00:06But I'll tell you, when it was my first time, it came a few years back.
00:12Where, frankly, I felt the Democratic Party had its back to the wall.
00:18I felt we were being a little timid.
00:21I felt we were on the receiving end of so much.
00:23I'm wondering, why are we chasing this?
00:26Why am I chasing what Greg Abbott is saying?
00:30This guy runs the Senate.
00:31Why am I sitting here, in the United States of America, in 2022,
00:39reading about a major state like Florida, rewriting the history books,
00:47censoring historic facts,
00:50going so far as to take out the race of Rosa Parks.
00:56Because it was perceived as too woke.
01:00The anti-woke clubs, which were nothing more than anti-black.
01:05That's all that was about.
01:07What's the whole point of DEI?
01:10The assault idea.
01:11ESG.
01:12CRT.
01:13Remember that?
01:13They were shape-shifting everything, and we, our party was on their seat, and we were playing defense.
01:20How the hell do we allow that to happen?
01:22And I'm not naïve, but I'm not naïve, they were weaponizing Greene's.
01:31They were separating.
01:33They've got a whole network from them.
01:36And I'm not talking about Fox, I'm talking about Sinclair.
01:41Leonard Amy's local station, redundantly repeating the same storylines over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.
01:49You've got one American News, you've got Newsmax, then you have Fox News.
01:56Lies.
01:57This and this representation.
01:59If you think I'm lying, take a look at what I did last week.
02:02I've sued Fox News for having me.
02:15Because it's all at stake.
02:17It's all at stake.
02:21One of the great parts of this community is, you know, we've got this extraordinary courthouse, culture.
02:29I mean, that's all we've got left.
02:32I remember, I was taught when I was here, there were three co-equal branches of government.
02:37Right now, it appears, well, we know one that's gone, a guy named Johnson, is completely out of here,
02:50taking responsibility and role of advising, consent, and oversight.
02:54So all we've got left, maybe, is the courts, or maybe more importantly, the court of public opinion.
03:01Maybe that's the, well, it is the point I want to emphasize.
03:06Well, I'll let y'all go.
03:08You know, I'm old enough to remember Justice Brandeis.
03:12My father served as a member of the California Court of Appeals.
03:16He used to always quote Justice Brandeis.
03:18Who said, in a democracy, in a democracy, the most important office is office of citizens.
03:25With all due respect, Mr. President, not the presidency, not governors, not mayors, not even members of our represented bodies in state legislatures.
03:41It's an office of citizens, but it's active, not a nerd, citizenship.
03:47You've got to step up and share your passion with action.
03:52Share your voice, like the five million people did at the No Kings Rouse.
03:56When people stood up, and they shut up, and then put back, that's what's more than it is.
04:02I'm here just to encourage you for all the work you've done, and it's exhausting, and my gosh, I could have started.
04:10What you all have been through the last five, six years?
04:13I mean, most of your life?
04:18I'm serious.
04:18I mean, just the COVID alone.
04:29I know it's hard.
04:31We don't want to open up those wounds.
04:32We don't even want to talk.
04:33We all want to just move on.
04:35But it's hard to move on.
04:37You see?
04:38And a lot of folks haven't.
04:40They feel more alone, more isolated, more disconnected.
04:44You went through that.
04:46All of you.
04:48That was traumatizing.
04:53But your strength is, by definition, the most powerful today.
04:57Because you wouldn't be here.
04:59And I think for your resilience.
05:03And it's that resilience that will get us through this moment.
