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The Daily Beans
Refried Beans | Time To Pay Up (feat. John Fugelsang) | 3/8/2024
00:46:06
Friday, March 8th, 2024 Judge Kaplan denies Trump’s last minute bid to stay his payment to E. Jean Carroll; the Navy stripped Ronny Jackson of his rank before he left the military; Jack Smith has filed his opposition to Trump’s motion to dismiss the espionage and obstruction charges against him; Dean Phillips and Nikki Haley have dropped out of the presidential race; Trump is ordered to pay legal fees after a failed lawsuit against Christopher Steele; Jared Kushner has been subpoenaed by an ex-Trump staffer in a lawsuit. Plus, Allison delivers your good news. Dana is out and about.
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- [00:02]
Amanda Sturgel
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. But don't let them fool 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 the truth.
- [00:40]
Alison Gill
MSW Media hey everybody, it's Ag. And welcome to Refried Beans, where we play an episode of the Daily Beans podcast from the same week as 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.
- [01:03]
John Fugelsang
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.
- [01:26]
Alison Gill
Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, March 8, 2024. Today, Judge Kaplan has denied Trump's last minute bid to stay his payment to Eugene Carroll. The Navy apparently stripped Ronnie Jackson of his admiral rank before he left the military. Jack Smith has filed his oppositions to Trump's motions to dismiss the espionage and obstruction charges against him. Dean Phillips and Nikki Haley have dropped out of the presidential race. Trump is ordered to pay legal fees after a failed lawsuit against Christopher Steele. And Jared Kushner has been subpoenaed by an ex Trump staffer in a lawsuit. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey everybody, happy, happy, happy Friday. That you know it's Friday. That means it's Fugal saying Friday. So John Fugal saying will be joining me later in the show and I know I said Dana would be back today, but she's traveling. She's doing her show in Bend, Oregon. So if you don't have tickets to that, it's tonight, get them and go see her. She'll also be traveling on Sunday, so she will be back in your ears with me on Tuesday's episode of Daily Beans. Also, the State of the Union addresses tonight. I'll be watching and sharing on President Biden. We'll talk more about that on Monday's Beans. Pete, Pete Strzok and I will be in New York for a few days of Trump's first criminal trial. That is the Alvin Bragg Manhattan DA's case against him for 34 felony counts of falsification of business records in an attempt to to interfere in the 2016 election. Patrons, by the way, will be invited to a meet and greet while we're in New York. And Pete Strzok, Andy McCabe and I will be coming to the Hamilton Theater in D.C. in August for a live show. Details to come. Watch your inbox for that event. I will also be announcing more tour dates including, let's see, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Nashville, Boston, Philadelphia and Portland. I'll be announcing those Monday and I will have links to pre sale tickets and VIP meet and greet tickets. And there will be links in your show notes for patrons on posted on Patreon and in your inbox. That's this Monday, so look for those. Plus we'll have more shows announced soon, including St. Louis and Milwaukee, all kinds of places. I'm looking forward to seeing all of y' all out on the road. Patrons, you get pre sale and meet and greet access. You can become a patron@patreon.com MullerShiprot you'll also get these episodes ad free and early. Plus the peace of mind knowing that you're supporting independent media. Also today, Jack Smith has filed a ton of responses to Trump's motions to dismiss the espionage and obstruction indictments against him in the documents case, including scathing responses to Trump's assertions that the classified documents he stole were personal records under the Presidential Records act and that he's somehow immune to. He has some sort of presidential immunity for shit that he did post presidency. Andy McCabe and I will go over those in detail on this Sunday's episode of the Jack podcast. So with all that out of the way, we have a lot of news to get to today. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up, from Aaron Katerski, I hope I'm pronouncing that right. And Peter Charalambas at ABC News. A New York judge on Thursday denied Donald Trump's request for a temporary delay of the penalties in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case, leaving the former president three days to pay or post a bond for the entire $83.3 million judgment, plus interest, looking at about 91 to 92 million bucks. Quote, Mr. Trump's current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions. That's what Judge Lou Kaplan wrote in his order late Thursday, quote, he has had since January 26 to organize his Finances with the knowledge that he might need to bond this judgment. Yet he waited until 25 days after the jury verdict to file his prior motion for an unsecured or partially secured stay pending resolution of post trial motions. Kaplan said that Trump failed to show how the judgment constitutes an irreparable injury or demonstrates the expenses he faces by posting a bond in the case of. In the filing, Kaplan signaled he's still considering Trump's request for a reduced bond or a delay until the resolution of his post trial motions. He says, quote, the expense of ongoing litigation in the absence of a stay does not constitute irreparable injury in the relevant sense of that term. That's what Kaplan said. It's so fun to read these decisions. It reminds me of, you know, when somebody from the south says, well, bless your heart, you know, it's just kind of this really, you know, this does not constitute an irreparable injury in the relevant sense of that term. It's just, it's so nice. It's the, the snark and, and, and, and just, it's subsumed in the, in the proper legalese, and I love it. This decision follows a whirlwind month for the former president, whose lawyers have made a concrete push to delay a half a billion dollar lawsuit judgment in the New York Attorney General civil fraud trial. In January, a jury awarded Carol 83.3 million in damages after determining Trump defamed her while denying her claim that he sexually assaulted her in a department store in the 90s. Trump's lawyers had argued the case was wrongly decided and that covering the 83.3 million would cause the former president irreparable injury in the form of substantial costs. Yeah, that's the point of a defamation lawsuit is to hit you with a substantial cost. Lawyers for Carroll pushed back against the delay, arguing Trump failed to offer critical information about his own finances to justify the delay. Quote, the reasoning Trump offers in seeking this extraordinary relief boils down to nothing more than, trust me, that's what Carol's attorneys wrote. He doesn't offer any information about his finances or the nature and location of his assets. He doesn't specify what percentage of his assets are liquid or explain how Carol might go about collecting. Now, in a separate civil case, as we know, a New York judge ordered Trump pay 454 million or so in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest for a decade of fraudulent business practice. Now, Trump, through his attorneys, similarly argued that that decision was flawed, requesting a delay, and offered to pay a $100 million bond. Instead, Trump's lawyers said that if the court did not grant a stay, the former president might have to sell some of his properties to raise enough money to cover the bond. New York Attorney General Letitia James pushed back on that request, warning in a filing that Trump and his co defendants might actually be attempting to evade the financial penalty. Quote, contrary to the defendant's argument, there's substantial risk that defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or make enforcement more difficult following the appeal. Now New York's Appellate Division denied the request for a stay of the financial penalties last week, but clarified Trump's ban on accessing New York based financing does not apply to bond companies. Quote I did nothing wrong except build a successful and very liquid company owning some of the greatest properties in the world, trump said on social media following the ruling. Now the deadline back to Eugene is to pay that 83.3 million plus plus interest is Monday and the Trump 454 million dollar judgment that that deadline is later this month. Pete and I are going to cover all this on next week's Cleanup on Aisle 45 podcast. Next up from Brian Meliot, the Associated Press More financial trouble for Donald Trump. He's been ordered to pay a six figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called shocking and scandalous false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month, saying it was bound to fail, ordered Trump to pay legal fees of about 300,000 pounds. That's like $385,000. That's according to documents released on Thursday. Orbis was founded by Chris Steele. He once ran the Russia desk for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service known as MI6. The British court case was one of few in which Trump, who is almost sure to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was not a defendant as he faces massive legal problems back home. Trump is charged in four criminal cases and faces civil complaint in the U.S. courts. He lost a subsequent defamation case in which a jury found him liable for sexual abuse. And he's been ordered to pay 355 million for a fraud verdict against his businesses. Now Steele was paid by the Democrats for research that included salacious allegations Russians could potentially use to blackmail Trump. The P Tapes member the so called Steele Dossier assembled in 2016 created a political storm just before Trump's inauguration with rumors and uncorroborated allegations that have since been largely discredited and don't forget, while the Democrats did pay for that oppo research, it was Republicans that were paying for it first. Trump sued the company, saying that the dossier was phony and Orbis had violated British data protection laws. Attorney Hugh Tomlinson said in an October hearing that the former president, quote, suffered personal and reputational damage and distress over claims that the dossier that he'd taken part in sex parties in St. Petersburg and consorted with sex workers in Moscow. Now, Tomlinson said the dossier, quote, contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations that he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Orbis said the lawsuit should be thrown out because the report was never meant to be made public and it was published by BuzzFeed without permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late. Judge Karen Stain or Stein, I'm not sure which the proper pronunciation is, but she sided with Orbis in her February 1st ruling and she issued an order several days later on the legal costs. She cut the amount of legal bills that Orbis incurred from 634,000 pounds by more than half because she said it was high considering there had only been a one day hearing. In 2022, a US federal judge in Florida dismissed a Trump lawsuit against Steele 2016. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former FBI officials remember that lawsuit. It was like Pete Strzok, Andy McCain, like Hillary Clinton, everybody was on there. And the judge in Florida dismissed that suit, rejecting Trump's claims that they helped concoct the Russia investigation that overshadowed much of his administration. So womp, womp, he owes another 300 grand. Next from Dara Gregorian, NBC the Candyman Rep. Ronnie Jackson, he's a Republican congressman from Texas now, was quietly demoted by the Navy after a Defense Department Inspector general report found that he'd engaged in inappropriate conduct while serving as the top White House phys for Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. That's according to records obtained by NBC News. Jackson, who was a rear admiral when he retired from the Navy in 2019, is now listed as a captain, according to his service records. A spokesperson for the Navy declined to comment on Jackson's rank, but said in a statement to NBC News that the substantiated allegations in the DO D IG investigation of Rear Admiral Lower half Ronnie Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and as such the Secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July of 2022. The spokesperson would not elaborate on what the administrative action was. A current Defense official and former US Official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post, which first reported the demotion, that it was a reduction in rank. A spokesperson for Jackson did not immediately respond to NBC News's request for comment in a page on his congressional website and on Twitter. In his bio, Jackson still refers to himself as a retired US Navy rear admiral with nearly three decades of military service completed in 2021. The Inspector General's review found Jackson drank booze, made sexual comments to subordinates and took the sedative Ambien while working as the White House physician. It also found he mistreated subordinates and disparaged, belittled, bullied and humiliated them. Jackson pushed back against the findings, telling reporters Democrats were, quote, using this report to repeat and rehash untrue attacks on my integrity because, quote, I have refused to turn my back on President Trump. Okay, good. Jackson was first assigned to the White House Medical Unit in 2006 and ascended to the top post there during the Obama administration. He also hit it off with Trump, whom he effusively praised after giving him a physical in 2018. He has incredibly good genes and it was just the way God made him, jackson said, adding he thought Trump could live to be 200 years old if he just ate better. That year, Trump nominated Jackson to head the Department of Veterans affairs, which is when the allegations of improper conduct first became public. Jackson later withdrew his name for consideration while insisting he'd done nothing wrong. Quote, unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issues we must be addressing. How we give the best care to our nation's heroes, huh? He remained steadfast as a Trump ally and was elected to the House of representatives in 2020. And as we know, and I've spoken to Miles Taylor about this when I interviewed him about his book blowback on C Span Book TV that Trump wanted to gut the Department of Veterans affairs and I think Ronny Jackson was supposed to help him do it. Next up from Sarah K. Burris at Raw Story. Donald Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, has been subpoenaed to testify in a trial regarding a lawsuit filed against Trump's campaign by a former staffer who says she was pun after a supervisor got her pregnant. Matthew Russell Lee from Inner City Press published the subpoena online. It demands Kushner appear before the court in New York on March 27 and bring with him documents regarding, discussing and or concerning Jason Miller from December 2016 to July 2020. The case involves a claim by an ex staffer. We know her as AJ Delgado, who said she lost her responsibilities after she had an affair with with Supervisor Miller during Trump's 2016 campaign and got pregnant. She alleges discrimination by the Trump campaign. Quote, the father and I were dating for two months. He was separated from his wife, he said, and had been since June. That's what Delgado wrote on social media in 2017. A 2017 piece in Page Six claimed the two hadn't spoken since she told Miller she was pregnant. Instead, they've communicated only through lawyers. She has said. Kushner, who had a central role in Trump's campaign and the White House, was involved in a decision not to hire her when Trump won power last month. She started a GoFundMe account to find the money needed to continue her case. Quote, as some of you may know, I have a case which the Trump campaign managed to delay for years against the Trump campaign for pregnancy discrimination and breach of contract based on my not receiving my well earned White House job after I became pregnant by Jason Miller, my supervisor. That's what she wrote. If you're wondering whether Miller has fared a similar fate, he's currently Trump's top advisor and flies everywhere with him. So no, that's what she said. And she went on to say, while almost everyone who takes on Trump and maga, such as E. Jean Carroll, has the benefit of free attorneys and no legal costs, the attorneys front the costs or rich benefactors such as Reid Hoffman, I do not. It's just me, David against Goliath, she said in a post that she intends to depose, among others, Eric Trump, Trump adviser Brad Parscale and Jared Kushner. Remember Brad Parscale got tackled and having a beer outside of his house. Remember that guy? Fantastic. And from Carter Sherman at the Guardian, the Republican led Kentucky Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to grant the right to collect child support for fetuses, advancing the bill that garnered bipartisan support despite nationwide fallout from a controversial Alabama decision also advancing fetal personhood. The measure would allow a parent to seek child support up to a year after giving birth to retroactively cover pregnancy expenses. The legislation, Senate Bill 110, won Senate passage on a 36 to 2 vote with little discussion to advance to the House. Republicans have super majorities in both chambers. The Republican state Senator Whitney Westerfield said afterward that the broad support reflects a recognition that pregnancy carries with it an obligation for the other parent to help cover the expenses incurred during those nine months. Westerfield is a staunch abortion opponent and a sponsor of this bill. Quote, I believe life begins at conception, she said while presenting the measure to oh, it's he. Whitney Westerfield is a he. I apologize, Whitney. Whitney Westerfield said that while presenting this measure to his colleagues, quote, but even if you don't, there's no question that there are obligations and costs involved with having a child before the child is born. The measure sets a strict time limit, allowing a parent to retroactively seek child support for pregnancy expenses up to one year after giving birth, quote, so if there's not a child support order until the child's eight, this isn't going to apply. That's what Westerfield said when the bill was reviewed recently in Senate committee. Even at a year and a day, this doesn't apply. It's only for orders that are in place within a year of the child's birth. And also from the Guardian Elon Musk is facing $128 million lawsuit from four former Twitter executives who allege that Musk failed to pay them severance after buying Twitter. The suit, filed on Monday in California, follows a separate legal complaint last year by Rank and file employees seeking 500 million in unpaid severance, quote, because Musk decided he didn't want to pay the plaintiffs severance benefits, he simply fired them without reason, then made up fake cause and appointed employees of his various companies to uphold his decision. That's what the suit says. The four plaintiffs in the case include Twitter's former CEO, let's see, Agrawal I believe is his last name, former CFO Ned Seagal, former general counsel Sean Edgett and former chief legal officer. Let's see, Vijaya Gaddy I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. Musk fired all of them amid a string of mass layoffs after he acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, claiming at the time he didn't have to pay the executive severance because they were terminated for cause. The lawsuit is one of several legal actions related to Musk's unwilling takeover of Twitter and subsequent operation of the platform, which he renamed X. The National Labor Relations Board also issued a complaint earlier this year alleging that Musk's SpaceX rocket company illegally fired eight workers because they issued a letter criticizing his leadership. So he's facing all kinds of lawsuits and my big question is why he is the sole contractor for national security satellite launches in this country. There's one other, but I think that contract is about to or has expired and we rely heavily on him not only for that, but for, you know, I know Ukraine relies on Starlink, his communications thing, for their, you know, on the ground communications. And he has shut them off or failed to turn them on during critical points during the conflict, during the war. And it's. It, I hope. Now, I know the government doesn't always tell us what's going on, but I hope with everything in me that they are reconsidering the contract, the national security contract, that, that our, that our satellites depend upon with Elon Musk because he should not have that much power over our government, frankly. Now, the problem is those contracts can take years to secure. Years. And there's just no one else right now as a backup. So it's not something that the government can just snap their fingers and change. But I hope, I hope they're at least talking about it. We haven't heard much as far, you know, as far as public reporting goes, but that's something that needs to be considered. All right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with John Fugelsang for Fugl saying Fridays. And then I will be back with the good news after these messages.
- [21:45]
John Fugelsang
We'll be right back.
- [21:50]
Brian Caram
I'm Brian Caram, and I've spent decades covering politics. Now I'm taking you behind the scenes one interview at a time.
- [21:58]
John Fugelsang
Join us as each week Brian confronts the issues that matter, posing the questions
- [22:02]
Alison Gill
you wish you could ask.
- [22:03]
John Fugelsang
No filter, no agenda, just the truth.
- [22:07]
Brian Caram
We're not here for sound bites. We're here for substance. Join me, Brian Caram, every week as we cut through the noise and get straight to it. This is Just Ask the Question where curiosity will lead us to the facts.
- [22:22]
Alison Gill
Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform
- [22:24]
John Fugelsang
and remember, when you want answers, all
- [22:27]
Brian Caram
you have to do is just ask the question.
- [22:39]
Alison Gill
Hey, everybody, welcome back. It's Friday and that means it's Fugal Sang Fridays here on the Daily Beans with my very good friend John Fugal, saying he holds the Tell Me Everything show on Sirius XM progress channel 127 weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific. And if you don't have Sirius, you can always listen to his podcast, the John Fugal Saying show for free, wherever you get your podcasts. John, how are you?
- [23:01]
John Fugelsang
Allison, I'm so glad to be back on your show. Thank you so much.
- [23:04]
Alison Gill
I am so glad to have you. And you are going on tour and that's pretty exciting.
- [23:08]
John Fugelsang
We are going on tour. The Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour is back for the first, like, real year of touring. We've had in about seven years. We've only done like a few gigs a year, but we're going to do, I think, 16 shows through live Nation. For the first time, we are partnering with Live Nation to do one of these things. Stephanie Miller, Frangela, Hal Sparks and myself and tons of special guests. And we're coming all over the country to so many cities. It's really exciting. It's never been more important to laugh at fascism and ridicule the Christian nationalists. And I'm delighted we'll be doing it in a bunch of really gorgeous theaters filled with thousands of very moral and morally deviant people.
- [23:50]
Alison Gill
Excellent. That's so awesome. And where can people get information and tickets on your tour?
- [23:55]
John Fugelsang
People can go to live nation.com or ticketmaster.com you can learn everything you need to know at sexy liberal.com that'll send you to all the right places for all the right cities. We'll be in Chicago for the Democratic convention and playing coast to coast going up until Washington D.C. for inauguration weekend.
- [24:13]
Alison Gill
Very cool. Very, very cool. I'm going to be in D.C. in August at the Hamilton Theater with Pete struck and Andy McCabe. I'm excited about that.
- [24:21]
John Fugelsang
I want to come see that show. I want to be in your audience. That's going to be amazing.
- [24:24]
Alison Gill
You should come up on stage with us. That's, that's what you should do.
- [24:28]
John Fugelsang
But yeah, see how drunk you get. Me. See how drunk you get.
- [24:31]
Alison Gill
We're doing Seattle, Portland, St. Louis, Nashville with Phil Williams is going to be joining us.
- [24:40]
John Fugelsang
You're playing some towns we're not going to. I'm very jealous.
- [24:43]
Alison Gill
Yeah, Philly, Boston, New York, Chicago. I mean, we're going to be all over the place. I'm doing Columbus this March 29th at the sold out Natalie's Music hall. And I think Olivia Troy is going to be joining me for that. It's going to be great.
- [24:54]
John Fugelsang
What a light up.
- [24:55]
Alison Gill
So anyway, okay, so we got our live stuff shows out of the way. Let's talk about the election. We had Super Tuesday this week and boy, there was some super stuff that happened, including very disappointing numbers for Donald Trump. I mean, he did win. He will probably secure the nomination, which is in my view, a suicide pact with the Republican Party.
- [25:18]
John Fugelsang
Allison.
- [25:19]
Alison Gill
Shh.
- [25:20]
John Fugelsang
Let them do it. Let them do it.
- [25:23]
Alison Gill
They can't go rogue. Their party rules say that their delegates have to vote for, for Donald Trump if they chose, if they were delegated to vote for him in the primaries. So they, they can't really do anything,
- [25:37]
John Fugelsang
but they can try to go rogue. They can try to go rogue. But I know Mike Pence will do the right thing. Alison. Mike Pence. If Mike Pence will do the right thing, it won't matter.
- [25:46]
Alison Gill
But we had Dean Phillips drop out and endorse Biden and Nikki Haley drop out and not endorse Donald Trump. What are your thoughts?
- [25:53]
John Fugelsang
I think she's waiting to have the pot sweetened. There's no way she doesn't endorse Donald Trump because Nikki Haley, let's not forget, does everything for Nikki Haley. This entire party's ethos is selfishness. As John Kenneth Galbraith said 1967, the modern conservative is engaged in one of mankind's oldest pursuits, the search to make selfishness appear virtuous. And that's the party, that's their platform, that's the candidates. Nikki Haley does what she does for herself. She ran against Trump in 16 to campaigning for Ted Cruz. Then she embraced Trump and worked for him, all for self gain. Then she turned on him for self gain. Believe me, she wants to be the party's nominee in 2028. She will endorse Trump at the right time and bring her delegates to the convention. I'm a bit surprised she dropped out as soon as she did. I thought she'd hang in there even longer and try to rack up a few more delegates, but we'll see.
- [26:48]
Alison Gill
Yeah, I thought so too. I, I figured she. Well, she didn't. She. She lost the Coke brother.
- [26:55]
John Fugelsang
That's it.
- [26:56]
Alison Gill
Singular backing. And so that probably is what pulled her out of the race, honestly.
- [27:01]
John Fugelsang
Yeah, she's not gonna. Nikki Haley's not gonna want to fly coach for this whole thing. Come on. Kyrsten Cinema taught us that people, Kirsten Cinema taught us don't fly coach with a rabble.
- [27:12]
Alison Gill
And speaking of Kyrsten Sinema, she is not going to be running for Senate this year In Arizona, putting a head to head matchup between Ruben Gallego and Kerry Lake, which is I think a very good thing for Democrats and their prospects to hold the Senate. If you'd asked me a year or two years ago, I would say probably in 2024 we'll keep the White House, we'll take the House back, but we probably would lose the Senate. It's a very hard map for Democrats in the Senate this year. But this, her dropping out helps us considerably and we are in a post
- [27:46]
John Fugelsang
Roe world so incredibly. I mean, just imagine if the Democrats somehow can keep the Senate, then this time next year the Democrats will control the Senate but without a mansion or A cinema. I mean, that's what Biden's whole thing is about, his whole State of the Union. His whole message is, look how much we've done so far, elect more Democrats and we can do more. Imagine if both Manchin and Sinema were replaced with Democrats. Then you can codify Roe, then you can have the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. There's so much that Democrats can actually get done without these two there protecting the filibuster in exchange for Mitch McConnell telling the big donors to funnel their money to Manchinima.
- [28:32]
Alison Gill
And there was a lot of it that went their way, I have to say. And speaking of the State of the Union, that's tonight. It hasn't happened yet as we record this, but I'm looking forward to it and I know you're doing some live coverage. Tell us about that.
- [28:44]
John Fugelsang
Yeah, well, I'm hoping to get you to join us at some point. But we have a lot of, we have a lot of good people on the show tonight. And you know, look, this is going to be a, they're always interesting to me, but this State of the Union and a lot of folks listening to this have already watched it. But I mean, Biden has three things he has to do. He has to convince Americans that the economy is as strong as it is and it's recovered as strongly as it has in spite of high prices here and there on different things. He's gotta calm everybody down about his age and his ability to serve. I'll remind you that he's gonna be running against 95 year old Herbert Hoover economics. So ideologically, Joe Biden is the young guy in this campaign and he's gotta remind everybody what the stakes are of a rematch against Donald Trump. You know, and a week when Elise Stefanik, who is disqualified from holding office because of the 14th amendment, by the way, but when Elise Stefanik is coming out asking are you better off now than four years ago? This is exactly what Biden's going to talk about. Four years ago when we had double digit unemployment, mass death, crime all over the place. I mean, in April we were losing 2,000American citizens per day. April of 2020 2,000American citizens dying per day. We are so substantially better off now than we were four years ago. But of course, Ronald Reagan proved when it comes to Republicans, amnesia can be contagious.
- [30:08]
Alison Gill
It absolutely can. And that's all they have, is to rewrite history because it's not on their side. Even current history. They're trying to rewrite history going all the way back to 16, 19. But you know what I'm saying.
- [30:23]
John Fugelsang
I mean, listen, I'm just tuning in to see, you know, what Marjorie Taylor Greene screams and who Lauren Boebert gropes. I mean, that's really the main thing for me to watch. People with no impulse control going out in public is always good for reality tv.
- [30:35]
Alison Gill
Well, Mike Johnson was trying to tell his caucus to keep their mouths shut because the last time, you know, there was a, a, I guess kind of an unscripted moment at the State of the Union was when Joe Biden brought up don't touch medic, Social Security and Medicare. And they booed. And he's like, all right, so we're all on the same side then, right? We're not going to cut Social Security, Medicare. Very viral moment for that last State of the Union. And we can see something like that again. So I'll be paying attention to that.
- [31:07]
John Fugelsang
But by the way, that's an important note, Allison, what you just brought up, because Mike Johnson is not imploring his caucus to behave themselves because he cares about dignity or decorum. No, he doesn't want Joe Biden to play them again and make them look like fools like happened last year. That was a beautiful moment.
- [31:22]
Alison Gill
It was. Yeah. And I'll also be looking for, you know, his, his discussions on how what we're facing in this election is democracy versus autocracy, or if you want to be like super Republican about it, you could say a democratic republic or a constitutional republic versus an autocracy, which is, you know, when you want to get down to it, that's what they always. That's what they always say. That was, that's always their argument. This is a constitutional republic, not a democracy, because they don't read. So it'll be, it'll be, I think, a good state of the Union.
- [31:55]
John Fugelsang
I think it will be, too. I think most people already understand the difference between Trump and Biden on abortion, and they understand the difference between Trump and Biden when it comes to democracy and a peaceful transfer of power. But when it comes to the economy, you know, that's going to be the real challenge because things are unquestionably better now than they were four years ago. I mean, America is doing better recovering from inflation than all of our G7 allies. But the fact is it's still price gouging. We're still using words like inflation instead of words like corporate greed. And how does Joe Biden walk that line of reminding people that he's not going to come out and call it corporate greed? But that's what it is. So how will he be able to, with mere facts, convince people?
- [32:38]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And it'll be, it'll be interesting to see how he, how he goes about doing that. And then one last thing before I let you go, my friend. We had a ruling from the Supreme Court seemingly last minute with apparently some metadata issues about whether what Sotomayor clearly wrote was a dissent or a concurrence. And you have a little bit different take than, than some folks. Tell us your take on this decision.
- [33:07]
John Fugelsang
Well, my unpopular opinion is that Democrats may have dodged a bullet with this ruling. I, I have said for a very long time that while I, I agree with the argument. Okay. On the, on the logic, on the, on the law, yes, Trump is disqualified. You can read the 14th amendment. It's right there. He is disqualified. On a practical political level, I've never thought this was a good idea for Democrats to pursue. I always thought the Supreme Court was going to get rid of this, and I think we're fortunate they did. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Supreme Court had said, yes, states can throw him off the ballot? Well, first of all, Donald Trump would have had a real win. He gave a subdued victory speech, but he would have raised so much more money if he'd been thrown off the ballot in Colorado. And the Republicans would be screaming that it's the Democratic Party that hates democracy. They would have a cudgel to beat Democrats with for the next year saying Democrats oppose Americans getting to vote for who they want. Democrats are opposed to one person, one vote. They're against freedom at the ballot box, blah, blah. None of it would have been true, but they would have done it and they would have fundraised off of it. And on a broader level, if the Supreme Court. And again, they only believe in states rights when they're trying to excuse racism. But if the Supreme Court has had any stake and throw any president off a ballot, how long would it be before Mississippi and Alabama decided the evidence was in on Hunter Biden and threw Joe Biden off the ballot? And we'd see this happening all over the country. So I really think that in many ways, Democrats dodged a bullet with this. I think conservatives were way too happy, progressives were way too angry about it. All the Supreme Court really did was give Donald Trump permission to lose Colorado a third time. He lost it by 14 points last time. He's gonna lose it again. This doesn't change anything.
- [35:00]
Alison Gill
Yeah, very interesting. A kind of one of the, the bright sides of the supreme court. Waiting until April 25th to hear immunity arguments. If we could have a bright side,
- [35:12]
John Fugelsang
I mean, that, that I am enraged about. What's the right side of that?
- [35:15]
Alison Gill
Well, like, well, like, like you, I. On the law that this trial should go before the election 100%. But now we don't have to worry about an acquittal before the election. So there's that. I mean, I guess that's, you know, and we do have a criminal trial starting here in, let's see, two weeks. About.
- [35:35]
John Fugelsang
It's going to be beautiful. It's going to be beautiful. I'm sorry. I'm not sick of the Stormy Daniels story. I was mad that DA Cy Vance bumped this thing years ago. And it's an important story. It speaks to all of Donald Trump's criminality in one. It is very, very important and very relevant. And Michael Cohen is already gone to jail. It's election interference. Michael Cohen's already gone to jail for this, like, for this actual case. And I didn't hear any Republicans outraged when Michael Cohen went to do time for it. So I'm glad his unindicted coconspirator is finally going to face the music on this.
- [36:11]
Alison Gill
Yeah, I concur. All right. Well, with that music, I feel like we're playing you off the stage at the Oscars, my friend.
- [36:18]
John Fugelsang
Oh, I know. Good luck at the Oscars. By the way, everybody. I hope you win your Office Pools.
- [36:22]
Alison Gill
Yes. Good luck. It's your Oscar Office Pools, because I, at least nobody I know is nominated for an Oscar. But when is it?
- [36:31]
John Fugelsang
Soon, I think. I think it's this weekend. Yeah. And, you know, it's a lot of great films nominated for awards this year. I mean, there's two satires up for best picture, Barbie and American Fiction, two satire, live action films up for best picture, which is incredible. One of the greatest Holocaust films ever made. Zone of Interest is just a landmark achievement in cinema. And hey, all the awards are going to go to Oppenheimer, the movie that bends over backwards to make the guy who made the bomb a sympathetic victim. So really, it's something for everybody this year.
- [37:06]
Alison Gill
Super. I look forward to it. Thank you so much, my friend. Everybody, you can hear John fugal saying, weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific, the Tell Me Everything show, a Sirius XM progress channel 127, and his podcast, the John Fugal Sang Show. My friend John Fugal saying thank you.
- [37:22]
John Fugelsang
Thank you. Friday night, Eddie Izzard joins us to talk about her amazing solo show of Hamlet, where she plays 23 different characters and she and I go really deep on Hamlet. It's amazing. Don't miss it. That'll be on the show live Friday and then the podcast on Saturday.
- [37:37]
Alison Gill
She's one of my all time favorite comedians. If you, if you get a chance or the ability to see Dress to Kill. Oh yeah, absolutely. Must see. I mean they're all incredible, but Dress to Kill really just opened my eyes.
- [37:50]
John Fugelsang
I bought that CD as soon as it came out when I was a kid. I love it.
- [37:53]
Alison Gill
So good. That's incredible. Thank you so much my friend. Everybody stick around. We'll be right back with the good news after these messages.
- [38:01]
John Fugelsang
We'll be right back.
- [38:05]
Martin Sheen
You can always count on Sunday to be the best day of the week. You can sleep in, go off your diet, spend the day in your pajamas and go on, have that second questant. You know what else you can count on every Sunday? The Martin Sheen Podcast. Join me, your host, Martin Sheen for beautifully crafted 20 minute programs filled with never before heard stories of my life along with personal reflections and poetry that inspires. And season two begins Sunday, February 1st. The Martin Sheen Podcast is the perfect Sunday relaxing companion, a chance to put your feet up, take a deep breath and enjoy some stress free listening time from the comfort of your favorite easy chair. And that second questant that stays between us. There's no judgment here. So make my podcast your weekly moment of calm as we explore faith, hope, love and what it means to be human. And rest assured, this journey is ever unfolding as I invite you to see what's next with me, Martin Sheen. So let's keep Sunday the best day of the week together and thank you for listening
- [39:25]
Alison Gill
everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news everyone.
- [39:29]
John Fugelsang
Then good news everyone.
- [39:38]
Alison Gill
Good news. Hey everybody. It is the good news time and if you have good news confessions, corrections if you want to play what the is in your ark, send us a picture of any animal and we will try to guess the breed or color or just what kind of animal it is in some cases. Also if you have a shout out to a loved one, a self shout out, I love those. Shout out to a small business in your area or your small business or your big business, whatever you're doing, I want to hear. And then also if you have theses titles or dissertation titles, those are always fun, really fun for me to try to guess what you're talking about because sometimes they're so specific and many times have words I can't pronounce which I love. I love deducing. So send those to us. Any great VA healthcare stories or or student debt relief stories, WBY stories, Blankie stories, stuffed animal stories. I think our oldest one right now is I think a little over a hundred years old. Those are incredible stories. I love those. If you have any holiday photos you want to send to us from any holiday pictures of your happy place Pod Pet Tax. If you can't pay pod pet tax because you don't have a pod pet, you can send us an adoptable pet in your area and we'll try to get a forever home for that little baby. So send us anything that you want@dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. First up from anonymous no pronouns I registered for classes today to finish my associate's degree after dropping out of college two decades ago, attending school and working two part time jobs, which is too much and I didn't think returning to college was in the cards for me. But thanks to the Michigan Reconnect Program, Michiganders can attend community college in their area for the associates or certification program of choice. I am so grateful for this opportunity and proud of myself for taking these steps toward a better future. I hope other Michigan residents hear this and sign up too. Thanks for all you do. For Podpet Tax, I've included Hazel and Cassie sitting in our brand new recliners like the royalty they are. Look at these beautiful babies. And I love your end table and I love your bookshelves and your wood floor is gorgeous and so are these recliners. And the kitties are also adorable. Thank you for that and congratulations. The Michigan Reconnect Program. That's amazing. I love Michigan. All right, next up from Kathy Pronoun she and her My son loves axolotls. My husband has started a 3D printing art started 3D printing articulating axolotls for him. So what's the models of these axolotls? Haha. Love you both and love the show. Keep doing what you're doing. And look at the little 3D printed axolotls. Fantastic. And there's a lily pad too to round out the entire collection. That's beautiful. Thanks Kathy. Next up from Chris no pronouns correction and good news. Andy Kim is running for Senate in New Jersey, not Pennsylvania. Oh dang it. That's right. He has the support of many grassroots volunteers like myself who got involved in politics in 2016. I knew that Chris, because he's running to oust Bob Menendez. Ugh. I knew that. Okay, it's. It's because Fennerman's from Pennsylvania and is also trying to get Menendez to resign that I mixed up the states. He's running against our indicted Senator Bob Menendez and Tammy Murphy, the wife of Governor Phil Murphy, who has been anointed by the Democratic machine. Good news. I live in UAE and I'm serving second term on Democrats Abroad despite a lot of challenges this cycle. We launched our presidential primary the other day in Dubai. Chris, thank you for your work with Democrats Abroad, such a vital organization. And thank you for the correction. It just I went Fetterman, Pennsylvania, Andy Kim without making the jump to New Jersey and Bob Menendez. I that's thank you for the correction. Brain Fog Next up for Marcy D. Pronoun she and her Good morning Beans, Queens. The good news is that at 80 years old, my dad published his first book and the official book launches this week. It's called the Blueprint for Going green by Jerry McCarthy, former Albuquerque resident. It's a primer on the environmental movement in Virginia from 1970 to today. This labor of love I'm not doing this to make money, he says describes his efforts from the forefront of the green movement and is intended to advise younger generations on how they can make a difference, even in small ways. It's written for students, but it is so well written that everyone with an interest in the subject will love it. I could not be more proud of my dad. Pod Tax is a photo of him with my then infant son, his only grandson, Marcy D. Congratulations to him on this book. Jerry McCarthy, Blueprint for Going Green and the baby is adorable. I'll pass this on to Dana. She will love it. Next up, from Erin Pronoun. She and her hello. Love all the podcasts and the community you've created. I feel less alone as a blue dot in a red state and as the parent of an amazing trans Kiddo. Thank you for your advocacy. It means the world. Good News. I'm turning 37 on Saturday the 9th and to celebrate I want to shout out. A nonprofit organization in my area, the Literacy alliance has a mission of empowering people and strengthening our community through education and TLA helps adult learners prepare for their high school equivalency exam, helps adult learners with their English, and they also help kids in grades K through 3 with reading skills. I've been involved as a board member since November of 2022, and it's been amazing to see the impact that TLA has had on people's lives. I've had the privilege of attending a couple graduation ceremonies and it's heartwarming to hear the stories of the students who have overcome so much adversity to achieve passing the hsc. TLA is supported by many volunteers and a small staff, and they could always use help. There's an Amazon wish list on literacyalliance.org and donations are always welcome. I am dedicated to doing what I can to help this organization thrive to help improve the lives of people who are less privileged than I am. Thank you for all that you do to shine a light on amazing people everywhere. For Potpet tax, I've attached a picture of my Chihuahua Charlie and my rescue Pomeranian Nana who are both amazing pups to have around. Oh they're so cute. I like fluffy chihuahuas. I like non fluffy chihuahuas as well, but this was especially cute with the little blep the little maleme. So adorable. Totally amazing. If you can help out, Please go to literacyalliance.org Next up from Gerald Pronouns he and him and this is our last submission of the day. Hi Beans Queens I decided to attend law school at night and had my last year interrupted because of the 911 attack on the World Trade Center. I was one of the lucky ones able to escape from One World Trade center about 10 minutes before it collapsed. Gerald, my God. I retired about five years ago from a state agency, but I was told that I qualified for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program, so I applied. I received an email stating that I didn't qualify since I was no longer working. About three months later, although I did nothing different, I received a letter stating that the balance of my loans had been forgiven. I was shocked, happily surprised, and I can't thank Joe Biden enough. Having that extra $500 a month is life changing. I had the pleasure of meeting AG at the DC event last April and again in New York City this past January. Hopefully I will meet DG one day soon for podbet Tax. Here is my blind but you would never know it. Rescue cat Bocelli. He is one of three and this is what happens when you volunteer with an animal rescue to keep busy. Gerald, thank you so much for this. Look at this little baby. He's adorable. I love tuxedos. Moo cats are the best. They're so cute. Everybody, thank you so much for sending in your good news. Please send us all your good news. You can do it by going to DailyBeansPod.com and clicking on Contact and if you're not a patron yet and you want to become one so you can get all those pre sal VIP meet and greet tickets plus these episodes ad free and early and all of the other benefits that come with being a patron and knowing you're supporting independent media. You can do that by going to patreon.com mullershiroad if you sign up at the five dollar level, you get both the Daily Beans and Jack and then there's a separate patron patreon for cleanup on all 45. And that's patreon.com aisle45 pod a I s l e 45 p o d. If you pay $2 you get an extra whole entire episode every week. So you get twice as many episodes. It's two dollar level. That's for cleanup on all 45. Thank you all so much. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. I will be telling you all about my thoughts of the state of the union that happens. If that goes down here in just a few hours, I'll be watching it intently and I know you will too. And thanks to John Fugle sang for joining me today. I appreciate him very much. We'll be back in your ears Monday. Of course. We'll be here on Sunday with the Jack podcast, me and Andy McCabe. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your family. Vote blue over Q and bring someone with you. I've been ag and them's the beans.
- [48:46]
John Fugelsang
Refried bean.
- [48:47]
Alison Gill
I like refried beans.