Ep. 282 - A Tale of Two Commencement Speeches

[00:00:00] This is the FCB Podcast Network. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Just Listen to Yourself with Kira Davis. I am your host, Kira Davis. And this is a podcast where we take hot topics, hot button ideas, and we discuss the talking points on those ideas.

[00:00:47] And we draw those talking points all the way out to their logical conclusion. And today I decided to make it my commencement day. Um, fortunately, I still, even though I'm the mother to two almost grown children, one is grown. I still haven't been to a graduation ceremony.

[00:01:08] My son was the first one to graduate and unfortunately his graduation year was 2020. So he'll be graduating college next year. And my daughter will also be graduating high school at the same time. Haven't had a chance to go through the graduation stuff as of yet.

[00:01:25] My son's graduation attire, his cap, his gown, his diploma, it's all still in the wrapping, in the shrink wrap. We didn't do anything for graduation. So there's been some controversy surrounding graduation commencement addresses. Two in particular, one is Harrison Butker's speech.

[00:01:50] Harrison Butker plays for the Kansas City Chiefs and I'm afraid that's all I know about football. I don't really know anything about football. I know nothing. I can understand some of the rules of the games, but I definitely don't understand all of the players.

[00:02:04] I know that Travis Kelsey is dating Taylor Swift. Anyways, Harrison Butker is a Catholic and celebrated sports guy and gave a controversial speech at Benedictine College, which is a Catholic university, gave what is now being described as a controversial speech there.

[00:02:26] And then of course, Joe Biden, President Joe Biden, in case you forgot, he's the president. I know he's forgotten a few times. He gave a speech at Morehouse College, which is an HBCU. It is an all male college.

[00:02:42] And I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast these two speeches. So what I did is I went through Joe Biden's speech and then I went through Harrison Butker's speech. I made some notes.

[00:02:57] So I think what I'll do is I'll run through Biden's speech and I'm not going to play the whole thing. And both speeches were about, I think 20 to between 20 and 30 minutes. They weren't that long, but I'm not going to play all of them. I just pick some clips.

[00:03:11] I'm going to go through them. I'm going to comment on them. I'm going to start with Joe Biden. And then I'm going to go to Harrison Butker's speech and then we'll wrap it all up.

[00:03:19] And as I go through these speeches, here's what I want you to be paying attention to. I want you to be paying attention not just to the words, right? The words are important, not just to the words, but to the sentiments, the feelings.

[00:03:34] What do you think a commencement speech should be? I think that's what we should decide on before we go into this thinking exercise. There's a lot of different ways to look at it.

[00:03:47] The way I look at it, and you may not, I really do think this is subjective, but I think the purpose of a commencement speech is to inspire the graduates, to inspire them to achieve, to congratulate them. It's supposed to be a little treat.

[00:04:07] So it should be somebody with some kind of status in the community, be it a superstar like Harrison Butker, the president, or a local businessman or a beloved professor, somebody who has some kind of status in that community.

[00:04:22] Because it is a treat to the students to say you've worked this hard and now this person is here recognizing your achievements. And these are, and here's where I think the key is, to viewing commencement speeches.

[00:04:35] These are the final words you're going to hear as a university student before we send you out into the world. So we are sending you out into the world with these final thoughts. And I think that is a great way to look at commencement speeches.

[00:04:57] So as we sift through these two speeches, portions of them, think about that. Think about that these are the final words that this person is leaving with this group of students are these the words that you would want to hear or that you would find inspiring.

[00:05:13] The other thing you need to remember as we go through these is the location. So the crowd you're speaking to definitely determines the tenor of your speech, of course. If I'm speaking to a group of women, it's going to be a lot different than if I'm speaking

[00:05:31] to a group of teenagers. Same thing, let's keep in mind that President Biden was at a historically black university in the city and Harrison Bucker was at a Catholic university. And so those are two different groups of students and in two different locations. So they might sound different.

[00:05:51] They may not to you, they may not sound different or might not make any difference to you. I do think audience matters. And then of course, let's take into account vocation. As well, the speakers are going to speak from their life experience.

[00:06:08] So President Biden's life experience is going to sound a lot different than if I was giving a commencement speech as a podcast host and a housewife. These are all things to keep in mind.

[00:06:21] And I'm encouraging people, I guess, to try to be objective, as I usually do on this show. But I'm encouraging you just to sort of remove those filters because we already know a lot

[00:06:36] of you out there, if you're listening to the show, you probably hated Joe Biden's commencement speech and you know that I did. So we already are going into this with a lot of bias.

[00:06:45] I think most of the people who listen to this show, but it's still a helpful exercise for thinking through it. Maybe you might change your mind about some things. So I will just play some sections. We'll just go clip for clip.

[00:07:00] Let's start with Joe Biden's speech to Morehouse College, to the graduating class, the graduating men of Morehouse College. I got married and took a job at a law firm in my hometown, Wilmington, Delaware. But then everything changed.

[00:07:19] One of my heroes, and he was my hero, a Baptist minister, Morehouse man, Dr. Martin Luther King. In April of my law school graduation year, he was murdered. My city of Wilmington, we were to our great shame a slave state and we were segregated.

[00:07:39] Delaware erupted in the flames when he was assassinated, literally. The only city in America where the National Guard patrolled every street corner for nine full months, withdrawing bayonets, the longest stretch of any American city since the Civil War. Dr.

[00:07:59] Dr. King's legacy had a profound impact on me and my generation, whether you're black or white. I left the fancy law firm I just joined and decided to become a public defender. And then a county councilman working to change our state's politics to embrace the cause

[00:08:19] of civil rights. The Democratic Party in Delaware was a Southern Democratic Party at the time. We wanted to change it, become a Northeastern Democratic Party. Then we're trying to get someone to run for the United States. OK, I'll release you from that.

[00:08:38] So this is the beginning of the speech. This is about at minute five. I didn't play the beginning of the speech because it's just greetings. I'm the president. Good to see you. A couple of little cute little jokes, nothing crazy. And I don't think anything worth commenting on.

[00:08:52] It was a very appropriate beginning to the speech. Hello, I'm the president. Congratulations for graduating today. But I clipped this part because it's very indicative of the rest of the speech. It's very meandering. It's hard to understand him.

[00:09:09] I was watching Biden at a press conference the other day with the Kenyan president. It was a joint press conference and I was watching him talk. And it was the first time in all of this that I actually thought to myself, gosh, it must

[00:09:24] be a really difficult job for the interpreters to be covering Joe Biden. Because he's almost impossible to understand. And then you're having you're not just having to translate the language, you have to translate him because he's not always saying what's on the teleprompter. He wanders.

[00:09:43] You're never sure what point he's making. This is very indicative of the whole speech is very meandering. And in this section, he's talking a lot about himself. And he goes on. He does another five minutes about of this where he goes on to give his entire record.

[00:10:01] I was a part of the Democrat Party here and then there. And then I ran for Senate. And then I did this and then I did that. So this is him sort of setting up his resume, talking about himself.

[00:10:12] And it made me wonder, is that such a bad thing? You're there. You know, as I said before, the commencement speaker is a treat. You're there to have this treat and the president is talking to you. So, yeah, you want to know about his life.

[00:10:27] I feel like we already know a lot about his life. But OK, fine. The president is talking about his life. I but I did clip this section because I think it is relative and I want you to to keep it in mind,

[00:10:40] I thought about playing these clips side by side, but I don't want to do it this way. I want to go through each speech on its own. But if you can think about this, if you can make a mental note, think about this.

[00:10:51] And we're going to compare it to how Harrison Bucker talks about himself and what he does in his speech. So I found this part, though, to be very self self-absorbed. I do think that commencement speakers should limit how they speak about themselves and their history.

[00:11:09] You have a limited amount of time to be up there. Use this time to give inspiring words to the crowd and also to congratulate them. This is this commencement address is about the students, not the speaker. I don't think Biden nailed that part. All right, let's move on.

[00:11:31] All right. In this next clip, we're going to hear Biden talking about George Floyd and black communities, among other things. All kidding aside, until I met Jill, who healed, who healed the family and all the broken places, our family became my redemption.

[00:11:50] Many of you have gone through similar or worse and even worse things, but you lean on others. They lean on you. And together you keep the faith in a better day tomorrow. But it's not easy.

[00:12:06] I know four years ago, as some of your speakers have already mentioned, it felt like one of those Saturdays. The pandemic robbed you of so much. Some of you lost loved ones, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. We aren't able to be here to celebrate with you today.

[00:12:25] You missed your high school graduation. You start a college just as George Floyd was murdered and there was a reckoning on race. It's natural to wonder democracy you hear about actually works for you. What is democracy? If black men are being killed in the street, what is democracy?

[00:12:51] The trail of broken promises still leave black communities behind. What is democracy? You have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot.

[00:13:02] Most of all, what does it mean, as we've heard before, to be a black man who loves his country, even if it doesn't love him back in equal measure? OK, you heard that. He got a little round of applause on that last bit.

[00:13:24] Again, which should make a mental note of this will compare to Harrison Bucker speaking to his audience. And once you keep in mind, I found what he said to be very negative. But let's look at his audience. Ray is talking to an audience of black men.

[00:13:39] I find it very strange when white men tell black men how hard their lives are. I've always found that a little bit disconcerting. And those words coming from the president don't feel any different. I it feels patronizing. It also feels like what do you actually know about him?

[00:13:59] I've never liked it. And so that has nothing to do with the fact that those words are coming out of Joe Biden's mouth in particular, even though I don't care for Joe Biden. I just think it's a weird thing, period.

[00:14:10] But again, if I'm looking at what I perceive to be the purpose of a commencement speech, I wasn't quite impressed with this segment because, again, it just feels like more negativity. What is democracy? He's describing democracy, but he's he's really he there's no there's no hopefulness to it.

[00:14:29] It's sort of like, look, you guys are going out into this world and democracy is not here for you. It's not working for you. You have to be you know, George Floyd was murdered. You have to be 10 times better than everybody else.

[00:14:45] You love your country, but it doesn't love you back. It's almost like he's talking to a group of men in in 1925 rather than 2024. These I want you to keep in mind, too, as you listen to Biden speak to this crowd.

[00:15:04] That these people are at one of the priciest universities in the country, they are at an elite college, Morehouse is an elite men's college, it has been since its establishment. They are graduating with one of the most elite degrees in the country.

[00:15:24] Most of them are in fraternities, which is also fraternities and sorority, well, not sororities, it's a men's college fraternities. And which is also a huge networking thing. So these are the the group of men that he is talking to are the cream of the crop.

[00:15:41] They have already risen to the top of their field in education, and now they're going to go out there into the world. They've earned this degree. They're doing amazingly. And these are the words that Biden has for them.

[00:15:56] I just I don't it doesn't sit right with me that you would address a group of students who have achieved. A rare, really, statistically speaking, a rare accomplishment, and yet the crux of your speech is life isn't fair for you. All right, let's move on.

[00:16:23] I can't remember exactly why I clipped this next part, but let's listen. I look down and see the rosary on my wrist that was out of my late son. He had on him when he died. And Walter Reed, I was with him.

[00:16:36] I asked myself, what would he say? I know the answer because he told me in his last days, my son knew the days were numbered. Last conversation was, Dad, I'm not afraid. But I'm worried. I'm worried you're going to give up when I go.

[00:16:59] You're going to give up. We have an expression in the Biden family, when you want someone to know, give your word, say, look at me. He was lying, he said, look at me, Dad, look at me. He said, give me your word.

[00:17:16] Give me your word as my father that you will not quit, that you will stay engaged. Promise me, Dad. Stay engaged. Promise me. Promise me. OK, it's not crazy for Joe Biden to recall his deceased son when he is speaking. Typically, the details around his son's death change.

[00:17:46] You heard him start to say when his son was killed and then he remembered that his son wasn't killed. He died of cancer. And this is something that Biden has struggled with throughout his entire political career since Beau Biden unfortunately passed away.

[00:18:03] He likes to frame Beau Biden's death as something that happened during his military service, something that happened as a result of his military service. He'll often hint that he died in combat, although he won't say it out loud totally that blatantly. He often hints at it.

[00:18:21] And so you can tell he started to go in that direction. But then he changed. Perhaps, though, if you want to be generous, perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue. Totally possible as well. He is an old man. But I thought that was so interesting.

[00:18:35] I remember now why I clipped this. He was telling the story of his son again. Here is so he has spent the first almost 10 minutes of this 30 minute address talking about himself and his career. And then this segment in the middle is talking about himself and his son.

[00:18:55] That's about five minutes, so about 15 minutes really just about what he's done again. That might not be a problem. This is the president of the United States. Perhaps that's what you want to hear. You just want to hear about him.

[00:19:08] I don't think personally that it is a productive or good use of commencement time. Again, I think the focus should be on the graduates, not yourself as the speaker. And I also found it really weird that the story is that his quote about Bo Biden is he

[00:19:27] told me on his deathbed, dad, I'm worried you won't be engaged. Stay engaged. I don't know about that. But again, I think my problem here is that this feels so narcissistic and I fully, fully

[00:19:46] I want to be clear, I fully recognize that I have an extreme bias against Joe Biden. All of my judgments about this speech are weighted against what I know of him as a president and a politician. Totally biased, totally admit that. But that's what I see here.

[00:20:06] I feel that this is a very narcissistic speech. And it was a very strange story about his son. Well, then, you know, the fact they took so much time to repeat it, he said, dad, stay

[00:20:18] engaged. He's the hero of this story, I guess is the point I'm making. And any story you tell, I think the students should be the hero. You might give an example of something you did in your life, but it it needs to be in

[00:20:35] relation to what these people will do. And I'm not going to play the again. You can find the speech and listen to the whole thing. I'm not going to play the whole thing, but he I don't feel he ever got there. He had a couple of lines.

[00:20:48] Bo said, stay engaged and that's what you need to do. But it wasn't a story about that. It was a story about how Bo told his dad, you know, basically anointed his dad as a superhero. Very bizarre to me. Let's move on to the next clip.

[00:21:05] Rose around my wrist, the bust of my office remind me that faith asks you to hold on to hope, to move heaven and earth, to make better days. Well, that's my commitment to you, to show you democracy, democracy, democracy is still

[00:21:24] the way. The black matter being killed in the street, we bear witness for me. That means to call out the poison of white supremacy. Drew it out, systemic racism. I stood up for George with George Floyd's family to create a country.

[00:21:43] We don't need to have that talk with your son or grandson as they get pulled over. All right, let's stop it right there. I think I have an episode on the talk if you want to go look for that.

[00:21:57] This is a campaign speech at the end of the day. That's what this is. You have and that's who Joe Biden is. This is who he has to be because he can't really campaign. He doesn't have the physical or mental acuity for it.

[00:22:11] And he is not able to answer questions or have press conferences. I mean, look at Trump. He's in court every day. He's standing in front of cameras and reporters twice a day right now.

[00:22:22] But even when he's not on trial, he's out there talking to people just as a point of comparison. This is not a rah-rah Trump speech. But I'm just saying he can't campaign.

[00:22:32] This is the only kind of campaigning he can do standing up at a pulpit where he is unopposed. There are no questions being thrown at him and no responses. And so that's what this is.

[00:22:43] I also want to point out that I find it extremely fascinating, and I would hope that the good and intelligent men of Morehouse would be able to connect these dots. But I find it extremely fascinating when a white man of Joe Biden's stature and accomplishment.

[00:23:00] He has spent his almost his entire life, he brags about how he was the youngest senator, right, the junior senator. I was so young they didn't believe I belonged on the on the Senate elevators.

[00:23:13] So he's been in office basically his whole life and he's up there talking about and he served as vice president under the first black president and he's now the president and he's been a senator for the rest of the time, decades and almost 60 years.

[00:23:34] I find it fascinating that a guy like that, a white man like that can stand up there and talk to this group of black men and tell them how bad and how racist this country is.

[00:23:44] And he's been the one guy who can do something about it all these years. And he's still talking about this. He has the most power of any human being on planet Earth. He served under the man, the black man with the most power on planet Earth.

[00:24:02] He ran on the promise that he would change things and that's always what he's talking about, I'm going to change things. When do things change? When do people look at Joe Biden or a guy like Joe Biden and say, hey, you've had all

[00:24:14] this power for all these years and nothing's changed. You're still standing up here talking about how when we walk out of these doors of this esteemed institution that we're at risk simply for being black men, that we're never

[00:24:27] going to achieve the same thing as our white counterparts, that the white supremacy, the white supremacist system is against us. When are you going to solve it? When are you? These are just words. And these are just words he's campaigning on.

[00:24:44] Elect me again so I can solve the problems I didn't solve when you elected me the first time to solve them or the time before that, the time before that. I just find it so fascinating and it's so curious that no one else seems to be bothered

[00:24:57] by that. But again, these are things you can say when you're when you're campaigning in the speech because no one's asking you questions or responding. I don't see the people behind him. You this video is focused very much on him.

[00:25:15] I. There's just a few people behind them and they don't seem really engaged in the speech. I'll tell you that. Talking about engaged. All right, let's go on to the next. See what I have here. What's happening in Gaza and Israel is heartbreaking.

[00:25:36] Hamas is this is attack on Israel, killing innocent lives and holding people hostage. I was there nine days after said pictures of tying a mother and a daughter of a rope or a carousine on them, burning them and watching as they die.

[00:25:53] Innocent Palestinians caught in the middle of all this. Men, women and children killed. I want to stop it right here again. This is campaign. This is campaigning. He's talking about situation in Israel. I'm willing to bet given the climate of most college campuses these days and knowing

[00:26:11] about this a little bit about how this subject is viewed in the in a lot of the black community, I'm willing to bet that a lot of people in that audience are pro Palestinian, pro Hamas.

[00:26:23] This has what I'm about to say next is neither here nor there for this commencement speech, but I haven't. Express this, I don't think publicly and I want to. A lot of people are confused with Joe Biden's position on Israel, Hamas, Palestine, all

[00:26:39] of that. He seems to be flip flopping. He's doing this. He's doing that. Let me explain the situation to you. Joe Biden is not a progressive. He never has been. He worked for a progressive president and now he's being controlled and led around by

[00:26:53] the progressives from that president's administration who now run the White House. But Joe Biden is not a progressive. He is an old school blue dog Democrat. He is. I mean, he's definitely selfish and out for himself. And but he's still an American.

[00:27:09] He is pro Israel because that's how Democrats have always been. They've always been pro Israel. He is pro Israel. The people who are pulling the strings behind the scenes, the staff, they're pro Hamas and they see the way forward as pro Hamas.

[00:27:27] And what you're witnessing is Joe Biden trying to appease them because he knows he's losing voters over the issue while trying to stay true to what he believes. I believe Joe Biden does inherently support Israel. I do. And everything else he says about the subject is politics.

[00:27:46] I do not see a man who is comfortable saying the things he says about Palestine and Hamas. I don't believe so. I believe he's still got enough of his faculties where he remembers a time when the Democrat Party was staunchly pro Israel, as were most Americans.

[00:28:05] So when he flip flops like this and you even heard it in that small section, that's for the campaign. That's for the people in the White House. That's not Joe Biden. I do believe Joe Biden is actually pro Israel and he's really struggling with how to

[00:28:21] frame this because it's costing him votes. Leadership is about fighting through the most intractable problems. It's about challenging anger, frustration and heartbreak to find a solution. It's about doing what you believe is right, even when it's hard and lonely.

[00:28:39] You're all future leaders, every one of you graduating today. And that's not hyperbole. Your future leaders, all of you. You'll face complicated, tough moments in these moments, you listen to others, but you'll have to decide, guided by knowledge, conviction, principle and your own moral

[00:29:01] compass. The desire to know what freedom is, what it can be, is the heart and soul of why this college is founded in the first place. All right, we'll stop there. So I liked how he brought this back around to them. Leadership requires making hard decisions, responsibility.

[00:29:22] I agree with all that. And I think that's a great, a great segment to a commencement speech. So I did really appreciate that part. He said you're going to have to depend on your own moral compass.

[00:29:36] I don't believe that's good advice, but I wouldn't expect anything less from a guy like Joe Biden. But that's not great advice. Your own moral compass is flawed and it's not even fully developed. I don't even know when it gets fully developed because as a human, you're always

[00:29:52] growing and changing and learning and experience is informing you. So no, don't depend on your own moral compass. You need something that's permanent and unchangeable, a true north to look towards. Of course, I believe that that is God.

[00:30:05] I know that is God to be true and the principles that he lays out for us. But if I'm going to be positive about any section of this commencement speech, it's this section, the idea of being a leader.

[00:30:19] And he is talking to a group of men being a leader and being being able to make tough decisions that not everyone is going to like. And then, of course, he brought it back to the institution. He said that's what Morehouse College creates.

[00:30:35] That's what you should do as a commencement speech. You should also have words of praise for the institution as well. Well, let's be clear what happens to you and your family when all ghosts and new garments seize power.

[00:30:50] Extremists come for the freedom you thought belonged to you and everyone today in Georgia. They won't allow water to be available to you while you wait. And line to vote in the election. What in the hell is that all about?

[00:31:09] Well, Mr. President, if you went back and listened to my episode on Georgia voting law, you would know that's all much ado about nothing. Of course, you're allowed to have water in line when you stand in line to vote.

[00:31:24] You're just not allowed to pass out water as a part of electioneering, meaning you can't hand out water bottles to people waiting in line if you're with another organization. It counts as as election bribery in a way, right?

[00:31:43] Gifting things for the for voting and a lot of people pass out those bottles with the logos on them of their organization or a bill number or something. So I'm not going to rehash all this. Just go back and listen. Do we actually read the law?

[00:32:00] So you don't have to be ignorant of it and you don't have to pretend to know what's in it. You can just hear it if you if you're even too lazy to read, just go back and listen to that episode. Listen to me read it to you.

[00:32:12] So, of course. But again, this is campaigning. He's campaigning right here. Look how awful America is. Look how it's hopeless out there for you. That's what I hear. It's hopeless. Even I look how great of a man I am.

[00:32:28] And I've been in political power for 60 years and I haven't changed a thing. So you're definitely not going to change anything more, Housemen. When you go out there, that's what I hear in this section.

[00:32:41] And I also again, I am always discouraged and I know I'm in a minority in this in the black community. I know I am. I find it discouraging when a speaker comes to address a group of us in our community

[00:32:58] and all and they just cannot help but talk about race repeatedly and constantly. It would be lovely to to hear something that really was universal. And respected us as universal minds, that's what I would like. All right, let's move on.

[00:33:18] All right, I'm actually going to skip towards the end now because I had two more clips, but I'm not going to play them because they're basically the same as this. So after this section, he goes into talking more about extremism, insurrectionists and

[00:33:31] hopefully Kamala being the next president of the United States. I can't say it with a straight face and frankly, neither did he. But that's what he was just more campaigning and more of the same. Let's play this last segment here and then I'll close out Biden for us.

[00:33:49] The question is now, 25 years from now, 50 years from now. When you're asked to stand and address the next generation of Morehouse men, what would you say you did for that power you earned? What would you say you've done for your family, for your community, your country when it

[00:34:11] mattered most? I'll leave it there because this is really just the last two minutes and he it's more of this. What will you say you've done? Which I really like. I love that admonishment. I think that's important.

[00:34:26] You should look at what will my answer be to my community, to my God? What have I done? I hear him say that and I think, yeah, I'd love to turn that question back on you, Mr. President. What have you done?

[00:34:40] I mean, he did spend the first 10 minutes of his speech listing out his resume and then he spent the next 20 minutes talking about how nothing's gotten better in this country

[00:34:51] and we're just at the same spot we were in the 50s, the 60s or the 70s when he rode the back of the bus or or when he marched with Martin Luther King or when he sponsored the

[00:35:02] Civil Rights Act or whatever lie he's telling to make himself look like an ally. To me, it's all just more proof that he's been completely ineffective and has no interest in making things better for us, just has an interest in keeping us angry.

[00:35:20] I would like to point out again that he is speaking to an elite group of young men. These are the cream of the crop. These men got into a very exclusive college, made their way through at least four years

[00:35:34] of that college and are now graduating with specialized degrees. They will go out into the nation as some of the most educated and sought after employees to come out of the collegiate system. Statistically speaking, so these are men who have beaten every statistic that Joe Biden

[00:35:56] says is against them, but he doesn't have words of congratulations for them. He doesn't have words of encouragement for them. He doesn't have words that that will inspire them. His words throughout this whole speech have been here's why the world is still terrible

[00:36:13] and why you should be frightened of it and why what you've done over these past four years doesn't matter because I've been working for 60 years and nothing's changed. That's what I hear when I take that's my takeaway from this speech.

[00:36:28] Again, I wouldn't expect anything else from Joe Biden, I really wouldn't. But that's what I hear. So. We have this commencement speech from Biden, and again, I know I asked you to take your filters off and then I totally analyze it through this filter that I have.

[00:36:47] But this is what it is. But let's take this. So we've heard this. If you would like to go back and listen to it without my commentary, I'll have Darvio drop a link in the show notes so you can go and listen to the whole speech yourself.

[00:37:01] It's 30 minutes and six seconds. So not that long. And I listened to Biden on one and a half speed, which is crazy. It's even worse on one and a half speed. Well, let's move on to Harrison Butker and let's as as we sift through his speech,

[00:37:27] I want you to keep in mind what you heard from the president and how it compares to this commencement speech. Here is how Harrison Butker opened his remarks. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, I would like to start off by congratulating

[00:37:47] all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today. I'm sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined. And most likely, neither was your first couple years of college. By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID,

[00:38:02] I hope you learned the important lessons that suffering in this life is only temporary. As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don't stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society.

[00:38:14] It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are and where we want to go as citizens and yes, as Catholics. I noticed two things right away as he started out.

[00:38:28] The first thing he did was recognize who the commencement is for. Now I realize I didn't play Biden's opening remarks, perhaps I should have but they weren't nearly as compelling as these. It was just standard introductions, but here's what I liked about this one.

[00:38:45] Yeah, some of it was standard, but he recognized the importance of the moment. Right? And he recognized that this was a group of students that were deeply affected by COVID, particularly this was a graduating class. This is a class my son was supposed to be in.

[00:39:04] He deferred college because his college didn't open and we weren't going to pay for online classes. So he is a year ahead, technically this should be his class and they did miss out on a lot. And so I appreciated that he's recognizing that but

[00:39:21] I loved what he had to say there. He said that hopefully, well, he found the silver lining. It's not doom and gloom what we're experiencing the results of COVID. There is a lot of doom and gloom, but he had the silver lining which is,

[00:39:37] I hope that what you learned going through COVID is that there's nothing you can't recover from, that the challenges come and yet you will survive. What a great message to send those graduates out into the world with.

[00:39:52] To me, that is the entire point of the commencement speech and that's what I didn't hear from Biden listening to his. You'll also notice that he set up what the rest of the speech will be. His speech is shorter than Biden's, about 20 minutes.

[00:40:08] And he did admit he's not a public speaker and he's certainly not a politician. So a guy like that, he's not gonna be prone to rambling. He's probably just happy to get in and get out.

[00:40:19] But what he did was he said, I wanna talk about what happens to people when they're in power and they're ineffective leaders. And I wanna talk about holding ourselves and our leaders accountable. And he says, that's the lens I'm looking through. And you know what?

[00:40:36] As this speech goes on, he was absolutely true to that. I don't know if he worked with a speech writer or somebody to help him connect his thoughts and form a theme. But it's more than I can say for the president.

[00:40:50] I understand that the president's speech was a campaign speech. And in that respect, he hit all the talking points, particularly considering the audience that he was addressing. But it still wasn't this crafted sort of, I'm gonna take you on this journey. Here's the structure.

[00:41:08] Here's what I want you to get out of this. That's not what Biden's speech was. It was here's what I want to say. Let's continue. Because sadly, many priests we are looking to for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or

[00:41:24] even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory. It's easy for us laymen and women to think that in order for us to be holy, that we must be active in our parish and try to fix it.

[00:41:37] Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems. Just as we look at the relationship between a father and his son, so

[00:41:50] too should we look at the relationship between a priest and his people. It would not be appropriate for me to always be looking to my son for help when it is my job as his father to lead him.

[00:42:01] St. Jose Maria Escriva states that priests are ordained to serve and should not yield to temptation to imitate lay people, but to be priests through and through. Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners.

[00:42:18] And in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar. This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate's girlfriend says, familiarity breeds contempt. St. Jose Maria continues that some want to see the priest as just another man.

[00:42:38] That is not so. They want to find in the priest those virtues proper to every Christian and indeed every honorable man. Understanding, justice, a life of work, priestly work in this instance, and good manners. Now what I like about that section, and

[00:42:56] I clipped it, is that he is speaking to his audience. So I told you to consider who Joe Biden's audience is. I want you to consider who Harrison Bucker's audience is. This is a Catholic university. These are Catholic students, and he is a Catholic addressing

[00:43:15] controversies that are happening within the church. And I'm not really aware of all of them. I actually don't know some of the things he's referring to, but it sounds to me, and I do know from just viewing pop culture or church culture, I should say,

[00:43:28] in general, that the Catholic church has the same problem that the evangelical church does. I know Catholics don't like to frame it like that, but they really do, which is we're fighting this modernization, this social modernization of the church.

[00:43:45] And you have some priests or pastors who are sort of shifting left, being progressive, really trying to blend into the culture. And it's causing a problem in flocks and parishes and churches. It's the evangelicals for sure having a problem with it. Our problems are advertised quite well, but

[00:44:06] the Catholics are also having a problem with it. So I'm imagining that's what he's addressing. Perhaps some of you can write in and correct me or fill me in. What I liked about it is that he was identifying their community, their shared experience as Catholics.

[00:44:24] And he was pointing inward and he was saying, look, I'm gonna critique what's going on in our house, because y'all can't go clean up the rest of the world if you can't keep your own house in order. I really appreciated that.

[00:44:39] And I think that that is a great thematic message to send a group of graduates out with. So I liked that. It is not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians so that we can decipher this or

[00:44:54] that theological teaching, unless of course you are a theology major. We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation. And for most of us, that's as married men and women.

[00:45:07] Still, we have so many great resources at our fingertips that it doesn't take long to find traditional and timeless teachings that haven't been ambiguously reworded for our times. Plus, there are still many good and holy priests, and it's up to us to seek them out.

[00:45:23] So just continuing to call out the priesthood, the priests of the Catholic Church, and I just really thought it was funny and I think pertinent, just as a Christian in general, Catholic or Protestant. He said, I think too many of us are consuming ourselves with being amateur theologians.

[00:45:46] And I kind of am seeing this happening. This isn't necessarily a comment on the overall value of his speech, but I thought this was a really good point, that theology has become a bit of a pop culture phenomenon.

[00:46:03] And I know myself, I've been very engaged in it over the last five to ten years. And a lot of YouTubers have popped up and podcasters and theology podcasting is huge. And you're even seeing your favorite political pundits get together

[00:46:19] with theological pundits and have debates and exchange ideas. You've seen Ben Shapiro debate other prominent Christians and Dave Rubin and a lot of the guys from the Daily Wire do that. It's just really interesting because when I first got into the business,

[00:46:40] about 15 years ago, almost 20 now, that was a no-no. Just we were not in the same space. The political commentators and the religious commentators were two totally different spaces. And the religious folks really didn't wanna get into the political stuff and vice versa.

[00:46:59] And now there's sort, I think this is influencer culture in general, but they're sort of one. And in a way that's been great, I've loved it. I've learned so much and continue to learn. I love watching people debate and discuss ideas.

[00:47:12] But on the other hand, it has sort of made a lot of us these amateur theologians and we've fancied ourselves perhaps more knowledgeable than we are because the study, the deep study of biblical texts and themes, it's a specialty. It's a very complicated study and

[00:47:34] it has a lot to do with understanding other languages and understanding and studying culture. That's not stuff you get from a podcast. So I thought that was interesting and he has a point. And I say that as somebody who voraciously consumes all of these pop theologians,

[00:47:54] I do recognize that it can become a problem. We can sort of be assigning the status of expert to people who are really just debaters. Because there seems to be so much confusion coming from our leaders,

[00:48:08] there needs to be concrete examples for people to look to in places like Benedictine, a little Kansas college built high on a bluff above the Missouri River. Are showing the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success.

[00:48:22] You need to look no further than the examples all around this campus. Where over the past 20 years, enrollment has doubled, construction and revitalization are a constant part of life. And people, the students, the faculty and staff are thriving. This didn't happen by chance.

[00:48:40] In a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values, Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you success, worldly and spiritual will follow.

[00:48:56] Okay, again, what a great way to frame this commencement speech. He's telling these students why their institution is superior, why they should be proud to graduate from it. And he has positive things to say about the way they've been prepared for the world.

[00:49:13] You guys are gonna be okay. Because this institution has instilled the values that it knows to be successful values and appropriate values and values that will bring you a measure of success and comfort as you move forward in your life and values that will serve the community.

[00:49:34] That's what I was missing from Joe Biden. That's what I wanted to hear, not this sort of you're doomed from the start. You're gonna go out there into a country that you love but they don't love you. What are you gonna do? Elect me again.

[00:49:48] What else are you gonna do? And it just feels so hopeless. That feels so hopeless when I would think the message would be you guys are so blessed to be or lucky however he wants to say it, to be at this institution. This is a fabulous institution.

[00:50:03] He did talk a little bit about how it graduated Martin Luther King. But what about all the other good work the institution has done over the years? There was nothing in that 30 minutes that said you guys are prepared for success.

[00:50:18] And you're going to do well because this is what this institution values. These are the values that they instilled in you and that's what you need to go out there and succeed in this nation. I didn't hear any of that.

[00:50:34] So this to me, just on the very basic level of providing the service that Butker was hired to provide. Absolutely, this is a great section of the speech. He's pumping up the institution. He's giving the kids a silver lining.

[00:50:52] He's giving the kids something to feel proud of as they go out there with their degrees. Having a degree from Benedictine means something. We know it means something and that's why we're proud to send you out. Hey, y'all ready? Here's the controversial part. Get your ears ready.

[00:51:08] If you haven't heard the long form version of this, I'll play as much as I can without boring you. But get yourself ready. Reading that article now shared all over the world, we see that in the complete

[00:51:20] surrender of self and a turning towards Christ, you will find happiness. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring lay people using their talents. President Minnis, Dr. Swafford and Dr. Zimmer are a few great examples right

[00:51:35] here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life.

[00:51:48] It is essential that we focus on our own state in life, whether that be as a layperson, a priest or religious. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives.

[00:52:01] Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God's church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.

[00:52:15] For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you,

[00:52:28] the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you're going to get in your career?

[00:52:39] Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.

[00:52:49] I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabel, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I'm on this stage today and able to be the man I am

[00:53:02] because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible

[00:53:15] because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all, homemaker. She's the primary educator to our children. She's the one who ensures I never let football or

[00:53:54] my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She's the person that knows me best at my core, and it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.

[00:54:06] I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God's will in their life. Isabel's dream of having a career might not have come true, but

[00:54:20] if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say, heck no. As a man who gets a lot of praise and has been given a platform to speak to audiences like this one today,

[00:54:35] I pray that I always use my voice for God and not for myself. Everything I am saying to you is not from a place of wisdom but rather a place of experience. He had just finished, I didn't play this part.

[00:54:53] I don't think I need to play the whole speech. I feel like I'm playing most of it because it was only 20 minutes. But he had just finished admonishing men to be leaders. I did play you a small section of that.

[00:55:03] He started with the priests in the church, and he moved into vocation. Now this is what I loved about this. A, of course when you listen to it, it is not nearly as controversial as the headlines make it sound.

[00:55:17] Again, particularly if you put it into context, who he's speaking to. He has an audience. These people, they share a faith and they share their alumnus, their alumni, excuse me, of the same university. So they're all part of this community in multiple ways.

[00:55:36] So he's speaking the same language as them. Then he talked to the women and what a lovely thing to say. He didn't tell them not to work. He didn't tell them not to get a job. He told them that many of them will find their most fulfilling vocation

[00:55:54] as a mother and wife. Did you tear up when he talked about his wife? Ladies, get you a man who speaks about you this highly. I can remember because that's where you're going to know. That's how you'll know if your man loves you.

[00:56:17] If this is a man you want to be with, a good test is does he speak highly of you when you're there, but also when you're not there. I probably told this story before,

[00:56:28] but a couple of years ago, my husband and I went to his work Christmas party. That particular year, people had come in, a lot of people from out of town. They have branch offices across the country.

[00:56:39] So some people had come in from out of town that I'd never met. This one lady who was from the Idaho branch said, I've been really wanting to meet you and I'm so glad to finally meet you. Mark just always speaks of you so highly.

[00:56:55] And I always think, gosh, I want to meet this wife. He always speaks so well of her. And to me, I thought that was such a huge compliment, not necessarily coming from her, but from him.

[00:57:07] I realized how important that is to have a partner who speaks well of you when you are not around. And he's speaking so well of his wife, and it's clear that he values her more than he values any of the other accomplishments in his life.

[00:57:23] So what is so bad about that? And what is so bad about saying to women that that can be an important vocation as well? And yes, he is telling his wife's story. She's not there to tell it, but I'm married.

[00:57:37] I'm pretty sure she wouldn't let him tell it if it offended her. Also can confirm I've done a lot of things in my life. I've had a lot of jobs, I've carried a lot of titles. I'm very educated. And and I'm a curious person.

[00:57:55] And I would tell you that for me, for me. Womanhood did not start until I became a mother. A wife, a wife first, and then a mother. That's really when I became a woman. I think I've often said that being a wife definitely made me a woman.

[00:58:14] And I'm not saying you can't be one if you're not married. But for me, that is where the shift was. I really went from girl to woman and being a mother was like putting that into overdrive. And absolutely there isn't a thing you could give me, offer me

[00:58:29] whatever my wildest dreams were at 21 years old. I wouldn't trade them. I wouldn't trade this for that. And no, I don't think there's any wife and mother out there who would. He's telling the absolute truth. Why is that a bad?

[00:58:47] Why is that a bad thing to tell women? You have this degree, you can go accomplish great things, but don't forget your greatest vocation and where you will find the most fulfillment is most likely in the home.

[00:59:01] And for a Catholic man to be saying that to a Catholic audience, that means so much more because the Catholic Church is really centered around family. The Christian church is centered around family. So again, he's not at Morehouse giving that speech,

[00:59:15] although it wouldn't kill someone to go give the Morehouse men a symbol, a similar speech, right? About traditionalism and all of that, that's not what they got. They got by if they compare this to Biden. He barely said anything about what those guys will do

[00:59:32] when they leave college, first of all, let alone suggesting some places they might find actual fulfillment in their lives. What I loved about Butker's commencement speech, you know, Biden's speech was all about him. This is what I did.

[00:59:48] I worked for this president and I passed this bill and I was a senator for this long. And I've worked with police officers for this amount of time and I'm negotiating peace in the Middle East. It was all about him.

[00:59:58] And what was Harrison Butker's speech about your higher? Responsibility or higher calling who's about everything outside of yourself. It was about you understanding that there is more to your life than just you. And those things will be your greatest responsibilities, not yourself, your family, your country, your God.

[01:00:25] And yes, even your school community, your faith community, all of these things. All of these will be areas in which you are called to service and you are called to something greater than yourself. I think the contrast between that and what Biden said is stark.

[01:00:48] OK, we're getting close. Here's the next clip. Because as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father and as a man to the gentleman here today, part of what plagues our society

[01:01:00] is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities as men. We set the tone of the culture. And when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in.

[01:01:14] This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the US, and a correlation could be made

[01:01:25] in their drastically lower violence rates as well. Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don't necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that

[01:01:43] over something that you might think suits you better. I speak from experience as an introvert who now finds myself as an amateur public speaker and an entrepreneur, something I never thought I'd be when I received my industrial engineering degree. The road ahead is bright. Things are changing.

[01:02:00] Society is shifting and people young and old are embracing tradition. OK, again, there's an admonishment to the men. So we didn't just focus on women and say, men, you need to be leaders. You need to step up. You not being in the home.

[01:02:16] Sure, society is giving you these messages, but you set the tone. And that is, again, what is the president of the United States, the greatest leader in the world, or at least considered the greatest, most influential leader in the world,

[01:02:32] standing up a message to a room full of men, black men at that. And what are his words? Oh, democracy really isn't on your side. Imagine if his message had been what Harrison Butler just said.

[01:02:48] You are men go out there and serve the world as men stand up as men. Take your rightful place in the home. Take your rightful place in the boardroom. Don't be wimpy about it. You know, don't be a pansy about it.

[01:03:06] Go out there and be men, because guess what? You set the tone for society. So what are you going to do? Biden did have a little bit towards the end. I did mention that, that I like that, that couple of lines or so.

[01:03:19] What will you say? You did. But here is Harrison Butler saying again, this is what a commencement speech should be. It should spur you. These are the last words, the final words you get with these people as students. They will no longer be students of life.

[01:03:36] They will be livers of life after this. It's got to mean something. It's got to send them out there with some kind of challenge. Let's move on. As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges.

[01:03:54] Sadly, I'm sure many of you know of the countless stories of good and active members of this community who, after graduation and moving away from the Benedictine bubble, have ended up moving in with their boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage. Some even leave the church and abandon God.

[01:04:09] It is always heartbreaking to hear these stories. And there is a desire to know what happened and what went wrong. What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well, setting yourself up for success and surrounding yourself

[01:04:21] with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I love this. Life is about doing the small things well. I love how you got that little thing in a lot of y'all.

[01:04:32] A lot of y'all are going to leave here, going to move in together. Don't live together. Don't go listen to my episode on cohabitation. We need to stop normalizing this. It's not normal. Drives me crazy. The conservatives do it. I mean, it is normal these days.

[01:04:46] It is, but it's not living well and it's not. It's not what God if you're if you're a Christian, you should absolutely not be living with the person that you're going to marry. I'm not going to adjudicate that.

[01:04:59] Don't live with your with your partner before you are married. I did a whole episode on it, but I love that he got that little. But again, it's this whole thing of conforming to the world. We're not like the world. He's been saying that this whole speech.

[01:05:14] You guys are different. You're the cream of the crop. You're you're a different you're salty, right? That we Christians say you're salty, you're salt and you're light. You're different. You are not supposed to conform to this world. Look at the priests within our own faith who have

[01:05:28] who have been conforming to the world to gain acceptance. You can't be like that. So no, don't move in with your boyfriend or girlfriend because it's convenient. That's conforming to the world. The world is telling you there's nothing wrong with it. It's normal. It's fine. Everyone does it.

[01:05:40] Don't do that. Be deliberate. He goes on to tell them, be deliberate about where you live in the community you live in. You know what he tells him? He tells them, check out the church before you go there. Make sure that your priest is leading well.

[01:05:55] Make sure your priest is biblically sound. This sounds so much like evangelicals, like Catholics. Listen, I know you like to think because you guys are under one umbrella that you that our issues are totally different. They're not.

[01:06:08] You're you just do it under the same umbrella and we're just a bunch of different churches. But this is a problem in the church period across the board, regardless of if you're Catholic or Protestant. We have we have a real incursion of progressive politics in the church.

[01:06:22] And so he's saying that he said, that's what I would tell an evangelical. Go to the service. Go to mass before you commit and check the people out and check out the community and see are these people who are living like you want to live?

[01:06:38] I thought that was great. It's so practical. But it's also respectful. I recognize you're leaving the confines of this school and you're going on to to have some of the most important experiences of your life. Let me give you some advice.

[01:06:54] And I'm going to remember this would do the small things well. This modern culture tells us that we're supposed to be big about everything. I think that's why everything's so big for these kids, right? We're going to have a sit in. We're going to have a hunger strike.

[01:07:10] We're going to march out and stop traffic. It's a big deal if you won't use my the pronoun I want. It's a big deal if you won't hire me because I have a face full of piercings. It's everything's a big deal.

[01:07:23] Microaggression, it's not micro, it's a big deal. Everything's huge. Because these are people who don't know how to take care of the small things in effect, and he may have gotten this from Jordan Peterson, but this is what Jordan Peterson says. Make your own bed, make your bed.

[01:07:42] You can't go heal the world of climate change and you and you can't even make your own bed. And this is what Harrison Bucker is saying as well. The small things must be attended to because each small thing builds to a bigger thing.

[01:07:58] And if you start at the top, you have no foundation to grow from. Right now we have a top down model for solving society's issues. And it's been a huge, huge failure. All right. We're pulling up on the end here. Let's continue.

[01:08:15] I'm excited for the future, and I pray that something I have said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life. Never be afraid to profess the one holy Catholic and apostolic church, for this is the church that Jesus Christ established

[01:08:31] through which we receive sanctifying grace. I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches. But I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are

[01:08:45] and where we all want to go, which is heaven. I thank God for benedicting college and for the example it provides to the world. I don't know how you could end that on a better note. And that's exactly how you should end a commencement speech.

[01:09:01] This is this is who we are. And this is where you want to go. Here is where you need to set your compass and the path, whatever path you choose, make sure it's pointing in that direction. It was a great commencement speech.

[01:09:17] He might not have the most flair of any speaker. You know, he was clearly reading, but he knew his audience. It was tailored to the audience. It was positive and yet cognizant of some of the negative things that we all will experience in this world.

[01:09:33] Some of the issues within their own community. He called them out, but gently. And he also had solutions. But mostly he focused on what you should be aiming at as you leave these halls. And when I compare that to Joe Biden, Joe Biden's speech to me

[01:09:55] seems absolutely devoid of any substance and all hope. And again, I couldn't see a lot of the he I could only see three or four people behind him during that speech. People were not wrapped in attention. They were not. They it wasn't moving, it didn't sound moving.

[01:10:14] Now I'm willing to give the sound a pass because, you know, where microphones are, sometimes it might pick up just the first two or three rows of clapping. So you can't really lay too much at the feet of the sound. But it just there was no energy.

[01:10:30] Of course, energy isn't really something we associate with Joe Biden, but it just felt devoid of heart and sincerity and anything useful. And it feels like that's what you're going to send those black men out into the world with that. I compare Harrison Bucker's speech.

[01:10:50] I bet those men in in that stadium would have preferred to have heard a speech like Bucker's and not Biden's. Biden's was a campaign speech, to be fair, but also to be fair, it is unfair to use this graduation, especially this year.

[01:11:09] To run a campaign when these men really need a message of hope. Those are my thoughts, I think, but Kerr wins if we're if this is a contest, he wins shouldn't be any surprise that I feel that way.

[01:11:22] Let me know what you feel about either or both speeches. JLTY at Protonmail.com, JLTY at Protonmail.com. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Please share. Do me a favor and share this with somebody. Share it somewhere on some platform you feel safe on.

[01:11:38] Share this so other people can find it. All right. Well, it's time for me to take off. But until we meet again every once in a while, remember, just stop and listen to yourself. And we won't stay. All we got is us. No one can take that away.

[01:11:58] Yeah, it's going to be OK. I pray to the whole of my soul today that we won't stay. And then we won't stay. All we got is us. No one can take that away. So don't go saying it's going to be OK.

[01:12:13] This has been a presentation of the FCB Podcast Network, where real talk lives. Visit us online at FCBpodcasts.com.