• I’m Rusty

    Yeah, I don’t I’ve been doing this like zero prep
    I’m just like okay, I have an idea and then I hit record and then I forget what that idea is
    All right, this is
    Republic today Republic today dot net
    I’m
    recording this
    from the Empire State
    Today is August 15th
    2026 it’s
    443 p.m. On the clock
    Eastern time here in the Republic of the United States of America
    Republic today is a
    Audio Journal
    podcast
    where I
    talk about how I
    Wanted to be a podcaster at some point I
    Guess as opposed to read articles about what might be going on
    In oh
    How about that that I don’t know if that’s ever happened on a republic today
    I
    Computer noises beep-bloop-blop-bloop
    So that’s this is the liest one yet y’all
    You know, I don’t actually I’m I’m doing the throat clearing thing
    More than I would just in in person in real life. I could at least warm up my voice. I could focus
    for like I
    Mean god forbid a few minutes
    30 seconds before I hit record and then forget what I was gonna talk about. I do want to send some shots out
    I’m gonna say some things out loud and and hopefully they will
    Translate into me doing some work on the website Republic today dot net
    I’ve done a little bit of work on it, which I haven’t done in years and years not years, you know
    on and off for a long time
    so
    Please
    Subscribe update download
    Visit the web page
    Thank you, I
    Don’t endorse any of the social media that I have linked to it right now
    in fact, I’ve you know, I should probably take that off, I don’t know I
    Podcasts audio journals streaming audio journals are
    Digital by nature, right that’s
    Me I mean had the internet
    Had the internet not come along the I
    Would have auditioned for some more or auditioned or you know showed up at radio stations and just said hey
    I want to do your
    Drive home, man. Let’s do it. I like the drive home. I’m not a morning person, but
    Hey, let’s talk. Let’s talk while you’re stuck in traffic while you’re driving from
    Downtown to Hilton
    We are on your
    5 p.m. Drive from I don’t know why my radio voice is crossed over with the pilot voice
    stereotype lately when I’m
    Joking around with my partner
    Joking around with my partner
    So
    Let me do more of a radio drive. Oh, yeah, right. So this is like, you know peak amateur bad podcasting
    Thank you for tuning in. I did I really did have an idea. I
    Can’t remember it but at least
    The shoutouts. I’m a fan of the Tim Miller show the bullwark
    podcast I
    Don’t agree with Miller
    I mean, I don’t I probably agree with him as much or more than other
    Democrats conservatives whatever that kind of
    liberal
    lives the lives, you know, I
    He’s super likable and that’s like part of civilized society is that people?
    Like if you’re not in a cold civil war, which we are right now
    So
    That’s a point. I’d like to get out there. I think that’s what that’s what inspires me to record. I’m
    Doing something in my apartment and I’m like, oh, I you know, I have time right now, but also I
    Thought about and today was just that thought of like at least I’m you know, I’m trying to do some good so I
    don’t
    Like I I was thinking about dr. King and how non-violence as a
    as a principal, I don’t how did I
    Should read I should read a book about how property damage is this property damage kind of violence. Well at at
    What because our people gonna assault others to protect property is that okay
    You know, or do you just have to let someone set your store on fire or whatever it is
    The kind of the written house
    Situation
    Do you
    If it’s your if it’s your house if it’s your home
    But like what if it’s a corporation’s
    You know front door and
    And
    Someone’s gonna throw a rock at it. Can they just have like well, it’s some big corporation
    They just somebody shoots the rock thrower, right and that’s something I’ve been thinking about like in America
    I can say the president’s name over and over right he likes that but I could say a different president’s name over and over
    President Vance, I don’t know. Maybe he probably
    he probably preferred to but
    You know, I don’t think I could do this in Russia
    Right. I could I say Russia’s guy’s name
    What about Israel? I I guess there are people in Israel that are like they’ll say
    They’ll say his name and not just catch bullets
    But it seems like if you’re speaking out against leaders in some countries you just catch bullets
    What is that North Korea? I don’t want to say anything
    What do we hear I mean China, I guess is China like that
    It’s Scandinavia not like that
    What about the Middle East what Iran in Iran?
    It or Afghanistan or Persia or whatever like in the Middle East
    Jordan Syria. I
    Already mentioned Israel
    Egypt Morocco
    What a excuse me for clearing my throat again the Congo, I mean
    Sudan they it seems like there’s lots of like political violence
    So but but I’m so privileged and grateful that I’m from the United States of America
    Because that like I’m I’m allowed I could walk down. I’m now
    Walk down them now I can make a cardboard sign and it could say down with the president
    And i’m not saying anything about violence, but like
    You know elect the opposition in 2028. I mean I can’t in 26
    I can’t I find it so hard to and I know I know it’s there’s only two parties. It’s that’s the problem
    um, but to support
    The like the chairman of the DNC like
    How does how does that person?
    Become the chairman of the DNC. I’m not saying any names today. Well, I don’t no promises because it’s just a babbling audio journal, but
    Um, how did that guy even get his job?
    Like I mean, I don’t I can say that with such like I could never do that
    Right. I could never be the chairman of the DNC. So I don’t know like
    I guess I’m more surprised or frustrated or ranting
    About how
    In inept the
    Democratic party is like the apparatus the the leadership
    Um couldn’t find like why not get someone who’s like really dynamic and
    Um shows great results like how about it doesn’t matter what they look like
    How about it’s just like a number on a piece of paper, but like
    Things things go well communications are unified. Uh, there’s you know, whatever, uh
    a platform that
    brian curtis
    Could just like read in a sentence or two
    a sentence or two
    a sentence or two
    That like sums up
    Why people should be positive about you?
    Um
    Um
    So even if it’s a contrast statement with that second sentence, you know
    Saying what you’re not give me that first sentence, you know, you’re not
    bigoted
    That that’s your first sentence and and the second sentence is that you’re not bigoted, but what is that first sentence?
    Um
    That you’re fighting for you. You’re pointing at you
    exclamation point
    Is that is it is it your uncle sam
    fighting for you
    Like what does that mean?
    It means nothing
    So
    They they need to be say we’re fighting for
    Organized labor and for more people to be
    In organized labor. We’re fighting to get more like union memberships up. We want
    60 70 percent of the workforce
    More you know, we want as much as possible of the workforce to be
    labor
    To be organized in unions
    Why don’t they say something like that? We want we want to get it to be
    But first we’re aiming for 50 percent, you know, we’re starting there and then and then we’ll see but like union jobs should be
    Not just tied to
    a metric
    from a centralized
    Uh almost monopoly
    For uh, ultimately centralizes someone whose fortune is big enough
    to
    Hold sway over a local government
    A local government
    So it might just be my local billionaire
    That
    Is is in charge is the ism right is the ism
    Uh capital ism, right the capital
    Because yeah, that’s he’s he’s the one he or she they them is the person who is going to
    Tell the the mayor the county the city council
    The county legislator the county executive all these people
    Uh, it’s machine politics. I guess here as far as I know
    In new york’s 25th
    How they’re gonna allocate
    Um police spending so maybe it’s on pensions and training
    uh, but maybe it’s also on
    Vehicles weapons
    Uniform kind no bid contracts, you know, no bid contracts
    It sounds so silly. It sounds so businessy, but
    It just obviously makes sense that you have to have
    a transparent
    Process when it comes to government contracting why like it should just be very transparent like the whole world should know
    It doesn’t mean it has to be slow and it doesn’t mean things. Um
    Like everything, you know everything about everyone whatever it’s not the government running it if it’s private contractors
    But like
    The government everyone should be aware like all con if if someone could do the same job for cheaper
    Be more efficient have shown more competency on the resume then they should be able to bid for government contracts
    And there should be a transparent process in terms of all of that
    public to private spending
    Um money going from taxpayers into capital into capital
    um redistributing tax money from
    Yes from rich people also from middle class people also from working class people
    I mean the absolute impoverished people probably aren’t paying a lot in taxes
    But that’s still, you know
    millions of people
    uh of
    millions and millions of working class people paying taxes
    To then be given, you know paid out in
    Contracts to the the big businesses that are making their lives
    more expensive
    That they’re not
    Transitioning as technology changes you can still let
    The actual changes happen slow enough so someone can finish out a career someone can retire with a pension
    someone doesn’t have to you know, we’re
    When obama was in the uh, you know, like the oh eight election cycle primaries and stuff like he appealed
    To
    Hey, what are we doing factory workers because he would talk about current factory workers
    We need to retrain them get them into jobs i’m very much paraphrasing
    I’m not endorsing anybody’s economic
    I’m endorsing brian curtis’s interview style, but i’m not
    endorsing
    um any past president’s economic
    policies or campaign promises or anything
    Clinton would change the subject. No. No, we’re talking about young people. We got to change the
    we got to change the
    Educational system for young people I said, but what about middle-aged people who are working in a factory and get laid off because the economy changes
    What about all of the middle management information administration people who computers then the internet now ai
    Is just decimating their jobs
    And like I say decimating is such a dramatic word, but these numbers go down down down
    There’s fewer and fewer jobs for the skills that people acquire over years
    And
    as that’s compressed
    as as well as the
    You know, whatever upper management opportunities
    The boomers don’t get out of the way
    and
    You know, you’re just hollowing out
    the the middle class or generation x
    and the millennials
    And then so we’ll see like it’s it’s adjusting expectations. You know, that’s what
    President did this term, you know, I said right now i’m in
    What’s the date august 15th 2026?
    It’s now 459 as I record this on republic today republic today dot net
    But the president set some low expectations, you know had just have one pencil. You don’t need a box of pencils to go to school
    You know you get one doll, you know, you don’t need a hundred dolls every christmas
    You don’t need ten dolls you you get get a doll get a pencil
    Uh, you know, we got to cut down on school supplies economies not getting better, right? That’s the uh,
    That’s the kind of hey politicians
    You know, that’s how they talk, right?
    So set those low expectations. So what is it? What’s the actual what’s after millennials x y z?
    Uh z a all these different groups that are young now just they’re like, yeah, right. I’m just gonna have
    some
    delivery job
    um or work in a warehouse
    and
    Who knows? Hopefully we have single-payer health care by then I you know
    Republicans for single-payer republicans for single-payer say it out loud. I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m just again babbling
    These are some rusty babbling podcasts, but I want to do something. I want to talk about something
    important instead of my inability to
    throw out
    possessions of
    the dead and dying
    That’s what that’s what’s going on in my goth as an mf
    goth gothic
    Personal life right now
    Yeah, I don’t know
    Uh, uh scary creep here hosting republic today republic today dot net. No, I I mean
    Kooky it’s more kooky
    uh
    And and I don’t know life life is life though life happens
    Life happens and you have to kind of like I have to keep living my life
    um
    So anyway, thank you for listening. Thank you. Thank you
    I don’t know
    Let me know what I should do about social media stuff because there’s an x there’s a link to x on there and that’s
    It’s gross
    I know it’s just icky. I don’t is there any
    Is there x left? Does that exist?
    is there anarchy like act like
    I can’t imagine like american like woke style anarchists. Are they
    Are they on x are they even just bothering at all?
    I
    I just I can’t see it
    So, okay. I don’t know. I don’t know but it’s on there right now as I record this
    uh, so
    I’ll figure something out when it comes to that. There’s some like weird youtube content too if you’re checking out the uh,
    The socios
    the socios
    Okay. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Uh republic today republic today dot net

  • Still Rusty

    Alright, excuse me, I guess that’s why I cleared my throat.
    Alright, alright, this is Republic Today, RepublicToday.net.
    I’m recording from the Empire State, Excelsior.
    Today is August 12th, 2026.
    I’m showing 523 p.m.
    This is Republic Today, RepublicToday.net.
    I’m in a phase where I’m just kind of jumping on here when I have a thought and then I forget
    the thought by the time I turn the computer on.
    Six seconds of silence there.
    Just kind of stop talking.
    But while recording, I’ve been saying this is a performance art project.
    It’s not art, it’s humanities, it’s not really humanities.
    It’s kind of just like low quality entertainment.
    Why do I have to throw in the low quality?
    I’ve been wanting to call it performance art.
    I’ve been trying to gear my activities around arts.
    I feel like when it comes to making money to live, I mean, I’m not, I have no illusions,
    so like some background for me.
    And I’m sure that if you are listening to this, you might like know me or something.
    So it’s weird, like who is this audience and what is this?
    Is it a performance art project where someone’s talking about running for Congress and Senate
    in the United States of America?
    I’ve been saying the Empire State, I should say, you know, I’m in this zip code, in this
    part of this municipality, I’m in a county, in a state, I guess I have been referring
    to, I’m in the NY 25, right?
    But back in older iterations of Republic Today, I would get granular about exactly where I
    was recording from and under which jurisdictions of, you know, which the layers of hierarchy
    of the state, et cetera, above me, I mean, there’s been like a little bit of a Roman
    Catholic element a long time ago, over 10 years ago, maybe not, I don’t know exactly
    In the history of this podcast, there’s been some Catholicism and it’s like I could go
    up through, you know, the parish and the diocese, et cetera, up to, you know, the pope, but
    there’s like a distinct hierarchy there.
    And we have it in, we have these towns, cities, towns, hamlets.
    Just in Monroe County, New York, which is where the 25th district is, there’s lots of
    like, lots, there’s a handful of towns within towns.
    There’s like a town that’s a village and a town or something like that.
    There’s like, yeah, so, and then there’s ones that are adjacent to sort of a city.
    They call it a seat here in the United States of America.
    They call it a seat, like a county seat.
    What is the seat of that county and, you know, the biggest city seat is almost like short
    for what’s the city in that county.
    But most counties, I think, in the United States, I don’t know how that works.
    Most counties, I would say, don’t have a big city in it.
    In NY-25, it’s ra-cha-cha-cha-cha, cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha, cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha, oh, explicit,
    part of the name, but the motherfuckin’ ra, the ra.
    It’s a city and it’s kind of descriptive of the city-suburb complex.
    If you say you’re from Rochester, you might be from any, like, a specific set of suburbs.
    If you go far enough out, I would say I’m far enough, I would say I was from outside
    of Rochester, but where is that line that’s distinct?
    Probably different individuals say different things.
    I think of the Finger Lakes, maybe the, whatever, the parts of the Finger Lakes that are near
    Rochester as kind of a greater, greater Rochester area outside of Rochester, right?
    And then if you’re closer to suburban Buffalo than suburban Rochester, then you’re probably
    not saying you’re outside of Rochester, you’re from outside of Buffalo.
    Or same with Syracuse.
    So there’s defined lines for what Monroe County, New York is, Monroe County, however you want
    to say it, Monroe, Monroe, and then the 25th Congressional District is also different
    outline than a city, a city-suburb sort of complex or a county.
    So yeah, so there’s a bunch of jurisdictional hierarchies from where I’m sitting right this
    moment and just kind of spitballing a podcast into the ether about nothing.
    It’s about nothing, because it’s not, you know, the last couple episodes I’ve been talking
    about a performance art project, a political performance art project.
    And it’s not art, it’s not, like this is, it is an entertainment product.
    I do care about serious news.
    Wars are happening all over the world.
    It’s terrible.
    There’s like tons of child soldiers.
    The human trafficking and rape of children is endemic around the world.
    And things like, not that the world hasn’t always been this way, and not that the world
    isn’t always going to be this way.
    But what do I want to look back, I mean, if I have a moment before death, I’d rather have
    made some podcasts and tried to focus energy into solutions and care, perhaps prayer, meditation
    on trying to manifest a better life for people who are suffering right now.
    And so that’s why on the granular level, like here I am, like I am, you know, relative
    to child soldiers, I’m privileged.
    Relative to child trafficked sex slaves, I’m very privileged.
    As a middle-aged person in the United States of America, who didn’t go through trauma
    like that, despite being around the Catholic Church as a child, I guess I was never an
    altar boy.
    God bless.
    But I haven’t gone through childhood horrible trauma.
    Because there’s generations of, again, has it always happened?
    I guess it has.
    I guess all of those kinds of horrible, barbaric things happened throughout history.
    But I’m privileged to be part of a culture where that’s at a minimal.
    Are there trafficked child sex slaves in the Greater Rochester area?
    Yeah.
    Yeah, I’m sure there are.
    And are there the equivalent of child soldiers?
    Yes.
    Yes, there are here.
    But it’s a small, small number of people.
    And I want to be part of the solution.
    How is me fighting that?
    Is me putting a blue line American flag sticker on my vehicle, is that fighting the crime
    in my community?
    Podcasting obviously isn’t either.
    I’m not saying that I’m doing some great thing, but I’m doing a thing.
    Could it be positive?
    Well, it’s got building and whatever, drawing attention to terrible things.
    Am I reporting?
    And saying, like, hey, look, I have evidence of kids with guns in the Greater Rochester
    area.
    You know, like, I don’t know, I don’t know.
    Law enforcement is part, how do I want to phrase this?
    I have said in the past, ACAB, things like that.
    Like, I’ve been organized with Defund the Police, ACAB, sort of activists, and I think
    that that current, that leftist current of Defund and then the more general, I mean,
    it’s not more general, but less defined by leftism, or is it liberals?
    Is it the Libs?
    Hold on.
    I’m doing a U-turn on you.
    If you’re actually hanging and they’re listening to Republic Today, republictoday.net, sorry,
    I got a little loud there.
    I apologize.
    I’m not probably going to go ahead and remix any of these episodes, so I also probably
    not going to be screaming.
    There used to be some rantiness on Republic Today, republictoday.net, but, you know, I
    don’t think, I think that every candidate for office will lose if they run on all cops
    are bad.
    That’s not, and that’s not the job in electoral politics.
    So all cops are bad, or Defund the Police sort of is by definition, and I’m including
    Defund the Police in there for these Libs that are like, oh, we’ll do some mechanisms
    or whatever, like Defund the Police is saying that you’re not, that you’re working outside
    of electoral politics, and both tactics are fine.
    I’d rather have people getting involved if everyone’s, hey, look, kids with guns is a
    big problem in the streets of this here town, here on the shores of scenic Lake Ontario.
    There are kids with guns, and in this, in this area, on the banks of the Genesee River,
    and all over this republic, all over the republic of the United States of America,
    there are kids with guns.
    I’m not talking about a well-regulated militia, I’m talking about kids with guns.
    I’m not talking about the National Guard.
    Are they kids too?
    Yeah, I don’t, I think, I mean, I think the age of consent, sexual consent, along with
    military service, working for money, should all be as old as possible.
    I think 21 is the baseline.
    Did somebody say baseline?
    Baseline.
    But yeah, it’s entertainment, right?
    I’m trying to talk about important, the most important things, right?
    Is there, and if you’re saying there’s no God, that’s fine.
    If you’re saying you believe in a specific Jesus Christ, that’s fine.
    We’re all part of the republic here on RepublicToday.net.
    So do I think all cops are bad currently, and the police should be defunded?
    Because, like I said, I’ve said, I’ve said those things, and I’ve held those postures
    in the past, and if I’m running for, if it’s a performance art project, so if it’s not
    a performance art project, it doesn’t matter, am I doing good by ranting about how the
    system’s just broken?
    It becomes nihilistic when I think about how I am opposed to hierarchy.
    However, I think once one’s actually getting out of the book club and into the street,
    I think that there ends up being hierarchy, you end up having to collaborate with or build
    coalitions with imperfect allies.
    And so there’s a lot of anarcho, anarcha, anarch-x.
    I like to throw the A out there, anarcha, I don’t think that means it’s specifically
    feminine, I’ve never heard anyone say that, but anarcha, communist, you know, there’s
    a triangle flag, right, black on one side, red on the other, anarcho-communists, anarcha,
    anarchists who don’t believe in the hierarchy that the communists do, communists who also
    oppose capitalism like the anarchists do.
    You may have seen the red and black, it looks like diving maybe or something, there’s a
    bank that had that flag, it was weird, and then there’s like, you’ll see gold and black
    ones, and that doesn’t exist, that philosophy doesn’t exist.
    So I wouldn’t take advertising money for Republic Today, republictoday.net, because you can’t
    run for office if you’re like, I don’t believe in the institution of the state.
    But it does exist, and so we’ve got your imperfect allies, the communists, who are like, hey,
    the state should run everything, or as opposed to capitalists specifically, because when
    I think of socialism, I think of labor owning the means of production, right, so if communism
    is the state, if communism or national socialism is when the state and corporations kind of
    are in collusion, because it ends up being about making money, and the number one output
    of state and corporate collusion is the military industrial complex, national socialism.
    So we don’t want national socialism like that kind of, when as here we are in 2026, the
    United States government owns pieces and parts, shares of private corporations, is invested
    in, in a way.
    The no-bid contracts that the government can give to capitalist cronies is kind of communistsy,
    national socialistsy, when I think of just like democratic socialism, and I don’t know,
    not democratic socialism, when I think of a socialist or not, but a socialist or not
    in the context of real world United States of America 2026, labor owns the means of production,
    means of, see, here we go, making a big point, I’m rusty, the title of this one is going
    to be rusty too, though I may transcribe it, but labor owning the means of production is
    the definition of socialism, so when Scott Galloway, like, calls a socialist, a socialist,
    President Trump a socialist, it’s like, no, no, no, no, he’s, I mean, maybe he’s a national
    socialist, but labor owns the means of production. I heard Jessica Tarlov say that it’s democrats
    versus republicans, and it’s like, actually, no, it’s fascists versus socialists, and it’s
    labor versus capital, that’s what the fault lines are in the United States in 2026, it’s
    not democrats versus republicans, that’s why the democrat party always has to have internal
    fights about, well, you know, are we going to let labor or capital be in charge of the
    party? The working class or the investing class? So, you know, I, sorry, I’m, this was
    not going to be ranty, I said that, but hey, I got, I got a little bit of role, not bad
    for being darn rusty, so also I’ve been checking out the Battle Hymn of the Republic, let’s
    think about that, so are you pretending to run, it’s a humanity, it’s an entertainment
    product, it’s not performance art, and so something I did want to throw out there is,
    it is ludicrous for me, some loser to think that I would do a better job in the Senate
    than Schumer Gillibrand, and a better job in the Congress than Joe Morelli, right,
    like they know all the things and people and how it all goes, and I can concoct a performance
    art project or an entertainment fantasy where, hey, if I had the budget, I could hire a,
    a chief of staff whose full-time job it was to help me be the elected official, right,
    as part of the function of the federal government, someone who is elected has like some kind
    of a budget, right, do we know this, do most Americans, do most United States Americans,
    Merica, Merica, do most Americans know this, republictoday.net, do most Americans know
    how that budget works, right, I think we just take for granted something like, if one wins
    an election to the federal House or Senate, they, they get like a decent enough salary
    that they don’t need a second job, unless they’re in some kind of crazy debt or something,
    they’ve got a huge extended family to take care of with medical bills and stuff, and
    they’re all broke. Oh, which, yeah, it seems like, you know, there’s, there’s always an
    excuse to try to steal money, right, if you’re a, a congressman, I mean, lots of them are
    corrupt and go to jail and all kinds of stuff, and probably lots of them get away with it,
    and so as, as your candidate for the New York 25, I’m not saying Joe Morelli is corrupt,
    I’m saying I won’t be. That, that’s enough of a salary, I got a, a budget for a staff,
    right, so I bring a chief of staff, I take some resumes, you know, I have a sit down
    with Joe. Hey, look, shake hands, how, how, do you care about this district? Give me some
    resumes for, for a transition chief of staff person. You know, get some, put some resumes,
    give me some resumes. Like, tell me, give me some tips and tricks, I’ll listen, I’ll
    listen to somebody, give me, you know, what, what guidance, even though I won an election
    that Joe Morelli didn’t want me to win, this is fantasy, right, this is the, the left wing,
    that I did watch that show, the left wing, the west wing, but I’m saying this is the
    left wing, no, I don’t know, I don’t, I don’t associate with the, I’m, I’m, I’m, left nor
    right, if saying I’m left is gonna get me elected in NY 25, then I’ll be left, but I
    want to talk to social conservatives in, in the district before, before they vote. I’ll
    get out there and talk, talk to those social conservatives. What am I gonna do? I’m not
    gonna promise to be a bigot. I’m, I wanna, I’m gonna tell them straight up, yeah, I’m
    gonna stand against bigotry, I’m gonna make votes that are for bills and laws that are
    fighting bigotry. So if, if it’s, if you think of the left, right spectrum social conservative,
    social liberal, I want people to be able to live the lives that they want to live. That’s,
    that’s, it’s the Statue of Liberty is a symbol for America. The Statue of Liberty. People
    come here because they can be themselves. People want to come here because they have
    liberty. Maybe they did make a few bucks. They don’t want the government taking their
    money away. That’s, that’s not liberty, right? They, they don’t want the government telling
    them, hey, you can’t go to a trans sex club. Maybe somebody wants to go to a trans sex
    club. They should be allowed to do that. They got the dough. They can, you know, they’re
    not stealing from anyone. But, you know, I want to hear, hear what they have to, because
    if people really feel like they’re being repressed because of their religious views, that’s a
    problem. I’m not anti-religion. I’m pro-religion. I’m strongly pro-organized religion as being
    part of the human balance between the military industrial complex and peace, right? Like
    human, whether or not, wherever I get my philosophy, human beings aren’t doing a great job not
    killing each other. And I think religion can be part of the solution. I think when, when
    you get, when you fight against religion, and I mean liberty is not just religion, arts,
    I think art is a very important part of the, I mean, not just the human experience, but
    providing liberty for people. Like it’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a line you can see. It’s
    a way to kind of quantify, hey, how free, how much liberty do these people have? Are
    they at liberty to participate in arts that may not make the powers that be? The state,
    capitalism in the state. And yes, at times in history, religion has been one of those
    hierarchical authorities. And so I, you know, when has art thrived? You know, there have
    been times in the past, the arc of justice, just in our culture, in the United States
    of American culture, things have gotten worse for people of color, the rainbow flag community,
    gay people, queer, LGBTQ plus, allies, the whole, all those people, people were forced
    in other eras to be openly gay. And maybe, yeah, white, right, fine, men, white men in
    America were freer to be openly gay, or in Europe. There have been different situations
    and different times when, you know, there weren’t masked armed groups on the street
    throwing people in vans and disappearing them or detaining them even temporarily or shooting
    people like in cold blood in the streets of the United States. There were times when that
    wasn’t the case. So things can get worse. The idea that people come to America for a
    better life because where they’re coming from, whether it was European colonists or Haitians
    in 2026 are trying to get out of a worse situation. And it’s awesome here. It is, it is like,
    I mean, what this, what we’re doing in Iran and all kinds of other foreign adventures
    over the last, whatever, couple centuries, the colonies themselves are not great. The
    history of slavery is not great, right? The genocide against the indigenous people in
    the name of the USA waving the flag is like pretty bad, pretty bad. So it’s not perfect,
    but people, black people will come here because it’s worse where they are, where they’re from
    sometimes. People from the Americas who are of indigenous descent want to, still want
    to come here often because it’s better than where they are. There’s plenty of Europeans
    here that are still coming in, that want to come in. There are so many people from Asia
    that are like, yeah, yeah, it’s better. I’d rather be in America. Now maybe sometimes
    it is because you can get a few bucks. I think people without dough have a better time
    in Europe for sure. And it seems like probably Asia, China for sure. I don’t know. It is
    the case that there’s probably millions of people in India that would like to move here
    but can’t afford to, cannot afford to. And I wish, I want as many people to come here
    as possible. I think they have to follow the laws when they’re here and there needs
    to be a legal process for a person to have a path towards citizenship or some kind of
    mutually beneficial visa or, it’s not visa, but residency status. Wow. So this has been
    going on. This is a long podcast today and I’m just kind of babbling on. But thank you
    for listening to Republic Today, republictoday.net. Republic Today, republictoday.net. Thanks.

  • Durn Rursty

    All right, all right, hmm
    Hold open. It’s cold. My voice is cold. I’m not warmed up
    This is Republic today
    Republic today dotnet
    I’m
    Recording
    today
    July 23rd
    2026
    It’s 849
    p.m. On my
    Laptop computer
    I’m recording from the Empire State
    Republic today Republic today dotnet. I
    Just decided to jump in on
    Here record and improvise and so if you’re a first-time listener
    Um
    Then this sounds choppy to you
    You might you might kind of get into the rhythm
    If you’ve been listening for a long time and there at one point there were literally I mean
    I would get hundreds of streams. I don’t know
    If it was early bots, this would have been like 2009 or something
    a
    lot of it from China
    There were some Chinese and vaguely Chinese like red and gold flag star sort of imagery
    The Republic today flag
    was red white and gold I guess and
    you know, I was I was recording out of New Orleans and
    I was living there for a long time
    Southern style a ding-dang do you but I was in New Orleans so it doesn’t feel like
    Rural deep south. It’s not rural, Louisiana. You know, I mean when you’re in
    New Orleans, I mean you could almost imagine that it’s not
    The southeastern United States, you know, it’s Dallas is a bigger city and I kind of just
    Toss the entire state of Texas into the southwest when I’m doing regions, but
    Texas is actually a hybrid place where it’s both the south of the Confederacy as
    well as as a connection to
    One of the three cultures of the United States cowboy culture. I don’t know who originally said this theory
    but
    Someone told it to me
    When I was at the old space of the Iron Rail and there’s all kinds of
    All kinds of colorful characters coming and going at all times and someone who happened to be
    associated with
    the old Iron Rail that summer
    Told me that
    They read somewhere that
    There are three kinds of Americans
    there’s Yankees Southerners and Cowboys and
    And
    Every single American fits into one of those categories
    And it’s been tough. I mean you can obviously say it the whole thing silly and so don’t waste your
    Intellectual energy thinking about these kind of things
    But I thought about it and at the time and when it crosses my mind these days, I still think well
    That
    Sounds kind of true to me like it does seem like every American
    Fits into you so think of a stereotype and they’re probably either a Yankee a cowboy or a Southerner
    Are there different kinds of Yankees?
    Cowboys and Southerners, of course, of course, they’re different kinds. So just something to think about
    The
    Performance art project of Republic today Republic today net
    the performance art project is
    That I’m I’ve decided to slap on
    Senate too because it is unserious. It’s it’s very unserious
    but I’m running for Senate in the state of New York as well as
    Congress for the New York’s 25th District and
    So, what would I do were I to be elected how would I campaign?
    Let me it gives me a little bit of focus and and sort of a lens with which if you listen to
    Republic say Republic today net 15 years ago
    I
    Was doing research, you know before shows and talking about statistics. I was compiling things
    A lot of that was good
    content and I do want to learn
    and so
    This is sort of an audio journal for me learning
    About the world and I want you to learn and talk about politics and I want to get I want to do something
    I want to be active. Is this slack tivism? It’s way worse than that
    I’m just
    babbling into a microphone
    Here, that’s what Republic today Republic today net is right now
    it’s a fictitious run for New York Senate and
    not State Senate, but
    To be a senator in the United States government representing the Empire State
    I it seems like both the senators are
    sort of the toxic capitalist establishment types as well as
    The the congress person here in New York and so I
    Mean, let me put it out there right now if it were a serious thing if I was really a
    Threat to
    The establishment Democrats or the establishment politicians in New York State and in New York’s 25th
    I’m putting myself out there to catch bullets
    Yes catching bullets it’s sort of a metaphor a turn of phrase what happens when you threaten power
    In the gun era, I guess I
    Think there was probably during pre-gun
    Literacy era there were people who threatened the establishment
    Just their power not threatening them violently just threatening them in terms of power money
    Influence capital
    Live by the pen die by the sword
    Because the state’s gonna come for you you write bad stuff about the prime minister or king or whatever they got in Europe
    Where they had swords back before guns?
    You write bad stuff about a warlord or an emperor in
    ancient China
    Live by the brush. I guess they brushed not pen live by the brush die by the sword
    I don’t know when they got started having pens in China
    But I want to learn that’s what this project is it’s for me to learn
    So I just had to get on and do something it had been a few days
    Really original some some original incarnations. There were daily shows and I do
    Have the do I have the intellectual energy to put out good content is this good?
    It reminds me of a song by Naomi is Naomi good or bad
    So, I don’t know if this is good necessarily, but it’s something it’s better than perhaps if I was trying to do it every day are and
    Republic today Republic today dotnet
    so
    What’s on the agenda?
    It does seem like before running for Senate. I’d have to run for Congress
    and I
    Don’t know. I don’t think there is an organized left and
    I you know, I want to be passionate. I keep saying, you know, I had a medical professional
    Mentioned sort of being passionate about something doing a job
    I think I could do a good job
    And things that on paper I’m not qualified to do I think a lot of Americans I mean
    Well, I want to do surveys I want to I want to know I want to know statistically, but I also want to know sort of
    sort of
    Eyeball test how motherfuckers are doing in the 25th district and in America and in the world
    I mean, this is the learning I want to do because
    Indeed comm wages are low
    Wages are surprised anyone who’s like, huh? This is like New York is a high-tax state
    you’re not taking home a lot of what you’re making so it seems like wages should be higher to account for that and
    services should be better to reflect that and in fact, New York is hood as a
    motherfucker and
    Services are much more bureaucratic and difficult than other states. I’ve lived in and worked with
    Wages are low
    Wages are low
    On a d.com and maybe wages aren’t low if you’re going on the d.com in New York City
    I don’t know. I should check it out. I’m here to learn
    This project is an audio journal of my learning
    Yarmouth so I
    I
    Don’t I don’t know what the media I can I can ask AI or I can even do an internet search
    I’m a DDG person
    but I do
    mess around with that AI and I’m
    Currently implementing sort of a
    plan to have less screens in my life and
    Am I implementing it? I’m planning on implementing having less screens
    But recording Republic today Republic today dotnet does require a screen. I can do this
    I can send it out into the universe
    Sorry for clearing my throat clearing my throat, I’m sorry
    Excuse me for clearing my throat
    This is that raw stuff. This is that real stuff. It’s not that fake stuff
    So
    Republic today Republic today dotnet. I guess this episode seems a little unhinged
    Don’t worry y’all. I’m self aware. I’m self aware that this
    Seems unhinged, but I’ll catch you next time tune in next time. Thank you like and subscribe
    Republic today Republic today dotnet

  • Rusty Rust

    Okay. Huh. Is this thing on? Tap, tap. Hello, ladies and gents. No. Uh, they’re, they’re
    cold opens now. All right, this is Republic Today. RepublicToday.net. I’m recording from
    the Empire State. It is July 19th, 2026 to 21 p.m. on my laptop screen, right hand bottom
    corner. This is Republic Today. RepublicToday.net. This podcast first started in, gosh, I want
    to say like nine, but it was probably 10, like 2010. And then I go for long stretches
    of years without doing much. And then every once in a while I do some recordings. So that’s
    what this is. I was trying to call it political philosophy for a long time. When you put podcasts
    up on different platforms, you have to categorize things. There’s arts and humanities. And so
    political politics and news is humanities work. However, it’s not really art. Anyway,
    the categories don’t work. So now I am going to be categorizing back into arts. Republic
    Today. RepublicToday.net is a performance art product. Performance art. I’m fantasizing
    about running for Congress in 2028, New York’s 25th. It’s every two years, right, Congress?
    Do you, you’re, you’re running for Congress and you don’t even know every detail about
    elections? Well, I mean, I’m, I’m doing a podcast. I’m doing a podcast just off the dome. There’s
    like zero prep. The whole thing is freestyle. I decide, okay, I’m going to record. And so like
    I hit record and then I started talking and this is one take. So I’ve been talking for two and a
    half minutes, one take and I don’t, they’re a little bit, I mean, last episode, this one,
    it’s a little bit all over the place, but I’m just kind of getting back in the rhythm. So the
    performance art project of, you know, what would I do were I elected to Congress or running for
    Congress? Because like, I ain’t out in the community. I mean, working full time, having
    family obligations and yeah, recreating with my partner. Like I, I am not out there in the
    community. So part one of running is just when you have free time, when I have free time,
    when I fictitious candidate has free time, just be out in the, in the streets, I guess, you know,
    knocking on church doors or something. I do think I have some overarching ideas about
    legislative policy that would be good for those community members in New York 25. I listen to
    opinion podcasts on a regular basis and it was talk radio before that. I got into podcasting
    so long ago, really like when it first started being a thing and at least listening to it. And
    it was just the direct line from, oh, there these, this talk radio, this sports talk radio or politics
    talk radio is on demand streaming through this audio stuff. Great. Boom. I was of an age where
    I liked being an early adopter of these consumer products. Now, if it doesn’t resolve in being an
    engineer or what is that word today? Salesman, influencer, salesman, influencer, salesman. Like
    if you’re not making dough, then being an early adopter just means you spend money, right? You’re
    a foolish consumer. I’m a renter. I’ve, I’ve rent apartments. And so like, what a stupid loser,
    right? So if I think I’m a stupid loser, that probably doesn’t make me the best candidate to,
    you know, lead the deliberative body or be part of, be a leader, be a representative,
    to have a leadership position in terms of the democracy. So that’s Republictoday.net. That’s
    the theme. It’s a performance art project, product, project, project product. A shopping
    assignment I have for a different project I have is a projector. I want to do some slideshows,
    but like I’ve been out of that. I’ve been working in hospitality so long and so intently and been
    so focused on my personal relationships when I’m not spinning my wheels in hospitality. And it does
    feel like wheel spinning with, anyway, I’m not, Republictoday, Republictoday.net. Sometimes I
    want it to be therapy. And I think there’s been some episodes in the past where I’ve, I think
    it’s been therapeutic. I have a similar kind of monologue, monologue genre is stand-up comedy,
    which I’ve never tried. And I don’t really go to shows. Writing comedy seems so ridiculously
    difficult. I don’t understand how comedy writers do it. I enjoy comedy writing, though, but I don’t
    really, I’m not a big stand-up guy. And I’ve thought, though, like going through some life
    events, that maybe that would be a good way. I used to like to act when I was a youth. Basically,
    when I got into adulthood, I got out of acting. But I like to act. I was a big actor as a youth.
    And so being on stage, I’m very comfortable. Where I think I would be, it’s been a trillion
    years, and I don’t like doing karaoke. So, I don’t know. Stand-up comedy could be therapeutic
    if I just like talk about traumatic things. But that, like this whole little last couple
    minutes of this recording has not been funny or entertaining. I’m just trying to put myself
    out there right now with this new idea of the performance art project that this, you know,
    recordings produce. So, maybe this will just be a quick one. It’s very all over the place,
    but thank you for listening. We’ll see what happens in the future with Republic Today,
    republictoday.net.

  • Rusty

    Oh Right I Think this thing’s on It looks like it’s working. This is
    Republic today RepublicToday.net. I’m recording from the Empire State
    I’m looking in the lower right hand corner of my laptop screen and it
    says 717 26 July 17th 2026 it’s about 106 PM on the digital clock on the
    bottom right corner of my laptop screen This is Republic today
    RepublicToday.net I’m Hobbying I’m Performing my hobby This is just
    another freestyle test Shake off some rust. I’ve been doing this for
    years, and I’ve been not doing it for years I was Thinking a lot I
    listened to a lot of podcasts about politics I’m I’m thinking of the
    disgraced Alleged rapist Graham Platner and It seems obvious to me that
    were he a corporate Democrat He would be defended Against those
    allocations by the people who endorsed him but since His policies as far
    as I know what I haven’t dug into it seemed to be a little bit more
    socialist He’s thrown away now Rape should disqualify him But does
    having extramarital affairs disqualify a Democrat like William Jefferson
    Clinton or many many others and I think about the president our
    president Who has Found civilly liable for sexual assault has lots of
    allegations not less Legit sounding than this one against Graham
    Platner, and there’s some other red flags with Graham Platner but
    there’s way way more red flags with President Trump and And His policies
    are bad for the country bad for the world and There’s a bunch of
    Senators congressmen lower-level elected officials Who governors
    whatever? Who have imperfect personal histories perhaps around? Alleged
    sexual misconduct or Extramarital affairs, maybe just what was the swell
    well? I don’t think he did anything illegal right he just Borderline
    harassed people he just hit on people too much which again, I mean he
    Sounds he doesn’t sound like someone I would vote for even if he had you
    know some kind of pristine personal life So the litmus test there’s a
    line between some alleged Sexting that’s okay, but the sexual assault
    allegations are not okay and This argument of hey look the Republicans
    do it the president has had a very successful political career despite
    perhaps despite, but despite his personal life All these multiple wives
    yada yada yada So I Think that the establishment needs to decide is it
    going to be hypocritical is it like well if you’re rich and You’ve got
    The right political connections you can get away with stuff, but if
    you’re a working-class Candidate who’s maybe going to advocate for more
    economic equality Then you better have been a straight-a student never
    told a lie like Washington Married monogamous your whole life never
    Flirted with someone who wasn’t your spouse Never smiled at a host at a
    restaurant the wrong way whatever it is as well as you know like never
    drank like the president or Has only ever been a very light drinker Has
    never I mean I you know I don’t know like this these Linux tests for
    people’s personal lives I think it’s going to exclude a lot of people
    and and I think something that people bought into with Graham Plattner
    was He was a real guy who made mistakes now The excuse for the mistakes
    that people will make because it’s PTSD and he went and served our
    country in the military So it’s like it’s okay. It’s okay if you make
    life mistakes if you serve the country, but if you didn’t go to war then
    You really better have a perfect perfect clean, and we’re talking about
    a senator. We’re not talking about the president You better have a
    perfect record And and you know it was also a perfect storm for this guy
    because his primary opponent 80 years old In her 70s whatever was too
    old it was time for her to retire maybe she could be a kingmaker a
    queenmaker It’s time for her to retire Just because you’re not running
    for office or in office doesn’t mean you can’t have influence. I thought
    this about After Hillary lost to Obama in the primaries this 2008. It’s
    a long time ago. I’m very old Today I’m very old here on Republic today
    RepublicToday.net Today I’m old But I was thinking way back in oh wait
    oh nine way Hillary Clinton needs to go away I mean she ended up
    becoming Secretary of State after that, but certainly after the Obama
    era was over I It was I was appalled that she ran she needed to Be a
    great fundraiser be an all-time great fundraiser Advocate for whoever
    the Democrat candidate was put her thumb on the scale for some younger
    fresher candidate But don’t run like it’s it’s power-hungry miss I saw I
    mean not again I everything I listened to you said she was going to be
    Trump, so I’m not saying I predicted that Trump was going to win but I
    Knew she was a bad candidate in the primaries. I knew I mean I and again
    like I not only do I not like her policies I didn’t like her
    personality. It’s both both of those things that seem like Why do you
    need so much power? Why can’t you fade? into the background be super
    rich Super influential, you know you could still be a states person What
    about an ambassadorship if you really have to stay involved you know I
    heard people talking about President Obama Obama President Obama going
    on to the Supreme Court as sort of like a retirement thing, but yeah, I
    don’t understand why Senators I mean this this governor from Maine if
    she you know if she retired and a Democrat gets elected in 28. Why
    didn’t she go be a 75 year old whatever ambassador somewhere? You know
    or just you know start start a huge nonprofit that that like keeps
    Democrats in power in Maine and improves the lives of Mainers Why she
    got to be you know I’ve always wanted to be a senator well It just
    doesn’t work out. It just doesn’t work out, so she handed Graham
    Plattner that nomination In the same way that Joe Biden. I mean he’s the
    most obvious example Ruth Bader Ginsburg being another one of just
    clinging to power till you’re dead Instead of moving on to another phase
    I Don’t you know I’m not trying to kick people out of of Like having
    careers, but I’ve just I’ve seen it just down here on the ground for my
    professional working adult life where You know there’ll be the person
    running the libraries in their 70s. I’ve worked in libraries and And so
    you’ve got someone in their their 40s or 50s that should have been moved
    up into a position. I put college chairs Department heads I’ve just seen
    it in academia these people who are old and Again, not not that they’re
    not functioning not that they’re not still intelligent or hard-working
    or haven’t earned the money, but like There’s got to be a way way to
    make room for people at the top of these Organizations or or the middle
    management of these organizations who are in their 30s 40s 50s And and
    the people in their 60s and 70s could get out of the way There should be
    more I mean obviously it comes down to economics and people in their 50s
    can’t afford to retire There should be more instances of that Maybe if
    someone started working at the the university in their 20s and put in
    you know 30 years and they’re in their 50s they could retire and again
    You don’t have to it doesn’t mean you’re just watching TV all day Be it
    be some kind of consultant for the place from which you retired be Do do
    some volunteer work get on a board of something get be involved in
    things where you’re not the active manager Get out of the way let other
    people have careers, too So When I think about My my fictitious run for
    Congress in New York’s 25th district, which is just really Kind of way
    for me to have content on Republic today Republic today net and I feel
    like I’m really lacking in Activity organization. I don’t have the time
    or bandwidth to go to protests. It sounds like bad, but I also don’t
    want to You know, there’s the pro-democracy coalition But if these
    people are gonna vote for Gavin Newsom or we’re excited about copmola
    Harris or Whatever billionaire Pritzker Or any of these richie riches
    Capitalist status quo Democrats. I Can’t organize with them. That’s not
    I you know, I’m definitely an independent And so I go to a no-kings
    rally and there’s a bunch of like Liberal hippie Dems. I don’t know.
    They’re they’re just as responsible for the economics They’re just as
    responsible for the genocide in Palestine That you know, I see some
    groups of Anti-genocide protesters. I saw a march walk past my window a
    while ago a few months ago and They had a bunch of flags a bunch of like
    Iranian flags Palestinian flags like I’m not necessarily in I’m in
    support of those people but those governments I mean, they’re
    theocracies they’re fascistic You know, they’re just there is much of
    the state as the Israeli state the United States government I You know
    and it’s very easy to draw distinction in my head between the people in
    the government But I don’t know maybe they just need some different some
    different flags But I mean, you know the one the one anti-war protest
    the person chanting had Kind of a punk rock bodyguard and I was like,
    okay, there’s the anarchist There’s the real anti-authoritarian. I Don’t
    want a big government I don’t want a big centralized state doing all
    kinds of stuff I don’t want the means of production to be the hands of
    the government of the state I think it should be hands of labor not
    capital. So I’m anti-capitalist in that way, but a Big centralized state
    I don’t want either I have a lot of real estate policy ideas a lot of
    real estate policy ideas and I don’t want The federal government or
    especially more likely the state government To tell my local community
    what it can or can’t do. So the platform for my Fictional Campaign for
    Congress, New York 25 is That I want to get federal legislation allowing
    municipalities to impose Regulations and fees on property owners That
    that the state, you know property owner might go to the state and say
    hey You’re violating my property light rights and the state might put in
    injunction or you know We’re the federal government and I don’t I want
    it to start at the federal government. No Municipalities can oppose can
    impose Whatever Vacancy fees they want if they want to drive capital out
    of their cities they should be allowed to make those decisions if they
    want to Make sure that vacant units are full By say hey, what’s the
    asking price for this rental? What would the mortgage payment be on your
    asking price for this building that’s for sale? If you don’t get it
    filled in 90 days or 120 days or if there’s not people Actively
    Renovating or whatever doing, you know doing work on it When our random
    visits occur Then your vacancy fee is whatever that asking price is and
    it’s not just self-reported. You’ve got a three-pronged Analysis of what
    that number is. It’s It’s Some sort of Was it called when assessment,
    you know, there’s an assessor’s office that Goes to real estate
    professionals to find out what the asking price is They do their own
    market assessment and then also go to the landlord and very importantly
    the The assessor’s office the city government that’s imposing these
    vacancy fees as well as other Regulations such as owner occupancy and
    owned homes condos as opposed to rentals Potential buyers potential
    renters entrepreneurs people looking for housing in other Investors who
    don’t own that building There’s there’s I don’t know three four or five
    prongs in terms of coming up with the estimated asking price Because the
    landlords Are gonna lie and so the fee should just be what the asking
    price is. Hey, you’ve got to pay out into the government a fee For every
    every month that this place is vacant and the fee is whatever your
    asking price is you lower your asking price Your fee is lower. You
    already asked me price enough You’re gonna get a tenant if you’re
    turning away tenants because you’re writing something off Then that’s a
    gross misuse of real estate property during an affordability crisis so
    You know property rights as an abstract to word bumper sticker Means
    nothing you’re you should not have the right a landlord should not have
    the right To sit on vacant properties because that’s more profitable
    because they overvalued what the rents were gonna be and now they’re
    gonna go into arrears or collections or whatever because the building is
    worth more than it was valuated at well, guess what overvaluating
    buildings is illegal So if an investor has to take a loss that’s not
    illegal I hear about investments Coming with risk, but right now in our
    crooked corrupt Real estate system here in the Republic Republic today
    net in this Republic. We have a crooked corrupt real estate system Where
    investments carry no risk Everything always appreciates No tenant. No
    problem. You’re still profitable because People are taking loans off of
    buildings that have mortgages and five. It’s such a convoluted
    capitalist system That it’s profitable to leave buildings sitting empty
    to have 6070% of a building empty 50% of a building vacant and they’re
    still making dough That’s corrupt crooked. Anyway, that’s it’s my it’s
    my thing So Graham Plattner, I so I the reason why I bring up Graham
    Plattner or President Trump All these crooks Bob Menendez Eric Swalwell
    all these people Because You know if I’m gonna put on this this
    fictional campaign through a podcast to run for Congress against Joseph
    Morelli in New York’s 25th Well, I mean, I don’t have some kind of
    perfect record. I’ve never Sexually assaulted anyone But I’m a human
    being who’s made mistakes I’m a you know getting middle-aged man who’s
    lived lived a life that’s had ups and downs and so You know, I haven’t
    been Thinking in terms of being running for office my whole life. And so
    whatever I’ve I have a background That might be a turnoff to political
    consultants Because it’s all just you get through the consultant class
    and they’ll sell a candidate to the voters right, if it has if Graham
    Plattner Had said hey, I’m some nobody Who’s gonna run for Senate and
    The Consultant class hadn’t backed him He would have been a guy with
    some questionable online posts Questionable tattoo and some questionable
    allegations and he would have never won the primary But because the
    consultant class got behind him He got the nomination So What we know is
    that out He also had the dough and that’s the other thing that like so
    is it it’s okay I mean what we know about America this I don’t even want
    to phrase it as a rhetorical question What we know about America America
    here in the Republic Republic today Republic today net what we know is
    Money talks right that like if you’re rich the laws don’t apply to you
    If you’re rich norms and mores don’t apply like what would be
    disqualifying for someone for a job Doesn’t matter if you’re rich right
    because yeah, I don’t need the money I Will be disqualifying for
    Qualifying for someone for a board position if you’re rich well that
    just sweeps it under the rug if you’re looking for a business partner
    Well, I don’t I don’t need sweat equity. I need dough if you’re running
    for office and You can self finance or you’ve got the cronies To finance
    Then you know some some question marks in your personal life The the
    consulting class will let slide because you got that dough because they
    need money these consultants aren’t all rich They’re middle class
    probably a lot of them are working class people That are just trying to
    make a buck anyway, and so I hear people who are passionate about
    politics on podcasts and They’re all worked up about equality and and
    morality, and then they’re doing an ad for some capitalist products and
    so They don’t really mind Inequality or immorality because hey they got
    to sell they got to sell something Because they got to make a living I
    mean it’s not again We know that in the United States If you’re rich you
    can do whatever you want I Mean if you’re rich enough you can molest
    children and get away with it cover it up all the courts are for sale
    Right we know this pardons are for sale we know that that’s the case and
    and something that Frustrates me a little bit about and maybe this will
    be the last know what this has been a fairly long chat here on
    Republictoday.net the The actual leftist Bernie Sanders, etc is They’re
    talking about the billionaires and the point OO one percenters and The
    influence that they have so obviously Bezos Musk blah blah blah. They
    are bad They have a lot of influence. They have way too much influence,
    and it’s this Oligarchy class at at this national and global level, and
    it is a big problem But it’s not just the billionaires. It’s the
    millionaires at the local level It’s the guy that identifies Himself as
    upper middle class or just middle class dice in middle someone who just
    identifies as middle class, but owns four Small apartment buildings in I
    don’t know Rochester, New York That person has too much power that
    person does not have The right regulations about what they how they make
    their money and what they can do because I guarantee Those apartments
    aren’t in great shape. I Guarantee that they’re raising the rent a
    nickel if they can if they can get away with raising it $1,000 a year
    they’re gonna get away with that and I guarantee that the millionaire
    Who isn’t middle-class but identifies as middle class that owns four
    apartment buildings in Rochester, New York? I Guarantee that that person
    has vacant units that they’re writing off because that’s part of The
    economics today, so anyway, it’s not just the global billionaires It’s
    it’s your local rich guy who owns a few buildings. That’s also part of
    the problem I’m gonna call it This was Republic today. This is Republic
    today. This will always be today. It’s always today here in the Republic
    I don’t know. I’m just blathering now Republic today RepublicToday.net
    PS C:>

  • when corruption is just so obvious

    https://www.nomojomo.com

    In a letter to Democratic committee members dated December 23, 2025, Congressman Joe Morelle asked for their support in his 2026 re-election bid. He called himself a “lifelong, proud Democrat” and said that Hakeem Jeffries had asked him to “lead House Democrats’ efforts to root out corruption in Washington.”Read that letter. Then ask yourself: is this serious?Families in Rochester and Monroe County are struggling to afford housing, groceries, and health care. A president is openly defying court orders, gutting federal agencies, and dismantling the social safety net. And Joe Morelle’s pitch to voters is that he’s been tasked with “rooting out corruption”—by Hakeem Jeffries, a leader whose own caucus is revolting against him. The letter says nothing about housing. Nothing about health care costs. Nothing about what Morelle has actually done—or failed to do—for the people he represents. It is the letter of a man who thinks his job is to hold a title, not to fight for his constituents.And the man who claims to be fighting corruption? He has one son who is a registered lobbyist for the company that owns Rochester’s electric utility, and another who runs an advocacy organization representing contractors and developers. The “lifelong Democrat” keeps recruiting Republicans to run on the Democratic line. And the leader tasked with “defending the freedom to vote” has spent decades rigging the game from the inside.Morelle’s influence in Washington is also shrinking. In his entire time in Congress, he has sponsored exactly one piece of legislation that was enacted into law: a bill to rename a post office in Fairport after his predecessor, Louise Slaughter. That’s it. He was once a member of the Rules Committee—one of the most powerful in the House—and the Armed Services Committee. He sits on neither today. He was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus when he first joined Congress, and even touted their endorsement. But after the CPC co-chairs introduced concrete criteria—including voting record requirements—for continued membership, Morelle quietly dropped off. He is no longer a member. A progressive group flagged him as a “PINO”—progressive in name only—back in 2021. The label stuck.This site documents, with primary sources, the record that Morelle would rather you not see: a career that began with election fraud and a guilty plea; decades of backroom dealing as Monroe County’s Democratic Party boss; loyalty to disgraced politicians and family conflicts of interest; a pattern of enabling Republicans while calling himself a Democrat; a terrible, right-wing voting record on key issues; and his role as one of AIPAC’s most reliable allies in Congress.Every claim on this site is sourced. Newspaper clippings, public records, and reporting from local and national outlets back up what you’ll read here. This is not opinion—it is Joe Morelle’s own record, in his own words and actions.

  • the k shape

    “The group following the upward path on the K is extremely small and shrinking every day, and this group is assisted and enabled at every turn by the power of the state. And the declining group is not roughly half of us, but is in fact the overwhelming majority of people, fed to the wolves by our system. The K gives the false impression that about half are moving up while about half are moving down.”

    www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/05/the-myth-of-the-k-shaped-economy