Want to buy one of the limited NFTs for this episode? Click here!ABOUT THIS EPISODE

I don’t know about you, but I am a scaredy-cat; meaning that I run as fast as I can when something scary happens. Of course, that changed after I had kids because before I started running I had to make sure I had tied the laces of my kids shoes… together so that I could get a good lead. This episode’s guest did not really have that option.

Sherman Tylawsky is a George Washington enthusiast. If there were trading cards for political icons, Sherman would have the back of every single one of them memorized. Sherman is so into the political greats, that he has a podcast called “Friends & Fellow Citizens” that explores the founders of our nation, but also takes a look at contemporary situations and people in politics today through a lens that would make Thomas Jefferson proud.

We talk about his historical political fetish, what it was like to work in our nation’s capital, where all of the business in congress actually happens, and then we really dig into that fateful day a year ago when Sherman’s workplace, our nation’s capital, was sieged upon by its’ own citizens. A terrifying day that will not be forgotten by Sherman or anyone else in America, for that matter.Note: Mr. Tylawsky presents in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the U.S. government. His personal views are opinion only and do not state U.S. governmental policy or an official U.S. government position.

This episode’s sketch: “Our Constituents Phone Calls are of the Upmost Importance”

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Sketch Comedy Podcast Show is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

© Copyright 2022 Stuart Rice

Sherman is the CEO of The George Washington Institute, host of the Friends & Fellow Citizens Podcast, an aspiring statesman, and George Washington enthusiast. He has received a master’s degree in international affairs from Texas A&M University and graduated from King’s College London with a bachelor’s degree in politics. He began his first podcast "Friends & Fellow Citizens" to bring the wisdom and significance of the Founding Fathers back to contemporary American life.

Fun Facts about Sherman:  1. Named after the Founding Father Roger Sherman and Union General William Tecumseh Sherman  2. Student of Classical Latin and fluent in Mandarin  3. Washington DC Trivia aficionado   4. Seinfeld, 30 Rock, Pizza, Baseball, Aggie football, Ice Cream and America are signs that heaven exists…

PATREONTRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE

[00:00:00] Sherman: in this episode, aspiring statesman Sherman Tylenol ski and I came up with a few sketches.[00:00:06] Stuart: Some of those weird phone calls with, with constituents or with people who just whatever reason are off the rails,[00:00:13] Sherman: that is one of my favorite type of sketches is where it ramps up the idea of gift wrapping savannah or finding a way to get a Lincoln. You know, everybody gathering and trying to figure out what are we going to get Lincoln for his birthday be just being available Like that's you. Your place in history is like, who can we get to sign this thing? We didn't, we need another signature.[00:00:37] Stuart: Yes[00:00:39] Sherman: roger. Which one did we pick? You'll fight. Well, you probably figured it out. It's none of the ones I came up with. You'll find out on this episode of a sketch comedy podcast show. Welcome to sketch comedy podcast show. The one of a kind show where I Stuart rice invite interesting people to have intriguing conversations and then we improvise a comedy sketch based on what we talked about. It's the only show like it on the internet and I don't know about you, but I am a scaredy cat meaning that I run as fast as I can when something scary happens. Of course that changed after I had kids because before I started running I had to make sure I had tied the laces of my kids shoes together so that I could get a good lead this episode's guest did not really have that option. Sherman telus ski is a George Washington enthusiast. If there were trading cards for political icons, Sherman would have the back of every single one of them memorized. Sherman is so into political greats that he has a podcast called Friends and Fellow Citizens that explores the founders of our nation, but also takes a look at contemporary situations and people in politics today through a lens that would make thomas jefferson proud. We talk about its historical political fetish what it was like to work in our nation's capital, where all of the business in congress actually happens. And then we really dig into that fateful day, a year ago when Sherman's workplace, our nation's capital was seized upon by its own citizens. A terrifying day that will not be forgotten by Sherman or anyone else in America for that matter. And now my conversation with Sherman Tai Loski, aspiring statesman who is in january 6th insurrection survivor. Chairman[00:02:45] Stuart: Stuart. Great to see you today.[00:02:48] Sherman: Yeah, it's good to see you too. A welcome onto the show.[00:02:51] Stuart: Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate[00:02:53] Sherman: this. Yeah, I've got a quick question for you, is that okay?[00:02:56] Stuart: Yeah, absolutely.[00:02:57] Sherman: What makes you interesting?[00:03:00] Stuart: Well, first of all, my last name, I think has interested a lot of people. It[00:03:06] Sherman: took me a couple of times spelling it to get it. Yes, yes, I got it right the last time[00:03:11] Stuart: I think what makes me unique is that I'm really a hybrid of interest that combined to really make myself a unique american, I am in american history nerd. I love politics, I love sports, I love american food, you know uh I just, I had a Costco pizza earlier today. I think I just, I love this combination of Americana and I could see Americana in so many different manners and I am very, very thrilled to be also part of a family where on my dad's side of eastern european descent. So I've kind of had that orthodox christian background, my family's orthodox christian background that my mom's side, um we are Taiwanese, so I'm half Taiwanese, half eastern european and this is kind of a classy to east and west put together sort of idea. But I've seen these two halves as a perfect combination for my upbringing, him for who I am as an american, who I am as a person nowadays.[00:04:23] Sherman: Yeah. And when you say America that much, that means you really do have a love for it. So the things that you've done in your life or things that you do currently where you, you're able to portray that or you're able to show that well to the, to the country and do yourself to your to the world, whatever. What are things you do? Sure. Well I'll start[00:04:44] Stuart: with something that I started last year which was my very first and only podcast right now called friends and fellow citizens. It is the first four words of Washington's farewell address. That's how Washington addresses the nation when he leaves office in 17 96 and I just thought it was very catchy. I also felt that it sounds really positive, you know, because everyone loves friends and everyone loves friends and fellow citizens. So I thought I wanted to find something that could honor our history by the same time. Bring that history to life nowadays by sending them smashes of saying, we have a very, we have a lot of ups and downs in our country, but there's a lot to be proud of and a lot that we can do to improve it and to appreciate it. And that's how I connect to the founders who lived a very, very different time period, but a group of people whom I always have found so intriguing because I feel in this country is truly the first that's built on ideas, not on ethnicity or where you come from. And so to kind of bring that and meld it in with by personal background myself. I thought this was a really great opportunity for me to share with people my guests who come from all different backgrounds and have all kinds of experiences and takes on different issues while also kinda bring myself in and some of our history together. I want to make american history very interesting for other people. So it really is a, I call it a civics podcast because it's not just about politics, not just about history, it's about the foundation of our democracy, the way we know it here[00:06:28] Sherman: in America. Yeah, I think that's uh it's a it's a big undertaking that you're taking it taking on. Yeah,[00:06:36] Stuart: I I think it's great.[00:06:37] Sherman: Yeah. Um you and I have shared guests Edwin and I've had a couple other people that, I mean they're trying their best. It's hard. Like I got kids and when I mentioned history, they immediately the gloss over happens and they stopped listening to me more than they do normally I guess. But yeah, so I I think that this is very important is that we can learn from what's happened before. And I think it's also very important to understand like what are the rules that we currently have? Civics is not a thing that's taught. I don't even know if my kids ever took a class that had anything like that in it because they never talked about it and I wasn't in school with them because I would have been weird. So um what are, what are you talk, what are some of the topics that you talk about? Like you mentioned some of the things, but like what what what would be like a topic that you would dive in on on your show?[00:07:36] Stuart: Sure. So I've done topics on a whole range of issues that cover american history. What I like to do is I like to find a character in american history who did a lot of amazing things but is just left out of the history books. I mean you mentioned how in civics we don't we don't take on a lot of these different topics and different figures perhaps. So I bring them on and show look, these people are not perfect individuals, obviously no one is but they have very interesting background. So for example, I've done a topic on William Seward who was Secretary of state under Lincoln. He not only, well I guess if you're from Alaska, you also need to love him because he helped with the Alaska purchase. But I've also he also made sure that there wasn't a foreign interference with regards to the american civil war. He was also one of the leading, certainly at that time one of the leading civil rights advocates already calling for equal representation across uh, across all americans regardless of background. So I dive into him. I also look at various different time periods across history and trying to identify some common lessons. For example, I did an episode about a pandemic or epidemic, I should say, because it's kind of smaller epidemic that happened during the Washington administration that broke down in philadelphia and how difficult those conditions were. So to kind of bring some of some context to my audience. This is what I usually do on my solo shows for my guest shows. I usually bring a lot of the man who have become leaders in their field and not necessarily political junkies like myself, you know you know the folks who watch C span and I guess I've already admitted that online now that I watched some C span every now and then.[00:09:27] Sherman: I know[00:09:28] Stuart: that's[00:09:31] Sherman: hard to anybody you c span with. No one talks about C span and chill you know? That's yes that's right.[00:09:39] Stuart: Not not something that sticks out a lot on a dating app, let's just say you know[00:09:45] Sherman: uh[00:09:47] Stuart: But I love I love to bring guests on who are again as I said our leaders in their field there, you've done leadership activities in their community for example. Uh I've no girl from my school in texas A and M. Who is a big cyber person, she's already done of cyber competitions and is trying to expand the number of women in cyber. I've got, you mentioned Edwin, he was a wonderful guests on my show too. He brought I think a lot of wonderful advice in the midst of the election which was held obviously in november and his episode was around that time. So it's it's nice to also play around with the calendar a little bit and try to have guests on who can offer some really amazing insight into our world in those times and it's been quite a wonderful hodgepodge I to this day. I still don't know how I was able to put together some of these episodes but I just cannot thank enough my support system, my family, my friends and all those who listen to my show, it's because of them, that all everything I'm saying is possible.[00:11:02] Sherman: That's awesome. Yeah, I'm not going to say that about my audience. My audience just collects my, my sound bites and doesn't give me any money. So uh, I do have a Patreon by the way out there. Um Hey, uh, so how did you get so into all of this stuff? Is this is not like something, There's no, there's very rarely do you find action figures of like the founding fathers? Right? Like did you have those growing up? Was that a thing? Like,[00:11:33] Stuart: I think I got one, I think I got one of those Founding fathers era hats from some museum in Philly might have been from Independence Hall, but I think that was the most I can go because you couldn't, I don't think I put it together a Halloween costume or anything with that because I felt like, well, I don't think, I don't think jefferson or Washington would have been going around ask for candy. So, I definitely was someone who was interested because it just struck me very interesting that there could be this number of individuals so invested in history at that time because a lot of them were looking at Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. I'm thinking, well who does that? You know, who does that? I want to read more. And then the more I read, the more I read about how difficult those times were. I mean I mentioned that we had fourth of july just earlier this month. You know that time signing a document saying you want to break free from England. It wasn't just one of those things where you know this guy, he's just he's just angry at what at the king, It was treason because count as treason by by those standards. And I just really love the stories aspects, you know, and again, we mentioned our civics earlier, that's what I think is lacking most is we're not teaching civics the way I think she's being taught, it should be taught with stories. We all connect with stories and these stories are supposed to bring on motion. They're supposed to bring out the characters, the plot, the conflicts, the resolutions. But if we're if we're spewing facts from with civics, I mean facts are important, don't get me wrong, but facts alone are not gonna be able to inspire people to enter civics and enter public service because people were just like, well it just seems like something I need to study on a test. Why would I be interested in that? So that's really kind of how I also, I I got got interested in the american revolution in american history in general is just because of this compilation of stories that created the nation where I live in and I want to bring some of that too nowadays because we often feel distant from history. Perhaps we feel that it's just two different at the time and it's true that times have changed a lot. But I believe especially based on with my show, We have six pillars of Washington's farewell address that I believe are Values that don't just exist in 1796. They transcend through time. And it's really our job in this generation to make those values more real and more applicable to more people so that future generations can enjoy the freedoms that we have today.[00:14:17] Sherman: I think you're 100% correct. And one of the things that always seems to be lacking is the why? Because that explains, you know, what's the reason we have the whatever this lies or why do we have the jurisdiction set up the way we do and why do we do any of that stuff? And it it's under it's good to understand the why some of that stuff was created so long ago that maybe it's not, maybe it needs to be updated, maybe it needs to be uh you would know better than I do. But um but I think it's important to understand why did we do it that way and if there's a better way to do it going forward, that's what this generation can do or your generation or I'm old. I'm much older than I love,[00:15:05] Stuart: but I couldn't tell and I feel like we're in this together, so don't ever feel that there's a generation gap between[00:15:13] Sherman: Alright, thanks,[00:15:14] Stuart: thanks[00:15:14] Sherman: a lot for me. I don't look too bad. Just a[00:15:19] Stuart: saying goes from indiana jones, it's not the years, it's the mileage.[00:15:23] Sherman: Fair enough, fair enough. That's right. Um and so your namesake is actually based off of some of our forefathers if I'm not mistaken, correct.[00:15:35] Stuart: That's right. That's right. I have a bit of fun facts about my first name and it's quite unusual. I believe I've seen it more as a last name in certain cases. And and these two historic examples, they are the last names technically. So it's it's not it's not the exact same relevance, but close enough the first is that we have Roger Sherman who was a founder from Connecticut and he is the only founder to sign the three major documents. So we had the articles of the Declaration of Independence, the articles of confederation and the constitution. Believe there's one other major document that he signed. It's not as super irrelevant, but he signed all those and no one else has that record. So that's pretty interesting. He, I guess he had really good attendance record in school and he just kind of translated that in the government somehow. That's a[00:16:32] Sherman: great[00:16:32] Stuart: idea.[00:16:34] Sherman: Yes, garage[00:16:37] Stuart: down the street. I'm gonna for those from Rhode island, you're not going to like me when I say is, but you know, Roy Island and didn't have a lot of representives show up for the, the constitutional convention. Let's just say, um, and roger Sherman himself was able to kind of beat their record in terms of attendance. Just one lone guy from the, from the neighbor neighboring state Connecticut, but I am also named after General William Sherman who is also a controversial depending on where you're coming from. Some people from Georgia might not like him very much because of his role in the march to see which was that initiative from the union army to basically just go to the south destroy in all kinds of instruction, ripping up railroad tracks time into not. So you can't even repair them destroying crops and homes and everything that he actually, what's weird is that he actually didn't like blood and he didn't like have like actual war like people fighting. So I said, well I'm just gonna destroy stuff. So he, that's what he did. And he, he, he burned the city of Atlanta actually back in the time of the, of the civil war And when he captured Savannah, he actually captured it as a christmas present for Lincoln. He actually literally told Lincoln say here is your christmas present and it's the city of Savannah. Uh, that might've been the best gift that Lincoln probably ever got. I've never asked. I don't think anyone's ever asked him before. Santa probably would never have given him that. He can't[00:18:08] Sherman: get it down the chimney. Like it's[00:18:09] Stuart: kind of hard to fit right down down the chimney,[00:18:13] Sherman: gift wrap that, that's a big bow.[00:18:16] Stuart: So I'm also named at General Sherman because you know, as as controversial as it was, certainly back then, maybe not as much nowadays, but he was someone who truly believed in the unity of the United States. That's why he was so driven um, with his values. And he was very close to General Grant, obviously very close to Lincoln as well and he was very instrumental in not only destroying infrastructure but trying to destroy morale to and show that the north was going to win this hands down the north was going to win this. That was the message he wanted to send and I thought it was very powerful. But yeah, so there's roger Sherman and there's General Sherman to two guys share my name. I don't think they've ever probably have whatever anticipate that someone would cite them so much in their podcast and my, my podcast, but they get some recognition. So I'm giving it to them.[00:19:12] Sherman: But you know what's interesting is that, that philosophy has actually come up a couple of times because rick and morty just had an episode. I know I'm taking it to a[00:19:23] Stuart: left[00:19:23] Sherman: tangent, but the idea of going and breaking infrastructure to, to make a statement is actually, it's making a, it's coming back and I think it's interesting because this is a perfect example of, hey go back in history, take a look at, you know, this is this was the strategy. Um, of course we don't want to have to get to that. But like if somebody does want to make a statement without[00:19:50] Stuart: shedding blood[00:19:51] Sherman: shed, that's a way to do interesting. Nonetheless. Again, history repeats itself. Absolutely. Um, speaking of establishments of infrastructure, what is the one place of infrastructure that you believe is the epicenter of your political involvement? Where do you go to make things happen?[00:20:18] Stuart: Well, my favorite place to go is none other than the halls of Congress. I served as an intern in. No, no, no, no, wait[00:20:29] Sherman: a second. Are you sure you're speaking of the right place?[00:20:32] Stuart: Oh yeah. Uh, states Congress Washington dc capitol building. Okay. Congress. Yeah,[00:20:42] Sherman: no, no, no, no, no, that's okay. That's where you do all your best networking.[00:20:48] Stuart: I, I feel like you know, you know what they got, I'll tell you what and this is not a total secret. It's been obviously the capitol grounds have been closed down for a while, but there is a Dunkin Donuts in Longwood feeling by the way, I'm not being sponsored by Dunkin Donuts in this episode. I don't, if they're interested in sponsoring me, that's a whole other thing. But for the sake of this, there's a Dunkin donuts there and I have tried so many times to say, well, let's, you know, network, you know, with staffers or anyone else somewhere else because I am just so drawn to the pastries there and every single time I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna get black ice coffee, no big deal. But those, those donors just get me every time and you know that. And I just, and I've learned that you cannot network without being near coffee and sweets because they're going to get you some boy, everyone wants you to meet at a coffee shop and you're just ensconced by these delicacies that to me that Dunkin donuts in the Longworth House office building, which you guys can look it up and everything. Is[00:21:55] Sherman: that actually, I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't mean to cut you. That's actually in the Congress.[00:22:00] Stuart: Oh yeah, it's in the, it's in the house office buildings. So I'm not even joking. You can literally, when I was there, you, I've seen everyone from the american family visiting the visiting the capitol hill because at that time, back before covid when you can still visit the capital, you can roam around the house and Senate office building so you can go to these cafeterias and he's eating places. So you can have american literally like american family going, they're getting, you know, doughnuts or something and maybe next in line is a member of congress. I've seen that before. It's really, really cool. There's something about this idea of having the space communal space to, uh, chat over coffee. It might just be the stimulant aspect of caffeine, you know, or the blood sugar or something going up or something when you have a doughnut, but there's there's something very special. I'm not, I kid you not that place. I have made a lot of connections in that Dunkin donuts. I don't think[00:23:03] Sherman: any other dumb things like something in the doughnuts are in the coffee to like lower like the, the barriers so it makes it much easier to talk or it's just the endorphins of biting into an apple fritter. Like that's the thing that just that maybe maybe we just need to, like that's what we need is just constant doughnuts going through Congress and the senate.[00:23:26] Stuart: A lot of, a lot of healthy eating folks are not going to agree with me on this, but that's okay because you know do and this is America you're allowed to go to Dunkin donuts if you want to whenever you want to. But I will say there is something very unique about sitting down with someone and I don't know what it is, but I really feel like, especially if you're meeting with someone, you're talking about current issues and but you're doing it over a nice cup of coffee and doughnut. There is something about this idea of consuming and of just consuming something together because I think it kind of breaks down some, maybe some political barriers. I don't have scientific evidence of that. I'm not a scientist. I don't do this kind of research. But it'd be a good ted talk to do. Maybe it's an idea worth spreading of of having your own coffee. Maybe someone doesn't like coffee as the drink. But this idea of having a coffee doing a small activity with someone and seeing how that can break down barriers and break the ice a little bit. Because it really is such so undervalued in a lot of ways. You know having to too much virtual stuff going on. I know we're doing a virtual now just because you can't be in person but I love to meet you in person at some time. But there really is some kind of value to it. And when you have this in person gathering here, as I mentioned earlier about folks meeting up in Duncan and other parts of D. C. There is this real emphasis on meeting someone shaking their hand and having that that's all kind of conversation. There's something really valuable that we need more of that nowadays I think.[00:25:17] Sherman: But I feel like that's almost biblical. The idea of breaking bread with others. And actually having a conversation is it's always easier. Especially if it's got frosting. It makes the conversation easier. Oh yes. Much easier to[00:25:31] Stuart: say yes. Especially when they're sitting creaming it. Like it's something like one time I got this doing it, I didn't know what it was. I was like oh it looks looks good and I think buying it's got cream in it and I was like no way this, it's like a surprise and it's like this is this conversation is getting better. It's because yeah, first time speaking[00:25:48] Sherman: to. Yeah, I I often think like the best thing to do is if you're going to have a hard conversation, go grab a dozen donuts, just bring a dozen donuts and you're fine. Maybe it's something[00:25:58] Stuart: you're save some for your office if you can. But if you can't you can always get another dozen donuts.[00:26:04] Sherman: Do you have a do you have a favorite doughnut?[00:26:07] Stuart: Oh God, I love the I love the munchkins. So the munchkins are basically like a cake doughnut and they got the chocolate flavored. Oh those are those are really good. Yeah you gotta you gotta you gotta have they have they sell them like a does it? Or 10 of them were Does't but you can buy up to 50 of them. Now. I'm not I'm not going to say whether or not you should be eating 50 munchkins at a time, but it's available just[00:26:33] Sherman: I mean if you don't do it every day, just know over three times a week[00:26:37] Stuart: you got to make it special. That's[00:26:39] Sherman: the thing. You got to make[00:26:40] Stuart: this experience special. And uh it's the evening time. But luckily there's a donut shop 24 7. Not too far from here. I'm gonna try everything. I can to stay away from the place because that place is way too tempting.[00:26:55] Sherman: Yeah, I love doughnut. Um so now Dunkin Donuts is great. Have you been there where it wasn't such a great experience?[00:27:07] Stuart: Well, you know, sometimes the lines can be quite long because it's such a popular place. I mean, you gotta, you gotta keep the government fed. You know, it goes without saying um I actually joked with someone recently about how I'm really, it would be really funny if there was some kind of, you know, some kind of alleged scheme between Dunkin donuts and the federal government. I think that'd be really funny. And to see like, like, you know, looking, there was like some kind of what is it? Um not, not find, it's the other one I can remember. But anyway, it's the, it's the freedom of information for you. There you go. If there was like some kind of Foia related thing and then people discover that Dunkin donuts gets like special preferences. I'm convinced that Dunkin donuts everywhere in these federal buildings. There are in the State Department there. I believe they're in the pentagon and all kinds. So some of, you know, just some of the most important places in the world and it happens to be a Dunkin donuts. I'm gonna leave it up to the audience to determine what's going on.[00:28:08] Sherman: Uh All right,[00:28:14] Stuart: you got some homework to do Stewart?[00:28:16] Sherman: I do. I need to dig into Dunkin donuts again to Dunkin donuts.[00:28:21] Stuart: I mean, they don't say America runs on Dunkin for no reason. That's[00:28:25] Sherman: true. Oh my gosh. They tell us straight up they are the illuminati. Um, no, but I mean, I mean like what would cause something serious to happen and, and in one of the, one of the buildings there, like it, would it be like running out of coffee that would cause some issues. Right?[00:28:44] Stuart: Yeah, Yeah. Because you know, coffee and caffeine is not, is not a beverage. It's a fuel, you know, that's like, you can't drive around without gas, gasoline. So how can we expect the government run without caffeine? Right. Right.[00:28:59] Sherman: Is that what happened in january?[00:29:02] Stuart: Well, thank thank goodness. It wasn't about coffee, but obviously something, something a lot bigger. Uh,[00:29:09] Sherman: something did happen[00:29:10] Stuart: and[00:29:11] Sherman: I'm waking up to this, but like, do you have an experience with that?[00:29:16] Stuart: Yes. So I'll preface with something here. So I'm, I mentioned earlier I interned in the summer 2019, but I really wanted to any, I worked for[00:29:29] Sherman: regardless of my[00:29:29] Stuart: personal beliefs, I truly believe I need to work for both sides of the aisle, regardless of my political differences or similarities. And so I have both times that I've worked for Congress. I've worked for a different part of each time. Um, and I did the first time. Someone 2019. So I wanted to do it again in 2021 and I applied for the spring and I remember the lady asked me what date would you like to start and I was like, well, you know january is kind of a quiet month, right? So I literally just say you know what Whatever, I'll just start on January four the first week, I don't think there's gonna be anything happening then you know, I can transition into the office and well clearly I'm not a fortune teller. Uh but I was actually in lockdown as an intern on capitol hill on january six, one of the craziest moments I've ever experienced and something that I've been share a little bit about two other shows to just because more serious though, I do want to share as much of the stories I can because I want people to understand how important is to bring people together and understand how we can move forward as a nation from a very, very ugly time, you know, and that's really why I decided to be a lot more outspoken when I left my internship. It was wonderful experience, a wonderful office and wonderful member. But that day certainly was just mean, it's awfully awfully saying, you know, um I always dealing with people and say, you know when young students apply, you go, you go onto one of these sites for a member where senator or whoever, they always say like you know, an internship is a fun and exciting experience and everything. It's like, yeah, I can kind of see that after my time here um that the government was over promising. Which[00:31:26] Sherman: yeah, when you said exciting, I thought you know, maybe we'd see an argument. All right. I'm not something like this. So what does that mean when you're in lockdown? What does that mean? What and what information are you getting at that moment?[00:31:43] Stuart: Absolutely. Well, I was at work on that day. Um It was Wednesday and all I knew really was that there was gonna be restricted access to the capitol building because we're gonna have all the members there to count the electoral votes to certify the election for joe biden. But other than that, I didn't really know exactly how it was going to play out. And that all started to change when I got to the the office building and after some time I actually was was able to um get let in by my office. And I actually got my ID card that morning because they're like, we were like, oh what the heck, Just get it out of the way. It turned out to be really, really good good decision. And I remember just looking outside the window where I can where I can be in one of the office buildings on the house side. And I just saw a huge crowd right outside the capitol and look, I know dC protests, I've been d C before I've seen demonstrations and all that. Nothing like what I saw and I know when I saw that crowd right outside, I knew that this this is a totally different story. Some something's going to happen and what I can reveal. You know, there's some things that I'm not sure if I can reveal just because, you know, given the kind of complex nature of how things go. But I was actually I was evacuated the first time around lunchtime. And all I knew, all I heard was that there was a bomb outside of the RNC building. I was like, what? Like what do you mean? Like and you're just you're just in that kind of mode where it's like, you don't know what's going on and and throughout that time, all you can do is just count on what you can find out online. But you know, I was evacuated one time and then we came back and then there was another lockdown and the second I was like, again, I thought I thought, you know, because we got the all clear. I knew, I thought we got the all clear in the first time. Second time, what all we knew was that there was an intruder in the Cannon building and for those of you have been to the house side, all the buildings, there are three separate buildings, but they're all connected by a tunnel. So that person could basically be anywhere in that complex. It was just absolutely insane. And I literally was evacuated with, you know, there's staffers and journalists and members of Congress just basically running around this place. It was just absolutely crazy. Um, capitol police, I will say they have been so professional in my experience, they've done a lot to show us the way to go, ways to find a hiding spot and everything. They're just absolutely phenomenal people. And what I can just do kind of end is like kind of first part of the story here, you know, I was able to be in hiding. I was hiding for several hours and as I'm watching the live broadcast of what was happening, which is literally just happening just a few 100 ft away from several 100 ft away from where I am. And I saw that that breach, you know, the breach into the capital and my heart just sank. You know, I mentioned that I would intern summer in 2019. I was leading tours of with families across around the capital. Bill is showing them the beautiful artwork and the paintings and the sculptures and then to see something like that happened right in front of my eyes and to know that there are people who are getting hurt. Some people obviously lost their lives because of that. That really, that really made me very, very, very sad myself and I knew that however, this is gonna end for myself and for my office who were just absolutely phenomenal people again, these people I just met basically two days ago, you know, so, um, and I, I obviously trusted them because I knew that they were going to do the right thing, but I will never forget just being locked down for all these hours in a secret room there and everything knowing that when I was going to come out that I needed to be in the future, I didn't know when, right, But I needed to be very frank about why this event is important and why young people especially who are looking to enter public service, maybe some of them who might not be thinking public service right now. I I still want to let them know that it is still something to pursue. As, as a career, as something you can contribute to as the democracy that we live in this place. This country can be a place where people can pitch in their ideas, have civil conversations, have civil debates. We don't need obviously this violence and this, this atrocious bias that happened. But I know that in my heart I believe and I believe in this nation, I know we've gone through a lot of tough times. There's no question about that. However, this experience that I've shared with you guys here, just some of the things that I got to see personally when you're in that mode where you don't know really what's happening, right? Because this is a big place, Capitol Hill is quite a big place bigger than most people think when such a big place and all these people are running around you start you, you say a prayer to yourself, you pray for for those who are trying to just trying to do the right thing, you know, trying to uphold our democracy, trying to make sure that people are keeping safe and even to this day, what I will say is there's still a lot of things that we need to find out, a lot of things that we know already, however we needed. I think generally speaking, look at how we can build a better arena for political discourse and how we can have more of these. Like I mentioned about the coffees, you know, I can't emphasize that enough, you know, just having an in person feeling where you can meet somebody learn about their past, learn about why they feel the way they feel that will raise a great start, you know, and and not to mention all the delicious stuff that you can have with it, you know, So I think this is the kind of platform I'm promoting and I just, I'm so grateful for all the people I mentioned earlier, capitol police my office, my family who I was texting back and forth with during that whole lockdown period, All the friends who have reached out to me and have expressed support for me, there's so many people out there that I cannot think enough and I'm so grateful to them[00:38:17] Sherman: Yeah, I, I think you've got your, you're hitting the right thing. Like enter that building in the right way if you want to make change, if you do things like what you're doing right? Like, hey, I'm going to be involved, I'm going to go, um, volunteer my time and be a part of this process and probably later on go and actually join that entire process. I don't know if that's an aspiration of yours, but it sounds like it. So it might be that that sounds like the right way to do that.[00:38:48] Stuart: Absolutely.[00:38:49] Sherman: Yeah. I, I, and you know, we talked, we talked a lot about civics and the other thing we need, you mentioned it just now is civilities. So civility and civics should go hand in hand. That's the only way real change gonna get made. Um, powerful story. Like how terrified are you in that situation? You can't, I can't even imagine I was watching it on tv and I was like, oh my God, I'm terrified.[00:39:20] Stuart: I'll tell you my mind, my heart, we're just going a million miles away because I had a per hour because so many things were happening at the same time. You don't know what is, what is going, what is happening. You know, when you're seeing footage, right? How long ago was that footage? So that's, that's also the kind of crazy thing. Um, I, As I said, I, I had faith in my office, I had faith in the people I was with and they were just incredible people, especially, you know, I I often mention about how in Congress we can't just understand the members. We obviously vote for 535 members, but there's thousands, thousands more staffers who supported these members and they do a lot of work for these representatives. And these are the people who I got to spend a lot of time with. And they're just, I mean, our office had a really wonderful, wonderful vibe, you know, that this is kind of how it's going. Not to mention that we had, uh, we have a we had a cute dog. So that was also like probably one of the greatest sources of comfort you can always have at that time. But it was just wild. And I I didn't get home until probably about nine o'clock or so. So that was that was the longest day I ever worked technically in Congress, which was left out like a 12 hour day. I didn't spend 12 hours any, any time in the future after that. That was the longest time ever been in on capitol Hill. I will, what I will say is, you know, you watched on tv everyone that's the thing. Everyone's had their own personal experience. But I also want to make sure that my message to everybody is on this topic is you have the power to be able to red wine and do something good to serve our democracy. You know, it affects when when I see that it's not just the capital building, it's not just run by the federal government, it's the people's house. And so we are the people obviously. And so when something like this happens, it must be made relevant to people. And people need to get the answers and understand how they can make our democracy better because I can tell you that, you know, the Justice Department a and the FBI they're doing their job and going after the folks who uh under the capital and did all that harm the folks. That's the I really appreciate your job the other than though I think in a larger picture is what you were saying, sewer, which is having a system of civility, making sure that we're not just thinking, okay, what are the policies coming up this Congress maybe thinking how do we actually do things in congress? How do we actually in the in the future? I've been talking about some of some of the stuff recently, which is about advanced technologies with ai now you can make so as someone said something, even though they didn't. So the idea of the in person meeting and maybe the town hall meeting with someone that could matter a whole lot more in the future because otherwise we can't just be relying on everything that we see on the internet clearly. And so these are the kinds of things I'm also thinking about. But it's, it's gonna be a journey. I'm so, I'm glad that the fence has come down. I had to see that ugly fence for so long. It really, it really feels like a fortress, You know, when you see that outside perimeter and you got to go through that every single day, um, the barbed wire and everything, it[00:42:44] Sherman: was weird that it's domestic people working. Yes, that's right. That's the weirdest part.[00:42:49] Stuart: Exactly, yes, Exactly. Because the family, they initially they have the outside perimeter, then they shifted it more closer to the capitol building. So it was more open. Maybe like in the last month I was there. But it was just like, man, that's just, I, I was, I'll never forget, you know, I'll never forget walking by that fence every single day. You know, I had to uh, it didn't help that I had to also across the other side of the street because that fence was so big and I just took out one end of the studio, I was like, oh man, I got across the street again, You know, it was[00:43:23] Sherman: extra steps,[00:43:25] Stuart: right? Exactly. Oh my God. It was like, I know they had to put together a fence pretty quickly, but it was my point is my, my time in Congress clearly is nothing like I ever imagined. I don't know how I would when people ask me in the future, especially students who are interested working from Congress, I'm gonna any time any more time anyone asked me, oh, how is your experience or what would you say to someone who's looking to work for Congress? Almost like I'm gonna be like, so how much time do you have? Because I'm gonna, I'm gonna be talking for a while. You better sit down, maybe have a cup of coffee or a doughnut and just listen to me speak for an hour and let me explain to you as much as I can and what I've gone through myself. So, but crazy, crazy times. And I just hope that, um, I can be one of those guys to just spread a positive message and a positive message to all of you guys and to other audiences because I just believe in that value. Believe that value of sharing people, what I've gone through what I believe in, but also do my part to say, look, you're, you're my, you're my, you're my friends and fellow citizens. We got, we got to come together, we got to find ways to unite.[00:44:48] Sherman: I think that's beautiful. All right, well it has been about, it's been a little over half an hour but great conversation. However, it is now time to record a sketch. Well, I don't know about you, but no matter how hidden that room was, I'd still be terrified. Hey, I feel obligated to let you know that about half of this entire interview process is actually still on my hard drive or if you are interested and you would like to hear more about the hidden room and some other things that we didn't get to get into on the podcast. Head to Patreon dot com because I've got the entire video interview available to my patrons for as little as a dollar a month. That's right. Go to patreon dot com slash sketch com pod and for a dollar a month you can get all the salacious details of all of the interviews I've ever done. Now that I'm done with my shameless plug Sherman, what would you like to shamelessly plug[00:45:54] Stuart: my podcast again is called Friends and Fellow citizens. You can check out that podcast on my website which is down the banner below. One of the show notes below. Um, but you can also look up friends and fellow citizens on your favorite podcast app. It is a show that is dedicated to upholding the six principles of Washington's farewell address and applying those principles to today.[00:46:20] Sherman: I highly suggest that you take a trip over to Itunes or wherever you listen to podcasts and hit the subscribe button on Sherman's show. It is absolutely fantastic. And now our sketch, our constituents phone calls are of the utmost importance in three two.[00:46:45] Stuart: Hello, thank you for calling the office of Representative George Washington. How may I help you?[00:46:49] Sherman: I said quiet down. I'm trying to Hi hi, who am I talking to?[00:46:55] Stuart: This is Sherman speaking from congressman George Washington's office. How may I help you?[00:47:00] Sherman: I'm so happy you picked up the phone. I'm here with my family. My kids are going crazy. What is how do I get to? What's the guy with the top hat? The president guy with the top hat.[00:47:13] Stuart: I believe you're talking about Abraham Lincoln,[00:47:17] Sherman: That guy. Yeah, yeah. So he's got like a place where he sits. Right? How do I get there from the big, the big pencil thing with the pool[00:47:26] Stuart: sir. The pencil thing you're referring to is not the characterization that our office would use a monument that that clearly shows that our office has done enough for the nation to be known as a monument called the Washington monument.[00:47:40] Sherman: Yeah. Hey, get out of the pool. What did I tell you? I don't know what's in there, grab some change. All right. So how do I get there? Do I? Is it? Where do I turn right? Because it looks like I turn right, am I wrong?[00:47:53] Stuart: So sir, if you keep walking towards the pointy towards the pointy object which you refer to which I referred to as the monument, you should be able to see it. It's tall enough to be able to be seen from a great distance. Once in turn towards a giant building with a lot of columns and there's actually a man seated there. Not an actual man, but an actual statue of Abraham Lincoln[00:48:19] Sherman: Alright, do they sell T shirts there?[00:48:21] Stuart: Well, I can't speak on behalf of the representative, you know, in this nation. Representative Washington truly believes in the idea of capitalism of having a free market and you know, you have the option to purchase a T shirt if you so choose to,[00:48:37] Sherman: Hey, put that down. It looks dead. My problem is my kids ate ice cream. We've got ice cream all over them. I need to get them a T shirt to cover up the ice cream just to replace it because they look like put it down. They look like slobs. So just keep walking towards the big pointy thing. All right, thanks[00:48:54] Stuart: donald trump. Oh, have a great day. Thank you for calling. Hello. Thank you for calling the office of representative George Washington. How may I help you? Yes,[00:49:05] Sherman: I would like to talk to the representative. I have an idea for[00:49:09] Stuart: a really[00:49:10] Sherman: good weapon system.[00:49:12] Stuart: Unfortunately Representative is unavailable at the moment, but I'm happy to pass along concern for you if you like.[00:49:18] Sherman: Oh, I appreciate that. What I'm going to suggest is that we we have so many pets in this country. So many pets and people just do not get their pets neutered or spade. You know, like bob barker used to tell us to do. And so what I was thinking was instead of instead of guns, Maybe we could just they all have collars. we could just attach some sort of explosive device to their next. And then that way we could be safer as a[00:49:51] Stuart: country. I appreciate your concern about public safety. As you might know represented Washington truly cares about the livelihoods of everyone here in the United States, he puts as a top priority. And while the congressman has not been able to examine this issue further, I can tell you that he's very, very committed to ensuring that the people of his district and kept safe and I will be sure to pass your message on. I[00:50:19] Sherman: don't have any pets myself, but my neighbors all have pets and they're terrible. They come over and they poop all over the lawn and they bite and bark and now and they're very loud. But I think they would be really effective weapons if we just attach large explosives to their necks. And then when we get invaded we just sit them, maybe spray bacon on the enemies and then have the pets go after them. Why? I think this is a good idea.[00:50:51] Stuart: Well, it's unfortunate to hear about the circumstances which you're living in right now. Um, if I can come on one thing, you know, bacon is definitely very, very important commodity here in the United States and Representative Washington truly cares about the bacon, making sure that the bacon can land on americans breakfast plates as as quick as possible. So he definitely can absolutely advocate for that. But you know, again, I'm sorry to hear about the circumstances you're going through. Uh, it sounds like a very unfortunate happening in your neighborhood, but I'm happy to speak to represent Washington about that. And you can consider some legislation. We look forward to hearing from our constituents about this issue. If you so choose.[00:51:35] Sherman: Does the representative have a pet? I could, I could design one of these incentives as a sample.[00:51:41] Stuart: There are a number of horses queen with growing up himself. I cannot comment at this time about the state of pets in our office. That is that is outside of our jurisdiction here on the phone, whether it's horses, dogs, cats, they're part of the american family and we absolutely have to do everything we can in our power to make sure that they, that they have the, the, the equal rights that all the human beings have as well.[00:52:07] Sherman: Alright, so a horse. I'll send a horse. Thank you.[00:52:14] Stuart: Hello, thank you for calling the office represented George Washington. How may I help you?[00:52:17] Sherman: Hi, who am I speaking to?[00:52:19] Stuart: This is Sherman from congressman Washington's office.[00:52:22] Sherman: Excellent Sherman, thank you so much for taking my call. I really appreciate representative Washington and I know that I'm calling the right person. I am so excited to to get a chance to speak to you. Sherman do you have a little time.[00:52:36] Stuart: Absolutely sir.[00:52:36] Sherman: So first off, I want to say that the Congressman's decision on Bill 397 was phenomenal. I just want to say that I sided with everything he put down and all of his arguments were fantastic. I do have a little concern and I'm hoping I can, I can talk to you about. Absolutes, sir. And this will get to the representatives.[00:52:57] Stuart: Absolutely be sure to pass that London right after a call.[00:53:00] Sherman: Okay. I'm concerned about the reptile. Ian's in Congress. One excruciating hour later. I don't know if you can hear in the background. I have captured 500 live flies just in case. Representative Washington wants to have a discussion. I've got these here for him. Let's let's set up a meeting.[00:53:18] Stuart: I'll be sure to pass the information along as quickly as possible.[00:53:21] Sherman: Thank you so much.[00:53:23] Stuart: You're very welcome to have a great day. Hello. Thank you for calling the office representing Washington. How may I help you?[00:53:31] Sherman: Sherman? I've got the three dozen fly and crusted doughnuts ready for the congressman. Where would you like me to drop these off. Thank you so much for joining us for sketch comedy podcast show. We hope you enjoyed listening to it as much as we enjoyed. Making it. Make sure to head over to sketch comedy podcast show dot com. There. You can subscribe to the show. Head over to youtube and watch some of the videos and sketches we've done there. Maybe head over to Patreon and become a patron to the show, That would be so much appreciated. Or you can leave a review someplace or if you're feeling really saucy apply to be on the show. I appreciate every single one of you that listens to the show and I would love to hear more from you Now. I got to get this out of the way, sketch comedy podcast show is protected under a creative commons attribution, no derivatives 4.0 international license, which means that if you would like to reproduce anything in the show, please contact the show so that I can get you the right material for it. 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