August 19, 2025 • 16 mins
Another Monday, another Fallout.
The headlines are loud, but the truth is buried just beneath the surface…and that’s where the real story lives.
This week, Jeff Alan Wolf peels back the layers on what looks like routine politics. Foreign deals dressed up as diplomacy, troop movements packaged as security, and “law and order” stories spun into something far more sinister.
When leaders smile for the cameras while quietly negotiating in back rooms, it’s not just theater…it’s a test of what we’re willing to accept as normal.
And once the abnormal starts feeling ordinary, democracy doesn’t break in one moment… it erodes piece by piece.
From the global stage to the streets at home, this episode tracks how language like “peace,” “safety,” and “routine” gets weaponized…and why that shift matters more than most realize.
The surface story is simple. But line up the moves, the timing, and the power plays, and the picture that emerges isn’t stability…it’s intimidation dressed as governance.
That’s the Fallout. And that’s why you’ll want to hear this one all the way through.
If you value unfiltered truth, make sure to follow, rate, and share this podcast.
And don’t just listen — be part of the conversation.
Leave a voicemail at 833-399-9653 or email MadWorldTalk@gmail.com with your thoughts.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a world gone mad.
This is a world gone mad, mad,mad, mad, mad.
Hello, I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe.
Welcome back to A World GoneMad, and it's time for another
Monday Fallout.
The headlines are radioactive,the truth is buried in the
rubble and I'm here to dig itout.
(00:22):
Systems are breaking, trustgone, power plays everywhere.
Okay, here we go.
Washington takes center stage,where Trump is strutting like an
international dealmaker whojust found another property to
flip while Zelensky fights tokeep Ukraine off the clearance
(00:46):
rack.
Now Europe's leaders line upbehind Zelensky, smiling for the
cameras but bracing for themoment.
Democracy gets treated like abargaining chip.
Washington is the stage thisweek and what's being floated is
nothing short of a sellout.
Trump is parading around likesome master negotiator, but what
(01:10):
he's really doing is treatingUkraine like a distressed
property deal.
A piece of Donbass here, aslice of Crimea there, move-in
ready, cash only.
That's not foreign policy, it'sa fire sale.
And behind this nonsense is therotten idea of land for peace.
(01:33):
Let's call it what it is Russiainvades, kills civilians,
flattens cities and then getsrewarded with the territory it
stole.
That's not peace.
That's armed robbery with asmile and a handshake.
It's extortion elevated tointernational diplomacy.
(01:57):
Putin couldn't ask for a betteraccomplice.
He launches an illegal war,commits atrocities, then sits
back while the so-called leadersof the free world argue about
how much of Ukraine they'rewilling to carve up to make the
problem go away.
It's as if the free world isbargaining with a burglar.
(02:19):
You know, keep the rooms youalready broke into and we'll
pretend the robbery is over.
The logic collapses under itsown cowardice.
The logic is obscene.
And then there's that poisonpill, this whispering campaign
that Ukraine should never joinNATO.
(02:40):
Think about that.
A country gets invaded and thepunishment is sorry you don't
get protection.
That's like punishing thevictim of a mugging by telling
them they can't walk withfriends anymore because it might
upset the mugger.
The intelligent people knowthis.
(03:00):
It's not Ukraine's NATO bidthat destabilizes the world.
It's Russia crossing borderswith tanks and missiles while
Western leaders continue tostall for time.
Now Zelensky is standing inWashington fighting not just for
his country's survival but forthe principle that sovereignty
(03:22):
actually means something, thatborders aren't suggestions, that
if you defend democracy, youdon't reward the autocrat who
tried to crush it.
Yet here we are watching Trumpsmirk, putin calculates, and
European leaders smile forcameras while quietly wondering
(03:46):
how much resolve they reallyhave left.
You know, if Europe backs downnow, the rest of the world is in
trouble.
Here's the bottom line.
If this summit producesanything resembling land for
peace, it's not a breakthrough.
Surrender it's not abreakthrough at all.
(04:06):
It's just total surrender.
And the precedent it sets willecho far beyond Ukraine.
It tells every authoritarianout there that you can redraw
the map with violence andeventually the world will shrug
and let you keep whatever youstole.
That's's not compromise, that'scowardice, plain and simple.
(04:30):
And this is where Trump showsexactly why he is unfit to be
anywhere near power.
This isn't strategy, it isn'tleadership.
It's a man playing games withpeople's lives.
Leadership it's a man playinggames with people's lives like
they're chips in one of hisbankrupt casinos.
He cozies up to Putin, one ofthe most brutal tyrants on the
(04:53):
planet, not because it servesAmerican interests, not because
it protects democracy, butbecause it feeds his ego and
makes Trump feel important.
Trump doesn't give a damn aboutsovereignty or freedom or the
cost of this war on ordinaryUkrainians.
He cares about the photo op,the applause, the validation
(05:17):
that comes from standingshoulder to shoulder with
strongmen.
He isn't negotiating peace.
He's selling out democracy,bending over for a dictator and
asking the free world to joinhim.
It is cowardice, it iscorruption and it is a betrayal
(05:37):
of every principle America issupposed to stand for.
Meanwhile, trump's out fronthaggling over Ukraine like it's
a liquidation sale, but whilehe's playing dealmaker abroad,
the weekend script here isshifting Marines headed to the
Caribbean, additional NationalGuard shipped into DC by
(06:00):
Republican governors.
This isn't diplomacy, it's it'sdress rehearsal for something
darker.
That's how I see it.
So let me break this down.
More than 4,000 Marines andsailors are being deployed to
the southern Caribbean, alongwith a submarine, spy aircraft
(06:20):
and destroyers.
Supposedly it's about combatingdrug cartels.
Right, because that's theproblem Suddenly keeping Trump
up at night.
Not the fact that cartels havebeen pumping narcotics into the
US for decades.
Not the money laundering banks,not the fentanyl pipeline.
(06:43):
Nope.
Now, in the middle of anelection season, coming up,
midterms and an internationalstandoff, suddenly the Marines
are going to clean up cocaine.
Sure, this isn't about drugs.
This is muscle flexing.
It's projecting force nearVenezuela, near Latin America,
(07:04):
in waters where we've stagedcoups before.
It's a show of power dressed upin law and order clothing, like
sending in Batman to bustjaywalkers.
It makes no sense unless thereal goal is intimidation.
And here at home, threeRepublican governors West
(07:26):
Virginia, ohio, south Carolinaare shipping.
The governors are shipping atleast 700 National Guard troops
into Washington DC.
They're not there to hand outwater bottles or fixed potholes.
They're armed, they'restationed in the nation's
capital as if DC is someunstable colony that needs
(07:48):
policing.
So ask yourself why?
What's the justification?
Is the Capitol under siege?
Is Georgetown overrun by soccermoms rioting over pumpkin spice
shortages?
No, this is about building thevisual of control Soldiers in
(08:10):
the streets, uniforms in theCapitol, the message that power
doesn't just speak, it shows upwith rifles.
Put the two together Marinesabroad, guards at home, and you
see the outline of a presidentwho isn't just playing global
negotiator, he's staging wargames, foreign and domestic.
(08:32):
Abroad the justification iscartels.
At home the justification ispublic safety.
But both lead to the same placeNormalizing the sight of armed
forces moving where they don'tbelong.
And that's the darker part,because once people get used to
(08:56):
Marines of Venezuela and theNational Guard in DC, the next
deployment doesn't feel shocking, it just feels routine.
And that's how you slide fromdemocracy into something else
Not with a bang, not with a coupheadline, but with one training
exercise at a time.
(09:19):
The weekend was already afull-blown power trip.
Troops abroad, more NationalGuard sent to Washington DC, but
ICE wasn't about to be left out.
They grabbed a seven-year-oldgirl because, apparently,
crayons are now a threat tonational security.
Here's what happened A mother,her teenage son and her
(09:42):
seven-year-old daughter showedup for what ICE calls a routine
check-in at Federal Plaza in NewYork City and instead of
walking out, they were split upand shipped off.
Mom and daughter sent to areopened family detention camp
in Texas, the son dumped into ayouth facility in New Jersey.
(10:07):
Because that's how family valueswork in Trump's America you
keep the family together rightup until you don't, and they
call it routine.
Routine like brushing yourteeth, like taking out the
garbage, only in this case thegarbage is a seven-year-old girl
(10:27):
and her mom.
Garbage is a seven-year-oldgirl and her mom.
Let's be honest, there'snothing routine about this.
You don't target a secondgrader for national security.
You target her because it sendsa message To immigrants show up
for your check-in and you'llnever see your home again.
And you'll never see your homeagain To Trump's base.
(10:49):
See how tough we are.
We're not just locking upadults, we're locking up their
kids too.
No-transcript.
This is how we govern now.
What's even more grotesque isthe hypocrisy the same MAGA
crowd that screams about tyrannyif you ask them to put on a
(11:12):
mask and target.
Silent when the governmentlocks up a little girl.
Silent when mom and daughterget a one-way ticket to
detention camp.
Silent when family separationisn't an accident, it's policy.
This isn't security.
This isn't law enforcement.
This is cruelty.
Shrink wrap this policy.
(11:35):
Trump doesn't care about theborder.
He cares about the show.
Ice doesn't care about safety.
They care about the fear andthe MAGA faithful.
They care about cheeringcruelty, as long as it's not
happening to them.
So let's call it what it is.
(11:55):
If you could normalize lockingup a seven-year-old girl with
her mom, you could normalizeanything.
Today it's an immigrant familyat a check-in, tomorrow it's
whoever else this administrationdecides doesn't belong, and the
day after that we're allsupposed to shrug and call it
(12:16):
routine.
Routine that's the word theywant you to swallow.
But don't, because there'snothing routine about putting a
little girl and her mother in adetention camp and shipping the
son off.
That's not order, that's notjustice.
That's Trump's America and it'srotten to the core.
(12:39):
So step back for a second.
In one weekend you've got Trumpfloating away pieces of Ukraine
like it's a yard sale, marinessteaming south like we're
revving up for another LatinAmerica adventure and ICE
hauling a seven-year-old girl,her brother and her mom into
detention.
That's not three separatestories.
(13:00):
That's one story.
It's the same story.
That's one story.
It's the same story.
Power being used not to protectpeople, but to show off control.
To remind you who's in chargePower being used not to protect
people but to show off control.
It's the flex Abroad, at home,on families, on kids, doesn't
(13:26):
matter.
The message is the same.
We can do this and you can'tstop us.
And that's the real danger,listeners, because once you
normalize it, once the fire salein Ukraine looks like diplomacy
, once Marines on the doorstepof Venezuela looks like policy,
(13:50):
once a child in custody lookslike routine, then democracy
isn't democracy anymore.
It's stagecraft, it'sintimidation dressed up as
governance.
This is what Trump and the MAGAmovement are selling, not
leadership, not security, noteven stability.
(14:12):
They're selling cruelty asstrength.
They're selling fear aspatriotism.
They're selling you a countrywhere rights are optional, laws
are props and compassion is aliability.
So circle that in red.
Listeners, this is Americaunder Trump.
If you're not shocked, you'reasleep.
(14:34):
If you're not angry, you'renumb.
And if you think it can't getworse, trust me, they're already
planning the sequel.
You could call me at833-399-9653, 24-7 free
voicemail box.
Leave your thoughts Surely someof you have opinions or email
(14:57):
me at madworldtalk at gmailcom.
M-a-d-w-o-r-l-d-t-a-l-k atgmail.
If you've got something to say,don't sit on it.
Say it Without hearing from you.
I'm sitting in a room talkingto myself.
Also, please leave a review onApple or Spotify.
It's the only way this podcastgets noticed.
(15:20):
Instead of buried, I show upevery day to call out people and
news for what they are.
Sure you might hear itelsewhere, but not like this.
I don't dress it up, I don'twater it down and I sure as hell
don't run it through a filter.
This has been A World Gone MadMonday's Fallout edition.
I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe.
(15:42):
I'll be back Wednesday Becausesomeone has to say the shit that
no one else will, andapparently that job's mine.
Until then, wolfpack listeners,stay skeptical, stay focused
and, most of all, stay hopeful.
(16:02):
Stay hopeful.
This is a world gone mad.
This is a world gone mad, mad,mad, mad, mad.
Hello, I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe.
Welcome back to A World GoneMad, and it's time for another
Monday Fallout.
The headlines are radioactive,the truth is buried in the
rubble and I'm here to dig itout.
(00:22):
Systems are breaking, trustgone, power plays everywhere.
Okay, here we go.
Washington takes center stage,where Trump is strutting like an
international dealmaker whojust found another property to
flip while Zelensky fights tokeep Ukraine off the clearance
(00:46):
rack.
Now Europe's leaders line upbehind Zelensky, smiling for the
cameras but bracing for themoment.
Democracy gets treated like abargaining chip.
Washington is the stage thisweek and what's being floated is
nothing short of a sellout.
Trump is parading around likesome master negotiator, but what
(01:10):
he's really doing is treatingUkraine like a distressed
property deal.
A piece of Donbass here, aslice of Crimea there, move-in
ready, cash only.
That's not foreign policy, it'sa fire sale.
And behind this nonsense is therotten idea of land for peace.
(01:33):
Let's call it what it is Russiainvades, kills civilians,
flattens cities and then getsrewarded with the territory it
stole.
That's not peace.
That's armed robbery with asmile and a handshake.
It's extortion elevated tointernational diplomacy.
(01:57):
Putin couldn't ask for a betteraccomplice.
He launches an illegal war,commits atrocities, then sits
back while the so-called leadersof the free world argue about
how much of Ukraine they'rewilling to carve up to make the
problem go away.
It's as if the free world isbargaining with a burglar.
(02:19):
You know, keep the rooms youalready broke into and we'll
pretend the robbery is over.
The logic collapses under itsown cowardice.
The logic is obscene.
And then there's that poisonpill, this whispering campaign
that Ukraine should never joinNATO.
(02:40):
Think about that.
A country gets invaded and thepunishment is sorry you don't
get protection.
That's like punishing thevictim of a mugging by telling
them they can't walk withfriends anymore because it might
upset the mugger.
The intelligent people knowthis.
(03:00):
It's not Ukraine's NATO bidthat destabilizes the world.
It's Russia crossing borderswith tanks and missiles while
Western leaders continue tostall for time.
Now Zelensky is standing inWashington fighting not just for
his country's survival but forthe principle that sovereignty
(03:22):
actually means something, thatborders aren't suggestions, that
if you defend democracy, youdon't reward the autocrat who
tried to crush it.
Yet here we are watching Trumpsmirk, putin calculates, and
European leaders smile forcameras while quietly wondering
(03:46):
how much resolve they reallyhave left.
You know, if Europe backs downnow, the rest of the world is in
trouble.
Here's the bottom line.
If this summit producesanything resembling land for
peace, it's not a breakthrough.
Surrender it's not abreakthrough at all.
(04:06):
It's just total surrender.
And the precedent it sets willecho far beyond Ukraine.
It tells every authoritarianout there that you can redraw
the map with violence andeventually the world will shrug
and let you keep whatever youstole.
That's's not compromise, that'scowardice, plain and simple.
(04:30):
And this is where Trump showsexactly why he is unfit to be
anywhere near power.
This isn't strategy, it isn'tleadership.
It's a man playing games withpeople's lives.
Leadership it's a man playinggames with people's lives like
they're chips in one of hisbankrupt casinos.
He cozies up to Putin, one ofthe most brutal tyrants on the
(04:53):
planet, not because it servesAmerican interests, not because
it protects democracy, butbecause it feeds his ego and
makes Trump feel important.
Trump doesn't give a damn aboutsovereignty or freedom or the
cost of this war on ordinaryUkrainians.
He cares about the photo op,the applause, the validation
(05:17):
that comes from standingshoulder to shoulder with
strongmen.
He isn't negotiating peace.
He's selling out democracy,bending over for a dictator and
asking the free world to joinhim.
It is cowardice, it iscorruption and it is a betrayal
(05:37):
of every principle America issupposed to stand for.
Meanwhile, trump's out fronthaggling over Ukraine like it's
a liquidation sale, but whilehe's playing dealmaker abroad,
the weekend script here isshifting Marines headed to the
Caribbean, additional NationalGuard shipped into DC by
(06:00):
Republican governors.
This isn't diplomacy, it's it'sdress rehearsal for something
darker.
That's how I see it.
So let me break this down.
More than 4,000 Marines andsailors are being deployed to
the southern Caribbean, alongwith a submarine, spy aircraft
(06:20):
and destroyers.
Supposedly it's about combatingdrug cartels.
Right, because that's theproblem Suddenly keeping Trump
up at night.
Not the fact that cartels havebeen pumping narcotics into the
US for decades.
Not the money laundering banks,not the fentanyl pipeline.
(06:43):
Nope.
Now, in the middle of anelection season, coming up,
midterms and an internationalstandoff, suddenly the Marines
are going to clean up cocaine.
Sure, this isn't about drugs.
This is muscle flexing.
It's projecting force nearVenezuela, near Latin America,
(07:04):
in waters where we've stagedcoups before.
It's a show of power dressed upin law and order clothing, like
sending in Batman to bustjaywalkers.
It makes no sense unless thereal goal is intimidation.
And here at home, threeRepublican governors West
(07:26):
Virginia, ohio, south Carolinaare shipping.
The governors are shipping atleast 700 National Guard troops
into Washington DC.
They're not there to hand outwater bottles or fixed potholes.
They're armed, they'restationed in the nation's
capital as if DC is someunstable colony that needs
(07:48):
policing.
So ask yourself why?
What's the justification?
Is the Capitol under siege?
Is Georgetown overrun by soccermoms rioting over pumpkin spice
shortages?
No, this is about building thevisual of control Soldiers in
(08:10):
the streets, uniforms in theCapitol, the message that power
doesn't just speak, it shows upwith rifles.
Put the two together Marinesabroad, guards at home, and you
see the outline of a presidentwho isn't just playing global
negotiator, he's staging wargames, foreign and domestic.
(08:32):
Abroad the justification iscartels.
At home the justification ispublic safety.
But both lead to the same placeNormalizing the sight of armed
forces moving where they don'tbelong.
And that's the darker part,because once people get used to
(08:56):
Marines of Venezuela and theNational Guard in DC, the next
deployment doesn't feel shocking, it just feels routine.
And that's how you slide fromdemocracy into something else
Not with a bang, not with a coupheadline, but with one training
exercise at a time.
(09:19):
The weekend was already afull-blown power trip.
Troops abroad, more NationalGuard sent to Washington DC, but
ICE wasn't about to be left out.
They grabbed a seven-year-oldgirl because, apparently,
crayons are now a threat tonational security.
Here's what happened A mother,her teenage son and her
(09:42):
seven-year-old daughter showedup for what ICE calls a routine
check-in at Federal Plaza in NewYork City and instead of
walking out, they were split upand shipped off.
Mom and daughter sent to areopened family detention camp
in Texas, the son dumped into ayouth facility in New Jersey.
(10:07):
Because that's how family valueswork in Trump's America you
keep the family together rightup until you don't, and they
call it routine.
Routine like brushing yourteeth, like taking out the
garbage, only in this case thegarbage is a seven-year-old girl
(10:27):
and her mom.
Garbage is a seven-year-oldgirl and her mom.
Let's be honest, there'snothing routine about this.
You don't target a secondgrader for national security.
You target her because it sendsa message To immigrants show up
for your check-in and you'llnever see your home again.
And you'll never see your homeagain To Trump's base.
(10:49):
See how tough we are.
We're not just locking upadults, we're locking up their
kids too.
No-transcript.
This is how we govern now.
What's even more grotesque isthe hypocrisy the same MAGA
crowd that screams about tyrannyif you ask them to put on a
(11:12):
mask and target.
Silent when the governmentlocks up a little girl.
Silent when mom and daughterget a one-way ticket to
detention camp.
Silent when family separationisn't an accident, it's policy.
This isn't security.
This isn't law enforcement.
This is cruelty.
Shrink wrap this policy.
(11:35):
Trump doesn't care about theborder.
He cares about the show.
Ice doesn't care about safety.
They care about the fear andthe MAGA faithful.
They care about cheeringcruelty, as long as it's not
happening to them.
So let's call it what it is.
(11:55):
If you could normalize lockingup a seven-year-old girl with
her mom, you could normalizeanything.
Today it's an immigrant familyat a check-in, tomorrow it's
whoever else this administrationdecides doesn't belong, and the
day after that we're allsupposed to shrug and call it
(12:16):
routine.
Routine that's the word theywant you to swallow.
But don't, because there'snothing routine about putting a
little girl and her mother in adetention camp and shipping the
son off.
That's not order, that's notjustice.
That's Trump's America and it'srotten to the core.
(12:39):
So step back for a second.
In one weekend you've got Trumpfloating away pieces of Ukraine
like it's a yard sale, marinessteaming south like we're
revving up for another LatinAmerica adventure and ICE
hauling a seven-year-old girl,her brother and her mom into
detention.
That's not three separatestories.
(13:00):
That's one story.
It's the same story.
That's one story.
It's the same story.
Power being used not to protectpeople, but to show off control.
To remind you who's in chargePower being used not to protect
people but to show off control.
It's the flex Abroad, at home,on families, on kids, doesn't
(13:26):
matter.
The message is the same.
We can do this and you can'tstop us.
And that's the real danger,listeners, because once you
normalize it, once the fire salein Ukraine looks like diplomacy
, once Marines on the doorstepof Venezuela looks like policy,
(13:50):
once a child in custody lookslike routine, then democracy
isn't democracy anymore.
It's stagecraft, it'sintimidation dressed up as
governance.
This is what Trump and the MAGAmovement are selling, not
leadership, not security, noteven stability.
(14:12):
They're selling cruelty asstrength.
They're selling fear aspatriotism.
They're selling you a countrywhere rights are optional, laws
are props and compassion is aliability.
So circle that in red.
Listeners, this is Americaunder Trump.
If you're not shocked, you'reasleep.
(14:34):
If you're not angry, you'renumb.
And if you think it can't getworse, trust me, they're already
planning the sequel.
You could call me at833-399-9653, 24-7 free
voicemail box.
Leave your thoughts Surely someof you have opinions or email
(14:57):
me at madworldtalk at gmailcom.
M-a-d-w-o-r-l-d-t-a-l-k atgmail.
If you've got something to say,don't sit on it.
Say it Without hearing from you.
I'm sitting in a room talkingto myself.
Also, please leave a review onApple or Spotify.
It's the only way this podcastgets noticed.
(15:20):
Instead of buried, I show upevery day to call out people and
news for what they are.
Sure you might hear itelsewhere, but not like this.
I don't dress it up, I don'twater it down and I sure as hell
don't run it through a filter.
This has been A World Gone MadMonday's Fallout edition.
I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe.
(15:42):
I'll be back Wednesday Becausesomeone has to say the shit that
no one else will, andapparently that job's mine.
Until then, wolfpack listeners,stay skeptical, stay focused
and, most of all, stay hopeful.
(16:02):
Stay hopeful.
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