Attorneys are Human Too, a Podcast

Episode#6-Politics is a Combat Sport Part 2 Featuring Dr. Andre Fladell

August 07, 2020 Dr. Andre Fladell Season 1 Episode 6
Attorneys are Human Too, a Podcast
Episode#6-Politics is a Combat Sport Part 2 Featuring Dr. Andre Fladell
Show Notes Transcript

Join Host Steven E. Wallace, Esq. and Co-Host Celena Muzic in the 2 part of a 2 part interview with the Prince of Palm Beach County Dr. Andre Fladell.

Topics Covered in this Episode include:
Whether Democracy is Working in the 21st Century
Systemic Racism in America
Current Thoughts on Policing
Favorite and Less Favorite Historical Political Figures
Personal Lessons Learned from Prior Campaigns
Are Political Decisions Still Made in Back Rooms?
Personal Banter
Lightning Round

Politics is a Combat Sports Part 2 Featuring Andre Fladell

 [00:00:00]

Steve Wallace:   

so let's jump right into it. So in light of all the crazy things that are going on, which causes me not to watch the news these days. Do you believe that democracy is working in the 21st century ? 

Andre Fladell: That's an excellent question. In 1941, the United States was bombed Pearl Harbor. They decimated our Navy and took us in what was really a pretty destructive attack.

Between 1941 and 1945 and four years, we beat imperialistic, Japan and recovered the entire Pacific rim and the Asian continent and freedom. We invaded Europe. We beat [00:01:00] fascist Italy. Took North Africa freed. It we'd beat the Nazis in Germany. We fried it. We went into 14 different countries and half a dozen different languages.

We rebuilt and freed half the world and four years today in four years, we can't widen one lane on nine 95 between West Palm beach and Boca. Wow. When you think that. In four years, Henry Ford built the entire industrial revolution. We became from an agricultural society to a manufacturing society, will the assembly line from the great industrial complex that the world had ever seen at that time.

In four years, today in four years, you can't get a permit on an atomic energy plant past United States of America. Is no longer functioning at any rate that's comparative to the world under the new way the world works. If the economy of this country changes and it [00:02:00] changes in a week or a month, we can change our policies or practices for a year.

We're now driving a boat, which is heading into an iceberg and we don't have a steering mechanism that allows us to turn away from the iceberg. In other societies in other countries, whether you like the freedoms of the individuals, which is a separate conversation, those governments make decisions, make quick decisions and make quick policy changes.

There is nothing we do in this country anymore that the left makes the right did right or the right thing left. Right. And there was nothing any more that this country does to avoid its own peril. It's heading straight forward. It's heading straight forward on three different levels. And at the end of the day, no world power exists forever and more than the USSR existed, any more than the sun never sets on the British empire, any more than Rome anymore than the Greeks.

Our system is doomed on this refined a way to make it more functional, [00:03:00] which at this point it is not. 

Steve Wallace: So along those lines, if the Prince of Palm beach County had his magic wand, What  changes would you Institute to make government and democracy more efficient and more successful? I take all the districts that are pro Democrat pro Republican, and I scratch them off with a cookie cutter.

I take all the gerrymandering that's been done so that different parties can run different districts. And I'd make them cookie cutter so that the middle can get elected, not the left and the right and primaries. When you have a democratic district, if you don't run to the left, you can't win the primary.

When you have a Republican district, if you don't run from the right, you can't win the primary. So the ultimate winner of the district is someone who's a left or right extreme from their primary. That's how the country has been set. By the nature of the gerrymandering of districts had the districts been different and had the process been different.

The middle would still exist as a third component [00:04:00] government and the middle could negotiate. Number one, number two, the president. There's no regard for anyone who's elected for rubbish and no courtesy's regard for office. The press is now as OMAD and rude as humanly possible to everyone. If you listen to how they talk to people and the things they say about Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

I don't remember seeing him much in the wheelchair. And I don't remember when he got soaked in the Thanksgiving day parade and they had to change his clothes. And he pitches from the air seeing if he wore shorts or briefs or what kind of underwear he had. I don't think the things they talk about are not only unreasonable people.

You don't need to know half the conversations they're having. If. For example, recently you have, the Russians were paying to have Americans killed in Afghanistan. They forgot to mention that we on the Sunni used to shoot down Russians with Damon stinger missiles to shoot down Russian planes. That was fine.

[00:05:00] We armed the Sunni's in USSR. We we've been arming more armies to kill more people in more places. So they're doing to us what we're doing to them. I don't think any of it should be on the news. I think these are. National security issues that should be handled internally. Once it goes on the news,  it mucks up the process and the news is never really objective a middle.

So my entity was follows. One, districts have to be made so that a middle can get elected and that's not going to happen unless the courts at some point take over the mapping system and they do away with all this. good intended once upon a time 1960s mindset that you gotta make every different district.

 some of the farmers and business people and some of the Caucasians and some from the African-American, we need to cookie cutter our country and let the middle get elected. That won't happen. And secondly, commentary news should be commentary news and news reporting should be news reporting.

And when a Senate or house committee has a secret meeting, I don't want to hear about it as the meetings going on. Why do I, should, I know what's going, if you have a secret meeting or behind closed door meeting, [00:06:00] why should I listen to the information in that meeting? What's healthy about that? Why pretend it's closed door of the newsroom, reporting it within 15 minutes anyway.

So I think our country's lost its mind. I think we'll report things that happen in combat and in the war. Like we have embedded reporters. It should never be allowed to show a war while the world's worst going on. Because if you show me a picture of Delray, I know the street is on by looking at the house.

When they're showing us pictures of American shifts going through cities, we don't know what to say. Yes, but the people who live there know what street it's on. So the fact that the report news about a war line that should all be delayed 24 hours. The fact that they put secret meetings of Congress and Senate,  it should be criminal.

It should be legal. Should be. I don't care again, forget Republicans Democrat. You have to decide what the public needs to know, and what's not in the public purview and the press making those decisions is like an animal that never gets tired of meeting 

 [00:07:00] lena, what would you like to ask after that question?

Celena Muzic: What's your opinion about how this younger generation is handling politics? I mean, we see that the younger generation is more inclined to go out there and protest and. And are more vocal, although I'm not sure if they're more vocal it's because we have access to social media 

Steve Wallace: and that's the other part of it.

Celena Muzic: Yeah. I want to know what your opinion is on this new demo. 

Andre Fladell: First of all, being protested by nature and being an SDS when I was a student, which is students for democratic society and marching and protesting against everything I could think of. That's what that's, what college kids should do. What the younger people should do is complain.

Cause there's always something good to complain about. So the fact that young people complain that's healthy when the young people stop complaining, then social conscience of America ends because the young people, the only pure complainer's on some level, well, let's go further. If [00:08:00] in 1960s there was organized institutional racism, separate bathrooms.

Couldn't go to college. Couldn't. Even a restaurant couldn't ride a bus that all existed. We attack that problem with a permit actions, with set asides, with a lot of interesting rules to try to balance it. It's now a half a century later. We're not talking about 10 years later, 1964, 19 we're half a century And then half the century we're back protesting the same thing, but it's not the same problem. They call it systemic racism. They call it institutional racism. That's not the problem. It's not a problem getting it to college anymore. It's a problem sitting on the bus or going to a restaurant. The problem is there's an inherent bias.

Being taught to children by parents, which is a racist bias, which is no longer the institution. It's no longer the country, it's individuals. So if you approach this 2020 problem with a 1960 education mindset, you're going after the wrong problem and the wrong solution. If children between the age of the fourth, five, six, and seven, a tort tab, bias and hate.

And they [00:09:00] are by some people you can't get to them when they're 18 and I'll do it. And it's not the country that's doing it. So I have a cop and this cop is inherently biased, racist, whatever you want to call it. The police department, isn't the problem. It's people within the police department. And there's a percentage, whether it's 4%.

So when you attack the institution, you're missing your target.

Celena Muzic:  Yeah. That led me to my, that was going to be my next question is how do you think we're handling these police departments across the nation 

Andre Fladell: and I'll get to it as well. The United States of America at this point should be 26 trillion in debt.

The younger people were protesting. Don't conceive 26 trillion in debt, but it doesn't mean anything to them. They don't understand how this country finances that it's there. We finance our debt by having and auctions  around the world. The world no longer wants to buy our junk.

They're only buying that junk. Because our bonds it's like having a  dirty shirts and you English to the dirty shirt. That's why they're buying us. We have $26 trillion in debt. At [00:10:00] some point, the world's not going to be buying on make-believe money anymore. And when they fail to buy it, the economics and the inflation and the currency of this country are going to collapse.

Young people. Don't see it. Let me kill what young people say. They see their car payment. They see their electric bill, they see their phone payment and they go damn cable TV. These are 140 a month. And my phone's 120 a month, but 26 trillion doesn't matter. Cause I don't understand that 26 trillion means that somewhere in your life lifetime, China's going to put this country out of business.

26 trillion means that this country pays. Every year, $378 billion in interest on the debt, which the young people are going to inherit. They don't understand when they saw a world war II, the Germans with wheelbarrows full of money, which is what caused the war, what they see Spain or Portugal or Italy or Greece in collapse economically.

Now that we're sitting on that list waiting to go down the trail with them. The reason this country isn't broke at the minute is because we're [00:11:00] the world currency. And by being the world currency, everyone has to trade everything in dollars. So when you have this make-believe security, because of the make believe world currency, which we're at, if for any reason, we are no longer the world currency within a week, the American dollar is going to be hitting the ground and it's going to hit hard and it's going to happen.

China's planning for it. If you read what they're writing, if you look at their meetings or you're looking at their government is setting it up through a policy called one belt, one road, silk road. If you don't know what that is, you need to look it up. It's explaining what they're going to do this country back to you with your question to the police, you have to really look at educating children.

Kids can grow up, separate, not growing up with each other. They all kids have to grow up learning that they work in groups. You know, what's the fascinating thing for males when you, when I'm a kid and I'm playing basketball in Brooklyn, whoever's the best basketball players. The guy on my team, I don't care if he's green or yellow and I'll take.

Whoever shoots the best basket. 

Steve Wallace: Yeah. My son plays basketball and he knows [00:12:00] no color. And sometimes he'll say things and he'll say like, you know, so, and so looks this way. I said it doesn't matter. We're all, we're all on the same team. And he, he doesn't see it in different.

Andre Fladell:  I just want you to die. You can bring down the rebound, the guy who can give me the best outlet pass at the end of the day, the kids, if you want to change the country, you take them from the age of seven years and down not seven and up.

And you change the way they interact, the way they work. And if you're lucky in 10 years, your problem solved. If you think you're going to change the mindset of a 35 year old cop, you'll get them to shut up. You'll get them to behave, but you won't the way we hire them, the screening, the way the rules and regulations of how they function need to be addressed.

But when you start saying cops are bad or police are bad, you have no idea. The danger you're creating for yourself. There's no more lousy job in the world. That'd be an accountant. My dad didn't carry a gun. When he went to work in the morning when I was eight, I didn't watch my father put on a Bulletproof vest to go to work.

I didn't go to sleep at night. My father left for work at [00:13:00] eight o'clock at night, and didn't come home until seven in the morning. Cops are out all night. When the families alone cops, kids watch him wear Bulletproof vests. Cops have to walk with their families in the same cities that they arrest. People.

Cops don't want guns for no purpose and the marriages. Less likely to be successful because they have no social life. If they're working in a shift and they want to get promoted, they've got to change to another ship right now that detective or undercover. So whatever their friends are, whatever their wife's relationships are in time, they get thrown upside down every three years.

Every time they get changed to another part of the department, it's a lousy, garbage, junk job that they do uniquely well within that department, just like 10% of the chiropractors suck. 10% of the cops equally suck, not in personal counselor, 10% of the attorneys suck. And, and I'm telling you 10% of almost every group of people that you can name has a really lousy component, but we don't judge them or by the component, but in policing [00:14:00] because it's news, media worthy.

And because the news loves glorifying this crap, we've taken it out of context that 90% of the cops are really. And the people Americans understand all this had children, we got whatever this number is. That's garbage, it's garbage in every single profession, but we decided to pick one because it's more visible for the moment.

So I think that the target is wrong. I think that it's well-intended, I think that like every of the movement. as long as it stays intellectual, we'll be fine. Once it gets physical and violent, the movement will be self-destructive and have its own negative impact. So yes, I am. Pro-police all day, every day.

I am anti anyone that in any public situation is racist in any format, including that dissect Semitism, which by the way, is just another form of racism and you know, it's okay. You shared about the Jews that's okay. But you can't say about another group. I think they all sang. I think that each group should be offended for the other [00:15:00] equally.

And I think our total should be to change the way children see the world. And one more thought, it shows you watching the news. The children are watching the interviews. The children are watching protest. When I watched the protest, I hear the complaint. People are offended that they feel as a black American, as an African American, that they haven't gotten an equal shake and that the world hasn't been good for their entrance into the society.

The eight year old kid resents it. When you have an eight year old white child, an eight year old black child watching this on TV, what is he hearing? He assuming that let's say you ain't got a chance cause this country is not helping you at all. He's not 1722. He's 10 years old. What do you think they're hearing from our messaging to each other?

When the 11 year olds are now watching all this and hearing the messaging life being good for you here, it's still garbage. He's not the nuances of the political, the change he's been brought and reasoned to a very, very difficult argument that he shouldn't be part of. Or at least be given the counter-argument.

So we're not [00:16:00] giving our news to the children. We're giving it a unique heads. Advertising course, our ratings for the TV stations. We're not projecting news for the children so that the children could understand the right and the wrong things. Because news is about sensationalism. It's not about the man who saved any bites, the man, somebody, you know, talk bites, man, that ain't news man bites dog gets on news.

Steve Wallace: Excellent. we'll lighten the mood a little bit   I like to pick your brain, you know, that I have a political science degree and you and I have talked ad nauseum for hours and hours about historical political figure. So I think our listeners  would be curious to know who  in history is your favorite politician

Andre Fladell:  in this country? If I had to pick one to start with, I picked Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson who wrote himself, the declaration of independence wrote some fascinating concept. You said, we hold these truths to be self evident [00:17:00] that all men are created equal, but they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights and among these a life Liberty originally property, by the way, and the pursuit of happiness.

That is most remarkable concept and statement you could ever understand the brilliance of it. He believed that the rights of the human being are endowed by our creator. And he believed in God, because he said our rights are given to us by our creator. If the same man who writes this God given country a country under God with rights given from God, writes the establishment clause of the constitution.

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. And he understood that between these colonies, there was these competitions we remember other than Maryland, which is why it's the free state. You had to be of the religion of the colony to hold office, to come to Congress.

You couldn't elected. If you weren't of the religion of the colony and he didn't want one [00:18:00] religious doctrine  overbalanced the other, right. This constitution in these competing interests, which are actually brilliant, where he wants it to be a nation with morality on the God, but he doesn't want the executive of one calling to overbear and threaten another.

Similarly in matters, which he was involved with. Although James Mason and other characters were involved with as well, second amendment rights, the right of having a standing, federal army yet having the public, having the right to defend itself against the army that nobody really wants. If they don't know why we have an army, if we're not in a war.

So Thomas Jefferson, if you look at what he wrote and you read and you read even Madison's Federalist papers, I think he's one of the most brilliant people who started the social experiment. We call our Republic, our democracy. I think he doesn't get enough credit. What they do is they blame him for being a part of his social time and his social time.

There was clearly an unevenness between races. There was clearly a lot of inequality assembly. At [00:19:00] one point, women didn't vote in this country. Another point women were supposed to just raise children. They, those were social. More ways of a different period. I don't blame him for that, but I see his brilliance is extraordinary without him.

I don't know that this country becomes when it becomes, so he would be my I'm every time I read more about him, it's just more incredible. So yeah, he would be my favorite. 

Steve Wallace: Okay. So along those lines, who is your least favorite American politician in history?  

Andre Fladell: Richard Nixon would be what I would go to easily.

He was arrogant. He was rude. he was dishonest. I just never liked him. I didn't like to check her speech. That's why he put the dog in his lap until everybody loved his dog. people who commit treason against our nation, people who lie, not, not to protect, just lie to lie. so I have to go with Richard. Nixon would probably be the one I find most detestable generally.

Steve Wallace: Okay. And who would you say is your favorite [00:20:00] local or Florida politician

Andre Fladell: in Palm beach County? The greatest politician. My time was a guy named Harry Johnston. Harry Johnston was a Congressman president of our Senate. He is, he was the class of class. He was the gentleman, a gentleman he could tell, you know, love you. he was the best there ever was in our current government.

We have Matt Bernard and David Kerner have handled this virus eloquently. They have stepped up to the plate. In a time when there's no playbook, it's not about being favorite. It's about, I look to those two is really maturing. I know them both since they're very young. I know both of them very well. They both have grown up.

They're both leaders and adults. They both equitable and reasonable. They're sensitive. They're tough. They're smart. I'm proud of them. Laurie Berman, Joe Brousseau. We just have so many great kids that are really grown up and matured. Joel is now going to be clear with the courts. Laurie Berman is a Senator. [00:21:00]

I, I don't, I, we are lucky. We have such a great depth, really great new people. and then there are people who are ascending. I think, you know, Bobby Powers is ascending. I think he's maturing beautifully. Oh, there's just so many. Steve Abrams was just brilliant. I just think that we're lucky we're inundated with some gray characters in our County.

Steve Wallace: Okay. So then I guess to contrast that, who is your least favorite Florida or local politician historically, and then I guess you could, if you're blind to say currently as well. 

Andre Fladell: Yeah, historically I didn't like buddy McKay. I still don't. He was Lieutenant governor. He ran for governor. I disliked them. In the end.

I didn't really like Jeb Bush that much. I thought he, he was  very manipulative and only loyal to a small group. But the reason I don't like people in politics, once they are rude and they're personal and they go into personal attacks, the character assassinations people are allowed to disagree with.

You would not be immoral. We're [00:22:00] not be illegal, would not be psychotic or not be un-American. There are people who are pro life. I don't get it. I don't agree with it. I don't disrespect them. There are people who believe that there should be every day religious player in the school and not a moral than an American.

There was American as you are me. When people start realizing that the opposition is allowed to be as have the same integrity you do just come to a different conclusion. I like them when people accuse other people of being criminals, every time they disagree. And every time you see a politician get on TV and say, well, he's a crook and he's a liar and he's, and they do that because they only agree philosophically.

I dislike them. I want them to be my enemies. They are my enemies. and then there's a group of people that are just jealous because they don't want to really debate on an issue. They'd rather say I don't dress right. Or I'm arrogant or have too much money. Or I inherited from my dad. But the issue is pick your issue and let's debate the marriage, but they wouldn't do that.

Those are the people that won't like me and I don't like [00:23:00] them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 female politician. Would you like to see run for presidential candidate? I like Tulsi Gabbert, the lady. I think she, I think she's just. just charming. I like Clover char for awhile. I think she got nasty, then she needed to be, she did excuse in the primary. I think she hurt herself.

there's, there's a number of females in Congress and I'm not talking about AOC or I'm not talking about, you know, there were a number of females in Congress on both parts, I think would be excellent presidents. I don't know. I really I'm disappointed with all the people who've been running for president.

Well, the nominees were the parties. I mean, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Clinton. Those are the guys I liked. I haven't seen a lot of people. I'm really thrilled about Obama was really interesting and had great opportunity. you know, we supported him when he ran. It didn't work out exactly the way we figured, but at least, you know, he felt good about being an American.

I'm not sure that any of these people make [00:24:00] me feel that great about being an American right now. 

Steve Wallace: Okay. I have a couple of questions from  our viewers that I'd like to ask you. Sure. The first question is are political decisions still made in the back room? The smoky back rooms that, a lot of folks who have, given you credit for.

Andre Fladell: They're better when they're made in the back rooms, that's the way government was intended to work. So let's explain those smoky back rooms. That means that tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan, Republican, the Democrat, we get drunk on Friday in the house, come up and solve half the damn country's problems. It means that people, when they get done playing, they hate each other.

We'd go out to dinner. We're still at each other's homes and go to each other's children's weddings and they'd sit in there rooms and they say, you know what? Find a middle. Nobody finds the middle anymore. It was nobody has social relationships. Cause there are only more bathrooms because the bathrooms are now with cell phones, phones, and social media and news reports and no one respectful of the record conversation.

So there aren't [00:25:00] any, so as a result of no backrooms things aren't getting done and the country's in a frozen state of nonexistence. We haven't changed our educational system. We're in the 19th century, our economic social wealth, those systems are going to go bankrupt because we don't understand the age.

There's no longer people dying at 68. So when they created Medicare in 1932, it's 65 only lived three years. They don't understand that the debt is going to break the country. That climate change is going to flood the coastal lines of Florida. Our country it's reacting to nothing solving no problems at all in any facet.

So the backrooms don't exist in the country. Isn't solving a single problem. 

Steve Wallace: Next question from our viewers, what is the dirtiest political trick that you would admit to and why 

Andre Fladell: I've done a lot of them. I continue, but I'm

in a race when there's a Republican, a Democrat running. [00:26:00] I'd say, let's say, let's say there are two Democrats running in a primary and Republicans running Republicans can't vote in that primary. What if the Republican dropped out then the whole Republican party can vote in that primary? The way that the government sets up is that if only Democrats run or only Republicans run in a primary election, the other party is allowed to vote in that election.

So we have put candidates to run for office in this County. For a party and then pull them out right before the filing to allow the other party to vote in the primary of the opposite party. On top of that, we endorsed the mailers and flyers and endorsement for the candidate we wanted without the party's permission or approval.

So we, we put candidates in a race. The candidate pulls down on the race. Let's say this one, theoretically, and then the party then sends mailers flyers or endorsements out, which they'd never [00:27:00] authorized by the time we know what went on, the race is over now to be clear, there was no early voting at the time.

So nobody was the wiser until after the election. When they realized that these flyers and these endorsements, we have Palm cards, we've put out 40, 50,000 of them. We've changed names on Palm cards at the printer. What made up duplicate Palm quads of the same stock in color took the original contracts and substituted them.

In other words, let's say there's a podcast as Kings point is for Kings point, which century Richard century village. And it tells people how the leadership wants them to vote. They get into the box of exactly what they wanted and in distribution, they find out that. They're giving out a Palm card with a different name on it.

So those things have been done. 

Steve Wallace: I'm the same shade Prince of Palm beach County.

Andre Fladell:  I think it's about taking people who we think are dangerous to the system and keeping them out of the system. So I don't call it shame. [00:28:00] nobody's harming physically anyone, but we're in a, we're really embracing things that have been done.

Those things have been done yet.

Steve Wallace:  Okay, next question is, have you ever run for office? What was the result and what did you learn from it? 

Andre Fladell: I ran for mayor the city of Delray beach. I ran in 1970 something or other 77, 78 against Leon Wix. Leon weeks is the nicest, most wonderful, incredible human being I've ever met.

I have no idea why I did it. I, I lived in Del Ray, I think a matter of weeks. When I went to speak at the forum, the former's held by the beach property owners association. They wouldn't let me speak. It wouldn't even let me sit while we learn with the incumbent mayor was given his speaking. When it came to mind, they wouldn't even let me go to the Mac, Leah and the guy was running against, came down and got me.

Walk me to the mic and gave me it's time to speak. Or she was offended. They wouldn't let me speak. [00:29:00] You became one of my closest friends in Del Delray. I adore them. I'm sorry I ever ran against them. I apologize to this day, I ran this. I wanted to make a difference and had no idea that was the dumbest thing I could have possibly done.

Steve Wallace: And so what did you learn from that 

Andre Fladell: pay respect to people before you run for office? Don't think you're somebody, you should, nobody. And as small as you want as much money as you got. When you're playing on another basketball court, you don't make the rules, take the hits. Don't quote, Val's play the game, become part of the group.

And then you can rise through the group in politics. The first thing you do is find out who's got their blood on the ground and then learn to meet them, learn to respect, and learn to understand them. If you're lucky, they'll bring it into that little game, what group, but you don't challenge them as if you're smarter and know more.

And they're evil because they're not. The other ones that built the place that you're trying to govern. So what I made the mistake I made was thinking I was somebody. And at the end of the day, I was absolutely nobody. 

[00:30:00] Steve Wallace: You've actually given me the same advice. When we spoke on a bunch of different occasions.

Andre Fladell: I kind of remember.

Steve Wallace: That's for another show in another day, but I, that, that I've heard that before. Okay. Next question is from my friend, Beth Rappaport. She wants to know how many hours a day do you play beach volleyball? 

Andre Fladell: I'm on the beach every morning. usually by eight o'clock. sometimes you got games, sometimes you don't, but I play Saturday and Sunday.

I play usually twice during the week. So I'm playing about four times, which goes, I'm playing doubles, beach volleyball, and I'm clearly 25 years older than everybody I play with. And I'm holding my own. you know, I'm not what I would like to be, not when I could be, but, I don't give the game away.

You're going to have to come and beat me. You're not going to just, I'm not going to sit down and let you take it. it's very healthy. It's better than the gym for me. I can't lift weights. When I grew up, when I was a kid, my parents told me if you lift something heavy, you should get paid for it. No problem going to the gym and paying someone for lifting something heavy.

It makes it's inconsistent with everything I've ever learned. [00:31:00] They told me to work with my mind, not my body. So valuable becomes my, it's a good way to stay healthy, 

Celena Muzic:  and a lot of cardio. 

Andre Fladell: Yeah. Cardio is real important and we have a great social Delray beach. Volleyball is the healthiest place.

We have 120 kids. We've raised them. We stick with them. We, I mean, it's a social club. It's the way politics used to be. We used to be a family. Palm beach County was a great thing. We're actually better than most counties are Democrats. Republicans don't really hate each other as much as you think they do locally, we will do fairly well with each other, you know, it just, when you leave the County and going to the state, just the whole thing gets ugly.

 

 

 

Steve Wallace: Lightning round time. Ready?

I'm going to ask you five, this or that and answer it without any explanation like this Neary McCarty or Bernie Aronson. 

Andre Fladell: Oh my God. Here. He was the voice of the East and was the voice of the West. It was like the wizard of Oz, Mary bolted, the right point in [00:32:00] cities, but not the Mary derive wouldn't have turned out the way it did.

She brought it from a three restaurant place to Bert, took the West in the South County and gave us relevance. Everything was going to West Palm beach. I'll take both any day. 

Steve Wallace: Bill Clinton or JFK.

 Andre Fladell: James, these are hard questions, Adam, when I was a kid and bill Clinton charms me every time I ever had dinner with him, I love them both. I think bill Clinton in his moment was incredible. JFK was like an image idol to me. I can't, I gotta love and bolt 

Steve Wallace: burgers or tacos. Hopefully you can choose between these feature mountains beach.

Andre Fladell: Sun or rain. I love the winter. I love the summer. I love the sun. Okay. 

Steve Wallace: Thank you so much. Prince of Palm beach County, Andre, Fidel. Thank you for taking the time out and, and, and engaging us on our two part series politics as a combat sport. And hopefully I want to offer this invitation to you when you come on again and, and [00:33:00] cover an election preview for us.

Andre Fladell: Yeah. As long as the social media, don't beat me up to bed.