00:00:00.069 --> 00:00:02.871
War is immoral, poverty is immoral,
00:00:03.152 --> 00:00:04.453
racism is immoral,
00:00:04.713 --> 00:00:06.434
police brutality is immoral,
00:00:06.634 --> 00:00:07.756
oppression is immoral,
00:00:07.996 --> 00:00:09.176
genocide is immoral,
00:00:09.397 --> 00:00:10.678
imperialism is immoral.
00:00:11.038 --> 00:00:13.240
This country represents all those things.
00:00:19.132 --> 00:00:21.434
Everybody, I'm glad to be back.
00:00:22.053 --> 00:00:22.474
This week,
00:00:22.513 --> 00:00:24.754
the Democrats swept the key races and the
00:00:24.774 --> 00:00:26.036
referendums with Prop.
00:00:26.096 --> 00:00:28.777
Fifty passing in California and actual
00:00:28.817 --> 00:00:31.297
leftists winning major seats like Mamdani,
00:00:31.318 --> 00:00:33.759
a socialist who beat out ex-governor Cuomo
00:00:33.798 --> 00:00:34.978
for New York City mayor.
00:00:35.539 --> 00:00:37.240
Mamdani will have to deal with the city's
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:39.280
police state, an angry president.
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.481
But there's no debating that his victory
00:00:41.582 --> 00:00:43.783
and all the other GOP losses across the
00:00:43.823 --> 00:00:46.463
country represent an early referendum on
00:00:46.524 --> 00:00:48.405
Trump and Project twenty twenty five.
00:00:48.965 --> 00:00:51.006
My guest this week ran for federal office
00:00:51.066 --> 00:00:53.606
not once, not twice, but three times.
00:00:54.046 --> 00:00:55.527
So she knows a little bit about what
00:00:55.567 --> 00:00:57.509
it's like as a Black woman to face
00:00:57.588 --> 00:00:59.609
not only the GOP and the far right,
00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:01.490
but also the Democratic machine.
00:01:02.170 --> 00:01:04.611
A Florida-based former Navy JAG officer,
00:01:04.951 --> 00:01:06.033
civil rights attorney,
00:01:06.552 --> 00:01:08.433
and firm executive director,
00:01:08.513 --> 00:01:10.415
Pam Keith is everything you'd want in a
00:01:10.454 --> 00:01:10.795
leader.
00:01:11.094 --> 00:01:13.376
Unafraid, unbought, unbossed,
00:01:13.475 --> 00:01:14.016
and all that.
00:01:14.376 --> 00:01:16.516
Plus, like Mamdani, she's captivating,
00:01:16.736 --> 00:01:17.298
as you'll see.
00:01:17.938 --> 00:01:19.480
Yet, unlike Mamdani,
00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:21.843
she didn't win any of her political bids.
00:01:22.043 --> 00:01:22.384
Why?
00:01:22.823 --> 00:01:25.847
Was it geography, race, gender, timing?
00:01:26.269 --> 00:01:27.049
We'll find out.
00:01:27.430 --> 00:01:28.210
This is awkward,
00:01:28.391 --> 00:01:29.572
and this is global warning.
00:01:30.578 --> 00:01:32.218
Don't forget, you gotta like,
00:01:32.338 --> 00:01:33.879
you gotta comment, subscribe,
00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:35.981
and become a super fan for those exclusive
00:01:36.042 --> 00:01:36.481
extras.
00:01:37.162 --> 00:01:38.063
On episode three,
00:01:38.102 --> 00:01:40.064
Pam Keith takes us behind the scenes
00:01:40.204 --> 00:01:41.885
discussing her runs for office,
00:01:42.006 --> 00:01:43.227
the most recent races,
00:01:43.667 --> 00:01:45.468
the state of the Democratic Party as
00:01:45.528 --> 00:01:47.370
opposition to the far-right agenda,
00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:48.109
and much more.
00:01:48.936 --> 00:01:50.677
Pam, thank you so much for joining me.
00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:52.881
I know everyone wants to hear about your
00:01:52.921 --> 00:01:53.802
runs for office,
00:01:53.843 --> 00:01:55.263
but before we even go there,
00:01:55.644 --> 00:01:57.507
give me your rundown of election season
00:01:57.567 --> 00:01:59.049
November, twenty twenty five.
00:01:59.230 --> 00:02:00.411
What are the biggest wins?
00:02:00.572 --> 00:02:01.612
Were there any losses?
00:02:01.992 --> 00:02:04.316
And what can we do to turn election
00:02:04.337 --> 00:02:06.760
victories into actual movement momentum?
00:02:07.885 --> 00:02:08.385
Well, first of all,
00:02:08.406 --> 00:02:10.106
thank you for having me.
00:02:10.187 --> 00:02:11.448
I think there are a lot of messages
00:02:11.467 --> 00:02:14.631
that came across that election night.
00:02:15.852 --> 00:02:17.913
Different kinds of Democrats were able to
00:02:17.953 --> 00:02:19.454
win in different areas.
00:02:19.534 --> 00:02:21.075
I don't think you can say that Mamdami
00:02:21.116 --> 00:02:23.657
speaks for all of the victories or that
00:02:23.717 --> 00:02:26.680
Spanberger and Sherrill speak for all of
00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:27.341
the victories.
00:02:27.381 --> 00:02:27.901
They don't.
00:02:28.861 --> 00:02:29.342
However,
00:02:30.242 --> 00:02:32.724
The pushback against Republican
00:02:33.325 --> 00:02:34.545
leadership, I don't think you can,
00:02:35.306 --> 00:02:38.049
that's the thread that seems to be common
00:02:38.088 --> 00:02:41.512
to all of the victories from coast to
00:02:41.551 --> 00:02:44.614
coast, from north to south, be it federal,
00:02:44.674 --> 00:02:47.096
be it state, be it mayor's races,
00:02:47.496 --> 00:02:49.497
school board races, referendums,
00:02:49.538 --> 00:02:50.338
you name it,
00:02:50.899 --> 00:02:52.900
the voters came out and voted against the
00:02:52.941 --> 00:02:53.501
Republicans.
00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:55.622
That's the common thread that we can see.
00:02:56.663 --> 00:02:59.507
I think there are some seriously important
00:02:59.546 --> 00:03:02.770
tectonic reverberations that are going
00:03:02.790 --> 00:03:04.973
through both the Republican Party and the
00:03:04.993 --> 00:03:05.814
Democratic Party,
00:03:06.056 --> 00:03:07.317
because you really cannot
00:03:08.481 --> 00:03:11.362
It is impossible to overstate how
00:03:11.582 --> 00:03:15.304
exceptional the Mamdani campaign was.
00:03:15.524 --> 00:03:17.125
Having run three campaigns,
00:03:17.724 --> 00:03:20.825
there are so many X's and O's you
00:03:20.925 --> 00:03:22.265
have to get right.
00:03:22.686 --> 00:03:24.407
Even though it was a mayoral race,
00:03:24.486 --> 00:03:27.508
it was a mayoral race in a population
00:03:27.967 --> 00:03:28.687
that is more...
00:03:29.207 --> 00:03:31.289
Bigger than most senatorial races.
00:03:31.710 --> 00:03:31.889
Right.
00:03:32.770 --> 00:03:34.991
The population that he had to connect to
00:03:35.271 --> 00:03:36.073
was bigger,
00:03:36.312 --> 00:03:39.935
more diverse than most senatorial races
00:03:39.995 --> 00:03:41.695
and certainly the vast majority of
00:03:41.736 --> 00:03:42.576
congressional races.
00:03:43.016 --> 00:03:45.399
So if you want to take by comparison,
00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:46.280
look at AOC,
00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:48.621
how her win was so eye opening.
00:03:48.640 --> 00:03:48.800
Well,
00:03:48.841 --> 00:03:51.703
her win was a small slice of what
00:03:51.763 --> 00:03:53.563
Mom Donnie had to carry.
00:03:54.365 --> 00:03:55.906
And so you think about how he did
00:03:55.945 --> 00:03:56.126
that.
00:03:56.165 --> 00:03:58.367
He did that with substantially less money.
00:03:59.348 --> 00:04:00.810
And I don't think people pay enough
00:04:00.849 --> 00:04:02.550
attention to the fact that New York has
00:04:02.610 --> 00:04:03.812
public funding of elections,
00:04:03.831 --> 00:04:06.153
which is something that every democracy
00:04:06.213 --> 00:04:07.776
loving person should be fighting for.
00:04:08.776 --> 00:04:10.578
But that he did it with sort of
00:04:10.598 --> 00:04:13.080
this insurgent, you know,
00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.562
he sort of took from AOC that insurgent
00:04:16.062 --> 00:04:16.463
idea,
00:04:16.843 --> 00:04:19.706
that concept that every person I can get
00:04:19.745 --> 00:04:22.327
to knock a door is worth ten thousand
00:04:22.367 --> 00:04:23.970
dollars in a contribution.
00:04:24.509 --> 00:04:26.351
And and he ran with that.
00:04:27.278 --> 00:04:28.238
But he also had,
00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:30.220
as many people have noted,
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.562
exceptional message discipline.
00:04:33.622 --> 00:04:34.983
He had an incredible...
00:04:35.064 --> 00:04:38.625
And he himself is a nimble, creative,
00:04:39.007 --> 00:04:42.629
funny, warm, disarming personality.
00:04:44.391 --> 00:04:45.331
And it was also, I think,
00:04:45.971 --> 00:04:49.093
a little bit of a perfect timing situation
00:04:49.194 --> 00:04:49.613
as well.
00:04:50.274 --> 00:04:51.696
I don't think you could have found a
00:04:51.735 --> 00:04:51.875
more...
00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:55.521
unappealing candidate than Andrew Cuomo
00:04:56.101 --> 00:04:57.903
for people on the left.
00:04:58.363 --> 00:04:59.125
So there was a variety.
00:04:59.144 --> 00:05:00.865
I definitely agree.
00:05:00.906 --> 00:05:03.548
But all of that aside,
00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:07.151
I have to say,
00:05:07.192 --> 00:05:09.634
the boogeyman of democratic socialism
00:05:11.791 --> 00:05:14.634
took a major blow to the head because
00:05:16.036 --> 00:05:18.899
the belief that calling yourself a
00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:21.321
democratic socialist is a sort of
00:05:21.401 --> 00:05:24.302
political third rail that necessarily
00:05:24.363 --> 00:05:25.605
means you are unelectable.
00:05:26.125 --> 00:05:27.225
I just don't think that's true anymore.
00:05:27.245 --> 00:05:29.747
And I think his win is so visible
00:05:30.149 --> 00:05:34.172
both here and abroad and so inspiring
00:05:35.153 --> 00:05:36.793
that you're going to see literally
00:05:36.913 --> 00:05:37.314
hundreds,
00:05:37.514 --> 00:05:39.634
if not thousands of candidates running as
00:05:39.654 --> 00:05:42.134
democratic socialist proudly on a populist
00:05:42.415 --> 00:05:43.636
platform.
00:05:43.795 --> 00:05:44.355
I love that.
00:05:44.555 --> 00:05:47.637
And what an incredible answer.
00:05:47.737 --> 00:05:49.697
This is exactly why I had you on.
00:05:51.158 --> 00:05:53.098
And what an interesting perspective,
00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:56.980
comparing it in size and scope to AOC.
00:05:57.980 --> 00:06:01.601
I totally agree when it comes to
00:06:02.341 --> 00:06:02.622
you know,
00:06:02.721 --> 00:06:05.564
more politicians becoming further
00:06:05.624 --> 00:06:08.685
empowered to truly be themselves on the
00:06:08.725 --> 00:06:12.108
campaign trail and to actually run perhaps
00:06:12.127 --> 00:06:14.050
when they were afraid to previously.
00:06:16.716 --> 00:06:18.896
What about that movement momentum?
00:06:18.976 --> 00:06:20.817
Do you see this translating?
00:06:20.958 --> 00:06:22.278
And you did mention abroad,
00:06:22.298 --> 00:06:24.459
and I think historically abroad,
00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:27.761
protest movements and elections have been
00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:30.901
more inextricably connected than here.
00:06:31.682 --> 00:06:35.264
But do you see here or abroad Mamdani's
00:06:35.303 --> 00:06:38.824
victory having influence over more than
00:06:38.886 --> 00:06:39.786
just elections?
00:06:40.483 --> 00:06:41.723
I absolutely think so.
00:06:41.884 --> 00:06:43.764
I mean, I think part of it,
00:06:43.805 --> 00:06:44.846
like I said, part of it,
00:06:45.026 --> 00:06:47.547
that sort of overt demonization of Muslims
00:06:47.906 --> 00:06:49.887
and the overt Islamophobia turned a lot of
00:06:49.927 --> 00:06:50.668
people off.
00:06:51.668 --> 00:06:53.249
I also think that he put to rest
00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:55.589
the notion that all Jewish people firmly
00:06:55.629 --> 00:06:57.410
support Israel and what Israel does,
00:06:57.930 --> 00:06:58.990
and the fact that he was able to
00:06:59.031 --> 00:06:59.230
pull
00:06:59.690 --> 00:07:00.351
You know, what,
00:07:00.411 --> 00:07:03.115
thirty six percent of the Jewish vote to
00:07:03.175 --> 00:07:04.636
me is extremely telling.
00:07:05.497 --> 00:07:07.418
But I also think that the most important
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:08.420
thing, in my opinion,
00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:09.942
that he brought to the table is is
00:07:10.002 --> 00:07:14.245
that it is OK to campaign for big
00:07:14.406 --> 00:07:14.906
things.
00:07:15.927 --> 00:07:18.670
I think what we have in the contrast,
00:07:18.690 --> 00:07:19.872
the juxtaposition is, you know,
00:07:19.891 --> 00:07:21.394
we have Democrats in Washington, D.C.,
00:07:22.074 --> 00:07:25.536
fighting tooth and nail for subsidies that
00:07:25.576 --> 00:07:27.538
are still too expensive for most people.
00:07:27.778 --> 00:07:28.098
Right.
00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:31.341
And what he said is it's OK to
00:07:31.461 --> 00:07:34.144
actually campaign on something as bold as
00:07:34.185 --> 00:07:36.166
Medicare for all and single payer health
00:07:36.206 --> 00:07:36.447
care,
00:07:36.666 --> 00:07:39.850
because I don't see a great merit in
00:07:39.990 --> 00:07:41.670
fighting for the health care that most of
00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:43.492
us still can't afford and still find
00:07:43.552 --> 00:07:44.012
crippling.
00:07:44.454 --> 00:07:44.894
Right.
00:07:44.913 --> 00:07:46.314
If we're going to fight,
00:07:46.396 --> 00:07:47.536
fight for free health care.
00:07:48.197 --> 00:07:49.396
Fight for the thing that will change
00:07:49.416 --> 00:07:50.437
people's lives forever.
00:07:50.557 --> 00:07:51.778
Fight for something that's going to
00:07:51.817 --> 00:07:55.379
completely take out the insurance company
00:07:55.418 --> 00:07:57.718
middleman that serves no societal purpose
00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.439
other than to make shareholders wealthy.
00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:01.180
Like to me,
00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.380
I love that Zohra Mamdani said universal
00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:08.422
childcare and asked why is it that we
00:08:09.041 --> 00:08:12.463
fully understand the merit of K through
00:08:12.483 --> 00:08:13.742
twelve or even pre-K
00:08:14.918 --> 00:08:18.278
But we don't understand the merit of
00:08:18.778 --> 00:08:21.240
having child care so that people have the
00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:22.779
peace of mind to go to work and
00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:25.781
actually earn the money to raise a family.
00:08:26.581 --> 00:08:28.242
I love that he went big,
00:08:29.101 --> 00:08:31.083
but he also was smart enough to not
00:08:31.122 --> 00:08:37.365
go so big that it was inconceivable or
00:08:37.404 --> 00:08:37.845
unattained.
00:08:38.184 --> 00:08:39.784
He picked three things.
00:08:40.905 --> 00:08:41.725
He was smart.
00:08:42.826 --> 00:08:47.649
so on message about those three things he
00:08:47.688 --> 00:08:50.730
knew chapter verse and footnotes he is not
00:08:50.850 --> 00:08:53.591
a flash in the pan you know kind
00:08:53.611 --> 00:08:57.113
of he's a wonk he is a true
00:08:57.192 --> 00:08:59.815
policy wonk who can talk about regulation
00:08:59.875 --> 00:09:02.456
and obstacles and government he he
00:09:02.515 --> 00:09:04.216
actually knows what he's talking about i
00:09:04.297 --> 00:09:06.357
love a policy what a rarity
00:09:07.033 --> 00:09:08.535
It's such a rarity to have somebody that
00:09:08.596 --> 00:09:10.217
has that kind of social dynamism,
00:09:10.499 --> 00:09:13.643
that kind of warmth and cultural fluidity,
00:09:13.783 --> 00:09:17.268
and also be this intellect and really dig
00:09:17.327 --> 00:09:18.669
into the weeds of policy.
00:09:20.030 --> 00:09:21.933
He's a unique person.
00:09:22.033 --> 00:09:22.813
political creature,
00:09:22.854 --> 00:09:24.815
and I don't want to ever say that
00:09:25.995 --> 00:09:27.655
what he has done can be replicated.
00:09:27.936 --> 00:09:31.317
But what he has done can be an
00:09:31.356 --> 00:09:34.677
inspiration or a blueprint for others to
00:09:34.738 --> 00:09:35.357
take on,
00:09:35.798 --> 00:09:38.198
square on the things that most people do
00:09:38.438 --> 00:09:39.899
actually care about, which is,
00:09:40.599 --> 00:09:42.240
I need to be able to afford this
00:09:42.299 --> 00:09:42.620
life.
00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:43.320
Exactly.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:44.279
I need to be able to afford this
00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:44.520
life.
00:09:45.321 --> 00:09:45.760
Perfect.
00:09:46.280 --> 00:09:48.081
yeah and what mom donnie was saying was
00:09:48.101 --> 00:09:50.724
like and i think more and more candidates
00:09:50.783 --> 00:09:53.125
on the left are saying is the fat
00:09:53.144 --> 00:09:56.447
cats with their rolexes and their five
00:09:56.486 --> 00:10:00.129
houses telling us that we would be damaged
00:10:00.729 --> 00:10:03.770
by the peace of mind they have in
00:10:03.850 --> 00:10:05.871
full access to health care full access to
00:10:05.912 --> 00:10:08.013
transportation full access to housing full
00:10:08.072 --> 00:10:09.354
access to everything
00:10:11.408 --> 00:10:12.691
And the peace of mind that comes with
00:10:12.711 --> 00:10:14.153
that and the joy and the grace that
00:10:14.192 --> 00:10:16.115
comes with that shouldn't be for all of
00:10:16.216 --> 00:10:16.397
us.
00:10:16.716 --> 00:10:18.100
It would be terrible if all of us
00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:20.724
had that lack of fear and pressure and
00:10:20.764 --> 00:10:21.125
stress.
00:10:21.758 --> 00:10:25.019
it's very clear that they enjoy the status
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.001
quo and want to keep it that way.
00:10:27.042 --> 00:10:27.962
And actually,
00:10:28.263 --> 00:10:29.964
that's not even a fair statement anymore.
00:10:30.024 --> 00:10:32.765
They want to expand that polarization.
00:10:33.706 --> 00:10:35.727
And that's why I also appreciate your
00:10:36.428 --> 00:10:38.149
focus on economics,
00:10:38.490 --> 00:10:40.932
because I believe that across political
00:10:40.971 --> 00:10:41.373
lines,
00:10:41.432 --> 00:10:45.816
across the social construct of race lines
00:10:45.855 --> 00:10:46.777
and everything else,
00:10:47.096 --> 00:10:49.658
we can all connect as being part of
00:10:49.719 --> 00:10:50.820
the ninety nine percent.
00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.000
You mentioned Medicare for all.
00:10:53.020 --> 00:10:54.682
That's a great example of one of the
00:10:54.702 --> 00:10:57.144
things that could benefit the working
00:10:57.205 --> 00:11:00.386
poor, the unhoused and everybody else,
00:11:01.106 --> 00:11:03.788
the shrinking middle class and something
00:11:03.850 --> 00:11:05.191
very close to my heart.
00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:07.852
There's so much illness in my family,
00:11:08.232 --> 00:11:09.474
so much disability.
00:11:10.615 --> 00:11:13.197
And that's a struggle for obviously not
00:11:13.256 --> 00:11:14.957
only us, but so many other people.
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:19.140
And in spite of all these positives we
00:11:19.201 --> 00:11:20.062
saw this week,
00:11:21.602 --> 00:11:22.903
maybe a week or two ago,
00:11:23.164 --> 00:11:26.386
it became a fact or as close to
00:11:26.447 --> 00:11:30.571
fact as anything can be that in spite
00:11:30.610 --> 00:11:32.451
of two and three Americans being one
00:11:32.511 --> 00:11:34.173
paycheck away from homelessness,
00:11:34.754 --> 00:11:35.235
In Utah,
00:11:35.274 --> 00:11:37.355
they're building a literal concentration
00:11:37.395 --> 00:11:39.998
camp for unhoused people modeled after
00:11:40.038 --> 00:11:41.158
alligator Auschwitz.
00:11:41.217 --> 00:11:43.600
So what does this tell us about our
00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:44.660
possible future?
00:11:45.380 --> 00:11:45.640
Yes,
00:11:45.681 --> 00:11:48.102
we may have more empowered local
00:11:48.163 --> 00:11:49.082
organizers,
00:11:49.224 --> 00:11:53.086
more empowered true-to-self politicians.
00:11:54.346 --> 00:11:55.648
But what we're fighting,
00:11:56.307 --> 00:11:58.690
I haven't seen in my lifetime.
00:11:58.750 --> 00:12:02.572
Nor have I. Although, if we're honest,
00:12:03.152 --> 00:12:03.972
we haven't seen it
00:12:04.712 --> 00:12:05.994
where it might affect white people.
00:12:06.693 --> 00:12:08.254
It's always been there when it affects
00:12:08.296 --> 00:12:10.317
black people, right?
00:12:10.356 --> 00:12:14.879
Like the work camp life is the prison
00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:16.841
population in Alabama and Louisiana and
00:12:16.880 --> 00:12:19.263
Mississippi and always has been, right?
00:12:19.283 --> 00:12:20.803
So let's be honest about that.
00:12:22.085 --> 00:12:23.285
I will say that
00:12:25.658 --> 00:12:28.802
What we are seeing when Trump got elected
00:12:29.423 --> 00:12:33.568
was this sort of put on steroids,
00:12:33.908 --> 00:12:38.215
the mentality of the oligarchic mindset
00:12:38.875 --> 00:12:39.277
that
00:12:40.130 --> 00:12:45.075
they are uniquely endowed with the skills
00:12:45.154 --> 00:12:51.559
and the right to extract value out of
00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:54.163
this world to their benefit.
00:12:54.942 --> 00:12:57.684
And that somehow their intelligence or
00:12:58.365 --> 00:13:02.428
their cleverness entitles them to run the
00:13:02.448 --> 00:13:07.072
game in a way that ensures the maximum
00:13:10.113 --> 00:13:13.895
extraction of value from whatever they put
00:13:13.916 --> 00:13:14.557
their hands on.
00:13:15.298 --> 00:13:17.399
And what we are seeing is that that
00:13:17.458 --> 00:13:19.860
mindset is now going beyond the one
00:13:19.900 --> 00:13:21.342
percent and it's trickling down to the
00:13:21.383 --> 00:13:22.943
five percent to the ten percent.
00:13:23.504 --> 00:13:25.785
And you see this, which is, you know,
00:13:25.806 --> 00:13:26.807
you see all these layoffs.
00:13:26.846 --> 00:13:28.347
Why are all these layoffs happening?
00:13:28.368 --> 00:13:29.308
They're not necessary.
00:13:29.609 --> 00:13:32.250
They're happening because the
00:13:33.052 --> 00:13:35.596
CEO set is telling themselves that
00:13:35.755 --> 00:13:37.798
employees are feeling themselves too much.
00:13:38.078 --> 00:13:40.663
We need to make the job market bad
00:13:40.903 --> 00:13:43.265
so that they'll accept lower wages and
00:13:43.306 --> 00:13:44.989
they'll accept lower benefits.
00:13:45.649 --> 00:13:47.131
So they collude on that.
00:13:48.273 --> 00:13:49.875
They collude on, oh,
00:13:50.515 --> 00:13:53.961
We need to not have portable health care
00:13:54.280 --> 00:13:58.166
because people will stay in bad jobs if
00:13:58.245 --> 00:14:00.188
their employer is the only one that
00:14:00.229 --> 00:14:01.350
connects them to health care.
00:14:01.711 --> 00:14:02.792
So we got to make sure that they
00:14:02.812 --> 00:14:04.595
don't have portable or affordable health
00:14:04.615 --> 00:14:06.557
care and that there's a big boogeyman out
00:14:06.616 --> 00:14:06.817
there.
00:14:06.837 --> 00:14:08.559
We don't want an Affordable Care Act.
00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:10.380
We don't want an exchange where you can
00:14:10.421 --> 00:14:12.722
go be an entrepreneur and get health care
00:14:12.763 --> 00:14:13.884
that you can actually afford.
00:14:14.144 --> 00:14:16.166
We want you to be somebody's minion and
00:14:16.186 --> 00:14:18.248
somebody's doorstop and somebody's slave.
00:14:18.427 --> 00:14:19.328
That's what we want.
00:14:19.729 --> 00:14:22.350
And if you look at it macroscopically and
00:14:22.370 --> 00:14:24.091
you look at all the dots connected,
00:14:24.173 --> 00:14:25.474
what are they trying to create?
00:14:25.673 --> 00:14:27.715
They're trying to create an America where
00:14:27.835 --> 00:14:30.937
Americans are afraid, alone,
00:14:32.619 --> 00:14:35.981
financially unstable, powerless,
00:14:36.501 --> 00:14:38.124
and angry at each other all the time.
00:14:39.369 --> 00:14:40.249
You nailed it.
00:14:40.349 --> 00:14:42.889
And that's what people experience on the
00:14:42.950 --> 00:14:44.990
micro level now as a result of that.
00:14:46.809 --> 00:14:51.191
So I'm assuming these types of choices
00:14:51.250 --> 00:14:53.351
that are being made at the highest levels
00:14:53.552 --> 00:14:55.131
and the, you know,
00:14:55.172 --> 00:14:58.812
the oligarchical collusion or the
00:14:58.873 --> 00:15:01.013
trillions spent on war, policing,
00:15:01.072 --> 00:15:03.212
prisons and surveillance
00:15:03.293 --> 00:15:05.033
disproportionately targeting black,
00:15:05.073 --> 00:15:06.354
brown and indigenous people.
00:15:07.073 --> 00:15:08.774
are the types of things that caused you
00:15:08.813 --> 00:15:09.934
to run for office.
00:15:10.095 --> 00:15:11.615
We don't have a lot of time left,
00:15:11.695 --> 00:15:13.735
but okay, I knew I was right.
00:15:13.796 --> 00:15:16.096
So was there any inflection point?
00:15:16.355 --> 00:15:18.476
I loved the way you started your last
00:15:18.537 --> 00:15:20.576
response because as you put it,
00:15:20.876 --> 00:15:23.177
this has always affected certain people.
00:15:23.298 --> 00:15:24.638
It's now hitting white people,
00:15:24.677 --> 00:15:26.499
which is why there's such a massive
00:15:26.538 --> 00:15:27.198
response.
00:15:27.999 --> 00:15:29.860
Was there an inflection point at any point
00:15:29.880 --> 00:15:31.902
growing up or in your early career?
00:15:32.341 --> 00:15:34.303
And then let's close it out with what
00:15:34.364 --> 00:15:35.504
everyone's dying to know.
00:15:35.625 --> 00:15:39.006
How do you overcome as a more left
00:15:39.047 --> 00:15:41.048
candidate, the centrist Dem machine?
00:15:41.721 --> 00:15:43.140
Well, it's not like I was successful.
00:15:43.402 --> 00:15:46.081
However, I will tell you that I ran,
00:15:46.221 --> 00:15:49.043
I went into politics because I felt like
00:15:49.062 --> 00:15:51.083
I was uniquely positioned to address,
00:15:52.063 --> 00:15:53.205
I had a platform of my own.
00:15:53.304 --> 00:15:54.825
I didn't wanna just be another vote on
00:15:54.845 --> 00:15:55.904
the democratic platform.
00:15:56.285 --> 00:15:58.586
I wanted to explain things and advocate
00:15:58.605 --> 00:16:00.447
for things and be a pragmatist.
00:16:00.466 --> 00:16:01.027
And to me,
00:16:01.626 --> 00:16:02.888
so I was one of the first people
00:16:02.908 --> 00:16:03.268
who ran
00:16:04.187 --> 00:16:07.389
nationally on Medicare for all and single
00:16:07.428 --> 00:16:07.749
payer.
00:16:08.409 --> 00:16:09.289
In the election,
00:16:09.309 --> 00:16:11.431
in the twenty sixteen election,
00:16:11.551 --> 00:16:14.611
I was out there talking about the lack
00:16:14.631 --> 00:16:16.393
of a necessity for this insurance
00:16:16.432 --> 00:16:16.952
middleman.
00:16:17.173 --> 00:16:18.613
Like, what is the point of insurance?
00:16:18.633 --> 00:16:19.854
Like, what does it do for us?
00:16:20.254 --> 00:16:20.494
Right.
00:16:21.754 --> 00:16:23.634
I believed that there were practical,
00:16:23.674 --> 00:16:25.796
pragmatic solutions to so many things.
00:16:25.916 --> 00:16:27.817
Veterans care was a big issue for me
00:16:28.177 --> 00:16:30.937
because I'm a veteran and I
00:16:31.398 --> 00:16:32.720
Why is it that we always have money
00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:34.302
to go to war and to make warriors,
00:16:34.341 --> 00:16:35.582
but not to care for warriors?
00:16:35.822 --> 00:16:37.764
So I ran on the idea that the
00:16:37.825 --> 00:16:38.907
veterans budget,
00:16:38.966 --> 00:16:40.889
the VA budget has to be part of
00:16:40.928 --> 00:16:41.929
the military budget.
00:16:42.169 --> 00:16:44.011
And that every time that you increase
00:16:44.373 --> 00:16:45.212
military spending,
00:16:45.232 --> 00:16:47.556
you have to concomitantly increase VA
00:16:47.576 --> 00:16:48.017
spending.
00:16:48.437 --> 00:16:49.938
And it has to be proportional.
00:16:50.558 --> 00:16:52.720
And every veteran I talked to loved that
00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.360
idea, be they Democrat, Republican,
00:16:54.380 --> 00:16:54.841
or independent.
00:16:54.860 --> 00:16:56.922
That was a pragmatic solution to this
00:16:56.961 --> 00:16:58.523
constant underfunding of the needs of
00:16:58.543 --> 00:17:01.583
veterans whom we chew up and spit out,
00:17:02.445 --> 00:17:04.546
be it through the way we treat people
00:17:04.566 --> 00:17:05.306
with PTSD,
00:17:05.326 --> 00:17:08.548
the way we treat people who have mental
00:17:08.587 --> 00:17:10.288
health issues, addiction issues,
00:17:10.949 --> 00:17:12.028
domestic violence issues,
00:17:12.528 --> 00:17:13.990
and the list goes on and on, right?
00:17:14.269 --> 00:17:17.852
So I ran not because I wanted to
00:17:17.912 --> 00:17:20.012
be a cog in the Democratic machine.
00:17:20.911 --> 00:17:23.271
And the problem that I came into was
00:17:23.291 --> 00:17:25.272
that the machine was only interested in
00:17:25.333 --> 00:17:27.452
candidates that they were certain would be
00:17:27.492 --> 00:17:30.173
cogs in the machine.
00:17:30.354 --> 00:17:32.994
And so I'm incredibly excited about
00:17:33.035 --> 00:17:34.195
someone like Graham Plattner,
00:17:34.435 --> 00:17:36.537
like somebody like Mazora Mamdani.
00:17:36.596 --> 00:17:37.916
I'm not claiming I know everything about
00:17:37.957 --> 00:17:39.038
every candidate out there,
00:17:39.337 --> 00:17:41.317
but I am excited about candidates who
00:17:41.377 --> 00:17:42.538
stand aside and say,
00:17:42.818 --> 00:17:44.420
I'm not trying to be a cog in
00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:45.460
anybody's machine.
00:17:46.635 --> 00:17:46.855
Right.
00:17:47.516 --> 00:17:50.217
I am here to talk about the issues
00:17:50.336 --> 00:17:52.617
and the answers.
00:17:52.758 --> 00:17:55.478
And that's what I did when I ran.
00:17:55.698 --> 00:17:56.999
I mean, on environmental issue,
00:17:57.038 --> 00:17:59.519
I remember I was completely undermined by
00:17:59.578 --> 00:18:02.000
Big Sugar in Florida because I wanted the
00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.141
government to use eminent domain to take
00:18:05.461 --> 00:18:07.381
Big Sugar land for the purpose of
00:18:07.461 --> 00:18:09.362
Everglades restoration and preservation.
00:18:10.232 --> 00:18:12.674
There are great uses of eminent domain.
00:18:12.835 --> 00:18:13.796
My mom did that,
00:18:13.895 --> 00:18:15.616
and it was like one of the first
00:18:15.676 --> 00:18:18.078
local organizing victories I saw.
00:18:18.138 --> 00:18:19.079
It meant so much.
00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:22.761
She saved hundreds of acres of open space,
00:18:23.442 --> 00:18:24.903
marshland in Connecticut,
00:18:25.284 --> 00:18:27.385
and obviously there's a ton of that in
00:18:27.425 --> 00:18:27.865
Florida.
00:18:28.165 --> 00:18:30.008
That's a great example of one of the
00:18:30.048 --> 00:18:33.130
ways the system fights against certain
00:18:33.170 --> 00:18:33.750
candidates,
00:18:34.070 --> 00:18:37.272
those that are truly not financed by big
00:18:37.313 --> 00:18:38.193
corporations.
00:18:39.193 --> 00:18:40.876
Um, and, and,
00:18:41.017 --> 00:18:45.342
and so then obviously as someone saying I
00:18:45.382 --> 00:18:46.103
didn't win,
00:18:47.005 --> 00:18:49.086
you can always learn from your mistakes.
00:18:49.126 --> 00:18:50.128
So were there any,
00:18:50.469 --> 00:18:52.050
is there anything you can look at?
00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:53.031
Yeah.
00:18:53.132 --> 00:18:54.374
What would you do differently?
00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:55.029
I mean,
00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:56.770
the first thing you have to understand
00:18:56.810 --> 00:18:59.392
about running for office is that no matter
00:18:59.412 --> 00:19:00.232
how much you think you know,
00:19:00.292 --> 00:19:01.532
you truly do not know.
00:19:01.733 --> 00:19:03.094
The thing that I thought I knew was
00:19:03.153 --> 00:19:04.394
policy, which I did.
00:19:04.615 --> 00:19:05.915
The thing that I did not know was
00:19:05.976 --> 00:19:07.155
politics, right?
00:19:07.336 --> 00:19:09.176
Because there is an end game that is
00:19:09.237 --> 00:19:09.718
played.
00:19:09.837 --> 00:19:10.998
It's a patronage game.
00:19:11.357 --> 00:19:13.640
And I didn't understand the patronage
00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:13.940
game.
00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.601
I didn't understand who's toes out.
00:19:16.941 --> 00:19:19.982
I offended black female elected officials
00:19:20.042 --> 00:19:22.703
in Florida because I ran for Senate and
00:19:22.804 --> 00:19:25.365
they believed that they were going to be
00:19:25.404 --> 00:19:26.885
the first black woman to run for Senate.
00:19:27.586 --> 00:19:28.386
Twenty years from now.
00:19:29.527 --> 00:19:31.087
They were offended that they thought I
00:19:31.127 --> 00:19:31.887
jumped the line.
00:19:32.348 --> 00:19:33.449
I didn't jump the line.
00:19:33.669 --> 00:19:34.930
There was nobody in line.
00:19:35.605 --> 00:19:36.266
That sucks.
00:19:36.547 --> 00:19:38.667
Right?
00:19:38.807 --> 00:19:42.530
I could literally write volumes on things
00:19:42.931 --> 00:19:44.432
that I learned and things that I did
00:19:44.491 --> 00:19:45.732
wrong.
00:19:45.772 --> 00:19:46.854
Pam, we're going to do that.
00:19:46.913 --> 00:19:48.173
We're going to take it offline.
00:19:48.233 --> 00:19:51.376
So when you guys watch this, stay tuned.
00:19:51.436 --> 00:19:52.156
It's possible.
00:19:52.277 --> 00:19:53.377
I'm very convincing.
00:19:55.443 --> 00:19:56.065
All right.
00:19:56.085 --> 00:19:58.666
So, Pam, I kept you for twenty minutes.
00:19:58.707 --> 00:20:00.909
It seems to be like a good amount
00:20:00.949 --> 00:20:01.348
of time.
00:20:01.388 --> 00:20:03.951
That's where we seem to be ending each
00:20:03.990 --> 00:20:04.711
of our shows.
00:20:04.771 --> 00:20:07.233
So thank you so much for coming on.
00:20:07.273 --> 00:20:09.096
This was as great as I thought it
00:20:09.115 --> 00:20:09.516
would be.
00:20:09.536 --> 00:20:12.798
Do you have any closing statements for the
00:20:12.818 --> 00:20:14.099
global warning audience?
00:20:15.094 --> 00:20:15.994
I mean,
00:20:16.035 --> 00:20:18.817
the world is aflame in so many different
00:20:18.837 --> 00:20:19.317
ways.
00:20:19.939 --> 00:20:22.461
The one thing we cannot afford is to
00:20:23.082 --> 00:20:25.085
check out and to believe that it is
00:20:25.144 --> 00:20:28.087
impossible to sort it back out.
00:20:28.147 --> 00:20:29.528
So, you know,
00:20:29.608 --> 00:20:31.791
every ray of hope should be cling to
00:20:31.832 --> 00:20:34.413
with all of our strength.
00:20:34.453 --> 00:20:36.457
And Mamdani to me is a ray of
00:20:36.497 --> 00:20:36.696
hope.
00:20:37.708 --> 00:20:38.107
Perfect.
00:20:38.189 --> 00:20:38.628
Thank you.
00:20:38.648 --> 00:20:40.270
That was a great close.
00:20:40.631 --> 00:20:42.333
Everybody, thank you for watching.
00:20:42.373 --> 00:20:45.336
Don't forget to like and subscribe and all
00:20:45.375 --> 00:20:46.196
of that stuff.
00:20:46.836 --> 00:20:47.958
I'll be back in a week.
00:20:48.439 --> 00:20:51.642
And make sure to follow Pam wherever she
00:20:51.801 --> 00:20:52.143
is.
00:20:52.442 --> 00:20:54.084
It's a simple Google search away.
00:20:54.644 --> 00:20:57.948
I'm on Blue Sky at Pam Keith DC.
00:20:57.988 --> 00:20:58.429
Perfect.
00:21:04.647 --> 00:21:07.432
War is immoral, poverty is immoral,
00:21:07.711 --> 00:21:09.013
racism is immoral,
00:21:09.253 --> 00:21:10.977
police brutality is immoral,
00:21:11.196 --> 00:21:12.318
oppression is immoral,
00:21:12.558 --> 00:21:13.740
genocide is immoral,
00:21:13.961 --> 00:21:15.262
imperialism is immoral.
00:21:15.583 --> 00:21:17.806
This country represents all those things.