I really appreciated this conversation! I left it thinking ok, there are folks willing to go out there and actually advocate for their constituents. Great questions Beth!
Great conversation! I’m so encouraged by all the fresh faces with their fresh ideas running in all sorts of races. If you can, you should try to interview Lauren Pinkston. She’s running for governor in TN as an independent.
One thing that totally struck me while you were talking was his take on the handful of ICE agents who maybe signed up for other jobs and now this is what they’re stuck with. I’m seeing that first hand in my house. My husband and I both joined the Coast Guard in our idealistic youth to help people. He joined specifically to be a search and rescue pilot. I joined initially for the CG’s oil spill response mission but then pivoted to a law enforcement focus, specially for fisheries management (I was trying to help the earth, I guess).
In my 11 years of active duty time, a lot changed because of 9/11, but the CG’s core missions were basically the same (with the addition of homeland security stuff), and I always felt like I was doing good things until the day I got out in 2010. My husband has still been active this whole time, as a pilot, an instructor, and now a more senior office guy. And this last year has been HARD. There’s a (anecdotally) feeling of a huge shift in the CG’s role - a role most people who joined didn’t sign up for. You can see it in the CG’s social media posts - a huge emphasis on keeping immigrants out (a job I DID do as a law enforcement officer on a major cutter, but in a MUCH different way), on seizing Venezuelan ships, on, essentially, being the “big, bad water cop.” That doesn’t feel good to people who joined to save lives and the environment.
Don’t get me wrong, the CG has always had a law enforcement mission (its history is in the Revenue Cutter Service - a rumrunner’s worst nightmare!), but this shift to almost ALL law enforcement in a way that feels, for lack of a better word, “icky” to me is hard on the people who didn’t sign up for this.
This was such a fun interview to listen to! Beth I love the questions you asked and I hope it inspires him as he campaigns and potentially takes office. We could use more intelligent, thoughtful conversations like this to remind us that Congress can do hard things if they desire to!
Rachel Wallace is running for Congress in PA-09. Her website is https://www.wallaceforcongress.com/. Please consider interviewing her. She has served in the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Senate, and the White House, where she was Chief of Staff for the Office of Management and Budget.
I had a similar thought about a primary candidate for my district. One of the challengers to the Dem incumbent is Justin Pearson who was one of the TN Three. Would love to see if yo are able to talk to him. https://www.votejustinj.com
That is a really good slogan. I’ll remember that one.
I really appreciated this conversation! I left it thinking ok, there are folks willing to go out there and actually advocate for their constituents. Great questions Beth!
What about the Trump loving morons?
I’ll vote for Grace
Don’t abolish ice. Change the leadership and the mission back to deportation of criminals
Great conversation! I’m so encouraged by all the fresh faces with their fresh ideas running in all sorts of races. If you can, you should try to interview Lauren Pinkston. She’s running for governor in TN as an independent.
Would love to hear a conversation with her too! Especially as a third party candidate!
One thing that totally struck me while you were talking was his take on the handful of ICE agents who maybe signed up for other jobs and now this is what they’re stuck with. I’m seeing that first hand in my house. My husband and I both joined the Coast Guard in our idealistic youth to help people. He joined specifically to be a search and rescue pilot. I joined initially for the CG’s oil spill response mission but then pivoted to a law enforcement focus, specially for fisheries management (I was trying to help the earth, I guess).
In my 11 years of active duty time, a lot changed because of 9/11, but the CG’s core missions were basically the same (with the addition of homeland security stuff), and I always felt like I was doing good things until the day I got out in 2010. My husband has still been active this whole time, as a pilot, an instructor, and now a more senior office guy. And this last year has been HARD. There’s a (anecdotally) feeling of a huge shift in the CG’s role - a role most people who joined didn’t sign up for. You can see it in the CG’s social media posts - a huge emphasis on keeping immigrants out (a job I DID do as a law enforcement officer on a major cutter, but in a MUCH different way), on seizing Venezuelan ships, on, essentially, being the “big, bad water cop.” That doesn’t feel good to people who joined to save lives and the environment.
Don’t get me wrong, the CG has always had a law enforcement mission (its history is in the Revenue Cutter Service - a rumrunner’s worst nightmare!), but this shift to almost ALL law enforcement in a way that feels, for lack of a better word, “icky” to me is hard on the people who didn’t sign up for this.
This is so compassionate. We need to preserve the humanity of the agents as well. They've been sold a bill of goods and they've been lied to as well
Love this conversation. Between him and Telerico, I’m finally feeling like we have a new cohort of leaders queued up to repair the damage being done.
This was refreshing, thank you!
This was such a fun interview to listen to! Beth I love the questions you asked and I hope it inspires him as he campaigns and potentially takes office. We could use more intelligent, thoughtful conversations like this to remind us that Congress can do hard things if they desire to!
He’s amazing!
Rachel Wallace is running for Congress in PA-09. Her website is https://www.wallaceforcongress.com/. Please consider interviewing her. She has served in the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Senate, and the White House, where she was Chief of Staff for the Office of Management and Budget.
I had a similar thought about a primary candidate for my district. One of the challengers to the Dem incumbent is Justin Pearson who was one of the TN Three. Would love to see if yo are able to talk to him. https://www.votejustinj.com