November 4, 2024 • 30 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Benjamin Dixon Show is only possible to do a
see support go to www dot Matreon dot com God
Flash the BTV Show.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and gender non conforming individuals to another
episode of The Benjamin Dixon Show. I am, of course
your host, Benjamin Dixon. Today is Monday. It is November fourth,
two thousand and twenty four. Tomorrow is election Day. And
I vacillate back and forth between being cautious with optimism
(00:47):
as well as having a sense of doom. I know
this is probably how most people are feeling right now,
because we're finally here. Tomorrow is a referendum on democracy.
Tomorrow is a referendum on the United States of America.
If there is any hope, any anything that's worth salvaging
(01:08):
of the United States of America. I believe it's going
to be determined tomorrow. And I had a conversation at
linked with my dear friend, doctor Carl Mack, And you know,
he asked me, and every time we get off the phone,
he asked me, how do I feel about it? How
do I feel? Do I feel hopeful that Kamala Harris
will win? And I've always been reluctant to express hope.
(01:32):
I don't get me wrong, I express support. We're getting
out tomorrow. We like to vote on election day, and
so that's what we're going to do. We're going to
go to our precinct tomorrow and vote. My wife and
I I am internally hopeful inside of me, but I'm
cautious about expressing that hope because you know, we've been
here before twenty sixteen. We've seen what America does, and
(01:55):
more specifically, I have seen the evolution of the MAGA
misinformation machine over the last four or five years, and
they are doing along with the help of Elon Musk
and what was formerly known as Twitter, They're doing everything
they can, every single thing within their power to help
Donald Trump win. And so I'm cautiously optimistic, which is
(02:18):
ironic because that was my original catchphrase for this show,
cautiously idealistic.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
It was the catchphrase.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
But I'm a bit optimistic, especially especially when you consider
the change that has happened in Iowa. Kamala Harris is
up by three points in the state of Iowa. And
why is that significant, you may ask, because in the
last two election cycles, Donald Trump has won Iowa by
(02:47):
at least ten points. I want to play a clip
for you from Morning Joe where they spoke with Polster
and Seltzer, who has accurately called Iowa for years, and
she is explaining in this clip why new data which
has Kamala Harris in the lead by three points. She's
(03:07):
explaining that no one, including herself, would have ever thought
that Iowa could go for Kamala Harris. But she's looking
at the data and it looks feasible, it looks possible.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Well, as you can imagine, this was a shock poll,
and I've been shocked since Tuesday morning last week, so
I've had time for this to sync in because no one,
not including me, would have thought that Iowa could go
for Kamala Harris. So what we saw there was striking
a sort of elaboration of what had happened with our
(03:40):
September poll where we had Kamala Harris closing by fourteen
points the gap with Donald Trump, and our analysis then
was it wasn't that people are switching their allegiances. It
was that more people were qualifying as likely voters in September.
That would have been they say they will definitely vote,
(04:00):
and that somebody's asked me, well, is Trump losing ground?
And that's an interesting question, and you get out your
calculator and start to work that out. He actually, there
were more respondents weighted respondents for Trump by three three
individuals than he had in June, but Kamala Harris got
(04:22):
eighty five. And that's because the influx, the bigger number
of likely voters extremely went to Kamala Harris. And this
poll is an extension of that that the people more
likely to show up are her kinds of supporters. So
she's got more women, she's got more older people, she's
got more college educated people, and it is ended up.
(04:45):
You look at the graph of it, it looks pretty
linear that her going from Biden's low point in June
up to now she is leapfrogged over Trump into the lead.
So there's lots of things going, lots of things to
speculate there. But obviously we looked hard at these numbers
(05:05):
to feel confident in publishing, and we do.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
And this is the most respected poster in the state
of Iowa. So, you know, back to doctor Max's question
to me, do I feel hopeful? I can't help but
feel hopeful. You know, sometimes you feel hopeful at the
risk of being let down. That's the nature of hope,
but I can at this point, I feel hopeful that
(05:31):
tomorrow Kamala Harris will put the nail in the rhetorical
colfin of MAGA, because that's.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Where we are.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
We're really at a turning point whether or not this
country has anything that can be salvaged, because for Donald
Trump to even still be in the consideration after all
of these years, when we know exactly who and what
he is, what he stands for, we know what he
plans on doing. We know what he plans on doing
to immigrants, we know what he plans on doing to
(06:03):
black people, we know what he plans on doing to
the LGBTQIA community. We absolutely know what he's trying to
do to women. We know who and what he is,
and it never ceases to amaze me that there are
people from each and every one of those groups who
will support MAGA, and I want to know going forward
who those people are. I don't need to know their
names unless you're a black person, because I want to
(06:25):
know if you're black and you support Donald Trump, I
want to know you for the rest of your life
so that I know that we cannot trust you at
the cookout quote unquote cookout, which is code word for
everything that we have to do behind the scenes, all
the planning, all the discussions. We need to make sure
we know that everybody who comes in there who has
our skin color isn't necessarily on our side. And I
(06:48):
think that this is a great flashpoint for us to
make a clear delineation between those people who not only
are willing to ignore what Donald Trump says out of
his mouth for whatever reason, whether it be for clicks,
whether it be for clout, or whether it be for checks,
and those people who want to actively participate in the
very things that are coming out of his mouth. It's
(07:10):
all the same to me. If you're ignoring what he's
saying for whatever reason, or if you're actively participating and
lusting after what he wants to do, we need to
know who you are. And they all need to be
pushed into the dregs of society. But if they win, well,
America can look like something even worse than what it
(07:32):
is today. And it's pretty bad now. I was talking
to my kids and giving them a you know, kind
of a turning point as far as our household I'm
pushing them towards understanding adversity, understanding challenges and why they
are so necessary and why they are necessary for their development.
(07:55):
And my six year old, you know, I try to
make it playing to them without you know, breaking their
spirits about how ridiculous this planet, this earth, this country
in particular, really is. And one of my kids, my
six year old, he said, you know, I told them,
(08:15):
I said, listen, no matter how bad it might be,
you still find ways of living and enjoying life and
having a good time in life. And he said, well,
how do I have a good time? How can we
enjoy it if it's so crazy out there? And I'm like, well,
inner strength, resilience, fortitude, right, and use all those words,
(08:37):
But that was the essence of it, right. I try
to make it as plain as I could for them, so,
you know, all of that to say, the way the
world is right now is not a bed of roses.
You know, America is not a great nation for everybody
right now, not at all. It's a great nation for
(08:59):
those people who have, but there's so many people who
don't have, and there's so many people who have that
are intentionally looking forward to the opportunity to make it
worse for everyone else. That is the essence and the
core of MAGA. That's who they are. And if they
win tomorrow, we don't throw in the towel. But it's
(09:23):
certain is going to be a much more difficult role
ahead than if Kamala Harris Harris wins and we're able
to stave off the very worst proclivities that this nation
can can demonstrate. All Right, when we come back, let's
talk about these empty rallies that Donald Trump is facing.
We'll be back with more of The Benjamin Dixon Show
(09:43):
right after this.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
And I'm in now with the stars. I'm gonna sing
with the Earth Tinto's Deep Flat with Calvin. It's I
never switched size, like even when I die. I'm a
arrived for the squad. A lot of ties in the hearst.
I've been on a five kind of hard to describe it.
Speaker 6 (10:10):
Welcome back to The Benjamin Dixon Show. Visitors online at
the Benjamin Dixonshow dot com.
Speaker 7 (10:33):
Nine years we've had the biggest rallies in history of
any country, and every rallies phone. You don't have any
seats that are empty. You don't have anything yet. I
mean the one we had today, you missed beauty. We
could have filled that place up twenty times.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It was at that point that the cameraman went rogue.
You have to see the video to really appreciate this.
Donald Trump got fact checked in real time by a
cameraman who panned away from his speech and showed just
how empty the rally was.
Speaker 7 (11:11):
Worried by late just a few minutes, just a few minutes,
depending on your definition.
Speaker 8 (11:18):
Of what it's going to start.
Speaker 7 (11:20):
But you know we've been doing I was talking to
some of the people. It's sort of you know, in
a way it's said in a way, it's beautiful. I
was talking to him and I said, you know, this
is coming to an end. These rallies are coming to
and we've been doing them, thinking of it for like
nine years. We started a year before.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's that's the good news that we have a chance
to put this behind us again. Like I was saying
in the last segment, America is not a great country
for everybody right now, certainly not anyone on the global
stage when you consider what the United States of America
is involved with in the global south. So I don't
(11:57):
want anyone to mistake what I'm saying as some sense
of misplaced patriotism and hope and idealism in the United
States of America. As is, I have hope in what
America must become. It's not inevitable that it will become it,
but what America must become in order to not quite Honestly,
(12:21):
we're at a turning point. And this may seem kind
of dramatic for those of you who may not have
been tuned into politics on a regular basis, but I
have a feeling that most of you are dialed in
all the way, so you should understand exactly what I'm saying.
The domino of the United States of America falling to
MAGA will have immediate ramifications around the globe and will
(12:43):
further exacerbate the underlying problems that we have right now,
everything from climate change to the war in Ukraine to
the global alliance of nationalist nations that is emerging. The
United States of America falling to MAGA would be a
significant blow to the progress of humanity. And again, this
(13:09):
is not to say things are peachy keen now, but
I think people sometimes fail to realize exactly how much
worse things can get, and so when I hear Donald
Trump say that this is coming to an end, this
is one of his last rallies.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Period.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
They've been doing it for ten years. Yeah, for ten years.
They have been ramping up the hatred, the bigotry, the vitriol,
dividing not only the United States of America, but dividing
the global order. And you know, for some the global
order has never been good for them. Yeah, I mean
(13:46):
that's quite literally the history of the world. There is
a global order at different times in history, but particularly
now that is not good for everyone. But we're at
a turning point where it could become destructive for everyone
without the hope of recovering to do something better. You know,
(14:08):
it's it might be a shot in hell to think
that we could actually turn things around on this planet,
turn things around internally in the United States as a
matter of policy, as a matter of standing foreign policy,
to change the paradigm that we have been living under
since the end of the Cold War, not even since
(14:29):
the end of the Cold War, since the end of
World War II. Right, the interventionism, the coups, the destabilizing
of democratic nations in order to prop up dictators so
that we can exploit their resources, the dividing and conquering,
the continuation of colonialism. Right, and this is not to
even mention what this country was built on, genocide and slavery.
(14:53):
So in full recognition of just how jacked up this
country is, to tomorrow this country could get immeasurably worse,
which would be a domino effect rippling all across the globe,
making situations worse, not just for people who are already
on the receiving end. I constantly think of what's going
(15:14):
on in the Congo, what's going on in Sudan, what's
going on in Gaza, what's going on in Ukraine, what's
going on all around the globe, the exploitation of human life,
And honestly, I think about the fact that this has
been a constant, a constant theme.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Throughout world history.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Has there ever been a time This is not to
excuse us, but this is for us to contextualize the
fact that we just treat people like crap on this planet.
And that's putting it mildly. We on this planet, we
have turned what could be a paradise, what could be
heaven on Earth, We've turned it into a living hell
(15:57):
for so many people. It can get worse, and it
can get worse, not only instantly for certain key situations
that we're on the precipice of, like we're well passed.
I don't know how to say this, like the point
of no return as it pertains a climate change. My
(16:20):
hope is that we can actually reverse this. I don't
expect Kamala Harris's administration to be that much different than
any other administration as it pertains to the energy sector,
to big oil. But my gosh, if we want an
opportunity to turn that around, we have to at least
have people in power who acknowledge science. And I know
(16:45):
that's like, well, Ben, that's a pretty low bar, absolutely,
but that's where we are. That's absolutely where we are.
We have the choice between people who can acknowledge and
admit that science is real and the science is pointing
towards humans made climate disaster that we are feeling the
effects of. We look at the flooding in Spain. The
(17:05):
Prime Minister of Spain said it was the worst flooding
in a century. Over two hundred people killed in Spain
as a result of climate change. Not to mention what
we just experienced with this last season of hurricanes here
in the United States, Western North Carolina, so many miles
(17:29):
away from water, hundreds of people killed because of flooding
as a result of hurricanes that were historic, and we
had two historic hurricanes back to back. So that's just
one example of how we can go even further into
(17:49):
calamity and disaster by allowing people who quite honestly just
don't believe in science because it's not good for their portfolio,
it's not good for their pols, to allow them to
get back into power. And that's just one I immediately
think of the fact that all of those those people
who lay down their lives in Ukraine to hold off
(18:11):
and fend off Vladimir Putin will instantly be abandoned if
MAGA wins.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
The people of Gaza, who have suffered at the.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Hands of both political parties underneath the leadership of Joe Biden, Yes,
understand very clearly what Donald Trump has said that he
wants to do to the rest of Gaza, to the
rest of Palestine, saying that Benjamin ETTANYAHUO was held back
by Joe Biden. It can and will get instantly worse.
(18:42):
And so I don't place this false hope in this
idea that Kamala Harris is going to come in and
save the world. I'm just counting on her not coming
in to destroy it in the ways that Donald Trump
has made very clear he intends to.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
We'll be back right after this.
Speaker 9 (19:01):
City of Mind. I love, my love the City of Mind.
He navigaves me down.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Yeah, I was born in the city.
Speaker 8 (19:17):
I was raised.
Speaker 6 (19:21):
Welcome back to The Benjamin Dixon Show. Visitors online at
the Benjamin Dixonshow dot com.
Speaker 8 (19:41):
Look, I've been voting for sixty four years. Never really
wanted to talk about it very much. But when dozens
of former members of the Trump administration our sounding alarms saying,
for God's sake, don't do this again, you have to
pay attention.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
This is actor Garrison Ford.
Speaker 8 (20:01):
They're telling us something important. These aren't soft people. They're governors,
generals standing up against the leader of the party they
spent their lives advocating for. For many of them, this
will be the first time they've ever voted for someone
who doesn't have an R next to their name, because
(20:25):
they know this really matters. The truth is this, Kamala
Harris will protect your right to disagree with her about
policies or ideas, and then, as we have done for centuries,
we'll debate them, we'll work on them together, and will
(20:48):
move forward. The other guy, he demands unquestioning loyalty, says
he wants revenge. Harrison Ford, I've got one vote, same
as anyone else, and I'm going to use it to
move forward. I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
That part, that part about Kamala Harris, will fight for
your right to disagree with her, that part right there,
you know. I I often think about the conundrum that
people who oppose the genocide and Gaza face in this election,
(21:30):
which I certainly believe in hope is everyone who in
my audience, and the conundrum of being forced to make
a decision between the party.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I don't personally lay this at the feet of Kamala Harris,
because well, one, the vice president never makes foreign policy.
They don't make any policy they unless they're Dick Cheney, right.
But I certainly lay it at the feet of the
Democratic part Party and this regime. And when I say regime,
(22:04):
I mean both parties, I mean the American regime. And
so I'm very sober about this moment and the conundrum
that so many of us are facing as it pertains
to having to vote for this country, either party in
this country. But when we are faced with a very
clear choice between someone who will at least maintain the
(22:30):
mechanisms of democracy and someone who has made it very
clear their entire faction wants to do away with the
mechanisms of democracy, and they've actively attempted to do so,
then it should it pushes us, It should push us,
it should make us confront as I have had to.
(22:52):
I don't know how you've resolved it, this conundrum that
we're facing right now, but I've resolved it as follows.
I'm gonna vote for the parties that's gonna let me
have voice and let me oppose, and let me attempt
to hold accountable every single person involved with this genocide
(23:17):
versus a party who's going to further the genocide out
of his own mouth, that's what he said, and then
take away our right to oppose him and shut down
media channel outlets that he disagrees with, you know. And
they're people who are giddy at the possibility of silencing
(23:38):
every one of our voices. The rank and file of MAGA.
They love the idea of being able to imprison people
who they politically disagree with. That's what they're actively organizing around.
So the fact that we have a party that wants
(24:01):
fascism and a Kasparian and then we have a party
that is complicit with genocide, but it's at least not
going to pull the ladder of democracy from underneath us.
It's not a great time to be an American. It
(24:22):
most certainly is not. But it's a necessary time where
we have to pick up our vote and go and
do something about it. That's where we are. And I
hope you have your voter plan tomorrow, if you haven't
voted already, I hope you've made plans. I hope you
know where your precinct is. I hope you know what
(24:43):
time you're going, because most people are going to go
before work and after work. If you can get off
on lunch, you might still meet up with a whole
lot of people who are doing the same thing. If
you can get some time off, that would be best.
If you go and then you're like in almost every
single state. I don't know a single state where if
you're in line at the time of the closing of
(25:04):
the polls you can stay in line I don't know
a single state that won't allow you to do that.
So even if you get off work and you have
to go and get in line and stay in line
until nine ten o'clock, even if they start calling states,
don't get out of line. These are lessons that we've
learned over the years, and it just bears repeating. I
hope you know them off the top of your head,
(25:24):
but it bears repeating. We've got to save democracy because
it's literally our only chance, and I contextualize it like this.
We've seen in world history life before democracy. We've seen
the results. But you know, what we haven't seen is
(25:45):
a global order that is anti democracy, that has the
power of AI, that has the power of algorithms, that
has drones at their disposal, that has all of the
technology and they to not only control but manipulate popular opinion.
(26:06):
AI targeting of drones being currently used in Gaza. We've
never seen a global order that is anti democratic, that
has all of these resources at their disposal. And so
we're faced with the proposition of almost an everlasting order
(26:27):
that can't be trumped, no pun intended at all, that
can't be overthrown because of the sheer force of their
weapons and their technology. And if you can textualize it.
For the decision made back in July that the president
of the United States cannot be held criminally responsible for
(26:51):
any of their official acts, well then that just gives
Donald Trump a free check to do whatever the hell
he wants to to us. And he did that before.
I mean, he did whatever he wanted to do before
that decision from the Supreme Court. The only thing that
stopped him was that he was surrounded by people who
put the United States of America first. He will not
(27:13):
be surrounded by those people this time. And I know
I'm preaching to the choir, I know it, but I
just want to steal your resolve. If you hesitated for
a minute about not voting tomorrow, don't don't hesitate. Let
me make sure I'm very clear on that. Go vote,
(27:36):
we need it. State of Florida was decided by what
six hundred votes back in two thousand. Now, of course
that was because the Supreme Court waded in and said
not to allow the recount of I think Dade County
and Broward County. Your vote matters so significantly. And again,
I know I'm preaching to the choir but let me
(27:56):
preach about how many people are actively telling Black folks
not to vote. It just amazes me why or how
it is that the Black community is the number one
targeted community with that message. And now the other message
(28:17):
that is prevalent is one that is bought and paid
for by all the money that MAGA is making with
all of these celebrities, key celebrities who are coming out
on support for Donald Trump. If you don't think your
vote matters, you have to ask yourself would they be
spending all of these millions about it?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
They offered fifty.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Cent three million dollars to come perform in Madison Square
Garden last week.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
He turned it down. If voting didn't matter.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Do you think that they would be expending this much
money to do two things, to try to convince Black
people to vote for Donald Trump or to convince us
not to vote at all.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
That's all. That's it.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I don't know if there's a whole lot more to say.
But hopeful, doctor Mac, I'm hopeful you convinced me. The
polling out of Iowa convinced me I can put some
hope here. I can put some hope and good vibes
and positive energy and all that in addition to the
(29:16):
fact that me and my wife are going to get
up tomorrow and we're gonna take our kids with us
as we go. Vote for Kamala Harris for President of
the United States of America. Why Because America deserves better
than Donald Trump, The world deserves better than MAGA, and
(29:38):
the world deserves a chance to be better than everything
America has been in the past. We can do better,
we will do better, but we can't do better without democracy.
That's all the time I have for you folks today.
I will see you tomorrow. Go vote, love you mean it.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
The Benjamin Dixon Show is only possible with listener support.
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Go to www dot patreon dot com, forward slash the
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If you like this episode, be sure to share, like,
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Flash the BTV Show.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and gender non conforming individuals to another
episode of The Benjamin Dixon Show. I am, of course
your host, Benjamin Dixon. Today is Monday. It is November fourth,
two thousand and twenty four. Tomorrow is election Day. And
I vacillate back and forth between being cautious with optimism
(00:47):
as well as having a sense of doom. I know
this is probably how most people are feeling right now,
because we're finally here. Tomorrow is a referendum on democracy.
Tomorrow is a referendum on the United States of America.
If there is any hope, any anything that's worth salvaging
(01:08):
of the United States of America. I believe it's going
to be determined tomorrow. And I had a conversation at
linked with my dear friend, doctor Carl Mack, And you know,
he asked me, and every time we get off the phone,
he asked me, how do I feel about it? How
do I feel? Do I feel hopeful that Kamala Harris
will win? And I've always been reluctant to express hope.
(01:32):
I don't get me wrong, I express support. We're getting
out tomorrow. We like to vote on election day, and
so that's what we're going to do. We're going to
go to our precinct tomorrow and vote. My wife and
I I am internally hopeful inside of me, but I'm
cautious about expressing that hope because you know, we've been
here before twenty sixteen. We've seen what America does, and
(01:55):
more specifically, I have seen the evolution of the MAGA
misinformation machine over the last four or five years, and
they are doing along with the help of Elon Musk
and what was formerly known as Twitter, They're doing everything
they can, every single thing within their power to help
Donald Trump win. And so I'm cautiously optimistic, which is
(02:18):
ironic because that was my original catchphrase for this show,
cautiously idealistic.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
It was the catchphrase.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
But I'm a bit optimistic, especially especially when you consider
the change that has happened in Iowa. Kamala Harris is
up by three points in the state of Iowa. And
why is that significant, you may ask, because in the
last two election cycles, Donald Trump has won Iowa by
(02:47):
at least ten points. I want to play a clip
for you from Morning Joe where they spoke with Polster
and Seltzer, who has accurately called Iowa for years, and
she is explaining in this clip why new data which
has Kamala Harris in the lead by three points. She's
(03:07):
explaining that no one, including herself, would have ever thought
that Iowa could go for Kamala Harris. But she's looking
at the data and it looks feasible, it looks possible.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Well, as you can imagine, this was a shock poll,
and I've been shocked since Tuesday morning last week, so
I've had time for this to sync in because no one,
not including me, would have thought that Iowa could go
for Kamala Harris. So what we saw there was striking
a sort of elaboration of what had happened with our
(03:40):
September poll where we had Kamala Harris closing by fourteen
points the gap with Donald Trump, and our analysis then
was it wasn't that people are switching their allegiances. It
was that more people were qualifying as likely voters in September.
That would have been they say they will definitely vote,
(04:00):
and that somebody's asked me, well, is Trump losing ground?
And that's an interesting question, and you get out your
calculator and start to work that out. He actually, there
were more respondents weighted respondents for Trump by three three
individuals than he had in June, but Kamala Harris got
(04:22):
eighty five. And that's because the influx, the bigger number
of likely voters extremely went to Kamala Harris. And this
poll is an extension of that that the people more
likely to show up are her kinds of supporters. So
she's got more women, she's got more older people, she's
got more college educated people, and it is ended up.
(04:45):
You look at the graph of it, it looks pretty
linear that her going from Biden's low point in June
up to now she is leapfrogged over Trump into the lead.
So there's lots of things going, lots of things to
speculate there. But obviously we looked hard at these numbers
(05:05):
to feel confident in publishing, and we do.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
And this is the most respected poster in the state
of Iowa. So, you know, back to doctor Max's question
to me, do I feel hopeful? I can't help but
feel hopeful. You know, sometimes you feel hopeful at the
risk of being let down. That's the nature of hope,
but I can at this point, I feel hopeful that
(05:31):
tomorrow Kamala Harris will put the nail in the rhetorical
colfin of MAGA, because that's.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Where we are.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
We're really at a turning point whether or not this
country has anything that can be salvaged, because for Donald
Trump to even still be in the consideration after all
of these years, when we know exactly who and what
he is, what he stands for, we know what he
plans on doing. We know what he plans on doing
to immigrants, we know what he plans on doing to
(06:03):
black people, we know what he plans on doing to
the LGBTQIA community. We absolutely know what he's trying to
do to women. We know who and what he is,
and it never ceases to amaze me that there are
people from each and every one of those groups who
will support MAGA, and I want to know going forward
who those people are. I don't need to know their
names unless you're a black person, because I want to
(06:25):
know if you're black and you support Donald Trump, I
want to know you for the rest of your life
so that I know that we cannot trust you at
the cookout quote unquote cookout, which is code word for
everything that we have to do behind the scenes, all
the planning, all the discussions. We need to make sure
we know that everybody who comes in there who has
our skin color isn't necessarily on our side. And I
(06:48):
think that this is a great flashpoint for us to
make a clear delineation between those people who not only
are willing to ignore what Donald Trump says out of
his mouth for whatever reason, whether it be for clicks,
whether it be for clout, or whether it be for checks,
and those people who want to actively participate in the
very things that are coming out of his mouth. It's
(07:10):
all the same to me. If you're ignoring what he's
saying for whatever reason, or if you're actively participating and
lusting after what he wants to do, we need to
know who you are. And they all need to be
pushed into the dregs of society. But if they win, well,
America can look like something even worse than what it
(07:32):
is today. And it's pretty bad now. I was talking
to my kids and giving them a you know, kind
of a turning point as far as our household I'm
pushing them towards understanding adversity, understanding challenges and why they
are so necessary and why they are necessary for their development.
(07:55):
And my six year old, you know, I try to
make it playing to them without you know, breaking their
spirits about how ridiculous this planet, this earth, this country
in particular, really is. And one of my kids, my
six year old, he said, you know, I told them,
(08:15):
I said, listen, no matter how bad it might be,
you still find ways of living and enjoying life and
having a good time in life. And he said, well,
how do I have a good time? How can we
enjoy it if it's so crazy out there? And I'm like, well,
inner strength, resilience, fortitude, right, and use all those words,
(08:37):
But that was the essence of it, right. I try
to make it as plain as I could for them, so,
you know, all of that to say, the way the
world is right now is not a bed of roses.
You know, America is not a great nation for everybody
right now, not at all. It's a great nation for
(08:59):
those people who have, but there's so many people who
don't have, and there's so many people who have that
are intentionally looking forward to the opportunity to make it
worse for everyone else. That is the essence and the
core of MAGA. That's who they are. And if they
win tomorrow, we don't throw in the towel. But it's
(09:23):
certain is going to be a much more difficult role
ahead than if Kamala Harris Harris wins and we're able
to stave off the very worst proclivities that this nation
can can demonstrate. All Right, when we come back, let's
talk about these empty rallies that Donald Trump is facing.
We'll be back with more of The Benjamin Dixon Show
(09:43):
right after this.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
And I'm in now with the stars. I'm gonna sing
with the Earth Tinto's Deep Flat with Calvin. It's I
never switched size, like even when I die. I'm a
arrived for the squad. A lot of ties in the hearst.
I've been on a five kind of hard to describe it.
Speaker 6 (10:10):
Welcome back to The Benjamin Dixon Show. Visitors online at
the Benjamin Dixonshow dot com.
Speaker 7 (10:33):
Nine years we've had the biggest rallies in history of
any country, and every rallies phone. You don't have any
seats that are empty. You don't have anything yet. I
mean the one we had today, you missed beauty. We
could have filled that place up twenty times.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It was at that point that the cameraman went rogue.
You have to see the video to really appreciate this.
Donald Trump got fact checked in real time by a
cameraman who panned away from his speech and showed just
how empty the rally was.
Speaker 7 (11:11):
Worried by late just a few minutes, just a few minutes,
depending on your definition.
Speaker 8 (11:18):
Of what it's going to start.
Speaker 7 (11:20):
But you know we've been doing I was talking to
some of the people. It's sort of you know, in
a way it's said in a way, it's beautiful. I
was talking to him and I said, you know, this
is coming to an end. These rallies are coming to
and we've been doing them, thinking of it for like
nine years. We started a year before.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's that's the good news that we have a chance
to put this behind us again. Like I was saying
in the last segment, America is not a great country
for everybody right now, certainly not anyone on the global
stage when you consider what the United States of America
is involved with in the global south. So I don't
(11:57):
want anyone to mistake what I'm saying as some sense
of misplaced patriotism and hope and idealism in the United
States of America. As is, I have hope in what
America must become. It's not inevitable that it will become it,
but what America must become in order to not quite Honestly,
(12:21):
we're at a turning point. And this may seem kind
of dramatic for those of you who may not have
been tuned into politics on a regular basis, but I
have a feeling that most of you are dialed in
all the way, so you should understand exactly what I'm saying.
The domino of the United States of America falling to
MAGA will have immediate ramifications around the globe and will
(12:43):
further exacerbate the underlying problems that we have right now,
everything from climate change to the war in Ukraine to
the global alliance of nationalist nations that is emerging. The
United States of America falling to MAGA would be a
significant blow to the progress of humanity. And again, this
(13:09):
is not to say things are peachy keen now, but
I think people sometimes fail to realize exactly how much
worse things can get, and so when I hear Donald
Trump say that this is coming to an end, this
is one of his last rallies.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Period.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
They've been doing it for ten years. Yeah, for ten years.
They have been ramping up the hatred, the bigotry, the vitriol,
dividing not only the United States of America, but dividing
the global order. And you know, for some the global
order has never been good for them. Yeah, I mean
(13:46):
that's quite literally the history of the world. There is
a global order at different times in history, but particularly
now that is not good for everyone. But we're at
a turning point where it could become destructive for everyone
without the hope of recovering to do something better. You know,
(14:08):
it's it might be a shot in hell to think
that we could actually turn things around on this planet,
turn things around internally in the United States as a
matter of policy, as a matter of standing foreign policy,
to change the paradigm that we have been living under
since the end of the Cold War, not even since
(14:29):
the end of the Cold War, since the end of
World War II. Right, the interventionism, the coups, the destabilizing
of democratic nations in order to prop up dictators so
that we can exploit their resources, the dividing and conquering,
the continuation of colonialism. Right, and this is not to
even mention what this country was built on, genocide and slavery.
(14:53):
So in full recognition of just how jacked up this
country is, to tomorrow this country could get immeasurably worse,
which would be a domino effect rippling all across the globe,
making situations worse, not just for people who are already
on the receiving end. I constantly think of what's going
(15:14):
on in the Congo, what's going on in Sudan, what's
going on in Gaza, what's going on in Ukraine, what's
going on all around the globe, the exploitation of human life,
And honestly, I think about the fact that this has
been a constant, a constant theme.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Throughout world history.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Has there ever been a time This is not to
excuse us, but this is for us to contextualize the
fact that we just treat people like crap on this planet.
And that's putting it mildly. We on this planet, we
have turned what could be a paradise, what could be
heaven on Earth, We've turned it into a living hell
(15:57):
for so many people. It can get worse, and it
can get worse, not only instantly for certain key situations
that we're on the precipice of, like we're well passed.
I don't know how to say this, like the point
of no return as it pertains a climate change. My
(16:20):
hope is that we can actually reverse this. I don't
expect Kamala Harris's administration to be that much different than
any other administration as it pertains to the energy sector,
to big oil. But my gosh, if we want an
opportunity to turn that around, we have to at least
have people in power who acknowledge science. And I know
(16:45):
that's like, well, Ben, that's a pretty low bar, absolutely,
but that's where we are. That's absolutely where we are.
We have the choice between people who can acknowledge and
admit that science is real and the science is pointing
towards humans made climate disaster that we are feeling the
effects of. We look at the flooding in Spain. The
(17:05):
Prime Minister of Spain said it was the worst flooding
in a century. Over two hundred people killed in Spain
as a result of climate change. Not to mention what
we just experienced with this last season of hurricanes here
in the United States, Western North Carolina, so many miles
(17:29):
away from water, hundreds of people killed because of flooding
as a result of hurricanes that were historic, and we
had two historic hurricanes back to back. So that's just
one example of how we can go even further into
(17:49):
calamity and disaster by allowing people who quite honestly just
don't believe in science because it's not good for their portfolio,
it's not good for their pols, to allow them to
get back into power. And that's just one I immediately
think of the fact that all of those those people
who lay down their lives in Ukraine to hold off
(18:11):
and fend off Vladimir Putin will instantly be abandoned if
MAGA wins.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
The people of Gaza, who have suffered at the.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Hands of both political parties underneath the leadership of Joe Biden, Yes,
understand very clearly what Donald Trump has said that he
wants to do to the rest of Gaza, to the
rest of Palestine, saying that Benjamin ETTANYAHUO was held back
by Joe Biden. It can and will get instantly worse.
(18:42):
And so I don't place this false hope in this
idea that Kamala Harris is going to come in and
save the world. I'm just counting on her not coming
in to destroy it in the ways that Donald Trump
has made very clear he intends to.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
We'll be back right after this.
Speaker 9 (19:01):
City of Mind. I love, my love the City of Mind.
He navigaves me down.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Yeah, I was born in the city.
Speaker 8 (19:17):
I was raised.
Speaker 6 (19:21):
Welcome back to The Benjamin Dixon Show. Visitors online at
the Benjamin Dixonshow dot com.
Speaker 8 (19:41):
Look, I've been voting for sixty four years. Never really
wanted to talk about it very much. But when dozens
of former members of the Trump administration our sounding alarms saying,
for God's sake, don't do this again, you have to
pay attention.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
This is actor Garrison Ford.
Speaker 8 (20:01):
They're telling us something important. These aren't soft people. They're governors,
generals standing up against the leader of the party they
spent their lives advocating for. For many of them, this
will be the first time they've ever voted for someone
who doesn't have an R next to their name, because
(20:25):
they know this really matters. The truth is this, Kamala
Harris will protect your right to disagree with her about
policies or ideas, and then, as we have done for centuries,
we'll debate them, we'll work on them together, and will
(20:48):
move forward. The other guy, he demands unquestioning loyalty, says
he wants revenge. Harrison Ford, I've got one vote, same
as anyone else, and I'm going to use it to
move forward. I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
That part, that part about Kamala Harris, will fight for
your right to disagree with her, that part right there,
you know. I I often think about the conundrum that
people who oppose the genocide and Gaza face in this election,
(21:30):
which I certainly believe in hope is everyone who in
my audience, and the conundrum of being forced to make
a decision between the party.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I don't personally lay this at the feet of Kamala Harris,
because well, one, the vice president never makes foreign policy.
They don't make any policy they unless they're Dick Cheney, right.
But I certainly lay it at the feet of the
Democratic part Party and this regime. And when I say regime,
(22:04):
I mean both parties, I mean the American regime. And
so I'm very sober about this moment and the conundrum
that so many of us are facing as it pertains
to having to vote for this country, either party in
this country. But when we are faced with a very
clear choice between someone who will at least maintain the
(22:30):
mechanisms of democracy and someone who has made it very
clear their entire faction wants to do away with the
mechanisms of democracy, and they've actively attempted to do so,
then it should it pushes us, It should push us,
it should make us confront as I have had to.
(22:52):
I don't know how you've resolved it, this conundrum that
we're facing right now, but I've resolved it as follows.
I'm gonna vote for the parties that's gonna let me
have voice and let me oppose, and let me attempt
to hold accountable every single person involved with this genocide
(23:17):
versus a party who's going to further the genocide out
of his own mouth, that's what he said, and then
take away our right to oppose him and shut down
media channel outlets that he disagrees with, you know. And
they're people who are giddy at the possibility of silencing
(23:38):
every one of our voices. The rank and file of MAGA.
They love the idea of being able to imprison people
who they politically disagree with. That's what they're actively organizing around.
So the fact that we have a party that wants
(24:01):
fascism and a Kasparian and then we have a party
that is complicit with genocide, but it's at least not
going to pull the ladder of democracy from underneath us.
It's not a great time to be an American. It
(24:22):
most certainly is not. But it's a necessary time where
we have to pick up our vote and go and
do something about it. That's where we are. And I
hope you have your voter plan tomorrow, if you haven't
voted already, I hope you've made plans. I hope you
know where your precinct is. I hope you know what
(24:43):
time you're going, because most people are going to go
before work and after work. If you can get off
on lunch, you might still meet up with a whole
lot of people who are doing the same thing. If
you can get some time off, that would be best.
If you go and then you're like in almost every
single state. I don't know a single state where if
you're in line at the time of the closing of
(25:04):
the polls you can stay in line I don't know
a single state that won't allow you to do that.
So even if you get off work and you have
to go and get in line and stay in line
until nine ten o'clock, even if they start calling states,
don't get out of line. These are lessons that we've
learned over the years, and it just bears repeating. I
hope you know them off the top of your head,
(25:24):
but it bears repeating. We've got to save democracy because
it's literally our only chance, and I contextualize it like this.
We've seen in world history life before democracy. We've seen
the results. But you know, what we haven't seen is
(25:45):
a global order that is anti democracy, that has the
power of AI, that has the power of algorithms, that
has drones at their disposal, that has all of the
technology and they to not only control but manipulate popular opinion.
(26:06):
AI targeting of drones being currently used in Gaza. We've
never seen a global order that is anti democratic, that
has all of these resources at their disposal. And so
we're faced with the proposition of almost an everlasting order
(26:27):
that can't be trumped, no pun intended at all, that
can't be overthrown because of the sheer force of their
weapons and their technology. And if you can textualize it.
For the decision made back in July that the president
of the United States cannot be held criminally responsible for
(26:51):
any of their official acts, well then that just gives
Donald Trump a free check to do whatever the hell
he wants to to us. And he did that before.
I mean, he did whatever he wanted to do before
that decision from the Supreme Court. The only thing that
stopped him was that he was surrounded by people who
put the United States of America first. He will not
(27:13):
be surrounded by those people this time. And I know
I'm preaching to the choir, I know it, but I
just want to steal your resolve. If you hesitated for
a minute about not voting tomorrow, don't don't hesitate. Let
me make sure I'm very clear on that. Go vote,
(27:36):
we need it. State of Florida was decided by what
six hundred votes back in two thousand. Now, of course
that was because the Supreme Court waded in and said
not to allow the recount of I think Dade County
and Broward County. Your vote matters so significantly. And again,
I know I'm preaching to the choir but let me
(27:56):
preach about how many people are actively telling Black folks
not to vote. It just amazes me why or how
it is that the Black community is the number one
targeted community with that message. And now the other message
(28:17):
that is prevalent is one that is bought and paid
for by all the money that MAGA is making with
all of these celebrities, key celebrities who are coming out
on support for Donald Trump. If you don't think your
vote matters, you have to ask yourself would they be
spending all of these millions about it?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
They offered fifty.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Cent three million dollars to come perform in Madison Square
Garden last week.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
He turned it down. If voting didn't matter.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Do you think that they would be expending this much
money to do two things, to try to convince Black
people to vote for Donald Trump or to convince us
not to vote at all.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
That's all. That's it.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I don't know if there's a whole lot more to say.
But hopeful, doctor Mac, I'm hopeful you convinced me. The
polling out of Iowa convinced me I can put some
hope here. I can put some hope and good vibes
and positive energy and all that in addition to the
(29:16):
fact that me and my wife are going to get
up tomorrow and we're gonna take our kids with us
as we go. Vote for Kamala Harris for President of
the United States of America. Why Because America deserves better
than Donald Trump, The world deserves better than MAGA, and
(29:38):
the world deserves a chance to be better than everything
America has been in the past. We can do better,
we will do better, but we can't do better without democracy.
That's all the time I have for you folks today.
I will see you tomorrow. Go vote, love you mean it.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
The Benjamin Dixon Show is only possible with listener support.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
Go to www dot patreon dot com, forward slash the
BPD Show and support The Benjamin Dixon Show.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
If you like this episode, be sure to share, like,
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