Lovett or Leave It - LeBron/Rippon

Episode Date: February 17, 2018

Mueller drops more indictments. Republicans block immigration reform. Another deadly school shooting elicits thoughts and prayers. The Obama portraits scramble some brains. And Laura Ingraham blows a dog whistle wrong because we all can hear it. Roxane Gay, Solomon Georgio, and Amani Al-Khatahtbeh join Jon to break down the week’s news. Plus, we’re soliciting submissions for the official Trump portrait at crooked.com/portraitmode.

Hi guys! Hi, guys. How are y'all doing? Y'all. Where'd the y'all come from? That was garbage. I don't say y'all. I'm from New York. I say you guys.

We have a fantastic show. We have a fantastic panel. We have a fantastic panel. We also have a pretty exciting announcement coming up after the news. But I wanted to kick things off tonight with a topic on everybody's mind, which is the Mueller indictments. This was technically the first week to have 700 days in it. And a lot happened and we'll get into it. And it was a tough week too. But let's kick it off with the Russia stuff.

A real friend of the pod in the front row. So here's how the Russia stuff works. We're all fascinated by it. A foreign country interfered in our election and succeeded. Succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. As part of that, there's an ongoing criminal investigation into the president, which is bad for him because he is an obvious criminal. But we can't make Mueller go any faster. We don't know what's going on in there.

It's always a surprise. He runs a tight ship, you know, Robert Mueller. No one ever says, Robert Mueller, that guy just shoots from the hip, you know? No one ever says Robert Mueller, what an erratic fellow. That is a contained man. He's the human equivalent of those Japanese watermelons they grow in a cube, you know? I don't know what that means, but you know what I mean? Like he's an organized watermelon. Anyway, let's run through what happened this week. Oh, and so because we're not supposed to focus on it

and there's all those people online ready to tell us that it's a distraction, like they're in charge, like they're the monitors. Who put them in charge of deciding what the distractions are? Don't pay attention to it. It's a distraction. I don't know. It's a bunch of indictments. Can I read it?

Can I get to the bottom of it? It's five o'clock on a Friday. I can spend a little time learning about the indictments. I'll focus on the election. I know. I'm not one of those people that says, hurry up, Robert Mueller. We know that that's annoying. I want Robert Mueller. Hurry up. Okay. Some of you are people who say that.

That's what we learned by that silence. Resign, Mr. Trump, sir. I'm making fun of people who say that. Trap. Oh, it's going to be a loose show tonight. I don't know where my head is. Who cares? Okay. So because we're going to focus on the election but give this the attention it deserves, we're going to put two minutes on the clock and run through the latest on the Russia stuff, which I think pretty soon we're going to have to just rename the Mueller stuff. But for now, the Russia stuff. Let's start the clock. On Friday, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller issued another round of indictments. This centered around Russia's direct interference in the 2016 election.

Russia's direct interference in the 2016 election. Rod Rosenstein announced that 13 Russian individuals and three companies were part of a massive and sophisticated attempt to sway the 2016 election and help the Trump campaign. Here's exactly what we learned from the indictments. One, the Russians began planning this interference in 2014. That's when a Russian, quote, troll farm. Now we all know what that is. Launched a strategy seeking to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, intending to, quote, spread distrust toward the candidates and the political system in general, end quote. Two, the trolls' whole goal was to clear any opposition to Trump.

According to the indictment, their primary directive was to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton and to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, which is, what a tough job. Those are three perfect people. Oh, you don't like it when I loop her in with them, huh? And to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump. Three, the trolls had unwitting insider help. According to the document, some defendants posing as U.S. persons

and without revealing their Russian association communicated with unwitting individuals who were associated with Trump. They even contacted the Trump campaign to help set up rallies for his campaign in Florida. For months Trump has been calling Russian influence in the election fake news and a hoax which is tough to square with the 37 page indictment

detailing the web of influence peddled by Russian agents allegedly. Trump took to Twitter today to say that since the Russian plan to sow doubt in our democracy was concocted in 2014, it wasn't aimed to help him. But that is belied by the indictment, which includes that by 2016, Russians were supporting the presidential campaign of then-president, then-Donald J. Trump. Not only that, but earlier this week, we're getting out that former Trump campaign advisor

Robert Gates is close to a plea deal with the press prosecutor. Gates was indicted earlier this year with Paul Manafort. If Gates flips, that means Mueller has three cooperating witnesses. Steve Bannon spent 20 hours with Robert Mueller, and Robert Mueller added a charge against Manafort. So now he's really in trouble? And that is the Russia stuff. When we come back, I welcome our panel.

Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. I am very excited about our panel tonight. She's the founder and editor-in-chief

of MuslimGirl.com and author of the memoir Muslim Girl, A Coming of Age. Please welcome Imani. Hi, Imani. Hey, guys. I'm trying to find organic ways to have people hear your voice after I say the name so people know who's who.

How do you think it's going? Really well so far. Great. She's the best-selling author of several books including Bad Feminist, Hunger, and Difficult Women. Please welcome Roxane Gay. Hi, Roxane. Hello, John. I'm so excited that you're here.

I'm excited to be here. You know, I have to say, though, we started off on the wrong foot. Oh, how? Because I saw a certain tweet where you refer to this as just some podcast yeah you know yeah i get to keep you on your toes okay i you know i i'm not a podcast listener that's i i everyone's always like really and i'm like i just don't like to be read to and many podcasts make me feel like I'm being read to. Keep digging.

Keep digging. Finally, he has a Comedy Central half hour special and album called Homo Negro Superior. Please welcome Solomon Giorgio. Hi. Thank you. You know, halfway through Homo Negro, I almost thought it was Homo Negro.

It is Negro. It is? There's supposed to be an accent over that E, but if you forget it, you're just... Racist. This was a trap. I actually accept both. I am content with both of them. Okay.

I actually don't correct anyone if they say the other one. I like them both. Those are both my names. Don't worry. There's no going back. Alright, well, let's get into it. What an infrastructure week. Infrastructure.

That's what our focus is tonight because that's what we all talked about all week. Roads and bridges and waterways and sewers and trains. Okay, so let's talk about, let's start with DACA. After Donald Trump ended the DACA program back in September, he gave Congress until March to figure out a fix. So finally, after months of stalling and two government shutdowns, both very brief, we don't even remember them, Mitch McConnell agreed to give the floor to the immigration debate.

That was the promise Democrats extracted during the first shutdown. We had a simple request to protect Dreamers from deportation. Donald Trump agreed when asked, but on one condition, undermining the legal immigration system. He demanded $25 billion in border security, but then also wanted to restrict legal immigration and end policies that help keep families together.

So this week, when bipartisan support started to mount for a compromise that would protect DREAMers and give the border security money, Trump said he'd veto it, giving Republicans an out and basically killing an immigration solution this week. Solomon, I wanted to start with you. You know, you came to this country as a refugee from Sudan at age three. How do you feel about this pivot that Trump has made, which is it starts out talking about illegal immigration. But then the reveal is actually we want far less legal immigration. Well, that's exactly what I expected him to do, because that's exactly who he is, and that's always what he's been about. It's kind of that the main issue that

I had was during the shutdown when the Democrats allowed that to even happen, and I knew that was the death of DACA was that day. Yeah, I mean, I guess, what do you think? So there were a few moments where there was a decision point. I think there was the moment where Democrats in the Senate did decide to go for it and push for a vote and allow the government to shut down. And then Chuck Schumer buckled and, sorry, he became a fucking jackass at that moment for me.

I was like, what are you doing? That is an important, that opportunity was right there. It's just so visible. I was like, what are you doing? That is an important... That opportunity was right there. It's just so visible. I'm like, just take it. Just take it. Take it. Just don't hold back.

Just make them pay for it. But yeah. But yeah, it's fine. I guess it's fine. It's totally... But yeah, I know for a fact that the intention of turning over that legislature was for sure to make sure all these dreamers were going to get kicked out. And so we just all now have to make sure they don't.

And that's really the only option. Yeah, I mean, look, what Democrats on the Hill would say is Republicans, what we learned is Republicans were not going to protect the dreamers, that they didn't have the leverage, that once the government shut down, there were a few democrats that were willing to cave uh and that what we saw is even once we did get a debate on the floor uh republicans were not willing to go for any kind of truly bipartisan compromise because remember what we saw fail is we didn't just see the bipartisan compromise democrats could accept fail we saw that one fail and the hardline one failed by even fewer votes, which means there wasn't a vote in the Senate for a moderate proposal,

and there wasn't a vote in the Senate for a conservative proposal. Of course, and the issue was any Democrat trusting Mitch McConnell to begin with to allow him to do that. That's an insane thing to do. When he was like, yeah, Mitch McConnell promised us that he, like, oh. See, when you start the sentence off with Mitch McConnell promised, that's the entire problem in this situation. You should have known for a fact that that was not going to pan out.

Well, you know, look, so I think there is a fundamental dishonesty that Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, and Paul Ryan are practicing. But that wasn't it. He did give them the vote. But what was really going on here is they never had any intention to pass anything. So, Roxanne, why do you think Republicans are afraid to admit they don't want to protect the Dreamers? Why are they doing like a murder on the Orient Express style crime here?

I mean, I don't think that they're really afraid to admit it. I think that they just know it to admit it. I think that they just know it doesn't need to be said because it's obvious. It's sort of just there already. And Democrats are spineless. And I say that as someone who is very liberal. But time and again, Democrats refuse to have the spine to do what needs to be done to put a stop to what's happening. And, you know, then everyone cries and laments and says, oh, the GOP this, the GOP that. Well, in some ways, we're enabling that bullshit and we're letting them do whatever the fuck they want to do. And until Democrats decide to play dirty

and stop acting like somehow there are points at some future date for being noble, like the worst thing that has ever happened to democracy is when they go low, we go high. When they go low, we need to go fucking subterranean. And until democratic politicians start adopting that, we're never, ever going to overcome these kinds of obstacles. We're down there, and we're like,

oh, look, it's Ted Cruz's talking points. It's such a weird... Look what I found here. Oh, my God. It's Omarosa's application to The Apprentice. The first copy. That's so cool. Donald Trump's original hair.

Yeah. Amani, and you no longer have a last name. You did before the show, but now you don't. It's gone. Made the executive decision tonight to drop the last name. And that's it. What last name you did before the show but now you don't it's gone made the executive decision tonight to drop the last name and that's it what last name didn't have one the rest so we've seen a sort of activist

what Solomon said I think is reflective of what a lot of activists said which is that just Democrats caved too fast during the shutdown and were too willing to compromise including in voting for something that would waste money on a border wall, spend tens of billions of dollars, some of which could go towards interior enforcement. At the same time, it seems pretty clear to me that the only way we can do anything for the Dreamers is for Democrats to win the House and win the Senate. So are you angry at Democrats? Are you more angry at Republicans? Where is your

head at? Honestly, I think the times are really just a reflection of where our democracy is at right now. I think it's safe to say that our politicians simply don't represent the people. There's a reason why policies that are taking shape right now are literally only with a certain subset of Americans in mind. Like our government doesn't represent all of us anymore. It's only operating for the benefit of some Americans and the rest can go to hell basically. And I think that's a huge problem. And I do think that it's that's one of the very few things that we're bipartisan about,

unfortunately. Well. Hmm. Friday night at the improv alright I want to move on as this immigration debate was unfolding there was also a mass shooting at a high school in Florida and I think we're all tired of talking about mass shootings but I think there's a connection between the immigration story and the mass shooting story which is the incredible lack of action

in congress on the biggest issues facing this country again and again and again and it's hard you know we're dealing with these stories on a semi-daily basis now and we kind of go through the motions of finding out what happened, finding out how many people died, finding out about the killer, finding out about the people the heroes who died and tried to protect kids, it happens at schools

again and again and again and then we see the Democrats call for things like background checks and smaller magazine sizes. And we see Republicans like Marco Rubio lament that nothing could have been done to prevent this. Amani, do you see anything that can change the debate? Do you think that this latest shooting is in any way changing the conversation? Does it feel like maybe people are finally growing tired of this? Or are we just going to go back to how we were last week?

Oh, we're definitely just going to just go back. I had a feeling that's where your head would be at. Yeah, definitely. I think it's the only way we're going to have a chance at combating this issue is if we even acknowledge that it's an issue. You know, for me, especially as a Muslim American, it's very, very difficult and frustrating to hear stories about mass shootings taking place on American soil only because I see the huge discrepancy between the way that we treat different forms of violence in the United States right so with mass shootings like since 9-11 over a hundred times as many Americans have been killed on American soil

as a result of gun violence than as a result of a terrorist attack. Right? A terrorist attack happens on our soil, and we literally just do an entire upheaval over our security systems here, right? Meanwhile, literally, you can't walk into a movie theater without being scared that someone's going to shoot it up now, and we're not doing anything to address that. If anything, we're trying to kind of sweep it under the rug

and act like it's not an issue. We didn't even dare call it terrorism. And, you know, I think that's right. I also think... I don't even think it's... I don't think it's just semantics. I don't think it's even about writing our understanding of these two crimes. I don't think it's just semantics. I don't think it's even about writing our understanding of these two crimes. I don't think it's about equating them.

I think it has actual value in identifying what mass shooters are doing as terrorism because it would allow for us to treat it like it has an ideology, like these things are connected. The gun conversation is so silly and small and neutered. And one of the ways I think it'll change is if we start to admit to ourselves that we don't just have one gun crisis. We actually have three of them, and they're different and they're distinct. Guns connect them, but we have a problem of people killing themselves with guns. We have a problem

of, and those are the vast majority of gun deaths in this country, still. The vast majority of people who are killed by guns in the United States are killed by suicide. Then we have a problem of murders, the kind of daily mayhem of violence, of robberies, of anger, of vengeance, of want, of what have you, the kind of quotidian violence of America, again, caused by excessive access to guns. And then finally, we have this epidemic of mass shootings, which is again related to the accessibility of guns, but is unique and peculiar. And we are not honest about how common this is. And it's as if we don't allow ourselves to imagine just how often it's going to happen in the next year. If someone said that in the next month, 50 people somewhere in America

are going to die because of Caesar salads. There would be an absolute panic. There would be a total mayhem about people would be throwing lettuce out. If you saw someone with lettuce, you would tackle them. If you saw somebody bringing lettuce to their mouths, you would run over and try to save them from it because holy shit, at some point, 50 people are going to die from Caesar salads, 50 people are gonna die from Caesar salad. 50 people are gonna die from a mass shooting in the next few weeks. It's just gonna happen three or four times

the next few weeks and 50 bodies are gonna pile up again. And again, it is Friday night at the improv. It's dark, man. I don't know what else there is to say about I mean Roxanne we've seen these shootings happen over and over again uh the republicans put a flag at half staff on their twitter feed I don't think that helped uh you don't no I don't think it's going to make that much of a difference um. Marco Rubio took to the floor to lament that we shouldn't jump to conclusions,

that gun control might have helped. And as always, there is this picking apart of the specifics of this incident to say that actually gun control wouldn't have mattered. If they buy the gun illegally, it wouldn't have mattered. If they buy the gun legally, it wouldn't have mattered. So we're in this loop. Is there anything that you see that could break this loop? Well, I mean, I think the first thing is, I don't think it's a we,

because I think the majority of Americans are in favor of gun control, and in favor of doing something. You know, as Imani was saying earlier, the people that are currently in Congress do not represent the American people. And they are not representing our interests. And you can see it every time you look at how much the NRA has given. And so one of the key things we have to do, which came, I think Bernie Sanders really led the way in this, and I'm a Hillary girl, but he has a couple of good ideas. And, you know, it's like, you know, we have to stop the lobbying money. Because until we stop the lobbying money, there is no financial incentive for these politicians to do something about gun violence. And as long as the NRA can continue to buy votes, we're going to continue to see these

massacres happen. And it's mind-numbing. When I found out about the massacre yesterday, I was just like, oh, 17. But after Sandy Hook, when children, like babies, were murdered, and people decided, I'd rather not believe this horrible thing happened, so I'm going to invent a conspiracy theory and say that it never happened. After that, I knew nothing was ever going to change in my lifetime because when white children in a witch community

are murdered and nobody does anything, then Republicans truly do not have a single fuck to give. And so what happened yesterday was heartbreaking and so many of those students have taken to social media and have said, this is about guns. And indeed it is because the ar-15 was used in san bernardino and several other mass shootings and so perhaps if we banned this gun there would be fewer mass shootings so it's about money solomon do you think do you think the fact that now we we are this is happening so much that kids inside of a school dealing with it know that they are going to become, that they're going to need to tweet about this.

They're going to need to fight back themselves to say this was about guns. Do you think that the awareness, that the fact that so many different places have been touched by this violence, do you think that that might cause? I mean, I keep coming back to the same question. We're going, we do this again and again and again. Is there anything you see that makes you hopeful about what we can do? Well, I've been consistently hopeful my entire life. And that's just the way I think of things. Because terrible things happen in a circular situation, especially in the history of this country.

Like, these awful things are, at the moment, going up in numbers. But it has gone down. And we usually get a bit more progressive as a society. And it is also the newer generation making that happen. With every generation, a more progressive society will come forth. They just have to deal with the monsters that want to kill them up to that point.

Yeah, it is, you know, I think about Trump winning, I think about Brexit, I think about our inability to take action on gun control, on immigration, on climate. I think about the control that the Republicans have over Congress. And the biggest divide is between older voters and younger voters. This is a generation above us that is just reaching through time to punish us moving forward. It is an older generation than empowered a Congress to pass $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. And I don't mean any of the baby boomers here, because you're some of the good ones. And I've been consistent on this issue. Not all baby boomers. Hashtag not all boomers.

But exceptions that prove the rule. I love it or leave it. Can I see a show of hands from our baby boomers? Any baby boomers out there? Thanks for being here. I hope you've enjoyed historically low taxes as you amassed huge sums of wealth and raised home prices.

The gig economy has been a delight. Oh, they did fuck us in California, didn't they? They raised your taxes. Well, sir, I wasn't for it. And while to me it is an ancillary benefit that you are personally paying higher taxes it wasn't what I wanted for any of us

so as hard as this is there is again really only one thing we can do if we want to change the way Congress treats this and that is to vote and that is to support candidates who will do the right things on guns who won't be cowed by the NRA who won't be cowed by the NRA, who won't be cowed by fear of a minority of voters who do vote passionately against the interests of all of us to live in a society that isn't ravaged by the most gun violence in any country, not beset by

civil war. So if you want to help, you can go to everytown.org and join their campaign to get rid of every member of Congress who is beholden to the gun lobby. That is the news of the week. When we come back, too stupid to be true. Don't go anywhere.

This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. All right. Now for a segment we call Too Stupid to be True. Earlier in Infrastructure Week, Michelle Obama and her husband unveiled the official portraits

that would soon hang in the National Portrait Gallery. They chose two African-American artists to paint the portraits. Some described them as unconventional. They received some pretty positive reviews from art experts. I don't know what makes you an expert, but they loved it. And I thought they were awesome. I thought they were really cool. I thought the Obama one was amazing.

Just unexpected and cool. But conservatives weren't as positive. Their only idea, I'm just going to read what this says. Their only idea of great art is a Tweety Bird and a Confederate flag airbrushed onto a mall T-shirt. All right, so we are going to bring back Too Stupid to be True, Art Historian Edition. So we are going to bring back Too Stupid to be True, Art Historian Edition. So we are going to read three statements that were said by actual human beings and one that we made

up. It will be someone in this room's job to decide which one was too stupid to be true. Would anyone out there like to play the game? Is that a bedazzled Friend of the Pod shirt? It really is That's amazing I'm so glad we're talking That's so cool What's your name? My name's Eileen

Eileen Yes And who are you here with? I'm here with Michael And then inadvertently my friends That I sing in a choir with You guys sing in a choir? Yes

What kind of choir? It's a women onlyonly choir women-only choir what do you sing about vox femina la and we're an offshoot from the gmcla you're a you're a you're a offshoot of a different choir yeah gay men's chorus of los angeles oh the gay men's chorus the gay men's chorus sorry i didn't know the acronym we're the lady version of it you're the lady version of the gay men's chorus yes it, it's confusing, but we're really good. Got it. Eileen. Yes.

Stop stalling. Shit. So, we are going to read you four statements. Your job will be to decide which one is too stupid to be true. Amani, let's kick us off. It's hard to believe they're real, but apparently they are. The president's portrait shows him stuck to a wall of foliage like you are glued to the outfield at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The portrait was painted by Kehinde Wiley. Her previous paintings include racially fraught works of white people being decapitated, of course.

Ooh. Gnarly, so it might be true. Can I keep going? You can. You can. Just keep that in your mind. Roxanne, you're up. Push me when it's the right one.

There is Barack Obama, and he is actually sitting there in a chair that is apparently covered by leaves, and he's getting poison ivy. He's being eaten by this little shop of whores. He's actually being eaten by the foliage and looking very serious. And of course, this immediately made me think of Homer Simpson backing into the bushes. But wasn't that Sean Spicer who was backing into the bushes? Eileen, I don't want a tight five from you. I'm stalling. This is nerve wracking Solomon, you're up My guess is that the leaves are supposed to be

Some sort of symbol or metaphor Maybe for the ways President Obama Sat on his hands and did nothing during Benghazi Oh man Maybe it's just supposed to look cool. It doesn't. You know what does look cool? Sitting in front of a fireplace.

Or a globe. Or you know, something American. And so keep that in your mind. Finally, number four. So here's a giant sperm swimming across the president's head. Yeah, that one's true. So there is the sperm, the head of the sperm. If this was a GMO sperm, it wouldn't even have a tail or be able to swim.

So these are fully formed sperm. How many times am I going to? All right. So that's in your face. That is, you say it doesn't make sense. It's so degenerate. It's a religion of degeneracy. It's what globalism is.

It's what Satanism is. I know that there was a sperm Sean Hannity thing. I don't know if it was that extreme. Oh, it's Sean Hannity. It was that extreme. Okay, so that's gotta be real. So that you think is true. So now you think it's, so which one of the three do you think is too stupid to be true?

Shit. They're all too stupid to be true. I'm gonna need an answer. I'm gonna need an answer. Was it Imani? Was it Roxanne? Or was it Solomon? I'm gonna go with an answer. I'm going to need an answer. Was it Imani? Was it Roxanne? Or was it Solomon? I'm going to go with Roxanne. Incorrect. Let's roll the clip to find out which one was too stupid to be true. Well, Michelle and Barack Obama's Smithsonian portraits were unveiled today.

It's hard to believe they're real, but apparently they are. The president's portrait shows him stuck to a wall of foliage like you were glued to the outfield at Wrigley Field in Chicago. And there is Barack Obama, and he is actually sitting there in a chair that's apparently covered by leaves. He's getting poison ivy. He's being eaten by this little shop of horrors. He's actually being eaten by the foliage and looking very serious. And of course, this immediately made me think of Homer Simpson backing into the bushes. This artist is obsessed with sperm. All of his paintings have sperm swimming all over everything. So that is in your face.

That is, you say, well, it doesn't make sense. It's so degenerate. It's a religion of degeneracy. It's what globalism is. It's what Satanism is. Yep, it was Sullivan's. Eileen, you've lost. Too stupid to be true, but we'll give you the gift card anyway

from Parachute. Guys, give it up for Eileen. She's a part of Generation X. She got the Rachel haircut at some point. Her favorite movie is Say Anything. Guys, give it up for Eileen. Okay, so now in the spirit of these wonderful

portraits what a weird thing to say we have a special announcement now that the official portraits of President Obama and Michelle Obama are hanging in the Smithsonian we are going to turn our attention from honoring our first African-American president

to memorializing the first president in a while to say that white supremacists are fine people. Here's the deal. At Crooked Media, we are announcing a call for entries for a new contest called Portrait Mode. Starting today, we will be accepting your submissions for the official portrait of President Donald Trump. And you better hurry, because we don't know when the presidency of Donald Trump will end.

So we better get a jump on it. We will accept submissions for two weeks. We will pick some of our favorites and you, the constituents of Donald Trump's America, that was hard to read, will pick his official presidential portrait. So we're going to post our favorites. We're going to vote online. We are going to take the winner and we are going to put our favorites we're going to vote online we are going to take the winner and we are going to put it on mugs and posters listen if one of them was printed pretty big and ended up in the Smithsonian that's something that will have happened you know who knows what will happen but all the proceeds from the shirts and mugs and posters and I don't know,

banners, tote bags, coasters. You said that so angrily. All the proceeds are going to go to PS Arts, which is a LA-based organization that supports arts in LA schools that have seen arts programs cut back. So go to crooked.com slash portrait mode and you can submit your official portraits. There's more information and details there about what you have to do.

You have two weeks to submit, so submissions will close on Saturday, March 3rd. Look, we're not going to tell you. We're not going to dictate your art, your vision. Each of us has been touched and stirred by the events of the past year or so. We found new emotions when we made our worst person the most powerful person on the planet.

And I'm hoping people explore that, all right, and see what they discover. Crooked.com slash portrait mode. When we come back, a dramatic reading. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of

Love It or Leave It coming up. I want some art people to do some cool shit. You're about to see a lot of Trump's penis is what's going to happen. You know, Solomon, you raise a very...

It will be a very small portrait, though. Solomon, you raise an important issue, which is, what do you do to dissuade people from sending you JPEG after Jpeg of dicks and you know you're at a crossroads when addressing this problem and you have to choose your path path number one is don't mention it and know that you're going to get some but best not to shine a light best not to plant the flag on the dicks. That's direction number one. Direction number two is to raise it and ask people not to send you pictures of genitalia as part of this art project. But that's like telling people not to think of a blue car, you know? You know?

And we're back! you know and we're back now for a very special dramatic reading earlier this week l magazine released an article about dear friend of the pod louise linton uh the wife of treasury secretary and executive producer of suicide squad steve manukin uh you remember Louise Linton. Yes, really. He produced Suicide Squad. He was fucking us long before he was holding up unfinished money.

Which he, I'm sure, folded up and spent. This week, she was interviewed about how she is a normal person just like you and me. And so we have someone here to do a dramatic reading from Garfunkel and Oates and Another Period on Comedy Central which airs every Tuesday on 1030.

Please welcome Rikki Lindholm. Hi. Hi guys. Hi Rikki, how are you? Hi guys, how's it going? It's good, thanks for being here. I think my script is over here. Your script is over there.

We're black. I'm trying to channel her a little bit. I didn't have long black gloves or any leather. But I felt like, close enough. Do you have a coat made of Dalmatians anywhere? Not yet. I have to get my manuken first, right? This article is amazing. If you guys haven't read the whole thing, it's really good.

Alright, Ricky, take us away. Should I start? Okay. Dramatic reading. Give it up for Ricky. There are many things Linden insists make her a regular person. She loves SoulCycle, for one. That's temple for me, she says, dressed in a SoulCycle beanie and leggings. This is my uniform. I wear SoulCycle beanie and leggings. This is my uniform.

I wear SoulCycle stuff every single day of my life. When she's feeling worn down from all the negativity in the world, she'll turn off her television and her phone, light some candles, and blast Duke Ellington so loud that it reaches every nook and cranny of her $12.6 million Massachusetts Avenue Heights home. You guys, that's so relatable and cute. It was a real person who, holed up in that D.C. mansion one day in August,

spent a little too much time scrolling through Instagram. She'd just returned from a government trip to Kentucky with Mnookin, and as had become her habit, she posted a photograph of herself descending the steps of a government jet in her hashtag Hermes scarf, hashtag Tom Ford sunnies, and hashtag Valentino. One commenter, seizing upon the strange and unsavory juxtaposition of the government signage and the luxury brands, wrote, glad we could pay for your little getaway. She'd mostly been able to ignore the noise. But this time, she snapped. Aw, did you think this was a personal trip?

Adorable, she wrote back to the commenter. Do you think this was the U.S. government? Do you think the U.S. government paid for our honeymoon or personal travel? LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL. She added. She continued for a total of 165 words. Somebody counted those. I'm sorry.

165 words and four emojis. The equivalent of one meltdown. That's very scientific. That's scientific there. I felt like the kid on the playground that has been so bullied, and finally you punch back. That was in quotes. Oh, my God.

I know. Poor woman. Lest you suspect that she married Mnookin for his money, she grew up almost comically well off in the suburbs of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, where her father was a property developer. She was raised in a small castle. So cute. She's just in a small castle. So cute!

She's just like us, you guys. She had her first harrowing brush with notoriety for a memoir she published about her time in Zambia, titled In Congo's Shadow, One Girl's Perilous Journey to the Heart of Africa. In which she painted herself as a Mother Teresa figure bravely navigating the all-encompassing threats of Mother Africa she wrote of being frightened of rebels targeting her the skinny white Mzungu with long angel hair I want to

describe myself as having long angel hair. And her special comfort with my bond with an orphan, this is a quote, a smiling gap-toothed child with HIV whose greatest joy was to sit on my lap and drink from a bottle of Coca-Cola. Linton and her husband classify themselves as movie buffs. When I ask what their favorite film of the year is, Linton mentions that they recently watched

and adored Crazy Stupid Love. Not movie buffs. Not movie buffs. No movie buffs said their movie of the year, 2017, was Crazy Stupid Love. You could say Florida Project. You could say Lady Bird. You could say Get Out. You could say The Big Sick. You could say Phantom Thread. You could say phantom thread you could say mother but if you are movie of the year in 2017 is crazy stupid love fuck that sorry ricky i got too angry i needed to be more elegant i needed to be more stylish l Linton says breathlessly. I look at amazing fashion icons like Jackie O, and I'm like, why can't I wear gloves? Linton thinks ruefully about the long leather gloves and the black skirt,

which are currently hanging, unloved and radioactive in her closet. I really hope someday I can wear that outfit again she says because I really liked it that's it guys give it up for Ricky Lindholm thank you for having me Louise Linton every girl in America Louise Linton

Jenny on the block Louise on the, Louise Linton. Jenny on the block. Louise on the block, Louise Linton. When we come back, OK Stop! Don't go anywhere. Love it or leave it, there's more on the way. And we're back! Now for a game we call OK Stop.

Here's how it works. We watch a clip, and when we feel like it, we say OK Stop, and we talk about it. This week, it's the NBA All-Star Weekend here in Los Angeles. Why would I care about that part of it? Anyway, a lot of NBA players are in town. Look, it's Laura Ingraham. Here's the deal. Laura Ingraham decided that she's had enough

of LeBron James. And she decided to tell us about it. And it's a pretty fascinating clip. Let's roll the clip. A superstar LeBron James is talking politics again, and this time it's R-rated. Here's his barely intelligible, not to mention ungrammatical, take on President Trump and a new ESPN podcast. I'm just stopping it because your face says we should stop it for a second. I mean, ungrammatical? that was a good stopping point yeah i saw this bullshit this morning and i was just like really like just really like bitch what i mean this idea this idea that celebrities aren't allowed to have opinions on politics, but this half-assed motherfucker is, is just... I mean, you're on Fox News. Let's start there. You shouldn't be discussing politics. You shouldn't be discussing the shit under my shoe.

And so it's just insane. But when Ted Nugent comes on there, or any of their other... or Scott Baio, and they're like, oh, let's listen to this person talk about some shit. No, and then the best part was when she was like, why do they go on? Why do they talk? It's like, they? Uh-huh. Just for people at home, Laura Ingraham's face is frozen in the face she makes when she's shouting a racial epithet at somebody who cut her off in traffic.

Let's roll the clip some more. The number one job in America, the point of person is someone who doesn't understand the people and really don't give a f*** about the people. Must they run their mouths like that? Unfortunately, a lot of kids... Okay, stop. That was a second day. I am really... Just say, just call us out.

Black people talk like that. Just say it for once in your damn life. And also, can she just take the damn cross off her neck if she's going to talk this kind of shit? ...kids and some adults take these ignorant comments seriously look there might be a cautionary lesson in lebron for kids this is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the nba okay. I hadn't seen this. It is fascinating how a culture changes,

how explicitly racist she feels she's now allowed to be because of Trump. Oh yeah, he's softened the ground and now white people are, I've spent my time between here and Lafayette, Indiana, which is ground zero.

And I can assure you white people are very, very comfortable now. And she said this on national television about probably the most famous athlete in the world right now. And it was just open racism. And she was like, yeah, I'm on to something here. And she really felt like she was saying something profound and that she was really making a commentary like stay in school, kids. No, no.

She was just being openly racist and she was being supported by an entire network and an entire country of people who were willing to vote a racist into office. It's just, she's comfortable. She's safe now. And I mean, it's horrifying, honestly. Everyone's literally vying for that spot of being that terrible racist person in those photos in the Civil Rights Movement.

I want to be the screaming white lady in the back where that school girl's holding the books. I want to be her. I want to be her. Let's continue the clip. To seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball. I mean, her taxes, his taxes make her life fucking possible. Like, let's start there.

$100 million? Like, now you hate wealthy people? Really? Come on. It's because black wealth is not black wealth. It belongs to white people. That's a damn issue. It's a second anyone like, oh, now that you've made money,

how dare you? Get out of here. And I just want to point out that LeBron James donated $2.5 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He worked with the University of Akron to give four-year guaranteed scholarships to students who qualified. He's spoken out in support of Colin Kaepernick, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, and culture. He worked with the University of Akron to give four-year guaranteed scholarships to students who qualified. He's spoken out in support of Colin Kaepernick,

Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, and more. He went on stage during the ESPYs and encouraged other athletes to speak out for social justice, and he was praised by Barack Obama as president for ending the idea that speaking your mind would cost you endorsements. So this is somebody who's been very smart about deploying his voice in support of the

causes he cares about. Speaker 4 On and Kevin, you're great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself. Or as someone once said, shut up and dribble okay stop I don't is that a phrase I is that a sports thing or was that a white supremacist thing I don't know uh shut up and dribble who's ever said that is that a famous person she said it she said it that's her line oh her thing is shut up and something and so this time it's shut up and dribble two quick points one it is amazing how

just little bits of fascism creep in like we didn't make trump our coach you creepy weirdo he's we're his coach he works for us still but for now yeah it's it's just it's crazy because we're okay with black people like playing our sports and being our entertainment but the second they open their mouths about politics or how our government is impacting them it's like shut up you know and I think it's also interesting because you know like Trump for example he was always kind of this figure in the black community of aspirational wealth he like represented the American dream right for for black people for a lot of people of color but it's like the second yeah the second minorities accumulate that wealth you know once that american dream opens its mouth that's what it sounds like it's because this is idea that

people of color are when you gain any form of wealth you owe it back to white america and that is absolute bullshit and guess what lauren graham le LeBron James don't owe you shit. Fuck you forever. Yeah, it's, it's, um, if you see that word ungrateful all the time, that these athletes are ungrateful and no one ever says that, uh, Laura Ingraham was ungrateful when she was criticizing Barack Obama from whatever obsidian throne she sits on when she's at home. Her toilet? What?

Stop talking about her toilet like that. It's private. It's a big old pile of shit. Laura Ingraham on an obsidian throne toilet with a scepter. And that's OK Stop. When we come back, The Rant Wheel. And we're back.

Now for a segment we call The Rant Wheel. Today on The Wheel, we have breaking up via text, guessing someone's nationality, breaking news push notifications, astrology, what we call terrorism, Adam Rippon. Time he got some, uh, whatever. Facebook users and thoughts and prayers. Let's spin the wheel.

It has landed on guessing someone's nationality. A suggestion by Solomon. Take it away. Okay. I don't know why so many white people think that my nationality is a Final Jeopardy question. It's not.

First of all, if you guess it right, I'm not gonna tell you. I will say I'm from Ohio. Every single time. And I know what that question's asked for because you want to tell me about the one other person you met from where I'm from. And I don't know them. I don't know every single person where I'm from. That'd be terrifying. That means I'm trying to commit a genocide. So stop guessing. I will tell you eventually. That is how

the natural course of my entire life has gone. I will eventually talk about where I am from. It shouldn't be the first goddamn thing you say to me. Hey, are you by chance from? No, don't. Cut that shit out. Cut that shit out forever. Stop it. People are just guessing in casual conversation. Especially when I was working at a restaurant, people would call me over,

customers in the restaurant, be like, hi, are you Ethiopian? Like, I don't know. No, not now. Not right now. I'm not going to be for you because I don't know. No, not now. Not right now. I'm not going to be for you because I don't want to get another compliment about an Ethiopian restaurant that's nearby ever again.

I don't care what you think. I'm not a Yelp page. I don't know about that spongy bread. I love it. I grew up with it, though. Oh, there's a trick you can do. Now I see. Now I see how to get around. There's a loophole. Well, we have a rapport now.

Yeah, we do. We do have a rapport. And we didn't at first and now we do. That's what happens. Let's spin the wheel again. It has landed on breaking up via text. Another one for Solomon. Take us away. I am for it. Do it all the time.

I would divorce via text if I could. It is the best. I broke up with my last boyfriend via text. A lot of people got upset. And that's the thing. When you say you broke up with someone via text if I could. It is the best. I broke up with my last boyfriend via text. A lot of people got upset. And that's the thing, is when you say you broke up with someone via text, see who stopped caring what happened before that. He could have been beating me, and you guys would be like,

well, you should have met him in a public place. And no. Do it. Do it all the time. Live your life the best way you can. It's the best kind of self-care you can give yourself, is just shoot that text off, block all the numbers,

and just have a good day. I went to a Kesha concert. It was a great time. Follow-up. Yes. How long were you together? A year. I mean...

No! No! No! A year? By the way, he posted zero photos of us together on any form of social media

and did not acknowledge that we were together on Facebook. He said he was in a relationship and that was it. So, yeah. We were together for a year but there's zero proof of it so i can break up with him via text god i know a year i know it's like gendered but guys have it so easy like um no but i mean i've never been broken up with or broken up with someone via text but i have been ghosted

before and i feel like that's even worse. Right? You know, like, you know, ghosting. Yeah. Yeah. Like who, like who hasn't been ghosted at this point? Think about how many people would rather ignore me than deal with me over the course of my life. I didn't know that people replied to texts.

I thought they were one directional. I'm also pro ghosting. It's fun. I don't do that very often. I actually, what I like to do is if I get ghosted, I send them a message

like, did you ghost me? Don't reply if you did. Roxanne, where do you fall on the not responding to people and just letting them languish, wondering what happened? I'm 43,

so I believe in communication with other human beings. Besides which, when I'm breaking up with someone, generally it's acrimonious and I have some shit to say and I can't type that fast with my thumbs. I would prefer to

just get it all out in person and just be like, you motherfucker. Let's go over where this began. You do like a relationship ax files. I do. I do. I don't know why. It's just, I want to get it all out so that I can move on.

It's just, it never works out. But in my head, it's a nice idea. Let's spin it again. It has landed on what we call terrorism. Imani. Yes. Please let me take it away. Okay.

So obviously I've been thinking about this a lot, especially in light of this week's news. And it just, it really boggles my mind because one thing that I hear very commonly is when I'm like, why do we generalize that all Muslims are terrorists. There's 1.8 billion of us on the planet. And people are always like the number one response I hear is, well, Muslims are committing all the violence. Muslims are the only ones killing people and, you know, committing all these terrorist acts and stuff like that. And for me, I'm just like, are you living under a rock? Because on our news, it's like the only time, if you really think about it, the only time we ever know a perpetrator's religion is if they're Muslim. That's the only time we identify their religion. And then we only ever talk about Muslims in the news when they are committing egregious acts. So by extension, we're literally brainwashing the entire public that all Muslims are terrorists, all terrorists are Muslims, and all Muslims are horrible people.

And that's how policies like the Muslim ban are able to happen. And that's how things like this mass shooting are able to continue to happen every week. And I think it's time to call it out. Okay. All right. Let's spin it again. Okay. It has landed on Adam Rippon. Where does he get off?

No, I don't... I like Adam Rippon. I think he's really cool. And handsome. Very confident. And he gave Mike Pence the business. But there is one thing I don't like about Adam Rippon. He has not been on Love It or Leave It.

And I think that's something we can fix. Don't you think we can get Adam Rippon on Love It or Leave It? Tweeted him. You just said he lives 15 minutes from LAX. I am really hoping that's something you picked up off the internet. And that you didn't just come here from the airport and be like, here's a lock of his hair. Here's one of his ice skates. Don't ask me how I got it. Let's just say I cannot go back.

So now we know two things about Adam Rimpon. He gave Mike three things. The skating. Four things. Gay. Gave Mike Pence the business. Lives 15 minutes from LAX. I can't believe it took until 2018 to have an openly gay figure skater. God, that's fucked.

There were so many closeted gay figure skater god that's fucked there were so many closeted gay figure skaters for so long what a sport you're all straight you act straight out there this is a masculine game that triple lutz is like football to us gay people don't do this none of you are gay

where are your wives do a quadruple lutz dance you're straight ice magic dancers you're the straightest ice ballerina system countries ever produced you get those heterosexual torsos

and sparkled blazers out there and you bring the same energy to that spinning thing that you do to fucking your wives. Any comment, Roxanne? I think you've gotten it all covered. All right, let's spin it again.

It has landed on thoughts and prayers. We're sick of thoughts and prayers after mass shootings. And I think, you know, I just want to make one final point on the shootings and the neutered and sad and repetitive way in which we talk about it. I feel like it's part of a larger feeling that we just can't do things. We can't fix our airports and our roads, and we can't get people health care, even though every other country with our wealth can do it for less money than we spend every day without giving people the care they need. And, oh, well, we can't build fast trains in America.

And, oh, you know, we can't solve this immigration problem. We can't have a working immigration system, which people who have done nothing wrong will bear the cost of decades of inaction and extra legal policymaking. You know, we can't solve this gun problem. That's America. You know, we can't do anything. And I find it exhausting sometimes.

I find it heartbreaking because it just, it feels like we live in this kind of unreality, like everything is so amped and everything is so tense and everything is moving so fast and then nothing happens. Nothing ever happens. And the thing that I'm just thinking about today, I will say. So I was reading yet another story about mass shootings and all the thoughts and prayers and the GOP saying the flag should be at half staff. And I saw that there was a teacher in the school that died while locking, trying to get kids into the classroom. And I didn't click on it. Why would I click on it? I've seen that story before and we'll see it again. I don't click on these stories. I don't read about the kids anymore because it's's heartbreaking and I done it so many times And then I got a message from my sister that said did you hear about Scott Beagle?

and It turns out it was a childhood friend of mine who was one of the people that was killed and I only bring it up because It reminded me of just how commonplace this has gotten I I lost touch with this person a long time ago, but it was just a reminder that everybody is going to start to know somebody who's been killed in this way.

And it's not, to the point that Roxanne made, it's not America that's not doing anything. We have to remember that there is a coordinated, well-funded enterprise designed to make us feel like we can't do anything about it. And it's not just the NRA. It's the Koch brothers and their massive network of funding for think tanks designed to confuse the debate about climate change

and to fund state-by-state efforts to redraw the map and deregulate the economy and make it impossible for people to join unions and make it impossible for people to organize and make it impossible for people to vote. And so when I get heartbroken about it, I try to remember that it's not some fundamental fact of America that we feel like this and that we used to be able to do gigantic things. And I think even Democrats sometimes surrender to this idea that we're afraid to propose big things. We're afraid to say things like we can stop mass shootings.

This is a preventable crisis. Put us in power and we will do everything we can to stop it. Or we can give everybody healthcare or we can guarantee every person a job. Like we need to stop allowing these outside groups to dictate to us not just what doesn't happen, but for even our imagination as to what we can do. That's what I was thinking about today.

It was a hard week of news, but that's it. This is a comedy show. Some parts of it are funny. Amani, and some parts are not funny. Definitely not. Some parts are just really not funny. Roxanne, I'm a huge fan of your books. Thank you. And I'm really glad you funny. Roxanne, I'm a huge fan of your books. Thank you.

And I'm really glad you came. I'm glad I came too. And Solomon, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for even having me here. I'm so grateful. Guys, yeah. Maybe we'll ghost each other later, you know? Send me your number.

I won't answer. Cool. Consider it not done. All right, guys. I want to thank our incredible panel give it up for Amani Roxane Gay

Solomon Giorgio thank you guys for coming out have a great night crooked.com slash portrait mode Street Shooter Love it or leave it, it's love it or leave it Respect it or no sex Love it or leave it, it's love it or leave it