What A Day - CHAZ Good As It Gets

Episode Date: June 12, 2020

Police in Seattle abandoned their East Precinct building and ceded about six blocks of the city to protestors, who have now set up the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone or CHAZ. Some conservatives are comparing that area to “Lord of the Flies,” while those on the ground say it’s more like orientation week at Evergreen State College.Another 1.5 million workers filed for unemployment last week. Trump plans to hold rallies again starting next Friday, building up to a packed RNC speech that’s now officially set for Jacksonville.And in headlines: a giant fuel spill in Siberia, a new police unit in Hong Kong, and Twitter wants you to read.Plus, Erin Ryan fills in for Akilah Hughes. Listen to her podcast! http://apple.co/hysteria

it's friday june 12th i'm gideon resnick and i'm aaron ryan filling in for akilah hughes and this is what a day where we're making a pledge to never participate in a multi-celeb front-facing camera video i think i'm gonna get that tattooed on my forearm in case like i am ever tempted to participate in a forward-facing PSA video. I want my face on a milk carton with that sentence below it. If found, do not put in video. On today's show, we check in on the economic picture amidst the coronavirus pandemic, then some headlines, but first, the latest. Move over, Chaz Bono. America's crazy uncles have a new Chaz to rage post about on Facebook.

It's called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ for short. It's a section of Seattle that is now controlled by protesters fighting against police brutality in particular, and racial injustice more generally. Basically, after clashing with protesters for several days, the Seattle police boarded up their East Precinct building and abandoned it. And then protesters moved in. They now control about six city blocks and there are no police allowed.

They essentially want to prove that it's possible for a self-governing community to exist safely without police. Seattle Alt Weekly The Stranger described the vibe as chill. They've also published a list of their demands on Medium, including paying reparations to victims of police violence, abolishing the Seattle Police Department, and removing police officers from schools. And despite the Republican pearl clutching, and we'll get to that, it's basically like freshman orientation week at Evergreen State College. Chaz residents are subjecting each other to such horrors as documentary screenings every night and free vegan pizza and LaCroix. Yeah, it sounds like they're just vibing. But

like you said, it's become Trump's new favorite thing to get mad about online. Exactly. The president has been very mad online about it, tweeting earlier this week, quote, domestic terrorists have taken over Seattle run by radical left Democrats, of course, he added. And I'm pronouncing the misspelling here. Quote, take back your city now. If you don't do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly anarchists must be stooped immediately move fast. I feel like I should also pronounce his like random all capping, but that would just be me intermittently shouting. And I don't know if I would even get the point across. Yeah, it's probably too much for for time's sake. Yeah, I'm glad I stooped that. And there's a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there about Chaz. Like, for example, there's the rumor that a SoundCloud rapper named Raz Simone has declared himself the Antifa terrorist warlord of Chaz. Raz Simone is in fact a rapper and he did help create Chaz, but he's not a warlord and he's not a terrorist. There's also rumors going around that protesters are extorting money from businesses that operate

in the area, gangster style. And Ted Cruz compared Chaz to Lord of the Flies. Matt Gates declared Seattle the capital of Antifa. Conservative media is a tizzy writing anarchist dystopian fanfic about what they imagine might be going on there. Woof, yeah. I mean, Raz does sound cooler than the other Seattle rapper, which is Macklemore in my head. Yeah, Raz has a much cooler name than Macklemore, for sure. But back to Trump really quick.

Has he done anything else about this besides tweeting? Not unless you count getting his ass owned by both Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. Durkan encouraged Trump to, quote, go back to his bunker. Ouch. And Inslee told the president to mind his own business and stoop tweeting. Solid burns. Also think Durkan should, you know, get some pushback for the police force that has been tear gassing people. But that's for another day, another conversation. Yeah. The Seattle police say they hope to start a dialogue with protesters in Chaz and eventually take the plywood off the windows and move back into the East Precinct. But we'll see how that

goes. OK, so this is a window into Antifa HQ in Seattle. Any other updates, though, around the country? Yeah, some awful but unfortunately not surprising news. Louisville police have released the incident report for Breonna Taylor's killing in a no-knock raid by police who had the wrong house. The report is almost entirely blank. It basically just lists her name, age, and her

address. Under injuries, the police wrote none. Breonna Taylor was shot eight times. It also says no under forced entry when it's a well-known fact that police used a battering ram to enter her home. It really reads like a middle finger to people who think police should be held accountable for anything. The mayor of Louisville is calling for a top-down investigation of the department. Meanwhile, the three officers who fired shots that night, their names are John Mattingly, Miles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankinson, they've not been held accountable for the life they took. Yeah, and the circumstances around Breonna Taylor's death are just so horrible that they've galvanized some people you might not expect. The Louisville City Council just last night voted to ban no-knock raids in the city.

And Kentucky Senator Rand Paul announced Thursday that he's drafting the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, which would ban no-knock raids nationwide. Whoa, Rand Paul not being a dick for once. Yeah, it's a very weird moment. But, you know, a ban on no-knock raids is already in the Democrats' police reform bill. But, you know, if Rand Paul wants to stand up against police violence, that's the W we can take. Yep, I'll take that W. Okay, now turning to the pandemic and the economic crisis. We got a few major economic updates over the last few days in addition to the rising coronavirus case numbers throughout parts of the country. Gideon, take us through

those numbers. Okay, so first off, another 1.5 million workers in the United States filed for unemployment this past week. And the crazy thing is that's the lowest number we've seen since the crisis began. But under any normal circumstances, it would be just record breaking. And this comes after a couple other economic forecasts earlier this week that really just further emphasize that this recovery does not seem like it's going to be that fast. So first, you have the Federal Reserve saying that they think unemployment is going to remain above 9% by the end of the year. Then the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecasted that the global economy would contract by 6% this year, and that it would be worse if there is a second wave of the virus. So this all just flies in the

face of that V-shaped recovery the administration and many state governors were seemingly banking on. Yeah, and I think it's important to remember here that all economic forecasting is forecasting. It's basically astrology for dudes. There's no way to know what's going to happen with the economy. And there's so many variables that could change everything that we just can't predict what's going to happen. But right now, you even have Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin acknowledging that the economy needs more relief. He said yesterday that he was, quote, very seriously considering supporting more direct payments to Americans as part of another relief bill. Yeah, would you look at that?

The relief bill that the House passed last month, though, was apparently not kosher with Senate Republicans and the White House. But now there does appear to be a broader recognition that something, anything needs to be done. So here we are. Democrats want to extend the extra $600 in unemployment benefits per week from the last bill that was passed and signed by the president. Those are set to expire in July, but House Democrats want to add another six months. Yet Republicans and the White House argue that doing so would encourage people not to come back to work as if it would be those workers' choice uniformly. Instead, they have other ideas. For example, Republican Senator Rob Portman has proposed a kind of back-to-work bonus for people, so workers in this scenario would get $450 a week to return to work.

But backdropping all of this is concerns that workers and companies can't just snap their fingers and go back to business as usual with coronavirus still very much an active health risk. Yeah, and that's not stopping Trump from fully moving on to hold rallies again with the first set to take place next Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Yeah, we talked about this on yesterday's show, but one update on it. The registration page for that event went live, and it includes a warning that attendees, quote, voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19, as well as a request that they agree to not hold the campaign or venue liable. This is just the largest red flashing light saying do not enter you could possibly ever get.

Oh, my God. Gideon, do you have siblings? Did you ever do the thing where you swing your arms around and it's like, if you get hit, it's your fault. if you get hit, it's your fault. If you get hit, it's your fault. I feel like that's what they're doing with COVID. Yeah, yeah. A more dangerous childlike game.

Yeah. But, you know, Trump is talking about going to a bunch of states after this and doing a bunch of potentially packed events, including an RNC acceptance speech in Jacksonville. Wow. That really chews your own infection site. This is going to be a great summer. I guess I'm going to, when I see somebody with a MAGA hat on, I can just continue to not hang out with them. But now my reason for not hanging out with them will be because I think they might pass a disease to me, not because I find their personality terrible. Anyway, meanwhile, and other people who could end up being the president news, Joe Biden released a plan to restart the economy yesterday. Let's go through a little bit of what

was in there. Yeah, so these are some kind of basic guidelines that they're putting out for now, including guaranteed testing and PPE for people going back into work, medical and family leave for people who contract COVID-19, a plan to hire 100,000 contact tracers that would work in conjunction with states and localities on that work, and additional money for schools and child care centers as they reopen and face more financial hurdles. So there's definitely going to be more on all of that to come, but that is the latest we have for now. All right, it's Friday, Wadheads. We made it, and once again, it is time for a check of the temps. So HBO Max pulled the

movie Gone with the Wind this week because it glorifies slavery in America. It'll be back as soon as next week with a new introduction that provides, quote, context. In the meantime, some people who were apparently upset with HBO's decision decided to strike back by revenge watching Gone with the Wind. The nearly four-hour movie from 1939 hit the number one spot on Amazon's movies and TV bestseller list on Wednesday. So, Erin, your first reaction to this? I just think it's hilarious that these people think they're owning the libs by watching a four-hour-long, mediocre movie.

It's like staying home and, like like punching yourself in the stomach for four hours and being like, that'll show. God, there's so many things I would rather do with four hours of my time. Like, have you ever seen Homeland? Have you ever watched Homeland? I saw like the first couple seasons of Homeland. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's basically a telenovela, but with the CIA. It's a weird, it's a crazy show. But one thing that my fiance and I do is we'll watch Homeland and stop it every couple of minutes and play Bad Homeland. We'll pitch like really bad plot twists.

Like, okay, and then Carrie goes into the terrorist hideout and it turns out it's a surprise birthday party for her. Everybody in the agency has been waiting for her so like bad pitch homeland is a really fun way to spend four hours for sure how about you how would you spend four hours literally anything but gone with the wind like i just like i i would watch i'm watching deadwood right now which is uh like ancient hbo show from like i don't it was like in the era of like when the wire and all of the you know like prestige i'm a guy who writes for an entertainment site put together a top 10 list type of shows um and that's like that is in old enough times because it's like in the 1800s

that you can kind of feel like you're going as far back as gone with the wind but there's a little bit more excitement and shooting and similar to homeland episodic you can also you know play out different bad deadwood type scenarios and just like that we've checked our temps but we'll check in with you all again next week and for now have a great weekend and stay safe. We love you. Let's wrap up with some headlines. There's one story you might have missed during the past few news-heavy weeks, and it's not good either.

There was a huge fuel spill in the Arctic Circle. Late last month, a reservoir in a Russian power plant collapsed and released 21,000 tons of diesel fuel, the largest amount to ever hit the Arctic. Yikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency last week over the incident. Vlad also yelled at the head of the power plant on national television Yikes. nearby water source and it will take years to clean up. Investigators have arrested two engineers and the director at the plant on suspicion of breaching environmental protection rules. Okay, I was just reading copy. Vladimir Putin, if you are listening to this, please do not follow me on Twitter, Instagram or any of the socials. Don't follow me.

Yeah, I mean, when one WOD host says it, the other endorses by default. So, you know, you know, the business plan. Police in Hong Kong are creating a special unit to enforce a controversial new national security law. Now, as a reminder, the law was imposed by mainland China in an effort to crack down on the pro-democracy protests still happening in Hong Kong streets. Solidarity there. And last week, the UK even proposed an extendable 12-month visa to people in the territory who might feel unsafe

under this law. According to officials, the new police unit will gather intelligence, have a quote, action arm, and will be working closely with mainland China agencies, which many fear could be code for state-run spying. The new law and the police who will be enforcing it are likely to be put into action within a month. What a mess. Magic the Gathering will remove seven cards from their game because of their offensive content. From now on, our kids will have to look somewhere else to study our nation's history of racist

planeswalkers. Planeswalkers are Magic the Gathering, right? Don't look at me. Magic got rid of a card called Invoke Prejudice, which seems like a no-brainer, plus the cards Stone Throwing Devils, Jihad, and Crusade. Magic wasn't the only one making breakthroughs this week.

The group formerly known as Lady Antebellum also did some soul-searching and realized they didn't want a name that's basically always been associated with slavery anymore. They said when they named the group, they didn't take the association into account. Okay, how? And we'll now go by Lady A. I'm hoping they did a complete 180, and the full name will be Lady Antifa.

Their first set can be at Chaz. Twitter's been accused of censorship by conservatives and allowing hate speech by liberals, but now they're taking an action that will offend everyone across the political spectrum, suggesting that you read articles before you share them. I think not, sir. No. No. This feature is in test phase now, and it's essentially a prompt that appears when you

retweet an article you haven't clicked on, which says something like, consider looking at this. Right now, it's only on Android phones, confusing because Android users are the most discerning posters. They are, as a group, always going against the grain, marching by the beat of their own drum, and seeking quality over the appearance of quality whenever possible. Twitter says this move is to promote informed discussion, something that their platform is built to crush at all costs.

Respectfully disagree on the Android phone thing. Android users are text chain ruiners with their green bubbles that just completely my text chain with my friends from college is a disaster because like two of them use android phones it's it's awful i will be speaking to them now and advising them on the joys of iphone but those are the headlines okay exciting announcement before we go cricket has a new podcast out today called Unholier Than Thou. It's hosted by award-winning journalist Philip Bacardi, and it's all about faith and spirituality and the role they play in people's lives. The first two episodes just dropped, and they are great.

In one of them, Philip talks to the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, who was there last week when Trump staged his photo op with the upside-down Bible after protesters were tear-gassed away, you might remember. Definitely worth a listen. So subscribe to Unholier Than Thou. It is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Don't follow us, President Putin, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just articles before you share them like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe

at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Erin Ryan. I'm Gideon Resnick. And we'll see you next time, Akilah. Both of us are drunk right now, and that's why we spoke like that. What a Day is a product of Crooked Media.

It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tunn is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka.