Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I support President Trump and I believe that most of
his policies on nationalsecurity are right.
I believe his instincts arepretty good.
But what I'm telling youwhoever believes that there is
any space for Vladimir Putin andthe future of a stable globe,
better go to Ukraine, theybetter go to Europe, they better
(00:22):
invest the time to understandthat this man is a cancer and
the greatest threat to democracyin my lifetime.
So, ladies and gentlemen, whenI tell you that Vladimir Putin
is a liar, a murderer and a manresponsible for ordering the
systematic torture, kidnappingand rape of innocent civilians,
(00:42):
believe me, because the evidenceis mile high.
If you believe that Ukraine isa country, an ocean away and not
relevant to our nationalsecurity, think again.
The world is small, the worldis watching.
The strength of our alliancesare on the line and the future
of democracy and the world is onthe line if we do anything less
(01:06):
than defeat vladimir putin.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Welcome to the daryl mclean show.
I'm your host, daryl mclean.
This is episode 447.
Independent media that won'treinforce tribalism.
We have one planet.
Nobody is leaving, so let usreason together.
You just heard RepublicanSenator Tom Tillis, I guess,
pushing back, I would say, onsome of the statements and
(01:34):
belief systems that PresidentDonald Trump has for Vladimir
Zelensky, the president ofUkraine.
The conflict, from everythingthat I could see, really seems
to be about Zelensky's criticismof President Trump.
(02:00):
The most harsh criticism heactually ever had, when he said
that President Trump lived in abubble, was in a bubble of
misinformation.
It's also the real dispute isover the offer that was made for
the minerals in Ukraine 50% ofminerals in Ukraine for the US
(02:28):
support.
What Senator Tillis saidpublicly is what a lot of
Republicans on the ArmedServices Committee have been
saying privately.
It's what people like LindseyGraham has also been publicly
saying.
It's what people like LindseyGraham has also been publicly
saying and it is somewhatinteresting, the G7 committee
(02:52):
actually officially scrubbed iscommunique which called Russia
the aggressor in the war betweenRussia and Ukraine war between
Russia and Ukraine.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
A dictator without elections, zelensky better move
fast or he's not going to have acountry left.
Gotta move, gotta move fast.
I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyhas done a terrible job.
His country is shattered andmillions and millions of people
have unnecessarily died.
And you can't bring a war to anend if you don't talk to both
(03:26):
sides.
You got to talk.
They haven't been talking forthree years.
He refuses to have elections.
It's slow.
And the real Ukrainian polls Imean, how can you be high with
every city is being demolished?
It's hard to be.
Somebody said oh no, his pollsare good, give me a break.
A dictator without elections,so let's keep.
Better move faster.
He's not going to have acountry left.
(03:47):
Got to move.
Got to move fast because thatwar is going in the wrong
direction.
In the meantime, we'resuccessfully negotiating an end
to the war with Russia,something, I'll admit, that only
Trump is going to be able to do.
In the Trump administration,we're going to be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I think Putin even admitted that administration
we're going to be able to do it.
I think Putin even admittedthat.
Now that was President Trumpspeaking in Miami at a event
ironically organized by SaudiArabia, who of course is not a
democracy, does not haveelections and of course is A
(04:23):
dictatorship.
If more than likely.
You'd be correct if you Thoughtof Saudi Arabia as a theocracy.
The this question was askedAgain by Peter Ducey Of Fox News
To Mike Waltz, the NationalSecurity Advisor, and this is
(04:48):
what he said who does he thinkis more responsible for the
Russian invasion of Ukraine,Putin or Zelensky?
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Well, look.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
His goal here is to bring this war to an end period.
Some of the rhetoric coming outof Kiev, frankly, and insults
to President Trump wereunacceptable.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So look, this just kind of tells you what it's
actually about.
It's obvious that VladimirPutin and Russia started the war
, but because Zelensky made thecomment about President Trump
and disinformation, trump isobviously, as he's known to do,
(05:33):
going to lash out, and this hasvery serious implications,
because we can look back to,like I said, the George Bush
administration with the invasionof Georgia.
We can go back to 2014.
We can go to the Bidenadministration To see.
(05:56):
Everything that Vladimir Putinis doing is obvious.
You can also listen to whatVladimir Putin has said.
You can also listen to whatVladimir Putin has said.
Putin has regularly suggestedthat Ukraine is not a real
country, that it belongs toRussia, and he wants it back.
(06:17):
Of course, there's going to besome pushback from some
conservatives.
Mike Pence put out a statement.
Lindsey Graham, of course, hassaid some things.
Mitch McConnell even thoughhe's leaving obviously on the
other side of the argument, butif President Trump gets his wish
(06:49):
in this, there is no way tolook at it.
Besides it.
Besides, this is the reshapingof the post-World War II order
as far as it comes to the UnitedStates view of Russia and the
United States view of whathappens when a country decides
to invade its neighbors.
I mean, we look at whathappened when Saddam Hussein
(07:10):
tried to go after Kuwait and theUnited States's response.
Now, historically and I meanwhen I say history, I mean the
future what would be theresponse to something like that
(07:39):
today?
But anyway, we'll get to seehow these talks work out in the
coming weeks and months.
Years, three years of a brutalwar, thousands of people dead,
(08:00):
lives ruined.
I think it's fair to say we allknew, we believed, that the war
would not end without Ukrainegoing to have to make some very
serious sanctions, but we alsodid not fathom that somehow
(08:21):
Russia would be rewarded in theinternational world for its
actions.
Now President Trump wants toend the war in Ukraine quickly,
but this week, we have to admit,he did falsely accuse Ukraine
of starting the war and madeimportant concessions to russia,
(08:46):
the adversaries of peace.
Now trump's advisors also metwith counterparts from moscow to
revive the two countriesrelationships.
A consistent demand from russiais that the united states and
other countries lift sanctions,and that's a device that Trump
(09:07):
already said he wants to use aslittle as possible.
Washington led an internationalcampaign for tough economic
penalties after Russia invadedUkraine in February 2022.
Dozens of countries havepunished Russian banks,
businesses and oligarchs.
Countries has punished russianbanks, businesses and oligarchs.
They froze 300 billion dollarsof russians asset bartered from
(09:28):
much of the global financialsystem and restricted what it
could buy and sell.
Now how effective were thosestations?
Russia's economy is instagnation and inflation has
spiraled.
Many products and parts areunavailable.
More than thousands of foreigncompanies have limited their
operations in russia, yet thewar has persisted.
Now russia is pitching itselfas a place where american
(09:51):
companies can make money.
Um so economic sanctions havebecome a common foreign policy
tool in recent years, and nocountry has used them more
frequently than the UnitedStates.
That's not surprising.
Once you rule out combat, thereare not many other options.
(10:15):
Sometimes they work well.
Sanctions got Libya to turnover the suspects in the 1988
bombing over a jet in Scotlandand to abandon a nuclear
chemical weapons deal in theearly 2000s.
But disappointment is morecommon.
Decades of US actions againstCuba did nothing to shorten
(10:39):
Fidel Castro's reign, nor didTrump's end Iranians' nuclear
program or his leader's grip onpower when he withdrew from a
nuclear deal with iran andreimposed sanctions in 2018.
What counts as success to somepolicymakers?
They predicted, soon after theinvasion in russia, an invasion
(11:02):
from russia to ukraine thatsanctions might force v might
force Vladimir Putin to end thewar and cause the Russian
economy to collapse.
Neither prophecy came true.
Putin actually found severalways, including an alliance with
China, to blunt the impact.
Still, sanctions have hurtRussia and hampered its war
effort.
They have reduced revenue fromexports, made all four
(11:27):
transactions more complicatedand expensive and that was
coming from laura sukla, whotracks the russian economy from
the bank of finland institutefor economics in transition.
Now russia spends roughly 40percent of its budget on the war
.
Food prices and inflations havesoared.
Interest rates have reached 21%.
Labor shortages are rampant.
(11:48):
Growth is slowing.
The long-term economic outlookhas darkened.
As Timothy Ash, a fellow atChapman House, a London think
tank, described sanctionsthey've done more than anyone
had imagined, but they haven'thad the impact, and perhaps
that's what people had hoped.
Now everyone is war weary.
(12:10):
Ukraine has been losing on thebattlefield and thinning ranks
are exhausted.
Enthusiasm to arm Ukraine hasdampened in Europe and the
United States and even thoughRussia has gained ground, its
casualties are high and itstruggles to recruit soldiers.
Now Trump could offer to liftsanctions to entice Putin to
(12:32):
agree to a deal, but he has lessleverage if he acts alone.
Russia's frozen assets are heldby several countries.
Two thirds are in Europe andseveral leaders say the money
should pay for the Ukrainiansreconstruction.
The European Union, previouslyRussia's largest trading partner
, could also keep its ban onmost trade and fuel sales.
(12:55):
Even so, the United Stateswields a new yin power in the
global financial system.
Much of the world's trade,where it is conducted, is
settled using United Statesdollars, and American banks are
the only ones that can handlethose types of transactions.
That means the United Statescould significantly ease Russian
(13:18):
companies' ability to dobusiness abroad by allowing them
to use dollars.
Trump suggested this week thatRussia could keep the territory
captured, and he said Ukraineshould not join NATO.
Now the two key Russian demands.
Its biggest remaining one isabout sanctions.
Trump could use it to sweetenthe Russian deal.
(13:39):
Recent days are any guide.
He may drop them anyway, sowe'll just have to see what
happens in the next few weeks.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Former Republican Congressman, adam Kinzinger,
asks a question no currentRepublican politician appears
willing to say out loud for fearthat Musk, trump or other
right-wing billionaires will usethe corrupt Citizens United
decision to blow them out of thewater politically with a
multi-million dollar primarychallenge.
Quote as I watch the behaviorof our political leaders, the
(14:09):
comments of an ever-increasinglyunhinged Trump and the growing
indifference of many Americanstoward our role in the world, I
have to ask a painful questionAre we now the bad guys?
It's a hell of a question.
Our nation's founders overthrewa king in 1776 and paid a huge
price for it.
Altogether, 17 of the 56signers of the Declaration of
(14:32):
Independence were wiped out bythe war they declared.
The signers wrote in theDeclaration we mutually pledge
to each other our lives, ourfortune and our sacred honor.
And it was a simple statementof fact.
The day they signed thatdocument, each legally became a
traitor and was sentenced todeath for treason by the ruler
(14:52):
who controlled their lands andtheir homes.
One of the wealthiest of thesigners was Thomas Nelson of
Virginia, but a year after thesigning, the British had seized
his home and lands when he andGeorge Washington attacked the
British in Nelson's hometown.
Nelson encouraged Washington toattack the Nelson homestead
which British General Cornwallishad taken as his headquarters.
(15:13):
Cannons the house was destroyedand after the war Nelson,
unable to repay loans he'd takenout against it to help finance
the revolution, lost hisproperty.
He died in poverty at the ageof 50.
The wealthy Philadelphiamerchant Robert Morris lost 150
ships at sea in the war, wipingout his small fortune.
He died destitute.
(15:34):
Signer William Ellery of RhodeIsland similarly lost everything
, as did Virginia's CarterBraxton and Benjamin Harrison,
pennsylvania's George Clymer,new York's Philip Livingston,
georgia's Lyman Hall and NewJersey's Frank Francis Hopkins.
The British destroyed NewYork's Francis Lewis's property
and threw his wife into such ahellhole of a jail that she died
(15:56):
two years later.
Three of South Carolina's foursigners, edward Rutschlich,
thomas Hayward Jr and ArthurMiddleton, were captured by the
British and held in a filthy,unheeded prison and brutally
tortured for a year beforeGeorge Washington freed them in
a prisoner's change.
New Jersey farmer John Hart'swife died shortly after he
signed the Declaration and his13 children were scattered among
(16:19):
sympathetic families to hidethem from the British and
conservative loyalists.
He never saw them again, dyingalone and wracked with grief.
Three years later, new JerseyState Supreme Court Justice
Richard Stockton took his wifeand children into hiding after
he signed the Declaration, butconservatives loyal to the Crown
turned them in.
He was so badly beaten andstarved in the British prison
(16:40):
that he died before the war wasover.
His home was looted and hiswife and children lived the rest
of their lives as paupers.
Altogether, nine of the men inthat room died and four lost
their children as a directresult of putting their names to
the Declaration of Independence, every single one had to flee
his home, and after the war, 12returned to find only Rubble.
(17:02):
They were all willing to fightand die for the idea of
democracy in America.
Every one of them in America,every one of them.
And now, after 236 years ofexistence, as Donald Trump bows
to Putin and tweets a picture ofhimself cosplaying king in a
gold crown, america is on theverge of becoming an entirely
different type of nation.
(17:24):
We've always, or nearly always,been on the side of democracies
.
We fought against fascists inWorld War II and defeated them.
We helped create democraticalliances in Europe and Asia.
We led the fight to create theUnited Nations, and now we're
joining Russia, this century'sdictatorial imperial power.
(17:45):
Monday will be the thirdanniversary of Putin's brutal
invasion and rape of Ukrainewhen he was a US senator, marco
Rubio said, quote Vladimir Putinis an authoritarian thug who is
accountable to no one.
I don't think that, vladimirPutin.
What Vladimir Putin exhibits isleadership.
I think what he exhibits isthuggery, and we should be
clear-eyed about that.
(18:05):
At the end of the day, hillaryClinton was part of the biggest
blunder ever when it came toPutin, and that's the reset with
Russia, end quote.
Today, little Marco is talkingabout incredible investment
opportunities for Americanbillionaires and US corporations
who want to do business withRussia.
Just five months ago,republican Senator Lindsey
Graham stood with UkrainianPresident Zelensky in Washington
(18:28):
DC and said you're the bestkind of ally.
You fight the Russians, so wedon't have to.
Today, graham, like every otherRepublican senator and House
member except Tom Tillis, hasbeen cowed into a terrified
impotence, unwilling to doanything to stop or block
America's new dictator-friendlydemocracy, hostile foreign
policy.
The military is being purgedalong hard right ideological
(18:51):
lines, as was the Department ofJustice.
The FBI is next on the firingline, although reports suggest
that purge began weeks ago.
Virtually every majorgovernment agency is under
attack by the Doge hackers.
As the American government isbeing crippled, putin is no
doubt delighted.
Even our defense budget isscheduled to be cut with a
(19:12):
chainsaw, just as the threatfrom Russia and China is at the
highest point in our lifetimes.
They shut down children'scancer research, alzheimer's
research, and food and drugs forthe world's poorest people.
They're laying off FAAemployees.
At the same time, planes arefalling out of the sky.
They're gutting the staff thatprocesses your social security,
(19:32):
medicare and tax payments.
Trump and his MAGA crowd aretearing our government apart,
apparently with the goal ofreplacing it with something
quite different than America hasever experienced before an
entirely new America, a royalAmerica, an America of by and
for the morbidly rich, of by andfor the morbidly rich.
(19:56):
One that resembles the visionpetro-billionaire David Koch had
in 1980 when he ran for vicepresident, on a platform calling
for the destruction of nearlyevery federal agency except the
Pentagon and the end of allincome taxes on billionaires.
A country that will bear alittle resemblance to that grand
idea our founders fought anddied for, and they're doing it
(20:16):
as fast as they can, dismantlingour country, our democracy and
realigning our foreign policy,because they know once Americans
catch on, we will rise up andtry to stop them.
America's media and our freespeech rights are under
ideological attack, with everymajor television network having
been sued for millions.
One has already capitulated.
A Substack newsletter writerwas sued for millions by the new
(20:39):
FBI director.
Trump even sued a small Iowanewspaper in their pollster
because they offended him.
Both Democratic Senators, chuckSchumer and Congressman Robert
Garcia, have been threatenedwith investigation and
imprisonment by a US attorneyfor their comments about
abortion and politics, despitethe Constitution protecting
members of Congress from suchintimidation.
Schumer apologized on the floorof the Senate for saying of
(21:02):
Supreme Court Justice'santi-abortion Dobbs decision
quote you have released thewhirlwind and you will pay the
price.
Garcia is defiant.
Republicans could stop this ifthey would just find their spine
.
Every soldier in the Americanmilitary is willing to die for
their country on a moment'snotice every single one.
But elected Republicans, whoare supposed to have the courage
(21:24):
to make decisions about war andpeace, won't even raise their
hands or lift their voices.
History does not treat this GOPwell and, to add insult to
injury, this week Trump tookdown the agency that protects
our elections from foreigninfluence the same sort of
influence that may well have putTrump in the White House in the
first place, as the New YorkTimes noted in an article titled
(21:46):
Trump Dismantles GovernmentFight Against Foreign Influence
Operations.
Quote experts are alarmed thatthe cuts could leave the United
States defenseless againstcovert foreign influence
operations and embolden foreignadversaries seeking to disrupt
democratic governments.
Putin's been playing Trump for asucker since apparently 2017.
(22:06):
That was when Trump's thenNational Security Advisor, hr
McMaster, said the president hada secret private meeting with
Putin.
Mcmaster tried to warn Trumpabout Putin, but he wrote in his
memoir.
Quote Putin, a ruthless formerKGB operator, blamed Trump's ego
and insecurities with flattery.
I told Trump how Putin hadduped Bush and Obama.
(22:26):
Mr President, he's the bestliar in the world.
I suggested that Putin wasconfident he could play Trump
and get what he wanted sanctionsrelief in the US out of Syria
and Afghanistan on the cheap bymanipulating Trump with
ambiguous promises of a betterrelationship.
He would offer cooperation oncounterterrorism, cybersecurity
and arms control.
I could tell that Trump wasgetting impatient with my
(22:49):
negative vibe.
I said what I needed to say.
If he was going to be contrary,I hoped he would be contrary to
the Russian dictator, not to me.
End quote.
Yet here we are today with Trumprealigning America toward Putin
and away from the DemocraticRepublic of Ukraine and the rest
of democratic Europe.
As a result, russia's next stepis to just wait until Ukraine
(23:12):
runs out of American air defensesystems and then just start
bombing the crap out ofUkrainian cities.
Millions could die and it couldlead to World War III, but that
seems just fine with Trump andapparently that's just fine with
every Republican senator andcongressman except Tillis.
America is on the verge ofbecoming the world's newest thug
nation, ruled by fabulouslywealthy oligarchs and a man who
(23:35):
would be king.
Thus, sadly, the answer toCongressman Kinzinger's question
is clear yes, we are now thebad guys, at least for the
moment.
We are now on the side of theroyal ideology of absolute power
held by that one man, the king,whose soldiers have prisoned,
tortured, tortured and murderedso many of our nation's founders
.
When Rhode Island's StephenHopkins signed the Declaration
(23:58):
of Independence, he remarked tohis friend William Ellery that
my hand trembles, but my heartdoes not.
Virginia's Benjamin Harrison,who weighed nearly 300 pounds,
commented to Massachusetts'Elbridge Jerry, a short, thin
man, with me, the hanging willbe over in a minute, but you
will be dancing in the air anhour after I'm gone.
(24:18):
Will any Republican in today'sHouse or Senate, the bodies
those men created, find even afraction of the courage of those
who founded this nation.
The people of America and theworld are holding their breath,
waiting for the answer.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
The quote of the day comes from how the World Works
by Noam Chomsky.
The smart way to keep peoplepassive and obedient is to
strictly limit the spectrum ofacceptable opinion, but allow
very lively debate within thatspectrum.
That gives people the sensethat there is free thinking
going on, while all the timepresuppositions of a system are
(25:01):
being reinforced by the limitsput on the range of the debate.
Again, no Chomsky Book how theWorld Works.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
I'm Owen Smirnoff, I'm Dr Ben Andrews.
My name's Cody Anderson.
Speaker 7 (25:15):
My name is Katie.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Sandlin.
My name's Andrew Wernick.
My name is Nick Hand.
I'm Randy.
Speaker 8 (25:19):
Radcliffe.
My name is Jonathan Kamens.
I oversaw cybersecurity for theVAgov websites and about a
third of USDS, including me,were fired last week.
Without people like me ensuringthat VAgov is secure, the
private financial and healthcare data of Americans veterans
is at risk of being stolen, soldto the highest bidder and used
to harm people.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
We are standing at Yosemite National Park.
For the past 10 months, I was acustodial worker here.
I picked diapers off the sideof the road, toilet paper, beer
bottles, cigarette butts, youname it, so you didn't have to
see it.
I served as the Chief of Safetyand Emergency Management at the
Philadelphia VA.
This was a mission-criticalrole that ensured the health and
(26:03):
safety of all those who enterinto our facilities.
I used to be a NEPA coordinatorfor the Wrangell Ranger
District of the USDA ForestService, where I would
coordinate environmental reviewfor projects in and around the
town of Wrangell, projects thatare crucial to the town's
economy and its people.
Speaker 7 (26:16):
I moved from Alabama to Maryland to start my new job
in genomics education andoutreach at the National
Institutes of Health.
My job was to help educatestudents, teachers and
healthcare providers aboutgenomics to improve patient care
and develop the futurescientific workforce.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
I was a technologist at the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau for about ayear and a half before I was
fired last week.
We were the ones making surethat you could use payment apps
without being constantly scammed, that your sensitive financial
data wasn't being collected andshared with shady companies, and
that your data wouldn't belinked in the data breach as the
only aquatic ecologist at thelargest reservoir in the United
(26:54):
States.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
my job was mostly to monitor for water quality for
recreational uses, making surethat when people are out boating
or swimming that the waterquality is sufficient to keep
people healthy After leaving themilitary.
Speaker 9 (27:06):
I wanted to continue serving my country and I did so
as an administrative officer atthe Veterans Affairs Medical
Center in Ann Arbor, michigan.
My job was to enable ourmedical providers and that meant
looking at the hundreds ofdoctors and the thousands of
patients schedules to make surethat nobody walked through those
doors and was not treated, makesure that we had all the
paperwork and credentialing tosend those veterans home with
(27:27):
the prescription medication thatthey needed and we didn't waste
a single taxpayer dollar.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
I went into public service because I wanted to use
my tech expertise to make animpact.
A lot of the time, I was seeinga skill set like mine be used
to make more money for big techcompanies at the expense of
everyday people, and I wanted totry to help level that playing
field.
Speaker 7 (27:45):
I went into public service because I'm passionate
about helping others learnscience and to also give back to
a country that has given somuch to me.
Speaker 10 (27:53):
I joined the park service because I believe that
the national parks are one ofthe best ways that we can share
America with everyone.
Speaker 9 (28:01):
I chose public service because my mother worked
30 years for the VA MedicalCenter in New Orleans.
As a kid I said one day I'llwork at the VA.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
I got this job because I'm not in it for the
money.
I don't make that much money,but what I do believe in is the
National Park Service and ourmission to protect beautiful and
insanely unique monuments tothe rest of the world.
Speaker 8 (28:23):
If they offered me my job back tomorrow, I would take
it.
Despite all the chaos and risk,the mission is still there and
I'm still ready to be a part ofit.
We're not deep state actors.
We're not faceless bureaucrats.
I'm a veteran that wants tohelp veterans.
That's why people join thefederal service.
They do it to help others andserve their country.
This is the face of the federalagencies.
I support President Trump and I believe that most of
his policies on nationalsecurity are right.
I believe his instincts arepretty good.
But what I'm telling youwhoever believes that there is
any space for Vladimir Putin andthe future of a stable globe,
better go to Ukraine, theybetter go to Europe, they better
(00:22):
invest the time to understandthat this man is a cancer and
the greatest threat to democracyin my lifetime.
So, ladies and gentlemen, whenI tell you that Vladimir Putin
is a liar, a murderer and a manresponsible for ordering the
systematic torture, kidnappingand rape of innocent civilians,
(00:42):
believe me, because the evidenceis mile high.
If you believe that Ukraine isa country, an ocean away and not
relevant to our nationalsecurity, think again.
The world is small, the worldis watching.
The strength of our alliancesare on the line and the future
of democracy and the world is onthe line if we do anything less
(01:06):
than defeat vladimir putin.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Welcome to the daryl mclean show.
I'm your host, daryl mclean.
This is episode 447.
Independent media that won'treinforce tribalism.
We have one planet.
Nobody is leaving, so let usreason together.
You just heard RepublicanSenator Tom Tillis, I guess,
pushing back, I would say, onsome of the statements and
(01:34):
belief systems that PresidentDonald Trump has for Vladimir
Zelensky, the president ofUkraine.
The conflict, from everythingthat I could see, really seems
to be about Zelensky's criticismof President Trump.
(02:00):
The most harsh criticism heactually ever had, when he said
that President Trump lived in abubble, was in a bubble of
misinformation.
It's also the real dispute isover the offer that was made for
the minerals in Ukraine 50% ofminerals in Ukraine for the US
(02:28):
support.
What Senator Tillis saidpublicly is what a lot of
Republicans on the ArmedServices Committee have been
saying privately.
It's what people like LindseyGraham has also been publicly
saying.
It's what people like LindseyGraham has also been publicly
saying and it is somewhatinteresting, the G7 committee
(02:52):
actually officially scrubbed iscommunique which called Russia
the aggressor in the war betweenRussia and Ukraine war between
Russia and Ukraine.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
A dictator without elections, zelensky better move
fast or he's not going to have acountry left.
Gotta move, gotta move fast.
I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyhas done a terrible job.
His country is shattered andmillions and millions of people
have unnecessarily died.
And you can't bring a war to anend if you don't talk to both
(03:26):
sides.
You got to talk.
They haven't been talking forthree years.
He refuses to have elections.
It's slow.
And the real Ukrainian polls Imean, how can you be high with
every city is being demolished?
It's hard to be.
Somebody said oh no, his pollsare good, give me a break.
A dictator without elections,so let's keep.
Better move faster.
He's not going to have acountry left.
(03:47):
Got to move.
Got to move fast because thatwar is going in the wrong
direction.
In the meantime, we'resuccessfully negotiating an end
to the war with Russia,something, I'll admit, that only
Trump is going to be able to do.
In the Trump administration,we're going to be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I think Putin even admitted that administration
we're going to be able to do it.
I think Putin even admittedthat.
Now that was President Trumpspeaking in Miami at a event
ironically organized by SaudiArabia, who of course is not a
democracy, does not haveelections and of course is A
(04:23):
dictatorship.
If more than likely.
You'd be correct if you Thoughtof Saudi Arabia as a theocracy.
The this question was askedAgain by Peter Ducey Of Fox News
To Mike Waltz, the NationalSecurity Advisor, and this is
(04:48):
what he said who does he thinkis more responsible for the
Russian invasion of Ukraine,Putin or Zelensky?
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Well, look.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
His goal here is to bring this war to an end period.
Some of the rhetoric coming outof Kiev, frankly, and insults
to President Trump wereunacceptable.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So look, this just kind of tells you what it's
actually about.
It's obvious that VladimirPutin and Russia started the war
, but because Zelensky made thecomment about President Trump
and disinformation, trump isobviously, as he's known to do,
(05:33):
going to lash out, and this hasvery serious implications,
because we can look back to,like I said, the George Bush
administration with the invasionof Georgia.
We can go back to 2014.
We can go to the Bidenadministration To see.
(05:56):
Everything that Vladimir Putinis doing is obvious.
You can also listen to whatVladimir Putin has said.
You can also listen to whatVladimir Putin has said.
Putin has regularly suggestedthat Ukraine is not a real
country, that it belongs toRussia, and he wants it back.
(06:17):
Of course, there's going to besome pushback from some
conservatives.
Mike Pence put out a statement.
Lindsey Graham, of course, hassaid some things.
Mitch McConnell even thoughhe's leaving obviously on the
other side of the argument, butif President Trump gets his wish
(06:49):
in this, there is no way tolook at it.
Besides it.
Besides, this is the reshapingof the post-World War II order
as far as it comes to the UnitedStates view of Russia and the
United States view of whathappens when a country decides
to invade its neighbors.
I mean, we look at whathappened when Saddam Hussein
(07:10):
tried to go after Kuwait and theUnited States's response.
Now, historically and I meanwhen I say history, I mean the
future what would be theresponse to something like that
(07:39):
today?
But anyway, we'll get to seehow these talks work out in the
coming weeks and months.
Years, three years of a brutalwar, thousands of people dead,
(08:00):
lives ruined.
I think it's fair to say we allknew, we believed, that the war
would not end without Ukrainegoing to have to make some very
serious sanctions, but we alsodid not fathom that somehow
(08:21):
Russia would be rewarded in theinternational world for its
actions.
Now President Trump wants toend the war in Ukraine quickly,
but this week, we have to admit,he did falsely accuse Ukraine
of starting the war and madeimportant concessions to russia,
(08:46):
the adversaries of peace.
Now trump's advisors also metwith counterparts from moscow to
revive the two countriesrelationships.
A consistent demand from russiais that the united states and
other countries lift sanctions,and that's a device that Trump
(09:07):
already said he wants to use aslittle as possible.
Washington led an internationalcampaign for tough economic
penalties after Russia invadedUkraine in February 2022.
Dozens of countries havepunished Russian banks,
businesses and oligarchs.
Countries has punished russianbanks, businesses and oligarchs.
They froze 300 billion dollarsof russians asset bartered from
(09:28):
much of the global financialsystem and restricted what it
could buy and sell.
Now how effective were thosestations?
Russia's economy is instagnation and inflation has
spiraled.
Many products and parts areunavailable.
More than thousands of foreigncompanies have limited their
operations in russia, yet thewar has persisted.
Now russia is pitching itselfas a place where american
(09:51):
companies can make money.
Um so economic sanctions havebecome a common foreign policy
tool in recent years, and nocountry has used them more
frequently than the UnitedStates.
That's not surprising.
Once you rule out combat, thereare not many other options.
(10:15):
Sometimes they work well.
Sanctions got Libya to turnover the suspects in the 1988
bombing over a jet in Scotlandand to abandon a nuclear
chemical weapons deal in theearly 2000s.
But disappointment is morecommon.
Decades of US actions againstCuba did nothing to shorten
(10:39):
Fidel Castro's reign, nor didTrump's end Iranians' nuclear
program or his leader's grip onpower when he withdrew from a
nuclear deal with iran andreimposed sanctions in 2018.
What counts as success to somepolicymakers?
They predicted, soon after theinvasion in russia, an invasion
(11:02):
from russia to ukraine thatsanctions might force v might
force Vladimir Putin to end thewar and cause the Russian
economy to collapse.
Neither prophecy came true.
Putin actually found severalways, including an alliance with
China, to blunt the impact.
Still, sanctions have hurtRussia and hampered its war
effort.
They have reduced revenue fromexports, made all four
(11:27):
transactions more complicatedand expensive and that was
coming from laura sukla, whotracks the russian economy from
the bank of finland institutefor economics in transition.
Now russia spends roughly 40percent of its budget on the war
.
Food prices and inflations havesoared.
Interest rates have reached 21%.
Labor shortages are rampant.
(11:48):
Growth is slowing.
The long-term economic outlookhas darkened.
As Timothy Ash, a fellow atChapman House, a London think
tank, described sanctionsthey've done more than anyone
had imagined, but they haven'thad the impact, and perhaps
that's what people had hoped.
Now everyone is war weary.
(12:10):
Ukraine has been losing on thebattlefield and thinning ranks
are exhausted.
Enthusiasm to arm Ukraine hasdampened in Europe and the
United States and even thoughRussia has gained ground, its
casualties are high and itstruggles to recruit soldiers.
Now Trump could offer to liftsanctions to entice Putin to
(12:32):
agree to a deal, but he has lessleverage if he acts alone.
Russia's frozen assets are heldby several countries.
Two thirds are in Europe andseveral leaders say the money
should pay for the Ukrainiansreconstruction.
The European Union, previouslyRussia's largest trading partner
, could also keep its ban onmost trade and fuel sales.
(12:55):
Even so, the United Stateswields a new yin power in the
global financial system.
Much of the world's trade,where it is conducted, is
settled using United Statesdollars, and American banks are
the only ones that can handlethose types of transactions.
That means the United Statescould significantly ease Russian
(13:18):
companies' ability to dobusiness abroad by allowing them
to use dollars.
Trump suggested this week thatRussia could keep the territory
captured, and he said Ukraineshould not join NATO.
Now the two key Russian demands.
Its biggest remaining one isabout sanctions.
Trump could use it to sweetenthe Russian deal.
(13:39):
Recent days are any guide.
He may drop them anyway, sowe'll just have to see what
happens in the next few weeks.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Former Republican Congressman, adam Kinzinger,
asks a question no currentRepublican politician appears
willing to say out loud for fearthat Musk, trump or other
right-wing billionaires will usethe corrupt Citizens United
decision to blow them out of thewater politically with a
multi-million dollar primarychallenge.
Quote as I watch the behaviorof our political leaders, the
(14:09):
comments of an ever-increasinglyunhinged Trump and the growing
indifference of many Americanstoward our role in the world, I
have to ask a painful questionAre we now the bad guys?
It's a hell of a question.
Our nation's founders overthrewa king in 1776 and paid a huge
price for it.
Altogether, 17 of the 56signers of the Declaration of
(14:32):
Independence were wiped out bythe war they declared.
The signers wrote in theDeclaration we mutually pledge
to each other our lives, ourfortune and our sacred honor.
And it was a simple statementof fact.
The day they signed thatdocument, each legally became a
traitor and was sentenced todeath for treason by the ruler
(14:52):
who controlled their lands andtheir homes.
One of the wealthiest of thesigners was Thomas Nelson of
Virginia, but a year after thesigning, the British had seized
his home and lands when he andGeorge Washington attacked the
British in Nelson's hometown.
Nelson encouraged Washington toattack the Nelson homestead
which British General Cornwallishad taken as his headquarters.
(15:13):
Cannons the house was destroyedand after the war Nelson,
unable to repay loans he'd takenout against it to help finance
the revolution, lost hisproperty.
He died in poverty at the ageof 50.
The wealthy Philadelphiamerchant Robert Morris lost 150
ships at sea in the war, wipingout his small fortune.
He died destitute.
(15:34):
Signer William Ellery of RhodeIsland similarly lost everything
, as did Virginia's CarterBraxton and Benjamin Harrison,
pennsylvania's George Clymer,new York's Philip Livingston,
georgia's Lyman Hall and NewJersey's Frank Francis Hopkins.
The British destroyed NewYork's Francis Lewis's property
and threw his wife into such ahellhole of a jail that she died
(15:56):
two years later.
Three of South Carolina's foursigners, edward Rutschlich,
thomas Hayward Jr and ArthurMiddleton, were captured by the
British and held in a filthy,unheeded prison and brutally
tortured for a year beforeGeorge Washington freed them in
a prisoner's change.
New Jersey farmer John Hart'swife died shortly after he
signed the Declaration and his13 children were scattered among
(16:19):
sympathetic families to hidethem from the British and
conservative loyalists.
He never saw them again, dyingalone and wracked with grief.
Three years later, new JerseyState Supreme Court Justice
Richard Stockton took his wifeand children into hiding after
he signed the Declaration, butconservatives loyal to the Crown
turned them in.
He was so badly beaten andstarved in the British prison
(16:40):
that he died before the war wasover.
His home was looted and hiswife and children lived the rest
of their lives as paupers.
Altogether, nine of the men inthat room died and four lost
their children as a directresult of putting their names to
the Declaration of Independence, every single one had to flee
his home, and after the war, 12returned to find only Rubble.
(17:02):
They were all willing to fightand die for the idea of
democracy in America.
Every one of them in America,every one of them.
And now, after 236 years ofexistence, as Donald Trump bows
to Putin and tweets a picture ofhimself cosplaying king in a
gold crown, america is on theverge of becoming an entirely
different type of nation.
(17:24):
We've always, or nearly always,been on the side of democracies
.
We fought against fascists inWorld War II and defeated them.
We helped create democraticalliances in Europe and Asia.
We led the fight to create theUnited Nations, and now we're
joining Russia, this century'sdictatorial imperial power.
(17:45):
Monday will be the thirdanniversary of Putin's brutal
invasion and rape of Ukrainewhen he was a US senator, marco
Rubio said, quote Vladimir Putinis an authoritarian thug who is
accountable to no one.
I don't think that, vladimirPutin.
What Vladimir Putin exhibits isleadership.
I think what he exhibits isthuggery, and we should be
clear-eyed about that.
(18:05):
At the end of the day, hillaryClinton was part of the biggest
blunder ever when it came toPutin, and that's the reset with
Russia, end quote.
Today, little Marco is talkingabout incredible investment
opportunities for Americanbillionaires and US corporations
who want to do business withRussia.
Just five months ago,republican Senator Lindsey
Graham stood with UkrainianPresident Zelensky in Washington
(18:28):
DC and said you're the bestkind of ally.
You fight the Russians, so wedon't have to.
Today, graham, like every otherRepublican senator and House
member except Tom Tillis, hasbeen cowed into a terrified
impotence, unwilling to doanything to stop or block
America's new dictator-friendlydemocracy, hostile foreign
policy.
The military is being purgedalong hard right ideological
(18:51):
lines, as was the Department ofJustice.
The FBI is next on the firingline, although reports suggest
that purge began weeks ago.
Virtually every majorgovernment agency is under
attack by the Doge hackers.
As the American government isbeing crippled, putin is no
doubt delighted.
Even our defense budget isscheduled to be cut with a
(19:12):
chainsaw, just as the threatfrom Russia and China is at the
highest point in our lifetimes.
They shut down children'scancer research, alzheimer's
research, and food and drugs forthe world's poorest people.
They're laying off FAAemployees.
At the same time, planes arefalling out of the sky.
They're gutting the staff thatprocesses your social security,
(19:32):
medicare and tax payments.
Trump and his MAGA crowd aretearing our government apart,
apparently with the goal ofreplacing it with something
quite different than America hasever experienced before an
entirely new America, a royalAmerica, an America of by and
for the morbidly rich, of by andfor the morbidly rich.
(19:56):
One that resembles the visionpetro-billionaire David Koch had
in 1980 when he ran for vicepresident, on a platform calling
for the destruction of nearlyevery federal agency except the
Pentagon and the end of allincome taxes on billionaires.
A country that will bear alittle resemblance to that grand
idea our founders fought anddied for, and they're doing it
(20:16):
as fast as they can, dismantlingour country, our democracy and
realigning our foreign policy,because they know once Americans
catch on, we will rise up andtry to stop them.
America's media and our freespeech rights are under
ideological attack, with everymajor television network having
been sued for millions.
One has already capitulated.
A Substack newsletter writerwas sued for millions by the new
(20:39):
FBI director.
Trump even sued a small Iowanewspaper in their pollster
because they offended him.
Both Democratic Senators, chuckSchumer and Congressman Robert
Garcia, have been threatenedwith investigation and
imprisonment by a US attorneyfor their comments about
abortion and politics, despitethe Constitution protecting
members of Congress from suchintimidation.
Schumer apologized on the floorof the Senate for saying of
(21:02):
Supreme Court Justice'santi-abortion Dobbs decision
quote you have released thewhirlwind and you will pay the
price.
Garcia is defiant.
Republicans could stop this ifthey would just find their spine
.
Every soldier in the Americanmilitary is willing to die for
their country on a moment'snotice every single one.
But elected Republicans, whoare supposed to have the courage
(21:24):
to make decisions about war andpeace, won't even raise their
hands or lift their voices.
History does not treat this GOPwell and, to add insult to
injury, this week Trump tookdown the agency that protects
our elections from foreigninfluence the same sort of
influence that may well have putTrump in the White House in the
first place, as the New YorkTimes noted in an article titled
(21:46):
Trump Dismantles GovernmentFight Against Foreign Influence
Operations.
Quote experts are alarmed thatthe cuts could leave the United
States defenseless againstcovert foreign influence
operations and embolden foreignadversaries seeking to disrupt
democratic governments.
Putin's been playing Trump for asucker since apparently 2017.
(22:06):
That was when Trump's thenNational Security Advisor, hr
McMaster, said the president hada secret private meeting with
Putin.
Mcmaster tried to warn Trumpabout Putin, but he wrote in his
memoir.
Quote Putin, a ruthless formerKGB operator, blamed Trump's ego
and insecurities with flattery.
I told Trump how Putin hadduped Bush and Obama.
(22:26):
Mr President, he's the bestliar in the world.
I suggested that Putin wasconfident he could play Trump
and get what he wanted sanctionsrelief in the US out of Syria
and Afghanistan on the cheap bymanipulating Trump with
ambiguous promises of a betterrelationship.
He would offer cooperation oncounterterrorism, cybersecurity
and arms control.
I could tell that Trump wasgetting impatient with my
(22:49):
negative vibe.
I said what I needed to say.
If he was going to be contrary,I hoped he would be contrary to
the Russian dictator, not to me.
End quote.
Yet here we are today with Trumprealigning America toward Putin
and away from the DemocraticRepublic of Ukraine and the rest
of democratic Europe.
As a result, russia's next stepis to just wait until Ukraine
(23:12):
runs out of American air defensesystems and then just start
bombing the crap out ofUkrainian cities.
Millions could die and it couldlead to World War III, but that
seems just fine with Trump andapparently that's just fine with
every Republican senator andcongressman except Tillis.
America is on the verge ofbecoming the world's newest thug
nation, ruled by fabulouslywealthy oligarchs and a man who
(23:35):
would be king.
Thus, sadly, the answer toCongressman Kinzinger's question
is clear yes, we are now thebad guys, at least for the
moment.
We are now on the side of theroyal ideology of absolute power
held by that one man, the king,whose soldiers have prisoned,
tortured, tortured and murderedso many of our nation's founders
.
When Rhode Island's StephenHopkins signed the Declaration
(23:58):
of Independence, he remarked tohis friend William Ellery that
my hand trembles, but my heartdoes not.
Virginia's Benjamin Harrison,who weighed nearly 300 pounds,
commented to Massachusetts'Elbridge Jerry, a short, thin
man, with me, the hanging willbe over in a minute, but you
will be dancing in the air anhour after I'm gone.
(24:18):
Will any Republican in today'sHouse or Senate, the bodies
those men created, find even afraction of the courage of those
who founded this nation.
The people of America and theworld are holding their breath,
waiting for the answer.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
The quote of the day comes from how the World Works
by Noam Chomsky.
The smart way to keep peoplepassive and obedient is to
strictly limit the spectrum ofacceptable opinion, but allow
very lively debate within thatspectrum.
That gives people the sensethat there is free thinking
going on, while all the timepresuppositions of a system are
(25:01):
being reinforced by the limitsput on the range of the debate.
Again, no Chomsky Book how theWorld Works.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
I'm Owen Smirnoff, I'm Dr Ben Andrews.
My name's Cody Anderson.
Speaker 7 (25:15):
My name is Katie.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Sandlin.
My name's Andrew Wernick.
My name is Nick Hand.
I'm Randy.
Speaker 8 (25:19):
Radcliffe.
My name is Jonathan Kamens.
I oversaw cybersecurity for theVAgov websites and about a
third of USDS, including me,were fired last week.
Without people like me ensuringthat VAgov is secure, the
private financial and healthcare data of Americans veterans
is at risk of being stolen, soldto the highest bidder and used
to harm people.
Speaker 6 (25:40):
We are standing at Yosemite National Park.
For the past 10 months, I was acustodial worker here.
I picked diapers off the sideof the road, toilet paper, beer
bottles, cigarette butts, youname it, so you didn't have to
see it.
I served as the Chief of Safetyand Emergency Management at the
Philadelphia VA.
This was a mission-criticalrole that ensured the health and
(26:03):
safety of all those who enterinto our facilities.
I used to be a NEPA coordinatorfor the Wrangell Ranger
District of the USDA ForestService, where I would
coordinate environmental reviewfor projects in and around the
town of Wrangell, projects thatare crucial to the town's
economy and its people.
Speaker 7 (26:16):
I moved from Alabama to Maryland to start my new job
in genomics education andoutreach at the National
Institutes of Health.
My job was to help educatestudents, teachers and
healthcare providers aboutgenomics to improve patient care
and develop the futurescientific workforce.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
I was a technologist at the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau for about ayear and a half before I was
fired last week.
We were the ones making surethat you could use payment apps
without being constantly scammed, that your sensitive financial
data wasn't being collected andshared with shady companies, and
that your data wouldn't belinked in the data breach as the
only aquatic ecologist at thelargest reservoir in the United
(26:54):
States.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
my job was mostly to monitor for water quality for
recreational uses, making surethat when people are out boating
or swimming that the waterquality is sufficient to keep
people healthy After leaving themilitary.
Speaker 9 (27:06):
I wanted to continue serving my country and I did so
as an administrative officer atthe Veterans Affairs Medical
Center in Ann Arbor, michigan.
My job was to enable ourmedical providers and that meant
looking at the hundreds ofdoctors and the thousands of
patients schedules to make surethat nobody walked through those
doors and was not treated, makesure that we had all the
paperwork and credentialing tosend those veterans home with
(27:27):
the prescription medication thatthey needed and we didn't waste
a single taxpayer dollar.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
I went into public service because I wanted to use
my tech expertise to make animpact.
A lot of the time, I was seeinga skill set like mine be used
to make more money for big techcompanies at the expense of
everyday people, and I wanted totry to help level that playing
field.
Speaker 7 (27:45):
I went into public service because I'm passionate
about helping others learnscience and to also give back to
a country that has given somuch to me.
Speaker 10 (27:53):
I joined the park service because I believe that
the national parks are one ofthe best ways that we can share
America with everyone.
Speaker 9 (28:01):
I chose public service because my mother worked
30 years for the VA MedicalCenter in New Orleans.
As a kid I said one day I'llwork at the VA.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
I got this job because I'm not in it for the
money.
I don't make that much money,but what I do believe in is the
National Park Service and ourmission to protect beautiful and
insanely unique monuments tothe rest of the world.
Speaker 8 (28:23):
If they offered me my job back tomorrow, I would take
it.
Despite all the chaos and risk,the mission is still there and
I'm still ready to be a part ofit.
We're not deep state actors.
We're not faceless bureaucrats.
I'm a veteran that wants tohelp veterans.
That's why people join thefederal service.
They do it to help others andserve their country.
This is the face of the federalagencies.
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