Hello! Hello! Hello! Welcome to episode twenty-four of We Don’t Talk About P-word!
I want to begin today by letting you know that this will be my last episode for the next couple of months. I will be taking some time off to write and do some podcast housekeeping. Unfortunately, I am the only full-time member of my team. That makes it difficult to get other things done between writing and producing. 
Before we wrap up the season and I get into today's episode, I want to talk about a couple of stories that I have mentioned. Each story highlights the theme of this first season, and we must keep an eye on the outcomes. They all have serious consequences for our nation.
The first is the looming debt crisis. On Thursday April 20, the Speaker of the House released a plan. It requires spending-cuts in the next budget to raise the ceiling for the current budget. In contrast, the President has stated that the debt ceiling is not a partisan football to play with. He insists that there must be a clean increase to the debt ceiling to cover the debts already accrued. 
For now, it appears we are still in a stalemate. Unfortunately, the default date is getting closer. Remember what I shared in episode thirteen "Defund It Into Nonexistence." The debt ceiling has nothing to do with future debt or new spending. The debt ceiling is money already spent or obligated. It is the invoice for what we owe. Some of the debts are from previous administrations.
The debt ceiling is not a bargaining chip or concession given in compromise. It is our obligation as a nation to cover the money we have already spent. Using it as a partisan bludgeon disrespects the People's government. Holding the People's credit rating hostage is another way to chip away at the People's power. 
The next story we should keep an eye on is the myriad of stories covering classified documents. We have a former President, a current President, a former vice President, and an Air Force airman. 
There has been little information since the appointment of the special councils. As we discussed in episode fourteen "Outside of a SCIF," this was expected. The addition of the airman highlights a serious concern. Our classified documents are not handled with the necessary care. 
I can tell you, having served with a clearance, that a lot of people need access to classified documents. This includes people of all ages and positions of authority. The solution is not as easy as saying these people can't see them. We must find an answer because our current procedures are not working. 
This case highlights another issue facing Americans, as important as outdated handling procedures. Three men at the highest echelon of government were found with classified documents. So was another at the lowest echelon of military service. This provides us with a startling contrast in accountability.
It is important for us to watch these cases play out. These are serious threats to national security. We must know how, why, and what was done (or intended to be) with them. The way these cases handle the perpetrators is important, as well. Depending on the answers to how, why, and what, we must have accountability. This will show us how serious the courts are about "no one is above the law." 
The next story that we need to keep an eye on is in Ohio. The Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine Ohio is still playing out. Their CEO has testified before the Ohio Senate, and the DOJ has sued Norfolk Southern. Again, we are still in the early stages of this investigation. So far, the CEO is apologizing, but not going as far as mandating bigger crews to ensure safety. That would hit their bottom line.
I don't know about you, but a CEO's apology for their company’s cost-cutting measures isn’t worth much to me. It’s kind of like politicians’ thoughts and prayers following a mass shooting. We must regulate corporations to ensure the safety of the People. 
This story will move slowly, but it is one we need to keep an eye on. We must ensure that we hold corporations accountable.
The last story is the one I highlighted in episode eighteen "The Very Basis of Our Government." This is the only one that has a resolution, so far. This involves Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox News. Fox News settled for $780 million. They knew they had no leg to stand on after depositions and emails provided proof of their lies. 
This is a win for Dominion Voting Systems. Additionally, they protected the Corporate Political Agenda like a good little corporation. By accepting the settlement, they ensured there will be no court case. There will be no public admittance of the lies and misdirection that Fox News engaged in. None of their owners or on-air talent will have to admit their wrongdoing. They get to cover up the propaganda.
Dominion may have won, but the People lost. 
Before I move into today's episode, I want to also remind you of the two I discussed last week. The first was the indictment of the former President in NY. The other was the ethics investigation into Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Both will have major implications for the power of the People.
In today’s episode, we won’t be talking about any new concepts or stories. I want to take the last episode to reiterate this season’s theme. 
From the beginning, I have set my sights on making politics accessible. Understanding our politics is key to ensuring a nation OF the People. I have tried to simplify politics in a way that makes it, maybe not fun, but hopefully less intimidating. 
I have done my best to explain why just knowing the basics isn’t enough. I have attempted to show you that being informed is the only way to hold on to our power. I have sought to highlight the motives of our Founders. I have endeavored to prove to you that the parties do not work for us. I have pleaded with you not to take their propaganda at face value.
The American experiment is in peril. American democracy is beset by those meant to shepherd it. The American Dream has been taken hostage by our worship of wealth.
Our nation, touted as indivisible, is divided by partisanship and propaganda. Neither of those is real; both are tools of subversion. Our political and corporate elites promote division over indivisibility. That is not the American way.
You can’t blame them. Power corrupts, and it corrupts the weak fastest of all. If you’re paying attention to the backbones of most politicians, you see how weak they truly are. Their only desire is to feed their egos and bank accounts. They lick the boots of their corporate benefactors who make it possible. They are no longer public servants, if they ever were.
This separation, this division is on us. We can try to shift the blame all we want, but there is no one but “We the People” at fault. 
We have ignored the rising partisanship. It validates our fear of others and makes us feel superior. We have accepted the propaganda because it’s easier than learning the truth. We denigrate education because people who know more than us threaten our egos. We ignore the dark events in our history because history makes us feel bad. 
We. Are. Snowflakes.
We are spoiled and entitled. We have disconnected from reality. We have chosen fantasy over truth. We vehemently defend the Corporate Political Agenda’s takeover of America. We shout “They deserve to make a profit!” We pat ourselves on the back while looking down on those less fortunate than us.
We stand around congratulating ourselves for being better than our neighbors. All the while, we complain about high prices, inflation, and supply shortages. We never take the mere moments necessary to understand why.
We ignore Americans dying because of a lack of healthcare. We “overlook” Americans sleeping on the streets. We disregard Americans who go to bed hungry.
We dismiss them by saying, “They’re just lazy.” or “Get a job!”.
We stand by as drugs decimate American families. We value things over lives. We defend profit over people. We sit idle as people of color are murdered by those hired to protect… simply for not being white. 
We have rejected empathy for superiority and partisanship. I must wonder if we ever had it. 
I cannot give you empathy; only you can decide to care about your fellow Americans. I have attempted to give you knowledge. I have tried to provide understanding. I have sought to show you how the elites use us to achieve their partisan goals. 
Embracing empathy is up to you. Caring about your fellow Americans is a decision only you can make. Being a good American… loving thy neighbor… that is up to you. 
I have warned you of the dangers of the Corporate Political Agenda. I have shown you how it has undermined American Values from the beginning. I have offered the first steps in toppling it.
I have shown you the way. It may not be easy. It may fail before it succeeds, but it can succeed. If you want to fix the problem, we must initiate a political reset. 
That is the only way America succeeds. The People must decide that America is worth it. The People must unite and remind our politicians who they serve. The People must speak in one voice, or we will have no voice.
That is the only way we protect our power. We have let this go on too long. We have allowed them too much power. The response must be drastic.
We must shake loose the influence of the Corporate Political Agenda. We must stand together because if we don’t, we will certainly fall together. 
To overthrow the corporate coup, we must focus on the pillars propping it up, and knock them down together. Without these crutches, it cannot thrive. We must destroy the foundation sustaining the Corporate Political Agenda. 
Over the last twenty-three episodes, I have done my best to emphasize these pillars. I have tried to show you how they erode our nation. I have tried to stress how they work together, not for us, but against us. I have done my best to show you that our Founders hoped for a better way. I have tried to show you that there is a better way. 
Before we close out for the season, I want to take one more episode to plead for your help. It’s not for me, but for the republic we hold dear. 
The first pillar of corruption is partisanship. We accept our political party’s spin without question. We never consider their goals nor question their motives. Those parties have no other goal but to get their members reelected. Their goal is to remain in power, so that they may wield it to achieve their agenda. We accept when Republicans say, “Democrats are coming for our guns.” We accept when Democrats say, “Republicans hate minorities.” We accept the line they both have drawn, and we stand firmly on our side. We cannot explain why, but we insist they are right anyway.
This must end. We must understand that the parties do NOT care about the People. This is not why they exist. This is not their purpose. Their purpose is power. 
George Washington saw the rising scourge of political parties. He warned us as he left office, even if I place much of the blame on him. He spoke bluntly about factions and the parties they spawn: 
“Let me… warn you… against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally…”
“They serve to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party… …to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction…
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, …is itself a frightful despotism.
The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual, and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction…”
He even provided us with a forewarning of the election of 2016:
“As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways… …many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils!”
We were warned. We have been repeatedly reminded, yet we let parties have their way with our government. 
If you take a moment to consider parties logically, it should become clear. If their purpose was to represent the People, there would be no need for parties. All one would need is a good platform to run on. What the parties do is gatekeeping. They hold the money; they choose who they support in each race. They decide who is “good enough.”
Partisanship thrives when we are more afraid than patriotic.
The parties do nothing but cause division. They do this through the second pillar of corruption: propaganda. They use their members’ wants and fears to twist the truth to fit partisan narratives. They use us. They lie to us. They capitalize on our fears of the unknown and of the future.
We must always remain cautious of propaganda. It is the most persistent pillar; once that genie is out of the bottle, it’s hard to put back in. A lie grows, and as it becomes more outrageous, the more people want to believe it. Fortunately, it is the easiest to topple. Facts are easily proven if the observer is willing to look. 
If they are willing to remove the blinders. 
Propaganda does not hold up to scrutiny. Political parties, corporations, and the elites all use it to spread their lies. The most dangerous is when they manipulate a fact to make their lies seem legitimate. 
The border is a problem, but that doesn’t make those seeking safety and a new life a problem.
Propaganda only succeeds when we are too lazy to seek the truth. Propaganda only succeeds when we fear education. Propaganda only succeeds when we care more about ourselves than the nation we call home.
Propaganda thrives on our thirst for power and our indifference to facts.
Propaganda keeps the third pillar standing. Parasitic capitalism values profit over people. Corporations are all about profit. Their only goal is to grow bigger to corral more profit. No matter how big or how profitable they become, it is never enough. They consume and consume until there is nothing more to consume. They are never satisfied. Every year they must get bigger and make more money. 
Consume workers; consume resources; hoard profit; rinse and repeat. Like an out-of-control fire, we must drown it.
When is big, big enough? When is there enough profit? Why are We the People supporting these corporations who do not support the People? Why do we defend their profit-driven mindset while our fellow Americans suffer? 
Why do we belittle our neighbors’ suffering? When did our fellow Americans become the enemy? When did we become collaborators?
Capitalism is the heartbeat of our nation. There is no doubt. We are strong. We are wealthy. We are… corrupted. The first two can be true without the last. 
Unregulated capitalism is a recipe for disaster. When capitalism is king, the People suffer. When profit is the driving force of our nation, the People suffer. When property is more important than lives, the People suffer. 
No thing is more important than the People. A broken window, a burned-down building, a car can all be replaced. Life cannot. No thing is more important than the People.
We must get past our profit-over-people mindset. That is if we ever hope to halt the influence of the Corporate Political Agenda. We must force corporations to give back to the People that allow them to operate. We must demand they invest adequately in the future of our nation. We must ensure our children’s and their children’s power remains intact. 
Profit-over-people thrives when we value things over lives.
No pillar can stand long without the last one. Once the fourth falls, it’s only a matter of time for the others. For the People to succeed, this is the first that must fall. Unfortunately, this will also be the hardest one to topple.
That’s not because it requires specific skills, nor because it is expensive. It is the hardest because it requires every Person to reject the propaganda. It is the hardest because it requires the People to put in a little extra effort. It is the hardest because it requires admitting We the People are more alike than different.
The first pillar that must fall is the plague of passive voters. These are voters that go to the polls and cast a vote for a party, not a representative. These are voters that don’t vote and say, “My vote doesn’t matter anyway.” These are young voters who think politics doesn’t affect them. 
Passive voters are those who do not vote, vote party because of... "reasons” or vote without knowing the candidate or their agenda. 
If nothing else, by now I hope that I have shown you how detrimental to our way of life passive voters are. We cannot make informed decisions if we do not know the candidates. We cannot decide which candidate is better if we do not understand their agenda. We cannot hope to be represented if we do not take part in the process.
We cannot remain a nation of the People, by the People, and for the People if we remain passive voters. We must understand our candidates. We must know what they intend to do with our power. We must not elect those that covet that power. 
We must inform ourselves. We must encourage our friends to inform themselves. We must not blindly vote for a party. We must vote for the People. 
The Corporate Political Agenda thrives as long as we remain passive voters. 
The Corporate Political Agenda holds us back as a nation. It has been nipping at our heels for 246 years, biding its time, coveting our power, and waiting to strip us of it. It has been waiting for us to be too busy, too tired, too uninformed… too weak to fight.
We fought back against the East India Company. We stopped the robber baron takeover of America at the turn of the century. We survived their Great Depression. We must not now let apathy be the death of our republic. 
Our future, like our past, is dependent on the power of the People. 
If you have listened to the end of each episode, you’ll know that I always end with the same line. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Populus facere. Most probably recognize it as Latin. But what does it mean and why do I say it? 
The first line is a quote that has been around for a long time. It was written in the first century by a Roman poet named Juvenal. It has popped up in many forms since then. It has even been highlighted in pop culture like Star Trek and Watchmen. 
It is a question that translates to: “Who will guard the guards themselves?” A more modern interpretation would be: “Who watches the watchers?” 
The adage begs the question: who will question those in charge when they do wrong?
This is an excellent question. If no one keeps the government in check, how are we protected from their abuses? This has been a concern for much of human history. 
For many people around the world, there is no answer; no one watches the watchers. But in the United States, there is an answer to this conundrum. 
Our Founders knew they must answer this age-old question for Democracy to thrive. They understood this was necessary to form a more perfect union. 
That answer is Populus facere, or “the People do.” 
They knew democracy wouldn’t survive otherwise. They placed the power of a nation in the hands, not of a king, an emperor, nor even a Congress, but the People.
This question is no longer rhetorical; we have answered it. The People are what separates our republic from despotism. The awareness of the People is what determines if that remains true. 
Our nation has many benefits that keep us safe. We are separated from unfriendly nations by large oceans. As controversial as it may be, a large portion of our population is armed and deter invasion. Capitalism makes us wealthy beyond most other nations. Our military is the largest and best trained in the world. Our strengths protect us, but that does not make us invulnerable. 
We may be too strong to be defeated by conventional means, but that is not the only way to fall. Our destruction brews from within. If we cannot topple the Corporate Political Agenda, like Rome before us, we will fall. 
This is not the nation our Founders envisioned. They pictured a nation where the People were safe and happy. Despite technology, nothing has changed between modern America and colonial America. The People suffer at the hands of partisan government and monied interests. Instead of a despotic king, we have a nation ruled by wealthy elites. We are an aristocracy in all but name. 
That is not the America our Founders revolted for.
I have shown you the evils of the Corporate Political Agenda. I have shown you the relationship between it and politics. I have shown you the pillars we must topple to end its dominance. 
The beer you drink is irrelevant. The theme park you visit on vacation means nothing. The restaurant you refuse to eat at will survive. It’s time to focus your energy on protecting our nation, not petty culture wars. We must come together and cancel the Corporate Political Agenda. We must reset our system of politics.
Over the course of the last twenty-three episodes, I have outlined the first steps. We must elect an independent President and we must amend away the power of corporations. We must use our system of government to make safe our power.
I ask you to join me in my bloodless revolution. I ask you to enlist your friends and family. Our movement cannot take hold if you do not share it. I ask you to put aside partisanship and propaganda. Help put an end to the Corporate Political Agenda, once and for all. 
I have shared the truth in every episode. I have provided nothing more than “simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense.” Some of those facts may be upsetting, but it doesn’t make them less true. Remember: facts aren’t meant to make you feel good. 
Also, facts don’t matter if we do not uphold them. That is up to us. 
We the People are the Power!