Cleared Hot - Powered By BRCC - The End of Democracy?

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Is what they are saying online true? Have we reached the end of Democracy? Has the experiment known as America run its course? As if those topics aren't considered "controversial" enough, let's layer on to that a discussion about January 6th, and the role our decisions and actions play in outcome. Today's Sponsors: AG1: AG1 is offering new subscribers a FREE $76 gift when you sign up. You'll get a Welcome Kit, a bottle of D3K2 AND 5 free travel packs in your first box. https://DrinkAG1.com/clearedhot Spartan Forge: https://spartanforge.ai/

It's over, everybody. It's the end. It's the end of democracy. At least that's what I'm hearing online. And I'm sorry for the title of the show. It's a little bit more clickbait than I would prefer or that I generally go with. But it is legitimately something that I have heard quite a few times since the 20th. And we're not that many days past the 20th. And I'll be honest with you, in that week, since. Since then, I have traveled pretty substantially. I was in a major city on inauguration day. I have had conversations for the podcast. I had conversations at dinner in the airport with strangers, with friends. And at the coffee shop, again, in the major city and the smaller town where I live. And it hasn't been the end for anybody that I've encountered in the real world. I'm not saying that there aren't people who potentially are struggling more than others.

But the only place where I get this existential dread, the guillotine mid-drop about to touch the throat, is online. And I think we have to talk about it. There are some things we have to talk about with the change of the new administration. So we're going to get into it. Too long didn't read up front? No, I don't think we're at the end of democracy. Is it possible? Yeah.

but so was an asteroid hitting planet Earth tomorrow and then it really wouldn't matter, would it? But I just don't think that we're there. And I think people could really dedicate their time to doing something productive as opposed to virtue signaling and just transmitting rage online. So that's what we're going to get into. Now, for people who have followed this podcast, you know that I love doing this. You know that this is something that I never thought I was going to be able to make a living at or a foundation economically for my family. But it has become that over the years. And I love questioning myself, questioning my beliefs,

having conversations with people about the amazing thing that they've done in life. And I'm able to bring it to you for free because I work with sponsors. So please allow me to keep doing so. And give me the next 90 seconds of your life to pay the bills, to keep this going, to allow me to provide this to everybody for free. Ladies and gentlemen, 2025 has been a banger so far probably started off for what most people felt like uneven terrain and it is continuing to maybe get a little bit uneven depending on where you land on any particular spectrum. For me, 2025 is about trying to do better. And that's probably been my goal for the last two decades.

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It comes with this container. There's a scoop inside of it. You throw it in there. And you're good to go. Let's get back to the show. To the smoke. I'm looking at danger close now. Well, I guess now is as good of a time as any to get into this a little bit.

I would like everyone collectively to just maybe join me in a moment of just taking a deep breath. Take a big old deep breath in. Just we're going to be okay. that's probably the best place to start. That is legitimately from the bottom of my heart, from the essence of who I am, the core of my beliefs and my morals, that is how I feel. We are going to be okay. Does that mean that the road forward is going to always be easy? No. Does that mean that we are constantly going to have obstacles for the next four, eight, 12, 16 years? Yes. But I believe that as a society,

We are capable of figuring it out without losing who we are and destroying what we have. The title of the show. The End of Democracy. Like I said, I hate the clickbait shit. But in the online interactions that I have had. And I'm going to say specifically on X. And a little bit, I guess I've seen some on Instagram as well. And I can't really speak for the other ones because those are the two that I use.

So somebody else or others will have to fill me in on the conference. commentary and what it's been like. On X, it seems as if the sky is falling. The end of democracy, the erosion of the United States, what it stands for. And I guess what I'll say is this. Is it possible that in the next four years, we will see the end of what the United States is and what it stands for? Sure. Maybe it is possible. I don't believe that it is plausible. But it's also possible that I'm going to get hit by traffic on my way across the street from the studio after recording this episode and it'll never see the light a day. But I don't think that that's plausible either because I do everything I can to make sure that that doesn't happen. And I think most people fall into that bucket when it comes to things on a national level as well.

As I said in the intro, man, I have been traveling. I was just about to say not of my own doing, but I'm the one who booked the tickets. I have been traveling quite a bit over the last week, and I have actually gone out of my way to talk with people, more so than I normally would. It's not that I'm an antisocial person. It's just I am not an extroverted person. I would say I'm a little bit more of an introverted person. Might seem a little bit weird. I'm talking into a camera right now and broadcasting this onto the internet. Social settings are a little bit different. They're not really my cup of tea. They're not something that I seek. They don't fill my cup up. They

emptied a little bit. But I've been talking to a lot of people because I am getting the sense of this tidal wave of destruction in one small aspect of my life, which is my voluntary participation in social media. And I just wanted to see what my eyes and ears and nose and senses were showing me in the real world. And the two are not congruent. They're almost diametrically opposed. Now, of course, there's not, not everybody is that way on social media. And there is an essence of what you interact with is going to feed you a little bit more of that. So maybe what I'm seeing is completely my fault. I'm talking about my own experiences through the own two eyes that I have. It can be considered anecdotal at best because I'm just talking about my personal experience.

But it was concerning to me. And I just, I need, I think, I need the help of people who will either see this or listen to this to try to help me understand some of the stuff that I'm seeing because I don't, I don't get it. I will. say this, my mentality in my life has drastically changed since I've gotten older. I had to ask Siri today earlier. This is embarrassing, but this is how my week has been. I had to ask Siri how old I was because I couldn't remember if I was 46 or 47 years old. I would like to report that I am 47 years old. And that means this year I'll turn 48. So I'm almost dead due to old age. Now, earlier in my life, if I encountered somebody who had a different opinion than my own, my likely response would have been,

have you ever considered just taking a step back and fucking your own face? Why don't you go take a long walk off a short cliff? Why don't you go fuck right off into the sunset? Those were three of probably my top three favorites. As I've gotten older, and I don't know if this was intentional, maybe this is a byproduct of just getting older. And I've traveled a good amount in my life. into some places I would recommend nobody go. We're talking real zeros on TripAdvisor and some places after military service that, man, I'm, I pinch myself that I've been able to go and be a part of

those experiences. But at some point in time, my thinking shifted. And it shifted from when encountering an opinion that I didn't understand or that rubbed me the wrong way for whatever reason. Maybe it was an opinion. It was a difference in morals, a difference in optic, whatever it may be, shifted from lashing out at that to initially asking myself a question before doing anything. How does somebody land at a place where they think that is true? What could possibly be going on in this person's life that would make them feel this way? And it's an interesting shift because I tell you what, it slows you down. I would say I probably was from a mentality perspective earlier in my life pretty deep into fifth gear.

and I was driving a dump truck with one of those diamond blades. It's probably not a diamond blade, but we'll call it a snow plow up front. And it was my way or the highway, foot on the gas. I had thousands of pounds in the back with an inertia and momentum. And I was just going. And pooh, it's an interesting way to live your life, live your wet life if you want to. But what I'll say is in my own experience, you're missing out on some stuff. You're missing out on other people's experiences.

You're missing out on other people's thoughts, their feelings. their truth, if you want to use that word. And it's been a cool journey to be able to at least start to think about from a much more neutral perspective, whether I agree with it or disagree with it, can I think about it, discuss with the person to a point where at least I understand how they arrived at that opinion? That doesn't mean that, you know, understanding does not equate to agreeance at all. I still violently disagree with a lot of people. But it's helped me take a beat and it's helped me arrive at that place where what I opened the episode with. Let's take a breath. So one of the things that I have noticed is people announcing to the world, either their departure

from social media platforms. Actually, let's cover that one first. Why did people take the time to announce Let's use it on X as an example. I am out of here. Why are you announcing your departure? At the airport, train station, maybe Uber, taxi, public service, subway, whatever it is, very normal for things to be announced when it comes to arrival and departures. For anything other than that, isn't it really weird for somebody to take the time to announce on the social media platform to people that they may not know all over the world that they're leaving?

Why don't you just leave? And I mean, I didn't announce my presence on any social media platforms when I joined them. And I get off of them for weeks at a time and I don't announce it. Again, I just, I don't know. Do people want to be more important than they think they are? Do they want to believe that the world is waiting on baited breath for their opinion? I don't know. It's just a weird one.

And that's one of the first ones that I saw pretty recently. Another one is this. Trump is not my president. And this one I was thinking about for a bit. I think what they mean to say is Trump is not the person that I voted for because I have a question for the people who are every day saying this. And let's assume you're a United States citizen because if you're not, yeah, that statement would be 100% and completely accurate in every way. Let's say you are a United States citizen and you say to yourself or you say to the world, Trump is not my president. My first question back to you would be this.

Who is? Who do you consider to be your president? Because he is the sworn and elected president of the United States of America. And if you're a United States citizen, whether you voted for the man or not, if you are going to claim allegiance in citizenship to the United States of America, the president is not a buffet. It's the item, it's like being at a bed and breakfast and they serve you a breakfast and you don't get to say what your breakfast is going to be because their chef cooking. one thing and one thing only because that's what's on the menu. For the next four years, assuming something doesn't change, which obviously it can and things will, mechanisms will move in place if something were to happen. That's going to be the case. So why are you, and there's

another one that pairs with this. This is people apologizing to the world. I just want everybody else to know out there that's not in the United States that this isn't who we are and this isn't what we stand for. And again, I'm all about people's First Amendment right. I think you should express your rights, all of them, as violently as possible. And I don't mean like with the level of physicality. I mean just commit. And what is the point of having a right if you don't express it? So get out there and get after it. But apologizing to the world is not necessarily your role. And if you want to have that role, we have people that do speak for the United States of America. And if you're so passionate about this, then I realize what I'm about.

to say people like, oh, yeah, there's maybe 15 people in the world that are able to do that or ambassadors or roles in government or whatever it may be. If you care that much about it, dive headlong into that path and become somebody who is actually a spokesman. And I guess at the end of the day, what I'm seeing is a lot of selective outrage on transmit. And I wonder, what does day-to-day life look for these people? Do they actually think that democracy will end. I haven't encountered somebody yet in real life who I can ask that question to, but if I did, I would love to because I want to understand the mechanism by which they think that that is going

to happen. Now, I will admit it's possible, but like I said, I don't think it's probable. If it was going to happen, I feel like it would have happened in the first four years that Trump was in office. Now, a lot of people are going to point towards January 6th when I say that. And I'm actually going to talk about January 6 very specifically because it's going to be the second half of this episode specifically around an exchange I had on Twitter. And here's what I'll say about January 6th and Trump. He will, for the rest of his life, be tied to that day and those events.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles for him. He is going to have to answer for his actions, his inactions, his speech or lack of speech. and there are people who have dedicated their lives at this point to trying to separate the wheat from the chaff on that one, so I'm going to let them have that. Let's say January 6th had destroyed the Capitol building and a variety of members of the senators and congressmen. Would that have destroyed democracy? No, it wouldn't have. it would have destroyed some of our infrastructure and mechanisms that allow our government to function. But even something what I just described, which would have been an absolute catastrophe, a horrible stain on the United States of America, it wouldn't have destroyed our democracy.

I think what people are trying to express is that they're scared because they're scared because they're They didn't vote for who is in office now, and they can't understand how anybody else did. And they also can't come to the realization that more people voted for the opposing candidate than the one that they ideologically align with. And I get it. That can be really challenging. And to kind of put a pin into this end of democracy thing, because I'm not going to list through this chapter and verse of all the threats that I have. threats to democracy that people are putting out there. Actually, I'm going to list two more. Immigration and the cartels, because this is one that keeps coming up. We'll start with the cartels

one real quick. I'm starting to see people say, great, Trump designed a declaration of war with Mexico. And that is a very, very broad and gross misunderstanding of what happens when the cartels have been designated as a terrorist organization. I have had quite a few conversations with people over the years on this topic. I'm not going to claim to be an expert. What I'm going to be doing is drawing from my conversations with them and what experts have told me. Let's start with this. Is there a high level of construction inside of Mexico with likely cartel infiltration to the highest levels of government? Yes, that is me repeating what I have heard experts in the cartel saying. Does that mean, though, if we designate cartels a terrorist organization that we are going to war writ

large with Mexico? No, it does not. It changes the authority. that government agencies and likely now the military will have in addressing these threats. Could it potentially mean things like drone strikes, special operation strikes? Yeah, I think it could. Would those things have a positive benefit? I think they might have a positive benefit from the eyes of a tactician disrupting the cartel infrastructure. I'm not so sure they're going to have any impact on the floor.

of narcotics across the border because they don't address supply and they don't address addiction. And those are two things that I think we have to address in addition to tactical options if we're actually going to make a difference. But you're people screaming, we're going to war with Mexico. We're going to war with Mexico. And that is just plain and utter bullshit. That is fear mongering. The designation as a terrorist organization opens the cage door on some mechanisms that those entities, and by that I mean the cartels, Trende Aragua, I believe was pulled into that as well. That opens the cage on our side of the fence to some tools that those individuals on the other side of the fence have no fucking idea

what could potentially come their way. Without that being opened, which is something that we haven't tried in our, what, 20 plus year war on drugs? Without that being opened, I am worried that we would stay in some. of the status quo. Do I want to see special operations routinely doing cross-border operations targeting the cartel? No, I do not. Would I be opposed to drone strikes limiting civilian casualties and tactically removing the figureheads and leadership of this organization? Personal answer, speaking only for me, no problem with that whatsoever. Have somebody die in your life tied to addiction. And it's going to walk back a little bit how much you would be concerned about

ending the life of those that made that possible. Again, personal opinion only counts for myself. We're not going to war with Mexico. We're going to war with the cartels. It's not going to be trench warfare. It's not going to be lining up against, you know, two mountains looking at each other in a valley and slugging it out. I think we're finally going to try something a little bit new. This is my hope. I hope that what I think is going to be true, that we're going to try something a little bit new. Try a tool that hasn't been utilized before that I think has the capacity to potentially decimate those organizations and put the fear of God in those people. And I hope that it works. And another one is deportations. Immigration and deportations. I have much like my shift in

mentality when it comes to when I hear things now that I may not agree with as opposed to jumping on them I try to take a step back and work my way and look at it through different angles. I would like to believe that my empathy has shifted as I've gotten older either. Either also. Yeah, that's the correct word I'm looking for. It's been one of those days. I can be incredibly empathetic to somebody arrives. I'm going to use our southern borders an example because this is where most of this occurs,

fleeing an utterly horrendous situation from their home country. Let's say they're coming from Venezuela, home. Trende-Aaragua. They're trying to get out of there for whatever reason it may be. I can empathize with that person. I legitimately want the best for everybody. But at some point in time, we have to also prioritize our own citizens, our own country, the health of our own citizens and country before we have an unchecked policy and an open door policy. If you have difficulty hearing me say that we've had an open door policy. My suggestion would be please try to find somebody who works directly with CBP, Border Patrol, ICE, and have a conversation about the realities of their job.

This is, again, I am not an expert, but I have had many, many conversations with people who work in this world. And regardless of what the previous administration or even what the current administration may tell us in the future, those people were struggling. They were underwater. And at best, they were able to implement a policy that most of them did not agree with, what were limited by the law in doing so. Some stats for people as to why I think this is important. And these are estimates. This is actually tough to get exact numbers on this. But in the past four years, the estimate is that 11 million illegal immigrants crossed into the United States. That is a rough estimate. Most people think that that is very low, but that's a number that I was able to find a few times, so I'm going to go with that one.

people may say, well, what does that matter in a country of 360 plus million people? And my question to you would be, do you have any idea how many people are born per year? And the average answer is 3.4 to 3.6. Not the average answer, but that's the average per year. So in the two to three years previous to the one we just started, that's about 10.9 million births. We are at a point where more people are emigrating to this country, illegal. than we are having people born inside of the United States of America. And again, the birthright citizenship, that's an argument that is going to be had in the courts

because I know it's a constitutional issue. So I'm going to leave that one for those who are experts in that. I'm just talking about sheer numbers, people coming across the border versus people who are actually being born in this country. It's not sustainable. Do I want families deported? I don't. Do I want there to be a pathway for people who are in this country that are illegal,

who are probably living their lives as a better citizen than some lazy fucks in this country who want to have a handout and no willingness to do anything. Yeah, I want there to be a pathway for them. For those who are here who are contributing members of society, I think we can figure out a way for them to stay. For those that are here that are criminals who are gang members, I have a different opinion. And it's more of a get the fuck out of here opinion. Now, how do we do that ethically and humanely? I'm not an expert on that one.

But I also believe that we can solve that problem. And if we don't, we are going to have an unchecked problem. Now, the answers to this test exist in other areas in the world. I'm going to point you towards Europe in some areas where law enforcement is unwilling or unable to go, where cultures have established themselves and they are living under their own legal system with their own courts. And by the way, this is not sanctioned by the country that they are in. These are enclaves that they have created that nobody else can go into. And that is not what the United States needs.

And that is not going to help the United States survive and preserve our democracy. If you want to come to our country, I think that is amazing. But you need to become a part of our country, not turn our country into the country that you left. Personal opinion, again, may not be popular. I don't really care because that's actually how I feel. We can figure out a problem, we can figure out a solution to the problem that we are having without breaking our democracy. Are there going to be some hard choices made? Yeah. Are there going to be pictures of women and children crying at the border? Yes, there are. And my advice to people is this, stay the course. Because if you want democracy to survive, you are going to have to make difficult choices. And not every single person is going to be satisfied all the time. So to put a bow on it. Are we going to lose our democracy? You know what the answer to that question is? It depends. It depends. It depends on how we can come together and find solutions. If all you want to do is be

an adjutant, a resistor, and dig your heels in to prevent anything from happening, in my opinion, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution. The only reason we'd lose our democracy is if we allowed it to happen. So let's switch gears here for a second. We're talk a little bit about January 6th. What's going on, everybody? Today's episode is also brought to you by Spartan Forge. Last year, 2024, one of my favorite guests was Bill Thompson, the founder of Spartan Forge. He created a pretty damn awesome product.

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If you're a hunter, get your ass on this. Even if you're not a hunter, you do things outdoors. Can't recommend it enough. Let's get back to the show. Okay, let's chat a little bit about an exchange I had on X or multiple exchanges on X. And let's start with this. I've had some people on that platform specifically around this exchange say, I'm so disappointed in you, Andy.

usually I agree with you, but I just can't stand behind you on this one. My response to those people is always the same. I don't know who you think I am, but I'm just a human being with opinions. And guess what? I'm not right all the time. And I don't expect people to think that I am. I make mistakes every day. I try to do them at a micro level, not a macro level, but guess what?

Sometimes I do both a lot. But I am just a normal person. And I don't know how that is lost. Do I have a relatively bizarre job of sitting here talking to people that are not actually able to talk back to me? Yeah. But I'm not different than anybody listening to this. I might have had some unique experiences in my life, but we're all people at the end of the day. So let's just start with that.

Because when we get into this, there's going to be one thing that I wish I could go back and change. But I'll tell you also why I didn't because it highlights the fact that I am a human being. I got this email. I got this email here. It said, Andy, I've never seen you go back and forth with people so much. Is there any way you might do a Friday show on your thoughts about the shooting of the Capitol Hill that day? Obviously, meaning January 6th. Was she the biggest threat?

I'm going to explain who she was in a minute. What would you have done in that situation and so on? Goes on a little bit to talk about whether or not he's a bigger idiot or I'm a bigger idiot. Clearly, he claims he's the king of idiots. No, the crown is actually sitting just off screen. Actually, maybe this is my crown. People also seem to love this Bronco Beanie, total non sequitur. I have a, I have a Bronco.

somebody from Ford mailed this to me. I have absolutely no idea where to get those. So for probably close to 100 people who have reached out asking me where to get that beanie, I'm sorry. I don't know where it came from. Came in a Ford envelope. Thank you. Whoever said that.

Let's get back on topic. I'm going to read the tweet or the X, whatever the fuck it's called, that I responded to. This is from a, and I'll put it up to you so people are on video can take a look at it. This is from account called the end of wokenness. Ashley Babett was an Air Force veteran who served this country for 12 plus years and won awards for her Iraq service. Ashley was 5 foot 2 inches tall, 115 pounds, unarmed. Lieutenant Michael Byrd, spelled with a Y, B-YR-D, shot her in the neck. Biden just pardoned him.

Here's my response. I'm going to read it. And before I read this, this is going to probably piss some people off. And that's okay, because like I said, I have opinions and you don't have to agree with them. But I'm going to unpack in a way that I'm not able to on the. social platforms because there are limitations to this text-only communication. Here was my response. Actions have consequences.

Her choices, decision to be present that day, and her actions are the cause of her death. Service to country does not excuse the consequences of your decisions. Now, there's a change that I would make to that if I could go back. And I didn't make that change because I think it's okay. and maybe even essential that people see me making mistakes. And I wouldn't even call it a mistake. There's a word that I would change. And fuck it, I'll start with that.

What I would change is when I said her choices and decision to be present that day and her actions are the cause of her death, I would change that to led to her death because causality is a bitch. And blame is what everybody jumped on. They wanted to associate blame. Who is responsible for her death? And, God, that's a complicated question. Now, the reason that I actually even responded to this tweet,

which was actually clearly about the fact that Michael Byrd was part in. That was, if you look at this, that is the underlying tone of this tweet. That was actually what it's about. And let me say this. I don't, I don't understand precisely. pardons, what they cover. I've heard people say they cover things into the future. I've reached out actually on X and it covers you up to the point that which the pardon was made

and maybe for a defined amount of time before. But you could still be called to be investigated. If you lie, there's a lot of nuance associated with that. Let me say this, though, about pardons. In an officer involved shooting, I believe that there should always be an investigation. And if we want to believe in our legal system, you have to let the legal system play itself out. You can't sidestep it. Because if you do and you pardon people in a situation like this, it creates doubt.

And organizations like law enforcement do not need any additional doubt levied on top of them. They don't need any more weight on their shoulders because there already is enough. So I would not have liked to have seen this person been pardoned. I would have liked to let the system play itself out. But what got me to respond was how this tweet was phrased. they led with the shit that is the least important. And the one thing that the officer that day had no chance of knowing. And that was their military career.

Now, anybody who knows me knows that I have said this time and time and time again. I believe that all service is honorable. My job in special operations would not have been possible if it wasn't for the conventional forces that enabled and allowed me to do my job. The seal teams, green berets, rangers, I can't speak for any of them, but at least the seal teams. You strip away conventional forces. We can't do shit. We can sit around kicking rocks and pulling on our dicks and high-speed gear, but we can't get anywhere and we can't do anything.

It takes a village, right? All service is honorable. But her service in this instance had nothing to do with what happened because that man who pulled the trigger did not know about her military service. So leading with that is bullshit. You are leading with information that in the moment nobody knew. And why are you doing so? because you're trying to make a point that a veteran got killed.

And you're trying to make that part of why she was killed. And that's fucking bullshit. That is intellectually dishonest at best. And I wish people would knock that shit off. If you want to have a real conversation about what happened in this moment, you have to talk about the information that people had in the moment. How did you make the decision? What information did you have?

What was the tactical situation on the ground? If you go to court, they're not going to pull up. a military record and talk about awards from Iraq, even though I guarantee you they would because they're trying to humanize the person and paint the picture. I'll use it. Okay, so I'll take that out of a courtroom setting. I'm going to talk about an investigation into a shooting overseas. You were asked about the information you had in the moment and the decision that you made. Why? Because it's the only thing that actually mattered. It would be a horrendous thing to come around a corner and see somebody raising a gun at you and you pull the trigger and afterwards, in an investigation,

that you find out that it was actually mother Teresa of fill in the country and she had just picked up a weapon for whatever reason and was getting ready to throw it in an attempt to, you know, make sure that nobody lost their life. But you perceived it as somebody raising a weapon in you and you took action. In that situation, you would be legally justified under inherent right of self-defense, hostile act, hostile intent based off of what you saw. Let me tell you right now, you'd feel like a complete fucking asshole afterwards knowing all that other information. but the investigation is about what you knew in the moment and what happened there. So I know I'm ranting, but this shit pisses me off. Service is amazing, but it's not everything. And I stand by what I said in the tweet.

Service to country does not excuse the consequences of your decisions. And I do believe that the decisions that we make in life have consequences. We live in a country that is very free. Far more free than, I'm not going to say most, than a lot of countries on Earth. How do I know that? Because I've been there. People seem to equate freedom with safety.

And they have it completely backwards. Freedom is very, very dangerous. Freedom allows you movement and choices. Now, how do I arrive? or why do I feel like, and again, let me reread this to make sure my words are specific. Her choices, decision to be present that day, and her actions led to her death. That's what I wish I would have put down. But I'm leaving the mistake up because the Internet lives forever and I'm fine with my mistakes living forever.

Why do I say that? January 6th, like I said, is going to be tied to Trump for the rest of his life. And he gets to eat that shit sandwich. I'm glad that I don't have to have anything to do with that. when I was talking a few weeks ago about what happened in New Orleans, I talked about risk, risk tolerance in proximity to risk. I don't remember my exact words, but I know that the attack there occurred in the early morning hours. I think it was between 2 and 3 a.m., if not slightly after 3 a.m.

And I made the comment of, I know what's going on on Beale Street at 3 a.m. in the morning. People are getting after it. They're living their life. Their shit face, they're partying. And I'm not here to tell people how to party. But at this phase of my life, I understand the potential. risk associated with, not necessarily an act like that, but just how people are at three in the morning after having consumed two gallons of margaritas. It gets a little wild. And I don't like it.

So I make the choice to not put myself in those situations and I manage my exposure to that risk. January 6th. You know, more than anything, what breaks my heart about January 6th, and people can argue, and I've heard this online too, like it saved our democracy. It was an insurrection. I hate watching the videos of that day because what you're watching are Americans fighting other Americans over a difference in ideological beliefs. Some of them might say morality and add that on top of that. But we were not fighting an external enemy. It was Americans fighting Americans.

Some of the Americans were trying to do their job, what they were tasked and paid and responsible to do. and other Americans were trying to express whatever it is they felt that they were trying to express. I've heard it run the gamut. I'm not going to try to put words in somebody else's mouth. But we weren't fighting a foreign adversary. It was Americans fighting Americans. The fact that this woman got shot is fucking horrendous.

And before I going further into this, I've been to the Capitol. I went to the Capitol after the shooting occurred, not right after years later. And I've walked through the halls and I've talked with the people that work there, the police that are tasked with the security of that building. And I walk to the exact location where this occurred, which is essentially and broadly a door in the middle with glass panels on the side of it. I believe, you know what I'm not even going to say it. I was going to say I thought that there was something particular behind that door. But I, because I cannot be 100 percent certain, I'm going to leave it at that. is what that doorway looked like. I support everybody's right to be there that day. Now, when it comes to choices and the cascading effects of those choices,

there is a difference between somebody traveling from wherever they live to Washington, D.C., to be present at this event. there's a difference between that and somebody traveling from wherever they live, coming to the event, and being on the front lines of the engagement between the civilians and the police. One of those decisions, the decision to move forward and engage in that and express yourself in that way, carries so much more risk than physically being there as an observer, staying outside of the building, being there to show your support. And again, I'm not telling people how to live their life or what they should do. I am looking at this through the lens of the consequences of our decisions, which is what this tweet, the tweet was not about that. My comment to the tweet was about that. Freedom allows you choice.

Choice can be very dangerous. And sometimes it can lead to you losing your life. Now, I'm not trying to associate fault in that. but the agency and responsibility of those choices falls to the individuals. There is a difference between being there, between being at the front lines or the front engagement, between being there and the front engagement and when the crowd surges forward, breaking through windows and doors. There's a difference between breaking through windows and doors and being at the front

of a mass of people that is moving through and, and encountering a locked door with glass panes on either side, smashing that, observing a Capitol police officer with his weapon extended, telling you to stop multiple times and coming through that glass anyway. And I'm going to stop at that point because this is where I don't think we're ever going to get any more data, especially on what the Capitol Police would have found in an investigation because he was pardoned. And I don't agree with that. I agree with the system playing itself out.

Is she at fault for what happened to her? I'm not going to say that. Did she make decisions continuously that put her in increasing danger? Yes. If she had made a different decision at any point in time leading up into that point, would she likely still be alive? Yes. and that is what I was talking about in this tweet.

And people say, well, oh, so what do you say? And if I go to the, if I decide to go to the gas station and I get run over, is that my fault? I'm like, no. And that's a really obscure way to look at this because what you're leaving out of that is most people are at the gas station in the normal course of their life. Can accidents happen? Sure. I guess could your decision to go to another gas station to save your life? Sure.

But let's remember what we're talking about here. This is a very unique circumstance and event that this person chose to be a part of, that chose to go internal, that chose to find. And it is possible that she got swept up and didn't realize she was at the front, but the decision to try to climb through the window at gunpoint, I don't know if somebody else could make that decision for you. As it got closer and closer to that point, those decisions start to have heavier and heavier and heavier consequences.

And it sucks what happened. But I'm going to add to that. being a veteran has nothing to do with it. You know? It's unfortunate that the person that lost their life was, in fact, a veteran. But I'll be honest with you as well. I would like to think that a veteran seeing somebody extending their service weapon, clearly telling you to stop, that you would realize and recognize maybe that that's not the point in time to push it, I don't know.

I'm glad that I wasn't in either of those people's shoes. A lot of people have asked me, well, what would you would have done? one guy was like oh would you have captored it's like first off dickface only fucking amateurs used terms like that right i was a professional at what i did i didn't cap anybody i made really shitty decisions with often limited information in the time afforded to me which was often fractions of a second so go fuck yourself to the mister did you go cap anybody i would need to know the tactical situation i would need to know exactly what that individual was tasked with doing i would also need to know why he was at that position and who was behind him. What were the consequences of

that person coming through the door? Because what is not talked about in this is that after that happened, that door was not breached. The crowd went back in the other direction. I wish it didn't get to that point, but that is what happened. And I can't articulate what I would have done in that situation because I would need to know what pieces of information I had in that time and what restraints I had on my decision making. But regardless, whatever decision I did make and whatever actions I did take, I'm going to go back to my tweet. Choices, decisions, and actions. There are consequences to all of those. It is so easy to get swept up in a crowd like that. It is so easy to get emotionally involved or attached into something going on like this.

And I'll close with this. This was a horrendous. catastrophe that could have been avoided. This person could have expressed every bit of what they likely were trying to do by being there without exposing themselves to this level of risk. Be careful with your decisions and your choices. They can have consequences that you may not understand. Be careful with your first. freedom, please. It can be exceptionally dangerous. And if you're not a good caretaker or steward

of it, it can take your life. And that's all I have for this Friday.