Some More News - EMN: It's Weird We Have To Keep Asking If Mitch McConnell is Alive

Episode Date: July 10, 2026

Hi. On today's episode of Even More News, Katy, Cody, and Jonathan discuss the current life status of Mitch McConnell, the ho-hum end of the Iran ceasefire, the murder by ICE of a man in Hous...ton, and who might replace Graham Platner in Maine.PATREON: https://patreon.com/somemorenewsMERCH: https://shop.somemorenews.comYOUTUBE MEMBERSHIP: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvlj0IzjSnNoduQF0l3VGng/join#mitchmcconnell #ICE #Iran Chapters:00:00 - Introduction/Is Mitch Dead?08:20 - Ceasefire Is Over23:46 - ICE Murders Father34:32 - Graham Platner FalloutSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, on today's episode, we talk about the current life status of Mitch McConnell. What's going on with the ceasefire, another ice murder, and who might replace Graham Platner in Maine? Hi, hello, welcome back to even more news, the first, the only news podcast. I'm Katie Stoll. Yes, is the answer to that? I'm Cody. John Stun? Yes.
Starting point is 00:00:44 Hello? Hello. Very nice to see you. You too. Period. Jonathan's also here. Welcome back, Jonathan. Hi, thanks.
Starting point is 00:00:54 Who's back? I'm back. Back again. Say he's back. Jonathan. Love that. That was good. Love that.
Starting point is 00:01:03 That's for you. Thought about it all day. Mitch McConnell. Potentially alive? We don't know. I think he's dead or brain dead. Well, I was on the phone with him yesterday for like 20 minutes and he was like, I'm dead. So that's too bad.
Starting point is 00:01:19 Yeah. He was like, boo. Actually, he would have been like, I'm dead. Yeah. I talked him for 20 minutes. It was just, you know, he told me all the movie times where I could see them what the times were. Welcome to movie phone. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:01:33 I would love to hear, and I guess we can't anymore because he's probably dead. I want to hear Mitch McConnell do a Bain impression. I think he'd be really good at a Bain impression. I expect one of us on the record. We're still wearing. Welcome to. What you can do is use AI to make that, but I don't think you should. I won't be doing that.
Starting point is 00:01:54 I think that is gross and multiple, for multiple reasons. However, I mentioned the AI thing because, as has been alluded, several people seem to are claiming that they spoke to him, spoke with him on the phone. Yeah, we've got CNN liar, Scott Jennings, John Food. That should always be his Chiron.
Starting point is 00:02:16 The top two Senate Republican leaders, a few guys, they all said on Tuesday or Wednesday, I think Tuesday morning, they said, oh, yeah, I spoke with him for 20 minutes, and we talked about Iran and Ukraine and several other events,
Starting point is 00:02:27 and then the conversation was over. I didn't ask about his health. The thing that you would lead with if somebody was, in the hospital suffering from a heart attack. Yeah, he had a heart attack reportedly. We heard like the call, the call to paramedics going to his house on June 14th. So it's assumed that that's him.
Starting point is 00:02:51 And they talk about cardiac arrest. They talk about performing CPR, which, you know, I don't know the numbers on how successful that is on an 84-year-old man having cardiac arrest. But still, haven't heard from him since. It's been weeks. His wife left the country. His wife, two days before. Two days before.
Starting point is 00:03:10 Two days before. She went to China on a previously scheduled trip. And then in a statement recently, her team said the senator's health did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S. She's now back. Well, yeah, she's got to make arrangements for a trip to Tahiti that they'll take soon. If he is having these conversations with people on the phone, well enough to have a 20-minute conversation with CNN liar Jennings. You'd think presumably he could put a call into his staff or put a call in even to the news organizations that are foaming at the mouth trying to get word if he's alive or not. Presumably he could call in and say, I'm alive.
Starting point is 00:03:52 Yeah. So the reason there's so much speculation is because what happens if he's dead and it's announced that he's dead, right? There needs to be a senator, you would think. last year or two years ago since Kentucky has a democratic governor, they changed the laws in Kentucky to say, well, the governor wouldn't appoint a new senator temporarily. There would be a special election. And the concern and I, there's a lot, there would be a lot of legal entanglements with this. People would sue because it would be the first time this law is being used. But the theory goes that Thomas Massey could jump in and split the G. vote and allow a Democrat somehow to become the senator from Kentucky just until January. But if they're able to slow play this and not take him off life support or whatever until after August 3rd, then there's no special election and then we just wait until the general election and the seat stays vacant until January.
Starting point is 00:04:57 The thing about this theory, though, is I feel like it might be good if the seat stays vacant. I guess it gives them like half a vote more to pass the Save Act because McConnell wasn't going to do it, but it means they don't have a Republican vote for anything else. Right.
Starting point is 00:05:16 So to me, either way, I would like to see Massey give her a shot, but it would be a long shot, I think, to try to get him in there, but maybe there could be some disruption. Massey's a little. Yeah, I mean,
Starting point is 00:05:32 marginally better in some aspects. Doesn't really believe in climate change is kind of a fucking freak. No, that's why I mean marginally better in some aspects. But like just leave her empty. But it does feel like that has to be the only possible in my mind. A reason to keep this so under wraps. Honestly, hearing you talk about them changing the laws very recently, my brain immediately goes to like,
Starting point is 00:06:00 oh, that's because the writing has been on the wall that Mitch McConnell doesn't have that much long. Like they probably literally did that in the event with the idea that McConnell might not probably wouldn't make it through this term. But ultimately, it's egregious. It's absolutely egregious that her elected senator. This should not be a conversation that we're having today, let alone over the past two weeks, let alone speculation for the past month of this nonsense. And throughout this term, there have been so many health scares and then him
Starting point is 00:06:36 showing, having strokes on camera to our best knowledge and we just... He did do that. We have... But, you know, it's like I mean, this is, he has always said, let me find the quote here,
Starting point is 00:06:52 you merely adopted being secretly dead. I was born in it, molded by it. So, I don't know. It seems like he's always been like prepared for him. Take back your Senate. But also, like, we have also now normalized lawmakers just disappearing Don Draper-ishly for long stretches of time. There was this guy Tom Dean who disappeared for four months and came back and he said I had depression. And like, not knocking.
Starting point is 00:07:18 We never got around to talking about that. But that is wild. I got to show up. Like, it's tough because you don't want to write. But like, most Americans do not get to just take four months off of work. paid because they're depressed. You might get a sabbatical and have that, but it's not a secret. It's not a whole bunch of, they just didn't show up today.
Starting point is 00:07:42 You'd get fired. And he's not trying to like raise awareness. He's not, I'm coming back and I want to raise awareness. It's like, no, you cut any kind of funding there would have been for mental health treatment. Come on. You get the benefit from your employer health care or whatever and get treatment. but most people that you represent don't. Okay.
Starting point is 00:08:05 But we'll just not talk about it at all. And then you'll reemerge and it'll be in the news cycle for exactly one hour. And we'll move on from it. I mean, yeah. Well, I think we should move on to more news, even more, I should say. I was under the understanding that the anti-war president had brokered the most astounding piece. deal of our lifetimes. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:33 But now it seems as though perhaps that isn't true? Did he not? Wait. Two weeks ago, he was saying that these negotiators are good people and we're getting close, but now they're scum? Oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
Starting point is 00:08:50 Oh, he's being himself. Ah, we forgot that he likes to be himself. Mm-hmm. He, uh, Trumpson, was in Turkey for the NATO summit. And Iran and the U.S. have been, you know, bombing back and forth for a while. For a while still again, yeah. Hey, like, there was a ceasefire, I thought. Are we even trying to, like, what's going on with that?
Starting point is 00:09:11 And he rambled a lot, but he said that he thinks it's over. The ceasefire is over. He doesn't want to deal with them. But it's over now. Sometimes it's helpful to hear a normal person say this. We can listen to him say it or just read it. I think it's helpful both ways. Either way.
Starting point is 00:09:32 Would you like to read it, Cody? We'll just read it. I think he would. I think he's auditioning for the part of... I just think that it's helpful to hear some of those words with a normal cadence from a normal human being. And I will pretend to be that normal person right now. So the question is, is the ceasefire over?
Starting point is 00:09:48 Is the MOU dead? That's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people.
Starting point is 00:09:59 They're lead. by sick people and they're vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I'll speak to our negotiators. They want to negotiate. They're good people, Stephen Whitkoff, Jared Kushner. But they have to come back to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars. We make a deal and they, if I make a deal with them, gestures, we have a deal. He goes out, he talks, we make a deal, everyone's agreed, no nuclear weapons. We make a deal. They go outside and talk to the press and say, we never even talked about it. There's something wrong with them. Their cuckoo, as far as I'm concerned, it's over.
Starting point is 00:10:37 Very normal. Clear what he's saying, I think. I think it's very clear what he's saying. I can't remember because he sat next to a lot of people and said a lot of stuff in the last few days, but he was gesturing at whoever was sitting next to him. He's like, if I make a deal with him, we make a deal, and then it's a deal. But if I make a deal with them, then they say, we don't have a deal. right he also said yesterday they want to make a deal badly but we had a deal we have a deal I thought we had a deal I mean we had a deal 10 years ago well we had an agreement to consider making a deal a memorandum of understanding in the future in like three months we haven't gotten to that point though it's only like I don't even how many weeks is it been having a conscious uncouling with Iran in the MOU
Starting point is 00:11:21 When the first ceasefire, that wasn't really a ceasefire, because firing didn't really cease, but maybe the intensity of it did, but, you know, still firing. There was so much reporting about how we were running low on munitions and not knowing the actual extent of damage, et cetera, et cetera. I felt like, oh, this is a little break, just a little break to resure things up a little bit. and I wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing re-escalates in the near future. I think there's also the oil element to this, which is very interesting, because on the one hand, three weeks ago, he said, we're going to run out of oil in four weeks. And no one asked him, as far as I could find,
Starting point is 00:12:11 hey, did that change? Is that why you're changing your decision here? Or not that? From what I can see, the oil from the strategic reserves is getting to its lowest level in 40 plus years since we were initially building it up. I don't know if any change in China's purchasing behavior is going to affect this as it apparently has thus far. This company is opening up a series of freedom fuel stations in the Philadelphia area, which the White House has promoted because they're selling gas for $3.47. a gallon to indicate 47, Trump, and it's also very much under the market value of gas right now. 47 and three terms.
Starting point is 00:12:57 And three terms. According to a White House spokesperson, quote, the company behind the Freedom Fuel Network is private and owns 25 filling stations across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The spokesperson said the Trump administration is not involved with the company and is not subsidizing the gas stations, adding that the stations can offer lower prices by reducing their profit margin. However, one would expect there's probably a quid pro quo. There's got to be something here. And the White House is promoting this as happening and calling them freedom fuel. So one would think that's the kind of communism they don't like where the government is doing price fixing and forcing or at least leaning on certain private companies to offer a certain price price. which supposedly they don't like.
Starting point is 00:13:49 I mean, Vance talked about that recently how he is a communist and wants to do that. He has, not explicitly, but he has talked about, like, no, just sort of like started talking about how, like, yeah, he's like not really like a freedman kind of guy, like Millard Freeman kind of guy. He's like not really free market. He thinks like the government needs to like,
Starting point is 00:14:07 interfere with certain businesses in order to provide, like, support and dignity to, I believe he used the phrase normal people a bunch because of who he is and how he likes to talk. But yeah, no, this is, they're openly now just sort of like, yeah, we'll like, we'll do all kinds of stuff, but we're going to call you communists because you are woke or whatever. It seems like we still may be heading towards some sort of point of no return or point of reckoning with oil, but maybe not. President knows more than we do.
Starting point is 00:14:42 So maybe they came to him and said, we found a bunch over here. so we can do this forever. We can do the war forever. The president has more access to information than we do. Yes. I don't know if the president knows more than we know. He knows it or is taking the information that he has access to into account. To access and receive and absorb information.
Starting point is 00:15:04 Yeah. He has said very clearly over and over again that he doesn't super care about the effects of this on everyday Americans lives. So I wouldn't assume that there's some different information, perhaps. But it is true that we have not here in the United States of America felt the shocks very keenly. Higher prices, but not the shocks. That way of speaking for him was the main thing that stuck out to me this week is that he seems very casual about this. like it's nothing. He's like, oh, yeah, it's over.
Starting point is 00:15:46 We're back to hitting them really hard. They want to make a deal, but we're, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, I thought we were past this. He's just like, no, I don't give a shit. Like, whatever. No, he wants to, yeah, it's just like, I don't know. It's just, we're doing, this weird new version of like a Forever War where it's like, yeah, we'll just say it's back on.
Starting point is 00:16:02 Like, I don't, who gives a fuck? Yeah. You say it's not a war. We will say it's a war. Yeah, like it doesn't, it's just this. It's fluid. I'd like to play a couple of clips of him from Wednesday that I think are very indicative of this, not caring, and also just like being kind of lazy.
Starting point is 00:16:21 You've said that dealing with the Iranians is a waste of time. How do you plan to get the nuclear material and the nuclear assurances that you want? Well, we've already got the nuclear material because it's so far underground. Nobody's going to be able to get it except us because we have the equipment that you get it. But I go with the nuclear dust. The nuclear material is so far down underneath. the mountain and now it's been determined that it would take
Starting point is 00:16:47 massive machinery that we have that no other country has. That doesn't count as we've already got it. We don't already have it. We have apparently the ability to eventually get it, I guess, with machines or whatever, but nobody else
Starting point is 00:17:06 can. Except Iran right? The people that put it there It's not their land anymore. It's ours apparently. But isn't it also buried deeper underground? Correct me if I'm wrong, because we blew a bunch of it up and it's under like mountain stuff?
Starting point is 00:17:24 Or is that that's other stuff? There's other stuff. We destroyed a bunch of stuff and there's other stuff that's underground. And it's so far underground that nobody can get to it but us, thereby diminishing the entire, my entire argument for going to war, which was that day is. We already have it. This is so logical, Jonathan. too logical one would argue, but you're right. I apologize. I'm sorry that I must do this.
Starting point is 00:17:48 If we are to be keeping track of what he's saying, we've destroyed them, decimated their military, and they can't access it, but that's a real threat. That's a real threat, the fact that they might access it, which one is it?
Starting point is 00:18:03 But ultimately, if we can, if we have the machinery to get it out, I would assume other people do as well. We got to go to war. with Canada because they won't let me in to their country, but I'm already in Canada because I have a car. Is that kind of what's going on there?
Starting point is 00:18:25 Why won't they let you into the country? And when did you get to Canada? I wanted to, I wanted. Did he say this? No, no. I'm just like, I'm trying to do like, like, that's like what's he saying, right? I thought you were like, did you see this clip? Oh God, no.
Starting point is 00:18:41 It won't let me into Canada, but I have a. car, I'm here right now, I got there. I definitely know how to drive it. I'm just like trying to like tease out like what like what what he thinks he's saying and like how it just doesn't make any sense. Yeah, no, but he but he like was just very casual about like, oh yeah, the whole point of this thing was stupid because no one can get it. Like they don't make excavators over there or something. Whatever he's saying. You can buy an excavator on Timo.
Starting point is 00:19:07 Yeah. You might not want to get it from Timo, but. You can. And so. I was shocked as well. So that was odd and lazy. And then there's this other weird bit where he screws up and then tries to play it off like he didn't just do what he did. Hell yeah.
Starting point is 00:19:22 So here's he's sitting next to Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky. And likewise, Russia, you know, they're devoting a lot of energy, a lot of energy. Do you have a question for President Putin? President. Do you have a question for President Putin? Not Zelensky. What would you like to ask him? Because I'm going to ask them that question.
Starting point is 00:19:46 I have a question. Last year, last year you called Russia at Paper Tiger referring that they're not doing that. Who did they call? No, no, no. Give us a question. Not for Zelensky. Give us a question for Putin. Because I'm speaking to him today.
Starting point is 00:20:03 Yeah. Give me a good hard question. Okay. Just say you misspoke. Yeah. You just couldn't like. I'm speaking with Putin later today, so I'm got a mixed up. It's not even like whatever.
Starting point is 00:20:16 Anybody ask president, who would ask Trump a question with the intention of asking Putin? Well, it's very weird because he clearly, this isn't even a gaffe, right? You're like, oh, sorry, I meant, I'm talking, a question for Zelensky because everyone's asking me shit and please ask him something. No, he can't do that. So he's like, actually, I meant to do that. ask us a question for Putin so I can go and ask Putin a really tough question from a reporter and he doubles down? The hell are you doing, man?
Starting point is 00:20:48 It's really embarrassing. Yeah, and it's like lazy? I don't know what it is. Yeah, no, it's, I mean, it is embarrassing, it's lazy, it's him all over. It's just like, it's unnecessary. It's, you know, it speaks to how he operates and he'll just, you know. He can't have ever made a mistake. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:08 You can't just be normal. Just be normal, man. A normal person. For the littlest thing. Like obviously he's just a huge liar about every fucking thing that matters. But this doesn't matter. You don't have to lie here. You can just, it's fine.
Starting point is 00:21:23 What are you talking about? I don't even know. It's more embarrassing what you're doing than saying, sorry, I misspoke. Yeah. This is more embarrassing. Sorry I misspoke. And it's not even like this is not a, oh, he's worse than bi- Like he's, yes, cognitively, he's having different issues than Biden had,
Starting point is 00:21:40 but certainly cognitively losing pieces. But this isn't that. He could have just said, I meant that. Same thing with when he said Islamic Republic of Japan. He could have just said, uh, they both end in a, uh, and I don't know what you want from me, you know. Uh, it's so weird. Um, it could have been the most relatable thing he'd ever said, just did the fact that
Starting point is 00:22:02 who amongst us have a misspoke. I mean, I'm always calling Cody Jonathan and vice versa. We say things all the time, and then after words, they're like, hey, you meant to say this word, and you said that one. And then you're, why didn't you tell me during the thing? I would have, whatever. Could we ADR it? Just cut it. You know, we do these things all the time.
Starting point is 00:22:20 But, like, people misspeak. I don't get the guy. I don't get the guy. So, anyway, the war. Yeah, war is, the war is over. Merry Christmas. It is like, it's a little bit. we talk about this all the time
Starting point is 00:22:35 very draining can't focus on one thing the way this goes but like he started a whole ass war over four months ago over some dumb bullshit now it went completely south now the dumb bullshit he says
Starting point is 00:22:52 doesn't even matter anymore and the thing the guy said and you know because he has more information than we do when he says we only got four weeks of oil left, I tend to think someone told him that and he's repeating it. So what, I'm not privy to all the new shit, man. Tell me what's the new information.
Starting point is 00:23:11 You got to update your information. I mean, I guess we'll find out. He probably wouldn't be doing this if gas was going to be $9 a gallon next week, you know? Probably. Or maybe he doesn't care anymore. I mean, you know, I don't know. He's riding high from being like, oh, look, I've ended the fucking war. Give me another peace prize that I deserve FIFA or whatever.
Starting point is 00:23:32 I mean, he'll probably win the first. FIFA Peace Prize again next year, right? He's got to go back to back. Who possibly could win it next? He's created so much peace in the world. I would like to talk about another murder at the hands of ice that happened and isn't getting as much attention as I think that it should. On Tuesday, an ICE agent shot and killed a 52-year-old man.
Starting point is 00:24:03 in Houston named Lorenzo Salgado O'Raho. There's not great video of it yet. The video we do have shows a unmarked ice car following a white van. The car gets in front of the white van and kind of veers it off the road. The white van tries to look. The white van backs up and then turns and then stops. Ice says that Salgado Arajo ignored commands and attention. attempted to ram an agent who fired his weapon in self-defense,
Starting point is 00:24:37 which is the thing we would expect them to say that they have said. We've been here before. Before, there were also three other men in the van this week, and they are reportedly being pressured to self-deport instead of talking about what they witnessed. Of course they are. So, you know, they're, there will almost. certainly not be an official federal investigation as to what happened. We have to hope that
Starting point is 00:25:08 someone else has video. Someone else was able to capture what happened. So, except that I also don't need to understand the situation that much more clearly to know that this man didn't deserve to be murdered. We do need to see more videos, I guess. I mean, we don't. But just in general, but I think it helps. It would help. Um, sure. Being bullied by unmarked vehicles. You don't know necessarily who's in that vehicle. It's a high stress panic situation. I do not believe that he tried to ram them or kill them with his car because, again, we have been through this.
Starting point is 00:25:51 It's so tired of hearing this bullshit justification. But here's what we do know. He has raised three sons and put them through college. He is undeniably contributed to this country and has made his life here. And it is absolutely disgusting, sickening that this keeps happening. And since Christy Nome being gone and Stephen Miller taking a step back and having Mark Wayne Mullins in charge, it has absolutely become much more discreet and secretive than nefarious things that they are. doing. But they're essentially doing the exact same thing. But they're doing the exact same thing.
Starting point is 00:26:37 They're just not broadcasting it in the same way. I think that in combination with the obvious attempts to squash protest movements by prosecuting people for protesting has probably dampened some of the outrage and people showing up to protect their neighbors. And just the fact that there is a nonstop onslaught every day of awful news makes it difficult for people to juggle these stories, especially if it's not in their immediate community. But make no mistake, it is happening. It has continued to happen. And it is just as egregious as when a white person gets murdered by ICE protesting. Obviously, I mean, I don't need to say that to this audience, but I think it's important to say it regardless.
Starting point is 00:27:33 It's a lot easier when there are a bunch of protesters around who have their phones out, capturing things. A group of people go into work are less likely, there's less likely to be people on the side of the road actively filming when something like this happens very quickly, and which works to ICE's benefit because it's less likely that video comes out. but they have been surging arrests. They got a new mandate to do 2,000 arrests per day across the country. They are largely doing it at check-ins with immigration, scheduled check-ins during traffic stops.
Starting point is 00:28:14 So they're, you know, the shock and off what they did in multiple cities last year, what they did in Minneapolis in January, they're avoiding that, but they're still doing what they're doing. And, yeah, as you said, Katie, the secret police gets to be a little more. secret. Yeah, if anything, it was an effective cover last year. It was an effective cover for them and all the things that have been happening because now it's not as in everybody's face so they can, they can do this. I'm not saying they're like, they did it on purpose, like, oh, we'll ratchet it up to this level and then we'll like kind of like, but it functionally that's what's going on. And I just wanted to highlight what you said that these are like, a lot of these, most of these are for people who are like going to their immigration check and stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:28:57 I remember one of those One of the, you know, everyone, every like couple months Joe Rogan will be out there and be like, this is not who we are. What are we doing, folks? Like, I was told that they were going to deport only criminals and stuff. And like, it's just every step of the way. That's obviously not what they're doing. It's not what they're intending to do.
Starting point is 00:29:13 Vance was asked about this by Bill Maher like a week or two ago. And he was just a little weasel, not really addressing the central claims or talking about what's actually going on. And it's just clear, no, they just want people. who are doing things, quote, unquote, the right way to get out. They do not care. They just need those numbers to get up. You don't need to point to polling to show, like, this is horrendous and unspeakable what ICE is doing. But this man is the exact kind of person that the vast majority of Americans think should be able to stay. Absolutely. Someone who's been here for a long time
Starting point is 00:29:51 and has children here and is working and all that stuff. Not that it matters, not that it makes it better to go after other people but like this is the kind of person that like 70 plus percent of Americans like overwhelmingly they're like no like this I know that guy I know that person I know that person and
Starting point is 00:30:09 yeah if you don't want him here you don't want anybody here it's I mean essentially you should be this is who you should want you should want people that
Starting point is 00:30:25 come here and say, I'm going to make a new life here. I'm going to raise my children here. I'm going to work. He's paying taxes that he doesn't get to see the benefits of. You know, his whole life, just because his status hasn't been officially made legal citizen or whatever. It's just so fucking disgusting and egregious and shameful. It is absolutely shameful that this is. how we're operating and that we are becoming desensitized to it.
Starting point is 00:30:59 And I'm not saying, again, that everybody here, that we're desensitized to it. Obviously, we care very much. But it just is not rising to the top of the newsfold. Yeah, I think it's for a few reasons. One, it's like, oh, it's the same thing that's already kind of happened and we need a new angle on it. And this is not like new enough. I mean, this murder specifically appears to be breaking through in a way that things
Starting point is 00:31:25 haven't in a while. And so there's one. And also, I think after so many of these videos got shared far and wide all over the place, some of the people who run the social media algorithms, whether it's Elon or Zuckerberg with threads, Facebook and all that stuff, like, it might be a little trickier for some of this stuff to break through depending on where people are getting their news. there's a video I saw of ICE holding down a man on some like stones and his head is slammed into the stones and then ICE follows the guy filming who's just standing on the sidewalk and screams at him. I'm going to rest you, threatens to tase him, all this stuff. And that's a video that I feel would have been shared far and wide a year ago.
Starting point is 00:32:21 and it's not now for those two reasons, I think. It's like, well, this is kind of what we've already seen, and the guy who runs the place doesn't want to want it. You know, when you see it, and yeah, we've seen the extreme version of this, which is just on video, people being shot, execution style, and now that that is not happening,
Starting point is 00:32:42 then it's like, well, at least that's not happening. Which, you know, at least that's not happening, but that doesn't, make these other things good. And I think people sort of feel like, well, not doing that so we can move on to other stuff. And, you know, we can get the war and all kinds of stuff going on. Also, people are still being sent to countries where they have likely never been to either be imprisoned or who knows what. The Trump administration has sent a couple dozen people to a Swatini, which is a small nation in southern Africa.
Starting point is 00:33:18 Those people are gone, you know? Like a lot of the stuff that was like really, really shocking to us where there was tons of media attention. It's just not getting that anymore. And I'm sure there's these people, you know, lawyers are trying to get in there and help. Like people behind the scenes, the immigration attorneys are still working like really hard all the time. But yeah, I don't know. We just, we got to stay angry about this. I absolutely have to, I mean, deporting people to a place.
Starting point is 00:33:47 They've absolutely never been. No language. No family. No history is just so beyond cruel. It's unthinkable. Yeah, I don't have anything to add, but I accept the horror, acknowledging the horror of it all. Speaking of the horror of it all,
Starting point is 00:34:17 Graham Platner, as of this recording, has not officially dropped out of the race. It's suspended the campaign. Despite a campaign saying that a video, 11-minute video where he's trying really hard to cry, is saying that he's suspending his campaign. Platner told his staff privately that he's going to formally file that paperwork on Monday, which is the day of the deadline. Okay. So please do that.
Starting point is 00:34:48 It'd be nice if you do that. Why wait so long, dude? Why not do it now? But he hasn't filed the paperwork yet, so as of now he's still the nominee. But the plan is for him to drop out, and we're looking at all these different people who might run. Patrick Dempsey's not going to happen. Miss Rachel's not going to happen. She doesn't live there now.
Starting point is 00:35:11 I think she'd win 80% of the vote, but she's not going to run. So we've got this guy, Troy Jackson, who's a 58-year-old former Maine state senator. His positions on things have changed over the years. He became more progressive. He endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020 and was part of a ranked choice voting alliance with Platner during the primaries. There's Shena Bellows, whose main secretary of state. She tried to get Trump's name banned from the ballot in Maine after January 6th. She has similar progressive politics, talks about a working class background.
Starting point is 00:35:46 There's this guy, Dr. Narav Shah, who may be pretty popular. He looked like he was the frontrunner to replace Janet Mills' governor. He placed first on election night and then didn't win after the ranked choice voting, you know, shuffles. So they stole it from him? Yeah, there was a stolen. He was basically prad. He won. They pratted him, yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:08 And then there's this woman Valley Geiger who no one knows how old she is, but she looks at least 70. And Platner reportedly wants her to replace him because she's loyal or something. I don't really, there's, you know, there's not a lot we know about that, but like, who gives a shit in what Platternard wants? Yeah, there's a, there's a, I think a conflict here where you, do want the person who replaces him to be somebody who espouses the things that he has publicly said. Sure. Right. Yes. The politics. The politics of that campaign and what main voters overwhelmingly voted for. Lots of people voted for that. And they didn't necessarily vote for him specifically. Many people held their nose, but they held their nose about it because they agreed with those politics in that viewpoint. So you do want. whoever replaces them to reflect as much of that as possible. But also, as you said, who gives a fuck what he wants, who he wants, fuck off.
Starting point is 00:37:18 No, this is it. You can't, you can't. And so, yeah, it's, we'll see how the process. I've seen some proposals of how the process will go. It seems like they're leaning into like 600 delegates and we'll do this. And I'm not sure exactly what they're going to be doing. But that is also all contingent on him. actually dropping out
Starting point is 00:37:40 which he really should have done by now file that paperwork why keep everyone in suspense yeah it seems like he's like really milkingness for what's the name of the woman that he threw his support behind I guess
Starting point is 00:37:55 reportedly this woman Valley Geiger I've seen people talking online like well this was a smart play by him because he's going to endorse her because he knows that his endorsement is toxic
Starting point is 00:38:09 so that means I'm like fuck off he's trying to control who replaces him in some way he's trying like there's some ego there's some like desperate need to be relevant in this conversation when you've done
Starting point is 00:38:26 you've you've hurt this state he's done a lot of damage done a lot of damage so much you have you've betrayed the people that you convinced to vote for you despite whatever misgivings they have. Get the fuck out of here, dude. And, well, I think it's like, I don't know, important,
Starting point is 00:38:47 because I don't think this means, you can't go with, like, a guy who presents as, like, a working class. You know, we know his background. It shouldn't be the takeaway. Right. But, like, because it seems like they had the right idea. Like, right, the consultants who, like, kind of picked him, they're like, this guy's great, right?
Starting point is 00:39:07 Yeah, you literally said, in the video's like, I didn't even want to run. Yeah, but he looks like this gruff guy who could maybe connect and the, but as it turns out, like the working class of Maine isn't really behind him. But at any rate, you know,
Starting point is 00:39:21 it seemed like, oh, this could work. This guy who says these Bernie Sanders type things who looks and sounds like Graham Platner, this thing could work and then they just ignored an escalating, almost cartoonishly escalating series of red flags, starting with a
Starting point is 00:39:37 Facebook post from this woman from a few years ago saying like don't date this guy without giving specifics. You start to question if you want to throw everything you've got at this person back then because this was a known thing and they just kind of ignored it because of how he presented and what he was able to. Yeah, the alleged vibes and what we need. But it's like such a, you know, I think that it's just and we'll see. you know how this plays out and who replaces him and stuff but like this desperate need to have like and i i do understand the impulse because you're trying to play to like this weird like over like right wing overtaking of like the idea of populism and stuff and stuff real america let's do let's do that um
Starting point is 00:40:28 but it's not necessary it doesn't need to be like just a white guy it could be any type of person there are popular people who share these policies who are black or Latino or women or like it can be anybody and I hope that I don't know I don't even know what I hope like the spider verse right like all kinds it's just like that really it's just like the spider verse you're right I think it shows that like despite all of these red flags people are like this is the chain the policies that this person is talking about that would have won in 20. 2016. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:05 That kind of thing, right? This idea that that's what people are looking for. And so, you know, we shouldn't overthink this. If you get someone in there who's like a known quantity in Maine to say the things they believe that are like that, that should be enough to beat Susan Collins. One would hope. Yeah, it's like we're saying there's enough to be. why this guy or this type of guy? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:35 It's like what is being said. It's so frustrating. Because obviously this is already what's happening and it was happening before this latest allegation across the country. The conversation from the establishment versus the progressive elements of the party, this debate, them insisting that the radical left. can't win that that's not what the party needs and um they're trying to connect the dots of the grand platinum with the abdul al-sayyad for example saying like what's next what's going to come out
Starting point is 00:42:18 about him nothing what are you talking about you just that's generate a talking point that does bullshit just because this guy's an asshole doesn't mean that everybody that shares our politics there is a lot of that um because you don't apply that to any other type of movement you don't apply it to like Bill Clinton style liberalism you don't apply it to like you know like it's just like oh well I hate the left and El Cayed
Starting point is 00:42:42 I can be racist about it I can be like covertly racist like there is a lot of racism behind those specific attacks but I have seen somebody who like man what's next for this guy what nothing? What are you talking about? He like this guy hasn't been vetted
Starting point is 00:42:55 he ran for like governor like six years ago I think married is like college sweetheart or something. It's just like they're trying to map onto this travesty of a candidate and race onto like everybody that is remotely like that. And it's very, very obvious what's going on there. There are Republican candidates and they don't all have Ken Paxton level scandal stuff that follows them around.
Starting point is 00:43:22 That's a Ken Paxton thing. What else is going to come out about that guy over the next few months? But he's been around a long time. So maybe it's maybe that's all the crime. and stuff. Maybe all that awful stuff is it. Yeah, exactly. I'm ready to stop talking about Grand Platner in general.
Starting point is 00:43:38 I'm not saying, and this. I'm just saying in general. I'm ready to... I would be thrilled to be done. Move past it. Let's beat Susan Collins and just take back the Senate from the dying hands of Mitch McConnell. And, you know, I don't know, maybe impeach a couple people.
Starting point is 00:43:54 Maybe we'll impeach a couple people. It'll be great. When we get the announcement. about McConnell's demise. Man, there's going to be a lot of scolding. They're like, oh, I can't believe you're disparaging this titan of the Senate who, like, ruined the world. He's like, total Obama to his face, like,
Starting point is 00:44:14 oh, you're never going to be able to do anything ever again. And I'm going to, you know, it's fucking, anyway, sorry, we're not. Eat it. Eat it. Eat dirt. Yeah. The dirt that seeps into the corners of your coffin. Oh, I hate dirt.
Starting point is 00:44:29 Because the person that made the coffin didn't like. Thank you. Why are you being so serious? You know, Bain? Let's kick some ice. Oh, no. It keeps me safe when I'm driving at night. Like and subscribe.
Starting point is 00:44:47 Leave a comment. Where do they get a load of me? We love you very much. On the broad side, we take you into the heart of the South. With stories that'll surprise you. Bigfoot apparently loves glowsticks. Right. Next to party, I guess.
Starting point is 00:45:08 Exactly. He's a raver. And topics that dig into the muddy margins of history. Wait a second. This is actually real. From WUNC and the NPR Network, listen to the Broadside. A podcast from the Crossroads of the South. Think your favorite theme park attraction is world class?
Starting point is 00:45:30 Well, we're putting that claim to the test on For Your Amusement. The podcast where we exhaustively evaluate the world's most popular theme park rides. and attractions. I'm Ryan Bergara. And I'm Byron Marin. And on this podcast, we'll hit everything from the legendary classics to the newest headliners in full detail. That's right. The thrills, the theming, the storytelling, the history, and whether they actually deserve the hype. One attraction at a time, we're answering the ultimate question, is it truly world class? We nailed that. No, I think that's great. You love it. Find out on for your amusement. Follow rate and review for your amusement
Starting point is 00:46:07 wherever you get your podcast. Bye, bye.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.