January 5, 2026 • 30 mins
On today's podcast we discuss Trump's plans to ‘Run’ Venezuela and tap its oil reserves.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
who is a professional sucker duca stay in Drama Free.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
He is the Q and the QR code. He goes
by the name of q War.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay, so I've been black my whole life and really
really really into hip hop since probably like three years old.
I have no idea what Rams has just said. Rams
is the R and QR code, And yeah, we're back.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
And we need to stick around a little. Later on
the show, we're gonna be talking about MTV. Don't know
if you're like us and grew up with MTV, but
MTV Music channels have shut down permanently starting January one,
twenty twenty six, and so the end of an era.
Prior to that, we're going to be asking the question.
I think I'm going to go first today. She was
(01:00):
going to take the question tomorrow. But were you popular
or not in high school? And what did it teach you?
So we're going to learn that about each other.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Q words clapback.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
The US has always been the savior in the world,
but who saves the us. We're going to share our
opinions naturally on Trump's plans to run Venezuela and.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Tap its oil reserves.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
That sort of came out of left field, and if
you're like us, a deep dive is probably going to
leave you even more confused. But we're definitely going to
do our best to kind of sift through you know
what we know so far about that, And we're gonna
start off talking about something that we wanted to talk
about for a long time, something going on in the culture.
(01:46):
The Kennedy Center is in trouble, and you know us,
having recently been to the Kennedy Center is it's something
that we kind of know on a personal level. So
stay tuned for all that and so much more. But
right now, as always, would like to start off with
a feel good feature. In today's feel good feature comes
from the Associated Press and Incoming mayors Or On mam
(02:09):
DOWNI took his midnight oath of office on a century's
old Quran, marking the first time a mayor of New
York City uses Islam's holy text to be sworn in
and underscoring a series.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Of historic firsts for the City.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
The thirty four year old democrat became mayor in a
long closed subway station beneath city Hall, the first Muslim,
first South Asian, first African African born person to whole deposition.
After working part of the night in his new office,
Mam Donnie returned to City Hall in a taxi cab
around midday Thursday, Ray grander public inauguration, where US Senator
Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor's political heroes, administered the
(02:46):
oath for a second time. These milestones, as well as
the historical Quran, reflect the long standing and vibrant Muslim
residents of the nation's most populous city. According to a
scholar who helped mom Donnie's wife, Rama Duaji, select one
of the books, most of mom Donnie's predecessors were sworn
in on.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
A Bible, although the oath to uphold the federal.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
State, and city constitutions does not require the use of
any religious text, and while he has focused heavily on
the issue of affordability, during his campaign, Mom Donnie was
outspoken about his Muslim faith. He frequently appeared at mosques
across the five boroughs as he built a base of
support that included many first time South Asian and Muslim voters.
So of course that happened January one, and you know,
(03:31):
we were not in the studio, but this is our
first show back and so we weren't going to leave
that one off of the show sheet today. So shout
out to Zorn, Mom, Donnie. That little bit of hope,
that little bit of silver lining that does go a
long way. And so thank you for today's feel good
(03:52):
feature and best of luck to you, sir. All right,
let's talk about the candid now again. For those of
you that have not been to the Kennedy Center, for
those of you that you know, it's just kind of
a thing that exists, you know, more of Donald Trump's trumping.
(04:16):
I understand how you feel. Had I not been to
the Kennedy Center myself with Q, I would have probably
never heard of it until this story broke. But you
and I had the privilege of I think, and correct
me if I'm wrong. Q. We went to see Jasmine
(04:36):
Crockett and Ben.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Crump where those are two that we saw there. They
had like a meeting or something among others. Okay, yeah,
so that was it.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
But I remember going there and this place is such
a special place, and.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
It feels sort of like maybe I.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Don't know, I'm not intimately familiar with it, but it
feels special to me. But maybe it feels like sort
of like America's ballroom. Maybe it feels like America's stage,
you know, America's theater. Perhaps it just feels like a
very special place and it belongs to all of us.
And so when Donald Trump started to slap his name
(05:20):
on the building, a lot of people were rightfully upset
about it. And this is why if you hadn't heard
of it before, now now you know. Okay, Obviously, for
me to be able to meet with these great thought leaders,
these great minds, is great political activists, et cetera in
this space. But for some of the folks, that was
(05:41):
my first time meeting with them. You know, they'd heard
about our shows and whatever, but that's our first time
being able to shake their hands. And of course, they
exist on a national platform in a way that you know,
as broadcasters, we just don't there. You know, everyone is
beholden to them, well not everyone, but you know, they
influenced the country in a different way. But to see
(06:06):
these black people, these powerful black people on this stage
at America's ballroom in America's theater.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
That felt like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That inclusivity that a lot of us, I think, feel
like we're chasing. I'll speak for myself, one of those
things that maybe chasing is not the right word, but
when it happens, you feel very special. Right like when
Obama was elected, that felt special, like Okay, we do matter.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I know that a lot of people would rather us
not exist or you know whatever, but you know you
have these bright moments from time to sign. Well, for me,
that was one of those bright moments at the Kennedy Center. Okay,
So I'm going to share some of the troubles the
Kennedy Center has been dealing with. So first, this comes
from the Daily Beast. The Kennedy Senator Center, Sorry, has
put a perplexing pr spin on the abysmal ratings for
(06:57):
the latest TV broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, which
was hosted by President Donald Trump this year's honorees at
the Maga Fied Venue where Trump friendly artist George Strait,
Sylvester Stallone kissed, Michael Crawford and Gloria Gainer. However, ratings
for the event broadcast on CBS on December twenty third,
so this was you know, back then, we're historically low.
(07:20):
The show average three point one three point zero one
million viewers, down twenty five percent from the previous year.
That didn't stop the publicist for the Kennedy Center finding
a way to blame Democrats for the fact Americans seemingly
didn't want to watch Trump, who had plugged the event
on his social media, or the selection of antique talent.
(07:41):
So you know the rate, it takes a while for
the ratings come back. So we're just getting these articles now.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But in any event, that sort of sets the stage.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
This of course, was after Donald Trump changed you know,
the name of the Kennedy sentator to his own name
or whatever. But I want to share another article, this
from The Guardian. The takeover of the National Cultural Center
began in February, in what many critics regard as a
case study and institutional capture. Trump ousted members of the
(08:13):
Kennedy Center board appointed by former President Joe Biden, took
over as chair, and installed Rick Grinnell, a longtime ally
and former ambassador to Germany, as its president. In November, Whitehouse,
the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee launched a formal investigation into allegations of widespread cronyism,
(08:35):
financial mismanagement, and corruption at what he describes as a
secular temple to the arts. Democrats on the committee said
they obtained documents that suggest the National Cultural Center is
being operated as a slush fund and private club for
Trump's friends and political allies. That was a quote, resulting
(08:55):
in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation
from its deaty mission. White House sent a letter to
Grenell demanding detailed documents and records. Grenell issued a fiery response,
accusing the Senator of quote partisan attacks and false accusations.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Unquote.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
He claimed that neglect by the center's previous leadership left
it in financial chaos and was quite literally making the
building fall apart.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
That also was a quote.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
White House, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board,
remains undeterred and determined to press on with his investigation.
Speaking in his office on Capitol Hilly explained, quote, we
began to get information about mischief taking place at the
Kennedy Senator Center. It's tough to say, and we got
strong enough signals that we mounted an effort to dig
into it and see what seemed to actually be going on.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It was out of that effort that the report and
letter came, which basically suggested that when the brigands took
the ship, their first instinct was to loot it for
their own benefit and hire their friends and put people
up in fancy rooms at the Watergate Hotel, which is
right in the same area, and let favored organizations get
free access, and it was all a part of a
(10:04):
maga party atmosphere. A central change of the investigation is
that the Kennedy Center is providing preferential access and financial
benefits to organizations connected to the Trump administration and its allies.
According to a contract, Grinnell granted World Football's governing body
FIFA free and exclusive use of the entire Kennedy Center
(10:25):
campus from twenty four November to twelve December for the
World Cup draw. Estimates provided by White House show this
will cost the center five million, thirty four dollars and
losses from direct rental fees, programming and rescheduling, labor, food
and beverage, and other services. Multiple events were canceled or
rescheduled to accommodate FIFA, so he's painting a picture here.
(10:45):
I want to just full disclosure. The article goes on
these people who are in charge of the Kennedy Center.
Now they mount their defense of this. If you want
to check it out again, it's a Guardian article, but
just for the second time, I want to make sure.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
That we're able to reflect.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
So the first thing I want to say, and then
you know, uh, obviously you know Q has his thoughts too,
But the first thing I want to say is that
for a person that said he wants to be a
dictator on day one and then has himself and everyone
(11:22):
else attempted to distance the Trump administration from a dictatorship
after the No King's protest and after the blackout protests
and all that sort of stuff, this is absolutely dictator
stuff right here. I want my name on the building.
(11:43):
I'm alive right now, I want my accolades, my honors.
If it belongs to the country, it belongs to me,
right and then using it, you know, as this his
last name is white House, so as you know, Senator
white House suggest using it to accommodate his guests. Bear
(12:14):
in mind, the FIFA organization is the one that gave
him the the made up peace prize that they made
up to try to pander to.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Him, and on and on and on.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Okay, so I just wanted to make sure that I
stated that it's again, it's the thing that I've actually
been here.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I've kind of seen this place, got to walk the
halls there. I just felt like it would be irresponsible
not to point that out. Anything to add.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Herequ well, they're not trying to pander their pandering okay, yeah,
and not distancing themselves from dictatorship in the same way
they're not distancing themselves from racism. They don't like being
called either, but they've done nothing to distance themselves from
either accusation.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, that's a better way to say it.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
The strange thing about the dictatorship about face, these are
your words.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
We didn't make that up, you said, dictator sir.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
So it's hard not to conflate everything together because all
the decisions are the same. Like you said, rename everything
after me, everything that's the country is actually mine. And
then when you say that out loud, then it's like, oh,
so that's what America first means. Like once you connect
(13:38):
those two dots, then all the slogan and all the
branding and make Trump great again.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Trump First.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It's like, oh, so that's why the Maga hats are
made in a different country, and that's why he's collapsing
everything so that it benefits him.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, And you know, it's funny that America first philosophy,
if you will, political ideology slogan that he campaigned on.
It's actually wid at least some people thought that they
would vote for him. He convinced him, or they were
(14:23):
their ears were poisoned to Kamala Harris and they thought, Okay, well,
this guy's going to put America first.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
I'm American. Let's go. But those people are having to
deal with the sobering reality.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Right now because and of course now we're at our
opinion segment, we're going to take a little while here
to flesh out this conversation. But yeah, we kind of
like invaded a foreign country. Don't know if you heard
about that, but it was big news. And now Donald
Trump plans to run Venezuela and tap its oil reserves.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Who to thunk? Okay, so let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
This from the Associated Press, hours after an audacious military
operation that plucked leader Nicholas Maduro from power and removed
him from the country. President Donald Trump said Saturday that
the United States would run Venezuela at least temporarily and
tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.
The dramatic action in captain intensive Trump administration pressure campaign
(15:24):
on the South American nation and its autocratic leader, and
months of secret planning, resulting in the most desertive American
action to achieve regime changed since the two thousand and
three invasion of Iraq. Legal experts immediately raised questions about
whether the operation was lawful. Venezuela's Vice president, Delsi Rodriguez,
demanded in a speech that the US Freemaduro and called
(15:46):
him the country's rightful leader, before Venezuela's High Court ordered
her to assume the role of interim president. Speaking to
reporters hours after Maduro's capture, Trump revealed his plans to
exploit the leadership boy to fix the country's oil infrastructure
and sell large amounts of oil to other countries. Maduro
and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a
(16:07):
military base, were first taken abroad a US warship on
their way to face prosecution for a Justice Department indictment
accusing them of participating in narco terrorism conspiracy.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
The legal authority for the.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Incursion, done without congressional approval, was not immediately clear, but
the Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward
reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the US. The
president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including
a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.
Trump claimed the US government would help run the country
(16:41):
and was already doing so, though there were no immediate
signs of that. Venezuelan state TV continued to air pro
Maduro propaganda, broadcasting live images of supporters taking to the
streets and Caracas in protest. Maduro and other Venezuelan officials
were indicted in twenty twenty on narco terrorism conspiracy charges,
but the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of
(17:02):
Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. They painted the regime
as a corrupt, illegitimate government fueled by drug trafficking operation
that flooded the US with cocaine. The US government does
not recognize Madureau as the country's leader.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Okay, so there's a lot here.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Do you want to go first, Q, because I don't
want to say something and then you not be able
to say it.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I mean, sure, man, okay, it's all yours.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I think it's important to say before we move further,
that two things can be true simultaneously.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
All right, I like this, and we have to be.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Very careful here, because there's a way to say this
and sound like you're in support of or making an
excuse for providing bail for what happened. It's also a
time where as we've seen from US government social media accounts,
verified propaganda thrives on absolutes and simplicities and superlatives right.
(18:12):
The truth, however, is often, if not always, far more complicated.
So again, two things being true at the same time.
So it can be true that President Maduro is how
you say his name is in undemocratic, corrupt, authoritarian himself.
(18:36):
At the same time, it could also be true that
what the US did was not about restoring democracy there,
it was not about human rights, and it definitely was
not about this war on drugs that they've been telling
us for months is why they're bombing boats coming from Venezuela.
(18:59):
Those two things are facts that are not in conflict
with one another. This was not a justice for all
move by the country who sweeps in to save the day.
This was strictly and straightforwardly imperialism power and understanding that
(19:20):
distinction will keep us from misunderstanding everything that comes after that. Right,
So Ramses, we have an interesting job, man. We have
to observe all these things as they happen in real
time and kind of wait for a time for them
to be reportable. Some of our communication from the news
(19:42):
desk is often here's some information, we can't report on
it yet, yeah and barbod yeah. Other times, here's some information.
Go right, So here we are. Venezuela did not collapse
out of thin there. This is another important distinction. The
country suffered from extreme well dependents, corruption and mismanagement, dismantling
(20:05):
of democratic institutions, and repression of political opposition. That might
sound like we're describing another country, one that you're far
more familiar with. However, we're talking about Venezuela right now.
Millions of Venezuelans had to pay the price for this, right, Hunger, displacement, instability.
(20:29):
None of that should be minimized.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Criticizing this US imperial behavior does not require for us
to defend President Maduro. That's a false choice that they
want you to have to make, right, the good guy versus.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
The bad guy. And it's not that binary doesn't exist.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Here, correct, But Rams, let's talk about what happened, and
I would instead of like me going for a long time,
I would prefer a back and forth on this.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Again.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
I'm going to say this and please chime in. This
was not a war on drugs. Like I know that
seems obvious now, but and maybe I'm mistaken, but this
is what they've been saying for months, correct.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Right, right?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Okay, So let me here's where I want to jump in. Okay,
first thing, we've known for forty years. Who the real
winner of the war on drugs is. I think Ronald
(21:37):
Reagan and Nancy Reagan. They they're the ones credited with
like launching the war on drugs. But at the end
of the day, the winner of the war on drugs
was drugs.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Right. Instead of focusing on.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Accessibility, you know what I mean, and like the infrastructure
of drugs within the country, what they would do is
use that as justification to go to countries around the world,
destabilize them under their resources, and install compliant regimes that
will be sympathetic to US interests go.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
So, everything that Rams has just said was true, But
this is important to point out before we move on drugs.
Right the war on drugs, drug trafficking thrives in countries
that the US considers allies. Cartels operate openly with like
(22:47):
intact banking systems, and money laundering flows through US and
europutions go ahead. The US has ever used unilateral military
force to arrest a sitting head of state purely for narcotics. Ever, Okay,
(23:11):
I don't want the listeners to think there was a
time where, even using the War on drugs and as
an excuse, where we did this.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
It's never been done before for that reason.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
All right, now watch this when I say that drugs
won the War on drugs. Of course I can't confirm this,
but there is a popular rumor based off an interview
that Donald Trump Junior did. He might have been talking
to Fox News and he was like really amped up.
He was not his normal self, and people were like, Yo,
(23:44):
this dude is on drugs right now. I've never done
a drug, so I don't know what it does to you,
and I don't don't really care. But you know, this
was kind of what people were saying, but it seemed
like the people that were talking about this kind of
knew what they were talking about, right. And of course
he's the son of the president. He's not going to
(24:04):
get any trouble, So there's that, right. So one has
to imagine that if not him, people like him are
the reason that drugs are in such high demand.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
But no one's going to go after Donald Trump Junior
for doing the drugs, for possessing the drugs, and none
of that sort of stuff. They're going to go out
of these after these poor countries, right, So I want
to make sure that that's stated in addition to what
I said about drugs winning the war on drugs, Okay.
The other thing that people say is Maduro was a
brutal ruler.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I got a couple of things to say about this, Okay,
So he was awful for the country. And are people
around the world saying, hey, look, Venezuelan's can go back
to Venezuela. Now you know, things are more, things are
easier now that he's gone. They have a path forward,
blah blah blah. Right, But I want to be very
clear there a lot of people that are upset that
(25:02):
he's been kidnapped from his own country, right, A lot
of people that voted for this guy. So I want everybody,
doesn't matter what sally you're on, I want everybody to
think about this for a second. In this country, half
as near as makes no difference of the population voted
for Donald Trump, and the other half would love to
(25:23):
see this guy get abducted by aliens that would be
way better than the helicopter and then flown to another parsec,
you know. And there was some be some people that
would revote in some people that would say, no, it's good.
I'm glad he's gone. Now we can breathe freely. Right,
(25:44):
And so bear that in mind that there's more than
one way to look at a situation. But let's say
he is a brutal ruler. Okay, this is to keep
that same energy part of the show. So is putin
who Donald Trump supports. By the way, so is uh Bolsonnaro.
(26:08):
Donald Trump also supports. So was the drug trafficking former
head of Honduras. His name was Juan Orlando Hernandez. Donald
Trump just pardoned. It might have been ten days ago,
maybe something like that ten fifteen days ago, he was convicted.
If I'm not mistaken, I think we covered the story.
He pled guilty or something like that to the charges, right,
(26:32):
so there was nothing Donald Trump pardoned him. Now I
might be mistaken, so please don't hold me to that.
But and I could talk about Nan Yah.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Who of course he was convicted and pardon You're not mistaken.
You talk about minutia and the semantics he was convicted
of that thing and pardon that man.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
So if this was an effort to the last name
you said, Sagan, what was the last name you said?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yahoo? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (27:04):
I think with the president like or just party on
New Year's Eve for like they were just kicking it
like a couple of days ago, boom bars.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
So if this regime was really about, like, hey, look
these drugs, is where it's at. Bear in mind that
at first they were trying to target fentanyl. That's what
they said. These volts are bringing fencin to the United States,
and we reported that, you know he you know, fence
and all, Like I think it's like less than point
zero one percent of fence and all comes from Venezuela.
(27:35):
That's not a real thing. But that was the narrative
that Donald Trump was selling to the Americans people.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Right, I mentioned there was no evidence to support that none,
thank you, nothing, not a little bit, not kind disorder, nope, none.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
We knew exactly where the fencing all was coming from,
so it wasn't a fencing all thing. Then they started
to say that it was drugs like cocaine, that sort
of stuff. And now the conversation is shifted to who's
going to control the oil and stabilize oil markets in
this part of the country. Now I happen to know
(28:10):
that oil companies contributed to Donald Trump, donald Trump's ascension
to the presidency both times. And wouldn't it be quite
the favor if Donald Trump invaded a country there was
supposed to be no new wars.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
It was supposed to be America.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
First, they started trying to justify this America first by saying, well,
it's South America, so that's American interest. No, it's the
interest of Donald Trump and Exon Mobile.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, but.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
You know these folks paid for him to ascend to
the office of the presidency and out of the thin
blue sky. Over the course of three weeks, we go
from blowing up fishing boats because they have fentanol, to
removing the president because he's a brutal ruler and a
(29:05):
narco terrorist. Days after Donald Trump pardoned a convicted narco
terrorist who we had in our country already. And you
know what, for people that don't know all this stuff,
it just seems like, oh my gosh, I need to
pay closer attention. I didn't know that Venezuela was so bad.
(29:26):
But for those of us that's watched this stuff every day,
we're like, Okay, he just made this up and he's
just going along with it, and it's rinse and repeat.
He just says a thing, No one reacts to it,
so he says it again, is wild, is unfounded. No
one else's reacting, so he says it, says it, says
it and by it. After enough time, it becomes true
(29:48):
enough to where people don't even question it. And he's
the Republican president that did with the last three Republican
presidents did.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Stay tuned. We got more coming for you after this
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
who is a professional sucker duca stay in Drama Free.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
He is the Q and the QR code. He goes
by the name of q War.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay, so I've been black my whole life and really
really really into hip hop since probably like three years old.
I have no idea what Rams has just said. Rams
is the R and QR code, And yeah, we're back.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
And we need to stick around a little. Later on
the show, we're gonna be talking about MTV. Don't know
if you're like us and grew up with MTV, but
MTV Music channels have shut down permanently starting January one,
twenty twenty six, and so the end of an era.
Prior to that, we're going to be asking the question.
I think I'm going to go first today. She was
(01:00):
going to take the question tomorrow. But were you popular
or not in high school? And what did it teach you?
So we're going to learn that about each other.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Q words clapback.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
The US has always been the savior in the world,
but who saves the us. We're going to share our
opinions naturally on Trump's plans to run Venezuela and.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Tap its oil reserves.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
That sort of came out of left field, and if
you're like us, a deep dive is probably going to
leave you even more confused. But we're definitely going to
do our best to kind of sift through you know
what we know so far about that, And we're gonna
start off talking about something that we wanted to talk
about for a long time, something going on in the culture.
(01:46):
The Kennedy Center is in trouble, and you know us,
having recently been to the Kennedy Center is it's something
that we kind of know on a personal level. So
stay tuned for all that and so much more. But
right now, as always, would like to start off with
a feel good feature. In today's feel good feature comes
from the Associated Press and Incoming mayors Or On mam
(02:09):
DOWNI took his midnight oath of office on a century's
old Quran, marking the first time a mayor of New
York City uses Islam's holy text to be sworn in
and underscoring a series.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Of historic firsts for the City.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
The thirty four year old democrat became mayor in a
long closed subway station beneath city Hall, the first Muslim,
first South Asian, first African African born person to whole deposition.
After working part of the night in his new office,
Mam Donnie returned to City Hall in a taxi cab
around midday Thursday, Ray grander public inauguration, where US Senator
Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor's political heroes, administered the
(02:46):
oath for a second time. These milestones, as well as
the historical Quran, reflect the long standing and vibrant Muslim
residents of the nation's most populous city. According to a
scholar who helped mom Donnie's wife, Rama Duaji, select one
of the books, most of mom Donnie's predecessors were sworn
in on.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
A Bible, although the oath to uphold the federal.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
State, and city constitutions does not require the use of
any religious text, and while he has focused heavily on
the issue of affordability, during his campaign, Mom Donnie was
outspoken about his Muslim faith. He frequently appeared at mosques
across the five boroughs as he built a base of
support that included many first time South Asian and Muslim voters.
So of course that happened January one, and you know,
(03:31):
we were not in the studio, but this is our
first show back and so we weren't going to leave
that one off of the show sheet today. So shout
out to Zorn, Mom, Donnie. That little bit of hope,
that little bit of silver lining that does go a
long way. And so thank you for today's feel good
(03:52):
feature and best of luck to you, sir. All right,
let's talk about the candid now again. For those of
you that have not been to the Kennedy Center, for
those of you that you know, it's just kind of
a thing that exists, you know, more of Donald Trump's trumping.
(04:16):
I understand how you feel. Had I not been to
the Kennedy Center myself with Q, I would have probably
never heard of it until this story broke. But you
and I had the privilege of I think, and correct
me if I'm wrong. Q. We went to see Jasmine
(04:36):
Crockett and Ben.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Crump where those are two that we saw there. They
had like a meeting or something among others. Okay, yeah,
so that was it.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
But I remember going there and this place is such
a special place, and.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
It feels sort of like maybe I.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Don't know, I'm not intimately familiar with it, but it
feels special to me. But maybe it feels like sort
of like America's ballroom. Maybe it feels like America's stage,
you know, America's theater. Perhaps it just feels like a
very special place and it belongs to all of us.
And so when Donald Trump started to slap his name
(05:20):
on the building, a lot of people were rightfully upset
about it. And this is why if you hadn't heard
of it before, now now you know. Okay, Obviously, for
me to be able to meet with these great thought leaders,
these great minds, is great political activists, et cetera in
this space. But for some of the folks, that was
(05:41):
my first time meeting with them. You know, they'd heard
about our shows and whatever, but that's our first time
being able to shake their hands. And of course, they
exist on a national platform in a way that you know,
as broadcasters, we just don't there. You know, everyone is
beholden to them, well not everyone, but you know, they
influenced the country in a different way. But to see
(06:06):
these black people, these powerful black people on this stage
at America's ballroom in America's theater.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
That felt like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That inclusivity that a lot of us, I think, feel
like we're chasing. I'll speak for myself, one of those
things that maybe chasing is not the right word, but
when it happens, you feel very special. Right like when
Obama was elected, that felt special, like Okay, we do matter.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I know that a lot of people would rather us
not exist or you know whatever, but you know you
have these bright moments from time to sign. Well, for me,
that was one of those bright moments at the Kennedy Center. Okay,
So I'm going to share some of the troubles the
Kennedy Center has been dealing with. So first, this comes
from the Daily Beast. The Kennedy Senator Center, Sorry, has
put a perplexing pr spin on the abysmal ratings for
(06:57):
the latest TV broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, which
was hosted by President Donald Trump this year's honorees at
the Maga Fied Venue where Trump friendly artist George Strait,
Sylvester Stallone kissed, Michael Crawford and Gloria Gainer. However, ratings
for the event broadcast on CBS on December twenty third,
so this was you know, back then, we're historically low.
(07:20):
The show average three point one three point zero one
million viewers, down twenty five percent from the previous year.
That didn't stop the publicist for the Kennedy Center finding
a way to blame Democrats for the fact Americans seemingly
didn't want to watch Trump, who had plugged the event
on his social media, or the selection of antique talent.
(07:41):
So you know the rate, it takes a while for
the ratings come back. So we're just getting these articles now.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But in any event, that sort of sets the stage.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
This of course, was after Donald Trump changed you know,
the name of the Kennedy sentator to his own name
or whatever. But I want to share another article, this
from The Guardian. The takeover of the National Cultural Center
began in February, in what many critics regard as a
case study and institutional capture. Trump ousted members of the
(08:13):
Kennedy Center board appointed by former President Joe Biden, took
over as chair, and installed Rick Grinnell, a longtime ally
and former ambassador to Germany, as its president. In November, Whitehouse,
the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee launched a formal investigation into allegations of widespread cronyism,
(08:35):
financial mismanagement, and corruption at what he describes as a
secular temple to the arts. Democrats on the committee said
they obtained documents that suggest the National Cultural Center is
being operated as a slush fund and private club for
Trump's friends and political allies. That was a quote, resulting
(08:55):
in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation
from its deaty mission. White House sent a letter to
Grenell demanding detailed documents and records. Grenell issued a fiery response,
accusing the Senator of quote partisan attacks and false accusations.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Unquote.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
He claimed that neglect by the center's previous leadership left
it in financial chaos and was quite literally making the
building fall apart.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
That also was a quote.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
White House, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board,
remains undeterred and determined to press on with his investigation.
Speaking in his office on Capitol Hilly explained, quote, we
began to get information about mischief taking place at the
Kennedy Senator Center. It's tough to say, and we got
strong enough signals that we mounted an effort to dig
into it and see what seemed to actually be going on.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It was out of that effort that the report and
letter came, which basically suggested that when the brigands took
the ship, their first instinct was to loot it for
their own benefit and hire their friends and put people
up in fancy rooms at the Watergate Hotel, which is
right in the same area, and let favored organizations get
free access, and it was all a part of a
(10:04):
maga party atmosphere. A central change of the investigation is
that the Kennedy Center is providing preferential access and financial
benefits to organizations connected to the Trump administration and its allies.
According to a contract, Grinnell granted World Football's governing body
FIFA free and exclusive use of the entire Kennedy Center
(10:25):
campus from twenty four November to twelve December for the
World Cup draw. Estimates provided by White House show this
will cost the center five million, thirty four dollars and
losses from direct rental fees, programming and rescheduling, labor, food
and beverage, and other services. Multiple events were canceled or
rescheduled to accommodate FIFA, so he's painting a picture here.
(10:45):
I want to just full disclosure. The article goes on
these people who are in charge of the Kennedy Center.
Now they mount their defense of this. If you want
to check it out again, it's a Guardian article, but
just for the second time, I want to make sure.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
That we're able to reflect.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
So the first thing I want to say, and then
you know, uh, obviously you know Q has his thoughts too,
But the first thing I want to say is that
for a person that said he wants to be a
dictator on day one and then has himself and everyone
(11:22):
else attempted to distance the Trump administration from a dictatorship
after the No King's protest and after the blackout protests
and all that sort of stuff, this is absolutely dictator
stuff right here. I want my name on the building.
(11:43):
I'm alive right now, I want my accolades, my honors.
If it belongs to the country, it belongs to me,
right and then using it, you know, as this his
last name is white House, so as you know, Senator
white House suggest using it to accommodate his guests. Bear
(12:14):
in mind, the FIFA organization is the one that gave
him the the made up peace prize that they made
up to try to pander to.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Him, and on and on and on.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Okay, so I just wanted to make sure that I
stated that it's again, it's the thing that I've actually
been here.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I've kind of seen this place, got to walk the
halls there. I just felt like it would be irresponsible
not to point that out. Anything to add.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Herequ well, they're not trying to pander their pandering okay, yeah,
and not distancing themselves from dictatorship in the same way
they're not distancing themselves from racism. They don't like being
called either, but they've done nothing to distance themselves from
either accusation.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, that's a better way to say it.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
The strange thing about the dictatorship about face, these are
your words.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
We didn't make that up, you said, dictator sir.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
So it's hard not to conflate everything together because all
the decisions are the same. Like you said, rename everything
after me, everything that's the country is actually mine. And
then when you say that out loud, then it's like, oh,
so that's what America first means. Like once you connect
(13:38):
those two dots, then all the slogan and all the
branding and make Trump great again.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Trump First.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It's like, oh, so that's why the Maga hats are
made in a different country, and that's why he's collapsing
everything so that it benefits him.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, And you know, it's funny that America first philosophy,
if you will, political ideology slogan that he campaigned on.
It's actually wid at least some people thought that they
would vote for him. He convinced him, or they were
(14:23):
their ears were poisoned to Kamala Harris and they thought, Okay, well,
this guy's going to put America first.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
I'm American. Let's go. But those people are having to
deal with the sobering reality.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Right now because and of course now we're at our
opinion segment, we're going to take a little while here
to flesh out this conversation. But yeah, we kind of
like invaded a foreign country. Don't know if you heard
about that, but it was big news. And now Donald
Trump plans to run Venezuela and tap its oil reserves.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Who to thunk? Okay, so let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
This from the Associated Press, hours after an audacious military
operation that plucked leader Nicholas Maduro from power and removed
him from the country. President Donald Trump said Saturday that
the United States would run Venezuela at least temporarily and
tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.
The dramatic action in captain intensive Trump administration pressure campaign
(15:24):
on the South American nation and its autocratic leader, and
months of secret planning, resulting in the most desertive American
action to achieve regime changed since the two thousand and
three invasion of Iraq. Legal experts immediately raised questions about
whether the operation was lawful. Venezuela's Vice president, Delsi Rodriguez,
demanded in a speech that the US Freemaduro and called
(15:46):
him the country's rightful leader, before Venezuela's High Court ordered
her to assume the role of interim president. Speaking to
reporters hours after Maduro's capture, Trump revealed his plans to
exploit the leadership boy to fix the country's oil infrastructure
and sell large amounts of oil to other countries. Maduro
and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a
(16:07):
military base, were first taken abroad a US warship on
their way to face prosecution for a Justice Department indictment
accusing them of participating in narco terrorism conspiracy.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
The legal authority for the.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Incursion, done without congressional approval, was not immediately clear, but
the Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward
reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the US. The
president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including
a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.
Trump claimed the US government would help run the country
(16:41):
and was already doing so, though there were no immediate
signs of that. Venezuelan state TV continued to air pro
Maduro propaganda, broadcasting live images of supporters taking to the
streets and Caracas in protest. Maduro and other Venezuelan officials
were indicted in twenty twenty on narco terrorism conspiracy charges,
but the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of
(17:02):
Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. They painted the regime
as a corrupt, illegitimate government fueled by drug trafficking operation
that flooded the US with cocaine. The US government does
not recognize Madureau as the country's leader.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Okay, so there's a lot here.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Do you want to go first, Q, because I don't
want to say something and then you not be able
to say it.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I mean, sure, man, okay, it's all yours.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I think it's important to say before we move further,
that two things can be true simultaneously.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
All right, I like this, and we have to be.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Very careful here, because there's a way to say this
and sound like you're in support of or making an
excuse for providing bail for what happened. It's also a
time where as we've seen from US government social media accounts,
verified propaganda thrives on absolutes and simplicities and superlatives right.
(18:12):
The truth, however, is often, if not always, far more complicated.
So again, two things being true at the same time.
So it can be true that President Maduro is how
you say his name is in undemocratic, corrupt, authoritarian himself.
(18:36):
At the same time, it could also be true that
what the US did was not about restoring democracy there,
it was not about human rights, and it definitely was
not about this war on drugs that they've been telling
us for months is why they're bombing boats coming from Venezuela.
(18:59):
Those two things are facts that are not in conflict
with one another. This was not a justice for all
move by the country who sweeps in to save the day.
This was strictly and straightforwardly imperialism power and understanding that
(19:20):
distinction will keep us from misunderstanding everything that comes after that. Right,
So Ramses, we have an interesting job, man. We have
to observe all these things as they happen in real
time and kind of wait for a time for them
to be reportable. Some of our communication from the news
(19:42):
desk is often here's some information, we can't report on
it yet, yeah and barbod yeah. Other times, here's some information.
Go right, So here we are. Venezuela did not collapse
out of thin there. This is another important distinction. The
country suffered from extreme well dependents, corruption and mismanagement, dismantling
(20:05):
of democratic institutions, and repression of political opposition. That might
sound like we're describing another country, one that you're far
more familiar with. However, we're talking about Venezuela right now.
Millions of Venezuelans had to pay the price for this, right, Hunger, displacement, instability.
(20:29):
None of that should be minimized.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Criticizing this US imperial behavior does not require for us
to defend President Maduro. That's a false choice that they
want you to have to make, right, the good guy versus.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
The bad guy. And it's not that binary doesn't exist.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Here, correct, But Rams, let's talk about what happened, and
I would instead of like me going for a long time,
I would prefer a back and forth on this.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Again.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
I'm going to say this and please chime in. This
was not a war on drugs. Like I know that
seems obvious now, but and maybe I'm mistaken, but this
is what they've been saying for months, correct.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Right, right?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Okay, So let me here's where I want to jump in. Okay,
first thing, we've known for forty years. Who the real
winner of the war on drugs is. I think Ronald
(21:37):
Reagan and Nancy Reagan. They they're the ones credited with
like launching the war on drugs. But at the end
of the day, the winner of the war on drugs
was drugs.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Right. Instead of focusing on.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Accessibility, you know what I mean, and like the infrastructure
of drugs within the country, what they would do is
use that as justification to go to countries around the world,
destabilize them under their resources, and install compliant regimes that
will be sympathetic to US interests go.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
So, everything that Rams has just said was true, But
this is important to point out before we move on drugs.
Right the war on drugs, drug trafficking thrives in countries
that the US considers allies. Cartels operate openly with like
(22:47):
intact banking systems, and money laundering flows through US and
europutions go ahead. The US has ever used unilateral military
force to arrest a sitting head of state purely for narcotics. Ever, Okay,
(23:11):
I don't want the listeners to think there was a
time where, even using the War on drugs and as
an excuse, where we did this.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
It's never been done before for that reason.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
All right, now watch this when I say that drugs
won the War on drugs. Of course I can't confirm this,
but there is a popular rumor based off an interview
that Donald Trump Junior did. He might have been talking
to Fox News and he was like really amped up.
He was not his normal self, and people were like, Yo,
(23:44):
this dude is on drugs right now. I've never done
a drug, so I don't know what it does to you,
and I don't don't really care. But you know, this
was kind of what people were saying, but it seemed
like the people that were talking about this kind of
knew what they were talking about, right. And of course
he's the son of the president. He's not going to
(24:04):
get any trouble, So there's that, right. So one has
to imagine that if not him, people like him are
the reason that drugs are in such high demand.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
But no one's going to go after Donald Trump Junior
for doing the drugs, for possessing the drugs, and none
of that sort of stuff. They're going to go out
of these after these poor countries, right, So I want
to make sure that that's stated in addition to what
I said about drugs winning the war on drugs, Okay.
The other thing that people say is Maduro was a
brutal ruler.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I got a couple of things to say about this, Okay,
So he was awful for the country. And are people
around the world saying, hey, look, Venezuelan's can go back
to Venezuela. Now you know, things are more, things are
easier now that he's gone. They have a path forward,
blah blah blah. Right, But I want to be very
clear there a lot of people that are upset that
(25:02):
he's been kidnapped from his own country, right, A lot
of people that voted for this guy. So I want everybody,
doesn't matter what sally you're on, I want everybody to
think about this for a second. In this country, half
as near as makes no difference of the population voted
for Donald Trump, and the other half would love to
(25:23):
see this guy get abducted by aliens that would be
way better than the helicopter and then flown to another parsec,
you know. And there was some be some people that
would revote in some people that would say, no, it's good.
I'm glad he's gone. Now we can breathe freely. Right,
(25:44):
And so bear that in mind that there's more than
one way to look at a situation. But let's say
he is a brutal ruler. Okay, this is to keep
that same energy part of the show. So is putin
who Donald Trump supports. By the way, so is uh Bolsonnaro.
(26:08):
Donald Trump also supports. So was the drug trafficking former
head of Honduras. His name was Juan Orlando Hernandez. Donald
Trump just pardoned. It might have been ten days ago,
maybe something like that ten fifteen days ago, he was convicted.
If I'm not mistaken, I think we covered the story.
He pled guilty or something like that to the charges, right,
(26:32):
so there was nothing Donald Trump pardoned him. Now I
might be mistaken, so please don't hold me to that.
But and I could talk about Nan Yah.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Who of course he was convicted and pardon You're not mistaken.
You talk about minutia and the semantics he was convicted
of that thing and pardon that man.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
So if this was an effort to the last name
you said, Sagan, what was the last name you said?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yahoo? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (27:04):
I think with the president like or just party on
New Year's Eve for like they were just kicking it
like a couple of days ago, boom bars.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
So if this regime was really about, like, hey, look
these drugs, is where it's at. Bear in mind that
at first they were trying to target fentanyl. That's what
they said. These volts are bringing fencin to the United States,
and we reported that, you know he you know, fence
and all, Like I think it's like less than point
zero one percent of fence and all comes from Venezuela.
(27:35):
That's not a real thing. But that was the narrative
that Donald Trump was selling to the Americans people.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Right, I mentioned there was no evidence to support that none,
thank you, nothing, not a little bit, not kind disorder, nope, none.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
We knew exactly where the fencing all was coming from,
so it wasn't a fencing all thing. Then they started
to say that it was drugs like cocaine, that sort
of stuff. And now the conversation is shifted to who's
going to control the oil and stabilize oil markets in
this part of the country. Now I happen to know
(28:10):
that oil companies contributed to Donald Trump, donald Trump's ascension
to the presidency both times. And wouldn't it be quite
the favor if Donald Trump invaded a country there was
supposed to be no new wars.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
It was supposed to be America.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
First, they started trying to justify this America first by saying, well,
it's South America, so that's American interest. No, it's the
interest of Donald Trump and Exon Mobile.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, but.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
You know these folks paid for him to ascend to
the office of the presidency and out of the thin
blue sky. Over the course of three weeks, we go
from blowing up fishing boats because they have fentanol, to
removing the president because he's a brutal ruler and a
(29:05):
narco terrorist. Days after Donald Trump pardoned a convicted narco
terrorist who we had in our country already. And you
know what, for people that don't know all this stuff,
it just seems like, oh my gosh, I need to
pay closer attention. I didn't know that Venezuela was so bad.
(29:26):
But for those of us that's watched this stuff every day,
we're like, Okay, he just made this up and he's
just going along with it, and it's rinse and repeat.
He just says a thing, No one reacts to it,
so he says it again, is wild, is unfounded. No
one else's reacting, so he says it, says it, says
it and by it. After enough time, it becomes true
(29:48):
enough to where people don't even question it. And he's
the Republican president that did with the last three Republican
presidents did.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Stay tuned. We got more coming for you after this
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