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- [00:07]
Bill Monti
It is Sunday, january 25th. Yesterday in Minneapolis, another American citizen was murdered by agents of ICE. His name was Alex Preddy. He was 37 years old. He was a nurse in the ICU at the local Veterans Administration Hospital in Minneapolis. His service in his life was in helping the veterans who fought in all of the wars that all of the presidents and other people created. In the afternoon, there was a contingent of ICE agents on a street and they pushed a woman. Alex Preddy was there. He was filming as a nurse and as a citizen and as a human being. He did what any of us would do in a time like that. He went to give aid to the woman. He stood between the ICE agents and the woman. In any other reality besides this Twilight Zone effing nightmare that we're living right now, he would be called a hero. He was pulled from the woman. They were both pepper sprayed. Neither one was attacking or doing anything to provoke the agents. There's video of this. This isn't my opinion. I've seen the video now from several different views. He was pulled off of the woman, thrown to the ground and repe. Beaten and kicked by eight agents of ice. He let them know that he was carrying a gun. Legally. He was carrying a gun, carried it for his protection, but he did not draw it in a time when he needed it the most. They took the gun from him and then they fired nine bullets into his body and they killed him on a sidewalk in Minneapolis, in broad daylight on a crowded street in the United States of America. I have no words. A second killing of someone in the space of a month. American citizens. His skin was white. He was rightfully carrying a gun. He was doing everything that allegedly Republicans support and want in America. But he dared to do the one thing that is no longer allowed. He dared to help someone. He dared to stand up and say, this will not occur. I would like to remind everyone right now about a very controversial amendment in our government. It was written because those who we call the Founding Fathers wanted to ensure that the average citizen, if it ever had to happen, which it was happening when freedom was being fought for, that a citizen would have the right to defend him or herself, himself. Back then they would have the right to carry a gun. They did this in order to maintain a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state. This amendment is the right of the people to keep and bear arms. And it shall not be infringed. Now, over the years, because of all the killings at schools, high schools, public places, there's been a Lot of talk about perhaps amending the Second Amendment. I have not been one in favor of that. I am in favor of gun control. I am in favor of making sure that people who have a gun are not, perhaps not mentally able to make the right decisions and so bad things happen. But the purpose of the Second Amendment is what we are living through right now. I have never owned a gun. I've never even fired a gun. I think I had an air rifle when I was a little boy. That's the closest I've ever come. I am, for the first time in
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my life
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thinking a lot about buying a gun. Because I believe we may be at a time when we as Americans have to defend ourselves from our own government. Because it is very apparent, based on the reaction of the death of Renee Good and now Alex Preddy, the immediate reaction from the government calling them terrorists, defending the agents who murdered them. It is very apparent that those in charge have, in my opinion, lost their minds or they are evil. The rest of the world thinks America has lost its mind. They listened to the President make an unhinged speech in front of the world in Davos this week in which he couldn't remember if Greenland was Iceland or Iceland was Greenland. They heard him again talk about his imaginary eight wars. And when government agents murder American citizens, we sit and watch the Vice President, the President, Christie Gnome, nothing defend these people. Can you imagine if you or I and a group of our friends attacked someone on the street? Someone defended them and we shot and killed them. We would be in custody right now. We'd be looking for lawyers. Certainly no one would be defending us. They would be calling us what we are, murderers, accused murderers. And we would have to prove that there was justification for what we did. There is no justification. ICE is not an army. Oh, it is. You know what, let me amend that. It is an army. It is Donald Trump's private army. It is Christine Noem's private army. And it is an army being used not against immigrants, but against the American citizens. So for the first time in my life, I'm going to buy a gun and I'm going to learn how to use it and I'm going to get a permit that will allow me to open carry in Florida. That's actually allowed. So as we sit back and we think about Alex Preddy and Renee Goode and that little five year old boy who is now in Texas but was on the way home from school with his father in Minneapolis when ICE abducted him and his father, now they're in Texas. When we think about that and wonder what we should do. Let me ask you this question. If you have ever wondered what you would do if you had been a German citizen in, let's say, 1937 or 1938, you're doing it now. These are scary times. I'm not suggesting violence of any kind. I am not suggesting that you go out and put you or your family in harm's way. But we've got to start holding people accountable. Our country is slipping away, and there is a point of no return in what is happening right now. I think we're at it. This week, the Senate will vote on ICE funding if it is not defunded completely and broken apart. Not that I think that will stop it. I think they will find some way to keep it going even if Congress takes away its funding. Because we no longer play by sane rules, we don't play by the rules anymore in this country, then every senator who votes to keep funding it is complicit in the death of the people who have been killed, are harmed by ice. It is time to take our White House back. It is time to take our country back. And the problem is we're the peaceful ones. I don't see a day when, as abhorrent as it was when January 6th happened. You gotta say, at least those people said, hey, we're going to put our money where our mouth is. They did what we would never think of doing, and they were properly punished for it for about 24 hours. So how does this all tie in with a guide for getting older? I'll say this. In America these days, if you want to continue getting older, you had better start looking around you and start thinking about what you can do to make this country safer and better. As I said in the last episode, I'm no longer going to ask you to be kind. I hope that you are in your daily life with your family and your friends. Because right now, kindness among those that we love is what we all desperately need. But kindness right now, my friends, will apparently get you killed. And no one will pay for your death. There's no accountability. I'll keep making these as long as I'm able to. And this season is once again titled get off of My Lawn. Only now I would say, get off of my lawn. Trump administration. Until the next time, be safe, watch out for yourself. Be smart, stay informed. This is Bill Monti.
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If it's warm outside but you're feeling colder, not sure what to do Without a friendly shoulder, you're not alone. So start feeling Bolder. Welcome to Bill Monte's Guide for Getting Older.
- [11:43]
Hi, this is Bill Monti inviting you to take a talk down memory lane on the podcast Tales from South Florida, where we dive into the people, places, and events that make our corner of the Sunshine State unlike any place anywhere. So sit back, grab your headsets, get a slice of Key lime pie, and come along for the ride. Full episodes, music videos and more are available at talesfromsouthflorida.com Tales from South Florida, where the stories meet the sea.