Host Rachel Miselman opines on congressman Seth Moulton & some of his statements, fanatic Trumpers, the Harris-Trump debate, unfavorable behaviors on the right & left, her difficulties getting on the 2020 congressional ballot, Reyla Campbell & Jim Lyons, & more.
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Bostonian Rap
Hello and welcome to Bostonian Wrap my name is Rachel Meiselman and you are listening to me on WBCALP102.9 FM Boston. This is Boston's community radio station and so like we always do we're going to go to a quick disclaimer and then we're going to come right back and jump right on into 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, 302-5 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119. 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. So there is a lot to talk about as usual and quite frankly I come to tonight's show and I'm a little bit disgusted because I just I don't do well with a lack of authenticity. I don't do well with incompetence. I don't do well with dismissiveness and so I've encountered either directly all of this or I've seen witnessed all of this recently or I've heard stories of other people witnessing different instances of these different what I'm going to call plagues on the socio-political landscape of Boston and just really Massachusetts at large. So to start I just again I don't like hypocrites. I really don't. Be nice, be nasty, either way just be authentic. If you do happen to be nasty my goodness gracious just own it, own it. Why be ignorant, why be difficult, why be obnoxious and then turn around and smile at people and go out into public and and shake hands and and and hold babies. And here of course I'm talking in particular about politicians but really it's just I could be talking about anybody but I particularly resent it in politicians and I also don't appreciate it when we're talking about others who may not hold public office but they are very politically active. So let me give an example. So we have a lot of people right now talking about congressmen Seth Molten from Massachusetts. Okay, so he it's so funny because you look at Seth Molten, you interact with him which I have because we both went to Harvard. I've interacted with him and I mean when I did he's very unassuming. He's not someone that if you didn't know him you wouldn't have him pegged for someone that walks into a room and has to be the center of attention, has to be the the attraction, the centerpiece if you will which is actually refreshing but he's he's definitely not one of those figures that you would peg for for you know for having that particular profile if you will. And I'm not saying that's who and what he is or that's what he's actually what I will say is that he surprisingly knows how to get people to talk about him. And so lately he has had people talk about him because he is saying that look you know I have daughters and I don't want them playing with transgenders. And I think that he has a right to his opinion. Of course some people on the political right are saying that well it's a little too late. I mean where has he been all these years? Why hasn't he said anything like this before? And I just I have a problem with those people and so I took issue with one person and she's not a politician but she sees herself a pundit and I just I feel like there are a lot of people that would have not too long ago. They would have saluted Seth Molten for making these comments. They would have thunderously given him a thunderous applause. They would have said well gee you know that's brave, commended him for his moral and intellectual clarity. And I just it's just we're living in weird times. I mean we thought we were living in weird times. I think that what we're about to see is going to really blow a lot of people's mind. Well it's going to blow the minds of people who are shall we say have always been neutral, who've always been fair, who've always been able to think critically, right? Because what we have going on now is we have a lot of hypocrisy. Sure absolutely Seth Molten could have said all this before. But the people who are criticizing him for not saying it before they themselves would have up until very recently they would have like I said they would have thunderously applauded. They would have getterly feted Seth Molten and I just I have a problem with that. I just it's it's it's people acting hypocritically and it's people other people calling out the hypocrisy and in doing so being hypocritical themselves, right? You have all these different pundits on the left and some of them are going hard and and they're really you know really saying well you know the democrats I'm a democrat but I've never been a democrat like that. I've never been in transition. I've never you know lived in an echo chamber and and I've always given credit where it's due so you know when Trump got something right I did say that and it's so funny to see this this collective about face and and people who like I said on my side of the aisle you know the right side who are no longer enthralled or admirative or appreciative of of of those on the left who can see their point of view and it's just it's just so weird and all of it is hypocritical. I I also take issue and and it depends on how I'm feeling but I you know I'll I'll laugh at some people who are very much pro-Trump and it's really it's crazy it's like over the top and I noticed I'm not going to drop the names of any of the people or the particular accounts I'm not going to give them the coverage but you know there's some people and you know given the extent to which they are reposting posts from either Trump or someone on his team or the fact that you know these different accounts have changed their profile pick to Trump or someone on is again someone on his team it just makes me laugh because these people they didn't vote for Trump in 2016 they did not draw they did not vote for Trump in 2020 and had Trump lost you can be gosh darn sure that they wouldn't be saying I can't believe that Trump lost and this is a horrible thing and my gosh our country's in trouble no they wouldn't be saying that they would just be jumping on the next wave and that would be well what is Kamala Harris doing now is is there anything that we can either praise or make in front of and then once she got in then they would and I'm talking about either people on my side or people who are cosplaying you know cosplaying conservatism you know cosplaying of being a Republican you know these people would you know then deride her criticize her limb based or you know any of that and and it's just I'm just tired of it I'm just sick of it all I'm sick of it all because the fact of the matter is a lot of people over the years have not like Trump a lot of the people a lot of people over the years have not supported him and I'm old enough to use that I think that's a stupid expression but I'm gonna use it because it's more than a bit tongue-in-cheek here I'm old enough to remember when people were practically laughing at Trump well they were actually plenty of people were laughing at Trump after the first debate that he had with Kamala Harris and Kamala Harris did not perform well people she did not she did not all she did was she sat there looked at him smirked cocked an eyebrow and because she didn't fall flat on her face people were heralding her performance as as as a knockout and she she didn't perform that well and I don't think Trump performed that badly but if you read the the remarks if you read the the people who actually get paid to give their opinion and isn't it isn't the United States a little parenthesis here isn't America quite a country where people can get paid to give their opinion isn't that something and and a lot of times people who get made they they don't know what they're talking about isn't that wonderful isn't it something but anyway not only the people who are professional pundits but you know you have all these social media pundits and they were practically writing the obituary for Trump's presidential campaign and it's hysterical now to see those same people like I said I mean some of them I mean they're just I mean you would have thought that they've been massive Trump supporters from day one so it's just it's really it's just knock at the heck off really I just I just don't have time for it and I just I I like Trump I like him very much and one of the things I like about him is that he speaks his mind now you might not like what he has to say but he speaks his mind now obviously if it were just that I wouldn't have been supportive of him for the last nine years because yeah he what does he declared his presidency presidential bid in 2015 but I mean I certainly wouldn't have been supportive of him all these years right but I very much appreciate that that was enough to make me do a look in and the more I heard and when I heard about his platform I learned about his platform his different positions I was sold didn't take long and I was willing to give him a look in because yes because of that candor and I want to underline that because that was something that is something that has been sorely missing from the political landscape on the federal level the state level and the municipal level people are so darn phony you have someone like Erin Murphy like on the municipal level and it's just I get so tired of her pandering she's tried to do it to me a few times so you know I'll be sitting there in the audience and maybe it'll be a forum in in Alston about the community center or maybe it was an at-large forum for I can't a forum for at-large candidates at at a church in Dorchester you know these different places where you know she knows I'm paying attention and so she'll just she'll kind of throw in a remark that is meant to appeal to me and she does it thinking she's cool thinking she's slick and it's and I'm sitting then I'm like I know you're trying to pander to me and it's not working because I know what you actually think on this particular issue and you're not impressive not to me so let me give you an example she was talking about so I'll talk about one of the instances in which she tried to pander to me we were at um so yes this was a forum and it was to discuss the community a community center a renovated community center for Alston and Brighton and and just to see the idea was just to see how really at the end of the day yes an updated renovated community center but there was also talking to different people it was also the kind of the idea of like well what else is there that we need to discuss what because there's just such a need because these particular neighborhoods they they're their concerns have been overlooked for so long so what what can we what where do we need to focus because obviously a community center but our needs actually extend beyond that because we just we haven't been heard and so what can what what can we talk about today that is maybe the most critical part of our ask but also what else can we introduce our start discussing so that we as a community communities feel like we're finally being acknowledged so yeah she was up there and she was talking about Dorchester and I spent part of my childhood in Dorchester and maybe that's why she thought that it would make an impression on me if she brought up her background and so she was talking about Dorchester and how the Murphy school is named after her grandfather and she was talking about a particular part of Dorchester that her family used to take her to and I'm sitting there and I the only thing I could think of is why are you why are you doing this I don't care the only thing I care about in this context is your advocacy for your constituents in these particular communities and from what I could gather she hadn't done any so I just wasn't really interested I don't care that there's a school named after your grandfather whatever your grandfather did there were enough people the thought he deserved to have a school named after him great wonderful but I'm interested in what you're doing and from what I can see you're not doing much so it's kind of you know just to kind of expand the scope again I just I don't like the lack of authenticity I don't like people pandering to me because when people pander when politicians try to pander to me it's it's the same it's telling me that I'm stupid that's exactly how I take it because it's this it's this attitude this pandering it's done with this this idea that I'm going to buy I'm going to pick up whatever they're putting down and so you have someone like Trump and he speaks with a frankness that's greatly refreshing and if people don't like it they don't like it if they like it great but again if they don't so what and I think that we do need to have a certain amount of of candor and I'm not talking about rudeness or people being disrespectful lacking in tact but I'm talking about an honesty and we just don't have it anymore and it's it's as I indicated it's not just the politicians but it's whoever swarming in the political waters so it could be abundant it could be an activist it's it's all these people it's the whole it's the whole industry if you will so we have people now who all of a sudden found their voice and my gosh you should hear them go and I'm just sitting there I'm thinking like excuse me and some of the people I've had a few I have had a few of these people who have suddenly found their voice and they're based and they're bad bad mama jammas and they're just really tough you know trying to get loud with me and I'm like who do you think you're talking to like I'm personally not going to tolerate someone being rude with me I'm just not it's not going to happen and you have a lot of people who think that they think they're cute or they feel like they're cute online and so they allow themselves they put I like the word permit better so allow and permit or synonyms but I find that permit I like that better it just there's I think there's I feel like there's a slight nuance even if there's not I feel like there is they permit themselves they give themselves the right to say and say whatever they want and I'm just like oh really it's like who in the heck do you think you are but it just it's part of this larger discussion about this hypocrisy it's we're living in such strange times I mean for years we've been heading in a direction where it got to the point where people just afraid to speak I'll use the word canceled people were afraid of being canceled Trump comes along and people are like wow I have a voice and I discuss this on a very you know and on one of my more recent shows and that's part of the reason why so many people love him yes he has his detractors but he has a lot of people who think he's great and I'm one of them but to the point he he speaks his mind but what doesn't sit well with me is how you have all of a sudden all these people who now fancy themselves like a Trump you know and in their own little world in their own little pocket and my attitude is well look if you needed someone whom you've never met to have the courage to speak up and out you might want to start first by just expressing your opinions but to start off like come out of the gate swinging when you went from not saying anything and being terrified of being canceled to like being like the baddest than the the baddest mama-jama there ever was I'm sorry but I'm not going to go in for it I don't really feel like tolerating it I don't really feel like dealing with it and I don't feel like being nice about it I am going to say something I think those people need to sit down I think they need to have a seat I really truly do because it's just it's bad enough that you had no backbone for all those years right because even I understand you know sometimes people have families right or even if you don't have a family you still you have to think about your livelihood you know your social circles I get that but we had people that were so bloody cowardly so many people and then they see one person speak up and then all of a sudden they're I'm trying there's a word I want to use but I'm afraid I can't use it it's not it's not a bad word but I'm just I'm trying to find other words but they think they're just real tough guys we'll use that tough guys and I just I I'm just I'm I'm not here for it I'm not here for it you know all these people all of a sudden have a voice it's like you know what get out of my face and have a seat right so that that aggravates me that disgusts me just as much as the people who and I started you know earlier in the show to talk about people who or I started with talking about people who are suddenly going against the grain in their ideological camp and then you have the critics on the other side or on my side so why don't I just say you know the those on the other side of the aisle who going against the grain right and then you have people on my side we're like nope nope we don't want to hear it when I'm telling you these same people up until about seven o'clock this morning they would have been thunderously applauding these people on the political left people who have D's after their name and of course all of them are not on the left you have conservative or moderate Dems I know that but Democrats who are considered more left-wing or left-leaning you know these people would have been applauded for not conforming or expressing an opinion that's non-conformist so I just I don't have much patience for all this for all this about facing if I can use if I can say that about facing I just I don't I just don't have much tolerance for it I don't I don't suffer fools and when I don't like something or I'm annoyed by something or I have a question about something I do wear it on my face I do I have a poker face sure yeah okay I do but I pick and choose when I want to use it but for this I just I'm not gonna bother it's just it really I find it offensive I find it thoroughly offensive and then um another behavior that's really uh it's really like made me kind of snort is and this is on my side of the aisle people who Republicans who are talking about well we just need to give everyone a fair shake and I just I don't think it's right to judge someone because he supports a candidate or doesn't support a candidate and I'll explain what I mean in just a bit or yeah we need to give everyone a fair shake so all the candidates who are running deserve to have a mention and I just I had to laugh and I've actually heard this this discourse now and in a few settings and I'm going to say in at least two or three of those settings I had to fight to get an award edge wise which just was the cherry on top of the cake because when I was running for Congress in 2020 my campaign wasn't even acknowledged at all the then chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party Jim Lyons refused to acknowledge my campaign the resources that were made available to me my campaign were nowhere in the vicinity of what was made available to Rayla Campbell and I'm going to tell you that Rayla Campbell was brought in she was recruited not to run against Diana Presley but to run against me there were emails sent out to help Rayla get on the ballot and let me tell you something had Rayla Campbell wanted to get on the ballot she could have gotten on the ballot for me it was a fight for me it was an absolute fight and you know when I didn't get on I said well okay I'm gonna run and of course Rayla was gonna run too right and through it all Jim Lyons never made mention of me he pushed Rayla as the sole candidate there was a complete media blackout there was I had to like fighting for oxygen wasn't even that wasn't even the phrase and it's it's it's particularly offensive because when Anthony Amore ran the following two years later rather when he was running for state auditor there was a period where Jim Lyons was accused of not pushing not helping Anthony Amore and his race to become the next state auditor and people were upset and and it got I almost said merited it but it did it did merit it merited and it got an article in the globe and I sat back and I said huh so Anthony Amore who got tons of help from Charlie Baker and who had a fair amount of help from Jim Lyons at one point Jim was not doing everything he could have done to help Anthony and there was an uproar and when other candidates were being promoted and Anthony was left off it was like okay we got an article in the globe again when I ran for Congress in 2020 Jim Lyons the man the then leader of the Massachusetts Republican Party did not mention my name once Rayla Campbell was pushed as the sole candidate Rayla Campbell Jim Lyons they cheated period they broke party bylaws and so some people go will Rachel you're whining that's what they said after I maybe didn't agree to help them after helping them for an extended period of time but it not being reciprocal I said you know what I I got to kind of look out for my own campaign now and then it was like oh well Rachel you're whining no actually I wasn't whining I was taking a stand right so before I could even take it take a stand against the Democratic Party I had to take on my own party and I don't know how many people would have had the brass to do that if you know of a candidate political candidate from either major political party who has the guts to run for office and take on his their own party you let me know you just let me know but I'm going to tell you as far as I know they're not too many and so to hear now being conversations where people are talking about well it's just not right it's just not right not to mention all the candidates running in a particular race you know that's a violation of party bylaws that it's just not right it's not ethical it's dishonest but I'm here some of that talk some of that talk is coming from people they're good people we're talking quality people right but some of the other talk is coming from individuals who were all in for Rayla Campbell and what made me laugh is that these people had nothing to say about Everett which is in the 7th congressional district and that's the district in which I was running in 2020 they had book gifts to say about Randolph and they only had something to say about Boston when it's in the news when it's been in the news they had nothing to say about Somerville nothing to say about Chelsea nothing to say about the precincts few precincts of Milton which are nevertheless as as important as any other area in any other municipality in the district I mean they had nothing to say about Milton those precincts in particular and so it was incredible to me to see all these people decide that this was somehow such an incredibly important race and so the next few months it was what did Rayla wear what dust up did Rayla get into who got into Rayla's face this day did Rayla almost get into another fight so it was basically Rayla's outfits and a variation on did she get into a confrontation but all these people decided that she was the one and they fell into line behind Jim Lyons this is a violation of party bylaws it was highly unethical it was incredibly dishonest but these people were all in now in 2024 they're saying everyone should have a fair shake I'm not here for it I'm not giving these people hugs I'm not going to invite these people out we're going to sit around have a few mimosas start giggling and yeah hug it out that's not going to happen I'm going to remind them how they behaved in 2020 and I'm going to tell them that they're hypocrites and I'm going to tell them that they're not going to get any scooby snacks for me or any kind of awards for understanding finally tardively the need to be decent and neutral and such races now of course you know if an individual wants to do something to help a candidate and is all in for a candidate that's absolutely fine and I don't mind that but if we're talking about party leadership if we're talking about the state committee there is an obligation to be neutral so I just it's all this behavior and it's all under the umbrella of hypocrisy and I just I'm not going to tolerate it they're going to be more than a few people who are going to hear things who are going to be told things that they probably wish they hadn't heard but this is kind of where I am and I know I'm not unique but I'm going to speak for myself and other people they can speak for themselves but the fact of the matter is we have a situation where what it comes down to is is people understanding or behaving in a way that they always should have behaved in and now that they're actually doing what they should do or what they should have been doing they expect a medal for it well yeah again that's not going to happen you know people always should have been fair people should have always been it's not about being perfect but it's just give people a fair shake give give people equal talk time you know listen to people be courteous be respectful or if you have something to say speak out you know there are ways even people who have had to watch their P's and Q's there's there's still have always been ways to move even behind the scenes very very quietly to make a difference many many people chose to let other people do the heavy lifting many people chose to look at people doing what's right while they chose not to because doing what wasn't right benefited them more and so again we're living in very very I think odd times I did refer to our climate as being a post-truth one and what I mean by that is you know it doesn't matter what the reality is people lie to you people shout into the abyss it's the sad attitude as I've said so many times before if people they feel like if they say something enough then that that makes it true right and and while that necessarily isn't anything new it is just the provolency of it it is just so it's like so gosh darn it's like so in your face it's it's it's almost overwhelming but I am going to go to a quick break because that's a lot to take in right I'm going to go to a quick break and then when we come back we're going to wrap up tonight's show the impact of a meal goes well beyond feeding our bodies because when people don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from they can truly thrive like Marta and now we'll hear from our class valedictorian who with our hard work never ceases to amaze us please welcome Marta Moreno and Alex hey Alex how did the interview go I did it I got the job I can't believe it I knew it let's meet up later to celebrate and Diego mom I got first place at the science fair with my volcano project that's amazing sweetie congratulations because when people are fed futures are nourished and everyone deserves to live a full life join the movement to end hunger at feedingamerica.org/actnow feedingamerica.org/actnow a public service announcement brought to you by Feeding America and the Ad Council everything I have I owe to the adult literacy center and getting my high school diploma at age 22 find free and supportive adult education centers near you at finisherdiploma.org brought to you by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and the Ad Council 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 Ad Council hello this is Rachel Meiselman and you're listening to me on bostonian wrap this is wbca lp 102.9 FM boston boston's community radio station and so as i've stressed throughout tonight's show the overarching theme the umbrella for really all the segments or the kind of just kind of ran into one ran into the other and so on and so forth it's been hypocrisy and i just i'm not feeling very tolerant i'm not and so i have another type of behavior another uh trend that i can put under this umbrella and that is people wanting to listen and that's something people want to listen i i'm i'm laughing like y'all not y'all just now want to listen how is that so let me get this straight you couldn't listen to your neighbor to your co-worker to an acquaintance a worker acquaintance maybe or you know uh someone you know that you maybe run into every so often in your social circles you couldn't listen before but now you want to listen because you can derive some benefit from it and that benefit would be that you're seen as an open-minded person who's evolved get out of here with that yeah i'm not i'm not going to sit through that either i've got better things to do like watch paint on the wall dry you know i uh you know a politician and i've i've known her for a while i knew along before she uh got elected and i'm not going to drop her name although i could and she she makes me laugh because now she's on this kick where she wants to bring people together right peace and love stop you don't run for office unless you're prepared to fight for to advocate for to listen to everybody in your district period when i ran for congress i wasn't running to represent republicans i was running to represent everybody i was running to represent people some of whom probably had absolutely no use for anything i have to say but guess what if i had gotten two thousand right in votes which is what i needed and that was the base and then more than what Rayla got and then beat Ayanna i would have been Ayanna Presley i would have been in the position where i had to i would have had to advocate for everyone in the district you don't pick and choose as an office holder who you are going to represent you've got to represent everybody someone's name who someone's name that i will mention is henry santana henry santana is awesome i love henry santana he doesn't pander he doesn't stand there and lie to your face he doesn't talk about doing one thing only to do another he works with people and he's there to represent everybody and you can tell that this is work that really means something to him and it brings him joy and he brings other people joy i early on i was a big fan of henry's i you know it was on the henry santana love boat if there is such a thing if there is such a thing i'm on it he's great and it's not because we're always going to agree it's because he cares about me he cares about all his constituents he cares about what we all think that's why he ran for this position and so every day he tries to do what he can to improve our quality of life everything that he can to make sure that our voices are heard and to make sure that he is really given back that's important to him to give back and yes he does it by you know making sure our voices are heard and but it's he really he really does want to see i think a tangible change for the better for the maximum amount of people if we had more people like that holding office public office there would be less cynicism they would be less anger there would be less frustration but as it is he is unfortunately a rarity henry santana is a rarity which i guess makes them all the more precious very lucky we're very lucky in boston to have him as a counselor at large we're very lucky indeed this other politician that i'm thinking of this other office holder she has just discovered the importance of listening to other people and to make it seem like she's being authentic like that this was somehow a real revolution evolution she is excuse me she's talking about how well she's acknowledging that when she went into office when she was campaigning when she was first elected or first term in office she was more of an activist and she wanted to really kind of shake things up but she's learned the importance of listening to others i don't want any part of this woman's makeover it's all done it's all being done at a political expediency and i've sat there and watched her as one part of her at one part uh she's an at large uh counselor i've watched her and i'm not going to say in what city but i've watched her go into one part of the city and i'm thinking to myself well what took you so long why did you need to go in with somebody else i saw her go into another part of the city that she represents and again it was the same thing she went in with somebody else and so i'm saying to myself well why do you need to go in with to go in with someone else that between that and not listening to people it's it's it's shameful it's shameful you went into this position not ready not capable of being able to perform the duties and i'm going to repeat what i've said throughout the show i'm not here for it i'm not going to tolerate but i'm going to continue to talk about this because i just you know in addition to this post-truth climate the the hypocrisy i just it just i i ugh yuck but on that note i want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and uh take care of yourselves and 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 3025 washington street boston massachusetts o2119 to arrange a time for your own commentary you can call wbca at six one seven seven oh eight three two one five or email radio at bnnmedia.org