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COMMENTARY THE COFFEE KLATCH ... DECEMBER 20TH 2025 with Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse Donald Trump is Scared As Hell PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW-KvIkH7dU
Donald Trump is Scared As Hell \| The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Robert Reich 1.41M subscribers Premiered 43 minutes ago The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Lying about the economy. Escalating violence in the Caribbean. Lashing out at his foes on Truth Social. Trump’s mental instability was on full display this week. It’s time to have a serious conversation about removing him from office. Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 And it is the Saturday coffee clutch with Heather Loft House and yours truly, Robert Rich. Heather, we're getting close to the uh to Christmas and we are in Hanukkah uh or we may actually still be in Hanukkah and Christmas. What? How are you? I mean, as it relates to the holidays or my people have people have even if it were a normal year, even if Donald Trump has not spread his myasma across America, um the holidays are tough for some people. Yeah. Are they okay for you? They're okay. I mean, so I run nonprofits, so they're the year end is very busy. So there's like kind of the work side of life and then I have a child so I try to make everything feel festive and enjoyable and we try to give back and do some volunteering and stuff like that. So but I'm personally have gratitude. I'm okay. It's but I have panic and anxiety about everyone else in this world and country who are suffering so much. I I I do too. I do too. And we'll get into it. What what specifically do you 1:03 have on your agenda today? I am so glad that we don't I don't have to mention Epstein up at the top. I'm That's for I'm glad you didn't just mention Epstein at the top. So, I mean, Donald Trump's brain. Can we just do a little bit of analysis on that? Yes. I I would I would like to I I think we have to and all that's been going down and all that people are doing around him. And then also, we should talk about the economy. We should talk about this war in Venezuela, alleged, what's happening with that. Um, and then we're going to take some questions from people. We want to get questions for next week's class. For next week. Okay. Let's let's start with Donald Trump's brain because No, but you brought it up. I know I did, but what was I talking about? But it but it has been on my mind as well. Um, and it starts on Monday, you know, uh, right after that horrific murder killings of the Riners. Uh, and I I I I I printed this out because I want I want to read it to you and I apologize. I certainly apologize to all 2:05 of you. I want to just say this is Donald Trump's response. Uh, this is the president of the United States. A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away together with his wife Michelle. reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive unyielding and incurable affliction with a mindcrippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome all in caps. Sometimes referred to as TDS, he was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness and with the golden age of America upon us perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michelle rest in 3:03 peace. I really think he has lost it. I think this is mental instability writ very very large. And I don't know if you saw the speech Thursday night. Oh yeah. What was your impression of that speech? I mean, similar. I think he's lost it. It's fear. It was so clamped. I mean, he's never been a presidential speaker who connects emotionally with his audience. By the way, can't I mean, he has no capacity, you know, malignant narcissism, which he had. We saw it obviously in the first term. Uh, it's very hard to emotionally connect. I think this is why he has no idea what most Americans are going through now in terms of the economy because he has no capacity for empathy. Zero. But this is more serious. Oh yeah. And I thought the speech also showed a an extraordinary lack of connection even 4:00 in terms of his own capacities in his head to connect. I think so too. So I think I mean we can't diagnose him with things. We don't have the proper degrees for that. Well, I I will claim the proper degree speculate. Um, but I would agree based on my experience, it doesn't seem like he's thinking linearly, but also it's from such a place of fear and that actually gives me a little hope. So, I'm terrified for the country and for everyone and for people who are being targeted in particular. But I mean, just lie after lie, lie after lie after lie. Yes. and grandiose and this kind of delusion of omnipotence. Yeah. Which is is in everything. The speech I just I jotted down. Are you going to read that too? No. God. No. But I jotted down some lies. I mean he's just reading Donald J. Trump. No. No. No. But but he every sentence was a lie in that speech. It was 20 minutes. But some sentences had even more than one lie in them. Yes. that even the the and the a's and the ands full of were lies. I mean, it's 5:05 amazing. But he says 18 trillion investments were in the United States since he's been president. That is completely bonkers. Don't know. I mean, he just made that up. He said that the United States was, you know, by 25 billion dollars uh the the elected he was elected in a landslide. Oh yeah, he said that the price of Thanksgiving turkey uh was down, every swing state, every other state, all the places. And inflation when he came in was the worst in 48 years. Y I mean actually the economy Yeah. transgender was everywhere. Was pretty good. Uh when he when he came in, uh he settled eight wars in 10 months. Do you know a single war that he settled? No. Uh gas prices are under $2.50 6:00 across most of America. I mean, I know. Hello. Are the gas prices down under 250 where you are? So, not only was there no subsidance, eggs are down 82%. He said drug prices are down 400 to 600. Now when he says drug prices are down 400 to 600%. Mathematically now you were I did some quantitative stuff. You were a quantitative nerd as I remember. Thank you. But how how do you get prices down 400 to 600%. Here's what it's called. It's this new technique. It's a formula called lying. I mean I I can show you how to reveal code. It's just it's extraordinary. It's absolutely disgusting. And he starts too with a you know everyone was being they had their money being stolen from them and I've come in it's the age-old but I think at one point there was a when the economy was okay I think people could eye roll some people could eye roll more at this and say Trump being Trump but I think 7:02 when the economy is so bad more and when his acts are more egregious on the home front in terms of ICE and what's happening and then in with over the high seas I think people are can't truck with it anymore. Well, people know that he's lying about prices because if there's one thing that everybody is aware of because everybody shops, I mean, almost everybody goes to the supermarket. Uh, you know, you know, groceries, uh, you know, grocery prices are out of sight. You know, energy prices are going up. You know, you pay the bills. People actually know what is the truth. But even the way he was giving it, it was so tense and it was so close, you know, with those what's the word? Plausive consonants and the P's kept popping in the mic, Pas. And he was and then he got off this lectern stage, whatever it was, and apparently he said Susie Wilds is the one that told him to do this. I mean, it just felt like I am reading from a teleprompter and I'm in a bad mood. But I didn't know if he was mad at America 8:05 or something that had just happened in the other room because he has no self-containment. There's no I'm an adult and I'm going to give a speech to America for a reason. I'm going on. By the way, did anyone watch it? Do we have the Neielson numbers yet? I don't know. I mean, I can't imagine any I can imagine some people began watching it, but after a minute or two, what was the point of it? Well, I think the point was that he so badly blew his speech tour that he was going to make the week before and last week in Philly and every wherever. Yes. He was going into rural started in rural Pennsylvania and he was trying to talk about you know this mythology of unaffordability uh which obviously is not a mythology. He thought calls it a democratic sham. Uh it's real. Uh and he started to give a speech and then he went off and he went off on all of his favorite, you know, pathologies. Yeah. The best hits of and and this is also part of the problem. Uh, did you read that Vanity 9:07 Fair piece that came out this week? I read it and I looked at it because the photos, weren't the photos amazing? The photos gave away almost as much as the piece, but this was Chris Whipple in Vanity Fair Vanity Affair. He had interviewed uh, well, he's made a thing about interviewing all of the chiefs of staff. So, he interviewed Susie Wilds. Apparently, there were a number of interviews he gave or she gave to him. Uh, but I was She's normally sort of a gray ominos, you know, behind Trump. You don't really know what she's doing. Uh, she came out from behind the curtain and she said a number of things. The thing that actually stuck to me um was that he said uh she said that Trump is has the personality of an alcoholic. Mhm. Uh in that he feels that he can do 10:06 anything. Anything. And she emphasized this again and again. He can do anything. This anyone anywhere. I mean it was really a powerful this statement. This delusion Heather of omnipotence worries me sick. I mean because it's getting it's always been there but you think it's getting exacerbated. I think it's getting much much worse because the people around him encourage it because his mental stability. I think it's I think he's mentally unstable. I think it's becoming more and more mentally unstable. You know, I've been I worked for three presidents. I know the how bad the job is. One Republican, two Democrats. I I saw them age in the job. Uh but I think that Trump has gone over the edge. Uh he was not balanced in the first term in the first Trump administration. Of course, he was, but he is now worse. I mean, 11:04 substantially worse. And the Rob Reiner response, uh, for example, uh, the what he's doing with with the wararm mongering over Venezuela. I know. I mean, I thought I had hoped that the speech was going to be connected to Venezuela and explain why we are Well, I think he wanted us to. It was that would be an excuse for a president to go on prime time and have a speech, not like I'm grumpy and I'm going to repeat a bunch of lies and I have no thesis. By the way, just parathetically, do you know why the networks did not give the Democrats an opportunity to respond? Because that speech was just a boastful I'm doing everything wonderfully. My administration is far better than Biden's. Lie lie lie. I'm sure the networks are getting ready to put that on right just any minute now. Do you think it could be corporate power and corruption? And it could be intimidation. I mean it could be that they just don't want to to risk it because he is out of control. uh 12:05 and he's already intimidated and look what's happening with CBS and Paramount and you know his suit against ABC and NBC and all of the all of the things he's doing. Uh I think the network executives are absolutely reluctant to give the Democrats equal time uh to call, you know, call this speech what it was. It was a kind of a early midterm campaign speech. if his team were together and disciplined and digitally strategic. I mean, remember there was like the Joe Rogan day. There was the days where it was like, woo, they they know what they're doing. They know what they're doing. They're getting out there. They don't have any clue. I mean, where at least they're not getting through and it feels like there's all the infighting. So, but Bob, you have been amongst so many presidents and presidential administrations. You've been in the mix. is since Lincoln. I mean, Lincoln, I mean, that was a hell of a We had a civil war. I remember you have it was really rough. Thank you for what you've talked about 13:05 so we all have a better understanding of what it was like so many so many so many years ago. Um, but Grant was was not a fan. Not a fan. Um, but yeah, so now I've totally lost my train of thought. Sorry. No, you were you were going to say I've been around and I have been. So, but is this so is this the bra? So, you watch this speech and it's like so first of all, remember Chaichescu and Romania and this tyrant who ran the country for years and then he spoke on the balcony. I feel like we learned this in whatever class and that was kind of the beginning of the end. Is this are we falling? Is this the beginning of a collapse? What does it look like in an administration when it's starting to crumble? It feels like this. It's insular. He's angry. Susie Wilds told me to do it. It's like the inside is coming out. We don't want to Well, it's a it's a good question. I mean, my fear this week had to do with 14:01 his brain. I mean, his his coming apart. I mean, the the horrific reality that the president of the United States is the only person in the United States capable of starting a nuclear war. He has his finger figuratively, but literally could be on the button. Uh, and he is off his rocker. Now, I hate to say this, um, and I think it may be age related. I'm his age. He's 10 days older than me. Uh, it's not always easy to remember names. It's not always easy. But I think he actually is suffering from some serious dementia, some serious instability. Uh, and it's worse now than ever before. And I do believe, and I wrote this publicly on Substack, that he he's got to be out of office, Heather. I mean either the 25th amendment which is invoked. It's there in the constitution for a particular reason because if a 15:01 president is incapable of being president the people around him and congress can get involved have got to get him out of there or impeachment and conviction. I mean this is now I think we are in very very dangerous territory. I don't want to sound alarmist. Do I sound alarmist? No, you sound very concerned. I am very concerned. But here, so we just dealt with this with Biden. This is the second time we're deal something needs to shift. Obviously, it's incredibly different. I think it's I think it's fundamentally different in that Biden, I don't think, was ever dangerous. Um Biden, but don't we want in our president someone who I mean, is it an age issue? Don't we want someone who we're not like I know we can't we we can't wait the four years. We got this. He's broken. He's broke. Which way is he broken? Look it up in the index. He's broken out. It's it's it's a horrible reality. And I feel embarrassed almost to articulate 16:04 this fear uh about nuclear war. But if he were woke up angry or something kind of got to him or he felt that his manhood or his power or his strength were being fundamentally attacked, uh, I would not put it past him. I think the risk is very low. I don't think this will happen. I really don't. But it's not zero risk. I think it's you're dealing with a very fractured personality and the people around him cowtow and salute and enable and say you're feeling crazy here's a microphone you're feeling you're feeling off the you're feeling unhinged here talk just try to read this teleprompter and keep it together they're totally sick of fans I mean he he chose them because they would be loyal lap dogs right I mean heath I mean you know you have a secretary of defense you calls it Secretary of War. You have a secretary of defense who will do anything Trump wants. An attorney 17:04 general who will do anything Trump wants. These people themselves are dangerous. But when they are headed by somebody who is losing it as fast and as much as Trump is losing it, I think they are even they are even more dangerous. But it's also combined with this juvenile sophomoric and it's all worse than that. I'm not saying that's the limit of it, but you saw the plaques and the fact that now, you know, it's Trump's Kennedy Center. You mean and the the plaques on the wall of presidents, right, that he created. I mean, and they're like they're like so truth social tweets with the whole bad punctuation, incorrect grammar, all caps. That guy's terrible. He's Russia, Russia, Russia. I mean, these are Don't put anything, but you're gonna So these people say, 'Oh, we'll get the engraving, Mr. President. We're just going to tarnish everything. It's very They will do 18:00 anything for him. If it were just sofic. Oh, I know. If it were just undignified, I would say, 'Okay, it's Trump.' I think it's worse. Oh, for sure. But you wanted to go into Venezuela and I cut you off. And I think that that the the war essentially the war and I think it has to be called a war because that's you know we've killed over 95 could be 100 people already. But now we're talking about land and drugs. I mean he's rebranded the war. He's trying to rebrand the dog. We should watch that. We do a watch along of Wag the Dog. That was good. Wag the Dog is a is a good um exemplar of what we're talking about in terms of trying to find a justification. there is no justification for this war on Venezuela. And and he says he may go to the rest of Latin America. He says this week, this past week, that he is now thinking about going by land. You know, sea is is is is we don't have a 19:00 declaration of war from Congress. We don't know why these people are being killed, these 95 to 100 people, sailors on small boats. uh we just have an allegation that they were smuggling or are smuggling drugs. At the same time he pardons Trump pardons Hernandez from Honduras who brought in 400 tons of cocaine and was convicted of that crime. So if you're if you're pardoning the former president of Honduras for and he was he was sentenced to something like what 45 years. If you're pardoning him for smuggling, that's so much. It's not like he just had a little bag in his pocket on a little and it wasn't a small business. No, this was a gigantic business. What are you doing in the Caribbean? What are you doing? But then you saw that he said fentinyl is now a weapon of mass destruction on our streets. And you know, fentinel cocaine is at least as dangerous. And 20:03 look at what the Sacklers did. I know. For example, I mean, you the the it's it's it's the the inconsistencies, the absurdities in this administration. Also, the strong man. Okay. You want to talk about addiction? Let's talk about what policies we can where should the money actually go if we want to work on on addiction. Yeah. And drugs and all of this, of course. You know, and there's no there's less and less money. And look at who he put into HHS in charge of public health. Uh, you know, we have a a measles epidemic opening up right underneath our noses. This is this is where his and I'm talking about Trump's uh mental instability really affects individuals affects real people affects affects people out there who are whether they're buying groceries or trying to protect their kids from measles or trying to 21:01 just just live uh you have somebody who is very dangerous and I think it's less likely to be tolerated when the economic numbers are so horrific. It's like we just can't we can't feed the we can't feed our kids and we can't deal with that anymore. Well, we got some economic numbers this past week. Uh and although the numbers are a little fuzzy, we can't And why is that? Because we had a shutdown and because the Bureau of Labor Statistics uh and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis were shut down. Uh still the numbers we have show some real problems. Uh the latest numbers we have on employment for example show that the unemployment rate went up to 4.6%. We haven't seen that high a degree of unemployment and that hides all the people who are looking for who have given up looking for work. I mean essentially we also know uh that the number of hours worked by people the uh 22:06 the wages that they are making despite what Trump said uh it's it's really stagnant. I mean the whole economy is stagnant. I think it's stagnant largely because of Trump's uh you know his tariffs. A lot of employers tell me that they don't want to expand. They don't want to hire because they don't know what's going to happen. A lot of individuals also are not buying as much because they don't know where their paychecks are going to come from. So Donald Trump has undermined if not wrecked the entire US economy. No matter what he says, this is the reality. Yeah. What do we do, Bob? Well, I I mean what we do is if we can't take over, we being sane people, I don't mean just Democrats. I'm talking about sane people. Some Republicans are coming around. Oh, I know. Big time. I mean, this is this is this what it looks like? I mean, what does it look like? So, when you have is it wy coyote or is it the 23:04 roadrunner who's off the cliff and spinning spinning spinning spinning spinning? I thought it was Roadrunner in my opinion. Road Runner is the good one. Wy Coyote just tanks. You looked you just looked Roadrunner looked used to just go out and look down and then he tanked. Right. But so is that where we are we off is are the legs spinning and we're off the cliff? I mean, what are we looking for? Are we looking or so Marjorie Taylor Green jump ship of Republicans are not going to truck with certain things but what about I mean what is what's the next what's the ne is it leaks is itrimination is it what are we looking for I'm amazed that Johnson Michael Johnson speaker of the house continues to be speaker because I think his days are numbered uh I think that Trump is he's going to be so relieved when he's done with that gig you mean Michael Johnson I just feel like I don't know. I have no sympathy for him. I'm just saying, can you imagine have who's going to be next? Who's going to be the next Fed chair? I mean, I just look at these positions and I'm like, 24:00 well, Heather, I've spent a lot of time in Washington. Tell us power. Power is addictive. People want power. They love power. Michael Johnson, I'm sure, loves to be speaker, even though it's probably the worst job you can imagine under Trump, where Trump is calling you every day and saying, ;Here's what I want. Why haven't you done this?; Um, the Fed chair is a different animal. That is a powerful position on its own because the Fed is still quote an independent regulatory agency and whatever the Supreme Court does, it's going to stay an independent regulatory agency. But I think that there is a feeling among Republicans. Now, I am the last person to be able to temp to test the temperature of the Republican party in Congress, but you look at what they're doing and what they're saying and how many are in open revolt against Trump, and you get the sense that there's a feeling that this is this is this is this can't go on. Trump cannot continue to usurp all of 25:00 the powers of Congress. They're getting nervous. They're nervous about Venezuela. They're nervous about uh about what he's doing generally uh including and I was particularly interested this past week uh in all of the maneuverings over Jeffrey Epstein and the Jeffrey Epstein files. I think that the you know starting what was it starting Friday the files were supposed to be open. Now, Congress left, right, conveniently. Uh, but and more photos are coming out slowly, but the files are supposed to be legally the Trump administration has a a legal responsibility under that law that was passed by almost unanimously, bipartisan, huge numbers to get everything out on Epstein. Is it going to or will be revealed? Well, unless it's not. Uh, I think that Trump is going to try to change the subject again and again and again. The other thing too though, I mean, yes, 26:02 it's not, but we have to be clear. So, I don't think there's been some moral awakening by all these Republicans who think, you know what, he's not a great guy after all, now that I think about it. I mean, the midterms are coming. The polling is obscene. Who wants to be attached? I mean, they're already right. Republicans are in power all over the place. So, we're already set up for uh midterms that's not in their favor. And now his polls, I mean, over and over again, the lowest, the lowest, the lowest on the economy, on healthcare, on all of it. Um, so we can't just I mean, they're not just all of a sudden waking up and being wonderful people. Well, I think they're waking up and they're saying, I may not be able to stay in power because this fellow doesn't have the power to keep me in power. In other words, there's a kind of emperor's new clothes phenomenon. uh he for the first 10 months of his administration was threatening Republicans with being primared if they don't go went if they didn't go along with him and he was saying in effect I 27:03 can keep you in power if I endorse you but if both of those the threat and also the possibility of an endorsement mean less and less because his polls are tanking not just among Democrats but among independents and many Republicans Then a lot of the congressional Republicans say, 'Why should I be bound by his threats, right, and his offers of help, they mean less and less?' I'd love to see some private signal chats on people saying, 'H this speech, yeah, this is not good. This we knew it wasn't good.' I mean, you know, there are these internal I know there areations. I know there are. And I again I I pick up a little bit from all my years of uh Congress watching and Congress uh kind of uh in being in the hallways literally. I used to be I used to prowl the hallways of Congress. Prowling is a little No, but I wandered 28:01 when we got the You used them to get from place to place. We got the minimum wage increase in a Republican Congress. Republicans had both the House and the Senate. In 1996, I prowled. I roamed the halls of Congress and every single member of Congress. I there's another term button hole. I button holed, which means I grabbed their lapel, their button hole, and said, 'How are we going to vote?' What was the amount it went from into Oh, it didn't. It was It was very small. It was five. It had been, I think, 515. I don't remember. It's still way below. There has not been a minimum wage increase, Heather, since 2009. I know. I mean, talk about affordability. Do you miss N Gingrich? Um, no. Thank you for asking. Yeah. Um, but can we talk speaking of Republicans and Dems and that you got stuff done by part I mean across the aisle and those were those were good days but also the Epstein files are now 29:04 you know this act is a bipartisan act. We're seeing a little bit of it but so the GOP so the Dems are having some winning right some winning is happening in some local races around the Affordable Care Act. Big big wins big big wins. In fact this past week there were extraordinary wins. Um, Democrats overperformed in special elections, uh, this time in a Kentucky state senate race by 42 points. Now, overperformed means relative to what Trump did in 2024 when Trump took this area, this particular district, something like whatever substantial, they leapfrogged Trump. Uh and if you look at all the special elections, you know, both the congressional special elections, the gubernatorial, the mayoral uh elections and the special elections for Congress, what you see is the Democrats are almost and I I don't want to curse this by by by predicting 30:06 anything, but I do think Democrats are on, you know, the wind is at the Democrats backs. Uh, and that's another reason these Republicans are are jumping ship. They really see the future. I mean, they see that Donald Trump and the Republican party as it now is what it's doing. People are are fearful if they are Republicans, if they're elected Republicans. Look at healthcare. uh the you know starting January 1, the typical premium for the Affordable Care Act and a lot of people we're talking about tens of millions of people is going to be going up by it's it's going to be going up by a third or it's doubling. Now this is the typical this is somebody whose family is earning 65 to $70,000. They can't afford that. I know there have been so many tragic and but really 31:02 well put together clips of families on their computers and saying these are the numbers. How am I going to afford 4x? I mean this is four times what I was paying. But Heather, put that together with food prices, with housing prices, with rents going up. I mean people are really struggling and it's the economy stupid as James Carville once said memorably. I mean it is the economy. Where where were you there when he said that? Was it on a TV show? I can't remember. It was in It was in 1990. I believe it was at the end of '92. It was after Clinton was just elected. And I think somebody asked him, 'How did that happen?' Got to find that clip. It's the economy, right? Stupid. If he had said the economy stupid, I mean, you know, punctuation marks. Oh, it matters. Matters. Eat, shoots, and leaves. Did you ever read that book? Um, okay. Is there anything else? Any court wins? You love to talk about the courts. Well, the federal courts, not put the Supreme Court aside because the Supreme Court wasn't talking about that. No, the federal courts, the district courts and the court of appeals, courts 32:04 of appeals have still have continued to keep Trump in check. Uh, and you know, these are very courageous jurists because they're getting death threats. Uh, they are getting, you know, their their their homes are getting delivered. Pizzas are being delivered. I mean, all kinds of stuff. swatting is going on, but they continue, these federal judges are continuing to maintain the rule of law. I I did write something down here. Oh, uh the district's DC district court um the court of appeals rather tossed out a ruling allowing Trump's mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Uh a big big big deal. A federal judge reversed hundreds of federal worker firings finalized during the shutdown. Um, a Wisconsin county judge ruled that 33:01 Trump's aids can face felony charges, forgery charges for their roles in the 2020 fake electoral scheme. I mean, these judges are holding Trump's and his associates and his enablers feet to the fire. And I think we should toast, you know, let me let me just say judges out there, um, we don't necessarily presume to speak for the American people, but thank you. Thank you. Here. Here. Um, keeping the rule of law going. So, um, this is going to be so it's going to be next time you and I coffee. Yes. Which is a verb. We Is that a verb to coffee? Yep, it is. Now we to clutch. Clutches for we well clutch is a verb. Clutch is a verb. Um so we it will be the last one of 2025 and so we would hell of a year. You're telling me 2025 good to do I thought 2020 34:00 was a bad year. I thought I thought January 6, 2021 was sort of the worst we had ever seen. Uh but 2025 it's been grim. Has been really grim. I know. I know. Okay. So, we're going to talk about that and we have to we're going to celebrate. We're not going to celebrate. We're going to reckon with it. Is there any what are the learnings? You know, this is frameworks. This is what we're good at. Um, so, but we want to hear from you all in the comments now. What do you want us to be talking about next week? And what? That's right. What are your questions to us? I mean, they can be personal questions. Well, yes, they can be. Apparently, they can be personal. I mean, this is this is an opportunity for us. You're part of our conversation. You know that. Yes. This is a com. This is a discussion. Okay. So, this is not a news program. This is just a clutch. No, right. We don't the news. No, this is we use the news, but we This is a thought. This is a thought. When we get together, this is this is exactly what we do. Cash, but so really truly. So, what are there things about 2025 you're thinking about? Are there things about 2026? Are 35:03 there Did you like to see the last class watch along that we did and you want us to do that again? Did you see a particular video in Equality Media Civic Action put out? Did you read a particular substack of Bobs that you thought that was good? We want to hear what are you thinking? What are your questions? We'd love to answer them and be in conversation with you. So, put stuff in the comments and then next week when we meet, we will read some of those, ponder those next Saturday. Um, and in the meantime, uh, we hope you have a lovely Christmas and a great Hanukkah. Uh, it is very, very difficult. In fact, um, let me thank you, Heather, for everything and also thank Michael Lahannes Calderon who's behind the camera for all Michael your work. Uh, and let me also thank all of you 36:02 because as we said, it's been a hard year. It's been harder than many of us expected it would be. I knew it was going to be difficult because all the guard rails and there weren't that many during Trump won, his first term of office, have been removed. But it's worse than I had expected. And I think the cruelty of this administration uh in terms of getting rid of US aid uh in terms of all of the people in our communities who are lawabiding and productive and have been in our communities for years who are now afraid even to go outside. Some of them afraid to take their kids to school, afraid to go uh to get medical help because of ICE. the cruelty inflicted on so many people 37:00 both in the United States and around the world in our name, in the name of the United States is something that is absolutely heartbreaking and I understand how you must feel because I feel heartbroken. But having said that, I want to make sure you understand that I know that you know that I know that you know that the only possible way out, the only possible choice for all of us is to stay active, to resist, to fight this authoritarianism, this cruelty, this rejection of the ideals of this country. We have not always lived up to the ideals by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's important to know how we have not and why we and where we have not lived up to those ideals. But it's 38:04 important to keep those ideals very much in mind because they are still there. They still animate us. They still are what we must fight for in 2025, in 2026, in years to come. So again, thank you, Heather. We'll see you next Saturday.

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