Music.
A listener's hey this is our first pod with all three of us doing headlines and and I'm pretty excited,
and I think the back-and-forth should it should only be stronger
we each have two today so we'll we'll see how long this goes but we've got some pretty interesting topics a diverse array of the madness that is the media space and the new space right now
my first headline,
well it's not really a headline it's a conglomeration of bullshit that has happened ever since Donald Trump before the holidays.
Talked about pulling troops out of Syria and Afghanistan now it remains to be seen if that's actually going to happen because every day there's a new Republican who wants to convince us that he has you know convinced Trump to
wait but I'm not so sure I think Trump's pretty serious about this one
what I really want to rant about is Jim Mattis who is no longer my defense secretary and therefore I can say some stuff about and then Rachel Maddow and the MSNBC,
crowd specifically what I'm worried about here.
Is liberal Hawks and the hypocrisy of so-called quote-unquote liberals who suddenly.
Sound more pro-war than most of the people on the right and I just want to know how that happened.
I want to know how Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria k a dubiously legal war that was more risk than reward.
And pulling half the troops out of Afghanistan which is America's longest and I would argue most unwinnable war in its history I don't see how those are bad thing.
If a neoconservative like Bill kristol comes on TV and oh by the way he's on MSNBC now that's crazy fucking crazy.
I was totally Bill kristol comes on TV and says hey we should stay interior forever but you know what unabashedly neocon then I'm like okay I get it he's part of the Old Guard he's a monster and we have to just write him off.
But when liberals,
intelligent liberals like Rachel Maddow whatever you think of her politics whatever you think of her stance on Russia gate I think is off the rails by the way this is an intelligent highly intelligent and she even know something about foreign policy,
show me the book called Rift in 2012 this was one of the best foreign policy books I've ever read from mainstream Outlets
ever she argues cogently that ever since the end of the Vietnam War American militarism and US military interventionism has gone off the rails has become unmoor,
half the word hence the title dress.
I read the book I was impressed who's gone on TV during the Obama Administration to talk about how we've been at War so long that now it seems normal and that's not a good thing and that's not a good enough reason.
But as soon as mr. Trump comes out and says leaving Syria might be a good idea who's the first one to line up and say he's wrong that we need to keep the troops in Syria,
I told Rachel that mean MSNBC it's even Jake Tapper CNN why sometimes I've a lot of respect for.
It's a whole version of liberal media Hawk who suddenly want to be more militarist than anyone on the right.
And there's only one explanation Trump their ludicrous pathological hatred of this president.
Okay a present that I spent two years or the greater part of two years critiquing his policies that every turn okay so I'm no lover of the president although for like 29 more days he's my commander and cheese,
but regardless of that they're pathological obsession with Trump and and and negating anything from does has gone against their better and stick,
they sold their consciences and they've also sold their intellectual credibility,
final point on this matter is Jim canonized soon-to-be Saint Mattis ever since Trump took over.
The adults in the room we've been told by CNN MSNBC.
Centrist Democrats in Fentress Republicans in the Senate we've been told that what I would work claims they called themselves which is the committee to save America really a triumvirate of RI General McMaster Kelly and Mattis.
We've been working against Trump from the beginning they've been working against his instinct to pull out of some of these wars to the extent that he has that it's obviously,
inconsistent but at the times he's wanted to pull out these folks led by Mattis I've gone against the presidents of bird it is,
call policy what he was elected on and if I could push him in the opposite direction and one of they giving us these adults in the room,
more warm or bombing more drones more money spent more blood spilled both ours and even more so civilians on the ground.
Why in the world do we add relate these generals is it just because they're General.
Or is it because deep down in the heart of every MSNBC liberal is the insecurity that perhaps they don't have the credibility to talk about foreign policy.
Play better hide behind some general.
I'm sick of it I'm sick of Adelaide and Generals precisely because they are General let us not forget there is a big difference between combat leadership at the Battalion and Brigade level and courage in combat.
And prudent policy making those are two different things being a general does not necessarily qualify you to know what's best for the country it doesn't mean you're good at choosing which water fight it means you're good at fighting the war you can give it,
I would argue that the triumvirate of General McMaster Kelly and the recently gone mad if we're wrong at every turn about which battles we should fight perhaps they should have stuff
the fighting a battle they were given ran complete for now and I will turn over the floor to my dear friend,
so I I feel you Danny and I am I'm in a complete a grandstand it I was trying to think of.
What regulation it would fall under if a commander in chief.
Actually observe these things and wanted to punish his generals if it for them some verting his own mission plans but I'd I like I can't think of any specific one of the top of my head but I do have something in the way of a little bit of good news it's not,
all the all the time that we get to share a little bit of good news but this feels genuinely good,
a fella named Bill Larkin longtime War correspondent with the Washington Post who was most recently working at MSNBC has departed MSNBC and on his way out the door,
he circulated the letter among his colleagues that ended up getting leaked to other news outlets where he specifically discussed why msnbc's warmongering had driven him out,
how the military is able to do what it wants without debater examination.
And how the US military has effectively turned to technology,
the kill its enemies almost entirely by passing US military casualties as a metric for military success or failure. Here is a clip of Bill speaking to democracy Now yesterday.
Singling out NBC I was just most familiar with it and my decision not to renew my contract was really one of thinking to myself that I wanted to.
Stand back and think more about what we needed to do in order to change our national security policy we've been at War now for 18 years.
I don't think anybody could argue that there's a country in the Middle East that safer today than it was in 2001.
The generals in the National Security leadership that runs the country and now also is the commentators in the analysts who populate the news media.
Really are not people who we can look to is saying wow they want a war they they avoided a war they achieve some magnificent objective
in fact they are the custodians and The Architects of Perpetual Warfare,
and it seemed to me like there needed to be both a different voice and a solution and I want to step back myself and think about.
How we can end this era of Perpetual war and how we can build some real security both can lights the network TV shows which is validating,
an issue you have criticized for so long and investigated for so long the National Security State.
Well you know I've been associated with television for 30 years I've been a journalist for about the same. Of time but it's not my background my background was in Army intelligence and then there after I wrote books about the military.
And I was called upon to be a journalist because there was a desire on the part of.
The Los Angeles Times Washington Post and NBC to have experts helping people to understand an incredibly complex issue National Security.
In those days when I started we used to have civilian experts on the air,
people wearing former government officials people who weren't retired generals people who might be a university Professor is or activist who worked in non-governmental organizations or experts or associated with think tanks,
something happened post 911 something happened in this intervening years in which those people but virtually disappeared from the airwaves.
And we don't see
as many anymore and in fact we increasingly see journalist who are the commentators on what's going on now that's a tricky position because journalists are supposed to be unbiased
but also at the same time they're supposed to be explaining to the public what's going on with inside information.
But the end result of it is that we become shallower and shallower and our coverage a particularly in an area like National Security we've just becomes
so shallow that we're not really able even to see the truth which is that we're at War,
right now with nine countries around the world where we're bombing and we hardly report any of it on a day-to-day basis
so to me the crisis is that we condone Perpetual War by virtue of our lack of reporting an investigation and then second we fill the airwaves or we fill the newspapers with
stories about the immediate and don't give an adequate amount of
space to deeper investigations or or what I would say would be net
assessment investigations and what really is going on me whether we should or shouldn't withdraw troops from Syria whether we should or shouldn't withdraw troops from Afghanistan whether we should or we shouldn't improve our relations with Russia whether we should or we shouldn't pursue denuclearization in the Korean peninsula,
Christian's deserve,
a high degree of investigation and Reporting beyond the question of whether or not Donald Trump is a buffoon and we just don't do it we're just not doing it.
And said to me I am not necessarily interested in prescribing the why I'm interested in changing the culture so that we can in fact
I better inform ourselves about National Security so that the citizenry can play at more powerful role in influencing our national security policy
I want to expand on that what is no question that,
the National Security establishment has grown and it has become far more powerful than it ever was but.
Here's the change we've shifted from the Industrial Age to the information Age and and consequently we've also shifted from,
the dominance of the military-industrial complex if you will too,
I'm much more Insidious and much more difficult to diagnose information complex so the Advent of contractors the Advent of a professional military which means it
the military itself touches fewer and fewer lives in America all of those work together to make the National Security State more and more
embedded within our society but yet at the same time more difficult to get two more difficult to understand so
most people would be surprised to learn for instance that Amazon is one of the largest defense contractors that they're building the cloud and they're building the the data centers which support the intelligence community in support of the military and there are other civilian
companies that we associate with being civilians who are also terrific beneficiaries of the military's largess.
Send to me to diagnose properly where we stand today the point of the top secret America investigation was to show
the wild growth of all areas of of National Security and this new
invention of Homeland Security if you will but at the same time to point out.
It wasn't something that was necessarily segregated from our society was more more bedded within our society and that that made it more more more difficult to the analyze properly and to do something about it.
Hold on one second Jazz coming in.
I'm hearing of extremely low recording.
Yeah the recording is a lot better but I had it up at full volume earlier and I'm not sure why it's like I can't hear it better.
I'm going out NBC I was just most.
Grace Potter.
Stand back and think more about what we needed to do in order to change our national security policy we've been at War now for 18 years.
I don't think anybody could argue that there's a country in the Middle East that safer today than it was in 2000.
The generals in the National Security leadership that runs the country and now also is the commentators in the analysts who populate the news media.
Really are not people who we can look to is saying wow they want a war they they avoided a war they achieve some magnificent.
In fact they are the custodians and The Architects of Perpetual Warfare,
and it seemed to me like there needed to be both a different voice and a solution and I want to step back myself and think about.
How we can end this era of Perpetual war and how we can build some real security both gay lights the network TV shows which is validating.
An issue you criticized for so long for so long.
You know I've been associated with television for 30 years I've been a journalist for about the same. Of time but it's not my background my background was in Army intelligence and then there after I read books about the military.
And I was called upon to be a journalist because there was a desire on the part of.
The Los Angeles Times Washington Post and NBC to have experts helping people to understand an incredibly complex issue.
National Security in those days when I start it.
We used to have civilian experts on the air people weren't former government officials people who weren't retired generals people who might be a university Professor is or,
activist who worked in non-governmental organizations or experts or associate.
Something happened post 911 something happened in this intervening years in which those people that virtually disappeared from the air.
And we don't see as many anymore and in fact we increasingly see journalist who are they.
Hang on now that's a tricky position because journalists are supposed to be unbiased but also at the same time they're supposed to be explaining to the public what's going on with inside information,
but the end result of it is that we become shallower and shallower and our coverage a particularly in an area like National Security we just become so shallow.
That we're not really able even to see the truth which is that we're at War right now in 9 countries around.
We're bombing report any of it on a day-to-day basis so to me the crisis is that we.
Doan Perpetual War by virtue of our lack of reporting an investigation and then second.
Are we fill the airwaves or we fill the newspapers with stories about the immediate and don't give an adequate amount of space to deeper investigations or.
All right I'll put the full clip on the episode return all my make sure my stuff so hot here so.
There was one that won an important point.
That he was talking about they're talking about a movement from the Industrial Age of,
military and Wharf of military action in Warfare to the technology age and immediately I started thinking of,
all the huge companies that different parts of the military deal with here's some good examples 3M recently had a settlement,
with the with the Army over with things like 8.3 million pairs of earplugs which they actually found out where defective and did not do what they were supposed to do for the soldiers that we reach issuing them
you have a company like Boeing,
most people don't think of going as a defense contractor we think of them as building luxury airliners and you know a nice nice guys up in Seattle well there a multibillion-dollar defense contractor there in fact they're the largest one.
Current acting Secretary of Defense pack Patrick Shanahan work there for 30 years.
The bill also goes into a little bit about the media circus surrounding President Trump even going so far as calling out democracy Now itself,
playing a clip of trump opening their episode saying it was making fun of him Amy Goodman to challenge him on the making fun part but,
the rest bill is that on the media gives Trump a ton of play and it is just for marrying his bullshit it's not analysis it's barely commentary and,
Helen in keeping with our discussion about Rachel Maddow and her Russia coverage Trump is at the Nexus of the whole russiagate media circus not the actual investigation of Robert Mueller mind you but the US versus them Russia Hysteria,
the reason it gets so much plays that people can hear Trump getting bashed their return news tonight Paul manafort violated some agreement between him and Mueller again so let's talk about Paul manafort Donald Trump again,
yes I heard Forrest Gump when I was writing this so now all of you can to Trump trump is,
the Trojan Horse you know that he and his bullshit and his staff and their bulshit are just taking up all the air in the room and not allowing other things to be in there but.
Just wrap up on Bill I hope everybody listening will listen to his full interview from democracy Now read
the series he wrote for the Washington Post in 2010 it was called top secret America and please read the entirety of his resignation letter from NBC,
all of those items will be in the show notes.
Journalist like Bill like Matthew ho like you Danny you guys are really rare breeds Bill and actual any War veteran who was actually able to remain in mainstream journalism for decades.
But whose views have now become politically defunct and even considered unpatriotic and,
Danny leaving the Army after 18 years because your views despite being evidence-based and experience-based are in service considered inflammatory and I can't tell you for 5 a.m. at the Army is an institution,
for relieving itself of even the pretense of professionalism.
Defeat being called Victory and forcing soldiers to accept less and less for their sweat and blood expended on the battlefield.
But it's a great point I mean, encouraged by the.
Moral fortitude showed by Bill Larkin here I'm a little surprised by it frankly because this happens so rarely write that someone actually takes a stand.
You're right about being in the Army II the last thing I want to do is make it about myself but you know certainly look when you write the things that I write and you go on you know the radio and say things I say you're asking for trouble.
Now the Army likes to Pride itself on supposedly being this thinking organization that wants you to challenge convention but that's not actually true,
they're willing to let you pontificate about the best way to do counter-insurgency right you can write about that military review you can write an article about that on war on the rocks.
Question the very premise of counterinsurgency question the very premise of the way we use the tool that is our military and the way we waste our own lives and take the lives of others do that.
Suddenly I can tell you from experience your persona non grata and I think the same goes even on the liberal quote on quote Network like MSNBC.
Absolutely absolutely I listening to him talk about commentators it brought me back to thinking about the Pentagon program that existed in the beginning,
Iraq war that brought retired,
defensive until officials on to MSNBC CNN Etc but never disclosed that they were part of that at the time there was nobody could know that they were actually being paid by the dod through that.
Which is incredibly dangerous right to the Republic just in a general sense oh God yes.
Soft beachy what are you thinking over there brother so the other day.
There there was an article that I had commented on and like one of those war in the rocks or whatever.
And it turned out to be talking about how the.
Iraq war was started and I had mentioned that you know it was started by,
like playing lies there's no justification for occupation I believe it was like you know oh well if we just had more intelligence,
if we had more ways to get data and metrics that we could have won if we would have paid attention to,
that the history which I guess is really telling because I think it's pretty rare for to hear that kind of talk.
That actual self-criticism that isn't looked at very often but it doesn't do very much because you're just like oh well
you know if I would have done this self-fulfilling prophecy then we would have won this war and the,
the point came to the person responded to me saying that you know well it wasn't American lies the the president didn't lie to get us into the war it was,
it was failures of the intelligence agency and I think it's really dangerous to have that kind of thought because that,
what's the idea that one again there were no laws which is patently false I mean we have you know just example after example of how,
we were lied to and you know the wars that the media have been portraying for these almost two decades now have all been based upon lies and still no one's talking about that.
Well if you make a great point about the way criticism is,
control that allowed within the military because you brought up the Iraq invasion which is of course that's the best case and point for all this you're the things you're allowed to say while still in uniform
and maintain friends and promotion you can say oh we should have taken more truth we should have worked better and intelligent so we should have understood the culture more
oh we shouldn't disbanded the araki Army right those things are all okay oh you should have started doing Petraeus style coin earlier right all that is acceptable.
The minute you say wait the Strategic ends Ways and Means of the Iraq invasion never lined up,
and we're never in the interest of national vital statistic interest the United States and therefore the very legal basis for it was flawed and of course the lies told,
to justify it where we're illegal once you start saying that,
That's it man you're asking for trouble because that's outside the box criticism the military only accept inside the box then new criticism there okay with you questioning tactics but don't you dare question strategy.
It says has such a headache.
No it it it it it I'm thinking about the you know.
The story I went there we went through couple episodes ago about this year in about how that the mistakes of the Ambush that happened there in October 2017 were originally all laid at the captain and Below level,
when it was very very clear from us reading news articles here,
that there was other senior leaders responsible but it was only because Maddie specifically.
Got involved in that that it was changed like you're saying is that that you know the Tactical we can talk about that all day long but when it becomes to the big picture now I know you're just wrong sorry you're wrong you're wrong like Trump.
Absolutely.
Bill eaker things to it's it it's interesting because he talked about you know,
journals are supposed to be biased but also informing the viewers but at the same time you have the the experts on,
but it's not it's not these you know
older style news where you know you have the expert on and you ask ask actual questions most all news today is you know you got the 9 Partridge Family heads moving around and yelling at each other and,
talking over each other and you bring up one point and that point is never actually address and they.
Article ends and people just end up angry because you always have somebody who says something inflammatory.
But that's the messed up part is that is that why should strategy questions be inflammatory in the first place why do why can't someone present this picture whoever happens to be military Spirits or not and say.
Isn't this wrong are you guys looking at the same numbers and figures newspaper articles that I'm looking at and saying this is right.
But that's the thing instead of the walls of it don't even allow.
Any bulging you can't you can't touch it it's like somebody's somebody's like the Pillsbury Dough Boy's tickle point the moment you know and we forgotten what the hell we were talking about.
Absolutely yep I just I just pictured Trump dressed up as the Pillsbury Doughboy I really didn't.
Alright bet you want to talk to us about what's going on in the West Los Angeles VA yeah so the West Los Angeles VA.
For me personally has been problematic and it's something that I know written and talked about pretty extensively but.
The.
The story came out from a whistleblower that there is a long-term Therapy Program for PTSD.
And this happened back in August there were 20 groups that had five 2:30 members.
And they met for 40 hours a week of Therapy Program.
I believe from my understanding it what it's an outpatient program is like a meeting group hookah and.
The some I'm not sure who I'm not going to point any blame cuz.
I want to make sure that I know what I'm talking about but somebody in the upper level of the leadership of the VA,
ordered for this PTSD group to move to a smaller,
room they said your we we need this room for something else so we want to give you this room and the response was hey this room is really small for the number people that we have
and there's no privacy by Qui we can't maintain the Privacy standards that were supposed to have as a mental health provider.
Said well this,
the PTSD group isn't being funded anymore and you're being disbanded and we will replace this 40 Hour Week therapy with.
A large established group.
And something that has been scientifically proven and is effective and is part of ongoing research and we are going to replace it with a limited 12 weeks.
PTSD program that once you complete that 12 weeks you're out of the program because you're done where is the program that was just shut down was an open-ended program there was no.
No getting out of it so.
Did the VA says that they don't have enough money to do this which is.
Patently absurd because you have the VA being asked to shut down animal research that it is conducting that,
people are specifically saying like we don't need this while simultaneously refusing to research,
things like the Gulf War syndrome burn pit illnesses and just a number of medical problems are coming in the medical in the.
Military and Veteran community and the families.
And at the same time article came out just today saying that the military is looking at cutting 17,000.
Healthcare professional Bullets Over the next.
Couple years for a quote increasing with thalody not sure what that means but.
They want they want to change the spots into.
1818 ex-special forces something or more infantry or something like that.
But but but your idea I we need doctors and service because that way they understand what troops are going through.
Edited it is and in the thing about it is is it I'm assuming Trump wanted to get all dumped on this new VA Community Care VA Mission Act.
Bulshit you know is that we pull out some of these programs and then they're like hey come over here and do this slowly 1 2 3 start stacking the pancakes to move us all towards privatization,
and a guy. I don't know if that's specifically connected to this group but that's a horrible for the guys in the group for a number of reasons.
First of all their care second they thought they were going to get care a very specific kind of care and then it gets fucking taken from them.
Wow.
Bissell privatization Venture I mean it's it it's a red herring it's a it's a trojan horse it was the same for Social Security my advice to listeners this.
Whenever you start hearing the word privatization and a comes from a guy who's richer than you.
Run do the exact opposite thing all this free market bullshit.
Look I'm not saying there's no place for the free market what I am saying is that certain things in the public interest cannot and should not be left of the price to private motive and you notice,
the people always calling for either the privatization Social Security or now the privatization of e a r v a treatment they always have more money than you.
They always have enough that they could get their own care right that they can afford whatever care they want on the market,
but you now have to be willing to go through the exact same thing that they are you don't have the means to do it so it's the whole thing as a trojan horse and and I'm so again VA privatization for all the reasons I listed as many more.
Absolutely it didn't need stood at least to expand the government part of it actually needs to get bigger but the out the.
It's just just every little hole in the dam that they can make absolutely.
You are talked about you know troops wanting to go to a specific counselor I know you know,
I've I've probably gone through.
25 different therapist combination of whatever and I mean there was only one that I ever really felt comfortable with and
it and that was an army officer I don't know if it was something psychological cuz there were other soldiers that I didn't get along with but like of a good half of them were civilian providers I could never.
Connect with a civilian provider because no matter what kind of horror that you know I've seen and I've gone through.
They have there's just no connection as opposed to actually going to a military provider where you at least have the chance of having somebody who's been exposed to the horrible kind of things that you know we've experienced.
Absolutely inel I wish they made more money by the way that he will work for the VA but that's not what I want motivating them I want people work for the VA to.
Have chosen Public Service specifically.
Right that's how I prefer it and and and that's why I fear privatization because when you when you mix up the God of prophet the main focus it's it's almost always problematic and it's not necessarily going to.
Recruit the people you want just like you said and it's important to point out about what we're going through right now with the government shutdown I don't know.
I don't think it has affected any main VA functions but speaking back to about the workers Danny about their motivations that 1/3.
Of all federal employees are veterans.
And a lot of the guys that work at the VA are also veterans they do this there they are willingness to go through government shutdowns and.
Try to stay afloat to me demonstrates that demonstrates that hey that were there for our brothers and sisters were there.
Ghetto yes we do get paid for what we do and they should earn a living wage but that's not why they do it,
and most of them yeah they worked like the nurses I've dealt with when I've been in inpatient they're all in 12-hour shifts they work and Incredibly incredibly hard for the little bit they get.
So but but at the same time BTW you know you've told me some stories about your experience that are just.
Fucked up that's the simplest way to for me to tie that off right there.
And we have to acknowledge those experiences as well and I myself have had a couple bad ones I don't know that I've ever talked about on the podcast about any of those but.
The VA could be the best thing for us it's still always keep doing better.
And it's on us you know the three of us are sitting here talking to the veterans to pursue our own care but.
Wooster's if there's a veteran in your life that you care about help them Advocate with the VA watch the VA in the news and what they're doing because the more voices go to Senators when voting time comes the more good things happen.
What stock quote on government let's improve government that's that that's my point absolutely when I agree.
Everyone I really hope you're enjoying the podcast but truth be told I need your help.
No I don't need you to move a couch or borrow a leaf blower no I need you to hit pause on your podcasting up right now,
ensure this episode was somebody you know somebody who you might think might be receptive to it could be a friend or relative
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Journal done.
Okay good deal I know Uncle Al will cuss a lot listening to the episode but he'll appreciate it when the cursing stops.
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So Danny will write your final headline today my final headline today is is hard for me it's hard for me because.
I'm of two minds about this woman that I'm about talked about that is.
Elizabeth Warren the senator from Massachusetts who is made quite a name for herself in the last 60 years in the Senate.
Liz Warren is someone I have had a lot of respect for,
especially on domestic issues especially as it relates to Banking and the income inequality in this country and improving Healthcare she's what she's one of the loudest and most eloquent and yet she's also earthy,
she's sort of a common sense lady who grew up,
very poor in Oklahoma and was a single mother and put herself through a Ph.D program while working while raising kids right before she remarried she's got a great story,
and and he's pretty inspiring nobody takes apart a Wells Fargo Bank CEO on the floor of the Senate like she does.
It's incredible it's like one with everything I watch it like it's ESPN I wash it like it's highlights,
on the latest basketball game but that's why I'm a dork and unlikely ever to a beloved Again by walnuts but anyway point being that Liz Warren is is really interesting and I like her a lot.
She just announced that she's making an exploratory committee for running for president meeting she's essentially the first Democrat to declare for the presence of big-name Never Gonna Kratts to declare for the present.
And.
Almost there about foreign policy okay that's my expertise that's my experience and so whenever I look at a candidate I want to look at their foreign policy and the truth is.
Elizabeth Warren doesn't have a whole lot of foreign policy experience and she don't have a whole lot of foreign policy credentials,
which doesn't necessarily mean she wouldn't be a good foreign policy president because some of our most qualified foreign policy presidents were people like Nixon and George HW Bush with all their flaws.
But he hasn't been really outspoken about foreign policy for the most part two things that I have.
Appreciated about her is that her website for a long time is called for a AC withdrawal from Afghanistan so that's a win and in fact unlike most of the MSNBC liberal that I just talked about,
she actually came out in support of President Trump's decision to pull out of Syria so that's all the good stuff.
But then I come across this article that's just been flying through the twittersphere and flying through the Facebook world and it's from The Intercept outlet that you all know I love.
And it's actually written by Glenn Greenwald of the intercept and it says the effect of,
you know we've been wondering what Elizabeth Warren stance on Israel is and now we know and it's basically horrible,
it's a conglomeration of pretty much every comment she's ever publicly made at town halls or in the sand,
or in speeches about israel-palestine and what's really concerning about it is.
She sounds like a mainstream Democrat or quite frankly more like a mainstream Republican when it comes to israel-palestine I mean we're talkin wrote Party Line stuff she wouldn't even agree to condemn.
Israeli building a settlement be illegally on Palestinian land.
What does that tell us what some people might say will Daniel Swan issue are you going to are you going to pull your support from her are you going to you know.
Rain on her parade because of one issue won't know that's not what I'm saying but this is a big big issue because this is an issue about courage courage courage courage.
Because as we all know the one thing that is as a writer as a politician or as a media pundit if you.
Want to avoid trouble what's rule number one Henry don't talk about Israel just leave it alone,
just leave it alone I called in the past I can run article called the third rail of politics right don't touch the third rail of Israel because there is a huge and Powerful Israel Lobby in the United States,
it has immense effect and immense in on top of the Republicans and Democrats Israel is one of the only issues we're even a left-wing I mean a hard left-wing Democrat.
Sounds like a conservative when I talk about Israel very rarely do even liberal liberals.
Demonstrate any real Sympathy for the Palestinians demonstrate any real impartiality on this issue or any moral set.
Why does it scare me it scares me because.
If Liz Warren foreign policy is not fully formed yet and it appears that it's not you haven't spent a lot of time on it okay in her time in the Senate she's not on a lot of boring,
committees okay most of her work is domestic that's what her interests lie. To her expertise lie that's great.
But she's going to have to be president of the United States she's going to be the leader of the Free World and has we know.
As we know the president has 10 times more power unilaterally on foreign policy than the president he or she does on domestic policy because ultimately the Senate and the house has much of the influence there.
This article worried and what I want to do with this article is I want to dig deeper I want to challenge Liz Warren on israel-palestine I want to see if her,
her opinion of evolved I believe this initial articles 2014 that was old she hasn't said a whole lot since then but I want to open a discussion I want to open a dialogue here on the Pod at and what listeners if you want to you know,
writing questions or pass out to research maybe you found and and I'm just hoping that her,
really atrocious stands really horribly happy Palestinian stance on this issue,
is not proof all right or is not an indicator of future moral cowardice and foreign policy so that's kind of what I'm say about Liz Warren look at my writing her off no I'm not there yet,
but what I will say is there are some disturbing trends that are out there if you scratch below the surface of her sort of celebrity that she's developed.
Yeah I V I don't know if I got a bad a bad taste in my mouth for her,
it was specially with the Palestine stuff I there was like you mentioned about Wells Fargo she is going to want on domestic affairs especially anything involving consumers she's amazing she just really good and she.
Absolutely cares about I think about all Americans but.
How can she care about all Americans as president as potentially becoming a president if.
Palestinian Americans are not accepting of her.
Because that's what that's what will happen if not granted the Israel Lobby is far far more powerful than any kind of Palestinian lobbying going on in the US but.
You have to be a president for everybody Donald Trump was elected because he wanted to be president for white people.
But he's president of white people and everybody else too and.
So that I think the Palestinian stuff with Liz Warren is very telling.
Yeah it's it's it's concerning me and I have a feeling this isn't the last issue were going to be concerned about with regards to her phone policy.
I don't have too much just anytime anytime you have a.
Opinion where you know.
Somebody is essentially less than human less than deserving of you know someone else it always just leaves the room open for you know what let's go invade this country it always leaves the room open for the military.
Militant viewpoints and I definitely think you know that's that's why it's there.
Danny you mentioning about you know that the unilateral powers of the president when it comes to,
Foreign Affairs and my next thing is is going to be talking about the CIA and that means that the entire situation in Syria,
and what the CIA is doing about it would be in the hands of somebody who feels really strongly about Israel.
How does that change that calculus and again I'm I guess it would even be fair to say Donald Trump probably is still to the right of her,
on Palestine and Israel. But it's still just a really terrifying.
Absolutely so,
since we're on on the Central Intelligence Agency I want to talk a little bit about our recent election,
I shared an article last year from the world socialist website by Patrick Martin,
and he did a series discussing all the congressional candidates in 2018 who had the fence or intelligence backgrounds of the Washington Post reported recently that only three of the
c i a Democrat to see is Patrick called them won their elections,
although the new ones brings a total of 10 Congressional members who dealt with classified information before being elected whether that's through defense or intelligence service there's people like Alesis lock-in,
who was a quote.
Former CIA operative with three tours in Iraq who worked as a wrecked director for the National Security Council and the Obama White House and is a top aide to John negroponte a the first Director of National Intelligence.
After her deep involvement in US war crimes in Iraq so I can move to the Pentagon where as a principal Deputy assistant secretary of defense for International Security affairs,
her responsibilities included quot drone Warfare Homeland defense and cyberwarfare.
Then we have a representative William Hurd who worked undercover in in the CIA in the middle east and south Asia he's currently serving in Texas is 23rd district has been since 2015,
then there's people like Abigail spanberger.
A former undercover CIA agent who worked in Western Europe she claims that quote leaving the CIA was the biggest loss of my life.
I'm more than the agency I miss it everyday.
For so many of us with National Security backgrounds bringing our history of Public Service without a partisan lens is important and it's a skill set spanberger set.
Quote we serve the mission under Republican and Democratic presidents,
and you keep in mind as I'm talking about all this that most Americans still hold the intelligence services in high regard Rachel Maddow recently did a story on how three of the highest-ranking women in the CIA,
she's me of the highest ranking positions in the CIA are now held by women if you believe the CIA to be an ethically driven agency you might celebrate that,
but for us it just means that the three highest-ranking tortures in our government are now all women.
But back to congresswoman spanberger she discusses that language is Hallowed Ground.
So how does that work how does that work for a journalist to hear a politician say that they feel Langley as hologram.
Politicians should be politics is very much about appearance.
How does that work for someone whose background can't be vetted by journalists and giving a person a natural inclination to trust with their toll,
this gives the CIA a perfect way to launder their image without talking about what they actually do.
Government service in spanburg this case is definitely asset is people here on the CIA they understand the power Dynamic and they give other questions they might have about her little credence.
I'm reminded of glass ceilings in general and my.
Ambivalence about celebrating the breaking of glass ceilings obviously I'm excited to have a female president as soon as possible as long as she is someone better than Hillary Clinton
obviously I think that the day there are 50 female senators and 50 male Senators that'll be a good day right so I'm not saying that I'm against,
breaking through glass ceilings but when we celebrate,
someone in a national security position simply because their female and assume that simply because they are female they'll be a Kinder gentler version of said National Security State Anthony,
we're fooling ourselves we're fooling ourselves we haven't had a female president yet but guess who's had a female prime minister.
Written I'm not talk about 3 tonight I'm talking about Maggie's faster back in the 80s and she was,
a Disaster Artist Union she was a disaster for the Catholics of Northern Ireland right she was a warmonger she was to the right of Reagan okay so sometimes the first.
You people who break the gender glass ceiling.
You're not necessarily touchy-feely okay that in itself is sexist even think that right Austin X Wheatley actually looks truly.
Being gender non-binary is judging the person by their position right by their policy positions okay so Gina haspel because she's a female that doesn't make her,
okay her role in CIA torture prior to becoming the head of the agency,
okay that disqualifies her so far as I'm concerned the fact that she's a woman doesn't change that calculus for me in fact I think if I was more sympathetic to her,
just because she was a woman that would be a form of sort of sexism in and of itself so yeah it concerns me.
When anybody considers Langley to be Hallowed Ground after everything the CIA has done since it's you know formation in 1947 especially since the war on terror began in 2001.
Absolutely absolutely.
Oh. I don't really have anything to contribute on that one I think you guys said it really well,
so as I'm as I'm going through this article about about congresswoman spanberger I'm I'm hearing the the little drip drip drip so if you know I can keep all the secrets she says,
I've helped the other rough men in the night keep you safe while you sleep in your bed she says you know.
My expertise can be vetted Runner stood because what I did was too important.
For ordinary people to know but trust me I'm on your side wink-wink I wrote that it is not her but I but that's the frame of mind that I see here that's the frame of mind of somebody like that because,
you know if if this was what would happen to somebody if this was a military officer and they specifically talked about,
Hallowed Ground about certain things and as such would that be acceptable.
I hope not I mean and I think the military so is is a.
Better overall organization than the spy agency as well it's because so much more oversight exists even though there's not enough oversight there's at least more oversight but you know having you know if your loyalty remains to the military when you become a civilian congressperson.
That's problematic I mean that's all that's almost breaking your oats to a certain extent right cuz you're you don't declare allegiance to the United States Army you declare I let you know your fealty to the US Constitution right so,
you know it seems like worth sounds like least no language this person is has chosen to use that you know.
This person still a spot you first and foremost and only secondarily a representative of the 600,000 people that you are obsessed with her District.
Absolutely I think it would be a good idea.
For citizens to demand that the Reps can't be separated can't be separated from them by experiences they can't possibly know,
so absolutely in this lady's case once you're a spook you can't run for office because.
As your constituent I can't know barely anything about your background I mean literally I could know enough that they could fill half a page on Wikipedia and that would be it.
I think about somebody like you know Alexandria ocasio-cortez she was a bartender before she was elected she was dealing with Ordinary People day after day,
how can citizens know where their elected representatives stand without knowing their full backgrounds think of it like Anderson Cooper Anderson Cooper had an internship at the CIA before he he was became a journalist.
Would any of you guys known that if I hadn't said it certainly not from watching Anderson Cooper on CNN he wouldn't tell anybody that I but that's the kind of thing that we need to be watching out for.
Yeah I mean just if you're always able to hide behind something if if you have,
The Shield saying hey I can't I can't talk about these things then what's to say to that Shields not just going to keep being brought up again and again and there's no way that anybody can verify it because it's out of the normal.
Citizens hand absolutely.
Breakpoints a last thing that you mention to cause your court as being a bartender and being whatever 29 years old anybody else.
Noticing that the Republicans or at least it was a serious conservatives are scared of her.
That's why they're going on the attack you know they attacked her because oh she's just a bartender she can't know what's going on in the Senate she can or in the house you can't run National policy it's like.
These conservatives playing to be all wear for the rural folk wear for the average man right referred him know the plumber and then as soon as a you know a liberal who talks like a liberal.
Cancel active,
now suddenly her experience Gap this is is an issues like Jesus she's a she's a freshman representative she's not even a senator
let's give her a break the fact that they're attacking her so much tells me they are scared of her maybe they should be really fun to watch the show.
It's like a club mentality it and you know you see the same thing in the military yo,
guys who have completed basic versus those who have done oset versus those who have done a combat tour or whatever it's always you show up but then even though you've met all the qualifications to be in the job,
you're still not quite good enough yet so you just keep moving the goalposts to make this person look like a fool,
which is you know like you said a sign that they are terrified of her.
She's a she's a future when they have to share videos of her dancing as a college student as some kind of oh my God you know,
Footloose we're going to burn the barn down or some bullshit would win win win words to that point it's it's like okay we're watching us until now and just just
stop paying attention because there's nothing going on but nothing of substance there just Terror but it is really fun to watch.
It wasn't even a provocative dance right it was a pretty lighthearted.
Dance on a rooftop as like a recruiting video for Boston University like why I don't even understand but you know she looks like the future,
she is a person of color from the Bronx who is Young.
And working-class oh that's what America starting to look like in the more Merica starts to look that way the harder it's going to be for the good old GOP to win elections at least with their current platform.
BC what's up what it what are you what are you at the closest out for today brother,
my last one was a short one but it's the Coast Guard is now officially the only branch of the military that is currently unfunded,
and right now 6400 members are on furlough,
and 2100 are working without pay identified as essential workers,
and it hit Twitter last night and seemed to blow up pretty big so on Twitter of the article came out that,
the Coast Guard had released a five-page document titled managing your finances during the furlough.
And it was giving the are Coast Guard members sorts of.
Ways of surviving I being paid such as holding a garage sale babysitting or serving as a mystery shopper.
And I didn't I didn't look at it look at it but apparently the Coast Guard removed it.
And so when I went to go find it the first one that I pulled up comes.
Edge from apprisen. Calm and is managing your finances during a furlough,
and you know it's all the same information and then when you look at the one at the Coast Guard actually released and I'll make sure the,
the lynx are in the article or the show notes but this came out from CG suprt didn't even spell out Coast Guard sport it's got the.
Like the Coast Guard emblem and it is pretty much verbatim the exact same document that is this I mean essentially boiled boilerplate thing and the it's just.
It's absurd because you know they have things like oh.
Pull up your sleeves and go ahead and make your make your finances lean like most.
Most people live paycheck-to-paycheck I don't know the numbers but we we all know that most Americans don't have a lot of money saved up.
And I mean especially people in the military whether you make good choices or bad choices with your finances I mean I I've I've been everywhere I've been completely,
I tried that before I've been bankrupt with you know $12,000 a year coming in when I think the poverty levels was 16.
So I mean you have these people in the Coast Guard reading this document and in the Coast Guard.
It's not even I don't even feel it this is officially from the Coast Guard like somebody just said hey put out this document because it's coming from this company.
They couldn't even have the decency to it doesn't look official it looks.
Something somebody pretending to be in the Coast Guard would make up as an official document.
But I mean we have real people that are still not getting paid over this.
Insanity of the border wall yeah it is II.
I remember being flat broke in the service but I always you know that for all six years I was in I never had much in savings.
And so you don't lose it a paycheck even our half a paycheck that would fuck up my whole world you know it's just you.
At one point I might my for some was born when I was still in the service in being at work without pay.
That's you know I I I guess the furloughed guys okay like I still don't like that is still fucked up.
You're out there whoever it is the guys that are patrolling the coast and everything without a dime to show 4 to take care of their families.
Could end up dying in service get their 400,000 sgli money.
While they're still not getting paid because the government isn't fucking open but it is it still.
I get why the coast I know the Coast Guard part of Homeland Security and that's one of the reasons why that is I don't know why can't the Coast Guard be Exempted.
You know I just I just fucking blows my mind.
A real quick Here's a thought about the Coast Guard anybody else see that mean that's been flying around about.
It's like a map of United States Canada and Mexico and it shows
where the border wall would be like if it was completed and then it says and then it's got the thousands of arrows pointing,
you're noticed that most of them are like the Seacoast so if we're really on the verge of a National Emergency like the president told us.
What is the Coast Guard be like the first motherfukers that need to get their pay.
Write like if it's a national emergency and most drugs come either through airports,
the coast or the legal entry points hidden in cars like in San Diego coast guard be like right up there with ice and Customs and Border Patrol to be spawned in,
it just seems to me that would be the case but that's what the whole things out of a show as we discuss none of this is real it's a it's a it's an imagine constructed,
emergency and there's still however many hundred active-duty troops at the border.
That I know that I when I went through the list and other required a few MP units in there,
guys that are on active duty that probably got back from Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever recently and now we're going to the border and I don't agree with their mission but I also don't agree with wasting their fucking time.
Yeah yeah that's it for that's it for my last one.
Awesome well you know I'm impressed we did 6 headlines in about an hour and 4 minutes of actual material.
And yeah it felt like we talked about a lot then that it yeah yeah.
This is great cuz they mean if we can you know what I think an hour to an hour and 15 minutes is like.
The Sweet Spot obviously going to be longer or something to make sure that's just natural but I think a lot of ways that is sort of a sweet spot for how much people you know how long you will want to listen.
How long you can hold their attention.
And I think right right around right around an hour is good but like you said you know it's a it's a pretty dense our you know it's a lot of information about a lot of different stuff and we also kind of.
Crosstalk a little bit of.
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