This week we’re joined by a special guest, Pablo Manriquez of Migrant Insider on the eve of the 4th of July celebrations as Washington reckons with two major developments:
A Supreme Court ruling that threatens basic rights by facilitating uneven application of the law;
and Congress moving forward on a big ugly bill that essentially steals from the poor to give to the rich, while adding $3 trillion to the national debt.
Pablo kicks us off with a fascinating take, pointing to public involvement in the ICE raids as an example of the attention that is needed if we’re going to get through the next three-plus years. As Pablo puts it, “does this get normalized?” and does the public stop paying attention?
“The bigger concern is the very visceral feel of ICE raids…this is a moment where it’s going beyond anything I’ve ever seen…in terms of the amount of focus, the amount of coverage, the amount of resources that newsrooms from the Washington Post, to like startups like 404 media, Wired probably has 3 or 4 people working on immigration stories right now…it’s been really, really good, they’ve done a good job fact checking the government….but this swirling viral video content about really violent, disturbing apprehensions and getting increasingly so, and starting to involve U.S. citizens, and taking mothers from in front of their children and leaving their children on the sidewalk…the…bill they passed now has funding for 8,000 more Enforcement and Removal Operations agents…plus like really lax hiring standards in addition to really high bonus structures for somebody with no law enforcement experience…the reaction that the public has is — whether we get through the next three years and seven months or not — does this get normalized to the point where people stop filming? Right now the best two weapons undocumented people have are the clergy and the Karens….I think a quarter of the cabinet secretaries are Roman Catholic…they call them off when they see a roman collar, but the Karens are going hard…they show up and demand to see a…manager… and there is no manager, there is no name, there is no identification.”
Listen to the whole episode or check out the video, as always embedded in our podcast posts:
You’ll also hear Pablo raise a question on claims that attacks against ICE agents are up, maybe as much as 400 to 700 percent. On this show we have repeatedly denounced violence, and while protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, we have denounced instances of attacks on federal agents. However, the claim of an increase of attacks on agents is losing credibility in light of videos that have gone viral that show instances where there does not appear to have been any violence except for on the part of masked agents. A recent video showed a father of 3 U.S. Marines being tackled to the ground and punched repeatedly on the head after already being down, and the official story that he was wielding a weed whacker in a threatening way does not appear to be supported by the videos. The incident highlights the significant strain the Trump Administration is putting on ICE, creating situations that will make it very hard in the long term to rebuild trust between federal agents and communities of all backgrounds. We also cover the waste, fraud, and abuse that delivered Alligator Alcatraz this week in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis has been known to waste millions on publicity stunts, including a $1 million contract for a cruise ship to respond to migrant arrivals in Florida that it turns out never had anywhere to dock. We’re old enough to remember Republicans in Congress complaining about the possibility that emergency response dollars were being diverted for immigration purposes. Notably, though, prior governments have carried out enforcement and removal operations, but there was no need to be cruel, or to dehumanize people or rob them of their dignity in the process.
Ultimately, though, the American people will care the most when they feel the economic impact, and that leads us into a broader discussion of the Big Ugly Bill. Carl points out that in the Senate proceedings, Republicans did not show up for a reading of the bill, and that in today’s Washington, diversity of thought is no longer valued. That’s something that stands in stark contrast to our nation’s founding documents. Today, partisan politics have resulted in the majority in Congress simply doing what the President tells them to do. No checks and balances.
On this Independence Day, Carl reminds us that “more than ever, we have to remember that freedom isn't a gift, it's a responsibility.” Keeping hard fought rights was never going to be easy, and while we’re dealing with a unique set of challenges, we remain optimistic in the American experiment — that the American people will still steer us back to the values that have made this country exceptional. This 4th of July, beyond the fireworks, the celebration should serve as a call to action to stay civically engaged, to listen carefully, exercise critical thinking, and to not let the toxicity of the daily barrage of chaotic events deter us from tuning in and advancing the cause enshrined in that declaration of independence: a commitment to the ideal that we are all created equal.
Check out the episode. You’ll hear an exchange on the peak of human civilization in the 90s that will make you wonder if we’re living in a simulation! We also review the new Hulu documentary: Barbara Walters, Tell Me Everything, and the impact she had throughout an amazing career. Barbara had the foresight, even in 1990, to ask Donald Trump why his failures should be admired. A good question for today.
Happy 4th, and we’ll see you next week!
-Luis, Carl, Jeremy
P.S. - you can see the trailer for the Barbara Walters documentary on Hulu by clicking below:
OFFICIAL TRAILER | “Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything” | Streaming on Hulu
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