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The Daily Beans
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Friday, November 15th, 2024 Today, the satire publication The Onion has purchased Alex Jones’ Infowars; federal authorities have caught the swatter and charged him for placing the false calls; the House Ethics Committee report on Matt Geatz could be leaked any moment; the Department of Justice finds that conditions at the Fulton County jail are unconstitutional and jeopardize the lives and well being of people held there; Trump has officially nominated RFK Jr for Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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- [00:00]
Alison Gill
MSW Media. Thanks to Smalls for supporting the Daily Beans. Smalls cat food is made with protein packed recipes made with ingredients you'd find in your fridge and it's delivered right to your door. To get 50% off your first order plus free shipping, go to smalls.com dailybeans and use promo code dailybeans at checkout. And thanks to Beam Dream for supporting the DailyBeans. Beam Dream is a science bagged healthy hot cocoa to help you sleep better. There's never been a better time to finally try Dream Shop their Black Friday sale and get up to 50% off off when you visit shopbeam.com dailybeans and use code dailybeans at checkout. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, November 15, 2024. Today, the satire publication the Onion has purchased Alex Jones infowars at auction. Federal authorities have caught the swatter and charged him for placing the false calls. The House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz could be leaked at any moment. The Department of Justice finds that conditions at the Fulton County Jail are unconstitutional and jeopardize the lives and well being of people who are held there. And Trump has officially nominated RFK Jr. For Secretary of Health and Human Services. I'm Alison Gill.
- [01:31]
Dana Goldberg
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
- [01:35]
Alison Gill
All right. Okay. Just want to think it can't get worse.
- [01:41]
Dana Goldberg
I mean, they can't. They're not going to confirm everybody and they're not going to not confirm everybody. So some of these jack wozzles are going to get through. You know what I mean?
- [01:49]
Alison Gill
That's if they even have Senate confirmation hearings. Remember we talked about.
- [01:54]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, I forgot.
- [01:55]
Alison Gill
That fucking thing that they do with the godd calling for recess. Recess appointments. But hey, fingers crossed. Maybe we'll get the Matt Gaetz report. Maybe we'll get the Matt Gaetz report. I think ABC News is reporting that the 17 year old actually did testify to the ethics committee that Matt Gates statutorily raped her, had sex with her when she was 17. So we'll probably get maybe drips and drabs, maybe the eventual entire report. I want the Dems to just leak it. Just, just put it out. Just send it to me. I'll put it out. I don't care.
- [02:32]
Dana Goldberg
One of the things that freaks me out a little bit is the lawyer is like, there were witnesses. I'm like, that had sex in front of people with a minor. Like if there's witnesses to this, that means it was in front of other people.
- [02:44]
Alison Gill
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. These were, these were, you know, drugs Parties. Yeah. Molly coke fueled sex parties. Jesus. Yeah. So that's what's going on down in Florida, which we knew. I still don't understand why he wasn't federally criminally charged for that. Unless they didn't find the witnesses credible. I'm not sure. But anyway, I hope we get that report. Trump has also nominated Doug Collins. And I had to dig way back in my way back brain machine to remember this guy, which actually kind of bodes well like. Like if it's not Marjorie Taylor Green. Okay. It's Doug Collins nominated him for Secretary of the va which of course is a agency near and dear to my heart. But he's a. He's anti gay marriage, he's anti choice, He's. He's a insurrectionist. He. He spoke out a lot against Trump's impeachment. Which one? I think it was his first one, the Ukraine one. Just a. Just a giant pile of. He ran against Loeffler and Warnock in Georgia for the senate runoff in 2020.
- [03:51]
Dana Goldberg
And came in third place. Right on the.
- [03:53]
Alison Gill
Came in third place out of three. Out of a field of three. That is where you kind of might remember Doug Collins from. He's a veteran, was in the Navy and then the Air Force Reserve.
- [04:04]
Dana Goldberg
I guess he's got that going for him.
- [04:07]
Alison Gill
Yeah. But he'll completely help Donald Trump dismantle and privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs. I'm sure that's one of those. At least it's not Tiger King nominations. And I say that because. And by the way, Pete and I talk about this on the cleanup bonus for patrons. Did you know Tiger King wrote Donald Trump a letter and said, please pardon me and put me in charge of Fish and Wildlife.
- [04:32]
Dana Goldberg
Stop it. Stop it. Yes.
- [04:35]
Alison Gill
So this isn't going to stop. It's not going to end. Matto calls it the shock and awe. We're in the shock and awe portion of the show.
- [04:42]
Dana Goldberg
I think we're in the. Just the. I mean, no, it's still shocking. It is still not surprising, but still shocking.
- [04:49]
Alison Gill
He's not even president yet. This is the shock and awe part. I think it's going to be four years of shock and awe, and that's if we have a election in four years. I mean, Jesus. Anyway, RFK Jr.
- [05:02]
Dana Goldberg
Cool.
- [05:02]
Alison Gill
He wants to defund schools that have vaccines. So polio has endorsed this move and we'll see what ends up happening. Um, make sure everybody get your vaccines. Get them now.
- [05:14]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
- [05:16]
Alison Gill
I'm, I'm, I'm hoping, though, they're still available.
- [05:18]
Dana Goldberg
Yep, absolutely.
- [05:19]
Alison Gill
I mean, I'll probably lose my VA benefits. I probably won't have health care anymore. But, you know, I think we need.
- [05:26]
Dana Goldberg
To do something to pick our listeners up at this point.
- [05:29]
Alison Gill
Okay, well, hey, how about this? It's Fugle sang Friday. We're gonna have John Fugal saying John's here in the show or talk about the parade of Horribles. You know, nominees. Normally, a parade of horribles is a phrase that's used in like Supreme Court oral arguments where you say, you know, well, what if this and what if that and if we do this, then wouldn't this be true? Like, kind of like, do you remember when they were like, so you're saying you could order a member of Seal Team 6 to assassinate your political rival and that would be legal? Yes, that's a parade of horribles, like the if then scenarios. But I think we can also use this phrase for what's happening with the Cabinet. And, you know, I think that fits.
- [06:16]
Dana Goldberg
It fits.
- [06:17]
Alison Gill
It does. And I just, I feel like I, I know our friend Victor. She posted a photo of the current cabinet. And it's just such, so full of talent and brilliance and incredible people and it's just, it's heartbreaking. So I don't want to dwell on it for too long, but I mean, it's, I think shock and Oz is, is a good way to put it as well. So thanks to Matto for, for calling it that. We have a lot of news to get to. Then we'll get to John Fugle saying, then we'll get to the good news. You know how this whole thing works. We're not going to mix anything up today specifically for any reason. So let's start out with the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from Raw Story, John Clune, an attorney for an alleged victim of sexual misconduct, called on the House Ethics Committee to release its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz. Clunes remarks came after Gates resigned from Congress Thursday to be President elect Donald Trump's nominee for Attorney general. Now, quote, Mr. Gates and his likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events. That's what Clune wrote on Twitter, quote, we would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. That's the lawyer for this sex trafficked minor. The attorney noted that his client, quote, was in high school. His client was a high school student. And there were witnesses to Gates alleged crimes. The House Ethics Committee was investigating, as we know, allegations that Gates was having SEC doing sex trafficking, drug use, accepting improper gifts like a trip to the Bahamas, for example, from that one doctor and obstruction of justice. The Department of Justice previously investigated Gates for potential sex trafficking of a minor, but didn't file charges. The ethics committee was prepared for a Friday vote to release its investigation into Gates. The lawmaker's abrupt resignation from Congress effectively ended that investigation, took jurisdiction away from this ethics committee, but the House ethics report could see the light of day. Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, whose work exposing the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein won her a George Polk Award. She reports that, quote, sources for Miami Herald and McClatchy confirm that the ethics report into Gates is highly damaging and could be leaked today. This is Thursday as we record this, so maybe we'll have it by Friday, but you and I will definitely talk about it Monday. And then, of course, Pete and I are going to go over it in detail on episode 200 by the way of cleanup on 45 next Wednesday.
- [08:46]
Dana Goldberg
Well done, my friend. Well done. This one's from cnn. The Fulton County Jail in Atlanta unconstitutionally subjects inmates to, quote, inhumane, violent and hazardous conditions that threaten their safety, the US justice officials said Thursday, announcing the results of a 16 month investigation. Housing units flooded by broken toilets, infestations of roaches and rodents, exposed wiring, a lack of food, medical and mental health care and staff resorting to force, including Tasers without justification, are among the problems at that jail. This is the Justice Department's officials. That's what they said in their news conference in Atlanta. The jail also does not adequately protect inmates from violence by other inmates, such as stabbing, sexual abuse or even murder. Kristen Clark, Assistant U.S. attorney General for the Justice Department Civil Rights Division, she said that while announcing the department's report on the probe, the department civil rights investigation into the jail's conditions announced in 2023 was sparked in part by the 2022 death of Lashawn Thompson, an incarcerated man who died in a cell in the jail's mental health unit covered in lice and filth. Quote, our investigation finds long standing, unconstitutional, unlawful and dangerous conditions that jeopard lives and well being of the people held there. That's what Clark said Thursday, quote, we cannot turn a blind eye to the inhumane, violent and hazardous conditions that people are subjected to inside the Fulton County Jail. Clark went on to say detention in Fulton County Jail was amounted to a death sentence for dozens of people who have been murdered or who died as a result of the atrocious conditions inside the facility. Within weeks of the investigations July 2023 launch, six men had died in that jail, including one who died during a series of violent assaul that left at least seven people stabbed across five jail units in 24 hours. The report lays out what it calls minimum remedial measures to address issues including inmate safety, protection against excessive force, environmental hazards, health care and other issues. The US Attorney General could file a lawsuit to correct the issues if state officials don't address the concerns within 49 days. This is all what the report says. The investigation into the jail's conditions, quote, has at its basic level revealed that the men and women and young people who find themselves housed at the jail are often left to wonder whether their humanity remained intact once they crossed the threshold of the jail facilities. That was Ryan Buchanan. He's the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. He said that Thursday in a news conference, quote, the most obvious casualties of civil rights violations occurring in the jail are those who leave the jail in body bags. The 105 page report lays out examples of the problems it alleges, including the treatment of inmates with mental health challenges and inmates violent death. Thompson was just one of four black men dealing with serious mental health needs to die in the jail's mental health unit in under a year. Three months before Thompson's September 2022 death, an unhoused man with a reported series of mental illness was arrested and taken to the jail's mental health unit after breaking into a building to find warmth and shelter again, all according to the report. The man had stopped taking his medications and was found unresponsive after a possible seizure, according to the report. He died a month later in hospice care. This is from the Department of Justice. Two weeks after Thompson's death, two more men, also with serious mental health concerns, died in the same unit as Thompson. That's according to the report. Quote, both were killed by their cellmates and both were found with their feet bound. It went on to say one of them was wrapped up in bedding like a mummy. More than a thousand assaults and more than 300 stabbings were reported at the jail in 2023. Wow. That outpaced the rate of similar assaults and jails in other major cities. Nearly two to one. Quote, the Fulton County Jail had as many stabbings in a single month as the Miami Dade County Jail had all year. And that's a facility with one and a half times more people. The report also found a substantial risk of inmates being sexually abused by other inmates, in part due to poor supervision weapons inside the jail and lacked effective classification practices that allow extremely violent people and gang members to Be housed with vulnerable, low risk people. My God, what a mess there.
- [13:09]
Alison Gill
Yeah. So that is from the Justice Department. And if you want to go to the DOJ website and read Kristen Clark's statement that she made about this report, it's in there. But apparently they have 49 days for to put in place these remedial actions to correct these unconstitutional and inhumane cases. Yes, absolutely horrific. Thank you for that reporting. Next up from the Department of Justice website, Alan W. Fillion, who's 18 years old, 18, of Lancaster, California, pled guilty today to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another. Fillion faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. Fillion is scheduled to be sentenced on February 11th. Quote, this prosecution and today's guilty plea reaffirmed the Justice Department's commitment to using all the tools to hold accountable every individual who endangers our communities through swatting and hoax threats. That's what Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. For well over a year, Alan Fillion targeted religious institutions, schools, government officials and other innocent victims with hundreds of false threats of imminent mass shootings, bombings and other violent crimes. He caused profound fear and chaos and will now face the consequences of his actions. Alan Fillion not only intended to cause harm, as much harm as possible, but he also attempted to profit from these criminal activities by offering swatting for a fee services. This is FBI Deputy Director Paul Abadi. Swatting poses severe danger to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources and creates fear in communities. The FBI will continue to work with partners to aggressively investigate and hold accountable anyone who engages in these activities. According to the plea agreement, from about August 2022 to January 2024, Fillion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls, including calls in which he claimed to have planted bombs in the targeted locations or threatened to detonate bombs and or conduct mass shootings at those locations. He targeted religious institutions, high schools, colleges and universities. Government officials we know like Judge Chutkan and Jack Smith and Pete Struck and like all of these people had swatting incidents at their homes.
- [15:30]
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
- [15:30]
Alison Gill
Numerous individuals across the United States he targeted. Fillion was 16 when he made most of these calls. Now Fillion and is very, I mean, 16 years old, filling intended for his calls to cause large scale deployment of police and emergency services units to the targeted locations. And during these calls, he provided information to law enforcement and emergency services agencies that he knew to be false. Like false names, false claims that he and others had placed explosives in locations, false claims that he and others possessed dangerous weapons, including firearms and explosives, and false claims that he or other individuals had committed or intended to imminently commit violent crimes. During the time the dispatcher spent on the phone with Fillan, they were unavailable to respond to other emergencies. Additionally, in response to many of his calls, armed law enforcement officers were dispatched to targeted addresses and likewise were made unavailable to respond to actual other emergencies. In some instances, armed law enforcement officers approached and entered targeted residences with their weapons drawn and detained individuals who occupied the residences. In a post. On January 20, 2023, Fillion claimed that when he swats someone, quote, he usually gets the cops to drag the victim and their families out of the house, cuff them and search the house for dead bodies. According to the document, Fillion became a serial swatter for profit and recreation. He claimed in January 19, 2023 in a post that his first swatting was like two or three years ago and that six to nine months ago he decided to turn it into a business Jesus. On several occasions, Fillion placed posts on social media channels advertising his services and swatting for a fee structure so he had a pay structure. On January 18, Fillion, then 17, was arrested in California on Florida state charges arising from a May 2023 threat that he made to a religious institution in Sanford, Florida. In that threat, he claimed to have an illegally modified AR15, a Glock 17 pistol, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. He said that he was going to imminently commit a mass shooting and kill everyone he saw. Fillion pled guilty today in federal court to making that threat. Fillion's federal charges were brought under the Federal Juvenile justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. As noted in the criminal information filed on October 21, Fillion was 17 when the instant charges were filed against him. Fillion has remained in custody since his arrest on state charges in January, Fillion also pled guilty to making three other threatening calls. In October 2022, he called a public high school in the Western District of Washington in which he threatened to commit a mass shooting and claimed to have planted bombs throughout the school. In May 2023, he made a call to an historically black college and university in the Northern District of Florida in which he claimed to have placed bombs in the walls and ceilings of campus housing that would detonate in about an hour. July 2023, he made a call to a local police department dispatch number in the Western District of Texas in which he falsely identified himself as a senior federal law enforcement officer, provided the officer's residential address to the dispatcher claimed to have killed his the federal officer's mother and threatened to kill any responding police officers. So this guy is hopefully going to prison for a long time.
- [18:55]
Dana Goldberg
I sure hope so. All right. Lastly, no one knew if this was a true story, and they wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't. Actually from the New York Times and the Associated Press the satirical news publication the Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones's infowars at a bankruptcy auction backed by families of Sandy Hook elementary school shooting victims whom Jones owes More than 1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax. The purchase turns over Jones is coming company, which for decades has peddled in conspiracy and misinformation to a humor website that plans to relaunch the Infowars platform in January as a parody. Within hours of the sales announcement Thursday, Infowars website was down and Jones was broadcasting from what he said was a new studio location. Quote the dissolution of Alex Jones's assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for. And that's Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emily was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut. That's what she said in a statement provided by lawyers. The Onion acquired the conspiracy theory platform's website, social media accounts studio in Austin, Texas. Trademarks and Video Archive Video archive for an undisclosed sales price. The satirical outlet, which carries the banner of quote, America's finest news source on its masthead, was founded in the 1980s. For decades has sked politics and pop culture, including making Jones a frequent target of mocking articles. Mass shootings in the US Such as the Sandy Hook attack, they're often followed by the Onion publishing slightly updated versions of one of its most well known recurring pieces. Quote no way to prevent this, says only nation where this regularly happens. Yep. Quote no price would be too high. This is from them, by the way. No Christ would be too high for such cornucopia of malleable assets and minds. Onion said this in a satirical post about the sale and went on to say, and yet in a stroke of good fortune, a formidable special interest group was outwitted the hapless owner infowars, a forgettable man with an already forgettable name, and forced him to sell at a steep bargain, less than $1 trillion. So already a satirical story about it. On his live broadcast, Jones was angry and defiant, vowing to challenge the sale in court and calling it a total attack on free speech. He later announced his show was being shut down. Jones, who had told listeners for days that he had a new Studio set up nearby, then resumed his broadcast from the new location, carrying them live on his accounts on Twitter. The Onion, which is based in Chicago, consulted on the bidding with some of the Sandy Hook families that sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress in lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas. This is what the lawyers for the families have said. Quote, Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones's ability to spread lies, pain and fear at a scale. This is from Christopher. Mattie. Matti.
- [21:53]
Alison Gill
Mate.
- [21:54]
Dana Goldberg
Mate. Just. Mate. He's the lawyer for the families. Ben Collins, CEO of the Onions parent company Global. Wow.
- [22:02]
Alison Gill
Tetrahedron.
- [22:03]
Dana Goldberg
Tetrahedron, Yep. Told the Associated Press in a video interview that it will relaunch the Infowars website in January with satire aimed at conspiracy theorists and right wing personalities, as well as educational information about gun violence prevention from the group Every Town for Gun Safety. Collins could not disclose the sale price. Quote, we thought it would be a very funny joke if we bought this thing. Probably one of the better jokes we've ever told. That's what Collins said. Quote, the Sandy Hook families decided they would effectively join our bid, back our bid and try to get us over the finish line. Because by the end of the day, it was us or Alex Jones who could either continue this website unabated, basically unpunished for what he'd done to those families over the years, or we could make a dumb, stupid website. And we decided to do the second thing. John Feinblatt, he's the president of Every Town for Gun Safety. He said the organization will be the exclusive advertiser on the new Infowars website. How fucking cool is that? That is fucking awesome. Quote. When you think about the unmitigated harm that Alex Jones and Infowars brought to Sandy Hook families, it's just poetic justice that now Every town and the Onion together will open a new chap on Infowars and a chapter that is devoted to the issue of gun safety. That's what he told the Associated Press. And that is just a beautiful poetic justice right there. Does not bring any of those sweet babies back. But my God, I'm glad this guy actually got held responsible for this bullshit.
- [23:32]
Alison Gill
And, man, when that story came out, I was like, wait, wait. What?
- [23:36]
Dana Goldberg
Wait, I know.
- [23:37]
Alison Gill
No, wait, wait. And then, and then you read it and then you get into the part that Every Town USA is going to be the exclusive advertiser on this. I. I fucking love that so much.
- [23:47]
Dana Goldberg
It's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
- [23:49]
Alison Gill
I love it. I love it. I can't wait to see what the Onion does with infowars. So thank you for that story. We have more good news, but we're going to talk to John Fugal saying first. But either way, we have to take a quick break, so stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
- [24:04]
John Fugelsang
We'll be right back.
- [24:06]
Alison Gill
Hey everybody. For a long time, my relationship with sleep was not great. As you know, falling asleep was tough, staying asleep was harder, and it's going to be even more important in the coming years. Mornings felt like a chore without getting good sleep, but but I've come to see how much better I function with good rest. It boosts my energy, keeps me sharp. It just makes life easier. That's why I'm excited to talk about Beams Dream Powder, a science backed healthy hot cocoa for sleep. Other sleep aids can cause next day grogginess, but Beam Dream contains a powerful all natural blend of reishi, magnesium, L theanine, epigenine and melatonin to help you fall asleep and stay asleep and wake up refreshed. Beam Dream makes winding down at night simple. I just stir it into hot milk or water. I like the milk, but if you froth it up, sip, it's warm, it's delicious, comforting. The sea salt caramel flavor is incredible and knowing it's only 15 calories and sugar free makes it even better. It's thoughtfully designed to promote deeper, more restful sleep and I absolutely feel the difference. Poor sleep used to leave me drained, struggling to keep up with my busy schedule. And since using Beam Dream, I fall asleep faster, I wake up feeling truly refreshed. It's made a huge difference in my mood and my ability to stay focused even on my busiest days. And that's why I love Beam Dream so much. There's never been a better time to finally try Dream Shop their Black Friday sale and get up to 50% off when you visit shopbeam.com dailybeans and use code dailybeans at checkout. You've been hearing me rave about Dream. This is your chance to finally try it and for the lowest price of the year. So head over to shopbeam.com dailybeans Enter code dailybeans and unlock your early access for up to 50% off. Hey everybody. Welcome back. It's Friday on the Dailybeans, which means it's Fugal Sang Friday. So I'm joined by my good friend host of Tell me everything on SiriusXM progress channel 127. That's weeknights at 9 00pm Eastern 6 Pacific and of course, host of the John Fugal Saying show podcast. Please welcome. Well, you know, it's John Fugal saying.
- [25:57]
John Fugelsang
Thank you, Allison. Here to celebrate the mugshot cabinet. It's great to be. Great to see you.
- [26:01]
Alison Gill
Oh, my God, this parade of horribles. Let's talk about it. Because, you know, offline, you and I talked a little bit about the recess appointments clause. I know Steve Vladek wrote it up in his one first newsletter on Substack. And we went over that earlier in the week on the Daily Beans and what that could mean and how it's probably constitutional and there isn't too much people could probably do about it. But everybody seems to be talking about, you know, how perhaps Tulsi Gabbard or Matt Gaetz won't get near the positions they've been nominated to with hearings, et cetera. But tell me about your thoughts about this because everyone's like, ooh, these confirmation hearings aren't going to go so well. And I keep thinking, what confirmation hearings? So what are your thoughts?
- [26:49]
John Fugelsang
Well, I mean, we were all really looking forward to seeing RFK Jr. Be vetted because there's a lot of questions he gets to be asked. But yeah, it looks like they have found a way around it. And in doing so, once again, these guys are all about short term solutions that, that produce long term failure. Like, there's one reason Matt Gaetz would be picked to be Donald Trump's henchman at doj, and that's because they've got so much kompromat on him.
- [27:16]
Alison Gill
That's what I was saying. Right. They've got this whole report which might get leaked, by the way, the House ethics report that I think that Donald Trump was planning to hold over his head like a sort of sex trafficking or, you know, damn, please.
- [27:30]
John Fugelsang
That's right. But yes, the report about him having statutory rape, committing statutory rape with underage girl doing drugs as well, which we all know about already, recess appointment is how Matt Gaetz meets his dates during lunch period. That's what that term actually means. And you know, Matt was only trying to keep young people out of the hands of young people. We, we know he did it. He's got more friends in prison than he has in Congress. And the ones in prison all say he did it. And Matt Gaetz has this dismal reputation. I think it's great that he and Trump proved that completely different types of rapists can still work together and the Senate doesn't get to have consent. But I look at this whole thing and how and Again, there's, there's so many reasons why Matt Gaetz is unsuited. This whole Cabinet. This whole cabinet, we got to talk about the whole. It's the DEI Cabinet is what we have here. Which means despicable, extremist and inexperience. But Matt Gaetz brought a Holocaust denier to the State of the Union, okay? Dramatically botoxed coke fiend who is deeply, credibly accused of sex trafficking minors, and now they're going to drop the investigation. You know what that means? That means he had to get married for nothing. But he has never been a prosecutor. He's never been in any substantial legal role that would prepare him to lead the doj. He's never been a government attorney, never been a judge. His only experience is being investigated by the department for underage sex trafficking. He hates women. He said women who support abortion rights are too ugly to need them. He's called Roe v. Wade supporters fat and ugly. He despises women. He's someone that's going to be really, really hard for the Republican Party to defend. This petulant, privileged and ignorant rapist bailed out by his rich daddy, just like Trump. But, I mean, you got Mark Wayne Mullen who came out and talked about Gates and the underage girls, and Gates showing pictures of women he's banging on his phone on the House floor. And now that guy flipped and he's going to support him. So, you know, this guy's got so many skeletons in his closet and Donald Trump already has 34 felonies. He's got to put someone in charge of justice who is under his thumb and will have zero independence. He's got Kompromat on Gates, like, like Putin has compromised on Trump. And the real question is going to be how are they going to avoid anyone leaking this report? But I think it's, I think it's brilliant by Trump having a Cabinet this awful. He's telling the entire world and every American who pays attention, which is only a third of us, that he's not to be taken seriously. He's not trying for any long term solutions. It's a grifter on a grift. And he's surrounding himself with obedient, servile flunkies. That's it. And it's not going to end. I mean, it's going to end so badly, your listeners get to sit back, enjoy having been right about everything, and watch the train wreck for four years.
- [30:29]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And meanwhile, he's pulling people out of Congress where these, the razor thin Margins exist. And you know, you, you have to wonder, like, what's that about? Because if you do this appointment, this recess appointments clause appointment where you put everybody in recess and appoint everybody without going through the Senate, when, when you do that, they're only appointed until the next term, which is 2027, I believe, January 3, 2027. And so, yeah, it's what happens to him then? He's just thrown aside. He's tossed aside, maybe a run for governor, I don't know. But this report may come out. I'm expecting it kind of to come out. I know the lawyer for the woman who was trafficked and statutorily raped is saying that they want the report to come out and I know the Miami Herald has it. So will, you know, everybody follow Julie K. Brown, because I imagine at some point we'll get to see it, whether it's from somebody on the Ethics Committee, somebody in the Senate who gets a hold of it, because I know Dick Durbin is calling for it. And speaking of the Senate, your thoughts on I was actually kind of surprised that John Thune won the majority leader vote because everybody, Musk and X and all the right wing media circles which have dominated the government in the last couple of years, we're all calling for Rick Scott, the Voldemort of the Senate, to become the majority leader who was all about and all for doing these recess appointments and like stepping aside, but they ended up with Jon Thune, who's actually, I mean, now I prefaced this yesterday. I don't like Jon Thune, but he's.
- [32:13]
John Fugelsang
A guy who's been in Congress for decades and no one's ever heard of him because he's a do nothing. Go on, please.
- [32:18]
Alison Gill
But something else we're going to be hearing over the next four years is I guess it could have been worse, but it's still going to be abjectly horrifying. So your thoughts on John Thune being elected majority leader in the Senate?
- [32:30]
John Fugelsang
It's the most sensible of the three that were offered. I mean, Cornyn was never going to get it because Cornyn once said maybe we should make it harder for criminals to get guns. And that makes him thrown out of the MAGA camp. So Cornyn is despised and he's a rhino forever because he cared more about American lives than right wing guys having the kind of entertainment they enjoy.
- [32:51]
Alison Gill
He got more votes than Rick Scott.
- [32:54]
John Fugelsang
Yeah, he did. Well, Rick Scott, I mean, if Trump really wanted Rick Scott, then that's remarkable because obviously Rick Scott's a special kind of evil. And the, the more attention he gets on the national stage, the more people understand that he's a rich guy who swindled old folks, old conservative people. I mean, Medicare fraud, like when you and I were kids, this would be disqualifying. But now you could buy the office.
- [33:18]
Alison Gill
So when you and I were 30, it would be disqualified.
- [33:21]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, so.
- [33:22]
John Fugelsang
So, I mean, I. The way I view it is th is is fine. He's the, he's, you know, he's, he's like McConnell. I don't know if he has McConnell's depths of evil, but the fact is Thune is someone who's always, you know, supported arming our allies when Russia tries to rape their country. So as soon as Thune. Look, look, they're all going to turn on each other. Thun's not a narcissist, but this whole cabinet is especially musk. And when you have this many malignant, toxic narcissists in the same room, and it's the entire party. Alison, as we've discussed, there is. What are conservative values anymore? Their values are making the rich richer, making it easier to pollute. Pretending that Christianity and the ministry of Jesus has something to do with abortion, using racism to get votes about the border. But they'll never do anything to stop employers from hiring undocumented. Conservatism doesn't mean anything anymore except owning the libs. And Thune is an old school conservative, so he's not going to play this game. He will be so despised by Maga by Memorial Day for thinking for himself in any occasion. And maybe Fiona's ready to be a servile whore. Maybe he is. We've seen better men than him do it already. But it's good. They'll turn on him, but they're all going to turn on each other. Marco Rubio, I mean, I want to congratulate him for being the first, the next fired Secretary of State by Donald Trump.
- [34:45]
Alison Gill
Right?
- [34:46]
John Fugelsang
We'll fire all these people, all of them. And they will all turn on each other. That's exactly what happened last time. And last time there were adults in the room trying to mitigate this. Now there aren't. There aren't Narcissist jamboree. And the hardest part for progressives is going to be A, staying alive and B, not being smug. Because when we tried to warn them about Bush and Cheney, they hated us. When we were proven right about Bush and Cheney and Iraq and Bush's economics, they hated us more. When we tried to warn them about Trump, they hated Us, when we were proven right about Trump, they hated us more. So I'm not here to warn them anymore. They own this and their media and this is the thing. Their media is never going to tell them the facts. So we don't get to be smug because the more Trump fucks up, the less they'll know. We have a media entertainment ecosystem where ignorance is allowed to flourish like a greenhouse. And they feed him with racism and anger and displacement. And you have an American population that elects a game show host because they think, think trans children playing sports is the issue that most affects their lives.
- [35:47]
Alison Gill
Well, I've been saying, you know, there's a lot of post mortem trying to figure out what happened, et cetera. I'm not about finger pointing. What I think personally is that when you look at the corporate media ecosystem and how, and particularly the right wing media machine, which is huge.
- [36:11]
John Fugelsang
Yes.
- [36:12]
Alison Gill
That is based in, on hate and fear. And, and, and as we know, we've talked about this, you and I, for a very long time. We back when that Facebook report came out and said they sell ads based on anger emojis. They wait those seven times more than a like or love emoji because people are motivated by hate and anger and rage and fear.
- [36:32]
John Fugelsang
Some of us, some of us.
- [36:34]
Alison Gill
I'm, I'm talking about the electorate now.
- [36:36]
John Fugelsang
Right on.
- [36:36]
Alison Gill
Okay. And when you think about why we had fewer voters turn out than we did in 2020, at first I was like, that seems impossible to me because we had a global pandemic. But when you look at the data, you, you realize that it was easier to vote.
- [36:54]
John Fugelsang
Correct.
- [36:55]
Alison Gill
In 2020 because 33 states or more, I think, expanded their absentee ballot programs to statewide mail in voting. And then a lot of that went away for 2024. And it just, it seems so obvious to me that people are more motivated to get up out of their house and go to the polls by hate, rage and fear than they are by preserving democracy, love, respect, inclusion, democratization, multicultural democracy. And so the answer to me is to get with every single state that we can, that is able to, to get statewide mail and voting going. Because I think people will vote when it's easier to vote as opposed to trying to figure out how to be. How I don't want to be the party that is like, well, how do we turn into assholes that motivate people with rage and fear and hate? Yeah, I don't want to be that party.
- [37:51]
John Fugelsang
Voting should be incredibly easy for every citizen who's legally eligible to vote to Vote in the easiest way possible. We're a long way from doing it on your phones, but everyone had a mail ballot because we were all trapped in the house back in 2020. And let's not forget, we were all watching the news, trapped in the House all day. So we had a much more engaged electorate. There's a few simple principles in our politics. One of them is last 50 years as Republicans burning the House down and Democrats get called in to clean up the mess. And it's repeated since Watergate led to Carter. This is the only politics I've known. But the other truism we know, Allison, is that when there's low turnout, it helps the status quo of Republicans. When there's high turnout, it helps Democrats. And I consider Democrats to not be the status quo in this case. Even though Biden was an incumbent, it was lower turnout, and that's what did it. Trump had less. He had fewer votes. The Democrats had fewer votes. But one thing that we have to keep pushing back on, and it's not going to change anything, but it might bring some comfort to your listeners, is that this was in no way a landslide or a mandate. Less than one third of American citizens vote. Less than one third of eligible voters voted for Donald Trump. Donald Trump was running for this job for four years. Kamala Harris had 100 days, and she still finished within the margin of error. So it was not a landslide. There is no mandate. It sucks. It's going to be terrible, but they're going to be fucking it up, and we got to just stay sane till the midterms. And I know four years sounds like a very long time for another Vladimir Putin presidency, but we are going to see those of us who make it the most progressive Democratic field in the history of presidential politics line up to replace this clown and take on Baby Man.
- [39:36]
Alison Gill
Well, we saw it in 2008.
- [39:38]
John Fugelsang
Yeah.
- [39:40]
Alison Gill
I mean, one of our biggest electoral victories of all. And then we saw it in 2018 with the. But the blue tsunami that. That everyone kind of didn't realize was a blue tsunami because the media downplayed it. And it did take weeks for us to realize how many seats we had gained. But as long as there are free and fair elections in. In 26 and 28, I imagine we'll see the same thing. I'm not going to tell anybody to calm down, but, you know, channel it.
- [40:05]
John Fugelsang
No, but we know two things. We know that they're going to be complete incompetence, and it's going to be a shit show, and we know, the conservative people are not going to know about that. They're not going to know how fucked up it is. Their media is going to insulate them the way their media insulated. President Trump is fighting for you and Kamala Harris is stupid. Fox News viewers. That's what they believe.
- [40:24]
Alison Gill
I'm just right now want to focus on everybody doing everything they can to fund programs that help marginalized communities, out groups, veterans, anything that you can think of to do. Because, you know, as far as surviving the next four years, a lot of people are going to be hurting and in a lot of trouble. And that I think from the grassroots level and the foundation where we need to start to help protect our friends, I think is the way to go and head down and keep moving forward.
- [41:01]
John Fugelsang
And this is what I'm talking about on SiriusXM every night when everyone's talking each other off the ledge. If feel helpless, if you feel despondent, find someone who feels despondent to be strong for them. You know the best way. If you, if you feel just beaten up, be strong for someone else who's losing hope. Because at this point, it's going to be hard. And I think despondency is privilege. If you get to check out of life and be despondent, then you're doing better than me. We got to stay in this fight. But everyone remember, it's going to be a couple of months of this. Everyone's in shock. There's going to be nonstop finger pointing. You know, oh, Biden should have dropped out sooner. Biden should have not dropped out. You name it. Hillary should have made Bernie her running mate. We could do this all day.
- [41:42]
Alison Gill
I should have done this, you know. Yeah.
- [41:44]
John Fugelsang
By the time, by the time we get to Valentine's Day, all of our friends on the left who are pointing fingers at each other and cowering in the corner in a ball, by the time we get to Valentine's Day, everyone is going to be smacked into the reality we're facing. We will be back on the same page again. And you will see all the unity we saw in the fall back and it's only going to get stronger. I'm not saying we're going to enjoy it. I'm not saying it's going to have the same buoyancy of resistance to it the first time. A lot of people are just tired and don't want to think about it anymore. But it's not going to go well for these guys. And people are not going to stay checked out forever. It's going to be a rough few months, but he's not suddenly, because he won the popular vote, an honest man and he's not a smart man and he's not a successful man and his corruption didn't disappear and his crimes are still very real and all the shitty things are still shitty. Nothing's changed. He just gets to go back under the world's largest microscope and we all know he is not well. So be kind to other people. These guys are going to it up so royally. Unlike the Iraq war, we're not going to have to deal with body bags coming home every day. But there will be people who die because of this. And around the world, billions. And Gaza.
- [43:00]
Alison Gill
But as a friend of mine on Twitter once said, in a world of performative cruelty, kindness is punk as be punk as fuck. I also like what Hank said. Henry Rollins in 2017 it's punk rock time. This is what Joe Strummer trained you for. Make art, make noise, do things. And I look forward to discussing what's coming up. I don't know if I look, I look forward to seeing you. I don't know if I look forward to discussing all of it.
- [43:31]
John Fugelsang
Yeah, that's me. Like, I don't want to talk like we on SiriusXM. Like, I didn't even cover Joe Biden welcoming Como ver Caligula to the White House yesterday. I didn't even talk about it. All I said was, I'm not playing any clips of it. I don't care. It's just noteworthy because it's the last time you'll see a presidential norm. It's probably the last time you'll see some presidential decency. By the way, amidst all the woe, I still have high hopes for Joe Biden over the next two months. This would be a great time to commute the death sentences of every federal prisoner on death row because Biden ran on abolishing the death penalty, said he was going to do it. The Democrats totally dropped it from their platform. It'd be really nice if he is a Catholic. Could do that and prevent Trump from murdering prisoners. I'd love to see Biden pardon Leonard Peltier before he leaves. I'd love to see Biden do what Jimmy Carter begged Barack Obama to do before he left in 2017 and recognize Palestine. I want to see Joe Biden go full Bullworth Allison over the next two months and do as much crazy shit as he can with executive orders and those new superpowers he's got. I don't know if he will But Joe Biden's got a chance to leave this legacy on a high note. And I considering, considering his ego, I'd like to believe he's got some big plans.
- [44:44]
Alison Gill
Yeah, and something else I think he can do that I would love to see is he could declassify a lot of stuff.
- [44:49]
John Fugelsang
A lot of stuff. All the Smith evidence in both cases.
- [44:53]
Alison Gill
Now, I mean the grand jury stuff, you can't. But that's up to a judge, that's up to the courts. But, but declassifying, I don't know, the file on Tulsi Gabbard, the, you know, stuff like that, I think that would be fantastic.
- [45:09]
John Fugelsang
There's a lot of conservatives who've gone along with this bullshit and, and they're stopped in their tracks when they look at these clowns. I mean, when they look at this. I mean, I would call it the Star Wars Cantina, except the Star Wars Cantina had diversity. This is the most comically unqualified cabinet of grifters who were there only for their own career. None of this is long term game for the American people. Matt Gaetz is like Satan's bidet. You got Lee Velvet at the EPA, which is RFK Jr giving the finger to the entire environmental movement. Stephen Miller, you know, young Jewish boy grows up to be a Nazi. Tulsi Gabbard, I mean, Russian asset in charge of 18 different intelligence. I mean it's ridiculous. Hegseth, I mean Hegseth who like the Christian nationalist fraud. He only got hired because Trump admires his skills at adultery. I mean, you want to talk about dei, this guy's a Fox News prompter monkey. And I mean Elise Stefanik, our faith to the un, America's face of the world is going to be this mediocrity that the entire world knows lied, engaged in an insurrection which she hid from Elise Stefanik is unqualified from serving in public office under the 14th amendment. Everyone knows it. She's going to be their face. Marco Rubio is unmanly, servile, flunky to Donald Trump. And Marco Rubio hates Donald Trump. And all the world leaders he'll be dealing with know that we are sending out people to represent our country that no one's gonna fuckin respect. And God bless the institutions, including the military that are not gonna stand for a draft dodger firing four star generals because they're not obedient.
- [46:49]
Alison Gill
Yeah, that frightens me too. And you know, like something, you know, something you said before, I let you go. Everybody who he's appointing to cabinet positions or outside government consultancies like Ramaswamy and Musk. You just, you know, he's, he's got something on him. They're compromising.
- [47:07]
John Fugelsang
I mean, well, musk, musk, musk. I don't know about that. I do think that that's generally a couple of narcissistic billionaires who think they're in a symbiotic relationship and haven't realized that's not possible.
- [47:18]
Alison Gill
When do you think they'll break up?
- [47:21]
John Fugelsang
I think they'll break up in the. Clearly in the first year. Yeah.
- [47:24]
Alison Gill
Yeah, I think so, too.
- [47:25]
John Fugelsang
I mean, and I'm really curious to see how much Donald Trump's chief of staff keeps Musk away from the room where it happens. But again, you got Kristi Noem. They ran on a lie, a racist lie of migrants eating dogs. And you've got a dog killer and you've got RFK who eats dogs. But Christy Noem is banned from setting foot on any tribal lands in the state. She governs 20% of her own state. She is forbidden by indigenous people from setting foot there. And that's the person who gets to decide what a real American is. Now, Mike Huckabee, we have an ambassador to Israel who might be the only guy with equal contempt for Jews and Muslims. I mean, he only cares about Israel because he really believes the tribulations have to happen and they either are murdered by God or they forcibly convert. We are not sending out our best. It's time to get embarrassed again. Let's hang out with the cool, nice, evolved people. Let's be there for each other. We've been proven right many times in the last 20 years. Let's do it again.
- [48:27]
Alison Gill
Well, I'm here for you, my friend. Everybody, check out John Fugelsang. Weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific, on SiriusXM progress channel 127. Tell me everything. And of course, you could download his podcast, the John Fugelsang show, wherever you get your pods. My friend, thank you very much for talking to me today.
- [48:42]
John Fugelsang
Great to see you, Ms. Gill. Thanks for all you do.
- [48:44]
Alison Gill
Everybody stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Cats are weird little guys. Mine will happily play with a cardboard box for hours, but turn up their noses at the most expensive cat tree. Same with cat food. They will turn up their noses at the expensive cat food. But that is why I'm glad I found smalls. It is made with simple, healthy ingredients that I can pronounce, that I can trust, and for once, my babies are eating Every last bite. So why settle for ordinary cat food when you can try Smalls? It's made with protein rich preservative free ingredients that you'd recognize from your fridge. It's conveniently delivered right to your door. Ah, that's my favorite, favorite part about it that, I mean the cats love it. I don't eat it, they love it. But my favorite part is the convenience. It was the best overall cat food from cats.com and it's been, you know, Smalls has been serving up millions of Meals since 2017. Smalls has made a real difference for cats too. With 88% of owners, 88% seeing health improvements after they switch. And with their risk free trial, there's no pressure. If your cat isn't obsessed, you will get your money back. It is a win for everyone. So feeding my cat Smalls is always a joy because they love it so much. Then they love me because I gave them food. Chicken right now is their favorite. But they go back and forth. They eagerly dig in every meal. When I first switch, I did a blind taste test and they went right for the Smalls and they cleared their plates. Now I feel great knowing that I've given them real high quality ingredients. So now's the time to make the switch to smalls. Head to smalls.com dailybeans and use promo code DAILYBEANS at checkout for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. That's 50% off your first order and free shipping. By going to smalls.com dailybeans with promo code dailybeans at checkout. You'll be glad you did. Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news?
- [50:20]
John Fugelsang
Everyone.
- [50:21]
Alison Gill
Then good news, everyone. Good news. And if you have any good news confessions, corrections, any good news at all you want to send us. All you have to do to submit your good news. First of all, go to DailyBeansPod.com and click on contact. But also attach your pod pet tax. Just pay your pod pet tax. And if you don't have a pod pet, you can send us an adoptable pet in your area. If you don't have that, you can send us really any animal photo. I mean we play guessing games for everything, right? We have what the heck, Quine, what the hell's in that shell? What's the model of your axolotl opine on the bovine? Anything at all? Send it to us. And then if you don't have any of those, you can send us baby pictures to pay your tax. Because we Love. Yes. And whether it's you, your baby picture or you know, your babies or just get, get a baby and out of a catalog and send it to us. Whatever you like. I like babies on Santa's laps, especially the really awkward ones. Send those to us. Send those to us for the holiday season.
- [51:29]
Dana Goldberg
We are going into holiday season. Yep.
- [51:30]
Alison Gill
Tis. Tis the season and it just brings so much joy to my heart to see those photos. Also, shout outs to loved ones, family members, friends, you know, self shout outs. We love those. Small business in your area or your small business. We have so many great makers and creators and right now it's punk rock time, right? As Henry Rollins said, make your stuff, do your stuff and we want to see it. Send that to us. And then shout outs to government programs, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, Section 8, WIC, SNAP, Head Start, whatever you have, especially and including student debt forgiveness, you can send it to us@dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. All right, first up from Chris. Pronouns, he and him. Hey there. Longtime listener, big fan. Quick correction. In the main race between Jared golden and Austin the Ralt, the maga's douchebag name is pronounced. Oh, that's not the. It's.
- [52:27]
Dana Goldberg
That's crazy.
- [52:28]
Alison Gill
Oh well, thank you for everything you do in this gut punch of an era, Chris. Thank you Terrio. Like Danny Terrio from Dance tv. I'll try to remember that. And I'll go ahead and take the next one too since that one was so short. This is from Tamara in Nebraska pronoun. She and her my beloved beans queens. The only words I can think confined are thank you. After our soul crushing election, I had to take a mental health break from 99.9% of political news your pod and clean up on aisle 45, especially sweary bonus episodes helps keep me grounded and relatively sane. I'm a blue dot in a MAGA land with which fucking sucks. Gratefully, I found my tribe of progressive women and we share the belief that sending light and love energy into the world and leading with our hearts is the main thing we can do to combat the hate, fear and darkness that's upon us. When the fear of what the orange Trojan horse in Project 2025 will do to our democracy hits me, I try to stop, put my hand on my heart, take a few cleansing breaths and remember, there's no force greater than women. United MAGA men have zero clue about women's fortitude. Bless you both for creating a safe space for us like minded, like mindeds and Making me literally LOL Daily News with swearing is just what this tree hugging feminist ally needs for pod Pet Tax. I've been a rescue dog mama for 35 plus years, currently have three babies. The other day I came upon this delightful scene of them all posing at the top of the stairs. From the left, Abby shepherd mix 10ish. Sam Maltese poodle mix? 14ish and our newest family member Elvis.
- [54:10]
Dana Goldberg
Oh my God.
- [54:11]
Alison Gill
American Bulldog mix 7ish. Reminds me of Chance from Homeward Boundaries. Look at these babies at the top of the stairs.
- [54:21]
Dana Goldberg
They're very sweet.
- [54:23]
Alison Gill
Thank you. Thank you for that submission.
- [54:26]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, this one's from Anonymous. I know this is from Anonymous Pronoun she and her Shout out to Medicaid what?
- [54:33]
Alison Gill
What?
- [54:33]
Dana Goldberg
Good morning Allison and Dana. I wanted to give a shout out to Medicaid. My 16 year old son has a genetic disorder and as a result he has epilepsy and is on the autism spectrum. Over the years Medicaid has been an absolute godsend providing him speech, physical and occupational therapy. Medicaid has also covered medical costs not covered by our employer's health insurance. The anti seizure medication my son needs are incredibly expensive, but thanks to Medicaid we have not had any out of pocket expenses for his meds. I am terrified at the prospect of losing Medicaid not only for my son, but also for thousands of other children with serious health conditions. Lastly, I wanted to tell you that I love listening to you each morning. Keep fighting the good fight. Love to both of you and all of your listeners. Here's a a photo of my son's best friend, our dog Leo.
- [55:24]
Alison Gill
This dog is so cute. It's like a Boston Chihuahua.
- [55:28]
Dana Goldberg
It is like a pug. Like a Boston pug. Pug Pug Wa. I have no idea what this is.
- [55:35]
Alison Gill
But Chin maybe adorable. Just the mouth. The mug on this dog is so adorable.
- [55:41]
Dana Goldberg
So sweet.
- [55:42]
Alison Gill
Thank you for that. Yeah, Medicare is a godsend and sending out love to you. Next up Sandy Pronoun. She and her hi senorist Froles. I have been pretty checked out of any kind of social media this last week for my mental health. I've only listened to six podcasts in the last seven days and two of them were the daily beans. You have become such a big part of my mornings. I feel kind of lost without hearing you with my coffee. My shout out is to Lee McGowan, the politics girl. I think I've heard her as a guest on your show before. She is one of my regular go to podcasts for political commentary her November 12 episode what's Next America? Gave voice to everything I'd been thinking and feeling this last week, but with less swearing and tears. If any of the Leguminati do not listen to her, I know they would really appreciate this episode in particular and her podcast in general. For my Pod Pat Tax, I give you these images that I made on ChatGPT a couple of days ago. I have mixed feelings about ChatGPT, but I don't use it commercially just to entertain myself occasionally, so I think I'm okay with that. But anyhow, I'm a huge fantasy sci fi reader and I made up this little story for my bestie Buck, who's a Great Pyrenees. Buck was traveling through a quantum wormhole and got out in a different location in the multiverse. Sandy, can I go with him? Yes, I would like to go with him. He ran for president and was elected Dog Save America. Look at these photos.
- [57:12]
Dana Goldberg
These are fantastic.
- [57:14]
Alison Gill
Oh my gosh. Not photos but AI. Oh my God. That's hilarious. I love the wormhole. The dog okay.
- [57:22]
Dana Goldberg
So good.
- [57:23]
Alison Gill
Oh that's funny. Thank you for that. I needed that.
- [57:26]
Dana Goldberg
Yep, this one's from Kimmer J. Pronoun. She and her dear bright, beautiful star souls of our community. Mornings I've got a shout out to a big rock and to myself for persevering in carving said rock into a magical leonin creature I call Shay. The carving took me about six years and was intense physical work for my now 68 year old body. For my mind and heart too, and I'm grateful that we all held up through the process. I feel the sculpture is part of a greater rise of feminine energy palpable in the world now, a compassionate energy undaunted by all the attempts going on to keep her buried. The story of creating this work is rich with synchronicities and will be told in video form at some point. Here's one When Kamala stepped up to be the Democratic nominee, I felt a strong connection between these two lionesses. I hadn't articulated this to any friends before. Someone posted on Facebook an AI image of Mme Madam Vice President walking next to a majestic, larger than life lion witch image I happened to see. Maybe it was just the phone spies creating content for my brainwaves. Nevertheless, I take moments like these messages to carry on. The love affair between me and the stone began on first sight around 2012. There were many cautions even beyond her massive 8 tons and my we artist. I haven't scrolled yet to this picture and I can't fucking wait.
- [58:53]
Alison Gill
I know. I know.
- [58:55]
Dana Goldberg
At the time, a set of extraordinary events made it possible for me to bring her to my studio yard and 2018 and to begin the discovery process of who we might both become through our six year conversation. Shay was completed this last October 18th and a celebration happened here titled the Rising Feminine show with three other visual artists and a musician improvising with her voice in singing bowls. A beautiful day. I know. Now it's time to discover where Shay will land for her next very long time. If any listeners have an intuition or inspiration about this, I'd be very welcome these suggestions through Insta, which is Kimmer Jai, Kimmer J, K, I M M E R J A E. So it's J or Facebook at Kimmer J sculpture. So Kimmer JJ or Facebook @ Kimmer J Sculpture for my pot pet tax. My God. Here is Shay herself, this very large sandstone feline creature with some of her two legged friends. That's me and the turquoise. And by the way, for another curious resonance, Shay's mother sandstone block came from near the town Lions, Colorado. Follow your heart, y'all, and keep rising. I Wow. I Kimber J. I don't want. I've never met anyone who actually carves stones. This is one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen.
- [60:21]
Alison Gill
Oh my gosh. This is amazing. Wow. I just. Did you hear me? I just went full Christopher Walken. Wow.
- [60:31]
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
- [60:34]
Alison Gill
Man. Kimberjay. This is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing this.
- [60:37]
Dana Goldberg
I am blown away.
- [60:39]
Alison Gill
I feel like I need to, like, take time to soak this in, you know? Yeah.
- [60:44]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely stunning. Congratulations. Six years and so much of your love, energy and time and strength went into that. My God. Well done.
- [60:55]
Alison Gill
Thank you. Thank you so much for that. And thanks everybody for your good news. We really need it. All of us could use it. Send it to us, please, at DailyBeansPod.com, click on Contact and, you know, flood us with baby photos and pod viewers and your 8 ton sandstone sculptures. Flood us, please.
- [61:17]
Dana Goldberg
Yes.
- [61:17]
Alison Gill
Thanks. Gosh, it's Friday. There will be an episode of the Jack podcast this weekend and I do want to let you know if Jack does release a report or reports, plural. I will be reading them on the Jack feed before we shut down that podcast. So you'll want to keep listening because there could be some interesting things happening. We'll be doing that this Sunday, Andy and I, and then of course, Dana. We'll be back on Monday. Yeah, we will indeed. All right. Until then, do you have any final thoughts?
- [61:51]
Dana Goldberg
No. That's okay. Let's close it up, everyone. Have a great weekend. Do something that makes you happy. Get outside, find something beautiful.
- [61:57]
Alison Gill
Yes. Self Care Saturday. That's a new tradition for me. So you do anything on Self Care Saturday, send it to me. You know what I'm gonna do this weekend? Clean up my junk drawer. I think it's gonna be cathartic in a very tiny way, but, you know, let us know. Send it to. Send it to us in your good news, what you did for Self Care Saturday. All right, we'll be back Monday. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been hiding.
- [62:23]
Dana Goldberg
I've been dg.
- [62:24]
Alison Gill
And them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarland with art and web design by Joel Reeder with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com msw media.