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Speaker 1: Happy Monday, Happy March. We made it to March. Not

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Speaker 1: not everybody can say that, so I you know, it's

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Speaker 1: one day at a time, right, So happy March. We

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Speaker 1: are here here at the podcast. I'm always in this

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Speaker 1: month looking around for my eyes. We're always looking for

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Speaker 1: the eyes. I'm half teasing. Well, I guess it was

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Speaker 1: an impactful weekend. Obviously, I already checked in with an

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Speaker 1: initial response on Iran and what's happening. I've got to

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Speaker 1: a bit more to say and try to put it

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Speaker 1: in context. Look at this is less this is going

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Speaker 1: to do. This is a monologue that is less about

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Speaker 1: my opinion on what we did, more about my analysis

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Speaker 1: on where I think this is headed, what is the

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Speaker 1: unintended consequences? Where are they hearing? And basically I want

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Speaker 1: to leave you with a lot of questions to think about, because,

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Speaker 1: let's be honest, we don't have definitive answers on what

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Speaker 1: the fallout from this is going to be. I mean,

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Speaker 1: one of the things I think I've learned in my

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Speaker 1: fifty three years on this earth, and certainly my thirty

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Speaker 1: plus years professionally, is that when it comes to things

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Speaker 1: like kinetic action, whether it's a piece of a war, airstrikes, whatever,

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Speaker 1: you want to talk about these things, the initial response

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Speaker 1: and where eventually this lands politically often change and change

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Speaker 1: in ways that you don't expect. So the point is

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Speaker 1: is that you know, we're going down a road that

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Speaker 1: may seem familiar to those of us, to those of

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Speaker 1: you that were around during Iraq and Afghanistan. But just

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Speaker 1: because it looks familiar doesn't mean we're going to be

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Speaker 1: traveling the exact same road politically. So I do want

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Speaker 1: to get into that, I'll be honest. There were a

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Speaker 1: couple other stories I was going to get deeper into

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Speaker 1: that we're not going to get into specifically. I think

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Speaker 1: you know, and I still think this is something I

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Speaker 1: want to tackle a little bit later. But there is

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Speaker 1: something about the fact that Anthropic and Netflix, we had

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Speaker 1: our first two major companies say no to the president,

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Speaker 1: say no to coersion efforts by the government. Clearly, Netflix

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Speaker 1: walked away deciding that the coersion that the that the

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Speaker 1: government was using, whether it was forcing them to fire

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Speaker 1: board members or whatever it was, it was a bridge

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Speaker 1: too far. Ditto with Anthropic, whatever deal it is it is.

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Speaker 1: And I think our friends over at open Ai are

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Speaker 1: probably having a bit of a staffer revolt over the

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Speaker 1: decision by them to essentially take the same contract that

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Speaker 1: Anthropic couldn't sign and then claiming that they have the

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Speaker 1: same red lines that Anthropic did. So the point being is,

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Speaker 1: I think it's a significant step that you've seen some

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Speaker 1: companies for the first time publicly traded that not ever

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Speaker 1: to say no to the government in government coercion. We

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Speaker 1: have seen pretty much every other major publicly traded company

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Speaker 1: essentially cave in. We are not seeing that there, but

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Speaker 1: that is not my focus for this episode. By the way,

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Speaker 1: let me give you a quick rundown all of the

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Speaker 1: Iran fallout is coming up here in a minute. My

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Speaker 1: time machine today. Let's just say it couldn't be more timely. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: in twenty four hours, the midterm election season kicks off.

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Speaker 1: I spent a lot of my Thursday podcast sort of

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Speaker 1: previewing that I'm going to have a lot more on Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: And of course I want to alert you we're going

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Speaker 1: to do in a live stream in partnership with my

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Speaker 1: pow Crystaliicit Decision Desk HQ, we are going to be

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Speaker 1: the first place you can see results in Texas, North Carolina,

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Speaker 1: and Arkansas. The Decision Desk folks are the best in

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Speaker 1: the business when it comes to calling elections and projecting

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Speaker 1: which way things are going. They are faster than everybody

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Speaker 1: out there, including all of the legacy media. And so

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Speaker 1: you know where to turn. And we'll be everywhere. I'll

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Speaker 1: be on my live streams, We'll be on the Decision

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Speaker 1: Desk live streams, We'll be in Crystalizis live streams, that

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Speaker 1: includes Twitter, that includes substec, that includes YouTube. I should

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Speaker 1: say X instead of Twitter, so algorithm doesn't screw us

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Speaker 1: up there, right, But you'll be able to find us

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Speaker 1: in a ton of places. And as you know, this

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Speaker 1: is everything's bigger in Texas right, and this is a

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Speaker 1: big one, and these two primaries aren't something else. And

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Speaker 1: I'm going to get to a little bit of fallout

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Speaker 1: from that. But my time machine, let's just say, is

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Speaker 1: well timed. History aligned really well when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the state of Texas and my preview there. But all

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Speaker 1: that aside, there's your quick preview. Let's dive in. I

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Speaker 1: would say the title for this monologue that I would

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Speaker 1: put in here is ends, means and the precedent. So

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Speaker 1: we're talking about Iran, but this isn't just about Iran.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about credibility, executive power, and something

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Speaker 1: bigger than a single strike. Because if you zoom out

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Speaker 1: from the battlefield details, from the political spin, from all

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Speaker 1: the media framing of this, whether on cable news or

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Speaker 1: other legacy media, or even here in the independent space,

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Speaker 1: there's a pattern. And the pattern can be summed up

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Speaker 1: in one phrase, The ends justify the means. In many ways,

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Speaker 1: this is the mantra of the Trump presidency, of the

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Speaker 1: Trump era. Everything Donald Trump seems to do involves an

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Speaker 1: outcome first and not caring about the process. In Iran

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Speaker 1: maybe the clearest test yet for that premise. So let's

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Speaker 1: start with the basics according to the administration, And look,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to put this up here up top. This

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Speaker 1: administration's credibility with telling honest information to the public is

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Speaker 1: quite low. They do not always tell the truth. We

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Speaker 1: know it. They lie a lot, They lie regularly. I

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Speaker 1: think the Pentagon lies less than other aspects of the administration.

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Speaker 1: We know. If you see a White House spokesperson speaking,

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Speaker 1: that is the lowest level of credibility. I don't mean

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Speaker 1: to rag on this, but it's really problematic when you're

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Speaker 1: dealing with war and peace. Okay, but all we have

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Speaker 1: is the administration on this, and in this case, I

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Speaker 1: think military and intelligence sources are less likely to lie

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Speaker 1: to reporters and lie to us than some not saying

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Speaker 1: that they're not capable of it. I'm not naive, but

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Speaker 1: the ones without political skin in the game are usually

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Speaker 1: the ones that lie the least. So it is it

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Speaker 1: is important. So here's what we think we know the strike.

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Speaker 1: The US parts of the strikes targeted three categories of assets.

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Speaker 1: The nuclear enrichment facilities, related infrastructure, more missile and weapons

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Speaker 1: production sites, select Islamic Revolutionary Guard, core command and control nodes,

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Speaker 1: and then of course Israel we know struck many of

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Speaker 1: the regime and may have been the ones that actually

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Speaker 1: took out the Ayatola. Now what was the stated objective?

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Speaker 1: This has been a moving target to degrade around nuclear

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Speaker 1: breakout capability, re establish de terrence, and prevent what officials

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Speaker 1: describe as a narrowing window before we across the threshold.

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Speaker 1: That was the rationale for those July strikes, right, and

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Speaker 1: so we don't know what the real rationale is. In fact,

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Speaker 1: it changed a bit. Right at the State of the Union,

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Speaker 1: we got a rationale. First we completely obliterated their nuclear program.

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Speaker 1: Then of course they've said we're fearing them trying to

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Speaker 1: still re establishment and they had some red lines in negotiations.

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Speaker 1: Second we added Marco Rubio did this added fear of

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Speaker 1: ballistic missiles reaching the United States. Now, the intelligence assessment

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Speaker 1: says that was probably ten years away from being true.

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Speaker 1: It certainly was true that Iran ballistic missiles could hit Europe.

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Speaker 1: So maybe we do care about the security of Europe

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Speaker 1: at the moment. But the bottom line is, in this

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Speaker 1: decision to go, there was really no smoking gun, right,

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Speaker 1: There was no drone strike on US soil, There was

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Speaker 1: no Pearl Harbor moment. There was no dramatic insighting incident

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Speaker 1: laid before the American people. Instead, in some ways, officials

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Speaker 1: described it as a strategic clock that ran out. And

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Speaker 1: this matters because when a president who ran for three

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Speaker 1: different presidential cycles, as a quote peacemaker launches preemptive strikes,

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Speaker 1: preemptive strikes, this was not retaliation preemptive strikes. The first

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Speaker 1: question voters are asking, and all of us are asking,

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Speaker 1: is why now, why this moment? Now? The answer officially

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Speaker 1: was urgency having to do with their military program and

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Speaker 1: the bad faith negotiations. You know, this was sort of

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Speaker 1: Iran was on the clock. They didn't they The Americans

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Speaker 1: have said that they think the Iranians were negotiating and

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Speaker 1: bad faith in Geneva. I'm going to get to that

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Speaker 1: more in a minute. It's interesting the skepticism that Steve

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Speaker 1: Whitdcuff has for the Iranians versus his lack of skepticism

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Speaker 1: that he has for the Russians. But again, we're going

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Speaker 1: to get to that. But here's the thing. When you

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Speaker 1: strike both the nuclear spine and parts of the security apparatus,

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Speaker 1: you are operating in a gray zone between non proliferation

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Speaker 1: and destabilization, and that's where the bigger questions begin. Right

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Speaker 1: there was always you were always going to get bipartisan

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Speaker 1: support to get rid of the nuclear ambition, and you

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Speaker 1: could have gotten vote in Congress for that regime change

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Speaker 1: that was a taller order. And if this is now

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Speaker 1: the stated goal, this likely means we have a lot

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Speaker 1: more responsibility. So let's talk about the uncomfortable truth that

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Speaker 1: history teaches us. Airpower can remove leaders. We just did

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Speaker 1: it with Kamani, but it almost never by itself produces

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Speaker 1: stable regime change. Toppling is the easy part. The vacuum

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Speaker 1: is the hard part. We learned that in Iraq the

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Speaker 1: hard way. Remember the celebrations getting Saddam Hussein felt like

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Speaker 1: a big moment, and it was a temporary, big moment,

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Speaker 1: you know, it led to mission accomplished. Man, the vacuum

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Speaker 1: was the hard part, and in some ways we're still

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Speaker 1: dealing with it. It's still not resolved, it's still unstable. Okay,

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Speaker 1: that vacuum is a is still not filled in Iraq,

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Speaker 1: and here we are with a new one in Iraq.

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Speaker 1: Of course, one of the mistakes we now say that

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Speaker 1: we learned from Iraq was was not about removing Saddam,

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Speaker 1: it was failing to anticipate the fragmentation that followed. So

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Speaker 1: now when you listen to the President's rhetoric, he at

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Speaker 1: least at least rhetorically understands that lesson from Iraq because

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Speaker 1: he's called on the Iranian military forces to lay down

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Speaker 1: their weapons and surrender and in some ways help help

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Speaker 1: with help the keep the peace, help defend the people.

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Speaker 1: But who are they supposed to surrender to? To whom?

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Speaker 1: The civil what's the civil society activists? By the way,

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Speaker 1: we've done, we've we we've stripped away all funding from

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Speaker 1: our US media agency that was designed to essentially support

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Speaker 1: the civil society activist community in Iran. Right, we got

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Speaker 1: rid of Voice of America in Iran and all of

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Speaker 1: these things. So we've done we have sort of less

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Speaker 1: resources for a moment like this. Right, if you knew,

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Speaker 1: if Donald Trump knew a year ago that he was

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Speaker 1: going to do this, then it makes the cuts of

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Speaker 1: the US agency when it comes to that runs information

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Speaker 1: agency that essentially oversees Voice of America, that this was

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Speaker 1: an incredibly shortsighted and terrible mistake. So who are they

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Speaker 1: supposed to surrender to? It's not clear who the civil society, activist,

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Speaker 1: Kurdish or the Balucci autonomy movements that are sitting there.

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Speaker 1: How about the monarchists that are loyal to raise a Pahlavi.

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Speaker 1: He wants to sort of be reinstall the Iranian monarchy,

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Speaker 1: breakaway factions of the Iranian Guard. And here's what complicates

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Speaker 1: all of this. Iran is not politically frozen. The protests

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Speaker 1: in twenty two and twenty twenty three showed genuine popular

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Speaker 1: dissatisfaction with the regime. Right, the economy austrained, The regime

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Speaker 1: had plenty of fissures, so there was real pressure inside

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Speaker 1: of Iran. There was this idea that Iran could crumble

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Speaker 1: with maybe without the system of the military. But given

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Speaker 1: what the Iranian regime did to the protesters, there was

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Speaker 1: a humanitarian case to make to help those protesters. But

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Speaker 1: should we have done that a month ago? But I digress.

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Speaker 1: That said, all of these protest movements are fragmented in

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Speaker 1: their leaderless right. Unlike Venezuela, who actually had an opposition

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Speaker 1: movement we could have that was elected. There was an

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Speaker 1: actual opposition elected in that we believe was elected far

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Speaker 1: and square in an election that Maduro claimed went another way.

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Speaker 1: But there is no unified opposition structure waiting in the wings.

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Speaker 1: So what? What? What's going to happen next? The question

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Speaker 1: of whether anger can consolidate into governance. Right, that's what

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Speaker 1: makes this what comes next so unpredictable. Who are we

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Speaker 1: working with? There's been some talk that the current president

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Speaker 1: of Iran he thinks he sees him my tit a

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Speaker 1: source tell me, and he he may see himself as

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Speaker 1: sort of the Gorbachev of Iran, helping to transition from

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Speaker 1: a theocracy to to some form of a democracy. Right,

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Speaker 1: we don't know quite what it's going to look like,

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Speaker 1: but that he can be a transitional figure. Does Trump

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Speaker 1: find his own delce Rodriguez? Right, the vice president of

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Speaker 1: Maduro who basically has agreed to be a leader in

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Speaker 1: name only of Venezuela as long as she pays pays

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Speaker 1: uh pays the boss in this case Donald Trump, a

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Speaker 1: certain amount of money and or control of the oil assets.

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Speaker 1: And then suddenly he's okay. So is there that person

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Speaker 1: and that exists? That's unclear. Now let's talk about the

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Speaker 1: Israeli factor. Was the United States tagon a law? Was

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Speaker 1: Israel leading this or was this the United States decision.

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Speaker 1: I think that's up in the air. The administration's briefing

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Speaker 1: reportedly suggested Israel was going to strike regardless, and the

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Speaker 1: only question was whether the United States would go along,

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Speaker 1: would go alongside them or wait till Iran retaliated and

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Speaker 1: then jump in. So it raises a deeper issue. Did

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Speaker 1: the United States get boxed in by net Yahu's timetable

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Speaker 1: or did the White House use Israel's momentum as the

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Speaker 1: convenient means to achieve its own end. That's the difference

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Speaker 1: between tag and a law and providing the shield, the

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Speaker 1: deterurn umbrella that allows Israel to strike harder. So was

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Speaker 1: the tail wagon the dog? It's an open question. I

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Speaker 1: know some people believe they know the answer, but they

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Speaker 1: don't know the answer for sure. Did wash to decide

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Speaker 1: that aligning publicly with Israel strengthen deterrence and projected strength.

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Speaker 1: That distinction also matters because this was a provocative strategic choice.

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Speaker 1: This is a war of choice, not a war of necessity.

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Speaker 1: Famous Tim Russer question to George W. Bush back in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and four. I believe it was was a

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Speaker 1: rack of war of choice or a war of necessity.

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Speaker 1: That answer is infamous in presidential rhetoric war because if

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Speaker 1: this was a proactive strategic choice, that's one debate. If

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Speaker 1: it was reactive to Israeli action, that's a different war

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Speaker 1: powers debate. Entirely, this episode of the Chuck Toddcast is

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Speaker 1: use the code Chuck Podcast. Now let's lean into something

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Speaker 1: even more uncomfortable. So we went back and I went

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Speaker 1: back and looked at the tape for three election cycles

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Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, twenty twenty, and twenty twenty four, Donald Trump

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Speaker 1: and his surrogates warned that Democrats were going to drag

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Speaker 1: America into war with Iran, and Trump regularly said it

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Speaker 1: would lead to World War three. He used the phrase

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Speaker 1: repeated and it goes way back, folks. Twenty eleven, Trump

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Speaker 1: predicted Obama would start a war with Iran to get

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Speaker 1: re elected. Project much Donnie. In twenty twelve, he warned

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Speaker 1: against playing the Iran card again. One thing that Donald

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Speaker 1: Trump does is that he reveals his own thinking with

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Speaker 1: his criticisms, doesn't he In twenty twenty four, he said

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Speaker 1: Kamala Harris would cause World War three, and on inauguration

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Speaker 1: Day twenty twenty five, he said, my proudest legacy will

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Speaker 1: be that of a peacemaker. He has now killed two

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Speaker 1: world leaders in a little over a year in office

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Speaker 1: in a second term. Excuse me one world leader, and

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Speaker 1: he's put one in captivity. J. D. Van said the

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Speaker 1: Democrats were sleep walking us into war. Tulci Gabbard warned

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Speaker 1: of regime change war. By the way, has she resigned yet?

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Speaker 1: Just asking because she was adamant that there is no.

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Speaker 1: One of the worst military decisions that any president could

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Speaker 1: make would be launching an attack on a run. So

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Speaker 1: we're waiting for her resignation. Pete Eggseth argue, a democratic

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Speaker 1: weakness created endless wars. So the message was clear, They'll

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Speaker 1: meaning the Democrats, they'll start wars. We the Republicans won't.

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Speaker 1: Now the same movement must reconcile, combat strikes and regime

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Speaker 1: change rhetoric to what they told the American people. And

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Speaker 1: this is where they've created themselves a massive political problem here.

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Speaker 1: This is not a small one. This is why I

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Speaker 1: am very skeptical this has any domestic political benefit to

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump. It may help his legacy, and I'll get

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Speaker 1: to that, and it may be all he cares about anymore.

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Speaker 1: He may have written off his domestic political career, and

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Speaker 1: this discip he is no longer interested in helping rebuild

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Speaker 1: America domestically. He is almost solely focused on playing this

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Speaker 1: rudimentary game of risk and just going forward here. And

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Speaker 1: you know a man who's gone through so many bankruptcies,

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Speaker 1: who seems to you know, be willing to live on

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Speaker 1: a credit card for a while to keep up appearances

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Speaker 1: in order to find more suckers to essentially do business

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Speaker 1: with him where he just extracts the cash and leaves

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Speaker 1: them holding the bag. He's pretty This is a guy

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Speaker 1: who's you know, thinks he can't lose at the moment,

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Speaker 1: and that should be of a small concern to a

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Speaker 1: lot of people. So is this going to be a pivot?

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Speaker 1: You know, I've always said Donald Trump was you know.

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Speaker 1: One of the things somebody once said to me is

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump's the least mega person in any room of

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Speaker 1: maga people. I think that was a more polite way

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Speaker 1: of saying he has no core beliefs. He is a unilateralist,

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Speaker 1: meaning what's in his gut in the moment, he acts unilaterally.

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Speaker 1: He does not think about consequences beyond what's good for him.

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Speaker 1: Is this a legacy defining moment for him? Is this

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Speaker 1: a political help in the moment? That's about the only

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Speaker 1: two things he debates. It appears when he makes these decisions.

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Speaker 1: But this was a unilateral decision. Is this going to

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Speaker 1: turn into an identic crisis for the America First coalition?

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Speaker 1: I think it's pretty clear Donald Trump's no America First

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Speaker 1: guy anymore. I don't think he ever was. But has

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Speaker 1: he left an opening for your Rand Pauls of the world,

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Speaker 1: who are genuine in their belief of isolationism on this,

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Speaker 1: who are very skeptical of trying to dictate outcomes in

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Speaker 1: other countries. The anti Neocon wing of the Republican Party

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Speaker 1: has to justify what looks structurally like simple intervention, no

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Speaker 1: different than anything the Bush Chainey administration advocated. That's not

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Speaker 1: just a rhetorical agen jusman. That's ideological gymnastics, and it

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Speaker 1: doesn't automamatically make the strike wrong, but it's a credibility issue,

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Speaker 1: and that's going to be the political fallout here. This

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Speaker 1: may turn out to be one of the best things

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Speaker 1: to ever happen in the Middle East. I'm not ruling

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Speaker 1: that out getting rid of Komene's I mean just the

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Speaker 1: quick aside here. There's still an open question about whether

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Speaker 1: Iran greenlit the Hamas attack on Israel in October seventh. Supposedly,

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Speaker 1: the Iranians were skeptical of the idea and Hamas pushed it.

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Speaker 1: Iran could have stopped it if they wanted to, and

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Speaker 1: they chose not to. That I think we know it

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Speaker 1: is the greatest strategic blunder that they made because at

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Speaker 1: that point, there was no more There was no more

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Speaker 1: restraining Israel. When it came to Hesbelo, they've essentially decapitated Hesbelow.

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Speaker 1: When it came to the Hoodies, they're in a slightly

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Speaker 1: stronger position than Husbla, but not much. And then of

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Speaker 1: course Amas is basically mostly demilitarized, and that is why

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Speaker 1: Iran is so vulnerable and weak at the moment, and

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Speaker 1: that's why a Bibi nan Yahu and the IDF is saying, hey, there,

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Speaker 1: let's not let them reconstitute this theocracy. They're a scourge,

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Speaker 1: frankly for the entire region, and looks like the Sunni

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Speaker 1: States all agree with this. And in fact, you want

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Speaker 1: to talk about a huge strategic mistake that the Iranians

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Speaker 1: made launching attacks on all these Gulf state countries that

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Speaker 1: happened to house either US or other Western military bases,

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Speaker 1: because they just whatever neutrality the Gulf States might have

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00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,080
Speaker 1: republicly wanted to have, they don't have any anymore. And

428
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 1: now we're learning via the Washington Post that in fact

429
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: it was the Saudis that were the it was MBS

430
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 1: that was could working Trump the hardest, on making on

431
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,920
Speaker 1: doing this, on not backing down. Not Israel that talked

432
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 1: Trump into this, but the Saudis. And we know how

433
00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,679
Speaker 1: much business you know how important the business relationships that

434
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,719
Speaker 1: Trump has with the Gulf States, which means they're going

435
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 1: to have a lot more influence than your average world leader.

436
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 1: But one one will just to button up this little

437
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,040
Speaker 1: aside here on Israel and Iran. So Iran makes that

438
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: strategic mistake. I think what we've learned about Iran is

439
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 1: they're conventional military as a joke, and they've been humiliated

440
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,280
Speaker 1: easily whenever, I mean they were a paid they've been

441
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:57,200
Speaker 1: a paper tiger. What gave them perceived strength was there

442
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:03,600
Speaker 1: asymmetrical terrorist sort of contractors. Right, Hezbollah and Hamas and

443
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 1: the Hutis were much more effective as a military arm

444
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 1: of the Iranians than the actual Iranian military itself. And

445
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 1: when October seventh happens, what Israel essentially systematically taking out

446
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: all of these proxy organizations that the Iranians were funding.

447
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 1: It left the Iranians exposed, which is why they're now

448
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,680
Speaker 1: in the position that they're in now. And also, make

449
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,680
Speaker 1: no mistake, Israel is now the military power of the

450
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 1: Middle East without question. There was always this idea that

451
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 1: Iran had some hidden military strength. This is clearly not

452
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 1: it's it's let's just say it's a huge mismatch with

453
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 1: or without the United States, but with the United States,

454
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 1: it's a massive mismatch. And the biggest development over the

455
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: last twenty five years since the Iraq War is the

456
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:03,160
Speaker 1: alignment of all the sunniest dates with Israel and against Iran.

457
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: And that is why Iran is in the situation that

458
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 1: they're in today. But let's not you know, there's still

459
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 1: an economic gamble to all this, and we have to

460
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,040
Speaker 1: be aware of Strikes on Iran traditionally send oil prices higher,

461
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 1: which of course has all sorts of economic impact. You know,

462
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 1: if gas it's five dollars a gallon, that doesn't make

463
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 1: it an abstract issue on geopolitics. It makes it a

464
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 1: domestic issue. Creates inflation, hurts consumer confidence, impacts re election

465
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: politics for everybody on the ballot in twenty twenty six. Now, look,

466
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,719
Speaker 1: we are, I think at a situation where first of all,

467
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 1: we're not as dependent on foreign oil as we used

468
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 1: to be. Yes, it's going to have some impact, but

469
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,960
Speaker 1: may not have as much impact as it would have, say,

470
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 1: even ten years ago, fifteen years ago or twenty years ago.

471
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: In fact, some of the biggest reasons not to do

472
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: not to attack Iran, say fifteen years ago, twenty years ago,

473
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 1: was the economic fallout that could come from it. And

474
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,720
Speaker 1: we're I think the entire energy industry is in a

475
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 1: more diversified situation where knocking Iran out isn't going to

476
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 1: have the same impact as it would have had a

477
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: while ago. But it's still a gamble. Now Here's something

478
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 1: that I think has gotten lost a little bit in

479
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 1: the and we're getting all sorts of tiktoks and all

480
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:31,520
Speaker 1: sorts of stuff coming out. But one of the rationales

481
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 1: that the administration is hanging its hat on is that

482
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,960
Speaker 1: the Iranians during these negotiations with wit Coffin Kushner in

483
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: Geneva over the last two weeks, and I'm I'm going

484
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 1: to I accept the premise that had the Iranians completely

485
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 1: capitulated to every demand the United States had, that Trump

486
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 1: would have cut the deal. I do believe that. And

487
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 1: why do we know this, because look, he's kept Delsi

488
00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: Rodriguez in power as long as she gives him everything

489
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,600
Speaker 1: he asks for. So I think there's something to that

490
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,520
Speaker 1: still They're hanging their hat on the idea that the

491
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 1: Iranians were negotiating in bad faith. Remember these are the

492
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,160
Speaker 1: same two gentlemen negotiating with the Russians with Guffin and Kushner.

493
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 1: But here's some questions. Why is the skepticism that's applied

494
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 1: to Iran not applied equally to Russia. Russia is repeatedly

495
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,800
Speaker 1: lied in negotiations with the Ukraine, more so than the

496
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: Iranians have lied. The Iranians are actually up front that

497
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 1: they had some civil nuclear ambition. Russia lies with all

498
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 1: the time in these negotiations. What's interesting here is the

499
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: way Trump is bullying any country that is smaller than

500
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: US Venezuela, Cuba, Iran. But he's certainly nervous about alienating Russia,

501
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 1: so he accepts the lies from them in negotiations, and

502
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 1: he just he is pausing the aggressionally approved sales of

503
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,880
Speaker 1: billions of dollars the new weapons to Taiwan because he

504
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,200
Speaker 1: doesn't want to mess up his meeting in China with

505
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: She next month. So he will capitulate to big powers.

506
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 1: We're going to get to that in a minute. Maybe

507
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: this is about strategic calculus, but the idea that we

508
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:31,240
Speaker 1: accept the lies of Russia, but we slam the door

509
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 1: in the Iranians as something else. Now, maybe Iran is

510
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: weak enough to strike decisively, Russia's obviously too dangerous, China

511
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:46,640
Speaker 1: is too economically entangled. In other words, the fights chosen

512
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,400
Speaker 1: by the president are the ones where visible dominance is

513
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: achievable rules of the jungle, and it fits the ends

514
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 1: justifies the means framework, which seems to be essentially what

515
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 1: I would probably make the title of his presidential memoirs,

516
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,640
Speaker 1: because it's the only positive case you can make first

517
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 1: presidency being a success is if the ends justify all

518
00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 1: the terrible means that he went about. Battles you can win,

519
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,040
Speaker 1: use the win to validate expanded executive power. It's not

520
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:28,960
Speaker 1: moral commentary, it's just pattern recognition. So here's where Congress

521
00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,480
Speaker 1: only has itself to blame. So in twenty Zho two,

522
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 1: Congress voted on Iraq. You can argue it was mistaken,

523
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,040
Speaker 1: but there was at least a vote here. There wasn't

524
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: even an attempt. And if Congress does not try to

525
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,240
Speaker 1: reassert its authority over war powers in general, this is

526
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,040
Speaker 1: going to become precedent, not just for Trump but for

527
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 1: the next president. Power rarely contracts voluntarily. It simply accumulates.

528
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 1: And I have no idea why this Congress has any

529
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,880
Speaker 1: It doesn't see this, but you know this is now.

530
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,040
Speaker 1: I will argue this is nearly seventy years of congressional

531
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:09,279
Speaker 1: dysfunction of shitty speakers of the House, every one of them,

532
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 1: who are more worried about protecting their majority than protecting

533
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: the Constitution. So I'm going to close it this. Here's

534
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:22,280
Speaker 1: a real question if the outcome in Iran, is it tolerable?

535
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 1: It's not perfect, it's not democratic, but tolerable. Right, we

536
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:29,880
Speaker 1: get rid of the theocracy, There is more freedom in Iran,

537
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 1: women have rights. Will Americans decide that the process itself

538
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:39,000
Speaker 1: never really mattered? This is the scariest moment of all

539
00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 1: for US constitutionalists. Well, we decide that Congress is optional,

540
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 1: that persuasion is unnecessary. This president did not persuade the

541
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,479
Speaker 1: American public. This was an action that we had to take.

542
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:58,560
Speaker 1: Nor did he ask Congress for permission. Are we gonna

543
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:03,440
Speaker 1: decide that campaign lies? Campaign rhetoric is all disposable, so

544
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:07,239
Speaker 1: we're not supposed to believe anything they say anymore. So

545
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:14,439
Speaker 1: long as the strike worked, and justifies the means, because

546
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,719
Speaker 1: let's be honest here, you cannot spend a decade warning

547
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 1: voters about World War III under your opponents and then

548
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 1: initiate military action yourself without that contradiction meaning something. It

549
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:29,080
Speaker 1: doesn't automatically make the policy decision wrong, but it makes

550
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,640
Speaker 1: the credibility part of the story. And this administration's credibility

551
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,600
Speaker 1: was already near the bottom. My goodness, I don't know

552
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:37,880
Speaker 1: how far much lower you can get on credibility, but

553
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 1: they have very, very little. And of course, once you

554
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:46,719
Speaker 1: spend your credibility, you don't get a chance. You don't

555
00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:51,839
Speaker 1: replenish it very easily. Now, maybe voters will decide consistency

556
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,320
Speaker 1: doesn't matter anymore. Ends justify the means. They may decide

557
00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: constitutional guardrails or secondary to results, ends justify the means.

558
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,360
Speaker 1: Then they're not just validating though one decision. They're going

559
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 1: to be validating a new method to governing this country.

560
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: It's how you become an authoritarian state. Let's be honest.

561
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 1: Once that method becomes precedent, and that's the word here, precedent,

562
00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:20,239
Speaker 1: the next president inherits it, and the one after that.

563
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,240
Speaker 1: So it's not just the strikes it's the precedent because

564
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:28,360
Speaker 1: of executive action first and congressional consult consultation later becomes normal.

565
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: Then we've just made a change in our own constitutional republic.

566
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 1: Not quite regime change, but it's a constitutional change, and

567
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:44,760
Speaker 1: that one won't be confined to Iran and that, unfortunately,

568
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,239
Speaker 1: that's the debate we should be having. We're not going

569
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: to have it. And I'll say this, I am I am,

570
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:57,960
Speaker 1: I am skeptical that this is going to you know,

571
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,759
Speaker 1: not those sideways in some form. That doesn't means it's

572
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 1: not recoverable. But we have so many unknowns here, and

573
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:14,280
Speaker 1: we now have a president who's essentially agreed to rebuild Venezuela.

574
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:19,319
Speaker 1: He's openly said he's ready to go rebuild Cuba, he's

575
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:23,759
Speaker 1: trying to put together a coalition to rebuild Gaza, and

576
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 1: now we've helped break I mean, my goodness, we've got

577
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,960
Speaker 1: to if we're gonna regime changer, we're not going to

578
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:33,080
Speaker 1: be there to help rebuild them. Roun. What's the American

579
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:39,279
Speaker 1: voter here? In Those are all places that are not

580
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:44,319
Speaker 1: in the United States of America. And you don't have

581
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:52,480
Speaker 1: to be a well credentialed political scientist to know that

582
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:57,759
Speaker 1: foreign affairs success overseas rarely translates to votes at the

583
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:02,560
Speaker 1: ballot box. The only time overseas incidents matter is when

584
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:08,400
Speaker 1: they're negatives. The positives go away quickly, just as George H. W.

585
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:14,440
Speaker 1: Bush that stuff rarely matters in domestic politics. And if anything,

586
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 1: what may matter more here and why this is possibly

587
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:22,439
Speaker 1: a big, a much bigger political problem than this White

588
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:26,759
Speaker 1: House fully realizes yet, is that they may feel good

589
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:28,640
Speaker 1: in the moment they've got all sorts of allies, and

590
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:32,799
Speaker 1: it's exciting for Iranians in the diaspora who might get

591
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:36,279
Speaker 1: their freedom and get their country back. I don't know

592
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 1: if that's going to translate into any new votes for

593
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:45,319
Speaker 1: Republicans in twenty twenty six, especially if the price of

594
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:48,640
Speaker 1: electricity keeps going on the price of grocery keeps going up.

595
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:53,600
Speaker 1: So this is much riskier politically than I think he

596
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:57,279
Speaker 1: fully realizes, even as if it may turn out to

597
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:04,880
Speaker 1: be much less riskier in geopolitical strategy. That said, we

598
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: got a long way to go. Iraq is still a mess.

599
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:13,919
Speaker 1: Afghanistan is still a mess. We intervened more than twenty

600
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:20,480
Speaker 1: years ago. Iran is going to be suddenly now it's

601
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:22,719
Speaker 1: if you believe in the pottery barn rule. If you

602
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:26,040
Speaker 1: break it, you own it. Iran is now going to

603
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 1: be an issue that we're going to be dealing with

604
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,400
Speaker 1: in the near term for some time. The question is

605
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,520
Speaker 1: how much patience with the American public half for that?

606
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:41,880
Speaker 1: All Right, Like I said, I have, it's a hugely

607
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:46,680
Speaker 1: consequential week in campaign politics. I've gone a huge deep dive.

608
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 1: I just want to give you a quick little thing

609
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:53,759
Speaker 1: of what I'm hearing in this final weekend in Texas one.

610
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,239
Speaker 1: It looks like Tallarico has a little bit of momentum.

611
00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:59,080
Speaker 1: All the internal polling I'm hearing about seems to have

612
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,120
Speaker 1: him with a little more mea than Crockett. We shall see.

613
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,320
Speaker 1: Cornyn's folks are already trying to pre spin the idea

614
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,400
Speaker 1: they're not going to be the leading vote getter. Donald

615
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,600
Speaker 1: Trump once again did an event right before he launched

616
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,320
Speaker 1: the strike officially launched the strikes against Iran, where he

617
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,480
Speaker 1: seemed to say I love all of you, and he

618
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:21,200
Speaker 1: refused to endorse. Let's see if we are in two runoffs,

619
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,400
Speaker 1: Let's see who the Democratic nominee is. All of that

620
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,719
Speaker 1: could have some impact on Trump there's a few other

621
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 1: primaries worth watching. Tony Gonzalez, who's got the who had

622
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:34,520
Speaker 1: the affair with the woman who killed herself by lighting

623
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:38,000
Speaker 1: herself on fire. He seems to be in a very

624
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,680
Speaker 1: precarious position. Somebody pretty far to his right challenging him

625
00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:45,040
Speaker 1: in a primary, but he appears to be in trouble

626
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,400
Speaker 1: no matter what. Either he survives his primary or he doesn't,

627
00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 1: and that seat becomes, i think, pretty vulnerable because you'll have,

628
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:56,799
Speaker 1: either way somebody who will be hard who have a

629
00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 1: hard time winning a general election. The underrated primary of

630
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,239
Speaker 1: the of the weekend is Dan Crenshaw. He is the

631
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 1: only sitting incumbent Republican member of Congress in the Texas

632
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:15,279
Speaker 1: delegation who does not have Donald Trump support. That's going

633
00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:19,279
Speaker 1: to be interesting one of the first tests, right we

634
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,840
Speaker 1: know Massey and his primary is coming up in may Or,

635
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:26,359
Speaker 1: We're going to get an early taste of what does

636
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:30,440
Speaker 1: it mean when you're when you're when you're fairly well

637
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:34,440
Speaker 1: known to be a conservative, which Dan Crenshaw is pretty

638
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:40,280
Speaker 1: consistent conservative, just not a Trump SECA fan. Is that now?

639
00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 1: Is that enough to survive or is that a bridge

640
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:48,920
Speaker 1: too far for the Magabase are they going to show up?

641
00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 1: How intense? And here's one more thing to watch in Texas.

642
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:56,719
Speaker 1: I've had numerous strategists left and right say the same

643
00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 1: thing to me, there could be more Democratic voters because

644
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,879
Speaker 1: in Texas, the biggest number to watch if you're trying

645
00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:10,040
Speaker 1: to understand who's got momentum going into the general election

646
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:15,640
Speaker 1: in November, is total turnout in a primary in Texas. Right,

647
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,680
Speaker 1: will the Republicans have more voters and their statewide primaries

648
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:21,000
Speaker 1: or will the Democrats? In Texas you get to pick

649
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,839
Speaker 1: which ballot when you go in there, any vote registered voter,

650
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 1: they get told you pick a ballot. So it's my

651
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,799
Speaker 1: understanding that there are a lot of what I would

652
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:36,440
Speaker 1: call Cornin tall Rico voters. If you and if you're

653
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:39,600
Speaker 1: a Cornin supporter who doesn't believe corn can win, and

654
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,520
Speaker 1: you don't want to vote for Paxton or Crockett, then

655
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,040
Speaker 1: you may pick a Democratic ballot and vote for Taller Rico.

656
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:51,120
Speaker 1: So it is we've seen this phenomenon before New Hampshire

657
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:54,600
Speaker 1: presidential primaries in two thousand. I remember it was McCain

658
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,560
Speaker 1: and the Republican primary, Bradley and the Democratic primary. They

659
00:42:57,600 --> 00:42:59,960
Speaker 1: were both fighting for the same voters, and these independ

660
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:01,920
Speaker 1: voters which ballot were they going to pick? It was

661
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,160
Speaker 1: independent voters who could pick either ballot, and more of

662
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,160
Speaker 1: them picked the Republican ballot, and McCain wins. Had a

663
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:11,720
Speaker 1: chunk of more of them picked the Democratic ballot, Bradley

664
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:17,560
Speaker 1: would have won that primary. So Cornin is in competition

665
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:22,360
Speaker 1: not just with Paxton anymore, but with taller Ico. For

666
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 1: those that don't like Crocket or Paxton, right, does it

667
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:31,319
Speaker 1: motivate them to jump into the Democratic primary to pick

668
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 1: Tallarico or does it motivate them to go in the

669
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:37,600
Speaker 1: Republican primary to pick Cornyn. It's just one of the

670
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:39,960
Speaker 1: various ways and one of the sort of under the

671
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:42,520
Speaker 1: radar ways to look at this race, and certainly one

672
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:44,759
Speaker 1: that you know when you're following us in live on

673
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,080
Speaker 1: election night, and we're going to be going starting before

674
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:50,719
Speaker 1: the polls close, going all the way till we've called

675
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:55,360
Speaker 1: all the major races in Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas.

676
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:57,839
Speaker 1: That's going to be among the things to follow because

677
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,320
Speaker 1: if more democratic, if more more voters pick a Democratic

678
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:05,040
Speaker 1: ballot than a Republican ballot, then I think it's fair

679
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:09,279
Speaker 1: to say Texas is in play in November, so it's

680
00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:14,399
Speaker 1: the under the radar stat to watch on Tuesday. At

681
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 1: this point, not a lot of not enough people are

682
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:20,279
Speaker 1: talking about all right, So there you have it. Like

683
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,480
Speaker 1: I said, a lot of stuff going on. Would have

684
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 1: more to say about Anthropic and more to say about,

685
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:28,600
Speaker 1: you know, legacy media of the future of CNN. I'll

686
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:30,640
Speaker 1: save that if you have some questions, but I'll probably

687
00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:36,239
Speaker 1: save most of this for my podcast on next Wednesday.

688
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:39,680
Speaker 1: From there, though, we've got a busy next twenty four

689
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:41,600
Speaker 1: to forty eight hours. You got this podcast, you got

690
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:44,440
Speaker 1: our live election I covered. So I hope you're not

691
00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 1: sick of me because you have an opportunity to see

692
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:49,680
Speaker 1: a lot of me over the next twenty four eight

693
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719
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Speaker 1: We didn't have any money. He didn't leave us in

720
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721
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:30,840
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722
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723
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724
00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:40,360
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725
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:43,719
Speaker 1: I was able to go to college. Little did he

726
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727
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731
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733
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736
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737
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738
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739
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:27,120
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740
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741
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742
00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:38,080
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743
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745
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746
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:52,480
Speaker 1: life insurance is something you should really think about it,

747
00:47:52,560 --> 00:48:02,120
Speaker 1: especially if you've got a growing family. All Right, it

748
00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:06,120
Speaker 1: is time to travel into the time machine and guess

749
00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 1: what it is if you're listening to this on March second,

750
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:14,160
Speaker 1: rather than having delayed listening to this podcast, Shame on

751
00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:16,320
Speaker 1: you if you couldn't get to it on March second.

752
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:22,399
Speaker 1: But today, March second is the anniversary of a very

753
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:26,040
Speaker 1: important revolution in American history, March second, eighteen thirty six,

754
00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:31,000
Speaker 1: Texas Revolution and the story it still tells. So we

755
00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:33,600
Speaker 1: know Texans head to the polls or at least finish

756
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,879
Speaker 1: going to the polls on March third. And it makes

757
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,600
Speaker 1: this week in history especially resident because on March second,

758
00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:45,400
Speaker 1: eighteen thirty six, delegates meeting at Washington on the Brazos

759
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:51,799
Speaker 1: adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence. Texas formally declared independence

760
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:55,319
Speaker 1: from Mexico March second, eighteen thirty six. It's a foundational

761
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:58,239
Speaker 1: date in Texas political culture. But if we're going to

762
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,560
Speaker 1: talk about what that moment meant and what it still means,

763
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:02,719
Speaker 1: we have to tell the story in full, not just

764
00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:06,440
Speaker 1: the Alamo, not just the Anglo settlers, and not just defiance,

765
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:10,080
Speaker 1: the entire thing. So let's start with Washington on the Brazos.

766
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:13,600
Speaker 1: The declaration was signed at Washington on the Brazos. This

767
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:16,600
Speaker 1: was a small settlement alongside the Brazos River in what

768
00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:21,759
Speaker 1: is now east central Texas, near modern Brenham. Obviously named

769
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:26,120
Speaker 1: for George Washington, it was a modest frontier town. Texas

770
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:29,920
Speaker 1: independence was not proclaimed in a capital city. It was

771
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:33,600
Speaker 1: declared in a wooden settlement at the edge of competing sovereignties.

772
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:38,920
Speaker 1: The setting matters here a little bit. The colonization project

773
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:41,480
Speaker 1: that led to the revolution began with a gentleman by

774
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:46,160
Speaker 1: the name of Moses Austin, who secured Spanish permission at

775
00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:51,800
Speaker 1: eighteen twenty to bring settlers to the territory called Texas.

776
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:57,279
Speaker 1: Now Moses died shortly thereafter getting that permission, and his son,

777
00:49:57,680 --> 00:50:03,080
Speaker 1: Stephen F. Austin renegotiated the agreement with Mexico after independence

778
00:50:03,080 --> 00:50:07,920
Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty one, and he became the central organizing

779
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:13,359
Speaker 1: and it became the Central impresario organizing Anglo settlement. So

780
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:17,319
Speaker 1: this was not an invasion, It was a government authorized

781
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:23,560
Speaker 1: settlement program Texas. From Mexico's perspective, it was practical stagecraft.

782
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:28,520
Speaker 1: They wanted to populate and stabilize essentially their northern frontier,

783
00:50:29,480 --> 00:50:35,200
Speaker 1: and from the settler's perspective, independence was an opportunity. But

784
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:38,160
Speaker 1: Texas in eighteen thirty six was not just Anglo settlers

785
00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:44,439
Speaker 1: versus Mexico. There was a substantial Mexican origin population called

786
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:49,280
Speaker 1: Tahanas already rooted in the region, essentially native to Texas.

787
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:54,440
Speaker 1: Some Teanos supported the revolution and fought alongside Anglo Texans.

788
00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:59,400
Speaker 1: Lorenzo da Zavalla actually signed the Texas Declaration of Independence

789
00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:02,360
Speaker 1: and he became the first vice president of the Republic

790
00:51:02,400 --> 00:51:08,560
Speaker 1: of Texas. Juan Segeen fought at San Jacinto, helped organized resistance,

791
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:12,960
Speaker 1: and later served as mayor of San Antonio. In fact,

792
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:18,120
Speaker 1: Segouine eulogized the dead at the Alamo, and then after

793
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:21,640
Speaker 1: independence he was driven out of Texas by Anglo settlers

794
00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:26,200
Speaker 1: who accused him of disloyalty. That arc tells you something.

795
00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:30,279
Speaker 1: The revolution was not a simple Anglo liberation story. It

796
00:51:30,360 --> 00:51:34,080
Speaker 1: was multi ethnic, layered, and a bit uneven in its aftermath.

797
00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:39,200
Speaker 1: Many Tehanos who supported independence later lost land, political influence,

798
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:43,680
Speaker 1: and security. And you can't omit the Tehanos from this

799
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:48,799
Speaker 1: story because then you flatten Texas history. Now let's talk

800
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:53,279
Speaker 1: about slavery. Mexico abolished slavery in eighteen twenty nine, though

801
00:51:53,320 --> 00:51:58,920
Speaker 1: Texas initially received exemptions and workarounds allowed which allowed slavery

802
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:04,440
Speaker 1: to persist under indentured structures. But there was tension that

803
00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:09,480
Speaker 1: the Texas territory was allowed to have slavery. So and

804
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:13,279
Speaker 1: it's notable that in the Texas Declaration of Independence, it

805
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:20,319
Speaker 1: explicitly cited Mexico's emancipation policies as a grievance. This is

806
00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:23,920
Speaker 1: not an interpretation of the declaration. It was written into

807
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:28,719
Speaker 1: this founding document. Slavery was not incidental. It was central

808
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:32,960
Speaker 1: to the decision to declare independence from Mexico. Now, the

809
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:35,720
Speaker 1: story of the Alamo and how it became a symbol.

810
00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 1: The Siege of the Alamo began February twenty third, eighteen

811
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:43,000
Speaker 1: thirty six. The Mexican forces generally estimated at the time

812
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:46,399
Speaker 1: between fifteen hundred and two thousand soldiers. There were fewer

813
00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:49,680
Speaker 1: than two hundred defenders that held this mission, and among

814
00:52:49,719 --> 00:52:54,319
Speaker 1: them were two nationally known famous people, Davy Crockett and

815
00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:59,520
Speaker 1: Jim Bwett, and their presence at this fight helped nationalize

816
00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:02,399
Speaker 1: the story, which in turn would help create the myth

817
00:53:03,360 --> 00:53:08,200
Speaker 1: the Alamo was a military defeat. Traditionally, historians argue it

818
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:12,200
Speaker 1: delayed the Mexican forces and gave Sam Houston, who was

819
00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:17,560
Speaker 1: in charge of the of the Texas forces, time to regroup. Now,

820
00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:20,440
Speaker 1: there is a debate about whether that was a strategic

821
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:24,120
Speaker 1: delay or just sort of happenstance, But what is undeniable

822
00:53:24,239 --> 00:53:29,080
Speaker 1: is the symbolic impact. Remember, the Alamo was important as

823
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:34,000
Speaker 1: a rallying cry, and it did help rally troops. And

824
00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:38,000
Speaker 1: yet there was an even larger massacre that took place

825
00:53:38,040 --> 00:53:42,480
Speaker 1: at Goliad, where roughly three hundred and forty Texas prisoners

826
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:47,680
Speaker 1: were executed after surrendering. In fact, remember the Alamo, and

827
00:53:47,719 --> 00:53:51,719
Speaker 1: remember Goliad was all part of the original cry. But

828
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:55,440
Speaker 1: Goliad faded in the mythology, Alamo endured, and you have

829
00:53:55,480 --> 00:53:58,640
Speaker 1: to ask yourself why, Oh, Davy Crockett is really why

830
00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:03,480
Speaker 1: right identity? He chooses the cleaner narrative. A heroic last

831
00:54:03,480 --> 00:54:07,560
Speaker 1: stand with Davy Crockett travels better than the grim reality

832
00:54:07,560 --> 00:54:12,680
Speaker 1: of a mass execution of already captured soldiers. The selection

833
00:54:12,800 --> 00:54:19,000
Speaker 1: of symbols is always itself part of political storytelling. Then

834
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,279
Speaker 1: there's Sam Houston, who was of course in charge of

835
00:54:21,280 --> 00:54:24,440
Speaker 1: the troops during the independence after the Alamo and goalie

836
00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:27,440
Speaker 1: at Sam Houston did retreat ees, he trained forces, he

837
00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:32,080
Speaker 1: resisted calls for premature battle, and ultimately defeated the Mexican

838
00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:38,239
Speaker 1: forces at San Jacinto. But Houston's story is a bit complicated,

839
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:42,000
Speaker 1: and it complicates Texas identity further because it's worth noting

840
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,880
Speaker 1: that in eighteen sixty one, when Texas voted to secede

841
00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:49,400
Speaker 1: from the Union, Houston, then the governor of Texas, refused

842
00:54:49,400 --> 00:54:54,400
Speaker 1: to swear loyalty to the Confederacy. He was removed from office.

843
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:58,800
Speaker 1: The man who led Texas independence from Mexico refused texas

844
00:54:58,840 --> 00:55:02,360
Speaker 1: secession from the United State. It's just a reminder that

845
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:09,560
Speaker 1: Texas has always contained internal argument, so Texas was an

846
00:55:09,560 --> 00:55:12,640
Speaker 1: independent republic from eighteen thirty six to eighteen forty five.

847
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:17,960
Speaker 1: Anneccesation into the United States was controversial, especially because Texas

848
00:55:17,960 --> 00:55:22,320
Speaker 1: was a slaveholding republic. President John Tyler signed the annexation

849
00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:25,880
Speaker 1: resolution on March first, eighteen forty five, just before he

850
00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:30,799
Speaker 1: was leaving office. President James Polk followed through annexation, though

851
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:34,960
Speaker 1: did set the table for the war with Mexico. But

852
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:38,520
Speaker 1: here's the fuller picture. Mexico claimed the border at the

853
00:55:38,719 --> 00:55:43,280
Speaker 1: Noosis River, which runs through what is now South Texas

854
00:55:43,280 --> 00:55:47,360
Speaker 1: near Corpus Christi. Texas and the United States claimed the

855
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:50,800
Speaker 1: Rio Grande as the border roughly one hundred and fifty

856
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:54,759
Speaker 1: miles farther south. Well. The disputed land that one hundred and

857
00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:59,399
Speaker 1: fifty miles between those rivers became the flashpoint for war.

858
00:56:00,480 --> 00:56:03,919
Speaker 1: So when US troops entered the contested zone, skirmishes broke

859
00:56:03,960 --> 00:56:07,959
Speaker 1: out or followed. But it's also true that President Polk

860
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:10,640
Speaker 1: was expansionist and he prepared to use the conflict to

861
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:16,239
Speaker 1: secure territorial goals. Let's just say the disputed border was

862
00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:20,239
Speaker 1: pretext right. It provided the immediate trigger and then, of

863
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:23,960
Speaker 1: course the expansionist ambition provided the context. Both things can

864
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:28,040
Speaker 1: be true. At the same time, It's worth noting that

865
00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:33,279
Speaker 1: Texas actually entered the Union differently. Texas retained control over

866
00:56:33,320 --> 00:56:35,239
Speaker 1: its own public lands, they didn't hand that over to

867
00:56:35,239 --> 00:56:40,960
Speaker 1: the federal government. And the annexation resolution included language allowing Texas,

868
00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:45,000
Speaker 1: with its own consent and Congress's consent, to divide itself

869
00:56:45,040 --> 00:56:49,440
Speaker 1: into as many as five states. That still exists, by

870
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:52,720
Speaker 1: the way, that's still on the books. Now Texas can't

871
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:57,560
Speaker 1: unilaterally subdivide itself, but it's already there. They just have

872
00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:01,080
Speaker 1: to go to Congress to agree to. But the provision

873
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:04,440
Speaker 1: reinforced a sense of negotiated entry, and it wasn't a

874
00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:09,440
Speaker 1: simple absorption. Right. Add nine years of independent nationhood, and

875
00:57:09,520 --> 00:57:13,200
Speaker 1: now you understand the durable identity that is rooted in

876
00:57:13,360 --> 00:57:18,320
Speaker 1: sovnardanty that gives Texas this lone star identity. Right, It

877
00:57:18,440 --> 00:57:22,840
Speaker 1: is different than every other state in that respect. So

878
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,440
Speaker 1: March second, eighteen thirty six was not just a declaration

879
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:28,040
Speaker 1: of independence. It was the beginning of a layered identity,

880
00:57:28,280 --> 00:57:33,400
Speaker 1: multi ethnic and contested, entangled with slavery mythologized through the Alamo,

881
00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:38,160
Speaker 1: complicated by goliad reinforced by annexation, challenged again when their

882
00:57:38,200 --> 00:57:42,080
Speaker 1: own governor refused to pledge loyalty the Confederacy in eighteen

883
00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:45,800
Speaker 1: sixty one, and it's all still being debated today. How

884
00:57:45,880 --> 00:57:50,960
Speaker 1: I frame this conversation in this podcast, time Machine will

885
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:53,600
Speaker 1: have partisans on both sides of the argument in Texas

886
00:57:53,960 --> 00:57:58,280
Speaker 1: disputing certain things I said. So, look, Texas doesn't just

887
00:57:58,360 --> 00:58:01,280
Speaker 1: have an origin story. It has an argument with its

888
00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:05,720
Speaker 1: own past, and that argument still shapes how Texans see power,

889
00:58:06,280 --> 00:58:10,320
Speaker 1: sovereignty and union. Right, they have their own power grid.

890
00:58:10,960 --> 00:58:17,160
Speaker 1: They're off the grid compared to everybody else. Right, everything

891
00:58:17,240 --> 00:58:19,960
Speaker 1: is bigger in Texas, but everything is also different, and

892
00:58:19,960 --> 00:58:23,480
Speaker 1: there's a reason for it. It's part of their origin story.

893
00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:26,360
Speaker 1: So there you go. There's my history lesson for the week.

894
00:58:33,800 --> 00:58:40,400
Speaker 1: Ask Chuck, all right. The first question for the day

895
00:58:40,520 --> 00:58:43,120
Speaker 1: comes from Jay in New York. Jay with an initial

896
00:58:43,160 --> 00:58:45,760
Speaker 1: not JY, and he writes, I'm seeing a lot of

897
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:48,760
Speaker 1: comparisons between Iraq and Iran, but one major difference is

898
00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:50,439
Speaker 1: that after nine to eleven, there was an eighteen month

899
00:58:50,480 --> 00:58:53,440
Speaker 1: campaign to convince Americans that regime change in Iraq was necessary.

900
00:58:54,320 --> 00:58:57,360
Speaker 1: Fact checked true. Despite the fear mongering and dishonesty of

901
00:58:57,400 --> 00:59:00,280
Speaker 1: that campaign. The Bush administration made a strategic pr decison,

902
00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:02,320
Speaker 1: and I believe it bought them time with the American

903
00:59:02,360 --> 00:59:05,680
Speaker 1: people long after Iraq turned into a quagmire. What is

904
00:59:05,720 --> 00:59:08,040
Speaker 1: the political risk for Trump in doing none of the

905
00:59:08,040 --> 00:59:10,320
Speaker 1: same prep work or are we simply in a different

906
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:13,439
Speaker 1: era where that kind of thing no longer matters? No? Look,

907
00:59:13,480 --> 00:59:16,720
Speaker 1: I mean this is to me among the open questions.

908
00:59:16,800 --> 00:59:20,800
Speaker 1: I think it here's a tangible way, and it's just

909
00:59:20,840 --> 00:59:24,680
Speaker 1: in hardcore politics. I think he did have a there's

910
00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:28,120
Speaker 1: a coalition of Trump's right. You know, just because you

911
00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:31,160
Speaker 1: voted for Trump doesn't mean you're a member of MAGA. Right,

912
00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:35,800
Speaker 1: there is a deep MAGA group. But look, the fact

913
00:59:35,880 --> 00:59:40,280
Speaker 1: is Trump got controlled the Republican Party by making common

914
00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:44,400
Speaker 1: cause with the isolationist wing. I don't think he ever

915
00:59:44,520 --> 00:59:47,520
Speaker 1: was a true isolationist. He was always you know the

916
00:59:48,240 --> 00:59:53,160
Speaker 1: I think he was attracted more to the nationalism translation xenophobia.

917
00:59:53,960 --> 00:59:56,680
Speaker 1: That is why he made such common cause. I think

918
00:59:56,680 --> 01:00:02,160
Speaker 1: it was less engaged in the in the isolation and

919
01:00:02,560 --> 01:00:06,600
Speaker 1: isolationist aspect of things. Though he does like the binary

920
01:00:06,640 --> 01:00:10,120
Speaker 1: way of having relationships with other countries and it's using

921
01:00:10,160 --> 01:00:14,120
Speaker 1: tariffs and having bilateral trade deals. Right, he's really a

922
01:00:14,680 --> 01:00:20,080
Speaker 1: unilateralist in that sense. But you know, you're you're embedded

923
01:00:20,120 --> 01:00:22,840
Speaker 1: in your question. Is what I think the risk is

924
01:00:23,240 --> 01:00:26,640
Speaker 1: just for this November, He's already got to turn out

925
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:29,360
Speaker 1: problem among his base. Right, they're already kind of demoralized

926
01:00:29,400 --> 01:00:33,280
Speaker 1: by the lies about Epstein. They're demoralized by the fact

927
01:00:33,320 --> 01:00:36,360
Speaker 1: that these tariffs have raised prices, not lowered them. They're

928
01:00:36,360 --> 01:00:40,000
Speaker 1: demoralized by the electric prices with his AI buddies that

929
01:00:40,080 --> 01:00:45,480
Speaker 1: he's gotten with. And if you really were concerned about

930
01:00:45,760 --> 01:00:49,520
Speaker 1: democrats like Hunter Biden using his father to make money

931
01:00:49,600 --> 01:00:52,320
Speaker 1: off of politics, then you're probably really grossed out by

932
01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:56,040
Speaker 1: what the Trump family is doing. And now let's say

933
01:00:56,160 --> 01:00:58,920
Speaker 1: you're a Marjorie Taylor Green or you are an ally

934
01:00:58,960 --> 01:01:02,400
Speaker 1: of Tolsey Gabbard who was drawn to them because of

935
01:01:02,480 --> 01:01:07,240
Speaker 1: the no more wars, you know, no more military interventions.

936
01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:09,080
Speaker 1: How motivated are you going to be to go to

937
01:01:09,160 --> 01:01:13,800
Speaker 1: the polls? So thin you I think this is the

938
01:01:13,840 --> 01:01:17,960
Speaker 1: political risk that he is now so consumed with his

939
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:20,880
Speaker 1: own legacy. I'm the one that saved Iran, I'm the

940
01:01:20,920 --> 01:01:23,680
Speaker 1: one that saved Venezuela. I'm the one that saved Cuba.

941
01:01:25,600 --> 01:01:28,280
Speaker 1: That he is forgetting about why he was elected and

942
01:01:28,320 --> 01:01:32,600
Speaker 1: what he campaigned on. I think that stuff matters, and

943
01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:35,760
Speaker 1: I think voters voters. Again, I go back to what

944
01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:42,680
Speaker 1: his voters do not reward presidents for incredible foreign policy decisions.

945
01:01:43,400 --> 01:01:47,680
Speaker 1: Maybe over time they will, but never in the moment. Again.

946
01:01:48,200 --> 01:01:50,800
Speaker 1: Just got to see anybody involved with George H. W.

947
01:01:50,920 --> 01:01:56,760
Speaker 1: Bush's campaign in nineteen ninety two. Jake from California rights, Hey,

948
01:01:56,760 --> 01:02:00,840
Speaker 1: longtime listener, reader, and viewer hotline days. All right, old school,

949
01:02:00,840 --> 01:02:03,600
Speaker 1: I love it. Tough loss for your canes, yes, but hey,

950
01:02:03,600 --> 01:02:07,680
Speaker 1: as Washington Husky, at least we'll always have nineteen ninety one. Yeah, okay,

951
01:02:07,840 --> 01:02:11,560
Speaker 1: I would love the battle of two undefeateds that never

952
01:02:11,600 --> 01:02:14,320
Speaker 1: happened in nineteen ninety one. We had a split national

953
01:02:14,360 --> 01:02:20,440
Speaker 1: title basically East coast West coast. Right anyway, But I digress.

954
01:02:20,560 --> 01:02:22,440
Speaker 1: He says this in your emergency pot about the US

955
01:02:22,520 --> 01:02:25,240
Speaker 1: is reel launching what feels more like a preventive war.

956
01:02:25,480 --> 01:02:27,400
Speaker 1: You rightly noted that Trump may back off if things

957
01:02:27,400 --> 01:02:29,080
Speaker 1: get messy. So why is the media so quick to

958
01:02:29,120 --> 01:02:32,640
Speaker 1: echo the administration's framing? Seem little pushback or demand for evidence,

959
01:02:33,320 --> 01:02:36,000
Speaker 1: even on claims like Commane being killed. Thanks for pushing

960
01:02:36,120 --> 01:02:38,480
Speaker 1: for a more independent, fact based approach to news. Haven't

961
01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:41,800
Speaker 1: missed the podcast yet, think Look, this is one of

962
01:02:41,840 --> 01:02:45,760
Speaker 1: the Look we have no there's no press score in

963
01:02:45,800 --> 01:02:49,760
Speaker 1: the Pentagon, right, there's just the propagandists that have agreed

964
01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:55,520
Speaker 1: to to the rules of the Pentagon, which indicate that

965
01:02:55,560 --> 01:02:59,160
Speaker 1: you're not allowed to report news anything that is not

966
01:02:59,240 --> 01:03:03,600
Speaker 1: pre approved by the by the Pentagon. Im being slightly facetious,

967
01:03:03,640 --> 01:03:07,520
Speaker 1: but not too much. So you have that issue that

968
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:10,439
Speaker 1: was not an issue during Iraq, where whatever you want

969
01:03:10,440 --> 01:03:13,040
Speaker 1: to think of the decision by the Bush Chainey administration,

970
01:03:13,120 --> 01:03:18,560
Speaker 1: they were constantly trying to keep the press as informed

971
01:03:18,560 --> 01:03:21,000
Speaker 1: as possible. Certainly they were massaging the facts, but they

972
01:03:21,000 --> 01:03:27,840
Speaker 1: weren't not at all compared to the Trump administration. Everybody's

973
01:03:27,880 --> 01:03:30,400
Speaker 1: forthcoming these days, right, And you know, I before Trump,

974
01:03:30,440 --> 01:03:33,160
Speaker 1: I'd say every presidential administration you have to drag facts

975
01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:36,280
Speaker 1: out of. You can't drag facts out of this administration

976
01:03:36,320 --> 01:03:38,640
Speaker 1: because they don't. They lie so much at times, you

977
01:03:38,640 --> 01:03:40,280
Speaker 1: don't even they don't even know what the facts are

978
01:03:41,240 --> 01:03:45,880
Speaker 1: on this front. And I do Look, you you imply correctly.

979
01:03:46,520 --> 01:03:50,240
Speaker 1: You know, I think the biggest thing that that Iranians

980
01:03:50,440 --> 01:03:52,200
Speaker 1: who want freedom should fear is that Trump's going to

981
01:03:52,240 --> 01:03:54,080
Speaker 1: walk away. You know, He's going to make a massive

982
01:03:54,080 --> 01:03:56,960
Speaker 1: walk away. You know, I have this, I have this

983
01:03:57,920 --> 01:04:02,720
Speaker 1: slightly dystopian fear that come January twenty, twenty twenty nine,

984
01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:09,000
Speaker 1: all Donald Trump's legacy will be is destruction. Right, whether

985
01:04:09,160 --> 01:04:11,720
Speaker 1: you're in Washington, DC, and like half the White House

986
01:04:11,800 --> 01:04:17,520
Speaker 1: is still in rubble, You're Kennedy Center is gutted, right,

987
01:04:17,920 --> 01:04:21,600
Speaker 1: and you'll have Venezuela still not a democracy or rebuilt.

988
01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:26,080
Speaker 1: You'll have Cuba in some sort of half being rebuilt,

989
01:04:26,120 --> 01:04:29,880
Speaker 1: half not the rubble of Tehran that will have had

990
01:04:30,520 --> 01:04:32,760
Speaker 1: a lot to do with. But he'll want to walk

991
01:04:32,760 --> 01:04:35,600
Speaker 1: away from that, and that it really is just sort

992
01:04:35,640 --> 01:04:39,560
Speaker 1: of you know that he leaves the country with just

993
01:04:39,600 --> 01:04:43,800
Speaker 1: a mess everywhere, actual mess at the White House itself, rubble,

994
01:04:44,200 --> 01:04:50,480
Speaker 1: the Constitution kind of metaphorically crumbled. I mean it's not,

995
01:04:50,600 --> 01:04:54,080
Speaker 1: as you know, my fear is less him trying to

996
01:04:54,120 --> 01:04:58,240
Speaker 1: get a third term than more just leaving such a

997
01:04:58,600 --> 01:05:05,680
Speaker 1: giant pot of rubble, both literally and figuratively all over

998
01:05:06,560 --> 01:05:14,360
Speaker 1: the presidency. And you know that's Honestly, I think it's

999
01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:19,680
Speaker 1: the most likely scenario at this point going into twenty

1000
01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:22,360
Speaker 1: twenty nine. It is. You know, if you were to

1001
01:05:22,360 --> 01:05:24,720
Speaker 1: ask me, you know, there's four or five paths to

1002
01:05:24,720 --> 01:05:27,000
Speaker 1: get to twenty twenty nine that we'll get to. That's

1003
01:05:27,040 --> 01:05:28,680
Speaker 1: the one that I think is the most likely. That

1004
01:05:28,680 --> 01:05:33,320
Speaker 1: we're in some sort of that it's not just a

1005
01:05:33,360 --> 01:05:36,520
Speaker 1: presidency unfinished, it's a presidency that's been based on destruction

1006
01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:41,920
Speaker 1: and whether physical destruction of buildings. Right he claims he's

1007
01:05:41,920 --> 01:05:44,120
Speaker 1: a builder, but right now does he seems to knock

1008
01:05:44,160 --> 01:05:45,880
Speaker 1: stuff down a hell of a lot better than he

1009
01:05:45,920 --> 01:05:52,280
Speaker 1: does building anything these days. So I do think you'll

1010
01:05:52,320 --> 01:05:55,040
Speaker 1: see some pushback, but you know, this is what happens

1011
01:05:55,040 --> 01:05:57,160
Speaker 1: when you clear the press out of the Pentagon. So

1012
01:05:57,600 --> 01:05:59,960
Speaker 1: we're going to have very little. You know, we'll probably

1013
01:06:00,040 --> 01:06:02,880
Speaker 1: we get more out of israel I know as a reporter,

1014
01:06:03,160 --> 01:06:05,680
Speaker 1: Israeli sources in some cases are going to be more

1015
01:06:05,680 --> 01:06:07,920
Speaker 1: trustworthy and at least on some of the military aspects

1016
01:06:07,920 --> 01:06:09,880
Speaker 1: and some of the truth about Iran than what we're

1017
01:06:09,880 --> 01:06:12,200
Speaker 1: going to get out of the Trump administration. Because the

1018
01:06:12,200 --> 01:06:14,960
Speaker 1: Trump administration, even those that want to be truthful to

1019
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:19,320
Speaker 1: the press fear getting in trouble for being truthful to

1020
01:06:19,360 --> 01:06:24,120
Speaker 1: the press, So it really has created a very questionable

1021
01:06:26,160 --> 01:06:29,560
Speaker 1: atmosphere forgetting the truth particularly. I mean, you know, the

1022
01:06:29,600 --> 01:06:34,400
Speaker 1: truth is usually the first victim, right in war. Well,

1023
01:06:35,440 --> 01:06:38,680
Speaker 1: it's been the first victim of the Trump era, that's

1024
01:06:38,720 --> 01:06:42,280
Speaker 1: for sure, all right. Next question comes from Mark and

1025
01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:44,040
Speaker 1: he writes, Hey, can you speak to the scope of

1026
01:06:44,080 --> 01:06:46,280
Speaker 1: President Obama's nuclear deer with Iran? There's been a lot

1027
01:06:46,320 --> 01:06:48,160
Speaker 1: of talk about Trump tearing it up, his failure or

1028
01:06:48,280 --> 01:06:50,760
Speaker 1: unwillingness to secure a deal, and obviously now bombing Iran.

1029
01:06:50,920 --> 01:06:52,600
Speaker 1: How strong was the deal that Obama got and how

1030
01:06:52,600 --> 01:06:54,320
Speaker 1: big a mistake was it for Trump to tear it up.

1031
01:06:54,400 --> 01:06:57,800
Speaker 1: I'm sure there is nuanced here. Thanks well, Mark. The

1032
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:00,000
Speaker 1: first thing you need to know is the only person

1033
01:07:00,080 --> 01:07:02,080
Speaker 1: that was advocating for tearing up the nuclear deal in

1034
01:07:02,080 --> 01:07:05,800
Speaker 1: the Trump's first administration was Donald Trump. Mike Pompeo. As

1035
01:07:05,880 --> 01:07:08,160
Speaker 1: much as that he was not in favor, there were

1036
01:07:08,200 --> 01:07:11,160
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of people in Trump's orbit that were

1037
01:07:11,200 --> 01:07:13,840
Speaker 1: never in favor of doing the agreement in the first place.

1038
01:07:14,480 --> 01:07:18,200
Speaker 1: But once the agreement was in, a whole bunch of folks,

1039
01:07:18,240 --> 01:07:23,480
Speaker 1: including Mike Pompeo, Uh, it were you know, uh and

1040
01:07:23,880 --> 01:07:28,560
Speaker 1: Jim Mattis and many in positions of influence and power

1041
01:07:28,600 --> 01:07:32,760
Speaker 1: at the time at State, CIA and Defense were like,

1042
01:07:32,800 --> 01:07:36,440
Speaker 1: don't get out of it because you it gives it

1043
01:07:36,480 --> 01:07:40,320
Speaker 1: was giving us some insight on their technology. We had

1044
01:07:41,120 --> 01:07:45,040
Speaker 1: more information about what they were up to. It gave

1045
01:07:45,360 --> 01:07:51,000
Speaker 1: some stability to the region. Now, the downside of that

1046
01:07:51,080 --> 01:07:54,400
Speaker 1: deal was was releasing a set of funds that ended

1047
01:07:54,440 --> 01:07:58,120
Speaker 1: up being used for a lot of Iraan's proxy terrorist contractors.

1048
01:07:58,960 --> 01:08:02,000
Speaker 1: And I think that's the fairest critique is that it

1049
01:08:02,040 --> 01:08:04,520
Speaker 1: gave the Iranians a bit too much on that front,

1050
01:08:04,600 --> 01:08:08,680
Speaker 1: or that we didn't you know, there should have if

1051
01:08:08,760 --> 01:08:11,640
Speaker 1: there should have been a bit more guard rails on

1052
01:08:11,720 --> 01:08:14,200
Speaker 1: how the money. And you remember Trump talking about the

1053
01:08:14,200 --> 01:08:16,960
Speaker 1: pallets of cash and all of that stuff, frozen assets

1054
01:08:16,960 --> 01:08:19,639
Speaker 1: that belonged to the Iranians that were frozen when the

1055
01:08:19,640 --> 01:08:29,400
Speaker 1: Theocracy revolution took place in nineteen seventy nine. So look,

1056
01:08:29,880 --> 01:08:32,479
Speaker 1: I think the debate, I think we're going to debate

1057
01:08:32,520 --> 01:08:36,360
Speaker 1: the Iran deal for a long time. And this is

1058
01:08:36,400 --> 01:08:38,920
Speaker 1: a case where I don't want it to get lost

1059
01:08:38,960 --> 01:08:42,599
Speaker 1: and an ends justifies the means scenario here where. Okay,

1060
01:08:42,960 --> 01:08:45,000
Speaker 1: if Iran isn't a you know, if Iran is able

1061
01:08:45,600 --> 01:08:48,960
Speaker 1: to become a fledgling democracy, say by twenty thirty five,

1062
01:08:50,360 --> 01:08:54,240
Speaker 1: maybe by twenty thirty, right, and it's starting to be

1063
01:08:54,280 --> 01:08:58,519
Speaker 1: a flourishing country, Well we say the nuclear deal was

1064
01:08:58,520 --> 01:09:03,120
Speaker 1: a bad idea or not? You know, should we have

1065
01:09:03,160 --> 01:09:08,599
Speaker 1: pursued it earlier? Now one could argue, you know, look around,

1066
01:09:08,760 --> 01:09:11,559
Speaker 1: more of a paper tiger than I think anybody feared.

1067
01:09:12,040 --> 01:09:17,160
Speaker 1: But how much of that? You know, you didn't fully

1068
01:09:17,200 --> 01:09:18,960
Speaker 1: know they were a paper tiger and took you until

1069
01:09:19,000 --> 01:09:24,280
Speaker 1: you took away their their proxy warriors in Hesbelahamas, and

1070
01:09:25,680 --> 01:09:31,680
Speaker 1: so you know, I think I think there'll be a

1071
01:09:31,720 --> 01:09:34,720
Speaker 1: real debate, and I think there was you know, we

1072
01:09:34,760 --> 01:09:39,760
Speaker 1: didn't know. There was always some hope maybe. And that's

1073
01:09:39,760 --> 01:09:41,880
Speaker 1: the thing, right, if you want to lead a rules

1074
01:09:41,880 --> 01:09:44,680
Speaker 1: based order and you want something to be durable, and

1075
01:09:44,720 --> 01:09:47,960
Speaker 1: you want credibility once it gets once they violate the terms,

1076
01:09:49,200 --> 01:09:52,840
Speaker 1: then you can argue having a durable deal. That wasn't

1077
01:09:52,880 --> 01:09:56,360
Speaker 1: just the United States that cut this deal. Remember it

1078
01:09:56,400 --> 01:10:01,719
Speaker 1: was it was Russia, right, they were involved. It was China.

1079
01:10:02,360 --> 01:10:05,360
Speaker 1: It was so called the P five plus one. So

1080
01:10:05,400 --> 01:10:11,520
Speaker 1: it was it was. It was it had the potential

1081
01:10:11,560 --> 01:10:17,240
Speaker 1: to be durable, but it was giving Iran an opportunity

1082
01:10:17,240 --> 01:10:21,000
Speaker 1: to become a to prove that its sovereignty should be

1083
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:26,200
Speaker 1: respected and that you know that they were not the

1084
01:10:26,400 --> 01:10:30,880
Speaker 1: evil incarnate that many of us thought that regime actually was.

1085
01:10:30,960 --> 01:10:34,760
Speaker 1: And it's turned out to be on that front. So

1086
01:10:41,080 --> 01:10:42,760
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be hard to judge whether

1087
01:10:42,840 --> 01:10:46,000
Speaker 1: tearing up the deal is going to be viewed as

1088
01:10:46,040 --> 01:10:50,320
Speaker 1: a catastrophic mistake because it did lead it, it accelerated

1089
01:10:50,400 --> 01:10:55,639
Speaker 1: this moment. Right, If this moment leads to a better Iran,

1090
01:10:56,640 --> 01:10:58,679
Speaker 1: then I think you know where the debate's going to settle.

1091
01:10:59,280 --> 01:11:02,000
Speaker 1: If this moment leads to a vacuum that looks more

1092
01:11:02,040 --> 01:11:06,360
Speaker 1: like a rock over the next twenty years, I think

1093
01:11:06,400 --> 01:11:10,080
Speaker 1: that that debate about getting out of of the deal

1094
01:11:10,120 --> 01:11:13,479
Speaker 1: will be will be still a pretty highly relevant debate.

1095
01:11:16,240 --> 01:11:19,120
Speaker 1: Michael T. From Chicago, Right, Hey, I enjoyed your thoughts

1096
01:11:19,200 --> 01:11:21,360
Speaker 1: on who exactly should be considered a founding father, but

1097
01:11:21,360 --> 01:11:24,519
Speaker 1: I couldn't help but notice you completely ignored the Articles

1098
01:11:24,520 --> 01:11:27,120
Speaker 1: of Confederation. I don't mean to ignore it, but yes

1099
01:11:27,160 --> 01:11:30,080
Speaker 1: I did. While that constitution didn't last terribly long, it

1100
01:11:30,120 --> 01:11:32,360
Speaker 1: was still the governing document of our nation, and everyone

1101
01:11:32,400 --> 01:11:34,600
Speaker 1: seems to forget it existed. What say you should we

1102
01:11:34,640 --> 01:11:36,880
Speaker 1: work harder not to forget its accomplishments as well as

1103
01:11:36,880 --> 01:11:41,479
Speaker 1: its failures. Look, it's a fair critique that I haven't

1104
01:11:41,800 --> 01:11:46,439
Speaker 1: delved into it, and I think it's a reminder it

1105
01:11:46,560 --> 01:11:49,799
Speaker 1: is why, you know, I think I've shared with you before.

1106
01:11:50,200 --> 01:11:54,400
Speaker 1: One of my favorite Founding father scholars is her name's

1107
01:11:55,320 --> 01:12:00,599
Speaker 1: Lindsay Schervinsky over it. She runs the George Washington Library

1108
01:12:01,320 --> 01:12:05,639
Speaker 1: at Mount Vernon here in Virginia. And when I've always

1109
01:12:05,640 --> 01:12:07,760
Speaker 1: asked her this question, you know, how would the founders,

1110
01:12:08,000 --> 01:12:10,240
Speaker 1: you know, what would what would they say today, you know,

1111
01:12:10,320 --> 01:12:12,320
Speaker 1: coming back in the constitution? What would surprise them? And

1112
01:12:12,479 --> 01:12:13,880
Speaker 1: one of the first things she says is, well, it

1113
01:12:14,000 --> 01:12:17,919
Speaker 1: was surprised them that this constitution is still is still intact.

1114
01:12:18,040 --> 01:12:21,880
Speaker 1: Right that the lesson that the lesson they took away

1115
01:12:21,920 --> 01:12:24,439
Speaker 1: from the failure of the Articles of Confederation was that,

1116
01:12:24,520 --> 01:12:27,880
Speaker 1: you know, hey, if this constitution can last twenty five years,

1117
01:12:27,880 --> 01:12:32,080
Speaker 1: that's a success that there was, you know. And by

1118
01:12:32,120 --> 01:12:35,640
Speaker 1: the way, other countries have rewritten their constitutions, have had

1119
01:12:35,760 --> 01:12:38,439
Speaker 1: different constitutions over the years. The fact that we've had

1120
01:12:38,439 --> 01:12:40,120
Speaker 1: the same one for as long as we have is

1121
01:12:40,120 --> 01:12:44,400
Speaker 1: actually quite impressive. But no, I think, look, there's still

1122
01:12:44,479 --> 01:12:46,840
Speaker 1: lessons from the Articles in Confederation. Right, This goes to

1123
01:12:47,160 --> 01:12:49,360
Speaker 1: how strong of a republic did we want to be? Right,

1124
01:12:49,400 --> 01:12:51,880
Speaker 1: how strong of a federal government, of a centralized government

1125
01:12:52,120 --> 01:12:55,640
Speaker 1: that we want to be? And I think the importance

1126
01:12:55,960 --> 01:12:58,759
Speaker 1: of and you're right, why you know why we can't

1127
01:12:58,760 --> 01:13:02,439
Speaker 1: forget on the Articles of Federation. The importance of its

1128
01:13:02,479 --> 01:13:04,920
Speaker 1: existence in our history is that it's a reminder that

1129
01:13:04,920 --> 01:13:08,439
Speaker 1: we've always had this tension between rights to the states

1130
01:13:08,439 --> 01:13:11,479
Speaker 1: and rights to the central government. How centralized a government, dude,

1131
01:13:11,600 --> 01:13:14,680
Speaker 1: we want Our founders always feared too strong of a

1132
01:13:14,680 --> 01:13:18,320
Speaker 1: central government. And that's why when you've fast forward and

1133
01:13:18,360 --> 01:13:20,320
Speaker 1: you realize what the hell are we doing with this

1134
01:13:20,400 --> 01:13:23,800
Speaker 1: imperial presidency that we've basically created over the last fifty

1135
01:13:23,880 --> 01:13:26,960
Speaker 1: years and you know, like fifty seventy years, I mean,

1136
01:13:26,960 --> 01:13:30,160
Speaker 1: we can you know, I do this? This is one

1137
01:13:30,200 --> 01:13:32,040
Speaker 1: of those you want to talk about an undertended consequence

1138
01:13:32,040 --> 01:13:35,400
Speaker 1: and sort of I'm going to age myself here. But

1139
01:13:35,439 --> 01:13:37,559
Speaker 1: one of my favorite old SNL skits was coffee Talk,

1140
01:13:37,600 --> 01:13:39,120
Speaker 1: and it wasn't really a skit, but it was just

1141
01:13:39,120 --> 01:13:42,120
Speaker 1: sort of it was basically the best part of Coffee

1142
01:13:42,120 --> 01:13:49,280
Speaker 1: Talk where Michael Mike Myers played played I forget her name.

1143
01:13:49,400 --> 01:13:51,640
Speaker 1: But it was like it was like coffee talk. You know,

1144
01:13:51,720 --> 01:13:56,280
Speaker 1: It's like you'd throw out like a silly topic and

1145
01:13:56,320 --> 01:13:58,160
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, and discuss and then that would be

1146
01:13:58,160 --> 01:14:00,240
Speaker 1: the end of the segment. But it would be you know,

1147
01:14:00,880 --> 01:14:06,200
Speaker 1: television killed the Constitution discuss. Right, That's sort of the

1148
01:14:06,240 --> 01:14:10,080
Speaker 1: most provocative, simplified headline I could do. But ever since

1149
01:14:10,120 --> 01:14:14,000
Speaker 1: the era, right TV made the presidency and the president

1150
01:14:14,080 --> 01:14:17,960
Speaker 1: a singular celebrity in American society, and in some ways

1151
01:14:17,960 --> 01:14:23,280
Speaker 1: that celebrity seemed to help over time garner the position

1152
01:14:23,320 --> 01:14:25,679
Speaker 1: of the presidency more and more power, and you serve

1153
01:14:25,760 --> 01:14:29,759
Speaker 1: more and more power from Congress. So let's say thesis.

1154
01:14:29,800 --> 01:14:32,919
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that's a fact, but that's a thesis

1155
01:14:32,920 --> 01:14:39,479
Speaker 1: that you could potentially defend or not. But Michael, what

1156
01:14:39,560 --> 01:14:41,240
Speaker 1: you really is, I'm going to find an excuse to

1157
01:14:41,240 --> 01:14:44,080
Speaker 1: do a deeper dive on the Articles of Confederation when

1158
01:14:44,120 --> 01:14:47,120
Speaker 1: I can soon. Nick from Michigan Rights, Hey, Chuck, thanks.

1159
01:14:47,120 --> 01:14:49,120
Speaker 1: I find it regrettable to entertain such thoughts but do

1160
01:14:49,160 --> 01:14:52,000
Speaker 1: you surmise that a component of Trump's strategic considerations for

1161
01:14:52,160 --> 01:14:54,920
Speaker 1: military intervention in Iran is to elicit a rally around

1162
01:14:54,960 --> 01:14:59,559
Speaker 1: the flag phenomenon that might favorably influence the midterm elections. Look,

1163
01:14:59,600 --> 01:15:02,960
Speaker 1: I I understand you asking. I mean, you know it's

1164
01:15:03,080 --> 01:15:05,559
Speaker 1: he wouldn't if he was thinking about that, he wouldn't

1165
01:15:05,560 --> 01:15:07,599
Speaker 1: be the first president to think about that. We've had

1166
01:15:07,600 --> 01:15:10,919
Speaker 1: a movie called Wag the Dog that is of some infamy,

1167
01:15:11,000 --> 01:15:13,360
Speaker 1: and it's about twenty odd years old these days, but

1168
01:15:13,439 --> 01:15:17,920
Speaker 1: it's a it's a it's a movie that's worth your

1169
01:15:17,920 --> 01:15:22,639
Speaker 1: time with Dustin Hoffman. By the way, if you've never

1170
01:15:22,680 --> 01:15:24,719
Speaker 1: seen it, if you're in your forties and this that

1171
01:15:24,720 --> 01:15:27,639
Speaker 1: that film's new to you, go check it out. It's

1172
01:15:27,680 --> 01:15:30,920
Speaker 1: I don't think it'll feel too dated. But we manufacture

1173
01:15:30,920 --> 01:15:34,559
Speaker 1: a war with Albania, which, of course, if you're my age,

1174
01:15:34,760 --> 01:15:37,080
Speaker 1: when you hear the words Albania, you think of the

1175
01:15:37,080 --> 01:15:41,640
Speaker 1: TV show Cheers, because Albania Albania, it borders on the

1176
01:15:41,880 --> 01:15:46,160
Speaker 1: adri Attic. It's an old it's from the first season.

1177
01:15:46,200 --> 01:15:49,000
Speaker 1: You know, I'm going to digress here. The first season

1178
01:15:49,040 --> 01:15:53,000
Speaker 1: of Cheers was so impactful because I think Coach was

1179
01:15:53,000 --> 01:15:55,800
Speaker 1: only on it for one season, and yet Coach is

1180
01:15:57,120 --> 01:15:59,160
Speaker 1: the guy who played Coach. You know, he died after

1181
01:15:59,200 --> 01:16:01,120
Speaker 1: the season one, but he was the sort of the

1182
01:16:01,400 --> 01:16:05,559
Speaker 1: the old pal of Ted Danson's there ted Danson's character,

1183
01:16:06,800 --> 01:16:09,479
Speaker 1: but he was the His one liners were the best

1184
01:16:09,600 --> 01:16:12,400
Speaker 1: Woody hears. It was good, but nobody could top Coach.

1185
01:16:12,439 --> 01:16:14,840
Speaker 1: And what was amazing was like how Coach sort of

1186
01:16:15,200 --> 01:16:17,720
Speaker 1: that show was on forever and Coach was only on

1187
01:16:17,760 --> 01:16:20,240
Speaker 1: it one season, and yet it felt like he always

1188
01:16:20,520 --> 01:16:22,880
Speaker 1: was sort of hovering over the show and it gave

1189
01:16:22,920 --> 01:16:27,440
Speaker 1: it part of its DNA. So yes, so wag the dog, Albania,

1190
01:16:28,280 --> 01:16:30,240
Speaker 1: see how my mind works. It got me to cheers

1191
01:16:30,280 --> 01:16:33,360
Speaker 1: Coach and all of that. This is I think why

1192
01:16:33,439 --> 01:16:36,040
Speaker 1: you subscribe, or maybe why you were about to unsubscribe

1193
01:16:36,120 --> 01:16:39,160
Speaker 1: right now. But but I tease, I just don't see

1194
01:16:39,160 --> 01:16:42,200
Speaker 1: how this helps his base. You know, I sort of

1195
01:16:42,560 --> 01:16:45,320
Speaker 1: would say, if you've listened this far, you probably heard

1196
01:16:45,320 --> 01:16:48,160
Speaker 1: a version of the answer I'm about to give now.

1197
01:16:48,760 --> 01:16:51,080
Speaker 1: I think he put together a coalition that's suspect of this.

1198
01:16:51,320 --> 01:16:55,000
Speaker 1: And again, my goodness, you know how short attention spanner.

1199
01:16:55,320 --> 01:17:00,280
Speaker 1: This is March the elections are how many I mean,

1200
01:17:00,560 --> 01:17:03,920
Speaker 1: just look at this last week of things that happened

1201
01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:09,440
Speaker 1: from the Clinton's being deposed, you know, for the Epstein situation,

1202
01:17:10,240 --> 01:17:14,080
Speaker 1: to Anthropic and Netflix and that sort of government intervention

1203
01:17:14,160 --> 01:17:18,240
Speaker 1: into the business community. We had the tariff ruling last week.

1204
01:17:18,240 --> 01:17:21,120
Speaker 1: I mean, you see where I'm going here, right, So

1205
01:17:21,200 --> 01:17:25,880
Speaker 1: I just think this is that's another the more more,

1206
01:17:25,960 --> 01:17:29,040
Speaker 1: you know, more likely to me, Iran is probably a

1207
01:17:29,280 --> 01:17:33,800
Speaker 1: neutral at best politically and only negative. Like I do

1208
01:17:33,920 --> 01:17:37,200
Speaker 1: not see a positive political impact here for Trump at all,

1209
01:17:37,680 --> 01:17:42,160
Speaker 1: because again I go back to George H. W. Bush

1210
01:17:42,160 --> 01:17:46,120
Speaker 1: couldn't have had a better outcome in liberating Kuwait. The

1211
01:17:46,120 --> 01:17:51,040
Speaker 1: man almost finished in third place for the presidency within

1212
01:17:51,240 --> 01:17:54,160
Speaker 1: within a year and a half. So I think we know,

1213
01:17:54,800 --> 01:17:58,599
Speaker 1: you know it is in that sense, as American voters,

1214
01:17:58,640 --> 01:18:01,080
Speaker 1: we never look backwards. We only look in our wallet

1215
01:18:01,160 --> 01:18:09,400
Speaker 1: and a tiny bit forward. Corey from Southern California Rights, Hey,

1216
01:18:09,400 --> 01:18:11,280
Speaker 1: I hope you picked this question because I haven't heard

1217
01:18:11,280 --> 01:18:14,720
Speaker 1: anyone talking about this. Well I've picked this question. Well,

1218
01:18:15,000 --> 01:18:18,519
Speaker 1: my producer Lisa helped pick this question. But what's to

1219
01:18:18,560 --> 01:18:20,840
Speaker 1: stop Trump from reinstating the tariffs every one hundred and

1220
01:18:20,880 --> 01:18:23,120
Speaker 1: fifty days. It's the same tactic he used for Halligan's

1221
01:18:23,280 --> 01:18:25,360
Speaker 1: appointment before she was removed by the courts. Are there

1222
01:18:25,400 --> 01:18:27,080
Speaker 1: any guardrails? And do you think this is something he

1223
01:18:27,120 --> 01:18:31,160
Speaker 1: will consider? Thanks Roy, you do much respect from South California.

1224
01:18:31,200 --> 01:18:33,479
Speaker 1: The answers. Of course, he's going to either do it

1225
01:18:33,560 --> 01:18:36,840
Speaker 1: within the same statute or use the other ones. There's

1226
01:18:36,880 --> 01:18:40,920
Speaker 1: all about five or six different emergency authorities that he

1227
01:18:40,960 --> 01:18:43,840
Speaker 1: can do. And one of the things that Stephen Miller

1228
01:18:43,840 --> 01:18:49,880
Speaker 1: has taught him is essentially, don't just because you think

1229
01:18:49,960 --> 01:18:53,559
Speaker 1: the courts may stop you, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.

1230
01:18:54,000 --> 01:18:58,639
Speaker 1: Make the courts stop you make them meaning even if

1231
01:18:58,640 --> 01:19:00,880
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna lose, you may be able to

1232
01:19:00,960 --> 01:19:03,920
Speaker 1: force your way through. I mean, everybody knew he was

1233
01:19:03,960 --> 01:19:07,519
Speaker 1: going to lose this teriff argument, but they proceeded anyway.

1234
01:19:07,520 --> 01:19:10,040
Speaker 1: And what did they do? They bought so much time

1235
01:19:11,240 --> 01:19:14,639
Speaker 1: right that now it's gonna, i think, take a new

1236
01:19:14,720 --> 01:19:17,400
Speaker 1: court fight in order to get this administration to return

1237
01:19:17,439 --> 01:19:20,120
Speaker 1: the stolen money from the American consumers and the small

1238
01:19:20,160 --> 01:19:23,400
Speaker 1: businesses of America, who all rightfully should get their money back.

1239
01:19:24,439 --> 01:19:26,479
Speaker 1: And if they don't give the money back, then it's

1240
01:19:26,560 --> 01:19:29,840
Speaker 1: just is the government just taken money taken. I mean,

1241
01:19:30,040 --> 01:19:33,599
Speaker 1: you want to talk about the ultimate liberty moment, sons

1242
01:19:33,640 --> 01:19:36,559
Speaker 1: of liberty moment, the United States government. This is the

1243
01:19:36,760 --> 01:19:39,920
Speaker 1: tea Party. Shit, not the tea Party of the last

1244
01:19:39,920 --> 01:19:42,759
Speaker 1: fifteen years. I'm talking about the original Boston tea Party.

1245
01:19:43,240 --> 01:19:47,160
Speaker 1: This is taxation, right. They just they grabbed money and

1246
01:19:47,200 --> 01:19:50,840
Speaker 1: we had no say over it whatsoever. It was taxation,

1247
01:19:51,120 --> 01:19:54,120
Speaker 1: literally without representation, because they did not go to Congress

1248
01:19:54,160 --> 01:19:57,759
Speaker 1: to get the ability to tax you. They took your money.

1249
01:19:58,080 --> 01:20:01,960
Speaker 1: Now they're refusing to give it back again. We've started

1250
01:20:02,000 --> 01:20:08,040
Speaker 1: a revolution over a monarch that did this. So yes,

1251
01:20:08,120 --> 01:20:10,160
Speaker 1: of course he's going to keep doing it because what

1252
01:20:10,240 --> 01:20:14,360
Speaker 1: he's learned is that make the court stop you, you'll

1253
01:20:14,400 --> 01:20:18,000
Speaker 1: continue to buy time. There's always another way, another this,

1254
01:20:18,120 --> 01:20:21,000
Speaker 1: And this is where you know, Stephen Miller is a

1255
01:20:21,160 --> 01:20:26,360
Speaker 1: incredibly smart and well informed guy about how the different

1256
01:20:26,360 --> 01:20:29,479
Speaker 1: aspects of the government works. It's too bad we can't

1257
01:20:29,520 --> 01:20:33,560
Speaker 1: put that intelligence for the betterment of the American Republic.

1258
01:20:34,160 --> 01:20:36,920
Speaker 1: That instead it is used and it's been weaponized to

1259
01:20:37,160 --> 01:20:43,519
Speaker 1: essentially create a partisan agenda or realignment that is frankly

1260
01:20:43,560 --> 01:20:47,599
Speaker 1: not very popular with the country. So, by the way,

1261
01:20:47,760 --> 01:20:50,680
Speaker 1: the reason I lost I got a little fired up

1262
01:20:50,720 --> 01:20:53,120
Speaker 1: there on this because that's yet another story that this

1263
01:20:53,240 --> 01:20:56,599
Speaker 1: Iran situation is overshadowed over the last week. But it's

1264
01:20:56,640 --> 01:20:59,600
Speaker 1: also another reminder why I don't suspect Iran's going to

1265
01:20:59,680 --> 01:21:03,120
Speaker 1: have any positive impact on Donald Trump and the Republicans

1266
01:21:03,120 --> 01:21:05,880
Speaker 1: at all, And if anything, it has negative impact because

1267
01:21:05,880 --> 01:21:10,120
Speaker 1: it comes to quagmire or no impact because everything else

1268
01:21:10,680 --> 01:21:13,519
Speaker 1: matters a lot more to the American voter than the

1269
01:21:13,520 --> 01:21:16,559
Speaker 1: regime in Iran. And by the way, there's one other

1270
01:21:16,600 --> 01:21:21,160
Speaker 1: thing that I did not discuss in more detail. The

1271
01:21:21,200 --> 01:21:24,599
Speaker 1: greatest fear I have of what we're doing with Iran

1272
01:21:24,920 --> 01:21:28,840
Speaker 1: is not their conventional military response. It's their ability to

1273
01:21:28,840 --> 01:21:32,720
Speaker 1: potentially have an asymmetrical response. And I don't think the

1274
01:21:32,760 --> 01:21:38,519
Speaker 1: President has done enough to warn Americans that, Hey, I

1275
01:21:38,560 --> 01:21:43,400
Speaker 1: don't care where you are, whether it's Los Angeles, New York, DC, Miami, Chicago,

1276
01:21:44,200 --> 01:21:52,360
Speaker 1: Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, London, Paris, the possibility of

1277
01:21:54,280 --> 01:21:57,240
Speaker 1: you know, you think everybody in the regime is going

1278
01:21:57,240 --> 01:21:59,120
Speaker 1: away quietly, You think they'll all want to lay down

1279
01:21:59,160 --> 01:22:01,479
Speaker 1: their arms and cut a deal to survive, or do

1280
01:22:01,520 --> 01:22:03,519
Speaker 1: you think some of them want their power back and

1281
01:22:03,640 --> 01:22:07,960
Speaker 1: might try terrorist attacks as a way to flex their muscle.

1282
01:22:08,360 --> 01:22:10,800
Speaker 1: I just think that this has opened up a vulnerability

1283
01:22:10,840 --> 01:22:15,960
Speaker 1: for US Americans that our president has not prepared the

1284
01:22:15,960 --> 01:22:21,000
Speaker 1: country for on that front. All right, next question comes

1285
01:22:21,040 --> 01:22:24,160
Speaker 1: from David P and Scottsdale. My first question David P

1286
01:22:24,400 --> 01:22:27,120
Speaker 1: that I know my friend Tony Corneiser asked, are you

1287
01:22:27,160 --> 01:22:30,519
Speaker 1: from North Scottsdale anyway? But I, by the way, if

1288
01:22:30,560 --> 01:22:33,400
Speaker 1: you know you know, Hey, Jack, I believe you want independent. Yeah,

1289
01:22:33,400 --> 01:22:35,920
Speaker 1: you went independent about a year ago. Yeah, okay, Yeah,

1290
01:22:36,040 --> 01:22:38,160
Speaker 1: that's probably the way to do it. I'm a big fan.

1291
01:22:38,280 --> 01:22:40,000
Speaker 1: Just curious about how the career change has gone. Are

1292
01:22:40,040 --> 01:22:42,080
Speaker 1: you spending more or less time on your substack podcast

1293
01:22:42,160 --> 01:22:44,240
Speaker 1: each week then you spend on an average doing your

1294
01:22:44,240 --> 01:22:46,080
Speaker 1: most recent job at NBC with almost a year of

1295
01:22:46,120 --> 01:22:48,400
Speaker 1: experience under your belt. What would you have advised yourself

1296
01:22:48,439 --> 01:22:50,559
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four going into twenty twenty five. Love

1297
01:22:50,600 --> 01:22:53,200
Speaker 1: the show as it is, please don't change much. Well, David,

1298
01:22:53,240 --> 01:22:58,880
Speaker 1: thanks appreciate it. Look, I have committed the sin that

1299
01:22:58,920 --> 01:23:02,800
Speaker 1: everybody warned me of, be careful saying yes too often

1300
01:23:02,840 --> 01:23:06,040
Speaker 1: too quickly. That a lot of I've been blessed with

1301
01:23:06,080 --> 01:23:09,040
Speaker 1: a lot of interesting opportunities, and I've probably said yes

1302
01:23:09,080 --> 01:23:12,040
Speaker 1: to quite a bit. I joke that I have no

1303
01:23:12,120 --> 01:23:16,160
Speaker 1: full time job, but like seventeen part time jobs. But

1304
01:23:16,200 --> 01:23:20,000
Speaker 1: I love this podcast the most. This is where I

1305
01:23:20,040 --> 01:23:26,680
Speaker 1: feel energize. This is where I feel like, Look, what

1306
01:23:26,720 --> 01:23:29,280
Speaker 1: I've tried to do with this podcast is sort of

1307
01:23:29,320 --> 01:23:32,679
Speaker 1: recreate the two hours a day that was my favorite

1308
01:23:32,680 --> 01:23:34,840
Speaker 1: two hours a day every day at NBC. And all

1309
01:23:34,960 --> 01:23:36,760
Speaker 1: my colleagues that worked with me at NBC or know,

1310
01:23:36,800 --> 01:23:39,559
Speaker 1: we want to say, which is our morning meeting? And

1311
01:23:39,720 --> 01:23:42,400
Speaker 1: it was for two shows, right, We had our planning

1312
01:23:42,479 --> 01:23:44,559
Speaker 1: the Sunday Show and planning the Daily Show. And I

1313
01:23:44,600 --> 01:23:47,400
Speaker 1: had two stabs of people at times in there. I

1314
01:23:47,400 --> 01:23:50,000
Speaker 1: mean a collection of what I think are the brightest

1315
01:23:50,040 --> 01:23:52,280
Speaker 1: and smartest people. I would love to start a news

1316
01:23:52,400 --> 01:23:55,200
Speaker 1: organization with that group of people. I miss all of

1317
01:23:55,240 --> 01:23:57,800
Speaker 1: you guys more than you realize. I'm tempted to name

1318
01:23:57,880 --> 01:24:01,200
Speaker 1: check some of you on how much I miss. Whether

1319
01:24:01,280 --> 01:24:04,960
Speaker 1: it's Sarah and Jesse who just who? Just we all

1320
01:24:05,040 --> 01:24:09,880
Speaker 1: three shared a brain, Melissa, John and David we visual

1321
01:24:10,160 --> 01:24:13,080
Speaker 1: We had visions that were very similar and we certainly

1322
01:24:13,160 --> 01:24:16,000
Speaker 1: knew how to And there's so many other folks in there.

1323
01:24:16,040 --> 01:24:21,600
Speaker 1: But but I miss that, I missed that collaboration. But

1324
01:24:21,680 --> 01:24:24,280
Speaker 1: I've in some ways try to recreate sort of sort

1325
01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:26,760
Speaker 1: of like you know how I always you know, I

1326
01:24:26,760 --> 01:24:30,000
Speaker 1: always said I wanted to always think about the day

1327
01:24:30,040 --> 01:24:33,160
Speaker 1: two and three story on day one rather than just

1328
01:24:33,360 --> 01:24:35,800
Speaker 1: living in the day one story, because I think we're

1329
01:24:35,800 --> 01:24:38,719
Speaker 1: here to educate, and when I feel like I've able

1330
01:24:38,760 --> 01:24:41,080
Speaker 1: to do better here than I ever was in NBC,

1331
01:24:41,240 --> 01:24:43,280
Speaker 1: and it was more about a constraint, you know, I could.

1332
01:24:43,360 --> 01:24:45,640
Speaker 1: It's not about executive oversight or anything like that. It

1333
01:24:45,720 --> 01:24:48,920
Speaker 1: was just about the time constraints, the the sort of

1334
01:24:48,920 --> 01:24:52,000
Speaker 1: stuck in old ways, right. It was no one individual

1335
01:24:52,040 --> 01:24:55,599
Speaker 1: it was. But I feel like I can. I feel

1336
01:24:55,640 --> 01:24:59,479
Speaker 1: like with less that I'm that I'm able to sort

1337
01:24:59,479 --> 01:25:04,360
Speaker 1: of both inform and educate. I think we in the

1338
01:25:04,400 --> 01:25:06,479
Speaker 1: news business don't educate enough. We do a lot of

1339
01:25:06,520 --> 01:25:11,600
Speaker 1: informing of what's happening, new information, you know, all that stuff,

1340
01:25:12,280 --> 01:25:16,160
Speaker 1: but we're terrible about the context, right, We don't explain.

1341
01:25:16,280 --> 01:25:18,360
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I'm pretty proud of the fact,

1342
01:25:18,520 --> 01:25:20,960
Speaker 1: and you know, some of it's by happenstance. But one

1343
01:25:21,000 --> 01:25:24,400
Speaker 1: of my favorite subsets that I've started with the podcast

1344
01:25:24,479 --> 01:25:27,439
Speaker 1: is our podcast time Machine segment, which is basically this

1345
01:25:27,479 --> 01:25:29,800
Speaker 1: week in history and now we try to pick something

1346
01:25:29,840 --> 01:25:32,559
Speaker 1: that's obviously relevant to the moment we're living in in

1347
01:25:32,560 --> 01:25:34,160
Speaker 1: some form or another. In a few weeks back, we

1348
01:25:34,200 --> 01:25:38,840
Speaker 1: did the Iranian Revolution, which was really more of a

1349
01:25:38,920 --> 01:25:41,880
Speaker 1: history of sort of America and its relationship with Iran

1350
01:25:41,920 --> 01:25:44,400
Speaker 1: over the years when we've got involved, and it was

1351
01:25:44,439 --> 01:25:47,080
Speaker 1: glad to have that already, you know, we had already

1352
01:25:47,280 --> 01:25:50,879
Speaker 1: published it. We reposted it over the weekend on YouTube.

1353
01:25:50,880 --> 01:25:53,599
Speaker 1: It's a good sort of you know, we're now suddenly

1354
01:25:53,600 --> 01:25:58,720
Speaker 1: this matters again. I still haven't seen anything like that

1355
01:25:58,760 --> 01:26:02,439
Speaker 1: on so called legacy television or on whatever you want

1356
01:26:02,479 --> 01:26:05,840
Speaker 1: to refer to it. And I'm loath to just say, oh,

1357
01:26:05,880 --> 01:26:08,720
Speaker 1: the mainstream media is dead. Well, look, we're we're in

1358
01:26:08,720 --> 01:26:11,599
Speaker 1: the middle of building mainstream a new mainstream media. Meaning

1359
01:26:11,920 --> 01:26:16,639
Speaker 1: if mainstream media is the definition of fact based, well

1360
01:26:16,680 --> 01:26:20,479
Speaker 1: informed information, then yeah, accuse me of being part of

1361
01:26:20,479 --> 01:26:23,280
Speaker 1: the main new mainstream media. I think we're building something

1362
01:26:23,320 --> 01:26:27,160
Speaker 1: new here, something that is essentially truly for the mainstream,

1363
01:26:27,400 --> 01:26:31,360
Speaker 1: truly fact based, not trying to sort of get caught

1364
01:26:31,439 --> 01:26:35,519
Speaker 1: up too much in the performative and so you know,

1365
01:26:35,640 --> 01:26:41,080
Speaker 1: I've I look, I feel energized. I loved my time

1366
01:26:41,080 --> 01:26:45,600
Speaker 1: at NBC. I have said, you know, didn't love the

1367
01:26:45,640 --> 01:26:48,360
Speaker 1: decision making that was taking place over the last eighteen months.

1368
01:26:48,880 --> 01:26:52,439
Speaker 1: But I know it wasn't that these were this was

1369
01:26:52,760 --> 01:26:56,320
Speaker 1: above their pay grades. They were executing a strategy that

1370
01:26:56,400 --> 01:26:59,160
Speaker 1: the corporation decided it wanted out of the news business.

1371
01:26:59,400 --> 01:27:02,639
Speaker 1: And like I said, we've seen it, whether it's Disney,

1372
01:27:02,640 --> 01:27:07,280
Speaker 1: whether it's Comcast, whether it's Paramount, whether it's Warner Brothers.

1373
01:27:08,479 --> 01:27:11,519
Speaker 1: Donald Trump has made it very difficult on publicly traded

1374
01:27:11,520 --> 01:27:16,400
Speaker 1: companies to get treated fairly in the regulatory process. If

1375
01:27:16,400 --> 01:27:20,480
Speaker 1: they have a news division that tries to practice distributing

1376
01:27:20,560 --> 01:27:24,040
Speaker 1: and reporting on the news honestly, and that's you know,

1377
01:27:24,080 --> 01:27:26,479
Speaker 1: that presents all sorts of challenge. They have a fetish

1378
01:27:26,479 --> 01:27:29,960
Speaker 1: irresponsibility of shareholders. I'm disappointed that they've all given up

1379
01:27:29,960 --> 01:27:34,240
Speaker 1: on having robust news divisions. That's a bummer, but you

1380
01:27:34,280 --> 01:27:36,519
Speaker 1: know what, there's enough demand for one that we're gonna

1381
01:27:36,760 --> 01:27:39,080
Speaker 1: and in some ways we're better off building one that's

1382
01:27:39,120 --> 01:27:43,439
Speaker 1: truly independent, having one that is blessed by you know,

1383
01:27:43,479 --> 01:27:45,640
Speaker 1: that still is at the whims of a CEO and

1384
01:27:46,040 --> 01:27:49,280
Speaker 1: shareholders is probably quite dangerous and probably one that we

1385
01:27:49,320 --> 01:27:52,160
Speaker 1: ought to not have. Right There shouldn't be a news

1386
01:27:52,200 --> 01:27:54,559
Speaker 1: organization where you say, well, that's a Murdoch News organization,

1387
01:27:54,600 --> 01:27:57,519
Speaker 1: that's an Ellison news organization, that's a Soros news organization,

1388
01:27:57,600 --> 01:28:01,960
Speaker 1: or that new We need something that's truly independent, that

1389
01:28:02,080 --> 01:28:04,479
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like it owes anybody anything. And so in

1390
01:28:04,479 --> 01:28:07,479
Speaker 1: that respect, I feel like, you know, some of you're

1391
01:28:07,479 --> 01:28:11,479
Speaker 1: going to say, boy, did did David just? Is he

1392
01:28:11,520 --> 01:28:14,439
Speaker 1: a planted question from Scottsdale. No, you're not a planted question,

1393
01:28:14,520 --> 01:28:17,000
Speaker 1: but you did allow me to advertise what I think

1394
01:28:17,080 --> 01:28:18,800
Speaker 1: is the best part of what we're doing. And in fact,

1395
01:28:19,640 --> 01:28:21,200
Speaker 1: I'm going to go ahead and use this as the

1396
01:28:21,280 --> 01:28:24,840
Speaker 1: last question and turn it into speaking of independent media.

1397
01:28:24,880 --> 01:28:28,240
Speaker 1: It'll be us independent media types that we'll have all

1398
01:28:28,560 --> 01:28:31,200
Speaker 1: the information you want on campaign twenty twenty six, starting

1399
01:28:31,200 --> 01:28:35,120
Speaker 1: in Texas on Tuesday night. Right here. My live streams,

1400
01:28:35,160 --> 01:28:38,880
Speaker 1: whether it's on YouTube or X Crystaliz's live streams either

1401
01:28:38,880 --> 01:28:41,880
Speaker 1: on YouTube or substack decision to ask live stream whether

1402
01:28:42,000 --> 01:28:45,040
Speaker 1: on YouTube or X. We're going to try to get

1403
01:28:45,040 --> 01:28:47,280
Speaker 1: in some other areas as many as we can get

1404
01:28:47,360 --> 01:28:51,000
Speaker 1: to to do our live streams to make it as

1405
01:28:51,040 --> 01:28:53,000
Speaker 1: accessible as possible. And you know what we're not going

1406
01:28:53,080 --> 01:28:55,400
Speaker 1: to do. We're not going to make you pay a

1407
01:28:55,439 --> 01:28:59,080
Speaker 1: cable TV fee in order to hear our commentary. We're

1408
01:28:59,080 --> 01:29:02,320
Speaker 1: not going to make you join something, you know, pay

1409
01:29:02,360 --> 01:29:05,920
Speaker 1: a fee. It is all. It is all there for

1410
01:29:06,000 --> 01:29:09,440
Speaker 1: you as long as you've got access to the Internet.

1411
01:29:09,600 --> 01:29:12,000
Speaker 1: So with that, I will put a pin on this

1412
01:29:12,040 --> 01:29:15,599
Speaker 1: episode were it's been an incredibly busied last ten days,

1413
01:29:15,960 --> 01:29:18,639
Speaker 1: and we're gonna have an incredibly busy rest of twenty

1414
01:29:18,680 --> 01:29:22,479
Speaker 1: twenty six, that I promise you. So I'm gonna pause here,

1415
01:29:24,000 --> 01:29:27,439
Speaker 1: I will. I thought about a quick sports report, but

1416
01:29:27,479 --> 01:29:29,880
Speaker 1: this felt like a good place to end. I did

1417
01:29:29,920 --> 01:29:32,400
Speaker 1: spend my weekend watching GW lose an oh so close

1418
01:29:32,439 --> 01:29:35,240
Speaker 1: game against Dayton. You know, I haven't spent a lot

1419
01:29:35,280 --> 01:29:37,920
Speaker 1: of time on college basketball yet, but guess what, I

1420
01:29:37,960 --> 01:29:39,519
Speaker 1: am going to give you a little taste of college

1421
01:29:39,560 --> 01:29:43,519
Speaker 1: basketball because we're entering what might be the next four

1422
01:29:43,560 --> 01:29:48,800
Speaker 1: weeks of basketball. College basketball sort of euphoria. All right,

1423
01:29:49,160 --> 01:29:52,400
Speaker 1: it is unbelievable. And if I had a complete sports report,

1424
01:29:52,439 --> 01:29:55,040
Speaker 1: I'd also be bragging about how Carson Beck we stood

1425
01:29:55,160 --> 01:29:58,240
Speaker 1: booze at the Combine to show himself to be the

1426
01:29:58,320 --> 01:30:02,479
Speaker 1: most impressive quarterback at the combine. So kudos to mister

1427
01:30:02,520 --> 01:30:05,479
Speaker 1: Carson Beck for doing great even while being the only

1428
01:30:05,560 --> 01:30:09,360
Speaker 1: quarterback bood when you're just trying to do your workouts.

1429
01:30:10,160 --> 01:30:12,560
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see that Carson Beck is going to

1430
01:30:12,640 --> 01:30:15,559
Speaker 1: be a Day two drafteet at minimum, and who knows,

1431
01:30:15,920 --> 01:30:17,920
Speaker 1: maybe he sneaks into the bottom of the first round.

1432
01:30:18,000 --> 01:30:21,920
Speaker 1: All right now, I'm gonna shut up. I'll see you

1433
01:30:21,920 --> 01:30:22,759
Speaker 1: in twenty four hours.