We Tried To Tell Ya (Part One Of Many); Fulton County DA Fani Willis Impedes Her Own Prosecutorial Mission; VP Harris Inspires The Youth In Maryland
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Welcome to The Politocrat. I'm Omar. It is Friday, December the 20th, 2024. On this edition of The Politocrat, the Grinch who stole Christmas. Donald Trump already making sure that the government shuts down. That shutdown looms ever closer within the next few hours after a bill that would have kept the government open is torpedoed.

Mostly thanks to Elon Musk. All of that coming up next.

Dear listener, happy Friday and welcome to this brand new edition of the Politico Ad Daily Podcast. Yours truly, Omar Moore here on a Friday. I hope you're well, dear listener. How are you feeling today as we get to the last Friday before Christmas? I do hope that you are well in a good place and you and yours are faring the very best under these circumstances. And if you're not, I do hope and I do believe that things will get better for you. Remember, tough times do not last, but tough people like you do.

And on this Friday, I do want to also say to you that if you are someone who does shop for presents for the holidays, Christmas holiday, whatever holiday, whether it's Kwanzaa that comes up actually in six days from now, or whether it is Hanukkah that I think has passed by at this point, or whether it's anything, or even if you don't believe in holidays or anything like that, I do hope that you...

Give of yourself if you are able to, and it doesn't even have to be presents. I do hope you get your Christmas shopping done and that you have done that or that you are about to finish up doing that. But even more than gifts, I do hope that you are able to give of yourself, meaning being present for people in your life, being present for the people that matter to you, being present and available to them to give.

Be a light for them, to encourage them. That's what I mean. It doesn't have to be an actual giving of a present or a gift. Your presence means everything. And there are people who need your presence in your life, need your guidance, need your guidance.

trust and all of those things. And I say this because people can do some very strange things. And I want to remind you, and I have said this from time to time, but not lately on this episode or on this podcast, make sure that you are not a character in someone else's drama. And I really do think that's very important to keep in mind.

That you will experience this from some people. And you don't want to get caught up in that. Now it's one thing to support someone or listen to someone or be present for someone. But it's quite another when your presence and your involvement really is important.

A, not appreciated or B, just part of some kind of drama that someone is going through. You don't want to be part of that. You really don't. You want to make sure that you are not a part of someone's drama and that you're not a character in it. Now, again, it depends on what the situation is and it depends on what the relationship is, but you don't want to get caught up

not unnecessarily in people's dramas. It's not healthy and it's not healthy for anyone. It's not healthy for the person. It's not healthy for you. So I do want to pass that along. This time of year, all kinds of things happen. This time of year, as I have cited before, can be incredibly difficult for a lot of people in general because it's a time of year where people do feel

or they feel very sad or they feel depressed or they feel challenged. There's a lot of stresses that go on in people's lives. And this particular time of year tends to accentuate those stresses. And that can be very demanding and very challenging for a lot of people. So one of the things I would say, apart from not wanting for you, dear listen, to be a character on someone else's stage play,

is for you to surround yourself with people who care about you. I want you, dear listener, to surround yourself with friends and family who you care about, who care about you, who trust you, who you can trust. Because not everybody can trust a family member. Not everyone has that luxury to do that, even at this time of year or any time of year. But I want you, dear listener, to...

Have a support system of people that you can trust. And it doesn't have to be a massive circle of 30 people or 20 people or even 10. It can be a small circle of friends. It can be just one or two people. It doesn't have to be even five people. It can be a couple of people.

Who you trust and who you believe in and who believe in you, right? It's very important to have some kind of support network. And that network, again, it could be a lot of people or it could just be one or two people.

And as long as you've got that, and as long as you've got family, or as long as you've got people that you trust, and family is a very expansive term in the 21st century, of course, as long as you've got those people, be it two people, three people, one person, 10 people, five people, 25 people, as long as you've got a network of people who trust,

fortify you, who they're good to be around and they're healthy and positive people. And they're people who will tell you the truth and be honest with you as well as will lift you up and support you and do those things and listen. That's all you need really in this world. But you don't need to be a character in someone else's drama. That is most definitely a

not good for you. And if you find that you are somehow a character in someone else's drama, you know what, you know what to do. You need to write yourself out of that script. Dear listener, welcome back. And the topic that I want to focus on is the effort to

shut down the government because quite frankly in the United States that's what we're seeing from a coterie of Republicans but specifically from the likes of Elon Musk and also Donald Trump. Now here's what is happening right now. There's going to be another vote today according to Speaker Johnson who I don't think is going to be House Speaker for very much longer. The bottom line is that you might see something really bizarre which you're probably going to see

coming up next January, coming up in the next few days, because I think there could be either a vacancy in the speakership or there could be someone like an Elon Musk, for God's sakes, becoming Speaker of the House. And there's no law against that, by the way. So that is something that you could keep your eye on as well. But speaking of Elon Musk, who is a parasite and someone who has believed in affirmative action forever because he's benefited from it,

We have all these government subsidies and tax write-offs and all these things. And we've been actually giving him that money. Because where do you think this government subsidy comes from? Where do you think that money comes from? The U.S. taxpayer. So, dear listener, you pay taxes if you live in the United States. And your money, your taxpayer money, is going to Elon Musk.

A billionaire, the richest man in the world. Now, how did he get that money? You gave it to him with your taxes from government subsidies, government contracts, tax abatements, all kinds of things. So I want to just put that out there for those who somehow think that this guy is a self-made millionaire or billionaire. There's no such thing as a self-made person. No such thing, to quote the billionaire.

title of a John Mayer song. So yesterday, dear listener, the House of Representatives had reached an agreement and that agreement was reached through Republicans and Democrats to keep the government open. The government shutdowns are things that routinely happen when there is a disagreement over how best to fund the government. And that disagreement is something that pretty much every year or every few months happens.

Congress votes on, right? Whether or not the government can stay open. And what are the terms of engagement and agreement on which that happens? How much money, how much funding? Is there going to be a debt ceiling extension or is there going to be a lowering of the debt ceiling? These are the kinds of things that the government shut down to shut down or not to shut down are all about. There have been bills passed this year to avert that.

In Congress and in the Senate, we've seen that happen this year and last year. Every year this happens. We'll fund the government. We'll keep it open. We'll do this. We'll do that. What are the terms of the engagement? What are the terms of agreement? Republicans and Democrats in the House had reached an agreement. But all of a sudden, actually, they reached it, I think, on Wednesday. All of a sudden, oh, here comes a tweet. Here comes a post from who? Elon Musk.

Oh, no, we can't go forward with this. We can't go forward with that. Donald Trump weighs in here, weighs in there. Bottom line is, is that now you've got a racist and billionaire trying to dictate policy, not trying to, actually destroying policy. Where have we seen that before this year, where somebody named Donald Trump

destroyed a bill that House members on the Republican and Democratic side had agreed on. What was that bill? Oh, yes, immigration would have been the strongest border bill that we've had in the United States for more than 30 years.

A really tough bill. You know the story. The Republican Senator James Lankford, probably the most conservative senator in the United States Senate, had drawn up this bill, had put it out there in February 2024. And what happened? It was all set to be voted on. It was agreed upon. Biden was ready to sign it into law. And what happened?

Trump called up the Republicans and said, do not vote on this bill. Kill this darn thing. They did. And now we are where we are again. This time with the government shutdown, which is on the verge of happening unless this vote today, Friday, takes place and yields the fruit that Speaker Johnson is begging for or hoping for or betting on.

is where we are now. And the reason why we are now where we are right this second, dear listener, as you listen to this, and of course a lot could have changed by the time you've listened to this, is that there was Elon Musk blowing up an agreement, Donald Trump blowing up an agreement. Why? Why? Well, we want this. Well, we want that. Well, we want the other thing. The Associated Press talked about this. And the thing is, is that

This is Republicans doing this damage, as they always do. Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freakin talked about this. Freakin, not spelled the way that I spell it, but F-R-E-K-I-N-G. Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freakin. Today, December 20th, headline, House rejects Trump-backed plan on government shutdown, leaving next steps uncertain.

A day before the potential government shut down the House, resoundingly rejected President-elect. I'm not going to say that. I can't. I just can't read that anymore.

planned a shot to fund operations to suspend the debt ceiling as Democrats and dozens of Republicans refused to accommodate his sudden demands. In a hastily convened Thursday evening vote, punctuated by angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, the lawmakers failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for passage, but House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared determined to reassess before Friday's midnight deadline. That's midnight Eastern time tonight.

We're going to regroup and we will come up with another solution. So stay tuned, Johnson said after the vote. The cobbled together plan didn't even get a majority with the bill failing 174 to 235.

The outcome proved a massive setback for Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, who rampaged against Johnson's bipartisan compromise, which Republicans and Democrats had reached earlier to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown. Let me tell you something. That's just a portion of that story, which I will link to the full edition of in the line notes of this episode.

The reason why this government shutdown bill was not approved is because this idiot Elon Musk and his dumb, dumb orange felon friend were hell-bent on doing all kinds of nonsense. And Elon Musk wants this, he wants that, he wants the world on a platter. Just crazy. Oh, I want to add an increase to the debt ceiling. Why would you want an increase? I mean, this is just crazy.

Why do we want to keep doing all of these things? This is something that is really crazy. And the Democrats have to continue to hold firm. Do not vote for this madness. Do not vote for things that are going to harm the American public. The American public, however, voted for something that's going to harm the American public. And that is Donald Trump. They voted for that last month. And you're going to see.

The cost of all of that coming up over these next four plus years. I say plus because we don't know for a fact sitting here in late December of 2024 that there's ever going to be a U.S. presidential election again. And certainly not in the way that we usually think of it. You had Republicans saying, hell no, we're not voting for this madness. You have Democrats saying, no, we had a deal.

And we're not going to sit here and accommodate nonsense. House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, made his points very clear, continued to point to the people who caused this crisis, the Republicans, and continue to stand firm.

And that is exactly what needs to happen. The American public is going to be hurt by this. All these people that you see talking about it or you hear talking about it, and I'm going to play you one of them in a minute, they're not going to get hurt. Their economic security is fine. Their health care is fine, dear listener.

They get great health care. They get the, you know, arguably the best health care in the world is what the House of Representatives get and senators get in this country, in the U.S. They have tremendous health care. Their families are set. They're set. They don't give a rats. I mean, I shouldn't say they don't give a rats. You know, some of these, a lot of these Republicans don't give a rats, but they

They're set. All of these people are set. They are not worried about where their next meal is coming from. They're not worried about keeping a roof over their head. They're not worried about any of that. Their kids' education. No, no. They're all settled and sorted. All that's sorted. But it's the average person in this country who is going to feel this.

including those fools who voted for the Orange Nightmare Part 2, and also the people who stayed on the couch and said that they weren't going to vote because there was a lesser of two evils issue going on here. There was somehow two evils that somehow Vice President Harris was one of them. Well, I'll tell you what the two evils were. It was Donald Trump and you sitting on the couch and not voting. Or...

Alternatively, there were two evils, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. And there is no lesser of anything when you're talking about the two of them. So Vice President Harris somehow was, oh, that was getting floated all over corporate news media in the run up to the election. Oh, oh, it's a lesser of two evils. Oh, the lesser of two evils. How is there an evil with Vice President Harris? How is there an evil?

But again, this is the kind of propaganda and garbage that you are being fed, that we were being fed throughout the campaign, throughout the last three months of the campaign for Vice President Harris, three months of campaigning. That is exactly what we were fed from the corporate news media and all these soundbites from people and surveys. And, oh, oh, it wouldn't be so bad if we get Donald Trump again. At least I know what I'm dealing with. Well, do you?

Can you name all the destructive things that he did when he was in there the first time? No, but at least I know what it's like. Really? Do you? What about your friends? And what about your family? And what about the fact that there's going to be mass deportation in this country? And your health care is going to be yanked from under you. And there's not going to be an Affordable Care Act that's going to cover you. And that's going to be destroyed.

And the thing that John McCain, on his dying days, voted to preserve, you voted to unravel. How about that? That's what happens when you choose not to vote. That's what happens when you vote for something that's going to hurt you. That's what happens when you have people who are hell-bent on destroying the government,

The services you need, your family need, your grandparents need, your parents need. That is when you have an education system that is designed to keep you dumb and stupid and uninformed. And that's what happens when you have Republicans who ban books. That's what happens when you've had generations of this and this celebrification of the news and a sensationalist bent to the news and people like Stephen A. Smith who

giving you his opinions about politics when he knows nothing about politics. And when you have a social media that makes everybody someone who claims to have the facts at their disposal, and half those people don't know what they're talking about. And quite frankly, when you have podcasts all over the place, and you're listening to one right now, with people who just spout off, don't have facts, don't have sources, don't have anything.

and just say what the hell they want. Just because you have a microphone doesn't mean that you have any kind of facts or intelligence. But you do have a responsibility to actually make some sense and be coherent and actually quote facts. But freedom of speech means that you can say any damn thing you want. Well, almost any damn thing you want.

Speaker Mike Johnson may not be Speaker very much longer. And the government shutdown, if it happens, is going to hurt the very people who didn't vote. The very people who voted for Trump. In fact, it's going to hurt the people who voted for Vice President Harris as well. If you're making millions of dollars a year, you don't have to worry about anything. But everyone else is going to have to worry about a lot.

And if you haven't finished your Christmas shopping yet, if you think that that's a struggle for you, wait until this hideous, filthy felon gets back into the White House. Just wait. You ain't seen nothing yet. I can tell you this, dear listener, that when you have Republicans getting on the House floor and talking about how dismayed they are,

with the madness that's going on, and this guy hasn't even got into the White House yet for his second stint of destruction, that should really give you a barometer of the chaos that these Republicans are going to throw at the country in their process of destroying it. Here is what Republican and Freedom caucus member

Chip Roy, the Republican congressman from Texas, had to say about this madness from the Republicans on the House floor yesterday. That was Chip Roy. You know, he is a broken clock. You know, he gets things right twice, you know, every every so often. And he certainly did there. He was railing at his own party.

and also at Democrats as well, but mostly at the Republicans for getting into this mess, getting the country in the mess that it presently is in. And let's face it, the fact is he's absolutely right. You know, this is one of the rare times I and he and I actually, I actually agree with him. You know, my goodness. He's absolutely right. The Republicans do this all the time. They campaign on, oh, yes, we are fiscally conservative. And they're not fiscally conservative. The Republicans are radical.

They absolutely drop the hammer and they blow up deficits and debts. They just absolutely just balloon them.

That's what happened last time that piece of orange funk was in the White House. He destroyed the economy, blew up the deficits. You knew this and you still voted for him or didn't vote at all. Economists told you that under Vice President Harris, the economic situation would be much stronger in this country and under this orange garbage.

There'd be deficits and debts. There would be much more debt. There would be a recession coming, which I think is going to absolutely happen within the next six to 12 months. And there also would be massive job losses. And that's exactly what they're going to do. They're going to get rid of at least 50,000 civil servants in the federal government. Just you wait and see. The Department of Government Efficiency, which Elon Musk has been named to, is at work here.

Let's just slash everything. You know, this bill that they voted on was initially a 1500 page bill and it got cut down to something like 150 pages or 110 pages because this idiot Elon Musk said, oh, we just can't have all of this government deficiency. Let's just cut all of the services that the vast majority of Americans in this country need. Let's just cut them all.

But you see, people are too busy going Democrats and Republicans, D's and R's. People are too busy pointing at personalities. People are too busy talking and pointing at immigrants or pointing at trans people or pointing at this one or that one or pointing at Haitians or pointing at this or pointing at that. While what is really going on in this country isn't the things that I just mentioned. What's really going on in this country?

is Republicans are destroying the country. Steve Bannon is on board that train to completely get rid of government. That is what is happening, will happen. And the Republicans know it. The Democrats know it. Everybody knows it. The media knows it. The media, which has been broadcasting as if Trump has been in the White House and never left after 2021, continues to know it as well.

And so Chip Roy there yesterday on the floor of the House was roasting his Republican colleagues. He was looking at them and shouting at them. And every now and again, he gets it right. Chip Roy, he's a radical. Don't agree with him at all with his politics. He's voted for a lot of things that have been very hideous and destructive to the American public. On this one occasion, he gets it right. Gets it right.

Now, we will see two thirds, really. Do you think that Mike Johnson can get that today in this vote? Now, by the time again, by the time you listen to this, he may have been able to pull a rabbit out of the hat. But let me tell you this, dear listener. If this bill does not pass, the government will be shut down just in time for Christmas. The Grinch that stole Christmas. You know who the Grinch will be? It will be Donald Trump and it will be Elon Musk.

What's happening here is that the power of the speaker, Mike Johnson, and he's a joke anyway, is being undermined by Elon Musk. What is also happening here is that if this bill doesn't pass today, this vote, and they don't pass this bill today, the government will be shut down tonight, midnight Eastern time, as I said earlier. And you know what that means? Social Security checks will not come through.

If you're on unemployment on a federal basis, that won't come through. If you're getting checks from disability on a federal basis, those won't come through. If you're a government worker, you will be furloughed or you'll be working without pay. Or if you're a government worker, you may not be asked to come in at all. You might lose your job.

There are people already losing their jobs in both government and in the private sector. Before this orange nightmare part two even walks back into the White House. Just in time for Christmas. Ho, ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas. From Texas is recognized for three minutes. I think the gentlelady, when I ran for Congress in 2018, the debt was $21 trillion. $21 trillion.

I was just texting with my son back home in Austin, who I haven't seen in quite a long time because I'm here trying to fight for him. When I got through cancer about 12 years ago, I made my promise to my kids that I would do everything I can to save this country. And what we're doing right now is to continue to double down on the things that are destroying the republic. We are going to increase the debt ceiling.

Not just $4 trillion, that's false. We have spent $4.7 trillion in additional debt in the last 19 months. We're going to increase the debt by $5 trillion. That's what's going to happen right here by Republicans increasing the debt $5 trillion. And what are you doing in the same bill?

$110 billion unpaid for because you never have any ounce of self-respect to go out and campaign saying you're going to balance the budget. And then you come in here and pass $110 billion unpaid for.

On top of the $200 billion you did for WEP, you guys won't agree with that, but the fact of the matter is $330 billion. Congratulations, you've added to the debt since you were given the majority again on November 5th. It's embarrassing. It's shameful.

Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects. But to take this bill, to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it's shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion is asinine. And that's precisely what Republicans are doing.

I'm absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say, you think this is fiscally responsible? It is absolutely ridiculous. It also turns off PAYGO. It turns off the $1.7 trillion in automatic cuts under PAYGO because this side of the aisle is profoundly unserious about taxes.

Actually, reducing deficits, just as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are profoundly unserious about reducing deficits. The entire body, the entire body has been racking up debt for my entire life. $36 trillion, a trillion dollars of interest. We rack up a trillion dollars every 100 days. And what are we going to do about it?

We're going to run around and talk about cutting taxes, but not doing what's necessary to cut the spending along with the cut taxes. My other side of the aisle, my colleagues will say, oh no, we got to increase taxes, but we'll do anything to cut spending. And so here we sit in the same mess. And I got to be honest, I want to remind people, this is Article 1. I yield back. Gentlemen yields. That was Chip Roy. You know, he...

is a broken clock, you know, he gets things right twice, you know, every so often, and he certainly did there, he was railing at his own party.

and also at Democrats as well, but mostly at the Republicans for getting into this mess, getting the country in the mess that it presently is in. And let's face it, the fact is he's absolutely right. You know, this is one of the rare times I and he and I actually, I actually agree with him. You know, my goodness. He's absolutely right. The Republicans do this all the time. They campaign on, oh, yes, we are fiscally conservative. And they're not fiscally conservative. The Republicans are radical.

They absolutely drop the hammer and they blow up deficits and debts. They just absolutely just balloon them.

That's what happened last time that piece of orange funk was in the White House. He destroyed the economy, blew up the deficits. You knew this and you still voted for him or didn't vote at all. Economists told you that under Vice President Harris, the economic situation would be much stronger in this country and under this orange garbage,

There would be deficits and debts. There would be much more debt. There would be a recession coming, which I think is going to absolutely happen within the next six to 12 months. And there also would be massive job losses. And that's exactly what they're going to do. They're going to get rid of at least 50,000 civil servants in the federal government. Just you wait and see. The Department of Government Efficiency, which Elon Musk has been named to, is at work here.

Let's just slash everything. You know, this bill that they voted on was initially a 1500 page bill and it got cut down to something like 150 pages or 110 pages because this idiot Elon Musk said, oh, we just can't have all of this government deficiency. Let's just cut all of the services that the vast majority of Americans in this country need. Let's just cut them all.

But you see, people are too busy going Democrats and Republicans, D's and R's. People are too busy pointing at personalities. People are too busy talking and pointing at immigrants or pointing at trans people or pointing at this one or that one or pointing at Haitians or pointing at this or pointing at that. While what is really going on in this country isn't the things that I just mentioned. What's really going on in this country?

is Republicans are destroying the country. Steve Bannon is on board that train to completely get rid of government. That is what is happening, will happen. And the Republicans know it. The Democrats know it. Everybody knows it. The media knows it. The media, which has been broadcasting as if Trump has been in the White House and never left after 2021, continues to know it as well.

And so Chip Roy there, yesterday on the floor of the House, was roasting his Republican colleagues. He was looking at them and shouting at them. And every now and again, he gets it right, Chip Roy. He's a radical, don't agree with him at all with his politics. He's voted for a lot of things that have been very hideous and destructive to the American public. On this one occasion, he gets it right. Gets it right.

Now, we will see two thirds, really. Do you think that Mike Johnson can get that today in this vote? Now, by the time again, by the time you listen to this, he may have been able to pull a rabbit out of the hat. But let me tell you this, dear listener. If this bill does not pass, the government will be shut down just in time for Christmas. The Grinch that stole Christmas. You know who the Grinch will be? It will be Donald Trump and it will be Elon Musk.

What's happening here is that the power of the speaker, Mike Johnson, and he's a joke anyway, is being undermined by Elon Musk. What is also happening here is that if this bill doesn't pass today, this vote, and they don't pass this bill today, the government will be shut down tonight, midnight Eastern time, as I said earlier. And you know what that means? Social Security checks will not come through.

If you're on unemployment on a federal basis, that won't come through. If you're getting checks from disability on a federal basis, those won't come through. If you're a government worker, you will be furloughed or you'll be working without pay. Or if you're a government worker, you may not be asked to come in at all. You might lose your job.

There are people already losing their jobs in both government and in the private sector. Before this orange nightmare part two even walks back into the White House. Just in time for Christmas. Ho, ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas. Other news, dear listener, that you might want to be aware of in Georgia, the Court of Appeals there says,

said yesterday that the district attorney for Fulton County, Fannie Willis, who won re-election just last month, will be forbidden to prosecute the case against Donald Trump in the Georgia election case. Remember that? When Donald Trump on January the 2nd of 2021 called the Secretary of State for Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, and said, I need you to find me 11,780 votes. Remember all of that?

Well, now a judge and actually a circuit court, it wasn't, excuse me, a court of appeals. It wasn't just one judge. It was a panel of judges voted two to one in favor of denying Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis from prosecuting the case. And not only just Fannie Willis, but also any member of her team.

So right now, you have a case that is essentially not going forward. You know, just yesterday or the day before, I told you that that case is still on the books, along with the New York case. The New York case, the conviction has still been maintained. Now, it's just a question of if the sentencing is ever going to ever happen in that case. That's the question. But as far as the Georgia case, that was still going on. It had been held up, but it had still been on the cards. Now...

The likelihood is that's going to go away at some point because now you've got Fannie Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, being told by the court that she cannot prosecute the case against Donald Trump anymore and nor can any member of her team. And so what that means is that a whole new group of people are going to have to ramp up their knowledge on this case and take it over. And by the time that happens, well, I mean...

This is really what happens when you have people in power who put up a structure, who make very clear that the rules aren't the same. And listen, there are people who defend her, but I'm not going to defend her here. I mean, she has a right to have the relationships in her life that she chooses to. You also have a right to be smart about putting people on a team.

that you're having that relationship with and understanding that you're dealing in a system of people who have no morals, who have no judgment, who have every judgment against you. And as a black person, as a black woman, Fannie Willis, the district attorney, has got to be careful there, has got to be better in that moment. I'm not passing judgment on her relationship. I'm passing judgment on her judgment.

You cannot hire somebody that you're having an intimate relationship with on that team that you're working to prosecute someone who is a criminal on, who is a powerful criminal. You can't put someone on your team who you are having a personal intimate relationship with and have that person as a member of your team.

I'm sorry, that's just 101. That's just ethics 101. That's not about having a judgment about this black woman having her relationship. She's free to have a relationship with whomever she chooses. I support her having the relationship with Nathan Ward or whatever his last name is, but I don't think it's very smart to put the blooming guy on the same freaking prosecutorial team.

that you're prosecuting a freaking felon on. I mean, that doesn't make any sense to me. But somehow, dear listener, there are people out there, some black women and some black men, who somehow think that you saying that the district attorney of Fulton County, Farnie Willis, should exercise a bit more judgment

Somehow is now a personal attack on her autonomy to have relationships. No, no, it's not. Don't conflate the two. Please don't do that to us. Don't do that to us because quite frankly, the vast majority of black folk do not support the foolery of putting a prosecutor on a case that you're having an intimate relationship with. No, we don't support that stuff.

We are actually very conservative when it comes to things like this. We don't support you putting on a freaking prosecutorial team the person you're sleeping with. No, we don't support that. By and large, we don't. And I'm telling you this as someone that makes it very clear that we are not a monolith. Black folk are not a monolith. And we don't support, but we don't support by and large that kind of thing.

Now, there are people, as I said, a number of people, many of them black women, but not all because there are lots of black women who aren't in favor of what Fannie Willis did either. But they're not passing judgment on a relationship. They're passing judgment on putting this guy that you have in the relationship with on the same blooming team in a system that treats you differently. You got to know that. You can't be naive to that.

You've got to be smart about stuff like this. You're a veteran prosecutor. You're a district attorney. And you can't put someone like that that you're having a relationship with on your team. Come on. That don't make no sense. That's what I'm talking about. But somehow, when you say it like that, there's going to be a few people in the world that will point and go, oh, you're attacking her right to have her. No, we're not.

But again, again, you're always going to have this. There's always going to be people out there who are going to project whatever feelings, inadequacies, insecurities or defenses onto you because you're just telling the truth about having to be appropriate and making sure that you dot your I's and cross your T's. You're a district attorney. Dot your I's and cross your T's. I just, again...

This is really basic stuff. And you cannot, especially as a black person in this country, you cannot afford to be that naive, mate. You can't be naive like that in a situation like that. Especially as someone who's a, I just, again, I keep repeating that. You are the district attorney of Fulton County. You're in the deep south in Georgia. You're in the deep south. You're in the deep south.

Oh my goodness me, and you're a black woman. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. How is that something that you could possibly afford to take a chance on? Putting someone on your team to prosecute this racist piece of orange garbage who you're having an intimate relationship with. That's just absolute madness. And no, I am not questioning Fannie Willis's right

as an individual, as a human being, to have the relationship that she chooses to. She can do that all day and all night long. If she wants a relationship with a prosecutor in her team, fine. Just don't put him on the damn team that you're prosecuting this orange felon on. I'm sorry for shouting. I know, I know, I know. It's almost Christmas, Omar. Don't shout. You're a listener. I'm sorry, dear listener, for shouting.

I know I've done this so many times to you, but I do appreciate you. That's what just frustrates me. Not that I appreciate you. What frustrates me is that a black woman or a black man or any black person in a position of power like that has got to exercise better judgment than to put someone on their team who they are having an intimate relationship with. Because you know that these folks are going to drill down on every little thing you do. They're going to do that.

That happens to people who aren't black. They drill down on any little thing. Where can we find a weakness? Where can we find a strength? Let's attack the strength and use that. Let's do that. That happens to anybody and especially a woman. And that's what ticks me off as well. You don't use your judgment there. And someone who is so hell bent on making sure

that she punishes people who don't have the power that this orange felon does. So hell-bent on making sure that those I's and T's are dotted and crossed when it comes to the everyday black person in Fulton County, Georgia. Somehow, when it comes to this white, racist piece of orange garbage, somehow,

throws ethics out the window, puts someone on a prosecution team to prosecute him who she's having a relationship with intimately. Somehow the I's and T's don't get dotted and crossed in that situation. And then you wonder why there are lots of black folk who disagree with her judgment and have disagreed with her there. They might support her. I think some of us as black folks support her

generally, and like her and care about her as a person. But we don't support, some of us, many of us, I would say, don't support putting this person that you're having in the affair or the relationship with on your team. That's just really stupid. That's just stupid. I'm sorry, that is stupid. And you have now brought this on yourself. And it's very easy for anyone to say, well, yes, well, they went after the sister. They went after the black woman.

That's what people say when Diddy gets arrested and thrown in jail and not released on bond. Well, Trump gets away with it. Well, yeah, he does. This is the racist-ass system, the anti-black system that we're living under. Yeah, he does. And...

And? You mean that, you're gonna tell me that absolves Diddy? No, it doesn't absolve Diddy from the crap that he's been accused of doing. And it doesn't absolve him from what we saw on that video when he beat that black woman to an inch of her life. It don't absolve him. But that's what some of us do. We use that, oh, well, you know, the system. Yeah, yes, it does. And that's not good either. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Two wrongs do not make her right. The fact that the system is anti-black and it's racist does not absolve Diddy from what he may have done, and it doesn't absolve the district attorney of Fulton County from what she actually did, which was to put a prosecutor who she's having an affair with or relationship with or whatever the heck it is on a team that is going to look at every nook and cranny

to make sure that they can get this criminal out of Dodge and out of jail. I just really do not understand where people think that there is some kind of mulligan that Fannie Willis or anyone else who is black should be getting when this is about judgment. This is about behavior. In Diddy's case, it's definitely about behavior. And I'm not comparing these two people.

And in the case of Farnie Willis, the district attorney at Fulton County, this is about judgment. You are an officer of the court. You have a heightened responsibility to execute better judgment than that. Better judgment than that. You've got to be better. You have to be. And now your case is effed up now. You're now effed up. You done effed up your case. Because now...

It's really an open question as to whether this blooming thing's ever going to get restarted. So you have torpedoed your own case. Hollywood could not write a script like this. Dear listener, I'm going to end this episode on a more upbeat note. We are five days before Christmas, right? We are here five days before Christmas for those of you who

out there who acknowledge this or celebrate it or whatever, you know, or if you don't. And I think I'm going to end this episode with something a bit more on the positive scale. Don't you think that's a good idea? I do. I've been shouting at you for more than half an hour plus and, well, raising my voice at you. And I apologize for doing that. I am only doing that. I just think that what we are dealing with in this country is not a joke.

And sometimes you do have to shout to get people's attention. I always refer to this book called Why Black People Tend to Shout. It was written by Ralph Wiley, who passed away years ago at an early age. He was such a razor sharp writer and thinker. And this book is a really powerful and explosive book, which I think is out of print. I am fortunate enough to have a copy of the book.

But if you can get your hands on that book, I strongly recommend that you read it. It's called Why Black People Tend to Shout. And sometimes you have to shout. And if you're black in this country, in the United States, you have to shout. Because you know what? A lot of freaking people aren't listening to us. Including some black folk. There are white folk that don't listen. Some white folk that don't listen to us. And there are some black folk that don't listen to us either. Seriously, you think I'm joking. So anyway...

I think, though, you can listen to Vice President Kamala Harris because that's exactly who I'm going to have talk to you right now. This was this week in Maryland. She's speaking to young people. And as she kept saying, as I said yesterday, routinely she said this throughout the campaign, that we are ready for a new generation of leadership and change.

She meant that. She has always meant that. She's always supported young people. And you're going to hear from her now in this speech over the next, what, maybe 15 minutes plus or so. Vice President Kamala Harris this week in Maryland talking about the importance of service and talking to young people about that.

AmeriCorps in Maryland. Here now, you're going to hear from someone who's about to introduce her, and then you're going to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris this week in Maryland.

She has a strong commitment to supporting youth and young adults, and she is all about empowering us and being successful in our endeavors. She is committed to building strong relationships and ensuring all voices are heard. She is a trailblazer, thoughtful, inspirational, and she is our 49th vice president.

She is the true definition of service. And now, it is my honor to introduce the first woman to be elected Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. ♪♪ Everyone, have a seat, please. Good morning. Oh.

Oh, I just love seeing all of our young leaders. You know, when I look out at all of you, I know and I feel so strongly the future of our country is bright. It is bright because of all of you. And I want to thank Lauren for her kind words and her commitment to your community, Lauren, and for the example you are setting. It is so good to see all of you. So, well, you know what?

So let me start with just what has happened actually yesterday before I begin my other comments about the horrific shooting yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. Of course, it's another school shooting.

Another community being torn about and torn apart by gun violence. And of course, our nation mourns for those who were killed. And we pray for the recovery of those who were injured and for the entire community. But look, as we hold our loved ones close this holiday season.

We as a nation must renew our commitment to end the horror of gun violence, both mass shootings and everyday gun violence that touches so many communities in our nation. We must end it and we must be committed to have the courage to know that solutions are in hand, but we need elected leaders to have the courage to step up and do the right thing.

So with that, I will return to the reason we are here today. And I first want to thank all of the incredible leaders who are with us, including Governor Moore, my dear friend, your extraordinary Lieutenant Governor Miller, and someone I have worked with and known for so many years, your Senator-elect, also Brooks.

And to all the young leaders who are here, I thank you for your service to the people of Maryland. Because look, each one of you has decided to dedicate yourself to the work of service. The work of lifting up the condition of other people. People who often you may never meet.

The work you do in service will affect people who, for the most part, will never know your names. But their lives, because of your work and your dedication, will forever be touched in a positive way. You know, I do believe that public service is a noble calling. It is noble work. And it is an expression of optimism.

which is you know and believe, and it is being verified to each of you every day, that the work you do that can lift people up has effect. It matters. Your work is about the optimism that comes with knowing that one individual can make a difference in the lives of so many people. And God knows when you have a whole group like this doing it together.

the impact you have on our nation and by extension the world. So today I came by to express my gratitude for the work you, like so many across our nation, have been doing to lift up our fellow American. And I am here to reaffirm our shared commitment to the work ahead. You know, over the past several weeks since the election,

I have received tens of thousands of letters from people across our nation, many of them young leaders, Americans from every walk of life, people of every age, race, faith, and political party. These letters share a common theme. Yes, there is disappointment, but there is also resolve for the future.

One letter in particular stands out, which I'll share with you. A young woman named Sasha writes, quote, there is nothing in the world that will take away my drive, energy, passion, and the destiny that I have to help the people of our country. And I think any one of you is Sasha could be right. Nothing's going to take away that drive, that passion.

that energy, that commitment. So Sasha, like all of you, inspire me. Young people who are rightly impatient for change. I love that about you. Impatient for change. Who will not let anyone or any circumstance defeat your spirit or your sense of purpose. You will not allow your spirit to

or your sense of purpose to be defeated. You who have, I think, by your actions adopted some advice my mother gave me a long time ago. She would say to me, Kamala, don't just complain about what is wrong. Do something about it. Make it right. That's a life you all are living. You reflect the best of the America I have seen, be it during the campaign,

during my four years as vice president and throughout my life. An America where we recognize that we are all in this together. That no matter our background, we share the same dreams, aspirations, and ambitions for ourselves and our family.

That we all have so much more in common than what separates us. That is our knowledge. An America where we are guided by the ideals that have always defined us when we are at our best. Dignity and decency. Fairness. Freedom and opportunity for all. An America...

where we recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it's based on who you lift up. And the story of America's progress, you all know history. The story of America's progress, when we have made progress, in many ways is the story of people who stayed true to their ideals, even in the face of difficulty.

The story of Americans who, yes, faced disappointment, but did not grow weary, did not grow weary, who faced setbacks, but did not give up. People who refused to let the light of America's promise dim or burn out in moments of challenge.

The movements for civil rights, women's rights, workers' rights, the United States of America itself would never have come to be if people had given up their cause after a court case or a battle or an election did not go their way. What Sasha wrote and what we here know

is that in moments like this, the true test of our character is how resilient and persistent we are to pursue the future that we all can see. The true test of our commitment is whether in the face of an obstacle, do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? And as we approach...

And as we then approach the end of this year, many people have come up to me telling me they feel tired, maybe even resigned. Folks who have said to me that they're not sure whether they have the strength, much less the desire, to stay in the fight. But let me be very clear. No one can walk away. No one can walk away. We must stay in the fight. Every one of us.

including the fight for an economy that works not just for those at the top, but for working people, for all Americans, the fight to make sure everyone has a fair shot to pursue their ambitions, the fight for our ideals, including the equality among us, the freedoms to which we are entitled, the dignity that we possess and is possessed by every one of us.

So we must stay in the fight because that is the responsibility, in my opinion, that comes with the privilege of being an American. And that responsibility has always then fueled the American experiment. In our country, you see, the recognition that we are all created equal with certain fundamental rights and freedoms,

The belief that here in our country anything is possible. The promise of America itself is a powerful yet fragile idea. Powerful because it has inspired billions of people and made it possible for us to become the strongest, most prosperous nation in the world. Yet fragile because that idea exists.

Is only as strong. As our willingness to fight for it. Only as strong. As our faith. That we. The people. Are the ones who make it real. So I will say this. As we close out this year. I ask of you this. That those here and anyone watching. That you will not walk away. That you will stay true.

to your spirit and your sense of purpose, that you will continue to fight for the promise of America. And I ask you to remember the context in which you exist. Yeah, I did that. I ask you to remember that this struggle is not new.

It goes back nearly 250 years to Lexington and Concord. Generation after generation, it has been driven by those who love our country, cherish its ideals, and refuse to sit passive while our ideals are under assault. And now this fight to keep the light of America's promise alive.

and to ensure it burns bright. Well, this fight now, it continues with you. You are its heirs. We are its heirs. So I'll end with this. Get some rest over the holidays. Spend time with the people you love. You know, I believe family comes in many forms. There's family by blood and there's family by love. I urge you then after you have had some rest,

In fact, I challenge you to come back ready, ready to chart our path to the future. Chin up, shoulders back, forever impatient for change. And like Sasha, ready to summon your drive, your energy, your passion to help our fellow Americans and be ready to get back to work.

Fighting for opportunity and freedom. Fighting for fairness and dignity. And fighting for this country we love and the future we share. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

That was Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this week speaking to young leaders in Maryland. I really thought that speech was very important and a speech that we can all take to heart and really give some real, you know, we can get guidance from Vice President Harris. I think she's a really good example of it. She just lost a bruising election.

where she had been pilloried by the media, by a lot of people, and...

Yet here she is a month later, just a month and a half later, a few days before Christmas, talking about the things that we need to do. And I've talked about the very same things here the last couple of days and even before that. And I started this episode, dear listener, with how we need to be there for people, how we need to be there, right? To be with loved ones, to be with people we care about and trust, to be there.

To not be part of someone's drama, but to be there, to be of help to other people, to people we know, maybe people we don't know. To be of service, to be there for someone. That's a really powerful thing. That's an act of love. To be there for someone, to be present for someone, whoever that person might be. It's an act of love. Listening is an act of love.

We may be resting now. Some of us may be licking our wounds at this point after what happened last month here in the United States with the election. But as you heard the vice president say, the 49th vice president say, we need to get back on the horse. I said this yesterday on this podcast. We need to get back on the horse and fight on.

And as Vice President Harris said, this is not a new struggle. This has been going on, she said 250, almost 250 years. It's been going on for far longer than that. But I understand the context in which she speaks. Every generation has its struggle and battle that it must go through. And it's our turn, this generation's turn, right?

In fact, it's all of our turns to do this because it's not just this new generation that has this battle. It's all of us. We're all here. And as long as we're all here, we all have a stake in this thing. And yes, there are people in this country who are downright terrifying. But that is only something that you should keep in the back of your mind. But that is not the thing that should overwhelm you. It's just for context's sake.

We are the people who care. And so we cannot afford to be apathetic any longer. Apathy is the killer. Apathy, apathy is the ultimate evil when it comes to what we saw last month.

Yes, of course, Donald Trump and these people are disgusting and evil and hideous. But you know what is as hideous as that? Staying home and not voting. That to me is the ultimate evil as well because you've now sold out your own future.

And Vice President Harris is telling us that we cannot stand down and relent. We have to keep fighting. And it's never about one person. The movement doesn't stop because Vice President Harris got beat in the election. Come on, man. It's about all of us. It's bigger than Vice President Harris. She made that point a million times during the campaign. I mean, you think that this is about one person?

It certainly isn't where Vice President Harris is concerned. Obviously, for the Orange Nightmare Part 2, it is about him. And he thinks it is about him because he's a malignant narcissist. But Vice President Harris is making it clear this is not a movement is never about one person. It never is and it never will be. And it never has been throughout history. Just study history. We have to be engaged when this new year comes. We have to get back on the horse and keep going.

Locally, statewide and nationally, but especially locally. We have to challenge ourselves. I'm gonna talk more about this when the new year arrives, but we are going to, this is a little preview of what I'm gonna be saying to you. When January 1st comes, when the turn of the year happens, we're gonna have to start challenging ourselves more than we ever have before. And we're going to have to do that. And that's just a small preview of what I'm going to be saying when we get to January.

We need to challenge each other and we need to challenge ourselves to be better. That is something that we must do. I know that I'm going to be doing some of that, a lot of that. And I know that I think it will be a good idea for you to do the same. Part of the New Year's resolutions, if you ever keep them or ever make them, you don't even have to make it a resolution. You just have to do it at some point. Don't make any grandiose pronouncement, but you do have to and you do owe it to yourself, as do I.

to make yourself into a better person every day and every step along the way. Learn, live, love, and be better, and make a difference in this world, for this life is extremely short. Just ask the families of some of the people, of the many millions of people across this planet who lost their lives this year, and just a few of the ones that you know about. Even just this week, people who will never see their 16th birthday again,

or even their fifth birthday. Life is extremely fragile and it is very short. And for those of us who are here, we must make use of every day and use it in a positive, forward-thinking way because that is truly our way forward. To be better, to be more hopeful, and to be critical and analytical, and also for us to do the right thing, to nourish and help others.

this world be better and people around us to be better and to leave this place in better hands than how we found it. You can find me on social media on bluesky, popcorn, R-E-E-L dot bsky dot social. You can follow me on threads, threads dot net.

Forward slash popcorn, R-E-E-L. And of course, as you know by now, you can find me on Fanbase. Fanbase, of course, is the social media platform from Isaac Hayes III. Fanbase, oh yes. I'm telling you, they're getting functionality from Twitter, Twitter functionality coming up in the next few months. That's going to be really exciting. Join the social media revolution on Fanbase and invest in Fanbase today. Startengine.com forward slash Fanbase.

Wow. Fanbase is really the place for you. And you must not and cannot afford to miss out. You can also follow me on Spoutable. Spoutable.com forward slash popcorn R E. Thank you very much for listening to this edition of The Politocrat. I'm Omar Moore.