December 21, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of the Civil Union Podcast, the hosts cover a range of topics from the peculiar behavior of retail workers to political discussions and a playful analysis of Dory from 'Finding Nemo.' They share behind-the-scenes details of their hectic content creation week and discuss political figures like Rob Reiner. Debates on Trump’s actions, ICE detentions, and voodoo dolls are interspersed with humor and personal anecdotes. The show concludes with a thoughtful reflection on holiday stress using a Mel Robbins quote, emphasizing the importance of self-focus and letting go of others' opinions.
00:00 Welcome to the Civil Union Podcast
00:48 Personal Updates
01:26 Customer Service Experiences
03:22 Rob Reiner's Legacy and Recent Reads
06:09 Game Time: Dory's Political Affiliation
11:10 Charlotte Jones and Political Class
16:55 Trump's Obsession with Biden
18:11 Jim Brown's Heartbreaking Story
21:05 ICE Agent Voodoo Dolls and Gay Bars
22:40 LGBTQ+ History Month Controversy
23:41 Closing Remarks and Holiday Stress Tips
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
You are listening to the CivilUnion Podcast.
Where life and politics makessense, and sometimes it doesn't,
but we talk about it Anyway,left-handers.
Left Thinkers left Winers,welcome and if you're a part of
that Red Hat Brigade, fuck off.
Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off,fuck off.
Let's discuss Ice Agent VoodooDolls.
Katie Miller tries to Gaslightand Trump redefines the saying,
(00:29):
this could have been an email.
It's one thing to say thatyou'll listen, but it's another
to show up and listen.
Thanks everyone for showing up.
You have a seat at our table,but only if you followed us on
Instagram or TikTok.
Just kidding.
But hey Alex, what is our handleagain?
The Civil Union pod, my gosh, ithas been a week.
(00:51):
The holidays are here.
The stress Anxiety Work lifepodcast balance has been so
chaotic.
The bags under my eyes aredefinitely bagging, but you know
what?
I've had great hair the entiretime.
I think it's that vitamin Ccombo thing we got going on.
Plus, I have a greathairstylist, um, and I use this
dry powder called Slick Gorilla.
(01:13):
Yeah, it's been a busy week.
We've produced a lot of content.
If you follow us on our socials,you'll know that.
But your hair definitely hasbeen trending on socials this
week.
Thank you.
But do do.
Do people at registers talkanymore?
We went to Panda Express lastweek, and I went to Starbucks.
The, I don't even get greeted.
I just walk up to the registerand the people just like stare
(01:35):
back at me.
It's so weird.
It is so weird that PandaExpress experience, it was like
some 12-year-old girl and shejust kind of just stared at us.
We walked up, she just staredand it was like there was no
greeting.
And even when we said goodbye,there was no exit greet.
Like it was just so weird.
And you had said, you were like,maybe it's'cause she's gen,
maybe it's like a Gen Z thing.
And I was like, maybe it is.
(01:56):
Like they're so used to being ontheir iPads and stuff when they.
Come across a human being.
They don't know how to interact.
Ugh.
I don't know what it is.
It happened at the mall too, butHow are you, Alex?
How are you doing?
Good.
A normal 70 hour work week, butthat's, that's it's, it's every
week.
Oh my gosh.
For me.
So it's fine.
But good week.
It was a good week.
Productive.
Everything's great.
(02:16):
Hey, how many followers did weget?
Oh my gosh.
We've been blowing up you guys.
I think we've had like really?
Yeah, we've had like.
10 new followers.
Oh, hey, that's more, that'smore, that's great.
Yeah, we've, we've, oh, we'vebroke a hundred followers on
Instagram, which is awesome.
We did that Pretty awesome.
(02:38):
Awesome.
I love that.
I was driving on the highway theother day and this like, wanna
be like big truck drove by me inlike the, the fast lane and.
Yeah, on the back of the cab ithad a big white American flag,
and above it there were wordsthat said, I am Charlie Kirk.
(02:59):
And I'm like, oh my gosh.
When did that become a mantra?
Like who?
Like, I'm sorry, but like isthat a goal?
Is that an aspiration?
Is he proud of himself?
I have no idea.
Understand that at all.
I mean, it's one thing to belike, I want to be Martin Luther
King Jr.
Or someone at like.
Actually made movements, butlike, I don't know, I'm not
(03:19):
gonna speak on that anymore.
Oh.
But that Rob Reiner tragedy wasso sad.
It was so heartbreaking.
I mean, just shocking andheartbreaking at the same time.
Yeah.
What's crazy about the RobReiner thing, I knew his name.
Obviously he's a popular figure,but like I never really actually
knew who he was.
And this past week I was like ona reading craze and I read.
(03:43):
Like I, I'm on my like fourthbook this week.
But anyway, two of the books Iread, Kamala Harris's 107 Days,
which I got in San Francisco.
I finally read that this weekthat mentioned Rob Reiner
because she was friends with himand I'd reached out to him and
was like a mentor to her too,and to California Circuit
because that's where she isfrom.
(04:04):
So that was interesting.
And then I was reading DianeKeaton's book, which was, let's
just.
Say it wasn't pretty, which Ihighly recommend.
It was very sad'cause sheobviously she passed away so it
was, you know, it was writtenyears ago though, and she
mentions Rob Reer.
I was like, I've never comeacross his name and the week of
his death.
I came across it twice in likerandom books that were written
(04:26):
in very different time periods.
Well, I would always see random,like social media posts with
quotes by him, um, because hewas very, very intertwined in
the Democratic party, like very,very heavily, and I loved that
for them.
I mean, what straight man andhis wife go to an equal rights
(04:48):
rally and equal rights.
Uh, benefit event and promotegay marriage.
I think that is so, that's socool.
'cause you don't, you don't seeit very often.
At least not prominent figureslike that.
And I thought it was so cool.
And I had just mentioned, Ididn't know he directed the
movie Misery with Kathy Bates.
(05:08):
But I had just mentioned thatmovie.
I asked you the other day if yousaw it.
You did.
You did.
You You mentioned that like theday before, his death or his
passing.
I did, because I was wondering,in my brain, I'm always thinking
and I'm like, oh my God, if Iturn 80 and Alex is my caretaker
and I just need like a cup ofwater, is he gonna come in there
with his hands on his sips andsay, now what?
(05:29):
Mr.
Mann, what do you want?
Now Mr.
Mann?
I can just picture you doingthat.
Anyways, I do feel like theuniverse works in weird ways,
and this week was just strangehow Rob Reiner was brought up,
like around his, and it wasn'teven like trending on socialism.
It was just popping up in ourlives.
It was just, anyways, yeah.
What a career, by the way.
Great career, huge advocate forhuman rights, not just GOP
(05:52):
rights, like some people, butlike actual human rights across
the board, GOP rights.
Talking about, you know, Mr.
Kirk, like he actually Oh, wow.
He, Rob Reiner actually was astandup person that stood up for
everybody and wanted inclusionfor everybody.
So it's very, yeah.
Anyways, game time.
So we're going to do the samething we did last week.
I had so much fun doing it.
(06:13):
We're going to do the movieFinding Nemo.
And we're gonna do Dory, andwe're gonna see how did Dory,
what's Dory's politicalaffiliation and how did she vote
in the last election?
All right.
Are you ready?
Yeah, let's go for it.
Okay.
So one characteristic of thisDory character is she has
unwavering loyalty despite shortterm memory loss.
(06:37):
What does that tell us?
I mean, I feel like the GOP hasshort-term memory loss, so that
kind of sways towards theirdirection.
Ooh.
Yeah.
She sings a lot, so maybe she'sartistic.
Yeah, she does sing a lot,maybe, but nothing she sings
makes sense.
Well, she does like the JustKeeps Swimming song.
(06:57):
That's true.
Motivational, you know?
You know who whistles a lot.
Oh, I hate whistling.
Who?
Our neighbor.
Oh my God, that's so, I've neverheard him do, have you heard him
Whistle?
Oh, it's from Sun Up to sundown.
That's like horror movie style.
I think.
I don't trust people who whistlelike that.
I really don't.
Yeah, interesting.
(07:17):
I mean, he could.
I don't think so though.
Anyway, so another one, uh, Doryis a problem solver, so that's
good.
Yes.
And she tends to get things doneeven though she doesn't know
she's doing it.
She has strong communicationskills.
She can speak well.
She can't speak a differentlanguage, so she's smart.
Okay.
Bilingual.
(07:38):
Yes, if you will.
And she can read human writingas well.
Yes.
She's seven.
Wallaby Wayne Lane or whateverthat address was.
So what do you think, her andEscap Escap.
Yeah, exactly.
So what do you think her.
Political affiliation is, youknow, that's a hard one, but she
is blue.
(07:59):
Oh, she is blue, huh?
I just threw purple.
What does that tell you?
You did?
Um, you know, I would think thatDory voted.
What's her politicalaffiliation?
Democrat, because she was verywelcoming to all fish in the
(08:19):
sea.
She was whenever, I don't evenremember.
But then she was guiding Nemo'sfather across the ocean.
Any fish she came across, sheimmediately welcomed them.
She wanted to know them.
She enjoyed them.
Like part of that was'cause ofher short-term memory loss.
cause she even befriendedsharks.
People who would eat her.
She loved them.
So in my like, idea is she'sliberal.
(08:42):
Well, I think of this way toomuch.
I, I put too much time thinkingabout this, but she is a strong
independent woman fish.
Mm-hmm.
Blue fish.
And I think she is a independentthat leads democratic.
Democrat completely.
So, so how do you think shevoted in the last election?
She definitely voted for Harris.
(09:05):
Absolutely.
Okay.
I think she voted for KamalaHarris too, but I think she's
one of those last minute voters.
'cause she has short-term memoryloss and so you're gonna have to
really put a lot of propagandaand advertisements.
Into getting her to vote foryou.
You know, she's one of thoselast minute voters that the
polling, the polls won't evenlike know, you know?
(09:27):
It's that always that 4% marginleft or right, you know, and
it's like she's one of thosepeople.
Yeah, for sure.
Anyways, wow, we spent way toomuch on, you're doing this next,
you're doing the game next time,by the way.
I like this game.
I'm gonna come up with a goodcharacter, you guys.
(11:09):
You know, Charlotte Joneshandled that with such class.
I was so impressed with her andher being a multimillionaire and
being a co-owner of the DallasCowboys and being in Dallas, you
would expect her to be.
Republican, but she handled thatwith such class and that that is
(11:31):
what this party really needs toshow because Katie Miller.
Is trying to gaslight herclearly, and she just handled
that so well.
Yeah, I applaud Charlotte forsure.
She answered everythingperfectly.
I agree completely.
She handled it with Gracebecause she could have, she
could have just folded and gonewith the narrative that they're
trying to push, but she didn't.
(11:52):
I like when she said, I don't.
Think our game is aboutpolitics.
People don't tune in to look atpolitics.
That's so true.
I also liked that she shoutedout immigrants in this country
and because all sports,especially, especially football,
and I feel like soccer too, butlike they're driven a lot by
immigrants.
The players are immigrants, someof'em are immigrants.
So she, I love that she hadtheir back.
Well, and, and if you thinkabout it, it is like built on
(12:14):
immigrants, you know?
And that's so true because, uh,you being Hispanic and being a.
A hundred percent American.
You are always like, well, I'mfourth generation.
I'm third or fourth generation.
And I'm like, well, I'm fourthgeneration, right?
My great grandma came here.
My great grandma's parents camehere, so.
Me as a white guy, I'm alsofourth or fifth generation, you
(12:38):
know?
So it's like, it's weird how theperspective on how you have to
explain that to peoplesometimes.
But I'm so excited for BadBunny, by the way.
Oh, I am so excited.
I think it's gonna be hot.
I don't know.
I think it's gonna be hot too.
So he's Hispanic.
He's from Puerto Rico.
Is that Hispanic?
Puerto Rico?
Latin.
Latin.
(12:58):
Latin.
Okay.
Well, what's Hispanic?
Hispanic?
It's Hispanic, but LatinAmerican.
Whatever you wanna say.
But yeah, I am excited for him.
I'm excited to see what kind ofguests he'll have.
He has said, he initially saidhe wasn't gonna have guests, but
it's kind of making it soundlike he will.
I don't know.
And if it's anything like histour that with the house that he
like dances on the roof andthose short shorts, I think it's
(13:19):
gonna be great.
I hope the Spice Girls arethere.
Spice Girls and Bad Bunny.
That's a, that's a stretch.
That's a gay stretch.
Ugh.
So the, oh, by the way, theKennedy Center now is named the
Trump Kennedy Center, which isabsolutely.
Berserk to me, by the way.
It is beyond comprehension thatwe have a sitting president that
(13:42):
has renamed this great memorialthat was dedicated to President
Kennedy.
He couldn't even put his name.
Second.
It has to be Trump.
Kennedy.
Trump Kennedy.
Trump.
Kennedy Center.
Is it official?
Because I don't think it'sofficial.
I think for him it's official,but I don't think it's actually
no official.
He fired the board.
Rehired or reelected the board,they un unanimously like chose
(14:07):
or voted for it, and they'rehanging the letters up right
now.
Okay.
I'm confused.
So what I looked up, um, firstof all is that.
Under, it's under federal law.
That's the, the, the, it wouldviolate federal law.
The name of this building isunder, I looked this up, title
20 of the United States Code,section 76 J.
(14:28):
So what I had found is it wouldhave to go to Congress.
Under federal education law.
So a budget committee would haveto get involved.
Federal funding would have tochange for the building when the
title of the building changesbecause all their tax,
everything would have to change.
And that would have to be, it'sa procedure, like it would have
to go through Congress and evenif Congress liens GOP and they.
(14:52):
Vote it through.
It would still, I mean, there'sFilibusters, there would be a
lot.
I mean, it would be like one totwo year process.
It's not something he can justdo.
He could probably do itunofficially, but officially
it's not happening.
Well, the letters are going upon the building right now, and
there's a trendy word right now.
It's called grifter, and I justlearned what this definition is,
and grifter means that it's aperson who engages in petty or
(15:15):
small scale swindling.
And that's what he does.
I mean, I love.
All the research he just did.
It's cute.
And it's true.
It's true.
But he's bypassing Congress oneverything.
He can't, can't do that.
Well, he's doing it.
They're letting him, they standdown'cause they're.
Scared to speak up against him.
They are too scared to do this,or they're just entertaining him
(15:37):
and doing it in like a physicalway just to be like, shut up.
When really it's like notactually happening.
I can't only imagine when thenext president-elect comes into
office if everything isoverturned yet again, because.
It's absolutely ridiculous, butwhat's next?
Are we going to rename JFKairport to the Donald J.
(15:57):
Trump Airport?
Oh my God.
Or how about the Trump JeffersonMemorial?
The Lincoln Memorial, the TrumpLincoln Memorial.
And just this past week they hadthe Kennedy Center Honors where
he was joking about this andit's been talked about, but they
are these people, the right areso triggered.
By the rainbow color that theyhad to change the lanyards or
(16:19):
the chains or whatever that youget on the rewards to Navy blue
because they used to be rainbow,which was a representation of
all the colors of the arts, andthey're just so triggered that
they had to change it.
Yeah.
People will just automaticallyassociate rainbow to
L-G-B-T-Q-I, but it's notalways, I mean, it's, it's,
it's, there's other meanings ofa rainbow.
(16:40):
I don't understand the trigger.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden, Biden, Biden, Biden.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
In a recent economic address, Trump mentioned Joe
Biden 30 times.
Well.
31 if you count.
Sleepy son of a bitch, which theaudience sure did.
Sleepy Joe Biden.
Have you heard of him?
Biden Food Price Increasesunlike Biden.
Stupid.
Biden.
Sleepy.
Joe.
Crooked.
Joe.
Joe, Joe, Joe.
The first 50 days of thispresidency.
(17:15):
Trump mentioned Biden on anaverage of 6.32 times a day at a
cabinet meeting last week, whichwas about 316 days into the new
term.
Joe Biden was mentioned eighttimes in the first 20 minutes,
but his fixation has become moreacute as he is facing the same
scrutiny that Joe Biden facedover the economy and age.
(17:40):
But he continues the sleepy Joeattacks when Trump has looked
very, very sleepy in recentweeks.
So last week there was a housecommittee hearing where Christie
Noam spoke about whether or notshe broke the law by ignoring a
federal judge's order to turntwo flights back around that
were filled with immigrants.
She couldn't stay the entiremeeting because she had other
(18:01):
things to do that day.
But at one point, a senator fromRhode Island asked if veterans
have been deported.
And here's one'cause it's local.
So here we go.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
His name is Jim Brown from Troy, Missouri.
He is a Navy combat veteran whoserved our country in the Gulf
War.
He's married to a woman namedDonna who came to our country
legally from Ireland when shewas 11 years old.
She has lived here for 48 yearsbecause of you, Jim's wife,
Donna has been in prison for thelast four months.
(18:33):
She did not come here illegallyand she has never committed any
crime other than writing two badchecks totaling$80 10 years ago.
She is currently in prison andfacing deportation.
Ms.
Noam, will you thank Mr.
Brown for his service to ourcountry?
Speaker 8 (18:51):
Thank you Mr.
Brown, for your service to
Speaker 7 (18:52):
now, what possible explanation can there be for
locking up his wife for fourmonths?
When she has committed no crimeother than writing a couple of
bad checks for$80.
Speaker 9 (19:03):
Sir, it is not my prerogative, my latitude or my
job to pick and choose whichlaws in this country get.
You have broad
Speaker 7 (19:10):
discretion as the secretary can.
You need to follow, you canissue, you can do all kinds of
things, laws, but you'rechoosing not to.
Well, you commit again to justreviewing Donna's case and
reuniting this combat veteranwith his beloved wife, who also
loves this country.
Speaker 9 (19:25):
I will review the case.
So a conservative man, JimBrown, Lincoln County, Missouri,
which is about 45 minutes northof here.
20 year combat veteran whoserved in Desert Storm and Iraq.
He's been married to a womannamed Donna for 48 years.
Donna migrated to the UnitedStates from Ireland at the age
(19:47):
of 11.
She's a green card holder, andon July 29th, Jim and Donna were
returning from Ireland.
I guess they went on vacationduring a layover in Chicago, ICE
agents boarded the plane anddetained her.
The only criminal history shehas is writing two bad checks to
the sum of$80 10 years ago.
(20:07):
Repercussions of writing thosechecks have all been resolved.
This angers me.
This story really, really angersme.
Like I, I, my hands are sweating'cause I just can't fathom the
idea of this happening.
And this is part of the reasonwhy even for me, like when my
friends are like, oh, why areyou going here?
Well, you know, it's not a bigdeal.
This is, it's like, no, this iswhat's happening.
(20:28):
And it.
Scary and it scares me, andit's, you can be third, second,
fourth, it doesn't even mattergeneration, but they're going
after people.
They can just, I mean, they'refinding things on people and
it's, that's the reality of thiscountry right now.
It's very, very sad.
Donna has been detained at theCampbell County Kentucky Jail
for the last four months.
But if you call that facility,they'll tell you that they have
(20:51):
no ice detainees and refer youto call the ice agency.
And so maybe Christie Noam willreview the record and we'll hear
if she's released or not.
But it's, it's really sad.
It's frightening actually.
this is out of New Orleans.
Someone hung a voodoo doodressed as an ice agent in the
French Quarter.
A voodoo doll.
A voodoo doll, and it'shilarious, by the way, in my
(21:14):
opinion.
I think it's hilarious.
And if there are any gift shops,by the way, selling ice agent,
voodoo doll ornaments, I fuckingwant one.
You know, I wonder if they'llhave masks on too, and you can't
see their faces.
Oh yeah, exactly.
The, the attorney, the attorneyGeneral of Louisiana said.
You can tell prole immigrationradicals are losing the argument
(21:37):
when they start to do this.
Well, I guess she's got us.
We're prole immigrationradicals.
Alex, give me that voodoo dollnow.
Wow, that's a really wordy one,isn't it?
Oh my god.
Remember when you gave me thatvoodoo doll?
You bought me a voodoo doll.
Where were we?
It's right behind you.
It is right behind me.
Memphis.
We were in Memphis and it fellonce and it made me fall.
(21:59):
Like while, remember this?
Ugh.
Yeah, I believe in it.
If the end of the world doesn'thappen, Chicago O'Hare might be
the first airport to get a gaybar.
That is amazing and longoverdue.
I think the comments on this areabsolutely hilarious though.
Like they should call it missedconnections.
Oh, I love that.
(22:20):
Someone also wrote nothing likeboarding your flight after an an
eighth vodka soda and showtunes.
They would have to play showtunes the entire way.
Uh, another user said it shouldbe named the cockpit.
Yes.
There's so much opportunity forthis to have like a thing going.
Oh, and here's another localone.
The Kirkwood school district,north Kirkwood Middle School,
(22:42):
actually showed a video tostudents that acknowledged LGBT
history Month and some.
Religious wacko parents blew agasket and had a conservative
Catholic law firm sue them.
Um, the, the law firm was calledthe Thomas Moore Society.
Didn't you go to a church thatwas called Thomas Moore?
Yeah.
St.
Thomas Moore in Norman.
(23:02):
But I will say a shout out tothat church, they are very
liberal because they're part ofthe OU Congregation, which is a
college, so they, they are veryaccepting.
I mean, as accepting as aCatholic church can be.
So anyways, who's Thomas Moore?
St.
Thomas Moore is just an a, asaint in the Catholic church.
He's just one of many.
I could not, I really don'tremember what he's the saint of
honestly, but, um, look him up.
(23:25):
Probably has nothing to do withL-G-B-T-Q rights, so that's
weird.
Well, um, they asserted thattheir child's religious rights
were violated thanks to theFirst Amendment.
And thanks to the firstAmendment, I can create my own
religion and that religion.
Is Mel Robbins.
But before we leave you with aMel Robbins quote, I wanna say
thanks for listening.
This has been the coolest, mostartistic thing we've ever done.
(23:47):
We couldn't do this without anyof our listeners.
We reach people all over theworld.
I mean, we've had listeners inEngland and Switzerland, and
well with that happy holidayseveryone.
Yes, I love this.
You know, people think what weare doing, we are doing this for
fun, and politics is heavy, but,uh, we really, really enjoy
this.
So I really, I wanna say thankyou too.
It's just been great.
(24:08):
And onto Ms.
Robbins, here is a four word fixto relieve your holiday stress.
Let them, let me, let them bedisappointed you can't come home
for the holidays.
Let them have opinions aboutyour life choices, then let me
stay grounded.
Let me focus on what actuallymatters to me.
(24:29):
Let me focus what I can control.
Thanks everyone.
Love that.
Thank you.
I.
You are listening to the CivilUnion Podcast.
Where life and politics makessense, and sometimes it doesn't,
but we talk about it Anyway,left-handers.
Left Thinkers left Winers,welcome and if you're a part of
that Red Hat Brigade, fuck off.
Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off,fuck off.
Let's discuss Ice Agent VoodooDolls.
Katie Miller tries to Gaslightand Trump redefines the saying,
(00:29):
this could have been an email.
It's one thing to say thatyou'll listen, but it's another
to show up and listen.
Thanks everyone for showing up.
You have a seat at our table,but only if you followed us on
Instagram or TikTok.
Just kidding.
But hey Alex, what is our handleagain?
The Civil Union pod, my gosh, ithas been a week.
(00:51):
The holidays are here.
The stress Anxiety Work lifepodcast balance has been so
chaotic.
The bags under my eyes aredefinitely bagging, but you know
what?
I've had great hair the entiretime.
I think it's that vitamin Ccombo thing we got going on.
Plus, I have a greathairstylist, um, and I use this
dry powder called Slick Gorilla.
(01:13):
Yeah, it's been a busy week.
We've produced a lot of content.
If you follow us on our socials,you'll know that.
But your hair definitely hasbeen trending on socials this
week.
Thank you.
But do do.
Do people at registers talkanymore?
We went to Panda Express lastweek, and I went to Starbucks.
The, I don't even get greeted.
I just walk up to the registerand the people just like stare
(01:35):
back at me.
It's so weird.
It is so weird that PandaExpress experience, it was like
some 12-year-old girl and shejust kind of just stared at us.
We walked up, she just staredand it was like there was no
greeting.
And even when we said goodbye,there was no exit greet.
Like it was just so weird.
And you had said, you were like,maybe it's'cause she's gen,
maybe it's like a Gen Z thing.
And I was like, maybe it is.
(01:56):
Like they're so used to being ontheir iPads and stuff when they.
Come across a human being.
They don't know how to interact.
Ugh.
I don't know what it is.
It happened at the mall too, butHow are you, Alex?
How are you doing?
Good.
A normal 70 hour work week, butthat's, that's it's, it's every
week.
Oh my gosh.
For me.
So it's fine.
But good week.
It was a good week.
Productive.
Everything's great.
(02:16):
Hey, how many followers did weget?
Oh my gosh.
We've been blowing up you guys.
I think we've had like really?
Yeah, we've had like.
10 new followers.
Oh, hey, that's more, that'smore, that's great.
Yeah, we've, we've, oh, we'vebroke a hundred followers on
Instagram, which is awesome.
We did that Pretty awesome.
(02:38):
Awesome.
I love that.
I was driving on the highway theother day and this like, wanna
be like big truck drove by me inlike the, the fast lane and.
Yeah, on the back of the cab ithad a big white American flag,
and above it there were wordsthat said, I am Charlie Kirk.
(02:59):
And I'm like, oh my gosh.
When did that become a mantra?
Like who?
Like, I'm sorry, but like isthat a goal?
Is that an aspiration?
Is he proud of himself?
I have no idea.
Understand that at all.
I mean, it's one thing to belike, I want to be Martin Luther
King Jr.
Or someone at like.
Actually made movements, butlike, I don't know, I'm not
(03:19):
gonna speak on that anymore.
Oh.
But that Rob Reiner tragedy wasso sad.
It was so heartbreaking.
I mean, just shocking andheartbreaking at the same time.
Yeah.
What's crazy about the RobReiner thing, I knew his name.
Obviously he's a popular figure,but like I never really actually
knew who he was.
And this past week I was like ona reading craze and I read.
(03:43):
Like I, I'm on my like fourthbook this week.
But anyway, two of the books Iread, Kamala Harris's 107 Days,
which I got in San Francisco.
I finally read that this weekthat mentioned Rob Reiner
because she was friends with himand I'd reached out to him and
was like a mentor to her too,and to California Circuit
because that's where she isfrom.
(04:04):
So that was interesting.
And then I was reading DianeKeaton's book, which was, let's
just.
Say it wasn't pretty, which Ihighly recommend.
It was very sad'cause sheobviously she passed away so it
was, you know, it was writtenyears ago though, and she
mentions Rob Reer.
I was like, I've never comeacross his name and the week of
his death.
I came across it twice in likerandom books that were written
(04:26):
in very different time periods.
Well, I would always see random,like social media posts with
quotes by him, um, because hewas very, very intertwined in
the Democratic party, like very,very heavily, and I loved that
for them.
I mean, what straight man andhis wife go to an equal rights
(04:48):
rally and equal rights.
Uh, benefit event and promotegay marriage.
I think that is so, that's socool.
'cause you don't, you don't seeit very often.
At least not prominent figureslike that.
And I thought it was so cool.
And I had just mentioned, Ididn't know he directed the
movie Misery with Kathy Bates.
(05:08):
But I had just mentioned thatmovie.
I asked you the other day if yousaw it.
You did.
You did.
You You mentioned that like theday before, his death or his
passing.
I did, because I was wondering,in my brain, I'm always thinking
and I'm like, oh my God, if Iturn 80 and Alex is my caretaker
and I just need like a cup ofwater, is he gonna come in there
with his hands on his sips andsay, now what?
(05:29):
Mr.
Mann, what do you want?
Now Mr.
Mann?
I can just picture you doingthat.
Anyways, I do feel like theuniverse works in weird ways,
and this week was just strangehow Rob Reiner was brought up,
like around his, and it wasn'teven like trending on socialism.
It was just popping up in ourlives.
It was just, anyways, yeah.
What a career, by the way.
Great career, huge advocate forhuman rights, not just GOP
(05:52):
rights, like some people, butlike actual human rights across
the board, GOP rights.
Talking about, you know, Mr.
Kirk, like he actually Oh, wow.
He, Rob Reiner actually was astandup person that stood up for
everybody and wanted inclusionfor everybody.
So it's very, yeah.
Anyways, game time.
So we're going to do the samething we did last week.
I had so much fun doing it.
(06:13):
We're going to do the movieFinding Nemo.
And we're gonna do Dory, andwe're gonna see how did Dory,
what's Dory's politicalaffiliation and how did she vote
in the last election?
All right.
Are you ready?
Yeah, let's go for it.
Okay.
So one characteristic of thisDory character is she has
unwavering loyalty despite shortterm memory loss.
(06:37):
What does that tell us?
I mean, I feel like the GOP hasshort-term memory loss, so that
kind of sways towards theirdirection.
Ooh.
Yeah.
She sings a lot, so maybe she'sartistic.
Yeah, she does sing a lot,maybe, but nothing she sings
makes sense.
Well, she does like the JustKeeps Swimming song.
(06:57):
That's true.
Motivational, you know?
You know who whistles a lot.
Oh, I hate whistling.
Who?
Our neighbor.
Oh my God, that's so, I've neverheard him do, have you heard him
Whistle?
Oh, it's from Sun Up to sundown.
That's like horror movie style.
I think.
I don't trust people who whistlelike that.
I really don't.
Yeah, interesting.
(07:17):
I mean, he could.
I don't think so though.
Anyway, so another one, uh, Doryis a problem solver, so that's
good.
Yes.
And she tends to get things doneeven though she doesn't know
she's doing it.
She has strong communicationskills.
She can speak well.
She can't speak a differentlanguage, so she's smart.
Okay.
Bilingual.
(07:38):
Yes, if you will.
And she can read human writingas well.
Yes.
She's seven.
Wallaby Wayne Lane or whateverthat address was.
So what do you think, her andEscap Escap.
Yeah, exactly.
So what do you think her.
Political affiliation is, youknow, that's a hard one, but she
is blue.
(07:59):
Oh, she is blue, huh?
I just threw purple.
What does that tell you?
You did?
Um, you know, I would think thatDory voted.
What's her politicalaffiliation?
Democrat, because she was verywelcoming to all fish in the
(08:19):
sea.
She was whenever, I don't evenremember.
But then she was guiding Nemo'sfather across the ocean.
Any fish she came across, sheimmediately welcomed them.
She wanted to know them.
She enjoyed them.
Like part of that was'cause ofher short-term memory loss.
cause she even befriendedsharks.
People who would eat her.
She loved them.
So in my like, idea is she'sliberal.
(08:42):
Well, I think of this way toomuch.
I, I put too much time thinkingabout this, but she is a strong
independent woman fish.
Mm-hmm.
Blue fish.
And I think she is a independentthat leads democratic.
Democrat completely.
So, so how do you think shevoted in the last election?
She definitely voted for Harris.
(09:05):
Absolutely.
Okay.
I think she voted for KamalaHarris too, but I think she's
one of those last minute voters.
'cause she has short-term memoryloss and so you're gonna have to
really put a lot of propagandaand advertisements.
Into getting her to vote foryou.
You know, she's one of thoselast minute voters that the
polling, the polls won't evenlike know, you know?
(09:27):
It's that always that 4% marginleft or right, you know, and
it's like she's one of thosepeople.
Yeah, for sure.
Anyways, wow, we spent way toomuch on, you're doing this next,
you're doing the game next time,by the way.
I like this game.
I'm gonna come up with a goodcharacter, you guys.
(11:09):
You know, Charlotte Joneshandled that with such class.
I was so impressed with her andher being a multimillionaire and
being a co-owner of the DallasCowboys and being in Dallas, you
would expect her to be.
Republican, but she handled thatwith such class and that that is
(11:31):
what this party really needs toshow because Katie Miller.
Is trying to gaslight herclearly, and she just handled
that so well.
Yeah, I applaud Charlotte forsure.
She answered everythingperfectly.
I agree completely.
She handled it with Gracebecause she could have, she
could have just folded and gonewith the narrative that they're
trying to push, but she didn't.
(11:52):
I like when she said, I don't.
Think our game is aboutpolitics.
People don't tune in to look atpolitics.
That's so true.
I also liked that she shoutedout immigrants in this country
and because all sports,especially, especially football,
and I feel like soccer too, butlike they're driven a lot by
immigrants.
The players are immigrants, someof'em are immigrants.
So she, I love that she hadtheir back.
Well, and, and if you thinkabout it, it is like built on
(12:14):
immigrants, you know?
And that's so true because, uh,you being Hispanic and being a.
A hundred percent American.
You are always like, well, I'mfourth generation.
I'm third or fourth generation.
And I'm like, well, I'm fourthgeneration, right?
My great grandma came here.
My great grandma's parents camehere, so.
Me as a white guy, I'm alsofourth or fifth generation, you
(12:38):
know?
So it's like, it's weird how theperspective on how you have to
explain that to peoplesometimes.
But I'm so excited for BadBunny, by the way.
Oh, I am so excited.
I think it's gonna be hot.
I don't know.
I think it's gonna be hot too.
So he's Hispanic.
He's from Puerto Rico.
Is that Hispanic?
Puerto Rico?
Latin.
Latin.
(12:58):
Latin.
Okay.
Well, what's Hispanic?
Hispanic?
It's Hispanic, but LatinAmerican.
Whatever you wanna say.
But yeah, I am excited for him.
I'm excited to see what kind ofguests he'll have.
He has said, he initially saidhe wasn't gonna have guests, but
it's kind of making it soundlike he will.
I don't know.
And if it's anything like histour that with the house that he
like dances on the roof andthose short shorts, I think it's
(13:19):
gonna be great.
I hope the Spice Girls arethere.
Spice Girls and Bad Bunny.
That's a, that's a stretch.
That's a gay stretch.
Ugh.
So the, oh, by the way, theKennedy Center now is named the
Trump Kennedy Center, which isabsolutely.
Berserk to me, by the way.
It is beyond comprehension thatwe have a sitting president that
(13:42):
has renamed this great memorialthat was dedicated to President
Kennedy.
He couldn't even put his name.
Second.
It has to be Trump.
Kennedy.
Trump Kennedy.
Trump.
Kennedy Center.
Is it official?
Because I don't think it'sofficial.
I think for him it's official,but I don't think it's actually
no official.
He fired the board.
Rehired or reelected the board,they un unanimously like chose
(14:07):
or voted for it, and they'rehanging the letters up right
now.
Okay.
I'm confused.
So what I looked up, um, firstof all is that.
Under, it's under federal law.
That's the, the, the, it wouldviolate federal law.
The name of this building isunder, I looked this up, title
20 of the United States Code,section 76 J.
(14:28):
So what I had found is it wouldhave to go to Congress.
Under federal education law.
So a budget committee would haveto get involved.
Federal funding would have tochange for the building when the
title of the building changesbecause all their tax,
everything would have to change.
And that would have to be, it'sa procedure, like it would have
to go through Congress and evenif Congress liens GOP and they.
(14:52):
Vote it through.
It would still, I mean, there'sFilibusters, there would be a
lot.
I mean, it would be like one totwo year process.
It's not something he can justdo.
He could probably do itunofficially, but officially
it's not happening.
Well, the letters are going upon the building right now, and
there's a trendy word right now.
It's called grifter, and I justlearned what this definition is,
and grifter means that it's aperson who engages in petty or
(15:15):
small scale swindling.
And that's what he does.
I mean, I love.
All the research he just did.
It's cute.
And it's true.
It's true.
But he's bypassing Congress oneverything.
He can't, can't do that.
Well, he's doing it.
They're letting him, they standdown'cause they're.
Scared to speak up against him.
They are too scared to do this,or they're just entertaining him
(15:37):
and doing it in like a physicalway just to be like, shut up.
When really it's like notactually happening.
I can't only imagine when thenext president-elect comes into
office if everything isoverturned yet again, because.
It's absolutely ridiculous, butwhat's next?
Are we going to rename JFKairport to the Donald J.
(15:57):
Trump Airport?
Oh my God.
Or how about the Trump JeffersonMemorial?
The Lincoln Memorial, the TrumpLincoln Memorial.
And just this past week they hadthe Kennedy Center Honors where
he was joking about this andit's been talked about, but they
are these people, the right areso triggered.
By the rainbow color that theyhad to change the lanyards or
(16:19):
the chains or whatever that youget on the rewards to Navy blue
because they used to be rainbow,which was a representation of
all the colors of the arts, andthey're just so triggered that
they had to change it.
Yeah.
People will just automaticallyassociate rainbow to
L-G-B-T-Q-I, but it's notalways, I mean, it's, it's,
it's, there's other meanings ofa rainbow.
(16:40):
I don't understand the trigger.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden.
Biden, Biden, Biden, Biden.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
In a recent economic address, Trump mentioned Joe
Biden 30 times.
Well.
31 if you count.
Sleepy son of a bitch, which theaudience sure did.
Sleepy Joe Biden.
Have you heard of him?
Biden Food Price Increasesunlike Biden.
Stupid.
Biden.
Sleepy.
Joe.
Crooked.
Joe.
Joe, Joe, Joe.
The first 50 days of thispresidency.
(17:15):
Trump mentioned Biden on anaverage of 6.32 times a day at a
cabinet meeting last week, whichwas about 316 days into the new
term.
Joe Biden was mentioned eighttimes in the first 20 minutes,
but his fixation has become moreacute as he is facing the same
scrutiny that Joe Biden facedover the economy and age.
(17:40):
But he continues the sleepy Joeattacks when Trump has looked
very, very sleepy in recentweeks.
So last week there was a housecommittee hearing where Christie
Noam spoke about whether or notshe broke the law by ignoring a
federal judge's order to turntwo flights back around that
were filled with immigrants.
She couldn't stay the entiremeeting because she had other
(18:01):
things to do that day.
But at one point, a senator fromRhode Island asked if veterans
have been deported.
And here's one'cause it's local.
So here we go.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
His name is Jim Brown from Troy, Missouri.
He is a Navy combat veteran whoserved our country in the Gulf
War.
He's married to a woman namedDonna who came to our country
legally from Ireland when shewas 11 years old.
She has lived here for 48 yearsbecause of you, Jim's wife,
Donna has been in prison for thelast four months.
(18:33):
She did not come here illegallyand she has never committed any
crime other than writing two badchecks totaling$80 10 years ago.
She is currently in prison andfacing deportation.
Ms.
Noam, will you thank Mr.
Brown for his service to ourcountry?
Speaker 8 (18:51):
Thank you Mr.
Brown, for your service to
Speaker 7 (18:52):
now, what possible explanation can there be for
locking up his wife for fourmonths?
When she has committed no crimeother than writing a couple of
bad checks for$80.
Speaker 9 (19:03):
Sir, it is not my prerogative, my latitude or my
job to pick and choose whichlaws in this country get.
You have broad
Speaker 7 (19:10):
discretion as the secretary can.
You need to follow, you canissue, you can do all kinds of
things, laws, but you'rechoosing not to.
Well, you commit again to justreviewing Donna's case and
reuniting this combat veteranwith his beloved wife, who also
loves this country.
Speaker 9 (19:25):
I will review the case.
So a conservative man, JimBrown, Lincoln County, Missouri,
which is about 45 minutes northof here.
20 year combat veteran whoserved in Desert Storm and Iraq.
He's been married to a womannamed Donna for 48 years.
Donna migrated to the UnitedStates from Ireland at the age
(19:47):
of 11.
She's a green card holder, andon July 29th, Jim and Donna were
returning from Ireland.
I guess they went on vacationduring a layover in Chicago, ICE
agents boarded the plane anddetained her.
The only criminal history shehas is writing two bad checks to
the sum of$80 10 years ago.
(20:07):
Repercussions of writing thosechecks have all been resolved.
This angers me.
This story really, really angersme.
Like I, I, my hands are sweating'cause I just can't fathom the
idea of this happening.
And this is part of the reasonwhy even for me, like when my
friends are like, oh, why areyou going here?
Well, you know, it's not a bigdeal.
This is, it's like, no, this iswhat's happening.
(20:28):
And it.
Scary and it scares me, andit's, you can be third, second,
fourth, it doesn't even mattergeneration, but they're going
after people.
They can just, I mean, they'refinding things on people and
it's, that's the reality of thiscountry right now.
It's very, very sad.
Donna has been detained at theCampbell County Kentucky Jail
for the last four months.
But if you call that facility,they'll tell you that they have
(20:51):
no ice detainees and refer youto call the ice agency.
And so maybe Christie Noam willreview the record and we'll hear
if she's released or not.
But it's, it's really sad.
It's frightening actually.
this is out of New Orleans.
Someone hung a voodoo doodressed as an ice agent in the
French Quarter.
A voodoo doll.
A voodoo doll, and it'shilarious, by the way, in my
(21:14):
opinion.
I think it's hilarious.
And if there are any gift shops,by the way, selling ice agent,
voodoo doll ornaments, I fuckingwant one.
You know, I wonder if they'llhave masks on too, and you can't
see their faces.
Oh yeah, exactly.
The, the attorney, the attorneyGeneral of Louisiana said.
You can tell prole immigrationradicals are losing the argument
(21:37):
when they start to do this.
Well, I guess she's got us.
We're prole immigrationradicals.
Alex, give me that voodoo dollnow.
Wow, that's a really wordy one,isn't it?
Oh my god.
Remember when you gave me thatvoodoo doll?
You bought me a voodoo doll.
Where were we?
It's right behind you.
It is right behind me.
Memphis.
We were in Memphis and it fellonce and it made me fall.
(21:59):
Like while, remember this?
Ugh.
Yeah, I believe in it.
If the end of the world doesn'thappen, Chicago O'Hare might be
the first airport to get a gaybar.
That is amazing and longoverdue.
I think the comments on this areabsolutely hilarious though.
Like they should call it missedconnections.
Oh, I love that.
(22:20):
Someone also wrote nothing likeboarding your flight after an an
eighth vodka soda and showtunes.
They would have to play showtunes the entire way.
Uh, another user said it shouldbe named the cockpit.
Yes.
There's so much opportunity forthis to have like a thing going.
Oh, and here's another localone.
The Kirkwood school district,north Kirkwood Middle School,
(22:42):
actually showed a video tostudents that acknowledged LGBT
history Month and some.
Religious wacko parents blew agasket and had a conservative
Catholic law firm sue them.
Um, the, the law firm was calledthe Thomas Moore Society.
Didn't you go to a church thatwas called Thomas Moore?
Yeah.
St.
Thomas Moore in Norman.
(23:02):
But I will say a shout out tothat church, they are very
liberal because they're part ofthe OU Congregation, which is a
college, so they, they are veryaccepting.
I mean, as accepting as aCatholic church can be.
So anyways, who's Thomas Moore?
St.
Thomas Moore is just an a, asaint in the Catholic church.
He's just one of many.
I could not, I really don'tremember what he's the saint of
honestly, but, um, look him up.
(23:25):
Probably has nothing to do withL-G-B-T-Q rights, so that's
weird.
Well, um, they asserted thattheir child's religious rights
were violated thanks to theFirst Amendment.
And thanks to the firstAmendment, I can create my own
religion and that religion.
Is Mel Robbins.
But before we leave you with aMel Robbins quote, I wanna say
thanks for listening.
This has been the coolest, mostartistic thing we've ever done.
(23:47):
We couldn't do this without anyof our listeners.
We reach people all over theworld.
I mean, we've had listeners inEngland and Switzerland, and
well with that happy holidayseveryone.
Yes, I love this.
You know, people think what weare doing, we are doing this for
fun, and politics is heavy, but,uh, we really, really enjoy
this.
So I really, I wanna say thankyou too.
It's just been great.
(24:08):
And onto Ms.
Robbins, here is a four word fixto relieve your holiday stress.
Let them, let me, let them bedisappointed you can't come home
for the holidays.
Let them have opinions aboutyour life choices, then let me
stay grounded.
Let me focus on what actuallymatters to me.
(24:29):
Let me focus what I can control.
Thanks everyone.
Love that.
Thank you.
I.
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