Southeast Kingdom
Welcome to the Southeast Kingdom !! I am Lord CiceroDaGreat, Lord Paramount of the Southeast and your favorite Game of Thrones commentator from Tik Tok. Do you like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Lord of the Rings and other tales of fantasy ? What about Sci-Fi ? Anime ? Comics ? You do ? Well in the words of House Cicero, Let’s Talk About It !!!
Southeast Kingdom
When vampires, music, and redemption collide in the American South
The gates of the Southeast Kingdom have reopened, and Lord Cicero returns with a fiery celebration of originality in horror filmmaking. At the heart of this episode is a passionate deep-dive into "Sinners," Ryan Coogler's vampire horror film that earned a perfect 10/10 rating from our host, who declares it worthy of "supreme glazing" – the highest praise possible.
What makes "Sinners" stand out in today's cinematic landscape? Lord Cicero meticulously breaks down the elements that elevate this film above the endless remakes and sequels currently dominating Hollywood. From Michael B. Jordan's brilliant dual performance as twins Smoke and Stack, to the historical authenticity of setting a horror story in 1932 Mississippi, every aspect of the film receives thoughtful analysis. The episode highlights standout performances from One Me Mosaka as Annie, Haley Stanfield as Mary, and the legendary Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim – a veteran actor who "doesn't get enough flowers" for his contributions to cinema.
Beyond just praising performances, Lord Cicero examines how "Sinners" uses music as a transcendent force connecting past and future, creating some of the film's most powerful moments. The unique Irish vampire dance sequence, the cathartic Klan ambush scene, and the brilliant soundtrack all receive special attention. For horror fans tired of franchises that have lost their way, this episode makes a compelling case for supporting original storytelling.
The episode shifts gears in its second half, offering candid thoughts on the recent presidential election, voter demographics, and the ongoing communication challenges between men and women. With characteristic honesty and humor, Lord Cicero examines voters' remorse, one-issue voting, and the fundamental misunderstandings that often occur between genders.
Whether you're a film enthusiast seeking thoughtful analysis or someone who appreciates unfiltered social commentary, this return of the Southeast Kingdom Podcast delivers both entertainment and substance. Subscribe now to join the kingdom and never miss another episode of Lord Cicero's unique perspective on films and culture.
Welcome back to another episode of the Southeast Kingdom Podcast. I am your host, lord Cicero, the Great Lord Paramount of the Southeast Kingdom. Yes, I know, I know it's been a long time since we've been here, but once again, the gates of the kingdom are open and we got things we need to talk about. So what has the world by the balls right now is this movie called Sinners, and I went to see it and I'm going to tell you that movie is freaking awesome. I say it's a 100 out of 10. It's almost perfect, and you have a lot of people out here on social media and in the streets saying, oh, it was good, but it's not all that. I think these people don't understand how difficult it is to make a movie that's almost perfect and then, on the flip side of that, to make a horror movie that is almost perfect is mind-blowing. It's truly mind-blowing. You are more likely to see real footage of Bigfoot and the Chupacabra than you will seeing an almost perfect horror movie. So, yes, that movie's fucking good and we're going to glaze the hell out of that movie. I'm talking about supreme glazing Fresh donuts out the oven. Glaze that movie. And number one reason why we're glazing it is because it's original. It's an original piece of work and Hollywood just doesn't give us original work anymore.
Speaker 1:Now there are some people that will say that, oh, sinners, is they stole the plot from Dust Till Dawn. Okay, I get it. There is some similarities there Two brothers going down south to have a better life and then they run into vampires and shit gets sticky. All right, but I think we have to pay attention to some of the nuances there as well. In Dust Till Dawn, those two brothers went south to start a better life. In Sinners, these two brothers return to the South, because that's where they're from, to have a better life. Not to mention, in Dust Till Dawn, these two brothers kidnapped a family that would have survived and been fine if they didn't kidnap them. So there are nuances that we have to pay attention to, but that doesn't fit the narrative of a lot of people, so they don't want to talk about that part Now.
Speaker 1:Also, hollywood continues to give us remakes of movies that we don't need. Like there'll be a hit movie, great movie, and then, oh, let's remake it. Like right now they're trying to make a great Whitney Houston. Like right now they're trying Bodyguard was great Whitney Houston. Kevin Costner Awesome, freaking movie, and now y'all want to remake it. And then you want Taylor Swift as the role that Whitney Houston played. She don't even have the voice strength for that. If you want to pick a Caucasian actor to play Whitney Houston's role from Bodyguard, in my opinion it has to be Christina Aguilera, because she got the voice. She got the strong voice either her or Dale. That's just my opinion.
Speaker 1:But stop making these remakes of movies, especially the remakes or sequels that are 15 to 20 years too late. We did not need a sequel to come into America. I watched it, I kind of liked it a little bit, but it was trash. Let's give it a buck. And then they give us these lackluster movies, especially these lackluster scary movies that are a waste of time. And then some of these movies, when they get the original first movie, it's really good, and then they kill it by trying to turn it into a franchise, like Insidious and the Conjuring, which the first couple of movies, great, great. But then you tried to create a universe and now it's just. I want you to know not all horror franchises are bad.
Speaker 1:I grew up with Jason, freddy, michael Myers and Chucky, the hard hitters of horror. But as time went by, even their movies got terrible. Everything after Jason X, they could have kept. Everything. After Freddy's Dead they could have kept Everything from Bride of Chucky forward, they could have kept. We didn't need it. Those franchises were perfect the way they were, okay. Even I'm so glad they quit making the Paranormal Activity movies, because the first three Good, but that last one, the marked ones, they could have kept. It Could have kept it. It wasn't necessary. It did tie things together a little bit, but they still could have kept it. That's all I'm saying. So when we get a movie like Sinners that's original, we're going to get excited about it. Just deal with that.
Speaker 1:Also, something else that Hollywood continues to give us superhero movies, and I love, love a good superhero movie Marvel, dc, it don't matter, I'm there for it. But I have to admit there is an oversaturation of superhero movies in the market and I understand it, because superhero movies are cash cows. You give us a good superhero that everybody likes, even the casual fans. People are going to show up to see it. They're going to show up. That's just a given. It is a cash cow. The MCU alone, off ticket sales, just ticket sales has made billions of dollars, and that's not counting merchandise and all the other things they do to make money. Just ticket sales have made billions of dollars. So I understand why they keep cranking out superhero movies, because they know we're going to show up. But, like I said, when you get an original story like Sinners and it's really good, the glazing will commence.
Speaker 1:Now there are some people on social media. I saw one guy on TikTok who had an issue saying oh, where's the Latino representation? Ryan Coogler, why weren't there any Latinos in centers? Dude, shut the fuck up. Tony, please don't come for Ryan Coogler like he doesn't have Latinos in his movie. He literally gave the Latino community an entire underwater civilization in Wakanda forever. Okay, gave them a leader, the whole thing, even gave them vibranium. But now you're going to come for him because there was no Latino representation in centers. Let's remember one thing this is a horror movie. Number two, it's also a period piece. Okay, 1932 Mississippi. And I'm not saying there weren't any Latinos in 1932 Mississippi, but I am saying they wasn't making no noise. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
Speaker 1:All right, so Ryan Kubler once again, this man continues to shine as one of the best young directors, producers in Hollywood. The man don't miss Fruitvale Station, the Creed series, black Panther, wakanda, forever and Now Sinners. He don't miss. Even in the heat of battle he don't miss. And once again, this man has created a movie. He's assembled a cast that's almost perfect. I mean, every actor that is in this movie feels like they were doing it for the ground. They were doing it, they were doing, they were doing the damn thing. Every actor brought their best work. Clearly, the rent was due for everybody. Ok, the rent was due and the cast, they played so well off of each other that it's hard to not see this movie winning some sort of award. Now, I'm pretty sure it's not going to win any oscars, because I ain't gonna go into that, but they ain't winning no oscars, but they better win some awards for this movie.
Speaker 1:Michael B Jordan played the hell out of his role. Matter of fact, he played two roles and I love the fact that they kept the hip of the trailers. Like when we watched the trailers for Sinners, we knew he had a brother, but we didn't know he had a twin brother. Or maybe I didn't know because I didn't do a lot of digging into this movie, because a lot of times when it comes to movies, I don't want to dig deep into it. I want to go into the movie fresh, with not having a real thought process or any preconceived ideas about what the movie will be. So I don't do a lot of deep dive. So I didn't know he was going to play two roles. So it was very shocking to me when the movie starts and I see him on the screen Smoke and Stack I literally thought is that shoulder type thing? Is that a real person standing beside him? And it was a real deal. So I love that they kept that out of the trailers, because a lot of times the trailers give us too much in the movies these days.
Speaker 1:I love the fact that Smoke and Stack. They were twins but like any set of twins, they were very similar but very different. Smoke is the pragmatic and calculating twin, while Stack is the more personable and charming twin. And you begin to know they operate when they are split. At that point they decide, hey, smoke took the truck to go over here and then Stat took the car to go do this over here. It's that what they went to do played into their personalities.
Speaker 1:Smoke went into town to secure business alliances for the Juke Joint. He went to see Grace and Bo to cut a deal with them why he couldn't send Stack to do that. Grace and Bo are not going to be moved by charm and personality. They're going to be moved by the same thing that moves smoke the dollar, dollar bill. If you notice, when he's talking to Bo, the whole time he's talking he's thumbing through the cash Because he knows he knows that's what's going to get Bo's attention, that's what's going to get Bo to help him. Even when Grace comes in, he's cutting the deal with what's going to get Bo to help him. Even when Grace comes in, grace, he's cutting a deal with Grace. He got the dollars out of him. This is what I'm going to pay and they make the deal.
Speaker 1:But Stacks goes because his personality is more personable and charming. He goes to talk to Delta Slim Because they know Delta Slim money really ain't his motivation. You can't tell Dr Slim I'm going to pay you this much right here. And he did. He told Dr Slim I'm going to pay you this much. But Dr Slim didn't give a damn about that. He didn't give a damn about no money. He didn't care. He wanted that alcohol and he said well, look, here's this beer, Taste this. And when Doug Slim tasted it he was like, ooh, that shit's smooth. He said I got Instagram cases of that. You have as much as you want. And at that point Doug Slim was all in. Now we want you to know that is not a deal that Smoke would have made. He wouldn't have made that deal with Doug Slim. And you can tell that later on in the movie when Smoke and Stack and Andy come together to say, hey, we ain't making no money here, because half the people are paying with real money but the other half is paying with some other form of payment. So just because Smoke had an issue with that right there, that lets you know that Smoke was not going to make a deal where Delta Slim can drink all he wants and we cool, it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1:You got these twins playing to each other's strengths when they went to make those deals. It was beautiful One. Me Mosaka I hope I'm saying her name right the actor that plays Annie. I love her in everything she's played in so far. Everything I've seen her in. I have loved her when she played Helen of Troy. I loved her Her work in the MCU and Lovecraft Country. I love this woman in everything. This woman, I will have her babies. I think she's beautiful, I think she's talented, I think she's attractive and if I was to run into her somewhere in public and she wanted me, I'd go. I'd go, I promise I would go.
Speaker 1:I love her character, annie, in the show in movie centers, because she smokes love interest and you can tell that she really loves him and that kind of love she, that she, she, has for him is very hard to come by. And then her and smoke have this, um, this trauma that they share with the, the undone I say unborn that they share the past way and they have this connection that hasn't went anywhere. He's been away from her for years and throughout that entire time he still loved her, she still loved him and she's continued to try to protect him from a spiritual standpoint, in his absence, with the little bag around his neck, and she continued to pray for him all along. And then they have this intimate moment at her shop, which, baby, let me tell you, when she put her hand around his throat and she bit his ear, licked his ear. Whatever she did, baby, call me linen, call me a t-shirt, because I'd have folded, especially when she said your body ain't forget about me, show didn't, show didn't. I'm just saying, I'm just saying Love it.
Speaker 1:Haley Stanfield plays Mary, and you know Haley Stanfield, she's in the MCU as well. It's interesting how many people in this movie that are involved in the MCU Michael B Jordan, one, me, hayley they've all been a part of the MCU and Hayley Stanfield she plays. She was the archer. She played in the Hawkeye show with the MCU, but I love her. She plays the mixed race Mary and she is the love interest of Stack. Now I have come under fire on social media, on TikTok, because I don't think Stack was in love with Mary. I think Mary wanted him, I think Mary really loved him and she's probably in love with Stack, but I don't think Stack's in love with her. That's just my opinion. And as I watch this movie we have Mary's character who is mixed race and she's passing as white everywhere she goes and I grew up in the 90s and I remember hearing the phrase a black man's kryptonite. And as you go through the movie, that white woman, the black man's kryptonite, and as you watch the movie you see how she's bitten and turned into a vampire. She comes back in and she ends up being Stacks Downfall, kryptonite, so to speak. That's cool Anyway.
Speaker 1:Then you have Ye-Li Gao and Li Jun Li as Grace and Bo, the Asian business owners, and I believe their inclusion, their character's inclusion in this movie was brilliant. It was brilliant because their two roles were not really necessary. You didn't have to have Asian actors in this movie. They weren't necessary, but it's historically accurate. Asian businesses being involved in America goes as far back as the Reconstruction era after the Civil War. Asian businesses. They provided a place where Black people could go and buy the goods they needed, because black people were not allowed in white stores, and so Asians businesses have always placed themselves in black communities, and a lot of that was also because Asian businesses couldn't get into white communities, so they ended up in black spaces and it works for them. And in this movie you have Grace and Bo, who both they own two businesses. They own two stores one store on one side of the street where the black people shop, and in the store on the other side of the street Grace runs that store for the white people shop and it works for them. So their inclusion in the story was not totally necessary, but it's brilliant that they're there and gives us that piece of actual, real history of this country.
Speaker 1:We also have Miles Caton. I'm not sure if I'm saying that right, but he plays the role of Sammy, aka Preacher Boy, and this is his first film and it's a breakout role for him because he was great at it and I think he was so good at it. Part of the reason he was so good at it is because he comes from a musical background, so they have him playing a character that is deep in music. So it's almost like he's playing a character he knows to an extent and he killed it. He kills his role. And Sammy preacher boy, he's special. His music is not just music. He has that music that's able to be transcendent and connect with the past and the future, and I'm going to get into that a little bit more in a few minutes.
Speaker 1:Okay, and now we have the legendary, the man himself, delroy Lindell, as Delta Slam. Delroy is the elder statesman in this movie. He is the most seasoned actor on the cast, and I just want to say something about Delroy. This man does not get enough credit. We don't give this man enough flowers, okay, in my personal opinion, when we talk about the great black actors, especially the men. We talk about Denzel, we talk about Morgan Freeman, we talk about Sidney Poitier. But Delroy, this man got staying power, that man been out here on the battlefield for a long time and putting out good stuff Tell me, we didn't like him as the daddy in Crooklyn.
Speaker 1:We didn't like him as the lawman in Harder they Fall. Who didn't like him as Joe Black in this Christmas? In this Christmas, joe Black was getting shit done that we couldn't understand. I'm still trying to figure out who Joe Black called in this Christmas that got Columbus Short's character out of jail and was able to not only get him to church but get him to Christmas dinner before he had to go back and deal with the fact that he was AWOL from the military. What the hell was Joe Black really out here doing, is my question.
Speaker 1:But Delta Slim, the character. He's a man with a tragic past and we get that scene where they're in the car. He's riding the stack of Sammy and he tells this story. And this is a man who has been through the ringer as far as the Jim Crow era goes. He's seen the worst of it and money is not a motivator for him. He's a talented musician and he wants to be paid, but he prefers alcohol. He wants the money but he need that alcohol and I think the alcohol numbs the pain. I think the alcohol keeps away the demons. It keeps away the memories of all of the crazy shit that he's seen and been going through as a product of the Jim Crow era.
Speaker 1:Then the bad guy, jack O'Connell plays Remick the vampire. Now, jack O'Connell is of Irish descent, so him playing an Irish vampire is half the work done. Okay, he, he already has an Irish background. So playing a Irish vampire, irish character, the work is done. It's just like Miles playing a musician he's, he is a musician in reality. So half the work is done. And it's just the typical bad leader vampire. He gives us everything that an evil vampire should give us. He's manipulative, he's evil, he plays mind games. He does all of that, but he seems to be a vampire that wants a community vampire that wants a community. He's a vampire that wants to reconnect with his ancestors and his past, and not his vampire past but his human past. And he sees Sammy Preacher Boy's music as a way of doing that because, as I stated, sammy's music is transcendent. It has a way of doing that because, as I stated, sammy's music is transcending, it has a way of connecting, and Remick plays that role. He plays the role of this head vampire so good and, like I said, his Irish descent plays into the character where especially where my favorite scene in the movie is the Irish song and the dance, which I'm going to talk about that in a little bit. But Remick, jack O'Connell great stuff. All these actors great, and, like I said earlier, I love the fact that several of these actors are connected to the MCU, along with Ryan Coogler as well. It's great.
Speaker 1:Now, as we go through the movie, there are a few things that stick out to me. I know there has to be some people out there that haven't seen this movie, so I don't want to give you a whole bunch of spoilers. But my question is why ain't you seen it, though? If you need a little piece of change, maybe the cash, half you so you can go see this, go see it, because I got you, I got your back. But let's talk about a few things.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about a few things. Are we ready to forgive Star-Lord? Are we ready? Let's put it out there Star-Lord was directly responsible for the death of billions in Infinity War across the universe. It was his fault, because he couldn't keep his emotions intact that billions died. Now here we have Grace and Senna's, the Asian lady. She's directly responsible for the vampires getting in because she invites them in. When they start talking about getting her daughter, she loses it. You know she loses it. She did the same thing Star-Lord did. But are we ready to forgive Star-Lord? No, we're not. We're not Simply because of the scale. When Grace did it, three or four people died. When Star-Lord did it, half the fucking universe died. I'm sorry, star-lord, you're still on the hook, buddy, deal with that.
Speaker 1:The Irish dance in this movie was wild. Now when you're watching the movie, when it starts, you hear them singing. From inside the bar they can hear them singing and it gets creepy. It is creepy when I hear them singing, but then when they go out there and you can see them, not only is it creeping and disturbing as planned, but it shows a little bit of a different side of Remick as well, because they're just having. It looks like they're having a good time. They're singing the road to Dublin and there's nothing. And I don't really know that song from start to finish, but to my knowledge, there's nothing inherently evil about that song, but when you have vampires with glowing eyes outside singing it, it gets evil, it gets creepy. Let's deal with that, okay. But I feel like Remick them singing that song, with Remick leading them. I think it ties back into whatever's left of Remick's human personality, whatever's left of his humanity, because he was a musician Before he was turned into a vampire.
Speaker 1:He was a musician and I think him doing that song was an attempt to appeal to Preacher Boy, musician and musician. Okay. Also, the song was kind of lit. All right, let's just put it out there. The song was kind of lit because I was in my seat, kind of just jigging a little bit Like wait a minute, this song kind of hot. All right, I'm three for five. I was in, I was going in, I was having a good time Because I went to music by myself. I was in, I was going in, I was having a good time, I was having a good time.
Speaker 1:Then let's talk about Sammy's music. No, before we get into Sammy's music, let's go to the very end the Klan ambush. When the Klan shows up to ambush anybody black people that are in the bar, let me tell you, I abhor. I literally hate racist people. I don't care whether you're black, white, blue, green, orange. I hate racist people. And watching these racist characters show up in an attempt to massacre black people and then to have the tables turned on them and each one of them died, I didn't have a single problem. Because you want to keep that energy. Keep that energy because you came up and guess what Me and you got you. That was beautiful, and my favorite part of the ambush is when Smoke is running up beside the truck with the grenade and just casually tosses the grenade in the truck because they were trying to get away Uh-uh and blew him all to head. It was beautiful, it was an awesome thing.
Speaker 1:Then Sammy's music. Let me tell you something. I am a person who loves music. I have my degree in music. Music is a universal language that we all understand. Ok, it's truly universal. Music can be transcendent, as, as the movie told us in the beginning. It can connect with the past and the future, and that's what Sammy's music does, and I feel like that's what music does Period, like, if you're in the car with me, there's no telling what you're going to hear.
Speaker 1:I'm eclectic. I got R&B, I got rap, I got pop, I got golden oldies. I got 70s, 80s, 90s. I got some classical music. I have a playlist that's dedicated to just Disney music, mostly for my grandson, but I jam off of it too. I hit the Cheetah Girls every now and then. I enjoy myself. But Sammy's music was so transcendent that it connected to the past and the future. And it was awesome to me that scene when he was singing and he was playing, and while he's doing it you see spirits from the past, the musicians enter into the juke joint and then you got a guy playing an electric guitar, you know, who kind of reminded me of Jimi Hendrix, and it was just connecting with the past and the future. And then you get these other cultures, also represented, from Africa and Native America and Asian cultures. It was just great. That part of the movie was, without a doubt, top two favorite parts of the movie for me the Irish dance scene and the soundtrack itself. The whole soundtrack for this movie is a banger. I've added it to my Apple Music. It's just that.
Speaker 1:Good Sinners was a cinematic and is a cinematic experience. And I'm going to say something I truly enjoy going to the movies. It's one of those things I truly enjoy. I love the cinematic experience and to me the cinematic experience is two-sided. On one side is this part of me that loves it.
Speaker 1:I can watch a movie at home, and there are benefits to watching the movie at home. I can pause it if I need to, I can get up and go to the bathroom. I can get up and go get snacks. I can watch the movie in my drawers, or nothing at all if I want to, but there's nothing like going to the theater, because I have a whole ritual when I go to the movie theater. When I get there, I get to the movie at least 15 to 20 minutes before the movie starts. Ok, before 15 to 20 minutes early, I'm going to the bathroom to pee or have a constitutional, whichever one I need and I come out, wash my hands, I go to the counter. I'm going to get me a medium drink, probably grape soda, depending on what movie theater I'm in. If it's a Cinemark, root beer, amc, grape, amc, got that Coke machine. The freestyle Love that.
Speaker 1:I'm going to get popcorn. I'm going to get a large popcorn. Let me fill it halfway and then hand it to me. Let me go over here and put the butter on it, cause I don't like the way they do it. They'll, they'll put the butter on the halfway thing for you, but they don't do it right Cause they they'll go over there, press that button and just move it around. I need you to move it around and you just shake that thing to shake it up. That way the Give me the rest of the popcorn on top. Let me put a little more butter on there. Real good, let me butter it down all over the top. And sometimes you're probably saying it's a lot of butter.
Speaker 1:Lord Cicero, I'm here for a good time, not a long time, okay, understand me. Then I'm going to go into the theater and once I'm in the theater, once I'm sitting down, I got my popcorn. To my right I'm probably sitting about halfway up in the theater, if possible, because I don't want to go too high, because that's going to turn on my anxiety, because I got a fear of heights. And then I don't want to sit too low because then I got to do this shit, the whole movie. So bring me in the middle. I don't want to have to look from the left, I don't want to have to look from the right and look straight ahead and I'm good.
Speaker 1:I love going to the movies by myself because I don't want to share my popcorn. So if I go with other people, understand you need your own popcorn. I will buy your popcorn, just to keep your hands out of my popcorn. Okay, because I don't really mess with my popcorn until the movie starts. Throughout the previews I may eat a few kernels here and there, you know, whatever Cool.
Speaker 1:But once the movie starts, that's when I really indulge in my popcorn. And I don't like the way other people eat their popcorn Because, see, when I eat my popcorn, I eat them like with three fingers Two, a thumb and two fingers, or just a thumb and an index. You know that's how I eat my popcorn. Fingers or just a thumb in the index, that's how I eat my popcorn. I see people, they take their whole hand in there and they pop a popcorn like sunflower seeds. You put your whole hand in my popcorn bucket and I will end this movie for everybody because I will knock your ass out, don't you dare? That's why I don't share my popcorn at the movies. I love the whole experience.
Speaker 1:Once the movie starts, I ain't moving. I don't share my popcorn at the movies. I love the whole experience and once the movie starts I ain't moving. Okay, I ain't hardly going to drink that much because I don't want to get up and have to pee. I'm not leaving this theater. Once that movie starts, I'm here. My phone is on silent. I may check it to make sure ain't no emergencies popping. But anytime you decide to send me a reel, a TikTok, a tag me in something, a text me, trust me, if it's not an emergency, I'm not responding until I walk out the theater. Deal with that.
Speaker 1:Just deal with that. That's the cinematic experience for me. Now, the other side of the cinematic experience is I can't stand people that want to shit on other people's opinions. Yes, the directors and the producers and the writers and the actors, they all tell us, well, this is what's happening in the movie, and this, this, this, this and this and then. But when there are others, like myself and other people on social media, that have their own thoughts and opinions about what they see, somebody in the comments oh well, do you know more than the director?
Speaker 1:Did you write the movie? I don't give a damn if I wrote it, wrote it, didn't write it whatever. That's irrelevant. The fact of the matter is I saw something and I saw how it connected with me from a historical standpoint sometimes, or some other standpoint, and I vibed with it. Sue me and I vibe with it. Sue me and I'm going to talk about it. And if you don't like that, when you see my video, do this right here. Take your finger, put it on the bottom of the screen and scroll, bitch, roll it. The cinematic experience. I love going to the movies and I think if you haven't seen Sinners, what the hell are you waiting on?
Speaker 1:Today in things worldly but not nerdy Since the last time I came to y'all we've had a presidential election and once again Donald J Trump is President of the United States and since his inauguration the state of the nation is kind of in flux a little bit. You know, people are worried, people are scared. Some people are highly confident because they believe in him and there are those of us who say I don't know, I'm on the fence, and then others that say gloom and doom, he's going to destroy everything Me. I'm kind of in the middle. Honestly, I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I didn't vote for him. I voted for Kamala Harris and I felt like I voted for the right person. Honestly, I know a lot of times we as people, we get a little disillusioned with having to vote for the lesser of two evils. But that's where we are as a country. We've been there for decades and I don't see that changing anytime soon Now.
Speaker 1:Do I agree with a lot of the things Donald Trump is doing right now, currently? I don't Do. I believe Kamala Harris would have done those things differently. Of course I do. Do I think we'd be in a state where our trade partners around the world are becoming enemies with her? No, I don't think that would have happened. But here we are. But one of the questions I do have is why do we keep electing the elderly Joe Biden, donald Trump, both men over the age of 75 and we elect them president? Why do we do this? Don't old people frustrate the hell out of us? We be mad at old people when they drive terribly. We get mad because they don't understand technology. When we're at the grocery store and they're still writing checks and we're in line behind them. We can't stand it. But when it comes time to vote for the president of the free world, the president of the United States of America, we will punch the ticket for a man who probably is not cognitively all there.
Speaker 1:Let's just keep it a book, all right. Joe Biden was not cognitively all there. It was not, and it was evident, it was painfully evident by the end of his presidency that this man is not all there. It was not, and it was evident. It was painfully evident by the end of his presidency that this man is not all there. And I'm going to say it Donald Trump's not all there either. He just has a different form of dementia. You can listen to the way he talks as somebody who's dealt with dementia patients. My father had dementia before he passed. I know dementia when I hear it. And Donald Trump has some form of dementia. His doctors can come out and say, oh, he's in perfect health, and this, this, this and everything is great, all they want to. I don't believe you, because there is no way on God's green earth that you can convince me that somebody near 80 years old has all of their mental faculties in place. It's not possible. It doesn't happen. That's just the general wear and tear of the human body. Come on, man, quit playing with me Now.
Speaker 1:At the same token, when we talk about the age of a president and this is going to be a little hypocritical if Al Gore was to run for president right now, he'd get my vote. Now Al Gore is 77 years old, but if you've seen him recently on the episode of the Bill Marshall, he don't look 77. Al Gore looks good. Al Gore looked like he took his L, went home and he'd been chilling, eating right exercise, drinking his water, eating his fruits, getting some of that temper every now and then, and he sounded like you know what he's talking about when he's talking. Like if you put Al Gore up there on the ticket right now even though I'm tired of voting for elderly men, I'd vote for Al Gore. I promise I would.
Speaker 1:Now, then you have Donald Trump's cabinet, and this has to be the most unqualified cabinet in all of history. I think I'm sure there's somebody worse, but this is the one I can remember in recent memory. You have people in positions that are not qualified for those positions, and this speaks very loudly to the fact that party affiliation takes precedence over doing what's best for the country. Because there's an R or D by your name, I will stand beside you, okay, because how does the Senate in good conscience confirm a person as the Secretary of Education who has never worked in education? She's never principal, vice principal, teacher, paraprofessional. She's never been a fucking substitute teacher, but she's the secretary of education. Her resume is I ran the WWE, the World Wrestling Federation of Entertainment. What the fuck they're using now? Nowhere is there any education background, but she's the secretary of education.
Speaker 1:Then you have the Secretary of Defense, now hexer. Now this guy has military background, but his last job was being a talking head at Fox News and since he's got the job, he's leaked sensitive information through a signal chat, once to a reporter and again a second time to his wife, brother and his personal lawyer. And that's the guy that the Senate chose not to mention. He has a drinking problem, but they chose him. He was nominated over more qualified four-star generals. Make that make sense. Like I said, I'm not a Democrat or Republican, but when I see things that I don't think are right, I'm going to say it. I'm going to speak on it, whether it aligns with my political affiliation or not.
Speaker 1:Now we got all these tariffs. Donald Trump came out. He's put a tariff on everybody. It's a tariff here, a tariff there, you get a tariff. You get a tariff. Everybody gets a fucking tariff and the tariffs. The thought process is that he's going to put these tariffs on these countries and these countries are going to bend the knee and they're going to make good deals with us, and that's what they continue to spew to people. But the reality of these tariffs is that the tariffs are paid for by importers, and importers get their money back from us, the people, so they're going to jack up the prices on their goods because they had to pay the import fees. They're going to get their money back regardless. But I think it's very interesting, very, very interesting, that he put tariffs on all these countries except for Russia. Hmm, do with that information what you want.
Speaker 1:Now we got a little voters remorse going on in this country. There are people out here who voted for Donald Trump and now they're starting to have second thoughts. Like, wait a minute, let's put it out there. Voters remorse is real. It happens at every election every person, every person. But every time there is an election, you vote for the person you want and then then that candidate wins and they do something you don't agree with, and then voters' remorse starts to set in, and it takes a little bit. It takes a little time for the voters' remorse to set in. It doesn't happen the first time they do something that you don't like. It really starts to happen when they do things that negatively affect you.
Speaker 1:A lot of people wanted Donald Trump because he said all the good things. That's one thing I will give Republicans they're really good at messaging. They found about two or three good topics in the last election and they hammered them into the ground Immigration, deport the illegals, bringing prices of groceries down that was really it. That's all the main two things they talked about, and it worked. It really worked for them.
Speaker 1:But now here we are. Trump is in office and he's doing things, and now these people that they're experiencing the crunch. Now the entire world is on the verge of bankruptcy. Farmers all over this country benefited from a bill signed by Joe Biden. Now Donald Trump rescinded that bill and they're not getting those funds anymore. And so now they're like, oh, I'm going to lose the farm. And so now they're like, oh, I'm going to lose the farm. Oh, so you voted for the candidate that took away your money, your funding. Oh damn, I'm sorry. I don't feel sorry for you in that situation because that's what you voted for. I'm not a Donald Trump fan, but I can give him this.
Speaker 1:That man ran his campaign and said exactly what he was going to do. He said exactly what he was going to do and he's doing it. And y'all heard him say what he said he was going to do and y'all said, yep, that's what I want. And now that it's happening, you got remorse. Such to be you Now, and then you have these Palestinians.
Speaker 1:One thing that irks me is one-issue voters. You have one issue and you harp on it and that one issue is going to be your deciding vote, and that was a lot of Palestinian Americans. They decided they were going to vote based on how things are going in gossip and they didn't like the way Joe Biden was running it and they didn't like what Kamala was saying about it. So they said don't vote for Kamala, vote for Donald Trump or don't vote at all. That's what. That's what their message was Don't vote for Kamala Harris, don't vote for her, don't vote at all. That's what their message was Don't vote for Kamala Harris, don't vote for her, don't vote for her.
Speaker 1:And now that they didn't and either they didn't vote at all or they voted for Donald Trump and when Donald Trump wins the election, he's like, hey, those people in Gaza, they need to get out of there, because Netanyahu, israel, we're going to give them what they need to finish the job. What Y'all stood up here on all of the social media standing against genocide, okay. But then when Donald Trump says, hey, we're going to give Israel what they need to finish the job those people that are innocent, they need to leave Gaza. They need to finish the job. Those people that are innocent, they need to leave Gaza. They need to just leave their country. Now, those same people, those same Palestinian Americans who were against Kamala, they want everybody else in America to coalesce around them. And well, we the election's over we need to come together as a people. We need to stand together and fight the good fight. Our opportunity to stand together was November 5th. That was our chance to stand together and you chose to go the way you chose. So fuck you.
Speaker 1:And now they're mad. They're mad because especially black people have said we're hands out, hands up, we don't want no parts. Y'all have at it, do what you do, we don't care. Oh, you can't be mad because we didn't vote for Kamala. Who said we was mad? Who said we were upset that you didn't vote for Kamala? What we said was we've washed our hands of it Because you were a one-issue voter.
Speaker 1:You voted for the one issue or didn't vote for the one issue that you cared about. You didn't care to look at all the issues that affect us as Black people and white people and Hispanics and everybody else. You didn't care about those issues. You didn't care about the myriad of issues that affected us. All you cared about was your one issue, in Gaza. So guess what we're done. You got to deal with that.
Speaker 1:And then you have the Latino community also feeling a little voter's remorse. Have the Latino community also feeling a little voter's remorse? Because, let's be honest, latino men voted for Trump in droves almost 60%. But now here we are, abuela and the Abuelos are getting deported, and it's shocking oh, not me. And it's shocking, oh, I get not, not me, not us. You weren't supposed to deport us. You were supposed to deport them Latinos, them brown people over there. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I believe one of Donald Trump's appointees they asked him said they asked him about deporting families. And are we going to try to keep families together? And his response was well, we can just deport the whole family and they'll be together. And when he said that I was like OK, type shit. That's how they feel They'll deport the whole family. That way, y'all still get to be together. You don't get to be together over here.
Speaker 1:And again, those, those MAGA, the MAGA crowd that own farms and own hotels and things like that they're noticing that. Oh crap, some of those people that were undocumented, that was our labor force. Now, who's going to clean our hotels? Who's going to work on the roads? Who's going to pick the fruit and the vegetables and all these things? Who's going to do those things? Guess what? The average American, I don't care what these black, white, asian, they don't want to. That's not the job they're going to do. The average American is not going to go out and work in the hot sun, 100 degree weather, picking fruit at $11 to $12 an hour. It's just not going to happen. So now, those of you, maga, who went out and voted for Donald because he was going to do the things you wanted, and now it's directly affecting you, you have to figure out a way. You're going to have to raise the price of your wages that you're willing to pay, or just pick that fruit your damn self. Sorry, not sorry.
Speaker 1:Now it's 2025 and the war between men and women continues to rage on. Will it ever end? Will it ever come to a place where we can agree to disagree, or will it get to a place where it's harmonious between men and women? No, it won't. The war between men and women will continue to roll on. It will continue to roll on. It will continue to roll on for a number of reasons. One, because of social media.
Speaker 1:Social media has a way of pulling out the worst in us when it comes to men and women. Not passed a law that makes it a requirement that you have to pass some sort of mental, cognitive or literacy exam before you can buy podcast equipment. Because they can buy podcast equipment and say the most random bullshit and people will run to it in droves. People will subscribe to these podcasts. I'm trying to get my podcast off the ground and get subscribers and I don't have that many. But this fool over here can say the most outlandish shit about men and she can say the most outlandish shit about women, or vice versa. And boom, they got her with huge podcasts making tons of money, and I'm not just struggling. Ain't that a bitch? There's a lot of loud talking and no listening when it comes to men and women. Here's the facts, fellas.
Speaker 1:Good women aren't easy. They're not. They're complicated. If you find yourself in a relationship with a woman that she's just ho-hum about everything she never questions anything you say, she never questions anything you do, she doesn't try to give you advice, she doesn't really give it, she doesn't do anything, she doesn't care because she doesn't like you that much, that's not a good woman for you. A good woman is going to challenge you. A good woman is going to see your flaws and then press you to be a better person. And is that complicated? Yes, it's complicated, it's hard. Good women are complicated. They're going to do things that are going to upset you. They're going to make decisions that guess what you don't like. They're going to say things you don't like. They're going to make moves and not tell you about it, because at some point in life they were doing it all by themselves and it takes them a minute to understand that, baby, you ain't got to do this by yourself anymore. I'm here and so you got to develop that trust with them. And they're going to do things and they're going to ask you stupid-ass questions like, baby, if I was a tapeworm. Would you love me? Yes, baby, I would love you if you was a tapeworm and I put an apple on the table right beside you as a tapeworm for you to borrow through on a daily basis. You've got to deal with that, all right. And on the flip side of that, ladies, good men, we're not complicated. Good men are not complicated at all. Social media has people thinking that good men are complicated. Good men are not hard to understand.
Speaker 1:You'll see posts on social media that are basically meant to induce rage and strife. I saw a post on Facebook that says no man wants to come home to hamburger helper. Motherfucker, have you ever had the four cheese lasagna? Hmm, have you ever had the deluxe beef stroganoff? Them are my two favorites. I got deluxe beef stroganoff in my refrigerator right now. You get that With a little garlic toast or a little garlic cheese toast. Go to town and if you want to be real fancy with it, don't use ground beef, use ground sausage. I like to get that Johnsonville mild sausage and then I'll throw one of them, little small breakfast roll sausages together. Two pounds of meat in the pan with two boxes of hamburger helper and, baby, I'm eating good for a week. I'm good to go.
Speaker 1:It's the fact that I came home. If somebody was there, she was there and she cooked for me. I am excited about that. Good men appreciate the fact that she cooked the meal for me and she didn't have to. And another thing I see on social media we don't give a damn if she put it on a paper plate or a real plate. Because guess what? I don't like washing dishes either. I hate it. Okay, so put it on a paper plate, give me a plastic fork and put my drink in a styrofoam cup. That way I can throw all this shit away.
Speaker 1:Okay, men are not that complicated. If a man is a good man, he genuinely likes you, genuinely cares about you, he's going to do all the things. He's going to communicate with you, he's going to look after you, he's going to make sure you're good when he genuinely likes you. And it won't be this thing where you have to figure out if he's into you. You won't have to figure it out Front page news every day in your face. Okay, this dating thing is not that hard. Relationships are not that hard. Now let me rephrase they are hard. It takes a lot of work, but a lot of times we out here as people, it takes a lot of work, but a lot of times we out here as people, we're making it so much more difficult than it truly has to be. You feel me? That's my time for this week. Y'all, I am Lord Cicero, the great Lord Paramount of the Southeast Kingdom. This has been the Southeast Kingdom podcast and I'll see y'all next time. Thank you.