The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal
"Fiercely and unapologetically progressive, and definitely NSFW. 'The Professional Left' features award-winning bloggers Driftglass and Blue Gal as they skewer right-wing absurdities and dismantle mainstream media mealy-mouths with razor-sharp wit and zero filter. From mercilessly mocking partisan hacks to elevating stories the media ignores, it's the profane, unflinching political commentary you didn't know you needed. More at http://ProLeftPod.com."
The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal
They Won't Say The 'R' Word? (Republican)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Episode 1026 marks the 18th anniversary of the 2008 financial crash by pointing out MAGA voters' selective amnesia about who was president when, then pivots to a Springfield civic meeting on election security that carefully documented every safeguard in Illinois elections while never once naming why the "controversy" exists in the first place. Driftglass and Blue Gal unpack Midwestern code phrases like "this isn't about Republicans and Democrats," showing how the same words mean belligerent deflection from a Republican and nervous conflict-avoidance from a Democrat, both serving to protect MAGA feelings from plain facts. The episode also covers Senator Eric Schmitt's spectacular self-own trying to nail Jack Smith with a mixed-up basketball game, and John Fetterman fundraising off Republican donor email lists that compare a Democratic Senate candidate to a terrorist. It's about the exhausting art of coaxing a skittish, dangerous animal into a pen without ever naming what it actually is.
Links for this episode:
Illinois Times Article: https://www.illinoistimes.com/news/officials-tackle-election-misinformation/
Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/eric-schmitt-botches-bid-corner-jack-smith-basketball-game-1235633725/
Editorial Board: How the rightwing media can turn humiliation into victory https://www.editorialboard.com/how-the-rightwing-media-can-turn-humiliation-into-victory/
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SPEAKER_03This is the podcast for the week of September 29th, 2026. It's not safe for work.
SPEAKER_05Recorded live from the Cornfield Resistance, where we know the meaning of the lake, the taste, and LSD without having to look it up. It's the Professional Left with Drift Glass and Blue Gal.
SPEAKER_03You had to tell me what LSD is.
SPEAKER_05Lake Shore Drive, baby.
SPEAKER_03Lake Shore Drive. Yeah. The taste of Chicago, I knew. The lake is Lake Michigan.
SPEAKER_05It's the lake. It's the lake. There's no there's no other lake. It should be called Lake Chicago, frankly. It should be called Lake Chicago.
SPEAKER_03Lake Chicago. That's right. Well, we'll be changing that later.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Today we're going to mark an anniversary, and then we're going to go on to a couple of brief public service announcements. And then we've got some fun and games to share with you.
SPEAKER_05Yes, we do.
SPEAKER_03Some of which you I'm sure you know about. The anniversary is that it was 18 years ago today, September 29th, that the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points, which was the then largest single-day point loss. It followed the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual. Does anyone remember who was president on September 29th, 2008?
SPEAKER_05It was Barack Obama, wasn't it? Anyone? Anyone?
SPEAKER_03Does anyone remember that?
SPEAKER_05And we bring this up because you might have noticed that our MAGA fellow citizens all continue to suffer from massive, ongoing, and very selective amnesia. They have a really, really hard time remembering who was president when and what happened during each president's administration, especially when they are confronted with receipts and consequences and calendars, Blue Gal and calendars. Now, this idiot is typical. This MAGA idiot remembers things that never happened, is pretty sure liberals are somehow behind everything, is suspicious of anyone asking how and why questions. And in the end, he pretends he doesn't know anything because the alternative would be to blame the dear leader. And we can't have that.
SPEAKER_01What are your thoughts on the higher gas prices? Well, when Obama was in here, he said Americans can afford $5. Well, you know, he's he said it right out loud. Remember that when he said Americans can afford $5 a gallon? Um I don't think Trump has anything to do with this. I think they're just doing this to make him look bad. The liberals. The liberals are controlling the gas prices? I think the liberals are doing it though. Are you a Trump supporter or nothing? I'm just trying to understand the who's who's who's doing the raising the gas prices to make Trump look bad. Who do you think it is? I don't know. I have no idea. You don't think it has anything to do with Iran? Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02Doesn't it control the gas?
SPEAKER_01That's true. He doesn't just control the gas prices. They've gone up since the the war in Iran. Everything's gone up. I mean, the truck's gonna pay for their gas, and it gets to the consumer, which is us, you know. Do you blame Trump for that? No.
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_01No, I don't. Who do you think's at fault? I have no idea. I don't blame Trump, though. The liberals blame Trump. They're gonna blame Trump for everything. Who do you blame for the high gas prices? I don't know who to blame on that. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03We, on the other hand, have no problem identifying who said what, who promised what, and who broke what. And the left's forgive and move forward, ATM is now permanently closed because we know what the game is. And it was succinctly put by Jared Bernstein in his Substack. Quote, you know what Republicans are good at? Waiting until Democrats win some elections. Then blaming Democrats for failing to cost-free clean up the messes Republicans have left behind. And this is our Senator Tammy, oh, unquote, excuse me. This is our Senator Tammy Duckworth explaining the same quote in clearer, blunter language.
SPEAKER_02I am tired of fixing shit Republicans break. And this is what I've said to my Democratic leadership. Could you please be more blunt, Senator? Yeah, I am tired. What happened in the Biden administration was we fixed all the stuff that Trump broke and Republicans broke in their administration. But we didn't do anything innovative and didn't we didn't make people's lives better. We just spent the time putting out fires and trying to solve the pandemic. Um I'm tired, I'm done with that. Uh we we spent time on the Democratic Party with our leadership being polite, not wanting to break the filibuster because, oh God forbid, if we blow up the filibuster, then they might do it to us, and we're not gonna do it. Um we're gonna give their Supreme Court nominees, you know, the full process. We're gonna do everything by the book. And what I've told Democratic leadership is like, cut that out. You've seen what happened. They steamrolled us as soon as they took over, and it was to the detriment of the American people and it was to the detriment of America's national security around the world. So fuck that shit.
SPEAKER_03So much for anniversaries, Driftglass.
SPEAKER_05Now, two quick public service announcements. First, for goodness sake, stop sending John off money, John Ossoff money. John Ossoff already has all the money. And that's not us saying that. We think Ossoff is a pretty terrific senator, and so do the voters of Georgia, which is why he's doing so well in the polls. But he's already very well financed, and your money will be better spent in campaigns of Senate candidates who are hurting for money.
SPEAKER_03In the next 40 days, absolutely. Yeah. Uh Dan Pfeiffer at the message box writes quote, Democrats are being massively outspent in every Senate race except Georgia. Yeah. Basically, everyone except John Ossoff needs money. The GOP has essentially conceded Georgia. And they should, by the way. I I will uh editorialize here. John Ossoff is one of the hardest working senators in the U.S. Senate. He's terrific. He's terrific. He just doesn't need our very interested in, so interested in service to his constituents that Republicans all over the state are endorsing him because he took care of them in all kinds of ways. Uh Republicans have also going back to Dan Pfeiffer. Republicans have also significantly dialed back spending in North Carolina, and plenty of reports suggest that they know that that seat is gone too. Therefore, and this is Dan Pfeiffer's recommendation, just I want to be clear about that. I would not recommend dedicating limited funds to either race. That leaves seven other targeted Senate races: Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Iowa, Texas, New Hampshire, and Alaska. I am not unworried about New Hampshire, but a recent poll showed Democrat Chris Pappas up by five. And if we can't win a bluish state in this political environment, we frankly don't deserve the majority. Giving to any of the remaining states is a good use of money. Sherrod Brown in Ohio probably needs help the most, and crypto dumped like five millions of dollars against them last week. Yeah. Uh I'm very worried about the spending disparity in Maine. James Talerico is facing an unprecedented barrage of money, but is getting some reinforcements from the Senate Democratic Super PAC starting next week. If you want to pick a race not on this list, Kansas, which, you know, with a candidate there is a the United Methodist minister. Yeah, Adam Hamilton. About Mr. Hamilton.
SPEAKER_05About which we have spoken extensively on this very podcast.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Uh so Kansas and Nebraska are two places where Democrats might have a shot. And because they are cheaper states, and what he means by that is media buys. Right. They are cheaper. Your money will go a little further. Unquote. So that's Dan Pfeiffer's where do you send your five dollars? And that I mean, that's what that's how we approach this.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Investing in it.
SPEAKER_03We don't have the money to be dropping thousands of dollars on any candidate. However, I said after I read this, I did send five bucks to Jared Brown, and I did send five bucks to the Kansas minister candidate, Mr. Hamilton, Reverend Hamilton.
SPEAKER_05I was wondering.
SPEAKER_03Of course, RIP my text messages after that.
SPEAKER_05Well, I was wondering where all our money was going, blue guys.
SPEAKER_03Ten dollars drifting.
SPEAKER_05Ten dollars it it matters.
SPEAKER_03But that's the thing. Five dollars makes a difference if we all do it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So uh it really is, it really makes a difference. It does. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And if any one of these troubled or uh candidates who need to raise money would like to come on the professional podcast in the next 38 days.
SPEAKER_03Read their uh URL to on the air to our listeners, you know. I'm sure right.
SPEAKER_05We'd be happy to talk to you. We've had a couple of very successful interviews with people in politics, and we'd like to do more of that. But and we know that you know we live in Illinois. That's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, this is not a place where you're gonna land necessarily.
SPEAKER_05We do have international reach.
SPEAKER_03I do have a fantasy that JB Pritzker will come on our show.
SPEAKER_05No, he will, and he'll thank us for the professional bump and I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_03Oh, oh, oh, Drift Glass, that where are all all our money's going? I also sent five dollars to Nikki Budzinski. Jesus. She is our Democratic Congresswoman.
SPEAKER_05You know, the patriarchy is gonna have to have words because I'm not getting sign-off approval on any of this. You're just throwing five dollar bills, willy-nilly, like their one dollar bills. Just because they have Lincoln on the money doesn't mean you can spend them willy-dilly in Springfield. For gosh sakes. All right.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, that's our Democratic Congresswoman.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, Nikki. Who's fine? We have no note.
SPEAKER_03And I just want to get another uh invite to her election night party. You know why?
SPEAKER_05Why?
SPEAKER_03Open bar.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, yeah. Because Illinois, you know, we we got all this corn, a lot of corn liquor gonna be showing up there in in buckets. So uh yeah, they partied like crazy there. So that was that was our first PSA. The second PSA is a congratulations to all of you who spotted our very deliberate intentional mix-up of Naomi Klein with Naomi Wolf.
SPEAKER_03We did not that was not deliberate.
SPEAKER_05I'm lying to the people, honey. Don't interrupt your husband when he's lying to the people. Because we dropped it in there specifically to see which of you were paying close enough attention to our podcast. And it turns out, you know who it was? All of you were.
SPEAKER_03Everybody were now.
SPEAKER_05I have I have to I have to break some hearts here because unfortunately, the rules of this contest clearly state that only the first 500 people who caught our error are eligible for the prize packages. So sorry to the other hundreds and hundreds of you who didn't get your criticism in in time. Um, no. The actual problem is let's be frank here, let's be clear, liberals forced us to do it. We didn't want to do it, we didn't want to do it. We if if the if the liberals had just offered a viable alternative naomi, let's say one who's white and male and fiscally conservative and centrist, very centrist.
SPEAKER_03Um those white male centrist naomies are hard to come by, Drift.
SPEAKER_05And fiscally conservative, don't forget. Oh, basically conservative.
SPEAKER_03Sure, sure, sure.
SPEAKER_05Uh then we definitely would have chosen that one. But because liberals refused to give us a better Naomi, we had no choice but to opt for the worse one. Sorry about that.
SPEAKER_03Folks, it uh the the person going on the Mark Stein cruise is Naomi Wolf. Yes, not Naomi Klein, as I said, and it was my mistake, and I own it. But we got so many emails from people we've never heard from, yes, letting us know that we made a mistake and in a nice way. I mean, everyone who wrote us was a fan.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, love your stuff. I don't know if anyone's mentioned this so far.
SPEAKER_0345 me mails later.
SPEAKER_05Oh, it ran into well over that. Yeah, and you know, there are other social media platforms, and we heard about it on those too. So we're not complaining. We made a mistake.
SPEAKER_03We love you guys listening so carefully. Thank you. And catching us.
SPEAKER_05This is gonna be a regular bit on this podcast from now on because you know how liberals forced us to make a mistake on our liberal podcast. We'll make strategic mistakes, and then when you correct us, no explain how we were forced to do it because the liberal.
SPEAKER_03This goes right back to Facebook during the Russia bot wars, where they'd try to plant something on a liberal page and they'd get fact-checked 50 times.
SPEAKER_05Oh, oh crap.
SPEAKER_03Because yeah, we can't use this, but we had a lot of the success on conservative sides who went. Really?
SPEAKER_05Really?
SPEAKER_03Is that really Democrats bought the Loch Ness monster to attack America? Really?
SPEAKER_05I saw it on the internet. I saw it on the internet.
SPEAKER_03I did my own research. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I'm sure you did. I'm sure you did, brother.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So now we're gonna go on to Midwesternisms, Driftglass.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yes, I love those.
SPEAKER_03Words and phrases that let you know you're within a few hours of the professional left podcast out here in the cornfield.
SPEAKER_05And if you ever are, let us know. We love having coffee with our listeners. Well, no, if you if you are within a few hours or planning.
SPEAKER_03No, and if you are in a few hours, come see us. Yeah, drop by. Have coffee. We'll have coffee with you or whatever. We're not that scary. No, and we like talking to our listeners. Uh so here's a Midwesternism specific to Springfield, Illinois, as a matter of fact. A horseshoe. A horseshoe is an open-faced meat sandwich which has French fries on top of it, and then they pour cheese sauce on top of the fries. A white, usually a white cheese sauce. I don't like these.
SPEAKER_05No, I assume the person who invented it was very drunk, and it was two in the morning, and it seemed like a really good idea at the time.
SPEAKER_03But you can have one with a hamburger or ham or turkey or whatever you want. The point is to have it's got Texas toast on the bottom, it's got French fries on top, and then it's bathed in cheese sauce.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_03So it is a heart attack on a plate, and uh it and and it was invented in Springfield, Illinois.
SPEAKER_05It was. It was, along with a couple of other things. We'll talk about on our food show on the comments.
SPEAKER_03Oh God. Food show.
SPEAKER_05Now the term downstate's very flexible. Uh, it's basically anywhere south of Cook County or south of I-80 or south of Wrigley Field, uh, depending on how parochial you're feeling. So uh Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So is the south side downstate?
SPEAKER_05Uh it can be. Again, if you're on the north side, downstate is literally Wrigley, you're anything south of Wrigley. Uh anything south of the loop, that's downstate. That's downstate. There are people who think in those terms, who never leave that area. Uh and they're they're lovely people. But mostly it's like once you get out, once you can't see Chicago on the horizon, yeah, or once you're you're past, you know, the the uh CalSag Channel, or once you've cruised into har with past through Harvey.
SPEAKER_03There's this old double bridge that I cross used to cross driving to visit you that was the bridge of no return. Yeah, the bridge of no return. It was so close to Chicago that you could peek over the horizon and sort of see the Sears Tower, which it's will forever be the Sears Tower.
SPEAKER_05And I will tell you, uh the the downstate appellation is not greeted with universal delight by people who live downstate.
SPEAKER_03It's a little bit of a other states have this situation as well, but yeah. Um if you say you're stopping at the Jewels or just Jules, going to Jules, going to Jules. You mean the Jewel Osco grocery store, right? But it's the jewels, like the bears.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and if you're looking for directions to the jewels, it's over, it's over by dare.
SPEAKER_03It's over by over by dare. Just go over by dare, you'll get there.
SPEAKER_05What are you picking up? Maybe six, seven, eight, nine, ten beers. I don't know. You know, it depends. So uh anyway, uh those are all the bears. For the bears. Um now a front room, a front, not a french room, a french room is the front room of and typically your bungalow. There's a bungalow belt in Chicago, and that's where the front room is, and that's where you do your entertaining. It's where all the good furniture is, and oftentimes it's covered in plastic. When the fada, when the fada, when the parish priest comes around to say hello, this is where you serve him coffee and seat him in the French room.
SPEAKER_03Fancy.
SPEAKER_05Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_03If someone is going east on Ashland, it means they're confused or drunk, or more commonly, nuts.
SPEAKER_05That's right.
SPEAKER_03Because you can't go east on Ashland.
SPEAKER_05No, you cannot. It is a North South Street.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And there's a lot of Ashland. My grandmother lived on Ashland Avenue in River Forest, Illinois.
SPEAKER_05Yes. Yes. It's there's Ashland's a common very common name. I lived close to Ashland for a lot of the time I lived in Chicago. Major thoroughfare. And uh finally, quote, this isn't about Republicans and Democrats, unquote. When something is definitely about Republicans and Democrats. But, but this one is tricky.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, this one is tricky. When it's said by a Republican, it means I will not be held responsible for all the awful shit I voted for. Period. All of the bad stuff that is happening because I elected Trump and voted with Trump and voted for all the nominees for Trump has nothing to do with Trump. It's all because of some weird, unexpected force majeure outside of the realm of politics and over which I have no control. It is not about Republicans and Democrats. The inflection, as you can hear from my voice, is belligerent.
SPEAKER_05Very belligerent. Or sometimes it's a form of whiny special pleading. You hear this a lot. That even though, yes, things are going to shit because of the person I voted for, duh. It's somehow unfair to hold me uh personally responsible for that because everyone has the right to their opinion. Blue gal, everyone has the right to their opinion. See, for everyone else, the rule is you know, you've heard it a million times. Actions have consequences, and and facts don't care about your feelings.
SPEAKER_03And fuck your feelings.
SPEAKER_05Fuck your feelings, yeah. Blunt and clear. But for them, they should bear no consequences for their actions, and their hurt little fee fees outrank any facts you can bring to the table.
SPEAKER_03All right. But when a Midwestern Democrat, say Adam Hamilton, says this isn't about Republicans and Democrats. They're using it in an entirely different way. Exactly. The inflection isn't belligerent. It's we are approaching a skittish and dangerous animal that we are trying to coax safely into a pen, a cough or twig, snapping at the wrong moment, and it'll run or attack. Watch it, Jim. That was a close one.
SPEAKER_05That was a close one.
SPEAKER_03So no sudden movements. We are on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom here. We are.
SPEAKER_05We are.
SPEAKER_03We speak calmly and slowly in front of the wild animal. Of course, it isn't about Republicans and Democrats.
SPEAKER_05Of course it isn't about Republicans and deary. Of course it isn't.
SPEAKER_03Everyone stay calm.
SPEAKER_05And a Midwestern Democrat will also frequently add the modifying phrase, quote, I'd be against it even if I were if it were a Democrat doing it. Which is which is ludicrous on its face. But it is intended to reassure the MAGA idiot that this isn't partisan at all. It's just a very reasonable, non-judgmental observation about the state of things between two people who have, you know, who are neighbors and who just want to get along. And if a Democrat had, you know, staged an insurrection, launched an illegal war, wrecked the economy, taken billions of dollars in bribes from corporations and foreign governments alike, destroyed our international reputation, was an adjudicated rapist, and a pedophile protector, we'd be just as outraged, please.
SPEAKER_03Yes, we would.
SPEAKER_05You'd be just as outraged. But this isn't partisan.
SPEAKER_03No. We would be against a Democrat taking bribes from foreign leaders. Yes.
SPEAKER_05And all the other things. All the other whole things. That whole train of bullshit. The awfulness that is Donald Trump. If a Democrat did all that stuff, uh, we'd be dead set against it. And you'd hear us, and I'd go right on and say, you know what? I'm against it. Even though I'm a Democrat, even though I'm Dad in the Will Democrat, I can't support it.
SPEAKER_03Yep. And the reason the Midwestern Democrat feels they have to shave all the sharp edges off of even the most blindingly obvious facts of the Republican Party. Don't say Republican.
SPEAKER_05Don't say Republican. Don't say Republican.
SPEAKER_03Is that they know that this would be the reaction if they just told it straight.
SPEAKER_02Wait! Where are you going? I was gonna make espresso.
SPEAKER_05And that after the MAGA idiot pitches a fit or starts screaming about Obama did it or Biden or whatever, tomorrow they're all still gonna be stuck living in the same town together. So, to keep the peace, most people go out of their way not to talk about politics in any way so that they're identifiable villains or heroes.
SPEAKER_03This is why we're still a little bit like ambassadors from a different country here in Springfield, Illinois. We observe the local Moors and folkways. We volunteer. We have a home church. We write postcards to voters. Uh, we but we'll also explain to you, either depending on where we are in church-approved language or in blogger fuck you dialect, exactly why the Republican Party is a fascist shithole. And if you're a member, you're the problem.
SPEAKER_05You're the fucking problem. That's the blogger fuck you dialect. Case in point, I went to the monthly meeting of the Citizens Club last Friday, the local institution. It's a local gathering of civic leaders and mostly retired citizens who get together once a month because it's really early in the morning and everybody else is at work. Uh, about once a month to hear about matters of public interest.
SPEAKER_03And this is not a white supremacist group. Some places in the South used to have citizens' clubs that were that.
SPEAKER_05This is just a bunch of folks getting together to talk about stuff of local interest. For example, the state of health care in the region. There was a really good presentation about that. Economic development. Uh, the the 1908 race ride in Springfield that led to the foundation of the NAACP was the subject of one of these meetings. It's all sorts of things. And the topic this time was Illinois elections, myth and reality. So here's the blurb and listen to it as if you were a visitor from outer space.
SPEAKER_03All right, I'm gonna read this. Since the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, a battle has been raging at the national and state level over concerns about encouraging full participation in elections while maintaining election integrity and security. Unquote.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The panelists, there were three panelists. Uh the panelists were Don Gray, who is the Sangamon County Clerk. We live in Sangamon County. Matt Dietrich, spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Elections, which has an office in Springfield because this is the state capital.
SPEAKER_04Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_03And the moderator was University of Illinois Springfield Political Science Professor Emeritus, Kent Redfield. Yeah. He's a U of I Springfield professor.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and they feel really good people. They feel really good people for these things. I mean, really good authorities.
SPEAKER_03You're not lying with you're not making festigio.
SPEAKER_05No, no, no, no. And just so you know who the players are and what they do, the county clerk is the county's chief election officer, and their office has the sole responsibility for administering elections in Sangamon County. That's their duties. The State Board of Elections is the oversight body for local election authorities at the county and city level. They certify candidates for statewide in legislative office. They also, and I did not know this until I went to this meeting, they regulate campaign finance activities and they certify the final results of elections once votes are tabulated at the local level. And it was, for what it was, about as thoroughgoing a discussion of the mechanics of elections as anyone could ever want.
SPEAKER_03So you're basically trying to explain to MAGA and MAGA adjacent voters that here is how it actually works, right?
SPEAKER_05Right. Well, that was the I I assume so. But let's talk about what they actually did. Because they didn't ever address that. The point was they they went into granular detail about exactly how many backups and cross-checks and audits and redundancies are built into the system so that every step along the way, the integrity of my ballot is insured. They talked about the difficulties imposed on the state and local election by uh new federal mandates. Something as simple as requiring smaller envelopes for some stupid reason, which in turn would require that mail and ballots be folded, which makes them more difficult for the machines to read. And every ballot now has to have an individual barcode for every single voter. How we do voter registration in Illinois and how damn near impossible it would be for someone to impersonate someone else.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05They were very clear about that. All of the things, all the provisional ballots, all the all, if somebody actually did this and went through all, jumped through all the hoops, and you found out about it, you could show up and file a provisional ballot and say that wasn't me. And they would investigate it, and that that ballot would be tossed out and your provisional won't be added in. So there are all these cross-checks and and other means that they use to prevent fraud and make sure that they're done correctly. And of the 30 lawsuits that have been filed against the state by the DOJ, so far, the DOJ has lost 25 of those in a row.
SPEAKER_03Right. And the other five are still in court.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So it was that level of detail about data sticks versus access to the internet, about how they have a model machine to take apart and put back together again. Just the staggering level of professionalism that goes into every election for an hour. That was that was what I heard for an hour from these people.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But as you said, Driftglass, and as you told me after the meeting, the subject no one got within a mile of touching was why in the wide world of sports did the board of the nonpartisan citizens club feel such a meeting was necessary in the first place. You can hear it in the blurb since the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, a battle has been raging at the national and state, blah, blah, blah. Okay, sure, but why has this battle been raging at the national and state level?
SPEAKER_05What an excellent question, Blue Gal, that nobody asked, and then the meeting was over. The closest anyone on the panel got to that subject was Professor Redfield saying that in that passive Midwestern offend no one voice that quote, there are concerns, unquote. Just like no one knows who's concerned about what. Yeah. They're just out there floating in space. That that view from nowhere. There are concerns. Then towards the end of the meeting, this very impressive uh this was a very impressive presentation. One panelist did pop out with, look, half this country thinks there are problems with elections and half thinks they're working fine. But his solution to this problem was very conspicuously not to say, and the reason half the country thinks there are problems with our elections is that the president is a Republican, the Republican Congress, and conservative media lies to them about it every fucking day.
SPEAKER_03Yep, you can't say that, Driftglen.
SPEAKER_05You can't say that. You cannot say that.
SPEAKER_03Almost I'm going to cut that out and leave it on the cutting room floor because you can't say that. Because they're public servants, and like the mainstream media, looking at you, New York fucking Times and CNN, they continue to believe that it's not their place to say that one party is obviously the problem when one party is obviously the problem, Driftglass.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it really is. I mean, when you think about any other reporting of the news, you know, if if if if uh the sportscaster came on and said, well, either the Bears won by 20 points yesterday or lost by 20 points, you figure it out. Like, no, the score is the score. Right. Is it raining or sunny? Oh, you figure that out. No, look out. That's your job to tell me what is factually correct. But they just can't do that because they're all Midwestern nice. Instead, they cling to this quaint belief that if you just pile the evidence of the integrity of our elections high enough, eventually the insurrection and elections are all rigged party will climb down out of the crazy tree, which is never ever going to happen. In fact, just today, on local social media, a very well-intentioned Democrat deployed this, this isn't about Republicans and Democrats, gambit, on this very subject. And you know what? It didn't work at all. Instead, it was the usual barrage of bullshit from all the usual types of people. Gas prices were higher under Biden. I don't know what the fuck that had to do with elections, but they decided to throw that in just for fun. Democratic fraud, voter fraud, was proven after the 2020 elections. It manifestly wasn't, but these meatheads all believe that there was. And of course, this is all just Trump derangement syndrome.
SPEAKER_03Uh-huh. Which is why there will never, ever be a Midwife Snice Citizens Club meeting that tackles a topic raised by Paul Krugman just last week. Mr. Krugman wrote, quote, there is a straight line from the Koch brothers' money allied with segregationists and religious fundamentalists that runs through the Federalist Society and the Roberts Supreme Court, through the magnified Republican Party, through the crypto industry and the tech brogarchy that leads to Trump. And it will take a single-minded, fearless, and incorruptible new generation of Democrats to defeat this many headred headed hydra. Unquote.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, the Roberts Supreme Court is in fact mentioned in the uh in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_03So no, the many headed hydra is mentioned.
SPEAKER_05There you go, flashing your theology.
SPEAKER_03And Michael fought and with his angels fought and defeated the dragon, that old serpent.
SPEAKER_05However, we we want to bring you some good news, and there really is good news. Even though our local daily paper, which we no longer subscribe to, the State Journal Register, is just a shell of the Republican rag, it used to be anyway. We do have a local weekly giveaway paper, the Illinois Times, that is really outstanding. It is just excellent. We always pick up a copy, we always enjoy it, and it has just taken steps to ensure its long-term survival and integrity by transitioning from a private owner to a newly formed nonprofit parent company called Local Journalism Matters. We have a longtime owner and editor, Fletcher Ferrar Jr., who shows up at Citizens Club meetings. Every time I've ever been there, he's been there. He bought this paper in 1977 and in March of this year finished transferring it to this nonprofit to support its future growth and long-term sustainability. So hats off to Fletcher Ferrar.
SPEAKER_03Yep. And the Illinois Times, bless them, said what the Citizens Club panel would not by doing what good journalists should do, by doing what we like to think we do here at the Professional Life Podcast. After touching on the five W's of the panel discussion, they covered the meeting, who, what, when, where, and why, the Illinois Times concluded the story like this, critics have blasted Trump for driving falsehoods about the validity and integrity of the election process, from claiming there are large waves of non-citizens voting in the elections to spewing doubt about the safety of voting by mail, although neither panelist referred to Trump's efforts to discredit election results. Trump has issued several executive orders in pursuit of national oversight of elections, including one that called for the U.S. Post Office to take control of mail-in ballots. On September 14th, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a previous ruling blocking the USPS from validating mail-in ballots. The order came at a time when there's growing popularity, dare I say, in both sides, drift glass, in casting votes by mail-in ballots. He is shooting himself in the foot with this one, I swear to God. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump's national voter verification program. States can volunteer to participate in the program, which draws concern for instances of misidentifying citizens as not eligible to vote. One myth that's prevalent is the notion that there's rampant voter fraud.
SPEAKER_05Unquote.
SPEAKER_03So that says it all.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And every study on earth says the same thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05That that the incidence of voter fraud, I think over the last 40 years, like 1,600 votes out of the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of votes cast. And they were pretty much evenly divided, like 800 per party. It's it's 0.000 something. So hooray for local journalism. However, even though you now have a quick understanding of a few Midwesternisms, do not mistake geography for political consanguinity. For example, Illinois has senators like Tammy Duckworth, who we mentioned before, who's got a potty moth on her, I gotta say.
SPEAKER_03Well, and sometimes she makes mistakes like saying we're not gonna impeach Trump during during the midterms. Don't don't say that.
SPEAKER_05Don't say that. And and you know what? She's one of the people I want up front calling people out and holding people accountable. As we move forward. Exactly. So we've got that, we've got her, we've got the Dick Durbin who's retiring, and who will be replaced come next year by Juliana Stratton once she wins her election, which is less than 40 days from today now. So it's all coming about pretty quick. But just across the Mississippi River, just 90 minutes from where we live in Missouri, they have senators like Magamoron Eric Schmidt, who just shit the bed so hard on camera that we think he might have cracked the floor beneath it.
SPEAKER_03That's right. And he'll he'll pay no political consequences in his own party for doing this, by the way. But but he did shit the bed. Shit, he schmidt the bed.
SPEAKER_05He schmidt the bed hard.
SPEAKER_03This is from the Rolling Stone a few hours ago. Senator Eric Schmidt thought he had Jack Smith dead to rights. Smith, a former special counsel for the Department of Justice, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday over his role in investigating Donald Trump's attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Schmidt, a Trump loyalist, wanted to nail him down on a complicated web of alleged lies and collusion with Georgia officials who were also investigating the president. Schmidt's key point of evidence, Smith's presence at an Atlanta Hawks game in Georgia a day after Fonnie Willis, the Fulton County prosecutor, admitted to a relationship with someone on her team. There was just one problem. Smith was never at the game. Instead, as a stunned Judiciary Committee eventually discovered, he attended an Iowa Hawk Eyes game against Maryland on the same day. The arc of this little absurdist drama was incredible to watch play out. Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024? Schmidt began, believing he was teeing up Smith to perjure himself. Smith was confused though. He said he didn't even recall being in Atlanta while investigating Trump, except maybe connecting through the airport on his way to Florida. Schmidt started licking his chops. I don't think you know that we have this stuff, so I'll give you a second to process it so you don't perjure yourself, he says triumphantly, while displaying a giant blown-up photo of two text messages for a few seconds. You just took it down really quick. If I could look at it again, Smith says, bemused. I think you've already perjured yourself, Schmidt says, as the hearing starts to devolve. Amy Klobishar gets involved, ensuring that Smith can read the text exchange, Schmidt quickly displayed. Smith finally re realizes what's going on.
SPEAKER_05And his expression, yeah, as it dawns on him, what Schmidt has done is priceless.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Chef's kisseless.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03He tells Klobuchar that he attended a game between the University of Maryland and the University of Iowa, the Hawk Eyes, because Caitlin Clark was playing. Clobuchar then realizes the confusion and smiles. Could it then be that the University of Iowa is the Hawk Eyes? Could that be it? Schmidt then explodes, completely losing his top over Clobichar trying to rehabilitate the witness. I don't think he understands what those words mean.
SPEAKER_05No, but but at this point, all of his henchmen were realizing exactly how colossally and publicly they'd fucked up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03After some heated back and forth, Clobichar sinks the dagger from the state of Minnesota, Minnesota, where we have the golfers. You know, we do. The Minnesota Golfers, that there's not a lot of confusion. There's not a lot of professional teams with those names. Someone off camera eventually gets Clobichar the full receipts. And this was published by uh on the internet, uh, the videos there of him at the game. She lays it all out for the record, taking and noting the date of the game, February 3rd, 2024, sure enough, and score, and remarking that Caitlin Clark scored 30 points. I would just say for a U.S. senator to have false information and to imply based on a confusion about the name of a team, which I knew, knowing my Midwestern sports.
SPEAKER_05It's all Midwestern today, folks. All Midwestern.
SPEAKER_03And imply that you were you, she's speaking to Jack Smith, that you were in another city, that you were somehow involved in that day in what was happening in Georgia, and then to call you a dirtbag, which Schmidt did, is something that deserves an apology, Clobushar says, driving every point home. Unquote.
SPEAKER_05Now, remember, um, Smith is used to dealing with war criminals.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. This is like And liars. And people who lie.
SPEAKER_05And people who lie really well, people who are accomplished liars. I'm not sure he was prepared for the confusion, I'm guessing, was the level of absolute incompetence and stupidity of this trap that they laid for him that we're gonna definitely get him. And it wasn't just Schmidt who fucked up, or his or his fellow uh Republicans on the committee who fucked up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Uh it it was bigger than that, wasn't it, Blue Gal.
SPEAKER_03It was much bigger than that. Because as these Republicans on these committees who know they're doing a show for right-wing media, Senator Schmidt had teed up uh Benny Johnson and Sean Hannity. And also uh friendly coverage from Axios. Axios?
SPEAKER_05Axios?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um I pulled this uh editorial board Substack, uh, interviewed Don Moynihan this afternoon. He's a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, and I have paraphrased some of this excerpted interview in the interest of time. Uh, it is at the editorial board Substack. Um, and this is what uh Don Moynihan, professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, said. Senator Schmidt, it seemed, had already cued up a bunch of right-wing media to cover what turned out to be a misfire, particularly Benny Johnson, who celebrated Schmidt up to the point of failure and then deleted his post. Yep. If a Democrat did this, it would be wall-to-wall coverage on Fox and Newsmax and the wider right-wing media. We would see talking heads and Republicans make the case that this was an example of incompetence and demanding resignations.
SPEAKER_05Absolutely. Yep.
SPEAKER_03Editorial board asks, why can't Dems do the same?
SPEAKER_05Oh, we can. Just don't really pay attention.
SPEAKER_03The answer that that uh Don Moynihan gives, despite the persistent right-wing complaints of a liberal media bias, the reality is that traditional mainstream media does not want to be viewed as partisan cheerleaders to the point they will bend over backwards to demonstrate quote unquote fairness. And so editorial Borett asks the final question. So it might not be possible for Dems to shame Republicans in a persistent way that deters shameful acts. I here's what Moynihan's answer. I think Dems operate in a more discerning media landscape than their counterparts. The fact that Hannity posted about Schmidt putting Smith on the spot as if it was a big victory moment rather than a screw up is telling. Rachel Maddow would not embarrass herself in that way. But once you go along with the claim that American elections were stolen, that immigrants are eating pets, you've shown you will go along with anything. After this here, that's that's the end of the editorial boarding.
SPEAKER_05I just want to interject here and say, you know, Blue Gal, really, this isn't about Democrats and Republicans.
SPEAKER_03Yes, it is. So um after this incredibly dismal failure, by the way, yeah, Axios had an article today about how this Mr. Schmidt, who clearly was going to, they had teed him up. He's gonna have this great great victory over Jack Smith today. They teed him up as a possible vice presidential candidate, breathlessly, for JD Vance, because, you know, success.
SPEAKER_05Is he vice presidential Timber Blue gal? I don't know. We'll we'll all find out this afternoon, won't we?
SPEAKER_03And that's when I wanted to read a uh Blue Sky post from Dave Carp, K-A-R-P-F. Pretty sure Jim Hy van der Hy's office is just a wall-to-wall display of framed fell for it again awards. Yeah. And after this a day of this dismal failure really exploding on social media, it did. Uh Senator Schmidt went on the Charlie Kirk podcast, which still is a thing and lied some more.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, of course he did.
SPEAKER_03Because that's what they do.
SPEAKER_05Because he's a Republican and they lie all the time.
SPEAKER_03He's a Republican. He wanted this to be a show. He was not interested in policy. He was putting on a show.
SPEAKER_05It was a show. It's it's content for Fox and the rest of the rest.
SPEAKER_03And that's all it is. That's all it is. That's all it ever is.
SPEAKER_05That's all they care about. That's all it is. They don't care about anything else.
SPEAKER_03We care about policy drift glass.
SPEAKER_05That's what I understand. We do. And you know what, Blue Gal, thank you for the transition. I really appreciate it. Smooth, very professional. Last week, Representative Rokana laid out a list of five policy priorities that he stated Democrats should pursue if they retake the House of Representatives. Now, we've talked a lot on this podcast about the difference between strategic actions and tactical actions. So we're going to go over this list and talk about its merits and the importance, especially, of Democrats being very, very clear about setting expectations from day one about what they can and cannot accomplish.
SPEAKER_03Yep, that's right. No more letting the media get away with why won't Obama lead. No. While Republicans very publicly made it clear that obstruction and sabotage were their strategic goals. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Now, here's Representative uh Rokana's list. The first one is raise the federal minimum wage, increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25, which has remained unchanged since 2009, which is shameful.
SPEAKER_03Pass paid family leave. Implement nationwide paid family leave for workers. So much of this drift glass was in the Green New Deal, you know, the and and the um there were two bills, right? The infrastructure bill and the uh Build Back Better bill.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, the CHIPS Act. I mean, it's hard to keep track of all that.
SPEAKER_03We got past all the stuff on infrastructure, and then Joe Manchin said, Oh no, we're not doing all that soft stuff. No, and that's why Joe Manchin is family leave and help for our seniors.
SPEAKER_05Reminds me. I wonder how that conference went, that independent conference went to the state. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I bet it's success. I bet there was a lot of people.
SPEAKER_05I just want to imagine that as a wonderland of lying such as flip-floppers all trying to get close to Joker.
SPEAKER_03What did it smell like?
SPEAKER_05It smelled like it smelled like boomer's spirit, honey. Yeah, yeah. Smelled like high karate cigarettes. High karate cigarettes. Desperation.
SPEAKER_03Desperation.
SPEAKER_05With a with a whiff of the grave overlaying it all. Um the next one was something that was not in the in the uh Build Back Better bill because it didn't exist, which is end the war in Iran. Pursue policy to formally end military engagement and conflict regarding Iran, and then hold a vote on Medicare for All.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_03Bring universal health care legislation to the floor for a direct vote and make Republicans vote against it.
SPEAKER_05And finally, tax billionaires. Implement higher tax rates targeted specifically at billionaires and extreme wealth.
SPEAKER_03Now it depends on how well the midterms go for Democrats as to what they're going to be able to get done.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_03And and override a presidential veto, which, you know, again, or these are big lifts.
SPEAKER_05Or death in the Senate.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05But that's why I think I I I think it would have been clearer, not wiser, but clearer to proceed all of them, not just one of them, with hold a vote on.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And and hold the vote over and over and over again. Because if it passes the House and dies in the Senate, you know who to point at. You know to take out, get Tammy Duckworth and everyone like her out there going, the reason we can't pass a simple minimum wage increase, we can't end the war in Iran, we cannot give you paid family leave, is not because we don't want to. We ran on this shit. It's because those motherfuckers over there are blocking it. They're blocking.
SPEAKER_03If they have enough votes to change the rules at the very first day of the session to you can no longer lift your pinky finger to filibuster a bill, you have to talk for 80 hours or whatever it is. Imagine Mitch McConnell talking for 80 hours. He can't he can't talk in his car.
SPEAKER_05Even if they blow up the the filibuster.
SPEAKER_03The old filibuster.
SPEAKER_05You still gotta get the small filibuster.
SPEAKER_03The five votes.
SPEAKER_05That's right. But you still got to get to 51 votes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And if you have 52 votes, let's see how well we do in the Senate.
SPEAKER_05Well, that see you're getting ahead of me. My my theory was if only the House is one, then it dies in the Senate because Republicans will kill it.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05And then you point to them and say the reason we can't tax billionaires or get Medicare for all is those motherfuckers are stopping it in the Senate. You have to help us get rid of those people. They're the reason the American people aren't getting what they deserve and we can't get shit done. And if it makes it past the Senate, same goes for Trump. If he won't sign it, bury him under an avalanche of the reason you can't get your job paying you fair amounts of money, the reason that he won't tax his billionaire friends is because of Donald Goddamn Trump at the White House. And let us all remember who put him there, despite the fact that they knew what the fuck they were doing. Don't listen to any more of these people who didn't know, didn't care why you hold me responsible for my vote. The reason all of this is failing is Donald goddamn Trump. And the neighbors and your neighbors who voted for him are responsible for denying you what the American people need desperately. So make sure your neighbors know that they don't get to fucking get away with this anymore. Next time a Trump flag is hung out in your neighborhood, make sure the person who hangs out knows that everyone hates them and thinks they're stupid and racist. Because my kid could use a raise at his job. It's minimum wage. We'd like to raise it to eight, 10, 12 bucks an hour. The reason he can't do that is because of your goddamn vote. You put these assholes in office, and I'm holding you personally responsible till the day you die. And that is how you do exactly what Obama tried to do, exactly what Biden tried to do without the niceness.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Without this pretense of, well, you know, it's not about Democrats and Republicans. Fuck that. It is exactly about that. Yeah. And that's what we need to ram down their throats at every opportunity.
SPEAKER_03We're going to talk a little more on Thursday, a little more, haha, about Medicare for All.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Uh, because there are uh there is the gold standard Medicare for All bill, and then there are many contingencies of what we might be able to get through the Senate if that fails. And and people are working on this and try, you know, this is what happened with Hillary Clinton and Clinton's effort to pass a healthcare bill, and it didn't pass, and she said, okay, let's do kids.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_03And they got chip. And so this is this is the thing that you you you start setting setting up the gold standard of what what if in a perfect world you were able to do.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03And then what what else could you do if that doesn't work? Right. Again, you can fight for what you do for the absolute best that you can, and then you you hope to get that. And then you were you have lots of other ideas. We have a very deep bench in the Democratic Party. And so I'm gonna talk a little bit about that on Thursday. Okay.
SPEAKER_05But now let's round up some news.
SPEAKER_03Very quickly. Uh from Fox News 56, Lexington, Kentucky, last week. Even Fox News quote, diesel prices have set new records nearly every day for two weeks, driftglass. Unquote. No, they didn't say drift glass.
SPEAKER_05No, they did not. They should. This is from PBS yesterday. Quote, diesel prices have reached historic highs as a result of the oh, they're blaming people as a result of the U.S. war in Iran and Russia's war in Ukraine, and consumers will bear the brunt of the rising cost, experts say. As of Wednesday, the national average for a gallon of diesel was $6.52 according to AAA. That's up from an average of $3.69 this time last year. So nearly double. The average person, including myself, doesn't typically buy diesel fuel, said Kenneth Gillingham, professor of environmental and economic uh energy economics at Yale University. But diesel fuel is crucial for so many parts of the economy. Unquote.
SPEAKER_03Trump's solution, threatening to annihilate the nation of Iran. From The Guardian, this is from last week. We we missed this part. Donald Trump has a habit of discomforting delegates to the United Nations General Assembly, but this year he may have upstaged the ghost of Nikita Khrushchev by openly contemplating the annihilation of a fellow UN member state. Eleven minutes into a 40-minute address, the U.S. President announced that he had a big decision to make over Iran, which has staged a much more determined resistance than Trump anticipated when he decided to go to war against the country in February. Anticipated? He didn't anticipate shit. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? He asked. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly? Never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again. Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? Possibly not since Khrushchev, the late Soviet eater leader, brandished his shoe and allegedly banged it on a desk in 1960 in protest at a fellow delegate's speech. Has the annual he said, We will bury you.
SPEAKER_05We will bury. Yep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Has the annual gathering witnessed such a display of bellicosity from a superpower leader? Unquote.
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm. This is what else the asshole. Yeah, he's just a thoroughgoing asshole with no redeeming feature at all. Which, you know, typical of MAGA Republicans, he reflects them. This is this is who they are. This is their this is their way. From the Associated Press, quote, Donald Trump canceled $810 million in spending approved by Congress using a pocket rescission that would let the money expire. Why would you do that? Well, the largest cuts $567 million for health and human services programs serving refugees, asylum seekers, and other non-citizens. What an asshole. What a cruel, vicious, petty little man. The White House notified Congress five days before the fiscal year ends on September 30th, leaving lawmakers without the required 45-day review period. The House is also out of session until after the November election. Unquote.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they'll sue and get the money back because he broke that law rule.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, well, hopefully. Or or or Russell vote, just say no.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Impeach Russell vote first, first and foremost.
SPEAKER_03Russell Vot goes first.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, Hexeth is number two, and then just start knocking off cabinet members.
SPEAKER_03Right, right. Although I, you know, like I said, I think the chief of staff is is going to resign. And it wouldn't surprise me if somewhere in the next two years uh Stephen Miller flees the country.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, all right. The latest news on FBI director Kash Patel. Kash Patel was seen partying with his country music singer girlfriend at Alina Haba's third wedding. She's married three times in like eight years. Uh the the and she's marrying a Turkish multi-billionaire. Of course she is. From Turkey. Uh the FBI director was photographed alongside Ali Abdelaz, a prominent mixed martial arts manager and former FBI informant who was dropped by the agency. He was dropped by the FBI in 2008 after he was suspected of being a double agent. What about the bestiality?
SPEAKER_05And speaking of animals, the lepers have come for Paul LePage's face. Aw, that's Paul LePage, former Maine governor, out and proud racist, and currently the Republican candidate for the U.S. House seat representing Maine's 2nd Congressional District. This is from WGME Maine, September 21st, 2026. Quote, in the race for Congress, the Republican nominee in Maine's 2nd District says some of what ICE is doing is not right. Paul LePage is now revealing that he believes a family member's father was wrongly deported. Yeah, when they come for you, man, it's all different, isn't it? LePage made the comments Monday in Augusta, where the fraternal order of police endorsed him. He says ICE is deporting the father of his son's wife, even though he has a work permit to stay in the U.S. legally. Not everybody that's here is illegal. I have a father. My son's wife's dad is here legally, but he's being deported because he came from a country that's not of the certain liking of some people in Washington.
SPEAKER_03Some people in Washington. Fuck you.
SPEAKER_05Very carefully not naming the dear leader or his Nazi accomplices. Back to Paul LePage. That's not right. He has a work permit. He should be allowed to stay, LePage said. Would I go after everybody that's here that have work permits and have been here for decades? Probably not. I'd probably go for the gang people and the criminals.
SPEAKER_03Of which there are 300 million.
SPEAKER_05Apparently there are hundreds of millions of them. The Department of Homeland Security responded saying, We stand by our statement. Work authorization or pending application does not confer legal status in the United States, which is bullshit, by the way. LePage also says if you're here illegally, you've broken the law. Yeah. You've broken the law, but that doesn't mean you should be deported, because the law you broke was simply entering the country without proper documentation. Exactly. He spoke out against bans on cooperating with ICE, you know, the people that deported his son's wife's father, saying police should be allowed to cooperate with all law enforcement, including at the federal level. That's one reason the fraternal order of police is backing Paul LePage. Unquote.
SPEAKER_03You know, there it's a very easy way that Paul LePage could keep his daughter's father-in-law in the country. And that is to donate millions of dollars to Donald Trump's super PAC.
SPEAKER_05That's true. Just buy him.
SPEAKER_03That's all he has to do. That's it's very simple.
SPEAKER_05That's right. Because he pardons people from money all the time.
SPEAKER_03All the time.
SPEAKER_05He he breaks the rules for friends who pay him a lot of money all the time.
SPEAKER_03You can buy a Trump gold card for immigration to stay in the country for a million dollars.
SPEAKER_05That's all you gotta do, Paul. Just cough up the million and maybe he'll let him back in the country.
SPEAKER_03That's all you have to do. Finally, this from the Intercept last week. Quote, John Fetterman is fundraising on GOP donor email lists. The senator has been flirting with the idea of switching parties. Now he's using Republican campaign infrastructure. Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is sending fundraising emails pledging to stand with America and reject the extremes. I wonder if they're on both sides. Uh, using email lists for Republican candidates and committees. An email over the weekend sent by Fetterman's campaign came from the address info at GOP.squad.com and vowed, I'm always going to reject socialism and the anti-American way of life. Now, other recent appeals sent from this same email address, the GOPSquad.com, encourage readers to help President Donald Trump pass new voting restrictions, to read an urgent memo from House Speaker Mike Johnson on fighting the left, and to back Republican Mike Rogers for Senate in Michigan over Abdul El Saed, whom the email compared to a terrorist and a threat to our way of life. He received the maximum, he, meaning Fetterman, received the maximum allowed contribution from GOP megadoter Harlan Crowe, as the Intercept reported in July. But the use of Republican fundraising infrastructure represents a new step in Fetterman's confounding electoral strategy. There's nothing confounding about it, Intercept.
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_03The Fetterman campaign also sent copies of the fundraising email from alternate GOP domains, including unshakableconservatives.com and freedomfaction.net. Former Fetterman staffers who spoke to the Intercept on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal condemned the role boss's pivot and suggested he betrayed his previous supporters. After taking contributions from millions of small dollar donors who wanted a Democratic Senate, John Fetterman turned around and became Donald Trump's useful idiot, said one former staffer. Now it's no surprise that he has to resort to GOP donors to prop up his dismal fundraising numbers. Unquote.
SPEAKER_05I have a question.
SPEAKER_03I want to mention it was about your dad.
SPEAKER_05I'd like to hear I'd like to hear about your dad. Was your dad a big Fetterman guy?
SPEAKER_03My dad was a Pennsylvania voter, Pittsburgh, Northside. Don't forget Northside. Connor Lamb, who voted who ran against John Fetterman in the primary, was my dad's congressman. Fetterman was a jag in the Marine Corps, clean cut, not as wild and crazy as Fetterman, you know, who caught the imagination of a lot of voters. And uh not a didn't have anything about racism like chasing black people down the street that we are we're all supposed to kind of swallow and pretend happened in the past and wasn't who he really was. Um that was my mistake, that was a lot of people's mistake, and I own it. Uh but my dad in the primary voted for Connor Lamb because he knew Connor Lamb was a friend of his. I know Connor Lamb. Connor Lamb's a friend of mine, right? He's he's a good damn Democrat. He's a goddamn Democrat. And and that's the thing. He said Connor Lamb has always voted with the Democratic Party, and I'm a Democrat, and he's my congressman, and I'm gonna vote for him. Right.
SPEAKER_05In the general, your dad, you know, straight Democratic ticket.
SPEAKER_03And my dad was always giving his grandchildren advice on how to vote. Oh, yeah, it's easy. Straight democratic ticket. You don't have to you don't have to weigh it and be careful. Straight democratic ticket.
SPEAKER_05Oh, but grumps, what about no straight democratic ticket?
SPEAKER_03Straight democratic ticket.
SPEAKER_05I don't have a lot of time for this other stuff. Okay.
SPEAKER_03How'd you vote? Straight democratic ticket.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Rest in peace. Rest in power, grumps.
SPEAKER_05Rest in power grumps.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. One of a kind. We miss you.
SPEAKER_05One of a kind.
SPEAKER_03Feel free to write to both of us at proleftpodcast at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_05Oh, one exception though.
SPEAKER_03Oh, unless you're correcting us for the thing.
SPEAKER_05Unless you're correcting us about the Naomi thing. Uh we got it. We got it. We got it.
SPEAKER_03If you find a white male centrist named Naomi, send it to us.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah. And you know what? Here's the irony. My my grandma uh who's named Naomi.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that is that is an irony. I've I've got something to match that though.
SPEAKER_05Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03I don't think it surpasses it, your grandmother named Naomi. Benny Johnson, who was, you know, laying in wait to put out this tweet about how fantastic Senator Schmidt was, whatever his name is. Schmidt. Guess where he went to school? University of Iowa. He's a hawkeye.
SPEAKER_05Okay. All right.
SPEAKER_03Okay. All right.
SPEAKER_05You win.
SPEAKER_03I forgot to mention that. All right. So do feel free to write us at prolefpodcast at gmail.com, even with corrections. We we love hearing from you. We read every single one of those Naomi emails. If you sent us one, we read it. Uh if yeah, be aware that if you write to us at any of our addresses, we reserve the right to read your email or U.S. Postal Service Go Postal Unions letter on the air, unless you say otherwise. If we ever have a slow newsweek drift class, we'll just read the Naomi emails.
SPEAKER_05I'm thinking just that that'd take up a couple hours. That'd be a two-parter.
SPEAKER_03Guys, thank you for supporting our show. Patreon.com forward slash proliferapod.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we appreciate it like crazy. I mean, we really do. We we joke and we kid, but your your support is just means everything to us. And and what else you can do uh is share our show on social media. Say, these are the idiots who confuse Nami, Klein, and Wolf. You should listen to them. So if you love this podcast, you know, get someone else who who you think might enjoy it to listen to a couple of them and see if they like it.
SPEAKER_03Hey Driftglass, how are the Internet Kitties doing this week?
SPEAKER_05Well, Blue Gal, the Internet Kitties have noticed that while diesel prices are skyrocketing, MAGA moral cowardice is still dirt cheap and plentiful.