Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station, gets, staff, management,
or ownership.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
A good morning, you'll find out with Pete and the
poet Cold, I'm Peter Eleonar, and the poet cal is
not with us today, but she will certainly be with
us again next week. And we do have with us
Brian Doyle, a local political elected official and also a
former human service administrator as the executive director of Family Services.
(00:32):
But before we get to Brian, actually we don't have
poet call to give a poem, So we're going to
go right down to Brian. Unless you have a poem,
you want to resign off the top of my head, Okay,
when I'm stuck, you know, they'll only take thirty seconds.
Is the Irish poet Yates is very It's probably the
(00:54):
best poet that we have the English language. In the footnote,
CSL said that, but he has a thing that Brian,
you're like, I know you're fond of Irish things. And
he has a poem called the Stolen Child and it says,
come away, o human child, to the waters and the wild,
with a very hand at hand for the world more
(01:15):
for weeping than you can understand. In the weeping in
the world is something you have attended to as a
human service professional an awful lot. So yeah, we give
us a sense. Brian. You know, as we're wrapping up
the year, we've had a very tumultuous year with the
political life, both nationally and locally. But with the local
(01:38):
elections in November, things change in Dutchess County, and I
know you're alert to those changes. You might want to
give us a comments on what happened. Why you think
that might happened.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Well, I found it fascinating that in Dutchess County the
legislature went over to a Democrat majority, and that happened
only once before, and that was a short lived and
I can't tell you what year that was, but it
was a while ago. And now I think the Democrats
(02:14):
are feeling very emboldened, and I would imagine this will
be a challenge, not necessarily negative, but a challenge to
our county executive because for a good long time both
the county executive and the legislative branch were one party,
and so there was of course always negotiating that went on,
(02:36):
but probably not so much as we'll be seeing now.
But I'm very heartened to see many people coming into
politics that had not been there before. You know, a
few years ago in the town of Poughkeepsie, we saw
the role of town supervisor go to Rebecca Edwards, who
(02:57):
was a very formidable woman, h professor at vasser and
then following her Lisa Call again from Vassar, very intelligent
and thoughtful politician. And now we see Emma Arnoff and
(03:17):
so it's it's I think a good sign, you know,
to have thoughtful people who are not necessarily well they're
not at all afraid of the the administration. On the
federal level, I'm I'm afraid that there's a wariness on
(03:38):
the part of local Republican officials to speak speak up
about the tragedy that we're seeing on a federal level.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Wow. And yeah, the big news locally is having a
county legislature go Democratic because I think before with November
and you know, they're not sworn in yet, but they
were like there are twenty five seats and I think
fifteen of them were Republican and attend Democratics and they
(04:10):
when the Democrats have like seventeen or eighteen seats on
that and so it's it's different. So Cucerino or Republican
county executive, you know, she's she's going to have a
little more tension there. I mean, I think it won't
be tensions personal people basically like her, but there's there
(04:33):
are different ways of looking at things. And then even
the controller, uh, that guy dan Amon Blea. He a Democrat,
but he maintaines I think as a controller. But the
other big thing was the county judge, the fellow Dan
(04:53):
McLaughlan U a Republican from and he got bee by
that women carry Jerry by a fair amount.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And yeah, that was a little surprising the gap there
in terms of the final results. I had expected that
this incumbent Ed McLachlan, who is a very thoughtful person
and has served in many ways in many ways very
(05:22):
well for the past ten years, and I was surprised
that he was unseated as much as quickly and as
readily as handily as he was Carrier Gary Carr. Gary
had I think an advantage in that she has served
both in the Public Defender's office and also in the
(05:44):
DA's office. So when you have that perspective that really
hopefully would would result in a pretty balanced approach that
she has served in both the defense and the prosecution
and probably sees through or sees about all the merits
(06:08):
about the prosecution and the defense and hopefully will serve
justice as we want her to do.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So, Yes, balance talents, and I think it was a
pretty clear choice. I think both of them, my impressions,
although I don't know either the use, both of them
were capable people, and I think Ned McLaughlin was clear
about his hesed the word like strong sentencing and so
(06:37):
you know he has that, and she was mortgaged towards
making the not being strong or weakened the sentencing, but
judging the individual case a little more nuance. But and
he also made a controversial call over his ten years
on a domestic violence case that was very prompt. I
(07:00):
think that there was, you know, resentment against that.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, I think there was a residual there for sure.
And yet you know, in having spoken to him, I understand,
I don't necessarily agree with I understand the ways in
which he weighed the various factors and came out to
where he did. But I think he did hurt him
in in the uh, in the ballot box for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And I mean, I mean i've I've met him, but
I don't know him. But he really got he got
overturned on that, his decisions on that, you know, higher up,
and they he had official criticism against him in that way.
So but if you think that, uh, you know, strong
sentencing and uh, you know, certain perspectives, they're not foolish.
(07:46):
They have real perspectives, ones that I don't agree with,
but they're not not foolishness and carry Jerry was, uh,
you know, really capable person also. So I'm going back
to Rebecca Edwards, who of course I know from school
very well when you're in two years ago, she won
(08:08):
by thirty four votes. I mean, it was very close thing,
and you referred to her as formidable. She's politically formidable.
Now she won by over sixty percent. You know, she
got sixty percent of the votes. So we're going from
a thirty four vote win to sixty percent. Is she's
perceived as having done a good job and exact perception
(08:31):
is correct? Yeah, and yeah, you mentioned the federal policies
and how you think that's affecting local Republicans. What's your
impressions and there could you fill that in.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
You were saying, oh, yeah, well, I certainly think that
people went into this past election with it in mind,
what the heck was happening in Washington, and the extent
to which unfortunately many of the thoughtful Republican candidates, who
(09:11):
in their in their heart understand how awful things are,
they're they're you know, not in a position. They don't
believe they're in a position to speak up, as I
would hope they would. But I think sometimes under the
people underestimate their own power, their own moral authority, and
(09:37):
instead yield to the craziness such as what we see
with President Trump, and it's it's a matter of fear,
it's a matter of intimidation. We've seen that throughout. I
don't know if he would target a local legislator directly,
but a local official directly. But I think there's a
(09:59):
you know, there there's a tendency for people to take
that position, that defensive position, and not speak up as
much as they would want to.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yes, and to me, the real tragedy of the Trump administration.
You know, it's surely clear that you know, I'm a Democrat,
are very rough wing Democrat who's against Trump, but he's
one thing. But the Republicans in Congress, who many of
them really know better and are afraid to do something.
(10:29):
Being afraid for your job is something we will understand.
And if you're like in the middle manager and position
or a low position, you know, let's talk about it.
If you're a leader, you should show courage. I mean.
And the problem is the Homer to Brave has an
awful lot of cowardly people in Congress, I think. And
(10:50):
we can remind people that they're finding out with Pete
in the poet Gold and the pobelic Gold is not
with us. But we are fortunate enough to have Brian
Doyle on the air with m Brian, a former leader
of the Poughkeepsie Comedy Councils, was an elected official as
well as a human service executive. He was the executive
(11:11):
director of Family Services in headquartered in Poughkeepsie for over
ten years. Brian is going to human service side. How
do you think human service leaders are perceiving the registration
and the attitudes coming out of Washington.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Well, I think they are unfortunately living in a very
unstable environment. They just don't know what's coming next quite frankly.
And I also know that many of the human service
leaders are very concerned for their constituents. And when I
say constituents, I'm talking about the people who depend on
(11:54):
those services for them. In the case of domestic violence,
which is something that is a very big part of
what Family Services provides support of domestic violence victims. You know,
there's a concern that people are just not reporting what
(12:16):
they are doing because, you know, a partner, a woman
might be very reluctant to seek services when in fact
her spouse or her abuser is threatening that if she
does anything that might you know, and you know, put
(12:37):
that abuser on the spot, she'll be turned in. He
will weaponize the fact of their immigration status. And so
in that instance, unfortunately, many victims will just kind of
keep quiet and suffer quietly and not speak up and
(12:58):
not come forward for the support and services that would
benefit them. So that's a horrible, horrible situation when people
are afraid of receiving services because of their immigration status.
And it's not just a matter of immigration status, it's
a matter of color of skin. Because it's been made
(13:18):
clear by the Supreme Court that ice is given license
to detain people or stop people based on the color
of their skin, and ICE has in fact detain people
who are citizens, detain people who are here with legal documentation,
and so it's not just those people who may not
(13:41):
be here legally in terms of the immigration status, but
those who are of color knowing that just around the
corner they could be detained, they could be stopped.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And that's the first time since you know, the middle
of the nineteenth century, things like that, I mean, you know,
it's really something that the whole immigration policy is one
that you know, the President of campaigned on mass deportation,
and it's at the same time said he's going to
(14:14):
get rid of the worst of the worst of criminals.
And everybody is full getting rid of criminals, right, but
in practice it's not the worst that are worse. As
a matter of fact, immigrants in general, there's every study
done on an immigrant since nineteen twelve, it's over one
hundred years, is that the crime rate of immigrants is
(14:37):
lower than that of people are naturally born in the
United States. And of course it makes sense because immigrants
are nervous about doing anything wrong because they get severely
dealt with the way things are going there if you
voted for somebody saying mass deportation, and then you want
to say, oh, I didn't know you were going to
(14:57):
take you know, innocent people of God, you know, people workers,
and we have Steve Politation is the code. It's not
even a code. We're gonna get We're gonna push people around.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You know, some things are said in jest, and yet
there's a kernel of truth to it. Donald Trump himself
once said, you know Stephen Miller, Stephen Miller being his
chief advisor, who is an architect of the deportation politics.
Trump himself said, if it was up to Stephen Miller,
(15:35):
there would be only one hundred million people in the
United States and they would all look like him. Yeah,
and I think that's more true.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Than jess and and they would look a little different
from Steven Miller. Stephen Miller come from a Jewish immigrant family.
And you know, people who think in terms of what
Americans look like, they don't they're not Jewish. In other words,
anti Semitism really plays a part in the traditional view
(16:08):
of who's an American and they so. But you know,
President Trump, for a day, you know, releast a couple
of months, there was pressure from out west about the
agricultural workers, and you know, the senator at this said,
you know, we're getting too many agricultural workers. Well, I'm
(16:29):
having trouble with the farmers of my estate. And so
Trump spoke to yeah, you know, it's just because somebody
doesn't have what they might have, but they work well,
and I shure we give a speech. And he was
so terrific in terms of advocating for, you know, people
who are lawful and employed and looking at future looking.
(16:53):
Then the next day he got more pressure and he
went back, so we'll get rid of them all.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Sure, Well, Steven Miller got in his ear again. If
you have to wonder, you know who is running the
show here. You know, going back to his policy of
during the campaign of calling for mass deportation, he did
he didn't call for only the worst of the worst,
but he portrayed people who are here without documentation as
(17:19):
being the worst of the worst, as rapists. He did
that on the elevator in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, and
he continues to do it, and he does it the
Somali population in Minnesota. I mean, this is just so
so heartbreaking to see that our country is currently being
(17:41):
run by what George will a conservative Republican, calls a
moral slum, and other conservative Republican columnists pundits will do
say the same. But it's those who are in elected
positions who have the ability perhaps to do something that
(18:06):
unfortunately have stepped back too often and not spoken of.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, and I mean just this week with the you
know the uh, the Afghanic guy who killed the two soldiers,
or you know national Guard people in Washington who comes
in Afghanian Trump once way more Afghanian and ultimately all immigrants,
you know, uh, he's it's it's just I taken. One
(18:35):
person does something, and does you think nobody from Afghanistana
is going to do something wrong? I mean, we we
still have Catholic priests and you know, both the Onia
Catholic and we suffered through the abuse scandal, but nobody said, okay,
a Catholic priest is abusing a kid. Let's start hammering
the Catholic priests. I mean, you know, it's just besides
(18:56):
everything else, it's mean, it's stupid, it's demagogic, and I
want to emphasize the stupid part. You know, one person
doing something doesn't matter Sharlie Kirk from Colorado or whatever?
Why not Gus, Well people from Colorado. Now you know
it's different.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Well, you know two things I have to say, going
back to his having been elected, he was elected in
large part for the shortcomings, severe shortcomings of the Biden
administration in any way providing control on the borders. But
then beyond that, you know, both parties have for decades
(19:37):
refused to really grapple with the issue of immigration in
a way that takes into account those people who have
been living here for twenty years, have a family, have
a job, are contributing members of society. And how do
we address those people? How do we find a path
towards citizenship or legal status for them? And nobody is
(20:01):
talking about that. Nobody is talking about that. Now it's
just about deportation and get them. And you know you
said cruel and stupid. I would say the emphasis is
on cruel. When I see people who are masked agents
coming and terrorizing neighborhoods and populations, that's just plain cruel.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, and the Hudson Valley has a share of that.
I'm like ICE is getting increasingly active in the Hudson
Valley doing exactly that stuff, and you take the immigrants
ouner of the Hudson Valley, you take the people from Wahawka,
Mexico out of Poughkeepsie, and we're in trouble. I mean,
you know, but I wan't to remind people they're finding
out with Pete In and poblic Cold. I'm Peter Leonard
(20:42):
poblic Cold. It's not with us, but we are with
Brian Doyle, I uh, a former electioned leader and Human
Services executive, and Brian, you know, we only have ten
minutes stuff, But I want to go through some of
the federal things. I think the word, you know, the
immigration is saying that it's hard to pick the worst
of something. But I think the worst thing we have
(21:04):
in the federal administration the last year is this thing
that has come up since September about you know, blowing
the boat the boats out of the water in the Caribbean.
And the reason because people actually die. I mean about
eighty people have been killed that way. And it's against
international wars, against American wars, against military law, and it
(21:26):
sort of focuses the lawlessness of the administration. The administry
doesn't mind breaking the war or pushing the war and
my sense is the has been some pushback around begetting
accountability for how did they kill the people who were
survived the first bomb on their boat? And you know,
(21:50):
it's against all the training and we'll find out what
happens with that, But that's really bad. Do you have
a perspective on that or any other policy that you've
is especially unlikable? It will bear more on the administration.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Well, you said we only have ten minutes left. Yeah,
so you know, going back to those strikes on the boats,
this is something that Trump is enabling heg Seth to do.
And heg Seth was very clear when he spoke to
all of the leadership of the armed forces when he
pulled them into Quantico of a month ago, we're going
(22:28):
to dispose of some of these niceties around Geneva Accords
and such and what is lawful conduct in war. We're
going to dispose of that. And again, people knew what
was coming with this Secretary of Defense and so he
was confirmed. Trump, I think will have limited patients. That's
(22:50):
my perspective that he can only take so much incoming
before he disposes of heg Seth, and who knows who
will come in after that. You know the other thing
that's so extraordinary is how the president is demonizing people
(23:10):
who are elected officials doing their job. You know that
there are some Democrat legislators who came out and they
did a PSA public service announcement telling the men and
women of the armed forces, you are not obliged to
follow in illegal order.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So what didn't do?
Speaker 1 (23:31):
I think, good, pardon your forbidden, you're too right, thank you.
And yet when that came about, Mark Kelly is brought
in and he's going to be court martialed. He's going
to be brought it back into the services. So you
talk about intimidation, and yet he's standing up. He's standing up.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
He's a US senator right in the former restaurant. But
I mean, even that they can get the words out
of their mouth, you're getting in trouble because you advise
people not to break the law. I mean, does anybody tolerate.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
That it's sedition?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Our president says it's edition, yes, And I don't know
if he knows the definition of seditions. Somebody has whispered
it into his ear. Perhaps, well he asks about it.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
He did indicate that, you know, he should be home. Okay,
So Trump knows it's a capital offense. But you would
think of all the harmless, safe things to say, was
don't do illegal things. How can anybody be against that statement?
And yet it's a topic and I don't know what
(24:39):
you know, you standard Republican voter thinks so that, but
I have odds unbelieving anybody goes for it.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Well, unfortunately, and I mentioned how I'm disappointed in some
Republicans who are not standing up to him. Unfortunately, though
if you look at the polls, while his approval rating
is down at thirty seven percent among Republicans, he still
stands at eighty four and what a disgrace that is. Anyway,
(25:09):
on a more positive note, I did want to mention,
you know, I referred to local leaders such as Rebecca
and Rebecca Edwards and Lisa Call and Emma Arnolf. In
the city of Poughkeepsie, we have a mayor now Mayor
Yvonne Flowers, who really has stepped up and is a
(25:30):
very very strong leader in the city at Poughkeepsie, recognized
by the common Council and other people in the administration
that although this woman was only a mere council member,
she is now mayor and she has really enlisted quite
a bit of support, deservedly so from those around her
(25:50):
and the city of people of the city at Poughkeepsie.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Oh yeah, she a great mayor in a sense. She
really feels she grew up in Poughkeepsie. She embodies the city.
She's a non eaglemanihicle, She's inclusive, she wants to accomplish
good things for people. That She's really exceptional. I think so.
The two other TIMPs I wanted to just brush by.
(26:13):
One is in terms of public perceptions or relations, the
Epstein files. I think Trump administration is in a peculiar
position with that because they said we're going to release everything,
and then he gets power. I'm not releasing anything, and
then he gets going to get out vote. He's no.
I hope we've been for it. I mean, the amount
of lying that goes on by the president is remarkable.
(26:37):
And the eighty percent of Republicans voted for him are
still with them. What's wrong with them? Let me rephrase it.
What are they thinking?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Well, I think that they're still under the belief that
he'll help the economy. And I'm not sure why they're
still under that belief because we haven't seen the proof
of that at all. And yet I think part of
it is just a reaction to what they view as
(27:06):
I won't even use the word, but what they view
as the liberals going too far to the left, you know,
being too into identity politics, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
You know, it's.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Interesting Trump came down on everybody organizations, the military, universities
for diversity, equity and inclusion, and many people cheer them
on because because the fact of the matter is that
when we face the ways in which people have been
(27:43):
mistreated over the years because of color, because of gender,
it's very uncomfortable, and people don't like to be uncomfortable,
even though that discomfort can lead in most instances to
a greater a way awareness and a greater way of
participating in the society. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot to criticize, and the
DEI diversity equity and inclusion thing is a huge part
of it, you know, and that has been used as
a way of going after people if you might favor
uh firminive action, that's a problem for you now, and
(28:26):
that becomes a problem for any But in my mind,
so it's famine in terms of giving a historical getting
an historical perspective on things, but there's an awful lot
to criticize, and the DEI s of the immigrations, of
the boats, the Epstein and stuff. I Uh, I don't
(28:48):
know what people like about about the president and and
I think we're going to find out the facts that
the Democrats are now better organized in terms of electoral things.
That's a big deal. But uh, you know, and as
a human service person, I want to end on this.
(29:08):
Last February, I was really scared as a parent of
somebody with developmental disabilities that the Trump administration was going
after the human service things that you know, Medicaid was
a problem. I mean, you know Elon Musk remember him.
Does any Republican think that was a good idea? But
(29:31):
I thought that my son Kevin was going to be
out of his group home living in my house within
a year or so. And I'm not afraid of that
anymore because I think that the Democrats have stepped up
on it. But Brian, we're at a time already.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Peter, thank you so much. This has been good opportunity
to chat and about things that are very important to us.
But we don't always talk about very often, so thank.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
You, and anybody who disagreed with is free to stop
us on the street at any time and talk. I'm
joking for both.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Of I'll let you I'll let you know who stops
me Stuart.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Anyway, thanks for being with Brian do it.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Thank you.
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station, gets, staff, management,
or ownership.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
A good morning, you'll find out with Pete and the
poet Cold, I'm Peter Eleonar, and the poet cal is
not with us today, but she will certainly be with
us again next week. And we do have with us
Brian Doyle, a local political elected official and also a
former human service administrator as the executive director of Family Services.
(00:32):
But before we get to Brian, actually we don't have
poet call to give a poem, So we're going to
go right down to Brian. Unless you have a poem,
you want to resign off the top of my head, Okay,
when I'm stuck, you know, they'll only take thirty seconds.
Is the Irish poet Yates is very It's probably the
(00:54):
best poet that we have the English language. In the footnote,
CSL said that, but he has a thing that Brian,
you're like, I know you're fond of Irish things. And
he has a poem called the Stolen Child and it says,
come away, o human child, to the waters and the wild,
with a very hand at hand for the world more
(01:15):
for weeping than you can understand. In the weeping in
the world is something you have attended to as a
human service professional an awful lot. So yeah, we give
us a sense. Brian. You know, as we're wrapping up
the year, we've had a very tumultuous year with the
political life, both nationally and locally. But with the local
(01:38):
elections in November, things change in Dutchess County, and I
know you're alert to those changes. You might want to
give us a comments on what happened. Why you think
that might happened.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Well, I found it fascinating that in Dutchess County the
legislature went over to a Democrat majority, and that happened
only once before, and that was a short lived and
I can't tell you what year that was, but it
was a while ago. And now I think the Democrats
(02:14):
are feeling very emboldened, and I would imagine this will
be a challenge, not necessarily negative, but a challenge to
our county executive because for a good long time both
the county executive and the legislative branch were one party,
and so there was of course always negotiating that went on,
(02:36):
but probably not so much as we'll be seeing now.
But I'm very heartened to see many people coming into
politics that had not been there before. You know, a
few years ago in the town of Poughkeepsie, we saw
the role of town supervisor go to Rebecca Edwards, who
(02:57):
was a very formidable woman, h professor at vasser and
then following her Lisa Call again from Vassar, very intelligent
and thoughtful politician. And now we see Emma Arnoff and
(03:17):
so it's it's I think a good sign, you know,
to have thoughtful people who are not necessarily well they're
not at all afraid of the the administration. On the
federal level, I'm I'm afraid that there's a wariness on
(03:38):
the part of local Republican officials to speak speak up
about the tragedy that we're seeing on a federal level.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Wow. And yeah, the big news locally is having a
county legislature go Democratic because I think before with November
and you know, they're not sworn in yet, but they
were like there are twenty five seats and I think
fifteen of them were Republican and attend Democratics and they
(04:10):
when the Democrats have like seventeen or eighteen seats on
that and so it's it's different. So Cucerino or Republican
county executive, you know, she's she's going to have a
little more tension there. I mean, I think it won't
be tensions personal people basically like her, but there's there
(04:33):
are different ways of looking at things. And then even
the controller, uh, that guy dan Amon Blea. He a Democrat,
but he maintaines I think as a controller. But the
other big thing was the county judge, the fellow Dan
(04:53):
McLaughlan U a Republican from and he got bee by
that women carry Jerry by a fair amount.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And yeah, that was a little surprising the gap there
in terms of the final results. I had expected that
this incumbent Ed McLachlan, who is a very thoughtful person
and has served in many ways in many ways very
(05:22):
well for the past ten years, and I was surprised
that he was unseated as much as quickly and as
readily as handily as he was Carrier Gary Carr. Gary
had I think an advantage in that she has served
both in the Public Defender's office and also in the
(05:44):
DA's office. So when you have that perspective that really
hopefully would would result in a pretty balanced approach that
she has served in both the defense and the prosecution
and probably sees through or sees about all the merits
(06:08):
about the prosecution and the defense and hopefully will serve
justice as we want her to do.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So, Yes, balance talents, and I think it was a
pretty clear choice. I think both of them, my impressions,
although I don't know either the use, both of them
were capable people, and I think Ned McLaughlin was clear
about his hesed the word like strong sentencing and so
(06:37):
you know he has that, and she was mortgaged towards
making the not being strong or weakened the sentencing, but
judging the individual case a little more nuance. But and
he also made a controversial call over his ten years
on a domestic violence case that was very prompt. I
(07:00):
think that there was, you know, resentment against that.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, I think there was a residual there for sure.
And yet you know, in having spoken to him, I understand,
I don't necessarily agree with I understand the ways in
which he weighed the various factors and came out to
where he did. But I think he did hurt him
in in the uh, in the ballot box for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And I mean, I mean i've I've met him, but
I don't know him. But he really got he got
overturned on that, his decisions on that, you know, higher up,
and they he had official criticism against him in that way.
So but if you think that, uh, you know, strong
sentencing and uh, you know, certain perspectives, they're not foolish.
(07:46):
They have real perspectives, ones that I don't agree with,
but they're not not foolishness and carry Jerry was, uh,
you know, really capable person also. So I'm going back
to Rebecca Edwards, who of course I know from school
very well when you're in two years ago, she won
(08:08):
by thirty four votes. I mean, it was very close thing,
and you referred to her as formidable. She's politically formidable.
Now she won by over sixty percent. You know, she
got sixty percent of the votes. So we're going from
a thirty four vote win to sixty percent. Is she's
perceived as having done a good job and exact perception
(08:31):
is correct? Yeah, and yeah, you mentioned the federal policies
and how you think that's affecting local Republicans. What's your
impressions and there could you fill that in.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
You were saying, oh, yeah, well, I certainly think that
people went into this past election with it in mind,
what the heck was happening in Washington, and the extent
to which unfortunately many of the thoughtful Republican candidates, who
(09:11):
in their in their heart understand how awful things are,
they're they're you know, not in a position. They don't
believe they're in a position to speak up, as I
would hope they would. But I think sometimes under the
people underestimate their own power, their own moral authority, and
(09:37):
instead yield to the craziness such as what we see
with President Trump, and it's it's a matter of fear,
it's a matter of intimidation. We've seen that throughout. I
don't know if he would target a local legislator directly,
but a local official directly. But I think there's a
(09:59):
you know, there there's a tendency for people to take
that position, that defensive position, and not speak up as
much as they would want to.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yes, and to me, the real tragedy of the Trump administration.
You know, it's surely clear that you know, I'm a Democrat,
are very rough wing Democrat who's against Trump, but he's
one thing. But the Republicans in Congress, who many of
them really know better and are afraid to do something.
(10:29):
Being afraid for your job is something we will understand.
And if you're like in the middle manager and position
or a low position, you know, let's talk about it.
If you're a leader, you should show courage. I mean.
And the problem is the Homer to Brave has an
awful lot of cowardly people in Congress, I think. And
(10:50):
we can remind people that they're finding out with Pete
in the poet Gold and the pobelic Gold is not
with us. But we are fortunate enough to have Brian
Doyle on the air with m Brian, a former leader
of the Poughkeepsie Comedy Councils, was an elected official as
well as a human service executive. He was the executive
(11:11):
director of Family Services in headquartered in Poughkeepsie for over
ten years. Brian is going to human service side. How
do you think human service leaders are perceiving the registration
and the attitudes coming out of Washington.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Well, I think they are unfortunately living in a very
unstable environment. They just don't know what's coming next quite frankly.
And I also know that many of the human service
leaders are very concerned for their constituents. And when I
say constituents, I'm talking about the people who depend on
(11:54):
those services for them. In the case of domestic violence,
which is something that is a very big part of
what Family Services provides support of domestic violence victims. You know,
there's a concern that people are just not reporting what
(12:16):
they are doing because, you know, a partner, a woman
might be very reluctant to seek services when in fact
her spouse or her abuser is threatening that if she
does anything that might you know, and you know, put
(12:37):
that abuser on the spot, she'll be turned in. He
will weaponize the fact of their immigration status. And so
in that instance, unfortunately, many victims will just kind of
keep quiet and suffer quietly and not speak up and
(12:58):
not come forward for the support and services that would
benefit them. So that's a horrible, horrible situation when people
are afraid of receiving services because of their immigration status.
And it's not just a matter of immigration status, it's
a matter of color of skin. Because it's been made
(13:18):
clear by the Supreme Court that ice is given license
to detain people or stop people based on the color
of their skin, and ICE has in fact detain people
who are citizens, detain people who are here with legal documentation,
and so it's not just those people who may not
(13:41):
be here legally in terms of the immigration status, but
those who are of color knowing that just around the
corner they could be detained, they could be stopped.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And that's the first time since you know, the middle
of the nineteenth century, things like that, I mean, you know,
it's really something that the whole immigration policy is one
that you know, the President of campaigned on mass deportation,
and it's at the same time said he's going to
(14:14):
get rid of the worst of the worst of criminals.
And everybody is full getting rid of criminals, right, but
in practice it's not the worst that are worse. As
a matter of fact, immigrants in general, there's every study
done on an immigrant since nineteen twelve, it's over one
hundred years, is that the crime rate of immigrants is
(14:37):
lower than that of people are naturally born in the
United States. And of course it makes sense because immigrants
are nervous about doing anything wrong because they get severely
dealt with the way things are going there if you
voted for somebody saying mass deportation, and then you want
to say, oh, I didn't know you were going to
(14:57):
take you know, innocent people of God, you know, people workers,
and we have Steve Politation is the code. It's not
even a code. We're gonna get We're gonna push people around.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You know, some things are said in jest, and yet
there's a kernel of truth to it. Donald Trump himself
once said, you know Stephen Miller, Stephen Miller being his
chief advisor, who is an architect of the deportation politics.
Trump himself said, if it was up to Stephen Miller,
(15:35):
there would be only one hundred million people in the
United States and they would all look like him. Yeah,
and I think that's more true.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Than jess and and they would look a little different
from Steven Miller. Stephen Miller come from a Jewish immigrant family.
And you know, people who think in terms of what
Americans look like, they don't they're not Jewish. In other words,
anti Semitism really plays a part in the traditional view
(16:08):
of who's an American and they so. But you know,
President Trump, for a day, you know, releast a couple
of months, there was pressure from out west about the
agricultural workers, and you know, the senator at this said,
you know, we're getting too many agricultural workers. Well, I'm
(16:29):
having trouble with the farmers of my estate. And so
Trump spoke to yeah, you know, it's just because somebody
doesn't have what they might have, but they work well,
and I shure we give a speech. And he was
so terrific in terms of advocating for, you know, people
who are lawful and employed and looking at future looking.
(16:53):
Then the next day he got more pressure and he
went back, so we'll get rid of them all.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Sure, Well, Steven Miller got in his ear again. If
you have to wonder, you know who is running the
show here. You know, going back to his policy of
during the campaign of calling for mass deportation, he did
he didn't call for only the worst of the worst,
but he portrayed people who are here without documentation as
(17:19):
being the worst of the worst, as rapists. He did
that on the elevator in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, and
he continues to do it, and he does it the
Somali population in Minnesota. I mean, this is just so
so heartbreaking to see that our country is currently being
(17:41):
run by what George will a conservative Republican, calls a
moral slum, and other conservative Republican columnists pundits will do
say the same. But it's those who are in elected
positions who have the ability perhaps to do something that
(18:06):
unfortunately have stepped back too often and not spoken of.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, and I mean just this week with the you
know the uh, the Afghanic guy who killed the two soldiers,
or you know national Guard people in Washington who comes
in Afghanian Trump once way more Afghanian and ultimately all immigrants,
you know, uh, he's it's it's just I taken. One
(18:35):
person does something, and does you think nobody from Afghanistana
is going to do something wrong? I mean, we we
still have Catholic priests and you know, both the Onia
Catholic and we suffered through the abuse scandal, but nobody said, okay,
a Catholic priest is abusing a kid. Let's start hammering
the Catholic priests. I mean, you know, it's just besides
(18:56):
everything else, it's mean, it's stupid, it's demagogic, and I
want to emphasize the stupid part. You know, one person
doing something doesn't matter Sharlie Kirk from Colorado or whatever?
Why not Gus, Well people from Colorado. Now you know
it's different.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Well, you know two things I have to say, going
back to his having been elected, he was elected in
large part for the shortcomings, severe shortcomings of the Biden
administration in any way providing control on the borders. But
then beyond that, you know, both parties have for decades
(19:37):
refused to really grapple with the issue of immigration in
a way that takes into account those people who have
been living here for twenty years, have a family, have
a job, are contributing members of society. And how do
we address those people? How do we find a path
towards citizenship or legal status for them? And nobody is
(20:01):
talking about that. Nobody is talking about that. Now it's
just about deportation and get them. And you know you
said cruel and stupid. I would say the emphasis is
on cruel. When I see people who are masked agents
coming and terrorizing neighborhoods and populations, that's just plain cruel.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, and the Hudson Valley has a share of that.
I'm like ICE is getting increasingly active in the Hudson
Valley doing exactly that stuff, and you take the immigrants
ouner of the Hudson Valley, you take the people from Wahawka,
Mexico out of Poughkeepsie, and we're in trouble. I mean,
you know, but I wan't to remind people they're finding
out with Pete In and poblic Cold. I'm Peter Leonard
(20:42):
poblic Cold. It's not with us, but we are with
Brian Doyle, I uh, a former electioned leader and Human
Services executive, and Brian, you know, we only have ten
minutes stuff, But I want to go through some of
the federal things. I think the word, you know, the
immigration is saying that it's hard to pick the worst
of something. But I think the worst thing we have
(21:04):
in the federal administration the last year is this thing
that has come up since September about you know, blowing
the boat the boats out of the water in the Caribbean.
And the reason because people actually die. I mean about
eighty people have been killed that way. And it's against
international wars, against American wars, against military law, and it
(21:26):
sort of focuses the lawlessness of the administration. The administry
doesn't mind breaking the war or pushing the war and
my sense is the has been some pushback around begetting
accountability for how did they kill the people who were
survived the first bomb on their boat? And you know,
(21:50):
it's against all the training and we'll find out what
happens with that, But that's really bad. Do you have
a perspective on that or any other policy that you've
is especially unlikable? It will bear more on the administration.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Well, you said we only have ten minutes left. Yeah,
so you know, going back to those strikes on the boats,
this is something that Trump is enabling heg Seth to do.
And heg Seth was very clear when he spoke to
all of the leadership of the armed forces when he
pulled them into Quantico of a month ago, we're going
(22:28):
to dispose of some of these niceties around Geneva Accords
and such and what is lawful conduct in war. We're
going to dispose of that. And again, people knew what
was coming with this Secretary of Defense and so he
was confirmed. Trump, I think will have limited patients. That's
(22:50):
my perspective that he can only take so much incoming
before he disposes of heg Seth, and who knows who
will come in after that. You know the other thing
that's so extraordinary is how the president is demonizing people
(23:10):
who are elected officials doing their job. You know that
there are some Democrat legislators who came out and they
did a PSA public service announcement telling the men and
women of the armed forces, you are not obliged to
follow in illegal order.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So what didn't do?
Speaker 1 (23:31):
I think, good, pardon your forbidden, you're too right, thank you.
And yet when that came about, Mark Kelly is brought
in and he's going to be court martialed. He's going
to be brought it back into the services. So you
talk about intimidation, and yet he's standing up. He's standing up.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
He's a US senator right in the former restaurant. But
I mean, even that they can get the words out
of their mouth, you're getting in trouble because you advise
people not to break the law. I mean, does anybody tolerate.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
That it's sedition?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Our president says it's edition, yes, And I don't know
if he knows the definition of seditions. Somebody has whispered
it into his ear. Perhaps, well he asks about it.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
He did indicate that, you know, he should be home. Okay,
So Trump knows it's a capital offense. But you would
think of all the harmless, safe things to say, was
don't do illegal things. How can anybody be against that statement?
And yet it's a topic and I don't know what
(24:39):
you know, you standard Republican voter thinks so that, but
I have odds unbelieving anybody goes for it.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Well, unfortunately, and I mentioned how I'm disappointed in some
Republicans who are not standing up to him. Unfortunately, though
if you look at the polls, while his approval rating
is down at thirty seven percent among Republicans, he still
stands at eighty four and what a disgrace that is. Anyway,
(25:09):
on a more positive note, I did want to mention,
you know, I referred to local leaders such as Rebecca
and Rebecca Edwards and Lisa Call and Emma Arnolf. In
the city of Poughkeepsie, we have a mayor now Mayor
Yvonne Flowers, who really has stepped up and is a
(25:30):
very very strong leader in the city at Poughkeepsie, recognized
by the common Council and other people in the administration
that although this woman was only a mere council member,
she is now mayor and she has really enlisted quite
a bit of support, deservedly so from those around her
(25:50):
and the city of people of the city at Poughkeepsie.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Oh yeah, she a great mayor in a sense. She
really feels she grew up in Poughkeepsie. She embodies the city.
She's a non eaglemanihicle, She's inclusive, she wants to accomplish
good things for people. That She's really exceptional. I think so.
The two other TIMPs I wanted to just brush by.
(26:13):
One is in terms of public perceptions or relations, the
Epstein files. I think Trump administration is in a peculiar
position with that because they said we're going to release everything,
and then he gets power. I'm not releasing anything, and
then he gets going to get out vote. He's no.
I hope we've been for it. I mean, the amount
of lying that goes on by the president is remarkable.
(26:37):
And the eighty percent of Republicans voted for him are
still with them. What's wrong with them? Let me rephrase it.
What are they thinking?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Well, I think that they're still under the belief that
he'll help the economy. And I'm not sure why they're
still under that belief because we haven't seen the proof
of that at all. And yet I think part of
it is just a reaction to what they view as
(27:06):
I won't even use the word, but what they view
as the liberals going too far to the left, you know,
being too into identity politics, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
You know, it's.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Interesting Trump came down on everybody organizations, the military, universities
for diversity, equity and inclusion, and many people cheer them
on because because the fact of the matter is that
when we face the ways in which people have been
(27:43):
mistreated over the years because of color, because of gender,
it's very uncomfortable, and people don't like to be uncomfortable,
even though that discomfort can lead in most instances to
a greater a way awareness and a greater way of
participating in the society. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot to criticize, and the
DEI diversity equity and inclusion thing is a huge part
of it, you know, and that has been used as
a way of going after people if you might favor
uh firminive action, that's a problem for you now, and
(28:26):
that becomes a problem for any But in my mind,
so it's famine in terms of giving a historical getting
an historical perspective on things, but there's an awful lot
to criticize, and the DEI s of the immigrations, of
the boats, the Epstein and stuff. I Uh, I don't
(28:48):
know what people like about about the president and and
I think we're going to find out the facts that
the Democrats are now better organized in terms of electoral things.
That's a big deal. But uh, you know, and as
a human service person, I want to end on this.
(29:08):
Last February, I was really scared as a parent of
somebody with developmental disabilities that the Trump administration was going
after the human service things that you know, Medicaid was
a problem. I mean, you know Elon Musk remember him.
Does any Republican think that was a good idea? But
(29:31):
I thought that my son Kevin was going to be
out of his group home living in my house within
a year or so. And I'm not afraid of that
anymore because I think that the Democrats have stepped up
on it. But Brian, we're at a time already.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Peter, thank you so much. This has been good opportunity
to chat and about things that are very important to us.
But we don't always talk about very often, so thank.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
You, and anybody who disagreed with is free to stop
us on the street at any time and talk. I'm
joking for both.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Of I'll let you I'll let you know who stops
me Stuart.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Anyway, thanks for being with Brian do it.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.