Symbols of Resistance Against Oligarchy

Could Trump's second term be the final step towards an oligarchy? On the Love u, Miss u, Bye podcast, I, Christi Chanelle, tackle this bold question as we examine how influential billionaires, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, are allegedly orchestrating a dismantling of essential programs for everyday Americans. We dissect the roles of powerful figures like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg in this unsettling narrative, revealing their potential complicity in supporting Trump's agenda. Yet, amidst this intricate web of power, I find hope in the resilient American spirit, urging community action and engagement in the upcoming elections to reclaim democracy and foster equity for all.

In a captivating metaphorical exploration, the podcast likens surviving Trump's authoritarian regime to a strategic game, where societal dynamics are represented by roles like broken lids, pillows, pawns, microphones, and the ring. These symbols serve as a powerful reminder of our potential to disrupt the status quo. Furthermore, the urgent call for strong leadership against rising authoritarianism is clear. We discuss the pressing need for bold, decisive political figures who can effectively counter Trump's alarming influence. By standing up against these challenges and advocating for justice and freedom, we aim to inspire listeners to resist oligarchic control and champion the enduring American pursuit of equality and prosperity.

SOURCES:
Aaron Parnis
https://youtube.com/@aaronparnas1?si=RgVFit_FFhjRk7Xh
Politics Girl
https://youtube.com/@politicsgirl?si=boiQPp2PS5U-AwkR
Inequity Media
https://youtube.com/@inequalitymedia?si=_4ppnlUw8OJfcheL
Meidas Touch
https://youtube.com/@meidastouch?si=LAZoaLhK5OcI8ymI
TIKTOK
@rbreich
@itsamaddoglife
@greglandsmanoh
@dashdobrosky

Chapters

• 0:00 Trump's Oligarchy Exposed
• 17:24 Surviving Trump's Authoritarian Regime
• 26:40 Standing Up to Trump's Dictatorship

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

If you're feeling despair over Trump's second regime, I completely understand. Yet I'm still hopeful about America. There are ample reasons for despair, but Trump's second term is exposing a reality that has been hidden from most Americans the raw, stinking power of the American oligarchy and its use of obscene wealth to gain this power. My hope is founded on Americans seeing and responding to this reality. Trump is planning another giant tax cut for the wealthy. To pay for it, he's giving two billionaires, elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the authority to target programs average Americans rely on. He's putting billionaires in charge of key departments.

Speaker 1: 0:45

Meanwhile, ceos are descending on Mar-a-Lago like moths to a flame in order to curry Trump's favor. Musk, the richest person in America, has turned his giant media platform X into a cesspool of lies and bigotry in support of Trump. Jeff Bezos, the second richest person in America and owner of Amazon, has reportedly agreed to pay $40 million for Melania Trump's documentary, for which she's executive producer. Previously, bezos blocked the newspaper he owns, the Washington Post, from endorsing Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Mark Zuckerberg, the third richest person in America, has chosen to allow lies and bigotry on Facebook and Instagram, presumably in support of Trump. Zuckerberg says the deciding factor for doing.

Speaker 1: 1:33

This was the cultural tipping point of Trump's election and this is just the beginning of the oligarchic takeover under Trump. So why am I hopeful? Because Americans don't abide aristocracy. We were founded in revolt against unaccountable power and wealth. We will not tolerate this blatant takeover. There will be a backlash and we will respond by helping our communities and protecting the most vulnerable. And we'll also respond in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election by electing true leaders who care about working people and the common good. And just as we did at the end of the first Gilded Age, when the oligarchy revealed its hubris and grandiosity, we will demand and get fundamental reforms Big money out of politics, higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for what most Americans need, busting up giant corporations, regulating big finance, holding huge social media platforms accountable to the public.

Speaker 1: 2:42

On the path we were on, the sludge had been thickening, even under democratic administrations. There were fundamental systemic flaws that remained unaddressed. Inequalities have continued to widen, corruption and bribery have worsened. We were on the way to losing our democracy without even knowing it. But as a friend put it, authoritarian forces have been building for years Like the pus in an ugly boil, she said. The only way we work up enough outrage to lance, it is for the boil to get so big and ugly that it disgusts all of us. A few years of another Trump regime, even more disgusting than the first, will be hard on many. We cannot gloss over the magnitude of the suffering that will occur. But when the oligarchy that controls us is exposed for what it is, the nation will see more clearly than ever before that we have no alternative other than to take back power. Only then can we continue the real work of America the pursuit of equality and prosperity for the many, not the few.

Speaker 2: 4:15

I'm your host, christy Chanel, and this is the Lovey Mishy by podcast. January 20th, 2025. A day that was absolutely filled with anxiety. Ironically, I had a trip planned to go to Phoenix, arizona to visit my AR team A work trip, a work trip. But in the background of my excitement to see my team was the fact that Trump was being sworn into office. I was a complete just. I guess I was just on edge because everybody's heard it's shock and awe. He's going to come out in the first 60 days no, first 120 days and just kind of hit you in the face with everything and he did that's.

Speaker 3: 5:15

It's exactly what he did so donald trump just took down a women's reproductive rights website from the government upon being sworn into the presidency. This is what you get when you search reproductiverightsgov, which is an official government website, and, as you can see, the server cannot be found because the website has been scrubbed. So this was an official website under the Department of US Health and Human Services that provided women with information about reproductive health care on things including quote, emergency medical care, birth control coverage, medication access, abortion services, preventative health services, health insurance options and, honestly, just a resource for women about health care for them. But the website has now been removed, which means the women of America just lost a vital source of information about their own health care decisions. This is day one of Donald Trump's presidency and he's already coming after women's freedoms and rights. Unfortunately, as we warned he would. This is crazy.

Speaker 2: 6:21

So I'm on the plane. So I'm on the plane, trying not to think too heavily about it, which I could not help making. A lot of self-talk, internal self-talk, was happening. It's going to be OK. We have a lot of wonderful, strong people fighting for the good, and that fills me with hope.

Speaker 4: 6:43

Horrifying images are just coming in from Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas. If they thought they could hide this, they should think again. First off, let me just say why is he still holding campaign rallies? The campaign is over. You're president. Anyway, let me show you this right now. So Trump, at this event in Las Vegas, just gave VIP seats to Elmer Stewart Rhodes.

Speaker 4: 7:06

Elmer Rhodes is the Oathkeeper the founder of the Oathkeepers that Donald Trump just commuted the sentence of. He's one of the dangerous Oathkeepers who was convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States. That is one of the most serious crimes imaginable that one can be charged with and convicted of in this country. Here's another picture of Rhodes right here. You could see just steps away from where Donald Trump is going to be speaking. Now it's not only that Donald Trump has either pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,500 plus dangerous January 6th insurrectionists, but now he is quite literally giving them the VIP treatment. Let me just give you a little more background on Rhodes from his Wikipedia page, about what he did on and around January 6th.

Speaker 4: 7:55

In the days before January 6th 2021, rhodes and others traveled to DC where they armed themselves with firearms and tactical gear. En route to DC Rhodes personally spent $20,000 to purchase a small arsenal. On January 6, 2021, rhodes entered restricted Capitol grounds where he directed Oath Keepers members via telephone and text, telling them which positions to take around the building. Four days after the attack, rhodes attended a meeting where he was recorded as saying quote my only regret is that they should have brought rifles. We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then, and there I'd hang effing Pelosi from the lamppost. Folks, I'm not going to lie, this makes me incredibly angry. How dare Donald Trump do this? How dare he shame our country in this way? But you know what? We need to follow it. We need to report on this every single day. So if you're with us, make sure that you're following us right now so you never miss an update.

Speaker 2: 8:49

They're fighting for the good, they're going to be there. But with every positive thing I told myself was a negative counteraction to that. I landed in Phoenix. I got my suitcases at the baggage claim, I got my rental car and turned on the inauguration. I had to see it. I wanted to hear it. Was it all in my head? What was I going to see? Even though I already really knew what I was going to see. I saw the wealthiest people sitting right behind him. It was the new regime.

Speaker 2: 9:36

The elites, the wealthy, the powerful and you know, the right will tell you well, that's who I want in charge. I want them to help us get out of this scenario, help us be the strongest country in the world. I want this, okay, okay, I don't want this. I want people that have empathy, that care about us in office, that care about every single person and their ability to live and survive and be equal. That's what I want. And, yes, I want my eggs to go down. I want my gas to go down. I want to be able to afford a house and a car payment and not have my interest rates through the roof. I mean, I am a single mom, I'm human, but I would be more willing to have my price of eggs higher if it meant we could all live in an equal environment in this country.

Speaker 2: 10:53

And you know that core belief. I truly believed that most Americans felt that way and you know that's my core belief. But I never once thought it was in others, like I mean a few stragglers here and there, and you know that there was going to be mental health issues. Right, that's what I would say. They have mental health issues or they were raised in a home and their parents taught them that. And you know, once they get out into society they can change their own mind. You know that hopeful, optimistic person and I really thought everybody thought that way, I really did, and they don't.

Speaker 2: 11:43

I think I'm the most upset about that. The people that I've known, the people that I've grown up with, family, friends, just fellow Americans don't all care about each other. And then I get to the office and, yes, I had heard how this could impact people. I know how it will impact me and my daughter because I am a feminist, so I'm well aware of the things that have happened so far and will continue to happen, but I'd never seen other parts and how it impacts other people. Until I got to Phoenix it impacts people that are on my team, so in that way I'm thankful that I was there at that time. It impacts someone on my team's family her possible livelihood if her family's torn apart. I watched Elon do the Nazi salute.

Speaker 5: 12:58

All right, the Hitler salute. Did he do it? Did he not do it? Does it matter? Here's my take as a Jewish member of Congress. So this is what happened, but unfortunately it's hard to prove. One of the reasons why people think this was a Hitler salute, even though we don't know intent, is because of Elon's history, trying to figure out intent.

Speaker 5: 13:18

Context is really important. Here's some context. Number one here he is referring to Alexander Vindman, a Jewish senior US military official, as a puppet and puppeteer Raises some eyebrows, don't love it. Pretty typical anti-Semitic trope. Number two he posts images of Nazi soldiers not anti-Semitic, but it's like what are you doing? You know he's saying in the street, for what it's worth. You know things.

Speaker 5: 13:47

Times have changed, sure, of course, but why the Nazi soldier? Like important fact that since Elon bought X, anti-semitism has risen on the platform by 105%. He likes to retweet a lot of stuff. Here's one Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I'm deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about Western Jewish populations. His response when he retweeted it. You have said the actual truth.

Speaker 5: 14:22

And recently Elon made news when he started to back the Germans' far-right party, hosting a live event on X with their leaders. You should know that one of their slogans is lying press, which was used by the Nazis. One of their members called the Berlin Holocaust Museum a monument of shame and another called the Nazi era. Quote just a speck of birds muck and more than a thousand years of successful German history. So the bottom line is no one can say definitively whether it was a Hitler salute. It didn't look great. If you look at his track record, also, not great. Lots of bad things in there, things that would worry Jews, things that worry me. When somebody with as much power as Musk has does something like this, it raises questions, as it should. I can't tell you for sure, but I can tell you it worries me.

Speaker 2: 15:18

They're calling it a Roman salute. They're saying he's autistic, but I watched with my own eyes. They're calling it a Roman salute. They're saying he's autistic, but I watched with my own eyes Elon do the salute and someone else on my team, someone who I value so very much, who's from Germany that's where she was born. She is getting her dual citizenship and I watched that salute with her A country that she was raised in that makes that salute illegal. She has learned everything about this. It's part of her history in her country and I watched it with her.

Speaker 2: 16:05

I'm telling you we have a problem and I can't believe people are making excuses for what they saw with their own eyes. It was not him throwing love out to the crowd, it was him throwing hate out to the crowd. It was him throwing hate. I was so beside myself. Okay, then we throw in. We throw in meta. Okay, mark Zuckerberg's attorney, which I said in my last episode, parted ways with one of his biggest clients because he felt the direction that Mark Zuckerberg was going in was neo-Nazi. And then this happens. They're calling us crazy Our friends, our family, the media. How crazy. All of us Crazy. We're being gaslit. You know that term that so many people use in their relationships. He's gaslighting you. You saw it, but he's telling you you didn't see it. Well, that's what's happening with this.

Speaker 6: 17:24

We have some breaking news right now. The Trump administration has officially frozen the civil rights division of Press. The Department of Justice has ordered that all attorneys in the civil rights divisions are not allowed to file any new complaints, amicus briefs or other certain papers until further notice. In addition, the civil rights division may now reconsider police reform agreements negotiated by the Biden administration. Essentially, as it currently stands, the civil rights division cannot pursue civil rights violations in the United States of America. This freeze could potentially jeopardize ongoing civil rights cases to protect the rights of everyday Americans. Now it's unclear exactly how long this civil rights freeze, this litigation freeze, will last. Right now, the memos did not say how long it will last, but it could potentially last until Harmeet Dhillon, who is the expected assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division, is confirmed.

Speaker 2: 18:12

We're all being gaslit, but I don't think it's just friends and family gaslighting us. I think they're also being gaslit, like we all are. I went on Facebook. I posted it to my friends and family on my private page. This was not a business page and I said anybody, anybody that believes this man is not doing what we all see, delete me, unfollow me, block me because we aren't the same. I lost a total of five, five people. I don't know who they are, I don't even care to find out. It's not. It's just, it is what it is. But I think what being able to be a part of a podcast and being able to learn to speak my mind and stand in my truth has done for me is allowed me to really stand in my truth. And if people don't like me, because I'm becoming more in alignment with who I am than I have ever been.

Speaker 7: 19:22

Welcome back to the game. As a reminder, this is a game that you've been playing, whether you realize it or not. There are five roles in this game, but you only get to choose between four because the fifth controls the game. Moves are escalating and the stakes are getting higher. It's very clear that the controller of our game is tightening its grip, so it is no longer about awareness of the game and it is now about surviving the game. So let's dive in. First, let's talk about the broken lids. The lids see the cracks. They recognize that the game board is not as strong as it used to be and the moves being made in the game don't totally make sense anymore. But they love, love what the old game used to be and they believe that if they keep dabbing the glue and patching up the holes, that they can get back a resemblance of what that game was. Broken lids genuinely don't mean any harm, but the big question is are broken lids neutral? And the answer is no, because even well-meaning defenses of the game keep the ring in power.

Speaker 7: 20:36

Now let's take a closer look at our pillows. Remember, our pillows have the largest number of players in our game, but they don't do anything. They just sit on the sides and watch the game play out. Lots of times they'll say things like this isn't my fight, If I sit back, the game won't hurt me. But something they may not recognize is that doing nothing is a very, very impactful move on its own, specifically to help the controller of the game continue the game. For two reasons. One, our pillows really impact the sound of our microphones. They just absorb it right up. And then the second reason as the controller of the game implements harm to the players, our pillows absorb some of that harm by making it seem like it's not that bad.

Speaker 7: 21:22

Now let's take another look at the pawns. So the pawns are always moving. Some of them are really closely following the rules of the game because they want to win the game and they think if they follow those rules and really pay attention to the controller, they'll be able to win with the controller, While there are other pawns who focus on making sure that the pillows stay comfortable and the lids keep staying focused on patching the cracks. The twist is that the pawn has the largest opportunity to actually change the way the game is played, but they can only do that if they stop playing by the current rules set by the controller of the game and start strategically or silently making moves in different directions. So the question is can pawns be good? And my answer is yes, but only as long as they are willing to stop playing by the controller's rules and start helping ensure all of the players recognize that they're in the game.

Speaker 7: 22:25

Next up is the microphone. So remember, the microphone sees the whole game for what it is. They see the controller and they're yelling. Hey guys, do you see what's happening here? Because we should really change this game before the controller's grip gets too tight. But they're facing some obstacles. The first one is the pillows drowning out their voices, Then is the lids making excuses, Then are the pawns mocking them. It's exhausting to be a speaker with no one listening. So why do our microphones continue? Because they understand that this is a game that we win together or we lose together. So if they just keep yelling, maybe they will break through a couple of those pillows or a couple of those broken lids, or get a couple of pawns to start moving in a different direction of the current rules of the game, so that we can all win together.

Speaker 7: 23:22

Finally, let's take a closer look at our ring, the controller of the game.

Speaker 7: 23:26

So remember, our ring doesn't play the game.

Speaker 7: 23:28

It creates the rules and it keeps the game alive by letting the broken lids defend it.

Speaker 7: 23:36

The pillows stay quiet, the pawns move predictably and the microphones get overwhelmed.

Speaker 7: 23:44

But what I want everybody to understand is that in this game, the controller, our ring, is not unstoppable. It only has power because the players in the game don't recognize that if they decide to switch roles, we can create a new game. This game we're in is accelerating really fast. So I just want to say that if you're a pawn, I recommend starting to move in ways that are against the current roles of the game, ways that are against the current rules of the game. If you are a lid, stare plainly at those cracks and let's figure out how we can start a new game where you don't have to keep shoving it back together. If you're a microphone, don't give up, because the players need you. I know it's very hard and if you feel like your microphone keeps getting unplugged, plug it into another outlet, Whatever it is, keep it up. And for my pillows it's time to wake up, because your silence is much more a player in this game than you recognize it is. Oh, and I forgot to add that the ring can kiss my ass.

Speaker 2: 24:51

I'm going to lose people Might as well. Just give them a heads up to go ahead and head out. Now I want to be a part of this movement. I will be a part of this movement. My voice matters, and so does yours, and I know if you follow me. I'd like to think we're on the same page, because there is less on my page than I originally thought. Then I'm sad by it and I'm emotional by it, and now I'm going to be educated by it.

Speaker 8: 25:24

This is for Democratic leadership and Democrats in power. I don't know what you're doing if you're acting like things are normal. You are not protecting the norms, because the norms are gone. At this point, your choice is to protect the country or to protect yourself, and it feels like too many of you are making the wrong choice. Your role at this moment in history, as the opposition to a rising authoritarian party, is to vocally and resolutely oppose the complete destruction of our institutions, our constitution and our rule of law before it's too late. Your job is to convince any reasonable Republican to join you in doing that. Your job is to stand up for the American people and our health and our safety, even the ones that voted for this, because most of them didn't vote for this.

Speaker 8: 26:06

This Project 2025 shit show, this purge of government corruption, watchdogs, the complete shutdown of cancer research or the public's knowledge of health information or food recalls. We didn't vote to invade Mexico or buy Greenland. We didn't vote to send less money to veterans and more money to private prisons. We didn't vote for the billionaires to get everything while we got nothing. So your job is to be loud and clear that that is what's happening and then to get in the way, did you learn nothing from working with Republicans over the past 10 years? You obstruct, you deny, you be annoying. You get your face in front of every media camera and you say this is outrageous. And then you tell us what this is, because these placid tweets and business as usual language that you're using. It's infuriating and it doesn't make you look like the grownup in the room. It makes you look like the patsy. It makes you look weak and feckless.

Speaker 8: 26:54

And Donald Trump eats the week for breakfast. He was born a bully and he wants to be a dictator, and if you seem uncertain, he's going to exploit it. Roy Cohen taught him that. Never apologize, never back down. This man just mass released violent criminals from jail and then pulled the security detail of his political enemies. What do you think the result of that is going to be? We literally now have a free-for-all to kill everyone, from Dr Fauci to Bill Barr, and you're out here tweeting about gas prices. Please, on behalf of literally the majority of this country who still believe in democracy and human rights and personal freedoms, find your fight or get out of the way for the warriors that we need, because the president is surrounded by yes-men, so we need you out here saying no.

Speaker 2: 27:41

And now I'm going to become an activist because of it. Love you, miss you, bye, take care.