A "witch's brew" of GOP-sponsored political activity in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and other states across the nation tops the discussion in the April edition of the Dixie Dems on the Lean to the Left podcast, now streaming.

Arthur Hill, first vice chair of the Brunswick County, NC Democratic Party and Robert Thompson, host of the Got Damn Liberal podcast based in Atlanta, GA, join Lean to the Left host Bob Gatty to discuss these key developments and more.

In their crosshairs are efforts by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to restrict abortions, what books can be read and topics that can be taught in the state's school, new legislation infringing on the rights of LGBTQ+ and transgender individuals, Donald Trump's legal problems, and the defection of a Democratic state lawmaker to the Republican Party in North Carolina, among others.

In one section, Thompson points out that because of GOP efforts to restrict abortions that vasectomies are on dramatically increasing as many men are concerned about the consequences of impregnating someone and then having to live with the consequences.

The conversation also turns to unbridled development in Florida, North Carolina and other states that's in response to large numbers of people, especially retirees, who are seeking low taxes and warmer weather. However, in Florida, Thompson notes, property and casualty insurance rates are skyrocketing even as the state has enacted tort reform that makes it more difficult for plaintiffs to win settlements in court

Trump's legal challenges and his pledge to run for the presidency even if convicted of a crime are also covered, along with his challenge by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and former SC Gov. and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. Thompson observes that country icon Dolly Parton "wants to see more boobs in the White House."

Gatty pointed out that Dr. Pamela Gurley, in a new blog for Lean to the Left, discusses DeSantis-initiated legislation that would make it a crime to record videos of police officers as they arrest individuals. If passed, that legislation would impose a five year prison sentence on those who record such videos, a clear First Amendment free speech violation. That blog and a podcast interview with Dr. Gurley will post and stream on April 26.

Show Notes

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Remember, our goal is to be informative and entertaining as we comment on the latest developments in the news…you guessed it…with just a little lean to the left.

Show Transcript

The Dixie Dems: A Witch's Brew

[00:00:00]

[00:00:00] Bob Gatty: Hey guys. We're back with another episode of the Dixie Dems, the podcast from Lean to the Left that takes in irreverent look at politics in the south as well as nationwide. There's some crazy things happening, so stay with us. 

[00:00:17] Hey guys. Welcome to the Lean to the Left Podcast in the April, 2023 episode of the Dixie Dems with my partners Arthur Hill from North Carolina and Robert Thompson from Georgia.

[00:00:31] Now Arthur is communications chair of the Brunswick County, North Carolina Democratic Party, and Robert is based in Atlanta and he founded Peach News Now and its Opinion podcast Got Damn Liberal, which is worth a listen. Me, I'm based in South Carolina, home of the two Republicans who are planning to take on Trump for the G O P Presidential nomination, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and do nothing senator Tim Scott. 

[00:01:04] But before we get going, I want to encourage you guys to subscribe to the Lean to the Left Podcast and give us a quick review. A five star review would be absolutely awesome, and that would help us a whole lot. So with that, having been said, stick with us because it's gonna be a fun ride.

[00:01:24] Welcome, Arthur and Robert. Let's get to it. Arthur, what's up in North Carolina? 

[00:01:30] Arthur Hill: We had a, we had an earthquake last week. A Tricia Cotham, a freshman delegate from Mecklenburg County around Charlotte who ran as a pro-abortion Democrat decided she was gonna switch parties. It was a mystery to me why she decided to switch parties rather than run as a independent or that sort of thing.

[00:02:02] But now it's come to light that she may have been a Trojan horse sent in by the Republicans to run as a Democrat in a heavily democratic district. and she's actually a closet Republican who's just now coming out. This is important because up until last week the general assembly wasn't able to override governor's veto of legislation. But now the heavily Republican legislature does have a veto proof majority. There was only one vote separating the Republicans from becoming a veto proof majority prior to last week, but now they do have one. And and of course the, scandal and the fraud that's going out of that is the fact that a lot of Republican oriented PACS supported her and her campaign when she was running as a Democrat.

[00:03:05] And there's a lot of kind of circumstantial evidence that tends to lend credence to the Trojan Horse accusation that Democrats are throwing out now. So, there are dark clouds amassing in Raleigh, and we're gonna be hearing some more of that in the coming days. Meanwhile of course she did run as a pro-abortion, an anti-abortion candidate, but who knows what she's gonna do now. And and, there is legislation to completely eliminate abortion in the state for almost any reason, that the Republican majority could very easily pass and override of Governor veto. Abortions are up in North Carolina, 33% since the Dobbs decision.

[00:03:59] And the reason for that is because North Carolina compared to its neighbors has relatively liberal laws on abortion. And so a lot of people are traveling from other states, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina. To North Carolina to to, get abortions. Legislation that's, now in the hopper would limit the current 20 week end target for getting an abortion that exists now in North Carolina to as low as six weeks.

[00:04:34] But most of the legislation seems to revolve around 13 weeks .There's that going on as well. Finally in terms of what's going on elsewhere in other Republican dominated legislatures around the country there's a whole slate of bills now on the North Carolina General Assembly that are anti-trans gender.

[00:04:58] There's, a package of six bills that have been introduced that are currently under consideration and have a good chance for passage, which would do a lot of the same things that legislatures and other states are considering. Banning transgender students from participating on athletic teams ,banning transgender and intersex children from participating in athletics all the way through high school.

[00:05:21] Restricting gender affirming care for minors, which is amazing to me. Outlawing lifesaving treatment for trans youth by making it illegal for health professionals to provide gender affirming care and allowing medical providers to discriminate in providing healthcare to transgender children.

[00:05:43] So this package of of enlightened legislation to say the least, is making its way through the legislature now with with a good chance for approval again because the North Carolina Republican dominated legislature is now veto proof. 

[00:06:04] It's getting serious up here. The 24 election is coming up and there's gonna have to be a lot of attention paid to getting Democrats elected again in the state legislature. 

[00:06:18] Bob Gatty: Those transgender bills, they're, popping up all over the damn place. Yeah And Tennessee just tried to become the first state to enforce restrictions on drag performances of all things. What the hell is the legislature getting involved in something like that? That just is crazy. 

[00:06:42] Arthur Hill: According to the A C L U, there are 155 bills in state legislatures across the country as of October of last year. That's the latest number that I could find. And and that's up from something like 12, 10 years ago.

[00:07:03] Wow. So there's a there's a cabal going on among Republicans in state legislatures across the country. 

[00:07:13] Robert Thompson: I would say it's more lot of copying and pasting. I'll send you a check for a couple of grand if you copy and paste this bill and submit it. This is their same playbook for they've had how long?

[00:07:26] And we just hope this is gonna continue to backfire on 'em cuz it's, ridiculous. Yeah. 

[00:07:31] Arthur Hill: Organizations like Alec and and other private organizations that are and, Roberts right, they're writing model legislation and the legislatures it's, a no-brainer for a Republican.

[00:07:44] They just cut and paste. Introduce, yeah. That's it. 

[00:07:48] Bob Gatty: Yeah. 

[00:07:50] Arthur Hill: Okay. What's going on with you, Robert? 

[00:07:53] Robert Thompson: The, breaking news before we get down to what I wanna spend some time on in Florida, Liz Cheney is saying that Marjorie Taylor Green should lose her security clearance for defending the suspect in the Pentagon Docs leak.

[00:08:06] That's, that was a news flash to me that Marjorie Taylor Green was allowed to have a security clearance. 

[00:08:12] Bob Gatty: Yeah, how about that? 

[00:08:17] Robert Thompson: But I guess because she has not been convicted Of sedition or treason, she's allowed to have some security clearance like that dude in Florida that is all her buddy.

[00:08:33] Bob Gatty: What dude are you talking about, man? 

[00:08:35] Robert Thompson: We're not gonna mention his name today. 

[00:08:36] Bob Gatty: Oh yeah. Does it start with a d allegedly? Does it have an S in it? 

[00:08:43] Robert Thompson: Oh, there's that one. There's the other guy in Florida. Oh, a lot of people refer to him as DeathSanta 

[00:08:49] Bob Gatty: Oh, you're, yeah. That's what you call him. Okay, so you're talking about the guy that has just been indicted, right?

[00:08:57] That's who you're talking about, 

[00:08:59] Robert Thompson: allegedly, yes. 

[00:09:00] Bob Gatty: What do you mean? Allegedly he was indicted. 

[00:09:03] Robert Thompson: Ask Marjorie though. Hell, hell she doesn't even believe in the normal news. 

[00:09:11] Arthur Hill: Is she on the, she's not on the House Intelligence Committee, is she? 

[00:09:14] Robert Thompson: Oh, she probably is. 

[00:09:15] Bob Gatty: They, oh man I think she, 

[00:09:18] Robert Thompson: because she was making backdoor deals with Kevin McCarthy to give him the speakership for all that.

[00:09:24] Can you imagine meeting in a dark corridor with Marjorie Taylor Green ? 

[00:09:27] Bob Gatty: Oh man. I'm telling you what? Intelligence committee, that's an oxymoron when it comes to Marjorie Taylor Greene. (A later check reveals that Greene is NOT on the Intelligence Committee.)

[00:09:33] Robert Thompson: Oh and, mind you, they're all part of the swamp too yeah. 

[00:09:39] Arthur Hill: Yeah. So what, did she say to defend the kid in Massachusetts? What did she say?

[00:09:44] Robert Thompson: Yeah, honestly, I didn't waste my time reading much more down because it just, ugh. 

[00:09:50] Arthur Hill: She made a public statement defending the guy for threatening the security of the United States. Isn't, that a, isn't that a, an impeachable offense for a member of congress to say something like that? 

[00:10:04] Robert Thompson: Allegedly. 

[00:10:05] Bob Gatty: Are you talking about that guy that's in trouble because he released secrets or something? 

[00:10:11] Arthur Hill: Yeah. 

[00:10:12] Bob Gatty: That guy that, that young, he's like a young kid.

[00:10:15] Arthur Hill: He's 21 years old. Yeah. He's a young kid. 

[00:10:20] Bob Gatty: What the hell. And then I saw, and I think it was in the Washington Post today, had a story saying that the guy has been spewing all this anti-gay and anti-Semitic stuff on social media. Oh, imagine that. And he comes from a patriotic family, according to this article that I read, whatever the hell that means.

[00:10:43] Arthur Hill: And then the, other thing was he published these documents on their chat site. And but a lot of the guys who also belong to that chat site apparently picked it up and posted them on their own social media pages. They're probably in a lot of trouble too right now.

[00:11:00] Yeah. Okay. We're doing the same thing this guy did. 

[00:11:04] Bob Gatty: Oh. So Thompson, Robert, what is it that you wanted to spend some time talking about? You said 

[00:11:11] Robert Thompson: I have a number of friends that live in Florida. Yeah. And I'm hearing, and these friends, most of them don't really know each other, so it's not like they're banding together and coming up with lies cuz they're, all echoing a similar thing.

[00:11:27] And you can find these news stories, I believe it was State Farm Insurance gave x number of thousands of dollars to DeSantis campaign, and you've got this coming from several different angles. He's going to make Florida unsustainable. You've got a one of the big appeals of Florida is that you can move down there.

[00:11:49] Maybe you find a house that's not so expensive, maybe. And they don't have any state income tax because of all the tourism that they have down there. But what DeSantis is doing, and everything that I know about the situation is he's making it unsustainable. As I used to know, and I'll have to research this a little more further, I'm not a expert in any of this, but there used to be an insurance company of last resort in Florida. So let's say that you live a mile from the coast, half a mile from the coast. Of course you're gonna have to have wind insurance and hurricane insurance. A lot of these carriers Florida gets hit pretty much every year with a hurricane and a lot of major hurricanes cuz of all the coastline.

[00:12:33] Your insurance company just may choose to leave the state because they're looking at the likelihood in the next five, 10 years, that property they're ensuring is going to have some sort of loss. And then they look at the numbers and shrug and say, that doesn't make sense. So you've got the potential that some of these areas are not going to have an insurance carrier.

[00:12:54] So you had this I forget what the name of it was in Florida, but this insurance company of last resort that they are willing to write a policy on these properties that are dangerous. Again, it's Florida, I've heard nothing about that company. What I have been hearing is that insurance premiums are skyrocketing in Florida.

[00:13:15] You've got some people that are paying more for an insurance policy and you have to have two. Again, if you live a half mile, and you gentlemen I think you guys are on the coast. I know Bob, you are. Yeah. But in South Carolina you have to have the wind insurance. 

[00:13:32] Bob Gatty: Yeah, if you live, it depends where you live.

[00:13:36] I actually live in a area that's about four or five miles from the coast. And I do not have to have wind insurance. I don't even have to have flood insurance, although I do. I'm across the, from the inter intercoastal waterway, and that's a demarcation line. At any rate that's, tough what you're talking about.

[00:14:01] Robert Thompson: Yeah. And, you've got a lot of these folks that have moved down there because they like the weather. Maybe they're from the northeast, they're getting away from the high taxes in the northeast and the cold weather to go to Florida. Dropping their state income tax and all that kind of stuff.

[00:14:16] But what about who's gonna pay for the insurance premiums And if you get hit by a hurricane a lot of those deductibles on those wind policies are the percentages. They're not just 500, a thousand, $1,500. On top of this, I understand that this death Santa, as I keep referring to him, he has passed tort reform in Florida.

[00:14:38] I have a good friend of mine that is an insurance adjuster who has been talking about all of these changes. So in the middle of all this going on, he's making it easier for the insurance companies to win when it comes down to a claim. So you see this perfect storm entendra intended there of what's going on.

[00:15:00] And then you've got I think already I was speaking to a former coworker that lives in Fort Myers. They are still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. That was last fall. Here we are. This is April, 2023. Why are Florida residents in Fort Myers still unable to repair their property? Number one, are they fighting with the insurance company, which Death Santas has made it easier for the insurance company to fight with you?

[00:15:27] Or number two, can they even get anybody down there? Maybe they have a check from the insurance company, but are they able to get repairs? These are the things that Death Santa does not want you to hear about. 

[00:15:39] Arthur Hill: I don't know what it's like in, in your guys' states, but but here where there's a construction boom going on legislation would make it far easier for developers to get what they want.

[00:15:54] Mostly by taking local planning boards out of the picture, and pretty much giving free reign to, developers to do whatever they want to do to to, build housing. Build housing around here. And when they do build housing two things happen. The first thing is they're not building housing for low income workers, which keeps low income workers out of the area. So it makes it more difficult for the developers to come in and and build because they can't hire, they can't hire enough people to come in here, come in and, act as contractors to help 'em get it, to get these developments built.

[00:16:34] No housing for low income workers. Pretty much free reign on what developers wanna do, potential for the same kind of chaos you're talking about in Florida. 

[00:16:43] Robert Thompson: Yeah. And, this goes back to one of my campaigns that I've had on social media for a number of years. We are too poor to vote Republican.

[00:16:53] You've, got, and a lot of times all this is gonna come down to money. And at what point are you living as a Republican in Florida and you're looking at all of the storms literally above your head that it's not gonna make it sustainable for your live. Obviously Republicans don't care about poor people.

[00:17:12] They only care about their rich donors. They only care about who, whoever they can take a campaign donation to engineer some kind of tax break for somebody. Keep, voting Republican and this is what's going to happen. On top of all this, you've got, okay, if you're a family that wants to move to Florida there's not gonna be teachers for you because the teachers are throwing up their hands and running away screaming.

[00:17:37] This book, banning stuff is going on down there, the don't say gay stuff. Yeah. Florida has become a cesspool. And you've got DeathSantis running it, you've got Trump doing whatever the hell he's doing down in Palm Beach or what have you, and yeah, have at it. If honestly if, they were to cut themselves off from the union by, because it's just it's becoming a cesspool down there.

[00:18:05] Also this week, Fort Lauderdale received about 40 to 50% of their annual rainfall in a day or two. It shut down the airport for days this week. The only thing that I, went to DeathSantis' Twitter only like the afternoon of when all this happened. Did he just send out a tweet and say, oh, by the way, I did an emergency declaration?

[00:18:29] Someone told me he hadn't even bothered to call the mayor or anybody down there. Of course not. That's not his base. He has some people that voted for him down there, but that's not his base. So why would he care? 

[00:18:41] Arthur Hill: Yeah, the mayor made a statement yesterday or at least it was in the media yesterday.

[00:18:48] Which, didn't even it said, yeah, he hasn't been in touch. I've declared a disaster area for Fort Lauderdale, but the, governor hasn't. And but the mayor declaring a federal just a disaster let alone the federal part means nothing. It has to be the governor that makes the move.

[00:19:06] And and DeSantis is nowhere to be found. 

[00:19:09] Robert Thompson: You know where he is? He's this buddy going to the NRA convention. Oh, no kidding. Oh. So I guess he was too busy to infiltrate our country with more guns, with all those cronies that actually worry about his own state. 

[00:19:27] Bob Gatty: Yeah.

[00:19:28] Didn't I read this week that DeSantis poll numbers or starting to take a dive? 

[00:19:36] Robert Thompson: Bless his heart. I apparently he barely got into office. I'm reading reports that it was very, close. I just hope that's a net. But there's also, I think the bill I think in Florida you cannot be governor and also run for president, but he wanted to have his legislature just changed that law, so it was convenient to him.

[00:19:58] Yeah he's just it's, on a whim. It's like he's just riding down the interstate on a moped maxing it out at whatever. A moped will go at 50 miles an hour, but he's, yeah it's not sustainable. 

[00:20:14] Bob Gatty: I'm looking right now at a poll a polling article by 5 38. 5 38 is some kind of a right wing Republican outfit, right?

[00:20:26] Arthur Hill: Yes? 

[00:20:29] Robert Thompson: I don't, I've heard both sides of that, but go, oh, 

[00:20:31] Bob Gatty: Whatever it's, showing that Trump's numbers have actually increased by, from the mid forties to just about 50%, 49.3% as of April 11th, and the DeSantis has steadily slipped from 30 to now about it looks like maybe 25 if that, yeah, about 25%.

[00:21:09] So he is not exactly catching fire with all that he's doing down there. 

[00:21:17] Robert Thompson: Yeah, and hopefully, like I said, hopefully it'll be Trump because Trump did not get the popular vote the first time. He just got lucky with the electoral college. He obviously lost the second time around, so he, and apparently can he run for president from jail?

[00:21:31] So 

[00:21:32] Bob Gatty: apparently can. You know what he says he is going to, regardless. That's what I wanted to ask you guys, what you think about the fact that he said that even if he's convicted of a crime, he's gonna run. 

[00:21:44] Robert Thompson: Yeah it's, a cash inflow. Although he did miss an F E C filing, but in Trump land, that's just law break number 5,000 of the day.

[00:21:54] Yeah. Yeah. But, he but, 

[00:21:57] Arthur Hill: he I think he can run from, a jail cell but he cannot vote. And he cannot carry a gun. 

[00:22:05] Robert Thompson: Actually that, that, is scary, Arthur, that Trump may be able to carry a gun that, that's scary. 

[00:22:13] Arthur Hill: Exactly. If you're a convicted felon, you cannot carry a gun. So he won't be able to do that. 

[00:22:21] The interesting thing now that we're on Trump, interesting thing that's going on is is, this trial that he's been accused of rape. That's getting ready to hit us.

[00:22:36] What happens if he gets convicted of rape. That's a felony he has to go to jail. 

[00:22:40] Robert Thompson: I'm, gonna repeat the the looking into my crystal ball, what can happen? I, literally think that Trump will not make it to jail because he will die first. The dude is old. He is he has to put his makeup on and order and, do his hair or what have you.

[00:22:59] I don't think he's gonna make it a jail. He may get a sentence, but I just don't think he's gonna make it there. 

[00:23:05] Bob Gatty: Do you. Putting his makeup on and doing his hair is, takes so much energy 

[00:23:11] Robert Thompson: that it'll I don't know. I don't know any drag queens are gonna touch him. So

[00:23:16] Arthur Hill: legislatures to make it illegal for men to wear makeup, what happens then? 

[00:23:21] Robert Thompson: Do as I say, not as I do. 

[00:23:24] Bob Gatty: That South Carolina is sending two people to run against him with with Scott and and Nikki Haley. 

[00:23:40] Robert Thompson: Maybe Nikki can do his Is she decent at that? 

[00:23:45] Arthur Hill: I don't think she'll be in jail though. I think she's probably pretty clean in that regard. 

[00:23:50] Robert Thompson: Yeah, 

[00:23:51] Bless her heart. Yeah. 

[00:23:53] Arthur Hill: I still think, that Nikki, if Nikki some, if somehow the sky fell in and Nikki Haley got the nomination for the, from the Republican party, I think she'd be a scary candidate. 

[00:24:06] Bob Gatty: Yeah, we talked about that last time and I tend to agree with that.

[00:24:11] But she's got a long hill to climb and and so does Senator Scott . what really cracked me up, this last couple weeks when their announcements were being discussed. They're both trying to leverage their upbringing their, challenges that they've had in their lives and, like somehow or other that's going to attract Republican voters maybe they think it'll attract the dyed in the wool trump supporters who don't have two nickels to rub together. Maybe that's what they're talking about. What do you think about that? 

[00:25:06] Arthur Hill: I don't understand where Scott's base is. Where, does, how does he get, how does he get elected from South Carolina who supports him? 

[00:25:15] Bob Gatty: That's an incredible thing.

[00:25:17] It's just the fact that he's a republican. And some, African American democrats voted for him too because of the fact that he's an evangelical and and plays that card up a lot. The churches some of the, churches support 'em but in the fact that he's black.

[00:25:45] That helped them with that group of people. 

[00:25:49] Robert Thompson: Senator Warnock here in Georgia, the preacher thing worked well for him. So yeah you, cannot underestimate, although the, church is shrinking, but you cannot underestimate that base.

[00:26:00] Bob Gatty: That's really true. That's that really, especially in the south, that really is true.

[00:26:07] And when. Scott made his little announcement on his video the other day. He's emphasized his race, evangelical roots. His upbringing by a single mom who overcame poverty. He said that he rejects the quote, culture of grievance and victimhood that the Democrats, he says are pushing. That really cracks me up.

[00:26:34] Culture. Culture of grievance and victimhood. The Democrats are positive in, their approach, what they're trying to do. They're not, 

[00:26:46] Robert Thompson: we're just too woke for them.

[00:26:47] Bob Gatty: Whining and carrying on like the Republicans are, 

[00:26:51] Arthur Hill: huh? Yeah. There's a, the Lieutenant governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson, is a black Republican who is, absolutely outspoken about his views on abortion and the LGBTQ segment of the populace and outspoken in a bad way. And he's probably gonna get the nomination. And, he talks about the same thing. He talks about his upbringing how he had a single mom and and he was raised in a religious family and so on and had to overcome a lot to, get to where he is today and so on.

[00:27:38] He, uses a lot of the same language that, that I'm hearing you say, Scott does. Yeah. 

[00:27:42] Bob Gatty: Yeah. What do you think about down in Tennessee, all this stuff that's going on with the Republicans through those two Democratic house members outta office, and then they were reinstated? I don't understand how that works.

[00:27:59] Do you guys? 

[00:28:01] Robert Thompson: The two that they threw out were black. Yeah. And they kept the white lady. Yeah. Racism is, and the southern strategy is still alive and well. It Oh yeah. You, had even Republicans in Tennessee standing back and shaking their heads, but what in the hell is going on here?

[00:28:17] But hey, that's you continue to vote Republican, this is what you're gonna get. 

[00:28:23] Arthur Hill: Yep. Yep. I guess they violated the rules of of the, State House and the state legislature and that gave 'em grounds to get kicked out. But I think the Republican leadership in Tennessee thought that they could get away with it and they can't.

[00:28:41] And I think that the lesson learned from that episode is is that there is a line they crossed it and and they had to pay. The Republicans did. And I think the, same as the same's gonna be true in a lot of state legislatures with some of the legislation that they're trying to pass. There is a line Democrats are not gonna let 'em cross that line without fighting back, and in a lot of cases they'll have the public support behind them and they'll be able to beat back a lot of this stuff.

[00:29:16] Robert Thompson: Yeah. But at least we still have American Treasurer Dolly Parton in Tennessee. And she, doesn't talk politics very often, but she will tell you she wants to see more boobs in the White House. 

[00:29:27] Bob Gatty: She wants to see more. What? 

[00:29:29] Robert Thompson: She wants to see more boobs in the White House. Boobs.

[00:29:32] Bob Gatty: Oh, that'll be 

[00:29:33] Robert Thompson: good. 

[00:29:34] Dolly's American treasure. I'm telling you.

[00:29:37] Bob Gatty: American Treasure. Yeah, she is office though. Okay, now what about this stuff that's going on with the abortion pill? Texas. The Texas Court banned it, said they were gonna ban it. Then the other court from whatever state that was said, no they, weren't gonna ban it. And now it looks like it's gonna be before the Supreme Court which we all know what the politics are there. So what do you guys think about all that?

[00:30:18] Robert Thompson: I'm, hearing I, I have a number of friends that now have vasectomies because of this. They are scared. If they have an issue, you know what, what's gonna happen? And yeah. If, you've got the people that have been lifelong Republicans and Bob is laughing, but this is actually real truth.

[00:30:44] And you've got folks that are lifelong Republicans and they're looking at this and wait a minute a, child is an 18 year plus committment. And my lady's gonna be forced to carry it, so they're actually running to the doctors and getting snipped over this. I'm telling you, this is true.

[00:31:03] Bob Gatty: I hadn't heard that. I think that's just wonderful. 

[00:31:07] Arthur Hill: Yeah. I, think beyond that though just, beyond the, issue of, the FDA approved this drug years ago. Yeah. And said it's it does what it's supposed to do. It's beneficial and it won't cause harm. The drug has been out there for a long time.

[00:31:25] It's been doing good. What? But what, this does beyond just the, issue of the prescription pill itself is it causes calls into question the integrity and the independence of any federal regulatory body. It's not gonna be just the fda, the Supreme Court lets us stand. It's not just gonna be the f d a, that's hurt.

[00:31:50] The f FDA's gonna lose a lot of authority on how it regulates, what it can approve, what it can't do as are the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, all these regulatory agencies. If, some wacko out there doesn't like what they did, he's gonna go to court and he's gonna cite the f d a thing as a precedent and he is probably gonna win.

[00:32:20] All of a sudden this becomes a lot bigger issue than just whether the FDA approval of of this particular drug was, okay. It's it, goes way beyond that. Lots of precedents here and the Supreme Court may well say, we don't care. We just don't like abortion. 

[00:32:45] Bob Gatty: That's right. You've got the courts been stacked by Trump and there's no telling what'll happen.

[00:32:53] Think it's a a difficult. Situation. This country's facing with that right now. Yeah. Women. Women. Man, I'll tell you what, if women vote for these Republicans, I don't understand where they're coming from. I really don't. Yeah. 

[00:33:08] Robert Thompson: And also it goes back the other way. Let's say that you have a child born into a good family.

[00:33:14] It's an 18 year plus commitment. But what about the children that are forced to be born into illegitimate families? Where's their support? Republicans are struggling to look other way once the child comes out. Yeah. Why, is society being burdened with children that Yeah. Yeah. You see where I'm going with that?

[00:33:38] Bob Gatty: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. On a little lighter note, we've got we've got the Bud Light backlash going on. Do you guys know about that? 

[00:33:49] Robert Thompson: Good luck if you're trying to find beer that is not queer friendly. I've seen a lot of ads on a lot of beer companies and most all of 'em have a queer ad somewhere, 

[00:34:01] Arthur Hill: so Yeah, they do.

[00:34:02] It's not just Bud Light, 

[00:34:04] Robert Thompson: but red Solo Cups will become more popular cause I don't understand. They're red, they're Republican and they don't have a queer brand on 'em.

[00:34:12] Bob Gatty: Don't they have more to do than worry about that kind of stuff? For crying out loud, 

[00:34:19] Robert Thompson: clearly not. Oh man. All those Fox News people, they're gonna be forced to testify on what they were up to talk about the voting machines. 

[00:34:29] Bob Gatty: So I wonder if Fox News is gonna carry the Bud Light queer ads. 

[00:34:37] Robert Thompson: It, it was Bud Light, but I, guarantee you that Miller and Coors, that they were unhappy that they were not targeted because look at all that free advertising that Bud Light's getting. Yeah.

[00:34:47] Arthur Hill: Who, started that? Where did that come from?

[00:34:50] Bob Gatty: I have no fricking idea. 

[00:34:54] Robert Thompson: You give deplorables time alone amongst themselves and look what comes out. It's, scary. It's, worse than a bunch of witches making a witch's brew. 

[00:35:04] Arthur Hill: Here's what they're gonna do. They're gonna, they're gonna take their complaint to the Fs C and the Fscc and they're gonna say you have to, these are public airwaves and you can't have despicable ads like this going out on, on, my airwaves.

[00:35:18] And I want you to force the networks not to carry those sponsors. And then we got, a First Amendment battle coming. 

[00:35:25] Robert Thompson: Important. They, that they, gotta worry about the woke people, so forbid. 

[00:35:30] Bob Gatty: Yeah. That's for sure. That's for sure. The Lean to the Left podcast did an interview not long ago with someone named Dr.

[00:35:44] Pamela Gurley. And Dr. Gurley now writes some blogs for our Lean to the Left podcast, and she's been a guest on our show. And she's gonna be appearing again within the next week or so. And she's gonna be talking about legislation that is, is kicking up in Florida and some other states that would make it illegal for someone to take a video of a police stop. In other words, if you come up upon a a situation where the cops have pulled over a, motorist and let's say this motorist happens to be African American and is given that individual a hard time. And you stand there and you photograph that, you videotape that according to this legislation, you could end up with a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine.

[00:36:58] This is this is clearly an infringement on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Really, don't you think?

[00:37:07] Arthur Hill: Oh yeah. So this is not a body camera thing. They're not outlawing body cameras. 

[00:37:12] Bob Gatty: No, they're not. They're, outlawing. If, you see the cops beating up somebody on the sidewalk and, you take a video of that according to this legislation, you could go to jail for five years.

[00:37:28] That's, just insane. That's another DeSantis. Or to quote you, DeathSantis initiative, apparently. 

[00:37:39] Robert Thompson: DeSantis, see, he also has Gustapo, literally in Florida. Yeah. Yeah. He has got run out and claimed people are doing voter fraud and they weren't and scaring them.

[00:37:50] So that's right up his alley. He, literally wants Florida to be accessible to nazis, so there you go.

[00:37:56] Bob Gatty: Yeah, for sure. Just since I brought that up, if you guys. Make a note that show with Dr. Gurley talking about that issue will be streaming on Lean to the left on April 26th.

[00:38:14] Sunday, April 26th. They're assuming the interview goes off okay, as scheduled, but that's when is planned. 

[00:38:21] Arthur Hill: I'll be there. 

[00:38:22] Bob Gatty: Yeah. And she's written a blog about it and that will also be appearing. on lean to the left on that same date. Yep. Alright, that's what I had on my hit parade.

[00:38:35] Have you guys got anything more you wanna talk about? 

[00:38:38] Robert Thompson: No, I'm ready for happy hour. I'm ready for my gay Bud Light 

[00:38:41] Bob Gatty: okay guys, great talking to you. And I hope you guys enjoyed this episode of Lean to the Left.

[00:38:48] The Dixie Dems. And if, you wanna send us a note and let us know what you'd like to hear us talk about feel free to do that. Just send me a note. I'll, be the quarterback for that. Bob@LeantotheLeft.net. That's my email address. And and we'll follow through. It'd be nice to hear from you guys.

[00:39:11]

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