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The Daily Beans
Refried Beans | With a Cord of Steel (feat. Rep Adam Schiff) | 2/09/2022
00:35:45
Feb 9, 2022 In the Hot Notes: a witness list from federal prosecutors gives us an inside look at the upcoming trial of a Three Percenters affiliate; the FBI has arrested another insurrectionist who was out on bail for attempted murder when he stormed the Capitol; McConnell breaks with the RNC and called the Capitol attack a violent insurrection; the FBI is investigating a meeting that took place between Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes on January 5th; plus Allison delivers your Good News.
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- [00:00]
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 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.
- [00:22]
Dana Goldberg
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.
- [00:32]
Alison Gill
Mar hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Today, a witness list from federal prosecutors gives us an inside look at the upcoming trial of a 3 percenters affiliate. The FBI has arrested another insurrectionist that was out on bail for attempted murder when he stormed the Capitol. McConnell breaks with the RNC and called the Capitol attack a violent insurrection. And the FBI is investigating a meeting that took place between Enrique Tarrio, Stewart Rhodes and others on January 5th. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey everybody. Flying solo today again. Dana is out. She's going to do her show tonight live in New York. And you can, of course, get tickets. We've been posting ways to do that all week. And that's going to be at 7pm Eastern and 4 Pacific. And then later in the show today, I'll be joined by Congressman Adam Schiff to discuss his book Midnight in Washington and also today's Republican Party and of course, the Democratic strongholds that are currently under attack and have been for several years now. We do have a lot of news to get to today before we talk to Adam Schiff, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. The FBI is probing a meeting in a downtown D.C. garage the day before the January 6th Capitol Hill riot between then leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, the now indicted leader of Oathkeepers Militia and other far right figures. And that's according to two witnesses interviewed by FBI agents. Among the half dozen people gathered at the garage near the Phoenix Park Hotel was Oath Keepers head Stuart Rhodes, who was indicted this year on charges of seditious conspiracy for the insurrection. Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was not present at the riot, was also at the garage meeting but left Washington afterwards. The meeting put the heads of the nation's two best known violent far right pro Trump groups in immediate proximity to each other 24 hours before the breach of the Capitol. Three attendees or their representatives contacted by Reuters said they did not discuss matters related to January 6th. They were talking about what to get their friend for their wedding gift. Yeah, I'm sure they didn't discuss January 6th at all. Bianca Gracia, who heads a pro Trump coalition called Latinos for Trump and an affiliated political action committee named Latinos for America first, was at the garage meeting as well, according to witnesses and video taken by a documentary film crew. Oh, they. They had a documentary film crew with them. How convenient. Also present was Kelly Sorrell, a lawyer for the Oath Keepers and Latinos for Trump. Sorrell told Reuters she was invited by Gracia to meet Tarrio and share information about criminal defense attorneys. She said her role in the meeting was brief and did not concern plans for the next day. Tarrio told Reuters last June that his meeting at the garage with Rhodes was unplanned. Just ran into him. It's not significant, quote, by coincidence, he said he was inside that parking garage and he said he shook hands with Rhodes solely to be polite. He's here. I'm not going to not shake somebody's hand. He has denied any Proud Boys planning ahead of January 6th. The FBI's investigation to the meeting has not previously been reported and told today by Reuters, nor have the circumstances of the gathering. A short clip of the gathering appeared in a British Channel 4 documentary last year about the Proud Boys, spurring some chatter on Twitter. Federal prosecutors have charged multiple leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers with playing leading roles in the mayhem of January 6th. Tarrio has not been indicted in the case. I'll keep you posted on what the FBI finds out. And a January 6 rioter who stormed the Capitol while he was out on bail on attempted first degree murder charges was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday, more than 10 months after he was first identified by online Osint Sleuths, which is so cool. Matthew Jason Bedingfield of North Carolina faces felony charges of assaulting officers, impeding officers during a civil disorder, and carrying a dangerous or deadly weapon on restricted capital grounds, as well as several misdemeanors. And that's according to court records. Bedingfield was first publicly identified in a Huffington Post story in March after online sleuths investigating the attack used facial recognition to find his mug shot and then confirmed his identification with the help of his father's Facebook page. Bedingfield traveled to Washington on the 6th with his father, a fellow Donald Trump supporter who also believed the former president's lies about the election. The two had attended a November 2020 rally in Washington in support of Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss. Images that Bedingfield's father posted of that rally showed his son wearing identical Nike sneakers and carrying the same pole attached to an American flag as he did on January 6 when he stormed the Capitol. Bedingfield was on bail on a first degree attempted murder charge in connection with a December 2019 shooting of a 17 year old in a Walmart parking lot when Bedingfield was 19 years old. He was initially held on a million dollars bail, but after he secured pretrial release when bail was lowered to $100,000. Hmm. After he stormed the Capitol on January 6, Bedingfield pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in connection with the shooting. He was on probation in the shooting case when he was arrested Tuesday. Video compiled with the help of online investigators shows Bedingfield at the front of the mob outside the Capitol, jabbing at the police line with his American flag, throwing a metal object at cops and appearing to give a Nazi salute. By the time Bedingfield emerged from the Capitol, his father Jason, like thousands of others, was on the restricted exterior grounds of the U.S. capitol. But he's not facing charges as of Tuesday. The elder Bedingfield, who posted on Facebook on January 6 about taking the country back, can be seen hopping over a fence restricting access to the Capitol grounds while carrying a pro Trump flag. An affidavit signed by an FBI special agent credits Citizens Citizen Investigators and the Huffington Post story with identifying Bedingfield and uses the nicknames he was given by online sleuths tracking his movements. Bedingfield was associated with two hashtags, soggykidinsider, possibly because he's pictured emerging from the Capitol covered in what appears to be liquid and Nazi Grayhat, possibly because he appeared to be making the gesture commonly associated with Nazis. And also prosecutors late Monday began laying out their trial strategy for a January 6th case in the clearest details yet, indicating they intend to call multiple Capitol police officers, a former Senate aide, a member of the Three Percenters Militia who was granted immunity, and the Secret Service agent who helped supervise then Vice President Mike Pence's visit to the Capitol. That day, prosecutors revealed their proposed witness list in the case of Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who was charged with storming onto Capitol grounds, attacking multiple police officers and carrying a firearm. Reffitt is charged with civil disorder, obstructing Congress's proceedings. That's the big one carrying a semiautomatic handgun to the Capitol and later, after returning home, attempting to obstruct justice. Secret Service Special Agent Paula Wade will tell jurors about preparations for January 6th session and Pence's visit to the Capitol with his family members Wade will also walk jurors through surveillance footage of the Pence evacuation. That dawns on me. Why did Pence bring his family to the Capitol that day knowing there could be trouble? Shield or did he not know? Was he not expecting this anyway? The witness list also includes three Capitol Police officers who say they attempted to stop Refft's advance with pepper balls and chemical spray. Sergeant Adam De Camp, Sergeant Matthew Flood and Officer Shawnee Kerkoff are expected to describe confronting Refft outside the Capitol, as well as calling for and deploying their non lethal weapons against him. Their testimony will be supported by surveillance video clips, radio clips and photos taken of the interactions with Reffitt. A fourth Capitol Police official, Inspector Monique Moore, is also slated to testify on behalf of the Department of Justice. Moore oversaw the department's command center that day, and prosecutors say she will discuss the riot's overall impact on the department as well as its effect on the ongoing effort by Congress to count electoral votes. The witness list also reveals that jurors will get a history lesson on the Electoral Count act from a Senate aide, Daniel Schwager, who was counsel to the secretary of the Senate on January 6th and was on the Senate floor when rioters broke into the building and forced them to evacuate. Schwager, prosecutors say, will explain to jurors how the January 6 session of Congress works and its significance in finalizing the results of the presidential election. The Justice Department revealed its plans to call Reffitt's two children, including his son, Jackson Reffitt, who reported his father to the FBI in December of 2020 and then secretly recorded him after he returned home from Washington in January of 2021. Jackson Reffitt has publicly talked about his efforts in various media interviews over the past year. Both of Reffitt's children are expected to testify about what the government has described as threats their father made to his family to prevent them from reporting him to federal investigators. That's the obstruction part. In addition, prosecutors say they will call fellow members of Three Percenter Militia group that Revitt was part of. This associate traveled with the defendant from Texas to Washington, D.C. and back between January 4 and January 8. He will testify about how he knows the defendant, discussions he had with the defendant, their travel arrangements, the defendant's firearms and tactical gear, and the defendant's movements and actions. The witness is only identified on the list as RH in the new filing. He was granted immunity in exchange for this testimony. All right, over to the 16 committee. They have postponed depositions for Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis Boris Epstein and Sidney Powell. That was supposed to happen Tuesday. Today, when asked how the committee will deal with these witnesses not showing up, Rep. Zoe Lofgren told Wolf Blitzer, quote, not everyone we are eager to speak with is eager to speak with us, but we will get all the information we need. We know that Rudy and Powell, by the way, are both under federal criminal investigation at this time. All right. In other news, Mitch McConnell is the latest to break with the RNC from NBC News. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell disagreed Tuesday with the Republican National Committee's recent censure of two top GOP lawmakers, as well as its characterization of the attack on the Capitol. We were all here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That is what it was. That is blindingly clear. There is no ambiguity there. Legitimately certified election took it a step further than Pence did. Pence just said Trump was wrong. He couldn't overturn the election. Mitch took it a step further and said this. This was a legitimately certified election. McConnell also said Tuesday the RNC shouldn't be in the business of picking and choosing Republicans who ought to be supported, adding, the National Committee's role is to back all members of the party. Quote, the issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That's not the job of the RNC. McConnell's comments also contrast with those of House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who ran away today when asked about it. He's evaded questions about the RNC's depiction of January 6th. But McCarthy criticized Cheney and Kinzinger when asked about the censure resolution. But, yeah, he just ran. Can you imagine, like, being at work and if your boss comes, you just run. Just keep, just run away. Run away. All right, after this break, I will have the honor of speaking with Congressman Adam Schiff about the growing split in the Republican Party, the strongholds that save democracy and how they're currently under attack, as well as his book, Midnight in Washington. Stay with us after these messages. We'll be right back. All right, everybody, welcome back. I'm honored to be joined today by chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, member of the January 6th select committee and author of Midnight in How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still could, is representing California's 28th district, Congressman Adam Schiff. Congressman, welcome.
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Adam Schiff
Thank you. Great to be with you.
- [12:52]
Alison Gill
It's an honor to speak with you today. And I have devoured your book. It's absolutely beautifully written, and there's so many poignant moments. And I love that Timothy Schneider had written a blurb on it, who I actually, it's right here. I've got it right with me. It's my little compendium on tyranny. And so I have a couple of questions for you about some of the things that you discuss in this book in the very first chapter, you open with the Insurrection. And I was hoping you could describe that day.
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Adam Schiff
Well, I had suggested to the speaker about six months before the election that we form a small group of members to try to anticipate all that might go wrong in the election. What happens if the Electoral College is tied? What happens if a state sends two slates of electors? What happens if the vice president, during the joint session, doesn't do his job? And the speaker thought that was a very worthwhile project. And so we assembled a small group. We would meet periodically. We would talk with outside lawyers and constitutional experts. We anticipated about 1,000 things that could go wrong, except for the one that did, a violent attack on the Capitol. But as a result of my suggesting this, I was asked by the speaker to be one of a handful of members to lead the opposition on the house floor on January 6 to the efforts to decertify the results. So I was on the floor. I was making arguments. I was rebutting the Republicans, and I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on outside down the Mall. At some point, though, I looked up from my notes, and the speaker was no longer in her chair, which surprised me because I knew from our preparations that she intended to preside for the entire joint session. And then, very soon thereafter, two Capitol Police officers rushed onto the House floor. They grabbed hold of our number two, Steny Hoyer, and whisked him off the floor. So quickly, I remember thinking, I don't think I've ever seen Steny move that fast. And very soon it became apparent the reason there were intruders in the building. Rioters. Capitol police were responding but had not been able to contain them. Police told us we needed to get out our gas masks. We needed to be prepared to get down on the ground, and then ultimately we needed to get out of the chamber. And what stands out most notably to me is I hung back when we were instructed to evacuate, to let other people go first. And a couple Republicans came up to me and said, you can't let them see you, meaning the rioters outside who were at this point making their way over to the House side of the chamber. I know these people, one of them said. I can talk my way through these people. You're in a whole different category. And at first, I was kind of touched by their evident concern of my safety. But that feeling quickly gave way to another, and that is that if they hadn't been lying about the election, not to mention me over the last four years, I wouldn't need to be worried about my security. None of us would. And I remember feeling that after the attack and when we resumed on the floor, just disbelief that after seeing what transpired, Republicans would go right back to where they left off and still try to overturn the election. And I'm even more aghast now, over a year later that having seen the destructive end that Trump and Trumpism brought our country, they are still running with the same line that led to that attack, to attack our democracy in legislatures all around the 50 states.
- [16:40]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And you talk about how democracy held, and it barely held, and it's still in peril. And I was working on an op ed writing this. There were several, I think, strongholds or guardrails that sort of came through for us, the Capitol Police, the courts afterwards. And the scary part is that at each of those guardrails, we came within inches. What is it like to, I mean, you have a long career as a prosecutor and defending the Constitution. What is it like to be in the position where we're so close at so many touch points at losing our democracy? And as I sit across from you here, well, on zoom, you know, a lot more than we know because of your position on the January 6 committee, what is it like to feel that threat and then to have it physically manifest itself at the Capitol that day?
- [17:36]
Adam Schiff
Well, I mean, it's awful, and it's something I never thought I would experience. Not just the attack on the Capitol and the fear of a violent effort to stop the transfer of power for the first time in our history, but also, you know, to see the Justice Department, where I served for almost six years, become a kind of a criminal defense firm for the president, or worse, used to go after the president's enemies, to wonder, as others did, are they going to turn that apparatus against me? You know, that's the kind of experience you have in the Third World, not in what should be the most secure democracy in the world. So those were chilling things. And you're absolutely right. The guardrails came close to failing, and a number of those are under continuing assault. One of the guardrails that held was the house itself. Kevin McCarthy tried to overturn the election. In the House, a vast majority of Republicans voted to overturn the presidential election. And if they were to gain control of the House in the midterms, Kevin McCarthy would overturn the presidential election in 2024 if Donald Trump loses. And so that's a guardrail that's very much at risk and underscores, I think, the importance of making sure that someone of kind of low character and morals of Kevin McCarthy never goes near the Speaker's office any more than Donald Trump goes near the Oval Office. But, you know, one other guardrail that held was that local and state elections officials, Democrats and Republicans, did their jobs. And one of the takeaways of Trump and his enabler seems to be that if they couldn't get the Secretary of State in Georgia, for example, to find 11,780 votes that don't exist, they're determined to have someone in that job and others around the country who next time will. And even local technocratic elections personnel are being run out of their posts with death threats. So these are the guardrails that are currently under assault that we need to pay attention to.
- [19:52]
Alison Gill
We need to shore up especially the laws now that are passing in the wake of the big lie. Not just voter suppression laws, they though they fall under that umbrella. But the laws where, in certain states, they want the state legislature because like you, we were talking about what if, what if Nobody gets to 270. Oh, well, then it goes to the House, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, we were thinking of that there, you know, there were states who wanted to send alternate slates of electors, and we're actively talking about that and we sort of laughed it off. Like, you can't just, you know, overturn the will of the voters and send your own electors if you. And besides, the laws don't allow that for that right now, as we've seen from memos to Wisconsin and Arizona back in 2020. But, you know, we were like, how, How? Go ahead and try to pass that law. I dare you. Go ahead and try to pass a law that says no matter how you vote, we, the state legislature is going to, are going to determine who the electors are, yet they're doing it.
- [20:51]
Adam Schiff
That's exactly right. And to me, that is the most chilling of all these. These efforts to disenfranchise people are just pernicious and a return to the kind of bigotry of Jim Crow of many years ago. A new generation of Jim Crow, but the efforts at election subversion to empower Republican boards and legislatures to essentially overturn the popular will. If they don't like what voters do, that is a terrifying attack on the infrastructure of our democracy. They're really taking a page out of Viktor Orban, the wannabe dictator in Hungary's playbook, using the instruments of democracy against itself, not relying the next time on a violent insurrection, but relying on quasi legal means to diminish our democracy to the point where they can undermine the results of a presidential election. And to me, that is among the most fragile points of our democracy at present.
- [21:56]
Alison Gill
It's why Putin has been where he is and has been for so long in Russia because of those small incremental legal changes to the way that the government functions that allowed him to maintain power.
- [22:11]
Adam Schiff
One other point I would add to that, which was really a main takeaway for me coming out of the first impeachment, certainly during the second impeachment, and that is having a brilliant constitution is not enough. Having well framed laws is not enough. Having pernicious laws like they're trying to pass is even worse, of course. But at the end of the day, we are reliant on members of the legislature and of Congress honoring their oath of office, being informed by ideas of right and wrong and having some devotion to the truth. And if none of those factors are present, if members will just ignore the truth, propagate a big lie or a bunch of small ones, or believe that anything they do that helps perpetuate themselves in power makes it right, and none of it works. And so we're facing, I think, a crisis in which one of America's two great parties has given up being a party of ideas, has given up being a party devoted to democracy, has become a kind of autocratic cult of the former president. And that puts us on a very perilous footing.
- [23:24]
Alison Gill
Yeah, indeed. And I want to talk more about where they are today versus where they were when you wrote the book, which isn't too far, but definitely farther. I do have to take a quick break, and when I come back, I want to talk about that and I want to talk a little bit about Russia. So everybody stick around. We'll be right back. Everyone. Welcome back. We are talking with Congressman Adam Schiff, who has just a few minutes before he has to go do some work, which is what we elected him to do. I'm going to go right to the end of my interview. I want to talk to you really quickly about your speech on the well of the Senate, where you said stirringly, and by the way, I think this will go down as one of the best speeches in recent history. You said your names will be tied to his with a court of steel. And for all of history and recently, including today, we are seeing Republicans, like big name Republicans, start to back away from the RNC and Donald Trump and their language about legitimate political discourse. Is this too little, too late?
- [24:21]
Adam Schiff
Well, at the moment, it's still too little, but I hope it is a sign of things to come. We really need the Republican Party to return to being a party of ideology. I hope that people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger represent the future of the Republican Party. We need two healthy parties to make our system work. You know, over the last several years, we've seen a pretty limitless capacity for Republican members to carry even the dirtiest of Donald Trump in water. And I would like to think that we're seeing some stirrings of conscience. But sadly, so many of the people that were repelled by the RNC's censure of Cheney and Kinzinger, so many of them are former Republican officials. We need more currently elected officials to speak out, to show some courage. Then I'll feel that we're really on the right path. But we do need good people of conscience and the GOP to speak out in favor of the truth once again.
- [25:29]
Alison Gill
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of former Republicans speaking out. We need the current ones, too. And finally, probably one of the more striking lines that you write in the book is that you say we do not have the luxury of despair. And when thinking of that and framing it with the length that justice takes and the silence of the Department of Justice, there are growing concerns that the Department of Justice, what's going on at the Department of Justice, and we aren't really clear about what the committee is working with the Department of Justice on. And you have said, you know, you haven't seen any signs of this and it's very concerning. Has anything changed in that? Any developments in that? How do we move forward keeping together and holding it together and holding up our institutions, but also having real and reasonable concerns about the length of time the Department of Justice is taking.
- [26:18]
Adam Schiff
You know, I feel pretty confident about what the department is doing vis A vis the January 6 insurrectionists and the continuing investigation into how they were organized, funded, et cetera. The charging of seditious conspiracy, I think was a very important, serious step. My concerns are principally that the effort to overturn the election had many dimensions. January 6th was only the last and final futile effort. But there were efforts to suborn the Department of Justice to that cause. There was all the frivolous litigation. There were the bogus certificates of electors. There was the former president on the phone with the Secretary of State from Georgia, trying to find just the number of votes he needed to win. I think, in particular, Georgia merits investigation, and not just by the Fulton County DA And I see no sign that the Department of Justice is doing that, and that really does concern me. But to conclude where we began, I titled the book Midnight in Washington because midnight is the darkest hour of every day, everywhere in the world. But it's also a time of hope, because we know that what follows is filled with light. We're going to get through this, as you say. And as I mentioned in the book, we don't have the luxury of despair. What gives me optimism about the future is the fact that there are so many millions and millions of Americans all over the country in every state who love and cherish our democracy and far outnumber those who are at the moment trying to tear it down. So we will get through this. But what we do in this moment will determine how quickly we get through it or how much damage we have to suffer along the way. So we all need to be engaged right now. We can all play a role. As the speaker likes to say, know your own power. And we all have the power in our own circles to make a difference right now in the life of our country.
- [28:13]
Alison Gill
Yes, I agree. I don't think we should wait around for one person to save us. It's up to all of us to do that. Congressman Adam Schiff. Thank you for your time, everyone. You can buy Midnight in Washington, wherever you get your books. I appreciate your time today. Thank you.
- [28:27]
Adam Schiff
Well, thank you. And if your listeners read as part of a book group, let me know. I've been enjoying popping in on some Zoom Book club meetings, so would. Would love to do that.
- [28:38]
Alison Gill
Excellent. I'll be in touch. Thank you so much.
- [28:41]
Adam Schiff
You bet.
- [28:41]
Alison Gill
You. Take care, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back. Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news?
- [28:48]
Adam Schiff
Everyone?
- [28:49]
Alison Gill
Then, good news, everyone. Good news. Good news. And I want to thank everyone for sending in their good news stories. If you have anything you want to send in, whether it's pod pet pics or find a cat or what the mutt. Or you want to tell me how dumb you think Louie Gohmert is? Or shit kids say or shit Parents say pictures of Halloween costumes. I take those all year. Your would be stories are one of my new favorite things. And of course, if you're a creator, I want to know what you're making and I want to know where we can get it. So by the way, you do that@dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. First up from she her, and she her. Two anonymous ladies. Hello, Leguminati loves. You asked for pibbles in sweaters and artwork. So this bitch saw her golden opportunity to show off all her I am not Minnesota. Nice. Fuck that shit. Energy mamas adopted me from Tulsa. Get your shit straight if you're nasty. Can I propose a new game of pet theme songs? In her booties, nose leash and the candy cane indignity we call a sweater Kittens is a sad trombone. That's the pibble. In normal times. My wife says kittens song is the greatest American hero theme song. Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. And yeah, yeah, dude. XOXO to everyone, thank you very much. And look, you forgot. You forgot. Okay? The shoes are my favorite. I love the candy cane sweater, but yeah, this pibble, he's like, please don't take my picture and send it to people. Look. Aw, what a sweetheart. Oh, my gosh. And the dog's name is Kitten. That's so perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. Oh, and there's a drawing. Oh, that's beautiful. With one foot off the curb. Thank you very much. Next up, from Jory Pronoun. She and her ladies of the beans. I have a what the mutt? And a psa. I have two lovely mutts, Penny Pants and Spruce. This morning, I set one of my air pods on the nightstand and one about my childcare tasks. A little while later, I went looking for it and it was gone. With dread, I realized the puppy must have gotten to it. I found what remained of the pod and thankfully, the battery. Anyway, learn from my near miss dear Beans. Pictured as the culprit, Penny pants. Her black markings go down both back legs. A girl after my own heart. And what looks like yoga pants and her big brother, Spruce. 2 years old and acts like he's 90 and has seen it all. Oh, yeah, the old grumpy dog. But there's only two. That's so cute. I have no idea they're breeds. Any guesses? Thank you, ladies, for all you do. I've listened to you for years. Can't imagine getting my news without swears. Oh, my goodness. That looks like a Giant Chihuahua. To me, Jack Russell, they're just so adorable. And they eat earpods. That's good to know. Oh, look at them sleeping together. That is so cute. Oh, and then there's the. Then there's the chewed up earpods or airpods. Excuse me. Yeah. Goodness. Went to town. Surprised they didn't swallow. Just chewed them up. Interesting. Next up from Sally Pronoun. She and her hello queens. As requested, pics of pitties and sweaters. It's darn cold here in Illinois, so my sweet Bella Pitlab mix is in a hoodie with her sister Tika, who would not lower her standards to such human customs. Bella was rescued from under a trailer in Missouri along with her nine puppies. I have never met such a docile, sweet, loving pup who loves all dogs, people, and especially little people. She also loves tormenting our cat. She sends you big slobbering licks and much snuggly love. Look at the baby, the sweater. Oh, I like how the sleeves are cuffed. That's very. That's a nice touch. Thank you for that submission. Next up from James. Pronouns he and him. Good morning, Ag. I love your pod. I listen to it every day. Good morning, James. The day two seven pod mentioned makers and I want to throw my hat in the ring as an aspiring jeweler. Oh, awesome. During COVID I picked up copper and silversmithing. It started with a gift for my wife and it has matured into a full blown obsession. I named my company after her from Melissa Designs because she's my muse, my inspiration and my guiding star. Oh, that's so sweet. We live in a small town in Maine. I love Maine. Aw. I did the Maine Comedy festival in Bethel. I love it there. I handcraft all my own pieces from raw silver and copper. If you feel my work and story are good enough, I would be over the moon to hear it on the air. I struggle to get my name out there and I've had a hard time feeling good about my work. Would love for more people to be exposed to it and offer their feedback, criticism, interest or anything in between. Please keep up the amazing work and fighting the good fight. Oh my God. That is incredible. Is that blue tourmaline? This is beautiful. James, these are really. This is really lovely. Let us know. Melissa Designs in Maine, everybody. This is beautiful. Beautiful. I would love to hear anyone's feedback on this ring and I also want this ring. Next up from Norma Pronoun. She and her greetings. I wasn't sure if this falls under good news or confessions, but the talk of childhood companions made me think of horse picture attached, which I've had for 50 plus years now. Ooh, that's coming in second to the 65 year old one we got the other day. Horse is currently keeping me company in my home office. Fuck maturity. Some days I need my stuffy. No current family pets. So for pet tax, I've added a photo of the local turkey flock hanging out next to our vegetable garden. Thanks for all you do, Norma. Look at these turkeys. Oh my gosh. Oh, and horse. Hey, looking good though. Horse is looking good for 50 plus years, I must say. Gray, pink polka dots, pink yarn. Mane still has an eye. Of course, it's not a detachable one. That was the first thing that went on all my stuffies was the eyes. Especially if they were buttons and then my mom would replace them. Wonder if you've done any work but the horse. Looks good. Looking good. 50 is the new 30. Anyway, thank you all for sending all these in pibbles and sweaters. Yes, please send more of those. Your woobies what you're making, let us know where we can find you. I want to share it all. And again, thank you everybody for all of your support. It's been so amazing and wonderful over the last few days. And I hope Dana crushes it tonight at her show. And I hope y'all have tickets to see it, either live or live streaming. And everybody, until tomorrow, when I'll be talking with I Am Politics girl from Midas. Touch Leigh. You don't want to miss it. Till then, please take care of yourselves. Take care of each other, take care of the planet, Take care of your mental health. I've been ag. And that was the beans.
- [35:42]
Dana Goldberg
Refried beans. I like refried beans.