The left rushes to Disney s defense as Florida targets the massive corporation s tax breaks, the CDC seeks to reinstate federal travel mask mandates with a legal challenge, and the Biden administration tries to split the baby on drilling. Today's After Show Was Hosted By: Ben Shapiro Ben Shapiro: What's the deal with Big Tech and Big Government? Why would you give your data to Big Tech? What would you do if Big Tech asked you to hand over your data, and why would you agree to do so? Is Big Tech spying on you, or are you spying on Big Tech, or is Big Government watching you, and is Big Tech trying to make money off of your data? If you've ever wondered how free to access sites make all their money, they track your searches, video history, and everything you click on and then sell your valuable data, then check out ExpressVPN. It's finally time to say no to censorship, take back your online privacy, and your data is your business! Connect with ExpressVPN today to get started and protect your data the same way that I do. ExpressVPN is a VPN that encrypts your data and makes it impossible for hackers and internet bad guys to track you, the bad guys. You just tap one button on your phone or computer and now you're protected! Today, you'll be able to do it the same thing I do on the ExpressVPN website. Thanks for listening to The Ben Shapiro Show, Ben Shapiro's show on the Ben Shapiro Podcast. Ben's show! Subscribe to the show and get 20% off your credit card when you sign up for my free credit card! and get 10% off the first month of my free trial offer! You'll get 7% off my entire month of the ad-free version of my new ad free version of the show, plus an additional 3 months of my ad discount when you shop at ExpressVPN! I'm giving you'll get an extra 3 months free, unlimited access to my ad-only version, plus I'll be getting a FREE 3-free VIP membership when you become a member of my VIP discount when I become a patron! Thanks Ben Shapiro is my first month, and I'll get access to all you get a discount code, too get an ad-less version, too save $5, and you get an entire $5 promo code, I'll also get a FREE 5-month VIP membership!
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00:01:33.000Well, Florida is a state that is well-known for its association with Disney.
00:01:38.000In the 1960s, Florida gave a special dispensation to Disney to build its theme parks.
00:01:44.000And one of the reasons why I did this is the idea was that Disney needed that sort of dispensation, a sort of Vatican-like Carve out so that they could create their city of the future.
00:01:55.000But Disney has maintained its Reedy Creek Special Tax District for about 50 years in this country.
00:02:02.000Well, now that seems like it may be on the verge of going away.
00:02:04.000And the reason that it's on the verge of going away is because F around and find out.
00:02:09.000This is the theme of what is going on with Disney right now.
00:02:12.000According to the Wall Street Journal, the Republican-led Florida Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would eliminate a special tax district that allows Walt Disney to govern the land where its theme parks sit, as lawmakers target the company for opposing legislation restricting classroom instruction on gender and sexuality.
00:02:26.000The GOP-led House will likely vote to approve the measure on Thursday.
00:02:29.000Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who called for lawmakers to consider such a bill in special session he convened this week, has made clear he would sign it.
00:02:36.000Losing the nearly 40-square-mile district near Orlando could be a major blow to Disney's Florida operations.
00:02:41.000The special district created in 1967 known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District exempts Disney from a host of regulations and certain taxes and fees. It has allowed the entertainment company to manage its theme parks and resorts in the state with little red tape for more than 50 years. It saves Disney tens of millions of dollars a year according to a person familiar with the company's finances who studied the issue over a decade ago.
00:03:01.000On Wednesday, Disney declined to comment on the bill, which is pretty significant given that Disney couldn't shut up about the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act.
00:03:11.000So now they've decided that it's time to shut up.
00:03:13.000And the reason they've decided to shut up is because they're realizing now that there are consequences to getting involved in political issues that do not involve you.
00:03:21.000We expect corporations all over the spectrum to get involved in economic-based issues.
00:03:25.000We understand that corporations are going to get involved in questions with regard to regulations of their industry, but there's sort of been a general understanding that corporations are not to get involved in things like educational issues.
00:03:37.000Corporations are really not supposed to be involved in social issues.
00:03:40.000Corporations are really not supposed to have a lot to say about a lot of these specific issues that are outside the purview of the corporation.
00:03:46.000Now, people associated with the corporation can do whatever they want.
00:03:49.000So, for example, Chick-fil-A never gave a corporate donation on behalf of traditional marriage.
00:03:55.000That did not stop the cities of Boston and Chicago from attempting to ban Chick-fil-A when they found out that founder Nan Cathey was supportive of traditional marriage.
00:04:04.000The left has never made this distinction, by the way.
00:04:06.000If you're an executive of a company and you, as an executive of that company, give money to something, the left is not like they will just punish the corporation.
00:04:13.000The right has always basically said, we're not going to punish corporations as long as those corporations don't involve themselves in issues that are outside of their purview.
00:04:23.000So I am the most free market person on the right.
00:04:26.000I'm an extraordinarily pro-free market person.
00:04:29.000I don't believe that generally the government should crack down on the operations of businesses.
00:04:33.000I think more freedom for businesses are good.
00:04:35.000I think that lower taxes for business are good for the economy of Florida, for the economy of the United States more broadly.
00:04:44.000However, however, corporations have to stand up for their own free market bona fides.
00:04:50.000And they have to not become tools of the people who wish to destroy freedom in this country on behalf of leftist groupthink.
00:04:57.000If you decide to just become a woke corporation that does the bidding of your democratic taskmasters, don't be surprised when you get clocked with a legislative 2x4.
00:05:10.000Disney decided that it was going to inject itself into social politics in the state of Florida.
00:05:14.000It decided that it was going to try to use its massive corporate power in the state of Florida.
00:05:19.000It employs tens of thousands of people here.
00:05:21.000It was going to try to use that power in order to cudgel the state government of Florida to do the bidding of executives in New York and Burbank, California.
00:05:28.000And instead, what it is finding out right now is that the people of Florida are not up for it.
00:05:32.000And that's particularly true if you're getting special tax benefits, if you're getting a carve-out, if you're the recipient of the largesse of the state of Florida.
00:05:40.000There are a few other corporations in the state of Florida who, by the way, are covered by this law that includes, for example, the villages, any place that sort of has its own special district that has been carved out for it.
00:05:51.000It's not a carve-out specific to Disney, although it was in fact designed for Disney.
00:05:55.000But don't expect to receive the largesse of the state of Florida if you're going to go directly up against the voters of the state of Florida on behalf of a non-Florida-based contingent of people who disagree with the policies pursued by the state of Florida.
00:06:08.000If you do that, you should not be surprised if the state says, you know what?
00:06:23.000They don't do what they're supposed to do.
00:06:24.000Why do corporations even... Why do we even need a choice between Hulu and Disney?
00:06:29.000I'm amazed that all the people in California, who've spent years, by the way, trying to target Disney.
00:06:34.000I mean, Gavin Newsom shut down the workings of Disneyland for two years because of COVID.
00:06:39.000The state of California has attempted to decide the constituency of every publicly traded company in California, saying, you need a gay person, you need a black person.
00:06:48.000We're going to decide exactly how your business runs, which is why businesses have been fleeing to more business-friendly states like Texas and more business-friendly states like Florida.
00:06:57.000So Democrats have no leg to stand on when it comes to, you can't get involved politically with corporate, you're going to use your leverage to go up against corporate.
00:07:04.000Listen, as I say, generally speaking, I'm very much in favor of people not using political leverage and legislation to go after corporations and businesses.
00:07:12.000When corporations and businesses step outside their purview, the predictable result is that you are going to have an anvil dropped on your head by the legislature of the state of Florida.
00:07:21.000And that's precisely what is happening right now.
00:07:24.000Well, these major corporations, they're screwing around and finding out.
00:07:27.000In your personal life, what you don't want is to screw around and find out.
00:08:06.000They're not going to sell your info to third parties.
00:08:07.000They have thousands of five-star reviews across Google and Trustpilot and They have options that offer coverage in as little as a week and avoid all those unnecessary medical exams.
00:08:15.000There's a reason that since 2014, PolicyGenius has helped over 30 million people shop for insurance and placed over $120 billion in coverage.
00:08:22.000Head on over to PolicyGenius.com slash Shapiro.
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00:08:35.000According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney initially didn't comment on the legislation, but came under pressure from employees to oppose it.
00:08:41.000This is the parental rights and education bill.
00:08:43.000After it passed, the company pledged to push for its repeal and to fight similar bills in other states.
00:08:48.000And so Florida is saying to them, listen, if you guys decide that you are now in the politicking business, welcome to politics, baby.
00:09:02.000Under the bill passed by the Senate 2316 on Wednesday, any special district established prior to the ratification of the Florida Constitution in 1968, not renewed since then, would be dissolved on June 1, 2023.
00:09:13.000Disney could seek to re-establish a special district after its dissolution.
00:09:16.000Reedy Creek has a permanent population of about 50, as well as its own Board of Supervisors and Fire Department.
00:09:22.000It allows Disney to construct new buildings and expand its parks without having to adhere to state or county regulations related to construction, wastewater management, and drainage.
00:09:30.000It encompasses four theme parks to water parks, a sports complex, and hotels, stores, and restaurants.
00:09:36.000David Ramba is the executive director of the Florida Association of Special Districts.
00:09:39.000He says, you'll notice you never see potholes when you drive up to Walt Disney World.
00:09:42.000That's because Disney doesn't have to wait for the county to come fix them.
00:09:45.000Reedy Creek is probably the most efficient local government in Florida because it's not a typical bureaucracy.
00:09:52.000Right, but it also means they also don't have to pay for all of the red tape.
00:09:55.000Disney currently pays property and other taxes to both counties that surround it.
00:09:59.000That'd be Osceola County and Orange County.
00:10:01.000In addition, the company, as the primary landowner at Reedy Creek, provided most of the $153 million in revenue from taxes and fees the district collected in fiscal 2021.
00:10:09.000That money covers all of the district's governing expenses, including paying about 400 employee salaries and servicing about a billion bucks in long-term bond debt Reedy Creek has issued over the years.
00:10:18.000If the district is dissolved, that debt would supposedly become the responsibility of taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties, although it is unclear exactly how the Reedy Creek district would be dissolved.
00:10:28.000And the sort of going wisdom is that this legislation will not stand up in court because it will be seen as a punishment for speech, or that it won't stand up in court because it's just too complicated, or that they won't be able to iron out all the details.
00:10:46.000And again, I cannot get past, I cannot get past the irony of watching folks on the left demonstrate full scale their fealty to woke capitalism.
00:10:56.000They're very into, it's not woke capitalism by the way, it's economic fascism.
00:11:00.000When corporations work hand-in-glove with political taskmasters in order to achieve the goals of the political taskmasters in exchange for largesse, that is not capitalism.
00:11:08.000Capitalism is free markets uninvolved with the question of which politicians you bribe or which politicians tell you to do what.
00:11:17.000The notion that capitalism, which again is supposed to be about free markets and open competition, is about which politicians you get in your corner, It was never about this, but if you're going to engage in that game, you can't be surprised again when it comes back around for you, when it boomerangs on you.
00:11:30.000MSNBC's Simone Sanders commented on this yesterday, and I can't get past this clip.
00:11:34.000The reason I can't get past this clip is because Simone Sanders was the press secretary for Bernie Sanders.
00:11:38.000Bernie Sanders is the same guy who believes that corporations are inherently evil.
00:11:43.000And then she went on to be the press secretary for Kamala Harris, who talks about how corporations don't pay their fair share.
00:11:48.000But weird, weird now that she's a big defender of Disney.
00:11:51.000Almost as though the left is very much in favor of corporate oligarchy, so long as those corporate oligarchs do precisely what they want.
00:12:13.000You guys have become a weapon on behalf of people who despise capitalism, who despise freedom, who despise local governance, who apparently want to inject nationalized leftism into the education of small children.
00:12:24.000Ain't nothing bad enough for you at that point.
00:12:27.000But here is Simone Sanders, enemy of capitalism, enemy of big corporations, defending Disney.
00:12:34.000It's amazing to watch these folks, it really is.
00:12:37.000I know fashion corporations is popular left and right these days.
00:13:46.000But according to Breitbart, this is correct.
00:13:47.000The Walt Disney Company is the worst performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the past year, plummeting 31% in the last 12 months.
00:13:54.000Of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow, Disney has seen its stock drop the most on a percentage basis, followed by 3M down 25% and Home Depot down 23%.
00:14:03.000Disney shares were down more than 5% Wednesday as investors remained skittish on streaming entertainment companies following Netflix's disastrous first quarter results.
00:14:10.000Disney Plus subscription results recently disappointed Wall Street when the company reported quarterly results in November, causing the stock to tumble.
00:14:17.000And by the way, part of the reason that you are seeing the stock tumble is because if you decide to embrace wild leftism in children's programming, a bunch of parents like me will cancel our Disney Plus subscription.
00:14:27.000And Disney apparently has intent to double down on all of this.
00:14:30.000They continue to F around, and they're gonna continue to find out.
00:14:33.000If you double down on all this, if you decide that Lightyear, which is a film directed at children who enjoy the toy story movies, is now going to be a story in which a main character is a lesbian, don't be surprised when I do not decide to show that to my six-year-old son.
00:15:10.000There was a rumor going around yesterday, I kid you not, that Thor, who's played by Chris Hemsworth, was going to come out as gay in the new movie.
00:15:22.000According to the New York Post, Remember, Marvel is owned by Disney.
00:15:26.000A new trailer for Thor Love and Thunder dropped Monday, and some fans are now convinced the hammer-wielding Marvel hero will be gay as hell in the film.
00:15:33.000In the new footage, which teases Chris Hemsworth's title character going into retirement, Thor is seen giving Star-Lord a lingering look, which many eagle-eyed tweeters took to be a tease of the God of Thunder's sexuality, which would be weird since Thor has had an ongoing thing with Natalie Portman in the past several movies.
00:15:47.000The clip also shows Thor surrounded by the Guardians of the Galaxy.
00:15:52.000If you ever feel lost, 42-year-old Pratt's character says to the 38-year-old Hemsworth's character, just look into the eyes of the people that love you.
00:15:59.000Thor comedically moves his head to lovingly gaze right into Star-Lord's eyes.
00:16:15.000Bow so much to the LGBT crowd that you actually... My guess is it's just a throwaway joke because that's what the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are.
00:17:31.000Instead, they've decided that they are going to fight back by basically saying that anybody who does not want small children indoctrinated into their social politics is basically the equivalent of Russian soldiers raping people.
00:17:45.000Yesterday she said the GOP attitude on LGBTQ is exactly the same thing as what causes Russians to rape other human beings.
00:17:52.000So in other words, the view of most people in the United States, including Republican voters, which is, live your own lives, leave me alone.
00:18:01.000That view is the equivalent of causing people to rape other people.
00:18:29.000First of all, that lie that unless you give small children puberty blockers and start chopping off their genitals at age 14, 13 years old, they're going to die.
00:18:46.000See how the American public takes this.
00:18:48.000Now, the left is very high in its own supply because they've found a few heroes in this particular fight to indoctrinate small kids in their left-wing social values and gender identity garbage.
00:18:59.000Her name is Mallory McMorrow, and she did a rant on the floor of the state legislature in which she started saying that anybody who was upset with this sort of education is actually a bigot.
00:19:10.000And the left is, like, thrilled by this sort of stuff.
00:19:13.000Let me just tell you, in your echo chamber it works, and outside your echo chamber it ain't gonna do bleep.
00:19:16.000Because it turns out that parents wish to keep their kids innocent, and they're not interested in anybody, including Mallory McMurrow, deciding that their kids need to learn about gender identity, and why their kids ought to be a member of the opposite sex, and that all forms of sexual behavior are morally equivalent.
00:19:33.000But this is the sort of logic Democrats are using.
00:19:35.000So, because they've been back-footed, because they stepped into the bear trap, and now the bear trap is clamped around their leg, they're now going to suggest that if they scream really, really loudly, that everybody will Give them what they want.
00:19:47.000But here is hero of the moment, Mallory McMorrow.
00:19:52.000I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white, and Christian.
00:20:01.000We cannot let hateful people tell you otherwise, to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they are not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people's lives.
00:20:13.000And I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen.
00:20:21.000Okay, so, this is another one of those Democrats love something, and then it turns out the rest of the nation's like, heh heh.
00:20:28.000Example number one, like 1A, I give you Wendy Davis.
00:20:31.000Remember, Wendy Davis did this 26-hour filibuster about abortion in Texas, and she was the hero of the moment, and they're like, Wendy Davis dolls, and she's wearing pink, and so pink shoes started selling, and then she ran for governor and she lost to Greg Abbott by all the points.
00:20:42.000Like, there were no more points for her to lose to Greg Abbott by.
00:20:56.000His basic take is the problem is not wokeness.
00:20:59.000The problem is that people aren't speaking in the language of Mallory Monroe.
00:21:03.000According to Greg Sargent, who, if anybody has their ear to the ground in terms of American politics, it is definitely this Washington Post columnist who believes wokeness is not the problem.
00:21:12.000He says, McMorrow's description of herself as white, Christian, suburban mom, one who wants her children to respect and empathize with non-Christian, non-white, gay and trans kids and families, gets at all of this.
00:21:22.000It turns the identity politics debate on its head.
00:21:24.000It says, in effect, anti-woke warriors will not be permitted to sanctimoniously monopolize the moral and religious high ground for their identity group while simultaneously pretending to be above identity mongering and advancing a cruel and exclusionary agenda.
00:21:36.000Fine, go up directly against the American parent.
00:21:40.000This is the sort of stuff that beltway elites eat up, but that the American people have no interest in it.
00:21:44.000It's the same thing as the beltway elites loved it when Pete Buttigieg was telling people it was that you were a bad Christian if you opposed gay marriage.
00:21:51.000He knows because he read the parts of the Bible that weren't about gay marriage.
00:21:55.000Oh my god, Pete Buttigieg is speaking to Christians in a way no one ever has.
00:22:16.000You could just go back to what you used to do.
00:22:18.000You know, businesses that appeal to All people, gay, straight, everyone, without mirroring the political priorities of the left in order to win woke points from a media that is just begging for you to mirror.
00:22:29.000Remember, this Disney fight did not start with the right.
00:22:31.000This Disney fight started with members of the media yelling at Disney, because Disney is a major employer in the state of Florida, and saying, if you don't oppose this bill, then we are going to spend every waking moment targeting you and harassing you.
00:22:42.000And then, it was about the cowards at Disney deciding to cave to that.
00:22:47.000You decide to cave to that, there are consequences and they are coming.
00:22:51.000This is no longer a game where only one side is going to play.
00:22:55.000If you decide to cave to the wokest people on the left, prepare yourselves for the incoming uppercut that is going to be directed your way by Republican state legislatures and members of the media like me, because you deserve every bit of it.
00:23:09.000Well, there are some who think that Governor Ron DeSantis in targeting Disney is just offering red meat to his bays.
00:23:13.000But let me tell you, you should be offering red meat to your base with goodranchers.com.
00:23:19.000These people make the best beef on planet Earth.
00:23:32.000And it is juicy, and it is fresh, and it is delicious.
00:23:35.000The great people at Good Ranchers actually flew in a kosher ribeye just for me, because I'm special, to enjoy at our daily wire grill out, and it was the best.
00:24:03.000I personally recommend a box with the ribeyes because it's just that good.
00:24:06.000They source everything from local American farms, so you get great quality products with a great mission behind them, supporting American farms and ranches.
00:24:12.00085% of grass-fed beef is imported from overseas.
00:24:29.000Okay, meanwhile, speaking of the wild disconnect between the left and the rest of America, most Americans are not super happy about masking up on planes.
00:24:40.000Now, there are polls and they will say that a lot of people are in favor of mask mandates.
00:24:44.000Okay, this is called social desirability bias.
00:24:46.000It happens in polls all the time, where people answer questions the way they think the pollsters want the questions answered.
00:24:52.000And so what you would see routinely in the polling data throughout COVID was a huge number of Americans would say that they wear masks all the time, and then actual on-the-ground studies would show that Americans wear masks way less than they do.
00:25:03.000It's like when you ask your high school student how much they're studying every night.
00:25:51.000And it'll be like, well, you know, nationally, it's split like 60-40.
00:25:56.000And then you'll read into the bill, and what you will see is that the vast majority of people who are against the Parental Rights and Education Act in Florida are non-parents.
00:26:05.000And so if you would ask people in this group, who among you is really passionate about this issue?
00:26:10.000Like the passionate core group of people who are gonna go vote based on the issue, the answer is parents.
00:26:14.000So what do I care whether some uninvolved single person living in LA thinks about the Florida Rights and Education Act?
00:28:37.000And Rochelle Walensky and the CDC are like, well, we're not going to say the regulation is super vital, but you should still appeal because we want to maintain our rulemaking authority.
00:28:44.000To protect CDC's public health authority beyond the ongoing assessment announced last week, CDC has asked DOJ to proceed with an appeal in Health Freedom Defense Fund Inc.
00:28:54.000It is CDC's continuing assessment that at this time, an order requiring masking in indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.
00:29:03.000So that undercuts the logic I said before.
00:29:05.000So now they actually say, no, no, our regulation is necessary.
00:29:10.000CDC will continue to monitor public health conditions to determine whether such an order remains necessary.
00:29:15.000CDC believes this is a lawful order well within CDC's legal authority to protect public health.
00:29:20.000CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings.
00:29:25.000CDC's number one priority is protecting the public health of our nation, which is why they have failed to do so to the tune of a million dead people.
00:29:30.000As we have said before, wearing masks is most beneficial in crowded or poorly ventilated locations, such as the transportation corridor.
00:29:42.000Planes are some of the best ventilated places on planet Earth.
00:29:45.000They have HEPA filters and they are constantly cycling their air.
00:29:48.000There's been no evidence throughout the pandemic that planes are a main vector or even a minor vector of transmission.
00:29:54.000Because the HEPA filters used on planes are surgical grade.
00:29:57.000And then CDC says when people wear a well-fitting mask or respirator over their nose and mouth in indoor travel or public transportation systems, they protect themselves and those around them, including those who are immunocompromised or not yet vaccine eligible, and help keep travel and public transportation safe for everyone.
00:30:21.000You can use surgical masks that barely fit you.
00:30:23.000You can wear an N95 that doesn't fit you at all.
00:30:26.000So the CDC continues to promulgate this, and this is just, they are suicidal man, they are so stupid, and they are creating a mess.
00:30:31.000Because now, after this federal judge struck down the regulation, basically a bunch of places in left-wing jurisdictions have suggested that they are going to continue the mask mandate.
00:30:41.000So for example, Every major carrier in the United States is like, fine, you can take off the mask because they understand it's onerous and annoying.
00:30:47.000But there are several airports where you still have to mask up.
00:30:50.000So let's say that you are flying from Fort Lauderdale Airport in the area where I reside and where my business is.
00:30:57.000Let's say that you fly from Fort Lauderdale over to, say, John F. Kennedy in New York.
00:31:33.000If you take an Uber from New Jersey into New York, theoretically, the New York mask mandate still applies to the Uber driver in the city of New York.
00:31:40.000So you have to carry a mask with you, and the minute you cross that bridge, you have to put on the mask.
00:32:36.000And all of his haranguing people and telling them that there'd be a winter of death and disconcern, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr And when Joe Biden says that sort of stuff, it didn't do anything.
00:32:47.000They could have declared independence, but they can't.
00:32:48.000So now they are locked down into this.
00:32:50.000You have Jen Psaki yesterday saying, yeah, sure, you're seeing videos of people celebrating in airports now that they no longer have to wear a mask and mask up their three-year-old.
00:32:57.000Really, honestly, this was, to me, the biggest issue.
00:33:01.000The masking, like, I was fine with masking up until I got the vaccine.
00:33:05.000Then I got the vaccine, and now, then I was pissed at masking.
00:33:07.000But I would still do it if forced to do it, because after all, I'm, You know, a conservative, I believe, in institutions and didn't want to violate the law.
00:33:16.000Where it really began to irk me is when you're talking about my tiny two-year-old baby wearing a mask.
00:33:22.000Okay, so those are the people who are pissed.
00:33:24.000Jen Psaki's like, it's just anecdotal, guys.
00:33:26.000Nobody's really mad about wearing a mask.
00:33:37.000I would note, I know this is often said and maybe some of it is because there was the video of people on planes, on the plane, on one plane taking off their masks.
00:33:46.000Public polling does not actually show that there is a universal view of people getting rid of masks.
00:33:51.000That's not actually what public polling shows.
00:33:54.000Now, it doesn't matter to us because we are making our decisions based on public health and data and what the CDC is recommending, but that is not the universal view of the public.
00:34:10.000Find out if this is the universal view of the public.
00:34:12.000The thing about this administration is that they are just, it's really amazing.
00:34:16.000They're always tacking in a leftward direction, but they're incapable of actually just deciding to do it publicly, and so they're sort of always back and forth.
00:34:22.000So the left is pissed with them for vacillating, and the right is saying, why are you guys so crazy?
00:34:27.000It's particularly true when it comes to drilling.
00:34:28.000Coming up, we'll get to the massive gas prices thanks to Joe Biden, but here's the thing.
00:34:33.000You don't have to pay those massive gas prices, at least in part.
00:34:36.000This is why you should go get that free GetUpside app I've been telling you about.
00:34:38.000I was telling you about that like months ago when gas was a lot cheaper.
00:34:41.000Now it's way more expensive, and so it's more important for you to save money on your gas.
00:34:45.000My listeners are earning cash back for every gallon of gas every time they fill up.
00:34:49.000Just download that free GetUpside app in the App Store or Google Play right now.
00:34:52.000Use promo code SHAPIRO for 25 cents per gallon or more on your first fill up.
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00:35:13.000Again, download the free GetUpside app, use promo code Shapiro to get 25 cents per gallon or more cash back on your very first tank of gas.
00:35:28.000But you can be saving up to $0.25 per gallon or more cash back on your first tank of gas when you get that free GetUpside app and use promo code SHAPIRO today.
00:35:55.000The good news is, if you haven't signed up yet, you have an extra week to do so, and read the book we will be discussing, The Once and Future King by T.H.
00:36:07.000Eastern, where we will talk through my notes, I will answer all of your questions, and if you've already finished reading this month's book, you can get a head start on next month, because I'm excited to announce, next month, we are reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
00:36:18.000So if you're not a part of my book club, head on over to thirdthursdaybookclub.com, sign up, join me next week for the once and future king, and next month, for Moby Dick by Herman Melville, check out the trailer.
00:36:29.000I want to tell you about my third Thursday Book Club.
00:37:16.000It's one of my favorite things we do and it's maybe the most informative thing we do.
00:37:19.000If you got junior high students, high school students, we're reading books that matter and we're doing it in a detailed and sophisticated way.
00:37:26.000We actually answer video questions from people who are members of the book club and written questions from you.
00:37:31.000So you get to interact with me on all of the greatest works of literature.
00:37:34.000So sign up right now at thirdthursdaybookclub.com to get my notes sent straight to your inbox for The Once and Future King by T.H.
00:37:40.000White right now, and for next month, Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
00:37:43.000You're listening to the largest, fastest growing conservative podcast and radio show in the nation.
00:37:46.000Meanwhile, the Biden administration is trying to figure out its energy policy.
00:37:55.000It turns out that outsourcing your energy policy to a 19-year-old Swedish Weird person is a really bad policy, and I can make fun of Greta Thunberg as much as I want.
00:38:28.000Okay, well now it turns out that there are actual impacts to this, such as being reliant on Russian oil.
00:38:34.000So now Joe Biden has had to expand oil drilling on public land, but of course in the stupidest possible way, he's not expanding oil drilling dramatically enough that it will impact anything, and he's raising the fees.
00:38:43.000So he's pissed off the environmentalists, and he's pissed off the people who drill.
00:38:49.000According to ABC News, in a move that could help temper high gasoline prices, President Joe Biden is bringing back leases for oil and gas drilling on federal land, but the reversal of a 2020 campaign promise has angered climate activists ahead of midterms that will determine Biden's ability to get his agenda through Congress.
00:39:05.000The administration was set to start selling leases for drilling on public lands, putting 144,000 acres of lands up for lease in nine states as soon as Monday, as Biden faces massive pressure to boost oil production in the United States amid soaring prices, partly from the war in Ukraine, what Biden calls Putin's price hike.
00:39:20.000I love that ABC News can't just like report the news.
00:39:23.000They could have ended that sentence After soaring prices?
00:39:27.000But then just add in Joe Biden's propaganda that it's all because of Vladimir Putin and Ukraine.
00:39:33.000They're just the PR wing for the Democratic Party.
00:39:36.000For far too long, the federal oil and gas leasing programs have prioritized the wants of extractive industries above local communities.
00:39:42.000The natural environment, the impact on air and water, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in release today, will begin to reset how and what we consider to be the highest and best use of America's resources for the benefit of all current and future generations.
00:40:24.000According to another activist, Kyle Tisdell, a climate and energy program director with the Western Environmental Law Center, quote, we've heard a lot of rhetoric from President Biden and his administration about the need to take action on climate.
00:40:34.000But not only is the administration not doing everything it could, it is not really doing anything.
00:40:37.000Climate action was a pillar of President Biden's campaign.
00:40:40.000His promises on this existential issue were a major reason the public elected him.
00:40:43.000The White House argues it has no choice but to continue drilling on public lands after a federal judge in Louisiana struck down Biden's executive order in June 2021, temporarily suspending such drilling.
00:40:55.000So, yeah, the White House is kind of stuck in the middle.
00:40:58.000Meanwhile, Biden's climate advisor, Gina McCarthy, she says, you know, Joe Biden remains committed to no drilling on public lands.
00:41:05.000So on the one hand, we're supposed to be believing that he wants to lower gas prices through drilling.
00:41:10.000And on the other hand, his own climate advisor is like, yeah, don't worry, not a lot of drilling is going to take place.
00:41:28.000Part of this is because the Biden administration is absolutely delusional on energy policy.
00:41:32.000I mean, they're delusional on pretty much every policy, but energy policy particularly.
00:41:35.000So they've deployed John Kerry out to the world to discuss climate change.
00:41:42.000Because what you need when you discuss climate change is a ketchup heiress's husband trotting around the globe in a private jet talking about how we need to cut carbon emissions.
00:41:53.000He also needs to look like an Easter Island head.
00:41:55.000These are the requirements for the job.
00:41:57.000Easter Island head face looks like it's a San Fernando Valley mudslide during El Nino.
00:42:03.000That face is just collapsing internally.
00:42:41.000He cited Europe as a success on energy policy.
00:42:46.000Europe, which is currently having its energy prices doubled because it turns out that all of their environmental claptrap and all these subsidies that they threw toward green energy couldn't make up for the fact that they needed carbon-based energy and so they were just taking in Russian gas.
00:42:58.000So they're like, yes, we are doing environmentalism.
00:43:00.000And then secretly, in the back door, like, yeah, you know that guy down the street?
00:43:18.000No government in the world has enough money to be able to affect the transition we need to affect, to move us much more rapidly into sustainable energy postures within our nations.
00:43:33.000Europe is probably the lead on the planet in terms of the efforts it's making, and that's partly because of Russia, Ukraine.
00:43:41.000Europe has had no choice but to understand they've got to move off of Russian fossil fuel as fast as they possibly can.
00:43:50.000You know why they realized that is because they were on Russian fossil fuels.
00:44:45.000We're hoping to do this, is work with China very directly in a cooperative fashion that can help to move faster on the transition away from coal and onto new technologies.
00:44:59.000It's harder now because Some of the differences of opinion between our countries have been hardened and sharpened, and that makes the diplomacy more complicated.
00:45:11.000But if climate becomes one of the tools, one of the weapons in the bilateral back and forth, we're cooked.
00:45:21.000Well, you know that we can't let climate change, we can't get human rights get in the way of climate change.
00:45:25.000It is truly impressive that John Kerry and this administration are saying we need to overlook the human rights violations of China in order so we can get an empty deal on climate change.
00:45:33.000Meanwhile, The Biden administration performed a signal feat of foreign policy botchery.
00:46:25.000And we need to blow up our relations with the Saudis in order to do this.
00:46:27.000So in the middle of a gas crunch where we require Saudi to actually pump more oil to help us out, we went to direct war diplomatically with Saudi Arabia.
00:46:59.000If they cared, they wouldn't be making a deal with Iran, which is by far a worse human rights violator than Saudi Arabia, projecting its human rights violations into Lebanon, projecting them into Syria, projecting them into Yemen with the Houthis, projecting them into Hamasistan in the Gaza Strip.
00:47:18.000According to the Wall Street Journal, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wearing shorts at his seaside palace, sought a relaxed tone for his first meeting with President Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, last September.
00:47:28.000The 36-year-old crown prince ended up shouting at Mr. Sullivan after he raised the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
00:47:34.000The prince told Sullivan he never wanted to discuss the matter again, said people familiar with the exchange, and the U.S.
00:47:39.000could forget about its request to boost oil production.
00:47:43.000and Saudi Arabia has hit its lowest point in decades, with Biden saying in 2019 the kingdom should be treated like a pariah over human rights issues, like Khashoggi's murder.
00:47:51.000Now, is it really bad that the Saudi kingdom murdered Jamal Khashoggi, who is a sort of Muslim Brotherhood advocate?
00:47:58.000And the attempt to turn him into sort of like an objective journalist is not true.
00:48:01.000That doesn't mean that he should have been chopped up at a Turkish embassy.
00:48:21.000They're willing to get their hands dirty with Iran.
00:48:23.000They're willing to get their hands dirty with China over empty climate change policies.
00:48:26.000But we have to bring up Jamal Khashoggi at every point, which is why I say this is purposeful.
00:48:29.000This is an attempt to destroy U.S.-Saudi relations because Joe Biden and Team Jake Sullivan are angry at the Saudis for trying to make peace with Israel.
00:48:38.000They want Iran to be a regional power, which is totally crazy.
00:49:11.000And they're willing to destroy any relationship we have to get there.
00:49:15.000Prince Mohammed wants foremost to be recognized as the de facto Saudi ruler and future king.
00:49:19.000The crown prince runs the country's day-to-day affairs for his ailing father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Biden hasn't met yet or spoken directly with the prince.
00:49:27.000Last summer, the president told Americans to blame low Saudi oil output for rising gas prices, because he's a garbage president who doesn't pretend that he cares about American oil prices, really. After publication of this article online, Adrienne Watson, a White House National Security Council spokeswoman reiterated President Biden's stated commitment that the U.S.
00:49:45.000would support the kingdom's territorial defense.
00:49:47.000She cited diplomatic achievements in recent weeks, such as the condemnation by Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
00:49:54.000She said Sullivan didn't discuss oil production with Mohammed and that there was no shouting.
00:49:58.000However, however, that is not what people who are at the meeting say.
00:50:02.000They say that essentially the White House has now directly alienated the Saudis.
00:50:08.000And the reason that they're alienating the Saudis is perfectly clear.
00:50:16.000And that is totally... By the way, how do you know this?
00:50:19.000Because according to the Washington Free Beacon, the Biden administration is looking to relieve sanctions on about 80,000 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the terrorist group that has killed hundreds of Americans, maybe thousands in Iraq.
00:50:31.000That is the military wing of the Iranian government.
00:50:34.000The proposal by the Biden administration in that Iranian negotiation is to remove the IRGC's terror designation, making it easier for foreign fighters to enter the United States.
00:50:43.000Just incredible, incredible stuff here from the Biden administration.
00:50:59.000Here he was yesterday struggling to say the words highly qualified.
00:51:04.000We not only have a highly qualified woman as Vice President, but as Deputy Secretary of Defense and two women combatant commanders.
00:51:15.000By the way, how bad are things getting for Joe Biden?
00:51:17.000How bad are things deteriorating inside that empty attic up there?
00:51:20.000I mean, it's just cobwebs and rats up there now.
00:51:25.000This is the end of this particular press conference.
00:51:26.000You can hear the staff shouting at journalists to get out.
00:51:30.000They're afraid that Joe is going to faceplant directly in the middle of the table.
00:51:33.000He's just grinning like a crazy person as the staff shouts at journalists to get out.
00:51:36.000Well, the good news is that waiting in the wings for this That bleep old fellow is a Kamala Harris, who is truly one of the great orators of our generation.
00:52:03.000I've never seen someone as smooth as this.
00:52:06.000She's basically an adult who is a third grader who didn't read the book for the book report.
00:52:12.000And so everything she says is designed to get to one page.
00:52:15.000Everything has to be one page double-spaced.
00:52:17.000It's a five paragraph essay that needs to be one page double-spaced.
00:52:19.000And so what we're going to do if you're Kamala Harris is you increase the size of the font to 13 and you shrink the margins just about 0.25 inches.
00:52:26.000You shrink the margins this much, Space is exciting.