- So before we jump into it today,
I have a very exciting announcement.
The February Shop DeFranco drop is now live.
We of course only do these now and then.
You have seven days and then, poof, it is gone.
And in this drop, we got a lot of awesome.
First, you know how last year we did the
"bringer of sadness" world tour tee,
I said that I covered the news,
I feel like a bringer of sadness,
y'all said it sounds like an indie band,
we turned it into clothing.
Well, the band is on the road again,
and we have the bringer of sadness world tour 2021 shirt
and premium hoodie.
Really upped the game with this one, it looks amazing.
And in addition to that, we have the first ever run
of the "I'm better than this" line,
which if you were not here for that episode,
"I'm better than this" is kind of the new life mantra
I've been trying to live by.
You and I today we're not who we were yesterday.
And today is but a snapshot for tomorrow.
At any moment I can start, restart, or continue
on my journey to something that I want to achieve.
When I last talked about that, it really seemed to resonate.
So I was like,
let's just make a simple, sleek, beautiful line.
So I built the line specifically around three colors,
black, burgundy, and gold.
With the big part of this being I want people
to be able to make outfits out of just one item
or kind of mix and match into their own.
So you can choose.
Do you want to go monochrome?
All black or all burgundy
or maybe burgundy joggers with a gold hoodie.
I also made part of these lines off of your recommendations
which is why for the first time ever in addition to hats,
we have beanies.
But yeah, main point, it is first come first served.
In a few days, it will go poof, goodbye.
So go to Shop DeFranco, grab what you want while you can.
And that's really it.
I'm my own sponsor today.
But yeah, welcome back to "The Philip DeFranco Show."
It is Monday, February 15th, 2021.
Hit that like button,
otherwise I will punch you in the throat,
and let's just jump into the news of the day,
so you can get back to yours.
The first thing that we're gonna talk
about today is new news that involves old news.
You know, this really feels
like the beginning of a wave that was started
by the new Britney Spears documentary.
Many people looking back now at the treatment
of primarily female stars in the 2000s.
Some of the names that come to mind you have Amy Winehouse,
Lindsay Lohan, right?
I can't even remember having a conversation
before Amy Winehouse died,
that in any way a person who was seen as as an addict
or had a substance abuse problem
that they were a victim.
The mainstream compassion and understanding was not there.
It's not like we live
in this universal utopia of understanding now,
but it is a wildly different situation.
Which is also why over the weekend this 2013 interview
with Lindsay Lohan and David Letterman went viral.
With people noting that in the first part of the interview,
it seemed like David Letterman
possibly blindsides Lindsay Lohan,
talking about substance abuse.
- How long will you be in rehab?
- Three months.
- How many times have you been in rehab?
- Several.
(audience laughs)
- And what, how will this time be different?
What are they rehabbing, first of all?
What is on their list?
(audience laughs)
What are they gonna work on when you walk through the door?
- We didn't discuss this in the pre interview, just saying.
- And there are some jokes that people see as punching down
on a really vulnerable person.
- Is it like alcohol?
Do you drink too much?
- We've discussed this in the past.
- Did we really?
When did we discuss?
I'm the one who's having the blackouts.
(David and audience laugh)
- I'm just saying.
- I oughta be in rehab for the love of God.
- With people saying that she's trying to laugh and smile
through being Letterman's punching bag,
trying to get him back on track.
She then gets a hold of a piece of paper
that Letterman brought out
that had a list of everything she has had to endure,
things that she sees he's going to joke about.
- You can't make a joke of it.
- I just want to, I just-
- That's so mean.
- I'm not joking.
- No, you're not doing that.
We're not doing that.
- One or two?
- No.
This is my show now.
(audience laughs)
- After that you can see Lindsay actually gets emotional,
and she's upset about the whole situation.
- Stop.
- Oh, she's tearing up a little bit.
God bless you.
- [Audience Member] I love you!
- I love you too.
- And so with and following this clip going viral,
you have people sharing it, saying things like,
"This makes me feel sick.
"She kept her composure and handled it so well
"and she shouldn't have had to.
"He just kept going even when her discomfort was apparent.
"It is so dehumanizing."
And with this, there was a big debate about
whether she was actually in on it.
You hear the audience laughing.
It's actually maybe just a good time.
And others pushing back against that saying,
no Lindsay Lohan is just trying to do the best she can here.
That prior to this,
there was no massive show of empathy or understanding,
people wanting to learn about her situation.
That she kind of had to just roll with it
otherwise she might be seen as a hard to work with mess.
With a lot of the criticism aimed towards David Letterman
being that mental health is not a joke
and that this is abusive and predatory.
With many like with Britney Spears pointing
to Craig Ferguson's old monologue
about not punching people while they're down.
But there needs to be a better standard for comedians,
that late night TV shows do not need
to just be unjustly cruel.
You know, I'll be honest, following this clip going viral
I found myself somewhat conflicted
because on one hand, yes this specific clip lands
at the feet of David Letterman,
but also it would be a massive missed opportunity
for self-reflection and growth if we didn't put up a mirror.
And if you were 18 or older at that time,
and you were consuming,
because we as a society enabled this to be okay.
That in-person audience
that was laughing was not some weird outlier.
And so that's why I'm so constantly thankful for people
who over the years have been brave enough to,
even though they felt like they might not be heard,
they shared their story.
They shared their struggles, even though they didn't know
if there was gonna be a safety net or not.
Because the sharing of those stories,
it makes familiar what used to be a stranger.
So I kind of hope a lot of us can have this conversation
with ourselves
rather than it just being a fuck David Letterman moment.
Because just to doing that is kind of the easy thing to do,
and it doesn't address the real issues.
The issues of the past, the present,
and the ones that'll pop up in the future.
But ultimately that's the story, some of my thoughts on it,
and now I pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts on this?
Then in other celebrity outrage news,
we have a constant contestant that is Kendall Jenner
with her popping up in the news this time
because people believe
she is setting unrealistic body standards
with images that people believe are Photoshop.
The photo in question was promoting one
of Kim Kardashian's business ventures.
With people sharing comparison photos pointing out
that lighting, poses,
and likely editing made a difference.
With it resulting in people angry.
Also people pleading, tweeting for Kendall
to "please share the truth, no Photoshop,
"just be real please
"for the good of young women everywhere."
With some going as far to say it should be illegal
to Photoshop pictures to this extent,
saying, "It's damaging.
"I'm 22 years old and that pic makes me feel horrific.
"Imagine how 13 and 14 year olds feel."
And while, you know, we could go through this reaction,
that reaction, blah, blah, blah, with this story,
I'm gonna keep it short and simple.
I can't personally speak to this photo
or Kendall Jenner specifically,
but please, please, please know that
when you're looking at a picture,
the internet is not reality.
And I mean that even for me
I am transitioning towards a healthy lifestyle,
but right now I am kind of a blob person.
Please do not say, "No, Phil, blah, blah, blah."
The difference between me
with ideal lighting and a camera angle that I choose
and a candid photo or video, drastic!
Sometimes on a really bloated day,
I look like a guy that maybe ate Philip DeFranco.
Obviously and especially on a day I'm pushing a brand
that is about the betterment of a person's life,
but really that's all about feeling good and whole here
and here.
The internet is not real life.
Do not try to be something you see online.
Just try to be the best, your favorite version of yourself.
Healthy, happy, baby,
Love yourself.
If you compare yourself to things you see on the internet,
you will always be sad because it is not real
nor is it sustainable for 99% of people.
Don't live for some photo or video,
live for your actual life.
Then we have the audio only app Clubhouse
in the news for two reasons.
The first being that Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked
Russian president Vladimir Putin
to speak with him on the app.
And as of this morning,
we learned that Russia is actually open to the idea.
With a Kremlin spokesperson calling the offer "interesting"
but saying that the government would need more details
of the conversation before would they officially agree to it
which I think makes sense, right?
I would rather prepare my lies
rather than have to kind of riff them.
And then actually the other reason we had Clubhouse
in the news is the platform's developers say
that they're working to improve the app's security
after researchers at Stanford found weaknesses
in its infrastructure that could reveal someone's identity.
Notably those weaknesses could prove to be very dangerous
for Chinese users of the app.
And that's because part of Clubhouse's appeal is
that it is largely private.
Chats aren't recorded
unless someone goes out of their way to do so.
The app's also invite only.
So because of that, we saw a surge of people
in China downloading the app
and talking about a number of topics
that they wouldn't normally be allowed to discuss.
Things like the Hong Kong crackdown,
Taiwanese independence,
and the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Western China.
While China ultimately blocked the app last week,
this security risk could still pose a big threat
for the users that used it.
With the Stanford researchers noting that
as they had suspected,
a Shanghai based startup provides the backend platform
to Clubhouse and adding that users raw audio is likely,
but not certainly, available to that startup.
Noting that in at least one instance,
they observed room metadata being relayed
to servers believed to be hosted in mainland China.
Also discovering that the user
and chat room IDs are transmitted in plain text,
meaning that any observer of internet traffic could
easily match IDs on shared chat rooms
to see who was talking to whom.
And so now you have Clubhouse saying
that they'll add additional encryption
and blocks to prevent Clubhouse clients
from ever transmitting pings to Chinese servers.
And here we were all worrying about TikTok and China
which actually TikTok's in the news as well.
You know how last week we talked
about the TikTok Oracle deal being paused
as the Biden administration began reviewing
whether TikTok was really a national security concern
or not.
Well, at least according to the South China Morning Post,
ByteDance has now officially walked away from a deal
to sell US operations of TikTok to Oracle.
The Post claiming that ByteDance is now searching
for a new structure for its US operations.
Then in really interesting internet/advertising news,
we look to Maryland
where they have now become the first state
to impose a tax that will generate revenue
from digital ads.
So this move was passed
by the state legislature over the weekend.
And it's aimed at big tech companies
such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook.
With it requiring them to pay a maximum tax of 10%
from digital ad sales.
Reportedly the money raised from this tax will go
to public schools in Maryland,
and analysts predict that those schools could see
as much as $250 million.
Lobbying groups for Silicon Valley have argued
that the cost of the tax will be passed on
to small businesses that buy ads
and even to their customers.
Very notably this tax will also likely face legal challenges
with opponents arguing
that since large tech companies are not based in Maryland,
the law will tax activity that originated outside the state,
violating the constitution.
And also arguing that this should not stand
because federal law says that taxes on digital goods
or services must also apply to their physical product.
But still backers of the new law say
that they are confident it will not be overturned
by legal challenges.
So this is going to be something to keep your eyes on
because this could just be the first of more to come.
In fact, both Connecticut and Indiana have
already introduced digital ads tax proposals.
And then let's talk about this craziness out of Texas.
So according to the NationalUtilityTrackerPowerOutage.us,
over 2.7 million people across Texas are currently
without power.
And this as Texas is being hit
with historically low temperatures in sub-zero windchill.
You know, with this situation,
on the 12th we saw the Texas governor issuing
a disaster declaration.
We're seeing reports of things like officials
in Harris County warning residents to stay in doors,
telling them to hunker down.
And it's also important to note that it's not just Texas.
It's incredibly odd and concerning to see Texas like this.
But I mean, there have been emergency declarations
in Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi.
Please be careful out there and listen to the warnings.
Then we had Publix in the news
for two completely different reasons.
The first of which
actually just involves Publix being a part
of a much bigger story.
That being that late last week
the federal government began shipping COVID-19 vaccines
to retail chains,
including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger.
According to Morning Brew,
6,500 pharmacies will get the doses to start,
but the goal is to eventually hit 40,000 locations.
It's interesting to see what the breakdown
of these stores is.
You have CVS and Walgreens.
They have 19,000 stores combined in the United States.
With Publix, Kroger, and Rite-Aid
reportedly you have 11,000.
But then boom!
You have the mom and pop destroyer that is Walmart
reportedly receiving 20% of all doses sent to pharmacies
by the government.
So I guess thank you, big retail.
And also while we're talking about COVID-19,
reportedly the United States has administered now
more than 50 million doses
to more than 11% of the country's population.
So right now it looks like we are well on our way
of Biden's 100 shots in 100 days.
With the report saying that we're averaging
more than 1.6 million shots per day.
So, hey, good news.
Hope.
So there's that.
But then the other bit of news is
that you have people calling for a Publix boycott.
And this as the Guardian explains,
after a member of the founding family donated $300,000
to the Donald Trump rally
that preceded January's deadly capital attack.
Reportedly, that money coming from Julie Jenkins Fancelli
who is an heiress to the Publix supermarket chain.
Over two weeks ago, we saw Publix issue a statement trying
to distance themselves saying she's "not an employee
"nor is she involved in our business operations,
"nor does she represent the company in any way."
Adding that they could not comment on her actions.
But for a number of people that seemingly has fallen short
with the general mindset being
if your success is going to lead to her success,
I can't support you.
And the last thing that we're gonna talk
about today is the end of a story
where exactly what we thought was gonna happen happened.
Following Donald Trump becoming the first ever president
to be impeached twice,
he is now the first ever president to be acquitted
by the Senate twice.
This time though of course
on charges of inciting an insurrection.
Of course, the reason we knew this was going
to happen again is that Democrats were going
to need 17 Republicans to join them to be able to convict.
Though notably the 50 Democrats did get seven
Republicans to join them.
Those Republican senators being Mitt Romney, Richard Burr,
Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski,
Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey.
And as far as why Democrats could not pull
in more Republicans, it's likely because of re-election.
Because while yes, several polls have shown that a majority
of the country thinks that Trump should have been convicted,
he should be barred from running ever again.
Other recent polls indicate
that around 70% of Republican voters
still strongly support Trump which is also why notably here,
of the seven who voted to convict only Murkowski is up
for reelection in 2022,
and both Burr and Toomey are retiring.
You know, one of the standout moments
from this entire thing was
when Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell gave
this 20 minute speech following his not guilty vote.
- There's no question, none.
President Trump is practically
and morally responsible
for provoking the events of the day.
No question about it.
The people who stormed this building believed
they were acting on the wishes
and instructions
of their president,
and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence
of the growing crescendo of false statements,
conspiracy theories,
and reckless hyperbole,
which the defeated president kept shouting
into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.
- With him adding that Trump did nothing to stop the riot,
but added that he believed
that the Senate did not have the constitutional power
to remove a president who had left office.
That despite the fact
that the Senate had voted to strike down that argument
on the first day of the trial.
And notably numerous conservative scholars have said
that there is a constitutional basis for doing so,
and even past precedent
of the chamber removing the cabinet secretary
after he had left office.
But of course, and this is my opinion here,
I think Mitch McConnell only cares about precedent
when it helps him
because Mitch McConnell doesn't care about anything!
Once again, it's like we're meant to applaud Mitch McConnell
because he was like, "You know what?
"We should still be a democracy."
Which if anything is incredibly telling
and really troubling that that is not like the bar,
that's not the entry point.
But while we're obviously gonna have to wait to see
what the exact fallout from this situation is,
there was something else that Mitch McConnell hit
on in his speech.
- President Trump is still liable
for everything he did while he was in office.
He didn't get away with anything, yet.
- So, it appears that what he was talking about there is
like we talked about last week.
A district attorney in Georgia has
already opened an investigation
into Trump's efforts to interfere
in the election in the state.
Even there that's likely not where these inquiries will end.
According to reports,
members of both parties have expressed support
for a 9/11 style commission to investigate the lead up
to the insurrection.
But once again, ultimately we're gonna have to wait and see
because words are words and actions are actions.
Actually with this, or, you know,
anything that stood out to you today,
I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below
because this is the end of the show.
As always thank you for supporting my daily dives
into the news, hitting the like button,
subscribing, whatever.
Also reminder, head to ShopDeFranco.com,
grab the new drop while you can.
And of course, as always I love your faces,
and you've just been filled in
with news that matters for people that care.
I'll see ya tomorrow.