February 5, 2025 • 54 mins
We are excited for this Tripwire episode with this important discussion. Staci as a Cherokee woman and veteran, believes the veteran identity should be a positive force in the DEI conversation, not a divisive one. Immigration and veteran status intersect in complicated ways, like with her friend—an 8-year Marine with undocumented parents—who, under new laws, could be deported despite his service. It's vital to stand in our truths, but also stay open-minded and willing to listen, respect, and learn from each other. Through empathy and understanding, we can honor the diverse experiences that shape our country.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/
#DEI #Veterans #Immigration #RespectAndKindness
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/
#DEI #Veterans #Immigration #RespectAndKindness
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
H h.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
H.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Good afternoon. Everybody is Wednesday, February fifth. I can't believe
February is already here. Let's uh, we're gonna dive dive
right in. Uh, it's just Stacy and I this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We're gonna talk about DEI. So, uh, for those of
you that.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I'm sure a lot of people have heard about de I,
it's diversity, the equality and in what's the.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I stand for inclusion? Inclusion?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So all right, so apparently something hit home today, So
let's let's go ahead and start that off, because let's
get all our feels out there and freaking have at
this right right me out?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
So, well, I was, you know, on my way to
the on my way to the studio, and well, in
addition to trying to get my microphone to work, okay,
but I get a call from the post.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I'm on the verge right now of either putting these
people on complete blast or trying to be somewhat diplomatic
about the situation. But it has nothing to this one
situation has nothing to do with with DEI, but it
is definitely has something to do with veterans. And I
want to kind of segue into some of the things
that we're talking about. But I just got a call
(01:53):
from the Post and so I don't know, Stephen, if
you're aware of all of the the the talks have
been going on about Naperville trying to get gaming in
their bars and restaurants.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Do you remember do you remember you hearing about it?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So it's something that a lot of people have been
talking about and looking at, wanting to do, and the
pros and cons and you know, and and right now
you know the vfw's stance on it is it's like
we absolutely would you know, love for Naperville to be
robust and thriving, and we want all of the mom
and pop restaurants to not suffer because of some of
these bigger, bigger places that are popping up on that
(02:31):
fifty nine corridor area over there. We want everybody to
be thriving, you know, small businesses, bigger businesses, bringing in
job opportunities. And and the gaming piece is, you know,
there's a lot that goes that goes into it, and
there's a lot of layers to that and so ere
you know, every restaurant, every county, every city, you know,
(02:53):
there's a lot of things that goes into play with
whether or not they approve it or disapprove it.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
So regardless of.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Any of that, for thirty years now, we've had one
company that provides our golf game have other games in
our post. Today they didn't want to allow us to
have those anymore because we are not putting gaming in
the post.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
We're going to take everything out.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
They don't care, they don't give a shit because they're
going to make more money off of putting those pieces
of equipment in another establishment that might want to put gaming.
And because we're not doing it, it's not even something
that Naperville is doing.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
And thirty years our.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
VFW has had the contract with them, and they the
day they didn't even tell us they were going to
cancel the contract, they actually showed up.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
To take Yeah. Wow, And that's the company.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
The company, the company obviously.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
The boys in the office, you know, our meeting now
to go over some of the logistics with that. So
I really want to say the name of the company
on here, you know, but I don't know if I
should right now.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
But mark my hurtz. If those assholes come.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
In and take our stuff and by anyway decrease our
quality of life, what we do in our VFW. I
will be talking about them for days to come and
they can look for that. They'll be I'll be telling
them to funk off and they'll be telling me thank you.
(04:42):
And so this is so glad this is live on
my Facebook page.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, yes, and so this is a oh and uh
we Facebook is fixed it. So it's going to be
on the kgb r A site too now not only
on your page, but their page as well.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
U using new administration.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And possibly some of the uh you know, the censorship
for for First Amendment rights and free speech, uh have
have stopped and things have changed in the meta world
and Facebook.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It's amazing, how.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
All right, So I'm looking at some of these notes
that you're you're given me.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Because we we we have there's a lot that goes
into the DEI and and there's a lot of different
outlooks on it, right as far as what men think,
what white men think, what what women color think, what what?
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Uh? Just different different, different people.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
And it's because I've talked to so many people because
I'm a woman, and I've talked to some of my
Latino friends, my black friends, and I've been getting some
information specifically uh today. So I wanted their thoughts and
experience and feelings to be fresh for me to share
with you as we discussed this.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So I'm throwing it in chat again because when I
backed out is a big thumbs and small buttons, and
I messed up. What I put in there disappeared, so
because I lost the last chat, So you're just going
to see it in double So don't worry about it.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
But the you know, the biggest.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Thing that I as far as what this be I thing,
I mean, I understand, I think, I believe personally, I
believe it has its applications in certain areas.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I get that, but yes it does.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
But when I talked to.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
When I talk to people that are still on active duty,
and I talk to people that are first responders and
to include federal law enforcement first responders, that's not where
you want that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
You don't.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You don't lower standards for a team that has to
keep their standards high because of the threat of the job.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And so yeah, I've got mixed emotions about it, or
a mixed mixed sediment.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I'll say that I don't believe.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
You know again, fine, it's this whole damn thing has
been so pushed down everybody's throat about equality between men
and women, inequality here, inequality.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
There's a reason why we're different. There's a reason why
we're one half.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Of our species. I am one half of it. You're
the other half of it. There's a reason for that,
and that's how that's how we've you know, we uh
evolution has happened.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I just don't. I don't.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I'm not a happy camper with d the DEI I
am not a happy camper with it.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
So I've had a couple of conversations and one of
the ones that stood out for me as a female,
I am also Cherokee, but I'm also Irish and Argentinians,
so the Cherokee sort of sometimes people got to really
look at me, at my eyes and my jawline, and
then they go, oh, there it is.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
But.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Female.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And I don't necessarily go, you know, I'm Cherokee. I
don't throw that out into conversation much or use it
when I think I'm going to benefit from me. I
would never necessarily do that.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
I don't think.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
So a female veteran and an entrepreneur, and I've had
these conversations.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
My initial response.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Is, I would not want to be hired for anything
because I was a woman or cherokee. I would want
to be hired because of my education and experience on
my merit and on top of that, Stephen, this is
a very interesting conversation I've at with non veterans. Okay,
(09:03):
they and I really don't know what mainstream media is
doing with the veteran piece of DEI, but civilians are
are lumping in veteran into gender and race and veterans
and I said, wait.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
A minute, hold on a second.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I would not consider I would not consider veteran something
to be considered with DEI. I would consider that as
another checked box of merit of with my degrees. I've
got degrees, experience, I've got all of these things that
I bring to the table. Veterans one of those things.
(09:49):
In DEI, we're looking at, what are the things that
people sitting around a table that are going to make
a decision on whether they're going to hire this person
or not.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
What are they looking at?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
What are some of the things that the old boys
Club might say, I'm not going to hire this person
because they're a person of color. I don't like that,
or systemically, or this is a woman and they're not
going to be as good of a performer.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So what are those things? I can't imagine.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Are there people sitting around a table and I'm asking
you this. Are there people sitting around a table saying,
I don't know if I want to hire this person
because they're a veteran howie that part of DDI.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
No, no, no, I don't think it's it's.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Not people are grouping it in there.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
They're trying to drag us into that conversation in a
negative way, and that's labeling us in a way that
I'm not comfortable with.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
But see, this is the whole thing about DEI. It's
about labels. It's not judging person. It's not judging a
person on the merits of their character or the experiences
that they've had, or for God's sakes, heaven forbid, who's
the best person for thefing job?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Right? They want?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
They just want, oh, well, percentage wise, we don't have
enough Africa females, African American females in the in the workplace,
or we don't have enough gay Hispanic men in the workplace,
So we're going to hire this person based on that
Instead of the merits of the the people that are
(11:17):
the contenders for that job, as far as what they've done,
what they bring to the table for their experience, how
long they've been in leadership roles in other areas. You know,
they just want to do it because percentage wise, we
have to be diversified. So they're completely disagree.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So when there's a quota that says you have to okay,
so with with DEI.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
There are a lot of.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Ways that you're supposed to measure this, but that isn't happening.
I don't think people are I don't think that the
benefits or the pros and cons are being properly, properly
measured to really truly.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
See if what is supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And represent is really working. So I think that people
are saying we don't want that because they think that
people are getting like a free ride. I'm going to
hire this person just because they fit this quota, whereas that's.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Exactly why they're hiring under the DEI can under the
DEI process.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
But here's their argument.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think the argument, the argument that I'm hearing is
from a very educated, fully experienced friend of mine that
is Latina nurse I asked specifically, I said, do you
feel if you were trying to find another job that
(12:48):
the DEI coming going away, DEI going away would make
it harder for you? With all your education, all your experience,
everything you bring to the table. Do you feel like
if DEI I wasn't part of you know, our future,
do you think it would be harder for you to
get a job? And she said yes, And I look
(13:12):
at her and go, man, I'd hire you on your
merit alone, right, No, I get it. So I don't
know if I feel like it is it's a systemic problem.
And that word is overused, but when something happens all
of the time, people fall into.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
It's just auto pilot. This is the way we do things.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
This is the way it is, this is the way
it's always been done. And like if she walked into
if I was hiring at a hospital and she walked
in and interviewed, I would be like, you know, I
don't even need to I just look at her resume.
You know, I would care if she's a female or
(13:55):
any or Latina or anything.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I would be like, you are so.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Credentialed and for this job qualified as job.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
But so here's like that. Well, that's unfortunate that she
doesn't see it like that. But here's the problem. When
we started this whole damn thing way back in the
day based on women in the workplace and based on
you know, making sure that we had a diversified portfolio
of people that were smart enough to do the jobs
(14:28):
in in high visually, high high ballutant positions, whatever the
case may be, whether it's private sector or federal government
or whatever. Then you start running amook and then then
something like DEI comes up, and it's you utilize and
manipulated as a diversifying tool to put us against each
(14:51):
other from administrations from other places within the federal government,
and it's usual utilize as a tool to divide us
as individuals, always making us go gnawing at each other
because of X, Y and Z, And I think it's
a bunch of horseshit, to be honest.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
With you, Yeah, And I don't even know, you know,
what the actual answer is or what would be a
solution to this.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
You know, you've got people on both ends of this camp.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You've got you've got far right, you've got far left,
and then you've got people that are you know, myself.
I think I'm more middle of the road because well,
I'm very open to listening to the feelings of people
that are my friends, the feelings of people that are
of color and have different backgrounds and have had to
struggle through different things, and why they support DEI and
(15:45):
why others don't. One more thing, let's talk about this
real quick. So what you mentioned there's time and a place.
There's some situations where DEI could be beneficial.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I think in the school districts.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I think some of the things that you listed, you know,
your educators, the classrooms, I think with our students, definitely
a way for that to be utilized and maintained. But
when you look at firemen, police, uh, certain military jobs. Okay,
(16:26):
so let's let's talk about that for a second. Since
we're you know, there's a let's say that there's a
standard right now, there's probably if I was to try
to be on the fire department, for example, let's say
I was in my twenties, there's going to be a
certain set of qualifications that are for men, and then
(16:46):
there's another set.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
For women, right or one set.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's I think it's one standard.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Okay, So it's.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
One standard but it's a little bit lower than what
they would probably like it to be.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, I believe that they've met a good common ground
for men and women.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I met a good common ground, right, Okay, Now, do
you think that there's going to be DEI hires within
the police and the.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Fire Absolutely, there already have been.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
So you think that there's people that are hired that
I don't qualify.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Look at the fire chief dressed up like a clown
that was part of la He's like, he wants to
say he and I'm bringing this up only because of
what he said, quote unquote when we show up on
an emergency, you want somebody that looks like you. I'm sorry,
you don't look anything fucking like me, because I'm not
(17:38):
what you make up. And I'm sure as hell I'm
not concerned about what gender I am. I know what
gender I am to.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
That person, Steven, to that person right that you're talking about,
they've been with the fire department for quite some time,
probably many years, right, So initially, initially when they tested out,
they passed those whatever those requirements were, right, So obviously
(18:04):
I finished. But that person was then promoted, and their
promotions to where they are. Now you're thinking is probably
through the DEI pipeline, if you will.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I'm assuming it's through and again.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
But that's I mean, obviously they had to pass a
certain set of requirements this person.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
To get onto.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Okay, So so in the situation of our first responders,
certain combat UH readiness positions within any of the military branches, pilots,
helicopter pilots, UH, et cetera, whatever those standards are in
(18:51):
order to get into those positions initially. Right now, do
you feel like there is a DEI situation across the
board with those initial standards or.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yes, because we've already dropped standards for letting people in
the military because and this is where they use this.
There was a massive exodus out of the military because
people said, no, we're not going to take.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
The COVID shot yep.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And then right after that the standards were lowered so
that way they could get their numbers back up. Now,
I'm not saying specifically it was DEI, but I'm saying
that that had a large play in that movement to
lower the standards to allow people to come into the
military who have no right to be in the military
to begin with, and are causing problems and have, because
(19:43):
of their presence, have lowered the standards for others. And
that's not what you want in the greatest writing force
in net work, not.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
For first responders or military. So I would say, not
that anybody's asking me, I would say, we need to
raise our standards across the board for firemen, policemen, combat
ready positions, positions where there's.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I'm gonna say physical strength.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Even though there's going to be people that are upset
with me maybe by saying that. But here's the thing, like,
I'm stronger than a lot of men I know, and
so if I.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Beat that guy, so be it.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
But if the standards are here across the board for
men and women, if they're here now because we're trying
to appease a certain demographic.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
We are exactly and they need to be up here.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And whatever women get there, there's plenty of women that'll
get there, and there's plenty of women that could kick
your ass. They and then and then and then, and
they'll get there and they deserve to be there.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
And there's not ro I have, uh, I have a
second cousin that her and her bow are both in
the fire department. Because they met standards and they are
both freaking awesome at their job.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
So yeah, and so I think that to be raised.
And if if if as a.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Woman, if I am wanting to do one of those
things where those standards are high, I either meet those standards.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Or I don't.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I wouldn't want someone saying, well, you're a woman and
we've got to meet a quota.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Oh and you're Cherokee. Okay, come on board. I'm screwtinized.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So this is.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
This is where this is where it's an abusive Is
that where it has been abused as far as DEI goes,
it's meant for equality, but they utilize it to lower
standards so that people and you mentioned a demographic, the
demographic that they're trying to help out is the demographic
that shouldn't be in the damn.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Job to begin with because they don't meet they don't
meet the requirements. If I'm if you're running a tag
team in a freaking in.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Uh in some federal agency and you're doing high risk
warrant service and hard knocks, do you want a.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Four foot four or four foot two, or you a
four foot nine woman that can't handle Harry.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And her partner who's two hundred and forty pounds when
he gets shot, she can't get even get him off
the X.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
That's that's my point about the.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
DEI and where it's causing problems. Oh and by the way,
because they made it to this level of importance in positions,
they're ahead of their other partners now to get promoted
to like leadership or whatever the case may be, because
you know, they meet all these different they check all
(22:37):
these different blocks through the DEI program.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
So one of the things too, that came up in
conversation with about seven people I was talking to throughout
the day, is the difference between affirmative action, you know,
and DEI. Have you gotten into that conversation with anybody
at all lately.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I'd love to hear what they have to say.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Well, you know, with affirmative and there's a great article
in USA today. I don't know if I put it
into if I, if I send if I send him
the link and and and we.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Can have it post down here. But maybe.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
But so the difference obviously between and I was trying to,
you know, really get a good gauge on the difference
between like affirmative action. And then there's a big difference
between equity, you know, and equality. I think a lot
of people get confused with that equality being one thing,
and then equity is more of creating a level playing field.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
There's a.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
I wonder if if Bill could find this graphic it's
to pop up. It's a graphic where these these three
people are standing trying to look over a fence.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
It's about equity.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And one of them is taller and then the other
two are shorter, and instead of all of them just
standing on boxes, they like switched around the boxes so
they could all see over the fence. Because a couple
of them were shorter, the one that's taller didn't need
as tall as a box. So that's more equity. It's
(24:09):
not necessarily equal, but it is creating more of a
level playing field. It is a very tricky concept for
I think the laymen to understand and grasp.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
With affirmative action, I feel like it.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Was more just focused on gender and with DEI, it's
focusing on both gender and race, which is where so
in reading this article on in USA Today, it was
great because it said a lot about why you know,
white women and how white women don't like affirmative action
(24:45):
and how it really didn't affect or wasn't a positive effect,
did not have a positive effect for women of color.
And so I was reading through it and it was
saying that when affirmative action is looking at hiring because
of gender and trying to give females more opportunity, systemically,
(25:09):
when we look at a female woman of color, what
we see first is race. Now, this is what the
article was saying, but it made sense to me, and
I can see how that would create yet another roadblock
systemically from people that are stuck in that way of thinking.
And so where affirmative action might have boosted white women
(25:30):
and given them a little bit of leg up in
the workplace, women of color didn't really get to take
advantage of that over the past few decades to get
to where we are today. So I found that that
article was very interesting. I definitely have more research to
do to talk about it in a better way, but
(25:52):
I found that that was eye opening. So with DEI,
it transitions us into a way to look more at
women and looking at women of color and not just
looking at you know, just gender, but gender and race.
But then there was the question in this article about
why women don't like it. And then there was some
white women that were not being chosen for specific things
(26:16):
because they were white, And I guess the white quota
had already been met, so then they had to So
then you have.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
That problem, right, and how do you fix all of that?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Like that's going to be ongoing, and I can see
everybody's going to be there's always something, you know, there's
always something.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
So I'm gonna get I'm gonna get this is going
to sound very very laymish and childish. But the last
time I checked the sixty four box of color of
Crayola crayons, what it was still a color?
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Wait you cut out say that again?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
There?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
What the last time I checked a box of sixty
four Crayola crayons, white was still a color in the box.
So I'm going to start by saying this, the next
time anybody talks to a man or a woman, if
you take color out of it, then you're not playing
a race card. And it doesn't freaking run into a
race card. So my point is is, why can't we
(27:13):
just look at each other as humans? You know, you
mentioned earlier about well I mentioned African American or Latino
gay man or this or that. Why can't we just
be Americans? Why why has that label turned so taboo?
I know, nobody uses that anymore. Nobody uses that in
(27:35):
the sense of I mean, especially with the deportation stuff
going on right now, I would prefer that citizenship is verified.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
You know, we want.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
The movement from the new administration is bring jobs back
to America. Okay, how about you give those jobs to
Americans aside from dei or yea dei, and aside from
race and all this other bullshit that's been going on
over the last couple of administrations. I have found that
(28:08):
it is the hardest thing for me to do is
to comprehend why I have such a hard time as
a natural born citizen in this country that served this country,
to live in this country, to exist in this country.
That's where we need to be focusing our freaking everything
on this, not this equality bullshit, because you know what,
(28:32):
We're not all made equal. We would all be the
same robot coming off the assembly line.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
If we were all equal, right, we are not.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I am one hundred pounds heavier than you are, my dear.
That doesn't make we're not equal in that capacity.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Does any sense way more push ups than you can.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I you do twenty twenty three day, but I can
do I can do more one arm push ups than
you can.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Yes, you can.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
But you're also like Spider Man, and I have a
lot of weight that doesn't shift properly.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
But I mean we're not all We're not. We're not
all the same, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
You don tropes.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
They're forcing it down our throats, trying to make us
think that we're all the same in that we all
deserve the same thing.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
No, we don't. No, we don't how it works. No,
Because I know people.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Out there that are so much smarter than me, that
are in way better shape than me, that are you know,
winning winning on stage, that are making moves that I
can only dream of making. And I just look at
that and I go, man, I want to learn from you.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
I want to learn from you.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
You are just amazing in all ways, and that I
am not equal to that person.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Okay, so let me put it, let me let me
throw it out this under the DEI categories. Right now,
I should be able to go to my weight bracket
in your events in May, and regardless of having any
experience as.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
A weightlifter, I should be able to.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Perform and get at least, you know, a participation ward,
and I'm I am nowhere near in the category of
caliber of person to meet the criteria of what the
individuals that have been working their ass off for fucking
years do at your events.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Right, And you know what, You're not wrong when you're
saying this, because that that happens, and it happens all
too often. There are people that will walk into these
local competitions and are you know, are far from ready
from being on stage and the coach, you know, the
coaches obviously should have told the person. Sometimes they don't
have a coach, But you're right, like, there will be
(30:36):
people that show up that should absolutely not be getting
on stage.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Last time I checked, you didn't have Irish Fat Bastard.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
We do not have that division.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
We do not we do not have the Irish Fat
Master division, unfortunately. But there is a qualification to move
up to the next level and in the national level,
and then there's a qualification and you have to be
you know, you have to place first or second in
your class to move up past that local level. And
you know what, you you know, these people that just
show up just so they can say that they've set
(31:05):
a goal and achieved a goal. And I try to
be I try to be gentle with some of those
people because you never know what their story is, right.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Like you never know what your story. People have been
like sevens and.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
This also be really a very kind person I am.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
You could be in the best shape of your life.
I don't know wh I'm talking into this because it's.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Not working right now, but listen, you could be in
the best shape of your life, and this could be
the one thing that's keeping you together, you know, getting
on stage and and I see it from that point
of view, but like ninety percent of the audience members
would be like, who's this guy and what is he
doing up here?
Speaker 4 (31:41):
And you know he.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Should have to qualify in order to even walk on stage,
and you know, but you're right. And then as a promoter,
I can't say, oh, you look good enough. You don't
you look good enough? You don't I'm not allowed to
do that.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
I get sued.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, I understand.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
So you're right with that.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
But the standards haven't been lowered, is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Not they have, well, no, they have not been lowered
as far as the qualifications to move up to a
higher level. And then so they haven't they haven't been
they haven't necessarily been lowered.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Right, So I'm just going to say this.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
I'll use myself as an example, and and you on
the on the flip side of that, because we just
talked about your events and you know how I should
be there and I should be trained and competing in May,
so uh and and all that, and I've shared all
the qualifications that I have to do that. So in
the DEI arena, if you don't meet certain standards which
(32:44):
have been lowered, Okay, So what I'm getting at is, uh,
do you want to go work on a bomb?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Do you want to take a bomb apart me? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
You I would rather not, right, Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
But yet through the program, if somebody does want to
do that but they don't.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Meet this, they didn't meet the same qualifications that I had, we.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Don't want new we don't want that.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I But this is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Rights somebody just because somebody is a woman.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
Or yes, yes, but okay, let's look at that.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
And I agree with you, but let's look at on
the flip side, right, I'm going to tell you right now,
and and I can speak from experience with this. Let's
look at the veteran community, let's look at the EOD community,
and I'm sure you've got an equal set of badass
women along with badass men.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Historically though in the VFW FO example, or in the military,
you know, we've got a very male dominated industry.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
So I was talking to.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
One of my friends and she was like, you know,
you know, are you the first woman commander?
Speaker 4 (33:57):
You know?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
And I'm not.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I'm the second, but one hundred and twenty five years,
one hundred and twenty five years. Our VFW post has
not been there for one hundred and twenty five years,
but it's been there for a very long time.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
And I am the second.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
But here there's a couple of things to that, right,
there's a couple of pieces there. Male dominant. For years,
the amount of women to even choose from has been
very slim. Right, So if we've got one hundred men
that want a job and two women, and you're not
going to just pick one of the women just because
one of them applies.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
It doesn't work.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
If neither one of those women are qualified or do
the job, and they shouldn't get it.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
But if one of them are, that's great.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
But it's going to take years and years and years
for women to do that male dominated job, to get
good enough and get the experience to pass it on
to teach the next generation, for then a woman to
finally step up and go here.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
I am. You know Nina who was my predecessor.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
She was an amazing commander as a female and really
paid the way for other women to be a commander
at the VFW. Sure there's only been two, but I mean,
no one is telling me not to do the job.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
They are so supportive.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
It's a ton of men and they are supportive and
open minded to it. And I know I definitely didn't
get the job just because I was a woman. I mean,
that's like, you know what I mean. But in the EOD, yes,
it absolutely was based on Merritt.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
But I proved it.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
I worked my assf But I just know that as
a fifty four year old woman, I know I have
to prove myself as a woman in a male dominated industry.
Like when I was pregnant, I didn't even want to
take maternity leave when I was in the military.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
I wanted to just keep on working.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
I was, I really was afraid that this baby was
not issued to me in my seabag. Right, So people
might hear me say that and they might go, oh
my gosh, that's terrible. But this is the thing. This
is what sets me apart from some other women that
might not be in a situation where they're taking getting those.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
Jobs and moving forward. I mean, that is my mindset.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
And you got a woman that's going to meet those
higher standards on the police department, on the fire department.
Their mindset is that nothing is going to stop them nothing.
They will never for one moment have a victim mindset.
That woman gets that higher level, that becomes that Thunderbird pilot,
that becomes that blue Angel pilot, that woman that is
the EOD, that person that gets to that that woman
(36:18):
that gets to that spot, regardless of what color they are,
they don't have a victim mindset. They don't let it
knock them down, and we don't need the DEI. But
the problem is there's a lot of people that are
still in that world, and I don't know if it's generational,
it could be.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, because I was
just going to make a point, a perfect segue into this.
Back when I went in the Marine Corps nineteen ninety one,
Mothers of America, through their yelling at the government and
congressional hearings and so on and so forth, started to
(36:54):
sway how we were being treated as recruits through Marine
Corps boot camp.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
They couldn't put their hands on us.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
They couldn't freaking you know, punch us or knock the
wind out of us, or be that level of toughness.
And then let's talk about hazing. It's some of it
is tradition, some of it is the right of passage.
But now we can't do hazing in the military because
Johnny whatever got his.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Hurt feelings shirt.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
You know, he may just of hazing or whatever, and
he complained to a mom, and a mom complained to
a senator. And then we've got all these you know,
self ego inflated, freaking electoral jackasses out of DC that
think that they understand how to run the military when
they've never been in the damn military to begin with.
So you know, I understand that, you know, I understand that,
(37:45):
But that was the start of this moving forward with
this military crap that's going on right now, And I
am really bent out of shape at how the military
has lowered its standards.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
Now, am I? Because you know, I.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Just at the boot camp level, just at the boot
camp level.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
You know, I do the measurements and I do their weight,
the measurements and the weight for a lot of the
recruiters send their the then them over here to the studio.
Speaker 4 (38:15):
So and a lot of them are out of standard.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
But they go in and then they've got like the
first couple of weeks of boot camp to get their
you know, their act together. Some of them are pushed
pushed back until they get to a certain place. But
you know, it wasn't like that when you went in.
I mean we had to be.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
For over a year.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
We had to be on point. Yeah, we had went
into boot camp, right.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
So I I definitely see it firsthand, the standards that
they've lowered. So I want to I want to ask you, like, okay,
as far as veterans, were veterans, and we've got veterans
that are watching this, and there are some there are
a lot of civilians that watch this. A lot of
my friends watch this, and I get you know, a
lot of my the things that I talk about because.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
I'm in a very diverse world of people, right, And I.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Love my.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
I love yes, and I love my diverse, you know,
world of people.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
It was just a joke for the audience. It was
just a joke. I like people too, so and.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
I love because I can talk to these people and
these women that I've got and men. But they're smart,
you know, and they're well rounded, and they bring different
concepts to the conversation and I really respect, you know,
their views on DEI And I've got you know, I've
got a friend I've got We're not really talking about immigration,
but you did bring it up. I have a friend
(39:38):
that is like, she's works in a school systems speech pathologist.
She's I think in her mid thirties, and she came
over here when she was.
Speaker 4 (39:52):
Four years old. Her parents are undocumented, and.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
She's she's scared to death. She's scared to death, you know,
And and I feel for her. She's one of the smartest,
most wonderful people that gives back to the country. And
then you've got people that I know, some people that
I know, a marine, a marine that was born here,
born here. His parents are undocumented, but he was born
(40:21):
here and then he was in the Marines for eight years.
So technically some of these these laws executive orders kind
of target some of these people that I'm close to,
and I'm.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Just curious to see how that plays out.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Because these criminals, people that are breaking the law, people
that are raping children.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean, Like, could we.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
People that are like legitimately American citizens, could we ship
them out to like you know, you know what I'll say.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
But my point is.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Is that I hope, I hope that these things work
itself out, because I would hate to see my friend,
you know, that was an amazing marine and somebody go, yep,
well your time's up.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
You got to go because you were born here. But
your parents are undocumented, so bothers.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Me, Right, I understand that.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
So first off, he should be under still under the
grandfather clause of born in the United States, is a
citizen in the United States. Okay, that's still a grandfather
clause that's out there.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Second thing is is that.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Your your friend who works in education speech pathologists, she
should be without trying to bring, you know, the spotlight
on her, but she should be that there should be
a situation or a some type of within this whole
process and program, there should be some option for a
(41:53):
person of her caliber who has known nothing but this
country and is a product a member of this society
where they can apply for their membership almost like their visa,
and then they stay until they can get their citizenship.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, one would hope.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
But what she has, what she has, and it escapes
me at the moment, And I hope that somebody might
when they're hearing me talk about this.
Speaker 4 (42:21):
I hope somebody maybe writes.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
It up what it is exactly the type of work
visa that she has, if she was brought over here
by undocumented it's a type of work visa, and it
escapes me right now. But specifically within the immigration laws
and changes that that Trump's put forth, he specifically named
this type of visa that she has as being one
(42:46):
that he's not going to recognize anymore. So, I mean,
some of these really good people are, you know, legitimately worried.
And I feel for him, I mean I definitely. I mean,
if somebody is if a forty if a forty year
old man is over here illegally and he is robbing
(43:10):
convenience stores and raping women and children.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
Then you know, absolutely get them the hell out of here.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
But I hope that there are different layers to this,
and this is way above my agreed. You know, we're
just talking now, We're talking about our thoughts and feelings
and looking at it different I look at different people,
different people's experiences, and you know, I mean, there's certain
(43:37):
there are things that I'm very adamant about. Hence the
beginning of this podcast when I, you know, mentioned what
I was really angry about as we started out, I
didn't understand.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
That you were angry in the first part of the podcast,
not at all.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
So, you know, but there's a lot of things, and
there's a lot of things, and people are very angry,
angry about the DEI changes and about immigration and because
they're very personally affected family members, loved ones, and I
get that, and that's why when we discuss it, I
like people. I want people to have an open mind
(44:12):
about about being angry and about being mean, and about
being so adamant and standing. You know, there's one thing
about standing in your truth, but standing so much in
your truth that you put yourself into quicksand you know, Okay,
(44:34):
we need to be careful about that.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
I don't disagree with you. So what I was going
to see, what I was going to say, is is that.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
And I want the viewers to remember this. You know,
I'm not I'm not against immigration. I'm not against I
hope I hope to God that women are not women,
that people that they are living in this country, that
are you know, that are productive members of society.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
I hope they can.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
I hope they can state this is the only life
they know, you know, and her parents came from whatever country.
She doesn't know what the hell to do back there
in that country. It's a different it's a completely different world.
I get that. I'm empathetic to those plights completely. You know,
I'm the first from my dad's side of the family.
He was he was a young, young young boy when
(45:24):
he immigrated here from Ireland with his family. So I'm
first generation Irish in the States. I'm the son of
an immigrant. I get it.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I understand these things. But here's my problem.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
People, Aside from those those two factors right there, there
are so many millions of people in this country that
broke the effing law.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
You broke the law because if.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
You want it so bad in this country, then you
apply for visa to come to this country. You apply,
you go through the proper channels of immigration. And I'm
not saying that that's that's easy at all. I'm not
saying it's a fantastic system. I'll definitely say that there
are a bunch of monkeys and the gear works in
(46:15):
that in that organization as far as immigration goes. But
my point is is that that's the way the law is written.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
Follow the damn law. That's all there is to It's
all there is to it.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
I want to look and see my friend had sent
me something. I she said, uh so that USA today.
I'm going to put this in the chat.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Maybe you put that other thing in the chat too.
I have one. I moved here to Ohio for this
training that I'm going through.
Speaker 4 (46:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll put that in the chat.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
I got a funny Joe to share with you, a
funny comment that so U Jose, Jose my roaster. Uh huh, Well,
you know, I got here to Ohio yesterday because I'm
doing this whole heavy crane, heavy equipment and CDL training.
Uh it's a vocational program through the VA. He calls
me up and he goes, what are you doing? I said,
(47:20):
I just, I'm just I just got here to the hotel.
I'm here for fourteen weeks in Ohio. He goes, are
you in rehab? He's like, are you in rehab? I'm like, no, asshole,
I'm not in rehab. I'm taking a freaking training course.
I thought that was hilarious.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
Well, yeah, okay, here we go. Hold on, I'm going
to put this. This is a good article. There's a
lot of articles out there, you know, like there's different
articles and different people like to Okay, this is.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
An our USA Today article that I think is good.
But there's a lot of articles out there.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
I mean, everybody reads different things and a different different newslets,
and there's there's a lot of it's I was reading
something on Naperville Talk this morning, as a matter of fact, and.
Speaker 4 (48:12):
They asked all.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
Of the city council, everyone that's up for reelection and
all the new candidates for city council their their thoughts
on a variety of things and about the you know,
DEI And one of the common things was they were
all saying that the.
Speaker 4 (48:33):
Measurement tools really need to be looked at.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
And I find that interesting that that's one of the
first things you said was there's not necessarily measurement tools,
but like what it's used for. Yeah, so and I
and I just I encourage people to keep an open
mind in listening to people having discussions about it.
Speaker 4 (48:52):
There's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (48:55):
Opportunities for legislative change as we go through this process
this year. And I encourage people that feel very strongly
about this in any one way, shape or form to
a keep an open mind. Talk to people with an
open mind that you probably know disagree with you, because
(49:18):
then one of two things is going to happen. You
either become more validated in what you believe, or you're
going to have this.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
Open mind and go huh okay, And.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
Either way you're going to walk away from that conversation
smarter and keeping an eye open on how your voice
can be utilized with witness lips, and just being a
part of positive change. I encourage people to be part
of positive change and not negative toxicity in whatever environment
(49:54):
they're in, to be a part of committees that try to.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
Make the best of these situations. It's better to be
part of the solution than part of the problem.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
At the risk of being too cliche, I think that
some of those things need to be said again so
we can all you know, we all work together here.
Speaker 4 (50:16):
It's strengthened numbers for the greater good. Do you agree?
Speaker 2 (50:21):
I do agree.
Speaker 1 (50:21):
I My stance in my rhetoric tonight or today this
afternoon is not about finger pointing or two specific individuals.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Absolutely, the system is flawed. I agreed. One of the
system is flawed. I agree that.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Excuse me, I strongly believe that it's not only flawed,
but it's also a manipulation tool to keep us at
odds with each other.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
I agree with that.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
I think that a lot of these things are disguised
if you really take time to read any of these
laws that are out there, and I do, like literally
this morning, I went and read every single every single
I think it was four or five questions that every
single one of our city council members were asked, and
I read all of their answers.
Speaker 4 (51:16):
Because they know them, they show up the.
Speaker 3 (51:19):
Things that we do, and I have great conversations with them,
and they are really a lot of them, not all,
A lot of them are prominent members of the veteran community,
and I wanted to be educated on who they really were.
Speaker 4 (51:34):
You know, and what they stood for. And so I really.
Speaker 3 (51:37):
Encourage people to not just talk about or just see
something online or whatever, but to do some research for
themselves so they actually know, you know, what's going on
and and and how we how we can make a difference.
Speaker 1 (51:51):
Great, I understand, and I'm very appreciative of, you know,
the phone call to say, hey, let's let's have let's
just have an open dialogue about DEI, let's talk about
these things. It is and I'm not trying to take
away from the fact that this is a very important
(52:12):
topic to a lot of people. And I understand that.
One thing I don't ever want to do is well,
I'm opinionated. Obviously, everybody's entitled to their opinion. I say
what I can say.
Speaker 2 (52:24):
I under the freedom of speech. We all have the
freedom of speech.
Speaker 1 (52:28):
If it's important to you, then I hope it works
out best for you. But I do need I do
I as an individual that cannot, obviously, I believe, participate
in de I because I don't have those aspirations to
go into some area and do something that I know
I'm not qualified for. So if you're going to go
(52:49):
do that, then just be careful for yourself, because you're
going to meet a lot of pushback because you don't
qualify for the position.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
The DEI got you. The damn position is what it
boils down through.
Speaker 4 (53:01):
Well.
Speaker 3 (53:01):
And then with you know, with the talk of things
being merit based, you know, we we should be qualified.
We should have experience, we should be educated, we should
be subject matter experts in our craft.
Speaker 4 (53:13):
You know, we should prove.
Speaker 3 (53:15):
That we deserve to be where we are. That's the
human condition, It's the world we live in. There are expectations,
there are standards, there are qualifications to do the things
that we do to make a difference in this world.
And we should meet we should meet them, and and
and and finally, before we do wrap it up, I
just want to reiterate one more time that being a
(53:37):
veteran is not a negative thing.
Speaker 4 (53:39):
If we're at the table and they go, ah, I.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
Wonder if we should hire this person, I would fully
them to fully fully have them go Okay, so she's
she's a woman, Maybe we don't want a woman. If
anybody's like, maybe we don't want a veteran, what, yeah,
I wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (53:53):
Put that in that negative side.
Speaker 1 (53:55):
I get it, all right, everybody, this wraps up our
episode of trip Wired today. Thank you again for joining us.
Stay tuned for another episode next week. I'm not sure
what we're gonna discuss, but I'm pretty sure we're gonna
have a damn good time doing it. And remember that
the paths the freedom is always paid with courage and honor.
Speaker 4 (54:15):
Is the wire we never trip
H h.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
H.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Good afternoon. Everybody is Wednesday, February fifth. I can't believe
February is already here. Let's uh, we're gonna dive dive
right in. Uh, it's just Stacy and I this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We're gonna talk about DEI. So, uh, for those of
you that.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I'm sure a lot of people have heard about de I,
it's diversity, the equality and in what's the.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I stand for inclusion? Inclusion?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So all right, so apparently something hit home today, So
let's let's go ahead and start that off, because let's
get all our feels out there and freaking have at
this right right me out?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
So, well, I was, you know, on my way to
the on my way to the studio, and well, in
addition to trying to get my microphone to work, okay,
but I get a call from the post.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I'm on the verge right now of either putting these
people on complete blast or trying to be somewhat diplomatic
about the situation. But it has nothing to this one
situation has nothing to do with with DEI, but it
is definitely has something to do with veterans. And I
want to kind of segue into some of the things
that we're talking about. But I just got a call
(01:53):
from the Post and so I don't know, Stephen, if
you're aware of all of the the the talks have
been going on about Naperville trying to get gaming in
their bars and restaurants.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Do you remember do you remember you hearing about it?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So it's something that a lot of people have been
talking about and looking at, wanting to do, and the
pros and cons and you know, and and right now
you know the vfw's stance on it is it's like
we absolutely would you know, love for Naperville to be
robust and thriving, and we want all of the mom
and pop restaurants to not suffer because of some of
these bigger, bigger places that are popping up on that
(02:31):
fifty nine corridor area over there. We want everybody to
be thriving, you know, small businesses, bigger businesses, bringing in
job opportunities. And and the gaming piece is, you know,
there's a lot that goes that goes into it, and
there's a lot of layers to that and so ere
you know, every restaurant, every county, every city, you know,
(02:53):
there's a lot of things that goes into play with
whether or not they approve it or disapprove it.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
So regardless of.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Any of that, for thirty years now, we've had one
company that provides our golf game have other games in
our post. Today they didn't want to allow us to
have those anymore because we are not putting gaming in
the post.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
We're going to take everything out.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
They don't care, they don't give a shit because they're
going to make more money off of putting those pieces
of equipment in another establishment that might want to put gaming.
And because we're not doing it, it's not even something
that Naperville is doing.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
And thirty years our.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
VFW has had the contract with them, and they the
day they didn't even tell us they were going to
cancel the contract, they actually showed up.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
To take Yeah. Wow, And that's the company.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
The company, the company obviously.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
The boys in the office, you know, our meeting now
to go over some of the logistics with that. So
I really want to say the name of the company
on here, you know, but I don't know if I
should right now.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
But mark my hurtz. If those assholes come.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
In and take our stuff and by anyway decrease our
quality of life, what we do in our VFW. I
will be talking about them for days to come and
they can look for that. They'll be I'll be telling
them to funk off and they'll be telling me thank you.
(04:42):
And so this is so glad this is live on
my Facebook page.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, yes, and so this is a oh and uh
we Facebook is fixed it. So it's going to be
on the kgb r A site too now not only
on your page, but their page as well.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
U using new administration.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And possibly some of the uh you know, the censorship
for for First Amendment rights and free speech, uh have
have stopped and things have changed in the meta world
and Facebook.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It's amazing, how.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
All right, So I'm looking at some of these notes
that you're you're given me.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Because we we we have there's a lot that goes
into the DEI and and there's a lot of different
outlooks on it, right as far as what men think,
what white men think, what what women color think, what what?
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Uh? Just different different, different people.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
And it's because I've talked to so many people because
I'm a woman, and I've talked to some of my
Latino friends, my black friends, and I've been getting some
information specifically uh today. So I wanted their thoughts and
experience and feelings to be fresh for me to share
with you as we discussed this.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So I'm throwing it in chat again because when I
backed out is a big thumbs and small buttons, and
I messed up. What I put in there disappeared, so
because I lost the last chat, So you're just going
to see it in double So don't worry about it.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
But the you know, the biggest.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Thing that I as far as what this be I thing,
I mean, I understand, I think, I believe personally, I
believe it has its applications in certain areas.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I get that, but yes it does.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
But when I talked to.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
When I talk to people that are still on active duty,
and I talk to people that are first responders and
to include federal law enforcement first responders, that's not where
you want that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
You don't.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You don't lower standards for a team that has to
keep their standards high because of the threat of the job.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And so yeah, I've got mixed emotions about it, or
a mixed mixed sediment.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I'll say that I don't believe.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
You know again, fine, it's this whole damn thing has
been so pushed down everybody's throat about equality between men
and women, inequality here, inequality.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
There's a reason why we're different. There's a reason why
we're one half.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Of our species. I am one half of it. You're
the other half of it. There's a reason for that,
and that's how that's how we've you know, we uh
evolution has happened.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I just don't. I don't.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I'm not a happy camper with d the DEI I
am not a happy camper with it.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
So I've had a couple of conversations and one of
the ones that stood out for me as a female,
I am also Cherokee, but I'm also Irish and Argentinians,
so the Cherokee sort of sometimes people got to really
look at me, at my eyes and my jawline, and
then they go, oh, there it is.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
But.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Female.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And I don't necessarily go, you know, I'm Cherokee. I
don't throw that out into conversation much or use it
when I think I'm going to benefit from me. I
would never necessarily do that.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
I don't think.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
So a female veteran and an entrepreneur, and I've had
these conversations.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
My initial response.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Is, I would not want to be hired for anything
because I was a woman or cherokee. I would want
to be hired because of my education and experience on
my merit and on top of that, Stephen, this is
a very interesting conversation I've at with non veterans. Okay,
(09:03):
they and I really don't know what mainstream media is
doing with the veteran piece of DEI, but civilians are
are lumping in veteran into gender and race and veterans
and I said, wait.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
A minute, hold on a second.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I would not consider I would not consider veteran something
to be considered with DEI. I would consider that as
another checked box of merit of with my degrees. I've
got degrees, experience, I've got all of these things that
I bring to the table. Veterans one of those things.
(09:49):
In DEI, we're looking at, what are the things that
people sitting around a table that are going to make
a decision on whether they're going to hire this person
or not.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
What are they looking at?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
What are some of the things that the old boys
Club might say, I'm not going to hire this person
because they're a person of color. I don't like that,
or systemically, or this is a woman and they're not
going to be as good of a performer.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
So what are those things? I can't imagine.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Are there people sitting around a table and I'm asking
you this. Are there people sitting around a table saying,
I don't know if I want to hire this person
because they're a veteran howie that part of DDI.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
No, no, no, I don't think it's it's.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Not people are grouping it in there.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
They're trying to drag us into that conversation in a
negative way, and that's labeling us in a way that
I'm not comfortable with.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
But see, this is the whole thing about DEI. It's
about labels. It's not judging person. It's not judging a
person on the merits of their character or the experiences
that they've had, or for God's sakes, heaven forbid, who's
the best person for thefing job?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Right? They want?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
They just want, oh, well, percentage wise, we don't have
enough Africa females, African American females in the in the workplace,
or we don't have enough gay Hispanic men in the workplace,
So we're going to hire this person based on that
Instead of the merits of the the people that are
(11:17):
the contenders for that job, as far as what they've done,
what they bring to the table for their experience, how
long they've been in leadership roles in other areas. You know,
they just want to do it because percentage wise, we
have to be diversified. So they're completely disagree.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So when there's a quota that says you have to okay,
so with with DEI.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
There are a lot of.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Ways that you're supposed to measure this, but that isn't happening.
I don't think people are I don't think that the
benefits or the pros and cons are being properly, properly
measured to really truly.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
See if what is supposed to do.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
And represent is really working. So I think that people
are saying we don't want that because they think that
people are getting like a free ride. I'm going to
hire this person just because they fit this quota, whereas that's.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Exactly why they're hiring under the DEI can under the
DEI process.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
But here's their argument.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think the argument, the argument that I'm hearing is
from a very educated, fully experienced friend of mine that
is Latina nurse I asked specifically, I said, do you
feel if you were trying to find another job that
(12:48):
the DEI coming going away, DEI going away would make
it harder for you? With all your education, all your experience,
everything you bring to the table. Do you feel like
if DEI I wasn't part of you know, our future,
do you think it would be harder for you to
get a job? And she said yes, And I look
(13:12):
at her and go, man, I'd hire you on your
merit alone, right, No, I get it. So I don't
know if I feel like it is it's a systemic problem.
And that word is overused, but when something happens all
of the time, people fall into.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
It's just auto pilot. This is the way we do things.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
This is the way it is, this is the way
it's always been done. And like if she walked into
if I was hiring at a hospital and she walked
in and interviewed, I would be like, you know, I
don't even need to I just look at her resume.
You know, I would care if she's a female or
(13:55):
any or Latina or anything.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I would be like, you are so.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Credentialed and for this job qualified as job.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
But so here's like that. Well, that's unfortunate that she
doesn't see it like that. But here's the problem. When
we started this whole damn thing way back in the
day based on women in the workplace and based on
you know, making sure that we had a diversified portfolio
of people that were smart enough to do the jobs
(14:28):
in in high visually, high high ballutant positions, whatever the
case may be, whether it's private sector or federal government
or whatever. Then you start running amook and then then
something like DEI comes up, and it's you utilize and
manipulated as a diversifying tool to put us against each
(14:51):
other from administrations from other places within the federal government,
and it's usual utilize as a tool to divide us
as individuals, always making us go gnawing at each other
because of X, Y and Z, And I think it's
a bunch of horseshit, to be honest.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
With you, Yeah, And I don't even know, you know,
what the actual answer is or what would be a
solution to this.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
You know, you've got people on both ends of this camp.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You've got you've got far right, you've got far left,
and then you've got people that are you know, myself.
I think I'm more middle of the road because well,
I'm very open to listening to the feelings of people
that are my friends, the feelings of people that are
of color and have different backgrounds and have had to
struggle through different things, and why they support DEI and
(15:45):
why others don't. One more thing, let's talk about this
real quick. So what you mentioned there's time and a place.
There's some situations where DEI could be beneficial.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I think in the school districts.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I think some of the things that you listed, you know,
your educators, the classrooms, I think with our students, definitely
a way for that to be utilized and maintained. But
when you look at firemen, police, uh, certain military jobs. Okay,
(16:26):
so let's let's talk about that for a second. Since
we're you know, there's a let's say that there's a
standard right now, there's probably if I was to try
to be on the fire department, for example, let's say
I was in my twenties, there's going to be a
certain set of qualifications that are for men, and then
(16:46):
there's another set.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
For women, right or one set.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
It's I think it's one standard.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Okay, So it's.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
One standard but it's a little bit lower than what
they would probably like it to be.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, I believe that they've met a good common ground
for men and women.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I met a good common ground, right, Okay, Now, do
you think that there's going to be DEI hires within
the police and the.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Fire Absolutely, there already have been.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
So you think that there's people that are hired that
I don't qualify.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Look at the fire chief dressed up like a clown
that was part of la He's like, he wants to
say he and I'm bringing this up only because of
what he said, quote unquote when we show up on
an emergency, you want somebody that looks like you. I'm sorry,
you don't look anything fucking like me, because I'm not
(17:38):
what you make up. And I'm sure as hell I'm
not concerned about what gender I am. I know what
gender I am to.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
That person, Steven, to that person right that you're talking about,
they've been with the fire department for quite some time,
probably many years, right, So initially, initially when they tested out,
they passed those whatever those requirements were, right, So obviously
(18:04):
I finished. But that person was then promoted, and their
promotions to where they are. Now you're thinking is probably
through the DEI pipeline, if you will.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I'm assuming it's through and again.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
But that's I mean, obviously they had to pass a
certain set of requirements this person.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
To get onto.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Okay, So so in the situation of our first responders,
certain combat UH readiness positions within any of the military branches, pilots,
helicopter pilots, UH, et cetera, whatever those standards are in
(18:51):
order to get into those positions initially. Right now, do
you feel like there is a DEI situation across the
board with those initial standards or.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yes, because we've already dropped standards for letting people in
the military because and this is where they use this.
There was a massive exodus out of the military because
people said, no, we're not going to take.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
The COVID shot yep.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
And then right after that the standards were lowered so
that way they could get their numbers back up. Now,
I'm not saying specifically it was DEI, but I'm saying
that that had a large play in that movement to
lower the standards to allow people to come into the
military who have no right to be in the military
to begin with, and are causing problems and have, because
(19:43):
of their presence, have lowered the standards for others. And
that's not what you want in the greatest writing force
in net work, not.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
For first responders or military. So I would say, not
that anybody's asking me, I would say, we need to
raise our standards across the board for firemen, policemen, combat
ready positions, positions where there's.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I'm gonna say physical strength.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Even though there's going to be people that are upset
with me maybe by saying that. But here's the thing, like,
I'm stronger than a lot of men I know, and
so if I.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Beat that guy, so be it.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
But if the standards are here across the board for
men and women, if they're here now because we're trying
to appease a certain demographic.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
We are exactly and they need to be up here.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And whatever women get there, there's plenty of women that'll
get there, and there's plenty of women that could kick
your ass. They and then and then and then, and
they'll get there and they deserve to be there.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
And there's not ro I have, uh, I have a
second cousin that her and her bow are both in
the fire department. Because they met standards and they are
both freaking awesome at their job.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
So yeah, and so I think that to be raised.
And if if if as a.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Woman, if I am wanting to do one of those
things where those standards are high, I either meet those standards.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Or I don't.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I wouldn't want someone saying, well, you're a woman and
we've got to meet a quota.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Oh and you're Cherokee. Okay, come on board. I'm screwtinized.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So this is.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
This is where this is where it's an abusive Is
that where it has been abused as far as DEI goes,
it's meant for equality, but they utilize it to lower
standards so that people and you mentioned a demographic, the
demographic that they're trying to help out is the demographic
that shouldn't be in the damn.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Job to begin with because they don't meet they don't
meet the requirements. If I'm if you're running a tag
team in a freaking in.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Uh in some federal agency and you're doing high risk
warrant service and hard knocks, do you want a.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Four foot four or four foot two, or you a
four foot nine woman that can't handle Harry.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And her partner who's two hundred and forty pounds when
he gets shot, she can't get even get him off
the X.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
That's that's my point about the.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
DEI and where it's causing problems. Oh and by the way,
because they made it to this level of importance in positions,
they're ahead of their other partners now to get promoted
to like leadership or whatever the case may be, because
you know, they meet all these different they check all
(22:37):
these different blocks through the DEI program.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
So one of the things too, that came up in
conversation with about seven people I was talking to throughout
the day, is the difference between affirmative action, you know,
and DEI. Have you gotten into that conversation with anybody
at all lately.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I'd love to hear what they have to say.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Well, you know, with affirmative and there's a great article
in USA today. I don't know if I put it
into if I, if I send if I send him
the link and and and we.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Can have it post down here. But maybe.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
But so the difference obviously between and I was trying to,
you know, really get a good gauge on the difference
between like affirmative action. And then there's a big difference
between equity, you know, and equality. I think a lot
of people get confused with that equality being one thing,
and then equity is more of creating a level playing field.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
There's a.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
I wonder if if Bill could find this graphic it's
to pop up. It's a graphic where these these three
people are standing trying to look over a fence.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
It's about equity.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And one of them is taller and then the other
two are shorter, and instead of all of them just
standing on boxes, they like switched around the boxes so
they could all see over the fence. Because a couple
of them were shorter, the one that's taller didn't need
as tall as a box. So that's more equity. It's
(24:09):
not necessarily equal, but it is creating more of a
level playing field. It is a very tricky concept for
I think the laymen to understand and grasp.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
With affirmative action, I feel like it.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Was more just focused on gender and with DEI, it's
focusing on both gender and race, which is where so
in reading this article on in USA Today, it was
great because it said a lot about why you know,
white women and how white women don't like affirmative action
(24:45):
and how it really didn't affect or wasn't a positive effect,
did not have a positive effect for women of color.
And so I was reading through it and it was
saying that when affirmative action is looking at hiring because
of gender and trying to give females more opportunity, systemically,
(25:09):
when we look at a female woman of color, what
we see first is race. Now, this is what the
article was saying, but it made sense to me, and
I can see how that would create yet another roadblock
systemically from people that are stuck in that way of thinking.
And so where affirmative action might have boosted white women
(25:30):
and given them a little bit of leg up in
the workplace, women of color didn't really get to take
advantage of that over the past few decades to get
to where we are today. So I found that that
article was very interesting. I definitely have more research to
do to talk about it in a better way, but
(25:52):
I found that that was eye opening. So with DEI,
it transitions us into a way to look more at
women and looking at women of color and not just
looking at you know, just gender, but gender and race.
But then there was the question in this article about
why women don't like it. And then there was some
white women that were not being chosen for specific things
(26:16):
because they were white, And I guess the white quota
had already been met, so then they had to So
then you have.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
That problem, right, and how do you fix all of that?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Like that's going to be ongoing, and I can see
everybody's going to be there's always something, you know, there's
always something.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
So I'm gonna get I'm gonna get this is going
to sound very very laymish and childish. But the last
time I checked the sixty four box of color of
Crayola crayons, what it was still a color?
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Wait you cut out say that again?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
There?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
What the last time I checked a box of sixty
four Crayola crayons, white was still a color in the box.
So I'm going to start by saying this, the next
time anybody talks to a man or a woman, if
you take color out of it, then you're not playing
a race card. And it doesn't freaking run into a
race card. So my point is is, why can't we
(27:13):
just look at each other as humans? You know, you
mentioned earlier about well I mentioned African American or Latino
gay man or this or that. Why can't we just
be Americans? Why why has that label turned so taboo?
I know, nobody uses that anymore. Nobody uses that in
(27:35):
the sense of I mean, especially with the deportation stuff
going on right now, I would prefer that citizenship is verified.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
You know, we want.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
The movement from the new administration is bring jobs back
to America. Okay, how about you give those jobs to
Americans aside from dei or yea dei, and aside from
race and all this other bullshit that's been going on
over the last couple of administrations. I have found that
(28:08):
it is the hardest thing for me to do is
to comprehend why I have such a hard time as
a natural born citizen in this country that served this country,
to live in this country, to exist in this country.
That's where we need to be focusing our freaking everything
on this, not this equality bullshit, because you know what,
(28:32):
We're not all made equal. We would all be the
same robot coming off the assembly line.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
If we were all equal, right, we are not.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I am one hundred pounds heavier than you are, my dear.
That doesn't make we're not equal in that capacity.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Does any sense way more push ups than you can.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I you do twenty twenty three day, but I can
do I can do more one arm push ups than
you can.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Yes, you can.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
But you're also like Spider Man, and I have a
lot of weight that doesn't shift properly.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
But I mean we're not all We're not. We're not
all the same, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
You don tropes.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
They're forcing it down our throats, trying to make us
think that we're all the same in that we all
deserve the same thing.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
No, we don't. No, we don't how it works. No,
Because I know people.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Out there that are so much smarter than me, that
are in way better shape than me, that are you know,
winning winning on stage, that are making moves that I
can only dream of making. And I just look at
that and I go, man, I want to learn from you.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
I want to learn from you.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
You are just amazing in all ways, and that I
am not equal to that person.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Okay, so let me put it, let me let me
throw it out this under the DEI categories. Right now,
I should be able to go to my weight bracket
in your events in May, and regardless of having any
experience as.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
A weightlifter, I should be able to.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Perform and get at least, you know, a participation ward,
and I'm I am nowhere near in the category of
caliber of person to meet the criteria of what the
individuals that have been working their ass off for fucking
years do at your events.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Right, And you know what, You're not wrong when you're
saying this, because that that happens, and it happens all
too often. There are people that will walk into these
local competitions and are you know, are far from ready
from being on stage and the coach, you know, the
coaches obviously should have told the person. Sometimes they don't
have a coach, But you're right, like, there will be
(30:36):
people that show up that should absolutely not be getting
on stage.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Last time I checked, you didn't have Irish Fat Bastard.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
We do not have that division.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
We do not we do not have the Irish Fat
Master division, unfortunately. But there is a qualification to move
up to the next level and in the national level,
and then there's a qualification and you have to be
you know, you have to place first or second in
your class to move up past that local level. And
you know what, you you know, these people that just
show up just so they can say that they've set
(31:05):
a goal and achieved a goal. And I try to
be I try to be gentle with some of those
people because you never know what their story is, right.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Like you never know what your story. People have been
like sevens and.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
This also be really a very kind person I am.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
You could be in the best shape of your life.
I don't know wh I'm talking into this because it's.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Not working right now, but listen, you could be in
the best shape of your life, and this could be
the one thing that's keeping you together, you know, getting
on stage and and I see it from that point
of view, but like ninety percent of the audience members
would be like, who's this guy and what is he
doing up here?
Speaker 4 (31:41):
And you know he.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Should have to qualify in order to even walk on stage,
and you know, but you're right. And then as a promoter,
I can't say, oh, you look good enough. You don't
you look good enough? You don't I'm not allowed to
do that.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
I get sued.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, I understand.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
So you're right with that.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
But the standards haven't been lowered, is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Not they have, well, no, they have not been lowered
as far as the qualifications to move up to a
higher level. And then so they haven't they haven't been
they haven't necessarily been lowered.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Right, So I'm just going to say this.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
I'll use myself as an example, and and you on
the on the flip side of that, because we just
talked about your events and you know how I should
be there and I should be trained and competing in May,
so uh and and all that, and I've shared all
the qualifications that I have to do that. So in
the DEI arena, if you don't meet certain standards which
(32:44):
have been lowered, Okay, So what I'm getting at is, uh,
do you want to go work on a bomb?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Do you want to take a bomb apart me? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
You I would rather not, right, Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
But yet through the program, if somebody does want to
do that but they don't.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Meet this, they didn't meet the same qualifications that I had, we.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
Don't want new we don't want that.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I But this is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Rights somebody just because somebody is a woman.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
Or yes, yes, but okay, let's look at that.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
And I agree with you, but let's look at on
the flip side, right, I'm going to tell you right now,
and and I can speak from experience with this. Let's
look at the veteran community, let's look at the EOD community,
and I'm sure you've got an equal set of badass
women along with badass men.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Historically though in the VFW FO example, or in the military,
you know, we've got a very male dominated industry.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
So I was talking to.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
One of my friends and she was like, you know,
you know, are you the first woman commander?
Speaker 4 (33:57):
You know?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
And I'm not.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I'm the second, but one hundred and twenty five years,
one hundred and twenty five years. Our VFW post has
not been there for one hundred and twenty five years,
but it's been there for a very long time.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
And I am the second.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
But here there's a couple of things to that, right,
there's a couple of pieces there. Male dominant. For years,
the amount of women to even choose from has been
very slim. Right, So if we've got one hundred men
that want a job and two women, and you're not
going to just pick one of the women just because
one of them applies.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
It doesn't work.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
If neither one of those women are qualified or do
the job, and they shouldn't get it.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
But if one of them are, that's great.
Speaker 3 (34:34):
But it's going to take years and years and years
for women to do that male dominated job, to get
good enough and get the experience to pass it on
to teach the next generation, for then a woman to
finally step up and go here.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
I am. You know Nina who was my predecessor.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
She was an amazing commander as a female and really
paid the way for other women to be a commander
at the VFW. Sure there's only been two, but I mean,
no one is telling me not to do the job.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
They are so supportive.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
It's a ton of men and they are supportive and
open minded to it. And I know I definitely didn't
get the job just because I was a woman. I mean,
that's like, you know what I mean. But in the EOD, yes,
it absolutely was based on Merritt.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
But I proved it.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
I worked my assf But I just know that as
a fifty four year old woman, I know I have
to prove myself as a woman in a male dominated industry.
Like when I was pregnant, I didn't even want to
take maternity leave when I was in the military.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
I wanted to just keep on working.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
I was, I really was afraid that this baby was
not issued to me in my seabag. Right, So people
might hear me say that and they might go, oh
my gosh, that's terrible. But this is the thing. This
is what sets me apart from some other women that
might not be in a situation where they're taking getting those.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
Jobs and moving forward. I mean, that is my mindset.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
And you got a woman that's going to meet those
higher standards on the police department, on the fire department.
Their mindset is that nothing is going to stop them nothing.
They will never for one moment have a victim mindset.
That woman gets that higher level, that becomes that Thunderbird pilot,
that becomes that blue Angel pilot, that woman that is
the EOD, that person that gets to that that woman
(36:18):
that gets to that spot, regardless of what color they are,
they don't have a victim mindset. They don't let it
knock them down, and we don't need the DEI. But
the problem is there's a lot of people that are
still in that world, and I don't know if it's generational,
it could be.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, because I was
just going to make a point, a perfect segue into this.
Back when I went in the Marine Corps nineteen ninety one,
Mothers of America, through their yelling at the government and
congressional hearings and so on and so forth, started to
(36:54):
sway how we were being treated as recruits through Marine
Corps boot camp.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
They couldn't put their hands on us.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
They couldn't freaking you know, punch us or knock the
wind out of us, or be that level of toughness.
And then let's talk about hazing. It's some of it
is tradition, some of it is the right of passage.
But now we can't do hazing in the military because
Johnny whatever got his.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Hurt feelings shirt.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
You know, he may just of hazing or whatever, and
he complained to a mom, and a mom complained to
a senator. And then we've got all these you know,
self ego inflated, freaking electoral jackasses out of DC that
think that they understand how to run the military when
they've never been in the damn military to begin with.
So you know, I understand that, you know, I understand that,
(37:45):
But that was the start of this moving forward with
this military crap that's going on right now, And I
am really bent out of shape at how the military
has lowered its standards.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
Now, am I? Because you know, I.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Just at the boot camp level, just at the boot
camp level.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
You know, I do the measurements and I do their weight,
the measurements and the weight for a lot of the
recruiters send their the then them over here to the studio.
Speaker 4 (38:15):
So and a lot of them are out of standard.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
But they go in and then they've got like the
first couple of weeks of boot camp to get their
you know, their act together. Some of them are pushed
pushed back until they get to a certain place. But
you know, it wasn't like that when you went in.
I mean we had to be.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
For over a year.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
We had to be on point. Yeah, we had went
into boot camp, right.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
So I I definitely see it firsthand, the standards that
they've lowered. So I want to I want to ask you, like, okay,
as far as veterans, were veterans, and we've got veterans
that are watching this, and there are some there are
a lot of civilians that watch this. A lot of
my friends watch this, and I get you know, a
lot of my the things that I talk about because.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
I'm in a very diverse world of people, right, And I.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Love my.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
I love yes, and I love my diverse, you know,
world of people.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
It was just a joke for the audience. It was
just a joke. I like people too, so and.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
I love because I can talk to these people and
these women that I've got and men. But they're smart,
you know, and they're well rounded, and they bring different
concepts to the conversation and I really respect, you know,
their views on DEI And I've got you know, I've
got a friend I've got We're not really talking about immigration,
but you did bring it up. I have a friend
(39:38):
that is like, she's works in a school systems speech pathologist.
She's I think in her mid thirties, and she came
over here when she was.
Speaker 4 (39:52):
Four years old. Her parents are undocumented, and.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
She's she's scared to death. She's scared to death, you know,
And and I feel for her. She's one of the smartest,
most wonderful people that gives back to the country. And
then you've got people that I know, some people that
I know, a marine, a marine that was born here,
born here. His parents are undocumented, but he was born
(40:21):
here and then he was in the Marines for eight years.
So technically some of these these laws executive orders kind
of target some of these people that I'm close to,
and I'm.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Just curious to see how that plays out.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Because these criminals, people that are breaking the law, people
that are raping children.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean, Like, could we.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
People that are like legitimately American citizens, could we ship
them out to like you know, you know what I'll say.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
But my point is.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
Is that I hope, I hope that these things work
itself out, because I would hate to see my friend,
you know, that was an amazing marine and somebody go, yep,
well your time's up.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
You got to go because you were born here. But
your parents are undocumented, so bothers.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Me, Right, I understand that.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
So first off, he should be under still under the
grandfather clause of born in the United States, is a
citizen in the United States. Okay, that's still a grandfather
clause that's out there.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Second thing is is that.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Your your friend who works in education speech pathologists, she
should be without trying to bring, you know, the spotlight
on her, but she should be that there should be
a situation or a some type of within this whole
process and program, there should be some option for a
(41:53):
person of her caliber who has known nothing but this
country and is a product a member of this society
where they can apply for their membership almost like their visa,
and then they stay until they can get their citizenship.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, one would hope.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
But what she has, what she has, and it escapes
me at the moment, And I hope that somebody might
when they're hearing me talk about this.
Speaker 4 (42:21):
I hope somebody maybe writes.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
It up what it is exactly the type of work
visa that she has, if she was brought over here
by undocumented it's a type of work visa, and it
escapes me right now. But specifically within the immigration laws
and changes that that Trump's put forth, he specifically named
this type of visa that she has as being one
(42:46):
that he's not going to recognize anymore. So, I mean,
some of these really good people are, you know, legitimately worried.
And I feel for him, I mean I definitely. I mean,
if somebody is if a forty if a forty year
old man is over here illegally and he is robbing
(43:10):
convenience stores and raping women and children.
Speaker 4 (43:13):
Then you know, absolutely get them the hell out of here.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
But I hope that there are different layers to this,
and this is way above my agreed. You know, we're
just talking now, We're talking about our thoughts and feelings
and looking at it different I look at different people,
different people's experiences, and you know, I mean, there's certain
(43:37):
there are things that I'm very adamant about. Hence the
beginning of this podcast when I, you know, mentioned what
I was really angry about as we started out, I
didn't understand.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
That you were angry in the first part of the podcast,
not at all.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
So, you know, but there's a lot of things, and
there's a lot of things, and people are very angry,
angry about the DEI changes and about immigration and because
they're very personally affected family members, loved ones, and I
get that, and that's why when we discuss it, I
like people. I want people to have an open mind
(44:12):
about about being angry and about being mean, and about
being so adamant and standing. You know, there's one thing
about standing in your truth, but standing so much in
your truth that you put yourself into quicksand you know, Okay,
(44:34):
we need to be careful about that.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
I don't disagree with you. So what I was going
to see, what I was going to say, is is that.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
And I want the viewers to remember this. You know,
I'm not I'm not against immigration. I'm not against I
hope I hope to God that women are not women,
that people that they are living in this country, that
are you know, that are productive members of society.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
I hope they can.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
I hope they can state this is the only life
they know, you know, and her parents came from whatever country.
She doesn't know what the hell to do back there
in that country. It's a different it's a completely different world.
I get that. I'm empathetic to those plights completely. You know,
I'm the first from my dad's side of the family.
He was he was a young, young young boy when
(45:24):
he immigrated here from Ireland with his family. So I'm
first generation Irish in the States. I'm the son of
an immigrant. I get it.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I understand these things. But here's my problem.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
People, Aside from those those two factors right there, there
are so many millions of people in this country that
broke the effing law.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
You broke the law because if.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
You want it so bad in this country, then you
apply for visa to come to this country. You apply,
you go through the proper channels of immigration. And I'm
not saying that that's that's easy at all. I'm not
saying it's a fantastic system. I'll definitely say that there
are a bunch of monkeys and the gear works in
(46:15):
that in that organization as far as immigration goes. But
my point is is that that's the way the law is written.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
Follow the damn law. That's all there is to It's
all there is to it.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
I want to look and see my friend had sent
me something. I she said, uh so that USA today.
I'm going to put this in the chat.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Maybe you put that other thing in the chat too.
I have one. I moved here to Ohio for this
training that I'm going through.
Speaker 4 (46:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll put that in the chat.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
I got a funny Joe to share with you, a
funny comment that so U Jose, Jose my roaster. Uh huh, Well,
you know, I got here to Ohio yesterday because I'm
doing this whole heavy crane, heavy equipment and CDL training.
Uh it's a vocational program through the VA. He calls
me up and he goes, what are you doing? I said,
(47:20):
I just, I'm just I just got here to the hotel.
I'm here for fourteen weeks in Ohio. He goes, are
you in rehab? He's like, are you in rehab? I'm like, no, asshole,
I'm not in rehab. I'm taking a freaking training course.
I thought that was hilarious.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
Well, yeah, okay, here we go. Hold on, I'm going
to put this. This is a good article. There's a
lot of articles out there, you know, like there's different
articles and different people like to Okay, this is.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
An our USA Today article that I think is good.
But there's a lot of articles out there.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
I mean, everybody reads different things and a different different newslets,
and there's there's a lot of it's I was reading
something on Naperville Talk this morning, as a matter of fact, and.
Speaker 4 (48:12):
They asked all.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
Of the city council, everyone that's up for reelection and
all the new candidates for city council their their thoughts
on a variety of things and about the you know,
DEI And one of the common things was they were
all saying that the.
Speaker 4 (48:33):
Measurement tools really need to be looked at.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
And I find that interesting that that's one of the
first things you said was there's not necessarily measurement tools,
but like what it's used for. Yeah, so and I
and I just I encourage people to keep an open
mind in listening to people having discussions about it.
Speaker 4 (48:52):
There's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (48:55):
Opportunities for legislative change as we go through this process
this year. And I encourage people that feel very strongly
about this in any one way, shape or form to
a keep an open mind. Talk to people with an
open mind that you probably know disagree with you, because
(49:18):
then one of two things is going to happen. You
either become more validated in what you believe, or you're
going to have this.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
Open mind and go huh okay, And.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
Either way you're going to walk away from that conversation
smarter and keeping an eye open on how your voice
can be utilized with witness lips, and just being a
part of positive change. I encourage people to be part
of positive change and not negative toxicity in whatever environment
(49:54):
they're in, to be a part of committees that try to.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
Make the best of these situations. It's better to be
part of the solution than part of the problem.
Speaker 3 (50:05):
At the risk of being too cliche, I think that
some of those things need to be said again so
we can all you know, we all work together here.
Speaker 4 (50:16):
It's strengthened numbers for the greater good. Do you agree?
Speaker 2 (50:21):
I do agree.
Speaker 1 (50:21):
I My stance in my rhetoric tonight or today this
afternoon is not about finger pointing or two specific individuals.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Absolutely, the system is flawed. I agreed. One of the
system is flawed. I agree that.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Excuse me, I strongly believe that it's not only flawed,
but it's also a manipulation tool to keep us at
odds with each other.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
I agree with that.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
I think that a lot of these things are disguised
if you really take time to read any of these
laws that are out there, and I do, like literally
this morning, I went and read every single every single
I think it was four or five questions that every
single one of our city council members were asked, and
I read all of their answers.
Speaker 4 (51:16):
Because they know them, they show up the.
Speaker 3 (51:19):
Things that we do, and I have great conversations with them,
and they are really a lot of them, not all,
A lot of them are prominent members of the veteran community,
and I wanted to be educated on who they really were.
Speaker 4 (51:34):
You know, and what they stood for. And so I really.
Speaker 3 (51:37):
Encourage people to not just talk about or just see
something online or whatever, but to do some research for
themselves so they actually know, you know, what's going on
and and and how we how we can make a difference.
Speaker 1 (51:51):
Great, I understand, and I'm very appreciative of, you know,
the phone call to say, hey, let's let's have let's
just have an open dialogue about DEI, let's talk about
these things. It is and I'm not trying to take
away from the fact that this is a very important
(52:12):
topic to a lot of people. And I understand that.
One thing I don't ever want to do is well,
I'm opinionated. Obviously, everybody's entitled to their opinion. I say
what I can say.
Speaker 2 (52:24):
I under the freedom of speech. We all have the
freedom of speech.
Speaker 1 (52:28):
If it's important to you, then I hope it works
out best for you. But I do need I do
I as an individual that cannot, obviously, I believe, participate
in de I because I don't have those aspirations to
go into some area and do something that I know
I'm not qualified for. So if you're going to go
(52:49):
do that, then just be careful for yourself, because you're
going to meet a lot of pushback because you don't
qualify for the position.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
The DEI got you. The damn position is what it
boils down through.
Speaker 4 (53:01):
Well.
Speaker 3 (53:01):
And then with you know, with the talk of things
being merit based, you know, we we should be qualified.
We should have experience, we should be educated, we should
be subject matter experts in our craft.
Speaker 4 (53:13):
You know, we should prove.
Speaker 3 (53:15):
That we deserve to be where we are. That's the
human condition, It's the world we live in. There are expectations,
there are standards, there are qualifications to do the things
that we do to make a difference in this world.
And we should meet we should meet them, and and
and and finally, before we do wrap it up, I
just want to reiterate one more time that being a
(53:37):
veteran is not a negative thing.
Speaker 4 (53:39):
If we're at the table and they go, ah, I.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
Wonder if we should hire this person, I would fully
them to fully fully have them go Okay, so she's
she's a woman, Maybe we don't want a woman. If
anybody's like, maybe we don't want a veteran, what, yeah,
I wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (53:53):
Put that in that negative side.
Speaker 1 (53:55):
I get it, all right, everybody, this wraps up our
episode of trip Wired today. Thank you again for joining us.
Stay tuned for another episode next week. I'm not sure
what we're gonna discuss, but I'm pretty sure we're gonna
have a damn good time doing it. And remember that
the paths the freedom is always paid with courage and honor.
Speaker 4 (54:15):
Is the wire we never trip
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.