From Executions and Coffee to Testaments of Old And New; Also Vilardebo Again

Episode Transcript
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(01:00):
The All About Nothing podcastmay have language and content that
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Welcome nothingers, to the AllAbout Nothing podcast.
This is episode number 255.
I am Barrett Ruber, joined by Mr.
Bill Frey.
Also returning champion to thepod, Mr.
Matt Velardebo.
Welcome, fellas.
Thank you, Barry.

(01:20):
Good to see you, brother.
I was gonna see who was gonnatalk over who.
That's.
That's also.
That's what I was waiting for.
That's what I wanted.
You can always count on me for that.
That is not a lie either.
Always honest, Matt.
That's always, always Matt.
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(01:42):
an official member, proudlycalling yourself a true nothinger.
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Drop us a like a Follow usacross all the social media and you
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(02:04):
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today@zjzdesigns.com Trust.
I'm not going to do it again.
Trust me.
You want, you won't miss.
You won't.
Trust me.
Did you just get possessed byJoe Biden?
I don't know.

(02:25):
It's entirely possible.
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Where fashion meets fun, nomatter the seasons.
Man, I don't.
I don't get it.
You know what it is?
Honestly, this, this week withwork has been such a absolute shit
show.
We have a.
The project that we're workingon is just all over the place and

(02:46):
we're constantly findingthings that we missed and including
things that I legitimatelymissed this week that, that were
from like March and they cameback up and I missed them and it's
my fault and I take the blamefor it and, but I worked diligently
to try and get those issuesresolved today and it's just been,

(03:06):
it's been absolute shit show.
And, and of course Matt knowslast year during the campaign, the
number of times that I wasn'tAvailable to talk or return an email
or whatever because of work.
You know, it's just crazy.
So before we, before we jumpinto what we're here to discuss this
week, Bill enlightened me.

(03:28):
He's thinking about movingback or out of Columbia.
The price of parking ticketsis just getting too high.
That's what did it.
I'm gonna blame it on that andthat alone.
The only reason.
Isn't it only like 9 or 12bucks for a parking ticket in Columbia?
$25 now and it depends on the infraction.
Yeah, I got a $50 ticket and Iwaged war with Columbia because of

(03:50):
it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's still ongoing.
And I do have an email toMayor Rickman's office.
So potentially get him to, tocome on the show and talk us about,
talk about some of the parkingissues and potentially how we're
going to get that fixed.
Now, Bill, Bill's company,Sugar Fry Baby Sugar Shack.
Baby Sugar Shack is stillgoing to be making appearances in

(04:11):
Columbia.
I know that I have to workwith Alex over at Ever play sports
and social about the nextkickball game and maybe, maybe Sugar,
Sugar Babies Fry Sugar Shacklewill make an appearance.
I hope so.
I would love it.
We will see.
But I am moving out ofColombia most likely in the next,

(04:33):
in the next few months just tosave money.
Basically, I'd love to moveback to Colombia, but for now it's
literally just to save money.
I am really thinking abouttraveling a.
Lot, so I don't blame you.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna take.
I need money for that.
So.
Yeah, I don't see what happens.
I don't blame you.
Matt Velardo.
Bo is back on the show with us.

(04:54):
I am stumbling through words Idon't understand.
Matt Velardebo is back withthe podcast and this is a non candidate,
Matt Velardebo that's joiningus this time.
Matt, Citizen Volardebo, ifyou are Citizen.
Volardebo, less activistVolardebo, but still posting on the

(05:15):
absurdities that are going onin and around us.
And he texted me earlier.
Well, before we get into that,Matt, how is life?
Are things more carefree?
Are they easier?
Things are a bit more carefree.
It's nice to be likeunencumbered from like I put myself
on a.

(05:35):
To a standard.
I think that wasn't fair for along time and so it's like more comfortable.
Like if somebody pisses me offtoo much now, I can indeed tell them
to off.
Yeah, that's True.
And things like that.
So I mean it, it just makeslife a little easier being able to
like dismiss frustrationsinstead of, you know, having to like,

(05:58):
you know, hold people's handsand walk them through and see what
you can do.
But yeah, I mean a little less stressful.
Work's kept me busy as I'llget out.
So that's nice and, but likeyou said, I am watching these folks
like a hawk in the sky.
And the absurdities is a greatway to describe what we're seeing.

(06:21):
South Carolina statelegislature session is over for the
year that is completed.
I think I saw out of some 1800bills that were attempted or something
like that, astronomicalnumber, none of them benefited anyone
in the state of South Carolinaas far as citizens go.

(06:42):
So constant disappointmentfrom the Republican led legislature
in the House and in the Senate.
There were attempts to, andthere were attempts to move the abortion
down to zero day.
I don't think that passed.
But just the sixth week.
Yeah, we're still six weeks inSouth Carolina.

(07:04):
One of the things, and I'mglad that Matt was able to join us
on short notice tonight wasbecause he sent me a text message
of a reaction.
And I won't say who thereaction is of yet, just yet.
We will discuss it, but therewas a execution here in South Carolina
back in April, April 11th.

(07:27):
I'm going to butcher thisname, but South Carolina recently
carried out an execution byfiring squad.
The second in the state'shistory when McCall Mahadi, 42 year
old death row inmate wasexecuted at Broad River Correctional
Institute.
Mahati was convicted for aviolent crime in 2004, a crime spree
that included the murder of anoff duty police officer, Captain

(07:49):
James Myers of Calhoun County.
And Mahati shot Myers multipletimes, doused his body in diesel
fuel, set him on fire days earlier.
He also murdered a conveniencestore clerk in North Carolina.
He was arrested in Floridaafter a multi state manhunt and extradited
back to South Carolina wherehe was sentenced to death in 2006.

(08:10):
I'm not going to say thisisn't a bad guy.
I absolutely, I'm not going tosay this is somebody that was deserving
of some special judgment.
I don't know this individualexcept from the information that
I pulled off of the Internetfrom news stories and things like
that about the crimes that hecommitted and then, and then the,
the, the actual court jury and everything.

(08:34):
So definitely a bad guy.
I will not, I will not besomeone that's like, oh, we should
have, we should have given hima break.
Or whatever.
But he chose his own execution style.
I think the choices are eitherlethal injection, electric chair
or firing squad.
So he chose firing squad.
He expressed concerns aboutpotential for prolonged suffering

(08:57):
from the other methods.
However, it has been deemedafter an autopsy that his execution
went badly.
The autopsy commissioned byhis legal team revealed only two
bullets struck his chest, bothof them missing his heart, causing
him to bleed out over a periodof about 30 to 60 seconds.
Witnesses observed Mahadigroaning and breathing for over a

(09:19):
minute after the shots were fired.
So the execution has promptedcalls for an independent investigation.
Lawmakers, including DemocratJustin Bamberg and Republican Neil
Collins have requested atemporary suspension of the firing
squad execution method untilinvestigators investigations have
concluded their concerns.

(09:40):
Focus inconsistence Focus oninconsistencies in the autopsy, such
as the presence of only twodistinct wounds and insufficient
examination and insufficientexamination of Mahadi's clothing.
Mahadi's execution was thefifth in South Carolina in under
eight months and the 12thnationwide in 2025, highlighting
a resurgence of capitalpunishment in the United States.

(10:04):
So all of that said, I get atext message with what is the reaction
of one of our local stateSenate State Representatives, Mr.
Brandon Guffey, who has beendiscussed on this podcast before
as being an unforgiving andpotentially hateful individual.

(10:30):
Purely if you can go check outhis social media.
I mean, he absolutely posts.
Everything is availablepublicly to go look at.
And it also give him a realkick to know that people are looking
at it because this is anarcissist of a level 34, I think.
So he's like, he'll like if hefinds out you posted about him and

(10:50):
didn't tag him.
That's his lead in with hisfrustration with you.
He's like, it'd be nice if youtagged me so I could answer this.
Really?
That's your problem, bro.
You want to like move yourthing up the list.
That is some seriousnarcissism, like sociopathic.
So he posted this earlier today.

(11:11):
He said, before you start,this is Brandon Guffey again, representative
in the State House from theRock Hill area.
He says, quote, before youstart emailing me, complaining about
the man who chose firing squadas his form of execution, you might
want to ask the families ofthe ones he murdered if they cared
that he suffered during execution.

(11:32):
Me personally?
Nah, bro.
Not quite certain why, assomeone that as someone that has
lost a child, do you think Icare about the suffering of a criminal?
My request would be to allowthe loved ones to fire the shots.
He had a choice, which is morethan he Deserved, in my opinion.

(11:54):
Yeah.
And then the comments thatfollow that post are really awful,
too.
I mean, it only got worse from there.
He's it as.
And one of the things thatI'll just say, he touted himself
as being, you know, a Christian.
Christian.
Christian Christianity, ofcourse, based off of Jesus Christ,

(12:16):
which I have.
I have so many issues withthese evangelical Christians or these
Christians that get to chooseback and forth which versions of
the Bible they want to follow.
So obviously, Brandon Guffeyhas this idea that if you commit
a crime or if you commit amurder or you commit a crime, then

(12:39):
those things should be equallycommitted on you, which is Old Testament.
So I pulled up specificallythe Old Testament chapters and verses.
So Exodus 21:24 is, eye for aneye, tooth for a tooth, hand for
a hand, foot for foot.
Leviticus 24:20, fracture forfracture, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth.
Just as he has injured a man,so it shall be inflicted on him.

(13:03):
And then Deuteronomy 19:21,show no pity, life for life, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, handfor hand, foot for foot.
So I know you guys have had adecent amount of theology in your
lives off your experience.
In your opinion, what does theNew Testament say, the one that scores
the life of Jesus Christ?

(13:25):
What does the New Testamentsay about this.
Decidedly different view of it?
I mean, because, like, Jesusshows up and Jesus is love.
Jesus suffered on the cross toforgive us for our sins that we're
born with.
Y' all.
Right.
So anyway, I digress.
Bill.
Yeah, no, Jesus says to turnthe other cheek.

(13:46):
And I mean, even.
Even with all that, I mean,the way we treat our criminals, like,
yeah, some of these criminals,like, if anybody, like, if something
happened to you, you'd want todo something to them beyond harm.
But that's kind of the reasonwe have the entire judicial system
is so that you won't just killsomeone in retaliation, but instead,

(14:09):
collectively as society, judgesomeone based on their actions and
hopefully rehabilitate theminto society.
Now, some things like this, Idon't know if you can.
You would need to do.
They would need some other thing.
But I'm personally against thedeath penalty for.
For those reasons.
I mean, yeah, I love to.

(14:31):
If someone did somethingterrible to my mom or my brother
or my dad or something likethat, I would in my heart want to
do them harm.
But I think we have ways tohandle this as a society.
Yeah, no, I don't disagree.
And detention centers andjails and prisons and things like

(14:51):
that, you know, currently theyare not the Rehabilitation centers
that they were 50, 60, 70years ago.
They are, they are, well, big business.
Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say that.
In my opinion they'rebasically modern day slavery.
Because if you are someonethat goes into the prison system,
the prisons themselves, wehave no federal federally operated

(15:11):
prisons in the United States anymore.
They are all corporately ownedand operated and they receive tax
money to operate those facilities.
But then they also turn aroundand use those prisoners that again,
they're criminals, they'vebeen found guilty of a crime that
has put them there.
But they also use thosecriminals to do things like textiles

(15:35):
and installations and they'rebeing used for road construction.
They're under bidding.
Like there are corporationsthat are using prisoners for road
construction that are underbidding contractors for companies
that have legitimatelyunpersecuted individuals that could

(15:56):
have these jobs.
But yet this is what we'redoing and not focusing on the rehabilitation,
we're just focusing on usingthese prisoners.
And the majority of theindividuals per capita that are convicted
and imprisoned in the UnitedStates are for minor drug offenses.

(16:19):
Like it's not.
We don't have prisons full of,you know, serial killers and murderers.
We have prisons full of peoplethat carried more than 2 ounces of
marijuana on them.
You know, this is what we're doing.
And carrying marijuana to meis not a crime divert deserving of
prison.

(16:39):
This, it's just insanity to me.
I mean Henry McMaster admittedto smoking marijuana before.
I mean, yeah.
With George Washington.
Right.
I mean.
Yeah.
And I mean so for me it's youknow, we know like anybody who's
like sat through like youknow, high school, juvenile delinquency

(17:03):
or criminology.
Right.
Knows.
Right.
The death penalty is not a deterrent.
It's more expensive to putsomebody on death road and to lock
them away for life.
And all these otherstatistics, like known facts, things
we know are real.
And I just thought that waslike such a weird stance to take

(17:24):
for one of our elected officials.
I mean he's also the directorof communications for the Republican
House caucus.
Right.
So I mean, which is crazy because.
He speaks like a 14 year oldedge Lord.
Yeah.
Like him within his party.
So, you know, I don't know, Ijust don't feel like that's a good
sentiment.
And I don't, I thought hewould actually pull it due to.

(17:46):
But when I saw the comments Iwas like, well there's no reason
for him to pull this.
I mean they're ready to throw them.
A parade for saying yeah, Iwas going to say we'll we'll, we'll
just say that because I wenton, looked and read some of the comments,
and I am disgusted by some ofyour neighbors, Matt.
Just.
I'm floored.
I'm floored at how, how, howthey can show such a.

(18:08):
Again, disregard.
Yeah, yeah.
Human life, like.
And that's like my thing thisis about, you know, we'll probably
dig more into these other twonames I'm about to drop later.
But there's a reason we'reAmerica and we're the best, right?
It's because we're not likeSaudi and Qatar.
We're not lopping off heads in stadiums.
We're not, you know, lockingyou up, you know, for weird, you

(18:31):
know, religious crimes andmoral turpitude crimes.
You know, we're better thanthem, right?
We're always us versus them.
You know, this country'sbetter than them.
And that sort of rhetoric andmentality and, you know, the influence
he has over people, it.
It's a dangerous game to spewstuff like that.
It's disappointing.

(18:53):
I mean, for the most part, Imean, you know, there's been times
him and I have had some prettyheated, you know, whatever between
us, but for the most part, heknows he can count on me to, like,
be proper in public.
I always greet him with ahandshake and how you doing?
And, you know, I do hate whatthis guy went through, but, I mean,

(19:13):
he doesn't get carte blotchto, like, do and say what he wants
because he had to endure a trap.
One of the worst tragedies aparent could endure.
I mean, you gotta.
I mean, there's like a linewhere somebody has to go, you know.
Yeah, and brakes, buddy.
I mean, back it off a little.
And not to go into it, butBrandon Guffey did lose his son to

(19:35):
a suicide.
And that is absolutely one ofthe tragedies that being a parent
is absolutely.
One of my greatest fears isthe idea that either I didn't see
something in my own child orthe idea that they didn't feel like
they could talk to me or cometo me for support in some way, or

(19:57):
that I've given them some sortof vibe that I don't want to help
them with their problems andthe only way out for them is to take
their own life.
So ultimately, what BrandonGuffey went through with his son,
I absolutely feel awful about.
And no parent should have togo through that.
And I hope no parent does gothrough it.
I know there will be.
I mean, we have a countryright now that is so Focused on finding

(20:22):
the imperfections withchildren and not, and, and, and not
taking those imperfections andsaying, these are all these are.
This is what makes themdifferent and beautiful versus, you
know, this is an imperfectionthat ultimately we need to draw attention
to.
And, and there's some sort of this.
Idea that access to socialmedia is a.
Has been a tremendous missiveas a society.

(20:45):
My kids never had it, but Isee that.
And.
Oh, man, I, I, you know, Ithink parents need to exercise.
We talk about parental rightsin schools.
Parents need to exercise morerights over their kids and yeah,
you know, restrict theirscreen time and like, it's just too
much out there.
And like, they don't have thecritical thinking skills yet to discern

(21:08):
truth from fiction.
They get caught up insextortion scams.
I mean, we really, we need.
It's a predator's playgroundon the Internet.
We know.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And also, I mean, I'm not aparent, but I do know.
It should be clear to your children.
Bill, I totally thought youwere gonna say I'm not a parent,
but I play one on tv.

(21:30):
Well, I mean, it seems likejust such an important conversation
to have with your kids to makesure that if they come across something,
which I don't know this wholesituation, but I do know the specific
detail of if they come acrosssomething or if something makes them
question or they don't knowfact or fiction, that you yourself
have to be an individual tomake them know that if there's something
wrong to come to you, to feel comfortable.

(21:52):
Yeah.
Do you know, always, alwaysmake your kids recognize that you
are a safe space and that theycan tell you anything that they need
to.
That there is no situationthat is.
There is no situation that,that they can't come to you with
ultimately is the biggest thing.
Also, just in contrast to theMosaic laws from the Old Testament,

(22:16):
It's Matthew, Matthew 5, verse38, 39.
That the quote is.
You have heard that it wassaid, eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.
But I tell you, do not resistan evil person.
If anyone slaps you on theright cheek, turn to the.
Turn to them the other cheek also.
So, you know, that's the.
That's the turn the other cheek.

(22:36):
And so one of the, One of thethings that bugs me so much is how
Christianity, of course, beingbuilt mostly off of the teachings
of Jesus Christ, how selectiveEvangelicals, Republicans, GOP Maga,
whatever, that they can just.

(22:57):
They can jump over to the OldTestament and be like, you know,
that this is.
This is this is what we shouldlive by, except in the situation
where Jesus said something else.
But like, you know, because ifthe Republican Party were the Christian
church or the Christianembodiment of what Jesus Christ taught,

(23:23):
it would be the DemocraticParty as far as I'm concerned.
Because Democrats, while Iknow that they flounder and they
fail in a lot of theirapproach and messaging and how they
recognize the working classand how, you know, that's not to
say all of them, but from a.
Nationally, they, they, theyhave, they have really faltered in

(23:44):
the last 20 years on, ontrying to show that they are the
party of, of the poor and ofthe middle class and the workers
and you know, the labor unionsand things like that.
They have, they have reallylost sense of that.
Especially when we haveleadership that is in the Senate
and in Congress or the Housethat are making millions and millions

(24:07):
of dollars.
We, we, we can go and look atthe records of, of, of, you know,
the Nancy Pelosi's that havemade millions and millions of dollars
during their time as a, as arepresentative from California on
everything from, well, wellinformed stock trades.
I'm not saying that she hascommitted any or broken any laws,

(24:28):
but, you know, do your ownresearch on that.
I do my own research, Bear.
I feel like I should snort aline of Ivermectin as I say that.
Oh gosh, that is the secondtime this week Ivermectin has been
brought up.
And you know that we were hearing.

(24:51):
That so much during COVID I domy own research, bro.
All right, cool.
I remember you barely gotthrough high school, so I know the
quality of research you'reprobably putting into this.
It's top notch stuff.
Yeah, Facebook really sets mestraight on the whole Ivermectin
thing.
That's a lot of people'sresearch apparently.

(25:12):
But yeah, go ahead, Bill.
I'm sorry, I don't know.
I do feel like.
I don't know.
I do see what you mean aboutthe Democratic Party being more,
I, I would, I would give themcredit to being more tolerant.
But both parties, in my, in myview are, they claim to be on that,

(25:33):
on that side.
But I think if a criticalthinking evangelical Christian looked
at what the two parties weredoing, they would realize they're
both just trying to takeadvantage of people.
But that's just my view.
No, you're absolutely correct.
And it's, it's, it'sfrightening that neither party seems
to be able to recognize whatthey're doing wrong or the hypocrisy

(25:57):
that they're suffering from.
Yeah, like Democrats.
I feel like if you're gonna befor solving poverty issues, if you're
gonna be for solving socialissues alongside economic issues,
you have to kind of drive.
Just feels like they're notblatant about it as like they should.

(26:18):
And I feel like Republicansare blatant in the way that they
talk about Old TestamentChristianity, which I feel like is
the reason why they've won theChristian right is because Democrats
don't do that.
I, if, if you, if youunderstand what, what I'm getting
at.
Yeah, I, I can tell you sofrom, you know, an observation I

(26:39):
had is this year after,earlier on in the year, for a few
months, I was on a projectwhere I was going to Duke Energy
operations centers around theCarolinas, north and south, and all
of these have like, IBEWunions on site, International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, one ofthe biggest unions in the country,

(27:00):
short of the Teamsters.
So.
But you go through the parkinglot and all you see are Trump stickers
on trucks.
And, you know, so thatdisconnect, we got to fix that.
And I remember talking to thatabout with friends of mine who are
like union leaders in SouthCarolina said that's, that we gotta
fix that because we gotworking class folks that think that

(27:21):
just because Donald Trump actslike an asshole, he's going to go
fight for them to get moremoney in their paycheck and protect
their union standing.
This guy wants to do away with unions.
He's consistently shown us, ifyou look at every, like, issue he's
nipping at, there's somehistorical reference for why he's
picking on them, whether it bePanama with this failed Trump Tower

(27:43):
thing in Panama, or whether itbe, you know, he sees real estate
dollars in Gaza.
You know, there's something, Imean, he still hates Jon Bon Jovi
because of the Buffalo Bills, right?
Yeah.
So I can't wait for him to,like, come after Jon Bon Jovi with
legislation.
All my Gen X moms are going tobe super pissed.

(28:04):
Well, and this week, BruceSpringsteen in his, in his first,
in the opening of his firstnight on tour in Europe, Bruce Springsteen
came out, and I don't have thewhole script, but basically came
out and said that he's appalled.
You know, I'm paraphrasingthat, that he's so disappointed in
what his country, the countrythat he's loved, the country he sang

(28:26):
about and wrote songs aboutfor more than 250 years, has, has
made such a change because ofthe administration.
One of the, one of the thingsI was going to bring up tonight was
the Supreme Court is hearingarguments on this birthright citizenship.
And ultimately, I don'tunderstand why it is that Donald

(28:47):
Trump and like, I understandwhat the end goal is, I think, but
I don't understand the passionbehind ending birthright citizenship.
So just out of curiosity, youguys know how many countries have
a unconditional birthright citizenship?
Just curiosity.
Probably 1 21.

(29:11):
The United States, Canada,Mexico, Brazil, Argentina.
You thought I was going tostart singing Animaniacs, didn't
you?
Yeah.
United States, Canada, Mexico,Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia,
Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay,Panama, Paraguay, all.
Of South America and Central America.
Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, ElSalvador, Guatemala.
Well, because they mirroredafter us.

(29:32):
Yeah.
Guatemala, Nicaragua,Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and
Tobago.
So there are also countriesthat have conditional birthright
citizenship.
So in France, children born inFrance to noncitizen parents can
acquire citizenship at the ageof 18 if they live there most of
their lives.
In Germany, you can be grantedcitizenship if you were born in Germany
of, and at least one of yourparents has legal residency.

(29:55):
Fourth for a set period, Australia.
A child born in Australiabecomes a citizen only if at least
one parent is a citizen orpermanent resident.
And in the United Kingdom nolonger has full birthright citizen
citizenship.
A child must have at least oneBritish or settled parent.
And then India, Ireland, NewZealand and Malta have all abandoned

(30:17):
any sort of unconditionalbirthright citizenship, conditional
or unconditional.
So you have to apply forimmigration status and then, and
then you have to become acitizen if, you know, you have to
make that choice.
A thing that makes Americagreat and a melting pot.
I mean, that's just.
I mean, that's just who we are.

(30:38):
We were founded on immigration.
I mean, that's the whole, thewhole point, though.
I just, I don't know what he'strying to.
I was reading a lot of textearlier and it's.
It's infuriating.
The good news.
Yeah, the good news is, isthat it does seem as though.
It does seem as though theSupreme Court does seem to be pushing

(31:03):
back on this and inretaliation of what it sounds like,
because I think Amy ComeyBarrett came at it pretty hard.
But Trump's basically Trump ina true social posted, and this is
a quote, birthrightcitizenship was not meant for people
taking vacations to becomepermanent citizens of the United

(31:23):
States of America and bringingtheir families with them all the
time, laughing at the suckersthat we are.
He said the United States ofAmerica is the only country in the
world that does this for whatReason, nobody knows, but the drug
cartels love it.
We are, for the sake of beingpolitically correct, a stupid country.
But in actuality, this is theexact opposite of being politically

(31:46):
correct and is yet anotherpoint that leads to the dysfunction
of America as conclusive proof.
The Civil war ended in 1865.
The bill went to Congress lessthan a year later in 1866, and was
passed shortly after that.
I'm dumbfounded by hisignorance of history.
Like, he says all these things.

(32:08):
And there are.
I have seen posts on Facebookof acquaintances that are basically
jumping on the same bandwagonand are like, yeah, birthright citizenship
absolutely should not besomething that's available just for
somebody because they're bornhere within the boundaries of the
United States.
I mean, I, I don't understandbecause I know several of them were

(32:31):
born here when their parentscame to the United States.
Therefore, their citizenshipcould be in question because they
were born of people not borninside the borders of the United
States.
And I don't understand howthey disconnect themselves from reality
so much that they would bewilling to throw out their own citizenship

(32:55):
purely out of hate.
I guess it's hate or justdisgust over that there's somebody
at the supermarket that mightnot be speaking English within earshot
of them.
Yeah.
Trump's a germaphobe that isscared of those dirty brown and black
people.
I mean.
Weird.

(33:15):
And I mean, he has left uswith, like, a plethora, a bounty
of, like, things to cover inthe news.
I mean, reporters are staying busy.
Yeah.
With Trump in office.
Yeah.
Amy Comey Barrett stepped induring the White House's or Donald
Trump's, I guess, givingevidence to the Supreme Court?

(33:39):
She said, she said to his, hislawyer said sour.
He said, sir, are you reallygoing to answer Justice Kagan by
saying there's no way to dothis expediously?
As far as.
Let me just read the.
Let me just read it, becausethat's out of context.
Supreme Court Justice AmyComey Barrett ripped into President
Donald Trump's SolicitorGeneral on Thursday in disrespecting
one of the higher court'sliberal justices.

(34:01):
Now, this was, this was duringthe arguments over the birthright
citizenship.
So I don't know where AmyConey Barrett is going to fall on
this.
I don't know where the otherjustices are.
But this, I think, as far asconstitutionally, it's written the

(34:21):
way it is, and I don't knowthat there's much ability to divert
from what the Constitution says.
I'll pull that up real quick.
But what is it?
The.
What amendment is.
It's the 14th amendment or the16th amendment.
No, I can't.
You know what?
It's not.
That's my own.

(34:42):
That's my own failings.
I should know that better.
Show prep Gruber.
I'm pretty sure it's the 14th,but basically, that's where.
Yeah, that is where birthrightcitizenship basically comes in.
Because ultimately.
And then we fall into the.
The whole part of this.
This idea of habeas corpus anddue process being available to people

(35:07):
born.
So that's one of the thingsthat I have a hard time wrapping
my head around.
Regardless, out theresuspending habeas corpus.
Yeah.
And they feel like we're being.
It's like we're under attackby the border crisis.
Yeah.
And ultimately bordercrossings are down, like, exponentially.

(35:27):
They are down a lot.
And then I think.
I think I read.
I think I just read today thatit sounds like, is Donald Trump going
to be welcoming a cartelmember or the former leader of a
cartel into.
He got a whole family ofcartel members over the border.

(35:49):
I mean, I want to share.
While we're talking about theborder, I want to share with you
something really cool.
Well, I know a reporter who'sgoing to be going to, like, cover
the border for a few weekshere and at the end of May, and I
want to bring him on camerareal quick and introduce the world

(36:10):
to.
This is my son, Clark.
Say hi, Clark.
Hi.
Ladies and gentlemen,journalist of the year for South
Carolina.
And he's been selected to goon a trip down to the border to check
out what's going on.
How is.
So just purely out ofcuriosity, Clark, what are your.

(36:34):
What is it you're feeling asfar as making that trip?
Like.
Like, is there anxiety?
Are you.
What's going on in your head?
I mean, there is always goingto be, like, a little bit of anxiety
when it comes to a trip likethat, but for the most part, I'm
feeling really confident.
I'm going with a group ofmissionaries who've been doing it

(36:54):
for a while now.
And it's a pressure.
It's the.
It's a Presbyterian church, sothey're very progressive.
Okay.
So.
And the re.
And the purpose of the missionis for immigration and border purposes,
to learn from the communitiesin Mexico.
One of the big things we'll bedoing is planning across at the spot

(37:17):
where a guy died trying tomigrate last year.
So, yeah, stuff like that.
That's really exciting.
That's.
That's exciting.
I'm going definitelymissionaries like the whole purpose
is to cover the border.
Where in where on the borderdid you know exactly where it is

(37:38):
that you're going to be going?
Yeah, it's Agua Prieta.
It's literally a hop skip overthe border from Douglas, Arizona.
Okay.
Textbook definition of aborder town.
Yeah, I will.
I.
I am absolutely of the opinion that.
That a country should have theright to defend its borders.
Illegal immigration does notdo any favors for the United States,

(38:02):
and you'll never hear me sayanything to the contrary of that.
I absolutely believe that ifyou want to come to the United States,
that there should beavailability for proper ways to enter
the United States.
I don't even have an issuewith having a border wall.
I don't have an issue in areaswhere you want to dissuade people
from potentially harmingthemselves from trying to make crossings
in places where you could.

(38:23):
Because it's not just, youknow, the worst of Mexico and South
American and Central American countries.
It's families of women andchildren and grandparents.
You know, I would prefer todissuade them from crossing just
anywhere and potential.
But you have to haveimmigration policies in place, and

(38:46):
you have to have court judgesthat will.
That will move through the process.
One of the reasons that wehave so many people trying to make
the crossings on their own isbecause we don't have a streamlined
system available for people tobe able to become.
To gain access to the United States.
That's a bipartisan failure.
That's everybody's fault.

(39:07):
Exactly.
The Republicans have now beenin control for almost, what, four
months, five months, and stillI've not even heard a single mention
of how they're going toimprove the asylum process, how they're
going to improve theimmigration process.
I haven't heard anything aboutpotentially bringing on new judges
that could go through thebacklog of cases of people trying

(39:32):
to at least gain access to theUnited States by getting visas.
It's just absurd to me that,that this is the process.
And ultimately, I think thatDonald Trump's administration just
wants to cut off the bordercompletely, except to the people.
And I say exception.
There are exceptions becausethis week we brought over white refugees

(39:53):
from South Africa that werebeing persecuted and their land stolen
in South Africa.
It's too good.
I'm dumbfounded.
I'm gonna.
If, Clark, if you want to go,you can say goodbye to everybody.
Thanks, Clark.

(40:13):
Hey, we'll.
We'll check in on you if youwant to.
We'll.
We'll arrange it so we cancheck in on you while you're down
there.
Well, yeah, I was gonna sayI'll be.
I actually just got rehired.
It was a formality thing,really, but I still had to go through
the process.
I'm back as editor in chieffor Winthrop's newspaper.
Oh, congratulations.
Access to the socials.
Now I have access.

(40:33):
I have had access, but I'mtrying to be a good person and stay
away from it because I'm nottechnically hired yet, but now that
I am.
So I'm gonna start postingabout the trip either tomorrow or
Monday.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Johnsonian.
Facebook and Instagram.
We will look for that as well.
Thank you, Clark.
Appreciate it.

(40:55):
Yeah.
The politician's son is a journalist.
Who figured.
Well, that just means you'renot safe, you know?
Yeah.
There's nothing.
There's nothing that you can'tget away with anymore.
So.
Yeah, I thought you.
I would.
I'm.
I think, you know, I'm just,like, over the moon, proud of him
for all he's accomplished andas a.
As a journalist and what he'sdone with the Johnsonian is, like,

(41:19):
nothing short of miraculous.
Yeah, no, that's exciting.
Through listening to otherpeople, like, describe what great
things your child has done.
I mean, I couldn't stop crying.
I was just, like, so caught upin that.
That's awesome.
That is really awesome.
I assume.
I assume the wife is excited also.

(41:39):
Want to.
If we haven't brought it upbefore, which I think we have.
Your daughter is in the Navy.
How is that going?
It's going good.
You know, it's going good.
She loves it.
We're very limited in what wecan talk about anymore.
Sure, sure.
I get that.
We can talk about her being inthe Navy, and she loves it.

(42:01):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
I mean, you know, that's.
That's.
Excuse me.
She was just in town last week.
We got to go out to have aMother's Day dinner with the four
of us before she went back.
Very lovely.
So.
And she's relatively close tous now, so she can make like, you
know, she can come for acouple days if she gets any liberty.

(42:22):
So she loves it where she's at.
Like I said, she's closer tous now, and she's in a part of the
country she really likes.
That's awesome.
One of the reasons that Mattis here also is because, of course,
the President is on a MiddleEastern trip through some of the
countries that are our allies.

(42:43):
We are technically allies with them.
We are.
We do have treaties that makeus allies.
Saudi Arabia is one of theplaces, Matt, that you have been
to many times with some of, inyour job experience.
So I have not been to Saudi Arabia.
I have been to the United Arab Emirate.

(43:05):
I have flown the uae.
I have flown into the UAE onceon a layover to India, which was
lovely.
I was treated like a king.
My group and I were picked upin what can only be described as
the most lavish Lamborghinitaxi I have ever seen in my entire

(43:27):
life.
You don't get that in Saudi.
No, no, that was, that was in Dubai.
That was Dubai.
It was, it was fascinating.
Also Learned that my six footone frame in that in those years
in 2009, I am, I am not theright size for a Lamborghini.

(43:50):
It's not a, it's not acomfortable ride.
But one of the things that Iwanted to ask you about is have you
ever had that, the coffeeceremony that, that, that was, that
that occurred for DonaldTrump, who did not drink coffee.
And he's notoriously known assomebody that doesn't drink coffee.
So I have sat through multiplecoffee ceremonies.

(44:13):
I did.
I went.
So one of my favorite storiesto tell is when I had to go to the
hospital in Saudi.
And keep in mind I was in avery remote part of Saudi.
I was in like redneck Saudi Arabia.
I wasn't in like Riyadh orJeddah or some big opulent city.
I was in tariff.
So I had to go to thehospital, get my blood type confirmed.

(44:35):
And while I was there, one ofthe guys who was like an administrator,
Western educated, comes, opensthe door and he's just like in these
gorgeous white flowing robes.
And, you know, I'm easy to recognize.
Not only am I an American, butI'm a very redheaded blue eyed American.
I don't look like the rest ofy' all.

(44:57):
So he calls me over.
Amariki.
Amariki.
And he invites me in hisoffice and we have coffee and dates.
That coffee is called gala andit is green unroasted coffee beans
that they make that coffee with.
It is gross.

(45:19):
And I can't.
I love coffee.
I love coffee.
I'm a.
I mean, I cannot functionwithout coffee on the daily.
And I, I had to.
You know, I always say I haveto power stuff down like a python
if I don't like it.
I have an ability to just kindof give a swallow on things that
are unappetizing.
And I was just taking bigslugs of that coffee.
I, I couldn't put enough honeyin it and it was still bitter.

(45:42):
So, yeah, And I've beenthrough a more formal.
Like, I was over there formultiple Es and multiple Ramadans,
so I was there for a lot ofiftars, which is that meal where
you.
After your fast that you have.
Yeah.
So, you know, they're veryceremonial over there.
And that's.

(46:02):
I mean, Trump loves ceremonyand pomp and circumstance.
If you remember back in Trump1.0, he went over there and they
did the sword dance for him and.
And the glowing orb, too.
Yeah.
He played with the or, butthey did the sword dance.
And I've.
I've seen the sword dance.

(46:23):
I remember we had the.
The king came to visit ourplant one time and they made, like
a big do of it.
So.
But yeah, that Trump.
That country is full of Trumps.
I always try to explain thatto people as a reference.
I'm like, it's.
Imagine a whole country fullof Donald Trump's.
I mean, he's like, really,like, over the top entitled.

(46:45):
You know, it's a theocratic monarchy.
I mean, freedom's not reallysomething they know about over there.
There's no real poverty.
Everybody's getting oil money.
They just get certain levelsof it.
They got thousands of princesin that country.
Yeah.
So, I mean, it's like, it's anentitlement country.
A whole.
I mean, they don't do any oftheir own anything.

(47:07):
I mean, the least thing Iwould be scared of is the Saudi Arabian
army or military coming.
So that's something I didn'treally know.
So in Saudi Arabia, therereally isn't poverty?
No.
I mean, I never saw, like, home.
The Bedouins live out in thedesert, but they're not homeless.
They're Bedouins.
That's what Bedouins do.
Bedouins are going to Bedouin.

(47:27):
I know.
I know that just fromexperience, from some of the people
that I work with that theyhave or they know of people that
have gone to work on some of the.
I guess some of theconstruction and whatnot that goes
on in Saudi Arabia becausethey're constantly building up.
They're.
They're based.
They're building into thePersian Gulf.
I'm sorry, is it still thePersian Gulf?

(47:48):
We haven't changed that yet.
So there's the Arabia.
So there's always been theArabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia.
He's like, trying to start aproxy culture war between the Persians
and the Arabs.
Right.
Because, I mean, don't call.
I mean, don't call an Arab aPersian and a Persian an Arab.
You're going to catch mighty.
I mean, those are two totallydifferent cultures.

(48:09):
They really speak twodifferent languages.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, that was.
He.
That was like a.
He did that with ill intent,for sure.
Well, everything he does isfor ill intent.
I don't.
Yeah, but I mean, that was pretty.
I saw that and I was like,what is he doing?
I mean, that's a way toinflame things over there.
It seems little to us, butover there, that is freaking huge.

(48:32):
One of the things that.
From co workers that I've hadover the years, one of the things
that they've alwaysacknowledged was that if you are
from.
If they will hire forconstruction, people from outside
of Saudi Arabia, Indians and.
Filipinos and Chinese, North Koreans.
You'll see actual NorthKoreans over there.

(48:53):
But once you get there, theavailability to get out becomes very
cloudy.
So there is a class of peoplethere that are not Saudi Arabians.
So I guess they wouldn't fitthat as far as potentially being
in poverty.
But.
But there are sections of.

(49:15):
Close to where constructionsites are going on that these individuals,
they'll come to work there,but then they can't leave because
their visas get mismanaged.
And they will hold you incountry, like, if you're on a labor
contract with them and you tryand you're like, man, I can't do
this anymore.
I'm headed back to Bangladesh.
They will hold you.

(49:36):
Yeah.
And incarcerate you possiblyuntil that contract is fulfilled
one way or the other.
Yeah.
And when I say there's nopoverty, I mean there's no Saudi
poverty.
Right.
That's.
That's what I was getting.
You know, the labor class.
I mean, it's a sharp dividefrom the ruling to the labor class
there.
And there's a hierarchy.
It's like, you know, theSaudis, other Muslim cultures that

(49:59):
aren't, you know, I can giveyou a list of countries that they
look down on, but I don't knowif I want to go there.
But there are.
So you're talking like yourJordanians, your Kuwaitis, your Qataris,
your Emiratis.
So Saudis, other Muslims,Americans, other Westerners, Saudi
women.
And then like, all the othersare way down there.

(50:22):
I mean, yeah, you can get a.
You can move to some positionof prestige as an Indian over there,
but some of these othercountries, I mean, most.
Their child care labor forcein Saudi is Filipino women.
A lot of kids from the Middleeast were raised by Filipino nannies.
Yeah.

(50:42):
So.
And they have, like, you know,I remember.
So where I worked, it was new.
So they Built the plant andbrought in everybody and put us in,
like, you know, little FEMAtrailers and camps.
And it was nice for me.
I mean, I had my own trailer,but they were building like a whole
industrial city there.
And as that was going up, wewould go look because everything's
tiered there.

(51:03):
There's hard, rigorous tears.
So we went and looked at someof the houses that some of us would
actually qualify for.
And man, these houses werejust so nice.
But they had a living quartersfor house staff or servants, nanny,
whatever.
And it was literally, it waslike something you would see in,
like, a museum of slavery from the.

(51:23):
You know, it was like a closetwhere you could squeeze in a single
bed and, you know, maybe alittle plastic, you know, dresser.
So not poverty, but definitelya lower class.
And yeah, they wouldn't, like,let the Indians or anybody else,
like one of those.
They wouldn't just, like, letthem set up a tent city.
I mean, they'll help them to the.

(51:44):
To the least of theirobligation, but again, they do it.
It's just different over there.
Again, the whole, like,religious monarchy thing is, you
know, there's not freedomthere and you have to be careful
about what you say and do.
Yeah, absolutely.
And especially me.
I remember we had a gay guy onour staff, and I mean, a lot of us

(52:08):
were legit worried for him,but he.
He was.
He spoke Arabic, so they seemto, like, leave him alone.
So as somebody says, illegalover there.
But being gay and speakingArabic as a Westerner, I guess that
gives you, well, a little leeway.
Was Lebanese or something.
He was raised in.
In Lebanon as a child andmoved to America, expatriated to

(52:34):
America and was western raised.
I mean, he had no hint of anaccent, but he was fluent in Arabic,
man.
I mean, it was always cool tome when you would hear that.
I mean, I think I'm coolbecause I can say 25 Arabic words,
but I probably can't stringtogether a sentence in Arabic if
you paid me to.
The things we're proud of.
Hey, it helps, man.

(52:54):
They love it when you hit themwith a salam alaikum or sabal care
in the morning.
Yeah, and they love that stuffcoming from a white person because
it's respectful.
I mean, I mean, I'm a guest intheir country.
They're paying me ungodlyamounts of money to be there.
So I'm gonna be dutiful and agood steward of what I've obliged

(53:15):
myself to.
Yeah, well, I mean, but thatjust goes along with your character
anyway, because you're notgoing, you're not going to disrespect
someone just because they'reshowing you an utmost amount of respect.
They're there.
They're not putting you on a pedestal.
You're, you're, you're justgoing to be you.
Like, I think most of us wouldbe, I think if most of us were in
that situation, we would berespectful to the country and the

(53:37):
people that we're working with.
And you know, but I digress.
I mean, let's bring this backto what a piece of garbage Trump
is, okay?
Like anything that comes fromthat country is, it has blood on
its hands.
Absolutely.
And you know, I want to be clear.
I may have gone over there andworked and profited off of my time

(53:58):
over there, but anybody thatworked for me over there can tell
you I was not, you know,Saudis are the best.
You know, I was worried as aprogressive Democrat who espouses,
you know, pro LGBQ2 stuff, youknow, it's, you know, it's nerve
wracking in a way.
So.

(54:19):
But you know, him being overthere, a lot of this is an ego rub.
The Saudis are trying theirdamnedest without having to actually
change or form a government tolike make themselves a legitimate
world player.
Kind of starting, you know,MBS, who is really running the country
now.
I don't think they'veannounced the king's death even though
I think he's been dead for,for years now.

(54:39):
But MBS is running the showover there and he's good, he's best
friends with the king of the uae.
So he's trying to like turnSaudi into something that's like
more marketable.
You could actually, you canget travel visas, the Saudi.
Now you just not to be able todo that unless you were there on
like a Hodge.
Otherwise you couldn't get incountry without having a work visa.

(55:03):
And they're building likeentertainment districts but they're
not changing.
Like you still can't drink inthat country.
How are you going to havecasino casinos and entertainment
districts and not be able toenjoy a cocktail?
I mean, are they concernedabout losing money in these casinos?
Because the whole reason youcan drink casinos here is because
you're going to lose more money.
They have partiallyconstructed a city in the desert

(55:23):
that they wanted to be run byAI and robots and that thing sits
there like a relic on a movie set.
So.
Wow.
They don't mind.
They got crazy money overthere, Barrett.
I mean the oil, the, they havea lot of rare earth metals.
Over there, they have a lot ofstuff that we need to like make electronics
and batteries.
Not lithium directly, butother things.

(55:45):
And so that country is, andwe've only discovered a portion of
what's under the ground there.
I mean, that's a massive chunkof land over in Saudi Arabia and
it's, you know, 80% desert, so.
Well, one of the other thingsI wanted to discuss tonight before
we wrap up was I'm gonna forceyou guys to talk about Donald Trump's

(56:07):
new 400 million dollar planeas a gift from the country of Qatar.
I mean, it's unconstitutional.
Yeah.
I mean, just plain and simple.
But he's gotten away with manyunconstitutional things.
He is continuing though, topush the line on unconstitutional
situations.

(56:28):
Basically what Bill is talkingabout is the foreign emoluments clause,
which is Article 1, Section 9,Clause 7 or 8.
You know what, I have itpulled up so it says no title, those.
Sort of gifts from foreign.

(56:48):
So yeah, no title of nobilityshall be granted to the United States
and no person holding anoffice of profit or trust under them
shall, without consent ofCongress, accept any present emolument,
office or title of any kindwhatever from any king, prince or
foreign state.
So basically, Donald Trumpcan't accept a knighthood from the

(57:08):
uk.
He can't.
You can't accept a giftwithout any of this.
Congress has to say.
Congress has to vote on it andsign off themselves, both Senate
and House to do.
He'll never get the votes ineither of the houses in order to
accept this gift.
But the thing I'm the mostdisturbed by is the fact that, yes,

(57:32):
it might be a $400 milliongift, but estimates are already coming
out from the, from the AirForce and the Department of Defense
as to how much it's actuallygoing to cost for them to be able
to convert this plane.
Yeah, it's a billion dollarsand they're going to have to tear
it down completely and rebuild it.
They are currently building anew Air Force One.

(57:55):
Two of them.
They're building two of them.
He wants, you know, that's thefirst thing.
I mean, having worked in thegovernment for as long as I have,
I mean, the first thing I saidwhen I heard that, I was like, man,
they're going to have to likeliterally strip all the wiring out
of that plane, everything andput hardened, shielded, jacketed
stuff in there.
They're going to have toprotect it against electromagnetic
pulses.
That is a luxury jet he got,he needs like floating fortress.

(58:20):
And, and, and, and this, this747 is going to have to be fitted
with missile defense systemsbecause Air Force One has its own
missile defense system.
It has its own radar system, flares.
I mean the whole thing isgoing to be, have, have to be defended
and, and, and like the cost of that.
But then we're going to spend$1 billion as taxpayers in the United

(58:43):
States.
And then when Donald Trumpdoes leave office, which by the way,
we should be excited aboutthis because Donald Trump does recognize
he is going to leave office atsome point, but he's just going to,
this plane is just going to bepart his, his, it's just going to
become his plane that will sitat his library.

(59:03):
Also shocked to find out thatDonald Trump is planning on having
a library.
That one was just.
Hopefully he'll fill it withall the books.
Moms for Liberty is banned.
Exactly.
Well, or he'll fill it withall of the books that they haven't
banned.
They'll like lock them away though.
They'll be like, see these books?
No, no.

(59:25):
In my head.
Paint everything in gold.
I don't know what would really be.
Yeah, I mean this would be thechance to go shit on a gold toilet.
Where would you even put theDonald Trump library because you
couldn't open it.
Should have one in New YorkCity or up in bed where he's got
that golf course in New York.
I'm dumbfounded.

(59:45):
I don't, I don't get.
I, I'm, I don't, I don't understand.
Like, like there was no, Idon't remember any discussion after
Trump's first term of apotential library.
But now, and I know Reagan haswhat part of an Air Force One, like
the part of the Air Force Onefrom before the two jets we have
now.
But like I think Reagan haspart of Air Force One at his library.

(01:00:08):
Like, I don't think it's thewhole thing.
If it is the whole thing, kudos.
But you need an airplanehanger to put that thing in though.
It's not easy to wheel it intoa museum.
Yeah, but, but the fact that.
So we're going to spend abillion dollars refurbishing and
setting this brand new or this10 year old plane.
So we're even trading out thefact that Boeing is building.

(01:00:33):
In the process of building.
Are they building it slow?
Yeah, but how long did it takefor the last two 747s to be converted
into Air Force One and AirForce Two or whatever.
So Ralph Norman is flexingthat Boeing signed a contract with
Cotter for to make newairplanes for them.
Boeing has like, God, I wantto say, a 10 year backlog of orders.

(01:00:57):
You know, it's more, I wouldsay it's quite likely.
Cotter is never going to seethose planes.
Yeah, well, and one of thefirst things that Trump did when
he took office in 2020 or 2017was that he ordered two new 747 Air
Force ones.
Like that was the thing he did.
They told him up front, thisis a 10 year process.

(01:01:18):
You know, we don't, first ofall, even if they put him to the
front of the list, those,those planes are outfitted in a specific
way that means they can't bedelivered immediately.
So like 2027, 2028 was alwaysthe delivery date on these things.
And anyone that comes out inthe news and says that, no, that's
bullshit, that they, theyshould have gotten them to them,

(01:01:41):
that's ridiculous.
It's just, it's just absurd.
I'm, I'm dumbfounded by thiswhole thing.
It's just even crazierbecause, I mean, just in my, in my
view at this point, one of thenumber one things America should
be targeting is poverty.
Like, that's just, and it's so fixable.
It just, it is mindblowingly fixable.

(01:02:02):
Looking at the numbers of whatit would take to actually pull every
American out of deep povertyand poverty at the bottom level.
And then you're going to sitand say, well, I got to take this
jet because it's a gift fromCater, and then you're going to go
to make $5 trillion tax cutsfor the billionaires and then try

(01:02:23):
to cut Medicare by 188, $180billion and require community service
for those and say those peopleare lazy that are getting Medicare.
Just caught one personcommitting Medicare fraud in South
Carolina.
That's, this is clearly anepidemic of Medicaid fraud that we
need to take away here.

(01:02:45):
That's the thing.
I don't care if somebody's lazy.
I'm not scared that four orfive lazy people.
I know lazy people, sure, go,go, go.
Hey, I'm just saying if you'relazy, I don't care if it, if, if
four or five lazy people inAmerica are going to get social benefits
that every American should beguaranteed if they make below a certain

(01:03:07):
salary or net income.
I don't care.
So I just simply don't.
So you want to hear somethingelse that's crazy about Medicare?
So I worked in Medicare for 14 years.
I worked everything fromprovider services to support to software
for Medicare and theadministrators of Medicare have to
be the lowest bidder.

(01:03:27):
And generally theadministration of Medicare runs anywhere
between like 1% or less or upto maybe 2 and a half, maybe 3%.
So the companies that, thatrun Medicare, that are administrating
Medicare are our insurancecompanies that are for profit insurance
companies.
So they're the ones becausethey have such a robust history of

(01:03:51):
processing claims and payingdoctors and taking care of the patients
and things like that.
They're the ones that bid onthese contracts and wind up becoming
the administrators.
So let's say that all of theadministrators, let's say that the
part of the cost ofadministering that Medicare makes

(01:04:11):
up about 3% usually when itcomes to actually administrating
Medicare for a region.
So 3% of that cost goes topaying for the insurance company
that's now running theMedicare for that region.
Dr.
Oz, when he came in, the firstthing he proposed and I think is
going to get taken care of isthat they're going to bump it from

(01:04:32):
3 or so percent up to about 5%.
So you're going to be payingthe administrators more for the service
that they're doing when all ofthem are already making billions
on billions every quarter forthe regular businesses that they,
that they're doing now.
What happens now is they'regoing to be making more money.
The administration cost ofMedicare is going to go up again.

(01:04:55):
And my fear is that we'regoing to see more, we're going to
see more costs going toMedicare and that's going to try
and justify the position ofthe GOP and the Republicans that
Medicare needs more cutbacksin order to take care of it.
What we need is to do awaywith the cap on Social Security and
how much money people pay intoSocial Security every year.

(01:05:18):
Because I really think 100%.
Yeah.
Right now I think it's like, Ithink it's 160,000.
Once you make 160,000, you nolonger pay into Social Security for
that year and it resets next year.
For the life of me, I don'tunderstand why that couldn't, why
we need a cap on that at all,but why that that cap can't be raised

(01:05:39):
to like 500,000.
You, you raise it to like 400, $500,000.
Medicare is good for basically eternity.
We could turn around and ifyou, if you allowed for there to
be a Medicare for all or aMedicare or, or do away with the
60, the mandate that you haveto be.
And actually I, I think I read.
Is it still 65 or is it 67 now?

(01:06:01):
67.
67 years old now.
You have to be, if you wereborn after 1960, you have to be 67
years old in order to receivefull Social Security benefits, including
Medicare, unless you have endstage renal disease or some other
disability.
But we need a public option.

(01:06:23):
And I would gladfully paytwice what I'm paying towards Medicare
if I could cut out all of myhealthcare because Medicare is run
so efficiently.
And I know that because myexperience with Medicare was, like
I said, 14 years worth of experience.
I saw from the ground floorhow Medicare was run.

(01:06:44):
And you guys were talkingabout some of the people taking advantage
or committing Medicare fraud.
Most of the Medicare fraudthat occurs, and I saw it because
I saw people get fired for it,was actually Medicare fraud being,
being committed at theadministrative level, like not at

(01:07:04):
the patient level.
It wasn't Medicare patientsthat were taking advantage of Medicare.
Most of it, I want to say 95%of it was being committed by the
individuals working for theinsurance companies that were handing
Medicare because they knew howto do it.
They knew how to create theirown durable medical equipment office

(01:07:26):
and make fraudulent posts andsales or whatnot and file claims
for, for wheelchairs and bedsand things like that that they were
making thousands and thousandsof dollars off of.
And those individuals were prosecuted.
So I, you know, I, I, Medicareis a, Medicare is probably one of
the greatest things that theUnited States has going for it.
And they want to dismantle it,they want to tear it apart.

(01:07:49):
These are things thatDemocrats, if they want to be on
a board of people that theywant to be trusted, these are things
that they, they have to hammer home.
They have to talk about it.
Republicans are talking about it.
They're just trying to takethe money for, I don't know what
tax cuts for billionaires iswhat it mainly seems like, but Democrats
need to talk about.

(01:08:09):
We need to expand this.
Let's look into a Medicare for all.
Where is this money going?
How is it?
You, you.
They need to make it verytransparent and very clear to people
this is what we need to do tosolve poverty.
I know Republicans who areonly voting Republican because they
think that they're going tosolve poverty.
That is the number one issue.
And it's solvable.

(01:08:30):
It's so solvable.
But some of the ideas to solveit have been labeled as progressive,
which makes it.
Or socialist, which makes ithard to talk to people about it.
But there's got to be a way tofind a way to break that barrier.
I mean, don't Even get mestarted on that progressive stuff.
Good Lord.
You're talking to a guy who,like, you know, it's not a lot of

(01:08:52):
people.
It might be five of them, butthere are five folks that are dedicated
to the end of my existencebased on me being a progressive.
I mean, are they.
Are they Democrats?
Yeah, I mean, they're my own people.
I mean, they.
These folks should be shoulderto shoulder with me and, you know,
they would rather see me, youknow, six feet under.

(01:09:12):
Thanks.
Ever thrive.
So it's.
Yeah, they don't see it that way.
And I don't.
I've never, like.
I don't reciprocate that backupon them.
I'm not like, I'm not wiredthat way.
Yeah, I got big.
I mean, to me, my.
I'm like, trying to fightRepublican rule, you know, and stuff
like that.
Not like my own Democrats.

(01:09:32):
If they want to fight me, theycan, like, keep nipping at my heel
all they want.
You know, it's like the songsays, don't go pulling on Superman's
cape.
So, you know.
Yeah.
No, it really doesn't seemlike there's much hope in South Carolina
when it comes to the Democrats.
I've met a lot of them.
I've talked to a lot of them.
They're basically conservatives.
I mean, it's.

(01:09:54):
It's bad.
I mean, I had a rough time inthe last election, and what I've
seen happen this year, I don't.
You know, there's so much Iknow that I wish I could share, but
I can tell you that it wasfrustrating for elected Democrats
to watch, like, the failurefrom the Democrat Party at every
level, national, state, and county.

(01:10:18):
And then, like, they don't fight.
I mean, what did the HouseDemocrats fight for as a whole?
Right.
What did they.
Did they really fight againstthe DEI legislation?
No.
I will.
I will say Heather Bower'sattempt to sway the Senate and the
House to impeach CurtisLoftus, I think was impeccable.

(01:10:41):
Yeah, me too.
I mean, Heather.
Heather's the exception to the rule.
And anybody that'll get rid ofCurtis, Rachel Loftus the Lesser,
is all right with me.
That's a callback, bill.
That's a callback.
Yeah.
It shows how deep in all aboutnothing lore I am.

(01:11:02):
I had a slew because I didn'tknow what it was.
One of the best episodes ofthe aan, I think, was your treatise
against Curtis, Rebecca Loftus.
I don't.
I.
I don't think.
I don't think it got any ofhis attention either.
Or if it did.
If it did.
Dude, he responds poorly to that.
Like, you saw the video of himtestifying before the Senate.
Yeah.

(01:11:23):
Agile man.
They kept telling him.
They kept telling him that ifhis lawyer wanted to speak, he needed
to be sworn in and his lawyerthat he would not swear in.
Like, it was.
It was one of the most absurdthings I've ever watched show.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, guys, we're going towrap it up.
Any final thoughts, Bill?

(01:11:44):
Yeah.
Let's just fix poverty.
It's so easy.
All right.
I could give you so manyresources to how we could fix it,
and it's just not going to getdone here.
Okay.
Yeah, I completely agree.
Matt, Any closing thoughts?
You know, let's love one another.
I.
I know it sounds kind of.
People are wondering, is he serious?
But yeah, I mean, let's loveone another.

(01:12:04):
Let's like, do what we can touplift folks and amplify some voices.
Dark days ahead.
Yeah.
I don't know what to tell y' all.
Yeah, no, that I.
I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Strap in.
For sure.
Absolutely.
All right, guys.
Well, I appreciate it.
That's going to do it forepisode number 204.
55.
Thank you again, Matt, forjoining us.
I know it was short notice,but I really appreciate it.

(01:12:26):
Bill, thanks for being here again.
Zach.
Zach is out until he's back.
That's all I know.
That's all I know.
I do have something importantto leave everybody with.
Watch andor season two.
Okay.
Some of the best Star warsever put together is andor season
two.
Yeah.
The series finale, I think,just came out, didn't it?
Yeah.
I mean, just blew my mind.

(01:12:47):
Good.
I mean, incrediblecinematography, acting, all of it.
Absolutely.
I did enjoy.
I was.
I was waiting to be able to.
To watch the whole thing inone sitting.
So I look forward to that.
I'll do that soon.
All right.
Links to all of our pastepisodes, podcast platforms, merchandise
and social media are availableat our webpage, theallaboutnothing.com

(01:13:08):
and if you think our financialmodel of giving away free content
and entertainment is silly andthey're giving mood, why not become
an official nothinger andsupport the show?
Members get early access tothis episode as well as exclusive
content.
Visitmembers.theallaboutnothing.com or
find a link on our webpage.
You can also give us a onetime donation through the same link.
And also just to remindeverybody, if we get a hundred new

(01:13:28):
members.
Oh, yeah, Bill, will let me.
We'll.
The.
We will randomly choose onethat can come up and, and shave Bill's
beard.
That was the deal.
100.
100.
We got to get 100.
How many would you, how manyhas joined since.
I can't tell you yet.
Oh, okay.
Because there haven't been.
So no one has heeded the call.

(01:13:51):
Okay.
But we'll, we'll, we'll make that.
Also, I want to remindeverybody that Bill Kimler and I
do every Tuesday and Thursday,5:30am Eastern, we record an episode
called the kind of Daily showwhere we just discuss different things.
Today was a lot of fun.
We recorded, we talked aboutsome of the absurd Internet challenges,
social media challenges thatare, that are going around right

(01:14:13):
now.
It was, it was an entertainingshow to do so.
Bill Kimmeler, of course, hostof Black, White and Blue in the South.
So check that out.
Subscribe to our YouTube page.
You'll get notified when we golive and then you can watch it when
you get up because 5:30 isearly for a lot of people.
If you'd like to be a part ofthe show, you can also call and leave
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Call 803-67205 533 or you canemail the show at the allaboutnothing.com

(01:14:34):
you can join our Discordserver as well.
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Thanks for listening, everybody.
You all stay safe, be kind andkeep your hands to yourself.
The All About Nothing podcastis a product of big media and produced
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Thanks to Cake for our intro music.
Sick of you.
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(01:14:55):
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(01:15:16):
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(01:15:36):
Welcome to Wonderland with AmiPolitically Speaking with Erica,
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