WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.839 Welcome back. So today we're doing a really critical 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:07.459 deep dive. Think of it as a post -mortem sequel 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:09.900 on the recent elections. Right. But we're not 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:11.759 really looking at the big national headlines 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.119 you've already heard. No. We want to drill down 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:18.579 into those micro signals. maybe the media missed. 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:22.059 Things like unexpected local results, simmering 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:24.460 cultural stuff. Exactly. Things pointing towards 00:00:24.460 --> 00:00:27.679 2026, maybe even deeper shifts. Yeah. And we've 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.600 pulled together a really interesting mix of sources 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:33.600 for you. It's got internal analysis on how the 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.299 administration reacted privately to, well, taking 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:39.640 a beating. OK. Surprising results. Georgia, Mississippi, 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:42.880 a deep dive into that key Pennsylvania County, 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:47.039 Bucks. The bellwether. And then this other Quite 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.380 profound clash brewing between the administration's 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:52.060 policies and, well, the Catholic Church. OK, 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:54.020 so quite a rage. So for you, the listener, the 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:56.920 mission today is connecting these seemingly scattered 00:00:56.920 --> 00:00:59.299 dots. Right. What does it all mean? What's the 00:00:59.299 --> 00:01:00.840 picture they paint about the political climate 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.040 right now? And what are the practical signs that 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.500 might actually matter going forward? Let's jump 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:10.239 in. OK, let's start at the top. National noise, 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:13.519 internal party stuff. Sounds good. So leading 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:16.849 up to the vote, there was a lot of chatter. maybe 00:01:16.849 --> 00:01:21.349 even some fear about the DOJ sending election 00:01:21.349 --> 00:01:23.409 monitors, right? Oh, yeah, big story. So places 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:25.989 like California, New Jersey, place you wouldn't 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:28.930 necessarily expect. And the fear was, is this 00:01:28.930 --> 00:01:33.790 a trial run, a dry run for 2026 voter intimidation? 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:36.269 It definitely dominated the pre -election coverage, 00:01:37.049 --> 00:01:39.750 but according to sources who were actually there, 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:42.840 on the ground. It was, well, pretty much a non 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:44.700 -event. Really? Yeah. Reporters were out looking 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:46.640 for these monitors, couldn't find them. We heard, 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.239 like, maybe two spotted in all of Fresno County, 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:51.560 that kind of thing. Just two. Yeah. And when 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:53.500 they were found, they weren't career folks. They 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.939 were political appointees, some described as, 00:01:55.939 --> 00:01:58.780 you know, hardcore Mejia loyalists. OK. So what's 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:00.780 the read on that? Our material seems to have 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:03.200 two sort of competing theories on why it fizzled. 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:05.859 Right. One idea is maybe the administration just 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:07.840 couldn't find enough qualified people or maybe 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.030 enough willing people to do it. this kind of 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:12.610 overtly political thing. That makes sense. What's 00:02:12.610 --> 00:02:15.469 the other interpretation? Well, the other. And 00:02:15.469 --> 00:02:19.090 maybe more concerning analysis is that it wasn't 00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:21.650 really about immediate intimidation, not this 00:02:21.650 --> 00:02:24.110 time. It might have been more like an intelligence 00:02:24.110 --> 00:02:27.150 gathering operation. Sending high level political 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:30.050 types lets them test the waters, see how the 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:32.729 DOJ machinery reacts, how local officials push 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:35.729 back. So collecting intel. Exactly. Gathering 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:38.569 intel for a potentially bigger, maybe more legally 00:02:38.569 --> 00:02:42.050 focused or bureaucratic challenge in 2026. Less 00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:45.789 about boots on the ground, more about maneuvering 00:02:45.789 --> 00:02:48.810 behind the scenes. That's a more chilling thought 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:51.509 than just not finding enough people. And related 00:02:51.509 --> 00:02:53.729 to that, some sources told us, watch out for 00:02:53.729 --> 00:02:56.430 post -election fraud claims being used as a pretext. 00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:58.750 But we haven't really seen a flood those either, 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:01.689 have we? No, that's right. It seems like right 00:03:01.689 --> 00:03:03.949 now, anyway, it's harder to sell those big fraud 00:03:03.949 --> 00:03:06.030 narratives when the wins are pretty decisive. 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:08.270 The margins matter. Yeah, the claims seem to 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:10.550 get more traction when it's really close or when 00:03:10.550 --> 00:03:12.889 it's specifically about flipping a Trump loss 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:17.310 into a supposed win. So that relative quiet may 00:03:17.310 --> 00:03:20.210 be a small positive sign for now. OK, let's shift 00:03:20.210 --> 00:03:22.530 to the president's private reactions. Yeah. Because 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:24.409 whatever is being said publicly, our sources 00:03:24.409 --> 00:03:27.069 say he knows the GOP took a hit. Oh, he knows. 00:03:27.389 --> 00:03:30.610 Reports mention, let's say, significant temper 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:33.189 tantrums aimed at fellow Republicans. Speaker 00:03:33.189 --> 00:03:35.490 Mike Johnson, Lindsey Graham specifically named. 00:03:35.689 --> 00:03:37.789 Yeah, the blame game is definitely on. And it's 00:03:37.789 --> 00:03:40.210 strategic, right? He's reportedly pointing the 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:42.930 finger squarely at the shutdown debacle and, 00:03:43.150 --> 00:03:45.090 interestingly, at Senate Republicans. Saying 00:03:45.090 --> 00:03:47.210 they weren't loyal enough. Pretty much not loyal 00:03:47.210 --> 00:03:49.509 enough, didn't fight hard enough. And he apparently 00:03:49.509 --> 00:03:53.409 used this moment, the losses, as leverage. Tried 00:03:53.409 --> 00:03:56.009 to push Senate Republicans privately to just 00:03:56.009 --> 00:03:59.530 abolish the filibuster. Wow. How did that go 00:03:59.530 --> 00:04:02.189 over? Stony. Silence. That's the report. Stony 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:04.870 silence. And that silence, that's the real tell 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:07.229 here, I think. He's testing his influence, trying 00:04:07.229 --> 00:04:10.030 to tie the election losses to this long -standing 00:04:10.030 --> 00:04:12.210 Senate rule. And getting nothing back. Exactly. 00:04:12.449 --> 00:04:15.110 It suggests his power to just dictate procedure 00:04:15.110 --> 00:04:18.410 to Senate leadership. It's waning. That reduces 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:20.350 his leverage quite a bit heading into the next 00:04:20.350 --> 00:04:22.029 cycle. Staying with Congress but moving to the 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:24.709 House. Yeah. There's another fascinating little 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:27.850 detail showing how election losses have immediate 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:30.009 consequences. We're talking about the discharge 00:04:30.009 --> 00:04:34.050 petition math. Right. The magic number 218 signatures 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:36.569 needed to force a vote on something the speaker 00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:39.209 doesn't want on the floor. Yeah. The timing here 00:04:39.209 --> 00:04:41.629 is just brutal for the Democrats trying to use 00:04:41.629 --> 00:04:44.069 it. You've got Rep Spanberger leaving by January 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:47.610 17th, Rep Sheryl by the 20th. to be governors. 00:04:47.610 --> 00:04:49.529 So that's two signatures gone? Instantly drops 00:04:49.529 --> 00:04:52.769 the total. Now, rep -elect Adelita Grigialva 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:55.209 comes in, but that only brings it back up one, 00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:58.670 still short of 218. Meaning that threat, that 00:04:58.670 --> 00:05:01.069 tool to bypass the speaker. It's off the table 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:03.889 for months, probably, until those seats are filled 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:05.930 in special elections. It gives the speaker a 00:05:05.930 --> 00:05:08.689 lot more breathing room, a small detail that's 00:05:08.689 --> 00:05:11.529 strategically huge. Absolutely huge. OK, let's 00:05:11.529 --> 00:05:14.740 pivot now. Yep. state level because some of the, 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.279 maybe the most interesting signals for 2026 weren't 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.100 in DC at all. Agreed. Let's start in Georgia. 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:23.779 There was a special election for two seats on 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:26.779 the Public Service Commission, the PSC. Not usually 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:29.160 headline news. No, but this is a really big deal 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:31.100 when totally under the radar for most people. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.860 The PSC, remember, sets utility rates, oversees 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:37.819 energy projects, big climate policy implications 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:40.620 now. Okay. And what happened? Democrats flipped 00:05:40.620 --> 00:05:43.860 two seats. Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard won. 00:05:44.660 --> 00:05:48.480 And get this, turnout was huge. Over 1 .4 million 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:52.399 votes cast. Wow. So why is that, like, historic? 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.000 Well, first, it's the first time a Democrat won 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.879 any seat on the Georgia PSC in 25 years. A quarter 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:01.259 century. Yeah. And bigger picture. It's the first 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:03.860 time the Democrats have won any statewide constitutional 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:06.639 office there since 2006. OK, that is significant. 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:09.019 And Governor Kemp, the Republican governor, he 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:10.980 put a lot of political muscle into this race 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:13.040 for the Republicans who lost. So this wasn't 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.220 just a fluke. It feels like a real message. When 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:17.540 the party in power loses control over, you know, 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:19.379 electricity bills and things like that. That's 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:21.879 a loud canary. Exactly. A very loud canary in 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:24.379 the coal mine. OK, let's head over to Mississippi. 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:27.339 Democrats picked up three state Senate seats 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:30.709 there. Sounds small, maybe. Doesn't sound like 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:33.589 much, but the impact is big. It meant the GOP 00:06:33.589 --> 00:06:36.329 lost its supermajority in the state senate. Ah, 00:06:36.490 --> 00:06:38.769 okay, so that changes the dynamic. Immediately. 00:06:39.290 --> 00:06:41.629 Makes it much harder for the majority to just 00:06:41.629 --> 00:06:45.410 ram through, let's say, the more controversial, 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:48.170 highly partisan stuff, that veto -proof edge, 00:06:48.610 --> 00:06:51.149 gone. And the reaction from the state GOP chair, 00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:55.170 Mike Hurst, was pretty defensive. Yeah, blaming 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:57.589 gerrymandered districts drawn by an unelected 00:06:57.589 --> 00:07:00.470 court, blaming federal statutes weaponized by 00:07:00.470 --> 00:07:03.129 interest groups. You know, the usual suspects. 00:07:03.350 --> 00:07:05.670 But notably, not just blaming national politics. 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:07.790 Right. He went straight for the map drawers and 00:07:07.790 --> 00:07:09.569 the courts, which kind of shows the pressure 00:07:09.569 --> 00:07:11.009 they're feeling right there at the state level. 00:07:11.129 --> 00:07:13.569 Interesting. And one more state note, Virginia. 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:18.600 A historic win. Absolutely. First Muslim, first 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:21.339 Asian American to hold statewide office in Virginia's 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:23.459 history. Which is significant in itself. But 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:26.480 zooming out even further, she's the first Muslim 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:29.420 woman to win statewide office anywhere in the 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:32.819 United States. Ever. Why? So this isn't just 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:35.339 one election, right? It speaks to these larger 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:38.019 demographic shifts, changing patterns of political 00:07:38.019 --> 00:07:41.019 engagement. It's reshaping the map, especially 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.240 in places like Virginia that are growing and 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:45.620 changing fast. All right. Let's really drill 00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:48.560 down now into one specific place. Bucks County, 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.600 Pennsylvania. P .A. zero one. We keep calling 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:55.209 a critical a bellwether. Why? Well, it's that 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:58.230 classic suburban swing county. It was pretty 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:00.709 reliably Democratic for a long time. Then Trump 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:03.269 narrowly won it in 2024. Which was the first 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:05.170 time a Republican presidential candidate had 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:07.949 won bucks since, what, the 80s? Exactly. So it 00:08:07.949 --> 00:08:09.970 really is on that knife's edge. And then in these 00:08:09.970 --> 00:08:12.329 recent local elections, total reversal. What 00:08:12.329 --> 00:08:14.329 happened locally? Local Democrats just swept 00:08:14.329 --> 00:08:17.569 the board. Every single countywide office. And 00:08:17.569 --> 00:08:19.949 not by small margins, like around 10 points each. 00:08:20.050 --> 00:08:22.329 10 points, that's decisive. Yeah, the biggest 00:08:22.329 --> 00:08:24.540 margin they've had in a They flipped the DA's 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:26.759 office, flipped the county sheriff role. That 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:29.360 one went to an Army reservist named Danny Ciesler. 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:33.279 And Ceasler's campaign, the strategy there, seems 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.480 pretty instructive for Democrats trying to win 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:37.620 in these kinds of places. Totally. He made a 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:39.740 point of focusing on local stuff, like really 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:41.679 local concerns, avoided the national shouting 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:43.720 matches. And reined in his competence. Right. 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:45.679 Making sure law enforcement was professional, 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.559 not political. Exactly. The sense was voters 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:50.799 felt the incumbent sheriff was letting national 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:55.440 politics seep into local governing. Ceasler promised 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.570 basically competent, non -extreme local leadership. 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:03.950 And it worked. Even though Doesn't Bucks County 00:09:03.950 --> 00:09:06.710 still have more registered Republicans? Oh yeah, 00:09:06.730 --> 00:09:09.769 significantly. Like nearly 10 ,000 more registered 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:12.309 Republicans than Democrats. It's a doubled advantage 00:09:12.309 --> 00:09:14.610 for the GOP on paper. So for Democrats to win 00:09:14.610 --> 00:09:17.149 by 10 points. It means a huge number of registered 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:19.490 Republicans or maybe independents who lean Republican 00:09:19.490 --> 00:09:22.350 crossed over. They specifically chose candidates 00:09:22.350 --> 00:09:25.269 promising, you know, just common sense local 00:09:25.269 --> 00:09:27.889 governing over party label. That registration 00:09:27.889 --> 00:09:30.450 advantage just vanished. Which brings us to the 00:09:30.450 --> 00:09:32.370 guy who represents this district in Congress. 00:09:32.330 --> 00:09:35.470 Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, P -A -0 -1. He's 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:37.929 like the Houdini of Republicans. He really is, 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:40.870 often called Teflon Fitz. He just keeps outperforming 00:09:40.870 --> 00:09:43.850 the top of the ticket, survives these blue waves. 00:09:44.330 --> 00:09:46.889 He's the last Republican standing in the Philly 00:09:46.889 --> 00:09:50.750 suburbs, a true outlier. So Democrats see this 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:53.470 local sweep, they see Governor Shapiro's popularity, 00:09:53.490 --> 00:09:55.669 and they think, okay, this is the year we finally 00:09:55.669 --> 00:09:58.309 get Fitzpatrick. That's the hope, yeah. They're 00:09:58.309 --> 00:10:01.360 confident, but the Republicans. They point to 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.059 his track record. He won by 13 points in 2024, 00:10:04.659 --> 00:10:07.120 even as Trump barely won the county. And he raises 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.340 a ton of money. A ton, like almost $900 ,000 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:12.840 last quarter alone. They're not worried, or at 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:15.000 least they say they're not. So his brand is key. 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:17.179 He's ranked, what, the most bipartisan member 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:20.139 of Congress, co -chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus. 00:10:20.259 --> 00:10:22.200 Right. And he makes sure people know about his 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:24.440 breaks with Trump. You know, confirming Biden 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:26.960 won in 2020, voting against that big domestic 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.230 policy bill. He... cultivates that distance. 00:10:30.250 --> 00:10:32.350 And that helps him defy gravity, as they say. 00:10:32.470 --> 00:10:35.370 It seems to. But the Democratic strategy against 00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:37.909 him next year, it's shaping up to be about tying 00:10:37.909 --> 00:10:39.870 him to the National Party anyway. The agenda 00:10:39.870 --> 00:10:42.509 of chaos argument. Exactly. Saying, OK, maybe 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:44.309 you vote against some things, but your party 00:10:44.309 --> 00:10:46.730 enables extremism and you're still part of that. 00:10:46.929 --> 00:10:48.889 And then hitting him on cost of living issues, 00:10:49.110 --> 00:10:51.990 trying to pin that on the GOP broadly. Arguing 00:10:51.990 --> 00:10:55.720 his moderate votes ultimately do nothing. for 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:58.299 people's wallets. Right. It's gonna be fascinating. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:02.179 That district, PA -01, it's like a perfect microcosm 00:11:02.179 --> 00:11:04.659 of the whole national battleground for 2026. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:07.139 Okay, so we've talked local politics, state shifts, 00:11:07.419 --> 00:11:09.799 but now let's turn to something maybe deeper, 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:12.620 more fundamental. This growing rift you mentioned 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:14.580 between the Catholic Church and the administration, 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:18.080 specifically over migration policy. Yeah, this 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.080 isn't just about competing policies. It feels 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.000 like a clash of, well, core moral frameworks. 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:26.360 How so? Well, you have... We have the NGA -aligned 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:28.659 view on migrants, which is often very harsh, 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.480 very restrictionist. And that runs directly counter 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:33.740 to fundamental Catholic teaching about the dignity 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:36.399 of every single human being, the call to love 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:39.220 foreigners, refugees. Basic tenets of the faith. 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:41.519 Exactly. And this isn't just theoretical anymore. 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:43.960 It's playing out very practically, very visibly. 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:46.519 What are some of the really stark examples from 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:48.879 the source material? The ones that stick with 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.200 you. Well, there was that incident in Broadview, 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.820 Illinois. ICE reportedly denied Catholic priests 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:57.700 access to detainees. Denied access for what? 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:00.940 To bring them the Eucharist communion, which, 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.299 for Catholics, is profoundly important. They 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:05.659 believe it's the actual body of Christ. Denying 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:09.139 that? That's a serious escalation. Wow. OK. What 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:12.100 else? We've seen reports of priests and nuns 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:14.399 literally accompanying immigrants to their ICE 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:17.220 check -ins. Standing with them as a physical 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:19.559 presence, hoping to deter, you know, summary 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:21.679 deportations right then and there. Using their 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.240 presence as a shield, almost. In a way, yes. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.940 And maybe the most dramatic, the Diocese of San 00:12:26.940 --> 00:12:30.039 Bernardino out in California. They formally released 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:32.179 Catholics from their Sunday mass obligation. 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:35.159 Lifted the obligation to go to mass. Why? Specifically 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:37.259 to protect them, because people were reportedly 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:40.600 being targeted and picked up by ICE agents right 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:42.460 as they were leaving church on Sunday morning. 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:47.269 That is astonishing. leaving church. Yeah. So 00:12:47.269 --> 00:12:50.250 the diocese said essentially, your safety comes 00:12:50.250 --> 00:12:52.970 first. You don't have to risk capture to fulfill 00:12:52.970 --> 00:12:55.129 your religious duty this week. And this isn't 00:12:55.129 --> 00:12:58.230 just local priests acting alone. This goes higher 00:12:58.230 --> 00:13:01.129 up. Oh yeah. The late Pope Francis spoke out 00:13:01.129 --> 00:13:04.629 repeatedly. urging Catholics don't give in to 00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:06.730 narratives that discriminate, warning against 00:13:06.730 --> 00:13:09.409 building walls of ignominy. Strong language. 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:12.809 Very. And the current pope, Leo IV, he's been 00:13:12.809 --> 00:13:15.129 just as forceful, maybe even more direct. He 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:17.370 essentially questioned if you can even be pro 00:13:17.370 --> 00:13:20.450 -life if you support the inhuman treatment of 00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:22.649 immigrants. Drawing a direct line between those 00:13:22.649 --> 00:13:25.110 issues. He said, I don't know if that's pro -life. 00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:27.850 And he's warned that abusing vulnerable migrants, 00:13:27.870 --> 00:13:31.129 that constitutes grave crimes committed or tolerated 00:13:31.129 --> 00:13:33.830 by the state. Heavy stuff. So how's the administration 00:13:33.830 --> 00:13:37.029 responding to this moral pressure from the Vatican 00:13:37.029 --> 00:13:40.029 and the US bishops? Publicly. Dismissive. The 00:13:40.029 --> 00:13:42.350 White House reportedly told one journalist pretty 00:13:42.350 --> 00:13:44.409 bluntly, the pope doesn't know what he's talking 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:46.840 about. Just outright dismissal. Yeah. And then 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.480 you have political figures like Senator J .D. 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:51.799 Vance trying to undermine the U .S. Bishop's 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:54.200 credibility, accusing them of being motivated 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:56.399 by money, pointing to the funds they receive 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.759 for refugee resettlement over $100 million, trying 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:03.259 to frame it as self -interest, not moral principle. 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:06.000 And Vance also used a theological term, right? 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:09.580 Bordo amoris. Yeah. the Order of Loves, he tried 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:13.299 to use it to argue, it's okay, even right, to 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:16.100 prioritize loving Americans over loving immigrants. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.059 Kind of a theological justification for nationalism. 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:21.700 But didn't Pope Francis address that exact argument? 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.899 He did, specifically push back on that interpretation 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:27.440 using the parable of the Good Samaritan, which, 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.320 you know, is pretty much the classic Christian 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.500 teaching against prioritizing care based on nationality 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:35.039 or group identity. It teaches universal care. 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:36.679 So it really forces a choice for some people. 00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:38.960 It absolutely does. It brings up this fundamental 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.360 question, especially for Catholic voters, officials, 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:44.080 maybe even folks working in immigration enforcement, 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.230 a question of dual loyalty. Faith versus state. 00:14:47.610 --> 00:14:50.690 Yeah. When your faith's demands about universal 00:14:50.690 --> 00:14:53.509 human dignity clash head -on with an America 00:14:53.509 --> 00:14:56.830 first ideology and with how state policy is actually 00:14:56.830 --> 00:15:00.129 being carried out, which one wins? Which duty 00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:03.450 comes first? It's a profound conflict. Hashtag 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:07.289 tag tag outro. So pulling it all together, what 00:15:07.289 --> 00:15:10.179 we're seeing is I think pretty clear. On one 00:15:10.179 --> 00:15:12.139 level, the antidote to some of this national 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:15.179 polarization seems to be really local, common 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:17.440 sense stuff. Like in Georgia, Mississippi, Bucks 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.750 County. Exactly. Those democratic wins suggest 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:23.789 voters respond to focusing on community competence, 00:15:24.149 --> 00:15:26.350 steering clear the extremes. Those are political 00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:28.629 shifts, though, tactical wins. But underneath 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:30.889 that? Underneath, there's this deeper, maybe 00:15:30.889 --> 00:15:33.529 more significant tremor, this macro level moral 00:15:33.529 --> 00:15:35.450 clash like the church versus the administration 00:15:35.450 --> 00:15:37.990 on migration. That represents a potentially much 00:15:37.990 --> 00:15:40.490 longer term, maybe more destabilizing kind of 00:15:40.490 --> 00:15:42.429 fault line. Which leads us to that final thought, 00:15:42.470 --> 00:15:44.129 something for you, the listener, to really chew 00:15:44.129 --> 00:15:47.309 on. Bishop Mark Sites of El Paso. He suggested 00:15:47.309 --> 00:15:49.269 Catholics working within the deportation system 00:15:49.269 --> 00:15:51.549 might soon face a really hard choice. Yeah, he 00:15:51.549 --> 00:15:53.529 said they might have to make that difficult moral 00:15:53.529 --> 00:15:56.009 choice to say, in conscience, I can no longer 00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:59.090 do this. So the question for all of us then is, 00:15:59.470 --> 00:16:01.990 what does it actually mean for American stability, 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:05.129 for the fabric of society, when deeply held religious 00:16:05.129 --> 00:16:07.870 duties, moral imperatives, start lining up against 00:16:07.870 --> 00:16:10.830 these stated goals, the actual enforcement of 00:16:10.830 --> 00:16:13.049 the law and the land? When people feel forced 00:16:13.049 --> 00:16:15.350 to choose between their faith and their government? 00:16:15.939 --> 00:16:18.840 What happens next? A powerful question to end 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:20.720 on. Thank you for joining us for this deep dive 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:22.320 into the source material. We'll see you next 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:22.519 time.