On this episode of Thick & Thin, I discuss the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the reaction from the right and the left to it. I also talk about Kanye West's new album, and why I think he's a closeted gay man.
00:00:46.240And anyway, the whole victory in the House is viewed as lackluster.
00:00:50.120And all the Trump candidates, or many of the Trump candidates, lost.
00:00:56.040And certainly the kind of hardcore-type election denier people definitely lost.
00:01:03.460And so there's this kind of weird, ambivalent feeling in the air of, what do we do?
00:01:12.360Should we just get rid of Trump and go mainstream?
00:01:15.460I think that's actually quite delusional for them to do that, because ultimately the GOP is very unpopular.
00:01:24.480And it actually is Trump's craziness that kind of gives it a reason for being and makes it popular and kind of you can't take your eyes off it.
00:01:36.500But I also just sense something deeper happening.
00:01:46.100And, you know, this Kanye Fuentes stuff fascinates me.
00:01:51.800I have a little bit of a conspiracy theory about it, and I'm going to relay that.
00:01:58.420Take this, for instance, the Colorado Springs shooting, obviously a terrible event.
00:02:10.120I mean, I think we're going to find out more about him.
00:02:12.740And the fact that his dad is like, I don't know, quasi-endorsing it, basically excusing it and saying, well, at least he's not gay or something.
00:02:25.800And also showing all of these weird facial tics of someone who is really mentally ill.
00:02:35.620We're probably going to find out a lot like we found out about the Buffalo shooter, this kind of kid who has real issues, family problems, and he's kind of driven to something.
00:02:48.680I mean, I think it's hard to believe that this was a random shooting.
00:02:53.400I mean, granted, the Pulse nightclub event, which also was a gay bar, was apparently not animated by any kind of anti-homosexual animist.
00:03:02.920That, of course, might happen again, but it just seems unlikely.
00:03:06.600It seems like we're going to find out some radicalization story that's a lot like the Buffalo shooter.
00:03:12.540And the reaction to this has been interesting because for years now, at least 20 years, in fact, we've kind of been used to the Islamic terrorist of some kind, maybe even like a Black nationalist terrorist of sorts in Dallas, Texas in 2015 or 2016.
00:03:35.660And the right will be like, oh, you know, they're not telling us the real story.
00:03:43.020He's connected to all these groups or this is why we need to shut down immigration and, you know, the usual type things.
00:03:51.060And there's no doubt that, you know, these terrorist acts are kind of, you know, random acts of violence, of course, but they do kind of like get people on edge and probably do make people more right wing and on some kind of, you know, visceral level.
00:04:09.060But we're in this kind of different situation where I do think it's safe to say that the right is more or less making excuses for this kid.
00:04:25.040And they're doing it in kind of deceptive ways or they're deflecting.
00:04:29.580But I mean, Tucker Carlson had this girl on who's part of a group called Gays Against Groomers and the banner underneath his interview with her said, you know, memo to liberals, just leave the kids out of it or something like this.
00:04:51.140And that is actually threatening language, even if they don't want to endorse what happened, there's a kind of like, well, this was bound to happen when you bring gender ideology into public schools or something like that.
00:05:07.640And the woman he interviewed is just some totally astroturfed, turf, I guess, just one of these people that just, you know, they're almost like, I mean, they might be kind of actually creative.
00:05:25.280They have, there's nothing really going for them.
00:05:28.200They're not interesting or important, but they kind of have some pop-up shop, like group, like Gays Against Groomers.
00:05:36.560And they're just there to go on Tucker Carlson as like, oh, this is a grassroots activist or something.
00:05:42.040You know, her grassroots activism seems to be social media and selling merch at a store.
00:05:48.120Merch like a coffee cup that says, okay, groomer, you know, hilarious.
00:05:52.680Her argument was this, it was, if you say that calling someone a groomer is an anti-LGBTQ whatever slur, then, so liberals are saying that.
00:06:06.560And so they are in a way targeting gays and lesbians.
00:06:11.540So when, so she's blaming liberals for the fact that this person went nuts.
00:06:20.460So she, she was in effect blaming liberals.
00:06:24.640It was a kind of like, you forced us to act like this due to your reckless behavior on social media.
00:06:31.260I mean, look, the, the, the argument just, just simply doesn't hold up.
00:06:36.060And it's just much easier to argue that these, this is one of these probably, you know, mentally ill, deranged loser types who gets really hopped up on this stuff on, on, you know, you know, they're grooming kids in schools.
00:06:56.580They're, you know, the gays are on the march or whatever and goes out and does something.
00:07:00.560I mean, that's just the much simpler explanation.
00:07:04.540And instead, you know, at least that bottom banner that said memo to liberals, just leave the kids alone.
00:07:11.340I mean, that, that is basically a threat.
00:07:13.740And I think they're kind of upping the ante on this.
00:07:18.000There's another weird statement by this woman, Jenna Ellis, who was big in the Republican party.
00:07:24.840I think she's actually left the Republican party for some weird reason.
00:07:27.480But anyway, she was also standing by Rudy Giuliani during his press conferences about Stop the Steal.
00:07:34.700She's one of these typical, just goofy conservative women who go get a law degree at some place and then do political activism effectively.
00:07:44.320And she was saying, you know, her argument was basically, we don't know, these people at the club, we don't have any evidence that they've given their life to Jesus.
00:08:47.180And it does remind me a bit of the Westboro Baptist Church line of, you know, God hates fags.
00:08:56.880And so that's why he killed these gay soldiers, which was actually why they, you know, had this lawsuit that actually went to the Supreme Court.
00:09:06.300They were protesting outside of funerals for gay soldiers.
00:09:11.020And they were basically saying that, you know, God killed your sons because he hates homosexuality.
00:09:16.720I mean, again, I can understand why a Christian can actually believe this.
00:09:23.560But it just, yeah, it reeks of wrath of God stuff.
00:09:32.320And I do kind of sense this, I sense something of like they're feeling like things are out of control for them and they're losing power, they're being demoralized, and there's this tendency to lash out and to kind of go more extreme.
00:09:54.740So you kind of expect them or some, you know, the media expects them to, oh, they're going to moderate, they're going to drop the Trump stuff, whatever.
00:10:03.460Well, they might very well drop all the Trump stuff, but what they're going to go to is stuff like this.
00:10:10.160And so I think there's a kind of like general background for this happening.
00:10:17.340But I think there's also some interest, there might very well be some machinations going on.
00:10:23.460So when I was at this, the day before Thanksgiving, just kind of relaxing by the pool, I saw this viral video of Fuentes going to a Florida airport and being alongside Kanye and going to meet Donald Trump.
00:10:45.840Now, Kanye had a pretty interesting video that was put out that I believe was made by Milo Yiannopoulos.
00:10:57.060And, you know, you can see a little glimpse of an ideology there.
00:11:02.520Kanye is basically saying, we're going to judge every policy against the Bible.
00:11:07.320So it is, you know, full on fundamentalism or Christian nationalism or theocracy or whatever.
00:11:13.940Now, this is rather odd, obviously coming from a rap artist formerly married to Kim Kardashian, but it is what it is.
00:11:22.340I actually do, as I've said many times, I think Kanye actually sincerely believes in what he's doing.
00:11:49.600I mean, but look, I'm nothing, if not fair.
00:11:55.380And I try to be, I actually try to, it's hard sometimes, but I try to put away biases and say, like, don't just denounce Kanye or whatever, but say, like, does he sincerely believe this?
00:12:09.580And is there a kind of coherency to what he's saying?
00:12:12.320And I would say yes to both of those questions.
00:12:14.420I think everyone deserves a kind of fair shake.
00:12:19.200And anyway, so he's, he's with Kanye, there's some kind of dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
00:12:28.920Now, Trump has since claimed, you know, in a very typical fashion, actually, like, I had no idea who this guy was, I don't know who he is, blah, blah, blah.
00:14:27.420So, look, I don't want to dwell on this too much.
00:14:32.760But, you know, with Milo, everything's a kind of crafted personality.
00:14:38.060And so I do think that he was trying to kind of imitate me or evoke me.
00:14:44.100And I think that also kind of goes along with a much broader thing where all of these people are kind of like endlessly trying to recreate 2016.
00:14:57.280Because 2016, for better and for worse, was this moment when it felt like something could change.
00:15:06.740The establishment, particularly the Republican establishment, was just on its heels.
00:15:12.220All these people who previously didn't have influence were shoved into the spotlight.
00:15:23.940You know, as I've talked about, there was just this kind of Dionysian feeling about being online in 2016 where tweets were going viral and liberals were crying.
00:15:34.500And it just felt like even doing social media kind of had an impact.
00:15:41.340I mean, I often feel now, I mean, I'll kind of put out my thoughts or I'll kind of use Twitter as like a rough draft for something that I'm thinking through.
00:15:49.680I don't really go on Twitter for the years now and feel like we're fighting the meme war, you know.
00:15:56.700It's just, at least for me, it does not have that feeling at all, nor probably should it.
00:16:04.260But I do think that there are people who are trying to revive this.
00:16:08.920And they've got their hands on this billionaire.
00:16:11.480And what's interesting about Kanye is, you know, when the controversy first struck a month ago, there was all of, he was working hand in glove with Candace Owens.
00:16:23.540And they went to Paris Fashion Week together and, you know, donned White Lives Matter t-shirts or whatever in Helvetica typeface, black shirt with white letters, the reverse, etc.
00:16:39.100And she was actually, from what I can tell, behind Kanye's rise in 2018 when he started making noise and the next thing you know, he was in the White House.
00:16:51.560Now, Kim Kardashian also got invitations to the White House for prison reform or something.
00:16:57.360But Kanye was there to engage in philosophy reform, I guess.
00:17:02.920Just his, you know, unending, illogical, semi-coherent, mostly incoherent ramblings about religion and being, I guess.
00:18:31.660And she sees a billionaire who's getting kicked off social media, and she suggests that he purchase the social media company of her husband.
00:18:39.260I mean, I can't imagine something more grifty than that.
00:18:48.020Now, I think a lot of us thought that Milo was really over.
00:18:52.020I mean, Milo was, he became a kind of poster boy for Gamergate, first off.
00:18:57.060And then he became a poster boy for the alt-right for a while, and I think was ultimately pushed aside in favor of myself.
00:19:09.940I think he, to be honest here, I think he has a long-term grudge about this.
00:19:15.140And then when these tapes reemerged of him talking with Joe Rogan, where he was, in effect, excusing pedophilia.
00:19:24.780And really, pedophilia of the worst kind.
00:19:28.780I mean, he was bragging about, joking about being abused by a priest, saying it could be an amazing experience.
00:19:37.160One thing I remember, he actually made a claim that in all his L.A. partying that he does, and all these amazing parties that he's invited to.
00:19:48.120I mean, again, all of these claims are pretty dubious.
00:19:52.880But he saw very young boys being abused in some ways at these parties.
00:19:59.840Now, if you witness, again, I actually think he's lying, to be honest, because I think he's a sociopath and a liar.
00:20:08.140But regardless, he might be telling the truth.
00:20:12.060And if you've witnessed this, the notion that you don't name names or go to the police is absurd.
00:20:20.400And, you know, it's kind of interesting how no one focuses on that, because I think basically, at the end of the day, everyone just assumes Milo's lying.
00:20:50.640Then he's also, I think, pretty consciously replacing me or some 2016 version of myself and putting the face of this, I guess, now formerly gay, you know, both, he claims both Catholic and Jewish identity.
00:24:16.360Anyway, let me just read this article and I'll tell you what I think about it.
00:24:21.900So Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, brought political powerhouse Karen Giorno and controversial commentator Nick Fuentes to dinner with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week.
00:24:35.220It's interesting that she describes Nick Fuentes as controversial as opposed to Christian nationalist or white nationalist or white supremacist or neo-Nazi or whatever.
00:24:46.240Ye and the former president have both announced their intention to run for the White House in 2024.
00:24:50.940The dinner between Ye and Trump had been previously arranged, but the additional guests were brought on by author and political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.
00:25:27.500You give things to a dumb reporter and she just is a stenographer, basically, who has been named by the fashion and entertainment mogul as his campaign director.
00:25:39.540So Milo is already Ye's campaign director.
00:25:45.680On Thursday evening, Ye shook up Thanksgiving when he tweeted a video featuring a discussion between himself and Yiannopoulos about the meeting.
00:25:53.920And in that video, that's the one I was referencing earlier, Ye is kind of being the alpha dog vis-a-vis Trump.
00:26:31.800When he didn't know where the lawyer is, you'll still have your loyalist, Ye said, seemingly ad-libbing a line that would have fit perfectly into one of his hit songs.
00:26:52.760The rap icon explained that he questioned the former president about not pardoning people who were arrested for protesting on his behalf on January 6th.
00:27:01.260It suggested that he bring back the people who worked on his 2016 campaign but have since been canceled.
00:27:07.320So they want to basically recreate 2016.
00:35:42.760If anything, I mean, he was photographed with a gay flag, a rainbow flag.
00:35:47.380If anything, he would probably be more inclined to say something like, you know, we can't trust these Muslims because they abuse gays and women or something like that.
00:35:57.600He would take that kind of almost neocon line, if anything.
00:36:01.180So you want to create a yay campaign that will, at the very least, damage Trump and will also, could also sop up all that energy.
00:36:12.620So all these people who would support Trump are, you know, hot after Kanye and they're demanding that we jail abortionists and, you know, the Ten Commandments will be the only constitution we need or whatever they're going to say.
00:36:29.840And they have prayer tent revivals with Kanye in the lead.
00:36:33.700And they think of themselves as just so smart because, you know, they're playing the PC police for fools.
00:36:42.280You know, how can the woke mob call us racist when we're advancing and worshiping a black man?
00:38:37.820This is just something that I would suggest.
00:38:41.320But I overall think, regardless of whether this theory of mine is correct or not, I overall think that this is all of this is extremely damaging.
00:38:51.060It's damaging, just ideologically stupid.