The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.16 Harry Styles Controversy is Ridiculous! Unus Annus - Post Mortem, Moderna Vaccine, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup, you beautiful bastards. Hope you have a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat, and let's just jump into it. And the first thing that we're gonna talk about today is a story that initially I did not think

Starting point is 00:00:14 was that big of a deal, but it is now blown up, and it starts with Harry Styles. If you didn't see, Harry Styles was getting some attention over his recent cover shoot with Vogue, a shoot that made him both Vogue's first ever solo male cover star star and featured him wearing dresses, kilts and skirts, which initially was praised by a lot of people, a number of people saying

Starting point is 00:00:31 this is yet another example of Harry Styles taking a swing at toxic masculinity. And in the article, Harry talks about other musicians that he looked up to who were style icons, people like Prince, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, with him adding, clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with. What's really exciting is that all of

Starting point is 00:00:45 These lines are just kind of crumbling away when you take away quote There's clothes for men and there's clothes for women once you remove any barriers Obviously you open up the arena in which you can play I'll go and shop sometimes and I just find myself looking at the women's Clothes thinking they're amazing and adding it's like anything anytime you're putting barriers up in your own life. You're just limiting yourself There's so much joy to be had and playing with clothes I've never really thought too much about what it means. It just becomes this extended part of creating something. Now with this, of course, not everyone has the same opinion.

Starting point is 00:01:11 Not everyone was praising Harry's style. In fact, part of the reason this story blew up even more is we saw criticism from conservative figures, like most notably Candace Owens, who tweeted, "'There is no society that can survive without strong men. "'The East knows this. "'In the West, the steady feminization of our men "'at the same time that Marxism is being taught

Starting point is 00:01:26 to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack, bring back manly men. And she was not alone. We saw this supported by the likes of Ben Shapiro, who tweeted, this is perfectly obvious. Anyone who pretends that it is not a referendum on masculinity for men to don floofy dresses is treating you as a full-on idiot.

Starting point is 00:01:42 And here's the thing, with people like Ben Shapiro, specifically, I know a number of people have joked, how do I say this in a video without getting demonetized? I know some people have joked that it's surprising that Ben Shapiro has said this because he looks like the kind of guy that likes to get into intellectual debates

Starting point is 00:01:54 with his wife's boyfriend. But I would say instead is, you know, when I look to people like Ben Shapiro, I look at someone that looks like they wanna be a part of the strong man club. We all know guys like that, badly shielding their anxiety about their masculinity, their insecurities.

Starting point is 00:02:06 You know, when I look at Harry Styles in a dress, I don't go, oh, he's so brave, he's so strong. I just go, okay, he made a choice for himself that in no way impacts me. Just because something doesn't mesh with your worldview, it's not instantly an attack on you. Also, while we're talking about this, I think it's important that we get away from this idea

Starting point is 00:02:22 that all traditionally masculine men ooze toxic masculinity. That's just not the case. I know there are plenty of manly men out there that look to other men who don't fit into this stupid fucking box and think that they are lesser. And in my experience, more often than not, it's Muppets like Ben Shapiro

Starting point is 00:02:37 that perpetuate this toxicity. And I don't know how to end this story. I think all of this is just so dumb. Some of these people are out here acting like Harry Styles is trying to lobby the government to make it illegal for boys to wear pants. And actually, you know where I'll end of this is just so dumb. Some of these people are out here acting like Harry Styles is trying to lobby the government to make it illegal for boys to wear pants. Actually, you know where I'll end this story is, hey, you watching right now, no matter who you are,

Starting point is 00:02:52 including those who, who you are and how you live your life, it doesn't fit into a box and you're not hurting anybody else, please know that you are not lesser, you're great. Please know it's the people that are going after you, especially the ones that are also crying victim at the same time that are wrong, you're great. Please know, it's the people that are going after you, especially the ones that are also crying victim at the same time that are wrong, they are trash. Yeah, that is where I'm gonna end this one.

Starting point is 00:03:10 And then let's talk about the latest good news and bad news regarding COVID-19. So starting with the bad news, according to Johns Hopkins, we recently passed 175,000 new cases a day, which is an absolutely horrifying number. I mean, for some context here, the next worst hit nation by gross numbers is India, which as a nation has over a billion people.

Starting point is 00:03:28 And even with three times our population, back in September, their peak was 93,000 cases a day. And in total, thus far, the United States has had more than 11 million known cases and a quarter of a million deaths. Also, according to covidexitstrategy.org, essentially the entire United States has an uncontrolled spread of the virus right now.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And looking into it, this sudden massive upshift in cases has led to a lot of hospital systems completely overloaded. And in particular, hospitals helping smaller towns in rural America have been very effective. A lot of these places just have space for maybe a dozen patients. They can only handle so many that need intensive care. Understand, even large hospitals are having their resources

Starting point is 00:04:03 stretched to the limits right now, especially as they're also trying to take on patients that these smaller hospitals cannot handle. So right now you have a number of states reconsidering their lockdowns or imposing new ones. Just this Friday the governors of Oregon and New Mexico both issued a two-week lockdown to try and restrain the virus spread. This is including shutting down gyms, pools, theaters, zoos, restaurants and bars will be limited to takeout only. The governor of New Mexico cutting straight to it saying saying we are in a life or death situation. Adding, if we don't act right now, we cannot preserve the lives, we can't keep saving lives,

Starting point is 00:04:29 and we will absolutely crush our current healthcare system and infrastructure. With Kate Brown, the governor of Oregon, going a step further, warning that they would more strictly enforce penalties for people breaking the rule, saying, for the last eight months, I have been asking Oregonians to follow to the letter and the spirit of the law,

Starting point is 00:04:43 and we have not chosen to engage law enforcement. At this point in time, unfortunately, we have no other option. And while yes, we're also seeing things like yesterday, Michigan announced a new lockdown. Most states, it appears, are at least reluctant to issue large-scale lockdowns again. New York, Maryland, Minnesota, and Virginia, for example, have implemented some minor restrictions to try to combat the spread. Things like limiting the size of gatherings, making businesses close early, cutting off alcohol sales earlier in the evening. Also, to be clear, there are some roadblocks beyond the lack of political will to enacting some restriction, right?

Starting point is 00:05:11 Judges have been ruling that some of the actions taken by governors like California's Gavin Newsom were beyond the governor's power. So now you have some governors that at the very least see their hands as tied with trying to combat this spread. And as we've talked about on the show, it is not just the United States right now. Worldwide, we are seeing the virus spread again,

Starting point is 00:05:27 which is why once again, we have a renewed focus on when do we get a vaccine? Like we talked about last week, we got some hopeful and positive news from Pfizer, right? Interim analysis of their vaccine has an over 90% effectiveness rate. And today we actually got more hopeful news. This thanks to Moderna,

Starting point is 00:05:42 who announced this morning from their initial analysis, their vaccine has a 94.5% effectiveness rate. According to reports, Moderna's study was done in collaboration with the National Institute of Health, and it looked at 30,000 participants with half receiving a placebo. And they found that in the 95 cases of COVID-19

Starting point is 00:05:57 that developed among participants, 90 were taken from the placebo group. And on top of that, of the 11 people who contracted severe COVID-19 infections, all were taking the placebo. With Moderna reporting that there are no significant safety concerns so far, and going even a step further

Starting point is 00:06:11 about the real-world implementation of a vaccine, the company is saying that the vaccine could be stored at refrigerator temperatures for up to a month compared to Pfizer's vaccine candidate, which requires ultra-cold conditions. And of course, when we get news like this, one of the questions that pops into a lot of minds, what does Anthony Fauci thing?

Starting point is 00:06:25 And there we found Dr. Fauci saying to the Washington Post, "'It's extremely good news. "'If you look at the data, "'the numbers speak for themselves.'" And adding, "'I describe myself as a realist, "'but I'm fundamentally a cautious optimist. "'I felt we'd likely get something less than this.

Starting point is 00:06:37 "'I said certainly a 90 plus percent "'effect of vaccine is possible, "'but I wasn't counting on it.'" So very exciting news, very hopeful news, but also because it is my job to keep you grounded, it should be noted that this data has not been peer reviewed yet. And we don't really know how long it'll take

Starting point is 00:06:50 for the FDA to make a decision on whether to approve these vaccines. And ultimately we have to wait, see, and actually with a story like this, still continue to use best practices like social distancing and masks to limit the spread of this virus, right? Something that's going to likely continue even after we get a vaccine.

Starting point is 00:07:03 And the last thing that we're gonna talk about today is political and presidential news though, of the international sort, because yes, I could once again dedicate another segment to talking about the president's lies and his gaslighting or congressional Republicans remaining silent and enabling this insanity or the backing seemingly from Fox News putting on almost pure propaganda segments.

Starting point is 00:07:23 An act I imagine they are doing out of fear of losing the president's viewers to almost pure propaganda networks like OAN and Newsmax. But that insanity is gonna still be there tomorrow. There's gonna be no shortage of times. We can continue to talk about that. And so for now, let's talk about Peru. So if you're unaware,

Starting point is 00:07:38 Peru is in the midst of some serious turmoil. I mean, they're going through their now third president in just five years. And to kind of get us all up to speed in a simplified fashion, back in 2018, President Pablo Kuczynski resigned from office before being impeached by Congress over corruption allegations.

Starting point is 00:07:51 Vice President Martin Vizcarra then takes over, has been extremely popular with Peruvians. However, he has been way less popular with Congress and has battled them for over a year. Right, we're not talking a minor dispute. Back in 2019, he dissolved Congress in a response they declared him unfit for office. Now eventually that was resolved

Starting point is 00:08:07 with new congressional elections, but we then see tensions resurface in September when Vizcarra barely escapes being impeached over corruption allegations. And then in just about a month, we see new allegations of corruption being brought against him. And this time an anonymous source told a newspaper

Starting point is 00:08:19 that Vizcarra had actually accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs from construction companies who were involved in public works projects just years ago when he was a governor. Vizcarra then denied the allegations, saying that they were just made up lies from construction companies trying to get back at him after he initiated more investigations

Starting point is 00:08:33 into their links with the government infrastructure projects. Also telling reporters at that time, "'Every time you try to defeat the virus of corruption, "'it defends itself by attacking. "'When you hit powerful interests, they don't stay calm.'" However, those allegations eventually led to more calls for impeachment and actually last Monday, Vizcarra was impeached.

Starting point is 00:08:49 While last September's impeachment charges were largely supported by just opposition members, this new impeachment had overwhelming support. With 105 of the 130 members of Congress voting to impeach President Vizcarra over what they called a permanent moral incapacity. Meanwhile, prosecutors are still investigating whether accusations of the bribes were legitimate or not.

Starting point is 00:09:05 And here we also saw lawmakers were not only critical of Vizcarra allegedly accepting those bribes while governor, but also how he handled the coronavirus and rising unemployment. Because, not so great fact, currently Peru has one of the highest deaths per capita because of the coronavirus. Now, with all that said, for his part,

Starting point is 00:09:19 Vizcarra has continued to deny the allegations of bribery, but did say that he would honor the impeachment and step down from power. Tweeting, to supporters, "'Dear people of Peru, "'during these two years and eight months, "'you have been my biggest supporters and strength. "'Together we've made this road, despite adversity.

Starting point is 00:09:33 "'I leave with a clear conscience, "'my head held high, and my duty accomplished. "'Until another chance.'" Now, normally you might think, "'Okay, the president is gone, the vice president takes over.'" Well, not quite. Peru normally has two vice presidents who run independently from the president when elections are held.

Starting point is 00:09:47 Right, so Vizcarra was originally the first vice president. And when he became president, there was a vacancy, which wouldn't be a problem because you have a second vice president, except the fact that you do not have a second vice president. And that's because the person that was elected resigned back in 2019, right? Back when Congress tried to declare Vizcarra

Starting point is 00:10:02 unfit for office, they were expecting to take the role of president. However, as we saw, that situation got resolved and Vizcarra unfit for office, they were expecting to take the role of president, however, as we saw, that situation got resolved and Vizcarra held onto power. And because neither the first nor second vice presidents were replaced, the presiding member of Congress, Manuel Marino, stepped in as interim president. And so with Vizcarra's impeachment, Marino's appointment,

Starting point is 00:10:17 that left many Peruvians furious, because like I mentioned, Vizcarra was very popular with the people, which is why for the past week, we've seen massive protests all across Peru, there have been tens of thousands the people, which is why for the past week, we've seen massive protests all across Peru. There have been tens of thousands of people in the streets protesting for seven days straight, with protesters describing Congress's impeachment of Vizcarra as an illegal power grab

Starting point is 00:10:33 and have demanded his return. We also saw Marino making some comments that exemplified how out of touch many Peruvians felt that congressional members were. This including things like Marino saying that the protests were actually over coronavirus and students not being able to finish their studies. This, even though you see these tens of thousands of people throughout the country and capital clearly upset about Vizcarra's impeachment.

Starting point is 00:10:59 Also throughout the protests which have been largely peaceful, police repression has steadily increased, with the Human Rights Watch reporting that they've received claims of police abuse during the protests, which is also not that shocking, considering on Saturday at least 94 people were injured, with two dead after protesters and police clashed. There are even accusations that some people are currently missing and the police are involved. In fact, Peru's own Office of the Ombudsman,

Starting point is 00:11:19 which is supposed to ensure the rights of Peruvians are upheld, has denounced police actions and demanded that investigations take place to hold officers accountable. All of that then culminated in eight cabinet members resigning between Saturday and Sunday morning, with in fact, on Sunday, Marino himself resigning from the office.

Starting point is 00:11:34 He also addressed the nation and said, "'I want to express my sincere condolences "'to the families of the victims who died "'during the protest where citizens practiced "'their right to liberty and went out "'to the streets to protest. "'Nothing can justify a legitimate protest which ends with the deaths of Peruvians.

Starting point is 00:11:48 Going on to say, I present my irrevocable resignation of the post of the presidency of the Republic. I call for peace and unity for all Peruvians. I will do the best I can to guarantee the constitutional term of the Congress. Peru deserves to move forward. Moreno's decision was met with massive celebrations by protesters and by the end of Sunday,

Starting point is 00:12:04 every member of the cabinet had offered to resign. But also fearing a complete power vacuum, Moreno denied many of their resignations. Their Congress then spent all night debating over how to resolve the situation. And ultimately when Peruvians woke up today, they had no president. And actually a big update as I was finishing up today's show,

Starting point is 00:12:20 Peru's Congress just appointed lawmaker Francisco Sagasti as interim president. Now this is unlikely to solve the problems at hand. Right, most protesters still wanted Vizcarra to return to power, believing that his removal was an illegal coup. So what we've seen is Vizcarra has asked the country's highest court to step in

Starting point is 00:12:34 and figure out what to do, saying, it can't be that the institution that got us into this political crisis that has for five days paralyzed Peru with deaths is going to give us a solution, choosing the person who they best see fit. So for right now, while Sagasti might be president in name, it does not look like most Peruvians

Starting point is 00:12:49 are going to accept that. And we'll likely end up seeing more protests and maybe the Supreme Court intervening. But ultimately we're gonna have to wait and see what happens from here. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. As always, thank you for being a part of my daily dives in the news.

Starting point is 00:13:02 Also, if you're new here, definitely hit that subscribe button. Also, if you want more news, you need something subscribe button. Also, if you want more news, you need something lighter like my newest podcast, you can click right there. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in.

Starting point is 00:13:13 I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.16 Harry Styles Controversy is Ridiculous! Unus Annus - Post Mortem, Moderna Vaccine, & More

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