Lovett or Leave It - Justice is T-Swift

Episode Date: October 13, 2018

Brett Kavanaugh serves his first day on the Supreme Court, evil boat shoe Charlie Kirk has thoughts on Taylor Swift, history proves that not all hope is lost and we play a game that shows there's no good excuse not to vote on November 6th! Lovett officially left it but here to fill in is Guy Branum joined by Ike Barinholtz, Kiran Deol and Guy's very own former law professor Miranda McGowan.

Hello, I am not John Lovett. I am Guy Branum. John Lovett is off in Miami making the HBO show that Crooked Media is doing. Is it called Pod Save America? It's called Pod Save America, so be sure to watch it. But I am here in an undisclosed location at the Crooked Media offices, guest hosting this very special Love It or Leave It. I apologize that your beloved podcasting star is not here. I'm going to do what I can to explain. I'm that guy who yelled on previous episodes and is a comedian and has a talk show on a network you've never heard of. With me to talk about the events of this week, she is a professor of law at the University of San Diego Law School, a constitutional scholar who focuses on civil rights and health care, and my former law professor, Professor Miranda McGowan. Thank you, guys. I'm so excited to be here.

How are you doing, Miranda? I'm doing really well. You know, you once said'm so excited to be here. How are you doing, Miranda? I'm doing really well. You know, you once said the nicest thing to me. It's not about me. It's about the issues, okay? I appreciate that you're trying to bring my personality to this, but everybody's just going to be mad that John isn't here. They want to hear from his law professor,

even though he didn't go to law school. What did I say? You said I was the reason that you didn't become a lawyer. And thank God for that. That is very important. Next up, she's a comedian, filmmaker, and co-host of Crooked's Hysteria. Please welcome Ms.

Kieran Deal. Hey, hi. Hi. I used to tell people Kieran liked the beer, but after the Kavanaugh confirmations, I feel like that's tainted. What isn't tainted at this point in time? Yeah, fair, fair. And finally, you know him from The Mindy Project.

You know him from Mad TV. You know him from Suicide Squad. Should we go with Neighbors and Neighbors 2? Yeah. Why not? Plus, he wrote, directed, and is currently starring in the movie The Oath. Go out and watch it, Mr. Ike Barinholtz.

I can't believe you booked another constitutional law scholar. Why would you do that? Well, to be clear, you used to sit next to me at work. So I really have decided to home court. Also, Kieran and I have brunched before. All right? This guy told me one day, he said, you make me want to become a lawyer.

I don't know what that says about me. All right, you guys guys what a week um last saturday the senate voted to confirm brett kavanaugh to the supreme court as trump's second appointee to the highest rung of the judicial branch swinging the court to a conservative majority his confirmation came after a number of credible accusations of sexual assault were brought to the senate judiciary committee's attention stories of his nomination took over the news cycle for weeks and ended with testimony in front of the committee from both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and now Justice Kavanaugh. Hours before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the Washington Post that opposition to Kavanaugh had been a great political gift ahead of the midterms. He said,

the tactics have energized our base. I want to thank the mob. And so this man is talking about democracy. I want to thank the mob because they've done the one thing we were having trouble doing, which is energizing our base. In response to Collins' speech rationalizing her yes vote, Trump has said Collins didn't stop and she gave an impassioned, beautiful speech yesterday that was from the heart. On Tuesday morning, Kavanaugh served his first day on the Supreme Court, during which they heard two hours of arguments in three cases. Some of the cases that Kavanaugh will hear and rule on are a case which sets a 15-year minimum sentence for crimes involving firearms if the offender has three prior serious or violent felony convictions,

a case that determines which undocumented immigrants can be detained during deportation proceedings, and a case that would limit doctors' ability to perform surgical abortions at two out of the only three clinics currently in Arkansas. Kavanaugh's voting records suggest that he will vote conservatively on all of the above issues. Miranda, I wanted to have you here because you are the person I trust most when it comes to constitutional law. Will it be okay? Okay, okay. The first thing that you need to do is you need to open this tremendously, awfully, horribly, crappily, shittily wrapped present,

but it is radio, so there you go. Miranda, this is a podcast. No one can see it. You have to open it. You have to open it. She just gave me a shoebox. Miranda has made Angry Brett Kavanaugh cookies. Yes, and they're enough for everyone to have one,

and we're all going to feel so much better. First, they look like Beavis. Second, look what I'm going to do. Miranda has just violently taken a bite of Justice Kavanaugh's head. Will your home be searched by the Secret Service because of this threat on one of the branches? I don't know. But Miranda, do you think the only answer is just getting into bed, drinking wine and eating pound cake?

No. Is there hope? We've got some good Supreme Court precedents. The problem is, is they were authored by Justice Kennedy, which means they're really long on flowery, vapid phrases, but really short on clear principles. So we've got... Antonin Scalia once famously referred to one of Kennedy's decisions as the sweet mystery of life language. And whatever you think of Antonin Scalia, the fact that he could solidly read his colleagues has... You have to respect that. Well, no, no. I mean, it's so true. He once wrote in Casey, liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt while simultaneously giving us the incredibly rule of law, the undue burden test to protect the right to abortion.

Yeah. The current rule that defines what makes something an unconstitutional restriction on abortion is whether it's an undue burden. No one really knows what that is. us what that is. What looks to NARAL and Planned Parenthood like an undue burden on abortion rights looks to conservatives like an earnest attempt to promote the important state interest in promoting fetal life. So do you really think that it's going to be abortion? Do you think it is going to be undocumented immigrants? Do you think it's going to be gay rights? Which do you think is going to be the first to most significantly be degraded? I think immigration is probably going to be the thing that they have the fastest opportunity to do some real damage in. They've got the case this term, which has to do with whether you can pick up undocumented immigrants off the street for old crimes and then throw them in jail without a bail hearing and then similarly deport them. And then throw them in jail without a bail hearing and then similarly deport them.

There's a DACA challenge, a challenge to the Obama deferred action on childhood arrivals. Those are teed up in lower courts right now. There's a circuit split over whether the Trump administration can rescind the DACA program. And whether the Trump administration can also get all of the information that all of these dreamers turned over to the federal government when they were getting their deferred action. You know, I mean, the one bright light sort of ish, I think, is gay rights and same sex marriage, same sex marriage, at least. I think. OK, we've talked about Kennedy and his legacy and how that was important. I don't know. I would have a really hard time thinking that Kennedy left the court without sitting down with Chief Justice Roberts and saying, hey, man, are you going to just screw me and like ditch my legacy? Because Kennedy believes he will be in history books because he was nice to the gays three times. He was nice to the gays three times. Exactly. He was nice to the gays three times. Actually, four because of Windsor, too.

Oh, yes. Taxes. Taxes. That's right. Republican. Saving you taxes. He also one time gave up a taxi to Barney Frank. So it's actually fine.

There you go. Not to correct you, Professor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But here's the thing. The right to marry is going to mean the right to marry. Chief Justice Roberts dissented in this case just last year about whether the right to marry also encompasses the right to be a parent to your spouse's biological children. Yeah. And the majority said, yes, of course it does. You have to treat same sex spouses the same as you treat opposite-sex spouses.

And Chief Justice Roberts was like, I'm not so sure. I think when we said marriage rights, we meant marriage rights. So Roberts surprised everyone by stepping up in the Affordable Care Act case and siding with the liberal side of the court. Now some people are clinging to some notion that he'll have some sort of moderate epiphany. Do you think any of those guys, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, will they be a block or will any of them like get pulled to the dark side the way that Justice Kennedy was in the mid 80s or late 80s? The dark side of liberalism? Yes, yes.

I was being ironic not a chance i mean i i think the muslim ban case this summer gave you a good sense of just how much spine they actually are gonna have facing up to the actual forces of evil yeah none it's funny you just named like four terrifying things that will come to the court and i don't even think it's the worst thing no no first of all I should disclose I am close friends with Squeak he's a good guy, we did improv together the thing that freaks me out the most about Kavanaugh

is his notion that much like the Brad Cooper film he thinks executive power is limitless and he seems to not care. It seems to me that if we ever get in a position where we do impeach Donald Trump, which I know we shouldn't be focusing on, if it ever came down to some kind of vote, he would clearly think that there's no limit to the power. So that's the scuttlebutt. The talk is that the reason the Trump administration didn't cut bait on Kavanaugh and just go with some nice lady who

would vote because McConnell didn't even want him. Yeah, it was Trump pushing this. So from that Federalist Society shit, do you think it fundamentally comes down to his writings on executive power? A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I think Donald Trump's greatest fear is that he will either get voted out or impeached. And and you have a guy who who has, you know, previously written that his opinion on executive power has changed so trump's going to do whatever he can to save his ass and i think he looks at kavanaugh as a a surefire vote to save his ass that's why he was pushing for him and you think that with like somebody like amy garrett would have been another person who would

have essentially been like federalist society-esque and approved you know and there was a whole big old monolithic list of people that you could have chose from who didn't participate in a devil's triangle or have, you know, PJ and The problem isn't participation in a devil's triangle. It's consent and being honest about what a devil's triangle is.

When you're under oath by the Supreme I think her vagina would have gotten in the way of Trump nominating her because he hates women on a very violent level. And he, I think, would do anything to get the guy in there. This is actually a thing that has honestly genuinely been on my mind since the confirmation happened. Right. Because it's like Trump does have women in office, but they're seen as like an Aunt Lydia kind of woman, you know, in there in power. There's a number of them. Nikki Haley was one of them.

You know, loves a 28 year old woman with long hair. Who does his bidding? Yeah, of course. And then even the way that women were divided, women have been divided on Kavanaugh based on party. So it's like, you know, Republican women. It was almost a 50 50 split of the number of women, because apparently a lot of Republican women, white women, a lot of the women who voted in the Trump election, not to name races, everyone is a person. Everyone is a person.

OK, well, Trump has been insisting that he got 53 percent of the female vote because he got 53 percent of the white female vote. And this is but this is a big thing. Hillary Clinton talks about this, too. It's like Republican women start to align with the husband as opposed to aligning with. I don't think that's it. What do you think it is? I think the Republicans are single issue voters. And I think they're single issue voters around the issue of abortion. And I think that that really matters a lot. And they've had their sights on the Supreme Court for,

oh, what is it, 40 years now, 43 years and 45 years. I'm sorry, I can't do math. I'm a law professor. And God damn it, they won. But specifically the number of women who believed Dr. Blasey Ford when they were polled, like even in something like that, the numbers were almost 50-50. I'm not just talking about like the vote.

And that's 50-50 with white women or 50-50 with black women? Yeah, with white women. And it was divided by party, which was like, there's some really good Guardian articles on it and stuff. I'll send them to you. It also significantly

breaks down generationally. It was very interesting seeing women from a time when you didn't talk about stuff like that and who took some degree of pride in the fact that they had weathered things.

And at this point in time, I'm just going to phone conversations with my mom. This is the data that we're working from. But it was really interesting seeing so many people, predominantly women, being so politically active, getting out there, sharing their own personal stories. Karen, how do you feel? Do you think that this will politicize a generation of women?

Or do you think it was dispiriting? Because at the end of the day, after that amazing scene where that woman stopped Jeff Flake and forced him to deal with the reality of sexual assault. He voted no. No, I'm sorry. He voted, no way am I voting no because I'm a coward. Hey, he pretended like he was going to vote for a procedural no and then didn't. But how do you think this will play out? The sad dog face of when will this elevator door close is like.

Just out of frame, his hands pushing. Yeah, exactly. It's like it's like somebody, please, somebody, please help me. That's what he wants to vote for. Elevator doors closing faster in the Senate. Honestly, this trial for almost every woman I know, and I obviously can't speak for you, Miranda, but it was a really emotional testimony for so many women that I knew. I was on text chains with people where I was getting

like hundreds of messages about the thing in real time. But it affected literally almost everyone that I know because there's such a throwback to Anita Hill. It's almost like in the midst of a movement like Me Too to see at like the very heights of power, a little bit of this feeling of same shit, different day shows you how far you have to go when you listen to the victimization of somebody like Trump or, oh, like, but what about all the falsely accused? That's the thing that makes me angriest. The real victims are men who might be accused of rape. Because, of course, all sexual assault is committed by ghosts, I guess.

I think the reason, Miranda, you were saying that in 1991 with Anita Hill, it was a horrible situation. But we as a nation were having to for the first time sort of like confront even talking about sexual harassment. And you would think that we had learned something. Absolutely. I mean, we didn't have the president that we have who just insults women on a daily basis at a cellular level. I mean, it's just so all pervasive and so disgusting. It was horrifying. What Professor Hill went through was, of course, a horrible situation. But I think we just hoped that we had learned that we had come somewhere. And I mean, we have come somewhere. Do you guys feel that having

Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court after all of this going down, does it degrade the Supreme Court in the eyes of Americans? Do you look at the court differently? I tell you why I do is because we've had Supreme Court justices I don't agree with, but there's always been a basic kind of decorum that they had, like a basic dignity. I remember when Sam Alito mouthed not true during a State of the Union. I remember thinking like, oh, that is so garish. Alito mouth not true during a State of the Union. And I remember thinking like, oh, that is so garish. And this fucking mutant, Brett Kavanaugh, if he would have stood up there the first day and been like, here's the deal.

I drank a shit ton when I was a kid. I did some things I don't remember. Dr. Ford, I am so sorry if I hurt you. I have a family. I want to move behind it. I truly apologize. And let's fix America. He would have had at least three Democrats vote for his ass.

He went up there like a petulant little fucking baby. It was so, demeaning is the perfect word. It was watching this guy and knowing he was going to get fucking confirmed and watch him yell and say to, I can't even remember who it was, where it's, do you drink? Amy Klobuchar. Amy Klobuchar. She talks about her fucking, It was so shameful and embarrassing. And the fact that they didn't pull him and get a fucking Gorsuch clone,

and now they're complaining about how we complained about him, represents everything that's wrong with that party. And wasn't it just so bizarre? Watching him talk over Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris made me so... I was furious. Also, he's going to do it to Ginsburg, Kagan. Oh, yeah, he's gonna try to bully them, too. And so do my orcs. Sure.

And here's my call. I would like to put money on this. Ginsburg will be perfectly civil to him in all situations, and then will undermine him professionally with his coworkers. Plus, she lifts weights. Yeah, she could kick his ass. Kagan will talk mad shit in her decisions.

Like she will tear him apart limb from limb in her dissents. And Sotomayor, the third time it happens on the bench, will calmly say, please stop. Like she will calmly look him in the eyes, not be scared of anything, and just say, please stop. Because bitch from the Bronx. When you watch them in chamber, it's kind of a sacred thing. Even when I would watch Scalia talk, there was a gravity there. And to imagine this guy up there, it makes the whole thing a joke. I felt sure you were going to say, when I watch Judge Judy.

I was like, yes. Judge Mathis one day yelled at this man, and it was much like Kavanaugh. You know, there have been some unbelievable sons of bitches on the Supreme Court, though. There was Justice McReynolds from the 1930s. He was such a stunning racist anti-Semite that he never shook Justice Brandeis' hand, would leave the room whenever Justice Brandeis would speak in conference. When the counsel for the NAACP, Charles Hamilton Houston, came and argued before the Supreme Court, he stood up and turned his back. And when on the occasion that a woman would come and argue in front of the

Supreme Court, he would say, the woman is present and then would get up and walk out of the room did he blame beer that's maybe the greatest i mean it is important to remember the united states constitution didn't blame her it just never happened he likes beer he likes beer likes beer it's important to remember the united states constitution has weathered racist misogynistic white men before it can do it again. The one thing people don't talk about is class. With Brett Kavanaugh, like he grew up rich. He went to the most elite private schools in the country. He's like, I worked my tail off, but you were in the top 1% income bracket of the country.

Yeah. And then you went to an Ivy League. Like there is a feeder system of entitlement, to me, when I watched that statement, I was just like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You remind me of a lot of the dudes I went to Harvard with. Look, way to drop that you went to Harvard, Karen. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, guys.

I'm smart. Miranda and I went to state school. I'm smart. The way that we talked about Brett Kavanaugh must be a Supreme Court justice because he's the kind of guy who's a Supreme Court justice, was deeply classist, and we didn't talk about that. The fact that what we were saying was he came from the right places, he went through the right schools, and we have to assume that the violence that he did is meaningless in the face of that kind of entitlement and pedigree, and that's bullshit.

When we come back, OK, stop. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Welcome back. I am still not John Lovett. Yes. But we are going to play a quick game of OK Stop. Yes.

Classic. We'll roll a clip and then the panel can say OK Stop at any point to comment. This week, Taylor Swift went on Instagram to endorse two Tennessee Democrats, Phil Bresdin for Senate and Jim Cooper for Congress. In doing so, she called out Marsha Blackburn for her piss-poor record on issues that matter to Taylor, including voting against the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act and insisting businesses have the right to deny services to the LGBT community. Conservative evil boat shoot Charlie Kirk stopped by Fox & Friends to offer his thoughts.

Let's roll the clip. Why do you think Taylor Swift, out of nowhere, decided to get political? This is what I used to love about Taylor Swift, that she stayed away from politics. Okay, stop. No, what you love about Taylor Swift is not that she stays away from politics. It is those you love about taylor swift is not that she stays away from politics it is those sick sick beats okay um this is a girl who has torn open her heart in front of us and talked about all of her breakups if you're loving her for just being apolitical you don't have ears sir sorry all about you know female empowerment. I don't want to... It's not about this,

but it is funny to me that Charlie Kirk goes to the salon and says, give me the Eddie Munster. Because that is hardcore hair right there. He's leaning into his male pattern baldness. I have to respect that. User of this, but I don't think she was the only one that wrote that post on Instagram.

She probably got some very bad information. And look, it is part of this narrative where celebrities that want to do good in the world... Okay, stop. The fact that there was a slow push in as he was like, they got some very bad information and then it just says Fox and Friends

on the floor. I was like, hmm. Irony. The notion that as a woman under 30, she cannot have ideas or opinions of her own. She is an entertainer. So her job is to be a commodified object. It's disgusting. No one would ever say that about a male pop star.

Also, I think it's hilarious whenever conservatives like rip on celebrities for being Democrats. And like the minute the lowest grade Z Antonio Sabato Jr. is like, I'm a Republican. They're like, oh, our greatest, our greatest Republican, Antonio Sabato Jr. is like, I'm a Republican. They're like, our greatest Republican, Antonio Sabato Jr. I got to say, I'm a Gary Sinise man. When it comes to celebrity Republicans, I love me some Gary Sinise. I'm hardcore James Woods, baby. Robert Davi and James Woods. Benefit of good intentions are being told that people like Marshall Blackburn

are horrible people and nothing could be further from the truth. Okay, stop. She just voted for Kavanaugh. This woman has opposed gay rights at every turn. If Taylor Swift has an interest in anything, it's keeping gay guys healthy and wealthy so that we can continue to buy her album. Amen.

Trump administration are doing better than ever. The lowest unemployment for women in 60 years. Wages are going up Business startups for young women are at a record high. Hold on look Taylor Swift wages are going up Where's that fucking from wages are going down and they keep talking about unemployment like it's the greatest thing in the world They're treating it like it's like 1926 when in reality, it's like 1929. I love your music Personally Kanye West. I'm a bigger fan of his I wish you would have I love your music. Personally, Kanye West. I'm a bigger fan of his. I wish you would have not done this. OK, stop, stop, stop, stop. Come on.

I think that there's only one thing to do here, and it's to quote T. Swift and say, haters going to hate, hate, hate, hate, hate and just shake it off. Yeah, shake it off and vote. Yeah, shake it off and vote. That's rough. The swindle I enjoy currently is seeing the conservative establishment have to move forward and behave as though they have always been big fans of Ye. You know? I mean, Ye is done. He's done because there's no job that is more reliant on you thinking the artist is cool than being a hip hop MC.

You have to buy into them being cool to like their music. And nothing is less cool than Charlie Kirk thinking you're cool. Hence, therefore... I have a question for the panel. Do you think that Kanye's conservatism is exclusively a result of him being indoctrinated into the Kardashians' West Valley,

Gulf Republican world? Or do you think it is just him trying to be ridiculous? I think he's always lived in a world of delusion. That is his own world of delusion where he's, because he's always had

these like kind of mythological stories around him. And like this particular narrative, I think it's sad, you know? Can I give you a little

Chicago perspective? I'm from Chicago, Kanye's from Chicago. We have a term for him. Ike won't shut up about being from Chicago like most people from Chicago Want to tell us about the pizza yeah, we have an expression for people like Kanye in Chicago It's a guy's a fucking dumbass. I just wish there would have been some some form of neutrality when she went about this, where she said just register to vote, make an informed decision. That would have been the proper way to go about this. Instead, she said LGBT black.

No, I mean, his insistence is that as a person who professionally gets in to like a bodysuit she's not allowed to have like hard political opinions it's so dismissive of taylor swift uh which is ridiculous if 1989 taught us anything it is that she is a great thinker well let me let me give me a break that is ridiculous and that's okay stop don't go anywhere just love it or leave it and there's more on the way Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. Oh, my God. I spent most of that segment looking at Pundit's goddamn bone that fell off the floor of the Crooked HQ.

Stop trying to ingratiate yourself to the Crooked Media family. They're mostly gone. I know. I'm with you now. Ike Barinholtz, you have yourself a movie. I do. And you know who's in this movie? Who is in this movie?

John Lovett. Oh, yes. He stretches his muscles, his acting muscles, and he plays podcast host. And I got to tell you, he's fantastic. I mean, is he best supporting actor eligible? There's a little bit of awards chatter. I'm hearing him and Brad Cooper mentioned in the same breath this year. So tell everybody what the movie is about.

It's a movie called The Oath. I wrote and directed it, and it's all about a family fighting about politics during the week of Thanksgiving. And then fascism comes to the front door and it turns into a big, bloody, chaotic mess. It's the feel-bad holiday film of the year. And, yeah, I hope everyone goes and sees it. There were two things I really enjoyed about the movie. I got to watch the movie early. Did I get to go to the premiere?

No. You're so cool you didn't have to go to the premiere. You got a link at home, my man. One thing that was really interesting about the movie to me was the place of righteous anger. And I feel like this thing that fuels so much of the contention in politics right now, people believing that they're right

and their anger is justified. And you really go on a journey with it. What were your thoughts on this idea of righteous anger when you were making the film? For the past two years, I've been filled with righteous anger. He sat next to me at work. I had to listen to him rant about the 2016 election. It was insufferable. It was insufferable. And I was making everybody crazy. And I thought, how can I make other people crazy besides my immediate family and friends? So I wrote this movie.

It doesn't, you know, spare liberals too because a lot of liberals, I feel like, we think that if we just scream and tweet angry things, we're getting shit done. Don't know what you're talking about. Not enough. And so, yeah, the message of the movie is, you know, we can try to keep these connections with our friends and our family. But we have to do more than just scream into the void.

We actually have to get involved. That's beautiful. In the spirit of your film and the hope that it represents, we have a game. It seems like every news cycle delivers fresh nightmares, which we must inevitably relive over Thanksgiving dinner with our terrible right-wing families. Hi, Mom. While it might be tempting to give up and head over to Costco for a drum of cheese curls and a Kirkland Signature coffin,

do not despair. History is full of seemingly lost causes that, thanks to the hard work of ordinary people, were not lost at all. Change always feels inevitable after the fact. It's easy to forget that the arc of the moral universe is long and weird and unpredictable, like some kind of cool snake.

To help you remember to not give up the fight, it's time to play a fun game we're calling The Future Isn't Necessarily a Trash Keep Full of Monsters. All right, we need a competitor. Where are their competitors? Yeah! Yeah! Woo! get over here

come forward Chicago hey another Chicagoan let's talk about pizza I'm actually I'm from the suburbs of Chicago if I'm being honest okay that's fine

player number one I'm the host stop addressing I okay player number one what is your name my name is Maggie Maggie

what do you do here at Crooked Media I am an intern. You're an intern? Where do you go to school? I actually graduated from school. Are you receiving course credit right now? I am not.

All right. I think there may be labor issues going on here. I am going to report Crooked Media ASAP. All right. Maggie, where did you go? University of Illinois. University of Illinois. Go fighting Illini?

Yes. Thank you. I know lots of things about sports. All right. Maggie, you ready to play? Yes. Okay. I'm going to read out a situation, and then our lovely panelists are going to give you three outcomes.

You have to say which one was real. Are you capable of doing that, Maggie? I think so. I believe in you and the work of state schools. I'm tired of Kieran and her pro-Harvard message. All right. Question number one. On an afternoon in 1787, 12 regular people met at a bookstore slash printing shop in London and held their first meeting.

They wanted to take on a powerful lobby that directly affected over 75% of people on Earth and generated enormous profits for the British Empire. The odds were overwhelmingly against them. Who were they and how did it work out? Miranda? They formed the Society for Affecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Through demonstrations, petitions, debates, pamphlets, and lawsuits, their grassroots movement grew. And in 1838, 51 years later, Parliament outlawed slavery and emancipated 800,000 slaves. A quarter century after that,

the United States followed suit. That's option A. That's option A. Q and option B. Known as the Society for Children Under Mountains, or SCUM, they advocated for more child labor to be used in Britain's huge coal and tin mining industries. Because of them, Britain had the resources to start their industrial revolution, the first of the world. And all it took was killing a whole bunch of kids. Britain, tin basket of Europe. I like that one. Ike, what's option C? They were a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.

And they wanted the British Empire to know that they were crazy for making them write Santa Saturday. Does that answer your question? All right, Maggie, option A, B, or C? I think I'm going to go with A. That's correct. That's correct. Can I ask a question?

Did you know what C was in reference to? I believe it was in reference to the breakfast. Oh, wow. I love that. Young people sometimes don't see those movies. Thank God for TBS teaching our young people about mainstream comedies of the 80s. Maggie, have you seen Uncle Buck? I have not.

No. I mean, as a Chicagoan, you're obliged. All right. Question two, Maggie. Ready for it? Yes. In 1870, a long shot candidate began a mostly symbolic campaign to become President of the United States. The backlash was immediate.

Harper's Weekly ran a political cartoon depicting the candidate as Satan. On election day, the candidate sat in a jail cell thanks to trumped-up obscenity charges. Who was the candidate and what was their platform? The candidate was Orrin Hatch when he was a spry 65 years young. This explains his campaign slogan, I'd be revolutionary if it were still 1870. Option A, Option A, Orrin Hatch. Kieran? The candidate was Victoria Woodhull, the first major woman to be nominated by a major party. She fought for women's suffrage and advocated for a woman's right to sexual self-determination, including the right to divorce. Fifty years later, in 1920, women

gained the right to vote. About 50 years after that, states started to introduce a no-fault divorce law that made it easier for women to leave abusive marriages. Option B. Option C, Ike Barinholtz. David von Dracula Stein. He was a Democrat who believed in health care for all and was also definitely not Dracula. Yeah, he had fangs, slept upside down, flew and only drank blood, but he believed that every human had the right to get medical care. He was also Jewish, which is why there was a backlash. Okay, Maggie, do you think it was Orrin Hatch, Victoria Woodhull, or David von Dracula Stein? I'm going to go with Victoria Woodhull. That's correct.

That's correct. Yes. Nice words. I thought it was C. You're on a roll. Maggie, you're a woman. You're wearing pants. Do you feel like you owe that to Victoria Woodhull?

I would say that I guess I do, yeah. Okay. Question three. In 1924, an immigrant and World War I veteran named Henry Gerber formed the Society for Human Rights. It had taken Gerber a year to find just six other people to join. They published only a few newsletters before Gerber's home was raided by the police. Gerber was arrested, his papers were confiscated, and he lost his job. The organization soon disbanded. What cause was he fighting for? Miranda, what's option A?

The Society for Human Rights is the first documented gay rights organization in the United States. About 80 years of struggle later, in 2003, the Supreme Court declared laws that criminalize gay and lesbian sex unconstitutional. Then in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that states can't ban same-sex marriage. That same year, Henry Gerber's house in Chicago, Chicago, was designated a National Historic Landmark. Miranda, not you too. All right, option B, Karen. For more newsletters, Henry believed the future was telling a large group of people about your jewelry business or upcoming improv shows in a cute, fun, and concise manner. Ike. The people hated it, and the police unsubscribed them forever. Option C, Ike.

That all food should be mushed and served in a tiny jar. Henry Gerber believed that eating food was complicated and should just be blended up and served in a tiny jar. People didn't understand, so the Society for Human Rights developed a product and put Gerber's face on the label. Because Henry Gerber looked like a one-year-old rights, we've got newsletters, and we've got mashed up food in jars. What do you think the answer is? I think it's A.

That is correct. That is correct. We got a fourth one, Maggie. You ready to go for it? I think so. How are you holding up, stamina-wise? I'm okay. Do you feel like you should have done more conditioning in preparation for this game? That might have been best. Alright, that's fair. Question four. In 2003, local politics in

the small refinery town of Richmond, California was dominated by Chevron, one of the world's largest oil companies. That year, a group of left-leaning activists formed the Richmond Progressive Alliance. They intended to push back against Chevron and the candidates it bankrolled, so Richmond could finally do something about its pollution, its poverty, and its high rate of violent crime. Chevron spent millions on TV ads, billboards, mailers, and more to defeat them.

Who won, and how did they do it? Also, I'm from Northern California. Miranda's from Northern California. Neither of us felt the need to tell you that when we were talking about Richmond. Sorry, Miranda, what's option A? Losing money and support, the Progressive Alliance had to think of something to get the town's attention. And they did it by organizing the Richmond Rec Center Talent Show with performances like Mrs. Ruther's Ribbon Dancing, the Dangle Twins lip syncing to Katy Perry's Firework, and Principal Walter's Wineglass rendition of Ave Maria. It was beautiful. The RPA managed to raise $300.

Chevron completely destroyed them, but still, what a night. Option A, talent show. Option B, Kieran. What do you think? Chevron straight up destroyed the Progression Alliance. They even ended up buying the city and now owns every single person who lives in Richmond. It's an oil company. Literally the most powerful entity in the world.

You honestly think there was a happy ending? Lol! Lol! And option C, Ike Barinholtz. powerful entity in the world. You honestly think there was a happy ending? LOL! LOL! And option C, Ike Barinholtz. In 2004, Richmond Progressive Alliance co-founder Gail McLaughlin was elected to the city council. And in 2006, she became mayor. She created the Office of Neighborhood Safety, which helped bring the city's homicide rate to its lowest point in decades. In 2014, the grassroots movement managed to defeat every Chevron-backed

politician in the city despite an enormous spending disparity. Richmond got Chevron to pay over $100 million in additional taxes and put the money towards clean energy and novel protections against foreclosure and eviction. Richmond also became a sanctuary city. All right, Maggie, which of those things do you think is correct? I'm going to go with C. That's incorrect. It's actually the one about the talent show. Oh, okay. That's just a joke.

It was option C. When we come back, another game. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Welcome back to Love It or Leave It. I continue to be Guy Brand.um, not John Lovett. You're a little bit disappointed. You'll make it through.

This is the year of disappointments. But you guys, it's time for another game. It's not enough that some eligible people still won't vote. They also have to go around telling you their reasons. And it may come as no surprise that very often these reasons are stupid as hell. To help us do away with the confusion and to arm you with some ready-made answers the next time your idiot friend is like,

I can't vote because I spilled Slurpee on my pants while I was sitting on the toilet. We're going to play a game we call Seriously, Please Vote. I'm begging you, I can't take much more of this. Do we have a competitor? Get over here. Where are you from?

I'm from Los Angeles. Competitor number two, what's your name? My name is Megan. Megan, what do you do here at Crooked Media? I'm a junior business analyst. Okay. I believe we are violating quiz show laws by having somebody who works for Crooked Media play a game on a Crooked Media show. And if I go to jail for this, I'm taking you down with me, Maggie.

Please do. Please do. All right, Maggie, I'm going to read a reason someone might tell you they didn't vote. You have to tell me whether it's a real bad reason that people say or a fake one that we made up to amuse ourselves. Are you ready for this? So ready. Okay. Question one. I don't vote because... I go by my middle name and I'm too embarrassed for anyone, even poll workers, to find out that my first name is actually pre-Becca. Option two. You have to speak to another person like no thanks.

Literally 100% of my conversations since 1998 have been conducted via text, and I'm not changing that, even though Beto O'Rourke is admittedly extremely hot. Oh, yeah, yeah. Option C, Ike. I'll be more likely to be summoned for jury duty. I'm going to go with C. That is correct. That is correct. Oh, wow. But, but, but, hold on. B is also correct. Beto is freaking hot. Beto is hot, yes.

Different states. Also, I've mentioned her a lot on this show, but let's accept that Paulette Jordan, who is running for governor of Idaho. Yes. Smokeshow. Yeah. All right. I'm in.

But different states use different methods to summon potential jurors. Some states use voter registration lists, but the majority do not. Your local district court's website can tell you whether or not registering to vote makes a difference where you are. On the off chance that you live in a state where registering to vote makes you more likely to be summoned, you should still register. If serving on a jury would be especially costly

or inconvenient to you, they'll likely let you off the hook. But if it wouldn't, maybe you should be open to serving. Like voting, it's a civic duty and an opportunity for you to make the world a little better. Also, Miranda, let's not forget, in the 70s, women were still being removed from the opportunity to serve on juries. This is a civil right that you guys had to fight really hard for. Well, not me personally, because in the 70s, I was a really small child. I'm sorry. That's fair. That's fair.

I mean, I know I'm an authority figure in your life, but I'm actually only seven years older than you guys. All right. Fine. Miranda didn't do jack shit to get women jury rights. Meanwhile, Ginsburg was busting her ass. She absolutely was. During the Missouri.

You should be very impressed that I remember during the Missouri. All right. Question two. I didn't vote because. I don't have a permanent address. Option B. Because it never works. If voting worked, we would have a woman president, pink M&Ms, and we would all be listening to

Sanjaya 24-7. Or option C. I literally don't have time. I have Pilates in the morning. I work from 9 to 5 where I look at the same five websites throughout the day. A lunch break where I need to spend the entire time online at Sweetgreen looking at my phone at the same five apps and then absolutely doing nothing

at night. I don't have time to quote unquote vote for my quote unquote rights. Alright Megan, which one do you think? I'm feeling C, but I think it's A. That's true. That's true. Yes! It is possible to register to vote

without a permanent address in all 50 states. You only need a place where you can receive mail, like the home of a friend or relative, or a church or agency. They might also ask for a description of your current living situation. The National Coalition for the Homeless maintains a list of every state's requirements and here's a note just this week the state of north dakota decided to impose stringent id laws at the polls until

recently voting in north dakota has been easy it used to be that you could show up with a mailing address but now you have to have a permanent address lots of native americans living on rural reservations use a po box on their IDs because mail carriers won't deliver to their homes. So this new rule is specifically meant to disenfranchise Native Americans who are expected to vote for Heidi Heitkamp. It is, of course, the first time the United States has attempted to disenfranchise Native Americans. We're really messing up our great record. And Heidi Heitkamp, of course, is in a very narrow race. So everyone in North Dakota who can vote better fucking do so on behalf of everyone else who got robbed of their basic rights.

Can I get an amen? Amen. Also, everyone just needs to remember Miranda is very young. Okay? All right. Question three. I don't vote because. I'm a single issue voter.

All right. Question three. I don't vote because. I'm a single issue voter. And unless there's a candidate who says that they will bring back the ABC dramedy Pushing Daisy starring starring the incomparable Lee Pace and his luxurious eyebrows. I refuse to cast my ballot. That's very compelling. Option B. Because I cannot. 20 moons ago, an evil sorceress named Gerselanda put a spell on me, for I was once an aloof prince who didn't believe in democracy. In order to break the spell, I must find the Dragonstone and place it under my pillow of my one true love and councilmen whose policies I connect with.

And option three. I don't like the candidates. Which one do you think it is, Megan? I think it's C. It is option C. Yes. But real quick, again, Lee Pace is frigging hot. He was so wonderful with Christian Chenoweth on that show.

Ellen Green. We all love Ellen Green. Anna Friel. Elections are about more than just the candidates. You'll also have an opportunity to weigh in on local ballot measures. These could affect your life and the lives of those around you more than the representatives. But it might be worth reconsidering just how important it is to quote-unquote like a candidate before you vote. The fact remains, someone is going to win the race. If you have a say in the matter, you can help make sure it's

not the absolute worst person for the job. If it helps, ask yourself who you'd vote against. The bottom line is that everybody has to turn out to vote. We see Republicans every day trying to disenfranchise already vulnerable communities. That's because they know how powerful votes are, and they're scared of what would happen if we all turned out this November. So vote. And Miranda, you of course remember from the 19-teens when women were fighting for the vote. Absolutely. And I treasure the privilege of voting every day because I fought the good fight back in 19.

You're my favorite. I can't remember. I can't remember. Now it was so long ago. that we have over the Republicans in 1973 when they were facing down a 7-2 majority in Roe v. Wade is that the things that we are fighting for, the right to gay marriage, the right to abortion, the right to all that is good and just in the world, is not embedded in the Constitution and blocking us from getting it. All we need are Democratic majorities. All we need are people voting the right majorities into state houses, taking over both houses of Congress, getting back the White House. If we have Democratic majorities, we can solidify the rights that we've been counting on the justices just to hand to us on a silver platter. Yeah, it's important to remember those Supreme Court justices can't take away abortion rights

if state legislatures aren't passing laws that restrict abortion rights. That's absolutely right. All right. When we come back. Well, congratulations. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Does she get a gift?

You guys have a fucking gift for the winner of the game? Megan, you've won. Megan, take a cookie. You've won a zombie cookie. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. 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. Welcome back to Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. Welcome back to Love It or Leave It. I continue to not be John Lovett. He is on assignment in Miami this week. I am instead Guy Branum. John Lovett, assignment Miami Beach. Isn't that a Police Academy movie? Oh, what's that, Miranda? You brought

a copy of my book, My Life as a Goddess, available wherever books are sold, so that I can sign it for you personally, not so that I could mention it on the show in hopes that listeners of Crooked Media and its affiliates would purchase my book. Well, not only did I bring the hardcover edition, I also own

it in iBook form, so I brought both my iPhone and my iPad so that you could sign those too. Don't, don't. He'll ruin them. But, but. Okay, guys. It's time for the rant wheel. We are doing this in the undisclosed location so we have a physical rant wheel.

This isn't that bullshit video rigged shit that they do when they're at the improv. This is real fucking game of chance. Our topics are pumpkin patches, Melania Trump being the most bullied person in the world, Donald Trump's lunch

with Kanye and Kid Rock, the UN climate report, liberals being so fucking principled, term limits, the question, where does A Star is Born take place, and John Lovett. All right.

Let's go for our first spin. Big money. Big money. No whammies. No whammies. Oh. Oh. What's the deal with John Lovett?

He can't be here for his own goddamn show. He's so fancy now he's got his HBO show. Who's taking care of pundits? I think he officially has left it. And that's unacceptable. Alright, that's a solid laugh. Let's move on.

Thank you. It has landed on Melania Trump. Melania Trump is, I think, the least bullied person in the world. You can't say you're bullied when you're the fucking first lady of the United States and you have a team of sycophants who surround you so much and kiss your ass and tell you everything you do is right, including wearing a fucking jacket to a fucking hurricane zone saying, I don't care, do you?

Or coming up with an anti-bullying measure called Be Best. She is so surrounded by people who don't bully her that no one fucking said, do you want to put another article in there? Like, be your best or be the best or be someone's best. In fact, they all just said, nope, we don't want to bully her, so we're just going to go with Be Best. Be Best, the worst.

Like, the fact that this woman showed up at the Sphinx dressed as Carmen Sandiego does not redeem her at all for you? No, in fact, I don't even think it was Carmen Sandiego. I think it was fucking Belloc from Raiders of the Lost Ark and I kept waiting for her fucking head to blow up when she looked at the fucking Raiders

of the Lost Ark, the Ark of the Covenant. But I am fascinated by the way that conservatives have gotten a hold of technologies that used to belong to liberals, like irony and like victimization. And we have these stories of the real victim is Brett Kavanaugh, like these men who have credible witnesses

to their sexual assault could be your son or your brother. And now we have Melania talking in terms of bullying because she is being criticized because she is a political figure. Public figure. Yeah. It's really difficult to see these people make their weird grasps at trying to say that they are victims when she literally lives in a golden tower. Like, she lives in a golden tower when she

isn't living in the white house protected by our tax dollars amen all right let's go back to the wheel i'm a wheel watcher i'm a wheel watcher fuck pumpkin patches all right september 17th comes and then everyone i know with a child under six is constantly posting photos to instagram of them with their stupid children at pumpkin patches i don't give a shit like it's just so annoying they all act like it's required miranda ike you guys both have children i am blaming both of you i don't give a shit about it. Also, pick a goddamn apple, okay? I mean, just vary it up a little bit. I realize you need a way of tiring out your preschool-aged child.

Fine. But, like, don't involve me in that process. And maybe get a little creative. I have no response to that. Everything he said is 100% true. All right, let's go back to the wheel. Everything he said is 100% true. All right, let's go back to the wheel.

All right, we've got liberals are so fucking principled. Liberals are so fucking principled. We have to love everything about our candidates before we will bother to vote for them. We will not vote for Gore or turn out in big numbers for Gore because he seemed inauthentic. And Ralph Naderber, he really had liberal bona fides. Well, that shit had real consequences. What did we say about the climate UN climate report? We got 12 years. Well, we lost an entire fucking decade because of people deciding to be really principled and vote for Ralph Nader. And now what do we have? We have Donaldald fucking trump otherwise known as president rat fucker why because clinton wasn't as pure as bernie so guess what guys we blew it and now we've lost the supreme court i just want to say i've had no principles for many

years and it's been great and i want to say that that was a very damning rant but surprisingly calm in tone i wish that brett kavanaugh's opening statement yes had showed that kind of judicial restraint the the the elegance you showed when you said rat fucker was beautiful. It was the diction. It was perfect. The diction rat rat fucker. I will think about you saying that as I try to go to sleep tonight. Yeah. Let's spin it again. Yeah. I'm just moving it to UN climate reports. The UN climate report came out and it basically said that we have 12 years left before there's irreparable damage to the planet which is already seeming like it's having a pretty rough time of it it's having it like i have family who lives in florida and every time it's like

hurricane do you know i mean are we gonna survive and it's like there florida is terrible to begin with yes but this is worse but yes yes it is a terrible place but south florida is where they're filming this hbo show so you don't want them to go underwater guy you don't want them to go underwater um you see that was the raising of the voice for the rant um so a lot of people believe in climate change but there's still a large percentage of evangelical christians who do not believe that climate change is real, which is why I would like to go into the deep south and start an evangelical Christian church where I prove from the Bible why climate change is real. Using that chapter at the end, the one with all the flames,

that's the one. That's the one. We're going to talk after this. Just get the specifics down as a heathen. Just get them down. That's a great point. The problem isn't science. The problem is just that we have not successfully leveraged the word of Christ to convince people that our planet is being destroyed by carbon emissions. Why did he

rise? Air pollution. Alright. One more spin guys. One more spin, guys. One more spin. Come on, big money. Oh, and again, almost landed on the one that I want. I just moved it to the one that I want. Term limits.

Okay. I was listening to a podcast. I'm not going to say what podcast it was, but it's possible that it was hosted by Jon Favreau. And they were talking about the Kavanaugh hearings. And one of the things that he said is this is why we need term limits, because we have senators who were there for Anita Hill who are still there in 2018. Fuck that. No. Term limits are just another attempt at automating our democracy, of saying that there's a way we can turn our democracy into a perpetual motion machine, which is kind of what Miranda is talking about

with the way that we have relied on the Supreme Court to take care of these civil rights issues. We have to make a democracy. We can't pretend that we can absent ourselves from the work of democracy and still have it reflect our values. There are fucking term limits in the Constitution. They are two years and six years and

four years, and we have to learn to fucking use them. Not just wait out Orrin Hatch. You don't just sit around and wait for Orrin Hatch to be removed from you by term limits. You have to show up to the fucking polls. And if the people of Utah don't decide to do that, you have to respect

that and do what you can in your own state. Should we do away with states? Maybe. Should we all move to Utah? No. Should we get fake addresses in Utah? Yes. I think Orrin Hatch is nervous that young buck Mick Romney is going to take a seat.

All right, you guys. Let's end this on a high note. Okay, you guys. Know what's on your ballot. Every state has specific measures and initiatives, and the Crooked team has made it as easy as possible for you to get informed on what those are in your specific state. And now you can actually see who and what will be on your ballot before you actually vote. You can get smart on the candidates, research the ballot measures,

and soon you'll be able to look up your polling places and make a plan to get there. Be that obnoxious asshole who is way ahead of the game. To see a breakdown of what's on your ballot, visit votesaveamerica.com Ladies and gentlemen, let us thank Professor Miranda McGowan of the

University of San Diego, Kieran Teal, Mike Barenholtz, go see The Oath. It's very good.