Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To night.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA director of
talk show host Michael Brown.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Brownie, no, Brownie, You're doing a heck of a job
the Weekend with Michael Brown.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, we're broadcasting live today from Denver, Colorado, and it's
the Weekend with Michael Brown. Glad to have you joining
the program today. I appreciate you tuning in. You know
the rules of engagement with us me had text message.
The number on your message app is three three one
zero three three three one zero three. Just use the
keyword Mike or Michael. Do me a favor and go
follow me on x at Michael Brown USA. So just
(00:31):
one last comment about Epstein, and then I do want
to move on this. This this example I give you
of Trump building this wall. It's a brick wall, it's
a courtyard. And he started the wall back in twenty sixteen,
and we were making such great progress, and the cabal,
(00:56):
that unholy alliance of the tech giants eats the you know,
the dominant media. The Democrats, they they they don't want
us to live in a republic. They don't want us
to live they want they want us to live in
a democracy. They truly want to want us to live
(01:16):
in Marxism or communism. But the road to getting theirs
is is starts with the off ramp on democracy, and
they keep pushing that. So Trump comes along. Trump is
the disruptor that everybody wanted. Now, he may not have
been the perfect vessel. There are a lot of things
(01:40):
to not like about Donald Trump. You know, I I
found it interesting. I'm just old enough to have lived
through a lot of presidents, and don't they all at
some point become kind of you know, you hear them speak,
and you know most of the time they're they're speaking
(02:00):
from a teleprompter. I never use well, no, in the
past twenty five years, I've never used a teleprompter. I
come on this program and I use notes. I have notes,
I have bullet points, I have things that just reminded
this is what I want to talk about. And everything's extemporaneous.
(02:21):
So I hope, and I know nobody likes her own voice,
but I hope that I put enough emotion and meaning
and belief behind what I say that at least it
makes it interesting to listen to. Many presidents just bather
on and on and on and on, and we reach
(02:42):
a point where we's like, oh my god, it's Lyndon
Johnson talking again. It's that southern drawl. And I'm just
tired here in that southern drawl. Or are we here Nixon?
Or are we here? Eat o Reagan? And you know, well,
you know, and people get tired of Reagan. They get
tired of Bubba, they get tired of Bush, they get
tired of everybody. And there are people are tired of
(03:05):
Trump and the way he speaks and the way he
you know, repeats things over and over and over again.
I get that. I get there that there are things,
little mannerisms, little you know, twitches they have that people
don't like. I get that, but I don't care. I
(03:27):
didn't hire him for the way he dresses. I didn't
hire him for what he eats. I didn't hire him
for the way he speaks. I hired him to be
a disruptor, because I do believe that without some sort
of disruption that while I think I know where the
country is headed, and I do believe the country is
(03:47):
headed to I mean, we're already pretty socialistic, and we're
headed towards some form of Marxism. I don't want that.
I don't want it. For myself, despite however many years
I have left on this planet, however many years I
have left in this form. I don't want that for myself,
(04:07):
but I particularly don't want it for those generations behind me,
particularly my children or my grandchildren. Now my children are grown,
they're they're they're adults. My grandkids not so much. They're
all the way from colleague age down to six years old.
But I feel the same way about your children. I
(04:28):
feel the same way about like some of the people
I work with in this building who are in their
twenties or thirties that I think, you know, I look
at them sometimes and I wonder, what's the world going
to be like with you? Now? There are a lot
of them. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot
of amazing things going on. They're simultaneously scary and amazing.
Artificial intelligence is one of those. I've spent a lot
(04:50):
of time, for whatever reason, for the past couple of
weeks really delving into AI. And while I think it
may have some amazing thing to do in terms of
science and medicine and making us more productive and more efficient,
that means we'll also probably loosen jobs the way we
do some jobs will change, and it's certainly made it
(05:12):
more difficult for me to do my job because when
I go on to do news stories, I start finding
things that you know, and to be quite honest, sometimes
you will send me things that I'll find really fascinating,
and then the more I dig into it, the more
I realize, oh, well, this is this is fake. It's
not true. So it's just a double edged sword. But overall,
(05:37):
from a larger perspective, I worry about where the country's going,
primarily because we have too many people who don't understand
our history, don't understand our own DNA, and don't even
understand our form of government. Those of you who have
listened to me over the years know that I've got
(05:57):
a real bugaboo about the term democracy. Jimmie Raskin, Jamie Raskin,
sometimes I think it's just got to be one of
the dumbest members of Congress around, Democrat from Maryland. Here
he is on some show from the weekend on MSNBC.
(06:23):
This morning, as I'm just putting around the house getting
ready to do some stuff, I'm flipping around through the
channels and I hear.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
This, So let me start at the end of that intro.
And that is on the counture Tom between Attorney General
Pam Bondi and the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who's
calling on her to resign or be fired.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What do you make of this?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, Epstein was a sex offender. He ran a child
sex ring. This is true. Donald Trump and Dan Bongino,
and Cash Puttel and Pam Bondi all were demanding that
these files be released. I echoed that demand during the
Biden administration. Why should the public not have access to them?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
After?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I'm sorry I had the wrong Jamie Maskin audio cued up.
That's not the one I wanted you to hear. Where'd
the one gill that I was going to use? Anyway,
Jamie Raskin talks about how this country is a democracy,
and he just goes on and on about us being
(07:36):
a democracy and we are not congressmen.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You know.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
I want to get to what the Supreme Court justice said, because,
as Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Put it, it is not normal.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
It's not something that we see to have Supreme Court
justices talk about the government, allude to the government, right,
shouldn't get into details, but they often don't even bring
it up. They talk about like our country. That's kind
of this abstract thing that they're worried about. What do
you think it says about where this country is that
the Supreme Court Justice felt the need to say that
she wants people to focus on what's happening within our government.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Well, two remarkable things stand out to me in the
justice's remarks in Indiana.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
One is that it's.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Very clear that Justice Jackson is becoming one of those
rare justices like Justice Scalia or Justice Brennan or Marshall,
who saw themselves not just in their juristic role, but
also in their role as speaking to all of society
about the nature of our constitutional compact. And so she
(08:42):
is stepping out of the role of just being a
judicial interpreter, and like Justice Scalia, somebody who is trying
to speak to society. But the second thing was that
she used the word democracy, which of course the right
wing never uses anymore. They don't believe word democracy. Anytime
you mentioned the word democracy, says we're not a democracy,
We're a republic. Of course, a republic is just a
(09:04):
representative democracy, and we are a representative democracy that has
become far more democratic over time with the expansion of
the franchise to include African Americans and women and eighteen
year olds and so on. We have fought for a
stronger democracy.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
But what she's saying, Wow, So the right wing never
uses the word democracy. They always go to the idea
that we're a republic. Well, yeah, because we're a republic
form of democracy. But we're expanding the use of that
term by including, you know, by expanding the franchise, by
(09:43):
allowing more and more people to vote. What does he
really mean? Hang on, this is the weekend with Michael Brown.
Texta word Michael, Michael, if you get any comments or
questions to this number three three one zero three, let's
see if he really understands what he's saying.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Next.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Hey, so we came with Michael Brown. Glad to have
you with me. I appreciate you tuning in. So we
had Jamie Raskin, this Democrat Congress from Maryland, try to
explain to you that, well, you know, the right wing,
the right wing always says, you know, they always chastise
us when we use the word democracy. Yeah, we do.
And there's a reason for that. Understanding the distinction between
(10:26):
this country being a democracy as opposed to the republic,
which it is is truly essential if you want to
grasp how American government functions and even more importantly, how
our rights as citizens are protected. And the difference is
not just semantic. I'm not just talking about the difference
(10:47):
between well, you can just call it democratic or you
can call it a republic. No, it has real implications
for our laws, for our governance, and for our individual liberties.
So one of those key differences democracy in its purest form,
democracy means just rule by the majority. In a democracy,
(11:13):
citizens have direct input on laws and policies, and the
majorities will prevails. Can you imagine us putting every issue
to the vote of three hundred and fifty nine million
Americans or all those over the age of eighteen, and
(11:33):
then every time, you know, and let's say that we're
true democracy, and so the majority always prevails and citizens
always have the right to bring whatever issues up their
butt right now to the vote of the people. My gosh,
we'd be like a ping pong game. Our heads would
be swiveling back and forth, bouncing back and forth, because
(11:56):
you know, one day the majority would want this, then
next day the majority of want that. The point is,
citizens have direct input on laws and policies and the
will of the majority always prevails. Well, so what would
you would say? Well, that can lead to what is
sometimes called the tyranny of the majority. But what's that
(12:19):
that's where the rights of minority groups are overridden by
popular vote. I can imagine living in a democracy now,
maybe if the democracy was not not even if it
was just us. Even if it was just us, think
about the last hour and the discussion. If you can
(12:41):
see my text line, and you think about the differences
of opinion about the Epstein matter. It's all over the place,
as I suspected it would be. But in so far
as I'm concerned, mission accomplished. Whether you are, whether you
think you are solidly in this position or solidly in
that position. I hope I gave you something to think about.
(13:04):
But let's say we had to take a vote on it.
I could probably get the vote to switch every single
day back and forth. That's the tyranny of the majority.
And you and I in the minority, on any given day,
we lose any voice we have whatsoever, as opposed to
a republic where you and I elect representatives who make
(13:27):
decisions on our behalves. Now crucially, very crucially, a republic
is governed by a constitution or a charter, a document
of some sort that does two things. It limits government
power and it protects individual rights. And most importantly, I
(13:48):
would put it this way, it limits government power and
protects our individual rights, even against the will of the majority.
So those individual rights and liberties that you and I
have in this country are supposed to be sacrisanct. They're
(14:10):
supposed to be immutable, They're supposed to be given. You
can't revote them, you can't limit them. Now we have
over time, I think wrongly limited some of those rights.
But what it does is it protects us against take
(14:31):
the Second Amendment. As much as I believe the Second
Amendment has been eviscerated, and I do believe unconstitutionally over
decades and decades and decades of them trying to whittle
it down, imagine if we just put it to a
vote today, talk about trying to get out the vote.
Let's say out of three hundred and fifty nine million Americans,
(14:51):
let's just say that half of us one hundred and
eighty million Americans are a voting age. Do you think
we would win? You think we would in a second
Amendment vote today, I don't know. I truly don't know,
because there are too many crazies out there. In fact,
I think there are even some conservatives who are just
like you know, gun violence has just got out of control. Now,
(15:14):
I don't think gun violence is out of control, but
I do believe that cabal has led you to believe
that gun violence is out of control. So if we
just left it up to the majority, have that one
hundred and eighty million Americans, oh my gosh, ninety five
million of them or one hundred million of them would
vote that, well, just nobody can own a gun. And
if you think that's far fetched, look at some state laws.
(15:39):
Colorado is a great place to look. We're eviscerating the
Second Amendment in Colorado, California, Washington, d C. Not a state,
but nonetheless a district. You look at some European countries,
you look at Australia, you look at Great Britain. The
tyranny of the majority is scary. And the reason the
(16:02):
distinction is important is protection of individual rights. The rule
of law versus the rule of majority. We have checks
and balances, and in the case of our country, we
have the historical and philosophical roots. The founders of this
country intentionally chose a republic in order to avoid the
(16:26):
instability and the potential for mob rule that you've got
in pure democracies throughout the entirety of the history of mankind.
The founders believe that a constitutional republic was better suited
to protect liberty and to remote stable governance. But you
know there are practical implications too. I think you should
(16:50):
safeguard minority rights. The constitution. The right of judicial review
in our republic serves as a barrier against the oppression
of minority groups by the majority. If you're a minority group,
you should still have the same rights that I do.
No more, no less, but the same rights stable governance.
(17:12):
But lastly, which we'll talk about next, what about civic understanding.
What's happened to civic understanding? It's The Weekend with Michael Brown.
The text line three three one oh three, keyword Mike
or Michael. We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Tonight.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Michael Brown joins me here.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
The former FEMA director of talk show host Michael Brown. Brownie, No, Brownie,
You're doing a heck of a job. The Weekend with
Michael Brown.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Hey, welcome back to the Weekend with Michael Brown, Glad
to have you with me. Jamie Raskin somehow believes that
when we get upset because we refer to ourselves as republic,
he says, well, that's just republic is not understanding what
it really means.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
I Underson, you want to get to what the Supreme
Court justice said, because, as Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Put it, it is not normal.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
It's not something that we see to have Supreme Court
justices talk.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
About the government allude to the government.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Right.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
She didn't get into details, but they often don't even
bring it up. They talk about like our country as
kind of this like abstract thing that they're worried about.
What do you think it says about where this country
is that the Supreme Court Justice felt the need to
say that she wants people to focus on what's happening
within our government.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, two remarkable things stand out to me in the
justice's remarks in Indiana. One is that it's very clear
that Justice Jackson is becoming one of those rare justices
like Justice Scalio or Justice Brennan or Marshall, who saw
themselves not just in their juristic role but also in
(18:53):
their role as speaking to all of society about the
nature of our constitutional compact. So she is stepping out
of the role of just being a judicial interpreter and
like Justice Scalia, somebody who is trying to speak to society.
But the second thing was that she used the word democracy,
which of course the right wing never uses anymore. They
don't believe we're a democracy. Anytime you mentioned the word democracy,
(19:17):
the writing who says, we're not a democracy, we're a republic.
Of course, a republic is just a representative democracy, and
we are a representative democracy that has become.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, what's wrong with that is that's just simply not true.
You can say we're a republic republican form of democracy,
but that's only in a very narrow sense that we
elect our representatives in a democratic fashion. We vote. A
(19:49):
democracy is by its very definition, all citizens vote on
issues and the majority rules. In fact, if you want
a narrow down to the very essence, it is majority rules,
and that's it. There is no representation. There is no
(20:09):
republican form of that democracy. It is just simply that
the majority rules, and that's anarchy. Think about your own household.
I'm never in I'm never in the majority where we're
gonna go eat. Everybody else always decides, or what are
(20:29):
we gonna do? Or what movie you're gonna watch, or
what the TV show we're gonna watch? Everybody else decides. Now,
if we were, if my household was a republican form
of government, I would declare myself to be a senator
in that house, and I would represent all of you,
and I get to check, I get to I get
(20:51):
to do the vote. A representative democracy. Oh so it's
still a democracy, but you're just gonna make the decision.
That's in essence what he's saying, and it's insane.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Come far more democratic over time with the expansion of
the franchise to.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Include So all he's thinking about is so we've expanded
the franchise so more people get to vote. And in fact,
according to the Democrats, everybody should vote. Coming to the
country illegally, you ought to be counted in terms of
determining how many congressional seats a state gets. So you know,
everybody try to get as many illegal aliens as you
(21:31):
possibly can, because that's more people in your state, so
you'll get more representatives in Congress. That's their former democracy.
That's insane, utterly.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Insane African Americans and women and eighteen year olds and
so on. We have fought for a stronger democracy.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Little thought experiment, send me a text three three one
zero three keyword mic or Michael. So he talks about
we've expanded the franchise, extending it to women, extending it
to blacks. Have we ever extend do we ever extend
it to Asians? Make sure we get all three races involved?
(22:13):
Do we do that? So what other groups should we
expand the franchise to? How about Well, we've essentially extended
it to non citizens. Well, how about just people in
foreign countries that are interested in US. They just, you know,
they've got some tie they maybe it's someone that actually
(22:35):
lives Let's just you know, they live in Paris, but
they own a business in Cleveland. Well, let's let them vote.
But that would just be expanding the franchise. That's because
they've got business interests here. They had to be able
to vote, right, or tourists just show up an election
day or election week in some cases the election month. Well,
(22:57):
as long as you're in the country, won't you just
vote to It's absurd. It sounds absurd because it is absurd.
So the distinction is important because of protection of individual rights,
the rule of law versus the rule of majority. As
I said, checks and balances. Let's stop there and then
(23:18):
let's get onto the philosophical roots. Our system is designed
with checks and balances, the separation of powers among the
different branches of government. That so that we can prevent
any single group or the majority from graining from gaining
unchecked power. That structure is a hallmark of a republic,
(23:40):
not direct democracy. As I said, the founders intentionally choose
a republic to avoid the instability and the potential for
mob rule that you see in pure democracies that we've
seen through the history of mankind. And I do believe
that's the constitution and judicial review in a republic serves
(24:04):
as a barrier against the oppression of minority groups. As
I said before the break, I think minority groups should
enjoy the same rights the majority does. But a majority
could simply decide that we're the majority, and if you're
not with us, then you don't have the same rights.
That's mob rule. And the republic we're in our two
(24:26):
hundred and fiftieth year, a lot of nations can't claim that,
and it is because of our civic understanding. If you
don't understand the difference between the terms, then that leads
to confusion about how rights are protected and how the
(24:46):
government should actually function. So when you recognize this country
as republic, that helps citizens appreciate the importance of constitutional
limits and the rule of law. So clearly distinguishing between
democracy and republic that's absolutely crucial for understanding our American
(25:07):
system of government. The United States blends elements of both,
but it is as a foundation a constitutional republic. That's
the charter, the constitution, and the republic is by which
we govern ourselves, and that ensures individual rights are protected
from majority over each and that government power is limited
(25:27):
by our laws. And that distinction helps explain why certain
rights and processes are safeguarded regardless of how popular opinion
might shift from one day to the next. Understanding democracy
versus republic, that in and of itself helps shape our
(25:47):
view of our individual rights. And I think this is
where we're starting to lose our individual rights. In a
pure democracy, the majority can directly decide laws and policies,
even if those decisions infringe upon the rights of the
individuals that are in the minority.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Groups.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
In a republic, the government is constrained by the constitution,
and that constitution protects individual rights regardless of the majority opinion.
This means is certain rights such as freedom of speech, religion,
to due process can't be just voted away if that's
what most citizens want. The minority rights and social stability
(26:29):
come about through a republican form of government. But this
is where I think we're losing the republic. You know,
republic requires civic responsibility. A republic requires an understanding of
the distinction, and understanding that distinction encourages citizens to value
(26:51):
our constitutional limits and to be vigilant in protecting our
individual rights, not just for myself, but for all members
of society. And when we do that, that promotes a
deeper appreciation for the balance between majority rule and minority protections,
and that is essential for affair and just society. So
if we understand the difference between a democracy and a republic,
(27:16):
we recognize that individual rights in this country are fundamentally
protected by constitutional law, not merely by the will of
the majority. But the Jamie Raskins of the world and
those who just flippily use the word democracy little by
little demean the meaning of a republic, and pretty soon
(27:39):
people will start demanding, oh, I don't like what Congress
is doing. So rather than changing Congress, they just will
want to slowly progressively merge into a pure democracy, and
mark my words, that would be the end of the
United States of America. Be sure to follow me on
(28:01):
next is that Michael Brown USA, and do me a favorite.
Subscribe to the podcast on your podcast app, search for
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download both the weekday program and the weekend program. I'll
be right back. Hey, welcome back to the Weekend with
(28:27):
Michael Brown. Glad to have you with me. Text lines
open number on your Matthew jap is three three ones
zero three. Keyword Micha roor Michael So Jamie Raskin in
declaring that somehow you and I are nutjobs for really
insisting that we recognize that this country is republic instead
of a democracy. One of the intended, I believe, consequences
(28:54):
of that attitude is that patriotism in this country is
sunk to a historic low. There's a Gallop poll out
this shows that national pride is tumbling among Democrats. In particular.
Political polarization has reached a fever pitch in this country,
and each side views the other side not as opponent,
but as enemies. I admit to that. I admit to
(29:19):
seeing Democrats not as individual enemies that I need to
go out and shoot, that they're going to come and
rob me, but enemies of our nation, enemies of our constitution,
enemies of our republican form of government. Since nineteen go
all the way back to nineteen ninety four, Since nineteen
(29:40):
ninety four, the share of Republicans and Democrats who hold
very unfavorable views of the other party has more than
tripled and now makes up a solid majority on both sides.
And I think it is because of this basic misunderstanding
the Democrats have that we are a republican form of
government and they really do want to rule majority. You know,
(30:00):
somebody mentioned on the text line that but for our
republican form of government, blacks would not be able to vote,
women would not be able to vote, we wouldn't recognize
many of the rights that we now recognize, we wouldn't
have these anti discrimination rules. Because the Democrat Party was
the Democrat Party of the KKK. They only embrace blacks
(30:23):
now because they see them as a useful group to
further their agenda. Cognitive elites oftenly the blames they do
for most things at the feed of Trump, Trump's become
their symbol of rudeness and disregard for others, and he
has in some cases made things worse in that regard.
(30:45):
But civic decline predates his ascent to power. In twenty sixteen,
you go back twenty years ago, somewhere between ninety and
ninety five percent of Democrats, Republicans, and independent we're proud
to be Americans. Today, barely a third less than a
(31:07):
third in some polls of Democrats, and about half of
Independence feel proud of this country, even as Republicans are
certainly retaining their patriotic leanings. The legacy I think of
the sixties and popular opposition of the Vietnam Wars critical here.
(31:27):
A lot of protesters from that era became college professors,
who in turn trained the next generation of teachers, journalists,
and bureaucrats, and they in turn started infiltrating the entire
country and spreading their dislike of this country, trying to
get us to a democratic form of government and not
a republican form of government. So we shouldn't be surprised
(31:48):
that patriotic sentiment among Gen Z is now about half
of that of my generation of Baby boomers. So rather
than raise the flag in spite of the country's flaws,
today's elites often view the flag as an emblem of
some sort of fascist repression, willingly calling it that. A
(32:10):
leading organizer of the No King's movement was even urging
Americans to skip the July fourth celebrations last week, calling
the United States a country that does not love you back.
So when they capture the educational bureaucracy. This is especially
true in blue states. That's led to an emphasis on
(32:33):
progressive values over basic civics, and they're being taught that
we're a democracy. I am shocked by students ignorance, confirmed
by national tests results of basic concepts such as the
reasons for, say the electoral college, the three branches of
(32:55):
the tripartite structure of our government, or even the origins
of the United States Senate. Only one in four students
is proficient in civics, and that number is going down
the toilet. This cultural division, it ends up being compounded
by deepening geographic splits that when you look at it
(33:17):
from a thirty thousand foot level, kind of resembles the
Antebellum era. Before the Civil War, the Democrat Party held
seats across the plains in the South well into the eighties.
Today it is essentially a northern urban party. Its power
is concentrated in urban areas, and that's fostered a leadership
(33:40):
class that's typified by fire brands like Jasmine Crockett or
Alexandria Acossia Cortez or the current Democrat nominee for Mayor
of New York, Zoran Mundami. Now, I know the Republicans
kind of celebrate that shift, but we actually ought to
(34:00):
be fearful of that shift. I know that we support
immigration policies, but when I look around the corner, I'm
afraid that many Americans may be eventually turned off by
the idea that we ought to deport people who are
in this country illegally. Notice I didn't say criminal, illegal aliens.
(34:22):
I said that we deport people who are in the
country illegally. Many people begin to WinCE and say, I'm
not really sure that's what I voted for. Well, we
have hard choices to make really hard choices to make
about the future of the country and when when we
live in an age of detachment. I think that detachment
(34:45):
poses a threat to the Republic, and I think that's
one reason we have the bitter bipartisan polarization that we do.
Ordinary Americans aren't just turning away from policy tis, they're
increasingly opting out of the very essence that makes this
(35:05):
country great, marriage, parenthood, the workforce. Do you know that
the share of prime age men not in the labor
force is now three times higher than it was a
mere twenty years ago, and certainly lower than it was
in nineteen forty. People are just checking out, totally checking out.
(35:27):
You can't have civic involvement when people aren't working, when
they're not involved in the day to day You know,
they do they know about what's going on in their neighborhood.
Do they know what's going on with their county commission,
their city council, let alone their state legislature. Again, I
talk about spheres of influence a lot. You ought to
(35:47):
go into your workplace on Monday, find some gen zers
and ask them, hey, where do you live? You know,
not I don't mean your address, but like what area
of the of the city you live in. What's the
big issue in your community? What is it? Is it streets,
is it sewer systems, is it water?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
You'll find they're totally checked out, totally checked out that
unraveling demands our attention is the weekend with Michael Brown.
The text line, as always is open the numbers three three,
Wednesday will three. The keywords are Michael Michael go follow
me on X at Michael Brown USA. We'll be right
back
To night.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA director of
talk show host Michael Brown.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Brownie, no, Brownie, You're doing a heck of a job
the Weekend with Michael Brown.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, we're broadcasting live today from Denver, Colorado, and it's
the Weekend with Michael Brown. Glad to have you joining
the program today. I appreciate you tuning in. You know
the rules of engagement with us me had text message.
The number on your message app is three three one
zero three three three one zero three. Just use the
keyword Mike or Michael. Do me a favor and go
follow me on x at Michael Brown USA. So just
(00:31):
one last comment about Epstein, and then I do want
to move on this. This this example I give you
of Trump building this wall. It's a brick wall, it's
a courtyard. And he started the wall back in twenty sixteen,
and we were making such great progress, and the cabal,
(00:56):
that unholy alliance of the tech giants eats the you know,
the dominant media. The Democrats, they they they don't want
us to live in a republic. They don't want us
to live they want they want us to live in
a democracy. They truly want to want us to live
(01:16):
in Marxism or communism. But the road to getting theirs
is is starts with the off ramp on democracy, and
they keep pushing that. So Trump comes along. Trump is
the disruptor that everybody wanted. Now, he may not have
been the perfect vessel. There are a lot of things
(01:40):
to not like about Donald Trump. You know, I I
found it interesting. I'm just old enough to have lived
through a lot of presidents, and don't they all at
some point become kind of you know, you hear them speak,
and you know most of the time they're they're speaking
(02:00):
from a teleprompter. I never use well, no, in the
past twenty five years, I've never used a teleprompter. I
come on this program and I use notes. I have notes,
I have bullet points, I have things that just reminded
this is what I want to talk about. And everything's extemporaneous.
(02:21):
So I hope, and I know nobody likes her own voice,
but I hope that I put enough emotion and meaning
and belief behind what I say that at least it
makes it interesting to listen to. Many presidents just bather
on and on and on and on, and we reach
(02:42):
a point where we's like, oh my god, it's Lyndon
Johnson talking again. It's that southern drawl. And I'm just
tired here in that southern drawl. Or are we here Nixon?
Or are we here? Eat o Reagan? And you know, well,
you know, and people get tired of Reagan. They get
tired of Bubba, they get tired of Bush, they get
tired of everybody. And there are people are tired of
(03:05):
Trump and the way he speaks and the way he
you know, repeats things over and over and over again.
I get that. I get there that there are things,
little mannerisms, little you know, twitches they have that people
don't like. I get that, but I don't care. I
(03:27):
didn't hire him for the way he dresses. I didn't
hire him for what he eats. I didn't hire him
for the way he speaks. I hired him to be
a disruptor, because I do believe that without some sort
of disruption that while I think I know where the
country is headed, and I do believe the country is
(03:47):
headed to I mean, we're already pretty socialistic, and we're
headed towards some form of Marxism. I don't want that.
I don't want it. For myself, despite however many years
I have left on this planet, however many years I
have left in this form. I don't want that for myself,
(04:07):
but I particularly don't want it for those generations behind me,
particularly my children or my grandchildren. Now my children are grown,
they're they're they're adults. My grandkids not so much. They're
all the way from colleague age down to six years old.
But I feel the same way about your children. I
(04:28):
feel the same way about like some of the people
I work with in this building who are in their
twenties or thirties that I think, you know, I look
at them sometimes and I wonder, what's the world going
to be like with you? Now? There are a lot
of them. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot
of amazing things going on. They're simultaneously scary and amazing.
Artificial intelligence is one of those. I've spent a lot
(04:50):
of time, for whatever reason, for the past couple of
weeks really delving into AI. And while I think it
may have some amazing thing to do in terms of
science and medicine and making us more productive and more efficient,
that means we'll also probably loosen jobs the way we
do some jobs will change, and it's certainly made it
(05:12):
more difficult for me to do my job because when
I go on to do news stories, I start finding
things that you know, and to be quite honest, sometimes
you will send me things that I'll find really fascinating,
and then the more I dig into it, the more
I realize, oh, well, this is this is fake. It's
not true. So it's just a double edged sword. But overall,
(05:37):
from a larger perspective, I worry about where the country's going,
primarily because we have too many people who don't understand
our history, don't understand our own DNA, and don't even
understand our form of government. Those of you who have
listened to me over the years know that I've got
(05:57):
a real bugaboo about the term democracy. Jimmie Raskin, Jamie Raskin,
sometimes I think it's just got to be one of
the dumbest members of Congress around, Democrat from Maryland. Here
he is on some show from the weekend on MSNBC.
(06:23):
This morning, as I'm just putting around the house getting
ready to do some stuff, I'm flipping around through the
channels and I hear.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
This, So let me start at the end of that intro.
And that is on the counture Tom between Attorney General
Pam Bondi and the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who's
calling on her to resign or be fired.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What do you make of this?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, Epstein was a sex offender. He ran a child
sex ring. This is true. Donald Trump and Dan Bongino,
and Cash Puttel and Pam Bondi all were demanding that
these files be released. I echoed that demand during the
Biden administration. Why should the public not have access to them?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
After?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I'm sorry I had the wrong Jamie Maskin audio cued up.
That's not the one I wanted you to hear. Where'd
the one gill that I was going to use? Anyway,
Jamie Raskin talks about how this country is a democracy,
and he just goes on and on about us being
(07:36):
a democracy and we are not congressmen.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You know.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
I want to get to what the Supreme Court justice said, because,
as Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Put it, it is not normal.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
It's not something that we see to have Supreme Court
justices talk about the government, allude to the government, right,
shouldn't get into details, but they often don't even bring
it up. They talk about like our country. That's kind
of this abstract thing that they're worried about. What do
you think it says about where this country is that
the Supreme Court Justice felt the need to say that
she wants people to focus on what's happening within our government.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Well, two remarkable things stand out to me in the
justice's remarks in Indiana.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
One is that it's.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Very clear that Justice Jackson is becoming one of those
rare justices like Justice Scalia or Justice Brennan or Marshall,
who saw themselves not just in their juristic role, but
also in their role as speaking to all of society
about the nature of our constitutional compact. And so she
(08:42):
is stepping out of the role of just being a
judicial interpreter, and like Justice Scalia, somebody who is trying
to speak to society. But the second thing was that
she used the word democracy, which of course the right
wing never uses anymore. They don't believe word democracy. Anytime
you mentioned the word democracy, says we're not a democracy,
We're a republic. Of course, a republic is just a
(09:04):
representative democracy, and we are a representative democracy that has
become far more democratic over time with the expansion of
the franchise to include African Americans and women and eighteen
year olds and so on. We have fought for a
stronger democracy.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
But what she's saying, Wow, So the right wing never
uses the word democracy. They always go to the idea
that we're a republic. Well, yeah, because we're a republic
form of democracy. But we're expanding the use of that
term by including, you know, by expanding the franchise, by
(09:43):
allowing more and more people to vote. What does he
really mean? Hang on, this is the weekend with Michael Brown.
Texta word Michael, Michael, if you get any comments or
questions to this number three three one zero three, let's
see if he really understands what he's saying.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Next.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Hey, so we came with Michael Brown. Glad to have
you with me. I appreciate you tuning in. So we
had Jamie Raskin, this Democrat Congress from Maryland, try to
explain to you that, well, you know, the right wing,
the right wing always says, you know, they always chastise
us when we use the word democracy. Yeah, we do.
And there's a reason for that. Understanding the distinction between
(10:26):
this country being a democracy as opposed to the republic,
which it is is truly essential if you want to
grasp how American government functions and even more importantly, how
our rights as citizens are protected. And the difference is
not just semantic. I'm not just talking about the difference
(10:47):
between well, you can just call it democratic or you
can call it a republic. No, it has real implications
for our laws, for our governance, and for our individual liberties.
So one of those key differences democracy in its purest form,
democracy means just rule by the majority. In a democracy,
(11:13):
citizens have direct input on laws and policies, and the
majorities will prevails. Can you imagine us putting every issue
to the vote of three hundred and fifty nine million
Americans or all those over the age of eighteen, and
(11:33):
then every time, you know, and let's say that we're
true democracy, and so the majority always prevails and citizens
always have the right to bring whatever issues up their
butt right now to the vote of the people. My gosh,
we'd be like a ping pong game. Our heads would
be swiveling back and forth, bouncing back and forth, because
(11:56):
you know, one day the majority would want this, then
next day the majority of want that. The point is,
citizens have direct input on laws and policies and the
will of the majority always prevails. Well, so what would
you would say? Well, that can lead to what is
sometimes called the tyranny of the majority. But what's that
(12:19):
that's where the rights of minority groups are overridden by
popular vote. I can imagine living in a democracy now,
maybe if the democracy was not not even if it
was just us. Even if it was just us, think
about the last hour and the discussion. If you can
(12:41):
see my text line, and you think about the differences
of opinion about the Epstein matter. It's all over the place,
as I suspected it would be. But in so far
as I'm concerned, mission accomplished. Whether you are, whether you
think you are solidly in this position or solidly in
that position. I hope I gave you something to think about.
(13:04):
But let's say we had to take a vote on it.
I could probably get the vote to switch every single
day back and forth. That's the tyranny of the majority.
And you and I in the minority, on any given day,
we lose any voice we have whatsoever, as opposed to
a republic where you and I elect representatives who make
(13:27):
decisions on our behalves. Now crucially, very crucially, a republic
is governed by a constitution or a charter, a document
of some sort that does two things. It limits government
power and it protects individual rights. And most importantly, I
(13:48):
would put it this way, it limits government power and
protects our individual rights, even against the will of the majority.
So those individual rights and liberties that you and I
have in this country are supposed to be sacrisanct. They're
(14:10):
supposed to be immutable, They're supposed to be given. You
can't revote them, you can't limit them. Now we have
over time, I think wrongly limited some of those rights.
But what it does is it protects us against take
(14:31):
the Second Amendment. As much as I believe the Second
Amendment has been eviscerated, and I do believe unconstitutionally over
decades and decades and decades of them trying to whittle
it down, imagine if we just put it to a
vote today, talk about trying to get out the vote.
Let's say out of three hundred and fifty nine million Americans,
(14:51):
let's just say that half of us one hundred and
eighty million Americans are a voting age. Do you think
we would win? You think we would in a second
Amendment vote today, I don't know. I truly don't know,
because there are too many crazies out there. In fact,
I think there are even some conservatives who are just
like you know, gun violence has just got out of control. Now,
(15:14):
I don't think gun violence is out of control, but
I do believe that cabal has led you to believe
that gun violence is out of control. So if we
just left it up to the majority, have that one
hundred and eighty million Americans, oh my gosh, ninety five
million of them or one hundred million of them would
vote that, well, just nobody can own a gun. And
if you think that's far fetched, look at some state laws.
(15:39):
Colorado is a great place to look. We're eviscerating the
Second Amendment in Colorado, California, Washington, d C. Not a state,
but nonetheless a district. You look at some European countries,
you look at Australia, you look at Great Britain. The
tyranny of the majority is scary. And the reason the
(16:02):
distinction is important is protection of individual rights. The rule
of law versus the rule of majority. We have checks
and balances, and in the case of our country, we
have the historical and philosophical roots. The founders of this
country intentionally chose a republic in order to avoid the
(16:26):
instability and the potential for mob rule that you've got
in pure democracies throughout the entirety of the history of mankind.
The founders believe that a constitutional republic was better suited
to protect liberty and to remote stable governance. But you
know there are practical implications too. I think you should
(16:50):
safeguard minority rights. The constitution. The right of judicial review
in our republic serves as a barrier against the oppression
of minority groups by the majority. If you're a minority group,
you should still have the same rights that I do.
No more, no less, but the same rights stable governance.
(17:12):
But lastly, which we'll talk about next, what about civic understanding.
What's happened to civic understanding? It's The Weekend with Michael Brown.
The text line three three one oh three, keyword Mike
or Michael. We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Tonight.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Michael Brown joins me here.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
The former FEMA director of talk show host Michael Brown. Brownie, No, Brownie,
You're doing a heck of a job. The Weekend with
Michael Brown.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Hey, welcome back to the Weekend with Michael Brown, Glad
to have you with me. Jamie Raskin somehow believes that
when we get upset because we refer to ourselves as republic,
he says, well, that's just republic is not understanding what
it really means.
Speaker 5 (17:58):
I Underson, you want to get to what the Supreme
Court justice said, because, as Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Put it, it is not normal.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
It's not something that we see to have Supreme Court
justices talk.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
About the government allude to the government.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Right.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
She didn't get into details, but they often don't even
bring it up. They talk about like our country as
kind of this like abstract thing that they're worried about.
What do you think it says about where this country
is that the Supreme Court Justice felt the need to
say that she wants people to focus on what's happening
within our government.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Well, two remarkable things stand out to me in the
justice's remarks in Indiana. One is that it's very clear
that Justice Jackson is becoming one of those rare justices
like Justice Scalio or Justice Brennan or Marshall, who saw
themselves not just in their juristic role but also in
(18:53):
their role as speaking to all of society about the
nature of our constitutional compact. So she is stepping out
of the role of just being a judicial interpreter and
like Justice Scalia, somebody who is trying to speak to society.
But the second thing was that she used the word democracy,
which of course the right wing never uses anymore. They
don't believe we're a democracy. Anytime you mentioned the word democracy,
(19:17):
the writing who says, we're not a democracy, we're a republic.
Of course, a republic is just a representative democracy, and
we are a representative democracy that has become.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, what's wrong with that is that's just simply not true.
You can say we're a republic republican form of democracy,
but that's only in a very narrow sense that we
elect our representatives in a democratic fashion. We vote. A
(19:49):
democracy is by its very definition, all citizens vote on
issues and the majority rules. In fact, if you want
a narrow down to the very essence, it is majority rules,
and that's it. There is no representation. There is no
(20:09):
republican form of that democracy. It is just simply that
the majority rules, and that's anarchy. Think about your own household.
I'm never in I'm never in the majority where we're
gonna go eat. Everybody else always decides, or what are
(20:29):
we gonna do? Or what movie you're gonna watch, or
what the TV show we're gonna watch? Everybody else decides. Now,
if we were, if my household was a republican form
of government, I would declare myself to be a senator
in that house, and I would represent all of you,
and I get to check, I get to I get
(20:51):
to do the vote. A representative democracy. Oh so it's
still a democracy, but you're just gonna make the decision.
That's in essence what he's saying, and it's insane.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Come far more democratic over time with the expansion of
the franchise to.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Include So all he's thinking about is so we've expanded
the franchise so more people get to vote. And in fact,
according to the Democrats, everybody should vote. Coming to the
country illegally, you ought to be counted in terms of
determining how many congressional seats a state gets. So you know,
everybody try to get as many illegal aliens as you
(21:31):
possibly can, because that's more people in your state, so
you'll get more representatives in Congress. That's their former democracy.
That's insane, utterly.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Insane African Americans and women and eighteen year olds and
so on. We have fought for a stronger democracy.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Little thought experiment, send me a text three three one
zero three keyword mic or Michael. So he talks about
we've expanded the franchise, extending it to women, extending it
to blacks. Have we ever extend do we ever extend
it to Asians? Make sure we get all three races involved?
(22:13):
Do we do that? So what other groups should we
expand the franchise to? How about Well, we've essentially extended
it to non citizens. Well, how about just people in
foreign countries that are interested in US. They just, you know,
they've got some tie they maybe it's someone that actually
(22:35):
lives Let's just you know, they live in Paris, but
they own a business in Cleveland. Well, let's let them vote.
But that would just be expanding the franchise. That's because
they've got business interests here. They had to be able
to vote, right, or tourists just show up an election
day or election week in some cases the election month. Well,
(22:57):
as long as you're in the country, won't you just
vote to It's absurd. It sounds absurd because it is absurd.
So the distinction is important because of protection of individual rights,
the rule of law versus the rule of majority. As
I said, checks and balances. Let's stop there and then
(23:18):
let's get onto the philosophical roots. Our system is designed
with checks and balances, the separation of powers among the
different branches of government. That so that we can prevent
any single group or the majority from graining from gaining
unchecked power. That structure is a hallmark of a republic,
(23:40):
not direct democracy. As I said, the founders intentionally choose
a republic to avoid the instability and the potential for
mob rule that you see in pure democracies that we've
seen through the history of mankind. And I do believe
that's the constitution and judicial review in a republic serves
(24:04):
as a barrier against the oppression of minority groups. As
I said before the break, I think minority groups should
enjoy the same rights the majority does. But a majority
could simply decide that we're the majority, and if you're
not with us, then you don't have the same rights.
That's mob rule. And the republic we're in our two
(24:26):
hundred and fiftieth year, a lot of nations can't claim that,
and it is because of our civic understanding. If you
don't understand the difference between the terms, then that leads
to confusion about how rights are protected and how the
(24:46):
government should actually function. So when you recognize this country
as republic, that helps citizens appreciate the importance of constitutional
limits and the rule of law. So clearly distinguishing between
democracy and republic that's absolutely crucial for understanding our American
(25:07):
system of government. The United States blends elements of both,
but it is as a foundation a constitutional republic. That's
the charter, the constitution, and the republic is by which
we govern ourselves, and that ensures individual rights are protected
from majority over each and that government power is limited
(25:27):
by our laws. And that distinction helps explain why certain
rights and processes are safeguarded regardless of how popular opinion
might shift from one day to the next. Understanding democracy
versus republic, that in and of itself helps shape our
(25:47):
view of our individual rights. And I think this is
where we're starting to lose our individual rights. In a
pure democracy, the majority can directly decide laws and policies,
even if those decisions infringe upon the rights of the
individuals that are in the minority.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Groups.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
In a republic, the government is constrained by the constitution,
and that constitution protects individual rights regardless of the majority opinion.
This means is certain rights such as freedom of speech, religion,
to due process can't be just voted away if that's
what most citizens want. The minority rights and social stability
(26:29):
come about through a republican form of government. But this
is where I think we're losing the republic. You know,
republic requires civic responsibility. A republic requires an understanding of
the distinction, and understanding that distinction encourages citizens to value
(26:51):
our constitutional limits and to be vigilant in protecting our
individual rights, not just for myself, but for all members
of society. And when we do that, that promotes a
deeper appreciation for the balance between majority rule and minority protections,
and that is essential for affair and just society. So
if we understand the difference between a democracy and a republic,
(27:16):
we recognize that individual rights in this country are fundamentally
protected by constitutional law, not merely by the will of
the majority. But the Jamie Raskins of the world and
those who just flippily use the word democracy little by
little demean the meaning of a republic, and pretty soon
(27:39):
people will start demanding, oh, I don't like what Congress
is doing. So rather than changing Congress, they just will
want to slowly progressively merge into a pure democracy, and
mark my words, that would be the end of the
United States of America. Be sure to follow me on
(28:01):
next is that Michael Brown USA, and do me a favorite.
Subscribe to the podcast on your podcast app, search for
the Situation with Michael Brown. When you find that, get subscribed,
leave a five star review, and then that will automatically
download both the weekday program and the weekend program. I'll
be right back. Hey, welcome back to the Weekend with
(28:27):
Michael Brown. Glad to have you with me. Text lines
open number on your Matthew jap is three three ones
zero three. Keyword Micha roor Michael So Jamie Raskin in
declaring that somehow you and I are nutjobs for really
insisting that we recognize that this country is republic instead
of a democracy. One of the intended, I believe, consequences
(28:54):
of that attitude is that patriotism in this country is
sunk to a historic low. There's a Gallop poll out
this shows that national pride is tumbling among Democrats. In particular.
Political polarization has reached a fever pitch in this country,
and each side views the other side not as opponent,
but as enemies. I admit to that. I admit to
(29:19):
seeing Democrats not as individual enemies that I need to
go out and shoot, that they're going to come and
rob me, but enemies of our nation, enemies of our constitution,
enemies of our republican form of government. Since nineteen go
all the way back to nineteen ninety four, Since nineteen
(29:40):
ninety four, the share of Republicans and Democrats who hold
very unfavorable views of the other party has more than
tripled and now makes up a solid majority on both sides.
And I think it is because of this basic misunderstanding
the Democrats have that we are a republican form of
government and they really do want to rule majority. You know,
(30:00):
somebody mentioned on the text line that but for our
republican form of government, blacks would not be able to vote,
women would not be able to vote, we wouldn't recognize
many of the rights that we now recognize, we wouldn't
have these anti discrimination rules. Because the Democrat Party was
the Democrat Party of the KKK. They only embrace blacks
(30:23):
now because they see them as a useful group to
further their agenda. Cognitive elites oftenly the blames they do
for most things at the feed of Trump, Trump's become
their symbol of rudeness and disregard for others, and he
has in some cases made things worse in that regard.
(30:45):
But civic decline predates his ascent to power. In twenty sixteen,
you go back twenty years ago, somewhere between ninety and
ninety five percent of Democrats, Republicans, and independent we're proud
to be Americans. Today, barely a third less than a
(31:07):
third in some polls of Democrats, and about half of
Independence feel proud of this country, even as Republicans are
certainly retaining their patriotic leanings. The legacy I think of
the sixties and popular opposition of the Vietnam Wars critical here.
(31:27):
A lot of protesters from that era became college professors,
who in turn trained the next generation of teachers, journalists,
and bureaucrats, and they in turn started infiltrating the entire
country and spreading their dislike of this country, trying to
get us to a democratic form of government and not
a republican form of government. So we shouldn't be surprised
(31:48):
that patriotic sentiment among Gen Z is now about half
of that of my generation of Baby boomers. So rather
than raise the flag in spite of the country's flaws,
today's elites often view the flag as an emblem of
some sort of fascist repression, willingly calling it that. A
(32:10):
leading organizer of the No King's movement was even urging
Americans to skip the July fourth celebrations last week, calling
the United States a country that does not love you back.
So when they capture the educational bureaucracy. This is especially
true in blue states. That's led to an emphasis on
(32:33):
progressive values over basic civics, and they're being taught that
we're a democracy. I am shocked by students ignorance, confirmed
by national tests results of basic concepts such as the
reasons for, say the electoral college, the three branches of
(32:55):
the tripartite structure of our government, or even the origins
of the United States Senate. Only one in four students
is proficient in civics, and that number is going down
the toilet. This cultural division, it ends up being compounded
by deepening geographic splits that when you look at it
(33:17):
from a thirty thousand foot level, kind of resembles the
Antebellum era. Before the Civil War, the Democrat Party held
seats across the plains in the South well into the eighties.
Today it is essentially a northern urban party. Its power
is concentrated in urban areas, and that's fostered a leadership
(33:40):
class that's typified by fire brands like Jasmine Crockett or
Alexandria Acossia Cortez or the current Democrat nominee for Mayor
of New York, Zoran Mundami. Now, I know the Republicans
kind of celebrate that shift, but we actually ought to
(34:00):
be fearful of that shift. I know that we support
immigration policies, but when I look around the corner, I'm
afraid that many Americans may be eventually turned off by
the idea that we ought to deport people who are
in this country illegally. Notice I didn't say criminal, illegal aliens.
(34:22):
I said that we deport people who are in the
country illegally. Many people begin to WinCE and say, I'm
not really sure that's what I voted for. Well, we
have hard choices to make really hard choices to make
about the future of the country and when when we
live in an age of detachment. I think that detachment
(34:45):
poses a threat to the Republic, and I think that's
one reason we have the bitter bipartisan polarization that we do.
Ordinary Americans aren't just turning away from policy tis, they're
increasingly opting out of the very essence that makes this
(35:05):
country great, marriage, parenthood, the workforce. Do you know that
the share of prime age men not in the labor
force is now three times higher than it was a
mere twenty years ago, and certainly lower than it was
in nineteen forty. People are just checking out, totally checking out.
(35:27):
You can't have civic involvement when people aren't working, when
they're not involved in the day to day You know,
they do they know about what's going on in their neighborhood.
Do they know what's going on with their county commission,
their city council, let alone their state legislature. Again, I
talk about spheres of influence a lot. You ought to
(35:47):
go into your workplace on Monday, find some gen zers
and ask them, hey, where do you live? You know,
not I don't mean your address, but like what area
of the of the city you live in. What's the
big issue in your community? What is it? Is it streets,
is it sewer systems, is it water?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
You'll find they're totally checked out, totally checked out that
unraveling demands our attention is the weekend with Michael Brown.
The text line, as always is open the numbers three three,
Wednesday will three. The keywords are Michael Michael go follow
me on X at Michael Brown USA. We'll be right
back
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