Sophia Michaels
In this week’s quarantine episode of our Useful Idiots podcast, hosts Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper are joined by Jimmy Dore, comedian and podcast extraordinaire.
Matt and Katie explore the psyche of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who Katie believes might be a beta. “He’s always being out-alpha’d by Andrew Cuomo,” says Katie.
“He’s physically quite a big dude. He’s very tall. But he seems to always be intimidated by everybody who’s in his presence,” says Matt. Katie dubs this anti-Napoleon conundrum the “de Blasio complex.”
Our duo believes this analysis helps explain New York City’s handling of aid, or lack-thereof, for homeless New Yorkers during COVID-19.
Matt and Katie discuss Matt’s recent piece on Democrats abandoning the cause of civil liberties. They also break down the recent development of police departments using drones to monitor civilians regarding cooperation with social distancing, and a trend in Texas school districts to arm employees in an effort to deter school shootings.
Jimmy Dore of The Jimmy Dore Show joins our hosts to share blistering remarks about Bernie Sanders, as well as his thoughts on how the Senator and former presidential candidate hasn’t leveraged his movement to push the Democratic agenda left, especially when it comes to the CARES Act.
“We have a bunch of progressives who we thought were going to fight for us who are rolling over at nuclear speed inexplicably, without getting a goddamn thing back. At least Mitch McConnell, you know what he’s getting. What the fuck is the squad, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren getting? They’re getting nothing except invitations to parties,” exclaims Dore.
Dore goes on to lambast Sanders and other progressive politicians for making symbolic appeals rather than affecting policy.
“There’s no heroes here. There’s nothing but bad guys who are doing evil things to our country while trying to distract us with online news shows with Cardi B. That’s what Bernie Sanders has turned into, a late night talk show host who’s completely ineffective as a Senator, and tweets out platitudes and will not use the power of his movement to get anything done. The reason why you don’t drop out of a presidential campaign when half the states haven’t voted is because you’re supposed to be leading a movement, you fucking jagoff,” says Dore.
You can find the Useful Idiots podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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