:35 And that led me on to this weird, wild career where I still am trying to figure
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 out what I want to be when I grow up.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:42 Well, you know, as somebody that's a little older than you, trust me, you've got some time.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 And I know you've got a lot of things going on, man.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:52 So I really, but you're refreshing. I'm a fellow left-handed writer.
00:15:53 --> 00:16:00 And so I greatly appreciate your creativity Because that's the one thing It's like,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:06 to me, left-handed people are smart But we're also very, very creative And it
00:16:06 --> 00:16:13 shows because the way that you do your show With Danielle and all that stuff You can see the comedic,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:17 part, but you can also tell where the intellect is coming from.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:22 And most comedians are some of the smartest people, maybe not so many on the
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 other podcasts, but that's a whole nother conversation. Anyway.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:29 No, but I appreciate that you are a fellow lefty, you know, and I think the
00:16:29 --> 00:16:34 reason why we're forced to be creative and resourceful is because the entire
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 world oppresses us, sir.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:40 We, you know, people don't realize we're 11% of the population and from birth,
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 we have to reorient ourselves to live in a right-handed world,
00:16:43 --> 00:16:49 whether it is the desks, pencils, scissors, gloves, right?
00:16:49 --> 00:16:53 So I'm sure like me, you were forced to be in some way, shape or capacity ambidextrous.
00:16:54 --> 00:17:00 Well, initially, like when I play sports, I throw right-handed.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:04 But I bat left-handed in baseball and all this stuff. So yeah, you've had to play that.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:09 But there was some, you had mentioned something in your book where you talked
00:17:09 --> 00:17:13 about the teacher made a comment about you being left-handed.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:18 And it reminded me, I had a teacher in the kindergarten that said that I was
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 writing with the devil's hand.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:23 And my mom was a teacher at the time. And I told her what the teacher said.
00:17:23 --> 00:17:28 And she came up to the school and I didn't have a problem with that teacher ever again in life.
00:17:28 --> 00:17:34 So, you know, I can definitely relate to how we get put in a box and all that stuff.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:40 Yeah, the same, the same. And, you know, I have a section in the book where
00:17:40 --> 00:17:44 I talk about they tried to convert me from left-handed to right-handed.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:48 And my grandmother used to hold my left hand behind my back and my mother used
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 to throw tennis balls at me, assuming that I would catch it with my right hand.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:56 And instead, I was just like this healthy. Healthy was how we used to describe
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 overweight kids in the 80s.
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 The tennis balls used to bounce off my flesh because I was so stubborn that
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 I kept trying to just grab it with my left hand.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 And then eventually a family member said, just let it go. Let it go.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:11 He is unfortunately left-handed. And to this day, I'm the only left-handed person
00:18:11 --> 00:18:15 from both my mother's side and my father's side. Wow.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 I think there's somebody else left-handed that I'm related to.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:24 I just can't remember who it is right now, but I don't think I'm the only one within my immediate,
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 group but i'm an only child as well so oh yeah
00:18:27 --> 00:18:31 so we have a lot in common sir you know how it is yeah so we're
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 not we're not self this is the thing people think we're selfish oh you're
00:18:34 --> 00:18:39 the only child no no no i i would say we're not selfish and no one's accused
00:18:39 --> 00:18:44 me of being like a miser or selfish we are i would say self-centered in the
00:18:44 --> 00:18:48 in what and what i mean by self-centered is we are accustomed to our own space
00:18:48 --> 00:18:52 and time and that's what i've seen with a lot of only children right?
00:18:52 --> 00:18:57 And we have to navigate, we've usually navigated our world with adults,
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 number one, at a very young age.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:03 And number two, we've been given our own space and time because we don't have siblings.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 And I find that that's, that's the through line for a lot of old kids is like,
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 we'll talk to people. We could be extroverted.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 We'll, we'll be generous, but we still need that like fortress of solitude moment.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 Yeah. And then we're, we're kind of, we're, well, I'm an introvert that was
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 forced to be an extrovert, right?
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 Because I got into politics and all that stuff.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:26 But the other thing I would also say is that we tend to be more accountable
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 because we're the only ones.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 It's like, who didn't wash the dishes? Well, I guess that would be me.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 You know what I'm saying?
00:19:32 --> 00:19:38 So, you know. I didn't do it. Yeah, you couldn't blame it on anybody else. All right. So.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:43 You kind of started on one name I wanted to do, but the way I wanted to do this
00:19:43 --> 00:19:47 conversation is I wanted to highlight three people and I wanted to give you
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 what you think of those three people.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:54 And then I would follow up with a question concerning that person.
00:19:54 --> 00:19:59 So you started off on Donald Trump. So let's go ahead and finish what you think about him. Sure.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:07 Go ahead. I think he's a criminal Bulgarian who has never faced accountability
00:20:07 --> 00:20:12 in his entire life because he has been protected by wealth, whiteness, and fame.
00:20:13 --> 00:20:19 I believe that he is our modern-day pharaoh, a man of gluttonous appetites without
00:20:19 --> 00:20:23 restraint, who believes that he'll live forever or should live forever, but he won't.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:28 And he's a broken man, like so many of these powerful, quote-unquote powerful
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 men who are destroying us, where it's never enough.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 There's like this endless hole inside these men.
00:20:33 --> 00:20:37 Not enough women, not enough money, not enough wealth, not enough adulation.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 There's still never enough, Eric, if you've noticed, right? They need more,
00:20:39 --> 00:20:44 more, more, more, more. And that's to fill a gnawing emptiness inside them, a void.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:49 And he just wished these men were able to like, you know, have normal parents
00:20:49 --> 00:20:54 who love them and, you know, go to therapy and discover empathy.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:57 But as we know that these men, and it's like a brologarchy of men,
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 right? What did Elon Musk say?
00:20:59 --> 00:21:03 Empathy is weakness, which shows you the brokenness of these modern day pharaohs.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 But I will say this, the most powerful men at the end of the day,
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 you know what they can't escape? Death.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:14 Yeah, that's true. That's true. So can America repair itself from the carnage
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 he will have left behind? See, this is a very good question.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:25 Can it? Yes. Will it? I don't know. and people who think it's going to be a snap of the fingers and,
00:21:25 --> 00:21:29 I don't, I think the, you know, I was talking to experts. You don't have to
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 be an expert. You just have to look at the evidence of your own eyes in front
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 of you. Just look at the past seven months of his presidency.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:38 The damage that he's already done, and not just him, but like the entire machinery.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:41 And I'm not just talking about Republicans, but like, you know,
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 we went, we talked about Tim Cook bending the knee.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:47 Literally, folks, yesterday, as of this recording, the guy gave him gold in
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 exchange for like, you know, freedom from these tariffs.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 We've seen all these institutions, Eric, voluntarily bend the knee.
00:21:53 --> 00:22:01 CBS, Paramount, ABC, Apple, billionaires, law firms, the damage that has been
00:22:01 --> 00:22:05 done is generational to USAID, Department of Education, America's reputation.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:10 Measles is skyrocketing now. The damage to our public health infrastructure,
00:22:10 --> 00:22:14 where RFK, a freaking non-doctor, you know, conspiracy theorist,
00:22:15 --> 00:22:19 former heroin addict, just announced, I think two days ago, that they're cutting
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 $500 million of research from vaccines.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:26 I mean, this is just, it is a pro-death cult. I mean, I used to use the analogy idiocracy.
00:22:26 --> 00:22:31 I don't use it anymore because idiocracy, great movie, was not this idiotic, Eric.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:36 Even idiocracy was not this idiotic. So there is generational damage that I
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 don't think people have really, really put their heads around.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:43 And they think that somehow, you know, come 2026 with the midterm elections
00:22:43 --> 00:22:48 or 2028, if indeed Democrats, if indeed they run on the right platform,
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 win, And that's how they can snap their fingers and inshallah,
00:22:52 --> 00:22:52 everything will be better.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:58 I think this is a long walk and I think it's going to require all of us to put in a lot of effort.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:02 And my hope is that we no longer go back to restoration because,
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 Eric, America of the past wasn't so great for the rest of us.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:10 We go to reformation. And will this country finally reform itself?
00:23:10 --> 00:23:14 It's possible. I have to be hopeful. And I think that's the reason why it's
00:23:14 --> 00:23:19 going to take long, because it needs to be reformation rather than restoration.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:24 Absolutely. You know, and I was I was listening to your conversation with Bob
00:23:24 --> 00:23:29 Cesca and, you know, Bob was saying that it was a generational thing.
00:23:29 --> 00:23:37 And I said, that's exactly right, because, I mean, 249 years has basically been
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 dismantled or destroyed in six months. Yep.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:45 And and it's going to take some time to to get us in a in a whole new direction.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:51 All right. I'm gonna jump over to across the water and then we come back to the United States.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:55 So the next person is Benjamin Netanyahu. What do you think about that name?
00:23:56 --> 00:24:01 A war criminal who is currently conducting a genocide against the Palestinian
00:24:01 --> 00:24:08 people and is very Trumpian in his corruption and his desire for everlasting power.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:13 But a man who nonetheless one day will die and his legacy will be that of failure
00:24:13 --> 00:24:17 and bloodshed and needless carnage and suffering.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:22 A man much like Donald Trump who is perfectly fine, willing to let the world
00:24:22 --> 00:24:24 burn rather than face accountability.
00:24:24 --> 00:24:28 A man, just like Donald Trump, willing to sacrifice his own people,
00:24:29 --> 00:24:35 his own country, rather than face accountability for his numerous alleged crimes and his corruption.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:40 Just a terrible, terrible human being who, for short-term gain,
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 is causing long-term damage.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:45 First and foremost, clearly, to the Palestinians who are being annihilated.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 But also, Erik, to Israel and Jews.
00:24:48 --> 00:24:53 Israel has its lowest favorability rating ever. Israel has become a prized state
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 within the last two years.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:59 Majority of Americans, for the first time in my lifetime, are now more pro-Palestinian
00:24:59 --> 00:25:03 than pro-Israel because they've seen genocide live streamed to their phones.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 And this is a man who could have and should have ended the war,
00:25:06 --> 00:25:11 but he realizes if he ends the war, he loses his government, his coalition.
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 And then what will happen? He'll be forced to step down. And then what will
00:25:14 --> 00:25:21 happen is that he will most likely have to face justice for a numerous corruption
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 allegation. So what does he do instead?
00:25:22 --> 00:25:28 He just keeps that war going, and he keeps it burning. And at what cost?
00:25:28 --> 00:25:32 So far as of this recording, 61 Palestinians, mostly civilians,
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 and that's an undercount, have been killed.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:41 Yeah. And I've had the distinction of interviewing the general counsel here
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 in the southeastern part of the United States.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:48 I've interviewed Guy Golan, who's written a book about the difference between
00:25:48 --> 00:25:52 Israelis in Israel and Jewish people here in the United States.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:59 And I don't think either one of them envisioned that they would get this point.
00:25:59 --> 00:26:04 Even the general counsel said, well, the objective was, you know,
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 to totally destroy Hamas.
00:26:05 --> 00:26:10 But, you know, I haven't heard her talk about that in public.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:14 Look, I haven't heard anybody coming to her since it's gotten to this point.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:20 And I just can't conceive that people who interact here in the United States
00:26:20 --> 00:26:26 and try to defend the state of Israel, you know, for a profession even.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:31 Would imagine that he would go that far. So the question I have to ask you relating
00:26:31 --> 00:26:34 to him, and you kind of touched, started on it a little bit.
00:26:34 --> 00:26:39 Do you think he would ever be held accountable for what he has done to the Palestinian people?
00:26:40 --> 00:26:44 Not for the crimes that he's done, where he fired the attorney general so he
00:26:44 --> 00:26:47 wouldn't get, and I think he suspended the Supreme Court too there.
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 So he wouldn't. Yeah, they tried.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:54 And just, I think it was just two days ago where the extremist government just
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 fired the attorney general.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:59 And the attorney general was the individual who was, you know,
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 making the case against Netanyahu.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:04 So he's following, you know, fascists help each other and follow each other's
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 playbooks, which is why it's so important that the United States of America,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 despite all of our flaws, you know, nonetheless projects, well,
00:27:10 --> 00:27:13 used to project rule-based order, used to project democracy, right?
00:27:13 --> 00:27:16 But now that they see that, you know, the United States doesn't care about that
00:27:16 --> 00:27:18 anymore, you see copycats.
00:27:18 --> 00:27:21 In Brazil, Balsonaro tried his best, right? You're seeing copycats, Israel.
00:27:21 --> 00:27:23 They're like, oh, well, we could
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 get away with it because Donald Trump is getting away with it, right?
00:27:25 --> 00:27:30 It's very dangerous. I hope he's held accountable, but my fear is that this
00:27:30 --> 00:27:37 man would rather die or he will die before facing true justice.
00:27:37 --> 00:27:40 And that's my concern with Donald Trump, that this man would probably croak
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 in power before actually facing justice.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 I mean, look at Donald Trump. He's never spent a day in court for his role in
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 inciting a violent insurrection.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:53 This is a man who literally picked up the phone, and we have him on audio cheating,
00:27:53 --> 00:27:55 trying to find enough votes to win Georgia.
00:27:56 --> 00:28:00 You know, this is a man who refused to give back, you know, very confidential
00:28:00 --> 00:28:03 documents and had him in the shitter in Mar-a-Lago.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 This is a man who was held liable for sexually assaulting E. Gene Carroll.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:11 Has never spent a day in his life in jail. Like, we don't even know about the
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 financial trail, right?
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 Like, has he committed tax fraud? Like, how did this guy make money? Who's bailed him out?
00:28:16 --> 00:28:20 So it's, yeah, unfortunately I see parallels with these two men,
00:28:20 --> 00:28:24 but we, you know, going back to the Pharaoh, let's, let's go back to the old
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 Testament for, if you will, for a, for a while.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:30 Pharaoh thought he'd live forever and Pharaoh thought he was the most powerful
00:28:30 --> 00:28:34 man on earth. And then just like that, he was no more, Erik.
00:28:34 --> 00:28:38 Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't know who our Moses is going to be,
00:28:38 --> 00:28:45 but, and maybe we don't need a Moses. Maybe we just need the masses, but I do hope that.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:51 You know, as people of faith, we know that they're going to be held accountable at that point.
00:28:51 --> 00:29:00 But for justice sake, I would hope that those men find some accountability here on this realm.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:03 Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, right? If you're a person of faith and if you're
00:29:03 --> 00:29:07 a person who, you know, believes in a superpower or a supernatural power of God,
00:29:07 --> 00:29:12 you do believe that God is ultimately loving and just and that these people,
00:29:12 --> 00:29:15 their time on this earth, otherwise known as dunya the earth right
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 is very limited and so sure they'll get their riches
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21 and their women and their power but eventually there will
00:29:21 --> 00:29:24 be a reckoning and you know if we
00:29:24 --> 00:29:28 and again for those who believe if you one day you you you hope to meet your
00:29:28 --> 00:29:31 creator you don't fear to meet your creator right and you hope when your creator
00:29:31 --> 00:29:35 meets you your creator is pleased with you and then these people inshallah one
00:29:35 --> 00:29:39 day you know they will be held to account for their numerous sins but you need
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 to see it too right because this
00:29:40 --> 00:29:44 is the only life that we have on this earthly plane So you want to see,
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 just for once, the bad guy go down.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 You want to see Nightwing and Batman get the Joker.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:52 And it's important, Erik, right? It's human nature. They need,
00:29:52 --> 00:29:57 it's faith sometimes has to be anchored with something real,
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 something tangible, you know, just to keep it going.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:04 And I feel like that's why. You see the worst people fail up and the best people get destroyed.
00:30:05 --> 00:30:09 So let's remain hopeful. Like, look, look at Donald Trump. He's completely underwater
00:30:09 --> 00:30:12 in his ratings. He's a 79-year-old man. He has cankles.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:16 He ain't going to last forever. Same with Netanyahu. But before they croak,
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 if we can hold these men in some way, shape, or form accountable.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:22 Inshallah. What else can I say?
00:30:22 --> 00:30:29 Yeah, I feel you on that. So speaking about hopeful, the next person is Zohran Mamdani.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:36 My take on Zohran Mamdani, he's run a fantastic campaign, 33 years old,
00:30:36 --> 00:30:40 most likely suited up to be the mayor of New York, no matter what they throw
00:30:40 --> 00:30:45 at him, All the racism, all the bad faith smears, all the Islamophobia, it's not working.
00:30:45 --> 00:30:48 This guy's rising up in the ratings and in the polls.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:52 And just two days ago, the New York Times had a piece that said a majority of
00:30:52 --> 00:30:56 young Jewish American voters, Jewish Americans in New York City,
00:30:56 --> 00:31:01 are for Mamdani, not in spite of his views on Gaza, because of it.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:08 So all these BS, lazy narratives as Jews versus Muslims and the Jews hate Mamdani nonsense. sense.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:12 Majority of Jewish voters, black voters, brown voters, white voters,
00:31:12 --> 00:31:15 they like this guy, Mamdani. And then you've seen.
00:31:16 --> 00:31:22 This just, it's almost comical, this comical attempt to derail him with the
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 establishment from both sides, throwing anything and everything,
00:31:25 --> 00:31:29 the ketchup bottles, the spaghetti in the kitchen sink at him, and nothing is working.
00:31:30 --> 00:31:34 And so speaking about like us enjoying a certain moment, we should enjoy that,
00:31:34 --> 00:31:36 that for the first time ever, it's not working.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:40 The billionaires have tried, they brought up Bill Clinton, they brought New
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 York Times against them, they got Lauren Summers against them,
00:31:42 --> 00:31:46 they got Representative Clyburn against them, right? They have tried everything.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:51 They're making him condemn chants he's never used. And it's still not enough, Eric.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:55 And I think the reason why you're seeing this collective freakout is because
00:31:55 --> 00:31:58 the billionaires in particular, the people in power are so used for,
00:31:58 --> 00:32:00 they're used to getting everything they want, right?
00:32:00 --> 00:32:04 They throw these temper tantrums like, why aren't the people listening to us?
00:32:04 --> 00:32:09 We don't want him. How can this Muslim democratic socialist who,
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 you know, wants to make the city affordable?
00:32:11 --> 00:32:17 Why, why, why? Like, and so you're seeing the worst people turn against him and nothing is working.
00:32:17 --> 00:32:22 And the reason why I think Zohran Mamdani is special and the race is special
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 is at the end of the day, he's just going to be the mayor of New York.
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 Yes, it's the most populous city.
00:32:26 --> 00:32:29 It's a big deal. But like, you know, he's just the mayor. He's not,
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 he can't like implement the caliphate, right?
00:32:33 --> 00:32:37 Single-handedly. But it's a bellwether race, right, Erik? I think that's what's important.
00:32:37 --> 00:32:42 Oh, my God. If it can happen in New York, it can happen anywhere. Oh, my God.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:46 This guy who's against the billionaires is gaining traction.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:50 Oh, my God. We threw everything at him and it still didn't work.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:52 What's going to happen next?
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 And that's why he's freaking out all the right people.
00:32:54 --> 00:33:00 And, you know, I remember the first person I ever voted for was Harold Washington
00:33:00 --> 00:33:03 to be the mayor of Chicago. And he became the first black mayor.
00:33:03 --> 00:33:11 And so when I look at Mamdani's campaign and the enthusiasm that the young people are, I was that kid.
00:33:11 --> 00:33:15 When Harold Washington ran, it was a youth for Washington. And it was like,
00:33:15 --> 00:33:18 you know, we didn't have TikTok and all that stuff, but we had buttons.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:22 So it was a fashion statement that you had a Harold Washington button on your
00:33:22 --> 00:33:27 jacket or your clothes or whatever. It was that kind of organic movement that
00:33:27 --> 00:33:29 propelled him to get in there.
00:33:29 --> 00:33:37 And I think that's what Mamdani, his campaign is just the 21st century version of that campaign.
00:33:37 --> 00:33:43 But my question about him is, will his campaign be the dawn of a new era of
00:33:43 --> 00:33:46 the Democratic Party or will it just be an outlier?
00:33:46 --> 00:33:52 You know, that's that is. So this is what remains to be seen, I think.
00:33:53 --> 00:33:58 What we're witnessing right now is a unspoken civil war within the Democratic
00:33:58 --> 00:34:02 Party for the future of the Democratic Party.
00:34:02 --> 00:34:04 And there's a massive vacancy in leadership.
00:34:04 --> 00:34:08 It's unspoken, but it's clear. It's there. And you're seeing the old guard.
00:34:08 --> 00:34:12 I'm not using the old as pejorative, but you're seeing the people who want business
00:34:12 --> 00:34:16 as usual, who still want to, you know, they're still sucking at the corporate teat.
00:34:16 --> 00:34:19 They still want their Wall Street money and AIPAC money.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:24 And then you're seeing this new generation, and again, new doesn't necessarily
00:34:24 --> 00:34:29 mean young, that says, nope, the old status quo must be broken,
00:34:29 --> 00:34:32 and we do not want restoration, we want reformation.
00:34:33 --> 00:34:36 And it's clear that the base is moving towards the latter.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:42 Now, I believe that the old guard will do everything in its power to crush and
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44 destroy the young guard.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:47 You're seeing it in real time. I'll give you an example, going back to Mamdani.
00:34:47 --> 00:34:52 To this day, as of this recording, it is almost comical that Schumer.
00:34:53 --> 00:34:57 Gillibrand, and Hakeem Jeffries have not endorsed Zohran Mamdani.
00:34:57 --> 00:35:01 It's clear that this guy is your friggin', you know, he went through the process,
00:35:01 --> 00:35:05 he won fair and square, he's the Democratic nominee, he's running as a Democrat.
00:35:05 --> 00:35:10 And they still haven't endorsed him, Erik, and it's a microcosm of this schism
00:35:10 --> 00:35:14 in the Democratic Party. So it's just a matter of when.
00:35:14 --> 00:35:18 I do think eventually they will have to bend the knee and come around.
00:35:18 --> 00:35:23 But the fact that they're dragging the feet is they're harming themselves and the party.
00:35:23 --> 00:35:27 And they're doing anything and everything they can to ensure that the AOC and
00:35:27 --> 00:35:30 the Jasmine Crockett's and the others don't ascend.
00:35:30 --> 00:35:32 It's just a matter of time, though. It's just a matter of when.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:36 Yeah, and Schumer's got a track record of that. I have a personal history with
00:35:36 --> 00:35:38 him as a Democratic nominee for the U.S.
00:35:38 --> 00:35:44 Senate. if it wasn't for the AFL-CIO, he wouldn't have came around in my race in 2008.
00:35:44 --> 00:35:48 And so I'm not surprised about him. I am surprised about Jeffries,
00:35:48 --> 00:35:53 considering that his brother's a historian by trade. It seems like.
00:35:53 --> 00:35:58 You need to lean on him as far as what train you need to get on when it comes to Mamdani.
00:35:58 --> 00:36:02 But did you see, did you see Kwame Jeffries? He's all over it, man.
00:36:03 --> 00:36:09 He's like, he's, he's been, he's, he's like all in from Mamdani.
00:36:09 --> 00:36:12 And meanwhile, Hakeem Jeffries is doing what he's doing. So it's, it's very interesting.
00:36:13 --> 00:36:18 It's not lost upon me that Hakeem, you know, Hakeem's brother is, is, is singing our tune.
00:36:19 --> 00:36:24 Yeah. Yeah. It's, I don't know, but again, Again, you've touched on it a lot
00:36:24 --> 00:36:27 when it comes down to money and all that kind of stuff.
00:36:27 --> 00:36:34 And, you know, that there's always a balance as far as being a black politician.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:38 And this could be a whole nother show. But, you know, having been there,
00:36:39 --> 00:36:43 it's like we're not in Congress, but being a state legislator, even.
00:36:43 --> 00:36:48 It's just that, you know, you you have this draw where it's like you want to
00:36:48 --> 00:36:53 you want to be embraced by the establishment. But you but you have to remember
00:36:53 --> 00:36:55 that none of those people voted for you.
00:36:55 --> 00:37:00 It was the people that voted for you. And so when the people's interests clash
00:37:00 --> 00:37:05 with the special interest, you always supposed to go with the people's interests,
00:37:05 --> 00:37:08 even if it is uncomfortable, even if it's a bumpy ride.
00:37:08 --> 00:37:13 So but anyway, like I said. And you were elected twice, right?
00:37:13 --> 00:37:18 Well, no, I was a state legislator for nine years, but I was a Democratic nominee
00:37:18 --> 00:37:22 twice in 2006 and 2008 for the U.S. Senate. Yes, sir.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:27 Yeah, and so, you know, and you've seen the shifts of the Democratic Party,
00:37:27 --> 00:37:31 and you've lived it, and we've seen it in our lifetime, right?
00:37:31 --> 00:37:34 This is no longer the Democratic Party of even Obama.
00:37:34 --> 00:37:37 And you can't blame folks because the people's
00:37:37 --> 00:37:40 needs are so numerous and these young
00:37:40 --> 00:37:43 people in particular if you look at the data it's just so sobering where
00:37:43 --> 00:37:48 they don't have faith they don't have faith in the american economy they don't
00:37:48 --> 00:37:51 have faith in american health care system they don't have faith for their own
00:37:51 --> 00:37:56 future so if you tell these young people just trust us and the institutions
00:37:56 --> 00:38:00 democracy capitalism they're like what has democracy done for me what has capitalism
00:38:00 --> 00:38:02 done for me? What have these institutions done for me? Nothing.
00:38:02 --> 00:38:05 So, which is why, you know, it's really interesting. And Biden...
00:38:06 --> 00:38:10 He evolved on certain issues. I give him credit and I criticize him because
00:38:10 --> 00:38:12 he didn't evolve in other issues, namely Palestine.
00:38:12 --> 00:38:16 But also when, you know, Joe Biden said, you know, this isn't who we are.
00:38:16 --> 00:38:21 I think a lot of people of color were like, this is kind of who we've always been.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:25 And then, you know, when Joe Biden was promoting these institutions and talk
00:38:25 --> 00:38:29 about restoration, I think it represented an old guard moment.
00:38:29 --> 00:38:33 He was out of step because for many of us, we're like, these institutions really
00:38:33 --> 00:38:36 haven't done much for the rest of us. They need to be reformed.
00:38:37 --> 00:38:40 Yeah. All right. I got a couple more questions. And I'm. Please.
00:38:41 --> 00:38:46 So New York Governor Hochul said that the Democrats and Republicans are officially at war.
00:38:47 --> 00:38:52 What's your take on that? We're at war with fascism. We have been at war with fascism for years.
00:38:52 --> 00:38:57 It's finally time that the Democrats are allegedly playing fire with fire to
00:38:57 --> 00:38:59 quote Ken Martin, the head of the DNC.
00:38:59 --> 00:39:02 I think it's a little, little, too little, too late.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:06 And furthermore, you know, they're saying we have to bring a knife to a knife fight.
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09 No, you got to bring a gun to a knife fight because Republicans are bringing a bazooka.
00:39:10 --> 00:39:13 I do not have, I'll give credit where credit's due, number one,
00:39:14 --> 00:39:17 that in response to Republicans openly cheating now.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:21 So folks, for those who aren't following the news, Donald Trump commanded Texas
00:39:21 --> 00:39:25 Republicans to just straight up steal five House seats through gerrymandering
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28 because they're afraid of losing the 2026 election.
00:39:28 --> 00:39:34 And furthermore, now they're going to Ohio and other states and telling the Republicans to do it.
00:39:34 --> 00:39:37 So I was just really happy to see that the governors of Illinois,
00:39:38 --> 00:39:41 California, and New York said, all right, mother effers, bring it.
00:39:41 --> 00:39:44 That's the way that should have been for 10 years. I'd still,
00:39:44 --> 00:39:47 I'll believe it when I see it, Erik.
00:39:47 --> 00:39:52 I feel like they're finally, finally kind of getting there, but so much damage has been done.
00:39:53 --> 00:39:56 But look, I'll encourage them.
00:39:56 --> 00:40:01 No one wants gerrymandering. It's terrible for democracy. But if you're fighting
00:40:01 --> 00:40:07 in right-wing authoritarian force that has no shame, does not care about the rule of law or civility,
00:40:08 --> 00:40:12 if you in response are being civil, you're going to die.
00:40:13 --> 00:40:16 So you know what? We live in more populous states.
00:40:16 --> 00:40:20 If they're going to gerrymander these red states, man, if California does it,
00:40:21 --> 00:40:23 it's, yeah. If California and New York do it, it's a wrap.
00:40:24 --> 00:40:29 Well, I relate. So real quick, a boxing reference.
00:40:30 --> 00:40:34 We've had these three fights with Serrano and Taylor, right?
00:40:35 --> 00:40:42 And Katie Taylor is a boxer. She is more of a jab, punch, to go to the body, all that.
00:40:43 --> 00:40:48 And Serrano is a straight up brawler. And so when Serrano came in there,
00:40:49 --> 00:40:51 you know, Katie Taylor had to change her fight.
00:40:52 --> 00:40:56 She had to she had to get in there and fight back. And and and that's what I
00:40:56 --> 00:41:01 think the Democrats have to do. The Democrats are trying to follow the rules
00:41:01 --> 00:41:03 and be gentlemen and ladies about this stuff.
00:41:03 --> 00:41:07 But it's like the Republicans are coming in, like you said, with bazookas.
00:41:07 --> 00:41:11 And it's like, hey, look, you know, it might be nice to slap the man in the
00:41:11 --> 00:41:14 face with the glove first before you start to duel.
00:41:14 --> 00:41:19 But right now, we need to be really slapping these people. We need to do some damage.
00:41:19 --> 00:41:23 So, yeah. Or like, or like, what does the parliamentarian say about this?
00:41:23 --> 00:41:24 Like, who gives it? Who cares, bro?
00:41:25 --> 00:41:28 Like, you know, and like, maybe we should be civil.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:31 Nope. If they go low, you take them out by their knees. You take them out.
00:41:32 --> 00:41:34 That's a legal, that's a legal move in UFC.
00:41:34 --> 00:41:37 You take, they go low. You can take their knees out. That's right.
00:41:37 --> 00:41:39 All right. Final question. And, and.
00:41:40 --> 00:41:44 Because I've listened to you for a long time, I know that you're a man of faith.
00:41:44 --> 00:41:47 So I wanted to throw this question at you to close out.
00:41:48 --> 00:41:52 When all is said and done, which concept will have suffered the most damage
00:41:52 --> 00:41:56 in America, democracy or organized religion?
00:41:57 --> 00:42:00 Ooh, that's a very good question. That's a very good question.
00:42:01 --> 00:42:02 You're making me choose.
00:42:04 --> 00:42:08 Well, while you are thinking? Let me throw out mine. I think organized religion
00:42:08 --> 00:42:10 is going to suffer more than democracy.
00:42:11 --> 00:42:19 Why? I've watched people, you know, especially on the progressive side,
00:42:19 --> 00:42:26 really, really start, you know, questioning about religion as an institution.
00:42:26 --> 00:42:30 And they're saying that, well, if the evangelical Christians think that Donald
00:42:30 --> 00:42:33 Trump is the guy, is Christianity all that?
00:42:33 --> 00:42:36 And I've seen that with young white folks, young black folks,
00:42:36 --> 00:42:43 everybody, right? Some of our most articulate and staunch warriors on this side
00:42:43 --> 00:42:46 of the aisle, like Jennifer Welch and all them, are about atheists.
00:42:47 --> 00:42:54 And they're saying, this is the reason why I don't believe is because all this religion.
00:42:54 --> 00:43:02 And so we've seen over the last decade that younger people are starting to go
00:43:02 --> 00:43:04 away from religion. So I think...
00:43:05 --> 00:43:10 The politics is going to eventually heal itself. And it may not be the democracy
00:43:10 --> 00:43:14 we grew up with, but it's still going to be, we're still going to have elections.
00:43:14 --> 00:43:16 We're still going to elect the president and all these other folks.
00:43:17 --> 00:43:20 But I'm worried about religion. As somebody that's a Christian,
00:43:20 --> 00:43:23 you're a Muslim, we're devout people.
00:43:24 --> 00:43:27 And I'm just worried about the next generations of those folks.
00:43:28 --> 00:43:32 I think organized religion is going to take more of a hit than democracy.
00:43:32 --> 00:43:39 I agree with you, especially as organized religion has been seen as an institution
00:43:39 --> 00:43:46 of oppression and organized religion has been co-opted by fraudsters and politicians
00:43:46 --> 00:43:50 to weaken and divide this country along culture wars.
00:43:50 --> 00:43:53 And especially as organized religion increasingly is
00:43:53 --> 00:43:57 seen as a tool of the state to deprive the
00:43:57 --> 00:44:00 marginalized their rights to go against you know women and lgbtq
00:44:00 --> 00:44:03 and also the poor right and also attack you know
00:44:03 --> 00:44:05 education and public schools and science and climate change
00:44:05 --> 00:44:09 research and so i don't blame so many
00:44:09 --> 00:44:11 people like you young people who are like man what
00:44:11 --> 00:44:15 has organized religion given me except pain and heartache i
00:44:15 --> 00:44:17 don't blame them at all and and at the same time though
00:44:17 --> 00:44:20 even as people are leaving organized religion and becoming
00:44:20 --> 00:44:23 you know the nuns n-o-n-e-s you're still
00:44:23 --> 00:44:26 seeing people desperately trying to find something some meaning some
00:44:26 --> 00:44:29 purpose some narrative some community some sense of belonging so
00:44:29 --> 00:44:33 it's not that people have stopped becoming spiritual what's so fascinating is
00:44:33 --> 00:44:37 they're still in search there's something within the human psyche right the
00:44:37 --> 00:44:41 human soul that wants to connect to something deeper but organized religion
00:44:41 --> 00:44:46 i do think has unfortunately become a tool or perhaps has been used and abused as a tool.
00:44:47 --> 00:44:51 Of injustice in this country. And that's why I don't blame these young people.
00:44:51 --> 00:44:55 Even though you and me are in it, I do not blame young people and others for
00:44:55 --> 00:44:58 being so jaded and cynical. Alright, so.
00:44:59 --> 00:45:03 This is the time of the program where you make your pitch. You tell people how
00:45:03 --> 00:45:06 they can reach out to you and all that stuff. So go ahead and do your thing.
00:45:07 --> 00:45:11 You can follow me on the left hook. It's my sub stack. It's the left hook dot
00:45:11 --> 00:45:14 sub stack dot com. There are no paywalls. Just become a subscriber.
00:45:14 --> 00:45:18 If you have a few bucks, send it my way. I got a couple of kids and I co-host
00:45:18 --> 00:45:22 Democracy-ish on Monday and Friday, 12 p.m.
00:45:22 --> 00:45:27 Eastern time with the fantabulous Danielle Moodie on her Danielle Moodie YouTube
00:45:27 --> 00:45:31 channel. You know, come give us a come give us a look. I think you'll enjoy it.
00:45:31 --> 00:45:34 We keep it real. We keep it honest. We don't bend the knee to anyone.
00:45:34 --> 00:45:36 It's completely independent.
00:45:36 --> 00:45:41 And then Eric was kind enough to quote from my book. And my book came out a couple of years ago.
00:45:41 --> 00:45:44 It's called Go Back to Where You Came From and other helpful recommendations
00:45:44 --> 00:45:46 on how to become American.
00:45:46 --> 00:45:52 Well, Wajahat Ali, again, it's an honor and it's been a pleasure to talk to you directly.
00:45:52 --> 00:45:57 Like I said, I've been a fan and I know that self-deprecation is part of your
00:45:57 --> 00:46:03 humor, but you are one of the very special people we have here in the United States.
00:46:03 --> 00:46:07 You're one of the clear voices that people need to hear.
00:46:07 --> 00:46:13 I encourage everybody that listens to my podcast to pay attention to what's
00:46:13 --> 00:46:17 going on with the left hook and democracy-ish and anything that you appear on.
00:46:18 --> 00:46:20 Because, like I said, I'm a fan.
00:46:22 --> 00:46:28 And I always love people smarter than me. So I greatly appreciate that you're on my team.
00:46:30 --> 00:46:36 And I wish you much success and continued blessings on your family and everything
00:46:36 --> 00:46:40 that you do because you're special and we need you. So thank you for coming.
00:46:40 --> 00:46:45 You have excellent taste and you're very kind and I don't know what to do with
00:46:45 --> 00:46:49 compliments because I'm a child of immigrants. So I'll say I'm okay, but thank you.
00:46:49 --> 00:46:54 Thank you for that. I appreciate it. And thank you for reaching out to me. Let's do this again.
00:46:54 --> 00:46:58 Yes, sir. Well, that's the rule now since you've accepted the invitation.
00:46:58 --> 00:46:59 Anytime you want to come on, you have an open,
00:47:01 --> 00:47:04 I love it, man. Let's do it. We're going to make that happen. All right, guys.
00:47:04 --> 00:47:22 Music.
00:47:04 --> 00:47:10 And we'll catch y'all on the other side. We'll be right back.
00:47:24 --> 00:47:32 All right. And we are back. And so now it's time for my next guest, Richard Rick Roberts.
00:47:32 --> 00:47:37 Rick Roberts is a specialist professor in the Department of Economics and Finance
00:47:37 --> 00:47:42 and Real Estate at Monmouth University, teaching courses in a variety of areas,
00:47:43 --> 00:47:46 importantly macroeconomics and money and banking.
00:47:46 --> 00:47:50 Rick is a former 20-year executive of the Federal Reserve System.
00:47:51 --> 00:47:55 Across his tenure, he headed the New York Central Bank's credit risk management
00:47:55 --> 00:47:57 during the 2008 financial crisis,
00:47:58 --> 00:48:03 led the payment systems risk area, chaired key system committees on counterparty
00:48:03 --> 00:48:05 risk identification and mitigation,
00:48:05 --> 00:48:11 and oversaw the preparation of FOMC monetary policy briefing materials for the
00:48:11 --> 00:48:13 president of the Kansas City Reserve Bank.
00:48:14 --> 00:48:18 Moreover, he took a brief break from the Fed in the early 2000s to start and
00:48:18 --> 00:48:21 run a boutique subprime mortgage hedge fund.
00:48:21 --> 00:48:26 Rick has published a variety of articles on topics including monetary policy,
00:48:26 --> 00:48:30 money and banking, and the U.S. economic outlook.
00:48:30 --> 00:48:36 His 2016 book, Firewood Held, was a top 20 business book in China.
00:48:37 --> 00:48:41 He holds an MBA with honors from Columbia University and an economics degree
00:48:41 --> 00:48:44 with high honors from Pennsylvania State University.
00:48:44 --> 00:48:49 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest
00:48:49 --> 00:48:52 again on this podcast, Rick.
00:48:52 --> 00:49:02 Music.
00:49:04 --> 00:49:11 All right. My good friend, my economist in residence, Rick Roberts. How are you doing, sir?
00:49:12 --> 00:49:16 Erik, doing great. Great to be back. Well, I'm glad to have you.
00:49:16 --> 00:49:19 I was glad to be able to get you lined up for this.
00:49:19 --> 00:49:23 And it looks like the timing is perfect, as always, because,
00:49:24 --> 00:49:26 I mean, anytime we're dealing with the economy.
00:49:28 --> 00:49:31 It's like with where we are now it's it's
00:49:31 --> 00:49:34 always going seems like a roller coaster so let me
00:49:34 --> 00:49:40 get your take on this particular quote as we start the icebreaker part chill
00:49:40 --> 00:49:44 the american economy needs the world and the world needs the american economy
00:49:44 --> 00:49:51 what's your take on that quote absolutely i think that's seems seems a spot
00:49:51 --> 00:49:54 on i mean the u.s economy is,
00:49:55 --> 00:49:58 certainly the most productive, depending on how you measure it,
00:49:58 --> 00:50:00 the largest economy in the world.
00:50:00 --> 00:50:05 And, you know, as it goes, much of the world goes.
00:50:05 --> 00:50:10 However, increasingly, the U.S. economy, less so under Trump,
00:50:10 --> 00:50:13 is reliant on what's going on overseas.
00:50:13 --> 00:50:17 So we need, you know, it's two sides of a coin, right?
00:50:18 --> 00:50:23 Yeah, yeah. And that was, I kind of expected that's where you're going to go
00:50:23 --> 00:50:27 with that because, you know, I guess when this quote was done,
00:50:28 --> 00:50:31 it was, it was definitely before Trump was president.
00:50:31 --> 00:50:37 And so, you know, as we get into the interview, we'll touch on that a little bit.
00:50:38 --> 00:50:46 So I introduced this thing called 20 questions. So I need you to give me a number between one and 20.
00:50:47 --> 00:50:53 Okay. Seven. Okay. What do you consider the best way to stay informed about
00:50:53 --> 00:50:56 politics, current events, health, the economy, etc.
00:50:56 --> 00:51:03 In my judgment, the best way for someone to stay informed across those topics
00:51:03 --> 00:51:07 would be to read and read a variety,
00:51:08 --> 00:51:12 read information on those topics from a variety of sources.
00:51:12 --> 00:51:22 If you're more of a liberal-leaning individual, certainly read your favorite liberal media sources,
00:51:22 --> 00:51:28 but don't be hesitant to take a look at the other side of the coin as well.
00:51:28 --> 00:51:32 Similarly, if you're more conservative and you're bent, you know,
00:51:32 --> 00:51:37 read those sites and so forth, but don't put a blind eye to the opposite side.
00:51:37 --> 00:51:42 Sometimes you'd be surprised if what you might learn by opening your eye to
00:51:42 --> 00:51:50 that other side of the story that you tend to not really consider yourself part of.
00:51:51 --> 00:51:54 I agree with that. Totally. You got it. You got to be able to,
00:51:54 --> 00:51:59 even if you just want to understand the argument, right? You need to pay attention
00:51:59 --> 00:52:01 to the other side. Absolutely.
00:52:01 --> 00:52:06 I mean, if you're going to effectively communicate your position,
00:52:06 --> 00:52:11 it's always helpful to understand what the other folks are thinking or how they may respond.
00:52:12 --> 00:52:18 So it's at a minimum, that's a benefit. And then going out in terms of the benefits,
00:52:18 --> 00:52:19 occasionally you'll pick up
00:52:19 --> 00:52:23 something, you know, I mean, maybe I just hadn't thought of it like that.
00:52:24 --> 00:52:30 Exactly. We all should be, I mean, myself included, keep an open mind to things
00:52:30 --> 00:52:35 and occasionally something will pop up and teach us, right? Yes, sir.
00:52:35 --> 00:52:41 All right. President Trump inherited a relatively strong economy when he took office on January 20th.
00:52:41 --> 00:52:44 A little more than six months in where is
00:52:44 --> 00:52:47 the economy now i think you
00:52:47 --> 00:52:50 know the economy's healthy it's still
00:52:50 --> 00:52:54 strong it's clearly slowing a
00:52:54 --> 00:53:02 bit but a a a recession at least at this point appears unlikely i mean part
00:53:02 --> 00:53:09 of this slowing of the economy was brought on in my opinion by by president
00:53:09 --> 00:53:14 trump in terms of him being unclear, you know,
00:53:14 --> 00:53:17 and threatening with a lot of his tariff policies.
00:53:18 --> 00:53:23 And businesses, I guess I'd say, you know, sat tight.
00:53:23 --> 00:53:26 You know, if we don't understand what's going on on the landscape,
00:53:26 --> 00:53:31 we better sit tight until we understand it. And so they didn't hire.
00:53:31 --> 00:53:37 And we see some of this in terms of the recent employment numbers were not particularly attractive.
00:53:37 --> 00:53:42 They were revised downward in part because of this, you know,
00:53:42 --> 00:53:43 let's just sit tight until we
00:53:43 --> 00:53:46 understand what the president and his policies are going to mean for us.
00:53:47 --> 00:53:51 So I guess I'd say is, you know, again, the economy is slowing down a bit,
00:53:51 --> 00:53:58 but nothing alarming, unlike what much of the press would is kind of preaching
00:53:58 --> 00:54:01 right now that the sky is falling.
00:54:01 --> 00:54:06 I don't see that, but I do think it's slowing down, but I think the risk of
00:54:06 --> 00:54:10 a recession here over the near term is pretty small.
00:54:10 --> 00:54:15 Well, that's good. That's good to hear. And, you know, better your judgment
00:54:15 --> 00:54:18 than mine on it, on that deal.
00:54:19 --> 00:54:24 As a former employee of the Federal Reserve, what is your take on the feud between
00:54:24 --> 00:54:27 Chairman Powell and President Trump?
00:54:28 --> 00:54:33 It's interesting, right? So these feuds, and you're right, I was at the Fed for a long time.
00:54:33 --> 00:54:35 She's 20 plus years across three
00:54:35 --> 00:54:41 different Federal Reserve banks through a number of crises and so forth.
00:54:41 --> 00:54:48 But, you know, across many administrations, these disagreements between the
00:54:48 --> 00:54:55 executive branch, the president and the Federal Reserve happen often across all administrations.
00:54:55 --> 00:55:01 It's just the way those disagreements manifest themselves, as with many things
00:55:01 --> 00:55:04 under President Trump, totally different, totally differently.
00:55:05 --> 00:55:12 He just goes out and tweets his opinion of the chair and his policies.
00:55:13 --> 00:55:18 Chairman Powell cut interest rates. You're always too late in cutting and so forth.
00:55:18 --> 00:55:22 He gets out there and tells the public, maybe in previous administrations,
00:55:22 --> 00:55:26 I've seen this, you know, communicate it, you know, maybe a like feeling,
00:55:27 --> 00:55:32 communicate it in a more, I don't want to say professional,
00:55:32 --> 00:55:36 but I will in a more professional or at least historic manner in that,
00:55:36 --> 00:55:44 you know, a staffer of the president's would contact a staffer of the Federal
00:55:44 --> 00:55:49 Reserve chair and, you know, do some mumbling over a couple drinks or, whatever,
00:55:49 --> 00:55:54 you know, it's not out in the public domain for everybody to look at,
00:55:54 --> 00:55:56 you know, but Trump does things differently.
00:55:56 --> 00:56:00 I think the public knows what he's all about. We had four years of them already
00:56:00 --> 00:56:05 doing, doing things differently and they voted them in again and he's going
00:56:05 --> 00:56:06 to continue to do the same.
00:56:06 --> 00:56:13 And one of them is criticize chairman Powell for keeping interest rates too high.
00:56:13 --> 00:56:18 Now, historically, let me mention a couple other things on that question,
00:56:18 --> 00:56:22 which is a great question, by the way, because it is in the press and so forth.
00:56:24 --> 00:56:34 Historically, the Fed was developed as an entity to be independent of politicians.
00:56:35 --> 00:56:40 Federal Reserve workers are not federal government workers. They just happen
00:56:40 --> 00:56:46 to have the word federal in their title, Federal Reserve, but not everything
00:56:46 --> 00:56:48 with federal in their title are federal workers.
00:56:49 --> 00:56:53 For example, the Federal Express isn't federal workers. It's the Federal Reserve.
00:56:53 --> 00:56:57 And they are a, I guess what I call a quasi-governmental agency,
00:56:57 --> 00:57:01 but they're set up to be independent from Congress and the president.
00:57:02 --> 00:57:09 And the reason is, the reason is because we don't, the developers of the Fed
00:57:09 --> 00:57:11 prudently, in my judgment,
00:57:11 --> 00:57:16 thought we don't want the Fed reporting to the government, government officials,
00:57:16 --> 00:57:19 because government officials.
00:57:19 --> 00:57:23 I'm being loose with the language, and some of this is my personal opinion,
00:57:23 --> 00:57:30 but government officials are focused importantly on keeping their constituents
00:57:30 --> 00:57:34 happy because that ensures they stay in office, right?
00:57:34 --> 00:57:37 So they want to keep their constituents happy.
00:57:37 --> 00:57:44 And what keeps constituents more happier than keeping interest rates low?
00:57:45 --> 00:57:51 Okay, so the government has a bent to keeping interest rates low.
00:57:51 --> 00:57:57 And in fact, if the Fed reported to the government, the boss,
00:57:57 --> 00:58:02 the government in that hypothetical would be picking up the phone and ordering
00:58:02 --> 00:58:03 the Fed, hey, I'm your boss.
00:58:03 --> 00:58:07 Just like, you know, your listeners, your boss tells you something,
00:58:07 --> 00:58:09 you tend to do it if you want to keep your job, right?
00:58:09 --> 00:58:14 So if the government was the Fed's boss, they would call up and say,
00:58:14 --> 00:58:19 we want lower interest rates, you know, in the interest of them pleasing their constituents.
00:58:19 --> 00:58:24 And lower interest rates are not always the best for the economy.
00:58:24 --> 00:58:33 So, for example, lower interest rates burn or cause additional spending to happen in the economy.
00:58:33 --> 00:58:36 Sometimes that's good. Sometimes that's bad.
00:58:36 --> 00:58:41 When we have a lot of inflation going on, as we did, we squeezed a lot of it
00:58:41 --> 00:58:46 out now, but during COVID, we don't want a whole lot more spending going on
00:58:46 --> 00:58:49 because it's going to cause inflation to go higher.
00:58:49 --> 00:58:54 So the Fed keeps an eye on all that, kind of the economic stuff.
00:58:54 --> 00:58:56 And if they report it to...
00:58:58 --> 00:59:03 The president and Congress, the executive folks in the legislative branch,
00:59:03 --> 00:59:10 they would be raising interest or lowering interest rates too often and causing
00:59:10 --> 00:59:12 much too much inflation in the economy.
00:59:13 --> 00:59:15 So that's why they were set up to be separate.
00:59:16 --> 00:59:21 So, you know, Trump doesn't boss Jerome Powell around.
00:59:21 --> 00:59:26 It's not set up like that, although he's free to express his opinion.
00:59:26 --> 00:59:32 And he does in a manner as other presidents have, frankly, but in a different
00:59:32 --> 00:59:36 manner. So it's out in the public domain. So you and I can talk more about it.
00:59:37 --> 00:59:41 Yeah. Yeah. It's more, it's, it's not as nuanced, I think was the word that
00:59:41 --> 00:59:43 you were trying to look for. Yeah.
00:59:43 --> 00:59:48 Right. As it is now. Yeah. It's not as nuanced. And well, what,
00:59:48 --> 00:59:50 how about the issue he's barking about?
00:59:50 --> 00:59:55 Maybe he's not barking about it, you know, as others have, but what about the
00:59:55 --> 00:59:56 essence of what he's barking about.
00:59:56 --> 01:00:00 We want lower interest rates. And I think the Fed is saying,
01:00:00 --> 01:00:07 you know, we've really taken a beating with inflation over the last few years.
01:00:07 --> 01:00:12 Although it's much lower than it has been, there's still signs that it's above
01:00:12 --> 01:00:16 where it needs to be and might be increasing again.
01:00:16 --> 01:00:24 We really want to make sure we squeeze inflation out of the economy before we lower interest rates.
01:00:25 --> 01:00:29 And by the way, you know, the economy is going strong. So it's not like we need
01:00:29 --> 01:00:33 to lower interest rates to help the economy overall. It's going OK.
01:00:33 --> 01:00:38 So I think that's kind of the essence of the point that Trump's raising.
01:00:38 --> 01:00:40 He wants interest rates lower.
01:00:40 --> 01:00:42 The Fed's saying maybe not yet.
01:00:43 --> 01:00:47 We still have inflation to fight. The economy is pretty strong. What's the rush?
01:00:48 --> 01:00:53 And that's where that issue stands. Although some people from the Fed who are
01:00:53 --> 01:00:54 voting on interest rates, the
01:00:54 --> 01:01:02 Trump appointees are saying that interest rates should probably be cut.
01:01:02 --> 01:01:07 In the last Fed meeting of a couple of weeks ago, we saw a number of Fed officials.
01:01:07 --> 01:01:13 Importantly, those appointed by Trump said, you know what, let's start cutting rates again. Yeah.
01:01:14 --> 01:01:19 And that's where that's where he left it. So I suspect, you know, we'll see.
01:01:19 --> 01:01:22 Let's see what the data bring over the next month or so.
01:01:22 --> 01:01:28 But I'd suspect that the Fed's probably getting pretty close to cutting rates once again.
01:01:28 --> 01:01:33 All right. So President Trump has had a passion for tariffs,
01:01:33 --> 01:01:35 weak dollar and low interest rates.
01:01:35 --> 01:01:40 If he gets his heart's desire, what would that mean to the average American consumer?
01:01:41 --> 01:01:44 Well, I think it's going to, you know, the risk is those tariffs,
01:01:45 --> 01:01:50 even the negotiated problem, the negotiated levels, he's come out with a number
01:01:50 --> 01:01:54 of deals now, signing the paperwork and so forth.
01:01:54 --> 01:01:58 Even the levels, the new levels that are agreed to, although lower than the
01:01:58 --> 01:02:03 initially threatened ones, are still higher than they've been in the past.
01:02:03 --> 01:02:11 And as we've talked about before, Erik, that higher tariffs mean higher prices
01:02:11 --> 01:02:17 for American consumers that import goods from overseas.
01:02:17 --> 01:02:21 So even though these tariffs are not as high as Trump threatened initially,
01:02:21 --> 01:02:25 they're still higher than they have been.
01:02:25 --> 01:02:29 So the typical person is going to see kind of to that point where you're talking
01:02:29 --> 01:02:33 about, should they cut rates or not? The typical person is going to say,
01:02:33 --> 01:02:37 you know, inflation bump up a notch because of this.
01:02:38 --> 01:02:42 Yeah. So what would be the lasting
01:02:42 --> 01:02:48 impact with the president's mass deportation policy on the economy?
01:02:48 --> 01:02:53 It's like the Brookings Institute is saying that the GDP is going to drop a
01:02:53 --> 01:02:55 half a point during this year.
01:02:55 --> 01:03:00 The Peterson Institute for International Economics is saying that mass deportations
01:03:00 --> 01:03:06 is going to push prices for American goods up by over 9% by 2028.
01:03:06 --> 01:03:08 What's your thought on that? Do you agree with those assessments?
01:03:10 --> 01:03:15 Let's talk about prices, okay? Let's talk about prices.
01:03:16 --> 01:03:20 If we're deporting, and let's keep it pretty simple. I tend to think in simple
01:03:20 --> 01:03:23 terms, even as a professor.
01:03:23 --> 01:03:30 But if we're deporting a lot of workers that are doing jobs that are important
01:03:30 --> 01:03:37 to our economy, although many of them at lower levels, who's going to fill these jobs, right?
01:03:37 --> 01:03:42 Who's cleaning the hotel rooms?
01:03:42 --> 01:03:50 Who's, and not to be stereotypical, but these are many of the jobs that those being deported held.
01:03:50 --> 01:03:56 Who's picking crops? These are important jobs.
01:03:57 --> 01:04:01 Why are undocumented individuals doing these jobs?
01:04:02 --> 01:04:06 Because nobody else wants to, or at least wants to at the wages that they're being paid.
01:04:06 --> 01:04:12 So if they vacate these jobs They still have to get done We still need to pick
01:04:12 --> 01:04:19 crops We still need to clean hotel rooms And other things of that sort You know what I'm saying.
01:04:20 --> 01:04:26 How are we going to fill those jobs? Nobody wanted them before at the wages they were being paid.
01:04:26 --> 01:04:34 So to fill those jobs, employers will have to raise wages to attract people to do those jobs.
01:04:34 --> 01:04:39 And that leads to inflation in the economy.
01:04:39 --> 01:04:46 Okay, so I think, you know, certainly a decrease in the labor supply,
01:04:46 --> 01:04:53 the number of workers available, increases the prices of those remaining workers.
01:04:53 --> 01:04:57 It's like it's a labor market, just like a grocery market.
01:04:57 --> 01:05:03 If you have less of a supply of something, just say there's an orange crop freeze
01:05:03 --> 01:05:09 and there's a less supply of orange juice in the grocery store.
01:05:09 --> 01:05:15 The price of the remaining orange juices that are being sold goes up because supply goes down.
01:05:15 --> 01:05:19 Same thing with workers. If there's less of a supply of workers.
01:05:20 --> 01:05:25 Right, the price of the remaining workers, right, that goes up.
01:05:25 --> 01:05:29 So we'd see, you know, some inflation on that front.
01:05:29 --> 01:05:37 And this is going to bleed its way through to some flowing of the economy in
01:05:37 --> 01:05:38 terms of economic growth.
01:05:38 --> 01:05:43 I don't have a specific number in mind, but they're two reputable,
01:05:43 --> 01:05:47 you know, think tanks that you that you reference there.
01:05:47 --> 01:05:52 And I won't think that they'd be wildly different from what from what they're saying.
01:05:53 --> 01:05:55 I don't think it's the end of the world. We're going to get through it,
01:05:55 --> 01:05:57 but it is going to have some impact on us.
01:05:58 --> 01:06:02 So we were talking before and you were saying something about some concerns
01:06:02 --> 01:06:05 you were seeing as far as young people in jobs.
01:06:06 --> 01:06:15 I do. I do. You know, what we're starting to see now is, let me make two points about the labor market.
01:06:16 --> 01:06:22 We're starting to see that the unemployment rate for recent college grads,
01:06:22 --> 01:06:28 let's just say, I don't know, 20 to 24 year olds or something like that, okay,
01:06:29 --> 01:06:31 is higher than,
01:06:31 --> 01:06:37 than it's ever been. And it's going higher. It's much higher than the overall
01:06:37 --> 01:06:40 population's unemployment rate.
01:06:40 --> 01:06:42 And the question is, why is that?
01:06:43 --> 01:06:47 And initial research, and I'm messing around with this topic a little bit as
01:06:47 --> 01:06:56 well, but initial research suggests that this is, you know, an impact of AI.
01:06:57 --> 01:07:05 It's the impact of AI. AI is starting to eat away at those, let's call them,
01:07:05 --> 01:07:07 and not demeaning them at all,
01:07:07 --> 01:07:13 but entry-level jobs that new college grads typically go into.
01:07:13 --> 01:07:18 They're not particularly souped up in terms of the skill set they need, Right.
01:07:18 --> 01:07:21 It's kind of more training ground, the basics, that type stuff.
01:07:22 --> 01:07:27 AI is now able to do a lot of that stuff. So those jobs aren't there.
01:07:27 --> 01:07:33 And we're starting to see the unemployment rate for college grads go up.
01:07:34 --> 01:07:39 Okay. So that's one, that's one change. It's tougher to find employment coming
01:07:39 --> 01:07:45 out of a four-year school now, or even a, even a two-year school with an associate's degree.
01:07:45 --> 01:07:51 All right. And then another issue is, well, let me see if you have any questions
01:07:51 --> 01:07:53 on that. Does that make sense?
01:07:53 --> 01:07:59 AI is taking away the lower level jobs that college grads typically grabbed
01:07:59 --> 01:08:02 coming right out of school.
01:08:03 --> 01:08:08 Well, you know, not so much a question, but it's just like, you know,
01:08:08 --> 01:08:09 it kind of ties in what we were talking about.
01:08:10 --> 01:08:14 Because if we're losing people through mass deportation, right?
01:08:14 --> 01:08:19 We're losing people in the two main industries, which is agriculture and construction
01:08:19 --> 01:08:22 and not even getting the hospitality. Right.
01:08:22 --> 01:08:27 But you touched on a little bit. And then if we're if we're seeing a higher
01:08:27 --> 01:08:32 level of unemployment with folks that are going to college,
01:08:32 --> 01:08:37 right, whether they're, you know, naturalized citizens or birthright citizens,
01:08:37 --> 01:08:41 if they're having problems getting hired.
01:08:41 --> 01:08:45 And then that kind of ties into the earlier part of the conversation where we
01:08:45 --> 01:08:50 were saying that people are not hiring folks because they're a little uncertain
01:08:50 --> 01:08:52 about what the president is going to do with the economy.
01:08:53 --> 01:08:58 I mean, it's just, it all ties in as far as I'm concerned. It does.
01:08:58 --> 01:09:01 It does. And the picture is...
01:09:01 --> 01:09:05 Seems not to be particularly pretty for those.
01:09:05 --> 01:09:10 And these are macro numbers, you know, so, you know, averages and big numbers
01:09:10 --> 01:09:13 like that, there's doesn't apply to every single person.
01:09:13 --> 01:09:17 So it doesn't, this doesn't apply to every single college student,
01:09:17 --> 01:09:22 but certainly in certain industries, the impact is, is greater than other ones.
01:09:22 --> 01:09:27 But, you know, when I was at the Fed in the, in the, During the financial crisis,
01:09:27 --> 01:09:31 in the wake of the 2009 recession,
01:09:31 --> 01:09:35 there was a real push to have young people who were struggling in the job market
01:09:35 --> 01:09:38 to go back to school and get some more credentials, right?
01:09:38 --> 01:09:44 And then, you know, that's seeming, that story's kind of falling flat on its face right now.
01:09:44 --> 01:09:47 But it's not, this is kind of interesting.
01:09:47 --> 01:09:52 It's not just college kids that are being impacted.
01:09:52 --> 01:09:58 It's not just college kids that are being impacted. There's this issue going
01:09:58 --> 01:10:04 on where that phenomena that we're talking about, AI grabs the jobs.
01:10:04 --> 01:10:10 And so college kids don't have jobs as much as they formerly did.
01:10:10 --> 01:10:12 It's what we're saying up to this point.
01:10:12 --> 01:10:19 But this also impacts workers without degrees, okay?
01:10:19 --> 01:10:26 While workers with degrees aren't necessarily landing jobs, we have this inflated
01:10:26 --> 01:10:30 degree requirement phenomena that's going on.
01:10:30 --> 01:10:35 In fact, Harvard put out a decent paper. I'll send it to you,
01:10:35 --> 01:10:40 maybe if you want to post it somewhere, saying that because of this inflated
01:10:40 --> 01:10:45 education requirements, this issue is impacting people without degrees.
01:10:45 --> 01:10:50 And let me tell you, what's happening now is we have this pool of college kids,
01:10:50 --> 01:10:54 you know, they can't find work. Right. And they need work.
01:10:55 --> 01:11:02 So what they're doing then, what companies are doing is asking for college degrees
01:11:02 --> 01:11:08 to do these positions that formerly didn't require college degrees.
01:11:08 --> 01:11:15 So, for example, I saw data that
01:11:15 --> 01:11:23 said 20% of executive assistants have a bachelor's degree today, right?
01:11:23 --> 01:11:29 20% of them. But in the job listings for new executive assistants,
01:11:30 --> 01:11:35 75% of them in the job listings require a bachelor's degree.
01:11:36 --> 01:11:42 So you can see how this issue kind of is bleeding down to those without degrees.
01:11:42 --> 01:11:48 The folks with degrees unable to find work are now getting hired in these lower
01:11:48 --> 01:11:55 level positions that formally didn't require degrees. We call this degree inflation.
01:11:55 --> 01:12:02 So it's impacting not just college kids, but it's those doors for workers without
01:12:02 --> 01:12:06 degrees are also tightening up and closing some.
01:12:07 --> 01:12:11 Yeah. All right. So I got a couple more questions because I know you got to go.
01:12:11 --> 01:12:18 Did the doge cuts affect our credit downgrade from Moody's or were there other factors in play?
01:12:19 --> 01:12:26 Probably. I mean, I think so. There's so much craziness going on at any point
01:12:26 --> 01:12:28 in time, not just in the United States, seems worldwide now,
01:12:29 --> 01:12:31 but yeah, I think they did.
01:12:31 --> 01:12:39 I mean, the view, the paradigm of those considering investing in the U.S.,
01:12:39 --> 01:12:45 buying our treasury notes, bonds, and bills, you know, went down.
01:12:45 --> 01:12:50 And it was dinged by a number of issues, the size of our deficit,
01:12:50 --> 01:12:58 some would say the craziness of what seemed to be these haphazard cuts by Doge.
01:12:58 --> 01:13:02 Although I don't think anybody's against, you know, cutting out,
01:13:02 --> 01:13:07 cutting out fat and so forth, just the way it was maybe communicated or actually
01:13:07 --> 01:13:11 what they ended up doing and so forth was a little alarming to folks overseas.
01:13:11 --> 01:13:14 So I'd say, yeah, that probably impacted the downgrade.
01:13:14 --> 01:13:18 At the end of the day, those downgrades come every once in a while,
01:13:19 --> 01:13:25 often in response to fiscal nonsense, not being able to pass a budget and so
01:13:25 --> 01:13:28 forth. But, you know, at the end of the day, the U.S.
01:13:28 --> 01:13:31 Is strong, even in our worst times.
01:13:32 --> 01:13:34 And we've had some here recently.
01:13:34 --> 01:13:39 Others look to the U.S. as the gold standard as a place to put their money.
01:13:39 --> 01:13:40 So a little bit of a downgrade.
01:13:41 --> 01:13:46 It was news attention and so forth. Probably not the, not earth shattering in
01:13:46 --> 01:13:47 terms of the big picture.
01:13:48 --> 01:13:53 Yeah. All right. So finally, Rick, look into your crystal ball and tell the
01:13:53 --> 01:13:55 listeners what Christmas will be like this year.
01:13:56 --> 01:14:04 I think Christmas should be, you know, with a couple of key qualifiers relating
01:14:04 --> 01:14:06 to what we talked about here, right?
01:14:06 --> 01:14:10 The difficulty with the job market that some groups are going to have,
01:14:10 --> 01:14:13 more problems than they've had in the past, right?
01:14:13 --> 01:14:17 With that aside, and that's an important thing to set aside,
01:14:17 --> 01:14:22 I would say, you know, Christmas is going to be similar to where we're at today, okay?
01:14:22 --> 01:14:28 I suspect markets will end up, the stock market will be around where it is today,
01:14:28 --> 01:14:29 maybe a little bit higher.
01:14:29 --> 01:14:34 I don't think it's going to be substantially higher, nor do I think it's going
01:14:34 --> 01:14:37 to, the bottom's going to fall out of it. Same thing with the economy.
01:14:37 --> 01:14:44 I suspect we're going to be on, remain on reasonable footing in terms of economic growth.
01:14:44 --> 01:14:50 In terms of interest rates, you know, I initially, I have been saying since
01:14:50 --> 01:14:55 late last year that I didn't think the Fed was going to cut interest rates at all this year.
01:14:56 --> 01:15:02 Maybe they'll cut once between now and the end of the year, cut interest rates just a little bit.
01:15:02 --> 01:15:07 But I don't see much improvement from that small interest rate cut bleeding
01:15:07 --> 01:15:11 into like the housing sector, which remains a real tough sector.
01:15:12 --> 01:15:18 So the president said that people shouldn't be able to get three,
01:15:18 --> 01:15:20 shouldn't try to buy three or four Barbie dolls.
01:15:20 --> 01:15:23 You're saying, yeah, if you want to, go ahead.
01:15:25 --> 01:15:30 Right. Yeah. Yeah. I would. Yeah. That's why I forgot about that.
01:15:30 --> 01:15:33 But yeah, you're right. That's a good way to put it. Okay.
01:15:33 --> 01:15:37 All right, Rick. Well, look, I know you got to go and I appreciate you taking
01:15:37 --> 01:15:39 the time as always to do this.
01:15:40 --> 01:15:44 It's very, very helpful for our listeners. It's very, very helpful for me to
01:15:44 --> 01:15:46 have intelligent discussions about it.
01:15:46 --> 01:15:50 If people want to get in touch with you in the meantime, how can they do that?
01:15:51 --> 01:15:58 They can email me at rroberts at monmouth.edu,
01:15:58 --> 01:16:06 at M-O-N-M-O-U-T-H dot E-D-U, and I'm happy to get back to them with whatever is on their mind.
01:16:06 --> 01:16:10 Always happy. I'm always happy to come on and join you, Erik,
01:16:10 --> 01:16:14 and you're always very thoughtful and insightful with your questions,
01:16:14 --> 01:16:16 and they're always right on the money.
01:16:16 --> 01:16:23 Well, Rick Roberts, again, you're just as insightful as far as the answers that you give.
01:16:23 --> 01:16:28 And you are one of the people who have lived up to the reputation that once
01:16:28 --> 01:16:30 you've been on, you've got an open invitation.
01:16:30 --> 01:16:34 And I greatly appreciate every time you come up. So thank you again.
01:16:35 --> 01:16:39 Yep. Always here. And I'm sure we'll be talking soon.
01:16:39 --> 01:16:57 Music.
01:17:01 --> 01:17:08 All right, and we are back. And so now it's time for my next guest, Dave Heller.
01:17:08 --> 01:17:14 Dave Heller is one of the Democratic Party's top media consultants and campaign strategist.
01:17:14 --> 01:17:20 As president of Main Street, Dave has helped elect or reelect 30 different members
01:17:20 --> 01:17:24 of Congress, has compiled the best one loss record in the Democratic Party,
01:17:25 --> 01:17:27 helping elect clients to Congress.
01:17:28 --> 01:17:33 Dave's clients have won 15 out of 19 general election open seat races for Congress.
01:17:34 --> 01:17:38 Open seats being the most hotly contested races, I might add.
01:17:38 --> 01:17:43 Dave has repeatedly helped his clients win some of the nation's toughest races.
01:17:43 --> 01:17:48 He's produced all the TV and radio ads for Representative Marcy,
01:17:48 --> 01:17:55 captor of Ohio, who in 2024 was one of only two Democrats nationally to win reelection.
01:17:55 --> 01:17:59 In a Republican plus eight district or worse.
01:18:00 --> 01:18:04 In 2022, Captor garnered the highest winning percentage of any Democrat running
01:18:04 --> 01:18:09 in a Trump district and the highest percentage above President Biden's 2020
01:18:09 --> 01:18:13 vote of any of the 435 members of Congress.
01:18:13 --> 01:18:19 Dave also helped reelect Representative Sanford Bishop of Georgia by 13 points
01:18:19 --> 01:18:23 and a majority white district that borders Alabama for 150 miles.
01:18:23 --> 01:18:33 In 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018, Dave helped re-elect Representative Colin Peterson
01:18:33 --> 01:18:38 of Minnesota in a district where Hillary Clinton won barely 30%.
01:18:39 --> 01:18:44 He has also helped elect Representative Mike McIntyre of North Carolina in a
01:18:44 --> 01:18:45 Republican plus 13 district,
01:18:46 --> 01:18:50 Representative Joe Donnelly of Indiana in a Republican plus five seat,
01:18:51 --> 01:18:57 and Representative John Yarmouf of Kentucky in a district Democrats had not won in 12 years.
01:18:57 --> 01:19:03 What makes Dave's success unique is the ideological diversity of his clients.
01:19:03 --> 01:19:08 Dave has helped elect and reelect more African Americans to Congress,
01:19:08 --> 01:19:13 11, than any other media consultant, including current and former U.S.
01:19:13 --> 01:19:16 Representatives Frank Balance, Democrat from North Carolina,
01:19:17 --> 01:19:23 Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Kareem Brown of Florida, the late John Conyers of
01:19:23 --> 01:19:30 Michigan, the late Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Jesse Jackson Jr.
01:19:30 --> 01:19:35 Of Illinois, the late John Lewis of Georgia, David Scott of Georgia,
01:19:36 --> 01:19:40 Maxine Waters, California, and Albert Wynn, Maryland.
01:19:40 --> 01:19:45 Heller has also made all of the ads for his U.S. Representative Raul Rejava
01:19:45 --> 01:19:49 of Arizona in a plurality Hispanic district.
01:19:49 --> 01:19:54 Dave has also helped elect many of the Blue Dog Democrats in Congress.
01:19:54 --> 01:19:57 The party's most conservative voices, including their founder,
01:19:57 --> 01:19:59 Representative Colm Peterson of Minnesota.
01:20:00 --> 01:20:04 Other Blue Dog clients have included U.S. Representative Sanford Bishop of Georgia,
01:20:05 --> 01:20:10 Alan Boyd of Florida, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Ken Lucas of Kentucky.
01:20:10 --> 01:20:15 Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, David Phelps of Illinois, and Davis Scott of Georgia.
01:20:16 --> 01:20:20 Dave has also helped his clients win many county executive and mayoral races.
01:20:20 --> 01:20:26 He helped elect Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper, Baltimore County Executive
01:20:26 --> 01:20:32 Kevin Kamenetz, and Jefferson County, Kentucky Executive Greg Fisher.
01:20:33 --> 01:20:39 He has also helped elect a number of mayors, including Baltimore Mayor Catherine
01:20:39 --> 01:20:42 Pugh and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson.
01:20:42 --> 01:20:45 He helped elect the first woman mayor of Cleveland, Jane Campbell,
01:20:46 --> 01:20:48 the first African-American mayor in St.
01:20:48 --> 01:20:54 Louis, Freeman Bosley Jr., and the first Democrat in 16 years in Syracuse, Matt Driscoll.
01:20:54 --> 01:20:58 Dave is best known for his creative TV and radio ads.
01:20:58 --> 01:21:02 He has been awarded 18 poly awards from his peers at the American Association
01:21:02 --> 01:21:04 of Political Consultants.
01:21:04 --> 01:21:10 For his ads, he was named a rising star in American politics by Campaign and Elections magazine.
01:21:11 --> 01:21:16 Dave graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with honors from Brown University
01:21:16 --> 01:21:23 and earned a master's degree in political science from Oxford University to Nuffield College.
01:21:24 --> 01:21:28 He went on to Yale University, where he taught his own seminar on 20th century
01:21:28 --> 01:21:30 political protest movements.
01:21:30 --> 01:21:35 An avid baseball fan, Dave owns the Quad City River Bandits,
01:21:36 --> 01:21:43 the Kansas City Royals' Advanced A affiliate. In 2021, Baseball Park Digest
01:21:43 --> 01:21:45 named the Bandits its Minor League Team of the Year.
01:21:45 --> 01:21:50 The team's ballpark, Martin Woodman Park, was twice voted Best Minor League
01:21:50 --> 01:21:54 Ballpark in America by USA Today and 10best.com.
01:21:55 --> 01:22:01 Davis earned the Best Ballpark Improvement Award from Ballpark Digest a record five times.
01:22:01 --> 01:22:06 The Bandits also won Best Charitable Campaign for their charity-related work
01:22:06 --> 01:22:10 in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2023.
01:22:11 --> 01:22:16 No other team has ever won twice. And his organization, Main Street Baseball,
01:22:16 --> 01:22:19 was named Minor League Baseball Organization of the Year.
01:22:19 --> 01:22:24 He and his wife, June, have two teenage sons, Dylan and Cade.
01:22:25 --> 01:22:30 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest on this podcast.
01:22:30 --> 01:22:39 Music.
01:22:43 --> 01:22:47 All right. Dave Heller. How are you doing, sir? You doing good?
01:22:47 --> 01:22:51 I'm doing great. I'm happy to be here. I'm blessed and highly favored.
01:22:51 --> 01:22:55 Well, same here. And I'm really, really glad that you're here.
01:22:55 --> 01:23:00 I know this is baseball season and that's just one of your bigger passions other
01:23:00 --> 01:23:05 than politics. And I know you've got some some things you got to take care of.
01:23:05 --> 01:23:09 So I want to want to get this done in a reasonable time.
01:23:09 --> 01:23:12 But again, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.
01:23:13 --> 01:23:15 Honored to be here. Yes, sir.
01:23:15 --> 01:23:20 All right. So how I normally start the interviews is that I do a couple of icebreakers.
01:23:20 --> 01:23:24 So the first icebreaker is a quote, and I want you to respond to this quote.
01:23:25 --> 01:23:32 Let's try things. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I'm not going to be angry or blame anybody.
01:23:32 --> 01:23:37 I'd rather try things and fail with the best intentions than not try at all.
01:23:37 --> 01:23:38 What does that quote mean to you?
01:23:39 --> 01:23:44 That's how we do everything in all of my businesses, whether you're talking
01:23:44 --> 01:23:49 about political advertising or baseball or anything else.
01:23:49 --> 01:23:51 It means don't be afraid to take chances.
01:23:52 --> 01:23:56 It means if you are doing something with the best of intentions,
01:23:56 --> 01:24:04 you are going to either succeed or you're going to want to go back and refine
01:24:04 --> 01:24:08 and polish and smooth out the rough edges and figure out a way to get to yes,
01:24:09 --> 01:24:10 figure out a way to make it work.
01:24:10 --> 01:24:12 And that's what I've always tried to do in my life.
01:24:13 --> 01:24:19 Yeah. All right. And so my next icebreaker is what we call 20 questions. Okay.
01:24:20 --> 01:24:24 So I need to get, I need you to give me a number between one and 20.
01:24:24 --> 01:24:26 19. All right.
01:24:27 --> 01:24:32 What are some values you think most people share, even if they express them differently?
01:24:34 --> 01:24:40 No, I think most people are thoughtful, compassionate, optimistic, kind,
01:24:41 --> 01:24:49 and generally want to see themselves and see others around them do well.
01:24:50 --> 01:24:54 Okay. Yeah, I would agree with that. All right.
01:24:54 --> 01:25:00 So, Dave, I want to start this interview tapping into your political background.
01:25:00 --> 01:25:03 First of all, how did you get involved in politics?
01:25:06 --> 01:25:16 So, I started as a reporter for a magazine called Campaigns and Elections magazine in D.C.
01:25:16 --> 01:25:18 When I got out of graduate school.
01:25:19 --> 01:25:23 And within a year, I'd become the managing editor of it.
01:25:24 --> 01:25:28 But I didn't want to cover the game. I wanted to be part of the game.
01:25:29 --> 01:25:37 And so I got hired by a pollster named Alan Secrest, who's done a lot of work
01:25:37 --> 01:25:39 in your state there in Georgia.
01:25:40 --> 01:25:47 And he was, at the time, the second largest congressional pollster in the Democratic Party.
01:25:47 --> 01:25:55 And so I really dove in and worked on how do you take numbers and turn them
01:25:55 --> 01:25:58 into actionable campaign strategy, right?
01:25:58 --> 01:26:09 If 52% of the people love Erik Fleming and 18% don't like him and the other 30% are neutral,
01:26:09 --> 01:26:14 what does that mean in terms of where he goes, what he does,
01:26:14 --> 01:26:17 who does he speak to and how does he speak to them?
01:26:18 --> 01:26:23 And turning data into actual campaign strategy, that's really how I got my start.
01:26:23 --> 01:26:31 And then in 92, I was hired by a wonderful, wonderful guy named Gerry Austin,
01:26:31 --> 01:26:35 who had been Jesse Jackson's media consultant.
01:26:36 --> 01:26:41 And Jerry brought me in to open a D.C. office for his media firm.
01:26:41 --> 01:26:44 And I've been doing political media ever since.
01:26:44 --> 01:26:49 Yeah. So I guess to date myself, I know all these people you're talking about.
01:26:50 --> 01:26:53 I couldn't afford Mr. Seacrest when I was running for the U.S. Senate.
01:26:53 --> 01:26:59 And Gerry has a connection with Brad Chism, who I was with in Mississippi.
01:27:00 --> 01:27:03 So, yeah, I'm very, very familiar with those names.
01:27:03 --> 01:27:10 And I think Jerry is a special guy. Yeah, he is. He's really a class act. I like him a lot.
01:27:11 --> 01:27:16 Vice President Harris said that she decided not to run for governor of California
01:27:16 --> 01:27:19 next year because she felt that the system is broken.
01:27:19 --> 01:27:21 Do you agree with her sentiments?
01:27:22 --> 01:27:30 Don't want to believe the system is broken, but we certainly see a president
01:27:30 --> 01:27:36 who is taking a sledgehammer to the system and trying to shatter it every day.
01:27:36 --> 01:27:45 It gets more and more disturbing each and every time we wake up and turn on
01:27:45 --> 01:27:48 our phones or turn on our television sets and look at the news.
01:27:49 --> 01:27:56 Yeah. What is your take on this new battle to redistrict between the census?
01:27:57 --> 01:28:03 I was trying to find a way to ask that question because it's an odd situation that we're in.
01:28:03 --> 01:28:06 But what is your take on that?
01:28:08 --> 01:28:17 My take is it is a wonderful and smart and savvy way for the Republicans to
01:28:17 --> 01:28:19 undermine our nation's democracy.
01:28:20 --> 01:28:26 If that's their goal, right? Which it ought not to be, obviously. It's a horrible thing.
01:28:26 --> 01:28:32 It's insulting to voters, and it's saying to everyone in this country,
01:28:32 --> 01:28:37 look, the Republicans don't want voters to choose their politicians.
01:28:37 --> 01:28:39 They want politicians to choose their voters.
01:28:39 --> 01:28:45 And that's anathema to what democracy is all about. We both know that. Yeah.
01:28:46 --> 01:28:51 Yeah. And, you know, having been a former legislator and having gone through
01:28:51 --> 01:28:57 a redistricting process, it's just that old adage, you like the sausage,
01:28:57 --> 01:28:59 but you don't like the way that you make it. Right.
01:28:59 --> 01:29:07 And so I've been through that. And it would just, you know, if Mississippi had
01:29:07 --> 01:29:12 tried to do that when I was in the legislature, it would have been just total, total chaos.
01:29:13 --> 01:29:20 So let me so that leads me to this question. Governor Hochul has basically said that we're at war now.
01:29:20 --> 01:29:26 Do you agree with her sentiment that the Democrats and Republicans are officially in a war?
01:29:27 --> 01:29:33 Know that it's official, but yes, I do.
01:29:33 --> 01:29:40 And it's horrible. But I think Governor Newsom is right that if Texas is going
01:29:40 --> 01:29:46 to do this and Texas is going to try to steal five seats, that,
01:29:47 --> 01:29:50 California is in the right to try to do the same thing.
01:29:50 --> 01:29:56 And if the Republicans are going to push this in Florida and Missouri and Indiana
01:29:56 --> 01:30:01 as they appear to be, then Democrats ought to be trying to do the same thing
01:30:01 --> 01:30:04 wherever we have an opportunity to.
01:30:04 --> 01:30:10 There can't be one set of rules for Republicans and another set of rules for Democrats.
01:30:11 --> 01:30:15 There has to be one set of rules for all Americans, right?
01:30:15 --> 01:30:21 In our perfect world, Eric, that one set of rules would be what it has been
01:30:21 --> 01:30:27 for the past 250 years, and that is we redistrict every 10 years,
01:30:27 --> 01:30:28 period, stop, end of sentence.
01:30:29 --> 01:30:36 Yeah, and I agree with that totally. I just, you know, it's just kind of weird
01:30:36 --> 01:30:41 to me how blatant these folks are.
01:30:41 --> 01:30:49 I think it's hypocritical that a guy who should have been in jail, Ken Paxton.
01:30:49 --> 01:30:55 And, you know, now he wants to get these, he wants to have these folks arrested
01:30:55 --> 01:30:59 in Texas, these, these house members who have decided that, you know,
01:31:00 --> 01:31:01 we're not going to participate in this sham.
01:31:02 --> 01:31:06 You know, Governor Abbott, you know, you call a special session to deal with
01:31:06 --> 01:31:09 a terrible tragedy that happened in your state.
01:31:09 --> 01:31:14 And then you turn it around to cater to the whims of somebody who,
01:31:14 --> 01:31:18 like you said, has a sledgehammer to the process, right?
01:31:18 --> 01:31:23 And doesn't have any integrity to it. I just, I agree with you.
01:31:23 --> 01:31:28 It's like we can't deal with these people in the conventional way that we have
01:31:28 --> 01:31:30 dealt with politics before.
01:31:30 --> 01:31:36 But if we cross that line, can we come back?
01:31:38 --> 01:31:44 We can. Sure, we can. You could have both sides at some point say enough is
01:31:44 --> 01:31:46 enough. This is terrible.
01:31:46 --> 01:31:51 We need to stop and let's get together and find a bipartisan solution.
01:31:52 --> 01:31:54 Right. It shouldn't have to be
01:31:54 --> 01:32:00 only the Republicans in California who say midterm redistricting is bad.
01:32:00 --> 01:32:05 We should have a, you know, there's no, there's no ideological difference between
01:32:05 --> 01:32:09 Kevin Kiley out of Sacramento and any of the Republicans in Texas.
01:32:09 --> 01:32:12 Kiley's only saying it because it's bad for him.
01:32:13 --> 01:32:17 What we need is enough people who say it's bad for the country.
01:32:18 --> 01:32:23 We're going to look at the interests of the country. And that's what needs to happen.
01:32:23 --> 01:32:26 I think, look, as bad as what Paxton is doing.
01:32:27 --> 01:32:34 Trying to use the force of law, the sheriffs, to bring these people into the
01:32:34 --> 01:32:38 legislature, it's even worse and more hypocritical, in my opinion,
01:32:39 --> 01:32:41 what Senator John Cornyn is doing.
01:32:41 --> 01:32:45 Right, a Texas senator who says we should get the FBI involved.
01:32:46 --> 01:32:49 Well, there's no federal matter here.
01:32:49 --> 01:32:55 Redistricting is completely a state issue. And for these Republicans in general,
01:32:55 --> 01:33:01 and Cornyn in particular, who say, I'm a Republican because I believe in smaller government.
01:33:01 --> 01:33:07 I'm a Republican because I want to move power away from the federal government and onto the states.
01:33:08 --> 01:33:10 Really? And then you want to use the FBI?
01:33:11 --> 01:33:16 Because some state legislators walked out of the state legislature because they
01:33:16 --> 01:33:18 didn't want to vote on a state issue?
01:33:19 --> 01:33:24 Where's the federal issue in that? Especially when we have, if you believe John
01:33:24 --> 01:33:31 Cornyn himself, that we have so many pressing federal issues for the FBI to work on.
01:33:33 --> 01:33:36 Are they wasting their time on a state issue? It makes no sense to me.
01:33:36 --> 01:33:40 It's all hypocrisy, Erik. You know that, and I know that. Your listeners know that.
01:33:41 --> 01:33:46 That's exactly right. And I'm going to deal with Cornyn when I have my little
01:33:46 --> 01:33:49 editorial moment on the podcast,
01:33:49 --> 01:33:56 but I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one that feels passionately about what he's trying to do.
01:33:56 --> 01:33:59 No, listen, let me let me jump in for one second.
01:33:59 --> 01:34:05 We Democrats should not feel like we're Marilyn on The Munsters.
01:34:05 --> 01:34:10 Right. That we're not that we know we're normal and we know we're right.
01:34:10 --> 01:34:15 And everybody else around us is strange. And somehow that makes us strange.
01:34:15 --> 01:34:19 No, no, we are normal.
01:34:19 --> 01:34:25 We are right. We do things the right way. That's part of the reason why we're Democrats.
01:34:25 --> 01:34:30 We're going to fight if we lose if we lose a battle we lose a battle but we
01:34:30 --> 01:34:35 don't change the rules and if we lose an election we don't scream that it was
01:34:35 --> 01:34:38 rigged and it has to be redone and,
01:34:38 --> 01:34:42 say to violent felons we're going to pardon you and we're going to put you back
01:34:42 --> 01:34:47 out on the streets after you beat up cops no we don't do that we're democrats
01:34:47 --> 01:34:49 we're better than that amen brother Amen.
01:34:50 --> 01:34:54 There's a common phrase we say on this show. It's like, say that louder so the
01:34:54 --> 01:34:55 folks in the back can hear it, right?
01:34:57 --> 01:35:02 So you have successfully helped 25 candidates become members of Congress.
01:35:02 --> 01:35:04 Yeah, closer to 30 now. Okay.
01:35:06 --> 01:35:11 Yeah, that's even better. What is your advice to those individuals who want
01:35:11 --> 01:35:13 to run for Congress in 2026? 2026.
01:35:13 --> 01:35:15 Do it. Do it.
01:35:16 --> 01:35:22 Grab your surfboard and ride the wave. And if you are running as a Democrat
01:35:22 --> 01:35:27 against a Republican, remember one thing above all.
01:35:27 --> 01:35:30 The focus is on the incumbent.
01:35:31 --> 01:35:34 Hold him or her accountable for their votes.
01:35:34 --> 01:35:42 Don't make the race about you. Make the race about what they have done to your constituents, right?
01:35:42 --> 01:35:47 Voters, I believe, Erik, voters are very transactional today,
01:35:47 --> 01:35:50 right? Don't tell me about me.
01:35:50 --> 01:35:55 I don't want you to tell me about you. Tell me about me.
01:35:56 --> 01:36:01 Tell me what you're going to do for me. Tell me how you're going to make my life better.
01:36:02 --> 01:36:07 How is your stewardship in office going to improve my life?
01:36:09 --> 01:36:13 Those young people who are thinking about running hold these Republicans accountable
01:36:13 --> 01:36:18 for their votes on the big, ugly bill and everything else that Trump has put through.
01:36:19 --> 01:36:27 Yeah. So when you said it like that, you know, I'm thinking about John F. Kennedy, right?
01:36:27 --> 01:36:33 And he said his famous words, you know, ask not what your country can do for you.
01:36:33 --> 01:36:36 Ask what you can do for your country. you're saying
01:36:36 --> 01:36:39 in this political climate that's not the vibe we we
01:36:39 --> 01:36:42 need to give out wish it were i wish
01:36:42 --> 01:36:46 it were yeah yeah all right
01:36:46 --> 01:36:49 so you you currently live in iowa correct
01:36:49 --> 01:36:56 do can can zohran mamdani's mamdani's message of affordability resonate with
01:36:56 --> 01:37:02 iowans or should democrats take a different approach than what he's trying to
01:37:02 --> 01:37:07 do there i think what Mamdani is doing is great, right?
01:37:07 --> 01:37:14 In the sense of saying to people, I hear you, I see you, I will fight for you.
01:37:14 --> 01:37:25 And the more the big, powerful, special interests want to push back on him, the more.
01:37:26 --> 01:37:30 Genuine, the more authentic, the more real he comes off.
01:37:31 --> 01:37:36 There was an article in the New York Times within the past two days talking
01:37:36 --> 01:37:43 about Donald Trump weighing in in that New York City's mayor's race and doing
01:37:43 --> 01:37:45 what he could to help Andrew Cuomo.
01:37:45 --> 01:37:50 And I thought, I'm not working for a Mamdani, but if I were,
01:37:50 --> 01:37:57 that would be the greatest Christmas gift I could possibly get in that campaign. Right? The best.
01:37:58 --> 01:38:05 I don't believe here in Iowa in particular or in the Midwest in general that
01:38:05 --> 01:38:15 running a campaign on free bus service or capping rent is the key to winning election.
01:38:15 --> 01:38:20 But I do think being authentic, being genuine,
01:38:21 --> 01:38:27 understanding that the issues and the problems that people in your community
01:38:27 --> 01:38:32 are facing, whether they are people of color, people of means,
01:38:32 --> 01:38:38 male, female, whatever your background is, that doesn't matter. They're people.
01:38:39 --> 01:38:45 And if you can give voice to people's frustrations, you can be very successful in 2026.
01:38:46 --> 01:38:52 Yeah. All right. In the 2024 election, Democratic consultants really received
01:38:52 --> 01:38:55 a lot of criticism, well, at least after the election.
01:38:55 --> 01:39:03 Do you feel it was justified? And how do you feel political consultancy should evolve? So, look.
01:39:05 --> 01:39:10 Democratic consultants were criticized for the races that they lost,
01:39:11 --> 01:39:13 right? You don't get criticized when you win.
01:39:14 --> 01:39:20 And you look at some of those races, some of the Senate races that we lost,
01:39:20 --> 01:39:27 and particularly the presidency, and I think there's a lot of deserved criticism for them.
01:39:28 --> 01:39:36 How does Kamala Harris walk onto the set of The View and be asked,
01:39:36 --> 01:39:39 what would you do differently from Joe Biden?
01:39:39 --> 01:39:43 And have her answer be, well, I can't think of anything I would do differently.
01:39:46 --> 01:39:51 Yes, part of that is the candidate, but part of that is her team around her.
01:39:52 --> 01:39:56 She should never have been in that situation where she would give that kind of answer.
01:39:56 --> 01:40:00 I erik i always believe that
01:40:00 --> 01:40:04 if if there is an election between two people
01:40:04 --> 01:40:07 and one of them is pushing change and one
01:40:07 --> 01:40:11 of them is saying we're just going to keep doing what we're doing change is
01:40:11 --> 01:40:20 going to win every time yeah yeah i i agree with that it is and and sadly in
01:40:20 --> 01:40:25 in 2024 we Democrats allowed Trump to be the change,
01:40:25 --> 01:40:28 and we were the status quo at the presidential level.
01:40:28 --> 01:40:34 I believe that's why we lost. I don't think it was she didn't have enough time.
01:40:34 --> 01:40:39 I don't think it was people were so angry at Biden.
01:40:39 --> 01:40:43 I think it was she did not break from him.
01:40:43 --> 01:40:48 She did not convince people that she was going to do things differently,
01:40:48 --> 01:40:52 that she was going to be a positive change in their lives.
01:40:53 --> 01:41:00 So some people have said, you know, that she didn't do that because she didn't
01:41:00 --> 01:41:08 have people of color in her in her consultancy and her team.
01:41:08 --> 01:41:12 And I knew there were some, but, you know, it was like, you know,
01:41:12 --> 01:41:13 and that's always the case.
01:41:13 --> 01:41:19 It's like, well, you didn't reach out to the black vendors enough and and all that kind of thing.
01:41:19 --> 01:41:25 Do you think that would have made a difference or it was more about presentation
01:41:25 --> 01:41:31 and messaging rather than who was given access to the room?
01:41:31 --> 01:41:36 So I don't I think that's a false choice that you just constructed respectfully.
01:41:37 --> 01:41:41 Right. OK. I think if you have the right people in the room,
01:41:41 --> 01:41:43 you will have the right message.
01:41:45 --> 01:41:50 And if there are not people of color or people who have worked significantly,
01:41:51 --> 01:41:59 in the black community at the table and nobody is reflecting and advocating
01:41:59 --> 01:42:02 for the interests of the black community,
01:42:02 --> 01:42:06 the message is going to be different, right?
01:42:07 --> 01:42:10 The message is shaped by the people in the room. You've got to get the right
01:42:10 --> 01:42:12 people in the room. You're not going to get the right message.
01:42:13 --> 01:42:17 Well, I mean, I don't disagree with that.
01:42:17 --> 01:42:22 And I appreciate you keeping me straight on the way I phrased the question,
01:42:22 --> 01:42:28 because, see, that's a dichotomy that, you know, as a black candidate, I've had to deal with.
01:42:28 --> 01:42:36 And, you know, my my thing has always been I want the best people if if if they
01:42:36 --> 01:42:41 if if my team happens to be all black or all female or whatever the case may be,
01:42:41 --> 01:42:45 then it is what it is, because I want to get the best people in the room.
01:42:46 --> 01:42:50 Some people kind of felt that because she came in at the last minute,
01:42:50 --> 01:42:53 she didn't really have the say so to get the people in the room.
01:42:53 --> 01:42:58 She just basically brought over Biden's folks and kept it pushing.
01:42:59 --> 01:43:04 But I think she could have had a lot more say-so if she, I think her biggest
01:43:04 --> 01:43:06 flaw was that she was loyal.
01:43:07 --> 01:43:15 And had she just said, this is my moment, you know, kind of even got to be a diva about it.
01:43:15 --> 01:43:17 You know what I'm saying? If she said, this is my moment now,
01:43:17 --> 01:43:22 he did his thing, he stepped down, you know, I think things would have been
01:43:22 --> 01:43:24 different, but I don't know.
01:43:24 --> 01:43:27 You know, I was an outsider looking in just like everybody else.
01:43:27 --> 01:43:34 It's an interesting thing when a guy says, no, no, no, we're doing it this way.
01:43:35 --> 01:43:39 And he's considered tough and strong and firm and has a lot of backbone.
01:43:39 --> 01:43:43 And a woman comes in and says, no, no, no, we're doing it this way.
01:43:43 --> 01:43:45 And suddenly she's a diva.
01:43:45 --> 01:43:50 Like that's baloney. I want a strong candidate regardless of their gender.
01:43:50 --> 01:43:56 I want somebody who is strong, who is firm, who is tough,
01:43:56 --> 01:44:01 who knows who they are, who advocates for what they believe,
01:44:01 --> 01:44:06 doesn't back down from who they are, and is comfortable in their own skin and shows that.
01:44:07 --> 01:44:12 And to me, Barack Obama was very much that.
01:44:13 --> 01:44:18 My dearest friend in the world, Elijah Cummings, lived that every single day of his life.
01:44:19 --> 01:44:26 I had the privilege of working for Congressman John Lewis and making ads for him.
01:44:26 --> 01:44:29 And in fact, I lived next door to Mr. Lewis in D.C.
01:44:29 --> 01:44:35 And when I would go off on a shoot, Mr. Lewis would come over sometimes and babysit my young son.
01:44:36 --> 01:44:39 And so I got to don't want a personal left and,
01:44:40 --> 01:44:45 Eric what you see with John Lewis what you saw with John Lewis what you saw
01:44:45 --> 01:44:51 with Elijah Cummings what you see with Barack Obama is these are all people
01:44:51 --> 01:44:57 who are genuine who are authentic who are who were comfortable in their own skin,
01:44:58 --> 01:45:04 knew who they were knew why they were there and knew who sent them there and,
01:45:05 --> 01:45:08 I don't want to say Vice President Harris wasn't that.
01:45:08 --> 01:45:11 I will just say I didn't get that vibe.
01:45:12 --> 01:45:17 Yeah. Yeah, I can't wait for the book. I've already pre-ordered my Audible because
01:45:17 --> 01:45:20 I want to hear her side of the story on that.
01:45:21 --> 01:45:25 You once said in politics, people are voting.
01:45:25 --> 01:45:30 People vote in the voting booth. In baseball, people vote with their feet.
01:45:30 --> 01:45:35 They show up or they don't. And we work to win everybody's vote here.
01:45:36 --> 01:45:39 Is that your main correlation between baseball and politics?
01:45:40 --> 01:45:44 My main correlation. I don't know.
01:45:44 --> 01:45:51 I don't know that I would say it's a main correlation, but I do think in both cases.
01:45:52 --> 01:45:54 Right. And whether you're talking about baseball or politics,
01:45:54 --> 01:45:58 the most important thing is getting people to show up.
01:46:00 --> 01:46:03 Right and when we talk when you say baseball so
01:46:03 --> 01:46:07 your listeners know we're talking about minor league baseball and i and i make
01:46:07 --> 01:46:10 that distinction between minor league baseball major league baseball because
01:46:10 --> 01:46:15 minor league baseball has no television contracts right there's no tv revenue
01:46:15 --> 01:46:17 there's no radio revenue there's
01:46:17 --> 01:46:21 no streaming revenue and to the to the extent the games are streamed,
01:46:21 --> 01:46:23 which they are, all of that money goes to MLB.
01:46:24 --> 01:46:31 So it is, if you are a minor league baseball team owner, the only way you make
01:46:31 --> 01:46:34 money is when people show up at the ballpark.
01:46:34 --> 01:46:40 Just like when you are running for Congress or you're advising somebody working
01:46:40 --> 01:46:47 for Congress or governor, senator, the only way you win is when people show up to vote.
01:46:47 --> 01:46:53 So yeah, getting people activating people and, and making them make a,
01:46:53 --> 01:46:59 a affirmative decision to go out and do something. Yeah, that's a strong correlation.
01:47:01 --> 01:47:08 Yeah. And it's an investment, right? You know, I tell people all the time that you're a salesman,
01:47:08 --> 01:47:14 but it's a tougher sale in politics because when you're talking about minor
01:47:14 --> 01:47:17 league baseball or any other commodity, there's money involved.
01:47:18 --> 01:47:23 There's that exchange, right? But it's like when you're trying to get people
01:47:23 --> 01:47:25 to vote for a candidate, it's trust.
01:47:25 --> 01:47:31 And that's a harder thing to garner than it is to get a few dollars from somebody
01:47:31 --> 01:47:33 to purchase your product.
01:47:33 --> 01:47:40 Yeah, I think of it a little differently. I would say when you are a minor league
01:47:40 --> 01:47:45 team in a community, the whole community is behind you, right?
01:47:45 --> 01:47:49 And so getting people to come out to a Quad Cities River Bandits game,
01:47:50 --> 01:47:55 for example, where I live here in the Quad Cities, everybody's for the River
01:47:55 --> 01:47:58 Bandits. You could be a socialist.
01:47:58 --> 01:48:02 You could be middle of the road. You could be MAGA Republican.
01:48:03 --> 01:48:06 You're still with the River Band. You still want the home team to win.
01:48:07 --> 01:48:13 Politics, baseball. What I love about baseball is it is inherently inclusive.
01:48:13 --> 01:48:15 It brings everybody together.
01:48:15 --> 01:48:18 And politics is inherently divisive.
01:48:19 --> 01:48:24 And so that's the real challenge that you face when you run is people,
01:48:24 --> 01:48:32 even people that may live next door to you or work with you and with whom you
01:48:32 --> 01:48:34 socialize, with whom you're friendly.
01:48:34 --> 01:48:39 You may find, you know, I like hanging with this guy, but man,
01:48:39 --> 01:48:43 his views on some things are just way different from mine.
01:48:45 --> 01:48:50 Yeah. All right. So what gives you more satisfaction, a victorious election
01:48:50 --> 01:48:53 night or opening day at the ballpark?
01:48:53 --> 01:48:55 A victorious election night. That's easy.
01:48:58 --> 01:49:01 That's easy. I thought you were going to ask me a tough one.
01:49:01 --> 01:49:08 There's nothing more joyful than getting called the victor on election night.
01:49:09 --> 01:49:13 Yeah. Well, I didn't know if it was going to be tough or not,
01:49:13 --> 01:49:18 but I was just, I was curious because, you know, I lived in Jackson,
01:49:19 --> 01:49:20 Mississippi for a long time.
01:49:20 --> 01:49:27 And it was a huge deal when the Braves moved a double a franchise to the Jackson area.
01:49:28 --> 01:49:31 And I in another life I was actually
01:49:31 --> 01:49:34 a sports reporter so I remember when the Jackson generals were
01:49:34 --> 01:49:37 there and and watching all those guys
01:49:37 --> 01:49:42 you know the generals that was with the Astros so they had Bergman and all them
01:49:42 --> 01:49:47 guys coming through so it was fun to watch that and it's just like being a baseball
01:49:47 --> 01:49:54 guy I love opening night and and and you're just the opening day and just the
01:49:54 --> 01:49:55 pomp and the circumstance.
01:49:56 --> 01:49:59 I remember when I played Little League, right, we used to have a parade,
01:49:59 --> 01:50:01 you know what I'm saying, for opening day.
01:50:01 --> 01:50:05 We marched to the park in our uniforms and go out there and play a game,
01:50:05 --> 01:50:06 you know what I'm saying?
01:50:06 --> 01:50:11 So there's something magical about that, and I wanted to kind of get your feel
01:50:11 --> 01:50:14 on it because you've done both. You're an owner of a team.
01:50:14 --> 01:50:19 You've been successful in getting people elected. So I was just kind of curious on that.
01:50:20 --> 01:50:22 Eric, when we have opening day,
01:50:22 --> 01:50:28 I shake, I'll shake 5 hands and give a whole lot of hugs to people.
01:50:28 --> 01:50:30 Nice to see you. Great to see you again.
01:50:31 --> 01:50:37 My first campaign in 92 was for an African-American state senator in Maryland
01:50:37 --> 01:50:39 who was running for Congress.
01:50:39 --> 01:50:47 His name was Albert Wynn, and he started out in fifth place in a seven-person field.
01:50:48 --> 01:50:52 The leader was at 27, and Albert was at five.
01:50:53 --> 01:50:57 And on election night in a seven-way primary, we won 29-27.
01:50:58 --> 01:51:04 And Albert Wynn, who was a large man, a large man, said, I hugged him so hard
01:51:04 --> 01:51:06 he thought I was going to break his ribs.
01:51:07 --> 01:51:11 I'm not hugging anybody that hard on opening night. I'm happy to see people,
01:51:11 --> 01:51:14 but there's something special about winning an election, man.
01:51:15 --> 01:51:21 I feel you. I feel you. And, you know, I definitely understand that feeling about winning.
01:51:22 --> 01:51:25 So I'm going to pick your brain a little bit about some baseball.
01:51:26 --> 01:51:31 I had and I know you're affiliated with the Royals I had picked that the and
01:51:31 --> 01:51:37 like I said I'm a big Cubs fan but the I picked the Dodgers to win the World Series again,
01:51:38 --> 01:51:44 what team do you think in observing what's going on do you think has a has a
01:51:44 --> 01:51:49 shot of beating them of beating the Dodgers yeah well I want to tell you the
01:51:49 --> 01:51:54 Royals I certainly do and we're still in it They're still in it.
01:51:54 --> 01:51:58 I was just going to say, the thing with the Royals is, you know,
01:51:58 --> 01:52:04 people in baseball will tell you the key to winning a short series is pitching.
01:52:05 --> 01:52:11 And that is the Royals' strength. And when you can roll out a rotation in a
01:52:11 --> 01:52:20 short series and you've got Cole Reagans is healthy and Noah Cameron, a former River Bandit,
01:52:20 --> 01:52:22 is pitching lights out.
01:52:22 --> 01:52:27 And Seth Lugo, who was number two in the Cy Young voting last year, and Michael Walker.
01:52:28 --> 01:52:31 Like, that's a strong lineup of pitchers.
01:52:32 --> 01:52:37 And you've got Bobby Witt in the field and Mikel Garcia, an all-star at third
01:52:37 --> 01:52:38 base, another former River Bandit.
01:52:39 --> 01:52:45 If their pitching holds and their hitters come alive at the right time,
01:52:45 --> 01:52:47 they could make a deep run.
01:52:47 --> 01:52:50 I'm optimistic about the Royals. I really am.
01:52:51 --> 01:52:54 Yeah, and you still got Mr. Perez back there catching. Yes, we do.
01:52:55 --> 01:52:59 He still can flash those rings that he got in the locker room.
01:52:59 --> 01:53:03 He, Salvie is a special guy.
01:53:03 --> 01:53:04 There's no question about it.
01:53:04 --> 01:53:08 And he's a, you know, he's, he's not just a great player. He's a leader.
01:53:08 --> 01:53:13 He's a clubhouse leader. And he's the kind of guy like, like Bobby who can put
01:53:13 --> 01:53:14 a team on his back and carry you.
01:53:15 --> 01:53:18 And again, that's what you need in a short series. Yeah.
01:53:19 --> 01:53:24 In the national league though, I, I wouldn't bet against the Dodgers. Yeah.
01:53:24 --> 01:53:29 I wouldn't bet against the Dodgers. I would tell you this, rooting for the Dodgers,
01:53:29 --> 01:53:33 you know, with the money they spend on payroll, it's sort of like,
01:53:33 --> 01:53:36 you know, rooting for Microsoft. Like, let's go blue.
01:53:38 --> 01:53:45 What's the fun in that? Well, I'm sure the folks in Chavez Ravine would differ with you on that.
01:53:45 --> 01:53:51 But I agree. I think that, you know, when I look at the Royals and the way that
01:53:51 --> 01:53:56 they're made up, it reminds me of my White Sox because I'm a Chicago baseball
01:53:56 --> 01:53:59 fan, period, but more Cubs than White Sox.
01:53:59 --> 01:54:04 But when the White Sox made that one in 2005, that's what got them over.
01:54:04 --> 01:54:09 They once that pitching rotation, you know, Duque and Buehrle and Freddie Garcia,
01:54:09 --> 01:54:14 once they gelled, they were, I think they only lost one game in the postseason.
01:54:14 --> 01:54:18 So it can happen. All you got to do is get in the dance.
01:54:18 --> 01:54:21 Once you get in the tournament, then anything can happen.
01:54:21 --> 01:54:29 Well, look, Dave, I know you got to go. And I greatly appreciate you spending some time.
01:54:29 --> 01:54:34 I've been very fortunate that I've been able to talk to some people in the political
01:54:34 --> 01:54:38 game, especially on the Democratic side, that have made a tremendous impact.
01:54:39 --> 01:54:46 And, you know, a lot of times, you know, those people, if you're in the political
01:54:46 --> 01:54:48 circle, everybody knows who you are.
01:54:48 --> 01:54:53 But it's like in the general scheme of things, all the general public knows is the candidate.
01:54:54 --> 01:54:57 And as somebody that has been a candidate and has been a staffer,
01:54:58 --> 01:55:04 the purpose of my podcast is sometimes not always get the highlight people,
01:55:04 --> 01:55:06 but get the folks that make the highlights happen.
01:55:06 --> 01:55:09 And you you've definitely been one of those people over
01:55:09 --> 01:55:12 the years so it's been an honor to talk to you
01:55:12 --> 01:55:18 and then you know the plus is you're a baseball guy and I you know as much as
01:55:18 --> 01:55:22 everybody loves football I love football and all that but baseball is always
01:55:22 --> 01:55:26 going to be my sport and I think it's one of the greatest games ever created
01:55:26 --> 01:55:30 and it was something you said you You said,
01:55:30 --> 01:55:35 and I'm paraphrasing, but it was like your dream would be to see one of your
01:55:35 --> 01:55:41 boys playing for the Quad City River Bandits at one point in time in your life while you owned them.
01:55:41 --> 01:55:44 So I definitely appreciate that passion.
01:55:45 --> 01:55:47 Yeah, I don't think that dream is going to come to fruition.
01:55:49 --> 01:55:54 Well, the Lord blessed my children, both my boys with a number of talents,
01:55:54 --> 01:55:56 but baseball is not one of them.
01:55:56 --> 01:55:59 That's okay. That's all right. That's right. Yeah.
01:56:00 --> 01:56:05 But again, seriously, though, I greatly appreciate you coming on and thank you for that.
01:56:05 --> 01:56:08 Oh, listen, Eric, it's a privilege to be here.
01:56:08 --> 01:56:14 I've had the unique privilege of having helped elect 10 different members of
01:56:14 --> 01:56:16 the Congressional Black Caucus over the course of my career.
01:56:17 --> 01:56:26 And I wouldn't be where I am without a number of African-American state senators
01:56:26 --> 01:56:31 and state reps believing in me and trusting in me and turning over their,
01:56:31 --> 01:56:35 putting their careers in my hand, you know, turning over their messaging to me.
01:56:35 --> 01:56:41 And I'm just glad by God's grace that we were able to be successful as often as we were. Yes, sir.
01:56:41 --> 01:56:52 Music.
01:56:59 --> 01:57:06 All right, and we are back. So I want to thank Wajahat Ali, Rick Roberts,
01:57:06 --> 01:57:09 and Dave Heller for coming on the podcast.
01:57:10 --> 01:57:14 To be able to get Dave and Waj on the show was tremendous.
01:57:15 --> 01:57:19 And, you know, because of their background, because of their success,
01:57:20 --> 01:57:25 because of their passion, It was really, really cool to have conversations with
01:57:25 --> 01:57:27 them and to formally meet them.
01:57:27 --> 01:57:33 And then to have my friend, Rick Roberts, coming back on.
01:57:33 --> 01:57:39 And I greatly appreciate somebody like him dedicating the time to explain,
01:57:39 --> 01:57:46 you know, what's going on with our economy. because it's really hard on mainstream media.
01:57:46 --> 01:57:52 And it's not necessarily a criticism of it, but it's really hard to get somebody
01:57:52 --> 01:57:57 in to take the time to explain some things and to really get into the meat of
01:57:57 --> 01:57:59 some questions that need to be asked.
01:58:00 --> 01:58:04 And, you know, I think this was Rick's third appearance on the show,
01:58:04 --> 01:58:08 and he's even contributed, you know,
01:58:08 --> 01:58:15 in just written form, you know, some thoughts and ideas about what's going on
01:58:15 --> 01:58:17 based on his training and his experience.
01:58:18 --> 01:58:22 And so it was really, it's really cool to always get him on.
01:58:23 --> 01:58:26 And I hope that you enjoyed those conversations.
01:58:27 --> 01:58:32 And I hope that for folks that need some hope that you got that,
01:58:33 --> 01:58:37 for folks that have concerns, I hope those concerns were addressed, right?
01:58:38 --> 01:58:43 But I want to close out real quick, because I know this has been a long show,
01:58:43 --> 01:58:47 but I want to, I got to say something about John Cornyn.
01:58:47 --> 01:58:51 And I had promised during Dave's interview, since he brought it up,
01:58:51 --> 01:58:52 that I was going to talk about it.
01:58:53 --> 01:58:55 And it's really, really interesting.
01:58:56 --> 01:59:01 Indictment about political opportunism and hypocrisy, right?
01:59:02 --> 01:59:08 So John Cornyn is a former judge who has been in the U.S. Senate for a long
01:59:08 --> 01:59:09 time now out of the state of Texas.
01:59:09 --> 01:59:12 He's a senior senator out of the state of Texas.
01:59:13 --> 01:59:19 And to be honest, I've never been a big fan of his, even when he has shown a
01:59:19 --> 01:59:25 moderate side and supported some issues that we believed in.
01:59:25 --> 01:59:34 And, you know, he originally had been of the old traditional small government,
01:59:34 --> 01:59:42 you know, fiscally responsible or fiscally conservative wing of the Republican Party.
01:59:42 --> 01:59:48 But now, with his recent actions, he's gone MAGA, and he feels like he has to
01:59:48 --> 01:59:54 because another criminal is running against him for the United States Senate,
01:59:55 --> 01:59:57 Ken Paxson. He's going to challenge him in the primary.
01:59:58 --> 02:00:04 So, you know, whoever the Democrat turns out to be, whether it's Colin Allred or whoever,
02:00:05 --> 02:00:09 I would encourage the people of Texas to support the Democratic nominee because
02:00:09 --> 02:00:14 if your choice is between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, you don't have a choice.
02:00:14 --> 02:00:21 But Cornyn, playing a political opportunistic game, has used his power as U.S.
02:00:21 --> 02:00:27 Senator to try to activate the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI.
02:00:28 --> 02:00:34 To an issue that the state of Texas is dealing with.
02:00:34 --> 02:00:40 Now, it doesn't matter that Donald Trump, President Trump, convinced the governor,
02:00:40 --> 02:00:48 Greg Abbott, and you've heard my opinions about him, to try to redistrict in
02:00:48 --> 02:00:50 the middle of this 10-year cycle.
02:00:51 --> 02:00:57 Every 10 years, based on the census, we're supposed to do what we call reapportionment
02:00:57 --> 02:01:04 and determine how many states, I mean, how many Congress House members the states
02:01:04 --> 02:01:06 will be allocated, right?
02:01:06 --> 02:01:11 The smaller states will get one, you know, the larger states will get however
02:01:11 --> 02:01:17 many, and it's based on the population. So right now the means is like 750
02:01:17 --> 02:01:19 people per district, right?
02:01:20 --> 02:01:25 So those states, they have less than 750 people, they only get one representative.
02:01:25 --> 02:01:29 They still get two senators by virtue of being a state, but they only get one
02:01:29 --> 02:01:30 representative, right?
02:01:30 --> 02:01:33 And then the bigger states get multiple options.
02:01:34 --> 02:01:38 California has the most with 53, right? And Texas, I think, is number two.
02:01:39 --> 02:01:43 And so based on the census,
02:01:43 --> 02:01:50 it was supposed to be four additional seats that were supposed to go to,
02:01:50 --> 02:01:55 at least three were supposed to ideally be represented by somebody from the
02:01:55 --> 02:02:00 Latino community and then one could have been a black seat or whatever,
02:02:00 --> 02:02:01 but it was supposed to be Democratic, right?
02:02:02 --> 02:02:09 But Texas, and I explained this on the last show, Texas did their thing because
02:02:09 --> 02:02:12 it was a republican-controlled state legislature, and,
02:02:13 --> 02:02:19 those majority, minority seats didn't happen. And.
02:02:20 --> 02:02:26 They want to make it even worse, right? So, the Democrats in the state legislature
02:02:26 --> 02:02:32 left, and they've done this before when dealing with voting rights.
02:02:33 --> 02:02:36 And as a matter of fact, Jasmine Crockett, who's now a U.S. Congresswoman,
02:02:36 --> 02:02:39 was a state legislator when they did it before.
02:02:39 --> 02:02:44 They left the state, so they wouldn't have a quorum, right?
02:02:45 --> 02:02:47 And if you don't have a quorum, you can't take any action.
02:02:48 --> 02:02:53 So the Democrats did that again, because the special session was called to deal
02:02:53 --> 02:02:58 with the flooding that happened in Texas, where those young girls got killed
02:02:58 --> 02:03:03 in the camp, and over 100 some people died in that.
02:03:03 --> 02:03:09 And so the main issue was to try to make sure that doesn't happen again.
02:03:11 --> 02:03:16 And, you know, it just reminds me of when we had our special session after Katrina,
02:03:16 --> 02:03:21 and the whole purpose was to deal with how we were going to help the people
02:03:21 --> 02:03:27 recover, and the first bill we brought out was moving casinos 800 feet, right,
02:03:28 --> 02:03:35 inland, which I vigorously opposed, right, because that wasn't the time to do that.
02:03:36 --> 02:03:42 Nonetheless, so So Texas has decided to veer from dealing with the tragedy that
02:03:42 --> 02:03:46 they were called to deal with and now have created a crisis.
02:03:47 --> 02:03:51 And so the House Democrats in Texas left.
02:03:51 --> 02:03:56 Someone went to Chicago, someone to New York, somewhere in D.C.
02:03:56 --> 02:04:00 You know, they scattered around a few stayed just to kind of monitor,
02:04:01 --> 02:04:05 but made sure that it was not enough where they could say, oh,
02:04:06 --> 02:04:08 we got a quorum. We can pass this through. Right.
02:04:09 --> 02:04:16 So because those legislators left, now Governor Abbott wants to vacate their seats.
02:04:17 --> 02:04:22 It's going to be up to the Texas Supreme Court to determine, can he do that? Right.
02:04:23 --> 02:04:31 Ken Paxton, a criminal, wants to arrest them or arrest the ones that are in
02:04:31 --> 02:04:35 Texas that are not showing up in Austin to the Capitol.
02:04:35 --> 02:04:39 But for everybody else, they can't touch them.
02:04:39 --> 02:04:43 Really, that's why they learned from the first time is to get out of the state.
02:04:44 --> 02:04:50 Right. So the Texas Marshals, Texas Rangers or whoever they send after them can't touch him.
02:04:51 --> 02:04:54 So now John Cornyn, because Ken Paxton is running against him for the U.S.
02:04:55 --> 02:05:00 Senate, now he wants to use and exert his authority as a senior senator from
02:05:00 --> 02:05:04 the state of Texas to ask the FBI to get these people.
02:05:05 --> 02:05:07 Ladies and gentlemen, the FBI can't do that.
02:05:08 --> 02:05:12 Not in their purview because they didn't commit a crime. They just,
02:05:12 --> 02:05:15 they're not going to participate in the voting process.
02:05:16 --> 02:05:18 Now it's costing these people money.
02:05:18 --> 02:05:23 It's costing them connection with their families, but it's the sacrifice they're
02:05:23 --> 02:05:29 willing to make to preserve democracy and make sure that this rig,
02:05:30 --> 02:05:35 this attempt to rig the election in 2026 does not happen, at least not in Texas.
02:05:37 --> 02:05:41 And of course, the fail safe is that, you know, we got this guy in Indiana,
02:05:42 --> 02:05:46 Baldwin, who's lieutenant governor there, who absolutely has no clue.
02:05:47 --> 02:05:50 Obviously, he slept through all of his U.S. history classes,
02:05:50 --> 02:05:51 civics classes, whatever.
02:05:52 --> 02:05:56 He's the one who went viral and said that the three-fifths compromise had nothing
02:05:56 --> 02:05:58 to do with slavery, for example.
02:05:58 --> 02:06:04 And he just said something else asinine that's going viral now.
02:06:04 --> 02:06:11 But, you know, they're looking at people like him to try to do the same thing
02:06:11 --> 02:06:15 in their respective states, Indiana and a couple of other states that,
02:06:16 --> 02:06:18 you know, if they can pull this off in Texas.
02:06:18 --> 02:06:23 But as long as the Democrats and the House of Representatives in Texas stay
02:06:23 --> 02:06:25 away, they'll never have a quorum.
02:06:26 --> 02:06:29 And the target date is August the 30th.
02:06:29 --> 02:06:35 If they stay away until then, then the session dissolves, especially the special session dissolves.
02:06:36 --> 02:06:42 Now, Abbott could call another one if he wants to, but, you know,
02:06:42 --> 02:06:44 it's just going to keep going and going.
02:06:44 --> 02:06:48 And in the meantime, you know, the issue that they're supposed to be dealing
02:06:48 --> 02:06:53 with won't be addressed because they're trying to cater to President Trump.
02:06:54 --> 02:07:07 But for John Cornyn to cater to MAGA and utter the words FBI is such a hypocrisy.
02:07:07 --> 02:07:11 I mean, he's for smaller government, as Dave pointed out.
02:07:12 --> 02:07:17 That's government overreach. You want the federal government, the leading,
02:07:17 --> 02:07:23 well, ICE is technically the leading law enforcement agency now under this administration,
02:07:23 --> 02:07:28 but the leading law enforcement agency in the country.
02:07:29 --> 02:07:35 You want them to arrest elected officials who are exercising their right of
02:07:35 --> 02:07:41 protest, their right of free speech by not participating in this sham.
02:07:42 --> 02:07:45 Whatever respect I had for John Cornyn is totally gone.
02:07:46 --> 02:07:50 And I know he doesn't care about me or anybody else that says that,
02:07:50 --> 02:07:52 but the people of Texas should.
02:07:52 --> 02:07:56 Now, if you're a Republican, again, you don't have much of a choice.
02:07:56 --> 02:08:02 You could keep Cornyn in on the Republican side, or you can vote for Ken Paxton,
02:08:02 --> 02:08:04 who should be in jail, right?
02:08:04 --> 02:08:08 At the very least, he should be disbarred. And that's a whole nother thing.
02:08:08 --> 02:08:12 Why are these people still allowed to practice law?
02:08:12 --> 02:08:18 That are constantly, day by day, violating the U.S.
02:08:18 --> 02:08:21 Constitution, the laws of their respective states.
02:08:21 --> 02:08:26 How are they doing? We've had some people disbarred, but not enough.
02:08:27 --> 02:08:31 You know, Ken Paxton should not be the attorney general by virtue of the fact
02:08:31 --> 02:08:33 that he shouldn't be able to practice law in Texas.
02:08:34 --> 02:08:39 If it wasn't for his now soon-to-be ex-wife, he would have been impeached.
02:08:40 --> 02:08:45 He would have been removed from office. That's how bad he was or is, right?
02:08:46 --> 02:08:50 When he wants to arrest people. It's like the last person that should be saying
02:08:50 --> 02:08:56 arrest anybody is somebody that got away with criminal activity in Texas, right?
02:08:56 --> 02:09:00 Doesn't matter what your title is, but he shouldn't even be there.
02:09:00 --> 02:09:06 But nonetheless, Cornyn doesn't deserve to stay in the United States Senate either.
02:09:07 --> 02:09:10 Paxton doesn't deserve to be there, but Cornyn doesn't deserve to stay.
02:09:11 --> 02:09:16 Because instead of being the voice of reason, instead of positioning himself
02:09:16 --> 02:09:26 to work out a compromise, to intervene even, he capitulates because Paxton is running against him.
02:09:26 --> 02:09:29 And at some point in time, you
02:09:29 --> 02:09:33 know, if you had only been there like one term, like six years, I get it.
02:09:33 --> 02:09:35 You might want to serve another term, but you've been there a long time.
02:09:36 --> 02:09:42 Is it really worth it? Is it really worth compromising your integrity and your
02:09:42 --> 02:09:45 decency if you had any of those things? Your character?
02:09:47 --> 02:09:51 You can stay in office. All these people talk about they're Christians and all this stuff.
02:09:52 --> 02:09:54 And it's like, it's very clear in the Bible that says, you know,
02:09:54 --> 02:10:00 what good is it for a man to own the world and lose his soul?
02:10:01 --> 02:10:03 Right? Why?
02:10:04 --> 02:10:07 Why? I mean, that's just the question. Why?
02:10:10 --> 02:10:17 So, I just implore people, whether it's in Texas, Montana, Georgia,
02:10:17 --> 02:10:23 Mississippi, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Iowa, California, Oregon,
02:10:23 --> 02:10:24 whatever, wherever you are.
02:10:25 --> 02:10:30 I need y'all to open your eyes. I need you to pay attention, right?
02:10:30 --> 02:10:34 I need y'all, in Florida, I need y'all to just look at what's happening.
02:10:35 --> 02:10:36 Oklahoma, just look what's happening.
02:10:37 --> 02:10:42 Look at the damage that these people have wrought in just six months.
02:10:43 --> 02:10:49 Now, we can make the argument that has been building all these years since Obama got sworn in in 2009.
02:10:49 --> 02:10:56 But at some point in time, ladies and gentlemen, we have to decide enough is enough.
02:10:57 --> 02:11:00 Again, the call is for American leadership.
02:11:01 --> 02:11:06 It's for people that give a damn about Americans, not about their own self-interest.
02:11:06 --> 02:11:15 Right it's time for us to do better and not settle for these type of people
02:11:15 --> 02:11:20 right political expediency is a very very addictive drug.
02:11:22 --> 02:11:26 And it's very easy to get hooked on it.
02:11:27 --> 02:11:31 But the antidote to that is accountability to the people.
02:11:31 --> 02:11:35 And if the people, it's one thing for Congress to advocate their duty.
02:11:35 --> 02:11:39 It's one thing for the U.S. Supreme Court to abdicate their duty.
02:11:39 --> 02:11:41 But the American people cannot.
02:11:42 --> 02:11:48 We have to let our voices be heard. We have to stand up to this.
02:11:48 --> 02:11:50 And we have to get these people out.
02:11:51 --> 02:11:56 And in our conversations, we understand that what's being done now is going
02:11:56 --> 02:11:58 to take a generation or two to fix.
02:11:59 --> 02:12:01 But we've got to be in this for the long haul.
02:12:02 --> 02:12:08 This country will be celebrating its 250th year of independence next year.
02:12:08 --> 02:12:17 If we want to see another 250 years as a nation, today is the day that we take
02:12:17 --> 02:12:19 action to make that happen.
02:12:20 --> 02:12:26 We've got to get people in that give a damn about us and not their addiction
02:12:26 --> 02:12:28 to political expediency.
02:12:28 --> 02:12:33 We've got to get people that have integrity and character. We don't want perfect
02:12:33 --> 02:12:34 people because there's no such thing.
02:12:35 --> 02:12:40 But we want people to understand what their job really is, who they're supposed
02:12:40 --> 02:12:45 to be working for, and are committed and passionate to doing the right thing.
02:12:47 --> 02:12:52 Now doing the right thing does not mean that there's just one solution to do
02:12:52 --> 02:12:54 that there's one opinion to do that but.
02:12:56 --> 02:13:01 Reasonable people can come to consensus. And right now, we got a bunch of unreasonable
02:13:01 --> 02:13:04 people in positions of power.
02:13:04 --> 02:13:09 So it doesn't matter what political stripe you fall under, right?
02:13:09 --> 02:13:12 Which tribe that you connect with.
02:13:12 --> 02:13:17 The goal is to get reasonable people in the positions to represent you.
02:13:18 --> 02:13:24 Bottom line, if there's some reasonable Republicans out there, find them, elect them.
02:13:25 --> 02:13:28 There's definitely some reasonable Democrats out there. Support them.
02:13:29 --> 02:13:33 It's not going to be a clean sweep, regardless of how I feel.
02:13:34 --> 02:13:41 But at this point in time, if John Cornyn and Ken t are your best options
02:13:41 --> 02:13:47 in Texas as a Republican, then it's time to look at the Democratic side, period.
02:13:48 --> 02:13:55 It's time to get behind those men and women that are risking financial and personal sacrifices.
02:13:55 --> 02:13:58 They're making personal and financial sacrifices.
02:13:59 --> 02:14:03 And to be honest, risking their lives because there was a bomb threat at one
02:14:03 --> 02:14:07 of the hotels that these Texas representatives were staying in.
02:14:07 --> 02:14:10 They're doing that for you. They're doing that for the nation.
02:14:11 --> 02:14:16 They're doing it for our future. It's not about ego. It's not about comfort.
02:14:17 --> 02:14:18 It's about doing the right thing.
02:14:19 --> 02:14:23 And we need to show our gratitude. And we do that by supporting them.
02:14:23 --> 02:15:17 Music.