← The Daily Beans
The Daily Beans
Refried Beans | Spiritual Camouflage (feat. John Fugelsang, Dahlia Lithwick) | 3/29/2024
01:06:38
Friday, March 29th, 2024 Judge McAfee seems skeptical of Trump’s arguments in Fulton County today; the Republican Vice Chair in Georgia has been found guilty of voter fraud; Matt Maddock posts photos of NCAA Gonzaga busses and tells his followers the busses are full of “illegal invaders”; crypto chode Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison; two bodies have been recovered from a vehicle underwater at the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site; Matt Schlapp’s accuser was paid to drop his lawsuit; the Supreme Court stalled on South Carolina voting maps for so long that their previous racist map will be used in the 2024 election; President Joe Biden has set a campaign fundraising record; plus Allison delivers your good news. Dana is out and about.
Loading summary
Transcript101 lines
- [00:00]
A
Filming the Way on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela was one of the most important and rewarding experiences of my life, and it was by far the most satisfying role of my career. The Way was filmed in 2009 over an eight week schedule and followed the pilgrimage route from St Jean Pierre de Port in the French Pyrenees, across northern Spain to Santiago and then on to Muchia for the final scene. And the entire production was a family affair. Those are the opening lines of a story I share and they reflect the very heart of my podcast. And through sharing autobiographical stories and inspired poetry and personal reflections, that is the theme I find myself exploring again and again. But I do so in the hope that it sparks listeners to see how it relates to their own lives and their own story of discovery. So please join me each Sunday for a beautifully crafted 20 minute journey of personal exploration. I'm proud to announce the Martin Sheen Podcast Season two. I've often said if it's not personal, it's impersonal, and that is how I choose to approach my podcast. With all its contents from storytelling to poetry and book selections, each unique episode is a journey we will share together. I think it's important you know that I have no intention of leaving who I am at the door with this podcast. Anyone who knows me knows I cannot tell a personal story that doesn't have at least some social justice connection at its core. I have my convictions and issues that draw on my empathy and compassion. Frankly, that's what drives and informs my conscience and makes me who I am. How could I bring any less to this endeavor? So tune in Sundays as I invite you to follow, subscribe and receive notifications about what's next for me, Martin Sheen. Oh, and for more information, please visit themartensheenpodcast.com and thank you again, MSW Media.
- [02:14]
B
Hey everybody, it's Ag. And welcome to Refried, Beans, where we play an episode of the Daily Beans podcast from the same week either one, two or three years ago so we can see how far we've come. So please enjoy this episode from days gone by and note the date in the intro.
- [02:31]
C
Refried Beans I like refried beans. That's why I want to try fried beans, because maybe they're just as good and we're wasting time.
- [02:47]
B
Daily beans daily beans. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, March 29, 2024. Today, Judge McAfee seems skeptical of Trump's arguments in Fulton County Today. The Republican vice chair in Georgia has been found guilty of voter fraud. Matt Matic posts photos of NCAA Gonzaga buses and tells his followers that the buses are actually filled with queens, quote, illegal invaders, unquote. Crypto Chode Sam Bankman Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Two bodies have been recovered from a vehicle underwater at the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site. Matt Schlapp's accuser was actually paid to drop his lawsuit. The Supreme Court stalled on South Carolina voting maps for so long that their previous racist map will be used in the 2024 election. And President Joe Biden has set a campaign fundraising record. I'm your host Alison Gill. Hey everybody, I'm sorry about weird noises and strange backgrounds because I am in a hotel, I am in Columbus and I'm going to see everybody, all the Leguminati in Columbus at Natalie's Music hall tonight with my special guest Olivia Troy. I'm looking forward to it. Dana's out today. She is traveling for one of her many amazing gigs. But I will be joined later in the show by my friend, author of the book lady justice and host of the Amicus podcast Dahlia Lithwick. And then of course it's Fuglsang Friday, so I'm going to be joined by John Fugelsang as well. So it's a big show. I'm looking forward to it. Also Monday I'm going to announce five new live shows and patrons. You are going to get pre sale and meet and greet ticket links and passwords this Monday. They don't go on sale to the public until Friday, so you've got a few days. And these tickets are for Washington, D.C. san Francisco, Nashville, St. Louis and Milwaukee in D.C. i'm happy to say I'm going to be joined by Andy McCabe, Pete Strzok and Glenn Kirschner. In Nashville, I'm going to be joined by Phil Williams from News Channel 5. And special guests for San Francisco, St. Louis and Milwaukee are going to be announced soon. Tickets go on sale like I said, to the public Friday, but patrons, you get them Monday and you can get those VIP meet and greet tickets. Meet us all ahead of the show with a small group of folks and have a cocktail and whatnot. There are also still tickets available for Seattle and Portland, which have me, Dana and Andy McCabe on that show. Tickets are still available for Chicago with Renato Marioti and myself and then New York, Boston and Philly as well. And I've got some great guests lined up for some of those shows. Those are all available@alisongill.com thank you for letting me say all that And I'm looking forward to, like I said, meeting everybody tonight in Columbus with Olivia Troy. And thank you so much to patrons. Just you support independent media, you support this network, you support these shows. We couldn't do this without you. So I just want to say thank you very much for being a patron. If you are a patron, you get all these links for, you know, pre sale links. You get ad free episodes and bonus content and BI monthly Zoom AMA Q&A cocktail happy hour with cocktails and mocktails. It's, it's fun. Being part of the Leguminati is fun. You can do it for like three bucks a month at patreon.com millershiro all right, everybody, we have so much news to get to today. But first, we have some quick hits
- [06:16]
C
and to make a long story.
- [06:18]
B
All right, first up, Michigan Republican Matt Matic posted a photo of buses on Twitter asserting they were full of, quote, illegal invaders, when in fact the buses turned out to be basketball players from Gonzaga there to play in the NCAA March Madness tournament. He refused to remove the tweet even after it was community noted. So he's just doubling down on his racist, xenophobic bullshit. Next up, Trump lawyers argued in Fulton county today that the charges against Trump should be dropped because he has a First Amendment right to lie to the public as a candidate for president. And that's what he was doing in 2020. He says. Now that's the opposite of the argument, by the way, that he is making to the Supreme Court on immunity where he says he was not acting as a candidate for office. He was lying as part of his official acts as president. I think that there's a common theme here, though, and that's that he was lying. Also, the bodies of two men have been recovered Wednesday from the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. It's just horrific to watch. Totally. Just terrible, terrible accident. And you know, I'm sending all of my love to everybody in Baltimore. But four people remain missing and they're presumed dead. But recovery efforts were paused Wednesday and the focus has now shifted to removing the ruins of the bridge, which was once traveled by over 30,000 vehicles each day. All right, everybody, we have more news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. First up from Roger Sullenberger at the Daily Beast. And y' all need to follow him and read this article. There's a lot more to it than what I'm going to share with you, but this should be all over the news. And I have not seen anything about it on any network. So I am making this the top story today. When conservative icon Matt Schlapp announced Tuesday that the sexual battery and defamation lawsuit against him had been dropped, he and his allies were quick to note that the ordeal ended without him or the American Conservative Union, the right wing organization he runs, paying his accuser a single dollar. Now, I saw this all over social media on Tuesday and I didn't share it because I felt like a shoe, the other shoe was going to drop. And it has. And Roger Sullenberger has the scoop here at the Daily Beast. I was like, this seems fucking fishy to me that, that this person who accused Matt Schlapp of groping him is just walking away, dropping his lawsuit and making a statement saying it was just all a misunderstanding. It smelled fucking stenchy to me. And as it turns out, I'll read on here for you. But what Schlapp did not disclose was that the Republican operative who sued him was in fact paid to drop the lawsuit. That's according to two people with knowledge. It was just that the money came from ACU's insurance company. That's according to the two people who spoke to the Daily Beast minutes before this article published, CNN ran a story also revealing that the lawsuit was dropped only after Schlapps ACC was paid $480,000 from ACU's insurer, an amount one of the sources confirmed to the Daily Beast. While Schlapp's financial victory lap on a technicality apparently drew the attention of his accuser, it wasn't the only thing that may have been misleading. Sullenberger goes on to say that Schlapp's accuser, a former Herschel Walker campaign staffer named Carlton Huffman, has also taken issue with the content of the conciliatory statement that Schlapp and his spokesperson provided to the media in Huffman's name. The verbiage in that statement was not what Huffman agreed to as part of the settlement. Now, hours after the news broke on Tuesday, the sources said Huffman's counsel notified Schlapp's legal team that some of Schlapp's personal statements and social media posts celebrating the lawsuit's resolution appeared to be in breach of the agreement and the agreement's non disparagement clause. Those posts have since been taken down, including one where Schlapp, citing a Washington examiner report on his personal Twitter account, wrote that he had been cleared of wrongdoing and that Huffman had, quote, apologized. The new allegations suggest that the legal battle, an increasingly contentious dispute that played out under intense media scrutiny for more than a year might be heating back up almost as soon as it ended. Huffman filed the lawsuit last January, about 10 days after he came forward anonymously to the Daily Beast, alleging that Schlapp had pummeled his crotch while he chauffeured the conservative influencer to Schlapp's hotel after a boozy night in Atlanta. Huffman's suit also targeted Schlapp's wife, conservative commentator Mercedes or Mercedes Schlapp, whom Huffman accused of defaming him in a smear campaign after he went public. Now the Schlapps, through various attorneys and surrogates, Sullenberger writes, have denied the allegations, blaming the firestorm on the media and a shadowy cabal of Democratic operatives hell bent on destroying conservatives. Uh huh. But Huffman, the accuser here, is a Republican. And when the resolution first became public on Tuesday, Schlapp and his allies spun it as an exoneration. Schlapp himself broke the news in a lengthy statement on social media, attacking left wing media groups and Democrats for waging a relentless war through the press and legal channels, saying that the scandal had only made his family stronger. Quote, from the beginning, we asserted our innocence. That was his message. After paying this guy $480,000 to drop his lawsuit. Our family was attacked by left wing media that is focused on the destruction of conservatives, regardless of the truth and the facts, buddy, really. But we emerge from this ordeal stronger as husband and wife, stronger as parents to our five daughters, stronger as friends to those who stood by us. Bitch, nobody, including myself, are standing by you here. I don't remember anybody having done that, at least in the media. Throughout the afternoon, Schlapp posted articles about the dismissal and statements of his support from his allies. Huffman's attorney later flagged the content of some of those posts for Schlapp's counsel as potentially exceeding the terms of the settlement. According to two sources, Schlapp has now deleted several of those tweets because you breached the settlement agreement. The executive Committee of the CPAC board also released a statement applauding the favorable conclusion and endorsing Schlapp's leadership while shiting news outlets that did not wait for the facts to come out. So cutting in here into Sullenberger's great writing. Like I said Tuesday, I saw that all those posts from Matt Schlapp and I waited for the facts to come out, that this guy was actually paid quite a bit of money to drop this lawsuit. Now he goes on to say, and this is a Quote from Schlapp, the left wing media did not of course, wait for the facts to come out and instead launched a character assassination campaign to destroy CPAC Matt and his family. That was a statement in part adding that, quote, CPAC's financial position is also at historic, historic level of strength with an exceptionally engaged base of support. Yeah, I saw some of those ballrooms and empty chairs at the last seat. Pack Huffman. Though the accuser never recanted his claims, though the media statement that ACU provided in his name chalked up the lawsuit to a, quote, complete misunderstanding, it's not clear which parts of Huffman's media statements are dispute. The statement which was first reported in Politico was broken into two parts. The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlap family. That was the first paragraph. The second paragraph flipped the roles with the Schlaps acknowledging that their allegedly defamatory claims about Huffman were also a misunderstanding. Quote, the Schlaps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding which was regrettable. That was the second part. And then it added, neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them. And that's when I went whoop, whoop, like, why? Who asked if anyone paid you? First of all, but sir, this is a Wendy's. Nobody paid me to drop this lawsuit. That's when my spidey sense went off. And I did not report that Politico story because I wanted to wait for all the facts. I guess I'm a left wing media now. Politico reported also that Huffman had confirmed the accuracy of the statement in a text message conversation. Asked about the statement, Huffman said in a text message to Politico, we have resolved our differences and confirmed the accuracy of the statement. But maybe he was talking about the statement that was in the settlement agreement and not the one that was made by Schlapp. Now, in response to questions, the political reporter who broke the story, Daniel Lippman, told the Beast that he has full confidence in his reporting. I stand by my reporting and would direct you to the story itself, which outlines my interaction with Huffman. But it's unclear whether Huffman was confirming the accuracy of the content in the full media statement or potentially referencing the independent statement that he texted to Lippman acknowledging that the dispute had been resolved. Okay, so it could have been that too. Neither Huffman nor his attorney, Tim Hyland would comment for the story. There is so much more to this story, though, and you need to go read it. Go to thedailybeast.com follow Roger Sullenberger. He's on top of all of these stories. It's just such huge reporting, so go check it out. Next up from the Post Federal judge sentenced Former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman freed to 25 years in prison Thursday, saying that the man who once graced magazine covers and testified at congressional hearings as the face of a booming new industry had in fact perpetrated one of the largest financial crimes in U.S. history. The quarter century in prison that U.S. district Judge Lou Kaplan prescribed was less than what prosecutors wanted for what they called his massive financial crimes, but far more than what defense lawyers sought. Bankman Fried was also ordered to pay more than 11 billion with a B dollars $11 billion. So makes Trump's 454 million look like chump change, huh? Bankman Fried, co founder of crypto exchange ftx, an investment fund Alameda Research, failed to take responsibility for the disaster he created, Kaplan said in handing down the sentence, Mr. Bankman Fried says mistakes were made, but never a word of remorse for the commission of these terrible crimes. Thursday's hearing underscored the precipitous downfall of the man who turned FTX into a behemoth with a Super bowl ad, naming rights to a Miami stadium, and glowing publicity for its cryptocurrency exchange. Jurors in November convicted Bankman Fried on charges related to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. I still feel about cryptocurrency the way I feel about Joe Rogan and Avenatti. Just say no now only when FTX collapsed into bankruptcy. That's personal, by the way. I'm not telling you how to run your portfolio. That's just my own personal, yeah, you know, bit of opinion. So I just want to make that clear now. When FTX collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022, only then did investigators undercover what prosecutors had described as a straightforward fraud dressed up as a breakthrough financial innovation. Bankman Fried was accused of misappropriating FTX customer funds to spend lavishly on luxury real estate investments and political donations as well. Now Prosecutors asked for 40 years in prison. Defense attorneys wanted five or six years. So he got 25. And from Lawrence Hurley at NBC the Supreme Court has delayed resolving a South Carolina redistricting case for so long that a lower court has been forced to step in, saying on Thursday that a congressional district it previously ruled was racially gerrymandered can be used in this year's election The Pack and Crack District Last year, a federal court ruled that the Charleston area district held by Nancy Mace who was that? They ruled it was unlawfully drawn by removing thousands of black voters, tens of thousands. But on Thursday, the same court said in an order that the map would have to be used for this year's congressional election. A three judge panel wrote that with the primary election procedures rapidly approaching, the appeal before the Supreme Court still pending and no remedial plan in place, the ideal must bend to the practical. The decision constitutes a setback for Democrats who might have gained a favorable map if it was redrawn. A more favorable map the Supreme Court has spent months considering the merits of whether map drawers unlawfully considered race when drafting the map, but as yet to issue a ruling despite both sides saying it needed to be resolved well before the election. Supreme Court delay Fucking us up like per usual, the justices have also failed to act on an emergency application brought by Republican state officials asking for the existing map to remain in place, at least for now. Oral arguments in the South Carolina case were held on October 11. They have had ample time to rule. State officials had argued their sole goal was to increase the Republican tilt in the district and drawing the map. But in January 2023, the lower court ruled race was of predominant concern when one of the state's seven districts was drawn. Republicans, led by South Carolina Senate President Thomas Alexander appealed that decision. The three judge panel said the state did not have to take any action to draw a new map until after SCOTUS resolved the appeal, thinking that the justices would fucking act a little more quickly. October, November. December. January. February, March. It's been over five months. The roughly 30,000 black voters who were moved out of the district were placed into the district held by James Clyburn, who's black. It's the only one of seven congressional districts held by Democrats. And from Mark Neese at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, A judge ruled Wednesday that the Georgia Republican Party's first vice chairman, Brian K. Prichard, violated state election laws when he voted nine times while serving probation for a felony check forgery sentence. Nine times. Nine times. Nine times. Pritchard, a conservative talk show host, has to pay a $5,000 fine. That's it. And receive a public reprimand from the state election board. That's according to the decision by Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs. So slap on the wrist. Pritchard has previously alleged the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent on his conservative talk show. But he had now been found to have voted illegally nine times. Recounts, court cases and investigations over the past three and a half years have consistently debunked all of his fraud claims and upheld the 2020 results. Pritchard has said he didn't do anything wrong, but he had a, you know, he, he thought he had completed his probation before he voted, but that didn't convince the judge. This court does not find the respondents explanations credible or convincing. At the very least, even if the court accepts he didn't know about his felony sentences, the record before this court demonstrates that he should have known. That's what the judge said. Pritchard testified in February he believed his felony sentence ended in 99. Nope. It was extended till 2011. And Georgia law prohibits felons from voting until they've completed their sentences. Now, of course, Democrats want to be able to allow felons who have paid their debt to society to vote, but if you are still on probation, I suppose that means that you haven't quite finished paying your debt to society. Pritchard registered to vote in Georgia in 2008 and cast ballots in nine elections before his probation was over. And that's according to the election records presented in court and from Chris Megarian at the Associated Press. A fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Thursday in New York City that also stars Barack Obama and Bill Clinton is raising a whopping $25 million, setting a record for the biggest haul for a political event, a political event in history. The eye popping amount was a major show of Democratic support for Biden at a time of persistently low poll numbers, which I don't think is, I don't even know why that gets mentioned. They're look at the election results, not the polls. And everybody, the poll shouldn't tell you whether or not to go vote. We know, we know that. Though I'm preaching to the choir. The president will test the power of the campaign cash as he faces off with presumptive Republican nominee Trump, who has already proved with his 2016 win over Hillary Clinton that he didn't need to raise the most money to seize the presidency. Yeah, although he had some help in 2016. Russia, Comey. So I mean, let's talk about that. Maybe the Radio City Music hall event will be a gilded exclamation mark on a recent burst of presidential campaign travel. Biden has visited several political battleground states in the last three weeks since his State of the Union address and which served as a rallying cry for his reelection bid. The event also brings Together more than three decades of Democratic leadership. The hours long fundraiser has different tiers of access depending on your generosity. It is sold out. Now, tickets were as low as 225, but they go up to $500,000, which gets you into a, like a little VIP meet and greet, the kind that I have before my shows, but mine are way less than $500,000. And you also get a picture with the three presidents. But anyway, all sold out. Thousands are expected. Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Riva, Leah, Michelle. It'll be hosted by Mindy Kaling. It's gonna, it's gonna be a huge, huge event. But right now New York is just chaotic because I know Trump is doing some other thing where he's going to awake for a police officer that was killed in the line of duty. But we now have, we have four presidents in Manhattan on Thursday night. It's going to be a traffic nightmare, so maybe take the subway. All right, everybody, we're going to be back. We're to take a quick break, but I can't wait. After the break, I'm going to talk to Dahlia Lithwick, the author of lady justice, host of the Amicus podcast and editor over at Slate. She's incredible. She's a really good friend, too. And then after that, of course, fugal saying Fridays. And then we'll be back with the good news. Everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
- [25:55]
C
We'll be right back.
- [26:01]
D
It's no surprise that newsmakers try to manipulate the audience. They want you to believe that they are the one holding the line, and they'll use any trick they can to get you there.
- [26:09]
B
But don't let them fool you.
- [26:10]
D
Get Unspun. I'm Amanda Sturgill. I've been a reporter, and today I teach future reporters to cut the spin and think critically about what newsmakers say. My podcast, Unspun, shows you how to know when you're being manipulated by the news. Learn to spot the tricks and how to make up your own mind about what's true. So if you're tired of being fooled by the news, subscribe to UNSPUN today. Unspun because you deserve the truth.
- [26:42]
B
Hey, everybody, welcome back. Guess what? It's Friday, and that means it's a fugal saying Fridays here on the Daily Beans. And I'm joined by my friend, host of Tell Me Everything on Sirius XM progress channel. 127 weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. And of course, if you don't have Sirius XM get it, but if you don't have it, you can listen to the John Fugal saying show podcast wherever you get your podcasts. I don't know why I did a morning DJ voice. Right.
- [27:09]
C
Podcast traffic and weather and luns.
- [27:12]
B
Okay, that's every time.
- [27:15]
C
You're Alison Gill and the Bear. Traffic and weather together. Every 10 minutes past the hour. We're live and interactive. Taking your calls right now. Fifth caller will pay your taxes at a free vasectomy to the seventh. Let's call right now.
- [27:30]
B
I think it has something to do with I've gotten so good at, you know, talking about when your show is and, and so like, it just feels like, you know, weeknights, 9pm Eastern.
- [27:43]
C
All you really have to do for intro, just be like, oh, this freaking guy again. And your, your listeners will know. Alison, you're, you're working way too hard here.
- [27:50]
B
Oh, I'm so glad to talk to you today, though, because this week we had Supreme Court arguments about mifepressone, a drug that's been on the market for decades. Very safe. Safer than Viagra, safer than penicillin, safer
- [28:02]
C
than aspirin, safer than pregnancy, safer than childbirth. You left out the two most important ones.
- [28:09]
B
Very, very true. And it's all because of these, you know, Christo fascist groups that go into Amarillo, Texas and file their lawsuits with Judge Kazmarek, who is a himself Christo fascist Gilead judge who, you know, thinks women should walk 10ft behind men and look down at the ground and only speak when spoken.
- [28:33]
C
He's judicial apprentice is what he is. He's a Trump hire.
- [28:37]
B
Yep, yep. He is a Trump hire. And I hate his face. It's a very punchable face. It's like Martin Shkreli. Remember that guy?
- [28:45]
C
Oh, yes, of course.
- [28:46]
B
And Richard Spencer. It's like up there with those punchable faces. But this gets all the way to the Supreme Court with no standing. It's a group of doctors who are saying that the, the harm to them is that someday in the future they might have the SADs.
- [29:01]
C
That's their home. Yes.
- [29:03]
B
They could be forced to treat someone who took Are you 46? Or abortive fashion like mifeprestone. And that would be against their conscience. And even though they don't have to treat patients, they can opt out of treating patients and give it to a different doctor. And some of them are dentists. And I have to share this with you, my friend, before I let you go off on this, because I know that you're Going to. And I'm excited about it. But when I first joined the Navy, I was one of the first women. First four women, I think, that were recruited into Naval Nuclear Power Training Command. They finally had opened up that billet to women.
- [29:45]
C
Yes.
- [29:46]
B
And I got there, it was me and 600 dudes. They didn't have any facilities for me, and they didn't have a GYN on staff, of course. And it was me and six. I was like, I need to get on birth control immediately. I must get on birth control immediately. And so I went to the doctor, and they're like, well, we don't have a gyn. So instead of sending me to Jacksonville to the naval hospital where a GYN sits, they sent me to a dentist on base.
- [30:17]
C
Of course they did.
- [30:18]
B
Yeah, I guess.
- [30:20]
C
Did you get the message, Allison? Did you get the message? Women's be thinking too much.
- [30:25]
B
I guess mouths and vaginas are the same thing to them. So anyway, I said no. And I eventually got to go to Jacksonville and get my exam and get my birth control. But these doctors that are suing for irreparable injury because of mifepristone are dentists. So tell. Tell me about your thoughts on this case, my friend.
- [30:47]
C
Well, where to really begin? The. The. The. Okay, there's. There's a lot to pick apart here. But the main thing is they're terrified. They know they're the dog that caught the truck, and they're terrified. First, ivf. And right away they all realized, holy crap, kids, we went too far. We went too far. Pull back. Pull back. They tried to ban IVF in Alabama, and right away, even the governor of Alabama sprung up against it. Even these Republicans who campaigned against ivf. They don't actually care about abortion. That's what. That's what we have to remember. Republicans don't care about abortion. If they cared about abortion, they'd support easier access to birth control and they would support sex ed in schools, okay? They don't care about preventing abort. They don't care about immigration. They don't care about undocumented immigration. If they wanted it to stop, they'd go after the employers. All they care about is power. That's it. That's all they value. That's all their beliefs are in service of giving them power across the board. Not helping others, not fighting for what's in the Bible, not defending the Constitution. How do I get power now? In the late 70s, the right wing had been dealt a real blow for civil rights. And then Nixon and the entire brand was in tatters. Jerry Falwell really gets the most credit for being the one to shift to the Reagan era. Christianity and criminalizing abortion are the same thing. And for two generations, we've groomed people of faith in this country to think that criminalizing this procedure that's never mentioned in the Bible and the stuff Jesus talked about are the same. So banning abortion has replaced religion for all these people. And that's important because they don't have a religious leg to stand on, which I'll get to. The main thing here to remember is now they know they've gone too far. They only latched onto abortion to get greater power, to get the Christians to vote for the Wall street agenda. They got Christians to vote for all these tax cuts and polluting and the arms race against the Soviet Union. They did it all by embracing abortion because that's Christianity. Now, two generations later, they've achieved their zenith and they've undone Roe v. Wade. And they never stopped to think about what would happen once that became reality. So now they know they've gone too far. They see they're losing special elections in Kansas. Ms. Gill, Kansas. They see young people coming out to vote for the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections in an off off year.
- [33:19]
B
So the Alabama's District 10 House race. 25 points. And that was.
- [33:24]
C
That's right.
- [33:25]
B
Previously a Republican, plus seven.
- [33:27]
C
17 point swing. 17, 20.
- [33:32]
B
No, 20. 25 points. 32 point swing.
- [33:35]
C
Yeah. I mean, the maze.
- [33:37]
B
Ridiculous. And it's because she is. It's because. Because of ivf. She's campaigning on ivf.
- [33:42]
C
Yeah. And the job was open because of Republicans committing voter fraud. They realized that they messed up with IVF and they pulled back right away. You know, Mike Johnson, who opposes IVF when it helps him to get support of Rubes, suddenly within a day. Oh, IVF's fine. IVF. They don't believe anything. They don't care about. They don't believe the Bible. They're not Christians. We have to take away their spiritual camouflage. They believe nothing. So now we see with mifepristone. And let's thank Donald Trump. Thanks to him, I had to learn how to say hydroxychloroquine. Thanks to Donald Trump, I had to learn how to say ivermectin. And now thanks to Donald Trump and his judges, I know how to say mifepristone. Most ignorant straight breeder males never learn that. That's the sort of thing that maybe once in a lifetime a lady will ask us to pick up a prescription and we'll read it and think, I wonder how that's pronounced. But no, now I've got to know how to say it, because I say it every day. Because of the host of Celebrity Apprentice, these women hating fake Christian idiot zealots have realized they went too far. And that's what the Supreme Court hearing was all about. Two thirds of abortions were medication abortion. In 2023, there were no problems. And this whole case relies on how they want to go back to 20, the year 2000 when it was approved by the FDA, and say somehow the FDA was wrong, even though it's been totally safe for almost a quarter of a century. I mean, Erin Hawley, who's trying this case, she's the wife of the Senate Adolescent Insurrection Club President, Josh Hawley, she really thought this was going to go her way with her junk science before the justices, and it didn't. And this was sort of a win because the judges made it very clear they were not going to bite on this. I think what they're really doing is waiting until after election Day. They know this would kill them. They know that this would hurt the Republican brand if they were to rule this way and actually ban mifepristone or allow a system where government can go through people's mail. Because that's what this is really all about. Alito and Comstock really want to bring back. I'm sorry, Alito and Thomas really want to bring back the Comstock.
- [35:46]
B
You can call them Comstock if you want.
- [35:49]
C
We might as well call them Comstock. I think that's what he pays the escorts to call him. And again, this is this 1873 statute outlawing the use of mail to send lewd materials. So they're saying that this drug that women have safely taken for a quarter century is now a lewd material. They have no problem with Viagra being shipped through the mail. They don't know what they're doing anymore. And I include Supreme Court. And they're panicking. And that's what this story was really all about.
- [36:16]
B
Yeah. And I'm concerned about them trying to bring back the Comstock act because. Because of this. To control the mail. But how they won't. I will immediately file a lawsuit about Viagra in the mail if that is the case. And now you're going to have to take Viagra away from disabled veterans because they get it through the mail.
- [36:42]
C
Yeah, I mean, it's. And it's not going to happen. I mean, it's not going to happen. They know they went too far. They don't believe anything but power. So they will stop believing in whatever religious edicts their posse circles around the second it threatens Republican power gains in 2024. That's all any of this is about. And again, the Bible's not against abortion, okay? The media is the real villain here. When Mike Pence tries to, you know, ban equal treatment under the law for gay people in Indiana under the Religious Freedom act, the media never came forward and said, where does Jesus condemn gay people? Like, the media will never ask these people, where does your holy book say that you can't help a woman who's had an abortion? Where does your holy book say that abortion is wrong? The media won't ask them. No one asks them. We have this mentality in America that religious means right wing politics, and it doesn't. So you don't have to believe in the Bible to use it against these people. It's not just that they have no legal standing, they have no scriptural standing as well. And that's the level of scrutiny that no one ever exercises towards right wing Christianity, yet they just seem to take
- [37:56]
B
their word for it and report on it.
- [37:58]
C
But we were raised this way. We were raised this way in America in the 80s and 90s to think if someone's Christian, they want to ban abortion and they hate gay people. That's what the TV taught me. I never saw actual Christ followers on TV who use the Bible to give support and love and compassion to gay people, to point out that Jesus is against the death penalty but never mentions abortion. I never saw anyone on TV ever actually talking about what's really in the Bible. It's just these Falwells and the clones. It's just these white men with generally depressing Southern accents who are out there, know nothing about scripture, are not fighting for anything. The character of Jesus in the book, you don't need to believe in it literally. Guys just know they're hypocrites and frauds. And it behooves liberals and progressives and decent people to know what the Bible does and doesn't say. So we can take away their camouflage because that's all this is. They have no religious standing.
- [38:56]
B
Spiritual camouflage. Yep. You said it best, my friend.
- [38:59]
C
Boy, I get preachy when religion comes up. I'm sorry, guys.
- [39:02]
B
That's okay. That's why I'd like to have you on the show. You're so knowledgeable about all this stuff and I really appreciate it. And I appreciate all the work you do and everybody you can listen to all the work he does again. Weeknights, weeknights, nine Eastern, six Pacific. Tell me everything on Sirius XM Progress Channel, limited time.
- [39:22]
C
We are selling Donald Trump Make America Great Again. Lee Greenwood, God bless the USA Bibles better than the Bible grandma had 59.99 right now call and we'll send you this free Donald Trump softcore gay porn NFT card and I'll wrap that Bible
- [39:39]
B
in the flag for 59.95.
- [39:42]
C
Right. By the way, if it's cut in a related story, God is selling shitty puffy gold sneakers this week. I had no idea. Like God is raising some cash.
- [39:51]
B
Oh, all right. Well, that's good to know. And the John Fugle Sign podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Little tangent we went on there. But I appreciate your time, my friend, and we will see you next Friday, everybody. Stick around. I'm going to be back. I'm going to ask Dahlia Lithwick, the author of lady justice, some of these same questions. Stick around after these messages.
- [40:12]
C
We'll be right back.
- [40:17]
D
It's no surprise that newsmakers try to manipulate the audience. They want you to believe that they are the one holding the line and they'll use any trick they can to get you there.
- [40:26]
B
But don't let them fool you.
- [40:27]
D
You get Unspun. I'm Amanda Sturgel. I've been a reporter and today I teach future reporters to cut the spin and think critically about what newsmakers say. My podcast, Unspun, shows you how to know when you're being manipulated by the news, learn to spot the tricks and how to make up your own mind about what's true. So if you're tired of being fooled by the news, subscribe to Unspun today. Unspun because you deserve this truth.
- [41:00]
B
Hey everybody, welcome back. I'm proud to be joined today by my friend, award winning journalist, author of the book Lady Justice. You must get it if you haven't already. I'm sure you have, but if you haven't, you must get it. She's the host of the Amicus podcast and a senior editor at Slate. Please welcome Dalia Lithwick.
- [41:16]
E
Hello, friend. How are you?
- [41:18]
B
Hello, friend. We've been friends going on now, what, six years? I think we first met at a live show. At a live show.
- [41:26]
E
Gentle Brooklyn, right? Dragged me up to meet you and I was like awkwardly fangirling. It was just, it was one of the. And then there's photo evidence that like, I was slightly deranged with fandom. Yep, I remember it well.
- [41:40]
B
We had a really fun time we were, I think, at the Bell House in Brooklyn.
- [41:44]
E
Yeah.
- [41:45]
B
And I'm back on tour again. So, you know, things are full circle. So it made sense to bring you on the show, but it also made sense because you've written, what, six pieces for Slate this week?
- [41:54]
E
It's been a week, this three day week.
- [41:56]
B
Yeah, it has. And the one that, I mean, I wanna talk to you about all of them, but the one that really stood out to me was about Donald Trump. And the quote in the very first paragraph of your article is, donald Trump is not so much running a presidential campaign as he is spearheading a criminal immunity racket. Let's talk about that.
- [42:18]
E
Yeah, so I was riffing off. Brian Beutler wrote a really smart substack about this last week that I thought deserved some attention because he made. And then I amplified this kind of extremely obvious point that this campaign doesn't have any of the markers of what a presidential campaign has.
- [42:41]
B
Right.
- [42:41]
E
There's no family this time. There's no Ivanka, there's no, you know, happy St. Patrick's Day tweet. Brian noted there's not even policy discussions. This is just straight up, you know, stadium rallies, complaints about witch hunts, terrorizing judges and their daughters. You know, like, this is like, where's my Roy Cone? Scaled up a million times, right? Like, it's just, how do I get under from all this criminal liability with like a tiny little ketchup sized side of, oh, by the way, I'm running for president.
- [43:28]
B
And you know what was interesting this morning, talking about the immunity racket, Sato, who's a lawyer for Donald Trump down in Georgia, was arguing in court today that all of the lies. Well, basically, first of all, his defense is, I should be able to lie to the public because of the First Amendment. So he's admitting that he lied about the 2020 election. But the, the argument is I should be able to lie because I'm running for president. I was campaigning in 2020. But that cuts against his immunity argument with the Supreme Court, that he was acting as president and those lies were part of his official acts. So it's getting very difficult for him because his defense in one case often undercuts his defense in another.
- [44:19]
E
You know, there was such a smart piece in the Atlantic earlier this week that has been a month by Andrew Weissman and Ryan Goodman making a version of the same point, which is there is no possible predicate for Trump's desire to have the immunity hearing delayed. Right. That every single imperative, if you are seeking to move into A legal process is to have that happen quickly. And the reason, and they say there's a thousand reasons, but it all has to do with, with the campaign and not the law. Right. If you are wrongly accused of doing something, you would presumably want to be exonerated as quickly as possible. And so it's a version of the same point you're making, which is, look, it has never been the case that his defense in two different trials square. Right. I mean, that's like the preoccupation of tiny little minds like yours and mine. But I think their point is just a version of where we started, which is his trying to delay, delay, delay. The immunity hearing is completely orthogonal to how any other criminal defendant behaves. It's a way of delaying it so that it doesn't get adjudicated before the election. And I just think these are all of a piece. And you're exactly right. You know, you can't say I was official. It was official Presidential act. And also now. Oh, but it's just free speech and running for election. Like, which is it? And I think the answer is there is no plausible claim for sort of consistency across every one of these, you know, hearings. There never has been. The only claim is witch hunt hoax, I am being persecuted. That's the one thing that's that, that across every trial and every act.
- [46:33]
B
Yeah. Or, or absolutely. The President is an officer of the United States under the Westfall act, and that's why the DOJ must represent me in the E. Jean Carroll matter. But also, absolutely, I am not an officer of the United States when it comes to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. It just, it, it's, it's back and forth and it's very, it's very interesting to watch, like you said, for minds like ours, where we, where we catch these, these differences. Let's also talk about what happened with the Supreme Court this week, because I love your take on this and, and the Miff Prestone argument, because we've all sort of been screaming and I'm not even a lawyer, but I've been like, how do they even have standing? How could you possibly have standing in this case? Or why is it even going up to the Supreme Court? And there's reasons for that. And it's a judge shopping situation. Right?
- [47:26]
E
Yeah. I mean, there's a couple of things that are going on, and maybe the most important is that this is one of those cases that presents as silly. Right? It's silly because of the reason you just said, which is literally the plaintiffs in this Action are a bunch of doctors and wait for it. Dentists who want to be able to deny care to somebod who wait for it. They didn't administer mifepristone. Some other physician somewhere administered the first of the two drugs in the medication. Abortion cocktail. Perfectly safe, safer than Tylenol, safer than Viagra. But then there's this infinitesimal chance that there's a bad side effect, and then that person ends up in the er and this physician, in this hypothetical three states of, you know, if conditional, speculative facts has to then participate in terminating a pregnancy, that is literally the grounds for coming to the court. And. And it's codes is funny because it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous, right? By that logic, I could sue the gun industry because someday someone could get shot and I might have to do like, CPR on the sidewalk, Right?
- [48:42]
B
Like it's crazy or you just be sad about it.
- [48:46]
E
Yeah, well, sad. This is feelings all the way down. To be clear, this is just a sadness case. But you're exactly right. So it comes across as silly and we laughed at it. And then, and we can talk about this or not, but then there's this, like, other hilarious valence of the Comstock Stock act, which is this 1873 Anti Vice act that has been dormant for many, many decades. It has literally been sliced and diced into irrelevancy, mostly by our first amendment law that says, like. Oh, a law that says you can't put, like, dirty pictures in the mail from 1873. That was entirely a juggernaut by one crazy person who wanted to inspect the mail. Okay, so that law is coming roaring back. And again, it kind of strikes you as hilarious, right? This gilded age joke of a law. But these two things, even though they're silly and ridiculous, are like, bring with them the specter of, like, deadly serious things. And so, like, we have to hold in our mind, which is always challenging that when we want to dunk on the case and how stupid the case is. And I can't believe it got here. And as you said, they shot the case, they created a fake front group of fake doctors, and then they gave it a fake name. And then weirdly, they like, brought the case in Amarillo, Texas. Why Amarillo, you're asking? Nobody has any connection to Amarillo because there was only one judge in Amarillo in this jurisdiction, and it's Matthew Kaczmarek, who's a lifelong anti abortion, anti trans healthcare, anti LGBTQ crusader that Donald Trump installs on the bench. Why does all this Matter. Okay, I'm getting there. Because these are actually deadly serious things. Because the fact is Donald Trump can and several of his advisors in his, like, Project 2025 brain trust, and my brains are in quotation mark there. And in his Heritage foundation brain trust, again, quotation marks. They're pushing for Donald Trump to reinstantiate the Comstock act the first day in office, to make it a crime to put not just porn in the mails, not just birth control in the males, not just a board of patients, Right. The morning after pill, whatever, mifepristone, but also to put information about those things in the mails. Right. Protected First Amendment speech. And that's a way that you just don't even have to care what the court does. This could be done by fiat by the president. And this comes up at oral argument like, huh, this is a real law that's still on the books and we should be enforcing it. And we had Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito kind of pushing, pushing, pushing the Solicitor General to explain why the Comstock act isn't implicated and why it isn't a crime to be shipping mifepristone again, safe around the country. So this is my long winded way of saying, like, we treat these as punchlines at our peril, because this is deadly serious shit that is being cooked up in anticipation of a Donald Trump victory. And it's as much as the Comstock act is a joke and that these fake plaintiffs with no real claims are a joke and they are going to lose, the point is they are ascendant.
- [51:59]
B
Yeah. And I will continue to laugh at them, but also take them seriously because, you know, I think we can do both.
- [52:06]
E
I'll allow it.
- [52:08]
B
But Alito, it seemed like what? Alito was like, okay, well, who would have standing in this case? And, you know, the whole standing issue is that these. These folks don't have any standing in, in my view. And so Alito was like, all right, well, who would have standing? And so they argue a little bit. And Alito was almost like, no, seriously, tell me who would have standing so I can go tell Leonard Leo who to put together to bring this case again? Like, it was almost like he was looking for how to invoke the Comstock act to prevent birth control and mifepressone and abortive fashions from going out in the mail. I guess maybe if I ran for president, I could put all this in the mail and call it free speech.
- [52:48]
E
Right.
- [52:49]
B
But, you know, it just seemed like he was seriously fishing for ideas about what kind of case would actually be a good one to take at the Supreme Court that would give them the occasion to do this, to invoke the Comstock act, to bar the mailing of these medications?
- [53:09]
E
There was a great little moment. I'm trying to pull up the transcript in time to get it exactly right, but there was this amazing little moment where the justices were too scared to say the Comstock act because that's how embarrassing it is. And so here's like, Justice Alito, I'm just reading from the transcript.
- [53:27]
B
It's like Macbeth.
- [53:28]
E
Yeah.
- [53:30]
B
Or like Sir Matthew, the Scottish law.
- [53:32]
E
Remember the witch burner that Alito cites, like, with approval in Dobbs, like the witch burner. It's like he's too afraid to say this stuff out loud. So there's this amazing moment where he's pressing the Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogger, and he's like, shouldn't the FDA have at least considered the application of 18 USC 1461? And we're. Everyone's like, right, what's 1460? And she's like, I think that's the Comstock. Like, she has to name it. Because he's too chicken to say that. He's pulling out this completely laughable Victorian law that was used to. And I should just say Anthony Comstock used to brag about how many people he drove to suicide by prosecuting them under the Comstock. Like, it's unbelievable. And maybe the one other thing that I'll just say, because you sort of flicked at it, but we could say it explicitly, is that it's so funny, right? That he's like, over and over again. So you're saying that the FDA is infallible, that no entity can second guess it. And a few minutes later, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson really deftly. And I think it was like one of those actual comedy moments, is like, wait, I'm sorry, are we the entity that's best situated to, like, practice, you know, scientific review of drugs? Like, she completely flipped it on its head, right? And is like, oh, wait, we're the people, like in the robes who went to law school for a couple of years that should be, you know, close, reading scientific journals to determine the efficacy and safety. And so it's just like, at the end of the day, it's not just that he's like, oh, is the FDA infallible? And I'm too scared to say consta. It's that he also is arrogating unto himself with his, I guess, multiple degrees in biology and human anatomy. The Power to decide how drugs are administered and if they're safe. That's crazy, crazy, crazy crap.
- [55:38]
B
Well, wasn't there a recent Supreme Court case about overturning like decades and decades of the court deferring to federal agencies and science and like the EPA and the, you know, Health and Human Services, et cetera. And how does that fit in here? I mean, it seems like they really want to take this away from experts and put it in the hands of judges for sure.
- [56:05]
E
And this is a longstanding, like the idea is Chevron deference and it is a decades old rule that the Supreme Court, it's not a constitutional rule, it's an interpretive rule. And the court has said for decades, if law is written in some ambiguous way, we defer to the agency that has to interpret and understand and regulate, we're going to defer to them as to the meaning of the law. And that has been the longstanding rule at the court for a very long time. And I should note that's a Justice Scalia rule. Right. This is not something that was invented by hippie liberals.
- [56:56]
B
And you're right, there's been not some wacky Ginsburg. No, no.
- [57:00]
E
I mean, you know, like Justice, Justice Brennan, by the way, smoking pot and inventing, you know, Chevron deference. This is, this is a long standing, you know, 40 year rule of administrative law that says let's let the EPA decide what water pollution is, let's let the EPA decide particulate matter in a pollution case. But the court, and this is really, really important as part of this deregulatory juggernaut that it has been on for decades, the way to get rid of federal oversight and all these cumbersome laws that keep polluters from polluting and keeping, you know, big tobacco from big tobaccoing.
- [57:45]
B
And they're rich donors from the people
- [57:48]
E
who bought becoming richer, the Leonard Leo people. And the way you stop that is you kneecap federal agencies. Right. And so in a deep way, and this is a longer conversation, almost every single case this term has a deregulatory angle where whether it's the court going after the cfpb, whether it's the court in this Chevron case that you're describing, it was heard in January. It's called Loper Bright. And it's literally a phishing regulation about who pays for phishing monitors to be on fishing vessels. There's nothing to do with phishing. All it really is is an effort to do away with Chevron deference and say that that agencies can't decide for themselves, how to, you know, do law. And Chevron is part of it, and the other part of it, you know, by the way, this mifepristone case is part of it. Right? It's a way of kneecapping the FDA and saying the FDA can't do its job or it's going to be under court scrutiny. And we have a whole host of cases this term that are deregulatory in nature. But the other thing is, it's not even just Chevron deference or that agency rule that you're describing. It's worse than that. Because last year, recall, when the Supreme Court said that President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan was impermissible, they used something even crazier than Chevron. They said there's something called the Major Questions doctrine. And I really am putting that in quotation marks because that stipulates that if it's a big political question, agencies don't get to decide it. The court gets to decide it. And they busted that out several times now to say, oh, this is a big important question. And so if it's not done the way we want it done, then we'll second guess it. So I think you're exactly right to identify. This is a theme. And this is why the Koch brothers pay big money to Leonard Leo. To pay big money to seat three Trump judges, is three Trump justices, is because this is part of making sure, right, the famous Grover Norquist quote, that federal government is small enough to drown in a bathtub. Or in this case, in Loper Bright, you know, drown on a fishing boat.
- [60:11]
B
Wow. Well, I appreciate you having a chat with me today. I could talk to you for hours, my friend. But I do have some good news that I have to get to after this next break. But I just wanted to thank you for coming on and speaking to us and everybody. You need to listen to the Amicus podcast. Read everything that she writes in Slate. Dahlia Lithwick and her book, you must get it. It's called Lady Justice. Although I am certain every single person listening to this interview right now probably already owns your book. So this might not be the target market, but if you don't have it, it's really, really a wonderful book. Thank you, my friend.
- [60:43]
E
I'm so grateful for the work you do every day. And I really, like. I know these are, like, just crappy hard times, but I'm just so grateful for the way you get us through them with, like, 90 parts, no bullshit, and, like, 90% no bullshit and 10%, like, Amazing Grace and good humor. I don't know how you do it. It's like straight into the veins, keep doing what you do.
- [61:07]
B
I thought you were gonna say 90, no bullshit and 10% bullshit, which. Which, you know, might be pretty close. Anyway, thank you so much my friend. We will speak soon and it's. It's been wonderful talking to you everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news after these messages.
- [61:26]
C
We'll be right back.
- [61:34]
B
Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news everyone.
- [61:38]
C
Then good news everyone.
- [61:45]
E
Good news.
- [61:46]
B
And if you have any good news confessions corrections. You want to play what the fark is in your ark? Send us a photo of an animal. Just send them in. Or draw an animal and send it to us. Love those too who don't have POD pet tax to pay. You can always send an adoptable pet in your area or give a shout out to a local business in your area or a self shout out or a shout out to a loved one. Theses titles, dissertation titles. I love those. I also love great VA healthcare stories, Obamacare stories, and of course student debt relief stories. Want to hear those? Also wobby stories, blanky stories and stuffed animal stories are among my favorites. I think our current champion is 117-year-old stuffed animal Stuffy. Send those to us. Pictures of your happy places. Frog orgies, baby photos. Stock up. Get send in your baby photo. Send in your baby baby you as a baby. Send it in because I want to flood them in in Sunday's recording for Monday's beans so that Dana has them all so we can surprise her when she gets back. She loves baby photos anyway. You send them to dailybeanspot.com click on contact first. Up up. A lot of pronunciation corrections for Shakopi. Pronunciation correction from my pillow guy. Shakopi is pronounced Shakopee and Shaska is pronounced Shaz Chaska. And although it wasn't in your story, I live in Mankato. I know how to say that one. And that's the place we got to watch Lindell get arrested as he waited in line for his breakfast at Hardee's. Kelly T. Pronoun she and her says Chaska is pronounced Chaska. Side note, Chief Justice Lennon kicks absolute ass. When she became Chief justice, she introduced herself to each county court by going on an ERAS tour. Side side note, you two have helped the very anxious person, this very anxious person find some calm in this shitstorm as well as ways to make small differences here and there. I can't imagine a day without you. Thank you from the bottom of my neurotic heart. Kelly T. Thank you Chaska Mankato Shakopee. Got it. And next up from anonymous pronoun she and her hey Beans ladies. I have a self shout out and a thank you. In early 23 I was quote unquote let go, fired by an absolute a hole narcissist of a boss in Bosses in Quotes as well. Getting forced out of a job where I gave way more than I got made me prioritize my wants and needs. I spent over a year now working on me. I put my happiness and my mental health at the top of the list of things I needed most. I focused on the good in the world, the things I can control and letting go of anything and anyone that was not bringing me joy. After several months of unemployment, many job applications and interviews, I found a new much better job in a positive work environment. It has caring co workers, better pay, great benefits and so so so much less stress. I can honestly say that the last few months are the least stressful I have ever lived. I went from feeling a feeling of what am I going to do? To now saying look at all that I'm capable of. I feel the need to say thank you to the two of you for always highlighting in the good news at the end of the pod and thank you to all the people who send in the good news. It's a great reminder that even with all the ugly happening in the world, there's still good news if we look for it. To anyone going through a tough time right now, keep going. It does get better. For podpet tax, I send my fur nieces. The Hound Rescue is named Reba and is only interested in people that will share food with her. The lab is named Nilla and she loves anyone and everyone that will give her snacks or squeaky toys or bouncy balls or plushies or ear scratches or belly rubs or snuggles or your spot on the bed. Look at the BBs. They're adorable. The little blonde and then of course the hound dog. So so cute. Thank you for that. That's a great submission. I appreciate that. Thank you. Next up, Christy pronouns she and her Happy Easter from Ohio. Our bunnies look a little different here in the Buckeye State. Look at that. These golden retrievers with rabbit ears and fabulous sequined pink bows. By the way, lovely, lovely, lovely dogs. Thank you. Anonymous Pronoun she and her Shout out to a business not local hello Beans Queens. I want to give a shout out to a business cat crusader in Lufkin Texas, I started following Confections Bakery after one can't believe there are enough to not recall which one. After one of the mass shootings in Texas, the owner has consistently supported the LGBTQ community, people of color, gun safety, and has fostered, I swear, all homeless and abandoned kitties in Lufkin. She and her sisters had a brick and mortar storefront where they sold cookies. Now she sells cookies from her website. Sales support her kitty crusade. Her website has links to help support her efforts and from time to time asks for Amazon gifts. She's done it all while working through her own mental health issues, caring for her father and supporting her sisters. You can find her@confectionstx.com Great. Shout out. Thank you. Anonymous for podpet tax. Here's Elmer and Ellie Mae. Ella Mae. Excuse me. Or El May. We have had a rough few months. Oh, no. And both crossed the rainbow bridge. Feel free to guess our kitty breeds. We first guessed Maine coon, the Norwegian forest cat. Now I think it was something else. Maybe a Turkish angora. Our lab loved blankets and sunshine, and I miss seeing her basking in the sun. Keep doing what you do. I can't watch TV news and listen faithfully to the beans. I can't watch TV news and I listen faithfully to the beans. Jack. And cleanup. You keep me sane in a purple region of Washington state. Thanks for all you do. I'm so sorry about losing your babies. Yeah, looks like part Maine coon, part rag doll, maybe. Beautiful, beautiful kitty. Thank you for sharing them and for that small business shout out. Next up, Jenny Pronoun. She and her president Biden forgave the $167,000 I still owed on my loans after paying on them for 25 years. So after paying Jenny, you still owed 167,000. This has made all the difference in my life. And I will be out there fighting for his reelection. I would anyway. But I also wanted to shout out my beautiful wife because today is her birthday and she deserves all the loves. Happy birthday, Jenny's wife. For pet tax, I enclosed our daughter's kittens, Miso and Dumpling, our baby, Ripple, and Helen, the birthday girl. Ah, Happy birthday, Helen. Look at these babies. They look identical. Except the orange is on the left side and the. Oh, my God. It's a little flip. And they have little, little spots on their noses. So adorable. And look at the dog. Oh, and there's a cat. A lewd. A lewd tuxedo doing a lewd. And there's a birthday. The birthday girl. Happy birthday, Helen. Thank you so much, everybody, for submitting your good news. Check your inboxes, patrons, on Monday for links to new shows. I'm really excited about all these shows, and I can't thank our special guests for joining me enough. I can't thank y' all enough for buying tickets. Boston only has, like, four tickets left, so if you want to come see us, see me in Boston. You're gonna want to go grab those now at the City Winery. And I'm in talks with some great guests there and in New York, Philly, and I'm just. I. I love these live shows and I love these events. I love the meet and greets. I love to meet all y' all out on the road. And I'm also looking forward to our big Patron thank you gala in D.C. on April 20, 4:20 sick. All right, everybody, we'll see you this weekend on the Jack podcast with Andy McCabe and Dana, and I'll be back in your ears on Monday. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health. Vote blue over Q and bring someone with you. I've been ag and them's the beans.
- [69:57]
C
Refried beans.
- [69:58]
B
I like refried beans.