Title: DeProgram Show with Ted Ra
Show: DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Date: 2025-07-28
URL: https://youtu.be/39xICxfs1Xg
Duration: 64:00

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[00:03] Hey there. Hey there. >> It's the program and I'm hearing my own voice back in my headphones. Okay. No, now I'm not. Now it's okay. Uh anyway, I'm Ted Ra. That's John Kuryaku over there. Uh thanks as always for joining us here on DProgram, where we try to deprogram you from all the corporate mainstream propaganda that's in the medium in the media and everywhere else. It's like the old Palm Olive uh commercial uh propaganda. you are soaking in it. Um,

[06:50] people like that. Um they're having to backpedal. Um all these politicians they were in the safe place, right? And that was true in Germany too. It was always safe to support Israel. You and I both know John 10 years ago if you criticized Israel you were in tremendous danger. You were jeopardizing your your reputation, your job. Um, you know, you you know, you'd be accused of being anti-Semitic. I know when I did anti-Israel cartoons 30 years ago, I got accused of being anti-Semitic. Um, so nothing's, you know, but now

[07:20] >> ridiculous. >> It's safer. >> It's safe. >> Yeah. Right. >> Thanks to those Thanks to those photos that are coming out. >> Photos. It's the photos that have done it. And you know what's funny, too? >> No one cares about starving and dying adults, by the way. >> No, it's the children. It's the children. And for the first day or two after those photos ran, there were a lot of complaints in the UK that the BBC had either doctorred the photos or took the photos in other countries during famines and said they were Palestinians. Now,

[07:54] not true. These are legit photos taken by BBC photographers of Palestinian children. >> Yeah, they are. And there and there's tells, too. And but you know, look, it it's look in in fairness, deep fakes are a real thing. We've seen tons of photos of like old disasters repurposed to uh to present as something that's contemporary outside of the Middle East crisis. So, it's not like impossible that such a thing would happen. But the Israeli government, they have some balls. The official spokesperson today went on and said this is fake news. This

[08:26] is fake. These photos are faked. There is no famine in Gaza. This is the official policy uh the official statement of the of the government. Um >> scandalous. >> They're kidding, right? I mean, who did they I mean, how much more full of [ __ ] could you be? And I mean, and I think the denials only make their situation worse. I mean I mean, the Israelis are rightfully in a no-win situation, but the only thing they could really say is, you know, this whole Gaza Humanitarian

[08:57] Fund Foundation thing didn't work out. we're going to let the UN back in and uh you know, let the chips fall where they may. And and then there was that article the in the over the weekend in the Saturday New York Times media dump uh where they revealed that actually um everything that Israel said about Hamas stealing aid was not true. >> It's not true. >> So they just they were just making [ __ ] up. Yeah. >> But it it you know it just appear it appears like so the Times dutifully released it on the Saturday. But

[09:29] >> when nobody's >> well supposedly, right? But that's not really true anymore. I don't think the New York Times understands that. I think like they they think nobody read it. Actually, Saturday is a major news day on the internet now. >> Good. >> You know, they're all old down there on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street. They're they're they're very very old. Not the people who work for them, but the the editors who make the call. They they don't get it. And it's kind of great. >> You're finally

[09:59] >> Donald Trump today said that there should be more aid going into Gaza. He was asked if the photos were faked. He said they looked real to him. >> Good. That that that's actually a major announcement from from Donald Trump for him to say something like that. But then, you know, we look back to just what was it, Ted, a week, maybe a week and a half ago when Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington and half the Senate showed up to take a a selfie with him with Cy Booker, who I briefly flirted

[10:32] with the idea of supporting uh in a presidential run, that's that's gone from my head. Uh but but him like lamely trying to hide his face like he was having second thoughts just as they were taking the picture. It it enrages me. I can't believe that this guy is not treated like a war criminal. Well, yes, I can believe it. It's the United States. And then we we impose sanctions on the UN special uh raper for uh for uh torture. It's just

[11:05] I just can't believe it. Well, I mean, if there's hope, it's that really I mean, things really are changing. I mean, uh, fast by the day. I mean, if I'm the Israelis, I'm nervous as hell right now. >> Absolutely. Because there's no there's no endgame for them. Um, they know what they want to do. They want to kill every Palestinian. The ones they can't kill um, throw out. But that's not a viable policy. It's it's, you know, it's a crime against humanity. You can't do

[11:36] that. >> There's a really great well-written piece in Times of Israel, which is of course, as you'd expect, a pro- uh government, pro and very uh Zionist uh publication, but basically it's saying that the that it's claiming that Israel has never had an articulated policy throughout the conflict uh in terms of war aims. And that's true. >> That's true. >> However, we know that there are war aims. >> Sure. >> I mean, the and and Israeli generals, they're not bad generals or tacticians, right? >> No, sir. They I mean they they know what

[12:07] they're doing. >> There was a uh there's a minor Zionist party that is a part of the uh Netanyahu coalition and the head of this party whom I had never heard of before said yesterday, look the policy should be to either kill or expel every Palestinian and we shouldn't be afraid to say it. It's like, well, you're the only one who's not afraid to say it. It is a war crime and a crime against humanity and

[12:38] the legal definition of genocide. But don't let me stop you from saying it. >> It's also a violation of international law for an official of a government to even articulate such a statement. That's right. He could be prosecuted for that in the future. >> Yes, he could. Yes, he could. Of course, we would put sanctions on the court that prosecuted himself, >> right? Yeah. Of course, because it's the judges you have to blame. Um Yeah. So, how much? So, I mean, okay, this is the tough question. I don't It's probably unanswerable. Maybe we should both try

[13:09] to answer it or just punt. What happens next here? I mean, are we going to How much longer is this going to go? I mean, my feeling is Israel's got literally the amount of time that they have before they cave in and let the UN back in is measurable in days. Seriously, I have to agree with you. Um, there's pretty much nothing left to destroy. All there is left to do is kill as many people as you can kill. As we

[13:40] said, that's not a viable policy. And the only way that the Israelis can get out of this is to turn back to the United Nations, declare victory, declare Hamas destroyed, and turn it over to the UN. And then you can engage the Saudis and ask them to join the Abraham Accords and you can negotiate some deal later. But if the Israelis knew what was good for them, they would declare victory and go home. >> They could offer Hamas's leadership um exile, right? They could say, "That's a

[14:10] good idea. >> We will let you leave." >> Yes. >> And you can go to a third country. I don't know. to be determined, but and we promise we will not send the MSAD after you to assassinate you later on. >> Right. Right. Nick has a good question there. Uh Ted, uh what about the American leaders of both parties who are complicit in this genocide? >> That's a you know, seriously, that is a great question. Um it seems to me like uh if you are the country that is the ma

[14:42] the number one supporter I mean look I guess it's it's a question what is the role of the United States in this World War II analogy right if Germany is Israel then the United States is a close ally like um it's an axis member like fascist Italy or Imperial Japan or perhaps Hungary or uh you know or Romania any of those like fascist access or the collabor the Vichi regime in France. They were all prosecutable. They

[15:12] were all um you know they were all legally vulnerable. We focused on Germany at the end of the war for obvious reasons. But hey you know the leader of Vichi France was condemned to death uh and then his his uh sentence was then commuted to life in prison because he was five million years old. Um he was like 86. >> Yeah. So, uh, you know, but I think, yeah, no, I think that I think honestly, um, the political leaders of the United certainly the president, certainly the

[15:44] leaders of Congress, they should be held to account legally for their role in this. I mean, they they they set the they set the weapons, they sent the money, they provided logistical support, they provided intel. I mean, yeah, it's people keep, you know, like John, one of the one of the rules that like Zionists who try to equate um criticism of Israel with anti-semitism say is if it's anti-semitism if you hold Israel to a different standard than you hold other countries. Okay. But the difference is,

[16:16] okay, the when when uh Myanmar commits um atrocities against the Rohhinga people, we're not paying for them or sending weapons. It's it's horrible and it's should be condemned and stopped, >> but it's not really our thing. It's not our responsibility, right? It's it's everybody's business, but it's not a special. But Israel is the number one recipient of foreign aid. It we run interference for them in the UN Security Council. We um you know, we provide them with crazy amounts of intel and weapons,

[16:48] $4 billion a year ever since Camp David. And by the way, is it I mean, if Jimmy Carter were here, I think he would say like the reason that we're bribing the Israelis and the Egyptians with $4 billion a year is to say, "Cut the [ __ ] and live in peace." >> Well, they're kind of The Israelis broke their part of the bargain. The Egyptians didn't. >> That's right. The Jordanians didn't. >> No, everyone's Everyone's doing what they're supposed to do, but Israelis just do whatever the [ __ ] they feel

[17:18] like. I mean really it's part of their like national personality if you believe this is a thing. >> It is. It is. That's absolutely true. And you you absorb that as you walk around u Tel Aviv or or Jerusalem or anywhere else in Israel. You just you can feel the vibe that people emit as you're over there walking around. Every Israeli that I ever knew that that's not true. Mo almost every Israelis, every Israeli that I ever knew

[17:49] wanted to utterly destroy the Palestinians, kill them all or exile them all and let the Israelis live happily ever after. Almost every Israeli I know, even my American friends who are Jewish and who consider themselves to be Zionists. There's one guy who I've been close to for for 20 years and I'm just about ready to unfriend him on Facebook because I just can't take his Zionist propaganda anymore. And then he starts off every post by saying um if there's

[18:22] any uh anti-semitism, you are permanently blocked. Well, any criticism of Netanyahu to him is anti-semitism. >> Ridiculous. And >> done. I I mean I try not to do that because I like to keep I like to keep lines of communication open, but sometimes there's really no choice because it like makes you literally insane. Um yeah. So I mean we're it's just uh you know I look I got to agree with you about the Israelis that I've met too. I knew one or two who were

[18:55] very compassionate to the plight of the Palestinians, viewed them as human beings, believed that we needed to that the Israelis needed to live side by side in peace and friendship and harmony with them. >> But very that's really exceptional, right? That most of them really view them as rats and vermin. Um they to be exterminated just like it is like what the you know like that old joke like you know what is Iraq doing on top of our our oil? It's like it's like like what are these [ __ ] Palestinians doing like infesting our land? Like why are

[19:25] they here? >> Our holy land. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, you know, honestly, the only people who are really the only the only the only Jews who I know who are really great on this in the United States are people associated with um Jewish Voices for Peace or Code Pink or any of the other myriad of of U and >> those are big groups and they're big groups and they're increasingly vocal and I think it's absolutely wonderful. Miko Pel is doing yman's work at as the

[19:58] head of Palestine House here in Washington DC. Um it just opened a couple of weeks ago and it's it's small but my goodness it's a start. >> What is Palestine House? >> It is a meeting space gallery for um pro Palestinian human rights groups, Palestinian artists, Palestinian musicians. They have programming there several nights a week. It's up on Capitol Hill and one of the one of the city's big property developers who

[20:30] happens to be Lebanese American uh donated the building and uh and they have a small endowment so they're they're able to uh they're able to make a go of it and Yala Banana even Tucker Carlson sounds sane to me now. Oh my god, I can't tell you how many times I've had that conversation with friends just in the last two weeks. Like >> Tucker has changed too. He's changed. He's >> He'll be the first to say so. >> Yes. Oh, thank you, Dana. Um Tucker once

[21:00] he was free of the bonds of Fox News was was able to be himself, his libertarian self. And while he's still completely wrong, for example, on the issue of abortion, I love the guy. I consider him to be a friend, a loyal friend, and he's 100% right on Palestine, and we should join forces. You know, I I take a lot of heat about this, too, and I know you do as well, Ted, but but parties be damned in our country. We

[21:31] should join forces with everyone who agrees with us. We can get so much more done than if we impose these ideological purity tests that do nothing but divide us. I feel really strongly about that. >> No, I totally agree. You know, I I I think about the I I know a lot about the French resistance. You know, in the during when the Nazis invaded France, monarchists fought alongside communists and socialists. It was like the idea was like we have an infestation here of of of Nazis. We can't like be worrying

[22:02] about each other. We we'll f my my favorite example of this was um uh uh what was his name? the leader Shamasud the leader of the alliance Shamasud. Did you ever meet him by the way? >> Once right before right right before he was assassinated. >> Yeah, that was on uh 910 right when that happened. >> Sure was. So um so Akmed Sha Mam Sumid was the a legendary general from the Pangir Valley um Tajik northern from the northern alliance and he unified um the

[22:33] anti-Taliban the antis-siet resistance right and he famously convened all these tribes and factions who all hated each other and they all got together and he held up a a cup a cup of tea toasted everyone and said first we kill the Russians then we kill each other and remembering that >> that remembering that order is very very important. Uh right now we we have a you know we have a major problem. I mean on a foreign policy front um we're kneedeep

[23:05] in militarism, adventurism and zionism and complicity with genocide. We've got whoever everyone who's against that left right whatever we got to get together. Here in the United States, we have, you know, rampant billionaires and corporations underpaying everyone, screwing us all, taking away our health care, left, right, middle. Everybody's got to like fight for ordinary people. I mean, we've got to get together. I mean, there is a there's a place to unify between the left and the the populist left and the populist right. For sure. I

[23:36] mean, the populist right has been betrayed by Trump and they know it. >> Yeah, that's absolutely true. Uh Reed makes a couple of uh of good points here too. Tucker is not gonna cross the Rubicon because his kid actually does work for things. That that is that is true. Um and it's not just Palestine that he's right on. He's also talking about Zionist manipulation in the United States. He and I had a long conversation about that actually about um Israeli uh intelligence operations in uh in the

[24:08] United States and how the Israelis for decades now have been spread out all over the country trying to infiltrate our defense contractors and steal our defense secrets because we only give them 95% of what we have. They want the other 5% that uh >> that's the Israeli way. >> Yeah. It's the Israeli way. Yasutaki joining us. >> All right. >> All right. Are we deprogrammed on Gaza right now? >> Yeah, I'm I'm all fired up about Gaza.

[24:40] >> There will be. Oh, me too. Um, and by the way, seriously, for people who are coming to this point of view belatedly, welcome. >> Welcome. >> And and thank you. And uh better late than never. And we're not going to give you [ __ ] Uh neither. But seriously, welcome aboard. We have to put an end to this [ __ ] And if it's, you know, look, we all have been propagandized. So, it's not shocking that it takes some people longer to be depropagandized than others. All right. So, Russia,

[25:10] um, Donald Trump had set a 50-day deadline, which some people had interpreted as basically like a a wink wink nudge nudge to President Putin, like you guys can do some mopping up operations there, uh, in preparation for a ceasefire negotiation. But I'm really looking for you after 50 days to sit down with the Yukis and sit down and work out some operative phrase being after 50 days. >> After 50 days. Well, um this is kind of like one of those things like um I had a credit card where they used to say you

[25:41] had 28 days to pay and then like one day I got a late notice after I paid 10 days afterwards and it was like but I thought and they oh yeah we changed that you didn't read that like 5,000word thing that we that we sent you. Uh yeah. So that's kind of like what happened to Russia. I mean Putin just got his notice like oh no um 50 days has been revoked now is to now is now I am in >> it might be 10 to 12 days maybe >> maybe so okay so then Trump saying if

[26:13] the Russians don't hop to it and make peace with Ukraine and the Ukrainians do appear more willing to to talk and get serious than ever before but who knows with them. Um, okay. So, what exactly is the threat here to Russia? I don't really get it because they've already slammed them with sanctions. They got you and me fired. I mean, it's like what more do they I mean, what more could Trump do? I know we still buy [ __ ] particularly energy from Russia, but you

[26:46] know, the Russians can they have other they have other markets. It's oil, >> you know. It's it's like I used to work in banking and we used to say you know we have the one product everyone wants money and it's like well when you sell oil you have a you have another product everyone wants. I mean if you're Putin are you losing any sleep? >> No because the Indians and the Chinese have said whatever oil you have we'll buy it. And after that initial shock,

[27:17] you remember right after the Ukraine invasion, U Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister said that that the Russians were surprised at the quickness with which the US was able to impose sanctions and we kind of knocked them off kilter for three or four weeks and then they realized they don't really need the United States including the American banking system when they can turn to the Indians and the Chinese and everybody else in the world that doesn't want to fall into line behind US sanctions, they realized they're

[27:48] actually not having too tough of a of a problem with it. >> Well, not to mention it terrorized the rest of the world, right? Like, you know, President Xi and uh and uh and Prime Minister Modi of India, they looked at that move and they said the [ __ ] the [ __ ] Americans are they're feckless and reckless, right? They will kick anyone out of the monetary system. You know, Brett and Woods be damned. They don't care. They're going to do they they they're going to politicize the US dollar and the reserve currency. We better get our own deal going.

[28:18] >> That's right. And just wait until the BRICS countries make their own unified currency. It's going to be it's going to be a major change in global. It's an atomic bomb. >> That's right. >> I mean, it could really like tilt the US into a depression within days. >> That's right. It really could. So the Ukrainians, you know, finally saw the writing on the wall with with Donald Trump and the Russians saw an opportunity that, you know, hadn't been there before. And so they're not afraid of sanctions. We can sanction them from

[28:49] now until kingdom come. They don't care about the sanctions because they don't need us, >> right? >> It's really as simple as that. >> So I mean, obviously that said, in a way, Trump's in a little bit Trump is pushing on an open door, right? I mean, Russia doesn't want this to go on forever. They're not stupid. It costs its money and time, and they're not really getting anywhere. I mean, the lines aren't moving very fast. I mean, pretty much this is, you know, it is what it is. You look at a map of where the front lines are. This is where it

[29:20] is. And you might have some land swaps to make things a little more even so we don't end up with a Thai Cambodian situation, but it is what it is. And I and I know Putin gets that. I mean, so >> like so I guess the question is is peace is a ceasefire is a deal possible this year. >> Yeah, sure. Sure. But there has to be something really special in it for the Russians because they're just not feeling under any pressure.

[29:52] >> Yeah. They're just not >> I mean certainly an end to all the sanctions would be a start, right? But then I think reintegration I, you know, honestly I bet G8 membership would be just the tasty treat that Putin would like. >> I would agree with that. I would agree. Remember the the G >> Donald Trump has said it should be the G. >> Do you remember the G7 plus one? >> That's just that was offensive. That was offensive. And it was >> that was like Gilligans Island and Russia and the And the rest.

[30:22] >> Yeah. and all the rest here on Tilly Gins aisle. >> Yeah, they you know they by the way I don't know if you know that right the rest were the professor and Maryanne >> and then they changed it in season >> and they and they yeah they negotiated a deal and uh Maryanne's the only one who any made any ever made any money from that show. Um she her agent negotiated like some insane deal for residuals and syndication. Back then they were like syndication what's that? >> And she like lived in total luxury the rest of her life.

[30:53] >> Yeah. >> Yeah she did. >> Russia though. I mean so do you think so that might be enough right to bring to get it done with Russia. But then are the, you know, can can Trump lean on the Ukrainians and force them to sign a deal? I mean, he can, but he's getting pressure from the militarist forces and the supporters of Ukraine politically >> breathing, you know, he's got Lindsey Graham and people like that breathing down his neck. Yeah. So, which way, how

[31:24] does Trump fall on this? He has to, do I want my Nobel Peace Prize, right? Or do I want to suck up to Lindsey Graham? Like, what is it? I think he wants the Nobel Peace Prize, which is why uh he called the Cambodians and the ties over the weekend and told to cut it out and now they announced a ceasefire. >> Yeah, let's just let's just skip to that. Let's talk to that. Let's talk about that because I I thought it was an interesting story. Right. So, back in 1907, French the French uh grew they

[31:55] they they they were the colonial power. Thailand was independent, right? Um but uh Cambodia was a French colony and they signed a a a border deal. They declared they defined the border mostly along a river but with an exception and the the way that the treaty looked the text of the treaty basically put these temples inside of Thailand and uh in and then but the map that accompanied it put the temples inside Cambodia. Um, so

[32:27] Cambodians are like, "We're going with the picture." And the ties are like, "We're going with the words. I love this whole thing." And so they've been like at it for years over this, although most of for most of the time no one cares. Uh, basically for five days there's been fighting across the border with heavy artillery. So and and some F-16 action. Um, the ties that we as we talked about last week obviously have the military advantage overwhelmingly. And basically over the weekend, Trump

[32:57] said, "We have an August 1st deadline for for all of the tariffs with every country on Earth, and if you two rascals don't cut the [ __ ] you guys will get like hit by massive sanctions. I mean, by massive tariffs and bring it to an end now." So, Thailand, I get they have a lot of trade with the US. >> Yes. >> Cambodians don't have [ __ ] >> No, they have they still have >> Yeah. So, so I think with the Cambodians, they just want it to be over because they're getting their asses kicked, right?

[33:27] >> Agreed. >> Okay, that was my take. So, the ties wanted to be over. The ties were motivated by But who ever heard of ending a who ever heard of ending a a war with a threat of tariffs. >> I mean, it's kind of brilliant. >> It is brilliant, actually. And it and it's worked. I mean, listen, this whole tariff thing you and I both said was nuts when it was first announced he was going to crash the international economy and son of gun if it if it's not working out. >> It's, you know. Yeah.

[33:59] Yeah. Sorry, Jay. We've been talking about other things, but anyway, tying this back in the past. I'm sure it'll come up again. tying this back to um Ukraine and uh and Russia. Uh somebody pointed out that you know the the Pentagon has this plan going into 2026. Of course it does. That's what the Pentagon does. It does near medium and long-term planning. Um >> Oh yeah. They have plans to invade Likenstein. >> Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're called offtheshelf plans. They come up with the plan to invade XYZ country and they just

[34:31] put it on the shelf and someday if you need to invade that country, you pull it off the shelf and you do the invasion. >> Emergency. Please break glass. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's right. So, um I think that the Ukrainians are exhausted. I think that they don't fully trust Donald Trump to keep funding them and sending weapons. And they also realize they're going to have to concede some territory at least to the Russians. But the Russians I I don't understand what the motivation is to keep fighting unless

[35:02] the Russians are serious about overthrowing uh Zalinski, taking you know Odessa someday. Who knows? >> Otherwise they are it's not acting rationally because I mean Russia has been kind of fighting with one hand tied behind their back. Yeah, I mean they have not committed the full weight of the Russian military to this project. They've treated the Russia Ukrainian war as kind of like an important project, but one of many, not like an existential

[35:35] uh, you know, fight for the Russian Federation. Um, this is not total war for them. It's like something they're just doing doing on the side kind of. And that's why they're not I mean if they threw everything they had at the Ukrainians they would overthrow Zilinsky and overrun the entire >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> So what's going on? >> I don't know. I'm I'm wondering if they're trying to put so much pressure on Zalinski that the Ukrainians rise up and push Zilinski out. let Zilinsky take his

[36:06] money and run to London and then they might be willing to sit down and negotiate a settlement with whomever steps in it fills the void. I don't know. I don't know. Otherwise, the Russian position over the last several weeks does not make sense to me. >> Yeah. Old Cold War thing about a you know, a mystery wrapped in an enigma. >> That's right. >> Yeah. A riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in. >> That's right. Russians are hard to figure out sometimes and sometime. And yet they're also the most straightforward people in the world

[36:36] sometimes too. >> Yeah, sometimes they are. Um, no, yellow banana. That's that's one of the issues. The the Ukrainian constitution >> election. >> Yeah, the Ukrainian constitution says that in a time of war, elections can be postponed indefinitely. >> If you Zilinsky declared martial law and then he said, well, under martial law, you can't have an election. So, I would love to have an election, but because of the thing that I declared, we can't have one. >> Can't do it.

[37:06] >> And there's no And there's no uh by the way, the US had elections during the Civil War. Just saying. >> Yes. Yes, we did. Yeah. >> Yeah. I think uh Pamela, I think that's right. The Duran, you know, those guys in the Duran, they know more about Russia and more about the Russia Ukraine war than I think anybody else on the planet practically. They're they are saying that the Russians want to demilitarize Ukraine and they use that term to denazify the Ukrainian military. I think it's the same thing. And um

[37:38] >> so so removing like the uh like the the far right opponents like the AFI type people. >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> I don't know. I mean, it just seems like it's like that's Does Russia really want to micromanage another country's military like that? >> God forbid. I can't imagine. >> Don't you have anything better to do? >> Unless they push the Costa Rican uh model where, you know, Costa Rica just doesn't have a military. It just doesn't exist. They have a national police

[38:10] force, but there is no military. There's no navy. They have a little coast guard with, you know, one boat in the Atlantic and one boat in the in the Pacific, but that that's it. >> Well, but the the West would never tolerate that because Ukraine's a major weapons purchaser. >> It is. And a major weapons manufacturer. >> What what what what weapons do they make? >> Oh, they are prolific in with the 9 millimeter and the Kalashnikov. They have factories just pumping them out. Yeah. >> So, this is a Soviet legacy.

[38:41] >> Yes. Yes. Just like it is with the Romanians. >> Yeah, the Romanians make billions and billions of 9 millimeter ammunition every year. >> That's that is super interesting. So Cambodia and Thailand I I I would say like okay, yes, it's fragile. It just the the ceasefire just went into effect. Like all ceasefires, this is one of those we'll stop fighting now. details to be worked out later in terms of this um you know 1907 uh border conflict. But

[39:13] um my my feeling is that this is over for now. >> What do you think? >> Yeah, I think so, too. Yeah. And there's no there's no upside to it. >> Well, you could pick up some temples. >> I guess you get the temples. Yeah, you get the temples. >> Who doesn't want their own Buddhist temple? I'd take a Buddhist temple. They look cool, >> you know. Speaking of speaking of Buddhist temples, do you remember the the giant Buddhas in central Afghanistan? >> Yeah. In Bameyan >> that in Bameyan that the that the Taliban blew up like 1500y old Buddhas.

[39:44] The Greek government in the in the depths of its economic depression tried to buy those Buddhas just to save them. >> Oh wow. >> And with the intention of then donating them back to a post Taliban Afghan government. >> Yeah. Then and Mulla Omar was like, "Fuck you guys." Well, I remember like, yeah, at the time, I mean, I think it's important to remember that, not to at all. Um, you know, I can't sign off on what they did, but um, you know, the the

[40:15] the the rhetoric was really interesting because it was 2000 and, uh, Mulla Omar, the oneeyed leader of the Taliban at the time, um, said, "Look, you guys don't care about our children who are starving to death due to sanctions. So why on earth should you care about the this big sandstone thing? We're blowing it the [ __ ] up. And I remember thinking like, man, that's brutal. ISIS had the same mentality in Syria uh and and Palmira and all that, but I could see it, you

[40:46] know, like you you Westerners, you care about this this 1500 year old thing, but you don't care about people right here and now. >> Yeah. Isn't that the truth? First, I want to thank USC and to to uh answer his question, you know, my first couple trips with the CIA, I went to little teeny tiny piddling countries that nobody would even pay any attention to. And we would have these massive gigantic American embassies that would take up like an entire city block. And I

[41:16] remember asking, I forget what country I was in, it was like Ethiopia maybe. And I was like, why why do we have an embassy that's this gigantic in Ethiopia when we don't have any national interest here? And um the station chief told me um because we have to make sure it's bigger than the Russian embassy. >> I mean that's what it came down to. >> So it is the size of our national penis. >> That's exactly what it is. You go to any African country and our embassies are

[41:48] absolutely gigantic and it's because the Soviets had big embassies. So ours had to be bigger. >> It's not the size of your consular representation. It's how you use it. >> That's so uh Reeds S points out that a lot of independent journalists and YouTubers are visiting Afghanistan lately. I've been watching them. I'm jealous. You know, I I I love Afghanistan. I I think it's honestly couldn't possibly. right now is the safest it's ever been in our lifetime. >> I'm absolutely sure that's true. >> I think you could even go you could even

[42:19] travel on the central highway. The highway is a misnomer. Um but I bet you could do that and be okay. >> Oh, the the US embassy in Cairo. Oh my god. There there's a lot I probably shouldn't say about the US Embassy in Cairo other than yes, it's an enormous facility and the Russian embassy is equally enormous. It's ridiculous. >> Reed has this question. Um, why is it forbidden to take a photo outside the embassy overseas? Not everywhere in

[42:50] >> Well, I mean, it's it's they're not laws that you can't take uh photos. They're policy. Uh the the uh State Department's Office of Diplomatic Security doesn't allow photos, but because they can be used to case the embassy. So they have people on the roof and they have people looking at the the closed circuit TVs and they'll uh they'll run out and grab your camera. Yeah. >> Yeah. Um Yes. Well, certainly I've been to in a lot of former Soviet republics, you can't take any pictures or in any

[43:22] authoritarian state, you can't take any pictures of any public buildings at all. In Turk Manistan, I got into trouble taking picture of a post office. >> I got in trouble in Saudi Arabia one time taking a picture of of a sunset that just happened to have the Ministry of Interior off in the distance to the to the left. >> Did they try to take your camera? >> They did. >> Yeah. >> And I I stood I stood my ground and it was a standoff for a half an hour, but they finally backed down when I pulled out the black passport.

[43:52] >> I bet they did. Yeah, I bet they did. And I genuinely was not I I don't care what the interior ministry looks like. I was genu genuinely taking a picture of the of a desert sunset. >> Yeah. No, I believe you. Um All right. So, let's talk. Should we talk about Trump? He's in Scotland. Uh his mom >> Yeah. >> was uh born and raised in Scotland. Uh >> yeah. But how incredibly rude is it and what a gigantic violation of protocol that he goes to Scotland and then

[44:22] summons Kier Starmer to to fly to Scotland to greet him. >> It's it's like come here dog. >> B and Starmer did he got on a plane and he went >> crazy. >> Yeah. Well, >> I was shocked by it. Yeah. So yeah, it's interesting. Why do you think there's so many uh people in Scotland who are protesting him over Epstein? I mean, he's got all people are lined up along

[44:53] the side of the road everywhere Trump goes saying that uh you know, calling him a pedophile and saying that he's uh you know, need Why do they care about the Epstein files? >> I don't think they do. I think this is just an easy swipe that they can take at him. They protest him every time he goes to his golf club in uh in Scotland. And I think this is just this Epstein thing has made it so easy to criticize him. I mean, here we are weeks into it and there is still zero White House strategy

[45:24] with over how to deal with this. And then today when he >> Well, they played for time by by shutting down Congress early. >> That's exactly what it was. They played for time by shutting down Congress until September. Um but also >> it's not going to work. >> No, it's not going to work. And and just like the countdown at the front at the beginning of our show, everyone's just watching that countdown. They're just waiting. >> Yeah. >> It's like this stupid statement that, you know, are you going to pardon uh

[45:55] Gain Maxwell? And he says, well, I have the power to pardon Gain Maxwell. It's like, oh my god. Like, have you learned nothing over the last two weeks? That's exactly what you shouldn't say in response to a question. >> Why not? >> Because Gain Maxwell is a convicted pedophile serving 20 years in prison. His base is more anti-pedophile than any other, you know, president uh presidency in in American history. And what does he gain by pardoning a convicted pedophile?

[46:27] I think I know the answer to that question, which is that it'll look like he's being transparent. Um, I'm pardoning her. Well, one of two things, right? I I think he's like trying to figure out what to do, right? But if he pardons her, maybe he uh pardons her in exchange for a gag order, like she agrees to shut the [ __ ] up, otherwise she's going to have a a drone up her ass one day. Um or uh and and she it also it fits in with his narrative, right?

[46:58] There's nothing to see here. There's nothing in the files. There was no there was nothing in there. Therefore, she never should have people have asked she's never been should then she should she she should never have been convicted. Right. And it's like yes, she never should have been convicted. So it plays into that narrative, right? It's like it keeps your story straight as well. I mean it's a crooked story but as straight as you can possibly keep it. I think that's that's what he's thinking. >> That could be it. I would say his thinking is incorrect, but uh but that

[47:28] could very well be it. Yeah. >> Bothers me very much. >> Um well, I mean, and then the other the other approach could be to say, "Hey, I'll let her go." And that's part of my transparency operation. Maybe she doesn't have much to say, uh at least not about me or anyone I care about much. And that will show that I didn't that we didn't have that we the establishment have didn't have Jeffrey killed and Maxwell >> buried in in the buried in prison.

[48:01] >> Like we're letting her run around. She can go be on the view. Whatever she wants to do and I'm going to show like I didn't do anything wrong. I have nothing to fear. >> I think that's he's toying with those two possibilities. >> That's that's good thought. And he likes to and another thing is he likes to blab because it's I think it's part of his test marketing. He likes to dip his toe in the water. He raises the flag to see if anyone salutes. Right? This is like let's see how people react. If people freak out and say like what the [ __ ] are

[48:31] you talking about? You can't pardon her. Then it's like you know I never said that. I would have never done that. >> Which is a very common thing that that the White House does. I mean every every president does this. you you release this rumor just to see what the response is going to be to the rumor. So it that could be it. That could be it. >> Let's I want to answer question. >> That's a good question right there. >> If they release the only person charged, well, someone else was charged, too, but he died. Um then where's the justice for

[49:04] the victims? Well, that's the whole point is then there's no vict there is there are there were no victims really um and the only person who is responsible has died and because there were no victims then we release the only person charged. I mean I don't believe in any of this but >> and and Trump mentioned Larry Summers today. I missed that. That's >> Larry Summers, former president of Harvard who thinks that women don't know

[49:35] math. >> Yeah. And former secretary of the Treasury and and current douchebag on top of it. >> Mega mega douche. >> Everybody who's ever met Larry Summers says he's one of the most awful human beings they've ever encountered. >> Yeah. Yeah. I've I have heard similar things. >> I heard the other day that John Kerry was somehow involved as well, which doesn't surprise me one iota. >> Really? No, no. Car's Listen, I worked for Carrie for two and a half years closely closely with Carrie. Carrie's a

[50:07] scumbag and he's a he's a fake progressive. There's nothing like literally nothing progressive about him at all. And then he'll do just stupid [ __ ] after stupid [ __ ] Like for example, I've been working for him for a year and he bought a yacht. And it wasn't just a yacht. It was like an oceangoing ship, right? and the the sales tax on it or not the sales tax but the mooring tax on it was $6 million in um in Massachusetts. So he

[50:37] registered it in in Rhode Island um which doesn't have a moing tax. And what he did he has, you know, he has a big house on on Beacon Hill in Boston. He's got a a giant ski lodge in um in Idaho. He's got 120 acres in western Pennsylvania. He's got houses all over. a house in Georgetown. So he bought his >> wife. >> Well, no, he's got as much money as she does. >> Oh, is that true? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's >> Hind is from the Hines Ketchup.

[51:07] >> Yeah. John Hines's wife. >> He's lovely, by the way. >> Yeah. So, so Carrie bought this little tiny condo in Rhode Island so he could have a Rhode Island address and save $6 million by docking his oceangoing ship there. And then there was this uprising and even staff members, we went to the chief of staff, really good guy who's actually a member of the Kennedy family. And um we said, "David, this is this is a really bad look. You know, we're supposed to represent him." And we're

[51:38] out there and people are bashing us over this over this failure to pay the moing tax. And eventually Carrie moved the ship back to Massachusetts and paid the six million. >> So disappointing. Uh, do you want to answer Reed's question? >> I missed Reed's question. You got it there. >> Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Uh, what? Mr. Kuryaku, why? >> Oh, thank you. Oh, that's actually sweet. So, so Reed, a couple of nights, a week, a week or so before I left for prison, um, I was at my wit's end trying

[52:11] to save myself. So, I wrote him an email to his his private personal email address and I said, well, by then he was Secretary of State. So I said, "Mr. Secretary, I'm begging you to help me. Please ask the president if he'll commute my sentence. The the conviction would still stand, but I could work and earn money for my family and keep my family together and put food on the table." and he waited two three days and

[52:41] then he um he wrote back and all the email said was please do not ever attempt to contact me again and that was the last time I heard from him. >> That is cold. >> Yeah. >> I'm sorry, John. That's brutal. >> It was awful. It really was. >> And no no explanation, no reason. >> That was it. Please do not ever attempt to contact me again. >> Wow. Uh, is Mike Baker a real ex CIA agent?

[53:12] You have a minute? So, I replaced Mike. >> We've got time. >> I replaced Mike in Athens. And, um, Mike's a good guy. He was a a legit, you know, counterterrorism case officer, operations officer. And, um, he did something that was really really like really stupid. He and another colleague of ours were doing surveillance on a terrorism

[53:44] suspect. And you know, the best security in the world is probably old Greek ladies peering through their their uh drapes, you know, from their houses. And this old Greek lady kept seeing these two men sitting in a van day after day after day. So she calls the cops and the cops come and surround the van, right? Mike and his and his pal can't get out. >> Oops. >> They finally open the door. The cops pull Mike and the other guy out. And inside the van, they have like three

[54:16] different changes of disguise each. They have like six different ID cards all from different countries and in different names. And so they used their get out of jail free card and said, "Call my boss." in this certain section of the embassy. They were expelled from Greece. And then Mike, when Mike went back to headquarters, he was called into into the director of counterterrorism

[54:46] cent's office. And Mike was kind of bragging to people that he was going to get an operation for standing up to the Greeks like that. And instead, they told him, um, we want your resignation by the end of the day. And that was the end of Mike. Yeah, I ended up working with his wife uh for several years afterwards. But yeah, Mike was the real deal. He just made a really stupid mistake and uh and he paid for it with his career. The thing about Mike, too, you know, Mike was a good-looking guy. I guess he's

[55:17] still a good-looking guy. Um no, this is well before covert. He was a good-looking guy. So, he went into male modeling and he made a couple of hundred, couple thousand bucks, you know, modeling, whatever. And then he tried to get his own show at Fox News and it just didn't work. He ended up pairing up with a KGB officer and opening a security consulting firm in London. I I remember they did um security for Madonna's uh wedding to Guy Richie. Uh but Mike never really made

[55:49] money like I like he thought he was going to and he never went back to the agency. Gotcha. John, let's talk about ICE. Um, it's uh in four minutes it'll be six o'clock Eastern time here in New York City. A major protest is scheduled at that time in City Hall Park in lower Manhattan. Um, ICE is bringing uh the big show from LA to New York. U, they're going to be flooding the zone according to the Department of Homeland Security. They're bringing in their military hardware. They're going to be grabbing

[56:19] and snatching as many uh brownskinned people as they possibly can. >> The Washington Post told people, "Stay out. Stay out of the area. It's going to be hell." >> Yep. And uh Yeah. And I have several friends who are like, "Oh, should I tell my friends uh to not go outside?" I'm like, "Yeah, tell them to take the couple take the week off from work, you know." Um so it's going to be ugly. It's, you know, most of this activity is going to be happening out in the outer burrows in Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. um where they have a high much bigger

[56:51] minority population. Um you know, I'm reminded of that quote from uh Casablanca where um Humphrey Bogart advises the Nazi major uh you know, not that probably not wouldn't be good to invade certain neighborhoods in New York. ICE is getting ready to invade certain neighborhoods in New York. I have a feeling they're going to find it about as spicy as they found it out in LA. The locals don't like it. We don't like it here. And uh I mean I wouldn't be surprised if uh there were clashes

[57:21] this week. >> The the New York Times said this afternoon too that the that the level of raids that are expected in New York will dwarf the raids that we saw in Los Angeles. Wow. This is this is big. This is going to be very big and we should probably expect to see some violence. >> I would think so. Um, and you know, I should remind people that here in New York City, you know, due to the Supreme Court ruling, this used to be a city where it was illegal to own to own a handgun unless you were a celebrity.

[57:52] That's not true anymore. >> Um, you can legally go out to, you know, Tennessee, buy a gun, and bring it back. Hell, go to Long Island and buy a gun. >> A lot of people just cross the border into Vermont and buy a gun. >> It's it's it's really easy. Um, I'm not encouraging it, but I mean I I I do think it's it's likely likelier than not. I mean I mean you I should point out it's also been a long hot summer. We're now in the fifth consecutive week of over 90 temperatures. It's been a non-stop heat wave with no end in sight.

[58:24] Uh we have heat indices of over a 100red degrees every single day. A my I've got my AC going 247. Someone asked if I had AC going for my cat. Yeah, but mainly for me. Um, you know, it's it but it's like Yeah, my cat's a Russian blue, so he doesn't really like the hot weather. Um, but it's it's definitely uh it's horrible. So, and I and I think there's also going to be a lot of resistance. There's organized resistance here, you know, advocates for uh for for and I

[58:54] think a lot of non-immigrants, non-migrants will help their migrant uh fellow New Yorkers. I mean, I would. >> It's against the law, but I would. >> I would. >> Yeah. >> There's no choice. >> Um, morally, I feel like I have to. Um, John, did you hear about the case about this 82year-old IRA IRA veteran? >> Yes. >> Oh my god. So, what the [ __ ] So, >> oh my god. >> This dude is 82 years old. Um he was uh

[59:25] convicted back in 1983 of trying to buy rockets to attack in New York because you know in New York in the 80s was a wild time. You could hang out at Studio 54 and buy rockets to attack the Brits. I'm sure it was probably just a [ __ ] the usual FBI enttrapment sting operation. But anyway, the point is he was trying to buy it. Um he was the leader of the of this thing. Um and then the uh Good Friday Accords came and uh as part of the Good Friday

[59:57] Accords, all these charges were dropped. He was released from prison. He was given a green card, allowed to stay in the United States. Anyway, the Trump administration just sent him a deportation notice. They said, "You got to get the [ __ ] out. The dude's 82 years old, hasn't committed a crime at all since 1983." Um and uh he's got all sorts of heart problems and he he's on Medicaid and everything else you can imagine. and he needs that. I mean, I guess Ireland has national healthcare. He'll be fine. But I mean, they want to kick him back to Ireland and he's like,

[1:00:28] "Fuck you. All right, whatever." Um, >> but I mean, what's going on, John? Is this just like Are these letters being autogenerated for everybody who's got a criminal record? >> No, they must be. They must be because otherwise I don't understand the strategy here. If you want to, you know, raid all of the restaurants in New York City and grab the the sue chefs and the dishwashers, that's one thing. But if you're if you're expelling, you know, a

[1:00:58] Chilean torture victim, which was what they did last week, and now an Irish, you know, freedom fighter for all intents and purposes, >> then how who's making that decision? I can't imagine that they're sitting around a table, you know, some conference room table in Washington with a stack of files saying yes, no, yes, no about who they expel. This has to be computerenerated. There has to be like this giant computerenerated list of everybody who's ever been accused of a crime and is here on a green card and

[1:01:31] then they're being expelled. I I just I otherwise I don't understand it. Yeah. And and Houdini makes a point there too. This way they can say, "Oh, we're not just expelling brown people. There have been white guys, too." >> Yeah. Right. But I mean, 82 years old. >> Yeah. 82 years old. Like, he's a real threat to our society. >> Yeah. Well, maybe, you know, they they say it's like when they turn 83 is when people get really crazy. Never know what Never know what they might do. >> Um, crazy. >> Wow. So, I I don't know. Um, all right.

[1:02:04] So, I guess we'll we'll we'll watch that. We'll know more about it later in the week when we have our we're here Monday, Wednesday, Friday 5:00 PM Eastern. Um, and I'm trying to think, is there anything else that we uh missed here? Um, not really. Right. I mean, I I'm a little scared. >> Weekends are slow, but there was a lot to talk about today being a Monday. >> Yeah, for sure. >> There's a lot. It's going to be It's going to be a busy and very hot summer. >> Yeah. Yeah. Always. So,

[1:02:38] uh, let's see. Let's put Oh, let's put let's put this up. This is kind of cool. Um, thank you for the $10 donation. Much appreciated. >> Um, the German chancellor announced an airbridge to Gaza today. What's an airbridge? >> But stress the importance of Germany's friendship with Israel and the need to remember October. Who can [ __ ] forget the October 7th attacks? People just they don't start stop talking about it. I mean, >> an airbridge is a um it's a direct path into another country's airspace where

[1:03:10] you're guaranteed safety. >> Okay. Okay. Like >> Cypress to Gaza and the Israeli Air Force won't shoot you down. >> That's an airbridge, >> right? What we need is a bridge. Bridge. What we need is an open border. >> That's right. I mean honestly >> that's right. >> All right. Well, I guess we are going to declare ourselves sufficiently deprogrammed for today. >> Thanks everybody. >> Thanks always for joining us. Much

[1:03:40] appreciated. Uh please like, follow, and share the show. Seriously, please do. Uh if you're not already doing it. Um it just takes a second of your time and it really makes a huge difference. Um, and we really are are super moved by John and I talk about this by the incredible participation in the chats and just the enthusiasm. You guys are amazing. >> Love it. Thank you for these smart, well-informed, relevant questions. It really keeps things going. Thank you for that. >> Here, here. Um, and so, um, please, uh,

[1:04:12] check us out here, uh, on our various websites and stuff, but we'll see you Wednesday 5:00 p. a.m. Eastern time, same bat station, same bat time. Take care. And if you're undocumented, get documented. And if you can't get documented, hide.
