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Date: 2025-08-24 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027904
COMMENTARY
THE COFFEE KLATCH ... JANUARY 25TH 2025

Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse
Trump's Real Agenda


Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wh8VaBBTKY
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY

I like to listen in to 'The Coffee Klutch' with Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse. I am a little older than Robert Reich and have listened in on him going back to him being the Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton.

Whenever I see / listen to Robert Reich I always also think of his Yale classmates ... Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Suptreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas! Quite a class!

I find the weekly conversation between Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse (and sometimes others) to be interesting and to some extent useful. The United States has landed in a very bad place, and it is not easy to talk about it. My own rule is that I will speak out any time I have something constructive to say ... whether or not it is in line with what President Trump is promoting.

I am old (just turned 85) and have lived a full and interesting life during which time I have been involved in some way with more than 50 countries. Compared to the United States, most countries are incredibly poor. Around the world, a lot of national leaders are nasty obnoxious people ... and now the United States has joined this group of countries. Trump is a nasty obnoxious human being and will certainly do damage to the people of the United States. The only question is 'How much?'. Some countries have very good leaders ... but too many do not!

During my work over several decades I worked in more than fifty countries around the world. I was able to observe a lot of serious problems and learn a lot ... but had rather little power to do much about it. Some of the work I did had substantial good impact but as to the scale that was needed, it was tiny and I did not have the 'clout' needed for the big decision makers to pay much attention. Frankly, I was like a bit of grit in the shoe, an irritation ... but nothing more. Remove the grit, and the shoe will be fine!

Peter Burgess
Trump's Real Agenda | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Robert Reich

1.03M subscribers ... 257,714 views ... 14K likes

Premiered 15 hours ago The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

A dark, lie-filled inaugural address.

Cruel and unconstitutional executive orders.

Billionaires saluting a fascist agenda.

Heather Lofthouse and I break down Trump's first week back in power.

Transcript
  • 0:00
  • and it is this Saturday coffee clutch with Heather loft house and yours truly Robert Rice uh Heather we've come to the
  • end of dreadful week one of the Trump regime I'm going to call it the regime
  • instead of uh Administration so what are we going to talk about today there's so much there's so much it's 2.0 I'm
  • exhausted also finding reasons to carry on but this is not fun 2.0 okay things
  • where I mean Bob there's so much to do we have executive orders what's happening at the border we have January
  • 6 riers AKA hostages being pardoned I haven't even mentioned Elon Musk oh
  • let's Heather I just you know you you go through this list and I am nauseous
  • really I mean I I I have a hard time controlling this degree of outrage or depression and I what are you doing to
  • to kind of stay same I mean I go to my day job I look at my kid I get sad in
  • the news I talk to friends I read books I get back into it and get depressed I

  • 1:04
  • go to strategy meetings with people who are worse off than you know I am and we
  • brainstorm it's and then you keep going I mean that's my I just don't stop yeah
  • I don't stop either I actually actually work for me uh this kind of resistance work that's what I call it is
  • therapeutic I mean it actually it makes me feel a little bit better even though
  • uh this is a horror an absolute Horror Show you know you you mentioned the first thing you mentioned was the executive orders uh and uh some of the
  • you know there's kind of a b a blitz shock and awe quality to what Trump has
  • been doing you know there's so much it's difficult to sort out what's serious
  • from what's not serious the one thing and he he does that on purpose right let's be clear he's like Biden did Biden
  • even you know do executive orders and have people come in his office and ask him question yeah he did actually he
  • just doesn't do 100 for the sake of doing 100 well that's right and some of

  • 2:04
  • them are are uh are real I mean I thought that the you know ending Birthright citizenship that is if you're
  • born in the United States even to parents who are here illegally uh you should I mean the Constitution uh the
  • 14th Amendment to the Constitution Article One it says if you're born in the United States you are a citizen of the United States and that's why I was
  • impressed and I got a little bit of Solace from the fact that this executive
  • order already went to a federal court and the federal judge said no it's this
  • is absolutely this is a Ragan appointee federal judge who said absolutely no
  • this is unconstitutional and it it's going to go up to the Supreme Court but honestly Heather I don't see how it
  • survives Constitution is very very explicit about this that's it that's it so there are a number of executive
  • orders that are terrifying and then he's freezing funding to quintessentially
  • important important institutions like the NIH and pulling America from the who

  • 3:05
  • but it's not unheard of right for presidents to freeze funding what's the
  • difference here well there's not that much well the difference of course is the fear is that it's a permanent freeze
  • but what administrations generally do uh and I've been associated with several administrations have done it is you
  • freeze funding uh really initially so that you have an opportunity your people
  • have an opportunity to go over what's been funded and make uh maybe slightly changes in priorities assuming that it's
  • uh legal to do that uh but the fear here obviously is that Trump and Trump's people are going to keep the freeze on
  • the National Institute of Health and uh the CDC and whatever else he's trying to freeze remember when Trump got covid
  • that was terrible and he had to go to the hospital I mean thank God for science we don't even talk about that
  • this is yeah he hasn't come out as explicitly against science yet I mean

  • 4:00
  • he's only it's only his first week he's only got RFK Jr Robert F Kennedy Jr Robert F Kennedy Jr he's going to have U
  • you know his hearing next week so we'll see okay so then what's happening at the
  • border new troops going down there there were already some troops down there uh that's right the people who were down
  • there already as uh troops were National Guard uh and uh they were they were
  • Federal technically uh but we're talking now about Act active duty troops this is
  • a very rare circumstance uh where active duty military are actually pulled into
  • border control uh and Trump is talking about not just 1500 but 10,000 going
  • down there uh and a lot of that uh is going to be under control of if Pete heg
  • I I I expect we're going to talk about him uh assuming that he is as bad as
  • everybody says he is um you know he's going to go right along with whatever Trump wants obviously but

  • 5:04
  • this is the fixation on immigration that we've seen and the lies about it and the
  • and the hyping up of this the other right we've talked about that
  • what no I was just going to say a in all of the coverage of all of this uh there
  • doesn't seem to be any realization that there has been a huge drop in illegal
  • immigration according to people officials at the border I mean it's an 80% drop from last year uh and the drop
  • started not just this week or last week it actually started in November uh so I
  • I you know I it started even before the election uh so I think that uh this whole
  • immigration uh craziness uh in fact the the assumption that Trump started in
  • 2016 that immigrants were were villains and and and and theves and they were
  • going to rape Americans I mean that is just horrendous and he just keeps going

  • 6:05
  • this is what we've heard over and over the big lie if you can tell a big lie is one of his big lies he does over and
  • over again uh and the immigration lie has now taken root even in the Democratic party a lot of Democrats are
  • are afraid to say no well that's it I think you're referencing the lake and
  • Riley act which we had um many I think it was 46 Democrats in the house and
  • then 12 in the Senate have voted in favor of this I mean it's so what
  • happens let let's let's I'm sorry to interrupt you let's just pause for a second the lak and Riley act uh does
  • authorize the federal government uh and the Agents of the federal government the immigration agents of the federal
  • government to basically detain anybody who has been accused not found guilty
  • but accused of a crime even shop liting let's say Heather loft house you are

  • 7.03
  • coming out of uh Walmart uh and uh and and a police officer comes up to you and
  • said Heather I accuse you of shoplifting from that Walmart you say no I didn't do
  • that uh well according to the lake and Riley act you could be if the officer
  • believes you are an undocumented immigrant you could be detained you could be put in prison I mean think
  • about this for a second that police officer or that agent of the federal government uh and it could be and there
  • there going to be agents all over in every city could be uh sending people to
  • jail on absolutely little or no evidence I mean you don't have any due process
  • rights that's it and so I think the goal is obviously to be horrific legally but
  • also I think it's really to scare people I mean this is one of his key tactics
  • all that intimidation I mean already right now you've got communities of people all over the United States uh

  • 8:06
  • whether they are undocumented or not undocumented they're immigrants they are very fearful because there are so many
  • uh laws that are being altered or changed or in the process of being
  • changed so much enforcement activity is being directed at these immigrant
  • communities uh there is a danger many of them feel that they will be prosecuted
  • even even if they're here legally I mean remember like the lakan we were just talking about uh this act that that
  • could put them into prison even if they're here legally uh a lot of children are worried uh that their
  • parents May uh be deported and leaving what happens to the kids then I mean this is cruel stuff Heather let's be
  • clear too let's be clear too who else benefits this from this because this is a trend we have the prison IND
  • industrial complex set to make more money the prison the prison corporations the

  • 9:07
  • private these are private profit making corporations like goo they are in Fat
  • City they are their stock prices have gone up uh they are uh who used to now
  • who was uh one of their major lobbyists seems to me was Pam Bondi right yep yep
  • she was she is now on on about to be the Attorney General so and one person who's
  • really calling them out is AOC she has said this is corruption she has also did
  • not attend the inauguration saying why would I attend the inauguration of someone who's a rapist she but where is
  • the rest of the outrage I mean you see people the news is reacting in Curious
  • ways and people are kind of overwhelmed but there is not enough outrage as I see
  • it well there's not very much outrage I mean the Democrats too many Democrats in my humble opinion are are basically

  • 10:02
  • cooperating are playing along the lake at Riley act we just talked about you have 45 45 house Democrats and something
  • in the order of 12 Senate Democrats have gone away along with this act uh and uh
  • I mean where is the resistance this is this itself uh is an outrage there's a
  • kind of appeasement or obedience in advance that we're seeing I mean the business Community is
  • completely way over there I mean it it is totally intimidated by a trump but you have too many politicians too many
  • media uh Outlets are intimidated uh this is uh a time when when Americans really
  • and leadership in America has to stand up to this Neo Fascism and we're not seeing it we're just not seeing it this
  • week we're not seeing it and normalizing I feel like is an understatement at this point I mean it's just greenlighting it
  • left and right and then we have so we have these horrific things happening as it relates to
  • immigrants pushing for them to be legal right and then you have on the opposite

  • 11:05
  • side January 6th riers full Pardons and commutations well
  • the the connection here is that is fear I mean what what Trump is doing uh by
  • letting these 1500 rioter I me these are all men he's saying that they didn't
  • have weapons they were completely innocent they did have we we all saw the weapons people died people died and yet
  • these people are now free they're on the street uh there are you know the uh the
  • judges who convicted several of these people said you know you should not be on the street you are dangerous you are
  • dangerous to American society well they're out there uh you know I I think
  • the reason I think this is part of Trump's retribution plan Heather is not
  • only is he uh kind of forgiving people who uh who did horrible things in his

  • 12:03
  • name or for his candidacy for his presidency for for you know for his big
  • lie that the 2020 election was was stolen from him uh but also he is
  • setting the table for intimidation of a lot of other people who say to
  • themselves you know if you were Paul Pelosi for example you know that all you need is one nutcase out there and and
  • you know your life may be in danger and this is this is where all of you know
  • connect the dots because you've got this U cash Patel who's been nominated by
  • Trump to be FBI director cash Patel has put out a list of enemies uh deep State
  • enemies uh and on the list of this deep State enemies are people like John
  • Bolton and Mike P Pompeo well what did Trump do this week with regard to John
  • John Bolton and Mike Pompeo two people inent he removed their security detail

  • 13:06
  • he Rec removed their clearance now they had a security detail let's be clear uh
  • during the Biden Administration these were Trump officials from the first Trump Administration they had security
  • during the Biden administration because Biden had credible intelligence that
  • these people bden and Pompeo and one of pompeo's assistants were targeted by
  • Iran and by Iran by Iranian agents for
  • Retribution with regard to the killing of a major Iranian Leader by drone a
  • drone attack in you know uh during the first Trump Administration these are people who were carrying out the Trump
  • Administration uh policy uh Iran has threatened them the Biden Administration
  • gave them uh special prote ction and now Trump because he doesn't like Pompeo

  • 14:02
  • because Pompeo in 2023 went in front of the CPAC and said we don't need somebody
  • like Trump well and John Bolton has been a trump critic ever since Bolton left the administration the Trump
  • Administration and so this is retribution what Trump does is like a you know it's like a mob boss uh keeps
  • his fingers off of these things know I'm not doing anything but what is he doing he's saying to people out there you be
  • careful because I've got a lot of ways of making your life this is a Vengeance
  • this is a Vengeance Victory lap it is that is what it is and we are it is the
  • he is getting his message out he is very good at it and he does it I mean we're all saying is he more fascist than we
  • thought he would be fascist I mean on the one hand yes on the other hand how is any of this surprising and the one
  • thing from the week that that I felt positive about was Archbishop buddy

  • 15:02
  • so in the midst of all these people not speaking up and the people who did speak up being penalized in tons of different
  • ways that are terrifying the few people are coming up a few people are
  • expressing outrage and saying uh she was courageous you know in the midst of all of this uh she she she looked into his
  • eye he looked at her wasn't that amazing I it was a moment of of of extraordinary um almost I hate to use
  • the word accountability but it was almost as if Trump was being held accountable but it was strength and it
  • was Grace I mean I just found it so powerful because it was so it was just
  • an imploring in a human way yeah it was course he he was Furious I mean
  • afterward he says this is a terrible and and you can imagine the you know his tweets and his posts on

  • 16:00
  • she's aw's but this is another part of the intimidation strategy his vengance
  • strategy he keeps his hands clean but when he goes after somebody and this is true of his first Administration as well
  • when he goes after somebody he knows that there will be death threats against
  • them uh when he went against the judges and the prosecutors who tried to hold him accountable uh during the Biden
  • Administration he he he says things about them and then the death threats
  • start uh this is a whole system Heather of of of of of of Retribution and
  • intimidation uh and courageous people are standing up to this uh like uh you
  • know the the the woman who did the Episcopalian priest Bish AR Bishop buddy
  • but they're not they're not enough of them that's there not enough of them and then the other part of this and we know
  • this and I love that you and I are preaching to ourselves about this and everyone else but let's continue we have

  • 17:03
  • Pete Heth right who is inept and corrupt
  • and terrible and so Trump is putting in all of these people that he could control horrible but but with head that
  • really I talk about unqualified talk about dangerous uh talk about somebody who is a a misogynist and who has a
  • record of of of of of abuse toward women uh and a record of of frittering away
  • funds for these veterans groups that he was he could get a job managing a Starbucks he couldn't get a job he
  • wouldn't get the job but now he's going to be in charge in one of the largest institutions we have the biggest
  • employers not just not just the biggest employer of the United States but the embodiment of the power of America the
  • United States military I mean you know people say to me sometimes they say well there's not much difference between uh
  • Trump 2 and Trump one it's the same tra same Trump no there's a huge difference because in Trump one he didn't put these

  • 18:03
  • kinds of people in positions of power he put position people who had at least a a
  • a patina of responsibility but these people the only thing they have Heather
  • is that they are Trump loyalists totally Trump loyalists Heth should never be
  • confirmed I know and it's I mean a good example is Mike Pence right versus JD Vance I mean it's their is a different
  • there is a different HR underway right now and it's very if
  • you and and everybody knows in the Trump you know this in Coit Trump Administration they know if they don't
  • tow the line if they don't do exactly what he wants if they don't say publicly
  • exactly what he wants to hear they could end up like who like mik Mike Pompeo yeah and and John Bolton and be exposed
  • to Danger right medy Hassan did a great tweet this week about a a new word that
  • I hadn't heard which is a kakistocracy kakistocracy and it K wait

  • 19:04
  • a minute wait a minute kakistocracy C it is rule by the least a
  • the worst the worst people the least able to rule I mean we have a lot of
  • Greek words for what's going on but I like that one Trump has created a kakistocracy among other Acres there's
  • also there's not besides the Greek root of that there's also the more common use
  • of a of a of a word Kaka meaning yes you know meaning so
  • the dirty yes and that's right I'm in a cocka I like that yeah it's helpful to
  • think about all the ways to describe what's happening so we can I think enriching reminding yourself what's
  • happening is one of the ways we survive and then we haven't even talked about Elon Musk but I want to fly flag you've
  • done some great you've written about this and then we've done some video on it but you have this notion that there

  • 20:00
  • are four American stories that we often tell right and and these are themes that
  • go across um epics and myths and reality and one of them is the rise of the
  • triumphant individual and there are you have four of these right and the other one is the benevolent community so the
  • benevolent Community but the individual you've got the triumphant individual
  • these are basically these are these are traditional American stories and my point is that we hear them over and over
  • and anybody who wants to talk about America has got to talk is going to inevitably talk about these four Stories
  • the triumphant individual ragster riches anybody can make it the uh benevolent
  • community that supports you know we We join together uh and then there are two negative stories uh one story is of the
  • rot at the top uh that uh you know we look upward sometimes not as much as we
  • should uh and we see rot uh and the other is the mob at the gates uh you

  • 21:03
  • know we are prone to be fearful of people who are outside the United States
  • so these four stories are are old they start really before America starts but
  • what's happening that I'm seeing is the mix of the triumphant individual and the rod at the top I cannot believe all of
  • these I mean we're just so focused on these their men these individuals who
  • are larger than life and they're they're climbing and they're going higher and they're getting more powerful and richer and richer and it's wild to watch those
  • two dovetail well they dovetail in in a very peculiar way because Elon Musk to
  • take example number one uh or Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg I mean these people
  • are both uh idolized by a certain part of the American public you know they are
  • they are they are they are superheroes uh but at the the same time they are rot

  • 22:01
  • at the top they have taken their wealth and and this true particularly true of of Elon Musk taking their wealth uh and
  • put it into politics in a way that undermines and corrupts the entire system uh so to me they are more rot at
  • the top than they are triumphant individuals and Heather by the way you could see this at the inauguration uh
  • when Trump is there I mean giving his inaugural speech who are the most the most prominent people people there
  • standing even in front of Republican members of Congress standing even in
  • front of of Trump's nominees to run his government are Elon Musk and Bezos and
  • Zuckerberg uh and uh and also uh Google's CEO I mean it's it's
  • extraordinary this is the robber barons of the 19 century this is this is this is the second guilded Age and and Trump
  • has the audacity to pretend that he is he is the the the tri the Tribune of the

  • 23:03
  • people of the average working people well this is everything is now exposed
  • I'm sorry everything is exposed this is this is the oligarchy UNP a trillion
  • dollars four people four or five people in that first row represented well well
  • and and since the election Elon Musk himself has become uh SE at least $70
  • billion richer 70 billion I'm not taking million 70 billion doll richer since the
  • election because the amount the amount of stuff that has happened since we last had coffee I mean remember Tik Tok was
  • banned then it came back and Tik Tok is a good example of of this this rot I
  • mean in the sense that what is Trump has has there was a law against Tik Tok uh
  • now we can debate whether it was a good law or bad law but Tik Tok was supposed to be ended and then Trump without any
  • particular Authority I mean yes he's president but a president can't simply reject a law of the land I mean the law

  • 24:05
  • was Tick Tock had to stop and Trump says no no we're going to go on why because
  • Trump for some probable reason has some
  • transaction with Tik Tock and you can bet you know follow the money I mean Trump is is probably going to make a lot
  • of money off of Tik Tok as he does all kinds of other things I mean Heather what else did what else did he do this
  • week I mean or no it was before he took over officially at office the Trump coin
  • the Trump coin I mean this the audacity I mean he he
  • comes up with his own Bitcoin his own particular bit of crypto uh and of
  • course it soared in value since the since he was sworn in he swears himself
  • in and then he can what he can he can he can make as much money off
  • what was the story you had what was the story you had I forget what it was someone was it Bill Gates someone took

  • 25:04
  • you out to lunch and you had to reimburse for the amount because that's when I was when I what federal employees
  • do well when I was Secretary of Labor I mean Bill Gates did take me out to lunch
  • and um and the bill was 200 we you know he wanted to go to a very upscale restaurant and the bill was about $250
  • and the solicitor in the labor department rightfully said to me I had
  • to make a check out to Bill Gates for the cost of the lunch $125 and I wrote it out to Bill Gates I
  • thought I'm writing a check to Bill Gates uh and I'm sure he cashed it I
  • don't actually I don't even know but but but there there were the point is that there were regulations about money in
  • government money influencing government employees government officials you had
  • to be careful I mean what how can Trump do what he's doing
  • I know and there was a sense of morality right you wanted to follow those laws you took it seriously that people had

  • 26:06
  • entrusted in you a federal position to help run the United States in a certain
  • way and so you wanted to follow them absolutely this is more rot at the top I mean this is how the system rots uh like
  • like a fish from the head down uh and and and Trump is leading the rot again
  • now there was Rod in the first term of course but this is why the second term is showing itself to be so different
  • because the rot is bigger the fascism the Neo fascism is more out in the open
  • uh the uh oligarchy uh is more revealed than it was the first time around uh the
  • cruelty uh is more immediate than it was the first time around this is not like the first time this is and and also the
  • uh the horrible uh uh people that he's putting the the bottom feeders that he's

  • 27:01
  • putting in charge of the government much worse than the first time we left what about Trump's emphatic salute this past
  • week you mean musk musk sorry sorry what about musk listen you are you are you
  • are forgiven conflating I mean it's it's is it is it musk or is it Trump or is it is
  • it trust or is it m or is it I mean they are they are conflated uh and I thought
  • that that Nazi salute that musk gave was very much along the same lines As Trump
  • saying stand back and stand by uh I mean it's and then of course months later he
  • issues his uh his his post come to January 6 Washington it'll be wild uh
  • these are all nods and winks and this is exactly what musk was doing with the salute uh you deny it you say oh no no I
  • wasn't doing anything else like that but the neo-nazis they know they know what you're doing even if you didn't intend

  • 28:04
  • to do it or consciously intend to do it it doesn't matter it's a you have this you have a law degree and I don't but
  • there is a pattern that we can look at right it would be one thing if it happened randomly but I mean look at the
  • font he chose for the magah Hat was reminiscent of the Nazi party we have
  • you know the puns he was doing this week well that's that's right he Nazism the
  • the puns he thinks it's funny uh what does he have no historic sense does musk
  • not remember the Holocaust does he care about the Holocaust of course he remembers because he went on an apology
  • tour and he went to aitz last year well he obviously has put it his mind yeah
  • it's now a joke I I mean this is this this and and he is somebody who is
  • really joined at the hip to Donald Trump at least in the first week of the Trump Administration uh it's musk and Trump
  • musk and Trump trump and musk and musk is is getting his uh his doge organized musk pushes out ramas Swami you know so

  • 29:07
  • it's totally going to be the musk show and musk uh can even survive he he says
  • that one of the major initiatives that Trump announced this week you know the AI artificial intelligence initiative uh
  • this been Consortium uh what does he say uh musk says uh well they can't possibly
  • get enough money together yep I know so interesting but so here's
  • the thing and I don't mean this I don't mean to be flippant but really in truly where what is the positive I mean
  • the positive is it is so unbelievably broken and it is so blatant and here it
  • is we are staring at this oligarchy there have to be leaders that are starting to come up right and who
  • are going to take the Reigns against this well I would hope so Heather that's what I tell myself myself uh in my
  • darkest moments I say things are out in the open now in ways that they were

  • 30:05
  • never out in the open before the Neo fascism uh the
  • neo-nazism uh the uh oligarchy the misogyny the the misogyny the misogyny
  • the kakistocracy I mean it's all there everybody can see it nothing is being
  • disguised now uh and maybe maybe now
  • this is laying a foundation for 2026 uh for
  • 2028 uh not only a political Foundation uh for uh people who care about the
  • country to take the country back uh but also uh for the the fundamental what's
  • What's called the vibe to swing back you know so we don't we don't idolize these
  • robber barons and these the the people who are destroying the institutions of
  • the United States institutions that my parents generation my father uh and uh I

  • 31:04
  • suspect uh you know Trump's father and and Bill Clinton's father and and George W Bush's father they were all in the
  • second world war their mother our mothers worked in you know my mother was working in a factory making making gas
  • masks I mean these people this generation our our parents work to
  • preserve this country to preserve these institutions to preserve democracy and what do we have now we have somebody who
  • is of my generation like Donald Trump hello who's
  • now getting rid of these institutions who who's who actually couldn't care less has total contempt for democracy
  • that's what we're dealing with I know and I do feel um that I am looking for
  • things that make me feel slightly less full of Despair one of them is Vall on
  • our team who had has come on the coffee clutch before so people know him found this really interesting speech of yours

  • 32:04
  • which I love torturing you with Blast from the Past here we go so it was from your
  • gubinatorial race running Massachusetts in 2002 and you were talking about uh
  • Robert F Kennedy senior and something that he said in the
  • 60s as you saw a few minutes ago my first job in politics was in
  • 1967 35 years ago this summer when I was a college student working for Robert
  • Kennedy well working for exaggerates a bit I was an intern in his Senate Office
  • running his autopen signature machine but I will never forget
  • something he once said that now speaks to us across the
  • years he said the future does not belong to those who are content with

  • 33:00
  • today rather it will belong to those who can blend passion reason and courage in a
  • commitment to the ideals and Enterprises of American
  • society I am no longer the young man I was when he first said those
  • words but they are as fresh and Powerful to me now as they were more than 35
  • years ago there it was that gives me some hope to think in those terms well I I it's it's I did not win
  • that election by the way let's not talk about that Bob sh okay we're we're trying to be back to the quote thank you
  • um and uh yeah I I mean there there is always room for hope uh and uh when I
  • worked for Robert F Kennedy uh 59 years it's now 59 years ago Robert of Kenny
  • seni uh there was you know those were those were dark and difficult times uh

  • 34:04
  • you know not only had johnf Kennedy been assassinated Martin Luther King the next
  • year was assassinated Robert F Kennedy himself was assassinated 1968 U and uh I
  • remember in 1968 thinking it could not get worse uh you know there there were
  • there were America was burning down the Vietnam War was heating up uh tens of thousands of young men were
  • being shipped off to Vietnam uh my classmates uh hundreds of thousands of
  • Vietnamese were being killed uh and uh and then what happens in in politics
  • Richard Nixon wins the election in 1968 I mean could you have a worse year uh so
  • I I one way I Heather uh kind of cheer myself up is I I I try to remember
  • that we've been in very bad places before and we are resilient we are

  • 35:03
  • resilient people we're resilient Society uh you know Trump won by one and a half%
  • and that's with millions of people not voting who had V had voted for uh Joe
  • Biden in in 20 uh 2020 so and that's after a lot of views on YouTube also I
  • mean there were interesting reports out this week in Bloomberg and otherwise talking about how Trump got into the
  • minds of so many young people and young males in particular well I I want to end this on
  • your positive note the positive note that you really brought up and um and
  • just say Heather to you I want to thank you again your energy Your Enthusiasm
  • your zest uh just makes everything a little brighter uh and to the rest of
  • you and to the rest of you I just want to say this is week one uh it is as bad as

  • 36:05
  • many of you had feared it's as bad as I had feared uh and I don't blame you if
  • you feel despondent and Des sparing and depressed uh and fearful and many of you
  • have reason to be fearful uh but all I can say is uh we
  • all as members of this Society and as members of the world we have a
  • responsibility to do what we can now to resist this NE Neo fascism and there are
  • many ways to resist we'll talk about this next Saturday in the mean time I
  • hope next week is better for you and for America and for the world than this week
  • has been uh and Heather and I join you in wishing you the very best and thank
  • you Bob on behalf of all of us thanks Heather [Music]


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