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I hope that's understood one minute more.
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Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Kyle.
Yo.
Out on Skyline, we have Rob T. Firefly.
Evening.
Well, Gila's not with you.
Gila is off mic.
She is here, but she is due to that.
She is not joining us on mic tonight.
Oh, great.
Great timing.
Wonderful.
Okay.
And over somewhere is Alex.
Alex, are you with us?
Yes.
Good morning.
Good morning from Bangkok.
I literally just arrived here.
But, yeah.
Got the results and just left the country.
Well, actually, you left the country about 9 o'clock last night, I think.
Yeah, that's right.
I got the results while I was en route to Doha when I connected flight to Bangkok.
And that looks like you're on some kind of a train or something.
I was on a train.
Now I'm heading over to immigration in Bangkok.
So, yeah.
She's not perfectly timed for the show.
But here I am and things actually seem to be working.
So, that's a plus.
Well, yeah.
Your audio, as usual, is crap.
But maybe we can work on that after you get through customs.
Or maybe we'll go through customs with you.
But.
You can do that.
Yeah.
But if you could mute yourself, though, for the background noise.
Well, we just basically.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, tonight, it's going to be one of those shows that sounds a bit discombobulated.
Because, frankly, none of us really are in the mood.
And we didn't really put together anything to talk about other than stream of consciousness.
And there's a lot of that.
I know there's a lot of hurt going on right now amongst the listenership throughout the city.
I don't know why we always have to do the shows after Election Day on Wednesday.
But that seems to be our lot in life.
And here we are again.
We talked about this last week.
About how we did the show after 2016.
And after 2020.
Sometimes.
Not too often.
But sometimes it goes well.
Most of the time it seems to go bad.
And.
Well, we got another bad one.
And this one hurts.
This one hurts a lot.
Because.
There is just.
There is just so little to be able to process and understand.
You know, 2016 was an anomaly.
At least that's what we thought at the time.
Trump lost by a huge amount in the popular vote.
And.
Had the feeling that people didn't really know what they were getting themselves into.
Well, there's not that excuse this time.
Everybody knows.
Everybody saw.
Everybody experienced.
And yet.
They came back and picked him.
Over the.
Person of color.
Over the woman.
Over.
The candidate that didn't look like the rest.
And yeah.
I'm going there because I think.
That had a lot to do with it.
I've heard a lot of comments from people.
Who voted the other way.
Saying they're.
Just not ready for a woman.
Or they just don't.
Like the way she carries herself.
Or other ignorant remarks like that.
So.
Yeah.
I think that had a lot to do with it.
I think.
Their campaign certainly was.
Was run about as well as a campaign could have been run.
With the parameters that we had.
With getting into the race so late in the game.
With a difficult world situation.
With a difficult economic situation.
I don't think it could have been handled better.
Doesn't mean there couldn't have been better campaigns.
I'm saying with what.
She was handed at that late period.
I don't think there was much more.
That could have been done.
So.
I'm not about to point fingers and say.
Yeah.
She brought it on herself.
Or she didn't earn the right.
For people to vote.
No.
If there's anyone to blame.
It's us.
It's the.
The people of this country.
Because the people of this country.
Have embraced fascism.
And there's no other way to say that.
And.
And some of these people.
Know better.
They know so much better.
Oh my God.
The things that.
If you either didn't vote.
Or protest voted.
Or voted for him.
The things you have brought on.
Are going to hurt you.
So much.
I can't even begin.
To wrap my head around this.
It's going to take time.
But listen to his own words.
Listen to the things that he has promised.
The mass deportations.
The crushing of Palestine.
The end of support.
For Ukraine.
Now okay.
Maybe these are just things.
Said in a fever dream.
That he's going to forget.
And he's going to do something completely different.
He's.
So unpredictable and irrational.
That's certainly possible.
And yeah.
Let's cling to that hope.
But that doesn't take away the fact.
That so many people.
More people this time.
Voted for him.
Than for something different.
I'd like to read you something.
And everyone.
You all get a chance to weigh in here.
And you know.
At the end.
I hope this is a positive show.
Believe it or not.
Because.
While it's.
It's normal to feel.
Feel despair.
And.
And frustration.
We can't live our lives that way.
We can't.
And there are.
Things we need to do.
Things we need to improve on.
This is from some.
Some Twitter user.
I'm sorry.
That sounds.
Dismissive the way I said it.
Yeah.
Some Twitter user named Tom Santos.
I'm not sure how I found this.
But there it was on my screen.
So.
When Trump fires all nonpartisan career professionals in government.
Replaces them with radical loyalists.
Within every nook and cranny of the U.S. government.
And.
Adds.
Radical.
Judges everywhere.
And every one of you that voted for him.
Finally.
Wakes up from your effed up fantasy.
Just like the folks.
That woke up after four years of the last S show.
Only to realize it's much much worse.
And much more permanent this time.
When the cancer you caused.
Has infected every bit of the American system.
And it can't be unwound for a lifetime.
What then?
Do you beg this country for forgiveness?
For choosing fascism?
Because you were conned into believing your eggs are too expensive because of Joe Biden?
You just put Steve Bannon in charge of American policy.
You just put Michael Flynn in charge of our military.
You just put Alex Jones in charge of media and propaganda.
You just put Stephen Miller in charge of immigration policy.
You just put bat-ass crazy RFK Jr. in charge of health policy.
You just killed free public education and privatized schools.
Which you will have to pay for.
You just sealed the deal on a national abortion ban because you're demented if you think it's not coming.
You just radicalized the Supreme Court for a generation.
You just made women less safe and less free.
You just made this country an oligarchy with the billionaires quite literally in charge now.
You just put in office the one person that believes a president is a king.
With the effing Supreme Court ruling to prove it in his back pocket.
You just ushered in fascism.
Because your cereal costs more.
Congratulations.
Thank you Tom Santos, whoever you are.
I think that was a brilliant post on what was Twitter.
Alex, I'm going to go to you right now.
See if you have gotten through customs or if you're in a quieter place.
I've gotten through customs.
Which was a no video, no audio zone.
So I had to duck out.
But I got the tenor of what you were saying.
And now I'm over at baggage claim in the airport.
I'm going to look for a more quiet place.
Maybe an arrival lounge or something like that would be great.
And then I'll join you for the rest of the show.
Hopefully you can hear me decently.
Yeah, I think maybe if you hold the mic closer to you, it might be a little bit better.
But do that when you get to a quiet place.
Rob, I'm going to check in with you and see how you're doing.
Oh, I'm maintaining.
We both are here.
Yeah, Gila let me know of a meme she saw earlier today that said, frankly, a lot of you are in the wrong tax bracket to be celebrating.
And I think that that says a lot right there.
I remember the last time we did this, when we had our election, our post-election show in 2016.
We were all in the studio then.
We had all commuted and, you know, taken public transit and everything else to get to the studio in Brooklyn.
And before the show, we were all just kind of looking at each other like, OK, here we go.
And in the studio, we were relating stories.
And you can go back in our archives and look for this episode.
But we all reported having been in a city that I think was a bit shocked and grim.
And just the strangers we saw on the street, the people we saw around, there was palpable fear in the air.
And today I worked from home.
I didn't I haven't actually left the apartment today, but I felt it still.
And as much as I was able to poke my head into social media for brief moments today, I felt it.
In chats with my colleagues and people at my workplace, I I felt it.
You know, people's throats are just catching a little bit.
People. People are worried, even in environments where we don't generally talk about this stuff.
Gila texts me to to relate that.
She says that was absolutely the case today.
It was grim out there in the world.
And, yeah, I it is it is rough and it is worrying and it is scary to be going through all this again.
Now, with the full knowledge of what happened last time.
Yeah, I wonder of the people who did vote for him this time, how many are devout followers of him?
How many just thought that?
However, however, naive we need to change gears and go in a different direction and maybe didn't even remember or have any knowledge of what happened the last time he was in power.
Or, you know, it doesn't give me much, much optimism if people can be that easily led astray.
But it makes me wonder, you see, the thing is, and this is something we noted eight years ago as well.
Everything that happens from this point or from January.
It's going to be on them.
It's going to be on mega.
It's going to be on those people, everything.
And as I recall, the first time we went through this, they were never happy.
They were always angry.
They were always tearing into each other and basically screwing up everything they touched.
Let's make sure they experience that again.
Let's make sure every day is a living hell for them.
Let's make sure that every misstep, every cloud in the sky, they take full responsibility for.
Because that's what they did to the other side.
And it's time for them to start living that hell.
And I'll be happy to deliver it.
With all due respect.
Yes, Rob, go ahead.
And I think another segment of the population, apart from MAGA, who also bears an amount of responsibility for this current state of events, are all the people, many very intelligent people that I know and that I communicate with.
Who were of the mind that, yeah, I don't like Trump, but, you know, I'm not so sure about Harris.
And I'm not so sure because of this single issue or that single issue or just stuff in general or I'd like to throw up a protest vote.
I think nobody from that camp has anything to say to me today.
And I know many of those folks are listeners to this station.
And I'm going to go ahead and say this is in your lap as well.
Well, you know, I don't remember, but eight years ago, I also called Jill Stein an idiot.
I'd like to amend that to say she is a colossal idiot now.
She's done some work.
She earned the title.
But I don't think the protest votes for her were significant enough to have made a difference in this particular case.
You can say there might have been some protest votes for the conditions in the Middle East and Michigan and Wisconsin, but not so much in Pennsylvania.
And she also lost Pennsylvania.
And that pretty much was the deciding moment.
And so while it was naive and ultimately self-defeating to vote against somebody who supported the two-state solution, that vote didn't really matter.
It didn't really decide the election.
It could have.
And yeah, those people should be ashamed of themselves for believing that this is something you can play that kind of a game with.
But, you know, what happens next, don't be surprised because everybody was warned.
He warned us.
He told us.
All of his people did.
So if you did have that protest vote, that's what I'm going to think about.
If you didn't vote, guess what?
You did.
You did.
Alex, are you in a better place?
Are you raising your hand?
So let's see how you sound now.
Well, I'm probably not in a better place, but hopefully you can hear me a little bit better.
But just on the subject of the warning and the memories going back, as Robin mentioned, to 2016, I mean, God, it really does feel so eerily familiar, that gut punch.
I had such high hopes for the trouble of candidacy.
I was always, in a sense, somewhat doubtful that anybody could have taken out Trump this particular term, especially after what had happened with the assassination attempt and whatnot and the king of public support there.
And I remember back to 2016 when I stayed out until about 4 o'clock in the morning that day at my local wine place.
We were no televisions there.
We were just watching everything roll in.
And then on the streets of New York throughout, basically anywhere you look, were people hugging each other, crying, not knowing what was happening, not knowing what was happening, not knowing what was happening to the poll.
And now we do know that.
We experienced it for four years.
And yet, for some reason, a majority of the popular vote, not even just the electoral college, but the majority of the popular vote has chosen Trump again.
And shortly after Trump came to power in January of 2017, that was when Kellyanne Conway made that famous alternative facts candidate that sounded very Orwellian.
And that was at the time that I wrote my first article for CNN about the Trump administration, comparing the lessons that we learned from the novel 1984, novel with which I think all of us and many of our listeners will be intimately familiar.
And we looked at the first 100 days of the Trump administration in that particular article, and it was great to be able to draw these parallels out.
But what had happened four years after that was really incredible.
And I want to read one quote from that that was actually – this is from 1984 itself.
And this is what Winston Smith was actually warned.
And this is from Orwell.
This is the quote.
Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.
That's what we voted for.
This is what he has promised.
All of those things, Emmanuel, that you have just detailed.
I think, while I was going through customs about the mass deportation, the destruction of our institutions, the weaponization of the Justice Department against political enemies, all of this is presumably what we chose.
And I'm so sad by this.
So sad.
You know, I think there are so many Orwell quotes to go around that we can share on this particular day.
Alex, I'm going to suggest something because – no offense, but you sound like crap.
I think it's Skype's fault, not yours.
How about if we just call you on your cell phone and you talk into a cell phone, like somebody from the 1990s?
You want to try that?
Yeah, we could try that.
Because we have a phone option here, and what we're going to do is call you regular telephone there in Thailand, and you might as well disconnect from – can he stay connected to Skype?
No, he's using his phone, right?
So, yeah, we're calling you right now, so probably shouldn't be on Skype at the same time.
And we're going to bring up the phone because we have a phone channel as well.
And nothing's happening.
Okay, Kyle's going to keep working on that.
We got a letter from a listener.
Actually, we've gotten a few letters, but this one in particular kind of sums it up.
Oh, God, America, what have you done?
Thank you.
Thank you, Stu, from Cambridge in the UK.
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know what we've done.
I really don't.
I can't say I'm that surprised.
Yes, Rob, go ahead.
The world is reacting, too.
A very good friend of mine is a teacher, an English teacher in Japan.
This person's American, but is working in Japan.
And that person reports that so many people today are asking them, are you sure you want to go back?
Well, you know, I have some thoughts on that, but let's see if we got Alex on the phone.
Are you there, Alex?
I am here.
Is this any better?
Isn't that much better, folks?
Doesn't that sound much better than Skype?
I don't care.
Why do we use Skype?
Do it.
Skype sucks.
Use the damn telephone.
Okay, go ahead, Alex.
We can't see you, but we can hear you.
Okay, yeah.
I mean, did you hear what I was saying before with the quote from 1984?
I'm presuming you did.
Yeah, but you know what?
Read the quote again, because it's such a good quote.
It deserves to be heard clearly.
Sure.
I mean, this is a warning that was given to Winston Smith about the future in 1984.
And I think that, you know, the parallel here is that in 2016, we didn't know what to expect.
In 2024, we do know what to expect.
And Trump set out that very detailed list of promises that you had set forth, the mass
deportation, the weaponization of the Justice Department against its political enemies.
I mean, it's just, it's really kind of incredible.
But the quote is, and this is the forecasting of the future, quote, always, at every moment,
there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a group stamping on a human face forever.
That was the quote.
And this is what we were promised, I think, in more work.
But it would send me that this is what we've chosen.
Yeah, yeah.
It certainly resonates.
But, hang on, I'm dealing with a situation in the studio.
Okay.
Yeah, you know, I wish we could take phone calls.
We can take phone calls.
But we can, you know, we're going to be on overtime, 8 o'clock, at our YouTube page, which is channel 2600.
You'll, you'll, you'll, you'll see the link there.
And, um, if you want to call up and say something on this, on this rather, um, weird day.
And it's, this one feels worse than, than 2016, because, um, well, I guess 2016, we drove into the studio.
So that was, uh, kind of took our mind off of things.
But here, just kind of moping around and hearing other people's thoughts, opinions, and, um, um, trying to figure it all out and trying to figure out what comes next.
I'm just tired of the whole thing.
And I, I get that.
I get how people can just be completely worn out from constantly fighting and seemingly constantly losing.
You know, it, it, it really, it really does affect you.
And I think, you know, the, the one thing we need to remember is that's exactly what the other side wants you to do.
Go ahead, Rob.
I think the one big difference between this and 2016 is that this happened now with the full knowledge of what happened from 2016 through 2020.
You know, even in 2016, you could maybe, if you were feeling generous, attribute it to people didn't know how bad it was going to be.
It was just this crazy thing with this reality TV star, um, throwing in a nutty, uh, campaign for president and it panned out.
But these, what we're dealing with now is the return of that plus, you know, he's coming back and doing it on, uh, you know, new game plus mode.
He is, he has told us in clear and concise terms what it is he's planning to do.
And so has everyone in his, uh, entourage.
And indeed, and I think it's, it's, um, sort of, uh, an unrecognizable country to some people at this moment.
And that, that was my reaction.
Like, I don't, I don't recognize this, but, um, yeah, right.
Catch me blaming myself for it.
I mean, that's got me in stitches.
Like if I'm laughing at all, um, you know, I, as much, as much as I'm like, no, thank you.
Like, thanks for nothing to, uh, those I might disagree with and whatever's going on in the future.
Um, I'm not going to lose any, any kind of sleep over it.
And, uh, I, I think where I differ is that it's in that exhaustion or just like, like feelings like you're fighting only to stave off regressive prop, like behaviors and policy packages or platforms.
So you're kind of out of time at a certain point and you realize, wow, this fighting, this process is, it has, um, really just been, uh, uh, hope or like an idea.
And, uh, uh, uh, looked to the better angels and, and intentions, um, when you're rebuffed and it's, you, you just are not the same.
Um, uh, I think it, it is, um, a time to just basically think in practical terms.
So my main question is like, what are, what are people going to do practically?
Like, um, are you stocking up on things that are going to be subject to tariff?
You know, what's going to happen in practical terms?
So if people are, are thinking about their future, you know, and how they're going to handle this, you know, are you making a sign to go stand somewhere?
Are you, um, getting more involved?
Are you buying like into this being a much longer campaign than it having been known?
Oh, good God.
Longer?
No way.
Campaign.
Yeah.
I think that's, uh, it's something I'm weirdly comfortable with.
Cause I, when I started getting involved, like there was a lot of L's in the beginning before anything even sort of moved.
And then it was still sort of totally, uh, sabotaged.
And that, that sabotage thing is just sort of like a regular, um, part of how we operate domestically and, and beyond.
And this, um, well, I think, see more of it in like ever more chaotic ways because people have been wrong.
Like they're like, they're doing and saying as much as they can, but they're not actually, um, they're not actually able to affect it.
It is, um, binding and like, I don't know if, if you're held hostage for so long to a process, you're going to look at another process or another, another, um, way of doing things.
And I think, you know, standing for things and telling people things may not be as effective.
Like what that's as introspective as I'd get, but I'm not blaming or like looking to, um, people's moral compass or their, what they've felt was right as, um, worthy of critique in this moment.
I think it's just, uh, a, um, uh, uh, concept or an idea that has taken hold and we're going to be bearing witness to it.
And I think the tools and the, the ways we define defending what ideals, uh, were in mind before this will be, um, will define the outcome, you know, define how much of this is even slightly recognizable as a, as institutions.
And as a country or culture goes, well, you touched on some really important points there.
I think, you know, the thing we have to say to ourselves, like you did, uh, was that you did enough.
You did what you were supposed to do.
You, you got out there, you voted.
And I don't mean that just this time.
I mean, in my entire voting history and I've looked at it, it's, it's fascinating to see that.
And every time, I mean, I'm open to being wrong.
I guess, I guess I was voting for the wrong things.
And so I think now my attitude is like, well, okay.
So indeed prove me wrong.
Show me how great it will be.
Yeah.
You know what?
Maybe we are wrong.
Let's, let's, let's just put that on the table.
Maybe we are wrong about all of this and maybe it'll be a cakewalk in 2025.
But, uh, I just, I didn't get that, uh, scenario, uh, listening to Trump in his own words.
Um, he was basically saying he was going to send military into, uh, cities, uh, to, uh, to combat crime.
He was going to have, what was it, uh, a, a day of, uh, or an hour of utter bloodshed so, uh, that criminals could be, uh, eliminated or, or some, some sick thing like that.
Uh, he basically referred to the people that didn't support him as enemies of the people.
Um, whereas Harris had always said that she was going to be everybody's president.
She would listen to everybody, especially those knuckleheads.
Yes.
I'm using a Midwestern term that would kept interrupting her speeches, never interrupting Trump's speeches.
Why is that?
Why didn't you ever have the courage to go to Trump's speeches and disrupt those when he is the culprit?
He is the, the, the, the person who basically lit the match in the Middle East and he's going to light more.
And I, I, I could go on for an hour about this.
It's just, I I've noticed this from his first reign too, that people were just loath to actually confront him, but no problem confronting the people who are much closer to where you stood.
And I think that's a problem that we have always had on the left is that, um, we're great at, at fighting amongst each other, but not so great at fighting the true enemy.
And, um, I do believe he is the true enemy as he believes that everybody who opposes him is a true enemy.
Well, how is he going to treat those people?
You know, what do we have to look forward to now?
Um, okay.
So like I said, maybe we're wrong.
Maybe, uh, the economy will suddenly improve.
Hey, look what happened today.
The Dow Jones skyrocketed.
Uh, Elon Musk, he's worth, um, uh, what is it?
Um, um, um, hundred, uh, 15 billion more today than he was yesterday.
Yeah, but he, they have not a whole not finished.
Trump stock went way up.
Bitcoin is up.
I mean, middle-class America.
You feeling that, huh?
You see how that's benefiting you?
It's not benefiting you one iota, but that's what you voted for.
And that's what you have to look forward to.
Massive profits for them.
Big smiles on their faces.
You're not going to get crap.
You know, right now, gas prices.
You might think they're expensive, but they're cheap compared to Canada, compared to the UK,
compared to Germany, compared to Japan, compared to almost everywhere else on the damn planet.
But no, you got to complain and say 239.
That's too much.
When you go back 10 years and realize, wow, it costs the same then too.
Groceries.
Yeah.
Grocery prices go up.
They've done that all around the world.
And I don't think Joe Biden was responsible for that.
It's called inflation.
It's called how the world works sometimes, and it's a global issue.
But you think Trump can fix it?
Well, let's see what he does.
Let's see how he fixes it.
We're going to check back in throughout his reign, as long as we're allowed to speak openly.
And we'll just see how much your life is actually improving.
Because you seem to have forgotten what happened in 2016, you know, through 2020.
Because people were not skipping and dancing then.
There were all kinds of economic problems, all kinds of unrest, all kinds of horrible things going on.
And now we get the sequel.
I'm sorry, Kyle.
I interrupted you.
Go ahead.
Yeah, I get where you're coming from.
And those stock prices, I mean, yeah, it makes sense.
They're going up.
But when the policies that are enacted actually hit the road and we start – and things look shaky, all that will crash.
Like it will become desirable because the people that – and it will be like right after their tax breaks kick in, you know.
And so the interim, right, we've got to pump it all up because –
Their tax breaks.
Not your tax breaks.
Their tax breaks.
Right.
Well, exactly.
You're not going to get anything out of this.
But I don't put a lot of anything into stable – like the stock market being more stable at some kind of bubble price.
That's just foolish.
I mean, if you grew up around some of the tech booms, like that's – that can change immediately.
And I'm not as keen on how that's going to go.
I don't know.
I think it's a lot more precarious because if something is – a decision is made out of like bravado or people's – without question, then the side effects of that could mess with things beyond the scope of some attitude, some gut feeling that Trump has.
Have you even gotten into climate change or health care or infrastructure, all these things that are going to suffer?
He's going to put somebody in charge of the Board of Education that doesn't believe in the Board of Education.
He's going to put somebody in charge of health that doesn't believe in vaccines.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, it's – we just need, you know, a good clear route to Canada to go for an occasional sanity boost.
Go ahead, Rob.
Talking of clear routes, though, I think it's very important to note what we can do, what we can continue to do.
And that is we can take care of one another.
We can work at the local level.
We can do what we can to protect those who are under direct threat in this administration.
Trans people, notably trans kids, are very much in the crosshairs right now.
Not – you know, neurodiverse people, people who need assistance in various ways, mutual aid, organize at the community level.
Find out where people are organizing near you.
If they aren't, start it yourself.
Do what you have to because taking care of one another at the community level to make up for massive failures in government is punk AF.
It is important.
It's something – it's among the most important things we can do right now.
Well said.
And, you know, this is a technology show for the most part, not very technology-oriented today.
But this does affect our community tremendously.
And there are so many trans people in our community that need our support, that are going through hell right now.
And the future is unwritten.
We need to help direct that future and protect those people.
And the list is huge.
The list is huge of people who will come under the crossfires of a new Trump regime.
And not just Trump, just all the ugly people that he brings with him, filled with hatred and given a whole lot of power.
Now, as far as what we can do – what does that noise mean exactly?
That means something disconnected?
It's an OS sound.
I'll change it.
Well, just eliminate it.
You don't have to change it.
But basically, what that means – all right, now I hear loud noise.
It should only be Alex.
What the hell is going on over there?
Okay, I'm turning that down.
I'm turning everything down so I can hear myself think.
All right.
So basically, I'm sorry for all the technical snafus, but we're kind of walking into walls today.
I'm sure many of you are as well.
What we can do is, as Rob said, help each other, support each other.
I don't want to point fingers.
You know, this election, again, is not the fault of any group of people other than the people that voted for Trump.
But unless you're one of those, do not feel guilty if you decided to have a protest vote or if you – even if you didn't show up, you know, at this point, there would have to be millions of you to make a difference.
It doesn't get us anywhere.
It really doesn't get us anywhere.
We need to support each other, we need to build coalitions, and we need to fight together.
But what I'd also like to suggest is that you use this, this sucker punch that we all got,
and be determined to turn that into something good, hard as that might even be to conceive of.
What I mean, though, is – and this might not come for a day or a week, maybe more, but we all got to do it.
Something that you would not have done ordinarily, something positive that you would not have done ordinarily,
whether that's joining some group of people that you happen to support and agree with,
something you wouldn't have done if Harris had won.
But now you feel compelled to do something, something for yourself.
Maybe you sit around the house a lot.
Well, walk a mile every day and tell yourself you wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for what happened last night.
If you love someone, love them twice as much.
Do more.
And always tell yourself, it's because of that that I'm doing more.
You'll feel better.
You'll feel better having done something positive.
But also you'll feel empowerment because that bad thing that happened pushed you
and made you do something else that you wouldn't have done ordinarily.
If we all do something like that, the strength we can gather, it's immeasurable.
And we need to get back on the positive road.
I know today is a wipeout.
Today is a lost day for many of us.
But Kamala Harris gave a very good speech today
where she spoke to her supporters
and told them not to give up.
Hear me when I say that the light of America's promise will always burn bright
as long as we never give up, as long as we keep fighting.
I want those words to resonate.
I want people to remember that.
And keep fighting.
All right.
Alex, are you out there?
Oh, Alex, I'm here.
Go ahead.
Alex, is there any way you can talk louder?
Yes, I can talk louder.
That's better.
Is this any better?
Yes, that's much better.
Let's keep it at that value.
All right.
Well, I'm in a taxi heading from the airport now into Bangkok proper.
So this guy's probably wondering what the hell I'm doing.
He doesn't speak English really at all.
So this will be interesting for him.
But anyway, I really hope that this resistance movement comes back,
that we see the stickers with the hashtag for resist.
Remember, we made so many of those back in 2016, Emanuel.
One of the things that gave me great hope was that where I live in the West Village,
I looked out across the street, and somebody on their balcony had put together a neon sign
on the top floor that anybody who looked up from the street would see that said resist on it.
And I think that that's what we need to do now.
And if I could think about your call to action here is to do something that you wouldn't have ordinarily done,
to be a part of something that is going to defend America's ideals from this type of threat.
I got an email earlier today from the president of Human Rights First.
I do work with Human Rights First on their technology advisory for the last four or five years now or so.
And as Sue Hendrickson had sent us,
and I think Human Rights First is a great organization of which should be a part because it promotes the very best of American ideals domestically and abroad,
and really fights for immigrants' rights and the rights of asylum seekers,
even having pushback against a lot of changes that the Biden administration made to try to appease the concentrates
and political bases that were at work in this particular election.
So Sue Hendrickson wrote,
Donald Trump has been clear about his belief that he can act with the community and his intention to disregard the rights of individuals.
Believe him.
On Human Rights First, we won't let abuses go unchallenged.
We fight to uphold democratic ideals and institutions, safeguard human rights and civil liberties for all,
resist efforts to weaponize governments and hold individuals and institutions accountable.
No one is above law.
And I think we should look to organizations like Human Rights First, ACOE, and others,
and try to strengthen them because this is what we're doing.
We need the reinforcements now.
If we wait too much longer, it will be too late.
Yeah, absolutely.
I also want to, in line with that, I'd like to read a statement from the LGBTQ community.
More than 70 LGBTQ plus advocacy organizations released a solidarity statement today.
Election outcomes at national, state, and local levels will impact our health, our safety, and our rights as LGBTQIA2S plus.
Yeah, there's a few more.
People and families, the statement read.
Despite anti-LGBTQIA2S plus efforts to divide our communities and particularly sever attacks against transgender people and LGBTQIA2S plus youth,
it's just, I can't say it fast, we have succeeded in moving a few steps closer toward equity and justice for our community.
The letter highlighted the re-election of lesbian U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and the election of the first transgender member of Congress, Representative Elect Sarah McBride of Delaware.
So there are good things there.
Don't want to just focus on the bad.
There are a lot of good things that came out of this election.
It's just the bad is really getting all the attention.
The statement did not mention President-elect Trump by name.
Again, folks, mention him by name.
Call him out on everything.
But he and other Republican candidates frequently employed anti-LGBTQ plus rhetoric in the campaign, particularly against transgender and non-binary people.
So we need more solidarity.
We need more statements like that.
We need more people coming together and showing their strength.
And, you know, something else.
I'm talking about doing something positive.
This place, the place we're talking to right now, WBAI, we had our fundraiser last week.
And as promised, it's over now.
But that's not going to stop me from saying that.
How about your good thing that you wouldn't have done ordinarily is to support WBAI so that we have a place like this for at least the next four years?
We're going to need it.
We are going to need a bastion of free speech where people are free to discuss these issues and challenge all that which is going to be flung at us.
It's something that we've learned many times over the decades since we went on the air in 1960, the importance of a radio station not beholden to corporations or billionaires or anything like that.
I mean, look what happened to the Washington Post.
They lost all respect because of a billionaire, because Jeff Bezos was afraid of offending Trump and among the first to congratulate him when he won.
Think about the shame involved in that, how you could work for the Washington Post at this stage.
I don't know.
It must be tough.
It must really be tough.
We don't do that kind of thing here.
We're non-commercial.
No sponsors.
No billionaires.
Just people like you supporting us.
So go to buddy.wbai.org or give to wbai.org.
Either one of those.
Very straightforward how to donate.
But that's how we stay on the air.
That's how we're able to do this week after week.
And we're only one program.
There are so many programs on the air here.
Some of them dealing a lot more directly with these issues.
All right, as we head into our last minute or so, this statement from Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who did not mince words in a scathing statement today.
It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party, which has abandoned working class people, would find that the working class has abandoned them.
First, it was the white working class.
Now it is Latino and black workers as well.
So, I respect Bernie a lot.
I listen to what he says.
And to some extent, I agree with this.
But it doesn't explain why they would think Trump would have their backs at all.
He has a track record.
He said so many horrible things.
How do you trust him?
I mean, the Democratic Party obviously has major problems and does need to do exactly what Bernie said.
But responsibility has to be laid at the feet of the people that went to him.
You got to own that.
Just like we own the defeat that we're experiencing right now, you got to own what your victory has cost us.
Yeah, stop talking to us like that.
I'm sorry.
I have no love for that.
Wait, who are you talking to, me or Bernie?
Bernie.
Oh, okay, I'm sorry.
Like, thanks for nothing.
All of you.
All right.
Well, that's not the kind of positive thought I'd like to end with.
Let's not point fingers at each other.
And that includes Bernie.
Not that he's on with us.
But if he's listening, now we have to heal.
Now we have to move forward and do better.
All right.
If you want to join us, if this kind of talk somehow leaves you wanting more,
we're on overtime at 8 o'clock on our YouTube channel.
Join us over there.
We'll take a few phone calls.
Probably not that many.
And you know what?
It's okay to feel angry.
It's okay to feel a bit better.
I know I do.
Write to us, OTH at 2600.com and unleash a bit if you need to.
We will hopefully see you again next week here on WBAI.
Please support the station.
We'll see you next week.
Good night.