Ep. 59 - It’s Giving Auntie For Senate w/ Peggy Flanagan

Jana and Brian welcome MN Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan for a convo on organizing in scary times and why she’s running for U.S. Senate! They dig into health care for all, raising the federal minimum wage, national paid family & medical leave, and saying no to corporate PAC money. Plus, concrete ways listeners can plug in (letters, protests, mutual aid, running for local office, text banking). Caller asks how to build power with neighbors amid fear and misinformation. Peggy’s answer is a masterclass in truth-telling, safety, and doing “the next good thing.” If you want an Auntie in the Senate, support and amplify at peggyflanagan.com. 

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Hosts: Jana Schmieding (@janaunplgd) and Brian Bahe (@brian_bahe)

Guest: Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan)

Music: Steve Jenkins (@stevejenkins)

Producer: John Delviscio (@johndelviscio)

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Transcript

Welcome to SageBase Wisdom. I'm Jana Schmieding. And I'm Brian Bahe. And we are
podcasting to you from the sacred homelands of the Minnesota State Fair.
Today we'll be giving you our listeners, some advice cultivated indigenously,
from our backgrounds in um corn dogs and um indigenous owned lip gloss companies if
you're a frequent listener and want even more of us in your life consider becoming
an official wise ass member by going to sagebased wisdom dot supercast .com these do
because we're going to have even more of peggy flanagan our guest on the wise -ass
edition today. But yeah, that brings us to our special guest. She is the lieutenant
governor of the state of Minnesota, and she is running for Senate to be a senator,
and we can't wait to get her there. Please give it up for Lieutenant Governor Peggy
Flanagan.
Thank you. I'm, Egritch, I'm super excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Yes. Do you want to do your official Nishnabe introduction?
I would. Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to do that. Buju, Peggy, Wibbena,
McCoy, and goabaghani, Gaghani, Jhajana, Jaba. My name's Peggy Flandigan. My spirit
name is Speaks in a Loud and Clear Voicewoman. I am a member of the White Earth
Nation, and my family is the Wolf Klan. And I am so excited to be here with y
'all. And just thank you for having me. Oh, so good. And now,
Brian, you want to do your introduction in your language or one of them? Yat -A.
Uh -huh. And what's And what's next? Some other stuff.
It's so hard. I tried to get my dad, my dad's Navajo, and he,
I tried to get him to, like, really, like, get me, teach me it. But, like, it's
so hard.
It's simply, it's hard. It's simply hard. I think I tried, I actually did come
across my, my notes app of, like me trying to like transcribe it and um like
phonetically and it like it looks like jibberish uh -huh yeah um what about a hopi
don't you have a hopi intro is hopey much different i'm navajo hopi and's on
awesome so i guess i should maybe just get maybe do one of each oh my god yeah
three and one yeah kind of a two our introduction. Sort of something that you will
actually never learn.
You never know. I mean, you know, like, we've all been in our room with native
folks doing intros and there's 15 people and two and a half hours later we are
like ready to start the work. God bless us. And then the workshop is 10 minutes
long because we spent way too much time on
Great crew of three -hour lunch. God help us if there's a prayer. That's right.
I actually am a little bit, like, I as a kid in, like, in a room with Native
elders, and there was always a prayer. And I was always just, like, losing my mind.
But now that I'm, you know, a little bit older, I am a little bit like, it's, I
get it. Let's make this prayer long. We don't want to leave anybody out. I can't
leave I can't live with that. And as an elder, I got stuff to say.
And we're going to learn about it. Cover all of our bases, right? Yes. We can't
take any chances. This could be the only time to talk.
Peggy, how are you doing? How are you feeling? I'm
I told myself I'm going to try really hard to not sob on this episode of the
podcast because I'm feeling very sort of in a place politically where I'm scared of
what's happening. I'm scared of what I'm seeing. I don't love what's going on in
our government and, um, I take solace in your efforts to get there because I trust
you and I know you. And I'm like, not only am I scared just for your like,
I'm not scared for your safety. I'm just like, I just want to protect you so
badly. And, um, and I'm, and I'm like, uh, desperate for you to become a senator.
all the things that you are feeling, I'm going to just affirm, right? Like, this
is, it is heavy, right? Like, it is so, so heavy.
And you just kind of take it a day at a time.
And, you know, I am constantly reminded from aunties in my life who are like,
listen, you know, Donald Trump is not even in the top 10, like,
worst presidents that like young people have ever seen, right? I need to remind
myself of that, that we have seen worse times. And like, this is really important
to hear. It is, it is. Yeah, like, it was, you know, it has been bad. And like,
and it is bad, right? And we see, we see health care being stripped away from our
neighbors. We see food literally be taking off the table from folks. Our relatives
being disappeared off of the streets, right? Like, this is, this time is no joke.
But I also believe that all of the pushback right now that we see all of the
folks who are saying, like, I'm not okay with this. Like, I might not be, quote,
unquote, political, but, like, what I see happening makes me uncomfortable. So I
showed up to this rally for the first time, or I went to this meeting. There are
folks right now who are getting engaged, and this is our opportunity, not to be
like, where have you been, right? Like, that is not the mood, right? Like, that's
not the mood. It is, come on in. We've been waiting for you. We have work to do.
And so, you know, like, it can be incredibly overwhelming for us to just think
about, if we think about it all at one time, right? Like, it can crush us.
And so, you know, I think our job is to just figure out, like, what is the next
good thing that we're going to do in this moment? Like, I'm like, I can run for
the United States Senate. That may not be the thing that you decide to do. But,
like,
that's it. Probably not. Probably not. Yeah. If you're just having that thought.
and in this movement, and, like, we just have to tap into it and figure out what
it is. But this is, you know, I think as someone who grew up, you know, thinking
the bottom could fall out at any moment, like, there are not enough people who know
what that's like in Washington, D .C. And so that is the fuel for my fire. Like, I
have fought for low -income folks, for middle -class families, for working people my
entire career. And we just, like need more people who are down who understand what
that's like and who can get good results to to be in that space. And so that's,
that's why I'm doing this. And I'm excited that there's a lot of folks who are,
who are part of this campaign and, you know, from all over, from all over the
country. All over the country and something that has been really like hopeful for
me, uh, engaging in sort of what is otherwise an intimidating political discourse
right now is like seeing that you're you're so right that like people are seeing on
social media you know our neighbors and our community members you know getting picked
up by ice or you know and also like the deportation system is so messed up and
nobody wants that nobody is asking for that not a single person is asking for that
and and on all sides of the political spectrum everyone is seeing what's happening i
hope that we can get onto the same page about our health care with this government
shutdown that's happening right now like we need to sort of like come together and
be like nobody wants that nobody wants more expensive health care it's already so
unaffordable like we got a we got to get on the same page everybody that's right
and you know like so we're doing what we're calling kitchen table conversations all
across minnesota and like it is a little less uh community like a little less town
hall with like scripted questions yeah like hey hey here's what i'm doing give me
applause exactly like that's baloney nobody wants that um and so it's like more
community meeting and we've got postit notes and flip chart paper where i feel like
most comfortable is with like markers and you know like let's get that up here and
um which i love
$15 ,000 deductible. She just went to the doctor. It's insane.
And it costs her $600 to do just like a med check, which is like a medication
that has changed your whole life and totally improved her quality of life. And so
she's like, so I did it. But like $15 ,000. And so this fight right now for
continuing the ACA, the subsidies, like, that matters because it'll impact all of us.
But, like, ultimately, we should have Medicare for all. And, like, let's be clear.
Like, yes, we need to fight this fight, and we should. And it is, there's just a
big clap of thunder. So, like, I'm taking that as a sign that Medicare for all is
exactly what we're doing. Oh, my God. And here we go. Okay, okay, because when we
were on with Amber, literally one hour ago, she saw a bald eagle out her window.
And
website .com.
The most sacred of all podcasts. Podcast.
So yeah,
I think yeah, we do need health care for all. And for those listeners who haven't
necessarily been following your campaigning for Senate, like what does that This is
my portion of the podcast where I ask you for advice. So you're a lieutenant
governor right now. How does sort of running for like a statewide position,
how does it differ from running for Senate? Like is it, do you have,
are you trying to reach a much broader swath of folks and how is that approach how
would somebody approach that sure so um you know i have run statewide twice before
one twice before and um have been doing this work in minnesota as an organizer for
over 20 years and so my like occupation might change but it feels like my vocation
is very much much, right, the same, kind of no matter what I'm doing. But I would
say the difference in running statewide as lieutenant versus running for federal
office for U .S. Senate is that more people are paying attention. Because, and I
think especially when we see the just chaos and dysfunction of what is happening in
Washington and how it is impacting people's lives in this moment,
that it allows us to have, I think, a bigger conversation. And it certainly is not,
you know, it is not the reason that I am running, but it is not lost on me,
right? That I would be the first Native American woman to serve in the U .S.
Senate. That also matters, right? And that, you know, I think the floor should be
the federal government honoring treaty rights and trust responsibilities which like has
never actually happened like never be doing that and so you know there i think is
excitement uh across the country about this race and what this means you know
potentially um you know not just for native people but for folks who want Medicare
for all for people who care about making sure that we increase the minimum wage in
this country right like 17 dollars $17 should be the floor. You know,
we've been able to pass an increase in the minimum wage here in Minnesota and index
it to inflation. I co -chaired that campaign over a decade ago. And like in
Washington, it hasn't gone up in 16 years. It's still $7. Damn. Which is totally
bananas, right?
So, you know, and then paid family medical leave is something that we got done here
in Minnesota. It'll go into effect in January of 2026. Like, we need a national
paid family and medical leave policy. What a concept. Like, I think people are just
ready. I think people are ready across the country and of course here in Minnesota
for folks who are just going to, you know, step up. And one of the reasons why
I'm not taking corporate PAC money is because I think like corporations have an
incredible amount of representation right now on Washington, D .C. And that's something
that, yeah, yeah, like they are pulling the strings and folks feel like it's rigged.
And so, you know, I'm raising money from nurses and truck drivers and teachers and
little grandmas who are reaching into their coffee can to give me five bucks. Like,
that is the way that we're going to do this. And I think that is also, like,
fundraising is is is a big part of this deal and part of the hustle but also
we've got over 30 ,000 donors across the country and people from all 87 counties in
Minnesota because people like are excited and plugged in and like my job now is to
make sure that like they feel like they stay plugged in and like they're part of
something and like we're not just building for 2026 but for 2028 and 2030 and 2032,
like, what do we want ultimately? It's not just playing to the status quo or, like,
fighting from a defensive crouch, which is what, like, Democrats are really good at,
right? Right, right, right. You know, or being like, we should pick the fight we
can win, like, instead of, like, what do people actually need and deserve in this
moment? Like, that is where we should be throwing down. And something that I, sorry,
Brian, I'm, like, totally icing you out of this conversation. Because I'm like,
Peggy, help us. But
woman, as a mom, as an organizer, as a, you know, a person who,
you know, comes from a low income background, like the way that you are stepping in
with a message about, an equity message, right, equity forward, which is like,
listen, I'm for policies that will benefit native people as indigenous people are
some of the poorest people in our country. And, you know, our black relatives are
also, and our immigrant relatives are also in that very, very low -income, sort of
underrepresented tier of citizens in this country. And I feel so strongly that the
laws and the rights and the, you know,
the system, the system that benefits the poorest of us will benefit everyone.
That's right. If you, it's like the ramp versus the stairs. Everyone can walk up a
ramp. That's right. Only certain people can walk upstairs. And if we build ramps
instead of stairs,
Like, that is the key to everything. Yep. And so I really just love that you are,
and the thing that I think is part of our mission, Brian and I as, like,
comedians, is making the health care, the fight for health care,
making it Cool, making it interesting, making it funny, making it engaging, you know,
because I think it can get sort of doled down for some reason, but it is something
worth fighting for. Absolutely. Pardon me, I said the F -bomb, but this was supposed
to be a family -friendly episode. And I just said the F word. We can bleep it out.
We can bleep it out, please.
It's hard for me. Peggy, are you A TikTok person.
Are you scrolling?
I am 46, so I'm a Instagram Reels person. Okay,
that was going to be right.
So you get the TikTok videos four days later. That's exactly right. I mean,
sometimes like two weeks later. Yeah, but like, yes, I'll get there eventually.
And then I'll, like, send it to, you know, my best friend, Karen, and she'd be
like, Oh, yeah.
we can comment on it. I'm ready. Let's do it. All right, here we go. I've never
heard anything more true about being a mom in my entire life. I was watching a
video the other day and the content creator was talking about how motherhood is the
only job that as soon as you open your eyes, you're in it. Even though ladies,
let's be real, we know that even when we close our eyes and we're trying to sleep,
we're in it too. And it got me thinking because on top of the daily sacrifices we
are asked to make as moms. This is one of the toughest things to adjust to,
especially when you feel like you just need a break. If you are overwhelmed with
what motherhood is asking of you, the daily sacrifice, the immediate call to
attention and service, and the ability to juggle small emotions while learning to
manage your own, here are three practical things that you can do to start feeling
like motherhood is more easier and fulfilling. Start off every single morning with
intentional gratitude. This is something that I personally got wrong. Start the
morning with gratitude. The moment I opened my eyes, I would think about all of the
duties that were going to be asked of me as a mom for the day, and I would start
my day in survival mode, stressed out and ready to break at any point. And when I
learned to switch this within myself, I woke up with a new frame of mind being
grateful for healthy children that I had the opportunity to be of service to and
parent throughout the day. Intentional, gratitude first thing in the morning is a
complete game changer. Pay attention to what you are thinking and feeling throughout
the day. This matters so much because every time you think about how tough it is
to be a mom or how your children are, you are setting up opportunities to see more
stress, more sacrifice, and more overwhelmed. And create situations to laugh with your
kids every single day. You are raising some incredible human beings and you don't
want to miss it because you are stressed to the max all the time. Having moments
to connect with them and even more so laugh with them will reignite the joy that
you have for these little humans in your life. This is the hardest job in the
world, and you deserve to love it more. If you want to learn more about how to
make motherhood feel more joy. Three, now I'm not a mom. And Brian,
are you? Are you a mom? I'm a dog mom. Just kidding. You're not even a dog mom.
I'm at least a cat mom. Which, by the way, Wilma is trying to, trying to say hi
to Peggy. Meow Aw, so cute. What did you think about that advice as a mom?
Because I have some thoughts, and one of my thoughts is, why do we always have to
have gratitude?
Why? Why do women always have to have gratitude? We got to be thankful for this
stuff. Come on. On top of it all, I got to be thankful. The first thing I do
when I wake up is say thank you for this life. I mean, come on.
It's fair. I mean, I think the part of the advice that I appreciate is like
starting your day intentionally, right? So that means like, you know, for me,
too often what happens is I like, alarm goes off, I roll over, I pick out my
phone and I like start doom scrolling. And then I'm like, oh my gosh.
possible he
And, you know, it's to, like, come up in the middle of the night and, like, wake
me up. It's, it is, I, like, thought I would never do that as a mom,
right? And it's immediately the, oh, yeah, what's going on? Right. And so,
you know, there's, like, that is just, I think, part of who you are, right? Like,
once you become a mom is that you're always like, you know, like, I would love to
do that to my parents as a kid and just like, because they would have that
reaction. I'm just like, that's so funny. And you just be like, it always like,
yeah, it is, uh, you know, alarm and like ready to, ready to, to bounce or to
sprint or, you know, um, but yeah, there's like, sometimes it's just hard and like,
you can just be like, blah, this is really hard. And like, that's okay. Brian,
how are you waking up these days? Are you sort of rolling over and opening Grindr,
what have we got? My justification is I love to, I did, I'm doing it less lately,
which I really like, but I would wake up Doom scroll. And in my, my head, it's
like the blue light from the phone is waking me up, so it's actually helping me.
That's stark.
And so I'm like, this is actually good for me to do this right now. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Gratitude. Blue light.
Yeah, because they say like to sort of like regulate your circadian rhythm, which is
like your sleep cycle. The first thing you're supposed to do when you wake up is
go out and look at the sun and like be in the sun. But like helps you get into
like the rhythm of the day. Couldn't be me. The first light I'm seeing is the
phone light. Honey. and I'm praying for good news. And boy, oh, there is a few and
far between these days. But, yeah, I think you're so right. Like, to actually get
into the habit of starting the day intentionally as much as possible and being like,
like having a moment to ourselves. Maybe that's, like, a golden rule that I can
live by. I'm like, should I start smudging myself every morning? Yes.
I'm like, something.
Yes. I'm like, wait, that sounds like something that I would really, could really
use. I mean, there's nobody who's like, ugh, gosh, I just, I just smudged too much.
I was like, use our medicines too much, right? Like, or, you know, there's a very
good friend of mine. And if I like a call and I'm like, oh my gosh, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, she's like, okay, cool, cool. Why don't you like hang
up, go smudge yourself and then like come back. Yeah.
Call me again. Right? Like, it's just a good, like we've got, we've got those
things. Like, we have those tools at our disposal. Like, we should use them.
Yeah. Which is always just a good, a good reminder and then sometimes i'm just like
oh fine right like yeah i will and then it's like always better but um you know
the the part of that conversation though that i did appreciate is like the like
being silly like yeah and like you know like being joyful or whatever it is that
means like i feel like i have a tiny Janish meeting who lives in my house.
Yikes.
Shevon is, she's so funny, and like, really, that is,
like, no one makes me laugh harder than my kid. And, like, when we're able to just
be, like, weird, and she'll be like, mom, I bet you're the weirdest mom alive.
And I'm like, I hope that's true. Right. I hope that's true too. I hope that's
true too. Man, and Chavon, like, the way that I watch,
I've watched Chavon come up on your socials.
Like, she's getting into theater now. Honey, the theater nerd is coming out in a,
you know, such a raw way that I am like, oh, it like tickles my soul in a way
that I'm like, this is, this, to be a young woman who has not only theater
aspirations, but access to theater is to me,
I'm like, when I see some of the dark stuff that kids are getting into these days
like being online so much and sort of like in cell culture and stuff like that I
am like fund public fund music and theater fund the arts in public schools please
why are we not doing that that's the answer is actual real life hobbies get to get
these kids offline yeah what are we doing out here you know it's totally true. I
did do tech. I did tech in high school for one.
stage. I did that for one day and it was in Phoenix and I remember having to go
outside like during the summer like it was so hot and me and this other guy was
just like moving this big piece of wood like across a football field. And I was
like, wait, I'm choosing to do.
Not Brian not being able to cut it as a techie. Brian.
But looking back, I'm like, I should have just been an actor, high school. Yeah.
Well, I studied theater, you know, in high school and through college and at my
university. And I just, I didn't go, I didn't get like a BFA or MFA. I didn't go
to like a theater school. I went to a liberal art school, University of Oregon, and
studied theater at my liberal art school, which I think a lot of people looking at
sort of a liberal arts education right now and thinking it's a waste of money,
jokes on.
behind theater, which I employ every single day when I do this podcast and whenever
I'm doing anything. And I also had to learn like script analysis and like the
writing part of theater. And then acting was sort of like my little section of that
and the thing that I loved the most. But learning all different parts of the
theater are so crucial to like being a theater artist.
So I love watching Chavon sort of like being exposed to that as a middle schooler
is like, ugh, what a dream. What a life. She's pretty awesome. And she's playing
currently as Templeton the Rat in Charlotte's Web. Not Templeton!
Is it a musical? Does she get to sing Shmorgasbord? The song? It is not a musical.
But it's so funny because, like, her first, you know, her first show at this
community theater, this children's community theater was, don't let the pigeon drive
the bus, the musical, which was amazing. And this one is also so good. And it's
like very melancholy as well, right? Like, no spoilers, I guess, for Charlotte's Webb
for your listeners. Yeah, I I think we can't sort of. Like, if you've been in
fourth grade, right? You know what's coming. But like, she's been like, mom, like,
it's just like the, the vibes are different after this show. And I just said, yeah,
I was like, it's, you know, it's, it's heavy. It's different. And, but she does,
she does just an incredible job. So it's so fun to just see her,
like, she found her thing and She, like, found her people, and it took me a long
time to figure that out. And to, like, watch her do this when she's, like, 12 and
in the heat of, like, just middle school, which is, you know, nobody,
like, you know, no one loves middle school. And so it's just been, like, pretty,
pretty incredible. So I'm excited for, like, if you know this now and you, like,
know who you are now, what does mean you know for for years from now but like
yeah she's she's legit god so true it's so true middle school is a tough time but
again if we support young kids like finding things that they're into the earlier the
better because otherwise they're just left to their phones that's right and their
computors um which is getting us nowhere fast Okay. Shall we listen to our first
caller? I have two calls pulled, but we might save the second one for our wise ass
edition. So let's listen to the first caller, John,
and I believe that is Abby. Hi, Janet and Brian. This is Abby,
and I'm a longtime fan, first time caller. This question, I have a quick question
for Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Lieutenant Governor, as a woman within your
own community and seeing all the change that you have been able to drive, I am
wondering, I'm an Oregonian and I, you know, I'm doing the day -to -day as a mom,
as a working mom with my kids and friends. what are the things that I should be
talking about with those people and how should we be processing together? You know,
what kind of things can I be doing or ways that we can make change within our own
small communities that will help us make sense of kind of the larger turmoil or
kind of pressures we feel? I would say especially right now for Portland because the
National Guard is about to come here. So just ways in which we can engage with our
communities that put us, and by us,
I mean women, in a position to be change makers. So any thoughts on that would be
greatly appreciated. And thanks so much. I love this question. And just for
reference, Abby is one of my closest friends and she's,
we have organized together since college, and we've co -owned a condo in the Bronx
together. We were both teachers, educators together. So she is a big follower of
yours and couldn't, you know, she couldn't wait to ask this question,
which I think is such an important question. Well, first of all, hi, Abby.
Thanks for being awesome.
and, you know, I've
is by leaning on others,
asking for help when we need it, mutual aid, finding time to just like be and to
visit and to laugh and, you know, to just remember why this life is worth fighting
for. Can I interject really quickly with something that you just said, Peggy, which
is asking for help when we need it. If you are a person out there who's struggling
to have community, a great way to build community is to ask for help when you need
it because people love to be asked to help out. It's an honor to,
like, help our neighbors and our friends. So, like, if you're, if you are in a
place where you're like, I actually need some support around this certain thing,
like, ask for it. Ask for it. It's a great way to bring people into your world.
Anyway, continue.
I mean, I think, and I think too often, like, we feel like, oh, if I
see happening, right? Like downtown Portland is not,
you know, a war zone, right? Like folks are like taking their dog for a walk and
like going to get coffee and chatting with their neighbors. And we have to be
willing to tell the truth. It is one of the most important tools in our toolbox
right now. And then figuring out like, you know, do you, there's lots of tactics,
right, that we can use. And frankly, there's not just one answer in this moment,
right? It could be sending a letter, sending an email, going to, right, your member
of Congress to their office, showing up for a protest,
literally, like, you know, adding your body to a mix of folks who are marching to,
like, show, like, I'm not okay with this and just demonstrating the amount of power
we have. Doing so safely and strategically, if you, like, you can bring your kids
with you. Like, my daughter knows that my first responsibility is her mom,
right? It's to be her mom and to make sure that she is safe. But my second
responsibility is to be a good Anishinaabe Quay and to show up for my community and
for my neighbors. And so that also means that, like, if we can do that with each
other, that, you know, we should, we should bring our kids along, right? I think
that that, I think I want her to know that is her responsibility to support
candidates to share your values, run for office yourself if you feel like. Oh, I
would love for Abby to run for office, baby! Also, Abby, it takes nine times to be
asked usually for a woman to, like, run for office. So, Abby, I'm asking you to
run for office. So that's one time. I'm asking you to run for office, Abby. And I
just asked, so that's three. Okay, wait, it takes nine times. Wait, what is, what,
tell me about that. Yeah, so women need to be asked multiple times to run, to run
for office.
Men are, wake up. I I didn't even think that it was also being asked. Like, will
you run for office? I didn't even think about that as an ask that we can just ask
each other because, yeah, Abby, I am going to genuinely ask you. Please run for
office. I would love to help you get elected to office, any office.
There we go. Yeah. I mean, that's it. And like, dudes, good on you. Like, wake up
and they're like, you know what? I just might run for president. God. Like,
they do it. So, like, that's cool. But, like, we should also do that because
especially, like, women, Native women have been later since time of memorial. It's
the rest of society that is catching up to us. And so, but yeah,
I think there's lots of ways to do it. And to just think about,
like, I'm just going to do this next good thing. I am going to focus on this
particular issue in my neighborhood or like this will be the thing that I want to
like make sure I am amplifying the stories of people who, you know, may be
vulnerable or in trouble in this moment or figuring out, you know, for me, like as,
you know, as a citizen, I can raise my voice for my immigrant neighbors who deserve
due process or that we should have masked law enforcement in the streets,
you know, as ICE agents covering their faces. Yeah. Quick side note in Minnesota
when we lost our speaker, Melissa Hortman, to horrific assassination,
that was done by a guy who was posing as law enforcement who had his face covered.
And so, like, We should all be like completely horrified that somehow that is
allowed. So we should be like, yeah. That's right. So just getting loud, telling the
truth, using your privilege, and then figuring out what tactic in this moment works
for you. And don't be completely overwhelmed and do nothing because it feels like
too much. Just like do as much as you can. We lift what we can carry and that
changes from day
Mm -hmm. Here's a question, a follow -up question, and then we're going to switch
over to our wise -ass episode. So if you're not a subscribe, if you're not a wise
-ass subscriber, then you should become one because we're going to talk more with
Peggy.
But what do you, I get asked this question a lot. And I'm asking as an organizer,
but also somebody who just believes in the power of gathering and people,
you know, I think what we are still recovering from, from the isolation of the
pandemic and, like, people being glued to their phones, like the worst thing to come
out of that. I mean, of course, is the loss of life. But then I'd say it's just,
like, how divided we became. So, like, literally showing up in an act of solidarity
with each other, I think is powerful. I think it also sends a really powerful
message to people in power that, like, there are more of us than there are of
them. And I think that that is incredibly important in this time because when we
see everything, the chaos, the stripping of rights, just the,
like,
absurdity and how revolting and illegal, like, all of it is,
sometimes it can feel like this is just like insurmountable. Right. And remember that
all of this is coming from weakness. Yes. Right. All of this is coming from
weakness, from a place of weakness. Like you can't make fun of me, Jimmy Kimmel.
Right. Like you can't write a truthful article New York Times,
right? All of this is coming from a point of weakness Versus, like, we can come
from a place of strength and from, you know, from those acts of solidarity together.
Now, it also means, like, if protests are not your thing, like, that's cool, too.
Like, there's other things to do. But I do think it matters when we're able to say
X number of thousand people, like, showed up in this place.
Yeah. And especially in some of our rural communities. Absolutely. Where, like, folks
are like, oh, my gosh, there's 300 people here. Where are all these people coming
from? And I think that can be incredibly helpful for folks.
And just has been one of the most important tools in our toolbox, nonviolent
protest, is something that we have seen, you know, work. And we should continue to
do it. We should do so safely and have each other's backs when we show up in the
streets, but it is, it matters. And if online dating hasn't been going well for
you, I feel like protest being around, you know, other hot singles in your area
with common interests. Never have you said a truer thing? I think that's,
there are so many hot people at protest, literally the hottest of the hot are out
in these streets protesting. Honey, IRL dating, that's where it's at.
That's right. It's in the resistance. That's right. You're like, does this person
share my values? I don't know. Look at their sign. I bet they do. Yep. They've got
a witty sign. They are funny. Meaning kitten heels with a with a sign.
Unstoppable. Unstoppable. That is power. Okay. Peggy,
how can the average sage -based wisdom listener support your candidacy and your work
right now? Sure. Well, the best thing that folks can do is go to Peggyflanagan .com.
You can sign up to donate. You can volunteer. You can learn more about the
campaign. And then just like spread the word On the socials.
We're on all the things. So I would appreciate you just lifting up and amplifying
our campaign. And just I'm so grateful to have this space with y 'all today.
Is there anything? If you're not in Minnesota, is there anything that's kind of,
that would be beneficial for people that would like to help out? Yeah. So I think
the best thing to do if people can make a contribution of, like, any amount, like,
helps us to hire more organizers, talk to more people. You know, if people want to,
like, volunteer also from across the country, we actually have a lot of young Native
people who have offered to help to get folks plugged in. You can do text banking.
You can do calling as, you know, those opportunities arise. And then just helping to
amplify some of our messages on social. This is
envaged and like the best part is like I know that once I get to Washington DC
I'm like not going by myself right like everybody is coming with me at my office
at the Capitol I have like blankets everywhere like everywhere hanging on the walls
on the couch on the chairs right and so like when I think about that I'm like how
we create a space star quilt curtain in the in the office right like How do we
make sure that people, you know, feel cozy and comfortable and, like, they've been
part of this? Like, that's what I am trying to build to along the way with this,
with this campaign. Just comfort care community in a moment when we need to really
be in solidarity and fighting back. There's a role for everybody. And so if being
part of this campaign is one of the ways that you feel like you can, like, step
up and push back against the chaos of the Trump administration and, you know, just
like the corporate takeover of our politics, like, come on in.
We'd love to have you.
Peggy, do you have 15 more minutes to spend with us, or do you got to run? Folks,
go support Peggy. Let's do an event together. Let's do a SageBased Wisdom Live out
in your homelands. in the new year, Peggy, we're going to get you elected. And here
at SageBase Wisdom, we're part of the Peggy Flanagan H .Q. Peggy Flanagan for U .S.
Senate H .Q. So lean on us. That is all the time we have today.
We hope our wisdom made your life better, but we will not be issuing refunds if it
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-ass going by going to sage -based wisdom .supercast .com. Thank you for doing again,
Hacone. Tokshah. Thank you, Peggy. Thank you, Red.