Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - A Deep Dive Into the Deshaun Watson Suspension and Brittney Griner’s Sentence

Episode Date: August 5, 2022

Van and Rachel analyze the reasoning behind Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension (12:04), react to Brittney Griner’s sentencing in Russian court (42:31), and discuss the federal charges against Breonna Taylor’s killers (54:04). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producer: Donnie Beacham Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Higher learning is on. It is I, Van Lathen, Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. What is that behind you, Rachel? Audio or visual? Audio.

I hear something in the background. Yeah, I'm at the airport in an emergency exit. That is the voice of who knows who at the airport. Yeah, the voice of God at the airport. Where are they telling you? They're telling you, is this a gate change? No, they're telling me to pick, I guess, pick up your bags. Let me tell you what happened to me.

I'm in Vegas right now. And what I was flying out to Vegas, it's a terrible flight. Very cramped. There was a dude who was profusely sweating. And he was carrying his daughter around by her arm. And I said, hey, Brad, maybe you. you should stop carrying the kid by her arm. I don't know.

And then as I said that to him, it looked like he started to sweat more. So I let that nigga have his space. I wasn't sure what was going on. You interfered with a parent-child relationship of a stranger? If you, if I see you carrying the kid around by their arm, like he had the kid with by one arm over the back.

I was like, hey, brother, you might be hurting her. And he, yeah, I can't. Yeah, I just, yeah, I did. Like he's he he he literally had the kid the kid is whimpering. He's like, come on. And he's bouncing. He's dislocating her shoulder. I'm like, yo man, hey, bro.

I think she's, I think she's, I think she's hurting her. Yeah, I got white for a second. Fuck it. You definitely did. I was going to say, what do you see when you see them spanking somebody in public? Oh, if I see you spanking your kid in public, I'll ask you not to do that around me. Are you serious? Yeah.

Oh my God. I had no. idea you had that in you well here's the thing if i see a nigga beating up his girl in public should i do nothing i guess i don't look at a couple of pops is the same thing as beating somebody up that's what it is i'm not against spanking yeah so uh wow i never knew this about you it's not that i'm against spanking you can spanking you can spank your kids all you want but there's a point of the spanking where I'm gonna be like, yo, relax.

You're absolutely right. And then you can tell me, you can tell me to stay out of it and I'm gonna go, you know what, you're right. And then I'm gonna go on about my business. But he looked like he was hurting her. I had a spanking or two

that probably was a little much back in the day. They hit me in the face with the belt one time. Were you moving? Because you know, they used to be like, Stay still, because I used to move. I used to fight back.

Like hit my hand, try to grab the belt. I think I was moving, but at the same time, I can't ever be sure that he wasn't trying to hit me in the face with the belt. I'm not sure I had a big weld. Let's go with moving. Let's go with moving. I don't know, man. I don't know.

I remember I would show the welt. Rest of the piece, dad, I showed a welt to him to try to be like, you hurt me. and I remember he looked at me he was eating a piece of cake he was like I see you leaning your cheek over he was eating a piece of German chocolate cake

because after I got whooped I would always get a reward it's like it would be like they would whip me and then it would be like here's something because we number one feel guilty number two

you survived the whooping so look oh wow Batman is on come here boy and so my dad's eating a piece of German chocolate cake and he looks at me

He was like, yeah, keep on. Keep leading it over here showing me that I'm going to put one on the other side. That's what he said. Oh, God. But I had, but this one, I had done something particularly bad. I had, I had, this is the time I mailed the letter. Did I ever tell you the time I wrote the letter and mailed the letter? Yeah.

So, look, he was, he was one of my favorite stories. Yeah, so that's when I got hit in the face with the belt. But so, going on to the airport, I was, there's this new place in the Delta Terminal where you could play video games. There's a video game cafe

where it's got all different types of video games. Not a regular arcade. You can play PS5, whatever, whatever, all of different monitors. And so I got so deep into Donkey Kong country when I was waiting to get on my plane, right? That I left and I left

my bag in the video game cafe. I left With like your laptop, your wallet. No, no, no, no. I had that in, I'm talking about the actual carry-on bag. I had my computer bag. And so I'm leaving. And when I get there, it's a gate chain.

So I'm hustling to get to the gate chains. And we're about to get on the plane. And they go, hey, if you want to check your bags, then you can check your bags. And I was like, maybe I should check the bag. And I was like, what bag? And then I'm like, where the fuck is the back? And I had to run all the way to the video game thing and then run back. By the time I got back, I was sweating.

more than the guy who was yanking his daughter around. I'm telling you. A full circle moment. She's never going to be a softball player with the way he was treating her. He knows who he is. I hope he listens to the podcast.

I'm glad you were able to get your bag. That's actually incredible. I probably would have just let it go. My mind is, I think I would just let it go. My mind is failing me. I left my bag in the video game place.

And then I, I left my wallet. No. In the AMC theater where I was about to get in the Uber and I'm like, oh shit, I don't have my wallet. And I had to go back to the AMC theater, look in the theater. It wasn't in there. And then I got downstairs. I'm like, just take a shot at the guest services.

Did somebody return a wallet? They're like, yep, just did. And they gave it to me. It's two times in a week. You got a lot on your mind. Sounds like you need a vacation. Good thing you have one right around the corner. I said I need a vacation.

You remember that joint? I do. Jeasy. Why do you look like you're in, you look like you're incarcerated right now? This looks like a prison car. You have to understand the struggle right now. I am literally, first of all, on the floor of the airport, which absolutely disgust me. I have my phone propped up on a computer on top of my luggage.

I got the mic in my hand. I'm just trying to survive. all because I knew I would be stuck in traffic. I knew I wouldn't make it. We already had to push back because the flights just aren't flighting right now. So, you know, it is what it is. It is what it is.

I'm literally in a corner because I felt like this would give Donnie the best sound. It sounds not bad. Donnie, do you think that how's the sound sound? Sounds pretty good. Yeah, I was expecting it to be a whole lot worse. It's not that. It's not worse.

We might get an interruption from, time to time over the loudspeaker, but you know, I'm here, you're here, we're here for the thought warriors. I'm ready. You're ready. You're ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. Okay. Wait, wait, wait. What are you in Vegas for?

NABJ, National Association of Black Jekha, Jaka, Jockey, Jockey, Jailer Journalist, Nigger Association of Black. I'm mad I asked. It's for the Nigger Association of Black. jigaboos. That's what it is.

NABJ, nigger association of black jiggaboos. We've taken over Vegas. You're coming to Vegas right now. We got you. Ain't no grape soda anywhere. Because we let takeover.

Woo! You know, I've never been. I always have something for that weekend. I've never been. Well, it's in Vegas. It should be fun. She can have a great time. Catching up with old people.

Shit. I ain't catching up with shit. I didn't barely left. Why? So I'm standing in Vodar right now. I'm not trying to get the monkey pox. I'm not trying to. I'm so scared of that I don't want to fucking leave anywhere.

You know what I'm saying? Like I try to go to the pool because I figure you be saying. Oh, no. And I look at the pool. I'm like, nah, that looks a little pocky. And I'm not doing it. that like I went down there I was gonna work out in the gym I'm going there in the gym too close pop pock so I went and I walked I try so I'm gonna get some I'm gonna run around in Vegas because

it was only like 87 a day because it was overcast other than that it's been fucking hot and I'm looking around I'm trying to get a run on all I see is people everywhere so I'm you know that plus COVID I'm chilling but man you played a donkey comp at the airport that was thank you That was different, though. You know why? Did you wipe it down? I did wipe it down. Number one, I requested for it to be wiped down.

I said, hey, can you do me a little boozy on this? And they're like, what? I'm like, wipe me down. And number two, it was only two motherfuckers in there, Donnie. Donnie. That you saw at the time. It was only two people in it. They wiped it down.

They pulled a fox fur featuring a little busy on it. And, Donnie, by the way, until you stop killing wild animals, for no other reason other than the fact that they inconvenience your life in the country where you decide to move, you don't just join in and try to catch me on my shit. I'm looking out for you, man. Snake killer.

Snake killer. All right. You guys, we're getting through with some of the fun stuff today because, number one, I'm trying to cheer Rachel up because she's obviously aggravated with her situation. And number two, this is got to be a pretty serious show. Let you know. Yeah.

A lot of serious shit happening on today's show. We didn't even talk about Alex Jones and the Sandy Hook situation, but I hope to delve into that a little bit deeper because I think it's a very important moment in media. And I think people's ability to fight back against those who might be waging disinformation wars on the internet. I think the verdict today in which Alex Jones has to pay from Info Wars. has to pay $4 million to the Sandy Hook families. And that's just the beginning. There'll be a separate trial on punitive damages

that he might have to pay a shit ton more. I think that's a very important benchmark moment in holding accountable some of the people that pedaling this disinformation. And we'll talk about that probably a little bit more at length when we're in person on Monday. But today, just let you guys know, we're doing Deshawn Watson.

We're doing Brittany Griner. Those are two very serious topics. You know, we're doing Brianna Taylor. That's another very serious topic because it would be less topics, more, more takes, a little bit more thought, and your thought were breakfast today. So everybody take a deep breath. Anybody who has been through any of these things might be triggered.

If there's anything in there, no, you need to take breaks. Make sure you mind yourself, but it's going to be a more serious podcast. And we're going to get to it, the big deal of the day, Deshawn Watson on the other side of this. Did you know about one and three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling? Does this sound like you? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away.

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Ask your doctor about Trimfaya. Tap this ad to learn more about Trimfaya, including important safety information. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the final. with Fandul predicts. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner. Sign up and get a $25 bonus. Offered by Fandul prediction markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant. 18 plus.

Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at Fandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash herms. Okay. So, Rachel, which way do you think we should start here? Should we start with an analysis of the Deshawn Watson situation?

Because there's information that we didn't have on the last podcast vis-a-vis the actual findings of the judge in the case. Or should we talk about the NFL's response to the six-game suspension and the fact that they've appealed? What do you think we should do? I think we need to talk about the judge's decision. Okay. So let's start there. on our past podcast this past Tuesday we talked about the fact that we didn't know what the basis of the judge's decisions judge sue l robinson her decision to give to shan watson six games was we said that we weren't aware of that little did we know that at that time a document was starting to disseminate and that document is her findings and in her findings she very very eloquently and directly explains how she can't upon the six-game verdict for Deshawn Watson and what both in the CBA of the National Football League,

which is, of course, the collective bargaining agreement between the Players Association and the owners. What the hell is going on? I don't know. My computer just started playing music. It's still playing. Okay. And in the law itself brought her to the, that decision.

Rachel, get a hold of yourself. I'm sorry. Did you read the document? I did. I read the document. It was 15 pages. It's the least I could do. Yeah.

Before we get into specifically what was in the document to frame it for the NFL's appeal, is there anything in there that changed your opinion, any opinion you have from Tuesday? Um, my opinion has completely changed. I, 100% agree with the six game suspension. I, after,

after reading her findings, I absolutely understand how she came to that conclusion. And I agree with every single thing that she said. Which I need to go further. Oh, cause you said interesting. You might think a little different. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I understand it.

Uh, and I think it speaks to how thorough she was and what she put in there. Why do you agree with the six game suspension now for people who might be asking well why does Rachel agree with the six games suspension? Yeah, because when we were talking about it before, we only knew a few things, right? We knew she only looked at four cases and we were trying to understand why. We knew that this was the first time that she was deciding, not the first, just the first time that she was deciding. The first time that they had given this type of let an outsider make a decision in regards to suspension. So it was like, oh, you know, you would think, oh, she has the liberty and doesn't really have to be held to what has been cited before previously by another commissioner in regards to the conduct of an NFL player.

So you would think that as an outsider, she'd come in, she'd view all this, she'd see this, you know, whatever the standard was, whoever had the burden of proof, which was the NFL. And she'd see that by a preponderance of the evidence that she would be able to find not, well, he's not guilty, but she would basically, I guess take what the NFL was suggesting and find it in favor with them, which they wanted a year. So after reading it, I loved it because she basically had damning words for the NFL. And she basically was saying what we've kind of said on this podcast and what other people have said in regards to the inconsistency of the NFL. She scolds the NFL in her findings and basically says, you've left me with my hands. tied and I had to decide this way based on how you have previously done things. I loved that.

She basically said, it's your fault that he has, that I can only do a six game suspension and you need to change the rules in your policy, aka the CBA, in order for me to be able to fairly decide this case. She basically also said that they are doing things in a reactive manner instead of being proactive. And so that's not a fair to the person who is, you know, I can't call him the defendant, but basically Deshaun Watson in this. And she's right. It's not giving fair notice to Deshaun Watson. And so she can only do what's been done before. And what's based in the CBA is six-game suspension. Even though she agreed with the NFL and they had proved all their points and she believes

that it is more likely than not that Deshawn Watson did sexually assault these women. women, she can't, she can only do what's within the policy. She can't, it's like, she could, but she, it wouldn't be fair for her to just arbitrarily suspend him when the, like what's been done before and what's listed in the policy doesn't really call for that. I agree with her. So let's start at the beginning and talk a little bit about what's in there explicitly about the Sharon Watson.

So she talks about the method in which Deshaun Watson went about getting massages. DeShon Watson used Instagram to solicit women for massages. He would go on there and say that he was the star NFL quarterback and he would elicit women for massages. He would make sure that when he was talking to women about getting these massages, some of the women were licensed massage therapists. Some of the women weren't licensed massage therapists. This is just for people who might not be aware. of what exactly was going on.

He would make sure that they knew that he wanted to target specific areas on his body. And these were his trouble areas or his sensitive areas, as we call them. And these areas were his groin, his buttocks, his lower back, and I think maybe his stomach. You could look, Donnie, and tell me right now, come through that document and see what the other ones are. but those were the four areas that she that he was looking to target you got those right it was his back glutes abs and groin area so you were correct back back back back back glutes abs and a grown area so those were the areas that he would target uh he would also put these women in the time crunch meaning this was not there would not be a situation to where he would uh schedule this this

this massage for a week or two weeks out we've been three days out it would always be something that was immediate and urgent and had to happen within a couple hours. When he would go there, he would, and this would all be at private places, either in his apartment or a private residence of there, someplace that was, that there weren't

a lot of people around other than them. Like not normally at a massage place or a facility or someplace would there be a lot of people. Just for these four cases? Well, there's a pathology of this, but for the majority,

of the times that he did this. Remember, Deshawn Watson's conduct in this goes way beyond four cases. It goes way beyond the 12 cases of women that the NFL looked into because not all of the women that filed suit against Deshawn Watson

would talk to the NFL. And of the 12 that talked, they settled on four to be able to make their determination. But it's not four, it's not 12, it's not 25. Over the course of this entire time, there are 60 different instances of Deshaun Watson getting these massages

and 60 different known interactions that are happening here. So this is a plethora of people. So in that, there are a lot of consistencies that exist beyond the four, beyond the 12, beyond the 25, all the way up to the 60, right? And one of them is the fact that he would want to bring his own tiles, not sheets. And these towels, were typically smaller and covered less of these areas on his body than a sheet would that you would have in a typical massage and you know, do you get a massage? They put a sheet over you, it drapes over you. He would put just a towel over his genitals, just a towel over his butt, and the towel

would get move around. They would move around during the massage. I'm saying all this to say that this was how thorough that they were able, the NFL and the investigators here. This is how thorough of a picture they were able to paint of what I believe to be Deshaun Watson's compulsive predatory behavior against massage therapist. So he would go there, he would get these massages. And during these massages, the towel would come off. He would get erect.

And he would ejaculate a lot of the time. He would ejaculate, he would get erect. he would ejaculate sometimes on the women. None of the women interviewed in this situation. None of them gave Deshaun Watson another massage. None of them. All of them, after having massaged him once, would not do it again. Most of them contend that they, that they underwent some sort of trauma after having

given Deshaun Watson a massage. Some of them say that they felt like he rubbed his penis up against them. some of them say they felt like he encouraged him to go under the tile, he removed the tile, said, touch me here, massage me here, and that it was clear to them that this was sexual in nature for Deshawn Watson. She gave a whole, Judge Robertson gave a whole set of criteria under which she believes that sexual assault took place in this. And it was her finding that he met the criteria of sexual assault easily, easily.

easily you were going to say something i just want to say when you said they experienced trauma it should be noted that these four women either went to counseling question whether they wanted to continue in this profession or you know what one it was trying to get her license and his thinks that she might not even want to do this at all anymore so it completely has yeah completely has changed their lives rocked their foundation so in the see There is specific language in what denotes conduct unbecoming to the NFL. And there are a lot of different instances of that, defrauding people of money, endangering somebody's safety, sexual assault, domestic violence,

HGH and steroid usage. All of those things are in there. She goes through meticulously and lays out the case of what all of those things are. And then in every single different instance of Deshawn Watson's behavior, whether that behavior is illegal or not illegal, she lays out and the investigators lay out a pattern that leads her to believe that there's no doubt about the fact that Deshawn Watson committed sexual assault. Okay. She even says in there, using Instagram to solicit business practices or business. practices or business engagements or businesses or whatever is not in it of itself illegal or unusual.

People do that all the time. Hey, you see something. Hey, where can I get this food? Where can I get turkey layer from turkey? It looks good, right? But when it's combined with all the rest of these things, it shows patterns. Here's where things get interesting for me. The word violent is very crucial in this.

All right. The way the word violent is used is very crucial in this. And this is something I actually disagree with her very vehemently about. She describes what Deshawn Watson did as nonviolent sexual assault. And she compares that to instances of violent crimes that other NFL players have committed in the past, namely Ray Rice, other guys who have beat their kids or whatever. whatever, and she uses that as a benchmark to decide how many games a suspension should be for Deshaun Watson. This is a nonviolent issue.

It is sexual assault, but this is a nonviolent issue. These violent issues clearly have a higher standard on these other nonviolent things. People have gotten six games. So since this is nonviolent sexual assault, I'm hamstrung to give him more than six games. I personally don't believe that there's any such thing as nonviolent sexual assault. I don't think that that exists. I think that sexual assault is a specific violence unto itself. And meaning if I just walk into a room full of unsuspecting women and show them my dick, that's a violent action to me.

It's, and I don't know, I know that seems like hyperbole to people, but to me, something like that ejects such fear, like it jets such, like, confusion. It's so dehumanizing and demeaning, and there's such history to that. I don't, I have trouble, especially in cases where someone has actually, for all intents of purpose, guys, nutted on somebody when there's actually been contact in some of these cases,

I kind of don't see how the standard of, violence wasn't met there. What do you think about that, Rachel? Okay. The reason I think, and I agree with you, everything that you said about the use of the term non-violent sexual assault, I absolutely agree with you. It is violent.

The reason that it's open to interpretation of what is considered violent and what is considered non-violent is because the NFL doesn't define any of the conduct that you just labeled out. They enumerate it and they say what is, what's the term that you use? They say that it's prohibited conduct, but they don't define it. And she says that over and over again.

She says none of the examples, there are 14 examples listed of prohibited conduct. None of them are explained or defined by the NFL in the policy or in the CBA. that's the issue with this whole thing. There is no direction. And they are doing post hoc definitions, which is what she said,

rather than defining. They just renegotiated the CBA. There's no definition for any of this. So her only way she can interpret it is based on either what is specifically spelled out or what has been done in the past. I do agree with one, I do disagree with one thing that she said.

And hold on. I was taking notes. everything on what she wrote. She describes this as one, him as a first time offender. I disagree with that. Just because, because I get it.

This is the first, all this together, if you're looking at this as one offense, fine. But he did this multiple times. So I have issue with him being held to as a first time offender because it happened so many times. Interesting. So that's the one.

thing that I agree with. The serial nature of it stops it from being like you can't call him a first a one time. And even more so because the comparison is to Ray Rice, which was based on the evidence that was presented was that video in the elevator.

It was a first time one time, even if he had done it before, that's all that was given. That's not what was shown in this case. He is not a first time offender. He considered multiple acts. So to me at best, if that's the comparison that you were using, then six games for one, six games for the other, six games for three, and for four, and a total of 24 games.

That's the only thing that I would disagree with. I understand the reasoning and everything behind it, but I just had an issue with him being labeled as a first-time offender when we know, and it's admitted in this ruling, that it was multiple times. So this brings us now to the NFL. So we have an understanding of the fact that Deshaun Watson essentially lost his case to the NFL. prove their case. And Sue Robinson agreed with the NFL that Deshawn Watson

was guilty of sexual assault. Not once, not twice, but many, many times over. And the NFL, what? Go ahead, Rach. Go ahead, Rach.

No, no, no. I was just going to say he was found guilty on three different things. I just want to say that. Not just the sexual assault. There were three different charges that were against him, and they were found guilty on.

They found, I keep saying guilty. I don't even, it's not the correct thing, but hold on on. Sexual assault, conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person and conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity of the NFL. She found that they had proven, met their burden of proof in all three of those. So there's three different things for four different women. So the NFL has now appealed this. They have appealed this ruling.

And in their appeal to this, they are looking for a year-long suspension for Deshaun Watson. It's reported. And him to need to file for reinstatement into the league. Here's why this is bullshit. Okay. And there is an outside arbitrator. Roger Goodell is not going to be in charge of meeting out the situation here. they're going to somebody else.

Oh, they said that? Yes, it's not going to be Roger Goodell. It's Donnie, find the name of the guy that is a, that they have put this over. It's a former DA or something like that that's going to be in charge of making this decision. Now, so this is why this is bullshit. The NFL and the players association are both on their bullshit right now. I had a conversation with Kalika earlier. Calica was like, why doesn't the NFL just swoop in and do this and this and that?

And I was explaining to her that they can't. They can't do this because this language is not the NFL's end all, be all. This is what we say. This language is all collectively bargained, which means the NFL goes to the players association and they say, hey, for the protection of the shield, for the strength of the NFL brand, we're going to institute a conduct policy,

a personal conduct policy. In that personal conduct policy, they list out all of these things that are a part of it. That then goes to the bargaining table. The Players Association then says, hey, we believe that this isn't fair. We believe that this is too harsh. The NFL then says, we think that this is too lenient.

We think that this is too harsh. Then they agree, everybody signs on the dotted line, and those agreements are part of larger money-making agreements, splits on revenue, television deals, all types of situations like that, that to be honest with you, these two entities, the NFLPA and the NFL care much more about to be real with you than they do a personal conduct policy. What they really care about is the split of the TV deal. What they really care about is competition committee stuff. What they really care about is governing draft picks and all of that stuff like that, right?

Penalties for what you might do, all this other stuff, rule changes and shit like that. Like that's the kind of stuff that they really give a fuck about. What they don't care about as much is legislating what happens when a player runs a foul of the NFL. So the guy is former New Jersey attorney who will be making this decision. Former New Jersey attorney, Peter C. Harvey is going to hear the appeal on this. He's going to be the one in Sue Robertson's position right here. Former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey is going to be doing the appeal on. Thank you, Don.

So here's the thing. The question now becomes is who actually wants Deshaun Watson to receive a year-long sentence? The NFL is in a position where they can pretend like they want that to happen and they can go through all the machinations of acting like they want that to happen without any of the consequences if it doesn't because they can say that, hey, we negotiated this with the NFLPA. in the CBA, and the CBA is what it is until we negotiate a new CBA. So we are going through everything that we can to get a year-long suspension. If a year-law suspension comes, the NFLPA will sue the NFL for going above and beyond what is written in the CBA in terms of this suspension, and they would win. So the reality is everybody in this entire case is thinking of everything beside what Deshawn Watson actually did and who Deshaun Watson actually did it to.

The more I started to look into this, this is one of the biggest cluster fucks I have ever seen in the history of sports. Oh, see, but that's the thing. It's not a cluster fuck. For all the things you just spelled out, it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It's the appearance of it without actually doing anything. Because if you were really serious, then you would define some of these terms of prohibited conduct because you would try to be avoiding a situation that's happening right now. At the end of the day, you're motivated by things much greater than the well-being of the

victims in this case and the victims prior to this case that victims that have suffered have suffered some sort of prohibited conduct at the hands of these NFL players at the end of the day you really don't care and to be honest with you let's just say that the CBA was being renegotiated next year there's no way the NFLPA is going to allow those things to be defined no way that they're going to have something in place because it sounds simple right why would you not have something in place for a first time offender? Why would you not have something in place for, oh, you committed number seven? Okay, well, that holds this for the first time.

And then this mini games for the next time. Doesn't it seem simple to do that? The reason being is for exactly what you just said. They don't really want to because it stops the money. It stops the business. It hurts the integrity of the NFL to punish in this way. Right now, there's a guest. I want on this show more than any guests we've ever had.

And as a representative from the NFL Players Association, look, I understand the former one. A former one's great too. A former one's great too. I understand the NFLPA has a duty to protect its players at all costs. That's it. I know that they have a duty. And by the way, it should also be noted that Deshawn Watson, uh, Even in the, even in Sue Robinson's write-up still maintains that he did nothing wrong.

She said a lack of remorse. And by the way, admitted to all those things, all those things that you said other than the erection were undisputed. He admits to the towel. He admits to the messages. He admits to doing it privately. And the way all of that, it's just the erection. So, yeah, he shows no remorse. He, like, he's shown no remorse.

He's shown no remorse. She flat out says in her write-up, she, she's, she's, flat out, says in her write-up, She doesn't believe him about anything that he says because the pattern is so, the pattern of behavior is so consistent between all the accounts that she has no reason to believe. Like she has no reason to believe he's telling the truth. And she goes really in the grand scheme of things, the erection itself is actually a small detail. And she really feels like if he admitted the erection, if he admitted that he got aroused during these things, then that actually would lend itself to some sort of belief of a possible misunderstanding that could have existed.

But the fact that he won't leads her to believe that he's hiding something because everybody says, yeah, he immediately got hard. like immediately, immediately, like, got hard. Did you see the note at the bottom that said that even women who are supporting him admit that he had an erection? So, like, even women who aren't, like, so it's like, no. Even women who are supporting you in this are saying, like, other massage therapists are like, yeah, he had it. And he's still denying it.

In it of itself, getting an erection during a massage, not a crime. Probably something you need to like take care of, but like not a, not a crime. The other stuff is. So that's where we stand right now with the Deshaun Watson situation. How this plays out to me is incredibly consequential. And to the NFL. What in what way? To van.

Look. Oh. You guys, I'm a hypocrite. I'm a hypocrite. I'm a fucking hypocrite. You know what I mean? I love animals. I keep talking about how much I love animals.

Don't kill the animals. I had fucking chicken leg quarter, a high carb for fucking lunch that was chicken was great. It was amazing. All right. I was sick to my stomach. I was watching on ESPN, watching Deshawn Watson on the practice field for the Cleveland Browns, talking about route trees, talking about reads, talking about all of this, going on and on about it as if it doesn't fucking matter.

You know what I mean? And so I need to be able to understand this for me personally. Nobody else. I'm not going to get on a high horse. You know, I started watching football again during the pandemic after I had promised cap and Nessa that I would. wouldn't after I promised myself that I wouldn't based on the Kaepernick situation. I needed some entertainment to get me off the world ending and the NFL was there and I went back to it and I had fun watching it the last couple of seasons.

It's getting to a point now to where as a man and as a human being, I'm starting to have real problems with this. Like I'm not, you guys, I'm really being honest. This is as good as I can give you. I can't give you the purity that you want. I wish it was that easy. But what I can say now is that. that there's a lot of trauma in this.

And it's disgusting. You just took the word right out of my mouth. You know, I read the New York Times article. I followed what's been happening, you know, since the first case came out. The lawsuit was filed back in March 2021. But reading this again, it felt really gross. it felt really gross

and then I struggle with well is it like clearly I can say well I'm not going to support the Browns and I don't want to do anything that has to do with with Deshawn Johnson but I mean Deshawn Watson but is that enough that's what I feel like I'm dealing with

is it enough? And I obviously if I'm still watching football and I'm going to a game then I'm supporting a league that supports a predator like Deshawn Watson. I don't.

Sean Watson's a predator. He's a predator. All right. And to be honest with you, as long as Deshaun Watson is out here, not packed away, not getting help, denying that he's a predator and going on and living as if nothing's wrong, people are unsafe. I'll be honest with you. People are unsafe.

That's the bottom line. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer.

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she has been sentenced to nine years in prison. This was expected. Brittany Griner spoke before her sentencing came in. Donnie, give that to us. Your Honor, they taught me two important, my parents taught me two important things. One, take ownership for your responsibilities and two, to work hard for everything that you have. That's why I play guilty to my charges. I understand everything that's being said against me, the charges that are against me. and that is why I played guilty. But I had no intent to break any Russian law.

I want to apologize to my teammates, my club, Uympka, the fans in the city of DECAT, my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on to them. I made an honest mistake, and I hope that in your ruling, that it doesn't end my life here. I know everybody keeps talking about political, pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from this courtroom. Rachel.

I have a question really quickly. Was she actually sentenced to nine years? I feel like I read certain things, two different things, or is that what the prosecution is asking for? Prosecution asked for it, then they came back with the sentence. Okay. It's heartbreaking to hear her speak in that courtroom. I didn't, I don't even know if there was a video.

I only saw the audio. I only heard the audio. You can tell she's scared. And I can't imagine being in her shoes making a mistake whether she, like she said, she had no intent. So I'm taking it exactly for what it is. She had no idea that what she was doing was going to lead to where the place that she is now. And, you know, like people are giving breaks all the time.

And she talks about it not being a political thing, but it clearly is, which is why she was given nine years. you know it has it's it's totally making an example out of her and i know that it's been done before with a teacher with 10 years but it's really about the way russia feels about america so it is political i i can't believe i i like i really don't have much to say other than it's it's a tragedy you know yeah she did what she did but she the crime doesn't fit i mean the punishment doesn't fit the crime and i hate i hate to see her and her family going through what they're going though and I hope that something I have no idea what it could be is done

to where she has not said nine years in a Russian prison. My only response to this, number one, we're going to go through what Britney Grinders' life is going to be like in a Russian prison and it's going to be hard. Prisons

everywhere are terrible. You know, the United States of America and the citizens here in the United States of America don't really have the moral high ground to criticize any other country on their prisons. They don't. There are prisons that are relatively worse in places,

but we've made a prison a business here. We've made prison part of our culture here. And so before we were getting on a high horse and criticize anybody else, it would be, it would behoove us to look at how things go here. Having said that, there are different standards in Russia. And I did a little research on what Brittany Griner's life is going to be like as a,

as a woman's prison in Russia. I will say this. I'll say the fact that Brittany Griner is a political prisoner, it's true. She's a political prisoner now. She's not in prison for political reasons. and that distinction has to be Britney Griner isn't in prison because she was speaking out

against the Russian government she was not speaking out against the Russian government Britney Griner was in Russia playing basketball essentially taking money from Russia which is nothing wrong with that people do that all the time people I know guys that play Russia whatever whatever so the political prisoner part of this comes after and the only reason why I say that is because

I've seen a lot of different people people talking about what Biden and Kamala Harris need to be doing to get Britney Griner out. You guys, they can't do anything. All they can do is try. Like literally, the United States of America could tell the Russians right now, we'll give you $1 trillion to let Britney Griner out of prison. And the Russians could say we want $2 trillion. Like literally, there's nothing that they can do.

Yeah. That is that, that literally, that is a foreign government with their own system of fucked up laws, their own system of fucked up penalties, and their own system of fucked up prisons, and they simply do not have to give Brittany Griner to the United States of America. The only thing that the United States of America can do, namely Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, is try as hard as they can. and there's a point to where it would be even too much for them politically to give her back. So if Victor Boot is not going to be the thing, which it looks like the Russians aren't so keen on it just being Victor Boot for Britney Griner and Paul Wheeling,

it looks like from what people are reporting that they might not want to do that, then the United States can come back and try for a four-team trade, a four-player trade. They can come back and try for more than that. But that's all they can do is try. absolutely zero leverage that they have over the Russians to manipulate their legal system. As a matter of fact, the Russians have said that they actually don't appreciate people from all over the world calling their legal system illegitimate, which it is, and speculating on what was going to happen with Brittany Grinder before they levied a sentence against her, before

their legal system had a chance to play out. So she's in a bad situation. There was a letter published in 2013 talking about conditions in women's prisons over in Russia. The most shocking thing that I saw is that women there that know they have to go serve in some of these prisons would routinely cut their wrists before getting sent there.

They are oftentimes made to work. work 16 or 17 hours a day with one day off for every eight weeks. She is definitely going to be subject to long days of hard, intensive labor for long, long periods of time. Prisons where there are mice, rats, where there's no running water where there is not a toilet, but a hole in the middle of the ground. I heard one woman describe using the bathroom as going into a room. with feces smeared all on the floor, all over the walls,

and having to bend over a hole that a bunch of different women have used and poop into a hole in the ground. Prisons are bad everywhere. Prison is a bad place to be. But the Russians from these reports make it a particular point to make an example out of people and make their lives not into, undesirable away from societies, but to torture them, to torture them for the amount of time that they are serving time.

Question. Go ahead. Has the legal system been exhausted, or the legal, I guess, like whatever is available to her legally, been exhausted on that end in Russia? Like, I don't know their setup, and I don't know if, like, is there an appeal? appeals process.

Is there something? Her lawyers say that they're going to file an appeal, but it's all, it's not going to do anything. The appeal won't, the appeal in no way will affect anything that happens with Britney Griner. It's just a terrible situation for it. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. So it.

Yeah, it's bad. And I don't really know what needs to be done. They need to try as hard as they can. Obviously, they do. But it's important here that when people, you know, I've seen different people make big videos about this, that people understand it. This is in no way, in my opinion, at least.

I could be wrong. If anybody says, hey, Vans full of shit, that's fine. This is not the fault of the United States of America. there's nothing that we've done to make this situation what it is there's nothing that the administration has done which I'm very hard on them to make this situation what it is it's just a fucked up situation and the only thing that's going to get her out of it is us in some kind of way enticing the Russians to to move on it and everybody's going to volley her around

and use her as a political chip Donald Trump is using her as a political chip saying, hey, I think she should be out. I would have been able to get her out. People over here, Fox News, the conservatives are going to use her as a political bargaining chip saying, hey, if Trump was here, he'd have gotten her out. To be honest with you, the black community, the LGBTQ Plus community are going to say if this was anybody else, they'd have been let out by now. But to be honest with you, Paul, that's actually not true because Paul Wheeler was in jail

for all of that time. That's actually not true. So everyone is going to be talking about. everything, but we need to, that one thing that people need to understand is that this is happening to a real person. And even I need to understand this, as I get on a high horse and talk about what the U.S. should and should not do, there's a real person in prison here and her life is going to be fucked up for a long time.

So take that into consideration when you're thinking about Brittany Griner, the support that her family and people would need. And also take that into consideration when you're thinking about, like, you know, what you do when you travel abroad. You know, has this changed what you think about when you're traveling abroad, Rachel? I mean, absolutely. I mean, like, even before this, when you watch certain movies about like broken down palace and stuff, like I could feel like I'm always, you know, trying to be considerate that I'm not violating another country's laws or breaking their laws.

But no, I mean, absolutely, how could you not? All right. We'll take a break. Come back a little bit. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services,

plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. This episode is brought to by the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small.

So whether it's buying tickets to the game and grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Say it with me, the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Be a 2%er. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com forward slash active cash terms of play. Did you see the Brianna Taylor news today? Your thoughts? Yeah, so you know what?

When I saw the move that the Justice Department made, I feel like I felt a little ashamed because the first thing I thought was, well, thank God that somebody's still fighting on behalf of Brianna Taylor and her family, when it seems like, and I know this is human nature, a lot of us move on. I thought, thank goodness that they've continued to fight on behalf of her family and Brianna Taylor. And, you know, I didn't even realize necessarily that the Department of Justice was looking into doing a, or looking in or that they were investigating and that they were looking to whether or not there were civil rights violations.

So, you know, like, I'm thrilled that the Justice Department or Department of Justice. is doing something on her behalf. I'm glad that they charge the former detectives that were involved with their case because clearly if you look at the things that they're being charged with, submitting a false affidavit, working together to create a false cover story, to escape responsibility, and so on. I mean, it's absolutely outrageous. I'm hoping it sends a message to other departments and let people know that you're not

going to be off the hook. Okay, maybe you were able to escape by on the state. state level, but on the federal level, the Department of Justice is going to take action. And I'm happy to see them do that. If I had an unexpected ally of the week, it would definitely be Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice. Okay, well, I'm glad you said that. Let's listen to Mary Garland right now. We allege that the defendants knew their actions in falsifying the affidavit could create a dangerous situation, and we allege these unlawful acts resulted in Ms. Taylor's death. The charges announced today also alleged that the officers responsible for falsifying the

affidavit that led to the search took steps to cover up their unlawful conduct after Ms. Taylor was killed. We allege that defendants Jane's and Goodlet conspired to knowingly falsify an investigative document that was created after Ms. Taylor's death. We also alleged that they conspired to mislead federal, state, and local authorities who were investigating the incident. For example, we allege that in May 2020, those two defendants met in a garage where they agreed to tell investigators a false story. This indictment separately alleges that defendant Meaney lied to the FBI during its investigation of this matter. So, okay, so the man indicted, of course, you've heard the name Brett Hankinson before.

Kyle Meany, Joshua James, Detective Kelly Goodlett as well. So here's the situation. Breon Taylor is killed and the accusation is that her boyfriend was moving dope out of their apartment. The cops say, specific cops said that they knew this because they had a contact.

They had done investigations at the post office. And the post office contact had said that there were a number of packages coming to that apartment for that guy. And investigatively, they had been able to say, hey, that guy is using that address to ship that. That actually turned out, according to the Justice Department, to not be true. That that information actually came from another cop who said that he knew that.

That two cops are talking. We know that this guy is moving drugs out of here because whatever, which is a wholly different circumstance. The Justice Department is saying they acted on that information, went to the place of residence, and then the shootout that took Brianna's life took place. This to me is an indictment of the police department at its most primitive level, right? Like, what I mean by this is the questions that we continue to ask when there is, issues involving law enforcement. The questions we continue to add,

to continue to add, ask, should I say, is is law enforcement in this country functional? Is it a functional institution, law enforcement? Does it work? Does law enforcement work to deter crime? Does law enforcement work to investigate crime?

Does law enforcement work to de-escalate? violent situations in any way does law enforcement work like investigatively for protection to promote civil servants and civil service and harmony amongst the populace does law enforcement work that's a question we keep asking ourselves and we ask ourselves this when it goes wrong right we ask ourselves this when we see these big gaudy examples of it going wrong the reason why that question is so central here is because if in fact all of this is based on a lie, then we have the failing of law enforcement twice. Now only do we have the failing of law enforcement to go to somebody's house.

So they failed in their investigation because that's based on a lie. Then they go to the home and they don't have enough humanity, training, wherewithal, whatever, not to shoot the fucking place up and turn that into the old. okay corral. So they fail there. Law enforcement fails twice, right? They fail in what they got before they went to Brianna's apartment. They fail when they get there because a shootout takes place. They're spraying bullets everywhere depriving people around the apartment. That's just people inside of the apartment of their safety and their civil rights. And then law enforcement fails for a third time. The way they fell for a third time is law enforcement fails when Dan

Samuel Cameron, the Attorney General of Kentucky, fails to do a thorough enough investigation into this to ask the questions that the Justice Department that the Attorney General in Washington is asking right now. So when it gets to the point that somebody is supposed to say, hey, what happened here? Hey, what went down here? Not only was this raid legal,

but was the show? shoot clean and then after that was the proper oversight for this situation handled at a state level. They fucking struck out. They're 0 for three. And when they lose, who pays the penalty? Cops lost their jobs. So fucking what? Even if they go to jail.

So fucking what? When there's this function on the behalf of the law enforcement apparatus in this country, black people die. So what I'm looking at in this situation right now is I've never thought that Daniel Cameron was shit, right? I've never thought that anybody involved in this was shit. But when you look at it now, this is a monumental failing. And for Brianna Taylor, it is an eternal one.

An eternal one. So I'm glad that they're doing something about it. I'm happy. But fuck! everything you just said. And I think that to answer your question, it's like, you know, we talked about Brianna Taylor

multiple times on this podcast, and I think everybody is clear on our feelings and where we stand with that. And to answer all your questions, like we can't go back and get, we talked about this before. The only thing that, the only way there would be justice in any of this

is for Brianna Taylor to still be alive today. sadly, tragically, that can never happen again. So then the question becomes, what if can anything be done and if there can be something done, what can that be? So the fact that they didn't give up on this case and something is being done,

I feel like, call it as small as a step as you want to, it's something that's trying to take some sort of action for the people who wrongfully, the people we were supposed to trust law enforcement wrongfully, disturbingly ended Brianna Taylor's life. And I do, like we talk so at great length about police and what are they going to do on a federal level and what is the administration doing?

To me, if this is the kind of steps that we're taking, I'm hoping that that can make some sort of change into how we police in this country. Because it seems like we're not getting it on the state level and we're not going to. So it's the responsibility on a federal level to get that done. So when I saw this, I was like,

I don't even know if pleased is the right word, but I was happy something is being done. And I hope that this gives, you know, the family of Brianna Taylor's some sort of hope that things are going to change, sadly in the name of their daughter. Hey, fair enough.

Well said. Did you see the story of the Florida A&M girl who took the graduation picture? Did you see it? She had that ass out. That the ass. She had more than that. Her name is Teracle Williams. She's 24.

She's facing criticism online after she posted a picture. And it was her and she was standing next to statue at Fam U. U right. I get Fam U a lot of shit, sneaky impressive alumni group there at Fam U. Because I come from Southern. I have HBCU fields. That doesn't mean that you got a hate on every other HBCU album. Ain't nobody hate?

Who hating? Who hating on the? I ain't no hating. I know what I know what we doing that yard. I know they're doing that yard. I know what we doing that yard. I know what we doing that yard. S you.

You. S. S. You fuck. Who fuck. J.S. You. Es.

There he goes hating again. You. There he goes. H. S S S S you fuck who fuck G S you S one more You you come on S S S S you fuck who fuck fam you

Anyway fuck them all I love you guys HBCU I hope you get a knock on your hotel door in a second Like why are you saying fuck everybody Mr. Lathan I got a fountain view Right out there baby Vegas Terica Terica graduated

She has a master's degree And she posted a picture New photo Her butt out Her butt was bulbous It's a big butt Long white braids So graduation

They were like snakes It was like snakes And people were saying Snakes Medusa a hair. Okay. Artistic.

Did you think the picture was in poor taste? Um, you phrased it poor taste. Poor taste. Maybe. Did I have a problem with it? No. Is Fam U known for having outrageous pictures in front, uh, graduation pictures. Yes.

My cousin with the Fam U. shout out. She did not pose like that. Shout out to Mandy. Uh, But if it violated some sort of school policy, then, like, yeah, like, it's inappropriate, but I don't think that drastic measure. I don't think an investigation needs to take place.

You know, give her a fine and keep it moving. Give her a fine. If it actually violates something and there's some sort of penalty in place, come on now. I'm not going to say arbitrarily give it to her. Like, if she broke some type of school rule and there's a penalty of a fine or whatever, then fine, do that. But as far as an investigation, that's ridiculous. This has gone too far.

Just say, listen, it doesn't need to happen again. We're going to around graduation time, we're going to have somebody set in place. We're going to have cameras. So this doesn't happen again. We encourage you to take your photos and be as creative as you want, but there can't be any indecent exposure. But she looked great. This is so stupid to me.

It is. The investigation. It is. her asses out. Whatever. This this got a master's degree at 24. She says anybody who knows me knows

I've been dressing provocatively my whole life. There's a lot of assumptions that came with me excepting my body. A lot of people have questioned my capabilities and intelligence based solely on how I dress. As I'm standing here with my master's degree, at the tender age of 24, I'm the living proof that clothes do not define you. I encourage.

Everybody to embrace their bodies and step outside of social norms. How? Louia who cares. There are people saying that if they find her and she'll pay the fine and they're not going to let her graduate. Rachel, would you be okay with that? They're going to take a degree. Would you be okay with that?

Wait, wait. If they find her and she won't pay it, they're going to, I mean. She can't go to the graduation then. Would you be okay with that? I don't think that. I think this is so stupid. No, I'm not okay with that. No, no, I'm not okay with that.

But I mean, if there's a rule in place and you break the rule, then like whatever the punishment is, it is. And then that's fine. Like we literally just had a whole conversation about that. However, at the same time, I don't think that there should be any type of investigation into this. This is ridiculous. Y'all took this woman's money. She's representing.

She got a master's. Let her graduate, walk the stage, and then keep, sorry, I know they're talking in the background. Y'all know I'm at an airport. I don't know I'm at the airport. Anyways, this has gone too far. If anything, this has just made her win the court of public opinion. I would think that there's a lot of support for her. Team Terica.

Y'all need to get over this. She don't have the biggest cheers at graduation. Y'all going, not the biggest graduation. Y'all need to, y'all need to, we got to let go at this repression. We got to let go at this repression.

Hey, look, I'm here this whole time. I'm on a hotel. I haven't been on the oography. I'm off of the oography, right? No more oography for me. That's okay, cool. But we still don't need to be repressed. Like, get over it.

y'all get mad about the wrong things get over it she took a picture man picture looked good she's what's the big deal taste is subjective team terrible totally great change the rules from from here on out if y'all got a problem with it but let her live we were going to update mountain line but this is not a good mountain lion story so i'm not going to go donnie tried to put a mountain lion story in here that was negative and well you need to be fair you need to be well Not every Mountain Lion story is positive. I mean, very few of them have been positive

if we're being honest. But I want to make sure that we celebrate Mountain Lion. I'm doing what I can to help Mount Lion. And this story is about a Mountain Lion attack that Donnie is not funny. So I'm going to ignore this story about Mountain Lion. But I do want to get a shout out to Mountain Lion. Donnie, please run my sound.

I know you guys are out there. Chill out. So I do want to run run things. I'm going to surprise you with it, Rachel. There's a guy down in Wisconsin, Wisconsin. I'm going to give you a mansion. I'm there in Wisconsin. Who's in a very consequential race.

He could take a Senate seat and make it easier for the Democrats to use another excuse about why they can't get their agenda passed. His name is Mandela Barnes. He's a very promising young black politician here. Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. He was on a show doing some press, and he was asked some questions. Donnie, who was the guy he was doing press with? I like this guy from NSBC.

Let me double check. He's a guy that you know the face of, but his name is escaping me right now. I like him. I like him. Black guy? Black man. His name is black. Did you call him a blackman?

A black man. Yeah. I like that, Donnie. I was like, I didn't say that. So there comes to a point in this where they're asking Mandela Barnes, what would be his votes if he won a Senate race and he had to cast votes on very consequential and crucial American issues. This is the part of this where the questions are asking the questions are answered. Rachel, I want you to hear this, and we're going to talk maybe two minutes about it after. Donnie, run that for me.

Let's just say you do beat Senator Johnson, and you are the next senator from Wisconsin. There's going to be a lot of legislation showing up at the Senate doorstep, such as the House passed a bill that would codify Roe v. Wade. Would you vote for that? Of course. The Senate, I'm sorry, the House codified Obergefell, which would, the Respect for Marriages Act, which would protect. same-sex marriage but also interracial marriage. Would you vote for that? Absolutely. The House has codified access to contraception. Would you vote for that?

Well, certainly. The Senate is apparently this close to voting on a deal that's called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. If you were in the Senate right now, would you vote for that? I would vote for it. And what would you think about it? Go ahead. I was going to say even even that the that deal that you're just talking about now it's not perfect, but it will certainly go a long way to help people in Wisconsin. We've been hurting for far too long and we desperately need to lower costs as soon as possible to help people deal with inflation and letting Medicare negotiate drug prices is a huge step forward. We also need to cut taxes on the middle class to give people some

breathing room. And we also need to hold oil and gas companies accountable for using inflation as a smoke screen to jack up prices on consumers and pharmaceutical companies as well. Okay. So that's it. Um, yeah. So what was Mandela Barnes not asked about? Uh, policing, a voting rights act. Oh. Now, this is not for me to say that the issues that were voted, that, that were ballied about right there don't affect. Black Americans because they do. Sure. We represent and are represented

and all the communities that would be affected by those bills. I'm telling the Democrats one thing right here right now. Saying a quiet part loud is a problem for the party. Either one of two things is happening right there. Either the Democrats

don't feel like, and by the way, there could be a multiple things happening right here. Let me put it to you like this. I don't know what's happening right there. Let me tell you what I think is happening right there. The messaging here could be, because this is not Mandela Barnes, this comes from our brother at MSNBC, right? Either these issues are no longer top of mind, one, which Rachel says is the issue. They're not.

Okay, either these issues are no longer top of mind, which would be a real tragedy, or they don't think they can win on them. Meaning asking somebody in a state like Wisconsin if you're going to vote for black people's voting rights or if you're going to vote for black people's voting rights or if you're going to vote for black people. for police reform or violence or justice and policing act, maybe that's not a winning issue. And this is just one interview, just one interview, where those two things, based upon what's happened with the Supreme Court just recently, might not be top of mind things.

But I am imploring the Democrats to continue the messaging that if they get to 52, 53, 54, 55, that we can count on those things, to come through because if not, it's going to hurt them in 2024. And it's going to hurt their standing with the, with the black community who is desperately asking for some of those issues to be addressed. Is it fair to say, and this might go along with top of mind, is it fair to say that the reason he didn't ask is because those aren't even up for a vote?

They're not up. Justice and policing act? But we're talking about what would, I get it. right. That's actually a good point. But don't we have to remember that this is part of an unfulfilled agenda? You know what I mean? You're 100% right and I love that you brought it up that way. I was just saying I understood why he asked in that way and didn't bring those things up. But you're right. While you're out here running, you need to be running on those same platforms. I mean, on those same issues. All right. That's enough. No mailback. We'll do it Monday.

Rache is in an airport prison right now. She's stuck there. Very upset Very upset Baggage claim You see that all the way on it Terrible Terrible situation People look to be like I'm crazy

They don't think you're doing a podcast They think you have a makeshift microphone And you're sitting in the corner talking to yourself I think I'm crazy Okay take the team caps off But do not stop learning We will be back on Monday I am Van Lathen Jr.

I'm Rachel and Lindsay Bye guys