Unfortunately politics is a dirty world that will latch on to whatever mistakes someone has made in the past and exaggerate it. They dig into family which have nothing to do as well. It’s a dog eat dog world when it comes to politics. Hence, someone that’s endorsing or spearheading will be scrutinized copiously.
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Nick , I hadn’t thought of that until you brought it up. I agree that proven criminals shouldn’t be part of the populist plank . I wonder though if the thinking is finding out from Gaetz people that would be interested in our goal rather than officially stating he is a TYT member. Cenk and Ana have had Gaetz on the main show and grilled him , no holds barred . Thoughts? Jack
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eagle 1 , I would add Susan Sarandon , an activist, and Michael Moore , who has a lot of influence Jack
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Yes, the 1% , oligarchs , fascists , and other assorted Christian Nationalists are the problem trying to take over our country. Showing all sorts of people our plank can unite and provide power to counteract these dark forces . Thanks, Nick , for speaking out. Jack
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As Nick Stated “ we shouldn’t be passing judgement on people” but we also have to understand that politics is a double edged sword that can cut both ways…
I Highly believe in people changing their ways AFTER paying their debt to Society. People like Geatz and many many others have not.
We are now living in dangerous times where people have managed to be above the law by evading or ignoring congressional subpoenas, getting pardoned, or simply not getting sentenced when condemned with multiple felonies.
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As we think about who we ask to sign the Populist Plank, it’s clear there are some people we probably wouldn’t invite because of their history or reputation. But what about people who sign on their own? If someone like Matt Gaetz—who we wouldn’t proactively pursue—signs it without an invitation, how do we handle that?
Do we treat it as just another citizen signing, or does their notoriety change how we respond? If we make an exception to highlight or reject a particular signature, what principle are we following? Would love to hear thoughts on this balance between openness and integrity.
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I’d be thankful and treat it as another citizen as what’s done is done…
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Thank you! You seriously always know just what to say. 
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While it is a bit draconian not to allow someone to sign on, promoting their signature should, perhaps, be discretionary. In terms of not playing purity police, I hold much weight on one’s actions after the fact. If someone’s strategy is to deny, blame the victim, continue their bad behavior, etc., it is much different than someone who regrets, apologizes, and does better. As @NickMudar said, it greatly depends on the situation and person.
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Thanks , Tony . Per usual, you bring up salient points. I have been so despondent because of this coup , I’m turning my anger to writing politicians and letting these people know that there is a Constitutional crisis and Congress has to stand up and act now. I look up to you and hopefully we can do enough good to counteract these dark forces Jack
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100% agree with this @drea_m_r_76. I think anyone can sign it (it’s a free country, at least for now!) but that doesn’t mean they have to be featured as an official endorser, if that makes sense.
It’s sounds like we’re all generally in agreement that some line needs to be drawn, but agree it won’t be easy to draw that line. It sounds like people might draw it at different places. I don’t have any hard-and-fast rule that would work.
@mggbwmn8 I don’t know if the term “purity test” really applies here; that doesn’t seem to be what people are discussing. The only purity test, if we’re using that term, would be agreeing to the plank.
If anyone can sign the plank, the question imo is who do we want to actively seek out to see if they want to be a featured endorser. I personally think election deniers who openly called for overturning the 2020 election (like Gaetz) — would not be people we would want to promote as endorsing the Populist Plank. I think we can agree that people who endorse Neo-Nazis or do Heil Hitler salutes should not be featured.
But what about someone who just refuses to say Biden won without actively trying to overturn the election? Someone who says all natural-born children whose parents aren’t citizens must be deported, but doesn’t openly support racist ideology?
I don’t know if there would be any way to go about it other than on a case-by-case basis.
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Thanks Jack, but you got it backward. It is I who look up to YOU my friend.
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Thanks, Tony , we are both in agreement. Jack
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Hey, Jack, I hope you are doing well! I just wanted to reach out to you and @tonymac52 to see if I can do anything. You both are fantastic and seriously great at doing all of the research, and I’d love to help in any way I can.
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Yes! That would be great! We haven’t been given a formal assignment, but we decided that, since we wanted to work on getting money out of politics AND increasing worker pay, we would tackle those. Jack has been sharing his research on the former, so I decided to focus on the latter.
I’ve collected data on the federal minimum wage, worker productivity and how the US ranks when compared to 38 other nations of comparable wealth in worker’s wages, safety, support, etcetera (Spoiler alert: we suck lol!) Jack, as always, has shared a good deal of his research on money in politics. Having you join us would be awesome!
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Awesome, thank you! I’ll see what I can dig up and keep you both posted!
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Awesome, and I will email you the stuff I have, if you are interested.
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Yes , absolutely . I would love that . We could be the 3 TYT’ers. Fine with me. Jack
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Great, thank you!
Andrea, I just need your e-mail. Jack