B (19:18)

We'll be right back.

A (19:24)

Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Thanks for hanging with me through the news while Dana is out. But I am so happy to be joined today by two of my very good friends. You know her as I Am Politics girl. It's Leigh McGowan. And of course, Brian Tyler Cohen. Hey, everybody.

C (19:38)

Hey, Alison. Thanks for having us.

A (19:39)

Hi, Al. How's it going? It's so good to see you, my friends. It is really, really good to see you. And the reason that I am talking to you today is because this Friday, November 3rd, there is an event that y' all are hosting called Justice Defended, and it is going to be in Wisconsin. Tell us. Let's start with you, Lee. Why are we doing this? What? What's this about? Why Wisconsin?

D (20:03)

Well, okay, Anyone who's been following what's been happening in Wisconsin knows that it is a perfect example that Republican extremists are willing to do pretty much anything to hold onto their power And I think that's why Brian and I are going out to Madison, because we want to join the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, because this party are just such superstars. And despite the complete uphill battle in that state, they have been so hard at work and fighting back, and they're just really the model for what happens when you have an electorate that's engaged and informed and a state party that's prepared and ahead of the game. This event we're doing is called Justice Defended Live. And it's the celebration of the work that the people of Wisconsin have already done, getting Janet Purdosaywitz elected and making sure that she's not impeached. But it's also giving us a real opportunity to mobilize support as they're kicking off what's called One year to Win. Because as they say, as goes Wisconsin, so goes the nation. And we really care about what happens to the nation.

C (20:59)

And we have. We have big things to look forward to in 2024. Obviously, Tammy Baldwin is up for reelection in the Senate in a Senate map that is increasingly difficult for Democrats. We're defending seats in some not so easy terrain, like Montana, West Virginia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio. So that's important, obviously, hanging onto the Senate, hanging onto all of our Senate seats that we currently hold. And also, as Lee alluded to before, I mean, Wisconsin for the presidential election is the tipping point state every election. And so it's always important to make sure that we win Wisconsin. WS Dems has been amazing at doing that. WS Dems has overseen 12 out of 15 wins in the last 15 statewide elections. And more broadly, I guess it's just more important or it's especially important to invest early. So that's why we're going out and going to a live show in Wisconsin in what I would, I guess say is close to the winter. So a little bit masochistic here, but if anything shows our commitment to whether folks over at Wisdoms are doing, it's that. But this just kind of hopefully offers something of, I guess, a signal to other state parties that the way we win isn't by waiting until October or November of an election year, but rather if you want to do something a full year out so that we can set the stage and get the process going so that we can win elections next year, then let's go. Let's do this right now and let's start raising money, let's start raising awareness and set the stage to. To win these important elections in 24.

A (22:29)

Yeah. And I've often said Wisconsin, you could be like Michigan, right? You could have that blue triumvirate redraw your maps to be fair. And Wisconsin responded, Wisdoms responded and elected. Janet Protosiewicz. Talk a little bit, Lee, about what the Republicans in Wisconsin are trying to do to not only undermine, but I think impeach somebody who was duly elected for the specific purpose of making the elections free and fair.

D (22:55)

The thing that I would say is, is that people need to remember that a state like Wisconsin is kind of the ultimate swing state, because when you look at the voting records in that state, it's actually a clean split, if not Democratic leaning. But those numbers are not at all reflected in their state politics or their policy. And that's because of their 4 to 3 far right supreme Court and the legislature. That was a Republican legislature. They've had it for years. So it's that four, three far right Supreme Court that drew the district maps. Right. So the state has six of the eight congressional districts went to Republicans. Despite the progressive leading of the state, it's that court that allowed almost every and all form of voter suppression for Wisconsin people. So the Republicans ended up with control of 65% of the state House despite only having at best 50% of the vote. Wisconsin is ranked 47th in the nation when it comes to ease of voting. So it's like a very hard state to vote in. And then you have an organization like Wisdoms that says, you know what, even though this is a giant uphill battle, we can make a difference. We can roll this back. And I think that's the kind of stuff we have to remember. If we catch this stuff early enough, if we see the cheating early enough, we can stop it. And for a long time we weren't paying attention. And that's one of the things that we have to remember that just kind of like not paying attention to politics doesn't mean politics doesn't affect you. It means you can affect it. Right. That's why we are going out and celebrating the organization and the work that was done in Wisconsin, because the Wisconsin Republicans were making the exact same move the North Carolina Republicans made to completely disenfranchise their voters. Right. The GOP has a majority in both legislative houses, but they wanted the courts too, and they lost that chance. And now this court, this new court with Janet Protestewitz on it, is going to rule on their blatant gerrymandered maps, and it's not going to go in their favor. And so we're actually going to have fair maps going into the Next election. And I'm sure everyone heard about the Republicans plan to impeach this new justice. So she couldn't rule on the new maps. And she was like, I'm not stepping down. I'm going to rule on them. So they were like, oh, well, we'll impeach you then. We'll do this. This will be our next thing. And, you know, you can't just impeach someone for the crime of, like, not letting you blindly take over your state. Right. So they backed down. And they backed down because of the work that was done to draw attention to what they were trying to do. They stepped away from this plan because people were actually outraged. They were paying attention and they could see that the voters weren't going to let them just get away with it. And I think that's what we to do all over the country. And it's one of the reasons Brian and I are going to go out to Wisconsin to say, these guys are doing it right, let's do it everywhere.

C (25:29)

It also helps too, that, you know, in terms of them backing off of this plan, it was a completely baseless, unconstitutional effort to do that. I mean, so that we're clear, it is not illegal for her to have gone out on the campaign trail and spoken about the general issues that were, you know, the dangers of gerrymandering. That's not illegal. It's never has been illegal. When you have judges who are gonna be elected in states which certain states allow, Wisconsin being one of them, they're expected, not just allowed to, but expected to talk about issues. And Wisconsin's blatantly gerrymandered maps is one of the issues that's obviously a major issue that's present in politics today. So, no, it is not illegal by any stretch of the imagination. These Republicans knew that. They wouldn't have gone forward to Lee's point had there not been this massive pressure campaign. So I think that's what helped. And hopefully other states can see what happened in Wisconsin and kind of take those cues.

A (26:19)

And Brian, let's talk about another issue too, because we know that gerrymandered maps was one, but so. So is access to reproductive health care. Talk about what wisdoms are doing with regard to that.

C (26:28)

Yeah, so. So that's a great question. I think very importantly, as of this past September, I know There was an 1849 law on the books that had banned abortion statewide. As of September, reproductive health care has resumed in the state, at least in Madison and Milwaukee. And so I think more importantly, I mean, look, in terms of the work that Wisdoms has done. Tony Evers is the governor of Wisconsin and he's made sure that, you know, abortion protections and women's reproductive healthcare can have, like, a home in Wisconsin. And so because we have these blocks to Republican efforts to stop this stuff from moving forward, that's why we're seeing abortion protections and women's reproductive rights move in the right direction in Wisconsin as opposed to these other states where Republicans are taking control. And obviously those protections are getting whittled away.

A (27:12)

Yeah, the Dems in Wisconsin, one of the most impactful and successful endeavors that I've seen in politics in a very long time, and it's worth celebrating.

D (27:21)

What Brian was saying just reminded me that, you know, we have the upcoming election in both Virginia and Ohio where abortion rights are on the ballot in both of those states. And it's just essential.

A (27:31)

The tricks, man, I know all the.

D (27:33)

Tricks that are happening. And so people have to know, even if you're not from Wisconsin, if you're in Ohio right now and you can vote, if you're in Virginia right now and you can vote, get out and vote. Because the Republicans are being very, very clear from the House all the way down that they're going to take every right women have to their own bodies and just take it right off the table. We are going to be beholden to our states and we won't have any access to our own health care. And so you can vote right now in those two states to uphold this right to your own body.

A (28:00)

Yeah. And check your voter roll, check your voter registration. Because we've had, we've heard from Ohio. They were, they quietly removed thousands of people from the voter rolls. Same things are going on in Virginia, North Carolina, like, check your voter registration. Hey, Brian, talk about some of the things that you're going to go over this Friday in Wisconsin, like what does this look like? I'm so excited for this.

C (28:20)

Yeah. So this is Lee and I's first live show, I believe. Is that right, Lee? Yes, first live show for people who are otherwise have made a career for themselves by sitting in a quiet room alone and just staring into a lonely teleprompter, a lonely camera. But. Well, you know, we'll be going over the importance of kind of, well, focusing first of all on the importance of having stayed engaged and involved. And to Lee's earlier point, Wisconsin and Wisdoms is what happens when you have an electorate that's engaged and informed and how that's kind of benefited the state in terms of protecting their supreme Court judge, who, again, is gonna have massive downstream impacts on the maps and on abortion rights and any other cases that come before the court. We'll also be speaking about what we're going to do moving forward and just the importance of investing, investing this time and energy and money in. In this election, you know, as we head into 2024. So, Lee, is there anything else that I'm missing here?

A (29:19)

No.

D (29:20)

The goal is, you know, we're just. We are. We're drawing attention to the idea that we can't allow people who can't win to continue to rig the game. And we have to be vigilant and we have to do what the Wisconsin Democrats have done. We have to organize and strategize and inspire people and then have people come out, like, en masse to vote against this kind of corruption because it just cannot continue. And even though Brian and I are introverts that work by ourselves all day long, we're going to come out and have some fun with people and remind ourselves that we are humans in the world, and we're going to do something more fun when we are actually kind of serious people sometimes. And at the end of the day, like, this is. The Republicans plan to win not through votes, but by rigging the game. And I don't know about you guys, but I'm not having it. Wisdoms isn't having it. And especially when the Republican leadership comes down to the loss of women's rights and the criminalization of LGBTQ people and apparently Christian nationalism and everything that comes with that, from bigotry to book bans. And so I would say, like, because we're on news with swearing, like, no fucking thank you. I'm not having it.

A (30:19)

Appreciate that.

C (30:20)

And also, they're not afraid of broadcasting it either. I mean, if you look at who they just elected as the speaker of the House all the way up to the second in line to the presidency, these people are openly, like, embracing the Christo fascist nationalism and this, you know, wholesale denial of women's rights, this wholesale denial of anybody who, you know, basically isn't a Christian Republican in this country. And so I think it's important to kind of, as long as they want to elevate these people into positions of power, as long as they want to embrace the election denialism and the abject outright fascism, then you'll have, you know, folks like Wisdoms and us to the extent that we can help and. And you and everybody else in our ecosystem kind of continuing to push forward and from a grassroots level and making sure that this stuff is rebuked every step of the way. And just like they got rebuked in 2020 and then in midterms in 2022. And now as we head into 2024, we'll just keep doing it as they want to continue embracing all of like the kind of anti democratic measures that they've been embracing.

A (31:21)

All right, so. Madison, Wisconsin Friday, November 3rd 7:00pm local time, Central time. Lee, how can people go to this event if they would like to?

D (31:30)

I think the easiest way to join us either online or in person is to go to wisdoms.org you can buy tickets and get the details there. If you want to attend in person, you'll receive a confirmation email that just acts as the ticket for the event. If you want to join the live stream, then you just RSVP by donating whatever you can a $1000 whatever you want. And you can get a confirmation email with the link to the livestream page. And then on the page you enter your name, you enter your email, you're in, and you'll join us and you'll watch as introverts attack.

A (31:59)

When introverts attack.

D (32:01)

When introverts attack.

A (32:03)

Amazing. I look forward to watching this and cheering you on and cheering on Wisdoms. Just what an incredible organization. And thank you for doing it. Lee McGowan, Brian Tyler Cohen, thank you so much for speaking with me today.

C (32:16)

Thanks for having us.

D (32:17)

Thanks for having us, Al.

A (32:18)

All right, everybody, stick around. I have a great conversation with the deputy spokesperson for the White House National Security Council about funding Ukraine right after this break, Mr. Sean Civet. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.

B (32:30)

We'll be right back.

A (32:37)

Hey, everybody, welcome back. I'm honored today to be joined by the deputy spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, Sean Civette. Hi, Sean, how are you?

B (32:46)

Hey, Alison. I'm good. Thank you so much for having me on. It's great to be on the podcast.

A (32:50)

I appreciate you coming on and talking to us about this because I want everybody to kind of be clear about the series of events that unfolded over the past couple of weeks. You know, we've been trying to fund Ukraine and we're talking about the 24 billion or even bumping it up to 60 billion to cover them for a year. And then that was packaged in a bill that was proposed to Congress by the President. He announced it in his primetime Oval Office address. Can you talk a little bit about what President Biden proposed to Congress?

B (33:23)

Sure. So it's a really important proposal to advance our national security interests as the. Take a step back for a moment just to remind your viewers, over the past year and a half, under President Biden's leadership, we've rallied the world to respond to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and to respond to all the brutality, the atrocities, the war crimes that we've seen Russian forces commit. And we've created this broad global coalition. And Ukraine's now at this really critical juncture where, as you all know, they won the battle for Kyiv. They've won the battles for Kharkiv and for Kherson and the eastern part of Ukraine, and they're now in a real fight to try to take back some more of their sovereign territory. And at the same time, we're seeing Russia launch renewed defenses in the northeast of Ukraine. And it's clear that Putin still wants to take over Ukraine. And if we let him do it, then question of will he stop there? I mean, we know that he's long wanted to recreate the Soviet Union, and we have a lot of NATO allies, the border Ukraine and the border Russia that we certainly don't want to see Putin try to attack. And so that was the context of the address that President Biden delivered. And especially it also came several days after we saw Hamas just commit this utterly appalling and atrocious terrorist attack that claimed the lives of more than 1400 people, including, I believe it's now 34Americans. And they've also taken more than 230 people hostage, potentially including 10Americans as well. And this is just, you know, the images that we all saw and broadcast on TV and Radevad just really, really hit, I think, so many of us hard. And so, you know, we've seen while these two conflicts are very different, there's a lot of commonalities there. I mean, both Putin and Hamas, they want to annihilate neighboring democracies, and we just can't let them do that. It's incredibly important for our national security. And if you want to look at from a cost perspective, you know, the cost of doing nothing and letting a dictator in Europe try to conquer and carve off his neighbor's territory or letting a terrorist group win and, you know, terrorize democracy in the Middle east, especially a very close ally, it's just not something that the United States should stand for. And so that was what President Biden spoke to the nation about in that primetime address. He spoke about why this matters to the American people. Even though these conflicts are, you know, halfway around the world, they, you know, they're incredibly important to our daily lives. And so he put forward this, you know, the supplemental funding request for Congress that as they, with a new speaker of the House, now look forward to funding the government for the rest of the year and preventing a government shutdown, which is possibility in a couple of weeks. We want to make sure that we also are continuing to invest in the American industrial base and continue to create jobs by producing weapons here that can go to Ukraine that are being used on the front lines for freedom, that we are helping Ukraine defend against Putin's invasion, that we're also providing humanitarian assistance to people who've been displaced the millions by this war in Europe, but also to the several million people in Gaza right now, many of whom have absolutely no affiliation with Hamas whatsoever and are really suffering as a result of this conflict. And so we want to make sure that Israel can continue to defend itself, replenishing their Iron Dome to protect their people from these rocket attacks we're seeing launched by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups. We also want to make sure that we can continue to support our allies in Indo Pacific as we face with the rising China. And so these are some of the many really important national security priorities that President Biden laid out and certainly are hoping for Congress's support.

A (37:11)

Yeah, and I mean, they're all fundamentally connected, particularly to our national security. Russia just, Putin just hosted leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. There's a lot of partnership there with Iran. We've got North Korea partnering. And then of course, China's got its eye on what happens in Ukraine with its own eyes on Taiwan. And so, I mean, all of these things are connected. And I've long said that funding Ukraine is funding Israel. And I was just out there. We did a, a press conference with some members of Congress at the Capitol with Vote Vets, which is an organization that I absolutely love and support. And, you know, the point, the talking point there was, hey, this is less than 5% of our defense budget will go to help defeat our biggest enemy and the enemy, biggest enemy to democracy. I think this, this sort of axis of evil that's, that's starting to take take shape. And, you know, I mean, if, what's our defense budget for? If not, like, I'd be happy spending half our defense budget to boot an American boot on the ground and help Ukraine defeat terrorism and autocracy. So talk a little bit about the national security implications of separating these out, because we know recently Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, now Speaker of the House, met with POTUS met with the president, and apparently I didn't really hear how that meeting went, but it sounds like Mike Johnson now wants to separate all these out.

B (38:47)

Yeah, and you make a number of really important points there, Alison. And I just would say immediately, you're exactly right, that the world is watching what happens in Ukraine, they're watching what happens in Israel, and they're taking note that I certainly don't think Vladimir Putin ever thought that the United States was gonna rally this global coalition and build more than 50 countries to come together to support Ukraine. He thought he'd be able to carve up Ukraine in a number of days, in a couple of weeks, and the world would sit back and do nothing. And President Biden and the people of America showed him wrong. And it's critical that we continue to prove him wrong in this case and. And prove to Putin that he's made another terrible assumption and that he should just pick up his things and pick up his troops and withdraw to Ukraine. And the world is watching then what happens there. Because you're right, as we look at the Indo Pacific and we look at China and the possibility of tensions with the Taiwan Strait, China's paying attention to what happens in Ukraine. Other would be dictators and tyrants and conquerors are certainly paying attention to see if the world will falter and let Putin take over Ukraine, or, you know, will they have the green light then potentially try to take over their own neighbors? This is absolutely a fundamentally important question that we're faced with. And that's why, you know, the reason President Biden proposed grouping these several key national security priorities together is because they are key national security priorities. And, yes, we absolutely need funding to support the people of Israel right now as they're faced with a terrorist threat and as they root out Hamas. But we also need to make sure that we are not dropping humanitarian aid from that bill, which is something that the President proposed, but we're hearing Congressional Republicans may not include in their proposal. And that would be a terrible, terrible shame considering, you know, you have millions of people in Gaza who are suffering, again, through no fault of their own, who have no affiliation with Hamas. And we need to make sure that humanitarian aid continues to reach them, which is something that Prime Minister Netanyahu has committed to President Biden, that President Sisi of Egypt is committed to, to making sure that we can continue to reopen that border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to get humanitarian aid flowing. That's a really important priority that this bill would fund. And then, you know, obviously, Ukraine, we've talked at length about. We also have border security provisions in there. We have funding requests in there to provide countries in the developing world with an alternative to these Kuwait course of loans that the People's Republic of China is putting out with us. This Dalton Road initiative, which I know President Biden has called the Debt and Noose initiative, which will they offer these loans to developing countries with very high interest rates. And it's really coercive financing. And the key part of our soft power is America is to be able to build allies and to make friends. And one way to do that is to offer these low costs, low cost loans that will not saddle them with debt well, but will help increase global prosperity for economic growth. That helps us here at home as well. And we see the benefits of what allies are for when we have priorities here like supporting Ukraine again. And we can ask countries around the world to come to Ukraine's aid because it's incredibly important for our national security and because they view being allied with the US As a good thing, they will come to Ukraine's aid as well. Those are, those are really important things. And to separate them off would just, you know, it really would risk, you know, weakening those national security priorities and leaving some critical things behind. So we're asking Congress to move forward with a, you know, with a vote that passes them all. This is something that I know many Republicans in the, in the Senate and have voiced support for and that there are many Republican members of the House as well that continue to voice their support for Ukraine. So we, we certainly do not want to see this bill get stripped down and only some of it pass and the rest of our critical priorities be left behind.

A (42:38)

Yeah, And I can see patterns sometimes and way long, long time ago. 2016, Donald Trump pressured Manafort to change the Republican platform language to kind of go easy on Ukraine and giving weapons to Ukraine. Change that language. Right. And a lot of Republicans kind of pushed back on that, but it ended up happening. Then he violated the Impoundment Control act by withholding aid to Ukraine in order to shake down President Zelensky to get him to say he was investigating his political opponent. Then he had that whole shadow policy group. We called him the Clown Posse, but the Ukraine Clown Posse, I think was the nickname that we gave them. But Rudy Giuliani and everybody trying to run their own shadow policy, kicking Lt. Col. Vindman off of being the Ukraine expert there and disinviting him to these trips. And now he's the architect of getting this speaker elected who wants to defund Ukraine. And he gave a speech today that said if he were president when he's president, when he wins in 2024, that he's not going to defend NATO. And so I don't know. Is there any indication that the chaos in the House and this particular election for speakers was a feature and not a bug? It seems like it's part of a larger attempt not to just only defund Ukraine, but to get a lot of the policy they want passed or blocked. But that seems like a longtime goal of this particular party.

B (44:12)

Sure. Well, I have to be careful not to talk about 2024 because of the Hatch Act. But I will say that we've seen one of the priorities for President Biden has been expanding and strengthening NATO alliance. And that alliance is critical for America's national security and it's critical for European security and the world's security. And we've thanks in those fall part to the president's leadership, but also to the changing security environment in Europe. We've had one new member of Finland with a very capable, strong military join joined NATO. We're on the verge of having a second member of Sweden be welcomed in. And those would be really important gains that would strengthen America's security, giving us two critical partners. And your listeners. I know you know, Allison, but your listeners may remember also that after nine, 11 NATO allies came to our aid. They fought with us in Afghanistan. And if the United States were attacked again, we have treaty alliances where we would expect our NATO allies to come to our aid just like we are treaty bound to come to theirs. That's an incredibly important commitment that as President Biden says is ironclad and that's not something we can walk away from. That would sacrifice America's credibility in the world, our leadership role and that that so many decades of American policy have worked to build. And that pays real dividends to the United States people too. It keeps us safe and secure. And so I'll just say that speaking for the Biden administration, our policy is absolutely to strengthen NATO and it's work to expand it rather than try to walk back these critical gains that have kept us secure for so long.

A (45:50)

Yeah, it's critical that we are a trustworthy partner in these treaties that we are part of. One last thing. Matt Gaetz put out a tweet today that said Israel is a land with a 4,000 year connection to our faith. Ukraine is a former Soviet state. These are not the same thing and should be considered separately. Besides just being factually incorrect, what's your response to that kind of message.

B (46:18)

Yeah, I mean it misses the mark in so many ways. Race is a nation with tens of millions of people's sovereignty, their sense of independence. You know, you talk to any Ukrainian and you ask them do they identify as a former member of the Soviet Union or do they identify as a Ukrainian. And you know, I think you might be careful for the type of reaction you'll get there because you know, I never met a Ukrainian who identifies anything other than a proud Ukrainian national. And so just to try to erase it in other countries independence like that, just like Vladimir Putin is trying to do, is really, really just wrong headed. And we've got to pass Ukraine funding, we've got to pass Israel funding, we've got to pass humanitarian aid. This is incredibly important for our national security and again it's also important for our economy because the weapons that are being used in Ukraine right now on the front lines of this fight for freedom and independence and these values that matter to so many Americans, those are weapons, many of them that are being made in America, that are being produced by companies that support American jobs. That because of the work we've been doing to support Ukraine, we've been restarting production lines here, we've been bringing people back to work, we've been producing more ammunition and we've been. I know there's actually a point that leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate like to talk about where Ukraine funding actually supports jobs in 38 states. And that's a very important thing too when we talk about the economic impact of it. So when we're asking for more funding to, to help Ukraine, what we're actually asking for is more funding to support American jobs that will create American made weapons that then can be used on the front lines of Ukraine as they defend their independence and they defend their freedom against Russian brutality and aggression. Because we just have to send the message in the 21st century, in 2023, we cannot allow a brutal dictator to try to carve up or conquer their neighbor's territory. That is just not who we are as Americans and that is not the message we want to send to the world right now at this perilous moment.

A (48:16)

Okay, and last word, are you optimistic that we'll get Ukraine funding or Indo Pacific or border funding passed? Because I mean if they put to put forth, I guess an Israel only bill, the Democrats aren't going to be allowed to oppose that. So if we pass just that, what are your, do you think that we have the votes to pass Ukraine funding?

B (48:41)

Well, I know the votes are there? Absolutely. I mean, there is strong bipartisan support overwhelmingly in the Senate and there is a strong bipartisan majority in the House that supports Ukraine funding and it supports each of the individual pieces of funding that the president proposed. I don't want to get too far ahead with predictions because it's still early. We're waiting to see exactly what the speaker, with the new speaker's move will be, you know, what his first bill will be. But even then, that's likely to be some type of opening, opening bet or opening gambit that will then go through negotiations with both parties, will go through negotiations in the back and forth with the Senate. And so we'll see where things end up. But we know what's critically important and we believe that if they were to put this supplemental vote package for a vote up, it would pass. And so we certainly want them to do just that.

A (49:24)

All right, well, everybody write and call your representative and senator and tell them you want all of this to be passed. Thank you for explaining the national security implications for us. Deputy spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, Sean Civette. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

B (49:39)

Thank you for having me on. It was a pleasure and hope to be back again.

A (49:41)

All right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news.

C (49:57)

Everyone.

A (50:03)

Good news, good news. And if you have good news, confessions, corrections what the mutt. O pine on the bovine. What the heck, Wine. Find the cat. Whatever you want to send to us, I will. Guess your animals breed. I love that. I even did a turtle one time. I got the red eared slider right. That's fun. I don't know what the name for that game is. We'll come up with one. If you have a shout out to a loved one or yourself, like if you want to tell me what's something great that you did this week, I want to hear about your theses and dissertation titles. Podpet Tax. If you don't have pod Pet tax, you can send an adoptable pet in your area, shout out to a small business in your area or your small business want to know what you're making or creating or you know, your happy place. We could frog orgies, baby pictures. Whatever you want to send to us, please send it in. We need your good news in the next couple of weeks. You can send it to us@dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. All right, first up from Dana Pronoun. She and her bug Swallowing story A few years ago, I decided to attend a friend's wedding even though there was a chance I might run into the nightmare that is my ex boyfriend. The story has a happy ending though. On the last day of the weekend, he was in the gas station and had the audacity to come over and start talking to me like we were old friends and not that he was verbally and physically abusive for two years. As I opened my mouth to air his ass out, a bug flew into my mouth which caused me to start gagging and coughing. My husband had finished paying for our gas and turned to see what was happening. I guess the combination of my emotions and gagging from the bug made me puke right on my ex boyfriend's shoes. And what makes it funnier is that he's the type of dude who loves his shoes and cars more than his significant other. He stormed off looking like he might cry and the employees were staring with confused looks. I yell in the middle of the aisle, holy shit. I just puked on my ex's new Js. They cheered and clapped for me. That's fucking fantastic, Dana. Thank you for that. Next up for anonymous pronoun she and her oh, there's puppers. Last year, I had to say goodbye to my sweet girl Sloane. Listening to you ag be so open about the loss of your beloved cat really helped me process this difficult time with our fur babies. So thank you. I've decided the best way to honor my girl is to foster. I met Penny, but she's not the right fit. I'm hoping someone listening might be the right foster or adopter. She's in the north suburbs of Chicago at Orphans of the Storm. Please feel free to play what the mutt? But you win because I don't know. Okay, this is easy. American bulldog with a little pity and some dalmatian. And that's what I declare. What a beautiful baby. Everybody get that. North Chicago suburbs Orphans of the Storm. Beautiful, beautiful dog. Available for adoption. Next up is Susan. It's bittersweet season for gardeners just trying to tidy up before the Minnesota snow blankets us all. For months after I dismantled my flower boxes and a few pots of beautiful plants, I went to the nearby city compost site this afternoon. It was jam packed with cooperative gardeners making their autumnal sacrificial contributions to a massive pile of leaves and whatnot. It felt pretty groovy to me to and took the sting away from having to leave my plants in that pile. That is pretty great, Susan. Oh, look at the moocows and the beautiful flowers. Oh, lovely. Thank you for sharing that. These are beautiful photos. Oh, there's some snow with a doggo. Yeah, man, I moved out of the snow a long time ago. I don't know how y' all do it. All right, next up, from Adriano, from Wild oh, Wild Peccaries. You gave my shop, Wild Peccaries on Etsy a shout out when my mom wrote to you. The response was stunning. I want to let you know that my shop is having a cyber sale, 30% off. Lots of new inventory and great gifts and lots of music. My mom listens to you every day and we're so glad that you're standing against the destruction of our democracy. So thank you. We have a link in the show Notes to the etsy shop and etsy.com shop wildpeckeries P E C C A R I E S I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Thank you so much for that. I'm so glad and continued luck throughout the holiday season. Next up, Adam pronouns he and him hey AG I was motivated to write after your story about Kentucky's governor Andy Beshear and his brilliant school voucher debate. Today marks one year to the day since I stopped teaching. It's been a hell of a year. Your argument against vouchers as privatizing education was made with such a fine point. More of my fellow Hoosiers need to understand exactly how toxic vouchers have been on the school system here in Indiana. This malicious action by our own lawmakers is a huge part of my exit from the profession. Besides that, I wanted to just put out a word of encouragement to your listeners. My exit from teaching happened on a Tuesday when I couldn't get out of bed. I saw the path my life was heading down, and a friend's close brush with that same darkness showed me I had to make a change. It's been a year of journaling, therapy and couples counseling. It's been a year that has stressed me and my very supportive wife and my chosen family to the brink. These days, I find myself working at a nonprofit that supports one of the largest parks in the country. I get to work with people. And you're damn right that my eight and a half years of physics teaching translates to marketing and program coordinator just fine. It's been a year where I have found so much joy. Today, to celebrate this trip around the sun, I went for a walk by myself without listening to a podcast or music. I just admired the enormous 300-year-old trees in my neighborhood. I felt so comfortable being alone with myself in a way I never have before. I just want your listeners to know that it's worth it to start putting yourself first and to take care of yourself. For Pet Tax our boys, Earl and Brad. Brad's a great name. Brad sitting up and Earl laying down. I've also included a photo I took on my I call it the Uncanny Valley ag. Thank you for being a huge part of the last year. Wow. Excellent. Adam. Thank you for that post. And you're so right. It's sometimes really hard to just sit with yourself, but after a while, you really get good at letting those negative thoughts just float right by. Oh, beautiful tabby. I had a cat that looked like that named Ned. He had. He's just exactly like that, except he had a black freckle on his nose. Oh, there's the other one. Hey, sweetie. So cute. Oh, great photo. I love watching the leaves change. We don't really get that much out here in California, but all my friends sending me photos of the changing leaves all across the Midwest and back East. I just love that. I love looking at that. Thank you everybody so much for sending these in. I really, really need these. And I know that I've gotten so many letters and messages from listeners from members of the Leguminati who are like, the good news is so important. Thank you for having it. So please keep sending in your good news stories. You can do it@dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact. Thanks to Leigh McGowan, Brian Tyler Cohen, and Shawn Savet for joining me today. We've got a lot more beans this week, so hang in there. Dana will be back tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourself, 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.

B (57:17)

Refried beans.

A (57:18)

I like refried beans.