11-25-25 FULL SHOW - Deborah Flora Fills In, Finding Perspective in the Holiday Season

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Mandy Connall Show is sponsored by Bill and Pollock
Accident and Injury Lawyers.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
No, it's Mandy Connall and on Kla Ninem God.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Say Kenny Us through Frey, Andy Connal, Keithing.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Sad Bab.

Speaker 4 (00:27):
Welcome to the Mandy Connall Show. This is Deborah Flora
sitting in for my good friend Mandy Connall, already enjoying
her Thanksgiving a holiday week. I hope you're enjoying yours today.
At three o'clock when we are done, it's going to
go fast. I have no doubt that I'm going to
be celebrating and cooking and baking and all of that,
and I sure hope that you're already enjoying it. We're

(00:49):
going to talk a lot throughout the show and each
hour a little bit about the real meaning of Thanksgiving,
the great history and lessons and miracles of the Thanksgiving holiday,
the uniquely American holiday, but also why we can be thankful.
It really is the antidote, as many psychologists have said.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
Not just to depression. It's good for your health, it's
good for all.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
Sorts of things.

Speaker 5 (01:14):
Thanksgiving actually changes.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Your blood pressure, it increases serotonin and feel good hormones
in your body and for a day and age like hours.
In America, Thanksgiving is actually the antidote to a victim
mentality that is creating a lack of happiness and joy
in someone people's lives. That's different than real victimization that

(01:38):
needs to be addressed, and we're going to talk about
that in a little bit about some voices that are
calling it out where it really is, such as in
Nigeria where three hundred young students were just kidnapped.

Speaker 5 (01:51):
There's real victimization out there.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
But in the United States of America on the whole,
we're one of the wealthiest and most prosperous country in
the entire history of the world. We're blessed to be here,
and there's reasons why it has worked. So I want
to set the town here by saying there is so
much to.

Speaker 5 (02:09):
Be grateful for.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
Part of that, by the way, is our ability to
select our own leaders. Yeah, there's a lot that goes
into that, as far as a lot of outside money, etc.
Certain reforms that we need to make, but we still
get to do that and that's pretty exciting coming up
this next year, as we know it's going to be
a huge election, not just here in Colorado, with many

(02:32):
state wider races including governor, secretary of State, also the
attorney general, many statewide elections, but also for the House
of Representatives, this midterm is going to prove to be
an interesting one. I don't think a lot of the
typical historical markers are going to necessarily play into this. Usually,

(02:56):
obviously the party that has in powered loose seats that
may or may not happen. But we are also facing
unique circumstances we've never seen before. We've seen in a
Democrat party that's increasingly pushed by its far fringe flank,
including socialism, true socialism, self declared democratic socialism. Honestly, whatever

(03:17):
you call socialism, it is pretty much the same formula
that has never worked wherever it's been tried in human history,
and it is one that is based upon taking from others,
the state controlling the not so much owning the means
of production, controlling it, taking from some giving to others.

(03:40):
It is not a system that works, and in my belief,
is not a moral system because it's based on taking
government deciding who they can take from and who they
can give to. That is not the role of government.
It is the role of government to get out of
the way, create an environment in which hard working small
business owners, those who've built large businesses and employ thousands

(04:05):
of individuals, providing them with jobs, obviously and most of
the time giving up hours and hours of sleepless nights
doing that.

Speaker 5 (04:14):
That's not the government.

Speaker 4 (04:15):
The government's job to oversee that and dictate the means
of production. Where I've seen it done before throughout the country,
throughout the world. I mean, it is never worked. We've
never seen it actually work. But when it comes to
our own system, what we have to be grateful for.
I want to talk about electing our leaders and what

(04:37):
we have coming up with some choices. Many people know,
excuse me, that Congress has a slim majority right now,
two hundred and nineteen Republicans to two hundred and thirteen
Democrats with three vacancies. Those vacancies are in Houston, Texas,
in New Jersey, and in Tennessee. In Houston, in Texas,
and in New Jersey, those two seats most likely will

(04:59):
go to wards of Democrats because that is who has
left those seats open. In Tennessee, there is a Republican
seat that is open. We're going to talk about that
candidate in a moment. But a lot of this has
been really even more put into focus recently with the
announcement by Marjorie Taylor Green that she will be resigning.
She will be vacating her office January fifth. She did it,

(05:21):
by the way, as many people know, with a four
page manifesto criticizing Republicans and Trump in particular. Trump did
unindorse her recently and certainly, Marjorie Taylor Green is somebody
that has grabbed a lot of headlines, for good or
for bad. I think a lot of time for bad.
I think when we have people who are more interested.

(05:42):
I do not know her personally. Sometimes I've agreed with her,
sometimes I have not. But when a lot of it
seems to be driven by gaining attention and clickbait, it's
not really serving the people. And many people close to her,
according to reports, have said that's one of the things
that drives her getting attention. Well, it might be more
peaceful when she steps out. Now I'm not saying peaceful

(06:04):
as in compromising. I do think there's ways to stand
strong on principle without it being about some big headline
here or there. But it's going to be an interesting situation,
and I think we are seeing Congress change before our
eyes in so many ways. Obviously, there has been some
retirings of some individuals who've been there for forever, not

(06:29):
literally but figuratively. At least Speaker Nancy Pelosi obviously is retiring.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has retired Democrat with Dick Durbin.
There is certainly a lot of pressure on Chuck Schumer.
He is certainly not popular on either side right now
because of the shut down that did not achieve what

(06:49):
the far flank on the left side of the party wanted.
So we're going to be seeing a change. But let's
just put this in perspective before we talk about this
Tennessee race, because there's a soundbot I want to play
because at least to a larger issue that impacts all
of us, even right here in Colorado. But coming up
in the midterms. According to a report that I was
just reading, thirty nine House members and eight Senators will

(07:11):
not be seeking reelection. That's pretty unprecedented. Thirty nine House members.
So we're just going to focus on the House of
Representative RIGHTCE right now, that's going to impact Republicans more
than Democrats.

Speaker 5 (07:23):
There are going to be sixteen Democrats and.

Speaker 4 (07:25):
Twenty three Republicans who are retiring from the House who
are not running again. Now, in a typical midterm election year,
I would say, wow, that really bodes ill for the
Republicans holding control the majority. I don't think we can
count anything right now as being normal, particularly as Republicans

(07:46):
are going to and not mistakenly hold up people like Zorinmom,
Donnie AOC, Bernie Sanders as being the real face of
the Democrat Party. I think the Democrats are going to
have to figure that out for themselves. But why socialism
Democrat socialism is popular in far extreme, deep deep deep

(08:06):
blue areas like Oregon or Washington or New York City.
It's not popular across the rest of the country, particularly
in twenty state. So I think it's gonna be interesting
to watch. But I want to point out something that's
going to be a race to watch. Next week in Tennessee,
there is going to be a special election the week
of December TEWOD that's where former Representative Mark Green left

(08:29):
his position in June. Republican Matt Van Epps is running
against Democrat Afton Ben and it's anticipated that van EPs
Republican's going to win. Trump won that district by twenty
two points in twenty twenty four, and Green who's now
vacated that ce who went by twenty one points, so
it's pretty secure. But what I think we need to

(08:51):
point out is who are Democrats choosing as their nominees.
Because aften Ben, she did beat out other Democrats for
this Democratic nomination, and just in case we wonder where
she stands, I want to there's certain things that are emerging,
which you know, some Democrats may like, others may not.

(09:13):
Let me give you her a quick background which may
explain some of her comments. Aptain Ben has the degrees
in psychology, a profession and social work, healthcare community organizer.
In May, she was filming herself following and harassing ICE agents.

Speaker 5 (09:28):
But what exactly does she stand for?

Speaker 4 (09:31):
Well, I'm gonna push I'm gonna play this clip. Grant's
gonna help me with that, and it pushes one of
my particular buttons. If you've heard me talk before, this
is this is Deborah Flora filling in for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 5 (09:44):
By the way, you'll hear it in this clip that
was just on Earth.

Speaker 4 (09:48):
It was from her own podcast called Grits, and I
think it was from around twenty twenty. So let's play
that clip.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
I think, as an organizer and as an activist, like,
we really have an opportunity you need to hear in
this country to.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
Talk about what type of policy, progressive policies we.

Speaker 5 (10:07):
Want to see as young women.

Speaker 6 (10:08):
And I think we have, you know, as as birth,
you know, as women who can give birth, men and
women who can give birth. We can maybe leverage that
as collective bargaining, which is the basis of this book
that I'm not I've just started reading, but called Birth
Strike and how we can really leverage collective bargaining when
it comes to having children in this country. And so

(10:30):
for example, like I'm not going to give birth until
the United States government concedes ABCD.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
What do you think about that?

Speaker 5 (10:38):
It seems a little much.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
First, I gotta give kudos to the person she was
talking to who said that sounds a little bit much.
But the reason why we're talking about this this is
the Democrat candidate for Congress and the special election in
Tennessee coming up next week. And this is a woman,
Afton Ben who has gone as far to say as

(11:05):
not only calling herself a birther, and she says women
who can give birth, well, men and women who can
give birth. Okay, we've got some real issues here.

Speaker 7 (11:14):
To say the.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
Least, we have someone that won the Democrat nomination. Now, granted,
we have a Supreme Court justice also at the same
time who cannot define what a woman is.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
But I got to tell you I am not a birther.
And in fact, anyone who thinks that.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
They're using that term to further women's rights, it's actually
objectifying woman, deconstructing one of the most important roles that
we have the privilege to play if we choose to
and if God blesses us with children, and to not
only call herself a birther, but by the way she
has said, and I'll show them to some of it.

Speaker 5 (11:47):
That she never ever wants to have children.

Speaker 4 (11:48):
In fact, she's on record as saying she has a
recurring dream where she stands up and she screams, I
don't want children, I want power.

Speaker 5 (11:57):
Okay, this kind of.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Person that is out there denigrading motherhood, confusing the fact
that men can give birth. Now, wherever you stand on transitioning,
transgenderism and all of that, I believe that we live
in a free society where if you're an adult human
being I'm not talking about twenty one in under or

(12:21):
eighteen in under, you can choose how you want to live.
But it's time we all stand up very strong on say.
First of all, biology is not bigotry. I am not
going to say men can give birth. Now you can
say someone who has the chromosomes that make them a
biological woman who then identifies as a.

Speaker 5 (12:43):
Man can give birth.

Speaker 4 (12:44):
That's fine.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
Absolutely, So this is a little crazy.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
But the bigger issue is this, Well, we have people
out there like this candidate for Tennessee congressional office, Apton ben.
I do not think she's going to win, but once again,
this is a type of candidate the Democrat Party has chosen.
She not only says that, but she talks about how
women should use their ability to give birth as a

(13:10):
bringing birthing.

Speaker 5 (13:11):
People, as she would state it as a political chip
to stand up and say, we will not have children
anymore until you grant what we want.

Speaker 4 (13:21):
Here's what I.

Speaker 5 (13:22):
Also find interesting.

Speaker 4 (13:23):
The vast majority of women who are saying these kinds
of things. Guess what, ding Ding, ding Ding are not
mothers because what does she think are the issues that
women should care about and go on a birth strike for? Well,
even more abortion. By the way, here in Colorado, you
could have abortion up until the moment of birth. You
are in my taxpayer dollars will pay for it in

(13:44):
many instances. What more do they actually want?

Speaker 5 (13:48):
What about rare, safe and legal which was the goal?

Speaker 4 (13:51):
So I don't know that that is proportionally representative of
actual moms thinking that we need to have that even
more than it already is. And by the way, we're
more aren't extreme on that issue than Europe is. We
are the most extreme in league when it comes to
abortion on demand up until the moment of birth for
any reason whatsoever in league, basically with countries like China, Cuba.

(14:18):
You can name countries like that. The other things that
she says that is the number one thing that women
should go on to birth strike for is so that
children can be irreversibly transitioned. My goodness, gracious, I'm just
saying here.

Speaker 5 (14:32):
Thinking I am tired of people like this speaking for me,
and guess what they don't. I wouldn't vote for someone
like this.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
I am not a birthing person. I am a mother
and those are not my issues. Guess what the issues
are of most women I know who are mothers making
sure their kids have a great education, making sure that
they can have affordable healthcare.

Speaker 5 (14:52):
And by the way, since Obamacare.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
It has skyrocketed health care costs. They have not gunned
down the cost of living. Not these kind of issues. Well,
we'll see next week, by the way, just exactly how
people in Nashville area are going to vote. But this
is another candidate, another extreme candidate put up by the

(15:14):
Democrat Party. Well, I do want to balance today, particularly
since it's Thanksgiving week. I want to balance with some
positive voices as well, not just some of these on
the more crazy side voices. I want to share one
from an unexpected place. Many of you may know that
Nicki Minaj, yes, the rapper. I have to admit a performer.

(15:35):
I am not a Nicki Minaj expert. I do not
listen to her music, but I give her kudos for
performing and being successful. She has I think it's over
twenty two million followers on social media, twenty eight million
followers on x And here is what she is speaking
out about using her voice where there's actually real persecution happening.

Speaker 5 (15:58):
Not here in the United States because.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
We don't have abortion enough, or we need to make
sure that children can be irreversibly transitioned. No, she is
talking about the plight of Christians who are being persecuted
in Nigeria. Here's Nicki Minaj speaking on a u N
sponsored panel with you, Abassador Mike Walls.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
Religious freedom means we all can sing our faith regardless
of who we are, where we live, and what we believe.
But today faith is under attack in a way too
many places in Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from

(16:37):
their homes and killed. Churches have been burned, families have
been torn apart, and entire communities live in fear constantly
simply because of how they pray. Sadly, this problem is
not only a growing problem in Nigeria, but also in

(16:59):
so many many other countries across the world, and it
demands urgent action. This isn't about taking sides. This is
about standing up in the face of injustice. It's about
what I've always stood for my entire career, and I
will continue to stand for that.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
For the rest of my life.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
I will care if anyone anywhere is being persecuted for
their beliefs.

Speaker 4 (17:28):
Thank you. Well, there's Nicki Minaje, and I think she
could teach a finger or two to aten Ben about
perspective looking outside these manufactured victimization talking points that are
so proliferated from far leftists like aften Ben, who's running

(17:51):
for Tennessee Congress. She is the Democrat nominee. Where Nicki
minaj as a woman using her platform. This is what
I've been saying for a while. By the way, I
love the passion of people who get involved, who speak
about things, who look to where they see injustice. They
just need to pair that with perspective where is there
real injustice happening? And we're going to continue this because

(18:15):
we're going to head to a break here in a second,
but I want to share this. She stood up and
did this not to be political truns that you inn.
Ambassador Mike Waltz reached out to her because she retweeted
something that the Trump administration had put out saying that
Nigeria should now be a country of concern, particular concern.
And why is that Because in the last four years,

(18:37):
fifty six thousand people have been killed, twenty two thousand
have been kidnapped, and Christians are the most targeted, nearly
seven times more likely to be targeted than others, primarily
because of their faith Christians. And by the way, who
else is being targeted? And why can't some people on
the left here look to this instead? Moderate Mumuslims are

(19:00):
also being targeted in Nigeria. Why because they don't believe
in the targeting of other people just by their faith
and they push back against this extremism. We're going to
talk about some other voices that are speaking up about
this and where.

Speaker 5 (19:14):
We need to have perspective. But I will say this,
I'm disappointed in.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
One part of our culture, Rolling Stone, by the way,
called Nicki Minaj speaking out about real persecution, and they
have this headline it was misleading faith is under attack.
Nicki Minaj speaks misleading info at the UN. She's not
speaking any misleading info. It's just not fitting the narrative

(19:40):
of where they want to see what they would call
victimization and persecution. But we're going to head to a break,
We're going to come back. I'm gonna share another really
surprising positive voice of a woman who I don't agree
with politically, but who has matured in her understanding someone
out of Hollywood. You won't want to miss this. When
we come back, we talk a lot continuing about perspective,

(20:02):
perspective on what we can be grateful for, particularly here as.

Speaker 5 (20:05):
A woman in the United States of America.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
I am grateful to live here and nowhere else in
no other period of time in American history. We're talking
about perspective when we come back, and some interesting surprising voices,
maybe some shifts that are happening in our culture. Don't
go anywhere. I'm Deborah Flora, sitting in for Mandy Connell. Obviously,
the midterms are coming up, but there's a special election

(20:28):
in Tennessee next week, December second, and the Democrats once
again are doubling down on extreme candidates. Obviously, it seemed
to work for them in the election just a couple
of weeks ago, but I don't think we can extrapolate
too much from that if New York is very, very
different than Tennessee. But why it is important is because

(20:48):
aften Ben the Democrat nominee. Right now, the Democrats are
pouring millions of dollars in a race behind her, and
I shared at the top of the show some really
unusual uh somewhat to my perspective, outrageous statements that she's made.
We played a clip where she talked and she referred

(21:08):
to herself as a birther before clearing that men and
women who can give birth. So right, there, there's some
odd background. Then she talks about how women should choose
never to give birth as a form of protest until
the government agrees with some certain demands. Her demands have
to do with even more abortion, even though in many

(21:28):
parts it's on demand here and collr up till the
moment of bird for any reason whatsoever, and the ability
to transition permanently and surgically children. These are what she
thinks are the pressing issues. When I share that she
has degrees in psychology, her profession has been in social
work and healthcare community organizer. Got a couple of great
comments from listeners and want to hear from you five

(21:49):
six six nine zero five sixty six nine zero. One
listener said, I have a psychology, psychology and social work degree.
This embarrassment sounds mentally unstable. Well, I certainly do agree.
I think that many people can see it. It's also
not biological. She worked in the healthcare community organizing business.

(22:10):
And if you can't define that people with certain chromosomes
actually cannot give birth no matter how they identify, then
there are some issues here. Someone else said, and I
like this. Anthropologists estimate that there have been born roughly
one hundred and eight billion people. Not one person born
has come from a mail. Thank you David for that comment.

(22:32):
That is really puts it in perspective, a biological mail
we're talking about. But these are the kind of candidates
that the Democrats right now are pouring a lot of
money in. Now. Maybe she doesn't call herself a socialist,
she certainly is extreme in policies. I said.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
She hates Nashville.

Speaker 4 (22:49):
She has pictured herself harassing ice videotaping, that has spoken
out against the police. But that is very telling and
to me when we look at even more this outrage
industry in our country, where everybody is looking for some
kind of persecution right here in the United States of America.

(23:12):
And yes, we are not a perfect union, working towards
a more perfect union, but what is missing is perspective.

Speaker 5 (23:19):
I wish people with that kind of passion.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
I don't know Apton Ben but and I do know
from what she shared her mother raised her to and
she told her daughter Aten never ever have children because
they will keep you from succeeding professionally. Well, that's how
she was raised. I think that's an unfortunate lesson. But
it's also why aften Meena said she doesn't want children.

(23:42):
She wants power. So her boycotting having children is not
much of a threat because she's already said she doesn't
want to. Well, anyway, but it's lacking perspective that we
switch to talking about surprising voices that are trying to actually.

Speaker 5 (23:56):
Gain some perspective or maybe I've always had it.

Speaker 4 (23:59):
Talking about Nicki Minaj, who has been out there speaking
out about where there is real persecution happening right now
in Nigeria. She spoke up with US Ambassador Mike Walls,
and let's just talk a little bit about that, because
we need to understand where real persecution is happening. And

(24:19):
not surprisingly, some of the mainstream media doesn't want to
cover it. In fact, they are tearing it down saying, oh, well,
you can't really say that this is based on religion.
But let's look what's happening in Nigeria right now. Right now,
nearly fifty six thousand people have been killed in the
last four years, twenty two thousand kidnapped.

Speaker 5 (24:39):
This came into even more major.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
Focus because just in the last few days there was
a mass kidnapping of more than three hundred children from
a Catholic school. These are children along with twelve teachers.
One of the organizations behind this is called Boka Haram.
Any of you may know Boco Haram because they were
in the headline for kidnapping two hundred and seventy six girls.

(25:02):
In twenty fourteen and twenty eighteen. One hundred and ten
girls were seized in another area of Nigeria and all
but one of those children were released. One girl was
never released because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.
Now that's real persecution that we can look at. And
what is surprising to me is when women like aften

(25:27):
Ben claim to be all about women's rights when they
can't see where women are actually being persecuted. What does
Boko Haram mean the title the name of this Islamic
terrorist group. It means Western education is forbidden. That's what
it means. That's why one of their primary attacks is

(25:48):
on women, particularly women like the children in this Catholic
school and other women that they have kidnapped, who do
not follow the extremist view of Islam that they push
and they demand to real law and by the way,
sharia law. It's completely about the subjugation of women. Women
can be stone for all manner of things that are

(26:09):
not even their fault. Women need to speak out about
these sorts of things instead. Because of that, I'm going
to share another surprising voice coming out of culture who
I think may be getting some perspective, not necessarily on
some of the same principles, but believe it or not,
Jennifer Lawrence. I'm going to share this this SoundBite in
a moment. She's now saying that she wants to use

(26:31):
her political activism through her movies instead, and one of
her documentaries actually highlights the mistreatment of women in Afghanistan
once we left and the Taliban took over. But here
is a quote by Jennifer Lawrence. This was on she
was being interviewed by New York Times. And while I
don't agree with her on probably a lot of things,

(26:54):
still I appreciate this kind of maturing.

Speaker 8 (26:58):
As we've learned, election after elections, celebrities do not make
a difference whatsoever on who people vote for, and so
then what am I doing. I'm just sharing my opinion
on something that's going to just add fuel to a

(27:18):
fire that's ripping the country apart.

Speaker 7 (27:20):
I mean, we are so divided.

Speaker 8 (27:24):
I think I'm in a complicated recalibration because I'm also
an artist, and I with this temperature and the way
that things can turn out, I don't want to start
turning people off to films into art that could change

(27:45):
consciousness or change the world because they don't like my
political opinions.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
I want to protect my.

Speaker 8 (27:57):
Craft so that you can still lost and what I'm
doing when I'm showing, and if I can't say something
that's going to speak to some kind of peace or
lowering the temperature, some sort of solution, I just don't want.

Speaker 4 (28:20):
I don't want to be a part of the problem.
I don't want to make the problem worse. You know,
it's so easy to criticize, and Hollywood obviously makes themselves
so easy to criticize. If you don't know, I worked
in Hollywood during temporary and sandy period. My husband was
a producer at Walt Disney Studios. We left because of
the direction it is going to make our own projects

(28:41):
but we've got to pause when there is a moment
that someone actually is saying the right thing. We're going
to head to a break, but when we come back,
I want to talk a little bit more about this
because there are certain things that I so appreciate that
Jennifer Lawrence said it this, particularly not continuing to be
a part of the division and focusing instead through her work.

(29:04):
I think that's really important, particularly since some of her
work is pointing out real persecution, like we've been talking
about Don't go Anywhere. I'm debraah Flora sitting in for
Mandy Connell. If any of you have watched a rattituoey,
that's the line of the critic at the end, he's like,
I'd like a healthy dose of or healthy dish of perspective.

(29:24):
That's what we're talking about, because when you hear about
candidates like the current Democrat nominee for the special election
in Tennessee for Congress, and that is often ben who
is saying things like, you know, birthing people women or
men who can give birth should use that to strike,

(29:46):
do a birth strike if they don't get what they want,
and she claims that what all women want are more
abortions and the medical permanent transitioning of children. Most of
the people who say that, by the way, a not
actually moms. I'm not a birthing person. I'm a mother,
and you know, when I think about the things that

(30:06):
I care about, what I'm voting on, it's not those.
So we're talking about perspective. It's interesting because when I
was trying out often ben, one listener said, this is
the most politically radical person I've ever come across.

Speaker 5 (30:18):
Agreed, it's interesting.

Speaker 4 (30:20):
She says she has a recurring dream where she stands
up in a cafeteria of women screaming, I don't want children,
I want power. Well, at least her dreams are honest,
because I really think that's what it is. And actually
I think it's sad. She's been sold a pretty sad
bill of good. She's gone on to say that her
mother tells her never ever have children, or you won't
ever be successful professionally. I got to think, by the way,

(30:42):
if you're a daughter and your mother's telling you don't
ever have children, they'll basically ruin your life. What is
she saying to you. I think a lot of these
people are coming from a lot of unfortunate situations. Then
we talked about other voices such as Nicki Minaj, who's
out there speaking about real persecution, the treatment of Christians
in Nigeria, and moderate Muslims. Yes, they're moderate Muslims who

(31:06):
are also being targeted by grips like Boko Haram, whose
name means Western education is forbidden. Why because they want
to return to Sharia law. One listener commented, interestingly, a
lot of these white Christian nationalists men feel the same
way about women as Islam does. My friend who just

(31:27):
texted that not really, my friend that's in air quotes
total lack of perspective. I have been privileged to be
a woman in this country where I have been respected
and able to speak on national boards, handling multimillion dollar
budgets and treated as an equal, be a producer on movies,
have my own radio show, sit in here, run for Congress.

(31:50):
That's very different. And by the way, I've been around
a lot of conservative men who've done nothing.

Speaker 5 (31:55):
Other than elevate and encourage me.

Speaker 4 (31:59):
Let's compare that about what radical Islam Sharia law says. Well,
women have no rights, should be killed for marrying a
non Muslim man, not allowed to talk to other men alone,
or they will be punished, must wear a burka, or
they give up their right to not be sexually assaulted,
and must not be allowed to testify against any potential assaulter.

(32:24):
That correlation is not even conflation, it's absurdity.

Speaker 5 (32:28):
So talking about people her gaining.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
Perspective, now, I played a clip by Jennifer Lawrence, the
actor actress from Hunger Games, etc. I'm not saying that
she necessarily has gained great perspective, but I think we
need to encourage and call out positive things where we
see them. Let's just remember, by the way, Jennifer Lawrence
is someone who in twenty fifteen, when she was the

(32:51):
highest paid woman in Hollywood, made fifty two million dollars
that year. Her biggest example, she kept throwing out and
banging the drum on persecution, was women not getting paid
the same as men in Hollywood. She got paid fifty
two million dollars, by the way, that would not happen
in many other countries. And then she acknowledged to her
credit that really what she should do is just negotiate

(33:14):
harder to be paid equally.

Speaker 5 (33:16):
I think that's great. Negotiate for it.

Speaker 4 (33:18):
That is the beauty of America when you have something
that people find value in her acting skills, and I
think she's a very good actress.

Speaker 5 (33:28):
But one of the things I really appreciate that she
did say is first of.

Speaker 4 (33:31):
All, acknowledging that most people, newsflash, don't look to Hollywood
to be told how to vote, probably because Hollywood, like
many politicians today, particularly what I've been hearing personally on
the left, speak down to and condescend the vast majority

(33:52):
of voters in America, and that's what Hollywood has done.
So she's come to that conclusion, but she also so
that she no longer wants to be part of creating
the divide and feeding the flames of the fire that
our country is experiencing right now. I'm just going to
say that's great. I want to call out good things
when we hear them, because every single one of us

(34:14):
can be the person that helps speak up for those
who are really being persecuted, such as in Nigeria and
women in countries like Afghanistan, where Jennifer Lawrence has done
a documentary about that. We can point towards real injustices
being done, and we can help lower the tenor of

(34:35):
the conversations.

Speaker 5 (34:36):
That's what we need to do.

Speaker 4 (34:37):
I think it's a beginning of healing.

Speaker 5 (34:39):
Well, got to head to a break. This hour's already
gone so quickly.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
I'll read more comments when we come back. Five sixty
six nine zero And coming up, we're going to talk
about something's happening right here in Colorado, including a ballot
initiative to increase penalties on fentanyl. And we're going to
talk more about the Pentagon's saying they may pot eventually
court martial Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona.

Speaker 5 (35:03):
Don't go anywhere.

Speaker 4 (35:04):
I'm Deborah Flora, sitting in for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
The Mandy Connall Show is sponsored by Belle and Pollock
Accident and injury Lawyers.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
No, it's Mandy Connell and Connall. M got way.

Speaker 4 (35:26):
Can the nicety us through free by.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
Connal keeping sad bab.

Speaker 4 (35:35):
Welcome back to the Mandy Connell Show. This is Deborah
Flora sitting in for my friend Mandy Connell. Enjoying her
Thanksgiving week already, and I hope you are as well.
But there's so much to cover and we're going to
just jump right into it. As many of you know
right now, after the video that was released. I guess
about a week ago. Of the six Democrats that uh

(35:57):
you know that that we're talking about encouraging the military
that they don't have to obey illegal orders has been
quite a fall out. One of them is that Senator
Mark Kelly the Pentagon has threatened to bring him back.

Speaker 5 (36:13):
To service and court martial him because of it.

Speaker 4 (36:15):
And here to help unpack this as someone who knows
a lot more about the intersections of all of these
different things, District Attorney George Brockler, he is the DA
for He's my DA actually for JD twenty three. Also
has served and continues to serve in the army as
a colonel.

Speaker 5 (36:33):
George, thank you so much for joining me.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 7 (36:37):
Thanks for having me on. Yeah, I really appreciate the opportunity.

Speaker 4 (36:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (36:40):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (36:41):
I think you and I've been on every side of
the microphone on each other's shows previously, and now I
get to interview you, so that the balls back in
your court.

Speaker 7 (36:49):
But I think on every station except kygu I mean
Absolue one.

Speaker 4 (36:55):
Okay. I didn't even realize that we're going to have
to make that a goal. I don't know how we'll
make it. Work, but we will there you go, George,
thanks for joining me. All joking aside, this is, you know,
a serious situation. And I immediately reached out to you
because you're so equipped. Not only have you achieved the
rank of colonel and the Army thank you for your service,
and I want to start there, and I'm going to

(37:15):
talk about your legal background. But just from that position,
is someone in the army, what did you think of
the video that was released by these six Democrats?

Speaker 7 (37:26):
Thank you for asking me. Let me say, I'm not
speaking on behalf of the army. I'm speaking on you know,
as just someone who's had the experience that I've had.
Was really disappointed, and maybe stronger than that, because I
think that anyone who has ever served understands that the
chain of command and the trust in that chain of

(37:46):
command is many times the only thing that gets soldier, sailors,
airmen and marines through very difficult times, including life threatening times,
and gets them to do things that otherwise they wouldn't.
And when you have someone not just someone who's got
like a lot of TikTok followers, you know what I mean,
this is someone who's an influencer. We're talking about six

(38:08):
elected members of Congress, including senators, all of whom cloak
themselves in the veteran status that they earned and basically
come out and say, hey, members of the military, you
should question your chain of command's orders. I know they
want to hide it from it and say no, no,
we're just readvising them of what the law is. That's nonsense.
That's nonsense. They know that men and women don't need that.

(38:31):
They did it at a specific time for a specific reason.
But when you inject that doubt into our military, you
run the risk of really weakening it, especially for the
people further down the chain of command who must respond
to those orders favorably every single time.

Speaker 4 (38:47):
Yeah, you know, you bring up so many great points.
They're one of the things I really appreciate, Georgie, as
you started out by saying, I am not speaking in
my position as a colonel in the army. That was
one of the faults that people found with this video
is that each one of these members of Congress listed
their military title without any disclaimers saying I'm not speaking
from that position. They're speaking of a position of authority,

(39:09):
both as their positions, their veterans status, and as well
as as you said, elected members of the Congress of
the United States of America. Now let's switch gears on
this a moment, because there's that aspect, then there's this
sheer legal aspect. The reason why there's conversation about Senator
Mark Kelly, from my understanding, is because he's a retired individual,

(39:30):
retired Navy captain. The other four who are veterans, were
not retired, and the fifth the six excuse me, Slotkin,
was in the intelligence service. Can you talk about what
that process would be and why Mark Kelly would be
open to it versus the others.

Speaker 7 (39:48):
In fact, the News did a great job of it
at the top of the hour. The distinction to be
made is because he has completed a retirement and continues
to draw benefits from that status, that re tired status.
He remains recallable for a whole bunch of different things.
It doesn't just have to be this. I mean it
could be in a time of war as well. And
I should say this too. And I'm not talking about

(40:10):
the intelligence community people, and I'm not sliding them. I'm
just saying, look for those men and women that made
this video ill advised, in my opinion, video It's hard
for me to hear people call Senator Kelly or Representative
Crow traders, because even if we disagree with what they've done,
and I strongly disagree with it, these are people who

(40:30):
put on the uniform at a time in our country's
history when they didn't have to right, they had to
volunteer to get in there, and they went and they serve.
Crow deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq led troops. I mean,
these are honorable things, but what they've done with that
to put them in this position is really questionable. Yeah,
the Captain Kelly part, it makes him subject to recall.

(40:53):
But I have to tell you, dem and you and
I had sort of texted about this back and forth.
I just think it would be a mistake on a
couple differently, but not the least of which is you
elevate this guy's profile, and probably inadvertently the other five,
you elevate their level to almost like a victim hero

(41:13):
veteran status, like the big bad government is going to
show up because they said these things. And again, I
don't believe that it's clearly seditious or anything like that.
I write in a zip code of risk, but I
don't think that it's seditious. And so you're going to
make Mark Kelly a vice presidential candidate or potentially a
presidential candidate, and you do something to Jason Crow. I

(41:36):
don't think we need to do that here. I think
that had we and again, what our president's style is
is to hit on nineteen. Dude's sitting on a winning hand.
Not enough, I need the whole twenty one. And so
had he just taken a different presidential approach to this
when the video came out, Yes, I don't think we
allowed the distraction that they've had. Now, now all of

(41:57):
these folks are running around cable TV. You've seen it saying, oh,
he called for my murder, he called for my death.
I've had increased security, I've had all these threats. That
shouldn't be the conversation. The conversation should be what in
the hell are you doing? Yeah, trying to speak to
junior soldiers sailors about questioning the chain of command when
you know better. Crow knows better. Can you imagine if

(42:20):
before he deployed to Afghanistan, somebody came up to his
unit before they get on the plane and says, by
the way, you should know the Captain Crow is going
to put you in a really tough spot on a
couple of these things. It's going to be really hard,
a lot of pressure, and you should know you don't
have to follow illegal orders. Crow would be like, what
the hell get away from my troops. Why in the

(42:41):
world would you do this when we're about to do
something so important. So started to rant on their deb
but you gave me a little bit of runway and
I blew it up. But I'm just like, I'm incensed
at the decision making here. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:53):
Agree, Debra Flora is sending in for many condle My
guest District Attorney George Brockler, I agree completely. You know, George,
when you think about that, I remember my father. He
served in Vietnam. It was the lieutenant colonel at Lowry
Air Force Base. And the only time you would ever
talk about it is he said. You know, there are
many things about the war that were regrettable, mainly being politicized.
He said, but when you look at those who serve,

(43:15):
just remember we did what we were asked to do.
I'm not time a out the Meli massacre. I'm not
time at extremes which Jason Crow unfortunately has flirted with
as an example, and I do agree it would be inadvisable.
The other thing I agree is that this equal and
opposite reaction Newton's third Law. You know they do this,
the President says, sedition. At most it is subversion, which

(43:39):
would be under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but
not to that level.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
So I think you're very wise about that.

Speaker 4 (43:46):
It doesn't we don't need to keep it up. I
want to switch gears real quickly. In the last couple
of minutes, I have you on on a different side.
We were talking about this Yester. He had Sheriff Darren
Weekly and by the way, I will let everyone know
I'm not UnBias. I think I have the best sheriff
and da living in Douglas County.

Speaker 7 (44:04):
Well, thank you for saying that out loud.

Speaker 4 (44:06):
Oh you got it. You got dumming.

Speaker 5 (44:08):
We regret it though, my friend, Okay, but Andrew, you won't.

Speaker 4 (44:10):
I know. There is a ballot initiative that's taking on ventanyl.
There was one of the largest findings one point seven
million fake ventanyl pills found in Douglas County. What do
you think about this new ballot initiative? Tell people what
it is and why it's needed.

Speaker 7 (44:28):
This is I believe it's called Initiative eighty five. It'll
be renumbered by the title Board when it finally gets
cleared for the ballot. But people should make no mistake
about this. This is a rebuke of our state legislature
and our governor. If we were in a state that
valued public safety, we would never have to go to
a citizen led initiative like this. But you know, time

(44:48):
and time again, the legislature, starting in twenty nineteen, has
figured out a way to not put teeth in the
enforcement of laws that would protect our community from the
deadliest poison I've seen in the thirty one years I've
been doing this, and that's fentanyl. And there's going to
be something, by the way, more deadly than this down
the road. You just know that's coming. But for right now,
it's ventanyl, and the legislature has really gone out of

(45:09):
its way to make that a crime with very little consequence.
And they've done it because it's the most offender friendly
legislature that we've had, really in my lifetime. So advance
Colorado steps up, they get an initiative together. It's so popular.
Two hundred thousand Colorado and sign onto this thing. And
it really does two very important and simple things. On

(45:33):
the one hand, it says we're not going to goof
around with fentanyl weights anymore. If you sell, manufacture, possess
with intent to distribute fentanyl, you are going to prison.
You're going to go to prison for eight to thirty
two years. We're going to call it a drug felony.
One that's the highest class drug felony that there is,
that's not the same thing as like murder or something.
And then on the other side, it says we're not

(45:54):
going to goof around anymore with this sort of wink wink, nudge,
nudge will recommend some sort of ascent that might have
treatment associated with it. It mandates treatment for these convictions,
and it provides an incentive to do that for the
defendant slash addict by elevating the crime from a drug
misdemeanor which would go away in a couple months anyway,

(46:15):
to a drug felony, which has consequences that will motivate
them to want to do the rehabilitation and the recovery.
And then it also over time goes away anyway. So
I really like the balance of this law.

Speaker 4 (46:27):
I do too, and you really hit on the hit
the nail on the head. My guest da George Brockler,
Debora Flora sitting in for Mandy Connell. You hit the
nail on the head, which is things like this would
not be needed as a legislature simply did the job
of not being offender friendly but instead understanding their role,
proper role of government protect the safety of the citizens.

(46:48):
I'll end with this. There was a recent Common Sense
Institute study that showed while recidivism is down, obviously prisoners
returning to prison, and that would be good if it
meant that there was real change being made, But violent
crime is a up. So can you speak to what
seems to be a shell game that is going on
in Clora because it's going to be a ballot excuse me,

(47:09):
it's going to be an election brag about recidivism going
down as we go into the next year, but actually
violent crime is up.

Speaker 7 (47:18):
Yeah. I think what people don't know because there's very
little reporting on it, are the substance of huge changes
that have been taking place with the Department of Corrections
and Parole and Parole in particular, the Parole Board is
loath to revoke people for what otherwise would be revocable violations,

(47:39):
and they'll call them technical violations. Well, some of those
technical violations are someone who got released after being convicted
and sentenced on drug related crimes is back on drugs
and they test positive for methamphetamine or coke or fit
or whatever it is, and they say that's really a
technical violation. Or they don't come to their meetings, or
they don't comply with these other things. And it seems

(48:00):
to me when you stop revoking people, it makes it
look like less people are doing things to be revoked,
and it impacts recidivism. I think you also have a
whole bunch of jurisdictions not us, that look at offenses
in such a way that they try to craft outcomes,
even early outcomes that don't register revocations of parole or

(48:22):
even probation or other things. If you really want to
see a downturn, recidivism will increase the number of career
criminals and repeat offenders who are in prison. But Hick
and Looper back in the day close down two of
our state's prisons. No one ever talks about this. The
existing population jam them into our current system, and now
they say my god, we're over full. We're over full

(48:45):
of prisoners. We have to start releasing people. And it's
like you created a situation and now you're saying, well,
we're powerless. We got to cut them loose like you
did it.

Speaker 5 (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, that never happens.

Speaker 4 (48:56):
And politics, people don't create problems so they can solve them.
Just joking happens all the time. Well, I've got to
let you go. I know we covered a lot of
different things, but I do appreciate it, George, because they're
all important and people need to know the correlation.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
They need to connect the dots.

Speaker 4 (49:11):
So thank you for joining us and wishing you a
truly blessed thanksgiving.

Speaker 7 (49:16):
Ay. Same to you, Jonathan, and they keep up the
great work.

Speaker 4 (49:19):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 5 (49:20):
That was George Brock, my guest.

Speaker 4 (49:22):
He is the DA for the newly formed JD twenty
three that's Douglas County, Albert County, and Lincoln County, and
so very appreciative of his strong on crime comments. Let's
go back over a couple of things before we head
to the break, and I'm going to read some of
the text coming in five six six nine zero five

(49:42):
six six nine zero text us love to hear your comments,
whether you agree with me or not. It's a great
way to have a conversation. Five six, six nine zero.
A couple points that he just made that I think
is interesting when it comes to Senator Mark Kelly, it
is unfortunate what these six Democrats in the Congress of
the United States of America did, particularly because unlike George,

(50:05):
they actually just had their military veteran status under their names,
giving it a sense of weight. That's one of the
things that several military individuals have talked about that was
an overstep. The reason why center Remark Kelly of Arizona
could actually be court martialed is because he's retired, still
receiving benefits. He could be called back for a myriad

(50:26):
of reasons. And one of the things I do think
is unfortunate. We were talking about this sense of Newton's
third law. To every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.
That happens too much in our political system, happens too
much in our culture. Therefore we lose the real point
at hand. I do agree that having the President come

(50:46):
out right afterwards and saying this is sedition worthy the
death penalty. Not only is that misinformation. It now gives
them a cover and puts them in a martyr status. See,
the president is trying to shut us down from doing
something which, by the way, was ill advice and they
didn't need to do anyway. Even Jason Crowe has admitted
that our military knows these guidelines. They understand clearly what

(51:10):
their rights are and what their responsibilities are about not
following illegal orders. They are trained that all the time. Now,
what really Mark Kelly could be held responsible from. From
my digging in not an expert on this is actually
part of the statute that is not seditioned. It is
not treason. It is actually called subversion. And I just
want to read this part of the statute. It prohibits

(51:33):
attempts to undermine the loyalty, morale, or discipline of US forces.

Speaker 5 (51:39):
At the very least, we could.

Speaker 4 (51:41):
Say that that really disappointing an unfortunate video could be
undermining the morale of the military in it. The basic
suggestion is, hey, there, those of you who have chosen
to serve, you know, America's losing trust in you. You
are on the wrong side of these issues, and there

(52:04):
are things that you need to not obey. They don't
say what they are that both attacks the morale and
the discipline within the forces. So I agree with all
of that. I do agree. However, I think the problem
we have is when there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I think there needs to be a stern statement that

(52:25):
this is not accepted, that this is what it does.
That when Mark Kelly runs for office again, which will
be next year because they're the well, no, he's a senator,
so it will not necessarily be next year. I don't
know when his term is up, but when he is
up for lection, it should be driven home that this
person so stepped out of bounds and let the American

(52:45):
people take a stand. If not, If this continues, he
will be seen as amar. I'm going to make a
really weird analogy that he does not carry the same weight.
But Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Fallon was taken off the air
because he made a false statement and many of those
distributing his show took offense to that Sinclair Next Star

(53:08):
he made the false statement that the Charlie Kirk assassin
was actually that Maga had something to do with it.
First of all, it is nonsensical, it makes no common sense, and.

Speaker 5 (53:18):
The process should have been that people who are in.

Speaker 4 (53:21):
That business world decided they did not want to have
him on the air anymore.

Speaker 5 (53:26):
But the administration stepped in.

Speaker 4 (53:29):
They elevated it and said that they might take it
to a level of taking away the license for that station,
that network, and suddenly it turned Jimmy Fallen into some
kind of martyr for free speech. We've got to just
let the bad behavior, the bad actions of individuals like

(53:50):
the six Democrats with this ill advised video, or Jimmy
Fallon just completely giving false information. Let that stand and
let the American people take a look at that for
a little while, Let them sit in that for a
little while, instead of it becoming an entirely different thing
as they now are claiming.

Speaker 5 (54:09):
Of all people, Jimmy Fallance claiming.

Speaker 4 (54:11):
Out to be a martyr for free speech Hollywood that
has shut down more people who want to speak freely.
I know that firsthand from having worked inside the industry.
And Mark Kelly could go from someone who's done something
very ill advised as someone who should know better, to
being some kind of a hero.

Speaker 5 (54:30):
Just don't think we need to go from one extreme
to another.

Speaker 4 (54:33):
Well, want to hear what you think five six six
nine zero five six six nine zero, And once again
I just saw a text come in.

Speaker 5 (54:40):
Sedition is a stretch.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
It is not sedition, it is actually it is actually subversion,
not sedition, but subversion. And the analogy I is made
with Jimmy Kimmel, not Jimmy Fallon. Thank you someone who
pointed that out. I think that needs to go where
it should go. But anyway, we will take more hear
from more listeners when we come back five sixty six
nine zero five six six nine zero, And then we're

(55:04):
also going to share a surprising lesson from the original
Thanksgiving about our current Democrat Socialist front YEP. Would not
have thought the Pilgrims would be so relevant as they
are today, but they sure are. Don't go anywhere.

Speaker 5 (55:18):
I'm Deborah Flora, sitting in for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 4 (55:22):
Newton's third law, which is to every action, there's an
equal and opposite reaction. We were talking with George rogl
Da about the video that the six Democrats in Congress
put out that really could be considered under subversion if
you look at the code, but how then taking it
to the level of actually court martialing Senator Mark Kelly

(55:46):
would be such an opposite reaction. On the other side, all.

Speaker 5 (55:49):
It would do would serve political cover.

Speaker 4 (55:51):
And I was talking about a correlation in the culture,
and thank you so many of you. It was actually
test to make sure you were listening. I was referring
to Jimmy Kimmel, not Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Kimmel, who really
did something so very wrong in misrepresenting the assassin of

(56:12):
Charlie Kirk as someone who is perhaps from the magas
side of things, should have just stood there and gone
through the correct process, which was two of the largest
distributors Next Star in Sinclair their rights in a free
market economy, decided they no longer wanted to carry the show,
not what the network had do, not telling Jimmy Kimmel
he couldn't keep speaking, but they didn't want to carry

(56:34):
it anymore. And that's kind of where it should should
have landed. But then when the heavy arm came in
in an equal opposite reaction, and the current administration threatened
FCC and pulling licenses and all of that, it suddenly
turned Jimmy Kimmel into some sort of First Amendment hero
when actually he just was misrepresenting things in a very

(56:58):
very irresponsible way. That's what I was referring to in
that story and appreciate those who were chiming in on it.
So want to move on from that because I do
think something we need to pull back from. That's why
earlier I played a clippike Jennifer Lawrence who said that
she's just not going to share her political opinions anymore
because all she's doing is spanning the flame instead of

(57:21):
calming it down. We don't need to be inflating and
building on the fire of things anymore. We need to
just pause, not respond to things right away, look at
it and say what was really the error here? And
then in this situation, Mark Kelly will hopefully be held
responsible by those who elected him in Arizona.

Speaker 5 (57:40):
That's probably the best way.

Speaker 4 (57:41):
Whether or not technically subversion, not treason, not sedition, but subversion.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it does kind
of fall in the line of that. It talks about
holding people responsible anyone who has actually and I'm going.

Speaker 5 (57:59):
To quote the code prohibits.

Speaker 4 (58:01):
It prohibits attempts to undermine the loyalty, morale, or discipline
of US forces. Did that video come into that category. Yeah,
I think it could be argued it was. Is the
way to deal with it, to actually bring Mark Kelly
back in court martial? Hem?

Speaker 2 (58:17):
You know what?

Speaker 4 (58:17):
There could be grounds for it? Is it wise? However,
in the attempt to call this out for what it is,
probably not in this ping pong extremist pendulum nature that
we're in. Well, I want to I want to share
something different. I want to shift gears here. This is
Thanksgiving week.

Speaker 5 (58:33):
I hope that your week is already off to a
great start.

Speaker 4 (58:35):
I hope that you have a moment to pause and
think about all the things that we have to be
grateful for. One of the things that I think is
interesting is when we know the real history of Thanksgiving.
Many of you do. If you watched the Charlie Brown
you know, Mayflower episode, you certainly learn a lot more
than is often taught in schools today.

Speaker 5 (58:54):
I recommend it if you have kids or grandkids. It's
very good.

Speaker 4 (58:58):
But what we often lose are some of the nuances
in the details. I mean, many know that the Pilgrims
left England in sixteen twenty because of religious persecution. That's
why they left. They left because they believed that churches
were voluntary organizations and congregations, not whole nations where a
certain religion was dictated. That is one of the reasons

(59:20):
and the primary reason that they left. They spent an
entire day in prayer before setting sell. Many people know
that there was a fierce storm that battled the ship
and broke one of the main beams. They could have
turned around, but they decided to repair it and go on.
And after two months, out of the one hundred and
ten passengers and crew, only one died and a baby

(59:42):
was born. That is pretty miraculous when you think about it,
that they ended up landing with the same number they
left with, although the baby could be and I would
consider it to be already a passenger at that point.
But one person died and a baby was born, So
when did they really start struggling. This is some thing
for us to think about today, a great lesson Thanksgiving week,

(01:00:05):
as we have one of the two major parties in
our country right now really struggling with the fringe, which
is leaning towards socialism.

Speaker 5 (01:00:16):
Mom Donnie elected.

Speaker 4 (01:00:17):
Democrat Socialists AOC. Now many people thinking she's getting ready
to run for president as a Democrat socialist.

Speaker 5 (01:00:25):
I mean this term over and over again. But let's
look at you know, not only where it has never
worked before, but where it didn't work in our own history.
It has actually been tried here fully in the very
beginning of.

Speaker 4 (01:00:39):
Our country before it was the United States of America.
Because what happened was a Mayflower Compact. In order for
the pilgrims to come over, they had to sign an
agreement both with the investors and the charter that they
were given by the monarchy at the time.

Speaker 5 (01:00:53):
And what did the Mayflower Compact say?

Speaker 4 (01:00:56):
Everything they owned would be communal, No one would own
private property. Everybody, regardless of how much they worked, would
evenly share the crop. Well, that's never worked in the
history of mankind. And William Bradford, one of the signers
in the Mayflower Compact, he was later unanimously voted the
second governor of the Plymouth Settlement.

Speaker 5 (01:01:18):
He said in his journal, some settlers.

Speaker 4 (01:01:21):
When you talk about work, do it not willingly, others
not honestly. What do we think might actually happen when
you get the same amount no matter whether you work
or not. Yes, you guess. Some of the settlers did
not even bother to work because they knew they didn't
have to work. They would get the same amount of

(01:01:41):
grain as everybody else. And what happened there was a
corn crisis, not enough food being produced, and in the
first winter half of them died. Didn't work then, doesn't
work now It takes away the very nature of human beings,
which is to want to better their circumstance, work hard,
provide for their families, provide for themselves, the other side

(01:02:04):
of nature. If I can get away with the worst side,
selfish greed, I'll just sit back and let others work
for me. That's why it's not moral and is not effective.
It's neither one of those things. So what did they do?
Talking right now, Debrah Floora sitting in for Mandy Connell
about one of the best lessons of Thanksgiving Week. There's
others that are spiritually related to giving thanks But let's
talk about governmentally. When the Mayflower Compact failed, their attempt

(01:02:27):
at true communal socialistic, communistic living failed, they changed their governance.
What did they start with? Private property rights? They said,
this isn't working. Some of you are not even bothering
to work. Others are working less because no matter how
hard they work, they don't benefit anymore. Well, guess what

(01:02:49):
they changed it. And the first thing they did was
they gave each family their own plot of land and
they were required to provide for themselves and their own family.
They basically abandoned socialism and implemented private land ownership and
free enterprise. And then what happened, production increased dramatically. It's

(01:03:10):
a very key takeaway when we talked to our children. Yeah,
let's talk about the miracle, the courage, by the way
of the first pilgrims who were willing to risk everything
to come here for religious liberty. Then the lesson that
they learned when they broke off the shackles that were
still put on them by the old world, which was

(01:03:33):
this communistic contract, the Mayflower Compact, and.

Speaker 5 (01:03:38):
They instead chose private property, the.

Speaker 4 (01:03:41):
Rights and responsibility of the individual, and they prospered. They prospered.
One other thing I want to make sure that we
do point out is by the way, they then invited
all of the neighbors around them, the American Indians that
were there at the time, and they lived together in peace.

Speaker 5 (01:04:00):
The first people that landed.

Speaker 4 (01:04:01):
Here, as likes to get rewritten in history, we're attacking
everyone around them. No, it was a different situation. Some
really important lessons from Thanksgiving. By the way, we're going
to head to a break five six six nine zero.
I want to hear from you. Have you already decorated
for Christmas? And what are you planning on having for
Thanksgiving dinner. We'll also read some other comments when we

(01:04:23):
come back. Five six six nine zero. That's five six
six nine zero. This is Deborah Flora sitting in for
Mandy Connell. If you are at the airport or driving,
just hope you wish some many a happy Thanksgiving. Some
people there are working very hard under a lot of
stress and pressure.

Speaker 5 (01:04:40):
Well, I want to take some time to read some
of the great listener.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
Texts that have been coming in. Because we've talked about
a lot.

Speaker 5 (01:04:46):
Of different topics.

Speaker 4 (01:04:48):
I want to go back to when we were talking
about the very radical Tennessee Democrat candidate nominee for Congress
to fill in that special election that's coming up next week,
and that person often Ben She was talking about how

(01:05:08):
really that women need to go and how she calls
them birthing people needs to go on a birth strike
to get the things that women really care about, which
are things like you know, they want more abortions, which
I thought was rare, safe and legal. They want to
be able to transition irreversibility children. Those are the things
she's staying out for. And she actually says, by the way,

(01:05:29):
conservative women, women who believe in getting married and having
kids and all of that sort of things are under
a patriarchal system and should be ashamed of themselves for
buying into it. I love what this listener texted. I
work in the oil filled with all the quote scary
conservative men unquote, and it goes on to say that

(01:05:52):
I have always been treated well. I always knew that
they would stand up for me, and I've never experienced
any of these things that that this other listener was
texting about. There was a correlation one listener made between
what I was saying as far as Sharia law and
boko Haram that are targeting Christians and Christian women in particular,

(01:06:13):
saying that that's very similar to those far right conservative men.

Speaker 5 (01:06:17):
Well, I agree with this listener who.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
Said that they've had a very different experience with conservative
men as have I.

Speaker 5 (01:06:22):
I get to sit here in the United States of.

Speaker 4 (01:06:24):
America talk on a microphone, produce movies, run a company,
have a family and have a career, be married to
a strong man for twenty five years, who only lifts
me up, who has served in the military and yet
supports me as a woman, and what I do. So
thank you for thank you for texting that in I
want to go to a few more here. The text

(01:06:46):
line is going up and down here. But want to
get to some other things. Oh, we were talking about
the lesson from Thanksgiving. We're actually there was a very
clear lesson that socialism communism does work. The first Mayflower
Compact was a communist one, and what happened is.

Speaker 5 (01:07:04):
People no longer were working equally.

Speaker 4 (01:07:08):
Some worked hard, others didn't work at all because everything
was going to be split the same. And I talked
about how socialism and communism don't work because they're antithetical
to human nature, the desire to work hard and better
oneself provide for one's family.

Speaker 5 (01:07:21):
It's also I believe.

Speaker 4 (01:07:22):
In immoral system because you have a few people in
an oligarchy deciding who to give to and who to
take from. Marx even said from everyone according to their ability,
to everyone according to their need. Well, it's interesting because
one listener took the wrong lesson out of that and
said human nature can be overcome. The leftist truly believe this.

(01:07:45):
I think the confusion here is Americans are one of
the most generous people on the planet, give away billions
of dollars to charity to help those who are less fortunate.
What's the difference though, between charity and government taking out
our money and giving it where they think that they
should because, by the way, government has no money, it

(01:08:06):
comes from taxes from hardworking people. Well, the difference is
freedom versus force and charity. People who work hard provide
for their families morally have the right to keep that
which they have worked hard to achieve. And I'm not
faulding someone who may not want to work that hard.
It takes a lot to run a business, to hire people,
to be a small business owner, to provide for others,

(01:08:29):
including providing jobs. But what the difference is is when
you freely give where you want to, that is charity.
That is a spiritual and moral transaction of a group
of people freely saying I want to give my money here.
When the government takes the money and decides where it
wants to distribute it, that is force. That is not

(01:08:52):
about overcoming human nature. Yes, we want to elevate it
so people give. But socialism and communism is the act
of taking, read distributing wealth from people who have earned
it to give it to those who have not. Now
that's not saying we shouldn't have a safety net. A
safety net is important for those who are in need

(01:09:15):
and unable.

Speaker 5 (01:09:16):
To provide for themselves. But even FDR during the New Deal, the.

Speaker 4 (01:09:21):
One who put progressivism into overdrivestat is said welfare should
never become something that is generational because it leads to
really a new sort of enslavement of people being beholden
to the government instead of encouraging them to experience the
dignity of work. Every way you look at it, free

(01:09:44):
market capitalism actually is a moral system that uplifts people
through the dignity of work, has lifted more people out
of poverty, and socialism is quite the opposite. That's one
of the things we have very much to be grateful
for this Thanksgiving is that the pilgrims learned from the
Mayflower Compact and we have inherited a much different system

(01:10:05):
based on individual dignity, intrinsic value, the dignity of work,
the ability to people to work hard, and pursue their dreams.
That's what I hope for everybody. Well, we got a
head to a break. When we come back, we're going
to talk about the Southern Poverty Law Center and why
the FBI.

Speaker 5 (01:10:22):
Just rebuke revoked, excuse me.

Speaker 4 (01:10:26):
It's standing as someone that they will listen to. Got
a special guest coming up to talk about that. Don't
go anywhere. I'm Deborah Flora, sitting in for Mandy Connell.

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
The Mandy Connell Show is sponsored by Belle and Pollock,
Accident and injury lawyers.

Speaker 2 (01:10:41):
No, it's Mandy Connell.

Speaker 1 (01:10:51):
Got the icy throne.

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
Oh really sad babe.

Speaker 4 (01:11:03):
Welcome back to the Mandy Connell Show. This is Deborah
Flora sitting in for my friend Mandy Connell. Thank you
so much for being a part of the conversation today
and hoping that you're already having a wonderful Thanksgiving week.

Speaker 5 (01:11:14):
Well, we're going to just jump right into it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:17):
Many of you know the Southern Poverty Law Center is
quoted frequently from many sources because of their quote unquote
hate map. They've also come under a lot of criticism
lately because they have taken on groups putting them in
the hate map. Like Turning Point USA, even doctor Ben Carson,
for goodness sake, Family Research Councils, et cetera, gone from

(01:11:39):
their roots of being calling out things.

Speaker 5 (01:11:42):
Like the KKK, which absolutely.

Speaker 4 (01:11:45):
They should have done. They started nineteen seventy one, nineteen
seventy nine suing against these kind of racist situations. That's awesome,
but now gotten to a point where they even call
out standing up for traditional values for certain.

Speaker 5 (01:12:00):
Areas of faith. They call that part of hate.

Speaker 4 (01:12:04):
Well, one of the groups that led the charge for
the FBI dropping the use of the Southern Poppy Law
Center is Mom's for Liberty and all disclosure, I'm on
the board for Moms Forliberty nationally, honor deserve with that organization,
and now honor to invite the CEO and co founder,
Tina Daskovich to be joining me. Tina, thanks for joining
the show.

Speaker 9 (01:12:26):
Oh, it's a pleasure to be here with you on
this glorious Thanksgiving week.

Speaker 5 (01:12:29):
Demra, absolutely so glad to have you.

Speaker 4 (01:12:32):
Tina. Well, let's just jump right into it, because I
want to give some people some perspective. The SBLC has
been Southern Poverty Law Center quoted frequently, and even when
I joined the board got all.

Speaker 5 (01:12:44):
Those normal attacks.

Speaker 4 (01:12:45):
Oh, Mom's for Liberty is a hate group, the Southern
Poverty Law Center says, So, so it must be. Let's
start there first of all, because you started Mom's for Liberty,
co founded it as a mom, as a school board member,
someone who just up for parental rights. Why did the
Southern Poverty Law Centers say that they declared Moms for

(01:13:07):
Liberty to be a hate group?

Speaker 9 (01:13:09):
The real reason or the reason, the reason.

Speaker 5 (01:13:14):
True reason.

Speaker 9 (01:13:15):
Yeah, the real true reason is because we were highly
effective and they failed. They being i'd say radical leftist extremists,
failed at destroying us fourteen other ways, including THEDEOJ, the FBI,
the Biden administration as a whole, targeting us, all the
things they tried to do to intimidate and shut us down,

(01:13:37):
freezing our assets through PayPal, you just name it. None
of it worked. And so in the summer of twenty
twenty three, when we were two years old, we got
added to the map. And once we got added to
the map, like, the escalation of attacks was astronomical.

Speaker 5 (01:13:54):
Yeah, I know one of the things they now, that's
the real reason.

Speaker 4 (01:13:57):
I do believe because when you look at other groups
they target it's like TPUSA.

Speaker 5 (01:14:01):
They you know, groups that are effective become on the list.

Speaker 4 (01:14:05):
And even by the way, Politico has said, they've become
a highly politicized organization. So this criticism isn't just coming
from one side. But one of the things they say
officially their cover for doing this are things like, oh,
Moms for Liberty is anti government because we say we
do not co parent with the government. Tell me your

(01:14:27):
thoughts about that.

Speaker 9 (01:14:30):
I think, you know, the category they put us under
is so ridiculous because I served four years on a
school board.

Speaker 4 (01:14:36):
You know, not yes.

Speaker 9 (01:14:37):
And one of the things that we do is we
get people elected. Over five hundred moms and dads have
been elected to school board with our endorsement, and that
is taking part in your government. We train our members
to be typically engaged to speak up at school board
meetings to address your government, like our constitution was set
up for us to do, and so to say where
anti government is absurd. And let me add this month

(01:15:01):
they came out with a new heading for US. It
now is anti government extremist slash militia group.

Speaker 5 (01:15:09):
I missed out on that part. I hadn't been tod
didn't know we had those trainings.

Speaker 4 (01:15:13):
We don't.

Speaker 9 (01:15:16):
It just gets more absurd all the time.

Speaker 5 (01:15:19):
Yeah, you know what, that is just pretty darn crazy.

Speaker 4 (01:15:21):
And I think it's what's funny too, is when it
was really blowing up before, you know, one of the
previous elections, people infiltrated the National Summit and came away
and the biggest criticism was everybody was so nice, but
the food had to be expensive because it was really
really good.

Speaker 5 (01:15:38):
I mean, it's they can't find anything.

Speaker 4 (01:15:41):
The other thing that people frequently throw at moms for
liberty is book banning. We're all about book banning. Can
you set the record straight on that.

Speaker 9 (01:15:51):
I appreciate the opportunity to do that. You know, in America,
you can write a book, you can print the book,
you can publish the book, you can tell the book
in any bookstore. And I don't know of any books
that are truly banned in America. Let's just way the
groundwork there. They're actually are countries on the earth right
now that their government bans books, and we don't do

(01:16:12):
that in America.

Speaker 4 (01:16:13):
And so now they've co opted that word.

Speaker 9 (01:16:16):
So if you choose not to have a book in
your library or in your home, you've banned it, which
that's also absurd. But for months for liberty, we are
concerned about age appropriateness of books.

Speaker 7 (01:16:26):
And so.

Speaker 9 (01:16:28):
Often so when I was on the school board, for example,
a gentleman brought forward and this was twenty seventeen, way
before this whole controversy, but he brought forward a book
that was in his son's library that he was concerned about,
and we put a policy in place so that a
committee could review it.

Speaker 7 (01:16:43):
I could come before the board.

Speaker 9 (01:16:44):
Long story short, the book was in a library that
shared middle school and high school students shared the library,
so eleven and twelve year olds had access to the
same books as seventeen and eighteen year olds. And this
book was a book that was on the reading last
for an AP class, which is a college class. And
so we as school board decided the book, you know
it's for AP classes, let's put it on the shelves

(01:17:05):
behind the desk for AP students to check out. Problem solved, Right,
have to remove or ban or do any of the things.
And so this whole book banning thing from Pen America
and others is to raise money for their organizations so
they can stay viable. And it's to also discredit Moms

(01:17:26):
for Liberty because we're extremely effective.

Speaker 4 (01:17:28):
Absolutely, And I think the thing that the other way
it tries to get characterized is no one is saying
that book shouldn't be available at your local library or
in a bookstore or online. Is just saying if children
have access to something, it is the right of the stakeholders,
the parents, these school board members. We've got a case

(01:17:48):
going on right here in Colorado, the Elizabeth School District,
where they went through a very thorough process and found
it wasn't just books that had to deal with transgenderism,
which is always what they want to say. It also
had to do with suicide ideation, how to make a bomb.
I mean, it was all these kind of things that
are not appropriate for certain ages. So it carries no water,
which is why they just kind of throw it and

(01:18:09):
run away, as like saying cooties and then running away,
you know, not having to prove it. And when you
talk about money, the endowment for the Southern Poverty Law
Center is now eight hundred and twenty two million dollars.

Speaker 5 (01:18:22):
They're getting a lot of money.

Speaker 4 (01:18:23):
But let's talk about the proactive step that you took.
Because Tina, this is Deborah Flora, by the way, sitting
in for Mandy Connell, my guest CEO co founder Tina
Dskovich of Moms for Liberty, and let's talk about this
letter that you guys have spearheaded this because there's been
real problems from what the Southern Poverty Law Center has done.

(01:18:44):
For instance, there was a bombing at the Family Research
Council back in I think it was I don't remember
what it was, but it was earlier. There's a bombing there.
There have been other things that have happened. You have
had your you know, your PayPal and other things frozen
or whatever the means of payment was because of this.
But you joined together and led the way with TPUSA,

(01:19:06):
doctor Ben Karnes Carson allies defending freedom, Family Research canceled
groups like Gays against groomers, wall builders. I mean, these
are not radical groups. What happened with the letter and
the FBI.

Speaker 9 (01:19:21):
Yeah, the final straw for us before this, before we
drafted this letter was the whole state of Massachusetts municipal
police were trained that moms really ready with a hate
group and that became very concerning. This is getting out
of control now and could be very dangerous for our moms,
and so we drafted a letter and listed and got

(01:19:42):
other organizations and leaders that are also on the hate
math as you just mentioned, to sign on the letter
with us, and we sent it to the White House
and we requested that President Trump sign an executive order
saying that all several agencies will not we'll discontinue immediately
using SPLC as a source of truth on who is

(01:20:03):
a hate or a hearing organization. And also we were
hoping in that same executive order he would highly recommend
that all government agency, state and local two would follow suit.
And you know what we got was not an executive order,
but we did at least get the FBI to stop
using the SPOC, which is a big win.

Speaker 4 (01:20:24):
It is a big win. Well, we have a very
short time unfortunately, because we have to head to a break.
But I love that because it's someone who helped flip
our school board. And right after COVID, I was on
the FBI list as a domestic terrorist just because I said,
you know what, I don't want you to tell our
son that he is a horrible person because he has
less melatonin in a skin.

Speaker 7 (01:20:44):
So there we go.

Speaker 4 (01:20:45):
It's time to stop all of this but thank you
Tana for all the work you do. As an honor
to serve alongside you for Moms for Liberty and I
appreciate the leadership you've made on this step. And we'll
talk more about when we come back. But thank you
for joining us. Thank you ever Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving, and
God bless you. Well. That was my guest Tina Deskovitch.

(01:21:06):
She is the CEO co founder of Mom's Relier. We're
gonna talk more about this when we come back. Text
in at five six six nine zero five six six
nine zero. Do you support the Southern Poverty Law Center.
I think there's some big questions there, doc anywhere. I'm
Debrah Flora sitting in for Mandy Connell. I hope that
you are having a great Thanksgiving week already. Well, if

(01:21:27):
you've missed any of the show, doesn't check out the
podcast later. We just had a great interview with Tina Deskovich.
She is the co founder and CEO of Moms for Liberty,
talking about how the FBI is at last not using
the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate map to pick and
choose who it goes after even some of the left

(01:21:47):
have talked about our left of center.

Speaker 5 (01:21:49):
How this has become extremely politicized now.

Speaker 4 (01:21:52):
Targeting groups like tp USA and Moms for Liberty and
basically saying it's because they stand up for tradition, null values,
that that's not the terminology that they use, but that's
what they say, or things that are untrue. By the way,
most recently, I just learned saying that Moms for Liberty
is now a militia group. What does that even mean?

Speaker 5 (01:22:12):
I did share that, you know, in full transparency.

Speaker 4 (01:22:15):
I'm the national board chair for Moms for Liberty and
honored to do so because I believe in standing up
for moms to have a say in their children's education,
because it is their parents' moral right and authority and
responsibility to guide the upbringing of their children. I'll always
stand up for that.

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
By the way.

Speaker 4 (01:22:35):
We tying this all together with a story from earlier.
The candidate for Tennessee Congress, Aten Ben she's a Democrat candidate,
has you know, said not only does she want does
not want children, she wants power. She's gone on to
tell stories about how women like myself who are conservative minded,

(01:22:57):
who have children and are married are just really have
given in and been fooled by the patriarchy. You know,
it's no wonder with stuff like that that we look
at a real crisis in America right now, which is
the birth rate crisis. When you keep demeaning the institution
of motherhood by saying I'm a birthing person, which I'm not.

(01:23:18):
I did good birth thirty one and a half hours
of labor the first time that and then blessed to
have a son as well, not that long, but yes,
that is a part of it. A real motherhood is
having your heart walk outside your body and having other
people that you think and care about more than even
yourself in most instances. And it's a blessing and it

(01:23:40):
is a challenge, and it is work and it is
a joy. But when that's not communicated to young women
in our culture, instead you hear things like what after
Ben was told by her mother that, oh, don't have
children because I'll ruin your chances for a career. We
forget that there are seasons in life.

Speaker 5 (01:23:59):
I was blessed to be able to.

Speaker 4 (01:24:00):
Choose to walk away from a career for a little
while and raise our children. I was grateful for that opportunity,
knowing that there are seasons. Then after that started doing radio,
have a production company, produced movies, have served on national awards,
run for elected office.

Speaker 5 (01:24:18):
All of those things come in seasons.

Speaker 4 (01:24:20):
But when we are communicating the way that it is
being communicated for shely not a lot of folks. What
happens in America, Well, we were lagging behind European countries
in this dropping below the necessary birth rate to stay
at the population, which is two children for every woman.

(01:24:41):
Well we now are catching up with them in the
wrong direction. The American birth rate in twenty twenty four
was one point six children per woman. When that happens,
we start seeing some real issues. I think it's time
really to turn this back around again to communicate to
young women and young man which was really a lot

(01:25:01):
of what Charlie Kirk talked about, which he's been vilified
for from the far left. What Erica Kirk is now
talking about, what actually stays are showing young women who
tend to be more conservative are beginning to embrace again
the beauty of what it means to be fully a woman. Yes,
being a wife. I've been married for twenty five years

(01:25:21):
to an amazingly strong man. He's even stronger in the
fact that he has supported me to go out and
do things. I am honored to be a wife. I'm
blessed to be a mother. We were actually told we
might never be able to have children. That's what the
doctor said. Every child's a miracle, but I consider ours
to be even more so and the greatest blessing when
we think about things we are thankful for this year,

(01:25:43):
I'm thankful to be a wife, I am blessed to
be a mother, and I live in a free country.

Speaker 5 (01:25:48):
Where I can also have a career.

Speaker 4 (01:25:51):
Boy, we talked about perspective being so necessary, so I
appreciate a different female voice Nicki Minaj of all people.
I haven't been a real a consumer of her music,
but I appreciate the fact that she's pointing the lens
to where women really are being persecuted in Nigeria, where
women are frequently kidnapped by Boka Haram and other extremist

(01:26:15):
radical Islamic terrorist organizations, and instead talking about the blessing
it is to be a woman here. And by the way, men,
I think you're pretty darn blessed and it's time for
women to give you all a shout out. Also, like
we did earlier in the show when we said, you know,
when it comes to a conservative men, one caller tried

(01:26:36):
to say that right wing men are just as bad
as a belief.

Speaker 5 (01:26:40):
So Shari a lot, not so fast and completely absurd.

Speaker 4 (01:26:44):
Shout out to all the men out there who support
women to achieve so much, starting with my husband and
so many other great men that I've had the privilege
to work with and serve alongside. Well, we're going to
end it there because we're going to head to a break,
and when we come back, I'm going to share a
story with you as we begin to really transition to
the end of the program about Thanksgiving, a story that

(01:27:04):
almost every time I read it, it brings tears to
my eyes and reminds me of all that we each
one of us can do to make someone's life a
little brighter. All we have to be grateful for as well.
So don't go anywhere. I'm Deborah Flora sitting in for
Mandy Connell. I want to read a couple of texts
that have come in in the one o'clock hour. We

(01:27:27):
had George Brockler, district attorney from JD twenty three, actually
my district attorney, I'm in that area, talking about this
Ballad initiative that will increase the penalties for fentanyl distribution
and possession, and then anyone who.

Speaker 5 (01:27:44):
Is a user it will have required treatment.

Speaker 4 (01:27:48):
And I think that is a powerful and important thing
when listeners shared this, and I really appreciate it. Great
points about revoking over new drug use. I want to
give a perspective from someone who is in recovery. Was
homeless for three years, have been through rehabit, jail, mental institution.
I've lived in recovery meeting for years. Many of my

(01:28:09):
friends came to meetings because of a judge and they
have careers, mortgages, and marriages.

Speaker 7 (01:28:15):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:28:16):
It is very common for people who get out of jail,
prison or any institution to immediately go back to using
or drinking. Why insanity right? Not to them, it is
an insanity. They have a ton of shame and pain
from their life and actions. You know, thank you so
much for sharing that, because I think that's what gets
missed in this when we talk about fentanyl and the horrible,

(01:28:38):
just incredibly violent, destructive drug. It is how young people
can take one pill thinking it's a percoset. Yes, maybe
they shouldn't be taking it, but doesn't mean their lives
should be on the risk. So many die ferment number
one killer of people eighteen to forty five. The other
side of it is when you have things like injection sites,

(01:29:00):
where we fought against having those in Denver, what gets
missed is that people need help getting out of this cycle.

Speaker 5 (01:29:08):
That's what I appreciate about that.

Speaker 4 (01:29:09):
Listener sharing that, and what a blessing to hear about
these people that were able to kick it, some of
them because a judge required that they go to treatment.
And now they have wives, they have mortgages, they have families,
they have husbands, they have marriages, They have so much
to live for. That's what it's really about. When we
think about things to be grateful for, it is helping

(01:29:31):
people in need, seeing them get to the point of
having a flourishing life, not just surviving well addicted, not
just getting easy penalty so that they don't actually have
to deal with either the criminal behavior or what led
them there. That's what so many of these things are about.
You know, when we think about seeing people in need,
I want to share a story because when we head

(01:29:52):
into Thanksgiving, I acknowledge I am one of the people
that I consider to be truly blessed. I have a
beautiful family. I get to spend Thanksgiving with them. I
know it's not the same for everyone. There are people
around us constantly who are dealing with illnesses, who are
dealing with loss, who are dealing with loneliness. You know,
when we see that, let's think about what we can
do this Thanksgiving season, inviting people to join us, saying

(01:30:15):
a kind word, taking a meal to a shut in,
you know, if we want inspiration, I want to share
the story of Raymond. Now, I'm going to get through this,
but I got to tell you. I read this first
on x someone shared it there. You can go to
my social media ex Deborah Flora one and you'll see
it there. Every time I read this, I get choked up.
So I'm going to do my best not to. But
this is Raymond. If any of us wants to be

(01:30:38):
encouraged about what we can do, not just Thanksgiving week,
but every day of the year, here's Raymond's story. Raymond
is seventy three years old. He works at the parking
lot at Saint Joseph's Hospital. As he says, he describes himself,
minimum wage orange vest a whistle. I barely use most
people don't even look at me. I'm just the old

(01:31:00):
man waving cars into spaces. But I see everything. I
want to get to what he sees. But I think
that's the first thing. How often do we look at
our phones and we don't actually look up and see
the person in front of us struggling, a single mom
with a baby and the grocery line, or maybe the
person next to us who who is weeping quietly to themselves,

(01:31:20):
or or someone in our own family. How often don't
we see? But Raymond said, I see everything. Then he
tells his story. He works in the hospital for JA
the parking lot for Saint Joseph's Hospital.

Speaker 5 (01:31:32):
He said he would see.

Speaker 4 (01:31:34):
Every morning a black sedan circling the parking lot at
six am.

Speaker 5 (01:31:38):
Every morning for three weeks.

Speaker 4 (01:31:40):
He said, there's a young man driving with his grandmother
in the passenger seat, and he guessed that it was
probably for chemotherapy because it was every morning at six am,
and this young man would drop his grandmother off at
the entrance and then spending twenty minutes driving around hunting
for parking, missing the appointments. One morning, Raymond said that

(01:32:01):
he stopped him as he was driving around after he
dropped his grandmother off for chemotherapy, and Raymond said to him,
what time will you be here tomorrow. The young man, confused,
said six fifteen am, and Raymond said to him space
A seven, that parking space will be empty.

Speaker 5 (01:32:18):
I'll save it.

Speaker 4 (01:32:19):
The young man blinked and said you can do that,
and Raymond said to him, I can, and I will.
Now Raymond fulfilled his promise. The next morning, six fifteen am,
he was standing in parking spot A seven, holding his
ground as cars were circling slowly, some of them honking.
When the sedan pulled up, the young man emotionally looked

(01:32:41):
at him and asked him why why did you save
this for me? And Raymond said to this young man,
because your grandmother needs you in there, not out here,
stressing the young man wept right then, Now you think
that the servant end there, One life touched, one life
touched by this seventy three year old man were in
a parking lot, but someone who dared to see the need.

(01:33:04):
But the story goes on.

Speaker 5 (01:33:05):
He said that words spread quietly.

Speaker 4 (01:33:08):
He found out a father with a sick baby and
asked if he could help him get a parking lot,
parking spot no of a woman who was visiting her
dying husband. He helped her get a parking spot. Raymond
started arriving at this parking lot at five am with
a notebook in hand, tracking who needed what to get
into Saint Joseph's Hospital.

Speaker 5 (01:33:29):
Save spots, as he said, became sacred.

Speaker 4 (01:33:32):
People stopped honking, they waited because they began to know
that Raymond was saving parking spots for someone else, fighting
for something bigger than traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:33:43):
There was one moment, he said, it changed everything.

Speaker 4 (01:33:46):
A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at Raymond one morning
and he said, I'm not sick, but I need that
spot for a meeting. What was Raymond's response to him, then,
walk He said, calmly, that space is for someone whose hands.

Speaker 5 (01:34:02):
Are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel.

Speaker 4 (01:34:06):
That man sped off furious, but a woman behind him
got out of her car and hugged Raymond, and she said, sorry,
I'm gonna get choked up, but she said, my son
has leukemia. Thank you for seeing us. I think that's
the key to this story, seeing people around us in need. Now,
of course bureaucracy steps in. I'm not blaming the people

(01:34:28):
the hospital. But the hospital actually then reached out to Raymond.
Word got out. They tried to stop him, saying that
there were liability issues. This man, this seventy three year
old parking attendant, saving spaces for people in need. But
families started writing letters, dozens of them. Raymond, they said

(01:34:49):
made the worst days bearable. Another person who are a
letter said he gave us one less thing to break over. Finally,
the hospital made Raymond's compassion an official policy. They marked
off ten spots with blue signs saying reserved parking for
families in crisis. This change at a huge hospital level

(01:35:11):
became possible because one man dared to see the need
around him, and they asked Raymond to manage it.

Speaker 5 (01:35:20):
It inspired others.

Speaker 4 (01:35:21):
Raymond talks about how a man that he helped two
years ago, whose mother actually survived her illness he came back.
Turns out he was a carpenter by trade, not someone
rich and famous, not someone.

Speaker 5 (01:35:33):
The world would ever know.

Speaker 4 (01:35:34):
A carpenter, just like Raymond was just and I'm using
just with air quotes, a parking attendant.

Speaker 5 (01:35:41):
But everyone can make a difference.

Speaker 4 (01:35:43):
He said. This carpenter built a small wooden box mounted
by the reserve spaces, and what was inside prayer cards, tissues,
breath mints, and a note.

Speaker 5 (01:35:54):
And the note said, take what you need. You're not alone,
Raymond and friends.

Speaker 4 (01:36:00):
People are trying to leave things in it now, Granola's bars,
phone chargers. Yesterday someone left a hand knitted blanket. And
here is Raymond's admonition to us. And I think it's good,
not just for this week, but it's good for every
day of our lives. He said this. I'm seventy three.
I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've

(01:36:20):
learned this healing just doesn't happen in operating rooms. Sometimes
it starts in a parking space. When someone says, I
see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece. Well,
I think that's something we can all do.

Speaker 5 (01:36:37):
First.

Speaker 4 (01:36:38):
What's the first step? Stopping and being thankful for the
blessings that we have. I tell you, when I read
this story, I thank god. I'm not the mom whose
son has leukemia. I'm not the sun or grandson taking
someone to those appointments. If that's you, then I hope
that you were surrounded by people like Raymond, people who

(01:37:00):
will pray for you and support you. If you know
someone dealing with things like that, reach out to them.
When I hear this story, I'm thankful for people like Raymond,
people that don't see influences, something that comes from a
position that the world would think was high and mighty.
As he said, I'm seventy three, I'm a parking attendant.

(01:37:22):
But he realized that he can make a difference, and
he's inspiring so many. This post is getting so much attention,
and there's something every single one of us can do.
But it starts by being thankful. Even if we're having
a rough time. We live in the freeze country in
the United States, the raised country, and the history of

(01:37:43):
the world, the United States of America. If you're breathing,
you're breathing. If you're struggling with finances, we still live
wealthier than the ninety eight percent of the world. That's
an approximate figure.

Speaker 5 (01:37:57):
Don't quote me on it, but it's true.

Speaker 4 (01:38:01):
When we start from that position, then we can begin
to see others when we are thankful. By the way,
being thankful is good for your health. It's good for
your mental health. Psychology today said that it reduces depression,
releases serotonin and dopamine. It's good for your physical health,
reduces heart disease and improves immune function, lowers blood pressure.

(01:38:23):
And by the way, in our generation, gratitude is such
a lost skill. We raise our kids with the phrase,
you know, a thankful heart is a happy heart, and
attitude of gratitude.

Speaker 5 (01:38:38):
But it's true.

Speaker 4 (01:38:39):
There's a Journal of Happiness Studies that surveyed one thousand
and thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:38:43):
Five high school students.

Speaker 4 (01:38:44):
The most grateful students in high school had more friends
and higher GPAs why they weren't spending all their time
figuring out why they were victimized, Who was keeping them down?

Speaker 5 (01:38:56):
What should they be angry about?

Speaker 4 (01:38:58):
No, they were thankful and therefore able to focus on
something beyond just their own needs.

Speaker 5 (01:39:05):
The most materialistic.

Speaker 4 (01:39:07):
By the way, as we head into the holiday season
of buying gifts, and I'm all for that. There are
great businesses out there who are looking forward to Americans
buying gifts for one another. You know, I don't think
we need to go overboard, but you know what, there's
nothing wrong with that. But if we're looking at materialistically,
this Journal of Happiness Studies show that the most materialistic

(01:39:29):
youth had lower grades, higher levels of envy, and less
satisfaction with life. When we are looking at a culture
now that is looking at who's taking.

Speaker 5 (01:39:38):
From who, who's victimizing who.

Speaker 4 (01:39:40):
Who's the oppressor, who's the oppressed, it automatically puts so
many people into a constant mentality of who is wronging me?
Instead of what can I do in my own circumstance.
The ability to have autonomy and agency to better you
own circumstance, that is something that we are blessed with
opportunity here in the United States of America. So when

(01:40:03):
we think about the things that we're thankful for, that's
where it starts to be a someone like Arrayment who
took the time to see he wasn't out there complaining
that at seventy three years old he was parking cars
and guiding people and been working in a hospital parking lot.
He instead took that opportunity to see the needs around

(01:40:24):
him this Thanksgiving, there's so much that we can do.
If you're at the grocery checkout, coffee line, wherever you are,
maybe with the phone down, look up, see who might
be a need. Is there a service member in front
of you and can you buy their coffee? Is there
a police officer who's still reeling from the defund the
police and being having an aspersions cast way that you

(01:40:46):
can thank Is there your local firehouse where you can
drop up a pumpkin pie.

Speaker 5 (01:40:51):
We did that, have done that for years with our kids.

Speaker 4 (01:40:56):
Is there a military family around you, someone who's a
love one is serving abroad, and maybe it's a single
mom raising kids earn our own. Invite them over, offer
to bring them something to eat. There's so much that
can be done at this season and beyond. You know,
I hope you can all be inspired by someone like

(01:41:16):
Raymond be thankful for what we have. You know, the
I do thankfulness obviously is the Christian It's deep in
my faith. It is something that I know changes my
mind and my heart every time I pause just to
thank God for the things that we have. I remember
a pastor said once, just imagine if whatever you weren't

(01:41:38):
thankful for was taken away. Air, the Rocky Mountains, the
ability to live and walk and see, the ability to
earn a.

Speaker 5 (01:41:47):
Living, whatever it is, gravity, even you know, there's.

Speaker 4 (01:41:51):
So much to be thankful for. I got to tell
you one last thing. I want to show that I'm
really thankful for. As we're talking about all this, Okay,
won't be the last thing. I said that a lot.
There's more, but I want to tell you one of
the reasons why I'm thankful for this country, having seen
the Soviet Union, having seen East Germany when the wall
was still up, going far beyond it, I am so

(01:42:11):
grateful to have inherited the lessons of the Pilgrims who
tried communists first. Communism first with the Mayflower Compact, it failed,
and then they turned to private property, individual liberty, and
personal responsibility, and it turned them around.

Speaker 5 (01:42:27):
I'm grateful for that heritage.

Speaker 4 (01:42:29):
I'm grateful for the heritage of founding fathers who risked everything.

Speaker 5 (01:42:35):
Having experienced tyranny, we've.

Speaker 4 (01:42:38):
Lost perspective on the beauty of the freedoms that we have.
We take it for granted. They've risked everything so that
we could inherit this liberty. I'm grateful for those who
choose to serve, to protect and defend the constitution of
the United States of America. That's why they don't need

(01:42:58):
to be taught to talk down to and had their
morale beaten down by being told by six people in
Congress that they are on the wrong side and the
American people are losing their trust in them.

Speaker 5 (01:43:11):
This American has not lost their trust in the military.

Speaker 4 (01:43:14):
Thank you everyone who's served or has served, for standing
in the gap so that I can live freely. That I,
as a woman, can sit here in this United States
of America and talk over the free airwaves. No one's
telling me what I can say or what I can't say.
That's a privilege. And I hope that we understand what
we have inherited. There is a warning. I think that

(01:43:37):
also is an inspiration from Daniel Webster. I shared part
of this quote yesterday, discovered the rest of it and
thought we have to have to share the entire thing.
This is what he said, and I think it was
to our generation, talking about if we should let go
of the freedoms that elevate the dignity andtrinsic value of
our neighbors, whether we agree or whether we don't agree.

(01:43:58):
And he said this, if an angel should be winged
from heaven on an errand of mercy to our country,
the first accents that would glow on his lips would
be beware, be cautious. You have everything to lose and
nothing to gain. We live or under the only government
that ever existed, which was framed by the unrestrained and

(01:44:21):
deliberate consultations of the people.

Speaker 7 (01:44:23):
We call that the.

Speaker 5 (01:44:24):
Cossent of the governed.

Speaker 4 (01:44:25):
My little commentary on that, and here's the part that
I think we can acknowledge of the miracle that we
have inherited. Miracles do not cluster that which has happened,
but once in six thousand years cannot be expected to happen.
Often such a government, once gone, might lea bavoid to
be filled for ages with revolution and tumult, riot and despotism.

(01:44:47):
Daniel Webster so much to be thankful for this holiday season.
I'm thankful for you for listening. I'm thankful to grant.

Speaker 2 (01:44:56):
In the booth.

Speaker 5 (01:44:56):
I'm thankful for the opportunity to be here.

Speaker 4 (01:44:58):
I'm thankful for my amazing husband of twenty five years
going on twenty six, my best friend, are beautiful children,
and I'm thankful to live in this country. This is
an amazing country that we've inherited. And I'm thankful that
as you're listening, you don't have to agree with me.
But I hope we all come back to a place

(01:45:18):
where we recognize that which unites us is so much
greater than that which divides us. And then when we
realize our blessings, when we're filled with full hearts of gratitude,
may we be like Raimond and see the needs around us.

Speaker 5 (01:45:34):
There are great needs and the difference of charities.

Speaker 4 (01:45:37):
We choose to help those around us, invite them to
our table, give them with food if they do not
have it.

Speaker 5 (01:45:44):
But we do it freely, not by force.

Speaker 4 (01:45:47):
That's the difference between freedom and socialism or communism.

Speaker 5 (01:45:52):
Grateful for all are these things.

Speaker 4 (01:45:54):
Most of all, I'm grateful to God who has given
us our rights, and they are given to him by him,
not by anyone else, so that we can live free
and the government can't take them away. God bless you
happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving wake.
This is Deborah Flora sitting in for Mandy Connell.