September 23, 2025 • 28 mins
Is the NFL to Blame for Trump’s Presidency? Hear more about this topic on today's podcast.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
The man you are about to hear from is the
man that will fly home to see his son's soccer
game and then fly back and it's just that important
to him, and I love hearing stories like that.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
He's the QU in the QR code. He goes by
the name of q Ward.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The voice you just heard is always saying more cool
stuff about me than I deserve to have said. But
I appreciate him for it. Man, Sometimes it makes my
shoulders go back a little bit and my chin up
a little bit. So he's the R in a QR code.
He goes by the name ramses Jah.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And be sure to stick around because later in the show,
we're going to be talking about whether or not the
NFL is to blame for Trump's presidency. I'm going to
spend some time in our entertainment segment talking about that.
We'rero's gonna be talking about a mass shooting event in
Pennsylvania that claimed the lives of three police officers. But
right now, it's time to hear from q Ward telling
us how every MAGA accusation.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Seems to be a confession cute today.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I want to talk to us, to ourselves, to each other,
to our listener about one of the most predictable patterns
that I've picked up in American politics regarding the right,
especially every and I mean without equivocation, every accusation that
(01:31):
they make is actually a confession.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
If you want to know what Maga's up.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
To, just tune in and listen to what they're accusing
everybody else of doing. It's not projection by accident, it's
projection by design. I think I told rams before. I
had a bully in elementary school who would hit me
and then run and tell the teacher I did it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It's just the way that he did things.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
And watching adults behave like petulant bullied children is becoming
the norm. So let's lay this out. They accuse the
Left of being corrupt while they funnel money through through
back channels and inside deals. They accuse teachers of indoctrinating
children while they ban books and rewrite history to fit
(02:23):
their specific ideology. They accuse immigrants of stealing elections while
they're the ones puraging voter rows and suppressing ballots.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Ramses. Are you starting to pick up on the pattern here?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I've known it for some time.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
The playbook blame the other side for your sins. So
when you get caught, the waters are already so muddied
that who knows the difference. So here's some examples. Election fraud.
They scream stop the steal, while the president literally tried
(03:01):
to steal the twenty twenty election, pressuring Georgia officials, plotting
faked electors, and pushing an actual insurrection. Crime and corruption.
They call Democrats criminals, while Donald Trump and his circle
rack up indictments like frequent flyer Miles Oh and convictions
(03:26):
very important data there. They say that the LGBTQ community
are threats to children and that they're grooming them, while
actual scandals are happening in churches behind Republican doors and
even elected officials are caught in abuse cases. They say
(03:46):
Biden would use the DOJ as a weapon, while Trump
truly does it, openly, promising to persecute his enemies, pardon loyalists,
and turn justice into his personal hit squad. They scream
ramses for free speech. They cry about being censored while
(04:09):
they're the ones banning books targeting teachers, silencing protest and
getting rid of you know, talk show host who might
crack a joke about them. Every single accusation a confession projection,
if you will.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
But Rams, why does projection work so well? Might you ask?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Because it's not just that they're being hypocrites, this is
flatly strategy. Projection confuses the public. It makes people think
everybody's corrupt, everybody's lying. So when they convince you not
to believe anything and that there are no facts, then
it's very very easy for accountability to get lost in
(04:55):
the noise and for their base for the basis of loyalty,
test Rams, they'll believe anything as long as it means
protecting their tribe. It's like gaslighting, except the whole country's
doing it. Here's why it matters so much to me
(05:17):
and why I wanted to talk about it today. When
every accusation is a confession, it's not just irony, it's
cover for the real harm that's either happening or is
to come. It's how they justify taking away rights by
using fear, undermining democracy, and turning violence into policy. They
(05:41):
create a mirror maze where the truth looks like lies.
Lies look back the truth and that confusion they grab
more and more power because you know who's paying attention
when both sides are bad. Ramses and I very frustratingly
wrestled with that idea during the elections when everyone was
(06:03):
trying to both sides everything, when there's clearly a difference here,
clearly a very very false equivalence being made. So Ramses
asked me to clap back. If you want to know
what MAGA is doing, listen to what they are accusing
(06:25):
someone else of. Every shout of corruption, crime, steal or censorship,
it's just them describing to you their own intentions or
their own reflection. Every accusation is a confession. And once
you notice this pattern, trust me, you will not be
(06:47):
able to unsee it. This is not just politics, folks,
it's pathology, and it's time to start calling it what
it is. Ramses, confuse and scare the people, make yourself
the only remedy, and you'll find it very very easy
(07:11):
to control them.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Well, you're not wrong.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
We have covered that quite a bit, and I think
that's part of the reason why we were talking earlier.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
That's part of the reason why I like to.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Go to such great lengths to make sure that there's
some accountability so that it's not misconstrued that I'm using
their tactic. If anything, it shows that their tactic is
flawed and it's not thorough, and that I'm playing an
honest game where they are playing a dishonest game.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So here's all the cards.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I'm not holding anything off of the table, and if
we can deal with the real we'll make some real progress.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
But I think that on that side, a lot of
folks are afraid to do that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
So yeah, I guess the reason why I always call
it out is because we're the only ones that do it.
We're lending all this grace and trying to play by
all these rules and do the right thing.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, and they don't. They're not at all and their
way is working.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, but that's why you're here, because you know how
how to press it. And I appreciate that and I
love you for that. All right, let's talk about this
mass shooting in Pennsylvania, claiming the lives of three officers.
So this from PBS dot org. A suspected stalker armed
with a rifle hid at his ex girlfriend's home in
the rolling farmland of southern Pennsylvania and ambushed police officers
(08:38):
who came to arrest him, killing three of them, a
prosecutor said Thursday. Police arriving at the scene at about
two ten pm Wednesday, noticed the door to the home
was unlocked, even though the ex girlfriend and her mother
had locked it before leaving their property for their safety.
They opened the door and were immediately fired upon by
the suspect, twenty four year old Matthew James Ruth, who
(08:59):
was carrying an a our style rifle with a suppressor.
Your County District Attorney Tim Barker said, Okay, real quick
before I continue on. Only thing I saw about this
guy was a picture. Only thing I know about this
guy is from the articles that I've read based on
where he is. Rural Pennsylvania. I've been there. I went
(09:20):
there for the Jack and Jill event, so you know,
southern Pennsylvania or whatever. Jack and Gill of America is
like a like almost like a boys and girls club
sort of thing for young black people, students and what. Anyway,
knowing that part of the country, it feels like Trump Country.
Ar style weapon feels like I mean, it feels like
(09:41):
what it is. Of course I can't say for certain,
but I need to make a bigger point, so I
wanted to stop here to kind of delineate these elements
of the story so that they stand out in your mind.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Okay, he said.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
The suspect fired multiple rounds at the four officers at
the door, killing three of them. A gunfight then ensued
between Roth and two officers outside. Ruth wounded a sheriff's
deputy before police shot.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
The gunman and death. Barker said.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Detective Sergeant Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker, and Detective Isaiah m.
Heuser were the officers who were killed. He said they
all worked for the Northern York County Regional Police Department.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Each of these men represented the best of policing. They
served with professionalism, dedication, and courage. They were leaders within
our agency, committed to protecting this community and standing beside
their fellow officers Unquote, Chief Dave Lash said of the
three slain Northern York Regional Police officers. Investigators later found
the ex girlfriend's dog had been shot dead in the basement. Okay,
(10:38):
if I may, I know I've been kind of going
first a lot on the show, but I've been sitting
with these stories.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
First off, this is heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I have been in the past and will continue to
be very critical of policing. The way policing has done
in this country, I don't like it, and until it changes,
I won't like it. With that said, I respect the
fact that these are human beings and that I'm one
of those people that believes, almost to a fault, that
(11:07):
people can change, people can learn new things, people can evolve.
It doesn't seem to be the case with current training
procedures and whatnot. You know, I think that this country
needs a racial reckoning, but not the fault of the
individual officers. That's not the fault of the human beings
that lost their lives here. So I want to make
sure that I acknowledge that these were people that deserve
(11:30):
to grow old and deserve the opportunity to find the
why the evolution to change.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But I think that this story.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Has been swallowed up because of the oxygen of obviously
the headlines of the past couple of weeks and or
the oxygen going to really one major headline. But also
I don't know that a lot of people really want
to confront a story like this because of the optics.
(12:04):
There is a gun problem, and there's more than just
you know, Charlie Kirk. The last thing that he was
talking about was gang violence, right, And I think a
lot of people think that gang violence is something that
you can conflate with the gun problem, and to an extent,
I believe that to be true. But gang violence tends
(12:30):
to be isolated, tends to be you know, this gang
versus that gang, or this individual versus that individual.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And granted, there are.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
You know, there are people that lose their lives there
and this is a problem that we've been working on
and combating for a long time as a people and
as a country. You know, nobody should be killed needlessly, right,
But I think that over the years, we've been able
to identify a number of reasons that gang violence has
(13:08):
been prevalent, not the least of which is a lack
of economic opportunities outside of gang life. You know, nobody
wants nobody's a little kid, and it's like, you know,
it would be dope if I could be a gang
banger or if I could sell drugs. You know, that's
not realistic, that's not how you know, people come up
in those environments. That's just kind of like, well, I
can keep being hungry living with all these roaches, or
(13:31):
I can get the money like these other people I
see getting money. I'm not tall. I'm not going to
the NBA. I don't I'm not a good rapper. I
don't even I can't even stay awake in school because
I'm hungry or sleepy or whatever. And that's the reality
for a lot of people. So they end up being
a product of their environment. But to conflate that with
(13:52):
the with the larger gun issue that we talk about,
the one that kind of we share and the cultural zeitgeist,
the mass shooting gun issue, the suicide gun issue, that
gun issue. It's hard for people to confront that head on,
and so they use things like what's in the headlines
right now as a shield and they ignore stories like
this where indeed we're looking at another mass shooting event
(14:17):
that took the lives of three police officers. I chose
this story intentionally because everybody, you know, all of them,
they love police right first, or their heroes and whatnot.
You know, I push back against that idea. I think
they're paid to do their job, and when they do
something heroic, I'm the first to say they're a hero.
But when they're doing their job. They're doing the job.
(14:38):
But you know that part of the country really does
love these folks. And I've noticed a silence that is
is deeply unsettling. And I think it's because a significant
part of the country is afraid to look in the mirror,
because when they look in the mirror, they're going to
see who's doing these killings that suck all the oxygen
(14:58):
out of the headlines. And again it's not gang violence.
Gang violence doesn't affect these people because again gang violence
is singular. It affects the data, sure, but it doesn't
make you afraid to walk around in the mall right,
So I want you to have more time here, Q
(15:19):
than I've given you elsewhere on the show.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Please your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I wish I could whisper on the radio, because it's
the puns like we keep trying to do, like trigonometry
and deep philosophy and geometry and calculus and all these
(15:46):
different studies and sciences and forms of math and algebra
to determine what might be the real problem here. And
if we just be quiet for a second and just
if we just sit just down, it's the guns. Like
(16:06):
I know before they describe it that they're going to
say it's in AR fifteen.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I know it.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I know it every time. I also unfortunately know exactly
because in almost every case the shooter how they're going
to describe, and even here right, because this is one
of those things that puts the right in a bit
of a pretzel and a bit of a you know,
(16:32):
confusing space when their worlds collide in this way. When
to protect the guns and back the blue people are
the same people, this turns into a really really confusing
discussion to try to have with your base and your
constituents who want to know, what are we going to
do about the armed guys with AR fifteens who are
(16:53):
shooting and killing police officers? So I don't have a
whole lot here because it's so obvious, and we keep
saying it over and over and they keep making us
the problem. The guns are the problem. They're always going
to be the problem. They keep continuing to be the
(17:15):
problem over and over again, as we make no changes.
It's not like we're making changes that don't work. Nope,
we're not even trying to do anything different. Once again,
a day's worth of thoughts and prayers as we move
on to the next thing. It's heartbreaking, it's frustrating, but
it's hard to even feel when you know nothing's going
(17:38):
to change. Wed you have to brace for the next
story like this that will get based on the calendar
in the next seventy two hours.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Man, I love when you say stuff like that, and
it's so potent and punchy, because I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Those are the clips that go viral for us on
our social media.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Man, I love them so and so impactul and I
think that they kind of provide a sobering moment for
the people that would otherwise be arguing in our comments.
All right, let's move on some entertainment news. Is the
NFL to blame for Trump's presidency? Okay, a little bit
of backstory. We have our show producer, Chris Thompson set
(18:21):
up a conversation with us and is Stephen A.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Smith? And so we're doing some research on Stephen A. Smith.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I was Q knows who he is and has met
him several times. But and then I came across this
neat little nugget here, and it got me to thinking, like, Okay,
this might work for this show.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And this segment on the show. From what I understand,
Stephen A. Smith is a he's like a tell it
like it is sort of a.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Person, you know, and he's compensated for that gift that
he has to o rate his feelings and his thoughts
and provide some perspective that people may not be considering.
I know all about that because I do the same thing.
But I thought this was interesting, and I know you
(19:13):
haven't heard this story yet, Q, so I'm excited to
share it with you and get your thoughts here. But
this is from the Atlanta Black Star.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
All right.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
A decade ago, Donald Trump took that infamous escalator ride
to change American politics forever. But according to ESPN stephen A. Smith,
the real reason behind Trump's presidential ambitions might have been
something far more personal, getting shut out of NFL ownership.
Smith claimed on Front Office Sports that Trump's political trajectory
was forged not in boardrooms or in campaign headquarters, but
(19:40):
in the bitter aftermath of a failed billion dollar sports deal.
A decade ago, Donald Trump took that infamous escalator ride,
and according to NBC News, Trump declared his net worth
exceeded the one point four billion dollar asking price, but
he only had access to approximately one point one billion
(20:03):
at the time, that's it. Investment bankers had Morgan Stanley
expressed skepticism about Trump's chances, with one executive noting that
Trump had quote little chance of being approved by the
nfluote due to his casino background in history with the
rival USFL. Smith's account reveals the exact moment Trump's political
ambitions crystallized. Quote I knew Donald Trump. Donald Trump in
(20:24):
twenty fourteen called me personally. He wanted to buy the
Buffalo Bills unquote. Smith explained, Quote the price tag was
one point four billion.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Hard to believe.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Because the Dallas Cowboys right now are worth thirteen billion.
But that's how much the NFL has grown. Quoting to
my sources, he had one point one billion unquote. Then
came the pivotal declaration that would reshape American politics.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Trump said to me, quote if them MF stand in
my way and prevent me from getting ownership of the
Buffalo Bills, talking about the league's owners, I'm going to
get them all back. I'm going to run for president.
When a clip of the interview was shared on FOS's Instagram,
reactions poured in from users who found the narrative surprisingly plausible.
(21:05):
Smith's account does not seem to factor in how Trump
had express presidential ambitions long before twenty fourteen, as he
was widely reported to have been considering a run in
the twenty twelve race before he ultimately announced he would
not run in that cycle. Trump's history with professional football
extends far beyond the bill situation, revealing a pattern of
ambitious pursuits that often ended in disappointment.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Okay, I don't know if you've ever heard of this before, Q,
but yeah, your reflections here, man.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
I wish he would have bought the Buffalo bills, right,
He'd be a failing businessman once again, and we'd be
a sane democracy. Maybe we wouldn't be in peaceful harmony
and bliss, but we also would not be in the
(21:59):
bill of a fascist, authoritarian dictatorship. Goodness, gracious, life would
be better if he was just an NFL owner. But
to your question, now, this is not the first time
I've heard this, and it's kind of like a cycle
of things that all are like NFL based that fed
the monster that is Donald Trump, like they created the
(22:22):
kid who came to burn the village down, you know
what I mean, Like rejected him. He went and honed
his skills and came back and really led them into
this space of what you and I have coined as
you know, maga precompliance. Right, they didn't just they didn't
(22:42):
just antagonize him, but they kind of created the monster
that we have, like from Colin Kaepernick all the way
to now with Charlie Kirk, the NFL definitely helped create
this monster. So it wasn't even a direct reflection of
his politics ram just like it helped like distort their
(23:08):
views and his right. And remember, Colin Kaepernick took a
knee to peacefully protest police brutality, silent, respectful, reverent, asking
America to live up to its ideals, you know, the
(23:30):
promises that it made all of his citizens. For that decision,
the league black ball demonized and called him an sob.
Oh sorry, that was the president that called him an sob.
The NFL folded and ESPN echoed that outrage. Fast forward,
(23:53):
Charlie Kirk spent years mocking those same protests, ridiculing anti racism,
calling social justice poison. He never kneeled for justice, He
stood proudly with his chest out and loud for division.
And when he meets his demise as sad as it
may be, the NFL and ESPN line up to honor him, flags, lowered, tributes, aired,
(24:22):
reverence poured out. The deeper irony is that, long before politics,
as you just outlined, he tried to buy a team
and the league shut him out. That rejection created in bitter, angry,
obsessed man.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
He's gonna get his revenge.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
And when he finally got some power, he turned all
of that bitterness into bullying, but not just against the NFL,
against anyone who he ever felt slighted him or who
he preheted, like black people. He used the NFL as
a punching bag, weaponized player protests, and built his brand
(25:08):
by attacking black athletes who dared demand justice. So what
do we see rams, a black quarterback kneels for justice, erased,
a white provocateur mocks justice, celebration, honor reverence, A bitter
man denied NFL ownership, used that grudge to climb to
(25:33):
the White House. The NFL didn't just precomply and bow
to Trump. They helped create him, this version of him anyway,
and in doing so, they taught America that you know,
as we see, truth tellers get punished, provocateurs racist, divisionist, misogynists, xenophobes,
(25:59):
they get honored and you know, Bulie, they get power.
You know, I I don't know much about the NFL stuff.
This is very new to me, but I think that
because you said the NFL is partially to blame for
Trump's rise to the White House, and I think that
(26:20):
you led that out quite well.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I think that the article introduced that idea.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I just gave my opinion on the art, sure, but
one that created that.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But for me, for me, I needed to hear you
say that because the other part, and I know you
would say this, but the other part is I think
Obama being in office that infuriated Donald Trump to where
he came up with the wildest conspiracy theories. Oh well,
he wasn't even born in America. You know, he's the
worst president. You know, all this sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
And you know Obama had more to do with the
way his space responded though, sure, sure maybe, but this
was back before it was a base, you know, a
Trump bass, you know what I mean, clearly, not though
he had to be talking to someone somebody.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Okay, that's a fair point. I'll take that.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
But I think that that burther movement that he was
at the helm of was really the response. And I
have to say this because there's really no other way
to say it. He just did that because Obama was black,
That's the whole thing. And he didn't want to see
someone black in the White House. I think that's it.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I know that he's had issues with Joe Biden. I
know that, but that Obama thing, it was just that,
you know what I mean, his name is Barack Obama
and he's in the White House absolutely saying Obama, thank you.
So that coupled with all this NFL stuff, I think
that he became sort of the the great representative of
(27:52):
the white man's plight. And you know, my heartbreaks for
these people who feel like everything stacked against them, but
it never has been. And Donald Trump has weaponized their
frustration and played into those fears and caused them to
become more racist in US all to become more divided
as a result of that. So I think those two factors,
(28:15):
I think you're right there, that's really it. That's the
primordial ooze of Donald Trump. But that's all the time
we have for today here on the QR CODE.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
We have some challenging conversations here, but you make it
possible because you keep tuning in. As always, today's show
is produced by Chris Thompson. If you have some thoughts
you'd like to share, help us out, use the red
microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app, and while
you're there, you can hit subscribing download all of our episodes.
You can also help us out by subscribing to our
social media at Civic Cipher, particularly on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
We'd appreciate it. I've been your host. You can find
me on all social media at Ramsy's.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Job, my handle I am Cuteward on all social media
as well
Speaker 1 (28:53):
And Jonas next time as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the QR
code
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes.
The man you are about to hear from is the
man that will fly home to see his son's soccer
game and then fly back and it's just that important
to him, and I love hearing stories like that.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
He's the QU in the QR code. He goes by
the name of q Ward.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The voice you just heard is always saying more cool
stuff about me than I deserve to have said. But
I appreciate him for it. Man, Sometimes it makes my
shoulders go back a little bit and my chin up
a little bit. So he's the R in a QR code.
He goes by the name ramses Jah.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And be sure to stick around because later in the show,
we're going to be talking about whether or not the
NFL is to blame for Trump's presidency. I'm going to
spend some time in our entertainment segment talking about that.
We'rero's gonna be talking about a mass shooting event in
Pennsylvania that claimed the lives of three police officers. But
right now, it's time to hear from q Ward telling
us how every MAGA accusation.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Seems to be a confession cute today.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I want to talk to us, to ourselves, to each other,
to our listener about one of the most predictable patterns
that I've picked up in American politics regarding the right,
especially every and I mean without equivocation, every accusation that
(01:31):
they make is actually a confession.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
If you want to know what Maga's up.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
To, just tune in and listen to what they're accusing
everybody else of doing. It's not projection by accident, it's
projection by design. I think I told rams before. I
had a bully in elementary school who would hit me
and then run and tell the teacher I did it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It's just the way that he did things.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
And watching adults behave like petulant bullied children is becoming
the norm. So let's lay this out. They accuse the
Left of being corrupt while they funnel money through through
back channels and inside deals. They accuse teachers of indoctrinating
children while they ban books and rewrite history to fit
(02:23):
their specific ideology. They accuse immigrants of stealing elections while
they're the ones puraging voter rows and suppressing ballots.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Ramses. Are you starting to pick up on the pattern here?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I've known it for some time.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
The playbook blame the other side for your sins. So
when you get caught, the waters are already so muddied
that who knows the difference. So here's some examples. Election fraud.
They scream stop the steal, while the president literally tried
(03:01):
to steal the twenty twenty election, pressuring Georgia officials, plotting
faked electors, and pushing an actual insurrection. Crime and corruption.
They call Democrats criminals, while Donald Trump and his circle
rack up indictments like frequent flyer Miles Oh and convictions
(03:26):
very important data there. They say that the LGBTQ community
are threats to children and that they're grooming them, while
actual scandals are happening in churches behind Republican doors and
even elected officials are caught in abuse cases. They say
(03:46):
Biden would use the DOJ as a weapon, while Trump
truly does it, openly, promising to persecute his enemies, pardon loyalists,
and turn justice into his personal hit squad. They scream
ramses for free speech. They cry about being censored while
(04:09):
they're the ones banning books targeting teachers, silencing protest and
getting rid of you know, talk show host who might
crack a joke about them. Every single accusation a confession projection,
if you will.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
But Rams, why does projection work so well? Might you ask?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Because it's not just that they're being hypocrites, this is
flatly strategy. Projection confuses the public. It makes people think
everybody's corrupt, everybody's lying. So when they convince you not
to believe anything and that there are no facts, then
it's very very easy for accountability to get lost in
(04:55):
the noise and for their base for the basis of loyalty,
test Rams, they'll believe anything as long as it means
protecting their tribe. It's like gaslighting, except the whole country's
doing it. Here's why it matters so much to me
(05:17):
and why I wanted to talk about it today. When
every accusation is a confession, it's not just irony, it's
cover for the real harm that's either happening or is
to come. It's how they justify taking away rights by
using fear, undermining democracy, and turning violence into policy. They
(05:41):
create a mirror maze where the truth looks like lies.
Lies look back the truth and that confusion they grab
more and more power because you know who's paying attention
when both sides are bad. Ramses and I very frustratingly
wrestled with that idea during the elections when everyone was
(06:03):
trying to both sides everything, when there's clearly a difference here,
clearly a very very false equivalence being made. So Ramses
asked me to clap back. If you want to know
what MAGA is doing, listen to what they are accusing
(06:25):
someone else of. Every shout of corruption, crime, steal or censorship,
it's just them describing to you their own intentions or
their own reflection. Every accusation is a confession. And once
you notice this pattern, trust me, you will not be
(06:47):
able to unsee it. This is not just politics, folks,
it's pathology, and it's time to start calling it what
it is. Ramses, confuse and scare the people, make yourself
the only remedy, and you'll find it very very easy
(07:11):
to control them.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Well, you're not wrong.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
We have covered that quite a bit, and I think
that's part of the reason why we were talking earlier.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
That's part of the reason why I like to.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Go to such great lengths to make sure that there's
some accountability so that it's not misconstrued that I'm using
their tactic. If anything, it shows that their tactic is
flawed and it's not thorough, and that I'm playing an
honest game where they are playing a dishonest game.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So here's all the cards.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I'm not holding anything off of the table, and if
we can deal with the real we'll make some real progress.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
But I think that on that side, a lot of
folks are afraid to do that.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
So yeah, I guess the reason why I always call
it out is because we're the only ones that do it.
We're lending all this grace and trying to play by
all these rules and do the right thing.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yeah, and they don't. They're not at all and their
way is working.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, but that's why you're here, because you know how
how to press it. And I appreciate that and I
love you for that. All right, let's talk about this
mass shooting in Pennsylvania, claiming the lives of three officers.
So this from PBS dot org. A suspected stalker armed
with a rifle hid at his ex girlfriend's home in
the rolling farmland of southern Pennsylvania and ambushed police officers
(08:38):
who came to arrest him, killing three of them, a
prosecutor said Thursday. Police arriving at the scene at about
two ten pm Wednesday, noticed the door to the home
was unlocked, even though the ex girlfriend and her mother
had locked it before leaving their property for their safety.
They opened the door and were immediately fired upon by
the suspect, twenty four year old Matthew James Ruth, who
(08:59):
was carrying an a our style rifle with a suppressor.
Your County District Attorney Tim Barker said, Okay, real quick
before I continue on. Only thing I saw about this
guy was a picture. Only thing I know about this
guy is from the articles that I've read based on
where he is. Rural Pennsylvania. I've been there. I went
(09:20):
there for the Jack and Jill event, so you know,
southern Pennsylvania or whatever. Jack and Gill of America is
like a like almost like a boys and girls club
sort of thing for young black people, students and what. Anyway,
knowing that part of the country, it feels like Trump Country.
Ar style weapon feels like I mean, it feels like
(09:41):
what it is. Of course I can't say for certain,
but I need to make a bigger point, so I
wanted to stop here to kind of delineate these elements
of the story so that they stand out in your mind.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Okay, he said.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
The suspect fired multiple rounds at the four officers at
the door, killing three of them. A gunfight then ensued
between Roth and two officers outside. Ruth wounded a sheriff's
deputy before police shot.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
The gunman and death. Barker said.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Detective Sergeant Cody Becker, Detective Mark Baker, and Detective Isaiah m.
Heuser were the officers who were killed. He said they
all worked for the Northern York County Regional Police Department.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Each of these men represented the best of policing. They
served with professionalism, dedication, and courage. They were leaders within
our agency, committed to protecting this community and standing beside
their fellow officers Unquote, Chief Dave Lash said of the
three slain Northern York Regional Police officers. Investigators later found
the ex girlfriend's dog had been shot dead in the basement. Okay,
(10:38):
if I may, I know I've been kind of going
first a lot on the show, but I've been sitting
with these stories.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
First off, this is heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I have been in the past and will continue to
be very critical of policing. The way policing has done
in this country, I don't like it, and until it changes,
I won't like it. With that said, I respect the
fact that these are human beings and that I'm one
of those people that believes, almost to a fault, that
(11:07):
people can change, people can learn new things, people can evolve.
It doesn't seem to be the case with current training
procedures and whatnot. You know, I think that this country
needs a racial reckoning, but not the fault of the
individual officers. That's not the fault of the human beings
that lost their lives here. So I want to make
sure that I acknowledge that these were people that deserve
(11:30):
to grow old and deserve the opportunity to find the
why the evolution to change.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But I think that this story.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Has been swallowed up because of the oxygen of obviously
the headlines of the past couple of weeks and or
the oxygen going to really one major headline. But also
I don't know that a lot of people really want
to confront a story like this because of the optics.
(12:04):
There is a gun problem, and there's more than just
you know, Charlie Kirk. The last thing that he was
talking about was gang violence, right, And I think a
lot of people think that gang violence is something that
you can conflate with the gun problem, and to an extent,
I believe that to be true. But gang violence tends
(12:30):
to be isolated, tends to be you know, this gang
versus that gang, or this individual versus that individual.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And granted, there are.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
You know, there are people that lose their lives there
and this is a problem that we've been working on
and combating for a long time as a people and
as a country. You know, nobody should be killed needlessly, right,
But I think that over the years, we've been able
to identify a number of reasons that gang violence has
(13:08):
been prevalent, not the least of which is a lack
of economic opportunities outside of gang life. You know, nobody
wants nobody's a little kid, and it's like, you know,
it would be dope if I could be a gang
banger or if I could sell drugs. You know, that's
not realistic, that's not how you know, people come up
in those environments. That's just kind of like, well, I
can keep being hungry living with all these roaches, or
(13:31):
I can get the money like these other people I
see getting money. I'm not tall. I'm not going to
the NBA. I don't I'm not a good rapper. I
don't even I can't even stay awake in school because
I'm hungry or sleepy or whatever. And that's the reality
for a lot of people. So they end up being
a product of their environment. But to conflate that with
(13:52):
the with the larger gun issue that we talk about,
the one that kind of we share and the cultural zeitgeist,
the mass shooting gun issue, the suicide gun issue, that
gun issue. It's hard for people to confront that head on,
and so they use things like what's in the headlines
right now as a shield and they ignore stories like
this where indeed we're looking at another mass shooting event
(14:17):
that took the lives of three police officers. I chose
this story intentionally because everybody, you know, all of them,
they love police right first, or their heroes and whatnot.
You know, I push back against that idea. I think
they're paid to do their job, and when they do
something heroic, I'm the first to say they're a hero.
But when they're doing their job. They're doing the job.
(14:38):
But you know that part of the country really does
love these folks. And I've noticed a silence that is
is deeply unsettling. And I think it's because a significant
part of the country is afraid to look in the mirror,
because when they look in the mirror, they're going to
see who's doing these killings that suck all the oxygen
(14:58):
out of the headlines. And again it's not gang violence.
Gang violence doesn't affect these people because again gang violence
is singular. It affects the data, sure, but it doesn't
make you afraid to walk around in the mall right,
So I want you to have more time here, Q
(15:19):
than I've given you elsewhere on the show.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Please your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I wish I could whisper on the radio, because it's
the puns like we keep trying to do, like trigonometry
and deep philosophy and geometry and calculus and all these
(15:46):
different studies and sciences and forms of math and algebra
to determine what might be the real problem here. And
if we just be quiet for a second and just
if we just sit just down, it's the guns. Like
(16:06):
I know before they describe it that they're going to
say it's in AR fifteen.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I know it.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I know it every time. I also unfortunately know exactly
because in almost every case the shooter how they're going
to describe, and even here right, because this is one
of those things that puts the right in a bit
of a pretzel and a bit of a you know,
(16:32):
confusing space when their worlds collide in this way. When
to protect the guns and back the blue people are
the same people, this turns into a really really confusing
discussion to try to have with your base and your
constituents who want to know, what are we going to
do about the armed guys with AR fifteens who are
(16:53):
shooting and killing police officers? So I don't have a
whole lot here because it's so obvious, and we keep
saying it over and over and they keep making us
the problem. The guns are the problem. They're always going
to be the problem. They keep continuing to be the
(17:15):
problem over and over again, as we make no changes.
It's not like we're making changes that don't work. Nope,
we're not even trying to do anything different. Once again,
a day's worth of thoughts and prayers as we move
on to the next thing. It's heartbreaking, it's frustrating, but
it's hard to even feel when you know nothing's going
(17:38):
to change. Wed you have to brace for the next
story like this that will get based on the calendar
in the next seventy two hours.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Man, I love when you say stuff like that, and
it's so potent and punchy, because I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Those are the clips that go viral for us on
our social media.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Man, I love them so and so impactul and I
think that they kind of provide a sobering moment for
the people that would otherwise be arguing in our comments.
All right, let's move on some entertainment news. Is the
NFL to blame for Trump's presidency? Okay, a little bit
of backstory. We have our show producer, Chris Thompson set
(18:21):
up a conversation with us and is Stephen A.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Smith? And so we're doing some research on Stephen A. Smith.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I was Q knows who he is and has met
him several times. But and then I came across this
neat little nugget here, and it got me to thinking, like, Okay,
this might work for this show.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And this segment on the show. From what I understand,
Stephen A. Smith is a he's like a tell it
like it is sort of a.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Person, you know, and he's compensated for that gift that
he has to o rate his feelings and his thoughts
and provide some perspective that people may not be considering.
I know all about that because I do the same thing.
But I thought this was interesting, and I know you
(19:13):
haven't heard this story yet, Q, so I'm excited to
share it with you and get your thoughts here. But
this is from the Atlanta Black Star.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
All right.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
A decade ago, Donald Trump took that infamous escalator ride
to change American politics forever. But according to ESPN stephen A. Smith,
the real reason behind Trump's presidential ambitions might have been
something far more personal, getting shut out of NFL ownership.
Smith claimed on Front Office Sports that Trump's political trajectory
was forged not in boardrooms or in campaign headquarters, but
(19:40):
in the bitter aftermath of a failed billion dollar sports deal.
A decade ago, Donald Trump took that infamous escalator ride,
and according to NBC News, Trump declared his net worth
exceeded the one point four billion dollar asking price, but
he only had access to approximately one point one billion
(20:03):
at the time, that's it. Investment bankers had Morgan Stanley
expressed skepticism about Trump's chances, with one executive noting that
Trump had quote little chance of being approved by the
nfluote due to his casino background in history with the
rival USFL. Smith's account reveals the exact moment Trump's political
ambitions crystallized. Quote I knew Donald Trump. Donald Trump in
(20:24):
twenty fourteen called me personally. He wanted to buy the
Buffalo Bills unquote. Smith explained, Quote the price tag was
one point four billion.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Hard to believe.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Because the Dallas Cowboys right now are worth thirteen billion.
But that's how much the NFL has grown. Quoting to
my sources, he had one point one billion unquote. Then
came the pivotal declaration that would reshape American politics.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Trump said to me, quote if them MF stand in
my way and prevent me from getting ownership of the
Buffalo Bills, talking about the league's owners, I'm going to
get them all back. I'm going to run for president.
When a clip of the interview was shared on FOS's Instagram,
reactions poured in from users who found the narrative surprisingly plausible.
(21:05):
Smith's account does not seem to factor in how Trump
had express presidential ambitions long before twenty fourteen, as he
was widely reported to have been considering a run in
the twenty twelve race before he ultimately announced he would
not run in that cycle. Trump's history with professional football
extends far beyond the bill situation, revealing a pattern of
ambitious pursuits that often ended in disappointment.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Okay, I don't know if you've ever heard of this before, Q,
but yeah, your reflections here, man.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
I wish he would have bought the Buffalo bills, right,
He'd be a failing businessman once again, and we'd be
a sane democracy. Maybe we wouldn't be in peaceful harmony
and bliss, but we also would not be in the
(21:59):
bill of a fascist, authoritarian dictatorship. Goodness, gracious, life would
be better if he was just an NFL owner. But
to your question, now, this is not the first time
I've heard this, and it's kind of like a cycle
of things that all are like NFL based that fed
the monster that is Donald Trump, like they created the
(22:22):
kid who came to burn the village down, you know
what I mean, Like rejected him. He went and honed
his skills and came back and really led them into
this space of what you and I have coined as
you know, maga precompliance. Right, they didn't just they didn't
(22:42):
just antagonize him, but they kind of created the monster
that we have, like from Colin Kaepernick all the way
to now with Charlie Kirk, the NFL definitely helped create
this monster. So it wasn't even a direct reflection of
his politics ram just like it helped like distort their
(23:08):
views and his right. And remember, Colin Kaepernick took a
knee to peacefully protest police brutality, silent, respectful, reverent, asking
America to live up to its ideals, you know, the
(23:30):
promises that it made all of his citizens. For that decision,
the league black ball demonized and called him an sob.
Oh sorry, that was the president that called him an sob.
The NFL folded and ESPN echoed that outrage. Fast forward,
(23:53):
Charlie Kirk spent years mocking those same protests, ridiculing anti racism,
calling social justice poison. He never kneeled for justice, He
stood proudly with his chest out and loud for division.
And when he meets his demise as sad as it
may be, the NFL and ESPN line up to honor him, flags, lowered, tributes, aired,
(24:22):
reverence poured out. The deeper irony is that, long before politics,
as you just outlined, he tried to buy a team
and the league shut him out. That rejection created in bitter, angry,
obsessed man.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
He's gonna get his revenge.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
And when he finally got some power, he turned all
of that bitterness into bullying, but not just against the NFL,
against anyone who he ever felt slighted him or who
he preheted, like black people. He used the NFL as
a punching bag, weaponized player protests, and built his brand
(25:08):
by attacking black athletes who dared demand justice. So what
do we see rams, a black quarterback kneels for justice, erased,
a white provocateur mocks justice, celebration, honor reverence, A bitter
man denied NFL ownership, used that grudge to climb to
(25:33):
the White House. The NFL didn't just precomply and bow
to Trump. They helped create him, this version of him anyway,
and in doing so, they taught America that you know,
as we see, truth tellers get punished, provocateurs racist, divisionist, misogynists, xenophobes,
(25:59):
they get honored and you know, Bulie, they get power.
You know, I I don't know much about the NFL stuff.
This is very new to me, but I think that
because you said the NFL is partially to blame for
Trump's rise to the White House, and I think that
(26:20):
you led that out quite well.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
I think that the article introduced that idea.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I just gave my opinion on the art, sure, but
one that created that.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But for me, for me, I needed to hear you
say that because the other part, and I know you
would say this, but the other part is I think
Obama being in office that infuriated Donald Trump to where
he came up with the wildest conspiracy theories. Oh well,
he wasn't even born in America. You know, he's the
worst president. You know, all this sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
And you know Obama had more to do with the
way his space responded though, sure, sure maybe, but this
was back before it was a base, you know, a
Trump bass, you know what I mean, clearly, not though
he had to be talking to someone somebody.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Okay, that's a fair point. I'll take that.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
But I think that that burther movement that he was
at the helm of was really the response. And I
have to say this because there's really no other way
to say it. He just did that because Obama was black,
That's the whole thing. And he didn't want to see
someone black in the White House. I think that's it.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I know that he's had issues with Joe Biden. I
know that, but that Obama thing, it was just that,
you know what I mean, his name is Barack Obama
and he's in the White House absolutely saying Obama, thank you.
So that coupled with all this NFL stuff, I think
that he became sort of the the great representative of
(27:52):
the white man's plight. And you know, my heartbreaks for
these people who feel like everything stacked against them, but
it never has been. And Donald Trump has weaponized their
frustration and played into those fears and caused them to
become more racist in US all to become more divided
as a result of that. So I think those two factors,
(28:15):
I think you're right there, that's really it. That's the
primordial ooze of Donald Trump. But that's all the time
we have for today here on the QR CODE.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
We have some challenging conversations here, but you make it
possible because you keep tuning in. As always, today's show
is produced by Chris Thompson. If you have some thoughts
you'd like to share, help us out, use the red
microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app, and while
you're there, you can hit subscribing download all of our episodes.
You can also help us out by subscribing to our
social media at Civic Cipher, particularly on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
We'd appreciate it. I've been your host. You can find
me on all social media at Ramsy's.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Job, my handle I am Cuteward on all social media
as well
Speaker 1 (28:53):
And Jonas next time as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the QR
code
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