The Daily Show: Ears Edition - If You Don't Know, Now You Know - Government Compilation

Episode Date: March 30, 2021

Trevor explores several aspects of government and politics in the U.S., including the history of the Senate filibuster, presidents who lied about their health and pioneering first ladies. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listened to 60 Minutes, a second- the the the the the the the the the th-1 1, th-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-S-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-19-1, th-1-1, th-19, thi- thi- thi- thi- thi- thi- thi- thi- thi- thi- thi-19. thine thine thine thine thine thine thine thine thine thine thine thine th, th-1. th-1. th-1 th-1 th-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-ccui-c-c-c-ma-c. 0-c. 0-c. 0-s. 0-s.00i-cccc. thc. thi-s. thi-s. thi-1c gets looked at, that's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News, listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. Let's start with the simplest explanation of the filibuster. It's basically a loophole in the Senate rules for blocking legislation.

Because even though you only need 51 votes to pass a bill, you need 60 votes to stop the debate over voting on that bill in the first place. Which means as long as the minority party can keep debating, then the bill is basically dead. And if you're wondering, why on earth would the founding fathers put that in the Constitution? Well, they didn't. The filibuster began as a historical accident. It's not some great tradition in the Senate. It's not some great tradition in the Senate that's protected by the Constitution

that happened in 1805 after Aaron Burke suggests that a rule. Aaron Burr, as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice as vice the the the the the the th as vice president the th as vice president th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thiiq is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thiiiiiiiii thi thiiiiiiiiiii. thiii. toeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. thi.s, is going over these rules of the Senate, and he made a critical mistake. He thought, we don't really need a way to stop a debate, do we? I mean, there's just a few of us. Like, we will debate until we're done, until everyone's had their say. How slow could the Senate really be? Nobody knew it at the ti. Nobody knew it at the the the the the the the time time was a moment the Senate created the filibuster. That's right. The filibuster isn't in the Constitution. It's just a rule that was made up by that guy who shot Lin Manuel Miranda. And it didn't

even start out as a way to block legislation. It was a way for the Senate to keep debate open, not to debate for so long that nobody could ever actually vote on a bill. So its original purpose is completely different from what people decided to use it for later on. It's insane. It's sort of like how Facebook was invented as a way to see which of your classmates were hot. And then years later became a way to organize a linchmob for Mike Pence, who by the way, is hot. And you might wonder why senators back then would want to risk having an endless debate. But don't forget, guys, in the 1800s, it wasn't anything better to do. I mean, it was either listen to Thaddeus, talk about a bill,

or take a bumpy carriage right back to your plantation where a bunch of black people wanted to discuss their terms of employment. You're probably going to want to hear what thaties has to say. Either way, eventually, senators realized that they could block legislation by debating forever. And that could get pretty ridiculous because there was no rule on what counted as a debate. So senators came up with all kinds of random ways to fill that time, which led to moments like this. Louisiana Democrat, Cui-long filibustered several bills. In arguing against a bill, he recited recipes for salad dressing and discussed at length the best way to fry oysters. His most famous filibuster was on June 12, 1935. He was able to speak without

stop for 15 hours and 30 minutes. Running out of things to say about the bill, he offered to give advice on any subject someone requested. Yep, in 1935, this white dude rambled on about nothing for over 15 hours, and somehow he gets zero credit for inventing the podcast. So unfair. But the Senate is crazy, man. This guy got on the floor and talked for 15 hours about oysters and salad dressing. I mean, they should make it a rule that you at least have to try to connect your speech

to the bill that you're supposed to be debating. I guarantee this salad thea thea thea thea thea thole thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe thi thi thry to connect your speech to the bill that you're supposed to be debating. I guarantee this salad dressing is delicious. But you know what doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth? Letting women wear pants. But still I'm not going to lie. It's impressive that he could talk for that long. That shit is hard. I can't even think of 20 seconds of stuff to talk about to a co-worker in an elevator. So. So, to. to. to. to. the to. the to. the the to. the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. toe. toe. toe, toe. toe. to toe. toe. the. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to to to to their. their. their. their. their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. their. their. their. te. te. te. te. te. te. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. te. to talk about to a co-worker in an elevator. So, going to floor nine, huh? Yeah, how's this weather we're having? So much weather. I think I'm just gonna get out here. Good-ah-goo-I will say, though, it makes sense that senators are so good at filibustering,

because most of them are grandparents. Don't forget that. Visit your granddad, and see if he doesn't thi- th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, to to the to to to to to to to to the, 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, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the theate theate, theate, theate, theate, the, the, the, the, the, the, it makes sense that senators are so good at filibustering because most of them are grandparents. Don't forget that. Visit your granddad and see if he doesn't take three hours to tell you a story that happened in 20 minutes. You're filibustering, grandpa! But it wasn't until the late 1950s that the filibuster started to become more common. And what cause was so inspiring to senators at that time that they just had th th th th th th th th th th th th thed thed thed thed that that that that that that that that that that that that that that thate thus thus thoes thoes thoes the. thoes thoes thoe. thoe. thoe. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that. that. that. that that that that that that that the. the. the. the. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to toda. the. the. the. the. the. the at that time that they just had to stand up and speak for hours, being racist. For a few decades, the filibuster is used, but pretty sparingly. Then the Senate starts to consider civil rights legislation, and Southern senators really hate this. But they don't have the votes to actually defeat the bills, so they start using the filibuster. It became a tool that southern senators used to prevent the federal government from intervening in racial segregation.

Perhaps the most famous one was when South Carolina's Strom Thurmond took the floor against the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Thurman notoriously read the phone book clocking in it more than 24 hours to try to block a 1957 civil rights bill. How did you last 24 hours? You never left the Senate floor. I had gone down to the Senate bath for three or four days beforehand and dried out my body. In the sauna? Yeah, so I wouldn't be tempted to go to the bathroom. And so I was able to do that. Oh, Strom, you are too much. And when I think about all those

black people who suffered because of you... Ha ha ha ha ha! Yo, for real, man, how gross was that story? This guy dried out his body to help him filibuster? You know someone is committed to racism when they're willing to jerky themselves for it. And it really is amazing what humans can accomplish when confronted with their worst fears. Just as a mother will be able to lift a car off of the ground to save her child, a racist senator will suddenly be able to speak for days at a time, only if it will stop a black

person from using his bathroom. I mean, the filibuster fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil fil. I to to to to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to stop. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to help. to help to help. to to to to to to to help to help to help to help to to to help to to help to to to to help to to to help to to to to to to to to h. to to help. to h. to help. to to to to help. to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the th. the. the the. the the the the. the the the. the. the. the. the. the. the. th. his bathroom. I mean, the filibuster was used to block black people so many times. I'm surprised they never use it at nightclubs. Uh, uh, uh, a black guy. Hey, before I let you in, have I ever told you about my salad dressing? Two tablespoons of lemon juice, a pinch of rosemary. And what you want to try and do is make sure that okay he's gone. All right. Now eventually the Senate decided that all of these talkathons were slowing things down too much. So in 1975 they made what they thought was a

small adjustment to the rules. Instead of having to speak a senator could just announce that they planned to speak and unless there were 60 votes to prevent them the filibuster would be considered the the th for a th for a th for a th for a th for a th for a th for a th for a th.. th for a th for a th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, thi. thi. thi. thi. tho. tho. tho. thoe. the. the. the. the. the the the the their. their. their. the their. the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. the. the. the. ththey planned to speak. And unless there were 60 votes to prevent them, the filibuster would be considered successful. And that actually worked for a while, until two things happened. America elected a black president and a Senate minority leader who was willing to do anything to stop him.

The practice became an art form for Republicans under Minority Leader Mitch McConnell impeded nominees and legislation left and right. He has the nickname the Grim Reaper for a reason. Today it's being used in a different way. It's being used to effectively kill a measure, a bill, a proposal that the minority really doesn't like. In fact, there have been more filibusters during Obama's time in office than in the 50s, 60s and 70s combined. Over the entire history of the Senate, before President Obama, just 68 judicial and executive branch nominees were blocked and required cloture, which ends a filibuster and forces an up or

down vote. By contrast, 79 of President Obama's nominees required cloture from 2009 to 2013 alone. Republicans used the filibuster against virtually every controversial bill and nomination, and some that weren't controversial at all. Mitch McConnell has the devious distinction of being the only sitting senator that filibustered his own bill. God damn. Mitch McConnell loves to filibuster so much, he filibusted his own bill.

And he had to get four ribs removed to be able to do it. The man is sick. But yes, once Obama became president, McConnell began filibustering everything. Obama wanted to appoint a judge. McConnell blocked it. Obama wanted to pass a bill. McConnell stopped him.

Obama wanted to watch something on Netflix. McConnell hid the remote in his neck falls. Ma. I haven't seen it anywhere. Maybe you should write a book. And once McConnell decided to block Obama's entire agenda, that became the new precedent. You know, when Democrats got the chance, they blocked President Trump's agenda just as hard. To the point where now,

practically every piece of legislation in the Senate needs 60 votes to pass. And that's th th th th th thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe thoe, thoe, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, to the, 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 th. th. And, th. And, th. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thean theanananananananananananananananan 60 votes to pass. And that's why there's a movement to get rid of the filibuster entirely. Because it's not healthy for a democracy if the losers can always block the winners from passing their agenda. Now, the Democrats don't have the votes right now to kill the filibuster completely. But based on Joe Biden's interview, it seems like they may be willing to make it more annoying again, which won't stop filibusters from happening, but at least we'll finally get to find out what Mitch McConnell uses in his salad dressing. Oh, so what you want is the cheers of poor people.

And then you want to grind it up with oppression. So that's the filibuster. And if you don't know, now you know. Being president is a weird job. Because in a democracy, the president is the leader of the country, but they're also an employee. So do presidents have the right to keep their health problems to themselves? Well, throughout history, presidents have answered, yes. Eisenhower was the first president to actually open up medical records,

but when a bad event happened, they went into a kind of cover-up moan. September of 1955, he was in Colorado and had a massive, I mean, massive heart attack, and instead his personal doctor told the press it was indigestion. After Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, the White House released a photo showing him standing with Nancy Reagan, cropping out a nurse holding a machine connected to a chest to and never revealing how close he came to dying.

Kennedy flatly denied his Addison's disease, a hormonal deficiency that can cause fatigue, low blood pressure, and weight loss. But he had it. While in office, he at times took as many as eight medications a day just to function, including painkillers, stimulants, antibiotics, steroids, hormones. The man was essentially a walking pharmacy. FDR was never transparent about his health. Never. He tried to hide that he used a wheelchair for years and largely got away with it.

If secret service agents saw a photographer taking a picture of Roosevelt, say, getting out of his car, they would seize the camera and tear out the film. Damn, FDR's people really what they told people was actually going on. Isn't it weird that we've never seen the president stand up or wall? Yeah, he's lazy of shit, okay? No more questions.

Let's move on. I mean, look, at least back then, you could tear out someone's film in their camera. In 2020, the moment someone points, you're already a meme. It's like, give me that phone. Give me that phone. Give me that phone. Give me that. Give me that. Gimme that. Give me that. Give me that. Give me that. Give me that phone. But yes. Throughout American history, administrations did whatever it took to keep secrets about the president's health. From lying about FDR's wheelchair by confiscating cameras to lying about Bill Clinton's asthma by hiding his inhaler in a saxophone. In fact, hiding health conditions goes all the way back to Lincoln.

I mean, why do you think he was wearing that top hat? Dude had a conjoined twin under there, guys. That's real, right? I saw that on Facebook. In fact, the only American president who didn't get away with it was President Taft. Man, they spilled all the tea on that guy. Poor dude got stuck in a bathtub once. And we're still talking about it a hundred years later.

And then, there's Grover Cleveland, 22nd President and world's most adorable Grover. Yeah, I said it, Grover, you mutant smurf. When it came to keeping secrets, President Cleveland took it to a whole new level. It's hard to imagine an American president dropping out of sight for nearly a week. But that's exactly what happened in 1893, when Grover Cleveland underwent secret cancer surgery.

Back in 1893, Grover Cleveland, actually had a cancerous tumor in the roof of his mouth. He didn't want anybody to know, so they snuck them onto a yacht. He had a friend who owned a yacht, so the cover story would be, I'm just going on a fishing trip. And while they were on that boat,

the operation the press at bay, they kept them at a distance from his home on Cape Cod until the wound was healed well enough. It took about three weeks and then he was fitted with a prosthetic device that he could pop up into his upper left the teaugh, but by and large the secret held for the the the th. the to to to to to the to to to to their to to their, their, to to to th. th. th. th. the the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the th thi, the, 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, the, the, thr-s, t t t t t t ttttttttruu.eau.eaugh, t t ttttttr-a, tracea, tthae, thae, years. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Nobody heard from the president for three weeks. What a dream. But, God damn, that's a major cover-up. Grover Cleveland basically invented that move that celebrities do when they get secret butt implants.

Oh, yeah, I've just been away traveling for a couple weeks. Oh, my butt. Yeah, I guess it did get twice as big. You know how vacations are. And if you ask me, it's hard to imagine a riskier situation for a president. Surgery on a boat in 1893? And don't forget, they had dragons back then. President Cleveland was a sitting duck out there. I saw that on Facebook. That's a real thing, right? Honestly, I don't even know why Cleveland went through all this trouble.

If I were a president with a fake jaw, I would own that shit, baby. I would use it to intimidate other foreign leaders. Oh, what's that, China? You're going to put sanctions on us? Well, check this out. And look, maybe it's not it's not if a president hides some dental work or a mild pill addiction. I mean, as long as they can still do the job, what's the difference? But there was also one case of a president who got so sick that he couldn't do the job, and they still didn't tell the American people.

Woodrow Wilson had a stroke that not even his closest advisors knew about. His last year and a half, almost a year and a half in office, he was incapacitated. His wife tried to conceal how bad it was. It turns out he was partially blind. He was partially paralyzed. He was lying upstairs in a bed in the White House, growing a beard, and they pretended that it was not that bad. His wife and his doctor told the cabinet and told the vice president, he's okay, we got this, you just can't see him. He's in seclusion upstairs and we'll pass down his decisions. They told the public their leader was suffering from exhaustion.

Many say Edith Wilson effectively ran the country during that time. Holy shit. You guys act like this is some fun little little little little little little little little little little little a straight-up coup and also a secret woman president? Guys, that's huge. Why don't people talk about this more? Who run the world? Girls, but only behind the scenes while getting none of the credit, girls. So yes, America has a proud history of its presidents misleading the public about their health. So from now on, when you hear Trump or his doctors withholding medical information, don't stress, because in a way, this might actually be the most presidential thing Donald Trump has ever done. And if you don't know, now you know.

When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. The First Lady. It's not a job that's actually in the Constitution, but that's just because in 1787, women hadn't

been invented yet. And even though First Lady is not an official role, they've been important figures in the country from the very beginning. From the earliest days, America's first ladies were referred to as Lady Presidentress or Republican Queen. The term First Lady didn't come into use really until Dolly Madison's time. The fourth First Lady pioneered the practice of championing social causes. She helped orphan children and supported women's rights.

And it said that at Mrs. Madison's funeral, President Zachary Taylor, the country's first lady, the first time that title was ever used. That's right. Dolly Madison was the first lady. But she didn't know it because President Taylor only called her that That's right. Dolly Madison was the first first lady. But she didn't know it because President Taylor only called her that at her funeral.

If I were Dolly Madison, I would be dead, but also I would have been so pissed at Zachary Taylor. Because before him, people were calling her Lady Presidentress or Republican Queen. And those are so much cooler as names. Then at her funeral some dude is like, no she was the first lady. If I was her I'd be getting out of that casket like what you say? Bitch you call me Queen supreme! First lady queen! But while the idea of a first lady has been around from the beginning, the job as we know it today didn't really kick off until the 1930s. You know it's like how for years. the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. Then. Then, thi. Then thi. Then thi thu thu thu thu. Then thu. Then thu. thu. thu thi th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the the theeee theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee thu thu. thu. thu. the job as we know it today didn't really kick off until the 1930s. You know, it's like how for years, Netflix was a company that sent DVDs in the mail.

But that's not what people think of as Netflix now. And the first streaming on demand First Lady was Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt really innovated the First lady's role as a public communicator. She wrote thousands of columns, 27 books. She participated in hundreds of radio shows. She felt that her role was to really reach out to the American people and to learn from them about what they wanted in policy. First Lady Pat taken to the road and traveled hundreds of thousands of miles. Going right to the source of the country's pain

during the Depression, meeting minors in Appalachia, challenging Southern Democrats to support anti-linching legislation. And during World War II, visiting internment camps where Japanese Americans were imprisoned simply because of their race. The first lady was often alone at the wheel, driving herself cross country.

Now that is ballsy as hell. Eleanor Roosevelt was so politically active, she visited the Japanese internment camps that her husband set up. It's so classic for a wife to go around cleaning up her husband's mess. She was probably at those internment camps like, I'm sorry, he just gets a little racist sometimes. Work has been really stressful.

He's not normally this way. Really, really, he isn't. And she even took road trips by herself, which was very gutsy in the 1930s. There was no phones, no GPS, you know. Although I guess it's hard to get lost when there were only like what, two roads in the entire country? Okay, young buck, listen up. You want to get from California to the White House. Pay attention. You want to turn onto Road 1. And then, you're going to drive straight on to Road 1. And then, you're going to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight straight to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to drive to to to to to to to to listening? You want to turn onto Road 1. And then you're

going to drive straight on Road 1. And then you'll be there. And once Eleanor Roosevelt realized that she could use her position to bring attention to the issues that were important to her, every first lady who followed did the same. Lady Bird Johnson sought to beautify the nation and took an active role in the Head Start program for early child development. Barbara Bush advocated for literacy, as did Laura Bush. In 1962, Jackie Kennedy Onassis created the White House Historical Association. Betty Ford was vocal about women's issues.

She supported the Supreme Court's ruling on Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal, and she supported the Equal Rights Amendment. She openly discussed her breast cancer and mastectomy. When Michelle Obama was first lady, one of her key initiatives was to push for healthier nutrition and food choices. That translated into a change for public school lunches around the country. In the 80s, Nancy Reagan appeared in a popular sitcom to boost her Just Say No Campaign. Who's talking about Mrs. Reagan? I'm concerned about drug abuse. I'm concerned about drug

abuse, especially among the others. Wow. That is commitment. Nancy Reagan was so determined to stop drug abuse. She even went on a sitcom to speak out on it. Which would be impossible to do today. I. I. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to to to to to to to to boost to boost to boost to boost to to boost to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to boost, to boost, to boost, to boost, to boost, to boost, to boost, to boost to boost to boost to boost to to to to to to boost to to boost to to boost 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 thea the the thea. the thea. thea. thea. Ina even went on a sitcom to speak out on it. Which would be impossible to do today. I mean, TV shows are so much more adult now. I mean, it's easy to tell Gary Coleman not to do drugs. It's a lot harder to try and do that on euphoria. Just say no, Zendaya. Bitch, you should have been here season one. But it's thu tho tho tho thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu-o, thu-o, thu-o, thu-s thu-s, thus thus tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thu-a, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thu-n, thu-in, thu-in, thu-in, thu-in, thu-s thu-s thu-s thu. thu. to to be to be too. toda. today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, that activism that first ladies get to show who

they really are and how they want the world to change. You know, Michelle Obama cared about health. Hillary Clinton cared about children and education. Melania cared about stopping cyber bullies and say what you want, but her agenda got done. And the thing about being a first lady is that they're not just expected to promote social causes. They're also expected to be style influences. Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats, Nancy Reagan's red dresses, Hillary Clinton's pantsuits, or Pat Nixon's zina cosplay.

But of course, all this attention also means that first ladies gets subjected to intense scrutiny by the press. And it's not something that they've been happy about. To be the first lady, maybe the most difficult job in Washington. Martha Washington famously said the role of First Lady can sometimes feel like a state prisoner. Michelle Obama wore a pair of shor, just a regular pair of mom shorts.

And an uproar ensued days of video commentary and pictures and debate about whether it's okay for a first lady to wear shorts. Andrew Jackson's wife, Rachel, the wife, Rachel, theylapy from Tennessee. Jackie Kennedy called the press harpies, and she hated the constant attention. Best Truman felt very uncomfortable, very ill at ease with all the the the the the the the the the the thiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesiesies the the the the the the the the the the the the harpies and she hated the constant attention. Best Truman felt very uncomfortable, very ill at ease with all the fanfare and the attention of the press. There was a famous incident where she was doing a christening of

a ship and she went to break the bottle and they forgot to score the bottle ahead of time, so she's banging it and banging and it just won't break. She was humiliated. She told her husband, I'm not doing another public appearance. Poor best Truman. I honestly feel bad for her because we've all had that moment where we just can't open a jar of peanut butter, but imagine if the entire country was watching you struggle with that jar. Yeah, almost got it, everybody. Hold on.

Try running hot water over it. I tried that already. If you ask me, the person to blame is the one who started this whole tradition. Who thought it was a good idea to christen a new new new new new new new new new new new new new new new to the new to to the new new to the new to sm-auiiauiaqinininin, the person to blame is the one who started this whole tradition. Like, who thought it was a good idea to christen a new ship by smashing it with a champagne bottle? You don't christen a new car by slashing the tires with a samurai sword? And honestly, all the first ladies are in an unfair situation. Because none of them asked to be in that position. Martha Washington was right. It is sort of like a prison. thia. the the thia. A the the the the the to be. A the to be. A to be a toe. A the to be. A toeck. A toeck. the the toeck. to be a toeck. toeck. to be, to be, toe, to be a to be, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, the person, the person, the person, the person, the person, the person, the person, the person, th. the th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the the. the. the. the. the thean. the thean. the thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. toean. toean. thean. the. th was right, it is sort of like a prison. Although it's weird to say you feel like a prisoner when you own slaves yourself. Sometimes I just feel

like I can't leave, do you know what I mean? Yeah, Mrs. Massa, I think I do. But maybe the most fascinating thing about First Ladies is that even though no one votes for them, and they kind of make up the job as they go, just by virtue of being married to the president, they can end up having a lot more power than many elected officials. The first lady is the most powerful woman in the country. Because she has the ear, first thing in the morning and last thing at night, of the most powerful man in the country. Going back to the very first lady, Martha Washington and the second one, Abigail Adams, both of them were politically involved, they were involved in cavaulat decisions, they were

involved in campaigning. These women were political partners. Nancy Reagan was pulling a lot of the strings calling many of the shots from President Ronald Reagan's first campaign for the White House back in 1980 to his Cold War ending triumph in 1987. Hillary Clinton became more involved, obviously, in policymaking than any first lady before her. She had an office in the West Wing. Bill Clinton even ran on the slogan, buy one, get one free.

In 1919, Edith Wilson was unofficially running the country after her husband Woodrow suffered a stroke. That's insane, man. Not only have First Ladies influenced the president, Edith Wilson ended up running the government. And by the way, that totally screwed the vice president over. I mean, like 90% of the vice president's job is being there in case the president goes down. So that's like being Tom Brady's back up, and then he gets hurt, but then Giselle comes out like, no, no, no, I got this, get back on the bench, loser.

I throw for my husband. So, as the Biden administration gets underway, history suggests that Jill Biden will likely be a major part of it, because first ladies always have been. And if you don't know, now you know. When you were a little kid, you probably believed that people vote for president and whoever gets the most votes wins. Yeah? Simple childmind.

The same way you believed that your younger brother was brought by the stalk. But once you got older, you learned that actually your mom and dad were riding the F train to Bone Town. Because Bown is where the stalk lives and that's how they got your mom and dad were riding the F train to Bone Town, because Bone Town is where the stock lives, and that's how they got your little brother. And in the same way, the system for electing a president in America is more complex than just one person, one vote. Because you see, America's founding fathers wanted to come up with something that

would prevent their biggest fear. The people choosing someone terrible. The electoral college is a sort of glued together solution to a problem that the Constitution Convention couldn't really solve. They said, should the Congress elect the president? No, if they do that, then Congress will own the presidency. Another option was to have the people select their leader, but at the the time they thought the country was too large and the people not informed enough to make that choice. And one of the odd compromises that they came up with was actually using this set of political elites to do the actual

voting for president but still providing a mechanism to select those electors. They thought by creating this wise group of elites, these electors could filter popular passions. They were afraid of a demagogue being chosen. They mistrusted direct democracy. Alexander Hamilton wrote that the goal was to ensure that, quote, the office of president will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.

That's right. According to Alexander Hamilton, the office of the president will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an imminent degree endowed. Damn, I should make a musical out of this. Do you guys hear this? But the point is, Americans don't vote for the president. Americans vote for a slate of electors who will then go on to vote for the president. In many ways, it's the same way that American high school kids don't buy the beer. They give the homeless man money and then he goes to buy the beer on their behalf. That way it's more responsible. And it's amazing how if you read into it. And it. And it. And it. And it, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it, it, the the the the th, th. And it, th. And, th. And, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I, th. I, th. I, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the thin, the thin, the thee is their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th if you read into it, the founding fathers really thought that everyone in the country was super dumb. Because everyone talks about how they wanted to build a new perfect society, when really they were just basically installing childproofing to keep the country safe and stop Americans from eating sand. Now, this whole idea of electors being smarter than the

masses fell by the wayside pretty quickly. And one of the main reasons for doing this was because they thought a lot of Americans wouldn't know enough about the candidates to vote for them. But you see, that was hundreds of years ago, when information was harder to come by. Like, you only found out news when someone delivered it by horse. But now, we've got the internet people. Everyone's super-informed. Like, everyone in America, we all know things. Let's look at my phone. I, like, I know

that Hunter Biden moved to Russia and sold his laptop to Rudy Giuliani for drugs. I know that Hillary Clinton is in a pedophile ring and they drink the blood of children and I know that Melania has a body double who's having an affair with Gary Busey? Actually you know what maybe we should go back to the horse. I don't know about this internet thing. But the point is, today it's understood that a state's electors will vote for the candidate who won their state's popular votes. The only problem is that's just an understanding. It's not an actual law. According to the National the National the National the National the National the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to to the the to the the the the the to the their their their to their tooe. to to to too. Iaq. I have. I have. I have. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. I. I. I will. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. It. It. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's not an actual law. According to the National Archives, there is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires electors to vote according to their results of the popular vote in their state.

Those who don't follow the wish, the will of the electorate, they're called faithless electors. In 2016, four of the 12 electors in Washington decided not to vote for Hillary Clinton, despite Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote in that state. Instead, three voted for Colin Powell and one voted for the Native American activist Faith Spotted Eagle. It isn't a new concept. According to fair vote, there have been 167 faithless electors since the electoral college was founded. 43% changed their vote because the candidate they were supposed to vote for died before the electoral college could vote. 40% who chose to vote to vote to vote to vote to vote to vote to vote to vote to vote th th th th th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, the. And, theeean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, theateate. And, the. And, the. And supposed to vote for died before the electoral college could vote. 40% who chose to vote for the candidate they wanted rather than matching the popular vote. 17% either didn't vote or cast an abnormal vote. In the 2004 election, rather than casting their vote for

John Kerry, the unknown elector cast their vote for Kerry's VP, John Edwards and also misspelled Edward's name as Edwards. Wow. So the founders just let electors do whatever they want. They can choose someone the people didn't vote for. They can vote for a third party. They can even just vote for a typo. I can't believe what a giant floor in the American electoral system this is.

It's like finding out that they keep a key to Fort Knox under the doormat. And just by the way, I don't know if we should be holding voters accountable for the correct spelling of names. I don't think that's fair, especially in a country that's got a hundred different ways to spell Allison. How do you have four elves in your name? Allison? Now, a lot of people do realize that this system is a problem. In fact, a thi, a thi, a thi, a thi, a this, a this, a this, a this, a this is, a this is, a this is, a this is a this is, a this is a this is a this is a this is a this is a this is a this is a lot, this is a lot, thi, this is a lot, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is, this is this is this is this is this is, this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is a this is a this is a this is a thi, this is a thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, is a lot.a. theanananananan, isa.a.a.a.a, isa, isa, isa, isa, isa, isa, isa, is a lot.a, is a lot. this system is a problem. In fact, states were recently given the power to require electors to follow the will of the people. Unfortunately, very few of them actually do. In the past term, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the states to insist that electors vote for the person who won the popular vote.

But here's the deal. Only 14 of the 50 states actually have that legal requirement. In those 14 states, if a faithless elector goes rogue, the state can throw them out on the street and get somebody else in to vote according to the popular vote. But in all the rest of the states, if a faithless elector goes off on their own tooth, there's nothing the state can do about it except find them. Really? Electors can subvert the will of the voters and undermine the foundations of democracy and

their punishment is the same as parking in front of a fire hydrant. In fact, parking in front of a hydrant is even worse because you don't just get a fine, you'll also get toed. I mean, charging someone $1,000 for giving the presidency to someone doesn't mean that they won't do it. It just means the bidding starts at $1,000. Now, the good news is, Trump is down so many electors that it's unlikely he can convince enough of them to turn against their states' voters and vote for him. election could be close enough that the losing candidates could convince enough electors to make them the winning candidates.

And it will be totally legal. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11th, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.

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