WEBVTT - Ben Shapiro's Godawful Book: The Final Episode 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:12.200 M hm true. How is that I knew that the 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.880 show had started? Because of that, I'm nothing, nothing to add. 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:21.360 What I love is getting paid my entire salary to 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:25.880 open shows like this, Because it's actually pretty easy to 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.200 be an adult if you if you're if you get 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:31.360 a couple of lucky breaks that allow you to just 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:35.440 grunt into a microphone and then Groggy Ley read Been 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.320 Shapiro's Terrible book for an hour and a half to 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.560 your friends. Which is the career path I recommend for 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:45.239 everyone listening. It's amazing. Uh what success is defined us 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.440 these days? But I accept it. Yeah, I accept it too. Um, 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:50.800 how are we? How are we? How are we all 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:55.880 doing today? On the special, very special day. Ah, it's Friday, 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.000 it's beautiful. I got a dog in my lap. I apologize, 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:00.520 I have a dog in my lap. He might be 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.120 there's two dogs in here. They might be joining in 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.240 the conversation. We'll see. I'm good. I'm glad you have 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.520 the dogs, Katie, because today isn't it a day where 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.160 we're going to all get some emotional closure And like, 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.319 you know, we're all world readers here, you know, we're 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.560 all fans of storytelling. When you finish a story that 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.480 has really grabbed you. It's like it can be like 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.640 losing a family member, Like like there's this this moment 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.119 of sorrow when you realize it's gone, and we are 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:31.400 about to take our very last trip into the world 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.080 of Ben Shapiro's True Allegiance. I know if I'm emotionally 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.959 prepared for this. We started this journey like a full 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:43.040 year ago, y'all, it's been a while. I mean, by 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:47.000 the time we're done, he'll have released Alliance True True, 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.400 which I just can't wait for. You know, I love 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.560 a series of books. You know, I've been, I've been 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:55.040 I I I run one of the largest sub credits 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:59.280 for for True Allegiance fans, and the big the scuttle 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.160 butt is that sequel we're finally going to learn Yard's 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:09.800 name crossed, fingers crossed, I don't know, might save that 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.320 for the third one. Well, we are going to have 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:16.200 to come up with something else to read because I'm 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.280 not ready to say goodbye to this tradition. Now we'll 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.520 have to find another book, maybe Steven Seagal's book The 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:28.880 Way of the Shadow Wolves. You had a visceral reaction 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.720 to that title, and speaking of visceral reactions. The first 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.480 chapter that we're coming back to is we couldn't open 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:41.320 this episode better Brett Hawthorne. Here we go. All right, 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.519 We're in New York City with Brett. Brett couldn't stop sweating. 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.600 It wasn't that Prescott. Prescott is the terrible president. Prescott's 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.320 threat scared him. Not after the public scandal with Diana 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:54.800 Kelly bullshit though. It was not after Afghanistan, not after 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.919 I run, not after spending years apart from Ellen. Prescott 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.400 would be better off burying the whole situationally avoiding the backlash, 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.160 making some payoff to Omari, which is the bin laden. 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:07.520 This would blow over. Brett wasn't sweating for himself. He 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.200 was sweating for Hassan. He'd been a fool. He knew 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.080 that now he'd been a fool far too often, trusting Prescott, 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.880 serving at his administration and then telling Omari that he 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:19.160 knew about Mohammed's association with him. O MARII could backtrack 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.280 the story. Okay, so Brett's Brett's feeling bad because he 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:27.240 got his friend, the good Muslim in trouble for telling 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.360 him about the bad Muslim who is like running care 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:34.200 basically like we all remember that there's there's there's the 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:38.880 there's the anti Muslim bigotry organization that's a front for 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.600 al Qaeda. Um. Because all of the Muslims except for 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.480 his friend Hassan are bad guys. Um. And Brett got 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.000 his friend in trouble because his friends sent him to 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.839 the anti Muslim bigotry people who knuke to New York City. 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:56.120 Because the only reason to be against bigotry against Muslims 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:58.920 as if you're planning to destroy the largest city in 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:03.000 the country. That's basic of any other logical region. Yeah, yeah, Okay, 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.200 So he's wondering how Prescott tracked him down. Yeah, because 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.440 he got caught by the President and the FEDS. Last 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:13.360 episode or last chapter, whatever you want to call these things. Um. Yeah. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:15.480 So he's in his hotel room. He's in trouble. He's 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:17.640 worried about his friend. He picks up his phone and 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.840 he dials Hassan's number. Hassan picks up on the first ring. 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.200 General Hawthorne, he said, Brett picked up the queue right away. 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:27.479 Hassan knew they were listening. Hassan Abdul, I've heard so 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:29.440 much about you. A mutual friend of ours referred me 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.520 to you. He said you could answer some questions about 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.440 chronic philosophy for an article I'm writing about my experience 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:38.000 as an Afghanistan and Iran. Okay, So he's they're doing 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.440 like the the the Koi thing because he doesn't want 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.160 to give anything away over the phone because he's being tapped. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:48.240 YadA YadA, YadA. Um okay, let's let's let's where's that 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.800 good Brett Hawthorne action here? Come on, he's getting the 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.240 climate like we're getting. Come on, Okay, So he gives 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:57.760 Hassan his address and Hassan comes over, and that's how 0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:59.960 they're That's how they're going to have a real conversation. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.480 Brett puts on Joy Behart to drown out whatever listening 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.680 devices are in the room. Has been a big joy 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:14.320 Behart fan. I don't think so couldn't be no. Um okay, 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:20.640 so uh the um. So they have twenty minutes of 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.960 phony discussion about the Koran Um. We still don't know 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.280 what Brett's actually trying to do. Okay. So this whole 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.680 conversation they've had is just so that Brett can set 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:30.920 up another secret meeting where they're going to actually have 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:36.080 the real conversation, good writing. We needed these last three 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.480 pages where nothing really happened. Um So now he winds 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.840 up later, back at Hassan's apartment. Uh sneaking past federal 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.239 agents and stuff to have I guess the real meeting. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.520 When Hassan led him in, he immediately held up a 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.000 piece of paper to his chest. They stopped here today, 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.760 it said the tapes are gone. Brett's face went white. 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:55.520 So they've known all along, and then they'd waited for 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.839 Hassan to leave the apartment to ransack it. So of 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.400 a bit, he whispered to himself. Then he read the 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.400 rest of what Hasan had written. Found your Muhammad. It 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.919 read Flatbush blew it an address, So that's the terrorist 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.400 who's in the country to set off another bomb. I 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.400 guess you could have just this is like nitpicking. We're 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:19.240 getting the nipicky stage. He read the rest. He read 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.679 the last. I wouldn'tsh back and say that's not nitpicky. 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.320 An overall note. Yeah, you know what say you read 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:28.400 the rest of what this person wrote, like we know 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:33.000 that so far has been written like four pages that 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.440 could have been like three paragraphs where he's like, yeah, 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:39.960 we exchanged coded messages until we could actually meet overall. Note, 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.440 you need a redundancy at it. You need a redundancy 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.080 at it. I mean, that's the thing when you're when 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:48.920 you're writing a piece of fiction, you write it right, 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:50.800 and the first draft is always going to be trash. 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:55.279 Everybody's first draft is bad. Don't publish that one, Ben, Ben. 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:58.000 And then your goal should be to go through a 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:00.919 few more times and make it short. Every time. It 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.839 should get a little shorter because you're recognizing, for example, 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.480 that you wrote for unnecessary pages that don't convey any 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:11.160 useful information about the progression of the story. Um but 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:18.080 I don't know, just a note, yeah, okay, Um. So 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.840 he has to escape from Hassan's apartment. He's dodging federal agents. 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.240 We have an action scene I guess where. It takes 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.280 way too long, pages and pages of him just running 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:34.600 away from guys and hiding. Um, Ben, I was hoping 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:39.240 for more fun combat General Bret Hawthorne stuff. But okay, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:41.480 so the agents catch him, he gets he's he finally, 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:45.480 after three pages of very boring running away, he's on 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.720 the subway platform. The agents catch him. General shouted, one 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:50.760 of the agents, just come with us. You know, we 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.720 have our orders. Brett breathed, heavily, bent down and put 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.320 his hands on his knees. He held one finger to them, 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.720 all right, just catching my breath, guys, and then looked 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.080 up at them. As the noise of the approaching subway 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.960 train grew, he he counted down in his head. He 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:05.800 could see the lights approaching down though. I think he's 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.440 going to jump on the train. Um, yeah, yeah, he 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:14.680 jumps on the train. Um. And he successfully runs away 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:20.720 from the uh the federal agents. Um. Oh wait, no, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.800 no he doesn't. They run after him. So we're running again. 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.280 We're running again. We're running again. This is so many 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:33.040 pages of just Brett Hawthorne trying to avoid federal agents. Um. Okay. 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.000 So he find he gets away. He comes out into 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.320 New York City. He's walking around Prospect Park. He's looking 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.840 for this Mohammed guy. He finds his apartment. Uh. He 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.640 had almost no chance of avoiding detection if Mohammed was listening. 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:47.280 He knew the complex, the apartment complex Mohammed's, and just 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.280 wasn't big enough. Heavily trafficked enough. Sure enough, a woman 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:52.200 from to Be opened her door cracked to get a 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:53.920 look at him. He cleared at her, and he heard 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.199 her shut the door and lock it. His hand felt 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:58.480 in his pocket for a weapon he didn't have. Did 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:02.560 he normally keep his weapons in his pocket? Yeah? Yeah, 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:04.600 I mean he he doesn't have anything, but it's not 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:06.480 like he reached down by his side where his his 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.560 trusted side arm was. He doesn't keep his gun in 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:19.200 his pockets. I got what I got? Yeah, I mean, okay, 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:24.000 some of us keep loose knives in our pockets. That's healthy. Um. 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.800 Eventually you build up an immunity to getting cut. Really 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.240 yeah yeah, it's like strict nine. Um. Okay. So he 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.560 finds he gets into Mohammed's apartment, but Mohammed has been 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.599 murdered already. He's had his throat cut, so I don't know. 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:41.240 There's some fucking terrorism ship going on here. Um. Oh, 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.040 and Brett has arrived just in time to almost catch 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:47.760 the assailant. Um. Okay, so we have an action another 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.439 action seen here. Um. He gets attacked by the guys 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:57.560 who just killed this terrorist, um, and he fights them off. Well, 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.960 he's in the process of fighting them off. Um. There's 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.880 another boring action scene. Uh. And he succeeds in beating 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.080 up the guys who killed the other guy and taking 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.719 them captive. Um, so yeah, he gets puts a night 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.240 to one of their throats and he's out. He's about 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:15.439 to torture one of these guys for information. That's that's 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.280 we're leading in the last paragraph of Brett's chapter is 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.480 a few minutes later, after subduing Mahmoud, who's the guy 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:25.040 he is about to torture, Brett diald Ellen. Honey, he said, 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.440 don't come to New York. I can't stay for certain yet, 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.960 just don't come to New York. Something bad is okay? 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.760 So you remember three chapters ago when Ellen called him 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:34.720 because she was about to fly to New York on 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.040 behalf of the governor and she gets a call from 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.280 Brett telling her not to. This is apparently happening contemporaneously 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:47.319 to what happened three chapters ago. That's why Brett was, oh, okay, 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:52.040 So now we're back at that part. Well, because goodtinuously 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.560 building but also continuously going back in time in order 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.400 to build again, so that there's it's like a zig 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:06.080 especially if that is um a styleistic choice that has 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:09.559 not been introduced earlier in the novel. Yeah, you need 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:14.560 to make it as not clear, as I will say, 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:16.800 one thing that has been introduced in this book so 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.960 far is that Brett will change perspectives and shift time 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.680 periods at random. Ben, sorry, not Brett. There is that. 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:29.920 So yes, Ben, Brett whomever. Uh yeah, jokes on me 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.319 for not paying close enough attention. All right, I'm gonna 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:36.640 skim more this next bit because this is just the 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.600 joke is on us for reading this. So our next 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.200 chapter is in Ellen chapter, and I guess we're finally 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.679 moving forward in time from where Ellen was three chapters 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:47.680 ago before Brett's chapter took us back in time. Um. Good. 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.040 So Brett's been missing for more than twenty four hours. 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.000 Nobody knows where he is. Um, she's waiting for an 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.320 audience with the president. She's in New York City. So 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:59.959 apparently she flew to New York City. Okay, she didn't 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.840 get explained to us. Yeah, you know, I'm okay with 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:05.800 that because if if you did, if you did a 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.680 bit where you like wrote about her going there, I'd 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.240 be like, Man, we don't need this. That's fair. Although 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:14.960 Cody the next page or so is been going back 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:16.960 in time and explaining why she decided to go to 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:24.480 New York. Um. Um, all right, so we have a 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.559 little bit about how she expected to be chaotic in 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.640 the wake of the terrorist attack. But the militarious gene 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.120 a brilliant job of cleaning up the city and opening 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:37.360 up traffic. So that's good. Um okay, uh, there's a 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.120 great line here. The dredging of the traffic clogged the 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:42.079 main arteries. The dredging of the Hudson had just come 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:44.360 about come to its conclusion. Although the coast Guards still 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.360 patrolled the waters and heavy numbers military men and women 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.000 seemed to throng throughout the city, occupying every coffee house, 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.959 every restaurant. This, she thought must have been what World 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:58.120 War two felt like. M couldn't agree more. She expresses 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:01.240 that it's calming having armed women and men everywhere, which 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.560 if they're in coffee houses and rest like, the military 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.760 isn't just let you keep guns when you're off duty. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.199 Like maybe if you were at like a fob in Afghanistan, yeah, 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:11.680 you'd always want to have a gun near you. But 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.400 like these guys were sent to a city to assist 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.320 in a rescue operation, they're probably not carrying guns as 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:22.080 a rule because they're doing recovery work. They wouldn't have guns. 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:23.920 The army is are gonna be like, yeah, we'll take yours. 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.959 We're in New York, take your gun to get coffee. 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.360 I'm shocked he got this so wrong. Yeah, I mean, 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:37.080 it's just, uh, it's just been wanting to do his 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.280 you know, master banning over the military thing. Aren't things 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.000 better when everybody has guns and things better when the army? 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.560 I love to feel comfortable when everybody's got guns and occupying. 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:48.720 It's fine. Well, it's one of those things you feel 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:54.520 safe when everyone has guns. Obviously, I you know, I 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.520 spent a lot of time around places where everybody has guns. 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.640 But I don't feel particularly comfortable when there's a bunch 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:02.760 of armed soldiers everywhere in the middle of a city. 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:07.120 That's not a great sign. Particularly, that's a particularly bad sign. 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:08.720 It's weird because Ben is supposed to be like this 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:12.560 kind of libertarian conservative, but the thing he's celebrating isn't 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.680 like a bunch of armed citizens. It's like a military 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:19.560 occupying the largest city in the nation, which isn't a 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.640 small government thing. But I guess conservatism left that behind 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:28.960 a while ago. Yeah. Also, she's she she feels safer 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.480 in midtown Manhattan and the immediate wake of a terrorist 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:33.920 attack with soldiers everywhere. Then she felt in El Paso, 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.480 famous for being one of the safest large cities in 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.640 the United States, which been continuously forgets. He just thinks 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:41.520 it's got to be like a dangerous hell hole because 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.360 it's close to the border. I'll pass. It was like 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:52.560 a famously safe city. Yeah, he doesn't want to know that. Yes, 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:56.200 but what if in this book it isn't. Yeah, I 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.720 mean it clearly isn't because the government has declared war 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:04.680 on Mexico and has invaded from El Paso. Um, but 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.840 El Paso is number six in the top ten safest 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:12.720 metro cities in the United States. Um, New York. Uh, well, no, 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.760 New York is too, okay, So yeah, fair enough. Yeah, 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.040 I mean, yeah, it's gotten. It's it's it's pretty safe, 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:22.120 pretty safe town. So there you go. I guess, fair enough, Ben, Um, 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.600 although it's weird that she feels extra safe in the 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:28.359 wake of a terrorist attack that killed thousands there, Um yeah, 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.400 but whatever, all right, So she's she calls Ben's friend, 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.600 the special forces general who sent him on this question 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.880 in the first place, and YadA, YadA, YadA, she calls 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:40.360 somebody else. She's just she's doing a lot of phone calls. 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.320 She's walking around New York phone calling people, like a 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:49.160 reverse episode of Seinfeld. Um, okay, now she's buying a sandwich. 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.240 We get about a page or so of her talking 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.760 to a sandwich fender about how the president is angry 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.960 at her husband. Um, I don't know if that's information 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.400 she should just be sharing with people. Yeah, I've been 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:08.720 going on. I don't know. They're both eating a sandwich together. 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:10.720 She's some he's some sources of his. In any case, 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.680 it's very boring. Um. Yeah, she's just meeting with people, 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:19.440 meeting with people, talking to folks. Honestly. Yeah, I mean, 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.880 Jesus Christ, I wouldn't be. She finally, after several pages 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:29.640 of very boring conversations, finds the place that her husband 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.520 fought those guys and found the murder dude. Uh, and 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:37.440 I think she let's see. Oh yeah, no, she finds 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.800 so the the assassin that her president fought, or that 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:44.720 her her husband fought. Uh, he apparently murdered and he's 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.480 been sitting in the apartment ever since. And yeah, so 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.280 she's she's she's following in the wake of her husband's 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:55.320 murder spree. I guess, uh that's good. Yeah, that's a 0:16:55.360 --> 0:17:00.480 meat cute Okay, so okay, she finally gets you, finally 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:02.760 gets set up with her meeting with the president that 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:04.679 she's supposed to take on behalf of the governor of 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.240 Texas who has invaded Mexico. Prescott finally caught Ellen that night. 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.720 They met at a conference room in the hotel. Prescott said, 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:12.919 at one end of the long conference table, with Tommy 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.479 Bradley at his elbow, they placed her at the opposite end. 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:17.879 She felt like a little girl called into the principal's office. 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.000 But realizing that's exactly how Prescott wanted it, she stealed 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.760 herself for the confrontation. That's a bad sentence, But realizing 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.760 that's exactly how Prescott wanted it. Comma, she stealed herself 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:31.720 for the confrontation. No Ben, that's no Ben. She was 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.359 surprised when Prescott grinned her, have you seen your husband yet, 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.320 miss Hawthorne? That little repost Ellen quickly figured meant they 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.080 were tailing her. Not yet, Mr President, she said, In fact, 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:42.440 I'm not quite sure where he is. She figured Prescott 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:44.600 must already know that otherwise he wouldn't have asked. He 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:46.760 knew better than to ask questions to which he didn't 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:57.320 know the answers, Wait, what did you do? That's okay, okay, Um. 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.560 So they're having a conversation about coming to an agreement 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.160 on board or security because again her boss has illegally 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:08.320 invaded a sovereign nation. They determined that they're at an impasse. Okay. 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.400 The President leans forward, a sudden seriousness coming over his face. 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.200 I'm sure you can do better than that. Look, see, 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.040 from my perspective, we just faced the most serious a 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:17.399 terror attack in our nation's history. All I'm trying to 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.359 do is rebuild. All I need is some time, some 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.800 calm in the country. You've seen the situation in Detroit. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.800 The world's on fire. Whose fault is that? Mr? President? 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:26.560 What did you just say? I said, at your fault? 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:32.440 Mr President Ellen couldn't back Okay, truth Hower, I guess 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.439 I guess he caused. He caused all this by not 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:40.040 bombing Iran, is what she's saying, or having all of 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.960 the Black Lives Matter activists massacred. Yeah, that's that's why 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.600 the world's Yeah, not enough violence. We need to listen 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:54.600 to the women more. Yeah, okay, so the President offers, oh, okay, 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.320 So the President has Brett. Apparently he got captured. And 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.480 after this point and after like they I, they can't 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:02.600 come to an agreement on the border. He brings Brett 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.960 in um two secret Service agents ushered in General Bretta Thorne. 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.720 His face was bruised, his clothes were filthy. He looked awful. 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.359 His hands were gashed and scraped his knuckles bloody. For 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.040 a moment, Ellen felt miles away. Her husband blurred through 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:19.399 her tears. Okay. She She ran to him, throwing her 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.600 arms around his neck. He stood there awkwardly, then raised 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.760 his hands to her head, stroked his ear, she her hair. 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.080 She breathed in the smell of him, the wonder of him, 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.720 And then he saw Prescott smiling face and came back 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.119 to earth. She kissed his cheek. What do they do 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:35.560 to you? She whispered. He gently pushed her back. Then 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.720 he turned to the President, his hands open, pleading. Mr President, 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:40.960 He said, you need to call m. M Omari right 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.399 now and get some answers. And why is that general? 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.280 We've had this conversation before. Okay. So the Brett spent 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:50.000 his day's tracking down leads there's a terrorist attack. Uh, 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.639 he's he's warning the president's about to be a nuclear 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.160 attack on American soil. I've seen the strategy before in Afghanistan. 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:57.800 They draw you in with one bomb, then used a 0:19:57.800 --> 0:19:59.920 second to kill those who helped. I think what happened 0:19:59.920 --> 0:20:02.960 to the bridge was the preliminary attack. Prescott paused. He 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:05.600 stroked his chin thoughtfully. Then he said slowly. I don't 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.560 believe you. You already knew, Brett mused, enraged. So the 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:11.840 President knows that there's about to be a nuclear attack, 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:15.920 and I guess he's Oh, no, okay, I did. I 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.120 did know. And I don't believe your intelligence is better 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.199 than my c i A, my FBI, my Department of 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.920 Homeland Security. I don't buy this Jack Bower routine you're 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.000 putting on. I think you've got the dellusions of grandeur 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:27.919 and that you always did. Okay, So that was a 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.280 deliberate twenty four reference when he tortured that guy. That's 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:38.760 nice to see. Yeah, okay, So the president he eddie edda. Uh, 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.240 it's just like it's because we've stretched this out over 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.919 a year, it is, but like I'm just so not 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:51.280 invested in what's going on? I am I because there's 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.240 so many different plots and they're all poorly laid out, 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.600 and everything takes twice as long as it ought to. 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:00.280 You're right, Cody, that it might be because we've reached 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.600 this out over the course of a year. Yea. Also, No, 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:07.080 it's bad. It is. It's terrible. It's a terrible there's 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:12.400 a reason it's been stretched out. It's because it's awful. Yeah, 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.520 we've got we've been putting it off a plot that 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:19.680 doesn't make any sense because we've got both There was 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:22.040 the first bombing, which I guess was covered for the 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.119 second bombing using the nukes that Saddam had, but he 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:31.399 hit an Afghanistan. Yeah. And then there's also the evil 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:35.360 Black Lives Matter group and their scheme to replace all 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.160 of the cops with black people, which is so far 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:40.480 is what we've got of the scheme of the Black 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:46.720 Lives Matter crew and fundamental misunderstanding I think. Um. And 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:51.119 then of course there's the attack on Mexico. Yeah, and 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:55.320 then there's then there's an invasion of Mexico. Um. That 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:59.920 feels like a good place to take an ad break. Yeah. Yeah, 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:16.159 you know who also would invade Mexico. These sponsors are sponsors. Yeah, 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:21.399 all right, we're back and we're we're just desperately trying 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:23.679 to close out this book that we are now of 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:29.040 the way through taste the President. Okay. So we we 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:31.920 get to the President and and them are having their 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:34.440 talk about, you know, the breat's warning that there's a 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:36.359 nuke that's going to be set off. The President doesn't 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:41.360 believe him because he's got his intelligence. Um yeah, okay, 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:45.400 so um, and he basically threatens like, hey, we've got 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:49.160 your husband around two different murders at this point. Uh, 0:22:49.200 --> 0:22:51.600 and if we wanted to, we could have him convicted. 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:53.600 And Ellen asks why the president is doing this and 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:56.359 he says, because miss Hawthorne, your husband forced me into this, 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:58.680 so did you. The President of the United States is 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:00.879 not just a job. It's a high office. The President 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:03.359