[00:11] Good morning. It's Monday, March 9th. Thank you for tuning in to Dprogram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. John Kiriakou either looks very different or he's being substituted by Robbie West. I'm not sure which it is. Robbie West is our producer. John is traveling this morning and we were originally told that John would be joining us for about half the show and then Robbie would probably have to fill in for the last half while John ran from one flight to the next. I kind of wanted to see him
[00:42] running through the terminal and you know with the all jostling while he did the show. But we don't know where he is. We texted him this morning and it went straight to text the text went undelivered and his voicemail goes straight to his phone. So straight you know straight no ring. So obviously he's still on the the first flight and hasn't gotten off hasn't deplaned as they say in the awkward terminology of aviation. So thanks for joining us. If John does pop in and
[01:14] grace us with his presence, we'll just put him on. So this is like this may be Dprogram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. It may not be. It may be partly John. I don't know. Is that is that a full sum enough explanation Robbie? Well it's kind of like American foreign policy. You never quite know what you're going to get. >> [laughter] >> I mean Or what or what the reasons are. Reasons for suckers. You don't need reasons. Just just need to just bow your head bovinely and say
[01:46] absolutely my dear sweet orange Jesus whatever it is that you think is best. I fully I fully consent to whatever it is that you want to do. And that's kind of like how the how our show is when it comes to John's travel schedule. Because, well, he is an international man of mystery. He's always going. There's nothing going on the world causing chaos. And so, um everything is running along as it should be. Indeed. As in as all for the best in this best of all possible worlds,
[02:17] as they said in Candide. Um so, Robbie, before we get to obviously that we're going to be talking about the economy, we're going to be talking about Iran, we're going to be talking about the ecological disaster that's unfolding in Tehran that probably will have consequences for years to come. But I wanted to ask you, and I know I don't think we've talked about this much, but I talked a little bit about it with my DMZ co-host Scott Stantis last week. Um the more I game it out, right? I When I the way my mind works is it's kind of
[02:49] like a I look like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube, right? Like I turn it around, look at one side, then look at the other side. And I'm like, and it takes me a while to kind of like game things out from the when I don't understand what's going on. I think we can all say, you know, Trump is not does not want us to understand what's going on or why he's doing things. Um but I the more I think about it, the more I think he's going to cancel this election and as well as the presidential one. And the reason I think that is if he doesn't cancel the If he If he leaves the presidency,
[03:19] he becomes vulnerable to you know, all the the felony charges that are pending against him in the federal courts will resume in 2020 on January 20th, 2029. And lawfare will go back and he could very well be facing prison again. Um he or me or you, any of us would do anything to avoid that. Anything. And the And I'm thinking, well, so he has to avoid it. The only way he can avoid it is by having is coming up with some excuse to to these
[03:50] elections. And you know, you'd start with the midterm cuz people won't care that much about the midterm and then they're kind of used to not that not having an election by 2028 so maybe they won't really freak out and by that time we'll have more authoritarianism. I know it's a lot of ifs, right? But the basically the bottom line is no 2020 election working backwards. Let's start with 2026 no election and therefore Trump can stay in office and therefore everything else makes sense if you think think [clears throat] about it that way
[04:21] because if he doesn't need if he doesn't care about popular will well a war is always a good excuse for a national emergency, right? Incoming attack, whatever. Um and you don't really care about getting, you know, buy-in from the public because after all you're not really running again and not and your party's not really running again. Well wait wait you got to remember I mean at the end of the day all we're doing is adopting the Ukrainian style of democracy. It's it's very streamlined. It's not sloppy.
[04:52] There's no corruption. You don't have to worry about no campaign finance. You don't have to worry about the [clears throat] those pesky election laws. You don't have to worry about >> debates. Yeah, I mean it's it's a very streamlined system. You get to vote for the party and man of your choice that is offered which is conveniently one. And it just makes things really efficient. I I don't have a problem with this. It's So what do you think? Do you think I I mean you're you can just say Ted you're you're paranoid as [ __ ] Shut up. I mean
[05:22] what do you think? Well I agree with you. And I I I mean 6 months ago I would have thought that she had TDS. 3 months ago I would have thought that she had TDS. >> And I never had TDS as you know. No no I mean you're a very fair-minded person. You're much more fair-minded than I am. I'm just trying to think like what I would do if I were him. You do whatever you want. I mean seriously who's going to stop you? Who's going to stop him? I was talking to Santos yesterday Uh and he's like, well, would the American people put up with that? I said, you
[05:53] tell me how it looks. Do you think this is like a real country like Pakistan where 2 million people would have head out into the streets and ready to have a revolution? No, we would have 200 sad people in Union Square Park in New York City. You'd have 150 in Lafayette Park across from the White House. Nothing would happen. They wouldn't do who the Democratic Party's not going to do anything. The media's not going to do anything. Who's going to stop them? Well, the thing is even Okay, serious question for you. You're the lefty here on the show. I'm I'm the far
[06:24] right extremist. Can you explain to me seriously on a postcard what are the differences between the Republican and the Democratic parties? What are the policy differences? Where do they differ It's mainly about style at this point. Well, I guess you could say I mean you could say the immigration policy is different, right? Like the demo- but mass deportations were bigger under Obama than they are under Trump. Um and they were definitely, you know, maybe not as uh you know, open in the streets of major cities, but it was basically the
[06:55] same policy. I mean the major policies are about the are are the same for both parties. They're both capitalist parties. They don't care about working class people at all. Um no, I mean I take your point, but I mean I mean I guess obviously the Democrats would rather be feeding at the trough, but they can fundraise out of power just as easily as as being in power, in some ways more easily. Well, I mean that's true and here's the here's the thing. Here's where I would push back on you a little bit about
[07:26] Obama is that he counted people who were turned away at the borders deportations. So he's kind of inflated his numbers. So that's true. So there's that. Um also, I think it's fair I think it's fair to say honestly that this is government by donor, i.e. government by oligarch. If we were if if the United States government system was any other was any other country, we would call that country an oligarchy, and rightly so, because it is. So, why can't we just be honest about
[07:57] what it is that we are? We are an oligarchy. The government does not fear the people. And if the government does not have a healthy does not have a healthy fear of the government, how can you possibly have a representative government? You can't. By definition, you can't. And like I said, nothing is going to happen if if these elections are suspended. I mean, there will be, you know, some very highly peaceful, and therefore useless, protests, but that's about it. Um okay, well, we're going to obviously follow that, you know, line of
[08:29] of of inquiry, but we do have to talk about Iran first and foremost today. So, um as we uh it's now 9 minutes to past the hour of 9:00 here in New York City. The stock market opens up in 21 minutes. Um futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 1,000 points. That's after a major sell-off all last week. Um and we're looking at oil prices. This is shocking. Um just a few weeks ago, uh oil was trading at $60 a barrel.
[09:00] Right now, we're at 102.64. So, that is a 67 or more percent increase in uh crude oil prices over the course of less than a month. Um that is an oil shock that that can only really be compared to OPEC. I mean, you know, in in the oil crisis in the mid-70s that I grew up with. I mean, it's major. I mean, this is going to have a ripple effect through the economy. It's another reason that I don't think um you know, President Trump
[09:31] or the Republicans are going to dare face the electorate this fall, because they're going to get destroyed. I mean, people are going to just vote vote against the incumbency, which is what you do in a two-party system where you hate both parties. And the they're they're really I mean, the politics of this are super super ugly. I mean, it's these prices are not going to go down anytime soon. Trump says it's temporary. I'm like, sure. I mean, in the long run everything's temporary, but we'll all be dead, too, to quote Milton Friedman. I mean, to break compared to what?
[10:03] I mean, this is going to be massive. I mean, it already is massive. I mean, you know, you you've got the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. Uh you know, container ships, oil tankers are stuck. Um you know, nobody with half a brain is going to try to run that straight except for Iranian-flagged vessels. So, you know, I mean the you know, you're you're just the and the stock market is nervous as [ __ ] Robbie, why is the why is Donald Trump not scared of the economic impact here?
[10:34] Because he doesn't care. I mean, listen, at the end of the day and Ted, you know this better than anybody. You're you're a freaking communist of all people. This is the case I was trying to make with Achilles Lorea last week was that rising prices impacts workers and the poor and the middle class more than it does the rich. That is a statement of fact. If you're insulated from that if if you don't go and shop for your own groceries or go fill up your own gas tank or if you're making you know, $20,000 a month or
[11:06] more. >> gas prices, quick interjection, right? Gas prices have now gone up a full over a full dollar a gallon in a week. In a week. Yeah, anyway, go ahead. I mean, that's just what I'm saying though. I mean, uh Trump doesn't care. It does it's not a crisis for him if the cost of transportation goes up. If the cost of oil goes up. If the cost of food goes up. That's an investment opportunity. That's the point I was trying to make last week is that yeah, you're over here talking about bankers and investors. I
[11:37] get it. You're a wealth management guy. I understand. That's your business model. For you, this is good. But for people who are trying to root hog or die yeah. But if you're trying to root hog or die, this is a crisis and the absolute last thing that you want to do is have a pissed off electorate to go vote. Here's the question and I mean this sincerely again because you're a man of the left. What is the difference between the Democrat and the Republican? One's going to drop a bomb with an American flag, the other one with a rainbow flag. What
[12:08] is the policy difference? Would the Democrats end this war? Would they put BB Netanyahu in his place? Would they tell the Israel lobby to go screw themselves? Would they declare independence from the cabal that's running Washington D.C.? The answer all those questions and we both know this is no. So, what's the difference? Why would you go vote? Why would you care? Why would you waste Why would you waste your precious gas to go vote in a meaningless election that will change absolutely nothing?
[12:38] Well, I mean well, that's right. I mean who's going to [ __ ] die over an election? Um Adam Tube over on YouTube says uh Ted, why can't the people dissolve Congress and House and reset with tougher vetting? Um well, first of all, only a certain percentage of House seats Well, no, that's not even true. That's the Senate. But the people can't just dissolve the House every uh you know, whenever they want. We don't have a parliamentary system. So, it doesn't work that way. Uh we have to wait for the election. It's every 2 years. Um and a lot of
[13:09] congressmen effectively run unopposed. In some cases, actually run unopposed. Um you know, it always shocks me, but two out of three elected offices in this country like in a lot of state house, state Senate seats have literally one party rule where the candidate runs, there's one party and there's no opposing party on the other and that happens even in big cities like here in New York, there's tons of positions like judgeships where the Democrats run unopposed.
[13:41] I mean the the closest thing honestly that the American system had, well, it we used to have to nullifying federal law was called nullification conveniently enough and there are times in US history that has been used. That's the whole argument between states' rights versus federal supremacy. Uh that argument was the settled on April 9th, 1865. I believe it was settled wrongly. But no there we are. I mean the mechanism for a for the states to
[14:13] check the federal government is baked into the Constitution in the 9th and 10th amendments. You can the the states themselves can refuse to follow federal law. They can do this. That is a power that they have. The problem is is that all of our governors and all of our legislatures are so cucked and so brainwashed that they simply will not do it. No, they won't. They just won't do it. Um is it rational is saying that the Dow's at 50,000 just I beg to differ the Dow is actually at 47,500 um and it is going to drop another
[14:44] thousand points at as soon as the opening bell goes off. Um let's thank you very much Brady Oakland for the $19.99 donation on YouTube. Hey Ted, quick question. If regime change and escalation don't work what actually stops Iran and its proxies from getting bolder? It feels like years of restraint and limited consequences haven't really changed their behavior. You know, I think it's you know, I think that's maybe one way to look at it from the western point of view. Another way
[15:14] to look at it is from their point of view, right? Where the Iranians feel that they've had measured responses to US and Israeli provocations like the assassination of General Soleimani 6 years ago. Numerous the the attacks against the nuclear program in the and I do mean not nuclear weapons. I mean nuclear energy program in Iran and they you know sort of had like some performative drone attacks where they sort of notified in advance. Here here come drones. Here
[15:46] here they come. But I think for the Iranians they know there as John said last week several times. They're in an existential battle for their lives and I guess to me this is you know well what stops Iran from and its proxies from getting bolder? Well, you know what they say like the song says from the 70s freedom is another word for nothing left to lose, right? I mean They they don't they've had they've had to deal with US sanctions for 47 years. They had as soon as their revolution happened they had to
[16:17] deal with our Iraqi proxies You know they they've they've put up with a lot of [ __ ] from us over the years and yes, they've struck back, but I mean you know it's warmongering 101, right? What you do is you one side you attack the other side over and over and if they respond then you just claim that the war began on that day. And and you pretend that you're just responding to them. That's all that you're dealing with here and
[16:47] parenthetically I just want to say that I hate daylight savings time. Um yes. Anyway, so let's see. Okay, we have a few more questions and then we'll talk about the ecosidal maniacs who are destroying Tehran. So is it rational says breaking news US urges all Americans out of southern Turkey non-essential consulate staff in Adana. I mean that's we've seen that kind of thing all over the Middle East where consular and ambassadorial
[17:17] representation is being shut down. Um so, I mean, you know, that that region is spinning out of control. Pittsburgh dude, the illusion of our elections is that by having them, it cancels any change. No matter who we vote for, we get John McCain. I like that. Yeah, I wish I could say he's wrong. He He's not. And also, is it rational? Uh one thing I was point out about the the Dow 50,000, that was straight up a jab at Pam Pam Bondi. But No, when she was testifying before Congress, I guess you'd call it
[17:47] testifying. I don't know what you would say in in the real world. When she is kept saying, "Oh, the Dow's over 50,000." >> Performing? Yeah, I mean, now the the only thing she had going for her now no longer exists because of a war her boss started. And her boss is not Trump, it's Bibi Netanyahu. Trump's middle management, let's just be honest. Uh jo By the way, just if you're just joining us, uh John Kiriakou is trying to join the show between flights. Uh and we just >> [laughter] >> heard hide nor hair of him. So, uh we'll
[18:19] we'll see if he shows up. If he does, we'll pop him on right away, of course, obviously. Um so, uh let's see both part Yeah. Uh oh, thanks for the dollar from Unsung Pat. The difference is where they deposit their donations. Don't blame the politicians. They're doing exactly what a politician does as defined, one who is actively involved or skilled in politics. Mm, fair, but they're also corrupt. Unsung Pat also said a republic If we keep it, your boyf- uh your BF, Robbie, can you remind me
[18:50] where the power lies in a republic and which branch of government derives that power? My guess is dollar sign dollar sign dollar sign c r e a m. >> [snorts] >> of the government. You have the executive, you have the legislative, you have the judicial, and then you have the states themselves. That Those are the four pillars. Now we have three. Of those three, these the second one,
[19:20] the legislative, has completely seated its authority to the executive. So, I don't really know what powers any other branch of government has. I mean, sure you have the Supreme Court that can come out and say, "Oh, in our opinion, this is right or this is wrong." But it's up to the executive to enforce those decisions. >> [snorts] >> So, I I don't know. I mean, the system doesn't work anymore. I mean, or is it working exactly the way that it was intended to? >> [snorts] >> No, I mean, that that's obviously not true because
[19:52] the the founding fathers were incredibly suspicious of exactly what it is that we have now. They wanted a diluted power system where you had separation of powers. And with the majority of the powers reserved to the states and to the people. I mean, they all have >> Well, they didn't they I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, Robbie, but I mean, my understanding was that they expected that all the branches of government would be jealously guarding their prerogatives and would fight for to protect them, right? And And that I guess what they never counted on was
[20:23] systemic corruption where people would be willing to be bought off and would be sold at a relatively low price and be you know, like look at imagine being a member of Congress under under Speaker Mike Johnson where you're just a rubber stamp. I mean, I mean, it must be very boring. You don't really you know, they're not really part of the conversation or you know, the or you know, be in in the court system where you know, you issue an order and it just gets ignored and brushed off. I mean, what you know, I mean, it's got to be so dispiriting. Like what's the point?
[20:56] Well, that's the question I have. What's the point of having a Congress? What Serious question, what do they do? Can somebody explain to me what does Congress do? Like they can't even kill daylight savings time. I know. Well, you know what's so funny is the pending the pending there is a law that's been pending to get rid of the time change. But Robbie, this is so funny, right? So, the average American would get 17 minutes of sleep per night additional according to studies
[21:26] if we had standard time year-round. Now, that might 17 minutes might not sound like a lot, but imagine if you you know, if you have an extra hour every 4 days, right? So, roughly 90, you know, full hours of sleep a year. That's going to impact our national health, right? In a in a favorable way. So, what's every expert says we just need to get rid of of daylight savings time and just have standard time. So, the law that's pending before Congress does the exact
[21:56] opposite and keeps us on daylight savings time forever and gets rid of standard time. And and it's because we're children. Because we like have it we like getting out of work at 5:00 at night and having a little bit of light to drive home with. But meanwhile, our kids would be having go to go to school in the pitch dark in the morning. >> [snorts] >> Well, there's that, but also do you remember what my previous job was before I started working for you full-time, right? I do.
[22:26] So, one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty the number of heart attacks and stroke go up by about 7% for the first 3 months after time change. That is a statistical fact. People I mean, I know right now I feel like a little bit like like like I was thrown like I was out partying last night. You know, I mean, I feel like [ __ ] this morning. I'm a little jet-lagged and it's only an hour. It's not like I I just flew to Baku. Yeah, it sucks. Sneaker Dad, thank you
[22:58] so much for the generous donation of $100. Do you think the Don might get his regime change only not the ones he wanted, i.e. Cutter, UAE? You know, that is a good question and one that I also want to ask John when he shows up. I'm sure we'll have John back tomorrow at least. Um but yeah, I think there's a chance of that, right? I mean, look, the Iranian government could fall. It could, but I just think that's not likely. I mean, by the way, they've appointed obviously Ali Khamenei's um son uh Mojtaba is now
[23:32] uh the new supreme leader. Israel's of course threatening to kill him. Uh you know, he's Shia, he doesn't care. Um they're like but he's probably also like, you killed my dad. Uh you know, I know what's in the mail here. But I could see the I could see a lot of the I could see the Emirates and um you know, their street is restive and does not agree with their government's, you know, tacit support for Israel against a fellow Muslim country even if they're Shia. Well, it's just crazy because like like
[24:04] you know, for those of you who do not follow Ted on on X, I highly recommend that y'all do it because one of the things I've started doing is I've started animating his cartoons because I don't have enough to do. Uh so I'm now animating his cartoons. And one of the cartoons that I animated is is uh this guy watching the TV pointing at it said, "Look at those Chinese and those Iranians protesting for their rights." And then his wife speaks up and said, "Honey, that's in Minneapolis." And it just it breaks the guy's brain.
[24:35] And here we are, Trump is calling for mass protests while by the way engaging collective punishment, waging war against the people in Tehran, not the government of Tehran, the people of Tehran, which is a war crime. Calling for them to protest. >> [snorts] >> Meanwhile if you try to protest here in the United States uh at best you just don't get a permit, which why you need a permit to protest breaks my brain and and a protest >> permit. It's I mean, like if we have a First Amendment, why do you need a why
[25:05] do you need a parade permit to protest? You you don't. I mean that's dumb. It's just like having to go and get a license to to get a gun. You don't need to do that. >> [laughter] >> I mean Right. No, you I I mean I agree. If you have a Second Amendment, then why do you need that? Yeah. So, I mean the the fact that the Trump administration cracks down on protests here in this country whenever Americans can rouse themselves get get enough vigor to actually go out on a sunny day and chant for an hour on the side of a road and it
[25:36] that that's considered um uh uncouth. Meanwhile, he wants to go and encourage the people of Iran to protest at the same time while he tries to squelch it here. Um peak hypocrisy. Uh, not a wood Evan M not a wood tang guy Ted. You know, I'm a punk and new wave guy. >> [laughter] >> That's just this is this is what I was just listening to before the show. Um anyway. Um all right. So, and and the
[26:07] fact that it's a CD tells you how old I am. Although I heard from the my my local CD store owner that CDs are coming back. Yeah, all things older coming back. My son, he has a record player. And he's been Yeah, he's been buying mighty Robins. Vinyl is vinyl's been back for decades though. I mean I mean vinyl represents a significant percentage of music sales in the United States and it just keeps going up. Uh, it's real it's really weird. Um okay. So, let's see. Um
[26:39] I'm trying to go work through the questions here. Uh, skin itchy. What do you think do we think uh Benjamin Netanyahu knows Trump is in the Epstein files? Maybe because they sold the info or he was there and that's why Trump is so easily bombing Iran. I mean certainly there's been a lot of discussion about this war being a distraction from the Epstein files. I think it's a contributing factor. I don't think it's the main thing. What do you think? No, I mean it's Ted, I mean you're mentioned in in the Epstein files. Everybody Everybody is
[27:11] mentioned in in the Epstein files. >> Clovis. No, this is about money and influence peddling. The United States government is the cheapest horse government that any any lobby can buy and the Zionist lobby has got more money than just about anybody else and so they use that money to buy Congress like a bunch of cheap [ __ ] and that's how they get what they want. Don't forget uh 20 years ago, I want to say it was 20 years ago. It could just been 15. Bibi was caught on mic talking
[27:42] about how he owns Congress. That he owns Congress. Ooh. Is he wrong? No, he's not wrong. Look where we are. Does Congress care about what the American people want or does Congress care about what Israel wants? I mean like we're we've been told I mean basically you and I I mean we've been buying the the line that you know, we're doing this war for Israel, but it's actually worse than that cuz we're literally holding hands with them. They're not even like behind the scenes. It's literally the entire world sees the US and Israel together launching a war of choice just
[28:16] for fun. I mean where's the where's the controversy with that? Were was the American population consulted before this war got started? Were we Has Trump even come on TV and explained to us why we have to put up with this economic pain? Has he come in and made the case for this war that he started? Not Congress. Congress didn't declare this war. He started this war on behalf of a foreign nation for a foreign lobby and our president, the American
[28:47] president does not have the stones to even come on and lie to us. Yeah, that's I mean that's the thing. He doesn't even think uh you know, we are even you know, we're we're not even worth like it's kind of like someone who's like you know, cheats on their wife and their wife and and they don't even think they owe their wife a lie about like where they were last night. It's just like where were you last night? Shut up. Make my do my laundry, [ __ ] That's literally what it's like. Um Adam
[29:17] Tube, Ted who ought to turn holds if all heads of branches of government are implicated in the Epstein scandal, Chief Justice Roberts in a picture cuddling with Maxwell, rotten top to bottom. Who prosecutes this? I mean, it's actually a miracle, Robbie, that even we've gotten to see any files at all and that there's even been like a law that like has ordered the release of the documents even though it hasn't been complied with. I mean, it's a it's a miracle that the pressure got anywhere at all, but obviously the broader point
[29:50] is yeah, the the system is corrupt from top to bottom and Epstein's only part of it. Well, even Hitler cared about public opinion polls. Yeah, he did. I'm so I mean, there is that. No no king stays king for very long if he doesn't at least pretend to listen to the people some of the time. This is a great question, Robbie. Uh Edward Clark, sorry to step on you there. You know, sometimes people you know, when we're doing this through the StreamYard link, um you know, there's like a slight there's like a half-second
[30:20] delay and so that ends up like you know, John will be saying something and I'll step on him saying something and it's cuz I don't know he's still talking and it's a little bit. So that's kind of like why that happens. Anyway, Adam Tube, who sorry that we already had that one. Um Uh Edward Clark is just joining in. Thoughts on boots on the ground in Iran? And did you see Carolyn Levitt talking about drafting soldiers? You know, a week ago I would have said there's no chance we're going to have boots on the ground. I'm not so sure now, Robbie. I mean, I think it's entirely possible. I mean, they're
[30:52] they're greasing the skids for it by saying that there's not going to be any other way to secure the uranium stock piles that may still be buried under that collapsed nuclear facility. I mean, at this point it wouldn't surprise me. And that's one of the things that I I kind of got into a debate No, no with my pastor at at at church. I'm like the most Christian evangelicals, he's he's a Zionist. I am not. And he was talking about you know how it is it is our duty
[31:23] under the Abrahamic covenant covenant to support Israel. And so my pushback to that was, okay, well, let let's just pretend for a moment that we don't live in a theocracy. But we instead we supposedly live under a a republic. Do you think Congress should be required to declare war? You call yourself a conservative. He couldn't give me an answer. And so to answer your question, it nothing would surprise me at this point. If if Trump decided if if Trump said tomorrow
[31:53] that the Iranian people have failed, they're not fighting for themselves, they're being oppressed or whatever, and if he says that we need 200,000 troops to go into Iran, I could see it happening. And I don't see any pushback from either political party. I don't think there'll be a draft though. Um you know, I don't I don't think um there's going to be like a massive I mean, we do have a pretty large standing army and um they don't I think a draft is where you would get resistance, right? I mean, during the Vietnam War, it's the last time we had an active
[32:24] military draft. It's because like, you know, middle class and working class and rich white people not so much the last group, um but still some of them had to see watch their sons go off to war and sometimes come back in in bags and uh you know flag-draped coffins. And that's what really drove the opposition to the war. But here's the difference though. Back in the '60s, we actually had this thing called an economy. We don't have that anymore. There's a lot of people now who are unemployed,
[32:55] who are underemployed, who are barely scraping by. And if Uncle Sam said, "Hey, if you uh if if you join me today or if you get drafted, we'll pay you $80,000 a year for this because you get combat pay and everything else." How many people would sign up for that? A lot. Robbie, we're having we're the stock market's now been open for 3 minutes. Uh we're in the middle of a major uh sell-off. Uh the stock market is the New York The Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged 552 points. That's
[33:25] uh over 1% of overall market value uh in just a few minutes. S&P 500 down 1%, Nasdaq down 0.88. Um the New York uh the uh New York Stock Exchange Composite Index down 1.19. We haven't found the floor yet. It's still it's still falling. We're at 46,974. Um we'll keep you up-to-date on that. So, uh if I'm I mean, if I'm the if I'm a Republican congressman, I'm like, "Mhm, we better not have these elections."
[33:58] Well, I mean, well, if I well, if I was if I was the um if I was in Congress and had a Democratic challenger, I would just straight-up ask him, "Where would you differ with my policies? Where would you vote against me? What What is it that I am doing that you would do differently? Would you vote for War Powers Resolution? Would you vote for a bal- for a balanced budget amendment? Would you, Mr. Democrat, vote for any of the things that people care about? Would you vote for universal health care?
[34:29] If the answer is no, why should they vote for you? Good question. So, um thank you again for tuning in to Deep Program with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. If you're just joining us, Robbie West is filling in for John Kiriakou, who uh was traveling this morning and was hoping to join us for at least part of the show. Uh and I don't I'm assuming he's probably not going to make it at this point, but anything's possible. If he does, we'll pop him right in. Robbie, do we have any ads by any chance? I will check and see. If we got some piling up here on the
[34:59] back end chats, so we'll look at that. See if there's anything that grabs your the sweet little brain. Um as um let's see. Nixon Pro 4339, thanks for the $2.79 Canadian. As a Canadian, what do you guys think of Carney? Um He's He's a clown. Uh I do think he's like uh I do think he's um you know, he gave a good speech that time. That's about it. Yeah. That's about all I can say. Uh t- uh Speaker
[35:29] again that's asking, "Does Ted Ted does Clovis watch the YouTube cat TV channel?" So, I did show that to him one time and uh he will never be allowed to watch it again because he almost broke my all my computer. Um he was going back and forth from the front and then to the back to see where the birds and uh small animals were and it and he wouldn't stop meowing and it was just driving me absolutely insane. I'm like, uh no. No more. All right.
[36:00] Yeah, we got the ad and then the ad is up now. Okay, thanks. All right, so uh today's sponsor is the Chicago Steak Company and they're giving away four free steaks on every order. The code is BPSIRFREE. Do you ever buy steaks at the grocery store and it's just a total gamble? You're standing there staring at shrink-wrapped mystery cuts trying to figure out which one might actually be decent. And half the time you get home, cook it, and it's just fine. Nothing special. Chicago Steak Company is the opposite of that. USDA prime and upper
[42:43] leave? I think it depends on the country and it depends on, you know, it's it's a complicated story. People don't speak as one. Um I think, you know, some some countries are more pro-US US than others. There's always a split between the governments and their people, but that split's different, you know, it's different in Bahrain than it is in Qatar than it is in Jordan than it is in the in the uh in the UAE, you know. Well, I think that the problem with the Islamic countries is the same problem that Europe has. Uh they don't like the ugly American, but they love the security blanket that the ugly that the ugly American provides. And if the US
[43:14] pulled out, you have to defend yourself. And who wants to do that when you can live off the tit of the United States and outsource your security to a foreign power? F he says >> No, militaries are expensive. All right. Well, militaries are expensive. And you have to build >> True, but but also a US military base also makes your country a target as we're seeing right now. Yeah, to an extent. I mean, sure. I mean, you might get a hotel blown up, but who's going to invade you? The answer is nobody. F he said, thanks for the two bucks. Just got a ticket for the Sex Pistols playing San Diego in October. Original
[43:44] members except for John Lydon. Yeah, but saying original members except for John Lydon when you're talking about the Sex Pistols is like saying like founding father does not include Thomas Jefferson. Um I don't know. You kind of have to have John Lydon, but um I I saw the Sex Pistols reunion show. I guess this was in 96, I want to say. It was fantastic, but it did have John Lydon. People They started about 20 minutes late at Roseland in New York City, and people were getting spicy. And at one point
[44:16] before the concert, Johnny Johnny Rotten {slash} Lydon came out, and he's like, "You've already waited 20 [ __ ] years for this. You can wait a a few more [ __ ] minutes." He had to be like, >> I have a I have a question for you, Ted. This is something I've been thinking about over the weekend. Iran is a BRICS member. Do you see that actually factoring into the equation? Well, Iran's I guess you can call them allies. I don't really know at this point. Could they meaningfully help Iran? Is
[44:47] there anything they could do economically to assist them? Besides write an externally worded letter to the UN, which nobody's going to read. Well, I mean, in the long run, if the government if in the short run, probably not. But in the long run, yeah, if the Iranian government survives, for sure. I mean, they can prop up the Iranian currency. They can provide low-interest or zero-interest loans. You know, they can The Chinese can build stuff. The Chinese engineers could go in
[45:17] and help with the cleanup operation. There's a lot of stuff that like, you know, allied countries could do, for sure. You know, I mean, I and I could see I I really could see Russia and China stepping forward in a post-war scenario if the US gets the [ __ ] out. I mean, they don't want to risk But neither President Putin nor Xi want to risk World War III with Donald Trump. But as long as we're there involved involved in combat operations, they're not going to come. But if things settle
[45:48] down, yeah. I I think so. What do you think? Well, after the fact, sure. But I mean, that's just like me help That's like me coming to your house with a fire hose after your house has burned out. Oh, I'm here to help. Well, I mean, you know, I might need a place to stay. I might need your help to cart stuff away. It's not like there's nothing to do after a situation like that. But I hear you. I I take your point. Uh Mark and Roll 95 50 44 only atheists should hold high offices. Religious fanatics are disqualified.
[46:19] I laugh at you and Stalin Mao Zedong. >> [laughter] >> Um question guys from Desert Fox. What do you think about the chances of a false flag on US oil on US oil? I mean, if you're going to suspend your elections, you got to do it for national security reasons. And we already had that that uh dude in Texas, you know, running around shooting people and causing all kinds of trouble of trouble and havoc. Why can't you do that more rather it's a false flag or actually people who just for
[46:52] whatever reason become radicalized and want to go out and just start causing you know mayhem. Maybe you have yourself a nice attack on in the finish there or something. Who can Who knows? Um I just thought it was worth noting. I don't know if there's much commentary to be made, but Robbie, this report from the National Intelligence Council was commissioned before the US and Israeli attack on Iran. And they were asked to say, "What do you think is likely to happen from this war?" Um and their assessment was it's highly
[47:23] unlikely that the Iranian government will be overthrown even if you kill the Ayatollah. And uh I mean, so you know, they they they knew their own government would told them you're probably not going to get regime change. So is it reasonable to conclude that the Trump administration isn't really that interested in the regime change? I mean, look at Venezuela. They weren't really interested in regime change. They were just interested in presidential and first lady kidnapping. People always
[47:53] forget by the way, we kidnapped Maduro's wife, too. We still have her. I mean, when it comes to Iran, honestly, I don't think the United States is interested in in regime change. I think that we want two things. One, to appease the Israel lobby. We want Iran to stop being a sovereign nation. We want them to give up any any semblance of of a military. And second, we want them to open up their borders and allow us to send our oil companies in. This is about us taking the oil. It's just like what what it was in Venezuela. Trump
[48:24] he actually had a moment of honesty. We said, "We went in there to take the oil." This is about taking the oil because the United States dollar is pegged to the dollar. By the way, um I think John's delay in joining us might be tied into one of the news events. And you know, all over XE, I know you've seen this, too, Robbie. Um right-wingers have been Republicans, I should say, have been complaining um about the closure of the Department of Homeland Security. There's massive lines at a lot of airports. Uh you know, there was a 5-hour line at
[48:55] some airports over the weekend uh at TSA because a lot of TSA officers are involved in a sickout or a slowdown cuz they're not getting paid. Uh and it's all due to this showdown with between the Democrats who've imposed a partial government shutdown over requesting um some reforms to ICE that Republicans don't want to grant. Um you know, so I wouldn't be surprised if if John is like stuck in TSA hell right now. Now, I want you all to think about this real quick.
[49:25] Seriously, I want you all to think about what what Ted just said. The Democrats are having a tantrum during a partial government shutdown, not over the fact that a imperial president has taken their power and has led us into an undeclared war in violation of the Constitution, but instead are butt hurt over enforcement of immigration law. Think about what I just said. They do not care about the economic hardship and pain being inflicted on the American people.
[49:55] They do not care about losing their power to the executive. They do not care about anything except for their pet topics. That is unsustainable and that's why you cannot explain to me why I should vote for either party. Well, as you know, Robbie, I I'm well, I think ISIS really out of control and even you've agreed about that that their tactics suck. Because they are. And uh but like but I take your broader point here, which is that uh you know, this is
[50:27] a Look, as heinous as ISIS has been, this issue with the Iran is a lot bigger and it has much bigger repercussions in terms of murdering innocent people in Iran and not just school girls. I count everybody. I mean, you know, one of the things I don't like is like, well, look, it's just children and and women and children are getting injured. Look, even when we blow up like uh you know, a member of the of the revolutionary guards, that dude is just doing his [ __ ] job and means no harm to us at
[50:58] all. And we have no business killing him, right? But uh but but you're right about the economics. Speaking of which, it looks like the um stock falloff has uh pretty much leveled off for today, but it's not pretty. Dow Jones Industrial Average currently at 46,794 uh with a 1.5% drop. This is 700-point fall to spare in mind. We were at 50,000. Now we're well under 47,000. So, the Dow the Dow is going to just one
[51:30] thing after another. Uh you know, oil is over well over $100 a barrel. It peaked out at 120 a barrel at one point uh in futures trading. So, I mean, we're going to have to bring Achilles back and uh have to explain to people a little bit about like, you know, uh Achilles' job is is uh you know, is is to help people manage who have money manage their money. You know, he's not here to discredit capitalism. That's my job. >> [laughter] >> Anyway, let's
[52:00] um More and more it's my job. Right, right. Yeah, apparently. Um Matina, question for me. Is this about making the dollar stronger? The war Well, I mean, I don't think I mean, I don't think it will. I mean, there's a the scenario in in the old days was with the petrodollar that you know, the idea was the higher oil prices propped up the dollar. But you know, we didn't we don't we don't have that we don't live in that world anymore. So
[52:31] And also, I don't think the United States want a strong dollar because that discourages you know, people trade with other countries. A strong dollar makes US goods more expensive and we're like, you know, this president is obsessed with the trade imbalances. Well, I mean, a stronger dollar is not going to help with that. What do you think? What goods do we make? I mean, serious question. What do we make here? Do we make shoes in this country? Do we make Do we make electronics? Do we make cell phones? Do
[53:01] we make TVs? Do we actually build 100% of our cars here? What do we build? We still make things, but far fewer than we used to, obviously. >> Trump's biggest betrayal, Trump's biggest lie was that when when he was at when he first ran for 20 in 2016 when I supported him, I was one of Trump's biggest supporters. He said, "I am going to bring all of these jobs back and I am going to be laser-focused on the American people." He won me in 2016 on
[53:33] that on that Valentine's Day debate where he called George W. Bush a war criminal to Jeb's face. It was beautiful. "Yes, that's the man for me. Now, here we are almost 10 years later and Trump has completely betrayed his country, he's betrayed his base, he's betrayed his oath, and for what? Our economy is weaker, no jobs have come back. We are now fighting other countries' wars again.
[54:04] We are still supporting Europe's Europe's defense again. We're in a proxy war with Russia that Trump has not ended after saying he would end it in a day, which by the way, he could by cutting off the UK's. He won't do it. And now we're fighting a war for his butt buddy BB. I mean no. No, I look, I I have nothing to add to that cuz it's I agree with you. Um No, no, the dollar's screwed. What supports it? We It's a lead-based standard. We don't even have an oil-based standard anymore. It's a lead-based standard. You do what we say
[54:36] or we delete you. >> [laughter] >> That's true. Uh so, Vilmar Air, what's the off-ramp for Trump at this point? Um canceling the elections. Um thanks for uh thoughts on potential Samson option. Um Yeah, well, that would be like where the Israelis decide to like basically go full use their nuclear weapons. I think it's entirely possible, right? I mean um although I don't think we're there yet.
[55:07] Uh it's not likely. Possible and likely are not the same thing. We got to talk about Cuba in the 5 minutes we have left, Robbie. And you have all the stuff you need for the raid, I assume. Yep, I'm getting it. I'll put together as we speak. Okay, cool. All right, so um Yes, Robbie. Thanks for the dollar from uh Pat. I told you it would happen and you heard it, read it, but you can call me anti-Semitic was anti-Semitic regret it? Nope, said it? Yep, we have to tear this [ __ ] um uh up. Ice tube ice cube, I think you mean.
[55:40] Um Trent uh is of course our other producer. Robbie, what do you think about reports that US commanders are openly invoking Armageddon as an even as since you're an evangelical, you of course you know this whole statement. I think it's irresponsible and I think it's stupid and people who are saying this have no idea what the Bible says. Well, that's like Sorry, go ahead. Well, it's First of all, there was a battle of Armageddon during World War I.
[56:12] And that did not bring about the end of the world. Armageddon happen happens after after the millennial reign of Christ. Armageddon does not happen before that. So, trying to force it is not going to make it happen and Jesus does not need your help by the way to come back. He will do it on his timetable when he's ready to because he is God. Oh, there is that, right? There is that. Um okay, so let's talk about Cuba. So, um there's reporting. I mean, of course this is sort of like one of those reports that might come and go and like,
[56:42] you know, there'll never be any follow-up and we'll never hear anything about. But, according to USA Today, they're reporting that the Trump administration is leaking information about negotiations for between President Miguel Díaz-Canel where he would basically agree to resign. The Castro family would allow be allowed to remain on Cuba if they would like to. And that basically Cuba would turn into a vassal state. All of its ports, energy, and tourism would basically become US property to be
[57:14] looted and exploited. It would essentially return to the state that it was on in under Batista in the 1950s and before the communist revolution in the late 1950s. Um It's gross. I believe the reporting. How likely do you think this is to happen? I mean it it depends on how distracted the United States gets fighting Israel's wars for it. I mean if if the United States could could focus the
[57:45] Cuba would no longer be an independent state by now. They've already been collapsed. They would they've already be over. The one thing that the Cubans have going for them is that the American foreign policy apparatus is effectively autistic. We cannot stick to one coherent policy for more than 20 minutes. We're all over the world playing whack-a-mole fighting fighting invisible enemies that only they can see for special interests that pay them. And so if there's one thing that the Cubans have going for them, it's not the
[58:15] geography, it's not their natural resources, they don't have any. It's the ineptitude of the American foreign policy blob. Well, we shall see what happens there. Thanks everyone for watching the program with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. I'm assuming John will be back in I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow. He's he's stuck between planes. I never heard back from his from him from my texts and phone calls and not everything's marked on delivered. So he's obviously stuck on a plane somewhere or in a TSA checkpoint from
[58:46] hell. Hope there's no strip searching going on. Um >> [laughter] >> Please stay tuned to the TMI show with Manila Chan and myself and producer Robbie West will be there too. If you are on YouTube and you want to become a tier two donor member, you check the click that membership tab, choose tier two, you will be in the closing credits as a thank you. I'm about to play those credits right now so you'll see exactly what you'd be getting. Thanks Robbie.
[59:19] >> [music] >> Mhm.