wellRED podcast - #26 - Kentucky Bourbon, Ann Coulter's Feeding Dungeon, and Alison Lundergan Grimes!

Episode Date: August 2, 2017

This week we were fortunate enough to record our first LIVE podcast, and even cooler, it was live from Politicon! Joining us we were lucky to have the extremely impressive Alison Lundergan Grimes (Seceretary of State in Kentucky)  We discussed being liberal in the south (You don't say?) How Democrats can reach working class Americans, and what we think Mitch McConnell smells like.Alison Lundergan Grimes took Kentucky and the nation by storm when, at 35 years old, she ran for the United States Senate against Mitch McConnell. She made her campaign about standing up for women’s rights, veterans’ rights, workers’ rights, and human rights. Despite over $70 million spent against her, Alison kept the race neck-and-neck to the very end in one of the most conservative states in the nation. Recently re-elected to her second term as Kentucky’s Secretary of State, Alison is the youngest female secretary of state in the nation and the only remaining statewide elected female Democrat in the South. Alison is continuing to champion the ideal that’s at her core: every person deserves a fair shake and an equal chance.  For our tour dates, the book, and more, go to wellREDcomedy.com subscribe, download, leave us a review, and tell your friends. Thanks in advance! SKEEEW!

And we thank them for sponsoring the show. Well, no, I'll just go ahead. I mean, look, I'm money dumb. Y'all know that. I've been money dumb ever, since ever, my whole life. And the modern world makes it even harder to not be money dumb, in my opinion. Because used to, you, like, had to write down everything you spent or you wouldn't know nothing. But now you got apps and stuff on your phone.

It's just like you can just, it makes it easier to lose count of, well, your count, the count every month, how much you're spending. A lot of people don't even know how much they spend on a per month basis. I'm not going to lie, I can be one of those people. Like, let me ask you right now. Skewers out, whatnot, sorry, well-read people. People across the ske universe, I should say. Do you even know how many subscriptions that you actively pay for every month or every year? Do you even know?

Do you know how much you spend on takeout or delivery? Getting a paid chauffeur for your chicken low mane? Because that's a thing that we do in this society. Do you know how much you spend on that? It's probably more than you think. But now there's an app designed to help you manage your money better, and it's called Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app

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learn Spanish and I've just been paying to learn Spanish without practicing any Spanish for, you know, pertinent two years now or something like that. Also, a fun one, I'd said it before, but I had a, I got an app, lovely little app where you could, you know, put your friend's faces onto funny reaction gifts and stuff like that. So obviously I got, I got it so I could put Corey's face on those two, those two like twins from the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movies, you know, those weren't a little like the cue ball looking twin fellas yeah so that what was that in response to what was that a reply gift for just when i did something stupid something fat i think and stupid something both fat and stupid but

anyway that was money well spent at first but then i quit using it and was still paying for it and forgotten if it wasn't for rocket money i never would have even figured it out so shout out to them they uh they help if you money dumb like me rocket money can help so cancel your unwanted subscriptions or reach your financial goals faster with rocket money go to rocket money go to rocket money dot com slash well read today that's rocketmoney.com slash well r e d rocketmoney.com slash well read and we thank them for sponsoring this episode of the podcast they're the oh hello everyone it's your good power of the show sorry Amber's watching Game of Thrones so it's got me doing silly impressions anyways to our updates this is the show August 25th and 26 Kansas

City, Missouri. August 27th, St. Louis, Missouri. September 5th, Syracuse, New York, September 6th. Albany, New York. Lord, I just got winded reading tour dates. I need Jesus. September 7th, Hartford, Connecticut, September 8th. The Historic Wilburth Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. September 14th, 15th, and 16th. We're in Lexington, Kentucky. We're also about to announce, in the middle of August, a huge fall tour. So if you didn't hear your city called, don't worry. I assure you we're probably going to get to it this fall. covering a lot of the towns that we were in last year with our new tour. So, sign up for our newsletter on well-readcom.

W-E-L-L-R-E-D comedy.com, spelled just like the podcast. Sign up for the newsletter and you'll hear where we're coming first before anybody else. Also, you can grab a copy of our book, The Liberal Redneck Manifesto, Dragon Dixie Out of the Dark. A bunch of you already have a copy, and we sincerely appreciate that. But if you already do have a copy, guess what? Buy one for your papaw. It'll either love it or it'll be a great practical joke you can pull. But either way, we'd love it.

So anyways, I'm getting in the weeds here by myself. Anyways, this week, cool episode, live from Politicon, plus an intro that is a wrap-up of the Politicon week. We had a blast. Hope you have a blast listening. Remember to download, subscribe, tell your friends, and leave us a review. It really helps. And as always, skew. Well, well. We all hitting? Are we going?

Yeah, we're going. Hey. Hey. Here we are. We're at Politicon. Sort of. Yeah, we're at that. Well, you say still, this will be the first thing that people will have heard us say about.

That's still what's in my heart. But Corey says, still, because we've recorded a few episodes for y'all since we've been at Politicon, kind of counterintuitively, because that's how we go about things. The one you are hearing right now, which we've been at Politicon, kind of counterintuitively, because that's how we go about things. in right now, which will be the first one released after Politicon, is the very last one that we have recorded. But actually, we planned that so we could talk

about what all happened and how it all, you know, our experience with it. So, yeah, we about done. It's Sunday night. It's almost though right now. Monshire. Monshal d'Ariere. Yeah, here is.

Gis sweet boot. Yeah, early appearance by him. Yeah, that kind of sums up my feelings. I agree with Mr. Butt. Mr. Butt makes a strong point. As he always does. No, I mean, it's fine. Ringing endorsement.

No, no, no, Politicon. I was talking about how I felt personally right now. I didn't mean about Politicon. Like, I'm just white from the weekend because we, you know, we have been here all weekend. It's been fun as shit, and we've seen a lot of cool things. And I'm just, I ain't got no goddamn serotonin left. That's how it always is. last day in

saratonic is she one of the ones from ms ms mbc she was one of the turks she was the middle-aged star yeah that's right that freaked me out crystal ball yeah i'd never heard of that lady because i don't be watching the news enough but i didn't neither we went to check in to get our badges and all that and there was this like envelope for crystal ball and her people and i was like hey is that a real i thought quietly and the people there was like oh yeah crystal ball msmbc she i might be wrong about this but i think the first time I did Joey Reed show she was

on it that same day. Well I knew obviously I saw the envelope I knew that was a person I just thought well that is an internet personality who has humorously given themselves the name Crystal Ball because they like predict uh yeah

political bullshit I guess what what is the word that I can't think of what I don't know predict what campaign results election results elections that's the word Jesus.

I couldn't think of the word election. Well, that's what I'm saying, dude. We're wiped. Fucking wiped. Nothing but politics all weekend. No, but I, well, yeah, and that's the thing. Like, I, the last thing I had was this panel this morning, and it was the subject of it was, how can conservatives reach millennials?

And there was a whole lot of conservative people in the, I'd say the audience, like 90% conservatives, a lot of Trump hats on that sort of thing. Were they also millennials? I mean, a lot of them appeared to be. There were a lot of, you know, middle age and up, conservative. conservatives in there too, but I mean, there were plenty of younger-looking millennial Republicans in there. But anyway, and it was a panel discussion. There was two liberals, a moderate, and three conservatives, one of which was pretty

hardcore. The other two were like young, you know, young centrist-type Republicans. They were like, the gays can live. Well, one of them was gay, and yeah, you know, that's sort of his stance. My people can continue to live. Let my people blow. But, you know, they hate big government and they hate taxes and all that shit. You're not big on religion.

You know that's a Moses joke, right? Let my people go, right? Yeah. Okay. Like, to the Pharaoh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. He was speaking to the government too, so it was a double hit. Yeah, I was just making sure you knew because that was extremely well done. And I wanted Drew to get full credit for that. Dreamworks made a pretty hitting cartoon about that. Sure did. Yeah. What about that one where the rocks tall?

No, that was, never mind. That was Noah's Ark movie? I still ain't seen that. And you know, that's a Darren Aronovsky movie, and Aronovsky's one of my favorite directors, but I still haven't, somehow that one, I missed it, and I still, I keep forgetting about it. I want to check it out.

Honestly, it probably is a Bible thing. You talking about movies? Kind of is like you talking about politics. Darren Aronovsky's one of my favorite goddamn directors, by God. Yeah. I like cinema. I like, when that movie is God. I enjoy, I enjoy film.

I was very mad during that period of time when Noah came out because there was a lot of my old Christian, but just people from, you know, on my Facebook, how it is, talking about like, went to see Noah, here's what they left out, here's where they got the story wrong. God damn it, and they shouldn't in blow it. And I'm like, man, y'all been screaming for years for the Bible to be put into Hollywood. And it finally is, and you're going to bitch that it's not 100% completely accurate. It's still the goddamn story. Well, most stories is Jesus anyway in Hollywood.

For sure. anyways I digress so it being a panel with all these different perspectives on it and a room full of conservatives it got fairly heated at times and there was you know hollering and shit and it was fine

I was never uncomfortable or nothing like that but it was an hour long thing and by the like 45 minute mark for sure I was like okay I'm kind of done with all this shit you know what I mean like I don't those like I may we are comedians

not pundits, talking heads or whatever. Comedians who happen to know politics. Right, and I've had that thought a few times out here, like, you know, that just don't hold much appeal to me at all, frankly. You're like, I'm not a debater, I'm a hero.

It's very good. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, I mean, that whole vibe, to be honest with you, has warned me out, just in general if that makes sense. And frankly, it reminded me a lot of law school. Like the energy over there and the type of person and, you know, some of the greatest people in the world have had that kind of energy.

I mean, we've talked about it before. Like, when we went to D.C., with politics, you kind of just got a hope for a good-hearted psychopath. Right. Because, like, if you stand up one day and you go, you know what the world needs? Me. Me. Yeah.

Like, that's something else. Now, again, I'm a fucking entertainer. I stand on stage. Oh, we definitely have a touch of that for sure. I'm admitting that. And I'm saying that there are good-hearted ones, but there's just an energy there. of like, it's self-importance,

but it's a very specific kind. We want, with comedians and entertainers, we want attention and we want approval in the form of laughter or not power. But we don't,

we also, not all of us, some artists take themselves extremely seriously, but for the most part, comedians especially, tend to not take themselves too seriously

or think that, like, they want the attention and shit, but they don't think they're saving the fucking world. A lot of these types of people have that kind of attitude like they're they're making

a difference they're doing things they're impacting the world and it's a whole different kind of attitude it's a different type of narcissism I would say that a pretty good example of what you're saying is the very early appearance of Mr. Butt on this episode not too serious right you know

true but I also with them oh shit with them then being politicians it's also like this is my food

and I'm now all I can think about is this fucking sushi I ordered Go get your food baby What the fuck are we talking about? Well is it here? Do you need to go get it? We were talking about

comics taking themselves too seriously You said with these people And I don't know where you were There's there's There's the other team has their cycle pass Who's going to try to change the world We do need people Who are going to stand up and say

I'm going to write a bill Right To fucking you know Well Perfect one This one pops into my head The Americans with Disability Act that was Ted Kennedy.

Ted Kennedy was absolutely a total narcissist. Fuck you. But the Americans with Disability Act is a great fucking law. And on that note, I'm going to go get this sushi. I'll be right back. All right. Yeah, I don't know. What other thoughts you got on the whole shebang?

Corey, for the record, y'all, has been in sweatpants the entire time. Most people here are in at least blazers, if not full-on three-piece suits. and I mean, me and Drew been in fucking jeans and a button up or whatever, but Corey's been over there in fucking sweatpants and a softball shirt. I have. I've had a damn church. Very irreverent of you.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I've had a church league softball shirt on sweatpants, my new Air Jordans and a damn hat. Now, I mean, you know, that's pretty on brand for me, but I just, I mean, I guess that is how unsurious I took it, but, I mean, it's just ain't my shit. And I mean, you know,

I enjoy certain aspects of politics. Like, I enjoy the daily show. But, yeah, man, being surrounded by it, like, this has been, like, one of the least busy weekends I've personally had in L.A. Because, I mean, yeah, we had to photo shoot, and I had to do the thing at Politicon or whatever. But we ain't had to get ready for a show. I've gotten pretty good sleep.

I'm fucking just worn out by just having to see people in Trump hats. Or even in, I mean, even on our side, too, just like being surrounded by this very competitive, thing that there ain't no fucking football in you know like it's just yeah my shit no right and i mean you know i it had i mean it's been cool it's been a cool experience i'm not shitting on politicon at all it's been awesome and for the people who this is good for it's very well done and i'm glad they had us and and everything and i mean it's been all i'm saying is and i i care about all this i really do care about this stuff but the way that i approach it is through fucking

making jokes about it and trying to make it funny, I'm not a screaming over the top of the person who's screaming back at me over some shit, you know, and just, you know what I mean? That's not how I, that just ain't my approach to it. So it's like,

and that's most of what, not just outright screaming, but I mean, that, that whole, you know, that fucking Fox News, MSNBC,

talking head, debate type shit, that's 85% of Politicon. The comedy part is, you know, like a smaller portion of it. And I'm saying that other side of the whole thing is just not really for me. And I think it's because, and we talked, one of the interviews we did was with Ian Harvey on a future episode. And we mentioned this in there. I think part of that for me is because, and I know you and Drew are the same way, like growing up where I did and everything and having these beliefs and opinions,

I never shied away from sharing them with people and stuff like that or being honest about what I thought. But I couldn't be that antagonistic or that just mad or take things that personally or just be that shitty about the people on the other side because I was surrounded on all sides by them my entire life growing up. You know what I mean? They were everywhere. And if I was a dick about it, even if they were dicks first, if I was a dick about it, it just would have made my life. more needlessly difficult. You know what I mean? You've got your ass whooped or just being alienated from any type of human

goddamn contact. Right. So yeah, it ain't worth it. Because of that, we just like naturally kind of learned how to have conversations and also relationships with those people without being so, uh, hostile.

Yeah, insulated. You know what I mean? Like just totally hostile anybody on the other side. And so I think that's why. those kinds of things, those types of like, let's get people who disagree together and have them yell at each other, just don't really hit for me. Yeah, last time we did that, we lost our type of money.

So, you know, we're not really big fans of that shit. What is this, komboc? But, yeah, but, I mean, it's been, again, it's been cool. The coolest things happened to me this weekend. You guys saw it from afar. It's this by a mile. There's nothing on stage. Rob Reiner was here

Rob Reiner's a very, very liberal guy and also is pretty into politics and so it makes sense that he's here and his new movie is coming out as an LBJ biopic and he was here doing a talking about that and stuff. And there's one green room, one big conference room

that serves as the green room for everybody. So we've been back there with fucking Ann Coulter and James Carville and Tommy Loren and just everybody. And so yesterday, Saturday, Rob Reiner walked in, and immediately I was like, holy shit, that's Rob Reiner over there. And Drew was like, well, fucking go introduce yourself or whatever. And so I did.

I walked over there, and he was talking to somebody else. And I felt like a dick, but also I didn't know, you know, I wasn't going to just stand there forever. So finally I just like tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and I was like, Mr. Reiner, I'm sorry, I just want to let him. And he jumped up out of his seat. It was like, oh, oh, wow, I've actually, I've been meaning to get in touch with you lately. This is crazy. I've been wanting to talk to you about, and, like, he knew. Me and Drew

saw that happen, and it was wild and shit. Yeah, he immediately knew who I was, and not only that, but also, like, evidently, likes me. And I'm not going to, I don't, because who knows what's going to happen, if anything, with the shit that he did talk to me about, you know what I mean? Like, but I, just

that, that alone. Like, when he turned around and I could tell he knew who I was and, you know, ended up that he, you know, liked my stuff. Rob, Reiner. Yeah, dude. Rob Reiner is as fucking as comedy royalty as it gets.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, Carl Reiner. His dad's on the Mount Rushmore of just straight-up comedy. Absolutely. Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks helped fucking define American comedy. And that's his dad and Rob Reiner, him and Albert Brooks fucking,

you know, were best friends growing up and shit and had also hugely influential. And then obviously Rob Reiner then went on to make a bunch of really fucking awesome dramatic movies too. So, I mean, he's, Dude, spinal tap stands alone for me. He did that.

He's on my list forever. Yeah, and dude, on the complete other end of the spectrum, I've mentioned it on the podcast before. A few good men, I fucking love that movie. Like, misery. So anyway, Rob Reiner's a shit, and I hit for him, and that's far and away my favorite part of the weekend. Also a character on one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Yeah, right. He's a goddamn legend.

Yeah. There ain't no, if hands or butts about it. Corey, we should have went last. About when what? Yeah, you're right it. Oh, in our favorite part. Mine was seeing Tray meet Rob Runner. Yeah, so, like, I got nothing.

I guess for me it was running into James Carwell on the elevator. He did not know who we were. I mean, he didn't recognize this by name. I even said, you know, I worked with Trey Crowder Little Redneck. But he was super nice, and he looked like a ghost, and that was pretty cool. I mean, I watched him eat Watermelon, and that was fun. So, yeah, I mean, dude, just the whole being back there, it was a while. We've gotten, every time we're in L.A., it seems like I get to be in the same room with somebody that's super.

super awesome. It's usually in the comedy world, so it makes sense, and I guess I take it easier. But, like, yeah, being in the same room as Rob Reiner and James Carville, people who are not necessarily in my world. Right.

It was, yeah, it was fucking, and Carville, man, like, I've, dude, I mean, just growing up, he's always been that gay. He's been a raging cage in my whole life. That dude's just phenomenally famous fucking guy. All that note, the interaction was pretty raven. Because he was looking at his phone or whatever.

he was in workout clothes. He was in a sleeveless t-shirt, hitting. And I said, Mr. Carville, and he goes, yes, sir. And I loved that. Yeah. I liked hanging out with our buddy Roy backstage. Roy Wood Jr.'s here. I enjoyed watching Trace Standup.

I thought you had a good set. I was going to also mention that, yeah, I did a, so the three of us did a live podcast recording. You're going to hear that very shortly, dear listeners, when this intro portion is over. Poor shit rant is over. with the, with the very, very lovely and also extremely impressive

Allison Lundrigan Grimes more on her in a little bit. But we did that, and then I had that panel this morning, and last night, there was a stand-up show that was like at the end of the night, and I was,

I did a set on that. And I didn't know what to expect or how to feel about it initially, you know, because, I mean, it is a pretty mixed crowd out here, whatever, you know, I've had better, but it was solid.

It was a solid set, and, you know, it was fun. I just enjoyed being up there and doing it. It was a good time. What was the worst part? Just having to do anything aside from my down. For me. Yeah, I mean, no. I haven't.

None of it, none of my experience, my personal experience with Politicon has been, like, shitty or anything for me. So, I mean, I can say that. watching Ann Coulter take pictures with those cops and that was the shittiest part to me because it was just so very clear what the fuck she was doing. Yeah. And what they were doing.

Right, and what they were doing. Because otherwise, I didn't see them again. Right. At all. It's just a bunch of fucking cops just appeared and so did Atencultor and then a smoke bomb went off. Tell me Lorin has a cavalcade of like shittier versions of herself

that follow her around everywhere. Uh-huh. That was not at all surprising, but also, you know, like just, uh, yeah, right. Yeah. Uh, Corey, uh, ran in, well, didn't really run into them. You were in the hotel, like, sundry at the same time they were. Her posse was, yeah, and you said they were, like, making it a point to say Tomi's name over and over again, like, loudly. Yeah, they wanted me to know that they were friends with her and that they were her handlers because they were just like,

they were like at first they were just like i'm sure you know we have to go get her in a second do you think do you think we should get tommy some starbursts i guess we get some starbursts i guess we get some starbursts should we take them to tommy oh my god tell me really like and i just want to be like y'all know tommy oh my god and they were just god it was just a fucking just i don't even know what decided you know like offensive and you know like a gaggle of hands that's what i wanted to say i mean i know that's not right we they seem like we go everywhere together right but there's three of us and also y'all hit you're not just down there talking about and i do be what kind of jerks you do yeah yeah but y'all also right exactly but but also i was

thinking uh about this and like and colters here chelsea handler's here and like yeah they've got their like personal assistant with them or whatever else you know what i mean but like neither one of them nor like Roger Stone or Rob Reiner or any of these other supreme hiters who hit way harder than Tomp. She's the only person I've seen with that, with like an entourage, like a literal entourage like that here, period. I mean, yes, other people have their handlers or people or whatnot, but it's a couple of them. It's not this just, you know. Given, I am certain that it is two of her friends from back home and she's brought them out here. Dude, there's more than two.

Well, there was two that was in the sundry. They were, maybe y'all weren't in there. They came in the green room at one point, and there was a fucking, a whole, goddamn bevy of them. Didn't they all look her age, though? Yeah, well, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, I'm just, I'm saying it's an entourage. I don't know, I'm a Corey. I don't blame her for, you know, bringing her friends from hell with her.

Right. Right, because they wanted to get out of Hades. Yeah, now, given, we didn't do that, but, man, goddamn, oh, my Lord, can you imagine if we bought. I just wanted to make a joke about hell. I am not defending her at all, Corey. I believe in my heart that all she has ever wanted us to be famous and she figured out the quickest way. Now I'm thinking, though, about how awesome it would be if we did bring Brian, Robbie and Thompson out here, like to be our entourage. I mean, first off, they're getting his goddamn starbursts.

Brian will beat us up if he can't be the bus driver. It's already on record. Right. On record, right. Yeah, that'd be, yeah. Now I do retroactively wish we'd had our own entourage of our red-ass buddies. We don't have the money she do. Well, yeah, right.

but I mean, buddy, you can pay Thompson and fucking Bud Lats and beat burritos. I was about to say, just let them stay here. If they've got, if they can afford a couple days off on the weekend, you know, they'll be here. I know Robbie would at least. And yeah, he'd probably, I would have loved to seen him react to Tommy Lorenz people. So, um, did y'all talk about Abe Lincoln and all that mess and the 19 Trump impersonate? I've already decided, yeah, because I've done decided on a different career path. So, yeah, I, you know, I had wondered, because it's Politicon, and you think, and it's kind of, you know, described as, like, a Comic-Con for politics, junkies, or whatnot.

And one thing with conventions and stuff is people dressing up, cosplay and all this type of shit. And I'd wondered if that was going to be a thing here or not. And it's not a thing nearly on the level it is at, like, Comic-Con or whatever. But there's been some of that. Yeah, there's Abe Lincoln walking around. There's people in, like, I saw an Uncle Sam, and there's a dude walking around with a ball and chain, with a ball and chain attached to him.

You said Kamala Harris? Camala Harris. LAPD, frame me or something like that. That was wild as hell. So, I mean, there's some of that shit, but. Somebody did a show as their whole point of their show. It's called George Washington is pissed, and they dress up like George Washington, I guess,

and they go up there and talk about how I'm assuming, you know, this ain't why I founded this goddamn country, which led me to the... First of all, you freed the slaves. What the fuck, guys? I bet they gloss over a lot of shit in that show. Yeah, so that's inspired me to when this tour is over, as I've told y'all, but I want the support of our fans. I'm going to start dressing up as President Taft, and y'all are just going to carry me around in a bathtub, and ate Orioles.

And I think, hell, I'd sell tickets. Getting dirty with President Taff. Tav, dude, exactly. I just do the whole fucking show from a bathtub. God damn. Well, all right. I'm definitely got to do that now. And I'm sure I'm about to, as this is being put out, as people are now hearing this on Wednesday,

there's someone already photoshopping me in a goddamn bathtub or a pig in a bathtub. I know what's happening. I know how you all be doing. And you are so sincerely happy about it, Corey. Sometimes I am. The cherub was not flattering of me. Like some of them, they're great. It's great work.

of course I respect good work. Fuck you. That was art. I mean, yes, I understand. It was so, I looked so shitty that that is objectively funnier, but like, it just, it weren't flattering of my face. So. Neither is a mirror. We, there's been, oh, tiny Mr. Butt.

Mr. Butt with a cameo. That was son of Mr. Butt. Yeah. Caboose. Yeah. So we have to, we have to pretty. soon start talking about all the shit that's happened this week or else this is going to be a fucking three hour long intro which we can't have so yeah politicon's been a good other wild

shit will happen right way in any politicon's been a good experience and i mean you know i'll do it again if they'll if they'll have me uh but yeah and i if you're you're in you can get to it and you got the means and you're into politics and stuff you should check it out i mean i think for people that like, again, if you're a political junkie, I mean, I would imagine this is fucking exactly what you want out of something like this. I mean, it seems pretty fucking legit to me. Our buddy Riley and Kourer, they have been putting up picture after picture after picture. They're literally having the time of their fucking life. Right. But anyway, moving on. I saw a headline or a tweet or something earlier today. I can't remember. I

just dick around on my phone. But I thought this, well, not sums it up. There's plenty of other shit to talk about, but it just kind of puts it in perspective, in my opinion, this past week. And it said, in the past week, the President of the United States has been rebuked by the Boy Scouts, police officers, and the military all in one week. Jesus. Like, they've had to apologize, basically, on his. but the Boy Scouts felt it necessary to publicly apologize on behalf of the fucking president of the United States. And then that particular police union in Long Island did the same thing.

And then the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also Mad Dog Mattis both after his trans band tweet in the military were both like, uh, well, we're not doing that. Mattis? Mattis was on vacation when it happened and apparently reportedly was fucking furious about it. Where do you think he does? He's like in a desert somewhere beating up a cactus. He goes to some crater where they've done nuclear testing just runs around until he gets tired and comes home. God damn it, man. Okay.

When the police union or whatever, when they came out and apologized on Trumps, how many people, people's heads exploded because they didn't know what to think of that in that situation. When I saw that tweet, I saw a reply to it that said, if you are a Republican and you are pissing off the police and the military, you are fucking up. You know what I mean? Like that's supposed to be right in their wheelhouse. For sure. Like, you know, like if you're so embarrassingly just shitty that those two groups, you know,

have to like distance themselves from you and you're a republican that's fucking crazy if the people who literally just shoot so many innocent unarmed people have to go well hold on now let's back up from this one yeah you uh and what a lot of people say is like well if you watch the video of each of those instances and the the trans band's different because that was a tweet and the fucking you know in the dark of night or whatever he couldn't be bothered to say that on record that's just the uh well you know that's another thing man We have fucking major policy things coming out in tweets. To tweet.

But anyway, people say the other two, the Boy Scouts and the Long Island Police Union, if you watch the videos, a lot of the people that are actually there when he said the, like, you know, the embarrassing shit. They clapped and cheered for it. And again, in the Ian Harvey episode of the podcast, which is still to come, you said, and I agree with you, with the cops specifically, you know, part of the training of being a cop, you said, is like you follow orders, you do what you're told or whatever.

And so, and also, like, I don't know. Fucking, another thing is the people, I would imagine the cops that got to sit right behind him, like right up there in the front, like on the camera and stuff, probably really, really wanted to. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And so, like, it's not surprising that they were down with it. And also, if it was Boy Scout, you know, kids don't know shit. And there's also group think it's the president. Oh, we're supposed to clap, right? So you do. Maybe I'm having too much faith in these people. I think you're having too much faith in the cops.

I mean, what I'd said on there was just, you know, a commentary on how you get on a role and people just keep clapping in general. But in saying that, I don't think those cops, I was saying, I don't think they were really processing necessarily what he was saying. But had they done it, they would have not clapped because they knew it was dumb to clap. Not because they didn't agree with it. Oh yeah, we shouldn't be. I don't buy that for a second. But you have only, I mean, that's not, that's not, somehow that's not the whole week. No, I know.

No, I mean, I said that. I said there was other shit. I just thought, I just thought that was, like I said, sort of puts in perspective, just the absurdity of a lot of shit. It's weird because if he was pissing off all these people for the right reason, I would be totally on board. Like if he was making cops mad because he was like, hey, this bullshit has to stop, you know, quit being so trigger happy. If someone said to me, there's going to be a week in 2017 when a Republican president angers or has a disagreement with whatever, however you want to phrase it, because he didn't make the cops mad, but, you know, has a public disagreement with police officers, boy scouts, the military,

and goes after Jefferson Buregard Sessions. I'd be like, whew, damn. Sounds like a fire week. And pisses off a dude named Mad Dog specifically. Boy Scouts don't have for you? Well, I just, Republicans doing that. Republicans doing that because of that whole, they don't let gay people be scout leaders.

Right. Because, you know, according to them, all gay men are rapists. Right, okay, yeah. But he's all, because that's the other thing he's done. He has been public. Damn, that's a really good point, actually. You're right. Like, without the context,

it does sound like, yeah, all right, fucking A. I don't think he actually made officers mad. They just had to distance themselves from him because he's insane. Yeah, but that's still, if from,

not talking about the cops, as far as Trump goes, that's still just as bad. Right, for sure. For sure. But he is also publicly tearing down Attorney General Jeff Sessions because

he won't subvert the rule of law. he's mad that he recused himself from an investigation which follows the letter of you know of the law he's also complaining that he's not investigating Hillary Clinton even though an extensive FBI investigation has already happened right and even though that when he became president he said we're not going to do that there's no reason to yeah well it's you know it's that he deflects like a motherfucker right you know so that's the same week as the Boy Scouts. That's the same week as the transgender military situation. I felt like there was one more. Oh, no, this isn't a new thing, but this is just something that I felt like was worth commenting on. The move with the tweet brought Senators Oren Hatch

and Richard Shelby to the defense of transgender troops. Right. Orrin Hatch. Yeah, no, right. Yeah. offend transgender people. You know that did not hit for Oren. Right. No, yeah, that's what, I know that's, yeah, that.

Wild. That, it's insane how shitty he is and those types of statements really put, frame it for you. Like, we got the mooch. The mooch. On top of all that. We cannot forget the mooch. Who can forget the mooch? You can't forget the mooch.

You can't scoge the mooch. We talked about the mooch last week, and we were just like, oh, couldn't the guy that this is the guy and dude if you'd have told me if you'd have told me that spicy was going to be you know one way or another shown the door and that that part of the administration would get even more ridiculous I'd have been like there's at some point this has to stop that cannot be true maybe who has to level off at some point but sure enough that mother the mooch hadn't been in his job for fucking three days calls a reporter yeah On the record, to complain about leaks, and then start to sleep on shit.

I mean, yeah, he probably meant the vegetable. He said he said he wanted to kill those fucking leakers. He said, I'm not, like, in a row, these are separate quotes, but he said, all in the same conversation. He said, I'm not Steve Bannon. I'm not trying to suck my own cock. Yeah, that's the line of the year. Oh, that's amazing.

And he's, that should be Webster's dictionary's word of the year. That whole thing should be condensed into one word, and that should be what it is. And he called the soon to also be shown the door, Rents Prebus, a fucking psychopathic lunatic. And he accused him of being a leaker, which is technically leaking information. And I mean, dude, yeah, like, you tell me somebody saying those things about those dudes, and I'm like, fucking A, that guy hits for me. but they're all part of the same administration and he's the White House communications director speaking in official capacity

saying shit like that. That's fucking nuts, man. That's crazy. I tell what's crazy is how he's probably going to be president after Trump. Yeah. That was depressing, wasn't? The mooch. Yeah.

That'll be good at us. And then we, of course, had the complete and utter failure of the repeal of the affordable care. Yeah, fuck, yes. That's another thing. Dark week for Republicans as a part. Maybe that's why I feel like shit. It's not my serotonin.

It's just, I mean, all this. Like, there ain't... There ain't no joy, yeah, this week. There ain't one bit of goddamn joy. We had joy on the podcast. That's true. We did have... Joy Reid.

Yes, we'll be a guest on a future podcast. She also was a lot of my week. Very impressive and very awesome person just to be around. And we got into the repeal a little bit with her. And I think we did. A little bit with Allison. Yeah. But it's wild to think about impotent they are.

Right. No, I know. Yeah, that. And yes, in these separate interviews. But I'm terrified to celebrate. How can I celebrate? Well, I know. That's what I'm in the, in the conversation with Joy.

That they failed to repeal it. That's what you're, that's what you're. No, like they're incompetence. Oh, yeah. Right. And again, y'all will hear this again in the Joy Reid episode. But like, I don't know how to, I go back and forth on how to feel about it because, I mean, yeah, they have, they control. as a party, the White House

and both fucking branches of Congress and have this thing that as a party, they across the board, universally agree, has to be done, which is get rid of Obamacare, right?

And they can't even do that. That's how incompetent they are. And like, I go back and forth on whether to be like happy that they're that incompetent. it because it's like, well, good, I hate their agenda. And if they're so shitty, they can't accomplish anything on their agenda, then that's good.

I go between that and being, like, fucking terrified because these are the fucking people running the country. And what about war? And they can't do shit. Well, I will say, I mean, they're very incompetent. But part of the reason is they, Americans now have been thinking about, and it's been in the forefront of our minds, health care and in general, healthcare as a political concept, and the Affordable Care Act for eight years. And a lot of that's their fault, because I've been talking about it all the goddamn time. Well, they have learned that the American people want insurance to be more affordable or get rid of it.

Some people want single-payer. They want health care to be more affordable. We've heard now over and over again, the Democrats have actually done a decent job, especially the Bernie Sanders camp and the people like him, of pointing out how no other first world countries have this fucking issue to deal with. Health care's a right in so many places. So now they're coming in there, and it's not just that they couldn't repeal it. They couldn't repeal it without coming up with something that didn't cut out people with preexisting conditions and poor people. The reason they couldn't do that, and I think it was you that was talking about there was a tweet, or maybe I just saw it,

where someone goes, how do we fix health care? It was basically setting up the goodwill hunting scene, and it was like, Will Hunting comes in and crosses through the word profit. it and then everyone's head explodes. It's like once you stop trying to make money hand over fist off the healthcare industry, it's actually an easy equation. I think more and more Americans are realizing that. Yeah, and also, you know, their bread and butter in terms of their electorate is old people. Yes.

And old people be sick and have a shitload of drugs that they have to take. And like, now, plenty of those old people will still just vote whatever. But like, I was in, you know, when. I was in Wayne County, Tennessee recently. I saw multiple times on TV this ad that was being run, not by any particular politician, but it was directed at old people and was like, tell Bob Corker, who's a senator from Tennessee, Republican Senator from Tennessee. We bought a bottle of wine at the same time together.

He was wearing a Burberry scarf and he smelled very good. Go on. That all kind of checks out for me. But it said, tell Bob Corker to vote no on the whichever one it was at the time. That was a few weeks ago, but this has been going on for a while. and it was saying tell him to not fucking repeal Obamacare because hey you old fucks like you need this shit you know you need health care and everything they put forth will fuck over a lot of you and I think party shit aside that has to you know that has to

impact these people at least a good portion of them because it's their fucking health well probably if it's sounding like the socialist that I am somewhere in my heart but market answer to old people. Let them fucking die. Capitalism does not have a cure for health care in general. It doesn't. It's like, oh, you have cancer.

It's an extremely, you know, powerful type of cancer. You're 40. You don't really have, you know, you're not a genius scientist. Let you die. That's what the market says. And we, as Americans, have said, yeah, we don't want that. You know, like, market might be fine for some things. Like, you know, who makes the best, I don't know, fucking microphone.

But maybe not for just killing people. Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, it would. Can we take out an ad like that when you were just talking about that says, tell Barb Corker to kiss my ass? I mean, yeah, there ain't no reason we can't.

I bet there's some kind of law or rule. Or, like, people wouldn't run the ad. Lord, that would hit, though. I mean, we could, Corker, but just in general. I mean, you can buy a billboard space for, or anything, but I don't know about the FCC rules about the word ass. I've talked you about this before. I know what you're talking about.

If I make enough, like, if I get like fuck you money eventually, like just rich enough to do shit like this, I want to put up billboards. And I don't know how it all works either. Hell, that's why I asked you because you've got people. I know. I have people. I don't know. If you can just put a billboard right right past another billboard

or whatever, I don't know. But I want to find those like, just, totally out of nowhere, random-ass shitty billboards that are all over the south of, you know, either it's about abortion or it's just something out of nowhere about, you know, Jesus is coming or Jesus is watching you or whatever. Or there's one right outside of Cookville, Tennessee, where I went to college, uh, that says, Cookville, Tennessee still, um, still supports and respects its people in law enforcement with like a big badge. And I, it's worded and it's worded a little shittier than, you know,

what I mean? Like, you could, it's passive aggressive. It's right. And so those kinds of things that just start putting up billboards right past them that just troll whatever that message is. You know what I mean? I think that's actually a good loophole. You don't have to curse.

But black people hit too or whatever. You know what I mean? Jesus is coming soon. No, he ain't. Right. Yeah. That's a loophole. You're not cussing.

It just says that. I'm not telling you what it's for. Yeah, no, I don't mean cussing or dick picks or nothing on them. I just mean something. Whatever I think would make the person who put that billboard up, the most angry that put that on it successions

everybody keeps doing it right yeah it's like uh you know that's called internet comments police officers and then it's like except for the racist ones right which seems to be most uh also they're all dumb yeah

just keep going until everything's a fucking billboard and we just all collapse underneath it and die all right Corey but anyways yeah I have people yeah I know

I'll call Robbie tomorrow. We'll set this up. We don't have that type of money yet. Bernie is going to, he has announced that he's going to put forth a single-payer system to vote. I don't think he expects it to win, but I think he can't. Truly, he can't. I think he expects it to, you know, get this conversation going, continuing to go in that direction.

And, man, I'm telling you, I'm all for it. I can't, I can't come up. You know, I'm just, well, I mean, I'm a little bit more, I think, left than you about certain economic type things. But for this one, I just, I have a hard time entertaining any sort of pro-capitalist argument for it.

So I think we've talked about this on here before, I'm sure, you know, various times. I don't remember exactly what we have and haven't said. But basically for me, what it comes down to is, um,

bless you. Corey is dying as we're talking about health care. Sorry. If you, if you, if we don't have universal health care of some kind. And there's all these, you know, poor people and old people and other, you know, drains

on society, you know, that are sick. Okay, well, so what do we do with them, you know, Republican Party who wants to let the market handle it or whatever and people that just can't afford interest? What do we do with them? You already said, let them die, right? And if that, but these elite, the politicians especially and 90 plus percent of American Republicans are not going to say that, you know. And so, but if that's your answer, okay, fair enough, you're a sociopath and fuck you,

but at least you're honest. But most of them won't say that. And so then it becomes, okay, so what do we do? Right? We have to, we can't let people that we're ostensibly the greatest country on earth. We cannot allow people to die. So what do we do? We treat them anyway.

And when they can't pay for it, which they won't be able to, their cost will be spread across all the other people who can pay driving up costs even further than the astronomical level they are right now, which that is exactly how that happened in the first place, with emergency rooms and shit. That's how we got where we are. Everyone on both sides agree that where we are is fucked, you know, and like is bad. That's how we got here in the first place. So I just don't see another, I don't see another option other than that, you know.

Like anything that leaves a sizable amount of people out of it. it like that, like big groups specifically of people that can't afford to pay for it, that's where you're going to end up. And that fucks over everybody ultimately. The only, the single argument I have ever heard that made any sense to me against that idea, other than ones I don't understand when people go, it don't work in America because, yeah, it works in Sweden, but they've only got a million people or whatever the fuck it is.

You know, I'm just not smart enough to say that can't be true or whatever, but it feels like that's bullshit. But the one that I'm like, all right, maybe I could see this is the idea that our capitalistic health care system here in America is a big reason for our health care innovations. Because pharmaceutical companies make bazillions of dollars off of new drugs, they can afford to do the testing that also costs a billion dollars. Now, but let me throw a Republican, you know, let me use one of their claims against them here. We go to this single payer system. maybe then once we do that we can get rid of some of the fucking glut

with the FDA and it doesn't cost $19 billion to test a new medicine because the efficacy laws and all that stuff can change a little bit and I don't know if that's true I'm speaking out of my ass a little bit maybe it can't that was the only argument I ever heard where I went all right

we do seem to we being the United States with a few other countries including India we do seem to make a lot of the new medicines in the world perhaps that's of coincidence. Perhaps all these universal health care

have in first world countries, you just don't make as much money there, so the innovation is coming from America. I saw a quote the other day from, I want to say, it was like some Swedish doctor

or Swedish pundit or something. I'm pretty sure twas a swede. But, barely it was a swede. But anyways, the point was, the problem with Americans

in their health care debate is that a lot of Americans genuinely believe that an x-ray costs $15,000. Right. And it doesn't. Like, yeah, that's what they charge. But, and I know it had to be somebody in the health care field because they were like, you know,

come and trust me. It fucking don't. And not only does it not, it costs so much less that that. They can still charge that and still make a goddamn profit. It's not like they have to charge that. They just know they fucking can. Yeah, dude. I mean, that's the whole thing.

That's the whole reason for those crazy prices like that is because... What are you going to do? Not do it? Well, because so many people for so long weren't paying anything. for them. And so the people that they can get money out of, or the insurance companies or whatever, the prices just escalated and escalated and got more and more jacked up because they did that to cover all the losses elsewhere. You know what I mean? And also they know, here's, I don't know how this is a thing I think a lot of people also don't realize. If you, like, half the time,

they don't even expect to get the actual amount of money that, like they charge you for these crazy rates they charge. Like, if you come. call them and contest it if you're poor or whatever they'll just be like well you got 20 bucks or what like you know not literally that but they'll take a fraction of it because yeah it that's not the actual cost nowhere close but they put them up there you know because of all the holes elsewhere because of our fucked up broken system right so it don't hit yeah well we've solved it so yeah they just aren't let the well red boys run everything that's right so y'all you're in for i can quit over two days you're in for a treat uh the uh figure out the anesthesiology part of it that way i

could like get really good sleep that's like apparently one of the hardest parts i know i'm just well i just would get i'd find out where the gas mask and shit was and i'd just turn it on and i don't mean like die the first night yeah for sure Anyway, y'all are... Corey thinks when you go to surgery, they give you a gas mask. Yeah. They put them tubes in your nose. That's not how they knock you out.

I don't think, baby. I think it's through the IV. Yeah, and it's extremely precise. Like a fucking drop more or less could kill a person and whatever. For sure. But they, okay, dentists, that's what I'm going to do. That's part of health care. Dental shit.

That's a side part of it. And that shit ain't as complicated as the funny gas. That shit hits. I made the absurd, for comedic purposes, suggestion that we should run the country, and immediately, Corey just started talking about ways to get high. No, sleep. I said sleep.

But, I mean, yeah, I'll get high. High first. Well, yeah. We want to have good dreams, baby. You got damn right. Anyway, y'all are in for a treat because the interview this week is the very first ever live recording of the well-read podcast. Also hospital beds.

right here at Politicon with Allison Lundrigan Grimes, who, if you don't know her, she's a Democratic politician and attorney from the state of Kentucky. She's one of two elected Democrats in the state of Kentucky. She is the Secretary of State. For the State of Kentucky, she's the youngest person to have ever been elected Secretary of State in American history. and she in 2014 ran opposing the, you know, the Dread Turtle himself, Mitch McConnell, and she took him right down to the wire before ultimately losing.

And we had a very good discussion with her. It was four progressive Southerners on the stage together in Southern California. You know, this world really is crazy times we're living in. But she was awesome. The discussion was awesome. And you're also going to be. you're going to find out when you're listening to it that apparently Anne Coulter was doing some kind of wild-ass shit right next door to us because people were whipped into a frenzy in the room next to us, which, you know, they tried to hold us down. She tried to hold us down with that shit indirectly, but we will not be stopped.

God damn it. We continued with. Nevertheless, we persisted. That's right. We continued with the hit. So without further ado, enjoy our love. live recorded conversation with the one and only

Allison Lundrigan Grimes. I want to say, as a caveat to this, though, real quick, well, also, I want to say, and we talked about this a little bit with her, but we didn't get too deep into it. She stood up to the Trump administration. I think that should be part of her intro

when they tried to, they're trying to get the voter rolls, all the information of who's voting, which is some fucking Kremlin Nazi type shit. And she is one of the first and loudest secretaries of state to stand up.

to the Trump administration, and that hits for me. No, yeah. I was, super hard. I was telling Corey yesterday, you know, I don't know shit at all. But I get the feeling that she's going to go on to some pretty fucking big and important things. Like, I feel like she's a rising star in the Democratic Party. And I hope she is because I like the hell out of her.

She seems legit to me. That's what I said yesterday was it's extremely cool that we got to do this podcast with her. I think one day it will seem extremely. cooler that we did this podcast with her. Well, she's the consummate politician, and I mean that in all the ways, positive or however you want to take that. As a matter of fact, I mean, I don't blame her for this at all. Like, when I go on doing an interview, I'm a comic. You know, you can try to get me to be one way or the other, but I'm going to make jokes. I personally was trying to, like, you know, get through that layer of, you know, because she had some talking points she wanted to, and I couldn't do it. And I don't blame her for that at all, but, man, she was so engaging the whole time, you know? She's great at that kind of thing. Yeah, and was a fan of the podcast already, and you'll see what we mean. Yeah, you'll see before this is over. So enjoy the interview, and we'll see y'all next time. Skew!

Well, well, well. Skew, that's right. You guys know the lingo. So, yeah, here we are. This is a live recording of the well-red podcast. This is the first ever live recording of the well-red podcast. Thank you all for being part of that. We really appreciate you coming.

and if there's anybody in here that doesn't know what is going on, and you're just kind of checking different things out, and you just wandered in here and you hear the accents. This is not a podcast about trucks. The deal is, yeah, we're three. We're three. We're three progressive southern comedians who tour together and co-hosts this podcast,

and we're very excited to be here with you today. How are you feeling? Corey? I don't know, something's got clapping. I think Trump just got impeached. I don't know what the fuck's going on. That clapping's making me jealous a little bit. I feel like, you know, like, when you're in a hotel.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's like when you're in a hotel room with your partner and you're hearing them do it next door and it makes you get you going, you know, just me? All right, guys. When I go back and edit this, I'm going to put that up front, so we'll never know that that happened.

Yeah, Politicon. I didn't know what to expect with this at all. Like, I wondered, because it has con on the end of it, and I've heard of Comic-Con and all that, but I've never been. So I was wondering if there was going to be like, you know, James Carville cosplayers and stuff, walked around dressed that way.

No, I think that was really him. Yeah, that was James. It wasn't a costume. I've seen some people dressed up like Abraham Lincoln, and there's apparently a thing called... That wasn't the real Abraham Lincoln? I don't think so, no. And I don't think Daniel Day Lewis has already come out of retirement.

But, yeah, man, I really do want to know what the fuck is going on. There's so great. There was some... These girls walked by me, and they said it was called the Sex Princess. The president show? You all know shit about that? Sex presidents? Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

Who votes for that? I don't know, man. Yeah. I want to run. Dang, sex president's killing over there right now. Well, yeah, it's the president of sex or she is. I don't know. Yeah.

They are murdering. But anyway, we're glad y'all are in here with us. They're just going to slowly trickle out over to that room. I can't help it. I have to know what that is. I'm sorry, I have to go. Yeah, I probably shouldn't open up. I think it's called sex presidents.

Bye, everybody. Yeah, but we are very excited to be here, and we do have a very special guest for you guys today. Somebody we're excited to talk to because she is a countryman of ours, a person after our own hearts, somebody we have a lot in common with. And so without wasting any time, because we do have, you know, a certain amount of time we could do here today. We're going to go ahead and bring her up here and introduce to you our guest today. She is an attorney and a Democratic politician from Kentucky, down where we heard from, and she is the Secretary of State of the State of Kentucky.

Allison Lunderg and Grimes, everybody. Yeah. Thank you guys. Well, if y'all were wondering what that is, that's the reception Ann Coulter gets in California next door. That's what's going on. Really? Screaming at her? What?

Yeah. Is that Anne? Yep, all that's what's going on. Was she taking off her mask? What the I guarantee you she's not the president of sex It's actually It's Anne Coulter's feeding time right now

They're just throwing lamsing her Just throwing lambs at it We just walked a dude Oh well That wouldn't be the first time Allison thank you for joining us How are you how's your Politicon been It's been a great

It's day. It's going to be a great weekend. I'm just sad there's no bourbon on this table. I thought some good Southern boys. Y'all have some good cabal water for you. I told Corey I was going to bring you bourbon and then we decided it was a bad idea because we felt like you would be pressured into drinking it too in the afternoon and you might have stuff to do later. That's called Kentucky Life for us. I'm more ashamed that I thought of it and didn't do it. In my defense, I got shithoused on the plane yesterday and all the way and then all day so I don't have any left in the tank. I'm saving it for the party later.

When Corey and I departed last night, he was literally crying in a bar. I was. I got drunk and started crying in public, so. Drunk in public. Drunk in public. And I was like, I'm assuming ugly crying.

What happened? What happened? I don't know. I do this. I start thinking about sad shit and I'm getting drunk and then I'm with Drew and I'm just very open around him

because look at him. And then I get, I get fucked up and I cry. I don't know. It's not... Have you ever heard that phrase, The Abyss Stairs Back? Yes.

That's me. It's your eye. So, here we are. There's four progressives from the South on the stage together in Southern California. Make a wish, everybody. Yeah. Because I know, I know there'd be a lot of people

that I've encountered over the past year who would be, who literally wouldn't think that would be possible, i.e. you couldn't find four of us, you know, to put on the stage. And I'm always, what I hear a lot is something to the effect of, if not verbatim, you're like a unicorn, you know, which is exactly the term you used outside when we were talking about it. So I guess you hear that too. And so we wanted to talk to you about how you feel about that whole sort of stereotype of, you know, there isn't any such thing as a liberal southerner or whatever to a lot of people. And do you run into that a lot? And what's the reality of it in the great state of Kentucky?

Well, you know, in Kentucky, we care about a lot of things, mainly when it comes to horse racing and our bourbon and our basketball. We're real big on those three things. When it comes to folks, though, it's not really a Democrat or a Republican label. It's about knowing the people of your state and importantly being able to fight for them. And if fighting for people to be able to have access to affordable health care or being able to make a good wage or hey how about getting a good education for those kids or being able to retire after you give 30 years to the railroad or down in a coal mine if that makes you a liberal

then i guess i'm one of them because that's what that's what i oh yeah that's what i'm about uh you know these are values that growing up a family of five girls leave it to being in the south we're all ayes alice abbey alice and ashley amy that's pretty southern hey you i'll answer to it if that's If that's what Cori or Drew wants to call me, I can answer to it. Go balls. You wanted to start there, did you? Sounds like you did, but go ahead. I'm sorry.

It's about being able to fight not only for your family, but for the working families all across our state. And that is something that I think public service is all about. And, you know, I think sometimes in today's world, we get caught up on labels, and people don't actually have the productive discussions they want to because they can't see past what progressive means. It's about progress, and who doesn't want progress? Do we want to stay in the same place?

I mean, about that. Yeah, I think there's a lot of people who, unfortunately, you know, they ain't too on board with progress for whatever reason. But I actually wondered, you are out actually talking to these people in Kentucky all the time, what kind of reaction do you get from people in Kentucky who you run into who would just, who are the Make America Great Again crowd, you know, and zealots and all that. Do they respond to things that you say?

Well, listen, I'm one of two statewide elected Dems in my state. And then if you look at the South, one of the last remaining women in the South. We have a lot in common with folks who might not label themselves as a Democrat, let alone a progressive. I go down, I zip line down, a Black Mountain just like they do. I ride four-wheelers. I'm pretty good aim when it comes to shooting a shotgun. I'm really good at ski.

So there's things we can talk about and have productive discussions, and I think that's what it's about, engaging people on the things you can agree on to try to come to terms on the issues I know right now we're seeing our nation actually struggle with as a whole. Yeah, absolutely. I get asked that all the time, like, about the Democratic Party or just liberals in general, like, what can we do to reach these people, you know, and I'm going to start using some of that shit. You said. That sounded pretty good. Bring in some bourbon.

You have enough of it. You'll start telling the damn truth. That's the way it is. Right. Absolutely. So you alluded to it. I wanted to get into it since you kind of touched on it. One thing that we, the three of us all have in common, that sometimes is.

off-putting to some of our fan base or whatever because it's not a liberal thing is our feelings toward guns which I don't want if they can hear any of this I don't want to continue talking that's why they're yelling right now yeah they heard guns and just started you know just yeah just yeah if you're listening to this spontaneous rally after we've recorded it everyone live can hear there is a chant next door I can only assume that the you know the bloodletting process has started during the Illuminati ceremony of the Ann Coulter rally. It's like the Red Wedding, a Game of Thrones. Somewhere Indiana Jones is sitting there going, don't look at it.

And if you are listening, if it's annoying that we're commenting on it, I'm sorry, but much like her presence on TV, I'm overwhelmed and full of hatred right now. It is very loud, yeah. If you're listening later and can't hear it, it's very loud in the room. but yeah, we'll try to stop. Anyway, yeah, so, right, I've never, just like the NRA says, if only we had one now. So, with me in particular,

we wouldn't shoot her, it'd be like the Old West where you'd shoot at the goddamn ceiling, you know, I would kill myself. You know, spittoon, tell everybody to shut the fuck up. We're not trying to kill anybody. Y'all, ugh, y'all are gross. I, I've never bought a gun ever in my life, but I own

14 guns because they were my grandpa. Passed down. You know, and like, I don't want like that shit meant a lot to him. I don't want to just get rid of them or whatever. And like it's a

really is a cultural thing. And so because of that, I'm not like, I don't hunt really. I mean, I have, but I don't. I mean,

especially not to, you know, moved out here, you know, but I just. I just, water out here. Right.

I just built mine when I said that. Because of that, I can't, be too hardcore anti-gun, you know what I mean, for those reasons, like, because I, I would feel hypocritical if I even, and I just, that's just not how I feel, you know, so that's the one thing where I kind of go the other way. But having said that, I know we've talked about before, and I know we agree, like, when it comes to background checks and that, you know, gun show loopholes closing, all that, 100% for it, that's ridiculous, in my opinion, to be opposed to

that kind of shit. So, I mean, I think we're reasonable about it, but where to, you're, you fall on that. Well, most of the nation is right where you just said, Tray. They are for universal background checks. They are for making sure that we close the gun show loopholes. You can't literally go purchase a gun under less restrictive means at Rupp Arena. Well, yes, the Wildcats have eight national championships. Under less constraints than, I told you, less constraints than if you actually went to a gun store. You guys won a national title in football? Yeah, we're working on getting number nine, well, we're going to take Louisville's away from them.

So, folks, to me, I'm where you guys are. I love going and shooting with my husband. I'm actually a better aim than he is. Be careful, bro. I know. But it's a good way to, for me, it's a stress reliever. I sometimes picture Mitch McConnell's face on the other end of it. He looks like he got blasted with a gun at one point, and they just kind of mushed him back together.

But, you know, I don't think, I think at the end of the day, we don't need guns in the hands of folks who are mentally incompetent, of folks that have horrible criminal backgrounds, of folks that shouldn't be having guns in their hands. That's what we have to shore up. And to not be able to have that conversation without literally millions of dollars flooding in from the NRA, that's wrong. Yeah, I mean, it's insane to me that what you just said is kind of controversial apparently. But yeah, it is. So another thing you brought up, I wanted to get to

the Nazi turtle himself, Mitch McConnell. You ran against him. You opposed him in the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Kentucky and took it down to the wire. And so tell us how you feel about Mitch McConnell. There's not enough time nor enough. We need more. We need more. We need more. bourbon, let alone there's no bourbon here right now. Listen, you got to respect the results of an election, just like we do for president. That doesn't mean I still don't hold him and our current president accountable for areas, ideas, bad policy roads that they go down that are not only going to hurt people in my state, but people all over this nation. And the Affordable Care Act, that's a prime example. When he was shedding tears on the floor of the Senate,

I couldn't help but think, is he just shedding them for himself? Because there's 400,000 people in my state who have access to expanded Medicaid because of it. Their lives are better because of it. He probably was molting. Leaking. He cried? You know, either that or some really good acting. But at that point in the night, it was Collins, Murkowski, and McCain, who I think

really the nation had their eyes focused on. And I know we're also proud of John McCain, as, as, especially his service, what he's given to this nation. But I hope your listeners, and especially those that are here at Politicon, realize it's the women who stood strong and never wavered. That's right. Like, why were we at that point in the night where it was a possibility that literally the fifth time we see just in the past, you know, Trump presidency that we're trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, literally take millions of folks' health care, their ability to stay alive away from them. it's because we had people like Senator McCowski and Senator Collins who never wavered.

And I personally think, and I hope your listeners will heed this request, we need more women. More women in government is how it gets done. No doubt. Are you suggesting that women did something and then a man took credit for it? Because I'll be goddamn if you're going to, I'm just kidding. That sounds about right. They've done it time and time again. And I think when we've seen good things happen at the federal level, it's been women, for instance, making sure the government shut down.

Actually, we turn the lights back on, that we pass a budget. Women, Patty Murray led that effort. Why do we still have the Affordable Care Act? Why were they unsuccessful this past week? It's people like Collins and Murkowski that we can look to. And people like Maisie Hirono, who literally is struggling with her own cancer battle, was there on the floor of the Senate telling people this is what we need to be doing. We need to have the same empathy that I would have for my family member each of us should have for the millions of Americans who are better off because of it today. It reminded me, fellas, and you may know it too, as a comedy fan.

We were talking earlier. She's a big comedy fan. Chris Rock had a bit about people trying to get credit for shit they're supposed to do all the time. Right. And this whole week with McCain, I felt like that. I mean, you know, again, he's a war hero, and he was a prisoner of war, and that's horrible. But it's like, everyone's standing up and clapping. My favorite move was when shooting.

cut off the dims was like, no, stop with a standing ovation. He should have fucking did this five hours ago. And that's where I was at. I understand. Do you think with, so continuing with the healthcare discussion and the Republican Congress, I feel like at this point, they seriously are trying to just pass something just to say that they have done it. Like they don't even care, they don't care what happens. Seven plus years, literally the entire Obama presidency, what happened nationally was we're going to repeal it root and branch.

I can't tell you how many times I heard that out of the mouth of Mitch McConnell, out of Republicans nationally. It was an oversimplified campaign slogan that they had nothing to back it up with because they had no plan once they actually got to that point. They own, they own right now, Pennsylvania Avenue, both chambers, the House and the Senate. So they have no one else to blame but themselves. And if the American people don't hold them accountable for that, then we have got a lot of work ourselves to still do because we put them in this position because they made promises and they just, quite frankly, they don't have the ability to govern, I don't think.

I think that's why Mitch McConnell was crying this past week. They clearly are bad at governing, but they clearly, unfortunately, and this is not going to hit for you all, are good at winning elections. So if we could shift briefly here. But why is that, though? That's why I weren't ask you? Well, to me, it's part of the reason why I'm out here. We've looked at the map east and west coast, and that's the electoral map that we seem to go by.

Y'all know that there's some great folks that are in the middle, aren't there? There's some great folks in the middle of the United States. Only fucking four people from California clap. I know. Oh, y'all are something else. There's folks that we have to speak to. I think it's going to be rural voters that help bring not only the Democratic Party, but this nation back. Instead of talking to the stars in Hollywood, and trust me, many of them were on board with my run against Mr. McConnell because they wanted to see him gone.

Instead of the stars in Hollywood, we got to focus on the stars that are in rural Kentucky. For me, it's the folks that are waiting on folks at Cracker Barrel. There's stars that they have on those chest, on those aprons. They earn them with sweat and hot. hard work and those are the people we have to talk to. How does the Democratic Party nationally do that? Yes. My daddy did always say that there's nothing better than a four-star woman from Cracker Barrel. Direct quote. Well, listen, they get my carry-out business a lot because the only thing I'm good with in cooking is a microwave. So in terms of, I think we've got to realize, as I told people today, why are you here? Well, because this accent is what we need.

to be talking about. It's not just, when you hear Southern folks talking, it's an old Republican man, and I'm tired of that. We have women that have great views as well. We've got to talk to rural voters, and that actually means going there. We never once had Air Force One in eight years the President Obama was there, land in Kentucky to talk about the good work he was doing. That has to stop. We've got to realize that those folks in the middle matter, and that's the reason why I'm speaking up, and I hope that people, we can get away from the litmus test. They sure as hell didn't have a litmus test as Republicans for Donald Trump to be a part of their party. Why do we have litmus test for people to be a part of ours?

We're eating our own right now. Because, you know, think about it. If you agree with somebody 60, 70 percent of the time, what do you call that person? For me, it's my husband. But a lot of times we say as Democrats, I'm sorry, you don't agree with me on everything. you can't be at the party and that's just wrong. We have to stop that. I've talked about, we've talked about that so many times

how like you literally have to be 100% you can't waver half a percent. You can agree with someone. And I'm talking about myself a lot of times. I'm a hypocrite as a liberal. It's like, I agree with you about 99% of things and you say, like us with the guns. Then people are like, okay, well, you know, go screw yourself.

Not anymore. So I'll share this story. Have you all ever been to a dog fair before? A dog fair? Not a fair. Dog fair. Like literally dog fair. Like dogs ride, fair rides? Dog fair where they dress up in costumes, literally. Top hats, bow ties, nails done, everything.

I've done it just at my house. I put my dog in outfits. So when I first started out in this thing called Public Service, I was really new, really just didn't really know what was going on. and I went up to a woman at the one and only dog fair I've ever been to in Kentucky. It was in West Kentucky. And I said, hi, I'm Allison. I'm running for Secretary of State. I went on and on about my credentials and qualifications and why I needed her help and support. I thought I heard her tell me her name as well as her dog.

And I could tell that I wasn't getting quite the reaction from her I needed with this long-winded, never take a breath spiel. And so I said, well, I'll go to what I know. And I thought she told me that her dog was Cooter. So I said, well, Cooter looks mighty cute today and Cooter this and Cooter that. What do you feed Cooter? He looks pretty healthy. And what can we do to help Cooter win the dog fair?

At the end of it, I could tell I had lost her. She put her hand on her hip and looked as just red as a beat. And she said, Allison, you get one thing straight if you're going to be in this thing called Public Service. And if you want me to vote for you, it's Scooter not Cooter. I thought she was about to say, actually, I'm Coder. That's what. People don't care how much you know. Right.

And in the Democratic Party, sometimes we try to talk down to people instead of talk with people. I've always thought we had a problem. They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. You actually got to be there. You got to talk to them. And you got to get it right. We have missed out on that. See, they agree.

And that's what we're trying to correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think, I think this is related to what you were just saying. I mean, I know where I'm from and in other parts of Tennessee, where I've lived and been and everything, that it's a very real feeling that a lot of those people in those areas have

about the Democratic Party or, you know, coastal liberals and all that kind of thing that they, you know, that they do, they are looked down on, they look down their noses at them. They don't give a shit about them except for, to make fun of them or whatever. And, but at the same time, I know from personal experience, I mean, I try not to do that. And also, I am one of them. And when, but me just literally saying something politically they disagree with.

And, you know, they run me out of the goddamn state. You know what I mean? Like they don't want to hear it. They don't want to hear the actual argument or the policy either a lot of the times I feel like. Alternative facts. alternative facts. So I feel like that is true, but I don't know how much of a difference it would really make with some of these people, even with the approach, I guess is what I'm saying, because in my experience, some of them are so set in their ways that it's not going to matter. Well, I think there's an opportunity, though.

You know, I've always said Mitch McConnell can't live forever. That's actually the ritual and culture's leading next door right now. There's literally an opportunity. and I hope you know what you guys do. It is making a difference because for too long we shod away from having the conversation because it was hard. People went to the East or West Coast because that's what was easy. We have to engage in the hard parts and be in the hard areas of our nation because while East and West Coast, they're really seeing the fact that we've come out under Obama of a recession, that the unemployment rate

dropped to the lowest it had ever been in the nation. But in our parts of the United States, Tennessee and Kentucky, our unemployment rate is still above the national average. We still have people who are, they haven't felt what they read about in the papers or what they're hearing on the radio station. So what does that give them? It makes them angry. It makes them hurt. And then you have people who are on the Republican Party who are just doing nothing about exploiting that, out of fear and hatred. And that's what we have to counteract. You can't do that if you're not on the ground.

You can't do that if you're not of the dog fair. You can't do that if you're not talking about it on a podcast. So thank you to Well Red for doing that. Well, you are welcome. Yeah, no, I think, you know, you're clearly doing your part too. So likewise, thank you for what, you know, you're fighting a good fight, and I appreciate it. Don't say yourself short, man. Dick Jokes for peace.

That's you, buddy. That just clean slated me. I totally forgot what I was going to say. Shit. Yeah. I don't know. Are you still suffering from that car accident you had in Kentucky? What happened?

Thank you guys for what you're doing and how brilliant your take is. All right. What the fuck were we talking about? What happened? It was London, Kentucky. Trey was not involved. He had flown home. And Corey and I were driving back from Cincinnati.

Yeah, Big Pig. I killed Big. pig. He killed big pig. Drew wrecked Gore's truck in Kentucky. Yeah. It's the second time I'd slaughtered a Kentucky pig. When my wife and I got married, we got one. Did they see your stickers on the back of your car and come after you?

Did they ram you in? It was just like NASCAR? No, he just drives that way no matter what all the time. So. Yeah, the water was out to get us. We hydroplained. Oh, man. And it was luckily it was one of those guardrails that is meant to just completely stop a vehicle. One of those I don't know, I don't know.

But the other ones, the reason that they made, the cable ones, because the other ones, you will just flip the fuck over. But these are like intention, like they can stop a transfer truck. So we hit it going about 85 miles an hour. Wait, hold up. Corey, stop talking. This is the Secretary of State. We owe her money. That's what this is about.

That's what she brought it up. I was like, they don't blame Kentucky. Yeah, we know. Kentucky's struggling like all Southern States sometimes, but we ain't paying for that garbrail. God, damn. I'm not here. I'm glad you said that, dude. I remembered.

Thank you, Allison, for keeping the ball rolling there. So most of that narrative about how Trump and, you know, his campaign were able to reach these people. They clap literally when you said Trump. I know it's weird. Guns, Trump, whatever, blood magic, any of that, they start clapping. It's weird. It's like they can hear us. But anyway.

Letting old people die. I just want to see if it worked. It didn't. Wild. It didn't. They, a lot of that narrative, centers around jobs, right? And I'm front, and like my hometown, which is on the Kentucky line, just south of Salina, Tennessee. I try, nobody gets it right. I think actually we're the ones

who don't get it right. How do you pronounce where Rick Patino coaches? Louisville. Okay, you got right. Yeah. Yeah, we got a bunch of those too, Coteville, Marable, whatever. Yeah, it's, yeah, it's not Louisville or Lewisville. Louisville. Louisville always cracks me up. Yeah, but so like where I grew up, and I've talked about this before, but the heart of the town's economy for years and years was this big factory, a clothing factory, and in the 90s, after NAFTA, it moved to Mexico. And my hometown, making any kind of political statement, it's just a truth. My hometown has been completely devastated by that and has never even come close to recovering. It's been double-digit hovering around like 14, 15 percent unemployment ever since the downtown

area is all shuttered up and whatever. I mean, it's in real bad shape. The opiate epidemic ravaged that, you know, which I also have dealt with personally. So when Trump, you know, talks to people like that from places like that and he says, I'm going to bring your jobs back to you and I'm going to make Mexico pay and all this stupid shit that I know he can't do. Still, I get why that kind of thing resonates with them. It's like, I understand that, but here's where I hit a wall with that kind of thing. I don't think those jobs are ever coming back no matter what. just because of the, you know, facts, automation, robots and shit.

That's just what's, that's a storm that's coming. But people don't want to hear that. So like outside of lying to them, which works like a charm, but still is a bad idea, I don't know what to say to people like that, and I don't want to tell Democrats to say to people like that about the job specifically, because I don't know what the hell is going to happen.

I'm worried about it. Well, we feel the same thing in Kentucky. There was, nothing made my stomach. turn more on the campaign trail. You know, there was a lot that Donald Trump said and did who get elected, and Republicans will say and do anything to get elected. But he came to Kentucky many, many times. I will give him credit for that. He did come to our state many, many times, but he literally showed up on a million-dollar plane wearing a multi-thousand-dollar Armani suit in front of coal miners. And coal in Kentucky, it is part of a million-dollar plane. It is part of a million-dollar

It is part of our culture. It is a way of life. There are all sorts of factors that have driven it down to the level that it is now. Not just President Obama, as the Republican Party would have everybody believe. And the other factors that you just said, you've got competition. It's easier in foreign markets for it to actually be mined. We have oil, nuclear, wind, all different forms of energy that have driven Kentucky and Kentucky jobs down to literally its lowest point.

I'll just remind everybody that Mitch McConnell has allowed that to happen in the Senate while he has been there for over 30 years. Yep. But Donald Trump was there on a stage telling people that they should vote for him as President of the United States, and he literally put a coal hat on

and made a digging gesture as though he would bring every single one of their jobs back. That's the promise that he made. Right. To me, it was so disingenuous. Forget the fact of the character that was actually saying it, but the reality is, since he's been president, we've had more coal mines close than Kentucky's ever seen. So talking about the facts matter, but I do think that everybody has to realize that it's

on us. It's on us to hold every elected official, whether they're Democrat or Republican, accountable for what they promise to get elected and then at the end of the day do they actually deliver it. And I think a big reason why we see the healthcare debate literally energizing and engaging millions of people is because they realize we got to get up, we got to get out and we got to get loud. But the economic message, that is what rural Americans are still struggling with.

Because we haven't felt what the East and West Coast have seen by what we have. way of a recovery and that's what we have to address if we're going to make sure that we actually recapture the heart of this nation. Right. I totally, I mean, I agree. But I guess, and look, I know this is super, this is a difficult subject in question. I think it's like the question facing our generation going forward, this and the environment. But when it comes to automation and jobs and all that, like again, and I don't, I'm a comedian, I'm talking out of my ass a little bit, I am, but I'm saying, look at Google's cars and Tesla and all this stuff. Self-driving vehicles are coming and it won't be long and the second that Walmart can make a robot drive their

trucks across the country for them, they will do it. You know, the second it's more profitable and it's legal or whatever. And in a lot of these types of states, like Middle America States. It's something like 37 U.S. States or something like that. The number one job is a truck driver. Like, you know, it is. Purely in numbers. Transportation. Well, once that happens, they're gone and they're not coming back. And like, to me, if you ask me my honest opinion, what does that mean? How do we address that? I think it's eventually going to have to be some kind of universal basic income. I don't see any other, I don't, yeah, and it's not even, yeah, it's not even, yeah, it's even my like how I feel about that concept that's just what I think the reality is but I know you know

as well as I do that people from where we're from they do not want to hear that shit because they're very prideful and they're like I don't want you to give I'm not asking you to give me money I want to work you know but if the reality ends up being yeah well there but there isn't any work though and there's not going to be that shit is never going to fly with them in my opinion well listen I think the mark of a great leader, people will follow if you are five steps ahead of them. The Democratic Party has not been five steps ahead of rural America for a really long time. When we talk about diversifying the economy of Kentucky, which we have to do, especially for eastern Kentucky to survive and continue to thrive, it's not about saying people want a

government hand out, no, they just want help up. We transitioned an economy in Kentucky many, many years ago when tobacco settlement occurred. The federal government came in and helped our farmers as we were moving away from a crop that many of their livelihoods depended on. Why did we not do that same thing for folks who were spending literally three decades of their life down in the coal mines to keep lights on for people across the country? Why did we have our coal miners having to go to the steps of the United States Capitol this past year saying, please give us the health care that you promised us? Please give us the pension. that we have earned, we haven't treated these folks right. And who did they see in the White

House? President Obama. That's who they blamed. And Republicans led the message doing it. And we didn't have anybody doing what you guys are doing, talking in rural America about who they should actually look to to blame, who they need to look to and hold accountable. Yeah. I mean, again, I fully agree with that. I just don't, I don't know. Like I said, I hate to be a huge downer about it. But this shit worries me when I think, because I get asked those kinds of questions all the time too. It's like, oh, how do we reach these people or whatever? And I just keep coming back to that. Like, what I think the reality of the situation is is something that they don't want to hear, you know, but so shift gears a little bit,

hopefully something that will be a little lighter fare. I want to ask you a question that we get asked all the time, which, hell no. We're football people. I'm glad you brought up football. I do kind of want to know what Mitch McConnell smells like. I have a theory. That wasn't it, but that's a good one. I have a theory, puns, cold cream, and paprika. mixed. That's what I think. What was the first one? I never got close enough to take a whiff, and I'm sure

it wouldn't have even smelled right if I did. No, Elaine was always the buffer zone in between us. You haven't to have a video of him crying that you were referencing earlier that I could look at later, alone? Not alone. We'll be together for that one. Okay, well,

actually, before I get, we're talking about you said earlier, you know, why does that happen as far as Drew said that one thing they're good at is winning elections you said okay but why one direction I thought you were going to go in that um you made a lot of really good points but I thought you were going to mention gerrymandering at some point which I think is a colossal problem in states like ours and I think has a huge amount to do with this shit they gerrymandered districts in such a way that you can't you can't compete with them uh and it's like arbitrary and

do you think that that is a problem is there any hope for that? a huge problem. Do you think Donald Trump should have your party registration, your entire voting history, your last four digits of your Social Security number? It's the same problem. They are about, I think, trying to shave points off the board. They do that by compacting districts or diluting districts. They do that by eliminating early voting centers, by making sure you can't go vote early in advance without an excuse for election. They do that by. They do that by, wanting to create a national voter file so they could turn all that information not just in Donald Trump's hands in the White House, but heck, we're eliminating the best asset of our election system when we do that.

It's decentralization. So I've had no problem. And literally what I've done over the past month and a half is to stand up to Donald Trump to Vice President Pence and the secretary from Kansas and say, not on Kentucky's watch are you going to get our voter data. Yeah, I mean, I saw on your record you are. a big time champion of voter rights and fighting voter suppression and that kind of thing. So, I mean, I know you walk to walk too. And I think that shit is super important. That and also, you know, super PACs and campaign finance and all that also a huge fucking problem. And it's like

you said, it's shaving points that's stacking the deck in their own favor, which all amounts to, you know, them knowing how to win, even if that means cheating. Does a game get called fairly if the referee is in on how the game is called? You just want to talk about basketball, don't you? We get it. You guys are great. They are trying to make the rule so then the game is unfair. Right. At the same time, be the referee. And it just can't happen. So, excuse me for being the cynical human than I am for a moment.

But isn't that what politics has been since the dawn of time in a lot of ways? It's like there are decent-hearted people who are saying, I have these ideas, and let's spread them across the board. And then there's just craving nightmares of human beings who just want power at any cost. and that's on both sides of the aisle from time to time, how do you get rid of, you know, sociopaths? Yeah. You do realize I'm Secretary of State, right?

Not you personally. I meant in general. Well, thanks for that clarification. Yeah, I heard what you're saying about guns. I know how you do it, but... You know, I think sometimes what you see about power is it can bring out the worst in people. Right.

And that's why being able to vote, actually going and voting, is such, I think the ballot box is the greatest equalizer. It is. It doesn't care what your education is. It doesn't care what your gender is. It doesn't care what part of the country you're coming from. Everybody has a say. And I think we eliminate the folks that are in this for the wrong reasons, for the sinister reasons, really only to help themselves and so to help others. Why in the heck do you have two hands in life?

Help yourself, help lift others up. Cookies. Cuckeys. That's what I. Sour patch kids. Those are my favorite. Are they? They really are.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Well, you get along well with me on the road. Y'all want to split a box later? We can do that. To me, if we get more people to be a part of this process instead of less, which I think is what the Republicans actually want, we will see our politics.

become better, we will see better policy formed, and I think we'll see a nation more engaged, because right now engagement is not at the level it should be. It shouldn't take a federal election, literally not turning out the way the nation thought or the media thought it was, for people to realize the power of their voice to make a difference. And that's what's happened. And the demonstrations that you've seen, I think it shows the power of movement, collective movement together to make a difference. Awesome. You guys should have clapped there.

You've been so good all day. You've been so good all day. Speaking of sociopaths, I'd like to talk about President Trump for a moment. I just want to briefly go through his week, if we could, or the administration's week. We've lost Pribus after the mooch, who, aside from who he is as a human, as a character I love. I am in love with him. What he said about Steve Bannon sucking his own cock was unreal. Poetry.

Yeah, dude, if you'd have told me, if you'd have told me Spicey was going to leave, and then that shit was going to get more ridiculous. I mean, I should have believed it based on how everything's went so far, but I still would have been like, nah, no way. Moot said, fuck you, check this out. Just this week. And I'll probably leave something out, though. But the new, well, Spicey left, the new director of communications,

had an on-the-record conversation with a journalist in which he did say that Steve Bannon is in Washington to suck his own cock. He also said that he was going to digitally fingerprint everyone, which I'm not even sure what that means. And he was complaining about leaks while leaking information, which was really strange. Trump has complained about Jeff Sessions and said that he should have not recused himself from the investigation

that he was a piece of, and that he should have investigated Hillary Rodham Clinton, which is something Trump said when he first got elected, shouldn't happen at all. What I want to ask you is, is America over? Life as we know it daily. Listen, I think our democracy, 140 characters at a time is being eroded. You know, we, I said it the other day, we need a national voter file like we need another tweet from Donald Trump. We would be better off if that account was just deleted, because I feel

like we learn things in real time that he actually thinks, and it's skislead. scary. I don't think he actually ever took a civics lesson and understands what government is about or how it works. You didn't have to say civics. I think that is how we're going to vote next time is you just tweet. You just tweet. Yeah. He might, have y'all ever tweeted out of him to come on your show? You should do that. I've tweeted a bunch of shit at him and it's never been I don't know if you, sometimes I get drunk and I cry. Sometimes I get drunk and just absolutely go on a drunk and tirade and shit on his face on Twitter. He never responds. It's A bunch of other people do, but I'd love for him to come on the show.

That'd be fantastic. What do you guys think? Is America over? You know, we've survived other, we've survived. We're just rebranding. It's just, and I think out of struggle, you do come out stronger. And that's the hope that keeps me going. That's the fire that is in my belly that keeps me moving.

Yeah, I tend to ultimately, and it's probably because I have young sons, I would imagine, but I tend to ultimately be hopeful when it comes to this type of shit. But also, I mean, I honestly believe that, first of all, I think we're going to start taking some power back starting next year. And then hopefully if that happens, hopefully his ass won't even last too much longer. So that's number one. Number two is, I mean, you alluded to it earlier. You were talking about this whole health care thing.

They've got the White House in both branches of Congress. and they can't get shit done, that every one of them agrees needs to happen, they still can't make it happen. And, like, on the one hand, it's dangerous how in up they are. But on the other hand, it's like, well, you know, shit. 2018 is just around the corner.

Like, I don't know that they can fuck us up too much in the remaining time they have if for no other reason than their own incompetence that we won't be able to rebound from it. Tell Trey about nukes. I think, other than the nukes. That'd be fine. I think one of the biggest...

Rick Perry don't know where them are. There's no way. I think we have to realize, though, that this momentum that folks have, the movement to make a difference, to realize your own individual power, that it matters that that's kept around

election time. And a lot of times we see polling and we think, oh, they have it in the bag, there's no reason for me to go vote. That's more reason now than ever for people to be across a part of this Because if polls were right, if polls were right, folks, I'd be in the United States Senate and Hillary Clinton would be in the White House. Right.

polling isn't what we should be trusting to determine our politics or even better yet our policy and who's going to serve in public office. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, that's, well, that's the thing. Like, there's that whole narrative of Trump was able to reach, you know, white working class Americans and all that. And there's something to that, don't get me wrong. But also, it wouldn't have mattered if Democrats would have turned out. the way that they should have in the presidential election for Hillary, for the candidate who was Hillary Clinton. Well, she did get three and a half more million votes than he did. Yes, that's true. The electoral college map didn't add up the way it needed it add up. Right. I'm saying, you know, it was in the Rust Belt and those swing places that went for Obama before,

that went for Trump now. And I'm saying that those people weren't energized to vote for Hillary, that's a whole other discussion. But my point is Democrats going and voting is the number one thing, like staying engaged and not fucking. giving up hope, you know, and making it happen. And, you know, people our age and younger need to step up to the plate, but, and they should. And, you know, my buddy of ours, Travis Irvine, he just had an article come out that I read.

I just read it. He put it out yesterday where he's urging millennials to go vote. And it's fair. Not just vote. Go run for office. That's another thing he says. There's nothing more courageous than putting your name on the ballot. You figure out real quick in life.

who are your friends and who are not your friends. And you'll figure it out who is family and who is really, they may have the last name, but they're not the family that you really want to, you know, you learn a lot of. You know what else is good for that? Putting up a silly-ass political video on the internet with your shirt off. That also, that will do, that accomplishes the exact same thing. But his article, he ran for mayor of his hometown and he said, you know,

go running stuff too. But I would also like to see the Democratic Party on a national level. take young people more seriously. And as he pointed out, and I would say it too, it's a lot of that's on us. We should show up. We should run. We should vote. Then we will be taken more seriously. But, you know, with like, quote unquote, the Bernie bros and a lot of that and with some of the young people involved in Black Lives Matter, I think that the Democratic Party could, just like you were saying about rural voters, it's like you've got to go talk to them. You've got to actually give a shit about their lives. I think that we've got five. Thank you. I think that could also be said about young voters.

I really do. You're right. You're right it can. And if you're somebody out there that's thinking about running, I encourage you, reach out. Listen, I've been through the heartache. One, two elections, lost one. It is something, though, you can literally make the difference in thousands of people's lives.

Millions. Right now, 3.3 million Kentuckians who I'm standing up for. If there's one thing that Trump has done in Kentucky, it's unite Republicans and Democrats over this very issue regarding release of voter data. But you can make a difference, and it doesn't matter the age. I'm the youngest Secretary of State in the nation right now. And my voice still counts. So use it, don't lose it. That's right.

Well, on that note, I wanted to make sure we ask you, because, yeah, we are about to have to wrap up. and I wanted to make sure and ask you this question. I know I'm getting the impression that you're pretty goddamn good at this, what you do. And so I'm wondering what's next for Allison Lundrigan Grimes. You've obviously made the right decision by coming on our show. This is the boost you need. A lot. This show.

You know, next step, is that well-read show right there at the top of it. Our endorsement is a pretty big deal. Yeah. It is a huge deal. Do you want to coach the Wildcats? Do I don't want to... That is the most powerful position in the state of Kentucky. That is a great job.

Cal Perry has one of the most beloved jobs in the world, especially when you have eight titles behind you. Yeah, yeah. To talk about... Honestly, I haven't... I was very focused. I traveled the nation for someone who was my friend and who has seen me grow up since I've been little,

and that was the person who I thought was going to be in the White House for Secretary Clinton. I love the job I'm doing as Secretary of State. I think I'm doing a pretty damn good job at it, not just in Kentucky, but for the nation right now, and being an outspoken voice about where our elections should be. And to be honest, I haven't made any plans further. I told my husband that I would see him more than seven days this month. That's why he's here with me out in California.

Oh, wow. So I haven't made a decision, but I hope whatever it is, it's still being able to use this voice and to use this brain for helping other people and to try to make a difference in people's lives. One of the most heart-wrenching moments on what was excruciating two years in that race against Mitch McConnell was when I saw a young girl who was six years old and she came up, she had her pigtails on, she had her basketball jersey on. You could tell she was the tomboy of her family and she came up to show me her tennis shoes and, you know, I thought she had some awesome Air Jordans on. I said, I love those Air Jordans.

And she said, no, I got my Allison's on. That's. And she had one of our campaign stickers on the back of her tennis shoe. That's the moment you know you're making a difference. You got your own kicks. I know. You go in schools from elementary schools to the nursing homes. And I know that the work I'm doing, whether it's business or election work or speaking out on women's rights, workers' rights, voters' rights, human rights.

If as long as I'm able to do that, it doesn't matter whether it's an elected position or not. hopefully when it's time to see the big guy or gal upstairs, they'll let me in. Damn straight. Had she won, which she should have, what job would you hope him for? I'm kidding, don't answer that. Well, I, for one, think you definitely keep it up. You're doing a hell of a good job. Well, thank you.

Very, very much. Thank you. Thank you. So, guys, has anybody ever carried you out, you know, at the end of your podcast? You always have that tune. It's kind of like, I think of it, like the Ballards, like B, A, D. L-A-R-D-S, it's true. Or like the Rally's theme song.

Have you, you know, when you're out on the town, just cruising around? Yeah, I love it. The jingle is stuck in my head, so has anybody ever done it? No, you know. Have you all ever done it? Does the audience know it? I would love you to know it. Thank you all for listening to the Well Red Show.

We love to stick around a little longer, but we got to go. Tune the next week, if you got nothing to do, thank you. God bless you, good night and skis. Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you guys. Thank you all for listening to The Well Red Show. We'd love to stick around longer, but we got to go.

Tune in next week if you got nothing to do. Thank you, God bless you, good night and skew.