you
Good morning and welcome back to the Earl Ingram Show on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Matt Rothschild, guest hosting for Earl is off today.
He'll be back on Monday and I'm joined by my usual guest host, Angela Lang of Block.
And let's just take a couple callers if they're still with us, Cardi, and then we'll continue our conversation.
What do we got?
No more callers?
All right, good.
We're going to change subjects because I wanted to get to the amazing speech by Cory Booker on the Senate floor of 25 hours.
We're going to hear a little bit from Cory Booker.
Then we'll discuss that.
You can join the conversation.
855-752-4842.
That's 855-75 Civic.
But let's let Cory Booker take the floor.
for as long as I am physically able.
This would be a crisis for elder care.
This would be a crisis for disability services.
What it is, when a nation isn't taking care of its elders, it's a crisis of our national character.
Why are so many women dying in childbirth and in the postpartum period in America?
Shameful.
And now,
I just found out that the community violence intervention money that you allowed me to fight so hard to get into that bill is being clawed back by Donald Trump.
They're writing me letters with words like fear and terror.
They're talking about staying up at night and not being able to sleep because they don't have a president that comforts them.
I mean, it's almost like you can't make this up, honestly.
Another story from a Social Security employee in New Jersey.
I am a claims representative for our Social Security field office.
The most dramatic changes I've noticed from our recent change in operations is that our appointment calendar seems to be filling up more quickly for simple post entitlement changes.
We've gone through health care cuts.
We've gone through Social Security being attacked and undermined and slashed.
If you're revoking somebody's visa, make a phone call.
Tell them that you have 30 days to leave.
But there should be due process.
You should have to make, prove your claims in court.
If this person is somehow lying with some kind of enemy, prove it.
You don't need more tax cuts.
And we as a society have an obligation to each other, to those farmers, to those rural folks, to the cops I stood with at the funeral of one of their colleagues in Newark two weeks ago.
Our social security offices are being closed already.
And the question of why?
Under the guise of efficiency, but you're hurting our elders who deserve dignity in their retirement.
It's stunning to me.
I've had farmers from New Jersey to Texas coming to my office about this president freezing contracts that we approved in a bipartisan manner.
Putting them in financial crisis, not right or left.
It's right or wrong.
It's not a partisan moment.
It's an American moment.
It's a moral moment.
Does the wealth of our people, we have more billionaires than any other country, does that speak to the greatness of our nation?
No.
I think the things that speak to the greatness of a nation is how do we take care of each other?
I asked you, are you better off than you were 72 days ago economically?
I asked that question.
Ask it to your friends.
Are they better off economically?
Well, I don't see how they could be because prices are up.
Stock markets down.
The risk of recession is climbing.
Consumer confidence is in the gutter.
I want to stand here today and tell you I'm going to do everything I can.
I'm willing to go to some lengths.
But I am inadequate.
You are inadequate.
We're senators with all of this power.
But in this democracy, the power of the people is greater than the people in power.
This is a moral moment that more Americans need to stand up and say enough is enough moment where judges rule in his favor.
And he praises them.
They just don't rule for him.
He drags them and threatens them.
So much so that Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has to tell them back to back up.
When elected officials speak up, many of them fear what the consequences would be for them or their reelection if they speak against him.
That would be it from
Cory Booker.
What a medley it was amazing and Cory Booker and I want to hear Angela what you felt about the speech but to me it was so refreshing.
Finally refreshing to have a Democratic senator rise up and with the proper sense of outrage say what's going on in this country is not normal and that this and stressing the human costs.
to the damage that Trump is inflicting on this country and that Elon Musk is inflicting on this country and stressing the moral moment.
I thought it was just an incredible, an incredible, not just a performance, it was a performance, but an incredible act of courage that I think, like the victory we had here in Wisconsin, gave us some wind, winded our sails.
I stumbled upon the speech shortly after Senator Brook Booker started it.
I happened to be on my TV about to look up something on YouTube for work.
And then I saw it said, Corey Booker is live.
And I was like, oh, what's this?
And then I kept it on until I went to bed until like midnight.
And I was like, wow.
And then I woke up and I'm scrolling social media.
And I'm like, Corey's still talking.
OK.
I went to bed.
He's still talking.
went to work, came back, still talking.
So I saw a good several hours of this and also went about my day.
But at the same time, I was thinking about it.
And I don't think it's a surprise to any of the listeners.
I'm a little left of Democrat, right?
And so for some of the lefties to take social media and say, oh, this is all performative.
He didn't talk about this.
He didn't talk about that.
And I'm like, we wanted Democrats to do something.
He is doing something.
And he's also, and I didn't watch all 25 hours now, but as someone that saw several hours, I heard him talk about how like we are inadequate.
Like I'm doing what I can, but I don't have the answers.
was kind of the tone that he was taking, but he wanted to put a face to, um, to the stats and what is happening with the Trump administration.
Cause people see these headlines, but they don't know the stories, the real stories.
Um, and what was interesting, I happened to see the time where, um, he had several stories from triple will falls.
Um, and he was like, I need to go visit, uh, which was interesting, but to see some of the senators also kind of tapped in so we can, you know, um, stop talking for a few minutes.
And I saw the exchange between.
him and Senator Tammy Baldwin as well too and so you know hearing some folks saying oh this was performative listen like if that were me up there I probably would have done things differently I would have said probably a lot more quote-unquote radical things right but I also
would not have been able to be up there for 25 hours, right?
Somebody was like, it was performative.
You perform for 25 hours.
It's something.
And whether people think it's not enough, it is something.
And I also would be remiss if I didn't talk about the, you know, it's the longest speech on the Senate floor, because he broke the previous record from Strom Thurman, who in 1957 was filibustering the Civil Rights Act.
And so to have a black man all these years later break the record.
So now the longest standing Senate speech is now about this and no longer about attacking civil rights.
That is significant.
That is meaningful.
Was it the most radical lefty thing that we have ever seen?
No, but it was still significant because you see the reaction people had a little bit of hope.
People are like, okay, Democrats are doing something.
Maybe this gives permission for other senators to also do other things.
He disrupted business as usual for 25 hours.
And he was able to capture media attention away from Trump, away from all this, what we're normally seeing.
He did something that we're not used to seeing.
And whether you agree, if it was the most lefty radical thing, you have to admit it was significant.
It was symbolic and it meant a lot to people.
And thinking long term, people need that little bit of hope right now.
They needed that energy.
And between that and the Susan Crawford win, people feel energized.
And so it was something, and I think we can't outleft each other.
We can also acknowledge that's not what all the things I would have said, but that's not what everyday Americans may be needed to hear.
And there's all sorts of criticism.
It was performative.
No, it was.
it was important and it was significant and we cannot take that away from the folks that were watching and the impact and how it impacted them too.
Yeah, that's Angela Lang who's co-hosting today with me on the Earl Ingham show.
I'm Matt Rothschild.
Yeah, I just I thought it was amazing I mean he did touch on a lot of really important issues even in that medley that Cardi brought us You know, he talked about due process and this ridiculous Anti-American assault on due process, which is just one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen And he talked about women's reproductive health.
He talked about you know
The super rich not needing a tax cut.
Uh, you know, he, he mentioned a lot of really important things.
We got a call on the line.
Yes, sir.
We have a caller on the line.
Sure.
Let's take it.
One second.
Brendan, you're on the line.
Yeah, I just wanted to express, um, I'm listening to Angela and.
I get where she's coming from, but I think what we need to do as a country is shift from this whole left and far left and right and far right thing to realizing we're in a class war.
This isn't about left and right.
We need to get elbow to elbow with the MAGA folks that are disappointed that made their vote based on all the lies they were told.
And I'm a Democrat and I grew up out in San Francisco area.
Okay.
So I'd probably be considered a tree hugger.
But, you know, I just got back from the grocery store and man is my debit card tired.
Okay.
We need to get together.
and as right and left, but hard-working Americans.
That's what we are, and that's who we need to stand with,
And that's really my message.
And I also just want to really quickly point out, because I see Cardi holding his hand up, that while four dead Americans were brought home, Trump jumped on Air Force One for another $3.1 million golf trip to go down to Dorao,
and attend the live golf tournament.
Okay, so that's our leadership right now, everybody.
Okay, so for those of you that voted on the right in Wisconsin, wake up.
Come on, man.
We're in this
right
with you.
We're in
it.
We hear you, Brendan.
We got it.
We got it.
I'm sorry to cut you off.
We got to take a break.
We'll be right back on The Rolling Room Show or we'll be back on Monday.
Matt Rothschild here with Angela Lang.
We'll take your calls and we'll talk about the economy on the way back.
It's
Matt Rothschild here subbing in for Earl Ingram on the Earl Ingram show all across the Civic Media Radio Network.
Earl Buak on Monday.
I'm joined by Angela Lang, founder and executive director of Block.
She's my
co-guest host today and whenever I'm called in to sub, I immediately text or email Angela to see if she can join me.
So it's always a pleasure being with you, Angela.
Thanks for being
I want to thank Brendan for that call and for his funny comment, not in kind of a telling comment.
Man, my debit card is tired.
I know we had a texture.
Happiness Donuts is the tag who said
Her debit cards tired too.
So there you go.
And I think a lot more people's debit cards are going to be tired.
You better buckle your seatbelts here because the markets are going down fast.
I'm looking at the Dow down 2.85% and the S&P and NASDAQ down about 3.5% just this morning.
What we have is Donald Trump.
It's not funny.
It's disastrous for people.
uh, especially for people who, uh, you know, 401ks are going through the floor, uh, or lifetime investments are being decimated right now.
But Donald Trump has just taken a blowtorch to our economy and trashing it.
Uh, let's lighten it up a little low with Stephen Colbert, who I saw last night with a funny little take on this.
Cardi, if you've got that queued up, let's play Stephen Colbert.
Today was the first day of trading on Wall Street since Trump slathered our economy in honey and staked it down next to a fire-and-hill.
And the Dow Jones nose dived 1,700 points, joining the S&P and NASDAQ and having their biggest drop since 2020.
So, worst day for our economy since COVID.
Just a little reminder,
This time, he's the disease.
Has anyone... I'm just spitballing here.
Has anyone thought about injecting our money with bleach?
Yeah.
More kind of gallows humor about our economy here as...
Everyone's standard of living is going to go down here.
I mean, prices are going to go up across the board because of the tariffs.
People had money in the stock market yesterday, had a lot less money there today.
People who had it in the market a month ago have seen a lot of it go away.
And so everyone's going to have less disposable income.
And so the economy is going to go into a recession and maybe a deep recession.
And there may be a global recession.
and you know it may be music to China's ears that can take a lot of our business and have better stable relationships with other trading partners because the United States right now is not a stable trading partner.
We have an egomaniac who's president who shoots from the hip and just tries to act the bully and doesn't understand global economics at all.
If he did he wouldn't have been
imposing these ridiculous tariffs that he imposed the other day, strutting around with his placard in his hand like he's, you know, just a salesman, which he's always been just a con man salesman.
He was doing his pitch and look where it's gotten us.
And so the economy is in pretty much freefall, at least the markets are.
And, you know, for people who voted for Donald Trump, I know a lot of people voted for Donald Trump because of the economy, because the economy was good last time around until COVID.
And they thought, yeah, this businessman, this
billionaire can help with the economy, but, you know, he fooled you again.
That's what a comment does.
If that's what you all said by electing Donald, my eggs should be free at this point.
That's why you all chose to elect him, right?
And here we are.
And I think to bring it back to, I've been thinking about this, the classism aspect that one of the callers said, like it's not left or right, it's, it's classism.
And I, I agree to a certain extent of that.
Absolutely.
And I think if we're going to connect this back locally with the Supreme Court, people are hurting.
People are feeling the pinch.
They're going to unfortunately feel it even more in the coming days and coming weeks as the markets continue to be what they are.
And here you are having the richest man in the world say,
Well, if you just give me your phone number and email address, I'll give you $100.
Sell your democracy for $100, knowing that people are feeling financially stressed.
They're feeling that financial crunch right now, and knowing it is appealing to say, oh, let's just give you some little chump change.
$100 for Elon Musk is pennies in his pocket.
And so if we're going to really talk about this classism,
Let's talk about how you have people trying to buy or vote, how to sell out our own democracy, because the backdrop is that the economy is in free fall and people are hurting.
People could use that extra $100 to make rent or put food on their table or gas in their tank or childcare.
What have you?
And so I think that that was intentional of knowing that the markets and the economy and eggs and childcare and housing, all of these costs are going up.
People are getting priced out.
And then here is Elon Musk kind of just throwing $100 at people.
And I think there's something to be said about the classism, about how these billionaires are playing in our democracy.
We have this oligarchy right now, but the masses clearly don't even have the same level of wealth or can't even try to compete.
So people are doing things in order to make ends meet, including signing a petition that Elon Musk said.
And a lot of folks said, I took the $100, but I voted for Susan Crawford.
But I think it was just like I added little extra trying to dangle money over people's heads because of the current economic situation right now.
And it's so condescending for Musk and for Trump to say, there might be a little bit of pain here in the short term.
Donald Trump is not going to feel the pain.
Elon Musk doesn't feel the pain.
Never.
But if you're listening to this show, you're going to feel the pain.
You're probably feeling the pain today looking at the stock market.
You're feeling the pain when you're going to the grocery store.
And after these tariffs kick in, the prices are going to be even higher and you're going to even feel more pain.
So it's so obnoxious and rude for Trump and Musk to be talking about, you know, you got to endure a little pain here.
These guys are going to be fine.
And it's the rest of us that are going to be enduring the pain.
That's what's so disgraceful about it.
And I agree, in part, it's not left, right, it's top, bottom, as Jim Hightower used to say.
But, you know, I'm a person of the left and I believe in the power of the people and the power of us as a community through our elected government to solve the problems.
And I think we're going to have to come back to that after we get through this period of Trump and we're going to talk about...
Maybe how we can get through this period when we return right after the break.
I'm Matt Rothschild.
I'm here with Angela Langer, listening to the Earl Ingram show on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Welcome back to The Earl Ingham Show.
I'm Matt Rothschild.
I'm guest hosting for Earl.
We'll be back on Monday.
And my fellow co-host, Angela Lange is with me.
Angela Lange is the founder and executive director of Block.
Black leaders are organizing for communities.
Angela, it's been a fun hour and a half so far.
We've got a half hour left.
How are you doing?
There you go.
I'll keep it to that.
Cardi, it's a pleasure working with you too.
Do we have a caller on the line?
Yes, we do.
We have Charles.
Charles, you're on the line.
Good morning.
First of all, great show, great show.
My only pushback would be that
Trump didn't come into a disaster his first term.
He came in on an upswing economy that Obama had going.
And I know COVID kind of dismantled that.
But I don't know that Trump could have turned around the economy if he would have came into what Obama came into.
I think he's more of a slickster and talks a lot a big game.
But when it comes down to abuse, look at how he's run his own businesses.
They've all been a disaster.
Charles, I really appreciate the call.
I mean, Trump is the ultimate slickster.
I mean, that's who the guy is.
And you're right.
I mean, he inherited a good economy from Obama.
He inherited a great economy from Biden.
This is a self-inflicted wound.
I mean, he shot himself in the heart right now.
He shot the economy in the heart.
And it was going full steam.
You know, he's just destroyed this thing in no time flat, and he's got no one to blame but himself.
I mean, the market's down, you know, three and a half percent, four percent just this morning.
And it's crazy.
I mean, he blames Biden before he goes to sleep at night.
But I mean,
you know, that's who he is.
And he's a narcissist.
He's a clinical narcissist.
If you look in any of the mental health books or online under pathological narcissist, he checks every box.
And that's who we have here.
And that's the tragedy of November.
that the American people elected this guy again.
And we're living with this tragedy for the next four years.
And so my question to you, Angela, is, you know, how do we get through this
That's a very good question.
You know, I think going back to a previous call about being able to just like build up our community, I think that's incredibly important right now.
I think especially after November,
there are some folks, some of my organizing friends that looked around and were like, where is everybody?
What's happening?
What are we doing?
And what I noticed is that people were moving inward.
How are they protecting people?
How are they protecting immigrants?
How are they protecting trans folks in their communities?
And so I think that was something that we didn't necessarily see after the first Trump election.
And there was immediate, you know, mass protests.
But I think that there was a little bit of a pause, a collective one, I think everybody was stunned.
So everyone had to take a minute to
process, but I appreciate that people were like, all right, how are we doubling down on mutual aid?
How am I an ally being able to show up for folks that may be targeted in this administration?
So I think we need to continue to do more of that.
But also like I'm looking outside and spring is here and summer will be here.
And how are we also finding ways to be with people and to live outside and to live our lives?
Because I think for me, I'm always working and I'm always
trying to figure out how do we fix this gestures wildly?
And it's just like, we also don't want to have our own lives kind of pass us by while we're trying to do this.
We want thriving communities, because we want to live thriving lives, but we need to also make sure that we're taking time to live in those thriving lives in addition to building some of that community and resisting to.
Yeah, I think there was a lull after November, but people are coming back.
And if
want to join the conversation and give us your idea how we make it through this Trump administration, 855-752-4842.
Cardi tells me we have callers.
I think Ollie's up next.
Ollie from the Northwoods.
Good morning, Matt and Angela.
Congratulations on your award.
But I have a couple of things that, first off, I'd like to say of Cory Booker's speech that it was not performative, but it was informative.
And the most patriotic thing that I've heard or felt in a long, long time in the United States, and I think that's what people don't understand is that with Trump's
It's hurting each one of us in the pocketbook.
I'm a senior citizen on Social Security disabled, so I can't get out and march, although I wish I could.
I would start a Cory Booker stand alongside Cory Booker protest.
But I want to say that
only is Trump hurting
us in our pocketbook.
He's hurting us in so many ways.
The people from other countries are not going to come here and spend their money here or want to come here.
They're not going to want us in their country.
They're never going to
feel like they can trust America anymore.
So so many things have been damaged by by Trump's nonsense and his tariffs and the way he's tearing apart people and I call the the different
places for the other countries and and say this is not what America wants Please understand that that Trump is tearing down our country as well and I think it would behoove all of us to take a minute to write the other countries just a letter to say that
that we are standing with them and not with Trump and We hope they understand and stand with us
Yeah, thanks Ali from the North Woods for that thoughtful comment.
I know Friends of mine who've been to Europe for instance recently, you know, they they have to essentially say, you know Try to explain this crazy country to people in Europe for one thing because people can't understand what's going on and it's hard
to understand what's going on
And
say Trump does not represent us.
And so I think that's a really important point, Ali.
Also, Ali, you mentioned, you know, protests.
I do want to reiterate that there are protests going on all over the country tomorrow at noon in Madison.
They're at the Capitol in Milwaukee.
They're at 517 East Wisconsin Avenue up in Wasaw.
They're on Ribb Mountain Drive.
between Michael Crafts and Hobby Lobby and La Crosse.
They're on Lose Boulevard South and State Road.
At Eau Claire, it's at Farmers Market Pavilion.
And in Green Bay, they're at Like Memorial Park.
So there are protests going on all over the country tomorrow, all over Wisconsin.
You can find out more details at handsoff2025.com.
It's really important that people protest.
because we need to show our fellow citizens, we need to show Donald Trump that we're not on board with any of this craziness, and we want, you know, our democracy back.
So please join those protests if you can.
Cardi, do we have another caller?
Yes, we have three callers on the line.
Let's go to Jojo.
Jojo, you're on the line.
Oh, there's about 810 subjects.
I mean, one better than the next, but...
The handwriting, I've done a graph analysis for like 70 years, and it always disturbed me that people had not paid attention.
It's certifiable.
I mean, it's just, that's only a tiny thing.
Oh, every caller has been amazing this morning.
Bless each one of them for calling in to important radio station.
Oh, gee whiz.
I'm like this lady.
I'm in the 80s and I'm usually sharp, but I'm short-circuit.
You're doing fine, JoJo.
Oh, yeah.
Let's see.
It can be a hoot when I get going because I get, you know, get it kind of comedic.
Oh, let's see.
Well, other subjects we've had.
Each one.
I should make notes.
Gee whiz, I want to go.
The penny, when McKinley was shot in Milwaukee, 90 years ago, about now, $100 is $100.
That $100 now is a wheat penny.
That's probably, you'd probably sell a wheat penny for half a, half a hundred.
So when, not Dr. is wrong, the other sidekick, what's his name, Musk.
When he offers a hundred dollars, that's like one cent.
We'd be, we, the people would be better off to take our two cents worth and keep speaking up.
There was a breath of fresh air since this election.
I was afraid to turn the radio on.
I would not listen to the reports of election the night, you know, the night before.
So with hesitancy, I picked up a cell phone, which I'm not too happy about in general, but it had news and I scammed and got that.
We have brought the fresh air here and.
So I was more succinct as I was waiting on the line.
Oh,
that's OK, Jojo.
I want to thank you for your call.
We've got to cut.
Yeah, but we've got to cut other people.
I really appreciate your calling and your kind words too.
Who else is up, Cardi?
Let's go to Jack from Racine.
Jack, you're on the line.
Hello, Jack, you're on the line.
All right, let's go to John from Milwaukee.
John, you're on the line.
Yeah, I just would like to give some information on tariffs based on my career.
I can't understand.
I can't understand any importer or supplier that would not pass on the tariffs, although they're talking that some may.
But when they pass on a 25% tariff, that's $25 on 100, then it goes, they put their margin on top of that $25.
Then it comes to a distributor and the distributor will put their margin on that tariff in addition to the importer.
And finally, it goes to a retailer and they will put their margin.
the margins are typically 25, 25, and 20.
And so when that three systems apply the margin to the $25 tariff based on $100 investment, it turns out to be $55 is what the consumer will be seeing an increase of $55 based on the tariff.
It is not a $25
on 100, it's 55.
John, thanks for that call.
I mean, these tariffs are really going to bite.
As John says, it's not just the tariff itself, but it's the added price along the line before it gets to us as consumers.
And so as a result, everything's going to cost more.
Inflation is going to go up.
We're going to have less disposable income.
The economy is going to go into reverse.
People are going to be laid off.
people that Elon Musk has been firing, but businesses aren't going to be able to make it.
And so this is a crisis of Donald Trump's making, an intentional sabotage of our own economy.
And this is an opportunity for us to talk to people who may have voted for Trump thinking he could help with the economy and just say, look, this isn't what you bargained for.
This isn't what you wanted.
I know, I know you.
and the great thing about organizing Angela and her group goes door-to-door and has these relationships with people so you and your team can talk to them and other organizers around the state in Jefferson up in western Wisconsin who do great door-to-door work.
We can make the case now in a very powerful way.
This is The Earl Ingram Show.
We'll be right back.
I'm Matt Rothschild with Angela Lange.
Please join us.
855-752-4842.
Hey Matt Rothschild
here on The Rolling Room Show with Angelo.
Lang and Cardi in the booth.
You're listening to the Erlingham Show.
Erl's not here today.
He'll be back on Monday.
The number to call to join the conversation is 855-752-4842.
That's 855-75.
Civic, how are we gonna get through this Trump administration?
How are we gonna get through the day?
I'm just looking at CNN right now for the latest.
Dow is down 4%.
S&P is down 4.85%.
NASDAQ is down 5.35%.
Thank you, Donald Trump.
I guess we've got a different Don on the line.
Let's go to Don.
It's the good Don from Milwaukee.
Here we
go.
Yeah, I'm a lot different, trust me.
Good morning.
Good morning.
You know, when he was standing, this idiot, this moron, when he was standing in the
Rose
Garden the other day, on the chart of all these countries, he was gonna, he had different, you know, where he was gonna charge his tariffs.
I noticed just one country that was missing.
And I wonder if you guys can guess who it was.
Don't know.
Tell us, please.
Russia.
I didn't see that name there.
Vietnam.
You named the country.
I mean,
he
had every country under the sun on that chart.
You know, I'm looking at Vietnam.
Gee, I didn't think we'd done that much trade with Vietnam.
But oh, well, I just thought I'd bring that to your attention.
So thank you for honoring me with your call.
Well done.
Thank you for yeah, thank you for calling and honoring civic media with your voice and your comment Which is a good one too and I wanted to get back to also what another caller had mentioned Angela and that is Trump's gonna be going golfing right now when Everyone
in
America is looking at the economy going straight into the toilet.
I mean That's not a good.
It's not a good optic for him.
No,
and so Yeah, you know, but I am still
trying to puzzle through why he wants to destroy the economy.
Part of me thinks that maybe he just wants to exercise dictatorial powers one way or another.
And when people rise up and protest like I hope we'll all do tomorrow at noon, he might use it as an excuse to...
Put the tanks in the streets.
I mean that's my biggest fear of the Trump administration that we're gonna have full-blown fascism because he is a fascist he's surrounded by fascist folks And they're looking for an opportunity.
I mean right now, you know this disappearing of people is grotesque and We are in a police state in a way as an op-ed writer at the New York Times named guessing pointed out earlier this week We're entering a police state
And I wanted to go to a poem.
I always like to bring a poem to civic media whenever I'm on from the great Adrian Rich.
This is a poem where she mentions that people are being disappeared in the United States.
She was being prophetic as always.
This is a poem called What Time, What Times Are These?
And this is the first of a sequence of poems called What Kind of Times Are These, the title coming from
a poem by the great German communist playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht, in which he says, what kind of times are these when it seems almost a crime to talk about trees because it means keeping silent about so many evil deeds.
There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill.
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows, near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted who disappeared into those shadows.
I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be fooled.
This isn't a Russian poem.
This is not somewhere else but here.
Our country moving closer to its own truth and dread.
its own ways of making people disappear.
I won't tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods, meeting the unmarked strip of light, ghost-ridden crossroads, leaf-mold paradise.
I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.
And I won't tell you where it is.
So why do I tell you anything?
Because you still listen.
Because in times like these, to have you listen at all, it's necessary to talk about trees.
Amazing poem by the great poet, Edrian Rich, what times are these?
And, you know, we are at the edge of dread.
And what a great line that is.
And I just want to talk a second about her introduction there.
She talked about Bertolt Brecht.
and it reminded me of a comment by Walter Benjamin who said there can be no poetry after Auschwitz, but of course we need poetry after Auschwitz, and we need to appreciate the trees in the Adrian Rich poem just as we need to protest.
We need to do both in all
of
them, and we need our art with our activism.
That's all I got for you today.
I want to thank all the callers and all the textures.
I want to thank Earl Ingram for letting me sub in for him.
Angela Lange, of course, who's just a tremendous activist and voice and prize-winning writer.
Great to go host with you, as always, Angela.
Thank you.
And Cardi, it's terrific working with you in the booth.
Always holding it down.
Yeah, thanks for getting all the clips together.
And thank you.
the listener for listening to this show.
I hope you have a nice weekend.
I hope you'll turn out at the protest tomorrow at noon if you can.
Thanks very much and enjoy the weekend.
In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats, they're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.