1 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: That's how we start the podcast. Are you already recording? 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: That's are you recording as you were screaming? Well, I 3 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: was recording. When I started making the noise, I anticipated 4 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: that the podcast would start with that's the beauty of 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: that professional I'm Robert. I'm Robert Evans. Welcome. No, I 6 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: don't like it. I'm not I'm not doing it. No 7 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: one else is Robert Evans because nobody else gets to 8 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: introduce my show a tonally and wordlessly. We have started, 9 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: then we have started you okay? Correct? Hi everyone, Hello 10 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: America and parts of Canada in the UK Zealand. No, 11 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,959 Speaker 1: we don't let them on here. Yes we do. Well. 12 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: I love you guys. There are some real strict GEO tags. 13 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: I'm keeping my eye on you. If you're good on 14 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: the list motherfuckers is what I think. Hello America, except 15 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: the Celtics fans of Boston. I don't say hi to you. 16 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 1: This has been quite the introduction. Um, it's the last 17 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: day of August as we record this. In August is 18 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: a month we did it kind of maybe, I mean, 19 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: we'll see the missiles could all start firing anytime in 20 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: the next several hours left. Yeah, we got like nine hours. 21 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 1: But I did say, I don't know. I started saying 22 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: a few months back that August was going to be 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: a really fucking horrible month. And it's been a really 24 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: fucking horrible month. Uh As I like, like this Saturday, 25 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: like two days ago. I guess less than two days ago. Um, uh, 26 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: guy got shot dead in the streets of Portland. Um 27 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: that that was not good. Looks like they're going to 28 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: be escalating a series of heavily armed rallies between left 29 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: ring and right wing demonstrators that are likely to degenerate 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: in the gunfight. So September might be even worse, probably 31 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: is going to be. So that's good. Too much time 32 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: until November. So, folks, when things like this happen, and 33 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: when I say things like this, I mean the complete 34 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: collapse of democratic society and to an authoritarian bloodsilk nightmare. 35 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: When things like this happen, we hear it behind the bastards. 36 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: Know of only one way to try to keep people's 37 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: spirits up, try to maintain you know, um, that that 38 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: fighting spirit that we're all gonna need to get through this. Um, 39 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: And that way is, of course reading excerpts from Ben 40 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: Shapiro's unbelievably terrible novel, True Allegiance, ah, beautiful prose, Gosh, 41 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: describe it correctly, My goodness. Did I introduce the show 42 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: or Adi and Cody or did I just start shouting 43 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: a totally yeah, I can do it. Okay, what is 44 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: this show, Sophie? This show is Behind the Bastards and 45 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: it's hosted by you, Robert Evans. I am, I am 46 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: your executive producer, Sophie lick Derman. Anderson is the is 47 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: the uh is our ceo um um. And then we're 48 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: joined today by h Katie Stole and Cody Johnston of 49 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,679 Speaker 1: Some More News, even More News, Worst Year Ever and 50 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: just epic nous. That's good, okay, well, great on the 51 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: horse the horse. Everyone is has has boarded the horse. 52 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: So I thought you were going to say the horses 53 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: in the back, and I got really scared that you 54 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: knew a pop culture reference the horse in the bag. No, 55 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: I don't know any of that. What I do know 56 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: is that we just finished, uh, we just finished when 57 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: we last left off, and I recommend there's been like, 58 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: what now three episodes of this before just going through 59 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: and we're just skimming Ben's novel and reading chunks of 60 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: it because it's very funny. Um. The last chapter was 61 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: Brett Hawthorne, combat General and prisoner of terrorist man in 62 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: the City of Iran, which, yeah, short terrorists attacked by 63 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: the bear of a man kidnapped by short terrorists. Um. 64 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: So yeah, Brett Hawthorne kidnapped by terrorists. He just had 65 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,799 Speaker 1: gotten thrown into the cell after having his big meeting 66 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: with the bad terrorist guy. Um the evil terrorist Uh 67 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: drifted off to sleep thinking of his wife Ellen um 68 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: or the TV show Ellen. Um. That's unclear at this point, 69 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: it's unclear. Um, I choose. I mean, I'm praying for 70 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: Ellen to Brett. We all are we all? We all are? Okay? 71 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: So the next chapter is a President Prescott chapter, which 72 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: is again Barack Obama but white, Barack Obama but white, 73 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: and mixed with a little bit of f DR and Hitler. 74 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: I'm Hitler like other parts. Um. Okay, were you asking, Katie? 75 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: I was gonna say, did we decide like a prototype 76 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: for him, like like Kevin Costner. I don't know if 77 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: that's you know, it seems like Ben is patterning the 78 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: president in this off of the kind of person who 79 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: has not gotten elected ever in democratic politics, but um 80 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: Republicans believe is like, yeah, he's like the fantasy Republican 81 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: democratic president, right, so he's like a little bit of 82 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: Bill Clinton mixed in with a little bit of Hitler. 83 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: That's that's that's what we get with President Prescott. Yeah, 84 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: President Prescott always felt a surge of power through his body. 85 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: He's set in the situation room. This is where they 86 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: had made all their biggest decisions. It's where Kennedy read 87 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: teletype during the Cuban missile crisis. It's where President Barack 88 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: Obama had set watching Seal Team six take out Osama 89 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: bin Laden. And this is where Prescott new he'd be 90 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: sitting at the head of the table while American Special 91 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: Operations troops dispatched. It brought him a shami. It is 92 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: kind of unclear in this up until now. I think 93 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: this is the first Barack Obama reference we get very 94 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: unfair for Barack Obama. What the timing has been of 95 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: like American history and Ben Shapiro's alternate timeline. Um, just 96 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: the president right after Obama. I think this is the guy, 97 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,239 Speaker 1: Like what if a random Democrat who was also Hitler 98 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: instead of Trump. That's that's I mean, you could make 99 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: the case that that is Trump in some capacities. But yeah, yeah, 100 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: except for Trump, I don't think he's ever been owed 101 00:06:55,120 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: by um the weight of a historical anything, because he's 102 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: not really capable of feeling the emotion of awe. But anyway, 103 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: uh yeah, so they intelligence figured out General Hawthorne's signal. 104 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: If you remember, he was like being he was on 105 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: one of those terrorist videos and he'd like blinked the 106 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: coordinates of where he was. Then yeah, that's good. Uh 107 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: so yeah, um Hawthorne had spoken the pre written message 108 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: from a Shami just as a Shammi had written it, 109 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: prompting a national debate on whether Hawthorne had should have 110 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: complied with the propaganda requirements of the world's leading terrorist. 111 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: But intelligence kept the fact that Hawthorne hadn't complied under 112 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: their hat. Well, the west rest of the world had 113 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: watched Hawthorne's mouth, Intelligence had watched his eyes. Which is 114 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: very funny to me, because like every time anything vaguely 115 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: like that's that's any that's vaguely a mystery occurs that 116 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: involves like a video clip, that's you know, anytime something 117 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: like that goes viral, whether it's a murder or whatever 118 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: the entire Internet sets to trying to solve it. And 119 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: if this guy had been blinking in Morse code while 120 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: deliver like like, there's a zero percent chance that everything 121 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: he had been saying wouldn't have already been liked to do, 122 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: would have figured it out. My favorite would have figured 123 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: it out was that one sentence that you just read, 124 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: um butt Intelligence kept the fact that Hawthorne hadn't complied 125 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: under the Oh wait, no, no, no, no, no, no, 126 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: that's a few sentences. That's a ok yeah, good good yeah, yeah, 127 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: good improvement, improvement. Ben he had a copy editor for 128 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: this chapter, Yeah, he must have, so, yeah, this he 129 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: talked been talks about how Hawthorne had taken the trick 130 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: of blinking in Morse code from a Vietnam era pow 131 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: who had blinked out torture, which is maybe a little 132 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: bit easier than blinking out the coordinates airstrike now and 133 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: then geographical coordinates. Yeah, it's very funny, um. And also 134 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: just that they would know like that that would be 135 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: what the that the government would in stantly agree. Ah, yes, 136 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: this captured person has called for an air strike on 137 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: the capital of a sovereign nation. That's got to be 138 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: what we do. Well, not only do we know that, 139 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: that's what he's calling for to do it. Yeah, we're 140 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: going to launch. Yeah, well, no, he doesn't know it, 141 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 1: been doesn't note. The message prompted a full scale debate 142 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: inside the White House. It raised too many questions. First, 143 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,959 Speaker 1: was Hawthorne's location correct? How would he know where he 144 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: was given that prisoners were typically blindfolded and kept in 145 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: windowless rooms before their executions. If Hawthorne was wrong about 146 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: the location and a heavily populated area of Tehran, the 147 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: United States could end up with the blood of dozens 148 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: on its hands and an international mess almost impossible to 149 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 1: clean up. They could brill him it all in Iranian 150 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: nuclear weapons, but after Iraq, the public wouldn't be buying 151 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: that's not that's not the Yeah, that's not the reason, 152 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: not to kill dozens of innocent people that the public 153 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,959 Speaker 1: might not buy it, right, Yeah, maybe we can't get 154 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: away with killing the civilians all the To be fair, 155 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: he has written articles about how he doesn't care about 156 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: civilian casualties, So sure it did isn't very surprising, you know, 157 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: it just occurs to me, Cody because that article he 158 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: wrote about how he thinks it's he thought it was 159 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: stupid whenever people complained about civilian casualties in Afghanistan, and 160 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: it's fine to kill civilians in Afghanistan. He was seventeen 161 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: when he wrote that article. And there's probably a pretty 162 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: good essay to be written by someone smarter than me 163 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: about Ben Shapiro, age seventeen, urging the nation to mass 164 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: murder strangers in Afghanistan and Kyle Rittenhouse, age seventeen, taking 165 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: his A R fifteen across state lines illegally to shoot 166 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: strangers in another city. Probably something going on there, right, Yeah, yeah, 167 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:50,719 Speaker 1: so uh yeah yeah. Second, even if Hawthorne was right, 168 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: could the American aircraft breach Iranian airspace to take out 169 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: of Shami? A strike in a populated area would require 170 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: too much pinpoint accuracy for a missile. Military aircraft would 171 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: have to be utilized. Such an attack would surely have 172 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: grave ramifications for international politics, including ongoing nuclear negotiations with 173 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: the Iranian. Yeah. I think you're not going to keep 174 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: negotiating with them if you bomb their capital right now. 175 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: I do suspect that would have an impact, Like it's 176 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: it's logic and reason he's doing logic and reason. Yeah, 177 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: this is also like incredibly boring. It's like basic and 178 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: stuff like, oh, they might shoot the plane down and 179 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: that would be a problem. Like he's he's tried to 180 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: like portray this dude is like this feckless and wildly 181 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: responsible president. But then everything is going through in his 182 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: head is like, yes, these are all things you'd have 183 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: to consider if you were going to bomb the capital 184 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: of a rod Like it's like, what are we what 185 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,840 Speaker 1: are we spending our time on here? Yeah, oh Jesus Christ. 186 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: So and then he has this thought go through the 187 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: heads of this presume of like supposedly progressive Democratic candidate. 188 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: The Israelis were sitting around waiting to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, 189 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,079 Speaker 1: with the Americans taking action in Iranian soil, they could 190 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: take advantage of the situation to double up with the 191 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: brief bombing campaign, sinking any possibility of a nuclear deal. 192 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:13,319 Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know, just very very boring, boring. 193 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: It's yeah, yeah, it's not like he's not doing like 194 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: a a very legitimate like thought process, but also it's boring, 195 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: like I don't need any of this. I don't need 196 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: to hear this, this internal debate. Um, or if you're 197 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: going to write a scene where they talk about these 198 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: things and you have characters giving a view points and 199 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: then arguing, like, show me two more long paragraphs where 200 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: he just goes back and forth about like this would 201 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: be a good foreign policy triumph and it people won't 202 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: call me a coward. But you know, we could also 203 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: just do it later. And it's just it's it's it's 204 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:59,839 Speaker 1: again said, reveal things about the characters of the individuals 205 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 1: in this administration by how they react and discuss the 206 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: different possibilities, Like chances are everyone would have a different 207 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: viewpoint and then I would learn something about each one 208 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: of them based on their viewpoint. Yeah, yeah, do the 209 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: thing like watch a single episode. I normally wouldn't say this, 210 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: but watch a single episode of The West Wing, a 211 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: show that has characters that argue about things like what 212 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: to do and do that instead of this. Yeah, um, 213 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: that would be my thought. I never thought not like 214 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: watch the West Wing would be like great advice, but 215 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: just watch the West Wing. Well, he wants to write television, 216 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: so he should know that dialogue is an option he does, 217 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: and it is it's one of the best options. Yeah, 218 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: you could have dialogue in this momentum. Yeah, yeah, it's 219 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: very it keep just keeps on going. In fact, Prescott 220 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 1: had been leading and leaving, leaning in the direction of 221 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: leaving things be, but two factors had decided him on action. First, 222 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,679 Speaker 1: Prescott wanted a taste of glory. Just Prescott Prescott. Prescott 223 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: like Ben might a book, write a book, yeah, Like 224 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: have him be a character that does things. Don't just 225 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: like tell us have him like like Prescott like proposed 226 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: to do that. And then one of the characters says, 227 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: like you just want you just want it for the 228 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: glory or like what like obviously not that exactly because 229 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: that's bad, but like have people challenge him or something, 230 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: and then he explains why they're wrong, or he wavers 231 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: because maybe they're right or something. He has to ignore 232 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: good advice, and you like see him make a choice 233 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: to like yeah, yeah, no, instead that sounds like a 234 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: lot more work, Yeah, Or he could write an essay, 235 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: boring essay about it, like all the options. And it 236 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: turns out the president decides to bomb a sovereign nation 237 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: because that would make it difficult for Congress to turn 238 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: him down about his his work freedom program. The everybody 239 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: gets a job program that he wants to ram through. 240 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: Yes that I'm Yeah. Congress famously is a huge fan 241 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: of the United States randomly bombing the capitals of sovereign nations. Uh. 242 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: And so you get whatever you want as president if 243 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: you are like, hey, guys, I just bombed Iran for 244 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: no good reason. What Ben is doing here is showing 245 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: us a stunning understanding of our government and how it works. 246 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: What are you doing? Is showing us done? Like he's 247 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: just showing us a window into what he thinks the 248 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: government should operate, Like what he thinks people should do 249 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: in order to get what they want. Yes, that's what 250 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: I actually meant. Yeah, that really is what's going on here. Yeah. Uh, 251 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: it's so the president who again only cares about his 252 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: his uh like signature piece of social welfare legislation that's 253 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: clearly meant to frame him as a Nazi because the 254 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: work Freedom program are bite mocked fry, you know what 255 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: I'm saying. Yeah, he already had his. So while he's 256 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: like getting his final briefings for the bombing of the 257 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: capital of a sovereign nation, Uh, he's daydreaming about the 258 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: work Freedom program, and he writes a slogan on his hand. 259 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: This is what Ben calls a slogan protecting America from 260 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: those who would harm it. A broaden at home. And 261 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: that is a lot for a hand and a lot 262 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: for a slogan. That's a lot for a slogan. It's 263 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: it's that Simpson's giant hand character tired of all these jokes, 264 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: giant hand. If Trump had hired been to to run 265 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: his campaign, it would be making America a country that 266 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: used to be better, better than it is currently because 267 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: it's not good enough right now, would be good for us. Yeah, 268 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: Comma America. Put that on a fucking hat. Uh. Second, 269 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: some right wing bloggers had caught onto Hawthorne signal. Mostly 270 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: they were kookie survivor caught onto Hawthorne, So okay. A 271 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: bunch of right wing bloggers had had found out that 272 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: he was okay, So Ben does include the internet cracking 273 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: the code. That's good. That's good. I got to be 274 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 1: fair to talking about cookie right wing bloggers, so that's 275 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: good too. Yeah. Mostly there were the cookie survivalist types, 276 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: the kind of folks opposed to conspiracy theories and message boards. 277 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: But the CIA informed Prescott that's such information once you 278 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: get out could jeopardize any sort of attack. Um, so 279 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: that's that. Okay, I'll give Been credit for that one. 280 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 1: That that was Been that has been understanding a reality 281 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:24,479 Speaker 1: of the world around him and then using it to 282 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:29,920 Speaker 1: predict something in a a fictional scenario. Did he did that? 283 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: All right? So that's good, good sentence then. Yeah. Already 284 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: some of those nuts on Fox News had been making 285 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: oblique references to the rumors. Um, be nice to like 286 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 1: hear what that was? Like, how do you make an 287 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,679 Speaker 1: oblique reference to people online believing that a US general 288 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: is calling for air strikes on till on using morse 289 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: code blinking, Like, how do you like, how do you 290 00:17:53,960 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: slightly reference that? I guess I'd like to know. That's 291 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: another thing where like show me that. Yeah, yeah, show 292 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: me the tell show me these things instead of just 293 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: telling me them in the least interesting way possible. So YadA, YadA, YadA. 294 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:12,919 Speaker 1: We talk about how he decides not to do an 295 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: air strike and the CIA has its own thing that 296 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: they tell him to do and blah blah blah blah blah. Um. 297 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: So yeah, now he's in the situation room. We're back 298 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: around to where we were at the start of this chapter. 299 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: He's sort of explained he didn't really Yeah, it's just 300 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: um wait, so like we're it's still we're still in 301 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: the situation room, and now we really happened. They've just 302 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: described like they've just explained why we're here, as opposed 303 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: to weeks of debate or days of debate you know, 304 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: had ended with like you know, he knew that it 305 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: was time for action. You know, sometimes you just can't 306 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: listen to other people's arguments. You have to make it 307 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: because also like you like just in terms of like storytelling, 308 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: that's a that's the chapter that you write, right, like 309 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: you'd like, here's yeah, debate, like it's here all of 310 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 1: the things that are happening, cryptographer whoever who figures it 311 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: out and informs the government, and then you have like 312 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: the meeting and like now this is again if President 313 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,959 Speaker 1: Prescott and his administration are characters, if there's characters in 314 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: here that we like we can engage with and be 315 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: interested by, even if they're the bad guys, um or 316 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: if they're incompetent, If they're characters, but they're not characters there, 317 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: um yeah, they're they're just like they're for been to. Yeah, 318 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: their little wax sculptures. They're a little little action figures 319 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: for him to play with. Yeah, they're little action figures. 320 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: That's exactly right. Um. Yeah, So he sends in I 321 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: guess a wet work team to go get this guy 322 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:48,360 Speaker 1: out somehow. Um yeah, the C I A. Um, so 323 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: that's great. So he's told that the CIA success odds 324 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: are less than but he sends in the CIA team anyway. Um, 325 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: I think there's a thanks. Thanks. Let's see here now. Now, 326 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: the CIA operatives, dressed in local garb, set a quick 327 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: burning charge on the outside of the iron work door. 328 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: It flared brightly but the alleyway, but in the only 329 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,639 Speaker 1: way there was nobody to see it. One of the 330 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: operatives gently nudged the door open with its foot for 331 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: for him spread a dark hallway. No lights came in order, check, 332 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: whispered one of the men. They crept down the hallway, 333 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: visibility no greater than ten feet ahead to the sides, 334 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,159 Speaker 1: ran door after Yeah. Okay, so it's been trying to 335 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: write an action scene. The guy identifies himself as police. Um, yadda, YadA, YadA, YadA, yadda. Uh, 336 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: just a bunch of guys doing a doing a boring 337 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: special forces type raid thing. So the team, the team 338 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: finds Brett and he's uh, okay, well kind of yeah. 339 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: So the correct amant tore into the souls of Brett's feet, 340 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: gashing them, but Brett hardly felt it. He hadn't moved 341 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: this fast since high school football. Get the funk out 342 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: of here, he screamed at the Americans standing twenty yards 343 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 1: above him on this airs. They know you're here. Get out. 344 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: He heard the sound of a couple of safeties being 345 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: switched off, and then he saw the guns pointed directly 346 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: at him. Run you morons, he shouted. The operatives were 347 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: blocking the stairs, standing there idiotically. Then again, he had 348 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: time to think it was covered with blood from head 349 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: to toe. He didn't have time to explain the blood. However, 350 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: he didn't have time to explain the bodies of Yusuf 351 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: and his fellow Thuck. So we don't get any explanation. 352 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: Is he's killed a bunch of people. Um Brett has 353 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: and I guess freed himself. I think, what what has happened? 354 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: We haven't had another chapter of him, so this is 355 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: just yeah, they're just letting us know that, like without Yeah, 356 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,199 Speaker 1: he's already been working to get out. Oh, here we go. 357 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 1: The next page or two is him explaining again, but 358 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: keeps doing this thing where like he's trying to he's 359 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 1: he'll have an action scene and it'll spend two pages 360 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,120 Speaker 1: explaining all the things that happened before that action scene 361 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: that he was just at and he keeps doing it 362 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: this way instead of just telling a story. Like hate 363 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 1: when people do that, not just because bench a hero 364 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: does it, but I hate in general. Scripts are stories 365 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,239 Speaker 1: and stuff where you're like you have to stop and 366 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: be like, did I miss something? I don't like that. 367 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: I don't like it? Yeah, because he wanted he didn't. 368 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,120 Speaker 1: He didn't want to like write a complicated scene where 369 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,199 Speaker 1: like this team breaks in and Brett has to like 370 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: free himself, like as they're sort of coming in and 371 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: like clearing the building and its tense. So instead like 372 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: he has them just greet him. Brett's already freed himself. 373 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: They meet him having freed himself, and he warns them 374 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: that it's a trap, and then we go back for 375 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,360 Speaker 1: two pages and explain how he freed himself before this 376 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: all happened, so that we can return to the present. 377 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 1: Unbelievable and if you're okay, So if you're going to 378 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: do that, fine, don't go back and explain it. Just 379 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: keep moving forward, like if if, if you want to 380 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: do the thing, We're like, oh, he's he was already 381 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: breaking out, and that's that's okay. Move on. Yeah, into 382 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: the last chapter on a night where like and then 383 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: you know, Brett began to you know, sawl Awagh it 384 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:56,400 Speaker 1: like his his cuffs or something like as the guard 385 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: or something, and then like oh and then we see 386 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,680 Speaker 1: him he's freed him self. Clearly this was set up before. 387 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 1: I don't need you to go back to pages and 388 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 1: disrupt the flow of the narrative to detail in boring detail, 389 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: very boring detail of him killing these two Pakistani teenagers 390 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: or yeah, also just the phrase, uh, standing there idiotically 391 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: just right, and they were just standing there. He can 392 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: infer that they shouldn't be standing there doing anything. You 393 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: don't need to tell us that they're being idiotic about it. Yeah, yeah, 394 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: it's And also I should note here that Brett Hawthorne 395 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 1: stabs the teenage boy guarding him through the eye when 396 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: he is on the ground. Um, where do you get 397 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: a knife? Oh? I don't know it happens. I'm not 398 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: going to read through this whole stupid fight, but he 399 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: stabs a teenage boy to death in the eye. That's 400 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: important for Ben to have happened. You know, who won't 401 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: stop a teenage boy on the eye, your mom in 402 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: the is in America's current political climate, I can imagine 403 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: almost anyone stabbing a teenage boy in the eye, and 404 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: the right circumstances way to make it real. Yeah, well 405 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: that's fair politics. But it's uh, it's time for it's 406 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: time for an ad Breck, not politics, Robert, it is 407 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 1: time for an ad break. We're back. Oh my god, 408 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 1: I for one am excited about the next chapter, which 409 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: is going to come after this. So, yeah, we also 410 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: during the President's chapter, we we went back to so 411 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: we cut to the CIA team, uh, freeing him like 412 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: that was So we start with the perspective of the president, 413 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: the perspective of the CIA team, and we immediately go 414 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: from that to the perspective of Brett Hawthorne, which is 415 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: how we end the episode without any sort of like 416 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: clear break. It's bad, it's horrible. Right, you're gonna divide 417 00:24:55,040 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: your chapters up into characters. Do the thing that set 418 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: up the book to do and you don't have to 419 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: do that. But don't have to do that, you have 420 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: to keep doing that otherwise it's very confusing and awkward. 421 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: Um yeah, so I okay, but we know we do 422 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,920 Speaker 1: get back to we do get out of So Brett 423 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: tells the operatives to run, run, you morons, he shouted. 424 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: When the operatives finally recognized General Bret Hawthorne, dressed and 425 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: covered with blood, they turned and ran. They just run 426 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: like he tells them to run, and they trained CIA operatives. 427 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,919 Speaker 1: Just run. Yeah. They smashed their way down the hallway. 428 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: No time for discretion, now, no time for descretion your 429 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: As they smashed their way down the hallway. As the 430 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: basement exploded, rocking the ground beneath them, two of the 431 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: men fell. Brett vaulted them, yelling at them to get up, 432 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: grabbing one button. Good god, what a sentence. Two of 433 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: the men fell, semicolon. Brett vaulted them, Comma, yelling at 434 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: them to get up, Comma, grabbing one by his bulletproof 435 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 1: vest and virtually throwing him down the hallway with his 436 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: good hand. Period. That might be the worst sentence yet, 437 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,479 Speaker 1: I don't know that is How do you virtually throw someone. 438 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: If you don't know what, I'd like to find out, 439 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:20,159 Speaker 1: because there's a lot of people I'd like to virtually throw. Yeah, 440 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: I am very upset about that. There's it's Ben has 441 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: no idea how to use the active or passive voice. 442 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: So the very next sentences, civilians heads popped out into 443 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: the hallway as the explosion registered. Semi they pop out, 444 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: they pop up, their heads out, Ben, maybe Brett looked 445 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 1: over his shoulder to see them engulfed in the flame 446 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 1: that poured down the hallway like water through a flooding pipeline. 447 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:52,360 Speaker 1: You know, maybe there's another piece of the secret Ben 448 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: Shapiro understanding, and the fact that the civilians don't take 449 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,880 Speaker 1: an action. Their heads just pop out and then they die. 450 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,520 Speaker 1: But it's not their action. Their heads just pop out 451 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 1: into the hallway. Whereas Brett gets to have a direct action, 452 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: he looks over his shoulder because he is is a 453 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: human being. Um, everyone else is just popping They just 454 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: pop out their head their heads pop out. No, they 455 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: don't pop out, their heads, Cody, their heads popped out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 456 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: I just yes, yes, a blest if he rocketed him 457 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: through the door at the end of the hallway. The 458 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,120 Speaker 1: other operatives sprinted ahead. One man behind him screamed inhumanly 459 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: as the fire caught him, but turned back pushed the 460 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: man down into the dust, smelling his sizzling flesh as 461 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: he tried to put out the flames. The man screams 462 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 1: finally stopped as he fell unconscious. One of the other 463 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: operatives grabbed the burning man by one arm, Brett grabbed 464 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: the other. Together they ran down the alleyway into the darkness. 465 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:58,120 Speaker 1: And then we're back into the situation room. Uh after all, yes, 466 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: this is the president him in the Joint Chiefs turns 467 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: back to the President and says, they knew we were coming, 468 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 1: Mr President, They knew we were coming. What do you mean, 469 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,400 Speaker 1: Prescott asked, you were just watching the explosion? And then 470 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: how do you think our guys got out of there 471 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: so easily? Afterwards? The Iranians must have known as Shami 472 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: was there, they've been housing him. They just didn't want 473 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 1: to fight us directly. That's all they were expecting, as 474 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: shamis thugs to take our guys out, and when that 475 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: didn't happen, they backed off. That's a lot of conclusions 476 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: to draw. Chairman of the Joint chiefs of staff based 477 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: on a chaotic video, it seems like it's your job 478 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: to not do that. But Ben needs to inform the 479 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: audience very directly of what just happened, rather than yeah, 480 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: because he's not sure that his prose is clear. You 481 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: got to clarify, yeah. Uh so. But of course the 482 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: President thinks the general silly for being disturbed by this 483 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: and tells him to just take the night off because 484 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: they rescued Bret Hawthorne. So everything's fine. Um, everything's fine, 485 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 1: rings fine, the people are stabbed and burned, everything's fine. So. Uh. 486 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: This is Ellen's chapter starts in Austin, Texas. She's obviously 487 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: happy that her husband he's coming home. Yeah, he's on 488 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: he's on his way back. He Prescott. The President has 489 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: just called her to tell her that her husband's coming home. 490 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: Uh she she She notes that he expected praise from 491 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,239 Speaker 1: her and she had to dutifully give it to him, 492 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: just given where we are. Yeah, because he's he's he's 493 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: he's like Barack Obama. He requires the praise. Yeah. Yeah, 494 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: So she's very happy that her husband's coming home. She 495 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: hasn't seen him for a year. Uh, Prescott's doing a 496 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: big old victory. Lap YadA, YadA, YadA. It wasn't enough 497 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: for the president to make political hay off of her 498 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: husband's rescue after abandoning him in Afghanistan, and now he 499 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: turned Brett's home coming into a case for widespread troop withdrawals. 500 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: She should have figured that would have been the next 501 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: shoe to drop. Really a deep under standing of America, 502 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: like that's how this country works. Yeah, you gotta love 503 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: that Ben is so disconnected from the basic reality if 504 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: the things that he gets angry about that he thinks 505 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: the Democrats have ever supported troop withdrawal in any meaningful 506 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: way from Afghanistan as opposed to what happened under Barack Obama, 507 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: the guy who was president not all that long ago, 508 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: whose record in Afghanistan you can read about. The guy 509 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: he's lampooning. The guy he's trying to make a point about, Yes, 510 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: who massively surged US troop presence in Afghanistan for years. Um, 511 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: yeah cool, I'm yeah, take your word for it, Ben, Yeah, 512 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: good work, Ben, Um Yeah. So uh, Prescott talks. Yeah, 513 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 1: we're just going through her being disgusted that Prescott wants 514 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,959 Speaker 1: to take bring American troops home from other and again 515 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: like this is all just like I and I don't 516 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: have the book in front of me, thank god, but 517 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,280 Speaker 1: I imagine that what you are reading right now is 518 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 1: just Ben describing her thoughts and feelings generally like over 519 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: along along with describing what the president is doing. And yeah, 520 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: I don't like, write a scene, write a fucking scene, Ben, Yes, 521 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: between them, you know, right her right her sitting and 522 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: watching TV with her family around her, and they all 523 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: react differently, and that gives her something to actually interact 524 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: with as a person, and we can see her mental 525 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: state maybe is announced. Yeah, she's watching it with like 526 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: her mom and her dad or her aunt or cousins 527 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: or whatever, and like some of them are like, oh, 528 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: that's such a nice thing for the presidents to say. 529 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: She gets angry and she snaps at them and screams 530 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: at them and reveals her feelings and also the fact 531 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: that she's on the fucking razor's edge. And then you 532 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: have a character like like like a scene and a 533 00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: thing that people might want to read. Suggestion. I wrote 534 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: a book and it's bad, which is why I didn't 535 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:07,959 Speaker 1: publish it. Yes, but it's just like it's like so 536 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: much of this reads like him summarizing what he wants 537 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: to happen. It's summary of a book, Like you think 538 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: your book was bad, the one that I read, Yeah, 539 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: that was it bad? Okay, I read something nobody else did. 540 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,280 Speaker 1: It is good. I feel special. I feel special. I 541 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: feel It's not the topic of discussion. Now to phenomenal 542 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: writer Robert Evans has been Shapiro's terrible book. You also 543 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:36,960 Speaker 1: have a published book that everybody should buy instead of 544 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 1: published nonfiction book. But it's very different. Nonfiction and fiction 545 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 1: are completely it's phenomenal. You all should buy it. Yeah, 546 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: but uh so, Yeah, but gave gives Ellen the morning 547 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,719 Speaker 1: off because her husband's getting back from Afghanistan, which the 548 00:32:54,840 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: morning like a lot of time to give off, how general, Yeah, 549 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: even like I won't even let him have a nooner, Like, yeah, 550 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: I might give him. You know what, if I'm the boss, 551 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:13,480 Speaker 1: you might get a weekend for that, Like, yeah, have 552 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 1: breakfast with your husband, your your husband was kidnapped and 553 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: tortured in Iran. Take a three day you know, just 554 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 1: a couple of you go down to Galveston, catch a 555 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 1: flesh eating virus. Monday though you're back in this seat, 556 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: or I swear to God I will fire you and 557 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: your family will starve on this, and you're gonna actually 558 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: have to stay stay late on Monday to make up 559 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 1: for the time that you took off. Yeah, I'm in 560 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: a need like a couple of double shifts Monday, let's 561 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: say Monday through Thursday next week to make up for 562 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:51,000 Speaker 1: the weekend. Yeah, we got the phone, rang. Ellen hastily 563 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: checked her bedside clock. It read seven fifty six am. 564 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 1: She'd overslept. She'd taken a sleeping pill to calm herself 565 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,479 Speaker 1: down after the president's speech. Bubba had given it mo Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh. 566 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: They determinate the determinate, the determinedly cheery ring continued. She 567 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: leaned over picked up Ellen Hawthorne. She said, groggedly into 568 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:16,160 Speaker 1: the phone, It's it's me baby. Involuntarily, tears sprang to 569 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:19,879 Speaker 1: her eyes. We could just say. Tears sprang to her 570 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:21,680 Speaker 1: eyes and said like, like, what are what is the 571 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:25,040 Speaker 1: other option here? Ben? She forced tears to her eyes 572 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: during the call. It seven fifty six in the morning. Whatever, 573 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,320 Speaker 1: Oh god, you're all right, Brett. We don't have to 574 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 1: tell baby, I'm here. I'm fine. I can't tell you 575 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:35,680 Speaker 1: where I am right now for security reasons. We're not 576 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: in an American airspace yet. But I need you to 577 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,359 Speaker 1: call Bill. She immediately snapped to attention. Brett didn't need 578 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,440 Speaker 1: the loving wife right now, he needed the partner She 579 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,319 Speaker 1: put on that hat. So many times it spring to 580 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: her without delay, what's going on? I need you to 581 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: conference in Bill? He'll know. Why can't you call him directly? 582 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: I can't explain. I'm your only call. They're monitoring it. 583 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:56,280 Speaker 1: You got it? So I guess, like, if you're a 584 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: general who gets kidnapped and tortured in Iran, lie somebody 585 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: who gets arrested by the cops, you get one phone call. Yep, yep. Also, 586 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: I just like in such a short paragraph so many 587 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,440 Speaker 1: times he indicated that she was acting hastily and immediately 588 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,400 Speaker 1: snapping to attention very quickly, like, yeah, that's the phrase. 589 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: We get. It doesn't matter care. So the Bill that 590 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 1: they're talking about is some general named Bill Callier that 591 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,120 Speaker 1: we haven't met before. I don't believe um, but yeah, 592 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 1: So and again her husband uses his first and only 593 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 1: phone call, presumably to have his wife call another man 594 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:41,879 Speaker 1: to deal with problems for him, which I do. Funny, Um, Bill, 595 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:43,919 Speaker 1: this is Ellen. I've got Bread on the other line. 596 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,360 Speaker 1: I need to conference you in do it? Which is again? 597 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,239 Speaker 1: Now this is the stuff, Ben, you don't need to 598 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: write out. You can just say she added him to 599 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 1: the conversation. You like clicked the thing on her smartphone, 600 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 1: Like we don't. We don't need to hear her conference 601 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:02,640 Speaker 1: in this other guy into the conversation. Yeah, the most 602 00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 1: unnecessary dialogue juxtaposed with like no dialogue that we desperately want. Yes, 603 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: so there's some stupid movie greetings between this old grizzled 604 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,600 Speaker 1: general who I think is the mentor to Brett and 605 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,680 Speaker 1: Brett and then, uh, Bill, I need you to get 606 00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 1: your boys on something. I need them to find a 607 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 1: known associate of a Shami's names mohammed him down. I 608 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 1: need you, guys, I need your boys to find a 609 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: guy he has the most common name on planet Earth. 610 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,359 Speaker 1: Can you find John yet? I don't know what I'm 611 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 1: talking about, but I don't have his last name name Joe. Well, 612 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:47,239 Speaker 1: why don't you give me something tougher to do, Like 613 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,759 Speaker 1: find a specific Mexican named Juan. He's coming here to 614 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,760 Speaker 1: the United States. He's about five ft nine, one, skinny, 615 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:57,200 Speaker 1: maybe seventeen years old. Another seventeen year old. You just 616 00:36:57,239 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 1: stabbed one to death? Ben, What is wrong with you? 617 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:06,359 Speaker 1: I want to know. It is weird. I don't like it. 618 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:11,200 Speaker 1: Skinny maybe seventeen years old, blue eyes, angular face, sharp, 619 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,640 Speaker 1: big nose. Get your boys on it. There's not much done. 620 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,080 Speaker 1: So we're looking for a big nose boy named Mohammed. 621 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: Uh get me all the Mohammed's with all the noses 622 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:35,600 Speaker 1: you can find, you see, Oh god? And then he 623 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:41,640 Speaker 1: hangs up. That's all the info he gets on. Okay, 624 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: Uh no, No, he's still on the line with with Ellen. 625 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 1: They just this was a conference call. He wants he 626 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 1: wants he wants General Brett Hawthorne to only have one 627 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,439 Speaker 1: phone call for story reasons that are unclear as of yet, 628 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,720 Speaker 1: but he also needs him to talk to multiple people. 629 00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: So we're doing this awkward hung up, you met Brett Hawthorne? 630 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:03,920 Speaker 1: Hung up? All right, He's still on the line. He 631 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,279 Speaker 1: also I think he also wants Ellen and Brett to 632 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:08,960 Speaker 1: be like a badass Patriot team. But the only thing 633 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: he can think of her to do is to act 634 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:16,359 Speaker 1: as the center of a of a three way phone call. Um, 635 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:20,440 Speaker 1: so that's worth noting. Like it's like we're talking like 636 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:24,520 Speaker 1: it's some star Trek nineteen sixty bullshit right before before 637 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,239 Speaker 1: you know. Anyway, I'm sure Ben thinks it's a big deal. 638 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:31,760 Speaker 1: Are you okay, honey, Ellen asked after she knew Callier 639 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:33,960 Speaker 1: had clicked off the line. She could hear him sigh 640 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:39,240 Speaker 1: audibly if she could hear him sigh, Bini, it was audibly, 641 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,280 Speaker 1: if you okay, you could She could hear him sigh. 642 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:50,239 Speaker 1: There's the sentence, you could okay? Yeah, he sighed. So 643 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:52,680 Speaker 1: many ways to cut words out of this, Yeah, but 644 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 1: don't help. Yeah. It's like they say, brevity is the 645 00:38:57,120 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 1: soul of like you got to use the words, right, Yeah, 646 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:02,719 Speaker 1: it was the soul of all the words colon, the 647 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,480 Speaker 1: words that you gotta use, comma, you gotta use them 648 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,520 Speaker 1: so that people understand what you're saying. The words that is, 649 00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:19,400 Speaker 1: the words that you use breviatari Lee that that's Shakespeare alright. 650 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:24,319 Speaker 1: So so he she hears him, She hears him. I 651 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,200 Speaker 1: don't know, sweetheart, I don't know what I'm doing here, 652 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:28,160 Speaker 1: why I'm doing it. What they did to my guys 653 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:35,160 Speaker 1: in Afghanistan. I know, sweetheart, I know that's not a conversation. Um, Ellen, 654 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:37,799 Speaker 1: I wasn't supposed to live. That wasn't the message I gave. 655 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:41,600 Speaker 1: I blinked, air strike, not tactical mission, not rescue, air strike. 656 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 1: Are you bummed that they used a surgical method that 657 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 1: rescued you and didn't kill dozens of people? Like a 658 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 1: shami was gone, the bad guy was gone. The air 659 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:56,200 Speaker 1: strike would not have okay. Like also, he's like mad 660 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:58,239 Speaker 1: and he's like, I shouldn't be alive. I said, air 661 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: strike on at him to bomb Tehran. But you escaped, 662 00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:06,920 Speaker 1: You did the escaping. Yeah, yeah, were also like you 663 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: stabbed that seventeen year old boy to death. Those CIA. 664 00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:17,560 Speaker 1: It's just unbelievable. Yes, but sweetheart, you're alive. You're coming home. 665 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: I know you feel guilty. I know you never meant 666 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: to leave your men behind, but you alive is better 667 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,399 Speaker 1: than you dead. Me alive isn't better than a shammy dead. 668 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: He was there, Ellen, he was there. I gave him 669 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:28,840 Speaker 1: the location. I knew they'd have time to take the shot. 670 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: But there's no explanation as to why, because they've like 671 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,160 Speaker 1: film and edit a video and then put it out 672 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,040 Speaker 1: and he's a terrorist whatever. But Prescott, damn him, didn't 673 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:37,960 Speaker 1: have the balls. He just didn't. And now with Shammi's 674 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:40,320 Speaker 1: out there planning. He's smart, ellen, smart as hell, and 675 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: he steps ahead of us. We were lucky to get 676 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,800 Speaker 1: out of there alive. If it hadn't been for a 677 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 1: stupid thug named Yusuf, we'd all seventeen year old thug, 678 00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,640 Speaker 1: we'd all be dead, and Prescott wouldn't have an international incident, 679 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,839 Speaker 1: would have an international incident on his hand anyway, dead 680 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,760 Speaker 1: Americans in their body parts spread all over Tehran. Damn 681 00:40:55,800 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 1: the man, Damn him again, Like the reason to hate 682 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,440 Speaker 1: this president is that he didn't do an air strike. 683 00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:07,520 Speaker 1: He didn't immediately jump to an air strike based on 684 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:14,280 Speaker 1: a man blinking. Very cool. Yeah. So, so she's happy 685 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:17,759 Speaker 1: that her husband's coming home. Oh God, I have to 686 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,080 Speaker 1: read this part, even though I think it might actually 687 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:23,200 Speaker 1: kill me to say, like, I don't know that I'm 688 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,680 Speaker 1: going to live through this. She found tears in her 689 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 1: eyes again. Her man's her strong, unwavering man is so 690 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:33,120 Speaker 1: ready to die. That's not a sentence, not a sentence. Bin, 691 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,000 Speaker 1: But you're coming home, sweetheart, You're coming home. On the 692 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,600 Speaker 1: other end of the phone, she could hear her husband exhale. 693 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,239 Speaker 1: You're right, he said, slowly. I'm coming home. Take a 694 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:46,120 Speaker 1: bullet for you, babe, She said, take a bullet for you, sweetheart. 695 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,400 Speaker 1: The line kicked clicked dead. Yeah, that's how they end 696 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:55,919 Speaker 1: all their phone calls. I know, I know. It makes 697 00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,680 Speaker 1: it's the worst thing I've ever seen on paper. With authority, 698 00:41:59,719 --> 00:42:03,960 Speaker 1: I can say this with conviction. If I made it 699 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:08,080 Speaker 1: this far, I would slam the book down here. If 700 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:13,080 Speaker 1: I made it this far, you wouldn't enough. No. But yeah, 701 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:18,000 Speaker 1: I've read just straight up Nazi propaganda that was less 702 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:24,840 Speaker 1: pain inducing in its prose than that sentence. Like Jesus, 703 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:30,279 Speaker 1: it's a real slogan. Yeah, we have to take another break, 704 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,960 Speaker 1: don't we. Yeah. Yeah, And in case you're listening, I 705 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:39,359 Speaker 1: am comparing this unfavorably to the Turner Diaries. Um, yeah, 706 00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:42,000 Speaker 1: don't worry. He's also written articles that read like the 707 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:48,960 Speaker 1: Turner Diaries too, so he sure, hass yeah, But you 708 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:53,200 Speaker 1: know what doesn't read like the Turner Diaries the products 709 00:42:53,239 --> 00:43:05,280 Speaker 1: and services that support this podcast. We are we are back. 710 00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:10,040 Speaker 1: We are back in reading ben Ship Heroes Roll Roll Book. 711 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,040 Speaker 1: I don't know, I do want to think. Let's let's 712 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,520 Speaker 1: take a moment before we dive back into the story. 713 00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:21,040 Speaker 1: To think about the fact that Herman Kaine died from 714 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:24,279 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen after attending a Trump rally, And now the 715 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:28,320 Speaker 1: people who run the social media accounts he used to 716 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:30,920 Speaker 1: tweet from when he was alive are tweeting that it's 717 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:34,520 Speaker 1: not a real virus. And that's that's pretty great. That's 718 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:39,239 Speaker 1: a hard pivot, but I'm here for it. Yeah, it's wild. Um, 719 00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:42,680 Speaker 1: not not that convincing, But it is art. It is art. 720 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,960 Speaker 1: It's it's it says literally everything that matters about the 721 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,839 Speaker 1: time we're in right now. Um, no one, no one 722 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:56,040 Speaker 1: even really cares like it's it's not it's not something 723 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:58,839 Speaker 1: people give a shit about. Yeah, it's gone. It's it's 724 00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:02,080 Speaker 1: it's it's said done. And God, it's one of those 725 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:08,040 Speaker 1: stories that um takes my already full cup a little 726 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: bit over the edge in such a way that you're like, 727 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,680 Speaker 1: I'm mad about it. I have to let it spill, 728 00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:15,480 Speaker 1: I have to let it roll down the side this 729 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:20,360 Speaker 1: container and evaporate. Oh that was a little bit of 730 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:27,120 Speaker 1: a poetic metaphor, a poeto for a poetoph m hmm. 731 00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:34,000 Speaker 1: Let's get back to this bad let's let's let's let's 732 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:37,960 Speaker 1: I keep yawning. And it's not because of you guys, 733 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,640 Speaker 1: I didn't sleep well. No, it's the book. Um, are 734 00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:45,719 Speaker 1: we still in the Ellen chapter? Is it? Like? God, yeah, 735 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:49,479 Speaker 1: we're I think we're yep, we are still okay because 736 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,160 Speaker 1: they're still on the phone, or like they just hung 737 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: up the cutest way possible. And then and then the 738 00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:59,560 Speaker 1: next paragraph just lets us know that Bill Collier got 739 00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:02,359 Speaker 1: a hall from his wife a minute and twenty nine 740 00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:04,640 Speaker 1: seconds later and he let it go to voicemail because 741 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:09,279 Speaker 1: he was tracking down the man named Mohammed. Uh, how 742 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:11,319 Speaker 1: does Ellen? And then we're back to I don't know 743 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:16,480 Speaker 1: that that paragraph just happens, um, with no understanding of 744 00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:18,560 Speaker 1: like how we're aware of that? How are anyway? It 745 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,759 Speaker 1: just is there. And then we're back to Ellen in 746 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:25,319 Speaker 1: a separate pair notes for his book. It doesn't like 747 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:30,200 Speaker 1: that unbelievable. Yeah. The first phone call Ellen received came 748 00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:33,279 Speaker 1: from Bubba, which didn't she He told me to turn 749 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:35,880 Speaker 1: on the television. When she did, she saw the George 750 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,960 Speaker 1: Washington Bridge tilting and low motion. Oh so there's been 751 00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:43,680 Speaker 1: a terrorist attack on the bridge. Um. Yeah, so wow, 752 00:45:43,719 --> 00:45:46,120 Speaker 1: And this just is all one paragraph that the George 753 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:48,480 Speaker 1: Washington Bridge has been blown up and the President's vowed 754 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:52,120 Speaker 1: to take care of the perpetrators one single paragraph. Uh, 755 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:54,960 Speaker 1: and that he's mobilizing National Guard troops to go to 756 00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:59,160 Speaker 1: New York City one paragraph. We learn all of that 757 00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:06,560 Speaker 1: information after Uh yeah, just putstanding. I'm skipping a lot 758 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:11,160 Speaker 1: of paragraphs, so I might have skipped that one. Yeah, yeah, 759 00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:13,160 Speaker 1: then you'd go right to Then she heard a knock 760 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:16,120 Speaker 1: at her door. Then being after realizing that another nine 761 00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,400 Speaker 1: eleven had just occurred and the President had already reacted 762 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:22,399 Speaker 1: to it and the National Guard had been mobilized. Then 763 00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:24,360 Speaker 1: she heard a knock at her door. When she opened it, 764 00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:27,040 Speaker 1: Bubba was standing there. His face looked gaunt ashen. She 765 00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:28,920 Speaker 1: ushered him into the living room, where he settled his 766 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:31,800 Speaker 1: bulk into her leather couch. I got a call from Prescott. 767 00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:34,440 Speaker 1: He wants our boys out here. They're a SAP. I know, 768 00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:36,600 Speaker 1: I saw it on the news. I won't send them elon, 769 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:39,960 Speaker 1: she shuddered, involuntarily. You know by law that you have to. 770 00:46:40,200 --> 00:46:42,319 Speaker 1: The National Guard can be mobilized by the president once 771 00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:46,120 Speaker 1: a national emergency has been declared under the under posse comitatus. 772 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,560 Speaker 1: That isn't totally clear, but this ain't about law anymore. 773 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,040 Speaker 1: It hasn't been for a long time. We pull our 774 00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:53,640 Speaker 1: troops off that border, and I'll have more dead ranchers 775 00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:56,360 Speaker 1: on my hands, more children floating in that river. I 776 00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:00,560 Speaker 1: don't have the stomach for that. I do believe there 777 00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:03,600 Speaker 1: might be enough National guardsmen to both clean up from 778 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:06,080 Speaker 1: a bridge being bombed in New York and to do 779 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:09,080 Speaker 1: whatever bullshit they're doing on the border. We kind of 780 00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:11,800 Speaker 1: have a lot of them. Is the whole National Guard 781 00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:18,919 Speaker 1: on the border, just all of them? Huh every hand unbelievable, Um, 782 00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:24,960 Speaker 1: not perfectly believable. I misspoke, very believable. Yeah, so okay, 783 00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:26,759 Speaker 1: so it's just it's okay, So it's the governor of 784 00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,239 Speaker 1: Texas is not sending his States National Guard to help 785 00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:33,959 Speaker 1: New York because they're needed at the border. That makes sense, Like, yeah, 786 00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:39,080 Speaker 1: use other people. Yeah, they're the only thing standing between 787 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:41,719 Speaker 1: us and a full scale invasion. The invasion is in 788 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:46,399 Speaker 1: slow is slow motion? Yeah, the invasion. Yeah. And and 789 00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:49,080 Speaker 1: the response to that is the invasion is slow motion. 790 00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:52,480 Speaker 1: That situation in New York isn't um which I guess 791 00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:56,560 Speaker 1: has just been doing some straight up, uh fucking white 792 00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:01,440 Speaker 1: supremacist ship right there. Uh wow, Yeah, it does slow 793 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:11,560 Speaker 1: motion invasion. They're going to infect us. Yeah, um, that's good. Uh. 794 00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:14,160 Speaker 1: She glances at the television. The rescue pool was crew 795 00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:16,520 Speaker 1: was pulling another body from the water, a young girl 796 00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:20,719 Speaker 1: wearing a Disneyland sweatshirt. It was footage Ellen knew from 797 00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:23,480 Speaker 1: nine eleven that they'd only showed a day during live coverage. 798 00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:28,160 Speaker 1: Then the psychiatrist would explain to the network break Jesus, Yeah, 799 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,919 Speaker 1: So Ellen is you know, guilt ridden because she cares 800 00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:36,000 Speaker 1: about what's happening in New York City and she watched 801 00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:40,400 Speaker 1: eleven happen in person, I think, uh, and she's horrified 802 00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:43,319 Speaker 1: that her boss isn't going to send troops to help 803 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:45,880 Speaker 1: with the explosion that just happened in New York. And 804 00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:47,959 Speaker 1: so she turns back to the TV and I'm gonna 805 00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:50,880 Speaker 1: read the sentence here. The rescue crew crew was pulling 806 00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:53,720 Speaker 1: another body from the water. Dash a young girl wearing 807 00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:57,799 Speaker 1: a Disneyland sweatshirt. Period it was footage Comma. Ellen knew 808 00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:01,160 Speaker 1: from nine eleven Comma that they'd only show today Comma 809 00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:04,640 Speaker 1: during life coverage. Dash. Then the psychiatrist would explain to 810 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:07,720 Speaker 1: the network brass that showing such images was triggering comma 811 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:11,000 Speaker 1: and the pictures would disappear to spare the sensitivities of 812 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:17,200 Speaker 1: the American viewer. God, that's a sentence. How did she know? Also? 813 00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:22,840 Speaker 1: What because the nine eleven they showed horrible bloody footage 814 00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:25,200 Speaker 1: and then they stopped showing horrible bloody footage. All the 815 00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:28,520 Speaker 1: time news agencies show things that are not footage from 816 00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:35,200 Speaker 1: nine eleven of dead people and that's bad. Um a 817 00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:39,040 Speaker 1: really dumb question of mine. But did people end up 818 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:43,640 Speaker 1: in the river in nine eleven? Um? I don't think so. 819 00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:44,920 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't think the river was a 820 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:46,879 Speaker 1: big part of nine eleven. This is I mean, it's 821 00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:53,919 Speaker 1: just like I don't know. They're yeah, it's badly whole. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 822 00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:57,640 Speaker 1: I think I think I know what he's saying, but 823 00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:02,080 Speaker 1: not because of his writing. That's fine, we don't need 824 00:50:02,120 --> 00:50:05,560 Speaker 1: to understand it. Let's give it like it's it's like 825 00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:07,680 Speaker 1: the nine like none eleven happened. They showed footage and 826 00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:11,000 Speaker 1: that was damaging psychologically, and and and she knows that, 827 00:50:11,560 --> 00:50:13,640 Speaker 1: and so when she sees this new footage of this 828 00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:17,120 Speaker 1: new it makes her think like, oh, they shouldn't be 829 00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:20,279 Speaker 1: showing this footage, right, is that what he's saying. I 830 00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:23,480 Speaker 1: think that she's saying that there's footage from nine eleven 831 00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:27,240 Speaker 1: of somebody being pulled from a river and they're playing 832 00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:31,080 Speaker 1: that's not She's just saying that the footage from nine 833 00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:34,680 Speaker 1: eleven that was very gory didn't get played enough after 834 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:39,440 Speaker 1: nine eleven because psychiatrists explained that that's triggering and they 835 00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:42,200 Speaker 1: wanted to spare people sensitivities. And the idea is that, no, 836 00:50:42,360 --> 00:50:45,360 Speaker 1: we should always be aware of how bloody nine eleven was, 837 00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:48,560 Speaker 1: um and never stopped showing people horrible footage. Frum Itt, 838 00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:50,840 Speaker 1: That's that's what is happening there. That's what she shouldn't 839 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:53,400 Speaker 1: have had to think about this sentence so much. Anyway, 840 00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:55,360 Speaker 1: it's a bad sentence, which is why would use the 841 00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:59,120 Speaker 1: restaurant trying to figure it out. Yeah, So at the 842 00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:01,359 Speaker 1: end of this, Bubba is like, you know, look, I'm 843 00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:03,319 Speaker 1: not going to send the National Guard, and Ellen's like, 844 00:51:03,320 --> 00:51:05,120 Speaker 1: what's the president gonna do if you turn him down? 845 00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:06,480 Speaker 1: And Bubbles like, well, he's not going to send the 846 00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:09,680 Speaker 1: National Guard after me because they're all in New York. Um. 847 00:51:09,719 --> 00:51:14,040 Speaker 1: And that's basically where this ends. Uh So next is 848 00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:18,120 Speaker 1: a chapter, so we have learned nothing about Ellen, very little, 849 00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:22,400 Speaker 1: very a pretty cool wife. I don't know everything in 850 00:51:22,440 --> 00:51:26,920 Speaker 1: that chapter that happened just happened to Ellen decisions. How 851 00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,799 Speaker 1: many chapters are there less? Uh for a few more episodes, 852 00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:34,319 Speaker 1: that's for darn shure. We're about we're we're about to 853 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:38,239 Speaker 1: be We're about like the way through part two collapse 854 00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:42,360 Speaker 1: and I don't know about of the book is the 855 00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:45,600 Speaker 1: end of the beginning? I don't know either case. He 856 00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:48,880 Speaker 1: went with the end of the beginning, didn't he? Yeah, 857 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:51,200 Speaker 1: I been wanted to write this into a series, but 858 00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:56,680 Speaker 1: then it was unreadable. But it was a horrible book. Um, 859 00:51:57,239 --> 00:52:00,719 Speaker 1: don't call your shot like that, buddy. No, don't call 860 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:05,560 Speaker 1: your shot like that, buddy. Um So Solidad chapter She's 861 00:52:05,560 --> 00:52:10,960 Speaker 1: in Minno, North Dakota now from south uh, southern California, 862 00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:14,200 Speaker 1: which is quite a trek. Uh. They're not close, not 863 00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:17,799 Speaker 1: close places to one another. Um. Yeah, they made their 864 00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:22,640 Speaker 1: way to the farm gradually. Uh, they made they'd made 865 00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:24,440 Speaker 1: their way to the farm gradually. At first there were 866 00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:26,680 Speaker 1: only a few friends and family of the militia members 867 00:52:26,680 --> 00:52:29,560 Speaker 1: and agglomeration of survivalists and nuts. I don't belong here, 868 00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:32,280 Speaker 1: Solidad thought. Then she realized that they were here because 869 00:52:32,320 --> 00:52:34,680 Speaker 1: of her Minno North Dakota lay near the banks of 870 00:52:34,719 --> 00:52:37,279 Speaker 1: the Souris River, a midsized town a forty thousand just 871 00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:39,680 Speaker 1: south of the Canadian border. It was truly the middle 872 00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:42,520 Speaker 1: of nowhere. Solidad thought they'd moved north and north, the 873 00:52:42,640 --> 00:52:45,040 Speaker 1: north some more out of the populated areas outward, would 874 00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:47,200 Speaker 1: take a lot of manpower to track them down. They've 875 00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:49,839 Speaker 1: nearly been tracked down in California. The authorities still thought 876 00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:52,800 Speaker 1: they were there, having originally believed mistakenly that they'd been burned, 877 00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:55,520 Speaker 1: that they'd been burned during the fire at the ranch. 878 00:52:56,040 --> 00:52:58,040 Speaker 1: By the time investigators caught onto the fact that they 879 00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:00,439 Speaker 1: were still alive, they were in Idaho. Every few days 880 00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,480 Speaker 1: they moved until they reached Minot and Minno Aiden had 881 00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:05,759 Speaker 1: allies and friends. His parents had come from there before 882 00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:09,000 Speaker 1: moving south, and he still had a pack of relatives. Yeada, YadA, YadA. 883 00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:11,399 Speaker 1: So this is again We're just gonna like tell you 884 00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:15,840 Speaker 1: summarize an exciting journey across the country while being tracked 885 00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:18,279 Speaker 1: by federal agencies and a couple of paragraphs because like 886 00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:23,439 Speaker 1: we don't have time to care this ship. Yeah, yeah, 887 00:53:23,480 --> 00:53:26,359 Speaker 1: we want scenes in a book. He should just write 888 00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:30,160 Speaker 1: blot etcetera, etcetera. Yeah, yeah, we just wound up there. 889 00:53:30,239 --> 00:53:34,200 Speaker 1: So okay. They they're hunkering down with Aiden's family along 890 00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:37,040 Speaker 1: with a bunch of an into an undetermined number of 891 00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:42,480 Speaker 1: bikers and survivalists and militia members. Um who was going 892 00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:46,640 Speaker 1: to be the guys that decoded Brett's message? Probably right, 893 00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:52,640 Speaker 1: we're probably gonna learn that. Yeah. Yeah. They start recruiting people, 894 00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:55,640 Speaker 1: local boys who didn't want to be sent oh boy. 895 00:53:56,040 --> 00:54:01,839 Speaker 1: Um yeah, they're all yeah, uh yeah, people who didn't 896 00:54:01,880 --> 00:54:03,840 Speaker 1: want to get called up to the National Guard. But 897 00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:06,319 Speaker 1: I guess legally we're supposed to get called up and 898 00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:10,680 Speaker 1: instead join a militia, which I believe is treason. Um, 899 00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:16,240 Speaker 1: I suspect you could. That's at least like modest treason. 900 00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:23,480 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, mild treason, mild treason. So yeah, she starts 901 00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:27,080 Speaker 1: recruiting people and building a base in North Dakota. Uh 902 00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:30,960 Speaker 1: and it builds eventually a small force of nearly forty 903 00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:33,560 Speaker 1: uh Soli, dad knows all of them. She had a 904 00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:35,959 Speaker 1: gift for connecting with people. It was the same gift 905 00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:38,880 Speaker 1: that made her the staple of the evening news coverage, 906 00:54:38,880 --> 00:54:41,240 Speaker 1: and she was truly interested in all them. It flattered 907 00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:43,200 Speaker 1: most of them. All of them were grateful for a 908 00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:45,600 Speaker 1: place to go. Again, we just hear this. We don't 909 00:54:45,600 --> 00:54:48,360 Speaker 1: meet any of these people obviously. Yeah, yeah, I know, 910 00:54:48,560 --> 00:54:53,480 Speaker 1: we're reading a constant montage. Yeah, she's riding a great epic. 911 00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:57,719 Speaker 1: We don't have time for the nitty or for pleasant trees. Yep. 912 00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:00,400 Speaker 1: So we learned about her literal little posse starting to 913 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:06,600 Speaker 1: run short on money. Uh, YadA YadA, uh um. Yeah, 914 00:55:06,719 --> 00:55:09,680 Speaker 1: it's it's pretty boring stuff. Uh. We're just thinking about 915 00:55:09,920 --> 00:55:14,399 Speaker 1: how Aiden like goes to a bar after buying groceries 916 00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:18,399 Speaker 1: to to sit and like watch the news sometimes. I'm 917 00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:22,560 Speaker 1: so I know that detail. Yeah great, So he learns 918 00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:26,120 Speaker 1: so I know nothing about this person from that. So 919 00:55:26,320 --> 00:55:30,040 Speaker 1: and again Ben uses this detail of of this Aiden's 920 00:55:30,080 --> 00:55:34,640 Speaker 1: the secret serviceman who shot down the helicopter. So he 921 00:55:34,719 --> 00:55:37,120 Speaker 1: goes to a bar after buying groceries to have a 922 00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:40,200 Speaker 1: beer and like watch TV and and catch up on 923 00:55:40,200 --> 00:55:42,279 Speaker 1: the news coverage. Because they're not they don't have any 924 00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:46,360 Speaker 1: internet access or television like where they're all hiding out. Uh. 925 00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:48,799 Speaker 1: And this is mainly an opportunity for Ben to spend 926 00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:51,920 Speaker 1: several more paragraphs talking about the foreign policy impacts of 927 00:55:52,200 --> 00:55:55,960 Speaker 1: the raid on Tehran, and Ibraham is Shami's attack and 928 00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:58,800 Speaker 1: all of that stuff. Uh, and his victory speech is 929 00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:02,520 Speaker 1: a terror. So it's all just more like news dumping 930 00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:06,239 Speaker 1: shit um as opposed to I mean, I guess this 931 00:56:06,280 --> 00:56:08,120 Speaker 1: is a little bit of something, right, This is actually 932 00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:10,080 Speaker 1: this is actually an improvement for them. I'll give him that, 933 00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:13,200 Speaker 1: because normally Ben just tells us where a character is, 934 00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:16,200 Speaker 1: spend several pages talking about things that just happened that 935 00:56:16,239 --> 00:56:19,120 Speaker 1: we don't see off screen, and then moves on to 936 00:56:19,239 --> 00:56:21,960 Speaker 1: like the narrative. And in this case, he's attempted to 937 00:56:22,040 --> 00:56:25,200 Speaker 1: weave this info dump, which we get every chapter, one 938 00:56:25,239 --> 00:56:26,920 Speaker 1: of these info dumps. He's attempted to weave it into 939 00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:29,560 Speaker 1: the narrative because at least here Aiden sitting at a 940 00:56:29,560 --> 00:56:32,719 Speaker 1: bar getting angrier and he like shatters the bottle in 941 00:56:32,800 --> 00:56:35,360 Speaker 1: his hand, cutting it because he's so angry at the news. 942 00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:38,880 Speaker 1: This is this at least does build something of a 943 00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:42,200 Speaker 1: character and shows him like it's it's a little bit 944 00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:46,319 Speaker 1: better than just giving a dump of things that happened. Yes, yeah, 945 00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:49,400 Speaker 1: it illustrates a viewpoint and like an emotion. Uh. And 946 00:56:49,560 --> 00:56:53,880 Speaker 1: reaction from a character. It is still a montage though, Yeah, 947 00:56:53,920 --> 00:56:57,360 Speaker 1: it is still a montage. And then Aiden's flipping channels 948 00:56:57,400 --> 00:56:59,880 Speaker 1: after breaking the beer and cutting his hand, and he 949 00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:05,279 Speaker 1: comes across MSNBC covering the streets of Detroit. Um and 950 00:57:06,040 --> 00:57:08,480 Speaker 1: our our friend leave On, You remember leave On, the 951 00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:14,879 Speaker 1: crack dealer, who's friends with whatever. Yeah, things could get 952 00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:16,920 Speaker 1: this could get out of control, the reporter said, a 953 00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:20,400 Speaker 1: hopeful gleam unmistakably shining in his eye. This morning, a 954 00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:23,000 Speaker 1: leader of the uprising, one leave On Williams, posted a 955 00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:25,040 Speaker 1: list of demands on the website of the Fight Against 956 00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:28,800 Speaker 1: Injustice and Racism Movement. That's what they're calling the Fair Movement. 957 00:57:29,240 --> 00:57:31,520 Speaker 1: Here's what we know about Leavin Williams. He's a graduate 958 00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:33,520 Speaker 1: of the University of Michigan with a degree in African 959 00:57:33,560 --> 00:57:36,680 Speaker 1: American studies. No police record, model citizen by all accounts, 960 00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:39,520 Speaker 1: owns a barbership on eight Mile Road. According to public interviews, 961 00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:41,280 Speaker 1: he's done. He came back to the community in an 962 00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:45,200 Speaker 1: effort to bring prosperity home the shooting of Kendrick Malone. So, yeah, 963 00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,200 Speaker 1: we just have this other character who hasn't had any 964 00:57:48,200 --> 00:57:51,640 Speaker 1: direct connection to Detroit learning about the things happening with 965 00:57:51,680 --> 00:57:54,520 Speaker 1: one of the other characters in Detroit through the news 966 00:57:54,560 --> 00:57:58,000 Speaker 1: at a bar, because that's how you write a thrilling novel. 967 00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:02,280 Speaker 1: So now we're just we're just playing an interview with 968 00:58:02,320 --> 00:58:04,680 Speaker 1: one of the other characters that a character who has 969 00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:07,720 Speaker 1: not met that character is watching on TV in a 970 00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:11,000 Speaker 1: completely different location. That has nothing to do with great 971 00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:15,320 Speaker 1: incredible writing. Whose chapter is this? This is? This is 972 00:58:15,360 --> 00:58:21,720 Speaker 1: Solo Dad's chapter. Also, yeah, we're we've moved on to 973 00:58:21,920 --> 00:58:26,160 Speaker 1: someone completely different, listening to an extended interview with someone 974 00:58:26,240 --> 00:58:31,640 Speaker 1: else completely different, because this is a well written book. Again, 975 00:58:31,960 --> 00:58:34,960 Speaker 1: pages go by, and we're talking about Levan's theories for 976 00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:37,439 Speaker 1: how the police force should be redone and like it's 977 00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:45,040 Speaker 1: just amazing. Um, yeah, Solo Dads sitting on the porch 978 00:58:45,080 --> 00:58:49,760 Speaker 1: of a cabin. We're back to her. Yeah, yeah, she's 979 00:58:49,880 --> 00:58:54,800 Speaker 1: she's sipping tea. Uh. An old grizzled old recruit named 980 00:58:54,800 --> 00:58:59,400 Speaker 1: Ezekiel Pope who's black and comes from Los Angeles, Uh, 981 00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:01,320 Speaker 1: comes up to talk to her. I'm sure he's got 982 00:59:01,360 --> 00:59:07,080 Speaker 1: some wisdom here. Um. Yeah, yeah. He was a lieutenant 983 00:59:07,080 --> 00:59:09,800 Speaker 1: colonel uh and he he had been culled into his 984 00:59:09,840 --> 00:59:12,240 Speaker 1: superior's office just after the New York attack, told to 985 00:59:12,320 --> 00:59:13,800 Speaker 1: round up his men and get ready to ship out 986 00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:16,040 Speaker 1: to New York. For some reason, he'd come to Sola 987 00:59:16,120 --> 00:59:19,200 Speaker 1: Dad instead. So he just again there's another dude committing 988 00:59:19,240 --> 00:59:22,640 Speaker 1: some treason to go hang out in North Dakota with 989 00:59:22,720 --> 00:59:27,120 Speaker 1: again like for some reason he did this, talk about it, 990 00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:31,320 Speaker 1: just like have her like show me, yeah, ever explained, 991 00:59:31,400 --> 00:59:33,920 Speaker 1: have him explained, like why he's doing Like she's she's 992 00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:36,200 Speaker 1: you know, having a long dark tea time of the 993 00:59:36,200 --> 00:59:38,000 Speaker 1: soul because she's brought all these people out here and 994 00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:39,920 Speaker 1: everything's getting worse and she doesn't know what to do. 995 00:59:40,400 --> 00:59:42,360 Speaker 1: And this guy says, you know, I followed you for 996 00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:44,520 Speaker 1: this reason or you know, here's what happened to me, 997 00:59:44,560 --> 00:59:46,600 Speaker 1: and like I decided, like wherever you were going to go, 998 00:59:46,720 --> 00:59:48,440 Speaker 1: that's where I was going to go to. And like 999 00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:50,720 Speaker 1: then she knows she has the confidence to do the 1000 00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:54,880 Speaker 1: thing that's necessary next or whatever, like and we the 1001 00:59:55,000 --> 01:00:02,360 Speaker 1: reader understand and are slightly more engaged with what's going on. Yeah, 1002 01:00:02,360 --> 01:00:05,480 Speaker 1: but instead, like we make it's made very clear by 1003 01:00:05,560 --> 01:00:08,960 Speaker 1: Ben that Solid Dead actually has no controller agency in 1004 01:00:08,960 --> 01:00:12,919 Speaker 1: in this situation, uh Aiden said. Aiden said he hadn't 1005 01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:15,400 Speaker 1: given reason for the for deserting, but that he's but 1006 01:00:15,440 --> 01:00:18,320 Speaker 1: he but he said that Ezekiel was trustworthy. Solidade had 1007 01:00:18,320 --> 01:00:21,440 Speaker 1: no option but to trust Aiden's judgment. Ezekiel looked over 1008 01:00:21,480 --> 01:00:23,920 Speaker 1: the snow falling silently into itself. He wore heavy work 1009 01:00:23,960 --> 01:00:25,920 Speaker 1: gloves on his hand and an m force slung over 1010 01:00:25,960 --> 01:00:29,120 Speaker 1: his shoulder, a maroon scarf around his neck. Solidad gestured 1011 01:00:29,120 --> 01:00:32,000 Speaker 1: at the gun. What's that for? We're gearing up, gearing 1012 01:00:32,080 --> 01:00:34,800 Speaker 1: up for what? Well? You tell us? After all, you're 1013 01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:37,080 Speaker 1: the terrorist mama, that's what we're calling you now, you know. 1014 01:00:37,240 --> 01:00:39,800 Speaker 1: Ever since the escape, she felt sick to herself. So 1015 01:00:39,800 --> 01:00:41,760 Speaker 1: they're just like picking up guns for no reason and 1016 01:00:41,800 --> 01:00:44,120 Speaker 1: saying like, Okay, we're all gonna go do something. You 1017 01:00:44,160 --> 01:00:47,040 Speaker 1: have to tell us what like. But it's not up 1018 01:00:47,040 --> 01:00:48,800 Speaker 1: to you to tell us to get armed in the 1019 01:00:48,800 --> 01:00:50,480 Speaker 1: first place. We're just all gonna get armed, and then 1020 01:00:50,480 --> 01:00:52,640 Speaker 1: to tell you it's time to figure out something random 1021 01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:54,760 Speaker 1: to do. I don't know, none of this makes any sense. 1022 01:00:55,720 --> 01:00:59,919 Speaker 1: This isn't how people act. Yeah, that's how they acted 1023 01:01:00,040 --> 01:01:08,160 Speaker 1: bread and Bread's Ben's brain. Yeah, I hate Yeah. So 1024 01:01:08,240 --> 01:01:10,640 Speaker 1: this guy tells her that the best defense is a 1025 01:01:10,640 --> 01:01:13,600 Speaker 1: good offense. Uh. And when you're forces small concentrated and 1026 01:01:13,680 --> 01:01:15,680 Speaker 1: hit them, well, they're weak. And she asks who are 1027 01:01:15,720 --> 01:01:18,200 Speaker 1: they and he says, the same people who shut down 1028 01:01:18,280 --> 01:01:22,960 Speaker 1: your farm, the people who attacked you, um, which are 1029 01:01:23,040 --> 01:01:28,240 Speaker 1: back in California and there in North Dakota. UM. And 1030 01:01:28,280 --> 01:01:31,200 Speaker 1: he tells her that they have to move or die now. Um. 1031 01:01:31,240 --> 01:01:33,400 Speaker 1: And it's very unclear as to who he wants her 1032 01:01:33,440 --> 01:01:35,440 Speaker 1: to shoot, or why, or who they could shoot that 1033 01:01:35,480 --> 01:01:38,960 Speaker 1: would improve their situation, or how it would be related 1034 01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:42,880 Speaker 1: to her farm being destroyed in south in southern California. 1035 01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:45,760 Speaker 1: But but that's where this ends. Yeah, is him saying 1036 01:01:45,920 --> 01:01:47,680 Speaker 1: we've got to move or die, and we have to 1037 01:01:47,760 --> 01:01:50,480 Speaker 1: hurt the people who hurt you, who are thousands of 1038 01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:55,920 Speaker 1: miles away. It's it is a great chapter. And you 1039 01:01:55,960 --> 01:01:59,080 Speaker 1: know what, I think it's about time that uh we 1040 01:01:59,200 --> 01:02:03,120 Speaker 1: call this one the beach. Yeah. I think so our 1041 01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:05,600 Speaker 1: next chapters will leave on chapter. I'm sure that's gonna 1042 01:02:05,640 --> 01:02:11,080 Speaker 1: be fun. Yeah, well we'll get back to this. Don't worry, friends, 1043 01:02:11,160 --> 01:02:13,440 Speaker 1: By the time we get to this next Uh, it 1044 01:02:13,760 --> 01:02:17,240 Speaker 1: might just be a full on civil war like the 1045 01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:22,240 Speaker 1: one been perfectly predicted here. And once what a nice 1046 01:02:22,400 --> 01:02:25,800 Speaker 1: escape this has been It is a nice escape. It's 1047 01:02:25,840 --> 01:02:32,680 Speaker 1: a nice escape into a world of people being very wrong. Yeah, 1048 01:02:33,680 --> 01:02:37,720 Speaker 1: on purpose, seemingly. Yeah, Katie Cody, would you like to 1049 01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:42,640 Speaker 1: plug your plug doubles? Oh? You know it more than anything. 1050 01:02:43,480 --> 01:02:46,800 Speaker 1: You can check out our other stuff over at some 1051 01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:50,240 Speaker 1: More News, which Cody hosts night produce. We have a 1052 01:02:50,280 --> 01:02:55,040 Speaker 1: podcast called even More News, and we also co host 1053 01:02:55,080 --> 01:03:02,040 Speaker 1: Worst Year Ever with Robert. We sure do, Cody. Yeah, 1054 01:03:02,280 --> 01:03:06,920 Speaker 1: we got a Patreon at dot com slash some more News. Um, 1055 01:03:07,320 --> 01:03:10,439 Speaker 1: you can follow me on the social media's dr Mr 1056 01:03:10,520 --> 01:03:15,960 Speaker 1: Cody and Katie Stole at Katie Stole. Yeah, those are 1057 01:03:15,960 --> 01:03:19,920 Speaker 1: the things Robert is I right? Okay? On Twitter? We 1058 01:03:20,080 --> 01:03:24,160 Speaker 1: have social media at Bastard's Pot on Twitter and Instagram. 1059 01:03:24,280 --> 01:03:31,320 Speaker 1: We have a d public store and book is draining. Yeah, 1060 01:03:31,440 --> 01:03:37,880 Speaker 1: I don't have energy. I feel like could be everything, 1061 01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:41,920 Speaker 1: but I think it's also it's also Monday. It's sucking 1062 01:03:42,040 --> 01:03:47,720 Speaker 1: Monday on the unnecessarily long month of August. So long 1063 01:03:48,240 --> 01:03:52,440 Speaker 1: all right, podcast over, y'all wear a mask, wash your hands. 1064 01:03:52,480 --> 01:04:00,680 Speaker 1: By the beginning e