February 3, 2025 • 40 mins
In the fourth episode of Civil Union, hosts Alex and Ryan delve into a variety of pressing political issues. The couple passionately discusses the economic and geopolitical impacts of tariffs, emphasizing how these policies ultimately burden American consumers and damage relations with key allies such as Canada and Mexico. They critique the Trump administration's handling of these tariffs and the broader political landscape, highlighting systemic failures and Republican policies. The episode also touches on recent aviation tragedies, linking them to administrative decisions within the FAA, and criticizes Trump's exploitation of these events for political gain. They offer encouragement for the new leadership within the DNC and introduce lighter topics such as innovative accessibility technology and promising Alzheimer's research. The podcast concludes with a brief overview of upcoming political confirmations and hearings, emphasizing the ongoing importance of informed and engaged political discourse.00:00 Introduction to Civil Union Podcast
00:40 Personal Reflections
01:20 Political Rant: Defending Patriotism
02:54 Understanding Tariffs: A Deep Dive
05:21 Tariff Impacts and International Relations
07:29 Economic Concerns and Recession Fears
13:15 Pentagon Policies and DEI Ban
15:37 Black History Month and Civil Rights
17:30 Fun Segment: Who Said It? Melania or Hillary
21:25 Tragic Plane Crashes and Government Accountability
29:30 The Role of the DNC and New Leadership
35:01 Innovative Solutions and Light News
38:22 Upcoming Confirmation Hearings and Final Thoughts
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.
(00:29):
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.
So, welcome to the fourthepisode, it was a great weekend,
we celebrated your birthday,Alex.
Yes, on Friday we celebrated mybirthday, it went really well, I
had a relaxing day of doingabsolutely nothing, and I made
(00:54):
myself a little Little, um,pudding cake, which was really,
really nice.
It was something my grandma usedto do every year.
She passed away in August, so Ikind of commemorated her by
making this cake and it came outas delicious as it could be
coming from me.
So it was good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was a really good day and Iactually got to sleep that night
too.
I have, I've been coughing alot, like especially at night.
(01:14):
And so, uh, that seemed to alittle bit, uh, subsided a
little bit.
So Finally.
So people always ask, what doyou do when you get home?
And I always respond to themwith the generic, Oh, I cook,
which I do love.
Or I, I play with my dogs.
Actually, my dogs bully me intoplaying with them, but honestly,
what I do when I get home, Idon't, and I don't want people
(01:36):
to think that I'm crazy here,but.
What I do is I think I sit onthe couch or at the kitchen
table and I think that's what Ifucking do.
My mind is always thinking,especially about politics.
Where are we going with thisnation?
What are we going to do aboutthis new situation?
Will there even be an America infour years?
(01:58):
I'm so tired of people callingus the Democrats, the liberals,
anti Americans, when really, ifyou think about it, We're not
anti American.
Us, the Democrats, are some ofthe most patriotic people out
there.
My husband and I are recording afucking podcast because we care
so much about this country.
(02:20):
We see that girl, America,burning in the dumpster fire
over there right now.
And we're trying to rescue her.
We're seeing it.
We're calling out the BS.
We're saving America.
I don't know how far we'll get,but at least we can say we
tried, Alex.
They're just trying to set usoff, piss us off.
And when they do, well, we atthe civil union podcast, we'll
(02:43):
record an episode for you guysbecause we'll call them out.
Okay.
Rant over.
Good rant.
I like that.
That's totally true though.
I'm happy to be here.
All right.
So, yeah, so tariffs, do youwant me to take this or you?
You go ahead and start thefirst.
So I have a whole little lessonfor you guys.
What exactly is a tariff?
A tariff is a tax and hey, Ithought Republicans didn't like
(03:06):
those things.
Um, but it's, it's a tax onimported goods coming into your
country.
So, for example, let's say thereis a 10 percent tariff on
iPhones.
This 10 percent tariff or tax isset by the US government.
They are the ones that areputting the tax on the iPhones.
(03:28):
So the iPhones are made inChina.
The 10 percent tax is notgetting paid by China.
Again, China is not paying thetariff.
The tariff actually goes on tothe business in the United
States that imports the product.
This tariff tax is paid by theU.
S.
business.
So all the businesses in theUnited States that are importing
(03:50):
these products to sell to youare paying these tariffs.
Do you actually think thebusiness is going to lose their
profits or are they going topass it on to you, the consumer?
The answer is you.
You pay the tariff.
So when the tariffs go up, Chinadoesn't pay it.
Our government doesn't pay it.
(04:11):
Trump doesn't pay it.
You pay the tariff.
Now, there is this good argumentthat when they raise tariffs,
this will in turn bring backmanufacturing on U.
S.
soil.
Fine.
That's great.
But the costs are still gonna goup because the reason why the
manufacturers left the UnitedStates in the first place is to
(04:33):
get cheap labor, noenvironmental regulations, no
health and security.
The only way to bringmanufacturing back to the United
States and see costs go down isto break unions.
Lower wages, ignoreenvironmental regulations, and
take away health benefits.
I guess that is the Make AmericaGreat Again's message to us, is
(04:55):
to break unions, continue withlow paying jobs, ignore our
Earth's resources, and noprovided healthcare.
And we all know their next goalis going to be to overturn the
Affordable Care Act.
But okay, go ahead, babe.
No, and that is all.
And we would love that you openit up like that, because I
actually just had someone askingme like, what is a tariff?
(05:17):
And they were hoping we would goover that.
So I'm really glad that weeducated people on that.
One thing that's really crazyabout this situation is Trump
has no, his disregardingeverything other than himself,
you know, these allies thatwe've had with Canada and
Mexico, these as ally ship thatwe've had have been in place for
decades.
I mean, they are very importantwith our trade.
(05:39):
There was actually somethingcalled the North American Trade
Agreement, which is a substitutefor NAFTA, which was created in
1992.
And this allowed for almost, itwas an agreement that allowed
for better balance between ourcountries, It allowed all three
of us to benefit, you know, andso for Trump to do this.
This is why Trudeau and Claudiahave both come out in very quick
(06:02):
statements because it is soabsurd.
That he is trying to enact atariff on Canada, Mexico, and
let's be clear here.
He, when he was running, said hewanted to place a 25 percent
tariff on China, and that's notwhat happened.
He placed tariffs on our alliesand only a 10 percent tariff on
(06:22):
China.
Trudeau came out on Saturday andbasically said he's perplexed
why our closest friends andneighbors are choosing to target
us instead of so many otherchallenging parts of the world.
I mean, he, he basically warnedus that it's not.
It's going to affect us.
It's going to affect our jobs asAmericans.
It's going to affect our prices.
And, he had an emotionalreference to the nation's shared
(06:43):
history and said, We have foughtand died beside you.
Mexico's President Claudia isplanning on enacting a plan B
and enacting a retaliatory 25percent tariff on American
goods.
I mean, This is not going tobenefit anyone in either camp.
Now, you know, this whole tarifffiasco, I, I consider myself a
(07:03):
pretty smart person.
I'm no scholar.
I don't have a doctorate degree,but I do have common sense here.
We both do.
And I think a lot of people whotake the time out of their
schedule to actually listen tothis podcast.
Also has common sense, but outof all the research I've
conducted on tariffs lately, thetariffs have only had negative
(07:26):
impacts for both countriesinvolved.
This administration has aninherited a very healthy
economy.
I think with what he did lastnight, and this is being
recorded on Sunday evening,we're, Headed for an economic
recession.
I think this is going to put theentire world into a recession
and it will be America's faultagain.
(07:49):
Like, right.
Like, didn't we cause the crashin 2008 when all those banks
fucked the middle class over.
I can't remember.
So much has happened since then,but Well, and what's crazy is
the recession was a big deal.
I mean, I feel like we are stillnot where we were before the
recession.
Like it took us a very long timeto come out of that.
One of the reasons they'resaying they're kind of throwing
(08:12):
out as a reason for this tariffis fentanyl, fentanyl drugs, and
immigration.
But drugs You know, why don'tyou just not do drugs?
Well, I mean, that an idea?
That is an idea.
Why don't we invest in mentalhealth?
I mean, the part of the drug,uh, part of the thing with
fentanyl is Canada isn't even amajor source of it.
(08:32):
Last year, I saw this statisticthat U.
S.
Customs and Border Protectionagents intercepted 19 kilograms
of fentanyl at the northernborder.
They came across 9, 600kilograms at the border with
Mexico.
So, if we're going to thinkfentanyl as an issue, Canada has
(08:52):
nothing to do with it.
19 kilograms out of 9,000 in thesouthern border.
So, one thing to note also withthis whole tariff situation,
presidents can only imposetariffs for three reasons.
One is economic injury fromimport surges, two is for
national security, and three isfor unfair foreign competition.
(09:13):
Drugs is not on that list.
Immigration is not on that list.
So if Trump uses either one ofthose as a reason, it will more
than likely, like there arepeople out there that think 90
percent that this is going to goto court.
So it's going to be argued.
It's going to be challenged.
What the tariffs is going to goto court.
Yes, because there's no reasonfor.
(09:34):
He hasn't come up with an actualreason to declare it.
The only other thing he couldpossibly do to make this go
through is declaring a nationalemergency, but we are not in
one, and he would have to provethat.
He'll probably do that onMonday.
And it will be very interestingto see what he does with that,
because yeah, unless he can comeup with a reason, they can,
people can fight it.
I mean, he's nuts.
(09:54):
He's just absolutely nuts.
It is.
He is absolutely nuts.
One thing.
Also, I want to justspecifically note about this
too, because I don't thinkpeople are understanding this as
well.
Elon Musk's company, Tesla, hugecar company, has very strong
ties with China.
I still think it is veryinteresting that Trump said he
(10:15):
was going to put tariffsprimarily on China during the
campaign.
Mexico and Canada were not partof those talking points.
And all of a sudden, it feelslike Flipped and Canada, Mexico
now are 25 percent tariffs.
It makes, it makes it seem likeTrump is doing something, but
Canada or China only got 10percent tariffs.
Well, just so happens that Tesladelivers 36.
7 percent of its cars to China.
(10:37):
It is the second largest market.
For Elon Musk, and Elon Musk isrubbing shoulders with Trump,
and now all of a sudden, we'reputting less tariffs on China
and more on countries thatreally don't affect him.
Just food for thought.
Yeah, well, hey, why does ElonMusk right now have access to
all our social security andMedicare information?
(10:59):
Uh, that's a whole nother topicfor the next episode, but it's
absolutely nuts.
Yeah.
So, um, here's a fact for you issince world war two, the United
States has performedsignificantly better on averages
under the administrations ofdemocratic presidents than
Republican presidents, thisdifference is found in economic
(11:19):
variables, including jobcreation, GDP, growth, stock
market returns.
Personal income growth, etcetera.
The unemployment rate has risenon average under Republican
leadership while it has fallenunder Democratic leadership.
And as history shows between1953 until today, now 10 of 11
(11:42):
recessions have begun underRepublican presidents.
Um, yeah, it's true.
And.
Just like with every recession,a democratic president comes in
four years later and cleans upthe mess.
Yeah, it is interesting thatthere is a pattern here.
And you, you see the patternbecause you know history really
well.
I don't necessarily see, I don'tthink the normal person would
(12:03):
see it.
But you know, we had thisconversation the other night
about this.
And it's like, you know, youwarned us or warned this
household, you were like, weneed to start saving.
We need to start doing things inplace because this may happen.
There's a very good chance thata recession is on the horizon.
And I don't think anyone'sreally talking about that yet,
especially the news media,because they don't want to scare
people.
But they're covering obviouslyother things that have happened
(12:26):
this week, which have distractedfrom this subject for a tiny
little bit.
But it is something to know.
And I think it's very importantthat you kind of lay that out as
connection.
I'm so interested to see whatthe stock markets do tomorrow.
But I have no idea how thatworks.
Well, and something to note thatI had saw too as well, which I
didn't even think about this,but it makes sense.
Mexico is the number one sourceof our agricultural goods in the
(12:47):
U.
S.
Canada is a huge source forgrains.
So if they are going to puttariffs on these people, it is
in.
definitely going to raise costsin the grocery store.
I mean, people are going thinkprices are expensive now.
I mean, we can't go to thegrocery store without spending
at least 200 bucks.
What are these tariffs going todo with our grocery bills?
(13:07):
I cannot imagine spending moremoney at the grocery store.
All right, we got to move on toanother topic because this is
just infuriating to me.
Um, so, the Pentagon agency, orshould we start calling it
Pete's Pentagon playground?
I don't know.
That's a lot of Pete.
How do you feel about that?
Pete's playground?
Well, how long did it take youto come up with that?
Pete's Pentagon playground.
Say that three times fast.
(13:28):
Pete's Pentagon playground.
Pete's Pentagon playground.
The Pentagon agency has pausedholiday celebrations for things
like Martin Luther.
King Jr.
Day, Black History Month.
I mean, here's the list.
I have, I have some lists onthis episode, so I apologize.
But Martin Luther King Jr.
Day, Black History Month,Women's History Month, Asian
American Pacific IslanderHeritage Month, Pride Month.
(13:51):
Hey, that affects us.
Uh, Juneteenth, NationalHispanic Heritage Month, you
know, the list goes on, there'sa couple other things in there,
but this ban was in response toDonald Trump's goal on
dismantling anything thatinvolves DEI, that You know,
that terminology that none of usreally knew about three weeks
ago.
(14:12):
Maybe it was a part of project2025.
Alex, did you ever get throughthe entire project 2025?
Oh my God, it is so dense.
I got halfway through it, butsomething important with now
that you brought project 2025 upis it's interesting to note when
I was starting to read that howin the past, this is this, the
authors of that is a company.
I cannot remember the name.
(14:32):
You can look it up, but theyhave had hands in.
Past presidential electionssince the nineties and every
administration that isRepublican, they bring in people
from that company that helpswrite this project.
They've written past projectsand in past presidents,
Republican presidents, thesepresidents have enacted, they've
said like 80 to 90 percent ofwhat is in the book in the past.
(14:55):
That's past history.
So when.
This book came out back lastyear.
That's why it kind of made newswaves because there were certain
people trying to sound the alarmsound the alarm and it's like no
one took it seriously.
But there is already been pasthistory on this book and we are
seeing it.
There are people now that havebeen indirect.
They have directly written inthis book that are now part of
his administration.
So anyway, I think the amount ofinformation in that fucking
(15:17):
project was so vast.
It was like it was even too muchfor me.
I was like.
Certainly people aren't going toneglect him again, but
seriously, I was so wrong withthat one.
It's just funny because now Ihear the news and they're like,
Do you think he's enactingeverything in 2025?
And everyone's like, yeah.
And it's like, we knew this wasgoing to happen anyway.
Yeah.
Speaking of the, uh, celebrationholidays and celebration months
(15:41):
and how they're like banned,it's February, which means it's
black history month and ourgovernment, our federal agencies
aren't even allowed to celebrateblack history month, even though
the black population definitelyhelped this administration get
elected to office.
I mean, we, the Democrats lost.
African American voters betweenthe 2020 and 24 elections.
(16:03):
But, you know, we here at thecivil union podcast, we continue
to celebrate black historymonth.
Absolutely.
So we're going to try to have alittle quote or a little blurb
about black history month.
And right now it's a quote bydr.
Martin Luther King jr.
And I want everyone to reallyfeel this, to think about it.
(16:24):
Here's the quote.
Our lives begin to end the daywe become silent about things
that matter.
End quote, so are you silentsomewhere in your life?
I'm sure our 20 listeners arevery concerned about America
right now.
So I don't think this quotewould apply to us, but you know,
think about it, take it in.
(16:45):
Tell someone that quote, sharethe podcast, maybe, you know, I
really do love that.
And I think it is very importantbecause people are almost too
scared to say anything orthey're too, they're kind of
waiting and seeing what's goingto happen with this
administration.
So everyone's kind of quiet, butit is important to remember, we
gotta keep, we gotta keepspeaking up.
And did you see, uh, presidentObama's post?
(17:06):
I think it was yesterday heposted.
It was absolutely amazing andperfect, especially for
everything going on with, youknow, holidays.
He made this great post.
I would highly suggest readingit.
Obviously he always posts andwrites eloquently, but
definitely look it up becauseit's on Instagram and I thought
it was just very well writtenfor the time.
(17:27):
I'll have to check that out.
Thanks for letting us know.
Okay.
We're in the middle of ourepisode now.
So let's play a little game.
Uh, I really liked the, who saidit?
One last, I agree.
Let's last week.
Yeah.
So let's keep it going.
Okay.
So, who said it either MelaniaTrump or Hillary Clinton.
Okay.
There's seven quotes here.
Okay.
Are you ready?
Yeah, here we go.
(17:48):
Here's number one.
I don't have a nanny.
I have a chef.
I have an assistant and that'sit.
I'd do it myself.
Melania or Hillary?
Oh my god, I would feel bad if Iget this wrong.
I'm gonna say Melania, because Idon't think that would be
Hillary.
Ding! You still need to get likea buzzer.
Okay, uh, good job.
(18:09):
Thank you.
Next one.
Women are the largest untappedreservoir of talent in the
world.
Melania or Hillary?
It's a pro women quote.
I would think it's Hillary.
Yes, good job.
Yes! Okay.
The First Lady role is reallydifficult.
(18:31):
It has no job description.
You have to create it foryourself.
Melania or Hilary.
Okay, that could, I feel likethat could be 50 50.
But I don't think Melania reallyenjoyed being a First Lady.
Ladies, I'm going to assume itis Hillary.
She you're, you're right.
Correct.
Yes.
Melania is such a great firstlady.
She didn't even care about theChristmas.
(18:52):
I really remember her.
Yeah.
What is it?
Peace on the world.
Hell on the world.
I still can't believe she saidthat.
That's hilarious.
Um, okay.
So here we go.
Next one.
It was kind of a fun experience.
We stayed in a hotel.
It was clean.
It was, I think, a holiday inn.
(19:14):
It's funny, when we go travel,they don't have five star
hotels.
You go with it.
Okay, that has to be Melania,and if it's not, I'm gonna be
very upset.
Yes, it's Melania.
Okay, good.
Um, okay, here's the fifth one.
You ready?
I am, you know, adamantlyagainst illegal immigration.
(19:36):
Uh, Melania.
Yes.
Good job.
Oh wait, no, it was Hillary.
Yeah.
Hillary.
Yeah.
Wow.
Um, okay.
Here's a moment.
It was okay.
Uh, he supports everybody.
He supports women.
He encourages them to go to thehighest level to achieve the
dreams.
(19:56):
He employs many, many women.
Oh God.
Melania or Hillary?
Um, I will say Melania.
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
Okay.
And here's number seven.
Um, in case there was a tie, Ihave a tie breaker, but, um, so
(20:18):
you could see from the tape, thecameras were not on, it was only
a mic.
And I wonder if they even knewthe mic was on because they were
of boy talk and he was led on.
Hilary?
Melania.
Oh, I know.
About the pussy grabbing moment.
I remember that one.
Yes, God.
It's funny how almost everyone'sforgot about that moment.
(20:41):
Obviously, because they've stillvoted for him.
Okay.
Moving on.
That was a great game.
I always win.
I love that.
I always win that game.
It's fun.
So yeah, we had a really hardtime deciding whether to put
this as like the first story ornot, because It's deeply
troubling everything that hashappened to the airline industry
(21:03):
this past week.
In fact, it would have been ourfirst story if we didn't have a
psychopath in the White House,you know?
But with us going through atrade war with Mexico, China,
Canada on Saturday night.
Uh, that set me off and wereally wanted people to learn
about tariffs at the beginningof the podcast and the impacts
(21:24):
they that these tariffs willhave on you.
So, um, it's really, trulydevastating to see the plane
crashes this past week., sohere's a little, this is the
last list I promise.
But here's a list of everythingthat was leading up to the first
plane crash.
January 20th, FAA directorfired.
January 21st, air trafficcontroller hiring freeze.
(21:46):
January 22nd, Aviation SafetyAdvisory Committee disbanded.
January 28th, buyout retirementdemand sent out to employees,
the fork in the road email,which we talked about on the
previous episode.
Uh, we all know Elon Musk wasbehind that, but then on January
(22:07):
29th, the very next day, thefirst American mid air collision
in 16 years in Washington, DC.
67 lives are tragically lost.
And on January 31st, a MedEvacjet drops from the sky.
Seven lives were lost, six onthe aircraft, one on the ground.
(22:28):
Now I'm not a religious person.
And if I was, we all know howmuch Republicans love God.
I would look at.
These crashes.
And when I look at this list aslike a sign from above, I mean,
seriously, I'm no mathematician,I'm not even great with numbers,
but what are the fucking oddsthat something like this
(22:50):
happens?
How big of a coincidence canthis be?
How big does a coincidence haveto be for it to not be
considered a coincidenceanymore?
That maybe perhaps thisadministration are the ones to
blame for this fucking crash.
Speaking of coincidences,something I had noticed or read
(23:11):
about, which I found veryinteresting, was that the
Washington DC crash happenedover the Reagan airport.
And President Reagan, back in1981, fired 11, 000 air traffic
controllers after they went onstrike.
The air controllers went onstrike seeking better working
conditions, better pay, and a 30hour work week.
(23:34):
They have said that since thathuge firing, the air traffic
controller industry had neverbeen the same.
They never got back to theirnumbers.
And then when they finally weregetting close to the numbers,
COVID happened.
And then that kind of weakenedthat whole department.
But But it's just, it was, it's,isn't that very interesting that
this all happened over thatairport?
(23:54):
It's just, well, how are hislike supporters viewing these
tragedies?
The list of dates I just readis.
How I'm being fed informationabout everything leading up to
this first tragedy.
What propaganda is being fed tothem?
Shouldn't the MAGA supportersview this crash as a sign from
(24:15):
God?
That maybe, just maybe, thetyrant dictator they elected to
office for the second time isfucking around with people's
lives?
I just think that this is eitherthe biggest coincidence in the
history of our lives, or TheTrump administration is at fault
here.
I mean, I'll say it.
(24:36):
I will go on record.
I'll stoop to their level ofidiocracy instead of just
blaming Biden and DEI.
It's their fault.
Trump, Musk, everyone involvedin this administration.
It's their fault 67 lives werelost in the icy waters of the
Potomac River on January 29th.
Who else?
What people?
(24:57):
What news media will stand upwith us on this?
It's not Biden.
It's not DEI.
It's this administration'sfault.
Shame on them.
We still don't know how themedevac jet crashed.
It wasn't a collision.
We all saw the horrifyingvideos.
But six Mexican nationals whowere flying from Shriners
(25:18):
Children's Hospital inPhiladelphia back to Tijuana,
um, were killed.
So that happened.
That was very tragic.
And something about this wholesituation too is how The term
DEI, I mean, Trump is, Trump,what he did last week is insane.
(25:38):
And I don't understand howanyone would still be supporting
this man because he politicizeda tragedy.
He stood up on that podium andinstead of being a president and
helping the country go throughthese things, this was even
before Friday, you know, heplaced blame on the DEI and I
just find that.
just nuts and he has such a hugelack of empathy.
(26:03):
Um, I mean the term DEI is nowbecoming a slur.
It's a way to undermine people'ssuccesses.
It's a stand in for women,people of color and unqualified.
They're pushing the idea thatthe problem is there isn't
enough white people in theseroles.
I mean, and the fact that thatis a talking point yet, you
know, Everyone's kind of justnot sure how to handle it is is
(26:25):
just kind of nuts to me one ofthe pilots on the Blackhawk They
have found this was a woman herfamily up until Saturday Didn't
feel comfortable releasing hername out of fear.
They knew she would be blamedAnd they didn't want to come out
with the name.
Well, then on Saturday, I guessthe army finally decided to
(26:46):
release her name.
I'm sure they were in agreementwith the family and talked with
him before they released hername, because Saturday they came
out with the name and the familymade a statement.
But their statement, you know,typically is like, Oh, we're
gonna miss her everything.
Their statement was purelyListing out her accolades
because they felt like they hadto the fact that they felt like
they had to do that and showlike, Oh, she got her master
(27:07):
from here and they got hertraining and they do this like
that is the state of thiscountry right now is people are
having to stand up for theirloved ones that have died
because they know they're goingto be attacked because of
Trump's actions calling out theD.
I.
As a reason for this crash.
It's absolutely crazy to me.
Yeah, it's it's really sad.
So I want everyone to listen tothis.
(27:28):
We did not have an FAAadministrator respond to the
horrible plane crashes becauseElon Musk pushed that agency's
head to resign after he finedSpaceX for failing to follow
safety requirements.
This is true.
I listened to Trump's pressconference and I encourage
everyone else to listen to itbefore it gets lost in all the
(27:50):
piles of shit that he's loadingupon the American people.
But after you listen, I have toask.
Is this normal?
Is this what we are supposed tobe used to?
That a leader can showabsolutely no compassion for
these victims, but insteadblames everyone who isn't white
(28:10):
for this Meanwhile, he standsthere and ignores the damage
he's done because he fired allthe good people who run these
agencies.
I ask, I beg, I plead, someonein the conservative leadership
have the fucking balls to standup and call this what it is.
(28:31):
It's racist, it's fearmongering, it's the blame game.
Or is everyone in theconservative party beholden to
this tyrannical power that keepsyou in your place?
It's really sad what's going on.
It's very sad.
And you know, even if you are anair, air traffic controller, the
fact that he's putting so muchweight on their role and saying,
(28:52):
you know, if I was one, I would,it would make me feel miserable.
But what people don'tunderstand, there are 25, 000
applicants for each air trafficcontroller job.
That job is a coveted job.
It's not an easy job to get.
They aren't just given toanyone.
And it'll matter with the DEI.
There are no standards.
There are still standards thatneed to be met when you're going
(29:12):
into a job like that.
They don't just fill thosepositions.
So it's just, it's very, it'svery unsettling that a president
is just ready to attack insteadof bringing the country
together.
Yeah.
We need a lighter topic.
Yeah.
So.
Can something get lighter inthis country or?
Moving on.
The DNC, you know, after their,uh, failure in November have to
(29:36):
move on.
They have to figure out a way toget past this.
They have to figure out a way torebrand.
There is a problem with theirbrand right now.
And they just nominate, theynot, they didn't nominate, they,
Ken Martin won as the nextchairman for the Democratic
National Committee.
One of the things he has saidright out of the gate, which I
find great is, at least he'ssaying this, he's saying, he's
(29:59):
taking the low road.
So his candidates can take thehigh road, the gloves are coming
off.
Now, I agree with that.
I think if anyone's going to doanything, it should be Ken
Martin because he has theability to do that while
candidates, it follows them alittle bit more.
So if he's going to act on this,I'm kind of excited to see where
he takes this.
One other thing with this wholeDNC situation moving forward,
(30:22):
um, David Hogg, a studentactivist, I'm sure you'll
recognize the name.
He was a survivor of theParkland school shooting.
He's a very big.
Advocate for anti gunlegislation.
He actually helped create Marchfor our lives.
He was nominated to vice chair,which is significant because he
is the youngest to ever beelected to the DNC.
He's 24 years old.
(30:43):
He is the youngest individualprior to this was Joe Andrew in
1999 at 39 years old.
So it's a very significant agejump there.
And he's the first ever from GenZ to be on the DNC.
So with Ken Martin in place.
David Hogg being one of the vicechair.
He's not the only vice chair.
There are numerous vice chairs,but I feel like these little
(31:04):
movements they're making may bereally good.
You know, the establishedDemocratic Party, for instance,
Nancy Pelosi did not back KenMartin.
She actually backed anothercandidate, which I think was a
little bit more old school.
So I'm kind of excited for that.
for Ken Martins, um, winningthis, but we'll see what this
says for the DNC and kind ofwhere they're going.
(31:25):
I mean, what are your thoughtson this?
I mean, yes, Ken Martin won theleadership he's vying for.
Now the real work begins forhim.
And I'm hopeful.
I'm not excited.
I'm hopeful he'll reshape andrestructure this party.
I saw the leaders of theMissouri State Democratic Party
enjoying themselves in D.
(31:46):
C., celebrating the election ofKen Martin.
I guess they had to go up to D.
C.
for a convention and vote.
I'm really not familiar with theprocess because everyone holds
their cards so close tothemselves in this state.
Uh, but I gotta say, scrollingthrough the posts, I came out
with more questions than I didanswers.
(32:06):
Are these Missouri leadersgetting paid?
Are our contributions payingthose salaries or is everything
out of pocket for them?
Like it was for us when I was adelegate and we went to the
convention in Chicago, which wasabsolutely amazing to attend.
I actually think Chicago shouldhost it forever.
Um, but I'm 20 listeners outthere.
(32:31):
The Missouri Democraticleadership does not excite me
anymore, you guys.
I'm not excited by them.
I shook hands with them.
I've been to events with them.
They don't know my name.
I know they do work, and theyare very hard leaders.
They are very intelligentpeople.
But there is just no excitement.
I think this needs to beCompletely shook up if we
(32:54):
actually want to start winningstate elections.
It's a major problem.
And until those changes areenacted, we're going to have,
we're going to continue to losestate elections.
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, I agree with you because Iremember Chicago and I remember
we had a great time.
It was nothing against that.
But in this Chicago did greatwith running that whole
(33:15):
situation.
Um, but I do remember youspecifically, you know, us
really trying to haveconversations with people and it
was it was kind of hard to getyou involved.
In those situations with people,it's very like, um, everyone
holds their cards really, reallyclose.
No one really talks to eachother.
You know, I met some reallygreat people.
I really did.
(33:36):
And those are the people who areactually showing up and trying
to get out the vote.
And there's a lot of young bloodout there.
And I'm going to say this as myfinal thought before we moved on
to lighter topics.
The state of Missouri will neverwin a blue election again until
we replace the currentleadership with newer.
younger blood.
(33:58):
Maybe that's us.
Yeah, I agree.
And the people that we met atthe DNC that we really enjoyed,
they are the ones like you said,doing the action putting their
boots on the ground, you know,that's, that's the direction we
need to go are people that aregoing to be really pushing this
forward.
One thing I want to note, beforewe leave this subject, because
I'm kind of curious how manypeople actually know what the
DNC does or is, I just want tomake a statement just so you're
(34:19):
more educated.
The DNC is not only responsiblefor the Democratic National
Convention, which is what me andRyan went to, and it happens
during every election cycle.
For the president, but alsodeciding what direction the
Democratic Party is to take inthe next election cycle.
So Ken Martin having thisposition will be very meaningful
(34:39):
in pushing this in the directionthat may be different than where
we were coming from.
They coordinate campaignstrategies for not only national
elections.
But also your state and localelections.
So the DNC has a hand ineverything.
They conduct polling, theyhelped conduct polling, they
help with electoral research andfundraising.
So they're kind of the backboneof the democratic party behind
(35:01):
the scenes.
Let's move on to lighter news.
Okay Alex, give us somethinggood.
So in light news, we're going toend this because it's been a
rough, heavy week, like always.
There is a new thing on themarket.
It's called Hereview SubtitleGlasses.
Now, we're not getting paid forthis, but it's something I just
looked up.
Hereview Subtitle Glassesretail, they retail for a pretty
(35:21):
penny, but are huge forinclusivity.
Basically, there was this girlwhose mom found them via TikTok
and gifted them to her.
The girl mentioned she was evenable to help her own speech.
She is.
Deaf.
And so she isn't able to hearpeople.
What the glasses do is theyconnect wirelessly to your
phone.
They can transcribe realconversations for people and
(35:41):
place them in a screen and alittle display for the person
wearing the glasses.
It also helps connect and storeconversations and it also helps
the person that's wearing them.
It helps develop their speech,because when they talk, the
glasses, when it picks up a wordcorrectly, will display it in
the screen.
They are supposedly highlyaccurate.
(36:02):
They launched last August, butare starting to pick up steam.
46 million American adultsreport some sort of hearing
loss.
And this success could, in thisproduct, could pave the way for
further innovations inaccessibility and AI driven
solutions.
It's just very exciting and areally cool product for the
visually, or sorry, the sensoryimpaired people out there.
(36:26):
Jesus.
That's your light news, babe.
It's so cool.
You should see this.
No, that is really cool video.
I think that's amazing.
I was just thinking, give ussomething like gossip or like
pop culture.
Oh my goodness.
Oh, no pop.
No pop.
Nothing's happening in popculture other than the Grammys.
Everyone pop down now they haveto think about this.
No, that is really amazing.
I love it.
And then the other topic I hadkind of come up with was
researchers from Mass GeneralBrigham.
(36:46):
I can't even say that Brighamand Washington University School
of Medicine in St.
Louis.
They have identified agroundbreaking alternative with
Alzheimer's and it's xenon gas,this thing called xenon gas.
Um, basically xenon gas is usedin the medical world right now
as a general.
general anesthesia, but they'refinding that this gas has a
(37:09):
potential game changer intreating Alzheimer's disease,
demonstrating its ability tomitigate brain damage and
improve cognitive functions inmouse models.
So now what's gonna happen nextis this discovery was published
January 15, so it's very, very.
recent, but a human trial set tobegin in the next few months.
Their study demonstrated thatinhaling xenon gas reduced
(37:31):
neuroinflammation, minimizingbrain atrophy and promoting
protective neuronal states inmice models, which can very much
help Alzheimer's disease.
So it's a really cool, promisingresearch development.
Didn't Trump like freeze allthis?
And so they're going to need toget a grant for this.
But it's all frozen right now.
(37:52):
That is actually true.
And I would be curious to seewhat happens with this going
forward.
Yeah.
Cause he, he did freeze.
I'll research, have a cure or a,uh, help for people with
Alzheimer's yet.
We can't.
I can't do anything about itright now because there's a
freeze this administration.
Yeah.
There is a freeze.
Got it.
(38:12):
So great news, but we'll see ifthis actually follows through
with this administration if theyallow it to.
But anyway, well, that's it forthis week, you guys.
We really appreciate yousupporting us, listening to us
again, a couple of things tokind of look forward to for the
next week, at least at today'srecording.
As for today's recording, therewill be confirmation hearings.
(38:34):
For Brooke Rollins to beSecretary of Agriculture on
Monday.
Kelly Loeffler confirmationhearing is on Wednesday.
One thing to really look forwardto is on Tuesday, the Judiciary
Committee is meeting with afocus on fentanyl.
This could be amplified.
With the whole tariff situationgoing on between Mexico and
Canada based partially on thisproblem.
(38:56):
With that said, Howard Lutnick'sconfirmation hearing is also
scheduled for Wednesday.
He's supposed to be theSecretary of Commerce.
There's a lot of issues withhim.
Look him up, Howard Lutnick, buthe is pro tariff.
And he's getting confirmationpart of his, if he gets this
confirmation, part of his jobwill be global trade.
So this week with all the tariffsituation going on over the
(39:19):
past, over this past weekend,this week's going to be kind of
probably heavy with that becauseof these hearings with all that
going on.
So, you know that KellyLoeffler, she was a, an election
denier.
And then the day of theinsurrection, she's like, Has
hundreds of millions of dollars,by the way.
And then on the insurrectionday, um, she flipped her vote
(39:40):
because of everything that wentdown that day.
Yeah, she's a mess.
So.
All right.
That's all we got for you guysthis week.
Thanks for joining us again andlistening fourth episode.
We we're getting better.
I promise.
We'll be back at some point, I'msure in a couple of days,
something will go down with thisadministration.
But, be sure to give us a followon Instagram at TheCivilU,
(40:00):
that's just the letter U.
And feel free to send us anemail letting us know your
thoughts, questions, what we gotwrong, um, anything you want,
think that we should discuss,um, that email is
TheCivilUnion25 at gmail.
com.
Thanks for listening.
Thank you guys.
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.
(00:29):
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.
So, welcome to the fourthepisode, it was a great weekend,
we celebrated your birthday,Alex.
Yes, on Friday we celebrated mybirthday, it went really well, I
had a relaxing day of doingabsolutely nothing, and I made
(00:54):
myself a little Little, um,pudding cake, which was really,
really nice.
It was something my grandma usedto do every year.
She passed away in August, so Ikind of commemorated her by
making this cake and it came outas delicious as it could be
coming from me.
So it was good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was a really good day and Iactually got to sleep that night
too.
I have, I've been coughing alot, like especially at night.
(01:14):
And so, uh, that seemed to alittle bit, uh, subsided a
little bit.
So Finally.
So people always ask, what doyou do when you get home?
And I always respond to themwith the generic, Oh, I cook,
which I do love.
Or I, I play with my dogs.
Actually, my dogs bully me intoplaying with them, but honestly,
what I do when I get home, Idon't, and I don't want people
(01:36):
to think that I'm crazy here,but.
What I do is I think I sit onthe couch or at the kitchen
table and I think that's what Ifucking do.
My mind is always thinking,especially about politics.
Where are we going with thisnation?
What are we going to do aboutthis new situation?
Will there even be an America infour years?
(01:58):
I'm so tired of people callingus the Democrats, the liberals,
anti Americans, when really, ifyou think about it, We're not
anti American.
Us, the Democrats, are some ofthe most patriotic people out
there.
My husband and I are recording afucking podcast because we care
so much about this country.
(02:20):
We see that girl, America,burning in the dumpster fire
over there right now.
And we're trying to rescue her.
We're seeing it.
We're calling out the BS.
We're saving America.
I don't know how far we'll get,but at least we can say we
tried, Alex.
They're just trying to set usoff, piss us off.
And when they do, well, we atthe civil union podcast, we'll
(02:43):
record an episode for you guysbecause we'll call them out.
Okay.
Rant over.
Good rant.
I like that.
That's totally true though.
I'm happy to be here.
All right.
So, yeah, so tariffs, do youwant me to take this or you?
You go ahead and start thefirst.
So I have a whole little lessonfor you guys.
What exactly is a tariff?
A tariff is a tax and hey, Ithought Republicans didn't like
(03:06):
those things.
Um, but it's, it's a tax onimported goods coming into your
country.
So, for example, let's say thereis a 10 percent tariff on
iPhones.
This 10 percent tariff or tax isset by the US government.
They are the ones that areputting the tax on the iPhones.
(03:28):
So the iPhones are made inChina.
The 10 percent tax is notgetting paid by China.
Again, China is not paying thetariff.
The tariff actually goes on tothe business in the United
States that imports the product.
This tariff tax is paid by theU.
S.
business.
So all the businesses in theUnited States that are importing
(03:50):
these products to sell to youare paying these tariffs.
Do you actually think thebusiness is going to lose their
profits or are they going topass it on to you, the consumer?
The answer is you.
You pay the tariff.
So when the tariffs go up, Chinadoesn't pay it.
Our government doesn't pay it.
(04:11):
Trump doesn't pay it.
You pay the tariff.
Now, there is this good argumentthat when they raise tariffs,
this will in turn bring backmanufacturing on U.
S.
soil.
Fine.
That's great.
But the costs are still gonna goup because the reason why the
manufacturers left the UnitedStates in the first place is to
(04:33):
get cheap labor, noenvironmental regulations, no
health and security.
The only way to bringmanufacturing back to the United
States and see costs go down isto break unions.
Lower wages, ignoreenvironmental regulations, and
take away health benefits.
I guess that is the Make AmericaGreat Again's message to us, is
(04:55):
to break unions, continue withlow paying jobs, ignore our
Earth's resources, and noprovided healthcare.
And we all know their next goalis going to be to overturn the
Affordable Care Act.
But okay, go ahead, babe.
No, and that is all.
And we would love that you openit up like that, because I
actually just had someone askingme like, what is a tariff?
(05:17):
And they were hoping we would goover that.
So I'm really glad that weeducated people on that.
One thing that's really crazyabout this situation is Trump
has no, his disregardingeverything other than himself,
you know, these allies thatwe've had with Canada and
Mexico, these as ally ship thatwe've had have been in place for
decades.
I mean, they are very importantwith our trade.
(05:39):
There was actually somethingcalled the North American Trade
Agreement, which is a substitutefor NAFTA, which was created in
1992.
And this allowed for almost, itwas an agreement that allowed
for better balance between ourcountries, It allowed all three
of us to benefit, you know, andso for Trump to do this.
This is why Trudeau and Claudiahave both come out in very quick
(06:02):
statements because it is soabsurd.
That he is trying to enact atariff on Canada, Mexico, and
let's be clear here.
He, when he was running, said hewanted to place a 25 percent
tariff on China, and that's notwhat happened.
He placed tariffs on our alliesand only a 10 percent tariff on
(06:22):
China.
Trudeau came out on Saturday andbasically said he's perplexed
why our closest friends andneighbors are choosing to target
us instead of so many otherchallenging parts of the world.
I mean, he, he basically warnedus that it's not.
It's going to affect us.
It's going to affect our jobs asAmericans.
It's going to affect our prices.
And, he had an emotionalreference to the nation's shared
(06:43):
history and said, We have foughtand died beside you.
Mexico's President Claudia isplanning on enacting a plan B
and enacting a retaliatory 25percent tariff on American
goods.
I mean, This is not going tobenefit anyone in either camp.
Now, you know, this whole tarifffiasco, I, I consider myself a
(07:03):
pretty smart person.
I'm no scholar.
I don't have a doctorate degree,but I do have common sense here.
We both do.
And I think a lot of people whotake the time out of their
schedule to actually listen tothis podcast.
Also has common sense, but outof all the research I've
conducted on tariffs lately, thetariffs have only had negative
(07:26):
impacts for both countriesinvolved.
This administration has aninherited a very healthy
economy.
I think with what he did lastnight, and this is being
recorded on Sunday evening,we're, Headed for an economic
recession.
I think this is going to put theentire world into a recession
and it will be America's faultagain.
(07:49):
Like, right.
Like, didn't we cause the crashin 2008 when all those banks
fucked the middle class over.
I can't remember.
So much has happened since then,but Well, and what's crazy is
the recession was a big deal.
I mean, I feel like we are stillnot where we were before the
recession.
Like it took us a very long timeto come out of that.
One of the reasons they'resaying they're kind of throwing
(08:12):
out as a reason for this tariffis fentanyl, fentanyl drugs, and
immigration.
But drugs You know, why don'tyou just not do drugs?
Well, I mean, that an idea?
That is an idea.
Why don't we invest in mentalhealth?
I mean, the part of the drug,uh, part of the thing with
fentanyl is Canada isn't even amajor source of it.
(08:32):
Last year, I saw this statisticthat U.
S.
Customs and Border Protectionagents intercepted 19 kilograms
of fentanyl at the northernborder.
They came across 9, 600kilograms at the border with
Mexico.
So, if we're going to thinkfentanyl as an issue, Canada has
(08:52):
nothing to do with it.
19 kilograms out of 9,000 in thesouthern border.
So, one thing to note also withthis whole tariff situation,
presidents can only imposetariffs for three reasons.
One is economic injury fromimport surges, two is for
national security, and three isfor unfair foreign competition.
(09:13):
Drugs is not on that list.
Immigration is not on that list.
So if Trump uses either one ofthose as a reason, it will more
than likely, like there arepeople out there that think 90
percent that this is going to goto court.
So it's going to be argued.
It's going to be challenged.
What the tariffs is going to goto court.
Yes, because there's no reasonfor.
(09:34):
He hasn't come up with an actualreason to declare it.
The only other thing he couldpossibly do to make this go
through is declaring a nationalemergency, but we are not in
one, and he would have to provethat.
He'll probably do that onMonday.
And it will be very interestingto see what he does with that,
because yeah, unless he can comeup with a reason, they can,
people can fight it.
I mean, he's nuts.
(09:54):
He's just absolutely nuts.
It is.
He is absolutely nuts.
One thing.
Also, I want to justspecifically note about this
too, because I don't thinkpeople are understanding this as
well.
Elon Musk's company, Tesla, hugecar company, has very strong
ties with China.
I still think it is veryinteresting that Trump said he
(10:15):
was going to put tariffsprimarily on China during the
campaign.
Mexico and Canada were not partof those talking points.
And all of a sudden, it feelslike Flipped and Canada, Mexico
now are 25 percent tariffs.
It makes, it makes it seem likeTrump is doing something, but
Canada or China only got 10percent tariffs.
Well, just so happens that Tesladelivers 36.
7 percent of its cars to China.
(10:37):
It is the second largest market.
For Elon Musk, and Elon Musk isrubbing shoulders with Trump,
and now all of a sudden, we'reputting less tariffs on China
and more on countries thatreally don't affect him.
Just food for thought.
Yeah, well, hey, why does ElonMusk right now have access to
all our social security andMedicare information?
(10:59):
Uh, that's a whole nother topicfor the next episode, but it's
absolutely nuts.
Yeah.
So, um, here's a fact for you issince world war two, the United
States has performedsignificantly better on averages
under the administrations ofdemocratic presidents than
Republican presidents, thisdifference is found in economic
(11:19):
variables, including jobcreation, GDP, growth, stock
market returns.
Personal income growth, etcetera.
The unemployment rate has risenon average under Republican
leadership while it has fallenunder Democratic leadership.
And as history shows between1953 until today, now 10 of 11
(11:42):
recessions have begun underRepublican presidents.
Um, yeah, it's true.
And.
Just like with every recession,a democratic president comes in
four years later and cleans upthe mess.
Yeah, it is interesting thatthere is a pattern here.
And you, you see the patternbecause you know history really
well.
I don't necessarily see, I don'tthink the normal person would
(12:03):
see it.
But you know, we had thisconversation the other night
about this.
And it's like, you know, youwarned us or warned this
household, you were like, weneed to start saving.
We need to start doing things inplace because this may happen.
There's a very good chance thata recession is on the horizon.
And I don't think anyone'sreally talking about that yet,
especially the news media,because they don't want to scare
people.
But they're covering obviouslyother things that have happened
(12:26):
this week, which have distractedfrom this subject for a tiny
little bit.
But it is something to know.
And I think it's very importantthat you kind of lay that out as
connection.
I'm so interested to see whatthe stock markets do tomorrow.
But I have no idea how thatworks.
Well, and something to note thatI had saw too as well, which I
didn't even think about this,but it makes sense.
Mexico is the number one sourceof our agricultural goods in the
(12:47):
U.
S.
Canada is a huge source forgrains.
So if they are going to puttariffs on these people, it is
in.
definitely going to raise costsin the grocery store.
I mean, people are going thinkprices are expensive now.
I mean, we can't go to thegrocery store without spending
at least 200 bucks.
What are these tariffs going todo with our grocery bills?
(13:07):
I cannot imagine spending moremoney at the grocery store.
All right, we got to move on toanother topic because this is
just infuriating to me.
Um, so, the Pentagon agency, orshould we start calling it
Pete's Pentagon playground?
I don't know.
That's a lot of Pete.
How do you feel about that?
Pete's playground?
Well, how long did it take youto come up with that?
Pete's Pentagon playground.
Say that three times fast.
(13:28):
Pete's Pentagon playground.
Pete's Pentagon playground.
The Pentagon agency has pausedholiday celebrations for things
like Martin Luther.
King Jr.
Day, Black History Month.
I mean, here's the list.
I have, I have some lists onthis episode, so I apologize.
But Martin Luther King Jr.
Day, Black History Month,Women's History Month, Asian
American Pacific IslanderHeritage Month, Pride Month.
(13:51):
Hey, that affects us.
Uh, Juneteenth, NationalHispanic Heritage Month, you
know, the list goes on, there'sa couple other things in there,
but this ban was in response toDonald Trump's goal on
dismantling anything thatinvolves DEI, that You know,
that terminology that none of usreally knew about three weeks
ago.
(14:12):
Maybe it was a part of project2025.
Alex, did you ever get throughthe entire project 2025?
Oh my God, it is so dense.
I got halfway through it, butsomething important with now
that you brought project 2025 upis it's interesting to note when
I was starting to read that howin the past, this is this, the
authors of that is a company.
I cannot remember the name.
(14:32):
You can look it up, but theyhave had hands in.
Past presidential electionssince the nineties and every
administration that isRepublican, they bring in people
from that company that helpswrite this project.
They've written past projectsand in past presidents,
Republican presidents, thesepresidents have enacted, they've
said like 80 to 90 percent ofwhat is in the book in the past.
(14:55):
That's past history.
So when.
This book came out back lastyear.
That's why it kind of made newswaves because there were certain
people trying to sound the alarmsound the alarm and it's like no
one took it seriously.
But there is already been pasthistory on this book and we are
seeing it.
There are people now that havebeen indirect.
They have directly written inthis book that are now part of
his administration.
So anyway, I think the amount ofinformation in that fucking
(15:17):
project was so vast.
It was like it was even too muchfor me.
I was like.
Certainly people aren't going toneglect him again, but
seriously, I was so wrong withthat one.
It's just funny because now Ihear the news and they're like,
Do you think he's enactingeverything in 2025?
And everyone's like, yeah.
And it's like, we knew this wasgoing to happen anyway.
Yeah.
Speaking of the, uh, celebrationholidays and celebration months
(15:41):
and how they're like banned,it's February, which means it's
black history month and ourgovernment, our federal agencies
aren't even allowed to celebrateblack history month, even though
the black population definitelyhelped this administration get
elected to office.
I mean, we, the Democrats lost.
African American voters betweenthe 2020 and 24 elections.
(16:03):
But, you know, we here at thecivil union podcast, we continue
to celebrate black historymonth.
Absolutely.
So we're going to try to have alittle quote or a little blurb
about black history month.
And right now it's a quote bydr.
Martin Luther King jr.
And I want everyone to reallyfeel this, to think about it.
(16:24):
Here's the quote.
Our lives begin to end the daywe become silent about things
that matter.
End quote, so are you silentsomewhere in your life?
I'm sure our 20 listeners arevery concerned about America
right now.
So I don't think this quotewould apply to us, but you know,
think about it, take it in.
(16:45):
Tell someone that quote, sharethe podcast, maybe, you know, I
really do love that.
And I think it is very importantbecause people are almost too
scared to say anything orthey're too, they're kind of
waiting and seeing what's goingto happen with this
administration.
So everyone's kind of quiet, butit is important to remember, we
gotta keep, we gotta keepspeaking up.
And did you see, uh, presidentObama's post?
(17:06):
I think it was yesterday heposted.
It was absolutely amazing andperfect, especially for
everything going on with, youknow, holidays.
He made this great post.
I would highly suggest readingit.
Obviously he always posts andwrites eloquently, but
definitely look it up becauseit's on Instagram and I thought
it was just very well writtenfor the time.
(17:27):
I'll have to check that out.
Thanks for letting us know.
Okay.
We're in the middle of ourepisode now.
So let's play a little game.
Uh, I really liked the, who saidit?
One last, I agree.
Let's last week.
Yeah.
So let's keep it going.
Okay.
So, who said it either MelaniaTrump or Hillary Clinton.
Okay.
There's seven quotes here.
Okay.
Are you ready?
Yeah, here we go.
(17:48):
Here's number one.
I don't have a nanny.
I have a chef.
I have an assistant and that'sit.
I'd do it myself.
Melania or Hillary?
Oh my god, I would feel bad if Iget this wrong.
I'm gonna say Melania, because Idon't think that would be
Hillary.
Ding! You still need to get likea buzzer.
Okay, uh, good job.
(18:09):
Thank you.
Next one.
Women are the largest untappedreservoir of talent in the
world.
Melania or Hillary?
It's a pro women quote.
I would think it's Hillary.
Yes, good job.
Yes! Okay.
The First Lady role is reallydifficult.
(18:31):
It has no job description.
You have to create it foryourself.
Melania or Hilary.
Okay, that could, I feel likethat could be 50 50.
But I don't think Melania reallyenjoyed being a First Lady.
Ladies, I'm going to assume itis Hillary.
She you're, you're right.
Correct.
Yes.
Melania is such a great firstlady.
She didn't even care about theChristmas.
(18:52):
I really remember her.
Yeah.
What is it?
Peace on the world.
Hell on the world.
I still can't believe she saidthat.
That's hilarious.
Um, okay.
So here we go.
Next one.
It was kind of a fun experience.
We stayed in a hotel.
It was clean.
It was, I think, a holiday inn.
(19:14):
It's funny, when we go travel,they don't have five star
hotels.
You go with it.
Okay, that has to be Melania,and if it's not, I'm gonna be
very upset.
Yes, it's Melania.
Okay, good.
Um, okay, here's the fifth one.
You ready?
I am, you know, adamantlyagainst illegal immigration.
(19:36):
Uh, Melania.
Yes.
Good job.
Oh wait, no, it was Hillary.
Yeah.
Hillary.
Yeah.
Wow.
Um, okay.
Here's a moment.
It was okay.
Uh, he supports everybody.
He supports women.
He encourages them to go to thehighest level to achieve the
dreams.
(19:56):
He employs many, many women.
Oh God.
Melania or Hillary?
Um, I will say Melania.
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
Okay.
And here's number seven.
Um, in case there was a tie, Ihave a tie breaker, but, um, so
(20:18):
you could see from the tape, thecameras were not on, it was only
a mic.
And I wonder if they even knewthe mic was on because they were
of boy talk and he was led on.
Hilary?
Melania.
Oh, I know.
About the pussy grabbing moment.
I remember that one.
Yes, God.
It's funny how almost everyone'sforgot about that moment.
(20:41):
Obviously, because they've stillvoted for him.
Okay.
Moving on.
That was a great game.
I always win.
I love that.
I always win that game.
It's fun.
So yeah, we had a really hardtime deciding whether to put
this as like the first story ornot, because It's deeply
troubling everything that hashappened to the airline industry
(21:03):
this past week.
In fact, it would have been ourfirst story if we didn't have a
psychopath in the White House,you know?
But with us going through atrade war with Mexico, China,
Canada on Saturday night.
Uh, that set me off and wereally wanted people to learn
about tariffs at the beginningof the podcast and the impacts
(21:24):
they that these tariffs willhave on you.
So, um, it's really, trulydevastating to see the plane
crashes this past week., sohere's a little, this is the
last list I promise.
But here's a list of everythingthat was leading up to the first
plane crash.
January 20th, FAA directorfired.
January 21st, air trafficcontroller hiring freeze.
(21:46):
January 22nd, Aviation SafetyAdvisory Committee disbanded.
January 28th, buyout retirementdemand sent out to employees,
the fork in the road email,which we talked about on the
previous episode.
Uh, we all know Elon Musk wasbehind that, but then on January
(22:07):
29th, the very next day, thefirst American mid air collision
in 16 years in Washington, DC.
67 lives are tragically lost.
And on January 31st, a MedEvacjet drops from the sky.
Seven lives were lost, six onthe aircraft, one on the ground.
(22:28):
Now I'm not a religious person.
And if I was, we all know howmuch Republicans love God.
I would look at.
These crashes.
And when I look at this list aslike a sign from above, I mean,
seriously, I'm no mathematician,I'm not even great with numbers,
but what are the fucking oddsthat something like this
(22:50):
happens?
How big of a coincidence canthis be?
How big does a coincidence haveto be for it to not be
considered a coincidenceanymore?
That maybe perhaps thisadministration are the ones to
blame for this fucking crash.
Speaking of coincidences,something I had noticed or read
(23:11):
about, which I found veryinteresting, was that the
Washington DC crash happenedover the Reagan airport.
And President Reagan, back in1981, fired 11, 000 air traffic
controllers after they went onstrike.
The air controllers went onstrike seeking better working
conditions, better pay, and a 30hour work week.
(23:34):
They have said that since thathuge firing, the air traffic
controller industry had neverbeen the same.
They never got back to theirnumbers.
And then when they finally weregetting close to the numbers,
COVID happened.
And then that kind of weakenedthat whole department.
But But it's just, it was, it's,isn't that very interesting that
this all happened over thatairport?
(23:54):
It's just, well, how are hislike supporters viewing these
tragedies?
The list of dates I just readis.
How I'm being fed informationabout everything leading up to
this first tragedy.
What propaganda is being fed tothem?
Shouldn't the MAGA supportersview this crash as a sign from
(24:15):
God?
That maybe, just maybe, thetyrant dictator they elected to
office for the second time isfucking around with people's
lives?
I just think that this is eitherthe biggest coincidence in the
history of our lives, or TheTrump administration is at fault
here.
I mean, I'll say it.
(24:36):
I will go on record.
I'll stoop to their level ofidiocracy instead of just
blaming Biden and DEI.
It's their fault.
Trump, Musk, everyone involvedin this administration.
It's their fault 67 lives werelost in the icy waters of the
Potomac River on January 29th.
Who else?
What people?
(24:57):
What news media will stand upwith us on this?
It's not Biden.
It's not DEI.
It's this administration'sfault.
Shame on them.
We still don't know how themedevac jet crashed.
It wasn't a collision.
We all saw the horrifyingvideos.
But six Mexican nationals whowere flying from Shriners
(25:18):
Children's Hospital inPhiladelphia back to Tijuana,
um, were killed.
So that happened.
That was very tragic.
And something about this wholesituation too is how The term
DEI, I mean, Trump is, Trump,what he did last week is insane.
(25:38):
And I don't understand howanyone would still be supporting
this man because he politicizeda tragedy.
He stood up on that podium andinstead of being a president and
helping the country go throughthese things, this was even
before Friday, you know, heplaced blame on the DEI and I
just find that.
just nuts and he has such a hugelack of empathy.
(26:03):
Um, I mean the term DEI is nowbecoming a slur.
It's a way to undermine people'ssuccesses.
It's a stand in for women,people of color and unqualified.
They're pushing the idea thatthe problem is there isn't
enough white people in theseroles.
I mean, and the fact that thatis a talking point yet, you
know, Everyone's kind of justnot sure how to handle it is is
(26:25):
just kind of nuts to me one ofthe pilots on the Blackhawk They
have found this was a woman herfamily up until Saturday Didn't
feel comfortable releasing hername out of fear.
They knew she would be blamedAnd they didn't want to come out
with the name.
Well, then on Saturday, I guessthe army finally decided to
(26:46):
release her name.
I'm sure they were in agreementwith the family and talked with
him before they released hername, because Saturday they came
out with the name and the familymade a statement.
But their statement, you know,typically is like, Oh, we're
gonna miss her everything.
Their statement was purelyListing out her accolades
because they felt like they hadto the fact that they felt like
they had to do that and showlike, Oh, she got her master
(27:07):
from here and they got hertraining and they do this like
that is the state of thiscountry right now is people are
having to stand up for theirloved ones that have died
because they know they're goingto be attacked because of
Trump's actions calling out theD.
I.
As a reason for this crash.
It's absolutely crazy to me.
Yeah, it's it's really sad.
So I want everyone to listen tothis.
(27:28):
We did not have an FAAadministrator respond to the
horrible plane crashes becauseElon Musk pushed that agency's
head to resign after he finedSpaceX for failing to follow
safety requirements.
This is true.
I listened to Trump's pressconference and I encourage
everyone else to listen to itbefore it gets lost in all the
(27:50):
piles of shit that he's loadingupon the American people.
But after you listen, I have toask.
Is this normal?
Is this what we are supposed tobe used to?
That a leader can showabsolutely no compassion for
these victims, but insteadblames everyone who isn't white
(28:10):
for this Meanwhile, he standsthere and ignores the damage
he's done because he fired allthe good people who run these
agencies.
I ask, I beg, I plead, someonein the conservative leadership
have the fucking balls to standup and call this what it is.
(28:31):
It's racist, it's fearmongering, it's the blame game.
Or is everyone in theconservative party beholden to
this tyrannical power that keepsyou in your place?
It's really sad what's going on.
It's very sad.
And you know, even if you are anair, air traffic controller, the
fact that he's putting so muchweight on their role and saying,
(28:52):
you know, if I was one, I would,it would make me feel miserable.
But what people don'tunderstand, there are 25, 000
applicants for each air trafficcontroller job.
That job is a coveted job.
It's not an easy job to get.
They aren't just given toanyone.
And it'll matter with the DEI.
There are no standards.
There are still standards thatneed to be met when you're going
(29:12):
into a job like that.
They don't just fill thosepositions.
So it's just, it's very, it'svery unsettling that a president
is just ready to attack insteadof bringing the country
together.
Yeah.
We need a lighter topic.
Yeah.
So.
Can something get lighter inthis country or?
Moving on.
The DNC, you know, after their,uh, failure in November have to
(29:36):
move on.
They have to figure out a way toget past this.
They have to figure out a way torebrand.
There is a problem with theirbrand right now.
And they just nominate, theynot, they didn't nominate, they,
Ken Martin won as the nextchairman for the Democratic
National Committee.
One of the things he has saidright out of the gate, which I
find great is, at least he'ssaying this, he's saying, he's
(29:59):
taking the low road.
So his candidates can take thehigh road, the gloves are coming
off.
Now, I agree with that.
I think if anyone's going to doanything, it should be Ken
Martin because he has theability to do that while
candidates, it follows them alittle bit more.
So if he's going to act on this,I'm kind of excited to see where
he takes this.
One other thing with this wholeDNC situation moving forward,
(30:22):
um, David Hogg, a studentactivist, I'm sure you'll
recognize the name.
He was a survivor of theParkland school shooting.
He's a very big.
Advocate for anti gunlegislation.
He actually helped create Marchfor our lives.
He was nominated to vice chair,which is significant because he
is the youngest to ever beelected to the DNC.
He's 24 years old.
(30:43):
He is the youngest individualprior to this was Joe Andrew in
1999 at 39 years old.
So it's a very significant agejump there.
And he's the first ever from GenZ to be on the DNC.
So with Ken Martin in place.
David Hogg being one of the vicechair.
He's not the only vice chair.
There are numerous vice chairs,but I feel like these little
(31:04):
movements they're making may bereally good.
You know, the establishedDemocratic Party, for instance,
Nancy Pelosi did not back KenMartin.
She actually backed anothercandidate, which I think was a
little bit more old school.
So I'm kind of excited for that.
for Ken Martins, um, winningthis, but we'll see what this
says for the DNC and kind ofwhere they're going.
(31:25):
I mean, what are your thoughtson this?
I mean, yes, Ken Martin won theleadership he's vying for.
Now the real work begins forhim.
And I'm hopeful.
I'm not excited.
I'm hopeful he'll reshape andrestructure this party.
I saw the leaders of theMissouri State Democratic Party
enjoying themselves in D.
(31:46):
C., celebrating the election ofKen Martin.
I guess they had to go up to D.
C.
for a convention and vote.
I'm really not familiar with theprocess because everyone holds
their cards so close tothemselves in this state.
Uh, but I gotta say, scrollingthrough the posts, I came out
with more questions than I didanswers.
(32:06):
Are these Missouri leadersgetting paid?
Are our contributions payingthose salaries or is everything
out of pocket for them?
Like it was for us when I was adelegate and we went to the
convention in Chicago, which wasabsolutely amazing to attend.
I actually think Chicago shouldhost it forever.
Um, but I'm 20 listeners outthere.
(32:31):
The Missouri Democraticleadership does not excite me
anymore, you guys.
I'm not excited by them.
I shook hands with them.
I've been to events with them.
They don't know my name.
I know they do work, and theyare very hard leaders.
They are very intelligentpeople.
But there is just no excitement.
I think this needs to beCompletely shook up if we
(32:54):
actually want to start winningstate elections.
It's a major problem.
And until those changes areenacted, we're going to have,
we're going to continue to losestate elections.
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, I agree with you because Iremember Chicago and I remember
we had a great time.
It was nothing against that.
But in this Chicago did greatwith running that whole
(33:15):
situation.
Um, but I do remember youspecifically, you know, us
really trying to haveconversations with people and it
was it was kind of hard to getyou involved.
In those situations with people,it's very like, um, everyone
holds their cards really, reallyclose.
No one really talks to eachother.
You know, I met some reallygreat people.
I really did.
(33:36):
And those are the people who areactually showing up and trying
to get out the vote.
And there's a lot of young bloodout there.
And I'm going to say this as myfinal thought before we moved on
to lighter topics.
The state of Missouri will neverwin a blue election again until
we replace the currentleadership with newer.
younger blood.
(33:58):
Maybe that's us.
Yeah, I agree.
And the people that we met atthe DNC that we really enjoyed,
they are the ones like you said,doing the action putting their
boots on the ground, you know,that's, that's the direction we
need to go are people that aregoing to be really pushing this
forward.
One thing I want to note, beforewe leave this subject, because
I'm kind of curious how manypeople actually know what the
DNC does or is, I just want tomake a statement just so you're
(34:19):
more educated.
The DNC is not only responsiblefor the Democratic National
Convention, which is what me andRyan went to, and it happens
during every election cycle.
For the president, but alsodeciding what direction the
Democratic Party is to take inthe next election cycle.
So Ken Martin having thisposition will be very meaningful
(34:39):
in pushing this in the directionthat may be different than where
we were coming from.
They coordinate campaignstrategies for not only national
elections.
But also your state and localelections.
So the DNC has a hand ineverything.
They conduct polling, theyhelped conduct polling, they
help with electoral research andfundraising.
So they're kind of the backboneof the democratic party behind
(35:01):
the scenes.
Let's move on to lighter news.
Okay Alex, give us somethinggood.
So in light news, we're going toend this because it's been a
rough, heavy week, like always.
There is a new thing on themarket.
It's called Hereview SubtitleGlasses.
Now, we're not getting paid forthis, but it's something I just
looked up.
Hereview Subtitle Glassesretail, they retail for a pretty
(35:21):
penny, but are huge forinclusivity.
Basically, there was this girlwhose mom found them via TikTok
and gifted them to her.
The girl mentioned she was evenable to help her own speech.
She is.
Deaf.
And so she isn't able to hearpeople.
What the glasses do is theyconnect wirelessly to your
phone.
They can transcribe realconversations for people and
(35:41):
place them in a screen and alittle display for the person
wearing the glasses.
It also helps connect and storeconversations and it also helps
the person that's wearing them.
It helps develop their speech,because when they talk, the
glasses, when it picks up a wordcorrectly, will display it in
the screen.
They are supposedly highlyaccurate.
(36:02):
They launched last August, butare starting to pick up steam.
46 million American adultsreport some sort of hearing
loss.
And this success could, in thisproduct, could pave the way for
further innovations inaccessibility and AI driven
solutions.
It's just very exciting and areally cool product for the
visually, or sorry, the sensoryimpaired people out there.
(36:26):
Jesus.
That's your light news, babe.
It's so cool.
You should see this.
No, that is really cool video.
I think that's amazing.
I was just thinking, give ussomething like gossip or like
pop culture.
Oh my goodness.
Oh, no pop.
No pop.
Nothing's happening in popculture other than the Grammys.
Everyone pop down now they haveto think about this.
No, that is really amazing.
I love it.
And then the other topic I hadkind of come up with was
researchers from Mass GeneralBrigham.
(36:46):
I can't even say that Brighamand Washington University School
of Medicine in St.
Louis.
They have identified agroundbreaking alternative with
Alzheimer's and it's xenon gas,this thing called xenon gas.
Um, basically xenon gas is usedin the medical world right now
as a general.
general anesthesia, but they'refinding that this gas has a
(37:09):
potential game changer intreating Alzheimer's disease,
demonstrating its ability tomitigate brain damage and
improve cognitive functions inmouse models.
So now what's gonna happen nextis this discovery was published
January 15, so it's very, very.
recent, but a human trial set tobegin in the next few months.
Their study demonstrated thatinhaling xenon gas reduced
(37:31):
neuroinflammation, minimizingbrain atrophy and promoting
protective neuronal states inmice models, which can very much
help Alzheimer's disease.
So it's a really cool, promisingresearch development.
Didn't Trump like freeze allthis?
And so they're going to need toget a grant for this.
But it's all frozen right now.
(37:52):
That is actually true.
And I would be curious to seewhat happens with this going
forward.
Yeah.
Cause he, he did freeze.
I'll research, have a cure or a,uh, help for people with
Alzheimer's yet.
We can't.
I can't do anything about itright now because there's a
freeze this administration.
Yeah.
There is a freeze.
Got it.
(38:12):
So great news, but we'll see ifthis actually follows through
with this administration if theyallow it to.
But anyway, well, that's it forthis week, you guys.
We really appreciate yousupporting us, listening to us
again, a couple of things tokind of look forward to for the
next week, at least at today'srecording.
As for today's recording, therewill be confirmation hearings.
(38:34):
For Brooke Rollins to beSecretary of Agriculture on
Monday.
Kelly Loeffler confirmationhearing is on Wednesday.
One thing to really look forwardto is on Tuesday, the Judiciary
Committee is meeting with afocus on fentanyl.
This could be amplified.
With the whole tariff situationgoing on between Mexico and
Canada based partially on thisproblem.
(38:56):
With that said, Howard Lutnick'sconfirmation hearing is also
scheduled for Wednesday.
He's supposed to be theSecretary of Commerce.
There's a lot of issues withhim.
Look him up, Howard Lutnick, buthe is pro tariff.
And he's getting confirmationpart of his, if he gets this
confirmation, part of his jobwill be global trade.
So this week with all the tariffsituation going on over the
(39:19):
past, over this past weekend,this week's going to be kind of
probably heavy with that becauseof these hearings with all that
going on.
So, you know that KellyLoeffler, she was a, an election
denier.
And then the day of theinsurrection, she's like, Has
hundreds of millions of dollars,by the way.
And then on the insurrectionday, um, she flipped her vote
(39:40):
because of everything that wentdown that day.
Yeah, she's a mess.
So.
All right.
That's all we got for you guysthis week.
Thanks for joining us again andlistening fourth episode.
We we're getting better.
I promise.
We'll be back at some point, I'msure in a couple of days,
something will go down with thisadministration.
But, be sure to give us a followon Instagram at TheCivilU,
(40:00):
that's just the letter U.
And feel free to send us anemail letting us know your
thoughts, questions, what we gotwrong, um, anything you want,
think that we should discuss,um, that email is
TheCivilUnion25 at gmail.
com.
Thanks for listening.
Thank you guys.
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