Not So Civil Gerrymandering and Stripper Index | 09.09.25

Welcome back to the Civil Union Podcast with Ryan and Alex! In the season 2 premiere episode, the duo returns after a summer hiatus, highlighting their trip to Las Vegas and discussing the unforgettable Backstreet Boys concert at the Sphere. They dive into current political issues, including concerns over gerrymandering and Governor Mike Kehoe's actions in Missouri. The conversation gets heated as they critique the Missouri Republicans' stance on redistricting and gun control, especially in the context of a recent school shooting perpetrated by a transgender individual. They also talk about the economic conditions, as evidenced by the declining 'stripper index,' and discuss tipping culture's evolution in America. 

00:00 Welcome Back to the Civil Union Podcast

01:35 Summer Recap: Vegas Adventures and More

06:53 Political Landscape: Gerrymandering and Controversies

15:07 Economic Insights: The Stripper Index and Recession

25:45 Game Time: Trump or Movie Villain?

33:47 Missouri's Third US House District

34:34 Gun Violence and Transgender Issues

41:31 Viral Clips 

48:03 End of Episode 1 

Music: What's The Angle? by Shane Ivers -

https://www.silvermansound.com

Transcript

0:08

Welcome to the Civil Union Podcast. I'm Ryan here with my husband, Alex. We are here to spill the tea on the ever so changing political landscape. That's right. You've come to the right place. We're spilling tea, calling out the bs. This season will be so much better than the last democracy's messy. And so are we. Hey, we are here, we're back again. I'm Ryan with my husband Alex. Hello. And we are, um, it's, it's back at season two. Oh my gosh. I can't believe we. Have been through so much. Not as like Americans, but like as. Husbands and, we went through summer. We didn't record a podcast. It's been since like may you know it, it's a lot of work and it's a lot of just wait to read the news and keep up for this podcast. So we took like a summer off and I will tell you it was really hard sometimes to hear some of the stuff going on and not do this podcast and not speak our mind.'cause so much has happened in the last three months. I know. I can't tell you how many times I actually like. Pre-written like a Facebook status update, like, you know, sharing my opinion like everyone does these days, and I just like. Would like delete it automatically, because I'm like, no, I'm not gonna be that person and I'll just save it for the podcast. So I'm so happy we're back. Yeah, we, we have a lot of material now guys. Yeah, we do have some good material. Um, how, how was the summer? How was your summer, Alex? Oh man. The summer was good. I actually didn't work as much and we went to Vegas in July. We did go to Las Vegas. That was so much fun. Saw the Backstreet Boys. Backing it up in the sphere. Oh my God. The Backstreet Boys at the sphere. Okay. Anyone that has the chance to go to the sphere, fucking do it. It is the coolest experience ever. You can't compare it to anything else. The videos I got were just amazing and, you know, we had the chance to see Lady Gaga that weekend, or we had the chance to see Backstreet Boys at the sphere and. I know Alex really wanted to go to the sphere and when I said, oh, well Backstreet Boys are performing there, and his eyes like lit up and so we, we got tickets to the sphere. We were on the fourth floor in the center, eight rows back. And I'll tell you what, it was like the best seats in the house. It was the. Coolest experience. Did you ever feel like you were gonna like fall off? Because that's the, that's the concern with like so many people is like, oh, it's so steep, or, oh, it's so high. Did you feel like that? No, I never felt that. Like, I think like the, the enterprise center where the blue St. Louis Blues play, like, I feel like that's more steeper than the sphere, but I hear that. I hear that all the time from people. Yeah, it wasn't, it, it looks bad. It definitely like is intimidating, but once you're at your seat, it really wasn't too bad. And even when we got there, I was like, oh God, I hope we're not standing this whole concert. But then we ended up standing and it again, it wasn't that bad because you had so many people in front of you and you don't see the tears below you. So it's just you're kind of in the moment and you're kind of just there in your space. It really wasn't too bad. But it's like the first, I believe you said it was the first pop band or pop music artist that was performing at the sphere. And I tell you what, I'm so happy I saw that. I, I swear to you that I'm going to be looking at residencies at this sphere for the rest of my life and be like, oh. S this person's playing there. Like let, let's go there and see them. You know? So yeah, I've told that to numerous people. I'm like, just follow the sphere and the moment you have a band there that you wanna see, just buy tickets'cause it's gonna be worth it. It was so good. Could you imagine Taylor Swift performing there? Oh, it would never happen. She's so bigger than that. But like I. Or like a dance, EDC, like some sort of electronic. That would be so cool. So cool. Yeah. Highly recommend though guys. You need to go see it. But also this summer, you know, we had some downtime. We got to go to the pool. We got to just basically hang out. We were working, you know, but it was, it was a good time. It was a good time. It was a good cheap summer there. Well, not really cheap, but good and cheap when it comes to travel. Yeah. Now there's a slight crisp in the air and, uh, it's, it's, it's, uh, getting cooler out. Leaves are starting to fall, so we're, we're headed in the fall now, so I cannot wait for Halloween season. I am so amped for it. I am ready. Yeah. I'm wearing a hoodie right now. You are wearing a hoodie. You're always wearing hoodies though. That's true. That's true. Yeah. So, and then you're almost done with your, uh, master's degree? Yes, I'm on my last class. My master's will be done the first or second week of October, and then it is Alex, MBA, ready to go take on anything. Oh, that's so exciting. Congratulations. Thanks. We'll, yeah, we're going to San Francisco in October to celebrate, so it should be a good time. I'm really, really excited for it. Anything else going on in your world? Um, no. I mean, I, that's really it. I've been working so much the last few weeks. I, I think I've been averaging 70 hours a week, so it's just been nuts. But, you know, it, it's nice because. The way the economy is. I am very fortunate that we, I can pick up shifts and we can have such a good, you know, um, income in this household because a lot of people can't do that. And so I'm very fortunate. So even though we're working a lot, you, you're working a lot too. Like We are, we're do, we're doing good for ourselves right now, which is, which is great. I'm, I'm, we're comfortable and I'm so ready for our San Francisco trip and I'm so ready for fall. Yeah. Amazing. I saw this video that's like resurfacing on TikTok. It's the Alabama governor. She like burped giving a press conference. It's kind of hilarious. It happened in 2001 or 2021, but it's like resurfacing now. I don't know why. I have no idea. But do you wanna hear her burp? Yeah, let's do it. All right. Let's go. Wow. Yeah. What did she have for lunch? So when you told me about this video, I was like a burp. And then I watched the video and I mean, it was a, it's a substantial burp if what it's like. Deep and long. I, I actually looked at the video and I was like, wait, was this a woman or a man or what was this?'cause I'm so confused that that's just absolutely hilarious. So, okay, so we have to start off by discussing how Trump is trying to rig the midterm elections. We all know what gerrymandering is, and if you don't read up on it, but the Missouri Republican majority is currently in the process of passing updated gerrymandered districts right now. Trump Lapdog, Mike Kehoe, our wonderful governor and I say that ever so sarcastically, called for a special session this week to redraw these districts that Republicans already passed in. 2022. So gerrymandering, from my understanding is basically them trying to redistrict like voting lines to allow certain ethnicities not to be able to get to the ballot or their vote, maybe not matter as much or weighted as much as that kind of the, the idea of why they are doing what they're doing to kind of take over more Republican control. Is that what's going on? Yeah, that is absolutely the consistency. It's always. Been a controversial topic and at like Texas was doing this like last month and. Everyone was, all the Republicans were pointing out, look at Illinois, look at Illinois and their gerrymandered districts. But as a nerd in middle school, I loved reading maps. And when I had my social studies book, I, I I, I was learning what gerrymandering was. And North Carolina had the most gerrymandered district. It's like this tiny little box that followed, uh, you know. Across a highway or whatever and it was it, it's always been a thing. It's always been controversial and there's been Supreme Court rulings over it in favor of. Being able to gerrymander. That is one of the things during election night that I find the most interesting. It's not even the fact of like following CNN or whatever with their viewpoints, but it's the fact of like, I love watching the, like the people who are like knowledgeable about it. Go through district and county and county and they'll like predict how many votes they're gonna come in. I find that so interesting, but that's where this kind of comes into play. Yeah. So after each census, the constitution warrants each state to redraw their districts in favor of a political party. Red states do it. Blue states do it. Everyone does it. The Texas Showdown we saw over the summer is essentially taking place here in Missouri right now. So. While you struggle to pay for your groceries. I mean, let's be honest, I think we've all been to the grocery store and taken items out of the cart in order to try to stay on budget or while you struggle to save money or struggle to pay your rent. I mean, these fucking Republicans haven't done a damn thing to help resolve the housing crisis in this country. But I'm starting to digress here. We're paying them. To play in our capital right now to redraw maps illegally. No new census has occurred so they can keep guard of their seats. Come the 2026 midterms. So they have to, technically, they should be, have to wait for the new census to do the new redistricting, but they're not doing that, right. Each census is every 10 years. So 2020 we had one. They redrew the maps, the Republican majority, both in Texas and in Missouri, and applied that to the 2022. Uh, midterms and that was going to keep hold until the 2030 census. And then the every state redraws their maps. And then in 2032, the new redraw maps would apply to those future elections. You know, it, it, it helps with population growth and everything like that, so Okay. But they're like five years early. Right. They're doing it way early. Is that the, well, they're like two years after they've already done it. Right? And no new census has occurred. So this is questionably illegal if you think about it. Yeah, because it should come after each census. You know? I feel like nothing is illegal with this administration right now. It's amazing that no one is doing anything about this right now. Anyways, so right now, Missouri holds a six two Republican majority when it comes to the United States representatives. That's six red, two blue. The two blue fish out there are located in the major cities of this state. One in Kansas City, one in St. Louis. Missouri Republicans are essentially breaking up Democrat representative Emmanuel Cleaver's, Kansas City District into three sections, essentially eliminating his chances of winning in 2026. They're also re redrawing the one St. Louis Blue District to try to eliminate lame duck. Ann Wagner from losing her seat in Congress. Ann Wagner, by the way, has never held a town hall since taking office in 2012. Trump lapdog Governor Keho. Is winning praise from the White House for the circus he's creating, just like Texas Governor Abbott did in Texas back in August. So while Keho and his Republican buddies play with their maps, just remember that these guys don't care about you or your vote unless it benefits them. Missouri has consistently voted to pass things like the expansion of Medicaid. Republicans overturn that. Republicans overturned the minimum wage increase and guaranteed paid sick leave for Missourians. They overturned that one that passed in November, and since Missouri Republicans lost the abortion amendment, now they're claiming they disliked the wording of that amendment, and now they're planning to reword a new amendment to make it more confusing for voters like you and me to get confused at the ballot box in hopes that. You know, we outlaw abortion. Again, like what's the point of voting for any of these things? If later down the road these Republicans are just gonna, just gonna overrule it? I mean, what is the point of it all? I, it absolutely befuddles me. I don't know what that word means, but it sounds like it means something good that I'm saying it befuddles me because I don't understand how they can get away with this. Don't they care about their voters and what the voters like pass and, and it doesn't. They don't because they, if they don't like it, they're not going to put it into law, you know? We were at, I was at a township meeting thing, uh, this past week and we talked about this and we said, how, you know, Democrats really should be using this to their advantage and start putting these things that the Republicans are overturning on billboards, on things to show people like, these are the statistics. This is what you voted. For, and this is what's being taken away from you as you're on your rights and what you wanted. Because right now it's like a lot of people, I don't think, realize that all this is going on in the background. There's so much noise. Yeah. Keho and his Republican buddies resent Missouri voters over the summer. Keho also signed a law that allows landlords to discriminate against tenants from using housing vouchers, social security, disability insurance, child support, and tips to pay rent. Um, where are all the waiters and waitresses and bartenders expected to live? And how is it if that's income coming into you, how are we going to allow landlords to discriminate against you from getting an apartment or renting a house in the right school district that you wanna live in? This guy's. Legacy. Ki Ho's legacy is already a huge pile of shit and he is only nine months on the job. I just, I can't, I don't understand why they're allowing discrimination, like those two words just are insane to me that they're put together. Isn't that kind of crazy? It's nuts to me. Ugh. Alright. New topic. New topic guys. The stripper index has dropped. The stripper index. Yeah, the stripper index. Seriously, sex workers are better at predicting recessions than the old, rich white guys on Wall Street. Like I remember each goddamn month, Biden was in office. There was some article out there of some old white guy bitching about how we're all doomed, and it's all Biden's fault when the stock market crashes. Does anyone who listened last season remember me saying that? 10 of the last 11 recess recessions all occurred under Republican leadership. Okay. Again, the stripper index has dropped. I just love saying that maybe we should update this. 11 of the last 12 recessions have occurred under a Republican presidency because guys we're in a fucking recession again. I find this story just absolutely comical, but I also fucking love it. I, I read the article online and apparently. Many of the sex worker regulars, like the regulars of these sex work, like, you know, I guess customers, um, aren't tipping at all or just tipping less than half of what they used to tip. And that this shift reflects a behavioral trend where consumers start to prioritize essentials rather than luxuries. Yeah. And tipping your sex workers is a luxury now. Why should we consider the stripper index as reliable sex workers? Observe the behavior of consumers on a daily basis, giving them a street level view of economic health that predates Wall Street Reports. Historical events like the 2008 financial Crisis showed similar patterns where sex workers saw a drop in clients of revenue before the broader economic crash. That is so interesting. It's absolutely crazy. So crazy. So speaking of the stripper index, it makes me think of our trip in Las Vegas. I keep seeing all these videos online of like. Empty streets and empty casinos. It's kind of crazy, but I mean, clearly international tourism has dropped. The tariffs have continued to inflate prices. No one wants to travel to the United States right now. It is funny to me that, you know, there is a definite recession going on. We've talked about this in the past. We talked about this I think right before our break. And it, you know, if the, if the, if the party was flipped and the Democrats were the ones in the White House, this would be the story they would be running with. Over and over and over again. They'd be blaming Biden. Actually, I think they, I think they did when he was president for the high prices and all these things right before he got outta the office. Like that was their, that was their main push point at the beginning of Trump's campaign run was eggs, prices and all these things. It's like now we're way worse off and it seems like no one, it's just like crickets. Like no one wants to talk about it. Okay, well we all know if we can't afford certain things, we know you guys aren't either. Just'cause you're Republican doesn't mean you have more money, like everyone's struggling here. Um, I don't know. It's just, it's crazy to me and. We did, we did tip our strippers really well in Vegas. We didn't see any strippers anyways. I know, I'm curious. Lemme just say that when we were in Las Vegas, we had an absolute blast and it was absolutely packed with tourists. But that weekend was also like a fluke because there were just so many concerts going on at the time. But the stripper index mentions regulars not tipping as much and oh my God. So this household right now has. Tipping fatigue. Sorry. You know, I worked the service industry for 15 plus years. I know I tip all the time at restaurants and bars, like always 20%. I don't care if your service absolutely sucks. I'm giving you at least 20%, if not more, but. Everywhere and everyone asks you to tip right now, like we were at the sphere, and of course we're gonna get merch, we're on vacation, and I think we got two t-shirts and a collectible poster board, which I still haven't hung up. And I, it was like$150. And when I swiped the card, the little custom tip thing came up and it was like 18%, 20%, 22%. I'm sorry, I am not tipping. Someone who got me a shirt turned around, picked out the correct shirt that I ordered and a poster board and give them$25. I'm just, I'm not doing that. I, so I clicked the custom'cause there was a custom box next to it and I gave$5. But back in the day, like that wasn't a thing. Like these, it's just like wage replacement if you think about it. Yeah, and you know, we are a household that tips we've always tipped and I don't know if I could ever be with someone that didn't tip. I find that so rude and annoying. But yeah, these places are everywhere you go, McAllisters, Panera, everywhere. It's like they're not, that's not, that to me is not worth a tip. You're literally, those companies should be paying their cashiers the right co. Price that they should be worth, and I shouldn't have to help you with that. Now, I know Alamo Drafthouse and other places, they'll do like, what, an 80% gratuity on your tab, and then you're still expected to tip on top of that. I get that. I get it. Because to run a theater, it's expensive and they're just having you help with getting their benefits paid and all that. There's a difference with that. But when you are expected to tip, and the funny thing is these little machines that they have now, these little debit card machines. The buttons, it's like 10%, 20% or, or 25%. But then there's like the tiniest little button that says, um, custom. And it's like we see it, we know to look for it. But do older people know to look for it? Would my, would my parents know? Oh, let's. Look at this like, to not tip, like I've, I've checked out before and just automatically tipped 15% because it was just automatic. Like, I was just like, check out. Now. It's just, it's very frustrating because I don't, I, it, it adds up, like you said, 20 bucks on$120. That's a significant, that's a whole, that's a. That's a cd like, or I guess a vinyl one. I thought I said it and I thought about that, but yeah, I don't know. Everyone's stupid it, so, and then like, I was smart, so,'cause I am good at going to Vegas and I like took a case of water with me in my luggage and like towards the last day, I think we were there for like five nights. I, we ran outta water and so I ran to the hotel market. Um, in the lobby and I purchased, I just grabbed the two biggest smart water bottles. I could find no price tags on it, and I just went to check out. And so I'm at the cashier and I get checked out and it was 10 99 a bottle of water. So I'm spending$22 for water right now. And it asked me the gratuity thing, 18 20, 20 2% or custom, and I'm like, I am not paying.$5. I'm not giving a$5 tip for me picking out the water and you just scanning it for me. I'm sorry. I'm just not. So I press custom and I gave a dollar, but still, I'm like kicking myself'cause I'm like, I don't know. I think, I think it, it is tipping fatigue right now. And you know, maybe this is us tightening our belt because of the economic recession, you know, because we are in a recession. I, like I said earlier in this topic that I'm talking about. The job reports number just dropped and August only gained 22,000 jobs. It's the smallest number since in many years. Okay. They updated the June numbers, and in June, the month of June, we actually lost jobs. We lost 13,000 jobs. And that's the first job loss we've lost in America since December, 2020. And who the fuck was president then? Fucking Donald Trump and me saying this is that this is technically, if not this is a recession and it's because of a Republican presidency, it's because nothing has been done about the housing crisis. It's because of the tariffs and it's just going to get worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, I hate to say that it's time to tighten our belts, save our money, and just really, really, you know, navigate the waters as best as we can. But, this technically best job loss in June ended the second largest economic surplus. In America. So this was like the second longest streak of job gain, job growth since the 1990s, 1990s were the best. And before that, it was the 1960s. Just a little information there for you. I will say, I just want to clarify because I, I don't want people to think like we are. I had completely still tip waiters and bartenders and people who actually, you know. Old school deserve the tip. Like we are not, like, not, not tipping. It's just these little, little min, minuscule, the areas where it's like, this doesn't make any sense. And then we've talked to other people about this, our friends and people around us, and it seems like everyone is in agreement that this is a problem. So are we, are we talking about tipping again? Yeah. I went back to, well, because I thought of if you're all good, I think people understood. I thought about it, I was like, I don't want people to think we're not tipping. So also just today as well. So we got the jobs report today and just today. Resorts world, Las Vegas reported that they are down 18% revenue when compared to the same three month period last year. This means that no one is traveling to Las Vegas. The sex workers are losing money and they actually, you know, predict recessions and they're telling us that we're in a fucking recession. So I believe the sex workers over the old rich white guys in the Wall Street. Yeah. So anyways, Hey Alex. Yeah, it's game time. Are you excited? I am and I am more excited for the music, always in the background. I think it's fun. It is fun. Um, so since you love movies, here's one I created. It's a Who Said it? Trump or a movie villain? There's 12 questions. Okay. Okay. All right. Are you ready? I'm more than ready. Okay, so here we go. Number one. They're poisoning the blood of our country. Trump or Voldemort from Harry Potter. They're poisoning the blood of our country. Trump? Yes. Good job. Thanks. You have like how many Harry Potter themed tattoos do you have? Oh gosh, three. I have only three. Only three. Three. Yeah. That's a lot. Well, I need, I want one with Taylor Swift quotes or something. Um, okay. Number two. Here we go. Don't ever apologize for being the smartest person in the room. Let me repeat that. Don't ever apologize for being the smartest person in the room, Trump or. Mysterio from the Spider-Man. Far from home movie. Oh. Have you even watched that movie before? No. I'm gonna say Mysterio. Yes. Good job. Two for two. We need to, oh my God. We got a bell. You gotta ring the bell. What bell? There's the bell. Remember I had the bell? I got to call you. Oh my God. I wonder if it would pick up and do it for question one. You got that one right? Okay. God. All right. Number three. Are you ready? Yeah. There has to be some sort of punishment. That's the quote. Okay. Trump or Joffey Baron from Game of Thrones. Jeffrey, I think it's just Jeffrey, J-O-F-F-R-E-Y. Oh, so many people hated that character. You gotta watch Game of Thrones, so you know the hate on that character. He was a terrible, terrible person. Anyway. Say the quote again. There has to be some form of punishment. I'm just gonna say, Jeffrey Trump. Oh, you can't ring the bell. Damn. He said this in regard to women getting fucking abortions. Well, there has to be some form of punishment. Like, what the fuck? I will say what happened to Jeffrey in Game of Thrones? That should happen to, it's, it's coming. I swear to you. It's coming. And if you've watched Game of Thrones, you know the reference. Well, I don't, but okay. Yeah, it's, yeah. Okay, so, um, here we go. Number four, everybody dies. It's just life around here. Trump or Killmonger from Black Panther. Killmonger, was that his name? I don't know how to pronounce that, but I know who you're talking about. Say it again. Everybody dies. It's just life around here. Oh man. Trump Killmonger. Oh crap. I was doing so good in the beginning. Alright. I'm gonna say like the, the answers first and then the quotes. Okay. Yeah. Or whatever, or the choices. Okay. You ready? Yeah. Trump or Mother Gotel from the movie Tangled. I guess that's the animation one. Yes. Here's the quote. You want me to be the bad guy? Fine. Now I'm the bad guy. Trump mother. I, well these are stupid. Alright, ready? Uhhuh, Trump or Thanos from Guardians of the Galaxy. Okay. We're going to win at space. Well, that's Trump. Yeah. Good job. Woo. I'm gonna ring my bell. You gotta be more aggressive with it. I know. I hope it's catching up on the microphone. Okay. Um, good job. Are we ready for the next one? Okay. Trump or Denzel Washington's character in the moving training day. Here's the quote. I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. I'm gonna just say Trump. Yes. Good job. He hates personal attacks. I've also never seen training day. That's, I never have you. I have it on VHS or I did. I don't know if I watched it. I should, didn't make an impression on me, I don't think. Um, okay. Ring the bell. Oh, perfect. Okay. So let's say imported brass from Italy. God bell, if you guys saw this bell, it looks, it's like a$3. It looks like something that is, should be like an antique store, like there's flowers on it. He was so proud of this bow when he bought it. What movie did I watch? Oh my God. I watched The Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan and that evil stepmother, or the wannabe stepmother got a bell for the maid. And I think I was like kind of hungover watching it and I'm like, I'm gonna get a bell for Alex and ring it. And I got it. And Alex was he. Was not happy. He didn't like it. He's like, you paid money for that? God. What? Housewife rings the bell? Is it Lisa Vanderpump or one of the housewives? Ring the bell. Anyway, keep going. Alright, number eight. We got like five more. Let's do this. Okay. Okay. So, um, Trump wore President Snow in the Hunger Games. It's the things we love the most that destroy us. Trump or President Snow in the Hunger Games. Who said it? Snow. Yes. Yes. Ring the bell. Perfect. Uh, Trump or Homeland from Amazon Prime Show. The boys. Did you ever, have you ever seen that? I've seen the first season. It's actually a really raunchy great show. Okay, so the quote is, they're indeed the enemy from within the boys. Uh, what his face, it was Trump. Damn. He said it at a rally. In Madison Square Garden in regard to Americans that don't support him, he said they are indeed the enemy from within. Well, I guess we're the enemy within. Within. Oh, interesting. Okay. So, oh, number 10. Here we go. Trump or Miranda Priestly from Devil's Wear Prada. Truth is, there is no one who can do what I can do. That's Miranda Priestly. Yes. Good job. Yes. I'm ringing the bell. She says that I think in either a hotel room or a car, I can picture it anyway. Okay. Trump or Luke Skywalker. If you're not with me, then you're my enemy. Do you know why Luke Skywalker would be a villain? Do you understand this at all? I, I, I don't care. Oh, he's the No. Go on tell speech. No, it's okay. Keep going. No spill. No go spill. Actually, I could be wrong anyway. No, what's the quote? If you're not with me, then you're my enemy. I would say Trump, Luke Skywalker, fricking a. Alright, last one. Here we go. Okay. Um, it is Trump or the Red Queen in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. I'm not a dictator. That was it. That's it. Okay. Okay. Um hmm. Trump. Yes. Good job. Ring the bell. There we go. Yeah. Okay, buddy. I believe you right there. Yep. He's not a fucking, oh my God. Treater. Okay. I figured out who rang the bell. It wasn't a housewife, it was the, the old lady, Ken. No, not only, she's fabulous. She's from southern charm and if people know the reference, she rings the bell for her little butler and it's amazing. She's fabulous. She lives in, um, Charleston. Anyway. Okay, next topic. Here we go. So Missouri's third US House district is currently held by Bob Ander. Bob Ander is as crazy MAGA as you can get. Seriously, guys, this is sky fucking scares me. This guy's absolutely nuts actually. And tragically, last week, another repeated American tragedy, a Catholic school church shooting that tragically took two children and injured numerous other. Children still these deaths will do nothing to sway Republicans. Grip on the gun epi epidemic plaguing our country. Now if, if vaccines were killing children like guns are today, vaccines would've been outlawed many, many years ago. Let's be honest. But anyways, I'm digressing here. Okay, so the gunman of this horrible crime was transgendered, at least was transgendered, and then started to detransition. I don't know the whole background of this, but back in 2020, she changed her birth name from Robert to Robin. So this perpetrator also made deranged videos on social medias, and somehow, yet again. That shit never gets flagged. You'd think that with the rapid rise of AI technology, shouldn't there be some sort of like blanket on these social sites that flag keywords or sentences that notify some sort of authority that kind of like the red flag laws. Do you know when you're like making these videos. Right. Yeah. Well, and they, they have flags for people that, um, look at child porn. So I don't know why they wouldn't have things flagged for these kind of things for gun violence. You know what I mean? Like, same thing. Yeah. So anyway, the Minnesota, Minnesota shooting takes place. Okay. I see. MAGA lover, bomb Ander, Bob Anders. Start posting on Facebook because my fucking logarithm now is. All news from doing this podcast. So Loser Bob was literally attacking the trans community and blaming the Democrats and trans community as a whole for the attack. I'm going to read you some of the posts I saw on his Facebook and you can go look at them'cause he's absolutely nuts. Okay, there's three of them. The first one says. How many suicides and mass murders will it take before we outlaw medical malpractice known as gender affirming care? That's why I follow filed the No Harm Act to outlaw chemical and surgical mutilation in service of the transgender cult. Then he starts blaming Democrats for the shooting. He went after Gavin Newsom, who by the way, I absolutely love right now. This, this, and guy wrote. transgender ideology, which you support. Resulting in a mentally ill young man being transitioned, which you support and committing crimes in a gun-free zone, which you support. Your party owns this, meaning the Democrats own this school shooting. Then he went after my girl Kamala and responded to her post. Ms. Harris is treating mental illness with wrong sex hormones and affirming this man's delusional mental illness. Time to end senseless, transgender mutilation. The loser apparently holds a doctorate degree, but writes like a fucking Trump truth social post. Okay. Okay, so we still following along? You still good? Yeah. Okay, perfect. So, so the next, so I'm seeing all of this already. Okay. And I'm, I'm fired up because another fucking school shooting happens. So the next morning I'm on my way to work and I run in to grab like a quick breakfast sandwich. And while I'm waiting I hear. These three, I see these three old men, old white men, like conversing at a table and I overhear like key words, like trans mental illness and then like mumbling in between those words. And I couldn't make out what they were hearing, but I was really trying to listen but not make it like noticeable. And I couldn't like infiltrate because I didn't know what they were saying. But I can only imagine what they were saying. And I'm sure they were going after the trans community. And what really fucking pisses me off is that where is their outrage? When men straight cis identifying men commit these tragedies, all of a sudden the trans community is getting attacked because a trans person committed the crime. But no one attacks the men that are doing these. It, it absolutely blows my, I I'm not surprised.'cause it happens all the time, you know? But it pisses me off. It gives them literal, like literal ammo to go after this group of people. Exactly, exactly. So I had to do some research and according to the New York Times, there is no common profile. Of people who carry out mass shootings, except that 97% are committed by men. Now, factor in race, white men counted for nearly 50% of all mass shooters in the United States with an average age of 34 years old. And a mass shooting is considered, uh, it's considered a mass shooting when there's. Four or more people shot in one setting, okay? Mm-hmm. There's more. Between 2018 and 2023, 2,826, mass shootings were by CIS shootings. So cis identifying men that are like straight. Only three were trans. So with the amount of hate the trans community has received, where is the outrage when these straight men are committing these heinous crimes? It's just wild. It's wild to me that there's all these statistics, all these this and that, that and this. That proves that is, you know, whatever. But if they just freaking outlawed guns or made'em more harder to get. It's just funny how in America, our talking point has to come down to these little statistics of like, who does what. It's like, just take the guns away. Just there's a, there's an easier answer here. Just make it harder to get a gun. Like, I don't know why we have to ban people, assault weapons, right? But like, look at all of this attention that vaccines are getting right now and how they're trying to outlaw them or not mandate them in Florida and yet. We do nothing about the guns as a A, and let's all remember this, as Republicans blame mental health and not the guns for yet another school shooting, let's kindly remind them that 205 Republicans voted against a bill to expand school base mental health services. On average, 11 and a half people are killed per mass shooting when an assault weapon is used. Versus 5.1 deaths in a mass shooting when just a regular firearm is used. We have children getting shot because lawmakers are choosing to protect assault weapons over kids. When you continue to stoke hate and fear within the people you lead, we will continue to see these tragedies. I mean, it's just, it's never gonna stop. It makes me sick. You know? When, when, what was the shooting with the little kids in North Northeastern United States? What was that, Sandy? Was that Sandy Hook? Oh yeah. Sandy Hook in 2001. When that happened and nothing happened because of it, I knew that if that didn't change anything, nothing will. Nothing will. Anyways. I can go on and on about this. Yeah. But. Let's, let's hear some, uh, viral clips, um, that I, I've liked this week. Uh, one is kind of long, but I, I love'em. So this, this first one is if it's, it's like if you're an American citizen living abroad, tell me why you want to go back. Okay. Let's listen to it. I mean, yeah, I mean, she makes sense. She had all good points and a lot of it has to do with healthcare and a lot of it has to do with finances. I mean, it is the honest truth. We have terrible healthcare in this country. Oh my God. We do. So, okay, so here's another one from, uh, a mom who I think is running for Senate. Um, she is talking about the big beautiful bill and how. Once it gets passed, well, I guess it's already been passed, but once it's implemented, um, she's talking about kicking a bunch of kids off of Medicaid and them not getting the right medical care that they need or deserve. Ready? Yeah. Alright, here we go. Okay. I love the fact that she started cussing, but even though it was like bleeped out, but I, I do love it. You know, and it's, it is kind of on the same subject of like the, the school shootings and things. It's like these republicans, they, they don't care about their kids. I don't know why people keep voting for them, especially if you have kids and you're voting for Republicans, because A, they don't care if your school kids get shot in school, and B, they're ready to take. Wait, their healthcare, it's like, it's just it. What? They are not standing behind families and kids. We don't even have kids. And it still bothers me how much they don't support kids in this country. Yeah, I'm all for everything. She said 33 or no, 32 of the 33 top advanced countries have universal healthcare except for one. And that's us because. Republicans don't want us to, I guess, live long. I don't fucking know. It doesn't make sense. I, I have no idea. Anyways. Yeah, it seems like all of them are living to like 90. They're not going away. So let's hear, um, the Trump administration officials kiss Trump's ass. Are you ready? Yeah. Okay, here we go. My God. I, I just, oh, it makes me so sick. It's a cult. It's a fucking cult. It's so creepy. It's a fucking cult. Don't go into the cult. Get out. It is people. And you know, if you actually watch the video, they were on this big table and they're all just, I mean, and Trump's little smug ass face is just like, mm-hmm. Thank you. And it's like, what is happening? No. Oh my God. I can't wait till we should go watch the next South Park episode after this recording. Okay. We'll talk about that next week. That's just so hilarious. Anyways, um, everyone, thank you so much. I can't believe it. We're on season two. This was a great episode, Alex, right? Yeah. I'm glad we're back. This is fun. I'm so happy for being here. Okay, thank you everyone for listening. Give us a follow on Instagram on TikTok and I'm going to be just like posting a shit ton now because baby we're back. Bye guys. Bye guys. See ya. Bye all.