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ladyjaneasher-blog · 8 years ago

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Wait I'm sorry for being misinformed, but the info about Paul calling Yoko a jap tart is not true? From what i read he sent a letter to john (i think) saying this. So it's not true? (because thank god if it's not true)

it’s okay, anon. let me reiterate:

the full message – if you believe francie, that is – was “you and your jap tart think you’re hot shit” and the full quote reads:

“John obviously loved Paul enough to let him run wild if it would help ease the tension Paul was creating in the studio and at home. Yoko could see it too.

But Paul was treating them like shit too. He even sent them a hate letter once, unsigned, typed. I brought it in with the morning mail. Paul put most of his fan mail in a big basket and let it sit for weeks, but John and Yoko opened every piece. When they go to the anonymous note, they looked puzzled, looking at each other with genuine pain in their eyes.

‘You and your Jap tart think you’re hot shit’, it said. John put it on the mantle, and in the afternoon, Paul hopped in, prancing much the same self-conscious way he did when we met.

‘Oh I just did that for a lark…’ he said in his most sugar-coated accent.

It was embarrassing. The three of us swiveled around, staring at him. You could see the pain in John. Yoko simply rose above it, feeling only sympathy for John. I was sad to see the Lennons go, even though it took the pressure off of Paul.”

putting aside that you can already read the clear bias between the lines, sometimes in other retellings of the story, it’s said to be a postcard and other times it’s a typewritten message left in an envelope. the discrepancies here alone should tell you something.

now, where does the claim come from? it comes from an ex-girlfriend of paul’s from the late 60s, who he has parted not on the best terms with: francie schwartz. francie wrote a book about her relationship with paul where francie claims that while john and yoko stayed at cavendish, they received a note saying “you and your jap tart think you’re hot shit”.

why is it bullshit? i have several points to make:

francie schwartz is one of the most unreliable sources in beatles history. ask any beatles researcher worth their salt on their opinion about francie and her book. what’s more important in this particular case: she relies almost exclusively on sensational claims to make her book body count (1972) more palatable and exciting to a general and broad public instead of actual proof. other such claims include paul having been sent love letters from brian; a claim just as insubstantial and without any actual tangible proof.

first off, to get a more personal picture of francie during the time she wrote and published her book you have to ackowledge her agenda as the scorned ex-lover as is evidenced by the book itself as it displays a great deal of vindictiveness towards paul. read body count and you’ll know what i mean. it’s absolutely vile in places.

second, the book was published in 1972 – when paul’s critical reputation was possibly at one of its lowest points – and it was published by none other than jann wenner’s rolling stone press, which very obviously chose john’s side in the john versus paul breakup era split and which back in the day had a lot of sway in the music industry. the magazine wasn’t yet the joke it was to become. something else that is interesting and slightly related: jann wenner. paul’s critical acclaim wasn’t at it lowest point because mccartney (the album) was years ahead in its day and the press just didn’t get it, but because wenner directly influenced his reviewers to slam paul for – as wenner saw it – breaking up the beatles. here’s the relevant quote:

“When I became record reviews editor, I made it clear to him after a few months — nobody had done the job before me — that the record review section was an independent republic within the country of Rolling Stone. That meant that nobody else could tell me what to review or what a writer could say. They could argue with me, but ultimately it was my decision. And that worked well. There was one incident where Paul McCartney makes his first solo record and people thought it was wonderful: this rough, homemade one-man-band album. It was accompanied by a press release, a self-interview, about why he no longer needed the Beatles and how little he thought of them … this real obnoxious statement, you know? I assigned it to a friend of mine, Langdon Winner, and Jann saw the piece and said: “We can’t run it this way — he’s just reviewing it as if it’s this nice little record. It’s not just a nice little record, it’s a statement and it’s taking place in a context that we know: it’s one person breaking up the band. This is what needs to be talked about.” I said I didn’t agree and “in any case it’s up to Langdon to say what he wants to say.” Jann said, “We have to talk about this.” So we went to dinner that night and spent three fucking hours arguing about this record review. Finally he convinced me. So I went over to Langdon’s and sat down with him and spent three more hours arguing with him until I convinced him! Now to me this was the essence of great editing, of how you put out a publication that is utterly honest. All that time spent over one 750 word review! And it was worth it.”

—Greil Marcus in conversation with Simon Reynolds,

Los Angeles Review of Books

there are other instances where wenner displays his clear bias against paul, which was especially rampant in the time where paul was hailed as the talentless and flighty hack who did nothing more than book the studio for the beatles and john as the deeply misunderstood true lyrical and musical genius behind the beatles. a narrative that was formed then and persists to this day.

third, a number of writers – including, disappointingly, doggett and carlin – have recounted the “jap tart” episode from paul to john and yoko as fact, but it’s NOT. it’s the unverified retrospective eyewitness testimony years after it happened of a very much biased, secondhand source. we’ve never seen evidence from anyone else that this event occurred. no picture, no copy, nothing. just like any other event francie “remembers”, if i might add. and since other private notes and copies from letters and even journals exist from other and more deeply involved with the beatles people, it is suspicious.

even during “lennon remembers” – also done with involvement from wenner – john himself admits that his examples of the others treating yoko badly in the studio or elsewhere come off as him being paranoid. if he had indeed a clear and very much damning example, such as this “jap tart” postcard or typewritten message or handwritten note, why didn’t he bring it up? or, more glaringly, yoko herself? when discussing why she and john left cavendish in philip norman’s paul bio, she doesn’t mention this incident at all. why didn’t either of them ever bring up this incident in all the years after it supposedly occurred?

it’s also important to point out that the narrative that paul was an absolute and continuous horror to john and yoko during the let it be era is just that: a narrative. let’s see what yoko has to say:

“After the initial embarrassment, then – um, now Paul is being very nice to me. He’s nice, and a – a very, um, str– on the level, straight sense. Like, um, whenever there’s something happening at Apple, he explains to me, as if I should know, [inaudible] and things like that. And also whenever there’s something like they need a light man or something like that, he asks me if I know of anybody in the art world, and things like that.

And like, um, I can see that he’s just now suddenly changing his attitude, like he’s being – he’s treating me with respect. Not because it’s me – but because I belong to John. I hope that’s what it is, because that would be nice. And I feel like he’s my younger brother or something like that. I’m sure that if he had been a woman or something, he would have been a great threat – because there’s something definitely very strong between John and Paul.

And, um – and probably among those three people of George and Ringo and Paul, Paul is the only one that I can sort of feel the vibration [from]. Like, sort of sense it, you know, that something is among that. ‘Cause Ringo and George, I just can’t communicate. I mean, I’m sure that George and – I’m really sure that they’re both very nice people, but that’s not the point… I think that’s because being, uh, [because of John, Paul, and me] being air signs, like Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius.”

[x]

another point is the nature of the source itself: francie didn’t – at least as far as we know – write any of these instances down, be it in her diary, or even in a letter to her mother, with whom she stayed in contact during that time. all of which would have made the claim more credible, as those would have been never intended for public view and subsequent consumption as her book was.

she wrote them in her memoir, something she wanted people to buy, and there has been discussion that wenner encouraged her to promote the “sex and dissension” between paul and her and paul and the beatles in her work, because that’s what would sell and ensure publicity.

lasty, i’ve seen another valid point brought up: linguistics. “hot shit” is something that is more an americanism – francie is american – than something used in the late 60s by someone of liverpool descent.

tl;dr: francie’s claim is unfounded and to this very day has zero (0) proof to it.

i’ll include another good quote about the issue under a read more should you be interested.

While Erin toils in academia with an unusually heavy workload, I thought I would share another unpublished excerpt from The Historian And The Beatles regarding this now infamous statement attributed to Paul by his erstwhile lover, Francie Schwartz:

One example of Doggett’s occasional acceptance of unverified testimony as fact is his use of Francie Schwartz’s claim that the reason Lennon and Ono left McCartney’s London house (where they were temporarily staying) in Summer 1968 is because McCartney left the couple a postcard with the words “You and Your Jap Tart Think You’re Hot Shit” on it. Schwartz, McCartney’s girlfriend at the time, is the only source for this scene, (Body Count, 220) which, Doggett argues in both You Never Give Me Your Money and in a later interview with Oomska, initiated an irreparable wedge between Lennon and McCartney.

However, neither Lennon nor Ono ever mentioned this incident, even during Lennon Remembers, in which Lennon accuses the other Beatles of seriously mistreating Ono but also acknowledges that their offered examples of mistreatment are unconvincing: “Even when it’s written down, it’ll just look like I’m paranoid.” (Lennon Remembers, 44) Given that Schwartz portrays this incident as an extremely painful moment in Lennon’s relationship with McCartney, and that it directly led to Lennon and Ono departing Cavendish, it would presumably have been, for both Lennon and Ono, a particularly memorable moment. More, describing this incident would have heavily reinforced Lennon’s Lennon Remembers interview agenda to portray himself and Ono as victims of McCartney and the other Beatles. His failure to remember and recount the incident in this particular instance casts suspicions on the accuracy of Schwartz’s account.

While Garraghan declares that “the testimony of a single witness whose competence in every respect is above suspicion may be accepted as true,” (Garraghan, A Guide to Historical Method, 244) Schwartz does not qualify as a competent witness. Her brief relationship with McCartney ended badly when he told her to move out and Schwartz quickly sold articles about her time with McCartney to Rolling Stone and later produced a book, Body Count, in which Schwartz details the postcard scene. The Beatles Bibliography (which repeatedly discredits those pro-Lennon sources promoting the “Lennon Remembers” and Shout! versions of Beatles history) describes Body Count as “a travesty of a memoir,” in part because of its “self-serving and non-reflexive tone.” In credibility terms, Schwartz’s unverified eyewitness testimony is equal to that of the Apple Scruff claiming that Lennon once attempted to hit a pregnant Linda McCartney. While both Schwartz and the Apple Scruff’s claims are generally reinforced by circumstantial evidence (Schwartz by Beatles insider Derek Taylor’s claims that McCartney was sending him anonymous but ominous postcards in that same time period, the Scruff’s by Lennon’s admitted acts of occasional violence against women) Beatles writers who recount both scenes should explain that they are unverified testimony presented by an unreliable source.

Anyone still questioning whether Francie Schwartz is being truthful about the “jap tart” comment need only consider the point which Erin makes here: that J&Y would have been been screaming about this to the press to bolster their position that the rest of the band mistreated them/Yoko, had it been true. I would also add that the vernacular–calling something or someone “hot shit”– sounds far more American than late 60’s British. I think Schwartz gave herself away with that one.

I’m shocked that Doggett didn’t come up with those same, very simple observations.

What say ye, commentators?

(source)

i’ve also incorporated a lot of the points from the beatlesbible here.

#paul mccartney #yoko ono #john lennon #francie schwartz #text: asks #p: paul mccartney #p: francie schwartz #slurs cw #Anonymous

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kirishwima · 7 years ago

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Get to know me tag!

Tagged by @teakoii

1. What is your full name? Don’t really want to give out my full name on tumblr lol, but I’m Sophia (and if we’re going for embarrassing details, I got a middle name, Marina lol)

2. What is your nickname? A lot of people call me babushka? Or just shortened versions of my name like Soph and stuff

3. What is your zodiac sign? Cancer

4. What is your favorite book series? Hmmm this is hard lol. The only series I can honestly admit to have read entirely is the Hunger Games :p

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts?

Aliens are 10010% real and probably want nothing to do with earth, LOL. Ghosts...it’d be so cool if they’re real. Highly doubt it though

6. Who is your favorite author? Neil Gaiman!! He’s amazing!

7. What is your favorite radio station? Mix fm...any cypriot reading this will know lol

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? Of anything...probably coffee taste lol. Or mint? One of the two

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Hmm, amazing? Awesome? idk lol

10. What is your current favorite song? Current favourite is probably Andromeda by the Gorillaz :p

11. What is your favorite word? in english?? no clue hahah :p

12. What was the last song you listened to? Despacito ;u;

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? Voltron obviously hahah, um, maybe American Horror story? But only season 2 lol, or Black Mirror bc it’s amAZING

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? Ghibli films! Especially Howl’s moving castle or Spirited Away! c:

15. Do you play video games? I do but not as much lately bc of uni

16. What is your biggest fear? Uhhh if we’re going for deep dark fears, probably the entire concept of eternity? Like the thought of something having no real start or end just freaks me out lol

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? I honestly can’t think of one hahah, i’ve been thinking for a couple of minutes and can’t think of anything :p maybe that i’m an easy person to get along with

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? I can make a list tbh lol, absolute worst would probably be that i’m way too sensitive & care too much about what other people think

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? NO DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE I LOVE THEM BOTH I LOVE ALL ANIMALS ;-;

20. What is your favorite season? Summer!! :D

21. Are you in a relationship? Nope

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? I don’t miss much. Maybe not having this much of a workload if anything lol

23. Who is your best friend? Why have one when you can have 3? :D @faded-r0ses @now-this-is-wtf @ibreathestucky <3 <3

24. What is your eye color? Brow

25. What is your hair color? I change it every few months lol, it’s currently black!

26. Who is someone you love? So many people :p Friends, family, a lot of people! c:

27. Who is someone you trust? The squad obviously, but p. much all of my friends?? Like if we’re buddies then that’s it, i trust u lol

28. Who is someone you think about often? Like i think about my dog a lot bc i haven’t seen his fluffiness in like four moths now but i think about a lot of people often? not one set person

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? I’m excited for an eternal slumber tbh, or like, vacation. I need a break TuT

30. What is your biggest obsession? Voltron probably, and also random but history?? i love. history lol

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? POKEMON! It was a Sunday morning ritual to watch pokemon :D

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? Anything? Probably no one :p

33. Are you superstitious? Not really?

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Like, I’m afraid of small white rooms with no windows. Random? Yes. Unusual? Idk?? :p

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? I’m insecure af but like photography so behind it lol

36. What is your favorite hobby? Writing! :D

37. What was the last book you read? I mean i read a shitton of anatomy and physiology books throughout this year, do those count? Ah and The anatomy of being by Shinj Moon, though it’s a poetry book

38. What was the last movie you watched? Avengers Age of Ultron probably

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? Nothing, sadly TuT

40. What is your favorite animal?

I can’t. ChoOOSEE I LOVE SO MANY. If i can have like a top 3?? It’d probably be dogs & cats (in one place bc i can’t choose), foxes, and lizards? or i think they’re called newts in english? ya.

41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow?

Definitely @teakoii they’re they’re the literal cutest & amazing artist, definitely 2/3 the squad: @ibreathestucky (she’s a fandom goddess ok <3), @faded-r0ses (aesthetic ho right there), (((our remaining 1/3 @now-this-is-wtf not included bc she nEVER LOGS IN)) Also @wipengineer <-the queen of angst

and @maristine :D Quality voltron content right there~

and also a LOT of other blogs, some that i interact with and some not but i’m too shy to mention/tag >.<

42. What superpower do you wish you had?

Being able to breathe/survive underwater. Bye bye humans. I’m a fish now. You’ll never catch me. Also shapeshifting would b awesome bc. Cmon. You could become a dragon. Take that responsibilities.

43. When and where do you feel most at peace?

The beach, definitely. Or anywhere near large bodies of water? Give me a lake or river any day and I’ll probably never leave lol

44. What makes you smile?

A good ol’ meme never failed me so far, also good music? And coffee, and cuddly animals or just hugs in general i love hugs

45. What sports do you play, if any?

I do some swimming and begrudgingly go to the gym when my roommate drags me along but that’s pretty much it lol

46. What is your favorite drink?

CoFFEE. I swear my blood has been replaced with caffeine by now

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody?

I wrote a post-it note to my roommate to let her know i’m out does that count?

48. Are you afraid of heights?

Nope! I love looking down when standing somewhere v high or in a plane and stuff lol

49. What is your biggest pet peeve?

I had to google what a pet peeve is TuT

Hm, i can’t really think of anything? Not a lot of things bug me tbh, except for big things like you know, like rudeness or belittling someone else e.t.c

50. Have you ever been to a concert?

Yup!

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian?

Vegetarian!^^

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Define how little. I had a big phase of wanting to become a Power Ranger so.

According to my family i was always between vet or doctor though lol

53. What fictional world would you like to live in?

Ohh boy, i can’t just choose one!! :p Something magic-related definitely

54. What is something you worry about?

Something? Something? More like everything. TuT

55. Are you scared of the dark?

Nope!

56. Do you like to sing?

No unless I'm either drunk enough or blasting the radio loud enough for no one to hear me hahah

57. Have you ever skipped school?

I was way too much of an ‘example student’ in high school so no lol. As for lectures in uni though..well. ;u;

58. What is your favorite place on the planet?

The bEACH. ANY BEACH. IS THERE WATER AND SAND? THEN I LIKE IT. :D

59. Where would you like to live?

Italy! My dream is to move to Italy after i graduate!

60. Do you have any pets?

Yes, a cute lil’ bean of a doggo~ (or as my friends very...politely say, the chubbiest, clingiest chihuahua they’ve ever met lol)

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl?

Both? It depends lol

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better?

BOTH I CAN’T CHOOSE TuT

63. Do you know how to drive?

Yup! Although parking is an entire different story LOL

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones?

Headphones, earbuds are annoying ;-;

65. Have you ever had braces?

Yes. I pretend that that time period never happened ;u;

66. What is your favorite genre of music?

Hmmmmmm. Hmmm??? I can’t choose? Probably either indie/chill music or punk rock but i listen to so so many genres

67. Who is your hero?

I can’t really think of any celebrities, but if we’re talking people, probably my grandma? She was a badass woman that was raising two kids in her twenties whilst studying & graduating med school, then moved on to become the first woman gynaecologist in her country. Hats off to her really.

68. Do you read comic books?

A bit!

69. What makes you the most angry?

Honestly people that just. Can’t. Respect. Others.

So racist/homophobic/transphobic/sexist people, people who can’t respect someone else, people that think they’re superior to anyone, and also people that hurt/abuse animals- it’s like hey buddy. Find the nearest trash can and shove yourself in it, it’s not nice to litter.

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?

Real books. I understand that electronics are more convenient but there’s nothing better than actually holding a book in your hands and flipping the pages ;u;

71. What is your favorite subject in school?

History and english lit! And greek literature! All theoretical subjects really, lol

If we’re talking currently, then it’s embryology, definitely. I love it!!

72. Do you have any siblings?

An older sister and two older brothers

73. What was the last thing you bought?

Bananas and vegetables, lol

74. How tall are you?

165cm. I think it’s 5′5″

75. Can you cook?

I mean i nearly burn the kitchen down every time but i try

76. What are three things that you love?

Animals, good books, coffee

77. What are three things that you hate?

Rude/mean people (aka every single person with a Trump-like mindset, the dude himself included ofc), that’s pretty much it? it takes a lot for me to hate something

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends?

Female

79. What is your sexual orientation?

Pan! Still figuring out if that’s Panromantic or Pansexual :p

80. Where do you currently live?

Czech Republic

81. Who was the last person you texted?

My roommate

82. When was the last time you cried?

Like, 2 days ago i think? I was stressed, tired and sick lol

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber?

Markiplier! Also a lot of creepy pasta narrators, Lazy Masquerade being my fave probably :p

84. Do you like to take selfies?

Sometimes? it really really depends on my mood lol

85. What is your favorite app?

Instagram probably

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like?

Ehh. I get along great with my dad although we don’t talk much, and i get along as well with my mom, just wish she’d realise i’m not a kid still lol.

The older i get the better we get along i guess, although there’s some things we’ll never agree on

87. What is your favorite foreign accent?

I like Spanish accents a lot? I have a lot of Spanish & Portuguese friends and love their accent when they speak english :p Also Russian accents?? Don’t ask me why. I just really like them lol

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit?

Japan! I really want to go to Japan. And USA? And Canada? Like, big-city places because I’ve never been to one ;u;

89. What is your favorite number?

90. Can you juggle?

I got the balance of a tomato on an acid trip, so that’s a no hahah

91. Are you religious?

Not...really? I was raised in a very religious house and the more i learned about church the more i disliked it. I still like some aspects of it though so...I’m figuring it out still

92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting?

I CAN’T CHOOSE THEY’RE BOTH SO FASCINATING I WANNA FLING MYSELF INTO SPACE AND DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE OCEAN IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil?

With enough alcohol in my system and good friends, ya. As it is? Nope, I'm that one friend in horror movies that says ‘hey guys, this is probably a bad idea’ and promptly dies lol

94. Are you allergic to anything?

A bit allergic to dust but that’s pretty much it i think

95. Can you curl your tongue?

No ;-;

96. Can you wiggle your ears?

How do people dO THAT no i can’t

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something?

If i know I'm in the wrong i always admit it & apologise, or so i hope :p

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach?

The forest is fun too but...the beach. Definitely. ((Plus there’s no bugs at the beach! ;u;))

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?

If you try your best and work hard, the result won't matter because you gave it your all and that’s what counts.

100. Are you a good liar?

Not at all, you can immediately tell if I’m lying because I start to giggle lol

101. What is your Hogwarts House?

Hufflepuff!

102. Do you talk to yourself?

Yes. It’s actually funny bc i keep switching between languages when i do

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert ;;

104. Do you keep a journal/diary?

Not exactly. I try to keep a journal but it usually ends up with doodles and scribbles from class lol

105. Do you believe in second chances?

Most of the time, yes.

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do?

Honestly? I’d probably leave it, OR if there’s any shops nearby, I’d take it to a store clerk, since the person that lost it is more likely to go into a nearby shop and ask if they’ve seen their wallet than to a police department, I think? idk

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change?

Yes, definitely!

108. Are you ticklish?

Ridiculously ticklish. @now-this-is-wtf and @faded-r0ses have a field trip with this fact T-T

109. Have you ever been on a plane?

Yup!

110. Do you have any piercings?

I got a lot of piercings on my ears and had nose ring but I think it’s healed now? Will be getting a septum piercing in July though~

111. What fictional character do you wish was real?

Lance. Lanceeeeeee. How could i not want my fave ever to be real lol

112. Do you have any tattoos? Not...yet. Soon though!

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far?

It wasn’t exactly my decision, but switching schools back in middle school. Would have never met my tiny best friend otherwise, or met some other amazing people & teachers

114. Do you believe in karma?

Not really

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts?

Glasses, can’t put on contacts to save my life

116. Do you want children?

I don’t really like kids so. Ehh.

117. Who is the smartest person you know?

Hmm, people are smart in different ways and aspects. So I don’t know one person who’s the absolute smartest!

118. What is your most embarrassing memory?

Probably that one time at Comic con when i had a skirt-too-short problem (bless my backpack and the random leggings i had shoved in there for some reason lol), or that one time i got asked for an ID when i tried to buy a beer. At a supermarket. And they still wouldn’t believe me until I showed them my university card as well. (Sad thing is it wasn’t even for me lol)

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter?

yup, way too often lol

120. What color are most of you clothes?

Black. So many black clothes lol. At least that makes laundry much easier :D

121. Do you like adventures?

Yes!

122. Have you ever been on TV?

Only for some small interview clips when I was in high school lol

123. How old are you?

124. What is your favorite quote?

“Sometimes, I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living”

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods?

I don’t like sweet stuff much so savoury! OK, NOW, WHO TO TAG~

Squad, do it if you’re up for it @ibreathestucky @faded-r0ses @now-this-is-wtf (esp. you Guac I know you’re a free potato now with exams over~), and my tumblr buddies @maristine, @wipengineer (and yes i know u got the google doc but hey! :D), @the-blood-in-your-bruise and honestly, whoever else wants to do it, that’s it, you’re tagged by me hahah ^^

#get to know me tag #ofc you don't have to do it if u don't want to @the tagged ppl! <3

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jsetranscripts · 5 years ago

Text

YOU MUST BE DETAINED | Papers, Please #2

Key:

[words] = Descriptive

{words} = Voicing in-game character

+words+ = Voicing non-game character

words (in bold) = Said in ‘Arstotzkan’ accent

‘words’ = In game text

(words/letters) = Mispronunciation by JSE

Note: Transcript will be using British English.

Transcript:

Top of the morning to ye laddies! My name is Jacksepticeye and welcome back to Papers, Please! I wanted to play more of them because I feel like there’s more to show off in this version of it, or, this episode of it. Because the first one was just all introductions and everything. I still don’t know exactly what I’m doing perfectly, but I’ll get there in the end and if I make some mistakes, who cares? That’s what the game is about. You’re supposed to make mistakes here and there to figure out what you’re doing.

‘Checkpoint expansion postponed. Government blames lax immigration control(s).’ Hey! We’re doing okay! They’re going to start bringing in new documents as well. I think. I don’t know, maybe they will. And then this is gonna make my life so much harder.

Ah, crap. ‘Stricter new credentials requirements have been instituted. Arstotzkan citizens must show their ID card. Foreigners must secure and present a valid entry permit. Entry tickets are no longer sufficient.’ Okay, so you need an entry permit, and the Arstotzkans need an ID card. Good God, man. This is getting confusing. ‘Check all information thoroughly. A new chapter detailing documents features - ah, blah blah blah. ‘Deny any applicant with discrepant documents-’ so any sort of discrepancy at all. Fuck ‘em. ‘Refer to the audio transcript’- yes. Uh, nothing new there, and nothing new there, okay. So imma keep you open, maybe. Just in case! Um, alright! Open me shutters, next please! Bring them on in for the day! I have to get through these guys fast.

‘Papers, please.’ Okay, um. You have an entry permit. Sweet. So, I have to be fast about this. Um, ‘Yuri Stanislav’, yes, yes. Yes, yes. Everything’s matching perfectly. Expiration. Enter by. Matching, matching, ‘no correlation’. Uh, I think it’s okay. I think it’s okay. No correla- what? I thought they w- they’re the same thing! How could they have no correlation if they’re the exact same numbers? They must correlate at some way. There you go. I think you’re okay. Hopefully, I don’t fuckin know. Cuz, y- y- you’re trying to get through them really fast. And I’m waiting for, like, something to pop up here saying you made a mistake. You’re allowed two mistakes and then you get a warning.

Um, okay, entry permit. Let me see your name. Technically, I should- aw, crap. ‘No correlation.’ Wait! I still don’t know why that has no correlation. That makes no sense. Um. Uh, I- I don’t. Oh g- g- g- g- God. Uh. Expiration. ‘Discrepancy detected’! That’s wrong! ‘This document has expired. I was busy.’ Go f yourself in the a. Y-You’re not getting into my country! No way, no how, no sir! Arstotzka is a proud country! Not allowed in if you have discrepant documents! Do I get money if I reject people? Or only if I let them in? Is it just processing?

Okay, you don’t, uh, you don’t have the thing. You don’t have the thing, where’s me rule book? You don’t have the thing that we need. ‘Basic rules.’ Uh, you need an entry permit. Give me your entry permit! ‘Entry permit? I have ticket here. Let me through.’ Um, no. Do- I need more than that. ‘You have no entry permit. Entry permit? I have ticket’- no, no, no. You need an entry permit, or you’re not allowed into the country! Tickets are not sufficient anymore. Get lost Velma. ‘Get a permit’! ‘Bullshit! I pay good money for ticket.’ Yeah, well, you should’ve learned what the new rules were! Pay properly! Trying to get into my country, man.

+Hello little person.+ Kay, do you have stuff? Uh, face is the same. ‘Transit through the country. Duration of stay? I remain for couple’ of ‘days.’ Okay, yeah. Th- That matches up. ‘Enter by. Matching data.’ Uh, ‘matching data.’ Is your name matching? What? How is that ‘no correlation’? Is that not your fuckin name? Th- no correlation. Really? Oh, wait. ‘Discrepancy detected.’ Your name is wrong. ‘I have two different names. Fingerprint.’ G- g, take your fingerprints! Okay, now what? It’s different names! ‘My name was changed recently. Applicant’s fingerprints and claimed name/alias must match this record. No known alias.’ I don’t know what that means! Uh-oh! What do I do? ‘Matching data.’ Okay. Maybe their name was changed recently. Okay. Got it, got it, got it. You can come in then. That’s throwing me for a loop now. I don’t fucking know, take this and go. Do not give me bad news! Okay, I think I- Aw, fuck it! ‘Alias does not match record. Entry-’ [tuts] dammit! Okay, so they have to have an ali- God, fuck! I don’t know man, it’s hard to figure out what the hell is going on sometimes!

Names. This. Uh, ‘discrepancy detected. You cannot enter using an expired document. Please let me pass, my son is waiting.’ Aw man, now I feel fucking terrible. I’m sorry if your son is waiting. I- aw God, aw God. [Inhales through teeth] Oh, I feel bad! Oh God, is the end of the day here yet? Ugh. I’m sorry that your son was waiting.

‘Papers, please’! Hello. ‘What is purpose of your trip? I plan to work. Duration of stay? It will be 60 days.’ That matches. Those do not though, oh they do. ‘Matching data.’ That has no correlation. ‘Matching data.’ Your face, your name. Everything good? Feel like everything’s good. Okay. Oh! You’re an Arstotzkan though. You n- you need, you need a thing, don’t you? ‘Citizens must have an ID card.’ Where’s your ID card? Okay, maybe you- maybe you have it. Is this your ID card? I- I don’t know. I’m confused! I thought they needed something extra now. Your entry permit - oh wait. Oh wait, you’re not an Arstotzkan. Never mind. [Chuckles] Oops! I’m alwa- ah fuck it! I knew I did a b- wrong thing! ‘Invalid issuing city. Last warning, no penalty.’ I don’t know what the thing is! I don’t know how to check the issuing city.

‘I remain for couple of weeks.’ Okay, I’m doing bad at this now. My son is gonna die at home. I’ve a feeling. ‘Henry Khop’. That’s not your name! ‘These names do not match. I have multiple names.’ Give me your fuckin fingerprints. Gimme your fingerprints. ‘No known alias.’ Get fucked. It said ‘no known alias’. If there’s ‘no known alias’, that means you don’t have two names. Go fuck yourself. Get out of my country. Get out. Get out of Arstotzka. Think I’m doing okay. I don’t know. [Nervously chuckles].

You again! Remember this fucker from last time? Look! No, no du- it’s not right! This is not good, you must have a valid one! This is not good! ‘This passport is crude’ and ‘fake. {Hey now! Is not true! Is pre-approved!}’ No it’s not! Get outta my country! ‘Stamp here’, oh God I almost accepted him. The stamp doesn’t even fit the box. ‘Cobristan is not a real country. {Ok, ok. You no like passport, I understand. I come back again with better one.}’ Just don’t come back at all. You don’t have the right documents, you’re not allowed in. So as long as I get through it without making another mistake I’m fine.

Okay, you have your ID card with you. Good, cuz you’re an Arstotzkan. Um, these are different names! ‘These names do not match. My name was changed recently.’ Fingerprints. Gimme your fingerprints! What’re you saying to me? Um, no. That’s still a discrepancy. They don’t match! ‘I have multiple names.’ You have ‘no known alias’ either. Which I think means that you’re not allowed in. Um, wait, wait. Does that- that’s the same right? Everything else is the same though. I think. Could I have another discrepancy? Really make me feel good about it? Okay, I don’t thi- I don’t think I can let you in! [Unintelligible stuttering] As long as I can find a discrepancy, you’re not allowed into this country. Get out! Go home. Did we do good? Our day is over! I think we did okay!

[Sings along with music]. ‘Your son is sick and needs medicine.’ Everybody else is hungry, so. Nobody’s cold, so I can get rid of the heat, but we need the medicine. I- I need to get as much as I can. I only processed four people! I think you’re supposed to process like 11 a day? I think I read that somewhere, but I don’t know. It’s hard to keep up man. I need some tips! ‘Republi(c)an track star wanted for murder. Vince Lestrade’s whereabouts unknown - has likely fled Republia. Vince Lestrade: Profile. Girlfriend killed in jealous rage?’ Dude! That’s not cool.

Oh God, don’t a- don’t give me more rules now! I don’t- I’m already having a hard time keeping up with the rules that I just had. ‘You’ re ‘now authorised to detain suspicious individuals.’ [Gasps] ‘Interrogate discrepancies to enable detention option.’ Oh I have all the power now! Okay so that’s not- that’s not much. That’s not much new, okay. W-We got this, we got this, we got this. Next please! Bring on the next pig! [Makes pig noises].

‘Papers, please.’ You are not an Arstotzkan. Where do I see the issuing city? Issuing: ‘Glorian’. But where- what do I put it against? I put this against... what? ‘No correlation.’ You see no- nothing has any correlation. Oo, oo, oo! You said you had no correlation before, now there’s a discrepancy detected. ‘There is a discrepancy here. Oh? Hey wait.’ Detain! ‘Just deny my passport and I will go away. Wait here.’ Oh God! I actually detain them? Wait, did it say detain everybody? ‘You are now authorised to detain suspicious individuals.’ Oh but he was only- I- I- oh I dunno if I should detain him.

Kay, you seem like you’re good. You seem like everything’s working out beautifully for you. We’re gonna see if your dates match up. Let’s see if your weight matches up. Everything’s good, everything’s good. You are allowed into the country my friend! Thank you for coming. Arstotzka, greatest country. Make us proud. Go do work. ‘Glory to Arstotzka.’ That felt good. As long as you don’t tell me there’s a discrepancy here. As long as you don’t throw a bomb at them or something.

Kay, ‘Republia’. Let me see. That has ‘no correlation. Matching data. Matching data. Matching data.’ Okay. Everything’s looking good for you Lestra-. You’re on the k- oh! You’re the guy! You’re the guy who’s in trouble! I don’t- I dunno what I should be doing. Um, can I interrogate you? ‘Bostan’, versus, I dunno what to- I dunno what to put it against! Uh, this! I dunno! Oo, oo! He’s on the run but everything- he has everything good! Should I deny him? I dunno! Lemme see! ‘Republi(c)an track star wanted for murder.’ Kay, can I- can I actually- oh here we go! Yes! ‘You are Vince Lestrade’. ‘Damn. Look, I did not kill her. I was set up. Do not believe the Republian lies. Let me through.’ Detained! ‘What is happening? Shit.’ We got him! Okay, good, good, good. Sweet! I figured it out.

‘Papers, please.’ Hello moustache man! ‘What is the purpose of your trip? I will visit friends. Duration of stay? I’ will ‘ stay 60 days.’ Okay, that matches up. Um, this and this? Ah hah! ‘You cannot enter using an expired document. I was busy.’ I don’t fucking care. Outta my country. There you go. Hup, hup! Bye! I’m not letting anybody through though, I let one guy through. I need to ge- let more people through to get my money. So I need to learn how to do this faster.

Okay, this and this. This, this. This, names. Are they all goo- are names good? Okay, I thi- I think you’re good. I think you’re good, I think you’re good. Okay, I’ll let you through. You seem like a good guy, so I’ll let you through. I don’t know if the issuing city is wrong, cuz I don’t fucking know. ‘Ugh.’ Why you ugh-ing for? Don’t ‘ugh’ at me! Kay, I think he’s okay, I’m not getting a thing down here.

‘Papers, please.’ Hello there, how are you? ‘I am immigrating to Arstotzka.’ Oh, you’re going ‘forever’. Your ‘duration of stay’ is ‘forever’. You don’t look the same. ‘Your appearance has changes. The years have been cruel.’ What? ‘Gabriel’ ‘T(a)les.’ Kay, I think your name matches up. Everything’s good right? I think everything else matches. I think you’re actually okay. What’s this one say? Okay. Those are actually just your fingerprints. Um, kay I need to be faster, I need to be faster. See everything is- matches up. So maybe she’s okay. I’ll let her through. She seems to be okay. Um, wait what day is today? 27, date of birth-. Yeah, okay, she’s old. I think. I dunno, I dunno. I- I’m panicking, I’m panicking man. Smearing her thing all over that. Don’t tell me the thing, don’t tell me, I think I did good! Think I did okay! Yes! Okay.

Hello, how are you? ‘What is the purpose of your trip? I am visiting relatives.’ Kay, you’re only visiting. ‘Duration of stay?’ Two weeks? That’s good, everything is in order here, sir. Lemme just check your documents, and lemme just see for a second. ‘Matching data. Matching data. Matching data. Conor March.’ That’s a- that’s a very normal name. Everything seems to match. See, there’s the issuing city but what do I put it against? ‘Tsunkeido.’ See, I don’t know. That against, fucking, this? ‘No correlation.’ I don’t know, I don’t know. I think you’re good though. So, here we go. Boonk! Entry granted. ‘Cause no trouble.’ You cause trouble I come find you and I break your face. Fuck! ‘Invalid expiration date.’ Dammit! I didn’t check! Runnin outta time man. Runnin outta time.

Th-the- they- they do not correlate. What am I doing? Um, ‘Vosto(v) Pyotr.’ I don’t fucking know. ‘Matching data.’ Oh that’s your name, never mind. Date of birth. Uh, ‘enter by.’ Okay, here we go. And expiration. Everything matches! Are we good? I think you’re good. I think you’re fine. Did I check this already? I think I did. Um, ‘no correlation.’ Okay, um, I don’t know! Enter. Enter the country, you’ll be fine. Whoosh! Whoosh! ‘Thank you so much! Please be kind to my wife she is just after me.’ Oh she’s gonna have to get rejected isn’t she? Oh no! Oh no!

Ah, she doesn’t have the thing! ‘Did you see my husband? He made it through, yes?’ You don’t have your document though! Oh, I’m sorry! ‘Where is your entry permit? Please, I beg you. They would not gi’- permit me. ‘I have no choice. I will be killed if I return to Antegria.’ Oh no! Is everything else okay though? Oh, this is sad. This is so sad. I think everything else is okay too. I can’t let you in. I can’t let you in, there’s a discrepancy, you don’t have the thing! ‘You have doomed me.’ Oh no! Oh I feel so bad! Ah dude!

Did I do 4 again? Sweet! So everyone’s cold so I can- I don’t need food, all I need is heat. ‘Upgrade booth.’ What’s upgrading my booth do? Imma do that though. ‘Booth upgrade available: Space key to toggle inspect mode.’ Okay, yeah! It’s gonna make it easier! Okay. ‘Jobs few, becoming fewer. Immigrants taking jobs from locals. Vince Lestrade apprehended in Grestin. Track champ looks quite guilty now.’ Yes, I did good!

I- I’d love to see some like speedrunners of this game play. Pressed the space before the thingy pops up. ‘The Ministry of Labour has instituted a special program to control immigration labour. Travelers entering for work require a valid work pass.’ O-Okay so I have to look out for that. If they’re travelling for work I need to look for a work pass. Okay. So, insp- I can just press space for this now instead of having to go down here. That makes things much faster. But I’d love to see some people who are really good at the game. Just like whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Wrong! Bang! Uh- that’s good, stamp! Ah, I’m not good enough for that. I- I probably never will be either because I don’t know- I haven’t even uploaded the first episode of this yet so I don’t know how people are enjoying the game.

Okay, you’re a work pass. ‘I plan to work.’ O-kay, good God, there’s a lot of fucking stuff here on screen! Gonna match these first. Your name matches, your face matches. You’re male. Expiration. This matches, that matches. ‘Six months’ for ‘work.’ You and you. See there’s probably some stuff that you’re able to just, like, see off the bat. Um, ‘Benjamin,’ yes. Uh, ‘until.’ Kay, everything matches! You’re good, you’re good. Uh, boom! Thanks, thanks, thanks. ‘Cause no trouble.’ Go work your ass off. Make Arstotzka even greater country than before. Don’t tell me the thing. Don’t tell me the issuing city was wrong cuz I don’t fucking know how to do that still. I probably should.

‘Purpose of your trip? I plan to work.’ Okay, got it. ‘Duration of stay? It will be half a year.’ Six months, that’s- that’s good. ‘No correla’- oh, click on this! ‘Matching data.’ Um, is this right? Kay, that’s good. Um, is your name the same? ‘Bearing passport number.’ Where is the thing to match against the-? I don’t fucking know! ‘Matching data.’ Does your name match this? Kay, cool; matches that. This matches this. Got it, got it; you’re allowed in. You have everything you need. Good jibity job! Approved! Pity the stamp wasn’t faster. Thank you for this! ‘For all your fantasies. Please help me.’ What? ‘A man names Dari Ludum promised me and my sister good work in Arstotzka. I do not trust him. I am afraid he will take my passport and force me to work at brothel. He is in line today.’

Is it you? ‘Please do something.’ You’re ‘immigrating to Arstotzka.’ Okay. What is his name? ‘Dari Ludum.’ Or Dani Ludum. It’s not him, okay. You’re immigrating, okay, so you’re going ‘forever. Enter by.’ Enter... oh wait, that was not the right thing! This and this. Okay, everything’s good. You’re not female! Are you ‘male or female? As the document says.’ I don’t believe you! I think you’re trying to pull the wool over my eyes old ‘Nikolai’! Oh, not today Nikolai! Not today. Arstotzka is smarter country than that, you cannot get in with your shitty haircut. Piss off! Okay, I wanna read this again. ‘Please do something.’ Okay, maybe I can inspect him.

‘Papers, please.’ You come for work. Um, okay it’s not him. You ‘stay a few weeks.’ Okay, I guess that would be a month. Ah lemme- I keep clicking that anyway even though I don’t-. Your name is not the same! ‘I have two different names.’ Gimme your fucking fingerprints bro. Gimme them prints! Okay, okay, that checks out. That checks out. ‘Discrepancy cleared.’ Sweet! Okay, I think you might be allowed in then. You’re working, ‘fine-arts.’ Uh, until this. Lemme check the expirations. And lemme check this. If you find one discrepancy does that mean it’s good then? If you like find one discrepancy, is there only one discrepancy per person? So if I find a discrepancy and then I clear it, can I just, like, bring on the next person? I dunno. I dunno if there’s more than one discrepancy.

You again? Get outta here bro! ‘I am back again! This time everything’ s ‘set’. No, you don’t have the thing! He’s gonna show it though on the desk I imagine. Gimme- gimme your ticket. ‘Oh man you funny guy!’ Get outta my country bro! This is not valid! Y-You need an entry ticket, get out! ‘Wow, you run very strict border here. {That is good. Do job right. I look for entry thing and come back.} Yeah, you do that bro. Pe- stupid people in my booth.

Oh, you look like the guy. No, you’re not. Sorry. [Chuckles] You ‘will move here.’ Okay, so you’re moving ‘forever. Enter by.’ Everything looks good here! ‘Gerbos Canholdu.’ I thi- I think we’re good. I think we’re good. A-Are we good? I have no idea. Um, are these good? Okay, imma let you in. Do not- do not disappoint me there, Gerbos! Do not tell me that the issuing city was wrong cuz I don’t know Gerbos. I trusted you! Goddammit! I don’t fucking know.

Oh you’re an Arstotzkan. Hello. Oh, you’re the dude! Oh, crap. ‘No correla’- no, that. And all his stuff is proper as well, so I have to let him through. [Inhales through teeth] Oo, balls to the wa- is there nothing I can grab you on? Um, okay. Wait I- I- I- I can click on this, right? ‘No correlation.’ C’mon! This and you. D- but you’re the dude! Can I not do that? Can I not click on like individual stuff? Oh shit balls. Oh shit balls. Ah there we go, there we go! ‘You are Dari Ludum? Of course it says on’ the ‘passport.’ Detain! Yes! I helped out the ladies. Get outta my booth! I’m sure that you have all your documents in order, but I can’t let you through if you’re gonna hurt people.

‘What is the purpose of your trip?’ I plan to ‘work.’ Oh, that’s the wrong thing. You don’t- you don’t even have your thingy! Come on dude! You must have a fucking passport! ‘What is passport?’ Oh! ‘To be used for denials only. Entry Visa.’ [Laughs] Oh God, that feels bad. Denied, denied, denied. Get outta my country. I’m not letting in a lot of people though. I need to be letting in a lot of people, I need a lot of money.

‘Papers, please.’ Hello. I have too much shit on my desk. I need to move you over. Okay, you’re only in transit, so you don’t need a work visa. ‘I remain for just 2 days.’ That checks out. But does the rest? Hold on there ‘Rebeka S(h)mitz! Is everything good? A-Are you good? I think you might be. Okay, issuing city is ‘Vedor.’ But like, what do I put that against? Please somebody help me. Oh. That has ‘no correlation.’ M.O.A.? What? That’s a country place. I ne- I need- I need you to check out with that. There’s ‘no correlation’ with anything. Imma let you in, imma let you in, because wh- I don’t have much time. Did I do it wrong? Did I do it wrong? I did okay! Yes! Okay, good.

All these documents, move over there. You’re not working right? Okay, you’re just ‘visiting.’ So you don’t need a permit. ‘I’ will ‘stay here 3 months.’ That matches, good. Good. What- what happened? Oh! Oh the person I let through is a suicide bomber! Ah!

Everyone’s hungry and we need medicine. I’m runnin out of money! Son of a bitch! ‘Grestin Checkpoint officer nabs mastermind. Human trafficking ring shut down.’ The dude I caught! ‘Another attack at Grestin Checkpoint.’ Ah, man, come on! Okay, well I’m gonna leave this episode here! Now you see what the game is about. That, you’re letting people in and out but the story starts to develop. So some people are in trouble, they’re running from certain people in the line. The guy gets through and then you detain him, and you help those people, even though all his documents were correct. So it’s like, do I- do I stop him and help the people, or do I let him through and get the money for my family? So I had enough money to cover my family for today, but if I didn’t let him or- if I didn’t let him through and I didn’t have enough money to cover my family my son might die. So there’s a lot of, like, questionable morals that go on, and you really have to get right down into it and wonder what you- what you have to do. It’s really like there’s no black and white to it and that’s what I really like. Cuz a lot of games are like, make the good choice or the bad choice, whereas this it’s- there’s kinda like a grey area. I really like that.

But for now; thank you guys so much for watching this video! If you liked it, punch that like button in the face, like a boss! And, high fives all round. [Imitates high-five noises] But thank you guys and I’ll see all you dudes in the next video!

[Post-Outro Snippet]

It’s become a thing now that I don’t even think about my outro. A-As soon as I- I start saying: thank you guys so much for watching this video, like, my brain just takes over and does it naturally. And sometimes when I end up thinking about it too much, I- I en- I mess up the outro. Even though it’s not that- it’s- it’s not that hard to mess it up. I dunno. Bye!

#jacksepticeye #papers please #transcript #glory to arstotzka #greatestcountry #motherproud

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citizentruth-blog · 6 years ago

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Trump’s Bad “60 Minutes” Interview and Worse Economic Policy - PEER NEWS

New Post has been published on https://citizentruth.org/trumps-bad-60-minutes-interview-and-worse-economic-policy/

Trump’s Bad “60 Minutes” Interview and Worse Economic Policy

President Trump gave scarily bad answers in his “60 Minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl. But it’s what his administration and fellow Republicans are doing with respect to economic policy that’s truly terrifying. (Photo Credit: Michael Vadon/CC BY-SA 4.0)

The way President Donald Trump operates, it’s not like many of the remarks he made during his recent interview with Lesley Stahl for 60 Minutes were particularly surprising or groundbreaking. Many of his comments were riffs on the same songs he has sung before.

Even if they weren’t very earth-shattering or shocking, meanwhile, Trump’s comments were nonetheless disappointing to hear/read as an American who doesn’t share the same set of values. Stahl’s questions ranged across a fairly wide set of topics, but here are some of Trump’s most noteworthy insights:

Trump “doesn’t know” that humans have a role in climate change.

Pres. Trump seemed to walk back one-time comments he made that climate change is a “hoax.” In the same breath, however, he expressed doubt that it’s manmade, and when Stahl pressed him on the overwhelming evidence that it does exist and that we’re contributing to it, he suggested that this climate change could simply reverse somehow and that the scientists advancing the consensus theory have a “very big political agenda.”

That Trump would feign concern for the effects a shift away from fossil fuels might have on American jobs is commendable, at least by his standards. Trying to effectively deny our hand in climate change as part of a political agenda when the scientific consensus is such a strong one, on the other hand, is exactly the kind of thinking we don’t need at this stage in the game when more urgent action was needed yesterday.

Trump suggested there could be “severe punishment” for Saudi Arabia if found they were behind the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but didn’t provide specifics.

Trump admitted it was possible the Saudi government was behind the murder of Khashoggi, and indicated the vehement denial on the part of the Saudis. He then hinted that weapons deals could be at stake, but as he did with concerns about climate change, he pivoted to worrying about jobs at companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. So, while he acknowledged the possibility of sanctions, Trump doesn’t seem all that committed to endangering business ties with Saudi Arabia because of it. Astonishment of astonishments there.

At this writing, reportedly, the Saudis are preparing to admit Khashoggi died during a botched interrogation. Obviously, the interview was taped prior to these reports. What was worst about this segment, though, was that Trump said the matter was especially troubling because Khashoggi was a journalist, even making an aside about how strange it must be to hear him say that. Yeah, it is, and it comes off as more than a little disingenuous after regularly railing at members of the press and calling them the “enemy of the American people.” Pardon us if we’re not especially enthralled by your promises that you’ll get to the bottom of his disappearance.

Trump claimed that Barack Obama put us on a path to war with North Korea, and qualified his “love” for Kim Jong-un.

Evidently, under President Obama, we were going to war with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but now—BOOM!—no more war and Kim is talking about nuclearization. You’re welcome, America. Get that Nobel Peace Prize nice and shiny for “the Donald.”

Within Trump’s logic, it’s his trust for Kim that has been such an essential diplomatic asset. This despite the possibility raised by Stahl that North Korea hasn’t gotten rid of any weapons and may actually be building more. Trump, attempting to further distance himself from Obama, intimated there are no plans to ease sanctions, but Stahl persisted on the topic of Trump’s stated “love” for North Korea’s despotic leader. Trump tried to minimize the language he used as a figure of speech, but Stahl belabored North Korea’s horrid human rights record under Kim and his father.

Trump’s admiration for dictators is nothing new, but hearing him downplay talk of gulags and starvation is yet bothersome. More on this to come.

Trump still has no idea how tariffs work, nor does he apparently have high regard for his supposed allies.

President Trump insisted China is close to negotiating on tariffs and other matters of trade. In the meantime, though, President Xi Jinping (another leader with dictatorial aspirations overseeing a country with questionable regard for human rights) and China are content to retaliate with tariffs, and Stahl questioned how long we will be content to try to strong-arm China into negotiation when it’s American consumers who are bearing the brunt of these tariffs. Is the point to use the people of each country as bargaining chips in an escalating trade war?

Trump argued with Stahl for a while about whether or not he called it a trade war, a skirmish, or a battle, but this is semantics (and he totally f**king did call it a trade war, according to Stahl). Alongside likely overstating our trade deficit with China, Trump once more communicated his faulty understanding re tariffs. What’s more, he seemed ambivalent as to the continued integrity of diplomatic relations with Europe as a function of NATO membership, and grew combative with Stahl on the point of levying tariffs on our allies and inviting disunion. As long as Trump and his advisers hold to the narrative that the United States is being taken advantage of by the rest of the world when it comes to defense spending and trade, the average consumer is the one who will be caught in the middle.

Trump believes that Vladimir Putin is “probably” involved in assassinations and poisonings.

But only probably. Continuing the earlier conversation about Pres. Trump and his love of autocrats, the man would not commit to saying that he believed Putin was behind attacks on critics and political opponents, professing that he “relies on” Russia and that it’s their country, so it’s essentially their business. I’d be eager to know what precisely he means when he says he relies on them, and it’s possible his drift is a more innocent one, but when so much seems to hint at Trump being compromised by Russian ties, it’s hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.

This sentiment only grows when considering his hedging on Russian interference in the election and his evasiveness on the Mueller investigation. When prompted by Stahl on meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Trump was quick to rebut by claiming China meddled as well. Even if that were true, however—experts say there is evidence of a pro-Chinese influence campaign at work, but no concrete evidence of Chinese electoral meddling—it’s a deflection. Stahl called him out on this tactic, only to be argued within the spirit of whataboutism.

Additionally, Trump refused to pledge that he won’t shut down the Mueller investigation. In other words, um, yeah, you should still be worried about Mueller’s fate as special counsel. Particularly if the midterms go poorly for the Republican Party.

That whole family separation thing was all Obama’s fault.

When asked what his biggest regret so far has been, the first thing that jumped to Trump’s mind was not terminating the NAFTA deal sooner. Not the whole taking children away from their parents thing, as Stahl interjected. It’s not exactly mind-bending to witness Trump fail to recognize a policy bent on unmitigated cruelty as his worst mistake, but it still stings like salt in the proverbial wound if you fashion yourself a halfway decent human being.

To make matters worse, Trump defended the policy under the premise that people would illegally enter the United States in droves otherwise. Furthermore, he blamed Barack Obama for enforcing a policy that was on the books. To be fair, Obama’s record on immigration is not unassailable, as his administration was responsible for its share of deportations. But separating families is a new twist on trying to enact “border security,” and it ignores the perils immigrants face upon return to their native land, perils we have helped exacerbate. Try as he might to escape it, Donald Trump and his presidency will be inexorably tied to this heartless policy directive.

The country is divided, but that’s the stupid Democrats’ fault.

According to Trump, the country was very polarized under Obama, but now on the strength of the economy, he can see it coming together. You’re welcome, America. Stahl questioned him on this criticism of Obama and the Democrats’ contributions to political rancor when he and his Republican cronies just won on the Kavanaugh confirmation and he proceeded to immediately lambast the Dems. Trump predictably deflected by saying it’s the Democrats who don’t want the country to heal. They started it! They were so mean to Brett Kavanaugh! What a bunch of stupid babies!

In case you had any doubts, Trump doesn’t give two shits about Christine Blasey Ford.

Continuing with theme of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Lesley Stahl addressed Trump’s mockery of Dr. Ford’s testimony before Congress, asking why he felt he had to make fun of her. Trump says she was treated with great respect. Stahl was, like, really? Trump was, like, anyway, who cares? We won.

That’s right, ladies and germs—the ends justify the means. It’s all about the W. You heard him.

The White House is definitely not in chaos. Definitely not.

The on-air portion of the 60 Minutes interview ended with Stahl asking the president about the media reports of a White House in turmoil. Three guesses as to his reply. If you said “fake news,” you’d be correct. (If you didn’t, what’s wrong with you?) Trump also didn’t seem fazed about the high turnover within his administration. Hey, sometimes it just doesn’t work out! Along these lines, Trump wouldn’t commit to James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, nor would he give a ringing endorsement to Jeff “I’m Only a Racist on Days That End in ‘Y'” Sessions. Not that I have any great love for either of those men, but it’s still messed up when a man like Trump expects unflinching loyalty and yet stands by his appointees only when it’s convenient.

Trump also opined on his feelings of distrust of White House officials, consummate with his assessment of Washington, D.C. as a “vicious, vicious place.” Good news, though, fellow Americans: he now feels very comfortable as POTUS. Many of us might be continuously on edge, but he’s right as rain. Well, at least there’s that.

To some, Lesley Stahl’s 60 Minutes interview with Donald Trump was disappointing in that it didn’t break new ground. Sure, it further revealed that he is ignorant of how basic economic and scientific principles work, that he possesses a predilection for strongmen, that he will blame Barack Obama for pretty much anything, that he holds absolutely no regard for survivors of sexual assault, rape, and sexual violence, and that he has the temperament (and possibly the intellect) of a grade-school child. But we already knew all this. As noted earlier, it’s more salt in the wound for members of the so-called Resistance, but short of potentially alienating our allies with his public comments—which is not to be undersold or encouraged, mind you—but comparatively, his words are sticks and stones.

It’s where Trump’s actions and those of his administration have effect that should truly frighten us, meanwhile. As he so often does, Matt Taibbi provides excellent insight into the area of biggest concern: the U.S. economy. Stahl noted in voiceovers during the interview that Trump loves to talk about America’s economic success. After all, it makes him look good. Never mind that he may have a limited role in that success and that he inherited favorable conditions from his predecessor, but he wouldn’t be the first president to take advantage of others’ successes.

Trump was notably silent, conversely, when the Dow recently fell 1,377 points over two days amid a stock market sell-off. As Taibbi writes, this event is but a prelude to a larger economic disaster, and it stands at the confluence of three irreconcilable problems. The first is the Federal Reserve raising interest rates as a means of trying to rein in the excess of large companies taking advantage of quantitative easing and zero-interest-rate policy.

This might not be such a problem except for the second factor: the Trump/GOP tax cuts. As economic experts warned prior to their passage, the cuts were based on overly enthusiastic projections of economic growth. When the inevitable tax shortfall occurred, we would need to start borrowing more, as is already underway. Higher interest rates on increased borrowing means more of an economic burden.

All of this comes to a head when we consider the third problem: tariffs. To try to make up for the issues raised by higher borrowing rates and a revenue shortfall, the government this week debuted new Treasury bills in the hopes of generating immediate cash. The potential conflict arises when considering China is the primary buyer of U.S. T-bills and holds over a trillion dollars in American debt.

The assumption is that Chinese demand for Treasury notes will remain unchanged despite the tariffs. However, as Matt Taibbi and Lesley Stahl and others are right to wonder, what happens if the trade war’s tariffs hurt the Chinese economy to the point that China no longer can or is willing to subsidize our skyrocketing debt? It’s a purely theoretical question at this point, and a rhetorical one at that, but the fallout from the intersection of these trends could be devastating. Taibbi puts a cap on the gravity of the situation thusly:

As we’ve seen in recent decades, even smart people are fully capable of driving the American economy off a cliff. What happens when the dumbest administration in history gets a turn at the wheel? Maybe last week wasn’t the time to start panicking. But that moment can’t be far.

Ominous, but perhaps not hyperbole. Noting what happened last time when the economy nearly collapsed, when the next disaster strikes, it will undoubtedly be we, the other 99%, that pays most dearly. Especially as Mitch McConnell and his Republican partners would have it, now clearly eying cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

President Trump may enjoy schmoozing with Lesley Stahl and giving bad answers his base will eat up now. In the short to long-term, though, the terrible choices of his administration and his party could prove costly to the American economy, and by association, the global economy. Though he undoubtedly won’t meet with our same burden, he should at least take more of the blame when it does.

#60 Minutes show #Brett Kavanaugh #China #donald trump #federal reserve #Jamal Khashoggi #Kim Jong Un #Lesley Stahl #Tariffs #Vladimir Putin

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youcantpleaseeveryone · 6 years ago

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A Result Of My Boredom.

1. Are you outgoing or shy? Both. Depends on who I’m with.

2. Who are you looking forward to seeing? Bubbie.

3. Are you easy to get along with? Yes.

4. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? I’m in a relationship now, so yes, I’d like to think so.

5. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? I rather not say.

6. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Again, depends on who I’m with, but for the most part, yeah a little bit.

7. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? My best friend.

8. What does the most recent text that you sent say? “Only one week and a few more days to go”

9. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Yes, I love it!

10. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Yes.

11. Do you think there is life on other planets? Yes, we are definitely not alone.

12. Do you still talk to your first crush? No.

13. Do you like bubble baths? When I was little.

14. What are you bad habits? I pick my lips. There’s probably more.. but I rather not say.

15. Where would you like to travel? Hawaii, Portugal, Spain, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Greece, Italy, London, France, you get the idea.

16. Do you have trust issues? Yes.. really bad trust issues.

17. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? Um.. there’s more than one.. one of them is my stomach.

18. What do you do when you wake up? Check my phone.

19. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? I like my skin tone

20. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? I don’t have any exes.

21. Do you ever want to get married? Yes.

22. Is your hair long enough for a ponytail? Yeah, it is.

23. Spell your name with your chin. P;AVITHRASQW

24. Do you play sports? What sports? Yes, baseball and badminton, but not like professionally or anything

25. Would you rather live without TV or music? TV, I barely watch it now anyways.

26. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? Yes

27. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Yes, but depends on what they did.

28. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? I’m thinking about something, I’m awkward or I’m upset.

29. Do you smile at strangers? Yes

30. What are you paranoid about? A lot of things...

31. Have you ever been high? Yes, back in high school.

32. Have you ever been drunk? Yeah, a few times

33. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? No, I haven’t.

34. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? Grey

35. Ever wished you were someone else? I have, yes.

36. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? Just one thing?

37. Favourite makeup brand? I don’t have one, I don’t wear a lot of makeup.

38. Favourite colour? Purple.

39. Favourite food? This is a hard question.

40. Last thing you ate? Waffles

41. First thing you ate this morning? I didn’t eat breakfast.

42. Been arrested? Maybe.

43. Ever been in love? Yes.

44. Tell us the story of your first kiss? It was in the summer, we were at a park, and we just finished playing catch and some baseball, we were laying in the grass, staring at the clouds and he leaned over on top of me and kissed me.

45. Are you hungry right now? No

46. Twitter or Tumblr? Tumblr.

47. Are you watching tv right now? No, I’m on my laptop.

48. Craving something? What? Tacos and maybe something else...

49. What colour are your towels? Red and white

50. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two

51. What colour is your underwear? Black.

52. First person you talked to today? Bubbie.

53. Last person you talked to today? Gloria, I’m still talking to her.

54. Name a person you hate? I don’t hate anyone.

55. Last movie you watched? Avengers: Infinity War

56. Favourite actor? Tom Holland

57. Have any pets? Had, a pet dog.

58. How are you feeling? Pretty shitty and bored.

59. Do you type fast? Somewhat, yeah

60. Do you miss anyone from your past? I do.

61. Ever been to a bonfire party? No, but I really want too.

62. Ever broken someone’s heart? I don’t know if I have, maybe?

63. Have you ever been on a horse? No, but I want too.

64. Is something irritating you right now? Yeah.

65. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? Yeah...

66. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My younger sister.

67. What was your childhood nickname? Patty or Krabby Patty, there were a few.

68. Have you ever been out of your province/state? Yes, I’ve lived in Vancouver.

69. Do you play the Wii? Yes, I love the Wii. Mario Kart, Super Mario Galaxy, and Just Dance were my jam.

70. Are you listening to music right now? Of course, I am.

71. Do you like Chinese food? Yes, I do.

72. Favourite book? I don’t have just one favourite book. Some of them are: Shine, Ready Player One, Armada and Winter Girls.

73. Are you afraid of the dark? Not really? If I’m inside my house, no, but if I’m outside a little bit.

74. Is cheating ever okay? No, it’s never okay.

75. Are you currently bored? Very, it’s why I’m doing these questions...

76. What makes you happy? Being able to do things freely.

77. Would you change your name? No, I wanted to change it when I was younger though, I wanted to change my name to Patricia, because I wanted to be called Trisha. I liked that name... not anymore.

78. What’s your zodiac sign? Leo.

79. Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? I’d be honest, I’d tell them how I really felt about them.

80. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? My best friend, Nathalie

81. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? Open, I don’t like when the door is closed.

82. How tall are you? 5′4″

83. Favourite month? November

84. Are you a vegetarian? Yeah, I’d call myself a part time vegetarian, I’ll eat meat occasionally but I’m okay without it.

85. Tea or Coffee? BOTH

86. Was today a good day? No.

87. How old are you? 22

88. How old is the last person you kissed on the lips? 25

89. Are you keeping a secret from anyone? Yes.

90. Have you ever seen the last person you kissed without a shirt on? Yes.

91. Are you more of a hookup or relationship person? Hookup... just kidding, relationship.

92. Do you like to take walks? Love them.

93. Do you have clothes that are not yours? I do.

94. If you could change your eye color what would it be? Um, maybe a lighter brown, or hazel?

95. What are you thinking about? A lot, but mostly, what will happen within a weeks time.

96. Have you ever kissed someone in the rain? No, but as cheesy as it is, I’d like too.

97. Do you wish someone would turn up at your front door right now? Yes

98. What were you doing at 12AM last night? In bed.. overthinking.

99. Last time you cried? Today..

100. How many chances do you tend to give people before enough is enough? Two, but I have a bad habit of giving people more chances than they deserve...

6.23.2018 11:18PM

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crookedmediatranscripts · 7 years ago

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Pod Save America - Episode 76

9.7.2017 - “The misadventures of Paul RINO”

“Trump cuts his first-ever deal as President with the Democrats on Harvey relief and the debt ceiling, and makes Republicans on the Hill very sad. Then, Dick Durbin joins Jon and Dan to talk about passing the DREAM Act and the rest of Congress’s busy call agenda.”

0:00:00

[Music]

Jon Favreau: The presenting of Pod Save America is Blue Apron. The number one fresh ingredient recipe delivery service in the country. For less than ten dollars per person per meal, Blue Apron delivers seasonal recipes along with pre-portioned ingredients to make delicious home-cooked meals. Choose from a variety of new recipes each week, or let Blue Apron’s culinary team surprise you. Recipes are not repeated within a year, so you’ll never get bored. Customize your recipes each week based on your preferences. Blue Apron has several delivery options so you can choose what fits your needs. And there’s no weekly commitment so you only get deliveries when you want them. Blue Apron knows you’re busy, so now they’re offering 30 minutes meals.

Jon Lovett: I’m on the go, you know. I gotta drop the kids off at soccer practice. Jack has violin lessons.

JF: Jack has violin lessons, yes. You’re very busy.

JL: You know, Mary’s on the lacrosse team.

JF: So, you’ve got 30 minutes-

JL: But I wanna make a home cooked meal for Mary and Jack.

JF: Well, check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals free with free shipping –

JL: And Portia. My third child –

JF: [Laughing] by going to blueapron.com/

JL: is Portia.

JF: [Pauses ad to laugh] Going to blueapron.com/crooked. That’s blueapron.com/crooked. It’s the best meals for Jack, Sally, and Portia. Blue Apron –

JL: Mary.

JF: Mary.

JL: Whatever.

JF: Blue Apron is a better way to –

JL: Lou Dobbs is a nutcase.

JF: [laughing again] – cook.

[MUSIC]

0:01:25.6

JF: Welcome to Pod Save America I’m Jon Favreau.

Dan Pfeiffer: I’m Dan Pfeifer.

JF: On the pod today we have the number two Democrat in the Senate, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. Also, Dan, I am recording right now from the brand new, long awaited Crooked Media podcast studio right here in Crooked Media headquarters.

DP: Congratulations, you have hit the big time at Crooked Media.

JF: [Laughing] We launched this company in January. It is September and we have a studio. The only sad part of this is, the producer we worked with at CBS news radio, Bill Nesbit, is incredible. We love Bill, so we will miss Bill. Hopefully, once in a while we’ll head back to CBS and do a show or two there. But wanted to give a shout out to him because he has been outstanding. But, yeah, so now I’m in Crooked Media studios so, you know any time there’s breaking news we can run in here and record emergency pods, which is also great.

DP: You’re making a real promise there that you’re not gonna wanna keep.

JF: No, I know. I know that. Okay, so what should we talk about today? Probably the Congressional clusterfuck of a fall that we’re heading towards. Once again, yesterday you sent me an outline, very early in the morning, which meant that you jinxed everything.

DP: But not- not in the normal way, though.

JF: Not in the normal way. You sent the outline and you said, Trump’s gonna appear in North Dakota later today and he could do something crazy there that changes all this. So, you were right about doing something crazy, wrong about where it happened. What he actually did that was crazy was make a deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

DP: That’s fake tears Schumer to you.

JF: [laughing] Fake tears Schumer. So, let’s start with that. So yesterday Donald Trump pantsed Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell in the Oval Office. [Both laughing] Paul- Paul Rino had a bad day, as-

DP: Thank you, thank you.

JF: Yeah, we’ll get to Lou Dobbs. We’ll get to Lou Dobbs. Okay, so I think we should give everyone some background on what happened because I’ve seen a lot of confusion about this deal from people who don’t follow the machinations of Congress and debt-ceilings and government funding fights and all that bullshit. Why would you? So, here’s the background on everything that happened. So, there are three huge things that Congress has to do by the end of September. There’s actually a ton of different things, but the three biggest things I would say are: one, pass relief funding for hurricane Harvey — by the way we have hurricane Irma headed towards Florida so we are keeping everyone there in our thoughts and prayers and hopefully we, you know, it hasn’t struck Florida yet but it has struck some of the islands in the Caribbean. Very scary, scary storms. We’ll be watching that over the next couple days. But anyway, so number one: Congress is supposed to pass relief for funding for Hurricane Harvey; number two: Congress has to fund the federal government to avoid a shut down; number three, Congress has to raise the debt ceiling. Which is paying the bills that Congress has already racked up, so that America doesn’t default on its debt and cause a global economic catastrophe. Again, the debt ceiling is sort of this, made up bullshit that Congress put into practice somewhere along the line where, all it does is say to the Congress, ‘You are now legally allowed to go pay the bills that you have already- already incurred.’ Has nothing to do with actually adding more debt to, you know, at all. So, even though Republicans control both Houses of Congress, all three of these things — relief funding, federal government funding, and raising the debt ceiling — require Democratic votes. Both because you need 60 votes in the Senate to do these things and because the crazy caucus in the House — the Freedom Caucus — will not vote to fund the government or raise the debt ceiling without, like insane cuts to Medicaid and education and healthcare and all the rest of it. So, basically Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell need Democratic votes to pass these measures. So, for a while they were like, “What the fuck are we gonna do? How are we gonna get this done?” And then Hurricane Harvey funding actually presented them with an opportunity. The solution was to tie the debt ceiling increase to Hurricane Harvey funding, figuring that even their own crazy caucus and the Democrats would not vote against Harvey funding, the Democrats wouldn’t attach a bunch of demands to it. If you tie everything up in the hurricane relief package it’s gonna be easier politically to pass this thing. And while they read it, they figured, you know what? Why don’t we raise the debt ceiling high enough so that we won’t have to raise it again until after the 2018 elections. The Democrats won’t be able to attach any demands to it, so we’ll just get this out of the way. So, this is Ryan and McConnell’s plan. Still some of the conservatives in their caucus- in the Freedom caucus complained about this plan because they’re annoyed that they have to raise the debt ceiling with any corresponding cuts, which is their big deal- their big ask. So, there was some complaints about it. So, yesterday morning, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer see some of the complaints on the right wing of their caucus and say, ‘Okay, we have a plan. We’re in. We’ll raise the debt ceiling, but we’re only gonna increase it and fund the government for 3 months. Not until after the 2018 election. ‘Dan, what was the thinking behind that move?

DP: [laughs] There- from the Democrats?

JF: From the Democrats. Why did Nancy and Chuck put that statement out?

DP: Yeah. Well I think it’s- we don’t know yet — and I’m interested to talk to Senator Durbin about it — but, I’m sure the Democrats would like the Republicans, who have the majority and are up for election, to be forced to vote for the debt ceiling multiple times –

JF: Um hm.

DP: – between now and the election. And second, it is an opportunity to force votes on other things, or tie other things to it. Because the debt ceiling essentially becomes a, you know what you call, a must pass vehicle, so. Which is why they wanted to put Hurricane Harvey funding which is- that would get it through if we pass the debt ceiling because we don’t want to theoretically crash the global economy. But I wanna say a couple of other things about the debt ceiling.

JF: Please do.

DP: In your very well done, very detailed explanation of this, you made it sound- you know you said it’s the Freedom caucus who wants cuts. And that is- that is true.

JF: Um hm.

DP: But it’s important to remember that that was the position of the entire Republican Party –

JF: Yes.

DP: – when they took power in 2010.

JF: That’s correct.

DP: Even though they all- even though people like Paul Ryan are theoretically smart enough to know better, they wanted to- they demanded commensurate cuts. If you needed to raise the debt ceiling by a trillion dollars, you would cut a trillion dollars from government – which is not a thing you can actually do if you wanna have an army and Social Security and things like that. And that was their position all the way through 2011. And so, when we were in the White House, we- in 2011 had a negotiation with them Which was, they wanted all these cuts, we wanted zero cuts, so we negotiated and we came up with a set of cuts that would- were closed to Obama’s opening bid than to the Republicans’ opening bid but not things we would’ve done ideally. And that was a very painful process. And we almost crashed the global economy, the United States lost its credit- its triple A credit rating as a part of that. The- the stocks took a huge hit, wiping out billions if not trillions of dollars in overall wealth. And Barack Obama had a principle after that, which he would never negotiate on the debt ceiling again.

JF: Right.

DP: And that it would ju- it would be up to Congress to do it, and- so here we are now. In this new phase, where the Democrats- Republicans are in charge, it is their job to do it. With Barack Obama, it was different cause John Boehner had the Hou- was in charge- Republicans in charge of the House and they were refusing to do it without anything else. So, it was basically, you know, a standoff. In this case, this is Donald Trump is the President of the United States, his party’s in charge of government, and yet he still needs Democrats to do it. Not just beyond the eight Democrats you need in the Senate to avoid filibuster. You need the majority of Democrats to vote for this to get it through the House, most likely.

JF: Right. And again, some of you listening right now might say, ‘I don’t get it. Why do you need this debt ceiling thing if it’s gonna -‘

DP: You don’t. Big answer is you don’t. Stupid!

JF: ‘- cause all this?’ You don’t! It is a political invention entirely the government- the entire government could function without it. It is not an ideological need. It is not a need for functioning government. It is just a made-up bullshit thing that could cause economic global catastrophe. Great. Okay, so in response to Nancy and Chuck’s proposal, Paul Ryan goes ballistic and accuses them of playing politics with the debt ceiling. Which is hilarious because, here’s Paul Ryan in December of 2013, and I quote ‘We are going to meet and discuss what it is we want to get out of the debt limit. We certainly don’t want nothing out of this debt limit.’ So [chuckles] Paul Ryan, who’s played politics with the debt ceiling for a living, for most of the time period between when Obama became President and when Trump did, now suddenly was upset about playing politics with the debt ceiling. Amazing behavior from Paul Ryan, Dan.

DP: I don’t know how closely you listen to the Crooked Media podcasts, but [JF laughs] Paul Ryan is not a particularly principled individual.

JF: No.

DP: He might be full of shit. And this may be another piece of evidence of that.

JF: So, he does his whole, ‘How could they play politics with this? Blah, blah, blah, blah. We’re not gonna accept that deal, that’s crazy.’ Fine. So now, with all this is background, all of our heroes head to the Oval Office yesterday — Schumer, Pelosi, Ryan, McConnell. They meet with Trump. Ryan and McConnell say, ‘Okay we’re proposing an 18-month debt ceiling increase tied with Hurricane Harvey relief and we’ll fund the government. What do you think?’ And Mnuchin, see Mnuchin the Treasury Secretary- Trump’s Treasury Secretary, also says, ‘Yes, this is a good idea. This is important for markets. We don’t want a short-term debt deal. Great, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ Schumer and Pelosi say, ‘No. We’re not doing 18 months.’ And so, the Republicans say, ‘Okay, how about six months?’ Democrats say, ‘No. How ‘bout three months?’ And Donald Trump says, ‘Deal!’ [Laughing] Shocking Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, who could barely contain their anger. At that moment, Ivanka Trump walks into the Oval Office, the conversation is derailed because Trump can only pay attention to something for a couple seconds. And that is the ball game.

DP: [Laughing] It’s so funny.

JF: Dan [laughing], wha- [stops to laugh]

[Both laugh hard]

DP: Oh, man.

JF: Why do you think- why do you think Trump did this? Let’s start there.

DP: [Laughing] Because he’s dumb. That’s why.

[Both laughing]

JF: I’m glad you gave that answer.

DP: Trump just- he just paid sticker price for his car. That’s what he did.

[Both laughing hard again]

DP: Because here’s the funny thing about it is, you know one of the ideas when Trump became President was, you know he’s not- you know, some fears among, you know establishment conservatives is, Trump’s not really a conservative. He may not even really be a Republican, must be playing a racist Republican on television. And he doesn’t have doctrinaire conservative views on things like government spending, or entitlements, or whatever else. And the fear was, he would come in and- he likes to build things, so he would come in agreement with, you know with the Democrats on a Democratic priority that would be good, you know good politics for him. And would upset conservatives. That is not happened here. He took the worst- he had three- there were three deals on the table. And he readily agreed to the worst deal. By far. You want the long- if you’re President, you want the longest debt ceiling possible. When you’re President you really want the debt ceiling to go away forever but, 18 months, deal with this after the mid-terms. Six months is twice as good as three months and he just took three months. Just, cause.

JF: So…

DP: I mean.

JF: I thought about this a lot and I realized a general rule of thumb is, you’re not supposed to think for more than five to ten seconds about Trump’s motivations because most of the motivations are driven by narcissistic impulses to get good press coverage, appease your Fox and Friends hosts, [laughs] or Sean Hannity, or like, whatever the last newscast you saw that day, and then you just sort of move on. And that’s- that’s how Trump operates, right? So, I don’t wanna delve too deeply into Trump’s psyche here, but to play Devil’s Advocate — and I actually saw our friend Brian Beutler [sp?] was tweeting about this, too — like, let’s play it the other way around. What could Trump have got from Chuck and Nancy? What more could he have got? Like, let’s say they said, ‘No, no, no. We want three months or else we’re not providing Democratic votes, which you need.’ What if then Trump said, ‘Well, okay. I’m going to go ahead and tell Mitch and Paul to put a six month or 12-month debt ceiling increase on the floor of the Senate and the House. And you now- you Democrats are going to have to sit there and say you’re going to vote against Hurricane Harvey relief and you’re also going to vote against preventing economic catastrophe by not raising the debt ceiling. And you go see how that works for you guys.

DP: Yeah, that’s what he should’ve done.

JF: [Laughing] Right.

DP: [Laughing] I mean, it’s like so patently obvious.

JF: Then what do Chuck and Nancy do at that point?

DP: They…

JF: They basically bluffed.

DP: Yeah. They were put in a position of blocked hurricane relief and not lifting the debt ceiling, and what would probably happen in the long run is there’ll then be some negotiation and you would get something in between the two positions.

JF: Right

DP: I mean, we’ll ask Senator Durbin this, but [chuckling] I don’t think Senator Schumer and Senator- and Leader Pelosi would, in thinking they were actually gonna get- I think [JF starts laughing] that was just their starting bid.

[Both laughing]

DP: [Still laughing] So, I’m sure they just like walked out. They like, ‘Great!’ And Schumer [inaudible] six months was probably fine. I find it impossible to imagine the Democrats, who beat the crap out of Republicans over the debt ceiling and Republican opposition to Sandy funding — and if you remember, Senator Schumer is from New York where Sandy hit — were gonna be in a position where they could at the end of the- if Republicans called their bluff, I think it would’ve been very hard to stop that bill.

JF: Right, I think that’s right. Because- well the other- the other thing that they would’ve had to bet on, or I guess, they would’ve had to say like, ‘Look you can put this on the floor but, if you don’t get Republican votes to pass this- if this measure fails because not only did Democrats vote against it but you couldn’t even get some of your own Repu- I mean you guys control a majority in the House and majority in the Senate. Why couldn’t you find the votes? You couldn’t even find the votes in the House to pass this thing!’ Then it looks like it’s Republicans who failed to do this, not Democrats.

DP: Right. The- what wou- the Senate would just sit quiet and just wait. Just sit and see-

JF: The Senate would sit quiet and say, ‘Alright, Paul Ryan let’s see you pass an 18-month debt ceiling increase and you pass hurricane Harvey relief out of your House with your majority. Let’s see it.’ And Paul Ryan probably- I don’t know, I don’t know if he could’ve gotten that done because of the Freedom Caucus.

DP: I don’t- he probab- he could not. He is also very weak. So, it’s unlikely he could’ve gotten it done. But –

JF: But that suggests that basically Schumer and Pelosi had all the leverage anyway. The whole time in the meeting. And of course, they were gonna get their three months.

DP: They did have the leverage up until you attach it to Harvey. And I think the Harvey part makes it very hard. If it’s just a straight debt ceiling vote.

JF: Right.

DP: That’s an easy one. You’re in charge, you do it. When it- when Democrats are being forced to vote- vote against hurricane relief. That is hard. And I think a lot of Democrats would not do it over- what is- the debt ceiling is important if it doesn’t get lifted. But it’s har- you know, it’s just- it’s, this is basically a piece of political maneuvering to make them vote for it again. So, you also have leverage on the larger government funding bill in December. So, I thi- at the end of the- like are Democrats truly gonna vote against Hurricane Harvey relief over three or six months for the debt ceiling. I think that’s a hard thing. If it was the DACA bill, the DREAM Act on there, that might be a different thing where you had a stronger- a more strongly held principle to adhere to.

JF: Right.

DP: My theory on what happened here it, up until 15 before that meeting, Trump had heard of the debt ceiling but had no idea what it was and what happened if you didn’t lift it. And I think they briefed him beforehand and Steve Mnuchin did what Secretary Geithner or Secretary Lew did for us and went through the horrors of what happens if it doesn’t get lifted. And they scared Trump and so he took the- there’s no question the Democrats deal’s the path- the least risky path in the short term. It’s like, great, Democrats will vote for this. We need Democrats? Done. Take it. And so, I think he might have acted out of fear.

JF: And look, it’s a scary proposition. I mean I’ve said this before but, I- you know, Tim Geithner sat me down when I had to write a speech in the event of a potential default on our debt when we were, you know, dealing with debt ceiling brinkman- brinksmanship in the Obama administration. And writing that speech about what happens after default, or even when the rest of the world thinks you’re about to default — the catastrophe in the markets, the people who don’t get paid, the benefits that don’t go out, the checks that don’t go out- I mean, it’s pretty frightening stuff. It- it’s much- for everyone- I mean, it’s much worse that a government shutdown. A government shutdown you don’t want. You want to avoid it, it’s bad. It’s a self-inflicted would. You know, breaching the debt ceiling is just, horrendous. Another thing that happens in the meeting, is Trump also calls for scrapping the debt ceiling all together. Which, I agree with Donald Trump! There you go. [Laughing] Great idea, Donald Trump! And Democrats have been trying to get rid of the debt ceiling for a long time, and today Pelosi was like, ‘Sure, yeah, let’s do it.’ And of course, Paul Ryan said, ‘No, no, no. I don’t wanna do that cause I wanna continue playing politics with the debt ceiling well into the future.’

DP: Yeah, I would say Paul- Paul Ryan’s- we- Paul Ryan’s explanation for this was, he wanted to keep the power of the purse.

JF: Right.

DP: The debt ceiling is not the power of the purse. The power of the purse is when you appropriate money for government funding, which they already did. All the debt ceiling does is say you can pay the bills you already incurred. And so, that is bullshit. That is a bullshit argument and, probably in his- when he’s home alone doing P90 X and genuflecting at a statue of Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan knows this is bullshit. But, he is the leader of a large group of morons. And that [both laughing] that’s like- it’s just there’s no other way to put it. The Republican- they’re- a good portion, not all of, the Re- you can divide the Republican caucus in the House into two groups: people who are too dumb to know what the debt ceiling actually does –

JF: Yep.

DP: – and people who know what the debt ceiling does, but feel like they have to pretend like they’re dumb enough to not know what it does.

JF: Because they’re too scared.

DP: So that they can be accepted in – they can be accepted in the Republican party of 2017.

JF: Yes, they are either- you are either too dumb or too scared, as a Republican member of House. That’s- that’s one of the two options. So- I- did you know- do you say, and I wanna ask Durbin about this as well, some activists — Louis Gutierrez, as well as United We Dream and some other activists on the left — are actually upset about this deal that Schumer and Pelosi struck. Because they said, ‘They should have just said, we want a vote on the DREAM Act attached to this deal.’ And so, they’re upset, they think that Pelosi and Schumer caved. What do you think about that?

DP: I just wanna know more. [Laughing] I still think Schumer and Pelosi probably had three or four moves left in their game plan and –

JF: Yeah.

DP – they still don’t really understand why Donald Trump took this deal. Cause I can see a world where the, like the Republicans want 18 months, Democrats was three, Republicans say, ‘We’ll take six.’ Democrats will say, ‘Great we’ll take six, just give us the DREAM Act.’ And then Trump just took the three months and so –

JF: Yeah

DP: – they- but they lived to fight another day. We can replay this whole thing out in December.

JF: Yeah, that –

DP: And…

JF: Yes. That’s my thought, too. It’s like, if, in three months they don’t demand the DREAM Act, the next time we do this then we can criticize them all we want. But it seems to me as if what they did is, ‘Let’s attach the DREAM Act to something that doesn’t have hurricane relief on it because that’s gonna be politically easier to do than attaching the DREAM Act to a Harvey relief package.’ To me, that seems like that’s why they did this. So, Republicans were not too happy about this deal. Mike Simpson of Ohi- Idaho, Republican in the House, ‘A three-month debt ceiling? Why not do it daily? He’s the best deal maker ever, don’t you know? I mean, he’s got a book out about it.’ [Laughs] Another senior Republican aide told Johnathan Swan, ‘The Democrats have bluffed their way into total victory.’ And another GOP aide said, ‘The President just handed a loaded gun to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.’ So, Republicans on the Hill are not too happy about it. Also, so what the media reaction- the MAGA media, Breitbart has a picture of Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer together and it says, ‘Welcome to the swamp.” [Laughs] But, at least one member of the Republican media, Lou Dobbs, is with Trump still on this deal. If you haven’t watched Lou Dobbs’ [laughing] crazy video — couple minute video from last night — where he just, uses this whole thing as an opportunity to attach Paul Ryan. [Laughing] which, like- like, it was we- we don’t love Paul Ryan here, but it’s certainly Paul Ryan’s fault. Paul Ryan fought against this deal. This was Donald Trump’s deal. So, he called him ‘Ryan the Rino.’ Which as you point out is a mistake because he should’ve just gone with ‘Paul Rino.’

DP: [Laughing] I just- there’s- I think there’s both- there’s some like, bigger lessons or- or thoughts to take from everythi- how this has played out in the last 24 hours. But [laughing] this note in that Lou Dobbs is so ridiculous that he’s on JV Fox. Like, he’s not on Fox.

JF: Yeah.

DP: He’s on Fox Business. So, he’s [laughing] like. You are a blowhard. You shill for Trump. You use, you know, racist and misogynistic code words and language, but you’re just not talented enough to make Fox so we’re gonna put Jesse Waters on Fox [JF laughs] and move you to Fox Business.

[Both laughing]

JF: Ohhh…

DP: So, that’s not good for Lou Dobbs. Maybe that’s why he’s so angry.

JF: Not good for Lou Dobbs. Not good for Paul Rino. Quite a bad day- the misadventures of Paul Rino, that was yesterday.

DP: [Laughing] That’s a pretty good episode title.

JF: [Laughing] there we go, got one.

DP: Some of the other thoughts about this are, I think- it says a lot about sort of the ideological vacuum within the Republican party. Because the debt- like using the debt ceiling as some mechanism is not an ideological principle.

JF: No.

DP: It’s not something that Reagan, you know said at the 1984 convention, or came from the writings of William F. Buckley. It’s just low grade legislative thuggery. And that’s been taken from them. And so, it isn’t- like, there is a world where Trump cut some deal to, I guess to do infrastructure with Schumer or, you know, bra- you know, [inaudible] Chuck Schumer by raising taxes on, you know wealthy people or something that would violate what are theoretically long-held quote un-quote conservative principles. That’s not what this is. This is just a big deci- the Republicans are all upset over a legislative strategic maneuver that Trump did in the- in the wrong way. But I think it also, the response of the media should scare the shit out of Ryan and McConnell.

JF: Right.

DP: Because Trump screwed up here. Absolutely screwed up. Looks like a moron. Doing a deal with Schumer and Pelosi is, the only thing he could’ve done that could have theoretically upset the pro-Trump media would be doing a deal with Hillary Clinton and… [JF laughing] and Barack Obama.

JF: Yeah.

DP: And so, with, you know sort of, the two bogey people that they use and their response, for the most part, just support Trump. And so, it just shows what limited leverage the other Republicans have over Trump.

JF: Yeah, I mean, Washington Post has a story that Mark Meadows, the head of the Freedom Caucus, and Steve Bannon yesterday, were talking about how to replace Paul Ryan as Speaker. This deal happens, Trump cuts this deal, and they talk about- Lou Dobbs is yelling about Paul Rino and these guys are talking about how to replace him as Speaker. Which tells you everything you need to know about how fucked up their caucus is, [laughing] how fucked up their policies are.

DP: Can we just diverge a second to talk about the lionization of Steve Bannon and Breitbart?

JF: I know.

DP: I mean, do you know what Breitbart is?

JF: 60 minutes. This Sunday. Tune in.

DP: [Sighs] On Breitbart’s best day, it is exponentially less influential than Crooked Media.

JF: [Laughing] I don’t know. I mean…

DP: And that’s- but like I’m half kidding, but not really. It’s a- it’s a fucking website that’s run outta some dude’s house.

JF: [Laughing] Lotta hits, though.

DP: And it’s like [laughing] not that many. Not as many as you would think.

JF: Yeah.

DP: And you know, we’re not sure how many- how much of that engagement is driven by Russian bots.

JF: That’s true.

DP: And, like so what? Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows met. Who cares? And they met at the quote un-quote ‘Breitbart embassy’ which is what Breitbart calls their headquarters, which is a row house on Capitol Hill. Because they say it’s the- they’re ambassadors from real America. That row house was purchased by multi-millionaire former Goldman Sachs executive Steve Bannon.

JF: Hollywood elite, Steve Bannon. [Laughing] It’s so fucking ridiculous.

DP: But, while we’re talking about Steve Bannon, in a 24-hour period I’ve agreed with Donald Trump and Steve Bannon.

JF: What else did Steve Bannon say?

DP: Steve Bannon was asked by Charlie Rose on the 60 minutes interview during, on Sunday, about Gary Cohn. And he said Gary Cohn should resign.

JF: He should.

DP: And his reason was, either you support the President and stay or you — if you are so upset with what the President did that you feel compelled to tell every reporter who will ask, that you’re upset — then you should resign.

JF: Yeah, no, no that –

DP: He’s right about that, too.

JF: That makes a lot of sense. How about yesterday, we should- breaking news yesterday, that Gary Cohn is now not going to get the seat on the Fed that he was looking for, Fed Chair. And that is because he was very upset that the President of the United States refused to condemn neo-Nazis and white supremacists. So, sorry Gary.

DP: So, upset that he got up and went to work for that very same President the next day.

JF: Because he wanted the Fed Chair. [Laughing] He wanted to be Fed Chair and so he decided to keep working for the white supremacist sympathizers and, now he doesn’t get it. So, there you go. As Lovett tweeted yesterday, ‘Thanks for playing, Gary. Enjoy the steak knives.’ [Laughs]

DP: And now he’s sorta stuck for a while because –

JF: Right.

DP – he will look even worse if he leaves in the wake of not getting the job that he was so obviously staying for, but didn’t wanna admit he was staying for. And that makes me happy because Gary Cohn’s pain is funny to me. [JF laughs]

0:30:08.4

[MUSIC ]

Tommy Vietor: This is Pod Save America, stick around, there’s more great show coming your way.

0:30:13.2

JF: Pod Save America is brought to you by Upside.

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0:32:35.2

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[MUSIC]

0:34:44.2

JF: So, I- I wanna [laughs] I wanna make a few more points about the new bipartisan Trump, the dealmaker. Number one, not only was this a stupid deal in the short term, it was als- like, it’s kind of dumb, I think, maybe in the long-term? To piss off Ryan and McConnell, who are essentially Trump’s juror’s in his impeachment trial [Laughing] down the road. Like, if Bob Mueller comes knocking and makes an impeachment recommendation at some point down the road, Trump- Trump- the best friends Trump needs to have are Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Right?

DP: Yes. I think that’s true. I would say two things about that. One, Paul Ryan is a moral coward so –

JF: We’ll never- we’ll never- yeah.

DP: – [inaudible] putting there.

JF: Yeah, he’ll be there for- he’ll be there for Trump.

DP: Yeah, he will be- he is th- he will be the last soldier on the island.

JF: Trump could kick his ass every day from now until the impeachment trial and he’d still probably save him.

DP: Yeah. But if I was Trump and I- and my goal was to get- make it through my first term without getting impeached, the last thing I would do is pass tax reform.

JF: Yeah.

DP: As long as tax reform is out there –

JF: That’s true.

DP: – he has Paul Ryan and most of the Republicans in the pocket. As long as he can dangle the idea that we can cut taxes for rich people and make poor people pay for it, they will not hold him accountable for anything. Once that’s done, that’s it. They have run- that’s all they care about and then all bets are off.

JF: Yep. I think that’s right. That’s a very good point. So, the second thing is, like we’re now in for three or four days of fucking think pieces about the new bipartisan Trump working with the Democrats, it’ll be on all the Sunday shows. Thousands of words will be written about this. And all I’m gonna say is, like let’s wait, I don’t know, four, five days before we start dragging out the Ronald Reagan-Tip O’Neil fairy tale bullshit. Because we know Donald Trump, we know he turns on a dime. Something’s gonna piss him off, he’s gonna go back to yelling at everyone on Twitter. Like, I just- let’s just- let’s pump the brakes on the new bipartisan Trump thing.

DP: This is not biparti- I mean, technically this is bipartisan because Republicans and Democrats are involved, but [laughs] if two chimpanzees had walked in the Oval Office [JF laughs] with signs around their neck that said, ‘three-month debt ceiling deal,’ he would’ve agreed with them [laughing]. It’s like- he was just looking for- like, there’s no long game here with Trump. It’s like, ‘I do this with Chuck and Nancy maybe they’ll be more friendly on tax reform. And then maybe we can do infrastruct-’ It’s just, he just reacted to a shiny object and it just happened to be the Democrats were holding up the shiny object at the time.

JF: Yeah, I mean my view is like, we have to remove this man from office as soon as humanly possible. But in the meantime, like we should also do everything we can to limit the damage he causes and if his own fucking narcissistic impulses lead him to accidentally do that and help us with that, then great! But it’s not something that we can ever count on, you know?

DP: Washington DC’s fetish for bipartisan has- knows no bounds.

JF: Never. It’ll never go away. It’ll never –

DP: And by the- well see, bipartisanship is good.

JF: Yeah, yeah.

DP: We should have it.

JF: If it’s- if it’s- yeah, if it’s real.

DP: But. Yeah, that’s not what this is.

JF: Well this is a tiny deal.

DP: Nothing is different.

JF: It kicks the whole thing three months. We’re gonna be talking about this again in December and then we’ll have to see.

DP: Yeah. Like bipartisanship is compromise where one side gives the other side what they want. Like, there’s not- Trump did not give in to some core progressive agenda item in exchange for conservative agenda item. He [chuckles] just agreed to have a vote three months sooner than he was already gonna have a vote. So.

JF: That’s right. We shouldn’t lose sight of that. So, let’s talk about DACA because that’s obviously one of the big issues that, you know we want to resolve over the next couple months. Particularly when we get this vote again in December. So, the other weird thing over the last couple days is that Trump has basically said, ‘Oh, I told Chuck and Nancy I wanna do a deal on this.’ He tweeted the day that DACA was rescinded by Sessions that if- he’ll revisit this issue if Congress doesn’t act. This morning apparently on the advice- on the request of Nancy Pelosi, he tweeted that Dreamers shouldn’t worry in the next six months. And then said, ‘No action.’ Which is also confusion which sounds like he’s telling them they don’t have to take action, which they certainly do. If you’re a Dreamer and if you are a young American who’s undocumented in this country, you should apply within these- you have to apply within these six months to renew your work permit for the next two years. And you can apply within these next six months if you already have one. So, you know everyone should know that Trump’s tweet was a little confusing. But anyway, so what do we think- what do you think he’s doing this for? DO you think he just saw the awful coverage, both from Republicans and Democrats in media about how bad this decision was and he wants to do something about it? What’s going on there?

DP: I- [sighs] I’m going to assume that per usual, he’s reacting he saw on the news.

JF: Right.

DP: Without much thought.

JF: I agree.

DP: And I don’t believe he’s ever met a Dreamer. I think he probably would cross the street as opposed to speaking to a Dreamer. But I’m sure he did not like- the headlines he saw challenged his warped self-image of himself. And so, he reacted to it. And if the coverage was, he was too soft on Dreamers, then he would respond in the other way. I don’t- I do not- I never bought the story that- about Syria that Ivanka showed him these photos of –

JF: Yeah.

DP: – children and that motivated him to act. And I don’t buy the theory now that he is so moved by the stories and these Dreamers that he feels comp- that he was forced into this position because of his deep understanding of reverence for constitutional law, that he had to make this move but he desperately wants to fix it. I think he’s just reacting to pieces of stimuli in the environment without much thought.

JF: [Laughing] That’s- that’s probably right. So, what el- so it seems like we should prioritize a measure that protects the Dreamers over the next three months. What else does Congress have to get done? Or what else do we want it to get done, now that the- the decks have been clear on Harvey relief, debt ceiling, and government funding for three months?

DP: Well there’s a bunch of other things that are critical. I mean, one there’s obviously a possibility they’re gonna ha- there’s gonna be- this is not the Harvey package. There’s gonna have to be much more money for Harvey. And if hurricane Irma that you mentioned earlier, continues on the path in which we fear it may, then there’s a- you know, there may be an unfortunate possibility that we have to do even- do an aid package for Florida and Georgia and North Carolina and the other states that are- South Carolina- states that are at least in the possible track over the next week here. But also, so we have to fund the government, we have to lift the debt ceiling, we have to do hurricane relief, there- the FAA bill expires and so we have to reauthorize air traffic controllers which seems –

JF: Important.

DP: – like, pretty critical. Yeah. I say this to a man with a –

JF: Fear of flying.

DP: – well-known fear of flying.

JF: Yeah, no, that’s particularly important. A pet issue for me.

DP: Well [laughing] the- the state Children’s Health Insurance Program expires at the end of the month. We have to do that. And, this seems like it may be particularly relevant at this exact moment in time, the National Flood Insurance program also expires at the end of this.

JF: Yeah.

DP: Today is, what? September 7th, I think?

JF: September 7th, yeah.

DP: And it’ll come as a shock that Congress is not planning on doing a lot of five day weeks. And so, there’s real- very limited time and no discussion is how they’re gonna get these other things done. And so that should be very concerning to people with children or people care about healthcare or people in the path of floods or people who like to avoid having- who like to have planes take off and land in the right places.

JF: Yeah. And also, yesterday there was a bipartisan hearing on how to stabilize ObamaCare and to strengthen ObamaCare and so, I think, some sort of fix that stabilizes the health insurance markets would also be welcome in these next couple months, too. To say the least. And to make sure that Trump makes these payments. These cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies which would keep the insurance markets functioning for the people who have healthcare through ObamaCare. So, I mean, there’s a long list of demands that Democrats should force Republicans to act on if they wanna keep, you know- my view on this whole thing is, playing politics on the debt ceiling and using the debt ceiling as hostage is, you know. I don’t like that because that could cause some real serious scary damage. But in terms of, like keeping the government open and government funding, yeah, I think they should make those demands for that, for sure.

DP: Yeah, I also think it’s- I think it’s worth understanding the difference between what the Republicans tried to do during the Obama years and what the Democrats are doing.

JF: Yeah.

DP: The Republicans controlled Congress. They controlled the House of Representatives. They were not- they were the ones responsible for bringing the bill up. And they were refusing to do that. They would- unless the bill met some set of demands, including at one time saying they weren’t going to lift the debt ceiling without repealing ObamaCare. And in this case, Republicans are in charge. They bring the bill up. They are unable to muster their people, enough people to do it, and so they need Nancy Pelosi’s votes to do it. And so, she has every right, because of a failure on the part of the Republicans, to ask for something.

JF: That’s true.

DP: Like I don’t- I do not think they should, like, they have leverage and they should use their leverage to push for progressive priorities. That is different than one branch of government going to the other branch of government and saying, ‘We will destroy the economy unless you give me what we want.’ This is an internal congressional dispute. And if Republic- if Paul Ryan was better at his job, or there were fewer dead enders in the Republican part, then this would not be an issue. But because of Paul Ryan’s failure, he has to go to Nancy Pelosi and she’s under no obligation to do his job for him, even though she’s been doing the job of Jon Boehner and Paul Ryan since 2011 when the Republicans took over.

JF: Yeah, when it comes to governing the Republican party is a failed state. It has been throughout the Obama administration and now the Trump administration and Donald Trump winning the presidency does not paper over that basic fact that they cannot govern because, as you said, they have these dead enders in their party, particularly in the House, who just say ‘no’ to everything. Because people elected a bunch of morons to Congress.

DP: Donald Trump getting elected proves the Republican party’s a failed state.

JF: Right! Exactly. [Laughing] The ultimate expression of that. Okay, when we come back we will be talking to the Senate Democratic Whip from Illinois, Dick Durbin.

[MUSIC] 0:46:7.5

JF: Don’t go anywhere. This is Pod Save America and there’s more on the way.

0:46:11.8

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0:47:58.2

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[MUSIC]

0:49:42:4

JF: On the pod today, we are very lucky to have Illinois Senator Dick Durbin with us. Senator Durbin, welcome!

Dick Durbin: Good to be with you.

JF: Let’s start with yesterday’s deal. What was the pitch that Senator Schumer and Leader Pelosi made to Trump, about a three-month extension and why do you think he said yes?

DD: Well, I think it was a pretty clean proposal. We said to him, ‘We don’t think it’s in your best interest, or the economy, to shut down the government or default on the national debt or to get into a long, protracted fight over it. Nobody’s arguing about helping the hurricane Harvey victims, we’re all for that. So, here’s what we’ll offer to you, we’re gonna give you three months right now – all democrats gonna vote for it. Three-month CR – continuing the spending the federal government, a three-month extension of the debt ceiling. Now that means in December, we’ve got a bigger job ahead of us. But we’ve got ninety days before we get there. So, let’s work on this together. Let’s get it done in a bipartisan fashion. Let’s show America, in a time of natural disaster crisis and other external threats, we can do something in a bipartisan basis.

DP: Senator, how surprised were you that he accepted that deal right off the bat?

DD: I won’t say totally, but almost. [DP and JF laugh] It was a surprise to us. I think it was a surprise especially to Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell in the same room and they said as much afterwards. But, you know the President is unpredictable in many ways and in this case, turned out he nodded in our direction. And I think he did the right thing. From our point of view, we avoided a protracted political battle and all the bad things that could’ve come if we couldn’t reach an agreement.

JF: So Senator, your colleague in the House, Luis Gutierrez has criticized the deal — along with some other activists like United We Dream — saying that Schumer and Pelosi should have demanded a DREAM Act vote in exchange for a debt ceiling increase. You’re obviously the original author of the DREAM Act, you’ve been fighting for that for 16 years. What do you think about that?

DD: Well listen, Luis is my buddy. We’ve worked on this together for so many years. I respect him so much. He has the arrest record to show for his dedication to immigration issues. He’s the best. We just disagree here in terms of tactics. Here’s what I think it boils down to – the DACA dreamers now enjoy 76% approval from the American people. 58% of the Republicans say don’t deport these young people. We’re in an amazingly positive position today, that I think we can build on and will ultimately lead to the passage of a great DREAM Act that’s gonna help hundreds of thousands of young people. Now, let me put this scenario on the table that’s been suggested by Luis and others – what if we had said, ‘No, you can’t go forward with this bill unless we have the DREAM Act involved?’ So, what would the Republicans have said? ‘Oh, isn’t that just perfect. These folks supporting the DREAM Act won’t provide help to the hurricane Harvey victims unless they get their bill up and front and center. In fact, they’re even threatening to shut down the government and maybe to shut down the American economy.’ I think that’s pa bad tactic and a bad position for us to be in. and I think the 76% approval rating would have disintegrated. The practical side of that is, I can’t get anything through the Senate to help the DREAM Act now, or ten days now from now or ten weeks from now, without 60 votes. I have 48 Democrats on a good day and I think I have 48 that will be with me. I need 12 Republicans. Threatening Harvey victims’ support if we don’t get the DREAM Act doesn’t win me one single Republican vote. So, I get their anxiety, I get their emotion. But let’s think about this coolly, how are we going to get to the finish line with 60 plus votes in the Senate.

JF: So, three months from now- now that the Harvey relief package is off the table and we face another vote on both funding the government and the debt ceiling – do you think the Democrats should make that vote contingent on a DREAM Act vote. Is that- is that the plan? To sort of kick the pressure down three months down the road?

DD: We are not saying, you know we’re not saying- making a contingency, a quid-pro-quo. We’re saying that, at the end of the day, in the middle of December when we have the big bill. We wanna see two things included – the DREAM Act and whatever we need to keep the American healthcare system moving forward.

JF: Um hm.

DD: And we believe, because of the decision which we’re about to make today for a three-month extension, we’ll be in a better position to make that happen. Because look at what we’re gonna face in December. We’re gonna face additional Harvey aid. This is a down payment. The billions of dollars that we’re coming up with, I should say is a front-end payment. We know it’s gonna be a dramatically larger amount of money that’s gonna be needed come December. God forbid what’s gonna happen with hurricane Irma in the meantime, the fires in the west. So, putting together this scenario of all the things that need absolutely to be done, the problem is the Republicans can’t deliver on those things. They have a spotty record when it comes to disaster assistance. They tend to be in favor of disaster assistance for their own states only. And that, to me, is unfair and we oughta do better. But that’s gonna be the reality when it comes to Republican votes. Many of them are not gonna be for a long-term spending bill. A lot of them have sworn that they’ll never vote for extending the debt ceiling. The Republicans are gonna need Democratic votes, we are in a better, stronger position to make sure that our priorities – the DREAM Act, the Affordable Care Act – are included.

DP: Senator, Speaker Ryan today was asked about whether he’d put the DREAM Act, or the House version of the DREAM Act, on the floor and he said he was looking for a measure that would combine border security with enshrining DACA into law. Would- is that something that you’re open to and have you heard from some of your Republican colleagues about how they’re thinking about the situation over the next six months?

DD: Many of them, publically and privately, have told me border security’s an important part of it and I haven’t ruled it out. But I have ruled out some specifics. I am not gonna voted for a 22-hundred-mile wall – I don’t think any Democrats will. Many Republicans won’t, incidentally. Secondly, I am not gonna change the sanctuary city provisions that Attorney General Sessions has been talking about. And third, I am not gonna protect the Dreamers with a deal that means their parents are gonna be deported. So, take those things off the table and if you’re talking about actual border security, I’ll pull up a chair. Let’s talk it over about what might get this done.

JF: Do you know who those 12 votes are, in the Senate, that you’ll need to get to 60 on the DREAM act.

DD: Pretty close. I’ve got four already. I’ve a 5th one today is ready to step forward. And I know Lindsay Graham’s working it as well. He believes that reaching 16- 12 Republicans is not gonna be a heavy lift. He thinks they’re out there. Once we put together this package that he supports and I’ve kind of deferred to him. But as I look across to the Republicans, there’s a lot of them that have come up to me and said, ‘Let’s sit down and talk it over.’ So, I think they’ve realized it’s the right thing to do and it’s a popular thing to do. And they’re willing to take on, you know some people on the right if President Trump endorses whatever we come up with, it’s going to give some of them cover to join us.

DP: I was curious whether you thought this deal from the other day was a, just sort of a one-time deal, or you see some opportunity to maybe work a little closer with President Trump going forward.

DD: Well I don’t know. Listen, I’ve been in politics for a while and I’ve had a lot of people sitting across the table from me – political adversaries – and even if we disagree completely, I generally understood their thinking as to how they reach a point [JF laughs] in their political position. I very- I find it very difficult to grasp the President’s logical train of thought when it comes to political issues. After all he’s said about immigration, he continued to make exceptions. When it came to the Dreamers and DACA, over and over again, ‘We love the Dreamers.’ And he told me personally, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of those kids. And then last Tuesday he sends out Attorney General Sessions and, you know drops a ton of bricks on 780 thousand of these Dreamers. Not 12 hours later, he’s tweeting about how we have to fix this. So, I’m trying to stick with the President and his logic on this and it’s hard, but I think at the end of the day I really believe at this movement as we speak, I think at the end of the day he does wanna fix it. He doesn’t want this on his record, on his conscience.

JF: Senator Durbin, thank you so much for joining us. I know you gotta go vote. We appreciate the time and good-

DD: Good talking to you.

JF: Good luck with everything.

DD: Thanks a lot. Save America.

JF: Take care.

DP: Thanks.

JF: Buh-bye.

DP: Thank you.

JF: [Chuckling]

[MUSIC]

0:58:41.4

JF: Alright, everyone. Thanks again to Senator Durbin for joining us today. And we will see you next week!

DP: Bye, guys.

[MUSIC OUTRO]

0:59:07.7

#podsa #September 2017 #cm transcripts

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INTERVIEW WITH JOHN OATES| RECORDED BY STEPHANIE FRUGE’ | WED. MAY 1ST, 2013|TRANSCRIBED MAY 16th, 2013

JOHN: OUR FAMILY IS FROM NEW YORK ORIGINALLY. MY FATHER MOVED TO PA IN THE EARLY 50s. SO, MOVING TO PA OBVIOUSLY WAS A THING THAT CHANGED MY LIFE BECAUSE HAD I NOT DONE THAT I NEVER WOULD HAVE MET DARYL HALL ,AND WHO KNOWS WHAT WOULD’VE HAPPENED SO, YOU KNOW UM, I GREW UP IN A SMALL TOWN IN PA, A LITTLE COUNTRY TOWN, WELL NOW ITS CLOSE/ PART OF THE SUBURBS BUT AT THE TIME IT WAS A VERY SMALL TOWN, AND I UM ALWAYS GRAVITATED TOWARD THE CITY AND EVENTUALLY WHEN I GOT OLD ENOUGH AND WENT TO PHILADELPHIA AND YOU KNOW, GOT PART OF THE MUSIC SCENE THERE SO, UH YOU KNOW, I HAVE A VERY, KIND OF A, MY FAMILY WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ME AND MY MUSICAL TALENTS BUT THEY WEREN’T MUSICIANS THEMSELVES. BUT UM, THEY HELPED ME GET GUITARS AND THINGS, AND I TOOK VOICE LESSONS AND GUITAR LESSONS AND ALL THAT WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID.

I LISTEN TO EVERYTHING, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING FROM, YOU KNOW, FOLK MUSIC… YOU KNOW I GOT A CHANCE TO BE IN THE PHILADELPHIA AREA, I SAW SOME OF THE EARLY FOLK PERFORMERS WHEN THEY WERE BEING REDISCOVERED IN THE 60S, HUNG OUT WITH PEOPLE LIKE MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT, STUFF LIKE THAT, AND THEN I ALSO GOT TO SEE ALL THE GREAT R&B PERFORMERS AS THEY CAME THROUGH THE UPTOWN THEATRE IN PHILADELPHIA, YOU KNOW, IN THE EARLY DAYS, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY. EVERYBODY FROM JAMES BROWN TO THE MIRACLES…

STEPHANIE: THE MOTOWN ERA, CORRECT?

JOHN: OH YEA, STACKS VOLT?, THE MEMPHIS THING, AND UH, AND EVERYBODY; ALL THE GREAT PHILIDELPHIA GROUPS LIKE THE STYLISTICS AND THE DELPHONICS AND ALL THAT. WE WERE, WE WERE FRIENDS WITH THOSE PEOPLE SO, AS THEY GREW UP TOO. SO,

STEPHANIE: WOOOOOOW.

JOHN: SO, I HAD A VERY UNIQUE, ECLECTIC UPBRINGING WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC SO TO THIS DAY I STILL HAVE THE SAME, YOU KNOW, THE SAME FEELING. I MEAN I , I DO THE VERY FOLKY/ACOUSTIC STUFF AND THEN I’LL DO R&B AND YOU KNOW, UH THE ELECTRIC STUFF TOO SO IT’S KIND OF A COMBINATION OF THINGS.

STEPHANIE: ABSOLUTELY, UM, WHEN YOU WERE IN COLLEGE, WHEN YOU MET DARYL IN 1967, THERE WAS A LOT GOING ON; THE POST CIVIL RIGHTS ERA AND WHAT NOT, AND UM, TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE SOUL BAND YOU WERE IN WHEN YOU MET DARYL.

JOHN: WELL, YEAH, I WAS IN A BAND, WE HAD HORNS, WE WERE UH, YOU KNOW KIND OF PLAYING YOU KNOW THE R&B AND THE HITS OF THE DAY. UH, EVERYTHING FROM LIKE BOOKER T & THE MGS AND THE STUFF THAT CAME OUT OF MEMPHIS, THE STAX VOLT STUFF, PHILLY STUFF, UH EVEN TO CHUCK BERRY AND LITTLE RICHARD AND STUFF LIKE THAT. SO IT WAS UH A KIND OF A ROCK/ R&B BAND AND DARYL HAD A GROUP THAT WAS MORE OF AN ACAPELLA GROUP, UM, THEY WERE AN ACAPELLA VOCAL GROUP. AND UH YOU KNOW WE BOTH LOVED THE TEMPTATIONS, WE BOTH LOVED THE TEMPTATIONS HARMONIES, AND STUFF LIKET THAT. THAT WAS ALWAYS A BIG PART OF WHAT WE DID TOGETHER.

STEPHANIE: THAT’S REALLY NEAT. I WAS DOING SOME RESEARCH FOR AN ARTICLE ABOUT SAM COOKE. I NOTICED SIMILARITIES IN YALLS LIVES, LIKE, YOU GUYS BEING BORN TO DO THIS, ALONG WITH THE ERA, AND THE [MUSIC] PIONEERING, THE RESPECT FOR THE SOUL OF THE MUSIC, YOU KNOW…BEING ABLE TO PROJECT THAT AND CHANGE THINGS IN A WAY. YA’LLS INFLUENCE [HALL & OATES] IS HUGE. I ASKED [FANS OF HALL & OATES] ON MY FACEBOOK TODAY, WHAT THEY WOULD ASK YOU AND PEOPLE ARE FINALLY INTERESTED IN THE MEANING BEHIND…

JOHN: (INTERRUPTS) I’M REALLY SORRY, CAN YOU HOLD ONE SECOND I JUST HAVE TO ASK MY WIFE A QUESTION. I’M SORRY, CAN YOU HOLD ONE SECOND PLEASE?

STEPHANIE: SURE, NO PROBLEM

JOHN: IN BACKGROUND…OK THANKS!…OKAY SORRY

STEPHANIE: OH, NO PROBLEM! PEOPLE ARE ASKING THE MEANING BEHIND THE LYRICS OF YOUR MUSIC FROM THE LATE 70S EARLY 80S, SO, WHICH OF YOUR SONGS MEANS THE MOST TO YOU AND WHY?

JOHN: WELL, THEY ALL MEAN SOMETHING TO ME. YOU KNOW, I DON’T WANT TO SKIP THE QUESTION BUT THEY ALL MEAN SOMETHING TO ME. BECAUSE EVERY SONG WE’VE EVER WRITTEN CAME FROM SOMETHING REAL. NOW, IT DOESN’T JUST NECESSARILY TELL A STORY FROM A TO Z…

STEPHANIE: RIGHT.

JOHN: …BUT THERE’S ALWAYS A REAL EMOTION OR REAL CONNECTION OR AN EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT BE A PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE OR AN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE , NOW? IS THE BASIS FOR ALL OF THIS MUSIC. UH, AND SO I HEAR THESE SONGS AGAIN, AND IT BRINGS ME BACK TO THAT TIME; JUST LIKE IT DOES FOR THE AVERAGE LISTENER. IT BRINGS THEM BACK, LIKE HEY THEY HEARD IT IN THE CAR WITH THEIR GIRLFRIEND OR WHATEVER, UH, BUT FOR ME, IT BRINGS ME BACK TO THE PERSON OR THE EXPERIENCE THAT CAUSED ME TO WRITE THE SONG. SO THAT’S WHAT IT DOES FOR ME. I’M JUST THRILLED AND REALLY HAPPY OF THE FACT THAT THE SONGS THAT WE’VE WRITTEN OVER THE YEARS HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME…THAT PEOPLE STILL WANT TO HEAR THESE SONGS. THAT’S AMAZING IN ITSELF. (5:28) tHAT’S WHY WE’RE STILL OUT THERE PLAYING, THAT’S WHY WE’RE HEADLINING THESE BIG FESTIVALS AND PEOPLE ARE COMING OUT TO HEAR US BECAUSE THE SONGS HAVE REALLY STOOD THE TEST OF TIME.

STEPHANIE: WHO IS THE GREATEST PERSON, BESIDES DARYL, THAT YOU’VE EVER SHARED THE STAGE WITH (CHUCKLING)?

JOHN: (LAUGHING) BESIDES DARYL! THAT’S FUNNY! I’M GLAD YOU INCLUDED HIM. HE’D BE VERY OFFENDED IF HE WASN’T INCLUDED IN THAT. (LAUGHING) WELL, THERE’S SO MANY. THE TEMPTATIONS; WE DID A SHOW WITH THEM AT THE APOLLO THEATRE BACK IN THE 80’S , THAT WAS A HIGHLIGHT. I’VE BEEN ON STAGE WITH MICK JAGGER AND TINA TURNER , UH, PLAYED WITH THEM. WE’VE ACTUALLY BACKED THEM UP AT ‘LIVE AID’???, UH , GEEZ. I DON’T KNOW. THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.

YOU KNOW I GOT A CHANCE TO JAM WITH ALLEN TOUCENT? , I PLAYED WITH SAM BUSH, ONE OF THE GREATEST MANDALIN PLAYERS OF ALL TIME.

STEPHANIE: WOW.

JOHN: I JUST PLAYED WITH VINCE GILL. AND THERE’S ALL THESE NEW PEOPLE I’VE BEEN WORKING WITH AS PART OF THIS NEW GOOD ROAD TO FOLLOW PROJECT WHICH I’M DOING. YOU KNOW I’M GETTING TO WRITE AND PERFORM AND PLAY WITH YOUNG BANDS LIKE HOT SHOW RAY AND PEOPLE LIKE RYAN PEETER? …FROM ONE REPUBLIC. SO, I MEAN, IT’S JUST REALLY AN AMAZING…AN AMAZING THING.

STEPHANIE: YOU ARE REALLY BLESSED.

JOHN: I AM.

STEPHANIE: WHAT’S THE BIGGEST LIFE LESSON LEARNED THROUGHOUT YOUR 40+ YEAR MUSIC CAREER?

JOHN: WELL, I MEAN, TO BASICALLY APPRECIATE THE MOMENT WHEN YOU ARE THERE, WHEN YOU ARE A PART OF IT. AND NOT LET THESE MOMENTS ; YOU KNOW LIKE THE MOMENTS I JUST DESCRIBED TO YOU, LIKE PLAYING WITH ? OR TUCSON? OR MICK JAGGER OR AT THE APOLLO THEATRE. TO REALIZE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING, RIGHT NOW, AND IN FACT, IT MAY NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. ACTUALLY, NOTHING WILL EVER HAPPEN THE SAME WAY AGAIN; TO NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. I THINK, IN GENERAL, YOU KNOW, NOT TAKING MY, MY TALENT, AND MY UH, MY, THE BLESSINGS THAT I’VE BEEN GIVEN FOR GRANTED IS A VERY VERY IMPORTANT THING. UM, AND UH YOU KNOW, I DON’T TAKE IT LIGHTLY.

STEPHANIE: RIGHT. YOU, YOU COME ACROSS AS A ‘ONE LOVE’ KIND OF MAN.

JOHN: WELL, YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE IN WHAT I DO, YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE THAT IN LIFE, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE HAS TO WORK THROUGH IT, I THINK, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE BORN TO MONEY OR BORN INTO POVERTY, YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO WORK FOR SOMETHING …

STEPHANIE: RIGHT.

JOHN: …AND IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO, IT’S NOT REALLY WORK. SO, I THINK THAT’S THE GOAL THAT EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE.

STEPHANIE: FOLLOWING YOUR PASSION. I COMPLETELY AGREE.

JOHN: (JOKING) I’M OLD, THAT’S WHY.

STEPHANIE: YOU’RE NOT OLD! YOU ARE SELLING OUT AT BONNAROO RIGHT NOW! LIKE, YOU ARE THE MAN AND NOTHING SHORT OF THAT! (LAUGHS)

JOHN: IT GETS BETTER BY THE MINUTE!

STEPHANIE: I AM INSPIRED AND IMPRESSED!…OKAY I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION FROM A FAN, A FRIEND OF MINE IN AUSTRALIA ACTUALLY, NYK REYNOLDS. HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DRUM KIT IN THE ‘OUT OF TOUCH’ VIDEO?

JOHN: (LAUGHING) HA! THAT’S FUNNY .YEAH, THAT WAS A SET. YEAH, THAT WAS BUILT. IT WAS A FAKE DRUM OBVIOUSLY, UM, BUILT FOR THE VIDEO, AND I REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO IT. I HAVE NO IDEA. SOMEBODY PROBABLY CHOPPED IT AND PUT IT IN THEIR FIREPLACE. I HAVE NO, NO CLUE.

STEPHANIE: (LAUGHING) WELL, MR. RYNOLDS ALSO ASKED ABOUT THE HALL & OATES FIST FIGHTING RUMOR HE HEARD ON AN AUSSIE RADIO STATION… A WHILE BACK…THE ONE ABOUT YOU GUYS FIST FIGHTING HUEY LEWIS BACKSTAGE…OVER A HEADLINING POSITION? IS THAT EVEN TRUE? LOL

JOHN: SAY THAT AGAIN.

STEPHANIE: {realizing I should never have relayed this dumbass question} HE MENTIONED A RUMOR ABOUT HALL & OATES FIST FIGHTING HUEY LEWIS BACKSTAGE OVER A HEADLINING POSITION.

JOHN: THAT IS SO RIDICULOUSLY STUPID , I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN.

STEPHANIE: OKAY WELL, WE WILL JUST TELL HIM NO. (LAUGHING)

JOHN: I’VE NEVER HAD A FIST FIGHT WITH ANY MUSICIAN. EVER. AND I THINK HUEY LEWIS IS GREAT. (LAUGHS)

STEPHANIE: WELL, WE CAN CONFIRM TO AUSTRALIA NOW THAT [RUMOR] IS NOT TRUE. OTHER PEOPLE WERE QUESTIONING THE MEANING BEHIND, CERTAIN SONGS; AMBER BATCHLER WANTS TO KNOW, ABOUT THE SONG ‘I CAN’T GO FOR THAT’ ; SHE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU COULDN’T GO FOR?

JOHN: YOU KNOW, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THAT SONG IS ABOUT THE PRESSURES OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS . IF YOU LOOK AT WHEN THAT SONG CAME OUT WE ,WERE IN THE MIDST OF THIS INCREDIBLE, POP-STAR, UH, YOU KNOW, TIME; WHERE EVERYTHING WE PUT ON THE RADIO (11:11) WENT TO NUMBER ONE, WE WERE IN DEMAND ALL OVER THE WORLD, WE WERE CONSTANTLY TOURING, MAKING VIDEOS, MAKING RECORDS, UH, DOING PRESS. IT WAS JUST NON STOP. THAT SONG IS KIND OF THE REACTION TO THE MUSIC BUSINES IN SAYING LIKE, HEY, YOU KNOW WE’LL DO CERTAIN THINGS, BUT THERE’S CERTAIN THINGS WE’RE NOT GOING TO DO. WE’RE GOING TO SAY NO AT SOME POINT, AND SO GET READY FOR IT. BECAUSE YOU CAN PUSH US AROUND BUT YOU CAN ONLY PUSH US SO FAR. THAT’S PRETTY MUCH WHAT THAT SONG’S ABOUT.

STEPHANIE: JOHN LINDEN WANTS TO KNOW IF THERE WAS ANY CHANCE THAT YOU WOULD APPEAR ON ‘LIVE FROM DARYL’S HOUSE’ THE WEB TV SERIES?

JOHN: WELL IVE BEEN ON IT 3 TIMES. I DID THE FIRST ONE WHICH WAS THE HALL AND OATES CHRISTMAS ALBUM WE DID ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO AND THEN I DID ONE FOR MY SOLO ALBUM, BACK IN 2009. THEN I DID THE TRIBUTE SHOW TO T-BONE, WHEN OUR GREAT FRIEND T-BONE WOLF PASSED AWAY. SO, IVE BEEN ON IT 2 TIMES AND YES I WOULD LIKE TO DO IT AGAIN. IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME REALLY.

STEPHANIE: WHEN YOU LEAVE THIS WORLD, WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE?

JOHN: I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT I’M, THAT I LIVED THE…THAT I DID EXACTLY WHAT I CAME HERE, WHAT I WAS BORN TO DO; HOPEFULLY TREATED PEOPLE WELL AND THAT I WAS A GOOD FATHER. THAT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.

STEPHANIE: THAT’S AWESOME. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN, I CAN NOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR THIS AND UM, YOU GAVE ME SOME REALLY, REALLY GOOD MATERIAL IN THAT YOU’VE EXPRESS MORE ABOUT WHO YA’LL ARE AS PEOPLE ,VERSUS FAMOUS STARS.

IVE COME TO THE REALIZATION THAT CELEBRETIES, THEY’VE WORKED FOR WHAT THEY HAVE AS WELL AND THAT THEY ARE REAL PEOPLE , YOU KNOW. I WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT ABOUT YOU. I APPRECIATE YOU TALKING TO ME.

JOHN: NICE. I HOPE WE HAVE A GOOD…I DON’T THINK WE’VE EVER BEEN TO BOSSIER CITY, BUT IT’S SHREVEPORT, RIGHT?

STEPHANIE: IT IS. SHREVEPORT, YES. ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW SAM COOKE WROTE THAT SONG, “ A CHANGE IS GONNA COME,” WHILE LOCKED UP IN THE SHREVEPORT CITY JAIL.

JOHN: WOW. WELL, YOU KNOW, I LOVE LOUISIANA IN GENERAL , YOU KNOW, WE’VE BEEN DOWN THERE SO MANY TIMES. IN FACT, IT’S REALLY STRANGE; YOU PROBABLY DON’T REALIZE THIS BUT ONE OF THE FIRST PLACES OUTSIDE OF PHILADELPHIA THAT DARYL AND I BECAME POPULAR, IN THE EARLY 70S, WAS LOUISIANA. I DON’T KNOW WHY WE , I THINK OUR MUSIC JUST WORKED, FOR SOME REASON. WE USE TO GO AND PLAY ALL THE STATE COLLEGES LIKE LOUISIANA TECH , YOU KNOW, UH, NORTHERN LOUISIANA, NSU; WE PLAYED , THIBODAUX, NATCHITOCHES, I MEAN, WE PLAYED ALL OVER LOUISIANA. WE HAD A GREAT EXPERIENCE DOWN THERE IN THE EARLY DAYS.

STEPHANIE: THAT IS COOL. YOU KNOW LOUISIANA SO WELL

JOHN: WE USE TO SPEND SOME TIME, LIKE A MONTH, JUST DRIVING AROUND LOUISIANA , DRIVING AROUND; LIKE, SHOWS BACK IN 1973-1974 ; WHEN PEOPLE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHO WE WERE.

STEPHANIE: OMG. THERE’S A LOT OF HUGE ARTISTS THAT CAME FROM HERE, THERE IS SO MUCH MUSIC HISTORY HERE. IT FASCINATES ME. IT REALLY DOES.

JOHN: WELL, YOU KNOW, IT’S ONE OF THE GREAT BIRTHPLACES OF AMERICAN MUSIC TRADITION .

STEPHANIE: THANK YOU! MAYBE PEOPLE WILL START HEARING ME NOW. I’VE BEEN PREACHING THAT FOR TEN YEARS NOW. (LAUGHS) IT’S WHAT KEEPS ME INSPIRED… ABOUT THE MUSIC HERE. MY DAD IS A GUITARIST AND RAISED ME RIGHT, ON CLASSIC MUSIC, EVEN GAVE ME ALL HIS VINYL INCLUDING AN LP OF YOURS.

THE MORE THAT I DIG FOR INFO ABOUT THIS AREA, SHREVEPORT- BOSSIER, I CONTINUE TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF… POWERFUL GENRES.. AS FAR AS SOUL MUSIC, BLUES, AND GOSPEL-THE GOSPEL HIGHWAY, YOU KNOW, AND THEN SAM COOKE PASSED. I MEAN, THE MAN BASICALLY PIONEERED THE SOUL GENRE, AND THEN MOTOWN CAME ALONG, R &B…AND THEN YOU GUYS JUST LAID IT OUT THERE FOR PEOPLE AS WELL. WITH AN ATTITUDE “LIKE OR NOT” …YOU KNOW? IT WAS SO AUTHENTIC , IN THAT, YOU’RE RIGHT, IT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME. THAT IS WHERE MY PASSION FOR MUSIC COMES FRO; IT CONTAINING SO MUCH TRUTH WITHIN IT…IF PEOPLE WOULD ONLY REALLY , REALLY LISTEN.

JOHN: YEAH. OH, I AGREE WITH YA!!

STEPHANIE: SO, YES, I CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU AT THE SHOW. YA’LL ARE COMING JUNE 1ST, TO THE HORSESHOE RIVERDOME IN BOSSIER. I TALKED TO YOUR STAFF ABOUT SOME PRESS PASSES SO I LOOK FORWARD TO SHAKING YOUR HAND.

JOHN: YUP, THAT SOUNDS GOOD. I’M SURE **** WILL TAKE CARE OF THAT.

STEPHANIE: THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN , I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND YOU’VE BLESSED ME WITH A GREAT DAY!

JOHN: THANK YOU VERY MUCH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!

STEPHANIE: OKAY. YOU TOO MAN!

JOHN: ALRIGHT BYE!

STEPHANIE: OKAY BYE!

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An Interview with John Oates of Hall&Oates| Yes, really. INTERVIEW WITH JOHN OATES| RECORDED BY STEPHANIE FRUGE' | WED. MAY 1ST, 2013|TRANSCRIBED MAY 16th, 2013…

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