December 9, 2024 • 24 mins
How Syria’s Bashar Al-Aasad brought about his own downfall. U.S TikTok ban upheld by appeals court. Do They Have a Case’ with Wayne Resnick.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty KFI Handle.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here. It is a Monday morning, Summer ninth. Some of
the big stories we are looking at Donald Trump has announced,
no surprise here, that a lot of part pardons for
the January sixth insurrectionists are going to be handed down.
What we don't know is how many and to what
extent those pardons are going to go. We do know
(00:30):
he has called the insurrectionists heroes and patriots.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
And how far does he go?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Does he include those that beat up police officers and
threatened to hang Mike Pence?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Are those patriots? Don't know?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We don't know. I don't think he's going to go
as far as a lot of people fear. I cannot
imagine that he would pardon people that attack police officers.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Just can't see it. Now.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
The other big news, and this international news, is what
happened in Syria over the weekend. Syria's president Bashar al
a Sad gone done. The rebels have taken over the government,
hit the capitol in a matter.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Of just a couple of weeks. It's been going.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
He's ruled Syria with an iron fist for twenty four
years following his dad who did it for thirty years,
and it looked like he had prevailed in sirious civil
war which has been going on for decade. And it
looks like a Sad would remain in power until he
was ready to hand power over to his son like
(01:42):
his father did to him. Interesting sidebar fact is Bashar
al Asad is an ophthalmologist. He went to medical school,
was practicing medicine and had absolutely no desire to enter politics.
His older brother, who was the heir apparent, was killed
(02:02):
in a car accident and the mantle fell to him,
and the world thought, okay, here's a guy who is
highly educated and he's going to look at life a
little bit differently and treat Syria differently than his dad did.
It was an out and out brutal dictator. And guess
what didn't go that way? Matter of fact, Bashar al
(02:24):
Asade out brutally dictatored if that's a verb, Syria, and
it has been horrible and in looking back at the regime,
and now you have the historians and you have politicians,
historical politicians looking at this thing and saying, okay, how
(02:46):
did this happen?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
How did this happen so quickly. Well, it turned out.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
That the regime, it just was just a hollow shell,
crumbling in eleven days in the face of the armed rebels,
lightly armed rebels, by the way, Asad had all the weapons.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
The rebels did not. How does he lose?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
He went to the airport, got out, flew to Russia,
where he was immediately granted asylum. And I'm assuming he
was able to take billions of dollars with him, because
all of these dictators squirrel away money in various accounts,
and they're incredibly wealthy because they have no problem not
only treating their own citizens and killing them and imprisoning them,
(03:37):
they have no problems stealing the country blind.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And by the time the end came, he was isolated.
He was alone.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He was abandoned by his international allies, Russia and Iran.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
His army was no longer willing to fight for him.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Even his own minority, the constituents, those were his people,
most of them just defected or went to their coastal heartland.
And if you look at what he leaves, if you
look at his legacy, cruelty, feared destruction, that really has
(04:18):
disfigured the modern Middle East Syria is in ruins.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Hundreds of thousands of people.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Who have been killed in the country civil war which
has gone on for decades. Tens of thousands are missing.
There was the black hole of the prisons in which
tens of thousands disappeared, and the speed of the rebels success,
(04:47):
you know, just caught the international community off guard.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
And here is the part that is, it's on his side.
What an idiot he is, the kind of us that
he had.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
There were multiple opportunities to reconcile, not only with his
opponents but with the international community, and they tried, and
they tried and tried to rescue the country, unite the people.
I mean, he was getting pressure from all sides to
keep power to some extent, and he said absolutely not
(05:28):
not interested. I'm going to run Syria the way I've
been running Syria. By the end, it was just a
little tiny area Syria. It almost reminds me of Hitler,
who at the end had just a couple of square
miles around the bunker under the chancery and envisioned he
(05:50):
was still in power. I think Aside did the same thing.
You know, it's almost as if the question is how
did he last so long, refused to make any kind
of concession that could have brought him, first of all,
international recognition because most of the world look at him
as a pariah regime, a paria government. His chief ally Russia.
(06:12):
Keep in mind, he left, he jumped on an airplane
when immediately to Russia over the weekend, and they granted
him asylum instantly. Russia made all kinds of efforts to
bring a peace settlement that would have been accepted by
the West or actually negotiations going on.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
He refused to compromise.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
He said, nope, I am have and will never give
up absolute dictatorial power. And even in the previous few weeks,
several approaches were made from global powers, different powers that
would have even helped him secure being the president, mainly
(06:51):
through the United Erab Emirates. Even the United States said okay,
we'll lift some of the sanctions in return for Assad
severing Iran's ability to arm is sustained.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Has BLA militants in Lebanon. How do they do that?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Because Syrian ground, well Syrian areas were used to move
arms from Iran into Lebanon. And he even rejected an
olive branch from Turkish president receipt tayep Eritigan, who wanted
(07:25):
to normalize relations with Damascus, I mean their enemies, they
were not allies. There was an issue of Kurdish forces
off of his border, and they couldn't come to an agreement.
He would not come to the table at all. And
that's just not only is it hubris, it's just kind
(07:49):
of dumb, just completely missing the tenor of his people,
missing what was going on. Maybe it's because his dad,
Hafez al a Sad, grab power in a coup and
became president, and his dad established the family's reputation for cruelty,
(08:11):
harsh harsh crackdown on the Muslim brotherhood that was uprising
in nineteen eighty two that killed tens.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Of thousands of people.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
And he learned from his father the way to stay
in power is to treat your own people with utter terror,
much like what's happening in North Korea.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
They're just better at.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
It, Kim Jong un and his dynasty, they're just better
at it.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
People aren't put around the world.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
People aren't pushing North Korea to normalize relations. Particularly that's
the Hermit State Asad not so much. And here's one
of the reasons. Is he wasn't smart enough to stop
the Internet from coming into his countries. So as he
(09:01):
had these palaces and his jets and these parties, it
all went up on the Internet. Now countries can shut
down the Internet coming in, they can, and they do.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
You can't get internet in North Korea.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
If China wants to shut down the Internet and they're
not happy with various platforms coming in, they do it.
Any country can. He didn't, and you wonder why the
hell not? So now, yay, Bill, Yes.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Sorry to interrupt you. I know your mid thought, but
wanted to give you an update. We are getting reports
that a man has been detained in connection to the
killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He's apparently being
questioned in Pennsylvania about a gun that is similar to
the one that was used in the murder of Thompson
last week in front of that Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
(09:59):
They were on day six of looking for this guy
who shot him in front of a hotel, took off.
We have one picture of his face. Several pictures were
released over the weekend. It looks like they've found his backpack,
but they have taken the person into custody, and we
will bring you more information as it comes in.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah, that is obviously big news.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That story has been happening across the country for several days,
and it's gotten even bigger, if you can imagine that.
And I know you interrupted me mid thought with breaking news.
I don't care if World War three has been declared. Amy, Okay,
we don't interrupt my thoughts.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Okay, can we get you back on track?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
No, No, I've already spun off. I don't even remember
what I was talking about. But let's talk a little
bit about this story that you've just reported. And it's
no surprise because you had authorities all up and down
the Eastern Seaboard looking for this guy. I think the
interesting part of this is how big a story this
(11:03):
has remained, because this has been going on for a week. Amy,
do you remember when a shooting, a single shooting, has
ever had this kind of news coverage for so long?
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Not a shooting like this, But if you think of
other incidents like that, you think about the Boston marathon
bombing that was huge, there was a huge manhunt for
that person. But for yeah, for a single shooting in
New York City, It's just it's been pretty overwhelming how
much attention it has gotten. And like you said last hour,
(11:38):
what about the people who were shot the day before
the day after in New York City.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, and they're not going to get anywhere near or
any coverage. And the story about this not only was
the CEO of one of the major corporations in America,
but I think the type of coverage and the interest
is because he was CEO of United Healthcare, which is
one of the biggest insurance companies in the United States,
(12:05):
and people are so upset with insurance companies, the hatred
of insurance companies, that he has actually become a hero
to people. If you go on various platforms, you go
on TikTok, you go on Facebook, you will see people
saying the guy is a hero. He has made a
(12:27):
point of what we thought, and that's these insurance companies.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
This ceo, they're bad people. They screw us.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
And there are obviously arguments. It's never that simple. There
are always always three sides.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
To that coin.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Well, we do have more breaking news for you, Bill, Okay,
let's do it. The marine veteran who was charged in
the New York City subway chokehold case. Daniel Penny has
been found not guilty. If you'll remember, the jury deadlocked
on Friday. They threw out the more serious of the
two charges. Then the jury was then told that they
(13:04):
should start deliberating again this morning on the second charge
of criminally negligent homicide, which was less serious than the
second degree manslaughter, and the jury came back.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
He's been acquitted.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
But just some people are very unhappy about that, and
others who are very happy. It's a different world than
it has been over the last few years, all right.
And also huge news NBC News. I don't know if
it's being confirmed by other news sources or reported, but
NBC News reports that there has been a man detained
(13:40):
in connection with the killing of the CEO of United Healthcare,
Brian Thompson, and he is being questioned in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
And what a man hunt.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
This was, so, I mean, there was no issue that
he was going to be caught at some point.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
It was just a question of time.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
With this level of manhunt huntness, does that work?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay? Wayne? Time for do they have a case?
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Idaho passes an abortion ban, makes it a felony punishable
by two to five years in prison to perform or
attempt to perform an abortion. There's a couple of exceptions,
but they're not relevant to this case. It also criminalizes
attempting or assisting in.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Performing an abortion. Boom.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
One of the legislators in the state of Idaho asks
the attorney general for an opinion, a legal opinion, Hey,
you know this law you passed, might it also be
a crime to refer a woman to another state to
get an abortion? And the Attorney General of Idaho puts
(14:53):
a letter out on his letter head and says, yes,
it does. It is a crime for a doctor to
say to a woman, well, you could go to California.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And get an abortion.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
So, as soon as that letter comes out, which was
not supposed to be public but was made public, Planned
Parenthood sues the state and says, you cannot have this
law because that's a First Amendment problem. You can't make
it a crime for a doctor to say, hey, you
could go to another state where abortion is legal.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That's a First Amendment violation. Now you might.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Expect the state to say no, here are the reasons
why it's not a First Amendment violation, but they don't
do that.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Here's what happens. The Attorney General withdraws the letter.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Right after the lawsuits filed, and then they argue that
you don't need to do anything because I've withdrawn the letter.
But the district court judge says, I, I'm putting in
an injunction against that part of the law. So now
the state appeals to the Ninth Circuit and says, hey,
(16:09):
we shouldn't even be talking about this because, yeah, maybe
I wrote this guy a letter, but I've taken the
letter back. And here's the key. When they were having
this hearing, the judge said to the attorney general, so
you disavow your opinion that the law criminalizes telling a
(16:30):
woman which states have abortion And he says no, but
the letter is not official. So do they have a
case planned Parenthood. They have to show that there is
a law and it affects protected behavior and that there's
(16:53):
some likelihood of enforcement, and Planned Parenthood is saying the Attorney.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
General will not disavow his legal.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Opinion that the law criminalizes telling a woman she can
go to another state to get an abortion.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
That means it could be enforced, and that's enough. Is
it enough?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I think it is enough because a letter is simply
an opinion in this case, but the state can will
And then the argument also.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Is the fact that the law is on the books.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
That alone is enough of I guess the fear of
what is constitutionally protected, and so I think, yeah, I
think the state's position makes no sense. Also, I've always
had a question, as you brought up, what is helping
(17:44):
someone get an abortion?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Calling a taxicab to go to the airport.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Hi, I'm going to go and I'm going to go
to another state, even though you haven't said anything, would you.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Call me a cab? Is that enough in terms of
aiding and abortion?
Speaker 2 (18:00):
So I think, first of all, that would fail constitutionally
because of vagueness. That's one issue. I don't know if
it was brought up or not. Probably not. But the
issue of just the law being on the books is enough,
and plant parenthood wins.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
They do win.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
And the Ninth Circuit, you know, talked about the case
law for this kind of thing, and they said it
often hinges on whether or not the state disavows.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Enforcement.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
If a state says we on the record say we
will not enforce this, then a lot of times the
laws are allowed to stand. But when the state will
not really say anything except I officially withdraw the letter.
That's not good enough for the state of Idaho. Planted
parenthood wins injunction. Okay, well, remember that TV show Pettycoat
(18:55):
in Junction? Of course, I remember all those young girl lawyers.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yes, one of my favorite ridiculous, moronic television shows out there.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
So a guy gets popped and they find some meth
and some guns at his house, and a case starts,
federal case, and he's got a court appointed attorney, and
at some point before the trial, he and attorney are
not getting along. They can't get along, and the attorney
files to be taken off the case, and the guy agrees,
(19:29):
and so the judge says, all right, this happens sometimes,
and they give him a new court appointed attorney. Then
they go into a trial situation and he gets convicted,
and guess what, he can't get along with the second
attorney now, and he wants another attorney. And he meets
(19:49):
some attorney that he likes a lot, private attorney. He'd
like to hire the private attorney.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
This is post conviction.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
The first time was pre trial. He said, I don't
want to understood her anymore. Second time, yes, this is
after he has been convicted, and the judge says, all right,
I'll give you this amount of time. If you want
to hire this other guy, you can do that. And
(20:19):
the time passes and he doesn't hire the other guy,
and he says, I can't hire the other guy because
I don't have any money. But I can't work with
this person anymore either, and she says, yeah, I guess what,
I can't work.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
With him either.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Here comes attorney number three. He's assigned. Now they're going
they're getting ready for sentencing. And guess what, he can't.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Work with the third attorney anymore.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
But he still wants to try to hire that one
guy that he's got a crush on or whatever his
deal is.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
He still wants to.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Try to hire that guy. So the judge at this
point says, all right, I gotta tell you. I think
you're doing this to delay things. That's what I think.
But here's what I'm gonna do. Here's your last chance.
Here's what's gonna happen. You have fourteen days to hire
your dream boat of an attorney or you will be
(21:15):
representing yourself.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
That's the deal.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
And he goes through the whole thing as you know, Bill,
if you tell a judge you want to represent yourself,
there's a whole along They really try to talk you
out of it.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Right.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
He goes through all the stuff you gotta do when
someone wants to represent themselves. You're not supposed to do it.
It's not good.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
You're gonna be held to the same standards.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Blah blah blah. And the guy says all right, and
then guess what, he doesn't hire the guy. He comes
in for sentencing. Now he's representing himself. He gets twenty
seven years in federal prison.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
And here's the case. I never waived my right to
an attorney.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Come on, that's his look, that's his appeal.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I never waived my right to an attorney.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Now, they are two ways that you can wave your
right to an attorney. One is the way we think
of where you say I wave it, yes I do.
Are you sure yes I am? Are you triple sure
yes I am. But in the law, you can also
wave your right to an attorney by refusing to accept
(22:25):
any help from an attorney. So the prosecutors say, listen,
he was given choices and what you and one choice
was to hire a guy, and another choice was to
represent himself. And if you want to know what's in
his head, you look at what he chose, and that's
(22:47):
the choice he made. And so that's the waiver, and
it's cool. What do you think does he have a
case at all that the judge should not have allowed
this to happen.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I don't know how he went past choosing the judge
allowing him a choice after conviction. I don't even know
how it got past that much less. I can't get along.
I can't get along. I can't get along the fact
that the judge gave him that many opportunities. I have
absolutely no idea. I can't think of another judge that
(23:19):
would do that. Wayne, you've been in the justice system
for twenty eight years. Have you ever heard of anything
like that?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
But if you have somebody who refuses to work with
any lawyer, I guess at some point the only choice
you have is to say you're going to have to
represent yourself.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Otherwise there be there would never be a conviction.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
So and I think the legal thing is you can
do it when you believe, when the court believes it's
being done simply to delay. That is when they can
say so and the judge said, I think you're just
doing it for delay.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
But still gave him one more.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
It's astounding, So of course he loses.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
And what he did is he did wave, but he
waved goodbye as he was going into prison.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Wayne, Hello to a strip search.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
That is correct. That's it. We're done now Wayne, as always,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I'll see you next Monday when we do this all
over again, and we are done with the show back
again tomorrow morning at five am with a wake up
call and then Neil and me, Neil and I join
up from six to nine and kno and and have
something to do with the show. I've yet to figure
(24:36):
out what this is. KFI am sixty.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty KFI Handle.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here. It is a Monday morning, Summer ninth. Some of
the big stories we are looking at Donald Trump has announced,
no surprise here, that a lot of part pardons for
the January sixth insurrectionists are going to be handed down.
What we don't know is how many and to what
extent those pardons are going to go. We do know
(00:30):
he has called the insurrectionists heroes and patriots.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
And how far does he go?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Does he include those that beat up police officers and
threatened to hang Mike Pence?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Are those patriots? Don't know?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We don't know. I don't think he's going to go
as far as a lot of people fear. I cannot
imagine that he would pardon people that attack police officers.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Just can't see it. Now.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
The other big news, and this international news, is what
happened in Syria over the weekend. Syria's president Bashar al
a Sad gone done. The rebels have taken over the government,
hit the capitol in a matter.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Of just a couple of weeks. It's been going.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
He's ruled Syria with an iron fist for twenty four
years following his dad who did it for thirty years,
and it looked like he had prevailed in sirious civil
war which has been going on for decade. And it
looks like a Sad would remain in power until he
was ready to hand power over to his son like
(01:42):
his father did to him. Interesting sidebar fact is Bashar
al Asad is an ophthalmologist. He went to medical school,
was practicing medicine and had absolutely no desire to enter politics.
His older brother, who was the heir apparent, was killed
(02:02):
in a car accident and the mantle fell to him,
and the world thought, okay, here's a guy who is
highly educated and he's going to look at life a
little bit differently and treat Syria differently than his dad did.
It was an out and out brutal dictator. And guess
what didn't go that way? Matter of fact, Bashar al
(02:24):
Asade out brutally dictatored if that's a verb, Syria, and
it has been horrible and in looking back at the regime,
and now you have the historians and you have politicians,
historical politicians looking at this thing and saying, okay, how
(02:46):
did this happen?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
How did this happen so quickly. Well, it turned out.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
That the regime, it just was just a hollow shell,
crumbling in eleven days in the face of the armed rebels,
lightly armed rebels, by the way, Asad had all the weapons.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
The rebels did not. How does he lose?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
He went to the airport, got out, flew to Russia,
where he was immediately granted asylum. And I'm assuming he
was able to take billions of dollars with him, because
all of these dictators squirrel away money in various accounts,
and they're incredibly wealthy because they have no problem not
only treating their own citizens and killing them and imprisoning them,
(03:37):
they have no problems stealing the country blind.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And by the time the end came, he was isolated.
He was alone.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He was abandoned by his international allies, Russia and Iran.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
His army was no longer willing to fight for him.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Even his own minority, the constituents, those were his people,
most of them just defected or went to their coastal heartland.
And if you look at what he leaves, if you
look at his legacy, cruelty, feared destruction, that really has
(04:18):
disfigured the modern Middle East Syria is in ruins.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Hundreds of thousands of people.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Who have been killed in the country civil war which
has gone on for decades. Tens of thousands are missing.
There was the black hole of the prisons in which
tens of thousands disappeared, and the speed of the rebels success,
(04:47):
you know, just caught the international community off guard.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
And here is the part that is, it's on his side.
What an idiot he is, the kind of us that
he had.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
There were multiple opportunities to reconcile, not only with his
opponents but with the international community, and they tried, and
they tried and tried to rescue the country, unite the people.
I mean, he was getting pressure from all sides to
keep power to some extent, and he said absolutely not
(05:28):
not interested. I'm going to run Syria the way I've
been running Syria. By the end, it was just a
little tiny area Syria. It almost reminds me of Hitler,
who at the end had just a couple of square
miles around the bunker under the chancery and envisioned he
(05:50):
was still in power. I think Aside did the same thing.
You know, it's almost as if the question is how
did he last so long, refused to make any kind
of concession that could have brought him, first of all,
international recognition because most of the world look at him
as a pariah regime, a paria government. His chief ally Russia.
(06:12):
Keep in mind, he left, he jumped on an airplane
when immediately to Russia over the weekend, and they granted
him asylum instantly. Russia made all kinds of efforts to
bring a peace settlement that would have been accepted by
the West or actually negotiations going on.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
He refused to compromise.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
He said, nope, I am have and will never give
up absolute dictatorial power. And even in the previous few weeks,
several approaches were made from global powers, different powers that
would have even helped him secure being the president, mainly
(06:51):
through the United Erab Emirates. Even the United States said okay,
we'll lift some of the sanctions in return for Assad
severing Iran's ability to arm is sustained.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Has BLA militants in Lebanon. How do they do that?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Because Syrian ground, well Syrian areas were used to move
arms from Iran into Lebanon. And he even rejected an
olive branch from Turkish president receipt tayep Eritigan, who wanted
(07:25):
to normalize relations with Damascus, I mean their enemies, they
were not allies. There was an issue of Kurdish forces
off of his border, and they couldn't come to an agreement.
He would not come to the table at all. And
that's just not only is it hubris, it's just kind
(07:49):
of dumb, just completely missing the tenor of his people,
missing what was going on. Maybe it's because his dad,
Hafez al a Sad, grab power in a coup and
became president, and his dad established the family's reputation for cruelty,
(08:11):
harsh harsh crackdown on the Muslim brotherhood that was uprising
in nineteen eighty two that killed tens.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Of thousands of people.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
And he learned from his father the way to stay
in power is to treat your own people with utter terror,
much like what's happening in North Korea.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
They're just better at.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
It, Kim Jong un and his dynasty, they're just better
at it.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
People aren't put around the world.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
People aren't pushing North Korea to normalize relations. Particularly that's
the Hermit State Asad not so much. And here's one
of the reasons. Is he wasn't smart enough to stop
the Internet from coming into his countries. So as he
(09:01):
had these palaces and his jets and these parties, it
all went up on the Internet. Now countries can shut
down the Internet coming in, they can, and they do.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
You can't get internet in North Korea.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
If China wants to shut down the Internet and they're
not happy with various platforms coming in, they do it.
Any country can. He didn't, and you wonder why the
hell not? So now, yay, Bill, Yes.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Sorry to interrupt you. I know your mid thought, but
wanted to give you an update. We are getting reports
that a man has been detained in connection to the
killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He's apparently being
questioned in Pennsylvania about a gun that is similar to
the one that was used in the murder of Thompson
last week in front of that Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
(09:59):
They were on day six of looking for this guy
who shot him in front of a hotel, took off.
We have one picture of his face. Several pictures were
released over the weekend. It looks like they've found his backpack,
but they have taken the person into custody, and we
will bring you more information as it comes in.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah, that is obviously big news.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That story has been happening across the country for several days,
and it's gotten even bigger, if you can imagine that.
And I know you interrupted me mid thought with breaking news.
I don't care if World War three has been declared. Amy, Okay,
we don't interrupt my thoughts.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Okay, can we get you back on track?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
No, No, I've already spun off. I don't even remember
what I was talking about. But let's talk a little
bit about this story that you've just reported. And it's
no surprise because you had authorities all up and down
the Eastern Seaboard looking for this guy. I think the
interesting part of this is how big a story this
(11:03):
has remained, because this has been going on for a week. Amy,
do you remember when a shooting, a single shooting, has
ever had this kind of news coverage for so long?
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Not a shooting like this, But if you think of
other incidents like that, you think about the Boston marathon
bombing that was huge, there was a huge manhunt for
that person. But for yeah, for a single shooting in
New York City, It's just it's been pretty overwhelming how
much attention it has gotten. And like you said last hour,
(11:38):
what about the people who were shot the day before
the day after in New York City.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, and they're not going to get anywhere near or
any coverage. And the story about this not only was
the CEO of one of the major corporations in America,
but I think the type of coverage and the interest
is because he was CEO of United Healthcare, which is
one of the biggest insurance companies in the United States,
(12:05):
and people are so upset with insurance companies, the hatred
of insurance companies, that he has actually become a hero
to people. If you go on various platforms, you go
on TikTok, you go on Facebook, you will see people
saying the guy is a hero. He has made a
(12:27):
point of what we thought, and that's these insurance companies.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
This ceo, they're bad people. They screw us.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
And there are obviously arguments. It's never that simple. There
are always always three sides.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
To that coin.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Well, we do have more breaking news for you, Bill, Okay,
let's do it. The marine veteran who was charged in
the New York City subway chokehold case. Daniel Penny has
been found not guilty. If you'll remember, the jury deadlocked
on Friday. They threw out the more serious of the
two charges. Then the jury was then told that they
(13:04):
should start deliberating again this morning on the second charge
of criminally negligent homicide, which was less serious than the
second degree manslaughter, and the jury came back.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
He's been acquitted.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
But just some people are very unhappy about that, and
others who are very happy. It's a different world than
it has been over the last few years, all right.
And also huge news NBC News. I don't know if
it's being confirmed by other news sources or reported, but
NBC News reports that there has been a man detained
(13:40):
in connection with the killing of the CEO of United Healthcare,
Brian Thompson, and he is being questioned in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
And what a man hunt.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
This was, so, I mean, there was no issue that
he was going to be caught at some point.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
It was just a question of time.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
With this level of manhunt huntness, does that work?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay? Wayne? Time for do they have a case?
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Idaho passes an abortion ban, makes it a felony punishable
by two to five years in prison to perform or
attempt to perform an abortion. There's a couple of exceptions,
but they're not relevant to this case. It also criminalizes
attempting or assisting in.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Performing an abortion. Boom.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
One of the legislators in the state of Idaho asks
the attorney general for an opinion, a legal opinion, Hey,
you know this law you passed, might it also be
a crime to refer a woman to another state to
get an abortion? And the Attorney General of Idaho puts
(14:53):
a letter out on his letter head and says, yes,
it does. It is a crime for a doctor to
say to a woman, well, you could go to California.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And get an abortion.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
So, as soon as that letter comes out, which was
not supposed to be public but was made public, Planned
Parenthood sues the state and says, you cannot have this
law because that's a First Amendment problem. You can't make
it a crime for a doctor to say, hey, you
could go to another state where abortion is legal.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That's a First Amendment violation. Now you might.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Expect the state to say no, here are the reasons
why it's not a First Amendment violation, but they don't
do that.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Here's what happens. The Attorney General withdraws the letter.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Right after the lawsuits filed, and then they argue that
you don't need to do anything because I've withdrawn the letter.
But the district court judge says, I, I'm putting in
an injunction against that part of the law. So now
the state appeals to the Ninth Circuit and says, hey,
(16:09):
we shouldn't even be talking about this because, yeah, maybe
I wrote this guy a letter, but I've taken the
letter back. And here's the key. When they were having
this hearing, the judge said to the attorney general, so
you disavow your opinion that the law criminalizes telling a
(16:30):
woman which states have abortion And he says no, but
the letter is not official. So do they have a
case planned Parenthood. They have to show that there is
a law and it affects protected behavior and that there's
(16:53):
some likelihood of enforcement, and Planned Parenthood is saying the Attorney.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
General will not disavow his legal.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Opinion that the law criminalizes telling a woman she can
go to another state to get an abortion.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
That means it could be enforced, and that's enough. Is
it enough?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I think it is enough because a letter is simply
an opinion in this case, but the state can will
And then the argument also.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Is the fact that the law is on the books.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
That alone is enough of I guess the fear of
what is constitutionally protected, and so I think, yeah, I
think the state's position makes no sense. Also, I've always
had a question, as you brought up, what is helping
(17:44):
someone get an abortion?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Calling a taxicab to go to the airport.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Hi, I'm going to go and I'm going to go
to another state, even though you haven't said anything, would you.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Call me a cab? Is that enough in terms of
aiding and abortion?
Speaker 2 (18:00):
So I think, first of all, that would fail constitutionally
because of vagueness. That's one issue. I don't know if
it was brought up or not. Probably not. But the
issue of just the law being on the books is enough,
and plant parenthood wins.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
They do win.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
And the Ninth Circuit, you know, talked about the case
law for this kind of thing, and they said it
often hinges on whether or not the state disavows.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Enforcement.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
If a state says we on the record say we
will not enforce this, then a lot of times the
laws are allowed to stand. But when the state will
not really say anything except I officially withdraw the letter.
That's not good enough for the state of Idaho. Planted
parenthood wins injunction. Okay, well, remember that TV show Pettycoat
(18:55):
in Junction? Of course, I remember all those young girl lawyers.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yes, one of my favorite ridiculous, moronic television shows out there.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
So a guy gets popped and they find some meth
and some guns at his house, and a case starts,
federal case, and he's got a court appointed attorney, and
at some point before the trial, he and attorney are
not getting along. They can't get along, and the attorney
files to be taken off the case, and the guy agrees,
(19:29):
and so the judge says, all right, this happens sometimes,
and they give him a new court appointed attorney. Then
they go into a trial situation and he gets convicted,
and guess what, he can't get along with the second
attorney now, and he wants another attorney. And he meets
(19:49):
some attorney that he likes a lot, private attorney. He'd
like to hire the private attorney.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
This is post conviction.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
The first time was pre trial. He said, I don't
want to understood her anymore. Second time, yes, this is
after he has been convicted, and the judge says, all right,
I'll give you this amount of time. If you want
to hire this other guy, you can do that. And
(20:19):
the time passes and he doesn't hire the other guy,
and he says, I can't hire the other guy because
I don't have any money. But I can't work with
this person anymore either, and she says, yeah, I guess what,
I can't work.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
With him either.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Here comes attorney number three. He's assigned. Now they're going
they're getting ready for sentencing. And guess what, he can't.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Work with the third attorney anymore.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
But he still wants to try to hire that one
guy that he's got a crush on or whatever his
deal is.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
He still wants to.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Try to hire that guy. So the judge at this
point says, all right, I gotta tell you. I think
you're doing this to delay things. That's what I think.
But here's what I'm gonna do. Here's your last chance.
Here's what's gonna happen. You have fourteen days to hire
your dream boat of an attorney or you will be
(21:15):
representing yourself.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
That's the deal.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
And he goes through the whole thing as you know, Bill,
if you tell a judge you want to represent yourself,
there's a whole along They really try to talk you
out of it.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Right.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
He goes through all the stuff you gotta do when
someone wants to represent themselves. You're not supposed to do it.
It's not good.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
You're gonna be held to the same standards.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Blah blah blah. And the guy says all right, and
then guess what, he doesn't hire the guy. He comes
in for sentencing. Now he's representing himself. He gets twenty
seven years in federal prison.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
And here's the case. I never waived my right to
an attorney.
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Come on, that's his look, that's his appeal.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I never waived my right to an attorney.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Now, they are two ways that you can wave your
right to an attorney. One is the way we think
of where you say I wave it, yes I do.
Are you sure yes I am? Are you triple sure
yes I am. But in the law, you can also
wave your right to an attorney by refusing to accept
(22:25):
any help from an attorney. So the prosecutors say, listen,
he was given choices and what you and one choice
was to hire a guy, and another choice was to
represent himself. And if you want to know what's in
his head, you look at what he chose, and that's
(22:47):
the choice he made. And so that's the waiver, and
it's cool. What do you think does he have a
case at all that the judge should not have allowed
this to happen.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I don't know how he went past choosing the judge
allowing him a choice after conviction. I don't even know
how it got past that much less. I can't get along.
I can't get along. I can't get along the fact
that the judge gave him that many opportunities. I have
absolutely no idea. I can't think of another judge that
(23:19):
would do that. Wayne, you've been in the justice system
for twenty eight years. Have you ever heard of anything
like that?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
But if you have somebody who refuses to work with
any lawyer, I guess at some point the only choice
you have is to say you're going to have to
represent yourself.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Otherwise there be there would never be a conviction.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
So and I think the legal thing is you can
do it when you believe, when the court believes it's
being done simply to delay. That is when they can
say so and the judge said, I think you're just
doing it for delay.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
But still gave him one more.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
It's astounding, So of course he loses.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
And what he did is he did wave, but he
waved goodbye as he was going into prison.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Wayne, Hello to a strip search.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
That is correct. That's it. We're done now Wayne, as always,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I'll see you next Monday when we do this all
over again, and we are done with the show back
again tomorrow morning at five am with a wake up
call and then Neil and me, Neil and I join
up from six to nine and kno and and have
something to do with the show. I've yet to figure
(24:36):
out what this is. KFI am sixty.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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