Tuesday, May 7th, 2024 Today, the Trump election interference trial resumes with Jeffrey McConney on the stand; Trump is found to be in contempt again to the tune of $1000; Republican Geoff Duncan explains why he’ll be voting for Joe Biden; Hamas accepts a Gaza ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar; Kristi Noem’s team told her to nix the dog story two years ago; Fox News is failing to mention that one of their conspiracy theory sources was charged with fraud; the racist Ole Miss student has been booted from his fraternity; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Tuesday, May 7th, 2024
Today, the Trump election interference trial resumes with Jeffrey McConney on the stand; Trump is found to be in contempt again to the tune of $1000; Republican Geoff Duncan explains why he’ll be voting for Joe Biden; Hamas accepts a Gaza ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar; Kristi Noem’s team told her to nix the dog story two years ago; Fox News is failing to mention that one of their conspiracy theory sources was charged with fraud; the racist Ole Miss student has been booted from his fraternity; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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Phi Delta Theta Fraternity Responds to Ole Miss Protest (Phi Delta Theta)
Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar (CNN)
Geoff Duncan: Why I’m voting for Biden and other Republicans should, too (AJC Opinion)
Kristi Noem’s Team Told Her to Nix the Dog Story 2 Years Ago (Politico Magazine)
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Jelly beans. Hello, and welcome to the Daily Beans for Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Today, the Trump election interference trial resumes with Jeffrey McConney on the stand. Trump is found to be in contempt again, to the tune of another $1,000 fine. Republican Jeff Duncan explains. While he'll be voting for Joe Biden this year, Hamas accepts a Gaza ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar. Christy Noem's team told her to nix the dog story two years ago. Fox News is failing to mention that one of their conspiracy theory sources was charged with fraud. And the racist Ole Miss student has been booted from his fraternity. I'm Allison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Hey, welcome back, my friend.
Thank you. And as always, thank you for covering me when I am m in flight back from Atlanta. This time had a good gala in Atlanta, Georgia.
Oh, excellent. Tell me about it. I want to hear. I want to hear.
It was an HRC one, um, broke the goal that they were wanting for fundraising, which is why they keep bringing me back. It was just a great room. There was about 800 people there. I don't know if anyone's on TikTok that's listening, but there's a couple of guys called the mean gays, and they basically have, like, a million followers because they literally just say really obviously mean things. But I know this sounds horrible, probably to some of the listeners, but it's all in fun. Like, if you had walked in a room, they were like, really catty gay men. Are you going to wear that dress? Like that sort of thing? Like, it doesn't, it doesn't get meaner than that, but somehow people seem to follow them. They were actually really lovely gays. Not just not mean gays, they were lovely gays.
Well, it's like, satirical roasting is what.
There you go. Speaking of, as a comedian, have you watched any of the, um. Yes. Tom Brady holds his name. Tom Brady Roast.
Yes.
My God, Glazer is a queen.
She was fantastic. Even gronk was like, me know that's not real money talking about cryptocurrency. And she's fabulous, by the way. And then, of course, Jeff Ross, you know, with the word, I think, Tom Brady massage comment. Yeah, one of the craft massage comments. Oh, my gosh.
Uh, anyway, if you're listening and you like roasts, I know some people, it's not their jam. Uh, this one's Tom Brady. It's the Tom Brady roast. And it's actually, it's. It's pretty good. If you can make fun of yourself. You'll enjoy it.
Yes, indeed. And Dana, uh, did you see the video over the weekend of the students at Ole Miss?
M horrified. And I will say, I know this video needs to be shared, but every time I see that little racist bleep do what he did to this beautiful black woman, my blood boils like boils same.
And Georgia Congressman Mike Collins retweeted it proudly, as if to say, look at how rad this is. And he's getting backlash after sharing it. The Israel Hamas war, demonstrators at University of Mississippi. It got ugly when this one counter protester appeared to make monkey noises and monkey gestures at that beautiful black student, and he's now been kicked out of his fraternity. Here's the quote from the story. Phi Delta Theta recognizes that freedom of expression is part of the collegiate experience. However, the fraternity is committed to upholding its principles as a private membership organization. And after reviewing the incident, it was determined that that individual's behavior was unacceptable. The action in question was offensive, outside the bounds of discourse, and contradictory to our values. So they kicked him out.
Good. I'm glad they did. And where are they learning this? Possibly parents, but we also have someone who held the highest seat in the land, who does this shit in public and has no consequences. And that's where this next story comes in. Um, I saw that Judge Mershon found. Found Trump in contempt again, Allison. This was Monday morning. They fined him another thousand dollars. Well, the DA specifically said they were not asking for jail time because they think it would disrupt the proceeding. But in his written ruling, the judge said it was clear that fines weren't deterring Trump and that jailing him might be the next step, even if it does disrupt the trial.
Yeah, and our good friend Mary Trump tweeted, quote, how often do criminal defendants get held in contempt? Ten times without being sent to jail?
Um, it's a fair tweet, and I think the answer would be none.
Very fair question. And I think Trump wants to get thrown in jail to disrupt this trial. It serves two purposes, right? He gets to play the victim card, and he gets to disrupt the proceedings. We'll see what happens, Pete. Uh, and I go over the, uh, contempt hearing, both of the. Well, we went over the other contempt hearing in the last episode, but we go over both contempt rulings and why only one of the four counts was fined. We go over that on tomorrow's cleanup on our 45, along with all the critical testimony from the past week or so. So you don't want to miss that podcast. All right, we have a lot of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot, uh, notes. All right. First up from CNN, Hamas says it has accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar, which seeks to halt the seven month war with Israel in Gaza. And this paints Bibi Netanyahu into a corner. In a statement Monday, Hamas said the head of its political bureau, Ishmael Hanaya, told the qatari prime minister and the egyptian intelligence minister that the militant group had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire. The israeli government is now reviewing the Hamas response, CNN has learned. The israeli prime minister's office has declined to comment at this time. It's unclear whether Hamas has agreed to the most recent ceasefire proposal as outlined last week, or a revised version of it now. The most recent framework, which Israel helped craft but has not fully agreed to, calls for the release of between 20 and 33 hostages over several weeks in exchange for a temporary ceasefire and the release of palestinian prisoners after the initial exchange. According to that framework, there would follow what sources describe as the restoration of sustainable calm during which the remaining hostages, captive israeli soldiers and the bodies of hostages would be exchanged for more palestinian prisoners. A diplomatic source familiar with the talks told CNN that after a day long meeting in Doha, that's the capital of Qatar, between CIA director William Burns, United States and qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al Thani. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. The mediators convinced Hamas to accept the three part deal. Quote, the bill is now firmly in israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's court, and I think they mean the ball here. And that's according to the source. The ball is in his court now. The United States is also reviewing Hamas response and discussing it with partners in the region. That's according to State Department spokesman Matt Miller, who has been on the show, um, but not since he's been the State Department spokesman.
That's what he said.
Quote, we continue to believe the hostage deal is in the best interest of the israeli people. It's in the best interest of the palestinian people. It would bring an immediate ceasefire. It would allow increased movement of humanitarian aid. So we're going to continue to work to try to reach one. That's what he said. Matt Miller as news spread in Gaza of the Hamas announcement, Palestinians began to celebrate in the streets. That's in the center of the Gaza Strip and Gaza city in the north. The order raised fears that Israel's long threatened assault on Rafah could be imminent. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah, where Hamas is believed to have regrouped after Israel's destruction of much of the north of Gaza. A source familiar with the israeli plans told CNN that a limited incursion into Rafa was intended to keep pressure on Hamas to agree to a deal that would bring about a ceasefire and hostage release. Uh, just so you know, Biden has drawn a red line at the invasion of Rafa. And I think that the reason, I mean, they were supposed to invade weeks ago. And I think the, one of the main reasons that has not happened is because of the pushback from Biden. We went over a story yesterday where he has withheld ammunition that was going to be sent over. So we're still trying to work this out. And, you know, the ball is in Netanyahu's court. I don't know that he'll agree to these terms. We'll see.
I don't know if he will either. I've got. I've got my suspicions of things he wants out of this, but I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist on the show. I'll do it during the break. All right, this one's from Matt Gertz. And I don't want you to confuse that with Matt Gaetz because he gets confused constantly on Twitter. It's actually pretty funny. So if you want to follow Matt Gertz on x, you should do it.
Every time some story comes out about Matt Gaetz, Matt Gertz tweets. It's not me. Like, like, oh, here we go. Yeah.
Well, Matt Gertz actually writes for media matters. After Fox News promoted a hoax about homeless veterans being evicted from New York hotels to house migrants last year, some of the network's anchors said that they would provide viewers more information, quote, as we get it. That promise was apparently disingenuous. Fox is not yet to report that the originator of the bogus story now faces federal fraud charges. Oh, okay, we forgot to follow up on that. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors charge Sharon Tony Finch. She's an army veteran.
Who's.
Yarik Israel Tony Foundation. I sure hope I'm pronouncing that right. I think it's Yerik Israel Tony foundation claims to, quote, help homeless and low income military service veterans in need of living assistance with multiple counts of fraud. Now, they allege that she raised funds for the group by falsely claiming to have received a Purple Heart after surviving a terrorist attack and spent the group's money on personal expenses. They also alleged she received hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits by falsifying her military discharge. Paperwork to match her story. Is she the ghostwriter for Christy Noem's book? Probably not. She's not. Don't spread that rumor. But it sure sounds like it.
Oh, my God.
Tony Fitch drew notoriety as the source of a May 12, 2023 New York Post report in which she alleged that nearly two dozen homeless veterans her organization has been helping were kicked out of hotels in upstate New York to make room for migrants.
I remember that story.
Mm mhm hmm. The story became a cause of celebration for right wing commentators seeking to demonize migrants and attack democratic politicians. But Tony Smith's tale, it collapsed within weeks. No, within days, as local news outlets reported that she had fabricated her story and the homeless veterans had never existed. Uh, Fox, which recently portrays migrants as dangerous criminals conducting, quote, an invasion of the United States. We've heard that before. They picked up the Tony Fitch's hoax. The day after the Post published its initial story, Fox News and Fox Business gave the story, which Fox claimed to have, quote, confirmed more than an hour of credulous coverage over six days. And this is a quote from the story. This is pretty infuriating. Homeless vets who served our great country, they're being put out on the street and replaced by illegal immigrants. Again, uh, this is a quote that's from prime star Sean Hannity. He alleged in one such segment. But as the story unraveled, Fox personalities began backtracking and admitting they had been duped. On May 24 of 2023, several Fox anchors read an on air statement which said, in part, quote, we've since learned that veteran advocates misled local officials, otherwise known as mine. And it now turns out these eviction claims were false. We want to update you on the story, make sure the record was set straight, and we'll get you more as we get it. Never happened. Apparently the veterans advocate behind the story facing criminal charges after allegedly faking that purple heart and defrauding the government of hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits, wasn't worth mentioning on the show. Again, interesting.
Yeah, probably that. Probably, uh, that's where they draw the line, Fox, when they're, when their sources get indicted. All right, this is from Republican Jeff Duncan. He's a former lieutenant governor of Georgia and he's writing for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. And he says, remember, this is all him. It's disappointing to watch an increasing number of republicans fall in line behind former President Donald Trump. This includes some of his fiercest detractors, such as US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, and former us attorney general Bill Barr, who raised eyebrows during a recent interview by vowing to support the republican ticket. This mentality is dead wrong. Yes, elections are a binary choice. Yes, serious questions linger about President Biden's ability to serve until the age of 86. His progressive policies aren't to conservatives liking, but the GOP will never rebuild until we move on from the Trump era, leaving conservative but not angry republicans like me no choice but to pull the lever for Biden. At the same time, we should work to elect republican congressional majorities to block his second term legislative agenda and provide a check and balance. The alternative is another Trump terminal a man who has disqualified himself through his conduct and his character. The headlines are ablaze with the hush money trial over allegations of improper record keeping for payments to conceal an affair with an adult film star. Most important, Trump fanned the flames of unfounded conspiracy theories that led to the horrific events of January 6. He refuses to admit he lost that election and has hinted he might do so again after the next one. Those holding their nose and fallen behind Trump tend to rely on similar arguments. Sometimes it involves, as Barr said on CNN, the duty to pick the person I think would do the least damage to the country. Ironically, having served as his attorney general until December 2020, Barr saw firsthand Trump's ability to cause damage. Barr's declaration that the US Justice Department uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the election infuriated Trump and set off a chain of events that ended with January 6. Trump and his allies hatched cockamamie schemes that include that's how you know this is a Republican. They've hatched cockamamie schemes that included fake.
Slates of electors and have led to.
Indictments so far in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia. They spread wide eyed conspiracy theories that resulted in defamation lawsuits, including $148 million verdict against former Trump lawyer and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. Other reluctant Trump supporters will cite their policy differences with Biden or Trump's accomplishments as president, ranging from the Tax Cuts and Jobs act of 2017 to the three appointments to the US Supreme Court. Or they'll point to the sense of chaos sweeping the nation right now, most notably the widespread anti Israel protests at college campuses. I get it. No one likes paying higher taxes, and these protests are unsettling. But in the last year of the Trump presidency, there was hardly a time of tranquility. His handling of the pandemic was erratic, including at one point musing about consuming disinfectants, his reliance on incendiary phrases such as when the looting starts. The shooting starts fueled racial unrest. His infamous march to St. John's Episcopal church across the street from the White House, flanked by top aides, including Bill Barr, and brandishing a bible, further set the nation ablaze. Trump has shown us who he is. We should believe him. To think he's going to change at the age of 77 is beyond improbable. The healing of the Republican Party cannot begin with Trump as president. And that's aside from the untold damage that potentially awaits our country. A forthcoming Time magazine cover story lays it out in stark terms, quote, the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. Unlike Trump, I've belonged to the GOP my entire life, and this November, I'm voting for a decent person I disagree with on policy over a criminal defendant without a moral compass.
Wow. That last statement. Yeah. All right, thanks, ag. This one's from Michael Schaeffer at Politico magazine. Christy Noem's story about killing her dog that made headlines across America. But it wasn't news to people who worked on her first book, where the tale made it into a draft of the memoir before the publishing team nixed it. Then, as now, no wanted the story in because it showed a decisive person who was unwilling to be bound by Namby pamby niceties. I'm sure those are her words. While others on her team, which included agents, editors and publicists at Hatchet Book Group's prestige, uh, it's called twelve imprint and a ghostwriter, that's another person that was involved in this process. They all saw it in bad taste. It was a bad taste antidote that would hurt her brand. The tail was ultimately cut. That's according to two people involved with the project. Now, in other words, they produced a typical pre campaign book where the first rule is to do no harm. That's what you're trying to do at this point. Somewhat unusual for the genre. That book, which is 2020 two's not my first rodeo. Lessons from the heartland. It landed South Dakota governor on, um, the New York Times bestseller list, adding to the consensus. And the Donald Trump devotee had a big future in GOP politics. That's what they're saying from her first book, where the puppy story didn't make it. Okay. Now, what it didn't do, of course, was spark a week long news cycle and a round of obituaries for that same political future by including a tale about gnome leading a 14 month old wire haired pointer named Cricket to a gravel pit and shooting him to death after he ruined a pheasant hunt and killed a neighbor's chickens. That's what he did. Now, uh, this time around, nome has a different team in place. She replaced everybody as well as a different imprint, Hatchet's conservative leaning center street. And the folks behind her new book now going back, they didn't get in the way of sharing memories about gunning down an ill trained puppy. A numb, um, spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment. It has been a busy week for that communications team. My goodness. Not just for cricket related reasons. We've talked about this. The book's fact checking has also been called into question. Last week, the Dakota scout. The Dakota scouts, they reported on a passage of the book in which noem claims to have met the dictator of North Korea while she was serving as a backbencher in Congress. The improbable meeting never happened. Uh, Noma's now saying that before they reprint this book, that story's been taken out. She's like, oh, it was brought to my attention, uh, and I had no idea it was in there. You read the fucking book. You actually recorded your own book. You've read these passages. You knew that story was in there. You did the book on tape, Christy.
Yeah. And, I mean, my first thought about this was, where's the publisher? Where's the editor?
Uh-huh.
Where's the comms? Where's the pr telling her not to put this in to find out now that she tried to put it in her first book? And they told her, no, no, no. They nikembe Mutumbo'd it. And, uh, now she insisted that it be in this book.
I mean, my God, it's so gross. Like she had an opportunity to not make this public, and she actually chose to make it public. Mhm.
And there's a lot more to this Politico magazine article. I highly recommend you look it up. There's all sorts of stories about all the arguments that she had and all the back and forth and how the team is different now. Uh, it's pretty fascinating. So check out that politico magazine article. All right, we have a lot of good news to get to. Please send us your good news@dailybeanspod.com. And click on contact and we'll get to it right after this quick break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
We'll be right back, everybody.
Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Good news, everyone. Then good news, everyone.
Good news.
And thank you for sending in your baby photos. Every time you go away, uh, Dana, I tell everybody to send in their baby photos so that you are met with baby photos when you return.
Oh, I saw the good news, and there is a plethora.
So thank you for sending in your plethora of baby photos. And if you want to play, uh, what the mutt, find the cat, what the farc is in your arc, what's the model of your axolotl? Just send us a pet and we'll try. Or an animal. We'll try to guess something about it. You let us know what you want us to guess, and we'll try to guess. And if you don't have pod pet tax to pay, you can send us an adoptable pet in your area, and we'll see if we can get that little baby adopted out. Uh, also, we love baby photos. As I said, we love baby animal pictures. Of course. And then if you have any anecdote, uh, about some democratic government program that has benefited you, be it Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, um, but also your student debt forgiveness stories, send those to us. Thesis titles, dissertation titles, anything at all, really. Basically, just send it to us dailybeanspod.com, comma, click on contact. First up, from Amy Pronoun. She and her good morning rihannas difrajoles big fan and longtime daily listener. In good yimby news, I'm assuming that means yes in my backyard. We passed a controversial recommendation in my small town that includes affordable housing and communal space. Housing is a big issue across the country. Here on the lower Cape, Cape Cod. It's been a struggle for almost 20 years. A lot of the housing stock is used for short term rentals or their second homes only occupied three to four weeks a year. This is a big win for us year rounders. My pod tax is a baby pic of my son. He's our third child, who came along as a huge surprise considering we had faced long time fertility issues before conceiving our firstborn children. He's about three months old, and he's wearing PJ's I eco printed using flowers from our garden. Care to assume the bloom? Love you, ladies. Keep spilling them beans, Amy. This is adorable. And now we have a new game. Assume the bloom.
What do you think? Um, I'm not great with flowers, but I just want them to be a Gerbera daisy.
There. We'll just say that that's what it is because there's no answer, so you have to be right.
But look at this baby. I know that middle picture.
I mean, they're all adorable. But the middle picture, amazing.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. This one's from Roberta pronouncing her just to what the mutza mission means. Queens. Our dear old girl Penny has never been DNA tested, so your guess is as good as ours. We're. You're both right.
Uh uh.
She started her life with us as a puppy lost in traffic in south Phoenix. I literally snatched her off the street without getting out of my car, and the rest is history. She looks exactly the same as she did as a pup. Just adult sized and grayer. Your challenge is to guess how old Penny is. She and I agree. It's okay, because being a crone is a badge of honor. Her mate Armin crossed the river Styx last summer. I think that's right. Uh, far too early. Oh, far too early for our hearts. Got it. Penny remains our queen and likely will live forever. And you have become a part of our daily coffee fix. Thank you for all you do to keep us informed. M and lifted up. Oh, look at the little gray hairs around the eyes.
Oh, and bless armin. Oh, so cute.
Let's say the baby's eleven or twelve, maybe.
Yeah, I think 1211, something like that.
Look at the eyes are so adorable. So sweet.
Eleven years old.
Eleven human years.
That's, um. Amazing.
Very sweet. Thank you for that.
Wonderful. All right.
From Phil.
Pronouns he and him. Hello, queens of the fabulous beans. I grew up in a small town in northeastern Connecticut, in an area called the quiet corner that sadly proves even solidly blue states have red towns. Being gay in high school in the late nineties and early two thousands wasn't easy. Even in recent years, attitudes have changed a bit. But I always had to travel to a city to find large, queer spaces. Five years ago, I moved to Canada. I still drive back occasionally to visit friends and family in the US, and this weekend was one such trip. And as luck would have it, I was in town for the first ever quiet corner Pride festival. The turnout was amazing, with a huge number of allies, representation by local high schools, and so many young people being loud, proud, and unapologetically themselves. It brought tears to my eyes, seeing so much queer joy than thinking how different my life would have been if something like this had happened 20 years ago. To paraphrase something I heard at a marriage equality debate 20 years ago, those who came before us fought for tolerance. But mere tolerance wasn't enough. So we millennials fought for acceptance. Now Gen Z is fighting for the celebration of queerness.
Love it.
As a bonus, the stars finally aligned so that my mom was able to join me for her first ever pride. The attached picture is of us posing with a fabulous drag queen who drove down from Boston for the event. For years, we've been saying, it gets better. Then days like this remind us that it has gotten better. Thank you both for all you do, so please don't ever change.
Oh, what a fabulous picture.
Uh, incredible. I love that thought. That last thought on it gets better. I mean, that's, you know, been saying for so long.
Yeah. It was a massive campaign for a long time, and it's. I think we could probably use some of it again. You know, one of my fondest memories of my dad, my dad died when I was 31. But, um, before that happened, he came to a couple pride celebrations with me. He went to the pride parade in Albuquerque. He came to the gay bar with me and danced with all my friends until the bar closed. Like, he was just that guy at the pride festival. He wore a hat on it that had a question mark, which I thought was hysterical. He just was there to support me.
Dads can be the best. Dads can be the best. I remember I went to pride in 2006. My friend Sonya and I dressed up as Rosie the riveter. We were on one of the parade floats. I was writing for, um, uh, an LGBTQ publication, uh, doing the music column. And, uh, a dad came up to us with his daughter and said, would you take a picture with my daughter? She came out to me yesterday, and so I brought her to pride today, and I was like. We were like, oh, amazing and incredible. I love the dads. I really do.
And the moms. Thank you for all the parents. Actually.
No, no, not the moms. No, no, I'm just kidding. I just, like. I miss my dad, too. I'm just pointing. But of course, the moms are wonderful as well. Yeah.
Mom's day's coming. All right. This is from Shannon from Chicago. Pronouns she and her. Hey, ag and Dg. Thanks for all you do. Love your show. I don't normally listen to refried beans, but this weekend, I let it roll listening to an episode from May 1 of 2020. And it felt surreal when you and the previous co host mentioned it was 74th day of quarantine. What a time to be alive. Anyway, I was blown away by how tight, sophisticated, and huge this pod has become since the early days. Job well done. And DG is such an asset as a co host, she can't ever leave the show. Thank you, Shannon.
So that pilot, all that stuff you're working on. Forget it. You have to stay here forever? Yes.
Don't tell anyone yet. Okay? With regard to man versus bear, I'd rather meet the bear. In fact, I have, and I do from time to time at my parents place in Lake Tahoe, California. In the summer, the bears wander through the neighborhood looking for empty houses to break into so that they can raid the fridge for anything. Sweet maple syrup, jelly cake, anything. Luckily, my parents have only had one bear in their house once while they were on vacation. They left the backsliding door unlocked and the bear just let themselves right in. Yep. That's not too bad, though, considering how many years they've lived in the mountains. Their neighbors had bears in their house six times in the first year or so that they lived there once while the mom and young daughter were also home. They finally got a dog, and the bears have left. The bears have left their house alone ever since. Anyway, I'd still rather have the bear than the man. Here's a picture of some cubs hanging out in a tree just down the road with my parents in my parents backyard. Also for DG, I love you all. Here's a picture of my nine month old taking a bubble bath in the kitchen sink, which is really the only place you should bathe babies. That's my input. And not true, by the way, but just because they're so cute in there. Baby bears and baby humans. You're welcome. Ha. Glad, huh? To have you back from your trip. Thank you, Shan. I love everything you all do. Keep on keeping on. Thanks for the kindness and the swearing. You are fucking welcome, Shannon. Look at this baby bears. And look at this baby. And look at the other bears.
The bath in the sink is just intolerably cute.
It's a cute kid, man. Adorable. Uh, kid, little hairline. So cute. Love it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
All right, from Trudy, pronouns, she and her dear bean sisters. My husband and I are proud members of the Leguminotti and dedicated daily listeners. Last week, you shared a sweet story from a listener of how she was helping her blind grandmother go vote. That story inspired this one. I will try to be brief. My son is a successful adult who is blind. When he was in fifth grade in the early nineties, I helped chaperone a class trip to the former Museum of american political life in Hartford, Connecticut. While there, the students were given the opportunity to try out a lever style voting machine. It was cool for my son to get the chance to run his hands over the mechanics and pull some of the levers that's why we say we'll pull the lever for Biden. That's what we mean, youngsters. It was very, uh, uncool to learn from the museum guide that at the time, there was no way for blind people to vote unless they had a cited person fill out a ballot. I'm writing today to share the news that now, by law, every polling place should have an accessible voting machine where a blind person can vote privately and independently in a federal election. The Help America Vote act was signed in 2002. Please ask your listeners to share this information far and wide. Blindness, or for that matter, any disability, should not prevent any citizen from participating. One, uh, continuing stumbling block is the lack of poll worker training. I urge all voters who might anticipate obstacles when they vote in November to go to the polls armed with the phone number and contact information of the secretary of state where they live. Everyone needs to vote. And here's a link with more information on the hava. So that's gonna be in the show notes and for pod pet tax. Here are a few photos of my 20 year old cat, Willow.
Wow.
He's living the pampered life. Such a handsome kid. He deserves plenty of naps, uh, constant affirmations to buoy his self esteem, and an occasional foray into kitty comics.
Look. Oh, my God. He's so adorable. He's so adorable. He's giant.
Willow is a, um, beefy baby.
Aw. Hi, Willow. Sweet.
Hi, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. Oh, so cute. Thank you, everybody, for your input, for your good news. We really, really appreciate it. And, um, thanks to everybody for listening. I mean, I can't thank you enough. And, uh, you know, allowing me to bring you the news when Dana's traveling, raising, breaking fundraising records for HRC and, uh, Lambda legal and all the incredible work that she's doing. We really, really appreciate you so very much. Thank you. Do you have any final thoughts?
No, I'm just happy to be back. So thank you for that love, and I'll see everyone. I'll be in everyone's ears tomorrow.
Yes, indeed, we'll be back tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your family. Vote blue over Q.
And please take everyone with you. I've been AG and I've been DG.
And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written in executive produced by Allison Gill, with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane, with art and web design by Joel Reeder with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they might be Giants, and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com mSw media.