January 6, 2026 • 36 mins
Minor celebrity Mark Thompson had a rather sedate NYE, largely due to the unseasonable torrential rain here in SoCal. Have you watched the new Chevy Chase documentary on CNN? He doesn’t seem like a pleasant person. The president of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro and his wife were extracted from that country, flown to the USA, and indicted in New York today. The US military did that very well, but history tells us — we’re talking Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya — we don’t do well when it comes to the regime change that follows.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I Am six forty live everywhere on the Iheit Radio app.
Mark Thompson, I know, Happy New Year, everybody. You know
what I got you for the New Year A Latin
American country.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
It's venezuela. Everybody, You've all got a piece. That's right.
You didn't have to Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I don't hate to extend myself, but seemed inevitable. Seemed
inevitable started with those fishing boats, you know, and then
they they they upped the ante, got the top dog.
We'll talk a little bit about it. I know a
lot of people are speaking of it, aware of it,
(00:42):
curious about it, so we will talk about it as well.
I haven't spoken to anyone since New Year's You're probably wondering, Mark,
what does a marginal celebrity like yourself do on New
Year's Eve?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
And I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I I had quiet New Year's Eve home before midnight,
and it, I'll remind you, was pouring rain.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
We've had a real rough bout with rain.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Ronerd, do you live in a an exposed area with
you're sort of like touch and go the way?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I'm not sure what you mean by it.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I mean you're exposed to the flood threat, not so
much flooding, exposed to some some gunfire occasionally, and.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
You know, there's gout. Now.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
This is the only reason I'm so glad. It's almost
as though we scripted and rehearsed these remarks from Vietna.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
These are completely extamboraneous.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
But what I am reminded of on New Year's Eve
with the rain is there's one good thing about the rain.
And first of all, you know, please don't mist understand me.
We're a region that desperately needs rain, but you know
what I mean, being overserved rain as we have been
this winter. There can be all sorts of issues. But
the one good thing about rain on New Year's Eve
(02:01):
is that I feel as though the gunshots that go
off at midnight, and kind of that celebratory thing with
guns and fireworks for that matter, that is chilled a bit.
Normally on New Year's Eve. I see a lot of
fireworks at New Year's midnight, and I see and hear gunshots.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
And that's not an exaggeration.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I lived in Venice, and Venice is Venice is a
wild area because of the fact that you've got these
jillionaire producers and other creative types living alongside homeless encampments
and a lawlessness, and it may have improved a bit
in the I mean, I live there. Now it's been
(02:47):
I guess now it's been four years since I lived
in Venice. But four years ago, at midnight, man, I
could hear gunshots for real. I mean there was gunfire
going off. Now that's the silver lining of the rain.
I'm glad you pointed that out, because it's test if
not to feel like you're in a root or gaza
sure on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And so there was that, And you know, having lost
my house to fire, when I see a situation where
there are fewer fireworks, I kind of groove on that
as well, like, okay, I'm just happy that they're not
all these potential fires that are starting.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
So so it was cool. I think we did.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
We did a kind of a dinner and we just
rolled home. But you look, I know, you're onto the
next thing already. But that's my recollection of New Year's Eve.
You seem also similarly, Mark Ronner, watching news events tonight
through the world and locally, you seem similarly, I'm going
to use this word, and I hope you don't think it's.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
A put down. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I think you seem mature enough to me that you
don't need to be, like, you know, doing shots at midnight,
meaning you know, tequila shots and some kind of back
in old fies cash to be going on at midnight.
Am I right about that? That's kind of for amateurs,
like like Saint Patrick's Day, you know. Yeah, So I'm
guessing midnight for you passes quietly. Well. I was here,
(04:10):
I worked New Year's Eve, had the Long Suffering One
stop in so she wasn't alone at the stroke of midnight. Foosh,
of course bailed because he's mister lookout for number one.
He had to get onto whatever eyes wide shut orgy
he had been invited to. So it's just me, the
long suffering One here alone in the studio, then a
(04:32):
desultory drive home in the rain.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I think you can look at it that way, but
there's a certain freedom in being by yourself, with your
with your loved one.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
The Charlton Heston Omega Man movie made a strong impression
on me as a child. I like it when everything
and every place are just desolate. Yeah, I think that
there is something to that, and foosh, it deserves a
quiet New Year's because only twenty five was a bad
year for him.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
It was a little rough at a strong a rough
little area.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And yeah, twenty five you took some clearer turbulence that
just a bit, I like, you know, a near fatal
car accident. Yeah, I think you're allowed to kind of
like look forward to the new year. Let's keep all
our limbs in twenty twenty six. Food, let's do it.
I did watch with some interest, and Nicki is with
us tonight as well.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
She's producing.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I don't want to ask what she did on New
Year's you no, no, no, no, no, Jack, you don't go there.
Speaker 6 (05:32):
Uncharacteristically, I stayed home on New yearsic.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (05:37):
Wow, he's evens for amateur hours. But a couple of
nights prior, I was out on the Razzle Dazzle with
news anchor Eileen Gonzalez and we had a good time.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I've started following news anchor lin Gonzales on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
You know, she does the karaoke a lot. Yeah, she
seems to be talented.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
Jesus seeing she can belt it out.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
That's the sure. She really seems talented.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Also, she sends me kitten videos constantly, which I appreciate. No,
you're all encouraged to send me cat videos. I watch
the New Year's Eve hosts the uh Andy Cohen and
Anderson Cooper.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
You like that? Uh? Okay, No, I'll.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
No, no, no, no no. I don't mean to be it'd
be disparaging. I don't like the show per se. But
I tell you what I like about the show is
it's authenticity. There's a kind of an unfiltered and unscripted
aspect to it. So if I'm going to watch TV
(06:47):
on New Year's Eve, I think this is kind of
like I don't know what's going.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
To happen, and they don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And one guy's drunk and another guy's sort of borderline
uh embarrassed. Sometimes that's their stick. Yeah, yeah, but it's real,
you know what I mean. Like, if you watch Ryan Seacrest,
Seacrest is great. He's a total professional, He's a total
you know, he's going to take you through all the
you know, the light cues and the music cues and
(07:13):
the welcome back and I'm Ryan Seacrest and you know,
I get it, and he's talented. I think that show
is probably the most Washington. Dick Clark's ABC show, which
he then inherited, was number one. But nothing unexpected is
going to happen, you know. Similarly with the other show,
there were other network shows on. And there's a syndicated
(07:35):
show now which is I think was carried by Channel
five maybe, and it takes you all around the West,
so San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, and that was
kind of cool. And this I'd forgotten. I was the
(07:55):
first host of that show when it was in San
Francisco and they were trying to get it going. It
was the first year that the West Coast and Western
time zone was going to do a live broadcast, and
again it would be syndicated. We'd be centered in San Francisco,
and then you'd go to Seattle, you'd go to Las Vegas,
(08:16):
you'd go to Phoenix, you go to Los Angeles, and
these are all places that are going to be celebrating
New Year at the same time live with you, Whereas
you know, the East Coast feed does it at nine
o'clock and we see a rerun. So I'd forgotten that
I even did that show I did three years in
a row. You've been around the block, I know, I've
You're none. I've been around the block too many times,
(08:39):
is the truth of it. But it was cool that
they've now built it out, so their hosts in all
those cities I mentioned, and it was really cool. So
I kind of liked that too. There was a I guess,
a different media dynamic on New Year's Eve, and I.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Sort of enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
But all right, we'll talk a little bit about Venezuela
and a major fight at Disneyland.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Did you see that? Yeah? Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I mean, I'll be honest with you, I'm surprised these
fights don't break out more at Disneyland, but the lines
being what they are, and people try to cut line,
and there was a major fight with somebody trying to
cut line, and we'll get into that as well, and
whatever else you want.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
It's always interesting when there's a distinct perspective, and I
think when I talk to this person, their perspective on
things is informed not by some sort of show. We say,
philosophical underpinning but it's informed by the fact that they're
paid by the New York Post.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And by the way I get that.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
You know, at least you know you can say, well, hey,
I got to be that way because you know, that's
the paper I work for.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
So alternatively, there's journalism. Let me just tell you.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I don't want to hijack things here, but I watched
the documentary about Seymour Hirsch on Netflix a few days ago. Yeah,
that will so fortify you if you're if you're sick
of the kind of thing that you just described, well
we should say Seymour Hirsch for those most are aware,
you know, brilliant investigative journalist. Probably his biggest story was
the Meli massacre. It was his big breakthrough. Yeah yeah,
(10:24):
and uh, just a guy who hasn't even though that
was a big story, he hasn't stopped working.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I mean, I don't know how old he is now.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
He seems ancient, but he's still, uh, just working like
a superhero, trying to hold people accountable. Yeah. Uh interesting.
He actually had a lot on the Nord String pipeline,
and I don't want to get too into it, but
he had some pretty uh breakthrough stuff and people talk
to him. You know, That's what investigative journalists often need,
(10:54):
is access. And so that was the case with and
he is the case the Seymour shirt, a Seymour Hirsch.
I saw a documentary drop. Let me just remember what
this is. There's one on Chevy Chase that's just out
right now on CNN. Yeah, yeah, did you see that one?
I saw bits and pieces of it. He sounds like
(11:15):
a complicated person. Doesn't sound like a pleasant person. You're
reading between the lines there. Yes, everybody's on this Holy cow. Yeah,
I got people couldn't wait to buzz in on Jevy Jase.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I guess, uh, well, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
He was on the you know, the set of Community,
which is the more recent I guess sitcom that he
was part of. Seemed like it was a set that
would be informed by a lighthearted spirit.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Again, I know nothing. I know was Dak Sheppard in
that show? I believe Community for.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
A time it was. It was a lot jo Joe
m before he was, you know, as big as he
is now.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And and I thought there was some controversy about check
where I first heard that he was really difficult to
deal with. Yeah, walked up set and some you know
that kind of thing. If you want a little encapsulation
of that. There's a part where he tells the documentarian
interviewing him, oh, that she's not smart enough to understand him.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Wow, and it's yeah, it's it's oh yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Does it touch on his chronic pain the documentary, which
I haven't watched.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
There's chronic pain from back injuries, is what you're talking about?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
Is that what made him such a grump? The fact
that he was in constant pain.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Didn't make him that way? Did it?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
What I'm looking for from Nicky always is the excuse
for somebody being a total jerk.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
That's it?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, Ok, everybody, did you think that there's a reason
that he was being that way?
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I'm an EmPATH, game recognizes game.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yes, maybe Paul Pott suffered from sleep.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Happenings exactly the EmPATH in me Mark, don't you see?
Speaker 6 (12:50):
I love your Aussie accent, but it's.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Kind of a it's kind of deliberately believe me.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I could do a spot on Ouzi if I wanted to,
but I like I keep it kind of a crude
for comedic purposes.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Stalin had the planter fascy itis.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, I mean, they're right, there is a I think
what brother Ronner is suggesting is that there is always
a degree of horrible ness, and some of the horrible
nests can be really bad. And sure there's an explanation,
but that doesn't justify the horrible ness, you know what
I mean? You get Yeah, So even though we understand
(13:25):
that he might have had back pain, I mean apparently,
and I'm grant you, I mean, that's got to be
pretty tough, but man, he really I guess.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
If you accept that as the cause, then he took
it out of a lot of people.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
Well, I haven't watched the documentary, but I'm just a
massive Caddy.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Shack fan, so h of course, of course Caddy Shack.
And well, Fletch is a great move. Fletcher is so
much fun. And Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live. I
mean he is you know, he was part of the
cast that launched that show and two you know, to
his credit, made it part of and listens really think
(14:04):
about it was sort of an overnight sensation, a cultural institution.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Those are the best years. I don't know that's true. Okay,
here we go.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Well, I just think that, you know, we always look
back sort of wistfully at that. Watch it again, then
see and then well, I actually think dan Aykroyd is
the anchor for that whole poer. Yeah, I think he
was the unsung genius, brilliant. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
But I was gonna say with Chevy Chase, you know,
with the quote unquote back pain and all that, it's like,
but you didn't have monumental success and money and all this, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Things to offset help with it.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, you're telling me that the sting of back pain
couldn't be relieved at all from the fact that you
were stacking hundreds in your hallway. Yeah, and you absolutely
were the toast of show business.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
That just couldn't take away the edge of your back pain.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But uh, when it comes to the best of anything,
Saturday Night Live, Lakers team, think about the best Lakers
team or best Rams team or foot you know. When
it comes to sport, I said sport deliberately for Nikki.
I think that we have more measurements that are objective, Right,
(15:15):
you have numbers. You know they scored this many points,
they were you know, they won this many series, they
held competitors to such and such. I think when we
talk about the best Saturday Night Live, for example, You
now are in a squishy area that has a basic agreement,
(15:35):
which is we know that that original cast was really good.
But then you come into memory and romanticizing stuff, and
before you know it, you know, you've really kind of
lost your way. And so I would say this about
Saturday Night Live, I'd say for their time and with
a small cast. You know, now you look at the
(15:56):
cast on the SNL. I go in the credits, the
opening credits going for and there are a whole bunch of people.
There are tons of people on SNL.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
They have the starring and it goes on and on
and on, and then it says featuring, and that goes
on and on and on. There's just many more assets
that they bring to SNL now and it's a great
show and it has been I think through the years,
with some admitted drops in quality through those many decades.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
Do you have an all time favorite cast member.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
That's a great question. I think Phil Hartman was just wonderful.
I miss Phil Harmon. Yeah. I think he appeared in,
if not the most among the most sketches of any
of the cast members. There was a breakdown of that
recently that I saw, and if I can just defend
this for just one instant, what I love about the
first iteration of Saturday Night Live is the sensibility that
(16:52):
was brought over from all the people from National Lampoon. Sure,
that's what I think made it immortal. Yeah, no, I
mean it's more immortal. I wouldn't debate with you, but
you know the best. I don't know that you know,
but I wouldn't in an instant at all.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Fight you on that. I think that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And in fact, that, to your credit for pointing it out,
was sort of the breakthrough sensibility that then informed the
rest of the shows and other seasons. So it's fair
to say, you know, they were the progenitors of everything else.
And so yeah, you're right. I remember my mom. My
mom turned me onto SNL. She it was it's kind
(17:35):
of My mom is a typical, you know, boomer mom,
and she meaning you know, mother of a boomer, and
so think about her. She's a fifties kind of sixties organized.
So I couldn't imagine that she was into this rebellious
show because the rebellion was on and I sent l oh,
(17:57):
there's no question this is the reason why George Carlin
was the first that was some rock and roll comedy.
Thank you, and so my mother shout out to her
ninety five years old. She rocked and she rolled and
turned me on to SNL. All right, when we come back,
we'll get into this Venezuela thing a little bit. My
(18:17):
how times have changed. But as they say, the more
things change, the more they remain the same.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Great to have everybody on board all the nighttime folk foshon,
Mark and NICKI.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Big news, as you know, with.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
The word out of Venezuela that their president and his
wife were extracted which is the Pentagon verbiage and jargon,
and taken to this country. They were indicted, as you know,
and so as a result they were arraigned today. Interesting
(19:01):
because what's been talked about, as you are aware, by
the president is the tough part, which is what comes next.
I mean the thing that the US military is so
very good at, as you're aware of this as well,
we are good at going in and this is not
easy when I'm describing, but it is what the US
military is very good at going in and getting an
(19:24):
asset out. It might be in this case a president
who we feel should be here in this country and
facing a trial. It might be Osama bin Laden. Took
a long time to go in and actually take care
of that. Couldn't do it under Bush when the entire
(19:46):
nine to eleven attack went down. But ultimately, the assets
of the US are vast intelligence assets and military assets,
and that was an impressive operation. And those Seal Team
operations and those Special Forces operations really are so well done,
(20:07):
and they separate us as a country from a lot
of the rest of the world because we do that
so well. What we don't do as well is the
stuff that comes after that. So when you talk about
regime change and installing your own people and trying to
administer to a situation that is much much more volatile,
(20:30):
it's frankly a track record that's pretty miserable. I mean,
you can look at Afghanistan, and that was an ungovernable
situation and one in which we were aware would be
a difficult situation too in any way bring order to
(20:50):
or administer two. But in no way did it seem
as though that the powers of America had a sense
of how difficult Afghanistan be And I say that because
really you should have had a good idea about Afghanistan,
because the Soviets were there for so long, the Russians
had a huge issue with Afghanistan. And again, without getting
(21:10):
too much into the weeds, that's a piece of history
that immediately preceded our involvement in Afghanistan. And then there was
Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction they excused to
go in and then the ultimate falling apart of Iraq.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It was a horrible idea.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
And the managing of that situation post you know, Mission accomplished,
was a horror show. So many American casuals, so many
Iraqi casualties, so expensive, just awful. And here's the immediate
part of that, which some of you may remember. There
(21:52):
was no plan, There was no plan on how to
administer to Iraq. There were a bunch of Iraqi soldiers.
These are armed military people who are just let go,
along with Baptists who are part of that entire city.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
You just had a huge.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Pot of military bullard base that just spilled out back
over Iraq after the Americans went in, and it created ISIS,
and it created huge guerrilla warfare for Americans, and so again,
this is a situation that should inform all other situations
as we begin regime change somewhere else. And so yeah,
(22:32):
I am quite concerned about where we are now and
the way in which we used to hear from the
very same people who are involved in all of this
about regime change and about America going into these various
theaters of conflict.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
It's totally different now.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I don't really understand how we end up with the
situation that we do, given what was said before Donald
Trump became president.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
You're tired of the reckless foreign policy.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
This is Donald Trump on the stump. He was viewed
as the peace candidate.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
You're tired of the reckless foreign policy, the crazy wars
that are never won.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
We will abandon the policy of reckless regime change. Stupid
people that have been running this operation for thirty forty
years and they come out against me, and all they
did is stick us in these endless wars.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
We're pulling finally, these.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Endless wars, these endless wars, and we had to fight
other things.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
When I'm back in the White House, we will expel
the warmongers, the profiteers, and.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Take over our government.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
You know that Donald Trump, you can't find him. I
don't know what happened to that guy, but that Donald
Trump was right everything he's said, let's get rid of
the warmongers and the profiteers, let's get rid of the
saber rattling. And all he's done since he's come into
office is saber rattle. I don't get it. I really
(24:10):
don't what happened to that peace candidate. It's a very
different place that we find ourselves in with this Donald Trump,
who's again in office, largely because so many believed he
was the peace candidate. This is Megan Kelly talking about
(24:33):
all of this. Megan Kelly, who, as you know, has
been pretty pro Mega and pretty pro Trump.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
I really think this is something we need to consider
both sides on.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
I really do. I don't think. Let me just tell
you something.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
When I was at Fox News, which was a long time,
fourteen years, I would have known exactly what to do
in the week of Trump's attack in Venezuela, his retrieval,
shall we say, to put it in mild terms of
Nicholas Madial, I would have known that I was supposed
to cheerlead it, and I turned on Fox News yesterday,
and I'm sorry, but it was like watching Russian propaganda.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
There was nothing skeptical.
Speaker 7 (25:09):
It was all raw ra cheerleading. Yes, let's go, and
that's fine. I love our military as much as anyone,
and I believe in President Trump. But there are serious
reasons to just exercise a note of caution before we
just get on the raw raw train all. I have
done that enough times in my career as a Fox
(25:30):
News anchor to have been embarrassed enough to know I'm
going to stay on the yellow light for this. I'm
not in the green light territory. I'm not in the
red light territory either, but I am staying in the
yellow light territory for now. I see all of the
strategic advantages of what he's done, Trust me, I do.
(25:52):
I see that other countries like Russia and China and
Cuba were all over Venezuela and it's oil posing a
potential threat to the United States. I get that that's
actually the most persuasive argument, and obviously the real one.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
And none of this has been about law enforcement.
Speaker 7 (26:08):
But I have seen what happens when you cheerlead unabashedly
US intervention in foreign countries, thinking it's for our good
and for the international good, only to wind up with
what we've called quagmire.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
I will continue with that a little bit when we
come back, and I just want to spend a second
on the oil as well, because I think there's a
lot of misunderstanding around the oil in Venezuela. But we'll
shed a little more light on it and wrap that
up and a little more Megan Kelly. Always interesting to
me when somebody who's so pro Trump, so pro Maga
double clutches and you begin to hear the reality, which
(26:50):
is that even she can't countenance this, even she isn't
cool with this, and so we continue.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere on that
iHeartRadio app. Find it, use it, live it, enjoy it.
I have a show on the iHeartRadio because of Mark
Thompson Show. Actually it's called We didn't spend a long
time on the name. As you can tell, The Mark
Thompson Show is available on YouTube, is a live offering
and you can then check it out whenever you want.
(27:31):
Most people don't watch it live, and as I say,
many people take it in on the iHeartRadio app, so
that's kind of cool. We're also on Spotify and all
the rest of the Mark Thompson Show. Thank you subscribe
on YouTube and help my numbers. You don't even have
to ever watch just I think subscription numbers are good.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
It's free.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
I just want to say, and you also, you're you
and your crew look fantastic because my mom has a
big screen TV and she loves your show, and you
guys look fantastic camera using.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
But it's awesome. Thank you so much for that. I
need a little lift. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
In the New Year, Foosh provides the fooch shall abide
and shout out to your mom. We're in the middle
of this conversation around Venezuela, and I was showing you
or I was talking about the various aspects of this
that really ran a foul of the kind of peace
talk that Donald Trump was doing before he became president.
(28:25):
Was very much against foreign wars, very much against to
the prophet, the war profiteers that he campaigned against, and
these opportunists and these warmongerers. He used those words, and
then all of a sudden he got in Novius and
it seems like we're all about some military flexes, and
I was playing you before the break some of Megan Kelly,
who's big in the Mega she's a big Trump supporter,
(28:48):
and she's saying, I don't know, I don't really, I
don't really see this, and in fact, those positives that
I see they don't outweigh the negatives. And so here
is again a continuation a little bit of Megan Kelly
from her show.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
And posing a potential threat to the United States. I
get that that's actually the most persuasive argument, and she's.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Talking about that.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
It's the argument that you know, there is a there's
a Russia China element here that you are blunting in
effect by this regime change in Venezuela.
Speaker 7 (29:24):
I see all of the strategic advantages of what he's done,
Trust me, I do. I see that other countries like
Russia and China, Cuba were all over Venezuela, and it's
oil posing a potential threat to the United States. I
get that that's actually the most persuasive argument, and obviously
the real one. And none of this has been about
law enforcement, but I have seen what happens when you
(29:47):
cheerlead unabashedly US intervention in foreign countries thinking it's for
our good and for the international good, only to wind
up with what we've called quagmire in places like Iraq,
not to mention Libya, We're not great at going into
(30:08):
these foreign countries, decapitating them at the leadership level, and
then saying either we're going to steer the country to
a better place, or it's gonna steer itself either one.
They just nine times out of ten that don't work
out well. And what does it mean in terms of
boots on the ground. Trump is saying, I'm actually fine
with that in Venezuela, Well, who's boots? Because I have
(30:30):
a sixteen year old boy, and I have a twelve
year old boy, and I have a fourteen year old girl,
And a lot of my listeners have children too, who
are actually the ones who might have to fill the boots.
So I think I speak for a lot of moms
and dads for that matter, when I say I'm staying
in Yellow territory until we know more, and I will
not be joining the Fox News cheerleading brigade this time.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I've been burned too many times.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Yeah, that's Megan Cally.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
So look, there's enough myth and there's one that's being
perpetrated again in amplified at the Fox News channel levels
what he's talking about. And also those who just maybe
blindly want to say, yeah, you know, whatever you say,
I salute and I get enthusiastic about everything that is
(31:22):
said so full throatedly by this president, Donald Trump. And
Trump can be very charismatic and you know, persuasive in
all of these different things that he says, but increasingly
you're realizing maybe they don't square up with reality. And
here is that part the oil fields that we talk about. Now,
He's right about the fact that the infrastructure in Venezuela
(31:45):
associated with oil fields has been degraded through the years,
and the reason for that is a multifold one of it.
One of the reasons is simply sanctions that have been
short of withering. And so as a result, you don't
get the kind of production from Venezuela that you did
because they're a limited number of customers for Venezuela because
again of these sanctions. But more to the point, the
(32:06):
nationalizing of those oil fields has basically taken a lot
of the incentive away from many of these corporations to
mine the oil in Venezuela and you end up with Chevron.
Chevron is the long standing American interest that has lingered
in Venezuela. But while many of these other fields across
(32:28):
a very rich Venezuela, they got a lot of oil there. Right,
the oil fields are controlled by basically militia. They're controlled
by this sort of checkerboard of different entities. And the
idea that you're going to get corporations he's talking about
American oil companies going in there and somehow bringing that
(32:50):
infrastructure back up to snuff, which will cost billions of dollars.
They are not going to do that. American oil companies
are not going to do that. And the reason they're
not going to do that is severalfold. Also, one is
it's way too dangerous. You have literally violent confrontations that
(33:11):
you'll have to deal with to just get control of
these areas. And will they these companies that come from
America and come at the behest of the American government
be protected by American troops.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
I hope not.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I'm not anxious to have American troops occupying Venezuela for
oil extraction. And they also have competition problems because there
is so much investment already in Canada, which has the
same kind of crude oil that Venezuela does. In a sense,
you're competing with yourself. The infrastructure and investment that many
(33:49):
of these companies made in Canada was so substantial they'd
be fools to go and make that same investment in Venezuela,
which is an unstable country. And the one thing corporations
want and you'd want it to write if I come
to you with an investment and go how stable is it?
How dependable is it? Well, it's a country that's just
(34:12):
kind of getting attacked together.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
The Americans just came in and they deposed the leader.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Right now, there's really not clarity as to who's leading
the country. There are a bunch of militia groups and
narco terrorists to control certain regions. You know what, dude,
I'm not about it right now. Let's wait till it
settles out a little bit. And that's exactly the conversation
that would be going on in the boardrooms around many
of these oil companies. So this is a problem situation.
(34:42):
And Megan Kelly is right. I can't believe I'm saying that,
but she is right when she points to the fact
that I was mentioning before, which is the easy part.
It's not easy, but it's the easier part is the
extraction of Maduro. The tough part is the part that
comes now, what happens in Venezuela and to what extent
(35:07):
are the Americans involved. If you want to yell at me,
tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, you're
allowed to. You can reach me my email addresses the
Mark Thompson Show at gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
This is not the Mark Thompson Joe. That's my show
that I'm coming from. That's the reason for the email address.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
But I think it's a reasonable perspective the one I'm
offering to you. But I definitely think this is not
a popular on the street situation for Donald Trump either politically,
so it may be a tough sell over time. When
we come back, Mickey Rourke needs your help. Mark Thompson
(35:48):
here on KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (35:53):
App KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I Am six forty live everywhere on the Iheit Radio app.
Mark Thompson, I know, Happy New Year, everybody. You know
what I got you for the New Year A Latin
American country.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
It's venezuela. Everybody, You've all got a piece. That's right.
You didn't have to Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I don't hate to extend myself, but seemed inevitable. Seemed
inevitable started with those fishing boats, you know, and then
they they they upped the ante, got the top dog.
We'll talk a little bit about it. I know a
lot of people are speaking of it, aware of it,
(00:42):
curious about it, so we will talk about it as well.
I haven't spoken to anyone since New Year's You're probably wondering, Mark,
what does a marginal celebrity like yourself do on New
Year's Eve?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
And I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I I had quiet New Year's Eve home before midnight,
and it, I'll remind you, was pouring rain.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
We've had a real rough bout with rain.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Ronerd, do you live in a an exposed area with
you're sort of like touch and go the way?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I'm not sure what you mean by it.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I mean you're exposed to the flood threat, not so
much flooding, exposed to some some gunfire occasionally, and.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
You know, there's gout. Now.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
This is the only reason I'm so glad. It's almost
as though we scripted and rehearsed these remarks from Vietna.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
These are completely extamboraneous.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
But what I am reminded of on New Year's Eve
with the rain is there's one good thing about the rain.
And first of all, you know, please don't mist understand me.
We're a region that desperately needs rain, but you know
what I mean, being overserved rain as we have been
this winter. There can be all sorts of issues. But
the one good thing about rain on New Year's Eve
(02:01):
is that I feel as though the gunshots that go
off at midnight, and kind of that celebratory thing with
guns and fireworks for that matter, that is chilled a bit.
Normally on New Year's Eve. I see a lot of
fireworks at New Year's midnight, and I see and hear gunshots.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
And that's not an exaggeration.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I lived in Venice, and Venice is Venice is a
wild area because of the fact that you've got these
jillionaire producers and other creative types living alongside homeless encampments
and a lawlessness, and it may have improved a bit
in the I mean, I live there. Now it's been
(02:47):
I guess now it's been four years since I lived
in Venice. But four years ago, at midnight, man, I
could hear gunshots for real. I mean there was gunfire
going off. Now that's the silver lining of the rain.
I'm glad you pointed that out, because it's test if
not to feel like you're in a root or gaza
sure on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And so there was that, And you know, having lost
my house to fire, when I see a situation where
there are fewer fireworks, I kind of groove on that
as well, like, okay, I'm just happy that they're not
all these potential fires that are starting.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
So so it was cool. I think we did.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
We did a kind of a dinner and we just
rolled home. But you look, I know, you're onto the
next thing already. But that's my recollection of New Year's Eve.
You seem also similarly, Mark Ronner, watching news events tonight
through the world and locally, you seem similarly, I'm going
to use this word, and I hope you don't think it's.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
A put down. Here we go.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I think you seem mature enough to me that you
don't need to be, like, you know, doing shots at midnight,
meaning you know, tequila shots and some kind of back
in old fies cash to be going on at midnight.
Am I right about that? That's kind of for amateurs,
like like Saint Patrick's Day, you know. Yeah, So I'm
guessing midnight for you passes quietly. Well. I was here,
(04:10):
I worked New Year's Eve, had the Long Suffering One
stop in so she wasn't alone at the stroke of midnight. Foosh,
of course bailed because he's mister lookout for number one.
He had to get onto whatever eyes wide shut orgy
he had been invited to. So it's just me, the
long suffering One here alone in the studio, then a
(04:32):
desultory drive home in the rain.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I think you can look at it that way, but
there's a certain freedom in being by yourself, with your
with your loved one.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
The Charlton Heston Omega Man movie made a strong impression
on me as a child. I like it when everything
and every place are just desolate. Yeah, I think that
there is something to that, and foosh, it deserves a
quiet New Year's because only twenty five was a bad
year for him.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
It was a little rough at a strong a rough
little area.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And yeah, twenty five you took some clearer turbulence that
just a bit, I like, you know, a near fatal
car accident. Yeah, I think you're allowed to kind of
like look forward to the new year. Let's keep all
our limbs in twenty twenty six. Food, let's do it.
I did watch with some interest, and Nicki is with
us tonight as well.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
She's producing.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I don't want to ask what she did on New
Year's you no, no, no, no, no, Jack, you don't go there.
Speaker 6 (05:32):
Uncharacteristically, I stayed home on New yearsic.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (05:37):
Wow, he's evens for amateur hours. But a couple of
nights prior, I was out on the Razzle Dazzle with
news anchor Eileen Gonzalez and we had a good time.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I've started following news anchor lin Gonzales on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
You know, she does the karaoke a lot. Yeah, she
seems to be talented.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
Jesus seeing she can belt it out.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
That's the sure. She really seems talented.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Also, she sends me kitten videos constantly, which I appreciate. No,
you're all encouraged to send me cat videos. I watch
the New Year's Eve hosts the uh Andy Cohen and
Anderson Cooper.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
You like that? Uh? Okay, No, I'll.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
No, no, no, no no. I don't mean to be it'd
be disparaging. I don't like the show per se. But
I tell you what I like about the show is
it's authenticity. There's a kind of an unfiltered and unscripted
aspect to it. So if I'm going to watch TV
(06:47):
on New Year's Eve, I think this is kind of
like I don't know what's going.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
To happen, and they don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And one guy's drunk and another guy's sort of borderline
uh embarrassed. Sometimes that's their stick. Yeah, yeah, but it's real,
you know what I mean. Like, if you watch Ryan Seacrest,
Seacrest is great. He's a total professional, He's a total
you know, he's going to take you through all the
you know, the light cues and the music cues and
(07:13):
the welcome back and I'm Ryan Seacrest and you know,
I get it, and he's talented. I think that show
is probably the most Washington. Dick Clark's ABC show, which
he then inherited, was number one. But nothing unexpected is
going to happen, you know. Similarly with the other show,
there were other network shows on. And there's a syndicated
(07:35):
show now which is I think was carried by Channel
five maybe, and it takes you all around the West,
so San Francisco, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, and that was
kind of cool. And this I'd forgotten. I was the
(07:55):
first host of that show when it was in San
Francisco and they were trying to get it going. It
was the first year that the West Coast and Western
time zone was going to do a live broadcast, and
again it would be syndicated. We'd be centered in San Francisco,
and then you'd go to Seattle, you'd go to Las Vegas,
(08:16):
you'd go to Phoenix, you go to Los Angeles, and
these are all places that are going to be celebrating
New Year at the same time live with you, Whereas
you know, the East Coast feed does it at nine
o'clock and we see a rerun. So I'd forgotten that
I even did that show I did three years in
a row. You've been around the block, I know, I've
You're none. I've been around the block too many times,
(08:39):
is the truth of it. But it was cool that
they've now built it out, so their hosts in all
those cities I mentioned, and it was really cool. So
I kind of liked that too. There was a I guess,
a different media dynamic on New Year's Eve, and I.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Sort of enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
But all right, we'll talk a little bit about Venezuela
and a major fight at Disneyland.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Did you see that? Yeah? Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I mean, I'll be honest with you, I'm surprised these
fights don't break out more at Disneyland, but the lines
being what they are, and people try to cut line,
and there was a major fight with somebody trying to
cut line, and we'll get into that as well, and
whatever else you want.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
It's always interesting when there's a distinct perspective, and I
think when I talk to this person, their perspective on
things is informed not by some sort of show. We say,
philosophical underpinning but it's informed by the fact that they're
paid by the New York Post.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And by the way I get that.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
You know, at least you know you can say, well, hey,
I got to be that way because you know, that's
the paper I work for.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
So alternatively, there's journalism. Let me just tell you.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I don't want to hijack things here, but I watched
the documentary about Seymour Hirsch on Netflix a few days ago. Yeah,
that will so fortify you if you're if you're sick
of the kind of thing that you just described, well
we should say Seymour Hirsch for those most are aware,
you know, brilliant investigative journalist. Probably his biggest story was
the Meli massacre. It was his big breakthrough. Yeah yeah,
(10:24):
and uh, just a guy who hasn't even though that
was a big story, he hasn't stopped working.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I mean, I don't know how old he is now.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
He seems ancient, but he's still, uh, just working like
a superhero, trying to hold people accountable. Yeah. Uh interesting.
He actually had a lot on the Nord String pipeline,
and I don't want to get too into it, but
he had some pretty uh breakthrough stuff and people talk
to him. You know, That's what investigative journalists often need,
(10:54):
is access. And so that was the case with and
he is the case the Seymour shirt, a Seymour Hirsch.
I saw a documentary drop. Let me just remember what
this is. There's one on Chevy Chase that's just out
right now on CNN. Yeah, yeah, did you see that one?
I saw bits and pieces of it. He sounds like
(11:15):
a complicated person. Doesn't sound like a pleasant person. You're
reading between the lines there. Yes, everybody's on this Holy cow. Yeah,
I got people couldn't wait to buzz in on Jevy Jase.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I guess, uh, well, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
He was on the you know, the set of Community,
which is the more recent I guess sitcom that he
was part of. Seemed like it was a set that
would be informed by a lighthearted spirit.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Again, I know nothing. I know was Dak Sheppard in
that show? I believe Community for.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
A time it was. It was a lot jo Joe
m before he was, you know, as big as he
is now.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And and I thought there was some controversy about check
where I first heard that he was really difficult to
deal with. Yeah, walked up set and some you know
that kind of thing. If you want a little encapsulation
of that. There's a part where he tells the documentarian
interviewing him, oh, that she's not smart enough to understand him.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Wow, and it's yeah, it's it's oh yeah.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Does it touch on his chronic pain the documentary, which
I haven't watched.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
There's chronic pain from back injuries, is what you're talking about?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
Is that what made him such a grump? The fact
that he was in constant pain.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Didn't make him that way? Did it?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
What I'm looking for from Nicky always is the excuse
for somebody being a total jerk.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
That's it?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, Ok, everybody, did you think that there's a reason
that he was being that way?
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I'm an EmPATH, game recognizes game.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yes, maybe Paul Pott suffered from sleep.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Happenings exactly the EmPATH in me Mark, don't you see?
Speaker 6 (12:50):
I love your Aussie accent, but it's.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Kind of a it's kind of deliberately believe me.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I could do a spot on Ouzi if I wanted to,
but I like I keep it kind of a crude
for comedic purposes.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Stalin had the planter fascy itis.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, I mean, they're right, there is a I think
what brother Ronner is suggesting is that there is always
a degree of horrible ness, and some of the horrible
nests can be really bad. And sure there's an explanation,
but that doesn't justify the horrible ness, you know what
I mean? You get Yeah, So even though we understand
(13:25):
that he might have had back pain, I mean apparently,
and I'm grant you, I mean, that's got to be
pretty tough, but man, he really I guess.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
If you accept that as the cause, then he took
it out of a lot of people.
Speaker 6 (13:38):
Well, I haven't watched the documentary, but I'm just a
massive Caddy.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Shack fan, so h of course, of course Caddy Shack.
And well, Fletch is a great move. Fletcher is so
much fun. And Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live. I
mean he is you know, he was part of the
cast that launched that show and two you know, to
his credit, made it part of and listens really think
(14:04):
about it was sort of an overnight sensation, a cultural institution.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Those are the best years. I don't know that's true. Okay,
here we go.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Well, I just think that, you know, we always look
back sort of wistfully at that. Watch it again, then
see and then well, I actually think dan Aykroyd is
the anchor for that whole poer. Yeah, I think he
was the unsung genius, brilliant. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
But I was gonna say with Chevy Chase, you know,
with the quote unquote back pain and all that, it's like,
but you didn't have monumental success and money and all this, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Things to offset help with it.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, you're telling me that the sting of back pain
couldn't be relieved at all from the fact that you
were stacking hundreds in your hallway. Yeah, and you absolutely
were the toast of show business.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
That just couldn't take away the edge of your back pain.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But uh, when it comes to the best of anything,
Saturday Night Live, Lakers team, think about the best Lakers
team or best Rams team or foot you know. When
it comes to sport, I said sport deliberately for Nikki.
I think that we have more measurements that are objective, Right,
(15:15):
you have numbers. You know they scored this many points,
they were you know, they won this many series, they
held competitors to such and such. I think when we
talk about the best Saturday Night Live, for example, You
now are in a squishy area that has a basic agreement,
(15:35):
which is we know that that original cast was really good.
But then you come into memory and romanticizing stuff, and
before you know it, you know, you've really kind of
lost your way. And so I would say this about
Saturday Night Live, I'd say for their time and with
a small cast. You know, now you look at the
(15:56):
cast on the SNL. I go in the credits, the
opening credits going for and there are a whole bunch of people.
There are tons of people on SNL.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
They have the starring and it goes on and on
and on, and then it says featuring, and that goes
on and on and on. There's just many more assets
that they bring to SNL now and it's a great
show and it has been I think through the years,
with some admitted drops in quality through those many decades.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
Do you have an all time favorite cast member.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
That's a great question. I think Phil Hartman was just wonderful.
I miss Phil Harmon. Yeah. I think he appeared in,
if not the most among the most sketches of any
of the cast members. There was a breakdown of that
recently that I saw, and if I can just defend
this for just one instant, what I love about the
first iteration of Saturday Night Live is the sensibility that
(16:52):
was brought over from all the people from National Lampoon. Sure,
that's what I think made it immortal. Yeah, no, I
mean it's more immortal. I wouldn't debate with you, but
you know the best. I don't know that you know,
but I wouldn't in an instant at all.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Fight you on that. I think that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And in fact, that, to your credit for pointing it out,
was sort of the breakthrough sensibility that then informed the
rest of the shows and other seasons. So it's fair
to say, you know, they were the progenitors of everything else.
And so yeah, you're right. I remember my mom. My
mom turned me onto SNL. She it was it's kind
(17:35):
of My mom is a typical, you know, boomer mom,
and she meaning you know, mother of a boomer, and
so think about her. She's a fifties kind of sixties organized.
So I couldn't imagine that she was into this rebellious
show because the rebellion was on and I sent l oh,
(17:57):
there's no question this is the reason why George Carlin
was the first that was some rock and roll comedy.
Thank you, and so my mother shout out to her
ninety five years old. She rocked and she rolled and
turned me on to SNL. All right, when we come back,
we'll get into this Venezuela thing a little bit. My
(18:17):
how times have changed. But as they say, the more
things change, the more they remain the same.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Great to have everybody on board all the nighttime folk foshon,
Mark and NICKI.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Big news, as you know, with.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
The word out of Venezuela that their president and his
wife were extracted which is the Pentagon verbiage and jargon,
and taken to this country. They were indicted, as you know,
and so as a result they were arraigned today. Interesting
(19:01):
because what's been talked about, as you are aware, by
the president is the tough part, which is what comes next.
I mean the thing that the US military is so
very good at, as you're aware of this as well,
we are good at going in and this is not
easy when I'm describing, but it is what the US
military is very good at going in and getting an
(19:24):
asset out. It might be in this case a president
who we feel should be here in this country and
facing a trial. It might be Osama bin Laden. Took
a long time to go in and actually take care
of that. Couldn't do it under Bush when the entire
(19:46):
nine to eleven attack went down. But ultimately, the assets
of the US are vast intelligence assets and military assets,
and that was an impressive operation. And those Seal Team
operations and those Special Forces operations really are so well done,
(20:07):
and they separate us as a country from a lot
of the rest of the world because we do that
so well. What we don't do as well is the
stuff that comes after that. So when you talk about
regime change and installing your own people and trying to
administer to a situation that is much much more volatile,
(20:30):
it's frankly a track record that's pretty miserable. I mean,
you can look at Afghanistan, and that was an ungovernable
situation and one in which we were aware would be
a difficult situation too in any way bring order to
(20:50):
or administer two. But in no way did it seem
as though that the powers of America had a sense
of how difficult Afghanistan be And I say that because
really you should have had a good idea about Afghanistan,
because the Soviets were there for so long, the Russians
had a huge issue with Afghanistan. And again, without getting
(21:10):
too much into the weeds, that's a piece of history
that immediately preceded our involvement in Afghanistan. And then there was
Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction they excused to
go in and then the ultimate falling apart of Iraq.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It was a horrible idea.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
And the managing of that situation post you know, Mission accomplished,
was a horror show. So many American casuals, so many
Iraqi casualties, so expensive, just awful. And here's the immediate
part of that, which some of you may remember. There
(21:52):
was no plan, There was no plan on how to
administer to Iraq. There were a bunch of Iraqi soldiers.
These are armed military people who are just let go,
along with Baptists who are part of that entire city.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
You just had a huge.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Pot of military bullard base that just spilled out back
over Iraq after the Americans went in, and it created ISIS,
and it created huge guerrilla warfare for Americans, and so again,
this is a situation that should inform all other situations
as we begin regime change somewhere else. And so yeah,
(22:32):
I am quite concerned about where we are now and
the way in which we used to hear from the
very same people who are involved in all of this
about regime change and about America going into these various
theaters of conflict.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
It's totally different now.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I don't really understand how we end up with the
situation that we do, given what was said before Donald
Trump became president.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
You're tired of the reckless foreign policy.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
This is Donald Trump on the stump. He was viewed
as the peace candidate.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
You're tired of the reckless foreign policy, the crazy wars
that are never won.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
We will abandon the policy of reckless regime change. Stupid
people that have been running this operation for thirty forty
years and they come out against me, and all they
did is stick us in these endless wars.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
We're pulling finally, these.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Endless wars, these endless wars, and we had to fight
other things.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
When I'm back in the White House, we will expel
the warmongers, the profiteers, and.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Take over our government.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
You know that Donald Trump, you can't find him. I
don't know what happened to that guy, but that Donald
Trump was right everything he's said, let's get rid of
the warmongers and the profiteers, let's get rid of the
saber rattling. And all he's done since he's come into
office is saber rattle. I don't get it. I really
(24:10):
don't what happened to that peace candidate. It's a very
different place that we find ourselves in with this Donald Trump,
who's again in office, largely because so many believed he
was the peace candidate. This is Megan Kelly talking about
(24:33):
all of this. Megan Kelly, who, as you know, has
been pretty pro Mega and pretty pro Trump.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
I really think this is something we need to consider
both sides on.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
I really do. I don't think. Let me just tell
you something.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
When I was at Fox News, which was a long time,
fourteen years, I would have known exactly what to do
in the week of Trump's attack in Venezuela, his retrieval,
shall we say, to put it in mild terms of
Nicholas Madial, I would have known that I was supposed
to cheerlead it, and I turned on Fox News yesterday,
and I'm sorry, but it was like watching Russian propaganda.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
There was nothing skeptical.
Speaker 7 (25:09):
It was all raw ra cheerleading. Yes, let's go, and
that's fine. I love our military as much as anyone,
and I believe in President Trump. But there are serious
reasons to just exercise a note of caution before we
just get on the raw raw train all. I have
done that enough times in my career as a Fox
(25:30):
News anchor to have been embarrassed enough to know I'm
going to stay on the yellow light for this. I'm
not in the green light territory. I'm not in the
red light territory either, but I am staying in the
yellow light territory for now. I see all of the
strategic advantages of what he's done, Trust me, I do.
(25:52):
I see that other countries like Russia and China and
Cuba were all over Venezuela and it's oil posing a
potential threat to the United States. I get that that's
actually the most persuasive argument, and obviously the real one.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
And none of this has been about law enforcement.
Speaker 7 (26:08):
But I have seen what happens when you cheerlead unabashedly
US intervention in foreign countries, thinking it's for our good
and for the international good, only to wind up with
what we've called quagmire.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
I will continue with that a little bit when we
come back, and I just want to spend a second
on the oil as well, because I think there's a
lot of misunderstanding around the oil in Venezuela. But we'll
shed a little more light on it and wrap that
up and a little more Megan Kelly. Always interesting to
me when somebody who's so pro Trump, so pro Maga
double clutches and you begin to hear the reality, which
(26:50):
is that even she can't countenance this, even she isn't
cool with this, and so we continue.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere on that
iHeartRadio app. Find it, use it, live it, enjoy it.
I have a show on the iHeartRadio because of Mark
Thompson Show. Actually it's called We didn't spend a long
time on the name. As you can tell, The Mark
Thompson Show is available on YouTube, is a live offering
and you can then check it out whenever you want.
(27:31):
Most people don't watch it live, and as I say,
many people take it in on the iHeartRadio app, so
that's kind of cool. We're also on Spotify and all
the rest of the Mark Thompson Show. Thank you subscribe
on YouTube and help my numbers. You don't even have
to ever watch just I think subscription numbers are good.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
It's free.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
I just want to say, and you also, you're you
and your crew look fantastic because my mom has a
big screen TV and she loves your show, and you
guys look fantastic camera using.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
But it's awesome. Thank you so much for that. I
need a little lift. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
In the New Year, Foosh provides the fooch shall abide
and shout out to your mom. We're in the middle
of this conversation around Venezuela, and I was showing you
or I was talking about the various aspects of this
that really ran a foul of the kind of peace
talk that Donald Trump was doing before he became president.
(28:25):
Was very much against foreign wars, very much against to
the prophet, the war profiteers that he campaigned against, and
these opportunists and these warmongerers. He used those words, and
then all of a sudden he got in Novius and
it seems like we're all about some military flexes, and
I was playing you before the break some of Megan Kelly,
who's big in the Mega she's a big Trump supporter,
(28:48):
and she's saying, I don't know, I don't really, I
don't really see this, and in fact, those positives that
I see they don't outweigh the negatives. And so here
is again a continuation a little bit of Megan Kelly
from her show.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
And posing a potential threat to the United States. I
get that that's actually the most persuasive argument, and she's.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Talking about that.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
It's the argument that you know, there is a there's
a Russia China element here that you are blunting in
effect by this regime change in Venezuela.
Speaker 7 (29:24):
I see all of the strategic advantages of what he's done,
Trust me, I do. I see that other countries like
Russia and China, Cuba were all over Venezuela, and it's
oil posing a potential threat to the United States. I
get that that's actually the most persuasive argument, and obviously
the real one. And none of this has been about
law enforcement, but I have seen what happens when you
(29:47):
cheerlead unabashedly US intervention in foreign countries thinking it's for
our good and for the international good, only to wind
up with what we've called quagmire in places like Iraq,
not to mention Libya, We're not great at going into
(30:08):
these foreign countries, decapitating them at the leadership level, and
then saying either we're going to steer the country to
a better place, or it's gonna steer itself either one.
They just nine times out of ten that don't work
out well. And what does it mean in terms of
boots on the ground. Trump is saying, I'm actually fine
with that in Venezuela, Well, who's boots? Because I have
(30:30):
a sixteen year old boy, and I have a twelve
year old boy, and I have a fourteen year old girl,
And a lot of my listeners have children too, who
are actually the ones who might have to fill the boots.
So I think I speak for a lot of moms
and dads for that matter, when I say I'm staying
in Yellow territory until we know more, and I will
not be joining the Fox News cheerleading brigade this time.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I've been burned too many times.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Yeah, that's Megan Cally.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
So look, there's enough myth and there's one that's being
perpetrated again in amplified at the Fox News channel levels
what he's talking about. And also those who just maybe
blindly want to say, yeah, you know, whatever you say,
I salute and I get enthusiastic about everything that is
(31:22):
said so full throatedly by this president, Donald Trump. And
Trump can be very charismatic and you know, persuasive in
all of these different things that he says, but increasingly
you're realizing maybe they don't square up with reality. And
here is that part the oil fields that we talk about. Now,
He's right about the fact that the infrastructure in Venezuela
(31:45):
associated with oil fields has been degraded through the years,
and the reason for that is a multifold one of it.
One of the reasons is simply sanctions that have been
short of withering. And so as a result, you don't
get the kind of production from Venezuela that you did
because they're a limited number of customers for Venezuela because
again of these sanctions. But more to the point, the
(32:06):
nationalizing of those oil fields has basically taken a lot
of the incentive away from many of these corporations to
mine the oil in Venezuela and you end up with Chevron.
Chevron is the long standing American interest that has lingered
in Venezuela. But while many of these other fields across
(32:28):
a very rich Venezuela, they got a lot of oil there. Right,
the oil fields are controlled by basically militia. They're controlled
by this sort of checkerboard of different entities. And the
idea that you're going to get corporations he's talking about
American oil companies going in there and somehow bringing that
(32:50):
infrastructure back up to snuff, which will cost billions of dollars.
They are not going to do that. American oil companies
are not going to do that. And the reason they're
not going to do that is severalfold. Also, one is
it's way too dangerous. You have literally violent confrontations that
(33:11):
you'll have to deal with to just get control of
these areas. And will they these companies that come from
America and come at the behest of the American government
be protected by American troops.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
I hope not.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I'm not anxious to have American troops occupying Venezuela for
oil extraction. And they also have competition problems because there
is so much investment already in Canada, which has the
same kind of crude oil that Venezuela does. In a sense,
you're competing with yourself. The infrastructure and investment that many
(33:49):
of these companies made in Canada was so substantial they'd
be fools to go and make that same investment in Venezuela,
which is an unstable country. And the one thing corporations
want and you'd want it to write if I come
to you with an investment and go how stable is it?
How dependable is it? Well, it's a country that's just
(34:12):
kind of getting attacked together.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
The Americans just came in and they deposed the leader.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Right now, there's really not clarity as to who's leading
the country. There are a bunch of militia groups and
narco terrorists to control certain regions. You know what, dude,
I'm not about it right now. Let's wait till it
settles out a little bit. And that's exactly the conversation
that would be going on in the boardrooms around many
of these oil companies. So this is a problem situation.
(34:42):
And Megan Kelly is right. I can't believe I'm saying that,
but she is right when she points to the fact
that I was mentioning before, which is the easy part.
It's not easy, but it's the easier part is the
extraction of Maduro. The tough part is the part that
comes now, what happens in Venezuela and to what extent
(35:07):
are the Americans involved. If you want to yell at me,
tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, you're
allowed to. You can reach me my email addresses the
Mark Thompson Show at gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
This is not the Mark Thompson Joe. That's my show
that I'm coming from. That's the reason for the email address.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
But I think it's a reasonable perspective the one I'm
offering to you. But I definitely think this is not
a popular on the street situation for Donald Trump either politically,
so it may be a tough sell over time. When
we come back, Mickey Rourke needs your help. Mark Thompson
(35:48):
here on KFI AM six forty. We are live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio
Speaker 1 (35:53):
App KFI AM six forty on demand
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