S2 Episode the Fourth

 Episode the fourth

Hello! Welcome to the Listening Tube! I’m your host, Bob Woodley. On this episode, The United States has a new largest Flag Champion, How Honest Abe’s divided house might be making a comeback, and some good old-fashioned propaganda! But first...(not the headlines)

There might be a small but impactful change coming to your automobile insurance policy. It doesn’t have anything to do with safety, or how fast you drive, or how fast you stop. It’s not about where you park it or if you have to leave it at the bar and take a taxi home. No, this is much bigger than that. Especially if you’re a teenager or for whatever reason you still live with your parents. Here’s why: The Missouri Court of Appeals has ruled that an insurance company must pay a woman 5.2 million dollars because she contracted a sexually transmitted disease while having intimate relations with a man in his car. Do you see where I’m going with this? The Kansas City Star says that a woman filed a claim last year after finding out that she got a disease from a guy who knew he had it, but didn’t tell her. It happened in the man’s car, so she claimed that his insurance company was liable and responsible for the damages. Well, the insurance company was offered a settlement, but declined. Who in their right mind would fault an insurance company for causing somebody to get a disease while in someone else’s car? Weeeeellll, and arbitrator did. Arbitration found that the man was liable for the woman contracting the disease, and that the insurer was responsible for the payment. I sure don’t want to be that company’s mascot right now! Sorry, gecko, but we’re gonna havta cut back on the grass in your terrarium. Hypothetically, it could have been any company. Sorry, Doug, but we’re going to move forward with just the emu. From now on, Flo, your apron will be replaced by a Greatful Dead t-shirt we found in the janitor’s closet. More crazy judgments like this and even struggling actors won’t be able to get a job on an insurance commercial. Why this guy’s auto policy covered sexually transmitted diseases is beyond me. But I see a not-too-distant future where all auto insurance policies will become null and void it you have sex in the automobile covered by the policy. Auto insurance is basically mandatory everywhere. But if insurance companies are on the hook for millions of dollars every time somebody get an STD in the back of a car, then you can bet that adjustments will be made somewhere, and the most likely place is in your policy. Before I go any further, let me just say that it was a terrible, selfish and unforgivable thing that this man did to this woman. He knew he had a sexually transmitted disease and had sex with her. Shame on him. His actions deserve condemnation. Now, you might be thinking, “But Bob, I’m older now. I don’t have to have sex in my car.” Well that may be true, and good for you for having a “back-up spot” but that’s not the important part. The way I see it, this ruling opens up a can of worms. So maybe you don’t have sex in your car, and you don’t have a sexually transmitted disease. Or if you have one, you don’t know it. But you meet someone, and they’re special and you and the other person decide to go all the way, or at least do things that involve the exchange of bodily fluid. And let’s say one of you does have a communicable disease, or maybe a mild strain of Covid-19, or the common cold. It is now the responsibility of the insurance company to pay damages if you get a disease while in the car? What about in an R-V? What about in your home? Does your homeowner’s policy cover sexually transmitted diseases? Should it? What if you’re on a camping trip, and have sex in a tent, and somebody catches something. Is the tent manufacturer now liable for what happens in their tents? Because of this Missouri ruling, you may see changes in your insurance policies not just for your car, but also for your recreational vehicles and your home. Good luck if you’re a single guy looking for renter’s insurance. With more rulings like this one, the only place insurance companies will allow us to have sex will be in a National Park.

Well trouble not only brewed, but boiled over at one of the nation’s most liberal publications this week. One of their political reporters, a guy named Dave Weigel, retweeted what he thought was a humorous observation about women that concluded that every girl is bi, then added that you just have to figure out if it’s bisexual or bipolar. He obviously thought the tweet was funny, so he shared it with those who read what he tweets. What he failed to realize is that he’s not a comedian, he’s a political reporter at one of the most woke institutions in the country, and all of his other woke comrades are also going to see the sexist attempt at humor. Although maybe he didn’t see it as a joke, but as a testimony to his own experiences. I don’t know. Perhaps every woman he’s ever dated was either bisexual or had some sort of mental disorder. He could have retweeted it in a sign of solidarity with the original author, as in, “Been there, bro. I can relate.” As you may know from my podcast episode In Defense of Comedy, I don’t think there should be any limits to comedic subject matter. Maybe Dave thinks of himself as a comedian. But Dave is a political reporter for the Washington Post. Either way, the retweet was spotted by one of his extremely woke colleagues, and she responded with her own tweet about how it’s “fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!” along with a screenshot of the original tweet. So she actually also shared the sexist joke, but behind the shield of criticizing it. Ultimately, it earned him a one-month without pay suspension from the Washington Post. But the story doesn’t end there. Immediately after the suspension, a twitter war of words began among the staffers at the paper, with some praising the woman who reported the tweet to higher-ups at the Post, and others chastizing the reporter who reported for not being more tolerant of someone who makes a mistake. The man did, after all, delete the tweet and publicly apologized for sharing it. Plus, he works at the Washington Post, so he must be a liberal, right? Is this an example of the left going so far with wokism that they’re now feasting on their own? I don’t know, but the woman who first notice and objected to and reported the retweet, Felicia Sonmez, who also covers national politics for the Washington Post, kept up the complaining about it and ultimately alienated some of her colleagues, particularly another Washington Post reporter named Jose Del Real. Del Real admonished the woman saying in a tweet to her, “Felicia, we all mess up from time to time. Engaging in repeated and targeted public harassment of a colleague is neither a good look nor is it particularly effective. It turns the language of inclusivity into clout chasing and bullying. I don’t think this is appropriate.” She then accused him of false accusations and mischaracterizations, according to the New York Post. As you might imagine, all of this turmoil within the newsroom wasn’t sitting well with the brass at the Washington Post, especially since most of it was being played out on a public forum for all to see. I’m sure you would agree that most companies would rather deal with an incident like this in-house, and the Executive Editor, Sally Buzbee issued an internal memo saying as much. The New York Times got a hold of it, and it says, in part, “ The Washington Post is committed to an inclusive and respectful environment, free of harassment, discrimination or bias of any sort. When issues arise, please raise them with leadership of human resources and we will address them promptly and firmly.” I’m sure Ms. Buzbee thought that would put an end to it, but that’s not what happened. Felicia Sonmez decided to throw caution to the wind and went on an all-out assault on not only her colleagues, but also her superiors. And she did it on twitter. This Washington, D.C. raised, Harvard educated, 39-year-old person with a degree in government thought the best thing they could do to advance their career was to start a twitter war with their employer. But this isn’t the first time Felicia has had an issue with the Washington Post. According to wikipedia, after she claimed to be a victim of sexual assault, the paper blocked her from reporting on the topic. She sued the Post for discrimination, but lost. Before that, she was suspended by the paper after the helicopter crash that killed all aboard, including retired basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter. She used the tragedy to remind her twitter followers that Kobe had once been accused of rape. He was acquitted, although he did admit in to infidelity. But that didn’t stop Felicia from adding insult to injury in order to advance an agenda. Why she studied government and then became a journalist, I don’t know, but perhaps if she became a journalist first, she would have learned that you don’t want to make the story about you. Paging Jim Acosta! So it would appear that the Washington Post has a three-strikes-and-your-out policy, even for their far-left reporters. Wow, that was a lot of hyphens. Apparently, the experience and wisdom of a 39-year-old isn’t enough to take on the responsibility of policing everything your colleagues say, nor is it enough to keep your superiors in check through the sheer will of your tenacity. Well, her superiors said, “Guess what? Here’s how the real world works, and how it worked long before you got here: You’re fired. I know that in Felicia’s heart, she was doing the right thing by recognizing sexism and pointing it out. Sometimes people don’t know they’re being sexist. Some people don’t care. But pointing it out is okay. I think if I said something sexist and it offended someone, and they took the time to bring it to my attention in a tactful way, preferably in private, that I would appreciate that person’s opinion and take their perception of what I said into account. That would have been an easy thing for Felicia to do, as both she and the man she reported worked in the same news department at the same newspaper. But it was even easier for here to criticize him on twitter because that’s where the original transgression occurred. I get it. I know people who say outrageous things on social media, and if they didn’t live in a different state, I might take them aside. But my only option is to respond in kind on the same platform. Sometimes I do, and it’s often met with some type of resistance. That’s what happened to Felicia, but she couldn’t resist the opportunity to continue the debate online for all to see. She chose to make a man’s attempt at humor a public spectacle. She could have used the opportunity to teach one man to be more sensitive to sexist humor, but chose instead to create a male victim, as if to gain some revenge on the gender under the guise of calling out sexism. And because she identifies as a journalist, believed that her platform would give her cause credibility. It’s okay to have a cause, but a journalist can’t get the occupation confused with the cause. That’s what the Washington Post was trying to avoid when they prohibited her from covering sexual assault stories, and that’s why she got suspended for the Kobe Bryant tweet and that’s why her twitter feud with another political reporter got her fired. 

1648

Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts colony. Back then, people were much better at spotting witches and warlocks. The New England witch-hunt lasted until 1693. That’s 45 years from the time we figured out how to identify witches by making them sit still for 24 hours with one leg crossed waiting for a an Imp to appear, until they figured out how to keep the Imp from appearing. Today, witches hide in plain site, and some people think they’re cool.

1665

England installs a municipal government in New York City. Formerly New Amsterdam, the city government has now had about 350 years of practice and still can’t get it right. Perhaps the fate of their so-called “prosecutor” will be similar to that of the former in San Francisco. When San Francisco, perhaps the most liberal city in the nation, recalls its prosecutor for not enforcing the law, then the writing may be on the wall for other George Soros funded prosecutors and politicians. When your plan it to create kaos around the world in order to establish your own world order, those on the side of law and order will prevail. 

1774

Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain’s North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves. I spoken frequently of Rhode Island recently. History tells us that the smallest state in the union was also the first to recognize injustice and take steps to correct it.

1775

American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, they were to be hanged. Both men signed the Declaration of Independence. Today, they’re revered as brand names for a brewery and a financial company. Their moms would be proud.

1777

The Stars and Stripes is adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States. This year, there’s a new largest flying American flag. The previous record holder was (and still is) put on display every Independence Day, hoisted between two cranes along the bank of the Susquehanna River in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The new record holder is on display everyday on Interstate 43 between Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin. It’s 70 by 140 feet, and weighs 250 pounds.

1789

Whiskey distilled from maize is first produced by American clergyman Reverend Elijah Craig. It is named Bourbon because Rev Craig lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

1816

Lord Byron reads Fantasmagoriana to his four house guests at the Villa Diodati. He challenges each guest to write a ghost story, and three of them do. Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein, John Polidori wrote the short story The Vampyre, with Byron writing the poem Darkness.

1846

Bear Flag Revolt begins – Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic. The California flag still has a bear on it.

1858

Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois. Allow me to recite some of it for you, with the understanding that my impersonation of Abraham Lincoln is spot on, as there are no recordings of what he actually sounded like. I’m going to assume he didn’t sound like Mike Tyson...

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention.

If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed -

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other.

Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new-North as well as South.

Have we no tendency to the latter condition?

Let any one who doubts, carefully contemplate that now almost complete legal combination - piece of machinery so to speak- compounded of the Nebraska doctrine, and the Dred Scott decision. Let him consider not only what work the machinery is adapted to do, and how well adapted; but also, let him study the history of its construction, and trace, if he can, or rather fail, if he can, to trace the evidences of design and concert of action, among its chief bosses, from the beginning.

But, so far, Congress only, had acted; and an endorsement by the people, real or apparent, was indispensable, to save the point already gained, and give chance for more.

The new year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the States by State Constitutions, and from most of the national territory by congressional prohibition.

Four days later, commenced the struggle, which ended in repealing that congressional prohibition. This opened all the national territory to slavery, and was the first point gained.

Lincoln went on to describe the legal battles going on in the state and federal courts concerning slavery, and was clearly against it. This speech was made when Lincoln was a candidate for the Illinois Senate, and needed a way to distinguish himself from the incumbent, Steven A. Douglas. Lincoln did not win the election. But he did beat Douglas in the 1860 election for President of the United States, the first Republican to do so. Today, it’s not free states and slave states that divide the nation, but red states and blue states. What we need is more red, white and blue states. 

1885

The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor. It was a gift from the French government. Now, we just had to figure out what to do with it….

1873

Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election. What did she do? Dress like a man and try to sneak in? 

Look that up liner

No, she did not dress like a man and try to sneak in. According to wikipedia, She brought 13 of her friends with her and convinced the person at the polls to let them cast a ballot. It was a plan designed to get arrested, so women could make their case in court. They believed, correctly, that they had just as much right to vote as a man, simply because they were citizens. The other 13 were released pending the outcome of the Anthony trial. She was denied a jury trial, as the judge said that they could not assemble a jury of her peers because women were not allowed to be on juries at the time! HA! Nor was she allowed to testify in her own defense. When the judge found her guilty, and fined her a hundred bucks (which would be more than 23-hundred dollars today), she was then allowed to make a statement. She did, and I’m not going to try to impersonate Susan B. Anthony, but here’s what she said: "I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.” She never did. And guess what? They never made her pay, either. As Ms. Anthony was arrested for the purpose of going to trial, she was also denied the opportunity to take her guilty verdict to the Supreme Court because the judge in the original trial refused to send her to jail until she paid the fine. Ironically, the judge in the original trial was a recently appointed Supreme Court Justice himself, had never presided over a trial before, and was actually a politician, not a lawyer. Susan B. Anthony continued to fight for women’s rights, as well as being an opponent of slavery. Six months after her conviction, on the 100th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, she made a speech in New York and said: I stand before you tonight a convicted criminal... convicted by a Supreme Court Judge... and sentenced to pay $100 fine and costs. For what? For asserting my right to representation in a government, based upon the one idea of the right of every person governed to participate in that government. This is the result at the close of 100 years of this government, that I, a native born American citizen, am found guilty of neither lunacy nor idiocy, but of a crime—simply because I exercised our right to vote.”

1893

Grover Cleveland undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; operation not revealed to US public until 1917, nine years after the president’s death. Can you imagine that happening today? I can’t.

1916

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.

1934

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet in Venice, Italy; Mussolini later describes the German dictator as “a silly little monkey”.

1934

The U.S. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded. My wife and I were just there a few weeks ago. We went there on vacation, you know, to relax. We got there late Sunday afternoon, and the first thing we did on Monday morning was go on a five-mile hike. Two-and-a-half miles up the mountain, and two-and-a half miles back down. Couldn’t start with miniature golf, could we…?

1937

Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday. So flags are all over the history of our country this week. If you’re new to the Listening Tube program, I’ll suggest you listen to the pilot episode to hear how I feel about the American Flag.

1937

U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act. Today, Marijuana is legal in many states and even more for medical purposes. Back in 1937, hemp was being touted as a source of fibrous material for the manufacturing of paper and textiles. Three entities, Andrew Mellon, who was the wealthiest man in American and also the Treasury Secretary, Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate, and the DuPont family, used our federal government in a successful attempt to reduce the hemp industry through excessive taxation. They each had their own reasons for it, but to the rest of us, it was the beginning of a decline in innovation and American entrepreneurship. These greedy oligarchs stifled the development of an entire industry to serve their own purposes, at the expense of the American people.

1940

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.

1945

William Joyce, also known as Lord Haw-Haw, is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II. Joyce was American-born and Irish-raised. He was a fascist and nazi-sympathizer who began his propaganda program with “Germany calling. Germany calling.” He imitated an upper-class British accent, and would deliver what he hoped was disheartening news and propaganda from Hamburg, Germany. He would broadcast to the United Kingdom using medium-wave radio, and short-wave radio to reach the United States. Lord Haw-Haw would deliver news from inside the front lines about how many planes were shot down and how many prisoners were captured in an attempt to discourage and demoralize allied fighters. The Nazi’s even had a department called the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Today, America has two different departments for propaganda: The Republican National Committee, and the Democratic National Committee. 

1948

A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Airlines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board. I grew up in that area, and don’t recall hearing about this before. My mom has some explaining to do.

1947

 A supposed UFO crash lands in Roswell, New Mexico. The United States Government has just opened the books on UFO investigations. Or so they tell us. It might be a smoke-screen to keep us in the dark about anything they actually know.

1963

Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith.

1963

The United States Supreme Court rules 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools. There are many who describe this as the beginning of the decline of decency and respect for each other.

1964

Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa. He would not serve a life sentence. He was released from prison and was subsequently elected the first Black post-aparthied President of South Africa.

1966

The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them. I love this law. I wonder if anyone has ever filibustered themselves out of getting arrested by continuing to talk before being advised of their rights? I hope I never have to try it. 

1971

President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs. Now I have to wonder if he had stock in DuPont. Either way, the war on drugs was a dismal failure, incarcerating people for a crime with no victims, based on lies and bigotry. Sure, some drugs are abused and should be controlled. Some drugs are outright dangerous and should not be available to the general public. Our federal government has failed us in the the way they categorize drugs, who’s making the rules about them, and who’s profiting from the man-made ones. 

1985

Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife. The Mona Lisa recently had cake thrown at it at the Louvre in Paris. No damage was done, but it makes you wonder why people would take out their frustrations on inanimate works of art. My suggestion? If you’re pissed off about something, go kick a fire hydrant.

1992

The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries. I guess you could call it federally-sponsored kidnapping with cause. If you don’t have an extradition treaty with the United States, it doesn’t matter. Ask Osama Bin Laden. Oh, wait. You can’t. Also, I don’t remember him being brought back to the United States for trial, either. Oh, well….. 

1996

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet. That’s right. There was a time when the internet was poised to be only a place of learning and reference. Alas, our purient interests dominated and pornography was made part of the equation. Not only that, but all sorts of thoughts and statements were now a part of what we now know as the on-line world. That world has changed the way society views itself and others. Thanks to the internet, we now have a deeper understanding of ourselves, but also a much more intimate understanding of others, some of which we don’t want or need to know. The internet has also changed the way we consume information. Not just how much information, but what kinds of information. We now know that we tend to gravitate toward those others who think the way we think. That’s resulted in a self-fulfilling whirlpool of confirmation media, regurgitating the talking points you expect to hear; all the stuff you already agree with will be fed back to you so that you can say, “I knew it!” It’s no wonder that young lady from the Washington Post thought she was doing the world a favor when she doubled down on the gamble that the woke crowd and others who claim to be victims would come to her defense. What she failed to recognize was that it’s the media’s job to police the government, not the people. The legacy media does and should report on what people do. Our media should be a refection of who we are. But it’s not the media’s job, nor is it the job of any one person in the media, to decide what is or isn’t right or wrong. This woman at the Washington Post, Felicia, took it upon herself to police the entire world around her, and she just happens to live in a very transparent world. In her case, one that is open for all the world to see. But we the people already live under a set of laws created by our government. If the media thinks they can create their own laws and expect us to live by them, then we need to take a closer look at the power of the media, and how they’re using that power. We should not be expected to live under two sets of laws. When the media decides to police the people, then the media itself needs to be policed. However, we can’t allow the government to police the media. Only we the people can police the media. The First Amendment gives the media great protections, but the media itself has blurred the lines between what is media and what is manipulation.

The Listening Tube is written and produced by yours truly. Copyright 2022. I’m your host, Bob Woodley for thou ad infinitum.