Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am your host, Ramsey's job. He is rams this job, I am q Ward. You are tuned in to PA Civic Cipher. A whole lot to stick around for. Per usual, of course, we have to talk about the indictment of the former president of the United States. We didn't want to talk about that, but we have to, so we will. There's no getting
away from it. That just kind of it's not really what we need to talk about, but it kind of is at the same time, because that's what's happening in this country, and so it'd be hard to al like it didn't happen, right, right, So the former president of the United States, no matter what his name is. So that's newsworthy exactly, and so we're gonna do that. And then for the second part of the show, we're gonna
illuminate some double standards that we have seen. Let me see double standards all the time, but some double standards that are in some popular stories that we either haven't gotten to that we've wanted to touch on recently or that have come up this week. And so there's a lot of that, including the treatment of the former president. You can imagine if that was Obama might have played out slightly differently. But you know, we'll get in there.
The news might be covering them a little differently too. We'll get there. And we're also going to be talking about Queen Khalifa. For those of you in California or otherwise familiar with the magical place called California, you may not know that California was named after a black woman. When I found that out, I thought that was incredible. And this isn't anything that is not well documented. You
can research it yourself. It's just not common knowledge. So I can't wait to share that with you in our way black history fact, as well as some other really exciting things too, including a brand new bobab becoming a better ally, So stay tuned for that as long. But first and foremost, let's discuss some really exciting ebony excellence, shall we We shall? So Today's abny Excellence sponsored by Hip Hoplicly Media and this reading comes from afro Tech magazine.
Victor Glover is set to become the first black man NASA sends to the moon. Now, if we don't applaud that, I don't know who will. Well, acro Tech obviously will. But man, what an awesome thing to be known for and to see happen.
So sings pretty late in history for that to be a first steal about the same thing, but you know, better late than never.
Yeah, you know we've been to the Moon too, you know, so anyway, I'll read A new space exploration Artemis the second has been announced by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. It will include Commander Read Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist one Christina Hammock coach sorry, Coke, that's it, and mission specialists too, Jeremy Hansen, and a ten day flight test. They will prove that humans can live in space and
validate the Orion spacecraft's life support systems. The mission also establishes a historic precedent in space, as Lever will become the first black man on a lunar mission. Director Vanessa Whitch NASA. Sorry, Director Vanessa Whitch of NASA said, for the first time in more than fifty years, these individuals, the artemist the second crew will be the first humans
to fly to the vicinity of the Moon. Among the crew are the first woman and the first person of color, and the first Canadian on a lunar mission, and all four astronauts will represent the best of humanity as they explore the benefit for all. Now, obviously the best person or the first person of color is significant for all people of color, but I would like to once against a versus black person that is special. Again, Victor Glover, congratulations,
and you made a solved problem. Now, how much of this Donald Trump stuff did you see?
So that's an interesting question because we don't voluntarily consume him right around these parts. So I've seen as much as any casual person has seen. I haven't dug in, I haven't tuned in, I haven't been in search of But you know, it's the type of thing that is. It's the news, you know, it's newsworthy. It's again you. For most of my life, regardless of your stance, regardless of the way that you voted, regardless of your politics,
you respected the person in the position. Yeah, and then there was him.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
And it changed not just how people like me kind of no longer respected the person in the position, but polarized the country in a way that seems irreparable at this point as we watch, you know, our policymakers snowboard down a heel of overt racism and bigotry, and if there's a time if there's a time machine available to help them get to the bottom of racism slope faster, trust me, they would be in there.
Right.
So, you talk about the very obvious differences in the way this story is being covered, differences in the way he's being treated and somehow made out to be a martyr. It's laughable, except it's not like we'd laughed Once upon a time. We'd laugh at fringe conspiracy theorists that would push stuff in front of us that the collective thought
was ridiculous, so we could laugh, you know. But I watch how some of his cohorts and colleagues are operating in this space now, even people who he's been flagrant and blatantly disrespectful to, but they know it's in their best political interest to steal, parrot his policy, parent his way of thinking, and pretend that they're supporter of his, Like people who he's talked bad about their wives and them, and they're still like out there, you know, in support
of this guy who they know can help, you know, put some gasoline on their political fire. They're just they're pushing for things that once upon a time we would have said, that's so ridiculous, there's no way that can actually happen, except now we have so many examples that not only could it, but it would Like when he announced his candidacy, I thought it was ridiculous, so I laughed, because there's no way he can be the Oh so
here we are, and you brought up something. We were discussing this topic, and I'd love to hear your voice articulate this. How on earth would this be covered and how on earth would they feel if the former president that had just been indicted of no matter what the crime was, it could be jaywalking, was Barak Hussein Obama?
How about that? Okay, I'm glad that you mentioned that, because I definitely want to talk about that. But before I get there, you brought something up that I want to touch on. You talked about kind of respecting the office, and we'll get there. When I was first able to vote, I voted for I believe it was John carry sound right, yeah, and Democratic camp George lost to George Bush. Yeah, George Bush the second ended up winning and George w w exactly and he won again, So he was a two
term president. So when I graduated high school, all the way until Obama came along, that was what it was. I was not a fan of George W. Bush. I don't think he was a particularly I can't pretend to have been as involved in politics or policies or understanding what was going on as he was. But I recognized that, you know, nine to eleven, he was a president, you know that sort of stuff. Right. I thought that he
was an embarrassment the way that he spoke. I didn't really realized that he I I never saw anything presidential about him. But one thing I will say to your point is that when he came to Arizona, right, he wasn't such an embarrassment that I was not excited that he was coming to the city. Had we met him, he would have shook his hand exactly, and I would have gave him the respect that the office warranted. Right. I would have taken a picture with him. You know,
we did. We disagree on most everything, but you know, when it was time to go to war, you did your job, you know, uh. And beyond that, you're the president, right, you don't you don't speak the way I would have spoken. And you know, we've had a couple of cringe moments here and there, but for the most part, you seem like a decent man, and I hope that before your life is over, you come to see things a little bit more like people like me, so that you have a little bit more of a universal view.
I also think we both understood, and I think a lot of us understand. You don't have to think like me to be a decent man. There, Yeah, perfect, you know what I mean. So, yeah, I would love if you thought more like me, because you were in my mind back then he was so far extremely the other way. But oh my good, no you saying that he was not.
And that's what I'm getting at, because, like you said, I would have shook his hand. I would have snapped a picture of him. Another person, a name that I know that you our listeners would know, is McCain, John McCain. Now, remember John McCain is from Arizona. That's where I'm from, right, So John McCain was another person to your point, Q, who was on the whole other side of the aisle.
We just did not have similar politics at all. But there's no way, there's no way anybody could convince me, ever, that that wasn't a decent man. And I think that I have an example that would check that box for just about it, and if I have a few as well. But the one that comes to mind is when he conceded defeat to Obama, he made it a point to say that this night, this historic night, must be particularly
special for the African American people in this country. The way that he said it in his words, I'm not I'm just kind of I don't know exactly what he said, but that was effectually what he was a semantic don't matter right. The way that he said that, let me know that's a decent man, right, because obviously the election wasn't about race. Later on there was as America. Well, sure for some people it was, but the election in
theory is about politics, right. But a great example of what I meant when I said the election wasn't about racist four years later Obama ran against His name is Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney was recorded at a Republican meeting somewhere, but his voice was recorded and he said something like, you know, there's like fifty three percent of the country that's never going to vote for us because they're this, that, and third, and they're just never going to vote over here,
so we can't worry about them. That's never going to happen, right And the way he was describing those of us who would never vote for him, it was very dismissive. Right now, in hindsight, it wasn't that bad, but you know, at the time, it felt very dismissive. And I tweeted something. This was back when we still had Twitter. Right by the way, if you haven't listened to a couple of episodes, we deleted our twitters because we're not the one, nor
are we the two. Anyway, I tweeted something at the time and I said, you know what, I'm not voting for Obama because he's black. I'm voting for Obama because I'm black. And the weight of that message translated, and I remember that got retweeted a ton of times. There was like all these news outlets tweeting and everything like that,
and folks were reaching out. It was really exciting because way back when, you know, I didn't have a nationally syndicated show where thoughts like that are just kind of roll off the tongue. But that was kind of the feeling I had when McCain was running. So when I say it wasn't race based per se, a more politics based. Yeah, it was exciting that Obama was black, but there's been black people who run for president. I would never vote
for them. If Clarence Thomas decided that he didn't want to be a Supreme Court justice anymore and wanted to run for president, there's absolutely no way in the world I would ever vote for that man. All skin folk and kidne is something that we say over here now, the man of the hour. So you know, we realized that you're probably listening to this, and it's been a few days since this stuff has been announced. But we're a weekly show, so we only get to get in
your ear once a week. So we're going to start at the beginning. Prior to the indictment, there was so here's a message, or rather an article from Yahoo News, there was a poll that showed that President Trump was slightly ahead of Ronda Santis. Right after the indictment charge was brought forth, Trump's numbers were boosted as a result of that, So it really like galvanized and fired up his base. I suspect largely because of what you said, Q,
which is how there are different media outlets covering it differently. Right, All media outlets are covering it differently like this. It's strange because it's not even about left or right.
All media outlets are covering this differently than they would really any other president, but very very specifically the one who everyone who hears my voice knows I'm talking about.
You're talking about Fox. No, no, no, the former president. Oh yeah, that's what you're saying.
Every new outlet would be covering the indictment of Barack Obama different than they are the indictment an arrest of Donald Trump.
People were.
Out of their mind offended when President Obama wore a suit that wasn't black and blue.
Like t like really offended, like angry, it's not presidential. It's so funny, because so.
Could you ever imagine if he had forty three indictments thirty four forgive me, but again the semantics, if he had two, if he had one, if he jaywalk and the police pulled him over, it'd be national news and it'd be spoken about in a different tone than.
You know what. They would say, I know what you mean, because they would say it's not presidential right, because that was the thing that they always brought for us, especially right leaning news outlets. They brought that for when describing Obama's behavior or his policy, whatever however he dealt with people. Remember, he would do a fist jab as he was fist bump as he was campaigning. You know, he just kind
of does everybody wanted to fist bump Obama. I remember Fox News report was like is it a fist bump or a terrorist fist jab? Like how they took it went all the way to the extreme to try to make that connection. You know that somehow Obama was a terrorist and bad for the country. And you got to remember the climate of the country at the time. We're still kind of reeling from nine to eleven. You know, a lot of terrorism talk is still very much in
the air. So yeah, the coverage night and day difference, you know what I mean, And I think that that speaks to the double standard in this country. Right. But back to this arrangement. So one of the other things that happened is the day of his arrest. You know, of course he got to mosey and there late. He was supposed to be there at like eleven am. He got there after one, and we know how that's different over here, right, But you know he's not us, so
he gets to walk in. Late Marjorie Taylor Green went out there and she spoke to you know, a crowd, but she had a bullhorn and there was a lot of people protesting with whistles. I need to figure out the names of the guys that were out there protesting with the whistles, and they were drowning out her speeches. Great job, Yeah, it was amazing. They really deserve a shout out on the show. But I remember seeing the video. I think was that Sean King posted it several people. Okay, good,
but yeah, a maneuver if I ever seen one. Right, So, yeah, her speech got drowned out. But prior to her speaking, she gave an interview inside of like an suv or something, and she compared Trump's arrest to She compared them to like Nelson Mandela and to Jesus, you see did you see that? I read that. I didn't see it.
The sound of her voice makes, you know what I mean, makes it uncomfortable. So I don't even I don't deal in that space because I often have to wonder these people are either the most ignorant people in the history of people, and I say even more so than those who convinced themselves that we were proper property, because I really think those people believed, as wrong as they were, that we were actually beneath them. I think they were indocumented in a way where they actually thought it was okay.
As we've discussed before, these people had their children at lynchings because even those quote unquote decent among them thought that that was normal. We're supposed to be a more progressed people now, are more enlightened people now. So our current political landscape, with our extreme right conservatives, our extreme Maga conservatives, our extreme Trump conservatives, they're either the.
Most grossly.
I don't want to say ignorant, because ignorant might make you think I just mean misinformed. I mean stupid, like either that's not proper. I mean like dumb. I don't mean like intelligent people that don't have the information.
No, I mean like the one thing that happens in a good number of instances is that they're dumb people who have They are very articulate, and they articulate the dumb stuff in such a way that other dumb people perceive it as being intelligent. Yeah.
I'm not talking about those people though, because those people are intelligent enough to be articulate to make hate and divisiveness and racism and bigotry sound okay because they're articulated properly.
Have you ever heard her speech. It doesn't sound like she's learning right.
And I'm not saying this to be mean, but it's like you're either that or you're despicably evil, because almost everything she says is buried and drenched and drowned in so much hate and so much just mean, callous, bigoted, racist crap.
And there are tens of millions of people.
Shout to the people that drowned her out, because there as many people as showed up to drown her out that will talk loud as as loud as that, but with the same message that she's delivering. And once upon a time, I think the entire country would have thought that we were beyond that. Yeah, you know, even those who paired the same politics who cringe at the idea of being labeled racist because they do understand that that's a bad thing. I don't think people like her do.
I don't think they feel that way. I think they wear the title of racist proudly. I think they platform on it. I think they campaigned on it intentionally. That is a different thing, man. It is a very very I wish you guys could see my face. It is a very very discouraging thing that this is the state of our union, so speaking. Which so what happened that day.
After she got chased out of their bibles loud whistles, Donald Trump went in pled not guilty, sorry, and he flew back to Florida, and he talked bad about everybody and the mom right, well, he talked bad about the DA of course, but then he talked about the judge and the judge's wife and the judge's daughter. Who gets to do that exactly? And that's what I was saying, Obama do something like that exactly. So it really does go to show that there is a sort of double
standard there. Hopefully there will be a gag order because this guy is super duper off the chain. But then, as if that weren't enough, he jumps on his uh boring social media site and then he tweets that he wants to defund the federal police. This part comes from NBC News. Trump and a handful of allies and the Republican led House favor cutting money for the Justice Department and FBI ahead of September thirtieth deadline to defund the government.
So or sorry, the deadline to fund the government. So he wants his ally, which arn enough to actually make this happen. So don't worry. But well I'm worried because I don't know if that's true. Well, no, I did a little research. However, this is and I have to get this out.
This is a sign that Ramses and I and people like us, we're too kind, because I remember us having conversations about defund the police and kind of grimacing a little bit, like, man, I wish we would I wish we were saying I wish we were delivering this message differently so that it could be received. And they're showing us they'll receive anything as long as they're the ones saying it. If it's coming from us, it does not matter how articulate it. It's crap. They will repurpose the
same message. They don't even reword it, and they will they will receive it and screaming loudly like we weren't saying the same thing.
A year ago. It is disgusting, it's wild to see that happen. But you're not wrong, you're absolutely right. So this is still a developing story as we record this episode, so we'll keep following it and we'll let you know if it's worth talking about, right,