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Well, it was finally time to call myself out, so I did. It is impossible to move through life without some semblance of a philosophy or ideology, and it was stupid to think that I didn’t have one. In this episode I go over what those things mean, and why it is paramount that we figure out where we stand to better deal with the very probable troubles looming on our horizon.

Well, well, well…I’m back! Nothing glorious here, more or less a re-intro, a synopsis of what has gone in with our politics, and a wild spiritual assertion meant to diagnose the cancer in our society. No biggie! Gotta touch some Centrist soil. Love Y’all.

Really struggling with the divides in our country. If you’ve ever listened before, you know where I’m going with this. I’m a little out of practice so sorry if it gets incoherent, but hey, I’m just your basic American laborer; what do you expect? https://youtube.com/shorts/D2diZhSXiMg?si=s6ad6zWXZysoslQk

Speaks for itself.

Hey, as a basic knuckle dragging American, I’m wrong often! But is it possible to be wrong and right at the same time? Not according to Ben Shapiro. We kick around what is happening with the cease fire between Iran and Israel, and toy with what might have been possible. More importantly what could have been PROBABLE under another president. Reuters link: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/fragile-ceasefire-holding-trump-envoy-says-peace-talks-with-iran-promising-2025-06-25/

We appear to be on the precipice of another regime change war. Where you at Tulsi? Anyway, I go on at some length, vaguely, about how centrist independent populism is the only way to take back our republic. Wish I had sounded more hopeful, but this isn’t going to happen overnight.

I’m a week late, but what’s new? Today I dive into the State of The Union, or the Prez addressing congress, whatever you want to call it, cause I didn’t get many good vibes SO I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT haha. https://youtu.be/GCM9_cdwHNw?si=imgwZPvyjXjLHxfd : Democrat with This is not Normal sign. Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas taking sign from Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico https://www.youtube.com/live/QlrQKv1vN_4?si=Zv_v0JKRtZYyb9El :Sander’s SOTU response. https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-professional-and-technical-workforce-by-the-numbers :This is where I was getting those occupational numbers from.

I supposed it was time to dive into a little of what Trump has done during his first 5 weeks as president. But then there was the shocking argument he had with the Ukrainian president, so we had to touch on that. I gave some ham fisted opinions on USAID, which is the biggest thing that the administration has done so far (speaking of ham fisted), but maybe it’s not such a bad thing; not only for US citizens, but for the future of democracy on the planet? I’m still dubious but we’ll see. https://confronting-capitalism.pinecast.co/episode/77925932/don-t-cry-for-usaid http://oig.usaid.gov/node/7359 : Article about Chemonics International https://congressionaldish.com/cd244-keeping-ukraine/ :Congresssional Dish

In this episode I rely heavily on Andrew Heaton’s new book: Tribalism is Dumb: Where it Came From, How it Got So Bad, and What to do About it. I read a passage from the book and discuss how the defined terms of progressive/socialist, Conservative, Libertarian, and Populist don’t actually have that as many differences as they might think—if they would just strip away the nonsense dividing them. I can’t recommend the book enough, hope you check it out and enjoy!

So many things to discuss, but instead I got sidetracked by Bill Maher. https://youtu.be/dskdjJJ7bnQ?si=RCLQ8yE55hVKYUsz Medical bills account for 40% of bankruptcies: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1127305/ John Brown: Pottawatomie Massacre * On May 24–25, 1856, Brown and his men killed five pro-slavery settlers in Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas 
 noblesse oblige 1. the inferred responsibility of privileged people to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged.

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a great holiday season, now it’s time to fight the power! Haha. No, but seriously, how do we do that? It’s obvious that I don’t have any answers. Then again, you could listen to a hundred other podcasts, or read a hundred other books, and the answers they give aren’t clear paths to victory either. It’s gotta start with you, that’s all I know. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/nyregion/luigi-mangione-murder-charges.html

Hey, I read a book! It was The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World, by Noam Chomsky and Nathan J. Robinson. This was a timely read, coming on the heels of the election, and the promises of the incoming administration to be less belligerent and promote peaceful resolutions to ongoing conflicts. I am not holding my breath. The book is worth a read. It will challenge any patriotic bones you might have, but that is a good thing! Certainly there are arguments to be made about the voracity of the books claims, but that is not what I do here. The larger details they provide are beyond refutation, and I was not willing to get anymore granule than that because the overarching theme of our nation’s foreign policy is what people are tired of. It is time for a change; sadly, I still think we will be waiting sometime for that to happen. "A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something that he can understand." - Bertrand Russell https://www.gettysburgflag.com/history-of-american-wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change Secular Talk @KyleKulinski Dear MAGA, I know many of you are upset at Trump's pro-war picks. You expected him to be anti-war. I hate to tell you but your favorite 'independent media' hosts were lying to you the entire time. Here's Trump's 1st term foreign policy: - increased drone strikes 432% - 2,243 drone strikes in his first 2 years alone (more than 8 years of Obama) - kept us in Iraq - kept us in Afghanistan - 330% increase in civilian deaths in Afghanistan - bombed Syria twice - bombed somalia - occupied a third of Syria to "take the oil" - Increased the military budget every year - tried to coup Venezuela - ripped up the Iran agreement - armed Saudi Arabia as they did a genocide in Yemen and vetoed a bill to cut off the weapons - dropped the 'mother of all bombs' on Afghanistan • - hired John Bolton, Mike Pompeo & Gina Haspel (all insane neocon warmongers) and let them run foreign policy - Pardoned black water war criminals - signed pro-torture executive order - his first military raid as president killed a little American girl - haven't even included in this list what he SAYS ne wants in his 2nd term (war with Mexico, allow srael to annex the West Bank). Stop listening to scam artists who don't know the first thing about policy and only care about vibes.

Most of this episode is me not only putting the election to bed, but the woke religion— that I think—has largely been written off as inconsequential in Harris’s loss. To highlight this, the much admired Krystal Ball of Breaking Points gave a monologue on precisely this topic, and in my opinion —missed the ball (harhar). Yes, I know I’ve talked about pumping the break on cultural issues, but when I see it rear its head, I can’t ignore it. So buckle up. Breaking points https://youtu.be/BA5687kROLk?si=jkefJ1YDYJmCSvFN WE’RE NOT WRONG episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/were-not-wrong/id1623909217?i=1000676130013 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Cwa6LeJkfD60tOQoi4lsD?si=XKkkGJjERwCZg8iOYXUqzw Trump on LGBTQ Rights | American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/trump-on-lgbtq-rights CLASS MATTERS: » Ep 15: When Compromises Come Home to Roost: With Adolph Reed Jr. and Mark Dudzic https://classmatterspodcast.org/podcast-episode/ep-15-when-compromises-come-home-to-roost-with-adolph-reed-jr-and-mark-dudzic/ Rogan with Dave Smith: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0u4BgmTNk9I6XwvAxceJoJ?si=IqCtV3fGTk-ZD6Mqf8j-IQ&t=7728&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk Trump appointments: https://apnews.com/article/trump-staff-picks-stefanik-wiles-stephen-miller-tom-homan-243d73610b03a3ee18c4d5f68756af7c

Certainly didn’t think we would be crowning an election victory in less than 24 hours, but we have: President elect Trump. I go over my previously unshared predictions, touch again on the abortion topic, but mostly we hear Marianne Williamson explain the flaws in the democratic party which gave Trump 2 pathetic candidates to run against. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/ballot-measures https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCBkysNsZ5q/?igsh=MWJkY21nNmhha3U5cg==

(In the style of Jonathan Davis) Are you ready!? It is election week, and yes, I am coming to you twice in 2 weeks based on that reason alone. So who are you voting for? More importantly, why are we voting? That’s really what lies at the heart of this episode as we dive into what is most important to registered voters, via a PEW poll from September 2024. Also, what can the president actually accomplish? Not as much as you might think. Currently it seems that they are only capable of inciting hatred, division, and resentment…all very healthy. Hope you enjoy the episode and please, GO VOTE! Recommend Congressional Dish episode to dig down on the corruption around and within the Trump administration around the fake electors. CD266: Contriving January 6th - Congressional Dish Independent Party ID Tied for High; Democratic ID at New Low Pew poll: Issues and the 2024 election | Pew Research Center Abortion: Michelle Obama speech at Harris rally: https://youtu.be/YtQqGOOLh8o?si=XuVXjU84m5b5I5Lq Saager discussing how to vote: https://youtu.be/0s5FOkLhxkY?si=ElcBwzDvb-n3kyM8 Executive agencies: https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/the-executive-branch/?utm_source=link&utm_medium=header The act that gave the President expansive war powers post 9/11 is the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was passed by Congress shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, allowing the President to use military force against those responsible for the attacks and those who harbored them. Krystal Kyle and Friends discussing the campaigns: https://open.spotify.com/episode/18KjocIhHBW8fe3M0VRpjt?si=iSjThD0_QH2t_QX7FA4NgA Trump on Rogan: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0e9ynAH6hmZIIeOx0SaGQu?si=y5HKAjKhSJWMuisntLpvfw&t=3598&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk