March 19, 2025 • 38 mins
Navigating Political Storms and Local Adventures
In this episode of 'The Civil Union' podcast, Alex and Ryan, a married couple in a conservative state, delve into their hectic week which included severe weather, tornadoes, and a soccer game. They disclose a recent mayoral election and their support for candidate Kara Spencer, touch on Women's History Month by highlighting 'Chef Mel's Sauce,' and discuss the GOP's avoidance of in-person town halls amid backlash. Democrats' struggles and shifting political landscapes, as well as contentious topics like gun rights and health statistics removal, are explored. They also play 'Red State, Blue State, No State,' examining bizarre state laws, and wrap up with news on Tesla's stock drop, Trump's tariff plan, and Pepsi's acquisition of Poppi.
00:00 Introduction to the Civil Union Podcast
00:54 Weekly Recap: Weather, Tornadoes, and Soccer
05:18 Women's History Month and Supporting Local Businesses
07:02 Political Landscape: GOP Town Halls and Democratic Challenges
10:32 Democratic Party's Struggles and Future Concerns
19:12 Autopen Controversy: A Deep Dive
23:03 Red State, Blue State, No State: Game Time!
28:01 Gun Rights and the Second Amendment
32:04 Tesla's Stock Plunge and Trump's Policies
34:32 St. Patrick's Day Tariff Impact
35:50 Healthy Soda Wars: Pepsi Buys Poppi
37:32 Conclusion and Social Media Plugs
Music: What's The Angle? by Shane Ivers -
https://www.silvermansound.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
welcome to the Civil Union, thepodcast where politics meets
partnership.
We're Alex and Ryan, a marriedcouple, navigating life and
debates in a conservative state.
I.
We bring you sharp insights,bold opinions, and honest
conversations about thepolitical issues shaping our
lives, especially those livingon society's margins.
(00:27):
Tune in for real talk, a touchof humor, and plenty of passion
because when it comes topolitics, every voice matters,
and we are here to make surethey're heard.
All right, well, we're back foranother episode of the Civil
Union Podcast.
Uh, please make sure also togive us a follow on Instagram or
TikTok,, at our name, which isthe Civil U.
(00:48):
That's just with the Letter U.
So go ahead and do that asyou're listening to us right
now.
Thank you.
Alex, how has your week been?
Week's been good.
Crazy as always.
We've had, I mean, this weatheris back and forth.
I feel like it's been cold, it'sbeen hot, it's been tornadoes.
I know if, if you know us at allpersonally, you know that we
(01:11):
have very even full weeks aroundhere.
Um, so.
So I, when we started thispodcast, I think there was
probably like 12 inches of iceoutside.
And, and then this past Friday,the Midwest and the the south,
they all had a severe weatheroutbreak.
And so we literally hadtornadoes Friday night.
Um, tornado hit probably five to10 minutes south of where we're
(01:33):
at, and so I was out therefilming it, of course, with the
hail.
I did bring us down to thebasement.
So I will say that.
Um, but it was, it was a wildweather week.
Yeah.
Ryan is the bill of twisters inthis household, and I am that
wife of his, that's like holdingthe umbrella in the rain, like,
where did I get myself into thetherapist?
(01:54):
Yeah.
I, Melissa, her name wasMelissa.
I wait for Ryan to tell me whatto do.
And I do it.
He told us to run into thebasement.
I was like, okay, it's serious.
And the next thing I know, he'sopening the basement door,
filming the storm.
Um, but that's the type ofperson he is when it comes to
storms.
Yeah.
It was also a game day week, sowe knew the tornadoes were
coming Friday night, so we gotall the grocery shopping done.
(02:16):
And since it's a game week,usually Saturdays are packed
with everything.
And uh, so we got the groceryshopping done, went and had
sushi.
Watch the tornadoes roll by andthen it was a soccer game on
Saturday and, and we won.
That was a great, great game tosee live.
So yeah, it's been, it was ourfirst win in a very long time,
especially at home.
It was a really fun game.
(02:38):
I, I mean, even with it raining,I think we've become immune to
it and there's like levels andit really wasn't that bad.
It was good.
It was great and it was great tosee everyone.
We also tried a new venue beforethe game.
We usually go to Pepper Lounge,but we went to a different place
called Marquee and it was agreat.
Space.
Oh, it was so nice.
Yeah, so I'm excited for thenext game.
Actually, you know, during thegame randomly I had two people
(03:01):
message me.
One has just moved.
We, we met her in Oklahoma andshe just moved to the Illinois
side of St.
Louis.
And then another one was an oldboss of mine, um, who lives in
New York and she has friendscoming to visit.
This summer and she asked if ARDwas still safe.
And so, you know, of course Itold them everything there is to
(03:22):
do.
But I was like, you know, youdon't necessarily wanna walk,
you wanna take an Uber?
'cause there is some sketchplaces around St.
Louis still.
There still is.
And the population has.
Done nothing but declined sincethe 1950s out of St.
Louis.
It's like we will have multiplemayors come in and try to clean
up the city, but the populationkeeps shrinking here and it, it
(03:46):
just, it, it kind of upsets mebecause there's so much to do
here and it's a great.
Cost of living here and justeverything.
But it's still kind of sketchsome places.
And so now the mayor SharraJones is up for reelection and I
think Kara Spencer is heranother Democratic running
against Sharra Jones.
(04:07):
And so I saw the DemocraticParty is supporting Kara
Spencer, uh, to become the nextSt.
Louis mayor, which I guess thatelection is on April 8th.
And, um, so I'm gonna say itright now, I am supporting Kara
Spencer, she's LGBT.
And I need a new, a new face tocome in and try to clean it up.
(04:29):
I mean, we keep getting just.
We hit good mares, but nothingever changes and I'm ready for
change.
Speaking of, you know, I thinkwe live in an area where, or we
kind of live in our own littlebubbles and we go to the same
places.
And you know, this past weekwith the game, it pushed us to
try something new and we went,actually went to a Sard bar.
(04:50):
We never go to Sard.
And it was actually a lot offun.
You know, it was kind of like,oh, this is something different
for us.
What are we getting ourselvesinto?
And it was.
A really good time.
What was the name of that barcalled?
Eat Crow.
Eat Crow.
And they served food.
It was great.
And I actually plan on probablygoing there after games more
often.
But you know, I think we get inthe mindset, and especially here
(05:10):
in St.
Louis, it's like a small town.
You get, you just kind of gowhere you're comfortable.
But it was nice to kind of trysomething different and get out
of our comfort zone a littlebit.
Yeah.
So also March is Women's HistoryMonth, and so, there's this.
Really good spaghetti sauce thatI love so much, and it's called
Chef Mel Sauce.
They, it's sold at Schnucks andshe's actually, she's a
(05:32):
woman-owned business.
She's also LGBT.
And uh, the sauce is just, it'smy favorite sauce.
I mean, I have jumped fromdifferent St.
Louis brands and I always goback to Chef Mel Sauce.
And so I was reading herInstagram, I follow her on
Instagram, and she, she says,here's some facts.
Here in the United States, womenown approximately 40.
(05:53):
Percent of all businesses, yetsomehow only 2% of venture
capital funding funding goes towomen.
That's why so many of usbootstrap our businesses to
life.
We work our butts off and liveit every day.
We have a vision.
We chase it down.
We succeed here in the us.
Over 12 million women ownedbusinesses employ over 10
(06:17):
million workers and generatealmost$2 trillion each year.
This International Women'sMonth, oh, it's.
International Women's Month,I've partnered.
Chef Mel has partnered withSchnucks to lower the price of
my sauce by$1.
A portion of those proceeds willgo to breast cancer research to
support women everywhere.
(06:38):
If you're not near a Schnucks,but you still want an award
winning sauce, check out chefmel sauces.com/where to find to
figure out where you can supportthis woman.
Owned business today.
That is not an ad.
I just, I love the sauce and Ithought I would, uh, give it a
little shout on in this podcast.
So I like that.
It is a good sauce too, andthere's so much out there.
(06:59):
So try Chef Mel.
Yeah, there we go.
Okay, so, uh, let's get intosome topics here.
Okay.
So a, a recent story hasrevealed that.
Richard Hudson chair of theHouse, GOP's National Republican
campaign arm has advisedRepublican lawmakers to steer
clear of in-person town halls.
(07:20):
Why?
Because they're FA facingsignificant backlash from voters
upset about cutbacks made duringthis Trump's presidency.
If you haven't seen it, I'm sureyou have on social media,
there's these videos of tensetown halls.
That have gone viral becausepeople are just frustrated and
(07:41):
they're really mad about what'shappening.
I mean, even MAGA supporters arefacing.
Huge losses to income becausethey're losing their jobs.
Democrats are calling the GOPout for Hudson's advice about no
longer hosting these in-persontown halls suggesting that it's
a sign that Republicans areafraid to face their
(08:03):
constituents.
Here in Missouri, CD two, me andAlex live in Congressional
District two.
We're still waiting for AnneWagner to host a town hall.
In fact, I don't think she'sever hosted a town hall since
taking office in since like2012.
How do you get elected in anoffice and not do a town hall?
I would feel like that's like amandatory thing you would have
(08:23):
to do.
It's been so Jerry Mander towhere.
You know, she's always going towin it feels like.
So we need a strong candidate tostand in.
So, yeah, that's crazy that, youknow, that's, people think
gerrymandering is just aboutvoting, but people don't like,
I, I don't think that likegerrymandering actually.
Is also a disservice to thepolitical people in office
(08:44):
because they are just getting,they get comfortable because
they can get comfortable becauseof the gerrymandering.
That's a very interesting point.
I never would've thought that.
Uh, what's interesting aboutthat, about the town hall
backlash too, is that, and youkind of mentioned this, it's not
only.
Being done in democraticdistricts, it's happening across
the board.
You know, also in Republicanones there are, people are just
not happy.
There are areas that are heavilysupport that heavily supported.
(09:07):
Trump voted for Trump, and evenat those town halls, people are
showing up and voicing theconcerns.
You know, Trump didn't realize.
Well, he, he's dumb, I think,which I mean, he didn't even
think about it.
But getting rid of governmentjobs, a lot of those people are
in red areas.
I mean, even where we used tolive in Oklahoma, tinker Air
(09:28):
Force Base was in a very redarea.
So you're affecting people inyour own party when you're
getting rid of jobs like that.
Did you see that video that wastrending as well of JD Vance?
He got booed at, attending aperformance at the Kennedy
Center.
I mean.
Everywhere they go, they'refeeling backlash.
These, these politicians arefeeling the heat and they don't
care.
(09:48):
They're blindly arrogant.
They, they, they just smile thatvideo of him, you know, JD Manz
just, just laughed and was kindof waving.
It's like you were so arrogant.
It makes me sick.
Yeah.
You know, and this didn't happenbefore.
We've had plenty of Republicanpresidents in office and even
democratic ones, and you don'tsee the amount of tents.
(10:08):
Pushback from public crowds asmuch as you've seen from this
presidency.
The first one, the second, thesecond Trump second time, like,
it's just, it's crazy to see howmuch the public, the general
public dislikes these people.
I just don't know how they keptwinning.
(10:30):
Elections.
It blows my mind.
Now while we see the GOPavoiding these tough
conversations, democratic, thisis another problem.
Democratic approval ratings areplummeting to historic lows,
unlike during Trump's firstterm, where.
Compromise was more common.
Democratic voters today aresaying two to one, that they
(10:53):
want their leaders to fight forour values instead of trying to
find middle ground, even if itmeans things get stuck in
gridlock currently.
Only about 27% of voters have apositive view on the Democratic
Party.
This is the lowest rating in NBCpolling since 1990.
(11:14):
Many Democrats are just fed upand want this party to stand
firm on key issues, even if itrisks losing bi bipartisan
progress.
And we're seeing realfrustration directed towards
Senate leaders like.
Chuck Schumer, especially afterhe cited with Republicans on the
(11:35):
procedural move to thatthreatened government funding.
just a few years ago, a majorityof Democrats wanted their
leaders to work with Trump forconsensus.
But now nearly two thirdsbelieve it's time to prioritize
our principles.
So what does this mean for usall and the future of this
(11:56):
party?
Let's just face the facts.
The political landscape has tobe worrisome for every Democrat,
the current leaders, in myopinion.
I.
Have been null, void, and almostmum on what's happening in dc
and we must also realize what isat stake, not just the 26
(12:17):
midterms, not the 28 election.
Come 2030, after the census iscompleted, the Electoric College
is going to shift sharply to theright.
Democrats are becoming passiveand that lack of energy.
Dissipates any sort of fightthat could come from civic
resistance, and that's what weneed right now.
(12:38):
We need civic resistance, butwhy would anyone act when your
leaders aren't acting?
Are Democrats waiting forsomething to happen before they
start taking action?
Are they waiting for 2026?
Are they thinking, we'll justlet this build until 26 in hopes
that we can swing some seatsback?
I mean, that's a risk.
The problem with that is peopleare starting to get disgusted
with them standing idly by.
(13:00):
There was genuine fear.
Being felt by people in thiscountry.
There's genuine distrust andpeople are all fighting or
disgruntled in their own littlebubbles.
No one's actually building aresistance because no, they're
all just kind of focusing ontheir own issues.
What's that line?
Um, people say.
We are weak alone, but united,we are stronger together, or
(13:22):
something along those lines.
This is the time for Democratsto have a united opposition and
they are dropping the ballcompletely.
There's a lot of people I.
Ready to fight.
A lot of people are starting towanna act, but everyone seems to
be waiting and holding pins,just waiting for someone to tell
(13:42):
us what to do.
Waiting to tell us, okay, timeto charge, but that's not
happening.
Yeah, exactly.
So why, why is the electoralcollege going to shift sharply
to the right in 2030?
Well, people are leavingtraditionally Democratic
strongholds like New York.
Illinois and California, and weneed to understand what's behind
(14:05):
this shift.
In 2023 alone, California saw anet loss of around 268,000
residents, while New York lostabout 179,000.
Illinois has seen a decline inpopulation for its 10th year
running.
So why is this happening?
One major factor is theskyrocketing costs of living
(14:29):
from childcare to housing.
Many folks just can't afford tostay in these states and are
moving to places where livingcosts are more manageable.
Democrats are trying to shakeoff this elite image and shift
focus towards kitchen tableissues, but many of us are still
waiting to see.
See the real action on thisfront.
(14:51):
What's interesting when you sayelite issue too, that was
something that was born out oftrying to find clarity on why
Harris lost the election inNovember.
There was.
So many discussions on the whyand one of them being the image
Democrats, toted didn't end upworking for them.
This elite stature, the lookthat they're better than.
(15:14):
I mean, there were so manyarticles back in November about
this issue, what Democratsneeded to do to fix it, and now.
We're here and it's gone.
Quiet.
Silence breeds resentment.
Silence breeds contempt.
They are not working fast enoughor loud enough for anyone to
think any differently of them.
They've had three months to licktheir wounds and get back to
(15:37):
work, but by being quiet, bymaking it seem they are above
all the craziness of what'sgoing on, all the firings, all
the rising prices, they, theyare in fact playing right into
the hand of that image of thembeing elite.
I.
It's been over 130 days.
Since the election, and I'm notalone in saying it's time to see
(15:57):
some action.
Yeah.
Looking ahead to the 2030census, it's important to note
that states that overwhelminglysupported Kamala Harris could
end up losing house seats andelectoral college votes while
states that Trump won.
May gain them.
Imagine if the election resultsfrom 2024 were to repeat in
(16:18):
2032.
Even if Kamala were to pick upkey states like Pennsylvania,
Michigan, and Wisconsin, shecould still find herself on the
losing side.
Overall though, the leadershipis just non-existent.
At the moment, I'm not seeing itanywhere.
I see Bernie Sander doing atour.
(16:40):
I see a OC wanting to do a tour.
Tim Walls went to Iowa andspoke, you know.
But what I'm seeing right now onmy social media, and I'm not
watching TV every day, I'm notwatching the news reels every
single day.
I'm seeing real journalistswanna be journalists,
influencers, people who areprogressives.
(17:02):
speaking out on their socialmedias, creating these little
gifts or whatever, or thesememes and posting about it
because they're upset.
These are the people we need tofocus on because these are the
next leaders of this party.
Because right now I don't seeanyone making any type of change
at the moment.
(17:23):
And that needs to change.
Absolutely.
Like at this moment.
So I'm fed up as a democratic.
Voter, I am fed up.
It's time for change.
We need new leaders.
Let's, let's work on it.
Let's get there.
So, agreed.
Yeah.
Alright.
So, recent, well just, just acouple of days ago, trump took
the truth social and wrote thequote, the pardons that sleepy
(17:45):
Joe Biden gave to the unselectCommittee of Political Thugs and
many others are hereby declaredvoid vacant and of no further
force of effect because of thefact that they were all done by
an auto pen.
The reports.
Of the auto pen usage originatedfrom a March six X post by the
(18:07):
Oversight project, which is aninvestigative arm of the
conservative think tank of theHeritage Foundation.
That was the same group thatauthored the project 2025 bill,
or, you know, what was it?
It wasn't a bill, it was a.
It was a like a book or like aproject?
It was a A project?
Yeah.
Yeah.
(18:27):
Like a, like a statement of whatthey were gonna do.
Yeah.
Which they are doing right now.
They've enacted Project 2025,but basically saying that
whoever controlled the autopen,controlled the presidency.
Let's not forget, the HeritageFoundation and its oversight
project have a reported historyof spreading misleading
(18:47):
political information.
The reports are not.
Credible evidence demonstratingBiden's purported frequent use
of an auto pen, given that thedigitized version of official
documents from the US governmentall use the same image of the
president's signature regardlessof who is in office.
I wanna say something real fast.
(19:08):
Why?
When did, why?
Why do I have?
I've never even heard ofAutopen.
I mean, I know that's a thing.
We did it for our mortgage,things like that.
There's, everyone has digitalsignatures that they've done in
their life, but.
I mean, it sounds like Trump,this administration is grasping
for anything they can to disruptthe news cycle.
I mean, they are literallygrasping at straws at this, in
(19:31):
this section.
I mean, it's a pin literally,but I know.
Why are we having to talk aboutauto pins?
It's just nuts to me.
It is wild.
However, according to CNN, Bidenused an auto pin to sign at
least one piece of legislation,although he wouldn't be the
first president to do so.
Presidents have signed documentsusing signature.
Copying devices since ThomasJefferson in 1804.
(19:53):
Barack Obama reportedly was thefirst to sign actual legi
legislation using an auto pen inthat was in 2011.
Fox News claimed it examinedmore than 20 Biden era executive
orders documented on the federalregister's office between 21 and
24, and found that each had thesame signature.
(20:16):
While it's true that many ofBiden's executive orders carry a
signature matching the oneposted by the oversight project,
the National Archives team saidthat official documents use a
copy of the president'ssignature from one graphic file.
At the beginning of eachadministration, the White House
(20:39):
sends a copy of the President'ssignature to the office of the
Federal Register, which uses itto create the graphic image.
Neither the oversight project orFox News provided evidence that
his pardons, biden's pardonswere auto pin signatures.
Other than the fact that thepurported signatures looked
(21:00):
different from the signatureBiden used in a letter
announcing he would drop out ofthe presidential race last year.
Fox News also noted that many ofDonald Trump's executive orders
from both his terms also usedthe same exact signature, which
would be Autopen.
So if.
Autopen is null void.
(21:21):
We should be able to cancel ourstudent loans, right?
I mean, if this is true, thenthis is definitely true for us.
I'm pretty sure all of mine wereauto pin signed, so, but um, so.
In 2005, president George W.
Bush asked the JusticeDepartment to determine whether
signing legislation passed byCongress with an auto pin is
(21:44):
constitutional.
Given that the US Constitutiondictates that presidents shall
sign bills into law.
The government's lawyers at thattime determined that the
president.
quote, need not personally signthe physical act of affixing his
signature to a bill He approvesand decides to sign a bill to
(22:07):
become law End quote, thepresident may direct a
subordinate to affix thepresident's signature to a bill.
Though Bush never used Autopen,Obama was the first president to
do so.
The claim that Biden usedAutopen to sign official
documents may be somewhat true,but it lacks context.
(22:28):
so the pardoning of the selectcommittee who investigated the J
six riots might be able tobreathe a little bit sigh of
relief, but with thisunrelenting dictator in office,
who knows what will come next.
That's an interesting story andyou know, I it's, it's one of
those many stories that arebeing thrown out there by this
(22:49):
administration and it's beingpicked up by news cycles and it
just is absolutely ridiculousthat it's even a talking point.
Biden did auto pin, otherpresidents did Auto Pin, who
cares?
You know what I mean?
Like Trump just needs to backoff of this whole subject.
It's so stupid.
This week we're gonna continuethe game that we did last week.
Uh, we usually do who said it,but Red State, blue State, no
(23:11):
state.
We got a lot of great feedbackfrom that.
So I'm gonna do it again.
Um, are you ready to play thisweek's?
Red State?
Blue State?
No.
State.
Yeah, sure.
Alright, so I came up with newlaws and policies, some being
fake, some being real, and ifthey're real, you have to tell
me whether you think it's from ared state or blue state.
(23:32):
So first one, this stateprohibits bars from running
happy hour drink specials.
Red state, blue state, no state,no state.
It's actually a blue state.
Massachusetts.
Massachusetts, yeah.
I, and it's interesting, I wouldthink happy hour drink specials
(23:54):
would bring great eco economicstuff into the state, but
whatever this state requiresinflatable pools that are 24
inches deep to be registeredwith local authorities to ensure
safety.
Red state, blue state, or nostate blue state.
Red state.
(24:15):
Oh, and you have to let, let meguess the state.
I'm gonna guess Florida.
Yeah, because Florida, theywould have a bill on inflatable
pools.
This state introduced a policywhere residents can earn a tax
credit for performing a pay itforward act of kindness, such as
buying someone coffee, redstate, blue state, or no state.
(24:39):
Wait, what was it again?
This state introduced a policywhere residents can earn a tax
credit for performing a pay itforward act of kindness, such as
buying someone coffee, you know,I'm gonna say it's a red state,
no state.
Which, you know, I actually likethat policy.
I, I kind of.
Saw that come up as an idea, andI was like, that would be a cool
idea.
I don't know how it would beenacted or how you could keep
(25:00):
track of it, but it's still akind of cool idea.
I remember working at Starbucksand people would come to a drive
through and pay for the personahead of them or behind them or
whatever it was, which was cool.
I wonder if people still dothat.
I, anyway, this state made itillegal to use a Molotov
cocktail to catch fish.
Red State, blue state, or noState, blue State, red State.
(25:24):
Texas.
Texas.
You gotta let me cuss the state.
Oh, sorry.
Fun fact though also inMissouri, it's illegal to fish
with dynamite, which is kind ofthe same thing as a motov
cocktail.
And I don't know where thesepolicies have to be written for.
You know who is doing that?
Who is catching fish withdynamite or motov OV cocktails
(25:44):
in Texas?
Well, Texas, I mean, come on.
Yeah, it's not that far.
I love the arsenal.
This state created a ban thatsays any individual found using
their cell phone within ahundred feet of a historical
site will be fined$500 fordisrespecting the past.
The idea of this is to preservethe authenticity of historical
(26:06):
experiences.
Red state, blue state, or nostate, red state, no state fake
law.
Moving on.
This state passed a lawrequiring every household to
rescue at least one pet.
The state would cover the feeand provide a tax break.
(26:26):
Red State, blue state, or no?
State?
Oh, I love that.
I'm gonna say it's a blue state,no state.
Oh, but isn't that a cute idea?
Yeah.
I think that'd be a good ideafor states to do that.
You know how many people wouldadopt or rescue animals if they
got a tax Credit.
People will adopt kids for thesame thing.
This state has a law that makesit illegal for a woman to marry
(26:47):
the same man more than threetimes.
Red state, blue state, or no?
State?
Blue state.
Mm-hmm.
Red state.
What state?
Arkansas.
Kentucky.
Oh, I was close.
In this state, it's illegal forindividuals under 21 to take out
(27:08):
household trash if it containseven one empty alcohol
container.
Red state, blue state, or nostate?
No state, red state.
This falls under the category ofillegal possession of alcohol.
Hmm.
What state is it?
I don't remember actually whatstate that was, but it was a red
state.
(27:28):
I didn't write it down.
You're supposed to have theanswers.
I know.
And I just noticed I didn't haveone.
What's going on here?
Alright, last one.
Last one.
This state has a law that allowsminors to open carry firearms as
long as they are homeschooled.
Red State, blue state, or nostate?
Definitely a red state.
No state.
I made it up.
(27:49):
Ugh.
I was talking to my coworkerabout that one last night and
she was like, that would bereally scary, but also
believable.
I'm like, yeah, I bet you thereis a state out there that does
allow that'cause that's thecountry we live in.
Speaking of these crazypolicies, real and fake.
One subject that is, and alsospeaking of the last policy that
I made up, one subject that isprobably one of the most
(28:11):
contentious, no matter the stateis gun rights or the Second
Amendment This week, if you goto the Department of Health and
Human Services website, which Idid all statistics on, gun
violence has been taken down.
It actually reads.
Page not found.
Uh, by doing this, Trump ispulling the wool over everyone's
(28:32):
eyes.
He wants to hide the statisticsand literally say nothing to see
here.
Trump also in early February,placed an executive order to
expand on the Second Amendmentinstructing the surgeon General
to evaluate all actions theBiden administration did to
restrict firearm rights and undothem.
(28:52):
Gun legislation is hard to comeby in this country.
It seems like it takes the worstevents to make any sort of
movement.
In 2022, for example, afterValdi, which was an elementary
school shooting after thegrocery store shooting in
Buffalo, which was live streamedon Twitch, Congress finally
(29:14):
passed gun legislation for thefirst time in 30 years.
Trump is clearly backtrackingall of it.
It's funny to me.
People are so up in arms,literally about their gun rights
being taken away, and they wantto blame mental health.
They want to blame the system,but Trump doesn't support red
flag laws, which is exactlyconnected to the mental health
(29:36):
issue.
He already in the past hasthreatened to cut funding to
those programs along theselines.
All these actions set aprecedent.
Not only wiping away work thatwas done previously, but also
paving the way for thedismantling of safety measures
in place to help with gunviolence in this country.
When the government startedusing the term, gun violence is
(29:57):
a public health issue.
It was meant to reflect theimpacts of shootings on whole
communities, including suicidesand open up solutions to these
violent acts beyond.
Law enforcement and firearmrestriction policies.
By framing it as a public healthissue, it allowed for greater
(30:19):
funding into research, intopreventive measures, including
into mental health, includingresearch into what needs to
change and undeservedcommunities to prevent gun
violence.
By taking away the label of itbeing a public health issue,
this administration is actuallygoing against their quote.
(30:39):
It's a mental health problem,not a gun problem argument.
We, we live in a time where.
I wake up for work, scroll thenews, and I see the word
shooting.
Scroll by like it's any othernews story embedded with all the
rest of the news stories.
Half the time I see it, I scrollby it and I don't even read it
(31:01):
because my brain has become soaccustomed to seeing shooting
that I don't even, it doesn'teven phase me.
And then I'm like, oh, wait, howmany people were injured?
It has become so normal.
It's not even a talking pointanymore on the news when trying
to pick up news stories for thisepisode, it was hard to kind of.
Waddle through all the noise.
There is so much to sortthrough.
There's so much happening.
(31:22):
What makes something important?
I think something like thisabout gun issues.
We need to continue to talkabout it.
We need to continue making apoint of highlighting things
that main news media can't,because this is still important
and this administration is goingto strip down a ton of gun laws.
In the next four years, and weneed to know about it because
it's going to affect everyonewhen we start seeing shootings
(31:44):
go up.
Because more than likely with alot of these red flag laws being
taken away, they will, becausemental health issues are not
being addressed, communities arenot being helped.
What are the implications ofthat going to be once it becomes
warmer outside, whichstatistically tends to bring out
the crazy, so we will see whatthat means going forward.
(32:04):
So CNBC is calling the stocklosses from Tesla, the Tesla
Chainsaw Massacre.
I thought that was justabsolutely brilliant.
That headline, whoever wrotethat, I give you like major
props.
That was great.
But year to date, the stockprices have dropped some 35%.
There was actually, I waslooking when you posted this,
(32:25):
the test saw Chainsaw Mascar.
I looked it up and there's aphoto of Elon Musk waving a
chainsaw when he would get, Iguess was back at c.
As CPAC back in February.
It's hilarious when it's tied tothat title.
Trump stated Violence againstTesla dealerships also will be
labeled domestic terrorism andperpetrators will go through
hell.
I mean, did you Every photo ofTrump with Musk under that, in
(32:49):
front of that White House withthe stupid Tesla.
Musk with his stupid black MAGAhat wearing all black.
Where did he think wearing allblack is cool or something?
It's just so, it's soentertaining.
This, this also comes at the thebackwards era that we're
currently living in, where Trumpand his supporters are shouting
like drill, baby drill and, andundoing legislation that had
(33:11):
electric vehicles becoming moreaccessible in the market.
So I'm just, I'm kind ofconfused.
Like, I don't know, like, firstof all, we wanna drill because
we want more oil and gas.
Yet, yet, the world's richestman is complaining about his
stock losses on Tesla and now.
Trump is doing a photo op of aTesla in front of the White
(33:34):
House.
It's so, so odd.
It's so strange.
You know, I saw two cyber truckstoday.
One when I was driving to workand one when I was coming home.
Those things are just.
Weird.
They're weird looking.
I don't like'em.
I don't like them either.
And I do feel bad for anyone whoowns a Tesla because they,
unfortunately, the thing is,yeah, I feel so bad for'em.
(33:55):
Well, I mean, people boughtelectric vehicles because they
had good intentions of trying tohelp, you know, less gas, things
like that.
And Teslas are unfortunately thebest electronic vehicles on the
market.
We've been in them with Ubersand you know, Lyfts, and they're
really, really cool.
It's just unfortunate that.
Musk is a fucking psycho, youknow?
(34:17):
And now he, now everyone's like,oh my God, I own a Tesla.
It's like, oh, that's sadbecause he, I know literally
probably paying on it month tomonth, and here they are having
to deal with it.
I would have a, I wouldliterally put a bumper sticker
on mine and be like, I didn'tvote for him.
Sorry.
Anyway, so you know, Trump'stariff tax plan that could
increase imported alcohol costsby some 200%, and in celebration
(34:41):
of St.
Patty's Day this week, here'swhat that could mean for your
favorite St.
Patty's Day pints of Guinness inCalifornia.
Right now, the average cause fora pint of.
Guinness is 9 35, and with thattariff enacted, if it goes
through, it would be 28.05.
Uh, Missouri.
Right now it's at six 70.
(35:01):
That would jump to$20 and 10cents.
Texas right now is at sevenpoint 70.
That would jump to$23 a pint.
And I also have Illinois down.
So Illinois that right now isat.
7 95 for a pint of Guinness, andthat would jump to 23 point 85
for a pint.
That is insane.
And it makes me very upsetbecause I don't drink alcohol.
(35:22):
I've stopped drinking and one ofmy favorite NA beverages,
Guinness makes a killer in aversion of their Guinness.
It tastes just like a milk guin.
Yeah.
You have in the fridge all thetime.
Actually.
Always.
And if I have to start paying.
$28 for a four pack of Guinnessor whatever it would be.
This is just one Guinness.
I would be curious what fourpack would be.
No, it's for paint.
Well, how much is a paint set?
(35:43):
I think a.
I have no clue either.
I think.
I don't either it can, I don'tknow.
But regardless, I'm gonna beupset'cause that's my favorite
NA type of beer to buy.
So pepsi joins the Healthy SodaWars and buys Poppy for$1.6
billion.
Poppy's founders launched thebrand back in 2018.
That was the same year thatRival OP was founded.
(36:06):
I haven't s.
Had these sodas, but I see themin the fridge, so either Alex or
one of the dogs are drinkingthem.
I, I swear I read thenutritional value on, on these
packagings, and I swear there'sjust a lot of sugar in them,
isn't there?
No.
So if you're gonna rank'em, andme and my coworkers have ranked
them, Ali Pop is way better thanPoppy.
(36:28):
Poppy is in like.
A normal soda section.
'cause they don't have to berefrigerated because they are
just, they have benefits ofregular soda, like they less
sugar and stuff.
They have like fake sugar andwhatnot.
But op, I prefer over Poppybecause OP actually has like,
um, microbes in it kind of like,um.
(36:49):
Like, uh, kombucha has, and forthat reason it has to be always
refrigerated.
So you can only find OP in therefrigerator section, but it's
good for your gut.
Op actually is good for your gutand OP has less sugar in it than
soda.
I've had the root beer flavorand the classic vintage cola are
my favorite probably flavors.
They're really, really good.
I think the Sprite version isreally good too.
(37:10):
There are just alternatives toyour normal soda poppy.
It's not surprising that Poppyis being bought by Pepsi.
'cause Poppy is less healthythan Oli Pop.
I prefer Oli Pop.
Yeah.
The healthy soda market isreally, really, uh, growing.
It's been growing for a whilenow, but I, I stick to my Pepsi
Zero.
I love the zero.
It's so weird that it tastes thesame and it's zero.
(37:30):
I.
I don't understand it.
But anyways, so that's it for usright now.
Um, thank you for listening andwe'll be back in a few days, I'm
sure.
Um, give us a follow atInstagram at the Civil U, that's
just with the letter U.
Follow us on TikTok and feelfree to send us an email letting
us know your thoughts,questions, what we got wrong, or
(37:52):
anything you think we shoulddiscuss at the Civil Union,
twenty5@gmail.com.
Thanks guys.
Thank you.
welcome to the Civil Union, thepodcast where politics meets
partnership.
We're Alex and Ryan, a marriedcouple, navigating life and
debates in a conservative state.
I.
We bring you sharp insights,bold opinions, and honest
conversations about thepolitical issues shaping our
lives, especially those livingon society's margins.
(00:27):
Tune in for real talk, a touchof humor, and plenty of passion
because when it comes topolitics, every voice matters,
and we are here to make surethey're heard.
All right, well, we're back foranother episode of the Civil
Union Podcast.
Uh, please make sure also togive us a follow on Instagram or
TikTok,, at our name, which isthe Civil U.
(00:48):
That's just with the Letter U.
So go ahead and do that asyou're listening to us right
now.
Thank you.
Alex, how has your week been?
Week's been good.
Crazy as always.
We've had, I mean, this weatheris back and forth.
I feel like it's been cold, it'sbeen hot, it's been tornadoes.
I know if, if you know us at allpersonally, you know that we
(01:11):
have very even full weeks aroundhere.
Um, so.
So I, when we started thispodcast, I think there was
probably like 12 inches of iceoutside.
And, and then this past Friday,the Midwest and the the south,
they all had a severe weatheroutbreak.
And so we literally hadtornadoes Friday night.
Um, tornado hit probably five to10 minutes south of where we're
(01:33):
at, and so I was out therefilming it, of course, with the
hail.
I did bring us down to thebasement.
So I will say that.
Um, but it was, it was a wildweather week.
Yeah.
Ryan is the bill of twisters inthis household, and I am that
wife of his, that's like holdingthe umbrella in the rain, like,
where did I get myself into thetherapist?
(01:54):
Yeah.
I, Melissa, her name wasMelissa.
I wait for Ryan to tell me whatto do.
And I do it.
He told us to run into thebasement.
I was like, okay, it's serious.
And the next thing I know, he'sopening the basement door,
filming the storm.
Um, but that's the type ofperson he is when it comes to
storms.
Yeah.
It was also a game day week, sowe knew the tornadoes were
coming Friday night, so we gotall the grocery shopping done.
(02:16):
And since it's a game week,usually Saturdays are packed
with everything.
And uh, so we got the groceryshopping done, went and had
sushi.
Watch the tornadoes roll by andthen it was a soccer game on
Saturday and, and we won.
That was a great, great game tosee live.
So yeah, it's been, it was ourfirst win in a very long time,
especially at home.
It was a really fun game.
(02:38):
I, I mean, even with it raining,I think we've become immune to
it and there's like levels andit really wasn't that bad.
It was good.
It was great and it was great tosee everyone.
We also tried a new venue beforethe game.
We usually go to Pepper Lounge,but we went to a different place
called Marquee and it was agreat.
Space.
Oh, it was so nice.
Yeah, so I'm excited for thenext game.
Actually, you know, during thegame randomly I had two people
(03:01):
message me.
One has just moved.
We, we met her in Oklahoma andshe just moved to the Illinois
side of St.
Louis.
And then another one was an oldboss of mine, um, who lives in
New York and she has friendscoming to visit.
This summer and she asked if ARDwas still safe.
And so, you know, of course Itold them everything there is to
(03:22):
do.
But I was like, you know, youdon't necessarily wanna walk,
you wanna take an Uber?
'cause there is some sketchplaces around St.
Louis still.
There still is.
And the population has.
Done nothing but declined sincethe 1950s out of St.
Louis.
It's like we will have multiplemayors come in and try to clean
up the city, but the populationkeeps shrinking here and it, it
(03:46):
just, it, it kind of upsets mebecause there's so much to do
here and it's a great.
Cost of living here and justeverything.
But it's still kind of sketchsome places.
And so now the mayor SharraJones is up for reelection and I
think Kara Spencer is heranother Democratic running
against Sharra Jones.
(04:07):
And so I saw the DemocraticParty is supporting Kara
Spencer, uh, to become the nextSt.
Louis mayor, which I guess thatelection is on April 8th.
And, um, so I'm gonna say itright now, I am supporting Kara
Spencer, she's LGBT.
And I need a new, a new face tocome in and try to clean it up.
(04:29):
I mean, we keep getting just.
We hit good mares, but nothingever changes and I'm ready for
change.
Speaking of, you know, I thinkwe live in an area where, or we
kind of live in our own littlebubbles and we go to the same
places.
And you know, this past weekwith the game, it pushed us to
try something new and we went,actually went to a Sard bar.
(04:50):
We never go to Sard.
And it was actually a lot offun.
You know, it was kind of like,oh, this is something different
for us.
What are we getting ourselvesinto?
And it was.
A really good time.
What was the name of that barcalled?
Eat Crow.
Eat Crow.
And they served food.
It was great.
And I actually plan on probablygoing there after games more
often.
But you know, I think we get inthe mindset, and especially here
(05:10):
in St.
Louis, it's like a small town.
You get, you just kind of gowhere you're comfortable.
But it was nice to kind of trysomething different and get out
of our comfort zone a littlebit.
Yeah.
So also March is Women's HistoryMonth, and so, there's this.
Really good spaghetti sauce thatI love so much, and it's called
Chef Mel Sauce.
They, it's sold at Schnucks andshe's actually, she's a
(05:32):
woman-owned business.
She's also LGBT.
And uh, the sauce is just, it'smy favorite sauce.
I mean, I have jumped fromdifferent St.
Louis brands and I always goback to Chef Mel Sauce.
And so I was reading herInstagram, I follow her on
Instagram, and she, she says,here's some facts.
Here in the United States, womenown approximately 40.
(05:53):
Percent of all businesses, yetsomehow only 2% of venture
capital funding funding goes towomen.
That's why so many of usbootstrap our businesses to
life.
We work our butts off and liveit every day.
We have a vision.
We chase it down.
We succeed here in the us.
Over 12 million women ownedbusinesses employ over 10
(06:17):
million workers and generatealmost$2 trillion each year.
This International Women'sMonth, oh, it's.
International Women's Month,I've partnered.
Chef Mel has partnered withSchnucks to lower the price of
my sauce by$1.
A portion of those proceeds willgo to breast cancer research to
support women everywhere.
(06:38):
If you're not near a Schnucks,but you still want an award
winning sauce, check out chefmel sauces.com/where to find to
figure out where you can supportthis woman.
Owned business today.
That is not an ad.
I just, I love the sauce and Ithought I would, uh, give it a
little shout on in this podcast.
So I like that.
It is a good sauce too, andthere's so much out there.
(06:59):
So try Chef Mel.
Yeah, there we go.
Okay, so, uh, let's get intosome topics here.
Okay.
So a, a recent story hasrevealed that.
Richard Hudson chair of theHouse, GOP's National Republican
campaign arm has advisedRepublican lawmakers to steer
clear of in-person town halls.
(07:20):
Why?
Because they're FA facingsignificant backlash from voters
upset about cutbacks made duringthis Trump's presidency.
If you haven't seen it, I'm sureyou have on social media,
there's these videos of tensetown halls.
That have gone viral becausepeople are just frustrated and
(07:41):
they're really mad about what'shappening.
I mean, even MAGA supporters arefacing.
Huge losses to income becausethey're losing their jobs.
Democrats are calling the GOPout for Hudson's advice about no
longer hosting these in-persontown halls suggesting that it's
a sign that Republicans areafraid to face their
(08:03):
constituents.
Here in Missouri, CD two, me andAlex live in Congressional
District two.
We're still waiting for AnneWagner to host a town hall.
In fact, I don't think she'sever hosted a town hall since
taking office in since like2012.
How do you get elected in anoffice and not do a town hall?
I would feel like that's like amandatory thing you would have
(08:23):
to do.
It's been so Jerry Mander towhere.
You know, she's always going towin it feels like.
So we need a strong candidate tostand in.
So, yeah, that's crazy that, youknow, that's, people think
gerrymandering is just aboutvoting, but people don't like,
I, I don't think that likegerrymandering actually.
Is also a disservice to thepolitical people in office
(08:44):
because they are just getting,they get comfortable because
they can get comfortable becauseof the gerrymandering.
That's a very interesting point.
I never would've thought that.
Uh, what's interesting aboutthat, about the town hall
backlash too, is that, and youkind of mentioned this, it's not
only.
Being done in democraticdistricts, it's happening across
the board.
You know, also in Republicanones there are, people are just
not happy.
There are areas that are heavilysupport that heavily supported.
(09:07):
Trump voted for Trump, and evenat those town halls, people are
showing up and voicing theconcerns.
You know, Trump didn't realize.
Well, he, he's dumb, I think,which I mean, he didn't even
think about it.
But getting rid of governmentjobs, a lot of those people are
in red areas.
I mean, even where we used tolive in Oklahoma, tinker Air
(09:28):
Force Base was in a very redarea.
So you're affecting people inyour own party when you're
getting rid of jobs like that.
Did you see that video that wastrending as well of JD Vance?
He got booed at, attending aperformance at the Kennedy
Center.
I mean.
Everywhere they go, they'refeeling backlash.
These, these politicians arefeeling the heat and they don't
care.
(09:48):
They're blindly arrogant.
They, they, they just smile thatvideo of him, you know, JD Manz
just, just laughed and was kindof waving.
It's like you were so arrogant.
It makes me sick.
Yeah.
You know, and this didn't happenbefore.
We've had plenty of Republicanpresidents in office and even
democratic ones, and you don'tsee the amount of tents.
(10:08):
Pushback from public crowds asmuch as you've seen from this
presidency.
The first one, the second, thesecond Trump second time, like,
it's just, it's crazy to see howmuch the public, the general
public dislikes these people.
I just don't know how they keptwinning.
(10:30):
Elections.
It blows my mind.
Now while we see the GOPavoiding these tough
conversations, democratic, thisis another problem.
Democratic approval ratings areplummeting to historic lows,
unlike during Trump's firstterm, where.
Compromise was more common.
Democratic voters today aresaying two to one, that they
(10:53):
want their leaders to fight forour values instead of trying to
find middle ground, even if itmeans things get stuck in
gridlock currently.
Only about 27% of voters have apositive view on the Democratic
Party.
This is the lowest rating in NBCpolling since 1990.
(11:14):
Many Democrats are just fed upand want this party to stand
firm on key issues, even if itrisks losing bi bipartisan
progress.
And we're seeing realfrustration directed towards
Senate leaders like.
Chuck Schumer, especially afterhe cited with Republicans on the
(11:35):
procedural move to thatthreatened government funding.
just a few years ago, a majorityof Democrats wanted their
leaders to work with Trump forconsensus.
But now nearly two thirdsbelieve it's time to prioritize
our principles.
So what does this mean for usall and the future of this
(11:56):
party?
Let's just face the facts.
The political landscape has tobe worrisome for every Democrat,
the current leaders, in myopinion.
I.
Have been null, void, and almostmum on what's happening in dc
and we must also realize what isat stake, not just the 26
(12:17):
midterms, not the 28 election.
Come 2030, after the census iscompleted, the Electoric College
is going to shift sharply to theright.
Democrats are becoming passiveand that lack of energy.
Dissipates any sort of fightthat could come from civic
resistance, and that's what weneed right now.
(12:38):
We need civic resistance, butwhy would anyone act when your
leaders aren't acting?
Are Democrats waiting forsomething to happen before they
start taking action?
Are they waiting for 2026?
Are they thinking, we'll justlet this build until 26 in hopes
that we can swing some seatsback?
I mean, that's a risk.
The problem with that is peopleare starting to get disgusted
with them standing idly by.
(13:00):
There was genuine fear.
Being felt by people in thiscountry.
There's genuine distrust andpeople are all fighting or
disgruntled in their own littlebubbles.
No one's actually building aresistance because no, they're
all just kind of focusing ontheir own issues.
What's that line?
Um, people say.
We are weak alone, but united,we are stronger together, or
(13:22):
something along those lines.
This is the time for Democratsto have a united opposition and
they are dropping the ballcompletely.
There's a lot of people I.
Ready to fight.
A lot of people are starting towanna act, but everyone seems to
be waiting and holding pins,just waiting for someone to tell
(13:42):
us what to do.
Waiting to tell us, okay, timeto charge, but that's not
happening.
Yeah, exactly.
So why, why is the electoralcollege going to shift sharply
to the right in 2030?
Well, people are leavingtraditionally Democratic
strongholds like New York.
Illinois and California, and weneed to understand what's behind
(14:05):
this shift.
In 2023 alone, California saw anet loss of around 268,000
residents, while New York lostabout 179,000.
Illinois has seen a decline inpopulation for its 10th year
running.
So why is this happening?
One major factor is theskyrocketing costs of living
(14:29):
from childcare to housing.
Many folks just can't afford tostay in these states and are
moving to places where livingcosts are more manageable.
Democrats are trying to shakeoff this elite image and shift
focus towards kitchen tableissues, but many of us are still
waiting to see.
See the real action on thisfront.
(14:51):
What's interesting when you sayelite issue too, that was
something that was born out oftrying to find clarity on why
Harris lost the election inNovember.
There was.
So many discussions on the whyand one of them being the image
Democrats, toted didn't end upworking for them.
This elite stature, the lookthat they're better than.
(15:14):
I mean, there were so manyarticles back in November about
this issue, what Democratsneeded to do to fix it, and now.
We're here and it's gone.
Quiet.
Silence breeds resentment.
Silence breeds contempt.
They are not working fast enoughor loud enough for anyone to
think any differently of them.
They've had three months to licktheir wounds and get back to
(15:37):
work, but by being quiet, bymaking it seem they are above
all the craziness of what'sgoing on, all the firings, all
the rising prices, they, theyare in fact playing right into
the hand of that image of thembeing elite.
I.
It's been over 130 days.
Since the election, and I'm notalone in saying it's time to see
(15:57):
some action.
Yeah.
Looking ahead to the 2030census, it's important to note
that states that overwhelminglysupported Kamala Harris could
end up losing house seats andelectoral college votes while
states that Trump won.
May gain them.
Imagine if the election resultsfrom 2024 were to repeat in
(16:18):
2032.
Even if Kamala were to pick upkey states like Pennsylvania,
Michigan, and Wisconsin, shecould still find herself on the
losing side.
Overall though, the leadershipis just non-existent.
At the moment, I'm not seeing itanywhere.
I see Bernie Sander doing atour.
(16:40):
I see a OC wanting to do a tour.
Tim Walls went to Iowa andspoke, you know.
But what I'm seeing right now onmy social media, and I'm not
watching TV every day, I'm notwatching the news reels every
single day.
I'm seeing real journalistswanna be journalists,
influencers, people who areprogressives.
(17:02):
speaking out on their socialmedias, creating these little
gifts or whatever, or thesememes and posting about it
because they're upset.
These are the people we need tofocus on because these are the
next leaders of this party.
Because right now I don't seeanyone making any type of change
at the moment.
(17:23):
And that needs to change.
Absolutely.
Like at this moment.
So I'm fed up as a democratic.
Voter, I am fed up.
It's time for change.
We need new leaders.
Let's, let's work on it.
Let's get there.
So, agreed.
Yeah.
Alright.
So, recent, well just, just acouple of days ago, trump took
the truth social and wrote thequote, the pardons that sleepy
(17:45):
Joe Biden gave to the unselectCommittee of Political Thugs and
many others are hereby declaredvoid vacant and of no further
force of effect because of thefact that they were all done by
an auto pen.
The reports.
Of the auto pen usage originatedfrom a March six X post by the
(18:07):
Oversight project, which is aninvestigative arm of the
conservative think tank of theHeritage Foundation.
That was the same group thatauthored the project 2025 bill,
or, you know, what was it?
It wasn't a bill, it was a.
It was a like a book or like aproject?
It was a A project?
Yeah.
Yeah.
(18:27):
Like a, like a statement of whatthey were gonna do.
Yeah.
Which they are doing right now.
They've enacted Project 2025,but basically saying that
whoever controlled the autopen,controlled the presidency.
Let's not forget, the HeritageFoundation and its oversight
project have a reported historyof spreading misleading
(18:47):
political information.
The reports are not.
Credible evidence demonstratingBiden's purported frequent use
of an auto pen, given that thedigitized version of official
documents from the US governmentall use the same image of the
president's signature regardlessof who is in office.
I wanna say something real fast.
(19:08):
Why?
When did, why?
Why do I have?
I've never even heard ofAutopen.
I mean, I know that's a thing.
We did it for our mortgage,things like that.
There's, everyone has digitalsignatures that they've done in
their life, but.
I mean, it sounds like Trump,this administration is grasping
for anything they can to disruptthe news cycle.
I mean, they are literallygrasping at straws at this, in
(19:31):
this section.
I mean, it's a pin literally,but I know.
Why are we having to talk aboutauto pins?
It's just nuts to me.
It is wild.
However, according to CNN, Bidenused an auto pin to sign at
least one piece of legislation,although he wouldn't be the
first president to do so.
Presidents have signed documentsusing signature.
Copying devices since ThomasJefferson in 1804.
(19:53):
Barack Obama reportedly was thefirst to sign actual legi
legislation using an auto pen inthat was in 2011.
Fox News claimed it examinedmore than 20 Biden era executive
orders documented on the federalregister's office between 21 and
24, and found that each had thesame signature.
(20:16):
While it's true that many ofBiden's executive orders carry a
signature matching the oneposted by the oversight project,
the National Archives team saidthat official documents use a
copy of the president'ssignature from one graphic file.
At the beginning of eachadministration, the White House
(20:39):
sends a copy of the President'ssignature to the office of the
Federal Register, which uses itto create the graphic image.
Neither the oversight project orFox News provided evidence that
his pardons, biden's pardonswere auto pin signatures.
Other than the fact that thepurported signatures looked
(21:00):
different from the signatureBiden used in a letter
announcing he would drop out ofthe presidential race last year.
Fox News also noted that many ofDonald Trump's executive orders
from both his terms also usedthe same exact signature, which
would be Autopen.
So if.
Autopen is null void.
(21:21):
We should be able to cancel ourstudent loans, right?
I mean, if this is true, thenthis is definitely true for us.
I'm pretty sure all of mine wereauto pin signed, so, but um, so.
In 2005, president George W.
Bush asked the JusticeDepartment to determine whether
signing legislation passed byCongress with an auto pin is
(21:44):
constitutional.
Given that the US Constitutiondictates that presidents shall
sign bills into law.
The government's lawyers at thattime determined that the
president.
quote, need not personally signthe physical act of affixing his
signature to a bill He approvesand decides to sign a bill to
(22:07):
become law End quote, thepresident may direct a
subordinate to affix thepresident's signature to a bill.
Though Bush never used Autopen,Obama was the first president to
do so.
The claim that Biden usedAutopen to sign official
documents may be somewhat true,but it lacks context.
(22:28):
so the pardoning of the selectcommittee who investigated the J
six riots might be able tobreathe a little bit sigh of
relief, but with thisunrelenting dictator in office,
who knows what will come next.
That's an interesting story andyou know, I it's, it's one of
those many stories that arebeing thrown out there by this
(22:49):
administration and it's beingpicked up by news cycles and it
just is absolutely ridiculousthat it's even a talking point.
Biden did auto pin, otherpresidents did Auto Pin, who
cares?
You know what I mean?
Like Trump just needs to backoff of this whole subject.
It's so stupid.
This week we're gonna continuethe game that we did last week.
Uh, we usually do who said it,but Red State, blue State, no
(23:11):
state.
We got a lot of great feedbackfrom that.
So I'm gonna do it again.
Um, are you ready to play thisweek's?
Red State?
Blue State?
No.
State.
Yeah, sure.
Alright, so I came up with newlaws and policies, some being
fake, some being real, and ifthey're real, you have to tell
me whether you think it's from ared state or blue state.
(23:32):
So first one, this stateprohibits bars from running
happy hour drink specials.
Red state, blue state, no state,no state.
It's actually a blue state.
Massachusetts.
Massachusetts, yeah.
I, and it's interesting, I wouldthink happy hour drink specials
(23:54):
would bring great eco economicstuff into the state, but
whatever this state requiresinflatable pools that are 24
inches deep to be registeredwith local authorities to ensure
safety.
Red state, blue state, or nostate blue state.
Red state.
(24:15):
Oh, and you have to let, let meguess the state.
I'm gonna guess Florida.
Yeah, because Florida, theywould have a bill on inflatable
pools.
This state introduced a policywhere residents can earn a tax
credit for performing a pay itforward act of kindness, such as
buying someone coffee, redstate, blue state, or no state.
(24:39):
Wait, what was it again?
This state introduced a policywhere residents can earn a tax
credit for performing a pay itforward act of kindness, such as
buying someone coffee, you know,I'm gonna say it's a red state,
no state.
Which, you know, I actually likethat policy.
I, I kind of.
Saw that come up as an idea, andI was like, that would be a cool
idea.
I don't know how it would beenacted or how you could keep
(25:00):
track of it, but it's still akind of cool idea.
I remember working at Starbucksand people would come to a drive
through and pay for the personahead of them or behind them or
whatever it was, which was cool.
I wonder if people still dothat.
I, anyway, this state made itillegal to use a Molotov
cocktail to catch fish.
Red State, blue state, or noState, blue State, red State.
(25:24):
Texas.
Texas.
You gotta let me cuss the state.
Oh, sorry.
Fun fact though also inMissouri, it's illegal to fish
with dynamite, which is kind ofthe same thing as a motov
cocktail.
And I don't know where thesepolicies have to be written for.
You know who is doing that?
Who is catching fish withdynamite or motov OV cocktails
(25:44):
in Texas?
Well, Texas, I mean, come on.
Yeah, it's not that far.
I love the arsenal.
This state created a ban thatsays any individual found using
their cell phone within ahundred feet of a historical
site will be fined$500 fordisrespecting the past.
The idea of this is to preservethe authenticity of historical
(26:06):
experiences.
Red state, blue state, or nostate, red state, no state fake
law.
Moving on.
This state passed a lawrequiring every household to
rescue at least one pet.
The state would cover the feeand provide a tax break.
(26:26):
Red State, blue state, or no?
State?
Oh, I love that.
I'm gonna say it's a blue state,no state.
Oh, but isn't that a cute idea?
Yeah.
I think that'd be a good ideafor states to do that.
You know how many people wouldadopt or rescue animals if they
got a tax Credit.
People will adopt kids for thesame thing.
This state has a law that makesit illegal for a woman to marry
(26:47):
the same man more than threetimes.
Red state, blue state, or no?
State?
Blue state.
Mm-hmm.
Red state.
What state?
Arkansas.
Kentucky.
Oh, I was close.
In this state, it's illegal forindividuals under 21 to take out
(27:08):
household trash if it containseven one empty alcohol
container.
Red state, blue state, or nostate?
No state, red state.
This falls under the category ofillegal possession of alcohol.
Hmm.
What state is it?
I don't remember actually whatstate that was, but it was a red
state.
(27:28):
I didn't write it down.
You're supposed to have theanswers.
I know.
And I just noticed I didn't haveone.
What's going on here?
Alright, last one.
Last one.
This state has a law that allowsminors to open carry firearms as
long as they are homeschooled.
Red State, blue state, or nostate?
Definitely a red state.
No state.
I made it up.
(27:49):
Ugh.
I was talking to my coworkerabout that one last night and
she was like, that would bereally scary, but also
believable.
I'm like, yeah, I bet you thereis a state out there that does
allow that'cause that's thecountry we live in.
Speaking of these crazypolicies, real and fake.
One subject that is, and alsospeaking of the last policy that
I made up, one subject that isprobably one of the most
(28:11):
contentious, no matter the stateis gun rights or the Second
Amendment This week, if you goto the Department of Health and
Human Services website, which Idid all statistics on, gun
violence has been taken down.
It actually reads.
Page not found.
Uh, by doing this, Trump ispulling the wool over everyone's
(28:32):
eyes.
He wants to hide the statisticsand literally say nothing to see
here.
Trump also in early February,placed an executive order to
expand on the Second Amendmentinstructing the surgeon General
to evaluate all actions theBiden administration did to
restrict firearm rights and undothem.
(28:52):
Gun legislation is hard to comeby in this country.
It seems like it takes the worstevents to make any sort of
movement.
In 2022, for example, afterValdi, which was an elementary
school shooting after thegrocery store shooting in
Buffalo, which was live streamedon Twitch, Congress finally
(29:14):
passed gun legislation for thefirst time in 30 years.
Trump is clearly backtrackingall of it.
It's funny to me.
People are so up in arms,literally about their gun rights
being taken away, and they wantto blame mental health.
They want to blame the system,but Trump doesn't support red
flag laws, which is exactlyconnected to the mental health
(29:36):
issue.
He already in the past hasthreatened to cut funding to
those programs along theselines.
All these actions set aprecedent.
Not only wiping away work thatwas done previously, but also
paving the way for thedismantling of safety measures
in place to help with gunviolence in this country.
When the government startedusing the term, gun violence is
(29:57):
a public health issue.
It was meant to reflect theimpacts of shootings on whole
communities, including suicidesand open up solutions to these
violent acts beyond.
Law enforcement and firearmrestriction policies.
By framing it as a public healthissue, it allowed for greater
(30:19):
funding into research, intopreventive measures, including
into mental health, includingresearch into what needs to
change and undeservedcommunities to prevent gun
violence.
By taking away the label of itbeing a public health issue,
this administration is actuallygoing against their quote.
(30:39):
It's a mental health problem,not a gun problem argument.
We, we live in a time where.
I wake up for work, scroll thenews, and I see the word
shooting.
Scroll by like it's any othernews story embedded with all the
rest of the news stories.
Half the time I see it, I scrollby it and I don't even read it
(31:01):
because my brain has become soaccustomed to seeing shooting
that I don't even, it doesn'teven phase me.
And then I'm like, oh, wait, howmany people were injured?
It has become so normal.
It's not even a talking pointanymore on the news when trying
to pick up news stories for thisepisode, it was hard to kind of.
Waddle through all the noise.
There is so much to sortthrough.
There's so much happening.
(31:22):
What makes something important?
I think something like thisabout gun issues.
We need to continue to talkabout it.
We need to continue making apoint of highlighting things
that main news media can't,because this is still important
and this administration is goingto strip down a ton of gun laws.
In the next four years, and weneed to know about it because
it's going to affect everyonewhen we start seeing shootings
(31:44):
go up.
Because more than likely with alot of these red flag laws being
taken away, they will, becausemental health issues are not
being addressed, communities arenot being helped.
What are the implications ofthat going to be once it becomes
warmer outside, whichstatistically tends to bring out
the crazy, so we will see whatthat means going forward.
(32:04):
So CNBC is calling the stocklosses from Tesla, the Tesla
Chainsaw Massacre.
I thought that was justabsolutely brilliant.
That headline, whoever wrotethat, I give you like major
props.
That was great.
But year to date, the stockprices have dropped some 35%.
There was actually, I waslooking when you posted this,
(32:25):
the test saw Chainsaw Mascar.
I looked it up and there's aphoto of Elon Musk waving a
chainsaw when he would get, Iguess was back at c.
As CPAC back in February.
It's hilarious when it's tied tothat title.
Trump stated Violence againstTesla dealerships also will be
labeled domestic terrorism andperpetrators will go through
hell.
I mean, did you Every photo ofTrump with Musk under that, in
(32:49):
front of that White House withthe stupid Tesla.
Musk with his stupid black MAGAhat wearing all black.
Where did he think wearing allblack is cool or something?
It's just so, it's soentertaining.
This, this also comes at the thebackwards era that we're
currently living in, where Trumpand his supporters are shouting
like drill, baby drill and, andundoing legislation that had
(33:11):
electric vehicles becoming moreaccessible in the market.
So I'm just, I'm kind ofconfused.
Like, I don't know, like, firstof all, we wanna drill because
we want more oil and gas.
Yet, yet, the world's richestman is complaining about his
stock losses on Tesla and now.
Trump is doing a photo op of aTesla in front of the White
(33:34):
House.
It's so, so odd.
It's so strange.
You know, I saw two cyber truckstoday.
One when I was driving to workand one when I was coming home.
Those things are just.
Weird.
They're weird looking.
I don't like'em.
I don't like them either.
And I do feel bad for anyone whoowns a Tesla because they,
unfortunately, the thing is,yeah, I feel so bad for'em.
(33:55):
Well, I mean, people boughtelectric vehicles because they
had good intentions of trying tohelp, you know, less gas, things
like that.
And Teslas are unfortunately thebest electronic vehicles on the
market.
We've been in them with Ubersand you know, Lyfts, and they're
really, really cool.
It's just unfortunate that.
Musk is a fucking psycho, youknow?
(34:17):
And now he, now everyone's like,oh my God, I own a Tesla.
It's like, oh, that's sadbecause he, I know literally
probably paying on it month tomonth, and here they are having
to deal with it.
I would have a, I wouldliterally put a bumper sticker
on mine and be like, I didn'tvote for him.
Sorry.
Anyway, so you know, Trump'stariff tax plan that could
increase imported alcohol costsby some 200%, and in celebration
(34:41):
of St.
Patty's Day this week, here'swhat that could mean for your
favorite St.
Patty's Day pints of Guinness inCalifornia.
Right now, the average cause fora pint of.
Guinness is 9 35, and with thattariff enacted, if it goes
through, it would be 28.05.
Uh, Missouri.
Right now it's at six 70.
(35:01):
That would jump to$20 and 10cents.
Texas right now is at sevenpoint 70.
That would jump to$23 a pint.
And I also have Illinois down.
So Illinois that right now isat.
7 95 for a pint of Guinness, andthat would jump to 23 point 85
for a pint.
That is insane.
And it makes me very upsetbecause I don't drink alcohol.
(35:22):
I've stopped drinking and one ofmy favorite NA beverages,
Guinness makes a killer in aversion of their Guinness.
It tastes just like a milk guin.
Yeah.
You have in the fridge all thetime.
Actually.
Always.
And if I have to start paying.
$28 for a four pack of Guinnessor whatever it would be.
This is just one Guinness.
I would be curious what fourpack would be.
No, it's for paint.
Well, how much is a paint set?
(35:43):
I think a.
I have no clue either.
I think.
I don't either it can, I don'tknow.
But regardless, I'm gonna beupset'cause that's my favorite
NA type of beer to buy.
So pepsi joins the Healthy SodaWars and buys Poppy for$1.6
billion.
Poppy's founders launched thebrand back in 2018.
That was the same year thatRival OP was founded.
(36:06):
I haven't s.
Had these sodas, but I see themin the fridge, so either Alex or
one of the dogs are drinkingthem.
I, I swear I read thenutritional value on, on these
packagings, and I swear there'sjust a lot of sugar in them,
isn't there?
No.
So if you're gonna rank'em, andme and my coworkers have ranked
them, Ali Pop is way better thanPoppy.
(36:28):
Poppy is in like.
A normal soda section.
'cause they don't have to berefrigerated because they are
just, they have benefits ofregular soda, like they less
sugar and stuff.
They have like fake sugar andwhatnot.
But op, I prefer over Poppybecause OP actually has like,
um, microbes in it kind of like,um.
(36:49):
Like, uh, kombucha has, and forthat reason it has to be always
refrigerated.
So you can only find OP in therefrigerator section, but it's
good for your gut.
Op actually is good for your gutand OP has less sugar in it than
soda.
I've had the root beer flavorand the classic vintage cola are
my favorite probably flavors.
They're really, really good.
I think the Sprite version isreally good too.
(37:10):
There are just alternatives toyour normal soda poppy.
It's not surprising that Poppyis being bought by Pepsi.
'cause Poppy is less healthythan Oli Pop.
I prefer Oli Pop.
Yeah.
The healthy soda market isreally, really, uh, growing.
It's been growing for a whilenow, but I, I stick to my Pepsi
Zero.
I love the zero.
It's so weird that it tastes thesame and it's zero.
(37:30):
I.
I don't understand it.
But anyways, so that's it for usright now.
Um, thank you for listening andwe'll be back in a few days, I'm
sure.
Um, give us a follow atInstagram at the Civil U, that's
just with the letter U.
Follow us on TikTok and feelfree to send us an email letting
us know your thoughts,questions, what we got wrong, or
(37:52):
anything you think we shoulddiscuss at the Civil Union,
twenty5@gmail.com.
Thanks guys.
Thank you.
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