The Philip DeFranco Show - 3.27 Why People Are Freaking Out About Cardi B, Anti-Vax State Of Emergency, & Thailand Elections

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Wednesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. The first thing we're gonna talk about today is we have Cardi B in the news for drugging and robbing men. Which is, it's interesting, it's somehow a very surprising story and also a not surprising in any way story. I mean, kind of think about it, if I said, hey, did you guys hear that Beyonce used to drug and rob men? You'd be like, no, no not that's that's a lot when I Say cardi B. You're like I'll google it. Oh, oh, oh check, but as far as the specifics of this situation

Starting point is 00:00:30 It's not something that just happened instead what we're seeing is that a video from an Instagram live stream that cardi B Did has gone viral now and in the video she's saying you know I've never been handed anything in my life I've had to do stuff to get whatever I needed and she says this In this video began to make the rounds there was a lot of backlash He started seeing the hashtag surviving cardi B going around obviously in reference to surviving R. Kelly, with tweets going around like, why isn't anyone talking about Cardi B and her drugging men than robbing them? Like, if this were a man, for example, this would be a different story. And that was a common theme in a lot of the backlash, not only that she did it, but she's likely going to be treated differently because she's a woman.

Starting point is 00:01:17 Another comparison that people were making was to Bill Cosby, who of course was accused of drugging and raping 60 women with tweets like, how Cardi B fans looked trying to defend her while Bill Cosby in jail for the same thing that of course led to a lot of people arguing about the differences between Robbing someone and sexual assault in response to the situation Cardi B kind of just initially brushed it off We can never claim to be an angel I always been a street bitch yabi glorifying this street rappers that talk and do that grimy street shit But they can't stand a street bitch. She then said okay. I'm off Twitter for a few days have fun following day She said I'm that bitch they love to hate on that bitch

Starting point is 00:01:46 They hate to love and I love it and while you did have supporters out there There was still a lot of backlash coming in which ultimately led to Cardi B releasing a lengthy statement where in part She said I never claimed to be perfect or come from a perfect world with a perfect past. I always speak my truth I always own my shit I'm a part of a hip-hop culture where you talk about where you come from, talk about the wrong things you had to do to get where you are. There are rappers that glorify murder, violence, drugs, and robbing.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Crimes they feel they had to do to survive. Then adding, the men I spoke about in my live were men that I dated, that I was involved with, men that were conscious, willing, and aware. I made the choices that I did at the time because I had very limited options. I never glorified the things I brought up in that live. I never even put those things in my music

Starting point is 00:02:25 because I am not proud of it and feel a responsibility not to glorify it." And following that, you know, there were massive reactions. There were people that supported her. You know, people saying, no one is perfect, everyone's got a past. Whereas you had others saying, once again, that if this was a man saying this,

Starting point is 00:02:37 there would be a massively different reaction. No one has to drug a person. With people also questioning that last part, which I will say is confusing. Where, you know, she talks about drugging and robbing people, doing what she had to do, but then that part where she says they were men that she was dating, who were conscious, willing, and aware. I'm very confused by that. But that said, the story was really interesting to me because I wanted to know what you guys think. You know, it feels like every other week we have some story where it's like someone's past gets thrown back in their face.

Starting point is 00:02:59 This time though, you have to acknowledge it is different. It's not just words, right? Someone saying something off-color. It's seemingly the admission of multiple crimes, although she's saying that they were willing and aware, which once again, doesn't make sense to me and it really muddies the whole situation. But you know, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts? What are you feeling?

Starting point is 00:03:15 Then in stories that should not still be stories in 2019 news, let's once again talk about the measles. You know, over the past few months, we've had several stories where we had to talk about measles outbreaks in the United States. And in fact, one of the first cases we covered back in January was in New York with the state's health commissioner calling it

Starting point is 00:03:30 the worst measles outbreak in recent history in New York State. During that outbreak, we saw reports of measles in New York City and two surrounding counties, Rockland County and Orange County. But a big thing of note there is it wasn't this kind of even spread. Nearly two out of three of all the reported measles cases

Starting point is 00:03:44 at that time were in Rockland County. There were 105 cases there at that time. In response to the outbreak, Rockland closed more than two dozen schools and daycare centers that had low vaccination rates. When I say low, I mean super low. We've talked about this before, but just to reiterate, in order for vaccines to be effective,

Starting point is 00:03:58 around 90% of the people have to be vaccinated. It's called herd immunity. And back in January, we saw reports that some private schools in Rockland County had vaccination rates around 50%. And so it probably shouldn't be a shock that since January, the situation in Rockland has only gotten worse. As of March 26th, the county reported 153 confirmed cases

Starting point is 00:04:15 of measles, and of those confirmed cases, over 84% were 18 years and younger. And reportedly 82% of the people infected have never received the vaccination for measles, known as MMR. And the reason we're talking about this today isn't just because there are more confirmed cases, you have these children that are being affected. It's because yesterday Rockland County addressed the rising number of measles by declaring a state of emergency.

Starting point is 00:04:35 And most significantly, the state of emergency bans all unvaccinated kids under the age of 18 from being allowed in public places. Reportedly, the state of emergency is set to last 30 days, so that means until April 25th, which means minors cannot be in a public place until they receive at least one MMR vaccination or until the 30 days are up. And to be hyper-specific here, the declaration defines public space as anywhere in public that there are more than 10 people congregated.

Starting point is 00:04:57 Notably, this includes schools, stores, restaurants, places of worship, and public transit, with the only exceptions to the ban being the purpose of medical care and immunizations and public appearances required by law, like attendance in court. But even there, the declaration does require parents or guardians to call in advance and inform these places

Starting point is 00:05:12 that their children are unvaccinated. Now, if you're hearing this and you're wondering, how the hell are they going to enforce this? Yeah, really there's no way to formally enforce this. And it appears that's not really the point of this declaration. In a press conference, Rockland County Executive Ed Day said the move was intended to get people's attention and hold parents accountable.

Starting point is 00:05:27 There will not be law enforcement or deputy sheriffs asking for your vaccination records. That is ridiculous. However, if you are found to be in violation of this declaration, your case will be referred to the district attorney's office. That just comes with the emergency declaration and is prescribed by law. Parents will be held accountable if they are found to be in violation of the state emergency. And the focus

Starting point is 00:05:49 of this effort is on the parents of these children. We are urging them once again, now with the authority of law, to get your children vaccinated. Now, all of that said, while it doesn't appear that you're going to have law enforcement going around saying, show me the vaccination records, there is a possibility that parents or other citizens may report others. And if they do actually mean business, they want to set an example. Parents who are found to have allowed

Starting point is 00:06:12 their unvaccinated kids in public places during the 30-day prohibition, they could face six months in jail or fines of $500." Now, I personally don't think that they would give a parent six months, but I will say, there is part of me that is fascinated to see what would happen if someone did actually get caught. Now following this move many public health officials have said that the county's actions do make a lot of sense, but unsurprisingly the ban of unvaccinated children in public spaces has already received some backlash.

Starting point is 00:06:35 For example, the outbreak is more widespread in the Orthodox Jewish community, which has a lower vaccination rate according today. And because of this you have a rabbi in Rockland named Yakov Horowitz who says while he supports vaccination He was also concerned that the declaration could lead to potential harassment and discrimination against ultra Orthodox Jews And in addition to that some public health law experts are concerned that the declaration infringes on civil liberties Lawrence Gostin a professor of global health law at Georgetown University Questioned whether or not the move was actually constitutional saying this is virtually imprisonment of a child and certainly significantly restricting the child's liberty But regarding that note laws like this in Rockland have been upheld in other cases For example back in December Rockland banned unvaccinated students from schools where less than 95% of the students were vaccinated in response to that

Starting point is 00:07:14 A group of parents sued the County Health Department But earlier this month a federal judge ruled that the school ban could stay but still this constitutional argument could be persuasive to anti-vax groups That want to challenge the declaration even if it's only for 30 days. Also, noting those 30 days, it's going to be very interesting to see what happens during and after. Very likely, you're gonna have a lot of other places looking to see what are the net results

Starting point is 00:07:34 of Rockland's prohibition. Does it lead to an increase in vaccinations? Are we gonna see the number of measles cases going down? If so, this is something that we might see replicated elsewhere. And while this is obviously a big move from Rockland, it's also kind of not surprising that they're doing I mean in addition to the executive order to pull nearly 6,000 unvaccinated children out of schools

Starting point is 00:07:51 The county has also administered nearly 17,000 doses of the MMR vaccine over the course of 26 weeks There's also been a public health campaign during which officials doctors and rabbis all testified about the importance of immunizations And while Rockland has increased their vaccination rate reportedly only 72.9% of kids between the ages of one and 18 are vaccinated in the county. But with all that said, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it makes sense, it's necessary, or do you think it's extreme, it's a slippery slope?

Starting point is 00:08:16 Yeah, let me know what you're thinking in those comments down below. And then, something really interesting, let's talk about the massive controversy surrounding the recent elections in Thailand. And if you didn't see see the elections were held last Sunday They were the first since the military's most recent coup in 2014 which on that note military coups are actually not that uncommon in Thailand with that last coup being the 12th coup since the 1930s

Starting point is 00:08:35 But that said this was also their first time voting under a new constitution that was created back in 2017 and regarding that many say that this constitution was essentially made to help the military keep power. Also a note before moving forward, the voting system in Thailand is pretty different from America, so we're gonna try and break that down. What happens is the people in Thailand don't vote for their prime minister directly, instead what they do is they vote for parliament seats. And there are 750 total seats in Thai parliament. 500 in the lower house, which are elected by the people. Of that 500, 350 are elected by direct votes, 150 are chosen proportionally by party lists. And then there are 250 seats in the upper house, which are appointed by direct votes, 150 are chosen proportionally by party lists, and then there are 250 seats in the upper house which are appointed by the military. And then when you bring it all together, right, combined votes from the members in each house, they elect the Prime Minister. And since the military will likely appoint those who back the military junta-backed party, Palong Pracharat,

Starting point is 00:09:16 or otherwise known as the PPRP, which means Power of the People State, it almost guarantees them 250 votes. To get the majority to elect a Prime Minister, the magic number is 376, not that far from 250. So then really the PPRP only needs 126 of the 500 lower seats to reach it. So it's a situation and setup that makes it incredibly hard for another party to rise to power. So unsurprisingly, the PPRP is currently in power right now with Prayuth Chinnocha as the prime minister.

Starting point is 00:09:40 Now with all of that kind of setup and explained, going into this last election, there were several parties at play, with the other main group being the Pia Thai Party. Two of their most recent leaders are siblings, you had Thaksin Shinawat who was ousted by the military in 2006, as well as Yingluck Shinawat who was impeached before the military takeover in 2014. And they are both currently in self-imposed exile as they face charges in Thailand on abuse of power. And of note going into the election, if the Pia Thai Party got the votes, their candidate would be Thaksin ally Sudarat Kaurapa. So, with all of that said, who won the election? Well, right now we only have preliminary results and the publication of those votes were delayed several times.

Starting point is 00:10:13 The Election Commission of Thailand, which is appointed by the military junta, was originally planning to release preliminary results on Sunday night. They then pushed back the results to Monday afternoon. When that happened, they only published 350 directly elected seats, saying that they're holding off until Friday to do the other 150. And reportedly, the full final results from the election will not be released until May. That said, as far as the numbers that we have now, the Pia Tai party reportedly has 137 seats, while the PPRP got 97, with the rest of the seats going to several other parties. You have the Bum Jai Tai party, which doesn't align with either of the two main parties coming in third with 39 seats. The Democratic Party, which doesn't align with the Pia Tai Party, collecting 33. And the Future Forward Party, which is a newer party that appealed to younger voters and is anti-military, winding up with 30 seats. But ultimately what we're seeing is that the two main parties are contesting these results and are both declaring victory.

Starting point is 00:10:58 And this is because while Pia Tai has more seats, similar to the way the Electoral College works, PPRP says it has more popular votes, and they believe that gives them the right to form coalitions with other parties. But Piatai is claiming that they're already doing so and projects that with these coalitions, it will hold command of the lower house. With Sudarat Kaurapan saying in a press conference, "'Parties in the Democratic Front

Starting point is 00:11:16 "'gained the most trust from the people. "'Although right now numbers are still moving, "'we're certain we will have "'at least 255 seats among ourselves. "'We declare that the Democratic Front "'who opposes military rule "' rule commands the majority in the house. Which would be meaningful because it would give them a stronghold in their parliament,

Starting point is 00:11:29 but it's also not the whole ball game because they don't have enough votes to elect their own prime minister. Now, that is not where it ends. In addition to both parties contesting the results, there are also accusations of election fraud. The Asian Network for Free Elections claims that there were 1.9 million invalid ballots

Starting point is 00:11:42 and called the tabulation process deeply flawed. And regarding this, we saw Totskin Shinawat writing an op-ed in the New York Times titled The Election in Thailand Was Rated. In it, he claimed the election commission was corrupt, saying, in some areas, the number of ballots seemed to exceed the number of voters. In others, voter turnout was reported to be 200%.

Starting point is 00:11:59 And saying, there also were reports that some ballots, although marked improperly, were counted as votes for Pahlong Pratra, the military's proxy party. And then going on to explain, the Election Commission has the authority to issue penalties known as Red Guards to candidates for wrongdoing. It deserves one itself. There were also issues counting ballots that came from abroad, with the Election Commission even confirming that at least 1,500 ballots from New Zealand will be voided for arriving after counting. And we're also seeing a former leader for the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship demanding a recount, saying volunteers at polls saw voters getting turned away, among other concerning patterns.

Starting point is 00:12:28 But, in response to all of this, the Election Commission is still defending its vote count, and they say that any inconsistencies in the reports were the fault of the media. The Commission's Deputy Secretary General told reporters that, quote, it's the media organizations themselves which applied the data and presented it in graphics. If you noticed last night, each channel reported the data differently and that depends on each outlet's ability. But ultimately that is where we are right now. It's going to be very interesting

Starting point is 00:12:50 to see what happens from here. You know, right now we don't actually have the full results yet. What are we gonna see there? Will there then be a recount? Also, given the setup that the military has, they already have 250 seats, that 150 seats are then not completely voted on

Starting point is 00:13:03 by the people. The election commission was appointed by the military. I mean, is there any way to feel like you are actually not going to be screwed if you do not support them? I mean, looking from the outside in, I don't know how you could have trust in that system. But, of course, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts?

Starting point is 00:13:19 And that's where we're going to end today's show. Thank you very much for watching. If you're not 100% filled in right now, if you missed yesterday's Philip DeFranco show our last deep Dive into AR you can click or tap right there to watch those but with that said of course as always my name's Philip DeFranco You've just been filled in I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow

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The Philip DeFranco Show - 3.27 Why People Are Freaking Out About Cardi B, Anti-Vax State Of Emergency, & Thailand Elections

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