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April 21, 2022 - The Ben Shapiro Show

54:01

F**k Around And Find Out | Ep. 1479

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	The left rushes to Disney's defense as Florida targets the massive corporation's tax breaks.
	The CDC seeks to reinstate federal travel mask mandates with a legal appeal.
	And the Biden administration tries to split the baby, as always, on drilling.
	I'm Ben Shapiro.
	This is the Ben Shapiro Show.
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	Well, Florida is a state that is well-known for its association with Disney.
	In the 1960s, Florida gave a special dispensation to Disney to build its theme parks.
	And one of the reasons why I did this is the idea was that Disney needed that sort of dispensation, a sort of Vatican-like Carve out so that they could create their city of the future.
	That never materialized.
	Instead, it turned into Epcot Center.
	But Disney has maintained its Reedy Creek Special Tax District for about 50 years in this country.
	Well, now that seems like it may be on the verge of going away.
	And the reason that it's on the verge of going away is because F around and find out.
	This is the theme of what is going on with Disney right now.
	According to the Wall Street Journal, the Republican-led Florida Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would eliminate a special tax district that allows Walt Disney to govern the land where its theme parks sit, as lawmakers target the company for opposing legislation restricting classroom instruction on gender and sexuality.
	The GOP-led House will likely vote to approve the measure on Thursday.
	Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who called for lawmakers to consider such a bill in special session he convened this week, has made clear he would sign it.
	Losing the nearly 40-square-mile district near Orlando could be a major blow to Disney's Florida operations.
	The special district created in 1967 known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District exempts Disney from a host of regulations and certain taxes and fees. It has allowed the entertainment company to manage its theme parks and resorts in the state with little red tape for more than 50 years. It saves Disney tens of millions of dollars a year according to a person familiar with the company's finances who studied the issue over a decade ago.
	On Wednesday, Disney declined to comment on the bill, which is pretty significant given that Disney couldn't shut up about the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act.
	So now they've decided that it's time to shut up.
	And the reason they've decided to shut up is because they're realizing now that there are consequences to getting involved in political issues that do not involve you.
	We expect corporations all over the spectrum to get involved in economic-based issues.
	We understand that corporations are going to get involved in questions with regard to regulations of their industry, but there's sort of been a general understanding that corporations are not to get involved in things like educational issues.
	Corporations are really not supposed to be involved in social issues.
	Corporations are really not supposed to have a lot to say about a lot of these specific issues that are outside the purview of the corporation.
	Now, people associated with the corporation can do whatever they want.
	So, for example, Chick-fil-A never gave a corporate donation on behalf of traditional marriage.
	That did not stop the cities of Boston and Chicago from attempting to ban Chick-fil-A when they found out that founder Nan Cathey was supportive of traditional marriage.
	The left has never made this distinction, by the way.
	The left doesn't care.
	If you're an executive of a company and you, as an executive of that company, give money to something, the left is not like they will just punish the corporation.
	The right has always basically said, we're not going to punish corporations as long as those corporations don't involve themselves in issues that are outside of their purview.
	But here is the deal.
	So I am the most free market person on the right.
	I'm an extraordinarily pro-free market person.
	I don't believe that generally the government should crack down on the operations of businesses.
	I think more freedom for businesses are good.
	I think that lower taxes for business are good for the economy of Florida, for the economy of the United States more broadly.
	However, however, corporations have to stand up for their own free market bona fides.
	And they have to not become tools of the people who wish to destroy freedom in this country on behalf of leftist groupthink.
	If you decide to just become a woke corporation that does the bidding of your democratic taskmasters, don't be surprised when you get clocked with a legislative 2x4.
	F around and find out.
	Everyone, and that's what Disney did.
	Disney decided that it was going to inject itself into social politics in the state of Florida.
	It decided that it was going to try to use its massive corporate power in the state of Florida.
	It employs tens of thousands of people here.
	It was going to try to use that power in order to cudgel the state government of Florida to do the bidding of executives in New York and Burbank, California.
	And instead, what it is finding out right now is that the people of Florida are not up for it.
	And that's particularly true if you're getting special tax benefits, if you're getting a carve-out, if you're the recipient of the largesse of the state of Florida.
	There are a few other corporations in the state of Florida who, by the way, are covered by this law that includes, for example, the villages, any place that sort of has its own special district that has been carved out for it.
	They get a special carve-out.
	It's not a carve-out specific to Disney, although it was in fact designed for Disney.
	But don't expect to receive the largesse of the state of Florida if you're going to go directly up against the voters of the state of Florida on behalf of a non-Florida-based contingent of people who disagree with the policies pursued by the state of Florida.
	If you do that, you should not be surprised if the state says, you know what?
	Take a hike.
	And again, the left has no ground to stand on here.
	I'm amazed, truly amazed, to watch as the left suddenly swivels behind Disney.
	All these people who say that corporations are bad.
	They don't pay any taxes.
	They don't do what they're supposed to do.
	Why do corporations even... Why do we even need a choice between Hulu and Disney?
	I'm amazed that all the people in California, who've spent years, by the way, trying to target Disney.
	I mean, Gavin Newsom shut down the workings of Disneyland for two years because of COVID.
	The state of California has attempted to decide the constituency of every publicly traded company in California, saying, you need a gay person, you need a black person.
	We're going to decide exactly how your business runs, which is why businesses have been fleeing to more business-friendly states like Texas and more business-friendly states like Florida.
	So Democrats have no leg to stand on when it comes to, you can't get involved politically with corporate, you're going to use your leverage to go up against corporate.
	Listen, as I say, generally speaking, I'm very much in favor of people not using political leverage and legislation to go after corporations and businesses.
	When corporations and businesses step outside their purview, the predictable result is that you are going to have an anvil dropped on your head by the legislature of the state of Florida.
	And that's precisely what is happening right now.
	Well, these major corporations, they're screwing around and finding out.
	But how about you?
	In your personal life, what you don't want is to screw around and find out.
	Like you're just dancing in the middle of traffic or something.
	God forbid you don't make it all the way across.
	It's the end of Frogger.
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	According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney initially didn't comment on the legislation, but came under pressure from employees to oppose it.
	This is the parental rights and education bill.
	After it passed, the company pledged to push for its repeal and to fight similar bills in other states.
	And so Florida is saying to them, listen, if you guys decide that you are now in the politicking business, welcome to politics, baby.
	You want to play the game?
	You buy the ticket, you take the ride.
	Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
	Under the bill passed by the Senate 2316 on Wednesday, any special district established prior to the ratification of the Florida Constitution in 1968, not renewed since then, would be dissolved on June 1, 2023.
	Disney could seek to re-establish a special district after its dissolution.
	Reedy Creek has a permanent population of about 50, as well as its own Board of Supervisors and Fire Department.
	It allows Disney to construct new buildings and expand its parks without having to adhere to state or county regulations related to construction, wastewater management, and drainage.
	It encompasses four theme parks to water parks, a sports complex, and hotels, stores, and restaurants.
	David Ramba is the executive director of the Florida Association of Special Districts.
	He says, you'll notice you never see potholes when you drive up to Walt Disney World.
	That's because Disney doesn't have to wait for the county to come fix them.
	Reedy Creek is probably the most efficient local government in Florida because it's not a typical bureaucracy.
	It's run like a business.
	Right, but it also means they also don't have to pay for all of the red tape.
	Disney currently pays property and other taxes to both counties that surround it.
	That'd be Osceola County and Orange County.
	In addition, the company, as the primary landowner at Reedy Creek, provided most of the $153 million in revenue from taxes and fees the district collected in fiscal 2021.
	That money covers all of the district's governing expenses, including paying about 400 employee salaries and servicing about a billion bucks in long-term bond debt Reedy Creek has issued over the years.
	If the district is dissolved, that debt would supposedly become the responsibility of taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties, although it is unclear exactly how the Reedy Creek district would be dissolved.
	And the sort of going wisdom is that this legislation will not stand up in court because it will be seen as a punishment for speech, or that it won't stand up in court because it's just too complicated, or that they won't be able to iron out all the details.
	Okay, but the bottom line is this.
	This is a shot across the bow of woke capital.
	That is what it's designed to be.
	And again, I cannot get past, I cannot get past the irony of watching folks on the left demonstrate full scale their fealty to woke capitalism.
	They're very into, it's not woke capitalism by the way, it's economic fascism.
	When corporations work hand-in-glove with political taskmasters in order to achieve the goals of the political taskmasters in exchange for largesse, that is not capitalism.
	Capitalism is free markets uninvolved with the question of which politicians you bribe or which politicians tell you to do what.
	The notion that capitalism, which again is supposed to be about free markets and open competition, is about which politicians you get in your corner, It was never about this, but if you're going to engage in that game, you can't be surprised again when it comes back around for you, when it boomerangs on you.
	MSNBC's Simone Sanders commented on this yesterday, and I can't get past this clip.
	The reason I can't get past this clip is because Simone Sanders was the press secretary for Bernie Sanders.
	Bernie Sanders is the same guy who believes that corporations are inherently evil.
	And then she went on to be the press secretary for Kamala Harris, who talks about how corporations don't pay their fair share.
	But weird, weird now that she's a big defender of Disney.
	Almost as though the left is very much in favor of corporate oligarchy, so long as those corporate oligarchs do precisely what they want.
	And this is my point.
	Once those corporate oligarchs just decide to become tools in the left's arsenal, screw them.
	I'm like Rorschach now.
	You're calling on me for my defense as a free market capitalist?
	My answer is no.
	You guys have become a weapon on behalf of people who despise capitalism, who despise freedom, who despise local governance, who apparently want to inject nationalized leftism into the education of small children.
	Ain't nothing bad enough for you at that point.
	But here is Simone Sanders, enemy of capitalism, enemy of big corporations, defending Disney.
	It's amazing to watch these folks, it really is.
	I know fashion corporations is popular left and right these days.
	I'd be careful going.
	Oh, my money is on the Disney lobbyists, honey.
	Would you bet against Disney?
	My money is on the Disney lobbyists.
	Do you think those state legislators down in Florida are going to bend to the will of the governor?
	Did you see what Jared Polis said?
	He'd love a Rocky Mountain Disney.
	Except that that's never happening.
	Because you know how much money has been sunk into Disney World down here?
	A lot.
	A lot of money.
	By the way, that clip ends with... I love that Simone Sanders is like, I'm betting on Disney.
	I'm betting on their lobbyists.
	At the end of the clip, Chuck Todd has to announce to her that, by the way, it just passed the Florida State Senate.
	So yeah, well done.
	She knows corporate America about as well as she knows economics, generally speaking.
	By the way, the Walt Disney Company took a serious...
	Punched to the chin yesterday.
	There's a combination of the fact that Netflix stock dropped about 30% on the basis that Netflix had dropped 200,000 subscribers.
	A lot of the streaming companies took it on the chin yesterday.
	But over the past year, Walt Disney has been taking it on the chin pretty dramatically.
	And they seem to be wanting more of it, oddly enough.
	So Walt Disney took about a 5% hit on Wednesday.
	It recovered slightly on Thursday.
	But according to Breitbart, this is correct.
	The Walt Disney Company is the worst performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the past year, plummeting 31% in the last 12 months.
	Of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow, Disney has seen its stock drop the most on a percentage basis, followed by 3M down 25% and Home Depot down 23%.
	Disney shares were down more than 5% Wednesday as investors remained skittish on streaming entertainment companies following Netflix's disastrous first quarter results.
	Disney Plus subscription results recently disappointed Wall Street when the company reported quarterly results in November, causing the stock to tumble.
	And by the way, part of the reason that you are seeing the stock tumble is because if you decide to embrace wild leftism in children's programming, a bunch of parents like me will cancel our Disney Plus subscription.
	And Disney apparently has intent to double down on all of this.
	They continue to F around, and they're gonna continue to find out.
	If you double down on all this, if you decide that Lightyear, which is a film directed at children who enjoy the toy story movies, is now going to be a story in which a main character is a lesbian, don't be surprised when I do not decide to show that to my six-year-old son.
	Don't be surprised.
	Because guess what?
	I don't think it's appropriate for him to be viewing that sort of stuff at his age.
	When he's an adult, he can pick what kind of entertainment he wants to watch.
	When he's a child, I get to pick what sort of values I wish him to imbibe.
	Don't be surprised when parents start to have questions about your entertainment and the choices they provide to their kids.
	And the left is on the march on all this sort of stuff.
	I mean, down to the dumbest rumors.
	There was a rumor going around yesterday, I kid you not, that Thor, who's played by Chris Hemsworth, was going to come out as gay in the new movie.
	I'm not kidding you.
	According to the New York Post, Remember, Marvel is owned by Disney.
	A new trailer for Thor Love and Thunder dropped Monday, and some fans are now convinced the hammer-wielding Marvel hero will be gay as hell in the film.
	In the new footage, which teases Chris Hemsworth's title character going into retirement, Thor is seen giving Star-Lord a lingering look, which many eagle-eyed tweeters took to be a tease of the God of Thunder's sexuality, which would be weird since Thor has had an ongoing thing with Natalie Portman in the past several movies.
	The clip also shows Thor surrounded by the Guardians of the Galaxy.
	Remember what I told you?
	If you ever feel lost, 42-year-old Pratt's character says to the 38-year-old Hemsworth's character, just look into the eyes of the people that love you.
	Thor comedically moves his head to lovingly gaze right into Star-Lord's eyes.
	Not me, Star-Lord says.
	In response, Thor awkwardly looks away while saying, what?
	Just listening.
	The moment led people to celebrate on Twitter what one fan called Thor's gay awakening.
	Yeah, go for it, Disney.
	Do it.
	Do it.
	Bow so much to the LGBT crowd that you actually... My guess is it's just a throwaway joke because that's what the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are.
	They're just throwaway jokes.
	But really, see how this goes for you.
	See how this goes for you.
	I'm amazed at how the entertainment bosses in Hollywood truly think that they can get away with pretty much anything.
	So, for example, Fantastic Beasts, The Secrets of Dumbledore, has wildly underperformed at the box office.
	Like, it's been doing terrible business at the box office.
	And everybody's like, why?
	Why would it do such bad box office?
	Well, maybe it's because this is a series for children and preteens.
	It's for like 11-year-olds.
	And the entire Dumbledore is gay storyline was retconned in by J.K.
	Rowling after people complained there weren't enough gay characters in Harry Potter.
	And now they made that like a central part, apparently, of this film.
	Maybe a lot of parents were like, we can skip this one.
	Maybe that's a thing.
	Again, keep effing around and keep finding out.
	So, the way that the left is responding to this is not by recognizing that perhaps they should stop crossing their audience.
	Perhaps they should stop injecting themselves in social politics where nobody wants them.
	Perhaps they should stop this.
	Instead, they've decided that they are going to fight back by basically saying that anybody who does not want small children indoctrinated into their social politics is basically the equivalent of Russian soldiers raping people.
	Here's Nicole Wallace, that genius.
	Yesterday she said the GOP attitude on LGBTQ is exactly the same thing as what causes Russians to rape other human beings.
	So in other words, the view of most people in the United States, including Republican voters, which is, live your own lives, leave me alone.
	That view is the equivalent of causing people to rape other people.
	Good luck with this argument.
	Dehumanization is a tactic that's being used right now.
	The Russians get their soldiers to rape children by dehumanizing them.
	Dehumanization, as a practice, is a tactic of war.
	And Chastain Buttigieg made this point when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was introduced.
	Kids will die.
	Kids will die.
	That's the point.
	Kids will die.
	First of all, that lie that unless you give small children puberty blockers and start chopping off their genitals at age 14, 13 years old, they're going to die.
	It's an absurdity on its face.
	But beyond it being completely absurd, if this is the argument that the left is going to use, honestly, embrace it, man.
	Embrace the argument.
	Go for it.
	See how the American public takes this.
	Now, the left is very high in its own supply because they've found a few heroes in this particular fight to indoctrinate small kids in their left-wing social values and gender identity garbage.
	There's a Michigan Democrat.
	Her name is Mallory McMorrow, and she did a rant on the floor of the state legislature in which she started saying that anybody who was upset with this sort of education is actually a bigot.
	And the left is, like, thrilled by this sort of stuff.
	Let me just tell you, in your echo chamber it works, and outside your echo chamber it ain't gonna do bleep.
	Because it turns out that parents wish to keep their kids innocent, and they're not interested in anybody, including Mallory McMurrow, deciding that their kids need to learn about gender identity, and why their kids ought to be a member of the opposite sex, and that all forms of sexual behavior are morally equivalent.
	Most parents are not into that.
	But this is the sort of logic Democrats are using.
	So, because they've been back-footed, because they stepped into the bear trap, and now the bear trap is clamped around their leg, they're now going to suggest that if they scream really, really loudly, that everybody will Give them what they want.
	That's not the way this works.
	But here is hero of the moment, Mallory McMorrow.
	I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white, and Christian.
	We cannot let hateful people tell you otherwise, to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they are not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people's lives.
	And I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen.
	Okay, so, this is another one of those Democrats love something, and then it turns out the rest of the nation's like, heh heh.
	Example number one, like 1A, I give you Wendy Davis.
	Remember, Wendy Davis did this 26-hour filibuster about abortion in Texas, and she was the hero of the moment, and they're like, Wendy Davis dolls, and she's wearing pink, and so pink shoes started selling, and then she ran for governor and she lost to Greg Abbott by all the points.
	Like, there were no more points for her to lose to Greg Abbott by.
	It's the same thing here.
	So you got the Washington Post writing full pieces.
	A young Democrat's viral takedown demands a wokeness rethink.
	Does it?
	By the way, embrace it.
	F around and find out, man.
	His basic take is the problem is not wokeness.
	The problem is that people aren't speaking in the language of Mallory Monroe.
	According to Greg Sargent, who, if anybody has their ear to the ground in terms of American politics, it is definitely this Washington Post columnist who believes wokeness is not the problem.
	He says, McMorrow's description of herself as white, Christian, suburban mom, one who wants her children to respect and empathize with non-Christian, non-white, gay and trans kids and families, gets at all of this.
	It turns the identity politics debate on its head.
	It says, in effect, anti-woke warriors will not be permitted to sanctimoniously monopolize the moral and religious high ground for their identity group while simultaneously pretending to be above identity mongering and advancing a cruel and exclusionary agenda.
	Fine, go up directly against the American parent.
	Do it.
	Seriously.
	Suggest.
	This is the sort of stuff that beltway elites eat up, but that the American people have no interest in it.
	It's the same thing as the beltway elites loved it when Pete Buttigieg was telling people it was that you were a bad Christian if you opposed gay marriage.
	He knows because he read the parts of the Bible that weren't about gay marriage.
	Oh my god, Pete Buttigieg is speaking to Christians in a way no one ever has.
	No, no one cares.
	No person who goes to church on a regular basis takes Pete Buttigieg's biblical analysis at face value.
	Like, they're so disconnected from the rest of America.
	And if corporations start mirroring this stuff, they're going to get exactly what they got in the state of Florida.
	Or, you guys could just back off.
	You could just go back to what you used to do.
	You know, businesses that appeal to All people, gay, straight, everyone, without mirroring the political priorities of the left in order to win woke points from a media that is just begging for you to mirror.
	Remember, this Disney fight did not start with the right.
	This Disney fight started with members of the media yelling at Disney, because Disney is a major employer in the state of Florida, and saying, if you don't oppose this bill, then we are going to spend every waking moment targeting you and harassing you.
	And then, it was about the cowards at Disney deciding to cave to that.
	Well, here's the deal.
	You decide to cave to that, there are consequences and they are coming.
	This is no longer a game where only one side is going to play.
	If you decide to cave to the wokest people on the left, prepare yourselves for the incoming uppercut that is going to be directed your way by Republican state legislatures and members of the media like me, because you deserve every bit of it.
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	Okay, meanwhile, speaking of the wild disconnect between the left and the rest of America, most Americans are not super happy about masking up on planes.
	Now, there are polls and they will say that a lot of people are in favor of mask mandates.
	Oh yes, we love mask mandates.
	Okay, this is called social desirability bias.
	It happens in polls all the time, where people answer questions the way they think the pollsters want the questions answered.
	And so what you would see routinely in the polling data throughout COVID was a huge number of Americans would say that they wear masks all the time, and then actual on-the-ground studies would show that Americans wear masks way less than they do.
	It's like when you ask your high school student how much they're studying every night.
	They're like, oh, four hours a night.
	What they actually mean is that they're on TikTok three and a half hours a night, and they're studying for half an hour a night.
	Social desirability bias.
	And so if you ask people, do you like mask mandates?
	People know that the media are treating those who love masks as the greatest humans among us.
	And so they answer the question, oh yes, I love mask mandates.
	We love mask mandates.
	People pulled on this issue will tell you more often that they are pro-mask than they actually are.
	That's number one.
	Number two, I think all polls should come with a caveat.
	How much do you care about this issue?
	I really think that that should be one of the caveats in nearly every poll.
	The reason being, we take every poll as equivalent in the United States.
	It's just a piece of poll analysis.
	We take every poll as equivalent.
	So you'll get a question like, Parental Rights and Education Bill.
	How do you feel about it?
	And it'll be like, well, you know, nationally, it's split like 60-40.
	And then you'll read into the bill, and what you will see is that the vast majority of people who are against the Parental Rights and Education Act in Florida are non-parents.
	And so if you would ask people in this group, who among you is really passionate about this issue?
	Like the passionate core group of people who are gonna go vote based on the issue, the answer is parents.
	So what do I care whether some uninvolved single person living in LA thinks about the Florida Rights and Education Act?
	What do I care what they think?
	They're not gonna vote based on that.
	They're not motivated by that.
	None of that makes any difference.
	Same thing with masks.
	So you'll ask people, how do you feel about masks?
	And people are like, well, generally okay.
	But the people who are the most passionate about masks break down into two groups.
	People who want to wear a plastic bag over their head and duct tape their neck to make sure they never die of COVID.
	And people who are like, I don't want to wear a mask anymore because it's annoying to my child.
	There's like two passionate groups of people.
	And then there are a bunch of people in the middle who are like, eh, I'm not wearing a mask anyway.
	What do I care?
	So all of these polls should be taken with a grain of salt.
	Bottom line is this.
	Most Americans are not up for forever masking.
	Most members of the media are 100% up for forever masking.
	So the CDC yesterday announced that they are now going to appeal this Florida judicial ruling striking down the CDC mask mandate.
	This is just the stupidest thing in politics.
	And Democrats, believe you me, are doing many stupid things in politics, ranging from turning parents into an interest group.
	There are 63.1 million adults in the United States with a child under 18 in the house.
	Turning that group of people into an interest group by saying, we want to tell your kids that they can be trans is totally insane.
	Not that they can be trans.
	We're going to indoctrinate them in the idea that they can actually be a member of the opposite sex.
	That's insane.
	Just as insane as saying to Americans, after we're already, everyone's done, guys.
	We're all back at the office.
	Many of us have been back at work for well over a year.
	I started doing my show in person again back in like June of 2021.
	And like, this is, it's just sheer nonsense.
	Now the CDC is saying, well, we do have to appeal.
	They put out a statement, quote, By the way, notice the caveat there.
	So the ruling from the federal judge did two things.
	It said, one, this CDC regulation about mask mandates was badly promulgated, so that's out.
	Two, the CDC did not have the inherent authority to promulgate the mask mandate.
	So theoretically, you could argue with Proposition No.
	2 and not with Proposition No.
	1.
	You could say, you're right, the mask mandate was bad, but we still have the power to do the mask mandate.
	The CDC seems to be making that argument.
	And the reason they're making that argument is because even the CDC does not want to be thrown under the bus.
	The Biden administration tried to throw Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC, under the bus.
	They said, we will appeal the decision via the DOJ if the CDC tells us that this regulation is vital.
	That's what they said.
	And Rochelle Walensky and the CDC are like, well, we're not going to say the regulation is super vital, but you should still appeal because we want to maintain our rulemaking authority.
	So here's what they say.
	To protect CDC's public health authority beyond the ongoing assessment announced last week, CDC has asked DOJ to proceed with an appeal in Health Freedom Defense Fund Inc.
	et al.
	versus Biden.
	It is CDC's continuing assessment that at this time, an order requiring masking in indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.
	So that undercuts the logic I said before.
	So now they actually say, no, no, our regulation is necessary.
	We need mask mandates.
	CDC will continue to monitor public health conditions to determine whether such an order remains necessary.
	CDC believes this is a lawful order well within CDC's legal authority to protect public health.
	CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings.
	CDC's number one priority is protecting the public health of our nation, which is why they have failed to do so to the tune of a million dead people.
	As we have said before, wearing masks is most beneficial in crowded or poorly ventilated locations, such as the transportation corridor.
	Question.
	Are planes poorly ventilated?
	Answer.
	No.
	Planes are some of the best ventilated places on planet Earth.
	They have HEPA filters and they are constantly cycling their air.
	There's been no evidence throughout the pandemic that planes are a main vector or even a minor vector of transmission.
	Because the HEPA filters used on planes are surgical grade.
	And then CDC says when people wear a well-fitting mask or respirator over their nose and mouth in indoor travel or public transportation systems, they protect themselves and those around them, including those who are immunocompromised or not yet vaccine eligible, and help keep travel and public transportation safe for everyone.
	Okay, there's only one problem.
	The CDC mask mandate does not require that the mask be well-fitting or a respirator.
	Remember?
	You can use cloth masks.
	You can use surgical masks that barely fit you.
	You can wear an N95 that doesn't fit you at all.
	So the CDC continues to promulgate this, and this is just, they are suicidal man, they are so stupid, and they are creating a mess.
	Because now, after this federal judge struck down the regulation, basically a bunch of places in left-wing jurisdictions have suggested that they are going to continue the mask mandate.
	So for example, Every major carrier in the United States is like, fine, you can take off the mask because they understand it's onerous and annoying.
	But there are several airports where you still have to mask up.
	So let's say that you are flying from Fort Lauderdale Airport in the area where I reside and where my business is.
	Let's say that you fly from Fort Lauderdale over to, say, John F. Kennedy in New York.
	Here's the way it's going to work.
	You're going to go to Fort Lauderdale.
	There's going to be a sign that's going to say, recommend you do wear a mask.
	You'll be like, nah.
	You're not going to wear a mask.
	Then you're going to get on United Airlines, and you're not going to wear a mask.
	Then, you're going to have to carry a mask so that when you get off the plane at Kennedy, you don't get arrested.
	Seriously.
	LaGuardia too.
	Philadelphia International Airport.
	And by the way, if you take, let's say, a bus into New York, so New York City still has a mask or vax mandate.
	So, let's say you take an Uber.
	If you take an Uber from New Jersey into New York, theoretically, the New York mask mandate still applies to the Uber driver in the city of New York.
	So you have to carry a mask with you, and the minute you cross that bridge, you have to put on the mask.
	Like, all of this is insane.
	You guys want to make people crazy?
	Great job.
	Really, really great job.
	Even Chuck Todd is looking at this, and he's like, guys, what happened to declaring COVID independence and just saying this is over?
	Why are we still doing this?
	When I keep thinking about, why isn't the president out there sort of explaining, look, here's the deal with masks.
	We know some of you, we know it's necessary.
	We know some of you don't like it.
	Look, we've given you all the tools to protect yourself from this virus.
	And he said that a few times.
	And on masks, look, I'm still going to wear one on public transportation.
	I hope if you decide not to wear one, you don't pick on people, whatever it is.
	But they don't even want to get in front of this.
	And I can't help but wonder, is it because of the snake fitness of what happened when they declared independence too quick?
	Um, so, that's correct.
	They did declare independence too quickly.
	But the big problem is, they didn't have to.
	Joe Biden could have said, last June, even with Delta, he could have said, listen, the vaccines are available, you're on your own.
	He could have said that.
	And all of his haranguing people and telling them that there'd be a winter of death and disconcern, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr And when Joe Biden says that sort of stuff, it didn't do anything.
	They could have declared independence, but they can't.
	So now they are locked down into this.
	You have Jen Psaki yesterday saying, yeah, sure, you're seeing videos of people celebrating in airports now that they no longer have to wear a mask and mask up their three-year-old.
	Really, honestly, this was, to me, the biggest issue.
	So I have a child who's now two.
	The masking, like, I was fine with masking up until I got the vaccine.
	Then I got the vaccine, and now, then I was pissed at masking.
	But I would still do it if forced to do it, because after all, I'm, You know, a conservative, I believe, in institutions and didn't want to violate the law.
	Where it really began to irk me is when you're talking about my tiny two-year-old baby wearing a mask.
	Okay, so those are the people who are pissed.
	Jen Psaki's like, it's just anecdotal, guys.
	Nobody's really mad about wearing a mask.
	We love our masks.
	Our masks are our best friends.
	Our masks keep us safe.
	They're like face condoms.
	They just make sure that nothing bad happens just in case.
	Here's Jen Psaki.
	I would note, I know this is often said and maybe some of it is because there was the video of people on planes, on the plane, on one plane taking off their masks.
	Public polling does not actually show that there is a universal view of people getting rid of masks.
	That's not actually what public polling shows.
	Now, it doesn't matter to us because we are making our decisions based on public health and data and what the CDC is recommending, but that is not the universal view of the public.
	Um, well, I mean, fine.
	Do it.
	Find out if this is the universal view of the public.
	The thing about this administration is that they are just, it's really amazing.
	They're always tacking in a leftward direction, but they're incapable of actually just deciding to do it publicly, and so they're sort of always back and forth.
	So the left is pissed with them for vacillating, and the right is saying, why are you guys so crazy?
	It's particularly true when it comes to drilling.
	Coming up, we'll get to the massive gas prices thanks to Joe Biden, but here's the thing.
	You don't have to pay those massive gas prices, at least in part.
	This is why you should go get that free GetUpside app I've been telling you about.
	I was telling you about that like months ago when gas was a lot cheaper.
	Now it's way more expensive, and so it's more important for you to save money on your gas.
	My listeners are earning cash back for every gallon of gas every time they fill up.
	Just download that free GetUpside app in the App Store or Google Play right now.
	Use promo code SHAPIRO for 25 cents per gallon or more on your first fill up.
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	Right now you're paying way too much for gas.
	It's not just because of Putin.
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	So go get started.
	Alrighty, we're gonna get some more in just one second.
	First, I've got good news, and I've got bad news.
	The bad news is, no book club tonight.
	It's the third Thursday book club, and I know it's the third Thursday in April, but tonight is, again, Passover.
	So, this month only, I will be hosting a fourth Thursday book club.
	Yeah, you see what we did there?
	The good news is, if you haven't signed up yet, you have an extra week to do so, and read the book we will be discussing, The Once and Future King by T.H.
	White.
	That book actually got mentioned, I believe, on this week's show, out of context.
	Join me on April 28th, 8 p.m.
	Eastern, where we will talk through my notes, I will answer all of your questions, and if you've already finished reading this month's book, you can get a head start on next month, because I'm excited to announce, next month, we are reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
	We only do the greats over here.
	So if you're not a part of my book club, head on over to thirdthursdaybookclub.com, sign up, join me next week for the once and future king, and next month, for Moby Dick by Herman Melville, check out the trailer.
	I want to tell you about my third Thursday Book Club.
	This is not your average book club.
	These are the greatest books in the history of Western literature.
	We're going to dive into the greatest works of all time.
	These are the books that helped form the key pillars of Western civilization and helped define America.
	And we're going to do it live with thousands of you, our Daily Wire members.
	I'm going to be your personal guide.
	I've read every one of these books.
	I'm going to draw out the important lessons and themes from every book.
	Plus, I'm going to be answering your questions along the way.
	So we actually do read the book together.
	You join the book club, you are going to get smarter.
	You're going to get more knowledgeable.
	Because this is an investment in your most valuable asset.
	Your mind.
	The Third Thursday Book Club.
	It's going to change the way you think.
	The book club is awesome.
	You are going to love it.
	I love doing it.
	It's one of my favorite things we do and it's maybe the most informative thing we do.
	If you got junior high students, high school students, we're reading books that matter and we're doing it in a detailed and sophisticated way.
	Plus you get to interact with me.
	We actually answer video questions from people who are members of the book club and written questions from you.
	So you get to interact with me on all of the greatest works of literature.
	So sign up right now at thirdthursdaybookclub.com to get my notes sent straight to your inbox for The Once and Future King by T.H.
	White right now, and for next month, Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
	You're listening to the largest, fastest growing conservative podcast and radio show in the nation.
	Meanwhile, the Biden administration is trying to figure out its energy policy.
	It turns out that outsourcing your energy policy to a 19-year-old Swedish Weird person is a really bad policy, and I can make fun of Greta Thunberg as much as I want.
	She's no longer a minor.
	I understand that's the rule in politics, so I didn't make fun of her.
	Studiously avoided mocking Greta Thunberg.
	She's very disappointed in you.
	Disappointed, how dare you?
	I didn't mock her until she was 18.
	Now I can mock her as much as I want, and you guys can't do anything about it.
	Because she's terrible, and you morons decided.
	What if we took this ignorant schoolchild, and we decide to make her the face of the environmental movement?
	Geniuses.
	Okay, well now it turns out that there are actual impacts to this, such as being reliant on Russian oil.
	So now Joe Biden has had to expand oil drilling on public land, but of course in the stupidest possible way, he's not expanding oil drilling dramatically enough that it will impact anything, and he's raising the fees.
	So he's pissed off the environmentalists, and he's pissed off the people who drill.
	Because Joe Biden is a fool.
	According to ABC News, in a move that could help temper high gasoline prices, President Joe Biden is bringing back leases for oil and gas drilling on federal land, but the reversal of a 2020 campaign promise has angered climate activists ahead of midterms that will determine Biden's ability to get his agenda through Congress.
	The administration was set to start selling leases for drilling on public lands, putting 144,000 acres of lands up for lease in nine states as soon as Monday, as Biden faces massive pressure to boost oil production in the United States amid soaring prices, partly from the war in Ukraine, what Biden calls Putin's price hike.
	I love that ABC News can't just like report the news.
	They could have ended that sentence After soaring prices?
	But then just add in Joe Biden's propaganda that it's all because of Vladimir Putin and Ukraine.
	Because this is what they do.
	They're just the PR wing for the Democratic Party.
	For far too long, the federal oil and gas leasing programs have prioritized the wants of extractive industries above local communities.
	The natural environment, the impact on air and water, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in release today, will begin to reset how and what we consider to be the highest and best use of America's resources for the benefit of all current and future generations.
	So, what exactly are they doing?
	So, the land offered for auction is 80% less than the 733,000 acres nominated.
	Also, the lease sales will be subject to tribal consultation and community input.
	Also, they're going to increase the fees pretty dramatically on oil and natural gas companies.
	They split the baby in the dumbest possible way.
	So they're not actually going to get massively ramped up production, and also they pissed off the environmentalists.
	So just slow clap for the morons over at the White House.
	They are really, really bad at this.
	According to another activist, Kyle Tisdell, a climate and energy program director with the Western Environmental Law Center, quote, we've heard a lot of rhetoric from President Biden and his administration about the need to take action on climate.
	But not only is the administration not doing everything it could, it is not really doing anything.
	Climate action was a pillar of President Biden's campaign.
	His promises on this existential issue were a major reason the public elected him.
	The White House argues it has no choice but to continue drilling on public lands after a federal judge in Louisiana struck down Biden's executive order in June 2021, temporarily suspending such drilling.
	So, yeah, the White House is kind of stuck in the middle.
	Meanwhile, Biden's climate advisor, Gina McCarthy, she says, you know, Joe Biden remains committed to no drilling on public lands.
	So on the one hand, we're supposed to be believing that he wants to lower gas prices through drilling.
	And on the other hand, his own climate advisor is like, yeah, don't worry, not a lot of drilling is going to take place.
	Genius stuff here.
	Let me answer your question very directly.
	President Biden remains absolutely committed to not moving forward with additional drilling on public lands.
	Mm-hmm.
	So it's going great.
	Part of this is because the Biden administration is absolutely delusional on energy policy.
	I mean, they're delusional on pretty much every policy, but energy policy particularly.
	So they've deployed John Kerry out to the world to discuss climate change.
	Because what you need when you discuss climate change is a ketchup heiress's husband trotting around the globe in a private jet talking about how we need to cut carbon emissions.
	He also needs to look like an Easter Island head.
	These are the requirements for the job.
	Easter Island head face looks like it's a San Fernando Valley mudslide during El Nino.
	That face is just collapsing internally.
	And you need that guy.
	That's the one.
	Because Joe Biden had to tap maybe the only person more off-putting than Joe Biden is.
	How old is John Kerry at this point?
	Isn't it kind of incredible, by the way, that the only people who run this country are at least 173 years old?
	John Kerry is heading our climate change outfit.
	That dude ain't gonna be around for climate change.
	He's 78.
	It is fairly incredible to me that the entire ruling class of this country is aged 78 and older.
	Like, all of them.
	At some point you might think that we might get some fresh blood in here.
	Anyway, John Kerry is going around the world and he has never said a correct thing on anything.
	And here he goes again.
	He cited Europe as a success on energy policy.
	Europe, which is currently having its energy prices doubled because it turns out that all of their environmental claptrap and all these subsidies that they threw toward green energy couldn't make up for the fact that they needed carbon-based energy and so they were just taking in Russian gas.
	So they're like, yes, we are doing environmentalism.
	And then secretly, in the back door, like, yeah, you know that guy down the street?
	The one with the trench coat?
	And then Vladimir Putin, he opens up his trench coat and there's a bunch of pipelines there.
	Like, yeah, man, that guy deals some great natural gas and oil.
	And then John Kerry's like, that's a great success!
	Here's John Kerry.
	No government in the world has enough money to be able to affect the transition we need to affect, to move us much more rapidly into sustainable energy postures within our nations.
	Europe is probably the lead on the planet in terms of the efforts it's making, and that's partly because of Russia, Ukraine.
	Europe has had no choice but to understand they've got to move off of Russian fossil fuel as fast as they possibly can.
	You know why they realized that is because they were on Russian fossil fuels.
	That would be the reason, John.
	Also, worth noting, it was Joe Biden who allowed Nord Stream 2 to open up under Vladimir Putin.
	This is always the way that it works for the environmentalists.
	It's just nimbyism.
	We will pretend that we don't like carbon-based energy.
	And then as long as they're developing it in much dirtier ways in Russia, then we're apparently totally fine with it.
	There's something else to point out here with regard to climate change and the Biden administration and the entire left.
	And that is, they claim that they're very pro-human rights, but they have higher priorities.
	So John Kerry is going around the world and he's complaining.
	Why is it?
	Why do we care about China imprisoning Millions of Chinese Uyghurs, if they're going to make an empty promise about climate change.
	Here's John Kerry whining that, you know, we just can't get a deal done with China because we keep complaining about human rights.
	It's a problem.
	We're hoping to do this, is work with China very directly in a cooperative fashion that can help to move faster on the transition away from coal and onto new technologies.
	It's harder now because Some of the differences of opinion between our countries have been hardened and sharpened, and that makes the diplomacy more complicated.
	But if climate becomes one of the tools, one of the weapons in the bilateral back and forth, we're cooked.
	We're in serious trouble.
	Well, you know that we can't let climate change, we can't get human rights get in the way of climate change.
	It is truly impressive that John Kerry and this administration are saying we need to overlook the human rights violations of China in order so we can get an empty deal on climate change.
	Meanwhile, The Biden administration performed a signal feat of foreign policy botchery.
	I think it's on purpose.
	I got to tell you, I think it's on purpose.
	There's a big article over the Wall Street Journal about the Biden administration and the Saudi government.
	Now, the Saudi government has long been a massive human rights violator.
	I mean, there's no secret about this.
	They chop off people's hands.
	They execute people publicly.
	It is a dictatorship.
	Free speech is not really the way that things go there.
	There are all sorts of laws that apply to women that are extraordinarily sexist.
	All of that's been true for literally ever.
	1400 years over there like not in that region of the world.
	But now the Biden administration is really really really mad.
	At the Saudis.
	Now the real reason they're really mad at the Saudis is because they want to sign a deal with the Iranians.
	In other words, they are very, very upset about Saudi human rights violations.
	So what we truly have to do is sign an agreement with the worst human rights violator in the region by far, Iran.
	That's what we need to do.
	And we need to blow up our relations with the Saudis in order to do this.
	So in the middle of a gas crunch where we require Saudi to actually pump more oil to help us out, we went to direct war diplomatically with Saudi Arabia.
	This is just stupid policy.
	It's just dumb.
	I would say that it's like usually what I always say is a tribute to stupidity rather than malevolence.
	This is malevolence.
	They want an Iran deal.
	The only way they get to an Iran deal is to alienate Saudi Arabia.
	And so they are actively doing it and then pretending it's really about Saudi Arabia's human rights violations.
	It is not.
	Joe Biden does not care about Saudi Arabia's human rights violations any more than Bill Clinton or George W. Bush or Barack Obama did.
	They don't care.
	If they cared, they wouldn't be making a deal with Iran, which is by far a worse human rights violator than Saudi Arabia, projecting its human rights violations into Lebanon, projecting them into Syria, projecting them into Yemen with the Houthis, projecting them into Hamasistan in the Gaza Strip.
	It's truly insane.
	It's not even incompetence.
	This is actual malevolence.
	According to the Wall Street Journal, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wearing shorts at his seaside palace, sought a relaxed tone for his first meeting with President Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, last September.
	The 36-year-old crown prince ended up shouting at Mr. Sullivan after he raised the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
	The prince told Sullivan he never wanted to discuss the matter again, said people familiar with the exchange, and the U.S.
	could forget about its request to boost oil production.
	The relationship between the U.S.
	and Saudi Arabia has hit its lowest point in decades, with Biden saying in 2019 the kingdom should be treated like a pariah over human rights issues, like Khashoggi's murder.
	Now, is it really bad that the Saudi kingdom murdered Jamal Khashoggi, who is a sort of Muslim Brotherhood advocate?
	And the attempt to turn him into sort of like an objective journalist is not true.
	That doesn't mean that he should have been chopped up at a Turkish embassy.
	That's evil.
	But the kind of propaganda attempt here is wrong.
	That said, are we surprised that Saudi is a human rights violator?
	Like, they've been doing this for a while.
	And the alternative is Iran.
	Foreign policy is a place where you're going to have to get your hands dirty somewhere here.
	I mean, this is what's amazing.
	They're willing to get their hands dirty with Iran.
	They're willing to get their hands dirty with China over empty climate change policies.
	But we have to bring up Jamal Khashoggi at every point, which is why I say this is purposeful.
	This is an attempt to destroy U.S.-Saudi relations because Joe Biden and Team Jake Sullivan are angry at the Saudis for trying to make peace with Israel.
	They want Iran to be a regional power, which is totally crazy.
	It's insane.
	The political fissures have deepened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
	Senior Saudi and U.S.
	officials said, again, this is totally crazy because guess who's standing behind Iran in the Iran deal?
	Russia.
	So in order, so other words, we're angry, damn you Saudis, you and your unwillingness to get involved against Russia on behalf of Ukraine.
	Can't believe it.
	Let's make a deal with Iran, who's directly involved with Russia.
	Russia's building their nuclear plant.
	It's just a lie.
	It's all a lie.
	They want Iran.
	They want an Iran deal.
	And they're willing to destroy any relationship we have to get there.
	Prince Mohammed wants foremost to be recognized as the de facto Saudi ruler and future king.
	The crown prince runs the country's day-to-day affairs for his ailing father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Biden hasn't met yet or spoken directly with the prince.
	Last summer, the president told Americans to blame low Saudi oil output for rising gas prices, because he's a garbage president who doesn't pretend that he cares about American oil prices, really. After publication of this article online, Adrienne Watson, a White House National Security Council spokeswoman reiterated President Biden's stated commitment that the U.S.
	would support the kingdom's territorial defense.
	She cited diplomatic achievements in recent weeks, such as the condemnation by Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
	She said Sullivan didn't discuss oil production with Mohammed and that there was no shouting.
	However, however, that is not what people who are at the meeting say.
	They say that essentially the White House has now directly alienated the Saudis.
	And the reason that they're alienating the Saudis is perfectly clear.
	This is on purpose.
	This is not a mistake.
	They're alienating the Saudis because they want the Iranians.
	They want the Iranians.
	And that is totally... By the way, how do you know this?
	Because according to the Washington Free Beacon, the Biden administration is looking to relieve sanctions on about 80,000 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the terrorist group that has killed hundreds of Americans, maybe thousands in Iraq.
	That is the military wing of the Iranian government.
	The proposal by the Biden administration in that Iranian negotiation is to remove the IRGC's terror designation, making it easier for foreign fighters to enter the United States.
	Just incredible, incredible stuff here from the Biden administration.
	Truly breathtaking stuff.
	Meanwhile, the good news is that the Biden administration, as always, is on top of things.
	Joe Biden, sharp, incisive, brilliant even.
	Here he was yesterday struggling to say the words highly qualified.
	We not only have a highly qualified woman as Vice President, but as Deputy Secretary of Defense and two women combatant commanders.
	By the way, how bad are things getting for Joe Biden?
	How bad are things deteriorating inside that empty attic up there?
	I mean, it's just cobwebs and rats up there now.
	This is the end of this particular press conference.
	You can hear the staff shouting at journalists to get out.
	They're afraid that Joe is going to faceplant directly in the middle of the table.
	He's just grinning like a crazy person as the staff shouts at journalists to get out.
	Well, the good news is that waiting in the wings for this That bleep old fellow is a Kamala Harris, who is truly one of the great orators of our generation.
	I've never seen someone as smooth as this.
	She's basically an adult who is a third grader who didn't read the book for the book report.
	And so everything she says is designed to get to one page.
	Everything has to be one page double-spaced.
	It's a five paragraph essay that needs to be one page double-spaced.
	And so what we're going to do if you're Kamala Harris is you increase the size of the font to 13 and you shrink the margins just about 0.25 inches.
	You shrink the margins this much, Space is exciting.
	It spurs our imaginations.
	And it forces us to ask big questions.
	one space and you increase the size of the font to 13.
	Kids, this is how you do it.
	Then you get to one page.
	This is Kamala Harris on every topic.
	So here she was yesterday on space and its myriad wonders.
	Space is exciting.
	It spurs our imaginations and it forces us to ask big questions.
	Space, it affects us all.
	And it connects us all.
	By the way, that's how she ends that clip.
	It affects us all and it connects us all.
	Yeah, lady.
	She didn't read the term paper.
	She didn't do any of the research.
	She didn't bother with the Googles.
	So things are going great, is I think, in sum, the message of today's show.
	Well, we will be back here later today with an additional hour of programming.
	Coming up soon is the Matt Walsh Show.
	It airs 1.30 p.m.
	Eastern.
	Be sure to check it out over at dailywire.com.
	I'm Ben Shapiro.
	This is the Ben Shapiro Show.
	The Ben Shapiro Show is produced by Elliot Belt.
	Executive producer, Jeremy Boring.
	Our supervising producer is Mathis Glover.
	And our production manager is Pavel Lydowsky.
	Associate producer, Bradford Carrington.
	Editing is by Adam Saievitz.
	Audio is mixed by Mike Koromina.
	Hair and makeup is by Fabiola Christina.
	Production assistant, Jessica Crand.
	The Ben Shapiro Show is a Daily Wire production.
	Copyright Daily Wire 2022.
	On the Matt Wall Show, we talk about the things that matter.
	Real issues that affect you, your family, our country, not just politics, but culture, faith, current events, all the fundamentals.

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