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Welcome Home to the Native.
The most difficult chapter that I wrote in the book was about election Night. It was the most difficult, and basically I will tell you that in writing that chapter, it was the first time my husband, Doug and I had ever talked about election night. That's how traumatic that night had been for so many of us, and.
In writing the.
Book, I really reflected on so much of that moment.
That night, of course led to the next day when I went to Howard University the night before thinking it was going to be a victory speech, but the following day, of course, knowing that it wouldn't be, and on my way to Howard the day after the election, I had to reconcile in my head that to your point, Angela, at the end of every rally during those one hundred and seven days, I would say, when we fight and the people right, and that was our call and response.
And I had to reconcile that with the outcome of the election, because it wasn't as trivial as will you win some you lose? Some that's not what this was. That's not what this is. And it was actually on my way.
To Howard that I decided to write.
Into the speech what I do believe. And this directly answers your question. Sometimes the fight takes a while. Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean that we give up. It means that we are committed to knowing what we stand for and therefore what we fight for. It means knowing on a night like tonight, where we celebrate these great victories, that we.
Can never allow one moment, one individual.
That guy in the White House or people around him, or any one election defeat our spirit.
Our spirit is not defeated, It cannot be defeated.
The moment that that happens is the moment they truly win.
And part of the reason I wrote the.
Book is to hopefully remind us of the feeling that so many had during those one hundred and seven days, which was the enthusiasm, the energy, the optimism, the sense of possibility. Dare I say, the joy that we experience those days, But to remind us all that that's in us.
I didn't give that it was in you. It's in us. That light is in each of us.
And we cannot allow a moment like this to extinguish that light or dampen that light. We must know it is in us, and it's in each of us and in each other, and especially in moments of darkness like this moment, that light is particularly important. So part of the reason I wrote the book is to remind us of that. And then a nightlight tonight where we can celebrate these elections. Well, I hope reinforce the fact that we got a big fight in front of us.
We're fighting for.
Something, and this is not a moment to be passive or to say, you know, wake me up when it's over.
We have too much to do. We have too much to do.
You know, we do have too much to do.
And one of the things.
That one of the things that I was thinking about is how you felt the next day to get.
To that, you know, hold hold on, let me look let me, you know, I actually, let me just let me. I'm sure there are other people here that may want to get up, and so let me just let me and I look. I that I get that I would not exist if it weren't people who were active in protesting injustice. So I understand that I actually write about the issue of what has been happening in Gaza in my book, and I will tell you a lot of what this process has been from has been about reflection.
Look, we should.
Have done more as an administration. We should have done more. We should have spoken publicly about our criticism of the way that Netagnahu and his government were executing this war.
We should have.
We should have used We had more levers in terms of leverage that we did not use, and I write about this.
In the book.
I I look at this moment and I am happy that there is a ceasefire. We will see how long it lasts that the hostages have been returned. But let's be very clear that that inhuman nature of what has happened to the Palestinian people in Gaza, the innocent civilians, the extent of hunger, famine, suffering, death is something that we must acknowledge. And I recognize that I write about
in the book. I gave a speech five months into the war at the foot of the Edmund Pettis Bridge on bloody Sunday, and I spoke publicly the highest official in the country about the starvation that was.
Happening in Gaza.
In fact, I also write in the book about how there were plenty of folks in the White House that were not happy about me speaking out that way, but I did so I understand the feeling and the emotion
behind the folks who have spoken out tonight. We have work to do, we need to ensure and I also have noticed how this administration not only gave a blank check to night now Who for the first nine months, but also have shown no commitment to the day after in terms of the security of the people of that region, but in particular the need for governance of Gaza, rebuilding
of Gaza, not no changing of the territorial lines. There is work to be done, and I appreciate the emotion and the sentiment behind the people who have spoken up tonight, And please read the book if you want to have some sense of how I feel about it.
The thing that I very much I've always appreciated, appreciated about you is your deep conviction, deep conviction.
Mmm.
So what's unfortunate about this is this is a deep misunderstanding of who I know you to be.
You've always been.
Someone that has had difficult conversations, have welcomed conflicting views, different views than your own to the table, and I think what's astonishing about this particular moment is you just showed alignment right at some times. At some point, protests also has to be strategic. We have to be If we're aligned, there's nothing to protest, so we can have a conversation after Yep, yep, we.
Love her absolutely.
So I wanted to talk about the one hundred and eighth day. Yeah, because we were at Howard as you know that the night of Breakfast Club and Native Lampire was outside. We were ready. You couldn't have told me this was gonna any different. I was in shock, as I know you were. I want to know what's the first thing you said to yourself when you woke up on the one hundred day, the day after the election.
Well, the thing I said from the moment I learned about the outcome of the election, and I could not stop saying it or thinking it is my god.
How I felt.
I have not had a feeling remotely similar since my mother died. I was grieving for the American people because I knew.
What was going to happen, and you told us, Yeah, I knew what was going to happen. I knew what was going to happen, and.
It was very It wasn't for me. It wasn't about again, it wasn't about a game. It wasn't about you got to win this thing. It was literally about what was at stake for our country.
And you look at what has happened. Everything.
I mean, we predicted everything except the one thing I did not predict was the capitulation.
I did not predict that.
I did not predict how from universities to media organization's newspapers to I mean, just go on and on and on titans of industry would.
Bend the knee.
But it was it was very difficult, and I was clear when you know, we talked about it, and I'm not I'm not into saying I told you so.
I don't say that, but I said it for you.
Well you did tell us so, you did tell us so, and I'm not saying it. There's nothing to gloat about. Like as we sit on this stage tonight, election night, we are on the thirty fifth day of a government shutdown. People are fighting to make sure they can eat. They're having to choose between hunger or healthcare.
No, and let's Let's also be clear that first of all, the man is allowing for babies to starve in America, to starve in America, and.
It costs eight billion dollars. It costs eight billion dollars to fun Snap, which feeds hungry children, and it's it's just it's okay.
Well, And as you were just saying, we were talking about a criminal in the White House who's starving children in this country.
So we're planning your time round.
Who is sitting in the White House right now, starving children in our country while building a gilded ballroom at the White House for his rich friends, giving twenty billion dollars to a foreign country, while depriving children in this country and seniors and and.
People who deserve.
To be seen and protected, depriving them of the basic necessity of food.
Right now, it's happening. And what's happening is that they're even.
Refusing to reimburse states that are willing to take it on themselves. The court has said that they must give those Snap benefits, and they're refusing to do it right here in America.
That the level of callousness.
And cruelty, and let us talk about corruption coming from this administration is extraordinary, extraordinary. But you know, I think Angela, it's important. Part of what I think is important about this moment is to remember, you know, a lot of people have been very deeply concerned about obviously what is happening in our country and to our country.
But I think it's.
Important as we remember those one hundred and seven days and the election itself. One third of the electorate voted for him, one third voted for us, and one third did not vote. Two thirds did not vote for this. But in the discussion that is happening about the future, for example, of the Democratic Party and the future of our democracy, I would urge us to really put some weight and thought and time into the question why did that one third did not vote?
Why did they not.
Vote, and really have the difficult conversations that we need to have. You know, one of the things that I talk about in the book, and I do believe. Look, I think that when we think about that one third that voted for him, I do believe that there is a decent number of them who voted for him voted for him on one issue which they believed him on, which is that he would bring down prices on day one that was their issue. It is the issue for a lot of Americans, the majority of Americans, and he
lied to them. Obviously, inflation is up, unemployment.
Is up, the cost of food is up.
But that was a big issue for a lot of people who voted then and are voting now, and it has to be one of our number one priorities. In fact, that's why I made it a priority of mine during the one hundred and seven days. From everything for what we're going to do to take on price gouging, taking on corporate landlords, or buying up all this property and jacking up rents. What we need to do around not only affordable housing, but affordable child care, paid leave.
What we need to do around having medicare.
Part of my policy was cover home health care, especially for people in the Sandwich generation who are raising children and taking care of their elderly relatives.
That's so.
But when we think about what happened in the election in a way that I hope is really not.
About just re litigating the election, but what did we learn in terms of going forward?
A big part of it is that folks felt disconnected and also distrustful of the system.
Part of the deep work that we have to do right now.
As a country is really deal with the fact that you know, it's not new that people have lacked have distrusted government and systems. That is not a new phenomena. It definitely grew during the pandemic when basic necessities and systems failed people.
But what I.
Also am seeing in our country right now is a heightened level of distrust between and among the American people. And when I speak of that, I don't mean simply can I trust my neighbor that I don't I can leave my door unlocked.
It's much deeper than that.
It is a can I trust that my fellow American, my neighbor is not a threat to my very existence? That's right, and that we have some work to do. You know a lot of people ask me what can I do? And first of all, how about No King's Day two point zero? Right? The millions of people that took to the streets, it was phenomenal.
And so there is that.
There is the work that is happening around these elections that we just talked about. There is the work that people are doing about getting more engaged and supporting nonprofits, and in particular now when we are looking at the shutdown and so many people that are even more in need than they were before. There are many ways that we can do this that really, I think highlights the power of the individual to work on all of these issues in a way that we can collectively make a difference.
But we've got some work to do that is about fundamentally about trust and among us as people as well as in our systems.
You talked about the future of the Democratic Party, and to me, recently the divide grew from a fracture to a major rift around the Charlie Kirk resolution in the House of Representatives. I remember seeing Jasmine Crockett go on air and talk about there were only four just a handful of white Democrats who voted no on that resolution, growing not just a generational divide or an economic divide,
but also a racial divide. How do you think that can be healed in this moment right now we're on a high from these election results tonight.
How can it be healed? We have to honest conversations the listen.
I mean, the part of what I refer to is the first So we came in office the Biden Harris administration during the height of the pandemic, so there was not a lot of interaction personal interaction with folks. And the first person that I hosted at the Vice President's residence as world leader, and I, during my course of vice presidency met with over one hundred and fifty world leaders, presidents, prime minister's, chancellors, and kings. The first person that I
hosted was then Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. And in fact, part of what I talk about is, you know, the press sometimes really does a number on women leaders in.
A variety of ways.
She was in spite of how she had been portrayed by some She was extremely warm, with a sense of humor.
And we got on quite well.
And this was toward the end of her leadership. She'd probably been one of the putative leaders of Europe for fifteen years. And she asked me, she leaned over the table and she said, what's going on in the United States around the Well, so this was in twenty one, but to your point, her point was about voting and
voting rights and the attack on voting rights. And we had this whole conversation and I said to her, you know, you know, my mother was a scientist, so my analogies are either like biology or cooking.
I love to cook.
But so what I said to her is this, and this is the way I would answer your point. You know, in the human body, we have things that can attack us. But if we are healthy enough, God willing, we have an immune system that will suppress it. But from time to time, something will cause those things to flare up. And what I said to is, in America, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, anti Semitism, islamophobia, you name it.
These things have always existed in our country, and there have been.
Moments where we suppressed it, and there are moments that it has flared up because it has always been here. And that's part of what I think is required in these conversations, which.
Is some honesty about it. This did not just start in this election cycle.
And you know it does not help, of course, when there are powerful forces that are trying to erase America's history and teach our children contrary to what our history actually is.
I applaud all the teachers who are here. I applaud God bless you.
Anybody who lives on a school board working for the school district. Money you get paid enough His teachers and educators.
You do God's work, but you know this.
Is but look at what's happening in terms of the dynamic. There is an overt agenda to make a stop talking about these issues, much less those who are pushing hate and racism and xenophobia.
And so we have to.
Have those difficult conversations and we have to speak out where we see it. And I also believe no one should be made to fight alone. So whenever and wherever we're saying it, let's speak out.
Speaking of women in power, there's one in particular who is known for two famous words right now, I dissent and you had a lot to do with her historic placement on the Supreme Court of the United States.
That is Katanji Brown Jackson. Justice Katanji Brown Jackson. Yes, ma'am, Yes, ma'am. Let me not get too familiar.
Absolutely, justin, Madam, Justine, madam, just And what I.
Wanted to bring to this audience for just a moment is your massive portfolio that you were responsible for as the Vice President of the United States. But Justice Katanji Brown Jackson is certainly one of them. Talk about how she is fueling hope. Right now, I.
Have nothing but profound praise.
You know, when I talked with her during the process and interviewed her, one of the things among many that I was just incredibly excited and about her talent and her skill and her gift is she has that extraordinary ability to deconstruct something that feels and often is complicated and complex and nuanced and just break it down.
And she is so smart.
And well informed and obviously extraordinary education and a student, and that she when she speaks, it is with a level of authority, strength and gravitas that history will read her words and understand how we all hoped to articulate this moment. And I encourage everyone when you get a
chance to just pull anyone of her descents. She just breaks it down, and she does it in a way that you know, I pray for her because I will tell you, like so many here, whether in our personal or professional lives, this is a difficult time to speak up when, in particular, you are in an environment that you know is not welcoming of a difficult conversation, much less an environment that is at the very least in
disagreement with you. And she does it in an environment that is at least that and an environment where there is also an overt attack on the rule of law and an attempt to basically dismantle our constitution and the principles behind it. And she's standing firm and she's standing up for it. But I will also say this on the point about the disagreement piece.
Right now.
I was listening to something and this person was just talking about, Yes, the country has divided. The country is divided. Oh, I know, I was, I was, it was. It was, okay, it was. I was watching local news after the Dodgers game.
Congratulations by the way, for my husband. I'm a Giants fan. We have a divided household.
But in any event, one of the sportscasters was talking about the teams coming gether.
I'm making this far too long, but I kept talking about we're in a divided country.
And here's the thing I would say about that. I think that we should all challenge ourselves. Are we are we forming an opinion based on certain assumptions, and always ask ourselves what are the assumptions that are the basis of our opinion. For example, I think it is a mistake to assume that people who voted differently than us.
It's a mistake to assume that we are working with the same information, right, and and and and and if we do assume that it is, it's it is perhaps easy then for us to decide, well, we have a different set of morals and values, then to perhaps first ask are we working with the same information? And I say information, because fact is fact two plus two us four.
So but in the conversations, the difficult conversations that need to happen, I think we've got to find room in these conversations to start with figuring out what are the underlying bits of information or fact that the other person is working with, and to figure out how there is room to share that information about the facts as we believe them to be, to enter the conversation.
But we have some work to do.
But the fact of in particular miss and disinformation in our country right now is profound, and I know it because I experienced it firsthand as a candidate for President of the United States as the Democratic nominee. I will tell you that the issue of miss and disinformation is not new in the history of our species.
It's not.
You know, there was a time though, that miss and disinformation to be widespread was because it would be, for example, a nation state an actor who had that kind of ability to spread miss and disinformation to large populations of people as a way to sway them in one direction
or another, to so mistrust or distrust. For example, I was the United States Senator and I served on the Senate Intelligence Committee when we investigated Russia's interference in the twenty sixteen election, and we then declassified a big part of our findings to make it accessible in public.
And we found, of course that Russia had in fact.
Interfered in that election with miss and disinformation, including targeting specific populations, including black voters, with the understanding and belief that based on a lived experience that there would.
Be a higher level of distrust and systems.
And so when you look at the fact of targeted miss and disinformation, it's not new. And when you then consider the role of social media, it's profound because whereas before to disseminate large amounts would require a nation state who have the resources, now with technology the entry point is much lower. So the benefit of social media and technology is that it has, as we like to talk about, democratized people's voices. Now, anyone with something important to say arguably or well informed can.
Reach a lot of people.
But it also has meant that the entry point to getting into the system to disseminate large amounts of information, even when it is inaccurate and intentionally so, is much easier.
And so when we talk about the work that we need to do, part of it is recognizing that and figuring out how each of us in our lives much less people in a position of authority with platforms can debunk missing disinformation so that we're all working again from the same facts, and then we can form our opinions and disagree based on that.
I appreciate you bringing up your time in the United States Senate in part because you were our fiercest advocate in many a hearing room. But also there's some work that you did behind the scenes that I don't know if people know as much, including your work around the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. To me, that is where I really got to see your work ethic. I remember we had a call and you talked about calling all of the all of your colleagues to get them
to sign onto the bill. And now we're in an environment where those calls can't be made.
As easily.
You know, there are people who aren't willing to pick up the phone, aren't willing to cross party lines even to have a conversation. So we talked about the fracture within the Democratic Party. We talked about the mistrust even neighbored a neighbor. What are some things that folks can do when they leave tonight to start to rebuild that trust, to start to pick up the phone and see if there's a way to negotiate, not with terrorists, but with folks who might be of goodwill.
I'm gonna leave that alone.
An I might work for the moment, but then Fox News will just have it all over the place.
They do that anyway.
Kamala Harris is saying, let's, you know, do something with terrorists. Lord, I believe in the power of the people, and I believe in the power of individuals, and look it takes. Look, I know we're all tired of having conversations about the obvious.
The governor is here. By the way, did we come a stand up?
Bob Santa set up Bob Bob ferguson stand up? Can I work together.
Over the years?
Thank you for being here, Bob, Both you and the general, thank you. So so I know that there is a certain level of fatigue about just why do I have to talk about what is obvious to me? But it's also about people. This this environment is making a lot of people, whether we agree with them completely or not, feel.
Really on edge.
You know, I've been doing this book tour for a little bit time now, and the number of people that are just feeling we're on edge, like what's gonna happen next? I often have been saying, because I believe it true that things make it worse before they get better, folks.
And I believe that sadly because I've seen it.
I've said it one night and then the next night they indict Tis James that being said, we cannot afford to normalize what is happening. We cannot, We cannot, And that means take the minute that you need to take to breathe, but then get back out there and have the conversations.
With your neighbor, with your coworker, and just.
Find those moments to just it doesn't have to be a whole deep debate, but just you know, part.
Of it is just checking in.
Because this environment is making people feel on edge, and therefore feel alone, and it's very it's empowering to feel alone, to feel that as though you don't have community. And that's the power of each of us to create community. I mean, here, I'm gonna do something that's gonna feel corny, but just if you don't know the person sitting next to you, say how you doing.
Right?
Right? Like that?
That was very black church of you, by the way, turn your neighbor, but right.
But church is an example, one example of how we create community. How we just find a way to engage with someone just because we're sitting next to them. And I think that's part of what we've got to do right now. It seems so simple, but that will be part of how we get through this in a way that is not only about our sanity but is also healing.
Who cares about truth when allows more than saying it. We started at the shutdown, which is another place where we have a golf. Now we're starting to see disagreement, I think even more even within parties. The Republicans that are like, we're not for this shutting down of snap and they're Democrats saying, we don't know if this is the right thing to do, if this is the right approach. What are you advising elected officials to do in this moment? What do you think is the path forward?
Yeah, I've talked to a number of them and they've called me a well, I think we have to fight. Look, let me, this is not a time like I'm done with the conversation lamenting over the fact that they're cheating.
Oh, they're cheating. What are we gonna do?
We're gonna fight fire with fire as well, we're gonna do. We're gonna fight fire with fire.
That's what we're gonna do. We just did it. I'm waiting the poles.
Oh look, the posts will have just closed here and in California Prop fifty right, which is gonna pass. We have to fight fire with fire. There they are cheating and we cannot, we cannot let them just keep taking our lunch.
We gotta punch back. We gotta punch back.
We do we do.
So there is Prop fifty in California. There are other states with democratic governors that can move forward and take a similar approach. We saw this in response to Texas racist jerrymandering scheme. And of course this is the sixtieth anniversary of the voting rise act. That's also something else that was in your portfolio as VP.
And look we have we well we all love each other and thank you, thank you, I mean look again. So part of this moment requires us to understand what is happening now did not just happen overnight.
It did not just happen overnight.
We have What we are witnessing right now is something that has been feeling chaotic. It has been feeling chaotic, but what we are in fact experiencing is a high velocity event that is about the swift implementation of a plan that has been decades in the making. And I would suggest that part of what we cannot do, as Democrats and those who are aligned is allow ourselves to think this is only about the guy who's in the
Oval office, because that's a mistake. That's a mistake, yes, that and there is a whole apparatus around him that has facilitated this very moment when he would arrive. There is the Federalist Society, The Heritage Foundation Project twenty twenty five didn't just fall.
Out of the sky.
The attacks on the Department of Education have been decades in the making, and now they want to take head start and school lunches from children. This is an agenda that has been in play for decades and now they are implementing. They're not just coming up with the ideas.
It's full implementation. And you know, part of the way I look at it is if you just think about how we got to this moment in terms of the individual, the way I kind of think about it is, imagine the amalgamation of the celebrity of Ronald Rake with the base with the base level of I don't even want to call it dialogue, but discourse of.
Newt Caningridge with the.
Kind of nationalism and and and and of of of Pat Buchanan. This is what we have, right So just understand that this is not going to just go away when the guy is turned out, if he ever leaves.
And that's something we do need to pay attention to, Okay.
But this is something that we have we have to understand with to your point, the jerry mandering has been going on for years and years and years. I mean remember that famous case in North Carolina where there was a purposeful the court said it attempt not even just attempt to excise black voters.
So we have to also.
Think about not only the short term goal, but the long term goal of leapfrogging over this. I think part of it includes and this is why I again applaud now mayor elect Mom Donnie, we have to also, but let me let me say why we also have to. And I don't mean this to exclude anybody, but really focus on gen Z and hear them when they talk about their needs and what they're not getting, and engage in a very intentional way their participation. Do you know
gen Z is a larger population demographically than boomers. Gen Z is from about age thirteen to about age twenty.
And you think about.
This population as a specific population of people. They've only known the climate crisis, They went through very significant periods of their education without the structure around that and socialization. It is predicted that gen Z will have between ten and twelve jobs in their lifetime. Yeah, older generations could basically come out of high school or college and the
job they had is where they retired. If you're looking at people who are right now college age and in college or in some form of education at that age, they are well aware that what they are studying now may not actually lead to an employable job and I think of gen Z in the I think that we should think of gen Z the way we once thought of another general of people that we then decided we would invest in, and that is that group of folks
that we call the Greatest Generation. Now obviously for different reasons, they fought in World War Two, and we as a community of people as a country, said we're going to invest in them because investing in the GI bill, investing in their ability to buy homes. Although we can talk about the racial discrimination then, but we decided it was worth our investment for the sake of the future of
our country. I think similarly, as we are thinking about how we are building toward the future, we should be thinking about a variety of things, including that specific generation and how an investment in them will actually benefit us all, including their political participation. And that requires first of all, that we listen to them and what they are telling us about how they are thinking about our government, our country, and our future.
There's one area that was really important to gen Z, and I know their parents too, that you all had a tremendous record around in the Biden Harris administration, and that's around student loan debt.
Forgiveness, So I want to make sure.
We acknowledge the history in case they try to rewrite that as well.
Well that and also, you know, I think we part of the focus that I had was also in what we need to do to invest in education after high school, and that we really ought to think about.
Our language in that regard because we.
Have really attributed we've we've really attributed value in a way that we have diminished the value we have diminished.
We have diminished the.
Value of education after high school if it is not college education.
And that's a mistake and.
Part of my plan, and I don't want to talk about it for you know, oh too bad it didn't happen, But more like this is what I think how we should be thinking going forward. Was as president, and I says, I would have been in charge of well, we now have seen what this guy has done. But the largest, one of the largest workforces in America is the federal government. And part of my plan was to re categorize the jobs not just around the degree that is required, but
the skill that is required. And it was my intention to then challenge the private sector to do the same because increasingly the jobs that are going to lead to our productivity. Really, we ought to think about them in terms of the skill so that we can also communicate to an incoming workforce, is what do you need to learn?
And oftentimes it may be a two year education that earns you the certificate to have the skill to do the job that pays really well, as opposed to requiring someone to go through a four year process, which and maybe graduating four years if not five, while not working and owing student loans at the end of it all.
And so part of.
You know, there are solutions in him, I mean one of the other things that I think we need to do. So okay, everyone just get ready for this. I really believe we ought to lower the voting age to sixteen.
What about are life?
I know some people need to really sit with that, and I get it.
Sit with it for a moment, But.
I'm telling you, if we want to take on some of the most intractable problems, you know, some of us of a certain age we are going to benefit from the way things have always been. But anybody who is sixteen right now, they are so aware of how this is not working out for them, and think about the influence they would have if they had an ability if people who are running for office knew they had to respond to the needs of someone who is sixteen. And I know it's a complicated issue for some of you.
I get it, but I think we should give it some consideration.
I like the idea of you run in a campaign like if you can drive, you can vote.
I like it.
But that's I like it.
It's smart.
Yeah, So okay, So, speaking of going to looking towards the future, you spoke in the book about systems failing, talked earlier today even about the capitulation and not expecting to see it in such a widespread manner. I want to know from you if this is fixable, and if you were giving us a closing argument, because you know, you're Kamala hairs for the people. Is this democracy worth saving and fighting for?
Andy? But of course of course it is.
But here's the thing, I again, going back to the language. I think we need to do a better job of defining what we mean by democracy. You know, and I, for example, would we agree that a functional and working democracy, In a functional and working democracy, the government needs the.
Needs of the people.
Yes?
And are we doing that? No? Right?
You know, Listen, at the end of this all, there is going to be a whole lot of.
And you know, for all.
Of the tech associated people here, you know, we talk about disruption, but disruption is not destruction, and they are destroying a lot. And so at the end of it all, there's going to be work that must be done. And I would suggest that the work that needs to be done is not necessarily about rebuilding, because there were things that really were not working even before.
And I believe that we cannot approach.
What we're going to need to do going forward with a sense of nostalgia about things the way they were. We're going to really have to again invite those conversations, and at the crux of the conversation has to be is the government.
Responding to the needs of the people.
And that's about efficiency, That's about effectiveness. It's about insurance that the voices of the people are actually present in the room where the decisions are being made. It is about whether the government is focused not just on process but actually progress.
It is about whether we.
Are thinking not only in the immediate term, but thinking five, ten and twenty years out about what we are creating, what we are investing in, what we are nurturing. In between everything else that we have to do. Right now, this should be an active conversation among us, because the day will quickly come.
And arguably is here to start.
Also, also in the midst of our fight, really articulating what we need. We need a government that promises the people affordable childcare.
We need paid family leave.
We need to have a system where people do not have to leave their source of income or the job they love because they can't afford to take care of a sick family member. We need to have a government that understands basic needs like housing should be within the affordable reach of people and working people. But we're not going to give up on our Look, this is our country, this is our country.
It's not theirs. It's ours, it's not.
And this is the first step toward fighting for our democracy is believing, truly believing, believing and knowing that the power is with the people.
And that's where it starts.
And as long as we don't give up our power, I say, don't let anyone take your power from you. Don't let anyone take your power.
From you, and you never have, you never have. Thank you for embodying power. Thank you for coming to my hometown to see out of Washington.
Thank you all.
All, Thank you all, thank you for reminding us that when we fight, we win.
Even if the battle is a little bit longer than we expected.
Well, it's always gonna be. It's gonna take everything.
It takes a while, but we don't give up, and we see change, we see progress again. Let's go home tonight and see what has happened in these elections around the country.
Let that fortify us. The battle is worth fighting. It's worth fighting.
And we cannot give up, and we cannot be dispirited. And we have to maintain our joy, We maintain our light, we maintain a sense of community.
None of us is in this alone.
We are all in this together, and that is our strength, and that is our purpose.
And when we fight, we will there we go.
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