Kitchen Table Issues

Let me say that again, within less than twenty four hours, a summer's worth of rain fell in Dallas, Texas, causing immense flash floods. People. There are videos of people literally

swimming out of their cars too safety. And I'm thinking to myself self, maybe it would be something if Greg Abbot's dumbass would spend just maybe half the time that he spends on persecuting drag queens and the LGBTQ community and trans kids and their families for you know, seeking medical treatment for them and maybe criminalizing you know, abortion, that maybe if he took half the fucking effort that he puts into discrimination right and creating a hellish environment

for marginalized communities in Texas and actually put it into dealing with the issues that Texans are actually needing him to focus on, like the fucking power grid that keeps going out when it's too fucking hot there, or these flash floods, and creating infrastructure that is going to be compatible with the climate crisis that is increasing in this country and around the globe. Maybe you know, he could actually do something the thing that governors are supposed to do,

which is care for their citizens. But instead, no, he's a Republican governor, which means that he's going to invent crises as opposed to dealing with the ones that are in front of him. But let me tell you, folks that you know, the other day, I'm finally out of the boot. So I'm slowly, literally very slowly getting back

into my regular cadence of walking. And I for the first time I couldn't even remember I was saying to my mother the last time that I was caught outside in the rain, because you all know, I'm here in New York and not in the same with the same kind of devastation that California is being met with with regard to their drought. But New York is in a drought as well. Every day it says it's going to

rain forty percent chance of rain. It never rains. But the other day I was actually caught in a rainstorm, and I'm thinking to myself, what's happening here is so

severe and so fast. But climate scientists have been warning about what was going to happen for the last thirty years, and no one paid attention because of why greed, because of the desire to continue to make money, to fill up the air with you know, co two emissions, for celebrities to be able to take fifteen minute trips on you know, their private jets that are akin to having you know, millions of cars on the road that they

just spew out in fifteen minutes. Maybe if we had taken action, if we realize that true wealth isn't really about how much you can consume, but about the way that you live and about being able to, you know, breathe fresh air and drink clean water and go out in the summertime and not feel like the people did in India when the temperatures this spring hit a hundred and twenty two degrees and they said that being in the sun, if you were in it too long, felt

like somebody was placing a laser over your skin. Right, this is the climate crisis. It's not thirty years down the road. It's fucking here. So you have parts of the country that are either up in flames or dry as dust, which means that what our food costs are going up, not just because of inflation, because we can't make the same type of produce, because we can no longer predict the type of weather that we're going to have.

So you I have Texas saying, oh my god, we need water, we need water, and then they have record breaking floods. The earth is so fucking dry, like all it does is bubble up. Everything has become so extreme in this country, in this world, not just our politics, but our environment and the way that we're living. And what is it all about. It's about our treatment, our treatment of one another, and our treatment of this one

earth that we are living on. We look around and I'm saying to myself, as I was walking home in the rain the other day, there were reports that came out that were saying that rainwater is no longer say, I don't know when it was, because I didn't do this as a kid, but maybe some of you all did. It's no longer safe to drink right that rainwater is actually so polluted, right that it is no longer safe

to drink. And there is a book, the book that I talk about often poarable of the sower, Octavia Butler, where it never rained right in her futuristic version of America, which is basically the America that we're living in now, it never rains. Water has become one of the hottest commodities. And as I was walking home in the rain, I said, well, either one of two things are going to happen. Rain is just going to turn into acid and we will never be outdoors when it rains in future, in future years,

or it's just going to stop raining all together. You had reports coming out that I saw that people are getting violations in California, a lot of celebrities, including the Kardashian Clan, for not adhering to the water restriction laws, right like, oh, fountains and pools and this, that and the other thing, and not really giving a fuck and thinking that, oh, well, it comes from a host, so

it's going to be plentiful. It's not right. I can actually remember the rapper Most Deaf formerly known as most deaf who created a song. When was it? I want to say that it was early two thousands that was called Worldwide Water and it was about how water, which was abundant, was going to become the more expensive than gold. And as I'm watching these crises unfold, one city after the other, I'm thinking to myself, oh my god, he, much like all of the climate scientists, were completely right.

And I keep thinking with each and every headline that just gets worse and worse about our climate conditions. You know how long we actually really have before there is no point of that we've gone past the point of no return. I think that we're here because while I applaud tremendously the Biden administration for passing significant climate legislation, it still doesn't go far enough not to deal with these fucking type of crises that we have right now.

And so you wonder, is incrementation, incremental change really what it is that we need right now, not facing the kind of consistent tragedies that we are seeing. So I just don't know, like when the masses are going to

make the connection between what is happening. The other thing that I want to talk about today as well, is, you know, a conversation that I've had on here many times, and a conversation that continues to come up when I go and make cable news appearances, and it's this, Danielle, what do you think is going to be most important at the polls and during midterms? Is it going to be abortion or is it going to be kitchen table issues?

And I literally listened to a pundant the other day say that, you know, it's going to be really exciting to see what the biggest issue is for mid terms, And I'm like, can we stop siloing these issues out or compartmentalizing them as if somehow they're not all interconnected? How do you still not see abortion in this day and age as a kitchen table issue when you can't actually feed all of the fucking mouths that are at your kitchen table, and then you now have a pregnancy

that you're being forced to carry. And by the way, there was a report that came out and Google this because I don't remember where it came from, but I saw it on CNN that said, do you know how much it costs to raise a child in these United States? Right now? And I don't know what they mean by raise a child is the cut off eighteen because frankly, you have people that are living at home with their parents well into their late twenties because things have become

just that unaffordable. Three hundred thousand dollars. And I looked at my sister was here visiting with me, and I looked at her, and I was like, it costs three hundred thousand dollars to raise a child. And I was like, Nicole, look up and tell me what the average salary in the United States is. Do you guys know what the average salary is in the United States? And it depends on what you you know. Most recent numbers are from

twenty nineteen and twenty twenty. Folks, the average salary in these United States is less than sixty thousand dollars a year. And I actually think that it was really about fifty seven. How are you making fifty seven thousand dollars a year and are able to afford the cost of a child that we just learned was three hundred thousand dollars. And now you're being forced into a situation where you don't get to choose if, when, and how you create a family. And so now not only are you being forced to

birth a child. But ain't nobody come into your aid to actually help you. Right, You're not getting child tax credits, You're not getting a universal pre K paid for by the state or by the federal government. None of those things are happening. We don't even give fucking paternity and

maternity leave right in a way that makes sense. Most people have to go back to work after three to six weeks of having a child, not because they want to, but because they can't afford to stay home any longer, or the policies at their jobs say that a either you take disability and take half, maybe maybe half of

your salary home, or you get back to work. So how is it then that you have pundits and you have hosts that are still framing the conversation around abortion as if it doesn't have anything to do with fucking money, Because that, to me, is just a really intellectually dishonest

conversation to be having. It isn't one or the other, they are both connected, because I don't know where the fuck you were raising kids these days, not out in the wild, right, So it costs money, And if you don't have money, how is that not your kitchen table issue.

So I really wish that we would stop siloing out these conversations, says if it needs to be one driving thing to get people to the polls, because frankly, if you are not voting, then you are just not paying attention and you think that all is going to be okay. And trust me, if you're paying attention to the goddamn headlines, you realize every single day ain't nothing going to be okay.

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change and more. Tune in every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. Speaking of which horrific video that I refuse to watch And I just want to let you all know that if you choose not to watch it, it is okay. That does not make you a bad person,

It does not make you not in solidarity. Horrific video has come out three police officers in Arkansas beating the shit out of a suspect at three officers are on top of kicking the suspect in the head, in the body as they are putting on handcuffs, and we have the governor talking about bad apples once again, because this is the favorite, favorite fucking thing to say after every

single police video of violence comes out. It doesn't matter what state you're in, doesn't matter what city or township that you're in, It is the same police chief and the same fucking governor and the same district attorneys saying the same fucking things. We love law enforcement. Most of our cops are out there brave and doing the right thing. But there are a few quotes say it with me, bad apples, And this is what I say to that how many bad apples does it take to create a

poisoned orchard? Right? Because it seems to me that from New York City to Ferguson right to Arkansas, to all of these places, to Louisville right to Atlanta, it seems to me to be a lot of motherfucking bad apples. And one of the other things that I heard in the press conference that was done was talking about the fact that this is not what police officers are trained

to do. Well, what are they trained to do? Because I also alerted you all to the story that came out of Detroit where that little Boy Scout group was on a field trip and then what they saw in the shooting range were all black men in hoodies. So you don't actually know what is happening in quote unquote

police training. But what I do know is that it is the perpetuation of white supremacy which is steeped in fucking violence, and that there really is no different between the proud boys and the oath keepers and the motherfucking police that you see on the street. Because one of these Arkansas officers, by the way, had been written up before.

But guess what, just like Derek Chauvin, he stayed on the motherfucking job because we always protect the blue So bad apples or a fucking gang, you tell me what the difference is. But I know that we have a continuation of police violence in this country because the police

are never held accountable or responsible. Do you think that if we finally were to ever create Oh, I don't know, that magical George Floyd bill that you know, Corey Booker and you know, and others threw up their hands on because they couldn't come into agreement right with Republicans because what Republicans are not going to agree to get rid of qualified immunity because they want as many Bipop people

to be beat shot, and killed by police as possible. Right, because that's why the police force was created in the first place. You all know this, well, maybe you don't, because we don't teach history in America, do we. But those slave catcher patrols are what eventually grew into the

modern day police force. So there, you know, you put together slave catcher patrol in order to catch enslaved African people who were running for freedom, running for their lives, and bring them back to be tortured and abused by their masters so that you can make a buck. Tell me the difference between that and what most municipalities have would share quotas for their police officers to make by ticketing people and then throwing them in jail when they

rack up too many tickets. That's how the Ferguson Police department where Mike Brown was murdered back in twenty fourteen, that's what they were doing, right, They were just making money off of poor people that weren't able to pay tickets and just throwing them in jail. Tell me the difference there right, because you're still using people who are part of vulnerable populations and using them as your little cat nip so that you can get a kickback, just

like the slave patrol catchers did. Here's your, you know, hundred dollar reward. I'm just so sick to death of these conversations and the same people coming across my screens talking about we need accountability and justice, knowing that we

ain't ever gonna get it. It doesn't matter whether or not it's on video, It doesn't matter whether or not you know, because all people want to say, and I listen to the reporting is as we can see from this angle, And I'm like, how many fucking angles do you need to see in order to realize that three men are taken down what looks like one slight man of color and he is already hand and cuffed and you're beating the shit out of him. What other vantage

point do I need? What do I need to have seen right to proceed that to justify those acts of brutality and violence at the hands of police who ride around in cars that say protect and serve, It makes no goddamn sense to me. But here we are, once again, another person thankfully this one is alive. Right, But we only have, you know, probably just a couple of days until yet another story of an unarmed black person or person of color being killed by police, and then we'll

have this conversation recycled all over again. I don't even think that people do any research anymore. I think they just regurgitate the same talking points, right, because nothing actually ever changes. We all watch George Floyd be murdered, had the life sucked out of him right by Derek Schaubn. We think, oh my god, here we have justice because Eric Chauvin is in jail. But that didn't set up any precedent to make sure that kind of heinous police

behavior never happens again. Right you. Now, finally, after a couple of years of Brianna Taylor being murdered in her sleep, that you have those police officers facing federal crime charges. But again, justice delayed because it doesn't go any further in creating policy that blankets and says that not even police officers are above the law. Do you think that we would have so many goddamn shootings at the hands of police if they knew that they could be held

criminally liable. I think that they would think twice before they shot. I just, you know, I get exhausted. And the reason why I don't watch these videos anymore because they tear out your soul. And I don't think that you need to watch the video in order to empathize or to feel sickened by what you're seeing. But what happens, I think too often, is that these videos circulate and we all just become desensitized to what it is that we're seeing. Oh, it's just another you know, person being beaten.

It's just another person being shot. And do we just they lose the sense of humanity, and police lose the sense of responsibility that they are supposed to have. I'm just so sick to I'm just I become continually, continually exhausted. Let's switch gears to where we are with Donald Trump and the search at mar Lago. So right now there is all this bullshit happening with the federal judge over

the case because folks want the Affidavid's released. The judge said that the Department of Justice can redact whatever they believe is going to put the criminal case that they are putting together, which we know that they are putting together against potentially, let me say that, against Donald Trump. They do not want this to be hindered by releasing

too much information into the public. The judge has come back and said, by what he has already seen that, yeah, the Department of Justice should not really like, we're not going to see an unredacted version of that Affidavid most likely ever, and we won't really learn more until there

are indictments that come out. But what the judge has said is that he believes that not one, not two, but multiple federal crimes we're happening at Mara Lago, and therefore the search and seizure that was was necessary for the preservation of you know, our democracy, because as the Department of Justice has come out and said, oh, we have concerns around the Espionage Act. Now if you're only watching Fox News, which I know none of you do, or maybe you do just for you know, to see

what the other side is doing. But basically where we are is that you have Republicans calling on the defunding of the FBI, which is law enforcement, which you know they only give a shit about when they are again squeezing the life out of or shooting the life out of Black people and people of color. But when in fact you're just you know, applying the law to everybody, including the former twice impeached disgrace president of the United States, you then somehow feel like, oh, well, he's above the

law and this was illegal and it was unprecedented. But let's just be clear that Donald Trump's whole reign as fucking precedent of these United States was unprecedented. That a man like him should have never had access to the nuclear fucking codes, should have never had access to any fucking classified documents that this motherfucker could turn around and sell to the highest bidder to bring his broke ass out of debt, because that's exactly what we know Donald

Trump would be doing. So there is an article in the the New York Times that came out that talks about the fact that you know who else is responsible for these boxes, right, these two dozen boxes that ended up in a fucking Marilago basement is Mark Meadows, right, because Mark Meadows. First of all, Trump had no confidence in Mark Meadows towards the end, and that Mark Meadows was of staff, which means that he knew what was leaving the White House when and how, and Mark Meadows, former

member of Congress. I'm pretty sure understood or knew the protocol. But what they were saying was that because Donald Trump was so delusional about him leaving the White House and not being president anymore, that he felt that those boxes were his folks. Let's be clear, No, he didn't. Donald Trump knew exactly what the fuck he was doing. And you know, this isn't about love letters to Kim John

un right or Mohammed bin salam right. This is about the potential identification of intelligence agents that are actively in the field and being able to sell that right to our quote unquote enemies four billions of dollars, right. I just the fact that you have Republicans acting as if

this is no big deal. I actually heard one of them say on some show, maybe it was Meet the Press, that, oh, there's no more information in there about nuclear or weapons or codes than you can't get on your iPhone just by googling. Do they listen to themselves? Do you think that they listen back to themselves and think, my god, how fucking stupid do I sound. It's wild, it's wild. But you know, whenever you think that we've reached the point of no return when oh my god, they can't possibly,

can't possibly defend this, this is indefensible. Oh no, they find a way to defend Donald Trump until the ends of the earth. Because I'm pretty sure what else was in that safe right, are probably dossiers on every publican, governors, members of Congress, you know, ags and everything, because that's what mobsters do. But that doesn't absolve these people of their oath that they took to the Constitution or to the republic. Right. But clearly there is nothing that Donald

Trump can do. And like he said during the campaign, he can shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and he would watch his poll numbers arise. And I believe that to be one hundred percent true. You know, folks, Mitch McConnell was interviewed the other day. I hate that man so much. I digress, but he said that our democracy is in our stake, Our democracy is solid. Sir, Where are you looking what exactly are you looking at and listening to?

You know, almost eighteen nineteen months after an attempt to violently overthrow the government, when you are seeing and hearing about reports of rise in political violence, when you have people who are being shot in front of FBI buildings, When you have bomb threats that are going into hospitals because of the care that they are giving to transgender children, what part of any of this means to you that

our democracy is strong? I mean that is like the gaslight of all gaslights, because their own Republican base is talking about the fact that they believe that a civil war is coming, that a majority of them believe that a civil war is coming, and I believe that a majority of them are hoping and rooting for a civil war to come so that they can utilize their stockpile of ammunition and guns that they have. Let's not pretend, right, Let's not just lie for the sake of fucking lying.

You know, we can actually tell the truth, and maybe if we did, things would begin to change, just you know, maybe here's hoping. That is it for me today, Dear friends on woke f as always, Power to the people and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.