This is an I-Heart podcast.

Miles and Maria, I'm thrilled for you all to be here today and just start talking about the

group, if you will, that you have started up.

Well, Steve, I'll say at the outset, I appreciate it, my friend.

And you know this better than almost anyone uh folks like us

i mean we don't need to be out here doing this uh you know and and that was a consideration i had

after being targeted by the president you know i've done i've been out there for seven years

railing against this guy and trying to warn people about a second administration.

And to quote Jerry McGuire, it's a pride-swallowing siege every single day.

And there's a lot of people in my life, a lot of people in my family, who would like us to just lay low and go back to normal life.

And that would be very nice.

And for a little while we got to do that.

But after this guy took office and when I saw, including personally,

the way that he was trying to criminalize criticism in this country,

it felt like there wasn't really an option to go retreat.

I mean, you have two choices when someone like this comes to power, whether it's in a foreign

land or your own country, and that is either submission or defiance. That's it. There's no middle ground

because if you're just staying quiet, you've already chosen

submission. Okay? There's not a middle ground you get to be in. It is black and white. Submission or

defiance. And, you know, this year, as people kept asking me the question, what can I do?

I got a little pissed off that despite all the organizations out there, great organizations doing

great work, there wasn't like an easy one-word answer to tell folks about like, hey, go here

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