Into The Gap Unknown

This episode is the end of a 16-month journey, one in which we have committed to speaking the truth and expressing ourselves authentically.  In celebration of the completion of the show, original co-host Bob Pontarelli joins Mike Shereck to look at the conditions of our world and offer countless perspectives of action to take, often critical, sometimes funny, always real.  

This show has been a project of love and passion and maybe no episode shows it more than this one.  Thank you for listening.

This week on "Into The Gap," we talk about what Trump is doing to the postal service and the right-wing birther campaign that has begun against Kamala Harris. We also look at Black Lives Matter and the effort to defund police.

Co-host Mike Shereck says: "We are in the midst of a true existential crisis in our country. What I think this election demonstrates is, on one side, Trump and a representation of traditional American freedom being carried out by a clearly flawed and obnoxious man, and on the other side an attempt to overthrow our history and what America has stood for through the implementation of neo-Marxist values and processes. We are in a sad place."

Jason counters that Trump is "undermining our constitutional republic and the concomitant democratic procedures that flow from it. Ronald Reagan must be trembling in heaven looking at this charlatan whose wealth grows exponentially with each overseas trip he makes."

Rejecting Mike's claim that Kamala Harris is driven by "blind ambition and a willingness to do anything to achieve her goals," Jason says: "Talk about blind, naked ambition and monetary greed. Funny a rich white man and his proclivity for nepotism and enhancing his wealth is OK, but a black woman growing up in the California projects, bused to integrated schools who works her way up to state attorney general gets accused of blind ambition because she has the same aspirations as that feckless pig who is our president. You know, I notice the same thing happens to me. I get called uppity when I voice my views in various arenas. White mean do the same thing and they are called 'tough,' 'exhibiting leadership.'"

This week on “Into The Gap,” we talk about Illinois State Representative LaShawn Ford’s call to abolish all history classes. Co-host Jason Hill connects that proposal with Rutgers University’s decision to label grammar as racist. “I call the educational crisis the result of systemic nihilism,” he says, continuing: “We are seeing the results in the vandalism, rioting, and yes — I’m going out on a limb — high crime rates. I think the dominant cultural trends in a culture set the tone for permissibility.” We also discuss “the pandemic of utter nihilism in our culture” and what that means for the future of America.

Co-host Mike Shereck argues that we now have two distinct Americas, “and the suburbs are being put in the middle.” He also shares what he saw riding the back roads of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, western Illinois, Wyoming, South and North Dakota, and, connecting back to Jason’s point, discuss how “the nihilism seems to be a more urban phenomenon and the ‘middle of the country’ is far more traditional and conservative.”

On this week's episode, Mike's on a cross-country motorcycle trip and says there is so much to see going through "Trump's America." We look at two different versions of America. There is the BLM, government-must-work-for-the-people side, and there is the freedom crusade and "you cannot tell me what to do" people. Will we always have two separate Americas?

On the show this week Mike and Jason spend a lot of time on the subject of Black Lives Matter. It is inarguable that black lives, of course, matter, and through the history of our country there is no doubt that until the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, black lives were not honored, nor were they treated as equal.

We separate the idea of racism, bigotry, ignorance and hatred that can and will occur in a free society and a government structure that is at the root of it. We dig in and look at the idea that self-awareness, self-acceptance, and personal responsibility are required in a free society, and before any systemic solutions are required, there must be personal awareness; otherwise, we are doomed to the solution of socialism, which never ends well.

This week: the impact of an absence of leadership in times of uncertainty and leadership at a personal level, which is individuality in service of something bigger, personal sovereignty, and most of all personal responsibility.