April 30, 2025 • 34 mins
In Episode 16 of the 'Civil Union' podcast, hosts Alex and Ryan discuss their recent outings and tackle pressing political issues. They recount their exciting night at the Alyssa Edwards drag show and a thrilling St. Louis Blues playoff game, adding humorous and candid anecdotes about their adventures. The episode shifts to a serious tone as they delve into the contentious topic of student loan defaults, criticizing recent Trump administration policies, and the implications on the economy. They further explore the political landscape with a game comparing quotes from RuPaul's Drag Race and GOP members, highlighting the absurdity and drama in politics. Additional segments touch on Earth Day, environmental policies, a biotech company's gene editing feat, and a viral video of synchronized-speaking twins. The episode closes with a reminder of their social media plugs and listener engagement.
00:00 Introduction to Civil Union Podcast
00:47 Alyssa Edwards Show Recap
03:50 Unexpected Dive Bar Adventure
07:10 Student Loan Crisis Discussion
13:55 Federal Disaster Assistance Debate
17:59 Game Time: RPDR or GOP?
23:25 Michelle Fiori's Controversial Actions
26:12 Earth Day and Environmental Challenges
29:53 Trump's 2028 Campaign and Dire Wolves
31:53 Synchronized Twins and Episode Conclusion
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 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 about thepolitical issues shaping our
lives, especially those livingon society's margins.
Tune in for a real talk, a touchof humor, and plenty of passion
(00:30):
because when it comes topolitics, every voice matters.
And we are here to make surethey're here.
Heard.
I'll get it right one day, Ipromise.
Uh, well, we're here, we'reback.
Welcome everyone.
Give us a follow on Instagram orTikTok if you haven't already.
So, uh, what have we been up to?
Well.
Last week we hit up the AlyssaEdwards show at the pageant last
(00:54):
Thursday night.
It was, and oh my God, if youdon't know who she is, you
seriously need to, she's a dragqueen who blew up on RuPaul's
Drag Race.
Was a total fan, Faye for a fewseasons, and even had her own
Netflix show.
She's really a legend from thatshow.
The concert standup was such avibe.
(01:14):
It was basically like an ultraextravagant drag show.
They even had an intermissionfeaturing local queen maxi
glamor.
Fun fact, I went to high schoolwith Maxi ages ago, so seeing
her perform was such athrowback.
Yeah.
I love Alyssa Edwards.
She's one of the OGs of thatwhole series.
The series is like what?
(01:35):
Like 18 seasons now, or 25,whatever, even if you include
the All Star Seasons.
And Alyssa Edwards was on like Ibelieve season.
Four.
Five.
Five.
And um, she is from Mesquite,Texas, which is like a small
little town, kind of outsideDallas area I would assume.
And she has like a dance companythere and she teaches little
(01:55):
kids to dance.
She had, that's what her Netflixshow was about, but she is one
of the.
Better drag queens.
And she's memorable and shelooks great.
And I think her and Shangela,who is another drag queen, are
kind of both from the same areaand Shangela is also really
well, really good.
Um, so it was a lot of fun andyou know.
It reminded me a lot of, likethe Remy Wolf concert.
(02:17):
It was a lot of younger people,a lot of just, you know,
liberals and it was a, it was areally good time.
She did a good job.
Yeah, it was so good.
So during the show I had topotty and guess what, I almost
wandered into the ladies' room.
Can you hear the gas fromRepublicans?
Alex, I'm surprised I didn'thear the gas but just before I
(02:37):
stepped in, I saw women on thesign and thought, nah, better
not.
I ended up using the men'sinstead.
Anyway, while Alyssa was slayingthe stage, the St.
Louis Blues playoff game washappening too.
I was sitting next to Alexsurrounded by a bunch of cute
guys and kept checking my phonefor the score, trying to channel
(02:57):
my inner sportsy gay.
You know, I literally rememberlooking over and I was like,
what the fuck is he doing on hisphone?
And he, you're on your phonelooking at.
Points.
Like the what?
The what?
The, the score.
Score.
What?
I can't even, I don't even knowwhat it's called.
The score of the game on yourphone.
I'm like, oh my God, who are youright now?
So by the end of the show, theblues were crushing it three to
(03:18):
zero.
In the second period, we leftthe venue and I actually snagged
a pick of Andy Cohen's star onthe St.
Louis Walk of Fame.
I might start doing this everytime we're down there and keep
tagging him continuously.
Got to let him know Star isstill shining bright on the
streets of St.
Louis.
The.
Brilliant idea.
He even saw the story.
He did.
(03:39):
There are so many celebs on thewalk of fame though, Tina
Turner, John Ham, Ray Charles,and even Maxine Waters, who I
had no idea was from St.
Louis.
Anyway, since I was feelingsporty and even though it was a
school night, we swung by ourfavorite dive bar to catch the
rest of the game, and we getthere.
(03:59):
The bar was packed.
The blues were on fire.
As usual, since it was a schoolnight, I had to think about
getting home to shower, eatsomething quick, and go to bed
before a busy Friday that I hadin store.
But guess what?
A regular came in with threemassive trays of Italian food
from an event he had attended.
It was from a spot called Sugo,S-U-G-O-S.
(04:23):
And not even from the hill wherewe usually hit up Italian
places, but wow, that food wasnext level.
We have to plan a date nightthere.
Oh my God.
I remember being at the concertfor Alyssa Edwards and I was
like, I'm so hungry.
I'm so hungry.
And then we were gonna go homeand I was like, okay, we're
going home.
I'm gonna eat.
And then you had this idea to goto the barn.
I was like, I would never turndown an idea to go and see the
(04:45):
Blues.
It was, I agree.
It was a great time, but thewhole time I was like.
Oh my God, I'm so hungry.
I went to seven 11 next door andgot snacks.
Remember I got like, I triedbeing healthy and I got like
healthier snacks and then thisguy came in with those trays of
pasta and every, I was like,this is God telling me he loves
me.
It was so amazing.
Yeah.
So good.
We have to go there.
(05:05):
Well, in the end, the Blues one,seven to two, it was a.
Fabulous game.
It was so cool.
I don't usually watch hockey,but it was an absolute blast.
So we get home, we even switchedour new LED patio Lights to blue
to show, you know, team spiritthen I immediately crashed.
I went right to bed and only gotabout four and a half hours of
(05:27):
sleep.
You know why?
Because I heard this like.
Really loud frog type noise inthe bedroom.
It was 3 47 in the morning.
Automatically, I thought one ofthe dogs were sick, so I turned
on my phone and there wasCochise.
The border Collie all confusedbecause he heard it too.
(05:47):
Then our golden retriever,Shelby started wagging her tail
'cause she saw someone was up,grabbed her teddy bear and
jumped in bed.
In between us.
I tried to go back to sleep, butyou'd think my husband would
notice all this commotion goingon.
He will sleep througheverything, even tornado sirens.
I do.
I'm a heavy sleeper and Iabsolutely love it.
(06:09):
It works well when you worknights and you sleep during the
day.
Yeah, so I tried to go back tosleep, but then Shelby jumped
up.
Yeah, and she was the one thatmade that long, loud frog noise.
I heard it again.
I immediately jolted up to letthe dogs out.
I have no idea if she actuallygot sick or what, but then it
started to storm.
I let them back in.
(06:30):
But by then it was four 50 inthe morning, too late to snooze,
too early to be productive, andthat's how my night wrapped up
after the Alyssa Edwards show.
Great evening though.
It was so much fun.
How was, did you love everythingabout it?
Oh, it was a great night andthat we don't, we don't
typically do that.
We would have gone home and beenin bed by 10, you know what I
(06:51):
mean?
Like we do that with the Blues.
Us winning was fun.
Like everything was great.
I feel bad that you had to dealwith the Frog of Shelby, but I
don't know what happened there.
She's fine now.
We have no clue why she didthat.
No clue that she hasn't done itsince.
So she acted like nothing waswrong with her the next morning
either.
So I have, I have no clue.
Yeah, so our, our wonderfulgovernment says that student
(07:13):
loans and default will bereferred to debt collection.
Here is White House PressSecretary Caroline Levitt
speaking on the matter.
In other news, the Trumpadministration has announced we
will put an end to Joe Biden'sillegal student BA loan.
Bailout attempts, no studentloan has been referred to
collections since March of 2020.
That comes to an end.
(07:34):
On May 5th, the Department ofEducation will resume
involuntary collections forborrowers with defaulted federal
student loans.
The student loan portfoliocontrolled by the federal
government is nearly$1.6trillion, but fewer than four
out of 10 borrowers are inrepayment.
This is Unsu unsustainable,unfair, and a huge liability for
(07:55):
American taxpayers.
Debt cannot be wiped away.
It just ends up gettingtransferred to others.
So why should Americans whodidn't go to college or went to
college and responsibly paidback their loans, pay for the
student loans of otherAmericans?
Currently, 5.3 million borrowersare in default on their federal
student loans.
(08:16):
WWE billionaire Linda McMahan,who is apparently qualified to
run the current destruction ofthe Department of Education,
ordered that on May 5th, theywill begin involuntary
collection through the TreasuryDepartment's offset program,
which withholds governmentpayments including tax refunds.
(08:36):
Federal salaries and otherbenefits from people with past
due debts to the government.
After a 30 day notice, thedepartment will start garnishing
wages for loaning and default.
Like, what the fuck?
That is insane.
I.
Millions of people relied onthese loans to help pay for
college because without a degreeit is very, very hard to sustain
(08:59):
a good paying job.
Without a good paying job, youjust can't make it out there.
It's cruel, a unnecessary, andwill further fan the flames of
economic chaos for workingfamilies across this country.
Yet let's not tax the rich andgive billion dollar corporations
tax breaks.
(09:20):
Oh, let's also increase tariffsto raise costs on hardworking
Americans across the country.
This is just a recipe fordisaster.
I agree.
I find it very insensitive totry to pull the rug out from
under a huge segment of thepopulation at a time when there
is a real threat of a recession,what do they think this will do?
(09:41):
This will further weaken theeconomy and further point us
toward that exact.
Outcome.
when we talk about student loandefaults, we have to start with
the truth.
There are real systemic reasonswhy there are so many people
struggling.
First, no one chooses to defaultIn today's economy, many
Americans are forced to choosebetween paying off debt or
(10:02):
putting food on the table.
College is way more expensivethan it was for past
generations, and over the lastfew decades, tuition costs have
gone up way faster than wages.
This means people graduatinghave more debt, but not
necessarily higher paychecks tomatch that.
Second, even with degrees, wageshave flatlined and a lot of
(10:23):
graduates are struggling to findthose jobs that will pay those
those bills off.
Graduates are settling for lowerin jobs because the good jobs
either don't exist one or areimpossible to land without years
of experience.
Then you have the insaneeconomy.
Costs are up on everything,including eggs, groceries,
(10:44):
interest rates are up, and thestudent loan system is confusing
and even more confusing andharder to get through on the
phone with people because therecent cuts to the Department of
Education and financial aidoffices, I had read, people have
been waiting on the phone for.
Hours.
Um, bottom line though,Americans struggle with student
loans, not out of laziness orirresponsibility, but because
(11:07):
it's a rigged system, a, youknow, a better presidential
administration would work tofind a solution.
Not punish people for trying tocreate a better future for
themselves.
And let's be real honest here.
It's pretty outrageous thatthese demands are coming from a
president with a history ofdodging bills and racking up six
(11:28):
bankruptcies.
So I.
Anyway, just some facts to knowon this whole situation and what
would happen if your school loangoes into default, your loan
holder can withhold from yourpay, but O up to 15%.
If you're on social security,your loan holder can withhold up
to 15% of your benefits as well.
(11:50):
So.
And if your loan goes in thedefault, you won't be able to
get additional federal studentaids, which means if you wanna
continue schooling or whatnotlater down the road, you would
have to pay off or at leaststart paying before you could
take out more loans to go backto school or further your
education.
Yeah.
And none, all the people thatare doing this right now have,
have never had to worry aboutpaying a bill in their entire
(12:12):
lives.
They all have billions ofdollars.
They're all privileged Americansand.
It's just ridiculous.
This shouldn't be happening.
Did Trump even go to school?
Yeah, I think he went toPennsylvania University or
something.
But along with the loaneealready in default, around
another 4 million people are 91to 180 days late on their loan
(12:35):
payments.
Less than 40% of all borrowersare current on their student
loans.
Those are massive, massivenumbers.
5.3 million are in default.
4 million are more than threemonths late on their, on their
loans.
Shouldn't this tell yousomething are, are they really
(12:56):
saying that nine plus millionAmericans are lazy and don't
want to pay their loans?
It doesn't make any fuckingsense.
It pisses me off actually.
You know, people like themillennial generation who had to
live through this, these debtsand the Gen Zers are following
right behind us, should be theones in charge.
In office working towards abetter solution.
(13:19):
This shouldn't be happening.
And you know, the school loansis just one little pie graph of
this entire situation thatpeople have to deal with.
I mean, let's not even dig intorent nowadays.
And, and, um, you know, mortgagepayments that you know, and
interest rates and, I mean, wecan't go to the grocery store
without spending 200 bucksminimum.
I mean, this is.
Just adding on.
(13:40):
And when we are saying peopleare gonna have to start paying
on their loans, school loans, Imean we're talking five to 700,
maybe even 1200 a month towardsa school loan that's, that's a
car payment that isn't more thana car payment for some people.
And if you're just gonna throwthat on someone they are gonna
sink.
Yeah.
So here's another story that Ithink will wake some
Midwesterners up.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, formerWhite House Press secretary
(14:03):
under Trump presidency between2017 to 2019, and now the
current governor of Arkansas isin dire need of federal disaster
assistance after a tornado'sravaged parts of Arkansas.
The last six weeks, I'm going torefer to her as Sarah, so it's
not to be confused with theburn.
(14:23):
Bernie Sanders.
So Sarah asked Trump for a majordisaster declaration.
This is the first step insecuring federal funds and other
help from fema.
Sarah specifically requestedhelp in the form of small
business loans and individualassistance for people in about
10 counties across Arkansas, butit was declined, meaning federal
(14:48):
assistance would not be headedtheir way.
The federal government said thedamage wasn't anything state or
local folks couldn't handle.
So then Sarah and the ArkansasState Division of Emergency
Management appealed thatdecision, which so far has been
denied, but it's big differencebetween both presidencies.
(15:10):
Sarah wrote on X in 2023.
As long as I am your governor.
The meddling hand of biggovernment creeping down from
Washington DC will be stoppedcold at the Mississippi River
end.
Quote.
The Mississippi River bordersthe entire eastern Arkansas
border.
That talk, however, did nothingto dissuade then President Joe
(15:32):
Biden from quickly signing offon disaster relief for Arkansas
after a March, 2023 tornado.
In fact, a year later, theArkansas Department of Emergency
Management sent a press release,which noted how quickly the
Biden administration respondedto the 2023 storms.
I wonder if a category five,hurricane Pummels, Marla Largo.
(15:56):
If the government will pay forthe reconstruction.
Oh, abs a hundred percent.
Yeah, exactly.
So here's the deal with all thissituation acting fema
administrator Cameron Hamilton,who was a Trump appointee
recently outlinedrecommendations that would make
it harder for communities likeArkansas to qualify for federal
(16:17):
disaster assistance.
Hamilton.
Wants to quadruple the thresholdfor public assistance raising
the per capita indicator or PCI,which is the formula used to
determine if a state qualifiesfor federal assistance, he wants
to raise that from rate$1.10 89per person to$7 56.
(16:39):
Essentially, that means acommunity would need to suffer
much greater damage To qualifyfor federal aid, cutting out
smaller disasters.
And what I mean by smallerdisasters is localized serious
damage like tornadoes.
You also have to think thesechanges are being made right
before hurricane season.
(17:00):
If Arkansas.
Can't even get assistance fortornado damage.
What should we expect withhurricane damage?
Also, it's important to considerthese changes would affect not
only blue states, but a largeamount of red states because
tornadoes affect a lot of theMidwest.
Hurricanes affect the southernred states and coastal states,
(17:21):
it's going to affect everyone.
Do you think that the federalgovernment should continue to
have this responsibility, or doyou think states should take on
more of that burden?
I don't know.
I feel like the federalgovernment should hold that
responsibility.
Well, yeah, and these stateslike Arkansas and you know,
Mississippi, Alabama, they,their output.
(17:42):
Is not enough to match otherstates.
So a state like Texas orCalifornia can afford, you know,
disaster relief for a certainamount of time.
But these smaller states, theyjust cannot, and a large amount
of them are red.
I'll just say that.
So, alright guys, so let's go toour little game time.
(18:05):
Oh, game time.
Okay.
This week I thought in theenergy of keeping up with
RuPaul's Drag Race and AlyssaEdwards, seeing her last
Thursday.
We're gonna play who said it,but is it an RPDR, RuPaul Drag
Race Drag Queen or the GOP?
(18:28):
The game where the lines betweendrag SAS and political gas
sliding gets a little tooblurry.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
All right.
All right.
First quote.
They hate me'cause they ain'tme.
GOP or R-P-D-R-R-P-D-R.
RuPaul?
Yes.
And it was actually AlyssaEdwards.
That is one of her like mainlines.
(18:50):
Alright.
Number two.
Oh, there's 10 by the way.
So you're one right?
So far.
Number two, I'm not politicallycorrect, I'm just correct.
GOP or R-P-D-R-G-O-P.
Correct.
Donald Trump Jr.
He's a fun character.
All right.
(19:11):
Quote three.
They can't cancel what theycan't compete with.
RuPaul's Drag Race orG-O-P-G-O-P.
RuPaul's Drag Race.
Naomi Smalls said that.
Okay, moving on.
Quote four, cry harder,snowflake.
RuPaul Drag Race or G-O-P-G-O-P.
(19:33):
Do you know who said that?
Who said it?
Josh Hawley.
Of course.
Not surprised by that one.
Alright, number five, if youcan't handle the heat, get outta
my spotlight.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP?
I'm gonna go with RuPaul.
Correct.
Nice.
You're five for five right nowand that was Shangla who I adore
(19:57):
as well, quote six.
The truth hurts.
Good.
I've been sharpening it foryears.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP.
I'm gonna go with GOP RuPaul'sDrag Race.
Damn, jinx Monsoon.
She was, she won one Season two.
She's done really well forherself.
(20:18):
She's on Broadway now.
Anyways, quote seven, you're asniveling coward.
Leave Heidi the hell alone.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP,Heidi.
So I'm gonna say RuPaul's, GOP.
Oh, who were they talking about?
Ted Cruz was responding to Trumpbecause I guess Trump made some
(20:38):
really snide remarks about Ted'swife.
Oh, I remember.
Whenever I think about Ted Cruz,I always think of that ice storm
and he like flew down to, uh.
Cancun and people were likedriving by his house and they
like, and there was like nopower.
And his poor little dog is justlike in the front door staring
(20:58):
out the window because you know,out the screen door because you
know, it just looks so sad andthere's no electricity.
But he's out there partying and.
Cancun and he ended up flyingback.
Do you remember that?
Yeah.
Casey Musgraves was pissed aboutthat.
I forgot all about that image ofhis dog.
It wasn't it like a little blackFrenchy or something?
No, it was a white, white dogShihtzu or something.
(21:20):
I do remember that photo though.
Okay.
But then Casey Musgraves startedselling like shirts called
Cruising for a Bruising anddonating it to all the families
affected in Texas.
Pretty cruising was pretty neatfor bruising and fort bruising.
Oh, I love Casey Musgrave.
She is a great writer.
Alright, quote eight.
Lucifer in the flesh.
I have never worked with a moremiserable son of a bitch in my
life.
(21:40):
Who?
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP?
Oh, I can see it going bothways.
I think I'm going to go with.
The GOP.
Correct?
Of course.
That's kind of the point of thisis like the fact that the GOP
says such insane things.
They sound like drag queens.
It's no disrespect on dragqueens.
(22:01):
I love the reeds from of dragqueens, but this was former
house speaker Crate John Boner,Boer, John Boer, whatever.
Alright.
Quote nine.
Jesus is a biscuit.
Let him so you up.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP?
Oh my God.
I'm gonna go with GOP.
It was RuPaul's Drag Race.
(22:22):
Damn.
Latrice Roal.
She was an earlier drag queen.
I think she actually was rightwith Liz Edwards up there.
All right, last one, quote 10.
I don't impersonate females, GOPor RuPaul's Drag.
Oh.
GOP.
That was RuPaul's Drag Race.
Oh man, it was RuPaul herself.
(22:43):
So I was, the rest of the quotegoes, and it will make sense
this way.
I don't impersonate females.
How many women do you know whowear seven inch heels, four foot
wigs and skin tight dresses.
Which is true.
so whether it's GOP drama orrunway trauma, one thing is
clear.
Only one of these groups areactually slaying.
(23:03):
The other are just miserablehuman beings.
I would love to see RuPaul'sDrag Race Queens read to Filth.
Some of these GOP members.
I I'm sure they have.
Yeah.
But I would love to find, likesomeone should put a reel
together with all of it, becauseit would be very entertaining.
It would be hilarious.
Yeah.
Actually, they would tear themthe pieces.
Fun game.
Good job, Alex.
That was a good one.
(23:24):
Thanks.
Thanks.
So, um, here, here's anotherone.
This is a fun one by the way,and I say that with all sarcasm.
So everyone should know whoMichelle Fiori is.
Michelle is a former Las Vegascity councilwoman and a state
lawmaker who ran unsuccessfullyin 2022 for state treasurer.
(23:47):
You should also Google herimage.
Because the amount of makeup shewears should also be law
breaking, just to my opinion.
I mean, just, just Googleimmature her.
Uh, I did Google immature andher eyebrow eyebrows are a
choice.
I mean, they are.
Arched.
There's just a lot to unpackwhen you Google her.
I'm not gonna lie, she is.
(24:08):
So I found out she's the womanthat after the Valdi shooting,
which was very, very sad, sheactually had the gall to falsely
claim the shooter wastransgendered.
Do you remember this?
Do you remember that story?
Don't someone, a Republicantried saying the shooter from
Valdi was transgender, which wasfalse.
She also totes all lives matterand she's, when Black Lives
(24:31):
Matter, she kind of reallypushed that narrative and she's
a huge gun rights advocate, soshe released a calendar.
Go look it up in 2016 with herposing and like glamor shots
with a bunch of guns each month.
I mean, machine gun Michelle isa gift.
How does she fit a MAGA hat ontop of all that hair?
(24:54):
I just want to know.
I have no idea.
I guess she has to like.
I kind of push it down orsomething like that.
Well, anyways, Michelle wasfound guilty last October on six
counts of federal wire fraud andone count of conspiracy to
commit wired fraud.
Federal prosecutors said attrial that she had raised more
(25:16):
than$70,000 for a statue.
Of a Las Vegas police officerwho was fatally shot in 2014 in
the line of duty, but insteadshe spent some of that money on
cosmetic surgery, rent and herdaughter's wedding.
However, Michelle is a MAGA hatwearing Trump loyalist, and
(25:39):
because of that, Trump pardonedMichelle.
She'll serve no time for thisillegal stunt she pulled.
Unbelievable.
Ridiculous.
Well, actually, I, I guess it'sbelievable coming from this
administration.
Could you imagine someone usingtheir student loans to like pay
for surgeries and rents and thenget pardoned Oh, and not have to
(26:02):
pay it back their student loans.
Yeah.
If someone was using theirstudent loans to pay for shit.
Yeah.
And oh, we would all get yelledat and you would never get
pardoned anyways.
It's ridiculous.
Anyways.
So last week marks the 55thanniversary of Earth Day, which
was born in 1970 out of outrage.
It was initially sparked by anoil spill off the coast of
(26:22):
California.
20 million Americans marchedthat first year and demanded
change, and they got it.
Within a few years.
We had the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Water Act and the EPAwas formed.
Now that's the legacy, but 55years later, earth Day is now
global and the stakes have onlygotten higher.
This year's theme is interestingenough because of the current
(26:44):
administration, but it waslabeled our power.
Our planet and it's a call toclean energy or renewable
energy.
Scientists warn that we musttriple global renewable energy
production by 2030, or we riskpushing the planet past the 1.5
degree Celsius threshold.
But here's the complication.
Clean energy relies on rareearth minerals.
(27:06):
Things like lithium, cobalt,neodymium, they are all
essential for things like windturbines.
Solar panels and electricvehicle batteries, but the way
we extract for those minerals,well, it's a tangled mess with
more environmental destruction,political corruption, and labor
(27:26):
exploitation, essentially.
I.
We are trying to build a betterfuture with tools that reflect
the worst parts of the old one.
And while we deal with thosecomplexities, bring in Trump.
Did you see Sheryl Crow's poston her Instagram for Earth Day?
I did.
I love how liberal she is.
Yeah.
She brought to light a recentsituation with the Trump
(27:49):
administration and their fightwith Hawaii.
Anyways, this is the soundbite.
(29:07):
This news is frustratingscientists.
This rollback helps commercialfishing companies while ignoring
indigenous communities.
So Earthly reminds us what'spossible when people demand
change, but with Trump's marinerollbacks, they also remind us
that progress is neverguaranteed, but.
Here's the thing.
We are the most informed,connected, and organized
(29:29):
generations, yet we can make adifference on our ballots, our
social feeds, and with ourspinning habits.
The fight for the planet is atits core.
A political one.
It means holding governments andcorporations accountable.
The future isn't clean unless weclean up the politics too.
(29:50):
Yeah.
Happy Earth Day.
Happy Earth Day.
Did you, so did you see Trumpstarted to sell Red Hats with
the lettering Trump 2028 on it?
Ugh.
It makes me absolutely.
Sick.
However, I'm not sure he'd wantto run again, but I think it's a
decoy for one of his sons, maybeDon Jr.
(30:10):
I didn't even think of that whenI saw the hat and I did see the
hat was so ugh.
But I thought Donald Trump, butI, yeah, all any of his sons
could run and it would still bea Trump.
Election.
Yeah, totally.
Huh.
So last week our friend informedof this next story, uh, we went
to the zoo Lights this pastFriday at the St.
(30:31):
Louis Zoo, which was great bythe way.
Um, but I.
So if anyone has seen Game ofThrones, you know what a dire
wolf is.
I mean, who didn't fall in lovewith ghost?
Ugh, he was so cute.
But, well, a biotech companynamed Colossal went full on
Jurassic Park and announced thebirth of three real baby dire
(30:52):
wolves.
Their names Romulus.
Or Romulus, which someone had tobe a fan of Alien to figure that
out.
Remus, someone had to be a fanof Harry Potter and Kaisei'cause
obviously, so now these aren'tactual dire wolves.
I just wanna note colossal tookregular gray wolves.
(31:15):
And used gene editing to givethem bigger skulls and thicker
jaws.
Basically, these wolves went totheir aesthetician and got some
filler done.
but in actuality, no real direwolf, DNA was used.
But there is an argument.
Shouldn't we be focusing ourenergy on saving real living
species instead of remixingprehistoric ones?
(31:38):
I mean, what are the boundariesof biotechnology and the ethics
of playing with nature?
Either way.
I think it's pretty cool, and intoday's world, I think we need a
little bit of positivity and funlittle news and glow up wolves
deliver for that.
Another quick story.
A pair of identical twins havecaptivated the internet, not
(31:58):
with a viral dance, but with asynchronized retelling of a
harrowing event.
(32:51):
So their names are Bridget andPaula Powers.
They are 50-year-old sisters whorecently recounted a dramatic
carjacking incident involvingtheir mother dressed identically
in blue scrubs.
In the video, it almost looked.
To me like a split screen.
It was kind of crazy.
Their synchronized speech isn'tnew for them.
(33:11):
Despite attempts to speakindividually, they often find
themselves slipping back intoharmony.
I do have a question for you,Ryan.
If I started speaking, speakingsynchronized to you, would you
find it annoying or endearingand an extension of our deep
bond together?
No, I would not like that atall.
It would annoy that.
I would annoy that.
(33:32):
Oh, not me.
Yeah.
No, that's a crazy video.
Isn't that wild?
I find that so fascinating howjust twins in general, but like
that, how they spoke in thatvideo, it was just so
fascinating to me.
It almost seemed like an act,but then you're like, no,
they're really going.
Yeah, they're really talking.
Definitely.
(33:53):
Okay, well that's it for episode16.
Wow.
We're at 16, guys.
Um.
Thank you for listening.
Remember to give us a follow onInstagram TikTok, share the
podcast with your friends.
Uh, email us at the civil Uniontwenty5@gmail.com and tune back
in, we'll probably have anotherepisode up, uh, soon.
(34:13):
So, all right.
Thank you.
Thanks guys.
Bye.
welcome to 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 about thepolitical issues shaping our
lives, especially those livingon society's margins.
Tune in for a real talk, a touchof humor, and plenty of passion
(00:30):
because when it comes topolitics, every voice matters.
And we are here to make surethey're here.
Heard.
I'll get it right one day, Ipromise.
Uh, well, we're here, we'reback.
Welcome everyone.
Give us a follow on Instagram orTikTok if you haven't already.
So, uh, what have we been up to?
Well.
Last week we hit up the AlyssaEdwards show at the pageant last
(00:54):
Thursday night.
It was, and oh my God, if youdon't know who she is, you
seriously need to, she's a dragqueen who blew up on RuPaul's
Drag Race.
Was a total fan, Faye for a fewseasons, and even had her own
Netflix show.
She's really a legend from thatshow.
The concert standup was such avibe.
(01:14):
It was basically like an ultraextravagant drag show.
They even had an intermissionfeaturing local queen maxi
glamor.
Fun fact, I went to high schoolwith Maxi ages ago, so seeing
her perform was such athrowback.
Yeah.
I love Alyssa Edwards.
She's one of the OGs of thatwhole series.
The series is like what?
(01:35):
Like 18 seasons now, or 25,whatever, even if you include
the All Star Seasons.
And Alyssa Edwards was on like Ibelieve season.
Four.
Five.
Five.
And um, she is from Mesquite,Texas, which is like a small
little town, kind of outsideDallas area I would assume.
And she has like a dance companythere and she teaches little
(01:55):
kids to dance.
She had, that's what her Netflixshow was about, but she is one
of the.
Better drag queens.
And she's memorable and shelooks great.
And I think her and Shangela,who is another drag queen, are
kind of both from the same areaand Shangela is also really
well, really good.
Um, so it was a lot of fun andyou know.
It reminded me a lot of, likethe Remy Wolf concert.
(02:17):
It was a lot of younger people,a lot of just, you know,
liberals and it was a, it was areally good time.
She did a good job.
Yeah, it was so good.
So during the show I had topotty and guess what, I almost
wandered into the ladies' room.
Can you hear the gas fromRepublicans?
Alex, I'm surprised I didn'thear the gas but just before I
(02:37):
stepped in, I saw women on thesign and thought, nah, better
not.
I ended up using the men'sinstead.
Anyway, while Alyssa was slayingthe stage, the St.
Louis Blues playoff game washappening too.
I was sitting next to Alexsurrounded by a bunch of cute
guys and kept checking my phonefor the score, trying to channel
(02:57):
my inner sportsy gay.
You know, I literally rememberlooking over and I was like,
what the fuck is he doing on hisphone?
And he, you're on your phonelooking at.
Points.
Like the what?
The what?
The, the score.
Score.
What?
I can't even, I don't even knowwhat it's called.
The score of the game on yourphone.
I'm like, oh my God, who are youright now?
So by the end of the show, theblues were crushing it three to
(03:18):
zero.
In the second period, we leftthe venue and I actually snagged
a pick of Andy Cohen's star onthe St.
Louis Walk of Fame.
I might start doing this everytime we're down there and keep
tagging him continuously.
Got to let him know Star isstill shining bright on the
streets of St.
Louis.
The.
Brilliant idea.
He even saw the story.
He did.
(03:39):
There are so many celebs on thewalk of fame though, Tina
Turner, John Ham, Ray Charles,and even Maxine Waters, who I
had no idea was from St.
Louis.
Anyway, since I was feelingsporty and even though it was a
school night, we swung by ourfavorite dive bar to catch the
rest of the game, and we getthere.
(03:59):
The bar was packed.
The blues were on fire.
As usual, since it was a schoolnight, I had to think about
getting home to shower, eatsomething quick, and go to bed
before a busy Friday that I hadin store.
But guess what?
A regular came in with threemassive trays of Italian food
from an event he had attended.
It was from a spot called Sugo,S-U-G-O-S.
(04:23):
And not even from the hill wherewe usually hit up Italian
places, but wow, that food wasnext level.
We have to plan a date nightthere.
Oh my God.
I remember being at the concertfor Alyssa Edwards and I was
like, I'm so hungry.
I'm so hungry.
And then we were gonna go homeand I was like, okay, we're
going home.
I'm gonna eat.
And then you had this idea to goto the barn.
I was like, I would never turndown an idea to go and see the
(04:45):
Blues.
It was, I agree.
It was a great time, but thewhole time I was like.
Oh my God, I'm so hungry.
I went to seven 11 next door andgot snacks.
Remember I got like, I triedbeing healthy and I got like
healthier snacks and then thisguy came in with those trays of
pasta and every, I was like,this is God telling me he loves
me.
It was so amazing.
Yeah.
So good.
We have to go there.
(05:05):
Well, in the end, the Blues one,seven to two, it was a.
Fabulous game.
It was so cool.
I don't usually watch hockey,but it was an absolute blast.
So we get home, we even switchedour new LED patio Lights to blue
to show, you know, team spiritthen I immediately crashed.
I went right to bed and only gotabout four and a half hours of
(05:27):
sleep.
You know why?
Because I heard this like.
Really loud frog type noise inthe bedroom.
It was 3 47 in the morning.
Automatically, I thought one ofthe dogs were sick, so I turned
on my phone and there wasCochise.
The border Collie all confusedbecause he heard it too.
(05:47):
Then our golden retriever,Shelby started wagging her tail
'cause she saw someone was up,grabbed her teddy bear and
jumped in bed.
In between us.
I tried to go back to sleep, butyou'd think my husband would
notice all this commotion goingon.
He will sleep througheverything, even tornado sirens.
I do.
I'm a heavy sleeper and Iabsolutely love it.
(06:09):
It works well when you worknights and you sleep during the
day.
Yeah, so I tried to go back tosleep, but then Shelby jumped
up.
Yeah, and she was the one thatmade that long, loud frog noise.
I heard it again.
I immediately jolted up to letthe dogs out.
I have no idea if she actuallygot sick or what, but then it
started to storm.
I let them back in.
(06:30):
But by then it was four 50 inthe morning, too late to snooze,
too early to be productive, andthat's how my night wrapped up
after the Alyssa Edwards show.
Great evening though.
It was so much fun.
How was, did you love everythingabout it?
Oh, it was a great night andthat we don't, we don't
typically do that.
We would have gone home and beenin bed by 10, you know what I
(06:51):
mean?
Like we do that with the Blues.
Us winning was fun.
Like everything was great.
I feel bad that you had to dealwith the Frog of Shelby, but I
don't know what happened there.
She's fine now.
We have no clue why she didthat.
No clue that she hasn't done itsince.
So she acted like nothing waswrong with her the next morning
either.
So I have, I have no clue.
Yeah, so our, our wonderfulgovernment says that student
(07:13):
loans and default will bereferred to debt collection.
Here is White House PressSecretary Caroline Levitt
speaking on the matter.
In other news, the Trumpadministration has announced we
will put an end to Joe Biden'sillegal student BA loan.
Bailout attempts, no studentloan has been referred to
collections since March of 2020.
That comes to an end.
(07:34):
On May 5th, the Department ofEducation will resume
involuntary collections forborrowers with defaulted federal
student loans.
The student loan portfoliocontrolled by the federal
government is nearly$1.6trillion, but fewer than four
out of 10 borrowers are inrepayment.
This is Unsu unsustainable,unfair, and a huge liability for
(07:55):
American taxpayers.
Debt cannot be wiped away.
It just ends up gettingtransferred to others.
So why should Americans whodidn't go to college or went to
college and responsibly paidback their loans, pay for the
student loans of otherAmericans?
Currently, 5.3 million borrowersare in default on their federal
student loans.
(08:16):
WWE billionaire Linda McMahan,who is apparently qualified to
run the current destruction ofthe Department of Education,
ordered that on May 5th, theywill begin involuntary
collection through the TreasuryDepartment's offset program,
which withholds governmentpayments including tax refunds.
(08:36):
Federal salaries and otherbenefits from people with past
due debts to the government.
After a 30 day notice, thedepartment will start garnishing
wages for loaning and default.
Like, what the fuck?
That is insane.
I.
Millions of people relied onthese loans to help pay for
college because without a degreeit is very, very hard to sustain
(08:59):
a good paying job.
Without a good paying job, youjust can't make it out there.
It's cruel, a unnecessary, andwill further fan the flames of
economic chaos for workingfamilies across this country.
Yet let's not tax the rich andgive billion dollar corporations
tax breaks.
(09:20):
Oh, let's also increase tariffsto raise costs on hardworking
Americans across the country.
This is just a recipe fordisaster.
I agree.
I find it very insensitive totry to pull the rug out from
under a huge segment of thepopulation at a time when there
is a real threat of a recession,what do they think this will do?
(09:41):
This will further weaken theeconomy and further point us
toward that exact.
Outcome.
when we talk about student loandefaults, we have to start with
the truth.
There are real systemic reasonswhy there are so many people
struggling.
First, no one chooses to defaultIn today's economy, many
Americans are forced to choosebetween paying off debt or
(10:02):
putting food on the table.
College is way more expensivethan it was for past
generations, and over the lastfew decades, tuition costs have
gone up way faster than wages.
This means people graduatinghave more debt, but not
necessarily higher paychecks tomatch that.
Second, even with degrees, wageshave flatlined and a lot of
(10:23):
graduates are struggling to findthose jobs that will pay those
those bills off.
Graduates are settling for lowerin jobs because the good jobs
either don't exist one or areimpossible to land without years
of experience.
Then you have the insaneeconomy.
Costs are up on everything,including eggs, groceries,
(10:44):
interest rates are up, and thestudent loan system is confusing
and even more confusing andharder to get through on the
phone with people because therecent cuts to the Department of
Education and financial aidoffices, I had read, people have
been waiting on the phone for.
Hours.
Um, bottom line though,Americans struggle with student
loans, not out of laziness orirresponsibility, but because
(11:07):
it's a rigged system, a, youknow, a better presidential
administration would work tofind a solution.
Not punish people for trying tocreate a better future for
themselves.
And let's be real honest here.
It's pretty outrageous thatthese demands are coming from a
president with a history ofdodging bills and racking up six
(11:28):
bankruptcies.
So I.
Anyway, just some facts to knowon this whole situation and what
would happen if your school loangoes into default, your loan
holder can withhold from yourpay, but O up to 15%.
If you're on social security,your loan holder can withhold up
to 15% of your benefits as well.
(11:50):
So.
And if your loan goes in thedefault, you won't be able to
get additional federal studentaids, which means if you wanna
continue schooling or whatnotlater down the road, you would
have to pay off or at leaststart paying before you could
take out more loans to go backto school or further your
education.
Yeah.
And none, all the people thatare doing this right now have,
have never had to worry aboutpaying a bill in their entire
(12:12):
lives.
They all have billions ofdollars.
They're all privileged Americansand.
It's just ridiculous.
This shouldn't be happening.
Did Trump even go to school?
Yeah, I think he went toPennsylvania University or
something.
But along with the loaneealready in default, around
another 4 million people are 91to 180 days late on their loan
(12:35):
payments.
Less than 40% of all borrowersare current on their student
loans.
Those are massive, massivenumbers.
5.3 million are in default.
4 million are more than threemonths late on their, on their
loans.
Shouldn't this tell yousomething are, are they really
(12:56):
saying that nine plus millionAmericans are lazy and don't
want to pay their loans?
It doesn't make any fuckingsense.
It pisses me off actually.
You know, people like themillennial generation who had to
live through this, these debtsand the Gen Zers are following
right behind us, should be theones in charge.
In office working towards abetter solution.
(13:19):
This shouldn't be happening.
And you know, the school loansis just one little pie graph of
this entire situation thatpeople have to deal with.
I mean, let's not even dig intorent nowadays.
And, and, um, you know, mortgagepayments that you know, and
interest rates and, I mean, wecan't go to the grocery store
without spending 200 bucksminimum.
I mean, this is.
Just adding on.
(13:40):
And when we are saying peopleare gonna have to start paying
on their loans, school loans, Imean we're talking five to 700,
maybe even 1200 a month towardsa school loan that's, that's a
car payment that isn't more thana car payment for some people.
And if you're just gonna throwthat on someone they are gonna
sink.
Yeah.
So here's another story that Ithink will wake some
Midwesterners up.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, formerWhite House Press secretary
(14:03):
under Trump presidency between2017 to 2019, and now the
current governor of Arkansas isin dire need of federal disaster
assistance after a tornado'sravaged parts of Arkansas.
The last six weeks, I'm going torefer to her as Sarah, so it's
not to be confused with theburn.
(14:23):
Bernie Sanders.
So Sarah asked Trump for a majordisaster declaration.
This is the first step insecuring federal funds and other
help from fema.
Sarah specifically requestedhelp in the form of small
business loans and individualassistance for people in about
10 counties across Arkansas, butit was declined, meaning federal
(14:48):
assistance would not be headedtheir way.
The federal government said thedamage wasn't anything state or
local folks couldn't handle.
So then Sarah and the ArkansasState Division of Emergency
Management appealed thatdecision, which so far has been
denied, but it's big differencebetween both presidencies.
(15:10):
Sarah wrote on X in 2023.
As long as I am your governor.
The meddling hand of biggovernment creeping down from
Washington DC will be stoppedcold at the Mississippi River
end.
Quote.
The Mississippi River bordersthe entire eastern Arkansas
border.
That talk, however, did nothingto dissuade then President Joe
(15:32):
Biden from quickly signing offon disaster relief for Arkansas
after a March, 2023 tornado.
In fact, a year later, theArkansas Department of Emergency
Management sent a press release,which noted how quickly the
Biden administration respondedto the 2023 storms.
I wonder if a category five,hurricane Pummels, Marla Largo.
(15:56):
If the government will pay forthe reconstruction.
Oh, abs a hundred percent.
Yeah, exactly.
So here's the deal with all thissituation acting fema
administrator Cameron Hamilton,who was a Trump appointee
recently outlinedrecommendations that would make
it harder for communities likeArkansas to qualify for federal
(16:17):
disaster assistance.
Hamilton.
Wants to quadruple the thresholdfor public assistance raising
the per capita indicator or PCI,which is the formula used to
determine if a state qualifiesfor federal assistance, he wants
to raise that from rate$1.10 89per person to$7 56.
(16:39):
Essentially, that means acommunity would need to suffer
much greater damage To qualifyfor federal aid, cutting out
smaller disasters.
And what I mean by smallerdisasters is localized serious
damage like tornadoes.
You also have to think thesechanges are being made right
before hurricane season.
(17:00):
If Arkansas.
Can't even get assistance fortornado damage.
What should we expect withhurricane damage?
Also, it's important to considerthese changes would affect not
only blue states, but a largeamount of red states because
tornadoes affect a lot of theMidwest.
Hurricanes affect the southernred states and coastal states,
(17:21):
it's going to affect everyone.
Do you think that the federalgovernment should continue to
have this responsibility, or doyou think states should take on
more of that burden?
I don't know.
I feel like the federalgovernment should hold that
responsibility.
Well, yeah, and these stateslike Arkansas and you know,
Mississippi, Alabama, they,their output.
(17:42):
Is not enough to match otherstates.
So a state like Texas orCalifornia can afford, you know,
disaster relief for a certainamount of time.
But these smaller states, theyjust cannot, and a large amount
of them are red.
I'll just say that.
So, alright guys, so let's go toour little game time.
(18:05):
Oh, game time.
Okay.
This week I thought in theenergy of keeping up with
RuPaul's Drag Race and AlyssaEdwards, seeing her last
Thursday.
We're gonna play who said it,but is it an RPDR, RuPaul Drag
Race Drag Queen or the GOP?
(18:28):
The game where the lines betweendrag SAS and political gas
sliding gets a little tooblurry.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
All right.
All right.
First quote.
They hate me'cause they ain'tme.
GOP or R-P-D-R-R-P-D-R.
RuPaul?
Yes.
And it was actually AlyssaEdwards.
That is one of her like mainlines.
(18:50):
Alright.
Number two.
Oh, there's 10 by the way.
So you're one right?
So far.
Number two, I'm not politicallycorrect, I'm just correct.
GOP or R-P-D-R-G-O-P.
Correct.
Donald Trump Jr.
He's a fun character.
All right.
(19:11):
Quote three.
They can't cancel what theycan't compete with.
RuPaul's Drag Race orG-O-P-G-O-P.
RuPaul's Drag Race.
Naomi Smalls said that.
Okay, moving on.
Quote four, cry harder,snowflake.
RuPaul Drag Race or G-O-P-G-O-P.
(19:33):
Do you know who said that?
Who said it?
Josh Hawley.
Of course.
Not surprised by that one.
Alright, number five, if youcan't handle the heat, get outta
my spotlight.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP?
I'm gonna go with RuPaul.
Correct.
Nice.
You're five for five right nowand that was Shangla who I adore
(19:57):
as well, quote six.
The truth hurts.
Good.
I've been sharpening it foryears.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP.
I'm gonna go with GOP RuPaul'sDrag Race.
Damn, jinx Monsoon.
She was, she won one Season two.
She's done really well forherself.
(20:18):
She's on Broadway now.
Anyways, quote seven, you're asniveling coward.
Leave Heidi the hell alone.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP,Heidi.
So I'm gonna say RuPaul's, GOP.
Oh, who were they talking about?
Ted Cruz was responding to Trumpbecause I guess Trump made some
(20:38):
really snide remarks about Ted'swife.
Oh, I remember.
Whenever I think about Ted Cruz,I always think of that ice storm
and he like flew down to, uh.
Cancun and people were likedriving by his house and they
like, and there was like nopower.
And his poor little dog is justlike in the front door staring
(20:58):
out the window because you know,out the screen door because you
know, it just looks so sad andthere's no electricity.
But he's out there partying and.
Cancun and he ended up flyingback.
Do you remember that?
Yeah.
Casey Musgraves was pissed aboutthat.
I forgot all about that image ofhis dog.
It wasn't it like a little blackFrenchy or something?
No, it was a white, white dogShihtzu or something.
(21:20):
I do remember that photo though.
Okay.
But then Casey Musgraves startedselling like shirts called
Cruising for a Bruising anddonating it to all the families
affected in Texas.
Pretty cruising was pretty neatfor bruising and fort bruising.
Oh, I love Casey Musgrave.
She is a great writer.
Alright, quote eight.
Lucifer in the flesh.
I have never worked with a moremiserable son of a bitch in my
life.
(21:40):
Who?
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP?
Oh, I can see it going bothways.
I think I'm going to go with.
The GOP.
Correct?
Of course.
That's kind of the point of thisis like the fact that the GOP
says such insane things.
They sound like drag queens.
It's no disrespect on dragqueens.
(22:01):
I love the reeds from of dragqueens, but this was former
house speaker Crate John Boner,Boer, John Boer, whatever.
Alright.
Quote nine.
Jesus is a biscuit.
Let him so you up.
RuPaul's Drag Race or GOP?
Oh my God.
I'm gonna go with GOP.
It was RuPaul's Drag Race.
(22:22):
Damn.
Latrice Roal.
She was an earlier drag queen.
I think she actually was rightwith Liz Edwards up there.
All right, last one, quote 10.
I don't impersonate females, GOPor RuPaul's Drag.
Oh.
GOP.
That was RuPaul's Drag Race.
Oh man, it was RuPaul herself.
(22:43):
So I was, the rest of the quotegoes, and it will make sense
this way.
I don't impersonate females.
How many women do you know whowear seven inch heels, four foot
wigs and skin tight dresses.
Which is true.
so whether it's GOP drama orrunway trauma, one thing is
clear.
Only one of these groups areactually slaying.
(23:03):
The other are just miserablehuman beings.
I would love to see RuPaul'sDrag Race Queens read to Filth.
Some of these GOP members.
I I'm sure they have.
Yeah.
But I would love to find, likesomeone should put a reel
together with all of it, becauseit would be very entertaining.
It would be hilarious.
Yeah.
Actually, they would tear themthe pieces.
Fun game.
Good job, Alex.
That was a good one.
(23:24):
Thanks.
Thanks.
So, um, here, here's anotherone.
This is a fun one by the way,and I say that with all sarcasm.
So everyone should know whoMichelle Fiori is.
Michelle is a former Las Vegascity councilwoman and a state
lawmaker who ran unsuccessfullyin 2022 for state treasurer.
(23:47):
You should also Google herimage.
Because the amount of makeup shewears should also be law
breaking, just to my opinion.
I mean, just, just Googleimmature her.
Uh, I did Google immature andher eyebrow eyebrows are a
choice.
I mean, they are.
Arched.
There's just a lot to unpackwhen you Google her.
I'm not gonna lie, she is.
(24:08):
So I found out she's the womanthat after the Valdi shooting,
which was very, very sad, sheactually had the gall to falsely
claim the shooter wastransgendered.
Do you remember this?
Do you remember that story?
Don't someone, a Republicantried saying the shooter from
Valdi was transgender, which wasfalse.
She also totes all lives matterand she's, when Black Lives
(24:31):
Matter, she kind of reallypushed that narrative and she's
a huge gun rights advocate, soshe released a calendar.
Go look it up in 2016 with herposing and like glamor shots
with a bunch of guns each month.
I mean, machine gun Michelle isa gift.
How does she fit a MAGA hat ontop of all that hair?
(24:54):
I just want to know.
I have no idea.
I guess she has to like.
I kind of push it down orsomething like that.
Well, anyways, Michelle wasfound guilty last October on six
counts of federal wire fraud andone count of conspiracy to
commit wired fraud.
Federal prosecutors said attrial that she had raised more
(25:16):
than$70,000 for a statue.
Of a Las Vegas police officerwho was fatally shot in 2014 in
the line of duty, but insteadshe spent some of that money on
cosmetic surgery, rent and herdaughter's wedding.
However, Michelle is a MAGA hatwearing Trump loyalist, and
(25:39):
because of that, Trump pardonedMichelle.
She'll serve no time for thisillegal stunt she pulled.
Unbelievable.
Ridiculous.
Well, actually, I, I guess it'sbelievable coming from this
administration.
Could you imagine someone usingtheir student loans to like pay
for surgeries and rents and thenget pardoned Oh, and not have to
(26:02):
pay it back their student loans.
Yeah.
If someone was using theirstudent loans to pay for shit.
Yeah.
And oh, we would all get yelledat and you would never get
pardoned anyways.
It's ridiculous.
Anyways.
So last week marks the 55thanniversary of Earth Day, which
was born in 1970 out of outrage.
It was initially sparked by anoil spill off the coast of
(26:22):
California.
20 million Americans marchedthat first year and demanded
change, and they got it.
Within a few years.
We had the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Water Act and the EPAwas formed.
Now that's the legacy, but 55years later, earth Day is now
global and the stakes have onlygotten higher.
This year's theme is interestingenough because of the current
(26:44):
administration, but it waslabeled our power.
Our planet and it's a call toclean energy or renewable
energy.
Scientists warn that we musttriple global renewable energy
production by 2030, or we riskpushing the planet past the 1.5
degree Celsius threshold.
But here's the complication.
Clean energy relies on rareearth minerals.
(27:06):
Things like lithium, cobalt,neodymium, they are all
essential for things like windturbines.
Solar panels and electricvehicle batteries, but the way
we extract for those minerals,well, it's a tangled mess with
more environmental destruction,political corruption, and labor
(27:26):
exploitation, essentially.
I.
We are trying to build a betterfuture with tools that reflect
the worst parts of the old one.
And while we deal with thosecomplexities, bring in Trump.
Did you see Sheryl Crow's poston her Instagram for Earth Day?
I did.
I love how liberal she is.
Yeah.
She brought to light a recentsituation with the Trump
(27:49):
administration and their fightwith Hawaii.
Anyways, this is the soundbite.
(29:07):
This news is frustratingscientists.
This rollback helps commercialfishing companies while ignoring
indigenous communities.
So Earthly reminds us what'spossible when people demand
change, but with Trump's marinerollbacks, they also remind us
that progress is neverguaranteed, but.
Here's the thing.
We are the most informed,connected, and organized
(29:29):
generations, yet we can make adifference on our ballots, our
social feeds, and with ourspinning habits.
The fight for the planet is atits core.
A political one.
It means holding governments andcorporations accountable.
The future isn't clean unless weclean up the politics too.
(29:50):
Yeah.
Happy Earth Day.
Happy Earth Day.
Did you, so did you see Trumpstarted to sell Red Hats with
the lettering Trump 2028 on it?
Ugh.
It makes me absolutely.
Sick.
However, I'm not sure he'd wantto run again, but I think it's a
decoy for one of his sons, maybeDon Jr.
(30:10):
I didn't even think of that whenI saw the hat and I did see the
hat was so ugh.
But I thought Donald Trump, butI, yeah, all any of his sons
could run and it would still bea Trump.
Election.
Yeah, totally.
Huh.
So last week our friend informedof this next story, uh, we went
to the zoo Lights this pastFriday at the St.
(30:31):
Louis Zoo, which was great bythe way.
Um, but I.
So if anyone has seen Game ofThrones, you know what a dire
wolf is.
I mean, who didn't fall in lovewith ghost?
Ugh, he was so cute.
But, well, a biotech companynamed Colossal went full on
Jurassic Park and announced thebirth of three real baby dire
(30:52):
wolves.
Their names Romulus.
Or Romulus, which someone had tobe a fan of Alien to figure that
out.
Remus, someone had to be a fanof Harry Potter and Kaisei'cause
obviously, so now these aren'tactual dire wolves.
I just wanna note colossal tookregular gray wolves.
(31:15):
And used gene editing to givethem bigger skulls and thicker
jaws.
Basically, these wolves went totheir aesthetician and got some
filler done.
but in actuality, no real direwolf, DNA was used.
But there is an argument.
Shouldn't we be focusing ourenergy on saving real living
species instead of remixingprehistoric ones?
(31:38):
I mean, what are the boundariesof biotechnology and the ethics
of playing with nature?
Either way.
I think it's pretty cool, and intoday's world, I think we need a
little bit of positivity and funlittle news and glow up wolves
deliver for that.
Another quick story.
A pair of identical twins havecaptivated the internet, not
(31:58):
with a viral dance, but with asynchronized retelling of a
harrowing event.
(32:51):
So their names are Bridget andPaula Powers.
They are 50-year-old sisters whorecently recounted a dramatic
carjacking incident involvingtheir mother dressed identically
in blue scrubs.
In the video, it almost looked.
To me like a split screen.
It was kind of crazy.
Their synchronized speech isn'tnew for them.
(33:11):
Despite attempts to speakindividually, they often find
themselves slipping back intoharmony.
I do have a question for you,Ryan.
If I started speaking, speakingsynchronized to you, would you
find it annoying or endearingand an extension of our deep
bond together?
No, I would not like that atall.
It would annoy that.
I would annoy that.
(33:32):
Oh, not me.
Yeah.
No, that's a crazy video.
Isn't that wild?
I find that so fascinating howjust twins in general, but like
that, how they spoke in thatvideo, it was just so
fascinating to me.
It almost seemed like an act,but then you're like, no,
they're really going.
Yeah, they're really talking.
Definitely.
(33:53):
Okay, well that's it for episode16.
Wow.
We're at 16, guys.
Um.
Thank you for listening.
Remember to give us a follow onInstagram TikTok, share the
podcast with your friends.
Uh, email us at the civil Uniontwenty5@gmail.com and tune back
in, we'll probably have anotherepisode up, uh, soon.
(34:13):
So, all right.
Thank you.
Thanks guys.
Bye.
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