July 14, 2026 • 26 mins
Krystal and Saagar discuss AIPAC deploys Obama ads to back Stevens, Bryce Harper FanDuel scandal.
Trita Parsi: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/p/a-new-us-iran-war-would-end-where
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, guys, Saga and Crystal here.
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Speaker 2 (00:33):
So we wanted to turn to the Michigan Senate Democratic
primary where Haley Stevens the establishment Darling is up against
Abdul Alsaiah, the left wing insurgent, and there's a new
tactic being deployed from Stevens and Steven's allied groups to
make it seem like maybe kind of sortis she was
(00:55):
endorsed by Obama. Let's go ahead and take a look
at one of these ads.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
My husband worked at Ford for forty one.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Years, my father worked with General Moltors for thirty years.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And when they came for our auto jobs. Ay Stephens
stood up.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
She was chief of status to President Obama's Auto Rescue and.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Hailey Stevens, by the way, she was a critical part
of my team that helped the American auto industry come
rolling ball.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That's say, two hundred thousand Michigan jobs. She helps say,
jobs for my own family.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
If President Obama trust her, so do I Stronger Michigan
is responsible for the content of this ad.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
President Obama trust her, and so do I. Stevens has
millions of dollars ten more than tens of millions of
dollars flooding into this race on her behalf from a
variety of superpacks, including some that are backed by a pack.
This is a mailer that's going out to homes around
Michigan that says similar quotes. Hailey Stevens was a critical
part of my team that helped American auto industry come
(01:52):
roaring back President Barack Obama.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Detroit Free Press opinion.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Black Michiganders will help decide Michigan's US Senate primary. This
one is from one of the APAC allied super packs,
and you've had Michigan voters who are taking in this
content assume that it means that she is fully endorsed
by Barack Obama, which she is not. He has not
endorsed in this race. Of course, he could pipe up
(02:16):
and make that clear. He has chosen not to do
that at this point. But in any case, you have
some voters who are saying that, you know, I'm going
to vote for Hailey Stevens based on these ads. Let's
go ahead and put the first part of D two
up on the screen. This is one couple that was
quoted saying that President Obama is the reason they're voting
(02:39):
for Haley Stevens.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
They put a lot of money behind Haley. We don't
know a whole lot about him being Abdullah Sayad. I
asked about APAC. The mill said, they are not anti Israel,
but what's happening in Gaza is a genocide. So these
are people who ideologically align with Abdullah Sayad, but Barack
Obama's word means so much to them that they are
you know, they are voting with the person who was
(03:01):
not ideologically aligned with them because they have been basically
tricked into believing that Obama that's it.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, this is a classic strategy by many politicians. I've
seen it with Trump as well, where somebody Trump will
endorse somebody like in twenty twenty and then they'll actually
he won't endorse them in twenty twenty four, but he'll
be running their endorsement back from twenty twenty, like the
previously Trump endorsed candidate who is in this race. So
it's not like it hasn't happened before, but it is
(03:29):
very obviously being boosted by titanic amounts of money. And
that's that's part of the reason why we're even covering it.
Is the amount of money in this primary is shocking,
like tens of millions of dollars. Some of it appears
to be a pack, but a lot of it seems
to be more institutional interests as well, So it's like
(03:49):
pro corporate all of these other influences which are in
this state. The part that really stuck out to me
was Gary Peters, Can we put D six up here
on the screen? He previously said he's a sitting senator,
He's the person who she is running to replace. He
previously had said that he was going to sit out
of the entire primary. He's like, Oh, whoever wins, we'll
(04:10):
let him win, and it appears now that Elsaiad is
coming at least within striking distance. It seems to be
tied in the polls here with Hailey Stevens. That he
has come out and explicitly said I'm all in for
Hailey Stevens, and even his announcement makes it clear that
this Obama thing is part of their strategy.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Haley began her service to Michigan as a critical part
of our team as President Obama and I fought to
save two hundred thousand jobs, rescuing and helping the auto
industry come roaring back. I'm proud to have Haley was
recognized as a most effective Michigan Democrat in Congress. So
they are leading heavily back on that auto bailout from
twenty ten to boost her chances. In her previous association
(04:49):
with Obama, the last Democrat really to win the state overwhelmingly,
which shows part of the problems I think for the
Democrats in terms of actually trying to turn this sea.
You know, uh, solidly blue this time around. For slacking.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
I mean, she barely won want it, but it was close.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It was very close.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, clot can want it, but it was fairly, fairly close.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
I think she might have outperformed by.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Actually because he lost. He lost the state of Michigan.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
She won, but didn't you won the state of Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
While you're looking that at there's another element of this.
We didn't pull this particular screenshot, but at the same
time they're trying to suggest, like, oh, this is Obama's candidate.
The UAW United Autoworkers have endorsed Abdul, and they're also
some of the super PACs backing Haley are also trying
to suggest that she's the candidate of the auto workers,
(05:39):
even though the actual autoworkers endorsed her opponent, and the
UAW actually had to issue a cease and assist to
one of the super PACs that is backing them because
they used the uaw's logo in election ads that were
promoting a candidate not endorsed by the union. So this
is the sort of tactics and if Abdol loses like
this ploy will have been successful. I think the other
(06:01):
thing is it's a testament to how popular Obama remains
in the party that they feel that he is the
best validator that she could possibly have, especially with black voters.
I do think that his word continues to be very
powerful in the party. He's still one of the most
popular politicians, if not the most popular politician in the
entire country. So even though I have my feelings about
the disappointment of Obama, many other people do as well. Overall,
(06:25):
broadly among sort of noormy voters, he still has a
lot of popularity. This race also pits him de facto
because of these quotes that Hailey Stevens is pulling from
the past versus Bernie Sanders, who actually did endorse Abdul,
and that Abdul has been featuring in his ads. Bernie
Sanders being probably the second most popular politician in the
(06:46):
entire country, so there's an interesting dynamic there as well.
Bernie has always done really well in Michigan. That was
back in twenty sixteen when he's running against Hillary. That
was sort of like his miracle comeback. He wins the
state of Michigan, it seemed like maybe he had a
shot at getting the whole thing. In any case, he
has only grown in popularity in the state overtime.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, Trump did win Michigan barely in twenty twenty Oh no, sorry,
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
That's what I was talking about. First lock in because
she won.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Oh okay, I got you. But in twenty Biben one, okay,
all right, we were with it.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
We were talking about it was actually very close. It
was like two percent back in twenty twenty. Whereas if
you look at the twenty sixteen or sorry, the twenty twelve,
in the two thousand and eight margins, it's crazy how
much Obama, how much Trump flipped the map overall, I
do think, you know, to the Obama point, this is,
this is fascinating. I do not understand why this man
(07:35):
still has so much affection in the Democratic Party. To me,
it's all vibes based, because you know, empirically he chose Hillary.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
She was a total disaster.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
He told Biden, who was still cognizant at that time,
not to run, even though he might have been able
actually to win the election whenever his brain was still
not completely all mush. His legacy is the election of
Donald Trump, and nobody can look back at the time
period and say, well, even though we had all these
nice vibes of hope and change, the fact that it
was immediately you know, that immediately was followed by the
(08:10):
Trump era means things were not all hunky door and
yet simply because I think he's rhetorically articulate, that's and
you know, I guess like overperformed dramatically in two thousand
and eight that all these Democrats are like, oh, I
long for Obama.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
You know, I think it is.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I think it's because of objectively a bad presence.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
I think it's for a couple of reasons.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Obviously I agree with your anasis, But if I have
to put myself in the shoes of like why people
have this nostalgic yearning for him, which in some sense
I do kind of feel because he represents the pre
Trump era.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So it's like the age you don't long for Obama.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
But I'm not trying to explain it like rationally, but
in terms of people's sense of things, right, because I
agree with you if the fact that Trump comes immediately
after Obama is kind of an indictment of Obama, and
nobody ever talks about that, but that is real In
any case, I think there's the sense of like politics
were simpler, they were more aspirational. There's this kind of
(09:08):
sense of the pre Trump era that comes along with
the feeling of what Obama is has projective and then
you also have like you said, very very talented, very charming, funny.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
You know, he's got all the things.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
And him being the historic first black president, you know
obviously that carries a lot a weight with a lot
of people, but especially with black voters. And so you
put all those pieces together, and even though it jars
me crazy that he barely ever pops up and does
politics at all, it's like when he wants to crush
a left wing insurgency, that's when he you know, pipes
(09:43):
up or does something behind the scenes, like when he
made sure to line up all the ducks so that
Joe Biden could get through ultimately and crush Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Even though that irritates.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Me, the fact that he has remained kind of above
the fray and doesn't dive into every political issue of
the day, I think also gives him a bit of
a halo with the population.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
I think I kind of get it because I have
this problem with a lot of Republican friends. They've like
worshiped Reagan, and I'm like, guys, like Reagan was you know, sure,
he was nice, like he was in you know, he
spoke well he was very charismatic, the whole jelly beans thing.
But then when we look at the issues that they
purport to care about, from immigration or neo conservatives or
tax fall.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Like, I'm like, what about this, what about this? What
about this? They're like, oh, I didn't really know any
of that. I'm like, yeah, it was really bad.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So I'm like, why do we still have architects worship.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
The architect of the horrors that we're living through now,
Like you can go back to Reagan with almost everything.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Yeah. Yeah, And so I'm like, well, I'm like, why
don't we worship Nixon? But Nixon was bad. I'm like, well,
what about that?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
You know, I talk Environmental Protection Act, that realism, you know,
in terms of his relationship with big government, the post
Eisenhower Republican Then a lot of them are like, oh, yeah,
you know, it does seem like Nixon really aligns much
more with my politics than Reagan, and yet they feel
this immense, like this immense affection for Reagan simply be
because he was deeply charismatic, which is, you know, kind
(11:03):
of the ultimate problem I think with a lot of
our politics. But yeah, if anything, my message to a
lot of these Democrats, It's like Obama's hold on the
Boomer mind is unbelievable, like the way that they worship
the ground that he walks on. When it's like, if
you look at the trajectory, even having lived through it,
also having seen what came after, it's like he was
not good at actually put fulfilling any of the things
(11:27):
that he wanted to do. Like from two thousand and eight,
if you actually look at the overall record from the war,
bailouts everything, they lost the House majority, you know, yeah,
and Obamacare is a horrible product.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And that was the big signature item. Like when you
think of Obama, you think of Obamacare obviously, and I
think at this point everybody knows that it was not enough,
that the.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Problems with it, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
But it'll be an interesting test to see if this
works in Michigan, and it might. I will say, they
really they tried to kind of similar playbook with Daria
Liza Grinned you knows, New York City is very different,
but they thought that her saying f Kamala Harris would
be the killer blow for her. They like they really,
(12:11):
you know, they sent out mailers, you know, especially and
there's a large black community in her district, went out
to all those people and it didn't work. She won
black voters in the district, so it may be a
new day for this stuff.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
And also there you had.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
You know, her directly criticizing Kamala Harris.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Here.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
The best they have with Abdullah Sayad is he one
time said that Michelle Obama's move campaign was well intentioned
but ineffectual, which Apac is also, which is true and
has a public health professional he understood at the time
and continues to understand. But in any case, they're running
that as an ad also to try to be like see,
he doesn't even like Michelle Obama, so we'll see, we'll.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
See if it works.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
There is he is getting dramatically outspent by a superpower.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
That's why Steve Brant, because you shouldn't discount it is
in that stick. Because I remember looking at as polling
wildly popular with young people still neck and neck or
underwater whenever it comes to seniors and guess who votes.
The median primary voter is like fifty five years old.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So this is the system that we have.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's part of the reason why he said we should
freeze property attacks one of the most naked, disgusting political
gambits I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
But everyone was like, Oh, this fucker wants to win,
so I catch that's what you need to win over.
I guess if he gets.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Screwed over, and even though he bent the knee to
the old lobby, I will never let him live it down.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
All right, let's get to gambling.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Turning now to gambling, the Philadelphia Inquirer has come out
with a new investigation involving a fan duel gambling whale
named Terry Thompson, who is suing the company saying that
they enabled his gambling addiction. I've talked previously extensively about
how these gambling companies have VIP hosts, which shower gifts
aka you know, losses that are converted into making you
(13:58):
feel better about yourself. In one of these gifts, FanDuel's
VIP host named Britney reached out to the MLB star
Bryce Harper and got him to record a video for
the habitual gambler Terry Thompson, who eventually lost millions of
dollars on the platform and had police had to come
into his home to prevent him from committing suicide. So
(14:18):
with all of that being said, let's take a listen
to the Philadelphia Inquirer's investigation into this.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
A personal video message from Bryce Harper arrived on the
cell phone of a habitual sports better in November twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Hey, Terry was up, brother, Amn your host Brittany from
FanDuel wanted to make sure your thanksaving was extra special.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
Montgomery County resident named Terry Thompson lost one point five
million dollars on bets with FanDuel sportsbook during the last
six years. In February, Terry was diagnosed with a gambling addiction.
While Thompson gambled away his family's life savings, he allegedly
heard often from FanDuel employees. In a recently filed lawsuit,
Thompson's attorneys alleged that a FanDuel VIP employee enticed him
(14:57):
to place more bets by giving him exclume of rewards
like a five hundred dollars bottle of champagne and tickets
to Super Bowls. The video from Harper, face of the
Phillies and a two time National League Most Valuable Player,
was another reward. In March, attorneys for the Public Health
Advocacy Institute filed a lawsuit on Terry Thompson's behalf against
FanDuel and DraftKings. By then, Thompson was in deep financial ruin.
(15:21):
He couldn't bear to tell his family the scope of
his losses, so he texted his therapists and indicated that
he was planning to take his life. Thompson is now
undergoing treatment for gambling addiction.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So you could see crystal from that video. Bryce said, Hey,
your host from FanDuel Britney wanted to make sure that
you had a great Thanksgiving. Obviously, this ignited a lot
of questions because Bryce Harper, by the way, is supposedly
a devout Mormon, which is you know, okay, so we're
supposed to be against gambling, right. We also know that
(15:52):
the MLB is currently locked in some controversy with the
gambling companies because of advertising deals. There's been a lot
of consternation about the players themselves and their relationship with
gambling companies. And initially there was a lot of speculation
did Bryce Harper have some sort of secret deal with FanDuel. Harper,
by the way, has come out with a statement denying
(16:14):
and all of this. Here's his total response. He says,
I did not know FanDuel would do this. I did
not consent to it. FanDuel had no right to do it.
What he says is that an individual named Britney paid
the eight hundred and ninety nine dollars fee for his
personal videos on Cameo, and that they were given through
the personal section as a holiday video for Terry. He
(16:37):
claims Cameo has a separate category for business video requests.
At the time, I did not know this would video
would be used for commercial purposes. The request included a
short script. I read it in good faith, and he
says again, I had no idea fandal to would do this.
I did not consent to it. Here's the problem for
mister Harper. Here's the script, by his own admission, which
he posts there. Here's a script that Brittany reached out
(16:58):
to him. Hey, Terry, your host, Brittany from FanDuel wanted
to make sure your Thanksgiving was extra special. So I
just wanted to hop on and wish you and your
family a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tell blank Son I said Hello.
Can add his own personal touches through the above as well.
It strains credulity that Bryce would say I had no
idea that FanDuel would do this. And look, maybe if
(17:22):
you know absolutely nothing about gambling, you can say I
didn't know what a FanDuel host was, Bryce Harper, I
could virtually certain knows at least a little bit about
sports gambling just from engaging with sports media and others.
Most people like myself, we're familiar with the gambling industry,
know that host from FanDuel is a well known thing,
(17:42):
like a casino host. Basically, what they do is they
encourage ultra rich people to gamble on the platform and
in exchange, they shower you again with gifts, which are
just ways to make you feel better. Also, as a
Philadelphia Inquirer video showed you, I mean scumbag behavior. Hey, Terry,
you hit a big one role You're due for a win,
your dude, Harry, that's why you need to deposit even
(18:05):
more money in these programs. And they give you free tickets. Again,
it's not free. You've probably paid for it.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Many times over in terms of your overall losses.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I think what this highlights to me, First of all,
why is the guy worth hundreds of millions of dollars
doing nine hundred dollar videos on cameo.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Sorry, that's weird, all right? What's up with that number two?
You know?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
His His defense basically is, I'm an idiot. I read
the script verbatim and I didn't know that it was
going to be from FanDuel.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Okay, if we want to go with that.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
In terms of the I have a low IQ defense
and then tertiary I think, and probably the biggest one.
This is the lengths that these companies go to to
keep these whales addicted. Yeah, how, I mean, can you imagine?
Because I was tweeting a lot about this. By the way,
the Phillies.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Fans are all furious with me over it, saying I'm
unjustly going after Bryce Harper, and I'm curious for your reaction.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Somebody said, why don't you go after Peyton Manning for
doing bud Light commercials? And I'm like, because because by
that logic, he's you know, he is just as guilty.
This is the equivalent of bud Light finding its top alcoholics,
getting Peyton Manning to record a personal video for them,
and that alcoholic nearly dying of a sclerotic liver, and
(19:18):
then money being exchanged hands.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
In between.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
That is how scummy. This behavior is it's totally normalized,
and worse, it.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Is totally legal.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Cigarette companies do not contact their top smokers and say,
thank you so much for smoking.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Here's some free stuff. You got to keep smoking.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Hey, haven't ripped a few darts today, Terry, you got
to rip a few more? Why don't you go at
It's the only industry where this is normalized, and it's
all because this is the way they make money. The
terries of the world make up the vast majority of
their problems. That's the praise problem.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, I mean in a sense, the people who are saying,
why don't you go after Peyton Manning or whoever for
their bud light commercials, they do have a bit of
a point that it is gross, like I wouldn't like.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Commercial, you know, like by the way, you know what's funny.
I remember Cameo reached out to us five.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Years ago and we were like, why no, I'm not right. Yeah,
it's like I'm charge for a personal video.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
We'll never understand these people.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
This man is so wealthy and you're doing this penny
anti bullshit for you know, to fuel someone's gambling addiction.
That's very I will never never understand that, but it
is true that we have created this climate of commercialization
that it is anything go that you can slap your
(20:33):
likeness on a financial product or something addictive like bud
light or alcohol or cigarettes or gambling or whatever, and
it has been sort of normalized. So then when someone
like Bryce Harper gets this fandal script, he doesn't think
anything of it because this is especially in sports, gambling
(20:53):
has become so intertwined in every aspect of it that
he probably didn't like, He didn't even blame. It's like,
all right, fandle Host, sure, why not here we go.
I'm just ripping through these videos on cameo for whatever reason.
I'm trying to earn my extra thousand dollars on top
of my massive multimillion dollar salary. So in a sense,
(21:13):
I actually think that they do have a point. We
probably should be going after Peyton Manning. Also there is
bud Light deals or whatever, because it is it is gross,
and I know you've pointed out there is another way
killing and Babe has showed us that you can actually
to be a prominent athlete and have some sort of standards.
Here he has refused to put his likeness with associated
(21:38):
with any sort of gambling product. He says sports betting
is destructive. It's ruined the lives of some people.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
I know.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's why I refuse to appear in sports betting advertisements.
Many of us come from the suburbs. It destroys the
lives of countless people there. And this is one of
the top footballers in the world, France's top player, and
he's drawn a line in the sand around this. And
you were saying also around five food, which is interesting
as well, which is also an addictive product, Selle.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
So I find.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Encourage prominent people to have more standards for themself.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
And that is the whole reason I want to do
this segment. Everybody knows FanDuel and DraftKings are scum, okay,
And I have, you know, extensively detailed multiple segments and
monologues here of how many times they've done this to
the terries of the world. By the way you read
the lawsuits heartbreaking.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Terry had never put a bet, placed a bet in
his life before the year twenty twenty, and by twenty
twenty six he's broke and nearly come suicide, lost his house,
lost his entire life savings.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
So I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
If you're complicit in that, you're a piece of shit
in my opinion, And especially if you're sitting there texting
somebody saying, hey, you know, you got to hit another
one and all of that, it's horrible. Like what would
you think of somebody going around, you know, in to
crack addicts legally and then dangling crack in front of
their faces, being like, why haven't you got any more
crack today?
Speaker 1 (22:53):
You got to go and get some more.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
We would rightfully be like, you are scums, absolute scum
of the earth.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
And yet we allow this.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
By the way, again, for everybody who comes after me
and says it's free choice and freedom and all of that,
does this make you free? Terry doesn't look so free
to me. Terry in another time he would have been
in a debtors prison. And fundamentally, if you participate in gambling, terry.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Is the only reason you're allowed to make your little bets.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
The vast majority of gambling profits comes from the top
six percent of gamblers, and all their losses they underwrite
the operation for everything. That's why they have these host programs.
It's like with frequent flyers. The reason why United Cares
more about its top its premiere one K customers is
because they make up the vast majority of the operating revenue.
(23:40):
Your little once a flight, you know, Thanksgiving trip, We
don't give a shit about you. This is how most
industries operate, but especially sin industries. The vast majority of
alcohol is drank by alcoholics, by the top ten percent
of drinkers. The vast majority of cigarettes are smoked by
the top ten percent of smokers. It is the same
in any sin industry. That is why we always treated
(24:01):
it with immense contempt. We tried to push it to
the back rooms and kept it to the mob. But honestly,
would you even like this behavior. I wouldn't even think
that the mob would do anything like this. Scummy to
go out and to so viciously enable and encourage gambling
(24:22):
addicts like this, And so.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
That's the society that we live in. It's totally legal.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Pennsylvania, by the way, is one of the few states
where not only is this legal, they also have legal
eye gaming. You could play blackjack and slots on your
phone with five G Internet. What possible good could ever
come from that?
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Why? And why do they do it? Tax revenue?
Speaker 3 (24:44):
And yet I mean, how much tax revenue will be
spent on police resources for having to be sent to
Terry's house, how much tax revenue and societal cost will
there be from broken homes families, the amount of domestic
violence that goes up in its skyrocketing. That's my last
soapbox thing here e four. Go ahead and take a
look absolute shocker Illinois, which happens to be a hub
(25:07):
for legal gambling and where Illinoisans lost seven point seven
billion dollars last year single state, ever since they legalized gambling.
Well guess what, Ever, since the legalization, we can now
see that an estimated one million Illinois residents are now
compulsive gamblers or at risk of becoming one. So that
(25:28):
is again, this is a addiction with the highest rate
of any addiction known to mankind of suicide and depression.
And so we've all just decided that we're going to
normalize this, that the terries of the world will underwrite
it all so that you know, podcasters in the sports
world can get filthy rich and a whole bunch of
(25:50):
gamble gambling companies can continue to underwrite if you like sports,
the integrity is of this game is like long gone
at this point, you cannot trust so much of the
stuff in front of you, and tens of millions of
Americans in the next ten years, especially young men, will
both be broke and b We'll have an addiction, an
addiction with the highest rate of suicide and depression. And
(26:12):
it was all an affirmative choice that we just said, Yeah, let's.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Go ahead and do it.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Let's pull down every single barrier and allow these companies
to run wild and prey on people who are suffering
with a genuine addiction disorder.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
It's really really sick, really dark, all right.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
So box over, thank you so much for watching, guys.
We really appreciate it. We will have a great show
for everybody tomorrow and we'll see you all then
Hey, guys, Saga and Crystal here.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
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and we are so excited about what that means for
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Speaker 3 (00:08):
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Speaker 3 (00:25):
We need your help to build the future of independent
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dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So we wanted to turn to the Michigan Senate Democratic
primary where Haley Stevens the establishment Darling is up against
Abdul Alsaiah, the left wing insurgent, and there's a new
tactic being deployed from Stevens and Steven's allied groups to
make it seem like maybe kind of sortis she was
(00:55):
endorsed by Obama. Let's go ahead and take a look
at one of these ads.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
My husband worked at Ford for forty one.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Years, my father worked with General Moltors for thirty years.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And when they came for our auto jobs. Ay Stephens
stood up.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
She was chief of status to President Obama's Auto Rescue and.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Hailey Stevens, by the way, she was a critical part
of my team that helped the American auto industry come
rolling ball.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That's say, two hundred thousand Michigan jobs. She helps say,
jobs for my own family.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
If President Obama trust her, so do I Stronger Michigan
is responsible for the content of this ad.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
President Obama trust her, and so do I. Stevens has
millions of dollars ten more than tens of millions of
dollars flooding into this race on her behalf from a
variety of superpacks, including some that are backed by a pack.
This is a mailer that's going out to homes around
Michigan that says similar quotes. Hailey Stevens was a critical
part of my team that helped American auto industry come
(01:52):
roaring back President Barack Obama.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Detroit Free Press opinion.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Black Michiganders will help decide Michigan's US Senate primary. This
one is from one of the APAC allied super packs,
and you've had Michigan voters who are taking in this
content assume that it means that she is fully endorsed
by Barack Obama, which she is not. He has not
endorsed in this race. Of course, he could pipe up
(02:16):
and make that clear. He has chosen not to do
that at this point. But in any case, you have
some voters who are saying that, you know, I'm going
to vote for Hailey Stevens based on these ads. Let's
go ahead and put the first part of D two
up on the screen. This is one couple that was
quoted saying that President Obama is the reason they're voting
(02:39):
for Haley Stevens.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
They put a lot of money behind Haley. We don't
know a whole lot about him being Abdullah Sayad. I
asked about APAC. The mill said, they are not anti Israel,
but what's happening in Gaza is a genocide. So these
are people who ideologically align with Abdullah Sayad, but Barack
Obama's word means so much to them that they are
you know, they are voting with the person who was
(03:01):
not ideologically aligned with them because they have been basically
tricked into believing that Obama that's it.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, this is a classic strategy by many politicians. I've
seen it with Trump as well, where somebody Trump will
endorse somebody like in twenty twenty and then they'll actually
he won't endorse them in twenty twenty four, but he'll
be running their endorsement back from twenty twenty, like the
previously Trump endorsed candidate who is in this race. So
it's not like it hasn't happened before, but it is
(03:29):
very obviously being boosted by titanic amounts of money. And
that's that's part of the reason why we're even covering it.
Is the amount of money in this primary is shocking,
like tens of millions of dollars. Some of it appears
to be a pack, but a lot of it seems
to be more institutional interests as well, So it's like
(03:49):
pro corporate all of these other influences which are in
this state. The part that really stuck out to me
was Gary Peters, Can we put D six up here
on the screen? He previously said he's a sitting senator,
He's the person who she is running to replace. He
previously had said that he was going to sit out
of the entire primary. He's like, Oh, whoever wins, we'll
(04:10):
let him win, and it appears now that Elsaiad is
coming at least within striking distance. It seems to be
tied in the polls here with Hailey Stevens. That he
has come out and explicitly said I'm all in for
Hailey Stevens, and even his announcement makes it clear that
this Obama thing is part of their strategy.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Haley began her service to Michigan as a critical part
of our team as President Obama and I fought to
save two hundred thousand jobs, rescuing and helping the auto
industry come roaring back. I'm proud to have Haley was
recognized as a most effective Michigan Democrat in Congress. So
they are leading heavily back on that auto bailout from
twenty ten to boost her chances. In her previous association
(04:49):
with Obama, the last Democrat really to win the state overwhelmingly,
which shows part of the problems I think for the
Democrats in terms of actually trying to turn this sea.
You know, uh, solidly blue this time around. For slacking.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
I mean, she barely won want it, but it was close.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It was very close.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, clot can want it, but it was fairly, fairly close.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
I think she might have outperformed by.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Actually because he lost. He lost the state of Michigan.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
She won, but didn't you won the state of Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
While you're looking that at there's another element of this.
We didn't pull this particular screenshot, but at the same
time they're trying to suggest, like, oh, this is Obama's candidate.
The UAW United Autoworkers have endorsed Abdul, and they're also
some of the super PACs backing Haley are also trying
to suggest that she's the candidate of the auto workers,
(05:39):
even though the actual autoworkers endorsed her opponent, and the
UAW actually had to issue a cease and assist to
one of the super PACs that is backing them because
they used the uaw's logo in election ads that were
promoting a candidate not endorsed by the union. So this
is the sort of tactics and if Abdol loses like
this ploy will have been successful. I think the other
(06:01):
thing is it's a testament to how popular Obama remains
in the party that they feel that he is the
best validator that she could possibly have, especially with black voters.
I do think that his word continues to be very
powerful in the party. He's still one of the most
popular politicians, if not the most popular politician in the
entire country. So even though I have my feelings about
the disappointment of Obama, many other people do as well. Overall,
(06:25):
broadly among sort of noormy voters, he still has a
lot of popularity. This race also pits him de facto
because of these quotes that Hailey Stevens is pulling from
the past versus Bernie Sanders, who actually did endorse Abdul,
and that Abdul has been featuring in his ads. Bernie
Sanders being probably the second most popular politician in the
(06:46):
entire country, so there's an interesting dynamic there as well.
Bernie has always done really well in Michigan. That was
back in twenty sixteen when he's running against Hillary. That
was sort of like his miracle comeback. He wins the
state of Michigan, it seemed like maybe he had a
shot at getting the whole thing. In any case, he
has only grown in popularity in the state overtime.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, Trump did win Michigan barely in twenty twenty Oh no, sorry,
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
That's what I was talking about. First lock in because
she won.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Oh okay, I got you. But in twenty Biben one, okay,
all right, we were with it.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
We were talking about it was actually very close. It
was like two percent back in twenty twenty. Whereas if
you look at the twenty sixteen or sorry, the twenty twelve,
in the two thousand and eight margins, it's crazy how
much Obama, how much Trump flipped the map overall, I
do think, you know, to the Obama point, this is,
this is fascinating. I do not understand why this man
(07:35):
still has so much affection in the Democratic Party. To me,
it's all vibes based, because you know, empirically he chose Hillary.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
She was a total disaster.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
He told Biden, who was still cognizant at that time,
not to run, even though he might have been able
actually to win the election whenever his brain was still
not completely all mush. His legacy is the election of
Donald Trump, and nobody can look back at the time
period and say, well, even though we had all these
nice vibes of hope and change, the fact that it
was immediately you know, that immediately was followed by the
(08:10):
Trump era means things were not all hunky door and
yet simply because I think he's rhetorically articulate, that's and
you know, I guess like overperformed dramatically in two thousand
and eight that all these Democrats are like, oh, I
long for Obama.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
You know, I think it is.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I think it's because of objectively a bad presence.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
I think it's for a couple of reasons.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Obviously I agree with your anasis, But if I have
to put myself in the shoes of like why people
have this nostalgic yearning for him, which in some sense
I do kind of feel because he represents the pre
Trump era.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So it's like the age you don't long for Obama.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
But I'm not trying to explain it like rationally, but
in terms of people's sense of things, right, because I
agree with you if the fact that Trump comes immediately
after Obama is kind of an indictment of Obama, and
nobody ever talks about that, but that is real In
any case, I think there's the sense of like politics
were simpler, they were more aspirational. There's this kind of
(09:08):
sense of the pre Trump era that comes along with
the feeling of what Obama is has projective and then
you also have like you said, very very talented, very charming, funny.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
You know, he's got all the things.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
And him being the historic first black president, you know
obviously that carries a lot a weight with a lot
of people, but especially with black voters. And so you
put all those pieces together, and even though it jars
me crazy that he barely ever pops up and does
politics at all, it's like when he wants to crush
a left wing insurgency, that's when he you know, pipes
(09:43):
up or does something behind the scenes, like when he
made sure to line up all the ducks so that
Joe Biden could get through ultimately and crush Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Even though that irritates.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Me, the fact that he has remained kind of above
the fray and doesn't dive into every political issue of
the day, I think also gives him a bit of
a halo with the population.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
I think I kind of get it because I have
this problem with a lot of Republican friends. They've like
worshiped Reagan, and I'm like, guys, like Reagan was you know, sure,
he was nice, like he was in you know, he
spoke well he was very charismatic, the whole jelly beans thing.
But then when we look at the issues that they
purport to care about, from immigration or neo conservatives or
tax fall.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Like, I'm like, what about this, what about this? What
about this? They're like, oh, I didn't really know any
of that. I'm like, yeah, it was really bad.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So I'm like, why do we still have architects worship.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
The architect of the horrors that we're living through now,
Like you can go back to Reagan with almost everything.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Yeah. Yeah, And so I'm like, well, I'm like, why
don't we worship Nixon? But Nixon was bad. I'm like, well,
what about that?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
You know, I talk Environmental Protection Act, that realism, you know,
in terms of his relationship with big government, the post
Eisenhower Republican Then a lot of them are like, oh, yeah,
you know, it does seem like Nixon really aligns much
more with my politics than Reagan, and yet they feel
this immense, like this immense affection for Reagan simply be
because he was deeply charismatic, which is, you know, kind
(11:03):
of the ultimate problem I think with a lot of
our politics. But yeah, if anything, my message to a
lot of these Democrats, It's like Obama's hold on the
Boomer mind is unbelievable, like the way that they worship
the ground that he walks on. When it's like, if
you look at the trajectory, even having lived through it,
also having seen what came after, it's like he was
not good at actually put fulfilling any of the things
(11:27):
that he wanted to do. Like from two thousand and eight,
if you actually look at the overall record from the war,
bailouts everything, they lost the House majority, you know, yeah,
and Obamacare is a horrible product.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And that was the big signature item. Like when you
think of Obama, you think of Obamacare obviously, and I
think at this point everybody knows that it was not enough,
that the.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Problems with it, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
But it'll be an interesting test to see if this
works in Michigan, and it might. I will say, they
really they tried to kind of similar playbook with Daria
Liza Grinned you knows, New York City is very different,
but they thought that her saying f Kamala Harris would
be the killer blow for her. They like they really,
(12:11):
you know, they sent out mailers, you know, especially and
there's a large black community in her district, went out
to all those people and it didn't work. She won
black voters in the district, so it may be a
new day for this stuff.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
And also there you had.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
You know, her directly criticizing Kamala Harris.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Here.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
The best they have with Abdullah Sayad is he one
time said that Michelle Obama's move campaign was well intentioned
but ineffectual, which Apac is also, which is true and
has a public health professional he understood at the time
and continues to understand. But in any case, they're running
that as an ad also to try to be like see,
he doesn't even like Michelle Obama, so we'll see, we'll.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
See if it works.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
There is he is getting dramatically outspent by a superpower.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
That's why Steve Brant, because you shouldn't discount it is
in that stick. Because I remember looking at as polling
wildly popular with young people still neck and neck or
underwater whenever it comes to seniors and guess who votes.
The median primary voter is like fifty five years old.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So this is the system that we have.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's part of the reason why he said we should
freeze property attacks one of the most naked, disgusting political
gambits I've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
But everyone was like, Oh, this fucker wants to win,
so I catch that's what you need to win over.
I guess if he gets.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Screwed over, and even though he bent the knee to
the old lobby, I will never let him live it down.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
All right, let's get to gambling.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Turning now to gambling, the Philadelphia Inquirer has come out
with a new investigation involving a fan duel gambling whale
named Terry Thompson, who is suing the company saying that
they enabled his gambling addiction. I've talked previously extensively about
how these gambling companies have VIP hosts, which shower gifts
aka you know, losses that are converted into making you
(13:58):
feel better about yourself. In one of these gifts, FanDuel's
VIP host named Britney reached out to the MLB star
Bryce Harper and got him to record a video for
the habitual gambler Terry Thompson, who eventually lost millions of
dollars on the platform and had police had to come
into his home to prevent him from committing suicide. So
(14:18):
with all of that being said, let's take a listen
to the Philadelphia Inquirer's investigation into this.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
A personal video message from Bryce Harper arrived on the
cell phone of a habitual sports better in November twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Hey, Terry was up, brother, Amn your host Brittany from
FanDuel wanted to make sure your thanksaving was extra special.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
Montgomery County resident named Terry Thompson lost one point five
million dollars on bets with FanDuel sportsbook during the last
six years. In February, Terry was diagnosed with a gambling addiction.
While Thompson gambled away his family's life savings, he allegedly
heard often from FanDuel employees. In a recently filed lawsuit,
Thompson's attorneys alleged that a FanDuel VIP employee enticed him
(14:57):
to place more bets by giving him exclume of rewards
like a five hundred dollars bottle of champagne and tickets
to Super Bowls. The video from Harper, face of the
Phillies and a two time National League Most Valuable Player,
was another reward. In March, attorneys for the Public Health
Advocacy Institute filed a lawsuit on Terry Thompson's behalf against
FanDuel and DraftKings. By then, Thompson was in deep financial ruin.
(15:21):
He couldn't bear to tell his family the scope of
his losses, so he texted his therapists and indicated that
he was planning to take his life. Thompson is now
undergoing treatment for gambling addiction.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So you could see crystal from that video. Bryce said, Hey,
your host from FanDuel Britney wanted to make sure that
you had a great Thanksgiving. Obviously, this ignited a lot
of questions because Bryce Harper, by the way, is supposedly
a devout Mormon, which is you know, okay, so we're
supposed to be against gambling, right. We also know that
(15:52):
the MLB is currently locked in some controversy with the
gambling companies because of advertising deals. There's been a lot
of consternation about the players themselves and their relationship with
gambling companies. And initially there was a lot of speculation
did Bryce Harper have some sort of secret deal with FanDuel. Harper,
by the way, has come out with a statement denying
(16:14):
and all of this. Here's his total response. He says,
I did not know FanDuel would do this. I did
not consent to it. FanDuel had no right to do it.
What he says is that an individual named Britney paid
the eight hundred and ninety nine dollars fee for his
personal videos on Cameo, and that they were given through
the personal section as a holiday video for Terry. He
(16:37):
claims Cameo has a separate category for business video requests.
At the time, I did not know this would video
would be used for commercial purposes. The request included a
short script. I read it in good faith, and he
says again, I had no idea fandal to would do this.
I did not consent to it. Here's the problem for
mister Harper. Here's the script, by his own admission, which
he posts there. Here's a script that Brittany reached out
(16:58):
to him. Hey, Terry, your host, Brittany from FanDuel wanted
to make sure your Thanksgiving was extra special. So I
just wanted to hop on and wish you and your
family a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tell blank Son I said Hello.
Can add his own personal touches through the above as well.
It strains credulity that Bryce would say I had no
idea that FanDuel would do this. And look, maybe if
(17:22):
you know absolutely nothing about gambling, you can say I
didn't know what a FanDuel host was, Bryce Harper, I
could virtually certain knows at least a little bit about
sports gambling just from engaging with sports media and others.
Most people like myself, we're familiar with the gambling industry,
know that host from FanDuel is a well known thing,
(17:42):
like a casino host. Basically, what they do is they
encourage ultra rich people to gamble on the platform and
in exchange, they shower you again with gifts, which are
just ways to make you feel better. Also, as a
Philadelphia Inquirer video showed you, I mean scumbag behavior. Hey, Terry,
you hit a big one role You're due for a win,
your dude, Harry, that's why you need to deposit even
(18:05):
more money in these programs. And they give you free tickets. Again,
it's not free. You've probably paid for it.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Many times over in terms of your overall losses.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I think what this highlights to me, First of all,
why is the guy worth hundreds of millions of dollars
doing nine hundred dollar videos on cameo.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Sorry, that's weird, all right? What's up with that number two?
You know?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
His His defense basically is, I'm an idiot. I read
the script verbatim and I didn't know that it was
going to be from FanDuel.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Okay, if we want to go with that.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
In terms of the I have a low IQ defense
and then tertiary I think, and probably the biggest one.
This is the lengths that these companies go to to
keep these whales addicted. Yeah, how, I mean, can you imagine?
Because I was tweeting a lot about this. By the way,
the Phillies.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Fans are all furious with me over it, saying I'm
unjustly going after Bryce Harper, and I'm curious for your reaction.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Somebody said, why don't you go after Peyton Manning for
doing bud Light commercials? And I'm like, because because by
that logic, he's you know, he is just as guilty.
This is the equivalent of bud Light finding its top alcoholics,
getting Peyton Manning to record a personal video for them,
and that alcoholic nearly dying of a sclerotic liver, and
(19:18):
then money being exchanged hands.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
In between.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
That is how scummy. This behavior is it's totally normalized,
and worse, it.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Is totally legal.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Cigarette companies do not contact their top smokers and say,
thank you so much for smoking.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Here's some free stuff. You got to keep smoking.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Hey, haven't ripped a few darts today, Terry, you got
to rip a few more? Why don't you go at
It's the only industry where this is normalized, and it's
all because this is the way they make money. The
terries of the world make up the vast majority of
their problems. That's the praise problem.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, I mean in a sense, the people who are saying,
why don't you go after Peyton Manning or whoever for
their bud light commercials, they do have a bit of
a point that it is gross, like I wouldn't like.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Commercial, you know, like by the way, you know what's funny.
I remember Cameo reached out to us five.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Years ago and we were like, why no, I'm not right. Yeah,
it's like I'm charge for a personal video.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
We'll never understand these people.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
This man is so wealthy and you're doing this penny
anti bullshit for you know, to fuel someone's gambling addiction.
That's very I will never never understand that, but it
is true that we have created this climate of commercialization
that it is anything go that you can slap your
(20:33):
likeness on a financial product or something addictive like bud
light or alcohol or cigarettes or gambling or whatever, and
it has been sort of normalized. So then when someone
like Bryce Harper gets this fandal script, he doesn't think
anything of it because this is especially in sports, gambling
(20:53):
has become so intertwined in every aspect of it that
he probably didn't like, He didn't even blame. It's like,
all right, fandle Host, sure, why not here we go.
I'm just ripping through these videos on cameo for whatever reason.
I'm trying to earn my extra thousand dollars on top
of my massive multimillion dollar salary. So in a sense,
(21:13):
I actually think that they do have a point. We
probably should be going after Peyton Manning. Also there is
bud Light deals or whatever, because it is it is gross,
and I know you've pointed out there is another way
killing and Babe has showed us that you can actually
to be a prominent athlete and have some sort of standards.
Here he has refused to put his likeness with associated
(21:38):
with any sort of gambling product. He says sports betting
is destructive. It's ruined the lives of some people.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
I know.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's why I refuse to appear in sports betting advertisements.
Many of us come from the suburbs. It destroys the
lives of countless people there. And this is one of
the top footballers in the world, France's top player, and
he's drawn a line in the sand around this. And
you were saying also around five food, which is interesting
as well, which is also an addictive product, Selle.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
So I find.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Encourage prominent people to have more standards for themself.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
And that is the whole reason I want to do
this segment. Everybody knows FanDuel and DraftKings are scum, okay,
And I have, you know, extensively detailed multiple segments and
monologues here of how many times they've done this to
the terries of the world. By the way you read
the lawsuits heartbreaking.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Terry had never put a bet, placed a bet in
his life before the year twenty twenty, and by twenty
twenty six he's broke and nearly come suicide, lost his house,
lost his entire life savings.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
So I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
If you're complicit in that, you're a piece of shit
in my opinion, And especially if you're sitting there texting
somebody saying, hey, you know, you got to hit another
one and all of that, it's horrible. Like what would
you think of somebody going around, you know, in to
crack addicts legally and then dangling crack in front of
their faces, being like, why haven't you got any more
crack today?
Speaker 1 (22:53):
You got to go and get some more.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
We would rightfully be like, you are scums, absolute scum
of the earth.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
And yet we allow this.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
By the way, again, for everybody who comes after me
and says it's free choice and freedom and all of that,
does this make you free? Terry doesn't look so free
to me. Terry in another time he would have been
in a debtors prison. And fundamentally, if you participate in gambling, terry.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Is the only reason you're allowed to make your little bets.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
The vast majority of gambling profits comes from the top
six percent of gamblers, and all their losses they underwrite
the operation for everything. That's why they have these host programs.
It's like with frequent flyers. The reason why United Cares
more about its top its premiere one K customers is
because they make up the vast majority of the operating revenue.
(23:40):
Your little once a flight, you know, Thanksgiving trip, We
don't give a shit about you. This is how most
industries operate, but especially sin industries. The vast majority of
alcohol is drank by alcoholics, by the top ten percent
of drinkers. The vast majority of cigarettes are smoked by
the top ten percent of smokers. It is the same
in any sin industry. That is why we always treated
(24:01):
it with immense contempt. We tried to push it to
the back rooms and kept it to the mob. But honestly,
would you even like this behavior. I wouldn't even think
that the mob would do anything like this. Scummy to
go out and to so viciously enable and encourage gambling
(24:22):
addicts like this, And so.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
That's the society that we live in. It's totally legal.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Pennsylvania, by the way, is one of the few states
where not only is this legal, they also have legal
eye gaming. You could play blackjack and slots on your
phone with five G Internet. What possible good could ever
come from that?
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Why? And why do they do it? Tax revenue?
Speaker 3 (24:44):
And yet I mean, how much tax revenue will be
spent on police resources for having to be sent to
Terry's house, how much tax revenue and societal cost will
there be from broken homes families, the amount of domestic
violence that goes up in its skyrocketing. That's my last
soapbox thing here e four. Go ahead and take a
look absolute shocker Illinois, which happens to be a hub
(25:07):
for legal gambling and where Illinoisans lost seven point seven
billion dollars last year single state, ever since they legalized gambling.
Well guess what, Ever, since the legalization, we can now
see that an estimated one million Illinois residents are now
compulsive gamblers or at risk of becoming one. So that
(25:28):
is again, this is a addiction with the highest rate
of any addiction known to mankind of suicide and depression.
And so we've all just decided that we're going to
normalize this, that the terries of the world will underwrite
it all so that you know, podcasters in the sports
world can get filthy rich and a whole bunch of
(25:50):
gamble gambling companies can continue to underwrite if you like sports,
the integrity is of this game is like long gone
at this point, you cannot trust so much of the
stuff in front of you, and tens of millions of
Americans in the next ten years, especially young men, will
both be broke and b We'll have an addiction, an
addiction with the highest rate of suicide and depression. And
(26:12):
it was all an affirmative choice that we just said, Yeah, let's.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Go ahead and do it.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Let's pull down every single barrier and allow these companies
to run wild and prey on people who are suffering
with a genuine addiction disorder.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
It's really really sick, really dark, all right.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
So box over, thank you so much for watching, guys.
We really appreciate it. We will have a great show
for everybody tomorrow and we'll see you all then
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