Lovett or Leave It - Democracy: Endgame (LIVE from Houston)

Episode Date: May 4, 2019

Marvel introduces a gay character (who's in one scene and has NO powers). Kamala Harris wipes the floor with William Barr. Hillary Clinton assumes her final form on Rachel Maddow. And we see if Texas can tell the difference between Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Arian Foster, Emily Heller, and Mercedes Fulbright join Jon on stage at the University of Houston to break down the week's news, and whether the Battle of Winterfell really was too dark to see. On to Dallas and more food.

Good evening, Houston! Thank you so much! Thank you so much. Look at this incredible turnout. There's one thing we have learned in the past several years of politics, is that bullying works. We are in the Cullen Performance Hall at the University of Houston. Names for Ezekiel Wimberly Cullen, a 19th century Texas congressman who authored the bill to create public education in this state.

We have a picture for those at home. He looks like if Abraham Lincoln knew how to consecrate some ground. I hope you're all enjoying living in a low-tax state. Yeah, I bet. Of course, it's not low-tax if you're poor. If you're poor, it's one of the highest taxing states in the country. Great politics you have here. Congrats. And it's true.

I come from California, which is a high-tax state. But we also use that money to beat you at a sport called basketball. Boo all you want. It says here the Rockettes are struggling. I would like to discuss one other thing tonight. I'd like to discuss with you a film called Avengers Endgame. I will do so without any spoilers. You're welcome.

However, shame on you. All right? This is a consumer capitalist society controlled by three or four corporations that told you to see it already. And I don't know what kind of consumer citizen you are to have not seen it yet. That's not patriotic.

But there's one... Now, I also love the movie. I gave it a 10. I walked out. I had a blast. I texted a couple of pals about it. They gave it a 4 because they didn't like the time travel mechanics. I shoved them right in a locker

because that movie was awesome and the guys in it are very hot. Loved the movie. However, there was one aspect of the film that did bug me. It turns out, and you may have missed this, but there was a big milestone in Avengers colon Endgame. This movie broke barriers. This movie had the first openly gay character in a Marvel movie.

Who was gay, you ask? Did Thor grab a hammer? Did Iron Man man some iron? Did Hawkeye catch some arrow? Did Loki finally stop being so low-key? Did Carol Danvers get to lez out like she clearly was supposed to do in Captain Marvel, but they were too chicken shit? No. Culmination of a decade of films, a grand finale, a sweeping epic that began when we first found out that Robert Downey Jr. was going to be playing Iron Man, and we all said to ourselves, okay, sure, I don't know. I guess.

Yeah, sure. Him. Okay. The first openly gay character in a Marvel movie is in one group therapy scene where Joe Russo, the straight director, played a powerless character, just some guy,

who is sad, okay? He talks about going on a first date with someone, and Joe, in the character of a gay man, says something like, I think I may see him again. And the clouds part, and the trumpets play, and we have learned that this

insignificant, unremarkable, basically nameless character is the first openly gay character in a Marvel movie because he went on a same-sex date off-screen. I want to read a quote from Joe Russo about this, where he was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about the scene. I want to read a quote from Joe Russo about this, where he was asked by the Hollywood Reporter about the scene, he said, Representation is really important to us in these movies, and I think the thing we are happiest most about Marvel moving forward

is it's becoming incredibly diverse. We've done four of these films, and it was incredibly important to us to have a gay character represented somewhere in one of these four movies. We felt so strongly about it that I wanted to play the character in the film.

Thank you so much. Maybe there was supposed to be a gay superhero, but the studio stopped them. Maybe there was supposed to be a more substantial gay character, but it was blocked. Maybe it is incredibly important gay character, but it was blocked. Maybe it is incredibly important to them, but this scene is not proof of that. To me, it is proof of the opposite of that.

When I was 14, I could have really used a gay superhero in a blockbuster film. And I think now there are a lot of gay kids that could really use a gay superhero in a Marvel movie. They could. Right now. And all these billions of dollars later, all the patting ourselves on the back about how far we've come, all the supposed liberalism of Hollywood, all the fundraisers for Democrats, and all the talk, Marvel has refused to be there for those fans in these

movies. That's just the truth. How many movies is it going to take before Marvel has a gay superhero in these movies? To me, this first openly gay character in a Marvel movie is a sign of how far we have to go, how cowardly corporations can be, and how dangerous it is when so few of them control so much of the media we consume. It is 2019 and we will take to the streets if we must, but we will say it. The guys in these movies are very hot and it's time they fuck each other. It is a chant I have led before. Let them fuck. Let them fuck.

Let them fuck. Let them fuck. I got a thousand Texans calling for gay sex in a Marvel movie. America is ready. All right, all right. Let's start the show. We have a great show and a lot to get to tonight. She's a Texas State Coordinator at the Center for Popular Democracy. Please welcome Mercedes Fulbright.

How you doing? How are you? I'm doing good. I'm great. Yes. So I want to bring out the rest of our guests. Before I do, we're going to talk a lot about William Barr and the end of American democracy. But before we get to that, can you talk a little bit about what you're working on here in Texas for people that may not be following Texas politics very closely and kind of what's happening right now? Yeah. So I work for an organization called Local Progress.

It's a project of the Center for Popular Democracy. And I lead our Texas work. Local Progress is a national network of progressive local elected officials across the country. And in the state of Texas, I get to work with elected officials in major cities like Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso. And we've been trying to push for worker right protection, immigration protections, things that can reform our criminal justice system. And currently we're fighting our state legislators about issues like paid sick leave and fair scheduling and giving construction workers restroom breaks. Yeah. And our state legislators are telling local elected officials that they don't have the right to pass policies to protect workers and immigrants.

And so this week, our state legislators have been pushing LGBT discrimination ordinances and policies that do not protect our workers and immigrants. And so we've been coming together as cities to push back against our state legislators on those things. So this week we've been focusing on this week we've been focusing on ensuring that the paid sick leave policies that we passed in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio are protected. I'm hoping that Houston will join us in this fight but yes tell your city council members to push for paid sick leave but we're trying to protect those type of rights at the local level because we live in a conservative state that doesn't believe in that. Alright, thank you for walking us through that. Yes.

Alright. Next, he is an activist, award winning former NFL running back and the host of the podcast Now What? Please welcome Arian Foster. How you doing? I'm good, man. How you doing? I'm good, man. How you doing? I'm good.

It's good to hear. You've got some fans here. Hey, how y'all doing? All right. Let's bring out our next panelist. She's a comedian and Emmy-nominated writer for her work on the show Barry, the second season of which is airing

now on HBO. Please welcome back Emily Heller. Hi, Emily. Hi. I was also in the NFL. Yes. Which is what they call the National Forensic League high school debate. Lincoln Douglas.

I went to the Tournament of Champions not a big deal for a second I thought you were going to say Feminist League that too probably honorary I don't know alright let's get into it what a week

just when we thought we'd never talk about Robert Mueller again shit hit the fan this week on Tuesday the Washington Post and the New York Times Just when we thought we'd never talk about Robert Mueller again, shit hit the fan this week. On Tuesday, the Washington Post and the New York Times both reported that Robert Mueller was so taken aback by Attorney General William Barr's misrepresentations of his report that Mueller wrote Barr a letter admonishing him for undermining a central purpose

for which the department appointed the special counsel to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations he sent the letter privately so now it just feels like we're getting like a deleted scene from like a shitty episode three back you know anyway uh yesterday barr got grilled by members of the senate judiciary committee about his decision to release summaries that were not congruent with what the special counsel found presidential candidate senator kam Kamala Harris also drew some blood for getting him to admit he hadn't reviewed the underlying evidence of the report. And when she asked if he had been asked to investigate Trump's political enemies, he said this.

Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? I wouldn't. I wouldn't. Yes or no? Could you repeat that question? I will repeat it. Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? Yes or no, please, sir. The president or anybody else? Seems you would remember something like that and be able to tell us. Yeah, but I'm trying to grapple with the word suggest.

I mean, there have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation, but- Perhaps they've suggested? I don't know. I wouldn't say suggest. Hinted? I don't know. Inferred? You don't know. I wouldn't say suggest. Hinted? I don't know. Inferred? You don't know. Okay.

Delightful to watch. Can I just, again, this is a fantastic moment. She got him. It's very important. It's very important. It's very important. So much more important than the little thing I'm about to say, which is implied, not inferred, right? Right? Right? It's being, right?

Just like implied. It should be, right? But we're not even going to, it doesn't even matter because it's not important and it's stupid. Anyway, something we can debate in the camps because they're clearly focused on investigating their political opponents. And again, we learned in the New York Times, I believe today, that Donald Trump is hellbent on finding ways to investigate his opponents, including Joe Biden. So Nancy Pelosi said this week that Barr lied to Congress, which is a crime. Chairman Nadler is threatening to

hold A.G. Barr in contempt of Congress. At this point, no one can claim Barr acted in good faith. Trump and his people continue to try to obstruct justice to this very day. Aaron, I want to start with you. Why do you think Republicans are so bad at committing crimes without getting caught, and yet so good at it not mattering that they've been caught?

Could you repeat the question? No. been caught. Could you repeat the question? Honestly, I think it's a cultural, political thing, actually. I don't think it's necessarily just partisan, but I think there's a rationale missing in people's brains today that doesn't necessarily have the capacity to critically think. And it's funny, but it's the truth, right? Just that simple clip, right? We're laughing at it, but this is an issue. Like, we're actually talking about a dude who can't differentiate.

Like, we're talking about words, and he's, like, he's dancing. And it's scary, but it's the reality that we occupy and so that's you have to just do your part i don't i don't know i don't have the remedy man well fuck mercedes uh so i think there's a real sense that we're at a turning point not in terms of trump and his cronies being held accountable but actually the a real sense that we're at a turning point, not in terms of Trump and his cronies being held accountable, but actually the opposite, a sense that they're quite emboldened, right? You know, Donald Trump is clearly looking to investigate anyone who may oppose him. He feels emboldened by the fact that he was able to intercede in his own investigation and the investigation of others without consequence. And yet, at the same time, you hear often people talking about whether or not we should even be focusing on this. There is no consensus among Democrats as to whether we should be pursuing impeachment, for example. You're someone on the ground who's not working on

how to hold Trump accountable. You're working on- In some ways. In some ways. But you're working on the nuts and bolts of politics on the ground and the issues that touch people's lives. Do you think it's still important that Congress focus on corruption and the chaos inside of the administration? Or is it a mistake that we're not spending more of that effort on healthcare and other issues? Or is it still a distraction, even though Trump seems to be more brazen than ever? I think it's both and. I think that right now we're seeing our democracy spiral downwards. And the idea that we should take our attention away from what he's actually doing,

which is legitimately turning our democracy into a dictatorship and corruption is something that we shouldn't ignore. But at the same time, there are real issues happening at the local level that we shouldn't take the pressure off of. And so I think we have the capacity as humans, as organizers, as people who are engaged in this democracy and want to see it strengthened to be able to do both. So, you know, here in Texas, Beto O'Rourke recently defeated Ted Cruz by negative three points. What day was that? But you're about to have another Senate election. John Cornyn is about to. Yeah, we'll get to it. It's part of a game. Chill out.

What would be most helpful for you on the ground to be hearing from Washington about John Cornyn, about sort of the national political conversation as you're organizing here in Texas? That we currently have a senator who is not taking Trump to task, who's not holding him accountable. And it's necessary that we get him out of that seat because of that. We legitimately do not have someone that represents someone who believes in a democracy for all people. And he's showing that by not speaking out against what Trump is doing right now. Emily. Yes. If you could ask William Barr some questions, what would they be? I feel like my biggest question for him is just, okay, we're at three years into Trump,

or something like that. Is it year three, year 15? I don't know anymore. You don't join this administration at this point and not know what your job is going to be, which is to bring shame upon your family. Literally. And to ruin your legacy. My question for anyone who joins the administration at this point is like, why don't you want to do that in a more fun way?

Like there's so many really fun ways to bring shame upon your family. You could release TikTok karaoke videos of yourself singing Mariah Carey in a diaper. Like that's more fun than being the attorney general and doing a bunch of crime. I think, I have to hope. It would look more fun. I mean, it certainly looks more fun. So my question really just like, is this arousing you sexually? Because that's the only way I can imagine justifying doing what he's doing.

Emily, can I add that Barr is known, one, he used to work for George H.W. Bush when he was our president, and he was one of the architects of mass incarceration. So this guy loves doing this type of crap to us. He is into it. He is knees deep, and he's like, let's go.

I'm going to rise this. This is what you're saying this guy is not new to this this dude is coming so hard right now that's why it's taking him so long to answer that kamala harris question oh god no this is why emily's here to just drag this show into the gutter. He's like, I've been waiting for this moment. When we come back, OK Stop. Hey, don't go anywhere.

There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back! Now it's time for a game called OK Stop. You know how it works. We roll a clip and the panel can say OK Stop at any point to comment. Usually on OK Stop we'll show you a clip that's like Tucker Carlson trying and failing to say the word indefatigable or something. But today we wanted to try something different. Hillary Clinton,

former presidential candidate and current clenching enthusiast, went on Rachel Maddow this week and really seemed like she had nothing to lose. So let's watch. The Republicans in the Senate wouldn't go forward with some of the bipartisan legislation that was meant to secure our elections under orders from the White House. Imagine, Rachel, that you had one of the Democratic nominees for 2020 on your show. And that person said, you know, the only other adversary of ours who's anywhere near as good as the Russians is China. So why should Russia have all the fun? And since Russia is clearly backing Republicans, why don't we ask China to back us? I hereby...

Okay, stop. First of all, can I just say so far, this is not a good guided meditation. Russia, China. I just want people at home to know that she is wearing black on black, which is very cool, very Circe.

You know, Hillary Clinton is reaching her final form. This is the final stage of the Hillary Clinton Pokemon. And I don't hate it. And what I appreciate about this clip, the radiating anger from Hillary Clinton. I just earned fantastic, shared with it. Ask China.

That's right. And not only that, China, if you're listening, why don't you get Trump's tax returns? I'm sure. I'm just going to say, yes, yes. All of that. I love this because it's like she's saying, imagine a hypothetical where someone like me goes on a show like this and suggests something like this

wouldn't that be insane she's saying it like she just suggested ordering fries for the table should we be bad I mean she does have that much world power so this could be a real thing would richly reward you now according to the muller report that is not conspiracy because it's done right out in the open so if after this hypothetical Democratic candidate says this on your show, within hours, all of a sudden, the IRS offices are bombarded with incredibly sophisticated cyber tools looking for Trump's tax returns

and then extracts them and then passes them to whatever the... Okay, stop. Your analogy is getting really specific. Your little hypothetical scenario has a lot of detail. Your analogy is getting really specific. Your little hypothetical scenario has a lot of detail. I think, you know what, maybe in the back of her mind, she's like, these fuckers may lock me up next year anyway. I might as well go out with some style. WikiLeaks happens to be, and they start being unraveled and disclosed, nothing wrong with that.

I mean, if you're going to let Russia get away with what they did and are still doing, according to Christopher Wray, the current FBI director who said that last week, they're in our election systems. We're worried about 2020, he said. So, hey, let's have a great power contest and let's get the Chinese in on the side of somebody else. Just saying that shows how absurd the situation we find ourselves. She really is Cersei right now. She's like, this kingdom over here is going to come over here and help us with this. Yes.

Yeah, I don't know if she's Cersei, because a little bit of this, it does feel like she's about to get on a dragon that spits out copies of What Happened. I think she's Daenerys. She gets on her dragon to spit out the What Happened fire. It flies away. Bill tries to get on the

other dragon and that other dragon's like, no. Shakes Bill Clinton right off. Hillary Clinton doesn't give a fuck. Isn't it ironic? The second she has nothing to win, it's exactly when she's the kind of person who could win something. Well, that's the thing.

It's like they do all those polls of like, do people like Hillary Clinton? And it's always like when she's trying to get into office, everyone hates her. And then the second she's not trying to, her numbers go way up. I know part of that is misogyny but I also think part of it is she starts saying stuff like this.

She's being authentic. She's clearly frustrated. This is probably a real unpopular opinion so if we could play devil's advocate for a second. Okay. Yeah. Alright. So. Yeah. I'm excited. I take it nobody here is a huge Trump fan.

Me neither. But if we could take something positive from this presidency, let's do it. Hey. Hit me out first. Are you booing? You ain't even heard yet. Sometimes the devil offers really good deals. And also reaches for straws.

Signed beforehand. No. and also reaches for straws. Signed beforehand. No, so I think he has diluted the prestige of what a president is in this country. Nobody can lead 300 million people, right? It's an insane thought. So what he has done is he kind of diluted the seat of what the president is. And so when you see her talking like this,

oh shit, she's a human, right? And you start seeing the human side of all these politicians, which I kind of like. I don't like Trump. I'm just saying that. Yeah, I prefaced it and I want to re-preface it. But what he has done for me is he said, you know what? This shit is not what I thought it was. And so if candidates go forward like that, I'm okay with that because now it's okay to be human you don't have to be these robots who are perfect human beings and the shit that he got away with there's no way republicans can walk back now you know what i mean so like humans can be humans again i'm okay with that i do think he has sent a message which is, there are many, many things that are more important

than being on message. And, no, it's true though. I think he has shown the weakness of a lot of thoughts from political consultants for a very long time about the best way to win a campaign because clearly he did not play by that rule book. So, you know know oh well uh i found myself when i saw that clip thinking god do i really want the am i rooting for this shit now and i guess i'm not what like countries intervening in our politics is that what you're saying i guess i'm not rooting for it. I'm not rooting for it.

I don't understand your reaction when I tell you that the idea, the Chinese government listening to Hillary Clinton and reaching in to the database and grabbing those creepy fucked up tax returns and giving them to good WikiLeaks, I'm not for it. I think it's wrong. Creepy fucked up tax returns. And giving them to good WikiLeaks. I'm not for it. I think it's wrong.

Some things are more important than politics. That part. I heard somebody scream, Congress should just hold him accountable and impeach him. Yeah, sure. Lots of things should happen. Have you seen these Democrats? Treat power like a hot fucking stove.

We're off the rails in Texas, I don't mind. I mean, the amount that you've been letting people heckle in a state where everyone has a gun is a very clear one-to-one to me. Wow. Listen. What a stereotype. First of all, they are obeying my rules of heckling, which is rule number one, got to be super confident.

Rule number two, you've got to be super articulate. All right? And if it works, it works. That guy's worked. Someone over here i don't know it didn't work and i'm glad it didn't so keep it together and that's okay stop don't go anywhere just love it or leave it and there's more on the way and we're back! Like the measles.

What are you booing? What are you booing? The measles is good. They can hear you. Everything's bigger in Texas. The margaritas. The regulatory loopholes and the contest to be the most annoying politician

Ted Cruz is one of the most who you mad at? who you mad at? everybody hear a knock on every door? but couldn't you have done a couple more? A couple more doors. You're telling me everybody in here, that last door they knocked and then fell to the ground unconscious? I don't think so.

I think some of you had a few names left on that list. Put that list back in your car and went to a McDonald's. Whataburger. Whataburger is our state I know it's Whataburger And I knew as I said it you'd be furious Ted Cruz is one of the most disliked politicians in America

But the truth is Texas is big enough for two terrible senators Anyway Originally the Muppets had three characters in the balcony to shout insults at Kermit. It was Statler, Waldorf, and Cornyn. But due to budget cuts in the late 1970s, John Cornyn had to seek work elsewhere. And now, John Cornyn, your senator, is up for re-election. And it's time Texas faces it.

John Cornyn is Ted Cruz without the conviction, and his policies are equally, if not more destructive, than my boy Ted's. In fact, Cornyn's policies are so awful, we don't think you'll be able to tell him and Ted Cruz apart in a game we're calling Cornyn or Cruz. Would someone out there like to play the game? Hi, what's your name? I'm Marissa.

Hi, Marissa. You can also call me Miss Valdez. I'm an eighth grade math teacher. Yay, teachers. I'm not in your class, so I'm going to go with Marissa. Okay, I guess that's fine. Okay, if I'm also being honest, I've also had a couple glasses of wine. Great.

Okay, cool. That's great. Yay, teachers. also had a couple glasses of wine. Great. Okay, cool. That's great. Yay, teachers. All right. You've earned it. It's a Thursday. It's a Thursday. You're good.

I think Thursday is just, you must be. I get it. Marissa, I'm going to read you some facts. Some are about Ted Cruz. Some are about John Cornyn. Your job in this lightning round game will be to tell us Cruz. Some are about John Cornyn. Your job in this lightning round game will be to tell us if I'm describing Cruz or Cornyn.

Are you ready? I hope so. Okay. Do we have a little... Yeah. After the media reported a string of unrelated violent attacks on judges, this senator openly speculated that they had it coming due to liberal judicial activism. Not Cornyn. It was Cornyn. This senator voted against a federal aid package

to help the East Coast recover from Hurricane Sandy. Then, when Hurricane Harvey threatened Texas in 2017, he called for federal aid. Cruz. Got it. Open Secrets lists this senator as one of the top recipients of money from the oil and gas industry.

Cornyn. Both. Trick question. Sometimes the answers can be both. Yeah, it's fine. After the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, this senator said it would be a mistake to fracture that relationship with the Saudis.

Both. Cornyn. On September 11, 2017, this senator liked an incest porn post on Twitter, then blamed it... It's Cruz! It's Cruz! It's Cruz! All right. Just a week after the Planned Parenthood shooting

in Colorado Springs, this senator said that no Christian had committed an act of terrorism in centuries. Cruz. Correct. This senator endorsed Donald Trump just weeks after Trump called his wife ugly and implied... Cruz. Yep. I'm winning.

This senator complains about wasteful government spending on programs like Medicaid, even though he collects pensions from three different states and local governments, in addition to his salary from the Senate. Cronin. Got it. Both. Cronin. Got it. Truth. Both. Oh, whoops.

Both. Yes. This senator, in defense of a federal domestic surveillance program, said, None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead. Both. Cronin. Yes. This senator, in defense of a federal domestic surveillance program, said, None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead. Both. Cornyn. I can see both of them saying that. Two people can't say the same sentence. I know. I can see them both saying that same sentiment.

X equals one, Marissa. When President Obama attempted to replace the Supreme Court seat of the late Antonin Scalia, this senator refused to allow him and even threatened the nominee, saying, whoever gets nominated will bear some resemblance to a piñata. Cornyn. Yes. This senator once released an advanced copy of a speech where he said the following, It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle,

but that does not mean it is right. Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife. Is that Corbin? It is. Marissa, you won. Guys, give it up

for Marissa. Those eighth graders better be in their best behavior tomorrow because I have a feeling their math teacher is going to be a little on edge. If Democrats hope to take back the Senate in 2020, Cornyn's seat is a must-win, and we came so close to flipping Cruz's seat in 2020

thanks to the hard work of people like you. But America needs you to get out there and work just as hard to unseat Senator Cornyn next year and elect his opponent, whether it's Air Force veteran MJ Hagar or whoever wins the primaries. Unless you Texans are cowards, are you going to let a gay Jew from Hollywood

call Texans cowards? Then you better fix it. You better win this race. You going to win this race? All right. We come back. We're going to play another game. Hey, don't go anywhere.

There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Texas. Where you elect common folk as your leaders. Like, say, a rich idiot from New Haven who snorted his way through his 20s and spent like six months cosplaying as a rancher before you made him governor. Though at this point, cosplaying as a cowboy

is as much a rite of passage for conservative politicians as praising Ronald Reagan or taking a private jet trip with Jeffrey Epstein. If you don't shoot a machine gun in your campaign ad, you might as well be Antifa. In fact, so many conservative politicians pretend they are cowboys. We don't think you'll be able to tell them apart from movie cowboys in a game we're calling Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy, who is actually the son of an investment banker from Greenwich, Connecticut, who only wears cowboy boots

because it's a socially acceptable way for a man to wear heels that make you two inches taller, which he struggles to put on anyway with his soft, soft Phillips Exeter hands. Here's how it works. The panelists will help by reading two quotes, ideally in a cowboy voice, but I leave it to them. One is going to be from a conservative politician,

the other from a cowboy movie. Would someone out there like to play the game? Hi, what's your name? I'm Ashley. Hi, Ashley. And where are you from, Ashley? Originally from Florida, but I've been in Houston for the last five years.

I'm sorry. Don't apologize. Don't apologize. They're now trained. It's what we do. Floridians, we apologize for our state. It's the only reason we have friends. Ashley, the panelists are going to read two quotes, ideally in a cowboy voice, but that's up to them. Why do you look directly at me when you say cowboy voice? Why wouldn't I? I'll do what I can, Farron.

You will have to guess which is which, okay? Okay. Are you ready? Mercedes is going to kick us off with question one. They like to hit and then they like to hide out, but we're going to smoke them out. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Which is from a politician and which is from a cowboy movie. Wait, was that two sentences?

Yeah. It was two quotes. That was two quotes. So one was they like to hit and they like to hide out, but we're going to smoke them out. The other is a gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. The first one's from a movie. Second one's from a politician.

Incorrect. Smoke them out comes from Connecticut's own George W. Bush. The gun, the gun quote may sound like an NRA talking point, but it's from the movie Shane. Question number two. Here, I'll divide the quotes this time.

We're going to adapt as we go. Quote number one. It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Okay, okay. Quote two. No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. The first one's from a movie. The first one's from a movie. The second one's from a politician?

Correct. The Killing a Man quote is from Unforgiven, directed by Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman. Recommend it. Really subverts the cowboy tropes. Totally, totally. The other is from noted cowboy Winston Churchill. I mean,

he was the original glamper, so maybe. Maybe, Ashley. Question three. Emily is going to take us through both quotes. I'm going to do my best Sam Elliott. Cool. Yes! Never apologize, mister.

It's a sign of weakness. That's your first option? Give me a horse and a gun and an open plane and we can conquer the world. That was great. It was fantastic. I got to say, I surprised myself with how really good that was. It was pretty good.

I did not expect the bass. It helps to picture a specific cowboy. And yet, Sam Elliott's parts always go to Sam Elliott, a man. And never to Emily Heller, a woman. Are you proposing an all-female reboot of Sam Elliott? Stop stalling, Ashley. Excuse me, I was waiting for my turn to talk. Ya Leo.

It's okay, we're birthday twins, so. Answer the question. Can I phone a friend? No. Do you want me to do them again yes never apologize mister it's a sign of weakness or give me a horse and a gun and an open plane and we can conquer the world

which one was said by a conservative politician the second one that is correct the apology comes from she wore a yellow ribbon the quote about conquering the world Comes from noted Princeton alum Ted Cruz

So corny Bonus question Ashley Which conservative politician said the following in 1984 I could have bought an NFL team Including the Dallas Cowboys I feel sorry for the poor guy who's going to buy the Cowboys. It's a no-win situation for him. Trump. That is correct. A few

years later, Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys for a little over 100 million dollars. Today, his team is worth four billion dollars. One thing you have to admit, Trump is an incredible businessman. an incredible businessman. Ashley, you've won the game. And the parachute gift card. Thank you for playing. And thank you to our panelists for reading those incredibly

well-delivered quotes. When we come back, the rant wheel. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back!

Now it's time for the rant wheel. You know how it works. We spin the wheel, and wherever it lands, we rant about the topic. This week on the wheel, we have Brady Bunch anti-vaxxers, the lack of critical thinking in society, Game of Thrones, Sonic the Hedgehog, something you call Texas Toast,

Marvel's de-aging technology, a bus driver who was given probation, and Democrats. Let's spin the wheel. Lack of critical thinking. Aryan, take us away. Today's world is kind of scary, man, because you have so much access to information. And when you have that much access to information and you don't have a foundation or a route to filter the information that you're receiving, all of it can kind of look the same. And that's why you have, like, the rise of flat earthers. Like, that's a thing, right?

You have Trump, right? You have Trump, right? You have measles coming back. Yeah, so vaccines. Like you have a lot of these things that is easily debunkable if you spend 10 to 15 minutes looking at the literature, right? But you don't even have the faculty to understand that science has brought you to the point where you can complain about this shit on your smartphone, right? And so, right. I don't know, man. I don't, I wish there was a good way to remedy the situation, but there just, there just isn't. So just try to find the smartest person you can and then procreate so that the odds of you having a smarter kid no listen that is one of the few ways out of this thing we need we need some smart people to

make some more smart people because when idiocracy came out it was like, ha ha, ha it's a pretty good exaggeration and then it was like, oh no it's a documentary that is what happened what is the president in that movie?

Camacho has happened. It is real. And we are watering our plants with Brondo and we are going to die. So we definitely need to figure this out. Let's spin it again. People were very excited about a rant about Game of Thrones, Mercedes. I just want to talk about how emotional it was. I mean, this past Sunday, I was literally on the edge of my seat. Wait, hold on one second. I'm not going to try to spoil it either. For those listening at home, we are about to discuss an episode of Game of Thrones.

If you plan to watch it without being spoiled, now is a good time. Jump 30. See what you hear. Jump 30 again. All right? I'm going to watch the clock. You know what? We're going to spend exactly one minute

with spoilery stuff. If you don't want to hear it in the audience, what are you doing? Three, two, one. One minute starts now. I am so surprised that the war was over in one episode. I was annoyed, frustrated, and I literally was screaming through my friend's apartment,

like, oh my God, it happened! What is going on? And to see that it was Aria, just like, it was everything it was everything um but i just read i just read though that they're trying to take away aria's credit by saying that john was distracting the dragon i saw that and i did not i was not cool with that i'm not okay that is patriarchy at its best. It's like, what? But that was such an emotional episode. So now I'm like, okay, we're about to go fight

Cersei. What's going to happen? Because I, 90 minutes, are they going to do that again? 90 minutes of that? I hope so. That, y'all, my heart was racing. I was like, why isn't we legal? Because this is a lot. This is a lot. It is where we watch it. It was legal where we watch it.

And I will only say this. The minute is up right now. I said this on Ponce of America. I'll say it here. A man yelled at a dragon, but a woman had the policies we needed at the critical moment. You know?

You know what I'm talking about? No spoilers. I'm going to say something that has to be said, though. Not about that. Not about that. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you.

I'm with you. But, like, okay, I don't complain about entertainment. I didn't, I don't know how to make movies or whatever. But the lighting was pretty shitty in that episode, wasn't it? Oh, it was so bad. Alright, as long as, maybe we could get them with the same sonic pressure that we, you know, let's push them to turn the

contrast up a little. I thought my TV was fucking up. And I think you must have a great TV. You play for the National Football League. You have a good TV. You didn't get it at Costco. That's why I was mad.

I was like, yo, is my shit fucking up on this day right now? I was mad. Because you released security footage of you watching it, and it looked like a dark room. It was. We had the lights off. We had candles lit. We had Game of Thrones-style food. We did it up.

We did our thing. The witch lady, she was the best part of that, because she brightened up the entire scene. I don't want to spoil it. What's the red- No, Sandra. Yes. I don't want to spoil it, but I was like, we can see. I can't stand her, dog.

Look, I can't stand her, bro. She'll never be able to recoup my love, anyway. Well, sure, when she stops trying to win the Game of Thrones, then we'll like her again. She'll never be able to recoup my love anyway. Well, sure, when she stops trying to win the Game of Thrones, then we'll like her again. She'll seem more human. I don't even care. She was so clutch.

She was so clutch. But what? She was so clutch. She was clutch. All this is getting edited out. No. I want to leave as much of it in as humanly possible, because it's very fun.

Let's spin it again. Brady Bunch anti-vaxxers suggested by Emily. All right. So anti-vaxxers have been posting memes of the Brady Bunch from the episode when all of the kids got measles to claim that measles is not a big deal, which is infuriating for a number of reasons. First of all, the reason why measles didn't seem like a big deal when the Brady Bunch was on is because they still had polio.

But second of all, you need to update your sources. Are these same people, like when people come out and are like, football gives you traumatic brain injuries, are they like, I don't know, I saw that episode where Marsha got hit in the nose with one and she seemed fine. I'm sitting right here. And you got out! Unscathed. So, vaccinate your kids.

If you are an adult and you didn't get vaccinated, you can go get vaccinated. I did it three years ago. Because my parents are hippies and they just didn't remember if they had done it or not. And my pediatrician is dead. Of measles. Yeah.

So even if you've been vaccinated before, if you're not sure, you can just go get it again. It doesn't hurt you. I mean, it fucking hurts a little bit, but it doesn't cancel itself out.

Go get vaccinated. Don't make memes of the Brady Bunch just because people who consume memes weren't around for the Brady Bunch anyway, right? The fonts that they used on those memes were not good fonts. Look, I think that's true. There was a story about someone in California

who went to see Avengers Endgame with the measles and then, you know, exposed all these people at a midnight showing from 12 to 3 a.m. to the measles. Which I can only imagine was more risky because the movie was so long. I just feel like it's the people who are making memes like this and the people who I guess

made the Brady Bunch episode where they got measles and it was fun because they didn't have to go to school. I'm just saying just because the measles doesn't seem like a big deal to you, all that means is that you're lucky that you're not one of the people who is dying from it. So listen to scientists, vaccinate your kids. Like in that episode, they all get the measles, they stay home, and it's just like a fun romp about like, are women better doctors or men? It's very weird that the episode turns into that.

But the shit that they did on that show is not realistic. Like, they went to a ghost town and got locked in a cell by some guy named Zachariah, who was a prospector, who was afraid they were gonna steal his gold, and they had to go on a rescue in

the Grand Canyon, and it was a three-episode arc. I'm just saying they're not good at parenting. Let's spin it again. It has landed on Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm glad it did, because it's a glimmer of hope in a grim time. I'll tell you why. In the Sonic the Hedgehog trailer, we meet Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now, I had a Sega Genesis. It was aimed at me. I loved that little rascal. Loved how we could spin around, collect rings. I liked seeing him in a pinball machine. I liked going underwater. I liked finding little bubbles of air to breathe to maintain my survival underwater. I liked facing off against Dr. Robotnik in a giant kind of casino thing. facing off against Dr. Robotnik in a giant kind of casino thing. It was cool. So I'm somebody I assume this movie is aimed at. 36-year-olds who don't act like it. And then I see Sonic the Hedgehog, and he's gained some kind of lightning ability. I don't get that. I'm trying to make sense of it. Did I forget? Was the spinning lightning related?

Then it turns out in the movie, in the trailer, he sets off some kind of an EMP that shuts out the lights to half the western seaboard, and then some very smart Redditors did the math and figured out how many children on life support died because of it. Yeah, go check that out. It's wild. of it. Yeah, go check that out. It's wild. So maybe we should catch him and kill him. Maybe Jim Carrey's the hero. But still, the bigger problem is Sonic looked crazy. He had human teeth and weird eyes. He he made everybody uncomfortable. Now, normally, that would be where the story ends. A misfire from our friends at Sega. However, tonight, moments before the beginning of this very taping, it was announced that they're going to redesign Sonic,

which I've never heard before. I did not know that if Twitter hates a trailer enough, they'll make a different movie. That is a power we should fucking use. From now on, we should know that collectively, Twitter may be a cesspool of hate and misogyny. It may empower some of the worst abusers in our culture from the white supremacists

in our basements to the presidents in our White House, but if we speak with one voice, we can get a studio to reanimate Sonic so that he's cool and not weird. And I want to see how far we can take this, alright? Because if we can change

the way Sonic looks in a movie that was already scheduled to be released and look pretty good and done and I bet Sonic's in a lot of scenes in Sonic so it's not like they can just get away with a couple days of reshoots. That means we can change the world.

And until then I'm going to just eat my way across the state of fucking Texas. I want to thank our fantastic panel, Mercedes Fulbright, Arian Foster, Emily Eller. I want to thank the Cullen Theater and the University of Houston. I want to thank all of you for coming out.

I want to thank Nancy Pelosi, as always. Have a great night.