August 1, 2025 • 23 mins
On part 1of today's podcast, Hosts Ramses Ja and Q Ward discuss the decision by Kamala Harris decides not to pursue the CA governorship
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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 outcome. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
that teaches me something new every single day. He is
the Q in the QR code, better known as q Ward.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The man you just heard from is the R in
the QR code. He goes by Ross John. He is
the genius behind the name the QR code.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And we got a great show in store for you.
Want you to stick around because a little later we're
going to be talking about, of course, we have to
talk about Shannon Sharp for those who don't know, he
was fired from ESPN despite settling his sexual assault lawsuit,
and that feels a little odd. The whole thing feels
(00:49):
a little odd, and so we're going to talk about that.
We're also going to be talking about Democratic Senator Cory
Booker slamming fellow Democrats and a lot of people saying rightfully.
So we're going to hear from him in his own
words in case you missed the clip that went viral,
so you can hear his passion and the big story
(01:10):
we're going to be talking about Kamala Harris deciding not
to pursue the governorship of California, which is something that
a lot of people thought that she was going to
pivot to, of course after the election last year. And
so now there are some new questions and still some
old questions circling the name Kamala Harris and her entire camp,
(01:34):
because she is still a very powerful figure and she's
still a person that motivates a lot of people, has
motivated a lot of people, and so her future in
politics is something that we will be discussing. And also
we're gonna hear from her in her own words as well.
So all that and so much more to stick around for,
especially qbods clapback. He's got a good win in store today.
(01:57):
I'm excited to hear it. I don't know what he's
going to say. But before we get to all that
good stuff, it is time for a feel good feature.
And today's feel good feature comes from the Black Information Network.
Grammy Award winning singer Sierra is among the first public
figures to be granted citizenship in the West African country
of Benin under a new law offering nationality to descendants
of enslaved people. On Saturday, July twenty sixth, Sierra received
(02:19):
her citizenship. During the ceremony amid the country's effort to
reconnect with the black diaspora, acknowledge its role in the
Transatlantic slave trade, and promote memorial tourism. Per the Associated Press,
quote by legally recognizing these children of Africa, Binin is
hearing a sorry healing a historical wound. Justice Minister Yvonne
(02:41):
de Chenu said that was a tough one, goes on
to say, quote, it is an act of justice, but
also one of belonging and hope unquote. In September, Benin
passed a new law allowing citizenship for individuals over eighteen
who can prove descendant from enslaved people deported from Sub
Saharan Africa. DNA test testimonies or family records are accepted
(03:04):
as forms of evidence. Following her citizenship ceremonies, Sierra visited
historic sites, including the Slave Route and Door of No
Return in Ouda, which was one of Africa's busiest slave
trading ports in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Quote. Between emotion,
reflection and heritage, I experienced a profound return to what
truly matters unquote. This is from Sierra Okay. Bnin deported
(03:27):
roughly one point five million enslave people during the transat
Latin slave trade, and its government has openly acknowledged its
historical role. The country now aims to engage the global
African diaspora through memorial tourism and new digital platform, my
Afro Origins, which facilitates applications for citizenship. And this is
kind of on par with what you've been discussing with
(03:49):
me for some time here, c.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
You know, Marcus Garvey had it right.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Let's be out.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well a shout out to Sierra for taking advantage of
that opportunity and reconnecting with their roots. Okay, so yeah,
the big news Kamala Harris. So I'm gonna speak for
both of us here, Q. We were really excited about
Kamala Harris's campaign last year. We know that she got
(04:20):
into the race a little late. She got into the
race after a robust primary to where all the best
ideas could be fleshed out and you know, the people
would have a chance to reflect on various politicians takes
on what the future of the country and the Democratic
(04:43):
Party should be. But you know, we believe that all
things considered, she rose to the occasion as best as
she could. Q was the one who pointed out to
me that she was by a long way the most
qualified person to ever run for the presidency, especially after
having served in all three branches of government. Was she perfect? Absolutely,
(05:06):
not nobody is. But she was an amazing candidate, and
especially when you compare her to Donald Trump, a lot
of people really found that not only was she somebody
that was worth believing in, but she obviously represented a
vastly different future for little girls, little black girls, and
(05:35):
a huge amount of this population that really wanted to
put trump Ism and the MAGA movement to rest and
just kind of put that chapter behind us. And obviously
we know how that story went, and so a lot
of people were really looking forward to what her next
move would have been. For a long time, it was
circulating that she might run for the governorship of America's state,
(06:01):
and now we know that she is not going to
pursue that opportunity. So I'll share from The Guardian. Kamala Harris,
the former vice president in twenty twenty four Democratic presidential nominee,
announced on Wednesday that she will not run for governor
of California, a highly anticipated decision that leaves the contest
to lead the country's largest blue state wide open quote
for now, my leadership and public service will not be
an elected office, unquote, Harris said in a statement, ending
(06:23):
months of speculation about her political future and after losing
the twenty twenty four presidential election to Donald Trump. Harris, sixty,
who previously served as California's attorney general and US Senator,
had been exploring a run for the state's top job
since leaving the White House in January. The decision does
not rule out a future run for public office, including
a third bid for the White House after unsuccessful campaigns
(06:45):
in twenty twenty and twenty twenty four. So that's from
the Guardian. I want to share a statement that she
sent to the people that supported her on the campaign,
people on the email list, because I think that this
kind of gives a little bit more insight in to
kind of her state of mind right now. So in
her own words, over the past six months, I have
(07:06):
spent time reflecting on this moment in our nation's history
and the best way for me to continue fighting for
the American people and advancing the values and ideals I
hold dear. I am a devout public servant, and from
the early days of my career, I believed that the
best way I could make a difference in people's lives
and fight for a better future was to improve the
system from within. And it's been with a profound honor
(07:28):
that I've done that work and serve the people of
California and our nation as a prosecutor, Attorney General, United
States Senator, and Vice President. In recent months, I've given
serious thought to asking the people of California for the
privilege to serve as their governor. I love the state,
it's people, and its promise. It is my home. But
after deep reflection, I've decided that I will not run
for governor in this election. I have extraordinary admiration and
(07:50):
respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service,
service to their communities and to our nation. At the
same time, we must recognize that our politics, our government,
and our institutions have two offer and failed the American people,
culminating in this moment of crisis. As we look ahead,
we must be willing to pursue change through new methods
and fresh thinking. Committed to our same values and principles,
but not bound by the same playbook. Now, my leadership
(08:13):
and public service will not be an elected office. I
look forward to getting back out and listening to the
American people, helping elect democrats across the nation who will
fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead
about my own plans in the United States of America.
Power must lie with the people, and we the people
must use our power to fight for freedom, opportunity, fairness,
and the dignity of all. I will remain in that
(08:33):
fight Kamala. So yeah, that's where she leaves us. But
one thing I want to say before I turn it
over to you here you get your thoughts, is I've
seen we both Q and I both have seen Kamala
(08:54):
doing exactly this, going around listening to people and using
her let's call it celebrity to continue to motivate people
to resist an oppressive government if indeed they feel that
this government is in fact oppressive to them. And you know,
we've seen her in person. We have pictures with her.
We can't find them, but somebody has a picture of
(09:15):
us with Kamala Harry somewhere. We'll get it eventually imposted.
But but yeah, we've heard her speak, and we've been
fortunate enough to hear her speak a number of times,
and she still continues to do that work, and so
I do believe that she really is going to take
this time to continue to pour into the citizens of
the United States of America and whatever her next move
(09:37):
is obviously working where she is potentially still considering another
bid for the presidency. But you know, as it stands
right now, the work that she's doing, even though she's
not holding office, still feels very valuable. So que your
(09:57):
thoughts are, it's.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Really interesting see place to be because the only way
I know how to say is that we were there
multiple campaign stops, across multiple cities, across multiple states. We
were outside. Yeah, we were at the national conventions for
every legacy civil rights organization in the country. We stomped
(10:22):
with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris. I could go
on for a long time naming the dignitaries and the
heads of state that we spent time with.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, we had people on our show CIVI excipher too,
a lot of these folks.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, Ambassador Ross, Eric Holder, the election rights Ambassador Rice.
I'm sorry. Yeah, the election was taken from her. I
(11:02):
know that at my core, I don't need additional proof
because I was there. That momentum wasn't fake, the stadiums
and arenas, that field in all of these cities was
not fake, And districts all across the country that voted
(11:22):
Democrat down the ballot didn't vote for her at all.
I don't want to get into what people will consider
conspiracy theories, just utter disappointment in our countrymen and our
country women in the system that allowed her to be
failed and to be wrong in such a gross and
(11:45):
obvious way. And we've been lucky enough to still share
some rooms with her in the wake of the election,
and you know, during this new reality that we live in,
and I don't know how to feel, RAMS don't. I
don't know. Should we want her to be the governor
(12:09):
of a state instead of to try to be the
president of all of the states again? Is there a
system in place that would have even that would even
allow her to win if she ran again? What kind
of work can she do outside of government? I just
have so many questions and so many things that I'm
(12:30):
unsure about now that I used to think I knew,
Like I don't know what she should do. I don't
know what would be the best way for her to
continue to show up for us. I just I just
get overwhelmingly sad realizing that she should be our president
right now. Yeah, and the world would be a better,
(12:51):
safer place for us, for our families, and for those
people who voted against her, Yeah, and against themselves because
they were too sexist or racist or uninformed to do
any better. That they would rather suffer themselves than the
(13:12):
idea that someone they think doesn't deserve it would prosper.
It's a really, really strange reality. And even hearing her name,
I have like PTSD now. I realized when we talked
about this story, I intentionally stopped thinking about Kamala Harris.
I stopped thinking about her, like comprehensive brain wipe because
(13:37):
of how overwhelmingly sad I get at the idea that
I know that that woman should be the president, and
I know how much better a president she would be
for everyone, not just for those who voted for her
or who support her.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And I probably wouldn't be paying these student loans, and
you know what else too. I think that it's worth
noting here that there was a poll that we talked
about when we did an episode for the Black Information
Network that suggested that of likely voters, the Democrats that
(14:14):
would like to the candidate they would like to see
at the top of the ticket. Number one candidate was
Kamala Harris. So maybe that has factored into this decision
not to run for the governorship. Anyway, moving on, we
got some opinions about Democratic Senator Corey Booker as he
slams fellow Democrats. Okay, so here's what I'm going to do.
(14:36):
I'm going to just share a little bit of background here,
and then I'm going to let you hear in his
own words, because there's a lot of passion in his voice.
So this from the Black Information Network. Senator Corey Booker,
the Democrat from New Jersey, blasted his Democratic colleagues on
the Senate floor, accusing them of being too complicit with
President Donald Trump and calling for a wake up call
within the party. Per USA Today. Booker's comments came on Tuesday,
(14:56):
July twenty ninth, as Senator Catherine Cortes Mas, the Democrat
from Nevada, attempted to fast track a bipartisan package of
bills that would increase funding and resources of police departments.
Booker blocked the effort and proposed an amendment requiring public
safety grants to be allocated without political bias. Cortes Mostow
(15:16):
fired back at Booker, noting that the Senator didn't raise
any objections when the bills passed out of the Senate
Judiciary Committee weeks before. Quote. This is ridiculous. This is
an attempt to kill all of these bills, Cortes Mostow said.
Booker then slammed his party for being complicit with Trump.
The new Jersey senator also delivered a sharp response to
(15:38):
Senator Amy Klobushar, the Democratic the Democrat from Minnesota who
criticized his tactics and said he couldn't block committee approved
bills while expecting support for others that benefit his state.
So let's hear in his own words how this sounded.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
What I am tired of is when the President of
the United States of America violates the Constitution. Trashes are
norms and traditions, And what does a Democratic party do
comply allow him beg for scraps. No, I demand justice.
I will fight for Jersey every day, every night. This
(16:19):
is a call, folks. The Democratic Party needs a wake
up call. I see law firms bending a knee to
this president.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Midnight talk show hosts off the air because they dare
to insult a president. I see people who want mergers
suddenly think that they have to pay tribute to this president.
And one of the very people here elected to defend
the Constitution of the United States saying, oh, well, today,
let's look the other way and pass some resources that
(16:48):
won't go to Connecticut, that won't go to Illinois, that
won't go to New York, They will go to the
states he likes.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
So yeah, obviously a lot of passion there, and I
applaud that. I think that that is exactly what needs
to happen. There has been a change. We all know this.
There's been a change in the state of play. There's
been a change in the rules and the norms and
(17:16):
so forth. And you know, there's a point where compassion
and caution devolves into cowardice. And there's a point when
fighting fire you have to fight it with fire, you
(17:40):
know what I mean. You would think it makes sense
to fight it with water, you know what I mean.
But you know, we're seeing that the old way doesn't
work anymore. And for people to be fired up for
people to for people to push back on this new
norm and say, the only way that we can attack
(18:01):
this is by matching that energy, and people choosing to
step up and match that energy, not to be complicit,
as Corey Booker is trying to, you know, encourage his
fellow Democrats. I think that that's kind of what the
order of the day is. He's been in a few
you know, more national moments lately. He's not the only one.
(18:28):
Of course, we famously saw, you know, justin in Tennessee,
was trying to make his way into a room that
was in his district, about his district of the people
that he represented, and you know, he had it filmed
and everything like that. So we see the injustice right
on full display. And these people won't say it's because
(18:50):
you're black. These people won't say it's because you're a Democrat.
These people won't say any of that sort of stuff.
They have some other way of explaining why things don't
go together. But of course it's on full display. Okay,
so all these people can go in, but I can't.
And the reason for it is because you know, I'm
not on this.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
List or whatever.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
You know, So because they're playing the game like that.
It requires a different approach, a different strategy, And I'll
say that it requires some passion, some energy, and I
see Corey Booker definitely bringing that energy to these moments
that you know, we've discussed in the past, you know,
several months. Of course, you have to weigh in HEREQ,
(19:29):
because you're the one who brought this to my attention.
What's ae.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
It kind of feels good to see someone angry. It
kind of feels good to hear someone upset, right, It
kind of here feels good to hear someone yelling at
everyone else about pretending like what we're dealing with is normal,
Like this is a very unnormal state that we're in,
(20:00):
and everyone pretending that this dystopian nightmare that we're living
every day is normal has to be, as we've called
out before, practicing some form of hypernormalization, just going on
(20:20):
about their day every day. I'm overwhelmed by what our
country has become in this very short amount of time.
I'm overwhelmed at what our new norm and our new
reality is so.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
And one.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
In one side of my mind, I exhaled with relief
that someone else was angry and willing to call out
his constituents, willing to call out the people who you
know he calls colleagues, willing to call out the people
(21:03):
who he's supposed to share a position with. But then
you start thinking about everything that's happening in the world,
not just in the country, and the positions that some
of the people in the party, including himself, have taken
with regards to one of the reasons you and I
(21:25):
think played a role in people not showing up to vote.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Israel in Palestine.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And I said that intentionally, not about the outcome of
the election, because I really think that was rigged and
stolen and manipulated, But the millions of people that didn't vote,
I think that was real, and we both think that
that had a lot to do with what's going on
in Gaza. And unfortunately he does not stand opposed to
(21:56):
the president on that topic, the current or former president,
and continuing to pretend that what's happening over there is
normal is even crazier than pretending that what's happening here
is normal, because we are watching an inhumane, evil genocide
(22:23):
happening in real time, and the whole world is watching
and doing nothing, partly because the most powerful military in
the history of Earth, and the government looking over that
military is complicit. And this very senator on the floor,
(22:45):
enraged as he should be, might have gotten the most
support from the pack, a pack that supports what's going
on over there close to a million dollars. I think.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
So it's hard to have a moral high ground when
that's the position that you hold. So I grew much
of what he said, and I'm glad he said it,
but I have to admit I was a bit conflicted
when I wanted to celebrate because of that affiliation with
that with that pack. It was it's a lot for me, man.
(23:25):
Nobody's perfect, and that's not the expectation. But at some
point we got to come to terms of what's going
on in the world, man, not just here.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah. Yeah, I know that a lot of activist sorts
were not going to vote for someone who was actively
killing people, and they weren't going to vote for somebody
who's going to make it worse either. They had no options,
and they stayed home. And I didn't even consider that
Corey Booker was one of those
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcome. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
that teaches me something new every single day. He is
the Q in the QR code, better known as q Ward.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The man you just heard from is the R in
the QR code. He goes by Ross John. He is
the genius behind the name the QR code.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And we got a great show in store for you.
Want you to stick around because a little later we're
going to be talking about, of course, we have to
talk about Shannon Sharp for those who don't know, he
was fired from ESPN despite settling his sexual assault lawsuit,
and that feels a little odd. The whole thing feels
(00:49):
a little odd, and so we're going to talk about that.
We're also going to be talking about Democratic Senator Cory
Booker slamming fellow Democrats and a lot of people saying rightfully.
So we're going to hear from him in his own
words in case you missed the clip that went viral,
so you can hear his passion and the big story
(01:10):
we're going to be talking about Kamala Harris deciding not
to pursue the governorship of California, which is something that
a lot of people thought that she was going to
pivot to, of course after the election last year. And
so now there are some new questions and still some
old questions circling the name Kamala Harris and her entire camp,
(01:34):
because she is still a very powerful figure and she's
still a person that motivates a lot of people, has
motivated a lot of people, and so her future in
politics is something that we will be discussing. And also
we're gonna hear from her in her own words as well.
So all that and so much more to stick around for,
especially qbods clapback. He's got a good win in store today.
(01:57):
I'm excited to hear it. I don't know what he's
going to say. But before we get to all that
good stuff, it is time for a feel good feature.
And today's feel good feature comes from the Black Information Network.
Grammy Award winning singer Sierra is among the first public
figures to be granted citizenship in the West African country
of Benin under a new law offering nationality to descendants
of enslaved people. On Saturday, July twenty sixth, Sierra received
(02:19):
her citizenship. During the ceremony amid the country's effort to
reconnect with the black diaspora, acknowledge its role in the
Transatlantic slave trade, and promote memorial tourism. Per the Associated Press,
quote by legally recognizing these children of Africa, Binin is
hearing a sorry healing a historical wound. Justice Minister Yvonne
(02:41):
de Chenu said that was a tough one, goes on
to say, quote, it is an act of justice, but
also one of belonging and hope unquote. In September, Benin
passed a new law allowing citizenship for individuals over eighteen
who can prove descendant from enslaved people deported from Sub
Saharan Africa. DNA test testimonies or family records are accepted
(03:04):
as forms of evidence. Following her citizenship ceremonies, Sierra visited
historic sites, including the Slave Route and Door of No
Return in Ouda, which was one of Africa's busiest slave
trading ports in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Quote. Between emotion,
reflection and heritage, I experienced a profound return to what
truly matters unquote. This is from Sierra Okay. Bnin deported
(03:27):
roughly one point five million enslave people during the transat
Latin slave trade, and its government has openly acknowledged its
historical role. The country now aims to engage the global
African diaspora through memorial tourism and new digital platform, my
Afro Origins, which facilitates applications for citizenship. And this is
kind of on par with what you've been discussing with
(03:49):
me for some time here, c.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
You know, Marcus Garvey had it right.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Let's be out.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well a shout out to Sierra for taking advantage of
that opportunity and reconnecting with their roots. Okay, so yeah,
the big news Kamala Harris. So I'm gonna speak for
both of us here, Q. We were really excited about
Kamala Harris's campaign last year. We know that she got
(04:20):
into the race a little late. She got into the
race after a robust primary to where all the best
ideas could be fleshed out and you know, the people
would have a chance to reflect on various politicians takes
on what the future of the country and the Democratic
(04:43):
Party should be. But you know, we believe that all
things considered, she rose to the occasion as best as
she could. Q was the one who pointed out to
me that she was by a long way the most
qualified person to ever run for the presidency, especially after
having served in all three branches of government. Was she perfect? Absolutely,
(05:06):
not nobody is. But she was an amazing candidate, and
especially when you compare her to Donald Trump, a lot
of people really found that not only was she somebody
that was worth believing in, but she obviously represented a
vastly different future for little girls, little black girls, and
(05:35):
a huge amount of this population that really wanted to
put trump Ism and the MAGA movement to rest and
just kind of put that chapter behind us. And obviously
we know how that story went, and so a lot
of people were really looking forward to what her next
move would have been. For a long time, it was
circulating that she might run for the governorship of America's state,
(06:01):
and now we know that she is not going to
pursue that opportunity. So I'll share from The Guardian. Kamala Harris,
the former vice president in twenty twenty four Democratic presidential nominee,
announced on Wednesday that she will not run for governor
of California, a highly anticipated decision that leaves the contest
to lead the country's largest blue state wide open quote
for now, my leadership and public service will not be
an elected office, unquote, Harris said in a statement, ending
(06:23):
months of speculation about her political future and after losing
the twenty twenty four presidential election to Donald Trump. Harris, sixty,
who previously served as California's attorney general and US Senator,
had been exploring a run for the state's top job
since leaving the White House in January. The decision does
not rule out a future run for public office, including
a third bid for the White House after unsuccessful campaigns
(06:45):
in twenty twenty and twenty twenty four. So that's from
the Guardian. I want to share a statement that she
sent to the people that supported her on the campaign,
people on the email list, because I think that this
kind of gives a little bit more insight in to
kind of her state of mind right now. So in
her own words, over the past six months, I have
(07:06):
spent time reflecting on this moment in our nation's history
and the best way for me to continue fighting for
the American people and advancing the values and ideals I
hold dear. I am a devout public servant, and from
the early days of my career, I believed that the
best way I could make a difference in people's lives
and fight for a better future was to improve the
system from within. And it's been with a profound honor
(07:28):
that I've done that work and serve the people of
California and our nation as a prosecutor, Attorney General, United
States Senator, and Vice President. In recent months, I've given
serious thought to asking the people of California for the
privilege to serve as their governor. I love the state,
it's people, and its promise. It is my home. But
after deep reflection, I've decided that I will not run
for governor in this election. I have extraordinary admiration and
(07:50):
respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service,
service to their communities and to our nation. At the
same time, we must recognize that our politics, our government,
and our institutions have two offer and failed the American people,
culminating in this moment of crisis. As we look ahead,
we must be willing to pursue change through new methods
and fresh thinking. Committed to our same values and principles,
but not bound by the same playbook. Now, my leadership
(08:13):
and public service will not be an elected office. I
look forward to getting back out and listening to the
American people, helping elect democrats across the nation who will
fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead
about my own plans in the United States of America.
Power must lie with the people, and we the people
must use our power to fight for freedom, opportunity, fairness,
and the dignity of all. I will remain in that
(08:33):
fight Kamala. So yeah, that's where she leaves us. But
one thing I want to say before I turn it
over to you here you get your thoughts, is I've
seen we both Q and I both have seen Kamala
(08:54):
doing exactly this, going around listening to people and using
her let's call it celebrity to continue to motivate people
to resist an oppressive government if indeed they feel that
this government is in fact oppressive to them. And you know,
we've seen her in person. We have pictures with her.
We can't find them, but somebody has a picture of
(09:15):
us with Kamala Harry somewhere. We'll get it eventually imposted.
But but yeah, we've heard her speak, and we've been
fortunate enough to hear her speak a number of times,
and she still continues to do that work, and so
I do believe that she really is going to take
this time to continue to pour into the citizens of
the United States of America and whatever her next move
(09:37):
is obviously working where she is potentially still considering another
bid for the presidency. But you know, as it stands
right now, the work that she's doing, even though she's
not holding office, still feels very valuable. So que your
(09:57):
thoughts are, it's.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Really interesting see place to be because the only way
I know how to say is that we were there
multiple campaign stops, across multiple cities, across multiple states. We
were outside. Yeah, we were at the national conventions for
every legacy civil rights organization in the country. We stomped
(10:22):
with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris. I could go
on for a long time naming the dignitaries and the
heads of state that we spent time with.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, we had people on our show CIVI excipher too,
a lot of these folks.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, Ambassador Ross, Eric Holder, the election rights Ambassador Rice.
I'm sorry. Yeah, the election was taken from her. I
(11:02):
know that at my core, I don't need additional proof
because I was there. That momentum wasn't fake, the stadiums
and arenas, that field in all of these cities was
not fake, And districts all across the country that voted
(11:22):
Democrat down the ballot didn't vote for her at all.
I don't want to get into what people will consider
conspiracy theories, just utter disappointment in our countrymen and our
country women in the system that allowed her to be
failed and to be wrong in such a gross and
(11:45):
obvious way. And we've been lucky enough to still share
some rooms with her in the wake of the election,
and you know, during this new reality that we live in,
and I don't know how to feel, RAMS don't. I
don't know. Should we want her to be the governor
(12:09):
of a state instead of to try to be the
president of all of the states again? Is there a
system in place that would have even that would even
allow her to win if she ran again? What kind
of work can she do outside of government? I just
have so many questions and so many things that I'm
(12:30):
unsure about now that I used to think I knew,
Like I don't know what she should do. I don't
know what would be the best way for her to
continue to show up for us. I just I just
get overwhelmingly sad realizing that she should be our president
right now. Yeah, and the world would be a better,
(12:51):
safer place for us, for our families, and for those
people who voted against her, Yeah, and against themselves because
they were too sexist or racist or uninformed to do
any better. That they would rather suffer themselves than the
(13:12):
idea that someone they think doesn't deserve it would prosper.
It's a really, really strange reality. And even hearing her name,
I have like PTSD now. I realized when we talked
about this story, I intentionally stopped thinking about Kamala Harris.
I stopped thinking about her, like comprehensive brain wipe because
(13:37):
of how overwhelmingly sad I get at the idea that
I know that that woman should be the president, and
I know how much better a president she would be
for everyone, not just for those who voted for her
or who support her.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And I probably wouldn't be paying these student loans, and
you know what else too. I think that it's worth
noting here that there was a poll that we talked
about when we did an episode for the Black Information
Network that suggested that of likely voters, the Democrats that
(14:14):
would like to the candidate they would like to see
at the top of the ticket. Number one candidate was
Kamala Harris. So maybe that has factored into this decision
not to run for the governorship. Anyway, moving on, we
got some opinions about Democratic Senator Corey Booker as he
slams fellow Democrats. Okay, so here's what I'm going to do.
(14:36):
I'm going to just share a little bit of background here,
and then I'm going to let you hear in his
own words, because there's a lot of passion in his voice.
So this from the Black Information Network. Senator Corey Booker,
the Democrat from New Jersey, blasted his Democratic colleagues on
the Senate floor, accusing them of being too complicit with
President Donald Trump and calling for a wake up call
within the party. Per USA Today. Booker's comments came on Tuesday,
(14:56):
July twenty ninth, as Senator Catherine Cortes Mas, the Democrat
from Nevada, attempted to fast track a bipartisan package of
bills that would increase funding and resources of police departments.
Booker blocked the effort and proposed an amendment requiring public
safety grants to be allocated without political bias. Cortes Mostow
(15:16):
fired back at Booker, noting that the Senator didn't raise
any objections when the bills passed out of the Senate
Judiciary Committee weeks before. Quote. This is ridiculous. This is
an attempt to kill all of these bills, Cortes Mostow said.
Booker then slammed his party for being complicit with Trump.
The new Jersey senator also delivered a sharp response to
(15:38):
Senator Amy Klobushar, the Democratic the Democrat from Minnesota who
criticized his tactics and said he couldn't block committee approved
bills while expecting support for others that benefit his state.
So let's hear in his own words how this sounded.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
What I am tired of is when the President of
the United States of America violates the Constitution. Trashes are
norms and traditions, And what does a Democratic party do
comply allow him beg for scraps. No, I demand justice.
I will fight for Jersey every day, every night. This
(16:19):
is a call, folks. The Democratic Party needs a wake
up call. I see law firms bending a knee to
this president.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Midnight talk show hosts off the air because they dare
to insult a president. I see people who want mergers
suddenly think that they have to pay tribute to this president.
And one of the very people here elected to defend
the Constitution of the United States saying, oh, well, today,
let's look the other way and pass some resources that
(16:48):
won't go to Connecticut, that won't go to Illinois, that
won't go to New York, They will go to the
states he likes.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
So yeah, obviously a lot of passion there, and I
applaud that. I think that that is exactly what needs
to happen. There has been a change. We all know this.
There's been a change in the state of play. There's
been a change in the rules and the norms and
(17:16):
so forth. And you know, there's a point where compassion
and caution devolves into cowardice. And there's a point when
fighting fire you have to fight it with fire, you
(17:40):
know what I mean. You would think it makes sense
to fight it with water, you know what I mean.
But you know, we're seeing that the old way doesn't
work anymore. And for people to be fired up for
people to for people to push back on this new
norm and say, the only way that we can attack
(18:01):
this is by matching that energy, and people choosing to
step up and match that energy, not to be complicit,
as Corey Booker is trying to, you know, encourage his
fellow Democrats. I think that that's kind of what the
order of the day is. He's been in a few
you know, more national moments lately. He's not the only one.
(18:28):
Of course, we famously saw, you know, justin in Tennessee,
was trying to make his way into a room that
was in his district, about his district of the people
that he represented, and you know, he had it filmed
and everything like that. So we see the injustice right
on full display. And these people won't say it's because
(18:50):
you're black. These people won't say it's because you're a Democrat.
These people won't say any of that sort of stuff.
They have some other way of explaining why things don't
go together. But of course it's on full display. Okay,
so all these people can go in, but I can't.
And the reason for it is because you know, I'm
not on this.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
List or whatever.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
You know, So because they're playing the game like that.
It requires a different approach, a different strategy, And I'll
say that it requires some passion, some energy, and I
see Corey Booker definitely bringing that energy to these moments
that you know, we've discussed in the past, you know,
several months. Of course, you have to weigh in HEREQ,
(19:29):
because you're the one who brought this to my attention.
What's ae.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
It kind of feels good to see someone angry. It
kind of feels good to hear someone upset, right, It
kind of here feels good to hear someone yelling at
everyone else about pretending like what we're dealing with is normal,
Like this is a very unnormal state that we're in,
(20:00):
and everyone pretending that this dystopian nightmare that we're living
every day is normal has to be, as we've called
out before, practicing some form of hypernormalization, just going on
(20:20):
about their day every day. I'm overwhelmed by what our
country has become in this very short amount of time.
I'm overwhelmed at what our new norm and our new
reality is so.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
And one.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
In one side of my mind, I exhaled with relief
that someone else was angry and willing to call out
his constituents, willing to call out the people who you
know he calls colleagues, willing to call out the people
(21:03):
who he's supposed to share a position with. But then
you start thinking about everything that's happening in the world,
not just in the country, and the positions that some
of the people in the party, including himself, have taken
with regards to one of the reasons you and I
(21:25):
think played a role in people not showing up to vote.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Israel in Palestine.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And I said that intentionally, not about the outcome of
the election, because I really think that was rigged and
stolen and manipulated, But the millions of people that didn't vote,
I think that was real, and we both think that
that had a lot to do with what's going on
in Gaza. And unfortunately he does not stand opposed to
(21:56):
the president on that topic, the current or former president,
and continuing to pretend that what's happening over there is
normal is even crazier than pretending that what's happening here
is normal, because we are watching an inhumane, evil genocide
(22:23):
happening in real time, and the whole world is watching
and doing nothing, partly because the most powerful military in
the history of Earth, and the government looking over that
military is complicit. And this very senator on the floor,
(22:45):
enraged as he should be, might have gotten the most
support from the pack, a pack that supports what's going
on over there close to a million dollars. I think.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
So it's hard to have a moral high ground when
that's the position that you hold. So I grew much
of what he said, and I'm glad he said it,
but I have to admit I was a bit conflicted
when I wanted to celebrate because of that affiliation with
that with that pack. It was it's a lot for me, man.
(23:25):
Nobody's perfect, and that's not the expectation. But at some
point we got to come to terms of what's going
on in the world, man, not just here.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah. Yeah, I know that a lot of activist sorts
were not going to vote for someone who was actively
killing people, and they weren't going to vote for somebody
who's going to make it worse either. They had no options,
and they stayed home. And I didn't even consider that
Corey Booker was one of those
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