What do abortion rights have to do with mass killings? Aside from the dehumanizing treatment of the 'other', quite a few things actually. In this episode, Don, Chuck, and Christina parse through the shooting in Michigan and subsequently the supreme court abortion rights trial. How are they connected? Listen and find out in this last episode ever of But Really.. podcast as we transition over to a new format and brand!

Don, Chuck, and Christine discuss Ahmaud Arbery's murder and the verdict for Charlottesville. Rember when a pedestrian was run down by a car while trying to protest against white supremacists? We do. And so do the court system.

Chuck, Christine, Don discuss the Rittenhouse case.

Infrastructure and Spending

As the infrastructure bill moves forward through Congress, the Republicans are still dead set against it. The largest infrastructure spending plan in modern history has been a political football, and most Republicans from MTG to Mitt Romney are against it, arguing that it's spending too much money. Republicans had no problem spending the same amount of money on tax breaks for the wealthy though.

Supply Chain

Things are getting more expensive, and that's a fact. Combined pressures are making prices on standard goods shoot up. But is there some sort of conspiracy behind it all? No. Just supply chains and economics. But we do discuss various perspectives on supply chains and the deeper impact of COVID on our society as a whole, including inflationary pressures and FED intervention.

Trump Social Network

Eventually, the Trump Social Network will stand up. When it does, another brick goes into the wall that the religious right is building as they wall off their members from the rest of society. They even call posts "truths" in a full-on assault on the very nature of truth itself. This isn't hyperbole. When we talk about truths from now on, anything posted can be called a truth, and the already murky discussion about what truth is or isn't becomes murkier. The seemingly tiny act of overloading a word like 'truth' is dangerous, especially when it means that the 'truth' can be anything.

Donor States

New Jersey's GDP is the same size as South Korea. Yes, that New Jersey. And there are many, many other states that have massive GDPs. These states are most often more liberal and are also contributing to the Federal Government more than the receive. That means that other states, predominantly red states and you can probably guess which, are getting by on the graces of what are known as donor states. So if you're looking forward to the GOP succession from the United States, what you'll end up with is a new nation with no money and no prospects. Also, under the GOP, no welfare, no minimum wage, no social security, and the list goes on and on. Be very, very careful what you wish for.

Equivocation

All political parties are the same. Teach both sides of the holocaust. We made people's lives better when we stole them from Africa and made them slaves. Biden is as bad as Trump. What do all of these have in common? The common thread that ties all of this together is equivocation. Along with the 'both sides' of the holocaust thing that happened in Texas (it's a real thing), there's an onslaught on the truth that would make Ray Bradbury squeamish. The solution? Simple. Dig a little more deeply. That's all there is to it. Usually, there's a difference. If you abstract away anything for long enough, eventually all things seem identical.

Evil Abortion Laws

In the first segment, Don and Chuck discuss the current state of abortion laws in Texas. Did you know that the governor of Texas said that abortion was now outlawed in Texas? Yes, he said that. The intent of the laws is clearly contradictory to Roe v. Wade. The supreme court at the time of this recording had just refused to block the abortion ban. For those women who are pregnant now, the clock is already ticking on whether they can get the treatment they need. Tick. Tock.

Where's the Money

The federal government, now that the Democrats are in power, is trying to help people. But why is it so hard to get help to where help needs to be?

Let's assume that I have a thousand dollars to give to you to help you out with your house payment (I don't). But...I also suspect that you will use the money for something other than what I gave it to you for, or that you might be playing up your need and you don't really *need* the money. So, to figure that out, I put together a list of documents and procedures that will 'vet' you. One of those documents is a document that only your landlord (i.e. the person who you haven't been paying your rent because, you know, food) can provide. Add to that a booming rent market, where homes are still being rented as a premium.

Now you have a perverse incentive. The landlord would make more money if they evict you, because it's easier to raise the rent that way. So why would the landlord want to provide that last document? In many cases, they don't. Already bitter about the rent you haven't paid, and questioning whether there's uncertainty in their future, they just might be better off in the long run without you anyway. After all, it's not like anyone knows when the pandemic will be over and your service-industry job will be reliable again.

Living Wage

Some people aren't ever going to be software engineers, and that's okay. Some folks won't be chefs, and that's okay too. Does that mean that they should have to work multiple jobs to support their families? Don and Chuck don't think so, and we break down the jobs and walk through our thought processes. Two different perspectives, same conclusion: people need to be able to live on what they get paid.

Religious Indoctrination

Christina, Chuck, and Don share one common thread (aside from the Marine Corps). That is we were all raised immersed in religion, and taught that our fundamental, number one, priority above all others is to believe in Jesus Christ (etc). We all turned from religion for different superficial reasons, but it comes to the same underlying cause: we refuse to hand off our agency to someone else. Breaking from the church, yet having been so schooled within it, gives us a unique and troubling perspective. 

Religion has been co-opted in this nation and is used to defend bad policy choices. Let me say that one more time. Religion is actively being used to subvert, manipulate, and harm constituents and citizens of this nation. Just like the "right to work act" should really be called the "right to get fired act", several of the laws today proffered in defense of religious freedom are exactly designed to impose religious doctrine instead. In the same way, you might consider, that laws claiming to shore up our democracy are being used to deter people from participating.

The future is bleak in our current circumstance. It's time to get active, and tune in to what's going on. Polite conversation can be had, but only with people who are actually capable of listening.

Groupthink or Solidarity

There's another key problem. One of our political parties is too keenly aware of what it takes to maintain power. This group always walks in lock-step, regardless of the outcome. In fact, the religious right is currently preventing from the largest infrastructure bill in the United States from being passed - a bill that will help millions and millions of Americans. All we ever seem to see in the news lately is about Democratic in-fighting. Let's not forget why the Democrats have to struggle so hard. It's because one party, in their zeal to maintain power, continually obstruct.

If the infrastructure bill doesn't pass, it's not because of the Democracts. This bi-partisan bill should easily have support on both sides of the aisle. The fact that there are no Republicans willing to play ball should tell you all you need to know. Party before nation, in other words, as the right-wing of this nation drive us into the ground and sell us lies and outrage.

Don't be confused about where the blame rests if the bill doesn't pass. That's all we're saying.

Don and Chuck discuss the abortion bill in Texas and the governor's upcoming battle. Will it pay to be Trump's lapdog? Also, just because the Republican's are obstructing, as everyone expected them to, doesn't let them off the hook. Don and Chuck talk about the narrative over the infrastructure bill and explain that there's plenty of blame to go around. In fact, if anyone is responsible for the bill's taking so long to pass, is it the party who the majority supports the bill? Or is the party of whom almost no representatives support it? Don't let the narrative be about the Democrats. There's only one party obstructing this bill, and it's not the Dems. Love it or hate it, most dems are on board. Do you know who's completely abdicating their responsibility though?

This week, Christina, Don, and Chuck talk about mental health in America. Kind of tangentially related are the east coast floods, but we get into that too. Global warming will likely be an aspect to every episode from here on in because we're all impacted by it. But what's up, America? Why are you afraid of talking about your feelings? Find out on this episode of But Really... podcast!

Don and Chuck discuss what the right has in motion, and how toxic ideas spread through Texas after Abbot's new abortion laws.