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00:00:00
00:00:01
The Perspectives Pod: Episode 6
19 Plays2 months ago
Where Malcolm, Simone and Joseph discuss Chuck Schumer and the Congressional Democratic leadership's lack of resistance, Casey Anthony's recent social media resurgence, a long-time kidnapped person's readjustment to free life, and other current issues.
Show Notes:
Congressional Democrats and the CR Bill Passing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL6RJgODGoU
https://time.com/7268499/senate-democrats-budget-vote/
https://nlihc.org/resource/congress-passes-and-president-trump-signs-law-year-long-stopgap-funding-bill-underfunding
https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-statement-government-funding-bill-senate
Gavin Newsom's Podcast
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/gavin-newsom-podcast
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg-fFQbrQw7c-JVsZ25IX6eiJ2EYNZpAp
Waterbury, CT Imprisonment/Fire Case
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/biological-mother-connecticut-man-allegedly-held-captive-stepmom-decad-rcna196853
https://www.ctpost.com/waterbury/article/waterbury-man-captive-kimberly-sullivan-tessman-20231934.php
Josef Fritzl:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritzl_case
https://people.com/where-is-elisabeth-fritzl-now-11686985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc0TWOt382g
Casey Anthony's Social Media Return
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/casey-anthony-joins-tiktok-faces-backlash-for-rebranding-herself-as-legal-advocate/articleshow/118691652.cms?from=mdr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony
https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2014/2/26/casey_anthony_speaks
The Importance of Federal Bureaucracy
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-government-too-big-reflections-on-the-size-and-composition-of-todays-federal-government/
https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/pos2041lg/chapter/bureaucracy-and-the-evolution-of-public-administration/
https://www.ushistory.org/gov/8a.asp
Michael Lewis and Civil Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ETYFli2tI
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219551344-who-is-government
Statistics on Federal Workers
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/historical-tables/executive-branch-civilian-employment-since-1940/
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/07/what-the-data-says-about-federal-workers/
https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-work-for-the-federal-government/
National Parks Service Worker Fired due to Trump Administration Cuts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ykyUpvCDY
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:16
Malcolm Guidry
Okay, folks, greetings and welcome back to the Perspectives Pod. um Today's date is the 16th of March, and this is our sixth episode.
00:00:29
Malcolm Guidry
I'm joined by Joseph and Simone. Guys, say hello.
00:00:34
Simone
Hello.
00:00:35
Joseph
yeah
00:00:36
Malcolm Guidry
And so we're goingnna yeah we're going to discuss a few things of interest today. We're going to talk a little bit about the Democratic Party and some issues that they're having.
00:00:48
Malcolm Guidry
We're going to talk about bureaucracy. And we're going to talk about a couple of crimes that are kind of disturbing. ah recent crimes ah that have occurred.
00:01:03
Malcolm Guidry
One of them up here in the Northeast.
00:01:06
Simone
Thank you.
00:01:06
Malcolm Guidry
I don't remember where the other one occurred, but anyway, we'll get to that. So let's go ahead and start off with Joe. Joe, all right what talk to us about what's on your mind today.
Democratic Party's Challenges and Leadership Critique
00:01:19
Joseph
Well, it is, of course, as I'm sure people have gotten to figure out, political, but it's more structural than just current events. It's really the accumulation of the Democratic Party, specifically the official party, not the beliefs held, not the voting base, but the leadership within the party, especially within federal government and Congress.
00:01:42
Joseph
It's the accumulation of their strategies of the past, really since the Clinton era. and how essentially strategies that were fantastic in the 90s aren't holding up today.
00:01:56
Joseph
And ah the the really kicking point for this discussion was recently, ah yesterday, I believe, no, two days before, there was the federal shutdown looming.
00:02:07
Joseph
The vote was on the 14th. And as soon as the day before, the Democratic perspective in both the House and Senate was, we cannot vote for this bill.
00:02:15
Simone
Thank you.
00:02:17
Joseph
We understand the danger of a shutdown. But this bill is harmful. We will not go go for this bill.
00:02:22
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:02:23
Joseph
And 10 p.m.
00:02:23
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:02:26
Joseph
the evening before the day of the vote, ah Chuck Schumer, who is the minority leader for the Democrats, he came out and said, this bill is bad, but it is better than a shutdown.
00:02:40
Joseph
And I will be voting for this bill. And in actuality, that's not what happened.
00:02:44
Malcolm Guidry
right so
00:02:48
Joseph
The following day, he and nine other Democrats, well, eight other Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats, that's Angus King, they voted Clotter.
00:02:57
Malcolm Guidry
Right. For me.
00:02:59
Joseph
And for those who aren't aware, Clotter, C-L-O-T-U-R-E, it essentially means an end of discussion or debate. in practice, that is a vote to bypass all debate and filibustering opportunities for the bill and go straight to a vote.
00:03:13
Joseph
And it requires a 60 vote majority.
00:03:13
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:03:16
Joseph
And once that vote was carried out, then the actual bill passed to avert the shutdown of 54 to 46.
00:03:25
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:03:25
Joseph
So there were several Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, who voted to end discussion, but didn't vote for the bill.
00:03:25
Malcolm Guidry
i
00:03:30
Joseph
And
00:03:31
Malcolm Guidry
Right, right. And so what does that have to do with with today's strategy of of ah of, you know, where
Implications of Recent Legislation on Democracy
00:03:41
Malcolm Guidry
you feel today's strategy for the Democratic Party is?
00:03:41
Joseph
Well, it's twofold.
00:03:44
Joseph
It's twofold. The first but perspective is many, and I truly mean many, many people who will be directly impacted by this bill, voters, federal workers, those in the social safety net, they didn't want this bill.
00:03:55
Simone
Thank
00:03:58
Simone
you.
00:03:58
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:03:59
Joseph
They understood what a shutdown means. the Their jobs are fertile.
00:04:03
Malcolm Guidry
And what is it that they didn't want? What is it about the bill that they didn't want?
00:04:07
Joseph
The bill gives the executive branch significant power in controlling the funding and availability to operate of several agencies.
00:04:18
Joseph
And it also, it it is a, beyond that, beyond the practicality of it allows the executive branch to continue to overreach beyond their power.
00:04:19
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:04:29
Joseph
It's, it holds no, it holds no, it was not debated on by the democratic party.
00:04:30
Simone
Thank you.
00:04:36
Joseph
It holds nothing for the democratic party, but I'm sorry, I'm butchering my words here. it It holds nothing of value for democratic voters. There is no compromise.
00:04:46
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:04:46
Joseph
There is no debate on it.
00:04:49
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:04:49
Joseph
It cuts Medicaid. It cuts.
00:04:51
Malcolm Guidry
Mm-hmm.
00:04:52
Joseph
It does not cut social security as far as I know, but it also cuts.
00:04:56
Malcolm Guidry
Mm-hmm.
00:04:57
Joseph
I want to say several thousand workers in the FAA though. That could be another bill that was discussed.
00:05:05
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, because he's wanting to cut. and He's wanting to cut, cut, cut the reason so that he can so that he can provide the massive tax cut that he's promised to corporations and his billionaire cronies.
00:05:15
Joseph
Yes.
00:05:20
Joseph
Yes. and And the counter argument that was promoted by Chuck Schumer in the end and his supporters was this is a bad bill, but if the government shuts down, Trump can do whatever he wants while it's shut down.
00:05:20
Malcolm Guidry
That's essentially to help pay for that.
00:05:28
Malcolm Guidry
right.
00:05:35
Joseph
He can just fire effectively all these federal workers by just saying you're furloughed now.
00:05:40
Malcolm Guidry
Mm
00:05:40
Joseph
He can send Elon Musk
00:05:42
Malcolm Guidry
OK. Well, you you would you would think that, OK, if he can, in fact, fire all these federal workers, it will if it will give Trump carte blanche to do what the hell he wants, you would think that all the other Democrats would
00:05:57
Simone
Thank you.
00:06:00
Malcolm Guidry
would be aware of that and that would encourage them to vote in favor of it instead of giving him that ability to do what the hell he wants. Right? Am I wrong?
00:06:12
Joseph
Well, it was a no-win situation, essentially. like The end result was going to be much the same, except that by not voting for the bill, the blame is solely on the Republicans.
00:06:23
Joseph
They had the majority. They put the bill together. They're the only ones who made that happen.
00:06:26
Malcolm Guidry
Sure.
00:06:29
Joseph
By voting for this bill, it's supporting this. It is allowing this to happen. It is enabling it. it's Everyone who voted in support of this bill becomes an accomplice of what's happening because Trump wins either way.
00:06:29
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:06:36
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:06:42
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:06:44
Joseph
And...
00:06:45
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, and I have to agree. I mean, it it seems that voting, you know, it puts the Democrats between a rock and hard place. If you vote for it, you do just as you've said, you give Trump carte blanche to do essentially what he wants, to fire people and et cetera. Whereas if you don't vote for it, I think you're looking recalcitrant.
00:07:06
Malcolm Guidry
You're looking... you know, you stand the chance as a party of looking like you're not willing to play ball. um Yeah.
00:07:15
Joseph
You are. But in this case, the I can't say it's a consensus, but a lot of very loud voices have been saying we want that recalcitrance. We want the opposition. This is wrong.
00:07:25
Joseph
They are strong arming us into taking a bad bill.
00:07:25
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:07:28
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:07:30
Joseph
And we understand we're going to hurt, but we know who's hurting us.
00:07:30
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:07:33
Joseph
It's not the opposition party. It's the administration.
00:07:37
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:07:38
Joseph
And this was really a matter of the direction the Democratic Party wanted to take in their opposition to the Trump administration.
00:07:39
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:07:46
Joseph
Do we fight against it? Do we act against it? Do we show our voters and supporters and those who don't support either side because they don't know who to support? We are trying to do whatever we can to not support this administration.
00:08:02
Joseph
Or do we go along with it in the name of propriety and in the name of smooth operations, even though the result was still the same?
00:08:02
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:08:07
Malcolm Guidry
Sure. Sure.
00:08:09
Joseph
And that's where it gets me, because the way that Chuck Schumer acted, he clearly understood this was going to be an unpopular move. He didn't even have the guts to vote for the bill
00:08:16
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
Internal Tensions and Adaptation within the Democratic Party
00:08:20
Joseph
himself, though he said he would.
00:08:21
Joseph
He just said, let's let the bill happen, and then we'll wash our hands of it. And then that he went on to his book tour. And I say it derisively like that, because to me... It is just an example of how out of touch the establishment democratic congressional leadership is with the actual shifted desires of a very large wing in the Democratic Party, a large wing.
00:08:47
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:08:48
Joseph
It's essentially the progressive movement. And by progressive movement, I mean anyone who's not either a neoliberal or a centrist or a flat liberal.
00:09:00
Joseph
It's a wing that's grown.
00:09:00
Malcolm Guidry
Sure.
00:09:01
Joseph
you know It's not 2016 where Bernie Sanders was an unknown name. it's not He's not even the biggest name anymore.
00:09:06
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:09:07
Joseph
There's a lot of people who have a lot of supporters.
00:09:09
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:09:10
Joseph
And in our big tent party, Any large faction can influence future elections.
00:09:15
Simone
Thank you.
00:09:15
Joseph
They can influence the way the party's going. If they're ignored, they're going to continue to strain the the unity of the party and possibly break out against it.
00:09:28
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:09:30
Joseph
I have seen...
00:09:31
Malcolm Guidry
i think I think what's happening and I mean, I agree. um The Democratic Party needs to be more aggressive. You know, you've got the old the old what do you want to call it?
00:09:48
Malcolm Guidry
Traditional Democrats, for lack of a better phrase, ah like Schumer. And like a lot of the the older and more established Democrats in the House and in the Senate who've been there.
00:10:00
Joseph
It almost seems like they see the way they see the lens through the 90s of the k Clinton administration where proecon economic pro macroeconomics, pro-business, walking the center line, that's the way to go.
00:10:01
Malcolm Guidry
decade
00:10:05
Malcolm Guidry
Yes. Yes.
00:10:10
Simone
Thank you.
00:10:11
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Yes.
00:10:14
Joseph
And it's not you have it's not that you have to be anti-business, you just can't follow the same playbook.
00:10:14
Malcolm Guidry
That's exactly right. it This is a different era. Right.
00:10:20
Joseph
James Carville was an astute political mind back in the 90s, but he does not seem like he's changed much since.
00:10:21
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:10:26
Joseph
And so he's out of touch now.
00:10:27
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:10:28
Joseph
Even though he's still just as intelligent, he's operating by the same perspective.
00:10:28
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:10:31
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, sure.
00:10:32
Joseph
And he's just a point minute.
00:10:32
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, that you know, these these other i mean like Carville, Schumer.
00:10:35
Joseph
Mm-hmm.
00:10:37
Malcolm Guidry
Listen, see these seasoned politicians who've been in in D.C. for decades. They have a lot of wisdom, a lot of experience, and they should certainly be um shown the respect they deserve and and listen to because they have a lot of wisdom to share.
00:10:47
Simone
Thank you.
00:10:51
Malcolm Guidry
But we're in a different era. We are in a completely different
00:10:54
Joseph
And if they're not paying attention, and it's not an age thing, it's not even an ideology thing. I think that Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer, Chuck Schumer, they're cut from the same cloth in many ways.
00:11:05
Malcolm Guidry
era.
00:11:06
Joseph
Nancy Pelosi is intelligent enough to go with the time.
00:11:06
Malcolm Guidry
OK.
00:11:08
Joseph
she's understood She understands how to work in a changing era. she managed to She still manages to hold an inordinate amount of power despite stepping down from leadership.
00:11:12
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:11:19
Joseph
And I guarantee you that she she was she's going to be a significant influence against Chuck Schumer now, because if she's she has spoken publicly against him.
00:11:20
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:11:30
Joseph
And as we know, she has spoken against.
00:11:31
Malcolm Guidry
And where does she stand?
00:11:34
Joseph
I don't know if she said again, she's spoken against him directly, but she's criticized the Senate Democrats for their inaction publicly.
00:11:41
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:11:42
Joseph
And if she's criticized it publicly, you know she's done much more behind closed doors.
00:11:42
Malcolm Guidry
so Okay.
00:11:47
Joseph
That's just how she operates.
00:11:47
Simone
Thank you.
00:11:47
Malcolm Guidry
Mm-hmm.
00:11:48
Joseph
The only time she'll say anything public is if anything private hasn't worked. And that's establishment Nancy Pelosi that's far left, Sanders, AOC, and company,
00:11:52
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:11:56
Malcolm Guidry
Mm-hmm.
00:11:59
Malcolm Guidry
Mm-hmm.
00:12:00
Joseph
Prominent Democratic donors who have chosen to remain private, but they voice their concerns. And honestly, this is was verified from reports from ah The Guardian, from Reuters and Politico that privately major Democratic donors have expressed absolute frustration, not just frustration, fury at Chuck Schumer for his inaction.
00:12:06
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:12:14
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:12:22
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:12:23
Joseph
He's getting attacked by almost every other faction in the Democratic Party.
00:12:23
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:12:27
Joseph
He and his perspective of enabling the administration.
00:12:27
Malcolm Guidry
but when you I can see him. when you consider what's at stake, um you know, this old so saying.
00:12:35
Joseph
I don't think they're thinking towards midterms. i think they're I think that Chuck Schumer is thinking, how can I act to mitigate? But he's not considering, what if I don't act to support this bill?
00:12:47
Joseph
Does that still do anything?
00:12:48
Malcolm Guidry
Right, right.
00:12:48
Joseph
Because this we're we're fighting to get people to keep people interested for midterms and interested for 2028.
00:12:55
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, yeah.
00:12:55
Joseph
We need to get people who didn't vote to vote. And I can think of no better way to suppress non-voting non-voters, than to show them we're the Democratic Party. We're not really so opposing Trump at all.
00:13:09
Joseph
We're just holding little signs up in his State of the Union and wearing...
00:13:09
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:13:13
Malcolm Guidry
And shaking our canes.
00:13:15
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:13:15
Simone
Thank you.
00:13:15
Joseph
I can respect the shaking of the cane, at least, because he stood up and said something. He interrupted the thing. The people just sitting down, holding the sign up,
00:13:21
Malcolm Guidry
That's great. That's great. but Think of the optics, you know, i not only that example, but the example of Maxine Waters, Chuck Schumer, and I forget who else, um standing at a podium outside of the Capitol.
00:13:25
Joseph
yeah
00:13:38
Malcolm Guidry
um This was about two weeks ago. and chanting something. I forget what they were chanting, but I'm like, there's the old guard, literally and figuratively, the old guard of the Democratic Party. And I actually sat there and I thought to myself, they look frickin old.
00:13:52
Malcolm Guidry
How is this going to appeal to your generation?
00:13:52
Joseph
They
00:13:57
Malcolm Guidry
You know, the two of you and everyone else like you. We want you guys as part of the Democratic Party. We need you because our values are, in my opinion, the progressive values of the Democratic Party or what will take us in deeply into the 21st century instead of the values of the current Republican Party, which will take us back 60 years, 70 years.
00:14:21
Joseph
But I'll say this much. I don't know if they're the progressive values of the Democratic Party. And I say that because progressives are not beholden to the Democratic Party.
00:14:27
Malcolm Guidry
They are not.
00:14:31
Joseph
They are beholden to their beliefs.
00:14:32
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:14:33
Joseph
And there's a lot of talk of third parties, real talk, not just I'm going join the Green Party, but I'm going to start a local movement in my community to build a third party that can win elections.
00:14:34
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:14:44
Malcolm Guidry
yeah but You know what?
00:14:44
Joseph
Right. ah
00:14:45
Malcolm Guidry
You know what?
00:14:46
Joseph
so
00:14:46
Malcolm Guidry
Just as we've spoken about this before, if you're going to build ah a viable third party, it has to be organic from the ground up, not from the top down.
00:14:55
Joseph
That's what they're talking about. That's what they're talking about, local community.
00:14:57
Malcolm Guidry
And that is going to take, that's it's it's no, now's not a good time for that because all.
00:15:02
Joseph
and It's not a good time, I know, but that's what they're talking about. that that We've reached a crisis point, I think, where
00:15:06
Malcolm Guidry
Well.
00:15:08
Joseph
pet A lot of people, a lot of young people are just fed up. Like there have been many chances for the Democratic Party to turn away from their inaction, essentially, to appeal more to their progressive base.
00:15:18
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:15:20
Joseph
And they've again and again not done it.
00:15:21
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:15:22
Joseph
And I think a lot of progressives are just starting to say, OK, I don't care about your strategy.
00:15:27
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:15:27
Joseph
I'm doing what's going to work for us. And you know what it's short sighted, but it's going to have to appeal to them more.
00:15:30
Malcolm Guidry
Well, you know what, though? I hear you, but it is.
00:15:36
Joseph
a lot because otherwise they're going to get lost yeah
00:15:39
Simone
Thank you.
00:15:39
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. I mean, listen, all all that's going to happen is it's going to to fracture the Democratic Party and it's going to give Trump and the Republicans two more years after 2026. And God knows it could even help them get the White House again in 2028.
00:15:54
Joseph
it could but that's what the democratic that's that's what the democratic party has to really contend with
00:15:55
Malcolm Guidry
My God, we really fucking want that. You can kiss democracy goodbye at that point.
00:16:03
Joseph
They have to change or they will die because that you can't just ignore one of the largest branches of your party.
00:16:03
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:16:07
Malcolm Guidry
That's right.
00:16:12
Joseph
Minority branches it may be. If all the progressives leave and start their own third party, sure, they may only win locally.
00:16:17
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:16:18
Joseph
And sure, Trump will probably win. Well, a Trump will win and like an election in 2028. Who the hell knows?
00:16:25
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:16:25
Joseph
But the Democrats will lose. So the Democrats definitely have to decide, do we want to win elections or do we want to not give a single inch?
00:16:29
Malcolm Guidry
This requires discipline. Yeah. Right.
00:16:37
Joseph
Because that's the thing. A lot of progressives want the world, but a lot of them can can but can be convinced to accept the law, if you know what I mean.
00:16:39
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:16:45
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:16:46
Joseph
They want...
00:16:46
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:16:47
Joseph
single payer healthcare, care they want, we want really, i'm just I consider myself one, I just am operating from sort of a neutral perspective as much as I can, but single payer healthcare, universal basic income, all these wonderful social safety nets, frankly,
00:16:56
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:16:59
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:17:01
Simone
Thank you.
00:17:01
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:17:02
Joseph
ah efforts towards single payer healthcare care and not giving tax breaks to millionaires, that would be enough. I think
Reflecting on Strategy and Leadership in Politics
00:17:08
Joseph
if that was real, that was a real policy supported, announced and enacted upon in office once the Democrats would gain a majority, but they have to do that.
00:17:08
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:17:14
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Right.
00:17:18
Joseph
Cause if they don't look, I hear what you're saying, dad, but they're not the, the progressives out on the streets right now, aren't thinking strategy strategy. They're thinking they're not, they're not representing me.
00:17:28
Joseph
So fuck them. I'm doing my own thing.
00:17:30
Malcolm Guidry
Right, right, right.
00:17:31
Joseph
for As good or bad as that will be for the country, it's just human emotion.
00:17:32
Malcolm Guidry
but it's but
00:17:34
Joseph
If people betray you enough,
00:17:35
Malcolm Guidry
Well, and you can't you can't be emotional when it comes to politics.
00:17:40
Joseph
you can't be.
00:17:40
Malcolm Guidry
You've got to think strategically.
00:17:42
Joseph
i agree you can't be, but if this election taught us anything, when it comes to winning an election in the current state of American politics, policy doesn't mean a damn thing. It's all image.
00:17:52
Malcolm Guidry
Hmm.
00:17:52
Joseph
It's all rhetoric. It's all getting people to like you and want to vote for you.
00:17:54
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:17:56
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:17:57
Joseph
That doesn't mean you shouldn't have policy. You should have 100-page-long documents showing exactly where you stand to show that you actually do know what you're talking about.
00:18:03
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:18:07
Joseph
But when it comes to winning, Trump knew how to play to the hearts of a lot of American people, dumb as they may be, and he won.
00:18:09
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:18:15
Joseph
And that's the ballgame. It's just winning. And I see...
00:18:17
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. No.
00:18:20
Joseph
I see the current crop of possible Democratic candidates, and I see a few that seem like they understand that, and a few that I just – well, ah to give one example, I see Tim Walls talking about how we need to actually fight, say something.
00:18:27
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:18:34
Joseph
we need to to If we don't have any political power, we need to get out of them out of out of the federal government and on the streets and start raising our voices.
00:18:35
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:18:43
Joseph
And then see Gavin Newsom talking to Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk in his new podcast saying,
00:18:47
Malcolm Guidry
Why do you think, i you know, I didn't really look too deeply into that. I mean, I have to suspect that Newsom's reason for talking to them was, you know, more to, I think he was thinking long term.
00:18:54
Simone
Thank you.
00:19:02
Malcolm Guidry
I think he was
00:19:02
Joseph
I'm not sure what he was thinking. I actually listened to the Charlie Kirk one the whole way through.
00:19:06
Malcolm Guidry
You did.
00:19:06
Joseph
And Newsom was very milquetoast in talking to Charlie Kirk. He didn't really fight many of his policies. He just kind of discussed them. He agreed with a couple of them. It was very civil, very mild-mannered.
00:19:19
Joseph
Except for the fact that Charlie Kirk is a bona fide racist and he is a neo-Nazi.
00:19:19
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:19:24
Joseph
He has not denied any of this and in any real sense. He's openly talked about how, look, if I see a pilot and they're a black pilot, I don't think this plane is going to fly that well.
00:19:27
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:19:32
Joseph
He's that kind of guy. And that I, whatever, whatever strategy Newsom might be having, if this is his approach, I have not watched a Steve Bannon one yet.
00:19:34
Malcolm Guidry
Wow.
00:19:42
Joseph
I will because I want to be absolutely sure. But
00:19:46
Malcolm Guidry
right right okay
00:19:46
Joseph
If that's what he thinks is a winning strategy, I don't want him running. I will vote for whoever wins the primary in the 2020 election, but I'll spend every waking moment to make sure that guy never wins the primary.
00:20:00
Joseph
If he's going to to take that strategy, we're not going to win by whitewashing Nazis.
00:20:00
Malcolm Guidry
yeah right but oh well i don't disagree with you there but um i
00:20:07
Simone
Thank you.
00:20:10
Joseph
I understand the strategy. I just think he's gone way too far in it.
00:20:13
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:20:13
Joseph
That's unacceptable.
00:20:15
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Well, I, we have to wait and see what else he he does. I mean, I'm not going to trash guy just because of two interviews.
00:20:20
Joseph
It's a long time.
00:20:23
Malcolm Guidry
um I want to wait and see what else he does.
00:20:24
Joseph
won't trash him as a cool candidate. It's just, what a way to start your campaign. This is...
00:20:30
Malcolm Guidry
Well, I mean, and has he even started his campaign?
00:20:30
Joseph
be... i'll
00:20:33
Malcolm Guidry
Has he declared that he's running for president? I don't think so.
00:20:35
Joseph
I mean, not not officially, but this is starting his campaign. Tim Wall started his campaign, too.
00:20:38
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:20:40
Joseph
It's the kind of thing that is not talked about openly, but when a politician starts rejecting continued terms of governorship like Gretchen Whitmer did, and when they start making book tours and sudden new pushes into media, they're prepping for an actual campaign.
00:20:41
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:20:43
Simone
Thank you.
00:20:49
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Yeah. I just want to mention something. um And then we have to switch over to Simone, but.
00:21:00
Joseph
Yes.
00:21:01
Malcolm Guidry
um You know, there's there's an old saying, a certain politician who we both love and miss. I remember one of the many, many wise things he would say was, you got to get along to get along.
00:21:17
Joseph
Yes.
00:21:18
Malcolm Guidry
And in the old You know, in the previous iteration, well, prior to Trump, yeah, I could see that. You got to get along to get along. But we're at a point in our history.
00:21:29
Malcolm Guidry
You want to talk inflection point? We're at an inflection point. With Trump, it's not about getting along to get along. You got to give a little to get a little. Because this guy, he's not giving.
00:21:39
Joseph
Yeah.
00:21:41
Joseph
He's not giving, that's the thing.
00:21:44
Malcolm Guidry
He's not giving.
00:21:44
Joseph
Politics is the art of compromise and he's not compromising.
00:21:45
Malcolm Guidry
You're waiting
00:21:48
Malcolm Guidry
No, he's not compromising. So, you know, it really begs the question. So how do we approach this? You know, if you fight a bully, you got to punch him in the mouth.
00:21:53
Joseph
Yeah.
00:21:56
Malcolm Guidry
You got to punch him in the mouth once, twice, however many times, but you got to knock him on his ass.
00:21:59
Joseph
And if he's got your arms held down and you can't punch him, you at least shout in his face. It doesn't matter if you're if you can't actually oppose, do something.
00:22:04
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:22:07
Joseph
And that's why I like what Al Green did and why I didn't like what the others did just sitting in their chairs.
00:22:11
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, yeah.
00:22:14
Simone
Thank you.
00:22:14
Malcolm Guidry
i i respect the fact I respect the fact that he got up and that he said something.
00:22:14
Joseph
I was...
00:22:18
Malcolm Guidry
I wish more of them would have done that. I didn't watch the speech, by the way, because I didn't feel like sitting there for almost two hours listening to him drone on and on and complain like a baby.
00:22:20
Joseph
Yeah. yeah
00:22:27
Joseph
I'm a master. So I watched it, but when I saw it happen, I thought, is this, are they okay?
00:22:30
Malcolm Guidry
I couldn't.
00:22:32
Joseph
So he's getting taken out. Is another one going to stand up now and then interrupt him again. i was thinking that I was hopeful and thinking, are they going to just do this for all 50 members sitting in there and just stop the speech?
00:22:38
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:22:41
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:22:42
Joseph
But they didn't do it.
00:22:43
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:22:43
Joseph
They just sat there with their fucking signs.
00:22:45
Malcolm Guidry
Well, listen, I think I would like to see AOC. ah She's smart. I know a lot of people are are really suspicious of her and and a lot of people don't like her. I think she's a really intelligent, hardworking politician.
00:22:55
Joseph
Hmm.
00:22:59
Malcolm Guidry
She's got the the really grassroots, traditional democratic values of years ago before we came became more of a corporate corporately influenced party.
00:23:08
Joseph
Yeah.
00:23:11
Joseph
Yes.
00:23:13
Malcolm Guidry
And people like her, people of her generation, there are a few others.
00:23:13
Joseph
Yeah.
00:23:18
Malcolm Guidry
um There's one, Aachenklaas is his last name. I forget. He's from the Northeast somewhere. There's another guy.
00:23:25
Joseph
yeah
00:23:26
Malcolm Guidry
I can't think of his name, but he's around 40 years of age. There are some young up and coming Democrats in Congress who are very impressive, really smart and more progressive.
00:23:38
Malcolm Guidry
And they want to fight. And that's what we need to do.
00:23:40
Joseph
And they're willing to fight within the system.
00:23:40
Malcolm Guidry
have to fight. Yeah.
00:23:42
Joseph
They're willing to work within the Democratic Party.
00:23:43
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:23:44
Joseph
And that's important. And I hope the establishment sees that because right now, AOC, Sanders, Jasmine Crockett, all of these, they're Democrats working within.
00:23:51
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:53
Joseph
Well, Bernie Sanders is an independent independent, but he knows how to play the game.
00:23:57
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, sure.
00:23:57
Joseph
And the establishment needs to give them enough to so then their constituents see that it's working within, otherwise their constituents are not going to work within anymore. they
00:24:07
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:08
Joseph
The establishment's got to compromise just a little bit, otherwise there's not going to be any victory.
00:24:11
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Yeah, yeah. um Very interesting. All right.
00:24:17
Joseph
Yes.
00:24:17
Malcolm Guidry
Okay, Joe. um That was good. Very interesting. We could talk a lot more about that, but we'll have to save it for you.
00:24:22
Joseph
Oh, I could, but I don't want to hog the gap. And I'm really interested in what you have to talk about, Simone, especially that first one you discussed.
00:24:29
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. All right, Simone, it's ah it's yours.
00:24:30
Simone
Yeah. Some um unfortunate news broke in specifically the Northeast Connecticut area this past week, earlier this week, in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Disturbing Crime Case in Waterbury, Connecticut
00:24:45
Simone
A small fire broke out in this home.
00:24:47
Simone
It was a self-started fire. And when emergency units arrived at this house, one, they put out the fire, but two, they found a very malnourished individual, 32 year old male who was five nine and 63 pounds.
00:25:03
Simone
He was locked in this room with the locks from the outside and um comes to find out that he has been held captive by his stepmother for the past 20 years.
00:25:14
Simone
Um, and his, uh, his stepmother is currently on bail for $300,000, but some points of this case are, it started when he was 11 years old.
00:25:27
Simone
members He remembers, he stated that he remembers starting to be malnourished from 11 years old. His, uh, water and food intake was limited. He was forced into this eight foot by nine foot room for about 22 hours of the day, only let out to do household chores.
00:25:36
Malcolm Guidry
with the
00:25:44
Simone
um, forced to urinate into a water bottle, um, barely able to eat. Um, they actually did a house call CPS, Child Productive Services did a house call back in 2005, um, before he was completely held captive and not even allowed to go to school.
00:26:01
Simone
He was going to school and someone from the school, I believe called CPS and had them go to his home because they noticed that he wasn't really eating well. um didn't bring any lunch to school or something like that.
00:26:14
Simone
And, I don't know, Child Protective Services didn't really find anything and they let it go. And eventually he was taken out of school. I don't know what the parents' excuse was to get him out of school. But um yeah, for the next 20 years, he was just held captive in this room, food restriction, and held in this room with no heat or AC and barely let out.
00:26:35
Malcolm Guidry
So let me ask you a question.
00:26:36
Simone
And when they found him, he also hadn't bathed for like one or two years, they said.
00:26:37
Malcolm Guidry
and
00:26:40
Malcolm Guidry
Jesus. So let me ask you a question. Where's his father?
00:26:44
Simone
I don't know. There's no information about the father. I mean, some people, some reports are saying that the father was on ah um like a wheelchair and he was disabled. Like everything in news is mostly about the stepmother who is like a just a well-functioning individual, no health issues.
00:26:58
Simone
um And her attorney is, her and her attorney are saying that she denies all claims. All these claims are false. And she's out on a $300,000 Mm-hmm.
00:27:05
Malcolm Guidry
oh
00:27:06
Simone
Mm-hmm.
00:27:08
Malcolm Guidry
$300,000 bail. So she had to come up with, I think, 10% of that, which is 30 grand.
00:27:09
Joseph
Good evening.
00:27:13
Malcolm Guidry
um Talk about a wicked stepmother. I mean, granted, we don't have all the facts and that's something people need to remember.
00:27:20
Simone
Yeah.
00:27:21
Malcolm Guidry
Every time we hear about, you know, terrible criminal cases, you know, we hear what the media gives us and we don't have all the facts. We don't have all the information.
00:27:31
Simone
It just happened earlier this week, so we it's still very new.
00:27:31
Malcolm Guidry
People are... Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.
00:27:37
Simone
but i mean, 32 years old, and 63 pounds.
00:27:37
Joseph
three
00:27:38
Simone
Yeah. five ten and sixty three pounds
00:27:42
Joseph
Someone did that to him.
00:27:42
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, that's neglect.
00:27:44
Joseph
Perhaps it wasn't her.
00:27:44
Simone
yeah
00:27:45
Joseph
I mean, we don't know for sure, but somebody did that.
00:27:48
Simone
And they also said part of his teeth were missing and like it seemed like they were decaying and God knows what else.
00:27:48
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:27:51
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Oh, no doubt.
00:27:55
Simone
So...
00:27:55
Malcolm Guidry
If he didn't bathe for two years, just imagine, i mean, this is horrible.
00:27:55
Simone
Yeah...
00:27:59
Malcolm Guidry
This is a terrible thing. I mean, okay, look at the bright side. He's only 32. There is plenty of time for him to recuperate. I'm trying to be positive because this is a terrible story, but thank goodness they found him.
00:28:09
Simone
yeah
00:28:13
Malcolm Guidry
He's still alive. He can recuperate. He can, you know, with help, lots of help. He can, you know, become fully functional again.
00:28:25
Malcolm Guidry
and hopefully i you know become independent eventually, yeah acquire an education.
00:28:32
Simone
I wonder, does the state like help provide him like the help he needs? Do they give him financial restitution? I mean, considering like all protective services were sent there at one point and they failed him, like, yeah.
00:28:45
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:28:45
Joseph
I would assume it's probably through a suit he might have to file or someone on his behalf, but...
00:28:50
Simone
yeah
00:28:51
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, they're they're they've got to do something. The state of Connecticut has to step up, especially with this being in the media.
00:28:56
Simone
Mm-hmm.
00:28:59
Malcolm Guidry
They're going to step up.
00:28:59
Joseph
Hmm.
00:29:00
Malcolm Guidry
No politician, no civil servant is going going to want to to have negative...
00:29:06
Joseph
Especially Connecticut. I mean, you're right, Dad, any state, but Connecticut has such a good reputation as a state where we're safe, and this is a huge action against that. So for his sake, I think that's a good sign that he might get more immediate help.
00:29:19
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:29:22
Simone
Yeah. And he, uh, I wonder how he started the fire himself.
00:29:22
Malcolm Guidry
I hope so.
00:29:24
Simone
like he was smart enough to start a fire to get the attention and help in the home.
00:29:27
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:29:31
Simone
I wonder, I wonder how that all went down.
00:29:31
Malcolm Guidry
mother
00:29:32
Simone
I'm sure Netflix would is going to make a whole documentary about this at some point because they always do.
00:29:35
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, you know it. Yeah.
00:29:37
Joseph
I mean, if you if he was in a wall that wasn't solid metal, you know have have have we all seen a sha The Shawshank Redemption?
00:29:45
Simone
haven't.
00:29:46
Malcolm Guidry
I haven't, no.
00:29:47
Joseph
Very good movie, but i over 20 years, a little gem-cutting pick was used by one of the characters in ways that I won't mention.
00:29:55
Simone
I don't
00:29:56
Joseph
But if you're dedicated enough, you can get through a wall, get to wiring, and just start pulling wires until something sparks and just...
00:30:03
Malcolm Guidry
Wow. Well, yeah, he he figured something out. maybe while he was Maybe while he was downstairs doing his chores that he was forced to do, maybe he snatched some matches and some paper.
00:30:17
Malcolm Guidry
Who knows?
00:30:17
Joseph
Yeah. I know.
00:30:18
Malcolm Guidry
I wonder if he had curtains in his room. I wonder if he had furniture.
00:30:20
Simone
a
00:30:21
Malcolm Guidry
Was he sleeping on the floor?
00:30:23
Simone
i don't know
00:30:23
Malcolm Guidry
um I mean, this is just unbelievable.
00:30:25
Simone
Not sure.
00:30:26
Malcolm Guidry
And not still, the idea of not bathing for two years, I get bothered if I don't take a bath after a day. So two freaking years. Imagine that.
00:30:36
Simone
and don't even know how their attorney is expecting to get out of it.
00:30:38
Joseph
was essentially in solid He was essentially in solitary confinement because that's how it is.
00:30:43
Simone
Yeah.
00:30:43
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:30:43
Joseph
You you are in one room for 20 plus hours of the day. You get, if you're lucky, an hour out in some sort of area, which it sounds like he was just out in the house itself.
00:30:54
Joseph
So he was in solitary confinement for 20 years.
00:30:54
Simone
Mm-hmm.
00:30:56
Joseph
And that's that'll do things in your mind.
00:30:58
Malcolm Guidry
And know and
00:31:01
Simone
Yeah.
00:31:01
Malcolm Guidry
go ahead, Simone. You're going to say something?
00:31:03
Simone
I was just going to say, i don't know how ah her attorneys expect to get her out of this with all of this proof and all, like I saw this picture with like, i don't know, two or three like deadbolts on the outside of his door.
00:31:09
Malcolm Guidry
OK.
00:31:13
Joseph
Thank you.
00:31:14
Simone
It's like, this was his bedroom and the locks are from the outside.
00:31:15
Malcolm Guidry
okay and
00:31:17
Simone
I don't know how you expect to get out of this.
00:31:19
Malcolm Guidry
Well, exactly. That's a very good point. See if the locks are on the outside, then that means he was being held against his will. He was being locked in that room with no way of getting out on his own. He was dependent on someone letting him out.
00:31:33
Simone
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:31:33
Malcolm Guidry
So that's that's pretty good evidence against her. um But I mean, you know, our criminal justice system, our judicial system allows...
00:31:48
Malcolm Guidry
People, number one, you're innocent until proven guilty. Everyone deserves to have representation.
00:31:54
Joseph
no
00:31:54
Malcolm Guidry
And so she is entitled to have zealous representation.
00:32:01
Joseph
And she's not, of course, she has the money to afford private lawyers, but and know i even if you're a death row inmate who was on national TV committing a murder, you're still going to get a public attorney.
00:32:01
Malcolm Guidry
And. Yeah.
00:32:06
Simone
Thank you.
00:32:11
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:32:13
Joseph
You're still going to get someone who, even if all they're arguing is fair treatment, fair sentencing, you're still going to be treated fairly within the law as long as that attorney can help it because ah Even in the situation of someone committing a crime, you could be overcharged.
00:32:26
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:32:27
Joseph
And the idea is not so much to fight for innocence, but fight for your client's rights, such as the rights to not be given given cruel and unusual punishment.
00:32:28
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:32:32
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:32:36
Malcolm Guidry
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah.
00:32:39
Simone
Thank you.
00:32:39
Malcolm Guidry
Very interesting. I really look forward to finding out the outcome of this case. And I just. I mean, I wish nothing but the best for that guy. and And I just can't imagine. But yeah, you mentioned earlier, Joe, when we were talking about this before we started ah recording, ah the name of, was it Fritz or your name?
00:33:01
Joseph
Yeah, Joseph Fritzl, J-O-S-E-F Fritzl, F-R-I-T-Z-L.
00:33:04
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Yes.
00:33:07
Joseph
I believe he was Australian, and he was someone who I think kept several family members locked in his basement for years on end, some years but
00:33:07
Malcolm Guidry
Yes.
00:33:15
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The name rings a bell.
00:33:18
Joseph
Mm-hmm.
00:33:20
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. i'm I'm sure if we look it up online, we'll find out about it. That does ring a bell though. He, from what I recall, recall was a pretty creepy guy, especially regarding how he treated one of his children.
00:33:34
Joseph
Yes.
00:33:34
Malcolm Guidry
So very, just very disgusting. um But you wonder why.
00:33:40
Simone
Speaking of children, speaking of children, there's another lady of last in the past who's making a resurface.
00:33:42
Malcolm Guidry
What's reading? Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:48
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, yes.
00:33:50
Simone
Excuse me. Oh gosh, what's your name?
Casey Anthony's Public Return and Backlash
00:33:54
Malcolm Guidry
Casey Anthony?
00:33:54
Joseph
It's happening.
00:33:54
Simone
Casey Anthony. Casey Anthony's tried to make a comeback in society again um on social media this past week.
00:33:59
Malcolm Guidry
Outrageous.
00:34:01
Simone
She's tried to make a TikTok account and post about advocacy. Advocacy, I think, for for her daughter, for children. And everyone shut her down.
00:34:11
Simone
Everyone has immediately just canceled her, shut her down. i don't know why she's even come out of, she was in the witness protection program.
00:34:18
Joseph
Now Simone, for her.
00:34:20
Simone
She was in some kind of protection program where they gave her a new identity, sent her to a new country. She was supposed to have a new life. And she's like, no, I'm going to try and come back. I'm not done with America. I'm not done with my life. I'm going to try and make a comeback.
00:34:32
Simone
I don't know what makes her think she could, that would ever be feasible, especially in social media this day and age where we're canceling people for any which reason.
00:34:33
Joseph
Yeah. Hmm.
00:34:33
Malcolm Guidry
Interesting.
00:34:36
Joseph
yeah
00:34:38
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:34:39
Joseph
and for
00:34:40
Simone
You, in my opinion, killed your daughter. So.
00:34:44
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Well, and considering...
00:34:45
Joseph
Well, on on that note, Simone, for those of us who aren't too refreshed with the details, and what what what exactly did she do or was alleged to do? or you know What's the old thing?
00:34:54
Simone
She was ah like a party girl in the early 2000s.
00:34:55
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:34:57
Simone
She was in her early twenties, had a daughter, a beautiful daughter. um And she was partying too much and I think she accidentally possibly killed her child. i don't know if was purpose or accident. I think she definitely did it.
00:35:11
Simone
And I think she just wasn't ready to be a mother and she covered it up. She didn't report her daughter missing until a month after she was gone. and they never really figured out who the killer was.
00:35:18
Joseph
Hmm.
00:35:22
Simone
So they kind of let her go because they didn't have too much evidence on it, I guess. But, uh, I mean, I think all signs point to her or the father also, uh, her father, the child's grandfather.
00:35:32
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:35:33
Simone
There's some involvement there, I think, but it's all so unclear.
00:35:36
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Yeah.
00:35:39
Simone
so.
00:35:39
Malcolm Guidry
You know, I'm looking here. i went ahead and pulled it up before we started recording the Wikipedia. Just FYI. The death of Kaylee Anthony, which is Casey Anthony's daughter.
00:35:52
Malcolm Guidry
She was on with this little girl was just under three years of age.
00:35:55
Simone
Thank you.
00:35:55
Malcolm Guidry
OK. Orlando, Florida is where this took place. um She was reported missing in a 911 call made by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, who said she'd not been seen for 31 days. 31 days, guys.
00:36:13
Malcolm Guidry
According to what Cindy told police dispatchers, Casey had given various explanations as to her daughter's whereabouts before eventually saying she'd not seen her daughter for weeks.
00:36:24
Malcolm Guidry
How do you do that? Okay. Okay. As a parent. ae i No, no, I'm sorry.
00:36:31
Simone
Name's Annie.
00:36:32
Malcolm Guidry
But that would just, how do you do that? Talk about irresponsible. Now that does not implicate her in being the the killer of the child, but it doesn't look good for her.
00:36:43
Malcolm Guidry
And this is just the little bit that I just read. um It goes on to say that Casey, the mother, later called police and falsely told a a dispatcher that Kaylee had been kidnapped by a nanny on June Pardon?
00:36:56
Simone
named anning
00:36:58
Malcolm Guidry
Pardon?
00:36:59
Simone
Named Xanny. It always kills me.
00:37:00
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:37:01
Simone
The nanny named Xanny.
00:37:01
Joseph
I'm sorry. Really?
00:37:02
Simone
like I was like, okay, is Xanax, are you giving your child Xanax to knock her out so that you can go to the party, the club?
00:37:03
Malcolm Guidry
Nanny names Annie, right?
00:37:05
Joseph
Yeah. Hmm.
00:37:09
Simone
Like, that's what everyone thinks. It was like, there's no nanny.
00:37:11
Malcolm Guidry
I don't know.
00:37:11
Simone
Because no one ever, is there really a nanny named Xanny? Like, I feel like it was fake.
00:37:14
Malcolm Guidry
I,
00:37:15
Simone
Like, a lot of things in the media were like, this person never even existed.
00:37:18
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:37:18
Joseph
Hmm.
00:37:19
Malcolm Guidry
so So it goes on to say here, ah the child's on December eleventh All right.
00:37:19
Simone
Ugh.
00:37:23
Malcolm Guidry
So this happened. um but She was reported missing on July 15th of 2008. On December 11th of 2008, her skeletal remains were found with a blanket inside a laundry bag in a wooded area near the Anthony family residence.
00:37:43
Malcolm Guidry
Okay. Okay. um She had duct taped, she'd been duct taped um near the front of the skull or on the child's, on the mouth of the skull.
00:37:54
Malcolm Guidry
and And the medical examiner listed cause of death as homicide by undetermined means. So, wow. And now, i mean, okay. So,
00:38:07
Malcolm Guidry
She wants a second chance at life in the United States. But, um i mean, that's that's a tall order. um I just, I don't know. I'd need to do a little more research. I can't remember if she was found guilty. I do remember her spending time in in jail.
00:38:27
Malcolm Guidry
But I don't remember ultimately if she was indeed found guilty. No, she probably wasn't because...
00:38:33
Simone
No, because they let her out and gave her another identity.
00:38:36
Malcolm Guidry
Wow. Wow.
00:38:37
Simone
I don't really remember what all happened, but yeah, she didn't really get the justice she deserved, a lot of people think.
00:38:39
Joseph
I'm just thinking um just social media is a very big factor in this beyond the fact she's trying to get on social media.
00:38:40
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:38:43
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:38:49
Joseph
But in what other realm of recent existence is there the possibility of genuinely believing that you could redeem yourself in the eyes of people who think you're a murderer by just promoting yourself enough.
00:39:06
Joseph
ah Social media has become this place where people think they can just be who who they want with no repercussions.
00:39:07
Simone
Thank you.
00:39:12
Joseph
And somewhere, somehow, you'll find a community of people who support you.
00:39:13
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:39:16
Joseph
And I don't know if they're wrong in that sense. The greater community is definitely jumping down Casey Anthony's throat, but contrarianism is a strong factor.
00:39:19
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:39:23
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:39:25
Joseph
And she might well find people who just want to support her.
00:39:29
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, I'm sure. And.
00:39:29
Simone
Well, she does.
00:39:30
Simone
Last time I checked, which was probably like three or four days ago, she did have about 23,000 followers or something.
00:39:38
Malcolm Guidry
Hmm.
00:39:39
Simone
Um, I'll check it again now. And, uh,
00:39:43
Malcolm Guidry
It's amazing that she has that many considering what she's accused to have done. What? Oh, my goodness. And I just don't know. I'm blown away, obviously.
00:39:55
Malcolm Guidry
um But you know what?
00:39:56
Joseph
I'm just thinking it back to OJ.
00:39:57
Malcolm Guidry
again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:00
Joseph
I'm thinking back to OJ. How many people thought he did it and yet still ate up everything he said and followed all the news, bought his book?
00:40:06
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:40:08
Simone
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:40:09
Joseph
I understand the fascination, but support is still support, even if you say, oh, I don't support what he did at all, but I bought his books.
00:40:11
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:40:15
Malcolm Guidry
Well, it's the thing about it's that thing about watching a train wreck. You know, you can't help but watch the train wreck.
00:40:19
Joseph
Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:22
Malcolm Guidry
You know, you know what's going to happen, but you got to look. You know, it's similar to that. um I go back. I take it back to leadership, leadership in in a culture, in a community.
00:40:34
Malcolm Guidry
We've got a president who was convicted on 34 counts, felony counts. He was still elected. He was still elected. by a majority of voters. So when we live in that sort of atmosphere, when we live in an atmosphere where, where ah what's what's the name of the guy, the the Infowars guy, Alex Jones, you've got somebody like Alex Jones who had millions of followers and made a hell of a lot of money off of his bullshit.
00:40:53
Joseph
Alex Jones.
00:41:00
Malcolm Guidry
When you've got Donald Trump in the White House ah doing all the crazy crap that he's trying to do to tear this country apart, Well, sure. Now's a great time to have somebody like Casey Anthony come on back. And and I mean, what better time is there than then now to try and launch a social media career?
00:41:20
Malcolm Guidry
Why not?
00:41:20
Simone
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:41:21
Malcolm Guidry
So, you know, it's par for the course.
00:41:24
Simone
okay
00:41:25
Joseph
I don't know if it's really explicitly – I mean it's an exacerbating factor. Trump, Jones, all of them have multiplied this significantly. But you know i I don't like the idea of saying that's not my problem. I think that's an important philosophy in social – any sort of society.
00:41:43
Joseph
But I think there's some merit to the concept of looking at something saying that's none of my business and then going about your day.
00:41:43
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Right. Yeah.
00:41:52
Joseph
not with matters that hurt other people, but being able to to look at something and say, would my life be improved if I spent the next five hours delving into this and just like getting into shouting masses with people online about this one way or another?
00:41:53
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:42:10
Joseph
And if the answer no, then consider if you really want to do that.
00:42:10
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:42:15
Joseph
And I think if a lot of people did that, that 23,000 follower number would be a lot lower.
00:42:15
Simone
It's to 77,000 now.
00:42:15
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:42:21
Simone
I just... Mm-hmm. Yep.
00:42:21
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:42:23
Joseph
Okay, so
00:42:23
Simone
pages
00:42:23
Malcolm Guidry
seventy yeah 77. Wow.
00:42:27
Joseph
I don't know. I just i just think that the the side effect of the internet becoming the new town square is you can't really get away from it.
00:42:28
Malcolm Guidry
That's.
00:42:34
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:42:36
Joseph
And in actual town square, if the party's too loud, you go back home and and sit in your nice area away from it.
00:42:36
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:42:45
Joseph
But you can't get away from it.
00:42:45
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:42:47
Joseph
So everyone, I think it's just so much harder to ignore it.
00:42:48
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, you can. You can. You can't. Right. It is. it is. um You know, social media is as addictive as other addictive substances, caffeine,
Ethics and Moral Character in Decision-Making
00:43:03
Malcolm Guidry
cigarettes, alcohol.
00:43:03
Simone
Thank you.
00:43:05
Joseph
and very prevalent.
00:43:05
Malcolm Guidry
You know, if you're not...
00:43:07
Malcolm Guidry
Yes, yes. um and i Social media must be regulated. It needs to be regulated. The internet needs to be regulated as if it were a um you know a utility like electricity.
00:43:21
Joseph
Yeah.
00:43:22
Malcolm Guidry
It is that important. It is just as important. so But we're not going to get those sort of regulations under the current administration. um
00:43:30
Joseph
Yeah.
00:43:31
Malcolm Guidry
You can forget that. um And I, by the way, when I said earlier, I i blame it on on leadership. I'm not blaming Casey Anthony's current situation on Donald Trump, but he is a contributing factor ah to this current atmosphere of, oh, my God, what he represents.
00:43:40
Simone
Thanks.
00:43:43
Joseph
Sure.
00:43:46
Joseph
Definitely. like
00:43:51
Joseph
It's what he represents, that consequences don't necessarily have to matter.
00:43:56
Malcolm Guidry
Right, right. Listen, as i I've said to you guys before, character is destiny. um You know, ethics matter. You know, when I was in college, oh, number of years ago, I took an ethics course. You know, I guess because I was a business major, I had to take a business ethics course.
00:44:16
Malcolm Guidry
And, you know, I really, really enjoyed it and I got a lot out of it. um But, you know, ethics, what you do matters. character's destiny. And what I mean by that is the decisions you make in life will, you know, based on your character, if you have an upstanding moral ethical character, and I don't mean, you know, being a stick up, stick in the, in the mud and, and being a prude.
00:44:42
Malcolm Guidry
But what I'm saying is as long as you try always to do the right thing toward other people, you know, your decisions that you'll make in life will determine your outcome.
00:44:52
Joseph
Yeah.
00:44:52
Malcolm Guidry
And so
00:44:53
Joseph
And don't be afraid of failure. I don't mean be an asshole and then try and get better.
00:44:56
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:44:57
Joseph
I just mean if you have a bad day, if you snap at someone, if you do the wrong thing, that doesn't mean you're a bad person. Just don't do it again.
00:45:03
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:45:04
Joseph
Learn from your mistake. We all make mistakes.
00:45:05
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:45:06
Joseph
It's just what matters is how we learn from them.
00:45:07
Malcolm Guidry
Totally. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Absolutely. Yeah. and You know, it's really interesting. Mistakes, mistakes in in life, in in your job, you know, their opportunities. That's how the Japanese looked at.
00:45:24
Malcolm Guidry
If I remember correctly, back um back in the 80s, the Japanese were our big
00:45:28
Simone
Thank you.
00:45:30
Malcolm Guidry
rivals economically.
00:45:33
Joseph
Yes.
00:45:33
Malcolm Guidry
and and all these these prognosticators, these authors um would write books on you know what the Japanese are doing right and what we should be learning from them.
00:45:44
Malcolm Guidry
One thing I recall is they looked at mistakes as opportunities to learn from instead of of being upset about making mistakes.
00:45:49
Joseph
Mm-hmm.
00:45:55
Malcolm Guidry
Okay, we made this mistake. How can we learn from it and not... not ah repeat the mistake.
00:46:04
Joseph
Yeah, a comment of frame was, I'm sorry, i will do better.
00:46:05
Malcolm Guidry
Let's learn from it.
00:46:08
Joseph
Okay.
00:46:08
Malcolm Guidry
Yes, yes.
00:46:09
Joseph
Yeah.
00:46:10
Malcolm Guidry
You know, so there's no shame in making mistakes as long as you intended not to make the mistake. You were doing your best.
00:46:16
Joseph
Mm-hmm.
00:46:16
Malcolm Guidry
You made a mistake. Great. Learn from that, you know. But anyway, Simone, do you have anything more to add to this?
00:46:24
Simone
Nope, that's it.
00:46:25
Malcolm Guidry
It's going to be interesting to see how how her pursuit, how Casey Anthony's pursuit of a social media career develops.
00:46:37
Malcolm Guidry
um ah You know, I don't wish her ill. I don't wish her ill.
00:46:41
Simone
I don't wish her great.
00:46:43
Malcolm Guidry
Well, I don't, you know, assuming... Oh, geez. what You know, I'd love to know. I'd love to find out what happened to that poor little girl of hers who killed that child.
00:46:53
Joseph
Thank you.
00:46:56
Malcolm Guidry
How did that child die? Same thing with the other one. The one. oh my gosh. Different case. Totally. um What was her name? Beautiful little little. ah
00:47:07
Simone
Hailey?
00:47:08
Malcolm Guidry
Who?
00:47:09
Simone
Hailey? Anthony?
00:47:11
Malcolm Guidry
No, no, no, no. A different child.
00:47:12
Simone
Oh. Oh, JonBenet Ramsey?
00:47:12
Malcolm Guidry
Different case. John Bonner, thank you.
00:47:15
Simone
Yeah.
00:47:15
Malcolm Guidry
John Bonner Ramsey.
00:47:16
Simone
I don't think we're ever going find out the answer to that either.
00:47:16
Malcolm Guidry
I would love to know what happened there. You know, what happened to those kids?
00:47:21
Simone
have no idea.
00:47:21
Malcolm Guidry
Fascinating cases.
00:47:22
Simone
Hmm. in
00:47:23
Joseph
I think, honestly, it would be best for everyone if someone she trusted talked to her and said, no, this isn't. No. Go.
00:47:33
Simone
Oh, for Casey to not do social media?
00:47:33
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:47:34
Joseph
Yeah.
00:47:34
Malcolm Guidry
For Casey Anthony. Yeah.
00:47:36
Joseph
Just go.
00:47:36
Simone
Well, she made two posts, ah two days apart, I think, and the last one was on March 6th, and she hasn't posted again since, and she's turned off all the comments on her videos, so maybe she got the message.
00:47:36
Joseph
I hope so.
00:47:46
Simone
Who knows?
00:47:47
Malcolm Guidry
Well, you know what?
00:47:47
Joseph
I hope so.
00:47:48
Malcolm Guidry
I bet the reason she turned off the comments is because a lot of people were trashing her, giving her hard time.
00:47:52
Simone
Well, yeah, obviously, no one was on her side.
00:47:52
Joseph
i
00:47:54
Simone
Like, literally no one.
00:47:55
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:47:57
Simone
So...
00:47:57
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, if I were her and i were I were given a new identity and sent to a foreign country, I'd keep my head down and my mouth shut and just enjoy my new life.
00:48:07
Simone
Try to rebuild.
00:48:07
Joseph
Yeah.
00:48:08
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:48:08
Simone
yeah
00:48:08
Joseph
Learn from her mistakes.
00:48:11
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Anyway. All right. um Let's see how we're doing on time. yeah Running a little long.
00:48:18
Joseph
Actually very good. We're a lot better than in what we normally do.
00:48:22
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. So, okay. What I decided to talk about is not so much about anything political, i
Role and Respect for Federal Bureaucracy
00:48:32
Malcolm Guidry
guess.
00:48:32
Simone
That's shocking.
00:48:33
Malcolm Guidry
I don't. shot Yeah, isn't it? um And I'm looking at my notes um that I took. ah The importance of a federal bureaucracy.
00:48:44
Simone
you're a liar
00:48:44
Malcolm Guidry
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:45
Joseph
Well, in in in his defense, that's civics. You know, I'm splitting hairs here, but I'll tell you what.
00:48:49
Malcolm Guidry
what
00:48:51
Simone
a
00:48:52
Joseph
I will say right here, the next first topic I pick next week, it won't be any way shaped about politics. It's a challenge to me because I'm to have to think about it.
00:49:02
Simone
i'd like to see that
00:49:02
Malcolm Guidry
Well, you know, but there are so many things we can talk about. It doesn't have to all only be political. However, because we love our country and because we're so concerned about the direction it's going and the leadership in D.C.,
00:49:11
Joseph
And this is kind of who we are.
00:49:15
Malcolm Guidry
You know, but anyway, so bureaucracy, i you know, the reason I decided to talk about this was because of a podcast that I was listening to recently.
00:49:27
Malcolm Guidry
um And and the person being interviewed was talking about the importance of a federal bureaucracy. Michael Lewis, an author, he wrote Moneyball. ah which they made a movie out of, Hollywood made a movie out of.
00:49:40
Simone
you
00:49:40
Malcolm Guidry
um Fast Boys, I think, was another book he wrote, which, Joe, you would really be be ah you would really find interesting. I read that book, and it had to do with this, I forget the term of this type of trading on Wall Street, but it's it's got to do with um you know the the internet trades being made online and the immediacy of the trades.
00:50:06
Joseph
yeah
00:50:07
Malcolm Guidry
And this book was written several years ago. So of course the technology has changed. But anyway, he wrote this, his most recent book has to do with civil servants and the heroics that these unnamed civil servants who go beyond, be ah go about their jobs on a daily basis and the important roles that these people perform for us.
00:50:30
Simone
you
00:50:31
Malcolm Guidry
And it's not just federal civil servants, which is of course what his book is about. You look at civil servants on the local level, the state level, the federal level, they perform very important jobs.
00:50:45
Malcolm Guidry
Put this into into perspective. You know, our country has grown considerably over the past 100 years. mean, if we go back just to, let's say, 19, 1965, 67, the population at that oh gosh, let's see was, 197 million, it was around 197 million people. And now we've got around 330 million people. So we've nearly...
00:51:10
Malcolm Guidry
and now we've got around three hundred and thirty million people so we've nearly doubled, you know, almost two thirds.
00:51:20
Malcolm Guidry
I guess we've increased our population by about two thirds.
00:51:21
Joseph
Thank you.
00:51:24
Malcolm Guidry
That's huge. How does anyone expect, which which baffles me if you think about this, We've got 330 million people in the United States. How are we supposed to have a smaller bureaucracy with 330 million people?
00:51:36
Malcolm Guidry
okay Now, what will surprise you is the size of the bureaucracy. It hasn't really increased that much. okay But first off, why do we need ah bureaucracy?
00:51:48
Simone
Thank you.
00:51:48
Malcolm Guidry
Let's start with some of the reasons why. so Civil servants handle a lot of the really essential tasks on a local, state, and federal level. Issuing permits, permits like, you know, let's say you need to build an extension on your house, requires a permit, right?
00:52:07
Malcolm Guidry
You got to apply for that permit. There's got to be an inspection. There's probably a fee for that permit. That's one example. um You could have, ah you know, exams, certain exams that you need to take for certain kinds of jobs that people have.
00:52:22
Simone
Thank you.
00:52:24
Malcolm Guidry
Those exams are given either at the local, state, or federal level, okay? Civil servants administer those exams. What about collecting various fees? And I don't just mean taxes, the fees for the extension on the house that you're building, okay? Okay.
00:52:42
Malcolm Guidry
So they perform a multitude of of jobs that are really critical to our society. um They also emphasize and support various rules and procedures for the way things are done in our government.
00:53:04
Malcolm Guidry
as well as as helping people, making sure that people are being treated fairly, ah equitably. Okay. So, I mean, there're there i look forward to reading the book. I don't know that it's come out yet.
00:53:18
Malcolm Guidry
I have to check. But I certainly would like to read the book by Michael Lewis, his latest book. um But um it's just really incredible. Civil servants, I mean, they they provide. This is the thing that really got me thinking.
00:53:32
Malcolm Guidry
Career civil servants, people who've been working for, i mean, Joe, your mom. Your mom works for the Federal Public Defender's Office. She's a civil servant but at the federal level.
00:53:41
Joseph
and
00:53:43
Malcolm Guidry
She's been doing this job for over 20 years. She's an expert at what she does.
00:53:47
Joseph
Over 20, almost 30. And I can tell you, it's a lot of in ah inglorious work, very monotonous, very nose to the grindstone, but you can see the results, you know,
00:53:53
Malcolm Guidry
Great.
00:53:57
Malcolm Guidry
It's so important. Absolutely. Absolutely. um They have specialized knowledge, these career civil servants. And if you...
00:54:06
Joseph
actually She's actually in the process right now since she's close to retirement. She's organizing all of her institutional knowledge, all of her information into like ah a manual process. for her replacement eventually.
00:54:18
Joseph
But we don't know who a replacement will be, but they're going to be coming in not having 30 years of experience of how who to contact, who to speak to, how to speak to someone, how to file things a certain way so they succeed.
00:54:25
Simone
Thank you.
00:54:30
Joseph
All of that's important, learned knowledge that your civil servants have to be in the position long enough to get and then pass down.
00:54:37
Malcolm Guidry
That is absolute.
00:54:37
Joseph
It's almost an errant of sorts.
00:54:40
Malcolm Guidry
you're right That is so important. And it's great that she's doing that because imagine had she not decided to compile all that information into manuals, she would just say, okay, I'm done.
00:54:43
Joseph
mr
00:54:51
Malcolm Guidry
You guys can have it.
00:54:51
Joseph
Yeah.
00:54:53
Malcolm Guidry
Adios. She leaves. Her replacement starts from scratch. I know what that's like.
00:54:57
Joseph
Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:58
Malcolm Guidry
And it sucks.
00:54:59
Joseph
It's very chaotic.
00:54:59
Malcolm Guidry
I don't know what that's like. So, but yeah, so all the expertise that they've acquired over the years in their specializations, in their careers, working for a local, state, or federal government, that should be respected and appreciated.
00:55:13
Simone
you.
00:55:15
Malcolm Guidry
And I don't think people are really aware because, you know, we've got this we've got this um idea of the bureaucrat as this lazy, time-wasting person who's just collecting paycheck.
00:55:16
Joseph
Mm-hmm.
00:55:30
Joseph
yeah
00:55:30
Malcolm Guidry
You know, and and, you know, they're just they don't really give a shit.
00:55:34
Joseph
yeah
00:55:34
Malcolm Guidry
And it's not it's not true. The vast majority, the vast majority of of of civil servants are conscientious, hardworking people who take pride in their jobs.
00:55:44
Malcolm Guidry
And they may vote when they go out to vote. They may vote for a certain party, but they are nonpolitical. ah Most of them are nonpolitical immigrants.
00:55:53
Joseph
And I think it really is a case of ignorance, ignorance in the absence of knowledge, because I don't think people realize how strict the federal government and local governments are, all government, about not being political, about not taking gifts.
00:56:06
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:56:07
Joseph
If you get a $30 gift card, you have to report that and you might not be able to accept it.
00:56:08
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, yeah.
00:56:13
Joseph
If you wear a lapel pin, that might be too much.
00:56:14
Malcolm Guidry
That's exactly right. Yeah.
00:56:16
Joseph
Even in an American flag lapel pin might sometimes be suspect if only because...
00:56:21
Simone
Thank you.
00:56:22
Joseph
You want to be as unassuming and neutral as possible because you want to you don't want anyone to feel like you're against them. And functions of government, too.
00:56:30
Malcolm Guidry
You're absolutely right.
00:56:32
Joseph
I saw i saw people discussing the other day. i i am not kidding.
00:56:36
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:56:36
Joseph
Someone was saying... ah we spend too much money on libraries. That's going to things people don't need. We should defund them. And there was an argument and some guy popped in who was supporting the defunding of libraries saying, well, look, why don't we just take all the taxes that people are paying to libraries and buy the books directly and give it to people who can't use the books.
00:56:54
Joseph
And to some, to that, someone said, congratulations, you discovered libraries.
00:56:54
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, for fuck's sake.
00:56:58
Joseph
And it's just, people aren't thinking about what government actually is.
00:57:00
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Not at all.
00:57:03
Joseph
Government's your damn road. It's the libraries.
00:57:05
Malcolm Guidry
Yes.
00:57:05
Joseph
It's,
00:57:06
Malcolm Guidry
Yes.
00:57:06
Joseph
all these wonderful services you don't even think about because that's just there.
00:57:09
Malcolm Guidry
Well, that's right. That's right. And the continuity. So, you know, your mom, that's an example of the continuity that career civil servants provide across so many different aspects of a bureaucracy.
00:57:23
Simone
Thank you.
00:57:24
Malcolm Guidry
And so she's because she's creating this manual, she's creating establishing continuity.
00:57:27
Joseph
Yeah.
00:57:29
Malcolm Guidry
So her the next person that comes along can continue to do the job seamlessly. There's a nice transition.
00:57:34
Joseph
Yeah.
00:57:35
Malcolm Guidry
And it does.
00:57:35
Joseph
And it builds on itself. Perhaps there's mistakes my mom has made that her successor will learn from and then edit and continue on.
00:57:42
Malcolm Guidry
Exactly. exactly
00:57:43
Joseph
And these massive manuals on how to operate um entire departments, that department had to be created at some point.
00:57:44
Malcolm Guidry
You know that?
00:57:47
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah.
00:57:50
Joseph
And there were mistakes in its creation they learned from.
00:57:51
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Right.
00:57:53
Joseph
It's as they say, all OSHA regulations are written in blood.
00:57:55
Malcolm Guidry
You know,
00:57:56
Joseph
All manuals are written in errors.
00:57:58
Simone
Thank you.
00:57:58
Malcolm Guidry
Sure, sure. um it makes me think of what I do when I first got to my law firm. um I'm, you know, I'm a software trainer. ah that's what That's what I do.
00:58:09
Malcolm Guidry
And when I first got to this law firm, and I've been working for law firms in New York City since 1997. But um but I got here and there were very few scripts that were written.
00:58:23
Malcolm Guidry
One of the things you need when you teach software, you need a script that you follow so that you know what steps that you can follow along in a proper
00:58:31
Simone
Thank you.
00:58:31
Joseph
Yeah.
00:58:33
Malcolm Guidry
um coherent logical order, you have to follow the script so that you can teach the software to the trainees.
00:58:41
Joseph
Yeah.
00:58:41
Malcolm Guidry
And there were very few scripts. The scripts that were written were written in such a way that the people who used to give the classes, who used to teach the classes, understood what they meant.
00:58:52
Malcolm Guidry
But for me, I'm like, ah I don't know what this is telling me. So I had to write a lot of the scripts that I'm now using, I had to create a number of up the ah tip sheets and I'm revising some guides.
00:59:01
Joseph
mean
00:59:07
Malcolm Guidry
I'm not complaining. Listen, it's keeping me busy and and I'm learning much more about the software as I go along.
00:59:09
Joseph
Yeah.
00:59:12
Malcolm Guidry
But that's an example of how continuity is very important.
00:59:15
Joseph
And I'm sure you're writing it in such a way where it's not going to be, well, I understand it. It's going to be understanding the book.
00:59:19
Malcolm Guidry
No.
00:59:20
Joseph
Yeah.
00:59:21
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, listen, listen, that's one thing. No, no, no, and no, no.
00:59:23
Joseph
It's the cornerstone of technical documentation.
00:59:24
Malcolm Guidry
Correct.
00:59:25
Joseph
You have to make sure your audience understands it.
00:59:26
Malcolm Guidry
Correct. Exactly, exactly. Let me give you some statistics, though, about the federal government and and civil servants. All right, so think about this. In 1933, the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency, there were about 500,000 federal employees. World War II 1945, there were 3.5 million, okay,
00:59:50
Malcolm Guidry
at the end of world war two in nineteen forty five there were three point five million okay
00:59:57
Joseph
Hmm.
00:59:57
Malcolm Guidry
Why? Having to deal with the Great Depression and all the different programs that were established to help pull us out of the depression. And then we fell right into World War two
01:00:12
Malcolm Guidry
1941, December 7th. And so we had to to gear up our federal government even more to establish a war machine. So 500,000 to three and a half million, that's a huge increase within 12 years.
01:00:27
Malcolm Guidry
Anyway, think about this now. Let's fast forward 20 years, 45 to Lyndon Johnson as president. the bureau the number of civil servants, bureaucrats, if you will, federal civil servants was 2.2 million, okay?
01:00:45
Malcolm Guidry
So it went down at the end of 1945 from 3.5, 20 years later, 2.2, that's a loss of 1.3 million, okay? But we had more people in our but in our ah and our ah country, 197 million people in the United States at that point, okay?
01:01:01
Simone
Thank you.
01:01:04
Malcolm Guidry
um And then our our federal budget had increased at that point, 1965, according to my notes to, and I've got links we can put in the show notes for all this information.
01:01:16
Malcolm Guidry
Our federal budget at that time was $332 million. Okay. that's 60 years ago. okay so that's sixty years ago We're in now, 2018, sixty years ago nineteen sixty five federal budget of three hundred and thirty two million okay um as of twenty eighteen Right.
01:01:33
Malcolm Guidry
That's just seven years ago. Federal workforce comprised only 0.6 percent. Or in other words, one million nine hundred and eighty thousand people of the total U.S. population.
01:01:46
Malcolm Guidry
OK. It was in 1967. Think about this. In 1967, 1.1% of the total population. So if we had a population of roughly, of that was, according to my math, million.
01:02:02
Malcolm Guidry
so two million one hundred and sixty seven thousand people working in in the federal government we've got less people today working in the federal government than we did back then. Okay?
01:02:13
Malcolm Guidry
So what's this bullshit about trying to slash jobs and and become more efficient? It's crap. It's crap. All right? We need to have a...
01:02:22
Joseph
And if you're motivated if you're motivated by money, the federal workforce takes a drop in the bucket compared to the federal government spending.
01:02:24
Malcolm Guidry
What?
01:02:30
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:02:31
Joseph
If you want to cut spending in the government, you don't go for the people working for it. You go for the many other things we've discussed.
01:02:35
Malcolm Guidry
Exactly. You know, you make a great point. That's a really good point. and That's a point actually that Michael Lewis made in and and in the interview I saw with him recently. He mentioned just that. He said, look, these people, especially the career civil servants, they could leave after 10 years, after 20 years. Let's say you start, you're 30 years old.
01:02:57
Malcolm Guidry
You leave at 40. I'm sorry. Yeah, you leave at 40, 10 years later. 20 years later, you leave at 50. You still got a lot left to give. You could join the private sector and double or triple your salary.
01:03:08
Joseph
yeah
01:03:08
Malcolm Guidry
Why do these people enjoy work? they i really believe the vast majority of them have this pride in serving their country and doing something valuable that they know will affect the greater population.
01:03:24
Joseph
There was actually...
01:03:24
Malcolm Guidry
So...
01:03:25
Joseph
um there's a She was a park ranger. they PBS NewsHour did a special, short little excerpt on the on her. And i I wrote a piece in my blog just expressing my thoughts about it because it was so...
01:03:38
Joseph
Simple in how it was presented. She became a park ranger because she wanted to help her community. Not necessarily the whole world or the whole country. She just saw where she lived and she thought, yeah, people like to use the forests here. They they they want to go on these trails and they just just want to engage. And I want to help them do that. That was her motive for becoming a park ranger. She was very intelligent, very young. and She could have done many different things.
01:04:01
Joseph
She wanted to be a park ranger.
01:04:01
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Uh-huh.
01:04:03
Joseph
And that was her motive. That was it. she She certainly wasn't paid that great. And it was a seasonal job that she had to find other ways to support herself when she wasn't working there.
01:04:07
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:04:11
Joseph
But she was purely motivated by helping her community, which a lot of government workers want to do.
01:04:16
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:04:17
Joseph
They see where they live and they think, how can I help?
01:04:18
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:04:21
Joseph
And they choose government work as a way to do that.
01:04:24
Malcolm Guidry
Absolutely. Absolutely. I think it's a wonderful thing. um You know, just a couple of things i'm goingnna I'm going to leave you with about this. So, again, the absolute number of federal workers 2018 was slightly less than it was 50 years ago.
01:04:42
Malcolm Guidry
So remember, what was it? 2,167,000 by 1967. And then as of 2018, 1,980,000. So dropped, even though multiplied considerably. And also keep this in mind. And really, to it really brings it home. governments, I'm sorry,
01:04:54
Malcolm Guidry
even though our our population multiplied considerably and also keep this in mind and it it really it really to me it really brings it home without governments what without i'm sorry Without government, without bureaucracy, without the the federal establishment that we have, all the different departments, local, state, and federal, what kind of a place would we be living in if we didn't have local governments, federal governments, state governments, all the different departments that support roads, bridges, the water you drink, whether it's out of a faucet or bottled water, it doesn't matter, to ensure that water is
01:05:08
Joseph
yeah
01:05:37
Malcolm Guidry
drinkable and healthy and you.
01:05:38
Joseph
actually There's a really good way to see what kind of place we live in.
01:05:40
Malcolm Guidry
it
01:05:43
Joseph
Go watch ah your average Western movie made in the mid-century and don't put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist. Put yourself in the shoes of the poor people, the extras who get shot in the crossfire or who are just milling about their day.
01:05:57
Joseph
That's the kind of world we live in, our average person.
01:05:59
Malcolm Guidry
That's interesting.
01:06:00
Joseph
Metal snakes roaming around, water you can't trust, criminals just walking in.
01:06:00
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:06:04
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:06:04
Joseph
and Maybe there's someone with a gun to stop them, but no there's no law, there's no order except what you make for yourself. That's the world we live in without government.
01:06:11
Malcolm Guidry
You know, that's that's a good point.
01:06:12
Joseph
Yeah.
01:06:13
Malcolm Guidry
That makes me think of of a lot of libertarians who want minimal government. um I think that's a really good point. When you think about how life was out West 150 years ago, you know, 150 years ago would have been like 1875.
01:06:24
Joseph
Yeah.
01:06:31
Joseph
Yeah.
01:06:31
Malcolm Guidry
Think about what the what the ah the Old West was.
01:06:34
Malcolm Guidry
You know, you could pretty much do what you wanted.
01:06:35
Joseph
It was what you made it. and was And that sounds appealing.
01:06:38
Malcolm Guidry
I knew that.
01:06:38
Joseph
you know I could do what I want, but what you want and what other people want, when those collide, that's where you get the harsh truth of the libertarian idea, which is you're not always going to be the protagonist.
01:06:51
Joseph
And you're lucky if you get some symptoms of law and order, but even that's beholden to someone who may not think according to how you do.
01:06:55
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:06:58
Joseph
There's actually a prison
01:06:58
Malcolm Guidry
And look at, look, look at, look at life expectancy, life expectancy, 150 years ago, what, maybe 50 years of age you were expected to live.
01:07:02
Simone
Thank you.
01:07:02
Joseph
Yeah.
01:07:09
Malcolm Guidry
Now we've dropped a little since COVID, but we're still in the upper seventies for men.
01:07:09
Joseph
It's something like
01:07:15
Malcolm Guidry
I think it's closer to 80 for women. And it's just going to continue to increase if if the current administration doesn't fuck that up.
01:07:17
Joseph
Mm-hmm.
Concerns Over Future Generational Stability and Healthcare Costs
01:07:25
Malcolm Guidry
So it it really makes me very concerned about about what sort of life you guys are going to be living. Because here I am, 61. You guys are 30 and 27. you guys are thirty and twenty seven You guys are going to have a long life. You know, I could see you guys living easily. If you take care of yourselves easily into your 80s, I'm going to be long gone.
01:07:48
Malcolm Guidry
You guys deserve to live in a stable, secure, prosperous United States with with Great health care, affordable health care, hopefully, because of health care.
01:08:00
Joseph
Hmm.
01:08:01
Malcolm Guidry
i was reading an article recently, and I know we've got to shut this down because we're running over. Reading an article about, and i don't know I sent it to both of you guys, um about um ah Spain, the cost of living in Spain compared to the United States.
01:08:09
Joseph
Yeah.
01:08:13
Joseph
Yes, I did. Yeah. Yeah.
01:08:15
Malcolm Guidry
Fascinating how much we pay here in the United States. ah in In, for instance, health care, private health care, I pay um ah over $500 a month for medical, dental and vision.
01:08:30
Joseph
yeah
01:08:30
Malcolm Guidry
So what does that come to? Probably six, a little over $6,000 a year, probably close to $7,000 a year.
01:08:36
Joseph
yeah
01:08:38
Malcolm Guidry
And over there, you know, you can pay in private health care. ah private healthcare, care not public healthcare. You don't pay for public healthcare, but in private healthcare, care you could pay anywhere from like $70 a month up to 200, depending on what you get.
01:08:52
Malcolm Guidry
But think of that. That's so much like...
01:08:53
Joseph
And it's probably equivalent and it's equivalent care because I currently pay 150 a month for my health care. But my health care is if my leg gets chopped off, I'll only have to pay 30,000 for that instead of the full 200,000.
01:08:59
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:09:03
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
01:09:06
Malcolm Guidry
so
01:09:06
Joseph
yeah we yeah
01:09:07
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
01:09:07
Joseph
My health care is a it won't financially ruin me. It'll just make my year miserable health care.
01:09:11
Simone
Thank you.
01:09:12
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.
01:09:14
Joseph
It's still 150 month. yeah
01:09:17
Malcolm Guidry
You know,
01:09:17
Joseph
Yeah, healthcare is one of the things I hope this country can work on like ah first as one of its major problems to fix. Because if the people are living healthy, if they can live with the peace of mind of knowing, tangent, I swear I'm not going to go too long.
01:09:25
Malcolm Guidry
yeah, right, right.
01:09:34
Joseph
But when I was unemployed after graduating for a while, I ended up being on Medicaid.
01:09:35
Malcolm Guidry
Uh-huh.
01:09:39
Joseph
I had very little income and I qualified for it. after after After graduating, I had no health insurance. I had no money.
01:09:45
Joseph
I thinking, oh, God, what if someone hits me in a car because that happened a few years ago?
01:09:45
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:09:49
Malcolm Guidry
Sure.
01:09:49
Joseph
What if I trip and fall? yeah Who knows? I'm screwed.
01:09:53
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:09:54
Joseph
The moment i was confirmed for Medicaid, I looked at that little flimsy card I got and just thought,
01:09:54
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:10:01
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:10:02
Joseph
If I have to go to the doctor, I don't have to pay more than $25 now.
01:10:07
Joseph
I can do that. The stress melted away.
01:10:07
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:10:09
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:10:11
Joseph
And if you don't have stress of that kind building on you, you can focus.
01:10:11
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
01:10:14
Joseph
You can work on so many other things.
01:10:15
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:10:16
Joseph
You can do better at your job. you can Or if you don't have one yet, you can rough work to find one a lot more effectively.
01:10:19
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:10:23
Malcolm Guidry
Absolutely.
01:10:24
Joseph
Everything else is better if you don't have to worry about your actual safety.
01:10:25
Malcolm Guidry
More.
01:10:28
Malcolm Guidry
Listen, man, yeah i totally agree with you. that is That is a big part of the reason why i take very good care of myself. um I get my my physical annual physical every year.
01:10:36
Joseph
Yeah.
01:10:42
Malcolm Guidry
Every five years, I get a calcium. It's it's ah calcium scan, I forget the exact term, but it measures how much calcium is is in your bloodstream, I believe.
01:10:53
Malcolm Guidry
so that And that determines how much plaque you have.
01:10:57
Joseph
Hmm.
01:10:58
Malcolm Guidry
And so I want to make sure that I'm healthy because I want to be around a long time so that I can you know babysit your kids. you know But a couple other things, though, really quick, and then we're going to shut it down. um i want everybody watching, all 10 of you who are watching this podcast,
01:11:13
Joseph
yeah
01:11:13
Simone
Thank you.
01:11:15
Joseph
who we're very grateful for, even if you're just one, and we're glad someone cares to listen to us.
01:11:17
Malcolm Guidry
Very much. Yeah. Totally.
Government's Role in Economy and Market Stability
01:11:21
Malcolm Guidry
Without governments, we don't have markets. All right. Government, because of government, because of of our bureaucracy and because of civil servants, we're able to have the kind of markets we have.
01:11:34
Malcolm Guidry
Without government, we would have no markets. Okay. And Economic growth. What kind of economic growth would we have if we didn't have public-private partnerships?
01:11:48
Malcolm Guidry
you know And we we were talking about this earlier, things like Amtrak. um Oh, my gosh. What are some of the other examples that I came up with, Joe?
01:11:58
Joseph
Yes, I mean, to me, just the public and corporation in general.
01:12:00
Malcolm Guidry
PBS. Yeah. Yeah. What'd you say, Samar?
01:12:05
Simone
I didn't say anything.
01:12:06
Malcolm Guidry
Okay. Okay. um But, you know, if we go after cutting, the you know, government, Clinton, Bill Clinton, during his administration, they actually went at cutting bureaucracy, but they went at it with a scalpel.
01:12:24
Malcolm Guidry
They were very, very conscientious and careful about how, what they cut and how they went about doing it.
01:12:24
Joseph
Mm hmm.
01:12:30
Malcolm Guidry
um But I i mean,
01:12:32
Joseph
Because I think that's something we can all agree on across any party line. The federal government, as it exists, cannot continue. We need to change it. We need to reform it.
01:12:42
Malcolm Guidry
Sure.
01:12:42
Joseph
It's just we have to remember how much has been built up over the years by all these civil servants and how hard it would be to rebuild that if we just tore it down without thinking.
01:12:47
Malcolm Guidry
Right. That's right.
01:12:52
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. there're gonna There's going to be a lot of pain and it's not going to hurt the billionaires. It's not going to hurt Donald Trump. He's never been poor He grew up in a multimillionaire family and, you know, he's supposedly a billionaire now.
01:13:01
Joseph
Yeah. Yeah.
01:13:07
Malcolm Guidry
He probably is, but these people
Social Inequality and Historical Warnings
01:13:10
Malcolm Guidry
don't understand. They don't understand what it means to be poor and to struggle, you know, like so many lower and middle income folks do nowadays.
01:13:18
Malcolm Guidry
And, you know, I keep thinking of the the French revolution, you know, and the
01:13:26
Joseph
Eventually, people will get so fed up that they're not going to care about decorum or strategy or anything else.
01:13:31
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
01:13:32
Joseph
They're just going to... Luigi Mangione won't be the only instance if we don't steer the course away.
01:13:37
Malcolm Guidry
I think you're right. I think you're right. I mean, I'm afraid that could be the truth. Anyway, okay.
Conclusion and Listener Appreciation
01:13:43
Malcolm Guidry
So that's all I've got. um We went over, we're at an hour and a quarter. That's not too bad.
01:13:50
Malcolm Guidry
yeah. but
01:13:51
Joseph
By keeping ourselves to 60 minutes, when we go to 75 minutes, we're still kind of controlling ourselves.
01:13:56
Malcolm Guidry
yeah But look, thank you both. It was great to see both of you. And as it always is, great to have this conversation.
01:14:01
Joseph
Yeah.
01:14:01
Simone
Bye.
01:14:04
Malcolm Guidry
And thanks all of you out there who listen and who watch on YouTube. We always appreciate your your attention. And we hope you join us again.
01:14:16
Malcolm Guidry
Thanks a lot.
01:14:17
Simone
by
01:14:17
Malcolm Guidry
Bye.
01:14:18
Joseph
Adios.