The fact that we had our country was involved in slavery is awful. No one. No one thinks otherwise. But what I saw when I was going through the museums personally was an overemphasis on slavery. [00:00:16] And I think there should be more of an overemphasis on how far we've come since slavery. Our country is a country of progress, and it's the greatest country in the world. And we should be able to take our kids, our students, through the Smithsonian [00:00:32] and feel proud when we leave. That was Special Assistant to the president Lindsay Halligan, expressing the president's concerns that the Smithsonian is too woke. Specifically, she was referencing how learning about slavery [00:00:48] is just too much of a downer. So we'll get more into the issues with the Smithsonian. But first, Jake, what do you think about Trump's belief that American history is just too divisive and not fun for people? It's stupid. Literally. [00:01:03] So do we think that we should just teach a fairy tale version of history? Oh, everything that America did was amazing. We farted out rainbows from our sphincters, all of our leaders. [00:01:18] And we. And we rode on unicorns. And it was like, what is this? What is this garbage propaganda. We're going to live in 1984. So you can love the country despite its flaws, like talk show hosts that make uncomfortable analogies. [00:01:33] So okay. Like so I love America. I talk about how much I love America all the time, but that doesn't mean like that we did everything right or that we should not teach real history. And look here later I'll tell you some of the absurd propaganda that I grew up with, [00:01:52] briefly in Turkey, to give you a sense of where this winds up leading to. All right. Go ahead. - Yes. - Okay. So earlier this week, Donald Trump posted this on Truth Social. He said the museums throughout Washington, but all over the country are essentially [00:02:08] the last remaining segment of woke. The Smithsonian is out of control. Where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been. Nothing about success, nothing about brightness. [00:02:24] Nothing about the future. We are not going to allow this to happen. And I have instructed my attorneys to go through the museums and start the exact same process that has been done with colleges and universities, where tremendous progress has been made. The country cannot be woke because woke is broke. [00:02:41] We have the hottest country in the world. That's weird. And we want people to talk about it, including in our museums. Okay, I wonder how many museums Trump has actually been in because, like, isn't it kind of the point of museums to be about history? But anyway, so later, the white House official government website put [00:02:59] this article titled With No bias in Sight. President Trump is right about the Smithsonian in this article. The white House called out seven different museums for exhibits that they deemed to be too woke or divisive. A few of the museums included were the National Museum [00:03:17] of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History, and the National Portrait Gallery. Also the National Museum of the American Latino. The article includes several examples of exhibits and art that the Trump [00:03:34] administration found uncomfortable. So most were pieces that mentioned slavery, transgender identity, and immigration. So here are some examples directly from the White House's list. When it came to race, the white House shared this example from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. [00:03:53] And the header is about, the aspects and assumptions of whiteness and white culture in the United States. And the white House, said the National Museum of African American History and Culture debuted a series to educate people on a society that [00:04:09] privileges white people and whiteness, defining so-called white dominant culture as ways white people and their traditions, attitudes and ways of life have been normalized over time, and portraying the nuclear family, work ethic, and intellect [00:04:24] as white qualities rooted in racism. The white House also took issue with an LGBTQ flag, sharing this image and saying The American History Museum prominently displays the intersex inclusive pride flag at its entrance, [00:04:40] which was also flown alongside the American flag at multiple Smithsonian campuses. The white House was also upset with the way one artist depicted immigration, the official government website stated. The National Portrait Gallery features art commemorating the act of [00:04:57] illegally crossing the Be inclusive and exclusionary southern border, even making it a finalist for one of its awards. So artists who have found themselves on the list are taking this as kind of a badge of honor. There was artist Rigoberto Gonzalez who created the painting depicting [00:05:15] a family crossing the US border, and he told the Washington Post, it's not promoting immigration. It's the reality of immigration and the fact that when immigrants come here, they don't always find this American dream that they're supposedly chasing. Hugo Crosswaith, who created a portrait of Anthony Fauci, stated, in a way, [00:05:36] I'm kind of honored to be included in this list of important exhibitions and art projects that shed light on many viewpoints and diverse realities that are part of American history. Yeah. So again, like, how many museums has Trump actually been in? He wants to focus on the future, not history, which is like very anti museum. [00:05:56] I feel like, you know like like that's kind of the point of museums. And that's also not to say that museums don't also look toward the future. I mean, here in Houston, you know, if you go to the NASA Space Center, there is a museum there, and they talk a lot about the ongoing projects that they have. [00:06:11] And yeah, I mean, I guess space is just inherently more fun. So maybe this is a bad example. But, Michael, what do you what do you make of this whole thing? And the revamping of the Smithsonian? Yeah, I mean, there's I'm sure the etymology of whitewashing goes back to when white people wanted to change history and remember only the good parts. [00:06:31] And you cannot have. I mean, I've been God at least 7 or 8 times to the African American Museum in Washington, and it's spectacular. And it's arranged so that on the very bottom floor, maybe even below ground, is is the is slavery right? [00:06:47] It's the importation of slave labor into America. And as you go up each level, it tracks the progress and the struggles, all the way. And you struggle because it's a lot of steps to get to the very top. And then there's the modern day success of African Americans. [00:07:04] That is what history does. If you go down the block to the Holocaust Museum, you're not going to, you know, you're not going to just let's not do the the Second World War, right? I mean, you just don't do that part of African American history is, is just this and it's breaking up. [00:07:19] You want to talk about the nuclear family having white roots and all of that. It's because families were broken up by people who bought and traded other people in American history. It's it's terrible and but it's part of history and you have to teach it. It is it is a horrible, horrible thing that they're trying to do [00:07:38] to culture and history. The portrait gallery, my guess, has something to do with the fact that there's a much heralded portrait of Barack Obama in the portrait gallery, and it's a beautiful museum and it's free, and everybody should go there. They have all the presidents there. But, you know, I'm stuck on the fact that this is like everything else [00:07:57] with Donald Trump, that there is a personal thing here and that there is a racial element to to everything he does. And that's what you're watching. All right. I got a lot of points. First, though, I love the point about the Holocaust Museum. Trump goes in. That is all bad news. Get rid of it. Right. Nothing left in the museum. Perfect. [00:08:14] No. Sometimes museums have good news. Sometimes they have bad news. And oftentimes when you're talking about history, it has both, because that's what history is filled to the brim with. And if you go to the Smithsonian or any other museum, you know what it has, like Michael just described as slavery. And then the success of African Americans and an African American president, etc., [00:08:31] it has stories about, you know, what happened to Native Americans, but it also has the moon landing and our fight for independence and the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and all these wonderful things about the country. If you sanitize it to the point where it only has the good stuff, [00:08:47] you're not doing history, you're doing political correctness. We don't like real history, so we are now going to replace it with things that are not factually correct, but politically correct because that's what Donald Trump would like. And let's note for the record, this is the right wing starting a culture war, right. [00:09:05] And that one and and that one day there will be a Donald Trump museum, too. And I tell you what's not going to be in there. I don't need to tell you. You know what won't be in there? Yeah, yeah. So books, but anyway. Okay, so, so, like, the right wing complains about the culture wars. [00:09:21] I don't like the culture wars, but then don't start them. So no left winger came to a museum, like, take out all the things that are positive about white people and right wingers. Let's get rid of them. Right? No, Trump is doing that. It's a distraction. It's so you're not focusing on economic issues. [00:09:37] He hasn't helped you in your life. Instead, he's wasting your time and your dollars doing this kind of nonsense. Now look, if you say, hey, there's things I don't like. If it's true, and I would believe that this exists somewhere, although I don't believe it exists at the Smithsonian because I don't take [00:09:54] the white House word for it. But the idea that the nuclear family, work ethic and intellect are white qualities rooted in racism is absurd, absurd, the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my life. So would I believe that there's like seven people on the left in the country, [00:10:12] that are honestly like in some sort of college campus in some sort of, you know, academia or whatever that say absurd things like that. Yeah. I believe there are seven, right? But do I think that that's a big part of the Smithsonian where they're like, oh yeah, if you're smart, that's racist. [00:10:28] No, that's ludicrous. Totally ludicrous. So now should the president be going around trying to see if they could find out one thing that's offensive at the Smithsonian that they don't quite love? Like, I don't, let's say that that take their word for it and say that is at [00:10:45] the Smithsonian and that I saw it there, and I would hate it. Right. If I'm the president. Yeah, that's on my priority list. Approximately 2 million items down. I'm never going to get to it, because that's not the president's job. The president's job is way more important than. [00:11:02] Anything like that word. And I like the framing of that museum exhibit. - I mean, what. - Are you doing? This silly. - Being obfuscatory. - Right from another, story that we did. All right. And, Okay, I want to get to the Turkish propaganda that I promised you guys. [00:11:20] So where does this end? Well, it ends with what a lot of other countries do. So when I was a kid in Turkey. Now, this is the 1970s, right? So I don't know that they still do this. I hope not, but they would teach us an absurd version of history. So of course, the Armenian Genocide didn't happen, right? [00:11:36] And of course, the Turks were wonderful and kind people to everyone they met. I mean, they just happened to have an empire that stretched across a third of the world. And for 500 years. But they didn't oppress anyone. Everyone voluntarily came in and said, would you like to rule us? [00:11:52] Oh thank you. Right. I mean, there's this hilarious story. We conquer Constantinople. And then, a young Christian girl comes up and presents a flower to the Sultan because she's so happy she's been conquered. Come on. Right. [00:12:10] And then one that actually stuck with me until I was embarrassingly older. Like maybe I think it was in college when I was taking a middle eastern class. I was like, oh my God. So I was taught in this time, like, you're in third grade at the time. Okay. Yet the Turks never lost the war. [00:12:28] Other than World War One, because that one was a little hard to avoid. Right. That was pretty obvious. So. And I, as a little kid, I got into my head and I believed it. And I'm sitting there as a junior in college. I'm like, but the Turks never. Oh, my God, I'm such a dumbass. But that's because that's what. [00:12:47] How brainwashing and propaganda work. Is that what you want for your kids? Like gross weirdo brainwashing. So they believe things that aren't true? No, that's not America. But it's also the last vestiges of white America hanging on to. [00:13:02] And that's who he's appealing to, hanging on to a fading take or control of how we hear history. And I think there's a little bit of that to it as well. I mean, like, it really says a whole lot when you have to go so far out of your way to make a certain group look good in your own country's history, [00:13:21] and it's like you're doing too much, and why should you have to do so much? Also question what about dinosaur museums? They're all dead. That's sad. Should we just get rid of all those bones and, you know, like, I know I don't have to tell this audience why we need museums in this world. [00:13:37] I love a museum. I'm, like, kind of a nerd like that. I'm not, like, as a flex or anything like that. But museums are fun, right? Like they're interesting. You learn a lot if you like history. They're extra fun if you like science or extra fun. But, you know, like, we have a Holocaust museum here in Houston and it is not a fun experience to go there. [00:13:54] They have a rail car that was used to transport Jews to concentration camps and gas chambers, and you can go inside the rail car and man, it is chilling. It's not fun at all. But so many people come out of that museum and they're not the same as they were when they went in. [00:14:09] It is that impactful. And, you know, it provides a level of empathy that a lot of people don't get otherwise. You don't get that level of understanding just from textbooks unless you're a very, very avid reader, which most people are not. I will say, though, a little bit of hope. [00:14:25] I do want to believe that once Trump is out of office, things are going to get better if he does actually get his way at the Smithsonian and with other museums across the country. And I do hope that a lot of whatever he does will be undone. I don't know if that's going to happen, but these historians and the scientists [00:14:42] who contribute to these museums and archeologists, whoever they are, they are passionate about their work. They are dedicated. They have dedicated their entire lives to preserving history and legacy. And not just that, but also to presenting it accurately. I have to believe that those people will still be around [00:15:00] waiting this administration out and just resetting once we're back to some sense of whatever this is not it. No question. And I think that's going to happen. Yes. And I also don't think a lot of this is going to occur. Like I don't think this whitewashing is going to happen. [00:15:16] But one of the things that that, you know, I'm a nerd about these presidential museums, and I've been to all of them now since the Presidential Libraries Act was, was started. And some of them are great and some of them are are horrible because of the what they omit. [00:15:33] And they have the ability to do it because the archives are, are, you know, the responsibility of the American government and the, and the National Archives and the museum library is is just what the donors and the people that championed that president do. [00:15:48] And yes, they're all deferential, but some of them are very honest. Nixon is absolutely honest, and even more so since they redid it. And Reagan is a fairy tale. And so that's when I said the Trump Museum is going to be like that. That and Trump is the least curious man we've ever has had as president. [00:16:07] And I include George W Bush, who's who's who he surpassed because I don't think he was terribly curious, but especially in light of the way he grew up and who his father was and what an interesting American life his dad lived. But, but but Trump is not curious at all. So he hears these things. [00:16:24] He doesn't have to go to the museum. He just wants to change what? What into to what he thinks his people want him to do, and his people that elect him and that put him where he is. Everyone who voted for him is not a racist, but every racist who voted voted for him. [00:16:40] And so I think that that, that, that he's playing to that crowd by doing this, especially with that museum of American, African American history, which is a beautiful place that people should go to now more than ever to show the president that he's doing something very wrong headed. Yeah. Last two quick things. [00:16:56] Look, most white people don't want it either, right? In terms of rewriting history and stuff. So he's only appealing to the super radical, right? Who, you know, wanted framed in a way that's just perfectly pleasant for them. So and finally, I mentioned I couldn't I didn't believe [00:17:12] that it was in the Smithsonian. It turns out it is real. It's not in the Smithsonian. It's that whole thing about how intellect and work ethic are somehow white, which to me sounds racist, right? Why? Why would intellect be just white? And then they're like, and it turns out that's in an online portal [00:17:31] about race and racism in America. Oh, okay. Online is as close as he's gotten to a museum that didn't have a gala, you know. Like, and oh, yeah, we're going to go. You had to dig and dig and dig until you found an online portal, [00:17:47] which I don't even know what that is, to find that kind of absurdity. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.