Episode 16: A Dash of Pride & Tacos

Recorded on June 28, 2026.  In this episode: Our last weekend of Pride; Nuclear Family Month; paid for bigotry; returning to faith; Mayor Pete & Mamdani; Mike Johnson; Minor League Baseball (is so minor); Social Security; United Health Group getting rich on Americans.

We want to hear from you!  Join us in a chat!  

• Insta:  Carlos_rn  
• Email:  carlos.edwards.diaz@gmail.com
• Reddit u/Better-Passage2759

Music: Stick The Landing by Everet Almond

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

All right, three, two, one. Hey, Carlos, what's going on? Hi.

SPEAKER_04 0:06

Well, we had a great weekend. We did. It's the end of Pride, everybody. Yep. I guess this is it for Pride Weekend.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

We we uh we started our Pride Weekend. Um Thursday, right? Yeah, Thursday. Did we? When when do we go?

SPEAKER_04 0:35

It was a Friday, I thought.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Friday? Yeah. Okay. Yep, you're right. Friday. But Thursday, we said, let's just take a ride, and we went up to Maine.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Yeah. Went up to Maine again to finish off what we started at the beginning of the month. Because we went to Ogonquit. We didn't really get to partake in the festivities as much. I mean, we did, but you know, this weekend was the last hurrah for Pride. So we were like, hey, let's let's see if we can go to these places that we didn't get to go.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Yeah, you know what's crazy is we were we were up in in uh in Maine, Ogunquit when the Saturday that that they kicked it off.

SPEAKER_04 1:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

And you know that we we missed a parade that started at 10, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:19

But it was rainy.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

I don't think it was rainy. Yeah, but still what I'm getting at is you know, it umquit is a huge gathering point for for for for the gays.

SPEAKER_04 1:30

LGPTQ.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Okay, and there was like nothing up there compared to Salem yesterday.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Yeah, for North Shore Pride, it was huge. Yeah, yeah. But we did experience uh a good drag show. You yeah, no gunquit, right? It was like what was it, Chi Chi versus Joanna, some dueling drag queens. But these, okay, so my understanding of drag was that it was more about men dressing up in women's clothing. Everybody knows they're men, okay. Maybe they're trans. I don't, I don't know. It's whatever you want to be. Yeah, okay. But the whole point is you're putting on some costumes, right? Some really nice clothes, yeah, nice wigs, great makeup, yeah, and you're putting on a show. And I thought it was also only lip syncing, is what they did. Yeah, but these two actually fucking sang.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

Yeah, they had a show. She was yeah, Chi Chi was unreal.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Uh apparently she won uh Grammy like 20 years ago. So she's been doing a lot of work, you know, and she's out there, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

It was funny when uh they were talking about tucking it.

SPEAKER_04 2:36

I didn't, I missed that whole conversation. They were talking about tucking it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

It was a quick, you know. She was what you know, they were talking about how do we look to-da, da-da, you know, and uh you know our our biggest thing is how do we tuck it? When we're wearing this holy shit, I didn't know. It was funny. It was funny.

SPEAKER_04 2:53

I mean, they looked good, okay, and they sounded amazing. Oh, yeah. I was like, how did you you know prepare for this? I guess I mean they've been doing it a long time in for like 13 years.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Yeah, you know, and it's it's different every year.

SPEAKER_04 3:10

Yeah, you know, but this this year's theme was that they were dueling against each other, and then they chose one couple or a couple of audience members to vote. Right, and the judges. But there's an element of like uh surprise all the time. I guess they pick people out of the audience, yeah, yeah, you know, so there's some improv going on there, yeah, and they were hilarious. Oh, it was funny, you know, they were so good, they were, and they did warn everybody that this was an adult show, yeah. You know, um, but it's really cool because even though it was not the Pride Week there, Pride Month is still huge out there, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Okay, and there were a ton of people in that building. There was, it was packed. Yeah, we were on uh a club called Main Street, yes.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

Um before that we went to the piano bar, the front porch, the front porch, which was a lot of fun too. Yep, and we brought our friend Mario who really needed a good night out.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Yeah, he did.

SPEAKER_04 4:08

He did, and I guess he had an amazing time.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 4:12

But Main Street was a lot of fun. It was. We got to dance, did some clubbing.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

Yeah, that I'll tell you that club was cool because you know they had the the uh there was like three parts of it. The where where the uh drag show was, and then there was the bar with the pool table. Yeah, and then you went into the club.

SPEAKER_04 4:34

The dance floor.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Yeah, and the dance floor was awesome. The sound system and the lights was unreal. The laser show. I mean, they they spent some money in there.

SPEAKER_04 4:42

They really knew what they were doing. Yeah, you know, yeah. And it's funny because it brought me back, I guess it brought Mario back too, back to our back to the good old days.

SPEAKER_03 4:50

You were you you when you walked in there, as soon as you walked in the club, you just walked like right onto the floor and started, you were in a zone. You you seriously, you let the you know, you were in the dance, man. You were in the dance. And I videoed you, and you're like, no, no, no, no, no. No, but you you were you're a great dancer.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

I don't like to watch myself dancing.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Oh my god, I thought you were all you danced better than me. Like I mean, you just had back surgery. I know, but still, still you're a good dancer.

SPEAKER_04 5:23

You're a good dancer, but it was a good time, you know, some good drinks, some good company. Everybody was joyful, you know. And then the following day, which was yesterday, Saturday, we attended North Shore Pride. Yeah, in Salem. And we kept it going because we're like, this is it. We gotta we gotta have fun with this. Yeah, you know. Attended the parade, and I didn't know this was your first parade.

SPEAKER_03 5:45

Yeah, yeah, it was cool. I've seen them on TV, yeah, you know, and um you know the news does nothing for them, you know. I you know, I knew they were balloons and flags and in and you know um you know the march, but but to see it, it was just so vibrant and colorful. It's it was beautiful. What did you think though? It was awesome. Yeah, I enjoyed it. I really did. For your first pride? No, it was great.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

How'd it make you feel?

SPEAKER_03 6:14

It it um uh you know, uh uh my emotions. There was a couple of times where like I thought I was gonna cry, you know, because it's I I was just happy for everybody. You know, all the different groups coming, especially the Salem high kids, you know, to um to have high schoolers. I mean, just take think of the balls that you have to have in high school to join the the club, you know, whatever that particular club is in in school, you know.

unknown 6:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

Um, and you know, right right from there you're letting everybody know that you're out, you know. And um, yeah, they they marched and they got you know, when they came by Aspen, they got a huge round of applause. They did, they did, you know, which was cool. It's great that they're supported here in New England, you know.

SPEAKER_04 7:04

We're very lucky around here.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Yeah, there were a lot of different groups. I know the red-headed ladies, they were hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

Uh the ropers.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

Yeah, Mrs. Roper. Did you see one of them was even in like an electric uh wheelchair? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They were all old ladies, but you know, they all looked like Mrs. Roper. Oh, the furries were my favorite.

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Yeah, they were colorful. They were so they were funny. Oof, sounds of the city, guys. Hey, that's okay. I like that. Oh, yeah, we're trying something different because before we were in a dining room table, and now we're like, we need to ease up everything. We're a little too stiff.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Listen, then as long as nobody's out there, you know, swearing, and you know, and you know that might happen still.

SPEAKER_04 7:47

I mean, we are downtown somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Well, you know what? Yeah, that'll be cool. We'll listen to it, we'll let you listen to it, you know. It's fine, it'll be funny.

SPEAKER_04 7:55

But um, no, I'd like the furries and they were a lot of fun. But I guess we did talk about furries in a previous episode, and I guess we misunderstood them. Yeah. Right? Because people were talking about like cat boxes and shit.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Yeah, that's not true.

SPEAKER_04 8:08

It's not true.

SPEAKER_03 8:09

I knew that that wasn't true. Yeah, but I I think it started off where, you know, uh, like be yourself. Okay, I'll be myself. I want to be a fucking cat. You know, I'm you know, but but they were already in the get in the community, you know what I mean? Yeah, and they're just like, okay, I'll be a fucking cat, I'll be a dog, I'll be a mouse. And then people, you know, somebody heard them say, and then, you know, uh the internet does what it, you know, did what it uh what it does, or whatever how you want to put it. And they like made villains out of them. Like, yeah, these people really think they don't really think they're dogs. They don't, no, they don't think they're cats, you know, and they they they they're mocking mocking themselves like they had on dog costumes, real, like with the big heads, you know. Yeah, colorful. Yeah, they were fun, they they would dance, they were having a good time. So I have an entirely different perspective on on them.

SPEAKER_04 9:08

And good for them because they were keeping the party alive. Yeah, yeah. In the parade, there was a whole big truck of them. Yeah, it was funny, yeah. They were just and everybody cheered them on because it was colorful and fun. Yeah, you know, they got out there, they kind of got the party going, everybody was dancing.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Yeah, there was a ton of organizations, they really were.

SPEAKER_04 9:30

It really was. It seemed so political. I don't remember pride parades being like that, or maybe I'm just paying attention more nowadays, but a lot of people running for offices there.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

And I I I know there's only so many seats, but all these like flyers that were getting after Seth Moulton's chair, his seat.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah, because he's not, you know, he's not uh putting himself on the ballot this year. So uh yeah, there's a bunch of people going out after that in in in the district. So, you know, they were all walking and giving out popcorn and you know, it's another thing. They were um, you know, every group had something to give out. Oh yeah. Whether it was a pen, you know, a sticker, knitted hearts, yeah, yeah, popcorn, yeah, uh lollipops. It was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

It was a good time. I was like, oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

I want to get one of those little bubble makers. It looks like something you can buy for five bucks at the five below, you know. Did you see the amount of bubbles it was making battery operating? It was hilarious to watch.

SPEAKER_04 10:38

But you know, that parade was cool. It was, and people were saying that it was better than Boston Pride, which I was surprised about. I thought Boston would be bigger, but a lot of what I got from people was that Boston was pretty dead, which surprises me.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

Well, you know, if you think about it, you know, Boston is big, Salem is small, it was more intimate with a lot of people. So the people you could see, you know. And and when when we finally made it to the to the Salem Commons, um, it was set up beautiful, you know. They had the big rainbow at the you know, when you walk into the arch balloon. Yeah, they had the arch, the arch there as you go in, and um, they had all the food tracks, the stage. It was it was awesome.

SPEAKER_04 11:23

Yeah, all these groups that came to support LGBTQ, I think it was pretty awesome. I really enjoyed it. And we spent the entire day. I think we got there at 11-ish. And then we didn't get home until like after nine last night.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

It was almost awesome. You know, we had we when we first got there, we stopped at Engine House and we had some pizza. We we we had a couple of pies, you know, we did our thing, and then we got hungry again after, you know, at uh when they started shutting down the commons for five o'clock, we made our way to the after party at the club.

SPEAKER_04 11:55

There were so many people there.

SPEAKER_03 11:57

Yeah, and we ate again there and and uh got heavily fortified with cocktails.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

It was a good time. It was it was kind of nice to see because I've never seen this before. Um, it was a huge huge gathering of lesbians having a good time. They were just living it up. The DJ was actually pretty good. Yeah, yeah, and it was fun.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

It was dead day, it was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_04 12:20

It was dead day, yeah. You know, but it was open to everyone.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Yeah, you know what was wild? They all to me they seemed like they were all in their 50s to 70, like they were older. They were older, yeah, yeah. And they they were all they they they were you know, they had their hair done up. You could tell just by looking at them that they that they were lesbian, but they all had the the collar shirts on, and you know, but everybody was in a good mood, absolutely beautiful mood. You did see no issues at all.

SPEAKER_04 12:48

There was a hat that you said to someone yesterday we were dancing. Her shirt. No, it was her hat. It said, I love tacos, and then you said it was her shirt. Oh, was it? Oh, I saw it on her hat too. Oh, okay. I said iHeart Tacos. And you were like, I love tacos too. And I was like, I don't think that's what you were saying. Yeah, she was right.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

She looked at me like, okay. I had no idea that it was a taco. It was like, that's not what she means. She's not talking about food, and you were like, What? She'd probably say, Look at this freak. No, but you put it together right away. Oh, yeah. Like it was a good laugh for you and Mario. Holy shit.

SPEAKER_04 13:26

Because I couldn't stop laughing because it was too good. You were so innocent. I love tacos too. And I was like, I don't think that's what she means.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

Hey, how was that cop, that that female cop, when uh she there was a female cop that drove by us on her bicycle with an with a with a uh on the per a parade route? Yeah, with her partner who was a guy, and she had a stop for some reason. And uh, you know, they were giving out all kinds of stickers, and I had a heart rainbow sticker. And uh I said, Can I I walked up to her and I said, as I was putting it on, I said, Can I put this on your helmet?

SPEAKER_05 14:00

She looked at me like She was like, No, it's up, please.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Yeah, yeah. I said, No, just I said, just for now, leave it on for now. And she said, Ah, go with it, you know, and she drove away. Practically assaulting the police officer. I was like, like she you think she would have been a better sport about it, though. Well, she was working, like she Yeah, but still, I mean, look at in Boston. They were the Boston police were letting what's the name of the army? The Scottish Army, the Tartan Army, the Tartan Army, yeah. They were sitting on the motorcycles, you know, and the the cops were loving them, but you know, these people didn't, you know, she wasn't too happy about having uh having that hot.

SPEAKER_04 14:34

Well, she probably didn't want to work that day either. Can you blame her? That's a big event.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

No, but uh, you know, it's all overtime detail, you know.

SPEAKER_04 14:42

Yeah, but still anyway, pride was great. I guess I was happier than the last time we talked about it because, you know, I'm very political and all that stuff. But it was nice to see that it was it still had its political roots. People were reminded, you know, during the drag shows that are on that were put on stage um and the music shows that we still have to protest. Right. We still need to pay attention. Yep. Right. Because a fuckery, like in uh I forget which state this was, but I guess nuclear family month is now a thing. Nuclear family. You know, the nuclear family basically describes uh a celebr celebrating a household of one husband, one wife, and biological adopted or foster child.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

I wonder if they'll let us go to their parade.

SPEAKER_05 15:31

Would it be that inclusive?

SPEAKER_04 15:33

I'm not sure. I don't think it would be that inclusive.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

If you ask we're a nuclear family too.

SPEAKER_04 15:39

Uh we don't have any kids here.

SPEAKER_03 15:41

No, but there's plenty out there that do.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

That's what I'm saying. But like, but but for them, it's like they're they they want to reclaim the culture. Like, what what is that? Because pride exists, right? You know what it is, I'll tell you, it's fucking spite. For what exactly? Why are you gonna hate on us exactly? Yeah, anyway, so nuclear family month, right, wants to reclaim the culture. And I'm thinking, what culture? Straight culture, because that's essentially what you're reclaiming. They didn't know that that had to be reclaimed, though. Like that's a little offensive, if you ask me, you know, because groups and like you know, flags, things like that, like pride that exists because we were oppressed. We needed those things for visibility, for acceptance, right? We're here, please, you know, see us, sort of thing, right? So I didn't understand why the need for a nuclear family month. I just and you're right, I think it's spite. I think it's kind of hateful, if you ask me. Very fucking hateful. No doubt, no doubt.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

You know, um for for every action, there's a reaction in everything in life. It's it's just horrible. You know, everybody tries to one up. Yeah, you know, there's no like leave us alone.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

And a lot of these groups are allowed to exist for the same reasons we do. They try to make the the same comparison, right? Like, oh, if they can have that, we could have this. But I'm like, every day you have that. What is this? We asked for one fucking month, relax, you know. Unreal.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Yeah, one day if you want to put it that way. Yeah, really, yes.

SPEAKER_04 17:14

It's one day every city, right? This is my problem when we talk about religion and stuff, because I feel like they're weaponizing their religion for this sort of thing because they're saying, like, you know, like that couple that wanted a wedding cake years ago, and they were denied that because I forget what state I want to say it's Colorado. You know, they were denied their wedding cake because the person said, Oh, it's against my beliefs to do this for you. Okay. Yeah. And I guess they got their way, right? That you know, they didn't have to comply. There was no wedding cake, and now this is ticking off this this whole thing.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

You know what's crazy? Like, like the straight people out there, they don't realize it. I don't know if they do or not. Like the haters, they don't even know, like, they can be going to a restaurant and the bartender could be gay, yeah. And they don't know, and you're tipping them. So, like, you don't even know who you're dealing with. You know, the guy fixing your car at the at the shop could be gay, you know. I mean, we're we're out there. We we're a community within the community.

SPEAKER_04 18:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

You know, like what's your fucking issue, man?

SPEAKER_04 18:20

But like to use your religion to say, oh, it's against my beliefs, that's bullshit. Come on. Like, your religion was supposed to be about, you know, how Christian of you, right? That's where that's where it's coming from. Like, oh, it should be one man, one woman. It's never said anything like that, I don't think.

SPEAKER_05 18:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

Even though pride is there, you know, it we still have a long way to go. Uh recently, you know, a Texas judge was awarded money for her bigotry. I think this was in Texas again.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

You know, I I swear they do it with that intention.

SPEAKER_04 18:52

And what happened with her, this judge, she wanted, if I understood this article correctly, because I read it very quickly, because I was so pissed about it, that this judge was basically awarded um six hundred and forty thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_03 19:06

Nice little payday.

SPEAKER_04 19:07

Yeah, because she was basically uh, I don't know if ordaining is the correct word or signing off the the con the um the contracts for marriage. Yeah, and that was extra money for her. And so since she said that she would not perform the same duty for a same-sex wedding, yeah, I guess ordained the same-sex wedding, they had to stop all marriages. So she couldn't do any more, right? And I think she got a lawyer um to I guess countersue, you know, for damages because she wasn't she wasn't being compensated the same anymore, like she wasn't allowed to make that extra money. Okay, and as a result, she got six hundred and forty thousand dollars. Good.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Yeah, this was in Texas, and the state of Texas wrote the check.

SPEAKER_04 19:55

But this is what I'm talking about because you all because you can say that it's against my beliefs, right? But even if you don't, and I don't know about her enough to say, do you even participate in going to church? Right? Do you give back to your community? Do you do any of those things that your so-called Christianity tells you how you should conduct yourself? Yeah, yeah, you know, it's such fucking hypocrisy. I I can't with this, and this is what I'm saying about, you know, we always talk about religion, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, I've had enough. I can't keep doing you know, with people with their bullshit religion. At one point, you even talked about going back to it.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Yeah. Well, I I I don't want to go back to my religion. I just want to be more spiritual. Okay, I suppose I can go back. I'm not saying I'm gonna go because I don't want to go back to the Catholic Church. I'm I'm fucking tired of stand up, sit down, knee, knee, sit, stand, stand, sit.

SPEAKER_04 20:55

It was very performative. I hated it.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

It's it's like do you know, do what we tell you, you know? And uh, you know, couple that with you know the the the priest doing what they did to children, you know, and and just horrible. I did I lost faith in the church, you know.

SPEAKER_04 21:16

Well, I lost faith before that because, like I said before, they demonized gays, yeah, lesbians, trans. Still do, right? Still not supported by no matter how cool this Pope is, yeah, still doesn't really support it. Okay. Did they did they ever put a uh rainbow flag up? I don't think so. I don't think they're gonna support it. I mean, they're not I guess we should be happy that they're not going against it, but in my opinion, being silent is complicit.

SPEAKER_05 21:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

You s not saying anything, you're just as bad. That's right. So I I don't, and I hear you, and I'm totally in support of going back to some sort of Christianity, some sort of faith, whatever the fuck it is. Alright, so I'm spiritual, not against it.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Right, right. I'm just looking for a higher power. Simple.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

But I don't need someone to tell me how to live. Yeah. Right. To tell me that what you're doing is wrong. Yeah. That what I'm doing is a choice. None none none. Right. No. What you're doing being a fucking dickhead is a choice. Right. All right. Me being gay was born this way. Yeah. Right? There's a difference. Oh, absolutely. Right? Yeah. And they're never gonna see that. There was this other thing that really drove me crazy yesterday about Pete Buteg. He got separated from his kids. And Pete Budaj, you're familiar with him. He ran for president, right? He was in a primary last time. And uh I believe he would be have been the only openly gay cabinet member under in but under Biden presidency, right? And he and his husband have twins. And I guess some someone reported him to child protective services. And so, and these are young children, I think three, four years old. For what reason? The story. It said something about his violent past, something or other. But the bottom line is this you know, he's political. Frankly, I don't think he's really terrible. I I think what he stands for is pretty good. I I I can't I agree more than disagree. All right, because I have my problems with the democratic establishment as well, okay. But he seems to be a little bit more progressive. Yeah, but I think the fact that he's gay and openly gay with his husband and their two kids, you know, they have a family. I think this is why he got targeted. And it was a it was bullshit allegations. He got investigated, his kids were separated, they had to get interviewed separately. No kidding.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Like, imagine Do you know how old they are? I think they're like three or four.

SPEAKER_04 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

Really? Yeah. And they they each they got separated and interviewed.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

Yes, individually. Taken away from his family, had to stay away from his family until until they found out that this was all bullshit. Oh my god. And this was like from a friend of a friend who said this, yeah, that they met they met him and knew about this, and it was all bullshit. But you see how ugly it's getting now. They're coming after the kids. They're children. What is happening? And for for them being a gay, you know, pairing with kids, why why are we doing this? So fucking hateful. It is, it's unnecessary. That's the thing, you know. Like when people, when there's no separation of church and state, that's where things get dicey. And remember what this country was founded on, right? They were religiously persecuted back in England. They came here, so they didn't have to suffer that. But here we go, we're doing it again.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

History repeats itself.

SPEAKER_04 24:49

Again, and everyone is like, oh, we're a Christian nation. No, you know, officially English is not our official language here, even though we speak it the most. It's not the official language, right? There's no official religion. They give momdani a hard time because of Islam, and he's doing nothing but great things for New York City. And I think people are paying attention and like they need to be like this.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Like, what I did see something with him that I forget who it was, but remember the glass-eyed clergy guy that blew up the World Trade Center, Sheik, whatever his name was.

SPEAKER_04 25:27

Yeah, what happened with that?

SPEAKER_03 25:28

That that uh whoever Mondami was endorsing or whatever has strong political ties to that guy.

SPEAKER_05 25:39

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Yeah, yeah. So that's you know what does that mean though?

SPEAKER_05 25:44

Well, the guy tried to tear down the World Trade Center. And he has ties to them? How? I don't know anything. That's why Matt said.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

No, I'm I that's what I'm saying. I forgot what you know what what he said. I just um It's one of those those uh rails that you look at real quick. You know, I forget the guy's name, and I I wasn't I was like, fuck man, you know.

SPEAKER_04 26:05

But I think he's being Mandami is very supportive of New Yorkers, the people, you know, and that's why he got voted in.

SPEAKER_05 26:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:13

I think he's supporting the right people. He's he was at the gay parade in New York City. He did uh appoint someone in LGBTQ to help the trans community, or this person might be trans, I forget. For someone who thinks that someone who is Muslim is going to kill all the gays and do all the yes, there are extremists. Of course, yeah. Okay. But there are Christian extremists too.

SPEAKER_03 26:39

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

Um, we forget about that. Right. You know, for us it's normal. Yeah, you know, because it's Christian. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 26:47

Homegrown terrorist.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

But um, anyway, here's uh Mike Johnson. I I wrote my notes here. It says Mike Johnson blaming the gays.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Many historians, at least those who are objective, would look back and recognize and give some credit to the fallen realm to uh the rampant, you know, homosexual behavior uh that was uh condoned by the society.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Uncovered by CNN's K-File, this clip of Johnson pushing his pseudo-historical theory was originally from a 2008 radio interview.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Homosexual behavior is something you do, it's not something that you are.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

To promote the Day of Truth, an anti-gay event aimed at teens, run by now-defunct conversion therapy company Exodus International. As one of their legal advisors, Johnson collaborated with Exodus to promote the Day of Truth as a counter protest to the Day of Silence, an event that saw students go silent to raise awareness to anti-LGBTQ plus bullying, like we see here at Westbury Senior High School in Houston, Texas.

SPEAKER_04 27:39

Wow. Yeah. So what's interesting about Mike Johnson is that, you know, there are there was this huge thing earlier in the year, maybe last year, where he was on Grinder. Yeah. Yeah, right. And he, I think, supports conversion therapy because he was in it. You he experienced it. Yeah. You know, with his wife and his kid, and like, but that's what's disturbing to me.

SPEAKER_05 28:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:05

Um just like me. Well, you're not in conversion therapy.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

No, I know, but I got caught on grinder, you know.

SPEAKER_04 28:12

But the thing is, like, it's different because you're living your truth. Right now, he's not doing that.

SPEAKER_05 28:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:18

You know, and and he's demonizing his own.

SPEAKER_05 28:22

Right.

SPEAKER_04 28:23

That's what they do to protect themselves. Yeah. I mean, that's it's unreal. It is unreal. It really is. What else is in the news that really got my attention? You know what really got me fired up the other day? Do you remember that story about minor league baseball that I was so pissed off about? Minor league baseball in New York, they canceled the game because they were uncomfortable wearing a jersey with rainbow sleeves. And you know what pisses me off about that whole thing? They cited that they were uncomfortable because it was against their beliefs.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

Wow. We yesterday I pointed out to you in the bar the guy wearing the Red Sox hat with the rainbow B.

SPEAKER_04 29:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

And it had rainbow boston underneath the lid.

SPEAKER_04 29:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

And it had the rainbow flag on it.

SPEAKER_04 29:12

I love that hat.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

And that was a major league, it had the major league baseball authorized by Major League Baseball. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:20

So supported by Boston, right? No. Red Sox, no. It was a Boston. All of Major League Baseball.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

Oh, okay. Every team, yeah. Right. Yeah. So that minor league team that you're talking about, the minor league team for who? Because it was in New York.

SPEAKER_04 29:36

Minor league baseball in New York.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Right. A minor league team doesn't necessarily mean they're an affiliate with like the minor league team for the Yankees. Because I mean, if you think about it, I I I think that like they fly the they they fly the the rainbow flag at Fenway. All right. And I believe, I'll have to Google it. If I I think if I remember correctly, the Red Sox did have a pride. They had a Pride Day.

SPEAKER_05 30:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:04

So they do endorse it. They support it. They support it. I don't know if they ever had it on their sleeve. But if the organization wants to put it on the sleeve, it has to be approved by Major League Baseball. The Red Sox can't just say, you know, we're going to do that. It'll be done as a whole. Every team will have to wear it.

SPEAKER_04 30:25

I automatically, after reading this, when I saw that cap, I was very much like, oh, whatever, like homophobes. I automatically thought, because sports are pretty homo homophobic. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But you did point out to me that yes, Boston Red Sox do support the LGBTQ community. Major League Baseball in itself, yeah. You know, support pride. Yeah. Which is awesome. But what pissed me off about this minor league team, I'm surprised, first of all, because it's New York of all places, but they were uncomfortable wearing this jersey and they still got paid.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:01

Right. And I'm thinking, and I have to look this up. I'm like, so do you get paid if you cancel a game? No, you're not supposed to get paid.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Right.

SPEAKER_04 31:09

All right.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

Because you don't show up for work, you don't get paid.

SPEAKER_04 31:11

Exactly. Right. You don't show up for work, you don't get paid. Do your fucking job if you want money. They got paid because management canceled the game, not the players, because they refused to play. Yeah. And I guess that's their loophole. Yeah, they didn't have a team. Yeah. So no consequences for being homophobic at all. Okay. And I love this. Those sons of bitches were like, oh, but we're gonna donate ten thousand dollars, okay, since uh since we had that canceled because our players weren't comfortable. No to LGBTQ organizations, I would have been like, no, keep your fucking money. Right. Because on a typical day, you're making about a hundred thousand. Oh, yeah. Maybe if you give it a hundred, we'll forgive you.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

They there was a professional pitcher that he had a like a multi-hundred million dollar contract, and one of the announcers was saying that he literally makes two hundred thousand dollars per pitch. Get the fuck out of here. Yep, because they only you know they they a professional uh pitcher will will pitch during his season uh twenty-two, twenty-five games.

SPEAKER_05 32:31

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Okay. Maybe twenty thousand. I mean it could have been twenty thousand uh a pitch, but still twenty grand a pitch.

SPEAKER_04 32:52

I know, that's still a lot of money. Yeah, yeah, you might have added too many zeros, but still.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

Oh no, but no, no, no, no, no. So t uh twenty twenty grand a pitch, and you know how many you you if you do sixty pitches, you know, you're doing a uh $1.2 million day.

SPEAKER_04 33:08

Yeah, that was good. You just did that in your head. You know what I mean? I couldn't do that in my head just now.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

So so that's what it is, yeah. When you gotta, you know, fucking numbers are crazy.

SPEAKER_04 33:18

That's insane. Yeah. But I good for him. He's got a talent, right?

SPEAKER_03 33:22

I'll t I'll tell you this, right? If I wasn't gay, right? You put 1.2 million dollars in front of me, I'm gonna fucking suck your dick.

SPEAKER_04 33:38

Really?

SPEAKER_03 33:39

Oh yeah. For 1.2, not 25 bucks. I think anybody would.

SPEAKER_04 33:47

Anyway, um, the next thing I've been obsessing with lately, well, you've been obsessing with the retirement. Yeah. You're thinking about leaving. I am, I know I leaving work. I put in for it. Yeah, you officially put in. Yeah. Since your surgery, your back hasn't been, I'm done. And and now it's time to go. But we've been doing the math, and it just makes more sense to like retire early, get a smaller check, yeah, and have more years to enjoy said check because if you wait till like 70, you might die in a few years.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

Yeah, you never know, right?

SPEAKER_04 34:21

Bigger paycheck, but could die.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

I could die before I I signed up for Social Security. I could die before I fucking get my first check. Yeah, you never know, you know.

SPEAKER_04 34:31

But there was this whole talk about free property taxes for seniors. And I thought that was you were like, oh, that would be great. I was like, that's not fair. Like, if you had the money to buy property, you should be paying taxes on it still. What I don't agree with is that you should be paying for your health care. I think your health care should just be 100% covered, be done with it. But you got these greedy insurance companies that still want your money. When you and Mario, you you the two boomers talk about your retirement and like your Medicare and how you're still paying co-pays and things like that. I'm like, what is this? You work all your life and this nonsense, you're still putting up with it, deductibles and co-pays. What is this? Why is this happening? But Social Security's losing uh again. Um, but it looks like, oh, look, our favorite person came up again in our news. Yeah, look what he said. Remember what he said last week? Mike? Yeah, this this fucking asshole.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

He won't even do all that. And then we're gonna lead up to what we have to do and address uh the the largest spending items. The thing the reason we're in trouble is because over 74% of federal spending is on autopilot, mandatory spending. That's your entitlement programs like like Medicare, Medicaid, and then things like Social Security. They have to be adjusted and fixed. We have a plan to do that uh next year, and it's critical because we're at 40 trillion plus.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

Yeah. What he means by autopilot is that automatically, you know, you get your social security check, automatically you you you get you get your uh Medicare, you know, and automatically they take out the $208 a month out of you. So that's what they mean by like autopilot, that it's all done electronically. 72, what do you say, billion?

SPEAKER_04 36:17

But isn't that what they want? That's why AI is eliminated jobs. No shit. They want people not to have to deal with that. They want AI to do it all. Right, right. So they got what they wanted, and still they're not fucking happy.

SPEAKER_03 36:27

Let's take away his pension. Take away his fucking pension from, you know, if you serve one term, right? One term in in in the house or in Congress, whatever, in Washington, one term, whether where it's four years or six years, you get a pension. That's pretty wild. That's nice. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 36:49

Yeah, I have to work at least 10 years to get mine.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

They they voted it in for themselves. How fuck won't wouldn't you love to have a job to do that? They are not giving a shit about any of us.

SPEAKER_04 37:01

That's what it is, right? Fucked up. So even though, like, you know me, I love my Medicare for all, but last week what I saw that kind of infuriated me too was that United Health Group uh posted six point two billion in profits last quarter. Wow. One quarter, six point two billion dollars.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

And that's just one health.

SPEAKER_04 37:24

That's and that's for one quarter. They're four fucking quarters, right? That's for one and at the same time, they were denying thirty-two percent of all prior authorization claims, right? So they denied one out of every three medical requests, even though they still made their six point two billion dollars in three months' time, right?

SPEAKER_03 37:46

You know, the biggie's you know, it's the it's a business.

SPEAKER_04 37:48

Yeah, so you pay your premium, then they deny your claim, and they keep your money too. And this is legal, guys. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, this is what American healthcare has allowed it to happen. This is what it is now.

SPEAKER_03 38:01

You know what? People have to start burning uh billionaire yachts.

SPEAKER_04 38:07

I think we should not say things like that.

SPEAKER_03 38:11

That's my opinion.

SPEAKER_04 38:12

Yeah, you know, we don't support that though. Um but you know, some way because look at what happened, right? That was United Health Group, wasn't that Luigi Mangioni?

SPEAKER_03 38:21

United Health, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

Right? Yeah, he took out the CEO. And that's interesting because like I am still on the fence about that because I'm like, I get that pain can make you crazy. Um but it's still murder at the end of the day. You know, people will be like, oh, that's a hero, you know, because you brought attention to this problem. Um, but oh okay, let's take it. We'll continue this tomorrow. All right.