Hello and welcome to the Bullard podcast. I'm your host Tim Miller. We get a double-headed

today. In Sigma 2, we have a discussion with a Democrat on the oversight committee about what to expect next year.

He's also going to give us an update on the critical redistricting ballot initiative fight in Virginia.

Polls are showing that's a lot closer than I would have expected.

So, you know, if you're just so blown away by guest one that you don't make it to segment two. If you live in Virginia, have friends there. Make sure to vote early or turn out on April 21st. Up first, we needed somebody to match the gravity of the moment this morning. So we've called in an opinion columnist for the New York Times, co-host of the legal podcast advisory opinions and a former JAG officer, among many

other things. It's David French. How you doing, sir? Tim, I, you know, I'm doing better than the

alternatives today, but wow. Wow. Yeah, wow. Let's start in the meta before we get into the

details. And obviously, by the time folks are seeing this, and they have seen that we did not do civilizational destruction as our president threatened last night. My friend showed me this clip, because I'm not a local news watcher here in Louisiana, but he's like, did you watch the local news today? And I was like, no, I didn't. Who watches the 5 o'clock news?

My crazy friend, I guess. And he sent me on it. It was like, do, do, do. It's like Channel 4 News. The president is threatening civilizational destruction. And potholes on Claiborne Avenue are being filled. So, you know, it's a strange world to ring. But you posted this and it resonated with me.

Because last night I was obviously... filled. So, you know, it's a strange world to write. You posted this and it resonated with me.

Because last night I was obviously, you know, I was obviously relieved that things didn't

escalate. But at the same time, I was pissed and frustrated. And you post, you know, about that same

feeling about how you were furious that he put so many people through this senseless, anxious,

and dangerous day. Let's talk

about that on the meta level before we get into the deal. Yeah, I want to really emphasize that what

happened was unacceptable on every front. I've seen some of the bag of people saying things like,

oh, come on, we've watched this for 10 years. He says something extreme,

kind of just stir the pod, and then he reaches a deal. And, you know, yes, we have seen these

kinds of things. We've seen extreme over-the-top tariffs get somewhat rolled back. We've seen

other extreme things happen that, you know, he changes and he

twists and he distorts. And then we've also seen him carry all the way through like January 6th,

right? We've seen that the man, yeah, sometimes he negotiates and sometimes he breaks through

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