October 7, 2025 • 30 mins
What if the shutdowns, shadow rulings, forever-war language, and state-federal knife fights aren’t separate storms but gears in the same machine? We walk through how Washington’s rituals of crisis drain trust, how the Supreme Court’s high-stakes term and shadow docket reshape rights without sunlight, why declaring “armed conflict” against cartels stretches executive power, and how federal funding freezes and lawsuits turn federalism into a tug-of-war that leaves citizens with rope burns. The pattern is clear: when dysfunction becomes predictable, cynicism feels smart—and democracy pays the bill.
From there, we go under the hood. We revisit the history that normalized shutdowns, the cases that define who gets care and who counts, and the way war language lowers oversight while raising the temperature. We connect the dots between national spectacle and kitchen-table impact: stalled refunds, strained nutrition programs, delayed courts, and community projects on ice. Then we turn to the home front with a frank look at AI “parental controls” that teens can bypass. Features help, but presence protects. We offer concrete steps—devices out of bedrooms, screen-free zones, earlier conversations about AI, and watching for quiet signals of distress—rooted in a belief that human attention beats software settings.
This conversation is about refusing the shrug. We argue for boring-but-stable budgeting, brighter judicial processes for big questions, tight and time-bound war authorizations, and federal-state cooperation that shields essential services from partisan punishment. If power keeps expanding, citizens must get closer, not colder—closer to our kids, closer to our communities, and closer to the levers that still work. If this breakdown resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who needs clarity over chaos, and leave a review telling us which reform should come first.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to the Darrell McLean Show.
I'm your host, Darrell McLean,independent media that won't
reinforce tribalism.
We have one planet, nobody isleaving.
So let us reason together.
Let's get right to this episode.
The government has shut downagain.
And if you didn't flinch when Isaid that, you're not alone.
At this point, shutdowns feelless like national emergencies
and more like nationaltraditions.
(00:21):
Fireworks on the Fourth of July,Turkey on Thanksgiving, and at
least once a decade, maybetwice, Washington grinds to a
halt and calls it governing.
History, the first modernshutdown, was 1980.
Since then, we've had more thantwenty.
Clinton and Gingrich sparred inthe nineties.
Obama and the GOP shut it downin 2013.
And Trump gave us the longest inhistory, 35 days in 2018-19.
(00:42):
That's not a streak to be proudof.
That's dysfunction becomingritualized.
Present numbers this time 9000federal employees are
furloughed.
That's nearly a millionpaychecks frozen in mid-air.
The White House has gonefurther.
Freezing$26 billion in federalfunds aimed at democratic
cleaning states projects andtransit green energy community
development.
It's like the government isplaying poker with the people's
rent money.
(01:02):
Consequences, IFS refundsdelayed.
Nutrition programs like WICstrained.
Federal courts can keep thelights on until October 17th.
And then they're broke.
And if you're one of thosefamilies lining up at food banks
in uniform, as Coast Guardfamilies had to do in 2019, you
know the cost is an abstract.
It's groceries, it's diapers,it's dignity.
Reflection every timepoliticians swear they're
(01:23):
standing on principle.
Every time they compromise.
So the shutdown itself doesn'tsave money.
It bleeds it.
It doesn't inspire reform.
It feeds cynicism.
And here's the dangerous part.
When dysfunction becomespredictable, citizens shrug, we
start to believe governmentdoesn't matter at all.
And when people stop believingin government, democracy rots
from the inside.
(01:44):
Shutdowns end in compromisealways.
The only question is how muchsuffering we tolerate before our
leaders admit what historyalready knows, and the more we
shrug, the longer they'll playwith our lives.
So I'm doing something a littlebit different today.
I want you guys to give mefeedback on if you like it.
Our new segments are going to bevery short, uh piffy, kind of to
(02:05):
the point, and then towards theend of the show, I will give a
deeper analysis on the thingscovered, just because sometimes
you just need it uh short andsimple and um to get on with
your day.
Uh let me know what you thinkabout it.
The Supreme Court's heavy term,while Congress shuts the lights
off, the Supreme Court isflipping switches that could
(02:26):
rewire the country.
The court's new term has begun,and the stakes aren't small,
they cut to the bone of who weare as a democracy.
Cases to watch, they'll beruling on transgender health
care rights, on votingprotections, on the scope of
presidential power.
In other words, who gets care,who gets a voice, and how much
power one man in the Oval Officecan wield.
The shadow docket, then there'sthe shadow docket, then court's
(02:48):
way of deciding urgent casesoutside the usual process, often
without hearings or fullopinions.
It sounds procedural, but it'sreally about power.
Decisions that reshape livesslip through in the dark while
we're distracted by louderfights.
Legitimacy crisis trust in thecourt has cratered.
People don't see robes andneutrality anymore.
They see politics at marblehalls.
(03:08):
And maybe that's honest Bush v.
Gore reminded us 25 years agothat nine justices can choose a
president, but honesty doesn'tmake it healthier.
Contrast with history, thinkabout landmark rulings.
Brown v.
Board broke segregation, Roe v.
Wade expanded rights, but Bushv.
Gore?
Dobbs?
These cases show us the courtisn't outside politics.
It is politics, just withlifetime tenure.
(03:30):
When unelected judges hold thepower to decide who votes, who
marries who gets health care,and how far presidents can reach
what's left of the guardrails ofdemocracy.
We're taught checks andbalances.
But if the judiciary tips thescale, checks are useless.
This term isn't just about law,it's about legitimacy, and
legitimacy is a fragile currencyonce it's spent, no robe in the
world can buy it back.
America's expanding wars, theydon't call it a war on drugs
(03:52):
anymore.
They call it an armed conflictwith drug cartels.
Sounds like semantics, butlabels matter.
A war on drugs is policy.
An armed conflict is war, andwar changes the rules.
The news U.S.
Navy ships struck vessels offthe coast of Venezuela, and the
administration told Congress theU.S.
is officially in anon-international armed conflict
with cartels, translation.
The military now has moreleeway, less oversight, and more
(04:14):
justification for force.
History echoes we've heard thisbefore.
In the 1980s, the war on drugsmilitarized policing.
After 9-11, the war on terrorrewrote surveillance and civil
liberties.
Each time the phrase war gavethe government a blank check,
and each time the people cast itwith their freedoms.
Costs and risks, internationallaw gets bent, civilians get
(04:35):
caught in the crossfire.
The line between police work andmilitary work blurs until the
Constitution itself goes hazy,and all of it is sold to us as
necessary for safety.
But ask Latin America how U.S.
drug wars have played out.
Ask Afghanistan how our war onterror ended.
Gaza ceasefire, and while that'shappening, the White House is
trying to fast track a ceasefirein Gaza through talks in Egypt
(04:56):
promising a deal to tradeIsraeli hostages for Palestinian
prisoners.
It's a rush to show resultsabroad while chaos grows at
home.
When everything becomes a wardrugs, terror.
Immigration power flows upward,away from citizens toward the
executive branch, and thequestion isn't whether the
government wins those wars.
The question is who benefits andwho pays the bill wars expand.
(05:18):
Freedom shrink, and historykeeps receipts.
States versus the federalhammer, the shutdown isn't just
Beltway Theater.
It's hitting the states and someof them are swinging back.
The conflicts, the White Housefroze, billions headed to
Democratic states.
Oregon went to court and blockeda National Guard deployment.
Illinois and Oregon arechallenging ICE raids and
federal overreach.
Federalism isn't just a civicsclass word anymore.
(05:38):
It's a courtroom battle.
Historical thread, this tensionis as old as the Republic.
From Jefferson railing againstthe Alien and Sedition Acts to
the Civil War.
To the Civil Rights era, thestruggle between state power and
federal power never really ends.
It just changes costumes.
The stakes today in this round,the stakes are concrete.
Stall transit projects, cancelclean energy plans, local
(05:59):
communities squeezed by afederal punishment.
Governors are suing, judges areintervening.
The federal hammer is meetingstate resistance and sparks are
flying.
Here's the irony.
The framers designed federalismas balance.
But today balance looks like atug of war where citizens it
rope burns.
And in the middle of that ropeis trust in whether Washington
(06:22):
works for you or against you.
When states sue the federalgovernment just to keep their
people fed, the American familyfeud isn't just academic, it's
survival.
Here's the machinery ofdysfunction the government shuts
down.
The Supreme Court starts a newterm.
The White House declares a newwar.
The states sue Washington.
Four headlines that soundseparate, like news alerts
(06:44):
sliding across your phone, butthey're gears in the same
machine.
Machine that's been grindingdown democracy.
One cynical lesson at a time.
Let's pull that machine apart.
Let's see what's under the hood.
Because once you see how itworks, you can't unsee it.
First year, shutdowns.
The very idea that thegovernment can grind to a halt
is new.
Before 1980, it didn't happen.
(07:05):
Appropriations lapsed, but thegovernment kept moving.
Then the law got reinterpreted,and suddenly politicians had a
weapon (07:10):
the power to stop the machine cold.
And they've used it 20 timessince then.
Clinton and Girch turned it intoa spectacle in the 90s.
Obama and the GOP replayed it in2013.
Trump stretched it into thelongest in history: 35 days of
unpaid workers, shuttered parks,stalled science labs, and
military families lining up atfood banks.
(07:31):
And now here we are again.
900 federal employees furlough.
26 billion in funds frozen forblue states.
IRS refunds stalled.
Nutrition program strained,federal courts ticking down like
a doomsday clock.
And if you live paycheck topaycheck, the crisis isn't
theoretical.
It's rent due, groceriesmissing, medicine unaffordable.
But here's the cruel truth.
(07:52):
Every shutdown ends the sameway, compromise.
No revolutions, nobreakthroughs.
Just politicians playing chickenuntil someone swerves.
So why do it?
Because every time the publicloses a little more faith.
The machine teaches us,government can't help you,
government doesn't matter.
Shrug and move.
And that cynicism is the point.
(08:14):
Second gear, the Supreme Court.
While Congress makes headlinesfor failure, the court makes
history in silence.
This term, it's transgenderhealth care, voting rights, and
presidential powers.
In other words, who gets care,who gets a voice, and how much
authority one man can grab.
And increasingly, thesedecisions don't even happen in
(08:36):
open court.
They happen through theso-called shadow docket rushed
rulings, often unsigned, withlittle explanation.
That's not law in the sunlight.
That's law by midnight memo.
Now, let me be clear.
I don't agree with abortion.
I believe life is sacred fromthe unborn child in the womb to
(08:58):
the elderly person in a hospitalbed.
When the court overturned Roe v.
Wade, I wasn't grieved by theoutcome.
I believe Roe was a moral wrong.
But here's the bigger issue.
Whether you chaired Dobbs ormourned it, you should be
unsettled by how easilyfundamental questions of life
and liberty swing back and forthdepending on who sits on the
(09:19):
bench.
Fifty years of Roe, then gone.
Maybe fifty years of Dobbs.
Then gone.
That pendulum isn't justice.
It's politics disguised as law.
And when nine unelected justiceshold the ability to rewrite the
social contract overnight, trustin the court evaporates.
People stop seeing it as therule of law and start seeing it
(09:42):
as a partisan battlefield inrobes.
If life is sacred and it is,then the way we defend life
should be steady, rooted andconsistent.
But our institutions aren'tsteady.
They're tossed by the winds ofpower.
And that inconsistency corrodesnot only trust in the court, but
trust in our very ability toprotect what's most precious.
(10:05):
Third gear.
War.
We've been told America isalways at war with something.
Poverty, drugs, crime, terror.
Now cartels.
The latest! The administrationhas declared a non-international
armed conflict with drug cartelsafter striking boats off
Venezuela.
Sounds technical, but what itmeans is this more power for the
(10:27):
executive, less oversight fromCongress, and fewer rights for
citizens.
History repeats.
The war on drugs gave usmilitarized police and mass
incarceration.
The war on terror gave uspatriot acts and endless wars
overseas.
Wars don't end, theymetastasize.
And when everything becomes awar, war on drugs, war on
(10:51):
terror, war on immigration, theConstitution bends, the people
sacrifice rights in the name ofsafety, and safety never
arrives.
And yet, in the same week theadministration expands war at
home, it rushes to push aceasefire abroad, trying to
broker peace in Gaza.
The contradiction is almostabsurd.
(11:12):
Exporting diplomacy whileimporting militarization.
But when you strip away theslogans, both moves are about
control.
War consolidates power.
It always has.
That's why everything becomes awar and why wartime never ends.
Fourth Gear.
Federalism.
The shutdown isn't just DCdrama, it's starving states.
(11:34):
Oregon goes to court and blocksa National Guard deployment.
Illinois fights ICE raids.
Governors watch billions offederal dollars freeze because
their citizens voted for thewrong party.
This isn't balance between stateand federal power.
This is punishment.
But the struggle between statesand Washington is old.
Jefferson vs.
(11:54):
Adams over the Alien andSedition Acts, Southern
secession in 1861,segregationist governors defying
civil rights laws in the 1960z.
Federalism has always been abattlefield.
What makes today different isthe scale of distrust.
States no longer see Washingtonas flawed partner.
(12:15):
They see it as enemy, andcitizens are left caught between
whiplash by conflicting laws,services delayed, projects
stalled.
Federalism isn't protectingliberty.
It's producing gritlock,resentment, and fracture.
So put the gears together.
Shut downs, courts, wars,states.
Different stories, same lesson.
(12:35):
The machine is teaching us toshrug.
And cynicism is the real victorybecause cynicism is not wisdom.
It looks like sophistication, Iknow better.
I see through it all.
But it's really surrenderdressed in smugness.
Cynicism tells you, don'tbother, don't vote, don't
protest, don't organize, justwatch the spectacle, shake your
(12:59):
head, and go back to scrolling.
And elites know this.
As Chomsky has pointed out,elites manufacture consent.
In our era, they alsomanufacture apathy because an
apathetic citizen ispredictable.
They don't rise up, they don'tdemand better, they survive
quietly while power growsunchecked, and here's the moral
(13:21):
dimension.
When you lose sight of life'svalue, whether it's the life of
the unborn, the poor, therefugee, the prisoner, or the
soldier sent to fight, endlesswar cynicism becomes easier.
If life doesn't matter, thennothing does.
That's the deepest rot themachine produces.
Democracy doesn't collapse witha bang, it erodes with a shrug.
(13:43):
Shutdowns train us to shrug.
Courts in the shadows train usto shrug.
Permanent wars train us toshrug.
States in revolt train us toshrug.
But here's the truth the machineisn't natural.
It was built, it was designed,and what's built can be unbuilt.
The future doesn't belong tocynics.
(14:04):
It belongs to the stubborn, thepeople who refuse to shrug, who
still care enough to be angry,to demand better, to fight
forth.
And if life is sacred everylife, then democracy is sacred
too.
Because it's the framework bywhich we honor that life
together.
To defend one without the otheris to build on sand.
(14:24):
So don't shrug.
Don't give the machine thesatisfaction.
Remember, democracy isn't aspectator sport.
It's a contact sport.
And if you still care enough tobe listening right now, you're
already in the fight.
Family, let's talk.
I've been chewing on this storyall week, and I think it says
something bigger about where weare as a culture, as parents,
(14:46):
and as people of faith trying toshepherd our children in a
digital wilderness.
The New York Times ran a piecethis week introduces parental
controls for ChatGPT.
The big headline was supposed tosound reassuring.
Parents can now keep their kidssafe when they use AI.
But buried halfway down thecolumn was the sentence that
ought to be in bold print.
Asterisk teenagers can bypassthe controls.
(15:09):
Now let's pause right there.
That's like selling a seatbeltthat comes unbuckled if you pull
on it too hard.
That's like a car alarm thatpolitely stops when a thief
insists.
It's not controlled, it'sdecoration.
And the irony is most teenagersalready know more about these
systems than their parents.
(15:30):
We're in a world where kids helpreset her iPhone asterisk, but
we think they can't set up asecond account to bypass mom and
dad's restrictions.
Come on.
The tragedy behind the headline,this wasn't just rolled out on a
normal Monday morning out ofgoodwill.
No.
It came in the shadow oftragedy.
A 16-year-old boy in California,Adam Rain, died by suicide
(15:50):
earlier this year.
His parents say ChatGPT suppliedhim with information about how
to do it.
Now, I don't need to litigatethis case on air.
The courts will sort throughwhat the platform is or isn't
responsible for.
But here's what you and I needto notice.
The rollout of parental controlswas less about innovation and
more about liability.
(16:11):
The company had to show doingsomething.
And this is where I want to slowus down because as a pastor, as
a counselor, as someone who haswalked with families through
unimaginable grief, I want tosay this.
But parents, parents don't get apatch.
(16:33):
Parents live with the laws.
And that brings me to what Ibelieve is the deeper issue
here, the illusion of safety.
Because if you read thatheadline, if you hear parental
controls, you might breatheeasier.
You might think I can trust thistool in my child's hands, but
(16:54):
here's the danger it's not real,it's a false comfort.
And sometimes a false comfort ismore dangerous than no comfort
at all.
Let me put it this way (17:04):
I'd rather know the lion is loose in
the streets than be told thecage is locked when the cage
door is wide open.
Christian parents, let me talkdirectly to you.
No line of code can replacediscipleship.
No parental control feature canreplace presence.
And no app can carry the weightof the stewardship God has
(17:25):
placed on your shoulders.
Now, I'm not anti-technology.
I'm sitting here talking to youthrough a microphone, recording
on digital equipment, streamingacross platforms.
I get it.
I use the tools, but I don'tworship the tools.
And I sure don't trust the toolsto raise our children.
Because let's face it, this AIworld is not neutral.
(17:47):
It's not all Bible study helpsand math homework explanations.
It's a mirror of the humanheart.
And the human heart, accordingto Scripture, is deceitful above
all things.
That means AI reflects the bestof us, the worst of us.
It can serve you a summary ofgust in one moment and generate
sexualized role play the next.
Parents, as the digitalwilderness your kids are walking
(18:11):
into.
And if you think your13-year-old with a brain that
science tells us is still underconstruction, is going to
navigate that unscarred justbecause you checked a box on an
app, let me lovingly tell youthat's wishful thinking.
Let's go practical for a moment.
These controls let parents settime limits, disable voice chat,
even block image generation.
(18:32):
There's a feature that promisesto notify parents if their child
talks about self-harm.
And I'll say it, these are notbad features.
They're good as far as they go.
I'm not against them.
But what happens the moment yourchild makes a second account?
What happens when they access AIthrough a friend's phone?
What happens when they type thesame question into a less
(18:53):
regulated AI tool that doesn'thave any guardrails at all?
Suddenly your parental controlis meaningless.
It's not that the features arebad, it's that they trick us
into thinking the job is done.
But the job is never done.
Now, here's where it gets heavy.
Christian parenting has alwaysbeen about stewardship, handing
down the faith, protecting ourchildren from danger, guiding
(19:14):
them toward wisdom.
The digital age hasn't erasedthat it's multiplied the stakes.
Think about it.
Temptation in the past had towalk down the street, knock on
the door, maybe slip a noteunder the desk at school.
Today, temptation doesn't knock.
It just vibrates in your child'spocket.
It shows up at midnight glowingon the screen.
(19:36):
And it doesn't just offer onekind of sin, it offers all of
them sexual immorality,violence, despair, vanity,
nihilism.
That's what makes this more thana parenting challenge.
It's a discipleship crisis.
Because our kids aren't justlearning to use technology,
they're being discipled by it.
They're being shaped by theconversations they have with a
(19:58):
bot at 2 a.m.
in ways we can't even track.
And here's the kicker (20:01):
even adults can't handle it.
Grown men and women are addictedto screens, drowning in
pornography, doom scrollingthemselves into depression.
If the adults can't manage it,why do we think our 14-year-olds
can?
So where does this leave us?
Do we panic?
Do we throw out every piece intechnology?
(20:22):
No.
But we do need to get honest.
Honest about the limits of whatsoftware can do.
Honest about our children'svulnerabilities, honest about
our role as parents, not just asproviders, but as protectors, as
teachers, as shepherds.
And that honesty starts withrejecting the illusion.
(20:42):
Don't believe the headline whenthe fine print tells you
otherwise.
Don't outsource your calling toa checkbox on an app.
Don't confuse a speed bump for awall.
So practically, what can we do?
Talk to your kids about what AIis, what it can do, and what it
can't.
Don't wait until something goesset limits, not just digital
(21:04):
ones, but real ones.
Devices stay out of bedrooms atnight.
Family zones without screens.
Don't just rely on apps tonotify you about self-harm.
Be close enough to notice theshift in tone, the slump in
posture, the silence at thedinner table.
Cover your children in prayer.
(21:25):
Because no firewall is higherthan the throne of God.
Family, I want to end with this.
AI isn't going away.
It's here, it's powerful, and itwill shape our future.
But don't let a false sense ofsecurity lull you to sleep.
The parental controls may help,but they will never replace the
calling God gave you to guardGod and disciple the next
(21:48):
generation.
The Bible tells us, sober-mindedbe watchful.
Your adversary, the devil,prowls around like a roaring
lion seeking someone to devour.
That was true in the firstcentury when lions were in
Colosseums.
It's true in the 21st centurywhen the lion shows up in your
kid's pocket on a glowingscreen.
So don't trust the fence if thegate is wide open.
(22:09):
Don't hand off your stewardshipto Silicon Valley.
Stay in watch, guard the heartsand minds of your children.
And remember, safety is not theabsence of danger.
Safety is the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00 (22:26):
ICE is offering a $45,000 signing bonus plus a
hundred thousand dollarsstarting salary.
A teacher in her eighth yearwith a master's degree will make
$55,000.
It was never true that we don'thave enough money to pay
teachers.
It was always intentional.
Education has been intentionalneed to fund it for decades
(22:47):
because educate a populace is abreath of power.
Read the books, do the work.
They were absolutely terrifiedof education.
SPEAKER_06 (22:56):
If you were a founder, Steve, and I gave you
$10,000 per hour, one or both ofus is probably going to go to
jail.
But if I'm a corporate executiveand you're a founder, and I give
you IQ shores in stock.
Over the course of one year,what's the five months to
$100,000?
(23:51):
Or of course you can lie.
That's my husband, that's myhusband with those from.
Of course, that doesn't matter.
If you're a corporate exporterand you your wife trades and
your company's stock and that'sa lot of money, that's still in
front of the trade.
And of course, not reallysomething on a turbocharge as
far as investment portfolio isconcerned.
SPEAKER_03 (24:12):
The hardware seems to be though.
Republicans do not vote, but thelegal intervals for the remote
first four, 24 funded openchurch.
So the teleport position,official position, the legal
intervals for the four 21 firsttwo, 24 funded church, though.
SPEAKER_04 (24:45):
So this is a real war.
(25:22):
This is not a blue.
This is first.
Individuals are going to workwith small voters if we're not
receiving them already smoking.
More folks in Alaska who havereceived letters.
(25:43):
What's unaffordable?
In my state, in Arizona, 109,000people are likely to lose their
health care.
But they are one oxider or oneillness away from bankruptcy.
SPEAKER_02 (25:57):
Let's remember what they've done to the Postal
Service that they borrowed fromthe budget funds to drive it
into economic distrust.
So when they're doing that rightnow to Social Security, they
will essentially devour andcannibalize the system so that
it becomes dysfunctional andthen use that as the excuse to
privatize the fund.
But take a good look at the UKPostal Service if you want to
see what a privatized postalservice looks like.
(26:18):
A postal service is about givingthe postal ability to the
citizen in the same way that ourpublic school system is about
educating children regardless ofwhere they are.
So what you're doing is takingthe most basic services that we
pay for.
We pay for them not.
If you want to talk about themost bloated, unaccountable
(26:39):
government agency, that's theproblem.
Welcome to the Darrell McLean Show.
I'm your host, Darrell McLean,independent media that won't
reinforce tribalism.
We have one planet, nobody isleaving.
So let us reason together.
Let's get right to this episode.
The government has shut downagain.
And if you didn't flinch when Isaid that, you're not alone.
At this point, shutdowns feelless like national emergencies
and more like nationaltraditions.
(00:21):
Fireworks on the Fourth of July,Turkey on Thanksgiving, and at
least once a decade, maybetwice, Washington grinds to a
halt and calls it governing.
History, the first modernshutdown, was 1980.
Since then, we've had more thantwenty.
Clinton and Gingrich sparred inthe nineties.
Obama and the GOP shut it downin 2013.
And Trump gave us the longest inhistory, 35 days in 2018-19.
(00:42):
That's not a streak to be proudof.
That's dysfunction becomingritualized.
Present numbers this time 9000federal employees are
furloughed.
That's nearly a millionpaychecks frozen in mid-air.
The White House has gonefurther.
Freezing$26 billion in federalfunds aimed at democratic
cleaning states projects andtransit green energy community
development.
It's like the government isplaying poker with the people's
rent money.
(01:02):
Consequences, IFS refundsdelayed.
Nutrition programs like WICstrained.
Federal courts can keep thelights on until October 17th.
And then they're broke.
And if you're one of thosefamilies lining up at food banks
in uniform, as Coast Guardfamilies had to do in 2019, you
know the cost is an abstract.
It's groceries, it's diapers,it's dignity.
Reflection every timepoliticians swear they're
(01:23):
standing on principle.
Every time they compromise.
So the shutdown itself doesn'tsave money.
It bleeds it.
It doesn't inspire reform.
It feeds cynicism.
And here's the dangerous part.
When dysfunction becomespredictable, citizens shrug, we
start to believe governmentdoesn't matter at all.
And when people stop believingin government, democracy rots
from the inside.
(01:44):
Shutdowns end in compromisealways.
The only question is how muchsuffering we tolerate before our
leaders admit what historyalready knows, and the more we
shrug, the longer they'll playwith our lives.
So I'm doing something a littlebit different today.
I want you guys to give mefeedback on if you like it.
Our new segments are going to bevery short, uh piffy, kind of to
(02:05):
the point, and then towards theend of the show, I will give a
deeper analysis on the thingscovered, just because sometimes
you just need it uh short andsimple and um to get on with
your day.
Uh let me know what you thinkabout it.
The Supreme Court's heavy term,while Congress shuts the lights
off, the Supreme Court isflipping switches that could
(02:26):
rewire the country.
The court's new term has begun,and the stakes aren't small,
they cut to the bone of who weare as a democracy.
Cases to watch, they'll beruling on transgender health
care rights, on votingprotections, on the scope of
presidential power.
In other words, who gets care,who gets a voice, and how much
power one man in the Oval Officecan wield.
The shadow docket, then there'sthe shadow docket, then court's
(02:48):
way of deciding urgent casesoutside the usual process, often
without hearings or fullopinions.
It sounds procedural, but it'sreally about power.
Decisions that reshape livesslip through in the dark while
we're distracted by louderfights.
Legitimacy crisis trust in thecourt has cratered.
People don't see robes andneutrality anymore.
They see politics at marblehalls.
(03:08):
And maybe that's honest Bush v.
Gore reminded us 25 years agothat nine justices can choose a
president, but honesty doesn'tmake it healthier.
Contrast with history, thinkabout landmark rulings.
Brown v.
Board broke segregation, Roe v.
Wade expanded rights, but Bushv.
Gore?
Dobbs?
These cases show us the courtisn't outside politics.
It is politics, just withlifetime tenure.
(03:30):
When unelected judges hold thepower to decide who votes, who
marries who gets health care,and how far presidents can reach
what's left of the guardrails ofdemocracy.
We're taught checks andbalances.
But if the judiciary tips thescale, checks are useless.
This term isn't just about law,it's about legitimacy, and
legitimacy is a fragile currencyonce it's spent, no robe in the
world can buy it back.
America's expanding wars, theydon't call it a war on drugs
(03:52):
anymore.
They call it an armed conflictwith drug cartels.
Sounds like semantics, butlabels matter.
A war on drugs is policy.
An armed conflict is war, andwar changes the rules.
The news U.S.
Navy ships struck vessels offthe coast of Venezuela, and the
administration told Congress theU.S.
is officially in anon-international armed conflict
with cartels, translation.
The military now has moreleeway, less oversight, and more
(04:14):
justification for force.
History echoes we've heard thisbefore.
In the 1980s, the war on drugsmilitarized policing.
After 9-11, the war on terrorrewrote surveillance and civil
liberties.
Each time the phrase war gavethe government a blank check,
and each time the people cast itwith their freedoms.
Costs and risks, internationallaw gets bent, civilians get
(04:35):
caught in the crossfire.
The line between police work andmilitary work blurs until the
Constitution itself goes hazy,and all of it is sold to us as
necessary for safety.
But ask Latin America how U.S.
drug wars have played out.
Ask Afghanistan how our war onterror ended.
Gaza ceasefire, and while that'shappening, the White House is
trying to fast track a ceasefirein Gaza through talks in Egypt
(04:56):
promising a deal to tradeIsraeli hostages for Palestinian
prisoners.
It's a rush to show resultsabroad while chaos grows at
home.
When everything becomes a wardrugs, terror.
Immigration power flows upward,away from citizens toward the
executive branch, and thequestion isn't whether the
government wins those wars.
The question is who benefits andwho pays the bill wars expand.
(05:18):
Freedom shrink, and historykeeps receipts.
States versus the federalhammer, the shutdown isn't just
Beltway Theater.
It's hitting the states and someof them are swinging back.
The conflicts, the White Housefroze, billions headed to
Democratic states.
Oregon went to court and blockeda National Guard deployment.
Illinois and Oregon arechallenging ICE raids and
federal overreach.
Federalism isn't just a civicsclass word anymore.
(05:38):
It's a courtroom battle.
Historical thread, this tensionis as old as the Republic.
From Jefferson railing againstthe Alien and Sedition Acts to
the Civil War.
To the Civil Rights era, thestruggle between state power and
federal power never really ends.
It just changes costumes.
The stakes today in this round,the stakes are concrete.
Stall transit projects, cancelclean energy plans, local
(05:59):
communities squeezed by afederal punishment.
Governors are suing, judges areintervening.
The federal hammer is meetingstate resistance and sparks are
flying.
Here's the irony.
The framers designed federalismas balance.
But today balance looks like atug of war where citizens it
rope burns.
And in the middle of that ropeis trust in whether Washington
(06:22):
works for you or against you.
When states sue the federalgovernment just to keep their
people fed, the American familyfeud isn't just academic, it's
survival.
Here's the machinery ofdysfunction the government shuts
down.
The Supreme Court starts a newterm.
The White House declares a newwar.
The states sue Washington.
Four headlines that soundseparate, like news alerts
(06:44):
sliding across your phone, butthey're gears in the same
machine.
Machine that's been grindingdown democracy.
One cynical lesson at a time.
Let's pull that machine apart.
Let's see what's under the hood.
Because once you see how itworks, you can't unsee it.
First year, shutdowns.
The very idea that thegovernment can grind to a halt
is new.
Before 1980, it didn't happen.
(07:05):
Appropriations lapsed, but thegovernment kept moving.
Then the law got reinterpreted,and suddenly politicians had a
weapon (07:10):
the power to stop the machine cold.
And they've used it 20 timessince then.
Clinton and Girch turned it intoa spectacle in the 90s.
Obama and the GOP replayed it in2013.
Trump stretched it into thelongest in history: 35 days of
unpaid workers, shuttered parks,stalled science labs, and
military families lining up atfood banks.
(07:31):
And now here we are again.
900 federal employees furlough.
26 billion in funds frozen forblue states.
IRS refunds stalled.
Nutrition program strained,federal courts ticking down like
a doomsday clock.
And if you live paycheck topaycheck, the crisis isn't
theoretical.
It's rent due, groceriesmissing, medicine unaffordable.
But here's the cruel truth.
(07:52):
Every shutdown ends the sameway, compromise.
No revolutions, nobreakthroughs.
Just politicians playing chickenuntil someone swerves.
So why do it?
Because every time the publicloses a little more faith.
The machine teaches us,government can't help you,
government doesn't matter.
Shrug and move.
And that cynicism is the point.
(08:14):
Second gear, the Supreme Court.
While Congress makes headlinesfor failure, the court makes
history in silence.
This term, it's transgenderhealth care, voting rights, and
presidential powers.
In other words, who gets care,who gets a voice, and how much
authority one man can grab.
And increasingly, thesedecisions don't even happen in
(08:36):
open court.
They happen through theso-called shadow docket rushed
rulings, often unsigned, withlittle explanation.
That's not law in the sunlight.
That's law by midnight memo.
Now, let me be clear.
I don't agree with abortion.
I believe life is sacred fromthe unborn child in the womb to
(08:58):
the elderly person in a hospitalbed.
When the court overturned Roe v.
Wade, I wasn't grieved by theoutcome.
I believe Roe was a moral wrong.
But here's the bigger issue.
Whether you chaired Dobbs ormourned it, you should be
unsettled by how easilyfundamental questions of life
and liberty swing back and forthdepending on who sits on the
(09:19):
bench.
Fifty years of Roe, then gone.
Maybe fifty years of Dobbs.
Then gone.
That pendulum isn't justice.
It's politics disguised as law.
And when nine unelected justiceshold the ability to rewrite the
social contract overnight, trustin the court evaporates.
People stop seeing it as therule of law and start seeing it
(09:42):
as a partisan battlefield inrobes.
If life is sacred and it is,then the way we defend life
should be steady, rooted andconsistent.
But our institutions aren'tsteady.
They're tossed by the winds ofpower.
And that inconsistency corrodesnot only trust in the court, but
trust in our very ability toprotect what's most precious.
(10:05):
Third gear.
War.
We've been told America isalways at war with something.
Poverty, drugs, crime, terror.
Now cartels.
The latest! The administrationhas declared a non-international
armed conflict with drug cartelsafter striking boats off
Venezuela.
Sounds technical, but what itmeans is this more power for the
(10:27):
executive, less oversight fromCongress, and fewer rights for
citizens.
History repeats.
The war on drugs gave usmilitarized police and mass
incarceration.
The war on terror gave uspatriot acts and endless wars
overseas.
Wars don't end, theymetastasize.
And when everything becomes awar, war on drugs, war on
(10:51):
terror, war on immigration, theConstitution bends, the people
sacrifice rights in the name ofsafety, and safety never
arrives.
And yet, in the same week theadministration expands war at
home, it rushes to push aceasefire abroad, trying to
broker peace in Gaza.
The contradiction is almostabsurd.
(11:12):
Exporting diplomacy whileimporting militarization.
But when you strip away theslogans, both moves are about
control.
War consolidates power.
It always has.
That's why everything becomes awar and why wartime never ends.
Fourth Gear.
Federalism.
The shutdown isn't just DCdrama, it's starving states.
(11:34):
Oregon goes to court and blocksa National Guard deployment.
Illinois fights ICE raids.
Governors watch billions offederal dollars freeze because
their citizens voted for thewrong party.
This isn't balance between stateand federal power.
This is punishment.
But the struggle between statesand Washington is old.
Jefferson vs.
(11:54):
Adams over the Alien andSedition Acts, Southern
secession in 1861,segregationist governors defying
civil rights laws in the 1960z.
Federalism has always been abattlefield.
What makes today different isthe scale of distrust.
States no longer see Washingtonas flawed partner.
(12:15):
They see it as enemy, andcitizens are left caught between
whiplash by conflicting laws,services delayed, projects
stalled.
Federalism isn't protectingliberty.
It's producing gritlock,resentment, and fracture.
So put the gears together.
Shut downs, courts, wars,states.
Different stories, same lesson.
(12:35):
The machine is teaching us toshrug.
And cynicism is the real victorybecause cynicism is not wisdom.
It looks like sophistication, Iknow better.
I see through it all.
But it's really surrenderdressed in smugness.
Cynicism tells you, don'tbother, don't vote, don't
protest, don't organize, justwatch the spectacle, shake your
(12:59):
head, and go back to scrolling.
And elites know this.
As Chomsky has pointed out,elites manufacture consent.
In our era, they alsomanufacture apathy because an
apathetic citizen ispredictable.
They don't rise up, they don'tdemand better, they survive
quietly while power growsunchecked, and here's the moral
(13:21):
dimension.
When you lose sight of life'svalue, whether it's the life of
the unborn, the poor, therefugee, the prisoner, or the
soldier sent to fight, endlesswar cynicism becomes easier.
If life doesn't matter, thennothing does.
That's the deepest rot themachine produces.
Democracy doesn't collapse witha bang, it erodes with a shrug.
(13:43):
Shutdowns train us to shrug.
Courts in the shadows train usto shrug.
Permanent wars train us toshrug.
States in revolt train us toshrug.
But here's the truth the machineisn't natural.
It was built, it was designed,and what's built can be unbuilt.
The future doesn't belong tocynics.
(14:04):
It belongs to the stubborn, thepeople who refuse to shrug, who
still care enough to be angry,to demand better, to fight
forth.
And if life is sacred everylife, then democracy is sacred
too.
Because it's the framework bywhich we honor that life
together.
To defend one without the otheris to build on sand.
(14:24):
So don't shrug.
Don't give the machine thesatisfaction.
Remember, democracy isn't aspectator sport.
It's a contact sport.
And if you still care enough tobe listening right now, you're
already in the fight.
Family, let's talk.
I've been chewing on this storyall week, and I think it says
something bigger about where weare as a culture, as parents,
(14:46):
and as people of faith trying toshepherd our children in a
digital wilderness.
The New York Times ran a piecethis week introduces parental
controls for ChatGPT.
The big headline was supposed tosound reassuring.
Parents can now keep their kidssafe when they use AI.
But buried halfway down thecolumn was the sentence that
ought to be in bold print.
Asterisk teenagers can bypassthe controls.
(15:09):
Now let's pause right there.
That's like selling a seatbeltthat comes unbuckled if you pull
on it too hard.
That's like a car alarm thatpolitely stops when a thief
insists.
It's not controlled, it'sdecoration.
And the irony is most teenagersalready know more about these
systems than their parents.
(15:30):
We're in a world where kids helpreset her iPhone asterisk, but
we think they can't set up asecond account to bypass mom and
dad's restrictions.
Come on.
The tragedy behind the headline,this wasn't just rolled out on a
normal Monday morning out ofgoodwill.
No.
It came in the shadow oftragedy.
A 16-year-old boy in California,Adam Rain, died by suicide
(15:50):
earlier this year.
His parents say ChatGPT suppliedhim with information about how
to do it.
Now, I don't need to litigatethis case on air.
The courts will sort throughwhat the platform is or isn't
responsible for.
But here's what you and I needto notice.
The rollout of parental controlswas less about innovation and
more about liability.
(16:11):
The company had to show doingsomething.
And this is where I want to slowus down because as a pastor, as
a counselor, as someone who haswalked with families through
unimaginable grief, I want tosay this.
But parents, parents don't get apatch.
(16:33):
Parents live with the laws.
And that brings me to what Ibelieve is the deeper issue
here, the illusion of safety.
Because if you read thatheadline, if you hear parental
controls, you might breatheeasier.
You might think I can trust thistool in my child's hands, but
(16:54):
here's the danger it's not real,it's a false comfort.
And sometimes a false comfort ismore dangerous than no comfort
at all.
Let me put it this way (17:04):
I'd rather know the lion is loose in
the streets than be told thecage is locked when the cage
door is wide open.
Christian parents, let me talkdirectly to you.
No line of code can replacediscipleship.
No parental control feature canreplace presence.
And no app can carry the weightof the stewardship God has
(17:25):
placed on your shoulders.
Now, I'm not anti-technology.
I'm sitting here talking to youthrough a microphone, recording
on digital equipment, streamingacross platforms.
I get it.
I use the tools, but I don'tworship the tools.
And I sure don't trust the toolsto raise our children.
Because let's face it, this AIworld is not neutral.
(17:47):
It's not all Bible study helpsand math homework explanations.
It's a mirror of the humanheart.
And the human heart, accordingto Scripture, is deceitful above
all things.
That means AI reflects the bestof us, the worst of us.
It can serve you a summary ofgust in one moment and generate
sexualized role play the next.
Parents, as the digitalwilderness your kids are walking
(18:11):
into.
And if you think your13-year-old with a brain that
science tells us is still underconstruction, is going to
navigate that unscarred justbecause you checked a box on an
app, let me lovingly tell youthat's wishful thinking.
Let's go practical for a moment.
These controls let parents settime limits, disable voice chat,
even block image generation.
(18:32):
There's a feature that promisesto notify parents if their child
talks about self-harm.
And I'll say it, these are notbad features.
They're good as far as they go.
I'm not against them.
But what happens the moment yourchild makes a second account?
What happens when they access AIthrough a friend's phone?
What happens when they type thesame question into a less
(18:53):
regulated AI tool that doesn'thave any guardrails at all?
Suddenly your parental controlis meaningless.
It's not that the features arebad, it's that they trick us
into thinking the job is done.
But the job is never done.
Now, here's where it gets heavy.
Christian parenting has alwaysbeen about stewardship, handing
down the faith, protecting ourchildren from danger, guiding
(19:14):
them toward wisdom.
The digital age hasn't erasedthat it's multiplied the stakes.
Think about it.
Temptation in the past had towalk down the street, knock on
the door, maybe slip a noteunder the desk at school.
Today, temptation doesn't knock.
It just vibrates in your child'spocket.
It shows up at midnight glowingon the screen.
(19:36):
And it doesn't just offer onekind of sin, it offers all of
them sexual immorality,violence, despair, vanity,
nihilism.
That's what makes this more thana parenting challenge.
It's a discipleship crisis.
Because our kids aren't justlearning to use technology,
they're being discipled by it.
They're being shaped by theconversations they have with a
(19:58):
bot at 2 a.m.
in ways we can't even track.
And here's the kicker (20:01):
even adults can't handle it.
Grown men and women are addictedto screens, drowning in
pornography, doom scrollingthemselves into depression.
If the adults can't manage it,why do we think our 14-year-olds
can?
So where does this leave us?
Do we panic?
Do we throw out every piece intechnology?
(20:22):
No.
But we do need to get honest.
Honest about the limits of whatsoftware can do.
Honest about our children'svulnerabilities, honest about
our role as parents, not just asproviders, but as protectors, as
teachers, as shepherds.
And that honesty starts withrejecting the illusion.
(20:42):
Don't believe the headline whenthe fine print tells you
otherwise.
Don't outsource your calling toa checkbox on an app.
Don't confuse a speed bump for awall.
So practically, what can we do?
Talk to your kids about what AIis, what it can do, and what it
can't.
Don't wait until something goesset limits, not just digital
(21:04):
ones, but real ones.
Devices stay out of bedrooms atnight.
Family zones without screens.
Don't just rely on apps tonotify you about self-harm.
Be close enough to notice theshift in tone, the slump in
posture, the silence at thedinner table.
Cover your children in prayer.
(21:25):
Because no firewall is higherthan the throne of God.
Family, I want to end with this.
AI isn't going away.
It's here, it's powerful, and itwill shape our future.
But don't let a false sense ofsecurity lull you to sleep.
The parental controls may help,but they will never replace the
calling God gave you to guardGod and disciple the next
(21:48):
generation.
The Bible tells us, sober-mindedbe watchful.
Your adversary, the devil,prowls around like a roaring
lion seeking someone to devour.
That was true in the firstcentury when lions were in
Colosseums.
It's true in the 21st centurywhen the lion shows up in your
kid's pocket on a glowingscreen.
So don't trust the fence if thegate is wide open.
(22:09):
Don't hand off your stewardshipto Silicon Valley.
Stay in watch, guard the heartsand minds of your children.
And remember, safety is not theabsence of danger.
Safety is the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00 (22:26):
ICE is offering a $45,000 signing bonus plus a
hundred thousand dollarsstarting salary.
A teacher in her eighth yearwith a master's degree will make
$55,000.
It was never true that we don'thave enough money to pay
teachers.
It was always intentional.
Education has been intentionalneed to fund it for decades
(22:47):
because educate a populace is abreath of power.
Read the books, do the work.
They were absolutely terrifiedof education.
SPEAKER_06 (22:56):
If you were a founder, Steve, and I gave you
$10,000 per hour, one or both ofus is probably going to go to
jail.
But if I'm a corporate executiveand you're a founder, and I give
you IQ shores in stock.
Over the course of one year,what's the five months to
$100,000?
(23:51):
Or of course you can lie.
That's my husband, that's myhusband with those from.
Of course, that doesn't matter.
If you're a corporate exporterand you your wife trades and
your company's stock and that'sa lot of money, that's still in
front of the trade.
And of course, not reallysomething on a turbocharge as
far as investment portfolio isconcerned.
SPEAKER_03 (24:12):
The hardware seems to be though.
Republicans do not vote, but thelegal intervals for the remote
first four, 24 funded openchurch.
So the teleport position,official position, the legal
intervals for the four 21 firsttwo, 24 funded church, though.
SPEAKER_04 (24:45):
So this is a real war.
(25:22):
This is not a blue.
This is first.
Individuals are going to workwith small voters if we're not
receiving them already smoking.
More folks in Alaska who havereceived letters.
(25:43):
What's unaffordable?
In my state, in Arizona, 109,000people are likely to lose their
health care.
But they are one oxider or oneillness away from bankruptcy.
SPEAKER_02 (25:57):
Let's remember what they've done to the Postal
Service that they borrowed fromthe budget funds to drive it
into economic distrust.
So when they're doing that rightnow to Social Security, they
will essentially devour andcannibalize the system so that
it becomes dysfunctional andthen use that as the excuse to
privatize the fund.
But take a good look at the UKPostal Service if you want to
see what a privatized postalservice looks like.
(26:18):
A postal service is about givingthe postal ability to the
citizen in the same way that ourpublic school system is about
educating children regardless ofwhere they are.
So what you're doing is takingthe most basic services that we
pay for.
We pay for them not.
If you want to talk about themost bloated, unaccountable
(26:39):
government agency, that's theproblem.
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