What A Day - Puff Puff Pardon

Episode Date: October 7, 2022

President Biden announced Thursday he will pardon federal marijuana convictions. The order will impact a few thousand people, since most cannabis convictions happen at the state level, but it will also revisit how cannabis is classified with other drugs under federal law.As Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia continues to gain ground, there are now signs of growing discontent from prominent Russian officials and supporters of the war. And in headlines: a mass shooting at a daycare center in Thailand left at least 36 people dead, a high ranking member of the Proud Boys pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is expected to resign from Congress.Show Notes:NORML: State-by-State Guide to Marijuana Conviction Expungement – https://norml.org/laws/expungement/Vote Save America: Fuck Bans Action Plan – http://theherschelwalkerabortionfund.com/Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

it's friday october 7th i'm trevelle anderson and i'm priyanka arabindi and this is what a day the podcast that's recorded from under a mountain of large decorative pumpkins not just pumpkins though squashes and other autumn gourds as well yeah listen whatever they are there are way too many of them i can barely move Someone please get me out of here. Soon and very soon. Please and thank you. On today's show, Brittany Griner's wife said she's worried about how the WNBA star is coping in Russian prison. Plus, a new report suggests that getting your COVID booster now could save tens of thousands of lives.

But first, President Biden announced Thursday that he will pardon everyone convicted on federal marijuana possession charges. Yeah, and it's a significant move that could have wide-ranging implications. But before we get into the specifics, let's take a listen to a bit of the announcement. As I said when I ran for president, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. It's already legal in many states. And criminal records for marijuana possession have led to needless barriers to employment, to housing, to educational opportunities.

And that's before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences. Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It's time that we right these wrongs. Okay, so this pardon is for folks end it because of our failed approach to marijuana. It's time that we right these wrongs. Okay, so this pardon is for folks who were convicted on federal charges of simple possession of the drug formerly known as Miss Mary Jane, right? Simple possession means that these folks had a fairly small amount of weed on them, well below the threshold of intent to sell in the eyes

of the law. The pardon will impact about 6,500 people who were convicted between 1992 and 2021, along with thousands others convicted of marijuana possession in Washington, D.C. And as of Thursday, the federal government stopped charging anyone with simple possession. Individuals convicted of possession under federal law will now be able to apply for a pardon certificate from the Justice Department to use when they apply for a job, housing, or college. You know, some of those simple things that we take for granted as folks who don't have these convictions. It's very difficult, right, if you do have a conviction to get any of these kind of like

basic needs. And now they'll be able to do that a little bit more easier. Senior officials, however, did stress that no one is currently serving time in federal prison solely for simple possession of marijuana. Got it. Okay. So this is obviously really good news, but this is just for people who were convicted on federal charges. How does this announcement impact those who were convicted on the state level? So it unfortunately doesn't directly impact those folks. That little thing called states' rights prevents it. That said, President Biden did include in his order a call for governors nationwide to follow suit and similarly issue pardons for state marijuana convictions. Now, we know that is a tall order considering the ways Republicans and Democrats differ on so many issues, but a number of states have already taken various steps to decriminalize RIFA, as my granny would call it.

And in fact, more and more cities and states are legalizing weed, both medicinally and recreationally. It's fully legal for adult use in about 19 states and in Washington, D.C. We should note that the amount of convictions under state laws does vastly outnumber those charged under federal laws, so the direct reach of Biden's action is fairly limited right now. But he also said that his administration would review where marijuana stands on the federal drug schedule, which is the scale that the government uses to classify drugs based on its acceptable medical use and its potential for abuse or dependency. POT is currently a Schedule 1 drug, the same level as heroin and LSD, for example, which Biden says, quote, makes no sense.

Yeah, definitely does not make any sense. And kudos to Biden, because I think he is probably in the minority of people in his age group that feel that way. It doesn't really seem like a popular opinion among them, but love this for him. Love this for us. You mentioned that this announcement could have a wide ranging impact. What did you mean by that? Experts are saying that the biggest takeaway from all of this is that it could lead to federal decriminalization, which would be huge, especially since Ganja has been a key driver of the mass criminalization of black and brown folks. Congress, however, would have to make that decision. And based on Biden's caveat in his announcement that the government still needs, quote, important limitations on trafficking, marketing and underage sales of marijuana,

some people aren't celebrating just yet, especially because the quote-unquote crime of simple possession is almost entirely prosecuted by the states, whereas the federal government is more likely to prosecute for marijuana trafficking crimes. Udi Ofer, who is the ACLU's former deputy national political director, told the New York Times, quote, This is an important political statement. It's an important value statement. It's progress. But this is a drop in the ocean of injustice. That is very helpful context to have. We also have an update for all of you about Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive

against Russia, specifically into the regions that Russia illegally annexed last week. Okay, so tell us what's happening there now. So things are not looking good for Russia. So according to a senior Ukrainian military official, Ukraine is recapturing territory very quickly. Their forces have retaken around 120 settlements in the past two weeks as they advance in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Krasan. They have broken through Russian lines on two fronts and have forced some Russian forces to retreat to the south. But as they've retaken territory in some cases, they have also found what retreating Russian troops have left behind. So in an area of Kharkiv recaptured early last month, Ukrainian police now say that they've recovered 534 bodies of civilians, including 226 women and 19 children. Most of the bodies were found

in a mass burial site shortly after that area was liberated. They also found 22 locations that they believe were used by the Russians as torture chambers. You know, now since they've been retreating, we're finally getting a look into the extent of some of the destruction that Russia has left behind. I'm assuming that Ukraine's success so far is not what Russia wanted to see. How have they been reacting to this progress? Yeah, definitely not what they wanted to see. Within Russia, there has been even more public criticism of the war effort lately. That's not just coming from civilians protesting or people complaining on the internet. Some high-ranking Russian officials themselves are starting to speak up. So on Thursday, a Russian official who was assigned in Kursan suggested that the Russian

defense minister, who happens to be a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, should consider killing himself because of the Russian army's repeated failures. Wow. Yeah, probably not something I would say about a friend of a murderous dictator. But also worth noting that it's basically illegal in Russia to publicly criticize the invasion at all. Anyone who spreads, quote, false information about what they're calling the special operation in Ukraine could face up to 15 years in prison. This has been the case for months and months now.

So not looking great for the people who do speak out. At all. And aside from that mounting criticism, thousands of men are still fleeing Russia to avoid being sent to the front lines. No one wants to fight in this war, including two men who literally sailed from Russia to a small Alaskan island in order to seek asylum in the U.S. Wow. OK, interesting. OK. Crazy.

In like a tiny little boat, just set sail and we're like, we'll end up there. It'll be fine. And then they did, which is amazing. Happy for them, but so crazy. Absolutely. So things are definitely not going well in Russia. But as all of this has been happening, I've also been seeing more headlines about the Zaporizhia nuclear plant. Can you explain the update there?

Yeah. So Russia is still targeting the plant. Earlier this week, the Kremlin announced that it would nationalize it and put it under Russian control. The plant is located in one of the four regions that Putin attempted to annex. The region itself is called Zaporizhia. But the director of the UN's nuclear watchdog said that the agency does not recognize Russia's claim to the plant, and they still view it as a Ukrainian facility. They're also calling for a safe zone around the plant to prevent a nuclear accident,

which is still a very real possibility at this point. On Thursday morning, seven Russian rockets hit residential buildings near the facility, killing at least two people. I don't know about you, but that's just a bit too close for comfort, in my opinion. Absolutely. We, you know, we shouldn't be playing around with the nuclear weapons, you know, like this. I would not want to do that for all of us. This continues to be very concerning. Absolutely. We'll be keeping a close eye on this and we'll have more very soon. But that is the latest for now.

Let's get to some headlines. Some devastating news from Thailand where a mass shooting has left at least 36 people dead. Now, we won't get into too many details, but this story may be disturbing to some listeners. So skip ahead by a minute if you'd like. Thai authorities said Thursday a recently fired police officer armed with a handgun and a knife stormed a daycare center in a rural part of that country. At least 24 of the victims were preschool-aged children. The gunman later killed his wife and their three-year-old son before taking his own life. Thailand has some of the highest rates of gun ownership and gun-related homicides in Asia,

but it's still far lower compared to the United States. Really devastating. A Russian court this week set an appeal hearing for Brittany Griner later this month, but her wife, Sherelle, said in an interview on Thursday that she is worried about her condition in prison. Sherelle Griner told CBS that she's only spoken to Brittany twice since the WNBA star was detained back in February. She said that after their first call, Brittany sounded relatively okay, but described their second conversation as, quote, the most disturbing call I'd ever experienced. You could hear it. Like, you could hear that she was not okay. You

know, if you think about just a person suffering and when they have suffered to a max, like, you could hear that, like, she was at the max that day. And I'm like, God. Yeah. Brittany Greiner was sentenced to more than nine years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges. As a reminder, Russian police found a small amount of cannabis oil in vape cartridges that were inside her luggage after she landed at a Moscow area airport. This continues to be an absurd story. Yeah. Please get her home. Yeah.

Please get her home as soon as possible. We already know the COVID vaccines can drastically decrease your chances of getting seriously ill or even dying. But the latest booster shot could save as many as 90,000 lives by the end of the year. That's according to a new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund and Yale's School of Public Health. The booster could also keep hundreds of thousands of people from ending up in the hospital this winter, and experts are worried we may see another big surge in COVID cases as the weather cools down. Of course, this all depends on whether people will actually get the shot and get it soon, like I did. The Omicron-specific booster has been available since August, but so far less than 4% of eligible Americans have received it, which is a statistic we probably shouldn't talk too much about because Omicron might hear us.

Yeah, listen, think back to last year. You don't want to miss out on Christmas. You don't want to spend January like boarded up in your apartment, really sick and miserable. Please get your shots if you can, as soon as you can. Absolutely. If you've been thinking about it, do not delay. When it comes to the federal offenses that they've committed, most proud boys suddenly become shame boys.

But on Thursday, a former top lieutenant in the organization went in the complete opposite direction by proudly standing up and pleading guilty to seditious conspiracy in relation to the January 6th insurrection. Jeremy Bertino's guilty plea could come with an over five-year sentence, and it's a huge boon for prosecutors, who will now have his cooperation as they build cases against the four other Proud Boys' sedition defendants. Those not-so-proud boys pleaded not guilty, and prosecutors allege that they helped plan

the Capitol riots. Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has his sights set on the presidency. That is the presidency of the University of Florida. Thank the Lord. The Republican lawmaker reportedly plans to leave office by the end of the year as he was announced Thursday as the sole finalist for the role at UF. That means the clock starts now for Florida frats to start planning animal house style pranks and hijinks to drive sass insane. Do it, please. Nebraska's Republican Governor Pete Ricketts will, by law,

make the call to appoint someone to replace the senator for the remainder of his term. And since governmental procedures for replacing people are famously fair and logical, that appointee could very well be Ricketts himself. Great. Just great. Love that. You know, I don't make the rules, Priyanka. Unfortunately. He does. He does, apparently. After that, the seat will be up for a special election in 2024.

Listen, I was sorry for the people of Nebraska and I was already sorry for the people of Florida. So, I mean, I don't know. These poor students. My condolences go out to you. Maybe he will become a college president, a university president, and, like, his thoughts on, like, things will change,

right? He won't be a Republican anymore. He'll be super progressive. Priyanka's giving me faces. He's going to Florida. Like, I know he's going to college, but he's going to Florida. It is I know he's going to college, but he's going to Florida. It is still Florida, unfortunately. Yeah, I mean, I guess

the upside is that we can now start referring to Ben Sasse as Florida man, so. That is the upside. That's just another angle. And those are the headlines. We'll be back after some ads with a moment of reflection on the man who is quickly becoming the least credible Republican candidate for Senate in a

very crowded field, Herschel Walker. It's Friday, Wild Squad, and for today's Temp Check, we are discussing the latest updates from the Party of Family Values. We have talked a lot this week about the revelation that Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker covered the cost of his ex-girlfriend's abortion, a normally commendable thing to do if he didn't support banning the procedure nationwide in almost every single case. The latest update here is a report from the Daily Beast, which broke the original story, saying that the ex-girlfriend in question is actually the mother of one of Walker's four children, making the candidate's continued claims that he doesn't know her identity truly impossible to believe. Posting through this

whole process is Christian Walker, Herschel's conservative influencer son. On Wednesday night after condemning Walker's campaign, he tweeted, quote, wear a condom, damn. So Travelle, what is your take on this truly surprising October surprise? Okay. So a couple things. I'm still stuck on the fact that Christian Walker's dad is Herschel. Okay. Still processing that. I blocked Christian on social media a while ago because he's absurd and unserious. Okay. And now I know where he gets it from. I was living in a beautiful world and I never came into contact with his content. So I was like living my life, feeling great. Love that for you. I will note, I am so glad that Christian is advocating for safe sex.

You know, that's important. That is a message that we can all get behind, you know, wearing condoms and whatnot. Last but not least, you know, I just think that this entire ordeal, this entire saga, who is writing this? What writer's room came up with this for the end of 2022 for us to deal with. I would like to have a conversation with them. I don't know, but I like it. This is a different direction than the normal October surprise. I'm okay with it. I love that first the article came out and it was like,

he paid for his ex-girlfriend's abortion. I don't know this woman. Actually, that's the mother of your child. You definitely know she is. It is crazy. It is unhinged. No one can vote for this man, please. Like he can't even handle his own personal affairs. Absolutely. Absolutely. No,

that's a bare minimum. Anyways, this is all wild and nuts. It's really delivered in term of an October surprise. But just like that, we have checked our temps. If you want to help support people seeking abortions in this country, you can make a donation to our Fuck Bans Action Plan, which you can now find at theherschellwalkerabortionfund.com. Love that for us. Love that for us. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, send thoughts and prayers to the University of Florida, and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading and not just a very specific kind of tweet from Christian Walker like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. I'm Travelle Anderson. And we did it, Joe. Puff Puff Pass.

Shout out to the 420 celebrators out there. We see you. Am I going to be the 800 millionth person to repeat Dank Brandon on some point in media? Might be. Might be. Probably. It's cool, though. It's fine.

It's still funny. It's still funny. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Jazzy Marine, and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.