Title: The Fix Is In / DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Show: DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Date: 2026-01-13
URL: https://youtu.be/lg1k-9p0zT8
Duration: 57:00

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[00:09] Good morning. This is the program with Ted R and John Kuryaku. It is Tuesday, January 13th. Thank you so much for joining us. Uh today we will be uh introducing um some merch you can buy. Um, we're also going to uh happy to announce that uh Robbie Aid is fulfilled for the month of January. But if you are so moved and you would like to tip Robbie because he can certainly use the cash. Um, please go ahead to

[00:39] gofundme.com/dprogram. Robbie, uh, we're going to be talking about the ongoing uh, fallout from the killing of Renee Good. um the situation in Gaza which has been falling off the headlines but is still sucking hard uh for the people there who have survived. Uh certainly the crisis in Iran and uh Malaysia and Indonesia have become the two first countries to block Grock and I believe uh any AI platform over deep

[01:10] fake porn. And by the way, even poor Renee Good has been virtually undressed by Grock. Uh, it turns out >> it's just nuts. People are nuts. Like, you have nothing better to do with your time. >> No [ __ ] >> You take a dead woman's picture and and use AI to make her naked. >> Yeah. >> What What pleasure do people get out of something like that? I It's just too weird for me. >> I know. Well, and also, as a former programmer, I know this is something that could easily be stopped um if it's

[01:41] just a little bit of code. Um, not so hard. Uh anyway, good morning, John. Um >> good morning, Ted. >> Please like, follow, and share the show, guys. Um go ahead and like I said, I'm gonna put up that uh I'm gonna put up that uh URL for people who want to throw Robbie a little extra scratch, which uh he needs. And but we do really thank you for uh kicking in that thousand uh for the month of January. So, we'll be back after this talking about this again at the beginning of February. That's the deal. We raised $1,000 a month from him.

[02:12] Um before we get into it, um our junior producer um he has uh he he's asking me to remind you that if you become a tier 2 YouTube member uh by by this coming Friday, um you will be able to uh you'll you'll be able to get credits and you'll be able to uh you can also buy YouTube merchandise through the site through YouTube um for the show And here is the

[02:44] one of the first examples of it, the new deprogram t-shirt. Um, handsome black simple punk rock just like us. Um, and uh, so anyway, go to YouTube and do that, but we want you to watch us on Rumble, so we're making it as complicated as possible. Um, you know. Yeah. >> I like it. >> I like the t-shirt. I'm going to get I'm have to get myself one of those myself. Um, okay. So, all right. So, we should, of course, as always, please put your

[03:14] comments, questions, insults, everything into the YouTube or the Rumble feed, and we will get to them ASAP. Um, a little bit of breaking news. The, um, former president of South Korea, Yun Sukiol, Yeah. >> Um, is apparently facing the death penalty for his imbecillic attempt >> to impose martial law. I have a Yun story. So, I I I was a um I was a uh I had a job at at an office at Columbia

[03:44] University's admissions and financial aid office. My boss, the office manager, was a Yune from this family that has >> Oh, really? >> powerful Korean family in and out politics for literally centuries, >> decades. Oh, centuries. >> Centuries. >> Okay. >> Anyway, um one of So, he he had a scroll that he showed me. He laid rolled out on his floor. It was the entire family tree going back a thousand years. >> You know what? I worked with Yoyo Ma's son, Nick Ma. We were both on the Senate

[04:16] Foreign Relations Committee uh staff together and um we were talking about genealogy and I was saying how proud I was that I was able to go back like with documents to 1799 and then just kind of with stories to like 1645. And he said, "Oh, his father has these ancient scrolls that go back 2,000 years with their family tree." >> Yeah. >> 2,000 years. He said they were found inside the wall of a mud house that had

[04:47] been in the family forever. >> That's cool. So, >> this was only a mere th a mere millennium, not two, but >> crazy though. Anyway, the point is I remember looking at it and at one point I found I think it was his grandfather or great-grandfather and I was like, "Wait, you're directly descended from the biggest [ __ ] in Korean history." He goes, "Yeah." And it was a Yun who basically had a played a and he's big part of the reason that the that the partition happened. Um, >> wow. >> I mean, but anyway,

[05:18] >> so I'm like again, these yunes, they keep popping up like bad pennies. Um, >> I I like Koreans. >> I like I like Koreans. They be >> They love Americans. They work hard. Their food is fantastic. >> Their food is great. >> Yeah. >> I learned how to juice chopsticks from a Korean uh roommate in college, Paul. >> And uh and the thing is, so they eat, you know, when they eat steak, right? They love steak. They don't cut it up first, right? They you literally pick up the whole piece and you bite it off like a like a caveman. But the thing is what

[05:49] I'm really appreciative of that because it made gave me really strong uh chopstick chops. >> I I worked with a guy at the CIA who was engaged to a Japanese girl and she broke up with him because she said that he ate like a Korean the way he used chopsticks. And he said years later, he's like I I still don't know what in the world she meant by that. >> Oh no, that's that's what I'm talking about. Like the So like the Japanese, which I also I worked for a Japanese bank. the Japanese um the the the chopsticks are a more delicate like a

[06:20] surgical implement whereas like you know you have to kind of like use some muscle mass to uh to use it Korean style. Personally if I if I had to do it all over again I'd still do Korean. Korean method is the best method because you could do anything you know if you can pick up a heavy piece of beef um you know everything else comes easy. So >> that's true. All right. So, uh let's see. We got some question. Let's just do some questions before we talk about Renee. Good. And or maybe it will. All right. Uh McKenna

[06:52] 308. Uh we both we both speak about the importance of independent media. What are your favorite Who are your favorite independent media sources? >> Who should we avoid? There's fewer than there used to be. Go ahead, John. >> Avoid the Intercept. >> I don't trust a single one of them. And in all complete seriousness, >> I think that they work for or with the FBI >> in >> Well, we certainly know that they worked with the NSA.

[07:22] >> You can say that again. Um I I'm I'm very proud of uh Consortium News. I mean, Chris Hedges is there and and Ray McGovern is there and so many people whose opinions I respect. So, I I like Consortium very much. Um, for historical analysis, covertaction magazine, Jeremy Kusarov is very good. Um, anti-war.com is good. I like Reason magazine, although I don't agree with everything they say, but even the stuff

[07:53] I disagree with, they argue it well. How about you, Ted? >> Um, I agree with all of those. Um, and also I agree with your take on the Intercept. Jesus Christ. Um, this is total wolf in sheep's clothing. Um I'm I'm also at who whaty.org what is news but um yeah so and I I do cartoons for them. Uh so yeah no I I I agree that there's fewer than there used to be and of course there's podcasts like this. Um by the way just some breaking news from the Hill. It looks

[08:23] like there's uh that the fallout over Renee Good could actually increase the chances of a government shutdown. A lot of Democrats seem to be threatening to hold funding for the Department of Homeland Security. >> Wow. >> In order to demand reforms. So, that's interesting. >> That's huge. And like you said last week, we're three weeks away from another government shutdown and literally no one's talking about it. >> No, I know. And I I was just thinking about that this morning like these

[08:53] Democrats, they can do something about a lot of the stuff that we that we're talking about here. And that I guess, you know, this is what it is. They can shut down the government. They don't have to pay. They do not have to keep going. Um Katie Catastrophe, you keep mentioning your time in the Middle East. Um were you a traditional journalist before you got into being a cartoonist? I have worn that hat. Um but no, I've been a cartoonist first. Uh I my first cartoons were published when I was 15 years old in the Ketaring, Ohio, uh Oakwood Times. But um definitely uh I've

[09:26] done straight journalism uh at various publications um throughout over the years, but I I kind of view it as two things. I have the journalist hat and I have the cartoonist hat. So um you know they're they're not the same. Also, although sometimes they're the same philos philosoph and John are the characters. Sure, 100%. I mean full disclosure. I mean, John and I are going to be working on a book together. That's pros, but I could see a

[09:57] graphic novel. >> Hey, and I want to say something uh on the record and in front of everybody cuz I I know what you're like and I know what your response would be if we were talking about this privately. So, um, so I I want to commission you to do a a cartoon of, not a cartoon, but like a portrait of me >> that that I want to use, um, as my as my screen for, uh, Deep Focus. >> That's awesome. >> And the reason I say publicly is because I know you wouldn't charge me and I want to pay a normal the normal rate that

[10:29] anybody would pay if they just stumble on your website. >> John, you don't have to do that. >> I know, but I but I want to. >> All right. Well, I appreciate that. We'll we'll talk about it. Uh definitely uh if I charge you anything, it'll be the friends rate because there's a friends rate and then there's the enemies rate and then there's the sort of corporist rate and those are all different numbers. Um but I will not anyway I probably will I'll try to convince you not to take my money. Um I mean not to not to send me your money. Uh but yes, I would totally do that. John will talk about tell me the specs

[11:00] later. So a dollar. Thank you so much. LA punk versus NYC punk versus versus British punk. So, I love them all. I love X. I love the Ramones. I love this. I love the Sex Pistols, but I've and and I love the Dictators, big New York punk band. Um, but I gota probably go British punk really. Um, and I also really like San Francisco punk like the Dead Kennedy's. How about you, John? >> I gotta ask you, I'm I'm Listen, I'm stuck. I'm stuck in the mid 1970s.

[11:34] Every single morning, seven days a week when I wake up, the first words out of my mouth are, and I have to spell it, A L E XA because she'll turn herself on. Uh, play 70s on Seven. And she says, '7s on Seven by SiriusXM. And I just lay there in bed. >> You would have liked You would have liked the Ted R studio this morning. I was blasting Moth the Hoopel. >> I love Moth the Hoople. I saw him at the hoople at George Washington University in 1982. But my point is,

[12:05] and I listened to Casey Kasem every single weekend. They do a different year, but on that day, on that date, every weekend. This past weekend was 1970. The weekend before was 1978. The weekend before that was 73. But I I I just I never graduated into punk because I was stuck in mid70s rock. >> That's interesting. Um, you know, I I was because I'm a year older than you.

[12:36] Yeah. >> Um, and maybe that made the difference, but like for me, I was waiting dying, you know, I was dying in the as a kid when I was 12, dying in the in the in the in the ocean of Prague rock. And I hated that stuff. And and then when I first heard like the New York Dolls, Blondie, yeah, early talking heads, DVO, all that stuff, it was suddenly like my mind was open like this is what I've been waiting for. Um, so and I, you know, for a while there in the late '7s, there was this kind of like once you

[13:07] went punk, you didn't go back to like, you know, classic rock. You're not going to listen to Zep anymore. But now I don't feel that way at all. I feel like it's all the same. It's all, like Billy Joel would say, it's all rock and roll to me. It is. >> Yeah. When I got to college, I started college a year later that a year after you did. Um, so I was I started in ' 82 and by then, you know, 70s rock was gone, '7s pop was pretty much gone or going. >> And I remember wave, freshman year, it was all new wave. I freshman year there

[13:38] was like a mixer, the drinking age in DC was 18 at the time, New York, too. >> So we were all 18. So, I remember going to this mixer and somebody was blasting Safety Dance. You remember that awful, awful song? >> Men in Hats if you want to. You can leave the past behind. >> I remember thinking, I want to shoot myself rather than listen to the rest of this song. >> And now, >> it was a really [ __ ] stupid song. It's >> And it's retro. It's back in style. I don't understand.

[14:09] >> Well, there were a lot of stupid one hit wonders uh during that period. Um, but you know, I have to admit I might not change the channel if that came on now. I mean, like I have to say I like the instrumentals. Um, but you know, but the but the music's so dumb. The lyrics are so dumb. So dumb. >> You can dance if you want to. Oh my god. Like what a stupid Anyway, that's just me. >> Yeah. No, no, no. It's not you. You're you're you're right about that. That's

[14:40] objective truth. Um, ex Ryan John, does Trump want a civil war? Um, look, get into the Renee. I mean, John, I was just thinking about this this morning, right? I was looking at like the White House, the official White House, the official Homeland Security Twitter feeds, and it's like the thing is I've never seen a government that tries to raise the temperature before. when when the uh White House spokeswoman is asked a question and uh her response is your

[15:10] mother. What do you think of that? >> You know you're in trouble. >> Yeah. >> That's that's seriously your official response from the White House. Your mother. >> It's I mean they're they're trying to raise the temperature. This is part of their I mean so you know what do you think John? I mean >> I they don't want a civil war obviously because because they would be part of it you know. Excuse me one second. Phil Chat says, "I pictured John with flock of seagull's hair." Um, freshman year,

[15:40] spring fling it was called in the quad. >> Now that is a good song. I ran so far away from you. >> The the the band was Flock of Seagulls. And I remember calling my brother and saying, "Oh my god, I'm in heaven. I just saw Flock of Seagulls and it was free." >> Sorry. >> Yeah. I was I was so disappointed that the rest of the album wasn't as good as that as that single. Now that's not true about certain one hit wonders like like the vapors remember turning Japanese. >> Oh my god. Yes. >> But their other shit's great actually,

[16:12] but just nobody listens to it. >> No, that's that's true. Sorry. to get back to your uh >> civil war >> u my civil war uh thing. You know, I think that if he does, >> he doesn't even realize that he does. M >> and I I keep coming back to this New York Times interview that they did with Trump day before yesterday in which three separate times they asked him who was advising him and um and uh

[16:46] and um three times he said he doesn't take advice from anybody which I don't fully believe but he said he doesn't take advice. Whatever his gut tells him that's what he does. He's He's only constrained by his own morality. >> That's what he told the New York Times. >> Yeah, that's it. He's only constrained by his own morality. >> That's like That's also not true. That That's not true because it can't be true. >> Um, Desert Fox, a question for both of us. Where do we stand on the Iran war?

[17:18] The fleet movements don't lie, but I don't think that normal logic applies. Thanks for the amazing work and riveting yet sober insight. >> I'm glad you brought that up. So, go ahead, answer it. And while you're talking, I'm going to find this magnificent uh website that somebody sent me yesterday. >> Okay. Um All right. Well, so look, here's the thing. Like, if you missed the show yesterday, uh as John pointed out, uh you know, our our our the fleet movements are constrained to the southern uh Caribbean. We're still uh

[17:49] [ __ ] around with the Venezuelans and we're busy over there. So, if anyone's going to attack Iran right now, it's probably going to be our proxies, the Israelis, or arguably our bosses, the Israelis, depending on how you look at it. Um, >> and so in terms of >> here's the thing, right? Like we don't there is no Iran war now. And I guess we should talk about what the situation is. I mean, we're hearing a lot of uh, you know, very overheated analysis about how we're at the brink of revolution. Now, the thing is like Robert F. Kennedy, as

[18:20] Robert F. Kennedy um famously observed you kind of don't know if a revolution is revolution appears inevitable after it happened impossible before it happens. I think that's very true. Um the thing is also I agree with your analysis yesterday though John 100% I thought about it more and more after we talked here on the air. I I don't see Iran uh having another 1979 style, and I don't mean ideologically, but like a

[18:50] unified national revolution. I see disintegration. I see um civil conflict more looking like Libya. Um yeah, you know, well, you know, >> because there's no center >> there. There is no center. These demonstrations uh started in Kurdistan because reportedly that's where the most Israeli agents are located. Um, so they've they've moved to some of the major cities, but um, but an an Iranian in Iran said this

[19:23] morning to somebody that I'm close to that, uh, you know, they keep hearing reports of these thousands of people now dead. And he he said it's just not happening. These demonstrations are are isolated. They're smallcale. Yes, there are deaths. A lot of them are um are caused by the police. A lot of them are caused by the demonstrators. And I mentioned yesterday these demonstrators and there's

[19:54] confirmation from the Israelis today that these are Mossad um agitators. Uh they're bragging about it in the in the Israeli papers and Mike Pompeo um posted on on Twitter that it's the Israelis, but they're burning they're they're burning the fire trucks. They're going to fire stations and they're throwing Molotov cocktails at the fire trucks so that when they light fires in buildings to burn the buildings down and get people agitated, they can't put the

[20:25] fire out. That's an Israeli tactic. It's a well-known Israeli tactic. I was going to say that's not the tactic of of your standard um uprising kind of. >> No, it's not. And and may I add one thing? So I this fantastic site that gives you up totheminute locations of every aircraft carrier. Remember we said that if you really want to know if the United States is going to attack another country, look at naval movements because we never ever attack anybody's if anybody if we don't have an aircraft carrier battle group or two or six um

[20:57] nearby. So, the USS Nimttz is uh in Washington State on its way to Norfick, Virginia. The USS Dwight Eisenhower uh is in Norfolk. The USS Carl Vincent is in San Diego. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is in San Diego. The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the South China Sea. The USS George Washington is off the coast of Japan. USS John Stennis

[21:28] is being repaired in Newport News, Virginia. The USS Harry S. Truman is off the east coast of the United States. The USS Ronald Reagan is being repaired in Puet Sound. USS George HW Bush is on its way to Norfolk from Jacksonville, Florida. USS Gerald Ford is off the coast of Puerto Rico. We cannot attack Iran. There are no naval support vessels.

[21:59] >> Can't do it. >> And and we don't have and there isn't a base an air base of any size that we have access to close enough to it, right? >> No, that's right. >> So, yeah, that's interesting. I mean, what do you make of those of uh I mean, most of it a lot of uh vessels heading to or at Norfolk may retooling repairs. >> Yes, several of them are being um completely refurbished. Uh, some are being um sold for a penny. I read

[22:30] online. I can even tell you which ones. They're being sold for a penny. That's the USS John F. Kennedy, USS Enterprise, USS Constellation, and the USS Kittyhawk. All were sold for 1 cent to International Ship Breaking Limited, and they're going to be taken apart uh panel by panel and sold for scrap. >> Huh. I was gonna say like uh you know Pete Davidson probably should have bought one of those instead of Staten Island Fairy >> Staten Island Ferry >> for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[23:01] >> Yeah. That he can't get out of. >> Yeah. Well, that was like how I know he said he was high. I actually believe him. How high were you, dude? We want that gge. >> That's right. Because a transaction like that doesn't take an hour. >> I mean, if you're high for an hour. Okay. >> Right. Right. Good point. Good point. I guess you might just tell your your assistant to do it, right? >> You know, like people say, "Oh, I got this t tattoo cuz I was drunk." It's like, dude, that tattoo must have taken eight hours to get on you.

[23:32] >> What do you mean you were drunk? How drunk? >> How drunk could you possibly have been? >> Or maybe you're drunk when you start and then by the time you're starting to sober up, you're like, I can't have a half tattoo, you know? >> I mean, that would be the worst. Um, Zack Diecast uh says that my take on Renee Good is so libtard normie crap crap all all caps. I' I'd like some details. I mean, I I'm not sure he or she knows what my take is on this. I mean, look, you look, here's the thing.

[24:02] Even if we stipulate that shooting is unjustified for the simple reason that like there is no evidence whatsoever of what I mean, let's just say that she's guilty of everything they say. She's obstructing law enforcement. She's not compliant. She drove to drove toward the dude. The fact is she he fired at her as she was going by. Okay, so like even if she hit him, okay, that threat is now a past threat because it's already happened and there's no evidence that happened

[24:32] anyway. So the point is he didn't have any right to shoot her. Now we could say that like so I think a a grand jury and a jury should adjudicate this. Could it be complicated? Sure. Uh could he possibly walk? Sure. But I but I think it deserves, you know, 12 men and women, good and true, to look at it. That's >> I was watching a legal analyst last night on um Jake Tapper and um he said that this was obviously a homicide, not

[25:03] necessarily a murder. And to tell you the honest to God's truth, >> I never thought about the difference between the two. A homicide is simply defined as a person who is killed by another person. >> Yeah, >> that's a homicide. A murder is when you intentionally kill the other person. >> Mhm. >> But of course, if someone by negligence usually >> Yeah, that's right. But if you shoot somebody in the face, what do you think is going to happen? >> Right. It's a homicide.

[25:34] >> It should be investigated. Yeah. And and I guess let's let's talk about that. I mean, that was our main topic today. Um, so I mean, here's the thing. The the the government is, you know, abandoning all attempt to have us believe that they're engaged in a fair process, right? The president, the vice president, the secretary of homeland security all within hours defended the ICE agent. Um, the the social media feeds for the administration have been going rolling night and day to defend him. Uh, and and

[26:04] they're smearing her. I love how they dehumanize her. They call her this individual. >> This individual. I noticed the same thing >> instead of, you know, you don't have to say this mother of three, but you could have just said this person, uh, this this woman, you know, anything like that, but they don't do that. Um, this individual domestic terrorist. Anyway, and now the latest, so the, um, the Minneapolis and the Minnesota authorities have both been frozen out of what has become inexplicably a federal investigation. Um and now um the DOJ

[26:38] normally in incidents like this has civil rights experts which I think is confusing to people because they think civil rights relates to racial issues but correct it doesn't. Your civil rights are like your first amendment right to free speech is a civil right >> and to if if you kill somebody and it's charged as a violation of their civil rights, you're still talking about life without parole, >> right? >> It's a very serious charge. I mean your your second amend amendment right to own a firearm is a civil right. Um people don't you know so the thing is that um

[27:09] those civil rights people normally uh their their team participates in an investigation like this and they're they have been frozen out. That just doesn't happen. I mean the tr the the the administration does not seem to care uh about being perceived as as as fair or not having their thumb on the scale. >> Yeah. >> Does that matter? I mean, I feel like it does matter. >> I think it matters. I think it matters. And, you know, I was I gave this a lot of thought last night. Um,

[27:43] Donald Trump's not going to be president forever. Republicans aren't going to be president forever. There's no statute of limitation on murder. There's no statute of limitation on civil rights violations. And so really all we have to wait for is a Democrat to get into the White House and the Democrat to order that the Justice Department turn over primacy in the case to the state of Minnesota and then this guy screwed. >> Assuming the Democrats have the balls to do that, >> assuming and we should say that's a big

[28:14] assumption. >> I don't trust any of them. >> Oh yeah. No, I mean with good reason. Um Peruse. Hey John and Ted, thanks for the show. Have you met Jeffrey Saxs? And could it be possible to get him as a guest on the show? I have >> We should We should try. I met him once on a podcast. We should try to get him. I think that would be a lot of fun. >> Robbie, let's try to Robbie, can you can you reach out to Jeffrey Sachs for us? >> Okay. Thank you, Robbie. >> Awesome. >> Okay. All right. So, um Okay. Uh

[28:48] for John Fra from Fasmatas regarding the Intercept, but more broadly, what are your thoughts on Pierre Omid Omidar? Oh, don't I get to have thoughts about Pier? >> Yeah. Yeah. No, you you have very wellconsidered thoughts on billionaires. You go first. >> Well, so Pier Omidar is um what's the phrase? A lying sack of [ __ ] So, if you go to YouTube and look at I recommend that anybody do this. Look up the Intercept um launch video for First Look Media. Look, first look media inter uh

[29:20] launch video. It is It'll make you laugh. So, basically, it's Pierre Odar talking about how he's launching a new media company. This is about 10 years ago in which they're going to do everything. We're like the media's in crisis. That's true. And we need an independent voice with hard-hitting, asskicking journalists. So, we're going to do everything new finan. We're gonna have a whole team doing financial reporting. We're even going to do sports, culture, you know, weather >> joke, >> everything, right? Like a giant. We're reinventing the media >> because he's a billionaire and he can

[29:52] afford it. >> He has. Yeah. I have billions to spare. I love America. I love the world. I love press freedom. I want everybody to go wild and crazy. Right. So, um, my, um, my, so, so when that all happened, it turned out like, WELL, WHEN WE SAID there's going to be 15 different channels, what we really mean is one. And so anyway, then my buddy who um, worked over there calls me up and he goes, "Oh, would you like to come on as like a graph as like a a comics

[30:22] journalist slashed editorial cartoonist columnist?" I'm like, "I'm in." Um, so I don't hear back and like basically he keeps So he's getting more and more pissed. He's like, "Our budget went from 20 to 10 to five to $1 million." At a certain point, Pierre is weighing in on the office furniture, saying that the office furniture is too expensive. And basically, the thing shriveled away to a to like a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what he promised. And the

[30:55] thing is for no particular reason, just cuz he's a control freak and he wanted to make a big splash, but he didn't want to actually spend his money. And then that's not getting into the fact that, you know, he has like, you know, he wasn't he wasn't going to do what you would need a billionaire to do. Throw money at it and then don't check in, right? Just make sure your money's being spent, right? Maybe, but like, you know, basically, you shouldn't have your thumb on the scale like the way that, you know, Bezos is on the editorial page of the Washington Post. Oh, I can't. I'm

[31:25] >> disgusting. >> I would have cancelled my post uh subscription except that we do this show. >> We have to have it. >> And we I have to have it. >> Me, too. >> Oh, I can't. >> But but so the thing is So that that's my So I think Pier Beddr is completely full of [ __ ] Yeah, basically. >> I have to agree. I have to agree. Um, you know, in the very beginning when they were still at the $20 million phase, I was like, "Okay, this is this is actually going to be cool." Even though he's a billionaire, I thought,

[31:56] "Ah, if he gives them, you know, editorial freedom like he promised he would." >> Mhm. >> I thought, "Okay, this is going to be this is going to be all right." And then almost instantaneously, it just became a lie. But that's not my biggest beef with um with The Intercept. I've I've said this a million times. I've written about it. The Intercept The Intercept's reporters have been personally responsible for

[32:26] sending five whistleblowers to prison. Five whistleblowers reality winner. Mhm. Jeffrey Sterling, me, um, Daniel Hail, and who's the fifth? I can't remember. Anyway, it's five. Take my word for it. Um, I tweeted at them when they outed reality winner, and that was the most egregious of all

[32:56] the cases. >> Ridiculous. amateur-ish behavior by two self-professed professional national security journalists. What a croc of [ __ ] >> Idiots. >> And let's name them. It's Matthew Cole and and uh Rich Espazito. Shame. Shame on the >> by the way. I should never work in journalism again. >> Never ever. Matthew Cole fancies himself an author. Um, Rich Espazito went he

[33:30] left journalism to become the deputy uh police commissioner of New York. >> Appropriate. >> Isn't that appropriate? >> So yeah, I tweeted at them and I said I said >> these are the kinds of people, by the way, that the Intercept hires. >> That's right. I said, "Hey, Intercept, serious question. You must be working for the FBI, right? Because nobody can be that stupid." And I got hundreds of responses. They were like the only ones who didn't

[34:01] respond, >> of course. >> Uhhuh. >> I mean, you know, it's it's it's horrid. Um, okay. Cooper Duper, thanks for this question. Although Renee Good's passing was tragic. Do you think that the mainstream media and social media is hyping it up to distract from the fraud allegations? Okay. So, people, you guys know I'm a lefty. Um, in part, yes, I do think that. Um, I mean, this is a this is look, this is if you're Governor Tim Walls, this is a you're maybe not happy to see a motan taxpayer get blown away

[34:32] on the streets of a suburb, but I'm not going to go that far. I don't think he's that evil, but you're not unhappy to see the Somalia stuff uh, you know, washed off the the headlines. Um, I I think it's it's a it's part of it. I I do think it's kind of like we only have room, you know, the Americans only have room for one Minnesota story in their brain and let's let's have this one be the story. I I do think that's true. >> Yeah, I think that's right. >> Um, Fasmatas, John, how on earth do you have

[35:03] an Alexa? Like the privacy factor is that they can be used as evidence in event of an emergency. Yeah, in all seriousness, um I I just have one in the bedroom where nothing is going on. So, um >> the way that sounds, >> so I don't mind if she listens to me because, you know, it's just me snoring, I guess. >> I'm There's too many places I can go with that comment, John. I'm not going to. Oh my god. Um USA Navy vet, what are

[35:37] we talking about here? gossip. Are we talking about world affairs? I don't know. I uh maybe I got a tune out of this. Uh it doesn't make any sense what's going on here. It's important issues. Americans can't eat. Fair. Okay. >> Yes. True. Americans can't eat. And we can and Okay. We That's true. Um No, seriously, it is a major problem. But I mean, I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for uh breaking out. John and I are both usually very grimlike people. So here here I'm not usually accused of

[36:08] being too joyful. I don't know about you, John. >> Hey, um our buddy Mike from Nottingham uh wrote uh in the chat that uh Oh, shoot. Let me find it. I think uh I got it from um from Robbie. Help me out. It's about uh it's a UK question >> here. I'm going to Robbie, do you know? >> There it is. I got it. I got it. Peter Mandlesson on the BBC saying he was

[36:39] blind to Epstein's crimes because he himself, Mandlesson, is gay. It's as laughable as it's Andrew interview. Oh my god. Mandlesson, think about that. I mean, everybody knows Mandlesson's gay. Nobody gives a [ __ ] So, he's justifying having been to the island because And it it's okay because he's gay. And all the underage kids were girls. >> Ah, >> so it's cool. No worries.

[37:10] >> Yeah. Because if you just know about it, that's that's okay. >> Yeah, that's right. You don't have to tell anybody. Somebody else will tell. >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. That's all that's I I'm obsessed with that whole idea that somebody else will. like, you know, um we we we're going to replace all our employees with uh you know, people from overseas and AI, but but like someone else will hire real Americans for real jobs. Someone else will do it. It's always someone else will take care of it. Um you know, as a journalist, I

[37:41] mean, >> it would be icky for me to take on this difficult story uh that would challenge the official narrative, but some other journalist will do it. Don't worry. Don't worry, John. some other lawyer will will take you on. Exactly. >> Not me. >> Exactly. Right. >> Um, aren't Americans too lazy and chill to fight a civil war? James Turner. Well, we did. >> So, um, I don't know. Um, I don't think I I you know, look, I I do think we are a lazy folk uh, intellectually, but I don't think there could be a civil war,

[38:13] but I think you need different dynamic than we have. You know, we have to have like you you need organizations. I keep coming back to that. Nobody likes to hear it. Um, Soden, thanks so much for the $49.99. >> Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you. >> Good morning, John and Ted. While I sip on this morning cocktail, I work nights lol. Can you please tell us I actually, you know, I used to work uh I used to live right on the same street as the New York Times, 43rd Street, uh which New York Times was between uh 7th and 8th. I was between 8th and 9th. And there was a bar that all the New York Times like

[38:44] press workers would kick off to. and I would see them, you know, drinking hard like at, you know, 7 in the morning when I was on my way to my office job. Uh, anyway, kind of funny. Um, can you please tell us where the US went wrong with the Shaw back in the day? >> I would love to hear from you guys who were alive at that time and how everyone dropped the ball. >> Take it away, John. >> Wow. Where do you even begin? The Sha was an absolute monarch, absolute dictator. He had a bloodthirsty

[39:15] intelligence service called Savak that spent way more time investigating and murdering Iranian citizens than it ever did doing anything, you know, in any other country. Um, he had formal official diplomatic relations with Israel, which really pissed people off. Um, he was perfectly happy to send Iran's oil to the United States and to the UK. uh and you know Iran very briefly had a democratic governor uh

[39:45] government rather rather it was prime minister uh Muhammad Mosadic and the US and UK overthrew Mosadic in 1953. The the sha had been um or his father had been in power then the sha was briefly in power then Mosadic won an election he was deposed and spent the literally the rest of his life under house arrest. the Shaw was forcibly reimposed on the Iranian people and then by 1979

[40:17] it it all fell apart. He he went on a ski vacation in February of 79 and never went back. >> Yeah. I all that and I think what's the the one chapter that's kind of missing from this is because ultimately uh of the way that the revolution played out we kind of forget the role of like socialists and other leftists and other the anti-Sha alliance was very was very >> very broad >> and it included a lot of opposition figures and they organized you know

[40:49] thoroughly and consistently um for you know at least at least 5 to 10 years against the sha and you know the sha was a US um you know UK puppet and um and the Iranians are proud people and I mean and you know they wanted national sovereignty and and you know the shot and the shot was a desperate I mean >> yeah he was he was a desperate he really was >> yeah and and Savak was brutal um one of my mom's classmates at Wright State University was an Iranian um refugee uh

[41:21] he was a political refugee uh he was a political dissident against the sha. He um went home for uh vacation one uh during one of the breaks and the Savak guys kidnapped him, amputated both of his legs and dropped off his bleeding body at it in front of his parents' door in Tehran. >> Oh my god. >> That's what they were like. Um uh let's see. Um what have we heard about this John and Marjorie? Have we heard about the theory that Trump has dementia? Starting to show more and more

[41:53] symptoms. He's definitely not the same as he was. >> I've heard that. No. And and the White House has never explained >> these uh MRIs that he's getting up at uh uh what's the Naval Hospital in Bethesda. >> Oh, wow. >> Bethesd Bethesda Naval Medical Center. >> Yeah, that one. >> Right. That one. Yeah. Something's up. >> Yeah. I mean, look, he's getting older. I mean, you know, he's he wasn't the same in the 90s as he was in the 80s or in the odds as he was in the 90s and so

[42:23] on. We are all getting older. Uh but something is up and I don't know what it is. It's not playing out the way Biden did. With Biden, it was like you just couldn't miss it. Um because you know Trump's still energetic. >> Yes, he is. >> Ry, thanks for the buck. John, what's your take on Carg Island uh and its significance for Iran. Heard that it would get hit, that it would destroy the world. If it got hit, it would destroy the world's oil economy and other repercussions. Yeah, Kar Island is where most of Iran's oil is refined and

[42:58] it was bombed in the in the 1980s. It it caused a a global oil price shock. Um it's it's possible that that the West, meaning the United States andor Israel, could bomb it again. Um, if if that were to happen, I think the Iranians, having learned their lesson in earlier decades, uh, would come out swinging and it would just be a crisis for oil prices. >> Robbie, we got an ad.

[43:29] Okay. Uh, when whenever you're ready. Um, okay. So, uh, let's see. Um, Elliot Covert, John, murder is actually defined by malice of forethought, which is a vague legal term. Yeah, >> sometimes you can commit murder by acts of indifference to human life, eg drunk driving. But murder is also defi and all the different subsets of it are defined differently depending on the jurisdiction. >> That's right. >> That's a good point. >> So, um, you know, but >> I mean, by the way, I don't think drunk

[43:59] driving is technically considered murder, right? >> I don't think it is. >> I think it's considered a form of manslaughter. >> Yeah. That's why they call it vehicular homicide >> rather than vehicular murder. Um, >> yeah, >> I could look at Well, I if anyone knows differently, let us know. Uh, great battis, what do you think about Federman supporting the Greenland takeover? >> Federman, >> you know, Federman supporting the Greenland takeover came two days after Federman announced that he was not going to support the Greenland takeover. I

[44:31] >> Speaking of dementia, >> I'm trying to be kind to the guy, but he's clearly brain damaged. >> Mhm. >> And he should not be in the Senate. >> No. >> He's not in his right mind. Yeah. >> And he's he's embarrassing himself and the state. >> Yep. >> His whole life is falling apart. His staff is all left. His wife has broken up with him. I mean, you know, we don't even know if he still like talks to his children. He's a [ __ ] mess. >> Yeah, he's a mess. >> And unfortunately, he's in because he's a mess, he's in no position to understand that he's a mess.

[45:01] >> Yeah, that's that's exactly right. >> Um, Fasmatas qu tricky question for you, John. Would you support Dr. Oz as senator if we could go back to the election? I certainly would, not as a doctor, just as a person. >> The guy the guy served in the Turkish special forces. This is not just that it's Turkey. It's not for me, but not just because it's Turkey. This is exactly why I would never vote for for Josh, what's his name? Uh, the governor. Because he served in the IDF. So, you don't serve your country, the

[45:32] United States, but you're going to run and serve Israel, or serve in the Turkish special forces after having gotten your American citizenship. No. No to both of them. I would rather write in, you know, Ralph Nater or somebody. >> Yeah, that's the thing, too, right? Like in a binary system, you don't really have to choose one or the other. Uh, John, why can't the US attack Iran using only ground bases in the Middle East? Doesn't the US have a lot of bases? Are those not enough? Why not? >> Those are not enough because we don't have enough um missiles and we don't

[46:03] have enough uh uh planes. You know, the aircraft carrier battle groups or the carriers themselves carry so many planes and then and then the support ships are full of literally everything you would need to fight a war. Look at it this way. Um, in 1990 and 911, we bombed Iraq mercilessly for over a month. To use Colin Powell's uh terminology, we bombed them back into

[46:35] the stone age, right? But it wasn't until we started using our naval assets, >> that we really had them on the run. And then that's why the ground war only took but what 42 hours I think it was. >> Yeah. Yeah. Super super super super enlightening. Talk about Blitzkrieg. All right, let me let me read this ad. You've probably noticed Rumble is growing fast and it's not slowing down. They're building a real alternative to big tech that puts creators first and actually protects free speech. And now there's Rumble Premium, an easy way to upgrade your experience with Premium.

[47:06] You get ad free viewing across the platform. No pre-rolls, no interruptions, just the content you came for. Plus, premium members unlock exclusive content like bonus videos, behind the scenes drops, and more from your favorite creators. Right now, Rumble is offering 10 bucks off an annual subscription. Just go to rumble.com/premium and use the promo code studio at checkout. That's rumble.com/premium's promo code studio. No ads, more freedom, and content you actually care about. That's the deal. Um, so, uh, we we should talk about

[47:37] Grock. Uh, we talked about a little bit. Um, I use Grock, full disclosure, I'm a paid member of, uh, for, uh, of X. Um, so you know, it's not like uh I'm opposed to it. Uh, Malaysia and Indonesia became the first countries in the world. Um, you know, Malaysia is a Muslim. Well, they're both Muslim countries. Huge Muslim countries. >> Huge. >> And, um, there so they're very conservative. Malaysia is more conservative than Indonesia. >> Yeah. >> Um, but, uh, so they're they're blocking

[48:08] Grock over deep fake porn. Um, what can or should big tech do about it? I mean they could seriously program um the there's already all sorts of blocks on what Grock or other you know image generate text to image generators will make for you like for example if you ask it to create Nazi imagery uh it it won't do it for the most part. Um, so you can do that. You can program it to just not

[48:39] create these deep fake nudes and stuff that have been making like young girls lives miserable in like public schools. Um, why don't they do that? I mean, this doesn't serve any purpose. Um, or is it just that they know that there's money to be made? >> That that's got to be it, right? I mean, why would you do something like that for fun? I I don't get it. It it's it's got to be a money maker somehow. But then at the same time, any [ __ ] would know that

[49:10] the government's going to come after you. You're gonna you're gonna have it shut down. >> Yeah, that's the thing, right? Like possession of um so I have a a colleague um uh who we will call Darren Bell because his name is Darren Bell who was arrested for possession of uh child pornography. Um he's a Pulitzer Prizewinning editorial cartoonist, I'm ashamed to say. Um he got an award. I can't get apparently. Um, and he uh, you know, he was arrested for uh, possession of both conventional child porn and AI

[49:42] generated child porn. And that was part of what made the case interesting from a legal point of view. He's one of the very first cases in the US of someone to be arrested for uh, you know, child porn that's u created by AI. Um it's is it um I guess the question is here I don't even know how to put this. It's sort of like how does society meant to deal with

[50:12] this? I mean you could it spreads a terri it no one no specific person was harmed. However, it's a harmful message to to the normalization of this idea is clearly harmful. >> Mhm. >> Is the legal system able to respond >> to a problem like that? >> Well, that's a good question. And you know, honestly, I think that the legal system, whether it's in the United States or in Malaysia and Indonesia,

[50:42] wherever it is, is going to have to constantly play catchup on these issues because the technology is changing so quickly. I mean, even two years ago, just two years ago, nobody knew what AI was. Nobody knew what it could do or how it was going to change things. It's putting people out of work now. College professors are are redundant. We don't need people to teach us how to write poetry because the machine does it now with porn. I mean, it's human nature, I think, to just any new invention to try

[51:14] to figure out how can use it to to generate porn. But, um, >> true. >> But otherwise, I I I think it's just things are changing too quickly that that these governments and corporations can't keep up. Um, good question from Vermicious Canids. Uh, is there no justification or desire for the US to have a stronger physical presence in Greenland? Or is that just Cold War era thinking? Let me just say before Donald Trump brought

[51:45] this up, the amount of Americans who gave this any thought on a day-to-day basis was 0.00001%. >> Yeah. I mean, nobody. Nobody thought of this or was like, "Yeah, you know what? We really got to have we really got to have Greenland to keep ourselves safe." Um, you know, and it's like, uh, is there a justification, >> Ted? This has to be about this has to be about, um, the rare earth metals, right?

[52:18] I remember yesterday we were talking about >> drilling in the Arctic. >> It has to be. We talked yesterday about this. The >> Northwest Passage is now open. Yeah, that's true. It's now open. But uh the the US has always had access to uh to Greenland. The the base was given to us in whatever it was 1940 or 41 to protect uh Greenland from the Nazis. Uh we've had the air base, you know, for

[52:50] for many decades. We we've had the right to create bases for many decades. And we used to have more of a presence and we withdrew >> under both Democratic and Republican administrations. >> Yes. >> But we can literally we we don't even really have to ask permission, right? We can just call the Danes and say, >> "Hey, we'd be sending some more guys and and they're like, "Okay, that's it." Under the terms of the agreement. So, is there justification? Sure. The justification is that 1951 treaty. >> Yeah, it is. Exactly. But that's the

[53:20] thing is that that treaty makes it impossible to understand the need or the desire on the part of Trump to own it. I think Trump wants to be able to say that he added to US territory. I think that he he's he's old enough to remember like, you know, Alaska and Hawaii as new states. And I think he wants those and he wants uh he wants to be a president who added territory to the United States. >> Yes, I think that's right. >> Yeah. And it's a lot of territory. >> Yes.

[53:50] >> Although useless for the most part, but you know, um, longtime listener, it'd be one thing if Shapiro served in the IDF, but he still pro protected CI Pennians civil liberties, but he threatened to send in the National Guard to pro Palestine college encampments. Well, that's true. Enzo, John, uh, John, where are, uh, curious on where you stand in regard to the status of your pardon and whether you're discouraged or encouraged as to who's received pardons thus far. Touchy subject, but rooting for you. And

[54:22] obviously, I will always remind you that if it's better not to comment, it's better not to comment. >> Yeah. I I will say that I I feel like I'm very close. I'm talking to all the right people. Um, I am mystified as to why it hasn't happened. You know, I see reality TV people and crooked politicians and actually crooked politicians who don't not just don't like uh Donald Trump but have complained in the in the media

[54:53] about Donald Trump even after they uh receive pardons from him. I'm just not I I'm mystified. I don't know. >> Well, um we're we're we're pull obviously we're everyone's pulling for you. Um >> thank you. Uh so we should talk a little bit about these storms. Uh this is kind of a weird climate change meets the Middle East story, right? So these big I mean you know people don't really realize that like in Israel and and Palestine the weather can be pretty severe. Um and um it can be they get

[55:25] storms. They get severe. I've been there during like you know when it was in the 30s and the w you brutal hard rains big storms in the Mediterranean. So, um, big storms swept through the, uh, all the hundreds of thousands of people who are living in tents in Gaza over the last few days, and it's made their lives even more miserable than they have been before. The international press is still not allowed in by the Israelis. Um, and so, you know, what are the chances as this is the ceasefire in danger of

[55:57] taking this uh, human rights, this humanitarian story off the headlines? I mean, in a weird way, um, from a PR standpoint, wouldn't the Palestinians kind of almost be better off with the war still going on? >> They would certainly be getting more attention because if you're a Gaza Palestinian, the war never ended. The ceasefire is a joke. People are being killed every day still. And there's still no not I shouldn't say no food, there's still not enough food. There's still a a a terrible lack of of clean water. There aren't enough medical

[56:28] supplies. People are unhoused. you know, there they're there are still bodies under the rubble. It's a hellscape. >> Yeah. >> And we're and we're not talking about it anymore in the West. >> That's Yeah. Well, that's huge. All right. So, just a reminder, everyone, if you we go buy the Drogram t-shirt over on uh YouTube, >> become a tier 2 member. Uh and there it is right there. Please like, follow, and share the show. If you're on YouTube, do consider after you buying buy the

[56:58] t-shirt heading over to Rumble because um you the support your support for the show goes a lot further for us over here on Rumble. Um please stay tuned uh for the TMI show with me and Manila Chan coming up right at 10 o'clock Eastern time in a matter of seconds. We will be back tomorrow here on Drogram with Ted R and John Kuryaku uh at 900 a.m. Eastern time. So see you then. Thanks so much, John. Talk to you tomorrow. Take it easy. Bye.
