Showdown
Showdown Episode 109 7-23-24
(upbeat music) - Welcome to Showdown. I'm Mark casein and it is Tuesday. Charles Mohammed from STL News. I gotta tell you something. It feels like it's Friday afternoon. - Yeah, it really does, you know, it's kind of got one of those feels to it. - Yeah. - Anyway, it's July 23rd. This is Showdown. I have Charles Mohammed again from STL News. And before we do anything, tell me about STL News, Charles. - Well, real STL News was founded during the Mike Brown uprising. The mainstream media had reported on a lot of the negative activities that were going on that were happening beyond the people that were out there trying to make a difference. So while people were pointing out the negative stuff, you have people on the ground that were playing off the positive. Now the good things that were happening out there. And that's basically how the media group got started. - Now, I know you've really grown over time. I mean, this has been, first of all, years that you've been operating. I know that's got to amaze you all, right? I mean, time just has a way of flying. - Once about 10 years, you know, we've gone through a lot of changes of people and personnel, but the mission has been the same, you know, for the people because we are the people. And we believe that putting out the real news is what's best and getting to the people in every sponsor matter of time. - Yeah, sort of ironic that Donald Trump was running around saying that everything was fake news. And then when he went to trial, it turned out that he and David Pecker were the ones who were publishing fake news. - Well, one thing about media and information is who has the information, when you get the information, and the people that had the information previously put their own spin to it. So you were kind of like forced to take the ideas of the person who had the information. Now with the advent of online media and up to date media, where you have all these updates and everything happens 24 hours a day, you don't really have a lot of time to really put a spin on it. So with the other online media and independent journalists, now, you know, with real SEO news's profile is we videotape everything. We make sure we video everything. So the person can see what's going on, not just us putting a spin on the news and information. You actually see it happening as it is happening. And we found that to be the best platform to get our media across. - How can somebody access what you do? And we'll mention that throughout the show, but how do they get there? - You can go to the new real SEO news, we're online media platform on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. - Okay, and it's just the new real STL news. - That is correct. - Okay, very good. Well, and by the way, one other thing that you do, what you sort of mentioned a little bit is that you're often on Freeman Bosley's radio show. Tell me about that. - Well, before I became a part of your STL news, I had always been a person in the community doing things and I was always in the mix and the know and the gist of things happening. So in the midst of that, I started recording, sort of documenting these things because I wanted to keep a record for myself. So as I got better at what I did, I was approached by real STL news to become a part of that. However, as I did mention, I was always around things that were happening in the city, in the county and pivotal events that would happen like throughout history. So once I became good at documenting, I got approached by several members of real STL news and asked to join them in their quest to get the information out to people. - Yeah, and you've just been friends with Freeman, I guess, and Anthony Shaheed, and that's the connection into the Bosley show, which you're on Saturday and Sunday mornings. And I've been friends with Brother Shaheed and knowing him since I was in my teens. And he approached me with, "Hey, I want you to come on to Mayor Bosley's show and do some videotaping." And I was like, "Okay, great. You know, introduce me to Mayor Bosley." And I think we've been on there for about close to seven years during the Mayor Bosley show. And we've really grown him from the radio audience to the internet audience 'cause, you know, he wasn't real familiar with the internet audience. He's, you've been a radio person, you know, from the old school. - Sure. - So once we got him accustomed to the online audience where people could see him, you know, he was amazed that people that would come up to him saying, "We've seen the show, we've seen the show." You know, we've seen it. There was one thing to hear something, but it's another thing to actually visualize something. But when you visualize it, you get more of a personal relationship with that person, that show, that particular production. So once we took him online and started streaming his show, it took it to a whole other level. - You know, it's so interesting because we all, I'll tell you and I and Anthony and my friend Jim Berger and Ray Hartman was there. That was over the weekend at Freeman Bosley's birthday party. - Yes. - Yeah. And he's 70, which, you know, we're all not you. I understand you're a baby. But, you know, Freeman and I and Burger and of course, Tim Person, he was there. Tim is 70 years old as well. So as a lot of us have got a seven in front of our number and that's a pretty hefty number, isn't it? - Yeah, you know, I grew up with you guys. You know, grew up with you guys, grew up listening to you, (indistinct) Mayor Bosley, (indistinct) all those guys on the original Talk Radio. That was always fascinating. With the Talk Radio platform, you know, watching that, watching, you know, Donnie Brook, watching a lot of like shows and listening to a lot of radio as I was younger. So really for me, it's coming full circle because now I get to meet these people I consider as mentors, the ones who did it before me. Now I get a chance to get counsel from you guys and get a chance to, you know, get information from you guys that'll be beneficial for me to take, you know, the mantle and go further with it. I learned a lot from watching Mayor Bosley, how he interviews people. And I took that style of interviewing, you know, interviewing because when he interviews, he studies the person that he has come on his show and he doesn't have any notes. He's coming up with the questions after five. These are very informative questions. These are very, very, very well thought of questions to ask his guests and everything. So I took that style from Mayor Bosley and I'm glad that he was actually able to mentor me because now, you know, I can do that in my profession as well, listening to him, listening to Brother Shaheed, being in the background and the production of watching these greats do it. It's nothing but a way of being educated. And so that helps me in what I do every day. - Yeah. And you know, the original showdown, which was a television show on KTHX that started with Freeman and Tim and Onion, of course, and me and Jim Burger. So it was the five of us who were originally doing it. And then when Freeman, Jr. got busy, Freeman Sr. started coming on the air. And it was so funny because I saw Freeman Sr. at the birthday party. And I said to him that, you know, we've got this thing at Washington University where they've taken every single episode of Showdown, the original one, and put it online as part of the library collection for civil rights in the Washington University Library. And that's going to be there in perpetuity, in perpetuity, sorry, a Joe Biden moment there. Anyway, yeah. So it's going to be there forever. We'll all be dead for a thousand years and it'll still be sitting up and watch you. So that's kind of cool. And they're going to honor Onion Horton, which is extraordinary, exactly. And, you know, Onion and I, I mean, we always talked about everything and I always was upset and he wasn't. But I was upset that he was not honored in the black community very often. And, you know, people just, bad relationships and jealousies and all kinds of weird things. And here, you know, finally Onion is going to get some honor that he deserves after so many years, decades, leading black radio along with Bernie Hayes, the two of those guys. In fact, Bernie Hayes got Onion into the business. And, you know, those guys, you know, really took it to another level. They did some great things. And unfortunately, number one, there's no black radio anymore. Obviously Freeman is there, but it's not a complete platform of radio programs 24/7. And that's a shame. And, you know, the truth is, is that it was very important to the black community to have that outlet. And, well, radio itself is dying and black radio died long ago. What do you think? - Well, the thing about that is, like I said, as a young boy, I remember listening to radio, particularly on Sundays, but they did have it at night as well. It seems as if the idea of dumbing down black people is the mindset now. We had, like you said, the people like Onion Horton, they had black radio, I remember WGNU 928M, keeping it on their consulates because of the different people that would be on there, giving information and whatnot. So the powers that be or whatever, you know, at the radio, I don't really think they understood what they really had as far as in their possession and the impact that it had on the community. And one thing back then with radio, we never knew what the guy, I'll say me, I never knew what the guys look like. We just knew him by their voice, but we never identified them by their face. And if they were identified by face, we never saw much of them. And back then, it was mostly, like I said, mainstream media. So if you were not on television, if you were not in the post-dispass or the Globe Democrat, a lot of people just didn't know you, they only knew you by your voice if they just heard you on the radio. So now with the advent of online media and social media, you know, you don't have to just rely on that for your content or for your information. And now media and radio is just used for foolishness. You don't have the educators on the radio, I'm talking to people and now, you know, it's just foolishness and chaos and whatever they can put on the radio to dumb people down. So we really need a new wave of people to come on the radio. But as you did mention, radio is a dying thing because we have so many other options than radio to get information out. And the young people are not really listening to radio anymore. A lot of them are streaming. A lot of them are listening to podcasts. A lot of them are listening to alternative radio, like XM radio and things of that nature. So radio needs to do a revamping of how it can repivot itself to be in the position of getting out the information and becoming the leader once again. I do believe that it can happen, but they just have to really repackage themselves in a way that makes them valuable for people to want to listen to again. - Yeah, the other thing is, I mean, here we are broadcasting at 4.15 in the afternoon on the kind of platforms that really are attracting people. And I have to tell you early on in doing this program that we're doing, I got a phone call from our friend that I hadn't talked to for 10 years and the guy was down at Lake of the Ozarks and he was about to jump on a boat but he was listening to this on his telephone. So yeah, this is unbelievable, the kind of opportunity you have to reach out really across the planet. And the whole thing is just to build on what you're doing, that there's no limit to it because there's no boss sitting out there to say, you can't tell us that, you know? - Right, and that was really the problem before because you had these powers that be that really situated media, it really situated stories. So if you had an angle to go on and they were like, oh, that's kind of controversial. They want you to cut that part out and put another party in or if they had an interest from a person who gave them money or from a person who had influence with the director or whatever, then they would take that angle as well. So now people are taking, like I said, there's podcast form and they're like, I don't need the middleman no more, I can do this, I can be independent. Now you may not have the big production, but if you keep it, you know, going pretty good, like a lot of people are really making a lot of money off of these podcasts being independent journalists. So the social media platforms are benefiting as well because they're getting ad revenue streams from all of your shows and people are watching. So it's a win-win for people, you know, if you are able to make it past at home and be consistent, keep your platform out there, just be yourself. You know, a lot of people are seeing these platforms out here. A lot of people are doing crazy stuff just to be seen, but the idea is consistency. How do you remain consistent and longevity? Because you can get out here and make a cloud of yourself and make money or you can be real. You don't have to be able to phone and put on a character just to make a show. Bring information that people can benefit from, information that people can go back in reference so they can change their life. And that type of consistency will sustain you. And I know it's easy because of social media to all these characterizations and people just doing things to make money on social media. But as fast as a personality comes, another personality will come after them, but the person that stays consistent, the person that stays with a platform of education, that person will always find a place in whatever they do. - And of course, we perfectly planned this segue into what I'd like to speak of next. And that is one of the most exciting times in the history of the United States. And that is this sudden surge of popularity for Kamala Harris as the candidate for the presidency in the Democratic Party. Are you excited? - Not at all. - Oh, tell me why. - I'm not at all excited about her because we experienced a little something of what Joe Biden experienced here in St. Louis. We saw the powers that be forced out an elected official that was the circuit attorney. - Sure. - She was giving, she was giving hate mail. She was spreading. I mean, people came from the attorney general came for. The mayor of St. Louis came for the governor of Missouri come for it and I've never seen people come for an elected official in that way. So Kimberly Gardner after putting up a good fight for a while, she resigned. Now this sets a deadly precedent. The precedent it sets is she's an elected official. So she should have been voted out if people did not want her in that job. She was pressured into leaving. So now what we saw with Joe Biden is he was pressured by some top Democrats to take out of the presidential primary, I mean of the race because of his performance in the debate and some other performances where he had some laughs of memory she showed. And now because of that pressure, he bowed out of the race. Now some are calling for him to leave the presidency altogether through the 25th Amendment saying that if he's not fit to run for president, he's not fit to be president. - Yeah, but that's the Republican party. - No, that's not Democrats. - Not really. - This is some Democrats. - It's not a give me a name, give me a name. - Oh, I think Manchin may have said it. - Oh, Manchin, Manchin is one of the worst human beings on the planet has done everything to undercut Joe Biden's efforts in the White House. I'll tell you, Joe Manchin better get himself out of here somewhere where we don't to see him anymore. It's really, I'm tired of him. - He has been a minister for the Democrats. But yeah, you are right. The Republicans are beating that drum primarily. But when you force out elected officials without due process of being elected out, we set forth a deadly precedent that could have terrible consequences for the future. So, and this could be the blueprint on how they can get people out of office. They putting up press when I'm making one every sign. And what it does is that it takes away from the will of the people. So we don't understand what's going on. We're just saying, okay, we are tired of this person. We don't want this person in. That's fine. It's okay. That means that the next election cycle, you vote them out. You don't make it so bad for them to where they just want to resign. And I see that having some bad consequences as we go further because it sets up for people to just bring in some type of coup. And they want to get somebody out, get enough people behind them and mix that person want to resign. - Yeah. And let me say that, you know, again, speaking of the fact that I got a seven in front of my birthday, you know, I was actually in front of the television set, 17 years old in 1968 watching when Lyndon Johnson got up in front of that camera and said, I'm not running and turned it over to Hubert Humphrey. And unfortunately, poor Hubert Humphrey, who was one of the greatest political leaders of all time, a terrific supporter of black people in early American politics all the way from the late 1940s when he was the mayor in Minneapolis, all the way through his historic career in the Senate. And he just came that close to beating Nixon, but he lost. Okay? - Yeah. - But I'll tell you, we had to get rid of the man because he was killing Americans in Vietnam and he was lying about it every inch of the way. And so this is only the second time that we've done it. And here's the thing, Joe Biden is gonna be honored as a great American president and the first thing that's gonna happen is he's gonna get on TV tomorrow night and he's gonna speak about why he got out and he's gonna speak about his love and friendship for Kamala Harris and he is gonna be on board and I'm sure you've seen these numbers, but you know, there were about 200 people per day volunteering to work for the Democratic Party up until Kamala Harris stepped into this and the first day that she stepped in, there were 28,000 people that signed up to volunteer for Kamala Harris and that's why I'm excited because we're gonna take Donald Trump and we're gonna put him where he belongs on the trash heap of history. What do you think? - Well, I will say there's the Republicans, they are solidified. They are 100% behind Donald Trump, their candidate, they know who their candidate is, they identify with the candidate and they're all on the same page. So, one thing that makes this more critical for the Democrats is late in the process. You know, it just happened. I think Biden should have bowed out a while back so that they would have gotten prepared. Now, if she does pull this off, this will be one of the greatest events in American history. - Yes. - You do see a lot of people becoming more energized since she has been announced as the potential pick. She still has to get approved for that. So, she's one of the front headliners for that. So, you see this re-asserting of people. Hopefully, that would be enough to galvanize the people and she has what it takes to get the other Democrats beyond her and when they have their democratic national convention, she convinces the delegates are convinced to get behind her and have the momentum to beat the Trump people. See, one thing about Trump's people, his supporters, like I said, they're all on the same page. So, they have to get on the same page and they have to get energized. They have to get out in the streets. They have to get their message across. They have to get a slogan. I mean, Trump with this make America great again, that slogan is easy to say. It's very catchy. He has merchandise. You know, he just came out with it. He just came out with a shoe about the assassination. You know, this is an ultimate person that takes advantage of everything. - Hey, selling the Bible for $60. - Yeah, so the thing about the Democrats is that, you know, I know you wanna take the high road, but if your opponent is using a weapon, you better use a weapon too. You better fight back at me. If you're gonna fight back in a positive way, find yourself a way to fight back positive, but you better do something because just getting everybody excited without having a real plan is not gonna win. You have to have your stuff together. You have to have your party together. You have to have your mission together. If you're gonna beat Trump, and they need to really get people on the ground with the common person. I know that they cater towards the people that have the money, but you need to get on the ground with the common person and get in these inner cities and these rural cities and identify with the people and let them know what you have and let them know your platform, how you'll be able to help them because just catering to these donors and these big money events, you're leaving a little person out and one vote is just one vote. That's it. So we have to get out there and identify with everybody. - Yeah, and by the way, some of the money did come from big donors, but a lot of it came from little people in the last two days, Kamala Harris raised over $100 million, which is the most money that's ever been raised in a two day period in the history of the United States. So there's some people in this. - Yeah, well, that's a lot of money to raise, but I'm still looking, what is her message? What is her message? How does she identify with the American people? What is her platform? How does she stand on the issues? That would be what's most important because how would she play in a debate against Donald Trump? He's an aggressor, how would she, and everybody said, well, she's a prosecutor and he's a felon, blah, blah, blah. But Donald Trump is very flamboyant. He's very charismatic and that carries a lot of sway in the mindset of the people. He appears strong. He appears to be someone that can make the tough things can make the tough decision. He seems to be like, hey, if I come in and I'm the president, I'm gonna end the war in Ukraine. I'm gonna tell Putin what to do and I'm gonna tell China this and I'm gonna tell him that. And everybody's looking like, okay, we need a leader that's gonna be able to stand up against the Russia and China and everybody else. So when he says that, he appears strong and he looks people in the eye, he looks in the camera and he talks with authorities. So a lot of people want to see, how would she fare against him in a debate and will she not let him take over and will she come back to him in a rebuttal type of way to make sure that if she looks and appears stronger than what he has. So I'm looking to see that debate. I think Donald Trump, if I'm not mistaken, I think he said that he would not participate in any more debates. I think he did say that. Well, I'll tell you, he's definitely afraid. Now, whether he's gonna go that far or not, I don't think any of us know, but I will say that at this point, you sound like the voice of reason and I sound hysterical because what I'm saying is, is that I think that the Kamala does have a message and part of it is as you described, this ability to describe what is wrong with Donald Trump, she beautifully laid it out today, talked about his felony conviction, talked about his rape, liability in the trial against Eugene Carroll. Eugene Carroll and, and, you know, she was, she was strong. I mean, she was not missing words. She was not lost in space. I mean, she is able to tell the story in a really convincing way, which is the reason that these people are coming out in gigantic numbers, right? No, no, as you, you know, might say and you'd be right, it's gonna continue, but I'll tell you, tomorrow when Joe Biden gets in front of that television set and he tells people that the love that he's got for the Vice President and the support that he's going to bring to her and the desire that he's got to bring the Democratic Party together and that he's doing this for the sake of democracy, I think it's gonna be a powerful story and of course we'll see tomorrow how that comes across. But, you know, tomorrow he's home free because it doesn't even matter if he misses words or gets lost or whatever because all that proves is that he did the right thing by getting out. So he can't do wrong tomorrow night. - Right, so as the journalist, you know, you try to remain impartial to either party, you know, so I'm just, I'm just curious to, like I said, see her platform and how she identifies and rallies the people behind her at this late hour and how, you know, she gets those people out to vote. See, it's one thing, you know, we get wrapped up in these polls and these polls don't really give an indication because I can sit here on my phone and press buttons, but that doesn't mean I'm taking my physical body to a place to actually vote or if it might rain that day or something else might happen that day, a lot of people just won't come out to vote. So you're looking at how do I get the people out to vote, not to get these people to take these types of polls. And I know we get excited about these exit polls and these polls that they give us to indicate, you know, who may win or who has the inventors going into the actual election, but don't get so wrapped up in these polls to where you forget the idea is to get people out to vote. Now, a lot of people are taking advantage of, you know, the absentee vote voting early, just in case, like you said, it's inclement or something happens, you know, on voting day. So you have to get your people excited enough to get to the polls. It's one thing for somebody to get on social media and say, oh, I'm with you, I'm gonna vote for you. You're my person, and then they sit at home. They don't come out and vote. They don't wanna wait in line. You know, I mean, I've seen people, when Beyonce, when Beyonce had downtown, she had a concert, people stood out there in the morning in the heat, they did not complain. - Sure. - It was burning up when Beyonce came out there for her concert. But for some reason, when it comes to a parent, teacher conference meeting, or when it comes to voting, I'm tired, it's too hot. I can't do this, you know? So let's have the same emotion about voting. How will you get your people excited enough to vote? How will you get your people, you know, galvanized and say, hey, if you don't have a ride, I'll give you a ride, you know, get your people together, get your people on one accord to say we're gonna come out and vote. A lot of people are not going to vote. So she has to be able to persuade those people while you should vote. And don't just vote for Kamala Harris because you don't like Donald Trump. Vote for her because she expressed your interest. Vote for her because she has the best policies, but you just vote for her because you don't like Donald Trump. That's not educated. - Yeah, well, you're definitely the voice of reason, Charles, because I can tell you right now, I've said for six years, or the six, 20, 16, eight years, that I'd vote for a ham sandwich before I'd vote for Donald Trump. But if I can get you to just hang on one second there while you're laughing, and I'm gonna do a little business, we're gonna sell a couple things, and then I'll come back and we'll get through the end of this thing, okay? - Okay, yes. - Okay. So first of all, I wanna remind everybody at 4.34 in the afternoon that it is a great time to be thinking about dinner. And a great place to go is Winties. Winties is in Chesterfield Valley. It's at 18,000 Chesterfield Airport Road, and they've got great food. They've got wings. By the way, do you like wings, Charles? - I do. - Yeah, I don't. - Drums only. - Yeah, I don't. - I'm team drums. - I'm team drums. - Yeah, I'm one of the weird people that doesn't eat wings, but I'll tell you what else they've got. They've got smoked meats. They've got hamburgers, cheeseburgers, patty melts. They've got pizza. They've got, and this is my favorite. They've got baby back ribs. They're really good. And they've got onion rings, which I love. And it's just a really great place to eat. The owner, Ben, and his wife have really put together a great restaurant. It's out here in Chesterfield Valley. It's just terrific. The name of the restaurant is Winties. And some people, Charles, I know this is hard to believe, but some people that like to really eat a lot, they'll eat a lot at Winties. And then when they're through, they'll secretly drive off to Defiance, Missouri, where they've got another Winties. And they'll go there and they'll go and eat the same food there. So, you know, there's a lot of calories, but the bottom line is it's the same great food, same great people, same great atmosphere. That is Winties. Now, if you're looking for a jewelry store, you go to 4506 Hampton in St. Louis, and my very good friend, Al, who owns Jules on Hampton, along with his son, AJ, they are there and waiting for you to come in and talk all kinds of jewelry issues. First of all, they've got cases and cases and cases filled with beautiful jewelry. Then on top of that, they're great designers. So, they'll actually design jewelry for people, either their way or if somebody comes in and says, "I'd like it my way," well, they'll do that too. And then after all is said and done and they'll even buy and sell jewelry in coins, it's a great place, but on top of it all, if you're walking out of there, you've been there for an hour, you look up at your watch and your watch isn't working, don't worry, you just take it off your wrist, hand it to Al, they'll fix your watch. They're that good. So, that's Jules on Hampton, 4506 Hampton. And finally, and this is one of my favorites of all time, and that's the St. Louis suit company, it's in Clayton, and they have the best suits, they've got ties. I mean, I have more ties than anybody you can imagine, Charles, because I pay $5 per tie. These are silk ties, they're gorgeous, and they're $5, it's crazy. - Not bad. - They've been there for 29 years, and they just have the same great customers that just keep on coming, St. Louis suit company, in Clayton, and I can tell you as well, besides shirts and shoes and suits and all that, they've got overcoats, which of course nobody's thinking about overcoats with this weather, but they should because you can get bargains, and then of course it's gonna get cold out there, and the prices are gonna go up. So, hey, St. Louis suit companies, the place to go, and if you're getting married, they're the top in St. Louis when it comes to wedding attire. So, they're great, that's the St. Louis suit company, in Clayton on the corner of Central and Forsyth, and so that's the business that we had to do there, Charles. And I will say this, I don't know if you've heard this today, there is a woman in Missouri, she is a candidate for Secretary of State, her name is Valentina Gomez, and she is now calling Kamala Harris a whore. - Oh, what was the, what was the context of the statement? - She just says the lady's a whore, and she slept her way through California politics, and that's why she's where she is right now. - Oh wow, so I do believe that we will begin to see an outburst of what people really feel about, black women, especially black women in power. - I think so. - She really has to show some type of reserve, you know, when Michelle Obama was just First Lady, they were talking about how she, how was she wore, how she had her arms out. You know, you really never had a First Lady that looked as elegant as Michelle Obama, and who wasn't shaped like Michelle Obama. So, those other First Ladies, they didn't dress like her, so when she came out with the dresses, with the arms out, people were like, what is she doing? You know, first ladies don't dress like, well, first ladies couldn't dress like that. That was the problem. So, Michelle had different hairstyles, and they wouldn't use their hairstyle. So, she took all of that as just being the First Lady. So, Kamala Harris is getting ready to get hit with all kind of disparaging remarks and things of that nature. You still have misogyny that exists, and that hasn't went anywhere, and we'll start to see those particular attacks on her being a woman, in particular a black woman, coming very soon. So, stuff like that doesn't surprise me. It's coming, and it's gonna be coming, it's gonna be coming very furious, especially as we get down closer to election time. - Yeah, and of course, the support line for Michelle Obama back then was that she had the right to bear arms. - Yeah. - Yeah, so. - Yeah. - Yeah, people being funny. That's all right. - And yeah, so, like I said, you know, that type of mentality, unfortunately, doesn't go away because it isn't spoken of, it just lies dormant. And when you have issues like this, you bring people out, and lots of times, people, you know, it's like you're living in the days of everything coming out. People are no longer able to hide nor do they had how they really feel about you. So, whatever type of dysfunction is in somebody, they just come out and say it. - Oh, it's everywhere now. - They don't care. They have no regard of how a person feels. They just say it. It's like everybody does stuff for the shock value. No one has any shame anymore. No one is afraid to do anything get caught. So, you know, we live in one of those generations where we're seeing the manifestation of defects. So, everything a person is thinking, everything that they are capable of doing, they are now doing. They're not just talking about it, they're doing it. So, like I said, those types of words don't surprise me. It may become shocking because the people who we thought were a certain way are now coming out and just finally admitting how they feel, but those types of words don't really shock me. - Yeah, and I think that if you look at like these legislators in Texas, and you've probably heard this one recently, this last couple of days, they're saying that if Kamala Harris wins the presidency, Texas is going to secede from the union. And you know, they're not kids either. - Texas is secede from the union every six months. - Yeah. - You know, even when they had the, when Biden had them stop the wall or something down there and then they sent the Texas National Guard to fight the federal government. I mean, you actually think that you were going to the Texas National Guard to fight the federal government. And then when there's a national disaster, Texas will be asked the federal government to send money. So, you know, you see these tactics and something like that, Texas, I'm gonna listen to see, well, hell, you're part of Mexico anyway. You stole Mexico and give Mexico their land back. - Yeah, but what they hate, what they hate, Charles, is diversity, equity, and inclusion. They hate it. Why do they hate it? - They hate it because that is a rally cry for some people. If they can find something to come together on that they disagree on, now you look at diversity, equity, and inclusion. So, we were made into many tribes, into many nations so that we would know each other. Inclusion, include. We are including people who have been excluded. Equity, fairness. See, people will talk about they want to be equal. Equal is not the same as equity. I can say, me and Mark, we're gonna buy cars. We're gonna be equal. So, I go to the BMW car lot, and I get me a car, and I go to the buy here, pay here car lot, and I get you a car. We're equal because we have both cars, but we're not fair because I have a BMW, and you have a limit. So, when we're trying to exclude diversity, equity, and inclusion, you're looking at trying to keep people out. They call it James Escrow. It's quiet, the Jim Crow, Esquire. - Yeah. - It's James Crow, Esquire now. It's repackaged. It's the same thing. So, as you look at trying to keep certain people out of the American dream, but for the American dream, it has been a nightmare for some, you look at the median income for black families and white families. The ratio is now 22 to one. For every $22 a white family has, a black family has one dollar. So, if I have been taking advantage of America's resources, America's products, America's luxuries, why would I want somebody else to have what I got? I wanna keep what I have for me and my people. So, now you're talking about diversity, equity and inclusion, as if it's a bad thing. Why not invite people into America's social construct? Everybody say America is the land of opportunity. We'll make opportunities for people. Make opportunities, make education, make resources, make all these things available for everyone. Don't just say it, make it a reality for everyone. A lot of people have this smokescreen that being in America is like a blessing. So, we look at the value of the dollar. The value of the dollar is decreased and the dollar is being attacked every day. The dollar is only because it is as a reserve currency for the world. Once it loses its reserve currency status, it'll be useless. So, as Americans, we need the diversity, equity and inclusion because there's a change coming. Change is always evident. It's either you get down with it or you're gonna be left behind. So, America has to get ready for this change. Yes, you may not be the dominant country anymore, but that's not bad. We have other countries that are existing. You wanna police the world. You have a lot of stuff in America that you need to police. We have a lot of people that we need to help here. We shouldn't be involved in other countries' interests and other countries' problems. We have enough problems here. So, yes, being in America has a disadvantageous, but we really need to do some soul searching so that we can make this world more diversified, more equitable and include people who have been historically excluded from taking the part of this American pie. It's enough for everybody here in America to get by on, we should open it up to everybody and let everybody actually be, as they say, free and living in the home and the land of the brave. - Yeah, well, people forget about what it says out there on the Statue of Liberty and the thing about it is, that's not the law, but it is advertising and we've advertised to the world for a long time that we really wanna bring the hungry and the poor to come here and to find a place to live and to fit in. And I have said that what we ought to do is we ought to send a million high school graduates before they go to college, send them down to, like a new version of the Peace Corps, send them down to the border, let them mentor some of these people coming in from other countries, help them to fit in here, help them to figure out how to get driver's licenses and work permits and sign up for U.S. citizenship. Now I know a lot of people think that's horrible because they hate blacks, they hate Asians, they hate brown people, they hate anybody except for white Christians, but that isn't gonna fly anymore, we're not that country. I mean, white people are gonna be in the minority in this place 20, 30 years from now and it might even be sooner than that. And it's time for people to recognize the real value that this country has, which is to reach out to people all over the world and to treat them right. And the truth is, yeah, I understand not wanting to get into other people's business, but on the other hand, we in the last 75 years have prevented World War III by leading NATO to defend Europe and the United States and a good part of Asia and Africa and the rest of the world. I mean, we have done a lot and it may not be the right time to just walk away from it all, especially with Putin running through Europe. - Yeah, well, they say that Ukraine is a part of Russia or it used to be a part of Russia and they just want the land back. They're not making any more land. So when you have land, you have power, you make rules, you can be able to dictate things, you can be able to create legacies with land. - Yeah, but Hitler said the same thing about Poland and Czechoslovakia. - Yeah, he did. And my thing is like you let the will of the people decide. Let the people that are there decide who their leader is. Let them do that without influence. Let them do that without being antagonized. Let them choose who their leader is if they choose to stay in that particular country. So that's my only concern as far as the United States getting involved in other people's affairs. Let the people that are there living in that country and that choose to live in that country, let them choose their leaders. - Yeah, and I understand what you're saying, but one of the things in that regard is that Poland, which Russia would love to get Ukraine and then go for Poland because they're trying to put the USSR back together again. And the fact is that Poland took a vote and a lot of people thought that the right-wing leaders in Poland were going to run away with it and it came out the exact opposite. They voted for the left. - Well, as you see with Russia, Russia was disbanded without a war. You know, they just went away. So all those people, all those KGB agents, Putin was a KGB. - Yes, he was. - So all those KGB agents, they just went underground. They never went anywhere. You know, it wasn't a coup. They just disbanded. So all those Russian influences are still there. And yeah, you had certain people, you know, with certain sex, they went and made countries and made nations, you know, with their influences. So of course, Russia has the interest to bring back its countries that were once a part of it. You know, that's just, I mean, even with the United States acquiring Alaska, it was because they wanted to get it before Russia got it because they found out it was oil there, you know? So it's like something like that can happen. So I don't, I really wouldn't, to me, I really wouldn't get too involved with what Russia has. I would, I would let whoever in Russia and whoever else handle that, that those affairs, if they choose to be a part of Russia, that would be them. You know, I don't think that United States should be, you know, making that decision for the people, you know? - I agree. - So let Putin do it, do it, I mean, even if you look at from the historical point, the whites that came from over here came from Europe, they came from, they came from Great Britain, they're Europeans. It's like, these are the same people. We get so mixed up with these titles, Czechoslovakian, Russian, Irish. These are still Europeans. - Yeah, well, I can tell you, my family. - They're the same people. - Yeah, my family came from Ukraine, half of them came from Ukraine, half came from Lithuania. And of course, that's, they're all in NATO right now, looking to the United States to protect them from being reacquired by the Russians. So, you know, I mean, I understand, you know, the problem, and the one thing we don't want is World War III. I mean, that we don't want. And-- - I would agree. - Yeah, and I will say this, you know, at the same time that, you know, I'm very supportive of the idea of protecting Europe from the Russians because I really see it as a replay of Adolf Hitler in 1938. But on the other side of the world, not so far away from Europe, but a little bit, is Israel and Palestine. And I gotta tell you something, if we don't protect the Palestinians, and I'm Jewish, but the Palestinians deserve our protection and really the world's protection because it's not that Israel wants to necessarily mow them all down. It's not like that, but it is an ongoing fight between the two sides that's been going on for at least 80 years in modern times. And it's really, it's an unfair matchup because we've armed Israel. And so what we really need to do is we need to give the Palestinians the protection that they deserve, also give the Israelis protection from Iran and anybody else that's looking for trouble. We need to turn down all the heat in that part of the world and find a way to give everybody a chance to live there in a fair and equal way. What do you think? - Well, that problem was created in 1948 that came in the Palestinians land. And that's the hypocrisy about helping Ukraine. So we say that we don't want Putin to get back in the choir Ukraine. Well, why don't we want the Palestinians to have their own land? And see, here's the problem that people don't understand. - And by the way, they do have to have their own land. They have to. - Right, now, okay, so you had the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and you had Hamas. Now the Palestinian Liberation Organization, they want a two-state solution. Hamas doesn't. - That's right. - So you had the Jewish people giving their money. They was helping them. - Absolutely. - They're helping Hamas. - Thank you, they were. They wanted Hamas to have influence so that they would be like, "No, we don't want the two-state solution." Because that's what Yasser Arafat then wanted before he passed away with the PLO. So they were trying to do their best to usurp the PLO influence out of Palestine. - Yes, you're right. - You got Hamas running wild. And so what Hamas did was Hamas, like everybody else, they got a little strong, and their attack is real. They was like, "Well, I didn't think you were gonna do that." You know, but it's like, you gotta watch who you feed. - Yeah, beeping at Yohu paid for that. - It's like, it's like, you're nursing the snake back to hell. - Yes, yes. - And then the snake bite you and say, "Why you bite me?" Like, "I'm a snake." - Yeah, right. - That's what I do. So now you have Hamas bombing Israel and they say, "Oh no, we gotta get rid of them now." They are a detriment. And the problem is, is when Hamas is not some type of structural army, navy, marine type of organization. So the blanket bombing of everyone is irresponsible. You're bombing schools, you're bombing hospitals, you're killing innocent people, looking for Hamas, and then your only excuses will, there'll be collateral damage in wars. That's terrible to say, you're killing more children than anything. All these Hamas leaders that you're saying that you're fighting against, you're not killing them, you're fighting, you're killing his children. They even had... - And beat, and again, let's say again, 'cause we're almost at the end here, but BB Netanyahu paid for Hamas. - Yes, he did. - Yes, he did. - And see people, people are, there is a strong outcry in Israel to get rid of him. - Yeah, Charles, I gotta stop this now 'cause we're about 20 seconds away. - Okay, real St. Louis news is where you are, and we're gonna have you back again, and I appreciate it very much that you came here, Charles. - Thank you. - For the St. Louis soon company, for Jules Unhampton, for Wenties, I'm Mark Casein with Charles Muhammad. This is Showdown, good night.