Thanks for pressing play. If you love the
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is Christopher Lock follow your different. The number
1 real dialogue cast for business leaders, entrepreneurs
and category designers with a different mind.
In the coming weeks and months, we hope
to hear more from not crazy Republican Democrat
and independent politicians running for office. In an
attempt to have real conversation and dialogue.
Not more yelling and fucking stupidity in our
country. As a result, we have not invited
marjorie Taylor Green or Ao on the podcast.
We are seeking out thoughtful and I repeat
not crazy people from all political stripes.
Because we believe it's time for a breakthrough
authentic conversation in America.
Our guest today is the legendary S Etch,
A trail basing figure whose remarkable journey from
a non military family
to serving on the front frontlines with the
Army's elite forces
exe identifies extraordinary courage and dedication. Chilean path
to leadership began with a bold decision to
join Rot as an undergraduate,
despite having no prior family ties to the
military.
Her experiences ranging from leading soldiers in Iraq
at the young age of 23 to being
among the first women selected for special forces
missions in Afghanistan,
have shaped her into a formidable advocate for
veterans and a passionate candidate for political office.
In this episode, S shares her compelling story
of resilience
leadership and her unwavering commitment to serve and
protect. Her insights into the sacrifices made by
service members, the importance of genuine leadership and
her innovative vision for political reform offer a
fresh perspective on the challenges facing our nation
today.
Join us as we delve into S
inspiring journey. Her experience is in combat and
her bold bid for congress as an independent
candidate.
Challenging the status quo and advocating for a
government that truly represents the people.
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Now as Joey Ra ramon said, hey, H,
let's go.
Alright. Well, S, it sure is wonderful to
meet you in person. Yeah. Thank you so
much, Chris. I really appreciate you having beyond.
I appreciate you being here. And I deeply
appreciate you but running for a a high
office in our country.
Well, thank you.
It's a big grand adventure, and, you know,
I'm the first time running for office, so
really diving in head first here. But
I'm proud of what we're doing, and and
we need to get more people in the
political mix, of fresh blood for sure.
Absolutely.
The other thing I'd like to say you
off the top from the bottom of my
heart.
Most people when they meet that veterans say
things like, thank you for your service.
And so I absolutely thank you for my
service,
for your service. I thank you for your
service.
But I was... I've been thinking about this
a lot because I spent a lot of
time with folks who are either in or
were in our military because I love an
admire and respect them deeply.
And I had a dear friend die recently,
a man you might have heard of named
Bill Walton,
and the famous basketball player. Mh. And Bill
always when he was signing off either in
person or text or email
would say, thank you for my life.
So S, I'm not confused.
Because of you and the women and men
who volunteer
to protect me.
Thank you for my life.
Well, thank you for those words.
They really mean a lot and and, no.
Thank you.
I think as service members, you know, it's
an all volunteer force,
you know, we choose this profession for different
reasons.
And it's it's really an honor,
and and, you know, so... And I think
it's a team effort So from a grateful
nation like you and citizens like you. Thank
you so much.
Well, thank you. I'm not confused. I know
the only reason I'm alive.
Is because of you.
And anybody in America who's confused about that
in my opinion is very confused.
Because there's a lots of people evil that
wish us harm,
and there's 1 reason.
There's 1 reason
We haven't been attacked
on our homeland
since 09:11. There's only 1 reason
because of you.
Yeah. Thank you. I think there's
a lot of people don't really get to
see behind the curtain
of our intelligence community, our military community
and how much people sacrifice and give themselves
to that profession in the name of preventing
another 09:11.
And that's not by accident. It's not because
there hasn't been, you know, plots or people
around the world that would love to
enact more tax like that.
It's just that they've been prevented
from people who are serving, whether it's in
the Nsa
Different. Yeah. So so so anyway,
oftentimes people have no idea, But but, yeah,
there are folks absolutely.
Defending this great nation and making sure that
that doesn't happen again. So thank you.
Thank you.
And if I understand your background in your
story,
S, it it would appear that 09:11 did
have an impact on you. Did it?
Yeah. So, you know, I do not come
from a military family whatsoever.
In In fact,
I'm half Canadian dual citizen, my mother and
all of her family are kind from the
mountains of British Columbia.
Oh, I knew I like you. I was
born in Reed from Montreal, Canada, S.
Oh, you were Wonderful. I'm an American citizen
as well as a Canadian citizen.
You all. There we go. We're dual. American.
But... Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna say something that
might be inappropriate in certain places, but there's
some special about ladies from Canada. I'll say.
Hey. I'll take it. And I think so.
You know, my mom is 1 great lady,
and so... And my dad's so proud to
be mary duke Canadian woman.
And, yeah. So anyway,
I I love that about kind of my
family origin story. What's your mom's name?
Her name is Sheila. Sheila.
I was actually named after her, So her
name is Sheila Anne
and she made kind of a combination of
those 2 to make S.
Got it. I think S is spectacular names.
Perfect. It's... Thank you. You know,
having unique name. I like to say it's
kind of a blessing and a curse depending
on the context.
And,
of course, starting for office, it's very convenient
having a unique name. So in this instance
it's been good. It's. The speaker the house's
name is Mike Johnson.
The most generic name you can have besides
like John Smith.
Exactly.
And and his good friend Johnson.
It's good for jobs. That's right. It's also
awesome in the Google world, you know, because
I have an unusual, certainly in in North
America. An unusual last name. Scotland is the
only place in the world I go where
they know how to spell it. U. But
in the Google world, in the Internet world,
It's easy to find. Right? So there's not
too many S
and in... So Googling, you come up quickly.
I even tell people. When I'm on the
phone and you doing my calls and stuff,
and I said, what's your name? I'm like,
honestly, you really just need my first name.
Like, just put it into Google It'll come
up.
So it's like of nice. Share.
Yes. It is. It's it is. It's kind
of nice.
So thank you
mother Sheila Anne for, you know, con con
that. It's been useful at least in this
endeavor.
But
but, yeah. So I it I did not
come from a military family I I had
always been a pretty in intuitive sort of
serious
person. I was always really interested in the
news and geopolitics and
and, you know, I was always into reading,
like, non fiction. Was a young kid too.
So when the the attacks on 09:11 happened,
I was in high school.
And
I mean, what
a jarring tragic event for our country.
And and no no 1 will let you
you know where you were when those happen.
It is forever
burned into your brain and your psyche, you
know.
And
it just was
And then following kind of our nation's response
to it and there were people in my
high school that were kind of enlist right
after graduation that we're gonna be going to
Afghanistan and you know, it just put the
military
on the map for me in a way
that it wasn't before.
And so I ended up honestly kinda taking
a leap of faith and joining Rot
as an undergraduate.
And I just... I couldn't shake the notion
that, you know, I think I need to
give this military thing a shot
even though I didn't really have much...
I didn't have any family pies to the
military or really any kind of like,
mentors per s, leading me that way.
So it was listening to my intuition, and
and it was a good thing to do
because it ended up being
1 of the best decisions I could have
made.
And
I'm gonna get a little personal,
and you can kick me under the table
don't don't let me bring anywhere You don't
wanna go.
Okay. But don't worry Don't really let people
push me around. I'm not gonna push you
around at all. I'm just happy to see
you, and I think you're fantastic.
Thank you. Are you a religious person at
Os?
So I did not grow up in an
institutional sort of, like, religious household.
In fact,
my
parents were very open about
exploring different religions out there and talking about,
you know, a higher power and
that there is a god, but it can
take on many forms, and so I remember
going to different
denomination of churches with friends.
And
anyway, and since in my adult life, I
have found. I would say my own brand
of
spirituality
with
all of the connected life forces on this
earth and in this universe and
and that there has to be some divine
maker of it all.
So I
I really... It's it's a very strong spirituality
that's rooted in I love the essence sense
of love, which you do get a lot
of, you know, if you wanna bring Christianity
into this. A lot of the teachings of
Jesus are very aligned with... I think how
I feel with my brand of spirituality.
But but to answer your question, no, I
wasn't in any sort of, like, particularly religious
organization.
Because I've talked to many of our service
members as well as vets.
Who share a feeling of being called of
1 sort or or another,
whether they're really religious or
believe in a higher whatever it is, but
there's something
that has kind of
got them and saying, hey, listen
go go and join our military in and
so did it feel that way at all
to you? Like you were as corny as
it might sound to some,
being called to it?
The question
that keep kind... That that that kept coming
back to me was
will someone has to do this.
We're an all volunteer force.
We were
violently
attacked on our own soil.
And I love this country.
I did a small stint growing up in
Mexico actually,
you see poverty
firsthand.
You under... Like, from a small age and
and I, again, like I said, I was
very consumed with books and I would read
about know, World war 2 or, like, the
the Came Rouge and Cambodia and stuff, and
it's like, no. We have, and my parents
would say, I mean, you're incredibly lucky to
be born in this country. And they're right.
And so I kept coming back to someone
has to go and bear the burdens
of defending this nation.
And
I... I've always been the person that's like,
quick to raise my hand and volunteer for
things.
And
I thought, well, why not you?
Why not you... Someone has to, why not
you?
And so there it was, and I also
really, really as a rule of life, do
not wanna live with regrets.
And I also asked myself Sc. If you
don't actually sign up and do this, would
you regret it?
Would you be that person that's, like, yeah.
I thought about Survey? I thought about doing
this but, you know, insert some excuse or
reason.
I didn't wanna live with that. So you
just gotta
you just gotta do it.
And so I think that was the nagging
poll that you're asking about?
And
when did you decide slash find out?
That not only were you going to serve
the United States of America,
but you are actually gonna be in combat.
Well, it was a slow road to this.
So I actually joined Rot. This is this
is so funny. You're gonna like this.
I joined Rot,
my freshman year. Okay? I'll army Rot.
The thing is though, you don't have to
actually contract or sign the paper
until your junior year. You can try it
out if you will.
And and so I said, let me try
this out.
That first semester
we did our first field exercise. That's where
you go in the woods. You do your
kind of war games, your whatever.
I was so lost. I did not know
what I was doing. I was uncomfortable,
and I felt like S your
you don't really belong here. And there's not
that many women and, again, I just didn't...
And and I ended up... I ended up
coming back from that withdrawing from Rot.
Saying, I tried it I tried it. This
isn't this isn't for me though.
And then the next semester I was like,
maybe the Air force is more my style.
And so I joined Air force Rot,
and
that ended up
that experience was a lot more, you know,
there's a lot of technical stuff and engineers
in Air force and things like that, and
that's just not really me.
And it almost was like this
moment or where I'm like S,
you need to harden up.
Like, you you still have this pull that
you need to go into the military. If
you're gonna do it, you're gonna do it
big. Okay? You're not gonna
my husband's the Air Force. Who's a fighter
palace. So I'm not hating on them. I'm
like, but you're not gonna wimp out by
going in the Air force. Okay?
And so... And so
I then, the next semester
rejoined Army Rot,
and I gave it a better effort. It
was still kinda slow to come onto it
mind you, I was also in a so.
I was also doing, like, a minor in
women's studies.
Rot
in that triple venn diagram, there's no overlap
besides S.
And so
so
if you imagine the movie like legally blonde,
that's kind of what it felt like for
me fitting into this
military
organization. Okay? It was not smooth.
And it was clunky.
But eventually, you know, eventually, I had the
right attitude, and I did get the right
mentors with my Cad.
And and I took it very seriously, and
I said, I'm committing to this. So
so, yeah, at the beginning of junior year,
I finally signed the on contract, and I
was, like, this is real. This is real.
After graduation, I'm at least committed to 4
years in the army.
It might suck. It might not... You're gonna
be trading around with big ass boots and
40 pounds of deer and a giant machine
gun and a helmet. Doing it. And end
end, and you're doing it. Mh. We're doing
it. You're in it. You're in it. So,
you know, rise to the occasion.
And so so, yeah,
that's That was kind of the realization of
it all. But, you know, when I when
I first joined,
I did not know I was going to
be in combat.
Because women were not allowed in combat.
Just my virtue of your sex, if there
was any job that
was related to direct combat, in the army,
you were barred whether you could meet the
standards or not. And at the time, that
was about 1 third of the jobs.
And so
I actually ended up my senior my senior
year was selected as battalion commander. So I
was the top cadet.
And
The time as a Battalion commander.
You would not be deployed into combat given
where the army was at that moment. Is
that correct? So this was still an Rot.
Okay. Got it. This was still an Rot.
So what I'm saying is, even though I
was tagged to be the top cadet, and
we had a... I went to University Central,
Florida, a very big school, we had over
300 cadet debts there,
and they picked s to be number 1.
How many women were in your Rot otc
group?
Oh, I'm trying to think in my graduating
class. It really was not that many. I
wanna say we were probably at about 10
percent. Yeah. I just Googled as you were
talking, and Google tells me 16 percent of
the Us military is female.
Yeah. It's it's still really low.
But what I'm getting at is...
But you were selected a number 1 and
then. You were the 1. Yes. You were
the star.
But that... But I still was banned from
1 third of the jobs once I actually
got to the army. So it, you know,
it was institutional sexism.
And this isn't that long ago mind you.
You know, I joined in 2008. A lot
of people have no idea that this
existed in the. You wanted to go fight.
So, yes. So, yes, I said it's she'll...
It was the whole thing. The the conversation
that I had with myself. If I'm committing
myself to this profession,
I want to be on the ground, and
I wanna be as close to,
preventing more of these tax from happening again.
And but I... But I wasn't allowed. So
anyway, so I ended up picking military police.
That was kind of, I would say, the
best alternative that I had because at the
time military police units were deploying a lot.
They were doing a lot of,
combat
support type missions, providing security for, you know,
logistics units or, like, base defense or training,
you know,
Iraqi police or Afghan police forces and stuff.
So that was my initial job when I
first actually commissioned and went an the army.
And at the time, was that as close
to combat as AAA female could be?
That's right. So
here's where it gets a little
difference
with
the global war on terror and how it
was waged.
These wars were
asymmetrical warfare. There was no forward line of
troops. The enemies on this side were on
this side.
And so you you had like military police
units, for example, that would be doing, say
Con security, point a to point b.
At any time on these route you could
hit an Ie,
and then be engaged in an ambush attack
as well.
And so
women
although they were not in say infantry units
or tank units,
were
were in fact finding themselves in combat
situations.
And there were there was there were been
women that have been awarded, you know,
valor
metals for their actions in these combat
situations. So it started to chip away at
this narrative
that women either can't hack it or, you
know, why are they banned from combat yet
they're finding themselves in combat?
So that was just kind of the nature
of of these asymmetrical warfare.
And how do you get recruited into what
sounds like to me,
a very special job
and amongst the first women ever
to be with the special forces.
Yeah. So just
So it was a very interesting turn of
event. So, you know, we've laid the groundwork
that I joined an army where women aren't
allowed in these combat jobs
So I do military police. I actually do...
My first deployment as a platoon leader at
23 years old to body Iraq. While I
had my platoon of Mps. We were in
charge of the base defense for camp body
at the time.
And how many
American military police were under your command at
23 years old in?
But, for for a platoon it's 45.
40 twenties. 3 year old person,
a female person,
And you're now deployed and you're in charge
of a real group of people doing real
security work
in the line of us. Absolutely.
Absolutely. And
it's, you know, you just... It's so hard
to compare
that
quick initiation into leadership experience and doing it
in a combat zone.
At such a young age. You have to
grow up. You have, like, things life is
coming at you fast.
And so I also... That's why I make
a great argument for why veterans
are really great leaders and why we need
more in halls of congress and public service.
Which I'm sure we will get to.
But that was my first deployment.
I then came back from that and just
a couple months later,
the
Us Army special operations command
put down a directive.
And they said,
Immediately,
we need to assess and select
just a handful of women across the army
to go on missions combat missions in Afghanistan
with Army Rangers and Navy seals.
These special operators
are going on night raids targeting high value,
A qaeda and taliban targets.
Here's the problem now.
Culturally
the male service members
could not talk to Afghan women who were
on these targets,
potentially leaving
a myriad
of intelligence
untapped.
Okay? And so the answer was well, we
need to find the right
recruit the right women, service women
who have what it takes to go on
these raids
and do the
kind of what we call it Battlefield
interrogation and our tactical questioning
of these afghan women on targets to find
out, like, hey,
where's the the these A qaeda and Taliban
folks
located, who are they associating with where the
weapons,
any vital intelligence that we can get. So
that directive came down,
and I thought S sc girl.
This is it, step up to the plate.
This is it.
At a time, where women are allowed in
combat, let alone doing it with our
special operators, the people at the tip of
the spear.
The most elite fighters in the world.
Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely.
And so I
so I immediately put in an application and
was invited to Fort Brag,
home of special operations.
There were about 200 women.
That put in applications and,
handful of us were invited to actually go
through assessment and selection process. It looks like
a lot of
sleep deprivation, a lot of physical,
challenges,
mental challenges, you know, the whole rigor... The
whole thing to make sure that you are
physically mentally
competent. Like, you have what it takes to
hang and do this.
I ended up making the cut.
And then we had to go through another,
like, 3 month long crash course
on
training for this job. What does it look
like to actually
go on these night rage these and maneuvers
with these special operators.
And
and so I ended up being 1 of
20 women that were initially selected to go
do this job. That was in 2011.
Again, still very much when the women in
combat band was in place. So this was
a
somewhat of a provocative or kind of controversial
thing where we are now
going into Combat,
And so it was really interesting to be
finding myself in that position, and, you know,
it was a true... It was a a
true honor, but
but certainly, like,
I think I was exactly... That was exactly
where I was meant to be and really
proud of
that program's role and ultimately
changing the course
of
policy and Dod
to help her send the women and combat
band.
God bless usually.
That's so legendary.
So you were
1 of the first 20 women
in the army
selected to be in the special forces
to go go get this done.
Yeah. So we were right. So we were
attached to Understand. Special forces you... Yeah. So
I personally was with the 70 fifth ranger
regiment
in, Hell Province. So that's Southern Afghanistan
and
arguably 1 of the more dangerous places in
the country at the time. And did you
lose friends and and
fellow service members?
Yeah. So there's there's no... We're not sugar
coding this. I mean, we were there in
2011 2012,
Afghanistan,
really a heightened time
in that war, and we really his leading
service members. Every single day.
And so
2 months
into that 8 month deployment,
a,
1 of our female teammates along with 2
rangers was killed
in,
the house that they were going to that
they gonna be doing this raid at was
essentially boob trapped all throughout with Ie ids.
And
yeah. Yeah. And so
her name, the first lieutenant ashley white,
sergeant first class... Christopher,
and then a private first class christopher Horn.
So
they all lost their lives at night,
and it,
you know,
all of us know that that's a possibility,
and I was 25 years old, you know,
when we were there,
many of us were young
and
it's really interesting where you have to pump
to grips with that.
I remember when I first got there,
I was...
I remember Saying to the rangers like, how
do you
how do you try not to step on
an Ie? Like, how how
what's the technique here?
And there's are certain things that you can
look for, but the answer was
if if it happens it happens, you can...
You know,
and so you just have to come to
terms with
you just have to come to terms with
your own mortality. And you did that at
23 and then 25 years old. It got
real. Right? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was really real at
25, and it was, you know, my my
own team was killed 2 months in. We
have 6 more months.
Right. Who's gonna be next. You know, that's,
you know, it's very real.
And
It gives such a deep perspective of, you
know, a lot of the narrative we have
right now in political discourse is
what's the proper use of our military forces?
And
I think it's deeply important to have people
who have actually served
in war
and understand,
understand
the true cost and nature of it. And
as a 25 year old,
I knew
we knew
that
the way we were raging this war in
this strategy
was
was really only making the next generation of
terrorists,
and it was just kinda of playing, like,
whack a mole. It was what what sort
of our end to game here in ask
afghanistan.
And you really have to struggle with that
because you wanna feel that
your friend gave her life for something,
and she did. She was serving her country,
but you just... You need to have our
leaders that have a better understanding of the
sacrifice at hand and that it's very, very
serious business when you're deploying our troops to
places like this. And that there needs to
be proper civilian and oversight of our military
in so many ways, I think in the
last, you know, 2 decades of war, they
were asleep at the wheel, unfortunately.
Personally, sc,
I would like to see us have a
massive breakthrough
in the percentage of people serving at all
levels of government.
With military backgrounds. I was just checking as
you were talking to see,
and according to Google,
there current... As of 20 23, there were
80 veterans in the house in 17
in the senate. So not terrible,
but It it comes out to about 15
percent. Yeah. Not enough.
Well, well, here's an here's an interesting point
that I like to bring up to people.
Congress is hopeless grid locked right now. Okay.
We all know that.
And it didn't used to be this way.
If you look at the 50 60 seventies,
we had actually had decades of very
productive
congress.
And a lot of bipartisan work.
You wanna know how many people were veterans
then,
like 85 percent of congress is made up
of veterans These were the people of the
World War 2 generation, Korea, Vietnam. So it's
no accident that you have people that understand
to put
country over party interests.
And I do believe the formula is getting
more of the the the the global war
on terror generation veterans.
Now into the halls of congress where we
start see more of that cooperation again. Hey
man, Hallelujah Sister.
Mh. Yeah.
So
God at your legendary. Thank you so much.
So 2 questions that... Was trying to figure
out if I could ask you 1 and
not the other, but they seem to fit
together in my head. So I'm gonna...
I'm gonna ask you both.
Mh. Why run for Congress?
And
why run as an independent when historically, independent
candidates is in our country, don't tend to
do very well? We sort of
you know, football has replaced religion or excuse
me. Politics has replaced religion.
The way football has replaced religion and
just
because I'm a San Francisco 49 fan means
I... There's a set of teams I need
to hate, and I set of people I
need to love, and I just do that.
Well, that's fun when you're talking about football.
It's less fun
when you're on 1 side of the aisle
of the other and Everything my team does
is it's awesome and everything the other team
does is terrible.
It's insane. It's bullshit. We all know it.
It's ridiculous. We get lied to as a
result of it.
And it's all radically clear how silly it
is
and yet
both sides
are so wedded
to being on their side,
that cross aisle, you know, when the lions
of the senate used to meet.
They would roar at each other, but then
they go have beers and scotch together. Right?
All that seems to be
as just a regular citizen.
A thing of the past now.
So I guess my question with all that
is, why run?
Why are you? Why should we put you
in congress?
And why are you running as an independent?
Well, the the polarization that you talked about,
it's
a tragedy that we... That's unfolding in front
of our eyes right now.
And I believe it's going to be the
demise of our great country.
And we hear it a lot
but I think it's
true. There is a deep
crisis
of true,
genuine
leadership right now.
And
yeah
I'm just yelling yes at you. I'm just
on mute.
There there is though.
And, you know, we talked about
how at 23 years old, I'm leading, you
know, soldiers in a combat zone.
I did it at 25. I did it
in Syria again. I did it and all
around the Middle East.
My profession was to be a leader.
And I'm deeply troubled.
That we do not have that right now,
not in the numbers that we need.
And
and true leaders are not... They are not
pitting people against each other,
creating fear and division for their own personal
gain and their party gain
And
I want more than anything
for these people to lose their jobs.
And so
I'm stepping up to the plate to bring
it.
And and because I love this country, and
I believe in my leadership.
And I hope,
obviously, obviously, I wake up every day in
the hopes of winning on November fifth.
But I want my candidacy and I'll get
into the independent stuff in a second.
I want my candidacy to see. I want
people to say,
oh, S
She a 38 year old
woman, like, cheat she's stepping up and doing
this, like, saying all the things that I
think and here, and I wanna hear, let
me do it too.
We need a movement.
We need a movement of the normal people
the same people
and to stop thinking that we can't get
into the political arena 2 because we can.
And so
for so many reasons, you know, I'm running
for Congress. 1 because I love this country
and I love the ideals it stands for.
You know, you don't go to places like
Iraq Afghanistan,
Syria
and not think like holy crap. Like, we
have to preserve
what our founders have envisioned for this great
country.
And so I want... Well, so so so
I I want... I'm doing this to step
up and be a leader that I wanna
see. Right?
I'm not waiting for someone else to save
me. I think that we need people to
step up and start doing it. And then
the independent angle. Okay?
There are so
many issues in hypocrisy right now that's going
on with the 2 party
system, the 2 party duo.
We hear lots of things like,
you know, saving our democracy.
Well right now the anti competitiveness
with the 2 party system
is anti
to democracy
And so I really pride myself on being
a person
of
true
character and authenticity, and I had to have
some deep conversations with myself. When I was
thinking about running,
In mind, I didn't have some grand plan
about running in 2004, and I'm gonna do...
And I'm gonna do it this way, and
then I'm gonna climb this ladder and then
in a network like this, blah blah blah
blah. I've never I've never done my life
that way, and I'm not gonna start. Okay?
But the independent angle,
I truly believe
we need
more independence
independence in our political mix.
The majority of Americans
are registered as independent.
The demand is there.
The demand from the electorate is there for
more choices.
But the supply is not.
Very rarely, are you having
sensible
level headed,
independent candidates
reliably on the ballot, up and up and
down the ballot.
And so again, it's wanting to be that
change
that that you wanna see.
And so
I know this is an uphill battle. I
know independence, you know, rarely win, but, luckily
for folks, I'm not afraid to fail, and
I'm not afraid to, like,
push the status quo for what I believe
is right
And in fact, my story, the way I
think about it. This is the only other
way I this is the only way I
would run.
So I decide... Yes. I decided to do
as an independent because I think that's what
we need and believe. And then another side
note, Another side note. There's a little bit
of strategic thinking behind it too. In North
Carolina, where I'm running,
North Carolina is 1 of the most heavily
gerry standard states in the country right now.
It's criminal,
and I say this is an independent.
It's the Gop that's doing it here in
North Carolina in other states it's the democrats.
Okay? Gerry Wrong. They both do them they
both do it. They they absolutely. They both
do it. And rob people of their were
right to representation as a result. That's why
they're doing it.
Yes.
And I think how coward, What do you...
Do not think you could win without cheating?
Is that what you gotta do?
You know? Like, come on. What what happened
to a fair fight?
What are you still scared of?
And so you should win based off, you
know, the merits of your argument and what
you're gonna do for the people, not manipulating
a map. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
So
anyway, this district that I'm running in
is heavily gerry man
to prevent a democrat from winning.
A democrat will not win in this district.
They haven't, and they won't
So whoever the Democrat is and excuse me
for not knowing in your district who that
person is who's running.
That person is cannon fodder. They their
they're dead candidate.
Yes.
So the only chance you have to beat
the incumbent in your mind, S is to
be an independent.
Well, I won't be doing it as a
democrat, and plus, I don't wanna be behold
into a party anyway. I wanna only represent
the people. I don't wanna represent a party.
Not now you're real ridiculous.
So
so... And, you know, if I so I
actually used to be a registered to republican
some time ago, but I was always very
independent minded. But if I wanna wanna... If
I were to want to run as a
republican then I would have to be even
more extreme than the guy who's already in
office if I wanna have a. You gotta
play these political games. I don't... And with
that and that's that's not the answer for
our future.
So
for for all these reasons, both ideological and
kind of strategically,
I decided I'm gonna give it a go
running as an independent.
And that was a gamble, Chris, it was
a gamble for a couple reasons. 1,
to get on the ballot as an independent,
you have to go through a petition process.
It's hard right. It's set up to not
allow you to get on the ballot.
Yeah. If this system is rigged against
anybody competition that or Republican. Right. Exactly.
But but but mind you, 1 third of
my district is registered una affiliated.
So do those voters not get a choice?
You know They don't matter. They're stupid...
You must you must be on 1 side
or the other. I mean, come on.
Right. Right. Well, that's that's the narrative they
say, well like, well, you're really this or
you're that, and it's like, you know, stop
stop it.
So I'm... I was like, well, you know
what? I wanna get those photos a choice,
a new a new choice. So anyway, we
had to go through this petition process
and there's no petition requirements if you're running
with the party. So for the the the
Democrat and the Republican and my, all they
have to do sign paperwork do a little
filing fee, boom. You're on there. That's it.
That's it.
I on the other hand, in a short
7 weeks had to get... We got over
over. Almost 12800
signatures, of voters in the district that said,
hell, yeah, we wanna see an independent on
the ballot. Were pissed off and frustrated with
the system as it is.
And come to find out when we turn
those into the state for validation and everything.
They came back and said, you, congratulations Shane,
you know, you're good to go you're on
the ballot. By the way, you're the first
person to ever
do this in North Carolina history.
So on the first person, yeah, I had
no idea when we got this started, Chris.
You're the first person in North Carolina history
to run as an independent for congress?
Yes. At the congressional level, the first person
ever successfully complete the petition requirements to be
on the ballot as an una unrelated
candidate for congress. You got a lot of
first in your life. Don't you lady?
I
And I'm not even trying to. I'm not
even trying to, but I think that goes
to show and your whole thing with, you
know,
being different and being bold.
Is like, yet you you never know how
it's gonna pay off and what it's gonna
show. And this has been a very inspirational
campaign because of it.
We've gotten a lot of great press
being the being, you know, the the first
person to do this successfully, and people are
hungry for it. I mean, my god, even
just last week with the
presidential debate. I mean, we are in a
bad state right now. People are hungry for
funny. I've had several,
democratic candidates
here in California reach out to me since
the debate.
And they don't quite say it this way,
but I of course asked them. I'm very
clear and very direct.
And what I'm hearing, it's just Anecdotal evidence
from a handful of phone calls. But
if you're a Democrat trying to raise money
even in California right now,
you're hurting
because the entire
world,
watch the president of the United States
say
he defeated Medicare.
Yeah. Joe Biden said that.
And it was bad. It was really bad,
and then he said that.
And I think a lot of people went,
okay.
We can't give these people money.
Because they're not doing what's obviously right for
the country.
And, you know,
Was talking to a dear friend of mine
who's a...
He's been a psychiatrist
for 40 years. He... He's 1 of the
most well known psychiatrists and accomplished
psychiatrists
in the Bay area.
And
it's just amazing how hard it is for
people to do what is obviously right.
And what he said to me that was
interesting is,
how could Joe Biden family love him?
How could they do this to him?
Because a man with Parkinson's
and in the case of this,
psychiatrist. Who's obviously a doctor,
not a neurologist, but a psychiatrist. He said,
Biden exhibits virtually all
of the symptoms of somebody with Parkinson's
from the thousand year stare
to the challenge with walking and his gate,
and many other things.
And Yeah.
Everybody in the United States of America with
the Iq larger than their shoe size No
matter how much they love the Democrats or
how much they love Joe Biden. I voted
for Joe Biden in the last election. I've
admired him as a senator. I admired him
as a vice president. I don't agree with
him on everything. I think he's out to
lunch on a lot of things, but he's
an admiral man. And we can argue about
the specifics.
This is just
it's sad and painful for the whole country
to see this.
Yeah.
It it it is
and deeply frustrating,
and
it makes you wonder that even people, you
know, that Joe Biden you said is a
good honorable man that's given a lot of
his life to public service.
The way I see it is
the corrupt
the into
of power and control
can infect
a lot of people.
And I I think that that's what what
it might also be coming to,
to say he's the only person that can
defeat Donald Trump is a delusional statement in
my opinion.
And it's not putting the country ahead of
perhaps their interests.
And why don't we
remember
the example
of our legendary first president.
George Washington was a legendary president
because he did not want to be president.
He felt forced into it.
And then he was out
on purpose, and he said why, and he
said I'm not gonna be a king.
Right?
And maybe you dislike both, Joe biden, maybe
you hate Joe Biden.
But, you know, the irony in all of
this is had he announced at the beginning
of 20 24.
I'm not planning to seek green reelection? I
wanna open the door to the next generation
we're gonna
complete our last year in power
powerfully
and set this country up and set my
part day up for ongoing success.
Had he done that and was doing that
now and and sort of a proceeding over
the democratic process and the democratic party to
pick a leader
He would likely go down in history as
1 of the greatest presidents of all time.
I was gonna say, he could have been
the the great hero of the story
seriously.
And when you have the democratic apparatus that
their whole campaign
is just about Trump's an existential threat.
Vote for us, which I have problems with.
You know, you need to be making coaching
and arguments as to, you know, what you're
gonna be doing for the American people rather
than just vote for me because that guy's
worse.
There's a perfect opportunity. Again, yeah. Exactly what
you said for biden to, you know, he
did his thing, step down, and now it's
time to pass the torch,
but sadly, that's not
the position that we're in.
And I do wanna say, hey, if all
those democratic donors in California aren't willing to
give d their money. Hey, there's an independent
gallon, North Carolina,
that's really trying to break through and send
a solid message to the nation. I mean,
I like to think that it's...
We we do need a win.
For our country. We need the regular kind
of common sense folks to have a win,
and I think that having some... An independent
breakthrough into our Congress would be a great
a great way for that. And I know
there's a couple other independents running around the
country.
And if things don't change, I think this
is only gonna be gonna be more and
more people like myself and others stepping up
to the plate and doing it this way.
Awesome. And I hope you know, but if
you don't,
I've already committed to your campaign.
And Yes. Sitting here talking to you right
now, makes sure me wanna make sure you
wanna donate more.
So... Thank you. I appreciate it.
No. Julien, and you're awesome. And you know,
of course, I'm a marketing guy an entrepreneur
and category designer. It's just who I am.
And so as as I
experienced you before we had this opportunity the
first time we talked, and then I dug
in into your background and sort of felt
like I got know a little bit. And
of course, now,
what occurs to me from a marketing and
category design perspective.
Is you are the antidote
to Ao and Mt g.
In my opinion,
those 2,
elected officials
are emblem
of the horror show in both parties on
the extreme sides.
They're the same
evil coin.
They're... It's stupidity. It's performative.
It's... They care about social media followers,
They they act the way they do because
they they're sort of
kardashian es in the way they think about
this stuff. They don't leg shit.
And they're just
a fly in the ointment, and they they
care about their own performative,
successes
on Tiktok and Instagram. It's... It it it
is the epitome of disgusting to me.
And we're I the chief marketing officer of
your
campaign. 1 of things I'd be doing is
saying, look,
We have these insane people on either side,
and
she the antidote because you sit in the
middle
and you're reasonable.
So let's talk about your platform. Let's talk
about what are the key issues
that you're running on?
Well, I do wanna do a quick plug.
Oh, by means. So we actually... We did
actually, our... We aired our first
campaign ad,
right after the presidential debate last week, and
it was exactly that showing,
hey,
you get this or that
let me be that third option that we
don't need to settle for, you know, the
less of the 2 evils. Excuse me for
not having seen it yet, S are our
Mt g and Ao in the ad?
No. No. No No. No. It's just it's
just me making a statement having any, you
know, sitting on a couch and then just
a honest real quick conversation with the audience.
About, you know, addressing people's frustrations with at
least... I would consider running an ad that
has a sound bite from either of them.
And ends with you.
Mh. Okay. Well, I'm making... I'm not a
political
campaign expert, but I do know a few
things about marketing.
Yeah. Yeah.
No.
Absolutely. I mean, you know, I think that
yeah. You know, they're they're younger ish women.
I guess we... I'll have that in common
and you can make that quick comparison. But
Again, I think it's just the idea that
common let common sense prevail. And again, I
go back to the essence of
what the position is supposed to be and
that it does require, like, these leadership principles.
I go back to the military if we
had
leaders or commanders, honestly,
acting a fool and throwing insult not being
able to control their temper or doing theo,
I mean, you'll lose respect for them.
If they can't respect themselves enough to
behave in in in a in a comp
way,
how do you trust them to actually lead
and be a good representative on your behalf?
And so I keep coming back to this,
You know, leadership and character
does matter. It does.
And, you know, and I trust that, even
if there might be some policy differences perhaps.
That's exactly what. So Mh. I think
I think are a lot of people in
America have moved to that place where they
say you know what? If you're not fucking
insane.
If you're
if you can think.
And if you're willing to consider
different opinions,
and engage
in
authentic dialogue. We will either have civil conversation
or we will have civil war. That's the...
That's the 2 sides. Right? You and I
we may not agree on an issue.
Let's talk about 1, you pick 1. Whether
we agree or not, but
if we respect each other,
and I say, well, you know what? She
a good person
who
has already given her life.
To save my life.
And I might not agree with her on
the border. I might not agree with her
on Ukraine. I might not agree with her
on abortion. I might not agree with her
on taxes.
I might not agree with her on health
health care or whatever the topic is.
But what I do know is if you're
a principled good person,
We can have a conversation,
and we can push and pull each other,
and we can acknowledge steal sharpen steel. And
you might really piss me off.
About a certain issue.
But
those leadership principles.
I have people in my life who I
love dearly
who share political beliefs that I think are
not,
and I know they're good people.
Yeah. No. Exactly. That's what it's all about.
I think being, you know, a a person...
When you're there in in good faith.
To solve problems. And I think that's that's
the beauty of our country. I mean, we
are a wildly
diverse country, and I love it. I love
the different cultures. I love that you can
still travel from point a to point in
the United States and feel like, you know,
you're getting such as beautiful diversity.
And so that's exactly how our Congress is
supposed to be, and there is gonna be
that tu
of, you're not gonna see eye to eye,
but
between that, you do find some consensus.
And and and that's how it's designed. That's
how it's designed. But now
you have our leaders where it's 0 sum
and that gives us nowhere. The ball is
not advancing down the field.
So I'm in complete greens with you on
that. But,
okay. But you asked about my platform and
what's important to me.
And so there are
there are, of course, tons of fest
issues that we hear about a lot,
that I'm happy... I'm happy to talk about
it get into whether it's, you know,
inflation affordability,
our debt,
the or, you know, form form policy and
intervention on there. We can... Wealth inequality
Absolutely. At... Yes. Yes. Absolutely.
But 1 thing that I
I really really think needs to get addressed
is some of these deeper,
systemic
reforms
to our system
that's going to make government and representatives
to realign the incentives with how they are
supposed to be.
And
and
we've already talked about it,
but
Gerry Man
is 1 of them. There is federal legislation
that's already been drafted on making sure that
federal level elections are done by independent red
commissions. We need to bring the power
back to the people.
And right now, the people are being robbed.
They're robbed of that.
So I'm a big proponent on what are
these electoral reforms that we can be advocating
for that I would be advocating for? And
so
It looks like
independent red restricting commissions. It looks like
pulling back on
citizens United and un federal amounts of corporate
money
in politics.
The the that they they are influencing
elections. And and elections should just
It doesn't make it about the people anymore
that are gonna be casting the votes. And
so when you have our politicians and the
sheer amount of money that it costs to
run for office. I mean, my goodness I'm
a I'm a bonafide fide tele right now.
I called you, you know
skin donors for money.
It's 1 And This works by the way,
when you call people, when you cold call
people,
and you say, hi. I'm s, and I'm
running for Congress in North Carolina, and I
and I'd like to talk to you.
Do people give you money?
Yeah. They do sometimes.
They did. I did. I mean, you did...
Well, it it just it's 1 of those
things. It's a volumes game. You know,
if
we're getting
I don't know. I'll have to crunch the
numbers on how many conversions it is,
but it sucks. And it's not what I
wanna be doing, and it's not what our
politicians should be doing. They should be out
talking to the people, learning what the problems
are and how they can help serve and
solve them.
But instead,
our system is per incentives. When you have
politicians spending 80 percent of their time, fundraising
for their reelection campaign,
and usually they're getting it from higher higher
donors or corporate packs.
Now you have that lesson of reciprocity there
behold to that. Okay? And so people know
this, and and and that's wrong.
I think that... So campaign finance reform. Yes.
Campaign... Yeah. Yes. Yes.
And
and and in the other reforms, term limits
are wildly popular, they pull very, very high
with folks,
and I... An ironic that we'll give the
president a term limit, but nobody fucking else.
People are literate... Crisp, people are dying on
the job...
And our president, unfortunately might be next.
They... You know, you've got did Dianne feinstein
stein. I mean, our our,
Rg g bless her heart, But I mean,
it's Rg g now, and listen, we were
all fans for lots of reasons.
And and again, I didn't agree with all
of her positions but
you had to admire her.
And in the end,
it's painful to say she did the wrong
thing. She stayed too long.
Yes. Yes. And so term,
you know, I I think a balanced term
limit would be would be 12 years.
For folks, you know, 6 in the house
to in the senate,
and
how are making, again, realign these incentives?
And I think what's trickier. This is mostly
done at the state level, but, you know,
you see more and more states reforming their
primary systems.
And I think that is key.
That is the magic
formula
to start and get to starting to get
more sane
candidates
elected to office. It's also the formula to
help getting more independent candidates
able to break through as well, And what
do you think about... And I believe they're
doing this already in Alaska? I might be
wrong, but when... They are. They are. When
when I can vote for 3 people, I
can have first choice second choice and third
choice. And so if my first choice drops
out,
my second choice gets my vote.
Right? That's right. That's right. So ranked choice
voting. So Alaska is a fascinating study. They
the only state now doing a ranked choice
voting? I think I think Maine has ranked
choice voting, and then I believe it's on
the ballot in Nevada this year. But, I
just wanna do a plug for Alaska. So
1 that was my first duty station, so
I lived in Fair bank, Alaska, You know,
I was a young 20 something. But Alaska,
has ranked choice voting, but here's what most
people don't know.
Before Alaska voted for ranked choice voting,
Alaska was very gerry
in the favor of republicans.
So
Democrats
decided
Well, it's really impossible for us to win.
So maybe we can see if there's some
moderate independent
independent candidate who will step up.
And
after about 4
election cycles,
these independent candidates
started to win and get more of foothold
in their state legislature.
And it was after... And they... And then
they had a wildly
successful
productive
collaborative state legislature,
because you're getting more moderate people that wanna
do the right thing, voted into office, And
it was after that that they were able
to push something like ranked choice voting.
And so, you know... So I just wanted
to be clear you're saying
you believe there's a straight line sc between
independents getting elected in Alaska
and their shift in voting policy to rank
choice. Yes. Yes. No question in your mind.
No. No. I've I've... The...
Have many conversations with folks actually in Alaska
in the last month,
because they are... They have been pioneers.
For getting more independent candidates in their state
government mix, and it is paid off wet
very well for the state.
And I want Alaska
IIII bring it up because I want them
to be a case study for other states
to look at. And that's why I'm proud
to be doing this as an independent, and
so, you know, my... Wanna get that message
out. But, yeah So that's that that's that's
what happened for participating. And, ultimately, would you
like to see that in North Carolina
throughout the country? Yes. Absolutely. And especially when,
you know, again, North Carolina is so heavily
Gerry man,
there needs to be a balance. And here's
the irony
Republicans are actually the
minority
demographic in North Carolina.
The majority are independents or una unrelated, then
Democrat than Republican. But yet,
the maps are drawn in a way
where out of the 14 congressional districts in
North Carolina,
11 of them
are
expected to
are are gonna be going to Republican.
With only
3 Democrats democrat. So that's...
How do you square that when Republicans are
actually the... The minority
voting block in the state. So it's just,
again, it goes back to that corrupt corrupt
practice of gerry rem, and we need to
combat that. As Shakespeare said, something is rotten
in the state of Denmark. Yeah. Yeah. And
so how's is your campaign going? Do you
think you're gonna win?
What the poles saying?
Right. Right. Right. Well,
you know, this is this is it's an
uphill battle a especially in a 3 person
race. So actually a lot of my messaging
is, you know, a lot of the democrats
in the district understand that
democratic victory is unlikely. And
you know,
I actually... I really believe in my candidacy
to. I think I'm very... They're the only
alternative front. Here to
I'm the only alternative.
And how long has your competitor been serving?
He is... I think on his fifth fifth
term,
So, you know, he's in... He'd been an
incumbent for a while,
and
But I think it's time for him to
go home.
I think it's time we need to... Yeah.
Well, everyone needs competition. Unfortunately,
I, you know, he hasn't had much. And
so
that's the problem with our system. When people
feel like
they
their seat is comfortable,
they don't have to serve the people because
there's no consequence to that.
And so
anyway... That's absolutely.
So another notable thing about my district and
it's home to Fort Brag
military base.
It's now called Fort Liberty that they did
ren rename. But, you know, it's Fort Brag
and
I served there for many, many years. That's
actually brought me to North Carolina in 2011.
It's home of
operations is home of the 80 second airborne.
You know, it's where I served and went
to warrant back multiple times.
This district has not been
represented by a veteran in Congress in many,
many, many years. But this district is like,
has doubled the amount of veterans
than
most just than than the average districts in
the state. And so
I I believe that I have had an
advantage
specifically with that constituency,
and, you know, I use the Va healthcare
care system myself,
and all of you know, and all of
the reasons why that... And your husband who
also
is saving my life right now?
Yeah. Yeah.
Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I can't say
that about either 1 of my opponents. You
know, the current guy that represents this place.
He's he is the definition of a career
politician.
You know, he he he tout that his
leadership experience is being class president. Well life's
school. Again, I was leading soldiers in Iraq
at that age.
And and he went straight.
You straight of S.
Well,
you know, and then went straight into kind
of politics and and stayed there ever since.
And so, you know, you know, how long
is that gonna be. So... Well, we don't
have any
career politicians terrify me. Right? Because when you
don't have any experience in the world doing
anything something.
I don't know. It doesn't it doesn't sit
with me. And then the Democrat doesn't even
live in the district. You know, he didn't
he doesn't even live here. So I think
the devs were scrambling to just find a
warm body. Yeah to get in here. So...
What are the polls look like right now,
s?
Well, we're looking at doing some polling here
soon.
That obviously cost
money.
So there's no media organization or anyone else
doing that level of pulling in North Carolina
right now. You you you're gonna have to
pay for it. Yeah. There hasn't... There has
not been any third party that has done,
pulling out for the public. So if I
go to 05:38, and I type in North
Carolina,
I'm not gonna see any poll results.
For the ninth district specifically? Yeah Or any
other district North Carolina for that matter?
You might find some for other districts. I
know district district 1 is the only
kind of deemed competitive
toss up district in the state. Again, is
super fortunate.
But stay tuned. But stay tuned. You know,
we're we're getting... Wanna get some polling numbers
under our belt to really kinda help assess.
But I know we have
issue pulling
for for this area. And so
the,
affordability
and
inflation is
usually the top issue
along with the border as well. So those
are pretty, like, high issues here in this
part of this state with folks. So what
do you think about those issues? Let's talk
about affordability?
I think it's spot on.
I think it's spot on. You know, when
you look at people, I And I... I've
been getting around a lot in the district.
And it is very...
I actually watch
should be presidential debate in a dive bar
with a bunch of people that I didn't
even know.
I love it. And
And because I do I love Dive var.
Don't just look me... Well, you gotta get
a... And I I find people fascinating and
interesting. I'm deeply curious.
And so, yeah, I'm happy to go in
the dive bar and make some friends and
let's watch this debate and, you know, I
knew my ad was coming out so I
wanted to see that too. But
In there, I had a conversation with a
woman where she's working 2 jobs, honest job.
She's trying to make her ends meet. She's
single she didn't have a family And she
was telling me the difference in costs of
what it what it is for her to
just get an apartment for herself.
And she's like, I can barely
afford that. And so how am I gonna
have time to go to school to get
other skills to climb the ladder when I'm
having to dedicate all of my time to
these 2 jobs to make things work. And
you know, when she wasn't she wasn't necessarily
born in a situation or a family that
give her real hand up.
You know, she's putting in the honest work,
and it's deeply frustrating for her, and that's
the problem. You mean, you got young people
that have given up on the idea of
ever
owning a home? Yes. Or it's
too expensive to even think about having a
family.
And people are finding themselves
more hopeless in this country.
And what are we without having hope and
optimism for the future. I think that's very
dangerous.
And when you when you look at young
people,
only 18 percent
of people 34 and under say that they
are proud to be from this country. We
need to change that. And so rightfully, people
are pissed
about prices.
I mean, and going to the grocery store.
And and it's a combination of stuff. And
here's what makes me mad about the narratives.
You get narrative from 1 side that says,
this is the president's fault.
Okay?
He's doing this full stop. That's him.
That's it.
When,
you know,
it's really a combination of a lot of
things.
And what I don't hear a whole lot
is corporate gouging in the mix. You know,
how do you square it where, yes, we
had the pandemic. Yes, we had supply chain
issues. Yes, we had a flood of cash
into our economy. These are all factors that
cause inflation. Okay,
but we also have corporations that are like,
alright, we're able to set our prices this
high, and then you have record profits,
profit margins.
And so it's, you know, it's a more
complicated mix with this issue, but we do
need to help people with costs where we
can, whether that's housing. Whether that's childcare care
childcare care tax credit,
and and to help alleviate some of these
issues for folks. They need to have a
fighting chance in this economy.
And then the and then the border as
well. You know, I think the border is
a perfect example of how both parties continue
to fail us. You know, there's been both
meaningful legislation that's been put forward this year
in in the senate. And, you know, there's
a certain part that said, oh, we want
a campaign off this. So we're not gonna
come to the table
and try to find a solution.
And to me, the border common sense. I
don't think it needs to be
controversial that we ought to have some lawn
order at the border understanding who's coming into
this country, what they're bringing,
you know, our role of federal government is
to
secure and protect our sovereign territory.
And we desperately desperately need, and you probably
know it's better than me in California is
to reform our immigration system as well.
We... It's it's it's just been... It's a
c colossal. It's a colossal mess,
and it's just our government's
inability
competency
on display to solve that problem. And the
people are people are tired of it. Well,
and when Biden comes out and says, Well
we'll shut the water when it gets to
10000 people a day.
I was like, well, Why is that a?
Why the fuck a number you shut?
The other 1 S, I'd like to,
underscore for you
is,
as Canadians,
Of of course, most Americans don't realize
the Us Canada border is the largest
unprotected border on planet Earth.
The law... Did you say un... Unprotected? Unprotected.
Okay.
And,
justin Trudeau, recently announced
that they are going to have,
5000
immigrants from Gaza come to Canada.
I don't know if you've been paying much
attention, but,
in my,
home my my hometown in Montreal,
the Jewish community is under siege right now.
I think it's very similar in Toronto. It's
disgusting what's going on.
And Canada is learning,
the hard way
that
when you allow
immigrants
who
are members of a death cult, who think
throwing queer people off the top of buildings
and stone women to death.
And democracy are all, you know, things they
can shed on.
You're gonna have a problem in your country.
And my fear
is we're hearing a lot about
Isis
coming across the southern border.
I've heard numbers that
You know, our government has said, as they
know for a fact,
roughly 500
Middle Eastern terrorists have come over the border
in the last few months alone.
Southern border, but with Canada,
Mh.
Terrorists can walk across
the border in Vermont.
And be in the United States,
and my fear
is the next 09:11 terrorists
are actually gonna come to us through Canada.
Well, that... That's a valid fear. And,
you know, I think that it's it's common
sense
for us to understand who's coming in this
country.
And I... Here's an little I anecdote for
you. So I was I was
pretty heavily involved in the
evacuation efforts, the evacuation efforts of,
afghan who we worked with in Afghanistan
during the fall of Kabul.
We were working with different, frankly,
people who would be willing to smuggle them
over the border in Pakistan and then their
a long journey to the United States and
a lot of them it looked in different
ways.
But there is this 1 group actually, my
husband was helping.
They ended up going to Mexico.
And coming through the country through our southern
border, and they did it successfully.
And they got here faster than people who
were trying to go through the
humanitarian system. And therein lies the problem, Shane,
you nailed it. It worked. It worked. It
works. And so, you know, they're not here...
They're not here to cause problems. They're they're
here fleeing the the Taliban
and, you know, our government put them in
that own predicament, but they're able to do
it, you know nefarious actors.
Are able to do it too.
We know the number of military aged Chinese
men coming across the southern border is shocking.
Yep. What are they doing? Why is that
happening?
And so here, and and you see it,
and you see it as well. There's, you
know, an increased number of
foreign adversary activity around military bases around our
country. Like I said, in my district, it's
home of Fort Brag.
It appears there, I've been reading recently the
about the, foreign and Chinese
properties being purchased.
In in and around our military basis, and
I forget who posted it. But I saw
a map recently. Do have you seen this
map she... I I have I have Terrifying.
Isn't it?
Yeah. It is. It is. This should not
be allowed. I mean, they're
and and and and so we need our
leaders to to get serious and get on
top of this.
But we're too busy fighting each other. Then
then...
And we're forgetting that there are foreign adversaries
completely taking an advantage of how we are
distracting ourselves with our own political and games.
And that's what I like to say. This
isn't a game. And in fact, the nefarious
actors around the world are celebrating
celebrating right now that Americans are too busy
qui about Democrats and Republicans,
and they're are doing all of this, right
now under our noses.
And so and so, yeah. We even even
hear where, you know, where I live. In
a very county that I live. I mean,
we had an incident last month where 2
ins, and this is still under investigation, but
2
c nationals
were sent they were working for
a electric company,
but really they were spying on Us service
met prominent Us service members.
And I don't know if you... I don't
know if the story made its way to
California or not. But,
this... I believe he was a lieutenant Colonel
and special forces
ended up
going up and intervening with 1 of these
guys who was on his property taking pictures
with the camera,
and ended up getting in a shootout out
with him and and killed him and So.
There's a a big investigation going, Oh yeah.
I look it up. They're look it up.
And so it's still... You know, a lot
of this is still led but, you know,
I was in special operations here for a
long time, and so we would get debrief
on foreign foreign nationals trying to probe the
perimeter
of our military base or they would try
to get human intelligence from people out in
the town. And so this
une unequivocally
is happening.
And our adversaries, I think are getting more
and more bold with, their tactics against us.
And rightfully so, because again, we are not
a United States of America.
We are too busy
being divided and fighting amongst ourselves over honestly,
lots of silly culture war stuff,
instead of getting serious about, you know, being
a united front and being able to take
on our app series.
And as we speak,
Russia is increasing the number of
atomic submarines
around Cuba.
Yeah. Yeah. No one's was talking about it.
Yes. Yes. No one's fucking talking about it.
And if you don't think... In Chinese nash,
Chinese nationals as well in the Caribbean right
now. Like, it's
This is serious stuff. It's serious stuff And
post
the horror show debate.
If I'm an adversary of the United States,
and I go, wow.
The fucking president doesn't know what day it
is. If we were ever gonna do something,
now's is a time.
Yeah. And so, actually, that was something I
wanted to comment on before
with,
you know, should Biden run for reelection and
what we all saw. Well, what worries me
is, like,
And people make the argument... While, you're voting,
you know, for a staff and you her
it's, like, no, you're voting for a commander.
In chief.
You need someone who you trust
who has all of their faculties
at 3AM if they get woken up, you
need to have someone who's... And
Biden has not shown us that he's there.
And Neither has Trump frankly. And so I
am both
really worried for the sake of our country
and our security. That these are our 2
presidential choices. It is not a game. You
know, it is serious stuff being commander in
chief. Oh, do you remember when Trump said
that
the January sixth
was Nikki Haley fault because she didn't call
in the national guard. Remember that.
Yeah yeah. It's
fucking day.
Yeah. Yeah. Don't. We can all have verbal
slips and we forget a word or, you
know, it's happened to be my whole life.
And if I keep getting these concussion, it
seems to be happening more.
But the point being, we all know the
difference between
you're searching for a word that happens normally
and
stuff like that. It is it's it's frightening.
Right? We need, of course, we need somebody
with all their faculties
best I could tell us the hardest job
in the world. Yes. Yes. And so
yeah, It's just it's deeply concerning
where we find ourselves right now. And and
it's... And we need we just... We need
better leaders. We need better leaders at the
helm right now.
Not just in the highest levels of office,
but also in
our legislative branches, and that's again, exactly why
I am doing this. We need to have
more people willing
to step up and say enough enough. This
is our country. We need better representation. It's
not from you. It's not coming from you.
So, you know, we might as well be
doing it.
And so that's why I implore folks. Like,
actually, you know, when I talk to folks,
I say, hey, listen. This is
this is what participatory democracy looks like. When
you have... If you don't feel like things,
you're not being properly served.
And when you have candidates and people who
are stepping up to run,
maybe now is not your time, you know,
maybe you wanna run later or maybe the
school boards is your thing or whatever, but
I really tell people. I say, you are
not helpless. You're not. Pick a candidate that
you like. It doesn't even have to be
in your own state or just somewhere.
And and, you know, either just... Whether it's
sharing their stuff,
on on on social media or chipping in
some dollars, like,
it takes...
I refused I refused to just cap to
this is the system that we have and
crazy people are running the show.
Normal people need to rise up and figure
out where they fit in to help,
bring some sanity back.
Thank you for that.
Yeah.
S, I could clearly talk to you for
a very long time and would enjoy it,
but I also know you have a campaign
to run.
Is there anything else you'd like to touch
on? Well, 1, I really appreciate... I was
excited to... I was excited to talk to
you. You know, I did I did, you
know, that cold call with you. Thanks for
taking my phone call and and you know,
being cordial with me on the phone, and
then
I was really excited to look you up
online and your whole your whole thing of
being different.
And
that just speaks to me. And I think
that's a really
that's a message that we need right now.
And in our political circles,
because
I'm running as an independent. So lots of
times what I hear. It's like, well, they
don't really win or
you know, isn't that a throw away though,
which mind you in this gerry manager district?
No. It's not. But
I say
it takes courage
to do something different.
It takes courage,
and we need to embrace
the different, You know, being different,
advocating for different, because then we will get
different results,
whether that's in our own personal lives or
in our families, our communities,
or in politics like what we're talking about.
So so anyway, I like to think that
I'm living that truth and you are too,
and, you know, most people that you bring
on that podcast and hopefully your listeners are
as well. And I will say this. I
know he said most your listeners are kind
of
innovator business types.
I love the opportunity to talk to people
like yourself and people that come from,
a more entrepreneurial background.
And what I like to say is
disruption is a good thing. You know, we
need it to
evolve in our lives in the business world,
and we need disruption
in our political arena.
We need disruption to grow.
And
I'm so dang proud to consider myself a
positive political
disrupt. And so I invite people to come
on board with the campaign
they feel like we need disruption too.
You said it takes courage to be different.
Mh.
And Yeah.
Usually our somebody who has made and clearly
does make a gigantic difference in our world.
And I deeply appreciate it.
And I wish you all the luck in
the world in your campaign.
Well, thank you so much. That really means
a lot. You're welcome back anytime and when
you win, it'll it'll be fun to have
you back.
Oh, yes. Exactly.
Exactly. When I win, I like it. I
like it. That's that energy. And the mindset
that we need. So well, thank you so
much, Chris. I I seriously appreciate your time
and giving me this platform.
Absolutely. Thank you so much, and bless you.
Okay. Thank you.
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