The problem with my political party is.....
Accountability and common ground should not feel like rare collectibles in American politics, but lately that is exactly what they are.
Today we’re asking ourselves a simple question as exhausted Americans: What is wrong with our political parties?
Not “what is wrong with the other side.” Our own sides. The one we are supposedly meant to defend no matter what. The one we are meant to excuse, explain away, or vote for. And the truth is, both of us have had moments lately where we feel a little party-less. Jolene is exhausted by what Trump is doing and what parts of the Republican Party have become willing to justify. Nicole is exhausted by the idea that the only way Democrats can win is by becoming a far-left mirror image of the same chaos. It is like both parties are stuck in this reactive loop, and the rest of us are meant to clap like seals while they escalate.
What we keep bumping into is the same ugly incentive. Tribalism pays. Outrage raises money. Being reasonable does not go viral. So instead of leaders trying to persuade the middle, they perform for the loudest edges, and then act shocked when the country feels like it is splitting in half.
The frustrating part is that when you strip away the theatre, most people actually want similar things. Safety. Stability. A chance to build a decent life. A government that does not feel like a reality show. That is why we keep talking about the exhausted majority. The people who are not screaming online all day, who do not want to live in permanent crisis mode, who would love to see a politician do something wildly radical like collaborate.
We kept coming back to this idea. What if cross-party work was something politicians were proud of? What if they advertised it? What if you could turn on the news and see two people from opposite sides saying, “We disagree on plenty, but we got this done together.” It sounds almost childish, like a school project, but maybe that is the point. We have normalized dysfunction for so long that basic cooperation now feels like fantasy.
And then there is Congress. The job. The part that is supposed to matter.
We are both tired of the yelling and the posturing and the endless cycle of executive orders that get reversed the second the other team gets power. If you want a country to feel stable, you have to pass laws that last. That requires compromise. That requires people who can stand next to someone they disagree with and not treat it like contamination.
The “America First” conversation is where things always get spicy, because it means different things depending on who is saying it. For Nicole, it immediately conjures MAGA imagery and the way that phrase has been used as a weapon. For Jolene, it is more practical. If you are in debt, you do not keep spending like you are not. You sort your finances. And even when we disagree on tone and history, we can both see the underlying truth. America has domestic problems that need attention, and pretending otherwise does not make them disappear.
What we are really circling, again and again, is decency.
The kind that says character matters, truth matters, and you do not get a free pass just because you wear the right color jersey. We are not naive. We know politics is messy. But we also know we have lowered the bar so far that we are starting to confuse “not actively humiliating us” with leadership.
So yes, we are going to keep saying the boring thing. Vote. Especially in primaries. Pay attention before the choices are narrowed down for you. And do not be afraid to cross the aisle if someone on the “other side” is doing a better job of representing your values than the person you are “supposed” to support.
Because political labels should not rule us. They are meant to describe us, not trap us. And if we want less extremism, less chaos, and less fear, then we have to start rewarding the people who are willing to act like adults in the room.
We will keep having these conversations, because we genuinely believe they matter. Not because we have it all figured out, but because we are tired of being played. And because the only way out of this mess is more honesty, more courage, and a lot more willingness to talk to people we did not expect to agree with.
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Congress is Broken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJmJTofEN3E
Isaac Saul’s Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/isaac_saul_3_ideas_for_communicating_across_the_political_divide?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
Lalshareef: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbHAbAgOA4u/
Brad Porteus of Bridge Grades on MO News: https://lnkd.in/p/gQUQxSMN
Dan Goldman District 10: https://www.instagram.com/repdangoldman/?hl=en
Jolene’s Dible Dough: https://dibledough.com/
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[00:00:00] nicole: She's conservative and I'm liberal, and yet we've been friends for almost 40 years. Everyone says you shouldn't discuss politics, religion, or money, and we say that's exactly what friends should be talking about. Join us as we tackle the conversations you're having in your head but are too scared to say out loud.
[00:00:19] Welcome to We've Got to Talk. Welcome, sweet Jolene. It is hot, hot, hot today. Look at us in our tank tops.
[00:00:27] Jolene: hot
[00:00:27] nicole: hot everywhere. Yes
[00:00:30] Jolene: are speaking about problem with my party is, dot, dot, dot.
[00:00:36] nicole: Mm-hmm
[00:00:37] Jolene: This is something that you and I have been talking about. You've made the comment that you feel party-less
[00:00:43] nicole: Yes
[00:00:43] Jolene: I said, "You know what? I'm so sick of some of the things that Trump is doing and what our Republicans are doing," that we said we must talk about what the problem with our party is right now.
[00:00:55] nicole: Yes. Yes
[00:00:56] Jolene: up with some things. Go first, Nicole
[00:00:59] nicole: [00:01:00] Okay. Number one, the idea that the only way for the Democrats to win is to be the far-left version of Trump is ludicrous. I totally understand in a physics sense we swing way far one way, and now we wanna... it's time to swing all the way back to the other side.
[00:01:22] But in my opinion, it lacks creativity, and it's just mean and nasty, and this liberal is not interested. Number two, Liberals and Democrats, we tend to react versus act
[00:01:40] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:01:40] nicole: days. Certainly since Trump rode down that escalator in 2015, liberals, Democrats, progressives, we've all basically been bracing ourselves and then reacting to whatever craziness that he proposes.
[00:01:56] Instead, why haven't we [00:02:00] just ignored him and come up with clear, interesting solutions that maybe would capture the attention of all of us in a positive way? Number three, and I've said this, you just said this just now, that I am feeling party-less. I have felt that, quote, "both sides have lost their moral compass," and that being in political office is to actually serve the people, not yourself, and not to get rich.
[00:02:30] We, as liberals, tend to claim that we're so smart, we're so educated, So if that's true, let's find solutions to all these problems that we have and move forward versus stomping our feet, pointing our fingers, and blaming the other party
[00:02:51] Jolene: Okay. I'm gonna say that I thought this was going to be really easy for me to come up with three things that I don't like about my [00:03:00] party. there was one huge one that was super easy, and that first one is, I'm a conservative. I think government spending is out of control. I, I want us to get back to balancing the budget and shrinking the size of government, and i- and I know that's gonna mean cuts to Social Security and Medicare and all the other things, but that's what we're paying you Congress people to do. spending is out of control. So number one, I think the conservative party is not conservative anymore. The number two for me was immigration. Although I agree with Trump closing the border, and I think he's been super effective in, stopping the illegal crossings. and I think that we need strong border enforcement, and I think that's changed over the years, but that's also changed with immigration.
[00:03:51] I think if we go back to th- the probably Bush era, we wanted immigration, and we wanted work [00:04:00] visas, and we wanted people to come here to work and have a path forward to citizenship. but that's not the case. Now we're talking about mass deportations and get rid of everybody and, and let's kind of start, start fresh. so my problem is probably more with Trump, with the way that he's done executive orders and, you know, the problems with ICE, and let's get that figured out because it doesn't do anybody any good. I agree with going after the bad guys, absolutely. and I think a, a lot of bad guys are coming across the border because it was super easy to do.
[00:04:34] So I, I guess that's where I'm, I'm struggling with, maybe Trump more than my party. third thing I really kind of struggle with as well is the America First policy. actually agree with it right now where we are in 2026, whereas I think in the, the, the old guard of the Republican Party would've been, you know, l- let's not have tariffs.
[00:04:56] Let's let the free market, concept determine [00:05:00] what we buy and what we bring in and what we pay for things, and let the free markets kind of guide the way that we choose to spend money on. And if that helps other countries, then that's the case. I think so many countries, and I don't wanna just say China, but I think so many countries have taken advantage of, the trade deficit, uh, and we have a trade deficit with so many countries, that I think we need to roll that back.
[00:05:25] And I, and I actually agree with Trump the way, he's implemented the tariffs on a lot of countries to make things, um, more fair until we get to a place where, that trade deficit is more in line with, we're, we're partners with other countries. So allowing the free market to work to a degree, which is the old guard way of thinking things for, for Republicans.
[00:05:50] nicole: what I'm hearing is that in terms of immigration, you are happy with that there's been some [00:06:00] definitive closures of the border, but you don't necessarily, like how it's more about Trump than the Republicans, how he has attacked the rest of it by locking down people having pathways forward, how he's dealt with ICE.
[00:06:16] Is that, is that fair to say?
[00:06:20] Jolene: I think it would be fair to say that I, yes on the first part, that I like the, the way he's closed the borders and, and we have a border control now, and we have some security there. what I don't like is that, ICE is still killing people, nobody should
[00:06:34] nicole: Yeah, yeah
[00:06:35] Jolene: I, I mean, unless you are a, a really bad guy in a, situation and there's a fight. But, you know, this guy on a, on the bicycle who got shot, uh, uh, nobody should die, uh, you
[00:06:46] nicole: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes
[00:06:48] Jolene: But, but then I blame Congress. Let's get immigration figured out. Let's get some good immigration laws.
[00:06:54] Let's get some things, um, where a pathway to citizenship is much [00:07:00] easier having to sit for years and years and years. let's get something done. So I, I think that's... I'm probably talking out of both sides of my mouth on that one, but
[00:07:08] nicole: in terms of your number two, Let's simplify this. You're having an issue with how Trump is implementing the continuation of immigration
[00:07:20] Jolene: it was an executive order that started the actions that we're seeing. But I think the real problem is that we're not getting to make the laws to make immigration safer, make more sense,
[00:07:37] nicole: I completely agree with you. in terms of Congress needs to do its job, right? It needs to do its job. That said, and I think, again, we're gonna agree on this, that you and I are not happy with how ICE is being run, how ICE is being handled, Their lack of training, the, like, they're, they seem to be quite trigger-happy over [00:08:00] there,
[00:08:00] Jolene: they have changed the training.
[00:08:02] nicole: but something is go-- I mean, obviously there's been a slew of, um, shootings lately. Uh, they're not supposed to stop...
[00:08:09] Jolene: Two.
[00:08:10] nicole: The, the
[00:08:10] Jolene: a slew.
[00:08:12] nicole: Well, as you,
[00:08:13] Jolene: too many
[00:08:14] nicole: uh, yeah, and as you said, we don't want anyone to die. And like, and like pulling people over, they're not supposed to do that anymore
[00:08:21] Jolene: yeah, but then I think he said, "No, they, they can do that." Like, I think that was the knee-jerk reaction, and then a day later they were like, "No, you can still do that." let's make some laws. Let's not just rely on executive actions and d- and executive decisions by the president. Let's use our Congress to make laws
[00:08:39] nicole: you sent me a video this morning that I'll put in the show notes. Uh, it was 1440 Explores talking about how Congress is broken, and I think if you're listening or watching to this particular episode, do yourself a favor and watch this 20-minute video. It really explains sort of how [00:09:00] Congress broke down in the teens really, 19- 19-teens, things started to change when Congress almost had too much work to do or too many things that they were, um, supposed to fix, and it became, like, absolute party lines and not being able to talk to each other.
[00:09:18] It's one of the things that we've talked about many times on this podcast about both of us believe that there should be a little bit more living in DC and that community-based idea of when you start to see each other as human beings, you actually possibly start to work together in a way that maybe it's not just about the fighting.
[00:09:38] I think that that video was really, really insightful.
[00:09:42] Jolene: well, and I think it's really interesting in that video, and yes, please, viewer and listener, i- if you get a chance, and I listen, I, as I do most things, and maybe you vis- and viewer are doing this to us right now. I listen to things on, like, 1.25 speed or 1.5 speed to
[00:09:56] nicole: I do not, 'cause that sounds crazy. I [00:10:00] don't... As an audio person, I want it, I want it to sound just like the people. Like, I'm like,
[00:10:06] Jolene: God
[00:10:06] nicole: uh." I'm already running too fast. It will just make me more anxious.
[00:10:10] Jolene: I just think it, I
[00:10:11] nicole: That's hilarious. That's hila- again, opposites.
[00:10:15] Jolene: I know, to 1.25
[00:10:17] nicole: Yeah
[00:10:17] Jolene: anyway. but the point was that, that Congress, once they implemented, the s- uh, federal income tax, then they had to start then having budgets. Uh, it, that's kind of where everything started to, to unravel, was ha- they were collecting money, so how were they gonna spend money? And everything kind of went downhill from there, that Congress didn't have that much, power at that point. Once they, again, Nicole, what do I always say? The power and the money.
[00:10:49] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:49] Jolene: Congress had money, then they had power, and then they started using it, and then they got powerful people who wanted more power,
[00:10:56] nicole: and the other thing that I, was a takeaway from that video [00:11:00] was when governments have a lot of executive order, they don't last. You need that bipartisan, uh, cooperation so that these bills from school, the Schoolhouse Rock days, you Gen X-ers, like when, << Capital Hill, I'm just a bill >> and when they get...
[00:11:18] You know, when you have cross-partisan partnership, those laws last. And that's what we want. We want cooperation. you know, 300 executive orders that then the next, uh, president comes in and wipes it out. what's the point of this? Nothing gets done, and we're just fighting, and I...
[00:11:39] There's sometimes that I'm thinking, you know, and maybe people are gonna disagree with me, but I believe we've got one chance on this planet. This is it, y'all. And if you wanna just be mad at each other and be, you know, every time you look at your phone be pissed off and screamy [00:12:00] and... I'm sorry, this is not a way to live.
[00:12:03] This is not a wa-
[00:12:03] Jolene: fun
[00:12:04] nicole: a way to be... Like, w- there's other fun things that we could be doing, you as a conservative want a small government, and right now it's a ginormous government. but if that's what you want, and then you have liberals that want more money to go to the environment, you figure out ways to work together. Like, it doesn't have to just be so it's your way or my way. are there any things that I said that struck a-
[00:12:29] Jolene: sec. Do you want, is there something on America First, the whole free
[00:12:32] nicole: Oh, yeah. Th- yeah, thank you. Thank you. America first, that's really curious to me, Jolene, because just knowing you, and I think of you, you are a businesswoman, you are a business owner, you are an entrepreneur, and you have, I feel like, believed in free markets.
[00:12:53] Jolene: Yes, which I still
[00:12:55] nicole: You still do? So I guess the America first thing...[00:13:00]
[00:13:00] And maybe honestly it's language, 'cause we talk about language a lot on this podcast, and how if we just use different language, maybe the conversation would open up in a different way. Because sometimes, like for instance, when I hear the term, quote, "America first," my back gets up and I think about MAGA and I think about, hold on, there's a whole world out there.
[00:13:22] But I also think, quite frankly, America's a mess right now, it would be nice that we started concentrating on ourselves.
[00:13:31] Jolene: That's exactly it.
[00:13:32] nicole: here's the thing. Living in New York City, even being in Salt Lake City, you go to, I, maybe not in Lampe, but there's a lot of homeless, unhoused, however you would like to call it, there's a lot of struggling people in this country that could use our help.
[00:13:50] Jolene: Yep
[00:13:51] nicole: And we have this incredibly expensive war in Iran.
[00:13:57] I mean, there's a lot of things, everybody, a [00:14:00] lot of things where I would say I would like to have us start focusing on it at home. Is that America first? I don't know.
[00:14:09] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:14:10] nicole: know
[00:14:10] Jolene: exactly. I mean, so you're right. If you take away th- the
[00:14:14] nicole: thing is real. I mean, Isa-
[00:14:15] Jolene: uses,
[00:14:16] nicole: yeah
[00:14:16] Jolene: right? You got... Then you're like, "Nope, whatever that is, I don't care.
[00:14:19] nicole: I mean,
[00:14:20] and like Isaac Saul's TED Talk, which I'll put Isaac's... Shout out, Isaac. I'll put, put his sh- uh, TED Talk in the show notes too, because it's fascinating that this language thing is real, and everybody, the media uses it. They absolutely use it to piss you off, rile you up, and get you mad at the other side.
[00:14:43] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:14:44] so then as I started going through, and really I just kinda went through the Republican Party platform to see kind of like where, uh, I like that, I don't like this,
[00:14:52] nicole: And what does that mean? Did you Google Republican Party platform or what did you... Okay
[00:14:56] Jolene: yep. From 2024. So, you know, they, when you go to the conven- [00:15:00] when each of the parties go to their convention, they develop their platforms, you know, from, from local levels up, and they de- and they adopt, what are the things that they believe in. the free mar- if you think back to both Bush presidencies, uh,
[00:15:14] nicole: I would think Reagan too. Wouldn't Rea- wasn't Reagan a free market person?
[00:15:18] Jolene: yes. Uh, yeah, he was probably one of the original,
[00:15:21] nicole: I think so. I don't, I don't really know
[00:15:24] Jolene: Okay, so anyway, as, as Republicans have evolved, and, and maybe there are sti- I, I'm sure there are still those who feel like, um, you know, it is our job as the most powerful country in the world to help other countries.
[00:15:42] and I do agree with that to an extent, but if you liken our federal government to the way that you run your own family budget, if you were had a bunch of credit card debt and you owed a lot of money and you were struggling, and [00:16:00] i- i- you're not gonna give money to your neighbor necessarily, or you're not gonna actually, you know, give to the, you know, y- the SPCA or, you know?
[00:16:10] I mean, like you're gonna go, "I wanna give them something, and maybe I'll give them $5, but I can't give $100," you know? I mean, those are the, I think those are the things, and that's the way that we need to look our federal government right now. We're in a shit-ton of debt, and
[00:16:27] nicole: right
[00:16:28] Jolene: we need to kind of roll back. And, and I think, again, I Trump tried to do that at the beginning with the whole DOGE thing with Elon Musk. Like, there's a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse. Let's start there. And, and I know that phrase is probably triggering to some Democrats too because, again, it was something that was just, you know,
[00:16:49] nicole: Sure
[00:16:49] Jolene: down our throats. but y- let's start there, you know? I think that was a good place to start. And I think when, when Trump then, you know, cut off the funding to [00:17:00] USAID, it was like, "Oh my gosh, well, we're helping these countries that can't help themselves." but a lot of that money then we've seen was going to corrupt governments and was going to d- it wasn't being, it wasn't being used by the right people for the right things.
[00:17:15] So-
[00:17:16] nicole: But, but I guess Jolene, I wanna stop you for a second because I actually think this could be bipartisan. l- and we t- we've talked about this in other episodes, but if it wasn't a chainsaw and it was, like, bipartisan buy-in, I don't want to waste money. Liberals, the, I don't know, and maybe, and maybe that's a misconception that liberals just like to spend a bunch of money.
[00:17:40] I don't know many people these days in 2026 that are not watching what they're spending. There's a lot of, people are having a hard time. Liberals, Democrats, all the, I mean liberals, conservatives, the whole thing. So why couldn't we go in and say, "Okay, USAID, [00:18:00] there's some, I'm, we're seeing some fraud going on here.
[00:18:03] We're seeing abuse of power, abuse of spending, and let's go in and cut what needs to be cut together, and then give the $5 instead of the 100." no one likes that we have this huge debt. No one, like, it's not serving us.
[00:18:21] So, but we get so like, this is your problem and then this is your problem.
[00:18:26] yeah.
[00:18:27] Jolene: honest?
[00:18:28] nicole: Yeah
[00:18:28] Jolene: I feel like s- I think it's because if it's Trump's idea, Democrats won't go for it. So, as we used to think about nation-building, and
[00:18:37] nicole: Yeah
[00:18:37] Jolene: this was a, Bush thing. A- and maybe that's just 'cause that's my point of reflection. I mean, that's what my
[00:18:44] nicole: Well, you were y- you were a young adult when you was, when Bush was in office, so
[00:18:48] Jolene: yeah, was starting to pay attention. Um, you know, nation-building was so important because then it allowed us as a country to look like we were the good guys. And so [00:19:00] as we would go in and help nation-building
[00:19:02] nicole: look like or to be the good guy?
[00:19:05] Jolene: well, I mean, it depends because I think what happened is then we started, you know, was it really motivated by money?
[00:19:12] nicole: Yeah, it's true. It's true
[00:19:13] Jolene: you know, was it to get, uh, you know, oil rights in, from
[00:19:17] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:18] Jolene: Or
[00:19:18] nicole: No, you're right
[00:19:19] Jolene: diamonds or gold or, you know, extract minerals?
[00:19:23] nicole: Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure
[00:19:25] Jolene: so I think what, what at one time was idealistic of nation-building has most likely turned into corruption and who's got the money and who's got the power.
[00:19:37] And so I just think all of that needs to be reined in, let's start with some common sense within our own country,
[00:19:44] nicole: I'm wondering when you say, well, if Trump- if it's Trump's idea. Okay, so what I'm proposing is that, and this is what you were proposing earlier, Congress, do your job. Stand up to that president. [00:20:00] I don't care what side of the aisle you're on.
[00:20:02] Stand up to that president and do your job. When I see clips of these ding-dongs screaming at each other, I'm like, "Really? And then you're gonna go for your summer break af- after you just screamed at everybody?" there's got to be other people in that Congress that are just afraid
[00:20:23] Jolene: And are we gonna see that after the midterms,
[00:20:25] nicole: wonder, I wonder, is it gonna change? I'd like it to change. Would you like it to change?
[00:20:31] Jolene: hundred percent
[00:20:32] nicole: Okay, that's bi- that's a bipartisan takeaway there. We want it to change what is the, um, Congress approval rating right now? It's like 10%,
[00:20:43] Jolene: Like lower,
[00:20:44] nicole: or something.
[00:20:45] Jolene: lower than the, um, the, the feelings that you have against North Korea. I
[00:20:51] nicole: That's right. That's right.
[00:20:52] Jolene: a more positive view than Congress right now. How does that happen? Um,
[00:20:58] nicole: my gosh.
[00:20:59] Jolene: Okay, [00:21:00] so let's go back to yours.
[00:21:01] nicole: Okay
[00:21:02] Jolene: Give me your one, two, and three
[00:21:03] nicole: number one is the idea that Democrats right now are thinking that because we've had Trump, we have to have now extreme left leaders instead of people that are, that are... That's number one. Number two is that, that since Trump, uh, went down that escalator, we are, all we do is react versus act. Okay? And that number three is that where's the moral compass?
[00:21:30] And considering that liberals think that we're so smart and so educated, which a lot of us are, so let's use those brains and figure something out, and maybe work together
[00:21:42] Jolene: all right. So number one, the extremes. Here's what I think might ha- be i- i- uh, interesting. We s- we tend to do this. We, and it, and I, and I have for as long as I can remember, remember, it y- go from, you know, one extreme to the other, and as [00:22:00] that side becomes more powerful, then this side tries to emulate it and, and let's, we can, "Hold my beer, I can do one better." And so it will be interesting to see if the perception right now, like as we sit here today on July 26th,
[00:22:17] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:17] Jolene: I think that the perception is what's the antidote to MAGA
[00:22:24] nicole: Right
[00:22:25] Jolene: It's social democracy. Like let's socialism, um, y- you
[00:22:30] nicole: de- de- oh, the Democratic Socialist Party. That, that's that wing.
[00:22:33] Jolene: socialist,
[00:22:34] nicole: Yeah.
[00:22:35] Jolene: But it'll be interesting if the reality is, if people in the next two years, let's say, 'cause I'm not, I, I think midterms is, i- is too soon for us to really analyze this. but in the next two years, in the next presidential election, will really the antidote to what, what is happening right now, will it really be decency and [00:23:00] morality? You know? I mean, like that is, uh, will, will that other extreme be morality and decency because we've gone so far to immoral and indecent over here on both sides of the aisle that swing is actually something more positive
[00:23:18] nicole: Well, it's interesting that you say that, Jolene. It's reminding me that, there's a lot of backlash from Mamdani's statement about wanting to arrest, uh, Bibi Netanyahu when he comes to the UN in September.
[00:23:33] and I don't know, again, if it's just the algorithm that I'm being fed. I am looking more into all of that, so it could be feeding more of that to me. But I'm getting videos from Hindus, Muslims, Arabs who are furious at Mamdani for that statement. please say what that guy's name is. He's a wonderful, he's a wonderful guy that you guys should, uh, all follow, and I will put him in [00:24:00] the show notes. Can you say his name?
[00:24:02] Jolene: I believe it's Loya Al and his, his handle is A- L-A-L So S-H-A-R-E-E-F.
[00:24:12] he's an Ab- Abraham Accords peace advocate, historian, Middle East, um, affairs speaker, graduated from Penn State. He's also a proud Nittany Lion. he's from Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi. Uh, anyway, I f- he comes up in my feed all the time as
[00:24:28] nicole: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
[00:24:29] Jolene: again,
[00:24:30] nicole: but, but, but all to say that, like, there are these groups of people that are like, You are promoting ha- like, just the same amount of hate in a different way. Like, this is not what... This- you don't, you don't know what you speak. You are being racist, you are being antisemitic, you are, like...
[00:24:46] And I, I will, again, I will put that particular video in the show notes to s- so people can actually understand what I'm talking about.
[00:24:53] but all to say that I'm thinking of this as how,
[00:24:57] if other people are getting [00:25:00] these videos that you and I are getting, that, that maybe there is a chance for decency, that you will see the full picture versus, this, like, hero worship of Chevalier saying... Who is now, by the way, she's erasing all the pre- all the stuff in her, um, social media feed that said that, "I don't want police, and I don't want jails, and I don't want..."
[00:25:24] Like, she's absurd. She's absurd. She's a, she's just, she's absurd. She's hateful, and Mamdani endorsed her. you know, when liberals get all upset about Trump... And listen, a lot of the things that Trump does, I, upset me. For sure, That doesn't mean that I wanna then be hateful on the other side.
[00:25:43] and we've said this a bazillion times, like, just because you're figuring out a puzzle with your friend who doesn't necessarily think the same way you do, doesn't mean you've given up who you are. It means you've made something better together
[00:25:57] Jolene: As our friend Brad Porteous,
[00:25:59] nicole: Oh my [00:26:00] God.
[00:26:00] Jolene: out Brad Porteous
[00:26:02] nicole: Listen, Brad Porteous, we try at this point in the podcast almost... Now it's like a game. Can we sneak him into each episode?
[00:26:09] Jolene: can we talk about Brad Porteous? he is our friend from Bridge Grades,
[00:26:14] and he was, um, just interviewed by Moshe
[00:26:18] nicole: Yes.
[00:26:19] Jolene: who we love.
[00:26:20] nicole: We'll put that in the show notes too
[00:26:22] Jolene: yes. And so that, um, that interview, and, and they talked about compromise you know, we're not talking about compromise because compromise is a bad word that, you know, means that you're giving up something that you believe.
[00:26:36] nicole: is it a bad word? Should we just change it? Should we make it not a bad word?
[00:26:40] Jolene: I don't know, because in Brad, in, in Brad's explanation to Mosh, it was that has a negative connotation. Like, your, your emails have been compromised,
[00:26:53] nicole: That's true
[00:26:54] Jolene: your... You know, we use that in a negative way, that someone has taken something from you
[00:26:59] nicole: Right[00:27:00]
[00:27:00] Jolene: something's been stolen. So he likes to use the word collaboration, that you, if s- if you and I don't agree on something, how do we collaborate to
[00:27:09] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:09] Jolene: that instead of compromising our values
[00:27:12] nicole: Yep.
[00:27:13] Jolene: system?
[00:27:13] nicole: Yep
[00:27:14] Jolene: anyway, all that to say that, you know, these are the kinds of things that, um, hopefully will happen after the 20- or in the 2028 election. Can I address your last thing, um, reaction to Trump? I think this was al- this will also come about in, in 2028, there, that nobody's running against Trump anymore, you know? Even if they're running against Vance, whoever the, the Democrat nominee is, um, running against the Republican, if it happens to be Vance, will they still be running against Trump? I
[00:27:49] nicole: Right
[00:27:50] Jolene: will that be the argument? because what will Democrats do when they don't have someone to blame it on, you know?
[00:27:57] Or what are the things that they stand for, [00:28:00] not just the things that they're against, 'cause that was, that's really easy. I mean, there's a lot of things to be against
[00:28:05] nicole: Absolutely. Absolutely. it's really hard to decide what you want, what you need, what's important to you. It's maybe not as sexy, but just sit down, Democrats. Honestly, you've got to stop reacting and decide who you want to be, what you want to represent, and my suggestion is you open the door wider to your Republican friends Open the door wider.
[00:28:38] Less hate, more openness, more ideas, more positivity, more for, for something together to include people together, and stop demonizing the other side. Doesn't work. The exhausted majority is tired of it. We're exhausted, so exhausted that they don't go to the [00:29:00] primaries anymore, and who- whoever decides to go to the primaries basically decides who is gonna be on the ticket, which is such a shame, because I'm gonna shout out to my congressman, in New York, uh, District 10, Dan Goldman, who, gosh, it would be so great to have him on the podcast.
[00:29:18] I love him. He's done amazing, amazing things, and he got primaried out. You know why? 'Cause only 5% of you voted. I mean, it's bananas. He, uh, he's actually doing amazing work for the city, for our country, working cross-party lines, doing exactly what we hope at We've Got to Talk. Dan Goldman, shout out. We'd love to talk to you.
[00:29:42] We hope you stay in this realm and try to help. It's a shame. Start voting in your primaries, people. It's just, it's such a bummer.
[00:29:51] Jolene: okay, is there anything else that you want to,
[00:29:55] nicole: Talk about in terms of what's wrong with our party?
[00:29:57] Jolene: Yes.
[00:29:58] nicole: I wanna give this as a [00:30:00] suggestion for both parties Start actually advertising, shouting out when you work across the aisle. Don't hide from that. Actually promote the crap out of it, because we are so starved for some joy, some cooperation.
[00:30:24] Look what happened with the World Cup. We want people to get along. We want people to work together. Don't be afraid of that because it's not gonna... It's gonna go towards you versus... Listen, when, when, when we did... This was, gosh, probably 10 months ago, we did an episode and we highlighted the Chip Roy AOC, bill about they wanted to stop the stock trading.
[00:30:51] And I honestly, because I'm honest- new to this world, I didn't really know who Chip Roy was, and I [00:31:00] was watching how they, they played together, and I was like, " I kinda like this guy. He's on the other side of the aisle, but I'm..." Like, this is cool. And I think if we saw more examples of that, cross-party lines, We talked about this in, in the episode we just recorded with Brianna about, like, maybe we w- shouldn't be afraid. Like, she's Australian, and she just doesn't understand why we wouldn't vote for who we'd wanna vote for versus, like, stick to a party, and that was kind of mind-blowing to me, quite frankly. And I was like...
[00:31:34] And I said to you, "Huh, that actually sounds more American, doing what you want, thinking about, like..." And so I feel like if you saw more humanity advertised, see it on Instagram, like, these people are working together and joking together and playing together and wanting to make this, uh, country work, it [00:32:00] would soften things.
[00:32:01] It would make your mind go, "Huh, okay. Maybe I don't hate my-
[00:32:06] Republican neighbor because they have an R in front, you know?
[00:32:10] Jolene: Or my parents.
[00:32:12] nicole: par- whatever. I want politicians to start working together, as in bridgegrace.org, and you can see, uh, you can see your congresspeople and see who works together and who doesn't.
[00:32:24] And then I would like them to sh- to self-promote that. Shout it out. Be proud of those pr- friendships. I think we're craving them.
[00:32:33] Jolene: I would completely agree. I, I just think that we've, we've... again, as you started this whole conversation out, that we've swung so far one side that we have to go to the other and, and now could we just, can we stop this crazy pendulum and let's just let it, let's let it stop in the middle and, and encompass a, a bigger group
[00:32:54] nicole: Yeah
[00:32:55] Jolene: wacko crazies
[00:32:56] nicole: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Do you have a [00:33:00] would you rather?
[00:33:01] Jolene: Yes, and I forgot about it until we just started, and so then I came up with one Would you rather be an independent and not be able to vote in the
[00:33:17] nicole: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah
[00:33:19] Jolene: or be a Democrat and maybe not agree with all of the things that your party does
[00:33:30] nicole: the idea of being independent is becoming more and more appealing to me as c- as crazy as the things are getting on both sides, both the right and the left. Uh, that said, having learned, if I, if we haven't learned anything, uh, from doing this podcast, that primaries are way too important. I guess so my answer would be I would be a Democrat and vote in the primary because there's just too... the primary is too important.
[00:33:55] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:33:56] nicole: I just said,
[00:33:56] Jolene: you can vote
[00:33:57] nicole: Dan Goldman.
[00:33:58] Jolene: you
[00:33:58] nicole: Hmm. [00:34:00] Yes, exactly. Exactly. Okay. Mine,
[00:34:04] Jolene: Yes
[00:34:05] nicole: take a look at the colors of our mic. If you're on YouTube, here's a visual for you. Would you rather wear nothing but neon orange or neon green for an entire year?
[00:34:20] Jolene: You know I'm a big orange
[00:34:23] nicole: I know you are
[00:34:24] Jolene: But then, I could also get a job on the highway construction team, so I mean, there's that.
[00:34:32] nicole: Mm-hmm.
[00:34:33] Jolene: But neon green, I think isn't that what airport workers... I think they wear
[00:34:37] nicole: look at my mic. This is neon green
[00:34:40] Jolene: Yeah. I feel like that's airport worker color.
[00:34:43] nicole: Is it?
[00:34:43] Jolene: Uh, I'm a, I'm an orange girl. I
[00:34:45] nicole: you are
[00:34:46] Jolene: because I think orange is a really good combination of red and yellow, and red being powerful and yellow being happy. And so I think that's what orange represents to me.
[00:34:57] nicole: I like it
[00:34:58] Jolene: and the Pleasantville Trojans, we [00:35:00] were orange and black, so, so there's that too.
[00:35:04] nicole: Oh, okay. Okay.
[00:35:05] Jolene: is orange,
[00:35:06] nicole: right, Dibble Dough. Get your sweet treats, dibbledough.com. Just do it. She won't let me promote her cookie dough, but I'm telling you, go to dibbledough.com and buy, buy Jolene's treats. They're really delicious. They're fun for, fun for the summer. Throw it in the groceries, or throw it in the refrigerator.
[00:35:25] Don't throw it in the refrigerator. You have both.
[00:35:28] Jolene: yeah, you gotta, I'll... Wait,
[00:35:29] nicole: You have all the things.
[00:35:30] Jolene: right there
[00:35:31] nicole: Yeah. listen, just to keep it even contrary, I would choose neon green because I think it looks better on me, 'cause I'm that... 'cause it's, it's that shallow and that vain.
[00:35:40] That's it.
[00:35:40] Jolene: No,
[00:35:41] nicole: That's it.
[00:35:42] Jolene: Yeah,
[00:35:42] nicole: Green, me, done. But I like orange. I love orange. I love orange.
[00:35:46] Jolene: in orange
[00:35:47] nicole: you, I appreciate it. This is a love fest. If you are listening this far along, God bless you. God bless you, and vote in the primary, and start getting along with your neighbor. How about that? End of story.[00:36:00]
[00:36:00] Jolene: Thank you for joining
[00:36:00] nicole: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[00:36:02] We really do. Please, uh, press the thumbs up button, like, subscribe, s- sh- share this with a friend. Come on, everybody. Let's do this. Let's do this together. There's an exhausted majority. We are, uh, we are it. Let's do this. All right.
[00:36:16] Jolene: can do it.
[00:36:16] nicole: All right. Bye.
[00:36:18]
