WEBVTT - America’s Cold Civil War + Trump Is DECIMATING American National Security 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:06.720 Hello, They're happy Monday, and welcome to another episode of 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:10.600 the Chuck Podcast. We'll tell you we are in Washington 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:14.080 and in the DMV we're having some amazing weather, and 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.880 I'm telling you the following is not a coincidence. Literally 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.200 the day it seemed as if we got rid of 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:24.800 our humidity the day Congress left town. I mean, use 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:27.120 every stupid joke you want to make, but the hot 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.000 air leaves town and literally took the hot air with it. 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.040 We have had some incredible weather days here in the DMB. 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:37.360 There is nothing like living here in Washington when Congress 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.760 is not here. The traffic is better, the flowers are brighter, 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:49.720 the air is clearer. Anyway, I'm being I'm obviously being 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.720 a little a little snarky about this, but only a little. 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.080 It has been fascinating that once they left, it is 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.080 as if the sun came out and the bird started chirping, 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:05.680 and the flowers started blooming and all of those things. 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:10.520 Because it is one of those weird, weird times here 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.520 in Washington, where you know, people will regularly ask me, so, 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:15.600 how you doing. I'm like, well, my family's doing great, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.640 personal life's doing great. Works, you know, even really enjoying 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.200 this new business ventures and all of this stuff, but 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.039 oh my god, the country's in trouble. And that's like, 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.920 it's this like this nagging thing. It's like, you know, 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.639 you I wish I were losing you know, I'm glad 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:37.400 not to have personal challenges, but it means I'm losing 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.760 sleep over over what's happening to our country collectively. And 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.960 I think we're all a little concerned about that. I'm 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.480 gonna give you a little heads up what I'm doing today. 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.560 I interview with a terrific new book. Tim Winer has 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:55.840 written a slew of books about the defense, about both 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.640 the Pentagon, our national security world and intelligence, written a 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:01.400 number of books on the CIA. Has got a new 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.400 book on the c I A he spoke to, uh 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:09.400 the not counting Ratcliffe now, but the six all six 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.520 of the previous heads of the CIA that go back, 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.959 uh since nine to eleven. Uh And the CIA is 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:16.720 still trying to figure out it's mission, you know, in 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.280 a post nine to eleven world, uh in a in 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:23.360 a in a in a world where uh uh, the 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:27.080 CIA was asked to be uh more of a of 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:33.200 a military uh more more of a paramilitary organization than 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.320 it had been in quite some time, right after nine 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:40.680 to eleven, the impact that had h and the impact 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.200 the Trump administration's having, uh, and the trust or lack 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.600 thereof in the intelligence community. That goes both ways, right 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.880 Trump Trump doesn't trust the intel community. In the intel 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.160 community doesn't trust him. It is it is a it 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:54.880 is a recipe for concern. 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:56.200 Uh. 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.280 And uh, look, it's a it's a pretty it's a 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:03.400 pretty star conversation that Tim and I have. But man, 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.520 he is he understands how the CIA works better than 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:11.000 pretty much anybody alive right now. And so I take 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.760 his warnings quite seriously and you should too. And in fact, 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.560 the timing of this interview, I interviewed him last week, 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:22.600 but it hitting today. Look, is President Trump even listening 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:28.240 to his intelligence and to the intelligence folks when it 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:30.600 comes to what Putin's really up to? What does Putin 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.799 really want? It's pretty clear he doesn't listen to national 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.320 security and intelligence folks when it comes to how to 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:41.000 deal with Putin, or he wouldn't have given Putin a 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:45.160 summit on American soil. Meeting him in Alaska has got 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:50.720 everybody nervous. Giving a two bit a sort of tin 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:55.480 pot dictator like Putin. This is not a serious world leader. 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.760 This is a person who has nuclear weapons, so you 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.560 have to take him seriously. But as John McCain call me, 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.360 he's basically just, you know, a guy who runs a 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:09.480 gas station with with nuclear weapons. And yet Trump loves 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.520 to elevate him, and Putin loves that Trump loves to 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:17.120 elevate him. You know it is It's fascinating to me 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.680 that when the idea of this summit was out there, 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:26.960 immediately the Trump administration i e. Marco Rubio hinted that 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.960 this would be no summer would happen without Zelensky being involved. 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:32.960 Maybe Trump and Putin would meet first and then Zelensky 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.120 would be involved. Then suddenly Trump just agrees to a 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.200 one on one summit. Maybe maybe Zelenski's there, maybe he's not. 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.000 So Already Putin is getting everything he wants and the 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.680 biggest danger here and this is going to dominate the week, 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.080 by the way, This isn't I've got I've got something bigger. 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.320 I want to I want to focus on before we 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.400 get to the interview with Tim. But this is going 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.880 to dominate the week. And you know, the I think 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:01.240 the biggest concern Europe, Ukraine and for frankly, anybody that 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:08.360 wants a world that favors liberal, small l liberal democracy. 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.240 For those of you that want to take that word 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:15.960 and claim on saying something else, it is not liberal 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:20.320 as in an American ideological term, but liberal as in 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.800 the world order. Do you want to live in a 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:29.080 world where where there's essentially where democracy flourishes, or do 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.359 you want to live in a world where authoritarianism flourishes? 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:38.240 And there is a concern of all the Western world 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:41.200 that Trump wants a deal too badly. If he wants 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:44.720 a deal, if he goes into that summit with Putin 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.040 without Zelensky there and he wants a deal too badly, 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:52.520 he's going to end up giving away stuff that Ukraine's 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:54.520 not going to sign off on, and I don't think 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:58.200 Europe signs off on. And what happens then, you know, 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.680 does he get angry, does he side more with Putin? 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:02.880 It looked like he wanted to get tough with Putin, 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.200 and then all of a sudden he just rolled over 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.360 this week and said, sure, let's do a summit. So look, 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:11.880 we'll see how he handles this week. We'll see if 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:16.119 Zelensky is it really would be a huge I think. 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.880 I think at a minimum, he's got to bring Zelensky 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:23.880 to Alaska and and sort of force force the situation 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:26.359 if he really wants a deal. Look, I get that 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:31.279 he wants this deal. He's obsessed with somehow creating. You know, 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.720 he keeps talking about this Nobel Peace Prize. He's everything 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.320 Obama has he wants, right, I mean, who knows. At 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.320 some point he may wish Michelle Obama was the first 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:44.600 Lady instead of Malania. But it does seem as whatever 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:49.440 Obama got he wants, right, he's obsessed. The obsession Trump 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:54.359 has with all things Obama is quite something, and so 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.840 obviously because Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize, he wants 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.880 a Nobel Piece prize. Talking about all of these, you know, 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:04.800 he goes out of his way. If he sees a 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.920 dispute between two countries, he inserts himself. I'll be honest, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.000 I don't mind that he does that. I don't mind 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.840 that an American president wants to use the prestige of 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.640 the American presidency to try to bring peace. That is 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:17.680 a good thing. So I don't want to sit here 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.760 and say this is a bad thing. The concern you 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.920 have though, is how badly does he want to deal? 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:26.360 And that's got to be the concern when it comes 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:29.240 with Putin. How badly is he going to want to deal? 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.440 And does he give does he essentially give up so much? 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.680 And then what is Ukraine and Europe supposed to do 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.480 if Trump and Putin agree to something and Ukraine doesn't 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.920 want to agree to it. As the Lunsky keeps pointing out, 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.920 just trading Land is against the constitution of Ukraine. Now, 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:50.000 maybe Trump doesn't care about Ukraine's constitution because frankly, I 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.480 don't think he cares about America's constitution, which is the 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.600 focal focus of what I want to get out here 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.760 in a minute. But that is that is going to 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.640 dominate the week. It should dominate the week. But it 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.119 is interesting. You do get a sense that the people 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:09.280 around President Trump, namely Marco Rubio, since he is both 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:13.480 National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, head of the Archives. 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:15.480 I don't know how many other jobs he's been handed. 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.240 Maybe he's the next bedchair. We saw we have more 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:22.960 people with two jobs these days with the Treasury secretary. 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:27.160 Now he's running the hi RS. That's an interesting story 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:28.920 which I'm going to get to in a minute. But 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:30.840 the fact is there was an attempt at a check 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:34.040 and balance. Donald Trump didn't like that somebody pushed back 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:37.880 and refused to do something that was likely unconstitutional, So 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.440 he pushes Billy Long out. That is what happened, folks. 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.080 So that is a concern. But that does bring me 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.200 to this larger, the larger issue we're ald dealing with 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.200 right now. So when you look at what's happening with redistricting, 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.240 redistricting is is just a It's just the latest skirmish 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:59.880 between what is turning into a cold civil war. All right, 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.240 this way, this is what it is. I hate using 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.760 that rhetoric, I using those words, but what else are 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.080 you going to describe it. We are literally having a 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:11.000 redistricting war between the states right now, and we have 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:16.480 governors who have decided they don't care about the minority 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.240 rights in their own states. Greg Abbott doesn't care. If 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.520 you don't agree with Greg Abbott, he is going to 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.040 force his will upon you in the state of Texas. 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.160 And if you don't agree with Cavin Newsom and how 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:29.559 they're going to he's going to force his will upon you. 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:36.160 This is not this is not what the founders intended. 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.880 But look, let's I mean, look, I'm obviously pretty critical 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.320 of how the Democrats have responded to the Republicans. But 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.200 make no mistake, it is Donald Trump and the Republican 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:50.360 Party are creating this unprecedented challenge to this to our 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:55.960 constitutional republic. Okay, on so many levels, redistricting is really 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.640 just the tip of the iceberg. This is not a 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.280 policy fight. This isn't the use partisan back and forth. 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:05.720 It is a direct stress test of whether our constitutional 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:10.280 system actually works. When a president and his party decide 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.960 they don't have to care about the limits that are 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.800 written down on paper. Okay, he is Spinello. Trump has 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.800 spent years, parts of his first term, and much so 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.160 far of these first two hundred plus day bending and 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.520 breaking the guardrails of the of the Republic. He's weaponized 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:33.360 federal agencies for personal vendettas. He's ignoring constitutional boundaries on 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:37.120 executive power, treating the Justice Department in his personal law firm, 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.120 unilaterally imposing tariffs for reasons that have nothing to do 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:45.120 with trader law. That's unconstitutional. I think the courts are 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.160 going to figure that out soon enough. And the GOP 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.640 from its leadership to its so called moderates in the 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:54.160 party have all chosen to enable him. They've confirmed his 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:58.439 most troubling cabinet choices, including one who is wrecking America's health, 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.480 which I talked about last week. They've refused to conduct 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.960 meaningful oversight over these horrendous decisions. They've allowed the constitutional 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:10.240 tools that the founders gave them. They're in their hands 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:15.440 and they're just gathering dust. But here's the part that 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.000 people on the left don't want to talk about. The 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:22.560 Democratic response is pretty troubling because right now, as a party, okay, 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:25.600 as an official party apparatus, they've decided to frame this 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.240 moment as a war, right, Okay, you got to fight 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:32.000 fire with fire. That we're in a this is an 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.280 unprecedented moment. So they're framing as a war. And when 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.760 you tell yourself you're in a war, you start rationalizing 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:42.000 things you'd normally not do that you would say is 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:46.000 immoral or wrong or unprincipled, But hey, it's war and 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:50.080 all spare and war. Right, that's the mindset. For a decade, 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.760 the Democrats made the moral and civic case for less 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.800 partisan redistricting and in some cases to take it out 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:02.520 of politicians' hands altogether. The Demoocratic Party, many inside the party, 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.559 Eric Holder has been working on this. Others have spent 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:10.600 money on referendum around on states Florida and California and 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.560 Ohio and New York and Virginia and many of these 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.760 places too, because they argued it was the right thing 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:20.840 to do. And guess what, I think it is the 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.920 right thing to do. Take as much politics out of 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:24.560 this as you can. 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:26.280 So. 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:30.600 The Democratic Party, they championed independent commissions and they wanted 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:35.440 competitive maps. But now with Republicans openly wanting to break 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.800 the rules like they're doing in Texas, Democrats say, all right, 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:42.240 we're going to break them too. And if you criticize 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.520 that decision, as I've been doing, I've been told I'm naive, 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.120 that I don't understand the stakes, that you are not 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.360 taking this threat seriously. Oh contrary, my friend, I do 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.280 goddamn understand the stakes. And we are not replacing one unprincipled, 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.439 unconstitutional set of leaders with another set of on principled 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.240 and constitutional set of leaders. And that's the mistake people 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.280 keep making with Trump. Trust me, I'd love to tell 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.160 the guy all these things and do all these horrible things, 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.359 but you're not. You go low with him, and he wins. 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.160 What he wants is to drag his opponents into the 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:23.160 same immoral gutter that he lives in to make them behave. 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.600 He wants all of his opponents to behave as immortally 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.680 and a morley as he does. And the moment somebody does, 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:33.080 he wins, because then what does he say? See, I 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:36.280 told you the entire system is corrupt. They're all corrupt. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.200 I'm just more honest about it. They're all like me. 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:42.679 And we've seen it in little ways, in big ways. 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:44.880 Marco Ruby in his little hands, right, what was the 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.319 end of Marco Rubio's political career when he decided to 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.320 go low with Donald Trump? Anybody that is attempted to 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:56.080 go into the gutter with him has has only allowed 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.840 him to win. But let's go through the blueprint that 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.600 the Founders actually gave us. The Founder saw this danger coming, 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.920 maybe not Trump specifically, but the idea of a leader 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.839 or a faction that believed winning an election meant a 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:16.400 blank check to rule. Minority rights be damned. The Founders 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.440 feared two things above all, another king and tyranny of 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.560 the majority. Here's what James Madison said in Federalists number ten, 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.920 if a majority be united by a common interest, the 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.360 rights of the minority will be insecure. His solution was 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.480 a very large republic. He wanted enough competing interest to 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:41.560 make it quote very improbable, if not impracticable, impracticable, excuse me, 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.640 for one majority to unite and trample the rest that 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.800 there would be so many sort of different groups of 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.760 majorities at any one time that would be a check 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:58.560 on any sort of dictator like figure. And in fact, 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:02.200 in Federalists fifty one he sharpened the point and he said, 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:06.360 this ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The great 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:11.600 security consists in giving each department the necessary constitutional means 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:19.480 to resist encroachments of the others. Checks and balances, folks, Okay, 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.960 checks and balances. Hamilton added in Federalist seventy eight, when 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.320 he was defending the need for an independent judiciary, he said, 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:31.160 neither force nor will, but merely judgment. That's the shield 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:35.880 against mob arrel. These weren't lofty ideals, they were tools. 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.760 They were designed to be used when majority power got dangerous. 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.840 Well guess what, folks, Majority power is dangerous right in 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:49.960 this moment. We have the tools no one uses them, 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.880 or someone like Mitch McConnell is afraid to use them. 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.240 He had the most important tool of all and he 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.360 failed the biggest test of his life. He will have 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.320 to live with that. Maybe he can't. But here's where 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:06.200 we are. The tools are still there, but the people 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:10.320 holding them refuse to use them. The moderate or mainstream Republicans, 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.240 the ones who actually know Trump is wrong, have chosen 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:17.080 silence over action. They confirmed troubling cabinet secretaries that they 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:21.560 all knew were going to create problems, problems for our 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.520 health with Bobby Kennedy Junior at HHS. My god, it's 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.560 a bigger disaster than anybody could have predicted, and a 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.600 lot of people predicted this would be a disaster, but literally, 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.760 this man is a menace to society, a menace Pete 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.200 hag Seth, that Defense weighing over his head, lots of 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:42.760 concerns about readiness, lots of concerns about troop morale, all 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:46.280 due to the bizarre leadership that hag Seth has had 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:50.320 at Defense. And again, multiple members of the Senate basically 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:54.400 got intimidated into voting for him. Jony Earns him and 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.080 Tom Tillis knew this guy was totally unqualified for the job, 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:01.960 and they got bullied by MAGA into supporting them. And 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.600 of course there's Tulsa Gabbert, who may or may not 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:07.880 be the single most important asset Rush has ever had. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.400 Congress is also ignored on the unconstitional tariff abuse. They're 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:15.720 not the ones that have filed suit in the courts 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.960 that Trump is unilaterally using authority that belongs to the 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:24.600 legislative branch. It's others that have filed suit. The Congressional 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.800 Republicans have looked the other way as foreign aid was 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.640 gutted and the intelligence community hollowed out. They've not lifted 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:36.280 one finger of oversight. Not one. It's not they're not 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.240 even You can't even say there's been a week check 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:42.160 on Trump. It has been no check on him at all. 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:42.760 Guess what. 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:47.240 The Constitution can't enforce itself without people willing to wield 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.720 those checks. All we have our words on a yellowing 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:56.120 parchment paper. All right, this isn't just a Washington politician problem. 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:01.240 Look at some of these entities. CBS, paramount CC is 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:06.800 slapping unconstitutional handcuffs on the News Division, blatant First Amendment violations. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.160 Remember the First Amendment is specifically about what government can 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.960 can and can't tell you what to do. Okay on this, 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:18.720 but CBS has decided it's easier not to fight, so 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:24.400 they've accepted these unconstitutional handcuffs. And by them swallowing these restrictions, 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:29.920 they potentially create a precedent, and they're coming after other networks. 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.280 Renting car has all but said this, He's coming after 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.040 NBC's coming after They're going after all the networks, and again, 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.720 totally unconstitutional for government to do what he's been trying 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:46.160 to do here. Founders Again, the founders did not write 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.480 the Constitution so it could sit in a display case 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.160 at Mark Rubia's National Archives. Remember he's currently also the archivist. 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.520 Right now, they're meant for it to have a living 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:59.800 set of guardrails, but the guardrails only work if someone 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:04.520 grabs the wheel. I want to call my friend Andrew Sullivan, 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.960 who just nailed it in this most recent substack, right 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:12.680 he said, this is a permanent stain, and that's scary. 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.080 Here's what he writes in the face off between this 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:20.200 man's wilful power and liberal democracy. Liberal democracy would just fold. 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.639 We didn't think that was going to happen. But it has. 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:29.680 We've watched Trump used tariffs, which is constitutionally Congress's job, 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.800 as personal punishment against countries that displeased him. Me and 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:33.840 what he's doing with Brazil. 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:35.280 You know. 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.639 Now, I'll defend what he's doing with India if he 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:42.040 really means it about Russia. But is this about Russia anyway? 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.760 But we digress. He declares every judicial ruling against him 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.760 is corrupt and every ruling for him is justice. That 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.080 is no small d democrat, that is somebody who does 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.200 not believe in the constitutional republic. He's turned the Justice 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:59.159 Department to his own enforcement arm, and he's abused the 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:03.880 pardon power, turned it into a loyalty test, freeze violent rioters, 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:08.159 promises immunity for crimes done in his name, and anybody 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.720 who pays it, he pays him or his family enough money, 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:17.040 they get they get a little extra something. I mean, look, 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.720 just go look at the lobbyist filings right now. Right 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:24.240 those with the every country trying and company trying to 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:27.000 get an exemption from the tariffs have all hired the 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:31.560 same firms who know what the correct way to do 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:37.760 business with Trumpets. I think I think some in another 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.080 life people would have just referred to this as mob rule. 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:44.080 I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.280 Tim Cook out of this moment. Apple CEO stands in 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.480 the Oval office and he hands Trump a golden plaque, 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:54.000 an engraved Apple glass, smiling for the cameras. Right, pay 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:56.560 the tribute to the king, to the mad camp Now, 0:20:56.560 --> 0:20:59.600 I get it to Cook. This is a small gesture, Eh, 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.320 they look at it. The statue is nothing compared to 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.560 the damaged Trump could do to Apple's business. Okay, so 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.520 I understand, and he's got a fiducial responsibility to his shareholders. 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:13.000 But I assume Tim Cook considers himself a patriotic American 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.720 and believes in the US Constitution because by doing what 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:20.800 he did, this is America's most famous company now, right, 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:25.479 the pre eminent corporation right, arguably the most valuable real company. 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:27.800 I know, Palanteer I think technically has a higher value 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.280 right now. But that is all speculative, like Apple is 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:34.639 essentially right, this is this is the symbol of an 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:38.119 American company in the twenty first century, all right, Apple, 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:42.359 what GM was, what GM and Ford were in the 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.240 fifties and sixties, That's what Apple is, right, And here 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.760 he is bending the knee, setting an example. What are 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:56.760 other corporate leaders supposed to do? Bend the knee or fight? 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:02.399 Nobody's fighting. All of these folks have constitutional tools to 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:07.000 fight this tyranny. The founders gave them all these tools 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:11.320 to do this. And everybody's surrendering, and everybody's surrendering for 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:21.000 self protection, political survival, shareholder price, maybe their own survival 0:22:21.040 --> 0:22:27.679 in a corporation. All seems like good ideas until we 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:31.879 lose it all. We're not in a constitutional republic. If 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:35.520 we lose this democracy, you're going to lose a lot 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:39.560 more than a few dollars of price on apple shares. 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:44.880 So this gets me to what the Democrats are doing. 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:48.000 They're taking the bait. They've decided the only way to 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:52.520 fight is to act just as ruthlessly revenge redistricting in Illinois, 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:56.000 New York, California. And they tell themselves it's self defense, 0:22:56.240 --> 0:22:59.000 but in reality, it's exactly what Trump wants to make 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:03.520 his opponents, his illegal and immoral game by his rules 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.840 in his universe, and here we are. It's the political 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:10.480 version of the old saying when you get into the 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:13.280 mud with a pig, you both get dirty, and the 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:18.920 pig likes it, replacing am and don't give me this 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:22.800 crap rationalize that. You know he's a bad mob boss. 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:24.240 You got to do whatever you cake, we'll be a 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:31.880 good mob boss. The answer is no mob bosses at all. Look, 0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:34.920 I don't like the lazy comparisons to nineteen thirties Germany. 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:39.280 I hate the quote second Civil War predictions. I'd like 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:42.080 to believe that we're a lot better than that. And frankly, 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:47.560 you know, I sort of buy into to that thesis 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:49.560 that says I think it's Godwin's law when it comes 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:51.840 to the Nazis. You know that, you know, if you 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:54.520 can't make your point without invoking the Nazis, and you're 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:56.840 probably not very good at debating and making your point. 0:23:57.560 --> 0:23:59.760 But let's be honest, it's a bit uncomfortable seeing how 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:03.400 many mistakes from the eighteen fifties, from eighteen fifties America 0:24:03.920 --> 0:24:06.160 or pre war Europe in the early nineteen thirties are 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:11.719 happening again right here. The normalization of the unacceptable, the 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:16.680 rational rationalizing of just this once will breach our principle. 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:20.359 Just this once will do this because it's in the 0:24:20.440 --> 0:24:25.359 name of something bigger and better. The founders gave us 0:24:25.400 --> 0:24:27.640 these tools to prevent this. They feared a king, they 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:30.720 feared a united majority trampling on the rest of us. 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.400 They didn't imagine leaders who would just refuse to use 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:38.280 the tools. They didn't they'd come back here and be appalled, 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:42.880 be appalled. And here's the thing, you know right now, 0:24:42.920 --> 0:24:45.919