WEBVTT - Iran, The Midterms, The Smithsonian, and The Odyssey 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.760 Welcome to today's podcast sponsored by Hillsdale College, All Things 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.280 Hillsdale at Hillsdale dot ed or I encourage you to 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:08.800 take advantage of the many free online courses there, and 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.119 of course I listen to the Hillsdale Dialogue, all of 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.560 them at Q for Hillsdale dot com or just Google, Apple, 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.120 iTunes and Hilldalet. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:19.079 Clarity matters more than ever. 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.760 This is where common sense meets conviction. 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:23.880 This is the USUIT Show. 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.159 It is the Friday view Uit Show. Common sense and conviction. 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.159 I got to bring both of those on a Friday 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:36.320 when we're knocking on the door of the weekend. That's 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:38.199 it's all order, But I think I'm up for it. 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.239 Mark Davis, you are usually familiar fill in guy here 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.559 on the Uuit Show and a whole lot of other 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:47.960 places on the various Salem platforms. Welcome and happy Friday 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:49.760 to you, no matter what time zone you're in. I 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.760 hope you're up for a great weekend. I really hope 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.600 some good things happen this weekend. Maybe I could start 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.280 off with a list of really good things I would 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.560 like to have happen this weekend, Like what kind of 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:05.480 news would we wake up to on Monday morning to 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:09.800 know that it's been a really good weekend. As I 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:12.640 offer up some thoughts to you. You can follow me 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.680 on X Twitter. I still call it they somebody viewed 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.840 the other day that it's been three years since they 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.760 renamed Twitter as X. I've called it Twitter every single 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:24.480 one of those days of these three years, and I 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.280 will probably always continue to do so. So whatever you be, 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.959 you elon sorry on X Twitter whatever. Mark Davis, m 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:34.119 A R. K. Davis, shoot me some stuff, I'll take 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.560 a look at it on the fly and we'll have 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.880 a little dialogue there in whatever way you please. We're 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.560 going to welcome Eli Wake later, Matthew Contetti, Tarzana Joe. 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:45.440 At the end of the second hour, third hour, as 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.600 is the case here in Hugh hewitt Land, will be 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.400 the Hillsdale Dialogues with doctor Larry arn That's fantastic. So 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.480 what that means is you and I have two hours 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:56.400 to see what we can make of them and see 0:01:56.400 --> 0:02:00.760 what kind of see what kind of conclusions we can draw. 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:04.280 So here are a couple that I've drawn, and we'll 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:05.720 just sort of see where we are on all the 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.799 various things in the news. Obviously, we have a situation 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:16.800 in Iran that is frustrating. It is not sustainable for 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:22.720 much longer. It is always a horrible thing to have 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.760 a war on a clock, of a war on a calendar, 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.080 to be sitting here looking at the watch, looking at 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:33.760 the days passing on the calendar, and say, man, we 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.120 kind of need to have this wrapped up by this 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.760 date certain, And it's not really a date certain. The 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.400 line that I've often used on the morning show that 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:43.120 I host, by the way, that's my real job, my 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:45.240 usual daily job. This is obviously part of my real 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.839 job as well, is morning a morning show host here 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.480 on six sixty am the Answer in Thriving Dallas, Fort Worth, 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.560 which you see behind my head. So this very morning 0:02:55.800 --> 0:03:00.280 I was talking about how the timing might go, and 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.359 here we are at the end of July. August will 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.480 soon follow, and that's about it. Because by the time 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.799 we get to Labor Day, that's Labor Day's kind of 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:15.079 the unofficial home stretch, or when we get to the midterms. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:17.840 And that's the other thing, that's the reason why this 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:23.960 entire global conflict with Iran that has worldwide ramifications for 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:28.160 the American economy, the stability of the Middle East our 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:31.799 relationship with Israel, Israel's relationship with its neighbors in the 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.600 Middle East. There's just important things stacked on on top 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.880 of important things, stacked on top of important thing, and 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:42.360 it all is tied umbilically to November third. It is 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.680 all tied umbilically to the midterms. So you end up 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:49.560 having a kind of a parlor game. I mean, what's 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.360 more important the stability of the world or the American midterms. 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.920 I would suggest that that's a false binary choice. I'm 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.080 going to get greedy. I want a stable world and 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.840 Republican victories in the midterms, because I view those as inextricable. 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.920 I don't think we can have much of a promise 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.000 for a stable world, a reliable foreign policy toward the 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:14.120 Middle East, reliable progress in our situation with Iran. If 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.480 Democrats wind up capturing the House or the Senate, that 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.880 it is all part and parcel of the same goal. 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:27.719 And I don't have this goal only because I'm a Republican, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.600 or only because I'm a conservative, or only because I 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.480 do talk shows for a living and involved in the 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:36.760 whole conservative media sphere, but just as an American, as 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.359 a person, I'd like sanity returned to the Middle East 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.200 to whatever degree is possible. I know we're not going 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.680 to turn Iran in Indiana. That was part of the 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:53.120 noble intent but flawed concept of what was the so 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:57.080 called war on Terror. I will always be thankful for 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.800 President Bush taking the war f efort to the part 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.240 of the world that was trying to kill us. I 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:07.200 supported it, then I support it on principle now historically 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:12.279 in retrospect, but as year after year after year after 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.760 year unfolded, it became clear number of things became clear. 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:22.599 We were and remain a war weary country. We don't 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.479 like to get into long slogs. We don't like to 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.920 involve ourselves in quagmires and standoffs of indefinite length. And 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:31.880 that's what scares everybody right now, is like, is this 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:33.919 another one? And if we do all the things that 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.800 were that we that a lot of people want to do, 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.000 that I'd like to do. It all comes under the 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.039 heading of finish the job. How many times have you 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.920 heard somebody say that this week, well, what we ought 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.760 to do is finish the job. Okay, what does that 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.680 look like? Level what's left of Iran? Turn Tehran into 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:55.400 smoldering rubble kill everybody we can find in the IRGC 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:00.880 that might be one, that might be one. And if 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.000 we are not, if President Trump is not of a 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.119 mind to come in with that kind of heavy foot, 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:11.040 do we unleash the Israelis. I've heard about that a lot. 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.440 Let let Israel do what Israel wants to do, and 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.520 if they want to take some sufficient action toward Iran 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.800 that is even more dire than what we've done. And 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.120 all we do is tell everybody that we've obliterated their 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.000 military five times a day. And listen, I don't mean 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.520 to be glib or dismissive about what we have done. 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.839 What we have done is remarkable, and in fact, amid 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:39.599 all of this, let history record and let everyone notice 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:44.280 right now that the world is safer today than it 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.520 was before we started this war effort. As everybody wrings 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:51.680 their hands and throws hate at Trump and hate at 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.920 America for what seems to be a really, really difficult 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:59.000 row to hoe waters, to navigate literally straight up hormones. 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.039 It's all very very hard right now. But do I 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.480 regret it? I don't do. I wish it hadn't happened. 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.039 I don't. If one more Democrat says, hey, the street 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:09.640 of war moves was open before we even Well, yes 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:11.880 it was. And you know what else was going on? 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:16.720 Before Iran was within some degree of proximity of having 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:21.480 nuclear weapons capability, and now they're not. Iran was able 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.360 to with relative facility of funnel enormous amounts of money 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.640 to Hamas Hezbollah, who knows what kind of tear our 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.480 cells in the United States, and now they are far, 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:35.360 far less able to do so for that reason, I 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:40.840 mean outright, mathematically, Americans are safer because of the war 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.680 exactly the way that we have dispatched it. Has it 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.360 been messy? Yes? Is there an exit ramp right now? 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:46.640 No? 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.440 Is it frustrating? Of course it is. Do we wish 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.960 there was some magic wand we could waive some magic 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.600 language we could speak. See the languages that we have 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.400 tried to speak, and I don't mean Farsi. The languages 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.320 we've tried to speak toward the Iranians are the language 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:05.160 of military force. They hear us, but they haven't cried 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:10.560 uncle yet, will they ever? I don't know. The language 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:15.120 of economic pressure seems to have an audience, but I 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:20.120 don't know if it has that audience within the theocratic insanity, 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.640 ranks of the Iyatolas. The other thing that's really tricky. 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:26.600 There's been a lot of opportunities to look at history 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.040 and look back at the conflicts of our past. I'm 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.400 old enough to remember all kinds of things like this. 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.520 Maybe you are too. When when the Russians were a problem, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.840 well so, when the Soviet Union was a problem, because 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.080 the Russians still are. When the Soviet Union was a problem, 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.720 there was something that we could rely on, if you 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:47.920 want to phrase it that way, and that is that 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.920 they didn't actively want to die, you know, whether it 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:56.400 was Brezhnev and drop off Gorbachev, choose your Soviet leader. 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:00.360 They did not go to bed at night we willing 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:02.560 to entertain the notion of going up in a fireball 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.400 from the United States because they didn't have the whole 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.320 you know, talk to Alah Forever seventy two virgins bonus 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.200 plan that these folks do have that makes them not 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.679 just ambivalent, but maybe outright enthusiastics, like, hey, if we 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:16.280 go up in a ball of fire and a battle 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.320 with a great Satan, so be it. Well that kind 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.160 of makes it hard to deal with them, doesn't it. 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.640 Because there's something fear of being liquidated, liquefied by the 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:31.600 American military. That has been a force that's worked towards 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.840 success in a number of negotiations past. Well, this is 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.720 not negotiations past. This is a current negotiation that looks really, 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.480 really vexing and difficult. So how do we proceed through it? 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:45.920 We're going to talk some guests. We got some thoughts 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.160 to share with you, and we're glad to be here 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:49.960 with you on the UUs Show, Mark Davis on a 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.880 Friday stick around, going back to the summer of seventy six, 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:59.240 looking fifty years ago, summer of the bi centennial year, 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:04.000 the Boys of Starbuck everybody, was there a Starbucks coffee 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:05.679 at that time or that been invented? Was there a 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:07.400 lawsuit that should have happened? I don't even know. I 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.800 hope those boys invested. Well that's the one here. I 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:11.920 wonder we remember a little moonlight feels right, I'll tell 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.960 you it feels right. Let's have a chat with Matt Continetti. 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:15.679 You can find them on the Wall Street Journal in 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.559 the hallways at AEI. Matt, welcome, nice to talk to you. 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.200 How you doing, sir, I'm a newel Mark. 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:21.800 Good to see you. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.240 Good to see you. Let's do some things. Let's do 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.160 some global things, let's do some domestic things, and who knows, 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.560 we got two segments, let's go nuts. What is your 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:34.040 thought as this weak winds down of what seems to 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.679 be a brick wall in front of us, that is 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.280 the Iranian regime. I think I saw a pinned tweet 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.520 of yours that said something to the effect that President 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:47.280 Trump's problem is and always has been, the Iranian regime. 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:49.079 It's not that he lacks energy. It's not that we 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.480 don't have talent. We got Rubio, we got all we 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.000 got all kinds of things going for us. But without 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:58.079 an Iranian regime that can be dealt with, this is 0:10:58.120 --> 0:10:59.640 where we are you. What's your thought? 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:05.160 Well, I think President Trump has come to the understanding 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.839 and understanding he's always had that the Iranian regime is 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.600 not interested in peace and it's not interested in changing 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:15.360 its ways. Look, we've had a ceasefire in this conflict 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:19.840 technically since early April, and then in June we had 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.840 the Memorandum of Understanding, and in both cases the Iranian 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.079 regime said that they would open up the Strait of 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:30.480 Hormuz to international shipping, and in both cases they were lying. 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.880 And soon after these agreements were reached, or in the 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.760 case of the seafire, president Trump declared the Seasfire. The 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:43.120 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, began firing on ships, 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:48.240 began firing on America's Arab allies in the Gulf, began 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:52.120 imposing tolls, trying to control the flow of energy and 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.400 fertilizer and other commodities out of the Strait of Hormuz. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.760 They were violating in the agreement, and that's why President 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:00.920 Trump lost patience. That's what we've been in this now, 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:04.480 I think twelve thirteen days of daily and nightly strikes. 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:07.800 But I think it's important, and I think that President 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.160 Trump has also come to understand that a sort of 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.920 kind of low intensity conflict does not favor a positive 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.440 outcome for the United States of America and for the world. 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.920 I think the Iranians are comfortable with the low intensity 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.320 conflict where they fire one volley of missiles at us, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.240 kill a few of our soldiers terribly, and then we 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:32.319 respond by firing back, but in a limited capacity. I 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.199 think President Trump understands that in order to achieve his 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.080 goals that he's set forth on February twenty eighth when 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.880 he launched Operation Epic Fury. He is going to have 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.360 to escalate. He is going to have to increase the 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.800 intensity of our campaign, and he's going to have to 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:47.240 expand the range of targets. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.640 I think that's very smart, and I think that's something 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.280 that I would agree with in asking the following question, 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.360 here's what poisons the water right now, because if we 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:58.600 start to talk about the notion of even one boot 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.760 on the ground or even one more American life lost, 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.000 and there may be many more American lives lost in 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.320 order to actually achieve success, the first thing that's going 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:09.880 to happen to anybody even asking those questions is they'll 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.200 be accused of either being a Neocon or a shill 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:16.160 for Israel. I am neither. I just want to win 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:18.839 this thing because I think it's worth winning. And I 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.480 don't sit here in caval One of these lives just lost. 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.439 The young lady grew up ten miles from where I'm 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.880 sitting in Carrollton, Texas. Every one life is too many, 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:32.120 Every drop of American blood is too much. But whether 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.920 it's the various wars, the various just wars that we've 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.960 been involved in, or any of a number of other conflicts. 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:40.560 Every once in a while, this is what it takes 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.960 to win. What kind of appetite do you think there 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.040 will be for what you and I, and whether it's 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.000 been Shapiro or Donald Trump or Marco Rubio might think 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:52.400 as possible to finally get to something that resembles success, 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:56.160 and that is ramping up the military effort with something 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:58.600 that could come at a cost. Are we willing to pay? 0:13:58.600 --> 0:13:59.800 Are we willing to pay that cost? 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.959 Pardon the longest, Well, I think I think Mark, as 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.679 you've just said, we're already paying the cost. So the 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.439 status quo is not cost free. We've just lost three 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:15.079 of our soldiers. The Iranians are not behaving during this 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:20.120 supposed time of understanding and ceasefire. So the status quo 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:24.360 is costing American lives. The status quo is raising energy prices. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:30.160 The status quo is allowing Iran the space to re arm, 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:33.760 to restock, to plot against President Trump, to move its 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:37.800 centrifuges deeper underground in the hope one day of restarting 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.440 the nuclear program. So the status quo carries a high, 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:45.720 high cost and simply leaving the scene right now as 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.640 some of us, as some are urging, would mean that 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.240 the costs would be higher, because then Iran would move 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.360 to control the Strait of Harm moves through which about 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.560 a fifth of the global energy supply and other commodities 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:03.120 go through pass through, meaning our energy prices be higher. 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.600 We have a nuclear program and there's a cost. 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:08.440 No matter what. So my question was so long it 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.000 didn't leave enough for you to answer it. Hang on 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.600 a second, We'll continue with Matt Cottonetty, Mark Davison for you, 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:32.520 you at stay here for you, eighty Shipper Snappers, Little 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:36.560 Genesis nineteen eighty six, Invisible Touch, title track from Invisible Touch, 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.640 which was like a top ten album of just forty 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.480 short years ago. Go figure, Matt Cottonetty is here, Wall 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.640 Street Journal, AEI, etcetera, etcetera. Matt, let's pivot to that 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:49.640 other war, the one that didn't seem like there's enough 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:53.160 oxygen to talk about at all. I confess I go 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:57.120 days without really thinking about Russia Ukraine. Yet every day 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:02.440 it seems like a near miracle that I think it 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.480 was a near miracle after three four weeks that Russia 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.920 had not already won. Ukraine should have been a part 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.760 of Russia, at least the eastern twenty five percent of 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:13.880 Ukraine should have been a part of Russia for years now. 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:16.720 Why has that not happened and where does that thing 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:18.200 even stand right now? 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:24.120 Well, Mark, the first reason that Ukraine has survived is 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.800 because of the tenacity and courage of the Ukrainian people 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.920 and because of the statesmanship of Ukraine's leader, Vladimir Zelenski. 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.280 Leadership counts for a lot, and the willingness to fight 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.800 counts for a lot, and nations don't like to be 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:43.880 invaded by autocratic neighbors with designs on their territory. The 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:49.760 second reason Ukraine has persisted and has survived of this 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.640 long is because it has mastered the new technology of warfare. 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.640 And this is the lesson of the Ukraine Russia war, 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.400 and I think it's also partly the lesson of the 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.840 US Iran War. Is that warfare is changing and now 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:09.639 the new technologies of drones and missiles give an advantage 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:15.200 to whichever side masters those technologies, and so Ukraine's drone 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:19.879 technology is absolutely incredible. They're able to stop most of 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.879 the drones that and short range missiles that Russia fires 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:28.480 into their country. They're less capable of stopping the long 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:32.200 range ballistic missiles. And that's why I think Zelenski is 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.760 coming to the United States next week, is he is 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.920 very eager to find a way that Ukraine can be 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:44.000 supplied with more patriot missile defenses. But I'd say it's 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.440 leadership and I'd say it's technology, and that's really the 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:52.240 ingredients you need to fight a war of attrition and 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.159 to possibly win a war down the line. Let's not 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:59.480 forget this war in Ukraine has always surprised us, and 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:04.159 one of the biggest surprises has been Ukraine's offensive capacity, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.360 not just its ability to defend territory, but now it's 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:12.160 a capacity to strike inside Russia long range targets, targeting 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:17.480 the Russia's economic base that supplies its war machine, and 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.040 that has created pressure on Vladimir Putin. Make no mistake 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:21.399 about it. 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.639 Let's pivot domestically. The midterms are impossible to assess. You 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:28.760 can look at it one way and think that ruin 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:31.679 lies ahead for the Republicans, but then you look at 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:34.159 the clown car that is the current Democrat party and 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:37.200 you think that maybe we can benefit from a campaign 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.879 statement that says, you might not agree with us about everything, 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:41.800 you might not even like a lot of what we're doing, 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:47.040 but those people are insane. Balance those factors out the DSA. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.040 Seems like every bit of conservative media every day is 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.479 the DSSA has taken over. They're socialists, their communists, all 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.440 of which is true. But how useful a talking point 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:57.040 is that. 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.600 Well, I think that DSA takeover of the Democratic Party, 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.800 the transformation of the Democratic Party into the Democratic Socialist Party, 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.359 it's one of the best things going for Republicans these days. 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:16.240 There's no question that voters may have favorable views of 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.879 Bernie Sanders in the abstract or alexandri ocazu Quortez. They 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.919 might like her live streams. Voters don't like socialism, they 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.439 don't like Medicare for all, they don't want open border socialism, 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:31.040 they don't want to have green mandates stuffed down their throats. 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:36.080 And so the socialists rise within the Democratic left provides 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:40.639 Republicans with a messaging opportunity, especially in races where you 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:45.879 have Democratic Socialists aligned candidates running in competitive elections, and 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.560 that's mainly it's perhaps in the Senate where we'll see 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.800 that dynamic play out overall, though, Mark Democrats have a 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:57.640 huge Republican have a huge enthusiasm advantage over the Republicans, 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:02.520 and so it's President Trump's to get that Republican enthusiasm up. 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:04.879 I think that's one reason we're having this midterm convention. 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.120 And then President Trump he needs to win this war 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.680 against Iran, and he needs then to convince the American 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.800 people that this economy is on the right track for 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:16.760 Republicans to have a good night in November. 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:19.480 Indeed, and I think there's such a wide swath of 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:21.840 possibilities it's going to make it compelling every day. In 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.720 our last couple of minutes, it's the question all conservatives 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:28.280 must ponder. Have you, Matthew Continetti seen the Odyssey? 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:35.399 You know? You know, I want to because everyone you do, 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:39.240 you well, you know, I want to see for myself. 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.600 That's my child as a reporter, thank you. But that's 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.040 all anyone is talking about on social media. 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:46.520 I feel like I have to be a part of 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:48.440 the conversation where I'm going to have that feeling of 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.000 missing out. Well, no, as a you know, as a 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:54.080 as a father, I'm too busy driving my kids to 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:55.000 places to place. 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.720 Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't tell me your problems here. Here's 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:02.600 the reason I goff comically, do you really want to 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:04.880 see it? Is because if you trust me on this one, 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:07.440 if you see it and you like it, there will 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:11.200 be hell to pay. It's a magnificent piece of movie making. 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:13.399 Was Helen of Troy really black? 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:13.960 No? 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:16.080 Did I mind lou Pi de Denongo? 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:16.639 No? 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.119 Is the whole conversion of Ellen Page into a dude 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:24.760 just heartbreaking because of this trans nonsense. Yes, is the 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.000 casting of her a nod to wokeism, of course, but 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:29.960 does it adversely affect the movie? 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:30.399 No? 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.280 You got to conduct life in a certain way, that says, 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:35.440 am I going to go look it under every rock 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:40.480 for something to trigger me. It's exhausting. So I thought 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.159 it was great. You may you may not, but I 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:44.280 just thought it was fantastic. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:47.440 Well, I want to see the cyclops. That's the one 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:50.399 part that's huge commercial that really gets me excited. So 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:51.800 that's the only reason I want to see it. 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.120 It's funny because you got these things that we're kind 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:58.720 of familiar with conversationally, Cyclops, Trojan horse. You know what's 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:01.120 the Trojan horse. It's a bunch of stuffed into a horse. 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:04.359 So that they can be spirited inside the enemy walls. 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.120 But when you think about how that actually was done 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:11.040 with a bunch of guys very uncomfortably stuffed into a horse. 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:13.360 And what Christopher Nolan said is, you know what we're 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:15.440 gonna do. We're gonna take a bunch of actors and 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.960 stuff them uncomfortably into a horse. They do it. It's 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:21.399 uncomfortable to watch. It's great, but you had been the 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:24.200 most valuable thing. You said, go see it for yourself, 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:26.840 and I offer that to everyone. See it for yourself. 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:30.040 Make your own opinions whatever they are. My opinion is, 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:33.159