It Could Happen Here - Kamala Shuts Down The DNC

Episode Date: August 26, 2024

Robert, Garrison, and Sophie discuss Kamala’s speech, her comments on foreign policy, and her promise to make America normal again.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. All right, this is the last night of the DNC episode.

We're reporting from our homes now, which is great because I feel like death. Garrison Davis is here. I'm Sophie Lichterman. Robert Evans is here. We more or less survived the DNC. Sophie took a few hits there at the end. I took a few. So the DNC is over.

It's wrapped up. It's all finished. Thank goodness. Tiring in a very different way than the RNC. And I mean, obviously a very different demographic. This is something that I noticed just as soon as I got to the airport. Like when I got to the gate for the RNC, it was like, oh, I'm here for the RNC. And when I got to the gate for the DNC, it was, oh, this is just a regular airport gate. This is just normal people.

There's a very broad demographic that, you know, pretty fairly would represent whatever city you happen to come from. And in calling these people normal, that's not saying they're necessarily good people, but they're normal people. Sure, they're into politics maybe a little bit more than your average person. But by and large, they are kind of regular people and including shitty in a lot of the ways that regular people are shitty about politics whether that be their views on palestine gaza queer people but it's a pretty pretty normal demographic base yeah it's the difference between like when selby and i showed up at our gate for the rnc we took off our masks because the threat at that point was being on a mask surrounded by republicans yeah right yeah it was like the risk to our lives was greater than the risk of covid to our lives safety wise yeah whereas we just kind of treated the flights to and from the dnc like normal flights like like you you'd

handle the normal precautions just regular people some of that has to do with the fact that Chicago is like a much larger city. Yeah. Sure. But yes. But I mean, I got into a conversation with a delegate from Georgia who was sitting right next to me. You know, young guy, mid-20s. Very clearly, everyone on the plane was going to the DNC, at least for me.

And yeah, I mean, you just had like a regular conversation. Was it Lil Jon? No. No, Sophie. It was not. Oh, OK. Cool. at least for me and yeah i mean you just had like a regular conversation was it little john no no sophie it was not oh okay cool sophie little john is a senior citizen now it's little john thank you so much but no he was this this young kind of nominally progressive democrat who is excited this is i think i think his first time going excited excited to vote for kamala much more excited about her than joe he also just finished his college program to get a criminal justice degree so it's like yeah it's this is this is who the democratic party is yeah just random kind of kind of queer but definitely cis dude uh like gay dude bisexual whatever but yeah

it's gonna reform reform that criminal justice from the inside yeah anyway i don't just wanted to start about talking about those kind of general convention demographics because that's basically the same it felt well inside the convention as well. Yes, a lot more. What I will say is a lot more women who are like middle-aged at the DNC. Like that was the overwhelmingly most common demographic at the convention that I noticed. And probably more racial diversity than a lot of cities, probably, honestly.

Yeah. I guess that's a good general sign, but it's not a great sign just in and of itself, right? I guess it's good for kind of the general future of this country, but it doesn't really affect many of the biggest problems that we're addressing, whether that be Gaza, whether that be police brutality, whether that be all of these other things, LGBTQ issues, the economy. That does not necessarily equal over onto any of those at least at the dnc but you know that is that is a general trend that that the country is heading towards it seems so there you

go and my god was there a lot of people there was there was such an unhinged amount of people like i can't even it was so much bigger and so much more crowded than the DRNC. I said this online when right-wingers were trying to be like, there was nobody there, which was like, you're so dumb. It was vastly more crowded. But like at the RNC, most of the time, we generally had an entire row to ourselves. Yeah, it was always easy to find seating.

Super easy to find a spot to sit anytime during the RNC. Not true for the DNC. Super easy to find a spot to sit any time during the RNC. Not true for the DNC. No. Very challenging to find a seat. And this kind of brings us to the last day of the convention. Horrible. The three of us wrap up a very nice dinner with Mr. Vermin Supreme. Lovely.

Possibly the most ethical presidential candidate this year. The only presidential candidate who has been maced with a member of the Cool Zone media team. We can say that much. Yeah. So we wrapped up a great to dinner with him we walked over to dnc massive massive lines coming outside terrible and then we get told it's okay there's a special press entry so we bypass all those lines we are feeling great we are feeling like gods just passing by hundreds and hundreds of people waiting in line to get in the DNC. It was a very powerful feeling.

I've never felt that empowered before. Oh, Garrison. Oh, you sweet summer child. It was wonderful. It was really a rush that can't be described. Yeah. I always didn't want to let you guys know that the whole venue was at capacity.

So we get up to the door after just breezing through going past all of those lines and we get to the door and all the doors are shut yeah there's secret service at every entrance saying that nobody can get in because the venue is at capacity and the crash oh my god the crash that we had from our high. So, so bad. I talked to a couple of police officers outside the venue who were like, yeah, the fire marshals are here. Like, it was literally, I do think that it, and from everything I've read since, I think their reporting was accurate. Yes. Like, there were just more people than were allowed to be in the building.

They definitely let more people in than they should have yeah however there was a group of journalists with garrison and myself that were waiting to be let in and there was like triple the amount of people to journalists that left in the time that we were standing there which was a very long time and let me just say the secret service officer really enjoyed telling a bunch of journalists that we couldn't come in he was having a great night ruining our night i mean there's nothing that makes me happier than making a journalist miserable so i i actually do feel some solidarity there you know i i would love to tell a bunch of journalists fuck you i i was certainly skeptical because of just how many people were getting let out. I really wanted to see how full the venue actually was.

And after waiting for nearly two hours, two hours, two hours, two hours, I went home. Kabula's speech already started. I abandoned you. And then some media logistics person from the Secret Service entrance every five minutes would point at 10 people like they were the chosen ones to let them into the arena and on round three or four gare and i did in fact get in and run up like seven or eight flights of stairs which i'm still feeling you made the cut you made the cut we did i bet tim walls whispered your very names into the ears of that secret service agent although i do feel like uh a piece of me is still on those stairs because it was brutal it was bad and then we got up to to

kind of the the floor of the arena that we usually entered into and they were not lying it was way too full there was not a single seat available people were standing in the fire exits people were standing on the stairs and the hallways inside the actual arena it was it was in fact a real safety hazard yeah i do really feel the need to emphasize not one of those things where the cops were fucking over the press or whatever for their own like it was a serious issue no we we saw we saw firefighters inspecting the hallways and letting a whole bunch of fire code violations fly yeah we were not supposed to be standing in the middle of that stairwell. And yeah, we got inside just in time for the foreign policy, border patrol, and geopolitics section of Kamala's speech.

And we will talk about her speech, including those aspects, right after we come back from this ad break. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me in a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace,

wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them. Black Lit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Black Lit on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hola, mi gente. It's Honey German, and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of Latin culture, musica, peliculas, and entertainment with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists,

and culture shifters, this is the podcast for you. We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

My Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Better offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel-winning economists to leading journalists in the field, and I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud

enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. Check out betteroffline.com. All right. The final speech of the DNC, arguably the most important one, although the DNC just went on for so long that I was so checked out by that last day. Honestly, it was just Bill Clinton's nine-hour speech where he just was just the oldest man who's ever lived.

No, he's convinced me. You know, I watched last night several episodes of the show about him committing a sex crime as the president. And it really reminded me, boy, Slick Willie's gotten old. Yeah. Thank you for using my dad's nickname for Bill Clinton on my. Slick Willie, that's every dad's nickname for Bill Clinton. My dad loves to call him that. Anyways, Garrison, we get up there.

We are standing in a crowd of journalists just trying to get a glimpse of what's going on. And is there any particular part of the speech you want to talk about? Because there's a few things that come to mind for me. I mean, yeah, I have notes on like the whole speech speech just you know a few a few lines from each little section and i think this speech was more important than most of trump's speeches yeah because we've heard trump speak you know a bajillion times now i will say trump's rnc speech was important because this was his first speech

after getting shot at in the head um and similarly, I think this speech for Kamala was extremely important because this is basically her second presidential speech. The speech she's been using for her campaign trail has been the same stump speech for the past month. It's been the same one delivered many times, which is not a regular. But this is the first time we've really heard her do a new speech. And this is her introduction as a presidential candidate to the entire world. As she took the stage, there's obviously tons of cheers, chants of USA. She opened by praising

Biden's record and his character, saying that history will prove him to have such a great record and character. And then she framed her own personal story as like a template of like the American journey, right? Saying, quote, I'm no stranger to unlikely journeys, unquote. She talked about her mother as an immigrant, saying her parents met at a civil rights gathering and that her dad taught her to be fearless. Although her dad also, I guess, probably failed to teach her how to be a good Marxist. But she did not bring that part up in this speech. Complicated relationship. Look, we all get to have one.

Yes. But her parents taught her and her sister about, you know, different civil rights leaders, including civil rights lawyers that fought for civil rights in court. And Kamala said this is what inspired her to go to law school. Although, you know, very famously, she did not become like a civil rights lawyer. She became a prosecutor. And Kamala said that this was inspired by her high school best friend getting molested by her stepfather. And that's what got her to want to go down the prosecutor path.

That was the first time that I had ever heard her talk about that. Yeah, I hadn't heard that either. She mentioned it a few other times. Obviously not on that large of a stage. Yes, no, no. There was a lot of talk about that and a lot of talk about her focus on familial sexual abuse, molestation,

and other sex crimes as a prosecutor, basically framing that as her specialty. And that was a good part of what she focused on when she was a courtroom prosecutor. The line that she used to refer to her work in the court was that, quote, everyone has a right to safety, dignity, and justice. So that was kind of the introduction to Kamala and her background. That was like who she was, where she came from.

And then the speech pivoted to talking about Orange Man Bad, which worked very well in 2020. And I think we're going to see more of that the closer we get to the election. One way or the other, it's the last time you're going to get to make hay out of it. And so you might as well do that while the sun's shining. Yes. Honestly, that was the general theme of the DNC speeches for me was like, Orange Man Bad. We got one last shot.

We can be good for you. Be good with us. We're good. Orange man bad. It's even less that they want to be elected to make any actual progressive change. It's that in order to do that in the future, we first need to beat Donald Trump. Yeah. And that was kind of the guiding principle of most of the DNC and Kamala's speech.

She called this election of a fight for america's future it's infuriating that like we deal with this again right where we have to like sit down and knock the republicans out and end a chunk of the conservative ideology in this country because literally nothing can progress without doing that and we still can't handle the more fundamental problems. But you know, that's, that's the way it is. Yeah. And she talked a lot about voting rights, saying that Trump tried to throw away your vote. And when that didn't work, he directed an armed mob to the Capitol to overthrow the election. She talked about how Trump wants to deploy

the military against protests, although she said he wants to deploy the military against, quote, our own citizens. But this was in reference to him wanting to deploy the military against protests. And she framed the Supreme Court's new ruling to give presidents immunity in court from criminal prosecution as imagining Trump, but now without any guardrails, which, of course, is very scary. And part of this is Project 2025. Again, trying to reiterate this as the Republicans playbook in case Trump is able to get back into office. Mentions of Project 2025 started a series of we are not going back chants, which I think is probably some of the best messaging the Democrats have the option of deploying this go around. I know there was an upper Democratic strategist who has been meeting

with the Kamala team who said that this messaging doesn't work because it's too vague and too negative and not enough focused on the future. And thankfully, the Democrats, or at least Kamala's team, did not listen to that guy because that is the most wrong a man has ever been. This messaging has been playing very well in person at all these rallies and especially at the DNC. Kamala talked a little bit about economics, saying, quote, we are charting a future towards a strong and growing middle class, unquote. And, quote, we will build an opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed, unquote. Which I guess is fine. I don't know. I have a few kind of issues with this uh mainly like what happens when you don't succeed and what happens to the lower class throughout the entirety of the

dnc there's been a lot of talk about growing a strong middle class and a big focus on the middle class but very little focused on actually helping the people that are having it the hardest in this country and instead really really catering to like the middle class voter and i don't know it's it's like there's a there's a lot of talk about labor there's a lot talking about like working people like workers rights that stuff all has a pretty big spotlight at the dnc this year but but very little mentions of how we can actually improve life for the lower class she did talk about you know very vague gestures towards lowering the cost of everyday needs. But so far, she's kind of yet to unveil any actual solid policies, really.

We have that first-time home buyers, like 25K. Yeah, she's proposed some details on, like, how to help increase the number of first-time home buyers and build an additional, like, 3 million homes in the United States. Like, there's been some, but it is all kind of vague at this point now one thing that they do have going for them is when the dims say like we're going to cut inflation you know we've seen inflation drop yes from the the post-pandemic highs over the last couple of years to the point where it's at now so like that is that you know there's there's a leg to stand on there and in general i actually think one of the better economic points was made by clinton during his, which is that like the the vast majority of jobs that have been created over all of our lifetimes have been created under Democratic presidents. And, you know, if you if like that's your voting issue, the polls are also moving in the direction of that.

People seem to be trusting Kamala more on the economy. Yes, they trusted Biden, even though there's not really a perfectly logical reason to do that but this is elections aren't about logic right like no they're about vibes they're about vibes in a lot of ways they're about vibes and i do think the dims i think the dims have that actually like the good headwinds on and a lot can change in the next 70 days or so what i really saw with this speech and with this convention as a whole was the democratic party embracing the middle and some conservatives and yeah they tried not to be too directly abrasive to progressives and the left but But they weren't catering to them. But they were not catering to it, yeah.

Yeah, Kamala did attack Trump on taxes specifically, saying that Trump will do tax breaks to his billionaire friends that'll add $5 trillion to the national debt. And she called Trump's tariff proposal basically a national sales tax or a Trump tax that'll raise costs for middle-class families by up to $4,000 a year, which is in line with a whole bunch of economists' predictions if Trump's tariffs do go through.

And then, again, gesturing to kind of vague policy ideas without actually proposing strict policies, saying that, quote, we will provide access to capital for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and founders, warning that Trump will ban abortion pills and enact a national abortion ban and force states to report on people's abortions and miscarriages. And instead, Kamala will sign into law a bill that protects abortion access nationally, as well as calling to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, and more kind of vague gestures towards protecting the freedom to love who you love, to have clean air and clean water and the freedom that unlocks all others

the freedom to vote. And so that's kind of the most of the domestic policy section of the speech. And that is the part of the speech that we missed. And then we came in right as she started talking about the border, saying again that like many others have talked about the DNC, how the Democrats and Republicans worked together to write the strongest border bill in decades. And Kamala said that this bill was endorsed by the Border Patrol, which it wasn't.

It was endorsed by the Border Patrol Union, but who cares? And Kamala talked about how Trump called Republicans to kill the bill so that Democrats couldn't take credit. And she promised that she will bring back this bill and sign it into law, saying that, quote, we can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border, unquote. Again, this is one of the areas that Democrats, I think, have lost the most amount of ground on the past, like, eight years. And they are still kind of willing to cede it and then in terms of like geopolitics and foreign policy one line of commonwealth that has kind of caught in some some flack but also i i don't know i'll just read it we can talk about it uh she said that quote i will ensure america always has the strongest most lethal fighting force in the world, unquote.

Yeah, so did you guys, what did you think by the use of that language? I think she was trying to appeal to the voters that don't think a woman can lead. That's the end of my sentence. Agreed. Oh, interesting. I feel very differently. That's the end of my sentence. Agreed. Oh, interesting.

I feel very differently. I found this as being a reaction to right-wing and centrist attacks kind of questioning her strength as a leader. Yes. So she went for very, very, like, intense language on this. See, I feel very differently about that. And I think this may be just due to the fact that I have kind of some more experience with how people in the NatSec space speak. Because the phrasing that she used, and it's been lampooned a lot online we've all had a couple of uh some bits about you know talking about i don't want a lethal the most lethal military in the world i want this or that but like that's what the military does no no lethality is also a meme term, right? Like, like, that's the way it is used in this space. Like, if you go to like speeches where people who are involved in any level as contractors in the military industrial complex, making arms, working for, like, it is all about when they're talking about, like, improving efficiency within the Air Force. It's about lethality, right? We are increasing lethality. Like that is our goal. That's what we're doing

here today because that is the measure by which you determine the success of the organization. So what I saw Harris is doing by using that specific terminology was not I am trying to talk extra hard in order to burnish my credentials because conservatives are going to attack me. It was Trump is actually kind of weak on the national security stuff, especially within the community of people who are like NatSec. Yeah. People who are members who are born and raised members like my family, a lot of them of the military industrial complex, the people who have their professions in that space, right? They actually don't all like Trump a lot. And some evidence of that was recently he made some statements where he essentially insulted Medal of Honor recipients

that, like, the VFW came out and attacked Trump, which is wild, like, absolutely unprecedented. I do think it's a little bit, I definitely agree with you, Robert, but I do think it's a little bit i i definitely agree with you robert but i do think it's a little bit of what gare and i were talking about as well another another thing that i'm just thinking of as robert saying that is just how how often trump has said that you know the war the war in ukraine wouldn't happen if he was in office that like he putin scared of him and things like that as like one of his main reasons why we should reelect him is because he commands authority and nobody did anything bad when he was in power. And I think a lot of that has to do with Kamala's language choice. I mean, it's she said what she said because it was a way of expressing like.

Like an internal signifier to other people in the Natsok space? Yeah, yeah. It was a way of saying that I am not just... I'm not an outsider. I am a professional. I understand and speak about this the same way that you guys do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right?

No, I can see that. You know, the whole speech I kind of saw in those terms. It was very much calculated. I could see who they were trying to get with that speech. There was a bit in there for everybody. And they were trying to get kind of those moderate chunks of every group, including those moderate chunks of the people whose, like, primary issue is Gaza, right? Yeah. Because there is a chunk of the people who are mostly concerned this election with what the fuck we're going to do about Gaza, but also are not, you know,

hardline communists or whatever, you know, are people who, like the uncommitted folks, really want to embrace the Democratic Party and are maybe- People who still believe in the system. Want to just need a little bit of a lie that they can go along with to vote, right?

Like Kamala was attempting to kind of give, because she didn't announce a substantive change in policy. No. Her verbiage on Gaza in this speech was the same as the kind of stuff that like Obama was saying, honestly, like 10 years ago. Sure. Garrett, do you have a quote of what she said?

Yeah. Let's talk about it. But first, let's head to our last ad break real quick. But first, let's head to our last ad break real quick. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Blacklit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while

uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hola mi gente, it's Honey German and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of Latin culture, musica, peliculas, and entertainment with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists, and culture shifters, this is the podcast for you. We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators,

sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo

actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second you get your podcast. hinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel winning economists to leading journalists in the field. And I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God, things can change if we're loud enough.

So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. All right, let's talk about her closing remarks relating on foreign policy and Palestine. I guess there's a few other kind of general foreign policy things.

Yeah. Saying that under her watch, quote, we will lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence. America, not China, will win the competition for the 21st century, unquote. She framed Trump as an ally of Russia and Putin, and she claimed that she will help us, quote, stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.

And then finally, one of the last things she talked about was Israel-Palestine, saying, quote, President Biden and I are working around the clock. Now is the time to get a hostage deal done and a ceasefire deal done. This had a decent-sized cheer. She followed this up by saying, quote, we will always stand for Israel's right to defend itself and ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, unquote. And I think this signaled mostly to people that it's unlikely she will adopt anything resembling an arms embargo. And there was a lot of internal pressure from the uncommitted folks, people who got into the DNC trying to push on this topic specifically

because Democrats have now kind of adopted kind of vague ceasefire rhetoric. Now the goalpost does need to be shifted towards something that will actually stop the bombing of families inside Gaza. And that is an arms embargo. Some kind of conditions on the way that bombs and weapons are going to be used. And I think this line signified that that is probably not going to take place, at least before the election. No.

Definitely not before the election. That's very clear at this point. And she kind of both sides this issue. Yeah. Her last quote was, quote, What has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. How?

Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety. Why? Over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. Whom is making them do this? President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure. The hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity,

security, freedom, and self-determination, unquote. And this was followed by what I would call the biggest cheers of the entire night. Yeah, I was about to say the crowd reaction was massive to that. People lost it. So much bigger cheers than saying we will ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. This closing line about dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination for the Palestinian people got by far the biggest cheers. But, like, what does it mean? Like, what are you actually saying? It means nothing.

I mean, what all of that means to me is that, Democrats, because they are normal people, they're not Republicans. They know how bad all this is. They hate it. They are mad at Netanyahu. You only really need to see a couple of war crime videos to know that like what is happening over there is ghastly. They also aren't willing to like nuke their lives and a lot of other people's lives to let Trump back in. Right. And I do believe they genuinely view Israel as an extremely important ally in the Middle East.

Yeah. And they think that this could be fixed. Right. Because like we did some awful stuff in Iraq, but then we elected Obama and everything got better. Right. Or something like that. Yeah. No, I mean, like they don't like Netanyahu.

The Biden admin doesn't like Netanyahu because he's not efficient at war he's efficient at doing like and like an ethnic cleansing he's efficient at doing wide civilian casualties but he's not good at actually like fighting this war very well this is something that like biden's team has consistently not been thrilled by but they're not going to do much about it kind of the last foreign policy line that she had was, quote, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump, unquote. And I think basically this ties into a whole bunch of rhetoric

that I've seen throughout the DNC, including from speakers, speakers who are either vets or active military, that seems to be kind of slowly preparing the Democratic Party for another war, for some kind of on-the-ground activity in the Middle East, whether that be in Lebanon, whether that be in Iran. It's like they're slowly just prepping us for the possibility of war or invasion. Oh, that does seem likely.

This is a big part of like the Democratic Party's official like policy platform on Palestine, which they did release during the DNC. And a big part of that is about is talking about how important Israel is as a Middle East ally. Where will we fly our planes over? If they ever need to put troops on the ground. And I think that is so much of why they're unwilling to budge on anything resembling like an actual ceasefire or an arms embargo is because they view this as like a real possibility.

Anyway, that was, that was the speech. The balloons dropped. Everyone lost their minds. Yep. It's not a cult in the same way. But there's, you can see one building. Maybe the party's a cult, but it's not a Kamala cult the same way the GOP is now a Trump cult, right? Like, the Republicans are now a Trump cult.

It is not a cult of, like, who is the leader in the DNC, but it is more of a cult of, like, ideology, which I guess the Republicans just don't even have anymore. It's not even that. It's a cult of I think I would describe it as defensive cult making. Democrats have been so bewildered and frightened by the momentum that Trump and his people have had over the last decade. responded in part by adapting some aspects of like the cultic milieu to wrap around these ideas that like are are safe to them like that that's a big part of the appeal of the don't go back chant right which i think is a smart bit of politics and i think actually it has the potential to save quite a bit of lives particularly at least of like queer trans people in the united states yeah so i i'm not saying this is bad politics but

there is a level of cultiness to that where you're you are kind of enrapturing people with this possibility uh uh of of constant forward motion that we all know isn't doesn't feel as true as it felt in 2015 or 14 you know it doesn't feel as as possible as it felt in 2015 or 14. You know, it doesn't feel as possible as it felt in 2012 or 2008, that they're they're kind of trying to sell people on if we can just get over the hurdle of these Republicans, right? We can get back to the period where like things felt like we were all moving in the right direction. And that's magical thinking. Yeah, we can get back to a period of steady progress. I try to be even about this because as I wrote that episode, the fucking don't panic episode, because I was I was looking at people's talking on Reddit and Twitter and just in real life and being like, I think some folks might kill themselves. So, yeah, out of fear of the Republicans. So I really hope no one reads what I'm saying as like, ah, these stupid libs and their hope

fetish. It's like, no, no, no. But it's still a cultic belief. It's not rational. It may be necessary. Sometimes irrational beliefs are necessary. But there's not a good reason for it yet. And don't fall too far.

Like, fall, try not to fall further down that hole than you need to fall in order to keep yourself alive for the next eight months so even though trump has spoke a lot the past eight years his speech at the rnc i think was important because it was the first one post-assassination his viewership for that speech peaked at 28.4 million. Viewership for Kamala's speech Thursday night peaked at 28.9 million. So she edged him out just barely, at least in terms of peak numbers by about 500,000 views. Very even.

Very even, yeah. Very even. And again, Kamala's not not spoken tons there's a lot of people kind of tuning in to see what she sounds like kind of for the first time on a big national platform and meanwhile i think people are just briefly tuning into trump just to see what he's like after getting shot in the head and i will read a few of trump's tweets uh oh he's not doing well he's not doing well at all man was he well at all. Man, was he spiraling. Oh, my God.

From Kamala's speech. He just started by all caps. Is she talking about me? Excellent. Incredible stuff. Donald, buddy, I can tell you're slipping because four years ago, if you'd tried to tweet that out, you wouldn't have had to hear it from someone.

There would have been a voice in your own head before you press send that would have been like, don't do donnie come on donnie come on come on you're better than this quote too many thank yous too rapidly said what's going on with her followed by one minute later in all caps where's hunter see again from his prime it would have been something it would have been something like uhy hair or shit, some shit. He would have made some sort of insulting remark about her personal appearance and ignored the rest of the speech. One minute later, Walls was an assistant coach, not a coach. That's such a weak line.

Very funny. Very funny. Oh, my God. a week live funny very funny oh my god for one thing most american men have been on a sports team and we all know you just call them all coach everyone is like they're just all coach you don't say assistant coach embarrassing to be honest no player in a football team is everyone like hey assistant coach could you come over here like that's just not the way people are no wow anything else a few months ago we did an episode talking about kind of polls that Is everyone like, hey, assistant coach, could you come over here? Like, that's just not the way people are. No. Wow. Anything else? A few months ago, we did an episode talking about kind of polls that is now largely outdated because Biden's no longer in the race.

But we did talk about how most people's pick for president was literally anybody else. We saw one booth at the DNC protest that was a literally anyone else themed booth. And oh, boy, do I have news for you, buddy. Good news. But we do have some polling data kind of on how satisfied people feel based on their choices for this presidential election. Now, obviously there's a small post-convention bump for Harris, but that kind of usually tapers off.

But in terms of their satisfaction of the candidacy options, in May, only 55% of Democrats said they were satisfied. Now, 79% say they're satisfied. Massive. And for Republicans back in May, 68% were satisfied and now 74% are satisfied. But both are moving towards higher satisfaction. And obviously the giant shift in Democrat numbers is because of Kamala now.

And they're more satisfied with her than Republicans seem to be with Trump, which is an interesting stat. This is based on a New York Times-Siena College poll of registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. So that's just a few interesting little notes there as we close out this week, talking about the DNC. And then finally I have, I have one kind of little funny

anecdote as we were leaving the, the, the DNC after Kamala's speech, me and Sophie was walking around this area of Chicago, trying to get far enough away from the convention center to get an Uber. And I saw this guy maybe in his like, Oh, so funny. Probably in his 20s, who was either about to block up or just de-blocked. And you can tell because he's wearing the pants. He's wearing Doc Martens. Garrison is referring to someone who has just taken off their black block,

as in the traditional kind of anarchist protest garb, and put on normal street clothes so as to escape from a police cordon yeah so this guy was walking around either about to go to the protest or just left still had the doc martens on had like the backpack full of his stuff and as he walked by me i just almost instinctively like without thinking at all this was this this wasn't on purpose just instinctively i kind of muttered to myself i know what you are and and he heard this and like turned around looking kind of like confused or concerned and i just had i had to turn around i just gave him a smile and a thumbs up and he smiled back

and and kept and kept walking on and that was my last interaction at the DNC, which is just a little bit amusing to me. There was a protest of around similar numbers to Monday's. So maybe like 3,000, 2,000 people for kind of the last march on the DNC last Thursday. So there was another one of these big kind of coalition-led marches. It looked like it was not far from Monday's numbers,

actually, which was impressive. Pretty close, pretty close, but they did not breach the fence, unlike last time. A small section of them did not break off from the protest marshals and bypass a section of the fence, unlike Monday, which did cause significant disruptions.

But disruptions were not needed because the DNC disrupted itself by overbooking the venue and having way too many people. So there you go. That was the DNnc i'm really glad it's over me too i'm really glad it's over too and i can't wait until 2028 when we all get to be together again to cover the next election if there is one comraderade AOC proudly takes control. She raises the red flag on stage.

Comrade AOC, with her vice presidential candidate, the literal bones of Leon Trotsky, running versus just an open chasm to the pit of hell, an actual crack in the earth through which you can see the ephemeral forms of demons roiling in the magma below that's gonna be a great gotta be a great one really excited for those conventions and or donald trump jr eric trump and donald trump jr finally the dream team i believe they could open up a chasm to hell i do i do i think what would be more likely is if

eric trump and donald trump jr are on the same team with a bunch of secret service agents that we finally finally have a presidential election decided from a fentanyl overdose they get some tampered coke anyways the podcast is over. I'm going to go die now. Goodbye. It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here

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