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Transcript
Good morning, comrades. You’re listening to I’m just said WMNF like that is the community radio station. When I grew up in Saint Petersburg, like Tampa Bay, it was like in NPR affiliate and everything. But this is not WMNF. This is WHIV. 102.3 low Power FM I’m a little throwed right now. This is Robert of good morning. Comrade Jeff has made his way back to fight for labor rights in Virginia, right? I’m a little throwed because we’re not recording in the studio. This is not live, so please hold all calls. But this is in the home studio. And I’m with my lovely wife Aaron, who is a in and out, you know, guest. Of the podcast also host guest licensed mental health profession. And she’s here. So it’s like having your very own doctor Katz.
I’m also in the world’s squeakiest chair, so sorry, everybody.
It’s very squeaked out.
And also I have really bad vocal fry. So your.
Vocal fry is fine. You it’s authoritative.
No, apparently no amount.
How do you figure that?
Because I’ve I’ve spoken to Ben.
That men are trash like you’ve told me this. On various occasions. So why are we concerned of what men think?
Because your listeners, you’re. Mostly men. I’m.
Assuming, I mean they are when I run the when I run the, I’m trash I’m I’m trash.
You guys aren’t. Trash, though, so that’s so don’t complain about my. Local fry, so we’ll be fine. We’re all good.
No, there is definitely a trash can that lives inside of me. So and also I just had to grab my keyboard from because we have our cat Ozzie, who is chilling out, but he loves to like lay on the keyboard and then it’s just like a random like, what’s going to happen when he does it. Usually he screws up video games. He’s trying to screw up recording of a podcast right now, but he’s such a.
Our other at Henry likes to attack my laptop when I’m using it, especially when I’m on a training or a conference call and she likes to send fund messages to the other participants.
Good boy. That’s so awesome.
And then I get a bunch of messages back. I think your cat sent me a message. And it’s like, yes.
Yeah. What did it say?
No, mostly it was like a lot. Of days and ages.
Ohh, a sassy a sketch lot of case.
No, that’s where she. That’s where she was standing.
Lot of case sassy, sassy cats, sassy cats.
JKL drive.
What’s going on, Aaron? Somebody tried to steal our cat? I found out.
I guess that’s going on OK.
Speaking of cats. So I come home and like both of our neighbors, our neighbor from up the block and and our neighbor next door is like there was a guy cause we have a, you know, our we have cats who have three cats and they’re like indoor outdoor cats and.
And before you all come for us, we tried to make them be indoor cats. And these cats have figured out how to escape from the house. Robert came into our room, just not 15 minutes ago and stated that our cat Annie had we took away her normal. Escape route. She normally jumps on top of Roberts Arcade cabinet and then into the cabinet above our closet, and then shimmies up the air conditioning vent. Because, you know, she really wants to get outside.
To the attic.
But we moved to the video Gamer Cabinet video cabinet, anybody?
Over the age of.
Well, so we move that. So she just scaled the wall.
Yeah, she just was like Spiderman and just dug 1 claw into another and just vertically straight vertically scale. I think she looked back at me like she surprised herself like she’s plotting it. She’s like, I don’t know. But I’m gonna give it. We can give. It a A you know, a world. And then she was just up in the crawl space, looking down at me like. Man, I did it.
Like there’s literal cat claw. Like in the wall.
I’m looking at.
So, yeah. So we did really try to make these cats stay indoors. They just refused.
But yeah, so both our neighbors are like, hey, we have a cat Annie who, like, runs wild and free.
So anyway.
And like she just, you know, hangs out with everybody. She comes with us when we walk our dog, she walks it. She walks with us around the block. She just, you know, we’ll get pets from everybody. Well, apparently there was some, like, hipster. Dude, they they described him as a tall white guy. Thin, with short shorts on cowboy cowboy boots and a tank top. And I’m like this man came straight out of the Bywater to try to steal my cat. They said he just he like and he came over to him for some pets. He picked up Annie and just started walking down the street and Annie was like, screaming bloody murder, like trying to get away and our neighbor. That came out like what’s going on and was like, you put that cat down right now like, because that’s not your cat. That’s the blocks cat.
She is truly the blocks cat. I get sad about it sometimes cuz I did want her to be my cat. Which is why I adopted her. That you know the block needed her and she showed up, you know? She answered the call.
It’s insane. How’s how’s work going for you?
Works good. We’re finally staffed properly because they decided to give us. All of. A praise so.
That’s great. Yay.
Yeah, that’s crazy. You know, you get to like, you give people more money, they’re more willing to.
They want to do things.
Work for you? But yeah, I can’t really talk about my work just because HIPAA, but yeah. People are still struggling.
It’s pretty bad out there.
Yeah, it’s not. As bad as it could be, but it’s.
Did you see? I guess we’ll just do like. We’ll we’ll eat our we’ll take our eat our vegetables first before uhm. Our dessert, did you see in Tennessee, the governor has the Governor of Tennessee has signed a bill that’s going to. Make drag shows illegal.
Which I truly don’t understand because Nashville is The Bachelorette capital of the world. From what I understand, and I don’t understand how you can have a Bachelorette party without a drag brush.
Yeah, I mean, I can’t go back to Nashville now, but yeah, he’s a trash bag for sure. But did you see on top of that, on top of all that pictures were dug up of him in high school at a powder puff football game?
So funny and it’s sad, but funny.
So he is. He is in a dress. And literally like the reporter that confronted him with, it was like. Like it must be like 4 Chan news.com cause he literally said is this you this you? What do you got to say about this? And he was just like, oh, that was in good fun.
Yeah, every drag brunch I’ve ever been to has been in good fun too, so I don’t understand drag show.
I know.
I shouldn’t just keep saying drag brunch. I’m just really basic.
You just you just gotta have eggs with your.
So that’s mostly when I see drag.
You gotta have eggs with your drag show.
I’m either watching drag wrestling or I’m on drag brunch. There’s truly no in between for me.
And dry wrestling about two weeks ago, that was. Pretty good that. Was great. It was pretty nice.
It was fantastic. But this is, you know, I not to be talked kind of light hearted about something so terrible. But you know. My mom has. Sometimes has asked me, you know, why I’m. I’m kind of down frequently and I don’t really know how to explain to her that I have a really sick feeling in my stomach that. You know how similar the times are to the Weimar Republic and what came after the Weimar Republic is not something that. I particularly want to live through. Or have ever have happened. Again, again, again.
Yeah, I’m not looking forward. To the the reboot of cabaret. Like, that’s not a thing I want. To watch.
And ironically, they probably wouldn’t allow.
Well, that’s the whole point. That’s the point of the original one, is it not?
I’ve never seen it. I’m going to. Be honest with you.
Honestly, I’ve never seen it either, but the premise makes me mad because I’m like, if you people were in the street instead of like, come to the cab or maybe. Y’all could have done something about this.
We might be being really unduly harsh on characters of cabaret.
Probably more likely.
Please let us know but. I you know, the targeting of trans people and not that drag people drag Queens and kings are trans all the time, you know, but just targeting the because you actually look at the law, it does ban trans people from performing anything. Because it’s specific to, I think it says the language is something like performing in the cultural makeup, including dress accessories. You know, style all of that of the a person who’s the opposite of the gender you were assigned at birth. So essentially it’s not drag, it’s it’s trans people doing anything in front of other people ever. And that’s really scary. That is really scary. You know, it’s it’s the cliche. At this point, but the reason the reason? It gets said so much is because it’s true. It’s, you know, they. Came for the communists and and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. They came for the Jews. I didn’t speak up. I wasn’t a Jew. They came for the Catholics. I I am Catholic. But you know what I’m talking about. And it’s just. I just. I don’t really. Know what to do with my feelings about it. To be honest. Because, because again, like it’s so stupid. Like it’s so stupid that you it’s almost as if you don’t want to take it seriously because they’re just so outlandish and buffoonish. But, you know, even, and that’s part of that’s part of the poison of it. Is that they are so goofy and so hypocritical and so out of control that it almost becomes not real, which I think is something that happened a lot during the Trump administration. So, you know, I don’t, I don’t know what to do.
So just to get. To get the full scope of this, I’ll read this is from cnn.com because you you’re saying how bands, all performances and I can’t remember. I I’m sure I’ve read this already, but I just can’t remember this specifics. It’s like my brain wanted to block them out. So let’s see CNN politics by Shawna Mizzell March 2nd. 2023 Tennessee becomes first state in 20, 2020 to restrict drag performances. Republican Governor Bill Lee signed into law Thursday afternoon that will restrict public drug show performances in Tennessee, making his state the first to do so this year. The state Senate passed the bill earlier Thursday, along with party along party lines, to admit adult cabaret performances on public. Again, my cat just moved my mouse public property so as to shield them from the view of children threatening violators with a misdemeanor and repeat offenders with a felony. The bill, which the Tennessee House passed last week, defines an adult cabaret performance as a performance that features topless dancers, go go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers. Male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a what is that word? It’s not.
Period periods.
That is my new SAT word.
It means up period means basically blue. Like it means it means like you know, I don’t know what upsetted he is, but I can’t say what asity is.
But I know when I see period.
You all right? That’s a wild word. Republicans hold supermajorities in both the House and the Senate. The law will go into effect on July 1st, 2023. Tennessee measure is the first of nearly a dozen such bills presently working their way through the GOP LED state legislatures. Republican state the performances expose children to sexual themes and imagery that are inappropriate, a claim rejected by advocates who say the proposed measures are discriminatory against the LGBT. New community and could violate First Amendment laws. Yeah, I wonder. Yeah, like this feels like something. The ACL, this. This feels like an ACLU slam dunk, but we’ll see. But it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t matter if it gets. Repealed or not? There’s already a chilling effect. That’s the point. The cruelty is the point not to actually protect children from anything. See as. Blah blah blah blah blah as transgender issues and drag culture are increasingly becoming more mainstream. Such shows, which often feature men dressing as women and exaggerated makeup while singing or entertaining a crowd. Though some shows feature body or content, have occasionally been the target of attacks, and LGBTQ advocates say the bills under consideration add to a heightened state of alarm for the community. Like I said, it’s the chilling effect they want. It’s the chilling effect. They’re going to get. Republicans state Senator Jack Johnson. Who sponsored the Tennessee legislation, told CNN on Thursday that the bill was not meant to target drag performances or transgender. People except you just literally spelled out in the language of the bill what a drag show is. That’s that’s wild that that is. That is 1987, George.
Orwen. Well, that’s how they. Get around the ohh that was all in good fun because of course the. High school. Actually, I should even say, of course, but theoretically, a high school skit is probably not going to have a lot of, like sexual nature. And like a lot of body this, but why am I like I there was a guy. In my high school. He used to show us all his Beatus like frequently. Yeah, this was before me too, but.
And then I fell in love.
Then I reflected on it as an adult and I was like, why didn’t any of? The teachers stop that.
Ohh it was like a known. Thing. Ohh yeah.
Yeah, it was a theater thing.
Oh God.
perient shows and it’s like, OK. Yeah, maybe they’re not doing like old school vaudeville acts, but you know. What are they going to call body? What are they going to call period. I wish they hadn’t written that word.
That’s that’s a wild world, yeah.
That’s a wild word, but it’s it’s like, OK, so if you have a trans comic and they’re talking about their dating life and they’re talking about their sex life, is that going to be considered something that’s too much that’s, you know, afoul of the law? You know, it’s there’s a law. If you are a CIS woman who likes to dress. More masculine and you’re in a show. Are they going to consider that to be you are dressing in the some a clothing of a gender other than your assigned birth? You know it’s it’s just, you know, and and we’re we should be used to these things by now because I mean it’s it’s. I’m not gonna say it started with Trump because it obviously didn’t, but it, you know, the last four years they’ve gotten especially ridiculous with their their language and their and their long. But yeah, it’s it’s, it is wild.
Our dog’s. Being very bad right now. OK. So our little dog is being super bad. All our animals like these animals are smarter than they lead on because they just like, oh, are you trying to do something or are you trying to do a thing that, like, requires some kind of like concentration and quiet? So now it’s time for me to get all my big feelings.
Getting rowdy, we’re getting rowdy.
They’re the worst.
And then Henry just, I don’t know. Is this a cat thing? They every time they know they’re being bad. And and you start to say. Stop doing that. They stop and start grooming. Like who? Me couldn’t possibly be.
Oh my God this. This little cat. I love, I love them, but they are. Awful real bad. They’re real bad. Love them, but they’re real bad. So yeah, we’re talking about how. The United States is kind of becoming a hellscape. Drag is like you cannot be a assigned male at birth and wear a a dress and sing a song in the state of Tennessee anymore. And like I said, the the the really interesting bit is that. Keep reading from the CNN article ahead of the bill signing. Lee the governor faced accusations of hypocrisy after an unidentified Reddit user posted a photo from 1977 high school. His 1977 high school yearbook, which purports to show the future governor dressed in women’s clothing and a wig. Alongside female students dressed in men’s suits, we had this when I was in high school because I’m old enough and.
No, everybody’s high school, everybody.
Ohh y’all had that too. It’s power, power, power, whatever.
Everybody’s high school. Has the. Oh, no, I was. Just gonna say dude dressed and dressed.
Oh, it’s like. Oh, I was gonna say the girls played football and then the guys were cheerleaders or whatever. That’s why I assume I saw this picture. It’s it. But like that’s why I assumed it’s from. But no, he like, like I said earlier, he responded to that. Oh, that was that’s. But that’s different though. Just like you know, normal scumbag behavior. But like you said, you don’t know what to do and then I have to repeat what I’ve said. I’ve said many a time on this on this show is that you know, we have to embrace the struggle. The struggle is going to go on after we’re dead. But take heart, knowing that when they start doing stuff like this. What they have been doing, they’re losing. They’re like the reactionaries are losing. This is the safest time in human history. A new world? A new.
I just feel like. They’ve said that in the Vimar Republic too.
World is struggling to be born. No, I don’t think so. No, I don’t. I know. I I’ve watched them. To be honest, I’ve watched documentaries about the Vimar Republic and people were way. I know what you’re saying and I I think it’s a good analogy, but people were way more apathetic because they had just come off of World War One where Germany took a Big L.
I forgot that and that was. Yeah, that. Was OK. Fair so yeah. OK, that’s something. It’s not as bad as the vimar public yet, OK?
No, it’s not. It’s not. But like these are. These are definitely things to be aware of. So when I say like we do live in the safest time in human history, that doesn’t mean like people are not gonna. There’s not stochastic terrorism. People aren’t going to be killed and hurt by these reactionaries, and people’s lives aren’t going to be ruined. But. And you take a step back and you look at, you know, the macro picture of time. We are winning. We will win. Culture never locks in the conservative the idea of a conservative movement is the idea on its face is dead on arrival because you cannot conserve culture. Culture will change. It’s going to change the things that conservatives enjoy now were the, you know. 100 years ago liberal positions and we keep backing them into more and more. Well, we can’t come right out and hate. You know queer people, so we’ve got to do this indie. Around again and. And make up lies about how drag they’re all groomers and how drag story hour is is grooming your children.
And let’s not get it twisted. This is not specifically, this is obviously about LGBTQ people and and targeting them, but it is not just about targeting LGBTQ people. They’re targeting the idea of satirizing a a social norm, a gender, you know, a gender norm is a social construct. And drag is, you know its whole purpose is to satirize, you know, the expression of that social construct. And so. The idea that we’re banning that it’s like, OK, well, what other social constructs are we not going to be able to talk about? And we’re not gonna be able to laugh about and right next. And that’s, you know, I like to think anybody listening to this show, you know, cares about the fact that they’re targeting LGBTQ people anyway. But I do think that there’s a lot of people. Who would be apathetic to the idea of banning a drag show? Because maybe they don’t go to them, they’re just they don’t know what’s in a drag flow, but kind of if you’re talking to someone like that, it’s it’s not about the show itself, it’s about the satirization of a social norm, and it’s about. Not wanting to make fun of things that are are conservative, I mean, you know, you know, typical gender norms are, you know, the gender by an area that’s a very conservative idea. And so it’s it’s about not moving forward with with changing societal ideas and expectations, you know. It’s it’s they want to go back to the 50s with all of the nonsense and terribleness. And I think that message could possibly, you know, sway some people who maybe are a little bit more apathetic. To drag just because they don’t understand.
Not even. Yeah, I wouldn’t even say sway them. I would say the apathy is kind of the, you know, in a place like Tennessee, like, let’s be real. Like outside of Nashville and maybe Memphis, people are going to be like, say what? Well, that doesn’t affect me and I don’t care. So I don’t. I don’t. It sounds great to me. UM. But they’re like, just to hammer home the point. There’s definitely like two ways to look at it. Like look at this. The one way is when you talk about, you know, mainstream culture that. Western Society is moving backwards. Just in our lifetimes, we’ve had these are mainstream things. These aren’t even. These aren’t even. Like fringe things, we’ve had movies like too Wong Foo. Thanks for everything. RuPaul’s Drag Race is like a mainstream thing.
Let’s talk about Mrs. Doubtfire’s track.
It’s a. It’s a man in a dress. Right, I know, but. Yeah, it’s a crazy. Like, I’m not talking about, like, we’re gonna. We’re gonna have some kind of a college. You know, we’re not going to sit here and and and sit in a classroom and tear Mrs. Doubtfire apart. It’s a stupid movie, but the point is it was a movie. People took their kids to see. My parents took me to see and it was about a man. Wearing a dress. Not even doing drag actually like pretending to be a woman for like the worst reasons.
Literally a a man. Wearing a dress. Who is using? Pretending to be a woman to target and harass a woman which is like everything that they’re worried about happening now and yet. And yet it was just good old fun.
So you can look at that as Western, as Western culture regressing. I’m choosing and this is from the cynical guy like I am not that glass. Half full guy. I’m the cynical guy for sure, but I look at this as. This is the best they have, like they are drowning in a sea of acceptance and change and they are grasping for any land they can. And this is the best they’ve come up with. In the long arc of history. This is not. This is gonna look at. This is gonna not even the long. Five years from now, this is going to be on some kind of CNN. Remember the the twenty 20s. And everybody’s gonna go, that was.
Honestly, the the fact that most older Republican men know what a drag. Show is at. This point means that drag has truly come into the mainstream.
Thank you.
We actually talking. About this, this weekend is one of our favorite documentaries that we watched when we just started dating was small town gay bar and it was about. A bar in a small southern town that was very tucked away kind of word of mouth. And it was where people in the queer community could congregate. And it was it was, you know, one of the only places where they could. Other queer people, and where they could openly be themselves, and it was a really great documentary, definitely recommend it. But you know, even in smaller towns there is more, you know. People know of a gay person. Now you know back, back when that was filmed, people wouldn’t be, wouldn’t feel ever able to come out to their families. And while there’s still a lot. Of people who don’t. Feel able to do that to come out to their families. You know, there are still a lot of people who do, even in conservative town. So we really have moved very far. I really have to keep reminding myself of that just because it is very easy to get down and not to say that you know you’re not allowed to have negative feelings about what’s going on and not allowed to be sad and grieve. But I know for me if if I start feeling so negatively, it starts to feel like there’s nothing I can do, so why try? And so it is very important to to acknowledge our progress and to acknowledge all of the people who made that progress happen and all of the people who are still battling apathy in order to make progress happen now and all. The people all the. Wonderful humans in Tennessee who I know are going to push back on this. Whether it’s not going to be the majority of the state. Unfortunately, but I know that there are going to. Be some very fierce, fierce defenders of the queer community, both the community themselves and allies. And honestly, this is a meme I just saw. I’m like, I really am getting old. I go on Facebook, just look at memes now. Like but it said if you if you harass my transgendered buddies my I’m going to start identifying as a problem spicy. Is that the? Only good. I identify joke. Identify as joke.
It’s pretty good.
And then there was another one. It was like, hey, if you like you harm the queer community, my pronouns are gonna be your pronouns are gonna be, was, and were. I’m terrible at. I like explaining memes into a podcast. This is truly the most millennial I’ve ever been in my life.
All right. It’s all right, Mama.
But but I just. Yeah, I think humor is appropriate. I think. Do whatever you need to do to feel. To feel the hope that you need to keep moving on in this fight because it is like this is truly scary stuff, and the fact that it’s being enacted by the world’s. Stupid people is like it’s not making me feel good, just the. State of democracy, you.
Yeah, like and again, just realize that you’re we are all fighting battles that we’ve already won. But the battle still has to be fought. Like we have to fight, we have to. Fight these people and tooth and nail. To make sure as. Few people are hurt. By rack, Sherry politics is possible, but realize it’s over. Like we we we’ve already won.
Like culturally, it’s over. You know, does this state agree? So we’re not fighting the culture anymore. We’re we’re fighting the state, we’re fighting people who?
These conversations I really do. And to put my, you know, kind of conspiratorial hair on these conversations have already been had obviously to put bills like this forward in Republican think tanks in circles because they know they they know it’s over. So the only the only hope is is to try to. Is to try to take the minority that they do have and Lord over the majority of what people want through legislation like this. That’s that’s all they have. That’s all they have left. That’s why. That’s why the Republican Party has to gerrymander districts cause they can’t win.
Well, yeah, see, The thing is like the thing. Is that they are gerrymandering, though, so it’s we can’t just say they, oh, they’re not. They’re not winning because they have to do XYZ, but it’s like OK, they have done XYZ so they could continue to win.
I know. I guess what I’m saying is they’re doing that because. They’re losing, no.
I understand that, but it’s we can’t use that as a.
I don’t know. That we should use that as a metric just because it’s easy to get complacent and, you know, we’re looking at a potential Trump de Santis 2024. So I’m not, I’m not like.
Trump’s gonna Trump’s gonna win. That I don’t even think.
You know, they’re just they’re just. Like they’re just literally calling each other pedophiles, and they both like, well, OK, allegedly.
I don’t even think this. I don’t even think the Saints. I don’t even think the. Saints is going to declare.
Allegedly, Trump is a pedophile.
Allegedly. Allegedly.
I’m I’m I. Don’t know. I don’t know anything about DeSantis, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a pedophile.
I don’t even think De Santis is going. To declare you.
Don’t think so.
Did you did you read the other day? So he had De Santis had a rally thing and some? I don’t know. In some county, in Florida, and people showed up in Trump gear and he had them physically removed.
Oh, I love that for everybody.
So, uh, what? Like it’s over. Like that’s it, because now a million people are going to come. To every one of his things.
That is true.
And it’s going to look awful.
That is true. So even better, we are looking at.
A Trump, Trump, Trump, Biden.
From Tom Cotton and then Trump is going to mysteriously have a heart attack while eating his seventh Big Mac of the day.
Oh, God, that’s just.
And we’re going to have a Tom Cotton presidency. So love that for us. Anyway, I’m just a ball of sunshine. I just sometimes I think that I have a pretty balanced about my views of the world and that I’m like, I feel like I’m pretty realistic about things. And then I’ll say something so wildly dark and pessimistic that I’m, like, maybe being in crisis domestic violence. And working out of jail for the last eight years has actually. Maybe colored my views on the world more than I anticipated.
Yeah, that’ll do it. No, that that will definitely do it. That’ll that’s that’s what the kids call a big downer.
That’s a downer.
It’s a big Debbie downer.
Yeah, it’s an. L It’s an L.
Yeah, you’re just eating elves.
Eating elves.
Eating them.
Like BFR, that’s trauma.
I’ve never heard that before.
Oh, I can’t because it’s going. To be it’s B. Asleep for real? OK, it’s my new favorite Gen.
I just got on period I period a like last week.
I don’t know if that’s still doing that, but that. Is really funny.
I just got on him. Yeah. So I don’t know. I’m old. I’m. I’m not old. I think I’m the oldest person on TikTok.
I can’t can’t judge. No, there’s some much older men and.
It was like.
They have all messaged me. Yeah, I get messages from people named Sugar Daddy M12. So how I don’t.
Know on TikTok.
Tick tock.
How you don’t even this is the first I’ve. Heard of this? You even?
Why don’t you ask China? I don’t know.
You don’t even have like content.
No, I do. I do have a couple of things. I’ve been tagged in. Because my friend, my high school friend likes to make tick tocks when we get together in the summer.
So I have like 3 tick tocks I’m tagged in, they have like 5 views apiece. Apparently one of those 5 views was Sugar Daddy Mike. And he liked what he saw. And he would like to support my lifestyle.
I was gonna say, what are they talking about in the PG13 version?
They said you’re so beautiful. I would like to get to know. You yeah. And they usually put like a dollar sign.
It ain’t trickin if you got it.
They don’t got it so. That’s that’s the. Thing, that’s the thing. There’s, like, established routes to go. If you want an actual sugar daddy or sugar baby. And it’s not TikTok, but certainly not.
My God. What is doing? What is going on?
Cause like I’m not above letting a generous older gentleman fund my lifestyle, but that gentleman is not going to.
Right.
Find me via TikTok.
That’s rough. This is for this is. Ooh, you learn something new every day. Good morning, comrade.
So if you thought my voice was hot. The rest of you is hot. Too hot enough that.
Yeah, I I would agree.
No, it’s probably a Nigerian scammer.
That’s like a reverse scam? How does that work?
Because they’ll say.
I want to send you this is because this is another message I’ve gotten. They want to send you a check for $500.00 for you to go get your nails done and a massage. And then. But they have to do it via. Vanilla card.
Yeah, of course.
What are?
Because that’s how everybody.
Those those prepaid spending cards.
That’s how everybody transfers money. In 2023.
So either you’re gonna get scanned of money, or you’re gonna help someone launder money. So either way, no thank you.
Dang, tick talking wild.
So it did that did check my ego a little bit. I’m not going to lie to you. I was like, oh, this isn’t actually a generous older man wanting to fund my lifestyle because my beauty is just so overwhelming. It is a person who thinks I might be dumb.
You could be on, like, 90 day fiance. You could be that Lady.
Oh, I would be so good on that show.
Just be like meeting some guy from the. Dr. the. Dominican Republic and be like, oh, he totally loves me. Now for the good. We’ve do station ID’s, we listen to one of 2.3 W HIV. FM New Orleans and we love you.
And all wars.
That was end all wars. Oh, that was the wtix thing. And we love you, which is very creepy. Yeah, if you’re driving.
Hey, sorry. They’re just trying to spread. A little love in the world.
I know, but drive if you’re driving through the east at like. 2:00 AM and it’s just listening to the oldies and then it’s WTX New Orleans and we love it’s. And there’s just a a pile of burning tires and it just looks like. Bartertown on the.
You sound like you live in Metairie.
No, because they would never. They cause I think bartertown’s cool for Mad Max beyond Thunderdome.
So that was actually a compliment.
I’m cool.
Yeah, he’s like, no, that was a good thing.
I’m cool with that.
But what is your good?
OK, so I got a letter in the mail and I’m going to read it to you. And you hear.
This is the official letter.
Hear the paper crumple. It’s like this is an official show. Dear Robert Johnson, we are sending you. We are sending you this letter to share the good news that on behalf of a national donor, you no longer owe the above referenced medical debts. It was almost $1200. To auctioneer. Because of our national 5013 C nonprofit, RIP Medical debt bought and abolished the debt. This active medical debt relief was provided by. Li can’t Al Ed Allendale. I’m going to go with Allendale, a public. What’s that?
And then I think that’s beer.
Nah, it says a public benefit corporation. I mean, beer is a public benefit. I mean, what? What is that now? You got me interested. Now you got me interested. What is the ale?
What is it lol?
Yeah, let’s take a look. Value based care. Else what is this? It’s like a primary care.
It’s. Oh God.
I don’t know. It’s the position LED accountable care organization. What is that, Aaron, you are.
With primary care for primary care, you know what this is going to be, someone that I’m going to have to work with at some point and I’m going to be annoyed about it more than.
Likely, but honestly, we’re why are we trashing them?
I bet.
They bought.
Your medical debt. Yeah, I know. So I don’t know.
Just don’t look.
I just. I’m not. I don’t even know them too.
I’m sorry. That was just like.
I’m just like I was.
Corporate speak like that, just like truly triggers me to. Before I became. A social worker. So. It just really. I just assumed nothing good will come of it.
So we’re we’re we’re on all Dale to learn more, please visit alladale.com/louisiana. Our abolishment of this medical debt is a no strings attached gift. You no longer have any obligation to pay this debt to anyone at any future time because it has been cancelled as a gift of our 5013 C charity. You do not earn any income or owe any taxes on this cancellation of. Debt, we have enclosed FAQ.
Blah blah blah.
Blah blah. Here’s the FAQ. Of what happened here? I think the FAQ is very who is RIP medical debt? We are a nonprofit national charity. That fund that raises funds from donors and uses those funds to acquire and abolish medical debt. Our IRS number is blah blah blah blah blah our. Since our founding in 2014, as medical Debt Resolution Inc, we have abolished over 8.5 million of medical debt. Helping nearly 5.5 million people. Are there strings attached? No rest assured, the debt reference in the letter is no longer owed and you do not have to take any action. Why are you doing this? Probably the most important part. Medical debt often results from unplanned, unexpected illness and accidents. About 1/3 of US adults have difficulty covering unexpected mental health care bills. Medical debt also is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US in many areas and for many reasons. Patient balances after insurance have been growing and many people remain uninsured. We are doing this to relieve. People of the burden of medical debt to enhance their economic opportunities and to enable them to leave to lead healthier, happier lives. Now paper crumple. Again, this is my rush, Landon. He always. Paper I used to hate. Listen to. Rush Limbaugh all the time.
Why did you listen to Rush Limbaugh?
I hate. I used to hate listen anytime like.
Oh, I thought you said hated listening. To it’s like you did someone make you?
No, I would listen to him anytime. Something like when Obama like, won twice like I was like Rush Limbaugh. Let’s go. Yeah, because you know, he’s gonna lose. His mind. Yeah, you know, so it’s like stuff like that, but. OK, so my first thought is since you were talking about Sugar Daddy scams, I was like, this is obviously a scam. What is this? So I did a little deep digging and no, it is not a scam. It’s 100% real. It was started by two guys who were actually. Debt collectors, they they were executives at some like debt collecting thing. On Wall Street, across from Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street happened. They go down there and just hang out and be like what’s going on. And then they find they people found out who they were. And then they’re like, hey, we’ve got an idea. And they started this, like, rolling jubilee of really of buying people’s medical debt. And then we’re leaving it. And honestly. OK so my thing is this. That that thousand, that $1000, almost 1200 bucks was from a CPAP machine that I own. I paid the what do you call it? The copay or? Whatever. So I paid the copay which was $500.00 off of my and I I have a good job. I have insurance. Thank God all these things like. I’m an atheist, but I thank God every day that I’ve I’ve made it to this point in my life where I, you know, I have these things, but. It’s absurd because Aaron can testify. My snoring has been so loud since I was 20 and I would stop breathing at night and wake up in the middle of the night and I could pass out anywhere because I was so tired all the time and. I was just dying, you know, like. And she made me. She’s like you have to go get this checked out. They’re like you have sleep apnea. You could die at any moment. So, and we have to run a bunch of tests and then then you have to pay $2000.00 for a machine that’s going to keep you alive and make sure you don’t stop breathing in the. Middle of night. Which seems like. It’s not even seen. Let let let me scratch seem out of there that it’s the most perverse, disgusting, sick thing ever. When you tell someone you know as a doctor, you’re telling somebody how important a piece of equipment is and how, Oh my God, thank God we got to you when you did and. By the way, we need 2K before this that we can give you this thing that’s so in. And it’s I paid for the $500.00 copay and I was like, gotcha. I was like, gotcha auctioneer because you’re never seeing the rest of this. I’m like, you’re not. They would send me bills and I would just throw them in the garbage cause I’m like, no, I’m not. I’m not paying. For this like this is crazy.
I have. I just gotta build just because it was been a few months ago now, but I got a bill for like $1200 when I got a new IUD and I was like, I thought this was covered under the ACA, and sure the actual IUD was covered, but not the removal of my previous IUD. And I said, well, I’m just not paying that.
Get out of here.
So you know, it’s not not paying it.
I’m. I’m sitting here at work and I’m like researching. I’m researching this 5013 C and for a guy like me, who I’ve Erin, can attest. I’ve literally said, you know, the words have come out of my mouth. I don’t have emotions. I started to tear up, and it wasn’t because. Like, I wasn’t gonna pay. That actually was never gonna see that money. Bill collectors were never gonna see. I wasn’t gonna pay it. I wasn’t worried about. It but. It got me to think about all the people who were just crushed. Lives ruined, completely bankrupt because they have, you know, they’ve got a long term cancer, somebody in their family needs, you know, long term care and they’re just crushed under medical debt that they’re and that they’ve been helped by this and. Literally have their life change by this, like rolling jubilee of people like ourselves who give money to this organization that buys up people’s debts for pennies on the dollar and just. Tears them up.
Also I want to I want to say sorry to all jail because I was very snarky to you and I just looked up what you do and. A good job.
We’re just making all the friends out of here.
I, but I do really think you should change some of the wording on your website because you sound like an insurance. But they’re actually what’s called an accountability management. It’s here, it’s it’s an accountable care organization. So what that is is essentially they function. So basically how this insurance companies pressure doctors and like other medical places to. To do the most inexpensive things possible, and and that’s a really terrible thing cuz it comes at the cost of patient care, accountable management organizations. Are they essential? Are advocating for the consumers, so it’s generally and it’s generally for. If you start want to start an independent private practice. Usually it’s really, really hard because you have to have relationships with those insurance, so you’ll send like it’s just really difficult. So if you do end up wanting to do that, you can enjoin in accountable management. Organization and they’ll help you hook you up and figure out how to give the best care for clients. It gets rid of a lot of Medicare waste, a lot of Medicaid waste, which is often. The for profit insurance companies are doing and it’s just it’s a good thing. So sorry everybody.
Nice, but like I was telling Aaron as a joke. Like, yeah, I’m an atheist. Like, I don’t believe in a buy and buy. But I was like if somebody was to knock on my door and proselytize to me right now, like, this is this would be the time I’m most open to it because I just kept thinking in my head up, just like a God of the Old Testament. It’s like I sent you, Bernie Sanders. I sent you another. I sent you another Jewish prophet. That you refuse to listen to. So now I’ve got to work around this.
Which I think is so dramatic. But like when he said that the other day I was like, OK, I know we’re, we’re both sad about Bernie losing, but let’s not.
Oh, it’s fine. I’m. It’s fine but. No, it’s just that something like this exists, and this has been existing for, you know, decades now or decade, decades, almost since Occupy is amazing and it just it’s perverse that it has to exist, that it does exist and it’s and it shows how badly we need. Medicare for all, like yesterday for because. The way I describe it to people who are like, oh, I don’t want that, you know, they’re going. It’s like we’re getting taxed as American citizens out the wazoo right now. And we’re receiving little. To know return our social services are inept at being the most, the most generous assessment is they’re inept. So if we’re going to be taxed, if you know if they’re going to take money out of my check, like, let me get some of that back. So I don’t have to worry about can I cough up. 2 racks. To make sure I don’t die in the middle. Right. It just, it just feels like in the richest country to ever exist. This is a perverse situation.
And this was actually the same, same organization that was featured on John Oliver, if you remember, I think that was a few years ago, they did this.
Yeah, it was like 3 or 4.
They yeah, they they did this. And John Oliver, the show donated a bunch of money, bought a bunch of debt and forgave it all and. I think part of, I mean he’s he’s he seems like a good egg, but I think he was especially upset about the idea of medical debt just coming from the NHS in England. He is British. If you don’t know who John Oliver is in England does have, you know, a government run National Health care system.
Which is actually socialized medicine, like Medicare for all like. It’s not even that. It’s not even the NHS. So I’m just saying this. I’m interrupting this. So if anybody, you know, cause you’ve got that next level of reactionary who who knows a little something. So if they ever try to come at you with like, oh, the NHS is in shambles or the NHS, you know doesn’t work, right, well, the NHS is not Medicare for all. We’re not talking about an act like auction or Turo. Being run by the government, it’s just the government. I mean, it’s just auction or Turo. Your local doctor sends that check. Bill to Uncle Sam to to dark Brandon instead of you. That’s the only difference.
They’re already doing for people who are on Medicaid. And so it’s not like a new model, it would just be including more people in the model that already exists.
The best, the best healthcare I ever and I have. You know, I have decent insurance now through my employer, which is an all another a just atrocity. It’s it’s surreal. It’s 1984, George Orwin. That we that we even have. The best health insurance I ever got. Was through Medicaid like when I when I I didn’t have a job. Until I got another one I got on. Absolutely the best insurance I’ve ever.
Had you know?
Like the my prescriptions were doggone near free. I well, I started seeing a therapist then because I didn’t have to pay a copay. It was it like Medicaid, literally I, I mean this might be a little too. It was definitely life changing. It could have even.
Saved my life. I would agree with that. And just to just to as an example of how petty insurance companies are, I had a client who had disability. I think it was like $1100 and he made just too much with this ability that he didn’t also qualify for Medicaid. So he had Medicare, but not Medicaid, so he still had to had to co-pay for prescriptions. And he also had a pretty serious drug addiction and so didn’t generally have a lot of money at the end of. Month and would just like not be able to afford his $4 heart medication. And so like, I would just end up buying them a lot of times like what am I gonna do?
$4 dude.
Have him have a heart attack cuz he couldn’t pay for four $4.00, but it’s like and I think he was. Covered by like United. Or something. So it’s like it’s so absurd. It’s like. They’re just nickel and diming the poorest people and.
Yeah. So that’s why I want to, you know, yeah, no, 100%. So that’s funny. You say that about United?
Preaching the choir. But my God, it’s bad.
So I here in new here in New Orleans, I had united is in Louisiana, United is the one that does our Medicaid.
So there’s actually multiple Medicaid providers. So there’s United Healthcare, there’s healthy blue, there’s Louisiana healthcare connections, Aetna and Humana.
So we have five different providers that. So basically, all of the Medicaid money gets funneled into those into those insurance companies, and they have a specific plan for Medicaid. And if you are on Medicaid, I believe you’re allowed to change providers once a year. And if you’re on Medicare, I believe you can change once 1/4.
So I had united Medicaid, so I didn’t know that was a thing. So I got a job working for the city, and now I also united, does the insurance for the city so. The thing is, when I will call for a specialist and I’ll call a specialist and they’ll be like what insurance do you have? And I’ll I’ll say united and immediately they’ll be like, well, we don’t and I’ll be like, I work for the City of New Orleans, and you can hear their tone change and they go. OK. Because they’re so ready to be like, Nope, no, not doing Medicaid, but it’s and. And I’m. I want to be like. You dirty dog like. The Medicaid that you’re pooling is was better than the insurance.
And the reason so the.
I have now.
Reason why they don’t want because it’s like. OK, insurance is insurance is insurance and it’s because the government refuses to pay some of the prices that the insurance companies will pay. And it’s if you’ve ever gotten a hospital bill where they charged you $500.00 for two aspirin, which is real and not uncommon, the government just says no.
Yeah, that happens every day that happening random.
So that’s the reason why these insurance companies.
That’s awesome.
Because, like why they don’t? Why they’re lobbying against. A Medicaid, because you would, you would think, OK, if everybody has insurance that’s more clients for these insurance companies, but they don’t want that because they it it’s less profit for them and the hospitals don’t want that because hospitals are generally not nonprofits, we’re lucky in.
Plus profit.
In this state that you know, or at least in New Orleans, that most of the hospitals around here are nonprofits, but. You know that’s not the case in a lot of places in the country. And so the hospital, hospital administrators don’t want, I almost said hospital staff. And I’m like, no those nurses. They would give you. That aspirin for free, if they could. But the hospital administration want to be able to charge, you know, whatever, and part of that is because they have to pay such high salaries. To the doctors because the doctors all have like $400,000 in education, debt and so on and so forth. And so you. A lot like as we were talking about earlier in the show, like part of the reason why a solution like Medicaid for all or Medicare for all is so abhorrent to so many people is because it’s going to, it’s going to be like. The first domino and a domino effect of showing how inflated so many costs are and how few people are benefiting from that money.
Yes, yes. And that’s why that’s why they fought so hard against Obamacare, which was just Romneycare, because once you get that wedge. In there it goes back to this all loops back to their previous conversation. Once you get that wedge in there and you show people no, this is how things should.
Be yeah. So for instance, if you have Medicaid, at least in Louisiana, they’ll pay for your cancer treatment like they’ll pay for your cancer treatment.
Then you know there’s no. Going back, you know, watching window.
There’s not gonna. There’s not a question if you’re gonna. Get chemo or not? But private insurance companies, if you meet your maximum benefit amount. She might not get. Chemo so it’s. Like the hospitals, wanna keep charging insane prices? The insurance companies want to still make that profit, but part of the way they make that profit is by being able to deny you from certain procedures. Like there’s zero reason why your CPAP had to cost $1500.
That’s insane. That’s absolutely insane.
Yeah, like, I actually just go sleep at myself because we’re both old and can’t breathe properly. If you are wondering why I sound a little more chipper cuz I’m actually sleeping like fantastic, highly recommend. And I’m I went through and this is this is honestly like, so dystopian. I went through a startup, an Internet startup, to get my CPAP.
That’s so gross.
I logged, I said how to get, cuz I tried to sign up for a sleep, study through oschner and the first available appointment wasn’t until April and this was back in. Back in November of last year, I was going to just have to wait, but it was getting so bad that I was forgetting English like I just could not remember words my cognition.
And what’s one of the main things about they tell you about, oh, we can’t do socialized medicine cause there’s gonna be waitlists.
Show that.
I have insurance through my employer. Now you’re telling me I am going to die. But can you just please not do it for like 4 months till we can?
Get you in? Yeah, yeah. So I have a private insurance as well and I was content to just wait, but yeah, like I said it was. It was getting bad. So I I googled how sleep studies New Orleans and app came up. I basically filled out a survey. They got me connected with a Doctor Who was like, yeah, you should probably get a sleep study. They ordered the sleep study. They mailed it to me. I wore it at night. Transmitted all the data via the app and then they were like, yeah, you’re like not breathing. Apparently I was getting 6% of the REM sleep.
I was supposed to.
Get and sleep. So basically REM sleep is where you repair your cognition, so that’s where you kind of like sort and process all the information you got during the day and then deep sleep is where your body. The parents itself. So I was getting enough deep sleep, but I wasn’t getting any REM. And for you know, people who don’t know that much about insomnia. Basically, when you have insomnia, your body goes from light sleep where are not really. It’s kind of like that period before you get to the other part. You go from light sleep to deep sleep because your body is in survival mode. You need your body more than your smarts in order to survive. So it goes to. You repair your body, so you might not wake up feeling sick, but you’re not. Be able to remember anything like I was at work just like it was. It was perfect. It was affecting my job. Performance honestly, which is why I looked for the sleep study and yeah, so they sent me the device, got it back. I have it. I’m paying. I financed my CPAP. So yeah, we’re doing great as a society, but it’s. So yeah, so. It’s just like. You should be listening to good morning, comrades. If you’re not pro single payer healthcare, but.
Yeah, absolutely. But we’re running out of time, but I I invite everybody to check out ripmedicaldebt.org, see what they’re about. Just on their web page, big splash screen just. I’ll just read it to you just as it says, abolish medical debt at pennies on the dollar every $100 you donate relieves $10,000 in medical debt. Who I mean. The amount of people that that, this, that this nonprofit is helping. In this six sad world is. I I really can’t understate how awesome they are, so thank you for helping me. And we’ll see you guys next time I love. You, babe. I cut it off. You’re not on there. You can’t. Tell me you love me back.
But anyway, yeah. But So what? They’re giving themselves cover to be able to say, well, no, we’re not anti trans. Are you saying that all trans people are going to be having body shows are going to be having
Good Morning Comrade 