The Grayed Out Podcast: Recent Episodes
grayedoutpodcast
Podcast for those in the political gray areas, the politically homeless, and political nomads. Basically people looking for reasoned discussions, insights into current events both political and societal. This podcast contains brief episodes of opinions, rants, questions, sometimes without answers, but the hope is to get us all thinking.
EPISODE 23 – The Hypocrisy of a Racialized Nation
Still struggling with the question from last week about the conundrum of Weaponizing vs. Amplifying but that seems to be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
This past week after talking about the tragedy of the Ma’Khia Bryant situation we got a different glimpse of the racial tensions in our nation and how no matter what happened over the last year, it seems to be getting worse, not better.
Which I find odd that in spite of all of the visibility and awareness being shared, the issue is causing more division vs. healing.
Enter the President’s address to congress and the GOP response offered by Senator Tim Scott and the absolute unhinged reaction by the left, or at least progressive voices, on Twitter and other social media platforms…
MOST NOTABLE - in spite of these responses including racial slurs and tropes being used by a largely white audience there was a STRIKING ABSENCE of ANY and I mean ANY voice from the democrat party or other liberal voices speaking out against it.
NEXT Notable - The very next morning VP Harris was asked and gave the EXACT same response and no one uttered a word about it. NO ONE.
We’ve reached critical mass levels of Hypocrisy because race has been completely politicized, and it seems inextricable from that status. How can we move forward if racial issues are removed from the realm of humanity issues and made political issues?
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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EPISODE 22 – Ma’Khia Bryant Fallout
Over this month we have seen some stuff happen, but nothing has enflamed the chasm of debate more than the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting.
The facts are these:
Police responded to a residence in Columbus OH after 911 received a call from someone claiming they were about to be assaulted by someone with a knife.
Upon arrival the responding officer was confronted with the chaos of a girl running from a pursuer, falling and being kicked in the head by a man who was on scene.
The pursuer (Bryant) was armed with a knife and then turned on another woman (all in pink) and attempted to stab her.
Officer ordered Bryant to the ground and to drop the knife, but ended up shooting her as she attempted to stab the other woman.
I’ve made a couple of videos about this as well as the Daunte Wright situation, but in this case specifically, I can’t help but think the officer did the best he could and saved another girl’s life.
The fallout is more about what’s happening to our own discourse because even the Black community is divided on this issue, and it seems is more divided on some of these issues than we are led to believe by the media at large.
One of my main questions here is…
Which Black voices are we supposed to be listening to? I’ve been confused by this approach to conversation a lot.
Listening to Black conservative voices = weaponizing?
Listening to Black progressive/leftist voices = amplifying?
I am having a struggle with this outlook.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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We may call this the weekly wrap with honest questions tagged on.. because I have a couple. So let’s look back at the bag of crazy we call week 5 of 2021!
Week started off strong with AOC going live on social media to recount her harrowing experience on Jan 6 and then got called out for not being in the actual building where people were breaking in… that was odd. Then she and Nancy Mace of South Caroline spent the next few days sparring on Twitter for our amusement. That was a good time
Not to be outdone though the GOP’s batcrap nutty freshman Congress woman from GA Marjorie Taylor Greene has been in the spotlight because…well… that needs little explanation.
These are tied together and here is why: ITS ALL A GIANT DISTRACTION!!!!!!!
Outside the lines of political news country music rising star Morgan Wallen was in the cancel cross hairs after drunkenly blurting out a (singular) racial slur after being dropped off at his house by a friend (whom he blurted the aforementioned slur at.. who was also white) Now comes the honest question…
Is the abuse or assault of women less egregious than someone shouting a racial slur at no one in particular?
And oooooh I just touched that 3rd rail and oooooh I really don’t care. It needs to be asked and really needs to be answered because the music industry is doing us all a disservice by turning a blind eye to one thing and affording a truckload of excuses, while now banishing this kid to the netherworld for a stupid drunken mistake.
It’s something we all need to reckon with and it will be uncomfortable.. I guarantee.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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Episode 21 – No News is Good News…no really.
I say this with all seriousness… stop watching your favorite news program. Whether it’s CNN, MSNBC, FOX or OANN etc…
Unless you’re fanatically channel flipping… you are getting a tailored version of the “news” that’s meant to keep their well studied audiences captivated, nodding their heads, and watching those pricey ad spots.
You’ve seen the charts, but even those have to be balanced out by looking at two or three different versions so you can get an idea of what is the actual level of bias on these channels.
Lets pick on the top dogs CNN & FOX because that’s what I watched all week.
And here is my absolutely never peer reviewed, personal experience, anecdotal evidenced, take on media bias as I saw it unfold.
News vs. Opinion – plain as the nose on your face if you are honest.
News – Fox is not quite as right as CNN is left when it comes to news content
Both lean, but from what I saw CNN leaned way harder when it came to basic “news” reporting
The NEED for Trump –
Villain – it seems anything and everything is… well… because Trump bad.
I don’t see so much the Hero thing, but the need to keep the man relevant seems bizarre for someone so many people seemed to find so unlikeable for lack of a better term, or to at least keep it civil.
So watch more different stuff and go online… The Hill, Just The News, NPR-ish, AP but gather more facts, not just what Tucker or Don are saying this week.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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Weekly Wrap – Week 4 of 2021 – January ends with a BANG – GAMESTONKS!!!
This has been another interesting fun-filled fact light weekend in the news… well some facts are light and we definitely need to remind the politicians in DC that decorum is actually a part of the job…
Here’s the lineup!!
Vaccine woes continue – but Johnson and Johnson are getting in the game
Impeachment hits a huge speed bump named RAND (and he was right)
AOC is setting the example of how to go on social media and rant about the other team – Petulant kids this new brand of politician – not leaders.
THE National Guard (and this is huge) is still at the capitol, and under growing scrutiny as to why for so long.
GAME STONK (which I have no idea what that actually means) debacle was incredibly interesting and a total distraction
Biden signs an inordinate amount of EO’s in his first week and the news is like “yeah… that’s totally normal”
Christian hyper-conservative republican types are being stupid again and showing why most people don’t actually like them.
Finally… what REALLY REALLY MATTERS THIS WEEK – My friend Michael Franklin passed this week on Wednesday and it threw me for a loop.
It reminded me that while all of these things are going on, we cannot lose sight of what is important. We are all here, humans, together in this life, and agree or disagree, no one is less human because of a viewpoint. We can do better if we step back and remember that. And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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EPISODE 20 – Common Covid Conundrums… maybe?
Well we are now at the 10 month anniversary of 15 days to flatten the curve… and man the curve has stretched OUT!!!
I want to be clear this is not an effort to dismiss the virus or even diminish the virus, but merely to clear my own headspace about the virus, the vaccine, and the crappy politicizing of our response to the virus…
We are seeing a significant shift in stances on all fronts when it comes to the virus at this point (obviously) but not without some clear backward finger pointing to the “evils” of the previous admin.
Vaccine plan is being put in place and is going to give us… a 15% increase in overall volume of vaccinations… if indeed the government can figure out how many they actually have. Said it on Friday worth saying again, not sure why people want to give the government more responsibility for things as though they’ve proven themselves to be so clearly efficient in so many areas (that’s sarcasm)
Masks are still a super duper divisive issue, even here in Tennessee, thought I’d be getting away from all that nonsense, but nope. And now we have people who spent a year saying SHUT DOWN SHUT DOWN STAY HOME, saying, we need to be more aggressive about opening up and getting schools open etc.
Here is my perspective on this whole thing, especially when it comes to masks and social distancing, and locking down things… the assumption that everyone is sick is a dark and awful place to live, unless you are the most cynical of cynics. Ooooor the Grinch I guess. We have no ability to be wise, make choices, and care for themselves and the people around them.
And we assume the worst about people that do other than we deem correct.. and that’s not really good either.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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WEEKLY WRAP: Week 3 of 2021 - Anyone Seen Bernie?
Inauguration of Biden – little slow except for the POEM! – Amanda Gorman became an overnight national sensation and she did a great job.. no matter who you are you have to admit it.
Speeches were speeches – meh.
Joe is on the EXEC ORDER throwdown path – striking down several Trump admin orders and placing a moratorium on several items.
Keystone – pretty bad from a jobs, economy perspective, pretty meh from an environmental perspective (Oh and Canada is pissed too)
Troops in DC
Sen Ted CRUZ & Rep Lauren Boebert don’t seem to understand the way international accords are named sooooo… they look a little dumb. AOC and others rightfully crack back.
Covid Vaccine pace to mildly increase under Biden – people say Fed needed a whole plan to tell the states how to roll out their vaccine supplies… Government running more stuff is a good idea?
Try Chik Fil A – they can organize some stuff and hey.. Chicken
Fawning press and the blame of the previous admin- standard fare
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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EP19 – Honest Questions
AS a politically homeless person I have lots of honest questions –
AS to what is going on in the world right not I have some specific questions. I feel like they need to be asked because there is no way I can be alone in thinking these things. I believe we have come to a place in our society where we don’t even want to understand people that don’t think like us, we’d rather just dismiss and demean them as less intelligent, or ignorant, or downright stupid… but despite the fact that we have all indeed run into some stupid people in our lives, we should be able to acknowledge that not everyone that doesn’t think like us or share our ideologies, are a pack of ignoramuses.
So here are my questions about stuff that is pertinent to the current state of politics, culture, and news stuff, from the politically homeless vantage point –
Capitol Riot vs. BLM Riots:
Perceived Causes – does it not make sense that one cause is more justified in pursuing justice? But does that mean that the other cause is forbidden from speaking out? Isn’t that what the freedom to assemble peaceably supposed to cover? Even if you disagree, it’s a right to speak.
Reactions to the chaos – Is it really unreasonable to see that some people are frustrated by the incredibly visible and visceral reaction of the media toward the capitol incident vs. the violence of last summer’s riots – And from the other side, is it not understandable that like 9000 protests happened last summer and the vast majority were largely peaceful… It’s odd that people cannot seem to think that all of these facts can be true at the same time right?
ELECTION IRREGULARITIES – (because we can’t say voting fr@ud I guess)
Why is it suddenly not ok for people to be pointing out the voting irregularities we KNOW happened?
How is this election now different than the previous? Haven’t both sides now basically made the same claims, and weren’t both sides making the same claims all the way up to the election?
WHEN WILL WE WAKE UP FROM FEAR?
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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EP18 – Weekly Wrap for week 2 of 2021
I think we all thought a lot of things coming into 2021 and I don’t think any of us thought this.
So much chaos, so many questions, so many opinions, so why not add my noise to the mix –
I have no other way to describe this as a weekly wrap up for week 2 of 2021 because I can’t land on a single thought or topic… but I will attempt some linear thoughts and ask a couple of questions and respond to a question that’s floating around the interwebs (Twitter/Tik-Tok mainly)
So here are some of my thoughts:
Republicans are supposed to be the party of “Individual Responsibility”
AOC seems to be seriously coming up with some of the craziest potentially really harmful government overreach you could imagine
Accountability looks like it is being conflated with revenge/payback
Some republicans are quick to want to oust the members of the House that voted for impeachment – forgetting the idea of local constituency.
Joe Biden doesn’t seem to have a plan for the future other than to go back to the Obama era policies he feels safe with.
INTERWEBS Question – false dichotomies and all…
Policy stuff is bugging me but that is for another time and place.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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Well I'm really glad nothing has been going on the first week of the new year, and that it's so much better than last year already...
Since we have to review... there was an attempt to overrun the US Capitol, by a mixed bag of people, some absolute nut-jobs to be certain but also some people that got swept up in the moment.
Since the idea that a lot of the "insurrectionists" have been labeled as followers of the Q conspiracy I thought I'd address this whole bag of garbage with my usual insights and other information.
And, since that has led to a number of people asking for the president to be ousted via invoking the 25th Amendment and man that's another doozy... So it takes me a little longer than normal to cover all this nonsense.
All I can boil it down to is how we have continued to let the the vilification of the political opponents we end up further and further down this road of division.
Let's do a better job of holding ourselves accountable, recognizing our own propensities, our own teams flaws and faults...
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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EP 16 - EXTREME VIEWS - How The Fringe Defines the Mass
WELCOME BACK -
Early on when this all started I had a saying that I stuck with Hard Truths & Open Ears make us Better People.
This couldn't be more true and necessary than right now in our culture.
We live in an atmosphere that is so charged with assumption and vitriol toward people we disagree with, and all this, largely because we take the least charitable view of those people. We assume the extreme worst when think about political, social, or even religious opponents and it's not getting us anywhere, let alone any degree of forward.
THINK ABOUT IT.
LEFT vs. RIGHT Conservative vs. Progressive Variant Religious view vs. ?
and most important - BE A BETTER HUMAN
As always, I’d love any feedback.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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Coming back from a 3 month hiatus while we relocated from CA to TN and all of that adventure... of which there will be more to follow on the pod! This episode we are just jumping back in from the cold vast vacuum of nothingness and into one of my least favorite favorite things!! Whataboutism! It was in full effect on the twittersphere this last week and I just had to engage and it got me thinking about what it is and how lame of a scape goat that term has become when dealing with the arguments (often valid and factual) of others.
The quote that got me going and made me realize it was high time to jump back into the podcast waters - and the fact I knew I was probably missed by at least 3 people -
"Labeling a fact or valid point as “whataboutism” just because it invalidates a stance you want to doggedly support is one of the lowest forms of intellectual dishonesty there is. If you cannot admit the rampant hypocrisy of both political parties & fan bases, you can’t be helped."
That's me... I said that.. it's my very own quote. You can find me on Twitter at @j_the_gray
Other than that... this is just me... saying some things about this and an exchange between Matt Taibbi (journalist) and a couple of other twitter users and how we've moved to the place in life where an argument is basically no longer valid on it's merits, but instead solely on whether we like the person making the argument.
just a thought.
EP 14 - SEEKING JUSTICE & The Work It Takes.
This week... I'm gonna talk about Justice... That blind lady with the Sword & Scale, the one who is supposed to meet out evenly dispensed, weighed, considered EQUAL justice.. and the WORK it actually takes to get to the point of JUSTICE.
First let’s start with this nonsense picture
Here is the original MLK Jr. Quote out of “Letters From Birmingham Jail (1963)”: "First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."
I've been mulling over this thought the past few weeks and it's something that struck me, I can't remember if it's a quote I heard or just something that popped into my overworked brain one day. JUSTICE without ORDER is just VENGEANCE... and Vengeance is not Justice.
Vengeance is a liar - it offers a false sense of satisfaction and only delivers emptiness. (I'm not talking about paybacks for some stupid situation your ex caused or whatever either... so lets not get this twisted)
You see the cold hard truth about Vengeance is; it's just another rabid form of injustice, and it can be easily swung in all directions mowing down whomever stands in the way... Getting True Justice, takes work, and patience and endurance and is worth every bit of it... vengeance is like a sad substitution it's the cubic zirconia of the Justice realm. It's a shortcut and it will rob us all of true satisfaction.
As always, I’d love any feedback.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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EP 13 – Everything’s Cancelled; The Circular Stupidity of Cancel Culture
WELCOME TO THE GRACELESS HELL our society is turning into where it is better to half listen and fully destroy anyone who dares say a dumb thing.
Is There anything worse in the world right now than Cancel Culture? OH YES.. REVENGE CANCEL CULTURE!
Because what was originated by the uber religious right and became a hallmark of the progressive left is now being re-adopted by the conservatives and now we just get to cancel EVERYONE... beware.. you may be next.
STAB GIRL and KAREN(s) - this depends on which of which notorious KAREN videos you've watched.
Harvard Stab Girl - https://youtu.be/MdgILrJYF00
Seattle Cut Off “Karen”: https://youtu.be/jcFtg6ZRmms
They sound like a horrible super villain pairing but they aren't they are the mainstay characters of cancel culture now and somehow Twitter is becoming real life.
HARD TRUTHS Small Groups of REALLY LOUD people are controlling the narrative and we are buying it.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND: you have ZERO right to remain unoffended in life and in the words of Jordan Peterson on Real Time w/ Bill Maher - If you are talking about difficult issues and thinking about that, you are bound to be offensive.
Bill Maher defined political correctness as "The Elevation of sensitivity over truth" Peterson goes in saying it's morphed into the "Elevation of Moral POSTURING about sensitivity over truth"
Full Clip of Peterson on Real Time (EXPLICIT): https://youtu.be/8wLCmDtCDAM
We need to reject this idea of Cancelling people who do or say dumb even ignorant things because we FEEL offended or disrespected or whatever. There are more of us who think this sort of outcome is completely ABSURD than we think and we NEED to speak up.
As always, I’d love any feedback.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
See the brothers over at Live Bearded! https://livebearded.com/?rfsn=4365354.646504&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=4365354.646504
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EP 12 - FREEDOM MATTERS - For Everyone
Tonight is the First WEEKNIGHT of FREEDOM WEEK!!! Why is it FREEDOM WEEK! Because this Saturday is the 4th of July 2020 and we need to celebrate a little something to get our heads around all the FUSTERCLUCK this year has been so far!!!
I plan to Freedom so hard this week. So I thought I'd start with talking about this ideal of FREEDOM which actually brings us TOGETHER!! And why it MATTERS FOR EVERYONE and why when Freedoms start to be infringed upon because of the opinions, offended-ness, or subjectivity of others, it is a downward spiral that we will be hard pressed to recover from.
FREEDOMS = Life Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness This IDEAL is something to strive for for everyone, this is why we had the Gettysburg Address in November 1863: https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/gettysburg/good_cause/transcript.htm#:~:text=President%20Lincoln%20delivered%20the%20272,all%20men%20are%20created%20equal
FREEDOM: It Costs, but it's worth it, it gives more back, and it unites!
HARD TRUTHS WE owe it to one another as United States citizens to contend side by side for one another's freedoms, So this week, lets focus not on the scars of the past but what they have taught all of us and the road they have paved forward!!
As always, I’d love any feedback.
And Now You’ve been Grayed Out….
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Ep 11: Police Reform & Partisan Games, or, Why We Should Read Stuff
This is a Great SPRINGBOARD from earlier this week and VILLAINS... because right now there are plenty to choose from. Ok that's dramatic, but I'm a little miffed. A couple of Instagram & Facebook Live videos later and hopefully you know where I'm coming from and hopefully this makes a ton of sense...
SENATE Bill v. HOUSE Bill - semantically the same, however some tighter and looser restrictions in both could be brought to the middle BUT... and that is one BIG BUT!!!.. Leave it to one side to frame it so that the other is all bad, and they are all good and let the press do the rest!
HOW IT WENT DOWN>> albeit, I'm confused by the Democrats on this one...
READ THE BILLS and you find the truth about the language and the vast similarities... but the politicians are COUNTING on it that you don't and that you just want to hear from them that your side is better and that's the whole truth... but it isn't. LoadsofRubbish.com
HARD TRUTHS What keeps you from reading the legislation that goes up for debate in our country... at least the MAJOR stuff?
Make the time, it’s valuable and will help you see through the haze of media and political smoke screens.
As always, I’d love any feedback.
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Ep 10: Villains, Villains Everywhere… or are they?
We have gotten into this place where everyone is a villain or at least the only way we can have a discussion is by vilifying the other person in the argument to make them seem like they are advocating an evil position or are themselves evil. It's getting kind of exhausting.
I've had arguments online with friends, and we can disagree and hopefully we stay friends… at least none of my friends have tried to vilify me yet or call me racist or say they are done talking to me.
So, there's that, but society and the media, and certainly our dear friends in Washington D.C. are on the vilifying bandwagon and it's leaking into the culture and I think there needs to be some push back.
Here’s the script? Love liberty and our Country? Villain Want to see equality and justice for the Black Community? Villain Think Black lives actually matter but think BLM is probably not a great organization for seeing that actually happen? Villain Black Conservative? Villain Got questions? Probably a villain too, you just aren't aware of it yet.
HARD TRUTHS Maybe this is a repeat of another episode, but it bears some repeating. We can't make anything better if we just keep pointing fingers, destroying things, and buying into the manufactured side of outrage.
Sorry I could not find the link to video I mentioned. However if you’ve heard of it or seen it, send it my way and I will edit the description/notes.
As always, I’d love any feedback.
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Ep 9: Base Names, Statues, Cartoons & The Losing Side of Symbolic Victory…
THIS TIME AROUND... I'M KIND OF TAKING A SIDE... but not the way one would expect and hopefully in a way that makes, as Arsenio used to say, go hmm....
SYMBOLIC VICTORY - There are symbolic victories throughout history that have turned out to be just that, and came before the overall demise of the winner. WW2 gave us some prime examples just to point in a general direction.
Here is why I bring this up.
Changing names of Military Installations, Tearing down statues, and banning cartoons or tv shows... are not REAL HELP, they are merely symbolic.
You might be wondering why that is an issue and how am I being politically homeless on this? Let me explain... well let me sum up. HARD TRUTHS
CHANGES COST BIG MONEY - bigger than you'd expect. (grave 3K) Legal battles to those changes = BIGGER MONEY Who bears that cost and what does it actually buy us???
As always, I’d love any feedback.
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Ep 8: Defending Trump & Other Troubling Matters
Do you know what it’s like to have to defend something or someone that you’re not exactly a big fan of? I mean just try and get a non-Patriots fan to admit that Tom Brady may be the GOAT and you’ll see. It’s painful if not near impossible… but remember the analogy… our elected leaders are not a football team or player.
With the political divide being as prevalent as it is, large as it has ever been, and seemingly only getting worse. It’s maddening to see when people cannot be honest even when they dislike a politician or platform.
Because of this I have had to come out in defense of President Trump over the idiocy of the “Orange Man Bad” mindset that limits peoples reasonable response to anything good that may come from the current administration…
NOW I understand that the list of issues that our POTUS has, is long and distinguished. He’s a bloviator, ego driven, narcissistic, but really what can you expect from someone who was raised to think he was the most important person in any room. So there is enough there, but people want to drive the point home so badly they begin exaggerating the small things and then it just gets weird.
Beyond that support or rejection of Trump now leads people to be fired from jobs, lose friends, treat family poorly, and turns civil discourse into frothing at the mouth diatribes over all the bad the orange man has done… But there is good and bad, and when we can be adult enough to recognize, then we are ready for the kind of discussion that can bring about change.
The good and the bad… MAGA loves “The Black People” : https://youtu.be/kB2m8KM07B8 First Step Act impact: https://youtu.be/EB7cSE_ieys
HBCU Funding: https://youtu.be/FrqfIkkUMx8
Disinfectant: https://youtu.be/33QdTOyXz3w
Corona Virus Timeline: https://youtu.be/RTGBJMDcras
As always I’d love any feedback.
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Ep 7: Disagreement Does Not A Racist Make
This episode deals with the importance of Dialogue, Disagreement & Dissent in figuring out solutions to our societal issues, present situation especially…
There is a cultural wave happening where disagreement or dissent is becoming the catalyst for labeling people as “ISTS” or “PHOBES”
This has always been an issue but with the national spotlight hyper-focused on the current issue of injustice/racial tensions… it has found another gear and seems to be getting a little out of control.
The crowds of people in harried desire to be helpful and appear as allies are starting to label people as racists for not getting onboard with their “very clearly” superior morally righteous ideas and “solutions”
And in some cases there are people losing jobs (https://twitter.com/brokebackUSA/status/1270096112666492928) , livelihoods, relationships and in extreme cases could be in real danger. Doxxing Examples: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/31/21117663/twitter-zero-hedge-suspended-platform-manipulation-policy-doxxing-coronavirus
https://sectigostore.com/blog/what-is-doxxing-5-examples-of-doxxing-and-how-to-prevent-it/
Which is completely ironic and in some cases completely hypocritical.
This is a problem that exists on both sides of the political sphere and is just a fear driven tactic to drive wedges, create fear, and demand agreement.
The only people that can change that are us, the voices in the middle or leaning toward the middle, willing to say to the fear peddlers… nope we are not buying today, and we are going to stand for something right and better.
How are we supposed to find solutions that actually work if meaningful disagreement and dissent are not allowed and processed along the way and further, those things are punished with outright labels and more hatred?
As always I’d love any feedback.
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Ep 6: WHAT Are We Even Thinking?
This episode deals with the continued national narrative surrounding the protests and riots as a result of the death of George Floyd.
This has continued to be a heavy week and my emotions and thoughts are a bit scatters for this episode but bear with me. I’m finding that there is serious frustration in actual voicing opinions from the middle and the louder I get, the more people misunderstand and say I’m spouting or spinning for whatever side is opposite them. I’m overwhelmed
I’m sharing thoughts on Defunding/Abolishing the police around the nation and also how sharing outdated and half true videos is not helpful.
Tupelo Mississipi Video: There are two takes on this and I couldn’t find the original whole video other than on Terrence K. Williams (conservative comic/pundit) facebook channel (so you may need to divorce the commentary from the actual video) https://www.facebook.com/terrencekwilliams/videos/357730235212354/? Here is the take from black podcast/vlog host Roland Martin and a panel he hosted on the matter: https://youtu.be/XzZYv8_3EKA
Bellvue Washington Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ooTLdj_L2U This is a response to the recirculation of the video of this. The result being the full suspension of choke holds.
There are also a few scattered thoughts about media coverage etc.
We don’t need revolution we need serious REFORM.
As always I’d love the feedback.
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This episode deals with Racism & The Middle: Raw & Uncut
I realize this may be a sensitive subject, but I want to make sure that I do both what I can to speak out against injustice, and also to make sure that people from both sides can understand a few different perspectives and raw realities.
First let me caveat this: I know that as a white man, this is going to generate mixed responses, and some will think I have NO BUSINESS talking about this and some will think I have NO BUSINESS staying silent. Some will say I have no real understanding, and hopefully I can offer some thoughts, that may cause some people to think, some to understand, and some to heal.
As a man who was raised in San Francisco’s East Bay, home to cities, like Oakland, Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Rodeo, Hercules, and my hometown of Pinole, I had the advantage of ALWAYS being in school with a vast array of ethnicities, and we experienced a different kind of upbringing that said all those people we were growing up with were our people, our community, our classmates and most importantly our friends. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have our struggles, tonight I’m going to tell a short story about a struggle, and a dumb kid, who did a stupid thing… and the amazing way that the situation ended… hopefully to begin a dialogue about all of us, our combined humanity and how things need to go to move forward, in my humble, but really honest to the point of raw, opinion
No links this time around… everything you are hearing about either happened in the stone ages of no cell phones/personal video cameras or is right in your face every day.
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This episode discusses what it means to be "Politically Homeless" It’s not an uncommon term but perhaps it’s not very well understood, and mislabeled.
Some resources I looked up:
Guardian (British Paper): Phil McDuff - DEC 2019 - Fashionable yet Callous/Detached - https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
NYT: FEB 2020 – Sabrina Tavernise - Actually looking for feedback earlier this year trying to understand the politically homeless - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/re...
Spectator article from last Summer: Bethany Phetasy – AUG 2019 - BATTLE CRY of The Politically Homeless - https://spectator.us/battle-cry-polit...
So what is it? What does it mean? Why does it seem to be something a little more prevalent now than before? I have some ideas
A) Political/Partisan DIVIDE is more evident/on display than ever before - Rhetoric leaves little space for identifying with neither side - People’s visceral reactions to others make people feel ashamed - Traditional descriptions of Moderate or Independent don’t seem to fit any longer
B) Media & News sources seems to largely feign impartiality but suck at that
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All one needs to do is go and look at any TV channel or cable news network to see the bias (One only has to look at characters like Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, and Anderson Cooper)
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BILL Maher and Matt Taibi – Discuss the difficulty of getting unbiased information in the US media context. - https://www.mrctv.org/videos/maher-ta...
C) BOTTOM LINE – If you are called conservative (or any of the associated names) by left leaning persons or called Liberal (or any of the associated names) by right leaning persons, yet you are just being you… You are probably politically homeless and that’s ok. IF MORE PEOPLE SPOKE UP or WERE HONEST ABOUT IT… it would be SO MUCH better for our political system. Of course a lot of things would be better for our political system, but ....other discussions.
So this episode is going to take a turn to the one thing we are all dealing with, hearing about, up to our neck in, have most likely had enough of, EVERY DAY…
The impact of the COVID-19 infection due to the coronavirus.
Society is struggling y’all and people are becoming more and more and more divided, angry, spiteful… super judge-y and opinionated (irony noted)
Here are some of the major issues and where I think we are struggling most and for those of us in the middle (or at least for ME) it’s incredibly frustrating to watch.
MASK OR NO MASK – OPEN OR NOT OPEN FREEDOM OR FEAR (not even kidding)
These are the issues that are seriously dividing people into groups of spiteful hateful bickering condescending patronizing finger pointers.
Seriously
You may have seen the videos of people being mocked for wearing masks and shamed for not wearing them. But the reality is why?
Costco dude, and pictures of lines and all that jazz- CAN WE AGREE It’s ok for places of Business to require masks -
The twitter-verse explodes constantly berating people on either side of the issue and the political game is getting harder and harder to stomach unless you’re staunchly vested in YOUR SIDE. And all this because, as it appears, NO ONE WANTS TO BE WRONG…
AT the heart of it.. the reality.
NO ONE WISHES MORE PEOPLE DIED or THINKS THAT DEATHS ARE MEANINGLESS
HOWEVER – Can it be a REASONABLE understanding to think it is one ONE HAND incredibly sad that over 98k people have died in our country and also realize that it could have been much worse considering that that is 2/100ths of 1% of our entire national population, AND also realize that the dire impact of financial hardship is also REALLY REAL for people and that doesn’t mean you value PROFIT over LIVES.
And in the same breath, some people are a little more timid about the disease and the risks, and want to wear masks and stay indoors this does NOT MEAN they are fear driven sheep, they may have at risk loved ones at home, or be at some risk themselves that you may be unaware of it doesn’t mean they are SOCIALIST RUBES..
This is where the FREEDOM vs. FEAR game just keeps pitting people against people and we should be, IN A TRULY FREE society, ok with people making choices for themselves, and I get that in some places the gov’t may be seeming to over-reach, but even that will balance out, I trust that, because election years happen and states change “colors” on occasion. So the system will work, eventually? But the over the top outrage about non issues, just goes to show how deep the divide keeps getting, and that somehow people thinking their side is right is somehow going to drive the other side to change their mind, vs. saying well some people will make different choices and we need to realize that more of us are capable of adulting than we think.
The Ahmaud Arbery case has been one of the most controversial non-controversies I think I may have ever witnessed in my life.
There is a correct level of absolutely RIGHTEOUS outrage at this one.
IN this episode we recap the timeline and talk about some of the references. Hold on tight because I do get a little heated/emphatic about this one. It’s just one of the strangest things I’ve witnessed as an adult and the degree of questioning about the fact that people are in a twist about it is bizarre.
Here are the referenced links:
Wikipedia’s overview of the entire case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Ahmaud_Arbery
NYT’s page on the matter: https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting-georgia.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-georgia-shooting&variant=show®ion=TOP_BANNER&context=storylines_menu
Local Paper’s coverage of the police report: https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/police-report-sheds-more-light-on-satilla-shores-shooting/article_2d7c05c8-36d3-55b5-ae11-60ea763095b3.html
NPR article on the latest arrest: https://www.npr.org/2020/05/21/860593300/georgia-authorities-arrest-third-man-in-ahmaud-arbery-killing
Colin Noir’s Video on the Subject: https://youtu.be/yr-HMjlr1sU
When you get through this episode my hope is you have a better view of it and why it shouldn’t be a Right vs. Left issue AT ALL… this is about a young man who lost his life who didn’t need to.
Hit me up with your thoughts in the comments.