Weekly Skews - Weekly Skews - 3/30/21 - Georgia Talk with Corey Forrester and Marcus Flowers

Episode Date: March 31, 2021

Tonight Trae and guest host Corey Ryan Forrester dive into the disconcerting state of affairs in the Peach State, and the implications for the future of voter suppression and authoritarianism overall in this country. We are joined for the conversation by Dem candidate for Georgia’s 14th district, Marcus Flowers! (We’ve also got some wonderfully entertaining dumbassery.)Support the show

Well, how to y'all? Thanks for being here. Today is Tuesday, March 30th, 2021, I Crowder. And that you may have ascertained is not Mark A.G. No, Mark is traveling today for the first time in the show's history. We have a guest host, but you already know him and love him. It's our chief Georgia correspondent, Corey Ryan Forster, Corey, thanks for filling in. And how you doing, buddy?

What up, Trey Lane? good man i noticed if so it's weekly skews now yeah because we went rebrand once a week also i'll tell you and i've said this on the show it's because some some bitch uh scoped in underneath me and took evening skews as like a domain name and stuff word yeah well you know i'm yes and i just didn't do that at the beginning and then missed out on it so we had to change it to weekly skews but it's it's it's funny because somebody bought the buttercream dream dot com and they like messaged me and was like you can have it for six thousand dollars and i was like you can die alone is what you're going to do

because I don't give a shit. Like, I'm never going to do that. Yeah, never cared less about a thing. Don't give a fuck. When it comes to that, yeah, you can keep it. But with this is always, producer Matt, he's still here behind the scenes doing his thing. This is, as Corey just pointed out, weekly

skews tonight. We talk about the recent voter suppression laws in Corey's home state of Georgia, and what that might make. What? You hadn't heard about that? Oh, my God. Yeah, it's some shit, buddy. And we're going to talk about what it might mean for the future of voting rights around the rest of the country and the implications for the idea of American authoritarianism and all types of real good stuff. That will include a conversation with our guest tonight, the U.S. Army veteran who is running opposed to Marjorie Taylor Green in Corey's home district of the Georgia 14th, Marcus. That's going to be fun.

Corey, you already know Marcus. He hits, right? I've been knowing Marcus, as we say, Marcus actually. hit me up like a while back before he even announced his run and we've been communicating just because he was like hey man i like your videos by the way i'm from here um and he was like i don't think he's like by the he's like also i see a lot of people in your comments tell you that you need to run and i was like yeah they do and he goes don't do that at all that's not a good you you shouldn't do that marcus is marcus is the real deal dude like he's he's one of these guys like Marcus is a military man and I had to

something I had to learn about Marcus really quick was like the difference between a military I'm used to hanging out with you who I would describe as the exact opposite of a military man for sure yeah yeah yeah so Marcus like I'll wake up like to pee or something at 5 o'clock in the morning and I'll have had a text from Marcus

that's like hey man you know holler at me when you get up I got an idea or something I want to shoot by you and I'll just I'll respond in the middle of the night like okay man I will and then like two seconds later he's FaceTiming me like he's up at five in the morning like I'm ready to do this I'm you know and I'm like oh my god what is happening he's already had chow he's already he's already he's already the whole thing and I was like oh my god this is what it's like when someone is like for serious about it you know what I mean like I'm just a dip shit that makes dumb videos but this guy is like he's for real a real human man who does things yes and that's the thing is a man he's a man yeah Right. I'm not used to that. No, me neither. I'm not a man. I'm something else. You made him like, oh, I'm not a man.

Anyway, but Marcus is great, and you guys will enjoy him too. He'll be joining us a little later. It's going to be a good show. But first, as always, we must begin with the Daily Dumbass. Matt, play the graphic, please. Now, I think most of us would agree that when it comes to mocking American dumbassery, the capital insurrection on January 6th is the gift that keeps. on giving. That well is not yet empty. There's dumb and then them there hills still yet.

And we've got a new one for you tonight. Matt, you can play the clip whenever you got it. A Dallas man who was arrested in late January and charged with involvement in the riot that overtook the Capitol on January 6th was reportedly wearing a shirt that declared his participation in the siege during his arrest. The AP reported that federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing Monday that Garrett Miller was clad in a shirt bearing the the message I was there, Washington, D.C., January 6th, 2021, when he was arrested on January 20, he had a shirt, literally wearing a shirt that said, I was there, Washington, D.C., January 6th, 2021. I feel like the Capitol riots were the Avengers end game of their dumbassery, like it

was all of the players coming out at once. And now we're in, like, phase four. of the dumbass shit, but like they still have to keep calling back because, like, my God, you know, you can't, you can't ignore that Thanos arc that they had. Right. So, uh, on a recorded call from jail after his arrest, he told his mama, he said, I don't feel that I've done anything wrong. And now I'm being locked up, right? And, but on Facebook, on the day of, he posted a selfie of, he posted a selfie of, himself inside the Capitol one of his buddies commented bro you got in and he replied yeah I just wanted to incriminate myself a little bit oh my god like it was the club in that the thing

though like they they never think like when when those type of dudes are doing that thing like they never think what they're doing is a bad thing you know what I mean like that like he definitely felt like this will be fine I'm gonna do this fuck Pelosi you know they'll get Rand Paul at least, like, we'll be on the hook for this. Like, they'll get me out. Like, they never think they're, like, dude, that's the most, like, invincible. Like, that's the most proof of, like, white racist dudes just think they're invincible. Like, none of them expected what us to still be talking about it right now in this way.

Well, also, the fact that he used the word incriminate, I just wanted to incriminate myself a little bit. It shows that, like, he did understand that it was, like, against the law, but he still thought it wasn't. wrong you know right what i'm doing is against the law but it's not wrong right because you know i'm a racist white man or whatever however that works right which like you know i'm kind of a hypocrite like i put a video out the other day i was so drunk by the way i'm still gonna do it i'm still absolutely going to do it but like i was hammered drunk and i was in my kitchen i was just like i'm fucking going to the wherever the longest lines are i'm going i'm passing out water i'll put crystal light in it I'll bring goddamn twinkies and for the record I will but that's also me being

like I in the hell the the point of the video is being going I'm white nothing will happen like they'll take me to jail and then like that's the worst thing that can happen is they'll take me to jail and then I'll make bail immediately now the only difference is and I think you probably already know is that that is not an insurrection and I didn't storm the capital like it's a huge different like I'm there's no way that I'm not right. in everything that I said and you can put that on my tombstone yeah without a doubt yeah that's you in a nutshell right there uh we're going to get into all that all the voter stuff and the lines and the snacks and all that am i doing this show right you're doing it great buddy you're doing a great job

i don't watch i know yeah you only come on and hit and then go about your day yeah i know i'm used to like the six minutes can you come on you know yeah i'm sorry so but first we got some honorable for daily dumbass this night and this first one up so again I think we would all agree that the Republican Party is kind of chock full of self-aggrandizing disingenuous

lunatic caricatures right? Yeah. But even in a party made up by self-aggrandizing disingenuous lunatic caricatures, there is a noteworthy young up-and-comer. I mean, tell you it is real quick and then you can see it for yourself. His name is Big Dan

Rodimer. He's a former pro wrestler who first ran for office in Nevada in the last elections and got beat by the Democratic candidate by 3%, but he wasn't done. He has since reemerged in a new state running for office in a new election. And that might not sound that interesting until you see the clips that producer Matt has put together for you made up of his differing campaign videos. May I play it when you got it. I had one arrest in my life while in college. Those charges were dismissed.

Three dirtiest jobs in the world, professional wrestling, politician, and bull riding. I have no convictions and no criminal record. Now that's Texas tough, baby. I'm Big Dan Rodheimer, and I approve this message because I'm running on my record. I'm Dan Rodheimer, and I'm running on my record. approve this message. Can I tell you?

Yeah. People didn't know you're a big wrestling guy. This dude's a former wrestler. And I don't know in which Mintin ain't shit. But I got to tell you, I'm going to, I've made a commitment this year, Trey. Actually, not this year. I made a commitment as soon as Joe Biden got elected. I said, all right, Corey, you're going to hold everyone to the exact same standard.

You're not, like, you're going to, you're going to treat everybody the same. If Joe Biden does some dumb shit, and I've gone on, I've been like, hey, dude, giving them goddamn stimulus checks. You know, I'm going to treat everybody the same, and I'm going to look at everything through the exact same lens. And I'm here to tell you right now, if that dude was running as a Democrat, just based on all that shit, he said, because he never said, he didn't say any of the whole like, we need to give kids guns. Okay, no, no, no, here's the thing. I want you to know this.

He did. No, no, I know. Matt took a two and a half minute. campaign ad and he cut it down into that montage which did hit but in the full campaign head he literally says all those things story i'm sure he does i'm sure he does through them all but the information i have is just what you showed me just now and based on what you just showed me just now i'm like if you tell me he's a democrat i'm not saying i hope he gets elected i'm not saying i want to vote from the primary but i'm saying like look man the guy made some smart moves he come out and he was like look when i was in high school i got drunk

and rolled a tractor. I did my time. Now I'm running. I rode bulls and I professional wrestled. You know what I mean? Like I get that type of, I'm that abrasive.

You know what I mean? I get it. There's people that told me to run and I'm way dumber than that dude. And Big Dan's a pretty sweet name. I'm just saying what I think is that you left a lot on the editing room floor that I need to see because based on the evidence

you've given me, I'm fucking voting for Big Dan. I'm all in. Oh shit. Root two and shooting, bull riding. But again, I trust you. you, and I know that he said all that other stuff, so no, I'm out. But does any part of you care that, like, he's clearly, you know, not that dude at all?

Or you, like, respect that hustle, too. Do you mean that he's not, what do you mean? He's not. I mean, like, in Nevada, you know, he's this family man who, you know, I am not a crook. And then when he gets to Texas, he's like, take three goddamn things by Texas right now, motherfuckers. Bulls, bullshit, and kicking ass. And then he, like, I do, look, it sucks and he shouldn't be in politics, but like, the professional wrestling fan in me right now is like, yeah, he's working a new gimmick. You know what I mean? Like, he didn't like, that one didn't, the first one didn't work out. And he's like, I'm going to Texas. I'm going to work this gimmick. Like, no, I'm doing a bit here. I don't respect it. That's obviously insane. But what I'm saying is like, that part of it, I don't care about as much as like what he actually believes. Because the thing. is like some people might say like oh well he actually don't believe all that crazy gun stuff he's

only saying that so that he'll get elected you know in texas or whatever well i've always been of the belief that like if you pretend to believe in something then you believe in it especially if you do it like all the time every day professionally basically there's no difference really there's no difference like like if that guy at the end of the day goes home and is like i genuinely believe that guns are horrible and the Sandy Hook could have been prevented, blah, blah, blah. But I go out here, then it's this exact same thing. Like, there was a lot of people that

said about, I try not to mention his name, but the president that we had last, they were just like, oh, no, he's not racist. He just will say anything to win. And I'm like, right, and if those things are racist, and if those policies are racist, then it really like, it doesn't matter.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, well, there's also, there's a blueprint for this guy because it's like, Ted Cruz, and there's also a Texas congressman named Chip Roy, who are both like, um, like Ivy League, you know, uh, white language motherfucker. You want, yeah. It's Bush. Right.

Yeah, George W. Bush, you're right. So, like, there's a blueprint for doing this thing. And then if you go to Texas and you're running, like you said, you got a root, you got a to you got to shoot. And that's what you got to do, baby. You got root, toot, and shoot. And that's the thing that's always fucking piss me off about how the whole world looks

at me, dudes like me and you, right? Like they go, tray and court, like, hell, it's a dadgum, it's a, it's a cheat code to be like me and you because people go, oh, they sound like this, therefore they're an idiot. And then we say something that is just kind of decently smart, like not even that brilliant, but because their expectations were down here, they're like, oh my God, this guy's a Rhodes Scholar. So, like, that's the general perception, except for that's not actually how most of America feels. And the reason that I say that is because George Bush was a Yale. educated erudite son of a bitch and he had to pretend

to be a cowboy hat wearing cousin fucking talking son of a bitch to get elected so realistically none of that makes sense and they all buck up against each other and it bothers me like I don't understand what you want me to be right well to add on to that

and I hope that I make this make sense the way it's making sense in my mind it's like you said them up against each other and not really making sense the irony of it too is like that to the to the like texas texans in texas the republicans you know the problem with texas is all the the fancy people coming from elsewhere moving to texas right like that's why it's

becoming more liberal and whatnot but then at the same time you have carpet beggars like this dude and chip roer whatever who come and put like all the most racist and you know booted and Republican-ass people from other places, they move on mass into Texas and Tennessee like Ben Shapiro lives in Nashville now or whatever, like that type of thing. It's like

you know, the influence of outsiders is what they're so worried about. Like I watched the show Yellowstone you know, and like, and all the, and Kevin Costner and his whole they're all pissed off because all these people not from Yellowstone are coming in. All these big city people

are coming in. And that's true. But it's not like it's fucking David Lynch. You know what I mean? Like it's the big city people who just talk different than them, but have the exact same ideology, which is let's drill right there and make that motherfucker right there work for $4.50. So like they have the same ideology. So like,

because you go on the other end of that and it's like, then how did Trump happen? How did that whole like Silver Spoon, New York or carpet bagging mentality permeate through the South? all the rural areas like it did so like it's horse shit right it is horse shit actually at one put so one of the things we didn't show you in the montage we put together is that bull he rides right after they go to another cowboy that says just so you know that bull we'll call her Nancy Pelosi she's a real and then then the guy later is walking through there and he's like I'll go up there and I'll put

my boot right in Nancy Pelosi's bullshit and he steps in a pile of shit oh my god in the thing it closes up on his boot he steps in a pile of shit horse shit uh matt says it was horse shit not bullshit either way whatever it was wait was matt told that or does matt have a good eye i think matt's got an eye for poop looks like yeah he's a he's a good eye he says he's decode he knows the difference between horse and bullshit that does make it even funnier but then he steps in he's like see there that's just one of the marriette thing's such the republican way is like literally stepping in horse shit I know by your

yeah like by your own choice choosing to step in horse shit on camera and be like look there stepping in horse shit on the lips baby I just can't decide like man like when you when we're talking about stuff like this I'm sitting here going like am I

am I seeing the beginning of something or the end of something you know what I mean like I can't tell like I can't tell if like I want to I always say a lot of times like oh this is the last grasp of their bullshit, but I know that that's, like, such a very, like, white optimism thing, like, I can say that. Like, I can go, oh, look, I say it. Or is it, like, are they pivoting to a new type of, like, y'all just thought we were

leaning in, and we're really about to get everybody else? Like, I can't tell. Well, since you said that, keep that in mind, because that's related to part of what we're about to get into the bulk of the conversation tonight. That's it for our daily dumbasses. Can I show you something since we're talking about that? But before we end Daily Dumbass? Yeah.

I just got to start by this. Look at the cooler I have. It's a bag of zucchini noodles, frozen zucchini noodles with beer in them. And that's something? If it works, it ain't stupid, baby. That's what our people been saying. Go dogs. I'm in Memorial.

That's right. Go dogs. So, yes, let's get into the, our main topic tonight. Again, your home state. Well, first of all, like, have you gotten used to the stuff? of Georgia being like the political epicenter of this country at this point? Or are you still unnerved by that? Because I know when it first happened, when it first came out, people noticed what was going on with the Senate races and how close it was in the presidential

race. I remember you've been like, oh, no. I don't. Yeah. By the way, I was right. By the way, I was right. Because what's going on right now is Georgia is the, like, all of our goddamn license plate should say the two steps back state. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's 100% what's going on and like I'm happy with what all happened like obviously if the election had turned out different this what's going on right now would still be happening but they would have even even more power I genuinely believe to succinctly put this before we go further that what they're doing is shooting themselves in the foot because if they thought that marginalized people were mobilized last election they are about to absolutely lose their mind because basically they just

challenge black people not to goddamn vote and the last thing that you want to do is do that but I will say this I still am of the same mind of the person that's been on this show many times that told you like I still kind of can't give you an accurate temperature of what's going on because I still don't really leave my house.

Right. You know, like I don't know. So first of all, I agree with you as well. I think like you think like Stacey Abrams is just going to be like, oh, well, we tried. You know, like, no, she gets past this. She's governor now.

Right. Like, yeah, I thought, I feel the same way about it. But so obviously, we're talking about the law, widely covered, a lot that imposes new voter ID requirements for absentee ballots. It allows state officials to take over local election boards. It limits the use of ballot drop boxes to, like, just election centers, which makes them kind of almost pointless. And most notably and most ridiculously, it makes it a crime now to approach voters in line to give them food and water. And this is what you were referring to earlier.

you were like, I'll give everybody food and water. And also I just think about it from your perspective of like, you know, if you go to vote and, you know, your wife comes there and she can't even give you a baby roof, you know, while you're waiting there, like, what even is this country? What even is this goddamn country, if that's the case? Yeah, absolutely. And obviously, people have been very upset by it. And it seems like, based on what happened to Georgia State Representative Park Cannon,

they've also already made it illegal to even question the substance of the law itself. Mack, can you play that clip if you have it? Kemp signing the bill behind closed doors, surrounded by white men. While Democratic State Representative Park Cannon, a black woman, was arrested, trying to get in. I love that she's, like, all she's doing is knocking on a door in a building where she works, all right? Yes. In a building where she works. but several weeks ago

Marjorie Taylor Green was able to put up new bathroom signs ultimately defacing where she works and everybody was just like that's good you go white bitch get it like I don't understand like dude I'm telling you man like here's here's my whole thought on this I'm going to explain it in the only terms that I know

how to explain it which is sports terms all right what they're doing right now it's deplorable it's absolutely awful but the only reason that it makes me smile is because what it looks like is is pass interference on fourth down with five seconds left in the Super Bowl whereas whereas they're sitting there going they're going if we do nothing like if I're the corner the cornerback sitting there and going if I do nothing they catch the ball and they win I have to pass interfere and just hope to fucking God that they don't call it or or they call it and then we bring it back and

they're on the one yard line because that's what it feels like. It just feels like they're going, man, we just saw what happened. There is no world because they're not stupid. I've said that a million times, and I know you believe it. Like, the worst thing we can do is call Brian Kemp, Marjorie Taylor Green, all these people, stupid. They're not stupid. You're like evil, like you're the nemesis is like Lex Luthor wasn't dumb. You don't get to be the nemesis if you're dumb.

That doesn't happen. They're not dumb. They're bad. They're awful people. And they're sitting there going, they're smart. they're going, oh, my God, if they literally voted for Joe Biden, then how in God's name does Stacey Abrams not sweep? Like, how does that not happen?

Well, all right, this is the last thing that we can do. Now, that's very much white cis male optimism, but like, I just believe it. Also, I know because I feel the exact same way. This isn't us saying, like, oh, don't worry about it. No, worry so hard. Worry the most you ever worry. worry even more right exactly but i agree with you completely it's them being like we have to the only way we can win is make it illegal for the other side literally to vote like if we don't do

something we're done and they know that so this is like what this is their last recourse also i wanted to circle back real quick you were talking about park and you were like i love how she's literally just knocking on a door in the building she works in and that's why she got arrested did you know that the trooper who made that arrest whose name, I shit you not, Corey, is G.D. Lankford. God damn.

Oh, God damn Lankford. Lieutenant Goddamn Lankford making the arrest. And he, did you know what he said about it? His rationale he gave, he said he did that because he was concerned that her actions might lead to something similar to the capital insurrection.

It happened on January 6th. If he didn't squash that right there, it was going to be the next big treasonous riot. So that's why he had to arrest. If I let this black lady look at all these white people sign a piece of paper, who knows what could have happened there. It's a slippery slope. It's a slippery slope, man.

You just can't have black people looking at white men writing stuff, you know? So like I was saying, I agree with you about the rationale behind what they're doing here and how it seems to be their only option. But again, it is worrisome because, I mean, if these measures work, then that's a problem, but also because, unsurprisingly, other states are just Xeroxing this shit already. Georgia's on the, Georgia's on the vanguard, because yes, Florida, there's a Florida bill now that has a lot of the same provisions. It would also ban giving water to people in line to vote, which another thing is like, we all ain't supposed to drink the water in Florida anyways, so I get, but like, it is bullshit, but like also tell me if I'm wrong, like this, this is a proposed bill.

it has not passed yet correct um yeah it's a yeah it's a florida bill that would did you see did you see that do you see the onion today what they said no what the onion put out an article that says georgia amends the law and now will allow voters to be hydrated with a water hose dude there are they're bad in a thousand bad in a thousand the onion yeah um But there's also this idea, like, we don't like to think about any other Americans this way, but it seems like there's this streak of authoritarianism in America. Because you think about, like, when Mitt Romney lost in 2012, the narrative around the Republican Party was like, we're going to have to find a way to reach out to black people and Hispanic voters and things like that. That's like what they were saying at that time. But then Trump came through in 2016, and now it's flipped completely.

And Politico put out some findings from a study that said approximately 18% of Americans are highly disposed to authoritarianism, a further 23% or so are one step below them on the authoritarian scale. So roughly 40% of Americans tend to favor authority, obedience, and uniformity over freedom, independence, and diversity. And I don't know what you think, but I feel like what that boils down to is it's them saying, it's them saying like, this is how I feel and how I feel is what. it or be and the other people that don't feel the way I feel they don't need to be able to vote or be free right you know like if the people that agree with me rule with an iron fist right that is the preference over allowing the people that don't agree with me to have a say because they're so wrong and dumb and that's how these people think in their heads I think well no of course it is like now that like the vaccines are rolling out and shit like that and they're going like

we got the look man if you listen vaccines ain't nothing but a way to put a tracer in your body so that they can blah blah blah the government has no good intention on da da da da da da they just want to be able to control control control control control control control so they look at that and they post that as the narrative of like no the authoritarian those are on the democrat size they want to have you completely dependent on the government at all times that's what welfare is and that's why they've set this whole system up and that right there is why black people want to vote for them because they've got the black people brainwashed into thinking that they have to have them in order to have some high function type but then these same motherfuckers are like

Donald Trump should just be able to executive order any goddamn thing in the whole world so like only when it's for the greater good do they go this is authoritarian like they love that shit like I've talked to these motherfuckers I live here they absolutely love being told what to do like I used to think that like kinky shit was like very very liberal but like for the most conservatives that I know, they seem very much like they're the ones like chewing down on an apple while their wife pegs them in the ass while they're watching some old home improvement shit. You know what I mean?

I'm sorry. No, that's a wonderful segue. Look, man, you have me on. You're right. You called me. And Marcus, again, you and Marcus, you and Marcus go back. He knew you were co-hosting. Oh, shit.

I forgot Marcus. I'm so sorry. Yeah, he's coming on right now, baby. Oh, dude. Introduce her. our guest, the Army veteran running for Congress against Marjorie Taylor Green in the state of Georgia. He loves spring speech. Yes, he does.

Of course he does. Marcus Flowers, everybody bring him out here if he's still there after. Hey, I'm sorry, dude. Marcus, I'm so sorry, dude. It's quite all right. How you doing, brother? Good, man. How are you?

Outstanding. Dre, it's good to be with you. Yeah, good to see you again, man. I guess let's start by sort of just giving people a little overview of. of what you're trying to do down there in Georgia, what your goal is and how you got to this point. You know, my goal to bring honor and dignity and decency back to this district, we've got to get rid of Marjorie Taylor Green.

And that is my ultimate goal. And I'm running for Congress because I believe she tried to incite a ride on January 6. She helped incite that ride on January 6th. And she also helped further the big lie. So that's why I'm running, and I think we've got a great chance at unseaten Marjorie Taylor Green and bringing back stability and get rid of the chaos that she's brought to our district. Right. How much of that do you think is due to the conspiracy elements that everybody associates with Marjorie Taylor Green? Like you said, she propagated the big lie and all that, but it doesn't just end there with her.

She's put out a lot of highly conspiracy theory. type things and, you know, how dangerous do you feel that is? Oh, it's absolutely dangerous. You know, as a veteran, a former defense contractor, a former government official, you know, I've been all over the world. I spent a decade in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I've seen our enemies up close and personal. And let me tell you, the radicalism that, or radicalization that these guys,

in Iraq and Afghanistan went through. It's the same kind of thing that we're going through here in this country. You know, listening to Fox News and OAN and people like Marjorie Taylor Green

propagating Q, falsehoods. It's dangerous. And the same type of energy that took away some of my friends with IEDs and suicide vests in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think that's where we're headed

with that dangerous, that's how dangerous it is to me. right and that's not hyperbole by the way no i see it yeah i that that's interesting drawing the sort of parallel between the radicalization that you've seen yourself um let me let me interrupt for a second i think we've all seen it now with january 6th right yeah unfortunately yeah yeah you're right um what do you think it is about all that rhetoric that appeals so strongly to so many of our Americans. Do you think it's just like, because it's the thing that allows them to be right about a thing? Or is it a thing of like, I'm the only, you know, that sort of thing in a conspiracy theory's head where it's like, I'm the only one who understands the reality, the truth. Everybody else is a sheep. I'm the one who gets it. You know, like, what do you think this has been so effective in grasping so many of these people? Well, you know, I kind of get what a lot of these people are thinking, and, you know, you look back over the last 20, 30 years and stagnation in government and people, I get what may have been fun or funny about people like Marjorie Taylor Green.

Oh, they're going to come in, even Trump, they're going to come in, they're going to get things done, they're going to shake things up. Okay, that's not how Washington, D.C. works. You know, you don't go there and change it. It changes you. And Marjorie Taylor Green, she went there. And so did a lot of other people, in my opinion, to up their profile. You know, just saw an article today about that Gates and people like Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Bober. They're going there to up their profile because they're looking down the line for some sort of payday. Right. Me personally, I'm not looking for that.

I'm not looking to get famous. I'm not looking to get rich. You know, 27 years in my career, it's all been in service to this country, whether it was in the Army, whether there was a defense contract. as a logistics and compliance guy or whether working for the Department of Defense directly as a compliance person. I'm not looking to get rich. I'm not looking to up my profile.

I'm looking to go and put my head down and do the work of the people of Georgia. Right. And if you're not trying to get rich or famous, could I suggest stand-up comedy? I'm going to leave that avenue to you. You seem to be much more suited for that night. Marcus, on that note, I'll say it for you. If I'm wrong, you are not taking any kind of corporate PAC funding, right?

You've made a stand saying, we're not interested in that. You're turning it all down. Is that correct? Absolutely. We need to get dark money out of politics, you know, and I have a hashtag that says you can't buy flowers. So that explains it all. You can't buy flowers. We need to get all of these influences out of our politics.

Did you see the, it was a disaster? Did you see the story in the New Yorker about the recording? from one of Mitch McConnell's top staffers and like the Koch Koch brothers people talking about this exact thing. And in it, they admit, and again, this is a private recording, they admit that the actual public support for like House Resolution 1, which would curb dark money in politics, the actual public support is sky high, really, among your average American person. and so what can they do to keep that from happening given that the people that they represent actually support it even many conservatives and they basically landing on what they called under the dome type strategies which means like legislative maneuvers beneath congress's roof like the filibuster and just anything else they can do to kill it without the support of the public

because they know if they get into any kind of PR campaign they're not going to win because really it's bipartisan to not want big money in politics, isn't it? I mean, it should be bipartisan. Right. But coming from the Koch brothers, that's kind of rich, or from the one Koch brother. But I have not seen that article, so I can't really speak to it. But we've got to get dark money out of politics. And I'm going to lead by setting the example, we're not going to take a dime in corporate

pack money. We're going to raise money. We're going to do this grassroots thing that everyone talks about. Let me tell you something else. The response to our campaign has been phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal, and I appreciate and am humbled by the people who've come out and said, you know, we want to support you. We like what you're doing. It's time to see regular people like me, someone who's not a millionaire, jumping into politics,

just your regular, everyday guy, government official, former government official. You know, after January 6th, the next day, I decided I had to get in. It became mission critical to me. So here's where we are. You said mission critical. You talk a lot about being a veteran and everything as you should. I'm wondering how you feel about it seems like the right has like kind of claimed patriotism. I'm so glad you're bringing up.

They are the ones who stand up for the troops. That's what they do. They're the ones who care about the troops. And they are the official patriots. They're the official flag bearers as they have sort of, you know, laid it out. And I'm just wondering, as a veteran yourself, and obviously a patriot yourself, how do you feel about that? Well, I felt like the word patriot had been hijacked by certain groups, shall we say. And I'm taking it back. You don't need a red hat to be a patriot.

Right. You don't need to be the loudest person in the room to be a patriot. You just have to love your country and do what's best or what you think is best for your country. That's all patriotism requires. Yeah, I like, like, I'll wear like, you know, bald eagle shirts and stuff like that, sometimes with things like that, literally just because as if I'm running into anybody in my day-to-day life who I get into this conversation with, you know, I don't. But in my head, I'm like, I do it because I'm like, they don't, they don't own this stuff. They don't.

They act like they own it and they don't. And I think it's important that we on the, that we all push back against that idea because they don't own love of this country. We're all patriots. I mean, it's, you know, it can't be mutually exclusive to one group of people. If someone sees things differently than you,

they're not evil. I just have different views. So let's talk a little bit about the voter suppression laws we've been talking about. Again, there, in your state of Georgia, and somebody looking at it. How do you feel,

how are you feeling generally about all that? I don't know if you ever what me and Corey were saying earlier about it, trying to take not an optimistic it's us it's us telling ourselves that like this this is how desperate they are this is what they have to do because they can see the writing to two white people's reaction to this whole right right exactly we've had the two white guys reaction to it so how are you feeling about all of that right now well you know we've heard that this was all about maintaining the integrity of elections right if that's what it's about why are we not providing

water for people in lines. I mean, that's not even the worst thing in this bill. It's making it harder for people to do absentee ballots, making it harder for people to find where to go to cast their absentee ballots. And, you know, the worst part of it, in my opinion, is that you're going to appoint or have a political appointee suspend county election boards or county election supervisors and replaced them with, you know, whoever they want, puppets per se, to come in and say, well, we don't like the result to this.

We're going to overturn it here. You know, all the claims that were made about, you know, voter fraud, you know, the big lie. They were all claimed here in Georgia. We counted the election three times, once by hand. So there was no signature match issues. Okay, there were two people. that were dead that voted. Gabe Sterling said they're still investigating that. But no ballots were

mysteriously dropped or run through machines twice. So, you know, what I do is I apply Occam's Razor. You know, the simplest answer is probably, or the simplest solution is probably what's correct. You know, this is about voter suppression. And it's about pressing the vote of black people in particular, in my opinion. Yeah, it's also kind of, well, not funny. He's not the right. word, but that they frame it all about being about us on the left, like trying to cheat and steal elections, and that's why they must do this, and what they're doing is cheating essentially by cheating other people out of the ability to vote. In the history of America, no legislation or legislature has ever been able to decide

the results of an election. That belongs to the voters, you know, until now, here in Georgia. So we got to push back and push back aggressively on that. Well, okay, actually on that note, I was going to ask you, like, what can A, Georgians, but be just the rest of us who aren't Georgians, but we are concerned about this type of thing, like, what can actually be done when we see this type of thing to sort of, you know, push back and keep it from being effective? You know, there's, there are some suits that are coming out right now are already out. I mean, this is clearly a violation of the 15th Amendment. You know, and I hear all of the talk about, you know, boycott Georgia. You know, that's not what's going to be good for us.

And I'm also personally, I guess, anything that results in a, you know, not a net plus jobs. I don't want to hurt jobs or anyone. But we do need our business leaders like Coca-Cola, UPS, Afflack, Home Depot. They need to stand with us and push back on these voter suppression laws. And we need to push back aggressively. That bums me out on just like how pro-Georgia everybody was. was, you know, literally two or three months ago where it was like, thank you, Georgia. Thank you for what you did.

And now it's like, you know, no, we're not, you can't, don't even fly over Georgia or we'll boycott that plane. Like at some point, I just don't understand how that, how people don't. And look, man, I'll take the heat on this. I don't care. But when you say things like boycott Georgia, you're not hurting Brian Kemp. Right. I mean, like you're hurting, you're hurting a lot of the people in Georgia.

Georgia, who were on your side, who were just sitting here like, I'm just trying to get, look, I'm just trying to go to work. You know what I'm saying? You're absolutely not hurting the guys up on Martini Row. Not, never will. Not affected by it whatsoever. It's the little guy, the guy like me, the government official, or the guy at EPS that's working in the packages department or the guy at Home Depot working on the floor. That's who's hurt by that. And I don't want to see any of those people hurt.

I'm selfish, too. we just got like Marvel Studios and stuff like I've just now been in like my career where I'm like I can just live near Atlanta and it'll be fine they're like we can't do anything in Georgia because blah blah blah I'm like but what we did in November does that not we're just done with that all right whatever you know the eyes of the political universe were on Georgia now they're back on Georgia for a completely different reason I called it

fourth quarter it's the fourth quarter we stuck in the fourth quarter Well, kind of on that note, Marcus, how do you feel generally about the future when it comes to all this? Because there's always a pushback. You know, a lot of people say to like Donald Trump, a big part of that was, oh, it was a pushback because of Barack Obama or whatever. And then there's, you know, the blue wave, which wasn't as much of a wave as we, you know, wanted, but still was effective. And it's like a pendulum that swings. And we're in this really, really turbulent period right now specifically. when you look out, you know, out into the future at the horizon, especially as a southerner

and somebody from Georgia, how do you, you know, how do you feel about the way? Like you said, when the pendulum swings too far one way, there's usually a backlash. It comes back even further in the other direction. What we need to do as a country, and me as a moderate Democrat, we need to get back to the center. We need to get back to a place where we can talk to one or each other. We need to learn how to agree on the facts. If we start there, I think we're going to be fine. Right.

Well, that goes back to the conspiracy thing we were talking about, right? Like, you said agree on the facts. Like, that's the thing. Like, there's no such thing as facts anymore. When there should be, like, some things are just true. They just are. If they are the things that happened, they are true. And those are facts.

And we should all, their facts are bipartisan or they should be. Like, we should all agree that that is what happened. Those are the facts. And then we could start from there and go elsewhere, but that's not how it works anymore. Like, facts are immaterial, right? And Marjorie Taylor Green is a huge part of that exact problem. And that's a part of our larger message. We need to get rid of all of these wild conspiracy theories, things that are just crazy, you know, pushing back on these cue beliefs.

And a lot of people don't even realize that's what they're believing in. Right. because they have a politician who's telling them these things and making all kinds of wild accusations saying crazy things like, you know, those who don't agree with us deserve to be executed. You know, we have to get away from that. White hot rhetoric in our politics. We need to calm it down.

Honor, decency, integrity. That's what I'm about. And that's what I plan to bring to Congress. Right on. Well, more power to you, buddy. But I want to give you an opportunity. First of all, thanks for coming on the show. Yeah, and I'm so sorry for your lead-in.

That's on me, Marcus. I know you're going to... We'll talk about it later, Corey. I was going to say, I know good and well you're going to FaceTime me tomorrow and be like, are you serious right now with that you, Dick, you knew I was coming. That's the whole reason. We will talk about it later. Yeah.

But Marcus, I wanted to give you an opportunity to, like, really let people know how they could support you and learn more about your campaign and all that. Oh, absolutely. everybody please go to marcus for georgia.com and donate to our grassroots campaign we're building a movement down here in georgia and you know we're going to turn this thing around i absolutely believe we've got the best shot at unseating marjorie taylor green and if you're with me please donate five dollars or whatever you can to our campaign and let's shock the world thank you right on well thank you marcus everybody marcus for georgia check it out marcus flowers thank you so much, man. Thanks for coming on. Good to talk to you again. Trey, Corey, thanks for having me. Thank you. I'll talk to you tomorrow and I'm sorry. I'll talk to you that, Corey.

All right. See you, Marcus. I'm the... Can I tell you something? I'm the biggest piece of shit. I love how when I even started to like refer to what it just happened at first, you still didn't know what I was talking about. I was like, well, that's a good segue.

And you're like, what are we talking about, but? I was in it. What's, I was in it. I was in it. And you know me, and like, and that's the thing that that's what I love about you is that I know you and you didn't get mad. I know how your brain works. You were, you were just like, he's in the pocket right now. And there's nothing that I can do.

He's going to go. Yep. He just, oh, boy. I mean, I knew what, I knew that was going to happen. But. Yeah, well, it's funny. I mean, I did know you're in the pocket, but I didn't know how deep the pocket was. uh until very day yeah right when i was just about to try to segue into margars when you were like

they're the ones with the apple in their mouth and i was like all right here we go yeah yeah yeah all right so producer mad if you can um find some comments and questions throw them up there for us um i wanted to make sure at least um mentioned because marcus mentioned this this broke uh pretty quick or pretty soon before we went on the air tonight so i don't have all the facts yet i just know that had happened. The New York Times board that Matt Gates is facing a Justice Department inquiry over sex with an underage

girl. Good. Fuck him. That Lego looking motherfucker. Florida Republican, big Donald Trump guys, being investigated by the Justice Department of whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid her to travel with him, which would make it sex trafficking. Where's he a senator? Or where's he

a congressman? He's a Florida guy. He's a Florida man. Is 17 no good? Oh, I guess Matt's got a video for us. Yeah, Matt. Yeah, you could play it. I have a Republican congressman Matt Gates reportedly is being investigated by the Justice Department for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Now, that was first reported by the New York Times. Gates has since confirmed the federal investigation to Axiose, saying, quote,

The allegations against me are as searing as they are false. He goes on to say the allegations are rooted in an extortion effort against his family for $25 million. dollars. New York's New York Times reported the allegations include that Gates paid for this girl to travel with him. Gates says the Justice Department is trying to criminalize his sexual conduct when he

was quote a single guy and that no one was underage. We'll continue to follow this developing story. That motherfucker looks like somebody playing Tucker Carlson on a lifetime movie. Yes, he does. He's got a wild look to him. He looks like his wave of his hair

at an arm like that. Pompadour type thing. or whatever. I don't like none of it. Yeah, I don't either. Also, weirdly, Corey,

this kind of coincides with an earlier report that Matt Gates was eyeing an early retirement to take a job at Newsmax.

The even Fox Newsie or Fox Newsie or Fox News comes out. So sure, that's completely a coincidence. But for the record, like I'm not, I wasn't being an asshole earlier, but I'm serious.

Like, in Florida, it's not always them. What is 17 in Florida? I'm serious. Right. I'm not being an asshole. I'm just saying, like, they all have different.

No, you're right. There are different. It might be a thing where, like, you would think Florida's would be one of the younger ones. Yeah, you would think, you would think Florida, they were just like, do you have a butterfinger? You know, like, but like, I'm saying, like, it's the difference between was it illegal and was it just like optically bad? But, like, either way, fuck this guy. But, like, yeah, him taking early retirement, that don't surprise me because, like, he definitely seems like one of them opportunistic dudes. Like, which, by the way, I think.

Like, Marcus was talking. about her. Marjorie Taylor Green's that way too. Yes, exactly. Marcus was saying her and Lauren Bobard, it's like they're and me and Mark have talked about this on the show before too. They're this like new breed that's like Congress isn't the end game for them. Yeah, right, right, right.

It's like a step along the way to being a influencer. Don't tell me that Marjorie Taylor Green one day wasn't sitting there playing flip cup with her old goddamn sorority sisters and saw Tommy Loren and was like my tits used to look like that and then was like I'm what I'm saying and then it's like I'm gonna do that shit and then she was like I'll just move to where Corey Forster's from they're all idiots you know what I mean like I totally get that and by the way I know I just said a very sexist thing and I'm sorry I've had some beers I've reflected on it I've apologized inward and I'm apologizing outward right now look I don't know how this is about to go when I'm about to say go ahead and I know you know I know you're on the same page with me. I'm of the opinion when it comes like

of course you shouldn't say you shouldn't, you know, call a woman a bitch or whatnot, especially just because she's a woman. You shouldn't say dumb bitch. You shouldn't say dumb bitch. You shouldn't say dumb bitch about a woman. You shouldn't. Never. But Marjorie Taylor Green like, what else

are we supposed to say? Right. Right, right, right. Like if you some people, horrible people deserve to have bad things said about them. No, I agree. And nobody's out here calling, you know, all women, well, nobody on this show right now is out here calling all women bitches or nothing like that. But if you say, but if you're talking about Marjorie Taylor Green, you can say pretty much wherever you want to say about her as far as I'm concerned, she has earned it. And she's not the only one.

Just, you know, people that are horrifically bigoted and dangerous and whatnot, I don't give a shit what you say about them. I guess it's only because, like, that's a gender-based one. Like, you know, like with Donald Trump, you would just be like, he's a fucking motherfucker. You know what I mean? Like, you wouldn't call him. I mean, I've called him a son of a bitch, but I've been like, that fucking cunt ass. Yes, I have. I've made a video that called him that.

What we should do. There's dick and stuff, but anything else. But like the thing is. With her, we should, we should make up some new ones and sell that book is what we should do. That would hit. Just some guy in the mountains says. She's a goddamn, uh, she's a goddamn cod swallop is what she is. Just some guy in the mountain says, you call her a domestic terrorist, anything.

less than that is a disservice. There you go. You're right. That's true. But like that is like, okay, that is the thing, though. Like if you're, if you're sitting there and like you're fired up because Marjorie Taylor Green just did some like a very offensive, like racist stuff. And you're just like, God damn it, that fucking cunt.

Like who has the energy to go, you know, you really shouldn't call Marjorie Taylor Green a cunt because blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like, did you, but did you see the thing that she did? Like, we're on the same team. Do we have to spend that time? But I do hear you like because it is like a gender. thing more questions i'm sorry no no you're right it's a minefield for sure it's just me trying to figure out what i'm supposed to be live on air instead of at a therapist office yeah uh i don't know

what else math got for us we're pulling something up right now or not but um another thing i wanted to say multiple points throughout the show but we you know kept moving on and whatnot and also this isn't some hugely novel thought uh other people pointed this out too. But that whole thing about it's illegal to hand out food and water in the voting line or whatever. Yeah. There's an extra layer of shittiness to that that's kind of built in inherently, which is that like, there's really no good reason that you should need to be in a voting line for so long that you require refreshments, you know?

That only happens because minority communities and underprivileged communities, they've only got like one place in a huge radius where they can vote, so then they all end up standing in line for forever. But out in like the rich, white-ass suburbs, you just pull up, you pull your SUV up to the voting spot, walk in, vote and walk out. You don't have to stand in line for four hours. So like there's this inherent shitty element of it that comes with the law. It also goes against everything we believe is Southerners, which is Southern hospitality, which is like, if most M-M-M-M-A-M-Ale's, even Trump's supporting M-M-M-Ale's, heard that that was a law in, like, New Jersey, they'd be like, they just need us to go up there and make them a pie and hand out pie and line. This is weirdly relevant to what you just said. The comment that Matt threw up before you even started saying that, it's from Natalie Nichols. You know Natalie.

I know Natalie. What's up? My favorite M-M-M-M-M-A, baby. That's right. Before you start saying that, she said, remember when you and Mark inspired me to give out burgers and voting lines, y'all could have gotten me arrested. I love her so old. You were in the middle of talking about how Mimau's would be inclined to give food out to

but you, but am I wrong? But am I wrong? No, I'm saying it's just wild how that lined up. This Georgia law seems like something that Georgia people would be like, what is this, fucking California and New York where nobody likes each other, like where I'm from, we make Rice Krispy treats and we hand them out in line at voting because like we're all there as a community like that sounds stupid like that doesn't sound like what we're about which has kind of been the trend in the past four years where I go that's that guy's from Manhattan

that none of why do y'all like him like none of this makes we're going against our southern hospitality yeah uh Julie rose says I dare them to arrest mammals this kind of goes back to like the police brutality protest and the George Floyd protests and everything back in the summer when it got to the that got to the point eventually in Portland where cops were like tear gassing soccer moms and stuff and like shooting them with rubber bullets and whatnot and it was like yeah you can't be doing that you can't be doing none of that but even people even people that otherwise agree with you right right you start like tear gas and mammals and stuff yeah you're gonna lose them too also dude just logistically like there's only two types of mammoths there's the type of mammal that's been smoking marlboro reds for like 38 years and she's so skinny that when you try to put the handcuffs on her it's gonna slide right off her fucking like bony arms and then there's the mammal that's so goddamn fat that you can't get a handcuff to click on that shit you know what I'm saying? man.

God rest her soul, but you just described, both of them was actually my mama cat. Well, there's exceptions that proves the rule. She was big. And she also smoked Marlboro Reds for years. She passed away about 12 years ago. How old was she? Probably unrelated. It's probably about close to 70.

No shit? Hell yeah. Not a bad run. That's right. Aaron McCulles says my grandma used to sell her brownies and cookies and banana breads. to the line to get into Bonnero. Good chance I bought some of those, Aaron. I guarantee you I did.

I sat in that line. Many, many times. I've seen them if you know what I'm saying. Yeah. But yeah, no, my mom's hit. Of course. And if they start arrest a man, that is when we are going to come together as a country

because it's kind of like the, it's like the Dolly effect. You know what I mean? Like everyone likes Dolly. Dolly is kind of like our, like you can't fuck with me malls, no matter who it is or we're going to come for you. Right.

Matt, I tell you, you got some kind of, you got the shining going on tonight. I predicted Corey with his mamaw stuff. And then I was just about to read this comment, if you didn't, because I saw it over there. And we'll end with this. Tom Glenn says, are you booking shows in Georgia? Now, it could just be a general question, but I assume it's also related to what we're talking about earlier with boycotting Georgia. Right now, we have some shows, Corey and I tour together. And we tour Dr. Morgan, we have for years.

the well-read comedy tour. We've been on hiatus, obviously, since the pandemic. We have shows that were in place that have already been postponed to later in the year, right? So I don't know that we've even booked, like, quote, new shows because we've still just had all the shows we had that were existing that were moved out for a while. I can't remember George is one of them. But if what you're getting at is the boycotting kind of, conversation, like Corey alluded to, we're not, I'm sorry, we just don't, we don't play that.

Also, no one's going to care. Brian Camp ain't going to give a shit when we show up in Colorado, because Lauren Bobert's the goddamn Congresswoman there. How far do you want me to go into this shit? And Tom, I'm not saying that, I'm not saying that you're implying that. I'm just saying that, yeah, we've had, because when we first got started, when I first, you know, broke through, it was the transgender bathroom laws in North Carolina, and people were asking us at the time, like, you're going to,

boycott North Carolina and I was always like hell no at our shows the people that show up hate that law they're on our side like I'm not trying to not every I just I don't like the boycotting of a whole state type thing am I supposed to not do shows in DC for the last four years because Donald Trump's house was there get the fuck out of here like I don't know what to tell you like at any time you can like find these things

but I here but because of our tour specifically what you just said we attract the people that I like And also, I'm never going to make this about human being, like a state don't make shit. Individuals, right. Individuals don't make shit. There's people in Georgia that are great people. And you know how I know? Because they voted for Joe Biden and Ostorf and Warnock.

And two months ago, you thought they were the savior of the goddamn world. So yes, I'll do shows there. I'm sorry that this fucking sucks, but it sucks a lot of places too. And I, you know, I'm going to make my living. I'm so sorry, Trey, I've ruined your shit. show no you spent it you right no you do you've done a fantastic job so yes we will be back on the road later this year we're certainly well we we will in a few months and we're very much looking forward to it so you go to well read comedy dot com and see where those shows are

going to be and we're going to work our way around the whole country and come see all of y'all we certainly hope so also as a reminder um tell your friends what not again we're on weekly skews now in terms of the podcast you look up weekly skews on all your podcast stuff and that's where you'll find it i'm no longer clogging up the well-read podcast feed with uh these episodes so yeah all things weekly skews will get you this show smart mark will return next week but chief georgia correspondent cori ryan forster he'll be back around too he always is i well hey first off tray thank you for having me and secondly uh i just want to say that i love you very much i miss you uh and i'm so sorry to everyone who listens to this

show and normally enjoys it. No, but they love it. They love it. They love you. I love you. Thanks for doing it. We'll see y'all next time. See you.

Bye you.