All Episodes
Previous Next
April 28, 2017 - Jimmy Dore Show
01:01:48
20170428_PODCAST0428
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
Get ready for an outstanding entertainment program.
The Jimmy Dore Show.
Hello.
Hello, Senator Sanders.
Speaking, who in the name of Eugene Vegas Devs is this?
It's Jimmy Dore, buddy.
Oh, hi, Jimmy.
Do you got a few minutes to talk?
Oh, well, yes, I suppose so.
Since it's you, and you were so supportive during my campaign, I'll give you a few minutes of my time here.
Why?
What's going on?
Well, I just had my first few moments of peace since this whole unity tour began.
Tom Perez went downstairs to get us both some frescas, so I have the hotel room to myself for a few precious minutes.
Wait, you guys are sharing a hotel room?
Yeah, Jimmy.
I don't know if you know this or not, but the Democratic Party isn't doing very well these days.
It's not as if we're charging money for the tickets to these rallies, you know.
Wait, we're not, are we?
God, I hope not.
What a Warsaw and Schultzy move that would be.
Anyways, yeah, the donors are footing the bill here.
And donations at the moment are not exactly skyrocketing.
And I'm porn, you know, because on one hand, I don't want the Democrats or anybody to be beholden to the donor class.
Yeah.
But on the other hand, I would prefer not to have to share a room with the giant from Twin Peaks at the Laquita off the I-55 feeder road in West Memphis, Arkansas.
And how is that going, by the way?
You two bunking up.
Jimmy, he will not shut his goddamn pie hole.
Constant jabbering.
Also, one of these guys who takes his shoes and socks off at every opportunity.
Just walking around barefoot on this motel carpet.
It's disgusting.
I'm perpetually on the verge of projectile vomiting with this person.
And he's an anti-soap guy.
You know, one of these people says microbes are natural and antibacterial stuff is ruining everything.
And I'm like, fuck that.
I'm disinfecting everything in this bitch.
I don't even want to think about what kind of dirty chuds have been in this hotel room.
You know, that doesn't sound like you two guys are fit to travel together, Bernie.
That's putting it mildly.
We can't even agree on where to eat.
Really?
No?
No.
Jimmy, I'm a food guy, like you.
We've talked about this in the past.
Yeah, of course.
When I'm traveling, especially somewhere in, I like to try and experience something of the local flavor.
And also, give my dollar to hardworking small business owners.
This slamile, the second he sees a goddamn Ruby Tuesdays, loses his mind.
In Louisville, he had to bust do a U-turn in the middle of the street to get the one.
This corporate lackey loves Ruby Tuesdays more than I love my own grandchildren, for Christ's sakes.
Then he insists on paying for both of us, makes a big production out of it and everything like he's a Rockefeller.
And then he jabbers incessantly about the miles on his credit card and how he'll get miles.
I mean, sure, of course, get your miles.
They add up.
It's worth it.
But no one wants to hear about your miles, you boring Shonda.
And by the way, you can bet your ass he's taking his shoes and socks off under the table.
Good grief.
Yeah.
So that's why at these rallies, when the people start to boom, I'm like, fuck it, boom.
I don't give a schnitz.
Yeah, we've seen those clips.
Yeah, so it goes.
It doesn't even seem like you two are on exactly the same page, message-wise.
You think you're right.
There's no way and there's no way around it either.
What are you going to do?
I'm going to be me.
So that's why I'm up there saying, you know, the model for the Democratic Party straight up does not work anymore.
Back to you, head of the Democratic Party.
Yeah, I mean, it's nonsense.
I can't believe I got talked into this.
It's a giant disaster.
Is he getting frustrated by this?
Does not care one whip.
Really?
Nothing bothers him.
He's one of these men who don't know how to put it, just isn't worried about anything.
He'll get booed at a rally, and then we go back to the bus, and he's immediately watching Game of Thrones on his laptop and asking me if I've seen it and why not, and so on and so forth.
Wow.
This is why I'm independent, Jimmy.
Also, he's one of these guys who flosses outside of the bathroom.
The idea behind flossing is to remove gunk from your teeth.
Get to a sink, you Philistine.
Oh, crap.
Here he comes.
I gotta go.
Hang in there, Bernie.
I'm going to crash this boss into a wall.
It's the Jimmy Dore Show.
The show for...
...the kind of people that are...
...the hell events may be on tearing down our nation...
It's the show that makes Anderson Cooper save.
It's hard to talk to you guys.
And now, here's a guy who sounds a lot like me.
It's Jimmy Dore.
Hey guys, Ron Placone here for the Jimmy Doer show.
Got an exciting show for you today.
We got a lot of footage from our past live show that happened April 24th at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, California.
It was a lovely evening.
And you're going to get to know Ro Khana, a congressman representing the 17th District right here in California, a good progressive.
He did our live show.
It was really great to have him.
He was a good sport and had a lot of very interesting things to say.
So we're going to get to know him and get to hear some of that footage as well.
The live shows have been really exciting.
And of course, we got a lot coming up.
Go to JimmyDoorComedy.com for all the latest updates.
May 1st, we're going to be over at the Hollywood Improv.
That's coming up this coming Monday.
And May 22nd, we will be back at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank.
And another event, I want to mention June 10th.
We will be in the Chicago area at Zaney's Rosemont.
That is a 2 p.m. matinee show out in Rosemont, Illinois.
Again, that date is June 10th.
And of course, more information can be found at JimmyDoorComedy.com or on any of those venues' websites.
Let's get on with it.
I'm Ron Placone.
are listening to the Jimmy Dore Show.
Coming to stage right now, folks, I'm really thrilled to have this gentleman on the show because you know what we like.
We like progressives, and this gentleman is a true progressive.
He is a teacher, just like Steph Zamarano.
He's also a lawyer, right?
Uh-huh.
Like no one here.
And he's a very progressive politician, and he's representing California's 17th district.
He's here for us tonight.
Make him feel welcome.
Roccana is here, ladies and gentlemen.
Congressman Rokana.
Honestly, RoConna.
He's not going to be funny.
People are like, is he really a Congressman?
He's really.
So I just wanted, let's get that out of the way.
All right, no, you know what?
I forgot to tell.
I had jokes I was supposed to tell before I brought you up, but I'm going to skip them.
Did you hear Bill O'Reilly?
I'll do one of the jokes.
Did you hear Bill O'Reilly thinks there's women who actually no, skip it.
Anyway, Bill O'Reilly thinks there's women who want to fuck their way onto his podcast.
I know, I said skip it.
Anyway, all right.
Listen, Roe, thanks so much for doing the show.
Thanks for coming down.
Now, you've made a special trip to come do the show, correct?
I did.
I wish Congress was as funny as.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
You know what?
Often Congresspeople are unintentionally as funny as he is, but never intentionally as funny as he is.
So you don't have to worry about that.
Now tell people, now the reason, well, one of the big reasons why I like you as a politician is that you're the real deal, meaning that not only do you espouse progressive policies, but you don't take money from corporations or super PAC.
Is that true?
Yeah, no packs.
Thank you.
You don't know what you're missing.
Your tea times are shit.
There are six of us in Congress who don't take PAC or lobbyist money.
You know, the California, some of the Bernie folks have this resolution in California for the Democratic Party.
Actually, a really simple resolution that no California elected official should take corporate PAC money or lobbyist money.
I'm one of the enforcing engines.
Thank you very much.
It's okay.
So you're going to introduce that into the California?
It's a California party.
And on May 21st, they have this convention.
The Democratic Democratic Convention.
Now, there are only six of us in all of Congress.
I've introduced it in Congress with two people.
Unfortunately, there are not many people even in my own party who don't want to take PAC or lobbyist money.
Because the reality is you can get about a million bucks without trying with these corporate PACs.
And that's probably the biggest problem in our democracy.
So we said, okay, some of the Bernie folks, you think in California, we could be an example.
And Bernie showed that you raise a lot of money online.
So you don't really need these PACs or lobbyists.
But I'm hoping more than one person in the California delegation will actually end up endorsing this resolution.
So who are the people?
Yes, this is amazing.
He's not just someone running.
He's actually a congressperson.
He actually, who are the other people in Congress who don't take super PAC money?
Can you tell us?
The PAC money.
Bernie, of course, is the example, but there's a Beto O'Rourke who is a guy.
He's running against Ted Cruz in Texas.
Oh, that's right, in Texas.
And there's Jared Polis, Sarbanes in Maryland, and there are two Republicans, actually, Roe and Francis Rooney.
So there's six of us who don't do it.
And it's not, you know, the point is, whether you take it or not, you don't have to continue to take it.
And so it's not like a moral judgment.
It's just the country wants us to get off PAC money, get off lobbyist money.
Let's do this.
And if you've been taking it in the past, fine.
Just now start not taking it.
So, you know what?
I will consider that.
I considered it.
So that's about the reaction I get in Congress.
So that's what my next question was.
What do your fellow Democrats, not only Republicans, but what do your fellow Democrats say?
Do you ever approach them about not taking super PAC money?
Or what did they say when you approached them with this resolution?
What do they say?
Well, they say, look, you're the new kid on block because I just got elected and you want to have a long career here and you don't want to be making, you know, rubbing it in people's faces.
And I say, look, I'm not, I don't think I'm any morally better than anyone else.
It's not like, oh, I'm holier than thou.
It's that there are, we just had a whole election, right?
And Bernie Sanders ran saying, we've got to get rid of the corporate money and lobbyist money.
And Donald Trump, well, I disagree with ran saying, let's get rid of Drain the Swamp.
So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that people are pretty tired of corporations and lobbyists.
And we all think what they say, right?
I mean, it seems so obvious.
And I actually, my argument to them is you'll probably get more support online and others if you take this pledge.
But for whatever reason, it's slow.
Here's my view.
Every Democrat running this cycle, they ought to take this pledge.
If they're running in a district.
Wow, that's a big statement, Roll.
We're all packed money, give up lobbyist money.
You mean even Chuck Schumer should take it?
Well, he's already there.
He's already there.
You just want to get me in real trouble on the show.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I don't mean anything.
No, no, Chuck Schumer's a fine guy.
Everybody loves him, and he's doing the Lord's work, and he really cares about the people.
I think he's a monster.
That's right.
Because he didn't want to cut meals on wheels, right?
Yeah, that's right.
So, no, no.
What do you think?
Go ahead.
Let me say where I actually respectfully disagree with Schumer and some of the party.
You saw when Trump – There's respect.
When the whole bombing happened, the bombing in Syria?
Yeah.
And the first statement out from Schumer and others was it was an appropriate response.
I mean, my view is 15 years we've had war, right?
The terrorists were after 9-11 at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
After 15 years of intervention in Libya, in Iraq, down Syria, they're all over the world.
So how is it that more bombing is going to make us safe?
And we ought to, as a Democrat, I know you've criticized it, but it's just mind-boggling to me that we wouldn't have an opposition to those strikes.
Well, we do.
There is a peace wing to the Democratic Party, but what the leadership at the Democratic Party thinks is appropriate is that they turn the lights off on them and play sound cannons when they're trying to make their voice heard at the Democratic National Convention.
Because there was a warmonger on Sting named Leon Panetta, who we played on the show, who laughs about when they ask him how many shooting wars we're in.
He's like, I'll have to stop and think about it.
That's a quote from Leon Panetta.
And so when he was on stage at the Democratic National Convention, the peace wing of the Democratic Party started to boo him.
We don't want to see a warmonger on stage.
We don't need to see a guy like that.
What'd they do?
They turned off the lights on those people because they thought they were Bernie people.
No, there's actually a fucking anti-war party.
I mean, anti-war wing of the Democratic Party.
That's actually your base.
It's right here.
That's your base.
And the reason why they did that, and you can correct me if I'm wrong or don't even mention it, or you don't have to comment on this, but the reason why they did that was because their donors don't want to hear from those people.
Their donors are the military-industrial freaking complex.
You know it and I know it.
And they want more war.
And they don't want to hear from the peace people.
Who the fuck?
Grow up!
Grow up, bite the bullet, and vote for more war.
That's what people told me every day last summer.
And I didn't grow up and I didn't bite the bullet.
And here we have war anyway.
Jimmy, I can tell you one of the reasons I enjoy going to war is it silences my father's voice in my head telling me I'm weak.
And I make money.
So what do you think?
Why do you think there isn't an opposition party anymore in this country?
Why isn't there an opposition to all these wars?
Well, I don't get it.
Even if you look at it from a purely national security interest, what makes us safer?
I mean, I go back, you know, the Republicans may like this, to John Quincy Adams, you know, someone who was back in 1830.
And he had a very simple statement.
He said America shouldn't go out to destroy monsters because when we do that, we often end up using force, and that's going to make us not be seen as a force for liberty, but as a dictatorial force.
And that's not what America's role should be.
And we have had a foreign policy of recent times that hasn't made us more safe.
Here's the basic thing I don't understand.
When there's something that happens humanitarian in a way that's good, you know, we're building schools or refugees, it's always got an international face.
We aren't, it doesn't have an American face.
And if there are missiles in Syria, why do we want them to have an American label?
It's going to create a generation more of hate.
And it's not doing anything to make us more safe.
So it's not some, oh, you don't care about American security if we're attacked directly.
Fine, respond.
But to go meddling and intervening in a way that's making the world less safe and our country less safe has just been wrongheaded.
And someone, Bernie was safe.
So what do I tell my dad?
All I want, Roe, I didn't realize you were a Kremlin puppet.
But really, you know, I'll believe that you're not a Kremlin puppet as soon as you endorse bombing people that don't have anything to do with us.
All right.
That is, this is what's happening.
Well, it's, Roe, we need more people like you in Congress because, well, right now there's a unity tour happening.
So don't you guys want to unify?
Come on.
Come on.
Now, we like Robert Reich.
He used to be in the Clinton administration.
You know, that Clinton administration that ruined the country.
And Robert Reich.
So, who did you vote for for president?
For Bernie Sanders.
Oh.
Nice.
What's that?
Write it in.
Yeah, he wrote it in.
Right, you don't have to say you wrote it in, Bro.
Here is Robert Reich, and here's what he has to say about the Democratic Party, which I think we all need to listen to because, you know, Robert Reich, even though he was in the Clinton administration, he was probably one of those guys pushing the other way, I'm hoping, because he seems like he's always on the right side of the issues now, even though he was telling people to vote for Hillary in the general.
He did back Bernie in the primary and all that stuff, so I don't hold that against them.
You know, I love that.
I love that he said, he goes, you know, I've known Hillary Clinton all my life, right?
Because he was trying to get people to vote for her in the general.
I've known her all my life, and that's why you've endorsed Bernie in the primary.
Anyway.
Ro, you don't have to laugh at any of this stuff.
I don't want to get you in trouble.
We'll see if I'm back as former Congressman.
We'll see if your committee assignment gets fucked with.
All right, so let's watch this good.
If you're behind you, there's a screen back there.
There's a screen here.
There's screens there.
So everybody, find a screen, and then let's get to it.
So here's what he says that the Democratic Party should do.
It's time for a new Democratic Party.
The old Democratic Party has become a giant fundraising machine.
Yes, but it's a fundraising machine with values.
Right?
They're for values with good stuff, and they're for an economy that works for everyone based on values.
All right, I started again.
I'm sorry.
It's time for a new Democratic Party.
The old Democratic Party has become a giant fundraising machine, too often reflecting the goals and values of the moneyed interests.
Yeah, and that's why I voted for Hillary, even though she outspent Trump two to one.
Okay, that's a better joke than you're giving me credit for.
All right.
Most people never hear from it except around election time, and then only to contribute money.
You mean the DNC?
The only time I hear from the DNC is when they call me up to tell me I can't vote for a third fucking party.
That's the only time I hear that.
And I did anyway.
And most of that money goes to high-priced political strategists and pollsters.
Who don't even know where the fuck Michigan and Wisconsin is.
Turns out, have little or no idea what's actually happening to most Americans.
The election of 2016 has repudiated the old Democratic Party.
We need a new Democratic Party capable of organizing and mobilizing Americans in opposition to Donald Trump's Republican Party.
A party that will turn millions of people into an activist army to peacefully resist what is about to happen, providing them with daily explanations of what's occurring in Trump's administration, along with tasks that individuals and groups can do to stop or mitigate their harmful effects.
Yeah, unless those groups of people are actual progressives, then please stay the fuck out of our town halls.
Okay.
A party that will protect vulnerable populations from harassment and exclusion, including undocumented young people, recent immigrants, people of color, and women.
A party that will recruit a new generation of progressive candidates for the 2018 midterm elections and beyond, including a leader to take on Trump in 2020.
And if they don't fall in line, we'll blame their generation, whether they be feminists, apathetic, or whichever fits our agenda.
A party that will do everything possible to advance the progressive agenda at state and local levels.
Even though the party did the exact fucking opposite, just did that.
They voted to keep taking corporate money.
They just did that.
They're not doing anything.
They're not doing anything.
They're doing the exact opposite.
Okay, here we go.
Big money out of politics.
Reversing widening inequality.
Expanding health care, reversing climate change, and ending the militarization of our police and the mass incarceration of our people.
If the current Democratic Party is incapable of transforming itself, then it will be irrelevant to our future.
And we will need an entirely new organization.
Okay.
Okay.
Time frame news.
Yeah, no, no, no.
What's the fuck?
I say, what's the plan?
I'm ready for a new organization that actually represents the people.
Now, Ro, you're here, and you're an actual Democrat.
And the party, everything that he just said, by the way, that video was from December of 2016.
So that video is from December of 2016.
So it's not like the party just got the memo, right?
They've known what they needed to do.
They know that Bernie Sanders is the most popular politician in the country, but they keep doing the opposite.
So the DNC, by the way, right before they voted to screw over the progressive Keith Ellison and put in the corporate tool, Tom Perez, what they did was they voted right before that to make sure they kept taking corporate money or started to again because Barack Obama had banned that shit.
As much as I give Barack Obama a hard time, at least he topped the DNC from taking corporate money.
And as soon as Barack Obama was gone, they were like, fuck you, Barack, we're taking that money again.
And they decided to take that money.
So they're doing the exact everything he said.
They're doing the exact opposite.
They're not, by the way, they're not supporting progressives like they didn't do in Kansas.
They're still sticking their thumb in the eye of progressive.
They're still taking corporate money.
In fact, they voted to do it.
They put Tom Perez in instead of Keith Ellison.
They're doing the exact opposite of what he just said they should do.
And I love that my friend Hippo tweeted this out.
the Democratic Party were Coca-Cola, they would have...
This would be their...
It would be...
laughter applause applause applause applause applause applause Coca-Cola, drink it, you assholes.
At least it's not piss.
*laughter*
So here I think is the answer, Roe, to the question we've been going around and around about all night.
Bernie Sanders said this.
He said, you're asking a good question, and I can't give you a definitive answer.
Certainly, there are some people in the Democratic Party who want to maintain the status quo.
They would rather go down with the Titanic so long as they have a first-class seat.
And I think that everybody recognizes that right now.
I think we realize, I think that's why Trump got elected because people on both sides of the aisle wanted to smash the establishment because we saw that the establishment was not working for us, but they're working for the donor class, and we needed someone who was an outsider, no matter where it came from.
And because, you know, people don't think people like Tom Perez, I don't get like you come out here, Roe, and you know that people see that you're not bullshitting.
And that when, and if you did, they would see it.
People see it, right?
I show a clip of Tom Perez two seconds in, people start moaning.
They know exactly what's happening.
So I don't understand this unity tour.
Here he is being introduced.
So if this doesn't tip you off, if this doesn't tip you off, what will hear?
Watch this.
Regardless of why you showed up today, you showed up for a reason.
Something compelled you to find the space and time to be here.
And I want you to ask yourself what that reason is.
Right?
Maybe.
Maybe it's because you love a certain senator from Vermont.
Don't need to say his name.
Don't need to say his name.
place goes nuts.
Bernie!
Wow, that was quite a response for Senator Bernie Sanders.
They didn't even say his name.
Now she's who's she gonna mention?
You guys, I still have two minutes left, all right?
So maybe you came, though, because you're curious about the new DNC chairman and the future of the Democratic policy.
Didn't need to say his name.
Either name.
Boo.
Boo.
Even to the point that people see through it that when Bernie's on stage, Bernie thanks Tom Perez for his remarks and people start booing.
Watch this.
Watch this.
Thank Tom Perez for his remarks.
Last night.
What I like is that Bernie didn't stop and go, no, no, Tom's a good guy.
He just.
When they came for the Jews, I didn't say anything because I wasn't a Jew.
when they came for the corporate democrats i said it's about time Yeah, they're booing.
I just wanted to, when they started booing, I expected Bernie to go, yeah, you imagine what it's like being on the fucking roll with that guy.
He's a twat, hogging my French.
*laughter*
It's harder to defend Tom Perez than it is to defend Walmart, honest to God.
At least Walmart will let you park your RV in their driveway.
You know what I'm talking about?
Bernie could have defended Tom Perez, but he wants people to keep showing up at the rallies.
Bernie's like a young Neil Young.
He is.
He's like a Neil Young.
He's best solo.
That's what I see.
And to see Bernie sitting next to Tom Perez, it's like watching Noam Chomsky sitting next to Betsy DeVos.
Fuck that.
But...
People were already booing the DNC chair a long time ago.
Do you remember this?
Do you remember?
This is at the DNC.
Everybody now, settle down.
That's my girl.
Love me some Debbie.
Here's some fucking Debbie Wasabs.
She's standing in front of her own congregation.
These are people from Florida at the DNC, and look how they greeted her.
Everybody, settle down, please.
Okay.
All right, we have a big program.
We have a big program today.
Let's hear.
Let's be respectful.
We've got a lot of corporate shit to shovel down your throats.
Let's be respectful.
Settle down, everybody.
Fuck off.
Please be quiet so Debbie can speak.
It's okay.
Everybody, let's hear our speakers.
We have speakers as well.
It's just good fun.
This is good fun.
This is not somebody you welcome who's sold out.
Here we go.
I thought that would go over a lot better.
Thank you all so much.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Thank you all so much.
Back!
Look.
Thank you.
Hey, everybody, this is the part of the show where I usually tell you to go to our Amazon.com link.
You know, we don't encourage anybody to shop at Amazon.
But if you do, we say have some of that money go to a progressive show like the Jimmy Dore show.
Doesn't change the way you shop at Amazon, doesn't cost you anything, but it's a big help to the show.
So the next time you want to buy something from Amazon, go to jimmydoorcomedy.com.
Our Amazon box is right on the front page.
Click it.
It takes you to Amazon.
And then when you buy something, they send us money.
It's just that easy.
But we have a new thing, a new way if you could help support us.
Well, you can become a premium member.
You already know about that, and I'll tell you about it at the end of the show.
But we started a Patreon, right?
So because a lot of people feel more comfortable using Patreon than using PayPal or Amazon.
So that's another way you can help support the show.
We have a Patreon link.
Just go to patreon.com/slash jimmydore, patreon.com/slash jimmydore.
Go there.
You can become a patron of the Jimmy Dore show.
And you know what matters more now than ever because our show has really blown up and gotten way more popular since we've been going on YouTube.
But we've gotten over a quarter million subscribers.
And so things are really happening.
And except YouTube pulled our funding out from underneath us, right?
So they don't want independent news anymore.
And YouTube's offering establishment news.
They're actually offering for a fee.
So they're funding independent news people like us.
So that's why we're offering Patreon.
That's why we're offering a premium.
That's why we offer the Amazon all these different ways.
And plus, we have the t-shirts.
We have all these different ways where you can help support the Jimmy Dore show.
So thanks for doing that.
And if you're more comfortable with Patreon, use our Patreon link.
If you're more comfortable using our PayPal, become a premium member.
So there's lots of different ways to support the show.
Thank you for doing that.
Now let's get on to the second half.
So this moves me on to this article recently about Bernie Sanders.
It says, Pop, Bernie Sanders, country's most popular active politician.
So they give you a and it shows.
No, if you look, this is what, so the more people get to know him, the more they freaking like him.
And that was why they didn't want to have debates.
That's why Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC colluded with the Hillary Clinton campaign to limit debates because more debates would have let more people know that they're getting screwed over and there's someone here who's not going to screw you over.
That's what that means.
That's what that shows you.
And get this across ratings across Democrats.
Here's so Bernie Sanders, they always said, oh, it's just a party of white guys and he's just appeals to white.
73% of African Americans have a positive view of Bernie Sanders.
73%.
68% of Hispanics have a positive view.
That's me.
It is.
Okay.
And 80% of Democrats, 80% of Democrats have a positive view of Bernie Sanders.
So this is from the Harvard-Harris survey, right?
And the Vermont senator is touring the, this is what the Hill says.
The country with new Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez as the two work to unify a party that splits sharply along the line between grassroots activists and the establishment during the primaries.
There is still lingering bitterness between Sanders' supporters who believe the party stacked the deck.
Yes, not a belief.
You know, I don't believe two plus two equals four.
I don't believe the sky is blue, and I don't believe the Democratic primary was rigged.
These are fucking facts that are provable.
Thank you.
So we actually had, we actually had people at the DNC chair debate actually admit that the DNC primary was rigged.
And did that make you happy to hear people admit that?
I could go a lot further.
I mean, this whole superdelegate system.
I mean, half these people endorsed Hillary Clinton before anyone voted.
I mean, it was unimaginable and they were undemocratic.
And they ought to, you know, the first thing the DNC, I'm glad you pointed out the corporate stuff because I tweeted out afterwards that the first thing the DNC did, you know, after we just had this whole election with Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump saying drain the swamp is vote to allow corporate money and lobbyist money.
It's like, what election were they watching?
I don't understand.
And I still don't understand.
You know, I'm in Congress and I don't understand who elects these DNC folks.
They've been elected like 15 years ago in this arcane process.
And these are the people who have these superdelegate votes.
So the first thing they ought to do is just get rid of superdelegates.
Yes.
I wish you would run for Congress.
You got to get right running for president.
But the second thing, which I'm a contrariet of the Democratic Party, you know, everyone's like, oh, don't have third parties.
Don't have third parties.
It's like, why do we fear third parties?
You know, if you're good and you have a vision, then you let the marketplace of ideas win.
If there are four candidates, five candidates, five parties, fine.
Like, that's competition.
Do we say, okay, you should only have two companies?
You know, okay, there's Coke and Pepsi, and now we can't have a third soda company.
So why are we so afraid of a third party?
And it's almost, and I don't, I've never gotten that.
I always said I like an orange crush.
I am not Coke or Pepsi.
So this is great.
This is great that you're here.
You're an actual real person instead of just a nightclub jagoff like myself.
You got a far bigger following.
But it's nice to hear you actually have power, right?
I don't have any real power.
You have real power.
I have what I like to refer to as impotent rage.
But you actually have potent rage, so that's nice, right?
So here, sir, this is from the Hill.
We believe the party stacked the deck against the candidates, mainstream Democratic operatives who view Sanders as an interloper who will drag the party too far left.
Too far left for what?
Too far.
Oh, we might lose.
You guys are the biggest losers in the history of losers.
You guys are wiped out from coast to coast at every level of government.
Oh, if we go left, though, we might lose more harder.
I'd rather lose easier.
I like losing easy.
So still, no other Democrat comes close to matching Sanders' popularity, except maybe Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive and potential presidential candidate in 2020, is in positive territory at 38% favorable.
So Bernie's at 57%.
The next closest politician is at 38%, and they're both progressives.
But the Democratic Party is afraid of being, I don't want to get, I might fucking win and then have to do shit.
If I win, then I'll have to do single parent free college and stop the wars and make that money come back home.
But my donors don't want me to do that.
Because that's what it is.
And you know, Jenk Uger says that the reason why we have such weak Democrats is because they're chosen that way, not you, because you don't take corporate money.
So that's why you're a strong Democrat.
But most Democrats, why you can only get a couple, you can't even get another one to sign on to your petition, is because the donors choose weak Democrats and strong Republicans, right?
Weak Democrats cave to the strong Republicans who are doing the corporate bidding.
Do you agree with that?
I would say that there's a party that anoints candidates.
And you know, incumbency re-election, you know what it is in this country?
97%.
There was an article that European monarchies turn over faster than the essentials.
I'm not kidding.
And so we've got this.
This is why people are upset.
And so you get these people in a back room figuring out.
And you know what the criteria is for if you're going to be a good candidate?
It's not where you stand.
It's not whether you're for single payer or college or do you have good ideas or are you a good speaker?
Are you funny?
It's how much money do you raise.
That's exactly right.
Okay, what's your Q1 fundraising?
And then, you know, you'll see the press, oh, he's viable.
Well, what makes it viable?
Well, he raised a lot of money.
Oh, he's thoughtful.
Well, what makes him thoughtful?
He raised a lot of money.
So, you know, I mean, it's literally, and so then people back the person raising a lot of money.
This is why there was such frustration in the political system.
And so I, you know, but there are groups.
You know, there's this group, Justice Democrats, brand new Congress.
Yes, we're all for it.
They're going to primary corporate Democrats.
And I said, look, and someone said, well, what if they're primary U.S. said, fine?
It's like, when have we become so afraid of competition?
The people go around saying, if you have a job, do you go around saying, okay, I'm just entitled to that job?
No, you work hard.
Well, if someone runs against me, it's up to me to convince people that I did a good job.
And by the way, if I lose, so what?
Like, it's not the end of the world.
These things weren't designed to be feudal estates.
So you're telling me that we should hold a politician accountable for their own loss in an election?
You do not sound like a Democrat.
That sounds a little ridiculous.
Kremlin puppet.
You know, I lost before I won.
And after I lost, what I said is, I didn't say, okay, what did everyone do wrong with my opponent doing wrong with it?
I said, how did I screw up?
You know, like, what did I do wrong?
And, you know, I was like, okay, I've got to pay more attention to some local issues.
I have to be more empathetic to some folks who represent a district of Silicon Valley.
There's a lot of people who aren't participating in the tech economy, and I wasn't talking enough about them.
And I said, okay, here are the ways I screwed up.
Next time I won by 20 points, not because that's what you do.
You learn from your mistakes.
Now, my view is the reason the Democrats lost is there's half the country that is not participating in a lot of the jobs in the economy.
And we didn't connect with a lot of that country.
I mean, there's 60 million people who didn't vote for us.
And so racist, racist, sexist, racist, Kremlin, Russian.
Just jerk jerks.
They're deplorable.
They're fucking deplorable.
They're horrible.
They don't know what they were doing.
They're wrong.
They're just wrong.
They're just wrong.
Sorry, John.
Are there, look, is there rhetoric that has xenophobia race?
Absolutely.
But is that why are 60 million Americans when they're sending a message?
You know, even if Hillary Clinton had won by 1%, you know, someone actually had this great analogy, and they said sort of this election was a seizure, but the brain tumor was already there.
But the seizure, now we can actually fix some of the problems.
We actually woke up that there's actually a problem in our politics and a problem that people have been complaining about is why aren't we fighting for single payer?
Why are we not fighting for college to be affordable?
Why aren't we getting rid of corporate money?
Why have middle-class wages stagnated?
Why aren't we?
Well, this is the unity stuff.
I can tell you why.
Why?
Because the politicians who are supposed to make those changes are being paid to not make those changes.
That's why.
Because of the donor class that owns both parties, they don't want them to make those changes.
They don't want a living wage.
They don't want free college.
They don't want to end the wars.
They don't want to break up the banks.
They don't want to regulate Wall Street.
They don't want to end fracking.
That's why.
Because the donor class owns both parties.
That's what I think.
So they're kind of like the Christian scientists.
Yes.
Yes.
I do think money in politics is part of it.
But what I don't understand.
So why else would someone be against single-payer if it wasn't because they were getting money from the health insurance industry?
Well, or the pharmacy.
Or the pharmaceutical.
Yeah.
I mean, look, a lot of it is a lobbyist.
A lot of it is that.
And some of it is just, you know, there's this, oh, well, you're not fiscally responsible.
And here's what I don't understand about that.
You know, here you're proposing 50 pairs.
That made me lose my shit a little.
That it's fiscally irresponsible to provide Medicare for people or fiscally responsible to provide education.
And we know that, you know, Medicare for all is the cheapest way actually of providing health care.
I mean, it's no, private companies do it much better.
Ask anybody.
And so this is the problem what I have with the unity stuff.
It's like unity around what?
Unity around a platitude of we stand for the middle class.
Well, what does that mean?
I mean, it's like, are you on the single-payer bill that John Conyers is in in Congress?
And you should look at your members of Congress.
Are they on it or not?
Are you on it?
I'm on it.
Yeah.
Kremlin puppet.
Bernie Sanders has proposed a free college education.
You know, there are like eight of us in Congress, I think.
I mean, hopefully it'll grow more who are on it.
So if we had unity around single payer, around making public college under $125,000 families free, which is Bernie's bill, we had unity around a financial transaction tax on Wall Street speculation.
By the way, the tax that Bernie wants, 0.04 or 0.05%.
In other countries, it's 0.5%.
That would raise a lot of the money.
We had unity on saying we ought not to be getting into more stupid wars in the Middle East.
Fine.
I'm from unity.
But when you don't have a platform, what does it mean to have unity?
Who's against the middle class?
I mean, who's against jobs?
I am.
I remember...
laughter LAUGHTER I'm actually even against the upper middle class.
But I will hang out with them.
You can't always tell.
What you say is, how's your summer home?
and if they pause, you know that they're upper middle class.
That's...
First of all, well, Ro here, you know what was interesting to me was that the Daily Coast.
I'm a big fan of the Mar-a-Lagalakas.
And I always liked him.
I like that he got kicked off MSNBC, the guy who runs the Daily Coast.
He got kicked off MSNBC because he told the truth on there one time, so they got rid of him.
But he was not a Bernie supporter, and that's okay, whatever.
But he did weird things, right?
Like this.
He said that he didn't endorse Bernie in the primary, and the reason why he gave this, he said, we saw little reason to further divide our party, not to mention, given the decidedly white complexion of Sanders' coalition, it made little sense to hitch our wagon to a person who had such difficulties attracting the party's key growth demographics, Latinos, African Americans, and women.
In other words, we're focused on our future.
First of all, if you've backed Hillary, you're focused on the past.
You're dead, right?
Because the future is the 35 and undercrowd who voted for Hillary 7 to 1 inside the Democratic Party.
And if I need to show our friend at Daily Coast, there it is: 73% of African Americans positively viewed and 68% of Hispanics.
And look at that.
Look at even women, 58% view Bernie.
So he's got a freaking majority of everybody, not even a plurality, a majority.
You know who he's lowest with?
fucking whites!
LAUGHTER LAUGHTER LAUGHTER MUSIC
*Muchas music*
So Bernie was on, he's been doing this unity tour.
All right.
Ah, this sounds exciting.
Easy.
All I have to do is show a picture.
Oh, I think that burger was bad.
So here, here's Tom Perez.
Let's just listen to him.
The American people understand that we can't bring about the changes that we want.
Health care for all making public colleges and universities tuition free, transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel unless we have the guts to point the finger at the ruling class of this country, the billionaire class.
And Wall Street and say, you know what?
Your greed is destroying this country.
And you know what?
We're going to take you on.
and i think when you make that statement a lot of people thought not in that's what You could just kind of tell by looking at the picture who is the status quo and who isn't.
*laughter*
Yeah.
Tom Perez.
Okay, here we go.
There's more.
No, this, see, this is what's key to me.
And Tom, I want to hear you talk about this.
Because when Bernie, when you, Senator, when you talk about this, there's a bad guy there.
There's a villain in the story.
There are people that are doing wrong by the American people.
Donald Trump has a story where he's got villains as well.
And they're different folks.
Sometimes they're corporations.
mostly they're immigrants and other people.
Is that the Democratic message?
Do you think it's important, as the senator sitting next to you just said, to say the ruling class, his words, this country are basically screwing average folks?
Well, listen, you know, when we put hope on the ballot, Chris, we win.
When we...
Yeah, I agree.
Yeah, Hillary Clinton ran on hope, Tom.
I think it was, I hope nobody realizes I'm a corporatist warmongerer who's actually working against working people and exploded the prison population.
Well, cutting bulk.
Allow our opponents to put fear on the ballot.
We don't do so well.
I believe that economy has to work for everyone.
When we allow people to put fair on the ballot, we don't do so well.
You're the party that's running on the new fucking red scare.
Are you shitting me?
Fair?
You're all about fear.
That's this whole thing.
Okay, here we go.
Here we go.
Hillary Clinton ran.
Hillary Clinton, this is my point.
Even Chris Hayes couldn't put up with that shit.
Tom Perez is too conservative for a guy who wears a $6,000 suit.
He's like, no, no, no, no, no.
God damn it.
And what are the odds, too, that Perez's enemy would be sitting right on his left?
Very nice, Richard.
All right, so let's listen to more of what he has to say.
Clinton ran on hope.
She ran on hope.
It was a very hopeful message.
And the point is, do you have to name the enemy?
That's my question.
Do you have to say these are the people that are screwing you?
Well, listen, I don't.
No.
Listen, listen.
I think you're creating a false choice, Chris.
What we have to do as Democrats is to articulate very clearly that Donald Trump's vision for America isn't.
Blah, blah, blah.
I just think, hey, don't like, so Bernie Sanders, when you go, we ain't Democrats, have to point the finger.
Fuck, point the finger right there.
What do you want?
Just go, ah, boom, right, that motherfucker.
We have to have the guts.
And that's why I want you to join me in pointing the finger at this motherfucker right here.
He said he wanted to stick a knife in my gun.
He wanted to stick a fork at me.
You know, Jimmy, she didn't run on hope.
She didn't run on hope.
She ran on fear.
I'm with her.
And I wasn't with her.
Well, that's because you're a sexist Kremlin puppet.
Let me say, gracias.
And you're probably a racist, sexist Kremlin puppet.
So he's got more to say.
Vision for the one top 1% of the 1%.
It's a vision that's divisive.
When he talks about the Make It an America executive order, if you turn over the sheet on that executive order, it probably says made in China.
You got 50 pallets or so of Ivanka stuff that's come into the United States from China and Singapore since.
What the fuck is he even talking about?
Jimmy Does he not think Jimmy, can I be Chris for a second and you be Tom?
Oh, sure, sure.
Go ahead.
So, Tom, what did you have for lunch today?
Well, when you put hope on the ballot, you create a lunch that works for everyone.
And that's what we do when we lead with our values of pancakes.
And pancakes are my favorite breakfast choice.
And I think you're creating a false choice.
Values.
Americans are for good breakfasts, and we're against bad breakfasts.
We stand for a middle-class breakfast like nobody's business.
Is that what you mean?
End scene.
Okay.
Does he have anything else to say?
The first of the year.
So part of what we have to do is expose the fraud of Donald Trump.
No, we have to expose the fraud inside the Democratic Party, which is why you sound like that.
And everybody here, without me even prompting them, knows exactly what that sounds like.
It sounds like bullshit.
And that's why you guys are wiped out.
But you say, how could that?
So, how does he not get the message, Tom Perez?
Like, you go, how do you not get the message, Bernie Sanders, Hillary?
How does he keep missing it?
Is he doing it on purpose?
You don't have to answer.
You know what, Rob?
No, it's all right.
No, it's all right.
want you to stay in Congress.
Thank you.
We're just saying maybe you need to text him or something.
I know I'm wrong, and Tom's doing the right thing, right?
No, but really, but like, I'll say that.
Look, I'll say this: do you notice when Bernie Sanders, he didn't mention Donald Trump once, right?
Not once.
He's talking about what he wants to do for people.
You go to Ohio, you go to the States, because I was in Appalachia.
You know what they care about?
They don't care about some tax returns or this stuff.
They care about, like, are their kids going to have a job?
Are they going to get health care?
What are you doing for them?
All Tom Perez did is talk about Donald Trump.
The first time you start talking and attacking, people tune you out.
And so it's so simple to me.
It's like, it doesn't take a rocket scientist.
You showed the poll numbers to say, like, Bernie Sanders has got this vision.
It's resonating.
Let's just talk about what he's talking about.
It's working.
And all these other folks are there.
It's just, there's, I don't get it.
I really don't get what.
You know, I know you probably thought, okay, this guy's coming from Congress.
He'll have some insight.
And it's just mind-boggling to me.
I was hoping.
I was hoping you knew more than me and Ron.
But it's, you know, it's there is, I've described being in Congress at times as like being in Versailles.
Well, like, there's this revolution going on outside.
People are just, they're not connected.
I've said it about, you know, I like Chris Hayes.
I like his book, et cetera.
But here's my point.
How many people?
Everybody likes Chris Hayes.
I'm just going to, you know, I got some booze.
But here's my point.
How many members of Congress, how many members of Congress have come, tried to come on your show or other things, right?
And here's where they're so out of touch.
It's like your show has a large audience of people actually who are marching and protesting and inactive and being surveilled.
And people.
Oh, trust me.
You think I came here for fun?
You know, and people are just, they're out of touch.
They don't get where new media is going, where the debase is, where the energy of the party.
So you're couching it as kind of an honest mistake of people who don't realize they're out of touch and they're in a bubble.
Is that what you're kind of saying?
I mean, I know you got a harsh version of it, but I actually accept that if you say that.
Yeah, no, I mean, I think they think that power, the way the game works, is you have to kiss the brass ring.
You know, one of the reasons that a lot of people didn't endorse Sanders, you know what it was?
Like, I've never met Bernie Sanders, and I don't care.
Like, I support him because of his policies.
Right.
But there are a lot of members of Congress who they just want to have their ring, you know, the brass ring.
Like, oh, he never said hi to me in the hallway.
Oh, he must, you know.
And he's not like a schmoozer.
And that's, I think, part of his charm, right?
So people are like, well, he doesn't have support for the Asian American community.
Yeah, well, he may not, or African-American community.
Well, he may not have them from some of the elected officials in Congress because he didn't go in, but he has them from a lot of the actual people.
And that's where I think people haven't gotten the game of politics has changed.
It's no longer, people are no longer tolerant of, okay, you have a bunch of people who make the decisions who pick the candidate.
You actually have to go get people to like you and vote for you.
Let me, I agree.
Haylen, how about a hand for all that stuff he just said?
This is good stuff.
You know, having Tom Perez lead a political party is like having Stephen Hawking lead a choir.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Ron wrote that joke.
Nice work, Ron.
You know who the only person is who wanted to hear what Tom Perez had to say?
It was Chris Matthews.
That's because it's because I hate him.
Anyway.
All right, so here's one more question they ask about single payers.
Absolutely reactionary agenda.
The fight for a progressive agenda, which among other things, includes a Medicare for all single-payer program.
Is the DNC on board with Medicare for All single payer, Tom?
I wonder what he's going to say.
Let's see.
Well, you know, we want to make sure that healthcare is a right.
It's not a privilege.
And that's why we fought for the Affordable Care Act.
That's why we want to continue to expand it.
We want to make sure that everybody, and the Affordable Care Act has made tremendous progress, we have more work to do.
And I think the unity, Chris, that we've shown in the recent efforts by Trump to repeal the Affordable Care Act have been an energizing force for Democrats, Independents, others who share the values of inclusion and opportunity.
And healthcare is absolutely a right in this country or should be.
It shouldn't be a privilege.
And obviously, we believe that as Democrats, Republicans don't appear to believe that.
So, no, I'm not for single-payer.
But at least it's not piss.
Hey, guys, Ron Placone here.
We are out of time.
Want to hear more, Jimmy Door's show?
Join the premium program.
We got premium content available exclusively for members.
You can go to jimmydoorcomedy.com and sign up for a premium program.
It is just $5 a month, and you get a month for free if you pay for the year all at once.
Also, as you know now, we have a Patreon program.
Which one you want to be part of is totally up to you.
It's all about your personal preference.
Some people, they don't like the PayPal thing.
They want to do Patreon.
Other people, vice versa.
Totally up to you.
But as you guys know, YouTube pulled the rug out from underneath us.
So we really appreciate all the support from our listeners and viewers.
We could not do it without you guys.
Today's show was written.
That's right.
It was written by Jim Earle, Steph Semorano, myself, Ron Placone, Jimmy Dore, and all voices were done by Mike McRae, who can be found on the web at mikemcray.com.
Also, want to give a special shout out to our panel from this past show, Paul Gilmartin, and of course, Representative RoConna.
The live shows have been a lot of fun.
And to find out when we might be coming to Sydney near you, keep an eye out on JimmyDoorComedy.com.
Again, a few coming up.
We want to highlight May 22nd.
We are back at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank.
And June 10th, going to be out of town, June 10th.
We're going to be in Rosemont, Illinois, in the Chicago area at Zane's Rosemont.
That is a matinee show at 2 p.m.
For more information, JimmyDoorComedy.com or any of those venues' websites.
I'm Ron Placone.
You've been listening to The Jimmy Dore Show.
Do not freak out.
I'm not doing not freak out.
I'm not do not freak out.
Do not freak out.
Do not freak out.
Do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not.
I'm not giving it.
I'm not giving it.
Do not freak out.
Do not freak out.
I'm not freak out.
I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not free.
Do not freak out.
I'm not giving it.
Don't dump the fuck up.
Don't dump the fuck up.
Don't bring out.
Do not freak.
Do not freak out.
Don't freak out of me!
Don't freak out of me!
Don't freak out.
Don't freak out.
I'm not kidding.
Don't don't freak out.
Don't don't do not freak out.
Do not freak out.
Don't freak out.
Do not, do not, do not freak out.
Do not freak out.
I'm not kidding.
Not freak out.
Not freak out.
Don't break out.
Don't dump the dust up.
Do not freak out.
Don't break out.
Don't bring out!
Don't, don't, don't, don't bring out!
Don't bring out!
Don't, don't, don't bring out Do not freak out.
I'm not giving it.
I'm not, I'm not I'm not Freak out Don't break out.
Don't freak out.
▲
Export Selection