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COMMENTARY THE COFFEE KLATCH ... DECEMBER 7TH 2024 Robert Reich, Heather Lofthouse and Michael-Lahanas-Calderón Rage Against the Machine PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1dDSVoJpBg Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess
Rage Against the Machine \| The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Robert Reich 948K subscribers Premiered 3 hours ago The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich How many more billionaires will join Trump's cabinet? Should the presidential pardon be reformed? Can America's broken healthcare system be fixed? And what could Biden and Senate Democrats still do before the lame-duck clock runs out? We discuss all this and more on the Saturday Coffee Klatch. The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Transcript 0:00 and it is the Saturday coffee clutch not only with Heather loft house but also with our dear friend Michael Lanes Calderon hello uh hello Michael it's good to have you here good to be here and so Heather what do we have today today we have we have to talk about the uh brutal murder of Brian Thompson who was the United Healthcare CEO we're going to talk about how much money is represented by the appointees and surrounde of Donald Trump well talk about what should the Dems be doing for us for the public good before they're out in a matter of minutes um and a couple other fun things maybe at the end well that sounds good I I I'll tell you the thing that really astounded me about not only the fact that in Midtown Manhattan in the midle middle of a day somebody has gunned down uh but also the the ridicule uh that was heaped on this man uh the head of United Healthcare uh 1:02 I mean did it strike either of you as kind of well shocking I mean the the I mean it's it's shocking obviously that somebody's gunned down but the but on social media the amount of of of anger against United Health against big insurers against this particular CEO uh just amazed me it's very very little sympathy I would say and it is shocking to see on the surface and also I think pretty representative of the anger that we see among many people um against systems and institutions wouldn't you wouldn't you both say that's it I think there was this kind of I mean this is the internet though so there gleeful morbid I don't know sarcasm and I think also because it seems like it was a political hit everyone just said watch me here comes my anger and they lost sight of but this is also the internet decor or you know there wasn't phrasing where 2:02 it was like you know this is so tragic but this is now also a time for us to reconsider our Health Care system it was way more biting and I think it shows the anger that we have I mean people were saying thoughts and deductibles to the family and unfortunately my condolences are out of network I mean and on one level you can see this is this is sort of humorous but but there is so much anger out there I this is one step removed from the kind of anger that propelled Donald Trump into the White House this is I mean people are you take these big systems out there healthc care uh and you know and Banking and Ticket Master and uh what else I mean Airlines I mean everybody is so pissed off I think people feel exploited in particular I mean nickel and dimed whatever phrase you want to use and denied care among other things that's 3:00 clear from some of the comments that you were reading I I wouldn't say that I'm surprised just given how the internet has evolved in the last few years that this is the almost instantaneous reaction right and Airlines is one thing and Ticket Master is one thing but I PE so many people have friends and family who have died because of a lack of coverage or have been decimated in terms of their financial well-being because of the state of Healthcare in America but so what are the big take homes from this Medicare all well I would say I you can't use somebody's death uh to really your point to do anything with uh but I think that undoubtedly the anger is real uh and uh I think Democrats need to be very sensitive to this you know it's not just Obamacare Obamacare is is good but it's not responding to everything that people need the Health Care system is still broken people are angry and 4:00 resentful uh and there is a great deal of uh of push back I know I mean everybody I mean I uh I I'm I'm thinking back over the last just the last year the number of times I've had to deal with uh Health insurers and billing and billing mistakes and I in fact uh recently I got a bill I paid the bill and then they sent my check back to me saying that it was their mistake and then the bank said to me no you're you still have to it the check bounced so you have to pay something I mean it was it was like being caught in a cough gasque nightmare right and we are the lucky ones who get to deal with that and have the coverage we are the privileged I know um and you know of course I mean the reason that we think it was a political hit is because of those words written on the casings right which was uh deny defend depose is a reference theing of the of the bullet at least that's what's being reported this week well I mean I think maybe that's that's a way to transition into I mean we're 5:03 talking about Healthcare in general um we've seen a slew of new cabinet appointments over the last few weeks oh we're going to have the most amazing Public Health Care System you can imagine with Robert F Kennedy in charge Ken Jr and Dr Oz and all of the rest of them I mean they are all antivaxers they are all conspiracy theorists I know and they're all ready to privatize every corner of the government they possibly can and the sense of the reality of how Nutrition Works Across America I mean there's just such a gap of the things that people want people to do drink raw milk all the time but this is reality this is related to the first point in terms of people's sense of of the the system is out of whack they they are willing to go along not everybody but some people are willing to go along with conspiracy theorists uh who say that the 6:00 big drug companies are behind uh everybody getting vaccinated and it really spreads all sorts of diseases and uh but what happens there's a bird flu potentially a bird flu epidemic MH what you know what happens if that hits on January 21st I mean I think we've seen a version of what happens to it with Trump in office when there's a pandemic and it's not great and but then Trump was not surrounded by I know V you know antivaxers yeah I know Dr fouchi who might be pardoned which is crazy to me um but so I guess if you had if we could say to Biden or Trump right now what use this United Health Care atrocity for good what what are people actually wanting like how do we what are some policy changes we don't have to do them today I mean just but what's the message we wish they would hear and tell us they were hearing well I would not use this 7:01 atrocity for good I I mean I I really think we should not be using it the only reason I brought it up and you brought it up is because it's it the internet exploded right with it but I think it does point out this anger Bingo and the question um I guess you're asking is what should Biden and the Democrats do between now and January 20th I mean there's still time A lot of people are when they talk to me about the administration they're forgetting that Biden is still president I know uh and kamla Harris is still vice president I mean this is still and the Democrats are still in charge of the Senate I mean believe it or not the the Democrats still have time to do some things and they're not on their holiday break they're in their offices so what should they be doing well let me read to you this is a list um partly coming from the revolving door project about what should happen right now yes and stop me if I say something that is astounding uh but uh for example Biden should and the Democrats should 8:03 reconfirm Lauren mcfarren and give the National Labor Relations Board a pro worker majority until 2026 is that yes do I have here here yes okay yes nlrb check okay good at the Securities and Exchange Commission confirm Caroline krenshaw for a 5-year term good yes yes we need her in this is easy okay cftc confirm seagull for a 5-year term yes we know these people Michael you I think all of these so far are good things that the Democrats should be doing in the short amount of time that they have left okay Federal Trade Commission Now I know something about the Federal Trade Commission I used to be there renominate Lena Khan whose term has expired for another term as an FTC commissioner good quick mhm but you have to do it quick all of these things have got to be done fast right uh and FCC at the FCC Federal 9:03 Communications Commission renominate Jessica Rosen worel did you know about Jessica Rosen morsel I didn't but my net neutrality Advocate if I remember she's a net neutrality Advocate she supportive net neutrality whose term expires in July 2025 she can be renominated and confirmed for another term okay all these are you with me green light green light okay this is very very easy I love this committee thank you thank you um how about having Biden repeal and the Democrats repeal The Comstock act which could be weaponized by Trump uh to prosecute over the shipment of birth control abortion drugs uh it would require some GOP support in the house but you with me on this before you continue I think even for the things that seem less likely on our list as a person in the world I would feel better if the Democrats at least tried tried yeah now Michael you are not just a person in the world you 10:02 are the person who is de facto U for want of anybody else representative of the Jen z z yes I mean you're the future I'm the past well the future's here you know I'm the past oh I'm the present you're the present that's right like Scrooge so this is important these are important things to you about the Democrats and what the Democrats stand for and I think particularly when you look at how the election went and how many young people were turned off by what the Democratic party was offering if they don't put forth some effort not to say that they aren't to some degree already but really push hard to protect people in this next month I mean it's just it's just disheartening to see otherwise it is disheartening that's a good word for it U you know the Biden uh part pardon pardon me the pardon of Hunter Biden uh raises the question of uh what Biden could do uh in terms of other pardons he could 11:02 grant clemency to anyone still in federal prison for nonviolent drug offenses or marijuana related crimes there are at least 3,000 people were imprisoned for this yeah yes do I have your I'll tell him that both of you agreed to this two generations behind me uh he could simly commute the sentences of anyone on federal military death row to prevent Trump from restarting a federal execution spree I think the presidential pardon power as it stands is quite powerful and I think that I mean we have this long list in front of us it would cly it's only going to take me another hour CP go through this no but I mean I think it's just everything you're reading off and that we can continue to read off is just emblematic of again things that the power of the presidency can be used to do to help people right people in the real world people outside of the DC orbit people people as consumers people as as people 12:00 that are part of the Criminal Justice System people that are just people people you know I I I I mean a lot of these are ideas having to do with clemency and pardons and I won't pardon me I'm not going to use all of the time uh but it does raise the question uh you know I don't want to so much has been talked about with regard to Biden and Hunter Biden but it made me kind of sad I mean here he is I mean I'm a father of of two men who are now men uh I understand what he must Biden must have been going throughh uh but he's got so much criticism about this I know is this Justified the criticism well I would refer audience members who haven't read your substack to maybe read your St your substack on this from this past week where I think exactly what you just said is true and also I think that it's time perhaps look at reforming the pardon system right particularly if we're looking at the incoming Administration and the kind of characters that were already pardoned in 13:05 the first Trump Administration and if I remember correctly there's a representative who um Steve Coen of Tennessee yes yes yes I even in my substack I mentioned him and he was so pleased that somebody actually oh yeah there was a press release from his office that said yes Robert R has acknowledged uh but you you do have to reform we do have to reform the part it's not going to happen in the next four years I doubt it so there's Biden having a son right and that makes it very personal so a lot of what the Dems have said is hey Dems you need to play hard ball the Republicans play hard ball you need to break rules when we need to break rules so why don't you do that and so this in to some people is an example of that to other people this is an example of breaking a rule for a more personal reason right rather than for the greater good can you talk about that a little bit institutions we need institutions that function but we can 14:04 push them on issues for large people but there's a difference between personal gain even when if it's your child I hear this all the time from very angry Democrats who say Democratic party and this goes back to your point Michael the Democratic party really does need to play hard ball and be as aggressive as the Republicans and you know and break things if necessary right but here's the irony the Democratic party stands for democracy stands for our institutions of self-government not the status quo the status quo is corruption the status quo is Big corporations and wealthy people and Wall Street basically overwhelming our institutions with big money get the big money out make the institutions work don't just take a wrecking ball to these in institutions yeah okay maybe that's a good Segway to talk about the incoming Administration woo speaking of money taking a wrecking ball to the United States government Heather I think you have a list I have a list in terms of 15:05 Trump's cabinet right and so we have there's a cartoonish amount of corruption in here so we don't even have to talk about that but let's just talk about the numbers the net worth of all these individuals now keep in mind Elon is not in the cabinet so his 300 plus billion we can give or take in our equations right so we are looking at musk alone is worth $330 7 billion but you're saying take him out of the equation just look at the non the non musk billionaires and we're still over 10 billion for the appointees that Donald Trump the populist for the people MH cleaning out the swamp whatever his phrases of the nanoc are that's how much money we're talking of the people he's appointed and the kind of people that he's appointed every single billionaire who contributed over a over $10 million to his campaign is now 16:02 picked by him for whatever they want to do some of them uh are are say they don't want to give up their money they don't want to put it in a trust they don't want to they don't even want to be exposed so he's making them advisors um who don't even have officially cabinet position roles I mean this is this is unheard of also well on the one hand it's unheard of on the other hand to me this is like icky corrupted politics as usual from hundreds of years ago so he tries to come in here and say I'm blowing everything up and then you're doing quid pro quo with your Rich buddies like that's novel well it's exactly 100 years ago 110 years ago this is the first guilded age right this is the administration you know this is It's the guilded cabinet the Gilded cabinet Michael and we're now in the second Gilded Age and we have Donald Trump who was bringing the billionaires and the 17:01 multi-millionaires into his cabinet and also giving them these positions of influence even though they are not officially confirmed it's so much money and then so many of them also are currently or have been affiliated with Fox News 10 of them so far were hosts or formal contributors to Fox News Fox News trains people of course to big government officials but remember when Fox News was out he was mad at Fox News but now he's the Patriot of the year I guess they trimmed out all of the the Trump critics or he's just plucking the ones that have been the most loyal or subservient as you like to say subservient well I think that there is a difference between loyalty and subservience um and we've talked about this a little bit before every president wants loyal people every president wants his staff and his picks and his cabinet picks to be loyal to him but also to be loyal to the United States Donald Trump doesn't care about loyalty to the United States he wants subservience he wants people 18:06 who are loyal to him and not loyal to the United States he wants people who are loyal to him even if he tells them to you know do something that is utterly immoral uh it doesn't matter he will demand of them certain things uh there no there are no lines anymore and in many cases these are people who aren't just subservient to him but actively hostile to the agencies that they're being put in charge of you know whether it be people like Kos Patel at the FBI who's you know probably got his deep State enemies list ready to go for January 21 or you know on a smaller but still important scale the IRS commissioner Billy long is someone who has co-sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS I mean Hello as you like to say and I you could just go I the SEC chair that's another great example that Gary gendler who's currently the SEC chair is a strong advocate of you know regulating crypto and all of these other new emergency uh emerging you know Financial 19:06 sectors and he's set to be replaced by one of the most crypto PE friendly people you know that he could have chosen from Paul Atkins and and it just goes on and on and on and on these people not only have no respect for the agencies they are uh being nominated to run uh they don't know anything about the agenes about to say it's so scary I mean they are just Flacks they are hacks and these agencies are so critical the defense department you need to understand defense I think I think Pete Heth by the way uh I I'm not sure he's going to get through I mean Gates really didn't he was a stalking horse maybe uh but I think the Republicans in the Senate are are are now in in a in turmoil I mean but his mommy came on the news his mommy came on the news said if she forgives him but she was she had to come in I mean it's you want the 20:02 department of defense's mom to just have to swoop in and really clear things did you did either of you read Jane Meyer's piece in the New York the New Yorker on my book list it's really you have to read it because it's not only about his carousing and his uh sexual harassment uh and and rape alleged rape rape uh but it's also about his his his failures uh to to even two agencies private agencies veterans agencies that he was in charge of small by the way and he relatively speaking is small and he uh and money can't be accounted for and he obviously I'm not going to accuse him of being an alcoholic but he has a problem with alcoholism uh this man is unfit to run anything let alone the the largest Department in the United States government maybe Elon musk's mom should also talk to pach hegf Mom she's been on Fox to talk about him before several times there so many mommies showing up a 21:02 lot of moms this is actually a mom cabinet this is the power fascinating the power of this cabinet it's we could talk about that for days um okay so then so here's a question for you for the DNC what are we we got to be thinking longer term we're talking about Democratic National Committee it's going to choose a new chair on February 1st soon and this is going to Mark what we're looking at I mean Dems are you out there what is that there is no Democratic party there kind of is a Democratic party how do we form things you two now's the time we got to be thinking about this you had an answer on this also in your substack if I remember correctly you're so good at reading this substack thank you Michael you're the one you're in one who harded it and you're the lier uh I I think that they is a very good candidate uh and he has been chairman of the uh Wisconsin Democratic party his name is Ben 22:04 wickler uh and he's done extraordinary things in Wisconsin he's made Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democratic party uh really uh a a force he when he took over in 2019 it was it was almost dead on its I mean Ben wickler if there's one Democrat out there uh who has done an extraordinary amount to reorganize and energize and organize uh it is it is Ben wickler uh so I'm yes I'm I think he would be a terrific chair and there are a few other people who are in the mix but the one that a lot of people are talking about and he's going on some news shows is Rah [Music] Emanuel all that reaction you know I worked with him in the Clinton Administration yes I mean he's the he is the corporate Democratic National Committee I mean heate he represents big money and represents the the old Democratic party right now some 23:01 people think well he's he's aggressive and that's what the Democrats need is aggression and he'll fund raise and and he'll fund raise but it's just it just back to what we had before I know and how and we need to learn and I feel like we do this for our day job right you're looking what resonates with people but this is Michael the question you asked a little while ago what can the Democratic party do to appeal to your generation because this is the qu is the question that everybody should be asking I mean your generation did not come out in the in the election I mean you I for record audience MERS I mean but my generation barely came out I mean not enough people came out well I think it more broadly there was a lack of faith in the Democratic party across many demographics and if you look at Urban strongholds in particular the vote drops in those cities is remarkable and that's the Democratic Bas right the Democratic base was not happy and whether that was foreign policy whether that was 24:03 embracing L Cheney embracing Mark Cuban embracing Wall Street I mean the list goes on and I would imagine ranuel would not uh shall we say change tune on some of those things well back so Michael this is a question for you um and you you are not representing your generation don't feel like you're stuck in a corner on this no pressure should the Democratic party do in your opinion to make young people feel excited again or excited for the first time I mean listen I think that's the big thing I think that there were a lot of young people shouting very loudly for months if not years about a variety of issues uh you know whether on the economic front about Rising costs the price of housing student debt I mean some of that there were attempts to address it and I think that there was a lack of communication and a lot of misinformation out there about the efforts that were tried but honestly I mean the last four years it was really difficult to see what the Democratic party stood for clearly and I think it 25:04 was because a lot of this inner conflict between the corporate Wing that was sort of gently holding back everybody else or aggressively at times from saying anything too critical of the people who hold the pur strings right I think that's exactly right I it's it's also a desire not to rock the boat not to get people so upset that they are going to demand new programs and higher taxes uh that the wealthy will pay to support everybody else uh and that's what the wealthy big money people who are supporting Democrats and Republicans uh really are most afraid of uh it's the it's taxes yeah so I mean it's a chicken and egg problem right I mean the the thing that I've learned over the years tell us is that there's no Democratic party I know I mean this is this is uh this is this is something that people have a hard time 26:03 understanding there used to be a bottom-up Democratic party it was a there was local uh you know big powerful local Democratic clubs uh there were state democratic conventions and state democratic organizations and then you know ultimately they would come together of for the Democratic National Committee uh or Democratic national conventions but you don't have that anymore all you have on the Democratic side it's starting to change on the Republican side for terrible reasons all you have on the Democratic side are big fundraisers fundraisers that's it I know and I think that the message that having Rah Emanuel versus Ben wickler wickler would send is not great I mean he is associate in the Clinton Administration which you know he helped whipped up support for NAFTA then we're talking about ranu forgive me and then um when he was Obama's Chief of 27:01 Staff he did small stimulus around the 2009 dip in our economy and then he did Big mergers one was around Live Nation we've Ticket Master in Live Nation we've talked about young people famously love Live Nation and Ticket Master right exactly and then he urged Obama to go small on healthc care I mean that is not something that people want to hear about today or that people need today and then as mayor of Chicago he cut education budgets and mental health budgets and so there are issues with him in addition to being this kind of the head of the corporate Wing yeah could I zero in the small big thing I think is important because I think when people think about Democrats they think well they'll Tinker around the edges and we saw a lot of that kind of messaging in the campaign this year there was no really loud appeal to universalism in any of the programs that I heard anyway I mean they were afraid to even name a number for the minimum wage increase or if they did I didn't hear about but see the irony here is that Donald Trump came through 28:02 this campaign and was elected and people who are supporting him and this is a majority of the voting population of the United States who voted uh they think he stood for big stuff not for small stuff that he's a he's a big leader not a small at the market he zero specifics except tariffs no he had specifics in terms of going after immigrants well I know he had specific in ter terms of replacing the Civil Service he had specific in terms of after his enemies I know it's but it's that it's a different level yeah Trump the individual used the simplest you know biggest messages and behind him is the very specific evil policy WS of project 2025 you know going straight down the list of every agency they want to cut and every government employee they want to harass but the point is the Trump campaign as a strong man and the unstated premise and sometimes stated premise was I will do it I am tough I'm a thug I will break through everything else and I will do it 29:03 and I'll do it on your beh that's what his message was it was very simple also I feel like if you do polling from people after this whole thing and you say what do people have probably done this but what does Trump what did Trump stand for what did comma stand for I mean this is overly reductionist but in three words it would be interesting to see if there was more variation I would think on the comma side I mean to your point about we want to know we want to feel it exactly we want to feel that you are pushing things that you have our backs and it felt like it almost was peace meal without a unifying thread somehow well and In fairness she only had three months I know and she was fabulous thought she was on the debate stage she was the best that you know I've ever seen but I think you're pointing out something that is really important Heather and that is that uh kamla Harris uh never said the word any equality mhm I mean she never talked about corruption she never talked about the influence of big money in politics 30:04 she never talked about the themes that really are underlying the dysfunction of our entire system uh the themes that uh get people to you know not celebrate the death of of a of a CEO of a healthcare but at least you know not at ridicule a healthcare system and uh United Health and and and and bring out the anger that people have right Trump responded to that anger she did not well I have a question to POs to the both of you then because I think this is a question I hear a lot among my peers regardless of whether or not Ben wickler gets 448 you know DNC delegates who are nameless individuals party Elites that to the best of my knowledge I don't really know by the way the 448 just so we4 thank you that's the number of people who are voting February 1 I that's that's a 31:00 fairly tiny number of people okay I'm sorry forgive my cynicism in bringing up that number I think it was as someone who's not involved deeply in Democratic part party leadership race knowledge it was kind of surprising to me I mean all of this talk you were just saying a minute ago about how there are no you know Mass membership clubs and no direct involvement with the members I think that getting back to my point this is why so many people feel disconnected right even for us to say Ben wickler would be a phenomenal candidate to run the DNC and he would be I don't know what the mechanism is directly for me to influence that M and contrast this with the Maga you know the hats and the buttons and the membership I mean this is a membership organization people love to talk about it is I'm a Maga what do they say with de Democrats nobody says I'm a Democrat nobody say exactly but that brings me to the question then is is the Democratic party still the way forward I'm not saying I have a strong opinion on that 32:02 necessarily at this point but I think that it's a question I hear a lot of my friends ask me you know they feel let down or they feel disappointed or they're not sure that the Democrats are going to stand up to Trump in this next Administration even in the way that they did in the first one suppose AOC uh tomorrow was going to say okay I'm going to start a new party of young people who are progressives a young Progressive Party and here she lists you know uh access to housing and access to to college cheaper access to college and healthare stbt out student debt so what what then would your friends be excited I think they would be excited to hear somebody who is expressing interest in their what they're interested in and what they want right and I think that having members on the periphery of the Democratic Leadership historically saying those sorts of things has never felt fully satisfying and it feels like there's always half measures or attempts to introduce it and say well no well we 33:02 can't go too far you we can't let's not get crazy we're not going to advocate for it listen Bernie Sanders in 2016 now you were not yet born but in 2016 Bernie Sanders did run for president and he had a very elaborate and cogent and coherent and Powerful platform and the Democratic National Committee cut him off at the knees Y and what about the people who say that's too we the stakes are so high that's too radical that's too we have to be careful let's just make smaller steps let's do a little of those things that you mention Michael because they are important but let's stay where we are let's not ruffle too many feathers well the problem is you sound like you by not ruffling feathers and by being so careful you are protecting the status quo you are the establishment and we this the most powerful movement in American politics today is anti-establishment anger at system that seems rigged against average working people I mean that's it I know so we've got to get people got to get to their 34:04 Saturdays as do we but can we just talk for one minute about what happened in South Korea this week because I thought it was so interesting and Michael you love a foreign policy story that's true I'm part of the 2% of Voters who care about foreign policy generally it Bears on what we're talking about right now oh it does it does uh well I mean the question that I was posing in our pre-show talk was just um you know this is an ongoing situation right but what happened earlier this week was a president the president of South Korea declared martial law had all of these long Leve excuses about opposition forces doing this and that and the opposition party which holds the majority in the National Assembly said no we are not going to let you do that exercised their constitutional right to overturn martial law and the president back down and where we were left was a situation where you had National Assembly members in South Korea who had seen previous authoritarian governments to be clear so they're experienced and understand what happens barricading the doors to the National Assembly to prevent you know police and soldiers from entering and going loudly on social media and saying it is not that you 35:05 can't do this we will not let you do this well this is yeah okay this raises the question if the same thing happened in the United States under Donald Trump Donald Trump just like the South Korea head of the president of South Korea Donald Trump says I I everything's out of hand I'm declaring martial law would Republicans remember we have we're going to have a republican house and Republican Senate would they do in your view what the South Korean Parliament did I think the fact that we have to ask that question is terrifying and I don't honestly know I hope that they do I hope I hope ditto but I think it means that there is still something to popular and mass resistance you know peaceful obviously that was exactly what happened in South Korea I mean you had the leg lative staffers of the National Assembly members going in there immediately to 36:01 protect democracy and to ensure there was a quum and all these things I mean it's on the surface all of these are quite frankly very boring words to say to people out on the streets like ah yes there was a quorum and they ensured they did but like seeing it and if you go on social media and you look at these videos they were very they were ready they knew what could happen it was so fast too wasn't the whole thing was five hours right five hours of Martial law but you pointed out just a moment ago that this is is a country that has experienced uh the equivalent of dictatorship uh so it's a fresh reality democracy is something that they are excited about they want to preserve we take it for granted I mean it couldn't even be it wasn't even an animating issue in the last election most people were talking about well K Harris didn't talk enough about bread and butter issues she didn't appeal to me in terms of my needs for housing and blah blah blah blah uh democracy democracy I mean I think one really pointing example that I was reading about is that there was a newspaper in one of the larger cities in South Korea 37:05 that immediately was ready to print out a copy of their newspaper that was like an emergency alert version to throw out into the streets and they barricaded their Newsroom because in 1980 that was when you know the soldiers had immediately come to take control of the press and because of that that experience you know it was just it was gut instinct and well anyways well I I I I don't want to interrupt you but I I think that you know in a future coffee clotch we ought to be talking about what Donald Trump and his minions uh including his military uh are likely to do and what is the response of responsible citizens in the United States I think that's an important topic can we have a couple topics on that coffee clutch yes we we should mix it up no wa but it's this is this is coming so soon I know um okay so I feel like we should wrap things up we should wrap things up but we had a we had a 38:01 earthquake out here we are by the way we are all fine um and you probably heard about the earthquake it was a 7.3 it was north of where we are now sitting it was two days ago and we all got the tsunami warning I thought it was very effective oh it was incredibly effective my multiple multiple alerts all of us at work my kid at school said everyone immediately got it and it was scary for a while people were evacuated out of for us here it was West Berkeley that was closest and some colleagues had to rush home but then the tsunami warning was canceled retracted and I didn't feel the earthquake because I was driving at the M time did you feel it no no but we were all texting and making sure that we were all right well members of of my family who are north of here did feel it and uh it was pretty scary 7.3 anyway we're fine I think that if anything it makes me grateful for government funded uh meteorological and geological services 39:00 that provide these early warning systems for yeah there have warning we don't need anyway I'm glad we're all here glad we all survived oh yes and uh I'm glad for all of you thank you for joining us again we will see you next Saturday I also want to thank before we go I want to thank Jordan alport who has been our technical uh allpurpose Guru he you don't see him but he's sitting right over there and um you are just great Jordan thank you Jordan thank you Jordan thank you see you next week [Music]

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