All About The Joy
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All About The Joy
Empathy in an Age of Political Violence: The Murder of Charlie Kirk
The assassination of Charlie Kirk forces a confrontation with uncomfortable truths about political violence, empathy, and America’s uncertain future. Carmen and Andrea navigate this sensitive terrain with nuance, revealing how this tragedy fits into a broader epidemic - where 47 other people also died from gun violence that same day.
They explore the troubling disconnect in how we respond to tragedy based on political alignment, arguing that basic human dignity demands we condemn political murder regardless of ideological differences. The professional nature of the shooting suggests this wasn’t random, but potentially the start of a dangerous trend in American politics.
Their conversation expands beyond this single incident to examine America’s complex relationship with guns, where military-grade weapons remain accessible despite overwhelming public support for stronger safety measures. The irony isn’t lost: many who oppose gun restrictions, including Kirk himself, become victims of the very violence those measures aim to prevent.
Most sobering is their assessment of America’s future. The dismantling of democratic institutions, erosion of election integrity through partisan redistricting, and loss of institutional knowledge in government suggest recovery may take decades - not just election cycles. Even if political power shifts, rebuilding what’s been lost requires more than a return to “normal.”
This episode challenges listeners to examine their political identities beyond party labels. Are you truly aligned with your party’s values? Do you understand the historical context of that alignment? By encouraging self-reflection, Carmen and Andrea offer a potential path forward - one that begins with knowing what we truly stand for.
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Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth
DISCLAIMER: As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast. Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance.
Hey everyone, welcome to All About the Joy, culture and Consequence Andrea's in the house. I'm Carmen Lissette, your host, and we're kind of changing what we were going to talk about. But we'll get to it because we kind of have to talk about what happened the murder of Charlie Kirk and Andrea. I want to get your thoughts before I go off on my tangent.
Andrea Nunez:My thoughts. I don't want anybody to be shot to death. I truly don't, and I desperately wish that that wasn't something that happened in this country every single day. But it is and, on that note, I did a little research in preparation for what I knew we would have to talk about this morning and I looked it up and there were 48 gun deaths yesterday reported in the United States. This is on gunviolencearchiveorg, sourced from law enforcement government media sources. So 48 people died. You know that we know of in the United States yesterday. This particular person was a person who openly, publicly encouraged and advocated violence, political violence. This person was someone who fought against restrictions on guns that could have prevented his murder, as well as the murders of the 47 other people who died and countless others before that 47 other people who died and countless others before that. This person publicly stated that he felt gun deaths were worth it. So I will save my new age empathy and sympathy for the 47 other families who lost someone yesterday, and that's how I feel about it.
Carmen Lezeth:So this is where you and I are going to fight. I well, no, no, because you know I posted a couple of TikToks and of course, I'm getting so much backlash, which is the point Cause I want the conversation to happen. But I think I think what's lacking, and has been lacking for a long time, is empathy and our ability to just have some fucking dignity. Like I understand what you're saying. I don't have any love for Charlie Kirk. I think he was a fucking asshole, but I still have the ability to be like. This is wrong. This is not good. I feel bad for his kids. I don't give a fuck about the adults in his life, because they should know better than to follow someone like him.
Carmen Lezeth:But the idea that we're okay or justifying that 47 people should have empathy and one person should not, because the whole definition of empathy is not about being able to agree or understand anybody. It is to be able to say, there, but for the grace of the universe, go I for those of us who are not God crazy people anymore. But I'm just saying that's empathy. This is why Trump can easily put officers on the street and those officers and Trump don't give a fuck about immigrants, because they have no empathy, they don't care about humanity, empathy, they don't care about humanity. And so what I'm trying to say and what seems to be getting lost is you can hold more than one, two, three thoughts as a fucking evolved human being on the planet and say Charlie Kirk was an asshole, and yet this is wrong and this is not how we do things, and I have pain and sadness for his family, for the people that did love him because he was a human being, and that doesn't negate my feeling for 47 other children. Look, there's a gun problem in this country. That's a whole other motherfucking conversation. And, yes, everything that that man did, especially to people who were not like him, so white people I'm just going to say it because the list is long.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, I mean, I'm just saying that, but that does not mean we were lacking empathy and compassion for humanity, not just with the Charlie, just in general. That's why Trump is so in office and because nobody gave a fuck about what he was going Farmers, great example. They're all crying now but they had no empathy or sympathy for what was going to happen to other people, so until it happened to them, they didn't give a shit. And that's what I think is the bigger issue that I'm upset about right now. I'm furious about it.
Carmen Lezeth:And one last thing, and then I'll let you rebut, or whatever is, all these doctors and therapists that are all over TikTok and some of them are legit, but they're all like it's okay. It's okay to feel what you're feeling, it's okay, and not going down the rest of it. I can feel whatever I want to feel, but to act as if that wasn't a human life is weird. Or to not give a shit about the 47 other is weird to me. That we are cold fucking people to humanity, to human beings. I was going gonna drop in gaza, but I'm not because I'm so fucking pissed right now.
Andrea Nunez:Yeah, well I started with. I don't want anyone to get shot to death. Right, it's horrible, it's wrong. I don't want that for anybody. I really don't Him or anybody else. I just have to be honest. I'm having a difficult time working up any real feeling about it other than the general. It's a horrible thing that someone got shot to death, just like it is for the other people, but I think that's fair.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean, I think that's okay. You're not getting on social media and laughing and joking and making like you're not taking it to this. Look, that's the other part of it, right. We've lost our ability to have just a little bit of dignity, a little bit of fucking manners, and I'm sorry. I'm so thrown by how easy people are just being vile and then we get upset because people are not compassionate or nice to us when our people are murdered. What the fuck Like? Why is that a thing Like our people who were murdered? How come we don't have compassion?
Andrea Nunez:no, well, look, uh, you know I'm gonna go on my like mini tirade here about social media. Right, like this is one of the reasons I'm not on social media, um it, there are all kinds of other reasons, for sure, why we are where we are, but there is something about this, like, like, let me put every thought into my head out into the world and let me make it so extreme and crazy and whatever that it will get attention. And you know, I don't know where on the spectrum some of these people are. Do they really believe that? Or are they just trying to get attention? Or you know, uh, you know, go viral or whatever. It is right, like I don't know where they are, but it doesn't help, right? It does not help to have all of these places where you can just put your ridiculous thoughts out into the world and be a fucking okay, but we're using social media right now.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean, I think that's where the problem is, like I hear you, and that's a different conversation about social media that we should definitely have on this show, because I actually think social media is a good thing, I think technology is a good thing, so we can I hear you, I think I hear you. I just think that's a different problem altogether. It's a part of this conversation, I believe.
Andrea Nunez:Yes, it's a separate conversation, but it is a part of this. What?
Carmen Lezeth:you're talking about, and I actually think there's more good from having social media than not. It's connected the world in different. That's why I think it's a whole other conversation we can have, which we can go down this if you want, but I just feel like that might be a whole. I think the lack of empathy would still be happening right now If we didn't have social media, if we didn't have TikTok or whatever. I still think, as this country has moved forward and as and it's not just this country, but society in general I've said this before people get all creamy and sad and shed a tear when they hear a story about a child who was in a taxi or something with their parent and they found a wallet and they brought it back to the police department.
Carmen Lezeth:Everyone's like oh my God, that's such a feel good story. No, that's what you're supposed to do. That's not a feel good story, that's a fucking regular thing. But because we don't have the ability to see things like and have emotional connections, that's what we think is a big thing. And then something like this we're okay, mocking, and I can't even believe I'm motherfucking. You know what the other thing is pissing me off is that I have to fucking sit here and kind of defend this shit like I'm pissed about it. You know what I mean? Like, um, I'm just angry about it and and I hate, I hate how I watched a whole bunch of fucking right wing podcasts yesterday, or Christian, christian and I'm doing fucking quotes, uh, podcast podcast. And like that's the other side of it, right, the bullshittery of pretending who he was, like that's the other extreme. It's just mind boggling to me. It's mind boggling to me where we're at.
Andrea Nunez:I don't really know what to say about it. Yeah, it sucks where we're at. I guess that's not the part that bothers me the most about it. I don't know. To me, the tragedy yesterday was that someone had the ability to purchase a weapon that could kill him, and that's a tragedy that happens to people every single day all over the country.
Carmen Lezeth:With my years of watching NCIS and Law and Order. I just want to say that was a professional hit and that was a fucking sniper. It was like 600 feet away. It was on a rooftop. There is so much that goes into doing that. That was a professional hit and I'm going to make a guess here. I don't think that's the last of it and I wouldn't be surprised totally throwing out a guess here. I don't think that's the last of it and I wouldn't be surprised totally throwing out a guess here, like just a guess, that we're going to find out that, first of all, I don't think it's the last of it and secondly, that it's probably somebody who is on the right. You know what I mean. Like that's the.
Andrea Nunez:I just Well will we find that out? I don't know.
Carmen Lezeth:But let's just put some circumstantial evidence on the table.
Andrea Nunez:It was in Utah, it was apparently. The picture they released is a young white man. Wait, they released the picture.
Carmen Lezeth:No, no, no, no, no, no. The two people that they had in custody are not. They released a picture today, this morning, all right. Well, him being white is not. I know, I know, I know that was going to be it.
Andrea Nunez:It was as you said. You know, I don't want to say a professional hit, but a skilled Very skilled Person, ncis alum.
Andrea Nunez:Right, and so you put together those again very circumstantial and whatever. Like that evidence points to someone on the right, not you know a coastal elite having brunch and you know getting his soy latte and walking over to the you know, prove me wrong rally to pop off we'll see, but yeah, I didn't know that they they put up, oh my god, and the brilliance of like someone like Kash Patel, who is so incompetent, you know.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean there was like 15 different. They did catch them. They didn't catch them, so they haven't caught them yet, though, right as of this recording, correct.
Andrea Nunez:I looked a few, you know, before I started my crossword puzzle.
Carmen Lezeth:It's just so weird, but yeah, I'm.
Andrea Nunez:it's just so weird, but yeah, I'm, I'm and and here's the other thing that you're right. I don't think we will find that out, not with this administration.
Carmen Lezeth:That doesn't go with the narrative that they have already produced and put out you know, right, that it's the democrats fault, which is like that's the other part of it, right, not having etiquette, having manners, not realizing that your words are going to incite more violence. But here you are, someone in a position of power, and your first thought and I'm talking about all the Congress people that came out, all the you know what I mean, and, of course, trump and everyone else who's like and just fueling the fire. Fueling the fire so that we can get into what they're doing with their words. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely so, yeah, that'll be interesting. I just hope that no one else gets hurt. I honestly don't want anyone. I mean, I just it's horrific.
Andrea Nunez:It's scary, it's horrific. I mean and I, you know, I don't want to be that guy but like, just over a month ago, a Congresswoman in Minnesota was assassinated in her home in the middle of the night and her husband and her husband and her dog, you know, in the middle of the night, by a extreme right-wing wing, you know fascist dude pretending to be a cop. So this is not the first. It was horrific and terrible then.
Carmen Lezeth:it is horrific and terrible now, you know and I didn't see all the christian, all the podcast, I didn't see all that empathy, I didn't see all that consideration. And that's what I'm trying to say, right, because we're so desensitized to violence in this country too, we just are.
Andrea Nunez:Well, and like the pundit class or you know whatever you want to call them. Like this, even on the left, like you know, it's it's one of us, it's not just you know, those gangs in the streets, in the cities, right, like it's one of us that was gunned down in broad daylight. It's like, yeah, that's the terror, literally, that pretty much every American lives with. We can't send our kids to school, people can't go to church, you can't go to the grocery store, you can't go to the movies, you can't go to a music festival, you can't just be driving down the street in your car. People are all. They're having feelings which for some is a new experience and they're acting like toddlers who don't know how to manage them. This means war, you know. It's like war against what? Take some guns back, motherfuckers. Like that's what the war is you know I am so tired.
Carmen Lezeth:The irony is it's like 76% of Americans believe there should be more gun restrictions or whatever safety gun laws or whatever, and it's the irony that we keep voting people in and of course, the NRA still has the power that it has and the idea that guns are not part of the problem. Although this hit again NCIS professional professional here. I'm just saying this seems like somebody who might it wasn't somebody who went and just bought a shotgun or took their mommy or daddy's.
Andrea Nunez:this seems like they should not have access to a military grade weapon that you can't if you're in the military which possibly this is where this person learned how to do this or not you don't just get to walk off the base with your rifle. You know you're like, oh, I'm going to go home for the weekend. You know I'm going to take my gun. Like the access to this level of weaponry is ridiculous. Yeah, Like what do you even say, Like nobody should have that Right.
Carmen Lezeth:And it's weird because there are other countries that live without gun violence every day and I think they have mental health issues too people who are anti-immigration and you know, whatever they've got all of the things that we have, except the gajillions of guns yeah, I think there's a gun for every adult in the united states I believe there's more than one gun well, these are the guns they know about, because then there are all the other guns we don't know about.
Carmen Lezeth:But imagine that there's enough guns for at least one. I mean, there's one gun for at least every person in the United States. That's crazy. At least one, yeah, it's crazy, yeah. And and then we don't have the emotional maturity to deal with anything, because if we're angry about anything, right, we don't use our words. We then want to shoot people, which you know is part of the problem.
Andrea Nunez:We don't know how to fight. If you didn't love me enough, let me go kill 40 people.
Carmen Lezeth:Can you imagine? I mean, yes, we can, because we live with this bullshitter every day, but it's just a weird like on that part. I feel you know. This is where I'm against Republicans 100%. The whole gun thing is ridiculous. It's just. And how would you get them off the street now? Right, I mean, it can be done, but it's just so saturated in our culture and this standing behind. It's so funny how we stand behind our constitution when it's convenient to keep our guns, but not when it's convenient to actually give rights to other people. Right, right, hmm, yeah, interesting.
Andrea Nunez:I mean, the levels of hypocrisy are, you know, comical at this point, like it's almost not worth it to point it out, but you have to point it out because you can't let it slide. But like, come on, you know, the Second amendment is apparently so sacred that any piece of machinery that could kill another person is allowed for any anybody, and you can walk around the grocery store in it in some places.
Carmen Lezeth:You know what I mean I think it's one of my favorite visuals is to see like and it's always white fat men generally. I mean I've seen some black stupid men too, but generally white fat men with like bellies or whatever and they have like 15 guns and they're at like McDonald's or whatever you know, whatever Wahlberg's or whatever it is, and down South, whatever the fuck they have. It's like what are you doing? Like, what is that about that?
Andrea Nunez:show of force. You definitely look tough and not scared to death, for sure.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, no, no, no, totally tough and manly, very manly, yeah, very manly.
Andrea Nunez:So that's always one of my favorite Americana images that, I think, is just so indicative of how ridiculous we are. It's really, uh, I've been in places where there's open carry and you see it live and in person and it's like as a human being, you see that type of gun and you're like I'm getting the fuck out of here. Yeah, like I don't want to be around anybody, anybody that has that going on, right, because who knows what's happening up here? Nothing good, obviously.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, I don't have an issue, but I do. I have issues with guns. I don't even want to. I think we should not have guns. I want to be very clear about that. That is not even a question. But if you are somebody who's like you're a detective or you're whatever, and you have your gun on you and it's like why is it not concealed Right? Like why, you know, I mean like you're off duty, you're going to stop at McDonald's, but we're talking about people who are strapping shit, have like the rifles, and it's like you clearly put that on and took it with you out the car so that you could go into this, so you can make a show of I am strong.
Andrea Nunez:It's like cosplay. Right, it's a costume. Yes, I am dressing up as a tough dude who can't be messed with. Yeah, and I need everybody to see it, because I actually feel really small and I don't know how to.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't know how to get therapy Right and I have a teeny, weeny one. That's all. I don't know that, and like old people driving Porsches, sorry it had to be old, older son Harleys right yeah exactly, totally Okay.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't want to hear it from anyone, but I'm just saying. It just feels the same. Yeah, I don't know. And why is it never women who are snipers? You know? Like was the white person? They showed a woman, no, is it weird for me to kind of think that I'm not saying there aren't women killers out there? Right, we know that there are. Is there a way in which we can start trying to think as a country that it might be a good idea to maybe have a woman in power at some point?
Andrea Nunez:I know, stop, oh my God, now you've really gone mad. Stop, oh my God, now you've really gone mad.
Carmen Lezeth:I'm just saying, and then the right will say, well, yes, we're not against that, but it has to be the right woman. Kristi Noem, yeah, there's a great thought. Can you imagine the most qualified women who have run for office? And no, I'm not talking about Sarah fucking Palin, Cause having so much more than any man who's ever been president, and because we're not ready for that either. We're not ready for that at all either. But I'm just saying I have not seen women running around with machine guns. I don't know. I'm sure they're out there. I don't live in the South, I don't.
Andrea Nunez:I mean, there are, I'm sure.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, those are the ones who have the Christmas cards with their kids holding all the right. The family, everybody's holding their guns and stuff. My apologies, my apologies, right right, the family, everybody's holding their guns and stuff.
Andrea Nunez:So my apologies, my apologies right, but it's as far as a, you know, a woman being in power. I mean we know how that goes right.
Carmen Lezeth:Um it's not going to happen in our lifetime. I don't think so, no I don't think so either isn't it sad? It is sad about that it's super sad.
Andrea Nunez:You know. I was just talking to someone yesterday Like I don't think that what is happening now will be significantly better in my lifetime.
Carmen Lezeth:Oh yeah, I agree with you.
Andrea Nunez:Like we're on a trajectory that I actually, sadly, don't think we bottomed out. You know, are you serious? Yeah, I mean, if you just look at this, when other countries have been kind of taken over by authoritarians, it takes decades to come out of it.
Carmen Lezeth:I was thinking about how we would fix this in the next election if we have one, seriously like how, whoever the nominee is going to be, but let's just pretend it's Gavin Newsom or whatever, because it's going to be a white man.
Andrea Nunez:There's no, it better fucking be a white man. You know like I hate myself for even saying it, but like it needs to be a white man honestly, from somewhere in the middle.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, less weird, yeah, yeah. So how, I mean, does he just sit down the first three months and start writing executive orders that reverse everything?
Andrea Nunez:It's just not going to be that easy, you know our entire federal and we, you know we all have our feelings about bureaucracy but, like you know, the, you know lifetime civil servants who have decades of institutional knowledge, our scientists, our statisticians, our lawyers.
Andrea Nunez:Our FBI agents, fbi lawyers, our FBI agents, our judicial system, yeah, yeah, you know, like they're gone, yeah, and all of the knowledge of what came before and how things actually work and how you get things moving. Administrators, payroll clerks I mean the people who actually do the work right, like they're gone. This is not a like best case, most rose-colored scenario. You know, democrats take back house and senate in two year or whatever, in 26, that's. That's a year 2016. And then maybe the presidency again, if we even have elections, whatever. This is still like a solid, I think, decade away from even becoming something normal again, and when I say that, like the country that we knew does not exist anymore, we have to recreate.
Carmen Lezeth:At this point, Well, and I shook my head a little bit because and you taught me this the country we had before actually was a lie.
Andrea Nunez:I know, like all of its flaws, but I'm saying like, yes, what we thought we had, but even what we actually did have flaws, warts and all is actually gone. You know, in terms of what it looks like to actually run a country.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, you're talking about the technicalities of how we run a country right, and I'm thinking of, you know, the hope, the aspiration if there is like okay, so I want to be more optimistic and just hope that there is a way you can fix some of the technicalities of this.
Carmen Lezeth:I'm more concerned that the actual thing that makes America great is that idea of hope and possibility and you can come here and be somebody and whatever, like we can find a way for people to. The American dream was always a facade. I think we're all realizing that now, but it would be sad to think we can't get back there again. You know that's I don't know, I don't know I, I, I'm. I know that I'm broken about it, which means something, because I've always been rah, rah America and now I'm like, yeah, blah.
Andrea Nunez:I mean, look it's. You know I would love to have some optimism and some hope. Uh, you, you know I long to find it, but you can't have those things without a functioning country. You know what I mean. Like without the people who show up every day and make sure that people get paid, people get their papers stamped, that they need to go and do whatever the thing is. People, you know kids can get student loans or grants or whatever it is. To go to school, you know diplomats are fanned out around the world to you know, smooth things over with other countries and maybe some of the people who are gone would come back again, assuming everything goes well. But some of those people are lost forever and it's it's. I see it. I believe it has to be a not like a new creation in terms of a new constitution or whatever, but I don't think there's like can we get it back? It is we need to rebuild. We need to build something new. We need to create something new because things have been lost.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, I, you look at I, I. That's maybe a lot beyond my pay grade. I'll just admit it right now, In my heart, I want to believe it'll be easier to fix the structural part as opposed to fixing the idea of what America used to be. I don't know. I hope I, I, I hope you're wrong, because I'm wrong, I know, I hope I hope you're wrong and I hope there's a way. But we're, I mean, right now, we're at baby steps. Right Right now, we're at this place where we're questioning whether or not we can have fair elections and people are redistricting and you know, in California we have to vote in November to redistrict against our public. Anyways, that's a whole other conversation. But basically and it's so weird because I want to make sure we try to explain things to people but in California we have a separate group of people who actually are in charge of redistricting the state An independent commission that we voted to have.
Andrea Nunez:That's right.
Carmen Lezeth:It has nothing to do with politics or whatever. They're independent people who and actually I think that's where we, you and I, were talking about is that where we both applied to be part of that and then we decided not to do it. We were looking at it, I remember.
Andrea Nunez:We were looking at it right. I remember that.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't think, andrew, actually applied Right and look, they were doing that in order to be objective and to make sure that they represented each district correctly. And now, because of what's happened in Texas and basically Trump cheating and asking the governor there what's his name, I can't stand that man either. I guess he's an enabler. Yeah, Abbott, Whatever Abbott, the enabler Turned around and just said yeah, we're just going to change it the way we want it so we can get more seats. That is cheating. There's no other way to explain that people. It's cheating. Explain that people it's cheating.
Carmen Lezeth:So now the governor of California, Governor Newsom, has turned around and said we're going to ask the people in November in a ballot so we have to vote whether we want to get rid of, just for this time period, the independent redistricting of our state so that we can redistrict it to fight back against the five illegal seats that Texas is now doing and it's ridiculous, but we're going to do it. We're going to do it and we're going to vote yes, because that's what we're going to do in order to try to fight this. And it's like that's the kind of bullshittery that you're talking about, that that structural part is now being dismantled, right, Having an independent commission so that it's done in a fair way, because we have to fight in the way we need to fight in order to be able to have a fair election, which is weird.
Andrea Nunez:Yes, I completely agree with you, right, I loved the idea of the independent commission. I think all we voted for we now essentially have to vote against, and you know, play the game the way they're playing it. I hate that, right. But again I go back to what we knew is gone. We have to work with what is, and what is is that you have these states now Missouri also looking at it and New York, yeah, are going to. You know, redistrict away their you know Democrat, you know districts where a Democrat would win, and so essentially removing those Democrats from from office.
Carmen Lezeth:And and retaliation. What's happening is New York is considering you know and like, and this is the tit for tat, bullshittery that you're talking about. And look, I agree with you. I agree with you and in the same respects, we have to fight the fight we're fighting because of democracy and and for all you Republicans and conservatives, who listen to All About the Joy and are part of this community. I just have to say that I'm okay with you believing what you want to believe, but most of you don't have facts, which is why this show exists. You know, and let me be clear as well I am not a liberal to the left. I have always been more to the middle, and part of what we were going to talk about today is that most people who think they're Republicans are actually not Republicans, and this is one of those. Andrea's about to die.
Andrea Nunez:I'm fine, I have facts.
Carmen Lezeth:And I'm going to let you look at. I mean, we were going to make the whole show about this, but maybe we can touch on it a bit.
Andrea Nunez:But that's kind of where we're coming from Go ahead, andrea, I just want, like, if your ideas win in this sort of marketplace of ideas, why would you not want there to be fairness, right, and so to me that just says something about you know, like I just want to win at all costs. I don't want to win at all costs, I don't. I want it to be fair, and when you know my politics, the way I've always described it is I want the most good for the most people. Right, that's the way that I describe it, and so, uh. But to go back to the Republican thing, I guess I said this last week most people are not Republicans and we were going to talk about that.
Carmen Lezeth:So I did get a couple of people who reached out, which was interesting.
Andrea Nunez:Um, so I looked it up. Uh, you know Again, sources are whatever they are. I looked it up on a website called USAFactsorg, which is sourced from state government agencies on the registration of the people in their states. So, as of August 2025, so just last month there are 37.4 million registered Republicans in the United States. There are 44.1 million registered Democrats, so that's more. There are 34.3 million either registered as independent or didn't choose.
Andrea Nunez:right, I'm non-party affiliate so some of those people could lean right, some could lean left. Nonetheless they are not registered republicans. And then, just to be fair, there are 3.1 million, uh people in like, I guess lesser parties, I guess is the way they described it so green party Party, libertarian, whatever. So that could be a mix as well of right and left. But the fact of the matter is I didn't say most people are Democrats. I said most people are not Republicans and most people, by this data, are not Republicans, whatever that means. Again, to go back to what you said, speak facts or don't speak.
Carmen Lezeth:Right. I think the other part of it, too, is just when you think about what it means to be a Republican, and that has changed because Trump, trumpism has taken over the Republican party, right, and so we might go into this a little bit later, into in a in another episode. We had to talk about Charlie Kirk a lot, but there's also this weird thing that people will always do, and I had to say it they're like the Republicans freed the slaves. So Lincoln. Lincoln was a Republican. He really was. That's true.
Carmen Lezeth:But if you don't this is how I know people do not know their history At some point and it was after, like, I think, the 1930s is where it became a big deal the ideologies of both parties kind of switched. Now, that's a really simple way of saying that the Southern Democrats from back in the day were people that believed really, really conservative ideas, and then the Republicans were in the North. Right, they were in the North. So when you talk about Lincoln being somebody who is a Republican and you try to use that as your way to feel good about your party, you don't know your history. This is why people will associate people like Barack Obama with Lincoln, right, that's why, because if Lincoln was around today, he would be a Democrat. So you have to know your history and it's something I think we should talk about, even on that end.
Carmen Lezeth:Even things like social security. You can't be okay with social security because it affects you and then claim that it's socialist for everyone else. Like it's a weird thought process. You want great streets, you want public places that have police officers, that have bridges, that have good roads, all of that. All of that would be considered democratic policies. You know what I mean? Like that would be socialism.
Andrea Nunez:It's not. You want a weekend. You want holiday pay.
Carmen Lezeth:Yes, you want to be treated fair at work, all of those things, and so when we start getting into and maybe we'll do it next week, it depends on what's in the news Depends, hard to say, hard to say. But look, I want people to take away from this show today at the very least. I mean, I know we're going to be talking about Charlie Kirk for a long time or whatever, but besides that, start really figuring out what your identity is. Are you really a Democrat? Are you really a Republican? Do you really believe everything that the Trump administration is doing Really, not just because you were around it and that's what you voted for and that's what you believe? No, and don't do the one. What is it? One policy vote person. You know how people vote for one thing and that's what they are, what is it Single issue voter?
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, Don't be a nuance, nuance.
Andrea Nunez:I mean, yeah, that's. My great hope is that people actually really think about what are my values? What do I believe in? What is actually important to me, aside from what is happening all around me, aside from what my parents or my family taught me, what my church, what my school, whatever, and whatever it is okay, but make sure that it's actually yours and that it's actually what you believe, and it doesn't belong to a party or whatever.
Carmen Lezeth:And I'm going to say something. I know, I know I'm going to lose. We're going to lose a lot of followers. But, christians, I'm going to give you a shout out here and say seriously, sit down and really think about what you believe and what your Bible seems to be telling you, because there are so many contradictions that are going on.
Carmen Lezeth:And I will say this, not even kidding I went to 12 years of Catholic school and I, you know I'm not going to sit here and say I know more, but I know a lot more than a lot of you who pretend to be Christians. So I know, I know, I know I probably shouldn't have said that, but it's just mind boggling to me. Yeah, all right, I don't even know what else to say to close this out, but we're at that time period. We need a girl. I know we appreciate you guys listening and we hope you'll come back next week. We're going to keep having these conversations because it's real talk between two friends who don't always agree, but fundamentally we do and we just want I hate to say it this way because you're going to puke but we want the world to be a better place.
Andrea Nunez:We do. There's nothing wrong with that. Okay, cool, we would love for the world to be a better place for people to feel good and be happy and joyful and not have to worry about getting shot in the streets. That's what we want.
Carmen Lezeth:That's what we want, right? We want to be able to walk around freely and not be afraid. So, yeah, so remember to check us out on Friday nights. All About the Joy. We have our Friday night lives where everyone can come and hang out and just chill and know we don't talk about politics or religion. We may touch on it a bit. Well, I mean, it's a neighborhood hangout, so everyone is welcome. And, of course, we also have our Sunday show, which is why can't I remember the name of our Sunday show Lord Jesus, the Private Lounge. Yay, sunday is 12 o'clock Pacific, it's private, 3 pm Eastern and we really appreciate you being here. Remember, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Bye everyone, thank you, bye. Thanks for stopping by. All about the joy be better and stay beautiful folks. Have a sweet day.
