WEBVTT - Leighton Smith Podcast #264 - November 7th 2024 - Patrick Basham 0:00:09.133 --> 0:00:12.693 You're listening to a podcast from news Talks B. Follow 0:00:12.773 --> 0:00:16.373 this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio. 0:00:17.053 --> 0:00:20.053 It's time for all the attitude, all the opinion, all 0:00:20.093 --> 0:00:26.333 the information, all the debate, Now the lighton Smith podcast 0:00:26.533 --> 0:00:27.973 powered by News Talks B. 0:00:28.773 --> 0:00:32.333 Welcome to Podcasts two hundred and sixty four on seven 0:00:32.413 --> 0:00:36.253 November twenty twenty four. Now, at the conclusion of podcast 0:00:36.333 --> 0:00:39.413 two sixty three, well, at the conclusion of the interview 0:00:39.453 --> 0:00:43.453 with Patrick Basham, I made a suggestion that we do 0:00:43.573 --> 0:00:47.013 a follow up the morning after, which was of course 0:00:47.053 --> 0:00:51.413 today if it was warranted. Well it was warranted and 0:00:51.533 --> 0:00:55.053 in multiples, so we got together around midnight New Zealand 0:00:55.093 --> 0:00:59.093 time last night. Patrick has been sensational over this election. 0:00:59.773 --> 0:01:03.053 He is a wonderful man and his commentary for those 0:01:03.213 --> 0:01:10.293 interested in this amazing election, his commentary is insightful. Have 0:01:10.373 --> 0:01:14.573 a listen, Actually hold the horses, because I have just 0:01:14.653 --> 0:01:19.693 received an email from Patrick. I mean literally our final 0:01:19.773 --> 0:01:26.533 Democracy Institute Daily Express US poll Trump up three fifty 0:01:27.013 --> 0:01:31.693 percent to forty seven percent. Our Democracy Institute Daily Express 0:01:32.053 --> 0:01:38.133 US Exit poll Trump up four fifty one to forty 0:01:38.213 --> 0:01:43.413 seven percent. Trump's popular vote win up four fifty one 0:01:43.493 --> 0:01:48.133 percent to forty seven in Princess in twenty twenty eight, 0:01:48.173 --> 0:01:52.253 we pledged to do better with our final poll. Congratulations 0:01:52.293 --> 0:01:54.733 to them. It was headed by the way most accurate 0:01:54.893 --> 0:02:00.493 US presidential election polster. Congratulations and well done. Now let's 0:02:00.493 --> 0:02:01.013 have a listen. 0:02:09.653 --> 0:02:11.693 Indeed, latent, they're great to be back with you in 0:02:11.733 --> 0:02:14.773 your audience again, it seems but for me yesterday, I 0:02:14.773 --> 0:02:19.253 guess it was technically, but when the night goes well 0:02:19.933 --> 0:02:24.053 personally and professionally, it doesn't seem so long or so hard. 0:02:24.893 --> 0:02:30.053 But as you say, one of the more significant aspects 0:02:30.093 --> 0:02:33.733 of Trump's victory is that it wasn't his victory alone. 0:02:34.133 --> 0:02:37.533 That is, his party has regained control of the Senate, 0:02:38.293 --> 0:02:42.493 held onto control of the House of Representatives. And this 0:02:42.613 --> 0:02:46.813 is you know, this is a tremendous significance because Trump 0:02:47.053 --> 0:02:51.933 is apparently going to attack his second term in a 0:02:52.013 --> 0:02:57.533 more uncompromising and more focused and disciplined way in policy 0:02:57.613 --> 0:03:01.573 terms and personnel terms, etc. And to do that, he 0:03:01.813 --> 0:03:04.813 can have all of that planning and all of that help, etcetera. 0:03:05.453 --> 0:03:09.173 But he's if he had been facing come January twenty five, 0:03:10.173 --> 0:03:15.373 a hostile Democratic run Senate and or House, then his 0:03:16.053 --> 0:03:20.493 chances of doing things that are truly consequential that might 0:03:20.533 --> 0:03:24.973 outlive his own presidency let alone himself personally, would have 0:03:24.973 --> 0:03:30.053 been heavily reduced. So there's far more opportunity now potential 0:03:31.093 --> 0:03:34.813 if one favors Trump's program or parts of it, that 0:03:35.453 --> 0:03:39.253 they may actually come to life, let alone to fruit 0:03:40.093 --> 0:03:44.853 bear fruit. Of course, one of the tests will one 0:03:44.893 --> 0:03:47.573 of the tests that will be one of the experiments 0:03:47.653 --> 0:03:51.053 during this process will be to determine to what extent 0:03:51.093 --> 0:03:53.813 Trump has remade the Republican Party in his own image. 0:03:53.853 --> 0:03:56.933 By that, I mean his first term. He yes, he 0:03:57.173 --> 0:04:00.893 fought the Democrats, He fought many fellow Republicans on Capitol 0:04:00.973 --> 0:04:04.493 Hill in Congress as well. So how many of that 0:04:04.933 --> 0:04:08.693 new Senate majority are truly on site within how many 0:04:08.893 --> 0:04:12.373 in the House majority with him? You'll find out pretty. 0:04:12.213 --> 0:04:15.733 Quickly, I think, indeed, except that I get the impression 0:04:16.053 --> 0:04:20.973 that there won't be too much opposition, I think it's 0:04:21.013 --> 0:04:25.013 even crossed my mind Patrick that in the victory that 0:04:25.053 --> 0:04:29.173 he has driven, there could be a little danger, a 0:04:29.173 --> 0:04:31.973 little danger, and I mean that he might upset some 0:04:32.053 --> 0:04:37.133 people in the party because he is he assumes quite 0:04:37.213 --> 0:04:38.693 rightly that he's the man. 0:04:39.533 --> 0:04:42.373 Yeah, I mean he is in a it's interesting for 0:04:42.413 --> 0:04:46.213 a second term president. You know, usually it's some there 0:04:46.253 --> 0:04:49.653 were immediately inducts in terms of the electoral calendar, and 0:04:49.693 --> 0:04:54.253 often much of the energy and momentum has gone despite 0:04:54.293 --> 0:04:59.413 the second victory. But Trump, it seems he's going to 0:04:59.613 --> 0:05:01.573 the nature of his comeback, the fact that he has 0:05:01.613 --> 0:05:06.653 a popular vote majority, can claim a legitimate democratic mandate, etc. 0:05:08.333 --> 0:05:11.373 This whole country has moved in his direction. Whether he 0:05:11.453 --> 0:05:14.013 won a state or not, every state has moved in 0:05:14.053 --> 0:05:20.013 his direction. He is a more formidable president. I think 0:05:20.133 --> 0:05:22.613 that's one of the great ironesy. A more formidable president 0:05:22.933 --> 0:05:25.293 in January of twenty twenty five than he was in 0:05:25.413 --> 0:05:30.333 January of twenty seventeen. And so there will be a 0:05:30.333 --> 0:05:34.013 honeymoon period. For sure. Everyone on his side of the 0:05:34.013 --> 0:05:37.053 aisle will say nice things about him, and I think 0:05:37.053 --> 0:05:41.853 that far more are genuinely onside, and far more will 0:05:41.893 --> 0:05:47.293 be wanting to go along to get along. But there 0:05:47.293 --> 0:05:50.333 will be items, but in particularly on foreign policy, where 0:05:50.493 --> 0:05:55.053 some of the more senior not necessarily majority representing, but 0:05:55.533 --> 0:06:00.133 senior foreign policy establishment types on the Republican side are 0:06:00.173 --> 0:06:02.653 going to try to from their point of view, talk 0:06:02.733 --> 0:06:06.413 some sense into him over things like Ukraine and one 0:06:06.493 --> 0:06:12.493 or two areas of contention around the world. But you know, 0:06:13.013 --> 0:06:16.293 obviously ought to be decided, but he's never been in 0:06:16.533 --> 0:06:18.773 you know, he begins his second term with an enormous 0:06:18.773 --> 0:06:22.653 amount of capital. And I remember when George W. Bush 0:06:22.773 --> 0:06:26.413 in two thousand and four, twenty years ago, sort of tonight, virtually, 0:06:26.733 --> 0:06:30.533 when he won what for some was a surprising second mandate, 0:06:31.733 --> 0:06:34.733 he said, you know, I've earned all this political capital, 0:06:35.333 --> 0:06:37.893 and I'm now I'm going to spend it. Whether we 0:06:37.933 --> 0:06:40.693 spend it wisely or not. You know, that's for the historians, 0:06:41.053 --> 0:06:45.653 but it's a recognition that, you know, when you are 0:06:45.933 --> 0:06:50.813 electorally victorious, you should do something with that. After all, 0:06:50.853 --> 0:06:53.653 that wasn't at the point. I mean, Barack Obama famously said, 0:06:53.693 --> 0:06:59.253 you know, elections have consequences, yes, and this won't be 0:06:59.413 --> 0:07:01.933 any exception to that. In fact, probably quite the opposite. 0:07:02.693 --> 0:07:06.973 Well, he appears to have won the popular vote. I 0:07:06.973 --> 0:07:12.293 was asked today, actually, what is the popular vote? And 0:07:12.373 --> 0:07:15.053 I answered, I answered it, of course, but I would 0:07:15.093 --> 0:07:16.053 like your answer. 0:07:18.973 --> 0:07:23.053 Sure. Well, of course, technically it doesn't matter in American 0:07:23.173 --> 0:07:29.933 in presidential American presidential politics, it is merely something that's 0:07:30.053 --> 0:07:34.293 nice to win but doesn't dictate whether or not you 0:07:34.373 --> 0:07:37.973 actually win the election. But you know, in practical political terms, 0:07:38.853 --> 0:07:43.933 it usually goes along with your electoral college win. And 0:07:44.453 --> 0:07:48.613 most importantly, it's a way of keeping the opposition at 0:07:48.693 --> 0:07:51.773 bay a little because if you're Trump in his first 0:07:51.893 --> 0:07:55.573 term or George W. Bush in his first term, in 0:07:55.613 --> 0:08:00.573 both cases not having won the popular vote rightly or wrongly, 0:08:01.453 --> 0:08:05.293 the opposition always go back to it, always used that 0:08:05.413 --> 0:08:09.733 as a stick to beat you with, always that you're not, 0:08:10.373 --> 0:08:14.653 you know, the people's choice. It's, you know, the peculiarities 0:08:14.653 --> 0:08:18.573 of the system have produced you as the victor. Uh, 0:08:18.773 --> 0:08:21.493 it's you know, it's whoever, whoever wins the popular vote, 0:08:21.893 --> 0:08:23.773 it's going to say that if they don't win the 0:08:23.813 --> 0:08:25.573 electoral college, even though you know, they all know the 0:08:25.653 --> 0:08:29.453 rules when they start playing the match. So it's it's 0:08:29.453 --> 0:08:34.493 an unusual thing about the American system, but it's by design. 0:08:34.613 --> 0:08:37.973 It's how the folks who wrote the Constitution wanted it 0:08:38.013 --> 0:08:42.693 to be, and so far it's largely served the country 0:08:42.693 --> 0:08:43.293 fairly well. 0:08:43.373 --> 0:08:45.373 In fact, I heard quite a bit of talk today 0:08:45.533 --> 0:08:48.893 on various channels with regard to this is the way 0:08:49.013 --> 0:08:52.973 the system was designed to work, and it's worked. It's 0:08:53.013 --> 0:08:55.573 worked either well through perfectly. 0:08:56.373 --> 0:08:59.613 What would you say, Yeah, I think it has worked 0:08:59.613 --> 0:09:02.333 pretty well because one of thee something that from a 0:09:02.373 --> 0:09:06.853 distance can be hard to appreciate is that America is 0:09:07.453 --> 0:09:12.493 so vast in every sense, not just geographically, and that 0:09:12.613 --> 0:09:19.653 the authors of the Constitution they recognized that their new 0:09:19.733 --> 0:09:24.773 country was literally a United States. It's a collection of 0:09:24.933 --> 0:09:31.053 otherwise independent countries who did and could sort of operate 0:09:32.093 --> 0:09:37.093 self sufficiently with their own own sovereignty. And therefore the 0:09:37.133 --> 0:09:39.573 only way to make it anybody to grow them together 0:09:39.813 --> 0:09:46.373 in an effective fashion was to allow mean sure that 0:09:46.453 --> 0:09:49.613 all of them had some power, had some say, so 0:09:50.293 --> 0:09:53.373 aside from all of the delegation of a lot of 0:09:53.933 --> 0:09:56.773 powers to the lower level of states and further down 0:09:56.813 --> 0:10:01.453 the chain, it meant that when choosing a president, there 0:10:01.453 --> 0:10:07.333 would be disproportionate influence given to the agricultural states, the 0:10:07.373 --> 0:10:11.573 smaller population, and states, et cetera, to ensure that basically 0:10:11.613 --> 0:10:15.053 the minority majority didn't gang up on the minority and 0:10:15.053 --> 0:10:19.253 that everyone everyone had had to say, which would help 0:10:19.373 --> 0:10:22.053 ensure that no one felt the need to, you know, 0:10:22.133 --> 0:10:25.573 to break away. So it's just one of those one 0:10:25.613 --> 0:10:30.293 of those interesting elements of the American system that we 0:10:30.373 --> 0:10:33.813 can it's very trendy, has been for some time to 0:10:33.853 --> 0:10:35.493 look at it and say, well, you know, a bunch 0:10:35.533 --> 0:10:38.133 of old white guys other they were particularly old, but 0:10:38.533 --> 0:10:42.053 you know, old, old racist white guys came up with 0:10:42.133 --> 0:10:46.093 this elitist system designed to keep you know, democracy down, 0:10:46.733 --> 0:10:51.773 but give it this sort of big leaf mirage effect 0:10:52.173 --> 0:10:55.693 that we're actually electing a president in a democratic fashion. 0:10:56.413 --> 0:11:01.973 But like most trendy progress so called progressive critiques of 0:11:02.533 --> 0:11:07.093 old school approaches and processes and instruments, they generally, upon 0:11:07.173 --> 0:11:10.333 close inspection closer in spectrum, they generally fall flat because 0:11:10.773 --> 0:11:13.133 they don't understand the history behind them, and they also 0:11:13.133 --> 0:11:17.093 don't understand the historical evolution and how in most cases, 0:11:17.133 --> 0:11:18.973 and I think the electoral College is a good example. 0:11:19.333 --> 0:11:25.293 They've proved to have been worthwhile, and you know, it's 0:11:25.333 --> 0:11:31.653 you know, apologies to Churchill, or the least worst system available. 0:11:32.613 --> 0:11:35.733 It was during an at break on Fox that I 0:11:35.893 --> 0:11:40.493 turned to CNN and there were a few of us watching, 0:11:41.133 --> 0:11:45.733 and I did it just in time to hear somebody 0:11:46.613 --> 0:11:51.133 make comment on the on the system and talk about 0:11:51.373 --> 0:11:55.093 talk about the structure the structure of the Constitution and 0:11:55.133 --> 0:11:58.733 how it needs needs to change, and they must do it. 0:11:58.853 --> 0:12:01.813 They must do it as quickly as possible. And I thought, 0:12:02.413 --> 0:12:04.733 I thought you were a crook, uh, And then I 0:12:04.773 --> 0:12:07.213 thought you're stupid, and then after that I thought I 0:12:07.253 --> 0:12:12.493 thought you were an idiot. And it was It was 0:12:12.533 --> 0:12:15.533 frustrating for me because I because I don't have a 0:12:15.573 --> 0:12:18.013 program on the radio tomorrow and the day after and 0:12:18.053 --> 0:12:19.813 the day after that, and at times like this, I 0:12:19.813 --> 0:12:22.653 feel like I want one. I want it back again, 0:12:23.573 --> 0:12:28.173 because what he was criticizing is what holds the American 0:12:28.293 --> 0:12:32.453 system together, and anybody with half a brain is aware 0:12:32.493 --> 0:12:35.333 of that. He patently is short in that department. 0:12:35.693 --> 0:12:38.813 Yeah, absolutely, I mean what it's really starred. You know 0:12:38.813 --> 0:12:41.533 when al Gore lost to Bush but won the popular 0:12:41.573 --> 0:12:44.253 vote narrowly, but you know, one then it really picked 0:12:44.333 --> 0:12:47.773 up steam when Hillary was quote unquote denied the presidency 0:12:47.773 --> 0:12:51.733 are despite winning by a couple of points. And these days, 0:12:51.773 --> 0:12:55.373 of course, they only want the electoral college gone because 0:12:55.373 --> 0:12:58.813 they figure they will they with enough enough of legal 0:12:58.853 --> 0:13:01.933 immigrants turned into US citizens overnight, you know, they'll always 0:13:02.053 --> 0:13:05.973 have more votes on the other side. And they don't 0:13:06.093 --> 0:13:10.253 like the they don't like a lot of Supreme Court decisions, 0:13:10.293 --> 0:13:14.093 so they want to add justices to the court to 0:13:14.213 --> 0:13:17.213 ensure they always have a majority. They want to end 0:13:17.213 --> 0:13:20.973 the filibuster and the Senate so they can run through 0:13:21.173 --> 0:13:23.653 anything they want they want to get, you know, all 0:13:23.653 --> 0:13:26.213 these sorts of things they want to change, you know, 0:13:27.253 --> 0:13:32.413 the number of senators or required to override a presidential veto, 0:13:32.773 --> 0:13:35.253 all these things that you know have been around forever 0:13:36.333 --> 0:13:39.213 for good reason, but they view as some of them 0:13:39.333 --> 0:13:44.093 view them as not so charming relics of a antiquated past, 0:13:44.413 --> 0:13:47.933 and others just view them as cold blooded terms. Is 0:13:48.053 --> 0:13:52.413 just hindrances to ensuring that when they have the reins 0:13:52.413 --> 0:13:54.293 of power, they can basically do what the heck they 0:13:54.413 --> 0:13:57.653 like with that power. And assuming of course they'll they'll 0:13:57.693 --> 0:13:59.653 never be on the other side, which is the classic 0:13:59.733 --> 0:14:03.853 mistake of authoritarian types. You know, throughout history they always 0:14:03.893 --> 0:14:05.333 think that they'll be in charge. 0:14:05.733 --> 0:14:07.533 Did you see perhaps speech? 0:14:08.613 --> 0:14:10.213 I caught little bits of it. I was I was 0:14:10.253 --> 0:14:10.893 in transit. 0:14:11.013 --> 0:14:16.533 Unfortunately much of it, Okay, I thought it was. I 0:14:17.013 --> 0:14:19.893 thought it was very good. I wonder whether you think 0:14:20.533 --> 0:14:23.573 that there might be a swing, a big swing, even 0:14:24.933 --> 0:14:28.773 in support of Trump, having having won the election, A 0:14:28.853 --> 0:14:31.733 support of Trump in setting out to do what he 0:14:32.013 --> 0:14:36.853 intends to greater, greater than greater than might be expected. 0:14:38.333 --> 0:14:41.373 Yeah, I think that's certainly possible. It might even be probable. 0:14:42.973 --> 0:14:46.813 He is so he has become so humanized. Clearly, you know, 0:14:47.893 --> 0:14:52.573 it's incontroversible that a majority of voters support him. You 0:14:52.733 --> 0:14:56.613 presume they support his program. And although it's mocked by 0:14:56.653 --> 0:15:03.413 his opponents, he has genuinely built a coalition broader than 0:15:03.453 --> 0:15:06.933 the Republican Party. And whether you think of it it's 0:15:06.933 --> 0:15:10.813 a coalition of convenience or of principle, the fact is 0:15:11.893 --> 0:15:14.253 it is a political coalition that extends, you know, to 0:15:15.173 --> 0:15:20.933 many former Democrats and many independents. And they don't agree 0:15:20.973 --> 0:15:23.653 on everything, but they agree on a lot of first principles, 0:15:23.693 --> 0:15:27.093 and more to the point, they agree on what some 0:15:27.173 --> 0:15:31.933 of the fundamental crises are in American society and politics 0:15:32.493 --> 0:15:35.333 and have broad agreement on how to address them, and 0:15:35.373 --> 0:15:38.893 the sort of worry about the other smaller stuff later on. 0:15:39.373 --> 0:15:43.453 And I think that while obviously that appeals to arguably 0:15:43.493 --> 0:15:47.293 and narrow small majority of Americans right now, if the 0:15:47.493 --> 0:15:50.573 likes of Kennedy and Musk and gathered and JD. Varnce 0:15:50.613 --> 0:15:54.133 and obviously Trump and Ron Paul. They put their shoulders 0:15:54.173 --> 0:15:56.653 to the wheel and actually try to do as Trump 0:15:56.733 --> 0:15:59.213 did in his first term, try to actually do what 0:15:59.253 --> 0:16:02.933 they promised to do. And as some of us believe, 0:16:03.093 --> 0:16:05.573 if they do that, they probably will have some fairly 0:16:05.613 --> 0:16:09.253 good result. Then the year eighteen months, two years from now, 0:16:09.693 --> 0:16:12.893 Trump may be maybe viewed as somebody, who, oh, wow, 0:16:12.973 --> 0:16:15.013 isn't it too bad he can't run again? You know, 0:16:15.893 --> 0:16:17.933 you know, you have a poppy a second term president 0:16:18.013 --> 0:16:20.853 like Ronald Reagan, and people, oh, jeez, what this term 0:16:20.893 --> 0:16:23.333 limit thing happened? A shame. He's such a great president. 0:16:24.053 --> 0:16:26.493 And that would be one of the great ironies, wouldn't 0:16:26.533 --> 0:16:30.733 it if Trump went from the the prior president to 0:16:30.933 --> 0:16:35.293 the one that really had a legacy of not just accomplishment, 0:16:35.933 --> 0:16:40.413 but a certain amount of goodwill amongst the the general public. 0:16:41.653 --> 0:16:43.813 What is your what are you what are your thoughts 0:16:44.053 --> 0:16:47.813 on the court cases in New York in particular, that 0:16:47.973 --> 0:16:51.493 are still confronting the sentencing, for instance, of the of 0:16:51.973 --> 0:16:55.813 the of the of the of the of the Court 0:16:55.893 --> 0:16:58.893 of the Judge. And I'm trying to think of a 0:16:58.973 --> 0:17:06.613 lion that Ralph Harris, the Australian singer, Yeah, put into 0:17:06.893 --> 0:17:09.373 put into a song about the Court of and I 0:17:09.373 --> 0:17:11.333 can't think what it was, but it was an idiot. 0:17:12.213 --> 0:17:14.533 So I think we've I think we've got a parallel 0:17:14.693 --> 0:17:16.933 what what what do you think this might what a 0:17:17.013 --> 0:17:17.853 think might this have? 0:17:19.413 --> 0:17:23.013 Well, it's this victory guarantees that all this stuff is 0:17:23.013 --> 0:17:24.933 going to go away. It's going to be the end 0:17:24.973 --> 0:17:28.533 of it. I mean, you know, he was on a 0:17:28.613 --> 0:17:31.253 he was on an upward trajectory legally because you know, 0:17:31.293 --> 0:17:33.933 he was winning cases within dismissed, he was winning appeals, 0:17:34.293 --> 0:17:36.133 and so they there was a lot of light at 0:17:36.133 --> 0:17:37.933 the end of the tunnel. But he wasn't out of 0:17:38.013 --> 0:17:42.653 jeopardy yet. And although the you know, the more dangerous 0:17:42.693 --> 0:17:46.533 cases were gone or going. But as this whole thing 0:17:46.533 --> 0:17:50.773 has been politically driven, this decision, fairly recent decision to 0:17:50.813 --> 0:17:56.453 postpone his sentencing till after the election was clearly very political. 0:17:56.493 --> 0:18:01.133 I mean, an extremely political judge under the thumb of 0:18:01.333 --> 0:18:08.173 extremely political prosecutors were deciding that well, Trump could win, 0:18:08.693 --> 0:18:12.453 so why don't we wait till we find out whether 0:18:12.453 --> 0:18:14.893 he's won to decide whether he really needs to go 0:18:14.973 --> 0:18:20.373 to prison? And you know, these are cowardly, unprincipled types, 0:18:20.933 --> 0:18:24.373 and so they're acting in that way. And I'm sure 0:18:24.453 --> 0:18:31.253 they will have an epiphany sometime between now and January 0:18:31.533 --> 0:18:36.773 nineteenth and decide that for the greater good, they can 0:18:36.813 --> 0:18:40.253 see the other side of this, and that, you know, 0:18:40.453 --> 0:18:41.893 I think that's the way. I think it will sort 0:18:41.893 --> 0:18:44.053 of peter out right, and none of these people are 0:18:44.053 --> 0:18:48.013 ever going to say they're sorry or wrong, but he has. 0:18:48.373 --> 0:18:49.813 I mean, it's a shame that you have to be 0:18:49.813 --> 0:18:55.853 elected president to avoid bankruptcy in prison. But you know, 0:18:56.973 --> 0:18:58.973 you know, Elon must say that. I think I was 0:18:59.013 --> 0:19:01.733 at the taper caston on one of the podcasts you 0:19:01.733 --> 0:19:05.053 know that Trump doesn't win, the question is how long 0:19:05.093 --> 0:19:09.533 will I go to prison for? And it's a funny line, 0:19:09.613 --> 0:19:13.653 but it's also cuts to the very core of what 0:19:13.733 --> 0:19:18.253 Trump has been dealing with on a personal level these 0:19:18.333 --> 0:19:21.573 last couple of years. This is not you know, this 0:19:21.653 --> 0:19:25.573 is not your father's or your grandfather of America at all. 0:19:25.813 --> 0:19:29.173 Yeah, spending a little time thinking while you were talking, 0:19:29.213 --> 0:19:32.693 but listening all the same. The Court of King Correctus 0:19:33.013 --> 0:19:36.413 was the name of the song, and it was a 0:19:36.533 --> 0:19:41.093 very successful one. Now on the other side of the 0:19:41.253 --> 0:19:47.373 ledger on Carmela's team, who was responsible for this scenario? 0:19:47.613 --> 0:19:50.133 Who's to blame? Who can be held accountable? 0:19:52.293 --> 0:19:56.133 Well, in Washington, d C. So we don't hold people accountable. 0:19:57.213 --> 0:20:02.973 We just we just they just fail upwards. But it's 0:20:03.053 --> 0:20:04.973 I think it's a combination. I mean, some of the 0:20:05.013 --> 0:20:08.973 blame is her own, but she's so in cape and 0:20:09.053 --> 0:20:14.053 limited you can't say it's mostly her fault. It's more 0:20:14.093 --> 0:20:16.453 the fault of those who put her in this position, 0:20:18.653 --> 0:20:21.853 and I mean her, the people that she's had on 0:20:21.933 --> 0:20:25.813 her campaign, the people who survived working for her, and 0:20:25.853 --> 0:20:29.293 the Vice President's office, et cetera. You know, these are 0:20:29.333 --> 0:20:32.853 folks who are fully paid up members of the woke 0:20:33.613 --> 0:20:39.893 DEI identity politics club. And they immediately either concluded or 0:20:39.893 --> 0:20:42.173 already thought had thought for some time that she ever 0:20:42.213 --> 0:20:45.053 ran the president again. That you you know, you just 0:20:45.293 --> 0:20:49.493 play the identity card, and that is how you collect 0:20:49.573 --> 0:20:52.733 votes from the you know, the requisite groups, the women, 0:20:52.813 --> 0:20:55.453 the people of color, this that and the other, and 0:20:55.493 --> 0:20:57.373 you you you know you and when you pander to 0:20:57.573 --> 0:20:59.973 the you know, the gay groups and the lesbian groups 0:20:59.973 --> 0:21:01.733 and the Chinese grenda and all the rest of it, 0:21:03.413 --> 0:21:06.333 and you you know, you just you do the arithmetic 0:21:06.373 --> 0:21:07.853 and you add up that group and that group and 0:21:07.893 --> 0:21:10.293 that group. You end up with a majority, and you 0:21:10.453 --> 0:21:13.533 noly ignore, but you actually denigrate the other groups because 0:21:13.573 --> 0:21:19.893 obviously woke politics succeeds in theory by you know, raising 0:21:19.933 --> 0:21:24.013 your side up by knocking the other side down. And 0:21:24.053 --> 0:21:28.173 so everything from their advertising to their what passed the 0:21:28.293 --> 0:21:34.413 policy positions, Etcaster the way that the rallies were choreographed. 0:21:35.653 --> 0:21:39.333 You know that everything was that and it stayed that 0:21:39.413 --> 0:21:43.613 way the whole time because fortunately for Trump, these folks 0:21:43.653 --> 0:21:47.453 don't tend to learn from their mistakes, right, and then 0:21:47.493 --> 0:21:52.973 were there were a couple of moments when Obama Biden 0:21:53.013 --> 0:21:56.613 people weren't allowed anywhere near and Obama people tried to 0:21:56.653 --> 0:21:59.013 sort of grab the reins as they saw the thing going, 0:21:59.133 --> 0:22:04.173 you know, going off the cliff, but to little avail. 0:22:05.333 --> 0:22:07.933 So it's you know, it's it's a lot of you know, 0:22:07.933 --> 0:22:10.333 if you're to have the Democrats, we're going to have 0:22:10.413 --> 0:22:14.213 a firing squad and put put down all the people responsible. 0:22:14.253 --> 0:22:18.693 You're basically talking about a couple of dozen twenty thirty 0:22:18.733 --> 0:22:22.893 somethings who've spent their lives to this extent. You know, 0:22:22.893 --> 0:22:27.693 in graduate school and in political jobs, and most are 0:22:27.733 --> 0:22:31.533 mostly themselves in the positions they are because they have 0:22:31.613 --> 0:22:34.453 the right skin color, the right gender if I can 0:22:34.573 --> 0:22:39.413 use that word, in democratic circles, and you know, all 0:22:39.453 --> 0:22:44.573 the right sexual orientation, etc. So it's it's just everyone 0:22:44.933 --> 0:22:48.413 likes to see people, you know, take a beating after 0:22:48.493 --> 0:22:53.213 a failure. However, in this case you might say it's 0:22:53.253 --> 0:22:56.293 more deserved than is often the case. 0:22:57.613 --> 0:22:58.213 Latens with. 0:23:00.133 --> 0:23:03.333 Look on the international scene, what do you think, what 0:23:03.373 --> 0:23:05.933 do you think the world is thinking right now? And 0:23:06.133 --> 0:23:07.653 when I say the world, I mean I mean the 0:23:07.853 --> 0:23:09.053 parts of the world would matter. 0:23:10.493 --> 0:23:14.893 Ah, okay, I think it's it's it's mixed, not because 0:23:15.173 --> 0:23:21.253 most of them are ambivalent, because where you stand on 0:23:21.413 --> 0:23:24.213 Trump from a foreign perspective depends very much on where 0:23:24.213 --> 0:23:29.253 you fit, you know, So you have well, I maybe 0:23:29.253 --> 0:23:31.253 I'm about to contradict myself, not for the first time. 0:23:31.333 --> 0:23:35.613 Like the Chinese, for example, they're very concerned about would 0:23:35.653 --> 0:23:40.373 be tariffs, you know, Trump returning to getting tough on 0:23:40.373 --> 0:23:45.933 on intellectual property protection, all these sorts of things, Concerned 0:23:45.973 --> 0:23:50.573 that Trump is going to push back over Taiwan and 0:23:50.613 --> 0:23:54.093 all of this. However, at the same time, the Chinese, 0:23:54.253 --> 0:23:57.573 I think actually rather like dealing with Trump the way 0:23:57.573 --> 0:23:59.813 that they back in the day, like dealing with Reagan 0:23:59.893 --> 0:24:05.093 rather than Carter say, they like they understand the Chinese 0:24:05.133 --> 0:24:10.213 and the Russians and others. They understand and strong leaders, 0:24:10.813 --> 0:24:14.573 you know, they can they can not necessarily anticipate their moves, 0:24:14.573 --> 0:24:18.933 but they understand then their headspace, their perspective, whereas these 0:24:18.933 --> 0:24:24.493 sort of wishy washy liberal types, you know, preaching humanitarianism 0:24:24.573 --> 0:24:28.973 and without much of a political spine, they don't really 0:24:28.973 --> 0:24:31.973 know what to do with them. They're so you know, 0:24:33.173 --> 0:24:38.053 so literally and figuratively foreign to them. So I think 0:24:38.133 --> 0:24:41.373 on a on a person to person level, they the 0:24:41.453 --> 0:24:44.733 Chinese will be quite happy that Trump's back. They know 0:24:44.773 --> 0:24:48.093 what they're dealing with. But in terms of policy outcomes, 0:24:48.693 --> 0:24:52.293 there's going to be some anxiety there, I mean Putin 0:24:52.333 --> 0:24:55.973 and Russia. I'm sure he may have publicly endorsed Kamala Harris, 0:24:56.013 --> 0:24:58.053 which I think is quite clever on his part. I 0:24:58.093 --> 0:25:02.213 think he'll be very pleased, not because I think, as 0:25:02.253 --> 0:25:05.373 the Democrats do, that Trump wishes to do his bidding, 0:25:05.413 --> 0:25:09.333 but because Putin views Trump I think as as an 0:25:09.373 --> 0:25:14.853 American version of himself, that is the patriot, nationalistic, self 0:25:14.893 --> 0:25:19.533 interested America first to match Putin's Russia first again, someone 0:25:20.413 --> 0:25:23.893 who he's not going to fall in love with, but 0:25:24.053 --> 0:25:26.333 someone who he thinks he can under he understands, who 0:25:26.333 --> 0:25:30.093 he can do business with. You know, they can reach 0:25:30.253 --> 0:25:34.813 mutual agreements and accommodations. You know. Then you you know, 0:25:34.853 --> 0:25:39.773 you have your your Western Europeans, You're particularly your EU, 0:25:40.093 --> 0:25:44.093 who of course are not going to be happy. But 0:25:44.093 --> 0:25:47.093 that's rather wonderful because they'll be unhappy for lots of 0:25:47.133 --> 0:25:51.493 good reasons. You know. Trump is obviously everything that they 0:25:51.573 --> 0:25:58.853 dislike culturally, politically, ideologically, and you know, he just he 0:25:58.933 --> 0:26:01.573 calls them out, he shows them up. You have to 0:26:01.573 --> 0:26:06.133 add the UK to that now now that there they 0:26:06.253 --> 0:26:10.253 officially have a woke globalist government is rather than one 0:26:10.373 --> 0:26:14.013 just in in practice, the likes of Justin Trude in 0:26:14.013 --> 0:26:17.613 Canada for whatever months he has left in power. You know, 0:26:17.853 --> 0:26:21.653 he's this is this is a nightmare for him. Uh. 0:26:21.733 --> 0:26:24.573 And you know, when I think it isn't Trump, who 0:26:24.853 --> 0:26:30.493 who says that Fidel Castro's Justin Trudeau's real father? And uh, 0:26:32.773 --> 0:26:35.573 which is a rather delicious way of kicking off a conversation. 0:26:36.773 --> 0:26:39.173 So I mean, I think a lot of the Asian 0:26:40.413 --> 0:26:43.773 important Asian countries, you know, in addition to China, are 0:26:44.533 --> 0:26:49.573