Rachel Miselman discusses national political matters in the wake of the 2024 presidential election. She also shares her thoughts on the 4B movement, affordable housing, and more.
WBCA Podcasts
Bostonian Rap
- Hello and welcome to Bostonian Wrap. My name is Rachel Meiselman. You are listening to me on WBCA LP 102.9 FM Boston. This is Boston's Community Radio Station. As we always do, we're gonna go to a quick disclaimer and then we're gonna come right back and jump in to tonight's show. - The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of WBCA or the Boston Neighborhood Network. If you would like to express another opinion, you can address your comments to Boston Neighborhood Network 3025 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, O2119. To arrange a time for your own commentary, you can call WBCA at 617-708-3215 or email radio at bnnmedia.org. - Hello and welcome back to Bostonian Wrap. Again, my name is Rachel Meiselman and you are listening to me on WBCA LP 102.9 FM Boston. So, where do I begin? I guess, like I always do at the beginning. So we know, now we know, so it is November 13th, we know that Trump is going to be our next president, President-elect. In fact, we knew last week, right? We knew on last week's show that Trump is going to be our next president. So perhaps what I should say is that what has happened since, over the course of this past week, it's just been nothing short of bananas, really. So we have some people on the political left. Now, obviously, I understand the disappointment, right? When Biden and Harris won in 2020, I wasn't happy. I was not happy, but President Biden, I said, that's my president, I'm not happy about it, but that's my president, wasn't happy about Harris being the vice president, but that was my vice president. And I had hoped for their success selfishly for my sake, but bigger picture for the sake of the country. But I think that honestly, it's just been very much a disaster. It's been very much a disaster. I think that there were some maybe bright spots, good initiatives here and there, but the Biden presidency isn't one, in my opinion, that was filled with a lot of success stories. Certainly, I think, from a foreign policy perspective, I see a lot of crises that have developed. And I really don't think that a lot of these situations that are volatile are in the case of Israel fighting Hamas, now fighting Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies. I don't see these battles, wars. I don't see them having occurred or at the least, even if there were hostilities, even if there were wars, I don't see them playing out in the same way had the president been Trump. I just don't. People, interestingly, ironically, have an issue with Trump's style, so Nikki Haley, I don't know if she recently said this, but I have no reason to believe that her position has really changed. For her, it wasn't Trump's or isn't Trump's policies, it's his style. I think that that's absurd because she willingly, happily accepted his nomination to be the ambassador to the United Nations. To my knowledge, if someone knows differently or remembers differently, please, by all means, reach out to me and I'll stand corrected, but I don't remember her hesitating. I remember her happily accepting his nomination and of course she was confirmed. Are you trying to tell me that she had no problem with this style then but has one with it now? I don't understand that. Are you trying to tell me that she didn't know quite what his style was? Of course she did and of course she didn't, that is she didn't have a problem with his delivery, with his manner of moving. But of course she has to say something, right? She has to say something. For other people that have been more consistent and their criticisms of Trump, even if they've liked a lot of his policies or most of his policies, but they just don't like his delivery, they don't like his manner. I think we're living in a climate, we've been living in a climate where, don't get me wrong, there's no excuse to dispense with diplomacy or tact, but we need someone who knows how to get in there and play hard ball. And so I will reiterate that the conflicts that we have, the wars that we have, I don't see them having started or at the least playing out in the same way had Trump been president in 2020, had he won a second term in 2020. So I just, I think that it's important for America to be strong. I'm not talking about America being the policeman of the world. I've heard that criticism more times than I care to count. And I think ultimately we need to take care of ourselves, we need to make sure that Americans are provided for, right? But I also believe that with our wealth, with our resources, with our key interventions at different points, in history, in recent history, all of that together, they amalgam of which has allowed us to ascend to the summit, to the hierarchy of nations. And I think that, although admittedly, very candidly, there's been a decline and we lag behind other nations, other developed nations in a number of areas that much is undeniable. But we still enjoy privileged position for lack of a better phrase. And I was trying to think of something that maybe comes across as more of a diplomatic phrase and of words, but really for lack of a more diplomatic phrase. And we enjoy a certain privilege among nations. And I think with that privilege, I think comes a certain set of responsibilities. And so I'm not talking about being a policeman of the world, but we can't just pretend that we're an island. So I'm definitely not an isolationist. And I think I'm gonna go as far as to say that anyone who believes in MAGA, make America great again, it is not conceivable to want America to be great again and be an isolationist. And I think it's entirely possible to take care of the needs of the American people and to boost American manufacturing and to utilize smartly, intelligently, American resources. I think it's possible to do all that. And at the same time, interact strategically with other nations. I don't see America being great by being an island unto himself. And I don't think that's when President Trump, President-elect Trump leaves either. So I'm happy, I'm happy about the turn of events, because I think that there will be a refocus, a shift, if you will, onto the American people, the value of American people. I think that this administration and come in administration will see the valor, the value in the American people. But I think at the same time, I think we're going to assert ourselves. And we're going to present an America that quite frankly is what we need. I don't think that we can be weak. I don't think we can afford it. I just really don't. Not with our place in the world. We cannot be weak. And I really, I'm not sure, look, I obviously don't blame the Biden administration for the viciousness and the genocidal intentions, ambitions, if you will, of Hamas. But I think that if you have someone in the White House that is no nonsense and takes no prisoners, figuratively speaking, I don't think that whether we're talking about Hamas or Hezbollah or just anyone, the Taliban, I don't see them, these different murderous movements, organizations. I don't see them trying, attempting to do the same things. I don't, if we look at Biden and what happened under his administration, look, Hamas is committed to Israel's destruction. It just, that's just what it is. But I don't see, or I'm not sure that Hamas, that Hamas would have tried everything that it has tried. If Trump, I'm going to repeat this, if Trump had been in office. Am I saying that Hamas would have done nothing with Trump in office? No, I'm not saying that. But what I'm saying is when there is an America that is presenting a particular face, I think the bad guys, the bad actors, the rogue actors, the terrorists around the world, they're going to act accordingly. I think that the foreign policies that we embrace, that we espouse, I think that has a lot to do with how different conflicts are going to play out, whether there's going to be a de-escalation, or whether, even if there is fighting, the extent of the fighting. Do I want America to be feared? No, I don't. But I also don't want people to think that America's a laughing stock. And let's talk about that, because that feeds into, you know, really the point that I wanted to really develop and tonight show, you know, this reaction, - I can't help you with that. - The reaction that we have seen since the learning of Trump's victory and last week's election. So let me look at, or let me talk about, you know, our presentation to the world. It's, America cannot be seen, it just cannot be seen as weak. It simply can't. And, you know, there's this idea, you know, peace through strength. And I really believe that. But you have people who are afraid of Trump's, what's going to happen with Trump in office? And so they're acting out and they're acting up. And as I said, at the very top of this show, I was not happy when Biden and Harris won, but Biden was my president and Kamala Harris was my vice president. But what I'm seeing, it's just, I don't even know how to describe this. So you have some women who have shaved their heads. So I don't know how widespread this movement, if you will, if I can call it that is. But you have some women who have shaved their heads and they have refused to have sex until 2028. And the idea is that it's the men that did it. The men came out and they helped elect Trump. And, again, this is, it's very narcissistic. It's very narcissistic. The level of self-absorption is quite frankly off the page. It's quite frankly off the page, off the charts, rather. And it really kind of makes me sick because these particular women, they're perfectly entitled to their beliefs. My issue is that they believe that they're entitled to mine. The women that are shaving their heads and claiming that they're going to abstain for sex for the next four years, they don't speak for all women. But they're presenting themselves as if they do. And I just, I don't like this vision that I'm seeing coming from some people on the left, or even some Republicans for that matter, that this idea that their beliefs are the ones that are acceptable to have, their beliefs are the ones that are normal. And if you do not have those beliefs, there is something wrong with you. So, yeah, the narcissism, the arrogance, the ignorance, the self-importance, and, yes, the self-absorption, it's terrible. There are plenty of women who voted for Trump. And this particular group of women that are acting out the way they are, they are perpetuating the idea that it's the men that are responsible for Trump's victory. And so, my conclusion is that for these people, it's more important to have narratives than the truth. It's more important to be right and create this facade of being right than actually being right, actually entertaining another point of view. (mouse clicking) This whole idea about wanting peace, again, and this particular group of women, they want peace, and a lot of these other people who, in other subgroups of the overall group that is very upset about Trump's victory, they want peace. They think that Trump is gonna plunge us into chaos. Well, I made a point of talking at length in this segment thus far about the conflicts, about the crises that exist, because how can one argue with a straight face that they want peace, and that would Trump, he's gonna plunge us into absolute chaos when that's what we already have. That's what we already have. We have people acting out. We have people acting out over campuses across the nation. I listen to some people on the political left and some coolest people on the right because it's not just always the left, but in regard to downplaying what was happening on college campuses across the nation, the anti-Semitic displays, bogus heinous, reprehensible repulsive displays, that it was mostly the left that was downplaying at a whitewashing it, but that wasn't chaos. The idea that Jewish students were intimidated, that they were being bullied, that they had to fear for their safety, that wasn't chaos, that classes were disrupted, that people's lives were disrupted, that's not chaos. How was that peace? People were importing the horrors of the war between Israel and Hamas, onto college campuses and quite honestly elsewhere in other settings in the United States, in their own way. And it went like this. Well, Israel is the oppressor, and Israel is all white. And they're dehumanizing the black and brown peoples. And Israel must pay because of that, and Israel's carrying out a genocide. And people used that perverted warped idea of what's going on over there to justify horrible, unconscionable behavior here in the United States, whether verbal or physical. And for people who want to challenge me, bring it. Any day, any night, it's just, it's just horrible what's been allowed to happen. And I'll talk more about this in the next segment of the show, but let me just say now, Israel is not all white. Most of the people in Israel are people of color. Many Jews around the world are people of color. And people insist on having this idea about Israel, and they've never been there. And you show on facts, and they still insist on clinging to their narratives. But again, I'll talk more about this in the next segment of the show, but it sounds to me that people who want peace so much, they want peace so much, yet they were fine with the atrocities, the horrors that were unfolding on college campuses across the nation. Synagogues, Jewish centers being attacked, Jews being attacked on the streets. I mean, I just don't understand. And then we have people who are mocking, I need that sound effect again. I just don't have an answer for that. I need to play that again. But it's just, I just can't understand. We've had people who are upset about Trump's win, who are trying to snidely imply that the economy has nothing, I had nothing to do with Trump's win. Are you kidding me? Oh yeah, oh yeah, it was the grocery bill. Well, actually, yes, it was. So I live in Boston for my listeners that are outside of Boston, that are outside of Massachusetts, and who might be actually outside of this country. Boston is a very, very, very extensive city in which to live. I love this, I love this city dearly. It is home, it has been home to the Meiseland family for over a hundred years. And one of my relatives, I can actually go back to the late 19th century. So my people, you know, you have different bloodlines running through me. But someone in my family, you know, their presence here, there's been a steady presence for well over a century. So it's home, but I'm telling you, it's very expensive. And it's become increasingly expensive. The rent is insane, it's insane. And I can talk about why it's insane. There are different reasons why it's insane. I will say that, I don't wanna get too much into this because I don't wanna get off topic, but I will say that unfortunately, a lot of the discussion around affordable housing has been done by people who define affordability by what people in Boston and affluent suburbs of Boston could afford. And so what was then presented as affordable in Boston wasn't in fact affordable because people here were not earning what people in these affluent suburbs were earning. So if we don't have an appropriate working definition of affordable affordability, then it's really hard to talk about housing that can work for the people of this city. But again, I don't wanna, I don't, I could talk about that. That's a show unto itself. So I don't really wanna get off topic, but it's just to speak to one of the main reasons why Boston is just, it's just very difficult to live here because of that. But I think for a long time, people said, well, you know, the different places I can buy clothes, I can buy nice clothes. I don't have to go to a store that's necessarily too expensive. I can, you know, buy nice things. They're places I can go to get good deals. And I think the same could be said about food too. Really? But over the last year, it's just been absolutely crazy. It's absolutely crazy. And people, the salaries have not changed. The salaries have remained the same. And so, and I have to make a comment here. And again, I don't wanna get off topic, but I will say that doesn't mean that I think that the minimum wage should be $25 an hour. It's, there are a lot of different moving pieces. It depends on the size of the company. That should be, that should be very obvious. But there are a lot of different moving pieces. There are a lot of different parts of the discussion that need to be fully fleshed out and addressed in order to come up with some kind of viable solution. But with not only rent then, but now I also have in clothes and now food too. I mean, not to sound funny, but people, people, I actually think Bostonians, I think, you know, I look around, you know, I take public transportation because I don't drive, I never learn. So, I'm always on the train or the bus or I'm walking, something like that or it takes the commuter rail, depending on where I need to go. I need to go outside the city, but I look around me and I think, you know, okay. She looks, you know, she looks pretty cute and he pulled that, you know, outfit together nicely. And, you know, so people are, you know, notwithstanding the exorbitant costs of living here, people, you know, dressed I think pretty decently, pretty well here in Boston. But, I mean, to keep it real, to, you know, kind of, you know, like, let's, you know, let's, let's like get at it. Let's talk about, you know, how things are. Let's like, you know, let's talk about how a T.I. is. People can get away with not dressing that well. But how are you gonna get around not being able to make rent? How are you going to get around not eating? So it's tough. Not being able to afford to eat, to buy food. So it is definitely not easy. And I'll say that it's not just in Boston. I mean, Massachusetts is one of the most expensive states in the union in which to live. Really, it's up there. It's one of the most expensive states. So don't tell me. Now, I think Trump got about 36%. And I gotta tell you, and I say this respectfully, not trying to disparage anybody here, but I think that there were people who were attached to the Trump campaign in Massachusetts. People were made Senate captains and they had no business. They had no business being in that role. They didn't do anything and they knew even less. And I think that, and I can imagine people saying, "Well, you just got through saying "you're not looking to disparage anybody "and then there you went." But I, look, I'm not looking. What I said, it was not gratuitous. It was based on performance, right? Performance of different people that I have in mind. And I also think that more effort could have been made outside of the area in which the chair of the campaign lived. I do think we could have gotten to 40% in Massachusetts. And we weren't too far off, 36%. But certainly we could have gotten 40% and maybe even a little higher. I mean, we could have maybe even gotten, I don't know if we could have gotten a 45 or 46%, but I think we could have gotten maybe even to 41, 42%, or who knows, even 43%. But that would have taken a lot of work, but impossible, no, impossible, no. But I think definitely 40% was something that was feasible. And it's for the reasons that I, even with the campaign just really kind of being focused in certain parts of the state, still got 36%. People, let me tell you a little something. When it comes to people's pocketbook, it's amazing how people will react. It's amazing what people will turn around and do, right? It's never a good idea to take people for granted, ever, ever. But when we're talking about economically tough times, I think that it's more important, more critical to read the room, to listen to people and really show that there's an understanding of the challenges that people are facing. And so all these people who are acting out, whether it's the women who have shaved their heads and obviously that's an extreme, right? But we have other people act in other ways that are quite frankly not welcome. I'm not pleased about either. There are people who just very, very raw right now. I'm very raw right now. Well, what the heck are you raw about? Heck, I'm raw. It's difficult to go out and buy food. That for me, that's a raw situation. It's just, again, I keep on coming back to these words about self-absorption and it's this self-centeredness. I'm not asking people to agree with me and other people who went ahead and supported Trump, voted for him. All I'm asking is for people to understand why. Now, I'm even okay with people who are saying, you know what, I agree with you. Food is so expensive. Rent, I don't know how any of us are doing it, making ends me, getting by. But I think that if we would have stayed with Biden and Harris, or if we would have stayed, excuse me, if Harris would have gotten in, if the majority of us voted for Harris, if she won the Electoral College, which is what really is important, right? She had won the Electoral College and then on top of that, you know, most of us, the popular vote went to her and waltz, I think that they would have had a better plan. Okay, I'm cool with that. Do I agree? No, but I'm perfectly fine with that. But for people not to understand, so far, what do we have? The world being ablaze in chaos in different parts of the world, some of which has been imported right here into the United States in different settings, okay? So for whatever reason, people can't understand why people would want to shift away from that. And they declare themselves, again, without any kind of self-awareness that they're interested in peace and they're all about peace, the exorbitant cost of living. And I can just go on. It's just people wanted a new direction. And I think that what really weighed heavily on a lot of people was the lightness of their wallet. I don't think a lot of people were happy about how America has approached the war between Israel and Hamas and now Israel and Hezbollah and of course, there is fighting now, not just with Israel and some Iranian proxies, but also with Iran itself. Iran, of course, has launched missiles against Israel. We can underestimate the importance of that war, the fighting in that part of the world with the presidential election. And in issues fighting in other parts of the world. And then issues in the United States, the idea of what we're doing to fortify our infrastructure, what we're doing to make sure that American products, American manufacture and are strong. We can't underestimate that, but I think that really a lot of people said, look, I was better under Trump. Give me those mean tweets. I'll take those mean tweets 'cause my wallet was fatter than under Trump. It was fatter. And I just, again, it's so important for people just, it's not about agreeing with other people. It's not even finding common ground. We don't even have to do that at this point or any time in the future, although it would be nice for people to at least sit down and be able to address each other civilly and respectfully. But I think just being able to understand why people chose to go in a different direction and choosing to understand that people thought that whatever Trump is proposing, or what Trump is proposing, he invents, that that would ultimately benefit them better than what Harris and Waltz are proposing. And it's just, we're not seeing that. We're just seeing a lot of acting out. And we're seeing just a lot of flat out selfishness. I mean, people wanna talk about their feelings and then you've got other people who just wanna talk about facts. And the fact is this is what's in my bank account. Facts, this is what I spent on food last week. Fact, this is how much my rent is. This is how much my mortgage is. Fact, this is what my car payment is. Facts, this is how much I'm earning. And in light of all my expenses, this is how much I have left at the end of the month or at the beginning of the month or at any time at any point in the month. I think that, and I'm gonna say this in a last note, and then we're gonna go to a quick break. I think that what these last few years have revealed is what happens when people are allowed to kind of shut themselves off from others and when they're not called upon in any way to even listen to what other people have to say or to imagine themselves in the shoes of other people. This utter lack of compassion and willingness to listen, it's led to this great intolerance and lack of civility and this unbelievably just like vomit-inducing self-righteousness. But I'm gonna continue to talk about this because it just, it really needs to be unpacked and looked at and held up. We need to decide as a nation how we wanna move forward. And just choosing to exist in an echo chamber and the idea of some people just choosing to cloak themselves in this kind of, I'm gonna use the phrase again, the word again, self-righteousness. It's just, it's not gonna do the same thing. It's not gonna do us as a nation, any favors. And it's not gonna do these people who choose to live like that, any favors either. So on that, no, let's go, like I said, let's go to a quick break. And then when we come back, we're gonna talk about anti-Semitism. I mentioned a thing or two about it. Obviously during this first segment, but I'm going to try to really kind of delve into it a little bit more after this break. Let's take a moment to breathe. Deep inhale, extend your spine. Remain focused on what you're doing. If safe to do so, exhale slowly leaning to one side. Inhale back to center. If safe to do so, exhale slowly to the opposite side. Find mental health resources at loveyourmindtoday.org. This message is brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ed Council. This is the Chef of Love, Chef Janard. TV host and restaurant tour. My grandparents harvested their land to sell food and share this overflowing bounty without community. Grandma said, for every yam we pick, we give one away. In the world, they cultivated our love, preparing and eating dinner with my family on Sundays. When our resources change, food assistance programs sustained us. They gave me fuel to start my first culinary business at 16 years old, an inspiration to donate the extra food in my community. Through my life, I've developed an appetite to work with others to ensure everyone has access to the nutritious food we need to thrive. Together, we can help end hunger. Come on, join the movement with Feeding America by volunteering, donating and advocating. Learn more at feedinamerica.org/actnow. Brought to you by Feeding America and the Ed Council. - Hello, and welcome back to Bostonian Wrap. Again, my name is Rachel Meiselman and you've been listening to me on WBCALP. 102.9 FM Boston, Boston's Community Radio Station. So we talked a lot about people acting out and acting up in the first segment of the show, which was most of the show tonight. And it's going to be at least a part of the show moving forward because I think that it's really, it's created a toxic, this behavior's created a high level of toxicity. And it's acted as an obstacle for people to come together and just do simple things. It's just, it's no way to exist. And I'm not someone who, again, who acted the same way when Biden and Harris won only to call upon civility now. No, I've consistently been civil. So again, this is the topic that I'm going to continue to highlight because unfortunately, around here in Boston, we're not hearing, we're not seeing or reading about too many, or reading the works, I should say, of too many people that are calling out this behavior for what it is. So I hope to be one of a few people who try to add some balance to the discussion. So what I want to talk about now is anti-Semitism. So I mentioned part of what fueled, well, it was an excuse, right? But it was used as an excuse on college campuses. To be very aggressive towards Jewish students, faculty and allies of Jewish students and faculty. This idea that Israel's the oppressor, Israel, Israelis are all white, they're all Ashkenaz, and they're oppressing the Palestinians, the poor, black and brown people. Well, first of all, I am a brown person. I am a woman of color, and I happen to be Ashkenaz. That's what I am. I grew up hearing Yiddish. I can even speak some Yiddish. I think I've shared on the show before I, my grandfather, may he rest in peace. Tough customer, born and revered, raised in Dorchester. Very much a Dorchester kid, but we were proud and grateful that my grandfather was born in Revere, and grateful to the city of Revere for being a safe place for my grandfather to be born. And I'm just proud because Revere is a great city. But my point is that my grandfather, I often heard Yiddish from him growing up, and I wanted to impress him. So again, tough customer. And I actually did this. I went to Yiddish camp, I kid you not. So I was, at the time, I was living abroad, and I spent one summer in Puksel. Brussels, I spent another summer in Paris, and then another summer in Strasbourg, Strasbourg, which is actually when a Boston sister cities, and I studied Yiddish. I studied Yiddish, tried to impress my grandfather, my Zady. So I am an Ashkenazi, I'm not Sephardic, I'm not Yamini, I'm not Ethiopian, I'm not, you know, I am Ashkenazi. And it's just, it's really, it's incredible to me that people just, they really don't want to see Jews as anything other than white. And, you know, I have to, you know, a little parentheses here. What I don't always like about some, not all, certainly not all, but some of my fellow Americans is that there's this desire to talk about a wide variety of topics, but the work that is entailed in order to talk about these issues, in order to be able to articulate the issues in a way that's intelligent and intelligible, a lot of people don't want to do that legwork. They don't want to do it. They just want a moat and they want to talk. And so they take these complicated issues, or even if the issue's not necessarily complicated, but they take these issues and they look at them through a prism, through a lens that they're comfortable with, even if it's not appropriate. And so you have some people who decry bigotry, you know, that, you know, maybe some white people might feel toward black people. And of course that's horrible. Anybody decent is going to feel horrible about that. But to, for that to be your lens, your only lens, I would say that that's being very, you're very much limiting yourself in life, but that's, I don't, that's, I can get more into that on another point in time. But, but my point is to take that lens and then to apply it to, to the war between Israel and Hamas. That's completely inappropriate. Again, Israel is not, it's most of the, the Jews there are people of color. And so we have people using this bogus narrative, bogus reasoning to justify the unjustifiable, because there is no justification for anti-Semitism of any kind, of any form. It's just, it's just so, I think it's infuriating, it's maddening. And, and people, they don't wanna listen and they don't wanna learn. And I guess another thing that really kind of bothers me is that there's this reluctance by many people in the Jewish community. And I'm going to be talking more about the Jewish community, but there's a reluctance, I have to wrap up, but there's a reluctance to kind of acknowledge the anti-Semitism that existed before October 7th. But again, that's all I have time for. I look forward to hanging out with you next week. - The preceding commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of WBCA or the Boston Neighborhood Network. If you would like to express another opinion, you can address your comments to Boston Neighborhood Network, 302-5 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 0-2-1-1-9. To arrange a time for your own commentary, you can call WBCA at 617-708-3215, or email radio@bnandmedia.org. [BLANK_AUDIO]