Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Taking Stock of the Presidential Race Three Days In

Episode Date: November 6, 2020

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss where the presidential race stands and how the voting has been split demographically (2:00). Then they discuss Measure J passing in Los Angeles and what that means in terms of defunding the police (33:00), as well as Ice Cube’s tweet about working with Trump (49:00). They end by answering a few mailbag questions (59:00). This podcast was recorded at 1:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, November 5. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. Tire learning. Let them know. It's I. Rachel Lindsay. Rachel Lindsay, Van Lathen. Okay, before we even get started with the podcast today, Thought Warriors, I want everybody to do something really quickly. I feel like I'm feeling really zen because I just came from acupuncture, which I'll talk about. Wow, I've never done that before.

I did it. I did acupuncture. First time? First time ever. Oh. First time ever. First time ever. We'll talk about it in a second.

But before we even talk about that, I want everybody to stop. I'm serious about this. Center themselves for a second. Take a deep breath in and then a deep breath out. Breathe everyone. Inhale, exhale. Did you know about one in three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling?

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Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at bandwold.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash herms. Everyone, I say that because everyone is so arrested right now. Everyone is so wound up. I watched CNN all day long yesterday. When your motherfucking from CNN, shout out John King, didn't say one fucking thing different the whole day.

Hey, these are the counties where it's coming into these counties right here. Joe Biden has a clear edge here and the ballots are going to come in, but got to count on the votes. Okay, take this down. Now we're going to go over here. This is here's Philadelphia County. Now, here's the game. President Trump got out to a large lead here. We all saw that.

But as the ballots have been coming in, that lead has been eroding. How much is that league going to erode? We don't know. We don't really know. That's one of the things that's going to decide the president. Okay, take that off the map. Now, let's go down to Arizona. We're going to zoom in on Maricopa County.

Maricopa County is where a lot of these ballots are coming in right. Now, now, like we said before, the president is a little bit behind right now. But as these votes have come in, you've seen that lead shrink. How much is it going to shrink? Don't know. Got to count the votes. And I watched this niggas say this all day long yesterday. You can't help it.

And I, and I'm like, so at some point, I'm saying we got to breathe and let things go for a second, right? As you say that, and I'm still, I got the TV on TV. And I thought I just saw something different. And I can't help it. I just keep thinking I'm going to miss the moment when something turns and something happens because it did happen. It's already happened to me. We can get all into this later. Like, okay, we can get all into this later, but no, I, I, you're right.

We all need to take a beat. We need to take a break and just chill out for a second because we'll know when we know. And I do think it's funny that you name that county because there's certain counties that we keep hearing over and over again, Maricopa, Fulton, Fulton. What do you mean? What you mean? Like, we're talking about Atlanta's Fulton County District right here. Winnet as well. Gwinnett, these are traditionally blue.

counties, Democratic strongholds. Now, when you look up here around this area, President Trump does have some votes that can come up from around these counties up here. But we're still looking at the bulk of the votes, maybe around 60,000 votes that have to come in from this Fulton County area. If they come in at the rate that we've been seeing them come in over the past couple of hours, Donald Trump is in some troubles. But we have to count the votes.

Man, they should hire you. Somebody signed this man up. But you don't understand it is I, watched it all day long. I did too. And I went back and forth. It's been Fox, CNN, and a little bit of MSNBC. Normally, that's my go-to. But I've been keeping it on Fox more than anything. Maybe because the numbers are more favorable to buy in the Fox. Right, because they call Arizona. Right. I have a question for you. How was your Tuesday night? Wow. It ended a little earlier than I thought. So I actually,

had a podcast on Tuesday. And, okay, for a second, I thought we had breaking news. Should you let people know what we're going to do throughout this podcast?

Oh, excuse me, yes, we will. Throughout this podcast, if there is any update on the election itself, we are going to let you guys know. We are podcasting right now at around 1245,

actually closer to one right now, on the 5th, on Thursday. So as things come in, obviously the election itself and who's going to be the president, it's fluid. It's fluid. So up to the minute, up to the hour stuff, what's the reality at the beginning of this podcast may not be the reality at the end of this podcast. And it certainly might not be the reality by the time you are listening to this podcast, if that's Friday in the middle of the day or Friday later or today or God forbid you get to it to Saturday. The whole country might change.

So we're going to be letting you guys know anything that breaks in the middle of it. our producers is just going to jump in and let us know. Yes. So what was the question that you asked me? Oh, my Tuesday night. My Tuesday night. So I actually had to podcast until 645. It really went to seven Pacific Standard Time.

So I had the results on or as the election was starting, but I couldn't hear anything. So I really was, I was seeing things trickle in, but I was podcasting. Once that was over, actually even before it was over, I was drinking quite a bit of wine. I needed to relax. I needed to just, you know, just be very zen while watching everything. I fell asleep around 10 on the couch. Passed out is probably the better word to use. Woke up at midnight and I saw that it's pretty much what we're seeing now,

except Michigan and Wisconsin were red when I woke up at midnight. And I went back to sleep thinking Trump is going to win this whole thing. and I can't believe it, that Trump's going to win. I just, I was, I just forced myself to go back to sleep. I woke up the next day and then I was shocked to see the things that happened. But you asked about Tuesday nights, so we'll just keep it there. It was a pretty simple night, but I did go to sleep thinking Trump won. And I will say this too.

I also was looking at all the votes that were coming in, and we know that we've, records have been broken. Is that the correct way to say that? we've broken records. Am I using the verb in the correct way? Yeah. What are you talking about? What's going on with you right now? Yeah.

What's happening? Yes, you, you, records have been broken. We've broken records. I don't know why it just sounded wrong. It came out and it sounds. Forgive me. It came.

I didn't get acupuncture this morning. So I might be a little bit more tightly wound than my co-host right now. So forgive me. Anyways, I was looking at the numbers as they were coming in. And we all knew that more people had gone out to early vote than in the prior election. And we knew that that there have been records that were broken in regards to that. But I thought because of that, I wasn't expecting a landslide either way, but I did expect things to be more definitive than they are right now. And I'm shocked with as many people that voted.

And that's what the thought also that I went to sleep thinking is many people that voted. I cannot believe this many people still voted for Trump. I can't. Yeah. That was the overarching thought when I went to sleep at night. I can't believe this. White men broke hard for Trump. So do Latinos.

White men broke hard for Trump. Well, depends. We have to watch the term Latinos. Okay, because why? Because Latinos in Florida. Because the term Latinos, to me, the term Latinos lumps a bunch of differing cultural values, cultural ethics and cultural backgrounds into one huge group. And it's very weird to do it.

Puerto Ricans and Cubans in South Florida vote different ways. A lot of Latinos to, but I guess. That's what I'm saying. So it's very difficult to say. I think that when we're talking about whether or not Latinos broke for Trump, I think it's more helpful for us to talk about. And it's not to you. This is more talked about.

It's more helpful to talk about. specific groups. The reason I say that is because it wasn't Cubans, the Latino vote in Texas was big in pushing Trump to win that state. And that's not Cubans.

I know, but the Puerto American vote in South Florida was huge for Biden. So, but Cubans, it wasn't. Right. I know. Columbians, it wasn't. But, I mean, but like, and the reason, I guess,

the reason I understand what you're saying, but then you could also do that with each group, you know, like... Like, what do you mean? Okay. Blacks. Okay, but maybe you're, maybe there were some, a lot of Nigerians voted one way. Maybe, but we're all black.

You know what I mean? African Americans voted another way. Do you see, like, it's too hard to nitpick because not every... It's not quite the same, though. I mean, I'm not saying that there's, I'm not saying that there's, homogeneate amongst black political thought far from it. But what I would say is

that when you talk about those are their specific experiences. First of all, numbers-wise, when you talk about Latinos, you have big swaths of numbers and those people are almost directly tethered to the specific areas that they live in,

right? And they're also specifically tethered to the experiences of the areas that they live in. You know what I mean? So there's definitely no homogene there. And I think in order to get a better view of the electorate going forward, you're going to have to speak to specific needs and you can't just speak to Latinos as a gigantic group when there are subgroups in there that have specific different things and specific fears, to be honest with you. That's black people too. And we can talk about that later in the show.

I'm not saying it's not black people, but I'm saying I think, I'm not saying it's not black people, obviously, but I think that the term can be used broader when you're talking about black America. And I guess the reason it's hard for me to say to want to break that down and say Cubans did this and Puerto Ricans did this and Colombians did this. It's hard for me to say that or Mexicans did this because within those cultures, you can't say all Mexicans voted for, you know, in Texas voted for Trump. You can't do that. So I think it's just, that's why it's easier my argument to my usage of the word. It's easier for me to say Latinos because there, I can group more, I guess, cultures under the Latino.

But you can't, but my problem with it is, and I think that the Democrats need to seriously analyze this, is you can't campaign to Mexicans in East Los Angeles the same way that you campaign to Puerto Ricans in South Florida or even Mexicans along the Rio Grande and Texas. I think that you have to- I think you're missing my point. I agree with that. Right.

I'm just speaking as to, There was a large turnout of Latinos that voted for Trump. And if you watch or you read, that was a big reason as to why Trump won in Texas. Or when people underestimated the Latino support for Trump in Florida. I guess that's more of what I'm saying. They didn't estimate it at all. I totally agree with you in the sense that you're right. You cannot campaign to them the same way and think of them all as one person.

Wholeheartedly agree. That's not what I'm saying. Right. I get it. I just want to make sure that like we're, because here's the issue with the left and an issue that's not on the other side. Even though there is evidence to say here

based upon what happened Tuesday, that there is more diversity on the right than we might have thought that there was. You know, they're pulling in more groups than you would have thought that they were able to pull in. It's a fascinating phenomenon. But I think that- Is it?

We can talk about this later. We can talk about this in the show. It is a fascinating phenomenon. No, go for it. What do you mean? Well, I guess why do you think it's so fascinating? Because I think it's the very thing that you said in not calling, saying Latinos in a general term

and how you have to look at the subcultures within the Latinx community. And I think that if you pay attention to, you can't, I think what the Democrats have done is assumed because you're a minority, you're going to vote blue. and that's an assumption that we've held on to, they've held on to too long. And that's not the way, the same way that Trump and his administration campaigned to them. And so I guess I don't find it fascinating because if you break down, you can't assume that Latinx people are going to vote blue when you look at some of the issues

that are on the red side and it really does fit in with a lot of the beliefs of the Latinx community. So to me, it's not as big of a phenomenon as you would think. A couple of things. Number one, I don't think I am personally qualified to speak to the beliefs of the Latinx community. You probably can better than me because, you know, you all Latinx out. You know what I'm saying? But I can't speak to that, but I can speak to sort of some political ideals.

And I can speak to the reason why I think it's fascinating. It's fascinating because the amount of the time that it shifted in 2016. Hillary won Miami Day by 30 points, something close to that. In this particular election, Joe Biden won Miami Day, obviously by 12 points or maybe even less than that, maybe seven or eight. And that wasn't enough. So it's fascinating because of the quickness in which it changed. The rights ability in this frame of time to add to their coalition voters who clearly weren't there. in 2016. That to me is what makes it fascinating.

It's fascinating that even amongst all of this turmoil, that to a degree, Trump and the right have been able to expand their base, even if it's only incrementally. They've been able to do that. And also, just to the point, the fact that Trump actually made his political career off calling people that were coming over the border,

rapists and murderers. So it wouldn't seem that there would be very much fertile soil with a lot of different Latino groups for them to till, but obviously there's more than we thought. So the reason why, and not just that, but Trump's courting of white supremacy and his inability to significantly rebuke white supremacy, all of those things like that, right?

And all those things. And yet still able to get a higher percentage of black male vote this time than he did. last time. So I think it's worth, I think the fascination with me is, you know, there's a lot of reasons that I've heard that there's an appeal there. But if the Democrats want to be, not just the Democrats, if the left, if they want to understand that, they really have to examine the reasons why that appeal seems, at least in some cultures to have grown, in some different demographics to have grown. So, you know, it looks like Joe Biden will probably win

the election. We'll give you an update on that really quickly. but still it looks as if they made in rows in certain places and I did not expect that I certainly didn't so

the reason I paused is because as we're talking about this John Ligua Zama just did something with the Hollywood reporter where he explained the Latino vote and why Trump

and I'm just trying to like scan it really quickly as I read it but he says with, this is John talking with Latino people, we're always an afterthought. And that gets, he's like, we're the largest ethnic group in America, the second oldest ethnic group in America after Native Americans. So it's not like we just got here. Nobody comes after us. Nobody knocks on our doors. Nobody's talking about our issues. Nobody has a Latin ex-vice presidential candidate or is dangling the carrot of Latins as cabinet members. Trump at least knew enough

to target them. And that's what he got. He got back what he put in. And he says that he feels like Trump did a better job than Biden about going after the Latino votes, said he was aggressive about it. And he even kept saying it in his debates. He would mention the word Latinos. Biden never did. But he never talked about the Latin, Latino issues, and he never mentioned them. And he said, if you want us, you've got to court us. And Trump did that. Obama put Sotomayor on the Supreme Court. I hear you.

I mean, he didn't put a black woman on the Supreme Court. I mean, I mean. No, no, the only reason I'm bringing him up is not because I'm saying I agree is because you said you wish that someone else could speak towards it. And this is somebody who's been who's been who's Colombian American, who's been very outspoken, who supports Biden's campaign and the Lincoln Project. and this is what his opinion is on it. And look, I'm not, I said what I just said,

but I'm definitely not going to begrudge him his opinion and what he said. I think a lot of groups feel like that. I mean, black Americans don't feel as if the, I know a lot of black people that don't feel as if Biden was the Biden Harris campaign targeted black people enough. I know I think they could have gone harder. like I mean

the reality of Joe Biden is that if Joe Biden is to win this election it'll be because black people showed up for Joe Biden Black people in Pennsylvania in Philadelphia County black people in Fulton County

okay and it'll I'm serious like it'll be a bunch of different places where black people in Detroit in Michigan that showed up for for Joe Biden and at least in a lot of different places helped deliver this election to him

specifically even black women. So I think it's very interesting. And this goes back to what I was going to say about the left. The left has a much more difficult needle to thread than the other side does. Because there is, even though the base is growing more diverse on the right, there's a level of homogeneity there. The talking points have to be a lot simpler, right? You're not looking into the audience and seeing black people on one side and transgender Americans on the other side and Latinx people in the front. and then our other LGBT brothers and sisters in the middle.

And then everyone together, you're not seeing this hyper-diverse coalition of people that you then have to understand how you threat them all together, right? What you're really doing is because there's less diversity there, right? You're giving big, broad talking points to a couple of different groups and stringing them together along economic or fear-based lines. One reason why things went the way they went in South Florida is because they used fear mongering to make the people believe they were going to bring socialism back, which is their worst fear. Absolutely. Absolutely. And rightly so for a lot of their relatives who, you know, Raul, Fidel and Che executed. Right.

So, so, you know, it's it's an easier game to play on that side. because the base is less diverse. And because there is lower expectation on their part, right? You expect, oh, because you expect minorities to vote that way, they're also expecting a lot more from you. You're supposed to be the party of the people, our people. At least that's what has been put out there. So the expectation is high on the left side.

Whereas for the right, there isn't much of an expectation. So if you just give a little bit, then that goes a long way. And you're seeing that with people. You're seeing, you know, when they talk to some, black voters for Trump, they're saying, well, hey, you know, the Democratic parties, but, you know, they've been with us 50, 60 years. We haven't seen anything happen. That's what, that's what these people are saying, which isn't really true, but that's what they're saying. I haven't seen much change. And this is what Donald Trump is promising to us. So why not try it, try it his way?

That's some of the things that people are saying. But I definitely agree with you on the fearmongering part with the socialism, with abortion. That's a big, that's a big deal as well. And I think that one thing you have to give Trump and his administration credit for is the propaganda they put out there. And if not everybody is as well-versed in policy and what's happening, what's going on locally or on a national level. And if you're just reading headlines or you're just watching the same thing over and over again, it's very easy for you to fall victim to the trap that they're setting with the propaganda and the rhetoric that they're putting out there. Yeah. I mean, look, here, We say it all the time, man.

There's nothing wrong with being a conservative. Obviously, actually, I think conservatism is good for America in a lot of different respects because, you know, you always want balance in a country of this many people. A country that's this big, you want balance. And, you know, the left is going to have to find their balance in terms of how far they go and some of the things

that they want to get done. If you left it up to guys like me, you have socialized. medicine. You have the whole fucking ball of wax. You have zero police. You have public safety commissions. I mean, you have all

of it. All of it. All of it. You have companies playing. But the reality is that those beliefs have to be contextualized and tempered by the other side of the thinking. So people that want to be more responsible

fiscally. That's how you get to the magic word in any any government, which is compromised. That's the magic word in any government. It's compromise. And it's just interesting. You know, it seems as if America loses the ability to compromise when black and brown people are at the table.

They've compromised on everything else historically, right? They compromised back in the day. They were guys known. Henry Clay, the great compromise. They figured out all of this other stuff, right? They figured it out. They diced it up the way they did. You know, there was one time where they really couldn't compromise

and they had to get gully with the ratchets. We call it the Civil War. Gully with the ratchets. We called it the Civil War. But other than that, they find a way to come together and make these things work. But I think in the last 15, 20, 30 years, when black and brown people and LGBT people

are sitting down at that same table on both sides of the aisle and they're like, okay, well, let's compromise. And some people are going, Now, now, this is my country and blah, blah, blah, and we have to find a way to kind of build that backup. And also making sure that those people feel seen, man. I bet you, if you from the Appalachians or Denham Springs, Louisiana, or places like that, there were definitely times during the Obama administration where you felt like, well, shit, it's a rap for me. And then here comes this dude that goes, no, it's all about.

you America Maga and you're like fuck it well like you're like really okay you're gonna fuck over me but that's cool because you make me feel 10 feet tall and we just got to turn out I mean I mean if you're

listening to Trump we should be running down the halls and clicking our hills and jumping up for joy that he might be the president because he's done more for us than any president has done since Lincoln so and with the platinum plan my gosh the resources for us

are limitless at this point because he's going to get that pass when they can't even get a pandemic package pass when the nation has its highest debt it's ever had before as a country. But somehow the platinum plan is going to get pushed through. Oh, they won't talk about the debt, though. They won't talk about

the debt. Yeah, they won't talk about that. The deficit when the Democrat takes office, that's when you talk about the deficit. That's when you get the deficit down. That's, but you know what's crazy about that though? There'll be no talk about the deficit. Like literally, you'll mention the deficit and what you'll get back from Mitch McConnell but like see

day one if Biden wins day one ha crazy spending deficit all over the place right you're like it's going to be the deficit is going to be the whole fucking story so we should give you an update real quick just give an update real quick of where the election stands the election stands depending on

let's go by CNN's numbers on which channel I think CNN's numbers have it currently being right now 253 to 214? 213. 213. 213. With Biden carrying

Michigan, Wisconsin Cali. Cali, all the big states. In the swing states, he carried Michigan and Wisconsin, which kind of put him on the road to 270. Now, Fox and the AP have called Arizona for Biden,

which seems to be controversial, say the least. They're still kind of votes. there down in Marica Picconi. And then Nevada, Nevada is also a toss-up, although there was some recent numbers this morning that came in that showed

Biden expanding his lead in Nevada a little bit, okay? And you're still looking at late returns coming in in Georgia, late returns coming in Pennsylvania. Both states that look to be tossed up to Pennsylvania, a lot of Democrats think is going to be a win

for Joe Biden, which would wrap the whole thing up. Which is wild to me. I'm not saying I doubt it, but obviously of the states left that are still up, Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes left. If Pennsylvania is called for Biden, this election is over with. But there's also the biggest disparity between the two, between Biden and Trump with the four states that are left with Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, the disparity is just a little bit under 100,000. But somehow, I'm not sure how many votes are left to count. I saw a report earlier that said that they had halted counting,

but I'm not quite sure what the update is at this point. Nate Conn from, Nate Cone from New York Times says that Biden's going to win Pennsylvania by three points. I mean, obviously, I hope he's right. But how many points? By three points. He says Biden's going to win Pennsylvania by three points. He said yesterday that Trump has no path to win Pennsylvania.

Well, I mean, the reason I will believe that is because Rudy was there yesterday, Eric Trump was there yesterday. I don't know if they still are, but they are really in there trying to make their presence known. So maybe that is the case, which is why they're putting so much effort into Pennsylvania.

Or it's just close to New York. Eric Trump was created on a weak nut, wasn't he? Couldn't you say that about Donald Trump Jr. as well? No, Donald Trump Jr. was probably just like a, it was an off night, probably. You know what I mean? it was probably a night where you didn't need. But Eric Trump, that was a weak nut.

That was a dribbler. That, like, that was, I mean. I think you're giving the junior junior too much credit. Donald Trump Jr. is more, Donald Trump Jr. is more your garden variety, douchebag, son of a rich guy. Eric Trump, that's seeming dribbled out. It barely made it.

It barely made it to the finish line. Like, seriously, every time, you see Eric Trump, I pray I go, man, like, really, like, bro, shout out, man. Y'all really, y'all really did it. Because I've never seen a glob of more uselessness than Eric Trump.

It's like, it's like the nut was so weak that made Eric Trump. Stop. That it made his body stop trying once he was born. They were like, we don't have enough to keep this going. I'm not even going to entertain this conversation. We don't have enough, so we just going to stop. Or are you

trying to make logic out of this. Because every time you, see him, he looks like a human ghost. Like he's there, but he's not there. He looks like a, he looks like a, he's just a big fucking fleshback. Every time I see him, he looks different. Doesn't it look like he's morphing? Like, I don't watch,

I don't watch Harry Potter, but what's his name? Voldemort, you know how he changes his look constantly? Because he gets more evil and evil. That's kind of how I feel about Eric. He looks different every single time I see him. I mean, look. you know, it just, it is what it is, man. Like the dude, every time I see him, every time I see Eric Trump, I'm like, look at this

nigga. Like, who are you? Like, why do you? It pisses me off so, you know how many talented people? How many amazing talented Americans should be on the television screen? I'm like, who is this? What the fuck is this guy doing? I think everybody shows that.

Like, literally, it probably wasn't even sticky. was probably running. Stop. We barely even see him. Rudy was like, get off the stage. Also, when Rudy came in, he came in like this.

He came in with his hands and his pants. I said, look at Rudy. Question. We have seen Joe Biden is currently addressing the nation right now. Have you seen Eric Trump's gums?

No, because I'm not looking at him that hard, man. His niggas gums are fucking huge. That nigga got big-ass gums, bro. I'm not even looking at him that hard. I'm sorry.

What are you going to say? Biden is a judge. addressing the nation right now. How many times, real question, how many times have we seen Trump talk since Tuesday? Has he talked a lot? This is a real question. I really don't even know because I feel like

every time I look up, Biden's addressing the nation. Trump talked a little bit, but there was a report yesterday that basically what Trump was doing was angrily calling governors in Arizona. And seriously, Arizona. I do not doubt this.

And Georgia. And like, I guess, trying to influence them in some way to take decisive action in the counting of the ballots. So, I mean, I don't know. You know, Trump, there's not much for Trump to say every time everything he says is destructive. And really, the reality is this, he has no choice but to wait to these voters accounting. All of this stuff is preceditation of the highest degree. It's, it's, there's nothing he can do.

The will of the American people will be played out through the electoral system and we'll see who wins. He's already, you know, in some states, threatening to sue and has already filed suit in at least one state, which he can, right? Like, he, well, he can definitely ask for a recount if there's a certain percentage between the two, which I believe will be done in either Wisconsin or Michigan. I'm not quite sure. I think Wisconsin. You can ask for a recount, but that never, I mean, it's like 10,000. I don't think Wisconsin is in the recount is in the recount margin. they're 10, it's about 10,000, I think, is different.

It's got to be 1% or less, I believe. I believe. Anyway, okay. Believe it or not, presidential politics was not the only thing that was on the ballot this past election system. I know that there's not been a lot of news for a couple of days. It's weird. We haven't talked about COVID in a couple of days because the election has dominated the

news cycle. Even though they set a record. They said 100,000, over 100,000 cases in a couple of days. day, new record. All right, lots of election talk. And before we go deeper into it, let's catch our breath. 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 to 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

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So 100,000 cases in a day new record, you haven't really heard about it. And I want everyone to take notice of that. And I'll tell you why. Because you think that news, and I worked in a news room, you think that news is reported to you based upon a need to know basis. you think that a lot of people think that news is reported because there's something dire that you have to know and everyone is Paul Revere all of these networks running to the airwaves to tell you exactly what you have to do to stay safe and save your life.

I just want everyone to know that that's a lie, okay? Because there are very few things that would be more important for Americans to know right now than 100,000 people died of COVID. that it's that bad. Yeah. What the news is, is like anything else, it's like what we're doing right here, it's commerce.

And you hope that inside of that commerce, there is some integrity. But this is going to be the story until people care about something else. And by the way, it's the same thing with COVID. How many people are dying of COVID is going to be the story

until people no longer care about that story and they didn't care about treatments, vaccines, and things of that nature. So that ticker that's at the bottom of your screen in terms of the news wasn't even there until 9-11 because we had to know everything super duper fast all the time. So just know that. So that also kind of goes into how much you get triggered by watching the news. I remember, and obviously you do too, is when COVID started, you couldn't, it was everywhere on your television screen. There was always a ticker. There was a tracker.

We were constantly monitoring it. It was the story. It was the story of the story. I'm not even sure when, well, I do know when things changed. When Black Lives Matter protest started happening, that's when we started to see the COVID talk change a bit. And it's never picked up the same way that it has since then. And I do think it's important that we recognize that a new record was set with COVID cases

because you need to understand that this isn't going anywhere and it's not stopping. And I heard, I think it was Al Sharpton or Joe Scarbo said this this morning, but whoever is taking, whoever wins the presidency, you got to really want to be president. Because what is happening right now in our country, whether it's the economy, whether it's public health, whether it's social injustice, the racial divide, it is not going to be easy to be the president. And we're talking just about the election right now, but there is so much that's happening in our country

that you need to be aware of that whoever is stepping into this role is really going to be taking on a lot. And so I do think to go along with your saying, it is important to recognize it. And it'll be interesting how the news changes once there is a president and how it will talk about things.

Like we joked about the deficit, but it is true. It will be mentioned. It will be talked. about and so will other things. And whoever is going to step into this role needs to be prepared to take that on and how they're going to make this country better. And you need to understand it's not going to happen overnight. To your point, to everything you just said about how hard the job is going to be over the next couple of years, over the next couple of months and how taxing it's going to be,

to your point, I predict that Harris will be president by summer 2022. 2022. You think Joe's gone? Not gone. I'm not saying that Joe is going to, you know, expire. Well, what are you saying? I think Joe is going to step away. How does that work?

I think I really do. Do you just resign? I think Harris is president by summer 2020. Serious. It's a big job. It's a lot. Joe is more than capable. but I mean and if that were to happen

you know like that'll do pig you know like babe you never saw babe stick to what you were talking about anyway like if that if that if that it still would be monumental

for Joe to come in and have done what did what he did but I think you're looking at you're looking at a a very non-traditional president, vice presidential relationship that's going to have to exist because her energy, her gusto,

her expertise in a lot of different areas, is going to be absolutely critical in navigating what America's up against right now. It's just going to be a big deal. Now, okay, so Democrats were able to keep a House majority. The GOP did pick up some seats. They picked up some seats. It's close in the Senate.

The Senate might actually come down to two potential runoffs that could happen in Georgia. Warnock, our boy. We got to have him on. Got to have him on, made a runoff. He's going to be in a runoff against Kelly Loughler, Leffler, Loeffler, Loeffler. We don't have to get that right.

Woffler, and then John Awesome, one of my favorite people, is in a race against Purdue down there. That looks like that's going to go to a runoff. It's probably going to happen there in Georgia. So, you know, the numbers don't look great for the Democrats right now in terms of taking a house, but if they were to grab those two seats,

which is not a fucking fantastic chance that that happens, but if they were to grab those two seats, then you'd have a tie in the Senate with Kamala Harris, future president, casting the deciding vote. Also, police reform was on the ballot in a lot of different places. Measure J was passed in Los Angeles,

which was a, I guess you'd say, a sort of victory on the, with the defund the police movement? You'd say that, wouldn't you? I absolutely think it is, and I think it's something that other cities can look at and model to try to get on their ballots

for the next time. Right. Also, it looks like Jackie Lacey, the district attorney of Los Angeles, who was fucking hated by Black Lives Matter. It looks like she's going to lose that race. She's down. It looks like she's going to lose it. Question.

Do you think that the Democrats, the left, need to slow down on embracing ideas like defunding, abolishing. Do you feel like the party, part of the wave that we saw? Because there was a blue wave, but there was a smaller red wave that's keeping things interesting right now. Do you think that the Democrats, that the sharp move to the left that's happened inside the Democratic Party is scaring Americans? Do you think it's scary to them? this is a good question. I don't think that's what's scaring them.

I think that it is the red, the right side, using it as propaganda to scare them, right? Because the right is calling Joe Biden a socialist who could not be more moderate. You guys, this is what Joe is known for is for getting, stepping, crossing lines, in getting things done. That's like his claim to fame in the Senate.

He is very moderate. He could be not, he could be the farthest thing from a socialist. But I think what, what has happened is they have taken moments. I mean, I saw it. I cannot remember what, what Senate hearing this was,

but they put together a video of police. It might have been Fauci. It might have been a Fauci hearing. They put together a video of protest, and they only showed rioting. And that is how they depicted what is happening with the Black Lives Matter movement in this country. If that is all you saw, then you're scaring those people. So I don't think it's us taking, I don't think it's the left taking this like sharp turn.

I think it is the right taking from it and changing what it really is. No, you're right. I mean, to be honest with you, I still, I agree. I do think there's a way that you do sort of navigate. the political landmine of what that is, though. You, the messaging from the Democrats, the messaging, look, it's interesting. There does have to be a change in the communication and how you communicate people, because it can be sometimes frustrating to get people to adopt policies that you know would help their lives.

But, you know, you still got to do the work. And the fact that this was not a blowout tells me that there's something that's not quite... And by the way, it wasn't a blowout in that the night ended early. It still might be a significant victory. You don't know.

Biden could still run it up and still get a significant victory. You know, if he peels off Georgia and then wins Pennsylvania and wins, then, you know, it looks like it's a fucking massacre after that. But it wasn't the direct rebuke of Donald Trump that everyone...

you know, this has been talked about in Bally Hood and all of those things like that. You know, you've seen that. So, yeah, I think that that has less to do with the fundamentals of the party and more to do probably with the messaging. And it's going to be up to the Democrats to do a little bit of soul searching to kind of figure out how it is that they connect with people. The right also doesn't have a problem lying.

I mean, they don't. They lie. They just flat out lie. And I'm not saying that on the left they don't, but it just seems to be more in an overt way. Fuck it. Let's just lie. Fuck it.

Just lie. I'm just saying they lie. We should run the fucking Cadillac plane. Yo, straight up. I'm Van Lathen. I'm running for president. Do we still want Cadillac? Is that our car of choice?

But see, it's not. But here's the thing, though. The reason why I would say is the Cadillac plan. Okay. Because you can't really promise a car that's better than the Cadillac. Because that's not going to be it, you know. First of all, the Cadillac is the car that you promise. Because anything.

other Cadillac, niggas gonna be like, I don't want a Kia. Right. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not going for the Kia plan,

you know? They're not going to fuck with that. Like, they're not going to be with that. But, like, anything over a Cadillac

is going to be, it's not realistic. So if you come up there and you say, if I ran late and I'm running for president, you know what I'm saying? I'm running on the Bentley's

and Bourbon plan. I'm going to fill your cabinet up with bourbon. I'm going to fill your fucking driveway up with Bentley's, baby. Everybody going to get one.

Woo! People are going to be like, you can't afford that. You can't do it, Bentley. But see a nice Cadillac with a mid-package. Okay. A nice, you might be able to swing that. You might be able to actually get what, you might be able to, hold on a minute now.

He's not saying I'm riding fly, but he is saying I'm going to be riding. Okay, but then what's you're going to put with the Cadillac? Because if you said Bourbons and Bentley's, what's going to Cadillac, cash, Cadillac and Caj. Cadillac and Caj, Caj and Cognac. Cadillac and Coneyac. It's the Cadillac and Coneyac. It's the Cadillac and Coneyac platform, baby.

That's what I'm talking about. That's what you just, and when people ask you, like, how are you going to pay for it? You just go, huh? What? You mean, tell me, you don't want people to have a cat like a cone yet? That's un-American. What you mean, how I'll pay for? I'm going to pay for it the same way we paid for the fucking rocket ships.

Man, get out of my face. You just get super mad every time anyone asks you a substantive question. You just get super pissed off. Because I think that, you know, we talk about a thing we use in terms like abolish, universal health care. All of that stuff is good, but people don't get that. You know what they get? The vrum, vroom. Cadillac and cognac.

Calatacan. Cadillac and coniac. I like him. You know what I'm saying? I'm in. I'm in, too. Think about it. Think about it.

Think about if every American got like a bottle of Hennessy VSOP or something like that. And then like a, you know, just you get them the two. You get the coop, the Cadillac coop. See the little coop they got with the little triangle fucking, you know what I'm saying? Y'all seen these Cadillacs. Y'all know. It was hot for a second. You know, no power windows, though,

because we can't afford that. You got to roll the window up. Have you seen a joint like that? I haven't seen a joint like that in so long. What's the last time you were in a joint where you have to like physically... My car. My first car.

No, my second car might have been like that too. Yo, if you're listening to this podcast right now and you don't have power windows, send me a DM. I want to know what your life is like. And say what? Send a picture. No, send it.

Send, don't sit a DM, just a DM, send a video of you rolling up the window. Rolling your shit up. I want to know who you are. Hashtag Cadillac and Cognac. Because that, they would already be on our team. Right, right. You know what I'm saying? Because really, I haven't seen that I, this just hit me.

I haven't rolled a window up manually. Since when? In years. In years. My high school car had it anymore. No, it's not a thing anymore. My high school car had it. What was your first car?

A Honda. A Honda. It was a two-door Honda. Mine was a four tours, 88, baby. Mine was a, what was it? I graduated a three. Shoot, I don't even remember. Oh, it was a 90.

It was a 97, 97. Right. Black. My first car might as well have been a fucking moving hotel room. Because all we did. stains everywhere because all we did

city park Olympia Stadium Baton Rouge people know Baton Rouge know all these places okay it's all in Baton Rouge All places you go park Okay Like all places you go park

And then bam like right there was this park When you drive down Plank Road and Baker You turn off And you drive way down In the super dark put on Brian Knight Never felt this way.

Is that how you used to get him, Van? Is that what you used to do? Put on Brian at night, never Boom, got it. And then I was just like crazy. I'm going to read a tweet for you right now. This is something, I'm surprising Rachel with something, but this is going on right now.

This is a tweet. I want you to tell me who said this tweet. Let me get this straight. I get the president of him. United States to agree to put a half a trillion dollars of capital into the black community without an endorsement and niggas are mad at me. Three laughing emojis. Dot, dot, dot, dot, have a nice lie.

Who do you think said that to you? Wayne? No. So Q? Ice Cube. Ice Cube. So he didn't vote for Trump? Ice Q feels like he didn't endorse Trump, but he got the president to put a half a trillion

dollars of capital into the black community. Okay, Q, Cube. One, do we believe you? No. No, it, no. It didn't, that never happened. Which one?

Both, neither one. There's been no agreement for a half a trillion dollars for $500 billion. That's what I'm saying. Neither one. That, that has not happened. Like, that has not happened, like, at all. Like, like, at all. That has not happened. Cube, I suspect what Cube is talking about.

is the platinum plan? That is what he's talking about. Right. Which the platinum plan hasn't been agreed upon. The platinum plan is a plan. And in order for the president to execute the platinum plan, number one, Ice Cube didn't get the president to execute the platinum plan,

even if that were true. The president came up with the platinum plan with a bunch of different people before then, or whatever, the platinum plan is bullshit. And there's not half a trillion dollars going into the communities. via the platinum plan, I would encourage everyone to read the platinum plan

and see that it's not really worth the paper that it's written on. But what I would say the Ice Cube is that, look, if you're going to jump into it, don't jump into it for the love. If you want to be loved, keep making records.

That's it. A very great point. If you want to be loved, keep making records, keep making movies, keep doing all that stuff. If you jump into politics and you jump into this,

it's not going to come with a basket of roses. You know what I'm saying? It's going to come with a lot of shit. Do you think the fact that he is trying to get us to still believe in him and get us to like trying to win people back over that he was doing was the right thing, do you think that he regrets what he did? I don't know if he regrets it,

but I just think that if you've been in a situation to where popularity has directly influenced how much money you make for 30 years. And it's worked for you. It's difficult to be unpopular. You know, nobody, if you're not making people smile and making people dance and making people laugh, then they don't come to you. And so after a while, when you jump into a different arena where people actually have to feel better about their lives based upon what you're saying and you're doing, which is certainly

kind of the game that politics is about, you start feeling some of that, you start feeling some of that blowback. You don't want that. He's a celebrity. He's used to being fond over. I guess my problem with that suite is you're missing the point. The point isn't that you sat down on behalf of the black community and talked to Trump to try to better us. The point isn't that you didn't really endorse him.

The point is that you gave people a scapegoat. You gave people an opportunity to use what you did to support Trump to say, you know what, Ice Cube did it. Ice Cube is willing to sit down and talk to Trump. Ice Cube believes that Trump can get this done, so I'm going to get it done. that's what you gave people the opportunity to do, which is, to me, an endorsement of Trump because you are believing that he can get something done that the other side can't.

I got a problem with that. So to me, you are still missing the point cube with that kind of tweet. And that's what's upsetting to me. You don't get that what you did was detrimental and it was damaging and it was in benefit for the other side. Well, it definitely was a benefit for the other side.

I think what Cube would tell you would be that, I know what he would say. He'd say the number one, he wanted to, he wanted a one-on-one with Kamala Harris, but he couldn't get the one-on-one with Kamala Harris. By the way, he also didn't get a one-on-one with Mike Pence. What Kube got was a meeting with Jared Kushner. So he didn't talk to the president or the vice president on the other side of things.

There was apparently a Zoom where it was going to be Cube and 11 other guys that were going to be in Zoom. Yeah, didn't D.L. Hughley come out and say something about this. Yeah, what Kube said he didn't want to be on that because he wanted some one-on-one. time with Harris and to talk about his plan more in depth. And that's fair that he would have that that he would have that demand, but it's also fair

that they wouldn't do it. You know, they're politicians. I'm sure there's a lot of people that want one-on-one time with Cube to sit down and play a record for him. That would change their lives, but you can't always get what you want. That's the way that goes. Look, I think what Ice Cube is doing, I think Ice Cube is

trying to help. I sincerely do. A lot of people look at Ice Cube as some sort of mag or Trojan horse. I don't think he's that. No. I just think that he's trying to help. I just think he's, you know, he's learning kind of what comes along with

this particular game. And this is what comes with that. You know what I'm saying? This is what comes with that particular game. And complain about it. You want to jump in there? You want to go talk to Trump? Look, Alicia Garza told Ice Cube that there are angry Trump supporters

that are on her lawn. that are threatening her, that Trump is empowering, if you decide to go sit down with that, then you have better get what the fuck you're asking for. And by the way, it better be, because when a sister like that tells me that these are the people that are putting her safety in deputy, in jeopardy, and then you go speak to them,

it's going to be people who don't fucking like that. If you feel like it's important enough to do it, you got to fucking deal with that. Would you guys like a quick minor update from a couple states? Yeah, give me some minor updates. The Arizona Secretary of State is on CNN right now at 146 Pacific Times, saying that at 7 p.m. Pacific time, there will be a dump of around 140,000 votes from Maricopa County. So no real numbers update, but we will have more information later today,

as well as she said, it's going to be the same time on Friday. And then in Nevada, according to a couple of Bloomberg reporters on Twitter, Emma Kinnery and Stephen Dennis, this was about 20 minutes ago, about 130 Pacific time. He said the Nevada Secretary of States is there approximately 190,150 ballots left to count, 90% of which are from heavily Democratic Clark County, to which Nate Silver's quote tweeted, again, much malign Nate Silver. But Nate Silver said if 90% of the ballots are from Clark County, there's no reason not to call Nevada.

Interesting. So there you hear it. There you have it. Rach, how disappointed are you right now that we're not doing a Bachelor recap? I think it's very obvious, Van, that you are now regarded higher than I am in the Bachelor community. So I think I would think you're more upset about it than I am. Yeah. No Bachelor Red Recap this time.

We're going to do it Monday. Yes, I will tell you that I have seen the episode. And this is what I'm curious for. And I, for you, for the newbie, for my new batchy here. You are seeing a season like you've never seen before. When it switches, you're going to. to see a more traditional Bachelorette season.

And I'm curious if you'll like it. Interesting. We shall see. Right. Like, kind of like people who, I know some people that started watching bubble basketball. I'm sorry, what?

What is that? Bubble basketball, the NBA. People started watching bubble basketball. Oh, okay, okay. And they're like, yo, man. This was a new game. Yeah, they're like, yo, man, like, I fuck with the bubble more

because it looks like they're, it looks different and stuff like that. And I'm like, first of all, you're stupid. But secondly, when you tell me you're not going to like it, when they go back to playing at the Staples Center? Right. Yeah, you're aware. With fans?

Come on now. You can't beat that. Well, we will have the Bachelor update Monday. Maybe. Because I got to admit, like, there's a lot of shit going on. We'll have it for you next podcast. But I'm definitely, I'm definitely excited to watch tonight. I'm probably going to watch it in my new hammock that I got out there in the back.

Look, do y'all notice that he's stunned on y'all every single episode? He's telling you, like, if you watch us, you see he's got the plant now. He's talking about, you don't drop the, you know, you're like, I got three bedrooms, three bathrooms, I got the hammock. I got, yeah, he lives in Beverly Hills, y'all. Life is good for Van. Life is good for Van. Oscar's got. Oscar would be the plant, you guys.

Oscar got like a couple of brown leaves. I got to do something about Oscar, man. Do you water, do you water Oscar? Do you water Oscar? Do you water Oscar, man? I want to ask her all the time. You have to cut. You have to cut the leaves from time to time.

For real? Mm-hmm. Like not the whole thing off. Even like, even at the tips of some of these. Yeah, like right there, you would cut that. Cut this, cut this, cut this tip? Like not straight, you cut it at a diagonal. Okay.

Why? Keep the shape of the plant. Why do you cut it though? I don't want to hurt them. Well, it's brown. That's dead. That's not coming back. This piece right here?

There ain't enough water to make that come back. What am I, what I got to do? I mean, he's still mostly green, but when I He was all the way green, and I'm not going to lie. My G got a couple of... You might need to give him some son. Have you been giving him some son? No, he doesn't get it.

He's an inside plant. He's a house plant. Oh, okay. Whatever. Actually, please don't listen to me on it when it goes to plants. I'm going to figure, well, Oscar, we're going to get it, bro. Don't worry about, Rachel. Mailback time.

It's time for mailback time. But before we get to the mailback, let's take a slight pause. This episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies.

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tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. Mailbag, Jordan, hit us with the first question. Okay, a very important question from Galena Bennett. Does the straw have one hole or two?

I feel like this is a trick question. My nerve's already bad Galena Bennett. And you hit me with the- Does Galena have the answer? Does she just ask the question? This is the type of shit. this is the type of shit that people ask you and they fuck with you with questions like this.

I don't like questions like that. Okay, well, my answer is two. I think it's two, too. I think it's two holes. Like, I'm not going to say that because you can see the other end, like, tech, it's one hole. No, like, there's two entryways. It's two holes.

Next question. Yeah. Whoa. Yo. Um, this was, reminds me of another question. I want to ask you this question. Oh, no.

Can I ask you it? Seriously. This question, I read this in a book. I can't remember the book. I think it was one of Malcolm Gladwell's book. Showson Malcolm Gladwell. It's a book that it's a question that supposedly they ask you when you're trying to get a job at Google. I have not verified this. To see if you're smart enough to work at Google. Do you want to know whether or not you're smart enough to work at Google, Rachel Lindsay?

Yes. why are manhole covers round? Why does it matter? What other shape are they supposed to be in? But no, there's a reason why they're around. Why are manhole covers round? Basic question of very basic, like, engineering and problem solving and stuff.

That's what they say. I did not get this question when it was asking. I have no idea. so you can fit through it? No, actually. It's not actually not. It's actually not. So that a circle

cannot fall into a circle. So if it were any other, if there were any other shape, the manhole cover could fall inside of the manhole. Oh, wow. Right. So a manhole cover is round.

A manhole is round because whatever happens, it can't fall in. But a square. A square, it could, like, it could, the angles, it could, got you. Wow. I never took an engineering class. And so that, like, that's the thing, right?

They figured you should know why that is. And I'm like, and I remember I asked, shout out to Walter Gino McLaughlin. And I remember I asked him this question, like a long time ago. And he was like, I don't know, that don't mean I can't work at Google. And I'm like, nah, nigga, you can't work at Google.

I'm bro, like, seriously. Go to Dillard's. They're hiring. But Google is out. Okay? Did he try? He spent three days designing a square manhole that could... I like Walter.

I like Walter. He drew a manhole cover that was square and he was putting an extra piece in there. I might... But bro, you... The extra piece doesn't make any sense. Because if you have to put an extra piece, then that means every manhole cover. You have to build an extra piece and that's expensive and all that. But no, it could work.

And I'm like, you're missing the point at all. Walter would get the job simply because of that. He comes back three days later. He comes back. Walter is one of the most respected community activists in all of Baden Rouge. He is a real, real, real important guy down there in Baton Rouge. That's my man, Walter Gino-McGaugh. That's like my brother. That's my guy. Okay. Next question. From Joanna Zaldivar Do you think it's acceptable To start decorating for Christmas

In early November Or should you wait until after Thanksgiving? I don't fucking care I would say Well, I'll answer I would say normally I would say Wait I hate when people jump

I hate walking to a store It's the day after Halloween And now these days you see Christmas stuff I don't like that But this year We can use all the good cheer That we can get So I am more than happy to start playing Christmas records

and looking at Christmas trees and candy canes and all of that stuff that comes with it. So have at it this year. What's going to happen this Christmas when Santa gets cold? But why would you put that on Santa? Santa's magical. Santa's invincible. Santa is not, is immune.

Santa got pre-existent conditions. Why, Van? Because he overweight as hell. Okay, but he's also, he also flies. He also applies. You know, you can't put those limitations. You cannot put these type of limitations on Santa. He's an irregular human being.

By the way, poor diet. Poor, like poor diet. All they're eating up there is fucking gingerbread and candy can. Because he can. And all of that steak. Because he can't. You leaving out cookies and milk? I'm telling you.

By the way, he lives in a very, in a non-temperate climate. He's magical. He's not a human. You cannot compare him to the next overweight human being, okay? I'm telling you, Santa got mad preexisting conditions. Santa will be fine. Kids, Santa will be fine.

I'm telling you, Santa, I'm not going to know, Santa should deliver the presence virtual. No bullshit. No bullshit. Santa should deliver the presence virtual. That's actually not a bad idea. Santa got presidencies and conditions. And by the way, it's not like Santa can choose the different places that he go.

He got to go into COVID hotspots. Santa got to go to Atlanta. Santa got to go to South Dakota. It's impossible that Santa, It's impossible that Santa doesn't get COVID. Is Santa magical to you? Is he invincible? I mean, he's got, no, no, no.

But see, you're missing the point. He's not invincible. He's got magical shit that assists him. So couldn't he just shoe away COVID? No, I don't think he can. So you're putting limitations on Santa? Not my Santa. I don't think he can.

My Santa is immune. I don't think he can. I don't think he can. I think that Santa, I really don't. I think that Santa has magical shit that helps him fly around. But I think Santa's more like a regular dude. I think if you bust that on his head with that motherfucking chopper,

I think he'll die. I'm going to tell you something. I said, I'm going to be honest with you. That's what you say. And somebody wrote me and said that they wish that you would stop saying that. I'm going to be honest with you, Van. Right.

You're on the naughty list. Simply because you put that on Santa. Santa will not be visiting your household. That's good. Because I hope he stays in quarantine. Right? I don't want to expose Santa to me. Santa got prehistic conditions.

All right. Last question, Jordan. From Nicole Suddler. What's your favorite hometown place to eat that you miss while living in L.A.? Ooh, this is easy for me. They close down all the black ad piece. Okay, that's my favorite place to eat. God damn, you go to all the, Jesus Christ.

That is the most. basic fucking thing I've ever heard before my life. I hope y'all, if y'all not from the South, y'all don't know what the Black IP is. That is so fucking basic. It's one step above a cafeteria. It's like Piccadilly.

I love Piccadilly. Oh my God. And I'm going to tell you why. For all those folks in the South that know what I'm talking about with the Black IP and a Piccadilly, it is so nostalgic for me because we used to go to Black Appie's after church.

all the time. It was like our Sunday meal. I ordered the same thing. The grilled pork chops with the corner green beans, and you can't beat those rolls. Piccadilly reminds me my grandmother. My grandmother loves her a good cafeteria, so I will run down to Piccadilly's to get her some food.

So I just, there's something that just reminds me of home when it comes to those places. I see you nodding your head, man. You understand the logic behind it now. I'm going to be real with you. Like, I'm not saying that these places aren't good. Like, I mean, I fuck with Piccadilly.

Me and my grandpa used to go to Piccadilly. And I remember one time my grandpa, my grandpa went to Piccadilly with my grandpa. And all I got was fried chicken and fresh fries. And I sat down and he took my plate. He was like, you go get you something green, not fat boy. He was the first adult to ever call me fat. He goes, you go get something green, not fat boy.

Go get you something green. You ain't with your mom. Man, what you do? I went and got some goddamn spinach. You ain't with your mama not. And mama let you eat whatever you want to eat. You get that goddamn big as a house. Go get you something green.

I mean, my grandfather would say the same thing. Go ahead. God damn it. And I went there. I went in got some spinach. I came back. He said, now eat that. Eat that and see if you still want all of this.

I'm telling you. I was going to cry. I'm telling you. What's your favorite? He literally, when I say I sat down, I had like, because I had like a bunch of chicken and some French fries, like the crinkle fries. And he literally, this happened on, this was on, this is on Government Street, the Piccadilly off government, like right next to, right near Bat Rouge High.

And he grabbed the train and pulled the trail, like slid the trail. go get some, he's like, you're not about to do this for him. He'll get something green. I'm like, God damn,

Papa. He was mad about it. I think he was taking my weight personally. But no, Piccadilly, black IP was good. They close them all down,

though. Oh, by the way, it's a place in Dallas that I like. What's it called? I don't know if you know it. It's called

Catfish Floyd's. You ever been there? I don't like that you did me like that. Like, I'm from Oak Cliff. So, I believe, no, I believe Floyd's is,

are I thinking of the right place? Catfish Floyd, yeah, it's really good. No, no, they might me another catfish place I'm thinking of. Anyways, yes, I know what you're talking about, but I'm thinking about another one too. Anyways, yes, in my adult life, though, I would say, Papadose, I miss that. Oh, Poppadoos is good.

Yeah, and Rudy's. For, not the place where you stop because you're getting gas, Rudy's chicken, and people know what I'm talking about. Cliff. Yeah. We lived in Dallas for like, we lived in, I never told you this. We lived in in DeSoto for a little while. Oh, yeah. We lived in DeSoto for a little while. So like, my dad used to go, I'm going to catfish floors. And you go there and get some

cappas. It's still some of the best fried catfish I ever had. I don't know if it's still open down there in Dallas. There's another place. I'm going to, if you ever in Dallas. Love it. Loved it. But no, in Louisiana, in Baton, Shia, Louisiana Landhap, Mike Anderson's, the Silver Moon Cafe, Del Pits, Chicken Shack, Snowflakes, Barbecue,

fucking Copeland's. These are all local. I never heard of them. Yeah, yeah, they're all. I mean, well, I mean, you'd hear of a lot of them in Louisiana, but like all of those joints like that, man, you go and get some of the most incredible food. The chimes, even though they're...

the chimes is a little fancier, but Tonys, if you are ever in Baton Rouge. You don't name every restaurant in Baton Rouge. I just want you to know that. If you are ever in Baton Rouge, I'm telling you guys, Tony Seafood, Plank Row. If you are ever in Baton Rouge, they actually have their at Tonys. They have a big fucking thing where they actually catch the catfish out of it. It's like a big catfish tank. And the catfish, you see the catfish in.

there and the guys are putting the catfish in there and then there's a sock. I'm sorry. I'm still like it. Okay. Now, take the shit too far. It's like, it's a very, all right. Like, it's not, this is a stressful childhood memory, Rachel. Okay.

I know that I can only imagine how triggering that was for you. It's the thing about it. The thing about it was that, the thing about it was that, like, it, like, kids call you fat, right? And then adults tell you, well, don't worry about what the kids say. It didn't really become real until an adult acknowledged that there was an issue. They're like, and until an adult told me. And that was nothing you could say. Right.

Nothing you could do but get up and get spinach. Yeah, an adult, an adult told me, like, no. And my mom would always say, hey, he's an active kid, whatever, whatever, he'll be fine or whatever. It wasn't a big deal. But my life, my papa Paul, Quinn Ellis, he had had enough. He's like, I'm sick of this shit. Okay. Now, unexpected ally of me.

Do you have an unexpected ally of him? Yes, I do. I was looking for the article, but I'll just say it. Mine is Mark Cuban. Oh, wow. What a fucking great one, man. Yeah, I don't know if you guys have been paying attention, but one of his former players who really only played a year,

Delante West, has really been struggling with addiction, and he hasn't been working. And so I don't know if people brought it to Mark's attention, whatever it is. He's been trying for a while behind the scenes to reach out to his family and really get Delante West in rehab. He was able to do that a little bit ago, and he recently posted a picture about his progress,

and he looks incredible Delante, and he really looks like he's been, he's having a successful run through rehab and really seems like he's getting his life back on track. So shout out to Mark Cuban, because a lot of times you see these owners and their athletes are nothing but, you know, a pawn for them. They are just there to make them money,

and when you're done, the next one comes in, and there's nothing attached to it. So to see an owner put that type of effort in, when they absolutely don't have to, is really a beautiful thing to see, and I hope to see more of it. So shout out to Mark Cuban for that. Oh, what a fantastic.

And they're like kayaking, and he's getting Delante out into nature and all of that stuff. Delante West is a player who, like you said, I only play with Mark Cuban for a little while, but had a pretty decent NBA career. And he had been very open about the struggles that he was having with his mental health.

But when people saw how far it had gone to where he was basically living on the streets, you just wonder how that could happen to a guy who had had so much. And so it's always good, whether or not you're in any being or not to know that there are people that will come by and, you know, pick you up when you're down a little bit. So shout out to Mark Cuban for sure. That's amazing. Mine is Fox News. Okay.

Do you know I thought about this? Yeah. This was a thought. But go ahead. Let me tell you how fucked 2020 is. 2020 is so fucked that I am in a position that I've actually never been in my life. And that is the position of hoping that Fox News is right. Fox News called Arizona on Tuesday night.

We went over to Tommy's house. It was terrible. But the one thing that did happen that night that gave us some hope was that Fox News called Arizona. the AP followed with calling Arizona. But do you know how weird it is for me to have to hope that the Fox News decision desk, which Megan Kelly said is bulletproof, is correct in calling that state for Biden.

Because if Arizona is for Biden, and you can lean on that, Nevada is going to go for Biden, and there's 270. There's 270 right there. So for me, to be in this situation, to have to be on the side of Fox News just shows you how fucking wacky the time is that we are living in right now.

And it is as wacky as it gets. Couldn't agree with you more. So that means when they call Nevada that Fox News will be the first one to say Biden wins the presidency. Yeah, I mean, some people are saying that will Fox News be so quick to call Nevada

because if they do call Nevada, which a lot of people are saying you could almost call Nevada now. If they do call Nevada, then Fox News has to be the first one to say it. So they might drag their feet, but you're absolutely right. We shall see.

We shall see. Thought warriors. You can take your thing in caps off, but do not stop learning. We'll say this. Learn as much as you can. Be as much information as you can. But also, self-care guys.

Take a little time. Take a walk around the block. Pet your dog. Make love to your spouse. Do whatever it. is you got to do. Take a swim. Don't overwork your spirit and your brain. However, we still need you to be engaged. So keep learning. I'm Van Lake. I'm Rachel Lindsay. And I love how you started off this podcast. So I would love to end this podcast that way. Everybody,

one, two, three, take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Namaste. Namaste. Have a fantastic weekend. We hope to have better news for you when we talk to you guys. again on Tuesday. Peace.