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Thanks!
This is the beginning of season five. It's a day that I never thought we would get to, but here we are. And I'm pleased and delighted to be here. I want to thank our audience, especially those of you who are subscribers, paid subscribers, and those who give us high ratings. Thank you to those who engage with us as well. Also, I want to acknowledge that this production would not be possible without our wonderful guests, our producer Brian Kruger from Stunt Three Multimedia, and of course, our operations chief Michelle Dean.
Our audience is growing, and why is that? It's because our show is nonpartisan, fiercely nonpartisan. And that's where 73% of the country is today. You're here because you're one of the vast majority of Americans who see freedoms, opportunities, hopefulness, and even common sense slipping away. When I started this program four years ago, I believed there might be a place for people who are more interested in policy solutions for the issues of the day and the opportunities of the moment. And for those who are looking for something beyond the cesspool of modern news as entertainment. The good news is, we have found a lot of people who just want to be treated like adults and have full discussions. Unfortunately, very few of those people are employed by a major political party or a major established news outlet. They know how their bread is buttered. However, our problems are still solvable. But our political system is becoming less capable, our polarization is increasing, and our victim Olympics is becoming more intense. Furthermore, people are now supporting the mutilation of children in the name of their political affiliation, which is something I never would have thought possible just four years ago. All of this is being fueled by a corrupted media ecosystem that focuses on narratives rather than fact-checking or gathering accurate information. It's all about clickbait. So come and join the conversation at the Common Bridge. Today, things are even crazier. If you look at the news, we are on the verge of losing our justice system, the very system that protects every individual who is listening, reading, or watching, regardless of how much they might dislike one of the central players. It is not worth sacrificing an honest justice system. Let's be honest about where the political parties stand. All they are trying to do is defeat the other political party because they believe there is only room for two. In fact, there is a party right now arguing that it would not be in the pursuit of democracy to allow a third party, like one without a name, to come in. Interesting logic, isn't it?
You've got crazy elements inside the Republican Party. They get most of the press and, frankly, cause most of the problems. The Democrats, frankly, are corrupt. They're pressing for single-party power and you can see that everywhere. It's evident. I'm going to talk about that in just a minute. The media infrastructure is more decrepit than it's ever been. But let's look on the upside. We know a lot about the romance between a football player and a singer. On the Republican side, you've got Donald Trump. He's still flailing, still failing. He's not a competent chief executive. He is a loudmouth promoter with no follow-up. He attacks people as soon as he doesn't think they're in his camp. But if you're wondering what his appeal is, just keep listening or reading or viewing this particular episode. And, frankly, spoiler alert, his remaining popularity is due to the Democratic National Committee's focus on removing him instead of just running the government. Now, of course, being a fiercely nonpartisan show, I have just a few notes here about the Democratic Party. So, the Democratic Party sided with the certified nut job, Matt Gaetz, to further disrupt the workings of Congress, but those in cold blue couldn't see the reality unfolding before their eyes. It was just a gleeful way to wreak havoc. They're not serious. On the upside, we went a whole day with no Democratic Representative in the US House attempting to halt an official proceeding by activating a fire alarm. Weren't there a whole lot of people who got arrested and did jail time for attempting to halt an official proceeding? Seems like a lot of them. I don't understand the silence. Now, look, we have an administration in the White House today that has been censoring using the big tech platforms. And it's not just things they say are dangerous or disgusting, it's just wrong things. And they've been proven wrong. They've shut down actual science and political dissent. We have more evidence growing of Joe Biden's involvement in the family business, bank records of payoffs, and the goalposts keep moving. Come on, everyone can see it. But I think the top story today is Hillary Clinton, in a CNN interview, calling for the formal deprogramming of the MAGA cult because they don't think right in her estimation. So she's saying out loud what President Biden seemed to propose in his infamous Philadelphia speech of September 2022. Now, we still have the First Amendment, at least for a while, I hope. And what are we going to be able to do with that? Well, we've seen the fusion of trials by media, and it's appalling. The NBC legal analyst apparently can no longer be relied upon for getting people amped up. They've had so many actual defeats in the courtroom. But to make matters worse, these legal analysts are now saying that these cases chasing Trump right now are not a slam dunk, and there's a possibility of acquittal. So the latest tragedy in our justice system, as it dies, is that the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, is tweeting out videos of her spin on the day's events in court, in front of a judge who has already ruled on the central issue, and that judge is not allowing other testimony to come in. It's completely unprofessional. It cements the notion that this is not justice, but rather the latest made-for-media charade. And everyone cheering this on will be really surprised when they look to the justice system to protect them someday, but it won't be there. Our media model, of course, descends into relentless tribalism, perpetuating the notion that people want to be categorized by their ancestral identities or the pigment of their skin. But we've had other voices in there. Adam Coleman has talked about the notion of big developments with significant implications and other lies, and of course, ml Elric on this show this year. In the meantime, our issues remain unresolved, with firearms attacking a specific product that could be effective against tyranny, versus something like the nine-millimeter handgun that is so prevalent in the destruction of urban youth.
But at Common Bridge, we've had gun experts like Ryan Busse and activists who are seeking to quell the root cause of violence, like Zoe Kennedy and Adam Coleman. In recent weeks, ABC's David Muir interviewed US Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, who was recently appointed. Mr. Owens stated, "It's as bad as I've ever seen it. Our system is overwhelmed. Smugglers bring in narcotics, fentanyl, bulk cash, weapons, people of interest, hardened criminals, gang members, and convicted sexual predators." Now, this sounds like Donald Trump's stump speech from 2016. It's now being uttered by a Biden appointee. We've also had immigration experts on Common Bridge, and I think most Americans can see what a fair, compassionate, and just immigration solution would look like. And in fact, today, Joe Biden has decided that flights to Caracas, instead of New York City, might be a better way to treat illegal border crossers from Venezuela. And now he wants to build a wall, or says he's got to build the wall because he can't stop a wall being built. Come on, you guys have one job: protect the border.
Jeez.
As Oakland County, Michigan Sheriff Mike Bouchard is warning his residents, and particularly the wealthy criminals he says are coming from outside the United States to burgle high-end homes, he detailed the crimes and implores Congress to secure the border, fix the immigration system, and "do your damn job. Just do your job."
But listen, Sheriff Bouchard is a Republican, so despite his impressive track record as a public servant, his voice counts for little. And Eric Adams is treated as a strange artifact for calling out the calamities in America's largest city due to illegal immigration. The reporting tried to treat him as a Republican, but we know how that works in New York City. And other things, we're confusing the youth, for God's sakes. Let them have teen angst and navigate puberty. The notion that sex assigned at birth is a capricious choice, and not doctors, nurses, and others with science credentials determining what that sex is, is just utter nonsense. Look, the rare cases of hermaphroditism are easily distinguishable from the mass sudden onset gender dysphoria. And beneath the wave of imaginary gender dysphoria is a sea of autism, depression, anxiety, and other treatable mental and emotional disorders. Yet our government ignores the people and pivots to the permanent destruction of the victims without their parents' knowledge.
Now look, you can't blame people for challenging the obvious, like sex and gender. We've just got more information and evidence that Dr. Fauci was, frankly, just making up things, and calling it science is getting very little attention. The efficacy of masks and the actual benefits of the mRNA vaccines, as well as the obvious origins of the pandemic, seem to be topics that are out of bounds. And that's why people don't trust those folks that we've elected. But they keep pushing the button for the Democrats or the Republicans, and they keep consuming the same media sources. Now, do we need another pandemic crisis or a round of lobotomy butchering to get us off this train? Come on, we're better than that.
Just recently, there was a recruitment at a Grace Hopper event, a Grace Hopper course on early computing. It was meant to give women opportunities with some of the big tech companies, but it was invaded by men who said, "Hey, we're non-binary, so we belong here." And frankly, nobody could question them because we've been told gender is fluid. So they wanted to get in the door. They're non-binary tonight, buying cocktails. Maybe they're male, who knows? So what are we going to do about this at Common Bridge? First of all, we're going to go deeper on critical issues like housing, crime, education, and opportunity. We'll probably have fewer episodes but more intensity. And our intensity is going to be focused on our humaneness, our spiritual base that unites all human beings. We're calling out the nonsense.
I'll also be spending some time on projects like audiobooks and connecting to the wisdom of indigenous peoples. We'll keep up our analysis of voting systems, abuse of power, and election coverage. And we'll try to do that without being just another partisan voice. The popular analytical pieces will raise curious questions, like I'd like to know why the Ukrainian president, whose people are getting killed in large numbers by one of the most powerful armies in the world, used his time at the United Nations to talk about uniting the world to fight not the Russians, but climate change. There might be a good reason for that, I don't know. I haven't found one. Maybe there is one. But right now, it looks like the best way to fight climate change is to get on a private plane, fly halfway around the world, or get on a yacht and burn a decade's worth of carbon while telling other people to stay home and stay cold. I think that's the formula right now. We can do better. We can transition to renewable sources. But I'd like to see the answer. I want to see the plan. What's the plan to get there? How will people be able to afford it? What will life be like? What can you do to reject the false binary of Democrats versus Republicans? Let the professional politicians and those who are fanboys and fangirls or van people decide whether John Fetterman or Mitch McConnell is more cognitively compromised. Demand policy answers, reject the horrible scare tactics that pass for reporting, whether it's on some media outlet or on a social media platform, and reject fact-checking that is really thought compliance or opinion. And finally, be unafraid to speak up. It's going to be okay. And when you do speak up, do it with love, concern, and care for your neighbor, your country, and this world. We can make this a better place if we unite in discussion. And that's what the Common Bridge is about. I look forward to season five. Again, I thank you for your listenership, viewership, readership, and especially your subscriptions. We appreciate the support for the costs that go into making this program. And as we look forward to season five of the Common Bridge, this is your host Rich Helppie signing off, and welcoming you aboard.
(Watch, Listen, or Read) Leaving Binary Politics Behind.