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Thanks for pressing play. If you love the

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ser magic that can only occur in a

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real conversation, you're in the right place. This

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is Christopher Lock follow your different. The number

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1 real dialogue cast for business leaders, entrepreneurs

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and category designers with a different mind.

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In the coming weeks and months, we hope

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to hear more from not crazy Republican Democrat

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and independent politicians running for office. In an

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attempt to have real conversation and dialogue.

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Not more yelling and fucking stupidity in our

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country. As a result, we have not invited

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marjorie Taylor Green or Ao on the podcast.

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We are seeking out thoughtful and I repeat

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not crazy people from all political stripes.

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Because we believe it's time for a breakthrough

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authentic conversation in America.

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Our guest today is the legendary S Etch,

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A trail basing figure whose remarkable journey from

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a non military family

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to serving on the front frontlines with the

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Army's elite forces

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exe identifies extraordinary courage and dedication. Chilean path

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to leadership began with a bold decision to

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join Rot as an undergraduate,

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despite having no prior family ties to the

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military.

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Her experiences ranging from leading soldiers in Iraq

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at the young age of 23 to being

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among the first women selected for special forces

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missions in Afghanistan,

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have shaped her into a formidable advocate for

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veterans and a passionate candidate for political office.

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In this episode, S shares her compelling story

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of resilience

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leadership and her unwavering commitment to serve and

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protect. Her insights into the sacrifices made by

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service members, the importance of genuine leadership and

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her innovative vision for political reform offer a

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fresh perspective on the challenges facing our nation

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today.

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Join us as we delve into S

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inspiring journey. Her experience is in combat and

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her bold bid for congress as an independent

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candidate.

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Challenging the status quo and advocating for a

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government that truly represents the people.

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Are you tired of getting lost in the

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crowded seas of your market?

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It's time to break free and join the

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category pirates where we chart new courses and

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uncover uncharted territories.

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The category pirates newsletter is your treasure map

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to mastering category design. Learn from the legends

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into pioneers of category design themselves. We'll teach

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you how to frame name and claim your

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var niche with unparalleled precision. Don't settle for

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being just another face in the crowd, transform

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into a true category designer. And une earth

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hidden treasures waiting just for you.

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Embark on your journey with the category pirates

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today at category pirates dot com.

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Now as Joey Ra ramon said, hey, H,

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let's go.

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Alright. Well, S, it sure is wonderful to

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meet you in person. Yeah. Thank you so

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much, Chris. I really appreciate you having beyond.

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I appreciate you being here. And I deeply

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appreciate you but running for a a high

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office in our country.

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Well, thank you.

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It's a big grand adventure, and, you know,

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I'm the first time running for office, so

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really diving in head first here. But

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I'm proud of what we're doing, and and

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we need to get more people in the

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political mix, of fresh blood for sure.

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Absolutely.

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The other thing I'd like to say you

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off the top from the bottom of my

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heart.

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Most people when they meet that veterans say

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things like, thank you for your service.

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And so I absolutely thank you for my

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service,

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for your service. I thank you for your

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service.

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But I was... I've been thinking about this

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a lot because I spent a lot of

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time with folks who are either in or

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were in our military because I love an

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admire and respect them deeply.

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And I had a dear friend die recently,

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a man you might have heard of named

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Bill Walton,

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and the famous basketball player. Mh. And Bill

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always when he was signing off either in

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person or text or email

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would say, thank you for my life.

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So S, I'm not confused.

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Because of you and the women and men

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who volunteer

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to protect me.

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Thank you for my life.

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Well, thank you for those words.

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They really mean a lot and and, no.

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Thank you.

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I think as service members, you know, it's

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an all volunteer force,

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you know, we choose this profession for different

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reasons.

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And it's it's really an honor,

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and and, you know, so... And I think

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it's a team effort So from a grateful

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nation like you and citizens like you. Thank

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you so much.

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Well, thank you. I'm not confused. I know

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the only reason I'm alive.

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Is because of you.

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And anybody in America who's confused about that

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in my opinion is very confused.

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Because there's a lots of people evil that

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wish us harm,

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and there's 1 reason.

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There's 1 reason

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We haven't been attacked

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on our homeland

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since 09:11. There's only 1 reason

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because of you.

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Yeah. Thank you. I think there's

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a lot of people don't really get to

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see behind the curtain

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of our intelligence community, our military community

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and how much people sacrifice and give themselves

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to that profession in the name of preventing

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another 09:11.

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And that's not by accident. It's not because

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there hasn't been, you know, plots or people

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around the world that would love to

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enact more tax like that.

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It's just that they've been prevented

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from people who are serving, whether it's in

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the Nsa

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Different. Yeah. So so so anyway,

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oftentimes people have no idea, But but, yeah,

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there are folks absolutely.

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Defending this great nation and making sure that

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that doesn't happen again. So thank you.

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Thank you.

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And if I understand your background in your

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story,

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S, it it would appear that 09:11 did

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have an impact on you. Did it?

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Yeah. So, you know, I do not come

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from a military family whatsoever.

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In In fact,

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I'm half Canadian dual citizen, my mother and

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all of her family are kind from the

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mountains of British Columbia.

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Oh, I knew I like you. I was

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born in Reed from Montreal, Canada, S.

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Oh, you were Wonderful. I'm an American citizen

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as well as a Canadian citizen.

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You all. There we go. We're dual. American.

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But... Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna say something that

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might be inappropriate in certain places, but there's

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some special about ladies from Canada. I'll say.

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Hey. I'll take it. And I think so.

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You know, my mom is 1 great lady,

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and so... And my dad's so proud to

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be mary duke Canadian woman.

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And, yeah. So anyway,

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I I love that about kind of my

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family origin story. What's your mom's name?

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Her name is Sheila. Sheila.

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I was actually named after her, So her

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name is Sheila Anne

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and she made kind of a combination of

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those 2 to make S.

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Got it. I think S is spectacular names.

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Perfect. It's... Thank you. You know,

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having unique name. I like to say it's

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kind of a blessing and a curse depending

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on the context.

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And,

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of course, starting for office, it's very convenient

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having a unique name. So in this instance

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it's been good. It's. The speaker the house's

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name is Mike Johnson.

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The most generic name you can have besides

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like John Smith.

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Exactly.

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And and his good friend Johnson.

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It's good for jobs. That's right. It's also

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awesome in the Google world, you know, because

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I have an unusual, certainly in in North

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America. An unusual last name. Scotland is the

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only place in the world I go where

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they know how to spell it. U. But

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in the Google world, in the Internet world,

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It's easy to find. Right? So there's not

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too many S

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and in... So Googling, you come up quickly.

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I even tell people. When I'm on the

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phone and you doing my calls and stuff,

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and I said, what's your name? I'm like,

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honestly, you really just need my first name.

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Like, just put it into Google It'll come

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up.

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So it's like of nice. Share.

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Yes. It is. It's it is. It's kind

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of nice.

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So thank you

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mother Sheila Anne for, you know, con con

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that. It's been useful at least in this

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endeavor.

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But

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but, yeah. So I it I did not

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come from a military family I I had

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always been a pretty in intuitive sort of

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serious

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person. I was always really interested in the

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news and geopolitics and

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and, you know, I was always into reading,

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like, non fiction. Was a young kid too.

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So when the the attacks on 09:11 happened,

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I was in high school.

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And

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I mean, what

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a jarring tragic event for our country.

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And and no no 1 will let you

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you know where you were when those happen.

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It is forever

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burned into your brain and your psyche, you

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know.

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And

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it just was

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And then following kind of our nation's response

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to it and there were people in my

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high school that were kind of enlist right

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after graduation that we're gonna be going to

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Afghanistan and you know, it just put the

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military

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on the map for me in a way

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that it wasn't before.

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And so I ended up honestly kinda taking

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a leap of faith and joining Rot

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as an undergraduate.

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And I just... I couldn't shake the notion

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that, you know, I think I need to

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give this military thing a shot

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even though I didn't really have much...

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I didn't have any family pies to the

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military or really any kind of like,

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mentors per s, leading me that way.

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So it was listening to my intuition, and

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and it was a good thing to do

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because it ended up being

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1 of the best decisions I could have

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made.

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And

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I'm gonna get a little personal,

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and you can kick me under the table

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don't don't let me bring anywhere You don't

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wanna go.

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Okay. But don't worry Don't really let people

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push me around. I'm not gonna push you

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around at all. I'm just happy to see

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you, and I think you're fantastic.

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Thank you. Are you a religious person at

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Os?

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So I did not grow up in an

273
00:10:18,223 --> 00:10:20,290
institutional sort of, like, religious household.

274
00:10:20,767 --> 00:10:21,324
In fact,

275
00:10:22,278 --> 00:10:22,778
my

276
00:10:23,233 --> 00:10:25,323
parents were very open about

277
00:10:26,031 --> 00:10:29,849
exploring different religions out there and talking about,

278
00:10:30,008 --> 00:10:32,099
you know, a higher power and

279
00:10:32,569 --> 00:10:33,763
that there is a god, but it can

280
00:10:33,763 --> 00:10:35,354
take on many forms, and so I remember

281
00:10:35,354 --> 00:10:36,252
going to different

282
00:10:37,344 --> 00:10:38,617
denomination of churches with friends.

283
00:10:39,333 --> 00:10:39,833
And

284
00:10:40,209 --> 00:10:42,293
anyway, and since in my adult life, I

285
00:10:42,293 --> 00:10:44,285
have found. I would say my own brand

286
00:10:44,285 --> 00:10:44,785
of

287
00:10:46,436 --> 00:10:46,936
spirituality

288
00:10:47,551 --> 00:10:48,051
with

289
00:10:49,398 --> 00:10:51,383
all of the connected life forces on this

290
00:10:51,383 --> 00:10:53,313
earth and in this universe and

291
00:10:53,846 --> 00:10:56,070
and that there has to be some divine

292
00:10:56,070 --> 00:10:57,023
maker of it all.

293
00:10:57,738 --> 00:10:58,794
So I

294
00:10:59,343 --> 00:11:02,215
I really... It's it's a very strong spirituality

295
00:11:02,215 --> 00:11:03,970
that's rooted in I love the essence sense

296
00:11:03,970 --> 00:11:05,724
of love, which you do get a lot

297
00:11:05,724 --> 00:11:07,559
of, you know, if you wanna bring Christianity

298
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:08,970
into this. A lot of the teachings of

299
00:11:09,089 --> 00:11:10,840
Jesus are very aligned with... I think how

300
00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:12,831
I feel with my brand of spirituality.

301
00:11:13,547 --> 00:11:15,936
But but to answer your question, no, I

302
00:11:15,936 --> 00:11:18,585
wasn't in any sort of, like, particularly religious

303
00:11:19,625 --> 00:11:19,784
organization.

304
00:11:20,904 --> 00:11:23,144
Because I've talked to many of our service

305
00:11:23,144 --> 00:11:24,264
members as well as vets.

306
00:11:25,238 --> 00:11:27,385
Who share a feeling of being called of

307
00:11:27,385 --> 00:11:28,419
1 sort or or another,

308
00:11:29,214 --> 00:11:31,542
whether they're really religious or

309
00:11:31,996 --> 00:11:33,507
believe in a higher whatever it is, but

310
00:11:33,507 --> 00:11:34,246
there's something

311
00:11:34,953 --> 00:11:36,009
that has kind of

312
00:11:37,176 --> 00:11:39,184
got them and saying, hey, listen

313
00:11:40,431 --> 00:11:42,828
go go and join our military in and

314
00:11:42,828 --> 00:11:44,419
so did it feel that way at all

315
00:11:44,419 --> 00:11:46,328
to you? Like you were as corny as

316
00:11:46,328 --> 00:11:47,282
it might sound to some,

317
00:11:48,157 --> 00:11:49,112
being called to it?

318
00:11:50,479 --> 00:11:51,377
The question

319
00:11:52,150 --> 00:11:54,457
that keep kind... That that that kept coming

320
00:11:54,457 --> 00:11:55,513
back to me was

321
00:11:57,414 --> 00:11:58,924
will someone has to do this.

322
00:12:00,196 --> 00:12:01,706
We're an all volunteer force.

323
00:12:02,978 --> 00:12:03,637
We were

324
00:12:04,011 --> 00:12:04,511
violently

325
00:12:06,254 --> 00:12:07,613
attacked on our own soil.

326
00:12:09,051 --> 00:12:10,410
And I love this country.

327
00:12:11,928 --> 00:12:13,846
I did a small stint growing up in

328
00:12:13,926 --> 00:12:15,045
Mexico actually,

329
00:12:16,419 --> 00:12:17,478
you see poverty

330
00:12:18,017 --> 00:12:18,337
firsthand.

331
00:12:19,455 --> 00:12:21,693
You under... Like, from a small age and

332
00:12:21,693 --> 00:12:23,052
and I, again, like I said, I was

333
00:12:23,052 --> 00:12:24,970
very consumed with books and I would read

334
00:12:24,970 --> 00:12:27,633
about know, World war 2 or, like, the

335
00:12:27,769 --> 00:12:29,598
the Came Rouge and Cambodia and stuff, and

336
00:12:29,598 --> 00:12:30,950
it's like, no. We have, and my parents

337
00:12:30,950 --> 00:12:32,779
would say, I mean, you're incredibly lucky to

338
00:12:32,779 --> 00:12:34,449
be born in this country. And they're right.

339
00:12:36,369 --> 00:12:38,456
And so I kept coming back to someone

340
00:12:38,670 --> 00:12:41,391
has to go and bear the burdens

341
00:12:42,572 --> 00:12:43,841
of defending this nation.

342
00:12:44,952 --> 00:12:45,452
And

343
00:12:45,905 --> 00:12:47,809
I... I've always been the person that's like,

344
00:12:47,968 --> 00:12:49,793
quick to raise my hand and volunteer for

345
00:12:49,793 --> 00:12:50,111
things.

346
00:12:51,159 --> 00:12:51,659
And

347
00:12:52,198 --> 00:12:53,636
I thought, well, why not you?

348
00:12:54,754 --> 00:12:56,752
Why not you... Someone has to, why not

349
00:12:56,752 --> 00:12:56,991
you?

350
00:12:59,323 --> 00:13:01,101
And so there it was, and I also

351
00:13:01,161 --> 00:13:03,877
really, really as a rule of life, do

352
00:13:03,877 --> 00:13:05,155
not wanna live with regrets.

353
00:13:05,809 --> 00:13:07,730
And I also asked myself Sc. If you

354
00:13:07,730 --> 00:13:09,409
don't actually sign up and do this, would

355
00:13:09,409 --> 00:13:09,970
you regret it?

356
00:13:10,690 --> 00:13:12,690
Would you be that person that's, like, yeah.

357
00:13:12,929 --> 00:13:14,769
I thought about Survey? I thought about doing

358
00:13:14,769 --> 00:13:17,102
this but, you know, insert some excuse or

359
00:13:17,102 --> 00:13:17,342
reason.

360
00:13:18,141 --> 00:13:20,218
I didn't wanna live with that. So you

361
00:13:20,218 --> 00:13:20,958
just gotta

362
00:13:21,576 --> 00:13:22,695
you just gotta do it.

363
00:13:23,348 --> 00:13:25,202
And so I think that was the nagging

364
00:13:25,259 --> 00:13:26,454
poll that you're asking about?

365
00:13:27,728 --> 00:13:28,228
And

366
00:13:28,923 --> 00:13:31,631
when did you decide slash find out?

367
00:13:32,443 --> 00:13:34,359
That not only were you going to serve

368
00:13:34,359 --> 00:13:36,114
the United States of America,

369
00:13:36,593 --> 00:13:39,306
but you are actually gonna be in combat.

370
00:13:41,870 --> 00:13:43,461
Well, it was a slow road to this.

371
00:13:43,700 --> 00:13:45,849
So I actually joined Rot. This is this

372
00:13:45,849 --> 00:13:47,281
is so funny. You're gonna like this.

373
00:13:48,648 --> 00:13:49,705
I joined Rot,

374
00:13:51,035 --> 00:13:54,001
my freshman year. Okay? I'll army Rot.

375
00:13:54,868 --> 00:13:57,092
The thing is though, you don't have to

376
00:13:57,092 --> 00:13:59,419
actually contract or sign the paper

377
00:14:00,190 --> 00:14:02,811
until your junior year. You can try it

378
00:14:02,811 --> 00:14:03,685
out if you will.

379
00:14:04,734 --> 00:14:06,329
And and so I said, let me try

380
00:14:06,329 --> 00:14:06,808
this out.

381
00:14:08,962 --> 00:14:10,180
That first semester

382
00:14:12,168 --> 00:14:14,801
we did our first field exercise. That's where

383
00:14:14,801 --> 00:14:16,397
you go in the woods. You do your

384
00:14:16,397 --> 00:14:18,471
kind of war games, your whatever.

385
00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:21,823
I was so lost. I did not know

386
00:14:21,823 --> 00:14:23,752
what I was doing. I was uncomfortable,

387
00:14:24,602 --> 00:14:26,690
and I felt like S your

388
00:14:27,239 --> 00:14:28,836
you don't really belong here. And there's not

389
00:14:28,836 --> 00:14:30,752
that many women and, again, I just didn't...

390
00:14:31,710 --> 00:14:33,706
And and I ended up... I ended up

391
00:14:33,706 --> 00:14:36,281
coming back from that withdrawing from Rot.

392
00:14:36,835 --> 00:14:38,355
Saying, I tried it I tried it. This

393
00:14:38,355 --> 00:14:39,634
isn't this isn't for me though.

394
00:14:40,514 --> 00:14:41,875
And then the next semester I was like,

395
00:14:42,115 --> 00:14:44,754
maybe the Air force is more my style.

396
00:14:45,328 --> 00:14:48,132
And so I joined Air force Rot,

397
00:14:50,174 --> 00:14:50,674
and

398
00:14:51,684 --> 00:14:52,820
that ended up

399
00:14:54,402 --> 00:14:56,871
that experience was a lot more, you know,

400
00:14:57,508 --> 00:14:59,658
there's a lot of technical stuff and engineers

401
00:14:59,658 --> 00:15:01,251
in Air force and things like that, and

402
00:15:01,251 --> 00:15:02,366
that's just not really me.

403
00:15:03,977 --> 00:15:06,631
And it almost was like this

404
00:15:07,009 --> 00:15:08,206
moment or where I'm like S,

405
00:15:09,563 --> 00:15:10,840
you need to harden up.

406
00:15:11,413 --> 00:15:14,037
Like, you you still have this pull that

407
00:15:14,037 --> 00:15:15,787
you need to go into the military. If

408
00:15:15,787 --> 00:15:17,457
you're gonna do it, you're gonna do it

409
00:15:17,457 --> 00:15:18,990
big. Okay? You're not gonna

410
00:15:19,778 --> 00:15:21,291
my husband's the Air Force. Who's a fighter

411
00:15:21,291 --> 00:15:22,485
palace. So I'm not hating on them. I'm

412
00:15:22,485 --> 00:15:23,839
like, but you're not gonna wimp out by

413
00:15:23,839 --> 00:15:25,033
going in the Air force. Okay?

414
00:15:25,989 --> 00:15:27,763
And so... And so

415
00:15:28,154 --> 00:15:30,013
I then, the next semester

416
00:15:30,631 --> 00:15:31,851
rejoined Army Rot,

417
00:15:32,629 --> 00:15:34,787
and I gave it a better effort. It

418
00:15:34,787 --> 00:15:36,919
was still kinda slow to come onto it

419
00:15:37,199 --> 00:15:38,634
mind you, I was also in a so.

420
00:15:38,794 --> 00:15:40,947
I was also doing, like, a minor in

421
00:15:40,947 --> 00:15:41,745
women's studies.

422
00:15:42,303 --> 00:15:42,803
Rot

423
00:15:43,340 --> 00:15:46,132
in that triple venn diagram, there's no overlap

424
00:15:46,132 --> 00:15:46,904
besides S.

425
00:15:47,743 --> 00:15:48,563
And so

426
00:15:49,181 --> 00:15:49,681
so

427
00:15:51,099 --> 00:15:53,575
if you imagine the movie like legally blonde,

428
00:15:54,229 --> 00:15:56,387
that's kind of what it felt like for

429
00:15:56,387 --> 00:15:58,245
me fitting into this

430
00:15:58,864 --> 00:15:59,364
military

431
00:15:59,903 --> 00:16:02,140
organization. Okay? It was not smooth.

432
00:16:02,873 --> 00:16:03,986
And it was clunky.

433
00:16:04,462 --> 00:16:07,482
But eventually, you know, eventually, I had the

434
00:16:07,482 --> 00:16:09,731
right attitude, and I did get the right

435
00:16:09,787 --> 00:16:11,217
mentors with my Cad.

436
00:16:11,949 --> 00:16:14,266
And and I took it very seriously, and

437
00:16:14,346 --> 00:16:16,204
I said, I'm committing to this. So

438
00:16:16,743 --> 00:16:18,501
so, yeah, at the beginning of junior year,

439
00:16:18,741 --> 00:16:20,430
I finally signed the on contract, and I

440
00:16:20,430 --> 00:16:21,942
was, like, this is real. This is real.

441
00:16:22,180 --> 00:16:24,487
After graduation, I'm at least committed to 4

442
00:16:24,487 --> 00:16:25,282
years in the army.

443
00:16:26,157 --> 00:16:28,085
It might suck. It might not... You're gonna

444
00:16:28,085 --> 00:16:30,659
be trading around with big ass boots and

445
00:16:30,957 --> 00:16:33,270
40 pounds of deer and a giant machine

446
00:16:33,270 --> 00:16:35,423
gun and a helmet. Doing it. And end

447
00:16:35,423 --> 00:16:37,905
end, and you're doing it. Mh. We're doing

448
00:16:37,905 --> 00:16:39,810
it. You're in it. You're in it. So,

449
00:16:39,889 --> 00:16:41,874
you know, rise to the occasion.

450
00:16:43,144 --> 00:16:44,255
And so so, yeah,

451
00:16:45,049 --> 00:16:46,970
that's That was kind of the realization of

452
00:16:46,970 --> 00:16:49,196
it all. But, you know, when I when

453
00:16:49,355 --> 00:16:50,150
I first joined,

454
00:16:51,183 --> 00:16:52,296
I did not know I was going to

455
00:16:52,296 --> 00:16:52,931
be in combat.

456
00:16:53,663 --> 00:16:55,977
Because women were not allowed in combat.

457
00:16:57,414 --> 00:16:59,409
Just my virtue of your sex, if there

458
00:16:59,409 --> 00:17:00,787
was any job that

459
00:17:01,498 --> 00:17:04,290
was related to direct combat, in the army,

460
00:17:04,529 --> 00:17:06,204
you were barred whether you could meet the

461
00:17:06,204 --> 00:17:07,560
standards or not. And at the time, that

462
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:09,155
was about 1 third of the jobs.

463
00:17:09,873 --> 00:17:10,612
And so

464
00:17:11,085 --> 00:17:13,005
I actually ended up my senior my senior

465
00:17:13,005 --> 00:17:14,924
year was selected as battalion commander. So I

466
00:17:14,924 --> 00:17:15,724
was the top cadet.

467
00:17:16,365 --> 00:17:16,865
And

468
00:17:17,644 --> 00:17:19,484
The time as a Battalion commander.

469
00:17:20,378 --> 00:17:22,601
You would not be deployed into combat given

470
00:17:22,601 --> 00:17:24,664
where the army was at that moment. Is

471
00:17:24,664 --> 00:17:27,046
that correct? So this was still an Rot.

472
00:17:27,363 --> 00:17:28,792
Okay. Got it. This was still an Rot.

473
00:17:29,204 --> 00:17:32,154
So what I'm saying is, even though I

474
00:17:32,154 --> 00:17:34,626
was tagged to be the top cadet, and

475
00:17:34,626 --> 00:17:36,062
we had a... I went to University Central,

476
00:17:36,221 --> 00:17:37,736
Florida, a very big school, we had over

477
00:17:37,736 --> 00:17:39,185
300 cadet debts there,

478
00:17:39,821 --> 00:17:41,651
and they picked s to be number 1.

479
00:17:42,446 --> 00:17:44,594
How many women were in your Rot otc

480
00:17:44,594 --> 00:17:44,832
group?

481
00:17:45,802 --> 00:17:47,813
Oh, I'm trying to think in my graduating

482
00:17:47,870 --> 00:17:50,336
class. It really was not that many. I

483
00:17:50,336 --> 00:17:51,927
wanna say we were probably at about 10

484
00:17:51,927 --> 00:17:54,171
percent. Yeah. I just Googled as you were

485
00:17:54,171 --> 00:17:56,481
talking, and Google tells me 16 percent of

486
00:17:56,481 --> 00:17:58,073
the Us military is female.

487
00:17:59,108 --> 00:18:00,701
Yeah. It's it's still really low.

488
00:18:01,913 --> 00:18:03,431
But what I'm getting at is...

489
00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:05,987
But you were selected a number 1 and

490
00:18:05,987 --> 00:18:07,505
then. You were the 1. Yes. You were

491
00:18:07,505 --> 00:18:07,905
the star.

492
00:18:08,799 --> 00:18:11,516
But that... But I still was banned from

493
00:18:11,516 --> 00:18:13,993
1 third of the jobs once I actually

494
00:18:13,993 --> 00:18:15,912
got to the army. So it, you know,

495
00:18:16,071 --> 00:18:17,510
it was institutional sexism.

496
00:18:18,083 --> 00:18:20,229
And this isn't that long ago mind you.

497
00:18:20,388 --> 00:18:22,136
You know, I joined in 2008. A lot

498
00:18:22,136 --> 00:18:24,226
of people have no idea that this

499
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,508
existed in the. You wanted to go fight.

500
00:18:27,399 --> 00:18:29,477
So, yes. So, yes, I said it's she'll...

501
00:18:29,717 --> 00:18:31,635
It was the whole thing. The the conversation

502
00:18:31,635 --> 00:18:33,872
that I had with myself. If I'm committing

503
00:18:33,872 --> 00:18:34,831
myself to this profession,

504
00:18:37,084 --> 00:18:39,081
I want to be on the ground, and

505
00:18:39,161 --> 00:18:41,079
I wanna be as close to,

506
00:18:42,357 --> 00:18:44,035
preventing more of these tax from happening again.

507
00:18:45,009 --> 00:18:48,125
And but I... But I wasn't allowed. So

508
00:18:48,125 --> 00:18:50,043
anyway, so I ended up picking military police.

509
00:18:50,203 --> 00:18:51,881
That was kind of, I would say, the

510
00:18:51,881 --> 00:18:53,974
best alternative that I had because at the

511
00:18:53,974 --> 00:18:56,375
time military police units were deploying a lot.

512
00:18:56,774 --> 00:18:57,654
They were doing a lot of,

513
00:19:00,534 --> 00:19:01,034
combat

514
00:19:01,414 --> 00:19:04,380
support type missions, providing security for, you know,

515
00:19:04,699 --> 00:19:07,170
logistics units or, like, base defense or training,

516
00:19:07,648 --> 00:19:07,887
you know,

517
00:19:08,763 --> 00:19:11,245
Iraqi police or Afghan police forces and stuff.

518
00:19:11,403 --> 00:19:13,310
So that was my initial job when I

519
00:19:13,310 --> 00:19:15,534
first actually commissioned and went an the army.

520
00:19:16,249 --> 00:19:18,020
And at the time, was that as close

521
00:19:18,728 --> 00:19:21,436
to combat as AAA female could be?

522
00:19:22,552 --> 00:19:23,689
That's right. So

523
00:19:24,065 --> 00:19:25,362
here's where it gets a little

524
00:19:25,835 --> 00:19:26,335
difference

525
00:19:26,794 --> 00:19:27,294
with

526
00:19:27,595 --> 00:19:29,355
the global war on terror and how it

527
00:19:29,355 --> 00:19:29,755
was waged.

528
00:19:30,394 --> 00:19:31,855
These wars were

529
00:19:32,154 --> 00:19:35,441
asymmetrical warfare. There was no forward line of

530
00:19:35,441 --> 00:19:37,512
troops. The enemies on this side were on

531
00:19:37,512 --> 00:19:38,070
this side.

532
00:19:38,707 --> 00:19:41,907
And so you you had like military police

533
00:19:41,907 --> 00:19:44,134
units, for example, that would be doing, say

534
00:19:44,214 --> 00:19:46,839
Con security, point a to point b.

535
00:19:47,634 --> 00:19:49,799
At any time on these route you could

536
00:19:49,799 --> 00:19:50,619
hit an Ie,

537
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,799
and then be engaged in an ambush attack

538
00:19:53,799 --> 00:19:54,279
as well.

539
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:55,740
And so

540
00:19:56,279 --> 00:19:56,779
women

541
00:19:57,414 --> 00:20:00,068
although they were not in say infantry units

542
00:20:00,126 --> 00:20:01,323
or tank units,

543
00:20:01,881 --> 00:20:02,381
were

544
00:20:02,919 --> 00:20:06,613
were in fact finding themselves in combat

545
00:20:07,223 --> 00:20:07,540
situations.

546
00:20:08,729 --> 00:20:10,394
And there were there was there were been

547
00:20:10,394 --> 00:20:11,742
women that have been awarded, you know,

548
00:20:13,746 --> 00:20:14,246
valor

549
00:20:14,780 --> 00:20:17,987
metals for their actions in these combat

550
00:20:18,442 --> 00:20:20,909
situations. So it started to chip away at

551
00:20:20,909 --> 00:20:21,648
this narrative

552
00:20:22,117 --> 00:20:25,130
that women either can't hack it or, you

553
00:20:25,130 --> 00:20:27,532
know, why are they banned from combat yet

554
00:20:27,746 --> 00:20:29,173
they're finding themselves in combat?

555
00:20:30,543 --> 00:20:32,301
So that was just kind of the nature

556
00:20:32,301 --> 00:20:34,937
of of these asymmetrical warfare.

557
00:20:36,615 --> 00:20:40,211
And how do you get recruited into what

558
00:20:40,211 --> 00:20:41,086
sounds like to me,

559
00:20:41,961 --> 00:20:43,575
a very special job

560
00:20:44,283 --> 00:20:47,245
and amongst the first women ever

561
00:20:47,777 --> 00:20:49,841
to be with the special forces.

562
00:20:51,509 --> 00:20:52,882
Yeah. So just

563
00:20:54,950 --> 00:20:56,390
So it was a very interesting turn of

564
00:20:56,390 --> 00:20:58,069
event. So, you know, we've laid the groundwork

565
00:20:58,069 --> 00:20:59,669
that I joined an army where women aren't

566
00:20:59,669 --> 00:21:01,049
allowed in these combat jobs

567
00:21:01,602 --> 00:21:03,592
So I do military police. I actually do...

568
00:21:03,830 --> 00:21:05,741
My first deployment as a platoon leader at

569
00:21:05,741 --> 00:21:08,367
23 years old to body Iraq. While I

570
00:21:08,367 --> 00:21:10,198
had my platoon of Mps. We were in

571
00:21:10,198 --> 00:21:13,009
charge of the base defense for camp body

572
00:21:13,009 --> 00:21:13,570
at the time.

573
00:21:14,289 --> 00:21:15,089
And how many

574
00:21:15,809 --> 00:21:18,529
American military police were under your command at

575
00:21:18,529 --> 00:21:19,490
23 years old in?

576
00:21:20,780 --> 00:21:22,525
But, for for a platoon it's 45.

577
00:21:23,081 --> 00:21:25,382
40 twenties. 3 year old person,

578
00:21:26,175 --> 00:21:27,048
a female person,

579
00:21:28,018 --> 00:21:30,432
And you're now deployed and you're in charge

580
00:21:30,650 --> 00:21:32,825
of a real group of people doing real

581
00:21:33,043 --> 00:21:33,942
security work

582
00:21:34,558 --> 00:21:35,755
in the line of us. Absolutely.

583
00:21:36,313 --> 00:21:37,371
Absolutely. And

584
00:21:37,764 --> 00:21:40,162
it's, you know, you just... It's so hard

585
00:21:40,162 --> 00:21:41,141
to compare

586
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:42,100
that

587
00:21:42,479 --> 00:21:45,436
quick initiation into leadership experience and doing it

588
00:21:45,436 --> 00:21:46,315
in a combat zone.

589
00:21:46,889 --> 00:21:48,809
At such a young age. You have to

590
00:21:48,809 --> 00:21:51,609
grow up. You have, like, things life is

591
00:21:51,609 --> 00:21:52,569
coming at you fast.

592
00:21:54,024 --> 00:21:55,944
And so I also... That's why I make

593
00:21:55,944 --> 00:21:57,884
a great argument for why veterans

594
00:21:58,424 --> 00:21:59,944
are really great leaders and why we need

595
00:21:59,944 --> 00:22:02,105
more in halls of congress and public service.

596
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:04,039
Which I'm sure we will get to.

597
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:06,839
But that was my first deployment.

598
00:22:07,799 --> 00:22:09,559
I then came back from that and just

599
00:22:09,559 --> 00:22:10,680
a couple months later,

600
00:22:12,211 --> 00:22:12,711
the

601
00:22:13,641 --> 00:22:15,888
Us Army special operations command

602
00:22:16,421 --> 00:22:17,454
put down a directive.

603
00:22:18,725 --> 00:22:19,360
And they said,

604
00:22:20,567 --> 00:22:21,067
Immediately,

605
00:22:21,521 --> 00:22:23,612
we need to assess and select

606
00:22:24,145 --> 00:22:26,394
just a handful of women across the army

607
00:22:26,848 --> 00:22:30,311
to go on missions combat missions in Afghanistan

608
00:22:30,769 --> 00:22:32,445
with Army Rangers and Navy seals.

609
00:22:33,482 --> 00:22:34,781
These special operators

610
00:22:35,238 --> 00:22:38,516
are going on night raids targeting high value,

611
00:22:38,992 --> 00:22:40,974
A qaeda and taliban targets.

612
00:22:42,164 --> 00:22:43,115
Here's the problem now.

613
00:22:43,908 --> 00:22:44,408
Culturally

614
00:22:45,432 --> 00:22:46,888
the male service members

615
00:22:47,344 --> 00:22:50,370
could not talk to Afghan women who were

616
00:22:50,370 --> 00:22:51,246
on these targets,

617
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:53,498
potentially leaving

618
00:22:54,450 --> 00:22:55,349
a myriad

619
00:22:55,890 --> 00:22:56,869
of intelligence

620
00:22:57,329 --> 00:22:57,650
untapped.

621
00:22:58,210 --> 00:23:01,730
Okay? And so the answer was well, we

622
00:23:01,730 --> 00:23:03,384
need to find the right

623
00:23:04,696 --> 00:23:06,786
recruit the right women, service women

624
00:23:07,161 --> 00:23:09,068
who have what it takes to go on

625
00:23:09,068 --> 00:23:09,886
these raids

626
00:23:10,340 --> 00:23:11,953
and do the

627
00:23:13,776 --> 00:23:15,073
kind of what we call it Battlefield

628
00:23:16,088 --> 00:23:17,465
interrogation and our tactical questioning

629
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,153
of these afghan women on targets to find

630
00:23:20,153 --> 00:23:20,871
out, like, hey,

631
00:23:21,445 --> 00:23:24,085
where's the the these A qaeda and Taliban

632
00:23:24,085 --> 00:23:24,585
folks

633
00:23:25,445 --> 00:23:27,684
located, who are they associating with where the

634
00:23:27,684 --> 00:23:28,085
weapons,

635
00:23:29,045 --> 00:23:31,215
any vital intelligence that we can get. So

636
00:23:31,215 --> 00:23:32,247
that directive came down,

637
00:23:32,961 --> 00:23:34,309
and I thought S sc girl.

638
00:23:35,103 --> 00:23:37,086
This is it, step up to the plate.

639
00:23:37,245 --> 00:23:37,721
This is it.

640
00:23:39,244 --> 00:23:40,683
At a time, where women are allowed in

641
00:23:40,683 --> 00:23:42,621
combat, let alone doing it with our

642
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,838
special operators, the people at the tip of

643
00:23:44,838 --> 00:23:45,318
the spear.

644
00:23:45,957 --> 00:23:47,635
The most elite fighters in the world.

645
00:23:48,687 --> 00:23:50,439
Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely.

646
00:23:50,917 --> 00:23:52,453
And so I

647
00:23:54,263 --> 00:23:56,913
so I immediately put in an application and

648
00:23:57,463 --> 00:23:58,896
was invited to Fort Brag,

649
00:24:00,089 --> 00:24:01,681
home of special operations.

650
00:24:02,795 --> 00:24:04,307
There were about 200 women.

651
00:24:05,117 --> 00:24:07,102
That put in applications and,

652
00:24:08,055 --> 00:24:10,040
handful of us were invited to actually go

653
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,740
through assessment and selection process. It looks like

654
00:24:12,740 --> 00:24:13,557
a lot of

655
00:24:14,424 --> 00:24:16,997
sleep deprivation, a lot of physical,

656
00:24:17,613 --> 00:24:18,113
challenges,

657
00:24:19,288 --> 00:24:21,680
mental challenges, you know, the whole rigor... The

658
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,848
whole thing to make sure that you are

659
00:24:23,848 --> 00:24:25,145
physically mentally

660
00:24:25,601 --> 00:24:27,674
competent. Like, you have what it takes to

661
00:24:27,674 --> 00:24:28,710
hang and do this.

662
00:24:29,905 --> 00:24:31,021
I ended up making the cut.

663
00:24:31,752 --> 00:24:33,896
And then we had to go through another,

664
00:24:34,055 --> 00:24:36,382
like, 3 month long crash course

665
00:24:36,755 --> 00:24:37,255
on

666
00:24:37,628 --> 00:24:39,772
training for this job. What does it look

667
00:24:39,772 --> 00:24:40,749
like to actually

668
00:24:41,219 --> 00:24:43,054
go on these night rage these and maneuvers

669
00:24:43,054 --> 00:24:44,330
with these special operators.

670
00:24:44,889 --> 00:24:45,389
And

671
00:24:46,565 --> 00:24:48,535
and so I ended up being 1 of

672
00:24:48,814 --> 00:24:51,768
20 women that were initially selected to go

673
00:24:51,768 --> 00:24:54,881
do this job. That was in 2011.

674
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:56,957
Again, still very much when the women in

675
00:24:56,957 --> 00:24:58,967
combat band was in place. So this was

676
00:24:58,967 --> 00:24:59,467
a

677
00:25:00,084 --> 00:25:02,238
somewhat of a provocative or kind of controversial

678
00:25:02,238 --> 00:25:03,616
thing where we are now

679
00:25:04,393 --> 00:25:05,350
going into Combat,

680
00:25:06,559 --> 00:25:08,151
And so it was really interesting to be

681
00:25:08,151 --> 00:25:09,743
finding myself in that position, and, you know,

682
00:25:09,822 --> 00:25:11,255
it was a true... It was a a

683
00:25:11,255 --> 00:25:12,392
true honor, but

684
00:25:14,299 --> 00:25:15,740
but certainly, like,

685
00:25:17,980 --> 00:25:19,660
I think I was exactly... That was exactly

686
00:25:19,660 --> 00:25:21,660
where I was meant to be and really

687
00:25:21,660 --> 00:25:22,720
proud of

688
00:25:24,144 --> 00:25:26,466
that program's role and ultimately

689
00:25:27,789 --> 00:25:28,923
changing the course

690
00:25:29,452 --> 00:25:29,952
of

691
00:25:30,898 --> 00:25:32,036
policy and Dod

692
00:25:32,494 --> 00:25:34,010
to help her send the women and combat

693
00:25:34,010 --> 00:25:34,169
band.

694
00:25:36,483 --> 00:25:37,601
God bless usually.

695
00:25:38,253 --> 00:25:39,685
That's so legendary.

696
00:25:40,799 --> 00:25:41,777
So you were

697
00:25:42,152 --> 00:25:43,766
1 of the first 20 women

698
00:25:44,460 --> 00:25:45,358
in the army

699
00:25:45,907 --> 00:25:47,760
selected to be in the special forces

700
00:25:49,489 --> 00:25:50,922
to go go get this done.

701
00:25:52,275 --> 00:25:54,822
Yeah. So we were right. So we were

702
00:25:54,822 --> 00:25:57,857
attached to Understand. Special forces you... Yeah. So

703
00:25:57,937 --> 00:26:00,241
I personally was with the 70 fifth ranger

704
00:26:00,241 --> 00:26:00,741
regiment

705
00:26:01,115 --> 00:26:04,238
in, Hell Province. So that's Southern Afghanistan

706
00:26:05,265 --> 00:26:05,765
and

707
00:26:06,141 --> 00:26:08,849
arguably 1 of the more dangerous places in

708
00:26:08,849 --> 00:26:11,238
the country at the time. And did you

709
00:26:11,238 --> 00:26:12,535
lose friends and and

710
00:26:13,403 --> 00:26:14,355
fellow service members?

711
00:26:16,419 --> 00:26:19,594
Yeah. So there's there's no... We're not sugar

712
00:26:19,594 --> 00:26:21,515
coding this. I mean, we were there in

713
00:26:21,515 --> 00:26:22,708
2011 2012,

714
00:26:23,105 --> 00:26:23,582
Afghanistan,

715
00:26:24,854 --> 00:26:26,865
really a heightened time

716
00:26:27,319 --> 00:26:29,625
in that war, and we really his leading

717
00:26:29,625 --> 00:26:31,865
service members. Every single day.

718
00:26:32,501 --> 00:26:33,398
And so

719
00:26:34,011 --> 00:26:34,829
2 months

720
00:26:35,919 --> 00:26:37,508
into that 8 month deployment,

721
00:26:38,319 --> 00:26:38,638
a,

722
00:26:39,594 --> 00:26:41,666
1 of our female teammates along with 2

723
00:26:41,666 --> 00:26:42,883
rangers was killed

724
00:26:43,339 --> 00:26:43,818
in,

725
00:26:44,375 --> 00:26:45,810
the house that they were going to that

726
00:26:45,810 --> 00:26:47,654
they gonna be doing this raid at was

727
00:26:47,654 --> 00:26:50,039
essentially boob trapped all throughout with Ie ids.

728
00:26:50,993 --> 00:26:51,470
And

729
00:26:52,345 --> 00:26:54,038
yeah. Yeah. And so

730
00:26:54,826 --> 00:26:56,658
her name, the first lieutenant ashley white,

731
00:26:57,614 --> 00:26:59,127
sergeant first class... Christopher,

732
00:27:00,083 --> 00:27:02,153
and then a private first class christopher Horn.

733
00:27:02,313 --> 00:27:02,813
So

734
00:27:03,124 --> 00:27:04,638
they all lost their lives at night,

735
00:27:05,434 --> 00:27:06,651
and it,

736
00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:09,258
you know,

737
00:27:10,308 --> 00:27:12,479
all of us know that that's a possibility,

738
00:27:12,933 --> 00:27:14,365
and I was 25 years old, you know,

739
00:27:14,445 --> 00:27:15,002
when we were there,

740
00:27:15,877 --> 00:27:17,092
many of us were young

741
00:27:17,641 --> 00:27:18,141
and

742
00:27:18,755 --> 00:27:21,163
it's really interesting where you have to pump

743
00:27:21,935 --> 00:27:22,890
to grips with that.

744
00:27:24,003 --> 00:27:25,514
I remember when I first got there,

745
00:27:27,517 --> 00:27:28,233
I was...

746
00:27:29,028 --> 00:27:31,017
I remember Saying to the rangers like, how

747
00:27:31,017 --> 00:27:31,676
do you

748
00:27:32,130 --> 00:27:33,403
how do you try not to step on

749
00:27:33,403 --> 00:27:35,334
an Ie? Like, how how

750
00:27:35,962 --> 00:27:36,992
what's the technique here?

751
00:27:37,943 --> 00:27:39,131
And there's are certain things that you can

752
00:27:39,131 --> 00:27:41,136
look for, but the answer was

753
00:27:44,148 --> 00:27:46,465
if if it happens it happens, you can...

754
00:27:46,625 --> 00:27:46,944
You know,

755
00:27:47,983 --> 00:27:49,581
and so you just have to come to

756
00:27:49,581 --> 00:27:50,480
terms with

757
00:27:50,794 --> 00:27:51,985
you just have to come to terms with

758
00:27:51,985 --> 00:27:54,051
your own mortality. And you did that at

759
00:27:54,051 --> 00:27:56,673
23 and then 25 years old. It got

760
00:27:56,673 --> 00:27:57,467
real. Right? Yeah.

761
00:27:58,117 --> 00:27:59,704
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was really real at

762
00:27:59,704 --> 00:28:02,639
25, and it was, you know, my my

763
00:28:02,639 --> 00:28:05,192
own team was killed 2 months in. We

764
00:28:05,192 --> 00:28:05,985
have 6 more months.

765
00:28:06,778 --> 00:28:09,817
Right. Who's gonna be next. You know, that's,

766
00:28:10,031 --> 00:28:11,221
you know, it's very real.

767
00:28:11,855 --> 00:28:12,355
And

768
00:28:14,096 --> 00:28:17,684
It gives such a deep perspective of, you

769
00:28:17,684 --> 00:28:19,278
know, a lot of the narrative we have

770
00:28:19,278 --> 00:28:21,771
right now in political discourse is

771
00:28:22,882 --> 00:28:25,195
what's the proper use of our military forces?

772
00:28:26,949 --> 00:28:27,449
And

773
00:28:28,066 --> 00:28:30,459
I think it's deeply important to have people

774
00:28:30,459 --> 00:28:31,836
who have actually served

775
00:28:32,546 --> 00:28:33,285
in war

776
00:28:34,058 --> 00:28:35,093
and understand,

777
00:28:36,446 --> 00:28:36,946
understand

778
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:39,869
the true cost and nature of it. And

779
00:28:39,869 --> 00:28:41,063
as a 25 year old,

780
00:28:41,952 --> 00:28:43,167
I knew

781
00:28:43,779 --> 00:28:44,676
we knew

782
00:28:45,447 --> 00:28:45,947
that

783
00:28:47,274 --> 00:28:48,703
the way we were raging this war in

784
00:28:48,703 --> 00:28:49,521
this strategy

785
00:28:50,386 --> 00:28:50,886
was

786
00:28:52,608 --> 00:28:54,513
was really only making the next generation of

787
00:28:54,513 --> 00:28:54,910
terrorists,

788
00:28:55,704 --> 00:28:57,370
and it was just kinda of playing, like,

789
00:28:57,704 --> 00:28:59,222
whack a mole. It was what what sort

790
00:28:59,222 --> 00:29:00,501
of our end to game here in ask

791
00:29:00,501 --> 00:29:00,980
afghanistan.

792
00:29:01,700 --> 00:29:03,697
And you really have to struggle with that

793
00:29:03,697 --> 00:29:05,476
because you wanna feel that

794
00:29:06,825 --> 00:29:08,493
your friend gave her life for something,

795
00:29:09,287 --> 00:29:11,511
and she did. She was serving her country,

796
00:29:12,305 --> 00:29:13,973
but you just... You need to have our

797
00:29:13,973 --> 00:29:16,622
leaders that have a better understanding of the

798
00:29:16,622 --> 00:29:18,779
sacrifice at hand and that it's very, very

799
00:29:18,779 --> 00:29:20,776
serious business when you're deploying our troops to

800
00:29:20,776 --> 00:29:23,020
places like this. And that there needs to

801
00:29:23,020 --> 00:29:25,798
be proper civilian and oversight of our military

802
00:29:25,798 --> 00:29:27,306
in so many ways, I think in the

803
00:29:27,306 --> 00:29:28,655
last, you know, 2 decades of war, they

804
00:29:28,655 --> 00:29:30,084
were asleep at the wheel, unfortunately.

805
00:29:31,454 --> 00:29:32,253
Personally, sc,

806
00:29:33,052 --> 00:29:34,330
I would like to see us have a

807
00:29:34,330 --> 00:29:35,550
massive breakthrough

808
00:29:36,009 --> 00:29:38,726
in the percentage of people serving at all

809
00:29:38,726 --> 00:29:39,605
levels of government.

810
00:29:40,338 --> 00:29:42,648
With military backgrounds. I was just checking as

811
00:29:42,648 --> 00:29:43,843
you were talking to see,

812
00:29:44,799 --> 00:29:46,074
and according to Google,

813
00:29:46,791 --> 00:29:49,028
there current... As of 20 23, there were

814
00:29:49,028 --> 00:29:50,876
80 veterans in the house in 17

815
00:29:51,803 --> 00:29:53,547
in the senate. So not terrible,

816
00:29:54,419 --> 00:29:56,742
but It it comes out to about 15

817
00:29:56,742 --> 00:29:58,416
percent. Yeah. Not enough.

818
00:29:59,133 --> 00:30:01,045
Well, well, here's an here's an interesting point

819
00:30:01,045 --> 00:30:02,161
that I like to bring up to people.

820
00:30:03,921 --> 00:30:05,981
Congress is hopeless grid locked right now. Okay.

821
00:30:06,615 --> 00:30:07,249
We all know that.

822
00:30:07,962 --> 00:30:09,309
And it didn't used to be this way.

823
00:30:10,358 --> 00:30:12,273
If you look at the 50 60 seventies,

824
00:30:12,433 --> 00:30:14,609
we had actually had decades of very

825
00:30:15,306 --> 00:30:15,806
productive

826
00:30:16,503 --> 00:30:16,982
congress.

827
00:30:18,034 --> 00:30:19,469
And a lot of bipartisan work.

828
00:30:20,187 --> 00:30:22,579
You wanna know how many people were veterans

829
00:30:22,579 --> 00:30:22,738
then,

830
00:30:24,253 --> 00:30:26,007
like 85 percent of congress is made up

831
00:30:26,007 --> 00:30:27,692
of veterans These were the people of the

832
00:30:27,771 --> 00:30:31,106
World War 2 generation, Korea, Vietnam. So it's

833
00:30:31,106 --> 00:30:34,045
no accident that you have people that understand

834
00:30:34,045 --> 00:30:34,734
to put

835
00:30:35,333 --> 00:30:37,008
country over party interests.

836
00:30:37,805 --> 00:30:40,357
And I do believe the formula is getting

837
00:30:40,357 --> 00:30:43,149
more of the the the the global war

838
00:30:43,149 --> 00:30:44,505
on terror generation veterans.

839
00:30:44,999 --> 00:30:46,913
Now into the halls of congress where we

840
00:30:46,913 --> 00:30:49,146
start see more of that cooperation again. Hey

841
00:30:49,146 --> 00:30:50,262
man, Hallelujah Sister.

842
00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:51,778
Mh. Yeah.

843
00:30:52,974 --> 00:30:53,474
So

844
00:30:55,064 --> 00:30:57,141
God at your legendary. Thank you so much.

845
00:30:58,979 --> 00:31:01,376
So 2 questions that... Was trying to figure

846
00:31:01,376 --> 00:31:02,735
out if I could ask you 1 and

847
00:31:02,735 --> 00:31:04,342
not the other, but they seem to fit

848
00:31:04,342 --> 00:31:05,615
together in my head. So I'm gonna...

849
00:31:06,251 --> 00:31:07,206
I'm gonna ask you both.

850
00:31:08,002 --> 00:31:09,911
Mh. Why run for Congress?

851
00:31:11,042 --> 00:31:11,542
And

852
00:31:12,318 --> 00:31:15,827
why run as an independent when historically, independent

853
00:31:15,827 --> 00:31:18,141
candidates is in our country, don't tend to

854
00:31:18,141 --> 00:31:19,997
do very well? We sort of

855
00:31:20,628 --> 00:31:23,023
you know, football has replaced religion or excuse

856
00:31:23,023 --> 00:31:24,780
me. Politics has replaced religion.

857
00:31:25,977 --> 00:31:28,872
The way football has replaced religion and

858
00:31:29,330 --> 00:31:29,785
just

859
00:31:30,222 --> 00:31:32,530
because I'm a San Francisco 49 fan means

860
00:31:32,610 --> 00:31:33,963
I... There's a set of teams I need

861
00:31:33,963 --> 00:31:35,714
to hate, and I set of people I

862
00:31:35,714 --> 00:31:36,908
need to love, and I just do that.

863
00:31:37,639 --> 00:31:40,356
Well, that's fun when you're talking about football.

864
00:31:41,475 --> 00:31:42,614
It's less fun

865
00:31:43,233 --> 00:31:45,310
when you're on 1 side of the aisle

866
00:31:45,310 --> 00:31:47,397
of the other and Everything my team does

867
00:31:47,397 --> 00:31:48,986
is it's awesome and everything the other team

868
00:31:48,986 --> 00:31:49,622
does is terrible.

869
00:31:50,178 --> 00:31:52,244
It's insane. It's bullshit. We all know it.

870
00:31:52,403 --> 00:31:54,390
It's ridiculous. We get lied to as a

871
00:31:54,390 --> 00:31:54,946
result of it.

872
00:31:55,755 --> 00:31:58,611
And it's all radically clear how silly it

873
00:31:58,611 --> 00:31:59,111
is

874
00:31:59,563 --> 00:32:00,221
and yet

875
00:32:00,673 --> 00:32:01,570
both sides

876
00:32:02,021 --> 00:32:03,156
are so wedded

877
00:32:03,623 --> 00:32:04,976
to being on their side,

878
00:32:05,851 --> 00:32:08,157
that cross aisle, you know, when the lions

879
00:32:08,157 --> 00:32:09,589
of the senate used to meet.

880
00:32:10,638 --> 00:32:12,147
They would roar at each other, but then

881
00:32:12,147 --> 00:32:14,212
they go have beers and scotch together. Right?

882
00:32:14,927 --> 00:32:16,380
All that seems to be

883
00:32:16,833 --> 00:32:18,263
as just a regular citizen.

884
00:32:19,391 --> 00:32:20,425
A thing of the past now.

885
00:32:22,254 --> 00:32:23,845
So I guess my question with all that

886
00:32:23,845 --> 00:32:25,197
is, why run?

887
00:32:26,088 --> 00:32:27,841
Why are you? Why should we put you

888
00:32:27,841 --> 00:32:28,479
in congress?

889
00:32:29,355 --> 00:32:31,028
And why are you running as an independent?

890
00:32:32,781 --> 00:32:35,589
Well, the the polarization that you talked about,

891
00:32:36,388 --> 00:32:36,888
it's

892
00:32:37,984 --> 00:32:40,698
a tragedy that we... That's unfolding in front

893
00:32:40,698 --> 00:32:41,576
of our eyes right now.

894
00:32:42,867 --> 00:32:44,938
And I believe it's going to be the

895
00:32:44,938 --> 00:32:46,690
demise of our great country.

896
00:32:47,646 --> 00:32:49,182
And we hear it a lot

897
00:32:49,493 --> 00:32:50,470
but I think it's

898
00:32:51,163 --> 00:32:53,252
true. There is a deep

899
00:32:53,627 --> 00:32:54,127
crisis

900
00:32:54,740 --> 00:32:55,773
of true,

901
00:32:56,330 --> 00:32:56,830
genuine

902
00:32:58,019 --> 00:32:58,978
leadership right now.

903
00:32:59,697 --> 00:33:00,197
And

904
00:33:00,976 --> 00:33:01,476
yeah

905
00:33:02,094 --> 00:33:03,613
I'm just yelling yes at you. I'm just

906
00:33:03,613 --> 00:33:04,012
on mute.

907
00:33:06,904 --> 00:33:08,102
There there is though.

908
00:33:08,821 --> 00:33:10,760
And, you know, we talked about

909
00:33:11,139 --> 00:33:12,817
how at 23 years old, I'm leading, you

910
00:33:12,817 --> 00:33:14,175
know, soldiers in a combat zone.

911
00:33:14,908 --> 00:33:16,101
I did it at 25. I did it

912
00:33:16,101 --> 00:33:17,532
in Syria again. I did it and all

913
00:33:17,532 --> 00:33:18,168
around the Middle East.

914
00:33:19,201 --> 00:33:20,553
My profession was to be a leader.

915
00:33:21,507 --> 00:33:23,574
And I'm deeply troubled.

916
00:33:24,543 --> 00:33:26,611
That we do not have that right now,

917
00:33:27,087 --> 00:33:28,439
not in the numbers that we need.

918
00:33:29,155 --> 00:33:29,655
And

919
00:33:30,268 --> 00:33:33,710
and true leaders are not... They are not

920
00:33:34,498 --> 00:33:36,649
pitting people against each other,

921
00:33:37,924 --> 00:33:41,987
creating fear and division for their own personal

922
00:33:41,987 --> 00:33:43,762
gain and their party gain

923
00:33:44,470 --> 00:33:44,970
And

924
00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:47,350
I want more than anything

925
00:33:47,803 --> 00:33:50,421
for these people to lose their jobs.

926
00:33:51,214 --> 00:33:52,031
And so

927
00:33:52,657 --> 00:33:54,960
I'm stepping up to the plate to bring

928
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:55,199
it.

929
00:33:56,310 --> 00:33:58,772
And and because I love this country, and

930
00:33:58,851 --> 00:33:59,963
I believe in my leadership.

931
00:34:00,614 --> 00:34:01,651
And I hope,

932
00:34:02,688 --> 00:34:04,682
obviously, obviously, I wake up every day in

933
00:34:04,682 --> 00:34:06,117
the hopes of winning on November fifth.

934
00:34:07,075 --> 00:34:08,989
But I want my candidacy and I'll get

935
00:34:08,989 --> 00:34:10,265
into the independent stuff in a second.

936
00:34:10,916 --> 00:34:12,427
I want my candidacy to see. I want

937
00:34:12,427 --> 00:34:13,063
people to say,

938
00:34:14,097 --> 00:34:14,995
oh, S

939
00:34:15,529 --> 00:34:17,063
She a 38 year old

940
00:34:17,597 --> 00:34:20,083
woman, like, cheat she's stepping up and doing

941
00:34:20,083 --> 00:34:22,800
this, like, saying all the things that I

942
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,916
think and here, and I wanna hear, let

943
00:34:25,916 --> 00:34:26,715
me do it too.

944
00:34:27,688 --> 00:34:28,803
We need a movement.

945
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:31,831
We need a movement of the normal people

946
00:34:31,831 --> 00:34:32,888
the same people

947
00:34:33,424 --> 00:34:35,734
and to stop thinking that we can't get

948
00:34:35,734 --> 00:34:38,614
into the political arena 2 because we can.

949
00:34:39,409 --> 00:34:40,226
And so

950
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:42,827
for so many reasons, you know, I'm running

951
00:34:42,827 --> 00:34:44,576
for Congress. 1 because I love this country

952
00:34:44,576 --> 00:34:46,086
and I love the ideals it stands for.

953
00:34:46,498 --> 00:34:47,689
You know, you don't go to places like

954
00:34:47,847 --> 00:34:48,665
Iraq Afghanistan,

955
00:34:49,117 --> 00:34:49,617
Syria

956
00:34:50,148 --> 00:34:52,370
and not think like holy crap. Like, we

957
00:34:52,370 --> 00:34:53,425
have to preserve

958
00:34:53,973 --> 00:34:56,598
what our founders have envisioned for this great

959
00:34:56,598 --> 00:34:56,837
country.

960
00:34:57,473 --> 00:35:00,710
And so I want... Well, so so so

961
00:35:00,989 --> 00:35:02,425
I I want... I'm doing this to step

962
00:35:02,425 --> 00:35:03,782
up and be a leader that I wanna

963
00:35:03,782 --> 00:35:04,341
see. Right?

964
00:35:05,139 --> 00:35:06,496
I'm not waiting for someone else to save

965
00:35:06,496 --> 00:35:08,093
me. I think that we need people to

966
00:35:08,093 --> 00:35:10,442
step up and start doing it. And then

967
00:35:10,577 --> 00:35:12,403
the independent angle. Okay?

968
00:35:13,594 --> 00:35:14,808
There are so

969
00:35:15,261 --> 00:35:17,881
many issues in hypocrisy right now that's going

970
00:35:17,881 --> 00:35:19,827
on with the 2 party

971
00:35:20,361 --> 00:35:22,135
system, the 2 party duo.

972
00:35:22,909 --> 00:35:24,364
We hear lots of things like,

973
00:35:24,739 --> 00:35:26,433
you know, saving our democracy.

974
00:35:26,904 --> 00:35:28,842
Well right now the anti competitiveness

975
00:35:29,221 --> 00:35:30,520
with the 2 party system

976
00:35:31,219 --> 00:35:32,278
is anti

977
00:35:33,056 --> 00:35:33,956
to democracy

978
00:35:34,670 --> 00:35:36,989
And so I really pride myself on being

979
00:35:36,989 --> 00:35:37,730
a person

980
00:35:38,750 --> 00:35:39,250
of

981
00:35:41,070 --> 00:35:41,570
true

982
00:35:42,361 --> 00:35:45,063
character and authenticity, and I had to have

983
00:35:45,063 --> 00:35:47,925
some deep conversations with myself. When I was

984
00:35:47,925 --> 00:35:48,878
thinking about running,

985
00:35:49,769 --> 00:35:51,447
In mind, I didn't have some grand plan

986
00:35:51,447 --> 00:35:53,525
about running in 2004, and I'm gonna do...

987
00:35:53,765 --> 00:35:54,963
And I'm gonna do it this way, and

988
00:35:54,963 --> 00:35:56,402
then I'm gonna climb this ladder and then

989
00:35:56,402 --> 00:35:58,160
in a network like this, blah blah blah

990
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,010
blah. I've never I've never done my life

991
00:36:00,010 --> 00:36:01,923
that way, and I'm not gonna start. Okay?

992
00:36:03,359 --> 00:36:04,954
But the independent angle,

993
00:36:05,512 --> 00:36:07,048
I truly believe

994
00:36:08,077 --> 00:36:08,816
we need

995
00:36:09,589 --> 00:36:10,885
more independence

996
00:36:11,498 --> 00:36:13,488
independence in our political mix.

997
00:36:14,283 --> 00:36:16,056
The majority of Americans

998
00:36:17,644 --> 00:36:19,484
are registered as independent.

999
00:36:21,405 --> 00:36:22,605
The demand is there.

1000
00:36:23,405 --> 00:36:25,484
The demand from the electorate is there for

1001
00:36:25,484 --> 00:36:26,125
more choices.

1002
00:36:26,939 --> 00:36:28,534
But the supply is not.

1003
00:36:29,731 --> 00:36:31,428
Very rarely, are you having

1004
00:36:32,603 --> 00:36:33,103
sensible

1005
00:36:34,372 --> 00:36:35,088
level headed,

1006
00:36:35,645 --> 00:36:36,861
independent candidates

1007
00:36:37,474 --> 00:36:39,782
reliably on the ballot, up and up and

1008
00:36:39,782 --> 00:36:40,497
down the ballot.

1009
00:36:41,308 --> 00:36:44,172
And so again, it's wanting to be that

1010
00:36:44,172 --> 00:36:44,672
change

1011
00:36:45,206 --> 00:36:46,399
that that you wanna see.

1012
00:36:47,115 --> 00:36:48,012
And so

1013
00:36:48,484 --> 00:36:50,240
I know this is an uphill battle. I

1014
00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:54,232
know independence, you know, rarely win, but, luckily

1015
00:36:54,232 --> 00:36:56,228
for folks, I'm not afraid to fail, and

1016
00:36:56,387 --> 00:36:57,585
I'm not afraid to, like,

1017
00:36:58,316 --> 00:37:00,221
push the status quo for what I believe

1018
00:37:00,221 --> 00:37:00,958
is right

1019
00:37:01,331 --> 00:37:03,315
And in fact, my story, the way I

1020
00:37:03,315 --> 00:37:04,823
think about it. This is the only other

1021
00:37:04,823 --> 00:37:05,934
way I this is the only way I

1022
00:37:05,934 --> 00:37:06,172
would run.

1023
00:37:06,903 --> 00:37:08,578
So I decide... Yes. I decided to do

1024
00:37:08,578 --> 00:37:10,173
as an independent because I think that's what

1025
00:37:10,173 --> 00:37:12,485
we need and believe. And then another side

1026
00:37:12,485 --> 00:37:14,240
note, Another side note. There's a little bit

1027
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:16,486
of strategic thinking behind it too. In North

1028
00:37:16,645 --> 00:37:17,677
Carolina, where I'm running,

1029
00:37:18,788 --> 00:37:20,796
North Carolina is 1 of the most heavily

1030
00:37:21,566 --> 00:37:24,106
gerry standard states in the country right now.

1031
00:37:25,550 --> 00:37:26,184
It's criminal,

1032
00:37:26,818 --> 00:37:28,167
and I say this is an independent.

1033
00:37:28,881 --> 00:37:30,388
It's the Gop that's doing it here in

1034
00:37:30,467 --> 00:37:32,292
North Carolina in other states it's the democrats.

1035
00:37:32,688 --> 00:37:35,568
Okay? Gerry Wrong. They both do them they

1036
00:37:35,568 --> 00:37:37,320
both do it. They they absolutely. They both

1037
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:38,753
do it. And rob people of their were

1038
00:37:38,753 --> 00:37:40,903
right to representation as a result. That's why

1039
00:37:40,903 --> 00:37:41,461
they're doing it.

1040
00:37:42,987 --> 00:37:43,305
Yes.

1041
00:37:43,862 --> 00:37:44,021
Yes.

1042
00:37:45,213 --> 00:37:47,280
And I think how coward, What do you...

1043
00:37:47,757 --> 00:37:49,267
Do not think you could win without cheating?

1044
00:37:50,315 --> 00:37:51,188
Is that what you gotta do?

1045
00:37:51,902 --> 00:37:54,920
You know? Like, come on. What what happened

1046
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:55,634
to a fair fight?

1047
00:37:56,348 --> 00:37:57,222
What are you still scared of?

1048
00:37:58,588 --> 00:38:00,338
And so you should win based off, you

1049
00:38:00,338 --> 00:38:01,691
know, the merits of your argument and what

1050
00:38:01,691 --> 00:38:03,998
you're gonna do for the people, not manipulating

1051
00:38:03,998 --> 00:38:05,827
a map. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

1052
00:38:07,039 --> 00:38:07,539
So

1053
00:38:08,637 --> 00:38:10,974
anyway, this district that I'm running in

1054
00:38:11,672 --> 00:38:13,370
is heavily gerry man

1055
00:38:14,085 --> 00:38:16,005
to prevent a democrat from winning.

1056
00:38:16,644 --> 00:38:18,885
A democrat will not win in this district.

1057
00:38:19,045 --> 00:38:20,539
They haven't, and they won't

1058
00:38:20,978 --> 00:38:22,894
So whoever the Democrat is and excuse me

1059
00:38:22,894 --> 00:38:24,490
for not knowing in your district who that

1060
00:38:24,490 --> 00:38:25,448
person is who's running.

1061
00:38:26,645 --> 00:38:29,175
That person is cannon fodder. They their

1062
00:38:29,612 --> 00:38:30,646
they're dead candidate.

1063
00:38:32,077 --> 00:38:32,316
Yes.

1064
00:38:33,747 --> 00:38:35,338
So the only chance you have to beat

1065
00:38:35,338 --> 00:38:37,961
the incumbent in your mind, S is to

1066
00:38:37,961 --> 00:38:38,677
be an independent.

1067
00:38:39,806 --> 00:38:41,237
Well, I won't be doing it as a

1068
00:38:41,237 --> 00:38:42,748
democrat, and plus, I don't wanna be behold

1069
00:38:42,748 --> 00:38:45,531
into a party anyway. I wanna only represent

1070
00:38:45,531 --> 00:38:47,201
the people. I don't wanna represent a party.

1071
00:38:47,519 --> 00:38:48,871
Not now you're real ridiculous.

1072
00:38:51,279 --> 00:38:51,779
So

1073
00:38:52,157 --> 00:38:54,951
so... And, you know, if I so I

1074
00:38:54,951 --> 00:38:56,728
actually used to be a registered to republican

1075
00:38:56,786 --> 00:38:58,873
some time ago, but I was always very

1076
00:38:58,873 --> 00:39:00,862
independent minded. But if I wanna wanna... If

1077
00:39:00,942 --> 00:39:02,215
I were to want to run as a

1078
00:39:02,215 --> 00:39:04,920
republican then I would have to be even

1079
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:06,804
more extreme than the guy who's already in

1080
00:39:06,924 --> 00:39:08,680
office if I wanna have a. You gotta

1081
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:11,314
play these political games. I don't... And with

1082
00:39:11,314 --> 00:39:13,629
that and that's that's not the answer for

1083
00:39:13,629 --> 00:39:14,268
our future.

1084
00:39:14,906 --> 00:39:15,406
So

1085
00:39:16,036 --> 00:39:18,895
for for all these reasons, both ideological and

1086
00:39:18,895 --> 00:39:19,847
kind of strategically,

1087
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,285
I decided I'm gonna give it a go

1088
00:39:23,420 --> 00:39:24,532
running as an independent.

1089
00:39:25,184 --> 00:39:27,099
And that was a gamble, Chris, it was

1090
00:39:27,099 --> 00:39:29,174
a gamble for a couple reasons. 1,

1091
00:39:30,052 --> 00:39:31,568
to get on the ballot as an independent,

1092
00:39:31,728 --> 00:39:34,056
you have to go through a petition process.

1093
00:39:34,295 --> 00:39:36,469
It's hard right. It's set up to not

1094
00:39:36,527 --> 00:39:37,722
allow you to get on the ballot.

1095
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:40,693
Yeah. If this system is rigged against

1096
00:39:41,804 --> 00:39:45,005
anybody competition that or Republican. Right. Exactly.

1097
00:39:45,885 --> 00:39:47,964
But but but mind you, 1 third of

1098
00:39:47,964 --> 00:39:50,144
my district is registered una affiliated.

1099
00:39:50,779 --> 00:39:52,295
So do those voters not get a choice?

1100
00:39:52,534 --> 00:39:54,449
You know They don't matter. They're stupid...

1101
00:39:55,247 --> 00:39:56,603
You must you must be on 1 side

1102
00:39:56,603 --> 00:39:57,721
or the other. I mean, come on.

1103
00:39:59,007 --> 00:40:01,311
Right. Right. Well, that's that's the narrative they

1104
00:40:01,311 --> 00:40:02,900
say, well like, well, you're really this or

1105
00:40:02,900 --> 00:40:05,783
you're that, and it's like, you know, stop

1106
00:40:05,839 --> 00:40:06,236
stop it.

1107
00:40:07,206 --> 00:40:08,640
So I'm... I was like, well, you know

1108
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:10,472
what? I wanna get those photos a choice,

1109
00:40:11,188 --> 00:40:13,259
a new a new choice. So anyway, we

1110
00:40:13,259 --> 00:40:15,192
had to go through this petition process

1111
00:40:15,662 --> 00:40:17,889
and there's no petition requirements if you're running

1112
00:40:17,889 --> 00:40:19,797
with the party. So for the the the

1113
00:40:20,036 --> 00:40:21,865
Democrat and the Republican and my, all they

1114
00:40:21,865 --> 00:40:24,186
have to do sign paperwork do a little

1115
00:40:24,186 --> 00:40:26,333
filing fee, boom. You're on there. That's it.

1116
00:40:26,730 --> 00:40:27,128
That's it.

1117
00:40:27,843 --> 00:40:29,513
I on the other hand, in a short

1118
00:40:29,513 --> 00:40:31,262
7 weeks had to get... We got over

1119
00:40:31,262 --> 00:40:33,684
over. Almost 12800

1120
00:40:33,739 --> 00:40:35,804
signatures, of voters in the district that said,

1121
00:40:36,201 --> 00:40:37,710
hell, yeah, we wanna see an independent on

1122
00:40:37,710 --> 00:40:39,775
the ballot. Were pissed off and frustrated with

1123
00:40:39,775 --> 00:40:40,648
the system as it is.

1124
00:40:41,379 --> 00:40:43,373
And come to find out when we turn

1125
00:40:43,373 --> 00:40:45,765
those into the state for validation and everything.

1126
00:40:46,244 --> 00:40:48,397
They came back and said, you, congratulations Shane,

1127
00:40:48,557 --> 00:40:50,231
you know, you're good to go you're on

1128
00:40:50,231 --> 00:40:52,003
the ballot. By the way, you're the first

1129
00:40:52,003 --> 00:40:52,983
person to ever

1130
00:40:53,681 --> 00:40:55,200
do this in North Carolina history.

1131
00:40:55,759 --> 00:40:58,317
So on the first person, yeah, I had

1132
00:40:58,317 --> 00:40:59,914
no idea when we got this started, Chris.

1133
00:41:00,169 --> 00:41:02,324
You're the first person in North Carolina history

1134
00:41:02,324 --> 00:41:03,681
to run as an independent for congress?

1135
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:06,975
Yes. At the congressional level, the first person

1136
00:41:07,114 --> 00:41:09,600
ever successfully complete the petition requirements to be

1137
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,610
on the ballot as an una unrelated

1138
00:41:12,621 --> 00:41:13,972
candidate for congress. You got a lot of

1139
00:41:13,972 --> 00:41:15,165
first in your life. Don't you lady?

1140
00:41:16,039 --> 00:41:16,539
I

1141
00:41:16,930 --> 00:41:18,690
And I'm not even trying to. I'm not

1142
00:41:18,690 --> 00:41:20,369
even trying to, but I think that goes

1143
00:41:20,369 --> 00:41:22,130
to show and your whole thing with, you

1144
00:41:22,130 --> 00:41:22,289
know,

1145
00:41:23,090 --> 00:41:24,530
being different and being bold.

1146
00:41:25,423 --> 00:41:27,737
Is like, yet you you never know how

1147
00:41:27,737 --> 00:41:29,332
it's gonna pay off and what it's gonna

1148
00:41:29,332 --> 00:41:31,406
show. And this has been a very inspirational

1149
00:41:31,406 --> 00:41:32,443
campaign because of it.

1150
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:35,096
We've gotten a lot of great press

1151
00:41:35,726 --> 00:41:37,794
being the being, you know, the the first

1152
00:41:37,794 --> 00:41:40,260
person to do this successfully, and people are

1153
00:41:40,260 --> 00:41:42,806
hungry for it. I mean, my god, even

1154
00:41:42,806 --> 00:41:43,974
just last week with the

1155
00:41:44,493 --> 00:41:46,167
presidential debate. I mean, we are in a

1156
00:41:46,167 --> 00:41:49,356
bad state right now. People are hungry for

1157
00:41:49,356 --> 00:41:50,631
funny. I've had several,

1158
00:41:51,508 --> 00:41:52,407
democratic candidates

1159
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:55,119
here in California reach out to me since

1160
00:41:55,119 --> 00:41:55,679
the debate.

1161
00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:58,880
And they don't quite say it this way,

1162
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:01,039
but I of course asked them. I'm very

1163
00:42:01,039 --> 00:42:02,000
clear and very direct.

1164
00:42:02,893 --> 00:42:05,448
And what I'm hearing, it's just Anecdotal evidence

1165
00:42:05,448 --> 00:42:07,225
from a handful of phone calls. But

1166
00:42:07,923 --> 00:42:09,759
if you're a Democrat trying to raise money

1167
00:42:09,759 --> 00:42:11,117
even in California right now,

1168
00:42:12,487 --> 00:42:13,305
you're hurting

1169
00:42:13,917 --> 00:42:14,974
because the entire

1170
00:42:15,507 --> 00:42:15,983
world,

1171
00:42:17,334 --> 00:42:19,344
watch the president of the United States

1172
00:42:20,927 --> 00:42:21,427
say

1173
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:23,554
he defeated Medicare.

1174
00:42:25,624 --> 00:42:27,136
Yeah. Joe Biden said that.

1175
00:42:28,742 --> 00:42:30,650
And it was bad. It was really bad,

1176
00:42:30,809 --> 00:42:31,684
and then he said that.

1177
00:42:32,558 --> 00:42:33,751
And I think a lot of people went,

1178
00:42:34,387 --> 00:42:34,546
okay.

1179
00:42:35,659 --> 00:42:36,931
We can't give these people money.

1180
00:42:38,381 --> 00:42:41,652
Because they're not doing what's obviously right for

1181
00:42:41,652 --> 00:42:42,370
the country.

1182
00:42:43,647 --> 00:42:44,126
And, you know,

1183
00:42:44,859 --> 00:42:46,377
Was talking to a dear friend of mine

1184
00:42:46,377 --> 00:42:46,936
who's a...

1185
00:42:48,054 --> 00:42:49,353
He's been a psychiatrist

1186
00:42:50,531 --> 00:42:52,942
for 40 years. He... He's 1 of the

1187
00:42:52,942 --> 00:42:55,357
most well known psychiatrists and accomplished

1188
00:42:55,734 --> 00:42:56,234
psychiatrists

1189
00:42:57,251 --> 00:42:58,128
in the Bay area.

1190
00:42:59,900 --> 00:43:00,400
And

1191
00:43:01,420 --> 00:43:03,900
it's just amazing how hard it is for

1192
00:43:03,900 --> 00:43:06,220
people to do what is obviously right.

1193
00:43:07,988 --> 00:43:09,581
And what he said to me that was

1194
00:43:09,581 --> 00:43:10,297
interesting is,

1195
00:43:11,969 --> 00:43:14,437
how could Joe Biden family love him?

1196
00:43:17,232 --> 00:43:18,502
How could they do this to him?

1197
00:43:19,534 --> 00:43:20,749
Because a man with Parkinson's

1198
00:43:21,202 --> 00:43:22,233
and in the case of this,

1199
00:43:23,522 --> 00:43:25,197
psychiatrist. Who's obviously a doctor,

1200
00:43:26,792 --> 00:43:28,946
not a neurologist, but a psychiatrist. He said,

1201
00:43:29,664 --> 00:43:32,237
Biden exhibits virtually all

1202
00:43:32,869 --> 00:43:35,832
of the symptoms of somebody with Parkinson's

1203
00:43:36,604 --> 00:43:38,693
from the thousand year stare

1204
00:43:39,306 --> 00:43:41,452
to the challenge with walking and his gate,

1205
00:43:41,943 --> 00:43:43,056
and many other things.

1206
00:43:44,168 --> 00:43:44,962
And Yeah.

1207
00:43:46,313 --> 00:43:48,457
Everybody in the United States of America with

1208
00:43:48,457 --> 00:43:50,539
the Iq larger than their shoe size No

1209
00:43:50,539 --> 00:43:52,219
matter how much they love the Democrats or

1210
00:43:52,219 --> 00:43:54,219
how much they love Joe Biden. I voted

1211
00:43:54,219 --> 00:43:56,460
for Joe Biden in the last election. I've

1212
00:43:56,460 --> 00:43:58,390
admired him as a senator. I admired him

1213
00:43:58,390 --> 00:43:59,902
as a vice president. I don't agree with

1214
00:43:59,902 --> 00:44:01,652
him on everything. I think he's out to

1215
00:44:01,652 --> 00:44:03,083
lunch on a lot of things, but he's

1216
00:44:03,083 --> 00:44:06,130
an admiral man. And we can argue about

1217
00:44:06,130 --> 00:44:06,929
the specifics.

1218
00:44:08,449 --> 00:44:09,349
This is just

1219
00:44:09,809 --> 00:44:12,609
it's sad and painful for the whole country

1220
00:44:12,609 --> 00:44:13,250
to see this.

1221
00:44:14,943 --> 00:44:15,182
Yeah.

1222
00:44:16,219 --> 00:44:17,517
It it it is

1223
00:44:18,853 --> 00:44:20,071
and deeply frustrating,

1224
00:44:21,007 --> 00:44:21,507
and

1225
00:44:22,299 --> 00:44:24,376
it makes you wonder that even people, you

1226
00:44:24,376 --> 00:44:25,974
know, that Joe Biden you said is a

1227
00:44:25,974 --> 00:44:27,732
good honorable man that's given a lot of

1228
00:44:27,732 --> 00:44:29,170
his life to public service.

1229
00:44:29,985 --> 00:44:31,605
The way I see it is

1230
00:44:32,625 --> 00:44:33,684
the corrupt

1231
00:44:34,545 --> 00:44:35,445
the into

1232
00:44:36,065 --> 00:44:37,605
of power and control

1233
00:44:38,304 --> 00:44:39,125
can infect

1234
00:44:39,438 --> 00:44:40,316
a lot of people.

1235
00:44:41,432 --> 00:44:44,065
And I I think that that's what what

1236
00:44:44,065 --> 00:44:45,421
it might also be coming to,

1237
00:44:46,378 --> 00:44:48,930
to say he's the only person that can

1238
00:44:48,930 --> 00:44:51,488
defeat Donald Trump is a delusional statement in

1239
00:44:51,488 --> 00:44:52,203
my opinion.

1240
00:44:53,235 --> 00:44:56,675
And it's not putting the country ahead of

1241
00:44:57,048 --> 00:44:58,240
perhaps their interests.

1242
00:44:59,367 --> 00:45:00,741
And why don't we

1243
00:45:01,909 --> 00:45:02,409
remember

1244
00:45:02,942 --> 00:45:03,839
the example

1245
00:45:04,928 --> 00:45:06,834
of our legendary first president.

1246
00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:11,337
George Washington was a legendary president

1247
00:45:11,874 --> 00:45:14,029
because he did not want to be president.

1248
00:45:14,269 --> 00:45:15,705
He felt forced into it.

1249
00:45:17,237 --> 00:45:18,534
And then he was out

1250
00:45:19,790 --> 00:45:22,024
on purpose, and he said why, and he

1251
00:45:22,024 --> 00:45:23,221
said I'm not gonna be a king.

1252
00:45:24,033 --> 00:45:24,270
Right?

1253
00:45:25,380 --> 00:45:27,520
And maybe you dislike both, Joe biden, maybe

1254
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:28,630
you hate Joe Biden.

1255
00:45:29,264 --> 00:45:31,007
But, you know, the irony in all of

1256
00:45:31,007 --> 00:45:33,007
this is had he announced at the beginning

1257
00:45:33,007 --> 00:45:34,039
of 20 24.

1258
00:45:34,833 --> 00:45:37,215
I'm not planning to seek green reelection? I

1259
00:45:37,215 --> 00:45:39,224
wanna open the door to the next generation

1260
00:45:39,855 --> 00:45:40,514
we're gonna

1261
00:45:40,815 --> 00:45:42,434
complete our last year in power

1262
00:45:42,815 --> 00:45:43,315
powerfully

1263
00:45:44,014 --> 00:45:46,574
and set this country up and set my

1264
00:45:46,574 --> 00:45:48,255
part day up for ongoing success.

1265
00:45:49,862 --> 00:45:51,691
Had he done that and was doing that

1266
00:45:51,691 --> 00:45:54,656
now and and sort of a proceeding over

1267
00:45:54,951 --> 00:45:57,416
the democratic process and the democratic party to

1268
00:45:57,416 --> 00:45:58,155
pick a leader

1269
00:45:59,423 --> 00:46:01,342
He would likely go down in history as

1270
00:46:01,342 --> 00:46:02,940
1 of the greatest presidents of all time.

1271
00:46:04,379 --> 00:46:06,057
I was gonna say, he could have been

1272
00:46:06,057 --> 00:46:08,315
the the great hero of the story

1273
00:46:09,027 --> 00:46:09,527
seriously.

1274
00:46:09,901 --> 00:46:12,606
And when you have the democratic apparatus that

1275
00:46:12,606 --> 00:46:13,503
their whole campaign

1276
00:46:13,958 --> 00:46:16,662
is just about Trump's an existential threat.

1277
00:46:17,313 --> 00:46:19,378
Vote for us, which I have problems with.

1278
00:46:20,092 --> 00:46:22,077
You know, you need to be making coaching

1279
00:46:22,077 --> 00:46:23,586
and arguments as to, you know, what you're

1280
00:46:23,586 --> 00:46:25,586
gonna be doing for the American people rather

1281
00:46:25,586 --> 00:46:27,175
than just vote for me because that guy's

1282
00:46:27,175 --> 00:46:27,493
worse.

1283
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:31,862
There's a perfect opportunity. Again, yeah. Exactly what

1284
00:46:31,862 --> 00:46:34,023
you said for biden to, you know, he

1285
00:46:34,023 --> 00:46:35,936
did his thing, step down, and now it's

1286
00:46:35,936 --> 00:46:36,973
time to pass the torch,

1287
00:46:38,009 --> 00:46:39,465
but sadly, that's not

1288
00:46:39,922 --> 00:46:41,436
the position that we're in.

1289
00:46:42,727 --> 00:46:44,482
And I do wanna say, hey, if all

1290
00:46:44,482 --> 00:46:47,832
those democratic donors in California aren't willing to

1291
00:46:47,832 --> 00:46:50,703
give d their money. Hey, there's an independent

1292
00:46:50,703 --> 00:46:51,820
gallon, North Carolina,

1293
00:46:52,233 --> 00:46:54,863
that's really trying to break through and send

1294
00:46:54,863 --> 00:46:57,731
a solid message to the nation. I mean,

1295
00:46:57,970 --> 00:46:59,006
I like to think that it's...

1296
00:47:00,281 --> 00:47:01,396
We we do need a win.

1297
00:47:02,286 --> 00:47:05,144
For our country. We need the regular kind

1298
00:47:05,144 --> 00:47:07,129
of common sense folks to have a win,

1299
00:47:07,367 --> 00:47:09,987
and I think that having some... An independent

1300
00:47:09,987 --> 00:47:12,409
breakthrough into our Congress would be a great

1301
00:47:12,704 --> 00:47:14,055
a great way for that. And I know

1302
00:47:14,055 --> 00:47:16,679
there's a couple other independents running around the

1303
00:47:16,679 --> 00:47:16,838
country.

1304
00:47:17,791 --> 00:47:19,381
And if things don't change, I think this

1305
00:47:19,381 --> 00:47:21,228
is only gonna be gonna be more and

1306
00:47:21,228 --> 00:47:23,143
more people like myself and others stepping up

1307
00:47:23,143 --> 00:47:24,500
to the plate and doing it this way.

1308
00:47:25,457 --> 00:47:27,612
Awesome. And I hope you know, but if

1309
00:47:27,612 --> 00:47:27,931
you don't,

1310
00:47:29,141 --> 00:47:30,652
I've already committed to your campaign.

1311
00:47:32,322 --> 00:47:33,992
And Yes. Sitting here talking to you right

1312
00:47:33,992 --> 00:47:35,502
now, makes sure me wanna make sure you

1313
00:47:35,502 --> 00:47:36,377
wanna donate more.

1314
00:47:37,028 --> 00:47:38,943
So... Thank you. I appreciate it.

1315
00:47:39,820 --> 00:47:41,336
No. Julien, and you're awesome. And you know,

1316
00:47:43,250 --> 00:47:45,324
of course, I'm a marketing guy an entrepreneur

1317
00:47:45,324 --> 00:47:47,489
and category designer. It's just who I am.

1318
00:47:47,648 --> 00:47:49,100
And so as as I

1319
00:47:49,791 --> 00:47:52,332
experienced you before we had this opportunity the

1320
00:47:52,332 --> 00:47:53,761
first time we talked, and then I dug

1321
00:47:53,761 --> 00:47:55,349
in into your background and sort of felt

1322
00:47:55,349 --> 00:47:56,798
like I got know a little bit. And

1323
00:47:56,798 --> 00:47:57,438
of course, now,

1324
00:47:58,796 --> 00:48:00,953
what occurs to me from a marketing and

1325
00:48:00,953 --> 00:48:02,551
category design perspective.

1326
00:48:03,844 --> 00:48:05,695
Is you are the antidote

1327
00:48:06,150 --> 00:48:07,503
to Ao and Mt g.

1328
00:48:09,411 --> 00:48:10,207
In my opinion,

1329
00:48:11,097 --> 00:48:11,813
those 2,

1330
00:48:14,199 --> 00:48:15,335
elected officials

1331
00:48:15,710 --> 00:48:16,927
are emblem

1332
00:48:17,873 --> 00:48:19,780
of the horror show in both parties on

1333
00:48:19,780 --> 00:48:20,574
the extreme sides.

1334
00:48:21,686 --> 00:48:22,584
They're the same

1335
00:48:22,958 --> 00:48:23,593
evil coin.

1336
00:48:25,197 --> 00:48:27,607
They're... It's stupidity. It's performative.

1337
00:48:28,380 --> 00:48:31,027
It's... They care about social media followers,

1338
00:48:31,974 --> 00:48:33,734
They they act the way they do because

1339
00:48:33,734 --> 00:48:35,114
they they're sort of

1340
00:48:36,295 --> 00:48:38,215
kardashian es in the way they think about

1341
00:48:38,215 --> 00:48:40,135
this stuff. They don't leg shit.

1342
00:48:41,505 --> 00:48:42,484
And they're just

1343
00:48:43,260 --> 00:48:45,253
a fly in the ointment, and they they

1344
00:48:45,253 --> 00:48:46,789
care about their own performative,

1345
00:48:48,202 --> 00:48:48,702
successes

1346
00:48:49,253 --> 00:48:51,633
on Tiktok and Instagram. It's... It it it

1347
00:48:51,633 --> 00:48:53,696
is the epitome of disgusting to me.

1348
00:48:54,728 --> 00:48:56,950
And we're I the chief marketing officer of

1349
00:48:56,950 --> 00:48:57,450
your

1350
00:48:57,918 --> 00:48:59,907
campaign. 1 of things I'd be doing is

1351
00:48:59,907 --> 00:49:00,384
saying, look,

1352
00:49:01,895 --> 00:49:04,361
We have these insane people on either side,

1353
00:49:05,410 --> 00:49:05,910
and

1354
00:49:06,683 --> 00:49:08,910
she the antidote because you sit in the

1355
00:49:08,910 --> 00:49:09,410
middle

1356
00:49:09,865 --> 00:49:10,740
and you're reasonable.

1357
00:49:11,869 --> 00:49:14,494
So let's talk about your platform. Let's talk

1358
00:49:14,494 --> 00:49:16,585
about what are the key issues

1359
00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:17,915
that you're running on?

1360
00:49:19,996 --> 00:49:21,743
Well, I do wanna do a quick plug.

1361
00:49:21,981 --> 00:49:24,362
Oh, by means. So we actually... We did

1362
00:49:24,362 --> 00:49:26,530
actually, our... We aired our first

1363
00:49:27,158 --> 00:49:27,956
campaign ad,

1364
00:49:29,152 --> 00:49:32,364
right after the presidential debate last week, and

1365
00:49:32,582 --> 00:49:34,655
it was exactly that showing,

1366
00:49:35,054 --> 00:49:35,453
hey,

1367
00:49:37,063 --> 00:49:39,157
you get this or that

1368
00:49:39,693 --> 00:49:42,402
let me be that third option that we

1369
00:49:42,402 --> 00:49:44,315
don't need to settle for, you know, the

1370
00:49:44,315 --> 00:49:46,558
less of the 2 evils. Excuse me for

1371
00:49:46,558 --> 00:49:48,706
not having seen it yet, S are our

1372
00:49:49,024 --> 00:49:50,853
Mt g and Ao in the ad?

1373
00:49:51,903 --> 00:49:53,973
No. No. No No. No. It's just it's

1374
00:49:53,973 --> 00:49:55,805
just me making a statement having any, you

1375
00:49:55,805 --> 00:49:57,318
know, sitting on a couch and then just

1376
00:49:57,318 --> 00:49:59,707
a honest real quick conversation with the audience.

1377
00:50:01,153 --> 00:50:03,139
About, you know, addressing people's frustrations with at

1378
00:50:03,139 --> 00:50:05,046
least... I would consider running an ad that

1379
00:50:05,046 --> 00:50:06,953
has a sound bite from either of them.

1380
00:50:07,765 --> 00:50:08,724
And ends with you.

1381
00:50:09,525 --> 00:50:11,684
Mh. Okay. Well, I'm making... I'm not a

1382
00:50:11,684 --> 00:50:12,184
political

1383
00:50:12,965 --> 00:50:15,045
campaign expert, but I do know a few

1384
00:50:15,045 --> 00:50:15,925
things about marketing.

1385
00:50:17,139 --> 00:50:17,940
Yeah. Yeah.

1386
00:50:19,619 --> 00:50:19,699
No.

1387
00:50:21,699 --> 00:50:24,039
Absolutely. I mean, you know, I think that

1388
00:50:25,071 --> 00:50:28,335
yeah. You know, they're they're younger ish women.

1389
00:50:28,574 --> 00:50:29,927
I guess we... I'll have that in common

1390
00:50:29,927 --> 00:50:32,530
and you can make that quick comparison. But

1391
00:50:32,729 --> 00:50:34,987
Again, I think it's just the idea that

1392
00:50:35,286 --> 00:50:38,642
common let common sense prevail. And again, I

1393
00:50:38,642 --> 00:50:40,660
go back to the essence of

1394
00:50:40,974 --> 00:50:43,051
what the position is supposed to be and

1395
00:50:43,051 --> 00:50:46,587
that it does require, like, these leadership principles.

1396
00:50:48,260 --> 00:50:50,180
I go back to the military if we

1397
00:50:50,180 --> 00:50:50,680
had

1398
00:50:51,539 --> 00:50:53,460
leaders or commanders, honestly,

1399
00:50:54,099 --> 00:50:56,672
acting a fool and throwing insult not being

1400
00:50:56,672 --> 00:50:58,687
able to control their temper or doing theo,

1401
00:50:59,223 --> 00:51:00,817
I mean, you'll lose respect for them.

1402
00:51:01,534 --> 00:51:03,867
If they can't respect themselves enough to

1403
00:51:04,338 --> 00:51:07,700
behave in in in a in a comp

1404
00:51:07,757 --> 00:51:08,075
way,

1405
00:51:09,268 --> 00:51:11,176
how do you trust them to actually lead

1406
00:51:11,176 --> 00:51:13,562
and be a good representative on your behalf?

1407
00:51:14,212 --> 00:51:16,035
And so I keep coming back to this,

1408
00:51:16,193 --> 00:51:17,644
You know, leadership and character

1409
00:51:18,016 --> 00:51:19,443
does matter. It does.

1410
00:51:21,599 --> 00:51:23,512
And, you know, and I trust that, even

1411
00:51:23,512 --> 00:51:25,902
if there might be some policy differences perhaps.

1412
00:51:26,142 --> 00:51:28,794
That's exactly what. So Mh. I think

1413
00:51:29,664 --> 00:51:30,542
I think are a lot of people in

1414
00:51:30,702 --> 00:51:32,697
America have moved to that place where they

1415
00:51:32,697 --> 00:51:34,634
say you know what? If you're not fucking

1416
00:51:34,692 --> 00:51:35,012
insane.

1417
00:51:37,246 --> 00:51:37,986
If you're

1418
00:51:38,299 --> 00:51:39,494
if you can think.

1419
00:51:40,611 --> 00:51:42,944
And if you're willing to consider

1420
00:51:43,880 --> 00:51:44,756
different opinions,

1421
00:51:45,554 --> 00:51:46,452
and engage

1422
00:51:46,924 --> 00:51:47,424
in

1423
00:51:47,803 --> 00:51:50,280
authentic dialogue. We will either have civil conversation

1424
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:52,118
or we will have civil war. That's the...

1425
00:51:52,358 --> 00:51:55,096
That's the 2 sides. Right? You and I

1426
00:51:55,809 --> 00:51:57,407
we may not agree on an issue.

1427
00:51:58,366 --> 00:52:00,923
Let's talk about 1, you pick 1. Whether

1428
00:52:00,923 --> 00:52:02,382
we agree or not, but

1429
00:52:04,692 --> 00:52:05,964
if we respect each other,

1430
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:08,110
and I say, well, you know what? She

1431
00:52:08,110 --> 00:52:08,929
a good person

1432
00:52:09,621 --> 00:52:10,121
who

1433
00:52:10,495 --> 00:52:12,562
has already given her life.

1434
00:52:14,169 --> 00:52:15,127
To save my life.

1435
00:52:16,643 --> 00:52:18,001
And I might not agree with her on

1436
00:52:18,001 --> 00:52:19,438
the border. I might not agree with her

1437
00:52:19,438 --> 00:52:21,034
on Ukraine. I might not agree with her

1438
00:52:21,034 --> 00:52:22,631
on abortion. I might not agree with her

1439
00:52:22,631 --> 00:52:23,110
on taxes.

1440
00:52:23,603 --> 00:52:25,035
I might not agree with her on health

1441
00:52:25,035 --> 00:52:26,706
health care or whatever the topic is.

1442
00:52:27,581 --> 00:52:29,012
But what I do know is if you're

1443
00:52:29,012 --> 00:52:30,206
a principled good person,

1444
00:52:31,733 --> 00:52:33,005
We can have a conversation,

1445
00:52:33,881 --> 00:52:35,234
and we can push and pull each other,

1446
00:52:35,631 --> 00:52:38,257
and we can acknowledge steal sharpen steel. And

1447
00:52:38,257 --> 00:52:39,451
you might really piss me off.

1448
00:52:40,264 --> 00:52:41,223
About a certain issue.

1449
00:52:42,101 --> 00:52:42,601
But

1450
00:52:45,458 --> 00:52:46,656
those leadership principles.

1451
00:52:47,948 --> 00:52:49,300
I have people in my life who I

1452
00:52:49,300 --> 00:52:50,039
love dearly

1453
00:52:50,414 --> 00:52:52,481
who share political beliefs that I think are

1454
00:52:52,481 --> 00:52:52,720
not,

1455
00:52:54,231 --> 00:52:55,264
and I know they're good people.

1456
00:52:56,632 --> 00:52:59,103
Yeah. No. Exactly. That's what it's all about.

1457
00:52:59,980 --> 00:53:01,893
I think being, you know, a a person...

1458
00:53:02,212 --> 00:53:03,726
When you're there in in good faith.

1459
00:53:04,696 --> 00:53:06,923
To solve problems. And I think that's that's

1460
00:53:06,923 --> 00:53:08,275
the beauty of our country. I mean, we

1461
00:53:08,275 --> 00:53:09,252
are a wildly

1462
00:53:10,740 --> 00:53:13,140
diverse country, and I love it. I love

1463
00:53:13,140 --> 00:53:14,648
the different cultures. I love that you can

1464
00:53:14,648 --> 00:53:16,077
still travel from point a to point in

1465
00:53:16,077 --> 00:53:17,903
the United States and feel like, you know,

1466
00:53:18,141 --> 00:53:20,047
you're getting such as beautiful diversity.

1467
00:53:20,538 --> 00:53:22,601
And so that's exactly how our Congress is

1468
00:53:22,601 --> 00:53:24,188
supposed to be, and there is gonna be

1469
00:53:24,188 --> 00:53:24,926
that tu

1470
00:53:25,299 --> 00:53:26,806
of, you're not gonna see eye to eye,

1471
00:53:27,124 --> 00:53:27,624
but

1472
00:53:28,410 --> 00:53:30,716
between that, you do find some consensus.

1473
00:53:31,273 --> 00:53:33,976
And and and that's how it's designed. That's

1474
00:53:33,976 --> 00:53:35,670
how it's designed. But now

1475
00:53:36,219 --> 00:53:38,316
you have our leaders where it's 0 sum

1476
00:53:38,375 --> 00:53:40,849
and that gives us nowhere. The ball is

1477
00:53:40,849 --> 00:53:42,286
not advancing down the field.

1478
00:53:43,085 --> 00:53:45,161
So I'm in complete greens with you on

1479
00:53:45,161 --> 00:53:45,892
that. But,

1480
00:53:47,002 --> 00:53:48,508
okay. But you asked about my platform and

1481
00:53:48,508 --> 00:53:49,222
what's important to me.

1482
00:53:50,094 --> 00:53:51,624
And so there are

1483
00:53:52,234 --> 00:53:54,812
there are, of course, tons of fest

1484
00:53:55,265 --> 00:53:56,775
issues that we hear about a lot,

1485
00:53:57,648 --> 00:53:59,316
that I'm happy... I'm happy to talk about

1486
00:53:59,316 --> 00:54:00,904
it get into whether it's, you know,

1487
00:54:01,699 --> 00:54:02,516
inflation affordability,

1488
00:54:03,464 --> 00:54:04,023
our debt,

1489
00:54:04,902 --> 00:54:07,778
the or, you know, form form policy and

1490
00:54:07,778 --> 00:54:10,036
intervention on there. We can... Wealth inequality

1491
00:54:11,304 --> 00:54:13,290
Absolutely. At... Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

1492
00:54:15,436 --> 00:54:17,048
But 1 thing that I

1493
00:54:18,550 --> 00:54:20,878
I really really think needs to get addressed

1494
00:54:21,332 --> 00:54:23,001
is some of these deeper,

1495
00:54:23,876 --> 00:54:24,376
systemic

1496
00:54:24,909 --> 00:54:25,409
reforms

1497
00:54:25,783 --> 00:54:26,839
to our system

1498
00:54:27,468 --> 00:54:31,230
that's going to make government and representatives

1499
00:54:31,844 --> 00:54:34,947
to realign the incentives with how they are

1500
00:54:34,947 --> 00:54:35,584
supposed to be.

1501
00:54:37,031 --> 00:54:37,531
And

1502
00:54:37,984 --> 00:54:38,484
and

1503
00:54:38,859 --> 00:54:40,051
we've already talked about it,

1504
00:54:41,164 --> 00:54:41,664
but

1505
00:54:42,038 --> 00:54:42,856
Gerry Man

1506
00:54:43,230 --> 00:54:45,456
is 1 of them. There is federal legislation

1507
00:54:45,456 --> 00:54:48,761
that's already been drafted on making sure that

1508
00:54:48,979 --> 00:54:52,190
federal level elections are done by independent red

1509
00:54:52,807 --> 00:54:54,982
commissions. We need to bring the power

1510
00:54:55,453 --> 00:54:56,885
back to the people.

1511
00:54:57,601 --> 00:55:00,385
And right now, the people are being robbed.

1512
00:55:00,703 --> 00:55:01,817
They're robbed of that.

1513
00:55:02,389 --> 00:55:04,699
So I'm a big proponent on what are

1514
00:55:04,699 --> 00:55:07,885
these electoral reforms that we can be advocating

1515
00:55:07,885 --> 00:55:10,753
for that I would be advocating for? And

1516
00:55:10,753 --> 00:55:11,253
so

1517
00:55:11,883 --> 00:55:12,917
It looks like

1518
00:55:14,110 --> 00:55:17,633
independent red restricting commissions. It looks like

1519
00:55:19,059 --> 00:55:20,920
pulling back on

1520
00:55:21,539 --> 00:55:25,240
citizens United and un federal amounts of corporate

1521
00:55:25,380 --> 00:55:25,880
money

1522
00:55:26,340 --> 00:55:27,320
in politics.

1523
00:55:28,674 --> 00:55:31,248
The the that they they are influencing

1524
00:55:31,865 --> 00:55:35,077
elections. And and elections should just

1525
00:55:35,788 --> 00:55:37,458
It doesn't make it about the people anymore

1526
00:55:37,458 --> 00:55:39,127
that are gonna be casting the votes. And

1527
00:55:39,127 --> 00:55:41,989
so when you have our politicians and the

1528
00:55:41,989 --> 00:55:43,261
sheer amount of money that it costs to

1529
00:55:43,261 --> 00:55:45,343
run for office. I mean, my goodness I'm

1530
00:55:45,343 --> 00:55:47,493
a I'm a bonafide fide tele right now.

1531
00:55:47,811 --> 00:55:49,585
I called you, you know

1532
00:55:50,199 --> 00:55:51,553
skin donors for money.

1533
00:55:52,190 --> 00:55:54,590
It's 1 And This works by the way,

1534
00:55:54,749 --> 00:55:57,132
when you call people, when you cold call

1535
00:55:57,132 --> 00:55:57,528
people,

1536
00:55:58,005 --> 00:55:59,753
and you say, hi. I'm s, and I'm

1537
00:55:59,753 --> 00:56:01,262
running for Congress in North Carolina, and I

1538
00:56:01,262 --> 00:56:02,294
and I'd like to talk to you.

1539
00:56:03,263 --> 00:56:04,218
Do people give you money?

1540
00:56:05,014 --> 00:56:06,151
Yeah. They do sometimes.

1541
00:56:07,481 --> 00:56:09,472
They did. I did. I mean, you did...

1542
00:56:09,790 --> 00:56:11,794
Well, it it just it's 1 of those

1543
00:56:11,794 --> 00:56:13,544
things. It's a volumes game. You know,

1544
00:56:15,056 --> 00:56:15,556
if

1545
00:56:16,249 --> 00:56:17,146
we're getting

1546
00:56:18,092 --> 00:56:19,281
I don't know. I'll have to crunch the

1547
00:56:19,281 --> 00:56:21,341
numbers on how many conversions it is,

1548
00:56:22,688 --> 00:56:25,319
but it sucks. And it's not what I

1549
00:56:25,319 --> 00:56:27,014
wanna be doing, and it's not what our

1550
00:56:27,072 --> 00:56:28,665
politicians should be doing. They should be out

1551
00:56:28,665 --> 00:56:30,896
talking to the people, learning what the problems

1552
00:56:30,896 --> 00:56:32,330
are and how they can help serve and

1553
00:56:32,330 --> 00:56:32,809
solve them.

1554
00:56:33,844 --> 00:56:34,561
But instead,

1555
00:56:35,213 --> 00:56:39,289
our system is per incentives. When you have

1556
00:56:39,345 --> 00:56:41,751
politicians spending 80 percent of their time, fundraising

1557
00:56:41,887 --> 00:56:43,159
for their reelection campaign,

1558
00:56:43,969 --> 00:56:46,436
and usually they're getting it from higher higher

1559
00:56:46,755 --> 00:56:48,744
donors or corporate packs.

1560
00:56:49,460 --> 00:56:52,007
Now you have that lesson of reciprocity there

1561
00:56:52,007 --> 00:56:55,128
behold to that. Okay? And so people know

1562
00:56:55,128 --> 00:56:56,641
this, and and and that's wrong.

1563
00:56:57,597 --> 00:57:00,704
I think that... So campaign finance reform. Yes.

1564
00:57:00,943 --> 00:57:02,297
Campaign... Yeah. Yes. Yes.

1565
00:57:04,468 --> 00:57:04,968
And

1566
00:57:05,347 --> 00:57:07,904
and and in the other reforms, term limits

1567
00:57:07,904 --> 00:57:10,621
are wildly popular, they pull very, very high

1568
00:57:10,621 --> 00:57:11,340
with folks,

1569
00:57:12,393 --> 00:57:14,546
and I... An ironic that we'll give the

1570
00:57:14,546 --> 00:57:16,859
president a term limit, but nobody fucking else.

1571
00:57:17,976 --> 00:57:20,608
People are literate... Crisp, people are dying on

1572
00:57:20,608 --> 00:57:21,166
the job...

1573
00:57:22,138 --> 00:57:24,050
And our president, unfortunately might be next.

1574
00:57:25,324 --> 00:57:27,715
They... You know, you've got did Dianne feinstein

1575
00:57:27,715 --> 00:57:29,148
stein. I mean, our our,

1576
00:57:30,025 --> 00:57:31,952
Rg g bless her heart, But I mean,

1577
00:57:32,589 --> 00:57:34,899
it's Rg g now, and listen, we were

1578
00:57:34,899 --> 00:57:36,571
all fans for lots of reasons.

1579
00:57:37,129 --> 00:57:38,881
And and again, I didn't agree with all

1580
00:57:38,881 --> 00:57:40,289
of her positions but

1581
00:57:40,648 --> 00:57:41,999
you had to admire her.

1582
00:57:43,192 --> 00:57:44,146
And in the end,

1583
00:57:45,260 --> 00:57:47,089
it's painful to say she did the wrong

1584
00:57:47,089 --> 00:57:48,282
thing. She stayed too long.

1585
00:57:49,570 --> 00:57:52,276
Yes. Yes. And so term,

1586
00:57:52,993 --> 00:57:54,664
you know, I I think a balanced term

1587
00:57:54,664 --> 00:57:56,177
limit would be would be 12 years.

1588
00:57:57,305 --> 00:57:59,132
For folks, you know, 6 in the house

1589
00:57:59,132 --> 00:57:59,767
to in the senate,

1590
00:58:01,038 --> 00:58:01,538
and

1591
00:58:01,912 --> 00:58:04,772
how are making, again, realign these incentives?

1592
00:58:05,343 --> 00:58:07,251
And I think what's trickier. This is mostly

1593
00:58:07,251 --> 00:58:08,840
done at the state level, but, you know,

1594
00:58:08,920 --> 00:58:11,384
you see more and more states reforming their

1595
00:58:11,384 --> 00:58:12,258
primary systems.

1596
00:58:13,069 --> 00:58:15,064
And I think that is key.

1597
00:58:15,622 --> 00:58:17,479
That is the magic

1598
00:58:18,176 --> 00:58:18,676
formula

1599
00:58:19,373 --> 00:58:22,018
to start and get to starting to get

1600
00:58:22,018 --> 00:58:23,315
more sane

1601
00:58:24,009 --> 00:58:24,509
candidates

1602
00:58:25,204 --> 00:58:28,548
elected to office. It's also the formula to

1603
00:58:28,548 --> 00:58:31,139
help getting more independent candidates

1604
00:58:31,679 --> 00:58:33,839
able to break through as well, And what

1605
00:58:33,839 --> 00:58:35,440
do you think about... And I believe they're

1606
00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:37,359
doing this already in Alaska? I might be

1607
00:58:37,359 --> 00:58:39,610
wrong, but when... They are. They are. When

1608
00:58:39,610 --> 00:58:41,519
when I can vote for 3 people, I

1609
00:58:41,519 --> 00:58:43,349
can have first choice second choice and third

1610
00:58:43,349 --> 00:58:45,099
choice. And so if my first choice drops

1611
00:58:45,099 --> 00:58:45,338
out,

1612
00:58:45,974 --> 00:58:47,407
my second choice gets my vote.

1613
00:58:48,216 --> 00:58:50,439
Right? That's right. That's right. So ranked choice

1614
00:58:50,439 --> 00:58:53,376
voting. So Alaska is a fascinating study. They

1615
00:58:53,376 --> 00:58:55,123
the only state now doing a ranked choice

1616
00:58:55,123 --> 00:58:57,612
voting? I think I think Maine has ranked

1617
00:58:57,612 --> 00:58:59,291
choice voting, and then I believe it's on

1618
00:58:59,291 --> 00:59:02,567
the ballot in Nevada this year. But, I

1619
00:59:02,567 --> 00:59:04,780
just wanna do a plug for Alaska. So

1620
00:59:05,137 --> 00:59:06,565
1 that was my first duty station, so

1621
00:59:06,724 --> 00:59:08,231
I lived in Fair bank, Alaska, You know,

1622
00:59:08,311 --> 00:59:11,429
I was a young 20 something. But Alaska,

1623
00:59:12,932 --> 00:59:14,685
has ranked choice voting, but here's what most

1624
00:59:14,685 --> 00:59:15,403
people don't know.

1625
00:59:17,476 --> 00:59:20,186
Before Alaska voted for ranked choice voting,

1626
00:59:21,079 --> 00:59:22,380
Alaska was very gerry

1627
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:25,079
in the favor of republicans.

1628
00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:26,380
So

1629
00:59:27,400 --> 00:59:27,900
Democrats

1630
00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:29,500
decided

1631
00:59:29,894 --> 00:59:31,972
Well, it's really impossible for us to win.

1632
00:59:32,691 --> 00:59:35,009
So maybe we can see if there's some

1633
00:59:35,009 --> 00:59:36,228
moderate independent

1634
00:59:36,847 --> 00:59:38,205
independent candidate who will step up.

1635
00:59:39,019 --> 00:59:39,519
And

1636
00:59:40,058 --> 00:59:41,437
after about 4

1637
00:59:41,976 --> 00:59:42,615
election cycles,

1638
00:59:43,414 --> 00:59:44,873
these independent candidates

1639
00:59:45,572 --> 00:59:47,984
started to win and get more of foothold

1640
00:59:47,984 --> 00:59:49,342
in their state legislature.

1641
00:59:50,461 --> 00:59:52,639
And it was after... And they... And then

1642
00:59:52,778 --> 00:59:54,237
they had a wildly

1643
00:59:54,776 --> 00:59:55,276
successful

1644
00:59:55,655 --> 00:59:56,110
productive

1645
00:59:56,467 --> 00:59:58,138
collaborative state legislature,

1646
00:59:59,172 --> 01:00:01,002
because you're getting more moderate people that wanna

1647
01:00:01,002 --> 01:00:03,561
do the right thing, voted into office, And

1648
01:00:03,561 --> 01:00:05,151
it was after that that they were able

1649
01:00:05,151 --> 01:00:07,534
to push something like ranked choice voting.

1650
01:00:08,090 --> 01:00:10,235
And so, you know... So I just wanted

1651
01:00:10,235 --> 01:00:11,610
to be clear you're saying

1652
01:00:12,079 --> 01:00:14,652
you believe there's a straight line sc between

1653
01:00:15,190 --> 01:00:16,886
independents getting elected in Alaska

1654
01:00:17,263 --> 01:00:19,656
and their shift in voting policy to rank

1655
01:00:19,656 --> 01:00:21,650
choice. Yes. Yes. No question in your mind.

1656
01:00:22,464 --> 01:00:24,302
No. No. I've I've... The...

1657
01:00:25,021 --> 01:00:27,179
Have many conversations with folks actually in Alaska

1658
01:00:27,179 --> 01:00:27,818
in the last month,

1659
01:00:28,777 --> 01:00:31,195
because they are... They have been pioneers.

1660
01:00:31,989 --> 01:00:35,099
For getting more independent candidates in their state

1661
01:00:35,099 --> 01:00:37,971
government mix, and it is paid off wet

1662
01:00:37,971 --> 01:00:39,247
very well for the state.

1663
01:00:39,885 --> 01:00:41,502
And I want Alaska

1664
01:00:41,894 --> 01:00:43,406
IIII bring it up because I want them

1665
01:00:43,406 --> 01:00:45,157
to be a case study for other states

1666
01:00:45,157 --> 01:00:47,148
to look at. And that's why I'm proud

1667
01:00:47,148 --> 01:00:48,819
to be doing this as an independent, and

1668
01:00:48,819 --> 01:00:51,380
so, you know, my... Wanna get that message

1669
01:00:51,380 --> 01:00:54,163
out. But, yeah So that's that that's that's

1670
01:00:54,163 --> 01:00:56,628
what happened for participating. And, ultimately, would you

1671
01:00:56,628 --> 01:00:58,162
like to see that in North Carolina

1672
01:00:58,775 --> 01:01:02,639
throughout the country? Yes. Absolutely. And especially when,

1673
01:01:02,938 --> 01:01:05,093
you know, again, North Carolina is so heavily

1674
01:01:05,173 --> 01:01:05,812
Gerry man,

1675
01:01:06,451 --> 01:01:08,047
there needs to be a balance. And here's

1676
01:01:08,047 --> 01:01:08,707
the irony

1677
01:01:10,059 --> 01:01:11,519
Republicans are actually the

1678
01:01:11,820 --> 01:01:12,320
minority

1679
01:01:13,340 --> 01:01:14,699
demographic in North Carolina.

1680
01:01:15,340 --> 01:01:18,219
The majority are independents or una unrelated, then

1681
01:01:18,539 --> 01:01:20,869
Democrat than Republican. But yet,

1682
01:01:22,304 --> 01:01:24,639
the maps are drawn in a way

1683
01:01:25,175 --> 01:01:27,568
where out of the 14 congressional districts in

1684
01:01:27,728 --> 01:01:28,467
North Carolina,

1685
01:01:30,130 --> 01:01:31,266
11 of them

1686
01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:32,140
are

1687
01:01:32,673 --> 01:01:33,650
expected to

1688
01:01:34,183 --> 01:01:35,931
are are gonna be going to Republican.

1689
01:01:36,661 --> 01:01:37,479
With only

1690
01:01:37,853 --> 01:01:39,600
3 Democrats democrat. So that's...

1691
01:01:40,394 --> 01:01:42,459
How do you square that when Republicans are

1692
01:01:42,459 --> 01:01:44,071
actually the... The minority

1693
01:01:45,016 --> 01:01:47,085
voting block in the state. So it's just,

1694
01:01:47,244 --> 01:01:49,233
again, it goes back to that corrupt corrupt

1695
01:01:49,233 --> 01:01:50,903
practice of gerry rem, and we need to

1696
01:01:50,903 --> 01:01:53,549
combat that. As Shakespeare said, something is rotten

1697
01:01:53,549 --> 01:01:56,262
in the state of Denmark. Yeah. Yeah. And

1698
01:01:56,262 --> 01:01:58,017
so how's is your campaign going? Do you

1699
01:01:58,017 --> 01:01:58,656
think you're gonna win?

1700
01:01:59,944 --> 01:02:01,079
What the poles saying?

1701
01:02:02,010 --> 01:02:03,519
Right. Right. Right. Well,

1702
01:02:05,108 --> 01:02:06,935
you know, this is this is it's an

1703
01:02:06,935 --> 01:02:09,025
uphill battle a especially in a 3 person

1704
01:02:09,025 --> 01:02:11,684
race. So actually a lot of my messaging

1705
01:02:11,825 --> 01:02:13,744
is, you know, a lot of the democrats

1706
01:02:13,744 --> 01:02:15,844
in the district understand that

1707
01:02:16,957 --> 01:02:18,969
democratic victory is unlikely. And

1708
01:02:19,423 --> 01:02:19,661
you know,

1709
01:02:20,775 --> 01:02:22,446
I actually... I really believe in my candidacy

1710
01:02:22,446 --> 01:02:24,196
to. I think I'm very... They're the only

1711
01:02:24,196 --> 01:02:25,364
alternative front. Here to

1712
01:02:25,803 --> 01:02:26,918
I'm the only alternative.

1713
01:02:27,396 --> 01:02:29,307
And how long has your competitor been serving?

1714
01:02:31,618 --> 01:02:34,247
He is... I think on his fifth fifth

1715
01:02:34,247 --> 01:02:34,485
term,

1716
01:02:36,012 --> 01:02:37,840
So, you know, he's in... He'd been an

1717
01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:38,873
incumbent for a while,

1718
01:02:39,588 --> 01:02:40,088
and

1719
01:02:41,496 --> 01:02:42,688
But I think it's time for him to

1720
01:02:42,688 --> 01:02:43,006
go home.

1721
01:02:45,012 --> 01:02:46,289
I think it's time we need to... Yeah.

1722
01:02:46,529 --> 01:02:48,705
Well, everyone needs competition. Unfortunately,

1723
01:02:49,483 --> 01:02:52,356
I, you know, he hasn't had much. And

1724
01:02:52,356 --> 01:02:52,856
so

1725
01:02:53,408 --> 01:02:55,475
that's the problem with our system. When people

1726
01:02:55,475 --> 01:02:56,293
feel like

1727
01:02:56,748 --> 01:02:57,248
they

1728
01:02:57,781 --> 01:02:59,054
their seat is comfortable,

1729
01:02:59,929 --> 01:03:01,598
they don't have to serve the people because

1730
01:03:01,598 --> 01:03:02,791
there's no consequence to that.

1731
01:03:04,479 --> 01:03:05,218
And so

1732
01:03:05,595 --> 01:03:06,812
anyway... That's absolutely.

1733
01:03:07,906 --> 01:03:10,717
So another notable thing about my district and

1734
01:03:11,109 --> 01:03:13,363
it's home to Fort Brag

1735
01:03:13,900 --> 01:03:14,458
military base.

1736
01:03:15,574 --> 01:03:17,169
It's now called Fort Liberty that they did

1737
01:03:17,169 --> 01:03:19,322
ren rename. But, you know, it's Fort Brag

1738
01:03:19,322 --> 01:03:19,822
and

1739
01:03:20,452 --> 01:03:22,987
I served there for many, many years. That's

1740
01:03:22,987 --> 01:03:26,235
actually brought me to North Carolina in 2011.

1741
01:03:26,632 --> 01:03:27,400
It's home of

1742
01:03:27,837 --> 01:03:29,507
operations is home of the 80 second airborne.

1743
01:03:29,746 --> 01:03:31,735
You know, it's where I served and went

1744
01:03:31,735 --> 01:03:33,326
to warrant back multiple times.

1745
01:03:34,614 --> 01:03:36,309
This district has not been

1746
01:03:36,765 --> 01:03:38,837
represented by a veteran in Congress in many,

1747
01:03:39,076 --> 01:03:41,625
many, many years. But this district is like,

1748
01:03:41,944 --> 01:03:44,117
has doubled the amount of veterans

1749
01:03:44,668 --> 01:03:45,168
than

1750
01:03:46,024 --> 01:03:48,734
most just than than the average districts in

1751
01:03:48,734 --> 01:03:50,510
the state. And so

1752
01:03:50,967 --> 01:03:52,482
I I believe that I have had an

1753
01:03:52,482 --> 01:03:52,982
advantage

1754
01:03:53,454 --> 01:03:55,234
specifically with that constituency,

1755
01:03:57,054 --> 01:03:58,414
and, you know, I use the Va healthcare

1756
01:03:58,414 --> 01:03:59,454
care system myself,

1757
01:04:00,734 --> 01:04:02,426
and all of you know, and all of

1758
01:04:02,426 --> 01:04:04,336
the reasons why that... And your husband who

1759
01:04:04,336 --> 01:04:04,836
also

1760
01:04:05,292 --> 01:04:06,725
is saving my life right now?

1761
01:04:07,441 --> 01:04:08,078
Yeah. Yeah.

1762
01:04:08,715 --> 01:04:11,116
Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I can't say

1763
01:04:11,116 --> 01:04:12,625
that about either 1 of my opponents. You

1764
01:04:12,625 --> 01:04:14,373
know, the current guy that represents this place.

1765
01:04:14,532 --> 01:04:17,415
He's he is the definition of a career

1766
01:04:17,709 --> 01:04:17,868
politician.

1767
01:04:18,678 --> 01:04:20,510
You know, he he he tout that his

1768
01:04:20,510 --> 01:04:22,661
leadership experience is being class president. Well life's

1769
01:04:22,661 --> 01:04:24,653
school. Again, I was leading soldiers in Iraq

1770
01:04:24,653 --> 01:04:25,131
at that age.

1771
01:04:25,784 --> 01:04:26,901
And and he went straight.

1772
01:04:28,098 --> 01:04:28,896
You straight of S.

1773
01:04:30,652 --> 01:04:30,891
Well,

1774
01:04:31,689 --> 01:04:33,365
you know, and then went straight into kind

1775
01:04:33,365 --> 01:04:35,460
of politics and and stayed there ever since.

1776
01:04:35,619 --> 01:04:37,460
And so, you know, you know, how long

1777
01:04:37,460 --> 01:04:39,780
is that gonna be. So... Well, we don't

1778
01:04:39,780 --> 01:04:40,359
have any

1779
01:04:41,392 --> 01:04:43,938
career politicians terrify me. Right? Because when you

1780
01:04:43,938 --> 01:04:45,688
don't have any experience in the world doing

1781
01:04:45,688 --> 01:04:46,643
anything something.

1782
01:04:47,597 --> 01:04:49,268
I don't know. It doesn't it doesn't sit

1783
01:04:49,268 --> 01:04:51,348
with me. And then the Democrat doesn't even

1784
01:04:51,348 --> 01:04:53,333
live in the district. You know, he didn't

1785
01:04:53,333 --> 01:04:55,318
he doesn't even live here. So I think

1786
01:04:55,318 --> 01:04:57,145
the devs were scrambling to just find a

1787
01:04:57,145 --> 01:04:59,235
warm body. Yeah to get in here. So...

1788
01:04:59,715 --> 01:05:00,914
What are the polls look like right now,

1789
01:05:00,994 --> 01:05:01,315
s?

1790
01:05:02,515 --> 01:05:04,515
Well, we're looking at doing some polling here

1791
01:05:04,515 --> 01:05:04,835
soon.

1792
01:05:05,394 --> 01:05:06,695
That obviously cost

1793
01:05:07,087 --> 01:05:07,405
money.

1794
01:05:08,359 --> 01:05:11,537
So there's no media organization or anyone else

1795
01:05:11,537 --> 01:05:13,683
doing that level of pulling in North Carolina

1796
01:05:13,683 --> 01:05:15,193
right now. You you you're gonna have to

1797
01:05:15,193 --> 01:05:17,203
pay for it. Yeah. There hasn't... There has

1798
01:05:17,203 --> 01:05:18,961
not been any third party that has done,

1799
01:05:20,640 --> 01:05:22,318
pulling out for the public. So if I

1800
01:05:22,318 --> 01:05:24,476
go to 05:38, and I type in North

1801
01:05:24,556 --> 01:05:25,056
Carolina,

1802
01:05:25,609 --> 01:05:27,690
I'm not gonna see any poll results.

1803
01:05:29,049 --> 01:05:31,449
For the ninth district specifically? Yeah Or any

1804
01:05:31,449 --> 01:05:33,130
other district North Carolina for that matter?

1805
01:05:33,862 --> 01:05:35,617
You might find some for other districts. I

1806
01:05:35,617 --> 01:05:38,670
know district district 1 is the only

1807
01:05:39,047 --> 01:05:40,744
kind of deemed competitive

1808
01:05:41,121 --> 01:05:43,608
toss up district in the state. Again, is

1809
01:05:43,608 --> 01:05:44,406
super fortunate.

1810
01:05:45,363 --> 01:05:47,437
But stay tuned. But stay tuned. You know,

1811
01:05:47,676 --> 01:05:49,909
we're we're getting... Wanna get some polling numbers

1812
01:05:50,468 --> 01:05:52,222
under our belt to really kinda help assess.

1813
01:05:52,382 --> 01:05:53,235
But I know we have

1814
01:05:54,074 --> 01:05:54,973
issue pulling

1815
01:05:55,911 --> 01:05:58,250
for for this area. And so

1816
01:05:59,588 --> 01:05:59,907
the,

1817
01:06:00,467 --> 01:06:00,967
affordability

1818
01:06:01,505 --> 01:06:02,005
and

1819
01:06:02,877 --> 01:06:04,094
inflation is

1820
01:06:04,550 --> 01:06:06,325
usually the top issue

1821
01:06:07,020 --> 01:06:08,853
along with the border as well. So those

1822
01:06:08,853 --> 01:06:11,004
are pretty, like, high issues here in this

1823
01:06:11,004 --> 01:06:12,934
part of this state with folks. So what

1824
01:06:12,934 --> 01:06:14,534
do you think about those issues? Let's talk

1825
01:06:14,534 --> 01:06:15,594
about affordability?

1826
01:06:16,375 --> 01:06:17,574
I think it's spot on.

1827
01:06:18,215 --> 01:06:20,065
I think it's spot on. You know, when

1828
01:06:20,065 --> 01:06:21,732
you look at people, I And I... I've

1829
01:06:21,732 --> 01:06:23,320
been getting around a lot in the district.

1830
01:06:24,987 --> 01:06:25,940
And it is very...

1831
01:06:26,495 --> 01:06:27,264
I actually watch

1832
01:06:27,780 --> 01:06:30,161
should be presidential debate in a dive bar

1833
01:06:30,161 --> 01:06:31,273
with a bunch of people that I didn't

1834
01:06:31,273 --> 01:06:31,670
even know.

1835
01:06:32,939 --> 01:06:34,130
I love it. And

1836
01:06:35,019 --> 01:06:36,935
And because I do I love Dive var.

1837
01:06:37,175 --> 01:06:39,330
Don't just look me... Well, you gotta get

1838
01:06:39,330 --> 01:06:42,443
a... And I I find people fascinating and

1839
01:06:42,443 --> 01:06:43,880
interesting. I'm deeply curious.

1840
01:06:44,373 --> 01:06:46,119
And so, yeah, I'm happy to go in

1841
01:06:46,119 --> 01:06:48,263
the dive bar and make some friends and

1842
01:06:48,263 --> 01:06:49,772
let's watch this debate and, you know, I

1843
01:06:49,772 --> 01:06:50,883
knew my ad was coming out so I

1844
01:06:50,883 --> 01:06:52,653
wanted to see that too. But

1845
01:06:53,916 --> 01:06:55,588
In there, I had a conversation with a

1846
01:06:55,588 --> 01:06:57,815
woman where she's working 2 jobs, honest job.

1847
01:06:57,974 --> 01:06:59,407
She's trying to make her ends meet. She's

1848
01:06:59,407 --> 01:07:01,253
single she didn't have a family And she

1849
01:07:01,253 --> 01:07:03,170
was telling me the difference in costs of

1850
01:07:03,170 --> 01:07:04,686
what it what it is for her to

1851
01:07:04,686 --> 01:07:06,203
just get an apartment for herself.

1852
01:07:06,842 --> 01:07:09,098
And she's like, I can barely

1853
01:07:09,556 --> 01:07:11,720
afford that. And so how am I gonna

1854
01:07:11,720 --> 01:07:13,864
have time to go to school to get

1855
01:07:13,864 --> 01:07:16,960
other skills to climb the ladder when I'm

1856
01:07:16,960 --> 01:07:18,866
having to dedicate all of my time to

1857
01:07:18,866 --> 01:07:20,868
these 2 jobs to make things work. And

1858
01:07:20,868 --> 01:07:22,777
you know, when she wasn't she wasn't necessarily

1859
01:07:22,777 --> 01:07:24,606
born in a situation or a family that

1860
01:07:24,606 --> 01:07:25,640
give her real hand up.

1861
01:07:26,595 --> 01:07:27,947
You know, she's putting in the honest work,

1862
01:07:28,106 --> 01:07:30,277
and it's deeply frustrating for her, and that's

1863
01:07:30,277 --> 01:07:32,215
the problem. You mean, you got young people

1864
01:07:33,152 --> 01:07:34,990
that have given up on the idea of

1865
01:07:34,990 --> 01:07:35,445
ever

1866
01:07:35,960 --> 01:07:38,682
owning a home? Yes. Or it's

1867
01:07:39,372 --> 01:07:41,594
too expensive to even think about having a

1868
01:07:41,594 --> 01:07:41,990
family.

1869
01:07:44,069 --> 01:07:46,005
And people are finding themselves

1870
01:07:48,059 --> 01:07:49,575
more hopeless in this country.

1871
01:07:50,213 --> 01:07:52,380
And what are we without having hope and

1872
01:07:52,380 --> 01:07:54,450
optimism for the future. I think that's very

1873
01:07:54,450 --> 01:07:54,928
dangerous.

1874
01:07:55,565 --> 01:07:57,157
And when you when you look at young

1875
01:07:57,157 --> 01:07:57,237
people,

1876
01:07:58,033 --> 01:07:59,329
only 18 percent

1877
01:07:59,959 --> 01:08:01,956
of people 34 and under say that they

1878
01:08:01,956 --> 01:08:03,474
are proud to be from this country. We

1879
01:08:03,474 --> 01:08:06,030
need to change that. And so rightfully, people

1880
01:08:06,030 --> 01:08:06,770
are pissed

1881
01:08:07,163 --> 01:08:07,881
about prices.

1882
01:08:08,599 --> 01:08:10,593
I mean, and going to the grocery store.

1883
01:08:10,912 --> 01:08:12,587
And and it's a combination of stuff. And

1884
01:08:12,587 --> 01:08:14,262
here's what makes me mad about the narratives.

1885
01:08:17,226 --> 01:08:19,212
You get narrative from 1 side that says,

1886
01:08:21,038 --> 01:08:22,310
this is the president's fault.

1887
01:08:23,421 --> 01:08:23,580
Okay?

1888
01:08:24,295 --> 01:08:25,963
He's doing this full stop. That's him.

1889
01:08:27,484 --> 01:08:27,881
That's it.

1890
01:08:28,832 --> 01:08:29,332
When,

1891
01:08:30,100 --> 01:08:30,576
you know,

1892
01:08:31,527 --> 01:08:33,270
it's really a combination of a lot of

1893
01:08:33,270 --> 01:08:33,508
things.

1894
01:08:34,317 --> 01:08:36,385
And what I don't hear a whole lot

1895
01:08:36,385 --> 01:08:39,328
is corporate gouging in the mix. You know,

1896
01:08:39,488 --> 01:08:41,891
how do you square it where, yes, we

1897
01:08:41,891 --> 01:08:44,146
had the pandemic. Yes, we had supply chain

1898
01:08:44,843 --> 01:08:47,018
issues. Yes, we had a flood of cash

1899
01:08:47,076 --> 01:08:50,027
into our economy. These are all factors that

1900
01:08:50,027 --> 01:08:51,158
cause inflation. Okay,

1901
01:08:52,594 --> 01:08:54,429
but we also have corporations that are like,

1902
01:08:54,588 --> 01:08:56,423
alright, we're able to set our prices this

1903
01:08:56,423 --> 01:08:58,815
high, and then you have record profits,

1904
01:08:59,693 --> 01:09:00,570
profit margins.

1905
01:09:01,780 --> 01:09:03,452
And so it's, you know, it's a more

1906
01:09:03,452 --> 01:09:05,920
complicated mix with this issue, but we do

1907
01:09:05,920 --> 01:09:07,511
need to help people with costs where we

1908
01:09:07,511 --> 01:09:10,469
can, whether that's housing. Whether that's childcare care

1909
01:09:10,469 --> 01:09:11,582
childcare care tax credit,

1910
01:09:12,775 --> 01:09:15,002
and and to help alleviate some of these

1911
01:09:15,002 --> 01:09:16,591
issues for folks. They need to have a

1912
01:09:16,591 --> 01:09:18,181
fighting chance in this economy.

1913
01:09:20,189 --> 01:09:21,466
And then the and then the border as

1914
01:09:21,466 --> 01:09:22,662
well. You know, I think the border is

1915
01:09:22,662 --> 01:09:25,453
a perfect example of how both parties continue

1916
01:09:25,453 --> 01:09:26,888
to fail us. You know, there's been both

1917
01:09:26,888 --> 01:09:29,220
meaningful legislation that's been put forward this year

1918
01:09:29,220 --> 01:09:31,140
in in the senate. And, you know, there's

1919
01:09:31,140 --> 01:09:32,739
a certain part that said, oh, we want

1920
01:09:32,739 --> 01:09:34,579
a campaign off this. So we're not gonna

1921
01:09:34,579 --> 01:09:35,640
come to the table

1922
01:09:36,020 --> 01:09:37,539
and try to find a solution.

1923
01:09:38,272 --> 01:09:40,022
And to me, the border common sense. I

1924
01:09:40,022 --> 01:09:41,397
don't think it needs to be

1925
01:09:42,091 --> 01:09:43,841
controversial that we ought to have some lawn

1926
01:09:43,841 --> 01:09:46,386
order at the border understanding who's coming into

1927
01:09:46,386 --> 01:09:47,836
this country, what they're bringing,

1928
01:09:48,472 --> 01:09:50,226
you know, our role of federal government is

1929
01:09:50,226 --> 01:09:50,726
to

1930
01:09:51,342 --> 01:09:52,957
secure and protect our sovereign territory.

1931
01:09:53,892 --> 01:09:56,302
And we desperately desperately need, and you probably

1932
01:09:56,302 --> 01:09:58,700
know it's better than me in California is

1933
01:09:58,700 --> 01:10:00,458
to reform our immigration system as well.

1934
01:10:01,497 --> 01:10:03,256
We... It's it's it's just been... It's a

1935
01:10:03,256 --> 01:10:05,263
c colossal. It's a colossal mess,

1936
01:10:06,059 --> 01:10:08,229
and it's just our government's

1937
01:10:09,957 --> 01:10:10,457
inability

1938
01:10:11,720 --> 01:10:12,220
competency

1939
01:10:12,990 --> 01:10:15,372
on display to solve that problem. And the

1940
01:10:15,372 --> 01:10:16,959
people are people are tired of it. Well,

1941
01:10:17,118 --> 01:10:19,037
and when Biden comes out and says, Well

1942
01:10:19,037 --> 01:10:20,546
we'll shut the water when it gets to

1943
01:10:20,546 --> 01:10:21,737
10000 people a day.

1944
01:10:23,167 --> 01:10:24,358
I was like, well, Why is that a?

1945
01:10:24,755 --> 01:10:26,502
Why the fuck a number you shut?

1946
01:10:27,793 --> 01:10:29,311
The other 1 S, I'd like to,

1947
01:10:30,030 --> 01:10:31,010
underscore for you

1948
01:10:31,548 --> 01:10:31,788
is,

1949
01:10:32,907 --> 01:10:33,786
as Canadians,

1950
01:10:34,759 --> 01:10:36,773
Of of course, most Americans don't realize

1951
01:10:37,149 --> 01:10:39,801
the Us Canada border is the largest

1952
01:10:40,417 --> 01:10:41,772
unprotected border on planet Earth.

1953
01:10:42,503 --> 01:10:45,129
The law... Did you say un... Unprotected? Unprotected.

1954
01:10:45,845 --> 01:10:46,005
Okay.

1955
01:10:46,880 --> 01:10:47,118
And,

1956
01:10:48,789 --> 01:10:51,278
justin Trudeau, recently announced

1957
01:10:51,907 --> 01:10:53,180
that they are going to have,

1958
01:10:53,975 --> 01:10:55,032
5000

1959
01:10:55,885 --> 01:10:58,112
immigrants from Gaza come to Canada.

1960
01:10:59,322 --> 01:11:00,756
I don't know if you've been paying much

1961
01:11:00,756 --> 01:11:01,574
attention, but,

1962
01:11:02,350 --> 01:11:02,907
in my,

1963
01:11:03,784 --> 01:11:05,719
home my my hometown in Montreal,

1964
01:11:07,145 --> 01:11:09,373
the Jewish community is under siege right now.

1965
01:11:10,010 --> 01:11:12,319
I think it's very similar in Toronto. It's

1966
01:11:12,319 --> 01:11:13,432
disgusting what's going on.

1967
01:11:14,402 --> 01:11:16,071
And Canada is learning,

1968
01:11:16,865 --> 01:11:17,842
the hard way

1969
01:11:18,455 --> 01:11:18,853
that

1970
01:11:20,203 --> 01:11:21,975
when you allow

1971
01:11:22,349 --> 01:11:22,849
immigrants

1972
01:11:23,880 --> 01:11:24,380
who

1973
01:11:25,399 --> 01:11:28,600
are members of a death cult, who think

1974
01:11:28,600 --> 01:11:30,439
throwing queer people off the top of buildings

1975
01:11:30,439 --> 01:11:31,800
and stone women to death.

1976
01:11:32,293 --> 01:11:35,703
And democracy are all, you know, things they

1977
01:11:35,703 --> 01:11:36,337
can shed on.

1978
01:11:37,131 --> 01:11:38,479
You're gonna have a problem in your country.

1979
01:11:38,875 --> 01:11:39,930
And my fear

1980
01:11:40,635 --> 01:11:42,404
is we're hearing a lot about

1981
01:11:42,777 --> 01:11:43,277
Isis

1982
01:11:43,728 --> 01:11:45,156
coming across the southern border.

1983
01:11:45,712 --> 01:11:47,005
I've heard numbers that

1984
01:11:47,553 --> 01:11:49,867
You know, our government has said, as they

1985
01:11:49,867 --> 01:11:50,743
know for a fact,

1986
01:11:51,382 --> 01:11:52,658
roughly 500

1987
01:11:52,818 --> 01:11:55,072
Middle Eastern terrorists have come over the border

1988
01:11:55,370 --> 01:11:56,725
in the last few months alone.

1989
01:11:58,256 --> 01:12:00,250
Southern border, but with Canada,

1990
01:12:00,967 --> 01:12:01,207
Mh.

1991
01:12:02,961 --> 01:12:04,737
Terrorists can walk across

1992
01:12:05,114 --> 01:12:06,310
the border in Vermont.

1993
01:12:07,123 --> 01:12:08,479
And be in the United States,

1994
01:12:09,277 --> 01:12:10,255
and my fear

1995
01:12:10,712 --> 01:12:13,046
is the next 09:11 terrorists

1996
01:12:13,424 --> 01:12:16,056
are actually gonna come to us through Canada.

1997
01:12:17,587 --> 01:12:20,082
Well, that... That's a valid fear. And,

1998
01:12:20,698 --> 01:12:23,252
you know, I think that it's it's common

1999
01:12:23,252 --> 01:12:23,752
sense

2000
01:12:24,624 --> 01:12:27,359
for us to understand who's coming in this

2001
01:12:27,417 --> 01:12:27,657
country.

2002
01:12:28,614 --> 01:12:30,211
And I... Here's an little I anecdote for

2003
01:12:30,211 --> 01:12:32,866
you. So I was I was

2004
01:12:33,259 --> 01:12:35,746
pretty heavily involved in the

2005
01:12:36,359 --> 01:12:38,266
evacuation efforts, the evacuation efforts of,

2006
01:12:38,981 --> 01:12:41,725
afghan who we worked with in Afghanistan

2007
01:12:42,505 --> 01:12:43,704
during the fall of Kabul.

2008
01:12:45,545 --> 01:12:47,945
We were working with different, frankly,

2009
01:12:49,076 --> 01:12:50,765
people who would be willing to smuggle them

2010
01:12:50,820 --> 01:12:52,724
over the border in Pakistan and then their

2011
01:12:52,724 --> 01:12:54,389
a long journey to the United States and

2012
01:12:54,389 --> 01:12:55,817
a lot of them it looked in different

2013
01:12:55,817 --> 01:12:56,054
ways.

2014
01:12:56,784 --> 01:12:58,382
But there is this 1 group actually, my

2015
01:12:58,382 --> 01:12:59,101
husband was helping.

2016
01:13:01,818 --> 01:13:03,895
They ended up going to Mexico.

2017
01:13:04,468 --> 01:13:06,382
And coming through the country through our southern

2018
01:13:06,382 --> 01:13:08,376
border, and they did it successfully.

2019
01:13:09,492 --> 01:13:11,645
And they got here faster than people who

2020
01:13:11,645 --> 01:13:13,375
were trying to go through the

2021
01:13:13,894 --> 01:13:16,691
humanitarian system. And therein lies the problem, Shane,

2022
01:13:16,850 --> 01:13:19,568
you nailed it. It worked. It worked. It

2023
01:13:19,568 --> 01:13:21,246
works. And so, you know, they're not here...

2024
01:13:21,406 --> 01:13:23,178
They're not here to cause problems. They're they're

2025
01:13:23,178 --> 01:13:24,875
here fleeing the the Taliban

2026
01:13:25,252 --> 01:13:27,246
and, you know, our government put them in

2027
01:13:27,246 --> 01:13:29,878
that own predicament, but they're able to do

2028
01:13:29,878 --> 01:13:31,872
it, you know nefarious actors.

2029
01:13:32,925 --> 01:13:33,959
Are able to do it too.

2030
01:13:34,676 --> 01:13:37,780
We know the number of military aged Chinese

2031
01:13:37,780 --> 01:13:40,088
men coming across the southern border is shocking.

2032
01:13:41,216 --> 01:13:43,122
Yep. What are they doing? Why is that

2033
01:13:43,122 --> 01:13:43,520
happening?

2034
01:13:44,234 --> 01:13:45,823
And so here, and and you see it,

2035
01:13:45,981 --> 01:13:47,332
and you see it as well. There's, you

2036
01:13:47,332 --> 01:13:48,944
know, an increased number of

2037
01:13:49,492 --> 01:13:53,388
foreign adversary activity around military bases around our

2038
01:13:53,388 --> 01:13:55,376
country. Like I said, in my district, it's

2039
01:13:55,376 --> 01:13:56,728
home of Fort Brag.

2040
01:13:57,459 --> 01:13:59,852
It appears there, I've been reading recently the

2041
01:13:59,852 --> 01:14:01,868
about the, foreign and Chinese

2042
01:14:02,963 --> 01:14:04,160
properties being purchased.

2043
01:14:04,733 --> 01:14:07,202
In in and around our military basis, and

2044
01:14:07,281 --> 01:14:09,591
I forget who posted it. But I saw

2045
01:14:09,591 --> 01:14:11,423
a map recently. Do have you seen this

2046
01:14:11,423 --> 01:14:14,541
map she... I I have I have Terrifying.

2047
01:14:14,699 --> 01:14:15,018
Isn't it?

2048
01:14:15,812 --> 01:14:18,434
Yeah. It is. It is. This should not

2049
01:14:18,434 --> 01:14:20,444
be allowed. I mean, they're

2050
01:14:20,989 --> 01:14:22,971
and and and and so we need our

2051
01:14:22,971 --> 01:14:24,715
leaders to to get serious and get on

2052
01:14:24,715 --> 01:14:25,190
top of this.

2053
01:14:25,904 --> 01:14:28,719
But we're too busy fighting each other. Then

2054
01:14:28,859 --> 01:14:29,098
then...

2055
01:14:29,818 --> 01:14:32,295
And we're forgetting that there are foreign adversaries

2056
01:14:32,295 --> 01:14:35,012
completely taking an advantage of how we are

2057
01:14:35,012 --> 01:14:37,570
distracting ourselves with our own political and games.

2058
01:14:38,222 --> 01:14:39,734
And that's what I like to say. This

2059
01:14:39,734 --> 01:14:42,279
isn't a game. And in fact, the nefarious

2060
01:14:42,279 --> 01:14:44,371
actors around the world are celebrating

2061
01:14:45,319 --> 01:14:48,136
celebrating right now that Americans are too busy

2062
01:14:48,436 --> 01:14:50,854
qui about Democrats and Republicans,

2063
01:14:51,472 --> 01:14:53,551
and they're are doing all of this, right

2064
01:14:53,551 --> 01:14:54,510
now under our noses.

2065
01:14:55,084 --> 01:14:57,318
And so and so, yeah. We even even

2066
01:14:57,318 --> 01:14:59,153
hear where, you know, where I live. In

2067
01:14:59,153 --> 01:15:01,068
a very county that I live. I mean,

2068
01:15:01,148 --> 01:15:04,445
we had an incident last month where 2

2069
01:15:05,055 --> 01:15:07,909
ins, and this is still under investigation, but

2070
01:15:07,909 --> 01:15:08,385
2

2071
01:15:08,940 --> 01:15:09,996
c nationals

2072
01:15:10,860 --> 01:15:12,551
were sent they were working for

2073
01:15:13,004 --> 01:15:14,513
a electric company,

2074
01:15:15,546 --> 01:15:18,008
but really they were spying on Us service

2075
01:15:18,008 --> 01:15:19,437
met prominent Us service members.

2076
01:15:20,408 --> 01:15:21,446
And I don't know if you... I don't

2077
01:15:21,446 --> 01:15:22,564
know if the story made its way to

2078
01:15:22,643 --> 01:15:23,921
California or not. But,

2079
01:15:24,878 --> 01:15:26,395
this... I believe he was a lieutenant Colonel

2080
01:15:26,395 --> 01:15:27,373
and special forces

2081
01:15:27,832 --> 01:15:28,651
ended up

2082
01:15:29,043 --> 01:15:30,875
going up and intervening with 1 of these

2083
01:15:30,875 --> 01:15:32,707
guys who was on his property taking pictures

2084
01:15:32,707 --> 01:15:33,423
with the camera,

2085
01:15:34,220 --> 01:15:36,131
and ended up getting in a shootout out

2086
01:15:36,131 --> 01:15:38,216
with him and and killed him and So.

2087
01:15:38,376 --> 01:15:40,444
There's a a big investigation going, Oh yeah.

2088
01:15:40,682 --> 01:15:41,955
I look it up. They're look it up.

2089
01:15:42,114 --> 01:15:43,705
And so it's still... You know, a lot

2090
01:15:43,705 --> 01:15:45,154
of this is still led but, you know,

2091
01:15:45,314 --> 01:15:46,755
I was in special operations here for a

2092
01:15:46,755 --> 01:15:48,854
long time, and so we would get debrief

2093
01:15:49,074 --> 01:15:52,514
on foreign foreign nationals trying to probe the

2094
01:15:52,514 --> 01:15:53,014
perimeter

2095
01:15:53,409 --> 01:15:55,806
of our military base or they would try

2096
01:15:55,806 --> 01:15:59,482
to get human intelligence from people out in

2097
01:15:59,482 --> 01:16:01,341
the town. And so this

2098
01:16:01,734 --> 01:16:02,712
une unequivocally

2099
01:16:03,648 --> 01:16:04,605
is happening.

2100
01:16:05,163 --> 01:16:07,396
And our adversaries, I think are getting more

2101
01:16:07,396 --> 01:16:10,985
and more bold with, their tactics against us.

2102
01:16:11,399 --> 01:16:14,207
And rightfully so, because again, we are not

2103
01:16:14,343 --> 01:16:16,094
a United States of America.

2104
01:16:16,571 --> 01:16:18,344
We are too busy

2105
01:16:19,052 --> 01:16:22,312
being divided and fighting amongst ourselves over honestly,

2106
01:16:22,630 --> 01:16:23,981
lots of silly culture war stuff,

2107
01:16:25,572 --> 01:16:27,321
instead of getting serious about, you know, being

2108
01:16:27,321 --> 01:16:29,570
a united front and being able to take

2109
01:16:29,570 --> 01:16:30,289
on our app series.

2110
01:16:31,250 --> 01:16:32,369
And as we speak,

2111
01:16:33,409 --> 01:16:36,150
Russia is increasing the number of

2112
01:16:37,021 --> 01:16:38,236
atomic submarines

2113
01:16:39,324 --> 01:16:39,961
around Cuba.

2114
01:16:40,993 --> 01:16:42,344
Yeah. Yeah. No one's was talking about it.

2115
01:16:42,582 --> 01:16:45,220
Yes. Yes. No one's fucking talking about it.

2116
01:16:45,459 --> 01:16:47,288
And if you don't think... In Chinese nash,

2117
01:16:47,528 --> 01:16:49,755
Chinese nationals as well in the Caribbean right

2118
01:16:49,755 --> 01:16:50,685
now. Like, it's

2119
01:16:51,203 --> 01:16:54,713
This is serious stuff. It's serious stuff And

2120
01:16:54,713 --> 01:16:55,213
post

2121
01:16:55,591 --> 01:16:57,027
the horror show debate.

2122
01:16:58,318 --> 01:17:00,471
If I'm an adversary of the United States,

2123
01:17:00,870 --> 01:17:01,667
and I go, wow.

2124
01:17:02,386 --> 01:17:04,140
The fucking president doesn't know what day it

2125
01:17:04,140 --> 01:17:06,214
is. If we were ever gonna do something,

2126
01:17:06,613 --> 01:17:07,410
now's is a time.

2127
01:17:08,143 --> 01:17:09,818
Yeah. And so, actually, that was something I

2128
01:17:09,818 --> 01:17:11,275
wanted to comment on before

2129
01:17:11,812 --> 01:17:12,312
with,

2130
01:17:13,009 --> 01:17:15,082
you know, should Biden run for reelection and

2131
01:17:15,082 --> 01:17:17,156
what we all saw. Well, what worries me

2132
01:17:17,156 --> 01:17:17,475
is, like,

2133
01:17:18,369 --> 01:17:20,130
And people make the argument... While, you're voting,

2134
01:17:20,210 --> 01:17:22,149
you know, for a staff and you her

2135
01:17:22,449 --> 01:17:24,609
it's, like, no, you're voting for a commander.

2136
01:17:25,182 --> 01:17:25,897
In chief.

2137
01:17:27,007 --> 01:17:29,887
You need someone who you trust

2138
01:17:30,260 --> 01:17:32,744
who has all of their faculties

2139
01:17:33,689 --> 01:17:36,719
at 3AM if they get woken up, you

2140
01:17:36,719 --> 01:17:39,451
need to have someone who's... And

2141
01:17:39,988 --> 01:17:42,061
Biden has not shown us that he's there.

2142
01:17:43,114 --> 01:17:45,755
And Neither has Trump frankly. And so I

2143
01:17:45,755 --> 01:17:46,494
am both

2144
01:17:47,354 --> 01:17:49,675
really worried for the sake of our country

2145
01:17:49,675 --> 01:17:52,507
and our security. That these are our 2

2146
01:17:52,645 --> 01:17:54,881
presidential choices. It is not a game. You

2147
01:17:54,881 --> 01:17:56,637
know, it is serious stuff being commander in

2148
01:17:56,637 --> 01:17:59,032
chief. Oh, do you remember when Trump said

2149
01:17:59,032 --> 01:17:59,272
that

2150
01:18:00,643 --> 01:18:02,337
the January sixth

2151
01:18:02,871 --> 01:18:05,097
was Nikki Haley fault because she didn't call

2152
01:18:05,097 --> 01:18:06,847
in the national guard. Remember that.

2153
01:18:08,456 --> 01:18:09,594
Yeah yeah. It's

2154
01:18:10,291 --> 01:18:10,769
fucking day.

2155
01:18:11,646 --> 01:18:14,198
Yeah. Yeah. Don't. We can all have verbal

2156
01:18:14,198 --> 01:18:15,794
slips and we forget a word or, you

2157
01:18:15,794 --> 01:18:17,230
know, it's happened to be my whole life.

2158
01:18:18,121 --> 01:18:19,951
And if I keep getting these concussion, it

2159
01:18:19,951 --> 01:18:20,986
seems to be happening more.

2160
01:18:21,702 --> 01:18:24,090
But the point being, we all know the

2161
01:18:24,090 --> 01:18:25,068
difference between

2162
01:18:25,618 --> 01:18:27,953
you're searching for a word that happens normally

2163
01:18:28,011 --> 01:18:28,511
and

2164
01:18:29,048 --> 01:18:31,201
stuff like that. It is it's it's frightening.

2165
01:18:31,361 --> 01:18:33,833
Right? We need, of course, we need somebody

2166
01:18:33,833 --> 01:18:34,812
with all their faculties

2167
01:18:35,680 --> 01:18:36,949
best I could tell us the hardest job

2168
01:18:36,949 --> 01:18:39,807
in the world. Yes. Yes. And so

2169
01:18:40,283 --> 01:18:42,529
yeah, It's just it's deeply concerning

2170
01:18:43,000 --> 01:18:46,300
where we find ourselves right now. And and

2171
01:18:46,680 --> 01:18:49,000
it's... And we need we just... We need

2172
01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:51,239
better leaders. We need better leaders at the

2173
01:18:51,239 --> 01:18:51,880
helm right now.

2174
01:18:52,932 --> 01:18:54,528
Not just in the highest levels of office,

2175
01:18:54,686 --> 01:18:56,144
but also in

2176
01:18:56,521 --> 01:18:59,233
our legislative branches, and that's again, exactly why

2177
01:18:59,393 --> 01:19:01,068
I am doing this. We need to have

2178
01:19:01,068 --> 01:19:02,126
more people willing

2179
01:19:02,439 --> 01:19:04,195
to step up and say enough enough. This

2180
01:19:04,195 --> 01:19:06,350
is our country. We need better representation. It's

2181
01:19:06,350 --> 01:19:08,106
not from you. It's not coming from you.

2182
01:19:08,505 --> 01:19:10,101
So, you know, we might as well be

2183
01:19:10,101 --> 01:19:10,501
doing it.

2184
01:19:11,471 --> 01:19:13,144
And so that's why I implore folks. Like,

2185
01:19:13,304 --> 01:19:14,418
actually, you know, when I talk to folks,

2186
01:19:14,658 --> 01:19:16,113
I say, hey, listen. This is

2187
01:19:17,445 --> 01:19:20,488
this is what participatory democracy looks like. When

2188
01:19:20,488 --> 01:19:22,398
you have... If you don't feel like things,

2189
01:19:23,511 --> 01:19:25,024
you're not being properly served.

2190
01:19:26,536 --> 01:19:28,367
And when you have candidates and people who

2191
01:19:28,367 --> 01:19:29,402
are stepping up to run,

2192
01:19:30,769 --> 01:19:32,201
maybe now is not your time, you know,

2193
01:19:32,520 --> 01:19:34,191
maybe you wanna run later or maybe the

2194
01:19:34,191 --> 01:19:35,942
school boards is your thing or whatever, but

2195
01:19:36,021 --> 01:19:37,613
I really tell people. I say, you are

2196
01:19:37,613 --> 01:19:40,173
not helpless. You're not. Pick a candidate that

2197
01:19:40,173 --> 01:19:41,366
you like. It doesn't even have to be

2198
01:19:41,366 --> 01:19:42,957
in your own state or just somewhere.

2199
01:19:44,150 --> 01:19:46,615
And and, you know, either just... Whether it's

2200
01:19:46,615 --> 01:19:47,490
sharing their stuff,

2201
01:19:48,063 --> 01:19:50,685
on on on social media or chipping in

2202
01:19:50,685 --> 01:19:51,718
some dollars, like,

2203
01:19:52,593 --> 01:19:53,229
it takes...

2204
01:19:53,864 --> 01:19:56,488
I refused I refused to just cap to

2205
01:19:56,488 --> 01:19:58,489
this is the system that we have and

2206
01:19:58,489 --> 01:19:59,921
crazy people are running the show.

2207
01:20:00,875 --> 01:20:02,782
Normal people need to rise up and figure

2208
01:20:02,782 --> 01:20:04,293
out where they fit in to help,

2209
01:20:04,849 --> 01:20:05,962
bring some sanity back.

2210
01:20:07,248 --> 01:20:07,884
Thank you for that.

2211
01:20:09,074 --> 01:20:09,313
Yeah.

2212
01:20:10,186 --> 01:20:11,854
S, I could clearly talk to you for

2213
01:20:11,854 --> 01:20:13,363
a very long time and would enjoy it,

2214
01:20:13,521 --> 01:20:15,030
but I also know you have a campaign

2215
01:20:15,030 --> 01:20:15,347
to run.

2216
01:20:17,114 --> 01:20:18,628
Is there anything else you'd like to touch

2217
01:20:18,628 --> 01:20:21,417
on? Well, 1, I really appreciate... I was

2218
01:20:21,417 --> 01:20:22,930
excited to... I was excited to talk to

2219
01:20:22,930 --> 01:20:25,241
you. You know, I did I did, you

2220
01:20:25,241 --> 01:20:27,405
know, that cold call with you. Thanks for

2221
01:20:27,405 --> 01:20:29,552
taking my phone call and and you know,

2222
01:20:30,507 --> 01:20:32,018
being cordial with me on the phone, and

2223
01:20:32,018 --> 01:20:32,518
then

2224
01:20:32,909 --> 01:20:34,906
I was really excited to look you up

2225
01:20:34,906 --> 01:20:36,904
online and your whole your whole thing of

2226
01:20:36,904 --> 01:20:37,542
being different.

2227
01:20:38,502 --> 01:20:39,002
And

2228
01:20:40,113 --> 01:20:42,582
that just speaks to me. And I think

2229
01:20:42,582 --> 01:20:43,639
that's a really

2230
01:20:45,289 --> 01:20:48,076
that's a message that we need right now.

2231
01:20:48,649 --> 01:20:50,166
And in our political circles,

2232
01:20:50,804 --> 01:20:51,304
because

2233
01:20:51,842 --> 01:20:53,439
I'm running as an independent. So lots of

2234
01:20:53,439 --> 01:20:55,594
times what I hear. It's like, well, they

2235
01:20:55,594 --> 01:20:57,051
don't really win or

2236
01:20:57,524 --> 01:20:59,119
you know, isn't that a throw away though,

2237
01:20:59,279 --> 01:21:01,034
which mind you in this gerry manager district?

2238
01:21:01,433 --> 01:21:02,811
No. It's not. But

2239
01:21:03,427 --> 01:21:04,167
I say

2240
01:21:05,036 --> 01:21:06,171
it takes courage

2241
01:21:07,497 --> 01:21:08,768
to do something different.

2242
01:21:09,562 --> 01:21:10,515
It takes courage,

2243
01:21:11,229 --> 01:21:13,079
and we need to embrace

2244
01:21:14,184 --> 01:21:16,257
the different, You know, being different,

2245
01:21:16,815 --> 01:21:18,650
advocating for different, because then we will get

2246
01:21:18,650 --> 01:21:19,448
different results,

2247
01:21:20,405 --> 01:21:22,239
whether that's in our own personal lives or

2248
01:21:22,239 --> 01:21:23,595
in our families, our communities,

2249
01:21:24,009 --> 01:21:25,840
or in politics like what we're talking about.

2250
01:21:27,193 --> 01:21:29,659
So so anyway, I like to think that

2251
01:21:29,739 --> 01:21:31,569
I'm living that truth and you are too,

2252
01:21:31,729 --> 01:21:32,922
and, you know, most people that you bring

2253
01:21:32,922 --> 01:21:34,842
on that podcast and hopefully your listeners are

2254
01:21:34,842 --> 01:21:36,270
as well. And I will say this. I

2255
01:21:36,270 --> 01:21:37,856
know he said most your listeners are kind

2256
01:21:37,856 --> 01:21:38,356
of

2257
01:21:40,076 --> 01:21:40,948
innovator business types.

2258
01:21:41,679 --> 01:21:44,232
I love the opportunity to talk to people

2259
01:21:44,232 --> 01:21:46,386
like yourself and people that come from,

2260
01:21:47,104 --> 01:21:48,540
a more entrepreneurial background.

2261
01:21:48,954 --> 01:21:50,810
And what I like to say is

2262
01:21:51,267 --> 01:21:53,101
disruption is a good thing. You know, we

2263
01:21:53,101 --> 01:21:54,080
need it to

2264
01:21:54,537 --> 01:21:57,569
evolve in our lives in the business world,

2265
01:21:59,415 --> 01:22:00,630
and we need disruption

2266
01:22:01,162 --> 01:22:02,433
in our political arena.

2267
01:22:03,306 --> 01:22:04,895
We need disruption to grow.

2268
01:22:06,007 --> 01:22:06,507
And

2269
01:22:07,613 --> 01:22:10,320
I'm so dang proud to consider myself a

2270
01:22:10,320 --> 01:22:11,298
positive political

2271
01:22:11,833 --> 01:22:14,462
disrupt. And so I invite people to come

2272
01:22:14,462 --> 01:22:15,759
on board with the campaign

2273
01:22:16,708 --> 01:22:18,464
they feel like we need disruption too.

2274
01:22:19,502 --> 01:22:21,417
You said it takes courage to be different.

2275
01:22:22,136 --> 01:22:22,534
Mh.

2276
01:22:23,014 --> 01:22:23,333
Mh.

2277
01:22:23,971 --> 01:22:24,530
And Yeah.

2278
01:22:25,659 --> 01:22:28,760
Usually our somebody who has made and clearly

2279
01:22:28,760 --> 01:22:31,384
does make a gigantic difference in our world.

2280
01:22:32,258 --> 01:22:33,768
And I deeply appreciate it.

2281
01:22:34,499 --> 01:22:35,854
And I wish you all the luck in

2282
01:22:35,854 --> 01:22:37,527
the world in your campaign.

2283
01:22:38,961 --> 01:22:41,032
Well, thank you so much. That really means

2284
01:22:41,032 --> 01:22:43,434
a lot. You're welcome back anytime and when

2285
01:22:43,434 --> 01:22:45,262
you win, it'll it'll be fun to have

2286
01:22:45,262 --> 01:22:45,660
you back.

2287
01:22:46,296 --> 01:22:47,728
Oh, yes. Exactly.

2288
01:22:48,364 --> 01:22:50,033
Exactly. When I win, I like it. I

2289
01:22:50,033 --> 01:22:52,278
like it. That's that energy. And the mindset

2290
01:22:52,278 --> 01:22:54,274
that we need. So well, thank you so

2291
01:22:54,274 --> 01:22:57,307
much, Chris. I I seriously appreciate your time

2292
01:22:57,307 --> 01:22:58,345
and giving me this platform.

2293
01:22:58,904 --> 01:23:00,500
Absolutely. Thank you so much, and bless you.

2294
01:23:01,074 --> 01:23:01,795
Okay. Thank you.

2295
01:23:02,675 --> 01:23:05,395
That was the legendary S Edison. To learn

2296
01:23:05,395 --> 01:23:07,154
more about S and for all the links

2297
01:23:07,154 --> 01:23:09,324
we discussed in today's episode, Please see the

2298
01:23:09,324 --> 01:23:11,470
show notes on your podcast player or head

2299
01:23:11,470 --> 01:23:14,354
over to lock dot com. And don't forget

2300
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2345
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Today's information is provided to you solely for

2346
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property of the Lock broadcast network and it

2348
01:25:14,360 --> 01:25:16,190
contains content known to the state of California,

2349
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to cause radically non obvious thinking, new categories

2350
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and exponential results. All podcasts contain nuts, all

2351
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rights disturb.

2352
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Please contact your doctor lawyer, accountant Yoga instructor

2353
01:25:26,787 --> 01:25:29,724
Shaman and category designer before doing anything about

2354
01:25:29,724 --> 01:25:31,073
anything you hear here today.

2355
01:25:31,963 --> 01:25:34,676
Warning. In California drivers blocking traffic in the

2356
01:25:34,676 --> 01:25:36,670
left hand lane, by law can receive a

2357
01:25:36,670 --> 01:25:37,627
269

2358
01:25:37,627 --> 01:25:40,019
dollar fine. So please don't be lame, get

2359
01:25:40,019 --> 01:25:40,976
out of the passing lane.

2360
01:25:41,868 --> 01:25:43,464
Everything is the way that it is because

2361
01:25:43,464 --> 01:25:45,298
somebody changed to the way that it was,

2362
01:25:45,856 --> 01:25:48,489
produced and edited by me, Jason Def. Sarah

2363
01:25:48,569 --> 01:25:50,823
Knox, Jamie J handled the website and technical

2364
01:25:51,121 --> 01:25:53,448
execution. Show notes by Gm m Simon. Rj

2365
01:25:53,448 --> 01:25:55,121
and Ee x bop do our web development.

2366
01:25:55,440 --> 01:25:57,511
Cedric Be does our graphic and web design.

2367
01:25:57,751 --> 01:25:59,759
Our law firm is Weed and Jack, Our

2368
01:25:59,759 --> 01:26:01,593
accountants are 3 balance sheets to the wind.

2369
01:26:01,912 --> 01:26:03,587
We record on squad cast dot f m.

2370
01:26:03,826 --> 01:26:05,501
Joan jet was right. Listen to the tragically

2371
01:26:05,501 --> 01:26:07,495
hip. Thanks, Candy, Dandy, and hate Colin, this

2372
01:26:07,495 --> 01:26:09,663
podcast cast really ties the room together. Our

2373
01:26:09,663 --> 01:26:11,896
deepest apologies go out to Vladimir Putin. Sorry,

2374
01:26:12,055 --> 01:26:13,572
Putin, We just ran out of time for

2375
01:26:13,572 --> 01:26:15,964
you. Till next time, Stay safe. Stay legendary

2376
01:26:15,964 --> 01:26:17,479
and follow your different.