# Branch 70 in Their Own Words (Part 2) - The Response to Michael Rivera

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/classes-of-mail-6306410/branch-70-in-their-own-words-part-2-the-response-to-michael-rivera
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/classes-of-mail-6306410/branch-70-in-their-own-words-part-2-the-response-to-michael-rivera.md
Podcast: [Classes of Mail](https://stenobird.com/podcast/classes-of-mail-6306410)
Published: 2026-07-15T20:13:56+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/classesofmail/2925171
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/203340/2925171/classesofmail/2026_06_18_13_25_43_31fb30bc-32b3-4685-b6f5-9496c10f4fa8.mp3
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Duration seconds: 4315

## Resource

"If the law is on your side, pound the law. If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If neither are on your side, pound the table." You're going to hear a lot of table pounding in this episode out of Branch 70. I want you to think about something as you listen to this episode. What are the damages? The Branch 70 president compared Rivera's sharing of an election appeal to "yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater." The reason such speech is not protected is because of the obvious harm: loss of revenue, people get trampled, people can get killed. Compare that to the harm Branch 70 has suffered because people who read the appeal might have thought there was only supposed to be one microphone for nominations. 4.5 years of suspensions, for a harm that Branch 70 doesn't even articulate.

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## Transcript

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