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00:31Bienvenue, bienvenue, bienvenue à la dernière semaine de ce soir.
00:34Jean-Noël, merci beaucoup de nous rejoindre.
00:36Cela a été une semaine occupée.
00:38Xi Jinping s'est rencontré avec Vladimir Poutine.
00:40Trump a nommé l'âme la plus folle du monde
00:43en tant qu'intérim président américain pour la D.C.
00:45Et bien sûr, ça s'est passé.
00:47De la Vatican, un annoncement sans précédent.
00:51Nous avons un pape, un pape américain,
00:53le pape Léo XIV, du Chicago.
00:56La meilleure nouvelle est venue de sa maison de chez lui,
00:59au style du vrai Chicago.
01:01Le pape.
01:03Oui, nous avons un pape du Chicago,
01:05le cardinal Robert Prévost,
01:07est maintenant le pape Léo XIV.
01:09Et le Chicago a passé la semaine
01:11à spéculer avec impatience
01:13sur les petits touchs de Chicago
01:15qu'il va apporter au pape.
01:17Du corps de Christ en tant qu'un pâtissier de Portillo
01:19à l'annonce officielle de l'église
01:21en disant qu'il n'y a pas de ketchup sur les chiens chauds,
01:23mais si les enfants le veulent, c'est bien.
01:25À des centaines de blagues sur le Malort,
01:27qui est le nouveau vin sacramental accommodé.
01:29Et si vous n'êtes pas de Chicago,
01:31et que vous vous demandez ce que c'est le Malort,
01:33sachez que ce n'est pas tellement un boisson
01:35que c'est un rituel de ralentissement dans la ville.
01:37C'est un boisson avec le goût, le goût
01:39et l'ambiance générale de quelque chose
01:41qu'un villain de Batman
01:43pourrait éliminer avec de l'eau.
01:45Et incroyablement, les chances sont que le pape Bob
01:47a en fait essayé.
01:49Mais nous allons nous concentrer
01:51sur l'enjeu du président.
01:53La semaine dernière, Trump a reçu beaucoup d'attention
01:55quand il a tenté de préparer les Américains
01:57pour la douleur économique en disant ceci.
01:59Peut-être que les enfants auront deux doigts
02:01au lieu de 30 doigts, vous savez.
02:03Et peut-être que les deux doigts
02:06C'est une chose très étrange à dire.
02:08Et c'est juste un autre snapshot
02:10dans l'album de chaos qui est
02:12« Trump n'a rien à faire avec les enfants »
02:14parce que vous pouvez maintenant mettre
02:16« Les enfants auront deux doigts au lieu de 30 »
02:18juste là-haut avec le cri de l'enfant.
02:20Et à ce moment-là, il a demandé à la fille
02:22si elle croyait en Santa Claus
02:24parce que, quote, à 7, c'est marginal, n'est-ce pas?
02:26Et quand il a pressé sur ses commentaires
02:28quelques jours plus tard,
02:30Trump a doublé.
02:32Tu as dit, quote, je vais te citer ce que tu as dit,
02:34peut-être que les enfants auront deux doigts
02:36au lieu de 30 doigts.
02:38Et peut-être que les deux doigts
02:40costeraient un peu plus de dollars que normalement.
02:42Je ne pense pas qu'une belle fille
02:44qui a 11 ans
02:46ait besoin de 30 doigts.
02:48Je pense qu'ils peuvent avoir
02:50trois doigts ou quatre doigts.
02:52OK, il y a tellement de choses là-dedans.
02:54Une belle fille qui a 11 ans.
02:56Ne l'appelle pas une fille de 11 ans.
02:58D'abord, c'est drôle.
03:00Et deuxièmement, je vous promets
03:02que si vous appelez une fille de 11 ans un bébé,
03:04elle va vous tuer.
03:06Mais aussi,
03:08de penser que l'âge primaire pour jouer avec des jouets
03:10est de 11 ans,
03:12c'est presque incroyablement faux.
03:14Tout le monde le sait,
03:16le réchauffement de ce que les gens jouent avec par âge
03:18va des blocs de 1 à 3 ans,
03:20des jouets de 3 à 7 ans,
03:22et nos téléphones de 8 ans jusqu'à la mort.
03:24Et incroyablement,
03:26sur Air Force 1, il a triplé.
03:28Tout ce que je dis, c'est que
03:30vous savez,
03:32une jeune femme,
03:34une fille de 10 ans,
03:36une fille de 9 ans, une fille de 15 ans,
03:38n'a pas besoin de 37 jouets.
03:40Elle peut être très heureuse
03:42avec 2 ou 3 ou 4 ou 5.
03:44De toutes les manières,
03:46ce mec parle de filles,
03:48ça fait que ma peau veut tourner à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur.
03:50Cela dit,
03:52je voulais aussi le voir
03:54continuer là-dedans,
03:56juste pour voir combien de variations d'âges et de numéros
03:58il peut y avoir.
04:00Tout ce que je dis, c'est que une jeune femme,
04:02une fille de 10 ans, une fille de 9 ans, une fille de 15 ans,
04:04une fille de 45 ans qui est encore jeune à l'intérieur,
04:06n'a pas besoin de 37 jouets.
04:08Elle peut être très heureuse avec 2 ou 3 ou 4
04:10ou 6 ou 8, mais aussi 9
04:12et dans son propre sens, 10.
04:14Elle peut être heureuse avec 10 jouets,
04:16ou peut-être 11.
04:18On ne peut pas régler 11 jouets,
04:20ou 12. 12 est un bon nombre, n'est-ce pas?
04:2212 apostoles, 12 jours de Noël,
04:2412 hommes en colère, Henry Fonda,
04:2612 hommes en colère, c'est tout ce qu'il nous faut pour sortir de ce pays
04:28qui est en train d'arriver illégalement,
04:30ou vous savez quoi? 13 jouets, c'est ma dernière offre.
04:32Donc maintenant, il apparaît,
04:34il pense que des filles de 15 ans
04:36jouent avec des jouets.
04:38A-t-il jamais rencontré une fille de 15 ans?
04:40C'est une question stupide, bien sûr qu'il l'a.
04:42Il était ami avec Jeffrey Epstein.
04:44Mais la chose est, Trump est en fait correct.
04:46Les jouets vont devenir plus chers.
04:48Mattel, le fabriquant de Barbie,
04:50a déjà dit qu'il planifie d'augmenter les prix
04:52sur les jouets américains en raison des tarifs.
04:54Et quand Trump a été demandé par rapport à Mattel,
04:56le propriétaire de Mattel,
04:58qu'il n'allait pas venir à l'Amérique,
05:00mais que les prix augmenteraient,
05:02il a eu une réponse assez étrange.
05:04Si Mattel, je ne sais pas,
05:06je ne suis pas si sûr, ils ont aussi dit,
05:08ils sont le seul pays que j'ai entendu dire,
05:10nous allons aller contre, nous allons essayer d'aller
05:12quelque part d'autre, c'est OK.
05:14Laissez-le y aller, nous allons mettre une tarif
05:16de 100% sur ses jouets, et il ne vendra pas
05:18un jouet aux Etats-Unis, et c'est leur plus grand marché.
05:20OK.
05:22C'est bien dit qu'avec le temps
05:24d'une seule phrase humaine,
05:26Mattel a changé d'être une entreprise
05:28à un pays, à un gars.
05:30Il semble que Trump est en train
05:32d'aller en guerre avec eux.
05:34Alors vous savez ce que ça veut dire, les gars.
05:36Les jouets sont en train de faire un retour.
05:38Les jouets, mettez-les, prenez-les,
05:40mettez-les en feu, regardez-les.
05:42Les jouets sont le seul jouet que vous aurez besoin,
05:44ce qui est heureux parce que c'est aussi
05:46le seul que vous aurez.
05:48Et regardez, sur un certain niveau,
05:50Trump est en train de faire des choses
05:52autour des jouets, des choses qu'il peut prétendre
05:54être frivoles, mais le fait est que
05:56les exportations aux Etats-Unis ont déjà commencé
05:58à s'arrêter, et cela sera bientôt ressenti
06:00en forme de prix plus élevés sur beaucoup de choses.
06:02Alors si vous vous demandez, est-ce que la guerre
06:04de commerce stupide de Trump est en train
06:06de faire mal à beaucoup de gens?
06:08Est-ce que le pape catholique est maintenant
06:10aussi un gars nommé Bob de Chicago?
06:12La réponse est évidemment oui.
06:14Et maintenant, ceci.
06:16Et maintenant, Brian Kilmeade
06:18est en train de jouer avec des jouets, et c'est ok.
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08:12catholique doctrine while receiving state money, something never before allowed in the
08:15charter system.
08:16Yeah, an online school, Saint Isidore, is fighting for the right to operate as the first
08:21religious charter school in the country, which is striking for a number of reasons, not least
08:25that this is how I'm learning that Saint Isidore is often referred to as the patron saint of
08:29the internet.
08:30It just feels wrong.
08:31I thought patron saints only represented timeless things like the arts or orphans, not the medium
08:37that is now mostly AI slot videos of countries as president's twins.
08:42I don't know exactly what saints should be watching over, but that feels like a real
08:47waste of their time.
08:50The school refers to itself as a ministry of the Catholic Church, and many worry that
08:53if it's allowed to directly receive public funding, it'll be yet another step on the
08:57slippery slope of breaking down the establishment clause, separating church and state.
09:02Now, the Supreme Court isn't likely to rule on this until next month, but I actually want
09:05to talk less about this school in particular, more about the key group behind this case,
09:10the Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF.
09:13Even if you don't recognize their name, you'll definitely be aware of their work, because
09:16ADF bills itself as the world's largest legal organization, advancing every person's God-given
09:21right to live and speak the truth.
09:23And in this promotional video celebrating their 25th anniversary, they lean in hard
09:28on the idea that they are defenders of rights and freedom.
09:31For 25 years, we've pursued this calling, a commission to stand, to defend, to persevere,
09:42to be a voice for faith, for freedom.
09:47Former Atlanta fire chief, Kelvin Cochran, wins a victory for his faith.
09:50The US Supreme Court today in one of the most closely watched cases of the term, sided
09:54with a Colorado base.
09:55Jack, this has been a long road for you, started back in 2012, yesterday.
10:00Religious freedom is a pre-political right that rests securely in our dignity as human beings.
10:05It belongs to all of us.
10:07Okay.
10:08Although, I do have a bit of an issue with the sentence, religious freedom is a pre-political
10:14right that rests securely in our dignity as human beings.
10:17Because I've listened to that upwards of 50 times, and I still have no idea what the
10:21fuck she's talking about there.
10:23It's the legal equivalent of the actual headline, Disney too much, Hulu live TV with Fubo settling
10:29Venus Lawson.
10:30All the words feel like they're in the correct places, but now I can't even understand the
10:35ones that I thought I knew.
10:38The woman who said that, Kristen Wagoner, is ADF's current head.
10:41And if you're thinking that she looks like someone who'd have an office filled with Mickey
10:44and Minnie Mouse memorabilia, you'd be dead wrong because she used to have an office filled
10:48with Mickey and Minnie Mouse memorabilia, but got rid of it after Disney's recent defense
10:52of LGBT rights ruined the beauty.
10:55So, I bet you feel pretty stupid right now.
10:59But as you've probably already guessed, the freedom ADF fights for is selected at best,
11:05as among other things, they've argued for the Christian Baker who refused to make a
11:08cake for a same-sex couple in Colorado, orchestrated the attack on the abortion drug myth of Pristone
11:13heard by the Supreme Court last year, and were also behind the Dobbs case, which famously
11:17overturned Roe v. Wade.
11:19And when asked about that last one, they'll take credit for it, but notably, only to a
11:23point.
11:24So, what was ADF's role in this Dobbs case?
11:28So, we worked very closely with Mississippi from the very beginning, including we had
11:33a hand in crafting the legislation of the 15-week bill, coordinating, advising them
11:38during the pendency of the litigation, and then at the Supreme Court, we have been, you
11:43know, alongside them all the way, offering just as much help as we possibly can.
11:47Would you consider yourselves co-counsel in this case?
11:50So, Denise has already said as much as you can possibly say about our involvement, so
11:54we really can't address any more questions.
11:56Okay, but just to clarify, did you all write the arguments at the center of this case?
12:00So, again, we really can't address anything that had to do with, like, our involvement
12:05in the past, but Denise has already addressed.
12:07Okay, okay.
12:09So, here is a quick PR rule of thumb.
12:12Stopping your client from answering a question is a great way of making them seem like the
12:16guiltiest motherfucker on the planet, because a spokesperson doesn't generally chime in
12:21like that if the answer to a question is no.
12:23If someone asked me, were you the one that suggested the honeycomb cereal monster looked
12:28like a clump of pubes fucked Gary Busey, and if publicists jumped in to say, we can't
12:34address John's involvement in that, you'd be pretty confident that I was the brains
12:38behind that bush.
12:39But while they might not have wanted to be seen as pulling the strings there, the fact
12:45is, ADF's been incredibly successful, as since 2011, they've directly represented
12:50parties in 15 victories at the Supreme Court, and claimed that since their founding, they've
12:54played roles in 77 victories, from weakening the contraception mandate in the Affordable
12:58Care Act, to throwing out a law that provided a protest buffer around abortion clinics.
13:03So they are way more powerful than many are aware, and they're using that power for,
13:07I'll say it, bad.
13:10According to a 2021 internal strategy document, their goals included stopping efforts to
13:14elevate sexual orientation and gender identity to protect a class status in the law akin
13:19to race, and working to restore an understanding of marriage, the family, and sexuality that
13:24reflects God's creative order.
13:26And just to be clear, God has no creative order, only creative chaos.
13:32He didn't need to create the universe and everything in it in just six days, that is
13:35manic behavior, he was clearly on coke.
13:39That is the only explanation for why we have things like the pink fairy armadillo, and
13:44an animal that looks like a shrimp tail 69-ing a dead chicken.
13:47And when ADF's leaders are talking among themselves, they'll sometimes express amazement
13:54at how well they've done.
13:56My view was, I wanted ADF to be bigger than the ACLU in every measure.
14:00Staff, funding, cases, impact, and the fear we strike in the hearts of our opponents.
14:09In a Christ-like way.
14:10In a Christ-like way, yeah.
14:11Christian love, Christian love, kill, kill, kill.
14:13Wow, that is quite the sentiment, though I will admit, Christian love, kill, kill,
14:18kill would be a spectacularly good metal band name.
14:22And while that was from eight years ago, ADF's influence has only grown since then, even
14:27as they've somehow managed to fly under the radar.
14:30Because while everyone knows who, say, the NRA are and what they stand for, ADF has somehow
14:35avoided that level of notoriety, which has worked very much in their favor.
14:40So given that, tonight, let's look at the Alliance Defending Freedom, their history,
14:44their playbook, and what they're targeting next.
14:46And let's start with how they came to be.
14:49ADF was originally called the Alliance Defense Fund and was launched in 1994 by prominent
14:54evangelicals who decided to create an endowment to pay for lawyers who could take on the ACLU
14:59and its ilk.
15:00One of its key founders was James Dobson, a man who looks less like a real person and
15:04more like AI's answer to the question, what do they look like without their hoods?
15:09We've talked about Dobson before in our piece on Mike Pence.
15:13He's the founder of Focus on the Family.
15:15And over the years, he's, among other things, discouraged interracial marriage, argued
15:20one reason spanking children fails is that the spanking may be too gentle, and has warned
15:25that gay marriage is a slippery slope that can lead to this.
15:28How about group marriage?
15:30Or marriage between daddies and little girls?
15:32How about marriage between a man and his donkey?
15:35Anything allegedly linked to civil rights will be doable.
15:39If I may quote James Dobson every time he comes, Jesus fucking Christ.
15:46That is preposterous for many reasons.
15:49But whenever bigots do that, I kind of want them to keep playing it out.
15:53Wait, if gay people get married, next thing, am I going to have to go to a wedding between
15:57a man and his donkey?
15:58What gift do I even get them?
16:00They're registered at Bloomingdale's and PetSmart.
16:03That's ridiculous.
16:03And what if I show up late?
16:04Do I have to sit on the bride's side?
16:06It smells like shit over there.
16:08And if they run out of the human meal option, what do I eat then?
16:11Eat a plate of hay?
16:13Do I have to eat a plate of hay with a fork?
16:16Let me get this straight.
16:17You're going to make me wear a tuxedo, eat hay with a fork, drink wine out of a trough,
16:21and watch a father donkey dance all because we made gay marriage legal?
16:25No, thank you very much.
16:27Not on my watch.
16:29To head the new organization, Dobson turned to a man named Alan Sears, who led the organization
16:34from its founding to 2017.
16:36And during his time there, it argued for state laws criminalizing gay sex, and later against
16:41laws that legalized gay marriage.
16:43He also co-authored a book called The Homosexual Agenda, which sadly isn't nearly as fun as
16:47you want it to be.
16:48In it, he described gay rights as the principal threat to religious freedom, and wrote that
16:54gay activists were engaging in a war against the state.
16:56And wrote that gay activists were engaging in a war of propaganda, just as Hitler did
17:00so masterfully in Nazi Germany.
17:03One spectacular review of the book on Amazon said,
17:06Why are heterosexuals so obsessed with homosexual sex?
17:10I think heterosexual sex is preposterous, but I don't feel the need to write a book
17:14about it.
17:14I just don't do it.
17:16Therefore, this book isn't gay enough for my tastes, I'm afraid.
17:20Pity.
17:20Which is just a perfect review.
17:23Your book sucks.
17:24You're obsessed with me.
17:25Be gayer.
17:26That one-star review gets five stars from me.
17:30The point is, from ADF's outset, attacking the rights and dignity of gay people was at
17:35the center of its work, along with rolling back access to abortion, and giving Christians
17:40more leeway to discriminate against someone who offends their faith.
17:43And those ideals have not changed, even as the organization has massively grown.
17:48It now has more than 450 employees in domestic and international offices, as well as 5,000
17:54network attorneys who work on their behalf.
17:56They also run a training program called the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, and a recent
18:00count found more than 60 Blackstone alumni were clerking on federal courts, including
18:0518 on appeals courts.
18:07Fun fact, a frequent speaker at that Blackstone Fellowship was Amy Coney Barrett, who was
18:12paid to speak there five times, and yet, at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing, said
18:16that nothing about any of my interactions with anyone involved in the Blackstone program
18:20were ever indicative of any kind of discrimination on the basis of anything, which I find a little
18:25hard to believe, given that at the time she was lecturing there, the program's recommended
18:29reading list included the homosexual agenda.
18:32And I'm not saying that she read that book.
18:34I'm just saying a roomful of people who have are going to give you a vibe, and it is not
18:40maybe see you at Pride.
18:43And it's not just Coney Barrett with ADF Connections.
18:46Current Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, worked for them for nearly a decade.
18:49Here he is in 2005 as their senior legal counsel, appearing on Fox News to do the critically
18:54important job of defending the right to say Christmas before being bumped for more pressing
18:59news stories.
19:00We've seen a great backlash against retailers who have banned the saying of Merry Christmas,
19:05and certainly more and more Americans are realizing how easy it is to stand up against
19:10this improper censorship.
19:12Many people are visiting our website at saychristmas.org, and they're learning the facts, learning what
19:17the law really says, and that's a big step in this.
19:19Mike Johnson, senior attorney and spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, thank you very
19:22much.
19:24Thank you, Judge.
19:25You're welcome.
19:25Coming up, an explosion hits a nuclear plant.
19:27Those details in just a moment.
19:29And penguins fight the holiday weight game.
19:31Find out how they do it.
19:33Oh, so cute.
19:35Okay, first, tough break getting bumped by an explosion at a nuclear plant, but an even
19:41tougher break for that explosion getting bumped for a story about thick-ass penguins.
19:45Which, by the way, aren't fighting the holiday weight game, you fucking heathens, they're
19:51fighting the Christmas weight game.
19:52You heard Mike Johnson, saychristmas.org.
19:56But it wasn't just war on Christmas stuff.
19:58While at ADF, Johnson also advocated for the criminalization of gay sex, and wrote op-eds
20:03saying things like,
20:04Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural, and that if society protects such relationships,
20:09polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal
20:14protection.
20:15So that is who they are at their core.
20:18But how are they so successful at getting things done?
20:21Well, one major way is through the sheer volume of legislation they draft.
20:25Last year alone, they worked on over 100 bills in 24 states and in Congress, of which 25
20:31wound up being enacted into law.
20:33And back when states were first passing so-called bathroom bills, restricting trans people's
20:36access, reporters noted many used language strongly similar to model legislation drafted
20:42by ADF, with at least one state's law being a word-for-word copy.
20:47The Dobbs case actually originated with a Mississippi law that was born out of a model
20:51bill drafted by ADF.
20:54It banned abortions after 15 weeks, a specific cut-off chosen because they were trying to
20:59find the magic number of weeks that might force the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe.
21:04Basically, the idea was to pass a law that would then trigger a lawsuit that would then
21:09get you to the Supreme Court.
21:10And everyone knew that at the time, to the point that even as Mississippi's governor
21:15signed it, he said this.
21:25Okay, first, everyone in that video looks like they've made someone shift at the Cheesecake
21:29Factory a living hell.
21:30But second, of course he is fine with being sued.
21:35That's one of the things Governor Phil Bryant's most comfortable with, alongside reportedly
21:39helping Brett Favre secure welfare funding for a new volleyball stadium at the university
21:43where Favre's daughter plays.
21:45Now, Bryant will tell you that is a complete misrepresentation of what happened.
21:48In fact, he cares so much that this be corrected that he sued Mississippi Today and Sports
21:53Illustrated for writing about it, and he definitely won't like that I just repeated it here,
21:57to which I would say, we'll probably be sued here in half an hour, and that'll be fine
22:02with me.
22:03But the larger point is, ADF had a strategy from start to finish for Dobbs, and it worked.
22:12And the final key component of the group's success is selling their desired outcome
22:15to the general public, which often involves foregrounding sympathetic individuals whose
22:20liberty they present as being violated.
22:22ADF goes out of its way to craft wholesome-sounding stories that present their side as the victims.
22:28Here's Kristen Wagoner spelling it out.
22:31We need to win back culture, and I would say we need to engage, to tell the stories in
22:37a winsome way.
22:39Accurate, but winsome.
22:40Be a storyteller, and tell the narrative, because we win when the truth gets out.
22:46Right.
22:47It wants its stories to be told in a winsome way, which means portraying themselves as
22:51advocates for upstanding Americans whose individual liberties have been trampled on, not, ideally,
22:56a bunch of lawyers in a conference room saying, Christian love, kill, kill, kill.
23:01But hearing, we win when the truth gets out, is a little hard to take, given ADF's relationship
23:06to the truth can be shaky at best.
23:08For instance, a few years back, they pushed for a ban on trans athletes in youth sports
23:12in Arizona.
23:13A key part of that push was this testimony from a teenage girl named Grace about what
23:17had happened to her team at her state softball tournament.
23:21We stepped onto the field motivated to go in and play our hardest and to display how
23:24hard we'd trained.
23:25But that spirit of determination was quickly dampened with one of confusion and doubt
23:30when we discovered that our opponents were fielding a biological male who identified
23:34as a female.
23:35Our entire team's focus and motivation was affected as we grappled with the impact of
23:38this new player.
23:39Sure enough, our opposing team won.
23:41The boy gave them an edge, both physically and mentally, that we couldn't match.
23:45I'd heard stories like this happening to other girls in other states, but I never
23:49expected it would happen at my school.
23:51Well, I've got great news for you, it didn't.
23:53It didn't happen at your school at all, because it turned out there was no trans girl on the
23:58opposing team.
23:59That team's coach even told us they only thought she was trans because she had short
24:03hair and was good.
24:06And while Grace's team did lose, they also lost 16 to 6.
24:10An ass whooping so bad, no one player could be responsible for it.
24:14And on top of all that, Grace isn't just any old high schooler.
24:17It turns out she's actually the daughter of Kristen Wagoner.
24:20She's basically the ultimate transphobic nepo-baby, or to put it more winsomely, transphobic
24:26person of nepotistic descent.
24:29But it's not just anecdotes.
24:31When pushing anti-trans bills, ADFs loudly cited eye-catching studies and research.
24:36When one Georgia county was debating whether to allow trans students to use the bathroom
24:40of their choice, an ADF member addressed the board of education there and told them that
24:45science showed, for the vast majority of trans kids, it was actually just a phase.
24:50The American College of Pediatricians just put out an article stating that if children
24:57will get through puberty, 98% of boys will return to their biological sex.
25:0698%, when they make it through puberty, will go back to their biological sex and this
25:15gender confusion will be cured.
25:17Wow, that is a shocking statistic.
25:19Almost as shocking as hearing that 79% of sea turtles have insomnia.
25:2445% of Americans feel sexual pleasure when their belly button is touched and 98% of
25:28celebrities who go through the Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnel report loving their experience.
25:32It turns out it's easy to be shocking when you're spewing total bullshit.
25:37Because while the American College of Pediatricians sounds like a prestigious organization, that's
25:42because their name sounds like the American Academy of Pediatrics.
25:46That is the group that makes recommendations for policy based on the vast experience of
25:50its 67,000 members.
25:52This one, however, is a tiny group founded in 2002 by conservative physicians opposed
25:57to same-sex adoption and who've since provided ADF with custom-made talking points on trans
26:02issues.
26:03And it's worth knowing, researchers and doctors have repeatedly called this group out for
26:08misrepresenting data.
26:09For example, if you trace that 98% figure all the way back to its source, you'll find
26:14it comes from this 1987 book with a striking title that, as a Yale pediatrician told us,
26:21was actually about a study of a small group of boys who were viewed as mentally ill and
26:25subject to conversion tactics because they weren't stereotypically masculine.
26:29So it wasn't in any way the comprehensive study of trans kids that guy just claimed.
26:35It honestly sounds more like an institutionalized attempt to make a few dozen boys in the 80s
26:39feel bad about whatever they felt during the volleyball scene in Top Gun.
26:44But maybe the best way to see ADF's game plan is to look at their attempts to weaken laws
26:50banning discrimination against gay and trans people.
26:53They've taken multiple runs at this in the Supreme Court.
26:56Their first attempt came a decade ago in the Masterpiece Cake Shop case.
27:00You may remember it.
27:01It concerned Jack Phillips who refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple.
27:05His refusal violated Colorado's anti-discrimination law and he did media appearance after media
27:11appearance, usually with Wagoner right by his side, telling the story of how this was
27:16really fundamentally a matter of cake principles.
27:20First of all, I'd like to say that I serve everybody who comes into my store, including
27:24David and Charlie.
27:25People of all walks of life are always welcome in my store.
27:28It's just that there are certain messages that I don't create.
27:31Like, I don't produce cakes for Halloween.
27:35I don't do cakes that will promote sexual things or anti-American things.
27:42Things that would disparage other people, including members that identify, customers
27:47that identify as LGBT.
27:49So people who want to...
27:50Has anybody asked you for a cake that would disparage LGBT?
27:53Yes, they have.
27:54Really?
27:55People want cakes that discriminate against gay people?
27:58Yeah.
27:59I've had a few of those and I turn those down as well because it's a message that I can't create.
28:04Okay, first, sure that happens.
28:06But second, I do wish that Megyn Kelly, sorry about the jump scare there, by the way,
28:13would actually just let him keep describing his other cake rules.
28:16No Halloween cakes, no gay cakes, no unicorn cakes because horned two-penis,
28:21no Harry Potter cakes because witches, but yes to J.K. Rowling cakes for all other reasons,
28:26and no Sesame Street cakes because what we can all see with our own two eyes.
28:31ADF argued that Phillips wasn't denying service,
28:34just declining to promote the message of same-sex marriage,
28:37which is ridiculous on its face, but especially because,
28:40according to a state investigation,
28:41his business had actually turned down approximately six same-sex couples,
28:45including a lesbian couple that just wanted to purchase cupcakes for their family commitment ceremony.
28:50And when one of those women called back and claimed to be a dog breeder
28:54and stated she planned to host a dog wedding between one of her dogs and a neighbor's dog,
28:58Phillips apparently did not object.
29:00What is more, when a different lesbian couple spoke to him
29:03to discuss why he wouldn't create a cake for their commitment ceremony,
29:06he told them he is not willing to make a cake for a same-sex commitment ceremony
29:10just as he would not be willing to make a pedophile cake.
29:13And while it is not remotely the point, what would a pedophile cake even be?
29:20Legally, I'm apparently not allowed to say it's a giant wooden cake that Drake jumps out of,
29:25so I'm not going to say that.
29:26I'm just saying it's a weird thing to bring up in the first place.
29:29Now, Phillips' case was heard at the Supreme Court,
29:34but his ruling was narrow and didn't offer ADF a clear precedent
29:38that Christian business owners who offered an artistic product could deny services to LGBT couples.
29:43So, they took another swing at the issue with a similar case,
29:46this time involving a Colorado website designer, Laurie Smith,
29:50who refused to make wedding sites for gay couples.
29:53The state of Colorado is forcing me to create custom, unique artwork expression,
29:59communicating and celebrating a different view of marriage,
30:02a view of marriage that goes against my deeply held beliefs.
30:05She wants the Supreme Court to rule that she does not have to comply with a Colorado law
30:09that prohibits businesses from discriminating against same-sex couples.
30:13Her lawyer contends it comes down to Laurie's role as a creator and free speech.
30:19It's about whether the government can use the power of law
30:22to force Americans to say things that they don't believe.
30:25Yeah, it's not about gay marriage, it's about forcing Americans to say things they don't believe,
30:29which is pretty fucking rich, coming from the same people who brought you SayChristmas.org.
30:34Say it! You have to say it!
30:37Smith was just one of several cases ADF brought all over the country,
30:41possibly trying to trigger a so-called circuit split,
30:44where you bring cases in multiple districts, hoping to get divergent rulings,
30:49which then increases the chances of the Supreme Court stepping in.
30:52That's what happened here.
30:54ADF filed cases involving a photographer from Kentucky, videographers from Minnesota,
30:59and a pair of Arizona artists who created stationery.
31:02And Laurie Smith's case ultimately wound up in the Supreme Court,
31:05which is when reporters started noticing some weird things about it,
31:09like the fact that it was built on a hypothetical.
31:11As ADF's legal filing stated, Smith was not at that time in the wedding industry,
31:16but just wanted to make sure that if she entered it,
31:19she'd be able to legally turn down same-sex couples.
31:22In fact, at the time the suit was filed, she'd had no requests from same-sex couples to design a site.
31:28She did later claim she'd received an inquiry,
31:30which oddly arrived the day after her suit was originally filed.
31:34That request was apparently from someone named Stuart,
31:36who'd contacted her about building a website for his wedding to a man named Mike.
31:40But it turned out, he was actually a straight man,
31:43who at the time the request was sent, had been married to a woman for nearly a decade,
31:47and had since sworn he'd never requested anything from Laurie Smith.
31:51And why would he? Because even if he was secretly engaged to someone else,
31:56which he wasn't, and chose to break the news of that secret engagement
32:00with the creation of an artistic website, which he wouldn't,
32:02at the very least, he'd probably choose to go with a wedding website design business that already existed.
32:08But if we're being really honest, he wouldn't do that either,
32:10because he was, and this is true, a fucking website designer!
32:15And what a phone call that must have been for him to receive.
32:20Guess what buddy, some lady said you're getting gay married,
32:23and now the Supreme Court is involved, you need to call your wife!
32:29But it doesn't stop there, as other cases in that flurry of lawsuits were similarly wobbly.
32:34Because while ADF insists our clients are real people,
32:37who had or still have real businesses with actual operations in the wedding industry,
32:41all real plans do enter it.
32:43The Washington Post found that two of three vendors
32:46cited in ADF's petition to the Supreme Court
32:48had stopped working on weddings.
32:50One had actually moved away from where the case was filed in Louisville,
32:53but ADF claimed she'd still be willing to take work there,
32:56despite it being 600 miles from her home.
32:59Not only that, ADF had also had a hand in formally establishing companies
33:03for some of its clients, with lawyers associated with the group
33:05signing incorporation paperwork and helping draft company policies.
33:09In one instance, only a month before a lawsuit was filed.
33:12But none of that mattered.
33:14Because when Laurie Smith's case went in front of the Supreme Court,
33:17she won a much broader ruling than ADF had with the cake shop.
33:21And as Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent,
33:23it was a decision that for the first time in the court's history
33:26grants a business open to the public a constitutional right
33:30to refuse to serve members of a protected class.
33:33And yet, throughout all these lawsuits,
33:36ADF insisted it was just sticking up for the little guy.
33:39But for all its careful, winsome positioning,
33:42it is worth remembering this is a group that in 2003
33:46filed a brief with the Supreme Court
33:48urging them to uphold state bans on sodomy
33:50and has sought to uphold bans on gay sex in India and Belize,
33:53which still fights for faith-based adoption agencies
33:56that refuse to serve same-sex couples to get public funding
33:59and that right now is fighting to overturn bans on conversion therapy.
34:03And however measured their public remarks may be,
34:06it's worth listening to what they can sound like behind closed doors.
34:09Like in this speech from 2020 to students at their Blackstone Fellowship.
34:13An ADF lawyer introduced a guest lecturer
34:16to help with what he called the theme of the day,
34:18which was how to talk about certain issues that are awkward
34:21and yet do so winsomely.
34:24She read aloud from a homophobic treatise
34:27and then offered her own commentary.
34:29Dr. Robert Riley helpfully explains this view of the human body
34:32in a reflection on the different organs and their limitations.
34:35Male genital organs are perfectly matched for female genitals.
34:39They are a perfect biological fit.
34:43By contrast, the anus is solely an expiratory organ.
34:47It's an exit, not an entrance.
34:50It is designed to eliminate fecal matter.
34:53When it is used in homosexual intercourse as a stand-in for the female vagina,
34:58it is being subjected to an activity for which it is clearly not designed.
35:03And one of the indications of this is the physical harm that it brings.
35:07End of quote.
35:08Many people still share this understanding of the human body
35:12and wish to see it upheld as the ideal.
35:15Wow.
35:16Not only is that incredibly dark, old-timey homophobia,
35:21male genital organs are a perfect biological fit for female genitals?
35:26I think there are plenty of women who might say,
35:28perfect fit?
35:30I don't want to be mean, but there is literally room for improvement.
35:37The point is, despite what it says,
35:41each case ADF brings is in service of their larger worldview,
35:44one where abortion and the rights of gays and trans people are a thing of the past,
35:48and they're going to keep chipping away at those rights,
35:50all while cheerily telling you that they're doing so in the service of freedom.
35:54Even that charter school case the Supreme Court is about to rule on,
35:57the one nominally about charter school funding,
36:00may well have a larger endgame.
36:02Because while that school insists it will not deny admission
36:05to any student on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression,
36:09it also has policies like, on all matters,
36:12the school will interact with students, faculty and staff according to their biological sex.
36:17And allowing taxpayer funds to go directly to a school with policies like that
36:22feels like we're moving another step closer to ADF's ultimate goal
36:26of eliminating LGBTQ American status as protected class citizens.
36:31So, what can we do?
36:34Unfortunately, given the current state of the courts,
36:37a lot of this is out of our hands right now,
36:39but I do think, at the very least,
36:41there's value in everyone knowing exactly what we are dealing with here.
36:45Because at least with the NRA, you understand what its endgame is,
36:49as they will happily tell you right to your face,
36:52it's for a gun to be elected to Congress, that is what they want.
36:55ADF, though, is something different.
36:58It's worked extremely hard to put a misleadingly friendly face
37:02on what is an utterly hateful ideology.
37:05And it benefits immensely from people not knowing just how poisonous and disingenuous it is.
37:10But for the record, this is a group that will talk winsomely about personal liberty,
37:16all while fear-mongering about softball players that don't exist,
37:19shitty studies that don't apply,
37:21and pedophile cakes that no one will ever order.
37:25And it might actually be important for everyone to know that at the end of the day,
37:29ADF, at its core, is really a lot like the pews at an imaginary donkey wedding,
37:34which is to say, absolutely full of shit.
37:39And now, this.
37:41And now, more delightfully bizarre musings from Philly's color commentator, John Kruk.
37:48When do you think they're going to upgrade the umpire's attire?
37:52Like their pants, they're pleated?
37:55That went out in like 30 years.
37:58You know what that is? That's an excellent point.
38:00That pleats did go out.
38:02Yeah, pleats are out.
38:03Look, he's looking at them.
38:05He's saying, you know what, John, you're right.
38:07These do look like crap.
38:09Had a nice conversation with Nick on the bus last night.
38:11Was it about RBIs?
38:12It was not about anything related to baseball, Tom.
38:15We were discussing colonoscopies.
38:17Yeah.
38:19Wait, who did you watch the game with?
38:20Who did you go squirrel hunting with?
38:21Ruel Hollis-Martin.
38:23Ruel Hollis-Martin.
38:26Oh, really?
38:28Yeah.
38:30And he had a farming incident where he cut off part of his finger.
38:33Oh, man.
38:34I'm going to talk to this kid.
38:36I ain't got nothing else to do.
38:38See if he can scare him.
38:41Hey!
38:44Malachi with the call.
38:46He don't miss us.
38:47I love that name.
38:49It's a good name.
38:50When you and I have a child together, we should name him Malachi.
38:56That's a good shot there.
38:59I said that out loud.
39:01I don't care what he eats.
39:03Did you tell him that?
39:04Since he's a Mets fan, I hope he chokes a little bit.
39:08One in one.
39:09But since he's your son, I hope it's not fatal.
39:13Thank you, John.
39:14You're welcome.
39:17That's our show.
39:18Thanks so much for watching.
39:19We'll see you next week.
39:20Good night.
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