The Signal - Saturday, June 6, 2026

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1. Sintoniza Canto Sin Fronteras con lo mejor del folclor latinoamericano, el nuevo canto y la música del mundo con contenido social, todos los sábados de 6 a 8 de la noche, aquí en KPFK.
2. y CEO que nadie ha elegido, no puede pasar.
3. Te voy a decir un número de cosas, pero realmente solo tienes que recordar dos palabras, dos palabras, dos palabras.
4. Buenas tardes, Los Ángeles. Bienvenidos a otro episodio de la SIGNO News, Información y Análisis.
5. Soy tu host, Dino, viniendo a ti en vivo de los hermosos estudios en Glendale, California,
6. donde nos vemos cada sábado a las 12 de la noche con noticias, información y análisis.
7. Y hoy, esa noticia, esa información y ese análisis nos van a llegar a nosotros a través de ti, el público.
8. El sponsor de los escuchadores, el radio aficionado, aquellos de ustedes que están, tal vez, conduciendo en el camino a su juego de fútbol de niños. El fútbol es una gran cosa ahora mismo.
9. en the garden, which is how I usually
10. listen to a lot of my radio
11. as an avid gardener
12. or whatever it is that you do
13. on a Saturday afternoon and spend it with us
14. by way of that little
15. box or maybe on the internet worldwide
16. at kpfk.org
17. or any of our broadcast
18. signals, which include
19. 90.7 FM Los Angeles
20. 98.7 FM
21. Santa Barbara, where are my Santa
22. Barbara people
23. 93.7 FM en San Diego
24. 99.5 FM
25. en Red Crest, China Lake
26. donde las hermosas personas de
27. ¿qué es eso?
28. Air Force Base de Andrews
29. están escuchándonos
30. Sly simplemente se mueve la cabeza
31. Sí, escuchen
32. Hoy, como prometimos
33. dijimos que no vamos a traer ningún invitado
34. Disculpen a algunos de los que se han acercado
35. y dijeron que tengo un gran tema para ustedes
36. que, por cierto
37. Ahora mismo, empezaremos a abrir esa parte del programa también, invitándolo a todos,
38. tanto si trabajas en el sector de los hospitales no débiles, o si eres un reportero,
39. tenemos muchos jornalistas independientes que pasaron por este programa.
40. De acuerdo, una noticia, la semana que viene, hablando de jornalistas independientes que están haciendo gran trabajo,
41. nuestro amigo y periodista
42. Ryan Mena, quien ha estado en este programa
43. antes, cubriendo el hielo
44. y las acontecimientos atrociosos
45. en algunos de los centros de detención
46. donde los chicos están
47. siendo presionados
48. ella se verá con nosotros la próxima semana
49. con algunas noticias importantes
50. sobre el trabajo que ella ha estado cubriendo
51. en este tema
52. Ryan
53. ha estado cubriendo los ataques de hambre
54. que están sucediendo
55. Y tal vez lo hayan escuchado, y si no, lo verán más la próxima semana.
56. Pero, ya saben, hubo estrellas de hambre,
57. estrellas de hambre protestando por condiciones inhumanas
58. dentro de las instalaciones de Aderlanto Ice.
59. Y algunas de esas estrellas de hambre han estado en marcha.
60. Un grupo de miembros congresionales visitó
61. tres de los estrellas de hambre tres de los l de acuerdo y un d despu un grupo de miembros de la Congresi de California Three of the hunger strikers three of the leaders rather and a day after a group of California congressional members visited these hunger strike leaders two of them were sent to solitary confinement
62. A day later, the third was taken as well.
63. So journalist Ryan Mena, who has been in direct contact with numerous hunger strikers,
64. will be joining us next week to give us that important update.
65. You know, I got to be honest with you.
66. When I had a chance to chat with Ryan, there was a part of me that wanted to say,
67. oh, you know what, we'll do the calls later because this is an important update.
68. But no, as promised, we said we'd open up the calls.
69. we will be opening up the phone lines at 818-985-5735
70. 818-985-5735
71. and you know one of the things that
72. that of course is on everybody's mind right now is the elections
73. right for us here
74. our what is it our over caffeinated
75. back finders you know handed me
76. a piece of paper this morning describing what were some of the latest updates as of yesterday
77. as they continue to monitor the election results. And, you know, California's primary election
78. is over, but the counting is not. You got to keep in mind, for all of you who are listening
79. and asking questions about the election results, keep in mind the following. You know, according
80. to the California Secretary of State, all 19,788 precincts have reported. But vote-by-mail
81. ballots, provisional ballots, and other ballots continue to be processed during the official
82. canvas period certification, which is up until July 10. Yeah, pretty sure that's the date.
83. As of latest statewide update, as of yesterday, 7.10 p.m., as I look at, again, the Signals Over Caffeinated Fact Finders fact sheet that was handed to me, former Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra leads the governor's race with about 26.8 percent.
84. By the way, we expect the next vote count to drop around 4 o'clock, I believe, is the latest I was told just before we went on air.
85. and Javier Becerra is coming in at a solid 26.8% of the vote
86. followed closely by Republican Steve Hilton
87. who's coming in at 26.4%
88. and then Tom Steyer who sits in third place at 21%.
89. Now these numbers, I am sure, since 7 p.m. have changed
90. and some of the updated numbers may have even been released
91. before we went on air.
92. So just keep in mind that this is a very, very fluid situation.
93. And we'll be getting updates as they come in, certainly during the hour.
94. The difference between Becerra and Hilton is fewer than 30,000 votes, folks.
95. That's statewide, making this one of the closest statewide contests in recent history, recent memory.
96. And one of the closest watch contests here in the U.S.
97. At the same time, Hilton's lead over Steyer is more than 340,000 votes, making it increasingly likely the California voters are headed towards Becerra versus Hilton matchup in November.
98. But a lot can still change Now the surprise isn that Becerra is leading The surprise surprises at Hilton appears positioned to secure a second spot and potentially turn what many expected to be a Democrat versus
99. Democrat runoff early on into a Democrat versus Republican showdown. That would immediately make
100. California governor's race, again, one of the most closely watched elections in the entire country,
101. with many forces, good and bad, strong and weak,
102. positioning themselves to have some level of commentary about what's happening here.
103. Now, for those of you who are still wondering and asking yourselves,
104. why the hell are the votes still being counted?
105. One of the most common questions indeed, you know,
106. how can all the precincts be reporting and the counting isn't finished?
107. The answer is that California law allows ballots postmarked by Election Day and received afterwards to still be counted.
108. Counties must also verify signatures, process provisional ballots, conditional voter registration ballots, military ballots, and overseas ballots.
109. So it's not as simple as many folks tend to believe that you just come in, you place your vote, and you walk out and buy a sac à vos.
110. That's it, you know.
111. No, it's not that simple.
112. Far from it.
113. In other words, precinct reporting and ballot counting are not the same thing.
114. The election night results are only the beginning of the canvas process.
115. So what we get to see, that short turnaround, immediate response, is again only the beginning.
116. And that's important because several races remain close enough that the remaining ballots could still matter.
117. Now let's look at the Los Angeles mayor's race.
118. The biggest surprise there in Los Angeles is not who is leading.
119. Mayor Karen Bass advanced comfortably with 34.9% of the vote.
120. The real surprise is the battle for second place.
121. The Trump-endorsed candidate, the reality TV star, we've been down this path before and we're here again, Spencer Pratt, who, by the way, was invited to join us on this program, tentatively at one point accepted.
122. and there was concerns.
123. But in the end, we ran out of time.
124. Primaries came through, and we are certainly dedicated to inviting all candidates once the primaries are settled,
125. or in this case, once the top two contenders go on to November.
126. Yeah, you know, he currently sits in second place.
127. Spencer Pratt does at 28.24% ahead of council member Nithya Raman with a comfortable 24.89%,
128. which also brings up this other very important question, and that is,
129. because of the remaining votes that need to be counted and confirmed, is there an opportunity
130. for Nithya Raman to catch up to Spencer Pratt?
131. And the short answer is yes, actually, it is.
132. There is an opportunity.
133. Is the race over?
134. Not necessarily, folks.
135. Some election analysts caution against declaring the race settled
136. because Los Angeles County is still processing these ballots.
137. Historically later counted ballots often come from as I mentioned earlier vote by mail provisional voters younger voters renters heavily urban neighborhoods
138. These are the demographic groups that have, in the past, historically tended to be more favorable to progressive candidates like Nithya Raman.
139. So as that develops, as these votes continue to happen every 24 hours or so at this point, it is likely that these votes will indeed go to a Democratic candidate and more so at this point possibly to a progressive candidate.
140. That doesn't guarantee that Rahman will indeed catch up to Spencer Pratt.
141. It does mean that some observers believe that remaining ballots could narrow that margin and potentially make the race more competitive tomorrow than it is today.
142. And yes, indeed, the end result being that there is a chance that Nathia could catch up.
143. And we could see a Democrat versus Democrat mayor race in November, roughly five months from now.
144. There are some of us, your host included, that believe the election is just beginning now.
145. Day after October 2nd primary is when the election starts.
146. Now, unfortunately for us, we still have some time in some particular races, but that will be settled soon enough.
147. So the political question, is this simply a temporary lead as a result of election night voting patterns?
148. Or are we witnessing a genuine political upset that sends Spencer Pratt into the November showdown with Karen Bass?
149. It is important to note, you know, I saw it. I think many of you who are tuning in has seen it or maybe know somebody who said, listen, I recognize, I acknowledge, I empathize, I feel the frustrations that are being expressed by Spencer Pratt.
150. Set aside is at times a challenge in political positions.
151. I, for one, find it difficult with Mr. Pratt's positions on immigration, his willingness to arrest his way out of problem with people with problematic drug use, his pro or rather anti-immigration positions, and several other key things.
152. But again, as somebody who does this form of radio journalism, I actually look forward to having him on the air if, in fact, he moves on.
153. So I want to know what you all think.
154. Did you vote for Mayor Bass?
155. Did you vote for Spencer Pratt?
156. Did your candidate win or did your candidate lose?
157. We're going to be taking your calls on the topic.
158. 818-985-5735.
159. Hit that option one.
160. They're going to put you through to the studio.
161. We're going to take your calls.
162. And, you know, what's your election download?
163. What's your debrief?
164. 818-985-5735.
165. 818-985-5735.
166. A little bit more on the elections, right?
167. A couple of other key election issues.
168. Another major development was the city attorney's race.
169. Marissa Roy, who was on this program for, I think, early in the year,
170. on in her campaign.
171. You know, she is currently leading
172. a comfortable, what, 40% of the votes,
173. followed by John McKinney
174. and the incumbent city attorney, Heidi Feldstein Soto,
175. who at one point agreed to come on the program
176. and the night before canceled.
177. And maybe that's why she lost,
178. because our audience would have been in tune
179. and on top of it, right?
180. is now running third and, in fact, if I remember correctly, has conceded
181. because there is just no further opportunity for her to gain any significant amount of votes.
182. But if the votes hold, the ones that we see now, Marissa Roy at about 40%
183. and John McKinney at 31%, 32%,
184. then we already have an idea
185. of what this race is going to be like come November.
186. The question worth exploring is
187. when was the last time an incumbent Los Angeles City attorney
188. failed to make it through to the city elections?
189. And if I remember correctly, I think it was like 100 years ago.
190. There is a significant political shift happening in this country,
191. happening in this city.
192. Other key races here in the LA area, races that we covered,
193. Congressional District 34, Congressman Jimmy Gomez remains in a solid position.
194. But the grassroots candidate, Angela Gonzalez-Torres, who sat across from this table with me,
195. is, you could, for all intended purposes, declare her victorious in her bid,
196. as she will continue and move on to this November race.
197. congressional district 38. We had Dr. Monica Sanchez here talking about that race, who also
198. was a grassroots candidate, and who really elevates some of the issues that many of us have expressed
199. concern over, many of you have expressed concern over, particularly the role that institutional
200. career politicians play in these kind of political environments. And that topic being what it is,
201. because the lead there is Hilda Solis with 53%, 53.52% of the votes for that particular newly created congressional district.
202. She became the dominant candidate, a candidate who is now an elected official,
203. a politician who has been in office in one form or another for some 40 years or something like that.
204. and here we talked about what it is to be a career politician.
205. You go from federal to state to local to county.
206. Is there something wrong with that?
207. Maybe you have an opinion on the role that career politicians play in elections.
208. Other races, a quick update, State Senate District 26,
209. Sara Hernandez leads with more than 30% of the vote
210. and Sara Rascón follows with 17.28%.
211. Wendy Carrillo, the former State Assemblywoman,
212. sits with a third place at 13.71%,
213. and I believe she did concede as well,
214. all three of which were here on the signal
215. talking about their candidacy,
216. and two of which continue on now to the November campaign.
217. That would be Sara Hern and Sara Rasc the Battle of the Saras other notable results County Measure ER which we covered here Essential Services Restoration Act
218. is currently failing
219. with 48% of the vote in the affirmative
220. and 51% of the vote saying not interested.
221. So the bigger story here is
222. that the primary election is over, yes.
223. That part of it is done.
224. Now the real campaign begins.
225. Over the next five months, candidates will battle over affordability, housing, homelessness, immigration, public safety, government accountability, which was a big topic for us here on The Signal, and the future direction of California.
226. The question for voters is simple.
227. Were these results a vote for change?
228. Or were they part of the process of continuity when it comes down to what we have in government?
229. Let me bring in my colleagues and companions here on the signal.
230. You know, for many of you, as you can imagine, when we start throwing ideas around for programming here,
231. And by the way, I'm going to take your calls, 818-985-5735, 818-985-5735.
232. Who did you vote for?
233. Why did you vote for them?
234. Did they win?
235. Did they lose?
236. What are you thinking about this election period of the primaries?
237. And as we move on, do you like Karen Bass?
238. Do you not like Karen Bass?
239. Was the focus for you the state or maybe a congressional seat?
240. But, you know, one of the topics here that we talk about regularly is this idea of a political system.
241. And, you know, our broadcast audio engineer, Sly Rivers, who is a radio professional himself and who has his own programming.
242. Sly, what?
243. Every Friday at 8 a.m. called Cut to the Chase.
244. Strategic target of opportunity.
245. Well, every Friday, 8 a.m.
246. And Sly.
247. Right. So, OK, you and I've had dozens of conversations about politics.
248. Yes, we have.
249. And particularly about, you know, the systemic form of politics, right?
250. Institutional. We're talking career politicians.
251. We're talking every episode prior, Sly and I are in the studio going back and forth on some of these topics.
252. What do you make about this particular primary?
253. Well, you know, I invited you to that mayoral debate because you do have candidates on.
254. And I appreciate that because a lot of times you don't know who these people are.
255. But if I could just say a few things.
256. Number one, it's a mess.
257. The whole electoral politics is a mess because we have money in it.
258. We have visibility.
259. There's three things that usually get people elected.
260. One is the incumbent usually has an edge, the money they put in,
261. and then the two parties who give them money.
262. So that's number one.
263. If you go down the street right now and ask people,
264. You ask 10 people what district are they in, I bet you the majority of them don't know.
265. Yeah, yeah, I can see that.
266. Don't know.
267. And not only do they know what district they're in, they might not even know who their representative is.
268. Yeah, exactly.
269. I did not.
270. I had to look because there's so much that you have to study, and it's so rigged.
271. I agree with what they call him, Orange Man Trump.
272. It's rigged.
273. It's rigged for the rich.
274. It's rigged for those who have visibility.
275. We had that mayor of Forum.
276. We had to research who these candidates were and then let me just say one thing.
277. Yeah, yeah, no, no, please.
278. I researched because there was a big lie I remember some years ago and I asked an attorney about lying Congress people running for election He said there nothing illegal about lying
279. So if you recall, George Santos made a big lie.
280. Right.
281. But he could not.
282. But it's OK.
283. There's no law against lying.
284. So all these candidates lie and they say nothing.
285. It was interesting in our mayoral debate.
286. I'm going to fight for you.
287. They're not saying anything, man.
288. I mean, a couple of them did, but they're not this all, you know, and then we end with,
289. or I'll throw it over to Arnella, that being a politician makes you rich.
290. In other words, when Trump first ran, I said, the reason he's running is to make money, period.
291. Why do all these developers, rich developers, want to run?
292. Because they can make money.
293. They can make policy.
294. Right.
295. They can do things that makes their pocket fat.
296. If you do the research, all these on the international or rather the national level, all these senators and representatives, they were just normal people like me.
297. I'm not you because you might have money.
298. but like me.
299. I broadcast out of KPFK.
300. I don't have any money.
301. Oh, right, right.
302. Okay.
303. For free.
304. Right.
305. But then you look at them now,
306. they are millionaires.
307. Right.
308. And so, and then, you know, the money,
309. it's just, it's so easy to be corrupted.
310. And a lot of them go in because they can make policy.
311. And so I, you know, when I was,
312. I think it was in high school or college,
313. I gave a speech about voting.
314. and I put two devils on the board.
315. Oh, my God.
316. One with a smile and one with a frown.
317. So at that time, I said, you know what, maybe no one should vote,
318. and that would change the system.
319. But I do vote.
320. Right.
321. I don't want people to say, oh, you know, you know.
322. And voting does matter, especially on the local level.
323. But on the national level.
324. Especially on the local level.
325. There's so much corruption.
326. And, I mean, on my show last Friday, I had this gentleman who said,
327. how we win the Civil War.
328. And it was amazing in his book how it had the white nationalists, what they did in order to maintain control of the Confederacy in the South.
329. And I said, you know what?
330. They're using the same template today, Dino, the same template.
331. Right.
332. Of course, with voting, different things to regulate voting or what you can't vote.
333. They're doing the exact same thing.
334. So I said, all they did was look back in history and figure out how they can maneuver.
335. because somebody asked me one time, and I'll throw it over to Arnella.
336. Nella, so, you know, Nella, my producer,
337. who many of you often hear me reference Nella,
338. you know, you and I, of course, have the most communication.
339. We're constantly back and forth as the show is being programmed.
340. Always.
341. As a producer, I'm constantly, you know, working on the guests and the topics.
342. And, you know, what's your takeaway of this primary?
343. Did your candidates win, lose, or give it to me?
344. Well, my candidate did not win, but it doesn't matter.
345. That was a singular.
346. There was a lot of candidates.
347. Yes.
348. Well, my candidate did not.
349. Which we're not going to share because the signal is going to stay independent.
350. Yes.
351. But I want to say one thing that concerns me.
352. It is how many people choose not to vote actually Okay If we want change in Los Angeles we have to participate in the process
353. Too many people sit out elections and then wonder, oh, why nothing improved?
354. Well, change doesn't happen by itself.
355. It happens when people show up, get informed, and make that voices heard.
356. I also think it is important that people vote for the individual, not just the party.
357. Okay.
358. Not party label.
359. Not like, for me, it doesn't matter.
360. Like, for me, what matters is merit, right?
361. And we should be looking at a candidate's record, integrity, qualifications, and vision for the future.
362. Yes, I do agree with Sly. They are promising, I'm going to make you. I don't believe in that as well. No political party has a monopoly on good ideas and no candidates should receive support automatically without earning it. So that is for me.
363. Without earning it.
364. Exactly.
365. Can I make a comment after you finish?
366. No, no, no.
367. I'm going to start bringing in some of the audience, but go ahead.
368. Yeah.
369. What she said is what a lot of people say.
370. Well, nobody, you know, not too many people voted, maybe 30, 40, 50 percent.
371. But I understand why.
372. And the problem we have, say 100 percent of the people voted, we still might get the same results because we have an uneducated and uninformed.
373. Indeed.
374. Electoral.
375. Okay, you guys are about to take off our audience. I don't disagree. I don't disagree that we do have, to Sly's point, a core electorate who is uninformed and maybe even a little harsher, uneducated on the topic.
376. I would say rather that I think there is a genuine disconnect because those running for office have become the politicians that they so maybe disdain.
377. to the point where sometimes folks don't want to engage
378. because there's this almost lack of genuine intent
379. that just doesn't come across when you come out of here and say...
380. There should be laws, man.
381. Tell me more.
382. Yeah, yeah.
383. I'm sorry, Sly.
384. I just want to say a healthy democracy depends on an informed and engaged public, right?
385. Right, yeah.
386. That's what it is.
387. And if we want better leadership, safer neighborhoods, stronger communities, better future for Los Angeles, it starts with each one of us taking the time and learning and participating.
388. Done and done.
389. It might not matter.
390. Gerrymandering.
391. They could gerrymandering you out of office.
392. they could... So what it sounds like to me, on the one hand, Nella, it sounds like you're saying,
393. look, the important thing is that we have individual accountability, that we have
394. folks who are engaged and are participating. But to Sly's point, I think, if I understand right,
395. part of what you're saying, Sly, is that you can have that engaged, informed body. But at the end
396. of the day, we're talking about systemic failures. Yes, it's like Vegas. The house never loses because
397. they control all the rules. On that note, I want to invite folks to join this conversation with
398. the team here at the Cigna News Information and Analysis. You can call at 818-985-5735.
399. one to get us through to the studio. 818-985-5735. Let me take Dave on line one. Dave, as you heard
400. some of my production team, producers, other staff here, we're talking about, you know, systemic
401. challenges with the democratic process. We're talking about maybe an uninformed political body.
402. All of this in part because of what I was describing earlier is the framing I put forward
403. about the democratic process during this particular period of the primaries.
404. And for Dave and everybody, I want to remind all that this is an invaluable resource of this radio station,
405. and we need to be respectful of the airwaves.
406. You are on live, and I ask that you watch your language.
407. And with that note, Dave, let's say you.
408. How was this election primary in your view?
409. uh the primary uh is of course always run well and we and we thank dean logan and all the people
410. that work so hard to count those ballots correctly and to do it the right way so uh mr logan is to be
411. congratulated on another uh primary he is the uh uh the elector he is the our county uh uh
412. runs our elections. Let's put it that way.
413. What I'm calling the West Side,
414. and I'm very distraught at the West Side Democratic Party
415. for what they have done running a Trump candidate in CD11,
416. a straight Trump candidate,
417. And we're going to fix that. And, you know, we're not trying to replace that councilwoman in CD11.
418. We're not going to give up on that. We have a lot of problems with her and her votes and what she's done to the West Side community.
419. and the council districts need to be broken down.
420. This is way too much power for somebody like this person
421. to be running the whole of the West Side.
422. And there's dark money involved.
423. So we're adamant that we're going to make change on the West Side
424. in the next city council race.
425. And thank you for letting me get on.
426. No, no, stay with me, Dave.
427. Hold on a second, Dave.
428. Please identify yourself so that we can understand who it is that's leading this conversation.
429. Absolutely.
430. Thank you so much for taking this on, Adolfo.
431. And Dave, are you talking about Tracy Pork and the FISA model?
432. Yes, I'm talking about that.
433. I'm so upset that I don't even want to use her name.
434. But she's taken a lot of dark money, and we know where it came from.
435. And we know that she is not for the West.
436. Uh-oh, did we lose Dave?
437. I think we lost Dave. So, you know, just to reiterate, and thank you, Dave, for the call. You're listening to The Signal News Information and Analysis here on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles. I'm your host, Dino.
438. You know, and Dave was talking about this West Side race for District 11, which saw a new candidate, Faiza Malik, who, by the way, was here on our program, who was running against the incumbent.
439. Tracy Park who actually rejected our invitation or didn respond rather and you know Tracy Park who was a longtime political operative member of the city council and as you heard Dave describe
440. many in the community on the West Side have had challenges with some of her positions.
441. Tracy Park, in my experience, has been very pro-business,
442. has been, you know, to Dave's characterization, pro-Trump.
443. That's his characterizations.
444. will describe her as certainly not the most progressive candidate on the city council.
445. But she reported having raised $1.3 million in her campaign contributions,
446. according to the latest campaign finance report,
447. to where Faiza Malik, the candidate who ran against her, raised $540,000.
448. And as of the latest vote count, it's clear that Tracy Park will remain in office
449. as the sitting incumbent in City Hall.
450. And her last comment about it
451. was that she was feeling very comfortable
452. about the returns
453. and is looking forward to staying there.
454. Let's keep going.
455. And we are going to be taking your calls
456. at 818-985-5735.
457. Mark, where are you calling us from?
458. Mark on line two.
459. Okay, I think we might have lost.
460. It looks like we're having some technical challenges on either side of the glass.
461. But as we work those out, stay with us.
462. We'll be going to the phones.
463. We'll continue to go to the phones.
464. But, yeah, you know, we're talking about election returns.
465. We're doing a download.
466. We're doing a debrief on the elections.
467. We're trying to get Mark on. Is Mark with us?
468. Okay.
469. He's not on yet. We're working on it.
470. Okay, we're working on it.
471. So those of you, you know, very passionate about one particular district over another,
472. you know, some of the other key struggles this primary,
473. we saw District 1 where you had several candidates, contentious debates,
474. Debates, contentious forums in which the incumbent, Onesis Hernandez, who won a very, very solid vote count on her or validating her position to stay on as the incumbent, who is going to stay with us as the city council member for CD1.
475. and she had at least, I think it was four separate other candidates,
476. five running against her.
477. And this particular district covers the MacArthur Park,
478. which many of you have seen has been in the news,
479. continues to be in the news because of the federal administration's role
480. in addressing what they say is an environment of lawlessness
481. and open drug use in the MacArthur Park area.
482. It looks like we might have dropped our call.
483. I want to encourage you guys to call back.
484. I apologize for the challenges we're having.
485. Sometimes, you know, blame it on the interwebinet when these things happen.
486. Right slide, 818-985-5735, 818-985-5735.
487. When you ring through, hit that option one.
488. It's going to put you through to the studio and will get you on the air.
489. You're listening to the Signal News Information and Analysis.
490. I your host Dino We going to take a short break and be right back and have you guys again continue to join us 818
491. We're doing an election download, election briefing, what worked, what didn't work.
492. Tell us about the race that you were supporting or not and what happened.
493. So stay with us.
494. We'll be right back.
495. You are listening to The Signal.
496. With Mighty Dino
497. Only on KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles
498. Welcome back to The Signal, news, information and analysis.
499. I'm your host, Dino.
500. And listen, we're going to be taking your calls.
501. I know we ran into a little challenge with our phone lines the day we decided to take calls.
502. Right, Sly?
503. Yeah, just call back and let it ring because it seems like when we go on hold, it drops.
504. So just for those who were on hold, call right back, 818-985-5735.
505. Hit option one, and we'll try to pick it up real time rather than putting you on hold.
506. There you go.
507. and um so yeah 818-985-5735 we do apologize uh for that i know that you could see the lights
508. on the switchboard all lit up and all of a sudden everything went so but we're going to keep going
509. this is live radio and this is this is what it is you know another topic slide that i want to
510. bring up that came to to me by way of conversations and and social media and other news sources
511. especially as the battle for some of these districts were really developing.
512. And that is this issue of the so-called, you know, the red scare by way of the Democratic Socialists of America.
513. I see you laughing back there.
514. You know what I'm talking about.
515. You know, that's the problem with voting.
516. We have these, you know, I talk about it all the time.
517. He's a socialist.
518. Right.
519. He's a communist.
520. Right.
521. He's a this, he's a that.
522. He's a liberal.
523. We have a word for liberal, liberal racist.
524. So it's a mess, man.
525. It's a mess.
526. And the narrative and the visibility of these candidates.
527. See, the narrative is being set before us.
528. Right.
529. You know, it's happened.
530. And it's with the media being bought out by these conservatives.
531. So simple things like CRT.
532. You know, what is CRT?
533. People don't know what it is.
534. But they create a narrative that make you fear that.
535. And so that's why we need an educated voter.
536. You know, we need an educated voter, not just everybody vote.
537. That doesn't matter as long as the media is controlling what you think.
538. And the media doesn't tell you what to think.
539. It tells you what to think about.
540. Actually, you know what?
541. That's a good segue to that, you know, our program, the Signal News Information and Analysis.
542. Let's provide a little bit information for this.
543. because I was thinking about this topic I was having a discussion that turned into debate and maybe even finished on an argument over this what I call the modern day Red Scare
544. around or associated with Democratic Socialists of America.
545. And maybe you are a DSA supporter.
546. Call us up, 818-985-5735, 818-985-5735.
547. And, you know, I want to say...
548. Do they know what socialism is?
549. Well, actually, that's part of where I'm going, right?
550. I want to spend a little bit of time talking about this organization that's become increasingly influential in Los Angeles politics over the last decade, the Democratic Socialists of America, specifically the L.A. chapter, DSA LA.
551. And this has been a topic that, you know, again, it's scaring people.
552. Oh, my God, they're socialists, they're communists.
553. But I want to get into that.
554. And let me see. I see that Maria from South L.A. is joining us.
555. And, you know, she thinks that the election.
556. Well, let's just go to Maria. Maria.
557. She's. Is Maria on the air?
558. No, actually, I was trying to write, but maybe I can just read to you what she said.
559. Oh, online.
560. This is email. This was online.
561. And I encourage people also to send us their comments online.
562. So Maria from South Los Angeles said, I may not agree with every result, but I'm glad people showed up to vote.
563. I think this election showed that people really care about the direction Los Angeles is heading, whether you are happy with the results or not.
564. It's important that we keep talking about the issues that affect our neighborhoods and hold our elected officials accountable.
565. Well, you know, again, it goes back to part of what we were talking about.
566. But let's go back to this issue of the DSA, Sly and Arnella.
567. You know, here's my thing about this issue, right?
568. Whenever people hear the word socialist, the conversation often goes sideways before it even begins.
569. For some people, the word immediately invokes the images of the Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela, Maoist China, or other historical examples of state-controlled economies and one-party governments.
570. For others, I think it simply means stronger labor unions, universal health care, affordable housing, and a larger social safety net.
571. The reality is this, though, that these are not the same things.
572. Can I ask you a question when you're done with that?
573. Yeah, yeah.
574. But let me say, these are not the same things.
575. The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest self-described socialist political organization in the U.S.
576. It's modern day growth.
577. Really, we saw around the 2016 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders who really helped catapult and popularize the DSA model that was described, again, as being socialist.
578. But this is where the discussion gets interesting.
579. Many Americans hear the word socialism and, again, assume that DSA is advocating for the elimination of capitalism.
580. This is where I become a bit more critical because traditional socialist movements of the 20th century, you know, candidates are generally proposing, not proposing rather, the abolition of markets.
581. They're not proposing government ownership of businesses, central economic planning, one-party government.
582. In short, my debate, conversation, discussion with folks has revolved around the fact that I—
583. almost enjoy highlighting the fact that is the Democratic Socialists of America still operate within a capitalist structure that dominates America.
584. And I share that because I think when I hear people say, well, DSA and a bunch of socialists and they want to do this and they want to do that,
585. and it makes me realize two things. One, you don't understand what DSA is.
586. and two, you probably don't understand the full scope
587. of how capitalism in America functions and operates
588. to the point where you're just quickly ready to dismiss something
589. that's based on nothing more than perception.
590. Somebody said to me during this campaign,
591. wake up LA, the socialists are taking over,
592. all these DSA candidates,
593. you're going to have another Soviet Union.
594. And I sat there and I thought, is this guy real?
595. I mean, Soviet Union of all, I mean, not even Venezuelan socialism.
596. Remember in our debate, the guy said that?
597. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
598. You know, there's these antiquated beliefs that have closed so many folks off from a really engaging and intelligent conversation.
599. And I want to, one more time, you're listening to the Cigna News Information and Analysis.
600. I'm your host Dino here with our producer and audio broadcast engineer joining me we have every
601. intention we're still working on our phone lines which unfortunately gave us a bit of a challenge
602. this afternoon as we planned the one episode where we said we're going to open it all up
603. about for the audience and of course technology is not agreeing with us for a variety of different
604. reasons, we're able to put you through
605. CodeCut.
606. Give it a shot.
607. 818-985-5735. You can also email us
608. on
609. the signal's
610. email through
611. kpfk.org. Go to the signal
612. and you can send us a message there.
613. We are getting some messages there.
614. Yes, they can email me actually
615. abarbera at kpfk.org.
616. So you
617. were saying, Sly? Yeah, I was going to ask you
618. a question, but I wanted to
619. Before the question, I want to state that I think it was during the Biden administration, the U.S. Congress voted.
620. They had a non-binding resolution to denounce socialism.
621. A non-binding resolution.
622. Why would they even do that?
623. So, Dean, my question to you is there's this battle between the capitalists and the non-capitalists.
624. I mean, you remember the Red Scare, what is it, the McCarthy period?
625. So money talks.
626. In other words, there's another organization called the Hulu Movement.
627. They were attacked.
628. Why?
629. Because they did for self.
630. They do not want you to do for self.
631. Many, many hundreds of black cities were burnt down when they did for self.
632. So they want to control everything.
633. And part of that is put this thing in your head.
634. Oh, socialists, the government's going to control everything.
635. You don't want that.
636. It's a game we're being played.
637. so do you think
638. Dino
639. it's a battle between
640. this has to be a capitalist society
641. because if it's socialism
642. then you'll be bad
643. you said that
644. it's almost unbelievable
645. the ignorance of people
646. Obamacare
647. and also what was it
648. the Affordable Care Act
649. people say Obamacare
650. oh I don't like that
651. Affordable Care Act
652. oh that sounds great
653. The brain, the psychological warfare.
654. Talk to me.
655. Well you know look I always been a big fan of understanding political socialization particularly through broadcast mediums whether it film television radio and of course now with the microtechnology platforms including phone and social media I think there something to be said about the way in which these ideological constructs develop
656. to your point, you know, as narratives are being built out and as messaging continues to be,
657. stay consistent, you know, I made the comment about the new era of Red Scare that we're seeing
658. and the many different variations of it. I think there is a legitimate reason to be concerned as a
659. society for this kind of political machination, this type of political construct that I think
660. elevates people's ignorance to the point in which there are those of us who see this as nothing more
661. than a target of opportunity. All I need is 50% plus one. I don't need to convince the entire
662. district. I just need enough in a primary to get me over 50% plus one. And if not, in a district
663. that only expects 20,000 people to vote.
664. I just need about 6,000, 7,000 to continue.
665. I'll worry about it.
666. I'll worry about the rest later.
667. You know, I was thinking about what you said,
668. and, you know, I looked it up,
669. and it was the House resolution,
670. the U.S. House of Representatives
671. passed a resolution in 2023
672. that explicitly condemned, quote,
673. the horrors of socialism.
674. These were non-binding legislative measures that were overwhelmingly driven by Republican lawmakers, though they did receive significant bipartisan support from Democrats.
675. And when I look at that, and it jars my memory, right, we're talking 2023.
676. This is three years ago.
677. And we've seen, again, this strategic messaging.
678. and it's condemning the horrors
679. of socialism
680. free medicare for everybody
681. oh that's horrible
682. but to the point
683. to our point here today
684. is that you're able to conflate the issue
685. right
686. one of the things that
687. I can't believe
688. I'm going to say this
689. but
690. one thing
691. the orange guy does get right
692. you know and i i'm giving them credit because it's an acknowledgement that this
693. unfortunate reality exists and as i'm getting by the way for those of you who are not seeing this
694. and all of a sudden multiple fingers went up in the studio but i'm gonna say it because it
695. need be said and look i'm gonna recognize it right one thing that this orange guy gets right
696. is that if you say it enough people will fall for it like it or not i'm sorry but you know
697. I still debate with the few Republican friends that I have who continue to, rather than admit the wrongs, they rather save face and find excuse after excuse to justify the positioning that they still hold because they don't want to have a guy like me say, I told you so.
698. You know, you're so right.
699. you know, let me just say this. The reason Trump got elected, one of the reasons, is
700. he lies. I mean, it was so obvious of all the lies. He lies about everything with a
701. straight face. I don't understand it. And people say, well, I thought he said this.
702. Well he lies You know I call him Pinocchio Nella you tell me your comment on socialism Yes I you know lots of people don even know what socialism is
703. And I just want to say it's important to know that socialism is not the same as communism.
704. But wait a minute.
705. What's wrong with communism?
706. Nothing.
707. I'm not.
708. We're not.
709. OK.
710. Now we are going over.
711. I just want to talk about, like in practice, socialism can and it does mean different things to different people.
712. Some socialists support public programs such as universal health care, affordable housing, public transportation, and free or low-cost education.
713. Some believe certain industries such as utilities, health care or transportation should be publicly owned or heavily regulated.
714. Others support mixed economy where private businesses exist alongside strong social programs and worker protections.
715. So, you know, many countries considered democratic and capitalist, such as Sweden and Denmark and, you know, the Norway, have policies that some people describe as socialist because they provide extensive public services while still having private businesses and market economies.
716. And that is what socialism is.
717. Am I right?
718. I mean, you're not wrong.
719. Okay.
720. One bit of irony in this topic.
721. Yeah.
722. And those of you who are joining in at the last, as we get ready to close down the hour,
723. you're listening to the Signal News Information and Analysis.
724. I'm your host, Dino.
725. And today we dedicated the hour just having this conversation, this post-election download.
726. and joining me is Sly Rivers, our studio engineer
727. who himself has a program every Friday.
728. At 8 a.m. Good job. I'm impressed.
729. I don't plug your show enough.
730. Cut to the chase.
731. Cut to the chase every Friday at 8 a.m.
732. And Arnella Barbara, my producer,
733. who gets this operation up and running,
734. and she herself has a program on Sunday.
735. I do. I produce five shows on KPFK, which is IMRU, Monday night, 7 to 7.30, Global Village Tuesdays, Global Village Wednesday.
736. And I host Global Village Wednesday from time to time.
737. And my show is every Sunday night, 8 to 10 p.m., Dark Star Dead and Music.
738. Yes, indeed.
739. Grateful Dead, baby.
740. Grateful Dead. Thank you.
741. Do you guys know what is the largest state-run medical system that is modeled after socialized medicine?
742. In other words, socialist health care?
743. Take a wild guess.
744. Where?
745. Medicare?
746. No.
747. Medi-cal?
748. No, Medicaid.
749. Is it in this country?
750. It's in this country.
751. Oh, it is.
752. Is it Medicaid?
753. Was it the veterans thing?
754. Medicaid?
755. Yes, sir.
756. Oh, veterans.
757. Veterans Health Administration, the VHA.
758. Under the Department of Veteran Affairs, the VA, commonly known as the VA, is widely considered the largest integrated state-run medical system in the United States representing a model of socialized medicine.
759. The irony, of course, is that a lot of the criticism you get around this idea of, you
760. know healthcare under a socialist construct not only does it already exist and it does exist within or for one segment of the population who ironically on the flip side of the coin
761. oftentimes is referred to as the most patriotic military base and what a lot of the right wing will oftentimes describe as the source of patriotism,
762. American military, all things of that nature.
763. So there is socialized medicine in this country, and we have the largest one.
764. Yes, but, you know, if I can get my little 30 seconds in before time.
765. Yeah, I was just saying two minutes.
766. For-profit health care is oxymoron.
767. You cannot have for-profit health care, and that's what we have in the United States.
768. Cuba is a communist country.
769. My definition of communism is a radical means to achieve socialism.
770. That's my definition.
771. So, but people, what they have done to us, it's just like black folks.
772. I'm a person of melanated hue.
773. I love it.
774. We are, in other words, something's wrong with him.
775. He's a dangerous person.
776. So they have created this thing in our minds to make you think a certain thing that you see is either bad or good.
777. So if I see, I mean, there's been studies on this.
778. And I'll quickly, I'll shut up after this.
779. Thank you.
780. If you do.
781. No, I'm just saying because one minute.
782. I'm done.
783. I'm done.
784. I can go.
785. I agree with you.
786. I agree with you. We are all in a studio of some kind of darker hue, right?
787. I'm going to borrow that.
788. Darker hue?
789. As the resident darker hue host of this operation today, I want to take a minute to do two things, three things.
790. One, I want to thank our audience for your continued support, your membership, your loyalty.
791. I do want to apologize for our system, our phone system going down on the one day that we wanted to have call-ins.
792. We're going to blame the internet webinette gnomes out there for doing this to us on this important day that was meant to open up the lines.
793. This is live radio after all, but I want to thank you for staying through.
794. We know that you're listening.
795. We are getting messages in one form or another.
796. And I want to thank my impromptu guests and supporters in studio, our producer, Anela Barbara, and Sly Rivers, our broadcast engineer.
797. We have our production research addict, Chukwu, in the house as well.
798. And I also want to let you know—
799. A.K.A. Chewy.
800. A.K.A. Chewy.
801. And I also want to let you know that, you know, talk about growth and development.
802. You know, the signal is itself growing and developing.
803. I want to take a minute to introduce you to our digital media producer, Oliver Quintanilla, who is working on a website for our Politics Tacos and Beers.
804. You can find that work in progress at politics tacos and beer dot com.
805. You can email us at production at politics tacos and beer dot com and give us show ideas, pitch us a segment and so forth.
806. We'll be back next week.
807. One more time, Ryan Mena, journalist, will be giving us an update on what's happening at the detention centers, the hunger strike and the disappearance or rather the retaliation against protesters.
808. Stay with us. Our friends on the car show is coming up and we'll see you next week.
809. I'm Esty Chandler.
810. Join Negua Ibrahim and me Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.
811. for the news and views on Southwest Asia and North Africa you won't hear anywhere else.
812. As always, we'll bring you voices and coverage from Palestine and Israel.
813. Israel to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt,