Laugh & LearnIn this episode of Laugh and Learn, comedian Flame Monroe and co-host Bobbi Clifford share highlights from their week, including a comedy tour and a fundraiser for fire victims. They dive into the shifting media landscape, the impact of major network layoffs on political discourse, and the Democratic Party’s strategies for community engagement. They also explores immigration policies, economic challenges, and the need for bold leadership in addressing healthcare, government cutbacks, and tax policies. With humor and insight, they emphasize the power of civic engagement in tackling today’s pressing issues. Tune in and comment in the socials below.
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We say, if you watch your coffee time the baby you know the name flame, my bro also known as my Roe Flame, come in with last and come in with you love loundes.
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A knowledge from fatherhood to politics.
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You know she raised shout towns on speaking to the grown a second year. We're gonna laugh, cut him and kick it and at the end we leave it with just a lifted spirits.
But do you want to revisit.
So your first second listen, young folks say it's left old folks that we dig it.
Good cay, no this do what you do? I no peas do what you do? Can't no do what I do? Nod.
Hey.
Hey, this is comedian Say Monroe, and welcome to this week's episode of Laugh and Learn. I think this is episode number thirty eight. Am I correct?
Bobby Clifford, A little birdie just told us it. Why so I trust that.
That is my beautiful co host, Bobby Clifford, the lady I can't. Bobby. By the way, people saying that you never say I can't, I can't suggested that we.
Get this Oh my god, I know, but people will be putting cunt or something on there and that's no good. Yeah, I can't do it either. I can't do a T shirt that said that. That would be yucky.
We want to thank you that's for joining us this week. Listen thirty eight episodes and y'all we and what is this twenty six days into the twenty twenty five and y'all see where we hate it and where we're at. But we're here with you guys, and we hope that you guys are here with us because we don't just keep reporting news. By the way, let's how was your week, Bobby Clifford, What did you do this week?
Well, it started out crappy because we had allows you weather and everything was icy. And then over the past couple of days you get like a little winter thought and we've had like a high forties and everything's melting. So what happens is it melts during the day, which is great and you can walk, and then you go to take the dog out at night and you're on a friggin ice rink and you're fat ask files to the ground and you're praying the whole way down, and so is the dog that I don't land on them, that you're not going to break something.
Bobby, did you fall?
Yes? I did. Bumbles bounce, bumbles, bounce, my friend.
I'm not laughing at you, Bobby, but you telling the story or you didn't tell me that you failed? You okay, because you know we can you can't be following at your age. I'll be friends when you'll be breaking stuff.
Honest to God, I know I am. That's what I think you think when you're you're going. Oh please Jesus, just don't. I don't care if I get a bruise or anything. Just don't let anything break, because you know what, I'd be out there for four weeks when the refrigerator in the pantry were empty and there was no food left.
Then they'd come looking for me to complain. Other than that, nobody would give two ships. Oh, I'm glad you're okay, Bobby. Oh, so, let me tell you about my week. I had quite interesting week last week.
Last Thursday, we were in uh Mayreta, Kansas. We were at the Prairie Bank Casaya. We had a great had my mown tour with Tiffany Handish. It was the first thing about to a Barbara Carlyle, myself and Tiffany Haddish, great show, fantastic artist. And when I tell you, may Rent of Kansas, it is probably one of the whitest parts of Middle America.
It was super super white.
They were surprisingly they were some of the warmest people, very kind.
They bought a thousand dollars worth of fans and Bobby. So when I came on stage, I figured, oh, you in Kansas, and I notice is Trump country. So I said, oh my god, you got the.
Kansas City Chiefs, you got the Kansas City Royals, and you got Donald Trump.
Do you know that those people boob when I see Donald Trump? I said, oh, y'all. Oh, now, y'all, man, I said, I said, now you want to take it back? I said, oh, so now you know what it feels like to be black. They fell out, Bobby, but they were such kind people. And I'm telling you, if I had me being not only black, but transgender in that arena, if I really had to put my finger on, it's America more racist than people want to know. No. I think people really want to just live in harmony together in this country. It's just that a lot of the big wigs, and a lot of the loudmouths happened to be the racist people. That's one thing. Then yesterday I did a fundraiser for the Altadena seniors that were affected by the wildfires because a lot of sau citizens lost their situations, their homes or if they were living in a nursing home. Interesting, Bobby, And there was one family then Olheim Me said the name. It was the Freedley family, Maiva Weekly Freedley. She was ninety one or ninety two years old. She was the matriarch of the family. She had migrated here from Costa Rica, maybe sixty years ago, sixty five years ago. So Altadena was one of the first neighborhoods in California that allowed middle class black people to move in. Because we were Redland to only live in certain areas we could only But this was an affluent neighborhood, really nice. And so some of these people had had homes that had been in their families for generations, Bobby, this particular fam me. First of all, the lady died in the fire. She died in one of the homes in the fire. But her family had bought seven homes over the over the years, they lost all seven homes, twenty one family members this place. It was just a tragic story. So they had a fundraiser and they had me I introduced and hosted a little bit. But they had some legends on the.
Show Free to pain, Sherry Payne, Elaine Gibbs, Oh my God, Kim Hawthorne, Thelma Houston, Evelyn Champagne King and these old school women put on a show. Voices was the thea a young lady I had never heard of named Tish Hymen. Their voices were so powerful and these old here is the old girls. Ellen Champagne King, she came walking in with a k by me. When the music came on the stage, she was kicking and dropping it like it was hot move.
She said. When the music hit her, it just she don't need the cane. I was like, oh, that's the secret.
Jesus, it goes within her. I bet the dazzle too. Those ladies are usually ducked out.
It was Selma Houston's thing. Don't leave me this way. It was just a great night, great energy. I put the post of the pictures. It was so good, and I think they raised a bunch of money. I forget the organization that put it on PBH. But it was a great night, great entertainment, and some of these season entertainers are entertainers for real, Bobby. They didn't have they were not one here wonders. When they get a microphone in their hand and an audience, they just come alive. I loved it. I enjoyed it.
Can I ask the question about the family with the seven houses, and I wonder if that's how they were able to infiltrate the neighborhoods. I don't. I wonder if they bought them one by one or they went in and bought a bullets and so they were able to bought.
Them one by one over time. Yeah, and you know what that entails, Bobby.
You know that takes time, banks, loans, and all of them lost their homes.
It was just such a tragic story. And then the lady lost their retails. Are going we don't know, we don't know.
I'm hoping that the insurance, that there's insurance and you know that it's going to allow. I was watching a show on HDTV and it was in Arkansas, and remember what we had back in was a June May June. They had all the tornadoes and the floods, and it went through North Carolina and all that, and we keep saying, there's so many people still displaced eight months later, nine months later from from North Carolina in that region, and I was I wondered if the insurance was going to do what they were supposed to. This particular show that I watched, they were they were fixing a house that like they had three tornadoes come at once and almost took the garage off. But anyway, insurance insurance made good on it. So I hope to God that they're going to make a good for the rest of the people. Oh my god, Hi honey, it's like a big city beer. I love him. Now cover Chloe's ears. He's got it all over her. I'm sorry you got an ugly duckling and a swan write in the same letter.
Oh my god, you know, Bobby, it's so funny.
And speaking about the story, because that's that story was not reported on the news, and tragically, we probably would have never heard about that had I did this event. And speaking of news media, uh, Joy Reid from ms NBC. They are doing cut back and they have cut so many different people from black and brown people, from MSNBC. The heads are rolling this is.
They're checking it out, they're checking it up.
They're trying to make it to where if you don't have anything positive to say about the about the president, about the president, Elon Musk who that they just don't want to be heard from you, you know, you can't be heard from. They're trying to silence everybody.
Did the same thing on ABC with the View, and what they what they're saying is is you know, there could be a few things. I don't know if they're actually trying to it's least with the View silence them. I think that there, you know, people come, there's a lot of people that watch that show, and all of us are feeling, you know, you and I speak offline, you feel in a certain way, you feel in a little like a little hopeless. And I wonder if they're trying to say, you know, don't because they have a tendency. I love the show and what they're saying isn't wrong, but they can tend to exaggerate at times, and I wonder if they're saying, let's not get the people so that everybody is like looking for their guest stove or you know, a rope in a tree and that's one piece. And then they're all having big layoffs. ABC had huge layoffs. They're waiting to see if anything's going to hit the hit the View, but they said the view. The morale is really low since they were told that, which you would be. You want to feel free, to be able to say what you want, but you also don't want to you want to be negative. Trust you me. The man loves theater and there's plenty going on. They don't really other than to report on it and maybe break things down. They don't even need to be negative. He does all that on his own, bless his little heart. But joy read and Lester Holtz is stepping down. I don't know if he's just doing it because he wants. I think he's got young kids. I think he's got older and yet like so, I don't know if he's doing it for that. Coda Hop Code of Copy was saying, you know, come to the burbs and get us see in a van with me. But he's still going to do a weekly show. I think it's probably just a lot to do every day for him. I think he might be different.
Yeah, well they may be off the major platforms off those networks, but they can they can be successful on YouTube.
It worked for Don Lemon. Don Lemon, who is a friend of our show, who is a friend of mine, just hit five hundred thousand on YouTube. And that's not only a check, but that is a lot of you is and you are free to say what you want to say to reach the masses. So it may work out for Joey Read because she had such a big PLATFORMSNBC. She's professional, Yeah, and they'll follow her over to.
You too, Yeah, she's profess So the two of them. So what I don't like, and we've talked about this before, what I don't like about some of these podcasts, and you know the podcast where you know, somebody goes on Instagram and they think it's like a big podcast. No one's vetting anything. So I always challenge everybody, even with us, because we all put a slant on if you don't like something or someone or you know, it's how you're seeing it through your eyes. Vet the stuff. Don't just believe people on TikTok go and check it out. But what I can tell you is that Don Lemon is no joke his show, it's a team he's got several producers that are there. Everybody's vetting he's coming with four or five six sources. He's not. He's not just like saying it because that's how he feels. And I believe that Joyry could be successful because she's a professional. She's going to do the same thing. Yeah, but there is big media switch up. You know, you don't just get to go to the presspool anymore, you know the new what Caroline Levitt says. You know it's gonna be up to that. There's a certain team and the people who have been there just because they're in DC no longer have it. Should have a monopoly, and it could be you could have a TikToker. Maybe he'll be doing some moves and giving us an opinion or something. At the same time, what do you think working a little? I don't know. I don't like it.
That sounds like the secretary of State.
I don't know about that. You're gonna keep that tworking?
Oh my god? Uh yeah, it is cash mattel Getty. And do I believe that they're going to get everything that they want. I believe that they're going to get everything they want simply because we've handed it to them.
I do, but I will say some of the stuff that I'm surprised surprised at is when Elon Musk made his mandate that everybody better email I don't know him or is there a main email I don't know email him and tell him what they've done for the past five days to validate themselves. Now, you have to remember a lot of these people have already even laid off or whatever. They don't have access necessarily to their email any longer, or some people don't have jobs that you have to look at the email. You know, you look at the email Monday when you get into the office. So he had that big you better do it or else deadline, and that kind of went by the wayside. But Cash Betel and Telsey Gabbert shocked me. They told that people don't answer it. They don't speak to him. They speak to You can send it to me if you want to, and we're not requiring it. You're a CIA, you're FBI, you're in the field. That's what you're supposed to be doing the work. I don't you want an email? And I thought, interesting, Now that must have gone over like a fart in church, because Trump and his first cabinet meeting, God bless you and all of your can everybody looked like they were spanked. And he went in and basically said, Oh, everybody's thrilled to have him. He and they're gonna listen to everything they say. And they're all sitting there like they were far from but he gave them, he let him speak. Do you think he's setting them up flame? Or do you think.
And his quote was and if you don't like him, he will get rid of you.
Yeah, yeah, well you can get out, you know, like basically, so they're all keeping their mouth shut. But I thought, all right, gatherd is I think I.
Think that's a great point that you just right up though, Bob. It may be a setup, because.
Again you are you are still still in my shine, You are still you're supposed to be in my shadow, not in my light.
Well I think you know that. God bless them. President Trump has never owned, apologized, or said a mistake that he has made. We all make them. I spend most of my life saying I'm sorry before I say hello to people, and then I figure out what I've done. He is not like that. When all of the poopoo hits the fan as it's probably going to. Isn't it going to be easy to blame you one. He's not gonna take it. It's gonna because he was too aggressive. You know, he was quirky for he was a genius. Now, but then he'll be saying he's special, you know, a special sauce as you say. I don't know. I don't know if there's an overplay for the underplay here, if he's actually in deference to them because he is so an admiration of wealthy people and he's the wealthiest, or is it a setup or is it both? I don't know.
I guess only time will tell. I'm here for it. I want to hear about it. I want to see it.
I think what the Democrats have to do is I was listening to h James Carvil, I find he's he's quite a character, and he said that he thinks that the Democrats really they need to have tactical patients. They need to sit back and let things just implode on their own. We don't need to get involved in it. And I don't know if that's in somebodys I agree. And then another way is we sort of have to be a team. Let me ask you something. Did you see Jane find his acceptance speech? Did you get a chance to watch it in its entirety?
I challenge you, clickbait.
I want you to. I actually want you to listen to the whole thing. Because she's sort of at eighty seven years old, bless her heart, and I mean it. She looked like a million bucks. She just had a knee replacement not long ago, so she a little stiff getting up the stairs. Some handsome fella, a little chippy was beside her and helped her get up. She was as sharp as attack. I bet Joe Biden was like, I wonder what she's taken? Is it Nariva? Why should have taken a little of that? She wore the story that was thankful, grateful, impactful. She looked like a million bucks. She said that she loved the Lifetime Achievement Award. She's not looking at it as you know, like an epitaph, you know, because she's going, getting ready to go. She's a late bloomer, and it's kind of like saying, you go, girl. She said. She was very quick on her feet, which I thought was great for eighty seven. All of a sudden some asshap what's the speaker on is talking like they're playing a clip. So she said, see, I'm so powerful from this, I can conjure voices. It was hysterical. She said that we need these are really dangerous times. That being woke doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you have empathy. And she says, and who you know means you give a damn about other people, which I thought was great. She said, a whole lot of people, she does, some in this room, maybe some not, are going to be hurt by what's starting to go on in this country. She said, we need to We've been saying this, but it's hard to do when people dig in. We need to sit back and invite the other side in and actually listen with our heart and invite them in. She used the expression tent. You know, she means community. She says, because going to need a really big tent to whether it's going to be coming at us and it's going to become in sec She mentioned likened it too, and I'm right with her. McCarthyism in the fifties and how so many actors and comedians and et cetera, et cetera were blackballed, and how strong that the union was and that there was a place for them to come and they pushed back. She also spoke about, you know, uh, life is sort of like a documentary. She said, uh. She said, you know, pick your favorite one. Civil rights, apartheid. She said, would would you be brave enough too to uh cross that bridge? You know we're thinking of civil rights? Or to take the baton and the dogs? She said, well, let me tell you, this is our documentary right now. Don't kid yoursel off what's going on in this country. She didn't blame anybody. She said, we have to make sure we don't isolate. We stayed with community, and we have to find positive words that we can put out to each other to get over this hump. And and she made it seem very positive, like we will get to the other side. And thank you very much for this award. I really appreciate it, I said, Jane, I haven't agreed. I agree with the whole Vietnam thing and taking the picture with the Vietcong. But let me tell you she had my vote today.
I appreciate the speech, I appreciate all that, but you start off by saying I don't agree with Democrats having to sit back and let it, im quote I do this is.
That's what Carava was. That's what I'm saying.
This is how we got here.
That's what she was saying. So Carville I was saying, said that let it, you know, sit back and just let them take care of what they're going to do with your best.
That's right. We said, we can't let this fester because us. This is how we got here. We had. The Democratic Party has to find the courage, the strength, and the stamina and the due diligence now to put a program into place. Now they don't even have to talk about it publicly. They got to start moving, not in science. So they have to start with an initiative now, Bobby, to get us all on board, becasts. They have shown such weakness to the American people that our own Democratic Party, myself included, I am leary about if I want to stay a Democrat or do I want to go independent because of how.
They try the ball to me on this situation. We would This is so many different people's faults as Americans. It's a lot of our fault. But the Democratic Party, we had no strong leadership when they did decide to pass Baton to come to Harry as they passing sixty days out. We had no strong leadership. So we have as a Democrat.
In this country, I am I doubt my party own if you guys are going to make sure that we are covered when we put all into that. So they have to come up with a strategy and they need to come.
Up with it now and how they can speak to the people because the people felt that they were speaking to the elite. They did not get the message. They didn't water it down enough so that everyday people felt like they were being heard. They just assumed as we just got through talking about TikTok and stuff, right, they assumed people were going to do the work themselves and they would see, no, they weren't. A lot of people don't take the time to do that. So Trump spoke the language that people wanted to hear, the hateful, the racists, the whatever. And those are the people that came out and voted for him and our people quite a few of them, and independents just stayed home. They just couldn't and we can't have that. We've spoken about this too. I know we're twenty six days in already, but we're also that much closer to the midterms. We need to get messaging out. We need to reach all of those open seats that are that are coming up, and we need to start sticking strong Democratic or independent candidates in there. But we got to get the message in, you know, correct.
First, there is there is no lighthouse. That's the Democratic Party right now has no lighthouse. And that's what we see because even though we know we way out to see there is a light that we're going to take our navigate towards that, we don't see the damn lighthouse because they haven't given us a lighthouse. That is my thing with the Democratic Party right now. That's also the topic good name of the show. There is no lighthouse. So our faith is shaken because you allow this to step in. And you're right, Bobby, he spoke the racist, fastest hateful rhetoric and his people came out. Unfortunately, some of the ones that came out to both of him will experience exactly what he's talking about. But they chose their racism over that, and they're going to experience the bullshit because it will not be then't have nuts, it will be the halves and you don't have it, and we don't give a damn.
Yeah, it's true something that people are getting their nickers in a twist. And this is what I keep saying. You've got to pay attention to what's important people. It's we we're not in a time that we can sit back and not like you're in the car, stick on you know, the news, just to just to catch up just fifteen minutes a day. I don't want people actually going crazy over it. But he is going to sell citizenship to to immigrants. He's really looking for Saudi's and wealthy wealthy and Middle Easterns and whatnot. But he's acting like and he's going to call it because you have a green card. He's going to call it the gold card. Well, here's the thing, because he loves golds. He's not due. He's going to sell it for five million. This has been a round flame for thirty years. It came in under the first bush and it's been bounced. It's EB five. It's an immigrant investor visa program. It is if somebody had comes in and they invest a million dollars, and it has to be there's a whole criterion. I don't know the criteria. Well enough, it has to be in rural areas or poor areas, or tech areas or things that we actually need. So this person's attractive to us. They can stay for the time of that whatever that investment is or whatever they're doing. And I don't know he's saying he's going to lead it to a paf of that's easier to get the green card. We'll see all he did. So Trump not Trump, excuse me. President Biden revamped it in twenty twenty two. He put three new rules in. He wanted more regulation and more government oversight. He wanted to make sure there was security provisions for the people that were investing. And he also wanted to go have a grandfather cause that protects that participants, you know, so that they don't get like bounced if if they're in the middle of their whatever. He also raised the investments. I think it was five hundred thousand dollars initially. It raised it to a million, eight hundred thousand. If you're going to go in a rural area where they don't have a lot of whatever it is. So this isn't something that's new, but people are losing their shit over it. They're so No, it's been in forever, so you got to pay a ten. No, he's going to claim if it works out, great, right, he's going to claim the credit for it. The other thing is is that when it first started thirty years ago, it was they thought there was going to be a whole lot of people that were doing There weren't all that many, I think that. And it was either twenty twenty or twenty twenty two, only eighty seven people actually applied for it. And then you have to you have to get betted.
Don't wait, don't let me. I don't want to cut you out. I just want to be paid.
That's it.
So he is recycling the poor immigrants to bring in the rich immigrants, because that's what you're doing. He's chasing out the poor immigrants to recycle to bring in the rich immigrants at a profit to him and his cronies. Oh. I just wanted to make sure I'm clear. Okay, continue, No, this is the ultra rich.
So this isn't like so there was what had come in the nineties. The people that came in the nineties were mostly Indians. So but I don't he's not looking for that. He's looking for so you want to talk about having more of the have and have nots. He's just by by raising that bounty, he's cutting out a whole, a whole bunch, you know, and it kind of gets rid of you know, he's the New York guy, right, it gets rid of giving you're tired, you're poor, your huddled masses to breathe free. You know, he's looking for send me your your multi billionaires, your you know, no huddled masses. You're elite.
Okay, So I just wanted to be to make sure I was clear.
So because you know, in this country, as Americans, we taught to recycle.
He's recycling. He ran on the program to get rid of the immigrants, only to recycle to bring in the rituals called the Ultimate. Say, that's exactly what I want you because I'm listened to everything that Bobby is saying. I just want you all to because good god.
It's a double recycle. He's recycling the idea and trying to I didn't hear him say this has been on the books for thirty years when I when I was listening. So that's out and he's yes, you're absolutely right, he doesn't want those immigrants. But he wants the ultra richer immigrants. And speaking of immigrants, he was the birthright citizenship isn't looking so good. You know, he had a judge shot it down the appeals court. He's going to have you know, this is the It came in eighteen sixty eight to guarantee anybody that was born here on the soil that they could that they're a citizen. It was an umbrella for slavery as people being freed, so they weren't told to go back to their home. Their home is here. They were born here, so that that was the thought of it. So it's not looking See he's gonna throw a lot of crap against the wall, but it's not all going to land. But he's gonna he's certainly going to break us up. In the meantime, he's going to pit us against each other. He is going to cozy up to Putin. You know, he had those Putin talks. He also he also spoke with Ukraine. There they're settling on some sort of mineral rights. I loved Zelensky for saying, no, you're not getting it for payback. That's not how it works. They were grants the money that Biden gave us in your Congress and House and there's no paybacks. What do you think? I am so yeah, I don't know, just just crazy. Did you hear guantanam? Obey is not working out so well that right now? I guess they have one hundred and seventy Venezuelans that are there. They have them intense. The ten stone have electricity, heat or see and that's against our regulations. So that's not working. Also, strangely, flame they were talking about CNN, there is nobody there's right now that is actually a criminal. They're all just people, if you want to say they're criminals because they came across. But they haven't been able to speak with their families, their attorneys. They've only gotten out twice a week. Chris Cuomo had somebody on yesterday. It was speaking about it. So somebody's going to have to do something and get down there. Maybe one of the people that they laid off can go down and watch.
It and go on. Toronto. Obey is notoriously known as a place where they torture you.
Well they I'm hoping to god that's not the you know, I'm hoping it's like a dormitory as they're waiting.
Listen. Yeah, that's the white woman speaking, y'all because we know better.
But that's the white We haven't We haven't had complaints about that. I will say the sources that they were talking we haven't had We haven't had complaints about that. But I saw something that absolutely broke my spirit. Was was the I mean, it's the UN General Assembly when all of Europe voted to stand behind, stand behind Ukraine and North Korea, Russia, Belarus, China, people that we don't usually you know, stand with, you don't fuck with.
Is that?
Is that the correct expression? In the United States of America voted it down. I was humiliated that we're in that pile of countries.
Listen, we are. We ain't for Wayne Dame Doodle. I'm gonna tell you what though. You know who I got, I'm gonnery respect for is the governor of Maine. So they were having the first conference and she of Donald Trump, was like, were you better do it?
Because they want to remove transgender athletes and transgender change from sports. So he tried to bully her and she what is her name, Bobby?
She is? I'm looking it up because I'm blanking on her name. I think it's Janet Mills lay and she.
Told her, well, you better do it. She said, well, we'll He said, I'm not doing that. He said he was going to stop all funding's going to Maine. She said, well, I will see you in court. He said, well, I guess she and then he threatened her that well you won't enjoy politics us. You won't come back. Baby, she has stood ten tones down. Oh you ain't shaken.
She's a Republican. Guys. She's a Republican by the way, just in case people didn't pick up on that.
And what I love about her, baby, she's giving me Nancy Pelosi VABs.
That is what.
You have to challenge him that and he will respect the hell out of her after the fact.
But she's a Democrat.
I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I'm sorry. I mean to interrupt you.
I don't want to.
I swore that she was a Democrat because remember they had the shooting there. I swore that the woman that was there was a But I'm wrong. No, I go she could give a rats for rent and that's what that's what flame you're on it. That's what people need to do. He doesn't like it, especially a woman he must have been ooh, his little, his little I can't say they're tight or white, but he probably got his nickers in a bunch.
Oh. And you know, he does not like to be embarrassed. And she stood up in front of the room to speak back, So that was something. They also had the first Cabinet meeting today and from what it looked like to me, Trump called the meeting. But it looked like from what I've seen in the videos that I've seen, it looked like Elon Musk was directed in that train here.
That's why I'm saying. I keep saying, is this this is gonna be because he's very deliberate with everything that he does, and he builds people up only to tear them down later. And I'm like, is this is he blowing smoke up his rear end and he's gonna just blame everything when it's when it's when.
You say blowing smoke, I like to that might not be what he's putting up there, but you just said blowing smoke with it.
I don't know, but you know, I don't know. I think we're going to have to wait. I think we're going to have to kind of pay attention We're going to kind of have to pay attention to see how that.
Goes with these government layoffs. Bobby, good guy, here is a roller. They are telling people not to respond to the emails, but some people responded to the emails. Some people accepted the buyouts and still have lost their jobs.
Seventy five thousand. It was up to I don't know how they can do the buyouts without it going to Congress. They hold the money that he can't wave. He can talk about it, but he can't actually do it. Now, maybe maybe Congress it'll go through and people will actually sign off on it, you know, like maybe they'll say these poor people if they have to go. You know, you know what I would like if all this cabinet members went back to their perspective, what they lead, the groups that their district whatever, Well they're you know, so it's no for take doze out so tell us again. Ever would go to the CIA, cash fatality, the FBI, Robert Kennedy would go back to but and they would actually do an audit on their own groups. You know, they're what they're leading and cut the fat. Wouldn't that wouldn't that make a hell of a lot more sense than just all of these sixty seven probationary people have been light laid off from the I R s now, I'm going to owe massive money, so I give a rats rare runt if they don't get my thing on time. I don't know if you did your taxes. Do you think if you're getting a refund with sixty seven one hundred people laid off, you're going to get on time?
Oh h, look at me, puzzled, bewildered by that question. Absolutely not.
They're already slow when they hit, when they was at mass capacity staff, they were already slow. So now you got them crippled with staff where you think you might not get your text return till January of next year. It is just it is preponderous the way. And then he's getting rid of the he's qualified people, and they're doing it so quickly without even thinking and so swiftly, and then had to turn around and bring some of these employees back because they don't know what they're doing it. It is just what Kamlin Harris said. It is unhinged power to somebody who power is not is so much more than just a drug. Powell fules this man pow will fuse this.
Man and being liked. Strangely, he wants people to like him. He wants to go down at being great. But the difference. We've talked about this many times. The people that are on Mount Rushmore, where he aspires to be, they were all uniters, they brought us together during horrible times, and the United all parties, all people. He's a divider. He's not going to get up there. Maybe there's a mountain on the other side and they can talk to each other or something. But I don't see it happening. I just don't. Not when you're cutting, you know, healthcare for kids. Seth Moulton is congressman from my state, Massachusetts, and he was on Cuoma last night and he said this actually shocked me flame. I was not prepared for this number. He said, in Massachusetts, one and four children are on Medicaid. That's a lot of kids. Yeah, So how in the world my sister is on it? Obviously she's special needs. How are you going to be a United when you're going after the weakest and most vulnerable, the elderly who have their nursing homes paid, the little bitty children, babies that are born with horrible diseases or need to get through or us if God forbid, I got some horrible chronic disease. You know, long term disability is only so long and then you've got to figure it out yourself until you can battle it or get through, or maybe you never get through. How are you going to have You need insurance. You need to take care of our people.
I think when they hear medicaid, they automatically think people getting welfare, and so they don't think about the homes. They don't think about the medical babies who are born. They don't think about what snap. They know snap is going to be. You're going to get started geting ribbed at the grocery store because people are going to have to eat, and they're going to have to feed their children, and people will get desperate about food that is going to you probably really probably need security going to the grocery store if they really do cut food stuff. Because there's so many people and so many people that voted for Trump. Just what the ones you said. It's so many of those racist white people and I'm sorry, I just have to say like that that votering for Trump that get snapped and they get medicaid. It's going to affect you. Unfortunately you didn't move.
Or ignorant like some people. It's not even that they're racist some people. He speaks with such conviction and he lies so much, and he does it on purpose. So I don't even know, Like I can't even say if he's actually a liar because he's doing it. All he's doing it is a means to to an end. But people actually believe him flame you know, like they believe that he was going to X y Z so ah. So here's another thing that I want to talk about. So with all of these these cuts that's supposed to be happening, remember eight hundred and eighty trillion, I believe is the number, or no, eight hundred and eighty billion, excuse me, is the number that they have to hit. They're only hitting that. They're not actually going to pay down the deficit. They're just trying to get that that number to pay for Trump's tax cuts for the elite. Okay, So somebody writes in to Elon Musk and says, well, if you reach a certain dollar amount, then you should pay some people money back to the people. So he says, if he hits two trillion. We're not even going to hit the eight hundred and eighty two trillion that he is going to. He will give five thousand dollars. So there's a percentage. You give twenty percent back. And if you have seventy eight billion people in the the United States and you divide that, you know the trillion he's going to get amongst all those people. It's five thousand dollars. People, we're not going to hit the low dollar around. Never mind, he's gonna hit like a thousand times more than that, So we get a check. Don't don't pay attention to the nonsense. Research this stuff he says that all of us is. I mean they talk openly everywhere, and everything is filmed. I mean, honest to god, if he has gas, somebody's reporting about it that he had a hot dog for lunch or something. You know, you got to pay attention. It's all out there. Listen to what they say and believe it.
It's all stage. They are dangled in the apple, an apple that you will never get to bite, an apple that you will look beautiful to you, shiny should but you will never get to bite it.
And you keep following, Yeah, because what do we talk about at the top of this conversation hanging down the deficit. So if there is money, it should it should pay down our deficit. That's the whole point, right, What we would have to do to pay that money back to people because we have a deficit, we'd have to take a loan out. It's not gonna happen. Pay attention this. Some of this stuff is just like so in front of you that you're just not They just hear it and they think, ooh, the United States does not give free money away. It just doesn't unless we're all paid up, or you have a horrible pandemic, or you know, you're trying to stimulate, like during the recession, trying to stimulate a little something so that the whole economy doesn't go flip flop. That's not what's happening now. You know, he's running on bringing the deficit down. He's going to add just like the last time, he's going to double it.
Yeah, the power, the power few. Oh wait a minute, what happened, Bobby?
That was my big That was my big. Ibria all frustrated.
Oh girl, I thought you's about the final drama. I was like, good, don't be following on lives, I can't put you up over.
There, no, no, no, sweet Jesus, you couldn't pick me up at need a crane. And and the other thing is that there was a whole lotter go on seeing in the Daily skim. I love it. It kind of breaks down my news in the day. You know, his big tax cuts, so to speak, they're going to hit the veterans directly. And remember he was all for the veterans. He's all for unions, he's all.
For no he did. Listen, here's this killing part. He didn't fool America once. He got us twice. He got us twice. So you all have to ask yourself, what part did I play in this? Because vocal or not, did you talk to people about voting the right way? Even though we know it was some it was some ship in the game, and it was But he has gotten us twice. The second time might be the one. This might be the one because all bets are off right now and he knows now. He first time he came in, he was intricate and he didn't know that. I mean, he didn't know the game. He was learning. This last time he knows the game, and he got all the game players and they play. That's on his side. We got in a lot of trouble.
Yeah, you just said it. That's it. The first time he came in, it wasn't even that he didn't completely know the game. He didn't, but he had people that were that put up guardrails. They weren't going to let him go willy nilly. This time, he is trying to set it up so that he doesn't. We're going to see. We're going to see. Actually when push comes to shove, there are a couple of cases that are out with Skotos. We're going to see. He is going to have to strategically do what I was saying that the Democrats will have to do. He's going to have to really pick his poison. What is he does he really want to, you know, die on the wall for And those are the cases that will go to the Supreme Court. He com bring everything to the Supreme Court. But meanwhile, uh, inflation is going up because you know, the economy is uncertain with what people we're gonna buy because of tariffs, because of extra pricing. So he's he better stop talking about those tariffs because he's gonna he's gonna bite his big giant rump, you know, in the in the cheek. Did you see that that Roberta flackes.
Yeah, we lost Roberta like the legend herself. First time ever I saw. My gosh, boys, was so calming and so smooth, so soothing.
Smooth, that's the word, absolutely sweet.
We also lost Chris Chris Jasper from the Icy Brother.
And somebody from Buffy the Vampire.
Strating or something like that. Very young.
I'm telling you right now, please live your lives because tomorrow is not promising.
I'll telling you don't know what's coming. You just don't know. They said tomorrow, hell the next ten minutes. In the situation that we're in the scariest part about us Americans right now is that we put ourselves in this pickle. We want to blame this party or that party, but we all have a hand in this. We all had handle this. Unfortunately, it was entertaining. We didn't take it seriously. It was a joke. We discarded it.
We thought that the people in the high places that we elected was going to do the right thing, and none.
Of that came out to be the truth.
We are in a situation as Americans and if we don't remember that all of us as Americans come first, we won't have no America. That we won't because I'm telling you there's going to be that the halves and you don't have And when we don't give a damn no, I'm telling.
You, I don't want to watch. I don't want to watch my Chodren suffered Bobby. I don't what I can do something about it. I don't want to see that.
Well, so you just you just open the door. That's a perfect segue into so people are saying they've been on your coffee time and they're asking what do you do? You go to these town halls, especially if it's for the other side, you tell tell people how it's affecting you. I have watched over the past week snibbets that the different the different channels are showing and let me tell you, some of those senators and congressmen are flabbergasted. They did not realize that people were their own constituents who voted for them. GOP are angry. They're they're farmers who are getting everything cut. I saw a whole bunch of black farmer. There's a whole group that that that has some sort of like it's gonna say support group, but some sort of group that they kind of all like work together. And they voted for Trump because they thought that they were going to get some sort of something. And so, you know, you they went to the town hall. They let them know that they're they're quite unhappy and what's not working for them. And when you're loud and you have your receipts, you conscious go everybody and scream. You know, you can't be like that. You need to be calm because people we'll hear you more. But go with how it's affecting you. Exactly the money what was promised the day it was promised. I saw on the clip from Trump, you know, August thirteenth, that I'm telling you you will overwhelm these people. That's we have to speak tooth to power. We have to remind them who put them in office to begin with, and especially the ones that are up for the midterms, and see where they go. Because these people looked, I thought, oh, this might not be so bad. You might have somebody. Let's see if the senators have any more balls. And then Congress did that, just put the Trump's budget blueprint through, doesn't mean it's through everybody. It just means it got signed off at the house.
Well, I'll tell you what.
And if Americans we have the gross set of balls, and if you m ain't got big balls, you can borrow a man because maybe your balls need to be big. And then to get through because we are in for a wang dang dueto of a roller coaster rat will we survive it?
Only time will tell.
I think so.
But we do have to stand up and fight for us as we get stand up of fighters. In the words of Kenny Loggins, this is it. Make no mistake when you walk. This is it and this could be permanently it. So we got to make sure. If you're not ready to generations to stop, damn it. You got to stand up and fight back as an American whatever fight back means to you. And I'm not talking about physically fighting.
You got to write letters, You got to go to Congress, you got to stand in solidarity.
We got to find each other and we remember that we got to live together. We don't look alike, we don't have the same religion, we might not have the same ideology, but damn it, we Americans. This is why that have to learn is what it is. Because Bobby and I are Americans. We don't look alike, we sometimes don't think alike, we just laugh alike. But we are Americans. Which 'all remember that first, and then we would get out of this pickle. WHOA, I'm sorry.
I think we're going to get through. I think it's going to be a black eye in the United States. I think sometimes we have. It's not going to be pleasant. Everything that we've been saying since the beginning, save your money, don't do any unnecessary spending. Don't spend anything on Friday.
Everybody, Friday twenty eight it's a complete blackout. Don't by any don't pay credit card, don't use your phone or we don't go back, don't go to the grocery store. Let the country fill the crunch of one day. And if we can really shake it one day and do it two or three days, they will hear us. You have to hit them where they live, and they live in their pockets.
Yeah, and you do. And that's the stuff you have to do. I'm not saying that it's going to be easy over the next four years. It's going to be what did Musk say, It's gonna be a little uncomfortable for a little while or something along those lines. He didn't lie, but my god, I think he must have been the nerdiest kid in high school. I looked at him at that seapack or whatever, and he with his chainsaw, and I'm like, sweet cheese, is gonna cut somebody's head off. He was filling like Billy big balls. He was all that in the bag of chips. Plus it's a little hot, but dumb balls. Maybe be he just had his thirteen kid. It was his fourth or fifth baby. Mama woman did that? What would they call her?
Okay, y'all, thank you guys so much, Thank you guys so much for joining us for laugh and Learning this week. Listen to me please, if you have topics or if you have questions, hit Bobby up at Laugh and Learn Podcast on Instagram, Laugh and Learn Podcast Bobby or Aaron. We'll get the message and we will get it out. We might possibly have to be having a very special guest coming on very soon. Also, you can follow me on all social media platforms at Flame Monroe, Instagram, I Monroe Flame, and I'm on tour with Tiffany Hatits for twenty five more City.
So go to Tiffany haatige dot com to see where we're gonna be at and where can we follow you at Bobby Clifford, Oh.
Instagram or Facebook Clifford, Bobby and Bobby Clifford. And then same for TikTok, not that I do a whole lot on TikTok. And then don't forget about laugh and learn.
And we thank you guys for joining us.
Listen, we could not have the show without you, and we would not have the show without you. This is episode number thirty eight.
Yes it is. That's what Aaron told us.
Oh, thank you to o producer Aaron. Thank you to y'allin and Dollary Bishop. Also coming up, it's the third year anniversary of the of the Black Effect podcast. That celebration they're gonna have April the twenty sixth in Atlanta, Georgia. Please go to the Breakfast Club or to the Black Effect Network on Instagram to find all the details. Maybe we'll be there. Maybe you'll see me and Bobby bumping through. As long as there's no ice, because if Bobby fall, I'm gonna laugh. I'm probab, I'm gonna help way up, but I'm gonna laugh for like five minutes.
First I told you bumbles bounce, it wasn't pretty.
Thank you guys for joining us, and remember that. Here a laugh a larned. The motto is the same.
We will never change because we want you to hear it and we want it to affect you.
Here a laugh a learned. We are not trying to get you to change your mind.
We're only trying to get you to use your mind, because why, Bobby is.
A mind and your vote is a terrible thing to waste.
And damn it, Democrats, y'all better get together so we can vote. This is slam and Roe. That is Bobby Clifford. Don't miss an episode of Laugh and Learn. Listen and subscribe on the Black Effect Podcast Network, Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Laugh and Learn Podcast is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Our ejective producer is Tiffany Hattish. Our theme music is by the one and only Chrissy Payne. Thank you guys, This is Flaming Row. Don't forget to laugh. Listen and learn
