Lovett or Leave It - Love Strzok

Episode Date: July 13, 2018

Hi everybody! everybody. Great to be back with my friends at the Improv, Betsy. Good to see you. Let's see what your shirt says. It says, I'm just going to pet my chihuahua and pretend Obama is still president. I'd say

B. I'd give it a B. Don't ask a question if you don't want to know the answer. Oh, hi. Hi, Elliot. I remember people that come to Love It or Leave It's names. I forget my cousin's names. You know, I have to say, this is the first time we've done Love It or Leave It in weeks where there was a day of genuinely enjoyable news. How many people were watching

or paying attention to the hearing today? And we'll get into all of it, but what a joy. What a joy to watch a professional, poised FBI officer with experience in counterintelligence just sit there and make a bunch of House Republicans look like total fucking chumps. What an absolute delight. And I am sure there's already the dumb Twitter conversation about how all of a sudden the liberals love the FBI and we should be talking about healthcare care and what about this and what about that I don't give a fuck we got a lot of bad news Trump's killing NATO we got this guy Brett Kavanaugh laying waste to the

countryside I'm taking a good day where I can find one Betsy did you know that it's pronounced Peter Struck? How many people thought it was Strozek? I had no idea it was Struck. I still don't believe it, but whatever. Oh, and one more thing. We are recording next week's show on Wednesday at the Improv, so if you're in LA and you're hearing this, come next week Wednesday Betsy are you free Wednesday you already have your tickets holy shit guys give it up for Betsy and give it up for Elliot

and wait what's your name I see you all the time Joy Joy Elliot and Betsy are here and Jared is it Jared is that what you said what do you mean unfortunately oh it's yeah no it's a tough name this year. But anyway, Jared and Betsy and Joy and Elliot,

lovely to have you as always. Joy, I'm sorry that I have paid so much attention to Betsy, but you understand that she stares at me with the eyes of a mummy or someone out of a sarcophagus, just focusing eyes that seem as though they never blink. Not you, Joy. You just look at me with eyes. And it's great.

We are off the rails. All right. Do you guys want to record Love Relieve It? Okay. We have an awesome show for you tonight. I'm very excited about our panel. She's a professor and chair of Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA and an organizer for Black Lives Matter.

Please welcome Melina Abdullah. Welcome back. Welcome back to the show. How are you? I got these new jeans, and it's a mess. A little tight in the butt. You know what I was thinking is it's such a huge difference between

pan-African studies and African pan-studies. That would be a very big difference, yes. Nobody knows what pan means. I always have to explain it. I know it from pansexual. So what's pansexual and then just apply it to pan-African. Well, pansexual

is bisexual with a lot of attitude. So are you, is it bi-African studies with a lot of attitude? It's everything. Everything sexual, right? Everything African. Let me ask you this question.

Am I going to get in trouble for saying that pansexual is bisexual a lot of attitude? I don't know. Our next guest, she's been on Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening and her new Netflix special comes out this summer. Please welcome the very funny Kate Willett. Hi, Kate.

Hello. I wore heels for the first time in a long time because I am pansexual. Really? Yeah, I guess. Is it more or less sexual than bisexual? I think it's more vegan. Oh, that makes sense. It's vegan bisexuals or pansexual.

Yeah. I didn't know that these taxonomies overlapped. Absolutely, yeah. There's definitely some Burning Man thrown in there a little bit. So if you're attracted to women and Burning Man, you're pansexual. Exactly. Sweet, sweet, sweet. All right, we're getting to the bottom of it tonight.

I know we're joking, but what is it really? Okay. And she's the co-host of Crooked Media's Hysteria. She'll be headlining Spokane Comedy Club on August 9th through 11th. Please welcome back to the show, Megan Gailey. Hi, Megan. You're the one that brought alcohol?

No, mine's here. Mine's here. Okay, all right. Megan, I'm sorry to just throw you right into contentious debate. Uh-huh. Pansexual. Once it goes past bi,

I'm like, everybody do whatever you want. Whoever you... I just, I don't... Like, I... You have to think about it in terms of, like, who is fingering who.

And if you like it, great. If you like the fingering that's happening, awesome. And that is the class I'm now teaching at USC. The weirdest thing is it's in the engineering school. Yeah, I know. Well, those boys, they gotta learn. And girls, and girls. See, I'm gonna get in trouble for that.

Girls are engineers, too. I know, I went to Purdue. There's a lot of fucking girl engineers there. The question I would like to be answered via mentions from whoever's hearing this is, show me somebody a pansexual likes that a bisexual says no thank you to. And then I'll

be good. I'm so fucked. I'm gonna be told to do better. And honestly, sincerely, I'm saying this sincerely, not preemptively, I think I'm gonna find out that I actually do need to do better. And because I said this,

I will have the opportunity to learn and it's a good opportunity for people who are teaching me to be kind. You're going to teach me after the show? Elliot is pansexual! All right. So for those listening, understand what you're hearing is in the past. And when you're hearing this, I already did better. So when you tell me to do better, understand it's too late.

I've already done better. So you're wasting your fucking time. All right, let's get into it. What a week. On Monday, Trump chose hyper-conservative Brett Kavanaugh from a list of Heritage Foundation-approved candidates as his nominee for the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the Trump administration missed the deadline to reunite families with children under the age of five that Trump had taken from them. They still have 2,000 to 3,000 families to reunite this month.

On Wednesday, Trump alarmed the international community by shitting on our NATO allies and telling Germany's Angela Merkel, with no sense of irony, that she is a puppet of Putin. NATO is one reason we've managed to keep the peace for the last 70 years. When Trump attacks NATO or unfairly criticizes our allies, he makes it harder to guarantee the freedom and security of its members, including ours. That brings us to today, when House Republicans held a hearing. They held a giant, very special hearing about an FBI officer's sexy text messages. House Republicans have worked hard to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign. Today those efforts reached the height of absurdity they made Peter Strzok testify before the House Oversight

and Judiciary Committees. Strzok is an ex-FBI counterintelligence agent who had worked on the Russia investigation. He became a household name last year after Trump's Justice Department released text messages he exchanged with a fellow FBI agent and extramarital fun adult activity partner, Lisa Page. Those texts, which spanned 2016 and 2017, were unkind to Donald Trump. Therefore, Trump and Republicans insist that those texts represent evidence of a deep state conspiracy against the president

and evidence that the Mueller investigation is inherently biased. Today's hearing was Strzok's first public appearance since his texts were outed, and it was wild. Within the first 15 minutes, Republican Chairman Goodlatte, who gives a shit, and Trey Benghazi Gowdy tried to force Strzok to admit that his texts slamming Trump were somehow proof of his attempts to prevent his election. Strzok did not concur. Here is how he reacted. It was a pretty extraordinary moment. Sir, I think it's important when you look at those texts that you understand the context in which they were made and the things that were going on across America. In terms of the text

that we will stop it, you need to understand that that was written late at night, off the cuff, and it was in response to a series of events that included then candidate Trump insulting the immigrant family of a fallen war hero and my presumption based on that horrible disgusting behavior that the American population would not elect somebody demonstrating that behavior to be president the United States it was in no way unequivocally any suggestion that me the FBI would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process for any candidate so I take great offense and I take great disagreement to your assertion of what that was or wasn't I wanted to play that clip in full because as one unnamed crooked media

staffer said today all I learned from this hearing is why Lisa page wanted to sleep with Peter Strzok Megan I'll start with you you know this was drugs first appearance since the text messages came out what did you make of these hearings as they unfolded today what do you think i mean i used to babysit and when you when you see them in split screen i'm brought back to like if struck answered the door when you were babysitting you were like okay no one's gonna do anything weird to me tonight and And if Malfoy grown up. Trey Gowdy, who was in the split screen. Open the door, you were like, I gotta call my mom and pretend I have diarrhea and get out of here.

Like, it's just, I mean, I don't even wanna go down to looking, but you heard us laughing. It's really been reduced to who looks good and who looks evil. And I think you could like like, ask a kid. You could just show a kid, like, who would you get in a car with?

And they'd be like, definitely not that one. And then it's like, okay, well, then let's whack the mallet and go get some Panera. This is done. So during the hearing, Republicans responded to Strzok's very poised, cool demeanor by threatening to hold him in contempt of Congress for not divulging details about the ongoing Russia investigation, even though he was also under instructions by the FBI counsel to not talk about the Russia investigation. You know, Kate, this is clearly an attempt to find a way to make the Mueller investigation a partisan issue, right? To polarize Republicans against this. Do you think that's working? What do you think? I don't know. I looked on Twitter today and it seems like it's

working, unfortunately. I was really proud of Peter Strzok. I mean, I also related to him. I never thought I could relate to an FBI agent. But all of my sext messages are about how Trump shouldn't be president. But yeah, I think they're doing a pretty good job making it a partisan issue. You see all the right wing people going nuts about it. I saw a lot of people trying to make the case that what we were seeing wasn't the Republicans making fools of themselves. There was all these Republicans doing this kind of you can't handle the truth thing

or I want the truth thing. I guess Peter Strzok is Nicholson. Whatever. But it was a watching that it was like a bunch of people who think that they're Tom Cruise and a few good men, but they're actually Tom Cruise and Magnolia. Tom Cruise and a few good men, but they're actually Tom Cruise and Magnolia. You know, angry because of a deep well of sadness over their relationship with their fathers.

Just to get into it. Like Kavanaugh's baseball tickets. That's some dad stuff. Yes, very dad stuff. Melina, if you have to explain to people what these text messages mean in the context of this incredibly convoluted investigation and then Republican effort to undermine the investigation, people get lost. How important do you think this is? And when we talk about this Russian investigation, are we wasting our time? Are we not able to talk about it because it has become such a convoluted story? What do you think? I think only white people care about this.

Honestly, when you said Strzok is a household name, I guarantee you not one black household knows who the fuck Strzok is, right? I'm not spending my whole

day worried about this. I also think that with this whole conversation, we're missing a lot. So I know you got some joy. I'm glad you got some joy. This has so far been very tough for me, but I'm excited about it. But I do think that there is a problem when we're saying the FBI is the good guys, right? I think that there's a problem when we're paying attention to this and worrying about people's facial expressions and whether they're the creepy dad at the door, right? And not paying attention to what's actually happening in the world. And I think it's a distraction. Let me be real clear.

It's not a subject in black households because we got other shit to worry about. We got lots of other shit to worry about. So I think that's fair. But I would also say this hearing wasn't the doing of Democrats. This was a hearing that Republicans had turned into a big show because they want to politicize the Mueller investigation because they recognize the Mueller investigation as a threat to Donald Trump's presidency. Now, on the question of what should Democrats on the campaign trail be talking about

in terms of what we should be talking about as people who want to win the House and who just care about helping people and building a more humane society, I totally agree with you that we should be talking about health care, we should be talking about criminal justice reform, we should be talking about healthcare. We should be talking about criminal justice reform. We should be talking about how the Republicans

stole a bunch of money from the government and gave it to rich people via the corporate tax bill. This was a day where Republicans said, we are going to use this moment to try to undermine the Mueller investigation because we think that is central to maintaining our power. And this guy, Peter Strzok, came prepared, came ready to fight back.

I think we do a lot of criticizing of Democrats in Congress, and they deserve it. But today was a day when they were put in a situation where they had to try to fight back against Republicans in this hearing. And I thought they did an excellent job. I agree with you that ultimately we should not be talking about Russia all the time. talking about Rush all the time. But Democrats were put in a position where a group of people were cynically trying to exploit some personal text messages and a torrid love affair

that went far more public than anyone anticipated. That they were put in a position of having to either allow this person to be maligned and allow the investigation to be maligned or fight back and try to make a case. And I thought Gerald Nadler did a great job. Sheila Jackson Lee did a great job. And everybody on that committee was on their game today. And it

was a rare case where I thought Peter Strzok did a great job. The Democrats did a great job. And the sum total of it is they diffused one of the key arguments Republicans have been using to fight against Mueller. And as much as I wish we can spend all our time talking about the issues that actually affect people's lives and how much we need to get out of these distractions and talk about Puerto Rico, we didn't ask for Donald Trump to be the most corrupt president in our lifetimes. And we didn't ask for there to be a massive collusion investigation that may determine whether or not his election was more illegitimate than we already believe it to be. But those are the stakes and that's what's happening. And so as much as we want to talk about other issues, we have to do both. We're going to have to do both, because

if we're not fighting on the Mueller front, if we're not fighting on the Russia front, we'll lose on that front, and we can't just cede that territory. So here's what I'm saying. I think people in communities like mine, when you talk in terms of Democrats and Republicans, we don't really give a damn. We see y'all, Democrats, Republicans, as in bed together. Both of y'all are fucking us over. Maybe Republicans are doing it a little bit more violently. There's less Vaseline, right? But we're getting fucked over, right? And so we want to talk about what actually empowers our people.

How can my son, my daughters make it home safely? How can we make sure that, you know, we're not harassed? How can we talk about, you know, the spike in hate crimes? I don't know if you've seen what the spike is looking like, right? Those are the things that we want to talk about, you know, the spike in hate crimes? I don't know if you've seen what this spike is looking like, right? Those are the things that we want to talk about. And I know that folks who are entrenched in party politics want to talk about taking back Congress. But for us, it's really what the outcome is going to look like. Well, I agree with that. But I mean, would you disagree with this statement? The single most important thing we can do right now to stop some of the most aggressively racist and destructive policies to working people that we have seen in our lifetimes is to elect Democratic members of Congress.

Yes, I disagree. You disagree with that? Come on. What are you talking about? Here's what I say. When you talk about Republicans and Democrats, what I just said, that Democrats fuck us over. And let me say this. There's two forms of white supremacy. There's the violent white supremacy that we see embodied by Trump and his whole band of thieves.

That's violent white supremacy. But there's a kind of white supremacy that lots of folks like to ignore. It's liberal white supremacy. So when you think about Democrats who like to say that they're liberal, I'm going to take an example of our city. In Los Angeles, we have one of the probably the highest homeless population in the nation. And all of us as voters, we voted in this proposition, Prop HHH, to provide funds for housing because the answer to homelessness is more housing. What does our liberal mayor do with the money? Spend it on police. That's liberal white supremacy, right?

When you talk about taking money, and there's three Democratic-led cities that took money from the Department of Homeland Security for a pilot program to surveil children in schools called Countering Violent Extremism is this money. Los Angeles is one of the pilot cities. That is liberal white supremacy. And so we have to think about not just the violent white supremacy that we see embodied by Trump, but also the liberal white supremacy.

What I think the answer is for our communities is what it's always been. You've got to have people on the ground willing to get up and do something and make it in their interest everybody's making political calculations if you want to say you're a Democrat and you're better than the Republicans prove that shit the only person who's proven it right now is Maxine Waters so right I just think both of those things can be true it can be absolutely true that we need activists to push Democratic candidates to be better on these issues and then hold them to their promises when they're elected. Absolutely.

And we need to put pressure on local officials when they don't adhere to the values that we expect of them. Absolutely true. I just don't understand how you could then make that leap to saying that electing a democratic house isn't one of the most important things we can do. You said, is it the most important thing? I think more important than that is the power of people to stand up and understand that we have a responsibility and we have a duty and the way that we're going to get free is by us organizing. And I agree with that completely, but I guess maybe not the most important. That's more important to me. Fair enough, fair enough. But I guess I don't that completely, but I guess maybe not the most important. That's more important to me.

Fair enough, fair enough. But I guess I don't want to diminish. I think all of that can be true. And we have talked about the failures of Democrats and liberals to truly be liberal many, many times. Name a Democrat who doesn't take corporate money. Beto O'Rourke in Texas. Okay, so you name one. I mean, we can go...

We can name more. Can we agree most Democrats take money from the devil? Let's not say... They take money... Money that comes from hell somehow, right? Yes, I would say that there is definitely...

that the vast majority of Democrats do hold out bags for cash being thrown off by a giant evil machine. And they do try to catch as much of it as they can before it hits the ground or goes to their opponents. Absolutely. I think everything you're saying can be true. But I do think it is wrong to diminish the difference between Democrats and Republicans. And I do think it's wrong to say that because there are plenty of Democrats that have to do a hell of a lot better. I'm not saying I don't vote for Democrats sometimes.

I'm just saying. And I'll never ever vote for a fucking Republican. But don't we have to do what we can to win the House? Don't you see that as an incredibly important thing we have to do? You have to say yes to that. Come on. I don't have to. I know you don't have to, but I really hope it's something you believe.

How much you gonna pay me? I gotta beg. I also have to stand by that one of those men looks really fucking creepy. And that's really all I was trying... I can be petty more than I can be smart, and that's what I have to do when I'm in my lane, you know?

There you go. Thank you. I do think, I'm from the Bay Area, so I'm friends with a lot of activists and people who really, really are invested in the political process, but there are a lot of people I know who I don't agree with that really don't see the Democratic Party as a solution. And I mean, I was thinking about it myself, like with the Kavanaugh confirmation, like how will I feel, you know, to watch Democrats just vote to confirm this guy who's going to take away my bodily autonomy?

And I that's going to feel bad. I'm not saying I'm not going to vote for Democrats after that. But I definitely think that the Democratic Party cannot take the energy of activists for granted. I think that's absolutely right. Look, when activists think the Democratic Party is failing them and that there's not enough of a difference between the parties to motivate people to get out there and vote, that's a failure of Democrats. I'm not saying that that's a failure of the activists. I'm saying that's a failure of the Democrats. It is the job of Democratic candidates to convince people to give them their votes. And if they haven't convinced somebody, that's their fault.

It's not the fault of the person who hasn't cast a ballot. Absolutely. I totally agree with that. But it is also that you push and you push and you push and you try to get the best Democratic candidate you can, try to get that Democratic candidate to adhere to the best policies that you believe in. But at the end of the day, on election day, there is a choice. And I believe, I personally believe, that electing a Democratic House is one of the single most important things

we can do as Americans to protect our democracy and prevent some of the worst and most heinous environmental, social justice, economic, healthcare policies we have seen in our lifetimes. I mean, stopping the Republican agenda will help people in a grand and massive way. And as much as I don't want

to be a shill for the Democratic Party, I also truly believe that that choice is central. And I believe it is one of the most, I believe it's the most important thing right now that we can do. That's just what I believe. And we can disagree. And that's okay. I like when there's difference on this stage. Sometimes there's just a

lot of soft agreement, but today it's crossfire. Firing it up. Yep. This took a turn. It's a live show. When we come back, okay, stop!

Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Now for a game we call OK Stop. In considering Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Now for a game we call OK Stop. In considering Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Senate Democrats are worried that Brett Kavanaugh will become a key vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. The women on Fox News is outnumbered,

which includes former Obama administration official Marie Harf, considered whether Democrats focusing on Roe is a good idea. Let's watch the clip. I mean, look, I don't want Roe v. Wade to be repealed in its entirety either. OK, stop. That was a weasel word in there in its entirety. Maybe uncomfortable, maybe nervous about what's to come. The more concerning judicial question might be whether there are just so many restrictions at state levels that are now upheld by the Supreme

Court, unlike the Casey decision, where abortion effectively in 25 or 30 states across the country effectively becomes so restricted that it is illegal. Is this a smart issue for Democrats to make it kind of only about that? Okay, stop. I'm really tired of people talking about whether giving people the right to make decisions about their own body is a smart issue. We are human beings. And I'm also really tired of the debate over reproductive rights getting framed as a woman's issue. I'm on Tinder. Like, half the people on there are guys, and this affects them as well.

About Obamacare coming. You have other things that are coming down the front. I think they should broaden it out to be about women's health writ large, and it should not just be about pro-choice. Pro-choice is not pro-abortion, and I think sometimes the Democratic Party gets too close to making it seem like that I think this should be about women's health and women's ability to control their own bodies and about not having a bunch of men at the Supreme

Court telling you what you can and can't do. Well seven men decided Roe versus Wade so I'm wondering if they were allowed to decide it or then and now we're not men on the court aren't allowed to have opinions. The point is that the government can't tell you how to do opinions. But the point is that men are capable of making decisions. Okay, stop. I just want to repeat what you said. The point is men are capable of making decisions. Of course they're capable of making decisions about like, do I pull my dick out now or not?

And guess what? I don't even know if they're that capable of that given what we found out in the last year, plus 1,000 years. But it's a right, this is our right. It's not an issue, it's a right. It's not women's health issue, it's not a Democrat issue. It is a basic human fucking right that we have, and they're not taking it away from us. I will open a bed and breakfast, and people can come to it and get an abortion,

and it will be safe. I promise that on both of my grandmother's fucking graves, if this is overturned. All about how women are terrified everywhere, how they're quaking in their boots, how they are mortified that they're going to die, how contraception isn't going to be available.

As a woman, I am not worried about any of those things, and we've been hearing about the threat of Roe v. Wade being overturned for 40 years. Okay, stop. She said mortified about dying. No one is like, oh, my God, I'm going to die. Like, mortified is not the word. She can go on. It hasn't happened. It's unlikely to happen. Okay, stop. She can go on.

It hasn't happened. It's unlikely to happen. Okay, stop. So there's a really big difference between what's available in terms of your health care if you live in a state like New York or California or D.C. where these folks probably live, between being a teenager in a red state that will immediately have a bunch of really crazy restrictions on abortion. There's like many, many people in the United States can't get together $400, like let alone be able to travel to California if abortion is made illegal. And this is absolutely going to affect people's lives and cost women their lives.

Yeah. Alyssa Mastromonaco, Megan's co-host on Hysteria, makes this point often that there are a number of states that have trigger laws where if Roe is overturned, abortion is immediately restricted, if not outright illegal. And that's all across America. And these are women who would have to go to incredible lengths to get the health care they need. I mean, you were talking about 16-year-old girls that are victims of incest or rape that will suddenly need to figure out a way to tell someone and get out of the state

to get the help they need. I mean, the barbaric outcome that she's saying we don't have to worry about because it hasn't happened yet, it is so glib. It is so glib to be like, I'm a woman and I'm not worried. Well, good for you, I guess. Maybe because no one's fucking you!

I'm just so happy you found the joke. I mean, I'm not particularly worried about my own life either because as a pansexual, I have some options here. But we should be able to extend our empathy to people in different circumstances than we are. And that's something that the Republican Party in particular

has a huge problem with. And all of the posturing and scare tactics that are being used are not only dishonest, but they're very surface-level arguments that don't get us to the crux of the issue in debating whether Kavanaugh is a valid credentialed nominee to be sitting on the Supreme Court. Okay, stop. Are we really talking about how somebody should get a position

because they're qualified? Because we had that debate once before. And can I add that I think Brett Kavanaugh shouldn't be on the Supreme Court because his name sounds like he belongs in a soap opera, or that he always wears, you know those, what are those, polo shirts with a sweater tied around it, right? We call it the Tommy Vitor.

Right. Or that his last name is a wine. Yeah. So his name should make him not qualified right there. Mike Pence's little face was down there in the corner. I'm from Indiana, a state that would be one of those states that would immediately be impacted in a terrible way. He closed a bunch of Planned Parenthoods a few years ago. that would be one of those states that would immediately be impacted in a terrible way.

He closed a bunch of Planned Parenthoods a few years ago, and what happened is Indiana became a hotbed for STDs. So if you want to talk about, if you want to make this an issue and a policy, whatever it is, it doesn't work. So whatever you're picking is wrong, and just let us decide. And if you're having an abortion debate, don't have a headshot of someone smiling in the corner. If you're really against abortion and you really want there to be no abortion, it's been proven that access to birth control,

IUDs, the pill, it really does prevent abortion. And it's really hard for me to take people seriously when they say that they're against abortion at all costs, but they try to do everything that they can to restrict women from having access to any other form of birth control. Yeah, it also goes to the kind of that bad faith is repeated in the larger kind of bad faith of this entire debate. Mike Pence is against abortion, is one of the most consistent positions he's taken. It's central to his identity as a politician most consistent positions he's taken. It's central to his identity as a politician. He campaigned on it. He's always campaigned on it. Donald Trump, who believes in nothing, realized he had to say it to win the support of the evangelicals.

And so he famously said to Chris Matthews, because he had never thought about the issue before and didn't know that saying this would be controversial because he made the logical leap of what happens if abortion is illegal. He said there should be some form of punishment for women. They promised to appoint pro-life judges, anti-abortion judges. That was what they campaigned on. And then the opportunity comes to appoint a judge and they play a different game. They say there's no litmus test. This woman goes on television and says, why is everyone so focused on this? Roe's not going anywhere, even though Kennedy is who voted for Casey, which kept Roe in place while putting in a new swath of restrictions. We don't

know what will happen, but the idea that Roe is safe is ridiculous. It's completely ridiculous. This has been their 30-year plan, and all of a sudden they have the opportunity to fulfill it. They got a list of judges from the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society because it was a list of pre-approved people by the pro-life legal community. We're supposed to take them at their word now when they've been saying all along that this was their plan. It's ridiculous. We got here fast too. I remember like probably five years ago being like stop talking about it during elections. It's done. It's there. It's not changing and then it's like oh no it might it's just so quickly that we that we have gone back in time in a dangerous way we also need

to think about who Kavanaugh is and what he'll usher in in addition to that the idea that if this question about Donald Trump's ability to pardon himself comes up he's already said where he stands, right? He's already talked about, you know, the president basically being a dictator, right? Basically having every right, you know, there can be no investigation unless, you know, he allows it to happen. And so I think there's a lot more to fear around Kavanaugh than just Roe v. Wade, there's really everything to fear, right? Bleak, yeah. This was a debate on Fox News about whether it's smart for Democrats to focus on choice.

And I would just like to say, Marie Harf, you worked for Barack Obama. This is a news organization that existed to destroy Barack Obama. It is a right-wing propaganda machine. You are there as a tool for them to attack and divide Democrats around whether or not they should be fighting on the issue of the autonomy of women's bodies. And you are participating in that debate and on that couch, and you are being used, and it is shameful. It is shameful. I don't understand it. I don't understand it. And, you know, it's one thing to debate people because you have a disagreement. We did that.

We had a lovely debate about whether you disagree, but we're pretending, it's ridiculous to pretend that Fox News is a legitimate news organization. It isn't. They have an agenda, and you being there is part of that agenda. Can I say one more thing? Please. Speaking of agenda, I feel like it's a big miss in terms of how this issue is framed to not talk about how this list of judges got made there's been a huge amount of dark money put into

making this list through the heritage foundation the coke brothers are funding a huge part of this and you know when we talk about the trump voter i think that that's a worthwhile conversation about like how so many people could vote for a candidate that's so full of hate. But, you know, like the people that are really influencing that at a high level, including the Supreme Court at this point, I don't know why that's not a discussion that's being had more. Yeah, I think that's I think it's a really good point. Bob Casey, senator from Pennsylvania, put out a great statement. We talked about it on Pod Save America, but it was a statement that basically said, before Brett Kavanaugh's name was announced, said, I am voting no because that it is a ridiculous and dangerous idea that the president is choosing from a

preordained list created by these right-wing organizations well-funded by a secretive list of backers. That is a despicable and morally reprehensible process. And anyone that comes from that process should not receive a yes vote. And I thought that was a really good, I'm paraphrasing, but I think it was a really important and smart way to address the issue. So I think you're absolutely right. We have so many scandals and there's so much going wrong all at once. The idea of an outside group basically dictating to the president who he can choose, because that's the dirty deal, right? We'll tolerate you being a disgusting, misogynist, racist who's corrupt and attacking our institutions. Just give us the judges. That

that bargain at the heart of the Trump presidency, that we're just accepting that or tolerating that, not talking about it more, is a huge problem. And it's because I think we're so overwhelmed by just how much is going wrong all at once. Right. Agreed. Yeah. When we come back, we're going to play a game about Brett Kavanaugh. Don't go anywhere.

Love it or leave it, there's more on the way. And we're back! Getting nominated to the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, and because of that, it's incredibly important to make sure you know exactly who the person is that you're nominating. Well, we did some research on this Brett guy, and we thought we'd teach you all about him. This is

Brett Kavanaugh 4D, The VR experience. Yes. We will take you back to the actual moments in Brett Kavanaugh's judiciary career, and you, as Brett Kavanaugh, have to guess what he actually did in each specific scenario. Would someone out there like to play the game?

Let's go to this person. Yeah, this, yeah, clearly. We already talked about it. No, no, stay there. Stay, stay. No, not you. You're not playing. You're just doing nothing. You're doing great, but you're just in the audience. I was pointing behind you. I apologize. It's one of those things. When I was in elementary school, a popular girl gave me the biggest wave in the world, and I waved back because I couldn't believe it was happening. It was like I had won the lottery, and then somebody standing next

to me just went, not you, idiot. And there was another popular girl right behind me, and it it's not, it's not a great story, but it seriously shaped my life. Similarly, you know what? I'll tell this to you.

Similarly, I was in eighth grade wearing sweatpants. And a group of kids were making fun of me for wearing sweatpants because they were the kind that cinched at the bottom, you know? Those are cool now. They're are cool now they're cool now they're cool now they weren't cool I didn't know they were ever not they were ridiculed and then as always was the case there was always

one popular kid who was nice to me probably because they were gay too but they didn't know they didn't know and I didn't know maybe they were pansexual maybe they were pansexual good Maybe they were pansexual. Good point. I still don't know your name. We'll get to you in a second.

But he said, leave him alone. You know, John's fine. Leave him alone. And then the other kids walked away. And then this kid turned to me just one-on-one and in total disgust just said, come on, man. At least get the kind with pockets. Hi, what's your name? Hi yeah thanks for being here Carly you're in a straight shooter shirt you you held up a sign that said merch on

it which was aggressive and we respect that here Carly are you familiar with Brett Kavanaugh I am so here's how this game works I'm gonna read you a question about a day in the life of Brett Kavanaugh? I am. So here's how this game works. I'm going to read you a question about a day in the life of Brett Kavanaugh, and you are going to have to tell us what you would have done. And I will tell you if you're right or wrong. Are you ready? Okay. Question one. The year is 2017, the day

October 24th. Halloween is just around the corner and you, Brett Kavanaugh, are putting the finishing touches on your handmade Stranger Things Demi Gorgon costume. But you have to go back to the court to work on a big case. An undocumented pregnant 17-year-old in detention is seeking an abortion without delay. Where do you stand?

I'm going to go back to working on that costume. Incorrect. You say that the young pregnant woman should wait until a sponsor can help her make the decision. After all, requiring the government to assist the girl in obtaining an abortion would ignore the government's interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the interests of a minor, and refraining from facilitating abortion. This was the case of Garza v. Hargen. Question two. The year is 2011.

Adele's Someone Like You plays on your iPhone 4S, and you take a planking photo on the steps of the appeals court. Suddenly a case pops up challenging a District of Columbia law that requires gun owners to register their guns and also bans the possession of semi-automatic rifles. What do you, Brett Kavanaugh, argue? Guns are bad. Incorrect. Registering guns has not been traditionally required, therefore it should be struck down. Also banning semi-automatic weapons is unconstitutional because they are in common use by law-abiding citizens in the home for hunting and other lawful uses.

Yep, that's Heller versus the District of Columbia. Question three. The year is 2012. Gangnam Style plays on your iPhone 5 as you YOLO. I'm so hip. Carly, you sound awful. Everyone, oh no, you're Brett Kavanaugh. I'm sorry, I got lost in the story.

Everyone is talking about the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce, but mostly the Affordable Care Act. You're presented with the question of whether the ACA is unconstitutional. How do you argue? Healthcare is important for everyone. Incorrect.

You argue that the president could choose to nullify Obamacare by just not enforcing it, even if a court holds the statute constitutional. Question four. The year is 2017. It's May and you just thought of the perfect Halloween costume. You've seen on your iPhone 6S that it's been discovered that the NSA is conducting an expansive call recording surveillance operation. What do you, Brett Kavanaugh, argue?

Stop using your phones. No. Collecting these records does not constitute a search. And even if it did, the government can take such records to prevent terrorism, even if this burdens the constitutional rights of those searched. Yeah, no joke. Brett Kavanaugh is not messing around. Janine, you lost.

Janine? Why did I think your name was Janine? That's insane. I get two parachute gift cards. Don't press your luck. Janine lost. Carly, you've won. Janine.

That is wild. I honestly think reading the clue about the abortion detention got me into a Handmaid's Tale mindset, and I went to Janine. That's what happened. Blessed be the fruit. Blessed be the fruit. Thank you, Carly.

Need a Lord open. You've won the game. Give it up for Carly. When we come back, we're going to play a game about civil disobedience. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of

Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Last week, a woman by the name of Therese Patricia Okumo climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of immigrant families. At a time when a lot of Twitter warriors are content to send a few angry tweets and call it a day, she decided to translate her protest into non-violent civil disobedience. This week also marks the five-year anniversary of Black Lives Matter.

disobedience. This week also marks the five-year anniversary of Black Lives Matter, a phrase that came into use after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. So we wanted to talk about civil protest and nonviolent resistance in a game we call Good Trouble. Would someone like to play the game? Hi, what's your name? I'm Nancy. Nancy, how are you? I'm well, thank you. How are you? I'm good.

Are you ready to play the game? It's been kind of a rough night tonight. Listen, we've got a lot on our plates. We've got a lot of issues to break down. We're not always going to agree, and that's cool. It's okay. So I'm going to ask you questions about famous acts of civil disobedience, and our panelists will help

you read the clues and you'll suss out the answers and that's how games go question number one Nancy in 1994 only 20% of janitors working in commercial buildings in downtown DC belonged to the janitor's union the union wasn't influential enough to put pressure on management and wages were

stagnant what did the janitors do to get the attention of those in power was Was it A? While cleaning around their places of work, they would say snappy quips under their breath when someone from management was around. Quips like, gonna need a bigger mop to clean up all the bullshit in here. And wish I could take out all the trash, and even the classic, fuck this shit. Or was it B? Choreographed and staged a huge dance number to Annie's Hard Knock Life.

It didn't work at all, but it created a memory that they will all share for a lifetime. Or was it C? They blocked roads leading to the Capitol building with fake houses It didn't work at all, but it created a memory that they will all share for a lifetime. Or was it C? They blocked roads leading to the Capitol building with fake houses they erected in the streets and occupied the office of the Speaker of the House and even blocked a bridge between Virginia and D.C. by constructing a classroom in the middle of the highway using chalkboards and desks to furnish it. This delayed flights, forced the Senate to postpone votes, and a few were arrested. Later, a law was passed making it a felony to block

bridges in D.C. What do you think, Rita? Nancy? Activism, C. Correct. As a result of the protest, in less than a year, 90% of janitors in D.C. belonged to the union, they won benefits,

and they won better wages. Question number two. During the U.C. belong to the union. They won benefits and they won better wages. Question number two. During the U.K. census of 1911, I don't even need to finish it because we all know the story. The head of each household was supposed to list every person staying under their roof that night. Many women were frustrated that they were being counted as citizens when they did not have the right to vote.

How did they protest? Is it A? They wrote how they felt on a piece of paper, tied it to a bird's leg, and let it out into the air. They called this tweeting. Or was it B? They hid from authorities all over the country

in barns and haylofts, walked the Yorkshire Moors, and in one case, hid in a broom closet in the Houses of Parliament so that they would not be counted. Or was it C? Just said fuck it, gave up, and watched an all-male production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. B.

Nancy, you got it. B. Nancy, you got it. Carly, do you think it's unfair that your game didn't have options for answers? I agree. I'm so happy I have this game. Nancy, as a result of the protest, it was a huge boost to the morale of the movement

with one suffragette saying, quote, I'm rather sorry for the women 10 years hence for they'll spend census night in bed. I thought that was nice. Question three. In December of 2008, in the final weeks of the Bush presidency, the Bureau of Land Management held a last-minute auction for oil and gas drilling leases in public land near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah.

The parcels were rushed to auction with little concern for the environmental impact. How did protesters disrupt the auction? Is it A. Right before they started, Mark Ruffalo bolted through the double doors and gave a dramatic heartfelt speech that brought everyone to tears. Though thinking the job was done, he left after the slow clap, and they continued the auction just as planned. Or was it B?

Woodland creatures from across the land showed up in protest. Condors flew through the windows, moose blocked traffic, and beavers, using their tails as paddles, won all the auctions. The woodland creatures then packaged the leases into sophisticated derivatives,

which were used to hide the mounting debt on their balance sheets and ultimately led to the collapse of their financial services firm. That one took a turn. Or was it C? Tim DeChristopher, a student activist, showed up at the auction and took a paddle. DeChristopher started bidding like crazy, with no intention of paying. He won about a dozen lots in a row worth almost $2 million before the auctioneer realized something was fishy and suspended the proceedings.

DeChristopher was arrested. C, activism. Nancy gets it. How cool is DeChristopher, by the way? I love that. I like to see, like, because you always think to yourself, what if you just showed up

and grabbed one of those auction paddles and bought the Picasso? What happens? And the answer is, you fuck up the whole auction. After Obama took office, the auction was investigated for regularities. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar canceled all the leases, citing the Bush administration's failure to conduct proper scientific review. DeChristopher is widely credited with setting this in motion. Final question. Yeah, give it up. DeChristopher is widely credited with setting this in motion. Final question.

Yeah, give it up for DeChristopher. DeChristopher removed his mask, and it was... Sasha Baron Cohen. Question four. In 1989, tenants at a public housing project in Rhode Island needed affordable daycare. Many of these low-income working mothers petitioned the city council for an affordable daycare center for their building. The decision fell to their local HUD director, who did absolutely nothing.

How did they react? Is it A? The tenants staged a sit-in, occupying the HUD director's office by turning it into a daycare center. They brought toys, a crib, a diaper- changing table, and, of course, their kids. They stayed all day. The press was invited. Or was it B? The moms dragged an old, weird carnival arcade game into the HUD director's office and left it there.

When the HUD director pulled the lever, a message popped out saying he'd forgotten what it was like to be a child. There's more. The HUD director disappeared for two weeks and never explained where he went. But thereafter, people said he was somehow kinder and had regained a sense of wonder.

Nobody knows where he was for two weeks. It's the weirdest thing. It's like he vanished. That's the story of answer B. Or was it C? The moms refused to serve him a cheese plate, which destroyed America. That's the story of answer B. Or was it C? The moms refused to serve him a cheese plate, which destroyed America.

A stands for activism. Yes, A. It was A. And those moms got the daycare center, which I think is awesome. Melina, you know, this is the five-year anniversary of this organic Black Lives Matter movement that born in the wake of the acquittal of George Zimmerman. This is something that has, I think, changed the conversation around police violence and violence in black communities. But, of course, there's a lot of actual policy change and society change that is yet to come. What are you thinking about at this five-year mark?

I think that one of the things that we're seeing is kind of the whiting out of the Black Lives Matter movement. It's important for all of us to remember that just because we don't get covered in media anymore, and Black Lives Matter is more than a phrase. It's an actual network of organizers who are doing work. We have more than 40 chapters globally that are doing work. Many of us have work that we do, protests that we engage in on a weekly basis, right?

The work still needs to be done. And so even though it's not the popular thing to talk about anymore, even though they've told you that black people are now out of vogue, right? We can't go out of vogue, right? But we need to understand that black people being killed at the hands of the police are actually increasing, right? Under Trump, we've seen a surge in hate crimes against mostly black people. seen a surge in hate crimes against mostly black people. We've seen this kind of new wave of white people who I guess resent that they were never made hall monitor and they're like telling on

people for shit like wearing socks to the pool or not barbecuing with coal instead of a gas grill or children selling candy in front of a grocery store. That's all the work of Black Lives Matter. We have to push back. White supremacy is real, y'all. And what I do agree with you on, I think I'm putting words in your mouth. I'm excited. Trump is a fucking devil.

And all of the people with him, maybe there's many devils, right? Sessions is one. All of these fools are devils. And we can't just sit around and act like what we're experiencing right now is normal, right? So Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter, when we were born five years ago what we committed to doing is building a movement not a moment

a movement takes all of us it takes you it takes me, Black Lives Matter you all who are I'm going to just say most of y'all in case you didn't know it in this audience are not black right you all need to be just as invested

in black freedom as I am. Because until black people get free, ain't nobody, right? And so that's the work that we have to keep doing. Black Lives Matter has gone nowhere. We are here. We've made tremendous progress. I don't know if you remember five years ago when you couldn't even say black, right? You had to say people of color, right? Now there's this understanding that we have to be constantly in a state of resistance, right? This whole conversation, and part of my beef with the Democratic Party right now, is this whole conversation about being civil. Fuck being civil, right?

It's time to be uncivil as hell. It's time to be disruptive as hell. It's time to do all of the things that have traditionally created the change. Read history. It hasn't been because we just voted. I'm not saying don't vote. I vote in every damn election, right? But you can't just vote and walk away and act like the transformative change that we have to usher in is going to happen because you voted one day, right? We have to be engaged, and that's what Black Lives Matter is about. It's about engaging in a radical imagining of what kind of world we could live in if we're willing to work for it.

When we come back, the rant wheel. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It and there's more on the way. And we're back! Now And we're back! Now for the rant wheel. Here's how it works. We spin the wheel.

We rant on the topics, wherever it lands, you know. This week on the wheel, we have L.A. being mean to LeBron. We have Nanette. We have racists getting outed on the internet. We have Starbucks cold foam. Wonder who put that there. We have Trump pardons Oregon ranchers. We have ScarJo as a trans man.

We have the World Cup. And quote, liberal tears, end quote. Let's spin the wheel. It has landed on L.A. being mean to LeBron. I believe this comes from Megan. I'm always happy when I can force sports on this crew. But this actually does transcend sports in a sense. We are in Los Angeles right now.

Sorry to everyone listening. We're here. It's hot. Sorry to everyone listening. We're here. It's hot. Sorry. LeBron is more than a basketball player, truly. There was a mural that went up. People defaced it. There's some thoughts that Kobe doesn't like LeBron, doesn't want him on the Lakers. All of that aside, any community that LeBron James is in, he lifts up and makes better. He has made the NBA better. that LeBron James is in, he lifts up and makes better. He has made the NBA better. We should be welcoming with open arms.

Blaze pizza is low-calorie, I guess. And no matter what the Lakers go on to do, he will be a vital part of this community, and he's a huge part of the American community. He's an activist. I think he will go on to run for public office, and he is someone who should be celebrated and not defaced in any way. Alright. And he is a

basketball player. And he is a basketball player. And what team is he going to be on? He's going to be on the Los Angeles Lakers. Can I ask a question? Yeah, please. I can't wait. So there's also there's this other team, the LA Clippers and no one mentions them ever.

What's up with that? So their tickets are cheap, and you can go to the games, and yeah, it's tough. We all can't be winners, and sports has taught us that. The Lakers are not very good right now, but you can be a Clippers fan. That would be great for you. So let me ask you this. So I grew up being a Mets fan. Okay, that's bad.

But there are these maps that show that the only place that is more Mets friendly than Yankees friendly is in the vicinity of the stadium, which was called Chase Stadium when I was a kid, but that was torn down to put up something called, I believe, City Field, which makes me sad. Is being a Lakers fan like being a Yankees fan and being a Clippers fan like being a Mets fan? Are there equivalences there? For as much as you know about sports, that's an excellent metaphor.

Let's spin it again. It has landed on racists getting outed on the internet, suggested by Melina. Yes. So let me just say right now, one of my favorite people in the world is Sean King. Because if you watch all of these videos of Permit Patty, Barbecue Becky, what's a burrito guy's name? Dan somebody, right? Sean King has started to put these videos out and say who knows this person and where do they work and all these fools are getting fired right so permit patty the one who came after the eight-year-old girl for selling what y'all know what I'm talking about, right? Okay. Who came after the

eight-year-old girl in San Francisco for selling water, right? She was doing some shady stuff herself, right? Not that the eight-year-old girl was doing shady stuff, right? But if you want to be a hall monitor, if you want to be one of these white folks who calls the police on black people, and this is a serious part, when you call the police on black people, you need to understand that the outcomes could be deadly. So do not call unless you're willing to risk our lives. This eight-year-old child was selling water. Permit Patty wants to roll up and say you don't have a permit to sell the water. Patty wants to roll up and say you don't have a permit to sell the water. Meanwhile, she's selling weed to dogs.

That's so California. Look, all of the dispensaries done stopped selling her products. She's crying on the internet saying, I'm really sorry, right? The one who called, the one in Tennessee who called the police on the man for wearing socks to the pool. She done lost her job, right? So I am loving.

So this is why I say it's not all about elections, right? It's about what we can do. Out these fools on the internet. Make them lose their jobs and not have any friends. Let's spin it again. It has landed on Nanette. It's a popular one here at the Improv where the comedy fans are. So Nanette is a comedy special that's on Netflix.

It's by a comedian named Hannah Gadsby, and she's awesome. The special is not quite pure stand-up. I saw it in New York in person, which was awesome. But it's like the first maybe 10 minutes seem like it's going to be a really traditional stand-up special. But then she starts deconstructing stand-up and what it means for her to be a stand-up as a queer woman coming from a really super conservative place in Australia. And it's so vulnerable. It's so queer. It's so queer.

It's so feminist. And it's a hit, you know? And it's super inspiring to me as a comedian because I feel like even when I started, which was, you know, not that long ago, not even a decade ago, it was inconceivable to me that something like that could ever be really popular.

It doesn't pander to the male gaze at all. And I think that part of the reason this special is so inspiring to me is because it's easy when you're living in this country to just feel like it's getting worse and worse and people are getting dumber and dumber. But there's a certain segment of the population that's getting cooler.

And that really makes that obvious for me. Like the fact that I look on Facebook and everyone's talking about this, you should definitely watch it. It's awesome. It's pretty exciting. Because this group of people that's getting cooler and cooler,

we're gonna put on such awesome plays at the camps. Let's do it one more time. It has landed on Starbucks cold foam. I want to talk about Starbucks cold foam. It's been on my mind. Now, this is not an advertisement for Starbucks because I'm going to talk about how you can get cold foam for less money than they're trying to charge you. Because here's the deal. Starbucks and I are in a great and unending struggle.

They want me to pay $5.25 for a drink. And I do not want to pay that. You got to get crafty. You got to go in the app. You got to start constructing your own drinks inside the app. You can't order yourself an iced latte. That's stupid. That's stupid. You gotta go in the app, you gotta start constructing your own drinks inside the app. You can't order yourself an ice latte. That's stupid.

That's stupid. You're buying milk. You know what's free at Starbucks? Milk is free at Starbucks. So I don't order an ice latte. I order a very complicated thing that is hard for them to make, which has a lot of instructions

about ice espresso on a certain amount of ice, add this amount of milk. It's complicated, it's embarrassing. I don't care. Because my $5 drink is $3. That's $2 in my pocket. And not in Howard Schultz's pocket, which is good, because he's trying to charge me $5 for coffee, which is why he's not going to be president.

Now, Starbucks wants $5 from me, and so they introduced something called cold foam, because they know that I have discovered that iced lattes are just cheaper drinks with milk poured on top. So they said, no, we're going to get it. We're going to get something called cold foam. And here's the thing, they did get me. All of a sudden, I'm like, I like this cold foam.

It's very frothy and delicious. And it's $5. And so I find myself paying $5 for the thing because they add the cold foam. It's a cold foam cappuccino and it's $5.25. Outrageous.

And yet I pay it. Shut up. But today, I discovered that they had updated the app and deep within the recesses of the Starbucks app on my phone, I found the ability to add cold foam. Deep within a setting.

And so moments before this show began, I struck a blow against Starbucks yet again. And I spent $3.25 on a $6 drink. And it had delicious cold foam on top. And they're not going to get a five dollar drink out of me ever again and if Howard Schultz wants to be president he can deal with this I also think it's an interesting

fact of Starbucks that and capitalism itself which says that there is a force demanding this company which ultimately sells various kinds of water, flavored water of various shapes and sizes, that they are innovating on new kinds of frothy milk. It is 2018.

They have stores everywhere, and they just figured out how to make a new kind of milk. And I think that's cool. But I'm not going to pay five dollars for it. Ever. And that's our show. I want to thank Alina Abdullah, Kate Willett, Megan Gailey. Thank you guys all for coming out. And have a great night.