And you're listening to radio station WBAI New York
It's seven o'clock and yes, that means it's time for another exciting edition of off the hook
Now I can't make a call, we couldn't get much worse
But if they could, they would, so give them all the best and take the worst
I hope that's understood, one minute more
I hope that's understood, one minute more
I hope that's understood, one minute more
And a very good evening to everybody, the program is off the hook
Emmanuel Goldstein here with you on this Wednesday evening joined tonight by Kyle
Hello
And over in Skype land we have Rob T. Firefly
Good evening
Gila
Good evening
And Alex
Good evening
All right, I think we're all together, this went rather smoothly
Welcome
Well, you know, even a stop clock is right twice a day
Yeah, thank you for that. Alex, are you back in the city or are you still in Pennsylvania?
I am still in Pennsylvania because yet again the New York City Board of Education had elected to delay my son's school opening
So we will be heading back, he started school but only remote sessions
And we're going to be heading back to the city for a couple of days at least next week
All right, well we're all looking forward to that with great anticipation
Look what I have in my hand, I don't know if you guys can see this
But I have the new issue of 2600 Magazine, which, that's what it sounds like hitting the microphone
Yeah, we actually have it and boy, this issue was met with more controversy before it came out than I think any issue we've ever done
And it's because of the cover, we talked about this a little bit last week
And the cover was posted as we released the PDF version on our store and the Kindle version
A number of people didn't like the cover because it appeared to them to be anti-police
It really isn't anti-police, it's pro-justice
Maybe some people think those two things are the same, I don't
But a number of people cancelled their subscriptions and the reaction to that was a mass outpouring of support
Which I really appreciate, I want to thank people who stepped up
It matters, it matters whether it's WBAI that you step up to or 2600 or the HOPE conferences
It matters, people like us who volunteer time really feel energized when people say, yeah, what you do matters
And we're just talking about a small number of organizations here
There are so many more that deserve your support as well
So please consider stepping up to them and saying what you do matters
Whether it's medical workers or civil rights organizations or just nice people
Let people know that what they're doing matters and is making a difference
And by the way, when I mentioned WBAI, let me just give out that phone number because it is important
It's 516-620-3602, did I get that right?
Okay, good, I was totally out of memory this time
And that number you can call and just pledge any amount and become a BAI buddy
What that means is you can pledge $5 a month, $10 a month, but it's once a month
But it adds up to a bigger number over the course of a year
It's awesome and it keeps us going
It keeps annoying pledge drives from polluting the airwaves constantly
And the more people who do this, the better
So if you appreciate what we've been doing here over the years, over the decades
Please, 516-620-3602 or go to give2wbai.org
And you can pledge that way
And make sure you say off the hook, is your favorite radio show?
Don't lie, we assume it is, you're listening now
If something else is your favorite radio show, okay, say that
But we sure hope you name us
It's certainly my favorite
I would hope so, I mean, how many other shows are we on?
Well, yeah, so the issue is that
And we're very happy, this issue is very late, as you may notice
We have a cricket in here, don't we?
We have a cricket in our studio
Not to be confused with our audience
No, they're not sleeping
It's impossible to find a cricket, you know that?
You can hunt them down, you see them occasionally
But they're not making noise when you see them
If you go hunting for one and they get quiet, that's when you're getting close
But you can never actually find one
So we have a cricket, you might hear that
And that means it's autumn
It's peak time for them, this is when they're fully grown
They're starting their careers
Well, it's amazing, just the wildlife that we see
Because we're spending a lot more time not being in the city
And not traveling places
So you notice the wildlife around you
Some people have noticed things called spider crickets
Which are some of the scariest insects I've ever seen
It's kind of like a shrimp and a cricket
And yeah, it's weird when you see that the first time
But now we have crickets
You found a katydid the other day
Inside, inside, and they're big
They're big and they're scary
Yes, absolutely
But I was able to safely capture it and release it
We have wild turkeys
You almost ran over a cat today on your bicycle
I did, I did
Wow, a lot of wildlife
So yeah, but getting back to the issue
Yeah, it came out in the autumn
It's the summer issue
Yes, we're late, pandemics will do that
But we are committed to making up that schedule, catching up
We put out an amazing conference in July and August
A nine-day conference
And tomorrow I believe we will be announcing officially
Our thumb drive set for that conference
So you can see all the talks
And hear a number of musical performances
And hear the music that was played
And just relive the entire experience
It really was magical
And I'm very happy that we were able to put that together as well
So we've been busy doing all kinds of interesting things
Post-production
Yeah, post-production and pre-production
Because now we have the autumn issue to work on
Which we promise will come out before winter
In earnest, yes
Yeah, so on the issue of controversial covers
We're going to talk about controversial topics as well
And I know sometimes people want us to just talk about exploits
And software and hardware and things like that
You're going to be disappointed
Because we talk about the world through a hacker's eyes
We're going to talk about the hacker perspective
As it relates to whatever is happening right now
And what's happening right now
We are seeing all kinds of social unrest throughout the nation
And I happen to think it's a healthy thing
When people stand up and voice opposition
Because today in Louisville
There was the Breonna Taylor decision, I guess
Where the grand jury gave what I guess everyone expected
The only police officer who was indicted for any crime in her murder
Was a police officer who missed, who didn't hit her
Who fired his gun and hit a wall of a different apartment
But those cops who actually killed Breonna Taylor while she was sleeping
They got off scot-free
So yeah, people are going to be a bit upset by that
They've imposed a 72 hour curfew in Louisville
I didn't know that
You mean for 72 hours?
I don't understand how curfews aren't infringing on speech
Well they certainly are
And we're sort of conditioned to be used to curfews now
But that is the antithesis of what freedom should be
And liberty
Don't I have liberty to be out?
And especially if I'm out exercising my first amendment right
But apparently we're supposed to accept
That 9 o'clock to 6.30
And they already arrested like 8 people
Wait that's not 72 hours
Every day for 3 days it will be a curfew in effect from 9 to 6.30am
I thought you meant 72 consecutive hours
That would have been crazy
And they already arrested like 8 people
And people are joking or asking them
Is it 9 yet?
Because it's certainly not 9 o'clock yet
No it's not
Yeah and so we have to accept that apparently
And I don't think people will
I don't think people are feeling too good about this
And I think it's silly that the only reaction from the authorities
Are that they'll impose this curfew
And infringe on people's ability to express themselves
Because of their feelings about safety
But I truly think they're short sighted
They don't understand the conflict they're creating
By not having any kind of consequence for the authorities
The very authorities that are now going to enforce this
And that's the irony
Is that it is the same authorities that are in charge of this
I would bus in a different police department
Or just have some other group of people handle the crowd instead
Maybe a bunch of plumbers or bakers or somebody like that
Because these are the people that are responsible for what happened
For the injustice that is being protested against
We're currently watching on our screen WLKY
Which is a TV station in Louisville
So we're able to see what's going on right now
And one person who was speaking to a reporter
Said something I thought was quite eloquent
Saying that these are always peaceful protests
Until the cops arrive
And that's so true
And having been in some demonstrations
Both intentionally and unintentionally
Like in 2004
I can attest to that
That people generally are chanting and holding signs
But then cops show up
And they start pushing
They start hitting with their batons
They start barking out orders to people
Or just getting in their face
And that's when things turn
If you let people alone
And let them express themselves for a while
It usually turns out a lot better
But for some reason
That is considered something unacceptable
They don't like when it becomes concentrated enough
To be viable
Or something that people will hear
Or that is a statement in and of itself
A sort of autonomous gathering of speech
And their attitude is
Let's disperse that speech
At the soonest sign that it's growing
Into something that they deem
Might be outside of their control
Right now we're looking at live video
From Jefferson Square Park in Louisville
And I see maybe three, four dozen people
Gathered around a circle
With Breonna Taylor's picture
And a whole bunch of signs
How is this a threat to anybody?
These people are standing
In solemn remembrance
And in a few minutes
I'm certain the cops will arrive
And start pushing them
And that's when things will change
Mark my words
But in true Orwellian style
And this is something we love to come back to
On this program
The narrative has been changed
So that when people see Black Lives Matter
Or when people see demonstrators in the street
They pivot to rioting
They pivot to civil unrest and violence
And they completely ignore
The reason why they're out there in the first place
And this is a skill Republicans have
That Democrats are sorely lacking in
Changing the narrative
And basically taking something
That you're responsible for
And shifting it over to the other side
Donald Trump is in power right now
Not Joe Biden
But if you ask any Donald Trump supporter
They will blame Joe Biden for this
They will blame him for violence in the streets
When it's policy
That Trump has implemented
And backed up
And supported
That is responsible for the unrest
And just a couple of words
On the Attorney General
From Kentucky
Who made the announcement today
People don't know this
He spoke at the Republican National Convention
He is very much in support of Donald Trump
And he is on the list of people
To fill the vacant Supreme Court seat
That was left by the tragic death
Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week
Something else we should touch upon
Because that is certainly going to affect
The direction our nation goes in
In the years, maybe even decades ahead
Alex, now you are not only a hacker
But you are an upstanding lawyer
I'd like to know your views
On both the grand jury process
And the whole way this has unfolded
I understand the grand jury
Got the case
I would assume it would have been weeks ago
And they were deliberating all this time
They got the case less than two days ago
They got it on Monday
And they basically had this worked out super quick
Is that unusual?
I don't know
It depends on how much evidence they were provided
That they had to review
And the grand jury is just going to return
As I understand it
In this case I'm not an expert on Kentucky law
But in New York a grand jury
Would just return an indictment
Which determines whether or not
Charges are going to proceed
I was sort of hoping you were going to ask me
About crickets
As opposed to all these thorny legal issues
I have to say
Going back to the issues that you're watching right now
And reporting on on the radio
With respect to curfews
I think there's a couple of points to make
On that front too
In that a lot of police departments and cities
Will get away with this
Because the curfews are at a certain time of night
And so as Kyle mentioned
I think he's right
That this definitely does have an effect
On one's ability to peaceably assemble
Which is a right that is protected
Specifically by the First Amendment
And you can peaceably assemble
And voice your disapproval of the government
So the First Amendment
The right to get together
And the right to speak
Go literally hand in hand with the First Amendment
And these are incredibly important issues
I think to remember
But because they happen at night
And people have other opportunities
To speak when it's daytime out
The government can get away with a lot of this
And by enforcing these curfews preemptively
Before there's ever any problem
Violating the curfew becomes an arrestable offense
And that's how the police can get away
With taking these protesters off the street
And that's how the media
Can capture a lot of footage
Of police scuffles
And protesters pushing back
Because, you know, look
I think to a very large extent, Kyle
You're right here
That these curfews present
Some serious constitutional issues
Yeah, what ends up happening
Is the debate happens in the street
The protesters feel that they have a right
The cops try to challenge that right
And in turn, there's resistance
And then those scuffles, as you said
Turn into arrestable offenses
We've seen this over and over and over again
And I'm just curious
What technology, what can people do?
I mean, in Portland protests
There's a lot of innovative use
Hong Kong, umbrellas
These signs and symbols of resisting
The kind of force that's used
Here, we know what's going to happen
We know how it's going to play out
Protesters have already been raising their phones
There's tons of media out there
So there's going to be lots of footage
Of however this plays out
I just think it's kind of unfortunate
That all we're really going to see
Is more protest voyeurism out of that
Right?
Because the only recourse people have
Is just raising a phone
And just showing people
Yes, this is how you can't protest
What I want to know is
How does somebody not support
Protesting an obvious violation
Of someone's civil rights
By being murdered in their bed
And nobody being called to account for it?
I believe it was 9 out of 10 witnesses
Said that there was no audible announcement
Of a police presence
Before the door was kicked in
So the person in the apartment
The boyfriend of Breonna Taylor
Had every right to shoot at the people
Who were breaking into his home
But the one person who said
He heard somebody say something
That became gospel
That became the truth
And this is the problem
And Alex, maybe you can speak to this as well
When district attorneys
Have these close relationships with police
They very rarely do anything
That goes against them
They work with these people
So how can you expect them
To actually come down hard on them?
So if one person says something
And a hundred people say something else
Well, if the one person that said something
Is a cop or backs up the cop's story
That's the version they're going to go with
Yeah, I mean, there's clearly
A conflict of interest
When the district attorneys
Who rely on the executive branch
Of their counties
The police department
When they rely on the police
To investigate crimes
And collect evidence
And bring that evidence to them
So that the prosecutors can do their jobs
I mean, one function is contingent
On the other
They know these people extraordinarily well
This is something that, you know
I've been saying for a long time
And not just me
But I think scores, hundreds
Probably thousands of other lawyers
Around the country
And even district attorneys themselves
Have been saying
We're not the ones who should
Be investigating police misconduct here
It should be some kind of
Independent tribunal
Bring in a district attorney
Or a special prosecutor
From another county
Or another state
Or appoint somebody
You know, who's not a prosecutor
Appoint somebody
Who is, you know, a private attorney
Or perhaps, you know
This is where the federal government
Could step in
If we had any trust
In the Department of Justice
To do the right thing
I would even suggest regional
Like regional tribunals
That answer to sort of
A national policing standard, right?
I mean, there's so many ways
You can make it up, right?
Yeah, I mean, look
The infrastructure's already there
When it comes to the Department of Justice
Every single state has at least
One U.S. Attorney's Office
And most states
You know, think about New York
And a couple of miles
We've got two
We've got the Southern District of New York
And the Eastern District of New York
You know, any one of those jurisdictions
If we had trust and faith
In the Department of Justice
To investigate, monitor
And regulate police misconduct
That would be a great fit, wouldn't it?
And that's someplace
Where the federal government
Could step in
And ensure that people's civil rights
Are not being violated
You know, the Constitution
We're talking about here
But unfortunately
We have somebody
At the helm of the Justice Department
Who is doing the bidding
Of nobody but the President
Well, again
It's hard for me to understand
Why the suggestion you just made, Alex
Is opposed by anybody
But if you go back a little bit
And just look at some of the TV programs
We all were brought up on
Like NYPD Blue
Always internal affairs
Were the bad guys
And when you look at
Who internal affairs is
They are part of the police department
That investigates misbehavior
On the part of cops
Or detectives
So we are always kind of programmed
To view them
The people investigating
As the bad guys
Because they want to take down
Our heroes that we see
Week after week
That kind of thing
Lodges in your mind
So that you realize
Hey, the cops can't be the bad guys
And anyone who says they are
They're the bad guys
So it's weird how
Since childhood
We are programmed to think
In a particular way
But clearly
If you look at it
From a more neutral point of view
It's not a good system
To have people that
Are in law enforcement
Working with people on a daily basis
Be the ones to decide
If somebody is going to be charged or not
It's common sense
Yeah
We were talking about this recently
It's so baked into the media environment
For the past generations
I don't even know how many
That, as you said
You watch the dashing and sexy
Cops on a cop show
Say things like
Oh, we can't hold him
Because we can't prove anything
And we got to let the suspect go
And talking about
How that's ruining things
And letting the bad guy
Out on the streets
You have them
Oh, I can't find
That last piece of evidence
And we got to let the killer go
No, that last piece of evidence
Is what gets in the way
Of innocent until proven guilty
But we are baked
We are fed this image
Of the cops being the good guys
The civil rights
Of those accused
Being the bad guys
And it really
Twists one's perception
Yeah
I want to follow up
That point
On the subject of disparities here
And image issues
Think about how
The teachers' unions
Are being portrayed
Even right now in New York
And holding up school districts
Reopening
Or auto workers' unions
In general, right?
So Republicans
Those on the right
Tend to look at unions
Not as the protectors
Of the downtrodden
Or those who fought
For the eight-hour day
Or those who busted
Child labor laws
Or sweatshops
Or gave us health care
Or workers' rights
Or fought for hours
Wages and conditions
No, they're
Problem cases
But when it comes
To the police unions
The police unions
Have an extraordinary amount of power
An insane amount of power, really
And they are constantly
Getting in the way
Of disciplining police
Properly for misconduct
And one of the functions
Of a union
And I think this is
An important point to make
As the devil's advocate here
On behalf of the police now
But one of the functions
Of all unions
Is to ensure
That there is due process
For all people
Who are accused
Of workplace violations
Due process
Just means everybody
Has noticed an opportunity
To be heard
On both sides of the case
But there is a big difference
Between ensuring
That due process rights
Are adhered to by tribunals
And misusing process
And abusing the process
To prevent people
Who have engaged
In obvious misconduct
Or civil rights violations
From facing justice
And I think that's what
We have a lot of
With police unions
Especially here in New York
I hate to say
Except you're in Pennsylvania
But I know, I take your point
Oh, that's true
Yeah, but yeah
You're absolutely right
Pat Lynch was the head
Of the police union
In New York City
Guy is an unhinged psychopath
And I say that
With all due respect
But my God
The things that you hear him say
To his fellow cops
Telling them
Oh, don't do your job
Because you'll be prosecuted
If you do your job
You're wondering
Why crime is going up
In New York City
It's not because people
Are more violent
It's because people like that
People like Pat Lynch
Go and tell cops
Not to do their job
And to just see what happens
Because people dare to criticize
The way we do our job
When we kill innocent people
So, yeah
That is something
That is unhealthy
That is not what unions
Are supposed to be about
And it just speaks to
The insane
Adulation that
Many people have
Towards law enforcement
It's not healthy
These people are here
To protect us
Not to harm us
And when they do harm us
We need to find out why
And we need to prevent it
From happening again
And that's not what
Happened today in Louisville
For sure, that's not what happened
And when you see people
Out in the street
You ought to thank them
For their service
For what they're doing
Because that is vital
That is so important
For the preservation
Of our democracy
And that's why we're talking
About this on Off the Hook
Because we care about democracy
In all its shapes and forms
And what we've seen
Over the past four years
Is an attack on that
A steady attack on that
That is threatening
To get much, much worse
And certainly with the
With the vacancy
In the Supreme Court
Now being something
That the Republicans
Are jumping at
In direct contradiction
To what they said
Four years ago
Yeah, we know
We know what kind of fight
Is ahead
And we know that if
If it goes unanswered
All kinds of bad things
Are going to happen
Just yesterday
Trump said that we need
Nine seats on the Supreme Court
To decide the election
He literally said that
He's like the villain
In one of these
Scooby-Doo cartoons
Who basically ties everybody
To a chair
Announces exactly
His diabolical plan
Before the dynamite blows up
He can't shut up
He's his own worst enemy
But yeah, that is why
They want to fill this seat so badly
So that if the election is contested
Which it's already being contested
That's the crazy thing
He wants to rig the election
And then rig the court
So that everything's rigged
And then the very first thing
He'll say after the whole thing is
Oh yeah, it was rigged
Yeah
For him, yeah
He's doing everything he can
So we have to
We have to stay awake on this
We have to basically
Forget about what we believe
As far as policies
And look at behavior
And if you're somebody
Who is on the other side
Of our general politics here
And there are many people who are
Our condolences
Well, I mean, all sarcasm aside
Look at what has been happening
Alright, look at the actual
Statements that have been made
And ask yourself
Is that right?
Does that seem a little sleazy
That four years ago
My side said that
Can't select a new Supreme Court Justice
During an election year
That's what they said
They didn't say
Unless this or this or this
Which is what they are saying now
Changing the rules
After things happen to their advantage
You know, if it was the other way around
And it was somebody I supported
Saying that
I wouldn't feel good about it
You know, it's not going to change
The way you vote
I get that
But can you at least acknowledge
That this is sleazy
This is sleazy behavior
It's not honest
And it's really not something
To be proud of
I just wonder if people can do that
Yeah, there's a C-SPAN clip
Going around from about an hour ago
When Trump was in front of the press
And a reporter asked him
You know, in the case
In the case that you lose the election
Basically in so many words
Asking, will you commit right now
That there will be a transfer
A peaceful transfer of power
And he responded to that
With a non-answer
That rambled for a bit
But then he actually said
In a room full of reporters
And this is the direct quote
We want to get rid of the ballots
And you'll have a very peaceful
There won't be a transfer
Frankly, there will be
A continuation of power
Wait, he said
He wants to get rid of the ballots?
Yeah, he said
He wants to get rid of the ballots
And there won't be a transfer of power
There will be a continuation of power
This is the President of the United States
Who just got up
Hang on, Rob, Rob
No, no, no, no, Rob
You must somehow
Have tied into Lukashenko
And we're watching
A Belarusian program
Belarusian C-Span
It's the next channel over
Sometimes people get confused
There's no way
In our country
The United States of America
That a President said
That he wants to get rid of the ballots
And just have a continuation of power
He just said the quiet part out loud
And it's pretty amazing
That we're even at this point
I don't know if I should say
What I really feel like saying about that
But go ahead, Alex
Yeah, we still are
Subject to FCC regulations, Kyle
Oh no, no, it would be more like
Yeah, I'm good, go ahead
You can email us
OTH at 2620.com
And we'll send you the words
That we want to use
Through email
That's true
And you'll know then
I do want to present
You know, one point
And then perhaps
One contrary point of view
When it comes to
The Supreme Court nomination
Here, I think
This is an issue
That came up four years ago
In the Merrick Garland context
And the sole reason
That the Democrats
I'm sorry
The sole reason
That the Republicans
Insisted on not pushing
Through Merrick Garland
Is the same reason
Why they insist on pushing
Through whatever the new nominee
Is right now
Because it's an election year
And this has nothing to do
With the Constitution
It has, you know, a lot to do
Perhaps with, you know
The composition of the court
But it is most to do
With energizing the political base
The lowest common denominator
Of the Republican Party
To get out the vote
And it's
Four years ago
It was about pandering
To the evangelicals
And this year
It is about pandering
To the evangelicals
And the contrary point
That I want to make here
Because, like we said last week
We don't shy away
From pointing fingers
At both sides of the aisle here
I think the blame for this
Can be squarely pointed
On the fact that the Democrats
Four years ago
Let this happen
They created some bizarre
Crazy, idiotic precedent
Because they were resting
On their laurels
All safe in the belief
That Trump would not win
The 2016 election
That Hillary Clinton
Would then be able to nominate
Whomever she pleased
To the Supreme Court
The Democrats had no spine back then
It energized the political base
Of the Republican Party
The evangelicals
And it's exactly what is happening now
And I dare say
You know, this could
Very easily
Tip the election
Back into Trump's favor
And it would be
The Democrats' fault
Yet again
Well, okay, two questions
What could the Democrats
Have done in 2016
To prevent this from happening then
And what do you think
They can do now
To prevent it from happening
You know, it's
Difficult for me to say
I'm not in office right now
But, you know, this has got to be
Something that has to
It's a political issue, right
This is also a constitutional issue
That a president has the right
To do this
Not in certain circumstances
Where the Senate may be controlled
By one party
And then the executive branch
By another party
We're talking about the Constitution
The Democrats should have relied
On the literal text
Of the Constitution
That gives the president
The authority
To appoint Supreme Court justices
And use that
Like a goddamn cudgel
To beat sense
Into everybody else
Who did not agree with it
Yeah, but Alex
In 2016
They didn't have the votes
In the Senate to do that
How could they have done it
I'm sorry, say that again a minute
In 2016
They didn't have the votes
In the Senate
To push forward a vote
So how could they have done this
Well, they have to make
They have to make
The constitutional argument
They have to insist
That people
Do their constitutional duties
Of pushing forward
This kind of vote
I mean, the fact that
It was a political stalemate
To not push forward a nomination
Should not be a complete bar
To getting something moving
With a Supreme Court nominee
Yeah, but I don't
How do they do that
If they don't have
You might have the answer here
But I don't know how it works
If you don't have
The majority in the Senate
How do you push it forward anyway
I know Rand Paul
Knows how to do it
He can always stop
Anything he wants
But how do the Democrats
Actually push forward something
If they don't have the votes
They can get
They can get stalemated
On these procedural issues
For sure
But then
And if that's the case
You know
It may be very difficult
To do something like
Get the courts involved
Or you know
Issue writs
Because you just
Don't have enough time
But at that point
Then what you need to do
Is find a compromised candidate
Somebody that both parties
Can agree with
That's what the political process
Is designed to ensure
That there is a candidate
That's palatable to
Whatever political parties
And whatever persons
There are representing the people
So
What they should have done
Is not insist on Merrick Garland
Perhaps
But they could have insisted
On somebody else
Somebody that would have been
You know
A little bit better
I do have to say though
That the people
That Trump appointed
You know
You know
Mr. You know
Beer guzzling
Frat guy aside
But Neil Gorsuch
I have to say
Has been a pretty
Decent jurist
Well
The latest one
That he is
Putting forward
Her main goal
Is to establish
A kingdom of God
Whatever that means
And the law career
Is secondary to that
That sure doesn't
Bode well
And I don't know
If compromising
Even further
Is the answer
It doesn't sound like
That's really moving forward
With strength
I think what
Needs to be done
I think you touched upon this
Is that
Yeah
They have to get in the way
Of anything happening
And I think
We as citizens
Can do that as well
You know
Basically
Prevent any work
From getting done
Until this is put aside
For one thing
The stimulus package
Needs to go through
That is more important
That's something
The Senate has been sitting on
They need to do that
Before they do anything
Involving Supreme Court justices
And we have to raise our voices
And surround buildings
And cause denial
Of service attacks
Whatever it takes
To shut them down
That needs to happen
Because they're clearly
Not listening
Yeah
I mean
I agree
And while you were talking
I was thinking about this too
I mean
Procedurally
I don't know
If there really is much
That the Democrats can do
But they have to
Be able to
Wield better
Political pressure
In a concerted manner
And I think
We saw this a lot
When it came to
Questioning anybody
With the
Russian investigations
With the
Senate Select Committee
On Intelligence
And the House
Permanent Select Committee
On Intelligence
It all seemed like
When the Democrats
Were questioning these witnesses
It was all about
Whoever the person was
Doing the questioning
When the Republicans
Were doing this
There was a much more
Consistent theme
Between questioners
And there was a
And the transitions were good
They have to be
Less out for themselves
And more out for the country
I mean
I really believe that
Had this not happened
In 2016
We would have had
A much better chance
At avoiding this
Ridiculous and thorny situation
That we have with
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's
Replacement now
And I do have to say
One sort of anecdote
About RBG
Is that I actually
Had lunch with her
In 2006
In D.C.
When I was a
I was a law clerk
I was clerking for
The Chief Judge of the
U.S. Court of Appeals
For the Armed Forces
We were like the
Supreme Court of the Military
And once a year
Or once a term
I'm not sure what it was
But she hosted a lunch
For federal law clerks
Down in D.C.
And so it wasn't just
She and I
You know
About 20 other people
There in the room
But it was pretty cool
To sit in the room
And have lunch
With Ruth Bader Ginsburg
And I think
You know
The most amazing thing
That I took away from it
Was that she was just
A person
You know
She was approachable
She was kind
Personable
Non-imposing
And then four years later
We had a case
In front of the Supreme Court
Where we were
Arguing on behalf of
U.S. service members
And civilians
And against the
United States government
And Iraq
And Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Asked one question
Of the government
We wound up actually
Losing the case
In the Supreme Court
But because
She asked one question
To the government
It seemed to pin them down
And after the case
We were able
To get a good settlement
So I have a tremendous
Respect
And great
Memories
Of RBG
Well let's
Let's get to a couple
Other stories too
So
Because there is a lot
Going on
And this is kind of
Along the lines
Of what we've been
Talking about
As far as self-reflection
And looking at
With a critical eye
At
At
At
People that
You're supposedly aligned with
German authorities
Said last Thursday
What appears to have been
A misdirected hacker attack
Caused the failure
Of IT systems
At a major hospital
In Dusseldorf
And a woman
Who needed urgent
Admission died
After she had to be
Taken to another city
For treatment
So I can say right away
You know
If a hacker is responsible
For something like that
That is
That is awful
And we condemn that
In the strongest terms
The Dusseldorf
University Clinic
Systems have been
Disrupted since
Last Thursday
The hospital said
Investigators have found
That the source
Of the problem
Was a hacker attack
On a weak spot
In widely used
Commercial add-on software
Which it did not
Identify
As a consequence
Systems gradually
Crashed
And the hospital
Wasn't able to
Access data
Emergency patients
Were taken elsewhere
And operations
Postponed
And the hospital said
That there was no
Concrete ransom demand
And that the data
Is irretrievably lost
And that its
IT systems
Are being
Gradually restarted
Now
You know
Looking at a story
Like this
Is this what
Hacking is?
Because
It seems to me
This is some kind of
Automated attack
That is relying
On insecure
Networks
That is being
Started by people
Who are looking
For some kind of
Payout
And
All of that
Speaks to
What hacking
Is not
And if a hacker
Is behind this
We would
Condemn it
In the strongest
Terms
I don't think
This meets
The definition
Of what
Hacking actually is
Even though
Every media outlet
In the world
Is reporting
This as a
Hack attack
It doesn't
Take any
Hacker ability
To push
A couple of
Buttons
And have
Some exploit
Run
That cripples
A system
And it's tragic
I don't
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