Navigating the Haitian Humanitarian Crisis and American Democracy's Test

Could the unraveling of a Caribbean nation signal a call to action for the global community? Our latest episode probes the depths of Haiti's escalating crisis, where the assassination of a president and the rise of gang dominion have left the country teetering on the brink. We take you through the heart-wrenching reality faced by Haitians every day, examining the international quandary over intervention versus aid. With cities and ports under the control of criminal forces, the stakes for the US and neighboring countries couldn't be higher as we dissect the ethical implications of intervening in a nation at war with itself.

Revelations are shaking the foundations of trust in American democracy, and we're here to unpack the newest twists in the January 6th Capitol riot narrative. Evidence has come to light that challenges the previously accepted storyline, and we're scrutinizing the credibility of the January 6th committee and the potential fallout from their actions. With fresh insights on the table, we confront the thorny issues of constitutional integrity and justice, offering a candid discussion on the treatment of those involved and what this means for the future of our political landscape.

Treason or mere betrayal? Our conversation navigates the murky waters of loyalty and law, as we dissect the notion of treasonous behavior against the backdrop of recent political events. The legal definition may be clear-cut, but the emotional weight of actions perceived as traitorous is anything but simple. Striking a balance between the letter of the law and the sentiments of the people, we ponder the repercussions of deeds that, while not treason in the strictest sense, still resonate with profound disloyalty and the erosion of trust. Join us as we seek to understand the implications of these behaviors on our society's moral compass.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, good evening everyone. Thanks for joining us tonight. We've got what a surprise, another great show for you guys. Say hey to everyone, click.

Speaker 2: 0:09

Hey, we're here. I'll say it's here. We're still on baby watch, right? So you still got both of us right now. But yeah, as usual, we got a great show for you. You know, the world never fails to provide enough material for us, so we got plenty for you.

Speaker 1: 0:22

We sure do. Right after this, we are coming in hot right off the presses here. Let's get right into talking about what is happening in Haiti. This is so, so intense and crazy, and and a lot of us and I include myself in this don't Don't really realize how wild and crazy and really horrendous this actually is. What's going on there. It is. It's really bad so. So let's talk about that a little bit. Clay, go ahead, you. You give them the kind of the low down here.

Speaker 2: 1:12

Yeah, so you know. Not everybody's great at geography, but quick geography lesson. So you know Haiti's obviously in the Caribbean. It's half of its shares and island. You know, haiti's on one half, dominican Republic's on the other half. Dominican Republic has got Puerto Rico off of their coast, haiti's got Cuba off of their coast. So kind of everybody knows where we're at, but really only you know. Last, at a hundred miles off of the Florida coast. So, proximity wise, close to the United States, right.

Speaker 2: 1:39

Haiti has fallen through a what has amounted to a massive gang war. Their president was assassinated in 2021 and has been replaced by an unelected volunteer president, educated man, I think. He's a surgeon. His name was is actually, I should say was, because he resigned today. Ariel on on re, I think, french pronunciation. He resigned today and and the country has fallen into absolute chaos. There's a guy who there's by the nickname barbecue, who is the head of yep. That guy, right there, right there, is that the gang leader that They've essentially taken over all the major metropolitan areas, high levels of violence, and what it's doing is it's Obviously the normal level. Violence in general is bad, but it's affecting now supplies coming in. It's affecting food availability to normal people, on top of the violence that they're all afraid of, plus everybody sheltering in place. It's really really horrible, and Haiti has been asking for help, not just locally but internationally. They, they, the, the. The president actually resigned today from Puerto Rico, from Puerto Rico.

Speaker 1: 2:54

So he can't even get back in. He can't get back into the country because they have taken over the airports and the prisons and all of it, so he can't even get into his own country, which is it's inconceivable, right to us, it's inconceivable.

Speaker 2: 3:13

Yeah, he left and he went to Africa. He went to Kenya specifically. He was asking for UN help to bring in UN troops to to be peacekeepers, essentially To quell some of the violence. But he went specifically to Kenya and then came back, flew into I think he flew into the dr at first in the Dominican Republic, or maybe they denied him entry and he ended up landing in Puerto Rico. But you know he was.

Speaker 2: 3:39

He has already said that he was going to stay in office until 2025 to provide some stability and then, you know, a duly elected new president would come in in 2025. Now I'm not, you know, I don't know how viable that really was, but I know that was like statement. But the barbecue guy that the gang leader has decided that that is not Applicable. He's not a fan of it. So they have essentially, as you said, taken over all the ports of entry, all of the you know major city centers and and the level of violence is high. Um, yes, so he contacted today the president did. As part of it, he acknowledged in a you know phone call with secretary blinkin that he is, he is in fact resigned, he's, he's done. But he asked the us for help as well. So that kind of puts us in a spot on what are we going to do and what are we willing to risk to stabilize this neighbor nation in the Caribbean.

Speaker 1: 4:38

So what would be the choices in that for the us to do to provide that kind of aid? I mean, because they are there essentially in basically a civil war of sorts, right, I mean this is yeah, it's, it's a big thing to get involved in here.

Speaker 2: 4:54

There's a criminal element involved because it is a gang essentially right. I think their goal was necessarily to Take over the government. I don't think it was a coup in In in that the thing, but it was in response to the the current while recently resigned president Um and and it sounds like his timeline for transition of power in 2025 Um, so that evidently was not acceptable to this criminal element and they decided to to just um, you know, kind of rise up against the government. Now we we have some precedent, the united states military, going back to 1994. Um, there was a, there was a, a dictatorial leader there that, uh, we were going to remove from office and we were about to do it very forcibly. In fact, I have a number of friends who were uh at fort bragg in the 82nd airborne division at the time and they had an entire brigade, 3,500 paratroopers rigged up and flying Too Haiti to jump in parachute operation in to take over that half of the island. Like this is, we're not, we are not screwed around now. President Carter got on the phone back in 1994 and he, he called, he called the president that the dictatorial leader there in Haiti, and said hey, listen, the 82nd is on their way. We are not messing around anymore. You know, he stepped in as a former president and that guy basically said okay, and he and he backed out and they literally turned the planes around and flew him back. Um.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Since then, we've been down there a number of times for humanitarian aid. There was I want to say it was, uh, christmas time of 2009, christmas new year's 9 to 10 there was an earthquake there. I know we provided some massive relief, um. I I was at fort bragg at the time. We ended up sending some guys down there. I know there was a holberg data paratroopers that went down there to help Um. So we've been down there in and out of there a number of times in the last 20 years. So our options are to go there as the united states. That is an option, uh. Another option is to Kind of play the un leader role and throw a card out there and tell the un to get off of their ass and do what the un should be doing, which is missions like this right Um and and and force that option, um. But what we can't do, based on proximity, is sit here and hope that things just work themselves out.

Speaker 1: 7:15

Right, yeah, you're talking about a place that has, like I think you said and I think I have in my notes here, like 20 plus years of political unrest. You have natural catastrophes that have destroyed them and killed, you know, countless numbers of people. Actually, I have the note, I have the amount here the deadliest earthquake ever, 2010, killing roughly a quarter of a million people. I can't, I honestly can't, wrap my brain around that. An earthquake that killed a quarter of a million people, I mean, this is just breathtakingly devastating. So so you have this, this place that has, you know, political unrest, natural catastrophes going on, gangs and now, as far as the gangs now, this is these are some crazy notes that I have here there's an estimated 200 gangs existing in Haiti, with 23 main ones believed to be operating in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. They controlled, up until recently, they controlled up to 60% of the capital, but that area says it has grown to about 80%. So 80% of their government, essentially, is being run by criminals. So this is great.

Speaker 1: 8:35

Everything about this is so unfathomable and seems almost impossible to you would have to force a solution If we were to come in. You have to force a solution. So you're talking about, obviously. I mean, I don't see another way. How do you get these? Are people that just released. You know all of the prisoners in all of the prisons, just set them free and they have all combined Like the gangs are working all together. You never hear that. You don't hear that here. You know, I don't even know what we have for gangs anymore. I know we have them, but I don't even know what they are anymore. But there was never a time I don't think we're all the most prominent gangs in the country decided say we're going to all work together and we're going to overthrow the government, we're going to do all of these things. We don't know anything like that. So I don't even understand how to combat that.

Speaker 2: 9:28

Honestly, yeah, I think that this, you know, it's got to be a military operation and it's got to be because it's an island or half of an island nation. Essentially you're going to have to force your way in because they're not going to let you walk in. At this point. I highly highly doubt that. So now you're talking about a forcible entry operation. So you're either going to talk about helicopters in parachutes in sea landing at a port something like that is going to have to happen, but I don't. I don't see this as a permissible entry kind of thing where they just allow you to walk in, and I think it is also going to turn into, at least for a short period of time, a high level of violence.

Speaker 2: 10:12

These gangs, like you said, there's a lot of them, they control a lot of territory. They're also enjoying a lot of freedom and a lot of power right now, which I highly doubt they're going to readily give up without a fight. So whoever goes in there unless the thought or the idea of the American military bringing to bear what it can scares these guys into submission or likely the UN you know the white UN with the all that stuff, the blue helmets and all that I don't know if that's going to scare them into submission. I doubt it. So whoever goes in there has got to be prepared to go in shooting, which is really, really sad, because all you're going to do is bring more violence upon that place to bring stability.

Speaker 2: 10:52

Sometimes you have to do that, and this is definitely one of those cases, because this is not an easy nut to crack, but based on proximity, we can't ignore this. We can't, as the United States, as a leader in the hemisphere, you know proximity wise to our own coast. We can't ignore this and hope it goes away. It's just not going to work.

Speaker 1: 11:11

So what is there in there being barbecue and these gang leaders? I don't even want to know why he's called that. I really don't, because I have a feeling it's something horrific, right? So what's their end game? Because it's not, like you know, this isn't a ransom situation. We're like all right, we've got our country and here's our demands. They're just simply taking it over and that's kind of it, right? I mean, they're not making demands of any sorts, correct?

Speaker 2: 11:41

No, not that I've heard or seen, and also not this is not a power play. This is not, you know, an attempt for them to become the government, to overthrow the government. I think, truthfully, it goes back to them being a criminal organization that is enjoying a lot of freedom to do whatever they want to do right now. And why would they give that up? Sure, you know it's, you know it's Chicago in the 1920s. I mean it's the gangs are running. You know they're running the place Right, you know it's all the old school. You know kind of things that you think of.

Speaker 2: 12:13

You know the mafia during prohibition, and they're just doing whatever they want to do, that any politicians that still exist or any remnants of the government are probably working for or bought off by these guys or threatened by them, to the point where they're just doing what they're told. But I think even that is far gone. So I think maintaining the status quo of just freedom to do whatever they want and living in the current chaos is perfectly fine with these guys. That will change as resources start to dry up them, so as food, as fuel, gasoline, as those resources which are not great in Haiti, by the way as those things start to dry up and become less and less available, this will become more critical and these organizations even as a conglomerate gang, whatever you want to call it, they're going to have to start making either some concessions or some demands on somebody, because they're going to run out of just about everything, and it's not going to take long.

Speaker 1: 13:04

Right, and then, of course, then you know you run into.

Speaker 1: 13:06

Then it becomes the conversation of if you cut them off and say we're not giving you any of the things that you need, you're also cutting off the millions, or at the very thousands, if not millions, of people, innocent people who are in desperate need of those very same things.

Speaker 1: 13:25

So it's like you said, this is an incredibly difficult situation in every possible way, because you know, we, we and rightly love our humanitarian aid efforts and oftentimes they're they're misplaced or displaced or poorly executed, as in the case that we just talked about last week, about the the air drop to Hamas or Palestine, and that, of course, was an absolute failure for all the reasons that you laid out, which, if you guys missed it I'm sure you didn't miss it, but if you did, you know the logical thing that happens is, if you're going to air drop supplies or get supplies in any way, shape or form, really the people that are in power are going to get, are going to get to them first, and so the people that need them desperately are still not going to get them. So I there does not seem to be a quick, easy solution to this and, of course, in the meantime, people are suffering and it's extremely tragic.

Speaker 2: 14:25

Yeah, and so you know there's going to be a question of what role does Cuba play in this? Like the neighbor nation, the Caribbean, right, what role does Cuba play in this, if any at all? The Dominican Republic is literally the other side of the same island. What? What role do they play in this? Are they going to provide help of any kind? You know there there are, you know, potentially an ally or an asset and ability to get into Haiti.

Speaker 2: 14:49

I mean, it's easy for the Americans to come in on the Dominican Republic side and then go into Haiti. You know through that, if they decide to. You know Puerto Rico is right there, obviously US territory. So this, this is not easy because it's islands, right, geography matters. But, like you said, at the end of it all, there is a population there that is suffering, and the longer that this and this is going on for a couple of weeks now, weeks, not days, weeks so the longer we sit on this and we you know there's a lack of action on our part or on the United Nations part the more people are suffering and dying down there in Haiti, innocent people, and it's really just not right. I mean, we've got our noses in the Ukraine. We've got our noses in, you know, in Israel, and really it seems like every other thing on the planet, except for what's closest in proximity to us right now, which is what's going on in Haiti.

Speaker 1: 15:38

Right, and there is going to be some call to action here, for you know, all of the obvious reasons and, and you know, calling on those rightful compassionate sentiments that you know, you have to do something. If you're capable of doing something, you have to do something, as you just pointed out, which is a really important thing to point out. This is, this is a close neighbor here. This isn't, you know, far, far away. This is very, very close. So, yeah, we're, we're going to keep watching this one because it's, yeah, it's, it's sad and scary, and you know, I think, do I have that picture? Let's see, you know, I mean, this is just a, this is just a glimpse of what these people are living and what they're dealing with, and, and that is, you know, talk about despair, just talk about a scene of despair and hopelessness. And you know, if you have a heart, it breaks for these people. It really does.

Speaker 2: 16:28

Yeah, and you know not to not to drag out the point, but you brought it up earlier. So there's 30 years of political unrest. There's. They're in the Caribbean. So every time a hurricane rolls through, you know they get battered. Plus, you had the, the earthquake in in. You know late, oh nine early, 10. And then, on top of it, whether people know it or not, haiti was the, I think, the Western Hemisphere AIDS capital for a very, very long time, right, so it was rampant on their side of the island and it, and it really was. So add that on top of everything else.

Speaker 1: 17:01

Right.

Speaker 2: 17:01

Right Now they've got this, so it's a population that really, really needs a helping hand and unfortunately, I think this is this is going to take a little bit of violence to solve this problem, at least in the short term, to kind of get things back to to stable, which is what those people deserve.

Speaker 1: 17:16

Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely it's. It's probably just a question of who's going to be the one to to bring the hurt right, like who's going to be the one, and I don't know who draws the straw on that one.

Speaker 2: 17:26

Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 17:28

I don't know either. Yeah, so you know, to state the obvious, guys, we'll, we'll keep an eye on this one. Keep watching it, and we always invite your comments and opinions and thoughts on on each of the topics that we bring you, and we'd love to know your thoughts on this one in particular. What's your answer? What's your? You know, do you see a solution, Do you see a resolution of this that maybe doesn't involve force? I can't see it. I can't see it not involving force. Like you said, we're talking about, you know, hardened criminals who are enjoying their reign of power right now. So what do we do? What do you do? What do they do you know? But which one are we moving on to? Let's bring it a little closer to home. Yeah, right.

Speaker 2: 18:11

So we, we, we, you and I have not discussed January 6th on this show at any length at all. We really haven't. You're right, we really haven't. And but today, well, not today, I think it came out yesterday. I saw it this morning. Headline, you know, there's now. This is not, this is not a conspiracy theory. This is right coming to coming to light that there is now evidence that has been suppressed by the January 6th committee of President Trump Encouraging and offering National Guard troops for the Capitol on that day, prior to that day, but on for that day for security, additional security. So what does that mean? Well, it means he clearly, if he was offering and encouraging more security, he clearly wasn't looking to incite a government overthrow on that day.

Speaker 1: 19:06

Changes the whole, puts the whole narrative right on it, right out the window gone, blown away to smithereens. And you know one of the the there's so many notable things about this, but that you know, liz Cheney was was one of the people, significant people, who said that that did not exist, that didn't happen, didn't exist. We know nothing about it. And now we have direct, you know statements and proof that are completely contrary to that and you know to to make the understatement of the day Certainly paints her in an extremely bad light and will do her no service whatsoever. It just had a curious and the thought just came to my mind is there and there probably isn't. Is there any legal Ramifications to her? I mean, she lied, that's a lie, that's a willful lie, right? I've no, no legal ramifications for that.

Speaker 2: 20:02

I'm guessing right, there is Potential. I would have to. I'm not a lawyer, folks, not not even close. But this is a case of suppressing evidence. So, depending on what legal path this goes through, you know, you, you would assume that there is some sort of legal ramification for suppressing evidence which would fall on specific individuals, but probably on the committee as a whole. I don't know how that would play out and at what level of court that would play out, Because she did it as a Congress person on a committee on behalf of the federal government. That one's a tough one. I would imagine there's legal precedent out there.

Speaker 2: 20:45

I would bet if you kind of look back to Watergate or something like that, you probably find it. But you know the, the immediate part of it is all of the, all of the things that everybody's been kicking down the road the conspiracy theories about January 6th right, it's that, right, you know the. The security guards let people in, they were invited in, the ropes were opened up, they were guided through the hallways, all of those things that so many people have been saying. Oh, that's impossible, oh, that never happened, oh, that's bogus, it's bullshit, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2: 21:15

Now, now it all comes back into question, because now you can't rely on what the committee is telling you because you have proof, we have proof that they were suppressing evidence, right. So now? Now you question, re-question everything. You know I had some, as much as people didn't want to believe them. You had no reason to believe them other than personal opinion, or reason not to believe them than personal opinion. Now you've got reason to not believe them because you do have proof that they were doing underhanded things in this process. You know it was bad enough that you know the shaman guy right, he's been. He was in jail for so long without being charged. All these people have been held. You know I. You know all the unconstitutional things that have been going on. And and then now you have this yes, and this is directly related to the committee itself, directly.

Speaker 1: 22:06

So, yeah, and like you said this, this puts into question Every single thing that they have said and done throughout this entire process, and rightfully so. Every single thing that they have done and said should be under a microscope now, you know, with a fine-tooth comb and tweezers and and everything, because I Don't know can. Can this fall under the category of treason, was he? I mean it. It feels treasonous, but I don't know if that fits quite in the category of that. It's not quite there, right? Yeah, it feels like it, but yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:42

It's, it's dirty, it's underhanded, it's a lot of things. I don't. I don't think it fits in the the box of treason, okay, but but again, listen, I I'm one of those people that I'm not a fan of what happened that day at all, nonviolent. I think it's been overblown. I don't think it was an insurrection. I think anybody had any intent of trying to overthrow the government or Congress or anything that day. I think that's all complete hogwash.

Speaker 2: 23:05

But but I don't agree with even the forceful, semi-forceful entry, invited entry into the halls of Congress on that day, like I think that was, you know, out of hand, unnecessary. I think it was irrational. So I don't necessarily agree with that. And obviously the tragedy that ensued afterwards you know fatalities and and and all those things. So it's all bad, but it's been overblown, right. And now this takes a lot of wind out of that because truthfully, now you do go back to, like we said, all the things that you were Suspicious of or maybe kind of didn't want to believe. But now you kind of at least have to think about you know, did, did they get invited in, whether you believed it or not, maybe now you go well, did they? You know, didn't? Did Nancy Pelosi really turned down the National Guard, like it's been accused of, and the mayor of Washington DC and all those people you know, the Capitol Police and and everybody who is involved like what is really what happened and why? Why the false narrative?

Speaker 1: 24:08

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and I think we can all come to pretty, you know, pretty significant, singular conclusions to the why did they do that? Why did this happen? And it all revolves around Donald Trump. It all comes down to making sure that he is Ineligible for ever being president again in this country. If they had their way, of course he'd be in prison and and locked up for life, and you know. And so of course the question does become were they willing, were they so willing to create an entirely false, or at least a majority majority of a for false narrative to make that happen? And and if that's the case, which it certainly appears to be to a lot of people and, of course, you know I have to be careful how we phrase everything.

Speaker 1: 25:03

I'm gonna have to come up with some kind of disclaimer to put on our in our show notes, because this Conversation could certainly get suppressed by certain platforms because they don't want us talking about it. So, I don't know, maybe if I say something like for entertainment purposes only, I don't know, I'll come up, I'll come up with something. But yeah, I mean and and I'm not kidding you guys, you know, if somebody comes on here and watches this show and and is of the mindset that us conservatives are, you know, making up this whole Censorship thing and this whole thing. No, we're not, because I've had videos removed, I've had content Blocked and banned and gotten violations for simply Discussing what we're discussing right now, just talking about it, not even giving an opinion, just talking about it. So please come have that argument with me that we're not being suppressed, please, please, please. I've got the receipts, but, okay, I'm off my soapbox on that because it makes me so angry.

Speaker 1: 26:05

But that is the case, but, but anyhow, you know. So if this is the case, that this is concretely, let's say it's concretely, but we're playing devil's advocate here. Maybe angels advocate. Um, this is completely proved to be a narrative created by these people, this committee Pelosi, all of these people in order to, um, you know, vilify trump. Um, what again? And I always go for this question because I feel like I, you know, I feel like I know the answer, but I, I hate the answer and it makes me furious. Um, what's the consequence? What happens? Nothing, right.

Speaker 2: 26:37

No, so there's no physical legal consequence. Here is the risk assumed. Again, let's go back to your premise, your principle that that this is manufactured, the whole thing was manufactured. Oh, by the way, um, that's kind of what the cia does. They're not supposed to do it here, but globally. That's kind of what they do anyway. They know where I live anyway, I'm a retired army officer. If they want to come find me, I can find you easily. Um, but the the repercussions are, is that the risk is is it's a failed attempt and it all it does is strengthen the base.

Speaker 2: 27:15

This is, this is, you know, we've said this before these all of these lawsuits, all the charges, everything that's going against you know, president trump, to try and keep him off the ballot, because that's what this is about. It's trying to keep him off the ballot, right, all this does is strengthen the base. So this, you know, you start to have more moderates, or more, you know, conservatives who aren't trumpers. You know, look at this and they go are you really like? And and then they do start to move More and more to the right. So you start to, you know, it does start to affect the middle right, and we've talked about the middle so many times before.

Speaker 2: 27:52

The hard right and hard left are easy. It's the middle you fight for and this is where they start to lose the middle when, when things like this happen. So there's no physical, legal ramification to to what you're talking about charges filed or you know, and if they are, they're probably years down the road and and truthfully, the people involved will probably be dead somewhere. You know they'll be clintoned and it won't matter, but the immediate ramification is they lose the election. I mean, that is what happens. So you know all these efforts we've talked about this before to keep President Trump off the ballot, they continue to fail and all it does is strengthen his base. That's it.

Speaker 1: 28:31

Yeah, yeah. And you know as much as I'd like to see them in jail, you know, see them prosecuted for every lie that they have told at the expense of this country. I will take that consequence. If that were to be it that you know that this changes the tide and wakes up enough people to say that what's happening now, whether it's your party or your opponent's party, this is not right, this is not OK, and we can't allow we can't say that is acceptable for our government to do that just because we want this person to win or we want this other person to lose. You know you can't subvert our system and the way that it's supposed to run just because you didn't get what you want. Man, oh man. I hope that's the case. I hope that turns the tide and wakes some people up out of there.

Speaker 1: 29:31

I don't know complicit nature to just say it'll all work itself out, or that's not my problem, or I'm just going to let my vote speak for me, and that's great, you should be. I'm not saying don't vote, but the problem is all of this stuff really undermines and erases people's trust in our system, in our voting system, in our government as a whole, and I think we already know. You know I don't have a poll in front of me to tell me what it is, but I would venture a guess that the number of people, if polled, if asked where's your trust in our government right now, in their honesty and truth, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a very, very small, small amount that will say I trust the government? Of course I do and a much larger percent that says zero trust, zero faith, zero confidence in them, and that's got to change. You know that's got to change and that's going to be on them.

Speaker 1: 30:27

And if it's going to be Trump, then it's on him to fix this problem and bring back that transparency and that trust level. And can he do it? I mean, I am at the faintest idea. I don't know. I don't know. He's pretty combative, so I don't know.

Speaker 2: 30:44

And we're going to talk about the.

Speaker 2: 30:46

You know, in a little bit we're going to talk about the failure to unite that happened earlier this week.

Speaker 2: 30:52

But before we get to that, before we get to that, let's talk about some global politics and really a failure by the administration right now, because they're riding the fence, and so what we've got going on right now is Benjamin Netanyahu, lovingly known as BB, the leader in Israel, the elected leader in Israel. What has been expressed by the president and the administration is that they believe in Israel and Israel's right to defend themselves. However, they do not support Netanyahu and the way that he is governing and his efforts in the occupied territories, you know, in Gaza, and so on and so forth. And oh, by the way, you know, they're also as we talked about last week and even earlier in the show we talked about us dropping aid into Gaza to help the Palestinian people, which you know, we all know how that ended up. I mean, it actually was even worse than when we recorded last week, because I don't know if you saw it it was a failed drop where there was a parachute failed on one of the pallets and it landed and it killed five people.

Speaker 1: 32:00

I did see that I did yes.

Speaker 2: 32:02

It was even worse than we imagined, than we talked about last week on Tuesday, if that's even possible, but that did happen. So, really, what you've got is Netanyahu coming back and saying listen, I'm the elected leader of Israel. The people here in Israel like the way that I'm doing things, they support the way that I'm doing things. And really, united States, I expect more out of you, I expect better out of you as an ally. I don't expect you to play both sides and really, when it boils down to it, if you don't like it, just keep your nose out of it.

Speaker 2: 32:32

And he's become combative with President Biden, which, you know, not that long ago, in the previous administration, we had made great strides in peace in the Middle East. And now look where we are. Not only do we have a war going on, you know, in Israel against the Hamas and their folks, but we also now have we're also burning a bridge with our greatest ally in the region, with Israel, because we've got, you know, an administration and specifically, a president who can't articulate what we're trying to do because we're afraid to take a side. It's really what it boils down to, you know we're all-.

Speaker 1: 33:13

Yeah, he's getting called out. He's getting called out for trying to play both sides of it, to try to say you know, appease everyone. And I'll read that this is the direct quote. Right here it says it's either Israel, hamas or Hamas. There's no middle way. We have to have that victory. We can't have three quarters of a victory. We can't have two thirds of a victory, because Hamas will reconstitute itself with these four battalions and Rafah. Did I pronounce that correct? Rafah?

Speaker 2: 33:43

Rafah yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:44

Rafah, okay, reconquer the Gaza Strip and do the October 7th massacre over and over again. And that is his response to Joe Biden's statements that a military operation and Rafah is a red line. So, yes, he is making his position very clear on this, that it's one or the other, not both. And now Biden, of course, will have to you know, or this administration will figure out how to respond to that in a way that is the right choice, I guess.

Speaker 2: 34:16

And again, you know I get it the administration is getting a lot of pushback domestically from both sides. There are plenty of pro-Palestine, pro-palestinian, even really pro-Hamas terrorist. You know support out there. There's tons of pro-Israel. You've also got that kind of converse, you know, maybe not necessarily for Palestine, but definitely anti-Semitic, and then you've got anti-anti-Semitic. So there's a lot of, you know, variations in all of this going on here in the United States that the administration's got to deal with. But that's why you're the president, that's why you're in office, is because you have to take a lot. You have to decide what our position is and stick to it and understand the consequences and battle through them.

Speaker 2: 35:02

What you can't be, which is exactly what this administration is, is wishy-washy and it harkens back to the Clintons. It heart. You know you can go back. They had opportunities to kill Osama bin Laden, but they decided to launch some missiles out in the middle of the desert and it was ineffective and you know those kinds of things. You had a lot of not very decisive moments in the Obama administration. You know, whether people know it or not, president Obama was very reluctant to actually go into Pakistan to kill bin Laden on the night of that raid.

Speaker 2: 35:32

There's a very wishy-washy kind of mentality that comes with you know the Democratic Party when it comes to high level violence. I hate to say it, but that's really what this boils down to. So you can't play the humanitarian card and the politics card and the policy card and the stability. It doesn't work. You've got to figure out what is best for the region, what's best in our national interests, and stick with it. And if you burn a bridge, okay, so be it. But that's what diplomacy is all about. And really what we're doing is, like you said, try to appease everybody, and really we're appeasing. No, we're doing nothing except screwing ourselves over because we're being wishy-washy.

Speaker 1: 36:12

Right. And then the cynic in me, you know, comes back to, because you know, that's what this administration for me I won't speak for anybody else, but for me, this administration has filled me with such a sense of cynicism as to their motives for everything that they do. So you know, my questions to that are so what's the deal here? Are you being wishy-washy because you know, like violence? You know and I don't mean to make fun, because nobody likes violence, but sometimes, as we know, violence is the necessary measure in order to make things happen that need to happen, right?

Speaker 1: 36:45

So is it that is the wishy-washiness, because you're afraid to take that step and have the consequences of that? Or is it because you have interests that will be affected by making the more popular decision I don't know if that's the right way to phrase it, but making the decision that you know, historically, based on the past relationships that should be made. I think it's maybe a more fair way to say it, right? So, yeah, I mean you know that's the cynic of me saying, like, what's your reason? What's the actual reason that you are? Just, you know, playing the balancing act on this line, that you obviously you can't not know that it's an untenable position to be in. You have to make a decision.

Speaker 2: 37:30

Yeah, it's the line in the sand, you know, and it really is. You have to draw a line somewhere and you've got to stand by it. You've got to have a spine and again, sometimes violence is what comes out of that. But you know, war is an extension of diplomacy. It just that's the way it works. You know it's the end of it. You know that's the but that is a tool that's in your toolbox.

Speaker 1: 37:50

Yeah, and it's always the last resort, right? I mean, it's not like it's the go-to every time, like, oh, you know what I want you to do, okay, we're going to go shoot you up. It's a last resort. So when you get to that point, I mean you know that decision has to be made and you know I have the simplest solution, and of course, the Biden administration doesn't, certainly doesn't want this solution.

Speaker 1: 38:11

Go and do whatever Trump was doing because, as you mentioned, during his administration, peace was, if not fully brokered, it was definitely on the table and happening. I mean, the guy was actually and I don't know who knows this or remembers this or maybe even believes it he was being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. There was His work, not just once, but multiple times. You know how quickly that gets ignored and erased and you know the blind. That didn't happen. No, it happened, it's real. He did and it was because of what he, you know, had done during his time and, like you said, you know it was like within seconds it felt like of Biden being in office and that administration running the show. Everything went to shit Like rapidly. So I don't know, I'm just saying go do what he did, and you know things will be okay again.

Speaker 2: 39:07

And listen, you know we didn't like it as Americans. You know we, we don't like it when other countries stick their nose into what we're doing. Right, we got all pretty sure there was some trials and some other things. We were talking about Russian interference in our, in our elections, right, Manufactured, whatever we essentially that is. That is what the president is doing when he says we support Israel and they're right to defend themselves, but we don't like the way Netanyahu is doing business. And they make it public and it's not a closed-door discussion with BB to say, hey, man, this is what you're doing. Well, whether you agree with it, whether you and I agree with it or not, if the president doesn't agree with it and he has a closed door with him and he says you need to tone things down, or you know, hey, we're not really on board with this, so we're gonna have to back away with our support.

Speaker 2: 39:51

And you do that quietly and you do it behind closed doors. That's diplomacy. You don't do it in the state of the union. You know, which is kind of where we're going next, but that that is not the place that you do this. You don't do it in public, without giving Israel the opportunity to, you know, respond, or at least you know, defend their position. So it's poor politics all the way around? Yeah, but here we are and again going to the state of the union. You want to talk about poor politics. You want to talk about the, the great uniter, who did nothing close to uniting for Right. What? What give me your, give me your initial reaction.

Speaker 1: 40:28

Okay, so I forced myself and I mean forced myself to sit through that whole thing and I want to, first and foremost, tell everybody that, once again, clay called it. Clay said they were going to and you don't believe me, go back, I'll find you the episode. I'll tag it in the comments. If I remember, um take, clay said that what they'll probably do is fill up a lot of that time with the you know gratuitous applauding and Cheering and clapping, and guess what they did? That's exactly what they did every time. He said mumbled a sentence. Oh yeah, everybody stood up and applauded and you know, kamala was the jack-in-the-box, you know bing, bing, bing up every two seconds and you know. So, all of those, all of those things. But what I did is this is very cheeky, guys, and some of you may have already seen this I, I did my own, my own recap of the state of the union and we're gonna, we're gonna play it for you guys.

Speaker 1: 41:32

Here it is. It's like under a minute, I think. Here's your recap. Here's everything you need to know here. Okay, well, in case you missed the state of the union address last night because you were doing something more fun and interesting like, I don't know watching paint dry. I have a few of the lowlights for you and it pretty much sums up the entire thing. Here we have angry Joe yelling at everyone.

Speaker 2: 41:51

I say stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it.

Speaker 1: 41:57

Here we have angry Joe yelling at everyone and 20,000 young people to work. Here we have angry Joe mispronouncing the name of Lake and Riley, lincoln, lincoln, riley. Here we have angry Joe Having run on words.

Speaker 2: 42:19

Here we have angry Joe lying and America's safer today than when I took office.

Speaker 1: 42:24

We have speaker Mike Johnson using his facial expressions to speak for all of us the end. So there you have it all recap. That's all you need to know. That's all you need to know. Guys. Now I'm you know, obviously I'm somewhat kidding, but that is basically the gist of it. He yelled angrily At the country for the entire time, chastised the right every chance he got. It was ugly, it was anything like you said. It was anything but a unifying or a rally to unify the sides the country. Very, very disappointing, highly unsurprising. My only Surprise throughout the whole thing, I would say, is that he basically managed to keep his stamina, ish Throughout that he made it through, I believe.

Speaker 1: 43:23

On the records this is the shortest, or at least one of the shortest, state of the Union addresses in our books. I I did not yet right what's up called that too. Yes, yes, you did. I forgot that you did. Yes, that's my guy right there. He calls, he calls him, he knows him. I love it. So, yeah, your turn. What are your takeaways? You're gonna have the more intellectual takeaways from it. I have the kind of superficial ones not, not really.

Speaker 2: 43:51

I'm not far off of you. Truthfully, I think one. Yeah, I was surprised at his amount of energy. Now, I, I'm a, I am a believer that there was something Involved. I think he I don't know what and I'm not gonna claim Narcotics, I'm not gonna claim he got shot up with something. I might claim a B12 shot and a nap right, and maybe a Dr Pepper right beforehand with some higher our mountain do, with some high caffeine or something. But he, his energy was surprising. I, it really did shock me. But yeah, it was absolutely. It was a campaign speech, is what it was. Yeah, yeah, it was not. It was not a state of the union, it was a campaign speech. It was an attack on every, everything on the right. You know, lake and Riley's family was invited. They declined the. There was the father of one of the Marines killed at Abbey gate in Kandahar who shouted out At the president and and was promptly drug out of chambers and arrested, which is a gold star family member. Shameful. Peaceful protest right. Freedom of speech, right.

Speaker 1: 44:59

You know if they're going to. You know, call him out on the shouting and disrupting. I mean there was shouting going on the entire thing. They're shouting everywhere, so he's getting settled out for shouting Interesting.

Speaker 2: 45:11

Yeah, so, but but again, no, no attempt or effort to unite the nation. No, and most of what he said that I could track, because I couldn't track all of it, but most of what he said was actually false. You know that, right. You know you blame Republicans for the border, which it's a true statement. Right that that they voted down the last border bill. But they voted it down not because of any reason other than the fact that it was more money for Ukraine, more money for For all of these things outside of the border. It wasn't because it was a bad border bill it wasn't a great border bill, but it wasn't necessarily bad one but because it had all this other crap in it. It was full of pork. That's why they voted it down. So, but they, you know he counted that as it's their fault. You know what I mean? It was like every opportunity had to blame Republicans. He blamed Republicans.

Speaker 2: 46:01

So it was a campaign speech. It was poorly executed. Everybody saw through it. I don't think anybody. You know he didn't. He didn't sway anybody, that's for damn sure. You know, definitely not. No, in fact, he probably made things worse for himself. But I think the biggest surprise for everybody was everybody expected him to stumble and mumble and there wasn't. There wasn't as much of that as what I think everybody, including myself, anticipated. So that was a little bit shocking, but he was definitely angry. Joe, get off of my lawn, you know. I mean, he was that guy which didn't do anything for anybody, it was. It was actually embarrassing and it was probably, you know, for everybody who doesn't like and didn't like mean tweets from President Trump, that was a 55 minute mean tweet from President Biden. That's what it was.

Speaker 2: 46:53

Yeah, that's all it was. It was name-calling, it was blaming, it was finger-pointing, it was everything but Giving us a legitimate read on the state of our nation, which is exactly and only what that speech is for.

Speaker 1: 47:06

Right, outright combative, outright combat, like, like you know. Turning to you know, to the Republicans, there is oh, you don't like that, huh, you don't like. What are you gonna do, joe? You're gonna go out there and fight him like, put up your dukes, like what you can.

Speaker 2: 47:21

He said that multiple times. He's, you know, he's literally made three physical threats. You know kind of goad people into it and, and you're right, it was childish at points, really really bad.

Speaker 1: 47:33

Yeah, it was a yes, yeah. No surprises in it other than the one you pointed out, the one we agreed on. That Just absolutely stunned that. He made it through and was generally coherent. You know, yelling all his points definitely had. You know His enunciation is always garbage anyhow. So you know that's just is what it is. But you know I did not hear his study or stuttering problem that he's Supposedly had lifelong. It's funny how that comes and goes weird. Yeah just an ailment of convenience.

Speaker 1: 48:09

Yes, so yeah, that was, and that seems to be the consensus. I mean, you know, you have your, your diehard whether they're diehard, never trumpers, or they're somehow actual diehard Biden fans. I don't understand how that's a possibility, but but yeah, you know, they're of course there. It was wonderful. He did a great job. Yeah, I was trying to get there just lying. They're just saying words for the sake of saying words.

Speaker 1: 48:34

And oh, his other gaffe. Besides mispronouncing well, besides all of the lies, and besides not a gas right, and besides mispronouncing Lakin Riley's name, the one that got him in hot water with his, with his own crowd, there was referring to the guy as an illegal, the illegal, so he had the backpedal on that. And talk about how freaking offensive is that whole thing goes out nationally. To Apologize for calling the murderer an illegal Says nothing about the fact that the illegal murdered you as citizen, like our. No apology to the family of the murdered girl, an apology to them, to the illegals, or, you know, as he corrected himself, the undocumented Illegal. He said it right the first time and they got mad at him and he had to, you know, apologize for it.

Speaker 2: 49:36

But yeah, it's. It goes back to the, to the Israel thing it's. I don't want to offend anybody, I don't want to send anybody. You know I don't want to upset the violent criminal that killed an innocent girl by calling him the wrong name. Right, give me a break, man, can you?

Speaker 1: 49:52

imagine.

Speaker 2: 49:54

I'll be a little bit more vulgar, gross out of balls, like, come on, like, yeah, no, like, be a little show some toughness and not threatening people like an old man with a cane, but a little bit of moral, you know.

Speaker 1: 50:07

Courage he has none, he has zero none, none, he's just, I just show boats and postures and, you know, just generally makes an ass of himself and and gives people like me Lots of material for, for content, for videos.

Speaker 2: 50:22

So thanks, joe, thanks for that at least right, yeah, keeps us, keeps us talking, keeps us in business. But we got it. We've got one more, we've got.

Speaker 1: 50:28

We do have one more, we do one more guy with with a questionable, you know, morality.

Speaker 2: 50:34

Yeah, jimmy Kimmel, like I can't believe, was it the Golden Globes that Kevin Hart and I booted off of for for A 12 year old tweet? Yes, yes, right, yeah, made him apologize, all these things, blah, blah, blah. And the Oscars keeps bringing back Jimmy Kimmel, the I don't the guy who you wear blackface and yeah, and posted the man show of all things Like, yeah, misogynist blackface guy, and they keep bringing it back and nobody says shit. Like nobody says anything.

Speaker 1: 51:07

What is he? What does he have on these people? He must have some good dirt like. He must have like a, a hidden safe somewhere full of like documents and files and I don't know, because one he's not funny, like he's not even vaguely funny. I have never laughed at anything Jimmy Kimmel has ever said, and granted, I Don't watch him, but I remember the man show and how him and Adam Corolla have gone in such a wildly different like, yeah, vastly different paths. Is is just wild, so wild. Yeah, he's not a funny guy. He is the guy that did not get cancelled for doing like, in their mind, one of the most extremely bad things you could ever do. And I'm not saying blackface is a good idea by any means, but you know that they have cancelled people for way less than that and he gets, he gets a pass. So I would really love to know what Jimmy Kimmel has over these, these high-level People. But, guys, if you haven't figured out, if he didn't happen to notice, on the bottom, we're doing the 2024 Oscars recap and our version of the recap is really just about trashing that whole, that whole Entertainment Lane, because clay and I already discussed that.

Speaker 1: 52:31

Neither one of us watched it. I won't watch it. You won't watch it. I have zero interest in watching a bunch of Overpaid, pampered, spoiled crybaby Winers pat each other on the back and give each other awards. I love, and I will say the counter to that is I Love movies. I love and to retain, like I truly do. And and I have heard amazing things about Oppenheimer I I've heard that that was phenomenal. I'm not saying that I wouldn't see it. I'm not a big boycott person. I'm not. I'm not interested in cancel culture. If I don't like something, I simply won't partake in it, simple as that. I don't need to tell anybody else what they should do or not do. But you know, I haven't watched any of these, these things, because I'm just simply not interested in it at all. So so what I can tell you, the things that I know are the things that I just did like quick Glances at.

Speaker 1: 53:29

It was held at the Los Angeles Dolby Theatre on Sunday. Some of Hollywood's biggest names walked the red carpet. We don't care. I Used to love, you know. So that's the sad thing. I used to actually love watching all that stuff. I used to love, you know, I'm a girl's girl. I used to love the gowns and the elegance and the beauty and the pageantry of all of it, you know, but they're, they're excessive self a, a grandizing and, and you know, falling all over that themselves. That did it.

Speaker 2: 54:01

And of course they're political, the politicization the politicization of all of it, like, literally, I would watch that. I would watch a lot of these award shows because, like you, I love entertainment. I love good television, I love great movies. I even love you know, I don't love modern music, but I like music in general. But I would watch all of these shows If they would just worry about their craft, right, and not the crap that surrounds it with the politics. Yeah, really, get kimmel off the stage. Put somebody up there who's not political, right, just right. Somebody who's funny. Billy crystal did it for a long time, very funny, right, very funny. Didn't offend anybody, right. And and you know, if you want to poke fun at somebody, poke fun at yourselves, right, right, unless you're chris rock, and then you get smacked in the face, but that's a different discussion. So that's a whole other right safer. To target president trump, who got his own participation trophy Uh, whether you saw it or not, right?

Speaker 2: 55:02

I did not put out a president trump mean tweet. And at the end of the, at the end of the oscars, jimmy kimmel Went on stage and read the mean tweet and and fired back at president trump.

Speaker 2: 55:12

You know because, basically what we said. Jimmy kimmel not funny, you know. Blah, blah, blah. All of those things kimmel, against all advice, including, supposedly, his wife who was like do not do this. He's like no, I'm going out there and I'm reading it. Walk down on stage, read it, you know. Took a couple of shots at trump, brought the house down. Everybody's cheering for him, blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, so again, leave, leave the politics out of it. Right, it's not. It's about your craft. Honor your craft, honor those around you who worked hard and put in a lot of work, and leave the politics out of it. You'll get a lot more. It's, it's the. You know what is it? Vinegar and honey, or and sugar and whatever it is.

Speaker 2: 55:48

Yeah, you're gonna get a better response when you just leave that crap out of it because nobody wants to hear your opinion. They don't right.

Speaker 1: 55:55

Yeah, yeah, we just want to be entertained. You know, everybody's doing. Elvis had it right. Elvis had it right. He was questioned. I think it was like outside of Madison Square Garden after a show and a reporter was kind of trying to like put, put them in a corner and ask him a political question and he said, you know, paraphrasing of course, he said I'm just an entertainer. And they, you know, tried to push him on it and they're like, yeah, but what do you think about? Or what do you think about with somebody else? That he's like just an entertainer, that's it. And you know, do that, do that? You know, I don't know, I want to be preached at, you know.

Speaker 1: 56:29

I mean, this is, you're not doing a, a podcast. You're not doing a social political podcast. You're doing a movie about, you know, in one of the cases about barbie why do I care about your politics? Who cares? Just entertain, that's it. So that's. That is our big soapbox moment. That was our recap for the Oscars. We're basically yelling at them to entertain us. Stop telling us stuff we don't want to hear from them. Oh, that's it. I don't think we have anything else. Right, that kind of closed it out. Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 2: 57:00

Close the show bring the house down. House lights come down, curtain goes down. End of story I like it?

Speaker 1: 57:04

Yes, and we'll take our bow. Right, we'll take a bow, I love it. I love it. All right, guys. Uh, so here's the deal. So, uh, I, um, well, at this point, as you watch this, I will already be in florida Fingers crossed, holding a teeny, tiny newborn baby. With any luck, there might be a few days after that, but this is, this is baby week.

Speaker 1: 57:29

So, grand baby, for any of you who don't know, grand baby number three is is imminently do and, uh, clay is so gracious, he's gonna take on the show for the next probably like two weeks. I'm thinking right, sound okay to you. So the next two episodes, clay is gonna. He is running the show. Uh, it is his playground. Whatever he says goes, it's gonna be awesome. I can't wait to watch it with you guys. I'm super excited to see what he does. Um, I know it'll be great. He's done it before. This is like nothing. You could do this in his sleep, so all good. So, uh, a pre. Thank you, clay, for holding down the fort for me. I so so appreciate you doing that for us.

Speaker 2: 58:09

Ah, it's why we're a team. It's what we do.

Speaker 1: 58:11

Yes, yes, indeed, all right guys. So, uh, I will see you in the family.

Speaker 2: 58:15

Look at you Crossing fingers, praying for you. Hope all goes well.

Speaker 1: 58:20

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And, uh, maybe I'll sneak in a little, a little snippet, a little quick video when baby is here, I'll, I'll maybe drop it in there. We don't show the kids on camera publicly, so you might just see the the back of the Baby's head. But you'll see that I'm holding it. So we'll see, I'll, you'll, you'll know when you know. But, uh, thank you guys. Uh, love you tremendously, appreciate your comments and your input. Uh, always, always, always, feel free to jump in there and share with us your thoughts. Clay as usual. Please close them out.

Speaker 2: 58:47

Hey, good luck to you and we'll see you in in a couple of weeks. However long it takes, I got it from here. You just take your time, be with grand babies and for everybody else, I will see you next week and Keep moving, keep shooting.

Speaker 1: 58:58

I love it. Take care guys.