The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 582 - The 1917 Minnesota Right Wing Coup - live

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the 1917 Minneapolis, Minnesota right wing reaction to socialists success in North Dakota and strikes.  Recorded live in St Paul. Sources Tour Dates Redbubble Merch   Squarespace Pretty Litter

I've been really clear, and I'm starting to think that you people hear me tell you what my real name is, and you're just doing this to get at me. We just found out recently, it's been eight years of his shit. It's a Welsh name. My mother gave it to me. My brother's here tonight, he can confirm that that is the name. And you did this, you asshole. And you sit there and try to look innocent, but you just don't clean your glasses, you prick. You really have started out with a very bad attitude. Hi Saint Paul, how are you? It's got a Saturday energy, not a Sunday one, which is good. Remember Dave? Hi.

Thank you. Okay. What? No, well, you did the whole... I was breathing. Why did someone think of someone's... You start. Are you sure? I don't want to do it.

Gareth, we are brought to you... Dave, we're brought to you by the... Oh my gosh. We're brought to you in part by Squarespace. I don't know what you're doing, but I am the leader. That I take the lead. Much like Squarespace, I lead. Gareth Squarespace is all in one, domains, websites, online stores, marketing tools, analytics, which of course we need for you, very badly, the analytics. Yeah. I'm reading through some of the analytics on me this week and it is not good. You have your website... It is bad. ...with reynolds.com with Squarespace and you get analytics there, correct? I'm talking traffic overview, visitor insights, activity log, sales, analytics, purchase funnel. How is your purchase funnel going?

I've been putting beer in it. That's not at all what the purchase funnel is for. Come on, man, we're talking about websites. And of course, the world-class design, your website actually looks good, which is surprising because I don't expect that from someone like you, but that's where Squarespace comes in, right? Absolutely. Squarespace made it easy. Before them, I was just trying to... I poured beer on my computer and then I would shut it, the laptop, like it was a mouth, drinking it. It just never built one for me. Then I found Squarespace, just changed everything. Now people can find out where you tour and everything else. You do little silly videos with your cats and all kinds of things. Yeah, yeah, my cats and my farm, all that stuff. So I also have my website with Squarespace and then of course we have the dolloppodcast.com where you can get all your tour information.

And then our sources page. So we're all in with Squarespace. They go down, I've said this before a million times, but they go down and we go down. Basically, it's an umbilical cord situation that can never be cut. They agree. Absolutely. And they want it to be cut. They're scared of us. Well, they're not returning calls about that or anything, but we know they're in. We're going to come over. We're coming over. So anyway, here's what you're going to do. You're going to go to squarespace.com slash dollop for a free trial.

And when you're ready to launch, use the offer code dollop to save 10% on your first purchase of a website or domain. Gareth, we're also brought to you by PrettyLitter. Here's the thing about cats. When they're healthy, they're having a good time. And that makes people like Gareth happy because Gareth has a cat. And if Jose is happy, Gareth's happy. Now Gareth isn't a cat mind reader. He's not like Kevin Sorbo in Beastmaster. He cannot read cats' minds. I have actually fashioned my life after Kevin Sorbo and Beastmaster.

So I'm not comfortable with you saying that. But to your point, Dave, I'm not a doctor mind reader of cats. So among the amazing things that PrettyLitter is capable of is that you could litter different colors depending on if there's anything going on with your cat. Health-wise, I mean, not like emotional. It's not like... No, no, it's like status updates. Yeah, let me finish this. They're cat-us updates. But like, you know, yellow means a peed in it. And then, you know, there is a scale of colors and even on...

You're able to find out if there's anything you should be alarmed about and then you can take your cat to the vet and you're good to go. Also, PrettyLitter gets delivered to your house. It's in a lightweight bag. You change the litter basically once a month. It is... I have not stopped using it. I use it every month with Jose. He uses it. I don't use it. I put it in there and he uses it. Well, that's an interesting point, Gareth, because... And anybody accusing me of using his litter... Hold on, I want to get ahead of this.

Anyone accusing me of using his litter is... Go ahead. I was going to say, I get PrettyLitter delivered to my house and I use it. I stopped using the toilet. I just use PrettyLitter now. And so I have a giant pile in the backyard and it comes delivered and I just throw it in the pile and I get up there and I do my business. That's great news. But why don't we just keep it on topic, which is that it is the best change to cat litter that I've had as a cat owner. It has been a great change. Highly recommend.

All right, so... Oh, get it. PrettyLitter helps keeps tabs on Gareth's cat's health and keeps odors down. You and your cat are going to love PrettyLitter as much as Gareth does. Go to PrettyLitter.com slash dollop and use code dollop to save 20% on your first order. That's PrettyLitter.com slash dollop, code dollop to save 20%. PrettyLitter.com slash dollop, code dollop. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details. Yeah, and Dave, should we point out that we'll be going on tour?

We will be going on tour starting on July 27th. We'll be in San Jose. Then we go to San Francisco, Sacramento, Boise, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego. You can go to dolloppodcast.com to get your tour link to buy some little tickies. Also, you can, if you want to see videos of all of our wonderful hilariousness and other content, you can join the Patreon, the dollop Patreon. Yeah, or follow us on dollop, the dollop podcast on Instagram. Also, this weekend, I will be in Austin, Texas, May 12th and 13th.

And then May 18th, I'll be in Phoenix at standup live. Go to GarethRinals.com for those tickets. You can do that at all. It's not true. All right, so now... And then here's a live show when we went to St. Paul. Yep, St. Paul, where they make the beer. Yeah, here we go.

Action us from a long time ago. You're listening to the Dutch Venture Linguism. You're listening to the Dollop! You're listening to the Dollop! Everyone on the files didn't merge. Isn't that Instagram good? Oh, shit, we are. Yeah.

This is an American History podcast where each week I, Dave Anthony, share a story from American history to my driver. And your friend. You're the most disinterested son of a bitch. It's not a joke anymore. We're in the middle of the intro. I know, but you're filling the intro with bullshit. Gareth Reynolds has no idea what the topic is going to be about.

We're checking in at the hotel. Here we go. The guy at the hotel was like, what are you here for? And I said, we're going to a podcast at the Fitzgerald Theater. And he said, yeah, I'm going to start one of those. Are you sure we weren't in LA? No, but this is the best thing I've ever heard from someone who said they're going to start a podcast.

He said, I'm going to start one of those. I'm very excited. President? Yes. That's classic. And I was like, well, that's great. Sure. I felt pretty good about my situation,

but now it just seems like it's a pretty loaded market out there. I'm pretty excited. I'm very excited. Very excited. That is the wrong date. Are we in the right story? I just put the wrong century out there like I always do. 1882!

CHEERING The Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association was formed. They represented over 5,000 businesses from massive banks to small stores. Smaller stores. I said no more talking. I don't know how to talk out there. Um,

the Association for Businesses was formed in the United States. Um, the Association wanted to achieve the same thing as the Chamber of Commerce does today, make money, and crush labor. Right? Now we're ready for that high-five.

LAUGHTER In 1903, there were issues with labor, and the Association formed a new group, the Citizens Alliance of Minneapolis. OK. So it's a lot of, the laws, the rules are a lot of like, we're going to help you, help employees not have to be part of a group.

Right. You're old and fees you'll have to pay. Oh, it's going to be a nightmare. We'll handle all that on your behalf. No more benefits. No more anything. How's that sound, friend? So the New Citizens Alliance of Minneapolis

formed a new group, the Association for Businesses was formed a couple of crushing labor. Right. In 1911, the commercial club merged with a couple of smaller groups and became the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association, the CCA,

sorry, the Civic and Commerce Association, the CCA with the goal of crushing labor. In North Dakota, in North Dakota, the Socialist Party formed politicians in North Dakota. Jesus.

Now if there's one, they run them over with a truck. Yeah. True. North Dakota is where E.G. Depp spoke at a huge anti-war rally. Rugby and Hillsborough had Socialist mayors. Farmers formed the non-partisan league.

Many, many people joined the lefty non-partisan league. Small farmers were exploited by big companies, especially the big companies in Minneapolis. Nice. So the league ran candidates as Republicans

and won the governorship and house seat. They took over the legislative branch of North Dakota. The Republicans did. And the non-partisan league running as Republicans took over.

Gotcha. They set up a state run mill, a bank, a state run railroad. Pretty good, Dave. I know the state run bank is still there today and the people who hate socialism

love the bank. They're fucking dumb. It is amazing. The amount of things that are actually socialist, it wouldn't work here. It's like, no, it does. It literally works here.

It's one of your things. It's the most scary you enjoy. Anywhere. Anywhere. So the CCA is scarcely at least in Minneapolis of these socialists up in North Dakota. They've got a wagon.

Especially when the NPL non-partisan league moved their headquarters to St. Paul with the goal of taking over the Minnesota Democratic and Republican parties. Yes, it's exciting. But let's be honest, what I already hate

is the way it is now. A great ambition. I just worry that it's not going to come to fruition. Why? Well, because we've been in St. Paul for two weeks prepping prepping as women.

Living the life. I got a job in a store just to really get my hands dirty. Sure. So to market. Fred Schneider, who is a CCA member quote, unless something is done to counteract this movement

I fear that our state offices at control of the legislature will pass into the hands of that organization. Right. So he's a rich guy who wants to stay rich. Yes. But the NPL isn't the worst lefty group

out there. They just want to take over the system whereas the industrial workers of the world want to destroy the system. I liked the NPL. But then there's a new bad boy

at times. They said, quote, take possession of the earth and the machinery production and abolish the wage system. Oh my God. You don't even hear anything near that anymore. Oh you should.

There's some of that going on in the next door a lot of it's coming out of me. I don't know if you can join Dave's next door but get involved. There's some stuff going on with fascists that's running for office in my town. And Dave's taking it really easy. It's not become like a theme for the trip.

The time that you were responding to one of my comments, here's a video from my YouTube channel. You can imagine how that went. So the IWW they go on strike for better wages, shorter hours, union recognition,

all over the west coast. They lead a strike at Masabi Iron Range in 1916. During the strike guards killed a Croatian miner. Cops arrested two

IWW organizers and then violence breaks out after that. A miner and sheriff were killed as mobs fight. So they arrested a bunch of IWW organizers for inciting murder and that kind of killed the strike.

Minnesota Governor Byrne Quest. Byrne Quest. He outlawed Picketing as you do when people picketing you like it. Smart, smart. That's the good way.

So the strike is very arrested by the outlaw of Picketing and all the arrests of the IWW. It's a hard thing to protest. No more Picketing. Screen. Yeah, we'll go home. Screen.

They don't achieve their goals, but the companies end up making changes anyway and they do give them an 8-hour work day. An 8-hour work. And the dead guy didn't get it. You didn't get the 8-hour work. No, interesting. But the CCA really feared that NPL

more than they did the IWW. The CCA? They feared the nonpartisan league much more than I did for whatever reason. But they didn't want to stab him in the octopus pack? Yes.

The IWW is un-American and against all government, but it is not as dangerous as the nonpartisan league or the red socialists. Well, now I do get it. By the way, the red flame is a great name.

It's literally someone should dress up like that and just go into the street. The red flame's here. That's right. Time to unionize. Aha. Sorry it took so long. As far as superpowers go,

I've not much really. My name's Ted. Hi. Hello. I'm the red flame. Aha. So, what should we do? Let's start pitching. Seems like maybe I shouldn't have put this whole outfit together a little bit.

So you didn't have an idea? You just put it on and then... Well, a lot of it went into the planning of putting the outfit together. Come on, though. Pretty good. Right? Right what? What are we doing?

I don't know. Let's end this. End what? The bullshit. We should be trying to do a bunch of stuff. We should get, you know, more wage and be able to unionize. Come on.

Let's... Okay. All right, great. I feel to see that you being in red flame has anything to do with any of this. Well, I'll go home and change, but I just really... I don't know. Maybe we should all wear these. Is that possible?

I feel like we could be taking it more seriously. You look dumb. You don't even know who I am. I've got a mask on. I'm merely the red flame. Jeff, I've worked with you for like six years. No, I'm ten. Okay, Jeff. Um...

Can anyone give me a ride? Okay, good. We've got a driver, don't we? Sure. A bit more. That's so... Okay. So,

as World War I was, you know, starting to come into shape there, tons of immigrants, people with immigrant parents are living in the area, and not all wanted U.S. involvement or even knew which side to join.

There's only Germans that are like, like kind of like Germany still. Right. By the way, that'll save. Now, over in Milwaukee, they have... Over where? Milwaukee. They have Socialists in office too.

Nice. That guy is Congressman Victor Berger. Their mayor is Socialist. A lot of people saw Berger as a disloyal un-American piece of shit. Because it is Socialist? Yes!

Oh, okay. What else would you do with them? They're Socialists. Well, that's the last time Americans hated Bergers. When a German Ubunk sunk the British Ocean liner in May of 1915, over 100 Americans were killed.

Okay. And people were now really on board with fighting a war in Germany. Right. So the Milwaukee Journal launched a 100% Americanism campaign. Oh, fuck. To find...

High! High! To find the real Americans out there. Oh, god. Oh, fuck. The right started seeing boogie men everywhere. Uh-huh. That teamster struck in Minneapolis in 1916, and there was a lot of violence from them.

Love. How great is it that we have a photo of the cock getting punched? Yeah. I'm sorry if any of you are in cops here tonight, but you've come to the wrong place. So it's a violent strike. Scabs are attacked, trucks full of furniture pushed over,

because it's a furniture thing. They try to break... It's a furniture moving situation. Guys who drive trucks... I'll let you get away with it, but I don't know what the fuck that honestly means. It's a furniture moving situation.

There's furniture in the trucks. They drive around, push them over. Furniture companies? Sure. Furniture. Okay. So cops basically can't contain the violence. Save the Ottomans! Save the Ottomans!

So the CCA hires their own guards to drive Chicago organizers out of town. And it works. Okay, so they drive Chicago organizers out of town. What do you mean? The union organizers, the guys who are

helping with the strike, the guys who come from out of town, they hire a bunch of private guys. To just take them? No, we didn't fucking beat the shit out of them and get them out of town. Well, that's basically what I mean. Okay, so they beat the fuck out of the Chicago ones. And drive them out. I like that they respect where they're from, though.

Like, now they would just be like, drive them all to another place. But now they're like, maybe from Chicago. There we go. Put them on the Chicago transport. So then in November, Minneapolis elects a socialist of Thomas Van De Leer as mayor.

He read on making changes that would bring, quote, the final disappearance of the evils of capitalism. The evils of capitalism. Yes, evils of capitalism. The city had, unfortunately, like Los Angeles does now, has a weak mayoral system, so

the city council the city council has all the control. Okay. So it couldn't really do that much. But he didn't get to pick the police chief. And he picked a socialist. Red flame, oh. Who's laughing now?

It's I, the red flame. That's right. To be honest, we're all laughing now. Well, you won't be laughing when I put out a police hat over this uniform, will you? No, he still will. Why? That's going to be official then.

And I'll have a police belt. The outfit isn't working for a lot of people, that's why. It's fucking ridiculous. I think once people get used to it, people will understand and you'll see a lot of kids wearing things like this. Firetop!

Well, first of all, I'm not open to name changes. The red flame is what the whole thing is based upon. Firecop is weird. Welcome to your nickname. Irish officer or something. It's confusing. Red flame works. Firecop's better.

Also, maybe I'm putting a shirt and be like... Yeah, on bucket, it's a zipper in the back. What you're pitching is not even an option. I'm saying show off the chest. This is not a sexy... What are you talking about?

Now you're raising your hand? You're talking... Yes, you. Short shorts. No. No. Absolutely not. No. I've enjoyed.

There's a fist fight after the bars get out one night. And you come in, short shorts, front button, not all the way. Well, red hair, we'll comb it a little bit.

No, no, no. What the fuck are you even talking about anymore? They're guessing the boys stop fighting and they go, what is this? Yeah, not the angle. Look, okay. This is not the debate. I am...

I think people will get used to the look and the change. That's all I'll say. Thank you. No, no, no, no. Fuck up. Fuck up. The red flame is a serious thing. There comes danger.

I'm not danger. I'm an officer of the law. I don't want to be viewed that way. Here comes a savior. That's hot. That is a red flame. Yeah. No.

Don't touch him. We'll work on it more. Fire boy. So, he picks a socialist chief and verily promised that cops would not be used at all to break up strikes.

This is... feels like an alien planet. So, then the US does enter World War I and there's demand for workers because workers are all going to fight. Right.

And also, people in America are in a patriotic hysteria. Well, I mean... Some papers are looking for the best American. They're trying to raise fucking money everywhere for the war. They're selling Liberty Bonds. They march down the street

and have Liberty Bond parades. A lot of places they do buy Liberty Bonds and be like, what the fuck is wrong with you and beat you up? The right is now fearing in this area especially Milwaukee and Lefty Uprising. Oh boy.

Don't worry about that. In Milwaukee, remember Swirl, that 4,000 ex-German soldiers in the reserves were going to attack the city. Wait, that's what they were told, that's what people were fearing? People think that in Milwaukee

it's going to be attacked by 4,000 German-American soldiers. Sure, so, right. So, German moles. Yeah, and that they've gotten... Now, be strike. They've been...

You've enjoyed our sausages long enough! Ha ha ha! They're on a hook. Foolish people. People thought that the soldiers had been secretly shipped 7,000 rifles from Philip Grossfuck

Grossfuck. This really is one of those things where it is like when you live in the world today, you're like, man, nobody knows what the fuck is going on. People used to have some agreeance and truth, but this is no big... No, worry, 4,000

Germans were caught. They got a ton of firearms shipped straight from Germany. The hardware store sent them up. The hardware store had 7,000 guns that they bought, and they're giving them to 4,000 men. Each guy almost has two rifles.

So, that's what's going the hardware store to one given... Right, that makes sense. True value, my ass. Why it's such a bitchism. So, the department just investigated, and we're like, yes, this is absolute bullshit.

That department has also been patronized. And a bunch of right-wingers didn't believe it, and asked the government to put the Wisconsin National Guard at the state fairgrounds near...

Milwaukee, just in case. And the feds were like, yeah, remember when we said that's not happening? Yeah. We're not going to send an army to stop the guys that aren't real. Well... And we got a call on the big guns. The red flame. This guy is unbelievable.

Have you seen him? Yeah, the shorts are crazy. No, he stopped wearing those. He tested that out for like two days. He didn't like it. I thought they were great. No, he was distracting. He's not going for that sort of vibe.

God, I really hate that people keep trying to pull him in that direction. Not that I'm him or not. Because I'm not. But I will say, nobody has seen him and I in the same room at the same time. Isn't that interesting? Oh, here he's flaming.

He is the flaming heart of justice, absolutely. He's the only one who could stop these Germans. I'll go see if I can call him. So, here in Minnesota with all this fake shit happening in Milwaukee,

the CCA uses the mood of all the right-wingers being scared. And they create the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety. Oh, God. That's right, 11 whites.

All looking out for your best interest. We've got quite a variety here. My Lord. Don't worry, the whites will have it. All the white men. Sorry, I hope nobody walks out like someone did in Milwaukee. That's right, we talked a lot about the whites when we were young, man.

So... Guess what race they were. Right, Mexican. What do you guys think? Yes. Sex it. Okay, so on this, the Governor, Attorney General, so...

Sorry, they don't even know how to spell Minnesota. That's how you spell Minnesota. I thought that was a lie. I thought that was a lie. I thought it was like, Minnesota. It's the tiniest thing. That got weird.

Well, sir, I appreciate it, but shut the fuck up. I appreciate it. So, of course, the CPS exists to... Be good to everyone. Crush unions. Yeah, so there's enough...

I mean, again, they basically are able to capitalize on the fear, and now they're like, that's right. We're your friends. Well, so the fear, then they got the idea, because they hired private guards to get the organizers out of town. And it worked, sort of like... So there's like a vacuum.

They can create a thing here. It forms on April 16, 1917. The purpose was to do everything necessary within the law to protect property and free up the police, military, and industrial state resources to do what they need to do. And this...

The legislature gave the CPS one million dollars. Which back then was an insane amount of fucking money. It's also always... We value property so much more than people like any human. It's like, that poor property.

What's it gonna do? We don't have any more bricks. Gotta defend that property. So... So basically, the CPS is gonna crack down on anybody who is against the war. Okay.

Quote from one of them. If our soldiers need food and munitions, the man who will not help or interfere with others producing in as much an enemy of the country as those in arms against it. So they're gonna fucking come down.

Right. So the CPS sees the IWW, the socialist labor organizers, the NPO as enemies of the state. Right. And one member is John McGee. Right. One member is John McGee.

Sure. He lobbied for a position on the committee and he was a former judge and a railroad lawyer. You're not. My train has... It wasn't even on that track at the time of the match.

Lord. McGee said, quote, If the government appoints men who have backbone, treason will not be talked on the streets of the city and the street corner

orders who denounce the government advocate revolution denounce the army and advise against enlistments will be looked through the barbed fences of an internment camp out on the prairie. Jesus Christ.

Really. I was like, this is getting boring. And then he really comes through at the end. He's like, buddy, can we get to the point? Internment camp fences. There it is. Wow. So, because for a second it sounded like he was like, they won't even

be able to have people listen to the things they're saying. Well, I guess it's going to be language with language. It's aggressive because they'll be in fields with fences. Okay? Thank you. Yeah, the right way always goes there. That's the thing.

So, one person could probably vote on you? No. Excuse me. Make your breath. Have you taken my hot shorts? This

was certainly not what I'm talking about. You're really trying to take something that is great and heroic and make it a little weird. I feel like it's starting weird. No. And we just ready to play?

Yeah. Everyone loves the red flame. Kids are just up like the red flame for Halloween, pal. He's got catchphrases. Yeah. The red flame would admit that it is a lot of genders

who are doing it, but that's not why. The red flame is a defender of rights. He believes in the socialist movement. The red flame... I mean, so have red. Go ahead. So, McGee was, of course,

appointed to the commission and put in a position of power because he wanted to be quick and amped. Right. At the first CCS meeting, the commission offered all of its resources to help. So now, not only is it getting a million dollars, but on top of that, they're going to

give all their money they can to this group. Nice. They picked a CCA member to be the war director of Hennepin County. The war director? War director? Of the county? Yes, indeed. I don't like that idea.

All right, we know just where to invade because some of us actually live next to it. McGee was given the job of creating what would be called the Minnesota Home Guard. Minnesota Home Guard. So, since the National Guard

is fighting in the war, the commission believes a replacement is needed, and they call them the Home Guard. Now, Governor Burquist, who's on the commission, is named Commander of the Home Guard. Jesus Christ. That is...

It is eleven battalions, four... four thousand four hundred men. They had to buy their own uniforms. Well, that's... I mean, I don't like them, but that's also bullshit. What kind of bullshit is that? What kind of union?

Yeah, no union. I don't want to buy my own shit. Are you kidding me? What we should do is probably form a group of us who get us uniforms for free. We're fighting now. That's what we're fighting. Guys, I'm going to have to ask you to beat yourselves up.

Take this shit out of each other. Hurry. Good lord. Bunch of red flames in this room, if you ask me. That's what we're all using now. I don't think so. Yeah, no, that's really... A lot of people are saying that,

and then you understand what it is right away. Go ahead. Well, the reason they want to buy their own uniforms is because they want the guys who can afford to buy their own uniforms to be... Not at all. Not at all. So, all these guys came from businesses.

The businesses might have an employee that they would be like, okay, I'll pay for you to be on the Home Guard. Wow. So... There's a lot of them, like I said. The next commission appointed 600 men to be sort of like cops.

They could carry guns, make warrantless arrests, and break into hauls. It sounds like cops. But they're not cops. They're... Just guys? They're hired by this group, which is not a government group.

So this non-government enforcement group is hired like people who are like less experienced or... Well, they're just hiring guys. Just hiring anybody who is just... And the qualifying... Like, what you need to do to qualify for this is just be against them.

And then that's enough. Right, you need to be against the socialists. Right. And by uniform. And by uniform. 175 of them are already in a national organization to stop anti-war activity. Now, these cops are given a badge?

Minnesota... Public Police Officer Safety Commission. Jesus Christ. Really laying it on thick. It's like, well, it feels like your badge don't protest too much. Part of the Safety Commission.

We're only here for peace. Now, get out of the fucking way. And they have the third-aid crackdown. So basically, the CCA has created a private army using government funds. Right. And I'll talk to that.

The PCS has given the power to quote, anticipate... Oh, no. No. No, no, no. They're a psychic police force. I sense you were going to unionize. Kill them. Wait, what? Ah. I'm having another one of my visions.

Save here, Dan. Save them before they do anything. Only one man could get in the way of this. Look at me atop the building. The red flame? The red flame, not flam ass hole. Red flame? No.

It is a terrible, terrible thing to envision. Now, where are the stairs to get down to street level? This door's locked, so if someone could come up quickly, I could try to fire escape. Heights are not one of my favorite things. But I'll figure it out if I have to.

But if someone had a key, that'd be awesome. Really, I'm about the flame. You have a key, or you're just playing I'm just waving. Come on down. Alright, I will. The shorts look so different.

They're not shorts. It's underpants over the outside pants. It's a regular standard look. Wait. Yeah, right. You have underpants... On the outside. On the inside, too. I've got the regular pair of underpants

which do what I'm pretty close to a regular man underpants-wise. Then I've got the spandex leggings, and then I'll top that another set of under-ears. Is this about the key? It better be, because this ladder is not budging. I'll be fucking honest, I'm not loving

what's going on up here. I didn't know the door would shut. It looked like if the knob would turn, but then you get up here and the knob doesn't turn. I'm not answering that question, but I am a regular. Look, what is great about my relatability to the movement

is I'm just like a lot of these men. Uh... Super cold. Probably should've thought about the temperature. Should've thought of that before. You'd think I'd be hot. But I am.

Chilly, look at these nips. Turkey's done. Alright. So, all this private army got a gold badge and authority to crack down. So they've created private army. On top of that, the PSC has given the power

to anticipate and prevent disloyalty. Feels like you're going to be disloyal soon. And part of this was to use a little bro group known as... Hopefully not a little bro group. Yeah.

A Pinkerton group known as... Hopefully not a little bro group. No! A Pinkerton group! We never speeded. The Pinkerton's who were... We got me guys. Monitor socialists, infiltrate the unions

and then give information to the commission. Soon every county in the state had a public safety commission. So they had to go to a public place. In Hedepin County, the war director tried to demand that only men of quote

unquestionable loyalty to the country serve on juries. Yeah. That's the number one thing you have to be is loyalty. What a prerequisite. That actually didn't fly. Judges were like, okay, that's weird.

Now, socialists are constantly being harassed. When the war starts, it's just on. People are just fucking all over it. Why do you want stuff for your money? Get them. When you got an iPhone and you're a socialist?

That's right. The CPS didn't need to even exist to have that happen. That's just happening. So Victor, like, there'd be garbage all over his yard every morning. It was just that.

Revoke the second-class mailing privileges for burgers paper. So they're just anything they can do to make socials. Any socialist. So the public safety commissions all over the state suppressed the non...

Red flame? No, the red flame. The nonpartisanly. Sorry. The thing we're going to have a story on. So... I lost my press. I'm drunk. Yeah.

I don't think that person was up there hammering me. Thank you, God. Daddy? That person's better than the flame. So... The... Sorry, dude, just to take a...

20? I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with, like, the kind of anti-red flame stuff. So just... The thing we're going to have a story on, it pops up, it pops up. But, you know, like, we don't need to make this thing like just a shit on a guy who's trying to be a superhero.

Yeah, we do. So 21 counties ban NPL meetings. And in 27 counties there's violence against NPL members. Like, 21... Wait, is that...

That's 27 and 21? It's like, you guys can't beat them. We should go somewhere else. No, we shouldn't. The other counties, they're just beating the fuck out of us. Yeah. The commission would ignore mob attacks happening on them.

Such as tar and feathering. Oh, my Lord. And beatings of league members. But they actually, the commission encouraged it. Oh, my Lord. McGee suggested to quote, now we should get busy

and have that firing squad working overtime. Oh, my Lord. God bless. God bless. So as elections heat up, the NPL was the, quote, prime target of the commission.

NPL leaders were charged with sedition. The CVS investigated them by the NPL leaders. So NPL starts making pro-war declarations to try to get the fucking vote. Jesus Christ. And they're like, come on, get those Germans.

We like the war. It's great. Nothing gets the war. We would just like money to go to war. It's like healthcare or something like that. But come on, get those damn Germans, his bricks. Oh, nothing like a good bombing. I mean, this is happening

and I'm going to open the war. It's a total shit show. It doesn't slow it down at all. It just continues. Now the IWW are like, yeah, we're not going to do that. So they're not backing down. So the CVS closes all saloons

and gathering places in the district where the IWW have their headquarters. They passed a vacancy law. Because a lot of the IWW guys are itinerant. So they just don't have a home and they move around from place to place.

So now they're like, no, you can't talk if you're on the street. They're just arresting. You can't go in places and meet. You can't be outside and meet. Meeting might be very difficult for you from now on. It will be fine. Okay. And then they push cops to arrest them

for preaching violence, sabotage or terrorism. But the IWW is like, yeah, this is what always happens. So they keep right on operating. So the commission reaches out to the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney General is like,

I'm not going to help you with that. So they send a man. So the commission sends a guy to DC to lobby who meets with the president and then the president tells the AG to act. So on September 5th, 1917

IWW offices all over the country are raided. 101 union leaders are arrested. They're convicted of espionage. They got census up to 20 years. Holy shit. Is that long? Yeah.

Despite all that the CCA didn't think the governor would crack down hard enough if there was a strike. So they're still worried that there might be a strike. They're like, I know we put them all in jail. But what if they strike a jail? So they form

the civilian auxiliary. Who formed the civilian auxiliary? This CCA forms another group. Why do they need four groups? It's like Facebook. So these guys are like older vets. That's right. No more bullshit

for real. Now look at these guys. And they're going to militarily train young dudes who are going to go to the front. I've got the brain, you've got the body, boy. You put

my will inside you, you'll be an ultimate fighting machine. Yes, and that's what is. They're too old to serve. So now they're trained. They actually took a part. Some of them are extremely old. But that was like the front in France and they

dug trenches and did a whole thing. The first thing you got to do is dig a trench out in the road. This whole road is going to turn into trenches. We'll have an advantage. They won't know what's going on.

I don't know what's going on. Well, Dan, we did ask you to not join us. We said you definitely lost a step or two. No, he doesn't. He means hello, but look, we're not trying. We've already gone through that. This is day two.

I'm going to say that a little the hell he's talking about. All right, now wrap yourselves in barbed wire. Nobody's going to touch this barbed wire. Not you, Dan. Jesus Christ, go away. All right.

Now, meals. Who's got them? We're all super hungry now. So 300 men take part in the first drill sessions, and then that grows

to 1,000. So it's like businessmen who want to go to war. They got rifles from the University of Minnesota. Oh, sorry. I mean, they're larping. They're larping, but they're using guns. How do you have guns? We're

the university. Well, because they believe what we believe. Anyone who buys the bullshit gets a gun. America's got a bright future ahead of it, and I can tell you that this country's going to be all right. But then everyone goes to war, and they don't really

have much to do. So the boomer, this group that's got the old guys. The old guy group? Yeah. Come on, boy. I think we're going to have to train each other. They need us now more than ever, boys.

I need a boom, boom. All right. We can use your boom, boom. The boom, boom is a bomb bomb. Here, everyone crapping this umbrella. I've got an idea that escapes me.

But it starts with everyone crapping inside this open umbrella. Oh, fuck. Why did I open this umbrella? Somebody crapped in this thing. Now, if we find out who crapped in this umbrella, we're going to kill him. Now,

everyone crapping the umbrella. I've got an idea that I don't remember the beginning of. All right, boys. Now what should we do? I'm going to open this umbrella. I'm going to set it by I've got what's going on.

This has got to be the Germans. Oh, those scaring bastards. Well, if they like a taste of that, I've got an idea. We'll fight fire with fire. Everyone drop trial. Well, for some reason

we already have. Well, time to crapping this umbrella. For some reason, we're all on a crack. Stage fright, I guess. Does anyone notice these umbrellas are kind of gross? So the numbers of these guys just start to dwindle

because there's nothing to do. The old guys? I missed my life. What are we even doing anymore? By August, officers considered to disband, but then they were saved when workers on the Minneapolis and St. Paul railway lines

started to organize. Because when the war started, they agreed to work for 16-hour days for the equivalent of 10-hour pay. As it went on for a while, they're like,

oh, we can't live like this. More money. And the president of the railroad, that's Horace Lowry, and Horace refuses to negotiate with any Indian. Right. And he worked instead

to get rid of any labor leaders. Now, on September 13th, Sheriff Lamb swore in a civilian auxiliary. Okay. And the CCA's illegal private army was now officially a legal force.

Oh, I know you're excited to listen to this episode. So am I. Hey, everybody. It's Gareth, half of this podcast. It's going to be a good time, but before you get to it, I wanted to give you some stand updates where I'll be on the road. You can come join me. Be part of the Garmy, the Gareth Army. You guys call yourselves that. It's nothing to do with me.

But come on out and join me. I will be in Austin, Texas May 12th and 13th. I will be in Phoenix, Arizona May 18th. I will be in Birmingham, Alabama July 9th. I will be in Nashville, July 10th. I will be in New Jersey,

New Brunswick, July 11th. I will be in New York City, July 12th at the New York Comedy Club. Then I'll be in Stamford, Connecticut at the New York Comedy Club July 13th, July 14th. I'll be in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. I'll be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the DVE Comedy Fest July 15th.

I will be in Syracuse, New York July 16th. I'll be in Buffalo, New York July 18th. New York. I hope you're not sick of me because I'll be in Albany, New York July 19th. Then July 20th, 21st and 22nd. I will be in Burlington, Vermont at the

Vermont Comedy Club. Go to garethrentolds.com for ticket information. Be part of the Garmy. And you might notice I didn't say Huntsville, Alabama July 7th and July 8th. Those dates are getting moved. Sorry, Garmy. So go to garethrentolds.com and get yourself some tickets. Let's party.

So they've got full circle. It shows you in America and it's possible. What a nation of dreamers. So basically it's done is they've taken, they've hired a bunch of bouncers to be in army and then could sidestep the training that you would give and now just made them cops.

It's like when the Rolling Stones had the Hell's Angels run specifically at the console. I don't think these guys have the training to do this. Just keep up from the stage. I mean it honestly sounds like there's only one figure in the story

who could undo all this. Make the old shit guy. That's right. Oh dear. I've forgotten everything again. So by still controlling the CCA but they're still controlling the CCA even though they're now deputized

so Sheriff Langham quote just let somebody start something. Oh so he's just like once they start something then we beat the fuck out. Sheriff's like come on bring it. So they're resisting the finger in front of the face and you could just stab me

ooh now we can kill him. The Sheriff said the civilians actually had the same powers as he did including bearing arms and making arrests. So now that they had an army Lowry starts just firing union guys. Okay.

And the company offered a 10% raise but without hiring any of the people in fire so they just try to get rid of all the union guys. Right they're stamping out all the and right now there's an upside but that'll obviously fade at some point that's the con.

He's offering 10% raise to people who Yeah who didn't get fired. He's trying to create division between the two groups. It doesn't work. The union rejects it and goes on strike.

So the auxiliary is mobilized two men have drawn up a war map so the guys who are in charge of the auxiliary draw up a war map and they're stationed in the courthouse

and they call in orders by telephone to troops who are around the city who pick up the phone and give it out of the orders and they're all in pre-prolegation so they just completely they're ready for a strike. Strikers

instead of walkies they're just like at pay phones just like Sir would you hurry up please? To the quarter Hold on! Alright Then what would you do? Sir I'm

part of the auxiliary Hey buddy Hey How? Well what if I like them? Hold on I'm in the middle of something I don't kill with sexy women

don't be your worry Well So I'm going to use the phone now that I kill you Luthor? I think I can't say anything Finally

So the strikers go out and they try to strap the streetcars from moving but for the most part it's normal they can't get it done because as soon as they go I can stuff the streetcars so I'm looking to figure out how to open this door but anywhere they go

the the private army comes out and kicks them out so a couple of times crowds of strikers formed but the private army came out and the mob's dispersed so the private army is now just patrolling the streets

with bayonets and rifles and they cordon off downtown they sleep in the streetcar barns the company gives them food blankets, cigarettes, and cots Okay, the essentials No way, we're not going to stop

your lunch with that sweet tobacco They have a rippity-doodle But St. Paul has no commission of public safety and it is a shit show there's no private army there to stop them thousands of men are roaming the streets breaking windows, attacking the streetcars

The share of the Minneapolis station units encased the mobs from St. Paul tried to invade Minneapolis That's our future Then a private army of 500 was sent from Minneapolis to St. Paul

and they started attacking the strikers But this wasn't actually normal for St. Paul St. Paul was more the businessman there didn't actually want the violence they didn't want the cracker Right, they're like, this was supposed to be larping

No Please stop Come on, we gotta kill him I don't, I'm not comfortable with I just wanted to maybe hit someone with the gun of the gun So on the fourth day the commission

I'm having a midlife crisis They're fighting the streets It's an uphill So on the fourth day the commission ordered the strike to end and that all the strikers should be rehiring They're like, let's fix this shit And then the commission

said they would investigate each worker to decide if they should keep working So it's like a setup, right? So they're going to do an investigation and then hopefully the momentum will have stopped And they could not hire the workers Right, they'll hire

So this did put an end to the strike the unions declared victory They did get a 10% raise they got better working conditions and the fired men were back on the job And at the end of the day the CCA saved the railroad from just

a big loss, they were probably going to lose because of what was happening in St. Paul So after the strike the Twin City Rapid Transit organized the Trainments Cooperative and Protective Association Nice Lowry also owned the company Nice

Each member of the association got a membership card that said he could quote manage their own affairs and represent and look after their own interests without interference by or affiliation with any other

individual or organization So right to work right now can't be part of the union, you can work without a union and then they got a button to put on their shirt They did get something Like you keep acting like there's no upside to this

but they got cool buttons So those are the guys those are the scabs Now the union guys see the buttons We're on strike till we get buttons No they gave their guys their own buttons

So now it's guys It's guy with union buttons and guys with anti union buttons So it's not a smart move But while giving up buttons they used it as a way to recruit and 160 men left the owners association

and moved over the union Let's just say these buttons are way better Our buttons are so much better These buttons, I don't know, they were cheaply made Feels like the people who made these buttons didn't really know what they were doing Their buttons feel like they were made by skilled laborers

who had breasts and were able to have weekends and enjoy their lives It just felt like there was more focus on the product of the button They call us scabs because these buttons were used in so much It hurt So that tension is increasing

on company property as dudes see each other's buttons I really hope there's a new button coming up They're like, we are for all of you scabs we've now got a nice big new button It's got googly eyes on the face Isn't that funny?

Not like those little union buttons those tiny little fuckers So Form and management start harassing union button wearers Verbal abuse in them beating them Well, it's not so fun now, is it?

Now you know this is a button, bitch And your eye, I guess This is where the phrase cute as a button comes They're basically harassed every day and on November 1st the union I don't know why goes to the CPS for help

I don't know what just happened right here So the CPS orders all the nonsense to stop They're like, you guys don't fight on the fucking property and they pick a three man committee to look into it Now, of course, it's the CPS

picking a three man committee so it turns out one has to resign three days later and then the other one is a city stock the rapid transit stock I didn't realize that would be a conflict There's nothing about that means I shouldn't be in the position of authority over this I feel like you could be a referee

and have a brother on the team at the same time then the other guys had close connections with the CCA and then the committee's final report when all the evidence is seen they just take the company's side Well, we're going to have to have someone make a final report We'll pick a team of three

and we'll see what's going wrong here Most likely I'm going to feel like it's probably going to be the union Yeah Call it a gut feeling You know what, we should just hire those three guys who we just got rid of to maybe see what they did wrong

Hire the hire the guys who we found out had a conflict of interest to see what they did wrong Well, who knows more details of what went on that the gentleman involved I like the way you think Why are you telling me that?

Yeah, awesome Pound it out Alright, for real That went great They think it was your fault For you So, the CPS officer now was set to say

ball to train a unit for the next labor fight So they're trying to now get a private army going insane Just give them some of the things but instead they're like, no

we need to spend money on guns and ammunition and training and buttons and shut the fuck up, sir So this guy writes up a manual if you're using riot sticks Riot sticks

Cute term They said they would primarily use riot sticks but would also have 10 riflemen loaded with high powered riotfuls 10 riotfuls loaded with high powered magazines

just in case the lead officer decides to shoot into a crowd just in case as one does The unionist then complained to the governor that this was clearly a private armed military no uniform

and the governor did not respond but instead he put the private army in new, more gray uniforms so they wouldn't be confused with the U.S. Army You see, they're not the army look at these uniforms they're a totally different color

It's the same guys I'm tired of telephones the same guys I'm distracted by those cool new outfits Hey, who are those guys? Those are great outfits They're not camouflaged or anything I can see them plain as day Wow, you guys are really crazy

So paranoid What's it like to be so paranoid? These guys are dressed like sergeants Totally different Baseball team Get a load of them 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

There's too many for a baseball team You need some designated hitters Fuck you I'm out Not after three strikes So three months go on and the three men committee

finishes their report Quote The Eternal Investigation What? Total disuse and abandonment of bottles That's better who hired you That being the bank takeaway is like I'm sorry, is that

this was three months of work We really had to get in the trenches on this one and figure it out But this is clearly a button issue You get rid of the buttons you get rid of your problem Buttons are a bad idea Anyway

That's like $60,000 you owe us basically Cash works Now both sides has to agree to it Okay And the union also is going to be going to push union materials on company property

That's also part of the agreement Nice Or in street cars So CPS adopts these rules and then the railroad orders all buttons removed Okay

I can't believe they're taking it that seriously The union guys have not yet voted on the buttons So they have to vote I can't believe how much buttons is being said So seriously Look, we did not vote to get rid of our buttons

You're damn right we didn't Put on your buttons boys It's a good time So they decide to hold a vote on button wearing Sure And Lowry finds out Now in order to campaign for your side

we've got buttons made You pro button or anti button There's your button You understand the conflict don't you How else are you going to tell people Fair enough I actually kind of like that

No, nothing nothing nothing So the day before the vote the button vote Lowry finds out and said anyone wearing a button will be fired This is like the anti GGI Friday And the union is like

that's not enforceable Because we haven't voted yet And this is an attempt to destroy the union The commission has no authority here and about 800 men in the union now consider themselves

locked out because they wouldn't have their buttons So So there's just a bunch of guys out there like look they try to out of my cold dead hands No thank you my friend I mean how does it work

I'm not working anymore Button is it? That's right The brothers of buttons Just take it off No, never Button represents so much more The button stays These buttons don't bleed

It's called a button Not a button off Get out of here It's either me or the button Don't Barbara do not Don't ask him that Barbara You don't know what this goddamn button

means Why do you ask me to take off my fucking skin He keeps it up when we make love Why? Were you even voted on that? Have no choice Have a good life I still got my union though

To the union it's an issue of you can't tell me what to do Of course, I understand They have to draw the line somewhere Sure, it's funny when it's button line drawing Don't you tell me to get rid of my fucking headband

The environment seems normal They're like, how did it go? They want us to get rid of the buttons It's like die or serious Someone outside is like, sorry Did you say button? Did he say button? What does a button mean to you guys?

Is that code? No, it's a button For your jacket? No, like a button that represents what we believe You mean like a button? With the like the needle button? Do you have to?

Yeah, fuck them They're not going to tell us what to put on our shirt Jesus, fucking Bryce Kinn is so fucking innocent I don't even want to know what a fucking button meant I love buttons as a boy

But they had button eyes Kid Yeah? You going to be able to work the saw over there? You going to have a fucking button on? Can you grease the wheels

of the fucking street cars? You ain't got a button on? I'd rather not Can you drive? Can you drive without a button? A street car? I'm not a driver as bad as what you're asking

I've got so much more than just a driver I feel like you're maybe trying to set a trap for me and I'm not going to walk into it because I'm way more than a driver I'll wear your button but I will also make sure you drive

Sometimes you drive too When I want to because I'm in charge and I have the big button That feels a little too close to reality for me There's baseball games all weekend so you might have to drive a lot

Okay You're just going to sit up in front of my baseball? That's right I'm going to get a button made So the CPS issues order number 16 which gives its recommendations It orders the 800 men who have been locked out

to be rehired and the CPS just wants everything that's all they want and not to have 800 angry dudes on the street and the union says no

The buttons are fucking staying Could you at least change what they said? This one says Now the union isn't just defying the company now the union is opposing a direct order

from the commission which has been set up by the government But already even by that gesture they're showing their hand I mean they're being like please stop The union

feels like this hurts you So fuck you So the CCA now reaches out to the US Labor Secretary I'm in charge of the buttons What do you want to do? Close that door

I'll make the buttons if I choose No more buttons for anyone until this is over You're all out of the naughty taste He stated This is no time to take advantage of emergencies to force recognition of a union That's right

But it's like Okay, sorry He said you can't try to make a union when a war is on but it's like fuck you We don't believe in the war anyway Right, but I also feel like he's being like you can't do this in a time of crisis

They're like, yeah, we're kind of causing the crisis intentionally Exactly, where's your patriotism? It is the height of disloyalty to force or bring about a stoppage of our industries in order to force the establishment of standards they have not

been able to force during normal conditions But you fucked up, you started a war or you entered a war so you put yourself in that position Yes, but now help us, stop it Leave your principles behind Come on, see Americans, would ya?

Knock it off, this is what makes the economy go During a war everyone has to suffer Yes, yes, and we're always at war Do you see what word? The CC decided this meant there could be no attempt to unionize So that's the takeaway from the Labour Secretary

There could be no strikes There could be no lockouts for the rest of the war open shops, no unions McGee then passed a resolution in his committee denying the right to begin or unionize further for the rest of the war

statewide Businessmen then from all around the country then sent the Governor a ton of telegrams congratulating him on this smart move and how he handled the unions They did it illegally, wonderful

Nice job, yep, well that's probably the end of this chapter So the union now goes to the federal government And on February that this is all going to lead to horrific violence so they appoint an arbiter I can't wait to see who this guy is

The red flame I'll tell you what The union said great Lowry is fucking furious He says no way He sends a telegraph to the feds I love angry telegraphs Can you hit that six times?

Oh god They do a star and an ampersand and a dollar sign I don't want it to say fuck I want it to say like a furious And now wipe it with blood Can we send blood through this thing? No sir For the last time

Well just put your fucking blood on there For me I'll walk into it You surely do not intend to suggest arbitration whether the company shall obey an order made after full hearings by the Minnesota

Commission of Public Safety We put together this fucking bullshit And he's like no no I understand So he's trying this as a union defying the state Which was just a commission made of right wing assholes So the governor joins

and sends the telegram to the feds Interference at this time will simply result in an attempt to defy a duly constituted authority of Minnesota I should use every power at my command to uphold the dignity

of my state so this thing fuck off we're gonna do what we want Yeah and he's uphold the dignity of his state It's so dignified so far Oh it's amazing gophers You know who you need to help you out We got a plan

It's never not worked So then the unions now it's unions held a labor rally in Rice Park in St. Paul and as the crowd left they turned into a mob and started attacking streetcars and scab operators

50 people were streetcar service was completely stopped I love attacking streetcars Take that you don't do streetcars So they sure couldn't do anything The police department couldn't handle it alone so Private Army called out from Minneapolis

at 6 p.m. and they just started beating In two hours they cleared downtown and created a restricted area using barricades so they did the same thing that they had done in Minneapolis they created a cordon off area The sheriff calls out the civilian auxiliary

when the St. Paul riots kick off so that's what this is they had all these guys with guns and they did not hurt the streetcars So this is Minneapolis they got guys with guns around all the streetcars you do not fuck around with this car Shut up I love the car

I want a moment alone with the car Turn your backs This is escalating quickly but I've fallen head over heels What the fuck are you talking about? What do you think I'm talking about? The love between a man and a car has a bond with that

It's lonely out here in the middle of nowhere downtown Who are you talking about? Yeah well I have them turn their backs too they're not going to like what they see This is wheel love I'm about to run a train on this train I didn't know how to open the doors

So this thing starts Not when you're in Even if I'm not in it I found something I'm a Friction addiction I'll tell you one thing about the trains in this town They do come on town

No Okay I'm just going to take off So heavily armed patrols are protecting the street cars Anyone who looks like they're slightly troubled are just beating the shit out of them by the guys in the riot sticks They break out as they confront

Union men coming out of meetings But this just caused a larger crowd to form That's 25 degrees below zero Jesus Christ Someone opened this door The red flame is dying up here It has been two and a half weeks

The ladder The ladder is completely stuck and I tried to put gum in the door but it stand shut right away Now I'll admit I should have put a sweater in the idea for the outfit This is a thin layer of stand-ex

The flame is going out now Hello It is me It is me Jake I'll admit my secret identity Was it Ted? I'm dying now Yeah I'm okay

Haha it was all a trap No you got too weird man We're just not ready for My mipples are just so hard now These things could cut glass I get it I'm saying There's glass I could cut off here Society's not ready for it

I'm back baby It's working Now if it wasn't for my paralyzing fear of heights You might have heard the last of me but maybe not Jump No

Really rather not Well if you're fire you can just drift down I don't know if you know how fire works I think so No not necessarily Or go up the side of the building The ladder's jammed for the last fucking time

How many times do I have to tell you The ladder was the plan B and it's jammed That's how it could come over here and jump I don't even fucking care Why did you want to shoot it Shoot the ladder Jingle it You know how fucking ladders work

I don't I really thought I did when I got up here I'll wear whatever button I'm open to whatever size cause gets me down from here I'm beyond teams at this point I'll even fight the union guys Honestly I'm like

I'm in a pickle Fuck Some real bullshit I'll tell you that Oh wait there's an umbrella I guess you have to jump down Oh no! I was gonna marry Poppins But it's more of a marriage with poopies

So You were saying Yeah Nobody knows what's happening anymore So the union guys And the auxiliary of fighting And this causes a bigger crowd to form Like I said it's 25 degrees below zero

And the private army Is wearing moleskin uniforms With sheepskin line coats So they're cozy And then Northwest National Bank Did a night time donation Of 66 30 caliber rifles with bayonets

What in the fuck is happening The bank? So the private army Totally controls the streets of Minneapolis After a short time On the 25th The huge labor convention is to take place In St. Paul

And the idea of a general strike Is now being thrown around Because of buttons This brought the U.S. Secretary of War Into a general strike That would be a big problem for the war effort And he wrote the governor and said At all costs you have to avoid a strike

His suggestion Is to suspend order number 16 About the buttons And start negotiations You might have to concede some of the button stuff Oh my dead body The CCA are horrified by this idea The buttons

Have just become too high of stakes Nobody wants to be told what to do at this point I know At the pride level It's just like We're not going to concede on the buttons This is something that a 5 year old would say Defense getting involved would really mess things up

For the CCA And what they're doing Is insanely unconstitutional So McGee Wires The Secretary of War Minnesota Senator Newton Nelson The Secretary of the Treasury

And said They pretty much had everything wrapped up And DC coming in now Will just mess up everything That they were doing Without impeaching the integrity, intelligence Of the Public Safety Commission So he's like, if you get involved with this

You're really going to fuck up the order of things Make us look horrible We're doing like a dictator thing here Yeah So the Governor Says He's also saying, I agree with that You guys can't get involved

It will lead to riots Agitation It's going to make the war even worse So the feds back off And they're like, we'll wait to see what happens Now the union doesn't know that So a couple of days later 15,000 union members

Stop working In the morning And they go to a meeting at the Saint Paul Auditorium And they declare They would back the streetcar unions And demanded McGee And another commissioner be fired Okay

But they decided to wait a week To vote on a general strike To see if the feds time to act And maybe work things out They don't know the feds have backed off So the Governor tries to show He is not anti-labour He fires one of the commissioners

And the private army is patrolling the streets Of Minneapolis In D.C. the government wants to get involved But they're worried about the low back Now America they have a spice service So the Pickertons They have been investigating all this time

It's really easy too You just wear the button and they're like They're one of us That's right We support this button So the whole spying apparatus That the Pickertons have set up Is reorganized

Into a Minneapolis division Of the American protective league Now the American protective league Got a mission to quote Maintain constant vigilance In an effort to discover plotters See it does like when you say it like that You're kind of like okay yeah

But then every word of that is fucking nuts The APL picked a chief And he began recruiting 400 agents From the CCA membership Oh interesting The APL Operates under the Bureau Of Investigation

Which are they to become the FBI And the APL's headquarters are in The federal building here And they got equipment They got office staff From the CCA We should make buttons get out So this is at this point

Your state It's pure fascism It's a dictatorship, it's authoritarianism It's business working with the military And spying It's all a fucking thing Each agent hired Was investigated by

Secret committee And they were sure they were loyal And patriotic Christ And then The FBI And they could make arrests and be armed They could what?

Make arrests and be armed And they created a new agency So the day after a large union meeting APL agents spied On an alleged anti-government meeting In an office building in St. Paul But it turned out it was just Talking union stuff

They just got together But they were talking about a general strike If the streetcar company won And the agents passed this information On to the CCA And When the federal government doesn't do anything A sympathy strike is called

At 10 a.m. on December 3 And all union men in the Twin Cities Are joining A general of the Minnesota Home Guard Revealed martial law Might have to be declared In all those men struck And the governor closed

All liquor stores Oh god What are they gonna stop? By noon 10,000 men had walked off the job And the secretary of war On orders from the president Told the chairman of the president's

Community To head to the Twin Cities So The media activity had been created To investigate labor On the request of AFL leader Samuel Gompers So Samuel Gompers is an AFL leader

But he hates the lefties Right? The radicals, the socialists So he wants the government to root them Out So he's working with It's all good So He's really threatened by the IWW

So that's at the end of the day why he wants to do it So once the feds Are sniffing around The federation of labor President calls out the strike At 1.30 So they make a play And they start the strike

But then they're like Who the fuck are these guys Also This secret agency thing Going in And the walkout lasted 4 hours with no violence It's not a super strong movement

So the president's commission Which is what kind of Set off the end to the attempt At a general strike Held Like hearings and they got tested money From CCA members

And PC PC members and streetcar companies And the union reps And then they made the union reps Sign an agreement that they would not strike Seems like a They did it For whatever reason they did it

And the CPS kept saying the whole thing's over The whole time like no this thing's already wrapped up And the union's like it's not So Lowry said whatever Whatever They order in DC They're not going to follow it Companies like we're not doing it

I'm with that We're not going to listen to the federal government So the union waits on words from DC In the January and nothing's happening In the meantime The streetcar company is recruiting new workers And they're going to small rural towns In Minnesota

What's a train? Is it like a wagon with steam? Boy howdy Is it like this apple? Well it's To be honest no, it's nothing like the apple Please stop holding up different fruits And asking if it's like that

You should like this pumpkin Okay it's not like anything you eat It's far different You know the bicycle No Well I guess it's a little like a pumpkin Okay Oh

I think you're to the O moment just now Give me that fucking button Would you? God damn it This button says hi neighbor So what you're going for? So they They put ads in the paper

In small towns Because I want to find people who have no connection With unions It is amazing that that's like the main qualifier For the job Do you know what a union is? No what is it? Never mind But I don't know nothing

That's fine You've got the right attitude The ad said Healthy outdoor or interesting work That sounds a lot like Farman, we annotate Welcome aboard So a lot of us clearly aren't going to hire back workers

You heard of the poison button On February 15th The President's Commission recommended the streetcar company Re-hire the fired men And not discriminate against union men So big decision The Secretary of War Told the CPS

To get Lowry's company to go along And Lowry said it was Quote imposing a gross injustice On the loyalty Of non-union men The CPS of course did nothing Declaring it's already over Which they've been doing for a while

So the federal government can't force that To do anything because they're at war They've got all this shit going on So the governor's like We demanded Yeah but you demanded We went They did go men

Pretty good Don't have to legal Move Yeah Please Oh We also got this one That's a more like rigid

Yeah It makes us miss the man That was crazy So A member of the CCA now says It was quote squarely on record In opposition to the war policies Of our government at this time

So the CCA Because of what's happened Has now flipped And is like The streetcar company is The Germans The Germans Even though the CCA

Thought the Secretary of War is a socialist Just like the mayor Right The government stands taken by Lowry The government It helps the unions Right

So the CCA's mind is like The trains are bad The trains are bad Ow My head We fought everything once Wow They said the streetcar company

Was helping the enemy Yes And the Minneapolis Labor Review wrote that Lowry Quote still stands as does the Kaiser of Germany opposed to the wishes Of the government Lowry

We think that He's not come full circle We think that's not a coincidence But it's still America The unions reach out to the state Part of our patrician And they agree With the mediation commission

So streetcar company is just like Go below and doesn't do anything The unions ask for the case to be transferred To the national or labor board And then they dismiss it So the union lost in the end They didn't get to hire back the guys Who got fired over fucking buttons

It feels like our hero Was left on the rooftop a long time Who knows how the story goes If he was down on the streets But he passed away upon that roof I mean, there is one good outcome But then if you look closely From the above shot

His hand is slowly moving That's an involuntary twitch It's like a nerve No, no, no, he's making a fist He seems to be moving beneath the highland His eyes are moving a little Boy, I feel like we haven't Heard the last of the red flame

So the right way through these commissions And spying and having their own army Had gotten what they wanted in the state of Minnesota The rights of citizens were completely trampled Minnesota was For this time period An undemocratic, unconstitutional Dictatorship

The business, the interests of business Merged with the state And no one paid for it When the war ended, the private army And the public commission were disbanded But not the CCA CCA actually really worked for us The CCA continued to rule for 16 more years

Spying on unions and commies And continued into the 20s Intelligence was being given to the CCA And used in court cases and for propaganda And the alliance kept added until the teamsters strike Of 1934 Because the teamsters hit the streets And kicked the living shit out of the government

And they didn't have a private army on the streets And the CCA lost control of Minneapolis And they lost the two laborers in the city Since then, that's all followed upon That is correct Nice Fuck, I mean it It just sucks because it's like

They're always like, even In recent memory, there have been a couple of times There are these moments That if capitalized on properly Could really change so much shit And you maybe don't realize the importance of that time But it's fleeting Because the evil powers

Are working overtime so hard With so many different resources To undo it And have been undefeated For so long And not just here, like in Bolivia When the leftist government comes in The socialists take over

And then you're like How long do they have? And then the CIA helps What was basically a Nazi coup They're three years ago And you watch every single Democrat And every single Republican cheer it on And they're literal

They're actual fucking like a cult Nazi weird group And Elizabeth Warren's like Ah, it's freedom And they kill indigenous people And then the indigenous people Come back And they could come back And now it's the leftist government

And now they're evil again And you're like, no, those are the okay people We end up cheering on the fucking monsters Even though, like Elizabeth Warren's was super left Starting freedom is pretty difficult Freedom is bullshit Can't write a bit as what I'm saying We did

But look In America They killed the left In World War I They purged us And we haven't come back And there is now the fake left Which makes people be like

It is left It's not the left Well, what's the right? Fucking crazy I don't know what direction that is anymore I don't know, it's a new version But yeah I mean, I don't know

Sometimes it feels like the only way Out of something like this Is a button With a flame I don't know what the leadership is like Of the IWW But we all need to Join a group

For leftists And the IWW Seems like the smartest one In my opinion They're still out there and they're very left And all the other unions are pretty infiltrated And fucked up Like the Teamsters

My union is part of The Teamsters union But so are the cops So what the fuck is that? And as much as we've yelled at them to get rid of the cops They're like, nah, the cops What the fuck So

Like we need to Literally go join something like the IWW And just start filling the fucking ranks And going, we're this now And scare them Because the more people that join Something like that, they're going to be like, what's happening But it's us saying

No, we're here And we're ready to do some shit Because Because What we're doing with Amazon Working, we're all disassociated And fucking all over the place And we need to get in our group

And even if they're not the greatest leaders At least they're leftist leaders And the IWW is kind of the real thing still Like the people that run it And they still have the right message They still have the right idea So I don't know, that's my only sort of solution Do they have buttons?

They have buttons! Yeah, I mean you alluded there A general strike looming Fucking terrifies that Well to get a general strike You have to have tons of mutual aid set up Like you have to be able to take care of everybody And there need to be tons of systems

And the only way to do that is to get a larger group And they've done such a good job Of taking away everything So that people do not have A buffer or the security To do any of that shit So that is totally true I mean, yeah, you just need

It's right there I mean, some version of it's coming It's just like, on whose terms do you How do you want this to play out Because the version we're headed towards is Everyone's too scattered Yeah, yeah, there's too many I mean

Like the most united we've been is like The Will Smith slap Or like Johnny Depp Amber You know what I mean? It's just like I don't think we're united with Johnny Depp Amber You want that? Well, I mean, but like focused on it You know what I mean? Like focused on the same things

Like people are just like You know, I don't know But yeah, they know how to If you read this, listen to the story Like they know how to They have control of the government They will merge They always fucking merge when the left rises

They fucking always do And the left is rising Like the Bernie stuff was like an awakening And then people start reading And the Starbucks stuff is happening in Amazon There's a fucking left rising But they come fucking hard And they're gonna come hard

So we need to get together And that's the only idea I can come up with But they're gonna come fucking hard They always do Always Yes, they do I do anyway Just give me a

I want you to meet Mrs. Amtrak Well, maybe the thing to do David Is to, you know, because I think That's very valuable and I think to anyone listening Like, you know, figure Like, make it easy for people to join It is easy to join it I think you can just sign up

I have to go look up, like they've communicated with me And I need to go back and see what they said You've probably blocked them I've probably blocked them But yeah, I mean, I think like why not Well, yeah, but why, I mean, then like, you know Through our social media and shit like that Let's get that out there as much as we can

Like, have a follow through Alright Thank you so much for coming out Applause Thank you