The Young Turks - The Young Turks 02.12.18: Teacher Fired, NYPD Tweet, American Hero In Wast Virginia, and DLCC Retreat

Episode Date: February 13, 2018

A portion of our Young Turks Main Show from February 12, 2018. For more go to http://www.tytnetwork.com/join. Hour 1:  Cenk. A gay school teacher has been fired by a Miami Catholic school after marrying her same-sex partner in an apparent violation of church rules. News producer fired for dropping “N word” in argument with neighbor. NYPD 100th precinct tweets about Black Lives Matter and get backlash. Hour 2: A woman was removed from the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday after she used her testimony about a fossil fuel-sponsored piece of legislation to list industry donations to state lawmakers. When Democratic legislators gathered in a hotel in Portland, Maine, for a two-day policy conference last August, they were joined by a host of corporate interests who have good reason to want in on those conversations.  The meeting of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party arm responsible for supporting state legislative candidates, was closed to the press and billed as an off-the-record event, but HuffPost has exclusively obtained a copy of the agenda, which shows the members of the DLCC’s finance council. The finance council includes companies, trade groups, labor unions and public interest organizations, who pay anywhere from $12,000 to more than $100,000 to the DLCC. In return, the conference provided an opportunity for donors to interact with state legislators ― many of whom head their respective chambers ― from around the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Thanks for watching. All right, welcome to the Young Turks. So we had a little bit of technical issue with the Dan Rather show at the end there. We shot it out of L.A. today. It's a shame because we had a wonderful handoff here where Dan Rather and I got to do an exchange. Some of you will get to see that at some point, presumably. So, by the way, Dan Rather's show is always on our main channel, YouTube.com slash TYT. Check that out every week if you miss any portion of it.

It's also available for our members. So tYT network.com slash joining. You could always watch or listening, listen to Dan Rather's show, which I love. I think it's great perspective and context, and I want to make sure you watch the whole thing. So we'll get that up for members as soon as possible and up on YouTube and Facebook as well. So now, a little bit later on this program, Trump's budget is in, did he keep his promises? Well, we've got some tape on that, and we have numbers on it. We'll break it down for you guys, unlike anyone else in media.

And then, but the story I really, really don't want you to miss today is the story of an American hero. We're going to do it in the next segment. You're going to love her. What she did and how politicians reacted to her is. Awesome. Now, how the politicians reacted is despicable, but it is very, very telling. All right, and then speaking of politicians, Democratic Party, how they are courting corporate sponsors. That's a little later on the program and painful. Okay, and maybe towards the end when Anna comes in a little bit of justice, depending on your perspective.

So all that on today's show and more. But let me start with fire and fury, because I've got some rage that I've got to share with you guys. Let's go over here. Okay. Well, we've got a great little story here. It starts out super sweet. Let me tell you all about it. I know it's a local story, but it's nice to warm the heart every once in a while. Jocelyn Morphy returned to work at St. Peter and Paul Catholic School in Miami on Wednesday after marrying her wife, Natasha Haas, in the Florida Keys. Well, that's lovely. In fact, here they are. We got a picture. It reminds me of my own wedding, because we

also did it down in South Florida and also on the beach. Very, very similar. Well, this is a lovely story. All right, so why am I telling you this? Because in the next sentence. The following day, she was terminated after refusing to resign. Okay.

Jocelyn says, this weekend I married the love of my life, and unfortunately I was terminated from my job as a result. In their eyes, I'm not the right kind of Catholic for my choice in partner. Okay, well, we're going to get into the right kind of Catholic here, and I'm going to explain, and I'm going to hold them accountable. So first, though, let's be fair and hear from the school. Principal Carlotta Morales called Morphe's dismissal a difficult, yet, quote, necessary decision

in a letter sent home to parents of saints Peter and Paul. So a fuller comment here from the school goes from Mary Ross Augusta. It's actually from the archdiocese of Miami. They explain one has to understand that in any corporation, institutional organization, there are policies and procedures and teachings and traditions that are adhered to. If something along the way does not continue to stay within that contract, then we have no other choice. So both the archdiocese and the schools saying, we didn't have a choice. We didn't have a choice.

Now, I'm going to argue that they did have a choice. First, let's be fair. Let's quote Leviticus. So in Leviticus, it says, you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination. Well, that seems crystal clear. So what's our issue here? It's a Catholic high school.

They've got a right to set their rules. We've got freedom of religion in this country. And it is what it is. So it's an abomination. Homosexuality is. You can extrapolate women lying with women. It's also an abomination. That's Leviticus 1822.

But I wanted to quote another part of Leviticus, if I might. And I'm sure that since they care about the Bible so much, I'm sure that they'll grant me that. Funny enough, it's also Leviticus. Let me read you that. These you may eat, whatever is in the water and all that have fins and scales, those in the water in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water. And among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you. And they shall be abhorrent to you. You may not eat of

their flesh and their carcasses. You shall detest. Whatever in the water does not have fins and the scales is abhorrent to you. Well, that seems equally clear. So that's the shellfish provision in Leviticus. So shrimp, lobsters, crabs, oysters, we can go on and on. So I assume that the good folks here in the Catholic high school in Miami have fired everyone who's ever eaten shrimp at the school. Oh, they haven't.

Oh, that's weird, because I thought they cared about the Bible. I thought that this was all about the Bible and how they had no choice. They have no choice. They have to follow what the Bible says. Well, it says you shall not eat shellfish. It is abhorrent to you. It's as clear on that provision as it is about a man shall not lie with a man. So what's your excuse?

You have no excuse. So I know what the standard circular logic of the religious are. It doesn't matter which religion they do it every time. In this case, it happens to be Catholics, and they'll say, no, but no, the Old Testament doesn't apply anymore because it's a New Testament. And then, wait, oh, the Old Testament doesn't apply anymore. Wonderful, that a man shall lie with a man. No, but that one's clear.

What do you mean? The shellfish thing is absolutely clear. Well, but that's only the Old Testament. Good, you just told me the Old Testament doesn't apply. Did Jesus ever talk about homosexuality or a man not lying with a man? No, Jesus never mentioned it. That's New Testament. In the New Testament, it doesn't make, Jesus doesn't talk about it.

Oh, by the way, Genesis, Adam and Eve, that's in the Old Testament. I guess we crumple that up and throw it in the garbage, right? Noah's Ark, apparently that was a lot of BS. That's in the Old Testament. Which one is it? Do you believe in the Old Testament or don't you believe in the Old Testament? Because in the Old Testament, it is absolutely clear. If you eat shellfish, you are a terrible person.

It should be abhorrent to you. God and Yahweh are furious at you, just as mad as if you lie with a man. But no, they like shrimp, they like red lobster, they got the nice cheesy biscuits. They don't want to do that. That's a pain in their ass. So that part of the Bible, they burn, they ignore, they crumple up. But the part focused on hatred of others. Ooh, they love that part.

So they got every right to do it any way they like. They're a private school. They're not a public school. They better not take a dollar of my money because I don't agree to their hatred. I don't agree to their fear. I don't agree to their bigotry. So they better not take $1 from the public in Florida. And if they do, then we should regulate them.

Because we believe in equality because we're America. That's in our Constitution. You don't believe in equality. Okay, you've got freedom of religion. Can you just be a little bit less hypocritical about it? Because you don't follow the Bible. You think you follow everything in the New Testament? Go read the New Testament, let alone the Old Testament.

You don't follow it. The priests there, the nuns there, the archdiocese there, the principals there, the teachers there. They don't follow word for word. So why focus on one issue? Because it's hatred of others. What is fundamentalist religion for, if not for hatred of others? Look, luckily, not all of the parents agree. 20 of them went down there to demand an explanation, and I'm going to quote one of them for you.

Rochelle Martin said, we send our kids here because we want them to learn the message of love. I truly believe that Jesus' message is about love, compassion and acceptance, and this is the opposite, and that is very upsetting. So let me be fair to Catholics and Christians the world over, because there are some great parts in the Bible, as there are in all the books, and there are some terrible parts in the books. It is true. Just read it. If you don't believe me, pick it up, turn to any page. But the Jesus' message, the temple on the mount, is a wonderful message. So you as a Christian or a Catholic, you have a choice, the school had a choice, the archdiocese have a

choice. Do you focus on the great parts of the book about love and compassion, or do you focus on the fearful and the hateful parts of the book? Well, this school, has made a decision. Now, what you want to do with that decision is up to you. So if you're the public in Florida, you should not give a dollar to these folks. If you're a Catholic, do you want to send your kids to a school that focuses on the hate rather than the love? That is your call to make. It's a free country.

They have a right to focus on the hate, and you have a right not to go there. They have made their decision. They have lied down and made their bed. Now it's time for you to make a decision. And this doesn't just apply to this one school. Any preacher, whether they're Protestant or Catholic or Muslim or anything else, that tells you to focus on the parts that divide us in those texts, be wary. Any preacher or Imam or rabbi that tells you to focus on the love and the compassion

and looking out for the needy, those are the ones that I would frequent. Because the rest of those preachers are giving religion a really, really bad name. And so is this school. I hope that this lovely couple is all right. I hope the teacher finds a new job, one where she is accepted and appreciated for who she is and what she does. Okay, I think I've been clear on that. Now, by the way, you got a hypocrite in your life, the religious hypocrite telling you to hate others and discriminate against others. Ask him about shrimp. You know, I used to say it as a joke. It ain't no fucking joke.

It's in the Bible, okay? It's in the Bible. Do you believe in the Bible or don't you? What the hell's wrong with you if you don't believe in the Bible? I guess you're going to burn it hell. Hey, man, I didn't put both those things in the Bible. God did, right? So ask him about it.

Anyway, you think I'm mad at that? Let's go to the next story and see what happens. Okay. So we have another local news story here. Now, we don't normally cover that, but I think that it is important. We sometimes are covered in the case of mass shootings, et cetera, when there is a larger point to be made. And there is, unfortunately, in this case. This is out of Miami. It is about a parking dispute. Unfortunately, a lot of small-time disputes have started in South Florida and

mushroom into national issues. So in this case, we have Robert Fenton. He's one of the neighbors involved. The other one is Robin Cross. She's a producer at WSVN 7 News, Miami. She comes home one day, and she parks in a place that Fenton doesn't like. And apparently he's taping her because they've had this altercation once or twice before. And she starts yelling at him. Okay, not that interesting. She starts cursing, not that interesting. But wait until you hear what she says at that.

Let's watch. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-The Republic or UNFTR. As a young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-B-The-Republic or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that be. Featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right amount of

vulgarity, the UNFTR podcast takes a sledgehammer to what you thought you knew about some of the nation's most sacred historical cows. But don't just take my word for it. The New York Times described UNFTR as consistently compelling and educational, aiming to challenge conventional and upend the historical narratives that were taught in school. For as the great philosopher Yoda once put it, you must unlearn what you have learned. And that's true whether you're in Jedi training, or you're uprooting and exposing all the propaganda and disinformation you've been fed over the course of your lifetime. So search for UNFDR in your podcast app today

and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time. You're just blocking my driveway. You know what? You are fucking blocking the right away of every car that passes down this road. You are blocking my driveway. You are blocking right away of every car that passes down this road. You cannot block my driveway. You cannot park in the street either.

It's illegal. His car got hit, and the cop told us every car on this fucking street could get fucking ticket in. Yes, I use the word fucking, if you haven't heard it before. Except for your fucking son who dates a fucking nigger. Hmm. Set it out loud. By her. So she puts together the news.

She is an investigative segment producer at Channel 7 down in Miami, or she was until this got out. And she worked at a local news radio station. She worked at CBS 4 before the Sun Sentinel, CBS 12 News in West Palm Beach, and now WSVN, et cetera. And the list goes on and on and on. Of all the different places that she has apparently polluted the news with her point of view. But it's not about her. It's about the larger issue, which is apparently these people have been bottling this up, and it's a lot of people.

And to this day, it shocks me. Every time I hear it, I can't quite believe it. So she's apparently been wanting to get that off her chest for a long, long time. And, you know, is it a coincidence that we have on local news, scary pictures of minorities? Crime! Crime! Crime! Well, is it proportionate to the amount of crime that happens within the different races? Different studies have borne out that it is not.

But hey, it gets better ratings when you scare the majority of your viewers, which oftentimes are white, with scary pictures of the others, fill in the blank, and oftentimes, of course, it is minorities in African Americans. And we think, well, maybe that's just what sells, or you have one excuse or another excuse, or sometimes it's just the people doing the news who apparently have those biases, but they never shared them with you until, as she said, finally, she said. I'll get to that quote again one more time if you didn't hear it clearly at the end of that video. But I'm just going to turn back to the Fentons for one second. So there was the dad, Robert Fenton, and then there's Avery Fenton, who's a lawyer in Fort Lauderdale

and a former public defender in West Palm Beach. So he has been beseeching WSVN to fire her. And he wrote this. He said, I'm not looking to ruin her life or future employment, but I do think the punishment should be commensurate with what happened. Your employee reduced my girlfriend to nothing other than a slur based off of the color of her skin. Last night, I'm simply looking to see your employee terminated, which I believe in the light of the events is fair recourse.

Now, look, recourse for the fentons, I feel bad for them and they had to put up with this nonsense, et cetera. But to me, okay, that's one thing. To me, the much more important thing is how many times did she put into news stories, that bias, that stereotype, that thing that was lingering in the back of her head, and maybe she didn't even know she was putting into the news stories, given how vicious she was in that team, maybe she did. But most of the time, it's subconscious and you don't realize you're doing it. How many times did that get on air. How many times did it pollute the airwaves and get into people's heads? And look, I often go back to this, but it's really important. There's a brown-eye, blue-eyed experiment that a teacher

in Kansas did. She separated the class into kids with blue eyes and brown eyes and told one set of kids that they were inferior and the other kid that they were superior. So the problem, and it was an amazing experiment, she flipped it. The same thing happened, even though they had just gone through the experiment in the other way. Not only that the people that were told they were superior, think that they were superior. The most damaging part and the most heartbreaking part was the people who were told they were inferior

believed it. And they started doing worse than school and the effect was nearly immediate and it was significant. So we've been telling these people through the news all along these biases that the people who created the news had.

But they never admitted it and any time you brought it up you'd say, oh, that's just liberals who want to be victims, and it's all not true. Racism, in America, never. So I draw your attention to that last quote if you didn't hear it right. She said, hmm, I said it out loud, finally. And I know that these are times where people feel emboldened to say those things out loud.

In a sense, I'm glad they're out of the closet. it. But what was never said out loud has been haunting us for time immemorial in America. And now it's being said out loud and it is super ugly to hear. But at least you know it now. So yes, that particular station has taken some action. She's at least been suspended and we will see if they take further action on this. But the more important story is what's in the back of all of our heads and how did it get there? And a lot of times it got there through the news and it got there through folks like this who believed these things and kept it inside, at least in terms of what they said to others, but in their actions, unfortunately, spoke volumes. Okay. Now we go to another story, unfortunately, not similar to that, but it is also disconcerting

on a similar topic. Okay, so it's Black History Month, and the NYPD wanted to celebrate. Well, that's great news. Well, unfortunately, great news are oftentimes serving the bad news in America. But 100th Precinct put out a tweet, and I wanted to show it to you guys. guys. So this is, like I said, 100th precinct in New York City. So that particular precinct of the New York Police Department, putting this out, Jack Johnson became the first African-American man to hold a World Heavyweight Championship boxing title in 1908. He held on to the belt

until 1915. Hashtag Black Lives Matter. Okay. I look at that and I say, okay, wonderful, no problem. That sounds like a good way to remember Jack Johnson. And, and other things in black history and a way to celebrate black culture. Okay. Others looked at it and thought, how dare they? How dare they what? Well, let's find out. We've got an anonymous police source in New York City raging about it and demanding answers.

They say, how can a precinct commander lead people when she aligns herself with a group that is known to hate law enforcement and wishes police officers dead? She's making a political statement on a job website. Let's see what the police commissioner does now. If they don't take action, then I guess a police commissioner and the mayor condone this. So what kind of action do we have to take? We have to fire people for saying that black lives matter. All right, so let's break this down in a couple of ways. Number one, does black lives matter as a group want police officers dead?

Not remotely. They've never said it. No part of any organization has ever said it. There has been one chant that Fox News found and says over and over again, fry him like bacon, which we've given you the context for a thousand times with the rest of the media will not report out. Apparently the protesters were kidding around with the cops who were right there next to them. But it doesn't matter. Okay, you don't believe me, that's fine.

Fry them like bacon. Wow, they had one bad chant. Did they ever take any action? And it was one group in one city. No, it's so easy to demonize. What is the heart of Black Lives Water? What is the overwhelming majority of the Black Lives Matter protesters want? Something really simple.

For Black Lives to also matter. They never asked for more privileges. They never said, I don't want you to care about white lives or Asian lives. That would be preposterous. They're for civil rights. They're asking, can Black Lives Matter also? Do they criticize law enforcement from time to time? Yes. Do they say we shouldn't have any cops? No. What do they say? They say, can the cops also care about us? Oh my God, how dare you? No. The cops should only care about certain people. What is the counter to that? Shouldn't it be obvious? Shouldn't we all open our arms and say, yes, of course black lives should matter too. And of course that they're part of the community that we're supposed to be serving. If you don't agree with that, what is wrong with you? So apparently just simply saying black lives shouldn't matter is an affront.

to these cops in New York and a front like black lives should matter. God. And you wonder why they protest you. You're a shocked and chagrin to find out that the community does not trust you. When simply saying black lives matter is something that enrages you so much that you think somebody should be fired over it. So as law and crime reports, the tweet was later deleted and replaced the same message in the hashtag, hashtag Black History Month. It turns out it wasn't the head of the precinct, the woman that's pictured in the tweet

that sent it out, it was an underling, who cares? I wish it was her, and I would celebrate her. I don't know if the underling meant to put Black Lives Matter or meant to put Black History Month. It doesn't matter. Wouldn't it be great if a local police department said, yes, black lives do matter. They matter to us because they're our community and we're here to protect them and we're here to serve them. Wouldn't that be amazing?

That apparently is too much to ask for. So now, look, I'm sure the police commission doesn't want any part of this controversy. The mayor doesn't want any part of it. Everybody gets super angry on both sides. The two sides are, should the police be reformed in any way, shape, or form to serve the entire community? Or should they not? No, the police are perfect, and they shouldn't, you don't touch them. How dare you criticize them?

We'll do whatever the hell we want to the community. and you'll like it. Those are your two sides, apparently. What's the other side? What's the other side? The black lives shouldn't matter. That they shouldn't ask for civil rights. They should, police should never be reformed. What's the other side? Are you telling me that you think that the cops, if you're a right winger who hates black lives matter, that cops have never abused anyone. They've never abused African Americans. All the statistics that show you that blacks are whites smoke marijuana at the same rate, but blacks are arrested at four times the rate. That's all made up.

I know everything is made up. And then one blogger found another statistic that is in contravention of 99% of the other statistics and maybe climate change doesn't exist. And maybe there's an alternate reality. And maybe the crowd size for Trump was larger than any other crowd that's ever happened because I live on planet, Mars, and everything is different there. But the reality is, yes, of course some cops, not all cops, but some cops. Unfortunately, a lot of cops in different times, in different places, have disproportionately targeted African Americans.

It's not to say that they should all be fired. They should all be fried like bacon. It doesn't mean any of that. It just says, can we reform the police a little bit? And so when they react so virulently in this way, at least some of the cops that reacted to this tweet in the press, it gives you a sense, not that they need less reform, that perhaps they need more. reform. Now luckily it looks like they're not going to do anything to the precinct captain and NYPD spokesperson said the officials are

quote currently reviewing the Twitter account of the 100th precinct for all those terrible things that they said about how black lives might actually matter. The NYPD admitted however that nothing was likely to come of that investigation noting quote there is no indication that any discipline will be given out. The fact that this is even a debate is preposterous and depressing. Look, I

personally run into a lot of cops who love this show, say great things about us. They're part of our audience. We've got family members who are cops and some of the hosts and on the people who work here. But it is also

troubling that there is a whole other set of cops out there who think that the idea of reform to serve everybody in America, equally is abhorrent to them. We don't know who's who. There are a lot of good cops out there, and there's a decent amount of bad cops out there.

And this kind of reaction is not helpful to the community, and that means everyone in the community. White, black, Asian, it doesn't matter. It is counterproductive and disconcerting. If we can't trust our cops to protect and to support, and to serve us as they are supposed to do. Are we comfortable giving them badges and guns? I want to be comfortable.

I want the cops wherever it's needed to be reformed enough so that we know that they're serving the whole community and everyone can have peace of mind about what they're doing and that they're here to actually protect us. It's not too much to ask for. All right, I got to take a break. Now, when we come back, an American hero is born. You're going to love what she did in West Virginia, and you're going to hate the politician's reaction.

But it is an amazing story. We'll have that for you when we return. Thanks for listening to this podcast. You're only halfway through. So hold, hold, stay right here. Just want to remind you if you want to get all five segments of the Young Turks commercial free. These are just two of them. Every day we do it.

So go to t-y-tnetwork.com slash join, and you'll get the whole five segments, two hours. Add free. Do it now. All right, back on the Young Turks. L.L. Bishop writes in, I cannot say how much I love to hear Dan Rather's voice. Hangary Skywalker says Dan Rather's half hour seems to fly by, such a great segment. Thank you guys. But are we going to get any tweets about me and one of my chopped liver?

No, I'm kidding. I love Dan Rather's show. Everybody check it out. It's every Monday at 5.30 p.m. Eastern. It leads into the Young Turks. Just tune in half an hour earlier. And I love that you guys appreciate it as much as I do. Tom Zawaki says, typical Christian logic, love thy neighbor, unless their morals contradict yours.

And then Emily Vandermielan with a quick tweet saying, referring to the Miami news producer kerfuffle, I hope he got her car towed. And if she's parking in front of his driveway, that should be a fairly easy thing to do. Here, here on that. All right, now let's go to our American hero. So I don't know what's in the water in West Virginia lately, and that might be part of the issue here. But all of a sudden, we've got a lot of progressive heroes coming out of West Virginia. And they are actually, like I said, literally fighting for the water, including Paul Eugene Swearingen run for Senate against Joe Manchin. And we've had a lot of them on Rebel headquarters.

But this one, wow, what a wonderful action and statement by Lisa Lucas. She went down to talk about a law that they were trying to pass down in West Virginia. And I think you're going to love what she had to say. The law is about how you needed 100% of the landowners to give permission to use their land for oil and gas companies. Now, that makes sense. It's their land. I mean, that should cut across all ideologies. I know conservatives don't like easement laws when they, you know, you've got a mall coming through or whatever.

and they take your land for public use, and that was a huge conservative issue. Now they want to knock it down as just 75% have to agree. Why? Because oil and gas companies pay the politicians. So we're done with that. There goes your constitutional rights. And whether your conservative or progressive is irrelevant to them. But it's relevant to her.

So she went down there to set them straight. Listen to what she had to say, and then listen to what they did to her. I'd also like to point out that the people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry. And the people who are going to be voting on this bill are also often paid by the industry. For example, and I have to keep it short simply because the public. At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing and selling our data. doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your

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That's an American hero. Can we try again? And I have to keep it short simply because the public only gets a minute 45 while lobbyists can throw a gala at the Marriott with whiskey and wine and talk for hours to the delegates. So to keep it short on the Judiciary Committee, Charlotte Lane, about $10,000 from gas and oil interest, including AEP Marathon, first interim. Dominion, EQT, and I could go on. Next, let's talk about John Schott from Mercer. First Energy, $2,000, Appalachian Power, $2,000. Steptoen Johnson, that's a gas and oil law firm, $2,000. Console Energy, 1,000, EQT, 1,000.

And I could go on. Now let's talk about Jason Harshberger. Ms. Lucas, we ask no personal comments be made. This is not personal comments. It is a personal comment. and I'm going to call you out of order if you're talking about individuals on the committee. So if you would, just address the bill. If not, I'll ask you to please step down.

Jason Hartzberger took $3,500 about 40% of his money coming back from oil, including the opinion in PQD, first energy, next carry energy, I will finish. Drag me off, sir. People deserve some people and fight for people. Oh, my God. Man, she's an American hero. If you can, man, every one of you, go do likewise.

So that happened to be the West Virginia House of Delegates. That was on Friday. All she did was she just read the donations from the fossil fuel companies. You're passing a law to the benefit of fossil fuel companies. and that is going to take away constitutional rights of American citizens. So I'm just going to read the donations you got from fossil fuel companies. That's all. I'm not saying it's a good thing.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm just reading the donations. Apparently, the politicians took such great offense at that. They had to cut her mic and remove her from the building and to shove her out of the way. Why are you taking offense? I thought it was just those fossil fuel companies who are people, because corporations are people, my friend. And that's what Mitt Romney tells me. That's what the corrupt politicians tell me that they're just, and they were just

speaking to you, that money is speech, and those are people. So why are you embarrassed? You were just having a conversation with those oil companies. Why are you so embarrassed? Because you know that it's, in fact, corruption. And what those are are bribes. They're legalized bribes. That's the swamp.

So when all she does is read the money that you have taken, you want her to leave the building. That's her house. That's not your house. That's her house. She's a citizen of West Virginia doing what every citizen should do. Get involved. Call him out on it. So I want to quote her more afterwards, she said, as I tried to give my remarks at the public hearing this morning on HB4268 in defense of our constitutional property rights,

I got dragged out of house chambers, and allow me to point out that if delegates genuinely think that my talking about who their campaign donors are and how much they're receiving from corporate lobbyists slash corporate PACs is an ad hominem attack, then they should be refusing those donations. If you don't like your bribes being called out, then don't take them. That makes all the sense in the world. Otherwise, why aren't you proud? She'd be like, yeah, of course.

I had a great conversation with an oil company. At the end of that conversation, they gave me $5,000. And I used it to get elected over and over again and to maintain my own power, privilege, and money. You should go ahead and be proud. If you're not proud, then maybe you might want to fix this system. She went on to say, refuse any donation that if someone mentions it makes you feel personally attacked. Because that's not an attack. That's guilt.

And you should be feeling that. Let that guilt about who you're really working for inform your votes. Don't let the corporate money do it. So she's going to be on Rebel Headquarters tonight. We have wonderful producers here at the Young Turks. She was going to be on before I even knew the story happened. And she's going to come and tell her side of it. You know the Young Turks is live.

6 to 8 p.m. Eastern rebel headquarters where we have progressives come on and talk about their issues. And in this case, it cuts across all party lines. But she is a Democrat. Apparently she's going to run for office, which is more power to her. That's fantastic. Rebel Hodecorders is right after the Young Turks live at 8.5 p.m. Eastern, t-ytnetwork.com slash live.

If you miss any of the interviews with any of the candidates, go to YouTube.com slash TYT Politics, and we'll have those links down below. Check it out. I'm going to give you Lissa's website as well. and we're going to do it at Rebel Headquarters as well. But I want you to read a couple of, I want to read a couple more quotes to you guys from her as to why she's earning because she's an average citizen. She's not born politicians, not lobbyist, not any of that, okay?

She says, I'm a regular person, just a regular person who got so disgusted with money in politics that despite being an introvert, I'm running for office. Yes. Look, there's so many people working on these issues from so many different angles and they fight so hard to regular people. Stay in there, okay? Stay in the fight. And I've seen other people say,

look, I never wanted to do it. I have issues stuttering. I have issues being an introvert. I don't like to go out into crowds, etc. But they do it. They brave that to be able to speak their mind. There's nothing better as an American citizen than doing that. Speak out.

You're supposed to. That's the heart of the country. She said, I'm a Democrat, but I know this district is being politically sacrificed by democratic leadership in order to get energy sector money in their upticket races. I've called, I've written, I've begged in person, running for office is the only other thing I can think of to fight back. She said, there must be regular folks to represent us, people who aren't interested in making

politics a lifelong career. I want to get the money out of politics. That'll make a huge difference. Politicians will then have to listen to their voters, their real constituents, then hopefully I can get back to the farm and go about fixing my camper and hiking with my dog. You know what that reminds me of? It reminds me of the founding fathers. That's what they used to say all the time.

We just want to fix this thing and then get back to our farms. True today in West Virginia as it was back then. And unfortunately, the fight for democracy is true and important and relevant today as it was back then. Because we have lost our democracy. Now we have legalized bribery. You're just allowed to give campaign contributions. You're allowed to do independent expenditures. You're allowed to do dark money, and you're allowed to do it at unlimited amounts.

Of course they work for their donors. 93% of Americans say that politicians work for their donors and not their voters. We are not blind, deaf and dumb. We can see it as clear as day. You can shut all the mics you like, and it isn't going to fix the problem, and it isn't going to cover up what you're doing. There's only one answer, get money out of politics. And if you do and you have real democracy, then the Democratic leadership and the Republican

leadership can't continue to work for the corporations and not for us. And by the way, also for the unions. I don't want any money in politics. I don't care where it comes from. And the private financing so that they don't work for private interests. Lisa Lucas is an American hero. I love what she did. learn from her go do it wherever you live and make sure you hold your politicians accountable fight

back get money out of politics i am energized today so god bless her heart man so we'll talk to her in just a little over an hour don't miss that interview i can't wait to speak to her tonight at 8.5 p.m. eastern right here okay um so now let me go to the opposite end of the spectrum and talk about that Democratic leadership that, oh, I forgot to give you her website. I knew it was pausing for a reason. Let me just give it to you real quick and we'll do it again at Rebel headquarters. It's Alyssa Lucas.com. Go check it out. I love the Oracle part.

I love the holler from the holler. Jesus Christ, man. It's just so great. So L-I-S-A-Lucus.com, go check it out right now. Okay. So now let's go do that story. Okay. So,

Huffington Post has a really interesting story about how Democrats are trying to take back seats across the country in the different state races. Now, they've had a lot of success doing that lately, but it has been unexpected candidates, not the ones that have gotten the most financial backing, but the one that have gotten the most grassroots support. Has the Democratic Party learned anything from them? Unfortunately, most of you know how this story is going to end? No, not remotely.

So Itai Vardi at Huff Post with an excellent article, so I'm going to quote it at length. It begins this way. When Democratic legislators gathered in a hotel in Portland, Maine, for a two-day policy conference last August, they were joined by a host of corporate interests who have good reason to want in on those conversations. Indeed, those interests do not necessarily align with the citizens. The meeting of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party armed responsible for supporting state legislative candidates, was closed to the press and billed as an off-the-record event. So let's be clear about this.

Democratic legislators get together. It is closed to the press. It is close to the public. that means you, you are not allowed to see it, but it is open for business. So let's get into those details. The Finance Council includes companies, trade groups, labor unions, and public interest organizations who pay anywhere from $12,000 to more than $100,000 to the DLCC. In return, the conference provided an opportunity for donors to interact with state legislators,

many of whom had their respective chambers from around the country. And yes, unfortunately, the leader, Leadership makes the most important decisions at the state, houses, assemblies, and all across the country, and they are the ones who are invited to meet with their corporate and union sponsors and donors. As long as you've got enough cash to play, you will get your say. The Portland Conference included prominent representation from the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries, including lobbyists from America's health insurance plans, a national

trade group that is currently lobbying against Vermont, Senator Bernie Sanders, Medicare for All Bill, representatives from the Association for Accessible Medicines, Eli Lilly, Sinoffi, Sinovi and Pharmaceuticals, Anthem, Merck, Novartis, and Vertex all also attended. So, you're not invited, but the pharmaceutical companies are invited. And then when you try for a single payer in different states, all of a sudden it's blocked. You don't know why it's blocked. You have a sneaking suspicion. Well, those folks contribute a lot of money to those politicians.

And you give a lot of money to politicians and then you get to nice, have nice cushy meetings with them in Portland, Maine, where you can talk to your ear off for hours and hours and tell them how important it is to not have single payer, to not have Medicare for all, to make sure that those private pharmaceutical companies and health care insurance companies continue to make overwhelming profits, how important it is for business and for the quote-unquote economy, but not necessarily for the citizens. Representatives from the Edison Electric Institute, the powerful national trade group, advancing utilities interests were also present, as were the American fuel and petrochemical

manufacturers, the Nuclear Energy Institute, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Monsanto, eBay, and Wells Fargo. You don't have to hate those companies. I like a Big Mac. I've been known to have a Coke time or two. I probably have unfortunately consumed something Monsanto has made. But that isn't the point. The point is, should corporations be able to have an audience that is paid for with your state legislators? Do you get the same kind of access?

I know the answer. The answer is hell no. And I tell you this, you know, at the state level, it's actually way better than the national level. Sometimes you actually can talk to your state legislators. But is it fair that these companies get to pay all this money and get special access? And you think that special access does not eventually wind up influencing the politicians? Does anybody really believe that anymore? I know on cable news, they say, oh, they are all honorable gentlemen.

and ladies from these states and they have different ideas and ideology and philosophy. But the overwhelming majority of Americans know that in reality, the number one philosophy is who's writing my checks? And if it's a union, maybe I'll represent the union. If it's a corporation, I will definitely represent the corporation. Where are citizens in that equation?

Like I explained, there were also unions, and here's Huff posts on that. major labor unions also attended, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Iron Workers International and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as well as representatives from Americans for Responsible Solutions, which advocates for gun control. Now, I like gun control. I like unions, generally speaking, and I used to belong to a union, and I think unions help to do collective bargaining.

Do I want it to hurt unions? No. You want to take away power from the unions? No. But do I want unions to be able to give cold hard cash to politicians and hope that that doesn't unduly influence them? No, no, no, no. I don't want unions doing it. I don't want corporations doing it. And by the way, unions, I got news for you. There's a hell of a lot more corporations than unions, and they have a hell of a lot more money. You are going to be on the perpetual losing end of that equation.

I don't know when it's ever going to get through to you. Get money out of politics, all money. DLCC Communications Director, Maris Sloan, said the policy conferences are forms for legislators to engage with each other and share new ideas, as well as an opportunity for legislators to interact with industry leaders and learn more about policy positions of both the legislators and the organizations. Now, of course, they're going to frame it that way, and I'm giving you their perspective. There's their quote on it.

oh, we're just trying to learn. I didn't know what the position of the oil companies and the pharmaceutical companies were. Now that they've paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, now I know their positions. This is all about education. Does anyone really believe that? Get all the money out. Wolf-pac.com to get the money out, do it right now. And if you want uncorrupted Democrats, well, then choose ones that don't take corporate pack money.

That's just as Democrats.com. Okay. The Finance Council members who paid $35,000 or more to the DLCC were granted the opportunity for one-on-one meetings with state legislators slated for 90 minutes during the second day of the conference, according to the agenda. Well, they get one-on-one meetings. You get usually nothing. One state legislator who asked not to be named because he's received assistance from the DLCC said he felt, quote, uncomfortable. about the abundance of corporate interests. Now, they have one particular example of a former United States Senator, Mark Begich,

and I think that it is instructive, so I wanted to quote that as well. The DLCC conference also featured former Democratic Alaska Senator Mark Begich, who joined a legal and lobbying firm, Brownstein, Fayette, Farber, and Shrek as a strategic advisor after leaving Congress in 2015. Begich has backed, has backed, Alaska's organization, oil and gas industry, mining practice includes, I'm sorry, in his six years in the Senate and co-founded the New Deal, a centrist democratic group initially described as supporting pro-business progressives that now defines itself with the more neutral pro-growth progressives, tag, Brownstein, Fayette, Farber, and Trex, robust energy and mining practice

includes such clients as Freeport LNG, Citgo, Petroleum, Cobalt International Energy and Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Baggage also runs his own Anchorage-based consulting shop, Northern Compass Group, and in late 2016, called for opening the Arctic to offshore drilling. Look at that. A Democrat who worked for the oil and gas industry, basically, when he was a senator, then goes through the revolving door, goes and becomes a lobbyist for them, and then goes and talks to the current legislators, and tells them, oh, yeah, oil and gas is awesome.

And then shovels money in their direction as money was shoveled in his direction. And then all of a sudden, you've got offshore drilling in the Arctic just like they wanted. Now, in this case, it was Republicans had enough votes and Trump could do it all on his own. But in oftentimes, when they need Democratic votes, just enough Democratic votes appear to make all those positions possible. And then what do they tell you? Oh, there was nothing we could do. What could we do? Oh, well, golly, gee, we had to do what the Republicans wanted.

Oh, are they also our donors? What a fun coincidence. It's gross. The whole system is gross. It is bound to corrupt both parties if you set up a system that rewards unlimited, legalized bribery. Wolf-pacac.com, if you don't get the money out, you're going to be stuck with this forever. Two political parties deeply poisoned. One more quote here from Maris Sloan, who's the communications from the DLCC, says, no.

The DLCC does not take policy positions, and there is no quid pro quo expected from anyone attending our conferences. We are working every day to close the fundraising gap with the Republicans who regularly outraise us. In other words, what do you want us to do? The Republicans are even more corrupt than us, and they say they do exactly what the corporations want them to do. Whereas we kind of mainly do what the corporations want us to do. Hey, we don't spell it out. There's no quid pro quo. What do you think they're paying all that money for?

And they give you all that money the first time. Why did they give it the second time? Because they got a return on investment. These are not non-profits. They're all in the business of maximizing profit. If they give you money the second time, that means you help them maximize profit to their advantage and not to our advantage. The guy who's clearly outlined this democratic conundrum, as so he thinks it is, was Barney Frank. He talked to TYT Politics during the 2016 campaign.

This short little clip gives you in exactly what is wrong with the Democratic Party, and they don't even realize it. Watch. Do you think it would really be better for liberals, regulators, if all the money from the banks went to Republicans as opposed to just 80%? Because we could accomplish that. We could refuse to accept any. Yes! Yes, that's what I want. Not because I'm impractical, but because if you take 20% of the banker money, that means

you will lose forever. You signed on to a system where you have a permanent, massive disadvantage. Isn't the smarter idea to say, I am uncorrupted, and I will fix this system? Because if you maintain the system, yes, Barney Frank, you might have a lot of power and privilege and money. Congratulations to you. And Mark Begich could be a lobbyist forever and make tons of money drilling in the Arctic and enabling all of the corporate priorities. But the Democrats will be forever consigned to the minority party. Not because they are the minority in the country. Not because the Americans don't agree with our positions. Almost every policy position

Americans are progressive on. I can show you poll after poll. It is not my opinion. opinion and his facts based on polling. So why do Democrats lose? Because they are paid to lose. They are part of a corrupt system where their job is to lose. So the DLCC and Barney Frank go around. What do you want us to do? Not take any money? I mean, our job is to be a little less corrupt than the Democrats and to get her ass kicked one election after another. And that is why at the state level, Democrats have lost a thousand seats. Think about the severity of the problem, a thousand seats they lost. And worse yet, even when they're in charge, they somehow magically wind up losing out policy positions.

They lost at the national level of the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the presidency to a guy like Donald Trump. Does that seem like it's working as a Democratic strategy? Wolf-Pack.com, get all the money out. Save the Democratic and Republican parties, by the way. If you're a conservative, why do you want Republicans to be deeply corrupt and in the pocket of big business? I got news for your big business doesn't give a damn about you. It cares about its bottom line and you all know that. And they keep telling you, don't worry it'll trickle down to you.

Does it look like it's trickling down? And finally, if you're a Democrat, go for the uncorrupted Democrats. Justice Democrats take no corporate PAC money. Look at their agenda. You agree with some parts. disagree with any other parts. Okay, you make your own decisions. But at least you know they're not working for these guys. Whereas unfortunately, so much of the others, especially at the national level, and unfortunately, in the leadership levels at the states, they're working for somebody,

but it ain't you. We'll be right back. Thanks for watching what I hope was a lovely edition of the Young Turks. Now, you know that that is two of the five segments that we do, because that's free. have you support independent media and come watch the whole show that we do every day that's five segments overall no ads at all that's at t yt network dot com slash join come become a member thanks for watching either way thanks for listening to the full episode of the young turks support our work listen ad free access members only bonus content and more by subscribing to apple podcast at apple dot co slash t yt i'm your host jank huger and i'll see you soon