The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Eric "Champion of Women" Schneiderman Falls to the Me Too Movement | Jon Meacham

Episode Date: May 9, 2018

President Trump ditches the Iran nuclear deal, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigns amid sexual abuse claims, and Jon Meacham discusses "The Soul of America." Learn more about your ad-...choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast. The Weekly Show is going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about
Starting point is 00:00:34 ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. May 8, 2018. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is the Danny show everybody.
Starting point is 00:01:27 Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm Trevnawa. So good to have you. Tonight's guest, tonight's guest, Presidential Historian John Meachum is joining us, everyone. Tonight's guest, so good to have you. Tonight's guest, tonight's guest, Presidential historian John Meacham is joining us, everyone. But first, by now, you've probably seen the footage out of Hawaii, where a previously chilled out volcano recently stepped up its game.
Starting point is 00:01:58 Now, luckily, no one has been hurt because the lava moves really slowly, but it's still destroying homes and property. And I'm not going to lie, the first thing I thought when I saw this was, wow, Obama will go to any lens to destroy his birth certificate. This is insane. And now, Hawaii is not only dealing with the volcano, it also has to deal with idiots. Now to a scary situation happening in slow motion. Lava is continuing to flow on Hawaii's Big Island and authorities have a stark warning to tourists. Stay away from it. Experts say there's no way to predict when the Kiloa volcano will stop erupting. Toxic gases are
Starting point is 00:02:36 also a threat and the blistering molten lava is claimed dozens of homes and other structures. Okay, who has to be warned to stay away from lava? It's lava. That's the warning! People are being evacuated from their homes and tourists are going to gawk at it? That's what's going on? Like, this is going to end up being the millennial Pompeii. That's what's going to happen. Yeah, some future tour guide is going to be in front of a man made to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to to to to going to be in front of a man made out of ash going, this victim was taking what in 2018 was known as a selfie. That's what that was.
Starting point is 00:03:11 But look, I guess I sort of understand, like people don't respect this eruption because the lava moves so slowly. It's like the Ben Carson of Natural Disasters. It's like, watch out, I'm also bad for housing. In other news, parents have been complaining that their kids are rude to their Google home speakers. So, today, Google introduced a new mode where you have to say, please, before it will respond. Yeah, and personally, I think this is great. Everyone should be polite to these things, not just because of manners, but it's just so that when the rarsars, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the the the their their their their their their their their their tho, thin, thin, thin, thin, their their thin, but thin, but thin, thin, thin, their their their their their their, their their their their, their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thorou, thorou, thorou, thorou, thorou, and thorou, thorou. And, thorou, thorou. And, thorou. thin, thin, thin, thin, thin will respond. Yeah, and personally I think this is great. Everyone should be polite to these things, not just because of manners, but it's just so that when the robot uprising comes, they might spare us. You know, the role is to be like,
Starting point is 00:03:54 exterminate, exterminate, exterminate, oh wait, that's Trevor. He was always polite to us. Exterminate, please. Exterminate, please. Please. All right, let's move on to someone who's never said the word please in his life. President Trump, after months of teasing his decision on the Iran nuclear deal, today the president finally dropped the world's most expected bomb. Breaking news, President Trump is making good on his threat to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating U.S. nuclear
Starting point is 00:04:35 sanctions on the Iranian regime. America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. That makes sense. I mean, he's already being blackmailed by Putin and a porn star. A third one would be too much. Just too much. Now, just to remind you what exactly the Iran deal is, back in 2015, Barack Obama and leaders from Germany, France, the UK, Russia, and China reached a historic
Starting point is 00:05:00 agreement to lift sanctions on Iran. And in exchange, Iran would halt its nuclear program and change its chant from death to America to a slightly less harsh herpes to America. And many experts agree that this was a huge diplomatic achievement. So the question is, why would Trump pull out? The fact is, this was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made. The deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and, over time, reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.
Starting point is 00:05:36 It also fails to address the regime's development of ballistic missiles. The deal does nothing to constrain Iran's destabilizing activities, including its support for terrorism. Okay, he raises some good points, except for the fact that they're all bullshit. I mean, yeah, it is true that the deal didn't address every single problem with Iran. But it did address the main problem, nuclear weapons. Like you can't get rid of the entire thing just because it didn't fix everything. It's like saying, this detergent got the stains out of my shirt, but it didn't save my crumbling
Starting point is 00:06:12 marriage. Yeah, it wasn't supposed to. And that's for his claim that the deal lets Iran keep enriching uranium. Trump just ignores the fact that it forbids them from enriching it for nuclear weapons, which which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which th, which th, which th, which th, which th, which th, which th, th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is their thi their their thi, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. thiores the fact that it forbids them from enriching it for nuclear weapons, which seems relevant to me. And yes, don't get me wrong, it's possible that 10 years from now, Iran could restart their nuclear program. But now that Trump has killed the deal, they could restart the program tomorrow, which to me sounds insane.
Starting point is 00:06:35 It's like, if I have a choice between the rock body slamming me ten years from now, th, years from now. Yeah the rock's a busy guy he might forget by then plus in 10 years maybe I could take him you know if I start taking steroids now really working out hard I've got a chance what I'm saying is you better watch out Dwayne Johnson I'm coming for you did just start a fight with Dwayne Johnson forgive me I pull out I pull out I'm pulling out I pull out I out out out out out cares about the Iran deal's actual facts as much as he cares about any other facts. And the truth is, he's decided to scrap the Iran deal before he even knew that it worked. We talk about Iran, and that's one of the worst deals ever made, one of the worst contracts
Starting point is 00:07:18 ever signed, ever in anything. As far as Iran is concerned, I would have never made that deal. You know there's a bad signal. When you go across and you see on television, the Iranian chief negotiator goes home and they're celebrating him in the streets, right? This is one of the dumbest contracts I've ever seen of any kind. This was done by extremely stupid people. This contract is so dumb,
Starting point is 00:07:47 you're supposed to say, how dumb is it? This contract is so dumb. How dumb is it? It try to find the corner of a round room. These are the jokes, people. These are the jokes, so dumb. Look, the reason we know that Trump is wrong about leaving this deal is because he's the
Starting point is 00:08:06 only leader who wants to leave it. Every other country who signed it wants to stay in. Because remember the last two weeks? They've been a rolling house party at the White House of leaders begging Trump to stay in the Iran deal. That's why Macron put up with Trump's whole Dandruff thing. And yesterday, Britain made one last ditch effort. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
Starting point is 00:08:30 visited Washington on Monday, even appearing to reach out to the president on Fox and Friends. We need to find a way of fixing that. And the president has been right to call attention to it. But you've got to do that without just throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And let me just remind you, if they do get a nuclear weapon, you're going to get an arms race in the Middle East. Do you realize that's how desperate America's allies are?
Starting point is 00:08:56 Britain didn't just send someone onto Trump's favorite TV show, they sent his British twin. I actually wouldn't be shocked if Trump actually thinks that's how he sounds when he speaks. Like he says, it's bad folks, not good, not good at all, so not good. But in his hit he hears, there are negative ramifications that from my perspective cannot be overemphasized and we have to deal with this bigly. So the world wanted President Trump to stay in the deal. And when you hear the potential consequences, you'll, to to understand, to understand, the deal, and when you hear the potential consequences, you'll understand why. This is a reckless strategic mistake.
Starting point is 00:09:30 No matter what the President says, the deal constrains Iran's nuclear program. So how does pulling out of it make you safe? If they restart their enrichment because now we have made the deal null and void, what will Donald Trump do? We're setting in motion today a process that could well lead to conflict down the road. This moves the world closer to war in this region. They are the third largest oil producer, and prices will go up. Americans will feel this at the pump.
Starting point is 00:10:00 That's right. This could lead to a horrible destabilizing war. And even worse, we'll pay slightly more for gas. Yeah, so that means when you're trying to flee the nuclear apocalypse, you'll have to look at your gas tank the whole time. It's gonna be like, ah, now that the war has started, we've got to get out of here. Drive! Dr. try, d'haw. to, whoa! Slow down, buddy, gas is not cheap, slow down. Not too fast. We'll scream fast, and we'll drive slow. Ah! Ah! Go around!
Starting point is 00:10:29 Go around! Ah! And there's one more consequence to leaving this deal. It's a really big issue. It has to do with America's credibility. Think about how it looks to the rest of the world for the United States to just blow off an international agreement-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s, to-s, to-s, thi-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s, to-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s, thoo-s, tho-s. to-s. toda-s. to-slo-slo-slo-sloa-s. to-s. to-s, to-s, to-s, to- it looks to the rest of the world for the United States to just blow off an international agreement years in the making. Once you make a deal with someone, it's really important to carry it through. Otherwise, you start developing the wrong reputation and it makes it impossible to make
Starting point is 00:10:58 future deals. And look, I'm not the only one who's saying this. A much wiser man once said the same thing. Once you make a deal with someone, it's it it it it it it it it it's it's it's it's to to to to to to to to to to to to thiiiiia to to the the the thia thioliolk as a the to to the the the to just to just to just to just the the the theck as a to just the to just to just to just to just to just to just to just to just just to just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thia. thia. thia. I. I. I. I. I. I. thia. thi. thi. thi. thi. thea. thea. thea. thr-a. thr-s. theanananananananananananananan. Ia. Ia. I'm thea. I'm thea. I'm the thea who's saying this. A much wiser man once said the same thing. Once you make a deal with someone, it's really important to carry it through. You start developing the wrong reputation. It makes it impossible to make future deals. The president should listen to thatell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.
Starting point is 00:11:53 Welcome back to the day's show. In the past year, we've seen so many powerful men finally being held accountable for abusing women. And it shows no signs of stopping. I mean, who knows, they might even get our kids. many powerful men finally being held accountable for abusing women. And it shows no signs of stopping. I mean, who knows, they might even get R. Kelly this year. Yeah. You realize he's been uncatchable for years. He's like the Me Too's Bin Laden.
Starting point is 00:12:17 Meanwhile, just last night, another big name was exposed. New York's Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, abruptly resigning three hours after the New Yorker published an article detailing abuse allegations from four different women. Allegations of physical and verbal abuse, slapping, strangling to the point, two women say they had to go to the hospital. Tanya Selvarotnam, telling the New Yorker that the former attorney general, quote, started calling me his brown sleeve and demanding that I repeat that I was his property.
Starting point is 00:12:48 You know, I thought I had heard it all, but this guy? He's like the one guy they wouldn't let into West World. They'd be like, we do some crazy shit here, but you're a freak, man. But the reason the story is getting so much attention is that Eric Schneiderman isn't just the New York Attorney General. He's a national figure now because he's one of the biggest opponents of President Trump's agenda. He sued Trump over Dacca, the Muslim ban, birth control coverage.
Starting point is 00:13:16 He was making it rain lawsuits all over Trump the whole time. And more than all of that, this is a huge story because Schneiderman presented himself as an advocate for women. In recent months, we've begun a long overdue recognine with our culture of violence and silence. We have never seen anything as despicable as what we've seen here. A pervasive pattern of sexual harassment, intimidation,, and abuse at the Weinstein Company. If a woman does not have the right to control her own body, she is not truly equal. Are we ready to fight against male supremacy in all its forms? I bet you think this speech is about you.
Starting point is 00:14:00 So it seems this guy was trying to put Harvey Weinstein in jail while he was abusing women himself. This is like finding out Robert Mullah has been taking secret vacations with Putin. Putin's like, I wish everyone knew the Mueller, I know. He's different, different person. He'd be best. By the way, this is like a weird part of the story, but this story was broken yesterday evening by Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow. And by coincidence, Ronan Farrow was our guest last night and before taping I'm chilling in the green room with him, you know, getting ready to do
Starting point is 00:14:34 the show and he says, oh I'm just finishing up a piece, I'm just going to send this out. I had no idea he was ending an Attorney General's career over our Wi-Fi. And since I pay for the Wi-Fi, I'd like to think that I did my parts. I really think I did. Thank you. Thank you very much. No, seriously, I wasn't involved, but Ronan Farrow's reporting on sexual harassment has helped expose so many powerful men. It must be terrifying to be a dude and get a call from him.
Starting point is 00:15:06 Because when he's on the phone, you'd think like, it's over now. I bet he can't even order pizza. He'd be like, this is Ronan Farrow? Ah, Bah! So, for more on this insane issue, I'm joined by our very own. Dulce Sloan, everybody. I would love to know, like, do you think about these allegations of beating and choking? What I think? I think this guy is Christian great.
Starting point is 00:15:33 Only without the looks, without the money, without the consent. Actually, this is nothing like 50 shades of gray. That movie is sexy as hell. And Dulce, you know what makes us especially upsetting is that in public he was a champion for women and in private we find out that he might be a monster. Yeah, he sounds like a monster. But in a way, he's still a champion for women. In 2016, his office published a know-your-rights brochure for victims of domestic violence. And in 2010, when he was a state senator from Manhattan, he introduced a bill to make intentional strangulation of violent felony.. And. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, th. And, th. And, th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. And, th. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. And, thi. thi. thii. thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. And, thi. And, thi, thi state senator from Manhattan, he introduced a bill to make intentional strangulation of violent felony.
Starting point is 00:16:08 See, he pushed for tougher laws that are going to make it easier for us to throw his ass in jail. Thank you. Thank you. I wish every abuser would build a wily coyote trap for themselves. Like if R. Kelly sang a song about kidnapping. It's the remix to ignition.. Time to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to put to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the coyote trap for themselves. Like if R. Kelly sang a song about kidnapping. It's the remix to ignition, time to put me in prison. And do you know what made me even matter?
Starting point is 00:16:33 Is the details of these allegations? Did you hear he was role-playing with a Sri Lankan American woman calling her his brown slave? I know a lot of people are really offended by that detail. As they should be, Trevor, if he wanted a role play with a slave, why didn't he cast the black woman? Do you know how hard it is for us to get roauls? I mean, I know I could play a slave house at least. I mean, come on.
Starting point is 00:16:57 Do you say, whoa, dude, you can't be serious. No, no, no, I'm joking. But if I did do slavery role play, I do it Jango style. You know what I mean? Like he started out all confident, and then we'd see who's whipping who. Don't say Sloan, everybody. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the day's show. My guest tonight is a Pulitzer Prize winning presidential historian whose latest book is called The Soul of America, The Battle for our Better Angels.
Starting point is 00:17:37 Please welcome John Meacham. Welcome to the show. Thank you, sir. You have an interesting role as a writer and as a presidential historian. You just look at the history of presidents. Is Donald Trump unprecedented? Have you ever seen anything like this? Are we overreacting? We're not overreacting.
Starting point is 00:18:07 He's sort of precedented. We have seen various elements of demagogues, of people who have wanted to blow up the conventions who have done the wrong thing, who valued fear over hope, which is what this president's about. But to treat him as if he is a unique creature is almost to give him superpowers that we shouldn't endow him with. That's an interesting point. Do you think though that maybe he doesn't, it's not that we're giving him superpowers, that he lives in an age where he has superpowers. Like, you know, some of the presidents you talk about in the book and some of the leaders like McCarthy, for instance, who is a senator, we see similar traits to Trump, but they didn't have Twitter, they didn't have mediums that helped them connect with as many people.
Starting point is 00:18:55 The thing I would, this is not a book about, or an argument about, It's let's get to work, learn from what we've done before, and press forward. If you hadn't been used to a printing press, or if you hadn't been used to radio, or you hadn't been used to television, hey, it's the information superhighway, the paper's coming. You know, more than 140 characters, but the speed of communication has exacerbated. Trump has exacerbated, damn near everything, come to think of it. But, you know, we had a president and Andrew Johnson during Reconstruction who opposed the 14th and 15th amendments who vetoed civil rights legislation. He wrote in a state paper that people of color were genetically incapable of self-government. Right. So not exactly a great moment, you know, he's not on Rushmore. And even the guys on Rushmore made mistakes.
Starting point is 00:19:49 My argument is that we have to find a way to protest, to resist, to heed our better angels, because no era is perfect, and yet we've pushed on to a more perfect union. When you talk about the soul of America, the battle for our better angels, you're speaking about Lincoln, or the quotes that Lincoln famously said about our better angels looking for the best in us as human beings. Do you think that that's America's journey is constantly trying to be better than it actually is? In the soul of America, in Hebrew and in Greek,
Starting point is 00:20:25 the word soul means breath or life. So it's a philosophical idea, it's a religious idea. There's room for Dr. King, and there's room for the clan. And every era is a battle between our best impulses and our worst impulses. And even at our best, we've barely gotten to 51% on the good side. But we have the the the the the the the the the th. th. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thine thine thine, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the, the, the, thean, thean, thean, thean, theoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, th barely gotten to 51% on the good side. But we have gotten there. And the tragedy of the era right now
Starting point is 00:20:49 is that the person who is at the center of our national life, who in many ways has taken over, this is the world's longest hostage siege. You know? He owns our mind space. He's just, you know, I feel feel we're chained up in a garage and no one can hear our cries. But I think they ultimately... I like how you say this and like this is the more chilled voice ever.
Starting point is 00:21:14 I feel like we're chained up in a garage and no one can hear our cries. We go to wasp school for that. It's great. There's a little room at Brooks Brothers where we practice. That's hilarious. So... There's a picture of George Bush. Really great. So, and he is at the center of the culture, right? Right. In a destructive way, really. When you look at America's history, though, and you say it's to learn from previous presence, it's to learn how America overcame those moments of populism and demagoguery. Do you sometimes think that maybe it
Starting point is 00:21:53 would be best served to not look at American history for Trump to maybe look at countries where they've had dictators that started out as a democratic leader and then molded the country into something else? There's unquestionably global elements here. th. and th. th. And the, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it's thiii, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thiole, it's thi. It's thi. It's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi. thi, it's thi. thii. It's thi. It's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's thi, it's to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to molded the country into something else. Sure. There's unquestionably global elements here, and unquestionably he would, I think, welcome dictatorial powers. The thing about the American experiment, though, is the Constitution was designed for just this kind of moment. That's why we should take some heart in. It would have stunned the founders that it took till 2016 to get someone like this. The checks and balances were there.
Starting point is 00:22:28 The document itself, Hamilton was very good on this when he wasn't wrapping. You know, he had a day job. I don't know. You have to tell the kids that. He wasn't just a rapper. The idea was that appetite would counteract ambition. the ambition. the ambition. the ambition. their. their. th. th. the th. th. the th. th. th. th. the th. th. the th. th. th. thi. thi. thiaughe, thiaughe, thiaughe, thi. thi. thiats. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. thi. The thi. The thi. The thi. The th. The thi. The thi. The the. The the. The the. The thi. The thi. The thi. The thi. thi. thia. thea. thea. thea.c. thea.c.seatsea. thea. theatsea. thea. the thea. the the act appetite, ambition would counteract ambition. And we have these checks and balances. Right now, the presidency is not a force for good. Congress far too often takes a dive on this.
Starting point is 00:22:55 But the press is doing a good job. The people are doing a great job, whether it's the activism on Florida, whether it's the activism among women, the shootings, the gun control, on the whole host of issues. And progress in America, and in the world, has come when the voices of protest that are far from power have intersected with a presidential moment where the powerful have heeded those voices. And we've just got, you've got to have the voices rising in a chorus to torture this metaphor. This is a Guantanamo metaphor right now.
Starting point is 00:23:28 Right, right, right, for the voices to rise. And ultimately, it carries the day. Women have not voted yet for a hundred years. Marriage equality is not three years old. In my native region in the South, people of color, 50 years ago could not vote. And yet we've created a country that even for all of Donald Trump, people, what is our immigration issue? People want to come here. Right. And that's a good sign because it shows that America is still a place that people want to come to, but at the same time
Starting point is 00:23:58 Donald Trump is slowly turning it into the place that people don't want to come to anymore? Well he, he's doing what he can, but he's, there's no doubt about that. But remember, Trump thinks of us not as a country, but as an audience. And I think one of the things we have to do is remind ourselves that in fact we were a country before we were taken hostage in November of 2016. And I don't think
Starting point is 00:24:25 you've had St. Augustine on the show recently. No. Okay but I'm going to throw a quote at you. St. Augustine once wrote that a nation, it's the best definition of a nation I've ever heard, is a multitude of rational beings united by the common objects of their love. It's a wonderful phrase, a multitude of rational beings united by the common objects of their the the the the the the the tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho-a tho-a tho-a tho tho tho-a, tho-a, tho-a, no tho-a, no tho-a tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th. No th. No th. No th. No th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. No tho, the. No the. No the. No, the. No, the. No, the. No, the. thean. thean. thoanan. thoan. thoan thoan thoan thoan. thoan thoooooo the. No,their love. It's a wonderful phrase. A multitude of rational beings united by the common objects of their love. So what do we love in common? Traditionally, Americans love fair play, equality of opportunity, not of outcome, a chance, as Lincoln said, to rise up by your own labor.
Starting point is 00:24:59 And when we listen to those voices, guess what? We get stronger. And this is not a partisan point. I voted for Democrats. I voted for Republicans. I will continue to if Republicans survive the next couple of years. But we have managed to grow stronger, the more generously we've interpreted the notion that we're all created equal.
Starting point is 00:25:20 That's a historical data point. The world, my friend Farid Zakaria likes to point out, the world's largest air force is the United States Air Force. Do you know what the second one is? The United States Navy's. We're doing just fine. We're doing just fine. That's a nice way for us to think about it. We're doing just fine. But we might die tomorrow. Thank you so much for being on your show. The Soul of America is available now. John Meacham, everybody. Thank you so. The Daily Show with Trevor Noaer, Ears Edition.
Starting point is 00:25:56 Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.

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