Patriotism and American Checks and Balances

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Law suppupplies last ends june thirtieth turns at aka. mS slash college PC Welcome to an HBO podcast From the HBO Late mononth series, Real Time with Bill Ma That's gonna be a great show. That is a pumped upp crowd So finally a deal with Iran and I We got everything we wanted except for everything we asked for. O than that Let's see A a very simple deal. They're going to stop enriching uranium and Trump is going to stop enriching his family. Yeah We didn't even get that We didn't get that. We didn't get anything. I just hope we play Iran in the World Cup so we can beat them at something What is this First of all. It's not a deal It's a memorandum of understanding. It's about as legally binding as the sign in the break room It says, please clean microwave. That' It's nothing. I mean. You know, we started with unconditional surrender, Operation Epic Fury. and now it's memorandum of understanding The last thing I got hosed this bag was my dog. I mean So much Where's the big deal maker What happened to the arrt of the deal This is his big clothes. I got news for youa. The emperor has no clothes a Donald Trump, when he gets tired of a relationship, he's just out. He just said to the supreme L leader, you know, I think we should take a break I just want to bomb other countries Other countries they're looking at this. They're seeing all that Iran got out of this. They're getting three hundred billion dollars plus sanctions led lifted. assets unfrozen. they werere all like, bom us. What Remember when Obama unfroze money, it was like the worst thing that ever happened in the history of the world. And three hundred billion dollars, which apparently is gonna to come from our Gulf allies Where have I seen this strategy before? Oh yeah, I think I would call it the Stormy Daniels strategy. It's the A third party is going to send you money and then we're going to pretend this never happens. I mean Iran G got things in this deal it never had before The Straighter Hermz is a money maker now You seen that When first they that whole thing about it, they started tolls. They never had tolls. there We said, You cannot have tolls and they agreed. No tolls. fees If you think you can scare us with this? We invented bullshit fees, okay Weit tell you can't get through the strait ororz unless you get your ticket to Ticka Master. Okay, then f whatess about goit cheese But I know what you're saying. Bill. Is there any good news? Yes, it's Father's Day Sunday. I think that's good news for me, I'm not one. So that's no, it's love It's a wonderful thing Father's Day and Fathers and everybody is everybody gets in the mood. I see that Christy Nom's kids called her father pop because that's what happens when his balloon tits hits something so. Oh, I can But no Here's some good news. You want good news? Pobby Bobby Kennedy is getting rid of the blue M and Ms something, ye, the blue dyie in the Min Ms is very bad for you and they're gonna get rid of the blue dyie out of the M and M's and pour it directly into the Lincoln Memorial reflecting Have you seen what's going on with that with the reflecting pool drain the swamp. Now there's one in the middle of town. I mean So if you haven't been following this Trump thought that the poll was looking a little tired. You know, it used to be a ten. And it was like a six. But ye okay. So you know what? I'm not against spiffying up the Capitol But is there anything they try to do that they don't fuck up Trump wanted it bluer, and now it's green with algae. And they can't figure out how to get the algae under control, But they did get it to sign a memorandum of understanding we have Representative Roanna and Jonathan Martin are here But first up, he is the creator, writer and director of Euphoria. One of my favorite shows and you arere streaming now on HBO. Sam Levinson. Oh, Sam. How are you?. Oh looking forward to this for a while. It's great to able to talk to you for more than two minutes at a party. and you know, usually I don't do stuff with an HBO show because you know you get accused of pimping for your own stuff, for your own network. But I feel like your show deserves pimping U It' u Because it just touches on so many real issues that are in this country of ours in this world. But I got it before I get to it, I have to say when I told people you were coming on this week, everyone said, you got to ask them, is there going to be a season four of Euphoria Nope, this is it. I think In terms of what we set out to do and over the course of three seasons, know, we told the story we wanted to. We gave birth to a generation of actors that are incredible crafts peopleople, crew members, and feeles like the natural conclusion. Yeah, I agree.. Three is a good number. Yeah two was good for the Godfather.'t ye, can't. Is part of it because it's tough to film in LA, because I've been reading how difficult it is that people will go halfway around the world. to film something that is supposed to be in LA rather than actually do it in LA. I mean, it definitely has its complications. I think the price The price season one has almost doubled between season one and season three and the amount of red tape the kind of bureaucracy, the permitting, it's all very difficult. So of part of the equationYU. Yeahah. Okay. So that's not the reason that we're not doing. I get a season. Yeah But let's talk about the ending. Yeah. because you know, it's funny, everybody in the world has an idea for a movie You know, they don't have an ending The ending is the whole thing. Yeah Because an ending has to be somehow paradoxically a surprise and also inevitable And I feel like you accomplished that with this because it's a show about addiction And So spoiler alert, you had to kill the main character. Yeah. I mean, look, it's Doing drugs today is not like it was when I was a kid when you were a kid, it's a whole different beast. you know, um, In twenty twenty three, you had over one hundred thousand people die of fentanyl overdoses. And the number is still enormous. I think now it's maybe sixty thousand seventy thousand So you're talking about one decision, one pill that can just wipe you out. And I think It felt like the responsible thing to do If you're If you're experimenting with drugs today the likelihood that it'll kill you is extremely high. And and I wanted and I know how much the audience loves this character of Ru. And I thought, if I can put the audience in the shoes of family members who have lost They're children, their parents, their brothers, sisters then It was it was the right thing to do. And if it can, you know, give people a pause before they take a pill and Yeah he sent died, but you didn't. Yes. And R. And you spent most of your high school years in rehab. Yeah. Is that not right? Yeah, from eleven to nineteen. eleven. Yeah Eleven, eleven Holy fuck. ye That just shows the difference in our generations. Well, you know Yeah, I mean, look, had I had a couple of different issues at the time. you know, I struggled with obsess compulsive disorder, all this stuff. And I got put on a lot of medications when I was younger and Th thenen I started sort of experimenting with them. and Yeah Medications like pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals. Yeah, don't you think that's a lot of the problem is that yes Kids are always going to be confused and have problems and some of it does, I'm sure require that kind of intervention. But when you start messing with the kid's mind. I mean, look I no one to talk about drugs. I've done a lot of drugs in my life. But it didn't start until I was nineteen I didn't know what it was like to bend reality. So I felt that if you start it when you're at eleven Yeah or even before if they were giving you medications, of course they talk about, you know, what's the gateway drug? Is it pot? Is it beer? It's whatever, the first thing you ever do is goes, Oh, there's reality. And then there's this. Yeah. This is kind of cool to live over here. Isn't that what happened to you? I mean, by and large, yeah, I mean, my gateway drug wasn't weed. was it was pills, it was pharmaceuticals. that the adults gave you. Yes Okay. Yeah. No, I mean, look, it's Look, I think there's obviously certain people who need medication for certain reasons, but is there's no doubt that it is over presrescribed and is you know messing with people's brain chemistry at a very young age Well, I'm glad you lived through it because I love the show. I know it's I was surprised to learn this the network with the Sopranos and so many big shows. It's the second most watch show HBO has ever had after this Yeah, no I w it's that fun of you All right, after a game was run, but But I want to get to the other issue, which I think is almost as big an issue as the addiction one. I know you got a lot of heat for. It's like, okay, so you had the first two seasons and we had the pandemic. So there was a lot of gap between when they were in high school, which started out as a high school show. Yeah. And then it became this other thing And okay, so now they're out of high school by three or four years, and you put them in, I mean, one works strip at a strip club. Yeah. One is on only fans. Yeah. One is kind of a sugar baby with a sugar daddy I thought this was the exact right choice for the America I see. Yeah. notot personally, but what I see. I did an editory there when we called the masturbation economy. Yeah. A lot of this economy is It just looks like a lot of young women who don't go to college, they wind up in some form of the masturbation economy, making older men who have money masturbate someomehow, that's what only fans is, that's what Srip clubs, That's what all of this is And I feel like that was the right place to put these girls who didn't go to college. Well, it's also look, if you look at only fans It is making as much money as Hollywood I mean, essentially it's on par. It's not a niche business. It is a massive enterprise. And so If you're young and you're going, you know, look, I don't want to go work, you know, nine to five at dis place so that thing, well, maybe I can just start taking photos of myself And, you know, The question is what are the long term consequences of that? What happens when you know, as a young person, you're on Instagram and these things and and you're told that you're the product, you're the brand. And now you're out, you're eighteen years old and you're going Well how do I make money? And I just thought chasing that that desire that kind of fast cash was was an interesting thing to kind of explore and also at the same time You know, we caught a lot of criticism for it, but you know, there's a part of me that wonders if the show kind of affirmed this life and how empowering it was whether we would get the same criticism You know, we take a fairly critical look at it. It hollows out the individual. It's, you know, you're constantly just depending on the likes and external validation I thought the moral center of the thing was always the Maddie character. I know she wasn't the one that got the most heat from the press. Yeah. I'd always thought both the actress and the character were my favorites. And she's wonderful. Yeah. And she's the one who says I forget what the scene was, but she says I guess to the other one, I'm not a hooker Right because I'm not a hooker. And I feel like that said it all. Yeah. L she kind of and she was participating in it to a degree. She was managing the girls, which is a whole new industry. It sort of Light pimping But it is astounding how much of this economy and how many people are how many young women are involved in this. I mean, if you can scroll through PornHub, I hear like endlessly, and you will never see the same girl twice. It looks like every girl who didn't go to college is doing this for a living I mean, that's why I thought it was an important point to make whether they criticize you or not And also the The sort of grooming of social media Yeah. You think I mean, that's something I didn't happen as a kid. I don't remember you did a year No I didn't have social media as a kid, but's I mean, if you're if you're constantly taking photos of yourself and selling yourself online It' it's the natural evolution of it It is the natural evolution of it. That's right So okay, I' let you go, but I want to know what you think about these new movies that were out that did so well, obsession and backrooms that were made. I mean, this is something you can comment on probably better than anybody. You're an aututeur who just does the whole thing yourself. And now we have people who just went right from TikTok to one hundred million dollar opening weekends. What do you see as the future for this industry? You're optimistic about it? Is that a good thing? I'm extremely optimistic about it. I think look, we've gone through this kind of strange period in Hollywood where I always think about it this way In the country, we've gone through maybe the most politically and socially tumultuous time in recent memory for the last ten years. yet the artistic response to it has been rather timid And I think that that's starting to break away And whatever the future holds, I think that A lot of new voices are going to come in who don't care about the old rules, who just want to make something great, something entertaining. The fact that you know these This kid, you know made a movie seven hundred fifty thousand dollars and it's made, I think, over two hundred million is incredible And I think we're going to start to see more of that I'm very bullish on on the future of storytelling and Hollywood. I know I don't know why a lot of people aren't. So we're gonna have like seventies movies again. Oh, that's the dream We' like movies like your great father, meate. Yes. You sound just like him, by the way. Tell him I said all lot. I will. Great to see you. Thank you for the great work. All right, Sam Robinson, everybody. Let's lead our panel He is a senior Political columnist for Politico. Wow, and host of the podcast onn the Rad with Jonathan Martin. Jonathan Martin. Welcome aboard. Goodnon on this sky, a Democratic congressman representing California Silicon Valley, ranking member of the House China Committee, former co chair of Bernie Sanders twenty twenty campaign, Rokana. All right. So you are in the news right now if you don't realize it, because you represent Silicon Valley. And I was looking, I mean, this week was the G seven meeting. If you're not familiar, that's when big the big economies so aren't China. Can we put it that way, get together, right? the seven biggest economies in the world Okay, And you know who else was there? Sam Altman Open AI Dario Emode from Anthropic The dude from Google Deepmind Alex Wang from Meta. In other words The AI guys are now sitting at the table at the G seven Ro, are you proud of this or alarmed Alarmed, let me say this, I know these folks. You represent them. I represent them as we're approaching the you best friends Not all my best friends of them don't like me. They spent a lot of money trying to defeat me. But the point is this as we approach the two hundred fiftieth year anniversary of this country, let me just say this, we didn't fight a revolution to be ruled by tech billionaires. And right now So action That's ru. One of the things one of the reasons they don't like me is I've called for a billionaire or trillionaire tax. Think about this. for one tax on Elon Musk, five percent tax on Elon Musk, you could pay for childcare ten dollars ten a day for every American. You could pay for free public college for every American. they don't want to pay a few percent tax Well, I mean, there's very few people, in fact there's nobody like that. He's five times more rich than the next richest guy in the whole world. That's incredible. So we're talking about maybe just an Elon tax I mean, even no I. I st You know Okay, you think, you've been traveled the country. I mean, is there any part in America? You've gone all over Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, where if you said you want to tax these billionaires or a trillionaire, a few percent, they'd say, no, no, no, don't do that. No, It's an obvious populist issue. I think it's sort of horshoe theory far right and far left are coming together in their deep dissatisfaction with the tech oligarchs, and it does remind, I think a lot of people of the nineteenth century and the rail barons because they had so much power, not just culturally but economically and politically too Bill, I think about when Trump was inaugurated a second time and had to move it inside because of the cold in DC, who was behind him? It wasn't the CEO's of Caterpillar Exxon Mobile. Who was it? It was the top execs at the information economy. companies, right? That to me was symbolically so important because it told me a couple of things. Trump knows where the power is today And also, those folks know that access to power themselves is everything their own rules going forward. Okay, well, information is a little different than AI. I mean, obviously they cross over, but this is a whole different kettle of fish here. I mean, this week we had a situation where the administration apparently is trying to get Is it a Modis company? Yeah notot to release drop Okay, it's called fable fiber, myhos fiber. These are people who make claud. and they say it's just not safe that it can penetrate almost all of the government's classified systems I mean Is it too late already Don't these handful of um On the spectrum in cells, excuse me. But Elon is not an in cell of I said Elon is not an inell. there's evidence about that. Yeah, That's true Okay, but I mean, how are we going to get the cat back in the bag? I mean, these people already have this kind of money and I assume this kind of power, I assume if they're inviting them to the G seven, they're already afraid of them They're already calling the shots. Yeah. I think it's going to be maybe the central issue of the twenty twenty eight campaign is because the AI impact not just on of the economy, but also on kids and what kids are seeing and also the basic fact of what's real and what's not. You know, there's an old quote that everybody's entitled to their own opinion But not their own facts. Pat Moynehan say that. Well, now we're ent through this world where we are sort of living in our own version of reality and every day that goes by, the deep fakes are getting better and better. And it's not just going be people who are elderly who can't figure out what's real and what's not. It's going to be us trying to figure out, is that video real? Did that guy just say that? Is that commercial actually legit And it's getting harder and harder every day. You know, but if we want to regulate them, maybe we start by not having three eighty year old presidents in a row. We need someone who actually understands technology E me the idea. You know You've had Mark Zuckerberg, that's agist first of all. Well, fine. It is, but it's interesting the way the Democrats are also always against the prejudiced That's the one prejudice if it's okay. you're fine with it. I'ming another. I think it's a case by case basis when you're eighty. know I've certainly known people who are eighty, which I'll be in ten years. And I don't intend to be like you announce No but No you first. No what's fascinating is This issue squeezes both parties because Trump has been sort of lais fair about this, and Vance knows that. and Vance is going to have to take a much more populist hard line because he knows the votes in his party are much more skeptical of AI than Trump has been. At the same time Vance his whole strategy is let me just contradict everything the president's doing. War in Iran? Oh, I was against it. Okay. releasing Fn. The Democrats obviously are the party Party of California, This is their economic base. So both parties are going to have to pick a side here. It's going to be easy. I'm talking about guard rails. This is really what we're talking about. Both sides are talking now about gu at least talking But it's moving so quickly. And are you who represents them going to be able to have the strength to actually implement those guardrails? Is anybody? Yes, because I've stood up to them. I stood up to them on the billionaire taxs where they went against me. I've stood up to them and said, whyy don't we have an AI regulatory agency? Look, if you think this is, whyy don't we?? Well, because people are putting money in, and Trump said, I'm an accelerationist. China iss going eat our lunch. Let them do whatever they want. And how are you going to defeat that We're going to defeat it by telling the American people, you have a vote and we should be voting for sensible guard rails and regulations. R R. There are three things we should be doing. First of all, you know you hire someone, you hire someone on your staff You got to pay their payroll tax and you've got to pay their health insurance. But you want to automate them with a robot, no tax. We actually incentivize the elimination of jobs, change the tax code, actually tax eentic AI. Then you want to make sure that we actually have a regulatory agency like we have for nuclear energy or electricity. We need people who understand technology who have the guts to stand up to them and who are going to be on the side of the world. not theiona. onlynly sixteen percent of Americans now think AI will positively impact society, which it definitely will Yeah. It definitely will. It'll probably make eighty year olds sharper The numbers don't lie, but Ro, you guys could bare keep the lights on in Congress and fund the government. How are you going to do a sweeping new know regulatory agenda to regulate this massive industry? when it's hard enough to keep the government open in Congress? And secondly, if you look at other countries around the world, bill, places like Australia, the UK are banning social media for eighteen and under year old kids. So I just don't see that level of activism and that political possibility happening here because the Congress is so gridlocked, even when one party is in power like it is now. Well, we need leadership. I mean, Donald Trump ran and he said, give these tech billionaires all that they want. And yet Elon Musk poured three hundred million dollars into getting him to win But if you had a leadership that said, you know, we have a nuclear energy regulatory commommission. We have it for electricity. let's do it for AI. You don't need Congress doing all the details. You need an independent agency doing that. And then what about a jobs program? All these young people they can't get a job. Why not have a work for America where you hire young people into a job to rebuild communities or rebuild the federal government That What we haveack in this country is leadership Either people don't know AI, or they're afraid to stand up to these billionaires. And now we're entering, I think An era of lame duckness Really, I think we can talk about the Iran war, although I doubt there's going to be a lot of debate about it because even those of us who thought it might be a good idea to try to defang Iran, as we've been saying for so many years They just fucked it up so badly. Trump never was going to have the attention span to get that done, right? It was going to take a period of months, protracted war, damage to the economy, as someum people having to put troops on the ground. He was never willing to do it. No, there could have been an uprising. They they just missed the timing, I think. I just think they should have done it while the people were in the streets in January, February. Yeah Yeah, instead of waiting til they all got shot and then doing it Anyway, it's fucked up now Here's the bright side of it, I think. Yeah. I don't think the Republicans are scared of Trump anymore. For the first time in like almost ten years. I don't think they are. I mean when when you read the quotes, from the Republicans, they sound like Democrats. Ted Crz. I said dollars to theocratic lunatics John Kennedy of Louisiana, unless you were homeschooled by a day drinker . Sheays No one's confident that Iran is going to do anything. Bill Cassidy said, Reagan is rolling over in his grave. I don't remember them ever doing this because It took Trump ending a war to get Ted Cruz to start criticizing him. No, go to more and more I I glad is losing a war Those are the more yes, but, you know How about even you agree, Bill, you can't be giving him three hundred billion dollars. He says it's not taxpayer money. It's money from the coast. What happened from thef Gulf countries? Why not put that money in Pennsylvania and Ohio? What happened to America first? We're giving three Well that's That's what I'm saying. That's why. He's lost. I mean Two years get coming up unt two years some out of office. they're gonna lose the midterms And he's not that popular with his own party. So what is that two years going to look like? I mean, certainly it's got to be an opportunistic moment for the Democrats. So I think there's one of two approaches How are they going to blow it? Well the more likely the more likely approaches is that this is going to be a protracted ugly subpoena and investigation fill in court battles because Trump and his family are not going to want to testify and his allies aren't going to want to either. and Democrats are going to be out for blood And the pressure on the liberal base to appeace Trump will be immense. That's the most likely scenario, I think Eespecially if Trump tries to fuck around with the election this fall That's only going to further radicalize Democrats The other scenario that's possible, I think unlikely, Bill is this. Trump is desperate for a domestic victory. He needs a legacy going forward beyond cleaning out their fighting pool, which isn't going so well now, right? And so Trump is Nixon goes to China and tries to do a big immigration bill with a Democratic majority in Congress because Democrats like Roe are savvy enough to know You're probably only going to fix immigration in this country with a Republican president because the politics of it are so hard. that's unlikely, but that wouldd be a fascinating effort because Trump would sell out Stephen Miller and his party so fast to get a big legacy walking in the away. because right now, what is his second term legacy, at least domestically? That'd be open. If he wants to have a pathway to citizenship for hardworking immigrants are paying taxes They'd be people who are open to that secure borders and do that. But what do you he's talking about? But hereere's the farthest thing from his radar He closed the border. He thinks he won this. This is over for him. I'll tell you it'll happen First of all, the crack in the Trump coalition was when Thomas Massey and I passed the Epstein files. They have JD Vance in the situation room covering it up. We're going to get those files released and we're going to make sure we get justice for survivors. Then we're going to start passing bills raaising the minimum wage, childcare for all Americans, paid family leave Figuring out how we get people homes by thirty five. And let him either be or sign it. He lost the immigration issue when he enacted Stephen Miller's policies, had Iice agents go in to get housekeepers and gardeners and throwing them in jail and then had two Americans killed in cold blood in Minneapolis. He lost the best issue he had. He doesn't have any issues now domestically, so he's going to need a legacy. I think it's unlikely, I'm just saying if there was one issue where the two parties could get something done for the final two years, I think it's that. You know who gets to crow about Iran Obama? He does. And even Biden, with the way they got on him, the way he got out of Afghanistan, at least he got out of Afghanistan. But especially I mean, I was always trying to defend that when I talked to Trump. I was defending that. And look, there were reasons why it may not have been the right thing because they probably were cheating the whole time. But it turned out Obama was right There really is no other better way to do this. You know, it's always the best of the worst possible option. And now we know that they have the leverage, which is closing down the straightits and they can turn that on and off anytime they want. So any future American president threatens Iran, goes back into Iran. Well, guess what? We'll close the straightits down. We'll jM you on gas prices back home politically, and we'll w make you out. There's no midterms in Iran, right? It's not just about scoring a political point. I mean, like Jonathan, I was at the Obama center and Obama's speech. And I think here's the lesson for Americans that sometimes Tough diplomacyy is better than chest dumping brute force. Obama got the enriched uranium out, ninety seven percent of it. Trump's agreement, it's simply dilution. We don't even get it out. Obama got a United Nations Security Council resolution that actually had enforced inspectors. Now we don't have enforced inspector They've gotten a weaker deal? No, no.'ve got You agree. It's a weaker deal. It is. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. No, it's a terrible deal. In mean either deal, the Iranians are gonna fudge the nukes, right? That's just we kind of know that, I think. Soutopia two has come home to Disney plus. Let's go. Get ready for a new case. We're gonna crack this case and prove we're goingictorious partners of all time. New friends. You are Gary Destiny. And your last name The snake. Dream team H new habitats. utopia has a secret reptile population. So you could watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly. We're gonna at. too. Now available on Disney plus rated PG Introducing Taco Bell's new jalapeno citrus salsa with bright citrus real red jalapenos, guailo chiles. Usually, you add sauce to the food, but when the sauce is this good, the food is just there to get the sauce to your mouth. That rolled quesadilla, not a rolled quesadilla anymore. Now it's a sauce shovel Taco Bell'salifeeno citrus salsa. Get it with any item on the canantina chicken menu, while it's here. The participate in US Taco Bell locations for a limited time only while supplies last, contact store for availability. You thought this was your run cllub era Turns out, it was more of a thinking about run cllub era Good news Someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your workout gear on DPop Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest They get their race day fit And you get a payoutff for trying Someone on Dep hop wants what you've got. Start selling now Deepop, where taste recognizes taste another issue down in Texas, there's a race going on. I'm sure you're watching it closely. Everybody in politics is. We had him on the show, James Telerico, he's a charismatic new Democrat. And he that could be the next Ber O'Rke in Texas Now you finally Philips Texas anyway, you know, you mentioned deep fakes. That's not the only way you can cheat with advertising because he's running against this guy Ken Paxton down there. And I want to show you the Ken Paxton ad that Ken has been running against James Talerico. Take a look. This is Texas. This is not. Our southern border should be like our front porch There should be a giant welcome mat out front Okay, that's what he ran. and that is what James Talerico said. It's just not all he said. He cut off the part where he went, There should be a giant welcomeat out front and a lock on the door. He cut that part off. That small thing ye. That's how you run a dirty campaign. And that's not the only one. Would you like to see some other examples I No There there's just There are other times where he just showed part of what Tala Rico said and then didn't show the whole thing. So I'm going show you both. I'm going to show you what he showed and then what the whole comment was. Ready? Okay. For example, he has Tala Rico saying, I think a lot about children Having good schools She showed him saying I want Texas grandmothers to know I'm hard Protecting social security Christmas makes me want to throw up some tinsel and lights. Nicy guy, every time I visit our classrooms, I come conclusion that we could do better outside my window, like most oldur old Texans It blows A strong wind of faith that guides my life This White people need to get the hell out The son, I'm telling you. All right, so. So you mentioned deep fakes. Let's show that one. There's a Telico deep fake that's going around. and this is, you know, I could tell that this is not really him because I think it's ridiculous, but I mean, what I've seen move people in elections, show that. this is not him. This is a deep fake of James Delico Boys in white dresses with blue satin sashes. Girls dsed with hormones till they grow mstaches See, they're trying to This is Texas and they're trying to say he's gay. I got that. Yeah. that. But reaking stuff about his past girlfriends. I don't understand that., you gott to pick one side. Right. Noing I'm a vegan, too. the poor guy's cardiologist can be so mad at him because he said eat barbecue every day the rest of the campaign. they said he's not a vegan, you know?ad of him So that's what goes on in a state like Texas. Let's talk about California because this is your state. And I was reading for Reed Zakaria's column this week. it was Well, I'm sure you did. I'm sure it wasn't good news to you. Now, look, they call California a progressive laboratory for a good reason. It is a progressive laboratory. It made me think about something I covered many years ago, maybe ten years ago. Kansas. There was a governor there named Sam Brown back. remember this? of. And he did the opposite. He did the Republican which was cut taxes for everybody and magically we'll grow more revenue. Of course it was a giant disaster and we had a lot of fun calling it out. And Democrats won ever since there, Yeahah. What? Democrats have won ever since there Yeah That's right. Okay. But the progressive laboratory, if it is a laboratory, that means it's doing experiments, we do need to have to call them out when they fail. a I know I can go through these stats in Perid's column. and I've read them everywhere for years now. I mean, it's not good. We constantly take more money from the people and get less results. Is that not true? Isn't that what one party rule has given us in this state? Look, it's a mixed bag. On the one hand, we've done certain things right. We have excellent higher education. The UC's, the California states And it's led to, of course, a lot of innovation, twenty trillion dollars in my district, right? Education, healthcare. But we That's where all the AI guys are. That's what that money is. Well, it's been more. There's been a lot of innovation, technology, but we've messed up housing in this state. We have too much regulation, zoning where we don't build. We've made it very, very hard to build. and that's been a failure. I mean, and any person being honest about it needs to acknowledge that we've put roadblocks onto building housing And that would in my view, be the biggest failure. And that's what Fid was saying that the housing policy here has been bad. It's going to be a big challenge, I think, if Governor Newsom is the nominee for Democrats in twenty eight because you'll see a lot of folks in his own party who aren't from California use the stats and the images against him and certainly you'd see in the fall as well. Look, it's a tradeo off, I think. you know, in exchange for getting great weather, great schools Youper school What's that? The schools high H read H read, higher read. How I know they're so great? Well, the UC system is, you know, young know I don't know who's coming out of it and what they're learning. I mean, from what I see from the elite schools on the east cooast, their' shit. Right. the UC has produced a lot of noel laureates just this past year. They They take a lot of kids who don't are first in their families to go to college. I mean, the UC system genuinely is working. Cal State is working. K through twelve, there are issues. I mean, honest mean there are there are issues. I see kids demonstrating for Hamas. but I mean there' a strural challenge going on too. And there are structural challenges too. and it's very simple, the cost of living. People are voting with their feet, going to Arizona, going to Nevada, going to Idaho because it's cheaper to live there And they can sort of see their dollar go further. and until California addresses that, they're going to have a serious challenge. I agree with that. I think the housing is the key issue. It's the biggest cost of living and then the childcare cost. If you can get universal child carere, and if you get the healthca care costs down and you have housing policy, it would help ove this state forward But being seven bucks kind of hard to. People in this state do think that it has been a failure. I mean, even in this city, even the Democrats, this is why this guy Steve Hilton, who's running for president. Now I'm for governor here. I don't know much about him. He was on Fox News. I don't watch Fox News, Generally their're assholes on Fox News I go on, fuck. You go on ye, right. And that's good. I'm glad you do. I always No, I always encourage Democrats to do that. I'm doing it Sunday. good for you. If If this was not a, I think big Democratic year based upon Trump backlash, that race would be a lot more interesting for Governor. If it was about state issues and the performance of this state and direction of the state And you had a better, I think GOP candidate, I think that would be a very competitive race, the most competitive it's been here in a long time. The problem, Bill is all politics is now national and everything's about Tump. It's a one man elect exactly Trump. And so all Bacara iss going to say is Trump, Trump, Trump. And that's all the ads that are going to be. If you were to litigate the actual direction of the state, it would be a competitive race, but you can't do that In the Trump environment. The other thing, Jonathan, obviously, Schwarzenegger was a larger than life personality Hilton' not a celebrity. But Schwarzenegger had the common sense to say, I'm going to be pro choice.. I'm going to say that climate change exists. I'm going to be for gay rights and equality. Right. And you keep having these Republicans and they keep running wholl on those issues who don't give up on want to bash gay people who want to deny climate science, just run someone. Schwarzengger show you how to The same reason, all politics is national. so that candidate can't get through the primary counts as the primary here because their hardcore base won't allow it. So you're left with these candidates who are Trump light who are walking the line of those issues who aren't viable in the fall. It used to be a moderate candidate for governor in California or Vermont or New York was acceptable won't have a chance to win but you can't do it I think you're exactly right. The problem is that I used to talk about the toxic D, why Democrats just are not competitive in so many states in this country. And but there's a toxic R like in California. As long as Trump is president No matter how bad it gets in California, no matter how many people think, and a lot of people do think it's a failure. The city is a failure, the state is a failure. It's still not they will vote for failure over someone with an R by their name. My advice to Steve Hilton would be distance yourself from Trump if you want to have any chance of winning in this state. And you don't think he'll ever do that I'm skeptical A because Trump would lash back at it, but also because it help him. Hed he'd alienate the hardcore GOP voter in this state. And if you don't have them, if you don't have your base, you can't win in the fall. But you're right, Bill, by the way, the same thing still applies. That toxic D. Democrats can't compete in half this country. and the reason why they're never going to have an enduring set up majority unless they they change ' because they can't compete in places like the Dakotas or like Texas or Oklahoma because of that same challenge point. I think we can compete in twenty six and twenty eight because most of this country doesn't want us in foreign wars. Most of this country wants us focusing on the manufacturing and economic building here. And Trump has failed that. He said I was going to focus on America. There are no factories. there's no economic rebound in Ohio, in Pennsylvania, and Michigan Wisconsin, if we run on economic renewal of the heartland, no more wars, invest in Team America, I think we can win in almost any state I think Gavin Lewson is the candidate. I mean if Gavin Newsom with all the California baggage just trying to try to win over America, isn't he going to have to say some version of our two woke policies just didn't work here. We wanted less testing because that would be something to do with equity and it made the kids stupider. You know, we didn't want to tell the homeless they could get off they have to get off the street Because that would be, I don't know interrupting their life. I think he's flexible enough that he would do it in the general election if he thought that that was the direction to win. I think he'd be up for that. Look at the trans issue. He's moved on that more to the center politically. So I think he'd be willing to do it. The challengees are the votes and quotes, as they say from his past. and they hold out against it because previously he said other stuff, you know, that's the challenge Al always say I'm a Pennsylvania born and raised, California representative But Okay, what I got that that was a big brag. Why? You. like Pennylvia? Oh I love Pennsylvania. No. I think you need to have think whoever I think for the Democratic Party, we need to make sure that it is California in the service of the country. It can't be California lecturing the country. So you guys were both at the Obama liibrary Do we have a picture of the Obama Library because it looks like Nar. It looks like something aliens built in Dubai. I like that.air. Why do it cost eight hundred fifty million dollars? Yeah. I don't understand why progressives like this Cn't know money be better spent on something else, Wh's going to go to this? Why do we need a What do you think? Why does anyone need a presidential library? Th these monuments to somebody's ego out of office?t A you anyybody here in this audience planning to go to the Obama presidential library? Sure. There you go. Reiling Pical Tp ' fucking lie. You're not going to the old proble. at a time at a timeeruary in Chago. Elon Musk is talking about sending people to Mars. You're telling me that spending up to a billion dollars one billion dollarsars on commemorating the first and only African American who hass ever been president isn't worth it. Well we don't need that building to do that. That's in our hearts and ms. That has already happened. But this is to inspire people. You know, Michelle Obama gave one of the greatest speeches.'m telling Don't listen to me, just listen to her five minutes. and here's what she said Racism was hurled at Barack Obama. inssults were hurled at Barack Obama, and he never lost his school. He never gave into a temper, and he showed that hope and patience and aspiration can always had to do with the building. Billill tells that story. The building. So they didn't know that story without the building? Well they're like unless you go to the building? like Obama. Who was he again? Reabell. Eeducation It for educ But it's not that hundred fifty million dollars versus going to Mars. I don't want to go to Mars either. It's hundred fifty million dollars going to the real causes of people who really need it. That's the money I'm talking about. You know We spend money on a lot of friulous shit. I'm just saying you can't be a hypocrite about it. I don't think most presidents need libraries. I do think that Obama's story is unique. I'm biased. I work for him, but it's a unique story telling the possibility in this country of someone who had no shot. You know, when I was in law school, when I interned, they said to me, R, you're Indian American, you're a Hindu faith, go to the capapitol because you'll never get elected to anything. That's what I heard. And then Barack Obama happened. and he changed the direction of this nation for millions of people nothing to do with the building. but thank you. We seen this hilarious viral photo of mom and dad getting married while their three year old daughter is just not having it be the first to say this marriage will never last. Not because they'll fall out of love, but because this kid is going to kill you in your sleeep now that Jack Schlsberg, the latest Kennedy to run for office, says RFK juniror appeared to him in a dream and told him he'd win a seat in Congress He has to consider the possibility that it wasn't a dream and that Bobby really was in your bedroom while you wereleep It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he's ever done Nur will stop going down into caves. Every year there's another cave tragedy story and a dangerous rescue mission. and why You know what's down there? More caves Unless it's where you keep wine, stay up here with us. And if you still feel the need to get stuck in a dark hole, try grad school This are the colle ofer Perals stopped acting like Americans were horrified when a broadcaster on Fox's World Cup pregame show called James Cordon a full kit wanker U At first, we barely remember James Cordon econd, we have no idea what that means. And third, we weren't watching. the Kicks were on. No, now that Florida Cgressman, Byron Donalds was out this week promoting literacy programs with a misspelled word on his sign You have to admit it kind of proves his point But good on you for trying, Byron, donon't let it stop you from making America grape And finally Nal, everybody has to start getting a little more excited for America's birthday. Come on, our big two hundred fifty is coming up. It's on july fourth for the kids in our public school That's a pretty big deal The problem is there's kind of a stink on it because you know who is president right now The left half of the country fears he'll make the anniversary about him Of course he will. I even bet that on Kachci. The question is whether we all will help him do it. We shouldn't This is about America. He isn an America He's a temporary caretaker of America. America's employee And the message should be that America isn't actually his and that no one side gets to own being psyched about the country So I'm not down with this attitude of Well, we're having a party but if Trump's going, I'm not. That's so high school it should be in the Epstein file. Go to the party. It's a big celebration. You probably won't run into them This country's three point eight million square miles and that's without Greenland I'm not saying Trump doesn't want to muddy the distinction between himself and the country. He sure as shit does. That's what Wannabe authoritarians do. They try to blur that line be an accomplice especially since For all of Trump's nonsense, America is still here stillill incredibly prosperous by world standards, still the place people want to get to, still free enough to let me put the word nonsense next to the president's name You do know it's not that way everywhere Now, am I worried about creeping authoritarianism and attacks on free speech? and politicizing the Justice Department and enemies lists. Yes As I have been since twenty sixteen, when I first used the term slow moving coup We're ten years on now And while Trump Wanting to act like a king in many ways is still a story So was the fact that he's also been checked In twenty twenty, he became the first president to flat out not concede losing an election, as I predicted. He didn't stay president either. in cases where a court has ruled for Trump or the plaintiff Tp is winning less than one out of ten Even the client Supreme Court checked him on tariffs. A court made him take his name off the Kennedy Center, and he didn't fight it Here's the budget, H's the budget cuts to key departments Trump wanted in his second term. And here's what actually happened Almost no change Congress didn't go along America may right now be the country Donald Trump is president of, but America is also everything that keeps Trump from being the king he wishes he were So So this fourth of July, let's celebrate the genius American idea of checks and balances which yes is threatened and yes is taking on water but it is still afloat Like those tall ships, I remember from nineteen seventy six. Oh yes, I remember. I was twenty and I wore a bicentennial t shirt that whole summer I wore it every day and nobody thought it meant that I love Nixon. Because fifty years ago, liberals didn't concede patriotism Abby Hoffman. was the quintessential sixties radical. And when he had to appear before the House on American Activities Committee He wore an American flag shirt which some cops later ripped off his back Because the message that most threatens authoritarians isn't America sucks It's America is ours too Every election year, Democrats seem to remember patriotism for about an hour at their convention when they're trying to win back swing voters The whole message of Kamala's speech in twenty twenty four was take back the flag That's why she talked about America like a pageant contestant Greatest privilege on Earth privilege and pride of being an American Hard to believe she lost, huh?? Well, you can't take back the flag in an hour if the rest of the time you treat patriotism as something vaguely embarrassing It shouldn't be Even though we are far from perfect You know In nineteen seventy six, when I was wearing that t shirt with my nut hugger shorts wasn't exactly crushing it then either Inflation was around six percent Mortgage rates were almost nine. There was actually a thing called the Misery index The average person earned far less than they do today They had a smaller house and watched a tiny TV that had three channels, mostly I Love Lucy Rruns. The closest thing we had to Euphoria was Th's company Our AI was cliffnotes. Women had just won the right to get a credit card without their husband signing off on it And there were no women on the Supreme Court and only nineteen in Congress. Infant mortality was three times higher. And we had just been through Vietnam and Watergate, for which President Ford pardoned Nixon before pardoning Crooks was cool You think filling up your tank is a headache now Back then, being online meant you were waiting for gas Everything had lead in it, which fucked up kids' brains even worse than TikTok People smoked inside planes and drunk driving was considered driving The hot car that year was the Pinto because it was on fire And since there wasn't any internet porn yet, if you wanted something to masturbate to for free, you had to wait for a streaker. had smart days. Buildings had asbestos. Radio had disco duck. Things were bad, man. so bad, I was forced to sell everyone drugs just to cheer them up And yet it didn't stop us from making nineteen seventy six one big pe diddy freak off for America. Because ask Joe Biden, you only turned two hundred once So come on, it's the fourth Don't let this year's fourth become another excuse for partisan sulking. Let it be an excuse to be really hungo on the fifth So shall I want to thank o Sam Robinson, Cl Rin drumps every Monday on YouTube. or listen wherever you get your podcast. Now go watch oververtime on YouTube. Thank you very much, ladies, and gentlemen. Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maar every Friday night at ten or watch them anyime on HBO on demand. For more information, log on to hbO. com.