Sure, We Believe Tucker Carlson

In this episode, Carmen and Andrea unpack a week of political absurdity — from Tucker Carlson’s sudden “regrets,” to the conservative scramble to distance themselves from Trump, to the fantasy that any of these media figures are preparing to “save” the Republican Party. We get into the nefarious ambition behind Tucker’s rebrand, the myth of celebrity competence, and why America keeps mistaking fame for qualification.

We also break down what actually happened in Virginia’s redistricting vote, why Texas kicked off this mess, and how voter suppression is shaping the landscape heading into November. Plus: Pete Hegseth quoting Pulp Fiction as Scripture, the drag‑queen‑reading panic that never had a factual basis, and the difference between sex, gender, and the fear‑based narratives used to manipulate voters.
It’s sharp, honest, a little mean, and very necessary — especially as we head into six months of political chaos. And before you do anything else: check your voter registration at CanIVote.org.

Thank you for stopping by.  Please visit our website: All About The Joy and add, like and share.  

You can now watch the livestream version of the show on YouTube at @CarmenLezeth 

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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. 

Transcript

[00:00:00] Carmen: Thank you for helping me during that little, uh, technical snafu. Um, but, uh, so I, I have to tell you, I had a really bad, I've had a bad week, and,I think listening to politics when you are already in a bad space. I know this sounds like duh, but it's even worse.

[00:00:22] Andrea: Yes. Yeah.

[00:00:23] Carmen: Um, 'cause you go down that like sadness, like, like I don't need to hear politics every day, but you can't even get away from it.

[00:00:31] Andrea: Right, right.

[00:00:33] Carmen: Um, I was driving in my car to an appointment and so I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna put on the radio. 'cause usually I have on the same CD over and over and over again for the past 20 years.

[00:00:44] It's the same CD in my car. I bet you can't guess it, but if Juliana was here, she would know. It's it's a George Michael

[00:00:52] Andrea: I was gonna say, I know it's George Michael.

[00:00:54] Carmen: It's George Michael. So I was like, I'm just gonna listen to the radio. And so I put on the radio and there was a good jam on or whatever, right? It was like old school, whatever, blah, blah.

[00:01:02] And then the minute the song end, 'cause I came in halfway, it was, they were saying something about Trump in a fun, and I'm like, this is what I, you can, there, it's not a political show, but it's like you can't get away from it. You just can't.

[00:01:16] Andrea: Yep, he is, has to insert himself in everything and then everyone complies, you know, and makes sure that we all know every single ridiculous movie he's making.

[00:01:29] Carmen: Yeah, I think he's a horrible human being, but I do. I wanted to see what you thought about Tucker Carlson. Uh, that's such bullshit for those of you who know

[00:01:41] Andrea: Tucker. Yeah, I mean, I remember Tucker from like the CNN Crossfire days with his little bow hat.

[00:01:51] Carmen: oh my God, I hated him then.

[00:01:53] Andrea: Yep. I hated him then. Hate him now. I mean, look, um.

[00:01:59] Carmen: Well wait. You should tell people what he's done because some people may not know. I don't know how they wouldn't know, but

[00:02:05] Andrea: Well, apparently he really, really, really regrets his three votes for Donald Trump.

[00:02:17] so, so sorry for it and, uh, just really regrets it. Feels really badly about it, I guess. So it says,

[00:02:27] Carmen: Andrea, I believe him. Wait, lemme try that again. Wait, wait, wait. I believe Tucker Carlson. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm a good actress.

[00:02:38] Andrea: I was gonna say, you can do better than that girl. Come.

[00:02:40] Carmen: Okay. All right. Andrea, I believe Tucker Carlson. And wait, wait. Lemme put it on. And I believe Megan Kelly and I believe Candace. I can't do it. I I can't do it. I can't do

[00:03:01] Andrea: You ain't that good girl.

[00:03:03] Carmen: I ain't that good. Only Meryl Streep could pull that shit off, or Viola Davis, do you know what I mean? Like, I, I, there's a reason why I'm not acting. I'm not, I'm good, but I'm not that good.

[00:03:13] You know? Like some

[00:03:15] Andrea: Oh.

[00:03:15] Carmen: is bullshit, man. Like, wow.

[00:03:18] Andrea: is, is deep and wide, let's put it that way. You know, it's,

[00:03:23] uh, 

[00:03:24] Carmen: well, he's doing it. Why? I mean, what's your thought process? I think it's everyone's thought

[00:03:29] Andrea: because they see the writing on the wall. Right?

[00:03:32] So other, you know, people who, you know, uh, Lindsey Graham, if we elect him, we will be destroyed and we will be, and we will deserve it.

[00:03:41] right.

[00:03:42] So this is when, like many of us, myself included, thought there's no fucking way this mofo is ever gonna get elected. All of us thought that across the board,

[00:03:57] Carmen: Absolutely.

[00:03:58] Andrea: right? And so. That's the camp they were in, right? They're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Definitely not. Then when he got elected, lo and behold, there was a flip.

[00:04:10] They are a hundred percent behind him. It's, you know, they were espousing all of his beliefs, supporting him, all of this kind of thing, I think Candice Owen, I don't know if she had a, an actual role in his, administration or whatever, but she was, you know, sort of working in concert with him.

[00:04:27] Carmen: Well, I'm sorry, Andrea, you're confused. She is a black woman, so that was, that was all she needed to be, was a token black

[00:04:35] Andrea: Didn't know Omarosa have, remember her?

[00:04:38] Carmen: Yeah. Alma, what happened to her? Yeah, of

[00:04:42] Andrea: I think she had an actual role and then got fired just like on a

[00:04:45] paper. Anyway, so they have all been lock step with this man for over a decade now, really at this point. Um, and now. That things are really beginning to go south. And this is something I think is, you know, like we do need to point this out.

[00:05:07] I don't know about Candace Owen necessarily, but I know that Tucker Carlson and Megan Kelly are pretty smart people, right? They're not. They're not. I'm just saying like, they're not total idiots like some of these

[00:05:23] Carmen: Wait. I love that because I didn't know where you were going with the Candace Owen thing, but so on point. Go ahead. Go

[00:05:29] Andrea: Like, I just truly, like, I just don't know enough about her. She may, you know, I just don't know.

[00:05:35] Carmen: Yeah, it's all good,

[00:05:36] Andrea: but so my point is that, as I said, they see the writing on the wall more so than Trump himself, more so than a lot of the sort of cultus that are like never gonna let him go. They see things are tanking for this person they see.

[00:05:52] God's willing that the Republicans are going to get absolutely pummeled in November and they are being strategic and setting themselves up to be the conservative voices, the conservative option that a lot of these folks turn to when, you know Trump is essentially over and can't get anything done.

[00:06:16] Carmen: I'm also gonna say something else that I actually think is, uh, even more disgusting is I think Tucker Carlson thinks he's going to run for president. Um, I know, I know. But it's just, you know what I mean? Because look at it, he's gonna do the whole like. Look it. I saw real corruption on both sides. You know what I mean?

[00:06:36] He's gonna be the, I'm the alternative because JD Vance is even, even the Trumper, I mean, he's not polling at all. You know what I mean? And he's just, he's such a wishy-washy guy. They all are, but I think Tucker Carlson is even. Even more horrible of a human being, if you can even say it that way, because it's so, is the word nefarious?

[00:07:00] I'm using words, I don't really know, but it's like there's an evil intent to it, and it's because he thinks he's, it's not just about the money, it's about the power he thinks he's going to be able to wield, you know, like especially if he can become a presidential candidate and it's just, it's. Disgusting on so many.

[00:07:18] First of all, let me just be very clear to people, and when I say people, I mean Trump supporters or people who used to support Trump. Tucker Carlson is not. He is not capable of being president of the United States like we have to get back to a place to understand that most people in the cabinet right now and Donald Trump are not capable of running a country.

[00:07:42] And here's your clue. There's so many, but here's, here's a good one.

[00:07:47] Andrea: Fill us in,

[00:07:48] Carmen: bankrupt, wait. If you have bankrupt many companies throughout your life, you probably cannot run a company in general. I'm sorry. If you are a talk show host, you can't run a business. I'm sorry. It's, I'm, I know I'm being mean.

[00:08:06] Andrea: Or defense department.

[00:08:08] Carmen: That's what I'm trying to say. You, you, you are not capable of doing these things. Like we have to get back to a place where people who are running in politics actually have some wherewithal, some information, some ability. Now look it, I know they were ragging on a OC about being a bartender and becoming.

[00:08:30] Mm. No, no, no. That's not the same thing. She got a shot, she got reelected. She has proven her worth. And that is citizenship. That's us being the people being elected. That's a different thing. I'm saying you cannot become someone in office when you have no actual, what's the word? Oh, experience, except that you're a talk show host.

[00:08:56] Andrea: Yeah.

[00:08:57] Carmen: Uh. Mm-hmm. I will, I will bet on a regular person becoming part of any administration, like an A OC, every day of the week and

[00:09:08] Andrea: A bartender has far more life experience, work experience, experience understanding and dealing with people than a Fox talk

[00:09:22] Carmen: But here's the thing too. She ran for Congress in her district. She wasn't appointed head of the defense department. Do you know even or head of the FB motherfucking eye

[00:09:33] Andrea: Climbing up and getting experience along the way.

[00:09:37] Carmen: and getting reelected, like there's a difference. We didn't make her fucking president. You know what I mean? Like, this is what I'm trying to say. It's like this weird thing where celebrity. Has so much more power over us than it ever should be. Really? And I love Hollywood, but you know what? I love Meryl Streep and Viola Davis.

[00:09:57] I don't want them to be the president of the United States. I

[00:10:00] Andrea: Remember there was a minute where, I can't remember what year it was, but people were talking about Oprah, and I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:10:09] Carmen: But you know what Oprah was like, yeah, no, I'm not doing it. Like she's not that stupid. You know what I mean?

[00:10:14] Andrea: And she would actually be better than what we have. Let's be clear about that, but definitely not the person we want.

[00:10:22] Carmen: And still I'm, I'm gonna give her some props 'cause she does run an empire, right? She, she has built a business from nothing. I don't think she has any bankruptcies

[00:10:33] Andrea: Yeah, never, never went bankrupt. To my knowledge,

[00:10:36] Carmen: I don't think she was at the Epstein file thing or Epstein Island. I don't know.

[00:10:40] Andrea: bring us Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil though, so.

[00:10:43] Carmen: Can, I can. Well, I know, but people keep blaming her for that.

[00:10:46] I don't think that's fair. 'cause if you're gonna blame her for that, then you have to go down the list of all the things she did that were great. Those we, we cannot be holding women accountable for men's dumb

[00:10:57] Andrea: I'm just saying like, you know, we

[00:10:59] Carmen: that. Okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That would be the worst thing about her.

[00:11:05] Like

[00:11:05] Andrea: yes.

[00:11:06] Carmen: people would be pissed about that and, and there's a defense for it. It wouldn't be, why did she own a teenage pageantry? Why did she say grab 'em by the balls? Like, like, we wouldn't be talking about this other crap. You know what I mean? Why did she say she would date her own son? Like, we wouldn't have these ridiculous other things that are blatant.

[00:11:30] Andrea: is she not paying The people who do work for her?

[00:11:34] Carmen: Why did she write that whole letter about Timothy McVay Central Park five? Like

[00:11:39] Andrea: Yeah.

[00:11:40] Carmen: why did she, like there wouldn't be all of this other Bullshittery behind it, so I'd still be for Oprah over any of these motherfuckers that are in office. Um.

[00:11:50] Andrea: or trying to be.

[00:11:51] Carmen: Oh my God. And I honestly, here's the other thing. The reason why you know these people are not competent is the minute they're accused of something, they act like children.

[00:12:03] They didn't do it. It's not fair. Cas Patel was like the press conference yesterday or whatever it was. I was like, dude, you did do it. You were drunk and shit. You drunk right now, huh? I was

[00:12:15] Andrea: Seriously. Seriously. Like I was like, somebody get this man a breathalyzer

[00:12:21] Carmen: It's so crazy. Give him a breathalyzer. I know he gets, like, they get him and Pete Ze, they get so wound up about being honey, you are in the public eye. What part of this is new to you? Like you're gonna get, you know, destroyed day after day. It's how you react to it that matters. You know? And they just have no maturity at all.

[00:12:43] And they're such pathetic little men. And I'm not even trying to dis them. I'm like, they're not like men, men. They're like coplay as men, which is weird.

[00:12:54] Andrea: Absolute complete and total fucking losers. They really

[00:13:00] Carmen: I know.

[00:13:02] Andrea: And you know, I don't know about cash, but certainly Hegseth thinks he is. You know, he is in the of the white supremacist variety and thinks that he is supreme, but somewhere deep inside there, he knows he's a fucking loser, and that's why he's so miserable and so hateful.

[00:13:23] Carmen: My favorite is him quoting the Bible the other day, like I was Bible of Quentin Tarantino. I was like, now here's the thing, lemme lemme just be honest with people. I went to 12 years of Catholic school and in college, we took a class, which was science and religion. We read the Bible as a piece of literature, and then we had, we had people come in, priests and pastors and reverends and whatever.

[00:13:53] We would talk about that along with the science people, right? The, the, the professors. It was a great, it was a great thing to read the Bible and we didn't read the whole thing. Of course, we could not, but we read it and I, I'm saying all this because I kind of know my Bible. You know, I, I, I'm not gonna sit here and spew out Psalms and shit.

[00:14:13] I can't do that with Shakespeare either. But you know, so when I first heard it, I was like that, I dunno, this one, like, I was like, but I was like, you know, I dunno. And then when it came out, I fucking Andrea, it's one of those things, you know, when you have a belly laugh that you can't, I just wanna say thank you to Pete.

[00:14:35] He said, 'cause I weeded, I was having a badass day and I was dying.

[00:14:40] Andrea: Oh God, God.

[00:14:42] Carmen: gave him that quote. Heroes, not all of you wear caves, baby. That was good someone gave it to him, right? And he thought that was like an actual vibe. I just, beautiful. I love this shit. All right. Okay. We're being mean, but I kind of love it.

[00:15:01] Andrea: I'm very, I all, I didn't have a bad week, but I had a bad day yesterday, so I was like, I woke up, I went to sleep last night. I was like, okay, like it's gotta be better tomorrow. And I woke up. I had stress dreams all night and I was like, still agro. And I was like, okay, well I guess this is how it's gonna be today.

[00:15:19] We're gonna be especially mean.

[00:15:22] Carmen: Why did you have a bad day yesterday?

[00:15:24] Andrea: It wasn't, it was like, it was one of those days that was like minor irritation after minor irritation all day long and like truly like right up until I went to bed and I like. Bumped my knee on the nights. It was like I am one stubbed toe away from going postal on everybody like I am losing my mind today.

[00:15:47] Carmen: yesterday for me, everything I did was wrong.

[00:15:50] Andrea: Yeah.

[00:15:51] Carmen: I just could not get. And I was like, you know what? I, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna sit here and I'm gonna do nothing and I'm just gonna, I'm gonna take a minute. And then like something fell in the kitchen. I.

[00:16:03] Andrea: Yes. It's like was, you know, not to be all California, but like the vibes were not right yesterday. That's

[00:16:10] Carmen: think that's right. Okay, good. I feel better though. I felt better this morning. But, um, let's talk about some good stuff. Uh, first of all, I wanna say Virginia, come on now. Woo. Virginia. So Virginia, you know what, can we back up for a moment? Texas started this shit. Right. Texas did not go to its people and say, let's talk about, let's consider the possibility that we should redistrict so that we can have more Republicans in office.

[00:16:39] That's not what they did. What is that guy's name? That governor of motherfucker Abbott. That's his name. See, I had to say motherfucker before it to get it right. Abbott turned around and as he's, you know, kissing Trump's ass was, you know, Trump told him or asked him to do it, and then he turned around and said, yes, we're just going to change the maps so that we can cheat.

[00:17:00] That is called cheating because normally when we redistrict as a country, it's after the census and the census is done every 10 years. Is it 10 years?

[00:17:11] Andrea: It is,

[00:17:11] Carmen: Every 10 years we do a census where we count how many people live in the country, and based on that, we then redistrict our state so that it is honorable and honest and right.

[00:17:27] That is usually how we do it. We do it a little bit differently here in California now because it should be the same way in every state, but I don't think many states do it the way we do it. But. It's, it, it, it's a whole other thing that we let the people do the lines not con, not not the government, not the state.

[00:17:46] Um, that's the difference in California. Anyways,

[00:17:49] Andrea: There are a handful of states that do it that way,

[00:17:51] Carmen: Oh, there are a handful of states. Okay. Well I think the whole country should do it

[00:17:54] Andrea: I do too.

[00:17:55] Carmen: where it's the people do the lines, not the the government, not the state. Right. But okay. But that's okay. 'cause we do the census, whatever. And what Abbott did was he turned around and he just redrew the lines so that you would have more Republican seats.

[00:18:13] Congress. That is called cheating. That is cheating. Californians did not want to do this, but Governor Newsom was like, we have to fight fire with fire. And he said, you know what? I'm not as governor just going to redraw the lines. I'm gonna ask the people if they wanna do it. And we voted yes. And Virginia just did the same thing. So proud of them. So I just wanted to explain to people, now I know that they've brought it to court or something. Right? So a judge, uh, turned around and said that it cannot be, which is weird because the people decided, you know, so

[00:18:54] Andrea: and even like there, I don't, I actually don't know exactly how it happened here. If we did like the uh,

[00:19:03] Carmen: we appealed it.

[00:19:05] Andrea: I can't remember exactly, but I know in Virginia, because I just read this, it has to pass their legislator leg legislature. Two times before it even goes to the vote. So not only did the people vote, but the legislature already voted for it twice.

[00:19:21] Carmen: Right. And there's, there's no, I mean, look it, I am, I'm never going to say that something's never gonna happen, but there's no way that the people are gonna stand for that and not allow that to go through. So, listen, Republicans, I say this with my full chest, like. You're cheating. You're cheating all the time and you're, it's so pathetic, like Trump, if you're a real man and you think everybody loves you, whatever, why don't you let the people vote your ass in or your people in, he's afraid of getting, which is going to absolutely happen.

[00:19:53] Everyone is going to be fucking arrested. I can't wait for it. It's gonna take a long time. I cannot wait. I cannot wait because Republicans are gonna have a come to Jesus moment, I hope. I hope. And with that said, I hope because we as the, this is not over, it is just the beginning. We, at the beginning of this, I want everyone who's listening to this, I don't care if there's only three people listening to our show.

[00:20:17] Those three people need to do this. Can I vote.org? That's where you wanna go. Can i vote.org. That is, um, a website that's run by the National Association of Secretaries of State. Okay. So all of them, you go there, you put in where you live, you know, you put in your zip code or whatever. It will then bring you to your Secretary of State's office to see if you are registered to vote.

[00:20:44] So go there, make sure you can vote. Make sure you're registered to vote. We are 60 days away from November. Can you imagine that? 60

[00:20:54] Andrea: six months, girl, not 60 days.

[00:20:56] Carmen: Wait, wait, did I say okay, wait, six months. Six months. Six months.

[00:21:07] Andrea: You're like, let's do this. Let's do it now.

[00:21:09] Carmen: Goodbye. Wait. People in Texas, you vote in 60 days, right? I'm just kidding. That's wrong. I was wrong. Six months. We are six months away. Um, you know what I'm confusing is the fucking California race, which I don't wanna talk about 'cause

[00:21:25] Andrea: a whole other issue, but yeah.

[00:21:27] Carmen: I don't wanna talk about it because I'm so stressed about it, about it.

[00:21:33] Andrea: I am not stressed, but I'm like, just let's, let's just get this over with kids. Um,

[00:21:38] Carmen: I know, but how are we gonna, I don't. Okay. Yeah, we don't have to talk

[00:21:41] Andrea: yeah, we don't, we don't even get into that right now. Um,

[00:21:43] Carmen: I know.

[00:21:44] Andrea: yes, for November. I just wanna add, like, you know, Carmen gave you good information about like how to, how to. Check and make sure that you're registered. Even if you think you're registered, double check.

[00:21:56] Make sure you are still registered. Give yourself time to figure that out and figure out your plan for how you're going to vote. Because in some places, I do believe it's going to be very hard. I think there will be long lines. There may be some issues with a mail-in ballot or a whatever, so like.

[00:22:15] Unfortunately we don't have like a national day off. It's not on a weekend like figure out if you need to take some time off of work. Like figure

[00:22:23] Carmen: they're messing with the, they're messing with the U-U-S-P-S, right? The United States Postal Service. Um. Republicans are trying to cheat, not just because they want to win. This is just truth right now. I'm just telling you from my heart of hearts, it's 'cause they don't wanna go to jail. Because I mean that really is what's happening is, and that's why um, you have to be on point.

[00:22:47] We have to come out as fiercely as what was the country with Orban? Came out like there's no question at all, and you need to vote. I don't care. I don't care if your family has always voted bl uh, red or whatever, and, and you, you pro laugh and you don't be stupid. This is not about that anymore. None of those issues, Matt, they don't.

[00:23:13] Andrea: No purity test kids like, let's get this done.

[00:23:17] Carmen: We need to just get all fucking Republicans out. We just have to, this administration is a mess. So, um, so what ends up happening for people

[00:23:27] Andrea: the Republicans think so, even Tucker.

[00:23:33] Carmen: even Joe Rogan believes that although Joe Rogan was back in the office with psychedelics, I'm like, what the fuck is happening right here? That's so opportunistic, isn't it?

[00:23:43] Andrea: Yeah,

[00:23:44] Carmen: If you don't believe in somebody and what they're doing, why would you then go and kiss their ass to get

[00:23:48] Andrea: because they don't believe in anything. There's no, like, that's just something he said. And then the next day he said something different, like it doesn't, there's no cohesive moral compass.

[00:24:03] Carmen: So I was thinking about this, right? Because again, I know that you just wanna slap people upside the head 'cause they're Republicans or conservatives. I know I on the other hand, feel like some people, not all of them have been duped. I know, I know three times is a long time to be duped, but just go with me just.

[00:24:21] Look it. I'm gonna be the kind one. You be the bitch one. Okay. Like I'm just saying. Yeah. Good cop. Bad cop. No, no. Okay. I just, I was trying to think about this. Like, why, why were people so sucked in, easily sucked in. Like, and then, okay.

[00:24:38] Andrea: they're racist.

[00:24:39] Carmen: Okay. Yeah, I know. All right. So yes. Racism, racism, homophobia. I was thinking, um, about this too.

[00:24:46] I was like. When did this whole thing come about that, 'cause I had never heard of this. Where, um, uh, what are they, who are these people? They go and they read to kids. Um, drag queens. Drag queens. Go and read to, I'm like, when did it become a thing that, because I never remembered this. Like how did it start That drag queens reading to kids was some.

[00:25:13] Weird thing. So here's in 2015.

[00:25:18] Andrea: love that, by the way.

[00:25:20] Carmen: I would've loved that. But in 2015, trying to be inclusive, there was a writer, I forget her name, she wanted L-G-B-T-Q. Children that were raised by, you know, other parents, uh, wanted them to be more inclusive. So, and they invited because of the theatrics of people who are, who are, are, who do drag, drag as performance.

[00:25:45] Um. To help kids read more and also to It totally makes sense. And so they started also reading stories that were written by L-G-B-T-Q artists. So that was in 2015. I'm like, that wasn't that long ago. But we've become this weird culture where drag, I was like, I was researching, um, were there any drag queen crimes in libraries that I'm unaware of?

[00:26:12] None there have, this is, this is, I'm, I'm getting to a point here. This is all spewed bullshittery because you hear children being harmed, it, it gets to your heartstrings. Same thing with, and by the way, transgender and drag queens, two different things.

[00:26:30] Andrea: people reading to them. Like, where's the harm?

[00:26:33] Carmen: I know, but I was trying to see was there an incident. I was like, there must have been an incident where a drag queen was reading in a library and harmed a child. None. Okay. Then there was another

[00:26:45] Andrea: on their head. I don't know.

[00:26:46] Carmen: I dunno. I'm just saying, so then I was like, there must have been a crime or an incident where somebody who was transgendered was in a bathroom and did something because that's the whole hoopla of people freaking out about people who are transgender using the bathroom.

[00:27:04] None. There's nothing. There are no, there are crimes of people doing things in bathrooms. Right. I can think of George Michael as one, right? I love George Michael. Everyone knows I love George Michael, but he got busted 'cause he was propositioning some other guy who happened to be a cop and then got freaked out or whatever.

[00:27:24] Right? But I'm just saying like, there has never been a transgender crime. That is a transgender crime in a bathroom. But it gets to your heartstrings, it gets to your, do you know what I mean? It gets to your, not mine and yours. I'm talking about the people who freak out about people who are not like them.

[00:27:43] You 

[00:27:44] Andrea: yeah. Yeah. I just, I have no. Patience for that shit.

[00:27:48] Carmen: I know you don't, but I'm,

[00:27:50] Andrea: heartstrings if you're homophobic,

[00:27:52] Carmen: I.

[00:27:53] Andrea: like

[00:27:54] Carmen: But that's what I'm saying. If you are, if you have issues with racism or you have issues with being homophobic or you are against trans people because you don't know enough about it, people hear that word, Andrea, and they just freak out and turn off. Right. And what I'm trying to say to people is if that word bothers you.

[00:28:15] That's a you problem. That's because you haven't done the work you need to do to understand. Why don't you know you guys use interchangeably transgender and drag queens interchange because you don't know what the difference. That's why I'm doing it on purpose. You don't know what the difference is.

[00:28:31] You're confused. You don't know the difference between sex and gender. It's true.

[00:28:38] Andrea: Yeah.

[00:28:39] Carmen: When you hear racism, all you think about is me, me, me, me, me. And I'm not talking about me, Carmen, I'm saying you, you think about, I can't believe you get all defensive and upset. And it's like, why would you If somebody called me a bigot, if somebody said, Carmen, you're a bigot.

[00:28:55] It wouldn't freak me the fuck out at all.

[00:28:58] Andrea: So look, I'm a, I'm a white middle aged lady living in the suburbs, and if someone called me a racist, I'd be like, yeah, not so much.

[00:29:08] Carmen: you even waste your energy?

[00:29:10] Andrea: I'd be like, okay.

[00:29:12] Carmen: Yeah. Thank you. Bye.

[00:29:14] Andrea: Like I wouldn't get upset about it because I know who I am and what I'm about.

[00:29:19] Carmen: Wait. More importantly, you know what it means to be

[00:29:24] Andrea: I know what it means to be racist, and so that to your point, like yes, if someone is saying that to you and you're so freaked out and angry about it, that you're triggered

[00:29:35] Carmen: You are triggered.

[00:29:36] Andrea: a reason.

[00:29:37] Carmen: You're triggered for a reason, and it goes back to that idea like why not start embracing the idea that what you've been doing isn't working? You voted for the wrong person because you believed the bullshittery of what you were being told over and over and over again. And if you get cringed out because you hear words that you don't understand or you think you know them, then why not do the work to learn what they mean?

[00:30:05] You know, I, I cannot tell you how many times I've had a conversation with somebody and they're like talking about somebody being trans transgender, but they're confusing sex.

[00:30:16] Andrea: Yeah. Yeah. Or

[00:30:18] Carmen: then they get mad. What?

[00:30:20] Andrea: just drag, right? Like, oh, they're, they're trans. Like no, they just, they just like Christie no's husband.

[00:30:33] Carmen: No, you did not. Yeah. So maybe look at drag is about a performance. Oh my God, I'm so glad I grew up the way I did. I'm so glad I grew up the way I did. 'cause I grew up in the club, you know, in all the clubs going clubbing at night or whatever, and like. The theatrics of beautiful, wonderful people who can dance and like I would dance during the day with people, right?

[00:30:57] We would do our actual stuff age, and then at night we'd go to the clubs and at night, at the clubs we, we'd have all types, right? There would be the Chippendale dancers, who 95% of them are gay ladies.

[00:31:13] Andrea: Right.

[00:31:14] Carmen: It's kind of the same idea. And then you'd have these wonderful people go up and do drag and they would just be amazing, you know? And it's like I feel blessed and grateful every day that I grew up the way I did. 'cause I don't understand what the anger and hatred is towards people who are not like me.

[00:31:35] Andrea: I, I, obviously, I don't know the full answer, but I do believe I've, I've definitely starting to solidify in Misbelief that these are like, do you. Miserable people who, um, just cannot understand or, or allow joy in other people, and so they push out their misery,

[00:31:59] Carmen: They project. Yeah. And I think if you really believe. Like the, the, the, look it. I'm gonna go all over the place here, right? 'cause why not? But like, if you believe in your religiosity, if you believe in your Christianity, if you believe in the God you believe in, then don't you think that's between them and God?

[00:32:17] Like, you know, like I, I never understood that part too. Like if they're sitting and doing all this stuff, then won't you just let the Lord deal with that? Why do you have to be a nasty motherfucker? I don't understand how that

[00:32:28] Andrea: above me. It's above me. Like why can't you just let it go and be above you?

[00:32:34] Carmen: Yeah, just move through it, you know, like just what, what is the big deal? And the, the irony of ironies is, you know, if most of you probably know or don't know somebody who's transgender, right? But if you do meet someone who's transgender, you're never gonna know. Like, like you're never gonna know unless they tell you.

[00:32:56] Like it's not something that. I, I don't know. I, I feel bad 'cause I think I wanna find excuses for why people voted for Trump, because I wanna believe in the best in people. Um, and with that said, I know Andrea's like, yeah, I don't give a fuck, but I do

[00:33:16] Andrea: I said, fuck them people.

[00:33:18] Carmen: I look it. I, I don't because I wanna believe in the best.

[00:33:21] You know? I feel like there are ways in

[00:33:24] Andrea: I wanna believe in the best too, but I have to accept reality, which is like these people are not bringing their best.

[00:33:31] Carmen: Okay, but they're changing now. I know it's late and I, I know it's, I'm not talking about Tucker Cult. I'm talking about regular folk. I'm talking about regular, regular people who are now out of cult mode.

[00:33:44] Andrea: Mm-hmm.

[00:33:45] Carmen: I don't know what it took to, I do think this was a cult. I do, I don't know enough about cults, but some of the people that were voting for him and supporting him, I really could not wrap my head around it.

[00:33:59] I'm just talking about regular people I know. And you know who I'm talking about. 'cause we know the same people like I know, okay, I'm gonna say this. Somebody who I used to work with, and I say used to for a reason, um, Asian. Married to a white woman with mixed kids voted for Trump. And I was like, this is someone I used to hang out with.

[00:34:19] I was like, what? I still, I had to like dismiss him off of all my social media. 'cause I was like, you, you don't even, so somebody who made really good money to not ultra wealthy or whatever, but you know, stunning don't, still don't understand it to this day. And now is coming around, now is coming around.

[00:34:41] Andrea: I, yeah, I mean, it's well established that you're a better person than me. Like I have no place in my heart for forgiveness for that shit

[00:34:50] Carmen: I didn't say nothing about forgiveness.

[00:34:52] Andrea: but like, I don't, I don't wanna understand you. I don't deal with your shit and go vote the right way. I don't wanna hear from you. I, I just don't like, I just don't

[00:35:01] Carmen: and I don't

[00:35:02] Andrea: Look at how many people you fucked over.

[00:35:05] Carmen: Right.

[00:35:05] Andrea: Look at how many people literally have died and are still dying because you wanted some tax breaks or whatever the fuck. Like, no, I just, I don't have anything in my heart for, for that.

[00:35:17] Carmen: Okay, and I am not, I didn't say anything about forgiveness.

[00:35:21] Andrea: I know.

[00:35:22] Carmen: I didn't say anything about forgiveness, but I do think there's something that we need to grapple with because it'll happen again. It will happen again if we do not become smarter as a people. You know, like I would love to be able to dismiss all of these people and put them on an island somewhere, but that's not how it works, you know?

[00:35:43] Andrea: I think the thing we need to grapple with is, is making our norms. Laws, right? Like people need to be punished. As you were talking about. People need to go to jail for what they have done and are now doing right now. That is a, for me, like that's, and God knows, you know, I am not Miss Crime and Punishment.

[00:36:04] Right? Like that to me is the way

[00:36:08] Carmen: It's weird to hear

[00:36:09] Andrea: begin to deal with it. I am much i'll, I'll just put it this way. I personally am more interested in that than I am in trying to understand why they did this or how to bring them around or whatever.

[00:36:21] Carmen: but here's the problem with your thought process. Okay? I'm just gonna say this.

[00:36:25] Andrea: Do tell

[00:36:26] Carmen: I have no tail. You okay? We put January Sixers in prison. They were in prison. And then because we didn't deal with the real problem, we didn't deal with the real problem, they ended up all getting out and a lot of them re-offending again, by the way.

[00:36:42] Right? Like, so jail and putting people away isn't the only

[00:36:47] Andrea: I'm not talking about like the lower level people. I'm talking about the people who have caused this and, and as I said, we turn, what were our norms into actual laws, like actually put some teeth behind some of the things that we all thought were the way things function. Like it's not just a people need to go to jail.

[00:37:08] There is a multi-pronged like legal effort that I'm

[00:37:12] Carmen: I know, but we tried that. Right? We impeached him the first time. He didn't go to jail because Republicans kept him in office. Right. Like, I'm, I look it, I hear you. I, I think we're both talking about the same thing. I'm just saying there is, there's more than one approach. There's your approach, which is valid, but we gotta do the other work too.

[00:37:31] And the other work is trying to get people to understand why they did what they did.

[00:37:39] Andrea: Okay, well that, that's gonna be your work. And my work is gonna be the other thing. I'm not interested in having those conversations with those people. I'll tell you that right now.

[00:37:51] Carmen: All right, so this will be the last show of culture consequence. We are done now. Look, I, I hear you. I think it's real. Can I just say it's really interesting because usually I'm the capital punishment person. Isn't it true? Like the reason why

[00:38:09] Andrea: it's, it's, and I'm like, roll out the guillotine bitches. Let's go.

[00:38:14] Carmen: Yeah, this is like the reason why I vote, I used to come used to no more, but I used to say I was a conservative democrat is because I actually don't have a problem with capital punishment. I do have a problem with the justice system, right? I, that's where, and this is where I have fights with liberal people, uh uh, all the time, but.

[00:38:36] Uh, it's just weird because I have never heard you talk the way Yeah. You're, you're angry. Yeah. I got you. Yeah. You're not gonna

[00:38:44] Andrea: got white middle aged lady rage over here.

[00:38:49] Carmen: So what is it that you think people need to do just to be clear in order to get, I, I mean, I don't know. I know you well enough. You are never gonna let it go, but what can people do to prove, yeah. I just wanna say Richard died in, uh, the anniversary was, um, April 22nd, right

[00:39:11] Andrea: Oh my God. It was yesterday then.

[00:39:13] Carmen: Yeah. Yeah, 2012.

[00:39:16] Andrea: Richard is haunting me. That's what it's.

[00:39:23] Carmen: It was. It was. It was. So for people who dunno, we'll just say it really quickly. I had a surprise birthday party. I knew nothing about it. Nothing. My best friend at the time, one of my best friends, Richard Johnson, may he rest in peace. Uh. Had a surprise birthday party for me and he invited everyone, but somehow depends on who you talk to.

[00:39:48] Andrea was not invited.

[00:39:51] Andrea: Motherfucker invited my roommate, my former roommate who wasn't even friends with Carmen. Really did not, I didn't even know about, wasn't even just like I wasn't invited. I didn't know till after the fact.

[00:40:07] Carmen: Oh my God. I honestly, it's

[00:40:10] Andrea: letting it go. Never.

[00:40:11] Carmen: I know. Here's the thing. He died in 2012, like so the other day, wait, I think this is really funny. So the other day I said. For my birthday next year, I was thinking I would do something special 'cause I haven't seen a whole bunch of my friends. 'cause we're all scattered all over the world.

[00:40:29] Right. So I was like, I was thinking like maybe I would try to do trips and, and Andrea, what did you say? It was incredible.

[00:40:38] Andrea: I think I said something like, are you gonna have a dinner and not invite me?

[00:40:43] Carmen: No, no. What you said. No. What you said was, do you want me to have a surprise party for you and only invite some friends like you were

[00:40:51] Andrea: That's not what I said.

[00:40:52] Carmen: Yes, you did.

[00:40:53] Andrea: Yeah. Anyway, something like

[00:40:55] Carmen: it. It was something like that. It was

[00:40:57] Andrea: like that.

[00:40:57] Carmen: though. I was like, anyways, so all I'm saying is that you do not let things go.

[00:41:04] Andrea: I don't. That's correct. I have a long memory for these kinds of things.

[00:41:11] Carmen: No, and look, it, I think I, I'm not sitting here pretending that I'm forgiving anyone. I think that at some point people have just gotta behave differently. And what that means is change the way in which you have done things in the past. Right now it just means vote for Democrats, it doesn't matter. Just vote for Democrats up and down no matter what.

[00:41:31] That's what has to happen. And, and that's not what I wanna say. Of all the people. I would never be that person who says that because I have always prided myself on being an independent. I'm an independent now. Um, but I've always been somebody that could vote across the aisle. Um, not that I ever did for president.

[00:41:50] I, I can't lie about that. I've never have. Um.

[00:41:53] Andrea: I've never voted for Republican in my life. For anything.

[00:41:57] Carmen: I have, I have, but I have never voted. I, I, I mean, I think even when it was, what's his name? The Heinz guy. I always call him the Hines guy from Boston. You'd think I'd remember his name. What's his name?

[00:42:09] Andrea: John, Kerry.

[00:42:10] Carmen: I, it was so hard to vote for him. I remember

[00:42:15] Andrea: felt like such a waste.

[00:42:18] Carmen: Yeah.

[00:42:19] Andrea: I'll

[00:42:19] Carmen: It really

[00:42:20] Andrea: I was like, okay, yeah, I guess I'll vote for him, but I already know how this is going.

[00:42:24] Carmen: Yeah. Yeah. But look it, I wish we lived in the world where we could actually look at people for who they are and not their party and blah, blah, blah.

[00:42:31] But we are not there now. This is about voting for corruption, continued corruption, or trying to get our norms back in place. And right now, the Democrats are the only ones who are. Trying to do that, you know? Um, and I would say across the board everywhere, like, not just in California. Oh my God, California.

[00:42:54] Okay. We have to talk about that offline. 'cause I, I need some insight or whatever, but, all right. That's all I have. I do have a list of other things, but we can talk about this next week. But, um, I think that was enough for today. You showing your hardcore self seriously, things have flipped.

[00:43:11] Andrea: well, okay. Like truly, I still am anti-coal punishment, but you know, I guess I can make some exceptions.

[00:43:19] Carmen: Uh, you know what, here's the thing. I, I would be anti capital punishment, but I think about, um. If you hurt a child, like if, if Epstein was alive today, I'd be fine having him killed, right? If the evidence was proven, blah, blah, blah. What I have a problem with is our justice system, and if our justice system was on point, there'd be no need for the capital.

[00:43:44] For capital punishment. It would be rare

[00:43:47] Andrea: I, I mean, I have a several reasons why I am anti capital punishment, but

[00:43:52] Carmen: 'cause you, you're religious. Because you're religious. Just go ahead.

[00:43:56] Andrea: Yeah. The Pope says no. Um. But honestly, I think for some of these people who are truly evil, like that's a, like, that's letting them off easy. Let them rot in prison, you know?

[00:44:10] Carmen: I don't know. I think it depends if you are the victim of that crime. I, you 

[00:44:15] Andrea: that's, well, that's one of my other things. Like, I just feel like, I don't think the state should be taking people's lives. Like, and, and I think there's, um. You know the emotion of it. Right? And then you need sort of the cold hard law of it. You need the state to be sort of a neutral

[00:44:36] Carmen: Manson should have been killed a long time ago. There was no need for him to live on my tax dollars. For as long as he did. Um, I mean, look, I look, this is, this is the, this is the discrepancy, you know, but I think where we both can agree, uh, first of all, I, I, I think it should be a rare thing, like that's the other part of it.

[00:44:55] It should be a rare thing, not something we do in every state on a yearly basis or whatever, but our justice system is the fucked up part about it because there are so many people that were put on death row and should not have been on death row. Do you know what I mean?

[00:45:09] Andrea: And honestly like for these folks, like my, my preference would be put them in prison for life. I think, like, I truly think that would actually feel better to me than, you know, sort of the cathartic off with

[00:45:23] their heads. 

[00:45:24] Carmen: again, I, this is one of those things where it's like we're just gonna agree to disagree because I think if you are the victim of that crime, um, if it's your child who's been raped and killed, if it's, you know what I mean? Whatever it is, whatever it is, um. To have to live with that, knowing that somebody's, I, I don't know.

[00:45:42] I, and I'm not against it because I feel like we do worse things as human beings. Um, and. We do worse things as human beings. I'm gonna leave it at that. We can talk about it next time, but I feel like capital punishment isn't the worst thing we do as human beings. I actually don't. Ending a life is not the worst thing you can do as a human being.

[00:46:08] Andrea: I, I, well, I, I mean, I don't, I don't disagree with you. I just

[00:46:12] Carmen: Oh, really?

[00:46:13] Andrea: shouldn't be in the business of murdering people.

[00:46:16] Carmen: Yeah. So if you want the federal government to be in charge of that, I totally agree with you. No, I'm just kidding. I, I, I hear you. It's again, things have flipped. She's the Christian one. Now you got a lot. Right, because what I'm saying goes against every reli, like the religion I grew up in, but yeah. Um.

[00:46:34] It's an interesting, it's an interesting dynamic. I honestly believe we wouldn't have capital punishment if our justice system was on point. See, that's, that's the whole problem is that our justice system is a mess and we don't, we don't help people when they're in prison. So when people are in prison, we don't help them become better people.

[00:46:55] 'cause we don't wanna spend any money on them. Right. We don't wanna do anything to rehabilitate anybody, so they go back on the streets. You have kids who are in prison for bullshit shit, right? Go back to racism, go back to whatever you want. They end up becoming part of the system. We end up creating the criminals that then we're pissed about.

[00:47:15] So there's, there are so many layers to

[00:47:17] Andrea: learn how to crime better in prison.

[00:47:20] Carmen: Well, because we, and, and then when we let people out of prison, we don't do anything to help them reestablish and reintegrate back into society. Um, so look it, I actually don't think we're that far off on this. Um, I feel, I honestly believe if capital punishment was done correctly.

[00:47:40] We'd rarely have it. It would actually act as a deterrent, you know? I mean, it would actually, but we have so many other issues to fix and problems within our justice system. The fact that we can let a man do what he has done, be impeached over and over and over again, and have crimes and become president of the United States, tells you that our justice system is fucked up.

[00:48:03] Hmm.

[00:48:04] Andrea: Yep.

[00:48:06] Carmen: And so with that, remember, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy.

[00:48:11] Andrea: Woo.

[00:48:13] Carmen: We'll see you guys next week. Thank you everyone. Bye.

[00:48:17] Andrea: Hi.

[00:48:19] Carmen: I didn't realize we'd be talking about that. That was a.