The hosts, Dave Smith and Rob, open with an apology for a technical error in uploading an old clip, clarifying that past comments attributed to Bannon were made years ago, not recently. They reflect on the growing influence of AI in media, noting how realistic AI-generated content is becoming, which demands greater scrutiny and human oversight. The conversation pivots to U.S. political dynamics, identifying a current period of quiet tension—post-crisis, pre-election—marked by deep divisions within the Republican Party. The hosts argue that the most significant political development will be the emergence of a non-interventionist right-wing movement as a counter to militarized, war-driven factions. They criticize Ben Shapiro for framing military leaks as treason, calling it legally unfounded and morally problematic, especially when such leaks may prevent disastrous decisions. A major critique is directed at Vivek Ramaswami’s claim that anti-Semitism stems from Jewish economic success—viewed as dishonest, reductive, and ideologically misleading. The hosts advocate for a political compromise: ending the fixation on Trump-era chaos and woke culture to return to meaningful policy discussions on healthcare, unions, and national security. Ultimately, they emphasize that transparency, especially in military and government operations, is vital to democratic resilience, and that public scrutiny of official narratives is not only justified but necessary.
What's up? What's up, everybody? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. I am Dave Smith. He is Robby the Fire Burnstein. How are you today, my good friend? I am well. How are you, Mr. Smith? Very good. Very good. Although I must say I am a little I do. I got to start the show with a couple, well two apologies. Well, number one apology that the wrong episode got uploaded on Spotify. I heard that from a lot of people. Sorry, we got that fixed pretty quickly. That one was on Natalie, but she's human, things happen. And I made a far bigger mistake on the episode, which is that I got got. And I thought that that was an old clip that we played in Bannon. I thought that was from last week. I had seen it on social media with like one of the other clips from this Friday's episode of real time. I thought it was all on the same one. So that's on me. I think that's only the second time I've ever done that, where I just got an old clip and then ran it on the show as if it was new. That being said, as some of the people did notice, which I appreciate, still a good episode. I thought all this all the stuff still was relative. You only have to slightly adjust the commentary to be like, hey, how crazy is it that they were saying that back then? And then now's where we are right here. And it still makes for a pretty good episode. But I did think that Bannon had just made those comments. That's my mistake. I really sloppy on my behalf. So I apologize for that. I'm usually a bit better. And I will promise to do better for you and my wife and my family. But yeah, my mistake on that one. Yeah. So do do correct the record. Bannon ain't saying that shit today. But he was saying it quite a while ago. But everything else we said I stand by. Anyway, so that's what I got to do by the way is press that little grok button. We'll tell you when the video is from I know I know I literally listen, it's this one is on me. I brought the clip to the group. Usually like it's typically speaking that I'll just one of us will catch it before that happens. Like there's been I remember one other time that we actually did it. And I had to do this on the show. There's been maybe like a handful of other times where either I've sent it to the group or you've sent it to the group. And then one of us goes, no, no, that's not so you know, you just got to really double and triple check these things. And I guess that is going to be more and more of the challenge going forward over the years with AI stuff getting better. I was seeing I was watching some of the AI videos. Well, there's been a bunch of AI videos that people have made in the the wake of the Andrew Wilson canister ones debate. So just like some other ones. But, but it's crazy how how close the pickle table, you know, you're like, huh, the pickle table, say the pickle table, they're all crying. Oh, yeah, they're well, but there's so many of them. They are good. But regardless of regardless of how you feel about the content, I was literally just watching them and I'm like, I can't believe how life like they are. Like they're so close to almost being like, you can just recreate things. So that's going to be more, you know, important going forward. But this one I should have been been on top of any. You know, it's tough and not AI. It's coming out to Port Store where you can see me in person, Nick Kong, New Jersey, this Saturday. And still looking for porches, San Jose or San Francisco, San Antonio. And there was one other on the list that I can't remember. Port store doctor. There you go. Port store.com to find that other mystery date that Rob can't remember right now and all the ones that he could remember. Oh, he really is. But I think I'm going to get up on that and just do a Springfield something, whatever. All right, there you go. There is, I will say I do think the Rob's Port Store is the most anti AI thing that exists. Like it's the furthest away. It's the most human thing you can do is just listen to Rob's filthy mind with other human beings. Anyway, yes, go check out Port store. Port store.com and then me and you, Rob, our next date is going to be out in Kentucky, home of Congressman Thomas Massey, who I hear is going to be doing some podcast in soon. But we'll be and we're in Louville in a few weeks in a couple of weeks there. So yeah, come check us out there. Commentate Smith dot com if you want to see all the dates that me and Rob have on the road for the rest of the year. I know we got Dallas. We got San Diego. We got a bunch of a bunch of fun fun dates coming up. So go go look for us there. All right. So you know, I was thinking about me and Natalie actually were briefly talking about this for a moment off air just now. I was kind of, you know, it's an interesting moment that we're in right now where, you know, Rob, over the years when I say like there's the storms, you know, we're in storm. Like it's like when the war propaganda first launches or the lockdowns first starter when there's a big crisis and the propaganda is being laid out. We're almost like right now. We're kind of in the calm like before the storm were. I mean, I guess we had obviously this was a this has been quite a year. We're only in September and already this year, you know, we've seen, you know, the the war in Venezuela and this war in Iran and there's been a lot of other things that have happened in the country, but it does seem like almost right now in terms of like politics. It's almost like a little bit of a boring moment. It's a little bit of a moment where it's like, okay, like there was all this excitement in 24 about this new coalition that came in 25 kind of came in like a lie and and went out like a lamb, you know, like came in like, oh, we're going to arrest all the deep state criminals and went out like you're all a bunch of deep state criminals. And then this year, it's almost like, you know, we're like in this post great betrayal moment, the war sucks. It's over. It's been, you know, we know, I'm sorry, it's not over. It's in this state that we've been essentially figured out is a disaster. It's a matter of time until they admit it. And we're kind of in this moment where it's, it's, you know, it just is what it is to some degree. But at the same time, Rob, you start to recognize that one year from today, one year from today, we're a year out from a presidential election. And presidential elections today are in America today are much more than one year cycles. So in other words, one year from today, Rob, we are in the the heat of another goddamn spectacle of a presidential campaign, which is essentially going to necessitate another crisis moment in this country. So just a very interesting spot that we're in. And as I think about where this is going to go over the next year, I do keep thinking that the most important thing to pay attention to is this split on the right in America and kind of where the Republican party ends up being. But anyway, that's just kind of like been on my mind a lot. Any thoughts on any of that, Rob? Oh, it was really depressing me when you mentioned that we're already almost back to an election cycle. And I was thinking about the fact that I believe this is my fourth election cycle that I will be covering in a somewhat professional capacity. And that's 16 years. Anyways, so sorry, I kind of spaced out there and about how many times I've already covered. It's funny. I didn't have that moment and you just did it to me. Now I'm going, oh, shit, I didn't realize we're going to have a how old am I moment? Yeah, dude, that's true. Well, and for me, 2016 was, it was like the, you know, a year for me that changed everything. It was like the first year I got on Rogan and the podcast kind of like got at least somewhat going that year. But yeah, that was, I mean, it's been a lot. I remember doing. I did episodes of part of the problem before and after the Mitt Romney, the Barack Obama 2012 election. It was, it was like very, very at the beginning of podcasting at all and very at the beginning of me doing this podcast. I think I recorded a couple like episodes at my, at my apartment with with a couple other guys. And I don't even remember, like this even before I was at standup New York or anything like that. But I did episodes called part of the problem about, you know, Obama running against Mitt Romney in 2012. So yeah, anyway, here we go. 2028, Rob, we're there. Well, you know, anyway, I'm sorry, you have any other thoughts on it. Go ahead. But it's just, it's very interesting to see where there's a huge split. Obviously, on the, the Democratic side and there's a big split on the Republican side. And I'm, I just find it fascinating to see how all this is going to manifest itself in a presidential election. I got my fingers crossed for John Ossoff versus Josh Hawley. Don't like either one of them. Wouldn't vote for either one of them. But I feel like that's a more normal show to cover. And might actually get back to more reasonable policy discussions versus some of the shenanigans the last couple of years. Well, that's nothing going to work, Rob. No one wants that. Well, yeah, I mean, it's, well, look, as, as, you know, we've been saying kind of for a while here, I think, to me, I think the writing is very clearly written on the walls. And the, you know, I think obviously that this, this whole Trump presidency has kind of destroyed itself. And that it, it's going to be, there's kind of no other path forward other than something other than this. And, you know, broadly speaking, while there are many anti-war leftists who I like personally. And while there is a, I give, I give the anti-war leftists a lot of credit for
or speaking up on those issues and being so good on them, there is something Rob where like, it's hard for guys like me and you to not look at that and go, dude, if you're like, if your movement is dominated by socialists to the point that a huge chunk of it is just branded as democratic socialists, there's really not much of a home for guys like me and you and that Rob. You know, like we can, we can have our disagreements with right wingers and we do have disagreements with right wingers. I mean, I'm absolutely sure if you went through the program, if you went through the policies of like, Marjorie Taylor Greene or a Joe Kent or someone, I'm sure me and you have lots of stuff that we don't see eye to eye with them on, but the stuff that we don't see eye to eye with them on typically is where they think, you know, where they believe in stateism and where they think the government should do something or where it should be involved. So that's one thing, but when you're starting point is essentially, you think the government should do everything. Well, Jesus, I mean, how it's just very difficult. So, I look for there to be some type of non-interventionist right wing movement in this country. And luckily, I mean, for us, there really is one right now. There really is a very strong one. And of course, you're just going to see, you know, it's going to be interesting to me more and more, like this has to be acknowledged. You know, at the beginning of the war, it was like Tucker Carlson doesn't mean anything that, you know, and then we're kind of figuring this anyway. It's just very interesting to me. The narratives that the different factions on the right are trying to push. And I think that's going to be kind of the focus, at least between now and then over the next year, when things really pick up again, and it's going to be a crazy moment for the country. I think our job is kind of to be involved in that battle, you know, to be involved in that fight of where the future of the people, at least the segment that we have some influence over, like what they get to hear about like what the direction of where we should go and this should be. It's almost like forging the antisocialist movement that we're going to need for the, for the next few years. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Quince. Some are always changes the way you get dressed. You want pieces that feel lighter that are more breathable, things that are easy, but still put together. Well, you got to check out Quince. Their European linen pants and shirts are the perfect warm weather upgrade to add to your rotation, starting at just $34. Their teas are soft and easy to wear and their lightweight cotton sweaters are perfect for cooler summer nights. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. 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So two things kind of go in tandem and we can argue about the other stuff, even democratic socialism, single pay, a health care, whatever. But we'll be done with the Trump shenanigans, which is the buffoonery of wait, what the hell did he just say? He's going to hold to that for 24 hours. And what is he doing? And then the right and then the left just has to give up on the entire woke culture and trying to put windmills on us, ESG scores, carbon reduction, transit kids, celebrating gaze, just the whole thing. Just we both sides got to come to the table and just be like, we're going to give up this thing. And then at least we can maybe get back to like, I'd love to do more episodes on whether or not we should have more government health care. It's just not really what's in the news. Whether or not unions are a good idea, you know? No, absolutely, dude, absolutely, man. Dude, I would love nothing more, man, than if there was none of this foreign policy shit to discuss. And this could just be like a, like, we could just be interviewing Bob Murphy together twice a week and then just talking, you know what I mean? So I would take that agreement into heartbeat. I love it. I love your compromise, but it's a good starting place, but it's not going to happen. And there's, you know, there's, well, what's going to happen is that there's going to be a faction of the Republicans who are going to be representing the military industrial complex and the current Trump administration and the Israel lobby and all of that. They're going to make sure they have a candidate running for that. It's wide open for someone, wink wink, Thomas Massey, Tucker Carlson, it's wide open for someone to run on the, in the America first lane and have that covered. And then like, then you could have a real interesting situation where you might actually have at least, you know, like I don't think the social drop to your point, they're not going to put woke away. AOC's already announced they're on to wokeism 2.0. That's what we're going to get. So we're going to find out what that wokeism 2.0 is. This time, we're not going to trans your kids, but we're going to trans your grocery store or something. I don't exactly know what they mean by this, but someone like, if there was someone like Massey or someone like Trump, I mean, they really could embody the other half of your, you know, compromise there, which is like, at least to like, hey, no, we really are done. Essentially, I guess my point is that the, the reason why I'm saying I'm more interested in the battle on the right than on the left is because that's where we get the compromise that you just missed. Like someone like Thomas Massey or someone like Tucker Carlson would go, yeah, we're done with all the Trump shit and all the warship. And we're also done with all the woke shit, whereas like you're, that's the only, that's the only group where you would get that. In a, you know, ultimately, yeah, let's, let's go to Ben Shapiro to check in as we always do when there's when we want to really, you know, I need my north star to find out where to go. There's, there's conflict on the right. We go to the big dog, Ben Shapiro, where does he stand? Brings us to what can only be called treason inside the administration, true treason. So yet another leak over the weekend. These loose need to be identified and the leakers need to be prosecuted, prosecuted today. I don't care whether you're an opponent of the war, whether you think the war is a good idea, a bad idea, how it's going, it doesn't matter. Weeks of classified information at the top levels. Just positive idea. To the press. See, this is right. This is what I love. Dude, this is where we're going. Like the more at, you know, it's, it's the more it starts off with like, dude, it doesn't, it doesn't even matter. Tucker Carlson doesn't matter. Okay, it doesn't matter that he's against this. Oh, what, oh, what are you telling me? Five of the top six shows in America who supported Donald Trump, all hate Donald Trump now. Okay, he's got little approval ratings that never, okay, this is the most unpopular war. But now it's like, listen, whether you're for the war against the war, we all should agree that the real outrage here is the people who illegally informed us that we're losing. That's the real outrage here. The real outrage is not, and listen, we can agree and to disagree here, Rob, you can, you can feel like Donald Trump betrayed his own voters and lied us into an illegal war of choice. And I can disagree with that. But we ought to be together that the biggest outrage is the government employee who told you the truth. And do you think this, do you think this will work, Rob? When he defines that as treason, is that in fact aiding and abetting an enemy or is he, no, no, more be mishandling of classified documents would be the legal charge. I mean, he is the lawyer, and I'm just the jerk off comedian, but no, that's not what treason is. Good point, Rob. Yeah. No, treason would be like, you know, if you got caught giving like military blueprints to the Iranians right now, that would be treason, like you fucking, you know, you helped the enemy at war. Although, I guess, technically speaking Donald Trump, they'd have a real issue on their hands. This is like, if you remember, it's a thing government can do. Do you remember when Obama got Obamacare passed the way they justified the legality of it was they said it wasn't a tax, you know, but then when it went to the Supreme Court, the way they found it constitutional was they said it was a tax. So like in this one example, it wasn't, but then in the other one, it was, and then you go, hey, you have to either be one over the other, which obviously it is a tax, but it's kind of similar where you go like, it can't really be treason if it's not technically a war, which isn't according to Donald Trump. So anyway, there's that you got other issues there too, but regardless of all of that. So if you do, if you do call it treason, you're kind of admitting that Donald Trump is conducting in a legal war. Anyway, no, it's not that, it's not that. But look, it is however you feel about like, you know, government leaks, it is just like, it really is always something when people are more appalled by the leaker than the information that they leaked. And this is exactly if you remember Rob, this was the heart of the impetus of rush a gate, right, was that essentially all this really embarrassing information was leaked. And so the first, the first step of rush a gate was to blame that
on the Russians. And therefore, you see, you're not supposed to care what was in those emails, you're just supposed to be more outraged about the fact that it was the Russians who got them to you. As if it wouldn't be valuable for us to know that the DNC rigged the primary against Bernie Sanders if the Russians had delivered that information. By the way, they didn't. But who cares if it had come from the Russians or not? I don't know about you. I'd still like to know that my politics are rigged. So anyway, it's just it's a bunch of that. Like what does it do? Are we running out of interceptors or not? That's what matters here. And if we are the big outrage is that you guys launched a war that actually compromised the war preparedness and readiness and national security of the United States of America, a war that we can't win. Like the information there is that we cannot win this war. That seems slightly more important to me. But what do you think, Rob? Well, you know, I also there's a big difference between leaking the strategy versus leaking a lack of strategy. And so, you know, someone leaked to the Washington Post. They're going to take these, the hidden materials on blank date. And here's the plan. I think even you and I would go, hey, they shouldn't be publishing that and you shouldn't be leaking that. In this case, you're just leaking the fact that there's no strategy here. And it might even be towards a very noble cause, which is that Donald Trump either is ignoring or not actually getting this intelligence. And people are actually quite nervous that Donald Trump is going to escalate a war that we can't even fight. And so they're trying to get this information out in a way that he absolutely can ignore it and might actually not make a foolish mistake. He haven't really, I firstly, the idea that this is going to thwart or negotiating standing with the Iranians. I would love an explanation for how this really changes the tables or their calculation. I would also love an explanation for why they needed this information from the Washington Post and that they apparently have no intelligence in any capacity. I think you'd need some really solid evidence that you actually undermine undermined our negotiating status. And then the actual causation here is that you might be keeping Trump from doing something really stupid. So I just to recap, this isn't treasonous. You didn't actually leak plans that anyone was going to do that can thwart an operation. You leaked a lack of a strategy and it might actually prevent the president from doing something stupid. So you just got to wonder like, where exactly is the harm here? Yeah, no, that's that's exactly right. Do you know, I love what you said there is such a good it was said so well. There you go that you got there is a difference between leaking a strategy and leaking the lack of a strategy, the absence of a strategy. And and you know, like there's obviously there's there's many different types of leaks like possible leaks, you know, like there's a leak that could be like, you know, like maybe let's just say there's like a thing where like someone was meeting with a guy, but they wanted the meeting to be secret because they thought it would be bad politically, you know, but they were trying to work on a decent deal that they could get with someone. And then over here, there was another policy and someone didn't get what they want. So they leaked the information that you were meeting with the guy who would make you look bad because they didn't get you know, like you could think of a leak that was like, oh, dude, that was fucka. But if you're talking about like the leak, I think most Americans feel differently about people leaking things that are like like things that are scandals that the government is doing or scandals that they're lying to you about or something they're doing to you know, Edward Snowden leaking that the government spying on you or or Bradley Manning leaking that the government's committing war crimes or like or in this example leaking that the Americans are absolutely posturing right now. The commander in chief is telling you that their military has been destroyed and we could do this forever and they have no choice and they have no chance at winning here when the reality is that we are up against it and we do not have the option to continue this. That's just inherently, I just think any normal person is going to look at that a little bit differently. Like I don't know. These are just different things. All right, let's let's keep playing. ought to be prosecuted because even if you wish for this war to reach some sort of crappy negotiated solution, if you want the U.S. to have a stronger hand in those negotiations, you cannot, you simply cannot be leaking, dissension within the ranks, supposed shortcomings in terms of material, the Washington Post for like the consecutive time and I have my because you know, it's like also it's like this Ben Shapiro man. He really is the king of like of being logical. You know, it's like he's evidenced and logical. It's not quite logic, but it almost sounds like it. You know, like we're going to say these things like, look, even if you're one of these people who want some pathetic, some pathetic negotiated end to this war, you got to want us to come into it with the strongest possible position so we can get the most from them. Like, no, that's not actually true. That's, that's just not actually true because there's so many more things than that to consider. All right, first of all, nobody wants a crappy negotiated peace. We recognize that's the best you can fucking get after idiots like you pushed this war for so long, okay? Like after, after you, like leading spokesman of the Israel lobby, who had been pushing this war for decades, that all of us told you would end here. Now we're saying, well, the best you can do is this. So let's get out of it. And no, it's not clear that we want the, listen, when you when you leak here Rob, it's not just that you're, I guess his argument is you're leaking to the the Iranians or something like that. So now they know that we can't keep going. So now they know they're in a stronger place for negotiating. I'm not saying there's no argument to that, but also Rob, me and you don't particularly care about like whether the Iranians extract more out of the detail or the fucking Israel lobby extracts more out of this agreement. We care that the dying stops and the our treasure being looted stops. But there's a whole other component to this that Ben Shapiro pretends to not consider, which is that the point of this leak is to inform the American people about this Rob. And if the American people's perspective is that, hey, we can keep doing this for another year, whatever, it doesn't matter. Or if the American people are informed that actually your leaders have launched this war of choice and completely depleted your national security as they say it, you know, the fence is what we're told these these weapons are for, then maybe there is value in people knowing that so that there's more pressure on the administration from the people to make a deal, whatever that deal is and get out of this thing. How about that? Like, like, there's also, there's obviously an argument, this is just basic, like honesty test. There's obviously an argument for those of us who wish for the war to end would like for there to be as much public pressure against our government to end the thing. The same way you guys support blockades against the Iranians. So there's more public pressure on their government, right? Like, we also support ending a war. So yes, we don't mind information coming out that makes people understand how idiotic this war was to launch. All right, guys, let's take a moment and think our sponsor for today's show, which is Ridge. I love this company. I am a proud owner of a Ridge wallet, and I have been for many years. They're great. I don't know if you're, if you still hang on to the traditional wallet, but you don't need to have a big leather brick in your back pocket. You can just get the Ridge wallet. It's cool. It's got everything you need. It's a minimalist wallet, but it's it holds your cash in your cards. Everything you need in the real cool. They have a unique slim modern design, and they're all made with premium materials like aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber. They have over 50 colors and styles to choose from. And I'm telling you, they're very, very cool. You should definitely check them out. They have over 100,000 five star reviews for a reason, and they have the RFID blocking technology. They also have the Ridge air tag attachment. So you always know exactly where your, your wallet is. 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I guess if you want to live in some reality where Donald Trump is always just around the corner from a win, and he's always around the corner from the greatest deal of all time, just everyone needs to be on board with his lying all the time. So remember, the Iranians have no missile capacity left. And telling anyone otherwise is undermining the president's agenda. Yeah, I guess if you, if you want to lorep in Donald Trump's reality that a victory is right around the corner, then I guess any information that's truthful undermines that reality. But guess what? That trick doesn't work. No one's, no one's fallen for it. Yeah, it's, it, it, and they always do this during wars. I just, I think you're right that no one's fallen for it anymore. But it's the same way like a, you know, like the way they would do your own research during COVID thing. Like, what are you doing? Stop looking into this or whatever. During war, they'll essentially, you know, it's the old truth is treason and the empire of laws, quote, they will say you start to point out things, they'll go, they'll go, but that's undermining the war effort. That's, that's against our troops. That means you're for the other side, Dave, you're for the bad guys and against the good guys. It's like, wait, but what if, what
saying is just true. Like, what if it's true? And I, you know, my everybody who's my age, I mean, this is like our coming of age story was all this shit through Iraq and Afghanistan, dude, the whole time, the whole time they told us. I mean, there's 20 years, dude, for Afghanistan, it's 20 fucking years. And Iraq, I mean, depending on exactly how you measure it, you know, we just had some troops, I think, leave there last week. So I don't know exactly how you measure it, but it was at least eight years of an incredibly bloody civil war, 15 years of military, you know, intervention, plus, you know, the years of full military occupation. The whole time, it told us how good it's going, how great it is. There were just elections. I remember like in 2004 or whatever year it was when they had the elections in Iraq, that's how great it's going. It's this, how great the Afghan army was, the Taliban's been completely defeated. And anytime anyone would point out the truth, they'd go undermining the war effort. This is helping the other side. This is so, you know, it's the most pathetic of games. It is, yeah, the problem here is that, you know, whatever the people might actually know what's going on. Yeah, let's keep playing. And I'd like a leaked report on what's going on in the middle of Ben Shapiro's lip. That is, nothing's come out yet. They've been very, they've been very tight lipped about that at the daily water. As do let's say, which wing of the administration is doing the leaking? I do not think it is a mystery wrapped in an igmo who exactly is doing the leaking at this point inside the administration. I don't think anybody's been watching this. So this is now, you can understand why I'm connecting Ben Shapiro's rant to the the civil war within the right. So here's his big, this is his big slam on, on our wing, I guess Rob broadly speaking, as if we really have much of a wing inside the administration anymore. I think everybody who's good has been, you know, called the low IQ loser by talking by Trump, excuse me at this point. So he's going, look broadly speaking, there's two different wings here, right? You know, broadly speaking, it could be like the Ben Shapiro wing and the R wing, right? There are right wingers who worship Israel. And there are also some of these right wingers who are like America first out there who don't want to fight all these wars. Now, Rob, which one of them do you think is leaking the information about this war? So there you go. There you go, Rob, that's the big hit on our side. Yuga, our side, the Neocon Ben Shapiro side would never leak information about how the war we just convinced the president to launch is completely unwinnable. We would never. Only the other side would let you know that. Wow, what a pitch Ben Shapiro. There you have it. Mark Levin would keep his mouth shut as he knew that there was no chance we could win this war and could only get people killed and damage the global economy. But if there's one thing he wouldn't do, it's tell you about that Ben Shapiro's candidate, 2028. There you go. That's what they have. Okay. Yeah, I mean, who the hell knows who it is, who leaked this or what his political or his or her political leanings are? Yeah, not completely unreasonable to suspect that they might be skeptical of the war. But Rob, what are we doing here? Like what a weird way to look at all of this? The relevant question would be, is this information true? Is this war completely unwinnable? And have we been completely misled? It's just one more. It's, it's, it's not just one more. It's one more gigantic reason why this was the most idiotic decision ever to launch this war. That's what matters. Us on the extremely pro war side of the right wing have decided we won't share any information that makes us look at wonderful. I mean, you could very likely, I mean, it's equally as likely that you actually do have Republicans who are in high ranking, you know, divisions of the military who are looking at the actual logistics of this and going, this needs to stop. And despite the fact that they are Republicans, they're looking at the actual intelligence and the fact that it's either not making it to its way to Trump or Trump's ignoring it or not seeing it. And you know, even sat down and had a meeting, hey, we're not supposed to leak information. Well, if it's not for us putting this into the newspaper, Pete Hegseth is going to tell it's something different to Donald Trump, and we're going to be back at war. And then it's going to come back to our way in six months when this is a disaster and we have zero military stockpiles. I think our best course of action right now is to make this public. That's also pop not saying that's what happened. No, you're right. It's possible. No, no, it's, it's more the look, it is absolutely true that it doesn't require at all. And on top of that, it's, it's quite likely that it's not somebody who ideologically like agrees with us or Tucker Carlson. It's like how many people like that are still in the administration, honestly. It's, it's, it's quite possibly Rob that this was leaked by someone who doesn't have strong ideological feelings about non interventionist foreign policy. It might even be somebody who's okay with Israel genocide in Gaza, just like Ben Shapiro would like. They could simply just recognize that this is like going to, that this could be terrible for our country. They may have some ounce of patriotism. That's all it would really take. So yeah, we have no idea, but that won't stop Ben Shapiro from trying to score political points in the most retarded way. Anyway, here, let's keep playing. Just who's doing it? But according to the Washington Post, several US military leaders have advised defense secretary Pete Hegseth at prolonging large-scale operations against Toronto's unsustainable and risks weakening their ability to confront threats elsewhere, including US homeland, according to people familiar with the recent assessment prepared for the Pentagon chief. The warning is detailed for Hegseth by the heads of the Army Navy and Air Force, and the four star commanders overseeing US operations throughout Europe, Asian Latin America appear in the August 14th edition of the Secretary Defense Order's book, according to those people. It described the assessment to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because the document is classified. Every single person who is leaking this stuff to the Washington Post needs to be identified, fired, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is insane. These leaks have to stop. They are a fact. They are in fact a treasonous act. It's a treasonous act to leak that information. Now, the administration is taking the bizarre position that the real problem here is the press. The problem here is not the press. The problem here is the members of the administration who are leaking. They should be tracked down, put the people on it inside the Pentagon whose job is to prevent the leaks. Sean Parnell over it, the Defense Department had publishing highly classified assessments from the Secretary's Order's book as a crime. It's a betrayal of the force and much of what they're publishing is inaccurate. Of course, we demand candid military advice. Non-conquerors are standard. The Secretary sees them constantly. That's how you run a real military. The story is in about readiness. It's TDS and PDS. They hate President Trump and Secretary Hegseth more than they love America. Now again, that's true. Identify the leakers and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. And none of that should be controversial. Back in 2010, Barack Obama literally fired the top Afghanistan commander standing in the crystal, not for leaking information, but for simply talking and disparaging ways about him. And then he was replaced by David Petraeus. So there's a long history of this sort of stuff. He'd Hegseth was asked about reports and missile stockpiles are running low. Here's his answer. Press reported that dealing all the attack of weapons were huge. Did the United States use both military and what would I answer? I mean, this is kind of a stupid question. I would never answer. Why would I answer a question about whether or who do or do not have certain types of initiatives? I'll tell you we have 110 percent. I'll tell you we have one. I would never answer that question. At American press, we just want to press at American World Department about where we may or may not be on classified deposit systems. We have plenty when we needed it. And we have plenty now. And we have plenty when we'll need them in the future. All right. You can cut it off there, Natalie. Well, that's basically where I wanted to get to. So this is what we're looking at, Rob. This is supposed to be an and look, Rob. Look, here, if you don't feel confident enough about this, here's a video of our Secretary of War spasming out in a defensive freak out when asked about the question with absolutely no answer. It's just crazy. They ask him about it and he goes, who are you going to ask me about? I can't do anything about this. So you think I'm going to tell you if we don't even have to do it. And you're like, this is supposed to be reassuring. This is, but Ben Shapiro, don't worry, Ben Shapiro. I had to really use something about this, dude. I mean, look, I don't know, man. He's calling people, he's saying this is treasonous and calling for people to be prosecuted. Now again, Rob, as I said, it's not treason. I mean, the way he would try to spin it as treason is that somehow this information was aid to the enemy and for them to know it is a big advantage. But that's really, it's really such a stretch. But just think about like Ben Shapiro literally is in effect a foreign spy in our country advocating for wars on behalf of a foreign country. And now he's calling for Americans to go to prison for the crime of informing the citizen ray about what a lie, the war that farmed spies in effect like Ben Shapiro. So like when you just think about that, Rob, they really think about the dynamic. It's like, I don't know, man, there's something just so profoundly evil about that. No, that wasn't the sentence we're going for my bad. I didn't mean to interrupt you.
you. Well, it's not what I was going to say, but it's just so fucked up. It's so goddamn evil. Like I just can't imagine like you're like advocating for some policy in the most duplicitous fashion. And then like if someone exposes that, you advocate that they look dude, I'm not trying again, I'm not the one being hyperbolic here. He's saying treason and prosecute. He's a lawyer. Okay. He knows what that means. I'm not sure. Rob, are you audience? Are you guys familiar with the punishment for treason? Okay. It ain't a slap on the wrist. It's public execution. This would bench affairs going for. He's saying these people should be killed. He is literally advocating that Americans be murdered for telling the truth to the American people. I'd like, I understand you're going, that's illegal. They're really starting to concentrate. Like, yeah, okay. All right. I don't give a shit. Like, I don't care what is the word illegal doesn't mean anything other than the government says you can't do it. So yes, the government says you're not allowed to tell when the government's committing profound crimes, whatever. But okay, I don't care about that. But I like people being told the truth. It's also just like to just, to just be in the business of doing what Ben Shapiro does and also be against people being given the truth does seem like a gigantic performative contradiction of some sort. Rob, no. I love, I love that hexf clip, which is how dare you. I'm not supposed to live in an environment with culpability for my actions. You know, me and the president are both on board with the strategy of winging it and just pretending like everything's fantastic. And we both agree that that's going to work out in the end. Don't ask me any questions. There's no reason why I should have to give any transparency here. This is all going great. All right, guys, let's take a moment and think our sponsor for today's show, which is pro long by El Nuta. I've been telling you about them for a while, guys. This is what you got to check out if you're looking to level up your health game. Pro long's five day fasting mimicking diet. It works at the cellular level to reset and rejuvenate you from the inside out supporting sustained fat loss, lean muscle, metabolism, slower aging and even glowing skin. And don't get intimidated when you hear the word fasting, you don't actually have to fast. You just get all the benefits of it. You do get to eat, though. Pro long is a plant-based nutrition program featuring soup, snacks and beverages that are specifically designed to nourish the body while keeping it in a fasting state, triggering cellular rejuvenation and renewal. It was developed over decades with USC's longevity institute and backed by top US medical centers. Pro long has been shown to support biological age reduction, metabolic health improvements, skin appearance, fat loss with muscle protection, energy and a healthier relationship with food. So if you're ready for your own reset for a limited time, pro long is offering hour listeners 15% off site wide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their five day program. Just visit pro long life dot com slash P O T P. That's P R O L O N L I F D dot com slash P O T P to claim your 15% discount and your bonus gift pro long life dot com slash P O T P. There's something to the fact that like in the in 10 years, you know, from 2016 to now, it went from being like Donald Trump was such a fucking, I don't know. Donald Trump was this just like, you know, ball in a china shop like this buffoon in this in this buffoonish. He was like a very freewheeling loose buffoon in a very uptight snooty buffoonish environment where the other buffoons were judging him for being a buffoon. It was just there's something so comical about it. And he was so ridiculous that it actually exposed how dumb, how terrible the media was because even this buffoon was making you look bad. And now it's almost like it's flipped that like it's like the media is so bad. And you're so much worse that they're still making you look bad. Like you're that you've come back to now like it was almost like it started as like if it was wrestling like the media was getting Trump over. It was like they were so bad that they could get his terrible thing over. And now Trump's so terrible that he can get the media's terrible thing over because I don't know. There's a million things you complain about about today's, you know, the state of journalism or those who claim to be journalists today. But when it's leaked that we're running, you know, that we cannot continue our war effort and that we're depleting our our ammunition's in our military year. It's like totally reasonable and absolutely the job of a journalist to ask that to the secretary of defense. Just like they, they, that's absolutely what you're supposed to do is go ask him whether or not that's true for him to be appalled that a journalist asked about it when someone in the government leaked it is just this is dumb. It's on the level of mid COVID. Hey, people who are getting the vaccines are seemingly popping positive for COVID and then Fauci yelling at them, hey, you're undermining our health strategy. It's like we've got this information. You're the person to ask this information to how dare you ask me a question. And that's treason because it helps our enemies, you know, same, same logic, right? And that's the same thing. And it's treason because if our enemies knew that that could help them, if they knew that we were our health strategy was terrible or something like that or that are, you know, whatever. All right, let's, let's switch over to Vivek Rob because I got a, I can't not, I can't not. I like Vivek, but man, this is, this, this almost was, I mean, I guess maybe after getting boot off the stage at young Americans for liberty, he's like, fuck that dude, I'm going back to, I'm, I'm going back to team Israel, but he's, you know, if you remember Rob and we've talked about this a bit, we did an episode on that speech that Vivek gave. Vivek was the one who tried in the presidential elections to kind of really straddle the fence. I think he recognized that he had to try to be kind of like the insurgent, you know, grassroots candidate and you couldn't really be pro-Israel and be that guy. So he would say things like, we're going to kill the terrorists on our southern border and Netanyahu, you go do the same thing or we'll do it separately, you know, it's like, we would try to like find common ground. Anyway, he gave a speech the other day at the, the Republican Jewish coalition and I don't know, man, I mean, I, this was really something to be hold. I kind of, I got to say, Rob, as somebody who liked Vivek Ramaswami, who likes Vivek like personally, who's known him. We were friendly and he's been on the podcast. He was on several times in 24 and I got to say, I am just, I'm shocked with the direction he's chosen to go with all of this. And I could not, I find almost, it is really hard to overstate how unappealing and politically idiotic this whole turn for Vivek has been from my perspective. We're going to get into it. But any comments before I play this clip here? No, let's roll the clip and then let's trash him. All right. Here is Vivek Ramaswami speaking at the Republican Jewish coalition. Let's play. And so you may ask the question, why am I here at the Republican Jewish coalition talking to you about success? It is because you represent the most successful demographic group in America. And the anti-Semitism that is now spreading across our country is not just an attack on Jewish people. It is an attack on success. It is an attack on the idea of success. It is an attack on the idea of meritocracy. It is an attack on the idea of capitalism. It is an attack on the very idea of America itself. That is true of the matter, and here already, oh my god. So this is in the middle of this moment. And by the way, also on top of everything else, on top of everything else, this is just so dishonest. Like Vivek just knows better. You know what I mean? It's so cynical. Like not no part of him believes this. And like I got to say this was always the thing about Vivek. He was always a nice enough guy. He was super smart. Like knew what he was talking about. He talked about interesting things. He had, we didn't agree on everything. It was bad on some issues, but he's really good on some other issues. But there was always like a fucking quality to him that was like, I don't know. Sky seems a little too slick, like not sincere. Like when I watch him say this, he's like, like he doesn't, dude, you're in the middle of this moment. There's, this is not again, we're not imagining this. You're not imagining that Tucker Carlson, Megan Kelly, Alex Jones, Candace Owens, you know what I mean? Like all of the fucking, the whole comedy podcast, like the whole, the all of the media has turned on Donald Trump. He's at his lowest approval ratings ever. Israel's approval for Israel has absolutely collapsed. The support for this war has never existed. Like there's a big split here on the right. And, and the Vakes comment here is that you know what it is here, dude.
You know why anti-semitism has risen so much over the last few years, success. It's a war on success. Everybody hates the Jews because of their success because you know, Rob, and you can actually see this mapped out on charts. And I'm not sure why this is, but it was like for several different economic reasons. It might have been a crop yield right after October 7th in the immediate response to October 7th. Which success just skyrocketed, dude, like just out of nowhere the last three years, Jews have been really successful. And so obviously with that came all of this Jew hatred. I hear it all the time. I can't do it. I can't go on on Twitter without hearing someone talk about how Jews have disproportionately dominated the field of chemistry and how, you know, the upper middle class dentists are like all Jews and, you know, how like, I don't know. It's like like where is actually any of the evidence for that to sit here and pretend it is so intentionally dishonest to sit here and pretend that what the split is about here, what the split is about is the fact that like, I don't know, Jewish people do well financially or that they're successful, I just, I don't know where, where is the evidence that that's what the resentment is over, and, and for Vivek to be saying this is the, in this context, it's like, but you're saying, you're saying that's the problem that all of us, that's how you size up all the rest of us, that's the issue we have with Israel. That's why all of this is exploded. All right. All right, guys, let's take a moment and think our sponsor for today's show, which is crowd health. This summer, enjoy real freedom and healthcare that actually works for you. Now, you've heard me talk about crowd health for many years, but now they've made it even better with the black swan membership. 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If you're ready to make the switch, head over to join crowdhealth.com and use the promo code POTP and you'll get your first three months for less than $85. That's join crowdhealth.com and the promo code is POTP. All right. Let's get back into the show. Dude, when I was listening to this, it was making me more anti-Semitic and it's like, oh, please don't talk about how successful Jews are. That doesn't, I don't think that, I don't think that helps the case at all. But firstly, there's still a flavor of who the hell are you to tell us about what it is to be an American and where other people and where other people are misguided about their American beliefs. Additionally, I think if there was a flavor of anti-Semitism towards Jewish success, it's whether or not that success was achieved in an honest mechanism. It's not, it's not exactly just a jealousy of success or a skepticism of how that success was achieved. Now, I don't want to fall into the trap of what the Israeli government does, which is trying to pretend that criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism because it's just not. It sounds to me like the vague is doing that here. And then the criticism is not just the success that Israel has achieved on its own because there's such a smart and hard work in culture. It's the amount of public funding that they're getting from America, the support they're getting from America, and that we're involved in wars and quagmires that we don't otherwise need to be involved in on their behalf. >> Yeah, I imagine framing it as success. And by the way, you know, probably we're not for just success, like however you defund, like, that's your problem, Rob. You don't enjoy a successful genocide, a successful destruction of Gaza, who had successful that destruction was. You must just hate success. Well, yeah, like, I don't like success. Like if you're a bank robber, I wish you failure, okay? If you're a rapist, I don't wish you success. Like success is bad in some senses, like, you know, and I guess we could play this romantic game and argue about what it truly means to be successful. But to frame this as like, that's the problem that people have. And then, yeah, of course, the other thing is, you know, the vague to be the face of what Americans are supposed to feel or what true Americanism is, already pretty ridiculous. But also like, you know, as you just touched on there, Rob, which is the ultimate key, right? Is that, look, if you're successful, let's say you're successful in the way that we do support, like someone being successful in the market. And someone were to say to you, like, hey man, you know, whatever, we're against your success. And you could sit there and go like, well, listen, this is how I created this success. You know, I created this success by employing 60,000 people and by opening this and creating this, but you know, whatever automobile and doing this and creating these things that make people, it's like the vague, like, I don't really know that much about his background business history. But it's like, you made your money in the pharmaceutical industry at a very young age. You're like a very young, super, super loaded, very, let's just say connected guy. I don't think you're the guy who should be lecturing people about success. You know, it's like the one of the things that people are very upset about is that this our whole economic system is so corrupt that a lot of the people who become successful become successful because they were more politically connected or they played dirtier or they cheated or they or the rules were rigged in their favor and to some degree. So like, no, Rob, like, like success is admirable when it's achieved in like a just way. It's not just like that success itself is good. And I got to say, man, one of the things, maybe not the first thing, but top three things that just like irritate the shit out of me about this is that you're like, he's turning all of this into some type of defense for capitalism. And you're like, dude, talk about the worst defense for capitalism in the world. I mean, the only underlying policy that people are objecting to on this front is socialism. It's militarism, military spending, foreign aid, you know what I'm saying? Like all types of speech laws and all types of lobbying efforts and all. It's all big government bureaucracy mess and he's framing this as like the people who have a problem with your tax dollars going to kill Palestinians or are just hate success and hate capitalism. And like, all right, look, dude, like there are a lot of socialists out there who also don't like Israel and so in some weird way, he's forcing them to be the spokesman of having a problem with the Jews and capitalism to be the people supporting them. But much like those people who are socialists, just make the anti-Israel movement look bad, the people who are capitalist supporting this shit just make capitalism look bad. So the worst, I can imagine a worse spokesman. What is Rob? If you really wanted to convince young people today about the virtues of free market capitalism, send a farmer scamming Indian who loves war or who is running cover for the war or something to them. What? All right, that's what free markets are. All right, let's keep playing. I'll paraphrase the great American writer Joseph Epstein, who's almost 90 years old now and a really funny guy. Just pause for a second. You couldn't have found someone with any other name. In the middle of this, you just had to quote your good friend Joseph Epstein. I mean, I understand he's a writer, Rob, it's not his fault. And you know, Gene Epstein is one of the greatest people I know, but it just in this particular speech, it was a weird time to say, and I sure would like to thank Jack Epstein, good friend of mine. Anyway. Sorry. He's Jewish, although he's lightheartedly described himself as Jewish, okay, that's his description. He wrote a short book in 2003 called Envy. And I'll paraphrase him as many have over the years. It resonates a lot more today, even than it did back then. You realize that almost every single vice offers some kind of immediate comforting reward. Think of the seven deadly sins. Pride makes you feel grand and important. Gluttony fills your stomach, lust satisfies your deepest physical urges, sloth lets you comfortably avoid the burdens of the world. They're all guilty pleasures. They're driven by a desire for satisfaction. But envy operates totally differently. Envy requires no satisfaction. It is born entirely out of malice, out of hidden rancor, out of a secret hostility for somebody else's happiness. It doesn't make you feel good even for a second. It clobberes your generosity. It clouds your thoughts. It shrivels your heart. We just sit there, completely miserable, stupid.
doing over what somebody calls it, for a second of this, you know, it really is, I mean, listen, we don't have to disagree with this. It really is the worst thing that the NBS, you know, at least like when you commit other sins, like when you crush newborn infants with buildings in front of their mothers, at least you get that rush of, like, killing a Palestinian, you know what I mean? But with envy, you're just like, you're just angry all the time, because I can't think of a worse than envy. Like, I just don't know, it's just also stupid. Like, there's, you know, part of like envy and there is a real problem with envy. Don't get me wrong about that. And there is a real problem with like leftism and socialism being mixed up with envy. But like, there's, there is a difference between envy and outrage, you know what I mean? Like, there's, there's a difference between envy and someone going, Hey, this is, this is outrageous that you're like, like, like, like achieving success so unfairly. So you know what I'm saying? Like, there's, there's a big difference between that. And I don't know. I also just, I guess maybe more broadly speaking, could there be a worse message to bring to the, the Republican Jewish coalition right now? But genuinely, could, do you think there is a worse thing, Rob? Like, that you could come to the, to the Jewish Republican coalition right now and be like, guys, we got to talk about what's going on right now. And here's the thing that you guys got to hear. You're awesome. And you know how you've noticed over the last three years that show everyone hates your fucking guts. It's because you're so awesome. So just keep being awesome, man. And they really got to learn to just fucking accept that you're better than them. You know, like, this is the message. Um, I can't think about how pathetic this is. If you're a average white American voter, let's just call it the core of the Republican party. And you're seeing this speech, all you're hearing is us scammy minorities need to stay, stick together because the rest of the population is getting jealous of what we have. And they're going to try and take it from us. And so we need to go preach to them about the American value of capitalism so that they quit complaining. And they just sit down and take it. I mean, you're going to either turn off Republicans or give more of a pathway towards these democratic socialists or at least pretending that they're going to steal other people's shit and that you're going to be the beneficiary of the stolen shit. Yeah. I was, you know, Rob, it's funny. You said, I was just trying to, uh, this is, by the way, this is just an unbelievable excellent point. You know, I, I got in a lot of trouble for making this point on a canvas own show. And I said something along the lines of, uh, because it was when they were first, this is right after October 7th, when they were first talking about all that anti-Semitism on college campuses. And I said, this is the most insulting thing ever to white people. I go, like, dude, there's been all this anti-white rhetoric on college campuses for decades, but all of a sudden, if there's one thing about the Jews, then the administration jumps into power. And I made the point that I was exactly like you said, I go, by the way, it's like, you know, you'd think, and this is part of the reason why people get so suspicious about this thing, why it leads to so many types of conspiracy theories, even some that I do think, uh, get, get kooky and even worse go into the realm of kind of like real bigotry and, and prejudice and hatred and stuff like that that I don't think is good. Um, but you would think, Rob, right? Like if I just, if I just showed you this speech, you would almost think, like, well, here you have a politician kissing the ass of a voting demographic, you know, that's what you got here. And so you'd think like that's got to be their big voting demographic as Jews, right? But no, the Republican party's whole voting demographic is white guys. I mean, it's like they, they don't, Jews are like, I think Jews, um, like, like to overwhelm, it's something like 75% of Jews are, are liberal or something like that. It's like the overwhelming majority of it. And Jews are like 2% of the population. So we're like 2% of the population may be a quarter of Jews vote Republican. It's like 25% of 2% of the population. And you're just sitting there with an open message that it's like, can you just better? You're better than them. These dummies who vote for guys like me, there's, it's just, it's, it's very strange to say, yeah, let's play, let's play one more little bit of it and then we'll, we'll call it a show. Seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all. And that, my friends, is the heart of the matter, I believe, when it comes to anti-stemitism in the modern era. I believe that it is envy of Jewish achievement, which spans science to medicine, the arts to business, that is actually the main driver of anti-stemitism. Now spreading it all over the country. Yeah. He's so close to just being like, hey, you know, for a small minority, you guys certainly hold very high positions across our economy. I mean, it really is incredible that for being 1% of the population, you look at how many people in government are actually from your minority. Everyone's sitting in the audience was cringing like, we try not to tell anyone. But it's again, dude, it's like, I, like, look, this is, and this is what I've always said about this. If you remember, Rob, me and you have talked about this for many years, even before, you know, anti-stemitism was kind of like as, as, you know, whatever, they want, whatever they, I'm not even trying to use the wrong, whatever they would call this rise and people talking about the Jews or whatever. You know, we used to, I remember actually us doing an episode back in like the studio at guest digital, like 2018 or something about Barry Weiss talking about this stuff. And then us just being like, yeah, but like, okay, if we're going to have this conversation, let's just like have it, honestly, because when you talk about look, Rob, it is true. And whatever we're coming to the end of the time here, we could talk about this some other time we have talked about this before. There's lots of reasons for why this is the case. But it is true that, like, say, Jews who are two percent of the population are like, as I said before, in like chemistry and dentistry and like Nobel prizes for different scientific achievement and all types of different things that were Jews are like way, way, way overrepresented. And you can certainly argue that in lots of these areas, these are things that really contribute to society. And so if you were going to be a dumb collectivist and start giving points for the Jews or points away from the Jews, like, yeah, these are things that almost should be counted for Jewish people. Jewish people have have very disproportionately like, like composed great symphonies. But also Rob, you would notice that, like, I've also listened to the people criticizing Jews. And none of that should ever come up. None of them have ever criticized Jews for that. I've just never heard that what they do criticize Jews in their disproportionate roles for is in banking, media, pornography, things like this. And it's hard to argue that those things aren't very destructive towards society. And so like, no, I don't think it's fair to blame all Jews for that. But to say the reason why people hate the disproportionate influence of Jews is purely envy. Like, the only reason you could oppose the federal reserve system is that, like, I just wish I was in on the racket is not true. Now, it also might be misguided, as I certainly think it is, to be like, you know, Jews were disproportionately involved in pornography. Therefore, I blame Jews for the pornography and all of that. But that's not envy. That's not what that is. It might be a different category error, or you could argue against extrapolating that from that that somehow Jews are responsible for something, or you could argue that like, that was an opening in the market that was going to be exploited by somebody at some point. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Like, there's lots of arguments. But to argue that your problem with that is just that you're jealous of how much pun that porn director is getting or something like that is stupid. You're not taking on their argument at all. You're just, you're, I don't know, this is a big being like the worst cheapest politician. Um, it's one of two things. He's either made the uh, miscalculation of, we got a pull from the Hillary Clinton playbook and shame the voters because that's the way that you get their support is by shaming them into submission. Uh, or he's walking into a room of, uh, potential Jewish donors and going, Hey, I got your back. I understand. I understand it's just envy and that's why they're coming for you. So I will say, dude, I hate, uh, you know, and we got to wrap up here. So I hate to wrap up just speculating on his things, but I got to say that does sound like it makes a lot more sense because you got to say, man, if you're going to be a phony politician, you wouldn't be, what are you doing? What are you doing to make? This is the most unappealing thing I've ever seen. Or this is like you said, lecturing the voters about their own, that's the problem. Cause I thought the fake, we were on the same page, at least every time we ever talked that actually there was this whole criminal class in Washington, DC, who was just looting the American people. And by the way, that class is not gone. We all the things that we agreed on about how the government's spending and all this stuff, just like rapes the American people. That's all still going on. Stop lecturing the people about how they're envious. Maybe you should have a problem with the fact that this whole goddamn criminal class is just, you know, bankrupted the country on the backs of the workers. Anyway, all right. That's our episode for today. Portshore.com, commentate Smith.com. Catch you next time tomorrow, guys. Thomas Massey on the show. Big, big show. There you go. Drop to the end. Catch you then. Peace.
(upbeat music)
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
The hosts apologize for an error in uploading an old clip mistakenly labeled as new, and clarify that Bannon did not make recent comments; the remarks were from earlier.
They acknowledge a broader cultural shift where AI-generated content is becoming increasingly realistic and challenging to distinguish from human-made content, raising concerns about authenticity and oversight.
A significant political observation is made
The hosts emphasize a growing split on the right, highlighting the potential rise of a non-interventionist, anti-war right-wing movement as a counterbalance to war-driven, militarized factions.
There is strong criticism of Ben Shapiro’s framing of military leak disclosures as treason, which the hosts argue is legally and ethically flawed—leaking strategic gaps may prevent catastrophic decisions, not aid enemies.
A key point is made about the normalization of disinformation
Vivek Ramaswami’s recent speech linking anti-Semitism to economic success is condemned as dishonest and ideologically manipulative, misrepresenting societal animosity toward Jewish communities.
The hosts suggest a political compromise
They stress the importance of transparency and public accountability, especially in military and political decision-making, as a foundation for democratic integrity.
Summary:
The hosts, Dave Smith and Rob, open with an apology for a technical error in uploading an old clip, clarifying that past comments attributed to Bannon were made years ago, not recently. They reflect on the growing influence of AI in media, noting how realistic AI-generated content is becoming, which demands greater scrutiny and human oversight. S.
political dynamics, identifying a current period of quiet tension—post-crisis, pre-election—marked by deep divisions within the Republican Party. The hosts argue that the most significant political development will be the emergence of a non-interventionist right-wing movement as a counter to militarized, war-driven factions. They criticize Ben Shapiro for framing military leaks as treason, calling it legally unfounded and morally problematic, especially when such leaks may prevent disastrous decisions.
A major critique is directed at Vivek Ramaswami’s claim that anti-Semitism stems from Jewish economic success—viewed as dishonest, reductive, and ideologically misleading. The hosts advocate for a political compromise: ending the fixation on Trump-era chaos and woke culture to return to meaningful policy discussions on healthcare, unions, and national security. Ultimately, they emphasize that transparency, especially in military and government operations, is vital to democratic resilience, and that public scrutiny of official narratives is not only justified but necessary.
FAQs
They apologized because they mistakenly used a clip from a previous episode, thinking it was new. Dave admitted it was a 'sloppy' mistake and acknowledged it was the second time he had made such an error, emphasizing the importance of double-checking content before airing it.
They believe the country is in a 'calm before the storm' phase, following years of crisis and propaganda, with a growing sense of political fatigue and a looming presidential election cycle just one year away.
They identify a growing split between right-wing factions: one supporting military-industrial complex and war policies (like Trump or Israel lobby) and another advocating for non-interventionist, anti-war foreign policy.
They argue that the war on Iran and ongoing military policies are increasingly seen as unwinnable, with high-ranking military leaders warning of unsustainable risks, and they question the transparency and honesty of the administration’s messaging.
Ben Shapiro calls leaking classified military assessments treasonous and demands prosecution, but Dave and Rob argue this is misleading—leaking information about a war's unsustainability is not treason, but rather a form of public accountability.
They suggest both sides—right and left—should stop focusing on Trump’s shenanigans and woke culture (like ESG or trans policies), allowing space for more reasonable discussions on issues like healthcare, unions, and government policy.
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