February 19, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of 'The Civil Union,' Alex and Ryan, a married couple, delve into various topics while navigating the chilly winter in a conservative state. They discuss the ongoing layoffs affecting crucial U.S. departments, including the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration, and the implications for national security and public safety. They touch on the controversial DEI lawsuit against Starbucks by Missouri's AG Andrew Bailey and express worries about potential changes to press freedom through a Supreme Court case involving Steve Wynn. The hosts also highlight rising misinformation and its impact on public perception, particularly regarding vaccines and recent measles outbreaks. Lighter topics include personal stories about Valentine's Day, upcoming sporting events, a humorous whale encounter, and the unusual rise in 'egg heists' amid soaring egg prices. They also play a fun game comparing quotes between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
00:00 Introduction to the Civil Union Podcast
00:39 Winter Weather Woes
04:22 Mass Firings and National Security Concerns
09:36 FAA Understaffing Issues
14:05 Comparing Federal Job Cuts: Clinton vs. Trump
17:53 Missouri Attorney General vs. Starbucks DEI Practices
23:28 Mid-Show Game: Bill Clinton vs. George W. Bush
26:49 Steve Wynn's Supreme Court Appeal
31:11 AP Reporter Barred from White House Briefings
35:54 Texas Measles Outbreak and Vaccine Misinformation
38:55 Real-Life Geppetto: Swallowed by a Whale
40:48 Egg Heists Amidst Rising Prices
42:28 Conclusion and Farewell
Music: What's The Angle? by Shane Ivers -
https://www.silvermansound.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome to the Civil Union, thepodcast where politics meets
partnership.
We're Alex and Ryan, a marriedcouple navigating life and
debates in a conservative state.
We bring you sharp insights,bold opinions.
and honest conversations aboutpolitical issues shaping our
lives, especially those livingon society's margins.
(00:28):
Tune in for real talk, a touchof humor, and plenty of passion,
because when it comes topolitics, every voice matters.
And we're here to make surethey're heard.
All right, well, Alex, um, it'ssnowing again.
Again.
For the, like, hundredth time, Ifeel like.
It's been such a snowy winter.
(00:50):
I was commenting this morning onone of my, on my Blue Sky, I was
like, I feel like I'm in NorthDakota, like Fargo.
Like, we were walking out ofwork, and it was so gross and
cloudy and snowy.
It's like, I feel like I'mFrancis McDormand, and I should
have an accent because it's sofunny.
freezing outside.
It's not normal.
Yeah, it was six degrees thismorning.
(01:11):
They said it felt like negativeeight.
I took a picture of the outside,like front lawn, and we're kind
of on a moderately busy road andlike everything's covered in
snow.
The car, the driveway, even themain road, like just everything.
And I made a post on myInstagram.
It's a story and I wrote, uh,should I ask my husband where my
(01:36):
Starbucks is when he gets homefrom the night shift?
And, uh, I will say 86 percentof people said yes.
How many people?
86%.
How many people is that?
Well, and then one of the no'swas my mom.
So I will say that.
Well, good.
I, you know, you read, I wouldlove to announce who actually
(01:58):
said yes, but I, it's not allyour coworkers did.
So, well, No comment.
Hey, and so, uh, even thoughit's, it's, it's freezing, it's
bitterly cold outside.
Um, it's supposed to be like 40on Saturday, I believe, which is
the first, CitySC home game,which I'm so excited about.
I'm really, really excited aboutit.
(02:19):
I, you know, it hasn't hit meyet that we're actually starting
Saturday.
Like I keep forgetting we evenhave a game Saturday, but I'm
really amped about it.
I think the day of I'll bereally excited.
Do you like the new Jersey?
Don't.
I don't.
You don't like it?
I like it.
I don't like the collar.
I don't like that the, it lookslike they have pit stains.
I don't know.
(02:39):
I, maybe it'll grow on me once Isee more people wearing it and
things, but for now I'm debatingwhether I want to purchase one.
I'm just, I'm so excited to likereconnect with all those like
friends again and just to seeCelio play he's playing again
and then Roman Burki.
So it'll be good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm excited for this new.
(02:59):
iteration of our team.
I'm excited for the new coach,see what he's going to be doing.
Yeah, I'm really, really excitedfor this new season.
So how was your Valentine's Day?
My Valentine's Day was filledwith roses and romance.
Oh, mine was too.
I don't even like Valentine'sDay, but we went out to dinner
at Favazza's, which is one ofour favorite restaurants and
(03:22):
Italian food.
It was packed.
We were seated in the back ofthe restaurant and it was like,
All these tables were justcouples.
It was just tables of two.
It was kind of funny.
Yeah, it was really fun.
And then we got to go out to ourfavorite little, uh, dive bar,
hole in the wall bar to see allour friends.
So it was a really good time.
I really enjoyed it.
(03:43):
It was a good night.
Did you see that?
I don't know if you saw, butCheryl Crow, she's one of my
favorite singers, by the way.
Um, she, she sold her Tesla carand donated all the proceeds to
NPR.
It was, it was kind of funny.
It was very funny.
And you know, it's funny evenseeing Teslas around town.
Every time I see one, I don'tthink I haven't seen one where
(04:03):
there hasn't been a sticker onit, either denouncing Trump or
saying they bought the Teslabefore, like everyone wants to
make a comment, like I have thiscar, but don't think I Elon.
so talking about those.
Those, uh, people, there werelike mass firings going on.
last week, Within hours of aRussian drone striking the
(04:26):
infamous Chernobyl power plantin Ukraine, employees of the
National Nuclear SafetyAdministration, otherwise known
as the NNSA, receivedtermination letters, reading
effective today.
Media outlets reported that morethan 300 employees were
terminated, but a spokespersonfor the Department of Energy
(04:47):
Energy, which the NNSA fallsunder said the number was more
like 50.
However, the Trumpadministration wants to rescind
these firings after growingconcerns that the employee
dismissals could jeopardizenational security.
Even more appallingly, ourgovernment can't find these
(05:08):
employees that they firedbecause they were locked out of
their federal email accounts.
Just what is the NNSAresponsible for?
They're responsible fordesigning, building, and
overseeing the US weaponsstockpiles.
They also oversee refurbishingthe US's 3000 plus nuclear
(05:28):
warheads.
They also supervise theproduction of new nuclear
warheads.
The, the team has like a 25billion, like annual budget and
around 2, 000 directly hiredemployees who manage some 55,
000 contractors who playintegral roles in warhead
production.
(05:48):
I was seeing that the governmentaccountability office has said
back in 2024 to that by nextyear, 2026, the agency would be
200 positions below the leveldeemed necessary for the agency
to even run properly, which isnot very comforting.
These firings, even if peoplecome back, it shows a sense of
instability within thisdepartment, within our nuclear
(06:11):
program, not only with theactual workers at the agency,
but think of how that looks toour adversaries.
That is not an image we want forour nuclear program, especially
after the supposed Russianattack strike on Chernobyl.
It's, it just makes us lookweak.
It makes us look like we don'thave our shit together.
(06:31):
Exactly.
This comes at a critical timefor the NNSA agency as they are
trying to modernize the rapidlyaging nuclear weapons arsenal
that we currently have in the U.
S.
Last year, they were carryingout seven modern modernization
programs for the Department ofDefense, and the New York Times
actually reported last year thatthe U.
(06:52):
S.
military was expected to spend1.
7 trillion to overhaul thenuclear weapons infrastructure
and warheads that were designedand built several decades ago.
decades ago.
Yeah, back in 2024, so lastyear, the NNSA administrator at
the time, Jill Hruby, said thatthe agency was being asked to do
(07:16):
more than at any time since theManhattan Project.
I mean, they have a lot ofprojects going on right now
within that agency.
It is important to note, too,these firings within the NNSA,
they were firings, and youmentioned this earlier, but I
want to reiterate.
This affected the entireDepartment of Energy, not just
(07:37):
the NNSA, which is within thatdepartment.
This included people at the GridDeployment Office.
I think 18 people were firedthere, which that department
seeks to modernize the powergrid of this country, which
again brings it back to allthese natural issues.
events going on, like hurricanesand things that need, we need a
good power grid system.
And also it affected the loanoffice with 45 workers being
(07:58):
fired, which gives billions ofdollars of loans to clean energy
projects and clean vehicleprojects that also heavily
affected the Pacific Northwestregion of this country.
This move fired more than 100probationary workers,
probationary workers.
When they say that means they'rejust newly hired.
That's all it means.
And within this instance, thesehires were hired within the last
(08:19):
two years.
This, along with the federalbuyouts previously happening,
like what, a couple weeks ago,means that they have lost over
200 workers and rescinded 90 joboffers.
This also piles on top of thehiring freeze.
Which is enacted so they can'teven get new employees and new
talent at the Bonneville PowerAdministration.
(08:42):
This freeze means they can'thire a chief financial officer.
So they're without a chieffinancial officer right now.
And there's no, there's no planto get one because there's a
hiring freeze.
This cripples the entire energysector in that region.
U.
S.
Senator Pat Murray, Democrat forWashington, said these layoffs
pose a serious threat to energysecurity and will raise energy
(09:02):
cost.
She did say too.
These positions are funded byratepayers.
So you and I, when we pay ourenergy bill, we are paying for
those positions.
These positions are not fundedfrom federal funding, so it's
not even going to make a bigdifference in the actual
government cost.
Like Elon is saying.
Yeah.
Well also last week, some 10,000 federal employees were let
(09:24):
go.
This also includes the estimated75, 000 workers who accepted the
offer from the white house toleave voluntary.
Voluntarily, which includes, theFAA firings.
So this is another big one thatI had to talk about is that
hundreds of FAA employees werelet go just weeks after the
(09:44):
fatal crash in DC exposed yetagain, under staffing issues at
the agency.
The union representing theemployees called the firings
that hastily made decision thatincreases the workload.
Of a workforce already stretchedthin the firings hit the FAA
when it faces a shortfall in airtraffic controllers for years,
(10:07):
federal officials have beenraising concerns about an
overtaxed and understaffed airtraffic employees.
Especially after a series ofclose calls between planes at us
airports.
This is not new news.
We've been seeing reports ofthis for the last few years,
post COVID.
In fact, our flight was in themidst of landing.
(10:29):
We were on our way to Las Vegaslast June and it quickly like
pulled back up and flew aroundthe city of Las Vegas.
We all felt the G force of itbriefly.
Remember that?
Yeah, I do remember this.
It wasn't a good feeling, but Inever read any like reports of
almost collisions or whatever,you know, but I almost want to
(10:49):
know how often these missedcalls actually happen that go
unreported.
I remember reading about this acouple years back.
I don't know whether it wasVanity Fair or Vogue or whoever
wrote an article about it, butthey wrote a very extensive
article about all these verymissed close misses that were
happening across the country.
I mean, Texas, multiple stateswhere planes were weren't being
(11:10):
directed correctly and they werehaving, like, they were missing
each other by very close, likehundreds of feet.
And it's because these aircraftcontrollers are being worn out
and they were understaffed.
And so when these crasheshappened, the one in Washington
DC, that's exactly where my mindwent.
And when we went to Vegas,that's exactly where my mind
went.
this has been an ongoingproblem.
(11:31):
We're just now seeing.
Actual things repercussionedfrom it.
Yeah.
So it's not a good idea to befiring these people.
Right.
Um, but among the reasons forthe controller shortfall,
they've cited uncompetitive pay,long shifts, intensive training,
and mandatory uh.
Retirements in the January 29thcrash between the U.
(11:52):
S.
Army Blackhawk and AmericanAirlines flight, which is still
under investigation.
One traffic controller washandling both commercial airline
and helicopter traffic at thesame time.
Just days before the crash,Trump had already fired all the
members of the Aviation SecurityAdvisory Committee, a panel that
(12:13):
was mandated by Congress inAfter the 1988 Pan Am 103
bombing over Lockerbie,Scotland, that committee was in
charge of reviewing safetyissues with airlines and
airports, but they're not thereanymore.
So who's doing this to me?
I feel like with all the crashesof late, it is probably not the
(12:34):
time to treat the FAA as abudgetary item.
These are roles that help aid.
in public safety.
This doesn't help the aviationindustry with public trust.
I don't, I don't feel very Youknow, confident flying right
now.
And I would be curious if thiswill affect the air travel
(12:55):
industry over the next year ortwo.
Also, I found that the FAAremains about 3500 controllers
short of targeted staffinglevels.
Transportation Secretary SeanDuffy came out and said that
fewer than 400 employees wereaffected by these firings, and
they were all just probationary.
Again, that word probationary,meaning they were hired less
(13:15):
than a year ago.
Like that's any better.
Duffy said he feels this movewill usher in America's golden
age of travel.
Here's the thing, why wouldsomeone who is wanting to be a
TSA agent or controller, eventhough these firings supposedly
didn't involve those roles,supposedly per Duffy, why would
(13:35):
you want to risk being hiredwithin an agency that
terminates, just quote, newpeople?
It's not comforting.
Like, I wouldn't want to get ajob in that agency knowing that
I would be easily expendable.
I don't see how the FAA willfill the 3, 500 controller jobs
needed if they are scaringpeople away with these firings.
so, I have a little rant or someresearch I've done that I found
(13:59):
today.
So I want to, I want to sharethis piece of information with
everyone since it relates tofederal firings and everything.
So I've, I've started to seelike right wingers come out and
say things like these firingsare just what happened during
the Clinton years in thenineties.
Gosh, remember the nineties andhow happy we were.
Of course I was a child, but,you know, I did know that I was
(14:20):
a Democrat back then.
And I did know that everyonedeserved the same amount of
freedoms as like their neighborsand friends and everything.
So anyways, but the Clintoninitiative cut over 377, 000
federal jobs in the 90s.
However, this is not comparableto Trump's efforts.
And why?
Well, according to testimony ofElaine Carmark, the director of
(14:46):
Clinton's initiative, it hadeliminated some 400, 000 federal
roles between January of 93 toSeptember of 2000.
Looking back, it's strange toimagine a time when a
presidential campaign was won ona promise to balance the federal
budget.
(15:06):
Bill Clinton did it too.
The U.
S.
federal budget had a surplusbetween 1998 to 2001, the only
time there's been a surplussince 1970.
By the way, our government'scurrent debt stands at 36
trillion dollars at the time ofthis here recording.
so this year, Trump gave Muskcontrol of our government in an
(15:29):
effort to eliminate federalprograms and jobs to
dramatically slash spending.
It's true that Clinton reducedthe federal workforce by more
than 377, 000 jobs, aninitiative originally called the
National Partnership forReinventing Government.
However, there is a keydifference between what Clinton
(15:51):
did and what Trump and Musk aredoing.
In.
March of 1993, Clinton announcedthe initiative, which was to be
led by former Vice President AlGore.
Its, its goal was to make theentire federal government both
less expensive and moreefficient.
The review of the initiative Atthe beginning lasted six months
(16:14):
and made some 384recommendations to improve the
federal government.
The implementation of thosepolicies took a lot longer and
required some legislation to bepassed through Congress.
Clinton's program continued tomake recommendations for
government reform.
(16:34):
Overall around, you know, the400,000 jobs were reduced
through buyouts between 93 to2000.
The the Buyouts by Clinton'sprogram and what Trump and Musk
are doing are just not the sameright now.
Clinton's buyout plan hadoverwhelmingly by.
bipartisan support fromCongress, and a law was signed
(16:56):
after the review period wasover, which lasted six months.
Meanwhile, Trump and Muskoffered the buyouts just one
week into his second term, withno review process, no
consideration by Congress, whichis probably why chaos is ensuing
between the nuclear and FAAfirings, amongst others.
(17:16):
Yeah, that is a reallyinteresting point.
I mean, there is this idea too,with all the newer firings that
Trump is doing and in extensionElon, they may be intentionally
acting on these mass firings.
knowing they will be challenged,knowing they will go to the
Supreme Court, which leans intothe GOP's favor with six
(17:37):
Republican appointed judges,which would mean it would, if
the judges rule in Trump andElon's favor it would set a new
precedent and expand onpresidential power, which may be
their goal in this this entiretime.
we will see.
Yeah.
So, moving on to good oldMissouri, our attorney general,
(17:58):
Andrew Bailey, who is in myopinion, absolutely crazy.
Um, he is suing Starbucks overtheir DEI practices.
Bailey alleges the coffee chainspush to hire more people of
color and women violates antidiscrimination laws and slows
down coffee orders.
I guess he got a bad, badexperience at Starbucks or
(18:20):
something.
So the, the lawsuit he filed,opens a new legal front in the
war on diversity and incorporate America.
It aims to strike down the mostcommon DEI Programs that
Starbucks and other businessesused to expand opportunities for
minorities, women, andhistorically underrepresented
(18:42):
groups.
Hey, buddy.
I, uh, I want to let you knowthat I worked for the coffee
chain for 13 years and I am awhite male.
So just FYI.
You, that means you, you createdvery fast orders and made his
coffee delicious.
I guess I did.
Who knows?
Huh?
So Starbucks denied Missouri'sallegations and said its
policies were designed to ensurethe strongest candidate for
(19:06):
every job every time.
This suit alleges that Starbucksmentorship programs with the
goal of Connecting minorityemployees to senior company
leaders is just a, quote, merepretext for its actual
commitment to unlawfuldiscrimination, end quote.
Starbucks has a goal ofAchieving 30 percent minority
representation across allcorporate levels and 40 percent
(19:30):
of all retail stores by the endof this year.
Actually, Bailey also accusesStarbucks of making hiring
decisions based on race ratherthan merit, which he claims it
leads to more mistakes on thejob and higher costs for
consumers.
Um, in my opinion, sounds likesomeone needs to be decaf and
yes, if you're a I woulddefinitely give you decaf.
(19:52):
Oh my god, I remember doing thatto people.
Decaf ing people.
Yeah, absolutely.
Because they deserve it.
And you know, you had mentioneda goal of achieving 30 percent
minority representation incorporate levels and 40 percent
of retail stores.
That's not that huge of a thing.
I mean, that should be normal, Ifeel like, with the way
America's going.
But anyway, I find it hilarious.
(20:13):
This guy is trying to blame thecost of your venti ice pumpkin
spice latte, which differs inprice, by the way, by region and
cost of living in that area.
But Bailey seems to think it'scaused by a lack of white men
serving and making your coffee.
There is no proof whatsoever ofa white man being discriminated
against at Starbucks in thestate of Missouri.
(20:35):
There is also no proof that dueto DEI hires, Starbucks
customers are faced with slowerservice times.
I pray to the mermaid gods thatStarbucks fights this lawsuit
because so far Ford, Google,McDonald's, Meta, which is
Facebook, Target.
And Walmart have all cowered andscaled back or eliminated their
(20:57):
D.
I.
initiatives altogether.
If they fought it, it would giveme hope that there are still
some backbone in corporateAmerica with this presidency.
It's also important to noteBailey is banking on the Supreme
Court's 2013 ruling that had todo with Harvard admissions that
ruled affirmative action isunconstitutional.
Bailey had said, quote,eliminating racial
(21:19):
discrimination means eliminatingAll of it, end quote.
Basically, he's saying white menare being racially discriminated
against due to Starbucks DEIinitiatives.
But affirmative action isdifferent than DEI initiatives.
So there is no merit for thatargument.
There was also a case that I hadfound back in September of 23 in
(21:40):
Washington State betweenNational Center for Public
Policy Research versus Schultz.
That was a suit brought by aconservative think tank alleging
that Starbucks diversityinitiatives were in violation of
the Civil Rights Act and stateanti discrimination laws.
A month later, it was dismissed,and Chief Judge Stanley Bastian,
(22:02):
in his oral decision, said that,quote, Courts of law have no
business involving themselveswith legitimate and legal
decisions made by the Board ofDirectors of public
corporations.
And went further in saying basedon the briefing and nature of
plaintiff's self describedpolitical interests, it is clear
to the court that plaintiff didnot file this action to enforce
(22:23):
the interests of Starbucks, butto advance its own political and
public policy agendas.
With all that said, chances arethis lawsuit will be thrown out
anyway.
But, with that also said, Thisis probably just a big note, a
precursor to what we shouldexpect from Pam Bondi and what
she will do now that she is thehead of the DOJ, because she has
(22:46):
said she plans on going afterprivate companies and higher
education institutions that haveDEI programs in place.
So, what Bailey is doing, we'regonna probably expect more of
this going forward.
Yeah, this isn't the last timewe're going to hear from this
guy anyways because he's justhe's He's trying to make a name
for himself.
That's essentially what he'strying to do because he is, um,
(23:08):
untamed is what I will call himuntamed because he is just, he
goes after the LGBT community.
He goes after just everything.
That's a minority.
He has really singled out and isjust bringing case after case
against, against people.
Um, all right.
(23:28):
So we're at the middle of theshow.
It's time for a game.
it.
Let's do it.
I love this part.
All right.
So this one is, um, since wetalked about Bill Clinton, so
it's Bill Clinton and, uh,George W.
Bush.
Um, so you're gonna pick.
Okay.
Okay.
Ready?
Yes.
All right.
First one you can put wings on apig, but you don't make it an
(23:52):
eagle George W Bush bill Oh,man, that sounds so country.
I thought it was definitely BushWell bill is from Arkansas.
So that's true.
Okay, so second one.
Here we go I just wanted you toknow when we talk about war.
We're really talking about peacebill or George I'm going to say
(24:17):
George W.
Bush because he obviouslystarted the Afghanistan war and
stuff.
Yes, George said it in 2002.
All right, number three.
This is a hard one, so forgiveme.
Here we go.
I know what I believe.
I will continue to articulatewhat I believe and what I
believe.
I believe what I believe isright.
(24:39):
Bill or George?
George?
Yes! 2001.
He used to stumble his words allthe time.
Alright, here's number 4.
The 22nd Amendment shouldprobably be modified to say two
consecutive terms instead of twoterms for a lifetime.
(25:00):
Bill or George?
Bill.
Bill.
Yes, you're correct.
Ooh.
I hope that doesn't come backand bite him in the ass.
Holy shit.
That's scary.
That is scary.
Uh, we don't like that quote,Bill.
Um, so all right, here's numberfive.
I still believe in a placecalled hope.
Bill or George.
(25:25):
Bill, referencing his hometownof Hope, Arkansas.
All right.
Number six, here we go.
Every fatal shooting, there wereroughly three non fatal
shootings and folks, this isunacceptable in America.
It's just unacceptable.
And we're going to do somethingabout it.
(25:46):
Bill or George.
This is terrible.
Definitely George.
Yes.
He used to say folks all thetime.
That's his little Texas twang.
I had no idea.
All right.
And then, uh, the final numberseven, here we go.
You know, one of the hardestparts of my job is to connect
Iraq to the war on terror.
(26:07):
Bill or George?
George.
Yes.
George said it in a 2000interview with Katie Couric.
Interesting.
Those are good.
The hardest part of my job is toconnect Iraq to the war on
terror, but didn't we like go towar with Iraq against terrorism?
God, remember those twopresidents?
(26:27):
Like we thought that was a lowat certain points of their
presidencies and now look at usand where we're at.
I know.
I thought that was like theworst presidency ever and it
can't get any worse.
And now I look back at it andI'm just like, wow, we had it.
Yeah, I miss his Texas accentactually, like we need that
back.
Trump is so annoying.
(26:47):
Yeah.
So, okay.
All right.
Moving on to our next subject.
So this is something that hasn'thit the major news waves, but I
do feel we are going to startseeing more about it because it
will have direct implicationshugely with the way journalism
works in this country.
Casino mogul Steve Wynn hasasked the U.
S.
(27:07):
Supreme Court to hear an appealthat, if granted, could give the
justices a chance to revisitlibel protections for
journalists enshrined in alandmark 1964 ruling.
The ruling was New York Timesversus Sullivan.
This was a landmark case.
It represents the SupremeCourt's most important attempt
in resolving the tension betweenfree speech.
(27:30):
It And defamation or quote,actual malice, it created a
simple test in which publicfigures can only win defamation
cases if they prove the speakereither knew their statement was
false or showed malice.
quote, reckless disregard forits truth.
Minor factual errors,differences of interpretation,
(27:51):
or even heated exchanges aboutpublic figures aren't enough to
trigger liability.
Only lies that are deliberate orstatements made while willfully
ignoring clear evidence offacts.
falsity can qualify asdefamation plaintiffs then have
the burden of proving that thedefendant knew that it was a lie
when they published or spoke it.
This has been a cornerstone offree speech for the past 60
(28:15):
years and made costly defamationlawsuits harder to charge.
It allowed journalists.
to write stories about the richand powerful while minimizing
the threat of them beingbutthurt and casting privileged
lawsuits left and right justbecause they don't like
something written about them.
Which leads to Steve Wynn.
Wynn is a prominent casinomagnate and Republican mega
(28:36):
donor.
Back in 2018, the Wall StreetJournal had a big Big expose
accusing him of a wide varietyof sexual abuse and harassment.
This was followed by other mediaoutlets reporting on other
police files in Las Vegas, inwhich there were other claims of
sexual assault by Wynn reachingall the way back into the
seventies.
(28:57):
Wynn turned around and sued theAssociated Press and a reporter,
her name was Regina Garcia, fordefamation, this case was
dismissed under Nevada's antislap law, S L A P P.
They said there was no actualmalice.
Having lost in state court, heis now bringing it up to the
Supreme Court.
(29:17):
He is petitioning the courts tooverturn Sullivan's, quote,
actual malice standard, or at aminimum, make it to where it
doesn't apply to public figures.
This is the most direct assaulton press freedom in America
since 1964, and if he issuccessful, it will demolish the
(29:38):
guardrails that have protectedjournalism for the past six
decades.
It's important to note severaljustices have shown hostility
towards the case of Sullivan inthe past, and we should also
know by now.
This Supreme Court is not afraidof a pen saddled Supreme Court
precedent.
I mean, Roe vs.
(29:58):
Wade was a perfect example ofthat.
But up to this point, no one haslegitimately tried to overturn
Sullivan.
Now, what All of this isimportant because this
administration has targeted thepress and attacked journalists
who they don't agree with.
What will the implications ofthis be if the Supreme Court
(30:20):
decides to overturn Sullivan?
The court still needs to decideif it will hear Wynn's case.
By having at least four justicesagreeing to hear the case.
But right now, due to previoushistory, it would seem likely
Justice El Salido, ClarenceThomas and Gorsuch would hear
this case.
That means only one otherjustice would have to bend that
(30:42):
way as well, which is not true.
Very far fetched.
The Associated Press has untilMarch 6th also to respond.
So keep an eye on this storydeveloping in the next month
because I think we're going tohear a lot more about it
probably in the next few weeks,up, up leading into March 6th.
Wow.
Good story, Alex.
(31:03):
That's impressive.
Yeah, I don't think a lot ofpeople are covering it, which is
really surprising because it'sdirectly affecting journalism,
but we'll, we'll hear about it.
Yeah.
So speaking of the press, um, anAP reporter, Associated Press
reporter was ousted from theWhite House briefings recently
because the company still usesthe Gulf of Mexico and not
Mexico.
The Gulf of America.
(31:25):
First of all, this whole Gulf ofMexico, Gulf of America, I
cannot believe this is even atalking point.
It's sad that it is a talkingpoint in this country.
Um, in escalation of this, thispast Friday actually, The White
House barred a credentialedassociate press reporter and
photographer from boarding thepresidential airplane for a
(31:45):
weekend trip with Donald Trump.
I mean, who would love to dothat?
They have been blocked fromvarious events all last week.
The associate press has Mexico.
has argued that the mappingpolicy violates Mexican
sovereignty because the U.
S.
only has jurisdiction overaround 46 percent of the Gulf.
(32:06):
The rest is controlled byMexico, which controls in 49%,
and Cuba, which controls around5%.
The name Gulf of Mexico datesback to 1607 and is recognized
by the United Nations.
Also, Mexico's president,Claudia, is saying, per the
United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea, a country's
(32:29):
territorial sovereignty onlyextends 12 nautical miles from
its coastline.
So the name change, if applied,would only apply to the 12
nautical miles of the coastline.
into the Gulf, not the entireGulf.
Also, it is kind of interesting.
All these actions are richcoming from the White House
because VP JD Vance was inGermany at the Munich Security
(32:52):
Conference, I believe on Friday,which funny enough was the same
day the APA reporters werebarred from Air Force One.
But he was making statements infront of the entire world One
quote was, he said, I believethat dismissing people
dismissing their concerns orworse yet shutting down media,
shutting down elections orshutting people out of the
(33:13):
political process protectsnothing.
In fact, it is the most surefireway to destroy democracy.
J.
D.
Vance said that.
He also said, quote, Democracyrests on the sacred principle
that the voice of the peoplematters.
There's no room for firewalls.
He said these things the sameday the White House barred A.
(33:35):
P.
Press from the Air Force One.
He was called out by numerousofficials on his remarks, saying
he was picking a fight withEuropean allies, which isn't
great.
And he was insulting to theentire world.
The AP White House standoff isstill ongoing.
This is not ending yet.
Multiple other media outletshave made statements, but it
(33:56):
also seems they're tiptoeingaround the subject.
A lot of people are, like,scared to say anything, I think,
just because they're afraid oflosing their credentials as
well.
But we'll see how far thisescalates and how long this goes
on for.
Yeah, I heard, like, thepresident of Mexico wants to sue
Google for changing the body ofwater name, but I scrolled past
it.
What, what, what?
What was that?
(34:17):
Do you know anything about that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
She is actively.
I think they need to respond.
There's like a date they have torespond by, but if they don't
respond or do something, she'sgoing to take it to court or
something.
Yeah, she's definitely going togo after.
Yeah.
And so I was like doing somemore research on the Mexico
president and everything.
And I was like, I briefly wenton Tik Tok, you know, which you
can't download on any phonesunless you already had it on
(34:39):
your phone.
Do you have to talk?
Yeah.
I do have TikTok.
I don't even, I don't even knowif I'm signed into it, honestly.
Interesting.
So I, I saw this story and Ijust wanted to bring this up
that, um, it said somethingabout the Mexican president is
requiring all Americans toobtain a visa before entering
into the country, which we, wedid our research here and we
(35:01):
couldn't find anything like onthat.
So it, it was clearly false, butthis, this video.
And multiple videos had like 200plus likes on it and like views
on it.
And it's like people are seeingjust fake news everywhere and
believing it.
It's, it's really scary.
(35:21):
It's crazy how, uh, this isgoing on.
Well, remember back to our, Ithink our first or second
episode, we talked about how theyouth between the ages up to 30,
I think, or maybe at 35, uh, 70percent of them get majority of
their news from TikTok.
Like that's unsettling.
When things like this arefalsified on TikTok, you're
seeing it and you're having toquestion its validity, validity.
(35:44):
Like I researched into this on aline, like to extent, and I
couldn't find anything about it.
But yeah, this is why people areso misinformed.
Yeah.
It's, it's very scary.
So anyways, remember that Texasmeasles outbreak?
Speaking of misinformation onvaccines.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Misinformation about vaccines.
Remember that texas meas aboutlike last week act were going to
(36:09):
be like mor the cases went from10 ca 30 years.
Other states are seeingoutbreaks to, uh, for example,
New Mexico, which borders thehot spot, we'll call it Gaines
County, Texas, um, had ateenager with measles and that
(36:31):
team did not travel outside ofthe states, which is unclear how
he actually contracted thedisease before the vaccine
measles vaccine became availablein the 19 sixties, some 400 to
500.
mostly Children were dying eachyear from the disease, according
(36:52):
to a recent poll, though, 17percent of parents said that
they have skipped or delayed avaccine dose in their Children.
That's 10 percent up from justtwo years ago.
The best way to prevent gettingsick is to be immunized,
immunized from two doses of avaccine against measles, which
(37:14):
is primarily administered as thecombination of the measles
mumps, rubella vaccine, twodoses of the MMR vaccine are
highly effective at preventingthe measles.
So make sure you get your kids,uh, vaccinated, please.
Yeah, something I had looked updown the Texas Department of
State Health Services website.
All the 48 cases were all peoplewho were not vaccinated or
(37:39):
vaccination was unknown.
All 48 cases.
The majority of the cases arekids 0 to 17 years old.
All of these counties are inWest Texas as well, right under
the Panhandle, which is a very,very red part of Texas.
One thing I want to touch on,too, before we move on, because
I feel like it's important, RFKJr., who is now at the helm of
(38:01):
the Department of Health andHuman Services, has long sown
disparities.
It's important to note theincrease of autism has been
proven to be caused byincreasing awareness and
screening for the condition,changing definitions of autism
(38:21):
to include milder conditions onthe spectrum that weren't
recognized in previous years, aswell as advances in diagnostic
technology.
So this, the increase of measlesthat he keeps arguing about and
people freak out about, which isprobably why.
17 percent of parents have saidthey have, they have skipped
their daily delayed vaccine dosein their children is because
people are afraid that thiscould happen to them.
(38:43):
And it's not the case.
Autism has increased because ofother reasons, not because of
the vaccine.
What a, what a fun packedepisode.
My gosh.
Crazy.
All right.
Bring us some lighter news.
Speaking of fun.
So there was a real Life inGeppetto, you guys.
I mean, do you rememberPinocchio when his father gets
swallowed by a whale?
(39:03):
Yes.
There was an incident last weekoff the coast of Chilean
Patagonia.
Adrian Simancas and his fatherwere both kayaking and a
humpback whale surfaced.
Swallowed Adrian and his kayak,then literally, like, spit him
out.
Obviously, Adrian was terrified.
(39:25):
Adrian had, said he was morescared after he was released,
worried for the safety of hisfather, because he had no clue
whether his father was in dangeror not.
I mean, I know, I know, this isnot necessarily light news,
because it is kind of scary.
But it's also really funny.
His father actually has a videoof the entire incident, so it's
all on camera.
(39:46):
It is worth a watch.
I highly suggest going andfinding it because it is unreal.
What's ironic is to which I findfunny.
The guy, Adrian.
He looks like a younger versionof cartoon Geppetto.
Geppetto was Pinocchio's dad.
He looks like a younger versionof him.
Not even kidding.
Also, could you imagine sayingyou survived being swallowed by
(40:07):
a humpback whale?
I mean, Mind blown.
I'm kind of jealous of thiswhole situation.
I remember a story like thiscoming out?
Uh, well, this is the first, Ibelieve the first time it's ever
been caught on video becausethere was a story, um, several
years ago about a guy off the,he was scuba diving off the
coast of New England, I thinkoff of New Hampshire, and he was
(40:29):
literally swallowed by a whale,but it spit him out, but he
never got a video of it, but hehad the story, you know?
So I did see the video.
It was really neat.
I wonder if it was the samewhale.
Cool.
I guess.
It is a really weird videovideo.
It's scary.
But yeah, obviously the whaledidn't know what it was doing,
I'm sure.
But in other news, egg heists.
(40:53):
Egg heists are a thing.
That is the craziest double wordI can think of matching and it's
actually real.
Egg heists.
Eggs have been, obviously we allknow this.
At a record price lately due tothe threat of bird flu, there
are some restaurants, especiallybreakfast places that are
starting to add surcharges peregg.
We're talking like if you wantto order like two eggs, it's
(41:15):
like 70 cents per egg.
The cost of eggs is up about 50percent from last year.
You can't blame the surcharges.
I don't think I would be upsetabout it because I obviously
want to support a business, butbusinesses have to stay in
business and so they have to dothose things.
A diner in Ohio.
Per the New York Times articlethat I'd seen said that a week
(41:35):
cost of eggs typically cost them300 bucks.
Now this diner, it cost them 1,000 a week.
Well, the cost of eggs has nowled to two different egg heists.
One happened a couple weeks backin Pennsylvania.
I don't know if anyone remembershearing about this, but thieves
stole a hundred thousand eggs,totaling about 40, 000.
(41:58):
Making it a heist off adistribution trailer.
Then in Seattle, 540 eggs werestolen in the early morning
hours from a cafe that that wascaught on camera, but none of
the perpetrators have beencaught egg handed yet.
And I mean, these stories arekind of comedic, but I mean, we
are living in crazy times.
(42:21):
We're talking about people beingswallowed by whales.
We started a podcast because ofit.
So yeah, I agree.
All right.
Well, um, that's, that's all wegot for you today.
Um, I hope everyone has awonderful rest of the week.
Stay warm.
Give us a follow on Instagram atthe civil you that is just with
the letter you and, uh, feelfree to send us an email letting
(42:42):
us know your thoughts,questions, what we got wrong, or
anything we should discuss, um,at the civil union 25.
at gmail.
com.
Have a good one guys.
Thanks guys.
Welcome to the Civil Union, thepodcast where politics meets
partnership.
We're Alex and Ryan, a marriedcouple navigating life and
debates in a conservative state.
We bring you sharp insights,bold opinions.
and honest conversations aboutpolitical issues shaping our
lives, especially those livingon society's margins.
(00:28):
Tune in for real talk, a touchof humor, and plenty of passion,
because when it comes topolitics, every voice matters.
And we're here to make surethey're heard.
All right, well, Alex, um, it'ssnowing again.
Again.
For the, like, hundredth time, Ifeel like.
It's been such a snowy winter.
(00:50):
I was commenting this morning onone of my, on my Blue Sky, I was
like, I feel like I'm in NorthDakota, like Fargo.
Like, we were walking out ofwork, and it was so gross and
cloudy and snowy.
It's like, I feel like I'mFrancis McDormand, and I should
have an accent because it's sofunny.
freezing outside.
It's not normal.
Yeah, it was six degrees thismorning.
(01:11):
They said it felt like negativeeight.
I took a picture of the outside,like front lawn, and we're kind
of on a moderately busy road andlike everything's covered in
snow.
The car, the driveway, even themain road, like just everything.
And I made a post on myInstagram.
It's a story and I wrote, uh,should I ask my husband where my
(01:36):
Starbucks is when he gets homefrom the night shift?
And, uh, I will say 86 percentof people said yes.
How many people?
86%.
How many people is that?
Well, and then one of the no'swas my mom.
So I will say that.
Well, good.
I, you know, you read, I wouldlove to announce who actually
(01:58):
said yes, but I, it's not allyour coworkers did.
So, well, No comment.
Hey, and so, uh, even thoughit's, it's, it's freezing, it's
bitterly cold outside.
Um, it's supposed to be like 40on Saturday, I believe, which is
the first, CitySC home game,which I'm so excited about.
I'm really, really excited aboutit.
(02:19):
I, you know, it hasn't hit meyet that we're actually starting
Saturday.
Like I keep forgetting we evenhave a game Saturday, but I'm
really amped about it.
I think the day of I'll bereally excited.
Do you like the new Jersey?
Don't.
I don't.
You don't like it?
I like it.
I don't like the collar.
I don't like that the, it lookslike they have pit stains.
I don't know.
(02:39):
I, maybe it'll grow on me once Isee more people wearing it and
things, but for now I'm debatingwhether I want to purchase one.
I'm just, I'm so excited to likereconnect with all those like
friends again and just to seeCelio play he's playing again
and then Roman Burki.
So it'll be good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm excited for this new.
(02:59):
iteration of our team.
I'm excited for the new coach,see what he's going to be doing.
Yeah, I'm really, really excitedfor this new season.
So how was your Valentine's Day?
My Valentine's Day was filledwith roses and romance.
Oh, mine was too.
I don't even like Valentine'sDay, but we went out to dinner
at Favazza's, which is one ofour favorite restaurants and
(03:22):
Italian food.
It was packed.
We were seated in the back ofthe restaurant and it was like,
All these tables were justcouples.
It was just tables of two.
It was kind of funny.
Yeah, it was really fun.
And then we got to go out to ourfavorite little, uh, dive bar,
hole in the wall bar to see allour friends.
So it was a really good time.
I really enjoyed it.
(03:43):
It was a good night.
Did you see that?
I don't know if you saw, butCheryl Crow, she's one of my
favorite singers, by the way.
Um, she, she sold her Tesla carand donated all the proceeds to
NPR.
It was, it was kind of funny.
It was very funny.
And you know, it's funny evenseeing Teslas around town.
Every time I see one, I don'tthink I haven't seen one where
(04:03):
there hasn't been a sticker onit, either denouncing Trump or
saying they bought the Teslabefore, like everyone wants to
make a comment, like I have thiscar, but don't think I Elon.
so talking about those.
Those, uh, people, there werelike mass firings going on.
last week, Within hours of aRussian drone striking the
(04:26):
infamous Chernobyl power plantin Ukraine, employees of the
National Nuclear SafetyAdministration, otherwise known
as the NNSA, receivedtermination letters, reading
effective today.
Media outlets reported that morethan 300 employees were
terminated, but a spokespersonfor the Department of Energy
(04:47):
Energy, which the NNSA fallsunder said the number was more
like 50.
However, the Trumpadministration wants to rescind
these firings after growingconcerns that the employee
dismissals could jeopardizenational security.
Even more appallingly, ourgovernment can't find these
(05:08):
employees that they firedbecause they were locked out of
their federal email accounts.
Just what is the NNSAresponsible for?
They're responsible fordesigning, building, and
overseeing the US weaponsstockpiles.
They also oversee refurbishingthe US's 3000 plus nuclear
(05:28):
warheads.
They also supervise theproduction of new nuclear
warheads.
The, the team has like a 25billion, like annual budget and
around 2, 000 directly hiredemployees who manage some 55,
000 contractors who playintegral roles in warhead
production.
(05:48):
I was seeing that the governmentaccountability office has said
back in 2024 to that by nextyear, 2026, the agency would be
200 positions below the leveldeemed necessary for the agency
to even run properly, which isnot very comforting.
These firings, even if peoplecome back, it shows a sense of
instability within thisdepartment, within our nuclear
(06:11):
program, not only with theactual workers at the agency,
but think of how that looks toour adversaries.
That is not an image we want forour nuclear program, especially
after the supposed Russianattack strike on Chernobyl.
It's, it just makes us lookweak.
It makes us look like we don'thave our shit together.
(06:31):
Exactly.
This comes at a critical timefor the NNSA agency as they are
trying to modernize the rapidlyaging nuclear weapons arsenal
that we currently have in the U.
S.
Last year, they were carryingout seven modern modernization
programs for the Department ofDefense, and the New York Times
actually reported last year thatthe U.
(06:52):
S.
military was expected to spend1.
7 trillion to overhaul thenuclear weapons infrastructure
and warheads that were designedand built several decades ago.
decades ago.
Yeah, back in 2024, so lastyear, the NNSA administrator at
the time, Jill Hruby, said thatthe agency was being asked to do
(07:16):
more than at any time since theManhattan Project.
I mean, they have a lot ofprojects going on right now
within that agency.
It is important to note, too,these firings within the NNSA,
they were firings, and youmentioned this earlier, but I
want to reiterate.
This affected the entireDepartment of Energy, not just
(07:37):
the NNSA, which is within thatdepartment.
This included people at the GridDeployment Office.
I think 18 people were firedthere, which that department
seeks to modernize the powergrid of this country, which
again brings it back to allthese natural issues.
events going on, like hurricanesand things that need, we need a
good power grid system.
And also it affected the loanoffice with 45 workers being
(07:58):
fired, which gives billions ofdollars of loans to clean energy
projects and clean vehicleprojects that also heavily
affected the Pacific Northwestregion of this country.
This move fired more than 100probationary workers,
probationary workers.
When they say that means they'rejust newly hired.
That's all it means.
And within this instance, thesehires were hired within the last
(08:19):
two years.
This, along with the federalbuyouts previously happening,
like what, a couple weeks ago,means that they have lost over
200 workers and rescinded 90 joboffers.
This also piles on top of thehiring freeze.
Which is enacted so they can'teven get new employees and new
talent at the Bonneville PowerAdministration.
(08:42):
This freeze means they can'thire a chief financial officer.
So they're without a chieffinancial officer right now.
And there's no, there's no planto get one because there's a
hiring freeze.
This cripples the entire energysector in that region.
U.
S.
Senator Pat Murray, Democrat forWashington, said these layoffs
pose a serious threat to energysecurity and will raise energy
(09:02):
cost.
She did say too.
These positions are funded byratepayers.
So you and I, when we pay ourenergy bill, we are paying for
those positions.
These positions are not fundedfrom federal funding, so it's
not even going to make a bigdifference in the actual
government cost.
Like Elon is saying.
Yeah.
Well also last week, some 10,000 federal employees were let
(09:24):
go.
This also includes the estimated75, 000 workers who accepted the
offer from the white house toleave voluntary.
Voluntarily, which includes, theFAA firings.
So this is another big one thatI had to talk about is that
hundreds of FAA employees werelet go just weeks after the
(09:44):
fatal crash in DC exposed yetagain, under staffing issues at
the agency.
The union representing theemployees called the firings
that hastily made decision thatincreases the workload.
Of a workforce already stretchedthin the firings hit the FAA
when it faces a shortfall in airtraffic controllers for years,
(10:07):
federal officials have beenraising concerns about an
overtaxed and understaffed airtraffic employees.
Especially after a series ofclose calls between planes at us
airports.
This is not new news.
We've been seeing reports ofthis for the last few years,
post COVID.
In fact, our flight was in themidst of landing.
(10:29):
We were on our way to Las Vegaslast June and it quickly like
pulled back up and flew aroundthe city of Las Vegas.
We all felt the G force of itbriefly.
Remember that?
Yeah, I do remember this.
It wasn't a good feeling, but Inever read any like reports of
almost collisions or whatever,you know, but I almost want to
(10:49):
know how often these missedcalls actually happen that go
unreported.
I remember reading about this acouple years back.
I don't know whether it wasVanity Fair or Vogue or whoever
wrote an article about it, butthey wrote a very extensive
article about all these verymissed close misses that were
happening across the country.
I mean, Texas, multiple stateswhere planes were weren't being
(11:10):
directed correctly and they werehaving, like, they were missing
each other by very close, likehundreds of feet.
And it's because these aircraftcontrollers are being worn out
and they were understaffed.
And so when these crasheshappened, the one in Washington
DC, that's exactly where my mindwent.
And when we went to Vegas,that's exactly where my mind
went.
this has been an ongoingproblem.
(11:31):
We're just now seeing.
Actual things repercussionedfrom it.
Yeah.
So it's not a good idea to befiring these people.
Right.
Um, but among the reasons forthe controller shortfall,
they've cited uncompetitive pay,long shifts, intensive training,
and mandatory uh.
Retirements in the January 29thcrash between the U.
(11:52):
S.
Army Blackhawk and AmericanAirlines flight, which is still
under investigation.
One traffic controller washandling both commercial airline
and helicopter traffic at thesame time.
Just days before the crash,Trump had already fired all the
members of the Aviation SecurityAdvisory Committee, a panel that
(12:13):
was mandated by Congress inAfter the 1988 Pan Am 103
bombing over Lockerbie,Scotland, that committee was in
charge of reviewing safetyissues with airlines and
airports, but they're not thereanymore.
So who's doing this to me?
I feel like with all the crashesof late, it is probably not the
(12:34):
time to treat the FAA as abudgetary item.
These are roles that help aid.
in public safety.
This doesn't help the aviationindustry with public trust.
I don't, I don't feel very Youknow, confident flying right
now.
And I would be curious if thiswill affect the air travel
(12:55):
industry over the next year ortwo.
Also, I found that the FAAremains about 3500 controllers
short of targeted staffinglevels.
Transportation Secretary SeanDuffy came out and said that
fewer than 400 employees wereaffected by these firings, and
they were all just probationary.
Again, that word probationary,meaning they were hired less
(13:15):
than a year ago.
Like that's any better.
Duffy said he feels this movewill usher in America's golden
age of travel.
Here's the thing, why wouldsomeone who is wanting to be a
TSA agent or controller, eventhough these firings supposedly
didn't involve those roles,supposedly per Duffy, why would
(13:35):
you want to risk being hiredwithin an agency that
terminates, just quote, newpeople?
It's not comforting.
Like, I wouldn't want to get ajob in that agency knowing that
I would be easily expendable.
I don't see how the FAA willfill the 3, 500 controller jobs
needed if they are scaringpeople away with these firings.
so, I have a little rant or someresearch I've done that I found
(13:59):
today.
So I want to, I want to sharethis piece of information with
everyone since it relates tofederal firings and everything.
So I've, I've started to seelike right wingers come out and
say things like these firingsare just what happened during
the Clinton years in thenineties.
Gosh, remember the nineties andhow happy we were.
Of course I was a child, but,you know, I did know that I was
(14:20):
a Democrat back then.
And I did know that everyonedeserved the same amount of
freedoms as like their neighborsand friends and everything.
So anyways, but the Clintoninitiative cut over 377, 000
federal jobs in the 90s.
However, this is not comparableto Trump's efforts.
And why?
Well, according to testimony ofElaine Carmark, the director of
(14:46):
Clinton's initiative, it hadeliminated some 400, 000 federal
roles between January of 93 toSeptember of 2000.
Looking back, it's strange toimagine a time when a
presidential campaign was won ona promise to balance the federal
budget.
(15:06):
Bill Clinton did it too.
The U.
S.
federal budget had a surplusbetween 1998 to 2001, the only
time there's been a surplussince 1970.
By the way, our government'scurrent debt stands at 36
trillion dollars at the time ofthis here recording.
so this year, Trump gave Muskcontrol of our government in an
(15:29):
effort to eliminate federalprograms and jobs to
dramatically slash spending.
It's true that Clinton reducedthe federal workforce by more
than 377, 000 jobs, aninitiative originally called the
National Partnership forReinventing Government.
However, there is a keydifference between what Clinton
(15:51):
did and what Trump and Musk aredoing.
In.
March of 1993, Clinton announcedthe initiative, which was to be
led by former Vice President AlGore.
Its, its goal was to make theentire federal government both
less expensive and moreefficient.
The review of the initiative Atthe beginning lasted six months
(16:14):
and made some 384recommendations to improve the
federal government.
The implementation of thosepolicies took a lot longer and
required some legislation to bepassed through Congress.
Clinton's program continued tomake recommendations for
government reform.
(16:34):
Overall around, you know, the400,000 jobs were reduced
through buyouts between 93 to2000.
The the Buyouts by Clinton'sprogram and what Trump and Musk
are doing are just not the sameright now.
Clinton's buyout plan hadoverwhelmingly by.
bipartisan support fromCongress, and a law was signed
(16:56):
after the review period wasover, which lasted six months.
Meanwhile, Trump and Muskoffered the buyouts just one
week into his second term, withno review process, no
consideration by Congress, whichis probably why chaos is ensuing
between the nuclear and FAAfirings, amongst others.
(17:16):
Yeah, that is a reallyinteresting point.
I mean, there is this idea too,with all the newer firings that
Trump is doing and in extensionElon, they may be intentionally
acting on these mass firings.
knowing they will be challenged,knowing they will go to the
Supreme Court, which leans intothe GOP's favor with six
(17:37):
Republican appointed judges,which would mean it would, if
the judges rule in Trump andElon's favor it would set a new
precedent and expand onpresidential power, which may be
their goal in this this entiretime.
we will see.
Yeah.
So, moving on to good oldMissouri, our attorney general,
(17:58):
Andrew Bailey, who is in myopinion, absolutely crazy.
Um, he is suing Starbucks overtheir DEI practices.
Bailey alleges the coffee chainspush to hire more people of
color and women violates antidiscrimination laws and slows
down coffee orders.
I guess he got a bad, badexperience at Starbucks or
(18:20):
something.
So the, the lawsuit he filed,opens a new legal front in the
war on diversity and incorporate America.
It aims to strike down the mostcommon DEI Programs that
Starbucks and other businessesused to expand opportunities for
minorities, women, andhistorically underrepresented
(18:42):
groups.
Hey, buddy.
I, uh, I want to let you knowthat I worked for the coffee
chain for 13 years and I am awhite male.
So just FYI.
You, that means you, you createdvery fast orders and made his
coffee delicious.
I guess I did.
Who knows?
Huh?
So Starbucks denied Missouri'sallegations and said its
policies were designed to ensurethe strongest candidate for
(19:06):
every job every time.
This suit alleges that Starbucksmentorship programs with the
goal of Connecting minorityemployees to senior company
leaders is just a, quote, merepretext for its actual
commitment to unlawfuldiscrimination, end quote.
Starbucks has a goal ofAchieving 30 percent minority
representation across allcorporate levels and 40 percent
(19:30):
of all retail stores by the endof this year.
Actually, Bailey also accusesStarbucks of making hiring
decisions based on race ratherthan merit, which he claims it
leads to more mistakes on thejob and higher costs for
consumers.
Um, in my opinion, sounds likesomeone needs to be decaf and
yes, if you're a I woulddefinitely give you decaf.
(19:52):
Oh my god, I remember doing thatto people.
Decaf ing people.
Yeah, absolutely.
Because they deserve it.
And you know, you had mentioneda goal of achieving 30 percent
minority representation incorporate levels and 40 percent
of retail stores.
That's not that huge of a thing.
I mean, that should be normal, Ifeel like, with the way
America's going.
But anyway, I find it hilarious.
(20:13):
This guy is trying to blame thecost of your venti ice pumpkin
spice latte, which differs inprice, by the way, by region and
cost of living in that area.
But Bailey seems to think it'scaused by a lack of white men
serving and making your coffee.
There is no proof whatsoever ofa white man being discriminated
against at Starbucks in thestate of Missouri.
(20:35):
There is also no proof that dueto DEI hires, Starbucks
customers are faced with slowerservice times.
I pray to the mermaid gods thatStarbucks fights this lawsuit
because so far Ford, Google,McDonald's, Meta, which is
Facebook, Target.
And Walmart have all cowered andscaled back or eliminated their
(20:57):
D.
I.
initiatives altogether.
If they fought it, it would giveme hope that there are still
some backbone in corporateAmerica with this presidency.
It's also important to noteBailey is banking on the Supreme
Court's 2013 ruling that had todo with Harvard admissions that
ruled affirmative action isunconstitutional.
Bailey had said, quote,eliminating racial
(21:19):
discrimination means eliminatingAll of it, end quote.
Basically, he's saying white menare being racially discriminated
against due to Starbucks DEIinitiatives.
But affirmative action isdifferent than DEI initiatives.
So there is no merit for thatargument.
There was also a case that I hadfound back in September of 23 in
(21:40):
Washington State betweenNational Center for Public
Policy Research versus Schultz.
That was a suit brought by aconservative think tank alleging
that Starbucks diversityinitiatives were in violation of
the Civil Rights Act and stateanti discrimination laws.
A month later, it was dismissed,and Chief Judge Stanley Bastian,
(22:02):
in his oral decision, said that,quote, Courts of law have no
business involving themselveswith legitimate and legal
decisions made by the Board ofDirectors of public
corporations.
And went further in saying basedon the briefing and nature of
plaintiff's self describedpolitical interests, it is clear
to the court that plaintiff didnot file this action to enforce
(22:23):
the interests of Starbucks, butto advance its own political and
public policy agendas.
With all that said, chances arethis lawsuit will be thrown out
anyway.
But, with that also said, Thisis probably just a big note, a
precursor to what we shouldexpect from Pam Bondi and what
she will do now that she is thehead of the DOJ, because she has
(22:46):
said she plans on going afterprivate companies and higher
education institutions that haveDEI programs in place.
So, what Bailey is doing, we'regonna probably expect more of
this going forward.
Yeah, this isn't the last timewe're going to hear from this
guy anyways because he's justhe's He's trying to make a name
for himself.
That's essentially what he'strying to do because he is, um,
(23:08):
untamed is what I will call himuntamed because he is just, he
goes after the LGBT community.
He goes after just everything.
That's a minority.
He has really singled out and isjust bringing case after case
against, against people.
Um, all right.
(23:28):
So we're at the middle of theshow.
It's time for a game.
it.
Let's do it.
I love this part.
All right.
So this one is, um, since wetalked about Bill Clinton, so
it's Bill Clinton and, uh,George W.
Bush.
Um, so you're gonna pick.
Okay.
Okay.
Ready?
Yes.
All right.
First one you can put wings on apig, but you don't make it an
(23:52):
eagle George W Bush bill Oh,man, that sounds so country.
I thought it was definitely BushWell bill is from Arkansas.
So that's true.
Okay, so second one.
Here we go I just wanted you toknow when we talk about war.
We're really talking about peacebill or George I'm going to say
(24:17):
George W.
Bush because he obviouslystarted the Afghanistan war and
stuff.
Yes, George said it in 2002.
All right, number three.
This is a hard one, so forgiveme.
Here we go.
I know what I believe.
I will continue to articulatewhat I believe and what I
believe.
I believe what I believe isright.
(24:39):
Bill or George?
George?
Yes! 2001.
He used to stumble his words allthe time.
Alright, here's number 4.
The 22nd Amendment shouldprobably be modified to say two
consecutive terms instead of twoterms for a lifetime.
(25:00):
Bill or George?
Bill.
Bill.
Yes, you're correct.
Ooh.
I hope that doesn't come backand bite him in the ass.
Holy shit.
That's scary.
That is scary.
Uh, we don't like that quote,Bill.
Um, so all right, here's numberfive.
I still believe in a placecalled hope.
Bill or George.
(25:25):
Bill, referencing his hometownof Hope, Arkansas.
All right.
Number six, here we go.
Every fatal shooting, there wereroughly three non fatal
shootings and folks, this isunacceptable in America.
It's just unacceptable.
And we're going to do somethingabout it.
(25:46):
Bill or George.
This is terrible.
Definitely George.
Yes.
He used to say folks all thetime.
That's his little Texas twang.
I had no idea.
All right.
And then, uh, the final numberseven, here we go.
You know, one of the hardestparts of my job is to connect
Iraq to the war on terror.
(26:07):
Bill or George?
George.
Yes.
George said it in a 2000interview with Katie Couric.
Interesting.
Those are good.
The hardest part of my job is toconnect Iraq to the war on
terror, but didn't we like go towar with Iraq against terrorism?
God, remember those twopresidents?
(26:27):
Like we thought that was a lowat certain points of their
presidencies and now look at usand where we're at.
I know.
I thought that was like theworst presidency ever and it
can't get any worse.
And now I look back at it andI'm just like, wow, we had it.
Yeah, I miss his Texas accentactually, like we need that
back.
Trump is so annoying.
(26:47):
Yeah.
So, okay.
All right.
Moving on to our next subject.
So this is something that hasn'thit the major news waves, but I
do feel we are going to startseeing more about it because it
will have direct implicationshugely with the way journalism
works in this country.
Casino mogul Steve Wynn hasasked the U.
S.
(27:07):
Supreme Court to hear an appealthat, if granted, could give the
justices a chance to revisitlibel protections for
journalists enshrined in alandmark 1964 ruling.
The ruling was New York Timesversus Sullivan.
This was a landmark case.
It represents the SupremeCourt's most important attempt
in resolving the tension betweenfree speech.
(27:30):
It And defamation or quote,actual malice, it created a
simple test in which publicfigures can only win defamation
cases if they prove the speakereither knew their statement was
false or showed malice.
quote, reckless disregard forits truth.
Minor factual errors,differences of interpretation,
(27:51):
or even heated exchanges aboutpublic figures aren't enough to
trigger liability.
Only lies that are deliberate orstatements made while willfully
ignoring clear evidence offacts.
falsity can qualify asdefamation plaintiffs then have
the burden of proving that thedefendant knew that it was a lie
when they published or spoke it.
This has been a cornerstone offree speech for the past 60
(28:15):
years and made costly defamationlawsuits harder to charge.
It allowed journalists.
to write stories about the richand powerful while minimizing
the threat of them beingbutthurt and casting privileged
lawsuits left and right justbecause they don't like
something written about them.
Which leads to Steve Wynn.
Wynn is a prominent casinomagnate and Republican mega
(28:36):
donor.
Back in 2018, the Wall StreetJournal had a big Big expose
accusing him of a wide varietyof sexual abuse and harassment.
This was followed by other mediaoutlets reporting on other
police files in Las Vegas, inwhich there were other claims of
sexual assault by Wynn reachingall the way back into the
seventies.
(28:57):
Wynn turned around and sued theAssociated Press and a reporter,
her name was Regina Garcia, fordefamation, this case was
dismissed under Nevada's antislap law, S L A P P.
They said there was no actualmalice.
Having lost in state court, heis now bringing it up to the
Supreme Court.
(29:17):
He is petitioning the courts tooverturn Sullivan's, quote,
actual malice standard, or at aminimum, make it to where it
doesn't apply to public figures.
This is the most direct assaulton press freedom in America
since 1964, and if he issuccessful, it will demolish the
(29:38):
guardrails that have protectedjournalism for the past six
decades.
It's important to note severaljustices have shown hostility
towards the case of Sullivan inthe past, and we should also
know by now.
This Supreme Court is not afraidof a pen saddled Supreme Court
precedent.
I mean, Roe vs.
(29:58):
Wade was a perfect example ofthat.
But up to this point, no one haslegitimately tried to overturn
Sullivan.
Now, what All of this isimportant because this
administration has targeted thepress and attacked journalists
who they don't agree with.
What will the implications ofthis be if the Supreme Court
(30:20):
decides to overturn Sullivan?
The court still needs to decideif it will hear Wynn's case.
By having at least four justicesagreeing to hear the case.
But right now, due to previoushistory, it would seem likely
Justice El Salido, ClarenceThomas and Gorsuch would hear
this case.
That means only one otherjustice would have to bend that
(30:42):
way as well, which is not true.
Very far fetched.
The Associated Press has untilMarch 6th also to respond.
So keep an eye on this storydeveloping in the next month
because I think we're going tohear a lot more about it
probably in the next few weeks,up, up leading into March 6th.
Wow.
Good story, Alex.
(31:03):
That's impressive.
Yeah, I don't think a lot ofpeople are covering it, which is
really surprising because it'sdirectly affecting journalism,
but we'll, we'll hear about it.
Yeah.
So speaking of the press, um, anAP reporter, Associated Press
reporter was ousted from theWhite House briefings recently
because the company still usesthe Gulf of Mexico and not
Mexico.
The Gulf of America.
(31:25):
First of all, this whole Gulf ofMexico, Gulf of America, I
cannot believe this is even atalking point.
It's sad that it is a talkingpoint in this country.
Um, in escalation of this, thispast Friday actually, The White
House barred a credentialedassociate press reporter and
photographer from boarding thepresidential airplane for a
(31:45):
weekend trip with Donald Trump.
I mean, who would love to dothat?
They have been blocked fromvarious events all last week.
The associate press has Mexico.
has argued that the mappingpolicy violates Mexican
sovereignty because the U.
S.
only has jurisdiction overaround 46 percent of the Gulf.
(32:06):
The rest is controlled byMexico, which controls in 49%,
and Cuba, which controls around5%.
The name Gulf of Mexico datesback to 1607 and is recognized
by the United Nations.
Also, Mexico's president,Claudia, is saying, per the
United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea, a country's
(32:29):
territorial sovereignty onlyextends 12 nautical miles from
its coastline.
So the name change, if applied,would only apply to the 12
nautical miles of the coastline.
into the Gulf, not the entireGulf.
Also, it is kind of interesting.
All these actions are richcoming from the White House
because VP JD Vance was inGermany at the Munich Security
(32:52):
Conference, I believe on Friday,which funny enough was the same
day the APA reporters werebarred from Air Force One.
But he was making statements infront of the entire world One
quote was, he said, I believethat dismissing people
dismissing their concerns orworse yet shutting down media,
shutting down elections orshutting people out of the
(33:13):
political process protectsnothing.
In fact, it is the most surefireway to destroy democracy.
J.
D.
Vance said that.
He also said, quote, Democracyrests on the sacred principle
that the voice of the peoplematters.
There's no room for firewalls.
He said these things the sameday the White House barred A.
(33:35):
P.
Press from the Air Force One.
He was called out by numerousofficials on his remarks, saying
he was picking a fight withEuropean allies, which isn't
great.
And he was insulting to theentire world.
The AP White House standoff isstill ongoing.
This is not ending yet.
Multiple other media outletshave made statements, but it
(33:56):
also seems they're tiptoeingaround the subject.
A lot of people are, like,scared to say anything, I think,
just because they're afraid oflosing their credentials as
well.
But we'll see how far thisescalates and how long this goes
on for.
Yeah, I heard, like, thepresident of Mexico wants to sue
Google for changing the body ofwater name, but I scrolled past
it.
What, what, what?
What was that?
(34:17):
Do you know anything about that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
She is actively.
I think they need to respond.
There's like a date they have torespond by, but if they don't
respond or do something, she'sgoing to take it to court or
something.
Yeah, she's definitely going togo after.
Yeah.
And so I was like doing somemore research on the Mexico
president and everything.
And I was like, I briefly wenton Tik Tok, you know, which you
can't download on any phonesunless you already had it on
(34:39):
your phone.
Do you have to talk?
Yeah.
I do have TikTok.
I don't even, I don't even knowif I'm signed into it, honestly.
Interesting.
So I, I saw this story and Ijust wanted to bring this up
that, um, it said somethingabout the Mexican president is
requiring all Americans toobtain a visa before entering
into the country, which we, wedid our research here and we
(35:01):
couldn't find anything like onthat.
So it, it was clearly false, butthis, this video.
And multiple videos had like 200plus likes on it and like views
on it.
And it's like people are seeingjust fake news everywhere and
believing it.
It's, it's really scary.
(35:21):
It's crazy how, uh, this isgoing on.
Well, remember back to our, Ithink our first or second
episode, we talked about how theyouth between the ages up to 30,
I think, or maybe at 35, uh, 70percent of them get majority of
their news from TikTok.
Like that's unsettling.
When things like this arefalsified on TikTok, you're
seeing it and you're having toquestion its validity, validity.
(35:44):
Like I researched into this on aline, like to extent, and I
couldn't find anything about it.
But yeah, this is why people areso misinformed.
Yeah.
It's, it's very scary.
So anyways, remember that Texasmeasles outbreak?
Speaking of misinformation onvaccines.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Misinformation about vaccines.
Remember that texas meas aboutlike last week act were going to
(36:09):
be like mor the cases went from10 ca 30 years.
Other states are seeingoutbreaks to, uh, for example,
New Mexico, which borders thehot spot, we'll call it Gaines
County, Texas, um, had ateenager with measles and that
(36:31):
team did not travel outside ofthe states, which is unclear how
he actually contracted thedisease before the vaccine
measles vaccine became availablein the 19 sixties, some 400 to
500.
mostly Children were dying eachyear from the disease, according
(36:52):
to a recent poll, though, 17percent of parents said that
they have skipped or delayed avaccine dose in their Children.
That's 10 percent up from justtwo years ago.
The best way to prevent gettingsick is to be immunized,
immunized from two doses of avaccine against measles, which
(37:14):
is primarily administered as thecombination of the measles
mumps, rubella vaccine, twodoses of the MMR vaccine are
highly effective at preventingthe measles.
So make sure you get your kids,uh, vaccinated, please.
Yeah, something I had looked updown the Texas Department of
State Health Services website.
All the 48 cases were all peoplewho were not vaccinated or
(37:39):
vaccination was unknown.
All 48 cases.
The majority of the cases arekids 0 to 17 years old.
All of these counties are inWest Texas as well, right under
the Panhandle, which is a very,very red part of Texas.
One thing I want to touch on,too, before we move on, because
I feel like it's important, RFKJr., who is now at the helm of
(38:01):
the Department of Health andHuman Services, has long sown
disparities.
It's important to note theincrease of autism has been
proven to be caused byincreasing awareness and
screening for the condition,changing definitions of autism
(38:21):
to include milder conditions onthe spectrum that weren't
recognized in previous years, aswell as advances in diagnostic
technology.
So this, the increase of measlesthat he keeps arguing about and
people freak out about, which isprobably why.
17 percent of parents have saidthey have, they have skipped
their daily delayed vaccine dosein their children is because
people are afraid that thiscould happen to them.
(38:43):
And it's not the case.
Autism has increased because ofother reasons, not because of
the vaccine.
What a, what a fun packedepisode.
My gosh.
Crazy.
All right.
Bring us some lighter news.
Speaking of fun.
So there was a real Life inGeppetto, you guys.
I mean, do you rememberPinocchio when his father gets
swallowed by a whale?
(39:03):
Yes.
There was an incident last weekoff the coast of Chilean
Patagonia.
Adrian Simancas and his fatherwere both kayaking and a
humpback whale surfaced.
Swallowed Adrian and his kayak,then literally, like, spit him
out.
Obviously, Adrian was terrified.
(39:25):
Adrian had, said he was morescared after he was released,
worried for the safety of hisfather, because he had no clue
whether his father was in dangeror not.
I mean, I know, I know, this isnot necessarily light news,
because it is kind of scary.
But it's also really funny.
His father actually has a videoof the entire incident, so it's
all on camera.
(39:46):
It is worth a watch.
I highly suggest going andfinding it because it is unreal.
What's ironic is to which I findfunny.
The guy, Adrian.
He looks like a younger versionof cartoon Geppetto.
Geppetto was Pinocchio's dad.
He looks like a younger versionof him.
Not even kidding.
Also, could you imagine sayingyou survived being swallowed by
(40:07):
a humpback whale?
I mean, Mind blown.
I'm kind of jealous of thiswhole situation.
I remember a story like thiscoming out?
Uh, well, this is the first, Ibelieve the first time it's ever
been caught on video becausethere was a story, um, several
years ago about a guy off the,he was scuba diving off the
coast of New England, I thinkoff of New Hampshire, and he was
(40:29):
literally swallowed by a whale,but it spit him out, but he
never got a video of it, but hehad the story, you know?
So I did see the video.
It was really neat.
I wonder if it was the samewhale.
Cool.
I guess.
It is a really weird videovideo.
It's scary.
But yeah, obviously the whaledidn't know what it was doing,
I'm sure.
But in other news, egg heists.
(40:53):
Egg heists are a thing.
That is the craziest double wordI can think of matching and it's
actually real.
Egg heists.
Eggs have been, obviously we allknow this.
At a record price lately due tothe threat of bird flu, there
are some restaurants, especiallybreakfast places that are
starting to add surcharges peregg.
We're talking like if you wantto order like two eggs, it's
(41:15):
like 70 cents per egg.
The cost of eggs is up about 50percent from last year.
You can't blame the surcharges.
I don't think I would be upsetabout it because I obviously
want to support a business, butbusinesses have to stay in
business and so they have to dothose things.
A diner in Ohio.
Per the New York Times articlethat I'd seen said that a week
(41:35):
cost of eggs typically cost them300 bucks.
Now this diner, it cost them 1,000 a week.
Well, the cost of eggs has nowled to two different egg heists.
One happened a couple weeks backin Pennsylvania.
I don't know if anyone remembershearing about this, but thieves
stole a hundred thousand eggs,totaling about 40, 000.
(41:58):
Making it a heist off adistribution trailer.
Then in Seattle, 540 eggs werestolen in the early morning
hours from a cafe that that wascaught on camera, but none of
the perpetrators have beencaught egg handed yet.
And I mean, these stories arekind of comedic, but I mean, we
are living in crazy times.
(42:21):
We're talking about people beingswallowed by whales.
We started a podcast because ofit.
So yeah, I agree.
All right.
Well, um, that's, that's all wegot for you today.
Um, I hope everyone has awonderful rest of the week.
Stay warm.
Give us a follow on Instagram atthe civil you that is just with
the letter you and, uh, feelfree to send us an email letting
(42:42):
us know your thoughts,questions, what we got wrong, or
anything we should discuss, um,at the civil union 25.
at gmail.
com.
Have a good one guys.
Thanks guys.
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