The Political Revolution Starts With You

TRANSCRIPT FROM THIS 'DIRECT MESSAGE' WITH DAVE RUBIN:

Published on Ora TV on Feb 18th, 2016:

As I sit here in the middle of February, we're about 8 months away from Election Day 2016. Doesn't that sound completely insane?Think about it -- we've been talking about this election for at least a year, but we're still over half a year away from it. That's totally bonkers. So much of the election process is just insider nonsense and day to day public relations, so it is be hard to focus on what issues are really important. Not only does the 24 hour cable news cycle thrive on election drama and distractions, but the entire process of electing our politicians seems to be built on getting "we the people" to never really talk about big issues in an honest way. We have "debates" with catered questions and no actual debating, town halls which are just forums for talking points, and social media campaigns to spread the candidate's messages without explaining how their ideas will actually solve anything.

There's a strange collusion between the media and the politicians to keep us all in the dark about what's really going on. What I actually want to hear candidates talking about are big ideas, not political talking points -- to explain their economic philosophy and how it came to be, to say how they came up with a moral argument for or against abortion, and to let us know why America's role in the world should be larger or smaller. Unfortunately, big ideas don't fit into 30 second sound bites, leaving us with a media that wants views and clicks instead of substantive debate, and a political class who are all the happier to provide meaningless slogans that sound good in a headline, but don't mean anything at all.

This brings me to the two people really shaking up the system at the moment, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Bernie says he wants a political revolution, while Trump says he wants to "make America great again". I doubt there will ever be another candidate like Bernie: a world weary, life long politician who wants to fundamentally change how things work from the inside. Whether you agree or disagree with him, it's a powerful message.Then there's Trump, a billionaire who is using years of boardroom and TV experience to give his supporters whatever they want, even if they don't know exactly what that entails. What these two men have in common though, is more interesting. They both openly mock the powerful and corruptinginfluence of money in politics, while only existing as legitimate contenders because of its very existence.It shouldn't be lost on us that it's actually the very the strength of our democratic system that allows two people who want to totally upend it to surge in the polls.And as warped as our system is, it's the two guys who are the most plain spoken who are being heard the loudest.

Although the countdown to Election 2016 frustrates me, as a political junkie, I can't pretend that I don't enjoy the clown show.It's a soap opera with characters you can't make up. The ex-President's wife, the socialist Jew, the billionaire, and the neurosurgeon.Sounds like a spin off of Gilligan's Island, right?Unfortunately, while Gilligan and his friends were eventually rescued from the island, the only ones who can rescue us from this shipwreck are ourselves, the citizens. To help me navigate thesechoppy waters is my guest Ben Shapiro, the Editor at Large of Brietbart.com.Many of you have asked us to have Ben on the show to really dig into some Conservative ideas. Can a liberal and a conservative coexist? If Mr. Thurmond and Ginger could do it, I have a feeling Ben and I can as well.

Every election year, politicians remind us their election is the important of a generation. Usually that's just more hyperbole nonsense, but this time it could be true. Regardless who wins, whether it's one of these two, Hillary or Jeb or The Skipper, our system is fundamentally shaking right now as evidenced by both the Sanders and Trump surges. Can we address real issues in the months to come, or will we keep talking about sideshow nonsense? Can we get a fairer election system, or will big donors always run the show? Can we elect officials who will compromise to make the country stronger, or will partisan points always win the day? These are just a few of the huge issues we have to discuss, but that's not even touching on immigration, healthcare, and terrorism.

A lot of people mock the idea of American exceptionalism, especially on the left, but I actually do believe it.There's never been a country in the history of the world that has taken more people from all across the world and helped them make a better life for themselves, their children, and their children's children. Even now with all our problems, people still want to come to America for a better life. We have massive issues, but underneath it all there's a bedrock based in democratic principles which still makes our position in the world truly unique. It doesn't mean America can or should tell the world what to do, but it does mean we have a responsibility to be fairer, freer and more functional whenever we can.

All these reasons are why I've made this show about ideas and not minutia. There's an endless cycle of noise designed to keep us distracted and divided. Our politicians will only be better if we demand they be better.We'll only demand politicians be better if we are better ourselves. As you know, I love to say two things can be true at the same time. Maybe we can have a political revolution WHILE making America great again.This change doesn't start with Trump and Sandersthough -- it starts with a government ofthe people, by the people and for the people, just as the great Gilligan once said.