Strung Out Episode 207: THE WORLD ROUND UP FROM THE BACK YARD

Martin and Robert Smith take a look at this world from the back yard in Chicago. Our regular mix of geopolitics, the political race here in America and how class inequality factors into immigration, taxes and pretty much everything. 

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[00:00:00] Welcome to Strung Out, the podcast that looks at life through the lens of an artist. Your host is the artist, writer, and musician, Martin Lawrence McCormack. Now, here's Marty. To have you with us, welcome to Strung Out. We're in the backyard, and if we're in the backyard, that is the world roundup from the backyard.

[00:00:23] And I have my fellow compatriot, expert, Robert Smith. And, uh, neighbor. And, uh, from, uh, from here, we, we talk about the world and, um, I'm just going to bring up topics and let's just riff on things that are going on. What am I worried about right now? Yeah. What are you worried about? The presidential election.

[00:00:50] Okay. Let's talk about that. I was going to, I was going to start from, uh, the point of, uh, uh, The indictments handed down to Donald Trump, 34 indictments. Yes. And, uh, he's a felon. Yes. Twice. Twice. The civil rape suit, he was charged. He had to pay 80 million on that. And this one, he, you know, he's convicted. So, and he's still eligible to run for president.

[00:01:15] Whereas you got 2 million people in prison who can't even vote. Isn't it? What is, what is that about? I mean, it's, well, it's, it's, it's, you're right. What is it? It's, uh, not only is it racism, but it's prison for profit. Yeah. I think we incarcerate more people than any other country in the world. Yes, that's true.

[00:01:37] And, uh, yet we have this, um, We also have this, this idea that you can build a prison downstate Illinois and have a private corporation run it. And of course they're not going to run it if it's empty. Right. So they, they are literally trying to bring in people on, um, on charges that really probably Shouldn't even be really convicted on misdemeanors, really.

[00:02:12] Right. Drug related, that kind of thing. And, um. And it's charged thousands of dollars a day to keep them in prison. Exactly. You know. And you and I are paying for it. That's right. And you are too. Um. I remember hearing a policeman many years ago, he was undercover, and he was saying that we have to bring, I forgot what prison it was, but he said we have to bring at least 300 guys in here a month.

[00:02:34] Mm hmm. So they had a, um. They had a quota to make. Yeah. They had to bring in 300, 400 people every month to keep this place open. Wow. So where do they find them? They have to, you know, just dig them out, bring them in, and then there's money flowing in. Yeah, yeah. And, and these are people that, uh, are, once they're in that system, they're, they're trapped.

[00:02:55] It's, it's kind of a cyclical thing. Um, it really is, uh, it really is an ugly situation. But yet here we have this guy, uh, a man that, uh, has a lot of privilege. Yeah. And he, um, and we have, uh, a party that no longer is, uh, and hasn't been for a long time. The Party of Lincoln, what they are is, they're, uh, they're interested in, um, Popper.

[00:03:23] I still don't believe it when I see, they just gave him a birthday party. And I can't believe that millions of people in this country believe that the election was stolen, even though the courts have thrown out any challenges and some Republican officials like Georgia, Arizona saying, you know, we wanted this guy in, but not this way, right?

[00:03:45] You know, this, you know, Biden won, but they still don't believe it. And, and he's in what's going to happen is I'm going to have a civil war. I think we're, I think we're headed towards a civil war. Do you think it's going to come down to some sort of bloodshed? Yeah, yeah. I understand that when the conviction, the 34, uh, uh, 34 charges, when he was convicted, there were some groups that were talking about going down to hang the judge and hang the judge.

[00:04:14] Some patriot group for the right wing or something. They just, I don't know what to say. Yeah. I mean, it's scary. And you got a young daughter, you know, she's living in a world that's the world itself right now is, is, uh, it's, it's, it's never been scarier. I, I'm trying to think back to my youth. Uh, you know, I mean, we had the, yeah, we had this, we had nuclear war, but we still have it.

[00:04:40] Yeah. We had Vietnam. Yeah. I had friends who were, who were drafted and in high school, they were 18, they got drafted and the war machine kept bringing more people in and it was really tough. And it was tough and civil rights, but, you know, that was, uh, uh, we have the democratic convention coming to Chicago, uh, this year.

[00:05:02] Do you think you're going to see some sort of protest? Oh, yes. Yes. Okay. I would be disappointed We didn't, you know, I mean, I, I cannot believe it. I mean, it's, it's why you're my expert, but it's gotta be, it's gotta be, but they're going to be, there was announced, it's going to be thousands of police out there to keep, make sure they said, we're not going to let this go down.

[00:05:24] They know what's going to happen. So they're going to have to protect the public. What did you think about Hunter Biden's conviction conviction in that whole thing? Uh, do you think, uh, it's almost like it's a contrast to Trump? Um, I saw an interview with the jurors, two of the jurors, and I didn't follow too much, but what it was, he was a drug addict and he bought a gun when he shouldn't be able to do it.

[00:05:46] In fact, I saw transcripts of, um, text messages where he says, I just bought a gun. I'm waiting for my dealer, Mookie. So the jurors were saying, you know, they were split. They said, when they first came and walked into the room, they were split down the middle. Then they did more talking three or four hours later.

[00:06:06] They said, look, Guy was a drug addict. He shouldn't be able to buy the gun and he bought it. There it is. His signatures on it. Everything else. So did the crime. Yeah. But they, but you know, on the PBS news hour, they were talking about, they highlighted the drug problems of people in this country. It's focused on Biden because I mean, you know, Hunter, because he's his father, but there's lots of people like that, like him, like guns, they have drug problems.

[00:06:30] They're, you know, they're addicts and they can't help it. And, uh, which goes back to what you were talking about with, uh, you know, are the fact that we have these people in prison that, uh, they can't vote the convicted felons. They, they shouldn't have. Any kind of weaponry, but they're pretty screwed when it comes to, uh, getting a job.

[00:06:53] I was going to mention that when you fill out that, I know it's, you're a professional musician, so you don't know what it's like to walk in the corporate and fill out a, but they said, have you ever been convicted? Right. You got to fill it out. Now, if it's, you have to be honest and, uh, back to Hunter, he said he was not on drugs or he said he was not convicted of anything but, but, but these guys will not be able to find, they I'm not going to say they're not going to be able to find work because there's organizations that help people with second chances, even if they're murderers.

[00:07:24] Why did he need the gun? Was there any, I don't remember. I don't think that was ever delved into, but he, he got a gun and then like his, was it his daughter or somebody threw it into a river or something. Just a trash bin behind the grocery store. Here's your father, free leader of the free world. And Biden's got, He's got, you know, he's got his son is, uh, you know, he's got a problem.

[00:07:53] He's got a problem though, that like you, you're right. A lot of Americans have no, somebody has somebody in their family. Yeah. Uh, that's right. You know, that's had a problem with drugs or cigarettes or alcohol. I've got a brother who's an alcoholic functioning and it's tough. It's difficult. These kind of, uh, so in some ways they're, you know, The way that Biden's gonna handle this.

[00:08:18] Uh, he said he's not going to, uh, commute his commute a sentence. Yeah. He's going to go with the jury. Yes. So he's taking the high road on it. And I, I think that, um, he's smart, smart decision. Very smart. Very smart. What do you think about him, uh, right now heading toward this election? Um, the, the opposition to him are trying so hard to paint him as a dottering idiot.

[00:08:44] Yeah. Is he a doddering idiot? No, I don't think so. He's an old guy, but so is Trump. Yeah. Trump 78. And lately it seems like Trump is a little more dementia. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Talking about sharks and yeah, we're, we're definitely living in a twilight zone. Some of the stuff I hear when I see, I'm saying, why is, what is the, the speaker of the house name?

[00:09:08] Oh, Mike Johnson. Johnson. Yeah. What are you saying? Yeah. You know, I mean, it's, this guy has issues and you've got a convicted felon. Now, there has been some Republicans I've heard that want to ask him to, you know, step out, step down, let's find another party. He's not going to do that. And there's no remorse from Trump.

[00:09:24] He believes that the, uh, the conviction was wrong. He said it was rigged. He goes on and on and he's sending a message out to his followers. Hey guys, stand behind me in this. You're setting up a civil war situation. Yeah, you are. If they're going to refuse to accept, you know, the election results, unless it's a win for them.

[00:09:46] Yes. That's basically where they're at. So you're screwed in a way. You've got a, you've got a bunch of people that are like, you know, if it doesn't go our way, we're going to war. Uh, kind of reminds me of, uh, you know, the South 1860s. I mean, it's from a historical context. It's, it's, it's oddly, uh, history does repeat itself, um, you know, and if you look at it as control and power politics.

[00:10:19] And, uh, very much class. Um, your thoughts about Elon Musk, uh, stockholders giving him 56 billion. A poor, poor black man. I don't know. I don't know what to say. I mean, that's a lot of money, but then again, you got Jeff Bezos who's worth like 200, 300 million, a billion dollars, you know? And I don't know. I mean, can you think, what would you do with 10 million?

[00:10:48] Well, the BBC had this graphic of. How long it would take for the average American, you and I, earn the money that he is getting in this one thing, 7, 000 years, you and I would have to work. Capitalism is, it's like a double edged sword. It's good and bad. You know, you look at someone like, um, for example, Bill Gates, He's a billionaire, right?

[00:11:19] But he put 25, 000 people through cops, you know, the, the, the Melinda Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, you know, so, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm more interested what they do with the money. If you're a millionaire billionaire, what are you doing with the money? Are you helping out people? Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of Mars, they give to universities, they help out, you know, clean air, they do something.

[00:11:43] But it's, it's clearly skewed so skewed now because of the way that, uh, uh, conservative politics have played into it that this 1%, I mean, they're not being taxed and, um, you know, I saw another graphic in which it's showed over time, uh, how the middle class has been degraded. And now you have this 1 percent has like a column unto itself and the amount of money that they have.

[00:12:15] That imbalance, you know, there has to be some sort of taxation that is enacted. You know, for people to be rich, that's fine. Not everybody is Bill and Melinda Gates. I know. I know. You know, I don't know how much they pay in taxes. I'm sure they pay a lot. But you know what? When you hear Biden give, you know, 40 billion dollars to Ukraine, that's a lot of money.

[00:12:43] It'll get a lot of people off the street. Yeah. You know, war, I just, it hurts me when I hear they approve this. They approve that I'm thinking it's people on the streets, right? You know, I mean, what is the answer? Well, let's, let's take a break. And, uh, when we come back, let's start in, um, Ukraine and the conflicts in the world right now, including some that people are not even paying much attention to.

[00:13:09] So this is the world roundup and you're in the backyard. Hey, want to show your support of Martin's artist endeavors? Buy Me A Coffee is an online site that makes supporting Marty easy. In just a few taps you can make a payment of any amount and no account is needed. You can also decide to become an ongoing supporter.

[00:13:34] Go to martinmcormack. com and click on the words Support Martin. Let's help Martin keep it all capital.

[00:14:03] Get some millions. A million roses in the spring

[00:14:12] In the gardens you'll find me blooming A million roses in the spring

[00:14:23] To make right a life of sorrow Make right a life of pain Bring some joy for two Tomorrow, a bit of sunshine, after the rain, a million roses, a million roses. I'd like to come back as a million stars, a million stars in the sky, on a quiet night. You'll gaze in wonder, a million stars in the sky. To tell you it's all worth it.

[00:15:21] To tell you to go on. Bring some joy to tomorrow. And know, you're not alone. A million stars A million stars

[00:16:19] This life, I am leaving A rough and ragged road The love that was so fleeting never laid me low. I'd like to come back as a child, a child safe and sound. And the love that I'll be given will be the love that And

[00:17:31] I'm back here, uh, with my colleague Robert Smith and, um, before the break we were talking about, um, the idea that. 50 billion dollars of frozen, the interest on Russian assets. Yes. I don't have much of a problem with that in the sense that, uh, I think it's great that they're, they're slapping Putin's face with it.

[00:17:55] Um, I want that war to end. In fact, if there's anything I'd just like to, it seems like all the red lines have been crossed when it comes to that, you know. Uh, with, uh, uh, that Putin says, don't do this, or I'm going to do this. And who does it really hurt? Does it hurt him or does it hurt the Russian people?

[00:18:14] Well, it hurts the Russian people. Ultimately though, when you have, I mean, autocracy and yeah, you couldn't throw China into that. Right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Uh, you can throw Iran, North Korea, North Korea. Um, and that's what we're trying to keep the United States from becoming. Uh, and we're having a hard time of it.

[00:18:36] Uh, the world's, uh, oldest democracy. Um, but with the war in, in Ukraine, we're now into what, year three? Is it year three? And, um, I mean, it's, I find it very interesting. It's like, uh, you know, how does this, how does this play out? How do you think it's going to play out? Do the American people feel it? I mean, we're still living our lives.

[00:19:06] We're still doing things. We're still flying, traveling, having parties, but it hasn't affected us economically yet, but it will down the line. I mean, where is this money coming from? Yeah. You know, if you can't spend, you know, 20, a couple of billion dollars to keep some schools open, but you can spend 50, 50 billion for weapons.

[00:19:25] And that's just Ukraine. We're not even talking about it. Yes. And you know, weapons that we're using to kill thousands of Palestinians and in many ways we as American people are complicit. We, there have been protests. There's a crisis on campuses. I mean, which reminds me of the protests in Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam war, but, uh, they've kind of smashed it a little bit.

[00:19:53] Yeah. I mean, if you know, chill it out and they're taking, they're taking a playbook out of the history of Vietnam because people got killed. Right. Kent State people got killed. People did get killed. I'm shocked that no one's got shot. Yeah, it hasn't happened yet. Yeah. And I'm wondering how, uh, let's, let's talk about that right now.

[00:20:17] I mean, I don't know how many, where else can Israel go now in Gaza? Didn't they just, they've done everything, right? Yeah. And, and, uh, I, I think, you know, that whole thing has been so, uh, poorly executed. Um, oh yeah. And the, uh, the main instigator never really has been kind of punished, which is in Iran, you know, which are kind of fomenting the, you know, with the Houthis, Hezbollah, all these organizations And, uh, yet also in Israel, you have, you know, uh, Netanyahu wants to stay out of, uh, the courts because he's Yeah.

[00:21:06] He made the deal with the devil by having these far right, um, parliamentary, you know, these far right parties. And so this is, this is the dilemma. And, um, what is Biden to do? I mean, Israel is our ally. What did Hillary Clinton say once that their track, the contract is you attack one, you attack all. Yeah.

[00:21:29] So he, what is Biden going to do? He can speak out. Yeah. But what is he going to do? I think he's tried everything he can possibly do. He symbolically held back like a shipment, you know, he's like, come on, let's, you know, we've tried to put in a port. No other country is trying to do that. We put in a port and, uh, we're, and you know, it also points out that the, uh, air community.

[00:22:00] in America is, is growing and getting stronger, which is a good thing because politically we need to have that balance in our own politics, but once again, in the Middle East, it's such a different set of rules when it comes to, um, these, these organizations and I think the problem is, is you have, you don't have that two state solution.

[00:22:28] They're really not allowed to, to govern themselves. And in Gaza, you had, uh, uh, Hamas, you know, uh, take over in a violent overthrow of, of, you know, the government that was in the West Bank, you know, the Palestinian Authority. So it's a mess, you know, and you're right. How do you clean up? I know. And it's been in a apartheid situation since 1948.

[00:22:54] Jimmy Carter said, the president, Jimmy Carter said, and he got You know, he got to, you talked about it and they criticized him a lot, but he said, this is the part, it's just like it was in South Africa. These people have no rights, the electricity, the water's control, everything, they have no control of their lives and people will not, Biden will not say that, but it's true.

[00:23:14] So what happens? It's a pressure cooker. It goes on for years, decades, decades. There's many wars going on. And this is what has happened. I think the one redeeming Hope I hear you okay there. The one redeeming hope from it is that the Israeli people, yeah. Prior to this October 7th, they were protesting. Yes.

[00:23:35] They, I think most Israelis want to see it. Two state solutions. They wanna have peace, they wanna figure out some way they gotta vote. Nya. Nya out there, Netanya, who has to. And his ilk, and his, and those right wing guys that, uh, are slowly taking over the West Bank with settlers. All that shenanigans has to end.

[00:24:00] Either you have a two state solution, or you have to, I don't know, make these people citizens in every sense of the word, but then you no longer have a Jewish state, what you have is a democracy. Yeah, I know. So it's, uh. He was, he was in the military many years ago. I think his brother was killed. Yeah. I mean, some, some time ago.

[00:24:20] So he's got this mentality going back 40, 50 years, and it makes old people look bad because they're, they're, they're, they're looking in the rear view mirror. They're not looking in front of them. They're not thinking about the future. Right. He just wants to eliminate the Palestinian people. Get rid of them.

[00:24:35] Right. And, and whatever happens, you know, 35, 000 people are killed. You can't. 10, 000 more children. I mean. Look like your daughter. Yeah. Look like my kids. Oh, it's ugly. Yeah, I know. And, you know, we've, uh. We got blood. America, United States has blood on their hands. We do have, collectively, we have the blood of this conflict, whether we, we didn't go looking for it.

[00:24:58] No. But that's, that's the problem of, uh, being in the position that we're in. We're complicit. Yeah. As we're, you know, complicit with, uh, you know, the war in Ukraine. Um, though I think the war in Ukraine right now looks, uh, like it's, uh, could possibly end up, uh, probably going another year, another year or two.

[00:25:25] You think it could lead to a world war? I mean, it's not ending. It's not ending. Putin's mind is set to take over that territory and he's not giving up. He's even threatened nuclear war. Several times. Yeah. I think my prediction is, is that we're going to see this continue for another two years and it's the, they don't say it, but the policy of the West is let's slowly strangle.

[00:25:50] They want regime change in Russia. Yeah. And. I think the people do. And the people do. Yeah. And. But he eliminates the opposition. Do a lot of politics. Against him either fell off the fell off the balcony Dead look in the baldy, you know, they sent him he dies mysteriously. It goes on and on and on The only thing that's going to change this stuff is death.

[00:26:13] Uh, Which comes for us all? Yeah, and um, but I think in my prediction with ukraine is that we have another two years of it and um It's going to be uh, the end of putin's regime um My prediction with Gaza is what's going to happen is there is going to be some sort of, um, end to this with, uh, I think you're going to see the war continue.

[00:26:42] You're going to see more deaths and you're going to see Israel, uh, kick out Hamas. Then after that comes the real mess. Yeah. Cleaning up. Yeah. How do you, what do you do now? You know, because Israel doesn't have a plan except for let's put up a fence around it and keep it as the open air prison that it's been.

[00:27:06] So, as you were saying, you know, like, uh, with Netanyahu, you know, this is some old guy that's bringing old guy problems to, um, And the people can't vote him out. They can't, I don't know, understand. I guess they're going along with him. They want that. They love that property to love the way they live.

[00:27:25] There's just a lot of hatred. I don't know. It's and, and, you know, without, without the United States, Israel would not exist. Yeah, that's, you know, 1948 when they made it, uh, you know, it's, it is what it is. We could have a whole talk on that. We got to take a break, but I guess the question I have, is it the democracy that we want it to be?

[00:27:45] Or is it the democracy that we're stuck with? What do you think? I wish I was a futurist. You probably more than I am. I don't know. It's just been going on. Since 48. Yeah. And there've been a lot of meetings, talks. There's been many wars. A lot of people have died. Yet, look where we are. 21st century and we're still stuck.

[00:28:10] I saw one comic who said we should just give the Palestinians Texas. In some ways, I don't know. Lindsey, Lindsey Graham said you should nuke the place. Oh God, he said that. Lindsey Graham said we should just nuke them, drop a bomb, kill everybody there, and you'll get Hamas, you'll get rid of the Palestinians.

[00:28:36] He said this, you know, and I, I don't know, how can you say this? Well, we gotta love our leadership, um. Bunch of old guys there. Bunch of old guys. You know, just stuck, and uh, you know, it's. Well let's, let's take a short break, we're gonna be back with more of the, the World Roundup here, from the backyard.

[00:28:54] Hello, I'm Polly Chase here with artwork by Marty McCormick. This is titled Dream. It's an 8 by 10 pen and ink drawing. Be lovely in an office or child's room. Anywhere you need inspiration to let go and see where your dreams can take you. To inquire about pricing and to view other pieces of Marty's artwork, go to martinmccormick.

[00:29:22] com. Thank you. Back to you, Marty.

[00:29:36] It's an ironclad law, stronger than hay, tightrope of courage, can as a tale, reaching your hands over Over the edge I flew,

[00:29:57] you got me, and I grew.

[00:30:09] Us against the world, tougher than steel. I know your thoughts, you know how I feel. No one better for me, I believe it's true. You got me, and I grew. And I got you

[00:30:43] Doesn't mean we're perfect Been through many a game Bare the scars of battle Live to tell the tale The bond we made is never finished That's a secret too You got me and I got you.

[00:31:24] I got your back. You got mine. We'll take the flag will come my, it's an iron

[00:31:46] and I. You

[00:31:53] got me, and I got you.

[00:32:02] You got me, and I got you.

[00:32:41] And it's our section of this podcast, and I've got my expert here, Robert. We're trying to, uh, solve the world's problems, but we're trying to make sense of them. Um, I don't want, I'm going to stick it, give a movie. Sure. The movie civil war. See it if you can. I was going to ask you, I saw it because you brought up, you know, we're heading for a civil war.

[00:33:07] See it. It's, uh, scary. It's scary. There's a, there's a scary, there's a scene in there where, uh, Uh, you see this guy dressed as militia, and they catch these journalists, and they say, Listen guy, the journalists are saying, Listen guy, we're American, and the guy says, What kind of Americans are you? And that's where we are.

[00:33:26] That's Kirsten Dunst's husband. That's right. And he was thrown into that fire. That's right, she said he was there for the kids or something, and they needed a part, and they just threw him in. Scary. Yeah, I know. Oh, I saw the clip of that, and um, yeah. It's streaming now, I think it's streaming. Yeah. Yeah, I see it.

[00:33:41] Yeah, it's a big mass grave. Yeah, you see, yeah, it's, it's, uh, it's not, you know, millions of people have seen that movie and I think it's going to have an influence on the election. I think so too. I think, I think you brought up some really important points. Americans, and I've blogged about this. We don't know what it's like to truly suffer.

[00:34:05] We have historically, yeah, yeah. Black population suffered. Yeah. Poor people in general. Poor people in general. Depression, you know. But not as a country. The closest thing we probably, lately, would have been World War II, right? Yes, right, exactly, exactly. With all the flaws that American society had back then, at least, uh.

[00:34:28] And that war was fought overseas, not here. Right. London got bombed. France got occupied by the Nazis. It goes on and on. We didn't, we were suffering because we were losing loved ones. We're working to change the landscape of the family structure, but they weren't bombing buildings. They were bombing London, you know, bombing Europe.

[00:34:47] So, and we, uh, you know, I mean, uh, uh, Lincoln always said, if, if anybody was going to, uh, bring down the United States, it would be the Americans themselves, uh, paraphrase, uh, isn't that something, but he's, he's right in that sense that, um, uh, That we are, uh, we are heading toward, uh, some sort of civil unrest that can only, I think, be cured if we have a clean slate.

[00:35:18] But we're going to still have it, but maybe we'll have it in a containable fashion of mopping up. I think these elements have always been there in some ways, them rising up where we can see them. Yeah. Trump is a big, when I, when I still look at January 6th, I don't believe it. Yeah. But the boss, Trump said it was okay.

[00:35:39] He said, go down and do it. Yeah. And what they did inside the building the whole bit. I think five people died. Yep. You know, so I mean, it's, it's uh, it's a taste of what possibly could happen again. Where do these people come from now? And I have, I have family members that, uh, that you know, are still watching Trump rallies and, uh, I don't quite get it.

[00:36:00] Uh, because I think, what did they tell you think it's scary? What did they say? What's their, I don't even talk about it because I think that, uh, that it is not so much Trump. It's so as much as, uh. I think they're afraid of change. Ah, yes. They're afraid of That is, that is true. The demographics of this country is getting browner.

[00:36:20] Getting browner. Yeah. Getting a little more, you know, uh Yeah, yeah, exactly. More diverse. Diverse. And, yeah, it's frightening. It's frightening. Change is scary. Change is scary. And change, I heard this, uh, Before he, uh, came over, I was listening to the BBC, and, uh, this German comic was talking, uh, they had a bunch of comics visiting the Pope, and he thought of something interesting.

[00:36:41] He said, you know, uh, Only a German could say this. Change takes time. And, uh, how much time do we have? Here comes the train. We'll let that train go by.

[00:37:03] Ah, you gotta love the backyard. Gives us time to think, Robert. You bring an excellent question. How much time are we talking about? Or, or is it, uh, That we're always in a continuum and we, we just have to face the fact that what we think is crazy right now, 25 years from now will be looked upon as, God, I wish I lived back in 2024.

[00:37:30] I don't know. It is scary, but we've got to do something about our politics and I've always brought up to the people, I said, if the, if COVID 19 did not unify. You know, because people were doing stuff. People were denying we had a president at the time. We're still arguing about excoriating Fauci for he's just nuts.

[00:37:53] I know. I know. I know. It's terrible. If that didn't unify us, then I don't know what to say. I remember reading in Psychology Today, there's a quote by President Ronald Reagan, if I remember correctly. He called it the alien unification theory. He said, the only way we're going to all come together. If we're attacked from some extraterrestrials now, this is science fiction, right if I remember correctly he says if we're attacked Like war the worlds or independence day those films then they want the planet.

[00:38:23] We got to come together Right. You can't make a deal with these folks And I thought well COVID 19 was not Semi alien in a way, but it did but it but it didn't but it didn't unify us No, we're fighting over the we're free if people were afraid of each other Um About 8 10 million people on the planet, you know, across the planet.

[00:38:44] A million of them here. Well, how can we unify, I mean, how can we have unity in the world if we cannot unify it ourselves? I know. As a nation. I know. This is a big problem and we're not going to solve it today. Let's point out a couple little glimmers of hope and, uh, one of them is the election of the first female Jewish president in Mexico.

[00:39:08] That's right, that's right. They did something. Big brother to the north couldn't do it. That's right. That's right. I wish her luck because they've been, they've killed a few mayors, female mayors, and she's going against the cartel, and they've got their eyes on her. Yeah. You know, so, I mean, you're being more optimistic than I am.

[00:39:28] I'm hoping, I think we, uh, you know, the, the, the whole situation with, uh, the immigration on the border. Yeah. It's been politicized. We have a legitimate crisis and when you have a legitimate crisis, our dog got the zoomies. You got it. A legitimate crisis. Then you have to come up with some sort of legislation that's different from, you know, uh, the standard argument of, well, we can only, you know, let so many people in a year and all that sort of thing.

[00:40:02] Yeah. We don't have comprehensive, uh, immigration policy. I know that Obama worked on it back when he was in office, but the republicans didn't go along with it. But every country, Japan, Germany, they have, they have immigration laws. If you're in Japan illegally, you go to jail for a couple of weeks. Over here, we, we, we splurge people, we let them come here, they work the whole bit, but we don't have any comprehensive immigration policies to say these are the rules.

[00:40:30] And why can't we set up a guest worker program? I mean, That those people are a wonderful resource. Exactly. That could be Beneficial to both them and to our country. So we have it's it's we're another podcast. Yeah We're gonna have to leave it at this and we hope you enjoyed this and I'm Marty McCormack.

[00:40:59] I'm Robert Smith, and you've been listening to the world roundup from the backyard I'm Strung Out. We'll see you next time. Bye bye. Thank you for listening. For more information about this show or a transcript, visit martinmccormack. com. While there, sign up for our newsletter. See you next time on Strung Out.

[00:41:36] Give her no choice, give her no space.