November 11, 2025 • 30 mins
Trump pardons several allies from the 2021 Capitol Insurrection. Hear more about this story on today's podcast.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is Reverend Stella
Seacrest's son, the g from the three one three. He
is the q and the QR code goes by the name.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Of q Ward.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
She would have just said Stella's child, but the way
you said it works. To the man whose voice you
just heard, the glorious Crown, the King and the Prince
of this here kingdom, he is the arn QR code.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
He goes by the name ramsays, joh We need you
to stick around.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We are going to be revisiting a conversation that we
wanted to have yesterday, we wanted to have for a
long time. But a little later in the show, we're
going to be talking about the twenty twenty six Grammy nominations,
led by Kendrick Lamar and shouting out a personal friend
who just got his first Grammy nomination. Before we get there,
we're gonna have some dialogue. We're gonna ask the question,
(01:02):
are you a narcissist?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
You, you'd be surprised. Q Ward's gonna talk to us
during his clapback, helping us determine that our false choices
lead to real consequences for better, do better. We're gonna
be talking about how Donald Trump has threatened to punish
(01:26):
NYC over the election of Mom Donnie. It was a
little odd, yeah, reinfair election. Right, We're gonna have some
opinions on Donald Trump pardoning several of his allies from
the twenty twenty election, overturn efforts, and we're gonna start
off talking about what's going on in the culture at large.
The Senate has ended their shutdown after moderate Democrats have
(01:50):
sided with the GOP.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
So uh yeah, all.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
That and so much more to get into, but right now,
as always, would like to start off with a feel
good feature. Today's feel good future comes from the ben
The Supreme Court has rejected a bid to overturn a
landmark ruling on same sex marriage. On Monday, November tenth,
the nation's highest court declined to revisit its twenty fifteen
decision legalizing same sex marriage, effectively rejecting an appeal from
(02:18):
former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue
marriage licenses to same sex couples per hub Post. The
justices denied Davis's petition without comment, leaving in place a
lower court order requiring her to pay three hundred and
sixty thousand dollars in damages and attorney's fees to two
couples she denied marriage licenses while serving as clerk of
(02:39):
Rowan County. Davis's legal team had urged the court to
overturn oberg Fell versus Hodges, the landmark decision that established
marriage equality as a constitutional right. For attorney's repeatedly cited
statements from Justice Clarence Thomas, who has previously argued that
the ruling should be reconsidered. Thomas, along with Chief Justice
John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, dissented in the twenty
(03:02):
fifteen case. Roberts hadn't publicly revisited the issue since then,
while Alito had repeatedly criticized Oberkfel before saying recently he
wasn't calling for it to be overturned. Davis, who cited
her Christian faith in refusing to issue the licenses, became
a national figure in twenty fifteen when she defied court
orders and was briefly jailed for contempt after her release,
(03:23):
deputies issued the licenses without Davis's name on them, a
change later codified by the Kentucky legislature which removed all
clerks names from marriage licenses statewide. Davis lost her bid
for reelection in twenty eighteen. So, you know, it feel
good features a relative these days.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
This one is.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
It feels good because obviously, for now same sex marriages
are safe. But it's also a little icky to be
reminded that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and was the
other one. I don't know, Samuel John Roberts All felt
like this should be reconsidered. That just feels a little icky.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
And super I don't know, gross.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
All right, let's move on, Yeah, send it shut down
ends after moderate Democrats side with the GOP. I don't
need to paint too much of a picture for you,
so I won't. But yeah, the government's been shut down.
This is the longest government shut down in history. And
(04:32):
for the most part, Democrats were trying to work to
save health care or millions of Americans, and the GOP
has not really operated in good faith with respect to
the Democrats position, and so Democrats had this one single
iota of tenuous power that they were willing to try
(04:53):
to protect Americans, and they have reached their conclusion. I'll
let you know what happened, and so this from the
BI in. The longest federal government shut down in US
history is set to end after several moderate Senate Democrats
broke party lines and voted with Republicans on Sunday, November
ninth to advance a funding bill that drops Democratic demands
to extend Affordable Health Care Act Affordable Care Acts SORRY subsidies.
(05:16):
Per hup Post, the Senate could pass the deal as
early as Monday, November tenth, with the Republican led House
expected to follow later in the week, reopening the government
after more than forty days of closure. This was an
article from earlier in the week.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Of course, for.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Weeks, Democrats had insisted that any government funding measure also
include an extension of ACA premium tax credits, which are
set to expire at the end of the year. Those
subsidies helped millions afford health insurance, and their exploration could
send premiums soaring. Sunday's deal broken by Senator Angus King,
the independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats along with
Senators Genie Shaheen and Maggie Hassen omits the subsidy extend
(06:00):
but guarantees a future Senate vote on the issue. That
vote is widely expected to fail given Republican opposition. Joining Shaheen, Hassan,
and King and supporting the deal were Senators Tim Kaine,
the Democrat from Virginia, Jackie Rosen, the Democrat from Nevada,
Catherine Cortez Maistow, the Democrat for Nevada, Dick Durbin, the
(06:21):
Democrat from Illinois, and John Federman, the Democrat from Pennsylvania.
All moderates are members of leadership who claim they prioritize
ending the shutdown.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
In protecting federal workers.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
The steal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act
premium tax credit credits, which Republicans weren't willing to do unquote,
Kine said, noting that mineral many federal employees live in
his state. Goes on to say, quote lawmakers know their constituents,
expect them to vote for it, and if they don't,
they could very well be replaced at the ballot box.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Unquote.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
The agreement will reverse all federal worker firings made during
the shutdown, block further layoffs until January twenty twenty six,
and boost funding for food assistance programs. Progressives, however, slammed
the compromise as a betrayal of Democratic priorities.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Quote it's a terrible mistake.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts said. She goes
on to say, people want us to stand and fight
for health care, and that's what I believe. Unquote, there's
another one. Quote, I will not turn my back on
the twenty four million Americans whose healthcare premiums will now
double or more as a result of the ACAA tax
credits expiring. This was a quote from Senator Reuben Diego,
(07:26):
the Democrat from Arizona. House Minority leader. How came Jeffreys
and Congression Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Caesar.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I believe that's our kaser. I'm not sure how to
pronounce that also condemned the deal. Quote accepting nothing but
a pinky promise from Republicans isn't a compromise. Its capitulation.
He said, millions of families will pay the price. So yeah,
I know that a lot of people for a long
time had wanted to see some fight the Democratic Party,
(08:02):
and this was the fight that they could have. You know,
they all the levers of government are controlled by Republicans.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
This was the fight that they could have.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And there are some people that are now being looked
at as sort of like the judases for betraying the
Democratic you know, push cohesion team, and these people, I'm
sure will have a way to justify it by saying, look,
(08:35):
you know, we need the government open, we need the
government to work. You know, this is not our time
right now, and we did get a promise to vote
on it at a point in the future.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
But this gets people back to work.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
This you know, they built into this deal that everyone
that's been fired is going to have their jobs back.
So there's two ways of looking at this. Personally, I'll
go first before we get your thoughts, your que But
personally I think that if you want Democrats to fight,
you have to be willing to endure that battle as
(09:09):
they fight. So if this is the one area where
they can wield some power, I am of the persuasion
that they should fight the fight until until they win.
To see this effort crumble because of these six I
(09:38):
guess quasi Democrats is it's a sad day. And you know,
everybody has to be accountable to their constituents. So if
indeed these people's you know, voter base want them to
you know, get people back working and get the government open,
then I'm sure they won't have a problem when it
comes time for their re election. But people looking at
(10:03):
the country as a whole, recognizing that this is.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
A deeply.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Harmful for many people in this country, a deeply harmful
regime sort of runaway train, and this democratic effort was
one sort of measure that could have at least applied
some sort of breaks or steering or something to that
runaway train analogy. To see it fail like this, it
(10:34):
just is so deeply disappointing. So yeah, my thoughts, Syracu yours.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
You know, is there a thing I always say, and
I can only apply it to movies because of course
I've never seen this happen in real life. But do
you ever watch a movie and someone's captured by another
country's military or you know, whoever the enemy is captured them,
and then they torture them and they say no to
(11:05):
every question and they won't answer, and they're not going
to give up, but eventually they do something painful enough
to them that they give up everything. And I always say,
if there's anything they can make you do that'll make
you tail at the beginning, why go through all the
torture first, And that's how I feel about this. Why
(11:30):
let almost a million and a half people go unpaid
for over a month, with half that number being furloughed.
Why let people and the tens of millions end up
with health care that they either can't afford or no
health care at all. If you're just going to cave
(11:52):
people going hungry and starving over the holidays, If you
were just going to cave, there shouldn't have been anything
short of what you were demanding that got you decide
with Republicans on this if at any point you would
give in. And I want listeners to look into something.
(12:19):
I even want us to look into something. And I
don't know this for certain, so I'm poisoning this. I'm
posing this as a question that I kind of think
I know the answer to. Because you spoke about people
answering to their constituents and the people that elected them.
I have a sneakish suspicion that the people that sided
with the Republicans are not worried about reelection, either because
(12:42):
it's not coming up or because they have no plans
to run again. And that makes turning your back on
those who got you where you are easy, especially if
there's the potential for alleged backroom deals and some way
you to profit from the decision.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
That you made. Corporate money has infested our government. Bribes
are like a right out in the open thing.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Now we've seen a very very compromised Supreme Court, Like
we learned that things happen. It's not alleged, it's not
we think, so now we know for sure nothing changed.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
It's really really twilight zone.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Man.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
We're watching the most corrupt government, the most openly corrupt
government of our lifetime, do whatever they want with impunity.
And the Democrats in this case, you know, it is
a whole pack of Judas turning their back on their people.
(13:53):
And it was now off for nothing.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, I want to add that again. They all know
that Republicans are going to oppose this, so kicking this
can down the road, so to speak, so that there
can be another vote on it. They know that the
vote won't passy, So you're right, Q. They just gave
up the health care for millions of Americans. And we
(14:19):
know this because this democratic government has been especially cruel
with more than just healthcare. They've been especially cruel with food.
They've been you know, And so for anybody to consider
it otherwise would be fooling themselves. And the last point
(14:41):
I want to make is that you know, you're right.
This is supposed to be a government by the people
for the people. And you know, a corporation having an
interest in the government. A corporation doesn't have a like
a like a death. You know, that doesn't have mortality
the same way people do. It doesn't have the sensibilities
(15:02):
of human being. And the government should not exist to
serve the interests of corporations. It should exist to serve
the interests of the people. So you're right, that money
and politics thing is really damaging, and we can see
it right here on full display, you know, especially if
what you say is right, and these people aren't up
for reelection or there are people that have a vested
(15:27):
interest in, you know, pulling the puppet strings of the
representatives that they paid to get in office. So yeah, anyway,
let's move on opinions. Trump pardons several allies from the
twenty twenty election overturning efforts this from the Bion. President
Donald Trump has issued full pardons to several of his
allies who backed efforts to overturn the twenty twenty presidential election.
(15:49):
According to CNBC, Trump issued full, complete and unconditional pardons
to his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House
Chief of Staff Mark Meadow's attorney Sidney Powell, John Eastman,
and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, all of whom
were accused of working to overturn the twenty twenty election.
The pardons apply only to federal crimes and don't effect
(16:10):
state level prosecutions, though most of those cases have been
stalled or dismissed. The proclamation announcing the pardons was posted
on Sunday, November ninth by Attorney Ed Martin, who described
the prosecution of Trump's allies as a grave national injustice
perpetrated on the American people. The proclamation also said the
pardons were meant to promote national reconciliation. Quote, these great
(16:33):
Americans were persecuted and put through trouble by the Biden
administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement.
Despite Levitt's comments, none of the individual's pardon were ever
charged federally. State authorities in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada
(16:55):
and Wisconsin brought forth the charges over alleged efforts to
subvert the election results. Trump himself was indicted on federal
charges accusing him of attempting to overturn his election loss
to former President Joe Biden. However, the case was dropped
after Trump's twenty twenty four victory over Vice President Connell
Harris in accordance with Just with Justice Department's policy against
(17:18):
prosecuting sitting presidents. Giuliani, Powell, Eastman, and Clark were identified
as uncharged co conspirators in that case. Giuliani and Meadows
also face ongoing legal issues in state courts. Giuliani, a
former New York City mayor, was among the loudest voices
spreading false claims of voter fraud after the twenty twenty election.
He has since been disbarred in Washington, d c. And
(17:38):
New York and was ordered to pay one hundred and
forty eight million dollars in damages to two Georgia election
workers he defaged. Eastman, a former law school authored a
memo outlining Way's Vice president, Mike Pence, could block the
certification of Biden's win. On January sixth, twenty twenty one. Clark,
who pushed to have the Justice Department challenged the state results,
also faces possible dispartment. In a post on Monday, November tenth,
(17:59):
Clark said he did nothing wrong and shouldn't have had
to battle this witch hunt for four plus years. So
you know, we're not just kind of making up stuff.
I mean long time listeners. No, we're not just making
up stuff about this government.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
This is.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Again he's pardoning. Trump is pardoning his cronies, issuing federal partons.
Of course, my state partons hirus cronies for trying to
overturn a free and fair election. It was a free
and fair election, and there was no amount of fraud
(18:41):
that could have overturned the ultimate result of the election.
Joe Biden won that election. This was proven in court.
Fox News had to pay nearly a billion dollars for
lying to the people that you know, their viewers about
the election fraud. Juliani obviously has it's been proven in
(19:06):
the courts, like we're all of the evidence and actual
lawyers have to produce the results, and the lawyers go
back and forth. So you the individual who feels like
just because Donald Trump said the election was stolen, are
not qualified to make that decision. This was decided by
people who actually do this in the courts of the
United States of America repeatedly. So we are going to
(19:28):
move forward as though this is factual, because for all
intents and purposes, it is. It is now a permanent
record in the United States of America. The election was
not stolen from Joe Biden, or was not stolen from
Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
That's what I meant to say.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So the pardoning of his cronies speaks to the corruption
I think that we've come to appreciate. I appreciate, it's
not the right word. We've come to know and expect
from this administration. And you know, there's if there's no crime,
(20:08):
there's no reason for a pardon. And if there is
a crime and you're covering up for it, then this
is how it looks, you know. So it's it's funny
how we go from one segment to the next and
it's just kind of more of the same, and it's
like being in the twilight zone. I'm sure you look Greek,
you it's it's like being in a twilight zone because
(20:29):
we can see all of this corruption, all of this grifting,
all of this this lying that repeated lies, And we
were talking about this the other day. We're saying like,
if he has one thing that has an a shred
of truth to it, he'll hide behind that and hide
all of his lies underneath that, and his base just
(20:54):
that they're they're so keen on like defending him, that
anything is enough to justify everything. And it's heartbreaking because
we're looking at everything saying like, okay, well, the enormity
of the corruption here should cause you to wake up.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
We should all be.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Like, I don't know, I don't want to say anything
that's I don't want to start a riot or anything,
but we should all be very upset. I'll leave it there,
Q your thoughts. It's it's becoming difficult to cover all
of these stories. It's not like alleged corruption, it's blatant,
(21:38):
in our face corruption, and he's like daring anybody to
do anything. And the reason why, I know it's a
dare is he's giving federal pardons to people who doesn't
have any federal crimes. They haven't been charged with any
federal crimes, but he's giving them federal pardons just kind
(22:00):
that as a flex. I can pardon my friends, Yeah, unconditionally,
even for crimes they did and didn't commit things I
know they did. And the American people have either given
(22:21):
up on the idea that anything can be done or
there's standing ovation for what he's doing. Twilight Zone is
a word that I used to describe it as it
I'm starting to not know anymore.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Man. It's the strangest dystopian.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Reality that you could ever imagine, and I'll never stop
being surprised that it's him. Like, imagine if Gavin Newsom
was a bad guy, it would make sense. That would
make sense that people it wouldn't make sense that he's bad,
but he makes sense.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Would make sense.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah, because he's intelligent and that there's so many people
would follow him, would make sense. This dude being the
guy that everybody's been the need to and it worships
and it's so confusing, man, Like it's really Biff from
Back to the Future. Yes, exactly, and he's all the
(23:26):
way up, and then they're still mad and it's still
everybody else's fault. They won everything, they control everything, but
they're still angry and it's still everybody else's fault. And
he can still do no wrong, no matter how much
wrong he does right in front of us. Man, I
don't I don't know anymore.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Rams, Sure, I get it, but uh, you know, I'm
still kind of reeling off of the wind that DEM's
had over the past week. So wow, that brings us
to better do better. Donald Trump has threatened to punish
(24:08):
NYC over the election of Mayor Mom Donnie. I should
say Mayor elect Mom Donnie. So this from USA Today.
New York's Mayor elect Zoran mam Donnie said on November fifth,
the city's residents were facing twin crises. There was affordability,
the thirty four year old Democratic socialist said in his
first news conference since winning the election the night before.
(24:29):
Then there was what he called an authoritarian administration under
President Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
It'll be my job to deliver on both. It will
be my job to stand up for the city. This
is a quote from Mayor elect Mom Donnie Trump. A
queen's native has loomed over the election in his hometown.
He has threatened to punish New York with measures such
as cutting the city's funds if voters elected Mom Donnie,
a state assemblyman from Queen's if Mom Donnie became mayor.
(24:58):
Trump recently said it would be hard for him to
give a lot of money to New York, adding Mom
Donnie would waste the money with his left leaning policies.
Mom Donnie has vowed to fight back in court when
he takes office in January. So what are some of
the ways that Donald Trump? And bear in mind, these
(25:20):
are just threats, but this is Donald Trump, so he
hasn't done any of this yet. But what are some
of the ways that he could punish New York for
participating in an election where I think it had the
highest mayoral election turnout in fifty years? Something like that.
You would know better than make you. I remember you
(25:42):
saying something like that.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
The highest voter turnout since the sixties? Okay, yeah, that works.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So what are some of the ways that Trump can
punish New York for voting? Well, one of the ways
is deploying the National Guard. He's done that in DC,
we've seen kind of how that looks large scale immigration raids.
So ramping up ice presence in New York. One of
(26:12):
the ways is cutting federal funds funds to New York,
which is sort of weird because New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
you know, these blue cities pay so much more in
to the federal government then they receive back from the
federal government. It's the Red states and the cities in
(26:33):
those red states that really are the burden on the
federal government because they have policies that simply don't produce.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
They consume.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And by those policies, I mean like Republican policies, Republican.
It's well documented Republican disco policy costs this country overall
quite a bit, and it benefits individuals who have a
lot of money quite a bit, and asses suffer under
those policies. But Donald Trump could cut federal funds. But
(27:06):
bear in mind again Mom Donnie is vowed to fight
back in court. And the main one that people are
worried about is arresting the duly elected mayor of New York.
So again from the same article, even before Mom Donnie
won the mayoralty.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
That's a new one.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
For me.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Trump suggested arresting mom Donnie and stripping him of his
citizenship if Mom Donnie didn't assist on federal immigration enforcement.
Mam Donnie, born in Uganda, moved to the United States
as a child and was raised in Manhattan's Morning Side Heights.
He became a naturalized citizen in twenty eighteen. Some right
(27:49):
wing members of Trump's party have called to review mom
Donnie's citizenship process in an effort to denaturalize and deport him.
Trump has threatened to arrest Democratic elected officials before or
after mom Donnie won the election. On November fourth, he
spoke directly to Trump. Quote New York will remain a
city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants,
(28:10):
and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me,
President Trump, when I say this, to get to any
of us, you will have to get through all of us. Q.
The rest of the time is yours.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
That's a powerful quote. The problem is.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
In a perfect world, in a perfect system, the mayor
of a democratic city, the governor of a democratic state
would have the national guard and law enforcement of that
city and or state to protect them from flat lawlessness.
(28:51):
The problem is as we've seen, our military and law
enforcement agencies are compromised and lean right and without hasation,
without pushback, just accept orders, even illegal.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Inhumane, unconstitutional orders. So I still fear for him.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
This man has shown he can do what he wants
and that no one will stop him, even those whose
entire career, entire job is to stop things like this
from happening.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
You would think the mayor would at least have his
own police force to at least try to protect him
from something that they know is illegal happening to him.
But we've seen our military and our law enforcement been
the knee and accept orders, even knowingly illegal, unconstitutional ones.
(29:47):
So people try to laugh his threats off, but he's
shown there's nothing he won't try and that no one
is there to stop him.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Stick around. We're coming back with more after this
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is Reverend Stella
Seacrest's son, the g from the three one three. He
is the q and the QR code goes by the name.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Of q Ward.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
She would have just said Stella's child, but the way
you said it works. To the man whose voice you
just heard, the glorious Crown, the King and the Prince
of this here kingdom, he is the arn QR code.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
He goes by the name ramsays, joh We need you
to stick around.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We are going to be revisiting a conversation that we
wanted to have yesterday, we wanted to have for a
long time. But a little later in the show, we're
going to be talking about the twenty twenty six Grammy nominations,
led by Kendrick Lamar and shouting out a personal friend
who just got his first Grammy nomination. Before we get there,
we're gonna have some dialogue. We're gonna ask the question,
(01:02):
are you a narcissist?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
You, you'd be surprised. Q Ward's gonna talk to us
during his clapback, helping us determine that our false choices
lead to real consequences for better, do better. We're gonna
be talking about how Donald Trump has threatened to punish
(01:26):
NYC over the election of Mom Donnie. It was a
little odd, yeah, reinfair election. Right, We're gonna have some
opinions on Donald Trump pardoning several of his allies from
the twenty twenty election, overturn efforts, and we're gonna start
off talking about what's going on in the culture at large.
The Senate has ended their shutdown after moderate Democrats have
(01:50):
sided with the GOP.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
So uh yeah, all.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
That and so much more to get into, but right now,
as always, would like to start off with a feel
good feature. Today's feel good future comes from the ben
The Supreme Court has rejected a bid to overturn a
landmark ruling on same sex marriage. On Monday, November tenth,
the nation's highest court declined to revisit its twenty fifteen
decision legalizing same sex marriage, effectively rejecting an appeal from
(02:18):
former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue
marriage licenses to same sex couples per hub Post. The
justices denied Davis's petition without comment, leaving in place a
lower court order requiring her to pay three hundred and
sixty thousand dollars in damages and attorney's fees to two
couples she denied marriage licenses while serving as clerk of
(02:39):
Rowan County. Davis's legal team had urged the court to
overturn oberg Fell versus Hodges, the landmark decision that established
marriage equality as a constitutional right. For attorney's repeatedly cited
statements from Justice Clarence Thomas, who has previously argued that
the ruling should be reconsidered. Thomas, along with Chief Justice
John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, dissented in the twenty
(03:02):
fifteen case. Roberts hadn't publicly revisited the issue since then,
while Alito had repeatedly criticized Oberkfel before saying recently he
wasn't calling for it to be overturned. Davis, who cited
her Christian faith in refusing to issue the licenses, became
a national figure in twenty fifteen when she defied court
orders and was briefly jailed for contempt after her release,
(03:23):
deputies issued the licenses without Davis's name on them, a
change later codified by the Kentucky legislature which removed all
clerks names from marriage licenses statewide. Davis lost her bid
for reelection in twenty eighteen. So, you know, it feel
good features a relative these days.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
This one is.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
It feels good because obviously, for now same sex marriages
are safe. But it's also a little icky to be
reminded that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and was the
other one. I don't know, Samuel John Roberts All felt
like this should be reconsidered. That just feels a little icky.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
And super I don't know, gross.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
All right, let's move on, Yeah, send it shut down
ends after moderate Democrats side with the GOP. I don't
need to paint too much of a picture for you,
so I won't. But yeah, the government's been shut down.
This is the longest government shut down in history. And
(04:32):
for the most part, Democrats were trying to work to
save health care or millions of Americans, and the GOP
has not really operated in good faith with respect to
the Democrats position, and so Democrats had this one single
iota of tenuous power that they were willing to try
(04:53):
to protect Americans, and they have reached their conclusion. I'll
let you know what happened, and so this from the
BI in. The longest federal government shut down in US
history is set to end after several moderate Senate Democrats
broke party lines and voted with Republicans on Sunday, November
ninth to advance a funding bill that drops Democratic demands
to extend Affordable Health Care Act Affordable Care Acts SORRY subsidies.
(05:16):
Per hup Post, the Senate could pass the deal as
early as Monday, November tenth, with the Republican led House
expected to follow later in the week, reopening the government
after more than forty days of closure. This was an
article from earlier in the week.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Of course, for.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Weeks, Democrats had insisted that any government funding measure also
include an extension of ACA premium tax credits, which are
set to expire at the end of the year. Those
subsidies helped millions afford health insurance, and their exploration could
send premiums soaring. Sunday's deal broken by Senator Angus King,
the independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats along with
Senators Genie Shaheen and Maggie Hassen omits the subsidy extend
(06:00):
but guarantees a future Senate vote on the issue. That
vote is widely expected to fail given Republican opposition. Joining Shaheen, Hassan,
and King and supporting the deal were Senators Tim Kaine,
the Democrat from Virginia, Jackie Rosen, the Democrat from Nevada,
Catherine Cortez Maistow, the Democrat for Nevada, Dick Durbin, the
(06:21):
Democrat from Illinois, and John Federman, the Democrat from Pennsylvania.
All moderates are members of leadership who claim they prioritize
ending the shutdown.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
In protecting federal workers.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
The steal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act
premium tax credit credits, which Republicans weren't willing to do unquote,
Kine said, noting that mineral many federal employees live in
his state. Goes on to say, quote lawmakers know their constituents,
expect them to vote for it, and if they don't,
they could very well be replaced at the ballot box.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Unquote.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
The agreement will reverse all federal worker firings made during
the shutdown, block further layoffs until January twenty twenty six,
and boost funding for food assistance programs. Progressives, however, slammed
the compromise as a betrayal of Democratic priorities.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Quote it's a terrible mistake.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts said. She goes
on to say, people want us to stand and fight
for health care, and that's what I believe. Unquote, there's
another one. Quote, I will not turn my back on
the twenty four million Americans whose healthcare premiums will now
double or more as a result of the ACAA tax
credits expiring. This was a quote from Senator Reuben Diego,
(07:26):
the Democrat from Arizona. House Minority leader. How came Jeffreys
and Congression Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Caesar.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I believe that's our kaser. I'm not sure how to
pronounce that also condemned the deal. Quote accepting nothing but
a pinky promise from Republicans isn't a compromise. Its capitulation.
He said, millions of families will pay the price. So yeah,
I know that a lot of people for a long
time had wanted to see some fight the Democratic Party,
(08:02):
and this was the fight that they could have. You know,
they all the levers of government are controlled by Republicans.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
This was the fight that they could have.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And there are some people that are now being looked
at as sort of like the judases for betraying the
Democratic you know, push cohesion team, and these people, I'm
sure will have a way to justify it by saying, look,
(08:35):
you know, we need the government open, we need the
government to work. You know, this is not our time
right now, and we did get a promise to vote
on it at a point in the future.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
But this gets people back to work.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
This you know, they built into this deal that everyone
that's been fired is going to have their jobs back.
So there's two ways of looking at this. Personally, I'll
go first before we get your thoughts, your que But
personally I think that if you want Democrats to fight,
you have to be willing to endure that battle as
(09:09):
they fight. So if this is the one area where
they can wield some power, I am of the persuasion
that they should fight the fight until until they win.
To see this effort crumble because of these six I
(09:38):
guess quasi Democrats is it's a sad day. And you know,
everybody has to be accountable to their constituents. So if
indeed these people's you know, voter base want them to
you know, get people back working and get the government open,
then I'm sure they won't have a problem when it
comes time for their re election. But people looking at
(10:03):
the country as a whole, recognizing that this is.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
A deeply.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Harmful for many people in this country, a deeply harmful
regime sort of runaway train, and this democratic effort was
one sort of measure that could have at least applied
some sort of breaks or steering or something to that
runaway train analogy. To see it fail like this, it
(10:34):
just is so deeply disappointing. So yeah, my thoughts, Syracu yours.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
You know, is there a thing I always say, and
I can only apply it to movies because of course
I've never seen this happen in real life. But do
you ever watch a movie and someone's captured by another
country's military or you know, whoever the enemy is captured them,
and then they torture them and they say no to
(11:05):
every question and they won't answer, and they're not going
to give up, but eventually they do something painful enough
to them that they give up everything. And I always say,
if there's anything they can make you do that'll make
you tail at the beginning, why go through all the
torture first, And that's how I feel about this. Why
(11:30):
let almost a million and a half people go unpaid
for over a month, with half that number being furloughed.
Why let people and the tens of millions end up
with health care that they either can't afford or no
health care at all. If you're just going to cave
(11:52):
people going hungry and starving over the holidays, If you
were just going to cave, there shouldn't have been anything
short of what you were demanding that got you decide
with Republicans on this if at any point you would
give in. And I want listeners to look into something.
(12:19):
I even want us to look into something. And I
don't know this for certain, so I'm poisoning this. I'm
posing this as a question that I kind of think
I know the answer to. Because you spoke about people
answering to their constituents and the people that elected them.
I have a sneakish suspicion that the people that sided
with the Republicans are not worried about reelection, either because
(12:42):
it's not coming up or because they have no plans
to run again. And that makes turning your back on
those who got you where you are easy, especially if
there's the potential for alleged backroom deals and some way
you to profit from the decision.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
That you made. Corporate money has infested our government. Bribes
are like a right out in the open thing.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Now we've seen a very very compromised Supreme Court, Like
we learned that things happen. It's not alleged, it's not
we think, so now we know for sure nothing changed.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
It's really really twilight zone.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Man.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
We're watching the most corrupt government, the most openly corrupt
government of our lifetime, do whatever they want with impunity.
And the Democrats in this case, you know, it is
a whole pack of Judas turning their back on their people.
(13:53):
And it was now off for nothing.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, I want to add that again. They all know
that Republicans are going to oppose this, so kicking this
can down the road, so to speak, so that there
can be another vote on it. They know that the
vote won't passy, So you're right, Q. They just gave
up the health care for millions of Americans. And we
(14:19):
know this because this democratic government has been especially cruel
with more than just healthcare. They've been especially cruel with food.
They've been you know, And so for anybody to consider
it otherwise would be fooling themselves. And the last point
(14:41):
I want to make is that you know, you're right.
This is supposed to be a government by the people
for the people. And you know, a corporation having an
interest in the government. A corporation doesn't have a like
a like a death. You know, that doesn't have mortality
the same way people do. It doesn't have the sensibilities
(15:02):
of human being. And the government should not exist to
serve the interests of corporations. It should exist to serve
the interests of the people. So you're right, that money
and politics thing is really damaging, and we can see
it right here on full display, you know, especially if
what you say is right, and these people aren't up
for reelection or there are people that have a vested
(15:27):
interest in, you know, pulling the puppet strings of the
representatives that they paid to get in office. So yeah, anyway,
let's move on opinions. Trump pardons several allies from the
twenty twenty election overturning efforts this from the Bion. President
Donald Trump has issued full pardons to several of his
allies who backed efforts to overturn the twenty twenty presidential election.
(15:49):
According to CNBC, Trump issued full, complete and unconditional pardons
to his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House
Chief of Staff Mark Meadow's attorney Sidney Powell, John Eastman,
and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, all of whom
were accused of working to overturn the twenty twenty election.
The pardons apply only to federal crimes and don't effect
(16:10):
state level prosecutions, though most of those cases have been
stalled or dismissed. The proclamation announcing the pardons was posted
on Sunday, November ninth by Attorney Ed Martin, who described
the prosecution of Trump's allies as a grave national injustice
perpetrated on the American people. The proclamation also said the
pardons were meant to promote national reconciliation. Quote, these great
(16:33):
Americans were persecuted and put through trouble by the Biden
administration for challenging an election, which is the cornerstone of democracy.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement.
Despite Levitt's comments, none of the individual's pardon were ever
charged federally. State authorities in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada
(16:55):
and Wisconsin brought forth the charges over alleged efforts to
subvert the election results. Trump himself was indicted on federal
charges accusing him of attempting to overturn his election loss
to former President Joe Biden. However, the case was dropped
after Trump's twenty twenty four victory over Vice President Connell
Harris in accordance with Just with Justice Department's policy against
(17:18):
prosecuting sitting presidents. Giuliani, Powell, Eastman, and Clark were identified
as uncharged co conspirators in that case. Giuliani and Meadows
also face ongoing legal issues in state courts. Giuliani, a
former New York City mayor, was among the loudest voices
spreading false claims of voter fraud after the twenty twenty election.
He has since been disbarred in Washington, d c. And
(17:38):
New York and was ordered to pay one hundred and
forty eight million dollars in damages to two Georgia election
workers he defaged. Eastman, a former law school authored a
memo outlining Way's Vice president, Mike Pence, could block the
certification of Biden's win. On January sixth, twenty twenty one. Clark,
who pushed to have the Justice Department challenged the state results,
also faces possible dispartment. In a post on Monday, November tenth,
(17:59):
Clark said he did nothing wrong and shouldn't have had
to battle this witch hunt for four plus years. So
you know, we're not just kind of making up stuff.
I mean long time listeners. No, we're not just making
up stuff about this government.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
This is.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Again he's pardoning. Trump is pardoning his cronies, issuing federal partons.
Of course, my state partons hirus cronies for trying to
overturn a free and fair election. It was a free
and fair election, and there was no amount of fraud
(18:41):
that could have overturned the ultimate result of the election.
Joe Biden won that election. This was proven in court.
Fox News had to pay nearly a billion dollars for
lying to the people that you know, their viewers about
the election fraud. Juliani obviously has it's been proven in
(19:06):
the courts, like we're all of the evidence and actual
lawyers have to produce the results, and the lawyers go
back and forth. So you the individual who feels like
just because Donald Trump said the election was stolen, are
not qualified to make that decision. This was decided by
people who actually do this in the courts of the
United States of America repeatedly. So we are going to
(19:28):
move forward as though this is factual, because for all
intents and purposes, it is. It is now a permanent
record in the United States of America. The election was
not stolen from Joe Biden, or was not stolen from
Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
That's what I meant to say.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
So the pardoning of his cronies speaks to the corruption
I think that we've come to appreciate. I appreciate, it's
not the right word. We've come to know and expect
from this administration. And you know, there's if there's no crime,
(20:08):
there's no reason for a pardon. And if there is
a crime and you're covering up for it, then this
is how it looks, you know. So it's it's funny
how we go from one segment to the next and
it's just kind of more of the same, and it's
like being in the twilight zone. I'm sure you look Greek,
you it's it's like being in a twilight zone because
(20:29):
we can see all of this corruption, all of this grifting,
all of this this lying that repeated lies, And we
were talking about this the other day. We're saying like,
if he has one thing that has an a shred
of truth to it, he'll hide behind that and hide
all of his lies underneath that, and his base just
(20:54):
that they're they're so keen on like defending him, that
anything is enough to justify everything. And it's heartbreaking because
we're looking at everything saying like, okay, well, the enormity
of the corruption here should cause you to wake up.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
We should all be.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Like, I don't know, I don't want to say anything
that's I don't want to start a riot or anything,
but we should all be very upset. I'll leave it there,
Q your thoughts. It's it's becoming difficult to cover all
of these stories. It's not like alleged corruption, it's blatant,
(21:38):
in our face corruption, and he's like daring anybody to
do anything. And the reason why, I know it's a
dare is he's giving federal pardons to people who doesn't
have any federal crimes. They haven't been charged with any
federal crimes, but he's giving them federal pardons just kind
(22:00):
that as a flex. I can pardon my friends, Yeah, unconditionally,
even for crimes they did and didn't commit things I
know they did. And the American people have either given
(22:21):
up on the idea that anything can be done or
there's standing ovation for what he's doing. Twilight Zone is
a word that I used to describe it as it
I'm starting to not know anymore.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Man. It's the strangest dystopian.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Reality that you could ever imagine, and I'll never stop
being surprised that it's him. Like, imagine if Gavin Newsom
was a bad guy, it would make sense. That would
make sense that people it wouldn't make sense that he's bad,
but he makes sense.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Would make sense.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Yeah, because he's intelligent and that there's so many people
would follow him, would make sense. This dude being the
guy that everybody's been the need to and it worships
and it's so confusing, man, Like it's really Biff from
Back to the Future. Yes, exactly, and he's all the
(23:26):
way up, and then they're still mad and it's still
everybody else's fault. They won everything, they control everything, but
they're still angry and it's still everybody else's fault. And
he can still do no wrong, no matter how much
wrong he does right in front of us. Man, I
don't I don't know anymore.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Rams, Sure, I get it, but uh, you know, I'm
still kind of reeling off of the wind that DEM's
had over the past week. So wow, that brings us
to better do better. Donald Trump has threatened to punish
(24:08):
NYC over the election of Mayor Mom Donnie. I should
say Mayor elect Mom Donnie. So this from USA Today.
New York's Mayor elect Zoran mam Donnie said on November fifth,
the city's residents were facing twin crises. There was affordability,
the thirty four year old Democratic socialist said in his
first news conference since winning the election the night before.
(24:29):
Then there was what he called an authoritarian administration under
President Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
It'll be my job to deliver on both. It will
be my job to stand up for the city. This
is a quote from Mayor elect Mom Donnie Trump. A
queen's native has loomed over the election in his hometown.
He has threatened to punish New York with measures such
as cutting the city's funds if voters elected Mom Donnie,
a state assemblyman from Queen's if Mom Donnie became mayor.
(24:58):
Trump recently said it would be hard for him to
give a lot of money to New York, adding Mom
Donnie would waste the money with his left leaning policies.
Mom Donnie has vowed to fight back in court when
he takes office in January. So what are some of
the ways that Donald Trump? And bear in mind, these
(25:20):
are just threats, but this is Donald Trump, so he
hasn't done any of this yet. But what are some
of the ways that he could punish New York for
participating in an election where I think it had the
highest mayoral election turnout in fifty years? Something like that.
You would know better than make you. I remember you
(25:42):
saying something like that.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:44):
The highest voter turnout since the sixties? Okay, yeah, that works.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So what are some of the ways that Trump can
punish New York for voting? Well, one of the ways
is deploying the National Guard. He's done that in DC,
we've seen kind of how that looks large scale immigration raids.
So ramping up ice presence in New York. One of
(26:12):
the ways is cutting federal funds funds to New York,
which is sort of weird because New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
you know, these blue cities pay so much more in
to the federal government then they receive back from the
federal government. It's the Red states and the cities in
(26:33):
those red states that really are the burden on the
federal government because they have policies that simply don't produce.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
They consume.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And by those policies, I mean like Republican policies, Republican.
It's well documented Republican disco policy costs this country overall
quite a bit, and it benefits individuals who have a
lot of money quite a bit, and asses suffer under
those policies. But Donald Trump could cut federal funds. But
(27:06):
bear in mind again Mom Donnie is vowed to fight
back in court. And the main one that people are
worried about is arresting the duly elected mayor of New York.
So again from the same article, even before Mom Donnie
won the mayoralty.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
That's a new one.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
For me.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Trump suggested arresting mom Donnie and stripping him of his
citizenship if Mom Donnie didn't assist on federal immigration enforcement.
Mam Donnie, born in Uganda, moved to the United States
as a child and was raised in Manhattan's Morning Side Heights.
He became a naturalized citizen in twenty eighteen. Some right
(27:49):
wing members of Trump's party have called to review mom
Donnie's citizenship process in an effort to denaturalize and deport him.
Trump has threatened to arrest Democratic elected officials before or
after mom Donnie won the election. On November fourth, he
spoke directly to Trump. Quote New York will remain a
city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants,
(28:10):
and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me,
President Trump, when I say this, to get to any
of us, you will have to get through all of us. Q.
The rest of the time is yours.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
That's a powerful quote. The problem is.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
In a perfect world, in a perfect system, the mayor
of a democratic city, the governor of a democratic state
would have the national guard and law enforcement of that
city and or state to protect them from flat lawlessness.
(28:51):
The problem is as we've seen, our military and law
enforcement agencies are compromised and lean right and without hasation,
without pushback, just accept orders, even illegal.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Inhumane, unconstitutional orders. So I still fear for him.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
This man has shown he can do what he wants
and that no one will stop him, even those whose
entire career, entire job is to stop things like this
from happening.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
You would think the mayor would at least have his
own police force to at least try to protect him
from something that they know is illegal happening to him.
But we've seen our military and our law enforcement been
the knee and accept orders, even knowingly illegal, unconstitutional ones.
(29:47):
So people try to laugh his threats off, but he's
shown there's nothing he won't try and that no one
is there to stop him.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Stick around. We're coming back with more after this
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