The Young Turks - Screw You!

Episode Date: May 4, 2022

Police and protesters briefly clashed in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday night after a rally protesting the possible overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision made its way from a federal courthouse to Pershing Square. Anti-abortion zealots targeted Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s aide as the sort of the leaked draft opinion. The future of abortion in a post-Roe America: Inside the covert network preparing to circumvent restrictions. Lobbying companies were more likely to be invested in by Congress than non-lobbying companies. Hosts: Ana Kasparian ***  The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET.  Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews https://youtu.be/BClmSWTw00I https://youtu.be/lphDEzfWD2U https://youtu.be/18i7pbmrvAw https://youtu.be/esuby2aMUiA https://youtu.be/AHdWSsoEEV4 https://youtu.be/Y9iXfbN1hPc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Welcome to TYTYT, I'm your host, Anna Kassi, I'm your host, Anna Kastewit. I'm your host, Anna Kasteland. And conservatives calling me out on social media saying Anna Casparian had a meltdown. And they shared video from the show yesterday where I was specifically calling out the Republican party in forcing women to bring to term fetuses without any say over their own bodies,

while also, by the way, fighting aggressively against any type of social spending program, any type of regulation that would make child care affordable for people that would create, you know, a social safety debt so parents could be parents and so children could be raised in a happy, healthy environment. If that's genuinely what they want, they shared that rant acting as if my meltdown was totally unwarranted. And I'm so happy they're doing it. Because please let them know. Let them know, folks. Let Americans know what the right wing really stands for in this country. They want to force you to bring to term fetuses. They want you to have babies that they will then abandon the second that baby is born. The second it's born.

No paid family leave, no affordable child care, nothing to help you with your medical bills, your maternity bills if you don't happen to have health care. Because I mean, the one thing that Republicans never want to talk about. And I wish Democrats would force them to talk about, but it turns out Democrats don't really talk, they don't want to talk about these issues either, is the fact that they want to screw you, that they want to empower the corporate elite in this country to continue to rob you. That's the Republican Party.

Keep sharing my video, you're doing me a favor. Love every minute of it. Anyway, welcome to the show. I'm still in the mood I was in yesterday. That hasn't changed, not even a little bit. But I was able to kind of center everything. little bit better, crystallize my thoughts in a way that will be easier to communicate with you all today. And I know I was aggressive against both conservatives and liberals in America.

And today I want to really delve into why I'm so furious, specifically with the Democratic Party. I want to give you the receipts. I want to explain why it's not just Republicans that led us to this dark place that we're in right now. They did so with the assistance of the Democratic Party. Again, I'll provide the receipts. If you don't like it, if you decide, listen, I don't really want change in this country. I want to continue empowering Republicans by serving as an apologist for the feckless weak Democrats. Have at it, but you ain't gonna get the kind of content you want here. I'm not interested in appeasing you.

I'm not interested in telling people what they want to hear. I'm interested in telling people what the facts on the ground are here in this country. You want to live in your little fantasy world with your magical thinking, have at it. move it along. I'm not interested in you. You want to be a fighter? You're in the right place. Later in the show, we're going to talk a little bit about how Republicans are really going out of their way to avoid talking about how consequential overturning Roe v. Wade will be because it turns out banning abortion is pretty unpopular among the electorate. Two-thirds of Americans not on board with that. So they're focusing on who leaked the draft opinion. No one

cares. Anyone who is aiding and abetting that narrative, helping Republicans to distract from the unpopular moves they've made, really needs to reconsider their strategy here. Second hour, John Iderall will join me. We might lighten things up a little bit. We'll see. I'm not making any promises. But for now, let's hit it where it hurts for the Democrats. Let's do it. Those are you guys? You back off. You back up. Those were pro-choice demonstrators in Los Angeles, California,

demonstrating rightfully, over the fact that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade making abortion illegal and banned in 13 states immediately as soon as they hand down that official decision. And they were roughed up by cops, which oftentimes happens, you know, especially with left-wing protesters. But if you pay close attention, let's pull up the video. Let's take a quick look at it. We'll lower the sound. Let's look at the video because I want you to pay close attention to some of the markings on on that vehicle, because it's not the LAPD, although the LAPD was there as well, roughing up protesters, Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service, that is what the vehicle

says. Who's the head of DHS, the Department of Homeland Security? Well, DHS secretary is Alejandro Mayorkas. Under which administration, is it under the Trump administration? know it's under the Biden administration. So DHS shows up to squash pro-choice demonstrators in Los Angeles. Again, under the Biden administration, he's the boss. Where are you at, bro? The night that we found out the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, did Biden give a speech? Did Biden say a damn thing? No, he waited till the next day. Taking a nap, Taking a nap. Taking a nap.

Where's Sleepy Joe? Does that hurt your feelings, Democrats? This is the leader of the Democratic Party. Homeboys taken a freaking nap as women's rights are being reversed to what they were over 50 years ago. Unbelievable. But I'm not done. I have a lot to say about Democrats and their failure when it comes to this issue. Because we'll hear all the excuses.

Oh, the Senate parliamentarian. Oh, the legislative filibuster, oh, there's mansion, oh, there's cinema. It ain't about what's happening in the Democratic Party at this moment. It's about every failure that the Democratic Party engaged in that led up to this moment right now. So let's discuss. Rebecca Traster for New York Magazine actually wrote an excellent piece. I want to read you a few excerpts because she articulated the fury, the rage that I'm feeling toward the Democratic Party perfectly.

And this is New York Magazine, all right? This ain't majority report. This ain't some like left. This ain't Jacobin. This is New York Magazine as establishment media as you can get. Let me read. As millions reeled on Monday night, the top leadership of the Democratic Party could only generate words that ultimately felt bloodless.

In a joint message, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, that's Democratic leadership, by the way, called the draft an abomination. one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history yet still could not bring themselves to even use the word abortion. Fascinating. They said that the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump and seem to revel in the fact that every Republican senator who voted for Trump's justices will now have to explain themselves to the American people, as if this would provide any comfort to those who are apparently on the brink of losing a right that has been protected for 50 years.

One more excerpt from her piece because it was fantastic. Joe Biden waited until 9.30, Tuesday morning to publicly weigh in with a statement that was also allergic to the word abortion, mentioning it only once, four paragraphs down. Biden made pleas to basic fairness and the stability of our law. concluding with a message that it was on voters. It was on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November. Sir, we elected you. And you didn't get out of bed to speak to the American people the night this devastating

document leaked. Couldn't have said it better myself. And when it comes to Joe Biden, I mean, lots of dings on his record when it comes to reproductive rights. Remember, he was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee that confirmed Clarence Thomas, of the conservative justices that will certainly be part of the majority overturning Roe v. Wade. And by the way, he also asked some of the most humiliating terrible questions of the woman that Clarence Thomas sexually harassed relentlessly. But anyway, let's look

at other things that are, you know, a bit of an issue with the Republican Party here. The American prospect wrote a piece, it's titled Democratic Leadership, still supporting the House's only anti-abortion Democrat. Henry Quayar was the only Democrat to oppose codifying Roe v. Wade. He's getting leadership support in his runoff election against a progressive pro-choice challenger. This is not an old headline. This is from May 4th of 2022, meaning today.

So let's name some names. Last September, the House of Representatives actually did pass legislation, the Women's Health Protection Act, that codified Roe and a woman's right to choose. Every Democrat who voted supported the bill except one, and that was, of course, Representative Henry Quayar, who represents a district in South Texas. Now, Quayar also, by the way, voted along with Donald Trump 69% of the time. House Sparks, washed up comedian who's defending the feckless Democrats on Twitter as we speak. Is this your hero? Is that your hero? Is that what you're defending? Garbage like this? Let me continue, though. Quayar is poised for an intense runoff election on May 24th against Jessica Cisneros. A progressive candidate who also challenged him in 2020.

Cisneros lost by just three points in 2020. In the March primary, Quayar received 48.6% and Cisneros 46.7%. Because nobody reached 50% in Texas, that triggers a runoff. So this is important, it's a close race. You get to make a decision between an anti-choice, corporate Democrat, who by the way is currently being investigated for shady ties to Azerbaijan, his home and his office was raided. So there's the corruption issue as well.

So you choose him or you could, you know, you could back Jessica Cisnero, someone who actually wants to be a fighter for progressive values. More importantly, in the context of this discussion, wants to protect a woman's right to choose. Well, democratic leadership ain't about that. Because while we see weakness among Democrats time and time again, the one thing that they're strong on is crushing progressives. And that is exactly what Democratic leadership is trying to do to Jessica Cisneros as we speak. So in the face of mounting pressure against Quayar's reelection, he secured support from the highest ranks of the Democratic leadership in the House. As he did in 2020, Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Quayar in March, even after, even after an FBI raid at his home, which was connected to the practices of unnamed U.S.

businessmen and the nation of Azerbaijan. I mean, he's just corrupt, folks. He's just corrupt. He's just dealt with a little, little pesky FBI raid at home and office. It's like not a big deal. I'm pretty corrupt myself. Look at my ice cream. Yes, we've seen it, Nancy.

We've seen it. Good job. Well, there's more. Last week, Quayar even announced that representative James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip would join him for a get out the vote rally in San Antonio scheduled for today. And guess what? James Clyburn did not change his opinion. He did not switch gears as soon as we learned about what was going to happen with the Supreme Court decision. He's going to continue supporting an anti-choice Democrat regardless.

Financial disclosures, by the way, indicate that three D-Triple-C-approved political firms, ALMedia, Impact Research, formerly Anzalone Lizd Group, and Bauman Company are actively working to reelect Quayar. In fact, AL Media placed $786,756 in advertising for Quayar in January and February of this year. And the others also funneled money to his campaign, because that's exactly what they would do, right? I mean, the D-Triple C isn't interested in backing progressive candidates who are going to fight for you. They're interested in backing candidates who are going to fight on behalf of corporate interests, much like Republicans do. But there's a difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans will tell you that they're garbage.

They show their face. And as much as I despise them, I at least respect their honesty. Anyone who raises their hands and says, hey, I'm trash and I'm looking out for corporate donors while I crush your rights, bravo, at least you're being honest. Low bar in Congress, very, very low bar. But Democrats pretend like they're going to fight for you. They campaign and make it appear as though they care about a woman's right. to choose. But I just want you all to remember that all those rights that they claim they

want to protect always tend to take a backseat when it comes to corporate donors. The best interests of corporate donors always take priority. And that is what's happening here. Because it turns out, according to more perfect union, according to perfect union, both Quayr and Clyburn have very similar corporate donors. So when your corporate donor tells you to be a good congressman and endorse another corrupt, disgusting, conservative corporate Democrat, you do as you're told, and that is exactly what Clyburn did. Let me give you the details on that. The American Bankers Association has contributed large sums to Clyburn's and Quayar's leadership

packs. The lobbying arm of Wall Street has worked aggressively on behalf of banks like J.P. Morgan Chase to deregulate the banking industry and roll back protections meant to prevent another financial crisis. Both representatives have also received significant contributions from Walmart, the largest low wage employer in America. Their wages are so low that we as American taxpayers have to subsidize them by providing welfare, food stamps, and all sorts of other support to their employees. Let's not forget about that. That's part of the equation. They have taken tens of thousands of dollars from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, two of the biggest defense

contractors in the country while voting repeatedly to increase America's bloated defense budget. See, these are the priorities for corporate Democrats. This is what they care about. They can't be bothered with pesky things like your reproductive rights. And pretty soon, by the way, protecting your right to marry if you happen to be gay. I mean, in theory, they kind of care about that. But if they have to pick a progressive candidate who's actually going to fight for those issues, or a corporate Democrat who has the same donors, they're going to go for the corporate Democrat. Because again, they're going to do as they're told. They're prostitutes, they get to whore themselves for campaign cash. And why do they want to be in those

positions of power anyway, if they're not going to do anything to benefit the lives of ordinary Americans, of working Americans? Well, the reason why they want that position of power, is because it's a great opportunity to collect inside Intel information that we're not privy to that they can trade individual stocks on. Remember, the stock portfolios of members of Congress outperform the general stock market. Fascinating stuff, am I right? That's why they want these positions of power. It's so tasty. Oh, you're going to be living in poverty. You're going to be forced to carry a term, a fetus that you do not want to carry a term? Who cares? I mean, I'm trading individual stocks, bro.

I'm doing well. They're doing just fine. It's all about the money. It's always all about the money. The people who go into Congress are not there to serve your best interest. Doesn't matter if they're Democrats, doesn't matter if they're Republicans. All they care about is their ego, their own profit motive, and the ability to enrich themselves through their position of power. We see it over and over again.

it was certainly something that at some point in this country was mostly unique to the Republican party. But as soon as the Supreme Court decided, unlimited money can flow into the campaign coffers of politicians, that all changed. Now you have two sides of the same damn coin. By the way, Quayar and Clyburn have both raked in cash from drug and fossil fuel companies like Pfizer and Chevron, who have aggressively fought efforts to lower drug prices. and combat climate change. So how sparks, VH1 boy? Is this your hero?

Are these your heroes? You're going to come at me on Twitter because I'm being very mean to the Democratic Party, which didn't fight for us. They don't fight for us. No one here is debating the awfulness of the Republican Party, not a damn soul. But to come at us for telling the truth about the weakness, corruption, and fecklessness that we see in the Democratic Party is laughable.

How about you sit your ass down and leave it to the people who actually want to get things done in this country? He's not interested in that, though. By the way, let's go back to Obama, because I want you all to remember what campaign Obama was like in 2007 and what President Obama was really like. As soon as he was elected, he changed his tone a little bit when it came to abortion rights. In 2007, when he was campaigning, Obama promised Planned Parenthood that the very very very very very first thing I do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which effectively

codifies Roe v. Wade. Now he says the bill is not my highest legislative priority, as he put it in a recent news conference. I'm reading a piece written by the New York Times in May of 2009. So by 2009, campaign Obama is real comfy, real comfy. I don't I don't really need to do any of the stuff that I said I was going to do. And by the way, let's not forget that Obama had a super majority in Congress and could have easily codified Roe v. Wade. But he didn't do that, did he? Well, it turns out that his position ended up being a little more nuanced, apparently. Obama frames his position, this is the same 2009 piece.

On abortion as a nuanced one he calls, he calls one he calls a moral and ethical issue. Best left to women and doctors, and he envisions himself forging consensus around causes like reducing unintended pregnancies and promoting adoption. As he said in a 2007 speech to Planned Parenthood, culture wars are so 90s. Apparently they're not, because the culture wars are end up serving as a tool for Republicans to accumulate power. It serves as a distraction from bread and butter issues.

But when you have Democrats who offer nothing to the American people, And then you have a party, the Republican Party, that offers fear and culture wars. Voters are going to go for the culture wars. Might as well get... Hey, we know you probably hit play to escape your business banking, not think about it. But what if we told you there was a way to skip over the pressures of banking? By matching with the TD Small Business Account Manager, you can get the proactive business banking advice and support your business needs.

Ready to press play? Get up to $2,700 when you open Select Small Business Banking product. Yep, that's $2,700 to turn up your business. Visit TD.com slash small business match to learn more. Conditions apply. Something, I mean, they've been fed all sorts of fear-mongering lies about all these scary groups of people. And Democrats, like, they're not even effective in counterpunching Republicans and their manufactured culture wars. So people end up suffering as a result of that.

It's a tool for power accumulation on the right. Ordinary Americans suffer as a result. Their rights get taken away by the very individuals who claim that they're for liberty in this country and freedom in this country. And Democrats, they just keep losing. They just keep losing. They keep cowering. They keep caving. They keep capitulating to the American Taliban over and over and over again.

And I'm supposed to give them a round of applause because every once in a while, they announce that they're going to form a commission to study something. No thanks. I'm done with them. No thanks. Finally, at his direction, his top domestic policy advisor, this is Obama's top policy advisor, Melanie Barnes, is convening a series of discussions with people on both sides of the debate, with a goal to draft a set of policy recommendations by late summer. Oh, well, thank you so much. I'm really glad that he campaigned as someone who would codify Roe v. wait and then as soon as he was elected, he wanted to reach across the aisle and see what the

religious zealots had to say about my body and what I can do with it. Thank you, Obama. I'm supposed to give that guy a round of applause. I'm supposed to give this party that has failed us on everything, everything, including voting rights, which is political suicide for them, by the way. I was supposed to give them a round of applause. You're watching the wrong show if that's what you're expecting. I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for ineffective, lazy, corrupt weakness. I'm not interested in that at all. Something that you should think about while we take a break. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the show, everyone.

You can help support TYT without donating a dollar to us, without even being a member. I know times are tough for a lot of people. Easy way to support us is to like and share the stream if you're watching us on YouTube or share our videos on social media, have a conversation with your friends and family. Not just about this show, but the ideas that we're trying to spread through this programming, one of the things that I think we can really engage in to reverse the damage that's being done by this terrible corrupt government we're dealing with is to have more conversations with members of our community and that includes people that we might disagree with politically. I'm not talking about the alt-right. I'm not talking about lunatics. I'm talking about people who might lean conservative, people who might be undecided about where they are politically. People who are apolitical. Get out there, have conversations. share your ideas, it's so important to do that, it's more important to do that than to honestly spend all day on Twitter dunking on people. Because Twitter doesn't reflect real life,

you're not changing hearts and minds on there. But I think that there is a possibility to do so if we go out there and focus more on what we can change and the conversations we can have within our communities. We'll talk about that a little more later. But for now, Let's talk about how the right wing is running away from the damage that's going to be done by the reversal of Roe v. Wade. The right wing has been speculating on who leaked the draft opinion by the majority in the United States Supreme Court. That majority would overturn Roe v. Wade, thus making abortion illegal in much of the country. 13 states would automatically ban most forms of abortion as soon as that decision is handed down. Now, the pro-life party, as we know, is incredibly hypocritical.

Tends to be the party that supports the death penalty, tends to be the party that supports loosened gun restrictions, regardless of how many children get shot up in a mass shooting at a school. It's also the party that just absolutely loves to terrorize people who disagree with them politically by issuing all sorts of death threats. And they have decided, a group of conservatives have decided to speculate over who the leaker is. They've named a specific person, even though there's no evidence that this person leaked the draft opinion. And that person is now dealing with death threats because, of course, I mean, they're not hypocrites at all. For instance, Operation Rescue, the notorious anti-abortion activist group responsible for some of the movement's most outrageous tactics. Join the fray, issuing a press release, declaring that the leak had most likely come from the office of, and I'm not going to share it here.

It's stupid and I don't want to share their disinformation, a liberal justice. The staffer's name had become a hashtag and his picture was plastered across Twitter, along with abundant calls for the individual's disbarment. incarceration for life or prosecution for treason. I said it on the show before, but I'll say it again. Even if we find out who the leaker is, which I don't care about at all. I don't care if he's conservative, I don't care if it's a woman, man, conservative, liberal, doesn't matter. This person's like dealing with insane death threats

and the right wing, curiously, instead of being boastful about what they've just done by overturning Roe v. Wade, it's imminent, it'll happen by June. They're just focusing on that leaker. That's it, they're just focusing on that leaker. Why? I mean, wasn't this like a big win for you guys? Don't you want to be hyper focused on taking rights away from women? Isn't that, isn't that what voters want? They want to hear about how you like to take rights away from women and how you want to reverse gay marriage and all that? Like, why aren't you guys bragging about that? They're focusing on the leak because it is a distraction from the fact that they're taking rights away from people.

They're taking rights away from people that have been around for 50 years. They are regressive. That is what conservatives in this country represent. They represent regressives. That is who they are. So force them to address that and stop letting them frame the conversation. I don't care about the leaker. Don't care.

The leaker, by the way, didn't break a law. You want to try him for treason, okay. How about you learn about the actual laws we have on the books? So stupid. But who cares? This is the last time I'm going to allow a discussion about the damn leaker on this program. Okay? And if it gets brought up, I'm going to shut it down because I don't care.

Let's talk about what Roe v. Wade and its reversal actually means because that's the only thing that matters right now. So by a nearly two to one margin, that's a significant margin, folks, by a nearly two to one margin, voters oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, according to a new Politico morning consult poll conducted immediately after Politico published a draft opinion from the Supreme Court that would eviscerate the 1973 precedent guaranteeing federal abortion rights. Oh, it's unpopular, super unpopular. So force Republicans to own it. Don't let them do the same thing they did when we found out about the NSA indiscriminately

spying on every single American in this country. That was when Edward Snowden served as a whistleblower. He unfortunately made the mistake of going to Glenn Greenwald, who's an embarrassment now. But at the time was a decent journalist. And what did right wingers focus on? Oh, is this considered treason? Let's debate about that all day, all night. address the fact that the NSA is indiscriminately spying on Americans violating their privacy

rights. And to let the right wing do that again in this context when it comes to something that they have executed, something that they have done that is deeply unpopular is just honestly political negligence, it's stupidity. I see it happening with Democrats just helping to bolster their nonsense about the leaker. And I also see it happening with the corporate media. Wake up. No one cares. No real person is sitting around thinking like, you know, I am a little bit concerned about

my freedoms and my rights being taken away. But maybe we should have a discussion about the leaker and what the intentions were. Who cares? They were going to overturn Roe v. Wade no matter what. I don't care if it's a conservative. I don't care if it's a Republican. I don't care if it's a liberal. Who cares?

Hey, boomers who are hyper focused on electoral politics, wake up, wake up. Let's focus on what really matters here because it's not just about abortion rights. It's about the kind of precedent overturning Roe v. Wade leads to because they're coming for gay marriage next. They're coming for contraception next. They're coming for basic rights so people can be treated with dignity so they can look. live lives of dignity. That's what they're coming for. Instead, we're going to go ahead and like chase the squirrel that Republicans have thrown out there. Oh, who's the leaker? Who cares? Anyway, Larry Kudlow, I think is a perfect example of a Republican who's intentionally

downplaying the ramifications of this draft opinion. And I want you to listen to what he says and I'll explain exactly why he's doing this. Let's watch. It does not end abortion. The procedure will still be legal. It will be up to the states to determine. It'll be up to the voters to determine and the legislatures to determine. It was never meant to be, in my opinion, and this is what Alito is getting at. It was not a constitutional right.

It does not appear in the Constitution. And so, therefore, it should never have been federalized. Half the states will permit abortions, and half the states are going to severely restrict them. I don't know any states that will stop abortions. So people will be free to choose where they want to live, what state jurisdiction. But unelected judges, I think, should not decide these issues. Now, look, if the Congress sent in the House, want to decide this issue, that's fine, they are elected representatives.

As we shared with you on the show yesterday, Republicans are now eyeing a federal ban on abortions past six weeks. They're all right, but they tell you exactly what they're going to do. Listen, I disagree with the right wing, deeply, deeply disagree with them politically, but they don't lie to us. They tell us exactly what they're going to do. Okay, now, Cudlow's down playing it, but the last part there, you should pay attention to because that's exactly what they're doing. They're planning on capturing Congress, taking back the House and the Senate, which might not be so difficult, you know, considering all the gerrymandering and voter suppression laws that they passed in their states and, you know, the inaction that

we saw from Democrats when it came from, came to passing a voting rights bill. So once they They take charge in Congress, and once they have the White House, whether it's Trump, DeSantis, Tucker Carlson, who knows, whoever ends up leading the Republican Party, they will absolutely do away with the Senate filibuster, we don't have to, we won't have to hear about the legislative filibuster in the Senate, and they will pass an abortion ban, I guarantee it, I guarantee it, they'll probably find ways to ban contraceptives. They'll probably get rid of plan B, which is the so-called morning after pill. They want to overturn gay marriage in the country.

They're very honest about what they're doing. So I've noticed that there are a lot of conservative women on Twitter. This is all anecdotal, but they like to regurgitate what they've heard on conservative media. And conservative media is telling them, you know, these are. These baddy left wingers, they're trying to fear monger about what this means, but we're not going to outlaw abortion. Come on, this doesn't outlaw abortion. Take it easy. Take it easy. It's going to be left up to the states, except it won't be left up to the states. Because once

they pass a federal law banning abortion past six weeks, federal law supersedes state law. That is exactly what's going to happen. And guess what? That is a deeply, deeply unpopular. political move to make. So let's force the Republican Party to talk about that, to own it, to sit on the mantle of taking rights away from people, to proudly declare that they're the ones who want to take away rights that we've had in this country for 50 years, to basically admit that they're regressives and to say it over and over again. That's what we should be forcing them to do. Instead, all I see from the corporate media is,

who was the leaker? Was it a conservative? What were the intent? Who cares? Who cares? Women are about to lose their rights. They're not going to have agency over their own bodies and you're worried about the electoral ramifications. If you're really worried about electoral ramifications, force Republicans to talk about the unpopular move that they just made. Forced Republicans, to own something that is deeply unpopular. They should have done that with the Trump era tax cuts for the rich, which also polled poorly. Democrats didn't focus on that because Democrats also kind of like,

you know, they love the tax cuts. They're millionaires themselves, trading individual stocks in their position of power, as if it's not a conflict of interest. But, I mean, it's just political negligence to allow Republicans to constantly frame the discussion, the discussion to go along with whatever narrative they want to go with. Now I also want to talk about Samuel Alito's opinion because he's the one who wrote the draft.

He's the person who writes the majority opinion here. Part of the opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito explicitly references Oberfell v. Hodges, the landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage and Lawrence v. Texas, a decision that legalized sodomy. It's important to focus on the fact that he mentioned that, because in the leaked opinion, Alito says these decisions do not protect rights that are deeply rooted in history. So he's singling out a law that made sodomy legal. And he's like, not so fast. We should look out for that. Maybe, maybe there aren't constitutional protections. Maybe the government should be in your business. And maybe the government has the right to tell you that you're not allowed to get

a blowy. No but sex for you. Okay. That's the small government that conservatives are into. They want to get into your bedroom like the disgusting little perverted creeps that they are. These attempts to justify abortion through appeals to a broader right to autonomy and to define one's concept of existence prove too much, Alito wrote, claiming that the right to autonomy could license fundamental rights to elicit drug use, prostitution, and the like. These are just people who, like, salivate over the thought of forcing their religion to dictate your life. They want a theocracy. They want to get involved in your bedroom and figure out what kind of sex acts you're engaged in.

I mean, laws banning sodomy. That's really? That's what Alito is like salty about. Ah, we got to make sure that we uphold those laws. Don't want anyone having any pleasure in this country. Make them talk about this. For anyone who actually cares about preserving whatever rights we have left and then fighting for more rights, make them talk.

about the unpopular positions they have. And I'm not just talking about Alito. I'm talking about the core of the Republican Party. They want to allow corporate America to screw you, to rob you. They want to prevent you from being able to unionize. They love it. They love it. They love that your employers have a fiduciary responsibility, not to you, but to their shareholders, which means that they'll crush you as the worker. They love that. They want to protect that. That's why they distract from that by delving into various, oftentimes manufactured culture war issues. And then when it comes to the social side of things, they just want to take away your freedoms. And they want to take away your rights.

Because this isn't about life or death. It isn't. This is about control. This is about power. This is about using women's bodies and whether or not they will have agency over their bodies as a political tool and a weapon. and that is what they're doing right now. It is not popular. Two-thirds of the country rejects it.

So force them to talk about it. That's it. Who cares about the leaker? Maybe we'll find out who it is. Maybe we won't. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, our rights are being taken away. That should be the issue that takes the front seat.

Man, I'm taking my time today. Just wanted to really get into these issues a little deeper than we typically do. But we got to take a break. When we come back, we'll get into other news, including something I've been wanting to talk about, which is some of these covert networks that have existed for quite some time to ensure that women have access to reproductive rights. I'm going to tell you what they've been doing, what they plan to do, and how we can get involved, more importantly, to circumvent the ineffective nature of Congress and our pathetic government. Come right back.

Welcome back to the show, everyone, late bloomer writes in with this super chat. All the attention and drama around the pending SCOTUS judgment feels like a diversion. What's really happening from what thing is the GOP diverting our attention? way seriously just saying, I think their focus on who leaked the draft opinion is the distraction. But don't minimize what reversing Roe v. Wade means. And it does open that avenue for a federal ban on abortion. So it doesn't even matter what state you're living in. If you're in California, New York, a state where you think it's a safe haven for women's reproductive rights, you'd be mistaken. Because I have no doubt that as soon as Republicans have a simple majority in the

Senate, oh, you know that they all fall in line. There is no mansion cinema equivalent on the right wing. Okay, those principled Republicans, like there were few of them and they don't exist anymore. They all fall in line. They will do away with the filibuster to ensure that they pass an abortion ban. We should be focused on that. All right, well, let's talk about something that might give you a little bit of optimism. I know that this piece weeks ago when I read it gave me optimism. And it's a piece in the Atlantic. They've been kind of killing it lately, not every single one of their writers, but I've read a few pieces there in the past few weeks that I was really impressed by. This is one of them. The Atlantic profiled various underground

activist groups who have been providing reproductive health and access to reproductive health to women who live in parts of the country where even before we found out what this Supreme Court is likely to do in June, we're dealing with severe restrictions to their reproductive rights. They didn't have access to abortion clinics. There were certain regulations that made it an undue burden. And so these activist groups really got involved and decided, listen, we got to make sure we strategize. We got to make sure that we have our bases covered. And I want to share their stories with you. Because I think there's something we can learn here. And I really think that if we just focus solely on what we can do with

electoral politics, we'd be losing. We need to empower groups like this. We need to form groups like this on our own. Again, to look out for members of our own communities, to look out for people who will be devastated by the decisions that will be handed down by this right-wing conservative Supreme Court. So the piece titled, The Future of Abortion in Post-State, Roe America is written by Jessica Bruder. It's an excellent piece, a lengthy piece, but it profiles so many important stories. She writes, below the grassroots is the underground, a small network of community providers who connect with abortion seekers by word of mouth.

This network, too, is growing. It ranks, its ranks include midwives, herbalists, doulas, and educators. When necessary, they're often willing to work around the law. And it's really interesting because they find loopholes in the law. They find ways to kind of mitigate the damage done by some of these laws or just again, work around it. When abortion wasn't legal through Roe yet, abortion providers would use a device known as the Dell M. And it's also known as a menstrual extraction device because it can be used to pass an entire period all at once rather than over several days. which fascinating. I didn't know that it was used for that. But since it's referred to as a menstrual

extraction device, even during an era when reproductive rights had more protection in this country, there were providers, there were these underground activists who would honestly teach women how to use this device, how to use it safely. It never went away. Even after Roe v. Wade, this device and its use didn't go away. And it's because women, wanted to have full autonomy. They wanted to be able to make the decisions regardless of what state they lived in, regardless of what laws were on the books. And it was again, part of this desire for them to maintain control over their bodies.

Plus for much of the country again, abortion was already severely restricted. Nearly 90% of US counties lack a clinic that offers abortions. States have passed more than 1,300 restrictions on abortion since it was made a constitutional right. For people struggling to get by, those restrictions can be insurmountable. Obtaining an abortion often means traveling long distances, which also means finding money for transportation, lodging and child care, not to mention taking time off from work. In fact, in some states, people may pay or may reach a clinic only to learn that they are legally required to make two visits, one for counseling, the second one for the abortion,

which a mandatory waiting period of up to three days in between or with a mandatory waiting period for up to three days in between. So the cost of an in-clinic abortion ranges from about $500 in the first trimester to more than $1,000 if the pregnancy is further along. That expense, by the way, as we know, is ineligible for federal funding under a longstanding restriction called the Hyde Amendment. Now, what are these underground activists doing? I think their stories are pretty inspiring, because again, we can learn something from what they're doing.

We could expand on it to make sure that more women have these rights, they have these protections. There's a network of self-described community providers, a term for people who perform abortions and other or offer other reproductive health care services outside the medical system. Before the coronavirus pandemic, she traveled and taught in-person, in-person workshops throughout the United States and Canada. She now teaches online. Ellie learned to build a Dell M in one of her classes. So they're having these classes where they literally teach women how to safely use this device and give themselves an abortion. Look, honestly, all of it makes me feel sick to my stomach

because there was a day in America when, and I'm sure that day still exists, I'm sure there are still women who die from trying to do an abortion on their own. But I mean, back in the day, women were using wire coat hangers, killing themselves that way because they were so desperate to get an abortion. There were women who were literally injecting themselves with lysol and other chemicals to abort the fetus. The right to an abortion might go away. The need for abortions will not go away and women will take matters into their own hands. So these activist groups are just trying to mitigate the damage by educating women on how to do this, how to do it safely. It's heartbreaking, but that's the reality.

Community providers have talked about stockpiling such supplies in case Roe Falls. This was by the way published before we learned about SCOTUS's draft opinion. Ellie has coined a term for people who share that outlook, vaginal preppers. A nonprofit called abortion delivered is planning to deploy. mobile abortion vans. The van is being bulletproofed. These women are incredible, by the way. It would then be retrofitted with an ultrasound machine and a gynecological exam table.

So a doctor with a manual vacuum aspiration device could perform first trimester abortions inside. Abortion delivered, which originated in Minnesota, planned to dispatch the van and a second one stocked with abortion pills to just outside the Texas border. And we have other examples. In fact, since that last graphic mentioned abortion pills, let's talk about how outlawing abortion in this era will be different from the previous era prior to Roe v. Wade. Abortion pills, they're known as Miffy and MISO, are remarkably effective and medically safer than acetaminophen and Viagra.

They're FDA approved for ending pregnancies up to 10 weeks gestation. So in December when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs, post row prepping intensified. Volunteers across the country handed out thousands of boxes labeled abortion pills. Rather than actual medication, though, they contained cards with a link to share abortion pill. info. Let me repeat that again, share abortion pill. info. A website that does what the name suggests. The pro pill message was amplified with posters, yard signs. stencils, a mural, a digital billboard truck, and a plane towing a banner over Arizona. And then there's one final thing, and this is what really, really interests me.

This is something that if TYT Army can organize around and actually execute and expand on, it would be a dream, because this is, I think, the best workaround. The founder of Aid Access is Rebecca Goemperts, a physician who first gained prominence for creating the organization, women on waves, which sailed to countries where abortion was illegal, picked up patients, then administered abortion pills in international waters. Similar methods, floating clinics in the Gulf of Mexico's federal waters, a cruise ship turned clinic anchored outside U.S. jurisdiction, are on the minds of American activists. If we're going to sit around and expect Democrats to save us, we're sadly mistaken.

that is the most naive and foolishly optimistic way of looking at where we're at in this country. We need to take matters into our own hands. We need to have conversations, not just with like-minded individuals, but individuals who are apolitical, people who might lean right, have calm, constructive discussions with them, because they're not hearing your side of the story. They're not hearing the truth. All they're hearing is fear-mongering and garbage disinformation in right-wing media. But we also need to figure out ways to help support these particular organizations or we could even be founders of our own organizations that help to fundraise to provide these resources and these services to women.

Now, there have been so many incredible women already who have been sharing resources on social media. There was one document that was shared that I found particularly helpful and I want to draw attention to it. We've posted it on our website. So if you just go to t-y-t.com slash my body, my choice, again, that's t-y-t.com slash my body, my choice. You can learn about all these various resources and the organizations that you can support. Do not give money to the Democratic Party. If there is a specific progressive lawmaker who's an actual fighter that you want to support, that's something entirely different. If you're giving money to the DCCC, you are wasting your resources. Don't do it. They didn't fight for you. And the reason why they're not fighting for you right now

is because they love what's happening. They're fundraising. They raised $12 million yesterday. They don't deserve it. They're not fighters. Democratic leadership is not worth it. They don't deserve it. The organizations who are, honestly, in some cases, risking their lives to provide reproductive health access to women, those are the real heroes. Let's support them. Let's support their organizations. Let's support one another. Let's organize our workplaces. That's the only real hope. And my dream is at some point, we organized to a point where we could apply significant pressure from the outside to essentially make all of these feckless members of Congress bent to our will. Because if you don't force these issues, they're not going to fight

for you. There are too many incentives that work against us, namely the amount of money they can make by enriching themselves through corporate donors and trading individual stocks. That's just the fact of the matter. They empower the Republican Party. They don't deserve the 12 million. Sorry. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, John Iderola will join me and we'll talk about other news, including Ben Shapiro, weighing in on reversing gay marriage. Come right back.

Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to ad-free, access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.