Special Debate Edition: Buy, Sell, or Hold with Delegates Alfonso Lopez, Cia Price and Marcus Simon
On this special edition live-to-tape game show, Michael sits down with Delegate Alfonso Lopez, Delegate Marcus Simon, and Delegate Cia Price to get their reactions to a variety of topics, including President Biden's debate performance, mute buttons, message discipline, bowties, and urban legends surrounding the Washington statue in Richmond.
Episode Transcript
Michael Pope
All right, so it's time for everybody's favorite game show: buy, sell, or hold. Normally, we do this with the Pod Virginia all-stars, but we're down two all-stars. Sarah Taylor is not here, and leader Surrovell, well, who knows where he is. We are here in the office of Delegate Alfonso Lopez, who has opened up his office. We are joined by pinch-hitting all-star Cia Price. Thanks for coming back to Pod Virginia.
Cia Price
Yes, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure to be here with you. I am an all-star, so get that together.
Michael Pope
You got it. We are on the 10th floor in Delegate Alfonso Lopez's office. Thanks for opening your office yet again.
Alfonso Lopez
Always happy to have the All-Stars and Michael. I look forward to the game show.
Michael Pope
We are also joined by birthday boy All-Star Marcus Simon. Thanks for coming back to Pod Virginia.
Marcus Simon
Hey, happy to be here. Happy to be in the much superior office, Delegate Alfonso Lopez's office. He's absolutely right. My office is terribly inferior to the all-star office of the first All-Star.
Michael Pope
All right, our first topic is all-star Cia Price. The rules of the game are very simple. I'm going to throw out a topic you can either buy, sell, or hold. But you want to be careful about when you decide to hold because there is social stigma. So be careful when you decide to hold. Topic one, this goes to you, Delegate Cia Price: summertime special sessions; here we are in June, and you guys are meeting at the Capitol building to buy, sell, or hold on summertime special sessions.
Cia Price
I am a buy on special sessions whenever there is a business that we need to attend to. I'm especially a buy in the new building where the AC is working. So that has been great.
Michael Pope
The AC is working. It's nice and cool in here. Delegate Alfonso Lopez buy, sell, or hold on summertime special sessions?
Alfonso Lopez
Buy on summertime special sessions. Especially because we're getting some good work done, some stuff that needs to happen. Also, I get to see people in summer suits, as opposed to these heavy, dull winter suits.
Michael Pope
Seersucker suits are very popular this time of year. Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on summertime special session.
Marcus Simon
So, I'm going to reject the premise of your question because these sessions are no longer special, right?
Michael Pope
I mean, we're not here to say you have to say somebody's gotta. Say it. Right.
Marcus Simon
We're here so often. I will remind you. We talked about whether we'd be back for another special session on the last buy, sell, or hold. Scott and I were kind of you accused us of being sort of pedantic about it were like, No, there's not gonna be another special session. We will just continue the not-so-special session that we're in. I do agree with Delegate Lopez. I do enjoy coming to the General Assembly in the summertime. I saw a lot of tan suits today. I was a little disappointed. I didn't see any serious suckers. I mean, maybe they're going out of fashion, but maybe we need to raise the per diem for summer special sessions so that we can get summer suits to wear.
Michael Pope
Wasn't the clerk wearing seersucker?
Marcus Simon
You know what? The clerk was wearing a seersucker, and maybe then we'll talk about later, no socks.
Michael Pope
I believe that is on our list. Do you preview the upcoming attractions I buy, sell, or hold? This next question goes to Delegate Alfonso Lopez first: buckle up and replace Biden on the ticket? Are you a buy, sell, or hold.
Alfonso Lopez
The debate was last night. I am a sell-on replacing the President of the United States. He has had an incredible, some would say, historic record of achievements; post-COVID, getting us and keeping the economy going, everything he's done in terms of the IRA and the big L and the bipartisan infrastructure law. I think people should remember that Kerry won one of his debates. Barack Obama's first debate was not so great. I would like to measure a man by the record of achievement that they've done while the President of the United States vs. an opponent who, let's be very clear, was lying every chance he could, sometimes two or three times in response to one question that he wasn't really answering. To say that from a stylistic perspective, one person won, and that should carry the day, vs. a substance perspective, is problematic for me. We'll see what happens over the next several months. I am a sell on replacing prison in the United States.
Michael Pope
All right, Delegate Marcus Simon. Do you buy, sell, or hold on to replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate on the ticket?
Marcus Simon
I'm gonna say, for the record, it's cuz I got in trouble last night and took some controversial takes. I got in a little bit of trouble on Twitter, but not that much trouble. So sometimes we're bored, and we all say the exact same things. I'm gonna be a little controversial here. I'm going to take the social stigma, but I'm gonna hold. I'm gonna be honest with you. What we saw last night was not an acceptable performance for the President. I don't know what was going on. I don't know if he had a cold, if he had the flu, if he wasn't feeling 100%. Maybe his folks thought it was worse to try and cancel than to try and let them perform. But I mean, the eye test is the eye test. We all saw what we saw. There's no use pretending that now. It doesn't take anything away from his record of accomplishments. Running a presidential campaign is not reading a list of accomplishments. I think this is something Democrats are sort of stuck in this trap. And we want to read a list of all the great things that we've done. Voters don't respond to those lists; they want to hear a story. And the story right now. That there's running about that debate is he did not look like someone who is up to the task. And whether that's true or not. But that's a true story or not. That's the story that's in people's minds. And if we can't get that story out of people's minds, we need to be open to the possibility if he doesn't recover, if he doesn't get better. I mean, 80-year-old people sometimes get sick, and they don't bounce right back. So, I'm going to be on hold. I love that the President might not have everything he's accomplished. But he's got to be able to do better.
Michael Pope
Delegates, Cia Price. All-star Cia Price, do you buy, sell, or hold on to replacing Joe Biden on the ticket?
Cia Price
Yeah, I don't care if I get booed. I'm also a hold for very similar reasons. To be very specific, this answer is not directed at the President necessarily, as the campaign. The President has the job of running our nation. I was just at the White House, and we had a convening of state legislators on the things that we've been able to do in order to reduce gun violence across the nation. Amazing things, the man has done more than 40 executive orders. This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. I do believe that the future of the United States, as far as gun violence prevention, civil rights, people believe in being able to have autonomy over their own bodies, all of that is at stake. I'm not taking any of that away. But suppose we, as Democrats, cannot come together in order to sell that message, sell the truth of what has happened and the vision of what can happen with President Biden in the next term. In that case, we are failing the country. Because there is so much at stake, and you guys know my story, I am young-ish, Black, queer, neurodivergent. I do not know that I sleep more than three hours a night thinking about everything that is at stake. Congressman Scott was just talking about how if we lost this election, we'd lose the Supreme Court for 20 years; this is not a joke. But if the people were asking to vote and are basing it off of yesterday's performance, then we're in trouble. If we're able to come back and tell the story of what that man has done. What we as Democrats have done and what we will do; okay, cool. But it hasn't even been 24 hours. I'm not sure where we are as a party, as a nation, or what the voters are saying just yet. I'm going to stand on my own.
Michael Pope
All right, the next question is somewhat related. Do you buy, sell, or hold on to the mute button? Would it be great if life had a mute button where you could just mute Alfonso Lopez anytime he wants to speak? Delegate Marcus Simon, do you buy, sell, or hold on to the mute button?
Marcus Simon
Everyone keeps stealing my joke. My lines, you know, Alfonzo stole one line about the summer suits. And here, you've already known the mute button for a little bit. We've tried this. I mean, this is a single mic format, where you repeatedly told us, and we can still hear him blathering; you cannot speak unless the mic is. Wow. So he just gets louder, even if the microphone is not here, to make sure he can be heard. So I have a big buy on the mute button. An effective mute button would be great. I mean, it's one of those things. It's interesting. You got to be careful, right? I mean, the mute button works both ways. And I think that you know, there were some sound bites. President Biden just couldn't get out before the mic cut off. So it was fair; it was legit. I do think it was a much more orderly debate. I will say. I thought that things went better. There was no screaming, shouting, none of this sort of pissing match for who can be louder dominate the stage when you did have the opportunity to speak when it wasn't your turn. So I'm gonna buy on the mute button. And again, I am a big buy. It gives me one that works on Alfonso.
Michael Pope
All right, Delegate Cia Price, do you buy, sell, or hold on to the mute button?
Cia Price
Yeah, I'm definitely a buy. What I appreciated was being able to clearly hear one at a time. We could clearly hear all of the lies that came out of Trump's mouth. I think the initial inclination for any of us who know the truth would be to yell the truth while he's lying. So, I think that the mute button did help us to gather all of the sounds of the numerous lies that were being fact-checked in real-time on social media. But the one thing that I would change is the media not being mute on fact-checking, right? Actually, participating in Hey, well, don't just say thank you when somebody says a dangerous and obvious lie. But when it comes to having one person speak at a time, in any of these types of arenas, I do think that's a better way for people to actually hear what someone says.
Michael Pope
All right, I'm almost reluctant to ask, but I will anyway. Delegate Alfonso Lopez, do you buy, sell, or hold on to the mute button?
Alfonso Lopez
I'm a buy on the mute button. Cia just stole my line, but I think we also need a fact-check button. What I was sort of upset about last night, not upset but frustrated about last night, was the fact that no one was fact-checking some of your words, not mine blather that was coming out of President Trump's mouth. The fact that he was just with impunity, saying things that were really out of turn, in terms of just basic facts, like accusing Nancy Pelosi of being at fault for January 6th, repeatedly, was absurd. Considering what everybody knows, I mean, if you put the word gaslight in the dictionary, it has Donald Trump's face next to the definition. Yeah. So along those lines, though, let me just tell everybody out there who's listening; all five of you. I live with or used to live with and sit next to Marcus Simon's idea that you know how, like on the debate last night, Trump would talk about stuff that obviously he had done but accused Biden of doing it. That's basically Marcus Simon accusing others of what he does on a constant basis. And so yeah, it's, it's called, it's called, it's called, is on mute because it's actually Marcus.
Michael Pope
All right, we're going to move on to our next topic. Cia Price, you're first on this one and its message discipline. After your special session, I was trying to get audio from members of the House, and you guys were having your message discipline. Because you want the leadership people to speak. Message discipline, do you buy, sell, or hold?
Cia Price
I am definitely a Buy on message discipline. At least one of you out there just laughed out loud because you might have known me in my earlier years. But I do think there's strength in unity, especially with AI. What I appreciate about the House caucus is that since you spoke about us, we have loved talking to you. We do, but there are some times when decisions are being made that the people making those decisions are the best ones to communicate about those decisions. And not get it interpreted from third, fourth, or hand information. So, I think that today was one of those examples. Our leader, Speaker Scott, is more than capable of telling you exactly what is going on. You guys love to ask about what other people are going to do and what do we think other people are going to do? I've not been in those rooms, right? So that's not a question for me to answer. Now, if you think about our thoughts and feelings and our personal stories, of course, we can share those. But I do realize in my group what message discipline can do to further help a cause that you care very passionately about and what inadvertent consequences can happen when you just blow off because you're upset about something. And I'm not saying be censored or anything like that, but just growing and maturing in the role, being able to see the value of it.
Michael Pope
Well, it's difficult from a media perspective because I need a sound to put on the radio. If no one is speaking, then I have to find other ways to get my sound. Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on message discipline.
Alfonso Lopez
See, you see, you hold on for a second here. Did you mean to lie to Mike like that? You shouldn't have lied to Mike like that. No one wants to talk to him. Nobody. Nobody wants to talk. Two, oh yeah, oh hey Mike, hey, how are you doing? It's it's discipline messages one. Yeah. I'm a big buy of messages. Yeah, yeah. See, we should talk later. Okay.
Michael Pope
Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on message discipline?
Marcus Simon
So I am a buy on democratic message discipline, and I am a sell on Republican message discipline, always the naked partisan here. I'm a buy on it when it works. I think the fact that you're seeing it, to be honest with us, alluded to this a little bit. It's a sign of confidence in our leadership right when you hear leaks out of caucuses and when you hear people putting themselves in front of the collective. That's how the Senate works that well, but I'm not talking about the Senate. I'm talking about the Republicans, maybe the Senate. But when there are leaks when they're people, they're putting, oh, look, they're putting themselves first. It's because they don't believe in their leadership's message. There have been times when leaks are valuable if you believe that the whole group is being led off a cliff or in the wrong direction. Sometimes, there's some value in some of the only outlets you've got to sort of correct or force course correction, which is to involve the media and get the message out to a larger audience. So I do think sometimes there's a time for some strategic leakage, but when you see the entire caucus being that disciplined, it means that we are hearing a message. We're hearing a plan, and we've got confidence in our leader's ability to execute the plan and that it's the right plan. So I'm a buyer of it. I am a buyer on the other side leaking the hell out of their plans because they've got terrible leadership, whichever you wanna call the other side. That's, that's up to you. I'm saying the Republican stuff.
Michael Pope
All right, we're moving on to our next topic, which will go to Delegate Alfonso Lopez first. This is a fashion topic: the bow tie. I own one bow tie, but I've never worn it in public because every time I put it on, I feel like I look silly. Buy, sell, or hold on to the bow tie.
Alfonso Lopez
You look silly in a lot of stuff. I am buying bow ties, but Bow ties are awesome.
Michael Pope
Short and succinct and to the point, okay, Delegate Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on the bow tie?
Marcus Simon
Instead of relying on base, our holders need to retain Michael Pope's roast. Like the roast of Tom Brady, make us a Netflix special. So I am a sell on the bowtie mostly for myself. Here's my sell-on as well. I saw this when I first started working in Richmond in 1992 when I was working for Jim Scott. I would see people from Northern Virginia come down to Richmond. Then they kind of put it almost like an affectation, right? They wanted to be a little more folksy, a little more country, you know, a little more southern. So then they would suddenly start wearing the bowtie. They never had before, so I also find them incredibly difficult to tie. I've tried and tried and tried to clip on, and they are fine.
Michael Pope
Unless you take the Chap Peterson approach.
Marcus Simon
You named the name, but anyway, again, I didn't say Chap. It was an epic, anyway. You know I'm generally a sell. As somebody who grew up in Fairfax County, he had a southern drawl for somewhere anyway. I've had so much trouble with the bow ties.
Michael Pope
Okay, Delegates Cia Price, buy, sell, or hold on to the bow tie?
Cia Price
I am okay with you showing up in anything you need to wear to come prepared to do the work. However, I am more interested in whether you have read the bills and are ready to vote, hopefully in the right way. I am not looking at your tie, and I couldn't care less.
Michael Pope
Well, it is easy for you to say you're the most blinged-out person in this room.
Cia Price
Well, I also don't know how to tie a bow tie, so you know that's for you.
Michael Pope
All right. We're going to move on to our next topic. Marcus Simon is first on this discussion of Canadians and hockey on Pod Virginia. Buy, sell, or hold?
Marcus Simon
Well, now I gotta decide whether this is like a Michael Pope love fest or a Michael Pope roast.
Michael Pope
This is not involving me. This is Cameron Thompson. I was not around.
Marcus Simon
Yeah, but the problem was that you weren't here, and I missed you. It's big shoes to fill. I have no problem. We had an opportunity to talk to Cameron. So I'm gonna say I am a hold. Buy all you want is a little conditional love. I think that he did his best to suppress the accent and a lot of past those Mala sarees. If that's how Canadians even talk, it's a horrible
Alfonso Lopez
church accent because your
Marcus Simon
church accent, anyway. So yeah, I mean, I don't know, the Kenyans can call. I'm all for open borders and lots of people being able to participate. Yes.
Michael Pope
Delegate Cia Price, do you buy, sell, or hold to Canadians and hockey on Pod Virginia?
Cia Price
I'm a buy on the topic. But I don't know that I follow the sport. It was cute to hear him, with his passion, talk about it; that was just fun to hear. I do appreciate the fact that you needed a vacation. I love that for you. I love self-care. But I'm not sure that I'm rooting for any Canadian teams over American teams. But I also don't watch hockey, so I will start watching hockey if that's what it takes to be a guest on your show. I'm a buy.
Michael Pope
came back from the beach with a tan. Still, you see my 10 delegates, Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on Canadians and hockey on Pod Virginia.
Alfonso Lopez
We're more of a baseball podcast, and we can just focus on that. That would be much healthier, I think, for all listeners of poverty.
Cia Price
Gotta get some letters on that one.
Michael Pope
Our next topic is Cia Price and its acronyms. This is a pet peeve of mine because I refuse to save them, step on the radio, buy, sell, or hold on. This is pocket buy, but we still hold on to the troubling use of acronyms in our lives.
Cia Price
No, I am a sell on that. It was a whole new language to learn when I first got here in 2016. And it is also a barrier for everyday people who are trying to follow the work that we're doing. And so I'm a sell on that if it takes a few more, you know, seconds to say the whole thing, or at least in everything you print, make sure that you're, you know, putting what the whole thing means and even what they do and who they are. And so I think, when I, if I were to say to someone back home, that wasn't a veteran, yeah, I'm going to a special session for a VIMS, that, like, it would not have resonated. Still, then once you say okay, this is what we're going to do, this is what we're going to do. And this is what we're hoping to do in the future. It was a more hearty conversation. So I think it helps make government more accessible to the average person. It's also helpful for some of us who are still learning some of these.
Michael Pope
I was trying to persuade all my colleagues in the media to talk about benefits for veterans and their families and focus on the word benefits because VIMS dead people just don't know what the heck it is, right? It is so that Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell or, hold on to the use of acronyms.
Alfonso Lopez
For practical purposes, sell for the fact that we want the government to be accessible; we want it to be easily understandable. And I think what happens all the time is some people are in the weeds on this. Assume that everyone's in the weeds on this. And in fact, that's not the case. And so we want to do exactly what the Cia just said, which is to explain the definition of what you're talking about and explain the importance of what you're talking about. But then, if using an acronym helps with the continuing conversation, you should do it that way; it's
Michael Pope
easy to be in a bubble when you're up here on the 10th floor, the rarefied 10th floor with this incredible view, Delegate Marcus, Simon buy, sell, or hold on to the use of acronyms.
Marcus Simon
So if they're easy to pronounce, and they're funny, and I think I could be my; I mean, I'm thinking about the fraternal union of champion kickboxers. Eating rice and such, right. I mean, that would be a great acronym. You could just say that right out loud.
Michael Pope
To Antonin Scalia School of Law, right?
Marcus Simon
I thought that was a great one. No, I agree. I'm a big sell on the acronyms. And for all the same reasons we've heard, which is that it's creating a special code, right, and creating a little club that excludes everybody else. You're on the inside because we know what all these things mean. I started in the military when I was an Army Jag; everything had an acronym. When I was in the county government, I tried to encourage more authorities to stop using secret language and use words that everybody could understand. And so I am a sell on the overuse of acronyms. But again, funny, amusing ones, maybe sometimes unintentionally funny. Yeah, you've got to have room for that.
Michael Pope
All right, our next topic goes to delegate Alfonso Lopez. And it is this sports metaphor. So now that the House has taken action, the ball was in the Senate guard, and that's a sports metaphor and Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell or hold on the use of sports metaphors, once
Alfonso Lopez
Again, we are trying to make government more accessible to folks if that helps people understand the process. It's a touchdown, a touchdown, and a home run. So there you go. I'm a buy.
Michael Pope
Own goal for delegate Lopez. Okay, Delegate them or hold on to the sports metaphor.
Marcus Simon
I am. I'm gonna say that I'm a cell, and then I'm gonna hope that nobody pulls tape of me using a whole lot of sports metaphor. Supercat, the supercar, just hit the super guys coming to Florida House. All right. I mean, you know, you're constantly moving the goalposts on us and, you know, all those sorts of things. You know, I think that we probably just like any other kind of cliche; sometimes it's just a little bit of a lazy way not to totally disagree with Alfonso Lopez, who likes the lazy way. Still, I think sometimes it is a little bit of a crutch. It's just me. Well, I mean, who was the roaster of Alfonso Lopez or Michael Pope? Anyway? No, I generally have a cell, and it's a shorthand, and I get it. It's convenient, it makes it accessible. But I think sometimes there are better ways to say what we're trying to say. And then it's not just sports metaphors; guard rails are another one of these, as I'm sort of getting tired of guard rails being overused and peace in the valley. And some of these isms like the acronyms, they can tend to be inside baseball and let's, you know, think a little bit, pick the right words and say what we mean.
Michael Pope
All right, Delegate Cia Price buy, sell or hold on the use of sports metaphor?
Cia Price
Yeah, I'm gonna sell as well, especially when y'all will some of y'all use them that are for sports that we don't watch, like highlight. I just have many of them. Yes. But, like, you know, and I think the same goes for some of the younger members. And I had to remember, we can't just all use phrases from early 2000s movies and talk to some of the older members either, right? If the point is about communication, it can't be all sports metaphors that no one knows or all tick-tock slang, right? So there has to be an understanding that I'm more interested in you understanding and hearing what I'm saying, and then I look cool or take the lazy way out. And so I think just by being intentional and cognizant of how the words could be hitting, we could all take a little play from that.
Michael Pope
All right, this next topic goes to Marcus Simon first. It was suggested by one of my colleagues in the media. It's about the summertime staple of hot dogs. Do you like mustard or ketchup on your hot dogs? I'm going to ask the question this way: Buy, sell, or hold on mustard on your hot dog.
Marcus Simon
Okay, so I am a buy on mustard. And actually, although I've never been to Chicago, I've been to Chicago once; I do have family from Chicago. I actually like the Chicago-style hot dog where they kind of opened it but relish all kinds of stuff on it, and they really do a big deal. Ketchup on hotdogs, though, is gross to me. So, I've always been a mustard-on-hot dog kind of a person. Me too. I'll take onions, relish chili, vegetables, cheese, and all that stuff on a hotdog with just no ketchup.
Michael Pope
No ketchup. You heard it here first, folks, from Marcus Simon. I'm getting a quizzical look from Delegate Cia Price. Should I buy, sell, or hold on mustard on your hot dog?
Cia Price
I am absolutely sold on anything on my hot dog. Why would I desecrate my hot dog with any of those sauces? I am a plain hot dog girl, and definitely not what Marcus has just said. If I had to pick one, it would be ketchup and ketchup alone.
Michael Pope
Okay, very clear opinions here. This is this topic that's really digging down deep, and delegate Alfonso Lopez to buy, sell, or hold on mustard on your hotdog?
Alfonso Lopez
I'm a buy on mustard on my hot dog, and what usually happens is I'll have relish, ketchup, or mustard. However, Marcus actually took away what I was going to say, which is Ben's Chili Bowl. What you do is you don't get the cheese; you just get the chili and the hotdog and have it be half-smoke, and that's amazing.
Michael Pope
All right, our next topic goes to Cia Price first, and it is this: the European honeybee as the official pollinator of Virginia buy, sell, or hold.
Cia Price
I'm gonna go with buy because I really respect and love my friend delegate Patrick. Other than that, I have other comments. But what in the world? No, it's so funny. Um, one of the oddest moments of bipartisanship that I've experienced in my tenure with is so sorry. But when we, in general laws absolutely crushed the hopes of a group of children trying to make a certain salamander, the salamander of Virginia, because it was dumb and it was just like we're doing all of these things for Virginia, and I know that it means so much to someone. But you know, when we pack up and leave our families to come to Richmond and make life-changing decisions within our committee work, I just don't know that the be of Virginia mattered enough. It's the European. Oh my gosh, but again, hey, Patrick, I love you.
Michael Pope
Delegate Alfonso Lopez: Buy, sell, or hold on to the European honeybee as Virginia's official state pollinator.
Alfonso Lopez
I'm a hold on to the European honeybee, which is a nonnative species. Still, it was recently told to me that milk is also a nonnative species, and that's our state drink. The official state beverage of Virginia is milk. So honestly, The Love Patrick butts don't know about the European honeybee.
Michael Pope
Okay, well, it's not really popular in this room. Delegate Marcus, buy, sell, or hold on to the European honeybee, Virginia's official state pollinator.
Marcus Simon
So, my favorite assignment is that I've got the General Assembly as the subcommittee chair for the civil law subcommittee, which is appointed by the chair of courts, Patrick Hope. So, with that background. I'd like to say I am a spy on the European honeybee as the state pollinator. What a brilliant idea from a brilliant delegate. Pure genius. I will add one quick story. I do remember that it was 2020 when we had all these. I think we had one day when we picked a subcommittee to hear all the emblems of the state. We weren't going to do it, but with considerable House, I think, who had a state song, and we let her perform it was just so bad I think we'll do this we ended up carrying it over so we can study whether or not that was the best song or not just wasn't gonna cut it. So, the state hormones are always tricky for us as legislators, but I am a buyer. Of course, you're behind the easy no-brainer. Patrick Hope is a genius.
Michael Pope
All right, moving on to our next topic. I believe Alfonso Lopez is the first to do this. Okay. And the absence of Sarah Taylor and Scott Surovell in this game show. Buy, sell, or hold on to Sarah and Scott's absence.
Alfonso Lopez
I am a sell on Sarah and Scott not being here. I missed them. They are good friends, brilliant people, and amazing additions to any buy, sell, or hold game show. However, I think we should go to five, and Cia should be part of our team.
Michael Pope
We would need more microphones for that. Marcus Simon, buy, sell, or hold on. Sarah Taylor and Scott Surrovell are not here for this game show.
Marcus Simon
I don't think I should be hissed for this answer because there's a good reason I'm gonna be on hold. But it's because I am a buy on Surrovell not being here. I am a sell on Sarah Taylor, and you give us a compound question like that, which is just not fair, Michael. No, I miss them both. I think that it's good when they're here. I guess there's some value in getting the Senate's perspective because I guess my bills next year will have to get through the Senate. So yeah, we'd like the Senate to be Sure. I do miss Sarah Taylor being here and was looking forward to hearing about her new gig. I won't confirm or deny that she might be texting me some of my funnier lines as I go third. It could be happening, yeah.
Michael Pope
Well, we're all sad that Sarah Taylor is not here, but we're glad that Cia Price is joining us with the All Stars buy, sell, or hold on Sarah Taylor and Scott Surrovell's absence today.
Cia Price
Yeah, I'm gonna sell even though I get to hang out with you. I know that they love being with you all. And it's funny because when I listen to the show, I can yell at all of the wrong answers that Senator Suroveel gives; I mean, when he gives important and very insightful hot takes. Yeah, right. Love you, Scott. But no, I think you all have a great Northern Virginia thing going on. Still, you get some geographical diversity today, so I'm glad to be here. But I know that they miss it.
Michael Pope
Well, thank you for being here. We appreciate it. All right. This is another fashion topic here. We're going to start with Marcus Simon on this one. It's this man wearing shoes without socks; buy, sell, or hold.
Marcus Simon
As the pig me prefaces this as the parent of a teenage son who just turned 18, I am a big sell on no socks because the odor that comes from his shoes when he doesn't wear his socks is unbearable. I don't know how people do that when they go sockless. If they can avoid the teenage boys' stink, then I could be a buy. But given my very personal experience with a teenage boy at the House, I'm a sell on no socks.
Michael Pope
Wow, we've just learned a lot there about the Simon household. Okay, Delegates Cia Price, buy, sell, or hold on to men wearing shoes without socks.
Cia Price
I think that this is a genderless topic, and I am all for people doing what is comfortable for them. I do hope that Marcus is welcome back into his home after this. But there are things that one can do with sprays and, you know, foot baths. But no, I think there's a really nice chic look to some of the boat shoes and some of the shoes that you can wear. I am currently not wearing socks, but I also currently don't have foot odor, so it kind of works out. But if everybody went sockless, I would not be able to see Marcus's amazing allyship for Pride month here with his wonderful socks. So I think it's really up to the person. I don't think it's a gender thing. I think you know, it really is a human thing whether you choose socks or not. Also, for those of us with sensory issues, socks can go either a love-hate relationship.
Michael Pope
For the record and for our listeners who can't see this, Marcus Simon is wearing socks. How would you describe them?
Marcus Simon
These are pride socks. They've got the rainbow and little pride flags on the Achilles tendon. Again, I guess I'm a little biased because I do like to have a good sock game. I enjoy trying to spice up my wardrobe with fancy socks.
Michael Pope
Delegate Alfonso Lopez; buy, sell, or hold on shoes without socks?
Alfonso Lopez
I can't really focus right now because of Marcus's anti-fashion bias. He hates people who don't wear socks, so it's really offensive to me that he would be this cruel, unthinking, and uncaring to people who just want to be fashionable. What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you? Marcus Simon, do you hate America? Twitter?
Marcus Simon
The Twitter software is going to come after me. I know six in the morning, I'm gonna start hearing it. My phone's gonna blow up with the magic. There's gonna be the backlash.
Alfonso Lopez
Oh, yeah, Marcus, I'm disappointed in you. In what you've said this morning.
Michael Pope
This conversation has really gone downhill. So, I'm actually going to wrap it up with one last topic. It will start with Delegate Cia Price. And it is this George Washington statue pointing toward the penitentiary. Maybe this is an urban legend. But the statue of George Washington, which is right outside of this building, is pointing south, allegedly maybe toward a penitentiary, to remind elected officials that they shouldn't be corrupt, or else they would end up behind bars. Delegate Cia Price, buy, sell, or hold on the idea that George Washington is pointing toward the pokey?
Cia Price
Yeah, I'm a buy on that. As a reminder, I also think we should replicate that in Washington, DC, for certain people who are running for President and for certain people who are currently on the Supreme Court. Lots of things because what we're learning is that if you just change the law or you change the interpretation of the law, it's not illegal anymore, right. But now there's so much corruption that we have to really rein in that urban legend or not; I think it's a really great reminder to be able to see out of our window, not only him facing that, but also to see the Capitol and to remember why we are here. We are not here for personal gain. We are here to do the work for the people. And whatever can help remind us that that's why we're here, I am a cell for delegate,
Michael Pope
Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on to the idea—perhaps the urban legend that for the record delegates, the price was a buy. On that last topic, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, buy, sell, or hold on to the idea—perhaps the urban legend that George Washington is pointing toward the state penitentiary.
Alfonso Lopez
I am a buy. We need to be here for the right reasons. I also just adore that statue because it's been here since the late 1840s. And the history that has sort of swirled around that statue and what that statue was seen. What it represents, with all the major Virginia Founding Fathers, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and all around, that statue of Washington is quite amazing. Then, the story also told of the day, right after or two days after Richmond fell when Abraham Lincoln walked by that statue and admired it before walking over to the Confederate White House and sitting in Jefferson Davis's chairs. It's just an amazing bit of history. So, I appreciate your perspective. And if you're if the urban legend is true, then it's a good urban legend.
Michael Pope
Delegate Marcus Simon buy, sell or hold on to the idea of perhaps the urban legend that George Washington is pointing toward the State Penitentiary,
Marcus Simon
do I have to go? Or do we just sit here and listen to Alfonso continue to wax eloquent about history and tell stories. That was great. I was enthralled. The, you know, I'm gonna sell on that story because I prefer my own explanation, which I invented, which is that the rear end of the horse is facing the General Assembly to remind us of how we're perceived by much of the public, right? It's a bunch of horses that well anyway, so know if that's if that's, in fact, the legend. I think that look, I'm all for a good urban legend I'm in whether it's true or not; I think the moral of the story is that you need to behave yourself because you know, no one, no matter how powerful you get as above the law and above being held accountable for their actions, whether it's true or not, I think that's a good lesson and if that's what we need to sort of tell people to think about when they passed the statute, and that's the reminder they need. I'm for that, so I will go ahead and buy.
Michael Pope
You have been listening to the Pod Virginia All Stars edition buy, sell, or hold with Delegate Cia Price, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, and Delegate Marcus Simon. Thanks for joining us.
