"Tony Tantrums" and constitutional amendments (10-22-2024--Hour2)

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_01]: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to get into some of the stuff that's on the ballot here that you may not be aware of. I've seen a couple of these posts and some emails regarding bond referenda, but also a statewide constitutional amendment. So we'll go over some of the details on that.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_01]: OK, sure. Why not? Let's have some fun. Hello, Tony. Welcome to the show. How are you?

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, terrific. How about yourself, sir?

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I am OK. I'm doing all right.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I was just wanting to find out something.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I doubt that.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm listening to all the commentary and everything, and I just wanted to find out.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Wait, hang on a second. Hang on, Tony. What commentary?

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Just election commentary, the voting and what's going on in our country right now. We're about to elect our president.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_01]: OK, so not anything that I've actually said in the last hour. This is just out of left field. You're coming with this?

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_03]: No, I'm not going to pick on you today. You know, I'm going to let you slide today. I'm not going to pick on you today.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_03]: But what I'm trying to find out.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_01]: That's very magnanimous of you and completely detached from reality. Yes. OK.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_03]: What I'm trying to find out is, though, from WBT.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't speak for WBT.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, OK. Well, Pete, what would you say for Pete?

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_01]: All I can do. Right. All I can do is speak for myself.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_03]: OK. Yeah.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_03]: So what are going to be the excuses for the loss of the presidency from the Republican side?

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_03]: What will be some of the excuses of why they lost?

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Which specifically are you talking about just the presidential race?

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Just the presidential race.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_01]: All right. So so Trump loses. So here's one reason why that might be the case, that we have completely underestimated the the demographic that really wants to be able to impregnate their nannies and whip up on their girlfriends.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Really? That might be the excuse.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, I feel like I'm treating the I feel like I'm treating the answer to your question with the seriousness of the question.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So, well, I'm matching because I'm just why is it?

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Why? Well, first off, you've given zero parameters.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_01]: You're just you're working off of a baseline that Trump loses, but you've given me no parameters as to how that might occur.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01]: So, for example, does Donald Trump does Donald Trump lose in a landslide or does he lose in a squeaker?

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Does he lose just a couple of states and their shenanigans with the ballot counting?

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Like how exactly? Because all of that stuff would all of that stuff would potentially lead to a near limitless amount of, quote, what you called excuses or explanations or reasons or whatever.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_03]: So, I mean, like there's I got you. I got you.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, so let's say he comes up short of about 11000 votes.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_03]: What do you think is going to happen?

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_03]: What's going to be the excuse?

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So if so, you're saying he comes up short 11000 votes where?

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_03]: 11000 votes.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Where?

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_03]: North Carolina.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: He comes up short in North Carolina and I assume then he loses every other swing state as well.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, it's just that, you know, well, you can put it like that.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_03]: He doesn't have to lose.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying to figure out what it is that you're trying to ask because you're not doing a good job in asking the question.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Because I suspect that the question was formulated just purely in bad faith and you hadn't really contemplated how how he could lose in all of these different ways.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You make it way too much out of it.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm not.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm not.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm actually making of it exactly what it is, which is.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_03]: No, I'm only asking.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Listen, I just make your assertion, Tony.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Just make an assertion rather than playing this stupid game of Q&A as if you're like engaging in the Socratic method to arrive at truth.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_01]: You're not.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So why not just make your assertion?

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_03]: What does Socratic mean?

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_03]: What does that mean?

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It means trying to derive truth through the use of questions.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And you're not.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_01]: That's not what you're engaged in.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So, like, that's a that's an actual thought experiment.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: You're not doing that.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: You're you're trying to make an you're trying to make an assertion without actually making that assertion.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So just go ahead and make the assertion.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Whatever.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: What's the assertion?

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, the assertion is the Republican Party loses.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm trying to figure out what Pete Cowan's excuses are going to be for that law.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I just explained.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I just explained to you.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: First off, you're limiting it only to the presidential race.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_03]: You have to have parameters on how he lost.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: No.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Because.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, Tony, Tony, if for some reason, let's say let's say the president gets assassinated and now he loses.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that would be an excuse, don't you?

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_03]: No, no, he's just not in the race anymore.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, he would still lose.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You can't take him off the ballot.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_01]: He would still he could still lose after that.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: He could win, but he could lose.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Just like I mean, you're you're you're like you're asking a question that has limitless possibilities of which I don't know.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I would never say, for example, if he loses in a landslide across the country in both the national vote and in the electoral college, which is actually how we elect people.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Then I would wonder, like, OK, well, then every all the polling was wrong.

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And it seems like that's there is no real excuse other than he lost.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: See, so your your your question is based on a false assumption that I would accept his only his victory and never his defeat, which is not true.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I, of course, would.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's why I asked you for the parameters, because you're offering me me up a B.S. hypothetical.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So make your assertion.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: You're still not doing that.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, well, I'm not as smart as you, obviously.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And so and so therefore all of those things, I'm just I'm just a regular old country boy.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And I don't that that that all of that stuff that you just talking about, either you win or you lose one or the other.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_03]: And I'm just trying to figure out how you're not trying to figure out.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony, you're not trying to figure that out.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Stop lying.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: There's no need to lie.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm doing what I'm doing.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: No, you are.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I do.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I absolutely do know what you're doing.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: You're not.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you're you're trying to make an argument.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You're trying to make an attack.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_01]: That is somehow premise.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, Tony, of course you are.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony, Tony, Tony.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_03]: That's it.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony, you just said that I was smarter than you.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_01]: So don't treat me like an idiot.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: OK, because I'm all because that doesn't that doesn't reflect well on you.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: OK.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_03]: No, no.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_03]: OK.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I just wanted to find out.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm messing with you.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_03]: I just want to.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_03]: I know you are.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So now you admit the thing that I just said and you call and you got all upset when I called you a liar for it.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And now you acknowledge that you are, in fact, doing what I said you were doing.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Listen to me.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I will listen to your excuses when it happens.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And then I will remind you, oh, Pete, those are the excuses that I was waiting to hear from you.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_01]: How do you even know what?

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So, Tony.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So, Tony, let's say let's say the election comes down to a single state.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't matter which one.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's say that it's all tied, basically, in the Electoral College.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_01]: The 11000 votes are irrelevant.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not a national election.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's an Electoral College election.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Always has been.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And so we end up with one swing state.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And let's say that the polls closed and they're counting all the ballots and it comes out that Trump wins and he wins by, use your number, 11000 votes in that swing state.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's a very, very, very, very small percentage of margin of victory.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: It's let's say it's within one point one percent.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And so Kamala Harris calls for a recount, which she would be legally entitled to do.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I would have no objection to that.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So she would have asked for a recount.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And in the process of that recount, let's say they lose somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 ballots.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: They just misplaced them and now they can't recount them.

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And so they give the election to Kamala Harris.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, that is a far fetched idea.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_01]: But let's say that happens.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: My quote unquote excuse for why Trump would lose would be that there was shenanigans going on in that recount.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that would be a perfectly reasonable position to take.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_03]: So how much does he have to lose by for it not to be any shenanigans?

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, there has to be no shenanigans.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't matter what the disparity between the votes are.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I want a shenanigans free.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_03]: He loses by one.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Huh?

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Why would you say it's so what does it matter if he loses by one vote?

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_03]: He lost.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So why would it be shenanigans?

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony, I'm saying in a recount that Harris had asked for.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: She asks for the recount because if it's a one vote difference, then whoever's on the losing side of that one vote difference, they can ask for a recount.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's within the law.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: They're entitled to a recount so they can ask for it.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And then during the recount, a whole bunch of ballots go missing.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And now it changes the outcome of the results.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_01]: That would be a problem for me.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And it wouldn't be just if Trump were to lose.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It would also be if Harris were to lose because you've lost thousands of ballots.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_01]: See, I've constructed a hypothetical scenario in order to test.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Really hypothetical.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Really, really hypothetical.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Yours is a hypothetical and yours was just ridiculous because you had zero parameters attached to it.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And then asking me for a specific.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_01]: You're asking for a specific answer to a limitless question.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_01]: It is a fool's errand.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_01]: You are embarked upon.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_03]: This is a great example of what's going wrong with our electoral system now.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_03]: No one wants to accept what the outcome.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Who said I wouldn't accept the outcome of the election?

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Who said that?

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_03]: You know what I'm saying?

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, because we're already setting it up to say, hey.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony, you literally asked me under what scenario I would have excuses, quote unquote, for not accepting the results.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I gave you one that is a completely fraudulent outcome.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And your response is to now accuse me of not being willing to accept the outcome.

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, Tony, Tony, that is Tony.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: That is patently absurd.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's another example of the bad faith BS lies that you tell in order to try to make an argument.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And you're not good at it.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So you should stick with stuff that you're good at, Tony.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: This is not it.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: OK?

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if anybody has staged an intervention with you before.

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I suspect not.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You are not good at this kind of debate.

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_01]: We can't be good at everything, man.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Look, everybody can't be good at everything.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So stick to your knitting.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You know?

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Find something you're good at.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And just focus on that.

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[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Pete, why do you keep taking Tony Tantrum's debate calls?

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony Tantrum's.

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, that's like asking the cat why it likes to play with the ball of yarn.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_01]: The cat doesn't know.

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_01]: It just knows it's having a good time.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like the old joke.

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_01]: You never get into an argument with a political science major because they enjoy it.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Tony needs to be on stage at News and Cruise, says Mike.

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, last time we had Jackie and I got into a debate with Jackie.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Steve says Tony's bad acting only matches his inability to articulate well in a conversation.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_01]: To his credit, though, at least he's smarter than Winston.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I love Putin.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's true.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: At Patriot Girl says, Pete, you are a savage beast and I love it.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_01]: LOL, poor Tony.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: He never stood a chance.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I do see.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe it's the Catholic upbringing with the guilt that comes infused with it.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just like I now I feel like I mugged a dead guy.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: John, welcome to the show.

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Hello, John.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Good afternoon.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Good, sir.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I am not the history major that you are.

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Um, maybe you could remind me of any times that the Democrats have denied an election, maybe led by a prominent senator like, uh, I don't know, maybe, uh, Congressman Raskin.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_01]: No, that has never, never happened.

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Democrats have always accepted election results, most famously in 2000.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The Bush v. Gore race.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Good times.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And, oh, and then again, Hillary Clinton and she still dossier thing.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: There was that.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And then, oh, and Stacey Abrams that also to this day, I think she still claims she won that race in Georgia.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, I was, I heard Tony's call and I was like, hmm, I wonder if the Republicans are the only ones that, that ever challenge an election result or refuse to accept it.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was wondering, since you are the, um, the man of the hour with all the answers, if you could, uh, if you could have assisted me with, uh, an answer to that question.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_01]: The answer is it is different when Democrats do it.

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the, that is the correct answer to the question.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_01]: John, I appreciate the call.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_01]: When Democrats, uh, question the election results or file their motions and such in resolutions, challenging slates of electors and such.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It's different because Democrat.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Democrat.

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_01]: It's different because shut up racist.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And John, uh, in an email says, Pete, the fact that Tony keeps calling in makes me believe that he actually thinks he's doing a good job every time he calls you.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Which is why I said what I said to him, but you're not good at this.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know if anybody has ever told him because he's acting like he's very good at it and he's not.

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So I felt the need, it's like shark tank, you know, where people have these businesses and they're, they're so trying to get the business off the ground.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And the sharks are just like, this is a terrible business idea.

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_01]: You need to just let this go before you lose all of your family fortune.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's a service.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a giver.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Have you looked at your sample ballot yet?

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I have.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I, not your ballot, but there is one in North Carolina.

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's one question that we all get to see.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: It's the same question.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like a statewide referendum.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It actually is.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_01]: It's for constitutional amendment.

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've gotten some questions about what exactly this thing does and doesn't do.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen leftists and media, but I repeat myself, trying to promote this idea that this somehow jeopardizes people's right to vote.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It does not.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen this fear mongering that naturalized citizens will not be able to vote.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_01]: That's not true either.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen people asking, oh, well, they're changing the rule and now only 18 year olds will be allowed to vote.

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And also not true.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, just think about that for a second.

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's not true.

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_01]: So here's the actual language on the ballot.

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Constitutional amendment.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_01]: You get to vote for this or against this.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's straightforward.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So for it means you're for it and against it means you're against it.

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And I know that sounds commonsensical, but I feel like I have to say that because a lot of times politicians will write these types of referenda, put them on the ballot.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And they attempt to confuse people by the wording of the ballot initiative.

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And so people end up voting the opposite way that they wanted to because they're confused by the language.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Not the case here.

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Very straightforward.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Constitutional amendment to provide.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: That only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age and otherwise possessing the qualifications for voting shall be entitled to vote at any election in this state.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So the and that's why I emphasized it.

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: That's important.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Because it's not or.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not 18 years or.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It's you got to be 18 years of age and.

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Possess the qualifications for voting.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And what are the qualifications for voting?

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Being over the age of 18.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Very good.

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And a citizen.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the point.

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_01]: The critics of this, the Democrats and media, but I repeat myself, they say that this is unnecessary.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: We already have a law.

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_01]: We already have a law that says only citizens can vote.

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is true.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_01]: That is true.

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, Pete, then I don't understand.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Why are we voting on this constitutional amendment?

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_01]: That is the question.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Because the Constitution is much harder to change than a law.

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_01]: A law.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I know I'm going to get all schoolhouse Roxy on you here, but a law gets proposed in the legislature.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_01]: At least at the state level.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Nowadays, it's like the president just writes an executive order and a whole bunch of stuff happens.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_01]: But this is at the state level.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And so at the state level, you have a legislative body, House, Senate.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_01]: They run a bill.

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_01]: They approve the bill.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And they can approve that bill by the teensiest, weensiest, slimmest of margins.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So one vote margin and it passes the Senate and then it can go over to the House or vice versa.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And then over in that other chamber, it could also pass by just a single vote.

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: So very narrowly divided chambers.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But they pass the bill and it then goes, anybody?

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Anybody?

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_01]: To the governor's desk.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And then the governor gets to decide whether to veto it or allow it to become law or sign it.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So it becomes law.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_01]: There are three options in North Carolina.

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not a pocket veto.

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a pocket signature.

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_01]: If he doesn't do anything in 10 days, it becomes law.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So he can sign it or she can sign it.

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_01]: They can just not sign it, but it still becomes law or they can veto it.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And if they veto it, then it goes back to the legislature where you would need a majority,

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_01]: a super majority to overrule the veto.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And that would be harder to do, no doubt, especially if it came out of the chamber with

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_01]: this tiniest of margin of victory.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But let's just say, just going to spitball this one here, folks.

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's just say that Democrats take back a one seat majority in each of the legislative

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_01]: chambers and Josh Stein wins as governor.

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Now they control the legislature and the governor's mansion.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_01]: They could pass a bill by one vote margins in each chamber and Josh Stein would allow it to

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_01]: become law or sign it into law to allow for non-citizens to vote in local elections, county,

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_01]: city, city, school board races, because the federal law doesn't control for that.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So you could pass a law by the slimmest of majorities to allow for non-citizen voting.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_01]: What this does is it says you can't do that because if you want non-citizens to vote in North

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Carolina elections at any level, local or state or federal, but predominantly local and state,

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_01]: if you want non-citizens to be able to vote, you're going to have to change the constitution

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_01]: to do it.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is a much harder thing to do in order to even get this measure on the ballot for us

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_01]: needed more than a simple majority, if I recall correctly.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_01]: So then we can vote it up or down, right?

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So this is a preemptive measure.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_01]: This is a step to try to block legislatures in the future from opening up our elections to

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_01]: non-citizens.

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, come on, Pete.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: That would never happen.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Except it already has.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It is occurring in jurisdictions all across the fruited plain.

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Democrats are allowing non-citizens to vote in their local elections.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And so the Republicans in the legislature saw that and said, we're going to try to head

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: that off at the pass.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to try to make, if Democrats want to try to do this, we're going to make it as

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_01]: difficult as possible for them to do it because they don't believe non-citizens should be voting

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: in our elections.

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you want non-citizens to vote in our elections, then you should vote against the

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01]: constitutional amendment to prohibit that.

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_01]: If you do not want non-citizens to vote, you think only American citizens and naturalized citizens, who, by the way, are American

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_01]: citizens, once naturalized, so they fit the category too.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So everyone's citizen.

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_01]: If you only want the citizens to vote, then you vote for this amendment.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_01]: That's it.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the whole thing.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_01]: See?

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I understand if you're listening to the NPR affiliates, you have not been told that.

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I understand.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_01]: They have left out all of that other information.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And what they're focusing on is that Republicans, they're using this in order to fear monger.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, they are responding to an actual thing that Democrats are actually doing that does, yes, inspire some amount of fear as to what our elections are going to look like if Democrats win back control at some point in the future.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: So I guess maybe they are playing into those fears.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And yes, politically, it might actually motivate people to go vote in the polls, which I thought that was a good thing.

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Getting people to the polls, getting them to vote, making them care about the democracy.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, isn't that what you guys have been urging everybody to do?

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Get out the vote and all that?

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Souls to polls and such.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_01]: So Republicans are simply saying, we want to stop you guys from trying to do this in the future.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And my gosh, you would think that they're asking people to show their ID at the voting stations.

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just crazy.

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's go to the phones again, shall we?

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_01]: The last time went so well.

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Dean, welcome to the program.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Hi, Pete.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, what's going on?

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for...

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_02]: I was listening to your, you know, speaking about the election and about this...

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if it's an amendment.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm sorry.

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know all the technical aspects, but...

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It is a constitutional amendment to the state constitution.

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_02]: It sounds like a way...

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Instead of a...

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_02]: It sounded like a way for the...

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_02]: To circumvent the democratic process to me.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Because it's like, okay, people are voting to allow uncredentialed people to vote or not.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_02]: But it's not uncredentialed.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not uncredentialed.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Well...

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: They are not...

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: They're not...

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: They're not citizens.

[00:25:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Non-citizens.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_02]: But as it stands right now, you have to be a citizen to vote in North Carolina.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Correct.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And this is just to create it into a constitutional amendment so it can never be changed.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no.

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Not that it can never be changed.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It just is harder to change.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Much harder to change.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_02]: But if it were to be changed, wouldn't it be changed through the democratic process?

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean...

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_02]: You're saying if there's...

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_01]: You're saying if the constitutional amendment does not exist or this doesn't pass, then

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_01]: the way that the voting for non-citizens could be adopted would be through the legislature

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and the governor.

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's a democratic process and so therefore, yes, that's the way it would be changed.

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_02]: So by setting it up as a constitutional item, it's like saying, yeah, you know, maybe the

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_02]: populace or maybe if the Democrats have all the popular votes and they want to change something,

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_02]: too late now, we're going to make it really, really difficult for you because we don't like

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_02]: the way it is.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's not the way it is.

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_01]: They disagree with the usurpation of the existing law.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_01]: They would not be...

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So the Republicans are not in favor of allowing non-citizens to vote.

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but if it's a democratic process and it's...

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_02]: And in this, why do we have to position ourselves as a constitutional thing to protect our position

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_02]: and not the democratic...

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Not Democrats, but the position of democracy?

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, so we are actually going through the democratic process right now.

[00:27:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_02]: A democratic political process?

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_01]: No, just a democratic process.

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what we're seeing right now.

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what this is.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_02]: We're trying to...

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_02]: We're trying to say this is the path and this is the road, but we're going to make a detour

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_02]: on the road so it's a lot harder.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01]: No, there's no detour.

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_01]: So, okay.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: What is your understanding of...

[00:27:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I've only got a minute here, so let me just...

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I won't ask it.

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll just state it.

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Which is...

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The Constitution is the core of our state law and at the national level, too, right?

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Those are the rules of the road.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And then everything else that you do is built off of that core.

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And so what the...

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So both of them are laws, right?

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_01]: They're both a body of law.

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And when you say the Constitution cannot be changed very easily, there is a reason for

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_01]: that.

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And, Dean, I appreciate the call, but the reason why you don't allow the Constitution to be

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_01]: changed with the mere whims of a new legislature every two years is because it creates instability.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And creating that instability does not allow for people to plan with any degree of accuracy.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_01]: And so it freezes the society.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_01]: You have to have some consistency, a durable consistency in the body of law.

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's why the Constitution exists first.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the foundation.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the core.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And then the other laws exist under that framework.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And so what they're saying is we do not want to have non-citizens being allowed to vote,

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: not allowed to vote, and it going back and forth and all of this every two years, depending

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_01]: on who controls the legislative body.

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I hope that helps.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: That'll do it for this episode.

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_01]: on the podcast.

[00:29:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepeetcalendorshow.com.

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.